European human rights body says concerned about abuses in Azerbaijan
TBILISI (Reuters) – Human rights are deteriorating in Azerbaijan, a European watchdog said on Wednesday, calling on the authorities to uphold regional standards and expressing concerns over what it says is a “worrying pattern” of abuse.
China won’t swallow ‘bitter pill’ of ceding sovereign rights: military official
QINGDAO, China (Reuters) – China will not “swallow the bitter pill” of ceding its sovereign rights to others, a senior military official told foreign naval leaders on Wednesday, as the country takes an increasingly assertive approach to guarding its ma…
China stops prominent rights lawyer from meeting German minister
BEIJING (Reuters) – A prominent Chinese human rights lawyer said on Wednesday that police had prevented him from attending a meeting with the visiting deputy chancellor of Germany, in the latest example of curbs on government critics in China.
Hong Kong and Philippines settle spat over 2010 bus siege deaths
HONG KONG (Reuters) – Hong Kong scrapped travel sanctions against the Philippines on Wednesday after Manila issued an apology and offered greater compensation for the deaths of eight tourists during a hostage-taking and siege four years ago.
Kosovo parliament votes for a new war crimes court
PRISTINA (Reuters) – Kosovo’s parliament approved on Wednesday an EU-backed special court to try ethnic Albanian ex-guerrillas accused of harvesting organs from Serbs captured in the 1998-99 Kosovo war.
Hole in Afghan budget stirs unease as West starts packing bags
KABUL (Reuters) – A $375 million hole in the Afghan budget is threatening public projects and civil servants’ salaries, officials say, putting the aid-dependent economy under stress just as Afghanistan awaits a new leader and foreign troops prepare to …
Lebanese MPs fail to pick new president in first vote
BEIRUT (Reuters) – Lebanese parliamentarians failed to elect a new president in a first round of voting on Wednesday, with leading candidate Samir Geagea falling well short of the required two-thirds majority.
Pakistan TV channel under pressure from military after shooting
ISLAMABAD (Reuters) – Pakistan’s Defence Ministry has demanded that a prominent news channel be suspended after it reported that the country’s powerful spy agency was behind the shooting of one of Pakistan’s most famous journalists, a media regulator s…
Australia, Malaysia vow to keep searching to solve plane mystery
PERTH, Australia (Reuters) – Australia and Malaysia vowed on Wednesday to keep searching for a missing Malaysian plane despite no sign of wreckage after almost seven weeks, and as bad weather again grounded aircraft and an undersea drone neared the end…
Netanyahu tells Abbas to choose peace partner: Hamas or Israel
JERUSALEM (Reuters) – Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu cautioned Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Wednesday over just-revived unity talks with Hamas, saying he had to choose between peace with Israel or its Islamist enemy.
