Politics

  ISTANBUL / AP Turkey has identified the gunman in the Istanbul nightclub massacre, the foreign minister said on Wednesday as the president vowed that the country won’t surrender to terrorists or become divided. The gunman, who killed 39 people during New Year’s celebrations at the Reina club, is still at large. But Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said authorities had identified ...

  BEIRUT / AP Turkey warned on Wednesday that repeated cease-fire violations by Syria’s government were threatening peace talks scheduled for later this month. Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said the talks in Kazakhstan were scheduled for January 23, to be preceded by preparatory meetings between Turkish and Russian “experts”in Turkey. The Syrian government and allied militias have pressed on with ...

  BEIJING / AP An official allegedly shot and injured two leaders of a city in southwestern China on Wednesday as the pair held a meeting in a conference center, and later killed himself, local authorities said. The suspect entered the venue where the Communist Party chief and mayor of Panzhihua city in Sichuan province were meeting and shot continuously ...

  TEL AVIV / AP An Israeli soldier was convicted of manslaughter on Wednesday in the deadly shooting of an incapacitated Palestinian attacker, capping a nine-month saga that has deeply divided the country. The verdict, which marks an extremely rare instance of an Israeli military court siding against a soldier over lethal action taken in the field, threatened to deepen the ...

  Bloomberg India’s Election Commission announced poll dates for five states—including Uttar Pradesh, a politically crucial election that will gauge the popularity of Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the wake of his disruptive cash ban move. Uttar Pradesh, a bellwether state of 200 million people that sends more representatives to India’s upper house than any other region, will vote in ...

  DUBAI / AP An Arab separatist group has claimed two pipeline bombings in Iran’s oil-rich south and threatened to launch more attacks in the coming year as the country tries to boost production following the nuclear deal with world powers. Iranian state media and officials did not immediately comment on the claim by the Arab Struggle Movement for the Liberation ...

  WASHINGTON / AP President Barack Obama is traveling to the Capitol to give congressional Democrats advice on how to combat the Republican drive to dismantle his health care overhaul. Vice President-elect Mike Pence is meeting with GOP lawmakers to discuss the best way to send Obama’s cherished law to its graveyard and replace it with — well, something. The ...

  France / AP A French activist farmer faces up to five years in prison as he goes on trial accused of helping African migrants cross the border from Italy. The case has called attention to residents of the Roya valley in the Alps and others who have resisted anti-migrant sentiment and are offering food, lodging or other aid to ...

  WASHINGTON / AP Officials are investigating after a prominent part of Washington’s skyline went dark. The National Park Service tweeted Tuesday night that the Washington Monument’s lights went out around 7 p.m. Officials later said they believe there’s a problem with the automated program that controls the monument’s lights and electricians will be able to confirm whether that is ...

  PARIS / AP A French court has granted the son of Equatorial Guinea’s president more time to prepare his defense against charges that he spent millions in government funds on high-end cars, art and real estate abroad while his compatriots languish in poverty. Teodoro Nguema Obiang Mangue’s lawyer requested a delay in the trial, arguing that he hadn’t had ...