Twelve migrants drown off Greek coast after boat capsizes
ATHENS (Reuters) – Twelve migrants, including four children, drowned on Friday after their boat capsized just off a Greek island, the coastguard said, adding to the hundreds of deaths this year of people attempting the perilous Mediterranean crossing.
With ‘loving kindness’, Myanmar frees 69 political prisoners
YANGON (Reuters) – Myanmar released 69 political prisoners on Friday in an amnesty the government described as an act of “loving kindness” in line with President Thein Sein’s promise to free all prisoners of conscience by year-end.
Italy’s Berlusconi struggles to keep party united
ROME (Reuters) – Italian center-right leader Silvio Berlusconi is struggling to control his divided party ahead of a meeting on Saturday that could confirm a deepening split in its ranks and threaten the stability of Prime Minister Enrico Letta’s fragi…
Head of large Chinese developer probed for criminal behavior
BEIJING (Reuters) – The chairman of a large Chinese state-owned development company in southwestern Chengdu is being investigated for unspecified crimes, the company said on Friday, in what could be part of a broader crackdown on corruption in the city…
Israel’s Peres warns against feud with U.S. over Iran
JERUSALEM (Reuters) – President Shimon Peres urged Israelis on Friday to show respect for the United States, seeking to soothe relations with the country’s most powerful ally that have been strained over Iran.
Clothes, suitcases on Sri Lanka beach recall war’s bloody endgame
PUTHUMATHALAN, Sri Lanka (Reuters) – Scraps of clothes, rusting cooking pots and broken medicine bottles are scattered across Puthumathalan beach, the litter of 300,000 civilians who crowded into the hamlet in the final days of Sri Lanka’s civil war.
China president: China, U.S. should strengthen policy coordination
BEIJING (Reuters) – China’s president, Xi Jinping, told visiting U.S. Treasury Secretary Jack Lew that China and the United States should strengthen policy coordination during their respective reform and restructuring processes, state media reported on…
China party reform full document to be released Friday: state TV
BEIJING (Reuters) – The full document giving details of reforms agreed at the recent plenary session of the Chinese Communist Party’s top leadership will be released later on Friday, state broadcaster CCTV said on its account on the Twitter-like Weibo …
China claims credit for blind activist’s U.S. studies
BEIJING (Reuters) – China took credit on Friday for its “humanity” in allowing blind legal activist Chen Guangcheng to study in the United States, after he fled to the U.S. embassy in Beijing following months of house arrest.
Gambia to cut ties with Taiwan, China says unaware
BANJUL/TAIPEI (Reuters) – Gambia’s government will cut diplomatic ties with Taiwan with immediate effect, President Yahya Jammeh’s office said, a move which could threaten warming ties between China and Taiwan, though China expressed little interest in…
