COLOMBO (Reuters) – A Sri Lankan court has banned the feared brother of former President Mahinda Rajapaksa from foreign travel, police said on Tuesday, over allegations he used a commercial floating armory as weaponry for a “private army”. The move against for... More »
LETPADAN, Myanmar (Reuters) – – Myanmar police beat students with batons and detained some of them as they broke up a group of about 200 protesters who had been locked in a standoff with security forces for more than a week, a Reuters witness said. The student... More »
BEIJING (Reuters) – Chinese extremists have joined the Islamic State and authorities have broken up gangs that returned from fighting abroad, the Communist Party boss of China’s western Xinjiang region said on Tuesday, arguing that secrecy was needed to save l... More »
SEOUL (Reuters) – The U.S. ambassador to South Korea said on Tuesday he plans to maintain his open, approachable style despite being slashed by a knife-wielding Korean nationalist five days ago, causing him wounds that required 80 stitches in his face. Lippert... More »
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The United States declared Venezuela a national security threat on Monday and ordered sanctions against seven officials from the oil-rich country in the worst bilateral diplomatic dispute since socialist President Nicolas Maduro took off... More »
BAGHDAD/ERBIL,Iraq (Reuters) – Islamic State militants have destroyed ancient remains of the 2,000-year-old city of Hatra in northern Iraq, officials said on Saturday, in their latest attack on Iraqi antiquities which the United Nations condemned as barbarism.... More »
WARSAW (Reuters) – Britain’s foreign minister said on Friday the European Union would prepare possible new sanctions on Russia for its involvement in the Ukraine conflict that could be imposed quickly if the Minsk ceasefire agreement is broken. Both Kiev and p... More »
JERUSALEM (Reuters) – A Palestinian motorist rammed his vehicle into a group of people standing near a Jerusalem tram stop on Friday, injuring at least five, including four security officials, Israeli police said. None of those hit was seriously injured. The i... More »
BERLIN (Reuters) – The second-highest ranking U.S. diplomat promised on Friday to maintain pressure on Russia via economic sanctions to get it to change tack on Ukraine but appeared to rule out arming Kiev, saying Moscow would easily be able to send many more ... More »
MOSCOW (Reuters) – Prominent Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny walked out of a Moscow detention center on Friday, a week after fellow opposition leader Boris Nemtsov was shot dead in what his allies say was a political killing aimed at intimidating them. Wearing a... More »
HANOI (Reuters) – Vietnam’s Communist Party chief will visit the United States this year, Washington’s ambassador said on Friday, in a landmark trip underlining a rapid strengthening of ties between former foes still at odds over human rights. Nguyen Phu Trong... More »
BEIJING (Reuters) – Retired Chinese President Hu Jintao is not being implicated in a corruption probe into a former top aide, a senior government spokesman said on Friday, adding that the official was being investigated more over financial issues than politica... More »
TOKYO (Reuters) – Japan is looking into creating an overseas intelligence agency possibly modeled on Britain’s MI6 spy service, ruling party lawmakers say, 70 years after Allied victors dismantled Japan’s fearsome military intelligence apparatus following Worl... More »
BEIJING (Reuters) – China’s defense budget this year will rise about 10 percent compared with 2014, a top government official said on Wednesday, outpacing the slowing economy as the country ramps up investment in high-tech equipment such as submarines and stea... More »
DONETSK, Ukraine (Reuters) – A blast at a coal mine in the eastern Ukrainian rebel stronghold of Donetsk killed more than 30 people, a local official said on Wednesday, with dozens more miners who were underground at the time unaccounted for. Miners’ relatives... More »
LONDON (Reuters) – Britain’s anti-EU UK Independence Party set out its immigration policy on Wednesday ahead of a national election on May 7, dropping an idea to cap numbers but saying it thought “the right number” was less than 50,000 people a year. UKIP, whi... More »
MONTREUX, Switzerland (Reuters) – The U.S. and Iranian foreign ministers began a third day of talks over Iran’s nuclear program on Wednesday, just hours after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had warned that the deal being negotiated was a serious mis... More »
