Philippines' Duterte says Xi offering gas deal if arbitration case ignored

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte said his Chinese counterpart has offered Manila a controlling stake in a joint energy venture in the South China Sea, if it sets aside an international arbitral award that went against Beijing.

from Reuters: World News https://ift.tt/2Q21pcI

Read More

Bahamas says 2,500 missing after Dorian; prime minister warns death toll to rise 'significantly'

Some 2,500 people are still listed as missing in the Bahamas more than a week after Hurricane Dorian pummeled the Caribbean island chain, although that number may include evacuees who fled to shelters, authorities said on Wednesday.

from Reuters: U.S. https://ift.tt/2LXXAAb

Read More

California church leaders charged with forced labor of homeless

Twelve leaders of a Southern California-based church have been arrested on charges of coercing dozens of mostly homeless people into forced labor, holding them captive and compelling them to panhandle hours a day to collect money for their overseers.

from Reuters: U.S. https://ift.tt/2ULwQH0

Read More

Mexico sees diminished threat of U.S. tariffs after effort to curb migration

Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said on Wednesday the U.S. threat of tariffs on Mexican goods had lessened, after his top envoy met President Donald Trump and other Washington officials to assess progress on reducing migration.

from Reuters: World News https://ift.tt/2AagnT5

Read More

U.S. Supreme Court allows Trump to deny asylum to many Central Americans

The U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday granted a request by President Donald Trump's administration to fully enforce a new rule that would curtail asylum applications by immigrants at the U.S.-Mexico border, a key element of his hardline immigration policies.

from Reuters: World News https://ift.tt/30bZthE

Read More

What to look for in the Democratic debate

Biden, Warren, Sanders, Harris - for the first time all the front-runners will share the spotlight.

from BBC News - World https://ift.tt/2NYiq50

Read More

Brexit: How are the UK's talks with the EU going?

Has there been any progress in the UK's talks in Brussels since Boris Johnson became prime minister?

from BBC News - World https://ift.tt/2Ihk0vd

Read More

Another of Brazil president's sons facing civil, criminal probe: prosecutors

Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro's son Carlos is under investigation by the Rio de Janeiro state prosecutor's office, it said on Wednesday, making him the second of the far-right leader's sons to be probed by state investigators.

from Reuters: World News https://ift.tt/2UMjZnZ

Read More

Tongan Prime Minister Pohiva, 78, dies in New Zealand

Tongan Prime Minister 'Akilisi Pohiva, who was being treated for pneumonia at a hospital in Auckland, has died, New Zealand media said on Thursday.

from Reuters: World News https://ift.tt/2Na25dU

Read More

New environment minister says Japan should stop using nuclear power

Japan's newly installed environment minister, Shinjiro Koizumi, wants the country to close down nuclear reactors to avoid a repeat of the Fukushima catastrophe in 2011.

from Reuters: World News https://ift.tt/2LsMCnd

Read More

Trump immigration plans: Supreme Court allows curb on migrants

The rules allow the US to reject asylum claimants who have not applied en route to the US border.

from BBC News - World https://ift.tt/2LIDlGt

Read More

Final body found in California boat fire, Coast Guard issues lithium battery warning

Divers on Wednesday recovered the remains of the final victim of a California dive boat fire that killed 34 people, as the U.S. Coast Guard issued a safety bulletin focusing on emergency escape routes, crew training and the charging of lithium-ion batteries.

from Reuters: U.S. https://ift.tt/31fV5zt

Read More

California approves statewide rent control to deal with housing crunch

California lawmakers on Wednesday passed a statewide cap on annual rent increases for most tenants, the boldest step yet to address an affordable housing crunch that has helped push people into the streets.

from Reuters: U.S. https://ift.tt/2I390Bo

Read More

U.S. judge approves novel framework for opioid settlement talks

A federal judge on Wednesday approved the substance of a proposal by lawyers representing cities and counties suing drug companies over the U.S. opioid epidemic that would bring every state and municipality in the country into their settlement talks.

from Reuters: U.S. https://ift.tt/2I38RxQ

Read More

Purdue Pharma 'reaches tentative agreement' to settle opioid cases

The manufacturer of painkiller OxyContin stands accused of helping fuel a deadly US crisis.

from BBC News - World https://ift.tt/2LJww7n

Read More

Purdue Pharma 'reaches tentative agreement' to settle opioid cases

The manufacturer of painkiller OxyContin stands accused of helping fuel a deadly US crisis.

from BBC News - Business https://ift.tt/2LJww7n

Read More

El Salvador sends hundreds of police to border to thwart migrants

El Salvador's government will deploy at least 800 police to its borders with Honduras and Guatemala in a bid to thwart U.S.-bound migrants, officials said on Wednesday.

from Reuters: World News https://ift.tt/32yVLQE

Read More

Colombia's armed forces on alert over Venezuela military exercises

The Colombian military is on alert in response to Venezuelan armed forces exercises along the two nations' border that Colombia considers an open threat, a senior military commander said on Wednesday.

from Reuters: World News https://ift.tt/2Nbrfsz

Read More