Reuters World News Summary

Following is a summary of current world news briefs.

Syrian troops enter northeastern town after deal with Kurdish forces: state media

Syria's troops have entered a northeastern town, Syrian state media said on Monday, after Washington announced it was abruptly pulling out its forces, and its former Kurdish allies reached a deal with Damascus to help resist a Turkish attack. The abrupt U.S. withdrawal from the eight-year Syrian war, and the potential return of the Syrian army to the Kurdish-controlled northeast, are major victories for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and his allies Russia and Iran.

Thousands march in Kiev in protest against Donbass peace plan

Thousands of people marched through central Kiev on Monday to protest against President Volodymyr Zelenskiy's deal with Moscow to grant special status to a pro-Russian rebel-held region of eastern Ukraine as part of efforts to end a five-year conflict there. Around 20,000 people, including war veterans, took part in the rally 'No capitulation' against what they say are unacceptable concessions by Zelenskiy over the Donbass region.

Japan typhoon death toll rises to 58 as hopes for missing fade

The death toll in the worst typhoon to hit Japan for decades climbed to 58 on Tuesday as rescuers slogged through mud and debris in an increasingly grim search for the missing and as thousands of homes remained without power or water. The storm hit a wide swathe of central and eastern Japan, with 15 missing and some 211 injured nearly three days after Typhoon Hagibis - whose name means "speed" in the Philippine language Tagalog - lashed Japan with high winds and intense rains, NHK national broadcaster said.

Trump to soon issue sanctions, stop trade deal, and ratchet up tariffs on Turkey

President Donald Trump on Monday said that in response to Turkey's incursion into Syria he will soon issue an executive order authorizing sanctions against current and former Turkish officials, stop negotiations with Turkey on a $100 billion trade deal, and boost tariffs on Turkish steel to 50 percent. In a statement in which he vowed to swiftly destroy the Turkish economy if it continues down "this dangerous and destructive path," Trump also said that U.S. troops coming out of Syria will redeploy and remain in the region to monitor the situation.

Spain jails Catalan separatist leaders, sparking protests, clashes

Spain's Supreme Court on Monday jailed nine Catalan separatist leaders for between nine and 13 years for their role in a failed independence bid, a decision that triggered mass protests in the region and left the future course of the dispute uncertain. Barcelona's international airport became the focal point of the protests. As thousands rallied at its entrance, riot police charged at the crowd on several occasions using batons and firing foam balls to prevent the risk of a forced mass entry, police said. At least three people were arrested in the region.

Special Report: The hunt for Asia's El Chapo

He is Asia’s most-wanted man. He is protected by a guard of Thai kickboxers. He flies by private jet. And, police say, he once lost $66 million in a single night at a Macau casino. Tse Chi Lop, a Canadian national born in China, is suspected of leading a vast multinational drug trafficking syndicate formed out of an alliance of five of Asia’s triad groups, according to law enforcement officials. Its members call it simply “The Company.” Police, in a nod to one of Tse’s nicknames, have dubbed it Sam Gor, Cantonese for “Brother Number Three.”

Rule-breaking Booker judges honor Atwood, Evaristo with rare double prize

Margaret Atwood's "The Testaments" and Bernardine Evaristo's "Girl, Woman, Other" jointly won the Booker Prize on Monday in a surprise double award in which the literary prize recognized its oldest and first black woman winners. The authors will split the 50,000 pounds ($62,800) annual prize, the judging panel said. The award honors "the best novel of the year written in English and published in the UK and Ireland."

France jails women for failed Notre Dame car bombing: report

A French court on Monday handed down sentences of at least 25 years in jail for two women with ties to Islamist militants who made a failed attempt to set off a crude car bomb outside Paris's Notre-Dame cathedral three years ago, Le Figaro newspaper reported. One of the women enticed her fellow defendant to join the plot by posing online as a male Islamist militant who had returned from Syria and was seeking a bride, French media reported.

Nigerian police rescue 67 from 'inhuman' conditions at Islamic 'school'

Police in northern Nigeria rescued nearly 70 men and boys from a second purported Islamic school where they were shackled and subjected to "inhuman and degrading treatments." The raid in Katsina, the northwestern home state of President Muhammadu Buhari, came less than a month after about 300 men and boys were freed from another supposed Islamic school in neighboring Kaduna state where they were allegedly tortured and sexually abused.

Ecuador's Moreno calms protests with vow to repeal fuel subsidy cuts

Ecuadorean President Lenin Moreno on Monday promised to repeal an IMF-backed decree that slashed fuel subsidies, as triumphant protesters who had agitated against it went home and the capital picked up the pieces left by nearly two weeks of unrest. The law eliminated four-decade-old fuel subsidies and was estimated to have freed up nearly $1.5 billion per year in the government budget, helping to shrink the fiscal deficit as required under a deal Moreno signed with the International Monetary Fund.