China, Vietnam pledge to manage maritime differences
HANOI (Reuters) – Visiting Chinese President Xi Jinping and Vietnam’s top leaders agreed on Thursday to manage disputes over the South China Sea amid strained ties made more uncertain by an upcoming reshuffle of Vietnam’s ruling Communist Party.
Tired of gunbattles, some Turkish Kurds hope ruling party victory brings peace
DIYARBAKIR, Turkey (Reuters) – Tired of trenches in the streets and daily gun battles, shopkeeper Berzani Akdogan is hoping the return of single-party rule might bring stability to Turkey’s southeast, even though a heavier military crackdown looks like…
OSCE reports rise in truce violations along Ukraine front lines
KIEV (Reuters) – International monitors in eastern Ukraine have reported a sharp increase in gunfire along front lines near the airport of the rebel-held city of Donetsk, a senior official with Europe’s main security and rights watchdog said on Thursda…
Rescue work continues as death toll rises in Pakistan factory collapse
LAHORE, Pakistan (Reuters) – Rescuers at the site of a collapsed factory in Pakistan continued to dig through the rubble on Thursday, as the death toll rose to at least 21, officials said, describing the latest tragedy to spotlight poor safety standard…
In Croatia’s close-run election, the focus is migrants and the economy
ZAGREB (Reuters) – Croatia’s ruling Social Democrats can claim success on the two biggest issues facing the country – Europe’s migration crisis and a sluggish economy just climbing out of recession – but it faces a tough fight to retain power in an ele…
Bomb blast in northeast Lebanon kills nine: security sources
BEIRUT (Reuters) – A roadside car bomb killed at least nine people and wounded four others in northeast Lebanon on Thursday, in an area close to the Syrian border where violence has spilled over from the war next door, security sources said.
Bahrain jails five for Iran-linked militancy, strips their citizenship
CAIRO (Reuters) – Five Bahrainis were convicted of conspiring with Iran to carry out attacks inside Bahrain, sentenced to life imprisonment and stripped of their citizenship, Bahrain’s Public Prosecutor was cited as saying by state news agency BNA repo…
China-Taiwan summit two years in making, as leaders eye legacies
BEIJING/TAIPEI (Reuters) – This weekend’s historic summit in Singapore between the presidents of China and Taiwan may have surprised many, but the sides first broached the subject about two years ago and the leaders had their legacies very much in mind…
Spain’s ruling PP extends poll lead but Socialists rise
MADRID (Reuters) – Spain’s ruling People’s Party is on course to win the most votes in a national election in December, a poll showed on Thursday, but the rise of the opposition Socialists and new party Ciudadanos has increased the possibility of a cen…
Major mafia trial opens in Rome over case that rattled Italy
ROME (Reuters) – A one-eyed former neo-fascist gangster and 45 other defendants went on trial on Thursday accused of running a mafia crime ring in Rome that skimmed millions of euros off city hall contracts.