NEW DELHI (Reuters) – A documentary film about the fatal gang rape of a woman in New Delhi in 2012 has been banned in India over government concerns about derogatory comments made by one of the rapists and the violation of guidelines set for filmmakers. Leslee... More »
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned the United States on Tuesday that it was negotiating a bad deal with Iran that could spark a “nuclear nightmare,” drawing a rebuke from President Barack Obama and exposing a deepening U.S.... More »
LONDON (Reuters) – The United States’ army chief of staff said he was very concerned about the impact of cuts to British defense spending that he said had forced a review of how Britain’s troops could be deployed alongside U.S. forces in future conflicts. In a... More »
ANKARA (Reuters) – Energy Minister Taner Yildiz said on Monday Turkey will explore for oil in the Qandil region of Iraq and that a move towards disarmament by the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) should pave the way for this to happen. Yildiz told report... More »
BEIJING (Reuters) – Chinese President Xi Jinping gave a warm welcome to Prince William on Monday as he began the first visit to the mainland by a member of the British royal family in almost three decades, setting aside rancor with London over Hong Kong. Willi... More »
HONG KONG (Reuters) – Hong Kong police arrested 38 people after a group of about 400 demonstrators clashed with police, in the latest sign of tension caused by China’s influence in the city. Protesters in Yuen Long, in the New Territories just a stone’s throw ... More »
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The United States and Israel showed signs of seeking to defuse tensions on Sunday ahead of a speech in Washington by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu when he will warn against a possible nuclear deal with Iran. Policy difference... More »
RIYADH (Reuters) – Egypt’s President Abdel Fatteh el Sisi met Saudi Arabia’s King Salman in Riyadh on Sunday for the pair’s first in-depth talks on regional issues at a time of unprecedented turmoil in the Middle East. The meeting was aimed at strengthening bi... More »
BAGHDAD (Reuters) – Iraq’s armed forces, backed by Shi’ite militia, attacked Islamic State strongholds north of Baghdad on Monday at the start of a campaign aimed at driving them out of the mainly Sunni Muslim province of Salahuddin. The offensive is the bigge... More »
LONDON (Reuters) – Islamist militant Mohammed Emwazi, identified as ‘Jihadi John,’ was a member of a network in contact with one of the men convicted of trying to bomb the British capital’s underground railway in 2005, according to the government. The man dubb... More »
WASHINGTON/JERUSALEM (Reuters) – The United States and Israel showed signs of seeking to defuse tensions on Sunday ahead of a speech in Washington by Israeli leader Benjamin Netanyahu when he will warn against a possible nuclear deal with Iran. Policy differen... More »
PARIS (Reuters) – A French lawmaker who went to Damascus for the first talks with Syrian officials since the 2012 closure of France’s embassy there faces possible ejection from the ruling Socialist Party, its chairman said on Thursday. The possible sanction fo... More »
BERLIN (Reuters) – An overwhelming majority of German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s conservatives supported an extension of the Greek bailout in a test ballot on Thursday, one day before a vote in the Bundestag lower house of parliament, according to participants... More »
THAE CHAUNG, Myanmar (Reuters) – In this teeming camp for displaced Rohingya Muslims in western Myanmar, it’s easy to overlook the internet huts. The raw emotion they generate is much harder to ignore. The huts have bamboo walls, thatched roofs and – most impo... More »
KIEV (Reuters) – Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko is likely to order government forces to start pullng back heavy weapons in the country’s east on Thursday under a Feb. 12 peace deal, a military source said. “We expect the statement by the president later ... More »
NEW DELHI (Reuters) – Rahul Gandhi, a leader of India’s Congress party, is taking a leave of absence from parliament to focus on party work, an official said, setting off speculation of a long-awaited change in the party to revive its fortunes. Gandhi, the pre... More »
