Security measures make Kandahar a ghost town ahead of Afghan vote
KANDAHAR, Afghanistan (Reuters) – Kandahar city, cradle of the Taliban insurgency, woke up a ghost town on Friday as police erected roadblocks as part of stringent security measures ahead of a presidential election that could mark Afghanistan’s first d…
China to close nearly two thousand small coal mines
BEIJING (Reuters) – China will close 1,725 small-scale mines with a total capacity of 117.48 million tonnes in 2014 as part of its programme to phase out low-quality coal production, its energy administration said on Friday.
Thai PM’s supporters head for huge Bangkok rally, rule out violence
BANGKOK (Reuters) – Hundreds of thousands of Thai government supporters are expected to descend on Bangkok this weekend in a symbolic show of force after months of sometimes violent protests aimed at bringing down Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra.
Hunt for Malaysian plane heads underwater to find black box
PERTH (Reuters) – The search for missing Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 in remote seas off Australia headed underwater on Friday, with a U.S. Navy high tech “black box” locator deployed for the first time as the battery life of the cockpit data recorde…
Ukraine must have real, not cosmetic, constitutional reform: Russia
MOSCOW (Reuters) – Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Friday Ukraine must carry out “real” rather than “cosmetic” constitutional reform and prove its independence from the West.
Man and myth collide as India’s Modi eyes final ascent to power
VADNAGAR, India (Reuters) – Narendra Modi spent his childhood in a modest three-room dwelling made of mud and brick nestled in a narrow, crowded lane in the western Indian town of Vadnagar.
U.S. warns China not to try Crimea-style action in Asia
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – China should not doubt the U.S. commitment to defend its Asian allies and the prospect of economic retaliation should also discourage Beijing from using force to pursue territorial claims in Asia in the way Russia has in Crimea, …
U.N. says Chadian soldiers killed 30 in Central African Republic attack
GENEVA (Reuters) – Chadian soldiers killed 30 civilians and seriously wounded more than 300 in an indiscriminate attack on a market on March 29 in Bangui, capital of the Central African Republic, a spokesman for the U.N. human rights office said on Fri…
Erdogan takes battle with enemies beyond Turkish frontiers
ISTANBUL/ANKARA (Reuters) – Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan’s battle to root out the “terrorists” he says are embedded in the Turkish state is extending beyond its frontiers to Africa and Asia, further complicating foreign policy already hit by tensions …
Turkish court orders partial lifting of YouTube ban
ANKARA (Reuters) – A Turkish court on Friday ruled that a blanket ban of social-media website YouTube violated human rights and ordered most of the restrictions be lifted, citing a top court ruling this week that scrapped a similar ban on microblogging…
