Reuters World News Summary

09/02/2016 19:54

Following is a summary of current world news briefs.

After huge Venezuela protest march, government says foils coup

Venezuela's socialist government said on Friday it thwarted a coup plot this week as opponents planned to build on their biggest protest in more than a decade with further street action demanding a referendum to remove the president. Buoyed by rallies in Caracas on Thursday that drew hundreds of thousands, the opposition coalition is planning more marches on Sept. 7 to demand a plebiscite against President Nicolas Maduro this year.

Blast kills 12 as Philippine president visits hometown

An explosion at a packed night market in the home city of Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte killed at least 12 people on Friday and wounded dozens more, officials said, but the cause of the blast was not immediately clear. The blast tore through a street market outside the high-end Marco Polo hotel, a frequent haunt of Duterte, who was in the southern city of Davao at the time but was not hurt.

Turkey pushes west in offensive against Islamic State in Syria

Turkey renewed air strikes on Islamic State sites in Syria on Friday, extending operations along a 90-km (56-mile) corridor near the Turkish border which Ankara says it is clearing of jihadists and protecting from Kurdish militia expansion. Turkey's 10-day-old offensive, its first major incursion into Syria since the war started five years ago, has alarmed the West.

Obama to meet Britain's May during G20 in China: official

U.S. President Barack Obama will hold a formal meeting with British Prime Minister Theresa May during the G20 summit in China on Sunday, a White House official said. The meeting is their first since May took office in July.

Calais migrant 'Jungle' camp to be dismantled 'as soon as possible', says France

French authorities will dismantle the remaining half of the "Jungle" migrant camp near Calais "as quickly as possible" as the town struggles to cope with a new wave of arrivals, Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve said on Friday. In February and March authorities dismantled the southern half of the camp, where thousands of migrants and refugees fleeing war or poverty in the Middle East, Africa and Asia have massed, hoping to make their way to Britain.

Exclusive: Ahead of Suu Kyi visit, Obama weighs Myanmar sanctions relief - sources

The United States is considering further easing or lifting sanctions against Myanmar around the time of a White House visit this month by the country's new leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, U.S. officials told Reuters. President Barack Obama is expected to decide on the extent of the sanctions relief after consultations between Suu Kyi and his administration to gauge how far she wants Washington to go in loosening the screws on Myanmar's still-powerful military.

Obituary: Veteran Uzbek leader Karimov battled Islamists, suppressed dissent

Uzbek President Islam Karimov, who the government said on Friday had died aged 78 after suffering a stroke, saw himself as the protector of his Central Asian nation against the threat of militant Islam. To his critics, he was a brutal dictator who used torture to stay in power. Karimov, who steered his former Soviet republic to independence from Moscow in 1991, tellingly chose Tamerlane, the 14th century Central Asian ruler and conqueror with a penchant for mass murder, as Uzbekistan's national hero.

Brazil Supreme Court urged to bar Rousseff from politics

Major parties in Brazil's governing coalition pressed the Supreme Court on Friday to overturn a Senate decision allowing former President Dilma Rousseff to remain politically active after her dismissal in an impeachment trial this week. The Senate voted on Wednesday to remove Rousseff from office for manipulating the federal budget to hide the real state of Brazil's ailing economy in the run-up to her 2014 re-election.

U.S., Russia said nearing deal on Aleppo truce, aid access

The United States and Russia are nearing a deal that would set a 48-hour ceasefire in Aleppo, allow U.N. humanitarian access and limit Syrian government aircraft flights, diplomatic sources said on Friday. The sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the deal is not set in stone, key elements are still being discussed and critical stakeholders, including U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter and Syrian opposition groups, are likely to have doubts.

Colombia's FARC reschedules conference to ratify peace deal

Colombia's Marxist FARC rebel group said on Friday it had rescheduled its conference to ratify a peace agreement with the government to Sept. 17-23. After almost four years of protracted talks in Havana, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia and the government agreed last week to end a five-decade-long war that has killed more than 220,000 and displaced millions.

09/02/2016 19:54