World

SOUTH OF MOSUL, IRAQ (Reuters) – Iraqi forces seized a damaged Mosul bridge yesterday which could link up their units on either side of the Tigris river, as thousands of civilians fled the fighting for Islamic State’s remaining stronghold in the west of the city.

(Jamaica Observer) – Declaring that she is without fear of reprisal when it comes to women’s and children’s rights, former Youth and Culture Minister Lisa Hanna on Sunday lashed her critics, some of whom had sent death threats, for attacking her comments on convicted murderer Vybz Kartel producing music from behind prison bars.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – US President Donald Trump, who has attacked China on issues from trade to the South China Sea, held his first face-to-face talks with a member of the Chinese leadership yesterday, and the White House said it was a chance to discuss shared security interests and a possible meeting with President Xi Jinping.

SEOUL,  (Reuters) – South Korean intelligence believes suspects wanted for the murder of the half-brother of North Korea’s leader included several officials who worked for the reclusive state’s foreign and security ministries, according to lawmakers in Seoul.

Reuters) – Joseph Wapner, the former real-life judge who presided over “The People’s Court” on reality television with a Solomonic presence that made him one of the best-known legal figures in the United States, died yesterday at the age of 97, news reports said.

(Reuters) – American actor Bill Paxton, who rose to stardom with roles in Hollywood blockbusters such as “Aliens” and “Titanic,” has died at age 61 after complications from surgery, his family said in a statement yesterday.

(Reuters) – It is in Kuala Lumpur’s “Little India” neighbourhood, behind an unmarked door on the second floor of a rundown building, where a military equipment company called Glocom says it has its office.

WASHINGTON, (Reuters) – U.S. President Donald Trump’s first budget proposal will spare big social welfare programmes such as Social Security and Medicare from any cuts, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said in an interview broadcast yesterday.

ATLANTA (Reuters) – US Democrats elected former Labor Secretary  Tom  Perez as chairman yesterday, choosing a veteran of the Obama administration to lead the daunting task of rebuilding the party and heading the opposition to Republican President Donald Trump.

PARIS (Reuters) – French President Francois Hollande fired back at Donald Trump yesterday after the US president remarked in a speech that a friend thought “Paris is no longer Paris” after attacks by Islamist militants.

(Reuters) – North Korea is evading international sanctions with a sophisticated network of overseas companies, enabled partly by its continued access to the international banking system, says a forthcoming United Nations report seen by Reuters.

GENEVA/BEIRUT (Reuters) – Syrian government and opposition delegates to peace talks in Geneva on Saturday warned of the impact on negotiations after a day of violence in Syria that included jihadist suicide bombings and missile strikes by the air force.

BANJUL (Reuters) – The World Bank’s Vice President for Africa, Makhtar Diop, said on Saturday he had agreed to give Gambia $60 million in budget support after government allegations that former ruler Yahya Jammeh took tens of millions of dollars in public money, leaving it heavily indebted.

MATOBO, Zimbabwe (Reuters) – Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe said yesterday he would not impose his successor and that if the ruling ZANU-PF party felt he should retire, it would hold an extraordinary congress to choose a new leader.

 NATIONAL HARBOR, Md./WASHINGTON, Reuters) – P resident Donald Trump said he would make a massive budget request for one of the “greatest military buildups in American history” yesterday in a feisty, campaign-style speech extolling robust nationalism to eager conservative activists.

MEXICO CITY,  (Reuters) – An emboldened Mexico hardened its opposition to President Donald Trump yesterday by saying it would retaliate if the United States imposed a border tax and that it can afford to lose financial aid that might be pulled to pay for a border wall.

  (Reuters) – The shooting death of an Indian engineer and the wounding of another man in a possible hate crime at a Kansas bar has raised fears among members of the area’s fast-growing Indian-American community.

GUATEMALA CITY, (Reuters) – The United States will request the extradition of former Guatemalan Vice President Roxana Baldetti and a former cabinet minister on drug trafficking charges, the U.S.

  LUANDA, (Reuters) – Angola said yesterday that Portugal’s decision to charge its Vice President Manuel Vicente with corruption and money laundering was a “serious attack” that threatened relations between the two states.

WASHINGTON,  (Reuters) – President Donald Trump said yesterday he wants to ensure the U.S.