Russia can’t raise state spending forever: Putin
MOSCOW (Reuters) – Russia cannot afford to keep raising state spending, President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday, but it must find the money to fulfill the social spending promises he made on his return to the Kremlin last year.
Tibetan self-immolations having little effect, Dalai Lama says
SYDNEY (Reuters) – Tibetans setting themselves on fire to protest against Chinese rule are having little effect on Beijing’s policies, exiled Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama said on Thursday, while urging China to look harder at the reasons beh…
Ex-CIA man’s snooping claims raise alarm bells in Hong Kong
HONG KONG (Reuters) – Fresh revelations by former CIA employee Edward Snowden have raised concerns that the U.S. National Security Agency (NSA) may have hacked into Hong Kong’s key internet exchange, which handles nearly all the Chinese territory’s dom…
China says it has no information in Snowden case
BEIJING (Reuters) – China’s Foreign Ministry offered no details on Thursday on the National Security Agency contractor who revealed the U.S. government’s top-secret monitoring of phone and Internet data and who is in hiding in Hong Kong.
Downturn challenges Poland’s tea-drinking fiscal hawk
WARSAW (Reuters) – With his fondness for tea in china cups and upper-class English accent, British-born Jacek Rostowski projects an air of cultivated calm, but the economic slowdown has put his job as Poland’s finance minister in the balance.
If U.S. does not arm Syria’s rebels, Arabs, Europeans may
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Among the consequences facing U.S. President Barack Obama if he decides against arming Syria’s rebels is that Arab and European states may step in more aggressively, perhaps further fracturing rebel forces.
Insight: The big money bails on Argentina – again
BUENOS AIRES (Reuters) – More than a decade after Argentina’s epic financial collapse of 2001-02, many investors are rushing for the door once again.
Tide of humanity, as well as rising seas, lap at Kiribati’s future
SOUTH TARAWA, Kiribati (Reuters) – The ocean laps against a protective seawall outside the maternity ward at Kiribati’s Nawerewere Hospital, marshalling itself for another assault with the next king tide.
Brazil police say eight firemen evaded duty at deadly nightclub blaze: TV
RIO DE JANEIRO (Reuters) – Brazilian police accused eight firefighters of dereliction of duty for their alleged failure to enforce fire codes at a nightclub where a January 27 blaze resulted in the deaths of 242 people, the Record TV network reported o…
Mexico Congress to hold special sessions, buttressing reforms
MEXICO CITY (Reuters) – Congressional leaders of Mexico’s main parties said on Wednesday they had agreed to hold two special sessions of Congress in July and August to tackle outstanding initiatives, paving the way for key energy and fiscal reforms to …
