Singapore, Australia expand military cooperation in $1.7 billion deal
SYDNEY/SINGAPORE (Reuters) – Australia and Singapore have agreed to jointly develop military training areas and facilities in Australia in a sign of how China’s increasingly assertive military presence in the region is encouraging nations to boost thei…
Australia to compensate charity wrongly accused over refugees’ self-harm protests
SYDNEY (Reuters) – Australia said on Friday it had agreed to compensate a charity financially for wrongly accusing it of inciting refugees to self-harm in protest at conditions at a detention center on the Pacific Island of Nauru in 2014.
Philippine fishermen favor strong president to end China’s blockade
MASINLOC/MANILA, Philippines (Reuters) – A 30-foot trawler named “Marvin” lies beached on a grass bank overlooking the South China Sea, idle since China’s coastguard began driving away Philippine fishermen after a fierce standoff four years ago.
Clause celebre: Taiwan leader must convince China she’s no ‘splittist’
PINGTUNG, Taiwan (Reuters) – Tsai Ing-wen becomes Taiwan’s first woman president this month when her mission will be to convince giant neighbor China her Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) is not seeking independence, any hint of which could lead to wa…
Air strikes hit camp in Syria, U.S. condemns Assad statement
AMMAN/BEIRUT (Reuters) – Air strikes on a camp housing Syrians uprooted by war killed at least 28 people near the Turkish border on Thursday, a monitoring group said, and fighting raged in parts of northern Syria despite a deal to cease hostilities in…
Brazil Supreme Court removes lower house speaker Cunha
BRASILIA (Reuters) – Brazil’s Supreme Court removed the speaker of the lower house of Congress on Thursday on charges of obstructing a corruption investigation, days before an impeachment process that he engineered was expected to oust President Dilma …
Israel says found second Hamas tunnel from Gaza since 2014 war
SUFA, Israel (Reuters) – Israel’s military said it had discovered a cross-border tunnel on Thursday built by the Islamist group Hamas from the Gaza Strip during a rare flare-up of violence along a border that has been largely quiet since a 2014 war.
Congo opposition leader denies hiring foreign mercenaries
LUBUMBASHI, Democratic Republic of Congo (Reuters) – Democratic Republic of Congo opposition leader Moise Katumbi on Thursday denied an accusation by the government that he hired foreign mercenaries, and said he had nothing to fear from an investigatio…
Nigeria’s Buhari urges other nations to speed up recovery of stolen money
ABUJA (Reuters) – Nigeria’s President Muhammadu Buhari on Thursday urged other countries and the United Nations to speed up the process of repatriating stolen money held abroad, which he said was becoming “tedious”.
Iraqi PM vows to prevent another Green Zone breach, sacks security chief
BAGHDAD (Reuters) – Iraq’s prime minister vowed on Thursday to prevent another breach of Baghdad’s Green Zone, hours before a planned protest by followers of a senior Shi’ite cleric, hundreds of whom stormed the fortified complex last week.
