As costs rise, Israeli settlements face questions at home
JERUSALEM (Reuters) – Israeli lawmakers are pressing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to lift what they call unjustified secrecy over opaque – and rising – funding for settlements on West Bank land Palestinians want for a state.
Opponents of Thai junta launch democracy campaign
BANGKOK (Reuters) – Opponents of Thailand’s junta launched a campaign on Tuesday to restore democracy and “oppose the military dictatorship and its aristocratic network”, the first sign of organised resistance to the army since it seized power last mon…
Second nominee for South Korea prime minister withdraws
SEOUL (Reuters) – The second nominee for South Korea’s prime minister withdrew his name on Tuesday over controversial comments he made about the country’s troubled past with Japan in the latest political setback for President Park Geun-hye.
China’s legendary ‘Crazy Yang’ oil trader dies
BEIJING (Reuters) – Legendary Chinese oil trader “Crazy Yang” Qinglong, who started China’s oil business with Iran in the 1990s and was renowned as a hard-drinker who bear-hugged Iranian officials, has died, said company officials and former acquaintan…
Egypt jails Al Jazeera journalists, U.S. calls sentences ‘chilling’
CAIRO (Reuters) – Three Al Jazeera journalists were jailed for seven years each by an Egyptian judge on Monday, in what Washington called “chilling, draconian sentences” that must be reversed.
Peru’s President Humala reshuffles cabinet as popularity sinks
LIMA (Reuters) – Peru’s President Ollanta Humala replaced his foreign affairs, interior and transportation ministers on Monday in a surprise cabinet shake-up as his popularity sinks to new lows.
Suicide car bomber wounds 19 in south Beirut
BEIRUT (Reuters) – A suicide bomber blew up his car in southern Beirut on Monday night near an army checkpoint, killing himself and wounding several people watching the soccer World Cup in a nearby cafe.
U.N. urges Israeli restraint in hunt for teens, warns of violence
UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) – A senior United Nations official on Monday urged Israel to exercise restraint in its search for three missing teenagers it accuses the Hamas Islamist group of kidnapping, while warning the Security Council that violence in th…
Fighting strains Ukraine ceasefire, Putin urges dialogue
MOSCOW/KIEV (Reuters) – Fighting flared between Ukrainian and pro-Moscow separatist forces, both sides reported on Sunday, further straining a unilateral ceasefire declared by Ukraine as Russian President Vladimir Putin pressed Kiev to talk to the rebe…
Kerry promises ‘intense and sustained’ U.S. support for Iraq
BAGHDAD (Reuters) – Secretary of State John Kerry on Monday promised “intense and sustained” U.S. support for Iraq, but said the divided country would only survive if its leaders took urgent steps to bring it together.
