US-CHINA US President Donald Trump said he will sign the first phase of a trade deal with China on Jan. 15, sealing an agreement that sees the Asian nation raising purchases of American farm goods in exchange for lower tariffs on some of its products. The date has yet to be confirmed by the Chinese side.
INDONESIA Residents of Jakarta who had been forced into shelters by widespread flooding began returning to their homes yesterday as the waters started to recede, though the death toll from the disaster jumped to 30. Monsoon rains and rising rivers submerged at least 182 neighborhoods in greater Jakarta starting Wednesday and caused landslides in the Bogor and Depok districts on the city’s outskirts.
INDIA A factory manufacturing batteries in the Indian capital caught fire and collapsed yesterday, killing one firefighter and injuring 19 others, officials said.A fire official said three people were rescued from the debris of the building.
SRI LANKA The Swiss Embassy in Sri Lanka said that the safety of diplomatic missions is the responsibility of the host state, days after a local staffer who complained of being assaulted was released on bail while being investigated for maligning the government.
LEBANON The justice minister said yesterday that Lebanon has received an international wanted notice from Interpol for Nissan’s ex-chair Carlos Ghosn, four days after he fled Japan to Lebanon before a trial on financial misconduct charges.
ISRAEL Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu asked parliament to grant him immunity from prosecution on corruption charges, blocking the start of his trial for months. “Immunity is designed to protect public figures from being framed, so elected figures can serve the people at the will of the people,” Netanyahu said in a televised statement yesterday, vowing to “tear to pieces all the baseless allegations against me.” On Sunday, he called immunity “a cornerstone of democracy.”
TURKEY The parliament is expected to authorize President Recep Tayyip Erdogan yesterday to order the deployment of troops to Libya to back the UN-recognized government against rival forces, deepening a proxy war that’s drawn in Russia and regional powers. The one-year mandate would give Erdogan the power to decide the size, makeup and duration of the force to be dispatched at the request of the government of Libyan Prime Minister Fayez al-Sarraj.
US Bernie Sanders says he raised more than $34.5 million in the final three months of last year, showing that a recent heart attack hasn›t slowed the Vermont senator›s fundraising prowess with the start of the Democratic presidential primaries looming. Sanders’ campaign said yesterday that the haul came from more than 1.8 million donations, including from 40,000 new donors on the final day of the year alone.
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