Thai PM under fire as rice scheme sinks, poll challenged
BANGKOK (Reuters) – Pressure on Thailand’s embattled government mounted on Tuesday, when a flagship rice-buying scheme vital to its support stumbled closer to collapse and the opposition filed legal challenges that could void a disrupted weekend electi…
Kurds from Iraq wage holy war in Syria with one eye on home
HALABJA, Iraq (Reuters) – Twenty-five year old Ako Abd al-Qadir went to wage holy war in Syria vowing to return and conquer all of Iraqi Kurdistan in the name of Islam on the way back to his home town of Halabja.
Russia says Syria to ship more chemical arms, attend talks
MOSCOW (Reuters) – Russia offered assurances on Tuesday that the Syrian government will show up at a new round of peace talks next week and will soon ship more toxic agents abroad for destruction under a deal to eliminate its chemical weapons arsenal.
German foreign minister threatens sanctions against Ukraine
BERLIN (Reuters) – German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier has said sanctions should be used as a threat against Ukraine’s government unless it finds a political solution to its long-running, at times violent, dispute with the opposition.
China warns officials not to cover up corruption
BEIJING (Reuters) – Authorities in China have warned they will go after officials who cover up corruption, state media reported on Tuesday, in the government’s latest effort to curb widespread graft.
Policeman, two militants killed in clash in Tunisia
TUNIS (Reuters) – A Tunisian policeman and two Islamist militants were killed during a police raid on a house in Tunis where weapons, explosives and suicide bomb belts were found, the Interior Ministry said on Tuesday.
Smuggling, fraud cost Philippines $25.8 billion in 2011, study says
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – More than $410 billion in illicit money crossed the borders of the Philippines from 1960 to 2011, with customs fraud related to imported goods surging in recent years, according to a study by a U.S.-based anti-graft watchdog grou…
Two killed in attack on Yemen bus carrying soldiers: medical source
SANAA (Reuters) – At least two people were killed when a bomb hit a bus carrying Yemeni soldiers in the capital Sanaa on Tuesday, a medical source said, highlighting the government’s weak grip on security in the impoverished country.
El Salvador fisherman washes up in Marshall Islands after year adrift
(Reuters) – A fisherman thought to be from El Salvador who washed ashore on the Marshall Islands said he survived more than a year adrift in the Pacific Ocean, drinking turtle blood and catching fish and birds with his bare hands.
U.S. urges South Sudan to honor ceasefire, free political prisoners
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The United States urged South Sudan’s leaders on Monday to implement a January 23 ceasefire between the government and rebels as an advance team of regional monitors arrived in the country.
