Asylum seekers in Europe reach two-decade high
BRUSSELS (Reuters) – Nearly half a million people sought asylum in Europe last year, the most in two decades, with the largest number coming from Syrians fleeing civil war, the European Union said on Monday.
Militants kill 20 security men in Yemen checkpoint raid
ADEN, Yemen (Reuters) – Suspected militants killed 20 members of Yemen’s security forces in a dawn raid on a checkpoint on Monday, state news agency Saba said, in an attack officials said bore the hallmarks of the local branch of al Qaeda.
Boat accident death toll in western Uganda rises to 107
KAMPALA (Reuters) – One hundred and seven people have died after a boat capsized in a lake along the border of Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo, Ugandan police said on Monday after recovering more bodies.
Hollande to pursue reforms despite French local vote thump
PARIS (Reuters) – President Francois Hollande’s government will stick to planned economic reforms and spending cuts despite being punished in local elections where the anti-immigrant National Front (FN) made gains, the French finance minister said on M…
Opponents resume protests as Thai PM risks impeachment
BANGKOK (Reuters) – Anti-government demonstrators in Thailand resumed street protests on Monday after lying low for weeks, piling pressure on increasingly beleaguered Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra, who is expected to face impeachment within days.
China demands explanation from U.S. on Huawei spying report
BEIJING (Reuters) – China wants a clear explanation from Washington over a report that the U.S. National Security Agency infiltrated servers at the headquarters of telecoms giant Huawei Technologies Co., a Chinese foreign ministry spokesman said on Mon…
Abe faces push-back in aim to free Japan military from constitution
TOKYO (Reuters) – Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is hitting a speed bump in his drive to ease constitutional limits on Japan’s ability to fight abroad, as members of his own coalition put up obstacles that could force him to delay or water down the move.
Kiev woos oligarchs, bolstering east against Putin
DONETSK, Ukraine (Reuters) – Even as a new alarm sounds about it massing troops on the Ukrainian border, Russia may have missed its chance to exploit unrest in the Russian-speaking east to seize Ukraine’s industrial heartland in the way it took Crimea….
Japan should press ‘changing’ North Korea to find closure over abductees
TOKYO (Reuters) – The ageing parents of a 13-year-old Japanese girl abducted nearly 40 years ago by North Korea urged their government on Monday to heed signs of change in Pyongyang in order to find out what happened to their daughter.
Kerry hopes Crimea won’t hit Russian cooperation on Syrian weapons
THE HAGUE (Reuters) – U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said on Monday he hoped the Crimea crisis would not harm cooperation with Russia on international efforts to destroy Syria’s chemical weapons.
