World

AZAZ, Syria,  (Reuters) – Turkey’s army and rebel allies battled U.S.-backed

LONDON,  (Reuters) – Anti-government protesters demonstrated in Iran on Sunday in defiance of a warning by authorities of a crackdown, extending for a fourth day one of the most audacious challenges to the clerical leadership since pro-reform unrest in 2009.

SEOUL,  (Reuters) – Kim Jong Un yesterday warned the United States that he has a “nuclear button” on his desk ready for use if North Korea is threatened, but offered an olive branch to South Korea, saying he was “open to dialogue” with Seoul.

NEW DELHI, (Reuters) – A big star of India’s Tamil-language movies, Rajinikanth, said on Sunday he is launching a political party, adding drama to a heated political scene in a state with a history of film stars becoming chief ministers.

CARACAS,  (Reuters) – Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro announced a 40 percent increase to the minimum wage as of January, a move that will foment what many economists already consider hyperinflation in the oil-rich but crisis-stricken nation.

CARACAS,  (Reuters) – A former oil minister excoriated Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro in a newspaper column on Sunday, accusing the leftist leader of behaving like biblical King Herod and plunging the oil-rich nation into economic devastation.

DUBAI,  (Reuters) – Street protests hit Iran for a third day running on Saturday, spreading to the capital Tehran with crowds confronting police and attacking some state buildings, and a social media report said two demonstrators had been shot dead in a provincial town.

MONROVIA,  (Reuters) – Liberian President-elect George Weah yesterday declared the country open to investment and pledged to tackle entrenched corruption, in his first speech to the nation since decisively winning an election this week.

GOMA, Democratic Republic of Congo,  (Reuters) – Democratic Republic of Congo’s government on Saturday ordered telecommunications providers to cut internet and SMS services across the country ahead of planned anti-government demonstrations.

MUMBAI,  (Reuters) – A series of raids by India’s market regulator, investigating whether corporate announcements were prematurely leaked by market participants in social media chatrooms, were the largest it has conducted.

BERLIN,  (Reuters) – Former German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble urged Chancellor Angela Merkel’s conservatives and Social Democrats on Saturday to quickly form a new government, but said he could not rule out a minority government if no deal is reached.

SEATTLE/WASHINGTON, (Reuters) – President Donald Trump called on the U.S. Postal Service on Friday to charge “much more” to ship packages for Amazon, picking another fight with an online retail giant he has criticized in the past.

MUMBAI, (Reuters) – India’s censors yesterday cleared a controversial film backed by Viacom Inc that looks into the relationship of a Hindu queen and a Muslim ruler, after suggesting some modifications.

LONDON/MOSCOW,  (Reuters) – Russian tankers have supplied fuel to North Korea on at least three occasions in recent months by transferring cargoes at sea, according to two senior Western European security sources, providing an economic lifeline to the secretive Communist state.

JOHANNESBURG, (Reuters) – South Africa’s Constitutional Court ruled yesterday that parliament had failed to hold President Jacob Zuma to account over a scandal related to state-funded upgrades to his home, and must launch proceedings that could remove him from office.

DUBAI, (Reuters) – Demonstrators chanted anti-government slogans in several cities across Iran on Friday, Iranian news agencies and social media reports said, as price protests turned into the largest wave of demonstrations since nationwide pro-reform unrest in 2009.

NEW YORK, (Reuters) – A 3-year-old boy playing with the burners on a kitchen stove started a fire in a New York City apartment building that killed 12 people, including four children, city officials said yesterday.

LOS ANGELES, (Reuters) – Jay-Z released a music video on Friday that features the rapper addressing the pain of infidelity as he appears in a confessional booth opposite his wife Beyonce.

JOHANNESBURG,  (Reuters) – South Africa’s Constitutional Court ruled today that parliament had failed to hold President Jacob Zuma to account over a scandal related to state-funded upgrades to his home, and must launch proceedings that could remove him from office.

KABUL,  (Reuters) – Suicide bombers stormed a Shi’ite cultural centre and news agency in the Afghan capital yesterday, killing more than 40 people and wounding scores, many of them students attending a conference.