Japan PM Abe sends offering to war shrine, but does not visit
TOKYO (Reuters) – Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe sent a ritual offering to the controversial Yasukuni Shrine for war dead on Thursday, but did not visit in person in an effort to avoid inflaming tensions with Asian neighbors.
U.N. says chemical weapons investigators to visit Syria imminently
UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) – U.N. experts will travel to Syria imminently to investigate claims of chemical weapons use during that country’s civil war after the United Nations and the Syrian government agreed on details of the trip, U.N. Secretary-Gener…
Brazil Congress rejects motion that threatened oil rights auction
BRASILIA (Reuters) – Brazil’s Congress on Wednesday rejected an amendment to an oil-royalty bill that threatened to derail the world’s largest-ever sale of rights to develop offshore oil resources scheduled for October 21.
U.S. asks Mexico to detain freed drug lord so can be extradited
MEXICO CITY (Reuters) – The United States has asked Mexico to detain freed drug kingpin Rafael Caro Quintero to face charges brought decades ago by a U.S. court, the Mexican attorney general’s office said on Wednesday, setting the stage for a formal ex…
Japan visit to war shrine likely to anger Asian neighbors
TOKYO (Reuters) – A Japanese cabinet minister paid respects to the nation’s war dead at a controversial shrine seen as a symbol of Japan’s past militarism on Thursday, a move likely to anger China and risk undermining recent tentative diplomatic overtu…
U.N. says chemical weapons investigators to visit Syria imminently
UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) – U.N. experts will travel to Syria imminently to investigate claims of chemical weapons use during that country’s civil war after the United Nations and the Syrian government agreed on details of the trip, U.N. Secretary-Gener…
Top Cuban baseball player missing, reported to have defected
HAVANA (Reuters) – One of Cuba’s top baseball players is reported to have abandoned the Communist-run island to become the latest emigre seeking a multi-million-dollar Major League contract in the United States.
More than 200 dead after Egypt forces crush protest camps
CAIRO (Reuters) – Egyptian security forces crushed the protest camps of thousands of supporters of the deposed Islamist president on Wednesday, shooting almost 200 of them dead in the bloodiest day in decades and polarizing the Arab world’s most populo…
Ecuador recalls ambassador to Egypt after bloodshed in Cairo
QUITO (Reuters) – Ecuador recalled its ambassador to Egypt for consultations on Wednesday after Egyptian security forces crushed the protest camps of supporters of the deposed Islamist President Mohamed Mursi and shot nearly 200 of them dead.
Japanese cabinet minister Shindo visits shrine to war dead
TOKYO (Reuters) – Japanese internal affairs minister Yoshitaka Shindo visited a shrine to war dead seen as a symbol of Japan’s past militarism on Thursday, a move likely to anger China and further strain icy ties between Asia’s two largest economies.
