Thai junta compares its intervention to Myanmar’s 1988 crackdown
BANGKOK (Reuters) – Thailand’s military on Friday compared its seizure of power in May to restore stability after months of unrest to the brutal crackdown by Myanmar’s former junta in 1988 to snuff out a pro-democracy movement.
Iraqi Kurdish president asks parliament to prepare for independence vote
ARBIL Iraq (Reuters) – The president of Iraq’s autonomous Kurdish region asked its parliament on Thursday to plan a referendum on Kurdish independence, signaling his impatience with Baghdad, which is fighting to repel Sunni insurgents and struggling to…
Phones, shoes to face scrutiny as airport security tightened: U.S.
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Airlines with direct flights to the United States have been told to tighten screening of mobile phones and shoes in response to intelligence reports of increased threats from al Qaeda-affiliated militant groups, U.S. officials sa…
U.N. decries reports Australia handing Tamil asylum seekers back to Sri Lanka
SYDNEY/COLOMBO (Reuters) – The United Nations has expressed “profound concern” about Australia’s handling of asylum seekers amid reports that scores of Sri Lankans will be handed over to their country’s navy after only a brief assessment by Australian …
Myanmar police arrest five as calm returns to Mandalay after riots
MANDALAY Myanmar (Reuters) – Police in Mandalay, Myanmar’s second-biggest city, said they had arrested another five people after sectarian violence in which a Buddhist and a Muslim died, but an overnight curfew and a heavy security presence appeared to…
Turkey turns inwards as war spreads from Syria to Iraq
ANKARA (Reuters) – As al Qaeda-inspired Sunni militants spread right along Turkey’s southeastern border last month from Syria through Iraq, seizing Turkish hostages as they went, the normally loquacious Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan had little to say.
Thieves in Mexico steal truck with dangerous radioactive load
MEXICO CITY (Reuters) – Thieves in central Mexico on Thursday stole a pick-up truck carrying dangerous radioactive material, authorities said.
China’s top paper dismisses fears Hong Kong autonomy being eroded
BEIJING (Reuters) – China’s top newspaper on Friday dismissed fears that the autonomy of the former British colony of Hong Kong was being eroded, saying Beijing’s policy had not and would not change, following mass pro-democracy protests earlier in the…
Overpass collapses in World Cup city
BELO HORIZONTE Brazil (Reuters) – An unfinished overpass collapsed in the Brazilian World Cup host city of Belo Horizonte on Thursday, killing at least one person and casting a shadow over a tournament that has suffered repeated construction accidents …
West African authorities adopt common strategy to fight Ebola
ACCRA (Reuters) – West African countries and international health organizations adopted a fresh strategy on Thursday to fight the world’s deadliest Ebola epidemic, which has killed hundreds of people in Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia.
