No breakthrough at rare U.N. Western Sahara talks
U.N. talks on disputed Western Sahara ended on Thursday without a breakthrough, but all sides agreed to meet again in early 2019, U.N. envoy Horst Koehler said.
Rejecting suggestions of delay, UK PM May’s team says Brexit vote will go ahead
Parliament’s vote on Prime Minister Theresa May’s Brexit deal will go ahead on Dec. 11, her office said on Thursday, rejecting suggestions from lawmakers that she should seek ways to avoid a defeat so big it might bring down the government.
French government offers sweeteners to head off fresh ‘yellow vest’ unrest
The French government hinted at more concessions to ‘yellow vest’ protesters on Thursday in a bid to head off another wave of violence in the capital over living costs and regain the initiative after weeks of civil unrest.
Eiffel tower to close on Saturday due to protests
The Eiffel Tower will be closed on Saturday due to planned protests in the French capital, the site’s operator said.
Suicide bomber kills at least two in attack on southeast Iran police HQ
At least two policemen died and 48 people were injured in a rare suicide car bomb attack by a Sunni jihadist group on a police headquarters in the port city of Chabahar in southeast Iran on Thursday, state media reported.
Three migrants find new life in Germany
Ali Mohammad Rezaie does not celebrate his birthday because his Afghan parents never noted the date he was born. Yet he knows exactly when he arrived in Berlin to seek asylum: Oct 15, 2015.
Ecuador’s Moreno says Wikileaks’ Assange can leave embassy if he wants
Ecuadorean President Lenin Moreno said on Thursday that there was a “path” for WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange to leave the South American country’s London embassy, where he has lived for six years under asylum, if he so chooses.
India’s polluted air claimed 1.24 million lives in 2017: study
India’s toxic air claimed 1.24 million lives in 2017, or 12.5 percent of total deaths recorded that year, according to a study published in Lancet Planetary Health on Thursday.
Deposed aide to Saudi crown prince accused of role in female activists’ torture
A top aide to Saudi Arabia’s crown prince, fired for his role in the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, personally oversaw the torture of at least one detained female activist earlier this year, two sources with knowledge of the matter said.
Brazil’s Temer says leaving budget deficit under 130 billion reais
Brazilian President Michel Temer said on Thursday his government will leave a primary budget deficit of less than 130 billion reais ($33.3 billion) when he hands over the reins to President-elect Jair Bolsonaro on Jan. 1.
