World

SEOUL, (Reuters) – North Korea said it successfully tested a miniaturised hydrogen nuclear device today, claiming a significant advance in its strike capability and setting off alarm bells in Japan and South Korea.

WASHINGTON, (Reuters) – Wiping back tears as he remembered children killed in a mass shooting, President Barack Obama yesterday ordered stricter gun rules that he can impose without Congress and urged American voters to reject pro-gun candidates.

CARACAS, (Reuters) – Venezuela’s opposition took control of Congress for the first time in 16 years yesteday in a rowdy session, setting up a power struggle with President Nicolas Maduro amid a worsening economic crisis.

CARACAS, (Reuters) – Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro yesterday eliminated the National Assembly’s control over nomination and removal of central bank directors through a legal reform that the opposition slammed as aimed at curtailing its power a day before it takes leadership of the legislature.

UNITED NATIONS/DUBAI, (Reuters) – Saudi Arabia said yesterday it would restore ties with Iran when Tehran stopped meddling in the affairs of other countries and pledged that Riyadh would continue to work “very hard” to support bids for peace in Syria and Yemen despite the spat.

WASHINGTON, (Reuters) – The United States expressed concern yesterday that the Venezuelan government is trying to obstruct the actions of the country’s National Assembly, which convenes today for its first session with an opposition majority in more than 16 years.

WASHINGTON, (Reuters) – U.S. authorities took 121 people into custody over the weekend, primarily in Texas, Georgia and North Carolina, as immigration authorities moved to deport families who entered the United States illegally after May 2014, officials said yesterday.

SANTIAGO, (Reuters) – Chile’s internal revenue service (IRS) said yesterday that it has asked a local court to initiate a criminal investigation of President Michelle Bachelet’s daughter-in-law, Natalia Compagnon, for tax crimes.

(Reuters) – Grammy-winning singer Natalie Cole, whose biggest hit came in a virtual duet with her late father, pop legend Nat King Cole, of his decades-old hit “Unforgettable,” has died at the age of 65, her family said today.

WASHINGTON, (Reuters) – President Barack Obama will take his case for new gun control measures directly to the American people this week while proposing new executive actions in a final big effort to reduce gun violence during his last year in office.

DUBAI/RIYADH, (Reuters) – Saudi Arabia cut ties with Iran yesterday, responding to the storming of its embassy in Tehran in an escalating row between the rival Middle East powers over Riyadh’s execution of a Shi’ite Muslim cleric.

KIGALI, (Reuters) – The United States is “deeply disappointed” by Rwandan President Paul Kagame’s New Year’s announcement that he would seek a third term in 2017, according to the U.S.

TEGUCIGALPA, (Reuters) – The United States has requested the extradition of Jaime Rosenthal, the 80-year-old Honduran banker and politician accused of participating in a scheme that moved illicit funds through U.S.

RIYADH (Reuters) – Saudi Arabia executed a prominent Shi’ite Muslim cleric and dozens of al Qaeda members yesterday, signalling that it would not tolerate attacks, whether by Sunni jihadists or minority Shi’ites, and stirring sectarian anger across the region.

DUBAI (Reuters) – Angry Iranian protesters stormed Saudi Arabia’s embassy in Tehran in the early hours today, smashing furniture and starting fires before being removed by the police.

PATHANKOT/NEW DELHI, India (Reuters) – Militants launched a deadly attack on an Indian Air Force base near the Pakistan border yesterday, exchanging fire with Indian forces who, backed by tanks and helicopters, battled for more than 15 hours before wresting back control of the compound.

MOSCOW (Reuters) – A new appraisal names the United States as one of the threats to Russia’s national security for the first time, a sign of how relations with the west have deteriorated in recent years.

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) – The newly installed mayor of the Mexican city of Temixco was killed yesterday, according to a tweet from Morelos state Governor Graco Ramirez.

(Reuters) – In the same week that comedian Bill Cosby was arrested on sexual assault charges, his wife, Camille Cosby, learned she must testify in a civil case against the entertainer filed by seven women who said he defamed them, court documents said.

RIYADH, (Reuters) – Saudi Arabia executed a prominent Shi’ite Muslim cleric and dozens of al Qaeda members today, signalling it would not tolerate attacks by either sunni jihadists or minority shi’ites seeking equality, but stirring sectarian anger across the region.