Zimbabwe court allows firm to return to diamond fields after government ban
HARARE (Reuters) – A Zimbabwean court has allowed the largest diamond mine in the Marange fields to return and assume control of all assets after challenging government’s decision to stop mining operations.
China party to punish former tycoon for microblog posts
BEIJING (Reuters) – China’s ruling Communist Party will impose “severe intra-party penalties” on a former property tycoon whose microblogs were closed at the weekend after he criticized government policy, state news agency Xinhua reported.
Afghan women, girls face invasive virginity tests, says rights report
KABUL (Reuters) – Afghan women and girls accused of so-called moral crimes are often forced to endure invasive and scientifically questionable “virginity tests” by government doctors, according to human rights advocates.
Myanmar brings forward date for presidential nominations to March 10
YANGON (Reuters) – Myanmar will announce presidential nominations on March 10, the speaker of its upper house of parliament said on Tuesday, advancing the original date by a week, as a lengthy political transition in the Southeast Asian nation enters i…
China court jails 24 over $1.5-bln financial fraud: Xinhua
BEIJING (Reuters) – A court in southern China has jailed 24 people for fraudulently raising nearly 10 billion yuan ($1.5 billion) in one of the country’s biggest financial scams, the official Xinhua news agency said.
Brazil’s Petrobras corruption investigation targets Lula
BRASILIA (Reuters) – Federal prosecutors who uncovered a huge corruption scheme at oil company Petrobras are looking into whether Brazil’s former president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva received undue favors from engineering firms they are investigating.
U.N. Security Council to vote on new North Korea sanctions Tuesday: U.S.
UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) – The U.N. Security Council plans to vote on a resolution on Tuesday that would dramatically expand existing U.N. sanctions on North Korea in response to its Jan. 6 nuclear test, the U.S. mission to the United Nations said on M…
China’s Xi says shares ‘common destiny’ with Vietnam, looks to repair ties
BEIJING (Reuters) – China and Vietnam share a “common destiny”, Chinese President Xi Jinping told a visiting Vietnamese envoy, as the two continue to repair ties damaged by their competing claims in the disputed South China Sea.
South Korea’s Park says door not shut on dialogue with North
SEOUL (Reuters) – Seoul will not shut the door to dialogue with North Korea, South Korean President Park Geun-hye said on Tuesday, but warned that Pyongyang, facing new U.N. sanctions, would be subject to even greater pressure as long as it stuck to it…
Top Vatican cardinal says senior clergy lied about child sexual abuse
ROME/SYDNEY (Reuters) – Australian Cardinal George Pell, the highest-ranking Vatican official to testify on systemic sexual abuse of children by clergy in the Roman Catholic Church, on Monday said senior clergy lied to him to cover up abuse in the 1970…
