Exclusive: U.S. poised to upgrade Cuba in annual human trafficking report
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The United States is set to remove Cuba from the bottom tier on its list of worst human trafficking centers, U.S. sources said, in what will be another step in the historic rapprochement between the former Cold War foes.
Trafficking victim to challenge Hong Kong’s lack of forced labor law in court
(This July 14 story is refiled to correct spelling of name in paragraph five)
Civilian deaths, drone, put chill back in India-Pakistan ties
ISLAMABAD (Reuters) – India and Pakistan exchanged gunfire and mortar bombs along their disputed frontier on Thursday, killing five civilians and injuring more than a dozen, Pakistan said, days after the leaders of the nuclear-armed rivals agreed to hi…
Islamic State punishes 94 it said violated Ramadan fast: Syria monitor
BEIRUT (Reuters) – Islamic State militants have punished at least 94 people including five teenagers, accusing them of violations during the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan, a rights group monitoring the Syrian conflict said on Thursday.
Exclusive: Russia plans fuel shipments to Syria from Crimea
MOSCOW (Reuters) – Russia plans to supply Syria with 200,000 tonnes of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) per year via the Crimean port of Kerch, two trading sources told Reuters.
Dalai Lama says China ‘pretending’ to know about reincarnation: NYT
BEIJING (Reuters) – Tibet’s spiritual leader the Dalai Lama has ridiculed China’s Communist Party for wanting to control his reincarnation, saying the government is “pretending” to know more about the system than he does, the New York Times reported on…
Japan’s Abe pushes security bills through lower house, despite protests
TOKYO (Reuters) – Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Thursday pushed through parliament’s lower house legislation that could see troops sent to fight abroad for the first time since World War Two, despite protests and a risk of further damage to his…
Rajoy insists on stay-the-course plan to win Spanish re-election
MADRID (Reuters) – After Spain’s ruling conservatives were clobbered in local elections in May, party colleagues of Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy suggested he not run for re-election later this year.
Vatican had more than a billion euros off books before financial clean-up
VATICAN CITY (Reuters) – Vatican departments had more than a billion euros that were not declared on an overall balance sheet before new accounting standards kicked in last year, a financial statement showed on Thursday.
U.S. law enforcement, Mexico agents met on Guzman escape: Mexico official
MEXICO CITY (Reuters) – U.S. law enforcement officials met with agents of the Mexican attorney general’s office this week to share information related to the escape from prison of drug kingpin Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman and coordinate efforts to apprehe…