SYDNEY (Reuters) – Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott on Monday announced a national security crackdown that could deny welfare payments to people seen as potential threats, strip the passports of those with dual nationality and curb travel overseas. Abbott... More »
PARIS (Reuters) – France’s Charles de Gaulle aircraft carrier has started military operations against Islamic State in Iraq, a French army source said on Monday. “The carrier and its naval group has officially started missions as part of its Chammal operation ... More »
BUDAPEST (Reuters) – Hungary’s ruling right-wing alliance lost its two-thirds majority in parliament after the opposition won a by-election on Sunday, hampering Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s chances of changing the constitution and passing major legislation. O... More »
CAIRO (Reuters) – An Egyptian court sentenced prominent activist Alaa Abdel Fattah to five years in jail on Monday for violating a law that seeks to curtail demonstrations, legislation branded repressive by rights groups. The court erupted into chants of “Down... More »
KATHMANDU (Reuters) – Nepal will arrange regular weather forecasts and tighten safety measures on Mount Everest to reassure climbers, an official said on Monday, after an avalanche killed 16 sherpas last year in the worst disaster in the history of the world’s... More »
KIEV (Reuters) – Ukraine’s military said on Monday it could not start withdrawing heavy weapons from the frontline in the east as pro-Russian separatists had not stopped attacking government positions despite a ceasefire deal. Over the weekend, rebels and the ... More »
ATHENS (Reuters) – Greece’s government prepared reform measures on Sunday to secure a financial lifeline from the euro zone, but was attacked for selling “illusions” to voters after failing to keep a promise to extract the country from its international bailou... More »
KABUL (Reuters) – The United States is considering slowing a planned withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan to ensure that “progress sticks” after more than a decade of war, new Defense Secretary Ash Carter said during an unannounced visit to Kabul on Satu... More »
BRUSSELS (Reuters) – Euro zone finance ministers agreed in principle on Friday to extend Greece’s financial rescue by four months, averting a potential cash crunch in March that could have forced the country out of the currency area. The deal, to be ratified o... More »
BRUSSELS (Reuters) – Greece and the euro zone are close to a deal on a financing-for-reforms package, a senior Greek official said ahead of a crucial meeting of euro zone finance ministers later on Friday. The official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, ... More »
ROCKHAMPTON, Australia (Reuters) – A powerful cyclone slammed into northeast Australia on Friday, destroying homes, upending trees, cutting power lines and causing flash floods, while a second storm severed communications to a northern island where heavy damag... More »
ZURICH (Reuters) – Two passenger trains collided in Switzerland on Friday, causing injuries and disrupting commuter routes into Zurich, police and rail operator SBB said. One of the trains derailed in the accident in Rafz, a small town near the German border a... More »
ISTANBUL (Reuters) – Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said on Friday Turkey and the United States aimed to start a program to train and equip moderate Syrian rebels early next month. The United States and Turkey signed an agreement on Thursday to trai... More »
KIEV/VUHLEHIRSK, Ukraine (Reuters) – Fighting persisted in east Ukraine on Friday despite new European efforts to ensure a ceasefire takes hold. The Ukrainian military said pro-Russian separatists had attacked positions held by government troops 49 times in th... More »
ATHENS (Reuters) – Greece has made every effort to reach a mutually beneficial agreement with its euro zone partners but will not be pushed to implement its old bailout program, its government spokesman said on Friday. “The Greek government has done all it sho... More »
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. President Barack Obama on Thursday urged countries to tackle violent Islamist militancy around the world and rejected as “an ugly lie” suggestions that the West was at war with Islam and embroiled in a clash of civilizations. Obama ... More »
ATHENS/BRUSSELS (Reuters) – Germany rejected a Greek proposal for a six-month extension to its euro zone loan agreement on Thursday, saying it was “not a substantial solution” because it did not commit Athens to stick to the conditions of its international bai... More »
