Donald Trump and his Republican allies unleashed a controversial memo accusing the FBI of bias and abuse of power Friday, intensifying a high-stakes fight between the White House and prosecutors investigating the president s campaign team. Trump defied his own FBI director and the Justice Department to declassify the four-page Republican document, which implies malfeasance and partisanship at the very top of American law enforcement.

The UN special envoy on human rights in Myanmar said Thursday that the Myanmar military’s violent operations against Rohingya Muslims bear “the hallmarks of a genocide.” Yanghee Lee told reporters in Seoul, where she is based, that she couldn’t make a definitive declaration about genocide until a credible international tribunal or court had weighed the evidence, but “we are seeing signs and it is building up to that.”

France will start offering euro-denominated loans to Iranian buyers of its goods later this year, to help trade flourish outside the reach of U.S. sanctions, the head of state-owned investment bank Bpifrance said. France has been looking to boost trade with Iran ever since Paris, Washington and other world powers agreed in 2015 to lift many sanctions on Iran in exchange for controls on its nuclear programme.

Austria s chancellor has pledged to ban a controversial student fraternity for promoting neo-Nazi ideas. The group faced widespread criticism after reports revealed it had printed songbooks celebrating the Holocaust. Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz told reporters on Wednesday that he would launch proceedings to shut the fraternity down.

France plans to unveil a bill to tighten rules on supermarket promotions after a Nutella sale at supermarket chain Intermarche sparked brawls in several stores. The sale saw jars of Nutella discounted by 70 percent. In a bid to prevent a repeat of brawls over the popular chocolate spread, France s Economy Minister, Bruno Le Maire, met with the director of French supermarket chain Intermarche on Tuesday, to encourage the supermarket giant to cease similar promotions.

A confidential report prepared for the British government and leaked on Monday suggests all UK industries will be hurt by leaving the European Union, Buzzfeed News reported The findings are the latest embarrassment for British Prime Minister Theresa May’s government, which has faced renewed criticism from other EU leaders about the lack of a coherent Brexit strategy.

The grotesque sexual assault on an eight-month-old baby in Delhi is the latest in a series of rapes that has prompted serious soul-searching as to why authorities are failing to protect women and girls. A 28-year-old man has been arrested in the Indian capital on charges of raping his eight-month-old female cousin.

The Kremlin said on Monday that a new U.S. sanctions report expected to be released imminently was an attempt to influence Russia s presidential election in March, but predicted it would fail to impact the vote. The United States could release reports as early as Monday detailing the possibilities for expanding sanctions against Russia, including a list of oligarchs and potential restrictions on the holding of Russian government debt.

French prosecutors have reopened a probe into allegations of rape involving Budget Minister Gerald Darmanin. He denies any wrongdoing, and cabinet colleagues have rallied around him. France’s 35-year-old budget minister and Cabinet high achiever, Gerald Darmanin, has been accused of rape in a case dating back nearly 10 years.

U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said on Saturday that working groups on fixing what the U.S. sees as flaws in the Iranian nuclear deal have already begun to meet, trying to determine the scope of what is needed and how much Iran needs to be engaged in it. Tillerson, ending a week-long European trip in Warsaw, said that he had secured support from Britain, France and Germany - all parties to the 2015 agreement - to work on the deal that President Donald Trump has warned he will walk away from unless changes are made.

Jeff Sessions was in his office, looking unusually deflated. He had just received another public lashing from President Donald Trump. Trump had browbeaten his attorney general for months after Sessions decision to step aside from the intensifying Russia investigation. Never mind that Sessions has proved fiercely devoted to his boss, carrying out Trump s agenda while giving him credit every step of the way. Trump was unforgiving.

The United States delivered another two Black Hawk helicopters to key Arab ally Jordan on Sunday to help protect the kingdom s borders and counter the threat from Islamist militants. The helicopters were handed over at the King Abdullah II Air Base in northeast Jordan. They were the last batch of 12 Black Hawks delivered to Jordan since March 2017. An American embassy statement said the aircraft "will strengthen the Jordan Armed Forces (JAF), its Quick Reaction Force and Jordan s security".

Vienna, Jan 25, 2018 (AFP) -The United Nations will make a fresh push from Thursday to jump-start Syrian peace talks, as violence continues to rage in a seven-year-old war that has killed more than 340,000 people. The two days of negotiations in Vienna come after eight previous rounds in Geneva, the last one in December, that failed to get the different parties even to talk to each other.

Senior members of Chancellor Angela Merkel s conservative bloc said on Thursday they would not give ground to the Social Democrats (SPD) on immigration as the two parties prepare to launch make-or-break negotiations on forming a government. The SPD voted by a whisker on Sunday to start coalition talks with the conservatives, but many members are sceptical about a re-run of the "grand coalition" that has ruled Germany since 2013. The SPD got its worst election result in the post-war era in September and many members fear a further fall in votes.

The United States is committed to free and fair trade while bracing itself for possible retaliation from China over new tariffs, top US Cabinet members said Wednesday, ahead of a much-ballyhooed visit by President Donald Trump to the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. Days after Trump backed new tariffs on imported solar-energy components and large washing machines, his combative commerce secretary, Wilbur Ross, conceded that China could respond by imposing its own tariffs on US products.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Wednesday vowed to press Turkey s offensive against a Kurdish militia in Syria until "the last terrorist" was killed, as the US ramped up its concerns over the campaign. Turkey on Saturday launched operation "Olive Branch" together with Syrian rebels and Turkish warplanes striking targets to oust the Kurdish People s Protection Units (YPG) militia from its Afrin enclave in northern Syria.

One soldier died and 11 others were injured while skiing in central Japan on Tuesday, the result of flying rocks sent airborne during a sudden eruption of a volcano, officials said.

At least one person was killed in a shooting Tuesday at a Kentucky high school, Gov. Matt Bevin said. "Tragic shooting at Marshall County HS ... Shooter is in custody, one confirmed fatality, multiple others wounded," Bevin tweeted.

U.S. Vice President Mike Pence said on Tuesday the timing of a long-awaited U.S. Middle East peace initiative depended on the return of Palestinians to negotiations.

French authorities on Saturday charged a 33-year-old man, who had pledged allegiance to the Islamic State Group in a video, with planning a terror attack, judicial sources said.

A motorcycle bomb exploded at a market Monday morning in southern Thailand, killing three people and injuring 18, police said.