Floods in Laos kill 20, damage rice crops
BANGKOK (Reuters) – Flash floods and heavy monsoon rains have battered Laos, killing at least 20 people, washing away roads and damaging crops, a U.N. official said on Wednesday.
U.N. inspectors reach rebel-held territory outside Damascus: activists
BEIRUT (Reuters) – A team of United Nations inspectors reached rebel-held territory outside Damascus on Wednesday, opposition activists said, and would soon begin a second day of investigating the sites of an alleged chemical weapons attack that killed…
Iran denies reports Assad in Tehran
DUBAI (Reuters) – Iran denied reports on Wednesday that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad had flown to Iran, according to Iran’s English-language state broadcaster Press TV.
UK’s Hague: Syria chemical attack threatens our security
LONDON (Reuters) – Britain’s national security will be undermined if it fails to challenge the Syrian government over the use of chemical weapons against its own people, British Foreign Secretary William Hague said on Wednesday.
Detente on Korean peninsula as Pyongyang seeks to lift isolation
SEOUL (Reuters) – North Korean leader Kim Jong-un is reaching out to Seoul and Washington after months of threats to try to mend his country’s broken economy in a move that appears to have vindicated, for now, the policies of his South Korean counterpa…
Al Qaeda vows ‘Volcano of Revenge’ over Syrian suspected gas attack: SITE
DUBAI (Reuters) – An al Qaeda affiliate threatened a “Volcano of Revenge” against Syrian government security and military targets in retaliation for a suspected poison attack near Damascus, the SITE Monitoring Group reported late on Tuesday.
U.N. experts in Syria enroute to alleged poison gas attack site
BEIRUT (Reuters) – A team of United Nations inspectors left their Damascus hotel on Wednesday and headed to the scene of an alleged chemical weapons strike on several suburbs outside the capital last week, a Reuters witness said.
Russia tells Brahimi attacking Syria would destabilize region
MOSCOW (Reuters) – Russia told U.N.-Arab League peace envoy Lakhdar Brahimi that attacking Syria to punish the government for the alleged use of poison gas would destabilize the country and the region, the Foreign Ministry said on Wednesday.
Australian opposition outlines budget savings; PM predicts comeback
CANBERRA (Reuters) – Australia’s conservative opposition, heavily favored in next month’s election, outlined A$31 billion ($27.8 billion) in savings on Wednesday and promised to breathe new life into the economy by abolishing environment taxes polarizi…
Analysis: Brief military action in Syria would limit risks for Obama
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Most Americans want no part of a U.S. military intervention in Syria, but there is a growing sense in Washington that President Barack Obama would face more political risks from a weak response to Syria’s use of chemical weapons …




