World

DUBAI (Reuters) – Saudi women need not wear the abaya – the loose-fitting, full-length robes symbolic of religious faith – a senior member of the top Muslim clerical body said, another indication of the Kingdom’s efforts towards modernisation.

WASHINGTON,  (Reuters) – President Donald Trump yesterday blocked the release of a classified memo written by congressional Democrats to rebut a Republican document that he allowed to be made public last week that claimed FBI and Justice Department bias against him in the federal probe of Russia and the 2016 U.S.

BELFAST,  (Reuters) – Northern Ireland’s main parties have made progress in a last-ditch attempt to restore devolved government and their talks should conclude one way or another next week, the Irish nationalist party Sinn Fein said on Friday.

WASHINGTON,  (Reuters) – The U.S. Justice Department’s third-ranking official, Rachel Brand, will resign and take a senior job at Walmart Inc, with sources familiar with her decision saying yesterday that she had grown increasingly uncomfortable with President Donald Trump’s attacks on her department and the FBI.

(Reuters) – A Reuters investigation into the killing of Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar prompted a demand from Washington for a credible probe into the bloodshed there and calls for the release of two journalists who were arrested while working on the report.

WASHINGTON,  (Reuters) – A brief U.S. government shutdown ended yesterday after Congress passed and President Donald Trump signed into law a temporary spending deal expected to push budget deficits past $1 trillion annually with new military and domestic outlays.

WASHINGTON,  (Reuters) – The U.S. House of Representatives joined the Senate early today in approving a bill to end an overnight federal shutdown, sparing Republicans further embarrassment and averting serious interruption of the government’s business.

CUCUTA, Colombia/BRASILIA,  (Reuters) – Colombia and Brazil tightened border controls with Venezuela yesterday as both nations grapple with a mounting influx of hundreds of thousands of desperate migrants fleeing a worsening economic crisis.

WASHINGTON,  (Reuters) – The Trump administration is considering making it harder for foreigners living in the United States to get permanent residency if they or their American-born children use public benefits such as food assistance, in a move that could sharply restrict legal immigration.

DHAKA,  (Reuters) – Bangladesh opposition leader and former prime minister Khaleda Zia was jailed yesterday for corruption but plans to appeal her five-year term, her lawyer said, as thousands of supporters took to the streets to protest her innocence.

MALE,  (Reuters) – The embattled president of the Maldives has sent envoys to friendly nations such as China, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia to brief them on a political crisis in the Indian Ocean nation that spurred the imposition of a state of emergency, his office said.

BANJUL,  (Reuters) – Gambia has rejoined the Commonwealth, the tiny West African former British colony’s foreign ministry said on Thursday, five years after its now exiled former authoritarian leader withdrew his country, calling it a “neo-colonial institution”.

NEW YORK/LONDON/SINGAPORE,  (Reuters) – In the two years since Washington lifted a 40-year ban on oil exports, tankers filled with U.S.

WASHINGTON,  (Reuters) – U.S. Senate leaders, in a rare display of bipartisanship, reached a two-year budget deal yesterday to raise government spending by almost $300 billion, attempting to curb Washington’s fiscal policy squabbling but also widening the federal deficit.

BOGOTA, (Reuters) – Secretary of State Rex Tillerson yesterday said the United States is heartbroken by the economic and social situation effecting Venezuela and appreciates Colombia’s help in dealing with the humanitarian crisis.

MANILA,  (Reuters) – Bulldozers and backhoes pounded more than two dozen seized luxury cars in the Philippines yesterday, including Porsches, Mercedes, Jaguars and Corvettes, in a dramatic demolition showcasing the no-nonsense leader’s crackdown on crime and corruption.

WASHINGTON, (Reuters) – The U.S. House of Representatives yesterday approved another stopgap bill to keep the federal government from shutting down, hours after President Donald Trump said he would “love” to see a shutdown if immigration legislation were not included.

JOHANNESBURG, (Reuters) – South Africa’s ruling African National Congress party on Tuesday put off a key meeting due to discuss President Jacob Zuma’s future later this week, while an online news service quoted sources saying he was ready to quit if certain conditions were met.

NEW YORK,  (Reuters) – False tsunami warnings flashed on cellphones along the U.S.

MALE/COLOMBO,  (Reuters) – Maldives President Abdulla Yameen’s administration said yesterday it had put down a coup after declaring a state of emergency the day before and arresting two Supreme Court justices and opposition figures.