Sinn Fein urges British and Irish PMs to intervene in Northern Ireland deadlock
BELFAST (Reuters) – The prime ministers of Britain and Ireland should become “directly involved” in stalled talks between Northern Ireland’s political parties about restoring a power-sharing government, Irish nationalist party Sinn Fein said on Friday….
Putin extends Russian-counter sanctions until end of 2018
MOSCOW (Reuters) – President Vladimir Putin has extended Russian counter-sanctions on the European Union until the end of 2018, according to a presidential decree published on Friday.
Ailing China dissident Liu’s ‘time limited’, says family member
BEIJING (Reuters) – Chinese activist Liu Xiaobo’s “time is limited” due to a fluid build up around his stomach caused by liver scarring, a family member said, after authorities said Liu could not be moved abroad due to his illness.
China ‘outraged’ by $1.42 billion planned U.S. arms sales to Taiwan
BEIJING (Reuters) – China urged the United States to revoke immediately its “wrong decision” to sell Taiwan $1.42 billion worth of arms, saying it contradicted a “consensus” President Xi Jinping reached with his counterpart, Donald Trump, in talks in A…
U.N. urges Venezuela’s Maduro to uphold rule of law
GENEVA (Reuters) – The United Nations on Friday criticized President Nicolas Maduro’s government for curtailing the powers of the chief state prosecutor and called on it to uphold the rule of law and freedom of assembly in Venezuela amid a clampdown on…
Singapore armed forces going more hi-tech as recruiting levels seen sliding
SINGAPORE (Reuters) – A growing threat of terrorism is putting a strain on Singapore’s small and shrinking army, pushing it toward greater reliance on automation and technology such as unmanned patrol systems to protect the island state, its defense mi…
Demand for Qatar to close down al-Jazeera ‘unacceptable’: U.N.
GENEVA (Reuters) – A demand by Saudi Arabia and three other Arab nations for Qatar to close down its al-Jazeera TV channel is an “unacceptable attack” on the right to freedoms of expression and opinion, the United Nations human rights chief said on Fri…
India warns China over road construction near border amid stand-off
NEW DELHI/BEIJING (Reuters) – India warned China on Friday that construction of a road near their common border would have serious security implications, as China’s Foreign Ministry denied its troops had violated the territory of India’s ally, Bhutan.
Despite hacking charges, U.S. tech industry fought to keep ties to Russia spy service
(Editors note: Attention to language in paragraph 22 that may be offensive to some readers.)
French Holocaust survivor and pro-abortion campaigner Simone Veil dies at 89
PARIS (Reuters) – French politician Simone Veil, who survived the Holocaust and led campaigns for the legalization of abortion in France in the 1970s, died at her home in Paris on Friday, her family said. She was 89 years old.
