Hong Kong leader says jailed activists are not political prisoners
HONG KONG (Reuters) – Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam said on Monday three student activists jailed for their roles in 2014 pro-democracy protests were not political prisoners and unreasonable criticism of the city’s judiciary could damage the rule of law….
Russia names replacement for Sergei Kislyak as envoy in Washington
MOSCOW (Reuters) – Russia’s next ambassador to Washington will be Anatoly Antonov, a former defense official who is subject to European sanctions over his role in the conflict in Ukraine, the Kremlin announced on Monday.
‘We’re the victims,’ says father of young Filipino shot dead in war on drugs
MANILA (Reuters) – Hundreds of neighbors and left-wing activists marched and lit candles near the spot where a 17-year-old high school student was shot dead by police last week in President Rodrigo Duterte’s controversial war on drugs.
Iraqi forces must rescue many abducted Yazidis from Tal Afar: Yazidi MP
ERBIL (Reuters) – As Iraqi forces pressed their offensive to retake Tal Afar on Monday, a Yazidi politician urged them to quickly rescue the many Yazidi men, women and children still believed to be held captive in the city by Islamic State militants.
Lebanon monitored Australia bomb plot suspects: minister
BEIRUT (Reuters) – Lebanon monitored the brothers accused of plotting to blow up a flight from Sydney to Abu Dhabi for more than a year and coordinated with the Australian government on it for a long time, the Lebanese interior minister said on Monday….
France ditches plans to give Macron’s wife paid role after backlash
PARIS (Reuters) – The office of President Emmanuel Macron rowed back on Monday from plans to give his wife Brigitte Macron a formal, paid role, after a public backlash which threatened to undermine his broader agenda of change and modernization.
Despite losing terrain, Islamic State’s attacks rose in 2016: study
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Although Islamic State is losing fighters and territory in Iraq and Syria, it remained the world’s deadliest militant organization last year, according to a report from the University of Maryland.
Britain confident of moving onto second phase of Brexit talks
LONDON (Reuters) – Britain is confident its Brexit talks with the European Union are making sufficient progress to move to a second phase in the negotiations to discuss its future partnership by October, a spokeswoman for Prime Minister Theresa May sai…
U.S. scales back Russian visa operations after Putin cuts embassy staff
MOSCOW (Reuters) – The United States began to scale back its visa services in Russia on Monday, drawing an angry reaction from Moscow three weeks after President Vladimir Putin ordered Washington to more than halve its embassy and consular staff.
Merkel hits out at predecessor in Russia row ahead of election
BERLIN (Reuters) – German Chancellor Angela Merkel criticized her predecessor, Gerhard Schroeder, on Monday for taking a new job at Russian oil producer Rosneft and said she did not intend to take any posts in industry once she leaves politics.
