Japan says gained G7 understanding on its stance on North Korea
TOKYO (Reuters) – Japan has gained understanding from the Group of Seven industrialized nations on its stance on North Korea, top government spokesman Yoshihide Suga said on Thursday.
China takes more assertive line in South Sudan diplomacy
JUBA (Reuters) – China is swapping its reserved diplomacy for a hands-on approach to help resolve a more than five-month-old rebellion in South Sudan that threatens Beijing’s oil investments.
Inside the White House’s decision to free Bergdahl
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – For President Barack Obama, it seemed like the right thing to do, according to officials in his administration: Release five Taliban detainees at Guantanamo Bay prison in return for Bowe Bergdahl, the only known American prisoner…
Iraq hospital bombing kills 14
HILLA Iraq (Reuters) – A car bomb exploded near a hospital in the southern Iraqi city of Hilla late on Wednesday, killing at least 14 people, police and medical sources said.
Obama’s counterterrorism doctrine: Let locals lead the fight
NEW YORK (Reuters) – (This May31 story corrects spelling of byline to Rohde, not Rhode)
G7 willing to step up sanctions on Russia over Ukraine
BRUSSELS (Reuters) – The world’s leading industrialized nations threatened on Wednesday to impose harder-hitting sanctions on Russia if it does not help restore stability to eastern Ukraine, where pro-Russian militias continue to operate at will.
Assad declared landslide victor in wartime Syrian election
BEIRUT (Reuters) – President Bashar al-Assad has secured a landslide victory in a wartime election that was condemned as a sham by his opponents but demonstrated his tenacious hold on power after three years of brutal civil war.
U.N. voices ‘grave concern’ at persistent South Sudan violence
UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) – U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Wednesday condemned the continued bloodshed in South Sudan in violation of two ceasefire agreements and urged both sides in the conflict to halt all military operations in keeping with pr…
Kuwait suspends TV programs over report related to ‘plot’ tape
DUBAI (Reuters) – Kuwait has banned several television news channels from airing programs about an investigation into a recording that discusses an alleged plot against the ruling system, state news agency KUNA reported on Wednesday.
Suspected Islamists kill dozens in northeast Nigeria
MAIDUGURI Nigeria (Reuters) – Suspected Islamist militants have killed dozens of civilians in three villages in northeastern Nigeria, a region now hit by almost daily attacks, a security source and a victim’s relative said on Wednesday.