Reuters News Agency

Syrian rebels prepare to withdraw from Aleppo as truce begins | Reuters

By Laila Bassam and Angus McDowall | ALEPPO, Syria/BEIRUT ALEPPO, Syria/BEIRUT Syrian rebels prepared to withdraw from Aleppo on Wednesday after a ceasefire agreement that ended years of fighting in the city and gave President Bashar al-Assad his biggest victory yet after more than five years of war.The agreement was a result of talks between Russia, Assad's main ally, and Turkey, a leading backer of the rebels, a Turkish government official said. The guns fell silent late on Tuesday in Aleppo

Islamic State made weapons in Mosul up to military standards, report says | Reuters

ERBIL, Iraq Islamic State militants have been producing weapons on a scale and sophistication which matches national military forces and have standardised production across their self-styled caliphate, an arms monitoring group said on Wednesday.Conflict Armament Research (CAR) said the jihadist group had a "robust supply chain" of raw materials from Turkey, and the technical precision of its work meant that it could not be described as "improvised" weapons production."Although production facilities employ a range of non-standard materials and chemical explosive precursors, the degree of organisation, quality control, and inventory management indicates a complex, centrally controlled industrial production system," it said in a report following visits last month to six facilities once operated by Islamic State in eastern Mosul.Iraq's military launched a sweeping operation on Oct. 17 to retake the northern city, the jihadists' last major stronghold in the country, more than two years after government forces dropped their weapons and fled.Elite army troops have retaken a quarter of the city in a gruelling U.S.-backed campaign, but their advance has been slow and punishing.

Asia ready for Fed hike, nervous on rate outlook | Reuters

By Wayne Cole | SYDNEY SYDNEY Asia shares trailed Wall Street higher on Wednesday while the U.S. dollar held steady, with markets certain the Federal Reserve will raise rates for the first time in a year but less sure what it might signal for policy in 2017.

Happiness still elusive in Russia, many ex-Soviet states 25 years after USSR - survey | Reuters

By Marc Jones | LONDON LONDON A quarter of a century after the collapse of the Soviet Union, life satisfaction in Russia and other ex-Soviet states remains stubbornly low, and enthusiasm for democracy and open market economics is wavering, a survey published on Tuesday showed.The study found that only 15 percent of Russians think their households have a better quality of life, compared with 30 percent in 2010 when respondents were last asked, and only 9 percent see their finances as better than four years ago.Just over half the respondents from former Soviet states also thought a return to a more authoritarian system would be a plus in some circumstances, the study by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and the World Bank said.The EBRD, created 25 years ago to invest in former communist countries, questioned households across ex-Soviet bloc for more than a decade for its "Life in Transition" project, polling 51,000 households in 34 countries from Estonia to Mongolia. They did find the "happiness gap" with Western Europe had narrowed, thanks to improvements in central Asia, the Baltic states and central Europe but also because of less satisfaction in parts of Europe, including Germany and Italy

White House - Reversing U.S. opening to Cuba would be harmful | Reuters

WASHINGTON The White House said on Tuesday it would be "very damaging" to both Cubans as well as the United States' standing in Latin America if the next administration reverses President Barack Obama's normalization of relations with Cuba."We're seeing real progress that is making life better for Cubans right now. Sustaining this policy will allow for further opening ..

U.S. urges Taiwan to increase defence spending given China threat | Reuters

By David Brunnstrom | WASHINGTON WASHINGTON Defence spending in Taiwan has not kept pace with the threat posed by China and should be increased, a senior U.S. defence official said on Tuesday, days after U.S. President-elect Donald Trump touched off a storm by questioning American policy over the island.Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense Abraham Denmark said the Obama administration's "One China" policy remained unchanged, but he could not predict Trump's intentions when he takes office on Jan

Monte Paschi confirms ECB rejected request for more time to raise capital | Reuters

