China dismisses planned Macau democracy vote as meaningless
HONG KONG (Reuters) – China has dismissed as meaningless a proposed referendum on democracy in its southern gambling hub of Macau, a poll that would follow in the footsteps of a similar informal vote in nearby Hong Kong.
Pakistan army seizes control of key city from Taliban
MIRANSHAH Pakistan (Reuters) – The Pakistani military has seized control of 80 percent of Miranshah, the capital of the remote tribal region of North Waziristan, where the military launched an operation against Islamist militants last month, a general …
Japan denies report on North Korea’s abduction survivor list
TOKYO (Reuters) – Japan on Thursday denied as “sheer misreporting” a front page newspaper story that North Korea had provided a list of some 30 Japanese survivors still living in the isolated country, including known victims of state-sponsored kidnappi…
Mexican train derails, stranding 1,300 migrants headed toward U.S.
MEXICO CITY (Reuters) – A cargo train used by Mexicans and Central Americans to travel toward the U.S. border derailed in the southern Mexican state of Oaxaca on Wednesday, stranding about 1,300 migrants, emergency services said.
Syria’s Western-backed opposition elects new president
BEIRUT (Reuters) – Syria’s Western-backed opposition, the National Coalition, elected Hadi al-Bahra, chief negotiator at the Geneva peace talks, as its new president on Wednesday after a three-day meeting in Istanbul.
Gaza rockets land deep in Israel as it bombards Palestinian enclave
GAZA/JERUSALEM (Reuters) – Israeli air strikes shook Gaza every few minutes on Wednesday, and militants kept up rocket fire at Israel’s heartland in intensifying warfare that Palestinian officials said has killed at least 53 people in the Hamas-dominat…
Exclusive: Iraq tells U.N. that ‘terrorist groups’ seized nuclear materials
UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) – Insurgents in Iraq have seized nuclear materials used for scientific research at a university in the country’s north, Iraq told the United Nations in a letter appealing for help to “stave off the threat of their use by terror…
Anger mounts as Germany unearths second U.S. spy suspect
BERLIN/WASHINGTON (Reuters) – German politicians reacted angrily on Wednesday to news of a suspected U.S. spy in the defense ministry, which came days after the arrest of a German foreign intelligence agency worker as a suspected CIA informant.
Syria’s Western-backed opposition elects new president
BEIRUT (Reuters) – Syria’s Western-backed opposition, the National Coalition, elected Hadi al-Bahra, chief negotiator at the Geneva peace talks, as its new president on Wednesday after a three-day meeting in Istanbul.
Fukushima farmer takes on nuclear plant operator over wife’s suicide
YAMAKIYA Japan (Reuters) – A Japanese court is due to rule next month on a claim that Tokyo Electric Power is responsible for a woman’s suicide, in a landmark case that could force the utility to publicly admit culpability for deaths related to the Fuk…
