China lodges stern representations with U.S. over Taiwan president visit
China’s Foreign Ministry said on Thursday that China has lodged stern representations with the United States over Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen’s visit to Hawaii next week on a tour of diplomatic allies in the Pacific.
Numbers game: How Thailand’s election system favors pro-army parties
Thailand goes to the polls on Sunday under a new system that critics say the military government has devised to prevent the most popular political party, which has won every election since 2001, from returning to power.
Special Report – Shattered sanctuary: In Christchurch, an imam seeks to rebuild
Ibrahim Abdelhalim was at his mosque last week in the Linwood neighborhood of Christchurch, New Zealand, delivering a prayer as he usually does on Friday afternoons. The 67-year-old grandfather had already spoken about “tasting the sweetness of faith” as a Muslim obedient to God and willing to serve humanity.
May has a ‘good shot’ of getting Brexit deal approved next week, UK junior minister
Prime Minister Theresa May has a good chance of getting her twice-defeated Brexit deal approved by parliament next week, a junior Brexit minister in her government said on Thursday.
Let the British parliament find a softer Brexit option, lawmaker tells PM May
The British parliament should be given the opportunity to find an alternative way to leave the European Union and lawmakers would support a Norway-style post-Brexit relationship, Conservative lawmaker Oliver Letwin said on Thursday.
U.S.-backed force denies report of Islamic State’s final defeat
The U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) denied a report on Thursday that all of Islamic State’s final enclave has been captured after a Kurdish media outlet said the jihadist group had been finally defeated there.
Mozambique death toll at 217 after cyclone: government minister
The death toll after a powerful cyclone in Mozambique has risen to 217 and around 15,000 people, many of them very ill, still need to be rescued, a government minister said on Thursday.
Shaken by mosque massacre, New Zealand gun owners prepare to hand over banned weapons
Mike Salvesen was working on his farm in the foothills of New Zealand’s Southern Alps last Friday when his phone began pinging with news of a tragedy unfolding about 110 km (70 miles) away in Christchurch.
Australia clears iron ore ports, miners brace as cyclones approach
The operator of Australia’s key iron ore exporting ports said it was clearing ships from the sites as a severe tropical cyclone heads towards the northwestern coast, while miners were also bracing for a separate cyclone in the northeast.
Kazakh police disperse protest against renaming of capital
Kazakh police detained about 20 people on Thursday who protested against the renaming of the Central Asian country’s capital city after ex-president Nursultan Nazarbayev, the first decision taken by his successor, Kassym-Jomart Tokayev.
