Britain’s last governor in Hong Kong to address U.S. China commission
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The last British governor of Hong Kong, Chris Patten, is to address a U.S. government commission on Thursday on prospects for democracy in the territory, something likely to irritate Beijing which sees protests there as an intern…
Indian police capture cult leader, six dead as compound stormed
NEW DELHI (Reuters) – A self-styled Indian religious leader was charged on Thursday with sedition and waging war against the state after a days-long siege of his sprawling compound ended in his arrest along with 450 hardcore followers.
South Korea court sentences ferry operator chief to 10 years in jail
SEOUL (Reuters) – A South Korean court on Thursday sentenced the head of the company that operated a ferry which capsized in April to 10 years in jail over his role in the country’s worst maritime disaster in decades.
Kachin rebels say 23 cadets killed by Myanmar army shell
YANGON (Reuters) – Twenty three cadets of the ethnic insurgent group the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) were killed when they were hit by a single shell fired by Myanmar’s army on Wednesday, the KIA said in a statement on Thursday.
Cameron risks losing UK seat to anti-EU UKIP as two-party system creaks
LONDON (Reuters) – Prime Minister David Cameron’s Conservatives risk losing a second British parliamentary seat to the anti-EU UKIP party on Thursday, foreshadowing a possible political upheaval in next year’s national election.
Six nurses killed in latest attack on Chinese medical workers
BEIJING (Reuters) – A man with a history of mental illness stabbed and killed seven people, six of them nurses, at a sanatorium dormitory in northern China on Thursday in the latest of a string of attacks on medical workers, state media reported.
Honduran Miss World contestant and sister found murdered
TEGUCIGALPA (Reuters) – A Honduran beauty queen has been found shot dead in a suspected crime of passion just days before she was due to compete in the Miss World pageant in London, police said on Wednesday.
Colombia rebels to free general, opening door to resume peace talks
HAVANA/BOGOTA (Reuters) – Colombian Marxist rebels agreed to release an army general captured by their comrades over the weekend, a move that may lead to a resumption of peace talks and diffuse a crisis that threatened to extend five decades of war.
Earthquake hits northern Japan, no tsunami warning issued
TOKYO (Reuters) – An earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 5.3 hit northern Japan on Thursday, public broadcaster NHK said.
Syrian air force strikes increasing, civilians killed: monitoring group
BEIRUT (Reuters) – The Syrian air force launched about 1,592 strikes across Syria over the past month, killing at least 396 civilians, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said on Wednesday.
