G7 agrees need strong message on South China Sea; China says don’t ‘hype’
ISE-SHIMA, Japan (Reuters) – Group of Seven (G7) leaders agreed on Thursday on the need to send a strong message on maritime claims in the western Pacific, where an increasingly assertive China is locked in territorial disputes with Japan and several S…
Afghanistan sees Taliban leader as rigid conservative uninterested in peace
KABUL (Reuters) – The Afghan government is looking warily at the conservative religious scholar who has assumed leadership of the Taliban, seeing in him a rigid proponent of hardline orthodoxy who is unlikely to favor peace talks, officials said.
China says it followed rules in U.S. aircraft intercept
BEIJING (Reuters) – China’s Defence Ministry said on Thursday its aircraft followed the rules after two Chinese fighter jets carried out what the United States said was an “unsafe” intercept of a U.S. military reconnaissance aircraft over the South Chi…
Iraq PM urges end to protests while army busy fighting Islamic State
BAGHDAD (Reuters) – Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi appealed on Thursday for an end to protests against his government while the armed forces are fighting to retake the city of Falluja from Islamic State (IS) insurgents.
Atomic bomb survivors to attend Hiroshima event for Obama visit
ISE-SHIMA, Japan (Reuters) – At least three atomic bomb survivors will attend an event in Hiroshima on Friday when President Barack Obama becomes the first incumbent U.S. leader to visit the site of the world’s first atomic bombing, Japan’s Kyodo news …
U.N. to announce new Syria talks date later on Thursday
GENEVA (Reuters) – The U.N. mediator of Syrian peace talks will announce the date for a new round of talks later on Thursday after consulting the U.N. Security Council, despite the continuing violence on the ground, he told reporters in Geneva.
Philippines’ Aquino says China breaks deal on South China Sea outcrop
MANILA (Reuters) – Philippine President Benigno Aquino on Thursday accused China of breaking a U.S.-brokered deal between the two nations on the Scarborough Shoal, an uninhabited rocky outcrop in the South China Sea.
As EU vote looms, migration to Britain nears record high
LONDON (Reuters) – Net migration to Britain reached its second highest level on record last year, according to official data on Thursday that fed immediately into the increasingly bitter debate over whether the country should stay in the European Union…
Obama says expects Taliban to continue strategy of violence under new leader
ISE-SHIMA, Japan (Reuters) – U.S. President Barack Obama said on Thursday he expects the Taliban to continue a strategy of violence following the appointment of a hardline leader, adding that the United States aims to uphold Afghanistan’s fragile democ…
Obama says North Korea nuclear programme is serious mid-term risk
ISE-SHIMA, Japan (Reuters) – U.S. President Barack Obama said on Thursday that North Korea’s nuclear ambitions pose a serious medium-term threat, adding that engagement with China and other countries had seen progress on the issue.
