Reuters World News Summary

09/20/2016 8:56

Following is a summary of current world news briefs.

U.S. sanctions jihadist Syrian rebel group Jund al-Aqsa

The U.S. State Department has designated a jihadist rebel group in northern Syria, Jund al-Aqsa, a terrorist organization in a move to block any assets it may have in the United States and prevent Americans from engaging with the organization. In a statement released on Tuesday, the department said the group had once been part of the Nusra Front, an al Qaeda affiliate also deemed a "terrorist organization" by the United States, but has "since split and now carries out operations independently."

U.S., China to step up cooperation on North Korea

U.S. President Barack Obama and Chinese Premier Li Keqiang agreed on Monday to step up cooperation in the United Nations Security Council and in law-enforcement channels after North Korea's fifth nuclear test, the White House said. China and the United States are also targeting the finances of Liaoning Hongxiang Industrial, a Chinese conglomerate headed by a Communist Party cadre, that the Obama administration thinks has a role in assisting North Korea's nuclear program, the Wall Street Journal reported on Monday.

Iraqi forces launch operation to drive Islamic State from town south of Mosul

Iraqi forces launched an operation on Tuesday to retake the northern town of Shirqat from Islamic State, a stepping stone in their campaign to recapture the jihadists' stronghold of Mosul before the end of the year. Shirqat, which lies on the Tigris River 100 km (60 miles) south of Mosul, has been surrounded by Iraqi troops and Iranian-backed Shi'ite Muslim militias allied to the government.

Turkey's Erdogan: U.S. should 'not harbor a terrorist' like cleric Gulen

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan told Reuters in an interview on Monday that the United States should "not harbor a terrorist" like U.S.-based cleric Fethullah Gulen and that his activities should be banned around the world. Gulen, who has lived in self-imposed exile in Pennsylvania since 1999, denies involvement in Turkey's failed coup in July and Washington has said it will extradite him only if Turkey provides evidence, much to the Turkish government's frustration.

South African police clash with protesters at Wits University

South African police fired stun grenades and arrested 31 students in clashes at Johannesburg's University of the Witwatersrand on Tuesday, as countrywide protests demanding free tertiary education entered a third week. Demonstrations this year and in 2015 over the cost of university education -- prohibitive for many black students -- have highlighted frustration at the inequalities that persist more than two decades after the 1994 end of white minority rule.

Duterte critic took bribes, Philippine felons tell Congress members

Convicted Philippine felons on Tuesday told a Congressional hearing they had bribed a former justice minister and fierce critic of President Rodrigo Duterte, dealing another blow to her efforts to investigate the country's deadly war on drugs. Senator Leila De Lima has become an increasingly isolated voice since seeking to hold Duterte to account for unleashing a crackdown on narcotics in which 3,800 people have been killed since the president took office 11 weeks ago.

Red Cross postpones aid convoys after Aleppo attack

Aid convoys for four Syrian towns will be postponed as staff reassess security after a deadly attack on relief trucks and intensified violence, a senior official from the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said on Tuesday. Syrian or Russian aircraft struck an aid convoy near Aleppo, killing 12 people on Monday, a war monitor reported, as the Syrian military declared a one-week truce over.

At least two killed as Congo opposition offices torched overnight

At least two people were killed when armed men in uniform torched the headquarters of the main opposition party in Democratic Republic of Congo on Tuesday, witnesses said, beginning a second day of violent protests. Four other opposition party offices were set alight overnight, the United Nations said, after a day of street violence in which at least 17 people were killed.

Suspicious object at U.S. embassy site in Oslo was harmless: police

A suspicious object found at the building site of the new United States embassy in Oslo turned out to be harmless but may have been placed there to spread fear, Norwegian police said on Tuesday. "It was not a dangerous object," police spokesman Christian Krohn Engeseth said, declining to describe it further. "What we can say, is that it was an object capable of spreading fear."

Palestinian assailant with knife shot dead in West Bank: Israeli army

A Palestinian armed with a knife attempted to stab an Israeli soldier at a checkpoint in the occupied West Bank on Tuesday and was shot and killed, the Israeli army said. The incident occurred at the entrance to Bani Na'im, a village to the west of Hebron that has been tightly secured by Israeli forces in recent months because of earlier attacks by Palestinians from the area.

09/20/2016 8:56