Reuters World News Summary
Following is a summary of current world news briefs.
Russia, spurning U.S. censure, launches second day of Syria strikes from Iran
Russia launched a second day of air strikes against Syrian militants from an Iranian air base, rejecting U.S. suggestions its co-operation with Tehran might violate a U.N. resolution as illogical and factually incorrect. State Department spokesman Mark Toner on Tuesday called the Iranian deployment "unfortunate," saying the United States was looking into whether the move violated U.N. Security Council resolution 2231, which prohibits the supply, sale and transfer of combat aircraft to Iran.
North Korea deputy ambassador in UK defects to South
North Korea's deputy ambassador in London has defected with his family to South Korea, making him the highest-ranking Pyongyang diplomat ever to flee the isolated regime for the democratic South, South Korea said on Wednesday. The Unification Ministry in Seoul declined to say when or how Thae and his family arrived, or how many relatives accompanied him.
Italian city on Swiss border to set up camp for blocked migrants
Italy will set up a shelter to host as many as 300 migrants stranded near the Swiss border, after Switzerland cracked down on crossings, forcing hundreds to sleep on the ground in a city park, officials said Wednesday. In mid-July, Switzerland began strict controls on migrants arriving by train from Como, an Italian city on Lake Como. Since then, Switzerland has turned away two-thirds of the migrants who tried to enter the country, compared with one in seven through June of this year.
U.S. assessing if Russian use of Iran base violates U.N. resolution
The United States is looking at whether Russia has violated a U.N. Security Council resolution on military dealings with Tehran by using an Iranian air base to carry out strikes inside Syria, the State Department said on Wednesday. State Department spokesman Mark Toner said U.S. government attorneys had not yet decided whether they think Russia's use of the Iranian base is a violation of U.N. Security Council Resolution 2231, which was passed as part of the Iran nuclear deal.
Argentine judge starts inquiry into death of Spain's Garcia Lorca
An Argentine judge has started an investigation into the death of Spanish poet and playwright Federico Garcia Lorca, who is believed to have been executed in 1936 by forces loyal to General Francisco Franco. Garcia Lorca's fate remains a mystery after the site near the Spanish city of Granada where he was believed to have been buried was excavated in 2009 without finding human remains.
Three killed, 40 wounded in car bomb near Turkish police station: state media
Three people were killed and 40 were wounded when a car bomb exploded near a police station in Turkey's eastern province of Van near the Iranian border on Wednesday, state broadcaster TRT said, citing the local governor. Police and ambulances were seen rushing in, according to another broadcaster, the privately owned Dogan news agency.
German police find IS items at home of man arrested for explosives
A man arrested in Germany on Wednesday on suspicion of storing materials that could be used as explosives had items in his apartment glorifying Islamic State, the regional police chief told broadcaster rbb. Hans-Juergen Moerke told rbb that no attack plans had been found but a search of the flat had uncovered pyrotechnics, a gas mask, a replica Kalashnikov, camouflage suits and "many other IS trappings i.e. things that glorify IS."
Venezuela crushes 2,000 guns in public, plans registry of bullets
Venezuelan police crushed and chopped up nearly 2,000 shotguns and pistols in a Caracas city square on Wednesday, as the new interior minister relaunched a long-stalled gun control campaign in one of the world's most crime-ridden countries. Interior Minister Nestor Reverol said the event marked the renewal of efforts to disarm Venezuelans, through a combination of seizures and a voluntary program to swap guns for electrical goods.
Turkey issues decrees dismissing thousands from security forces over attempted coup
Turkey issued two decrees under emergency rule on Wednesday in which it dismissed more than 2,000 police officers and hundreds of members of the military and the BTK communication technology authority in relation to last month's attempted military coup. The decrees, published in the state's Official Gazette, also included a decision to close a telecoms authority and another decision under which the president appoints the head of the armed forces.
Bolivia opens 'anti-imperialist' military school
Bolivian President Evo Morales opened a military school on Wednesday which he said would teach an "anti-imperialist" doctrine to counter U.S. policies "based on fear." "The United States created the School of the Americas to indoctrinate the armed forces on pro-imperialism," said Morales, a reference to the Cold War-era U.S. academy that trained Latin American dictators and their military in counter-insurgency and torture techniques.
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