Chinese, Iranian firms to sign first nuclear plant redesign contracts
BEIJING (Reuters) – Companies from China and Iran will this weekend sign the first commercial contracts to redesign an Iranian nuclear plant as part of an international deal reached in 2015 over Iran’s nuclear program, China’s Foreign Ministry said on …
Turkey says European rights court has no jurisdiction over referendum
ANKARA (Reuters) – Turkey’s justice minister said on Thursday that any opposition challenge to a referendum that expanded President Tayyip Erdogan’s powers would be rejected by the constitutional court, and Europe’s human rights court had no jurisdicti…
Cambodia, U.N. launch plan to tackle fake orphanages
PHNOM PENH (Reuters) – Cambodia launched a crackdown on bogus orphanages on Thursday, many of which are set up to attract donations from tourists, with the aim of returning about 3,500 children who were not orphans to their families, a government minis…
Pakistan’s top court rejects call to disqualify prime minister
ISLAMABAD (Reuters) – Pakistan’s Supreme Court on Thursday ruled there was insufficient evidence to order Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s removal from office over corruption allegations levelled by the opposition and it ordered further investigations.
Russian navy visits Philippines as Duterte tightens ties with U.S. foes
MANILA (Reuters) – Russian navy vessels arrived in the Philippines on Thursday for joint exercises as part of a drive for new security ties under President Rodrigo Duterte’s revamped foreign policy of courting the traditional foes of Manila’s top ally,…
Detained Hong Kong bookseller Gui wins Swedish free speech prize
STOCKHOLM (Reuters) – A bookseller detained in China for publishing books on the personal lives of President Xi Jinping and other Communist Party leaders has won a prize for free speech and press freedom awarded by a Swedish media organization.
May to make election pledge to end EU free movement of people into UK: Daily Mail
LONDON (Reuters) – Prime Minister Theresa May will make a formal pledge ahead of the June 8 election to end European Union free movement of people into Britain, the Daily Mail newspaper reported, citing unidentified party sources.
Britain will lose more from Brexit than EU, bloc’s foreign policy chief says
BEIJING (Reuters) – Britain will lose more than the European Union from its decision to leave the bloc, the EU’s top diplomat said on Thursday, and talks with London were expected to be difficult.
Indonesia prosecutors call for one-year jail term for Jakarta governor
JAKARTA (Reuters) – Indonesian prosecutors called on Thursday for Jakarta’s Christian governor, Basuki Tjahaja Purnama, to be jailed for one year on blasphemy charges, in a trial that is seen as a test of the Muslim-majority nation’s religious toleranc…
New ‘Australian values’ test planned for citizenship
SYDNEY (Reuters) – Australia plans to raise the bar for handing out citizenships by lengthening the waiting period, adding a new “Australian values” test and raising the standard for English language as part of a shake up of its immigration program.
