Reuters World News Summary

09/09/2016 19:53

Following is a summary of current world news briefs.

U.S., Russia clinch Syria cooperation deal

The United States and Russia hailed a breakthrough deal on Saturday to put Syria's peace process back on track, including a nationwide ceasefire effective from sundown on Monday, improved aid access and joint targeting of banned Islamist groups. "Today, Sergei Lavrov and I, on behalf of our president and our countries call on every Syrian stakeholder to support the plan that the United States and Russia have reached, to ... bring this catastrophic conflict to the quickest possible end through a political process," U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said.

North Korea's fifth nuclear test prompts U.S. calls for more sanctions

North Korea conducted its fifth and biggest nuclear test on Friday and said it had mastered the ability to mount a warhead on a ballistic missile, ratcheting up a threat that rivals and the United Nations have been powerless to contain. The blast, on the 68th anniversary of North Korea's founding, drew a fresh wave of global condemnation. The United States said it would work with partners to impose new sanctions, and called on China to use its influence as North Korea's main ally to pressure Pyongyang to end its nuclear program.

Cuba launches new international campaign against U.S. embargo

U.S. sanctions cost Cuba $4.6 billion last financial year, the government said on Friday, and called on U.S. President Barack Obama to do more to ease the pressure in the spirit of improved relations between the two countries. Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez made the comments at the launch of an annual campaign for a United Nations resolution condemning the U.S. trade embargo put in place after Cuba's 1959 revolution, but which has softened a little under Obama.

Violent extremist groups take special aim at women, U.N. official says

Armed extremist and fundamentalist groups worldwide are increasingly eroding women's rights and undermining gains made in gender equality in recent years, the head of U.N. Women said on Friday. Militant groups from Boko Haram in Nigeria to the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria target women in their attacks on human rights, Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, the head of the United Nations' women's advocacy agency, told the Thomson Reuters Foundation in an interview.

Islamic State twin suicide bombings at Baghdad mall kill 12

Twelve people were killed late on Friday in two suicide bombings claimed by Islamic State at a shopping mall in eastern Baghdad, police and hospital sources said. More than 40 people were wounded in the attack at Nakheel Mall across from the oil ministry, the sources said. One bomb went off at the entrance to the mall, the other in the parking lot.

Informants admit lying during U.S. probe of Venezuela first lady's nephews

A father-son team of informants testified on Friday that they repeatedly lied to U.S. investigators in order to secretly traffic drugs, even while they were working on a narcotics probe of two nephews of Venezuela's first lady. Testifying in Manhattan federal court, the informants also said they engaged in other unauthorized activities, including sleeping with prostitutes in the midst of a U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) probe of Franqui Francisco Flores de Freitas and Efrain Antonio Campo Flores.

Living like ghosts in the ruins of Syria's besieged Aleppo

Even if it were somehow possible to escape eastern Aleppo, Abdullah Shiyani, a 10-year-old boy who dreams of being a doctor, says he wouldn't leave. It would mean leaving behind too many people who need help. "We have a lot of injured people here," he told Reuters over the Internet. "Maybe we can help them."

Exclusive: Mecca mayor says no delays on pilgrimage expansion projects

Construction projects to expand capacity at Mecca's Grand Mosque and other Islamic holy sites will be completed in about three years, enabling Saudi Arabia to accommodate more pilgrims, Mecca's mayor told Reuters on Friday. Osama bin Fadl Al-Bar said the pilgrimage-related projects were a top state priority and would be finished on time, despite widespread delays in the Saudi construction sector as the kingdom grapples with the effects of sustained low oil prices.

Netanyahu 'ethnic cleansing' comment against Palestinians draws U.S. rebuke

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Friday said the Palestinians wanted to form a state devoid of a Jewish population and termed it "ethnic cleansing," drawing sharp criticism from the United States. In a video message, Netanyahu said in reference to the removal of Israeli settlements in the West Bank, "The Palestinian leadership actually demands a Palestinian state with one pre-condition: No Jews. There's a phrase for that: It's called ethnic cleansing. And this demand is outrageous."

Arrested French women, directed by Islamic State, planned Paris attack

Three French women arrested after a car loaded with gas cylinders was found near Notre Dame cathedral were planning to attack a Paris railway station under the direction of Islamic State, French officials said on Friday. The Peugeot 607 was found early on Sunday laden with seven gas cylinders and three jerry cans of diesel, said police, adding that no detonators were discovered.

09/09/2016 19:53