Reuters: World

Putin waves a sarcastic goodbye to foreign business departing Russia President Vladimir Putin waved a sarcastic farewell on Thursday to foreign businesses which have left Russia over the conflict in Ukraine, saying their departure would benefit Russian companies. Speaking to senior officials at a meeting broadcast on state television, Putin said those companies had suffered major losses as a result of exiting a large and lucrative market. "Today many of them (Western brands), under pressure from their governments, are leaving our market. All the best to them," he said, briefly waving his hand in a farewell gesture. read more

U.S. may target Chinese entities linked to spy balloon The United States will explore taking action against entities connected to China's military that supported the flight of a Chinese spy balloon into U.S. airspace last week, a senior State Department official said on Thursday. Washington is confident that the manufacturer of the Chinese balloon, shot down by the U.S. military last weekend off the U.S. East Coast, has a "direct relationship" with the People's Liberation Army (PLA), the official said in a statement. White House spokesperson Karine Jean-Pierre echoed the notion that Washington would look at taking action, but the U.S. government has not specified what measures are under consideration. read more

Turkey leader acknowledges earthquake relief problems as death toll passes 12,000 President Tayyip Erdogan on Wednesday admitted there were problems with his government's initial response to a devastating earthquake in southern Turkey, amid anger from those left destitute and frustrated over the slow arrival of rescue teams. Erdogan, who contests an election in May, said on a visit to the disaster zone that operations were now working normally and promised no one would be left homeless, as the combined reported death toll in Turkey and neighbouring Syria rose past 12,000. The death toll from both countries was expected to rise as hundreds of collapsed buildings in many cities have become tombs for people who had been asleep when the quake hit. Melek, 64, bemoaned the lack of rescue teams. "We survived the earthquake, but we will die here due to hunger or cold." read more

U.S. briefed 40 nations on China spy balloon incident, diplomats and official say The United States held briefings in Washington and Beijing with foreign diplomats from 40 nations about the Chinese spy balloon that entered the U.S. airspace in late January, a senior administration official and diplomats said on Tuesday. U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman on Monday briefed nearly 150 foreign diplomats across 40 embassies, the official said, while in Beijing the U.S. embassy gathered foreign diplomats on Monday and Tuesday to present U.S. findings about the balloon. "We want to make sure that we are sharing as much as we can with countries around the world who may also be susceptible to these types of operations," the senior administration official said. read more

Major earthquake kills 3,700 in Turkey and Syria, weather hits survivors A huge earthquake killed more than 3,700 people across a swathe of Turkey and northwest Syria on Monday, with freezing winter weather adding to the plight of the thousands left injured or homeless and hampering efforts to find survivors. The magnitude 7.8 quake brought down whole apartment blocks in Turkish cities and piled more devastation on millions of Syrians displaced by years of war. It struck before sunrise in harsh weather and was followed in the early afternoon by another large quake. In Diyarbakir in southeast Turkey, a woman speaking next to the wreckage of the seven-storey block where she lived said: "We were shaken like a cradle. There were nine of us at home. Two sons of mine are still in the rubble, I'm waiting for them." read more

Major earthquake hits Turkey, Syria; hundreds dead, many trapped More than 1,400 people were killed and thousands injured on Monday when a huge earthquake struck central Turkey and northwest Syria, pulversing apartment blocks and heaping more destruction on Syrian cities already devastated by years of war. The magnitude 7.8 quake, which hit in the early darkness of a winter morning, worst to strike Turkey this century. It was also felt in Cyprus and Lebanon. It was followed in the early afternoon by another large quake, magnitude 7.7. It was not immediately clear how much damage had been done by the second quake, also felt across the region as rescue workers were struggling to pull casualties from rubble in bitter weather. read more

Turkey's President Erdogan says Western missions will 'pay' for closures Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said Western missions would "pay" for issuing security warnings and temporarily closing consulates in Turkey last week, while police said there was no serious threat to foreigners after detaining 15 Islamic State suspects on Sunday. Ankara summoned the ambassadors of nine countries on Thursday to criticise their decisions to temporarily shut diplomatic missions and issue security alerts. Turkish officials said the following day that Western nations, including the United States and Germany, had not shared information to back up their claims of a security threat. "The other day our foreign ministry summoned all of them and gave the necessary ultimatum, told them 'You will pay for this heavily if you keep this up,'" Erdogan said during a meeting with youth that was pre-recorded and broadcast on Sunday. read more

U.S. fighter jet shoots down suspected Chinese spy balloon A U.S. military fighter jet shot down a suspected Chinese spy balloon off the coast of South Carolina on Saturday, a week after it first entered U.S. airspace and triggered a dramatic -- and public -- spying saga that worsened Sino-U.S. relations. President Joe Biden said he had issued an order on Wednesday to take down the balloon, but the Pentagon had recommended waiting until it could be done over open water to safeguard civilians from debris crashing to Earth from thousands of feet (meters) above commercial air traffic. "They successfully took it down, and I want to compliment our aviators who did it," Biden said. read more

Sri Lanka successfully completing pre-requisites for IMF support, hope for quick deal - President Sri Lanka is successfully completing pre-requisites to unlock a $2.9 billion bailout from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and expects consent from the global lender without delay, President Ranil Wickremesinghe said on Saturday. "We are successfully completing the difficult stage required to get support from the International Monetary Fund (IMF). We expect to get their consent without delay," Wickremesinghe said in his address to the nation to mark the 75th Independence Day.

Tesla's Elon Musk found not liable in trial over 2018 'funding secured' tweets A U.S. jury on Friday found Tesla Inc (TSLA.O) CEO Elon Musk and his company were not liable for misleading investors when Musk tweeted in 2018 that he had "funding secured" to take the electric car company private. Plaintiffs had claimed billions in damages and the decision also had been seen as important for Musk himself, who often takes to Twitter to air his views. The jury came back with a unanimous verdict roughly two hours after beginning deliberations. Musk was not present in court when the verdict was read but soon tweeted that he was "deeply appreciative" of the jury's decision. read more

Republicans oust Ilhan Omar from high-profile U.S. House committee U.S. House of Representatives Republicans on Thursday ousted Democrat Ilhan Omar from a high-profile committee over remarks widely condemned as antisemitic, two years after Democrats removed two Republicans from committee assignments. The deeply divided House voted 218-211 along party lines to remove Omar from the Foreign Affairs Committee with Republicans citing the 2019 remarks for which she later apologized. One Republican voted "present." Omar, who arrived in the United States as a refugee from Somalia, is the only African-born member of Congress and one of the only Muslim women in the House. She was in line to be the top Democrat on the foreign affairs panel's Africa subcommittee. read more

Chinese spy balloon flies over the United States, Pentagon says A suspected Chinese spy balloon has been flying over the United States for a couple of days, U.S. officials said on Thursday, in what would be a brazen act just days ahead of a planned trip to Beijing by U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken. Fighter jets were mobilised but military leaders advised President Joe Biden against shooting the balloon out of the sky for fear debris could pose a safety threat, advice Biden accepted, U.S. officials said. The United States took "custody" of the balloon when it entered U.S. airspace and had observed it with piloted U.S. military aircraft, one of the officials told reporters on condition of anonymity. The incident recalls the lengths to which Beijing and Washington have been willing to go to spy on each other amid rising tensions between the superpowers. read more