Japan to dispatch its own self-defense troops to Strait of Hormuz: Asahi
Japan has decided to dispatch its own self-defense troops to the Strait of Hormuz area instead of joining the U.S.-coalition to protect merchant vessels passing through key Middle Eastern waterways, the Asahi newspaper reported.
Hong Kong braces for weekend of fresh anti-government protests
Hong Kong is preparing for a weekend of demonstrations, including a human chain at major subway lines on Friday and a democracy march on Sunday, the latest moves in more than four months of anti-government protests.
NBA Commissioner says league hit by huge financial losses due to Hong Kong tweet
NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said on Thursday that the fallout following a tweet from a Houston Rockets official who backed the Hong Kong democracy protests has already cost the league substantial financial losses in China.
Cartel gunmen chase away security forces, free El Chapo’s son
Heavily armed cartel fighters surrounded security forces and made them free one of drug lord Joaquin ‘El Chapo’ Guzman’s sons, whose brief apprehension triggered intense gunbattles across the city of Culiacan.
Bolivia’s ‘generation Evo’ struggle with leader’s long shadow
Reynaldo Kantuta, a 27-year-old software developer, in many ways represents Bolivia’s big strides in social mobility under Evo Morales, since the left-wing leader became the country’s first indigenous president in 2006.
Mexican security forces free El Chapo’s son to protect lives: minister
Mexican security forces have released captured drug lord Joaquin ‘El Chapo’ Guzman’s son from a house where they briefly apprehended him on Thursday, Security Minister Alfonso Durazo told Reuters, saying the decision was taken to protect lives.
Brazil Supreme Court ruling could free corruption convicts, including Lula
Brazil’s Supreme Court began debating on Thursday whether to overturn a three-year-old rule that convicted criminals must go to prison right after losing their first appeal and not wait until they have exhausted their appeal options.
Lebanon scraps WhatsApp fee amid violent protests
Demonstrators and police clashed in Lebanon on Thursday as thousands of people rallied against the government’s handling of an economic crisis, in one of the biggest protests the country has seen in years.
Two killed in Lebanon fire near Beirut protests: report
Two foreign workers in Lebanon choked to death from a fire that spread to a building near major protests in the capital, Beirut, state news agency NNA said on Friday.
China editor takes aim at Trump adviser Navarro’s pen name for books
The editor-in-chief of a Chinese state-run newspaper on Thursday criticized White House trade adviser Peter Navarro for quoting a fictitious anti-China economist in his books, and said it raised questions about his counsel to U.S. President Donald Trum…
