Australia to step up formal partnership with NATO at summit
SYDNEY (Reuters) – Australia is set to step up its partnership with NATO, its foreign minister said on Tuesday, as the country pursues a bigger role in global crises from Iraq and Syria to Ukraine.
Hong Kong police arrest 19 in pro-democracy scuffles
HONG KONG (Reuters) – Hong Kong police said on Tuesday they arrested 19 people during scuffles with pro-democracy activists prompted by China’s decision not to allow the Asian financial hub to choose its next leader.
Fiji says Syrian rebels want compensation, removal from terror list
EIN ZIVAN Golan Heights/SYDNEY (Reuters) – Islamist fighters who seized dozens of Fijian soldiers serving as U.N. peacekeepers on the Golan Heights last week are demanding that their group be removed from a global terrorism list and that compensation b…
Rights group slams Thai detention of child migrants and refugees
BANGKOK (Thomson Reuters Foundation) – An 8-year-old Sri Lankan refugee girl spent two years crammed in a cigarette smoke-filled cell with many adults, developing a rash all over her body.
China replaces Communist Party leader in coal-rich province amid ‘corruption problem’
SHANGHAI (Reuters) – China has replaced the Communist Party leader of the coal-rich northern province of Shanxi amid what a top leader said was a grim corruption problem and a troubled political scene, state media reported.
Tunisian deputy survives assassination attempt
TUNIS (Reuters) – A deputy in Tunisia’s transitional parliament survived an assassination attempt in the city of Kasserine, near the Algerian border, where security forces have been hunting Islamist militants for months.
Iranians play role in breaking IS siege of Iraqi town
AMERLI Iraq (Reuters) – Kurdish peshmerga fighters and Shi’ite militiamen paraded through Amerli on Monday, a day after breaking the two-month siege of the northern town by Sunni Islamist militants.
Lesotho PM calls for regional peace force after ‘coup’: aide
MASERU (Reuters) – Lesotho’s prime minister has asked southern African states to send peacekeepers into his mountain kingdom to restore order after an apparent coup over the weekend, his aide said on Monday.
Guantanamo detainee transfer to Uruguay unlikely before vote: official
MONTEVIDEO (Reuters) – The transfer of six prisoners from the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay to Uruguay is unlikely to take place before presidential elections are held in October, a senior Uruguayan official said on Monday.
Afghanistan expected to send defense minister to NATO summit
BRUSSELS (Reuters) – Afghanistan is expected to send its defense minister to a NATO summit in Wales this week, NATO officials said on Monday, after a political crisis dashed hopes that a newly-elected president could make his debut on the international…
