Reuters, Washington
U.S. President Donald Trump and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke by phone on Thursday, discussing topics including the political crisis in the Maldives, the war in Afghanistan and the plight of Rohingya refugees from Myanmar, the White House said.
The Trump administration has launched an effort to deepen military and economic ties with India as a way to balance China’s assertive posture across Asia.
Putin, 7 more in Russian presidential fray
Xinhua, Moscow
A total of eight people, including President Vladimir Putin, have been officially confirmed to run for Russia’s March 18 presidential elections, the Central Election Commission said Thursday.
The names of the eight candidates will be arranged in alphabetical order on the ballots, it said.
Cambodian shoe-thrower arrested
AP, Phnom Penh, Cambodia
A woman who threw a shoe at a billboard depicting Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen has been arrested after she was repatriated from Thailand, where the U.N. refugee agency reportedly had formally recognized her as a refugee. Human Rights Watch called on the Cambodian government to immediately release labor activist Sam Sokha and criticized Thai authorities for sending her back against her will.
US urges Cambodia to take back deportees
Reuters, Phnom Penh
The United States has urged Cambodia to take back people that Washington wants to deport, a U.S. official visiting Cambodia said on Friday, referring to Cambodians who have been convicted of crimes or overstayed their visas.
Washington stopped issuing some types of visas to Cambodia’s foreign ministry employees and their families in September after Phnom Penh’s refusal to take back deported citizens.
Two British IS fighters captured in Syria
AFP, Washington
Two British Islamic State fighters, members of a kidnapping cell dubbed “The Beatles” that was notorious for videotaping beheadings, have been captured in Syria, a US defense official confirmed Thursday.
The two members of the group who had still been in the field, Alexanda Amon Kotey and El Shafee el-Sheikh, both from Britain, were captured in January in eastern Syria by the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces.