MILAN Troubled Italian lender Monte dei Paschi di Siena (BMPS.MI) confirmed on Tuesday that the European Central Bank had rejected its request for more time to raise capital, a move that piles pressure on the Italian government to inject money into the bank.Italy's third-largest bank had asked the ECB for a three-week extension to Jan. 20 to raise 5 billion euros, citing political turmoil following the resignation of Prime Minister Matteo Renzi in the wake of his heavy defeat in a referendum on constitutional reform on Dec. 4.However, the ECB told the Monte dei Paschi such a delay could cause a further deterioration in its liquidity position and a worsening of its capital base, Monte dei Paschi said in a statement.This could, in turn, threaten the lender's survival, the ECB said in its draft decision, according to the statement from the bank.Monte dei Paschi's board meets on Wednesday to assess whether the conditions are in place for it to launch a last-ditch privately-funded attempt as early as Thursday to raise the cash it needs to stay in business

Explosion heard in central Baghdad | Reuters

BAGHDAD Reuters bureau staff heard an explosion in central Baghdad shortly after midnight on Wednesday. (Reporting by Maher Chmaytelli; Editing by Kevin Liffey)

Bollore turns up the heat on Berlusconi over Mediaset stake | Reuters

By Agnieszka Flak and Gwénaëlle Barzic | MILAN/PARIS MILAN/PARIS French tycoon Vincent Bollore has raised the stakes in a battle with Silvio Berlusconi's Mediaset (MS.MI) by saying Vivendi (VIV.PA) could buy up to a fifth of the Italian broadcaster, stirring talk of a hostile takeover bid. Bollore is the chairman and biggest shareholder of Vivendi, which said on Tuesday it had raised its Mediaset stake to 12.3 percent. On Monday the French firm had said it had 3 percent of Mediaset but aimed to raise that to 20 percent as part of plans to expand in southern Europe.But later on Tuesday, Berlusconi's Fininvest, Mediaset's controlling shareholder, said it had bought 27.6 million shares in the Italian broadcaster and had rights to buy 14 million more on Wednesday to reach 39.775 percent of voting capital.Mediaset was not immediately available to comment.The struggle between Vivendi and Mediaset highlights the pressure to consolidate among European media and telecoms groups, which are facing increasing competition from online providers such as Netflix (NFLX.O) and Amazon (AMZN.O).Last week, Rupert Murdoch made a $14 billion bid for British pay-TV firm Sky Plc (SKYB.L), while the U.S

Afghan First Vice President denies abusing rival, West urges investigation | Reuters

KABUL Afghanistan's First Vice President Abdul Rashid Dostum denied on Tuesday accusations that he had beaten and abducted a political rival and threatened him with sexual violence, in a case that sparked Western calls for a full and fair investigation.Dostum, a former warring faction commander with a fearsome reputation and a lingering power base in northern Afghanistan, was witnessed by hundreds of people, according to The New York Times, beating and then ordering his men to detain Ahmad Ishchi at a public sporting event in late November.Ishchi was once a member of the same political faction as Dostum but later fell out with him.Reuters has been unable to confirm independently the accusations made by Ishchi against Dostum."He (Ishchi) was detained by Afghan security forces for allegations of funding the opposition and having a hand in repeated security issues," a spokesperson for Dostum said in a statement, denying any physical or sexual abuse had taken place."For some time there has been a destructive movement by some unknown circles against the First Vice President," it added.Afghan President Ashraf Ghani's office promised a thorough investigation of Ishchi's accusations.While imprisoned by Dostum's men, Ishchi told Reuters he was repeatedly beaten, including by rifles, and threatened with sexual violence. After being held by men loyal to Dostum for five days, Ishchi said he remained for another 10 days with security forces who provided medical aid."NOBODY IS ABOVE THE LAW" Pledging an investigation into Ishchi's claims, Afghan presidential spokesman Haroon Chakhansori said: "For the Afghan government nobody is above the law