Taiwan anti-China protest exposes island’s nationalist divide
TAIPEI (Reuters) – A chaotic sit-in to protest against a trade deal with China has shut down Taiwan’s parliament and exposed deep divisions over the island’s identity after seven decades of living apart from its vast, undemocratic rival across the stra…
Japan PM Abe wants to confirm further cooperation with Australia
TOKYO (Reuters) – Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said on Monday he wants to confirm further cooperation on defense and the economy with Australian premier Tony Abbott, who is visiting Tokyo.
Costa Rica leftist easily wins presidential run-off
SAN JOSE, Costa Rica (Reuters) – A center-left academic who has never held elected office easily won Costa Rica’s presidential election on Sunday, ousting the graft-stained ruling party from power after its candidate quit campaigning a month ago.
Race for top EU jobs turns murkier before elections
PARIS (Reuters) – The race for the European Union’s top leadership jobs has turned murkier with news that Finland’s prime minister is stepping down to seek a European role while France is touting its former finance minister as its nominee for a Europea…
Costa Rica leftist takes huge lead in presidential run-off
SAN JOSE (Reuters) – Center-left academic Luis Guillermo Solis took an overwhelming lead in Costa Rica’s presidential election run-off on Sunday, official results showed, storming ahead as widely expected after his opponent slid in polls and stopped ca…
Cuba says U.S. created other ‘Cuban Twitter’ projects
HAVANA (Reuters) – Cuba said on Sunday the United States continues to use social media to “subvert” the island’s government and that the revelation this week of a U.S.-created, Twitter-like service for Cuba was just one of several examples.
Search planes, ships divert to Indian Ocean area where ‘pings’ detected
SYDNEY/PERTH, Australia (Reuters) – Some planes and ships searching for a missing Malaysia Airlines jetliner in the Indian Ocean moved on Monday toward waters where a Chinese vessel had picked up “ping” signals at the weekend, raising hopes of finding …
Smooth Afghan poll raises questions about Taliban strength
KABUL (Reuters) – A bigger-than-expected turnout in Afghanistan’s presidential election and the Taliban’s failure to derail the vote have raised questions about the capacity of the insurgents to tip the country back into chaos as foreign troops head ho…
Hungary re-elects maverick PM, far-right opposition gains
BUDAPEST (Reuters) – Hungarians handed their maverick Prime Minister Viktor Orban another four years in power, election results showed on Monday, while one in every five voters backed a far-right opposition party accused of anti-Semitism.
Libyan rebels, government agree to gradually reopen occupied oil ports
TRIPOLI/BENGHAZI, Libya (Reuters) – Libyan rebels occupying four eastern oil ports agreed with the government on Sunday to gradually end their eight-month petroleum blockade, which has cost the North African state billions in lost revenues.
