South African police vow to crack down on strike intimidation
MARIKANA, South Africa (Reuters) – South Africa’s police minister vowed to crack down on violence against platinum miners who were trying to return to work and arrest “within hours” strikers he said were behind a campaign of intimidation.
Japan’s working poor left behind by Abenomics
TOKYO (Reuters) – Last Christmas Eve, Ririko Saito and her 11-year-old daughter gathered some plastic bottles, pots and a kettle and made several trips to a nearby park to get water. Their utility had just turned off the tap after months of unpaid bill…
U.S. reconstruction push overwhelming Kabul’s finances: watchdog
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The United States has spent $103 billion on rebuilding everything from hospitals to security forces in Afghanistan, but Kabul’s modest finances make it unlikely the projects could be maintained in the future, a top U.S. watchdog …
Qatar sets out labor reforms after rights criticism, but no timetable
DOHA (Reuters) – Qatar unveiled plans for labor reforms on Wednesday after persistent criticism from rights groups over its treatment of workers, but it set no timetable and the changes would still leave employees without a minimum wage or trade unions…
Ukraine holds talks to end crisis, rebels not invited
KIEV (Reuters) – Ukraine’s interim leaders on Wednesday pushed a plan to allow the regions a greater say over their affairs, but the exclusion of separatists from round table talks cast doubt over whether the move could defuse the crisis.
Vietnam mobs set fire to foreign factories in anti-China riots
HANOI/MANILA (Reuters) – Thousands of Vietnamese set fire to foreign factories and rampaged in industrial zones in the south of the country in an angry reaction to Chinese oil drilling in a part of the South China Sea claimed by Vietnam, officials said…
Six powers, Iran start work on drafting long-term nuclear deal
VIENNA (Reuters) – Six world powers and Iran launched a decisive phase of diplomacy on Wednesday to draft a lasting accord that would curb Tehran’s contested nuclear activity in exchange for a phased end to sanctions that have hobbled the Iranian econo…
Qatar unveils labor reforms but no timetable, after rights criticism
DOHA (Reuters) – Qatar unveiled plans for labor reforms on Wednesday after persistent criticism from rights group over its treatment of workers, but it set no timetable and the changes would still leave employees without a minimum wage or trade unions….
Former Kazakh minister faces U.S. racketeering lawsuit
(Reuters) – The largest city in Kazakhstan has sued former government minister Viktor Khrapunov and several of his relatives in the United States, accusing them of systematically looting state assets for their own benefit.
Italy’s Berlusconi says he was forced out by EU ‘plot’
ROME (Reuters) – Former Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi repeated accusations on Wednesday that he had been forced out of office at the height of the euro zone crisis in 2011 as the result of a plot by European Union officials.
