Japan ruling party candidate loses Okinawa poll, setback for U.S. base move
TOKYO (Reuters) – A candidate backed by Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s party was soundly defeated in a key local election on Sunday, a blow to plans to relocate a controversial U.S. air base on Okinawa island, home to the bulk of U.S. military fo…
U.S. forces already advising Iraqi forces in Anbar province
INCIRLIK AIR BASE Turkey (Reuters) – American forces have begun advising Iraqi troops in the western Anbar province, the top U.S. general told Reuters, in a faster-than-expected expansion of an operation that is central to its campaign against Islamic …
China’s blitz against corruption hits some U.S. travel companies
NEW YORK (Reuters) – Almost every year for more than a decade, tour group operator Carson Zhang guided a delegation of about two dozen Chinese government officials from Guangdong province’s Forestry Administration for a two-week trip through the nation…
Nigeria army says retakes village of abducted girls from insurgents
LAGOS (Reuters) – The Nigerian army has driven out Boko Haram insurgents from Chibok, the home of over 200 schoolgirls who were abducted by militants of the Islamist group in April, an army spokesman said.
France’s Hollande backs his beleaguered chief of staff
PARIS (Reuters) – French President Francois Hollande on Sunday backed his chief of staff, who has come under fire after giving contradictory accounts of a conversation with an opposition politician about ex-president Nicolas Sarkozy’s legal troubles.
Germany regrets diplomat’s expulsion from Moscow
BERLIN (Reuters) – A German diplomat working in Moscow has been expelled, a German government official said, shortly after a Russian diplomat working in Bonn was expelled amid media reports he was a spy.
Pakistani army: 1,200 militants killed during five-month offensive
MIR ALI Pakistan (Reuters) – The Pakistani army has killed 1,200 suspected militants in an anti-Taliban offensive during the past five months, seriously reducing the group’s ability to carry out attacks, senior officers said on Sunday during a rare tri…
Local emergency services start collecting MH17 wreckage: Dutch air inspectors
AMSTERDAM (Reuters) – Local emergency services in eastern Ukraine have begun collecting parts of the wreckage of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 from its crash site in the middle of the conflict zone, Dutch air accident investigators said on Sunday.
On anniversary of toppling Moscow’s rule, Czechs fear back-sliding
PRAGUE (Reuters) – Czechs who helped bring about the “Velvet Revolution” that overthrew Kremlin-backed Communist rule are marking the 25th anniversary this week by accusing the country’s present-day leaders of once again cosying up to Russia.
Battered by falling prices, Kenya’s tea farmers threaten to uproot
NANDI HILLS Kenya (Reuters) – Emerald-colored tea bushes blanketing the rolling hills of Nandi County have long provided a livelihood for small-scale farmers, helping make Kenya one of the world’s biggest tea exporters.
