World

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.

LONDON,  (Reuters) – The Euro-pean Union’s chief Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier told Britain yesterday that the time had come for it to make a choice on what sort of relationship it wanted with the bloc after Brexit.

MALE/COLOMBO,  (Reuters) – Maldives President Abdulla Yameen yesterday declared a state of emergency, ordered security forces into the supreme court and arrested a former president, in moves the opposition called a “purge” in the Indian Ocean island nation.

(Reuters) – U.S. stocks plunged in highly volatile trading yesterday, with both the S&P 500 and Dow Industrials indices slumping more than 4.0 percent, as the Dow notched its biggest intraday decline in history with a nearly 1,600-point drop and Wall Street erased its gains for the year.

WASHINGTON,  (Reuters) – A U.S. House of Representatives committee voted unanimously yesterday to approve the release of a classified document that Democrats say will rebut a contentious Republican memo alleging FBI bias against President Donald Trump.

CARACAS, (Reuters) – Venezuela’s central bank yesterday announced a devaluation of more than 99 percent of its official exchange rate with the launch of a new foreign exchange platform, a move critics quickly said would not create a functioning currency market.

(Reuters) – Two Kenyan television channels shut down by the government over their coverage of the political opposition resumed partial broadcasting yesterday, although a third channel remained off the air.

QUITO (Reuters) – Ecuadoreans yesterday voted to prevent presidents from holding more than two terms in office, according to the elections council, a win for President Lenin Moreno that blocks his mentor-turned-adversary Rafael Correa from returning to power.

WASHINGTON, (Reuters) – Several Republican lawmakers disagreed yesterday with President Donald Trump’s assertion that a memo released last week by the House Intelligence Committee vindicated him in the investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election.