Japan protests to China after ships linger for a day near isles
TOKYO (Reuters) – Four Chinese ships spent more than 24 hours in what Japan sees as its territorial waters, prompting a Japanese protest to China on Thursday at a time when Japan has been signaling its desire for a summit.
Syrian information minister denies attack on Assad’s motorcade
AMMAN (Reuters) – Syria’s Information Minister denied on Thursday reports by the opposition that President Bashar al-Assad’s motorcade was hit by rebel rocket fire as he was on his way to a mosque in Damascus.
Drone strike kills six militants in Yemen’s Maareb
SANAA (Reuters) – A U.S. drone killed at least six suspected al Qaeda militants in Yemen’s southeastern province of Maareb on Thursday, officials said, the sixth such strike in less than two weeks.
Putin will not ‘cave’ to Obama pressure: Snowden’s father
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The father of Edward Snowden, the fugitive former U.S. spy agency contractor, predicted on Wednesday that Russian President Vladimir Putin will stand up to pressure from Washington as the two nations spar over Moscow’s decision t…
Egypt at ‘dangerous stalemate’ in political crisis
CAIRO (Reuters) – Egypt’s political crisis entered a tense phase on Wednesday after international mediation efforts collapsed and the army-installed government repeated its threat to take action against supporters of deposed President Mohamed Mursi.
Ghana court says to rule on election challenge by August 29
ACCRA (Reuters) – Ghana’s Supreme Court said on Wednesday it will rule by August 29 on an opposition challenge to the result of December’s presidential election that was won by incumbent John Mahama.
Czech PM loses confidence vote, chances of early election grow
PRAGUE (Reuters) – The new Czech cabinet formed by allies of leftist President Milos Zeman lost a confidence vote on Wednesday in a split vote that made it likely the country will hold an early election before the end of the year, possibly as soon as O…
Egypt rulers need to talk to Brotherhood: Dutch minister
CAIRO (Reuters) – Diplomatic mediation failed to break Egypt’s political deadlock because the country’s new rulers see no point in talking to the Muslim Brotherhood, but they will have to do so eventually, the visiting Dutch foreign minister said on We…
Czech president retains upper hand despite parliamentary defeat
PRAGUE (Reuters) – Ultimately Czech President Milos Zeman couldn’t quite beat the parliamentary arithmetic, but he still emerged on Wednesday with the upper hand over old political rivals in his remarkable comeback from the wilderness.
Dutch embassy in Yemen was potential terror target: Foreign Minister
AMSTERDAM (Reuters) – The Netherlands has extended the closure of its embassy in Sana’a and pulled all diplomatic staff out of Yemen because its mission was a potential target of a terror attack, Foreign Minister Frans Timmermans said in a statement on…
