Thailand kicks off watered down new year festival amid government warning
BANGKOK (Reuters) – Thailand kicked off its annual water festival or Songkran holiday on Thursday amid warnings from the military government to rein in the festival’s usual exuberance as the country mourns its late king.
Kim Jong Nam murder suspects fear ‘trial by ambush’, lawyer tells court
KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) – The two women charged with killing the estranged half-brother of North Korea’s leader appeared in a Malaysian court in bullet-proof vests on Thursday, as one of their lawyers warned they feared “trial by ambush” with police not…
Philippines’ Duterte cancels visit to disputed South China Sea island
MANILA (Reuters) – Philippines’ President Rodrigo Duterte has canceled a planned visit to an island the Philippines claims in the disputed South China Sea, after Beijing warned him against the visit.
Exclusive: North Korea oil imports, airline among possible U.S. sanctions targets – sources
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Despite sending a naval force to the Korean peninsula, the Trump administration is focusing its North Korea strategy on tougher economic sanctions, possibly including an oil embargo, banning its airline, intercepting cargo ships …
Brazil graft probe sparks hopes of change, fears of chaos
RIO DE JANEIRO (Reuters) – For some in Brazil, the decision by a Supreme Court judge to place many top politicians under investigation for suspected corruption, including leading contenders in next year’s presidential race, clears the way for a new era…
French presidential race tightens further, markets nervous
PARIS (Reuters) – Polls showed France’s presidential election campaign tightening further on Wednesday as financial markets fretted about the rising popularity of a far-left candidate who wants to put France’s European Union membership to a vote.
UK says killings in South Sudan conflict amount to genocide
ENTEBBE, Uganda (Reuters) – The killings and other atrocities going on South Sudan amount to a genocide and African leaders need to “step up” and not just rely on others for a response, Britain’s secretary for international development, Priti Patel, sa…
Trump says NATO not obsolete, reversing campaign stance
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. President Donald Trump said on Wednesday that NATO is not obsolete, as he had declared on the campaign trail last year, but said NATO members still need to pay their fair share for the European security umbrella.
Egypt identifies Alexandria church bomber as fugitive with militant ties
CAIRO (Reuters) – Egypt on Wednesday named the suicide bomber who attacked a cathedral in Alexandria as 31-year-old Mahmoud Hassan Mubarak Abdullah, describing him as a fugitive with links to militant cells that carried out previous strikes in the coun…
China says North Korea tension has to be stopped from reaching ‘irreversible’ stage
BEIJING/PYONGYANG (Reuters) – China said on Friday tension over North Korea had to be stopped from reaching an “irreversible and unmanageable stage” as a U.S. aircraft carrier group steamed toward the region amid fears the North may conduct a sixth nuc…
