Spanish government aims for January regional elections in Catalonia: PSOE
MADRID (Reuters) – The Spanish government has agreed with the opposition Socialists (PSOE) to hold regional elections in January in Catalonia as part of the extraordinary package of measures to temporarily impose direct rule on the region, Socialist po…
New Zealand election result stokes housing, migration fears
SYDNEY/WELLINGTON (Reuters) – Temporary workers and foreign students previously drawn to New Zealand on the promise of gaining residency will start leaving en masse, migration agents say, as the incoming coalition government promises to cut record migr…
Iraqi and Kurdish forces clash near Kirkuk: security sources
BAGHDAD (Reuters) – Iraqi forces clashed on Friday with Kurdish forces at Altun Kupri, 35 kilometers (22 miles) north west of Kirkuk, on the road between the city and Kurdish capital Erbil, security sources said.
Attack on workers at key Pakistan port for Chinese project; 26 hurt
QUETTA, Pakistan (Reuters) – Unidentified men threw a grenade into a laborers’ hostel in the Pakistani port of Gwadar wounding 26 of them, police said on Friday, in an attack likely to raise concern about security for the Pakistani section of China’s “…
Toxic firecracker haze darkens Indian capital after festival of lights
NEW DELHI (Reuters) – Air pollution in New Delhi hit 18 times the healthy limit on Friday under a thick, toxic haze after a night of fireworks to celebrate the Hindu festival of Diwali – despite a court-ordered ban on their sales.
Go-go going as Chinese women fuel Thai tourism boom
BANGKOK (Reuters) – For decades since the Vietnam war, the scantily clad dancers in the go-go bars of Bangkok’s Patpong red-light district have been the face of Thailand’s tourism industry.
Russian warships dock in Philippines as Manila cultivates new ties
MANILA (Reuters) – Three Russian warships, including two anti-submarine vessels, docked in Manila on Friday to unload what navy officials said was weaponry and military vehicles donated to the Philippines as part of a new defense relationship.
Australia’s second largest state edges towards permitting euthanasia
SYDNEY (Reuters) – The parliament of Australia’s second largest state passed legislation on Friday to allow terminally ill patients to seek medical help to end their lives, a bill that is expected to act as a catalyst for the rest of the country to ado…
Amid South Korea freeze, China says cultural exchanges take the temperature
BEIJING (Reuters) – Cultural exchanges between countries need to consider the “temperature” of popular opinion and how people feel about each other, a senior Chinese official said on Friday, amid a freeze in cultural ties with South Korea over an anti-…
Singapore PM Lee says ready to step down in couple of years; no successor picked yet
SINGAPORE (Reuters) – Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said he was ready to step down in a couple of years time and his successor is likely already in the cabinet but a clear choice has yet to emerge