HONG KONG (Reuters) – Hong Kong leader C.Y. Leung, nicknamed the “wolf” by critics, said residents of the Chinese-controlled city should be more like sheep after a year “rife with differences”, including months of sometimes violent pro-democracy street protest... More »
BANGKOK (Reuters) – Thai Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha said on Wednesday that his government had approved a 5 billion baht ($154 million) budget to alleviate drought in the country. Thailand is battling drought in eight of 76 provinces. Earlier this month t... More »
KIEV (Reuters) – Some pro-government forces began on Wednesday to pull out of the east Ukrainian town of Debaltseve which is under siege from Russian-backed separatists, commanders of pro-government paramilitary units said. “The withdrawal of forces from Debal... More »
ATHENS (Reuters) – Greece’s government confirmed it would ask on Wednesday for an extension to its loan agreement with the euro zone, which it distinguishes from its full bailout program. “Let’s wait today for the request for an extension of the loan contract ... More »
WAZA, Cameroon (Reuters) – A Nigerian armored personnel carrier spattered with blood, riddled with bullets and towed into an army base in northern Cameroon is a potent reminder of Boko Haram’s ability to strike across borders in its six-year war for an Islamic... More »
TOKYO (Reuters) – International advisers to Japan’s atomic regulator have raised concern a mandatory review of its performance could lead to a loss of independence for the body, which was set up in the wake of the 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster. A lack of ind... More »
JAKARTA (Reuters) – Indonesian President Joko Widodo on Wednesday dropped his nominee for the post of national police chief after weeks of public outcry over the candidate’s implication in a bribery scandal. Widodo’s indecisiveness over the appointment after t... More »
ASTANA (Reuters) – Kazakhstan’s parliament asked President Nursultan Nazarbayev on Wednesday to set the date for an early election which is likely to extend his rule over the oil producing nation into a fourth decade. The lower house of parliament, dominated b... More »
BRUSSELS/ATHENS (Reuters) – A war of words between Greece and EU paymaster Germany escalated on Tuesday with Athens’ new leftist prime minister rejecting what he called “blackmail” to extend an international bailout and vowing to rush through laws to reverse l... More »
SYDNEY (Reuters) – Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott has warned Indonesia of the potential for diplomatic fallout if Jakarta goes ahead with the looming execution of two Australian citizens on death row for drugs charges. Indonesia has harsh penalties for ... More »
VUHLEHIRSK, Ukraine (Reuters) – A government-held town in east Ukraine sandwiched between two rebel-controlled areas came under heavy shelling on Monday, a day after the start of a ceasefire that Russian-backed separatists say does not apply there. A Kiev mili... More »
COPENHAGEN (Reuters) – Danish police said on Monday they had charged two people with aiding the man suspected of shooting dead two people in attacks on a synagogue and an event promoting free speech in Copenhagen at the weekend. The shootings, which Prime Mini... More »
CAIRO (Reuters) – Egypt’s air force bombed Islamic State targets inside Libya on Monday, a day after the group released a video appearing to show the beheading of 21 Egyptians there. It was the first time Egypt confirmed launching air strikes against the group... More »
BERLIN (Reuters) – Germany’s euroskeptic Alternative for Germany (AfD) party may win seats in its first western state on Sunday, buoyed by worries Greece’s new anti-austerity government could unleash a fresh wave of turmoil in the euro zone. The right-leaning ... More »
BRUSSELS (Reuters) – Greece and its international creditors started talks on Friday on reforms needed to keep the country financed, increasing the possibility of a interim compromise deal between the euro zone and Athens at a ministerial meeting on Monday. The... More »
JERUSALEM (Reuters) – Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu backed down in a fight over Israel’s most prestigious arts and sciences award on Friday, saying he would not meddle in the prize days after removing several of its judges for not reflecting “Israeli socie... More »
ATHENS (Reuters) – Greece will make every effort to reach an agreement with its euro zone partners at Monday’s meeting of euro zone finance ministers on how to transition to a new support program, its government spokesman said on Friday. “We will do whatever w... More »
