Reuters World News Summary

08/08/2016 8:55

Following is a summary of current world news briefs.

Turkey's Erdogan stages mass rally in show of strength after coup attempt

President Tayyip Erdogan told a rally of more than one million people on Sunday that July's failed coup would be a milestone in building a stronger Turkey, defying Western criticism of mass purges and vowing to destroy those behind the putsch. The "Democracy and Martyrs' Rally" at the Yenikapi parade ground, built into the sea on the southern edge of Istanbul, was a show of strength by Erdogan, who has been angered by European criticism of his combative response to the coup and by U.S. reluctance to hand over the man he accuses of masterminding it.

American, Australian kidnapped in Afghan capital: officials

Afghan authorities are searching for an Australian and an American who were kidnapped by gunmen in the capital, Kabul, officials said on Monday. The pair, believed to be affiliated with a Kabul university, was taken by four or five gunmen from a nearby road late on Sunday, said an official with the Ministry of Interior who spoke on condition of anonymity.

Tempers flare as temperatures soar at Rome's 'Gloomy Street' migrant center

Tempers are flaring between increasingly frustrated residents and boat migrants mostly from Africa using a well-known transit camp in central Rome as temperatures soar this summer. Italy is taking in thousands of boat migrants every week for a third year in a row, and friction is common between them and those who live along the path many take on their journey toward northern Europe.

No to Trump: Philippine lawmaker seeks to ban U.S. presidential candidate

A Philippine lawmaker is seeking to permanently ban U.S. Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump from visiting the Southeast Asian nation after the billionaire called it one of the "terrorist nations." Trump has no major business in the Philippines, but developer Century Properties Group Inc is building a $150-million Trump Tower, a high-rise residential building under license from the American real estate mogul.

Japan's emperor speaks to public in remarks suggesting he wants to abdicate

Japanese Emperor Akihito, 82, in a rare video address to the public on Monday, said he worried that age may make it difficult for him to fully carry out his duties, remarks widely seen as suggesting he wants to abdicate. Public broadcaster NHK reported last month that Akihito, who has had heart surgery and been treated for prostate cancer, wanted to step down in a few years - which would be unprecedented in modern Japan.

Suicide bomber kills at least 63 at Pakistan hospital

A suicide bomber in Pakistan killed at least 63 people and wounded dozens more in an attack on mourners gathered at a hospital in Quetta, according to officials in the violence-plagued southwestern province of Baluchistan. The bomber struck as more than 100 mourners, mostly lawyers and journalists, crowded into the emergency department to accompany the body of a prominent lawyer who had been shot and killed in the city earlier in the day, Faridullah, a journalist who was among the wounded, told Reuters.

Dozens of Philippine officials surrender after being linked to drugs trade

Dozens of Philippine government and police officials turned themselves in on Monday, a day after President Rodrigo Duterte linked them to the drugs trade, stepping up a war on narcotics that has killed hundreds since he took office in June. More than 400 suspected drug dealers have been killed by police across the Philippines since Duterte took over, officials say. Broadcaster ABS-CNN put the number at over 800, though this includes executions by anonymous vigilantes.

Japan urges China not to escalate East China Sea tension

Japan said on Monday it would respond firmly after Chinese government vessels had intruded into what Tokyo considers its territorial waters near disputed islands in the East China Sea 14 times at the weekend, stoking bilateral tensions. Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said Tokyo would continue to urge China not to escalate the East China Sea dispute, while also responding firmly and calmly.

Death toll in Angola's oil-rich Cabinda rises to nearly 40

Ten Angolan soldiers were killed and nine wounded in fighting with rebels in the country's oil-producing Cabinda enclave, bringing the death toll since a flare-up in the conflict to nearly 40, the separatist guerrilla group said on Monday. The high command of the Front for the Liberation of the Enclave of Cabinda (FLEC), which wants independence for a territory that accounts for half of Angola's oil output, has toughened its stance since the death of its 88-year-old founder Nzita Tiago earlier this year in exile in France.

Third Spanish election would extend political gridlock, poll suggests

A third election in Spain would do nothing to resolve a deadlock that has left the country without a new government for over seven months, an influential survey suggested on Monday, piling pressure on leaders to find another way out of the impasse. Two elections - in December and June - delivered hung parliaments after the rise of newer political forces ended four decades of a stable two-party system.

08/08/2016 8:55