Masks on, Chinese start holiday travels as alarm mounts over mystery virus
Bundled up in winter clothes as they head home for the Lunar New Year holiday amid a health scare over a mystery new virus, Chinese travelers on the teeming concourse of Beijing West station were evenly split between the masked and the barefaced.
Prince Harry seeks ‘more peaceful life’ as reluctantly ends royal role
Britain’s Prince Harry has spoken of his sadness at being forced to give up his royal duties in a deal with Queen Elizabeth and senior Windsors, saying there was no other option if he and his wife Meghan were to seek an independent future.
EU must consider ways to support Libya truce: Borrell
The European Union will discuss all ways to uphold a formal ceasefire in Libya but any peace settlement will need real EU support to make it hold, the EU’s top diplomat Josep Borrell said on Monday.
Taiwan’s China-friendly opposition seeks makeover after election drubbing
Driven out of China after losing a civil war, Taiwan’s main opposition party faces another crisis following an election drubbing this month, seeking to re-invent itself and rethink its unpopular policy of trying to accommodate Beijing.
China struggles in new diplomatic role, trying to return Rohingya to Myanmar
In a muddy field in western Myanmar, hundreds of Chinese shipping containers fitted with single narrow windows stand in neat lines, empty of the refugees they were designed to host.
North Korea’s Kim taps tough-talking military veteran as foreign minister
North Korea’s new foreign minister is a former defense commander with little diplomatic experience, spotlighting leader Kim Jong Un’s reliance on party and military loyalists at a sensitive time amid stalled U.S. talks, analysts in Seoul said on Monday…
Dozens of Iraqi protesters wounded as anti-government unrest resumes
Two Iraqi police officers were killed and dozens of protesters were wounded in Baghdad and other cities on Monday in clashes with security forces, medical and security sources said, as anti-government unrest resumed after a lull of several weeks.
Iran says Zarif not attending Davos as its organizers ‘changed its agenda’
Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif will not attend the World Economic Forum’s annual meeting in Davos this week because its organizers had “abruptly changed its agenda”, its foreign ministry spokesman said on Monday.
Indonesia unions hold protests over planned labor reform
Several thousand Indonesian workers held a rally on Monday outside parliament to protest against planned changes to labor laws as part of government reforms aimed at creating jobs and boosting investment in Southeast Asia’s biggest economy.
Iran considers dual nationals on downed Ukrainian plane to be Iranians: TV
Iran considers the passengers with dual nationality, who were on a Ukrainian plane that was shot down accidentally earlier this month, killing all on board, to be Iranian citizens, a Foreign Ministry spokesman said on Monday.