KIEV (Reuters) – Eight Ukrainian service personnel have been killed and 34 wounded in fighting against separatists in eastern Ukraine in the past 24 hours, a Kiev military spokesman said on Friday, despite a four-power peace deal worked out in Belarus. “In the... More »
NEW YORK (Reuters) – More than two dozen news organizations and advocacy groups have agreed to back international safety standards for freelancers in the wake of kidnappings and killings of journalists around the world. The document calls for news organization... More »
BRUSSELS (Reuters) – The European Central Bank could help reduce the euro zone’s debt overhang by acquiring all euro zone bonds maturing between 2016 and 2020 as well as the associated interest payments, the chief economist of Syriza, Greece’s ruling party, sa... More »
LISBON (Reuters) – Portugal has largely assuaged fears it is the euro zone’s weakest link after Greece, although it could still be stung if a confrontation between the left-wing government in Athens and European creditors ends in “Grexit”. At the height of Eur... More »
TOKYO (Reuters) – A push by Japan to correct perceived bias in accounts of the country’s wartime past is creating a row that risks muddling the positive message in a mammoth public relations campaign to win friends abroad. The PR campaign, which has a budget o... More »
KIEV/DONETSK, Ukraine (Reuters) – Nine Ukrainian soldiers have been killed and 26 wounded in fighting with Russian-backed separatists in Ukraine’s eastern regions in the past 24 hours, a Kiev military spokesman said on Monday. The spokesman, Vyacheslav Selezny... More »
NAKHON NAYOK, Thailand (Reuters) – The United States said on Monday its relationship with longtime ally Thailand was going through a “challenging” period as the two sides began a major military exercise, scaled down over Washington’s concerns about the junta l... More »
ISTANBUL (Reuters) – Europe needs to be bolder in boosting investment and needs to take policy steps that encourage private sector spending particularly in infrastructure, Italian Economy Minister Pier Carlo Padoan said on Monday. “We need to be bolder in Euro... More »
SEOUL (Reuters) – A South Korean appeals court sentenced a former head of the national spy agency to three years in jail on Monday for meddling in the 2012 presidential election and helping Park Geun-hye win the vote. The Seoul High Court said Won Sei-hoon, wh... More »
DILI (Reuters) – East Timor’s president is expected to decide on a new prime minister by the end of this week after accepting the resignation of independence hero Xanana Gusmao, the government said in a statement on Monday. Gusmao, 68, a guerrilla leader who h... More »
ASHKELON, Israel (Reuters) – In this seaside city once ruled by the Greeks and Phoenicians but now largely populated by Russians, the talk in the caviar-stocked delis and jewelry stores is of upcoming elections and Israel’s powerful Russian vote. After the col... More »
SYDNEY (Reuters) – Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott survived a challenge to his leadership on Monday after his ruling Liberal Party voted down a motion to unseat him after weeks of infighting, but the attempted revolt appears likely to weaken his grip on ... More »
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The Obama administration is pushing euro zone leaders to compromise more with Greece’s new government as fears grow that a protracted budget stand-off could damage the global economy, the Financial Times reported on Sunday. The U.S. lobb... More »
ROME (Reuters) – If Greece is forced out of the euro zone, other countries will inevitably follow and the currency bloc will collapse, Greek Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis said on Sunday, in comments which drew a rebuke from Italy. Greece’s new leftist gove... More »
MUNICH (Reuters) – Secretary of State John Kerry denied on Sunday that a split has emerged between Washington and Europe over how to handle Russia, after leading U.S. senators sharply criticized Germany and other countries who oppose sending arms to the Ukrain... More »
BOGOTA (Reuters) – Colombia’s Marxist FARC rebels have invited the newly-crowned Miss Universe Paulina Vega, a native of the country’s Caribbean coast, to attend their peace negotiations with the government, a bid to end 50 years of fighting. The 22-year-old V... More »
