Satisfied by government subsidy, Thai rubber farmers call off protest
BANGKOK (Reuters) – Thai rubber farmers have called off demonstrations planned for the weekend after the government doubled its subsidy for production and offered help for people arrested in protests last week, a farmers’ leader said on Wednesday.
Obama to explore diplomatic route on Syria chemical weapons
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President Barack Obama pledged on Tuesday to explore a diplomatic plan from Russia to take away Syria’s chemical weapons, but voiced skepticism about it and urged Americans to support his threat to use military force if needed.
Indian prosecutors seek death for four guilty in Delhi gang rape case
NEW DELHI (Reuters) – All four man convicted of the rape and murder of a 23-year old trainee physiotherapist on a New Delhi bus should face the death penalty, public prosecutor Dayan Krishna told a court on Wednesday.
Five police killed in attack in south of Thailand
BANGKOK (Reuters) – Suspected Muslim insurgents killed five policemen in Thailand’s deep south on Wednesday in one of the most serious attacks since talks between a major Muslim rebel group and the government to end nearly a decade of conflict stalled….
Taiwan’s Ma asks speaker of legislature to step down
TAIPEI (Reuters) – Taiwan President Ma Ying-jeou on Wednesday urged Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng to step down over accusations of illegal lobbying, in a move that paves the way for a power struggle for the president and his ruling party.
Exclusive: French draft, disliked by Russia, would give Syria chemical arms ultimatum
UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) – An initial French draft U.N. Security Council resolution would demand that Syria make a complete declaration of its chemical weapons program within 15 days and immediately open all related sites to U.N. inspectors or face pos…
Anti-drugs activist gives Russia’s Putin a nasty poll surprise
YEKATERINBURG, Russia (Reuters) – He has published poetry, sat in a Soviet prison, collected Russian religious icons and treated drug addicts with a tough program that has drawn praise but also criminal prosecution.
Police fire teargas to disperse protests in Turkish cities
ISTANBUL (Reuters) – Turkish police used teargas to disperse crowds in Istanbul and Ankara who were rallying against the death of a protester earlier in the day, witnesses said.
Two Koreas to re-open factory park in trial run
SEOUL (Reuters) – North and South Korea have agreed to re-open a shuttered industrial park on a trial basis starting on Monday, the South’s Unification Ministry said in a statement, in a sign of a further thaw between two countries that remain technica…
Tropical storms Gabrielle, Humberto swirl in Atlantic
MIAMI (Reuters) – Tropical Storm Gabrielle regenerated and bore down on Bermuda on Tuesday while Tropical Storm Humberto strengthened to the verge of becoming the season’s first Atlantic hurricane, forecasters said.
