World
17th October
Mexican Senate set to pass bill to legalize marijuana in next few days
MEXICO CITY (Reuters) – Mexico’s Senate will vote for a bill to fully legalize marijuana in the next few days, a key lawmaker told Reuters, marking a major step toward changing the country’s approach to...
16th October
Dutch police discover five siblings locked away for years on farm
AMSTERDAM (Reuters) – Five siblings and a man believed to be their father were receiving medical treatment after Dutch police acting on a tip discovered them locked away in a secret room at an isolated farm, officials in the Netherlands said on Tuesday. The five, estimated at 18 to 25 years of age, and a...
Scientists find how deadly malaria parasite jumped from gorillas to humans
LONDON (Reuters) – Scientists who resurrected a 50,000-year-old gene sequence have analyzed it to figure out how the world’s deadliest malaria parasite jumped from gorillas to humans – giving insight into the origins of one of human history’s biggest killers. The researchers said their work also deepens understanding of a process known as zoonosis –...
Brazil building collapses; 10 missing, one confirmed dea
SAO PAULO (Reuters) – A seven-story residential building collapsed in the northeastern Brazilian city of Fortaleza on Tuesday, killing at least one person, rescue workers told TV channel GloboNews. Another 10 people were missing and seven people were found alive, the rescue workers said. The building fell at around 10:30 a.m. local time (1330 GMT),...
Portugal amends returnee programme in bid to attract more citizens home
LISBON (Reuters) – Portugal’s government on Tuesday eased some requirements in its programme that aims to draw home at least 1,500 Portuguese emigrants, after only 71 people took up the offer in the first two months since its launch in July. Changes include easing the deadline by which returnee must apply for the programme but...
Notre-Dame restoration yet to start six months after the blaze
PARIS (Reuters) – Six months after the massive fire that almost razed Paris’ Notre-Dame, the restoration work at the iconic cathedral has not started in earnest and the official reopening date is yet to be determined, officials said on Tuesday. “We’re still in the first phase, the phase of securing (the monument’s structure) which is...
Tourists stranded as Barcelona airport cancels more flights after protests
MADRID (Reuters) – Hundreds of travellers were stranded at Barcelona’s El Prat airport on Tuesday when 45 flights were cancelled in addition to more than a hundred grounded on Monday due to protests by Catalan independence supporters, the airport authority said. Barcelona’s airport, Spain’s second largest, was the focal point of the protests, with thousands...
Britain to complete plan next year to reach net zero transport emissions
LONDON (Reuters) – Britain said on Tuesday it would complete a plan next year to achieve net zero emissions from all forms of transport, as climate change activists targeted the transport ministry. Britain is the first G7 country to commit to a net zero greenhouse gas emissions target for 2050. “From driving our cars, to...
Russia buries cosmonaut Alexei Leonov, first human to walk in space
MOSCOW (Reuters) – Hundreds of Russians bade farewell to cosmonaut Alexei Leonov, the first human to walk in space, at a solemn funeral ceremony on Tuesday which culminated in a gun salute. The ceremony for Leonov, who died on Friday at the age of 85 after a long illness, was attended by Russia’s defence minister...
Lebanon deploys water cannon, helicopters to fight wildfires across country
BEIRUT (Reuters) – Wildfires that have swept across Lebanon since Monday have burned swathes of the country’s forest and killed at least one person, prompting Beirut to deploy water cannon and call on its neighbours for help. The cause of the flames, which has spread from woods south of Beirut up to pine forests in...
Afghanistan election violence left 85 dead, U.N. report says
KABUL (Reuters) – Violence linked to Afghanistan’s election last month left 85 civilians dead and more than 370 wounded, a United Nations report said on Tuesday. The bulk of the casualties were caused by Taliban fighters, who attacked several polling stations in an attempt to derail the vote. Only a quarter of eligible voters cast...
Ex-Olympic champion and mayor quits Hungary’s ruling party over sex tape
BUDAPEST (Reuters) – A former Olympic champion who had just been re-elected mayor of a city in Hungary quit the ruling Fidesz party on Tuesday to limit the political fallout from a video purportedly showing him having sex with a young woman on a yacht. Fidesz, led by Prime Minister Viktor Orban, portrays itself as...
UK queen attends service for Westminster Abbey’s 750th anniversary
LONDON (Reuters) – Queen Elizabeth attended a service at London’s Westminster Abbey on Tuesday to mark 750 years since King Edward the Confessor’s original church on the site was rebuilt during the reign of Henry III and consecrated in 1269. The 93-year-old monarch was accompanied by her daughter-in-law Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, wife of her...
British police order a halt to climate change protests in London
LONDON (Reuters) – British police have ordered a halt to Extinction Rebellion protests in London after a week of civil disobedience by climate change activists who have targeted government building and major financial institutions. “Any assembly linked to the Extinction Rebellion ‘Autumn Uprising’… must now cease their protest(s) within London,” the police said in a...
Hundreds fled abusive Nigerian “school” before police raid
KANO, Nigeria (Reuters) – Hundreds of captives who were beaten, abused and held in squalid conditions at a purported Islamic school in northern Nigeria escaped prior to a raid this week, police said on Tuesday. Nearly 300 men and boys had been at the facility in the Daura area of Katsina, the home town of...
