For Australian PM Abbott, crises lead to strident foreign policy
SYDNEY (Reuters) – Conservative Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott is pursuing an increasingly muscular foreign policy that has moved him closer to the United States on crises like Iraq and Ukraine, but has some worried over the risk of alienating C…
Swedish opposition extends lead ahead of election: poll
STOCKHOLM (Reuters) – Sweden’s centre-left opposition held a comfortable lead nine days ahead of national elections, an opinion poll published on Friday showed, pointing to a wider lead for the grouping of the Social Democrats, Greens and Left parties….
With free visas, Thailand tells Chinese tourists ‘please come back soon’
BANGKOK (Reuters) – To make vacationing in a country still under martial law a little more attractive, Thailand’s military junta is offering tourists from China free visas.
Indonesia’s next leader, Widodo, faces party divided over fuel subsidies
JAKARTA (Reuters) – A plan by Indonesia’s next leader to hike fuel prices this year faces opposition within his coalition, party officials said, stirring concern whether he will have the political support to take such a contentious step during his firs…
Teddy bears, tea cups grim reminders of Malaysia’s missing Flight MH370
(Reuters) – A father clutches his daughter’s teddy bears, a woman holds her husband’s car key, a newly-wed shows off a bedroom decorated for children yet to be born. Six months on, loved ones of passengers on a missing Malaysian airliner derive what co…
China warns again of dark side of the mooncakes
SHANGHAI (Reuters) – China’s crackdown on corruption, a scourge Communist Party leaders fear threatens their hold on power, is likely to last at least another five years, an official said, warning also against the mid-autumn tradition of handing out mo…
Brazil’s Rousseff: If re-elected, ‘new government, new team’
SAO PAULO (Reuters) – Brazil’s president Dilma Rousseff said she would make changes in her cabinet if elected for a second term after a reporter asked her on Thursday if she planned to replace Finance Minister Guido Mantega.
Afghan candidates’ unity pledge eases NATO’s worries
NEWPORT Wales/KABUL (Reuters) – Afghanistan’s rival presidential candidates pledged to NATO leaders on Thursday that they would form a government of national unity and sign legal agreements allowing foreign troops to stay on next year.
China tobacco monopoly blocks full ban on tobacco ads: sources
BEIJING (Reuters) – Intense lobbying by China’s powerful state tobacco monopoly resulted in the weakening of controversial legislation that had been meant to introduce a complete advertising ban in the world’s largest consumer and producer of tobacco, …
Belgium ordered to pay accused bomb plotter extradited to U.S.
BRUSSELS (Reuters) – The European Court of Human Rights ruled on Thursday that European states should not extradite people to face the rest of their lives behind bars without the possibility of release, ordering Belgium to pay a settlement to a Tunisia…
