Donald Trump has signed an executive order overturning measures put in place by Barack Obama to curb global warming in a move the president described as ending the war on coal. The new measures include lifting restrictions on green-house gas emissions by coal-fired power stations. The mining industry has welcomed the move.
Germany’s federal prosecutor has opened an investigation into suspected spying by Ankara on Turks living in Germany. It follows reports that Turkish intelligence handed to its German counterpart a list of alleged supporters of the man Ankara blames for last year’s failed coup—the US-based Muslim cleric Fethullah Gulen. Germany’s interior minister said spying by Ankara on Turks living in Germany was criminal and would not be tolerated.
The Colombian government says it will overrule the result of a referendum held on Sunday, where almost all the town’s residents voted against a new gold mining project, which they fear will damage the environment and pollute water sources. The mining minister said the referendum had no power to change the law.
The Scottish parliament has voted in favour of making a formal request to the government in London to hold a new independence referendum. Scotland voted in 2014 to remain part of the United Kingdom, but Scotland’s first minister said circumstances have changed now that Britain is leaving the European Union.
A top US military commander in Iraq, Lieutenant-General Steve Townsend, has acknowledged that the United States was probably involved in an explosion in western Mosul that killed many civilians earlier this month. Local sources put the number of dead at 150.
A Japanese man in his 60s has become the first person to undergo a groundbreaking surgery aimed at saving his sight. A new kind of stem cell created from mature donor cells were used to treat a degenerative condition in the patient’s eyes.
