World

Sophie Kinsella, author of Shopaholic book series, dies aged 55

LONDON, Dec 10 (Reuters) - British novelist Sophie Kinsella, the author of the bestselling Shopaholic series of books, has died aged 55 following illness, a statement posted to her Instagram account said on Wednesday.

World

Indigenous Guard across the Amazon unite forces to protect their territories

SINANGOE, Ecuador, Dec 10 (Reuters) - About 200 members of Indigenous groups from Ecuador, Colombia and Peru gathered early this month in Ecuador's Amazonian community of Sinangoe, wedged along the border with neighboring Colombia, to collectively strategize how to defend their ancestral lands. To mark the occasion, they drank sap from the ancestral yoco plant, and cleansed their energies with tobacco and nettle leaves. 

World

Chile set to elect its most right-wing president since Pinochet

SANTIAGO, Dec 10 (Reuters) - With a commanding lead in opinion polls and an electorate clamoring for security, far-right candidate Jose Antonio Kast is widely expected to win Chile's presidential run-off on Sunday and become the country's most conservative leader since its military dictatorship. 

World

Exclusive-Colombia's ELN rebels willing to resume talks, leader says

BOGOTA, Dec 10 (Reuters) - Colombian guerrilla group the National Liberation Army (ELN) is willing to resume peace negotiations with the current government or with whatever new government is elected next year if commitments previously agreed upon at stymied peace talks are honored, the group's top commander told Reuters.

World

Broad slice of Americans oppose Venezuela boat strikes, Reuters/Ipsos poll finds

WASHINGTON, Dec 10 (Reuters) - A broad swath of Americans oppose the U.S. military's campaign of deadly strikes on boats suspected of carrying illegal drugs in Caribbean and Pacific waters near Venezuela, including about one fifth of President Donald Trump's Republicans, a Reuters/Ipsos poll found.

World

UN human rights office in "survival mode" amid major funding cuts

GENEVA, Dec 10 (Reuters) - The United Nations human rights chief said on Wednesday his office was in "survival mode" due to major funding cuts from global donors, while rights violations and needs in conflict-affected areas surge.

World

Analysis-Thailand–Cambodia border clash tests Trump's tariff diplomacy

BANGKOK, Dec 10 (Reuters) - In July, it took a call from U.S. President Donald Trump and the threat of crushing tariffs to halt five days of fierce fighting between Thailand and Cambodia.

World

Poland could give Ukraine MiG jets in swap for drone tech

WARSAW, Dec 10 (Reuters) - Poland is in talks to transfer MiG-29 jets to Ukraine in exchange for access to Ukrainian drone technology, Defence Minister Wladyslaw Kosiniak-Kamysz said on public radio on Wednesday.

World

Hungary's Orban government moves to stem fallout from juvenile centre abuse case

BUDAPEST, Dec 10 (Reuters) - Hungary's government has put state-run juvenile detention centres under direct police oversight, Prime Minister Viktor Orban's chief of staff said on Wednesday, trying to stem the political fallout from an abuse scandal at one such facility.

World

At least 22 killed in collapse of two buildings in Moroccan city of Fez

RABAT, Dec 10 (Reuters) - At least 22 people were killed and 16 others injured overnight when two adjacent buildings collapsed in Fez, one of Morocco's oldest cities, the prosecutor said on Wednesday.One building was unoccupied, while the second was hosting an Aqiqah, a traditional Muslim celebration marking the birth of a child, the Fez prosecutor said in a statement.

World

Families on both sides caught in crossfire as Thai-Cambodian fighting continues

SAI THO 10 VILLAGE, Thailand/SAMRAONG, Cambodia, Dec 10 (Reuters) - Thousands of families on both sides of the disputed border separating Thailand and Cambodia have fled to escape a bitter new conflict between the two Southeast Asian nations, but some have been forced to stay behind.

World

Turkey in talks to rejoin US F-35 fighter jet programme, envoy says

ANKARA, Dec 10 (Reuters) - The U.S. is in discussions with Turkey regarding Ankara's rejoining the F-35 fighter jet programme and Washington hopes that talks will yield a breakthrough in the coming months, the U.S. ambassador to Turkey said on Wednesday.

World

Nobel Peace Prize laureate Machado will not attend award ceremony, NRK reports

OSLO, Dec 10 (Reuters) - Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado will not attend the Nobel Peace Prize award ceremony in Oslo on Wednesday, broadcaster NRK reported, citing the Norwegian Nobel Institute.

World

Brazil's lower house approves bill to cut Bolsonaro's jail term

BRASILIA, Dec 10 (Reuters) - Brazil's lower house early on Wednesday approved a bill that could potentially cut former President Jair Bolsonaro's prison term from 27 years to just over two if the Senate also backs the measure.

World

Vietnam set to make it harder for media to protect sources, to expand state secrets

HANOI, Dec 10 (Reuters) - Vietnam's parliament adopted reforms to the media and state secrets laws on Wednesday which press freedom advocates say will make it harder for journalists to protect the identities of their sources and increase legal risks for reporting.

World

Games-Cambodia pulls team out of SEA Games in Thailand over border conflict

BANGKOK, Dec 10 (Reuters) - Cambodia on Wednesday withdrew its team from the Southeast Asian Games in Thailand for safety reasons, as a border conflict between the two neighbours raged for a third day. 

World

'This is the end': Australian teens mourn loss of social media as ban begins

SYDNEY, Dec 10 (Reuters) - Australian teenagers have taken to social media for the last time to farewell their followers and mourn the loss of the platforms that shaped much of their lives before a world-first ban took effect on Wednesday.

World

South Korea's Lee calls for probe into links between religious group and politics

SEOUL, Dec 10 (Reuters) - South Korean President Lee Jae Myung has called for an investigation into the suspected illegal links between a religious group and politicians, Lee's office said on Wednesday.

World

Australia social media watchdog sees common cause with US as age ban begins

SYDNEY, Dec 10 (Reuters) - The regulator overseeing Australia's world-first teenage social media ban rejected the "technological exceptionalism" championed by mostly U.S.-based platforms and said a groundswell of American parents wanted similar measures.

World

Japan did not aim radar at Chinese jets during Saturday's incidents, defence minister says

TOKYO, Dec 10 (Reuters) - Japanese fighter jets did not aim radar at Chinese jets during Saturday's close encounter incidents, Defence Minister Shinjiro Koizumi said on Wednesday, in response to a Chinese media report disputing Japan's account on the event.