Gunmen kill two soldiers in Thai south, independence banners found
BANGKOK (Reuters) – Unidentified gunmen shot dead two soldiers in an ambush in Thailand’s south on Thursday, police said, and dozens of banners calling for independence have been found in the insurgency-plagued region.
China to prosecute ‘cult’ leader as crackdown continues
BEIJING (Reuters) – China will prosecute the leader of what it calls a “cult” on charges of rape, fraud, sabotage and other crimes, state news agency Xinhua said, as the government deepens a crackdown on what it views as illegal and dangerous religious…
Exclusive: Rice – Iran cannot avoid inspections of suspicious sites
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Iran will have no way to avoid inspections of military or other sites that the United States and its allies deem suspicious when a nuclear pact sealed this week goes into effect, U.S. National Security Adviser Susan Rice said on …
Greek parliament approves bailout measures as Syriza fragments
ATHENS (Reuters) – The Greek parliament passed sweeping austerity measures demanded by lenders to open talks on a new multibillion-euro bailout package to keep Greece in the euro, but dozens of hardliners in the ruling Syriza party deserted Prime Minis…
Israeli air strike hits Gaza Strip after militant rocket launch
JERUSALEM (Reuters) – Israeli aircraft struck militant targets in the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip early on Thursday after a rocket from the coastal territory landed in southern Israel, the Israeli military said.
Exiled govt ministers return to Yemen’s Aden: officials
ADEN (Reuters) – Several ministers and top intelligence officials touched down in Yemen’s war-torn southern city of Aden on Thursday, Yemeni officials said, in the first visit by the exiled government based in Saudi Arabia in more than three months of …
China sacks deputy sports minister ahead of Olympic decision
BEIJING (Reuters) – A deputy sports minister who sat on China’s Olympics committee has been sacked, the government said on Thursday, following a corruption investigation by the ruling Communist Party.
China meat smuggling crackdown stokes risky underground trade
SHANGHAI/HONG KONG (Reuters) – On a dusty industrial lot in northern Hong Kong, a group of travelers sheltered in the shade away from the pressing July heat, packing old cloth bags and backpacks with Styrofoam to protect a more precious cargo: smuggled…
High-profile Tibetan monk dies in prison in China
(This story corrects jail sentence to life imprisonment, not 20 years, following official correction from rights group Students for a Free Tibet, paragraphs 2, 11)
China says must utilize minority cultures for development
BEIJING (Reuters) – China must utilize the linguistic and cultural links of its ethnic minorities with neighboring countries to help develop its poor border areas, but also guard against an infiltration of extremists, a senior official wrote in an infl…
