Japan to tap technology for military use, another step away from pacifism
TOKYO (Reuters) – Japan is finalizing a budget for a new command centre for cutting-edge research modeled after the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) to try to tap a broad swathe of civilian technologies with potential military use…
Afghan opium crop hits record high ahead of Western withdrawal: U.N.
KABUL (Reuters) – Afghan opium cultivation has hit a record high as international forces prepare to leave the country, the United Nations said on Wednesday, with concern that profits will go to warlords jockeying for power ahead of a presidential elect…
German “wise men” warn against generous social measures
BERLIN (Reuters) – Germany’s “wise men” panel of economic advisers warned on Wednesday that measures politicians are currently discussing in coalition negotiations such as hiking low pensions threatened to undo the years of gains from painful labor mar…
Top Indian investigator under fire for rape remark
NEW DELHI (Reuters) – Rights campaigners on Wednesday demanded that the head of India’s top investigation agency resign after he said during a panel discussion on sports ethics that “if you can’t prevent rape, you enjoy it”.
Philippines forces in gunfight in typhoon-hit region: TV
TACLOBAN, Philippines (Reuters) – Philippine security forces exchanged fire on Wednesday with armed men amid widespread looting of shops and warehouses for food, water and other supplies in the aftermath of super typhoon Haiyan, local television report…
Community members protest at Amplats mine in South Africa
JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) – Security personnel at Anglo American Platinum (Amplats)’s Mogalakwena mine in South Africa on Wednesday dispersed protesting community members who were destroying mine property, the company said.
Japan passes law to launch reform of electricity sector
TOKYO (Reuters) – Japan’s upper house passed legislation on Wednesday to start the most ambitious reform of its electricity sector since 1951, a process prompted by the Fukushima nuclear crisis that may end with the break-up of powerful regional monopo…
Nazi Kristallnacht against Jews remembered as living memory fades
VIENNA (Reuters) – Lilly Drukker was 11 years old when two uniformed Nazis barged into her family’s Vienna apartment in November 1938 to take her father away to the Dachau concentration camp.
China points to social welfare reforms needed for urbanization drive
BEIJING/HONG KONG (Reuters) – Among the issues China’s top leaders tackled this week as they hammered out their policy roadmap, some may determine whether children attending the likes of the Pengying school in Beijing fulfill their dreams.
Al Qaeda in Yemen vows revenge for Shi’ite rebel attack on Salafis
RIYADH (Reuters) – Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) has pledged revenge against Shi’ite Houthi rebels in northern Yemen for their assault on a Salafi school in Dammaj, Site Monitoring Service reported late on Tuesday, citing a statement from th…
