News You May Have Missed

• Russian President Vladimir Putin signed an order expanding retaliatory sanctions on Turkey. • The Iraqi army declared victory over Islamic State fighters in the Anbar province capital of Ramadi after retaking a key government complex. • Iraq's armed forces will next move to retake the major northern city of Mosul from the Islamic State, Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi said. • Two thousand Syrian Islamist rebel fighters are expected to leave besieged areas of southern Damascus in a deal brokered by the United Nations. • At least 32 people were killed and another 90 were wounded by a pair of bomb blasts in the Syrian city of Homs. • Pakistan and Afghanistan agreed to hold a quadrilateral meeting during the first week in January also involving China and the United States on a comprehensive road map for a “meaningful peace” in Afghanistan. • Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi made a surprise stopover in Pakistan to meet with Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif. • The Russian economy shrank 4 percent on the year in November and 3.8 percent between January and November. • The Kazakh government approved its comprehensive privatization plan for 2016-2020. • China officially ended its "one child policy." • Two nuclear reactors at the Takahama nuclear plant in Japan have been authorized to restart after a Japanese court lifted an injunction. • Vast areas in Paraguay, Argentina, Uruguay and Brazil were hit by severe flooding, forcing more than 150,000 people to evacuate.