World

JACKSON, Miss., (Reuters) – A historic black church in Mississippi was burned and spray-painted with “Vote Trump” and authorities said yesterday it was arson and being probed as a hate crime committed one week before the U.S.

NAIROBI, (Thomson Reuters Foundation) – A Kenyan police officer has been jailed for 20 years for raping a 13-year-old girl, despite saying they are now married, in a case campaigners heralded as a breakthrough in justice in a country where such convictions are rare.

WASHINGTON/SANFORD, Fla., (Reuters) – A top aide to Hillary Clinton urged the FBI yesterday to disclose what it knows about any ties between Donald Trump and Russia, accusing the agency of unfairly publicizing its inquiry into Clinton’s email practices while staying quiet about the Republican presidential candidate.

SEOUL, (Reuters) – South Korea’s presidential office yesterday named a new prime minister and finance minister, the highest-level shake-up yet since President Park Geun-hye’s administration was rocked by a scandal involving a friend accused of meddling in state affairs.

BANGKOK,  (Reuters) – Thailand’s rice management committee said yesterday it will offer loans worth $1.29 billion to jasmine rice farmers struggling with falling prices, on the condition that they store the grain for six months to slow down market supply.

EAST OF MOSUL, Iraq, (Reuters) – Iraqi forces battled Islamic State fighters on the eastern edge of Mosul yesterday as the two-week campaign to recapture the jihadists’ last main bastion in Iraq entered a new phase of urban warfare.

ISLAMABAD, Reuters) – Pakistani opposition leader Imran Khan backed down from a threat to paralyse the capital today, a move likely to ease tension that has spilled over into violence in the run-up to the planned protests.

EAST OF MOSUL, Iraq (Reuters) – Advancing Iraqi troops broke through Islamic State defences in an eastern suburb of Mosul yesterday, taking the battle for the insurgents’ stronghold into the city limits for the first time, a force commander said.

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich/KENT, Ohio (Reuters) – Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump called Democratic rival Hillary Clinton a threat to the country yesterday, saying that if she is elected a probe into her emails could shadow her entire term in office, as the latest Reuters/Ipsos poll showed Clinton’s lead narrowing slightly.

PARIS (Reuters) – French riot police swooped on a makeshift migrant camp in northeast Paris yesterday, sparking a brief standoff at a site where numbers have soared since the closure of the Jungle shanty town in the northern port city of Calais.

BEIRUT (Reuters) – Syria’s army said yesterday the Nusra Front and what the army called other terrorist groups had killed 84 people, mostly women and children, in Aleppo during the past three days, in a bombardment that included chemical weapons and rocket fire.

BEIRUT,  (Reuters) – The Lebanese parliament elected former army commander Michel Aoun as president on Monday, ending a 29-month presidential vacuum as part of a political deal that is expected to make Sunni Muslim leader Saad al-Hariri prime minister.

WASHINGTON,  (Reuters) – Federal investigators have secured a warrant to examine newly discovered emails related to Hillary Clinton’s private server, a source familiar with the matter said yesterday, as a prominent Democrat accused FBI Director James Comey of breaking the law by trying to influence the election.

CARACAS, (Reuters) – Venezuela’s unpopular socialist leader Nicolas Maduro shook hands with opposition leaders at Vatican-convened talks yesterday, but his wary foes threatened to boycott further meetings if some demands were not quickly met.

AMMAN/BEIRUT, (Reuters) – Syrian rebels opened a new front in Aleppo as fighting spread on the third day of a major insurgent counter-attack to break the government’s siege of the opposition-held part of the city, and each side accused the other of using poison gas.

AMSTERDAM,  (Reuters) – Dutch anti-Islam opposition leader Geert Wilders goes on trial today for inciting hatred and discrimination, 18 months after he led a chant for fewer Moroccans in the country and called them scum during campaigning for local elections.

NORCIA, Italy, (Reuters) – A powerful earthquake struck Italy yesterday in the same central regions that have been rocked by repeated tremors over the past two months, with more homes and churches brought down but no deaths reported.

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla/GOLDEN, Colo (Reuters) – Hillary Clinton yesterday challenged FBI Director James Comey to provide a fuller explanation of investigative steps he is taking related to her use of a private email server, as the Democratic presidential candidate accused him of “deeply troubling” behaviour 10 days before the US elections.

BRUSSELS (Reuters) – The European Union and Canada will sign a free trade agreement today that aims to boost jobs and growth after weeks of uncertainty and opposition in part of EU member Belgium that had threatened to scupper the entire deal.

(Reuters) – Native American leaders vowed yesterday to protest through the winter against a North Dakota oil pipeline they say threatens water resources and sacred lands and are weighing lawsuits over police treatment of arrested protesters.