Two weeks before EU elections, 62 percent ‘not interested’
BRUSSELS (Reuters) – Six out of 10 Europeans are “not that interested” in the European Parliament elections later this month, according to a poll released on Thursday, despite huge efforts by campaign managers to make the ballot more relevant.
Homes set on fire, militants flee to Bhutan after Assam massacre: police
GUWAHATI, India (Reuters) – Several homes and stores in India’s tea-growing state of Assam were set on fire by unidentified persons, police said, the latest attack in an area where Muslim villagers were killed in a massacre last week.
Grieving South Korea seeks arrest of ferry operator owners
INCHEON, South Korea (Reuters) – South Korean prosecutors are seeking the arrest of members of the family that owns the operator of a ferry that sank last month killing hundreds of school children, an avoidable tragedy that rocked the country to the co…
Africa must work harder to reduce inequality: Annan
ABUJA (Reuters) – African governments should work harder to reduce inequality that has prevented the benefits of a decade of economic growth from being spread equitably, according to a report by former U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan released on Thur…
Nine Pakistan soldiers killed by suspected Taliban bomb on Afghan border
PESHAWAR, Pakistan (Reuters) – A bomb planted by suspected Taliban insurgents ripped through a truck carrying troops in Pakistan’s tribal region on Thursday, killing nine soldiers and wounding more than a dozen, officials said, with the death toll expe…
End of oil boom threatens Norway’s welfare model
OSLO (Reuters) – Norway’s energy boom is tailing off years ahead of expectations, exposing an economy unprepared for life after oil and threatening the long-term viability of the world’s most generous welfare model.
China-Vietnam sea incident not ‘clash’: China vice foreign minister
BEIJING (Reuters) – Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Cheng Guoping said on Thursday that China and Vietnam could resolve disputes at sea peacefully and that an incident between the countries earlier this week in a part of the disputed South China Sea was …
South Africa’s ruling ANC takes clear election lead
PRETORIA (Reuters) – The ruling African National Congress (ANC) took a clear lead on Thursday in South Africa’s first “Born Free” election, featuring voters with no memory of the white-minority rule that ended in 1994.
Saudi Arabia finds another 18 MERS cases as disease spreads
RIYADH (Reuters) – Saudi Arabia has identified 18 new cases of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS), it said late on Wednesday, pushing the total number of infections in the country so far to 449.
Hong Kong property tycoons stand trial in city’s biggest graft case
HONG KONG (Reuters) – Thomas and Raymond Kwok, the billionaire co-chairmen of Sun Hung Kai Properties Ltd, Asia’s largest developer, went on trial on Thursday in Hong Kong’s biggest corruption case since the city’s anti-graft agency was formed nearly 4…