Reuters World News Summary

09/02/2016 8:55

Following is a summary of current world news briefs.

Bombs kill at least 12, wound dozens at Pakistan court

Two bombs killed at least 12 people and wounded dozens outside a court complex in northwest Pakistan on Friday, a rescue official said, hours after militants killed two people in a Christian neighborhood in the same region. Both attacks were claimed by Jamaat-ur-Ahrar, a breakaway Pakistani Taliban faction believed to be behind some of the past year's deadliest attacks, including last month's bombing of lawyers in the city of Quetta that killed 74 people.

Putin says he doesn't know who hacked U.S. Democratic Party: Bloomberg

Russian President Vladimir Putin said he did not know who was behind the hacking of U.S. Democratic Party organizations but the information uncovered was important, Bloomberg news agency reported on Friday. In an interview two days before a G20 meeting in China with U.S. President Barack Obama and other world leaders, Putin said it might be impossible to establish who engineered the release of sensitive Democratic Party emails but it was not done by the Russian government.

Weapons storage blaze fires off rockets in Baghdad, killing four

A blast caused by a fire at a weapons storage depot in eastern Baghdad on Friday set off rockets that hit neighboring districts, killing at least four residents and injuring 14 others, police and hospital sources said. Video footage showed a large plume of smoke rising above the depot. A huge explosion was followed by a massive shockwave. Women and children were heard screaming in the background.

Turkey says clears Islamic State, Kurdish force from part of northern Syria

Turkey has swept Islamic State militants and Kurdish YPG militia from an area of northern Syria, but Syrian Kurdish forces have still not met a Turkish demand to withdraw to the east of the Euphrates river, President Tayyip Erdogan said on Friday. Turkey launched a cross-border offensive into Syria last week, saying it had a dual aim of driving away jihadists and ensuring Kurdish forces did not fill the void that was left by extending their control of territory along Turkey's border.

EU ministers seek to ease tensions with Turkey

The European Union must mend ties with Turkey, Slovakia's Foreign Minister Miroslav Lajcak said on Friday, as the bloc's 28 ministers met to discuss a fraught relationship that has soured further following a failed coup in Ankara. Turkey has accused the EU of being slow and half-hearted in its condemnation of the failed coup, while hurrying to criticize President Tayyip Erdogan for a purge of officials from police and army to journalists and academics that followed.

Fewer migrants entered Germany illegally in August: police

Fewer migrants entered Germany illegally in August than during any other month this year, a police spokeswoman said on Friday, a consequence of border closures and an EU-Turkey deal to stop sea arrivals in Greece. In August, around 4,200 migrants crossed into Germany, down from around 4,550 in July and a tiny fraction of the 64,700 migrants registered in January, the spokeswoman said.

Mother Teresa's mission lives on in Kolkata, grows worldwide

On the eve of her canonization as a Roman Catholic saint, and 19 years after her death, the order founded by Mother Teresa of Calcutta is going strong - even without her charismatic leadership. The Missionaries of Charity gained world renown, and Mother Teresa a Nobel peace prize, by caring for the dying, the homeless and orphans gathered from the teeming streets of the city in eastern India.

Uzbek President Karimov has died: diplomatic sources

Uzbek President Islam Karimov has died aged 78 after suffering a stroke, three diplomatic sources told Reuters on Friday, leaving no obvious successor to take over the Central Asian nation of 32 million people. The Uzbek government did not immediately confirm the reports. Earlier on Friday it said the health of Karimov, who has been in hospital since last Saturday, had sharply deteriorated.

Islamic State's military retreat raises risk of attacks in France: prosecutor

Islamic State's military pullback in Iraq and Syria increases the risk of Islamist attacks in France like the ones the country suffered this year and last, France's anti-terrorism prosecutor Francois Molins was quoted saying on Friday. "We see clearly in the history of terrorism that when terrorist organizations are in difficulty on their own turf they look for an opportunity to attack abroad," he said in an interview with Le Monde newspaper, adding that the military pressure IS faces could result in more French jihadis and their families returning home.

Yemen's Houthi leader says U.S. provides political cover for Saudi strikes

The leader of Yemen's Iran-allied Houthi faction accused the United States of providing logistical support and political cover for Saudi-led air strikes in the 18-month Yemeni conflict. In his first published interview since the start of the civil war, Abdel-Malek al-Houthi also told the Houthis' quarterly magazine his group was open to a peaceful solution of the conflict, in which at least 10,000 people have died.

09/02/2016 8:55