Rescuers slog through mud as Japan typhoon death toll rises to 66
KORIYAMA, Japan (Reuters) – The death toll in the worst typhoon to hit Japan for decades climbed to 66 on Tuesday as rescuers slogged through mud and debris in an increasingly grim search for the missing, and as thousands of homes remained without power or water. Fifteen people remain missing nearly three days after Typhoon...
Papua New Guinea police seek to arrest ex-prime minister O’Neill
MELBOURNE (Reuters) – Papua New Guinea police have issued an arrest warrant for former prime minister Peter O’Neill on suspicion of “official corruption” but he was declining to cooperate with police handling the case, the acting police commissioner said. The warrant, issued last Friday, stemmed from an investigation, however police gave no details of what...
U.S. demands Syria ceasefire, slaps sanctions on Turkey over incursion
WASHINGTON/BEIRUT/ANKARA (Reuters) – President Donald Trump imposed sanctions on Turkey on Monday and demanded the NATO ally stop a military incursion in northeast Syria that is rapidly reshaping the battlefield of the world’s deadliest ongoing war. Trump, who gave what critics say was a de facto green light for Turkey’s assault by ordering U.S. forces...
Spain jails Catalan separatist leaders, sparking protests, clashes
MADRID/BARCELONA (Reuters) – Spain’s Supreme Court on Monday jailed nine Catalan separatist leaders for between nine and 13 years for their role in a failed independence bid, a decision that triggered mass protests in the region and left the future course of the dispute uncertain. Barcelona’s international airport became the focal point of the protests....
Trump ex-Russia adviser Fiona Hill testifies in impeachment inquiry
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Donald Trump’s former Russia adviser testified for more than nine hours on Monday behind closed doors, the latest witness summoned in the impeachment inquiry against the U.S. president over his request that Ukraine investigate a political rival. The Democrats’ rapidly progressing inquiry could prompt the House of Representatives to approve articles of...
Saudi visit signals Putin’s growing Middle East influence
RIYADH (Reuters) – President Vladimir Putin signalled Moscow’s growing Middle East clout on Monday on his first visit to Saudi Arabia in over a decade, buoyed by Russian military gains in Syria, strong ties with Riyadh’s regional rivals and energy cooperation. Moscow accrued power in the Middle East in 2015 by sending troops to Syria,...
Ecuador’s Moreno scraps fuel subsidy cuts in big win for indigenous groups
QUITO (Reuters) – Ecuadorean President Lenin Moreno on Monday officially scrapped his own law to cut expensive fuel subsidies after days of violent protests against the IMF-backed measure, returning fuel prices to prior levels until a new measure can be found. The signing of the decree is a blow to Moreno, and leaves big questions...
Mozambique to vote in tense, high-stakes election
MAPUTO (Reuters) – Mozambicans head to the polls on Tuesday in an election widely expected to result in the ruling Frelimo party extending its decades-long rule over a nation that is set to become one of the world’s leading gas exporters. The election in the Southern African nation could test a fragile peace deal signed...
Ronaldo scores 700th career goal in Euro qualifier with Ukraine
(Reuters) – Cristiano Ronaldo netted his 700th career goal when he converted a 72nd minute penalty in Portugal’s Euro 2020 qualifier against Ukraine on Monday. The 34-year-old has scored 95 for his country, 450 for Real Madrid, 118 for Manchester United, 32 for Juventus and five for Sporting. Portugal were beaten 2-1 by Ukraine in...
15th October
Federer confirms Tokyo Olympics participation
(Reuters) – Roger Federer confirmed his participation in next year’s Olympic Games in Tokyo and said on Monday that he had listened to his heart before making the decision. The Swiss 38-year-old competed in the first of four Olympic Games at Sydney in 2000 and won the doubles gold partnering Stan Wawrinka in 2008 and...
England thrash Bulgaria after game halted over racist abuse
SOFIA (Reuters) – England bounced back from their first tournament qualifying defeat for 10 years with a 6-0 thrashing of toothless Bulgaria on Monday in a Euro 2020 Group A clash marred by racist incidents in the first half that stopped the game. The match at the Vasil Levski stadium was temporarily halted by the...
Ireland’s Aki to miss rest of World Cup as red card is upheld
(Reuters) – Ireland centre Bundee Aki will miss the remainder of the Rugby World Cup after an independent judicial committee on Monday upheld the red card he picked up in their 47-5 victory over Samoa on Saturday. Aki was sent off in the 29th minute following a high tackle on Samoa flyhalf Ulupano Seuteni at...
High tackle directive demands cultural change
OITA, Japan (Reuters) – A brief exchange in Samoa’s game against Ireland on Friday perfectly encapsulated the internal struggle rugby is undergoing as officials seek to make the game safer in the face of some confusion and some blank refusal by those playing it. Samoa’s Seilala Lam had just been yellow carded for smashing his...
New Zealand’s Hansen glad Japan is on the other side of the draw
TOKYO (Reuters) – Japan’s progress to the World Cup quarter-finals has not only enthralled the host nation but it has also made the heavyweights of the rugby world, including defending champions New Zealand, sit up and take notice. Impressed by Sunday’s 28-21 victory over Scotland at a raucous Yokohama Stadium, which propelled Japan to their...
Scotland in the slow lane as World Cup hopes dashed by Japan
TOKYO (Reuters) – Gregor Townsend had hoped Scotland’s up-tempo brand of rugby would carry them into the knockout stage of the World Cup but their campaign was undone by one side who slowed them to walking pace and another who actually played even faster. Scotland’s 28-21 loss to Japan at a heaving Yokohama Stadium on...