TAIPEI (Reuters) – A TransAsia plane that crashed into a river in Taipei, killing 35 people, failed to produce enough thrust after take-off, authorities said on Friday, revealing one engine was turned off and restarted. Flight GE235 was carrying 58 passengers ... More »
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. lawmakers introduced legislation on Thursday to broaden sanctions against North Korea by imposing stiffer punishments on foreign companies doing business with Pyongyang, a measure that could impact mostly on Chinese firms. “In the w... More »
BEIRUT (Reuters) – Islamic State’s defeat in Kobani and other recent setbacks in Syria suggest the group is under strain but far from collapse in the Syrian half of its self-declared caliphate. Islamic State’s high-profile defeat by Kurdish militia backed by U... More »
HONG KONG (Reuters) – A fire at a warehouse in China has killed at least 17 people, state news agency Xinhua said on Friday, the latest disaster in a country with a poor record on work safety. The fire broke out at on Thursday afternoon on the fourth floor of ... More »
SYDNEY (Reuters) – Embattled Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott said he will fight a challenge to his leadership at a party-room meeting next week after disgruntled government lawmakers on Friday sought to oust him following weeks of divisive speculation. A... More »
KOBANI, Syria (Reuters) – Kurds are celebrating after flushing Islamic State militants out of the town of Kobani, but victory is not yet certain in their campaign to cement hard-won autonomy in northern Syria. Hundreds of U.S.-led coalition air strikes have de... More »
BEIRUT (Reuters) – Syrian air force strikes killed 82 people in an opposition district outside Damascus following rocket attacks by rebels that hit the government-controlled center of the capital, a monitoring group said on Friday. The Syrian Observatory for H... More »
GORNJA MAOCA, Bosnia (Reuters) – Flags and emblems of Islamic State, pictured on Wednesday on houses in a Bosnian village, disappeared on Thursday under threat of action by police wary of the dangers posed by radical Islamists returning from Syria and Iraq. Th... More »
BRUSSELS (Reuters) – EU Economics Commissioner Pierre Moscovici said fellow members of the bloc were willing to work with the new Greek government to keep Athens in the euro zone but stressed it must respect bailout commitments made by the previous administrat... More »
FRANKFURT/BRUSSELS (Reuters) – The European Central Bank abruptly canceled its acceptance of Greek bonds in return for funding on Wednesday, shifting the burden onto Athens’ central bank to finance its lenders and isolating Greece unless it strikes a new refor... More »
LONDON/ATHENS (Reuters) – Greece’s new government dropped calls for a write-off of its foreign debt and proposed ending a standoff with its official creditors by swapping the debt for growth-linked bonds on Monday, a week after its election on an anti-austerit... More »
NICOSIA/LONDON (Reuters) – Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras ruled out seeking aid from Russia and said on Monday he would pursue negotiations for a new debt agreement with European partners, but saw little sign of compromise from Germany. Tsipras and his fi... More »
BEIRUT (Reuters) – Islamic State militants are withdrawing from areas around the Syrian town of Kobani, a group monitoring the war said on Monday, after Kurdish and Arab fighters met little resistance as they seized new ground overnight. Kurdish ground forces,... More »
YENAKIEVE, Ukraine (Reuters) – Separatist rockets streaked across hills in eastern Ukraine on Monday as rebels pounded the positions of Ukrainian government troops holding a strategic rail town while both sides pressed ahead with mobilizing more forces for com... More »
LILLE, France (Reuters) – Dominique Strauss-Kahn, the former IMF chief tipped to become French president before a New York hotel maid accused him of sexual assault in 2011, went on trial in France on Monday in a separate case of alleged procuring of prostitute... More »
SEOUL (Reuters) – The daughter of the boss of Korean Air Lines (003490.KS), on trial in what has popularly become known as the “nut rage” case, treated flight crew like “feudal slaves”, a chief steward said in court on Monday. Heather Cho, daughter of Korean A... More »
BANGKOK (Reuters) – Thai Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha ordered security to be tightened in Bangkok on Monday after two small bombs rattled a luxury shopping mall and stoked tension in a city under martial law since a coup in May. Two people were slightly hu... More »
