Syria’s Assad gives Eid prayers near seized Islamic State pocket
BEIRUT (Reuters) – Syrian President Bashar al-Assad gave prayers on Friday for Islam’s Eid al-Adha festival in the town of Qara, near an enclave surrendered on Monday by Islamic State fighters.
France says North Korea close to long-range missile capability
PARIS (Reuters) – France’s foreign minister said on Friday that North Korea would have capability to send long-range ballistic missiles in a few months and urged China to be more active diplomatically to resolve the crisis.
Myanmar army drops charges against six journalists amid free speech concerns
YANGON (Reuters) – Myanmar’s military on Friday dropped charges against six journalists facing trial on offences ranging from defamation to unlawful association, saying it wanted to work with the media in the interests of the country and its people.
Japan’s struggling opposition Democrats pick ex-foreign minister Maehara as leader
TOKYO (Reuters) – Japan’s struggling opposition Democratic Party elected former foreign minister Seiji Maehara to lead the party on Friday as it tries to raise its single-digit ratings and fend off a challenge by a new group with ties to popular Tokyo …
Death toll in Mumbai building collapse rises to 33
MUMBAI (Reuters) – Rescuers in India’s financial capital sifted rubble on Friday in a desperate search for survivors of the collapse of an 117-year-old condemned building, as the toll from the disaster rose to 33.
Turkey’s Erdogan says U.S. indictment of guards from Washington brawl a ‘scandal’
ANKARA (Reuters) – A decision by U.S. authorities to arrest Turkish security guards involved in a brawl in Washington in May is a scandal, President Tayyip Erdogan said on Friday.
Nearly 400 die as Myanmar army steps up crackdown on Rohingya militants
COX’S BAZAR, Bangladesh (Reuters) – Nearly 400 people have died in fighting that has rocked Myanmar’s northwest for a week, new official data show, making it probably the deadliest bout of violence to engulf the country’s Rohingya Muslim minority in de…
Exclusive: Pyongyang university to start fall classes without American staff after travel ban
SEOUL (Reuters) – Pyongyang University of Science and Technology (PUST), North Korea’s only western-funded university, will start the fall semester without its dozens of American staff after failing to secure exemptions to a U.S. travel ban that starts…
Britain says it cannot be blackmailed by EU over exit bill
TOKYO (Reuters) – British trade minister Liam Fox said on Friday Britain would not be blackmailed into agreeing on the cost of leaving the European Union, and urged Brussels to move negotiations on to discuss Britain’s future relationship with the bloc…
Tajikistan agrees to more intelligence exchanges with China
BEIJING (Reuters) – China’s foreign ministry on Friday announced an agreement with Tajikistan to establish exchanges of security intelligence as part of an upgrade to diplomatic relations during a state visit by Tajik President Emomali Rahmon to China….
