Thai PM returns to Bangkok as protest showdown looms
BANGKOK (Reuters) – Embattled Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra returned to the capital, Bangkok, on Wednesday for traditional New Year celebrations in a display of unity alongside military chiefs before a looming showdown with anti-government pr…
Japan minister follows Abe to war shrine, pouring salt on wound for China
TOKYO (Reuters) – A Japanese cabinet member visited a shrine seen by critics as a symbol of Tokyo’s wartime aggression on Wednesday, pouring salt on a fresh wound after Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s pilgrimage there last week drew sharp criticism from Ch…
Thousands march in Hong Kong in escalating battle for democracy
HONG KONG (Reuters) – Thousands protested in Hong Kong on Wednesday pressing China to allow full democracy in the city as a battle intensifies over Beijing’s attempts to control the outcome of a planned direct election for the city’s leader in 2017.
Russia’s Putin meets Volgograd bombing victims
VOLGOGRAD, Russia (Reuters) – President Vladimir Putin met wounded victims of deadly suicide bombings in the southern Russian city of Volgograd on Wednesday, heaping condemnation on the attacks that raised security fears ahead of the Winter Olympics.
Ethnic Russian recruits to insurgency pose new threat before Olympics
MOSCOW (Reuters) – The suspected involvement of converts to Islam in Russian suicide bombings points to the growing reach of jihadists far beyond the Muslim provinces of Chechnya and Dagestan, where insurgency and separatism have simmered for two decad…
U.S. opposes planned release of 88 Afghan prisoners, adding to strains
KABUL (Reuters) – The United States wants Afghanistan to halt the release of 88 prisoners from an Afghan jail because they pose a serious threat to security, U.S. officials said on Wednesday, adding to strains between the two sides.
North Korean leader says purge was a cleansing of ‘filth’
SEOUL (Reuters) – North Korean leader Kim Jong Un made his first reference to the execution of his powerful uncle in a New Year’s address, saying the reclusive state’s ruling party had become stronger after it was purged of “factional filth.”
Anti-Assad monitoring group says Syrian death toll passes 130,000
BEIRUT (Reuters) – The death toll in Syria’s civil war has risen to at least 130,433, more than a third of them civilians on both sides of the conflict, but the real figure is probably much higher, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said on Tuesda…
Gunmen blast natgas pipeline in Sinai: security sources
CAIRO (Reuters) – Unknown assailants attacked a natural gas pipeline in the Sinai on Tuesday, Egyptian security sources told Reuters, raising concerns of instability as the country pushes through with a roadmap for political transition to democracy.
South Sudan government, rebels set for New Year’s Day talks
JUBA (Reuters) – South Sudan’s government and rebels are set for New Year’s Day peace talks in Ethiopia’s capital, Addis Ababa, to thrash out a ceasefire to end weeks of ethnic bloodletting in the world’s newest state.
