China carries out live fire drills, unclear if aimed at Taiwan
BEIJING (Reuters) – China’s military has conducted live-fire drills along the southeast coastline, state television reported, but it was unclear if these were the same exercises that had been flagged as taking place in the sensitive Taiwan Strait.
Despite strikes, Syria’s Assad can still wage chemical attacks: U.S. sources
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. assessments following the U.S., British and French missile strikes on Syria show they had only a limited impact on President Bashar al-Assad’s ability to carry out chemical weapons attacks, four U.S. officials told Reuters.
Trump hopes for successful North Korea summit, but warns he could walk away
PALM BEACH, Fla. (Reuters) – U.S. President Donald Trump said on Wednesday he hoped an unprecedented summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un would be successful after a recent visit to Pyongyang by CIA Director Mike Pompeo, but warned he would call…
Jailed Lula’s likely heir tries to keep Brazil’s left together
SAO PAULO (Reuters) – The most likely political heir to jailed former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva insists the leftist leader is still the Workers Party’s candidate for the October elections, but he is preparing to step into the role.
Merkel, Macron meet to plot euro zone reform road map
BERLIN (Reuters) – The leaders of Germany and France meet on Thursday to try to work out a common position on reforming the euro zone, a sensitive issue that is testing the new government in Berlin just a month after it took office.
Saudi cinema launch ends decades-old ban, public screenings start Friday
RIYADH (Reuters) – Saudi Arabia launched its first commercial movie theater on Wednesday, ending a nearly 40-year ban on cinemas under a push by the crown prince to modernize the deeply conservative Muslim kingdom.
North Korea to hold plenary meeting of party central committee on Friday: KCNA
SEOUL (Reuters) – North Korea will hold a plenary meeting of its ruling party’s central committee on Friday, state media KCNA said on Thursday.
Bitcoin heist suspect flees Iceland on flight carrying PM: state broadcaster
REYKJAVIK (Reuters) – An Icelandic man arrested on suspicion of stealing about 600 computers used to mine the cryptocurrency Bitcoin escaped prison and fled the country on a commercial flight to Sweden, Icelandic state broadcaster RUV said on Wednesday…
Castro nears retirement as Cuban president, lawmakers vote on successor
HAVANA (Reuters) – Cuba’s Raul Castro was just hours away from retiring as president on Wednesday, with his vice president Miguel Diaz-Canel set to replace him in a shift that will usher in the island’s first non-Castro leader since the 1959 revolution…
U.N. team fired upon in Syria while visiting suspected chemical sites
THE HAGUE/BEIRUT (Reuters) – A U.N. security team came under fire in Syria while doing reconnaissance for inspectors to visit sites of a suspected chemical weapons attack, and officials said it was no longer clear when the inspectors would be able to g…
