Delhi’s schools to reopen next week, parents wary of hazardous air
Schools in India’s capital New Delhi will reopen on Monday after closing for two days due to a spike in pollution levels, but air quality is likely to remain “very poor” – a notch below the most hazardous “severe” rating – raising health risks for mill…
German parliament approves climate protection law
The German lower house of parliament approved on Friday a major climate protection package which aims to ensure Germany will meet its 2030 target for reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
Ukraine adviser: excluding foreigners from buying land will hurt growth
Ukraine’s chief economic adviser has told Reuters the government’s decision not to let foreigners take advantage once a ban on selling farmland is lifted next year will slow investment, help local oligarchs and hurt growth.
Mongolia amends constitution in bid to end political instability
(This version of the Nov. 15th story corrects date of Battulga’s election from 2016 to 2017 in paragraph 10 and date of election under new rules from 2024 to 2025 in paragraph 7)
Hong Kong campus protest showdowns loom but tension eases
The president of Hong Kong’s Chinese University, which anti-government protesters have turned into a fortress stockpiled with petrol bombs and bows and arrows, threatened on Friday to call in “assistance” unless all non-students leave.
China envoy threatens Sweden over award to detained writer Gui Minhai
China threatened Sweden with unspecified “counter measures” if its culture minister attends a literary award ceremony on Friday for Gui Minhai, a Swedish citizen who was abducted in Thailand in 2015 and is now in detention in China.
Mekong countries and U.N. agree to jointly fight drug scourge
Five Southeast Asian countries, China, and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) agreed on Friday to improve intelligence sharing and law enforcement operations to fight drug trafficking in the region by transnational crime groups.
Venice hit by another ferocious high tide, flooding city
An exceptionally high tide hit Venice again on Friday just three days after the city suffered its worst flooding in more than 50 years, leaving squares, shops and hotels once more inundated.
Taliban shifted Western hostages as prisoner swap postponed: sources
A plan to swap two Western hostages with three Taliban prisoners has been postponed, an Afghan government official told Reuters on Friday, and Taliban sources said the group had moved the Westerners to a “new and safe place”.
Russian spy chief: New Start treaty unlikely to be extended – TASS
The New START nuclear arms control treaty between Russia and the United States is unlikely to be extended, Sergei Naryshkin, the head of Russia’s Foreign Intelligence Service said on Friday, the TASS news agency reported.
