With one eye on Washington, China plots its own Asia ‘pivot’
BEIJING (Reuters) – The Silk Road, an obscure Kazakh-inspired security forum and a $50 billion Asian infrastructure bank are just some of the disparate elements in an evolving Chinese strategy to try to counter Washington’s “pivot” to the region.
World Cup police cooperation nabs Argentine ‘dirty war’ torturer
BRASILIA (Reuters) – Enhanced international police cooperation during the World Cup has led to the arrest of a fugitive wanted for torture and murder during Argentina’s “dirty war” against leftists four decades ago, Brazilian authorities said on Thursd…
Israel boosts forces near Gaza as border heats up
JERUSALEM (Reuters) – Israel beefed up its forces along its frontier with the Gaza Strip and launched air strikes against militant Hamas targets there on Thursday in response to Palestinian cross-border rocket attacks.
Overpass collapses in World Cup city, crushes vehicles
BELO HORIZONTE Brazil (Reuters) – An unfinished overpass collapsed in the Brazilian World Cup host city of Belo Horizonte on Thursday, leaving at least one person dead and casting a shadow over a tournament that has suffered repeated construction accid…
Syria aid access talks widen to full U.N. Security Council
UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) – Australia, Luxembourg and Jordan circulated a draft resolution to the 15-member U.N. Security Council on Thursday that seeks to boost cross-border humanitarian access in Syria but it was not immediately clear if Russia and Ch…
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.
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…
Rescuers close in on three trapped Honduran miners, eight missing
SAN JUAN ARRIBA Honduras (Reuters) – Rescuers labored with pickaxes and shovels to dig out 11 miners trapped by a landslide at an illegal gold mine in southern Honduras, and are close to reaching three of the workers, officials said on Thursday.
U.N. states overcome impasse to pass peacekeeping budget
UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) – A U.N. General Assembly committee approved on Thursday a new troop-reimbursement rate for countries contributing nearly 100,000 peacekeepers to 16 missions, overcoming an impasse that left the world body’s operations in finan…
African nations give rebels in Congo six months to disarm
LUANDA/KINSHASA (Reuters) – African nations have agreed to suspend military operations for six months against Rwandan rebels in Congo to give them more time to lay down their arms, regional government officials said.
