Exclusive: West, Japan rebuke China at U.N. for detention of Uighurs
Nearly two dozen countries have called on China to halt its mass detention of ethnic Uighurs in the Xinjiang region, the first such joint move on the issue at the U.N. Human Rights Council, according to diplomats and a letter seen by Reuters.
EU signals sanctions on Turkey over Cyprus drilling: draft
The European Union will put on hold high-level talks with Ankara and negotiations on an air transport agreement, as well as freezing funding for Turkey next year, over “illegal” drilling for gas and oil off Cyprus, according to a draft statement seen b…
Blast causes deaths in Syria’s rebel-held Afrin
A car bomb killed 11 people and wounded many others on Thursday in Syria’s Afrin city, which Turkey-backed rebels captured from Kurdish fighters last year, medical sources and a monitor said.
Activists lay sunflowers at memorial site for Hong Kong protester
Hong Kong activists on Thursday lay sunflowers and white lilies at a memorial site for a man who fell to his death during recent protests against an extradition bill that has plunged the former British colony into turmoil.
Exclusive: Echo chambers – Fake news fact-checks hobbled by low reach, study shows
The European Union has called on Facebook and other platforms to invest more in fact-checking, but a new study shows those efforts may rarely reach the communities worst affected by fake news.
Britain says Iran attempted to block its oil tanker
Three Iranian vessels tried to block the passage of a BP-operated tanker through the Strait of Hormuz but withdrew after warnings from a British warship, the British government said on Thursday.
Timeline: Tension between Iran and the West over nuclear plans, Gulf shipping
Tensions between Iran and the West have escalated since U.S. sanctions on Iranian oil exports took full effect and British naval forces seized an Iranian supertanker.
China’s top official in Hong Kong again backs leader amid crisis
China’s top representative in Hong Kong said on Thursday the central government in Beijing continues to support Chief Executive Carrie Lam, who is grappling with the city’s greatest political crisis since it returned to Chinese rule in 1997.
French quadriplegic patient dies after life support legal battle
A French quadriplegic patient who had been in a vegetative state for more than a decade, and whose condition sparked a legal to-and-fro over whether to end his life support, died on Thursday, two lawyers for his relatives said.
China to Britain’s Hunt: Don’t use us in your leadership bid
British Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt should not use China in his campaign to become the next prime minister by “speaking unduly” about the country, its Foreign Ministry said on Thursday, after he criticized China’s rights record.




