Taiwan envoy admits U.S. kept in the dark over controversial flag raising
TAIPEI (Reuters) – Taiwan’s top envoy to the U.S. on Wednesday said that Taiwan did not let U.S. officials know about a flag-raising ceremony on American soil, indicating that by leaving the U.S. in the dark it would give Washington deniability about t…
North Korean man’s killing of China family could strain ties
BEIJING (Reuters) – A North Korean murdered a Chinese family of three last year, Chinese media said, the second recent reported killing of Chinese citizens by North Koreans that could strain ties between Pyongyang and its sole major ally.
Sri Lanka’s political outlook shaky, whoever wins knife-edge election
COLOMBO (Reuters) – In a measure of how far Thursday’s presidential election in Sri Lanka has become a knife-edge contest, diplomats here have been checking the rules in case of a dead heat: according to a 1981 act, the rival candidates would draw lots…
North Korea boosted ‘cyber forces’ to 6,000 troops, South says
SEOUL (Reuters) – North Korean military’s “cyber army” has boosted its numbers to 6,000 troops, the South Korean Defence Ministry said on Tuesday, double Seoul’s estimate for the force in 2013, and is working to cause “physical and psychological paraly…
Mexico’s Pena Nieto plans no mea culpa in house scandal: spokesman
MEXICO CITY (Reuters) – Mexico’s President Enrique Pena Nieto, embroiled along with his wife and finance minister in a scandal over homes bought from and financed by a government contractor, plans no mea culpa, his spokesman said on Tuesday, dismissing…
U.S. Embassy in Nicaragua voices concerns over Chinese-led canal
MANAGUA (Reuters) – The U.S. Embassy in Nicaragua said on Tuesday it was concerned by a lack of information surrounding the planned $50 billion, Chinese-led canal that would bisect the poor Central American nation.
U.S. investigating civilian casualty claims in Iraq, Syria
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. military said on Tuesday it had received 18 complaints of civilian casualties in air strikes against Islamic State militants in Iraq and Syria, but concluded that 13 of the cases were not credible and was still reviewing…
Cuba has released some of 53 ‘political’ prisoners, U.S. says
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Cuba has freed some of 53 people the United States regards as political prisoners, as agreed under last month’s U.S.-Cuban rapprochement, the U.S. State Department said on Tuesday in its first public acknowledgement that some det…
U.N. aviation body to propose 15-minute flight tracking standard
TORONTO (Reuters) – The United Nations aviation agency will propose a new standard that requires commercial aircraft to report their position every 15 minutes as part of a global tracking initiative in the aftermath of the disappearance of a Malaysian …
Watchdog offers more proof Syria government used chemical arms: U.S.
UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) – The latest report on Syria by the global chemical weapons watchdog offers further evidence that the Syrian government repeatedly attacked its own citizens with poison gas, U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Samantha Power …
