Reuters World News Summary

08/09/2016 8:59

Following is a summary of current world news briefs.

Turkey says rising anti-Americanism can be calmed by Gulen extradition

Anti-American sentiment among Turks is on the rise and can only be calmed by the United States extraditing the Muslim cleric Ankara accuses of orchestrating last month's failed coup, Turkey's justice minister said on Tuesday. Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan blames Fethullah Gulen, who has lived in self-imposed exile in rural Pennsylvania since 1999, and his followers for the July 15 coup, in which more than 240 people were killed and nearly 2,200 wounded.

New images suggest China has built reinforced hangars on disputed islands: think tank

Recent satellite photographs show China appears to have built reinforced aircraft hangars on its holdings in the disputed South China Sea, according to a Washington-based think tank. Pictures taken in late July show the hangars constructed on Fiery Cross, Subi and Mischief Reefs in the Spratly islands, have room for any fighter jet in the Chinese air force, the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS).

U.S. soldiers in Afghanistan abandoned equipment under fire: general

American soldiers helping Afghan troops fight Islamic State militants in Afghanistan were forced to abandon sensitive equipment and weapons when their position came under fire, a U.S. military official said on Tuesday. Islamic State fighters recently circulated photos of a rocket launcher, grenades, ammunition, identification cards, and an encrypted radio among other equipment that they said they had seized.

China to UK: 'golden' ties at crucial juncture over nuclear delay

China has cautioned Britain against closing the door to Chinese money and said relations were at a crucial juncture after Prime Minister Theresa May delayed signing off on a $24 billion nuclear power project. In China's sternest warning to date over May's surprise decision to review the building of Britain's first nuclear plant in decades, Beijing's ambassador to London said that Britain could face power shortages unless May approved the Franco-Chinese deal.

India's 'Iron Lady' ends 16-year hunger strike over military law

Indian human rights activist Irom Sharmila ended a 16-year hunger strike on Tuesday against an army law that she said led to atrocities in her northeastern state, and she vowed to press on with her fight by entering politics. Sharmila, in tears, broke her fast in front of reporters by dripping honey into her mouth. She said she would continue to fight a law that gives security forces wide powers to search, enter property and shoot on sight in parts of remote Manipur state.

Pakistani lawyers go on strike after dozens killed in attack

Pakistani lawyers staged a nationwide strike on Tuesday after dozens of colleagues were slain in a suicide bombing that killed at least 70 people at a hospital in the southwestern city of Quetta. Medical staff said up to 60 of those slain in the bombing at a government hospital were lawyers who had gathered to mourn the assassination earlier on Monday of the president of the Baluchistan Bar Association, Bilal Anwar Kasi.

American University in Kabul to reopen after kidnappings: officials

The American University of Afghanistan is expected to reopen on Wednesday, days after being closed in the wake of the kidnapping of two teachers, administrators said. The two faculty members, one Australian and one American, were abducted at gunpoint from a road near the university in Kabul on Sunday evening, Afghan officials said.

U.N. urges Aleppo ceasefire to repair water system, stem outbreaks

The United Nations called on Tuesday for an urgent ceasefire in the divided Syrian city of Aleppo, where it said two million people lacked access to clean running water, with children most at risk of disease. Access is needed to deliver food and medical supplies and for technicians to repair electricity networks that drive water pumping stations, which were heavily damaged in attacks on civilian infrastructure last week.

Iraqi court closes corruption case against Speaker

An Iraqi court closed a corruption case brought against Parliament Speaker Salim al-Jabouri by Defence Minister Khaled al-Obeidi, citing lack of evidence, a judiciary spokesman said on Tuesday. In parliament last week, Obeidi accused Jabouri and five other MPs of lobbying for businesses seeking contracts to sell overpriced planes, vehicles and other goods to the armed forces. He said they sought to influence ministry appointments and some tried to blackmail him. All six denied the accusations.

Putin tells Erdogan he hopes Ankara can restore order after failed coup

Russian President Vladimir Putin told his visiting Turkish counterpart Tayyip Erdogan he hoped Ankara could fully restore order after a failed military coup last month, saying on Tuesday that Moscow always opposed unconstitutional actions. Erdogan's trip to Russia comes as Turkey's relations with Europe and the United States are strained by what Ankara sees as Western concern about how it handled the abortive coup, in which more than 240 people were killed.

08/09/2016 8:59