Japanese PM unlikely to visit Yasukuni shrine on August 15: media
TOKYO (Reuters) – Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is unlikely to visit Tokyo’s Yasukuni Shrine, seen in much of Asia as a symbol of Japan’s past militarism, on the emotive August 15 anniversary of Japan’s defeat in World War Two to avoid upsetting China and …
Mexican president Pena Nieto to have operation next week
MEXICO CITY (Reuters) – Mexican President Pena Nieto will have an operation next week to remove a nodule from his thyroid gland, his office said in a statement on Wednesday.
At least 45 killed as train derails in Spain
SANTIAGO DE COMPOSTELA, Spain (Reuters) – At least 45 people were killed and 70 injured when a train derailed on the outskirts of the northern Spanish city of Santiago de Compostela on Wednesday in one of Europe’s worst rail disasters.
Fugitive Snowden’s hopes of leaving Moscow airport dashed
MOSCOW (Reuters) – Fugitive U.S. spy agency contractor Edward Snowden’s hopes of leaving Moscow’s Sheremetyevo Airport for the first time in a month on Wednesday were dashed when he failed to secure permission from Russia to leave.
U.S., Vietnam to intensify talks despite protests
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The United States and Vietnam have agreed to intensify talks on a regional free-trade agreement in hopes of finishing by the end of the year, the U.S. Trade Representative’s Office said on Wednesday, following a call by labor and…
Militants kill 14 Shi’ites after checking ID cards in north Iraq
TIKRIT, Iraq (Reuters) – Militants shot dead 14 Shi’ite tanker-drivers after checking their identity papers at a makeshift roadblock on the main route leading north from the Iraqi capital late on Wednesday, police said.
African Union asks Sudan to extend deadline to halt South Sudan’s oil
KHARTOUM (Reuters) – The African Union has asked Sudan to extend a deadline to halt oil flows to South Sudan, state-linked media said on Wednesday, in a last-ditch effort to keep crucial oil exports going.
Mexican government to propose constitutional energy reform in August
MEXICO CITY (Reuters) – Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto will present a constitutional energy reform to Congress in August, setting the stage for major new private investment in the oil sector, a top lawmaker said on Wednesday.
Colombia report reveals deadly extent of five-decade conflict
BOGOTA (Reuters) – Almost a quarter of a million Colombians have been killed over the last 54 years of bloody strife, most of them civilians, a government-funded report revealed on Wednesday, providing fresh evidence of the vast scale of human rights v…
Spanish government believes train derailment was accident: spokeswoman
MADRID (Reuters) – The Spanish government’s main working hypothesis concerning the derailment of a train in the northern region of Galicia is that it was an accident, a government spokeswoman told Reuters.
