Aerial ID card renewal: UAE to use drones for government services
DUBAI (Reuters) – The United Arab Emirates says it plans to use unmanned aerial drones to deliver official documents and packages to its citizens as part of efforts to upgrade government services.
Overfishing, pollution leave Turkish waters bare
ISTANBUL (Reuters) – “Balik ekmek! Balik ekmek!” (Fish bread! Fish bread!) yell the vendors tucked under Istanbul’s Galata Bridge, dishing out fish sandwiches to hordes of hungry locals and tourists much as they have for decades.
Brazil water project, long delayed, gets election year boost
CABROBO, Brazil (Reuters) – In 2006, then President Luiz Inacio Lula de Silva, a native of Brazil’s historically drought-plagued northeast, pushed through an idea that long-suffering residents of the region had been hearing about for more than a centur…
French president coming alone to White House this week
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – White House officials are giving a dismissive Gallic shrug to French President Francois Hollande’s personal drama and preparing a state visit to showcase strong U.S.-French cooperation on a host of global priorities.
Asylum seekers accuse Australia navy of abuse as boat towed to Indonesia
KUPANG, Indonesia (Reuters) – On New Year’s day, 45 asylum seekers in a ramshackle wooden boat slid ashore on a small island off the Australian city of Darwin. Four others had been swept overboard that morning in rough seas and were believed dead.
Syrian chemical weapons stalling tests limits of U.S.-Russian deal
THE HAGUE (Reuters) – At a closed door meeting, Western governments led by the United States took Syria to task for failing to surrender its chemical weapons under ambitious deadlines agreed with Russia after a poison gas attack in August.
Controversial Malaysia state boss due to “retire”, but keep influence
KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) – The chief minister of Malaysia’s Sarawak is expected to announce his resignation on Monday after 33 years in charge of the resource-rich state that have been key to keeping the national coalition in power but marred by corrupti…
Pakistani separatist militants blow up three gas pipelines
ISLAMABAD (Reuters) – Separatist rebels from Pakistan’s resource-rich Baluchistan province have blown up three gas pipelines, cutting supplies to the country’s most economically important province, an official from a state-owned gas company said Monday…
U.S. to announce trade enforcement action linked to India
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. trade representative on Monday will announce a trade enforcement action tied to India, his office said, a move that could further rile relations after an incident last year involving the arrest and strip-search of an Ind…
Eleven dead in Japan after worst snowfall in decades hits capital
TOKYO (Reuters) – Eleven people died, more than a thousand were injured and tens of thousands lost power when the worst snowstorm in decades hit Tokyo and areas around the Japanese capital before heading north to blanket the tsunami-hit Pacific coast.
