Australian state premier offers 267 asylum seekers refuge
PERTH (Reuters) – The premier of an Australian state offered on Saturday to look after a group of asylum seekers facing repatriation to a camp on a remote Pacific island, adding to opposition to the federal government’s policy of offshore detention.
Iran mocks Saudi offer to send ground troops to Syria
DUBAI (Reuters) – The head of Iran’s elite Revolutionary Guard said on Saturday Saudi Arabia lacked the courage to go through with a plan to send ground troops to Syria, and warned they would be wiped out if they went in.
Unpaid and angry, some Chinese workers ditch holidays to protest
QIAN’AN/DONGGUAN, China (Reuters) – This year, laborer Fan Fu and 20 or so colleagues working on the Zixia Garden apartment complex in Hebei province have not joined China’s legion of migrant workers returning home to celebrate new year with their fami…
Al Qaeda mourns death of top commander in Yemen
DUBAI (Reuters) – Al Qaeda’s branch in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) mourned the killing of a senior commander in southern Yemen, a statement distributed on social media showed, after he was reported dead in a suspected U.S. drone strike last week.
Efforts to revive Afghan peace talks continue in Pakistan
ISLAMABAD (Reuters) – Representatives from Pakistan, Afghanistan, the United States and China met in Islamabad on Saturday to continue work on a roadmap for peace talks with Taliban insurgents who have ramped up their violent campaign against the gover…
As Myanmar powerbrokers talk, could Suu Kyi emerge as president?
NAYPYITAW/YANGON (Reuters) – As Aung San Suu Kyi’s lawmakers smiled for the cameras at the first sessions of Myanmar’s parliament, a summit of generals convened at a base just minutes from the chamber. On every mind was the same question: who will be t…
China faces diplomatic ‘crisis’ over missing Hong Kong booksellers
HONG KONG/GUANGZHOU, China (Reuters) – For years Gui Minhai, a China-born publisher of tabloid books on China’s leaders, had believed he could live and work overseas on a Swedish passport without fear of persecution by Chinese authorities, which ban su…
Al Qaeda group claims kidnapping of Australians in Burkina Faso
CAIRO (Reuters) – The militant group al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) claimed responsibility for the kidnapping of two Australians near Burkina Faso’s border with Mali on Jan. 15, according to an audio statement on Friday.
Haiti protesters stone to death ex-fighter as political crisis deepens
PORT-AU-PRINCE (Reuters) – Haiti slipped deeper into unrest on Friday as former fighters roamed the capital and a mob of protesters stoned one of them to death, days before President Michel Martelly is due to leave office with no elected successor.
Pentagon releases photos tied to Afghan, Iraq detainee abuse
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The Pentagon on Friday released 198 photographs linked to allegations of abuse of detainees in Iraq and Afghanistan, many of them showing close-ups of cuts and bruises to arms and legs of prisoners held in U.S. facilities.
