Reuters World News Summary

08/03/2016 19:50

Following is a summary of current world news briefs.

Obama administration denies Iran cash payment was a ransom

The Obama administration said on Wednesday that $400 million in cash paid to Iran soon after the release of five Americans detained by Tehran was not ransom as some Republicans have charged. The five, including Washington Post reporter Jason Rezaian, were released on Jan. 16 in exchange for seven Iranians held in the United States for sanctions violations. The prisoner deal coincided with the lifting of international sanctions against Tehran.

Syrian government forces hit hospitals in Aleppo's 'worst week': rights group

Syrian government forces launched air strikes against six hospitals in the Aleppo area within a week in attacks that amounted to war crimes, a U.S.-based rights group said on Wednesday. Physicians for Human Rights (PHR) said it was the worst week for attacks on medical facilities in the Aleppo region since the beginning of Syria's five-year conflict, which has killed more than 250,000 people.

Turkey sees swift overhaul of intelligence agency, gendarmerie after coup

Turkey will soon complete an overhaul of its intelligence agency and make new appointments to its gendarmerie as it tries to rid its security apparatus of the followers of a U.S.-based cleric blamed for an attempted coup, officials said on Wednesday. President Tayyip Erdogan said new appointments in the gendarmerie, responsible for security in rural areas and key in the fight against Kurdish militants, would come within 48 hours. Interior Minister Efkan Ala said work on restructuring the MIT intelligence agency was ongoing and "should not take too long."

Anti-Semitic incidents rise 11 percent in UK this year

The number of anti-Semitic incidents in Britain rose by 11 percent in the first six months of the year reflecting a worrying trend of intolerance across the country, a Jewish advisory body said on Thursday. The Community Security Trust, which advises Britain's estimated 260,000 Jews on security matters, recorded 557 incidents from January until June, the second highest number for the first period of a year since it started collecting figures in 1984.

South Africa's ANC takes early lead in vote, may still lose grip on cities

South Africa's ruling African National Congress (ANC) party took an early lead on Thursday as vote counting continued in local government elections where it faces the risk of losing control of key cities for the first time since coming to power. The party, which toppled white apartheid rule after the country's first democratic elections in 1994, is up against its stiffest electoral challenge to date against the backdrop of high unemployment, a stagnant economy and controversies surrounding President Jacob Zuma.

Fire guts Emirates jet after hard landing; one firefighter dies

An Emirates jetliner arriving from India caught fire after slumping onto the runway in Dubai on Wednesday, killing one firefighter in an intense blaze and bringing the world's busiest international airport to a halt for several hours. All 300 passengers and crew were safely evacuated from the gutted Boeing 777-300 after a crash that one survivor described as terrifying. Fourteen people were admitted to hospital.

Austrian Chancellor suggests ending EU accession talks with Turkey

Austrian Chancellor Christian Kern said on Wednesday that he would start a discussion among European heads of government to quit talks with Turkey about joining the European Union because of the country's democratic and economic deficits. European leaders have voiced concern over Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan's crackdown on suspected dissidents after a failed coup attempt month, identifying his idea of reintroducing the death penalty in Turkey as a red line barring accession to the EU.

Thousands of Yazidis missing, captive, two years after start of 'genocide': U.N.

Thousands of Yazidis are being held captive by Islamic State in Syria where many are used for sexual slavery or forced to fight for the group, the United Nations said on Wednesday, on the second anniversary of what investigators termed a genocide. A U.N.-appointed commission of independent war crimes investigators said in June that Islamic State was committing genocide against the Yazidis, a religious community of 400,000 people in northern Iraq, beginning with an attack on their city of Sinjar on Aug. 3, 2014.

Latest North Korea missile launch lands near Japan waters, alarms Tokyo

North Korea launched a ballistic missile on Wednesday that landed in or near Japanese-controlled waters for the first time, the latest in a series of launches by the isolated country in defiance of United Nations Security Council resolutions. The main body of the missile landed in Japan's economic exclusion zone, a Japanese defense official said, escalating regional tensions that were already high after a series of missile launches this year and the decision by the United States to place a sophisticated anti-missile system in South Korea.

U.S. strikes easing advance against Islamic State in Sirte, says commander

U.S. air strikes are easing the passage of Libyan forces as they seek to clear Islamic State from the militant group's former North African stronghold of Sirte, a senior field commander said on Wednesday. Mohamed Darat said the first strikes, which took place on Monday, had helped Libyan brigades under his command secure the Dollar residential neighborhood by targeting militants who had been holding out on the district's edge.

08/03/2016 19:50