Indonesian soldiers clash with Papuan rebels amid tensions over highway project
Three Indonesian soldiers were killed after a clash with dozens of rebels in the eastern province of Papua, the military said late on Thursday, the latest deaths amid high tensions and violence in the restive region.
Senior China diplomat urges U.S. to meet China halfway
The Chinese government’s top diplomat, State Councillor Wang Yi, said on Friday that competition between China and the United States was normal and that Washington should abandon zero-sum thinking and meet Beijing halfway.
South Korea’s Moon replaces minister in charge of relations with North
South Korea’s President Moon Jae-in has replaced his unification minister in charge of relations with North Korea and appointed a longtime confidant, Moon’s office said on Thursday.
Exclusive: Amid rising trade tensions with U.S., India wants to extend Iran oil sanctions waiver – sources
India wants to keep buying Iranian oil at its current level of about 300,000 barrels per day (bpd), as it negotiates with Washington about extending a waiver of U.S. sanctions past early May, two sources in India with knowledge of the matter said.
Holocaust survivor meets with California teens involved in Nazi salute photos
An Auschwitz survivor and stepsister of Holocaust diarist Anne Frank met on Thursday with some of the California high school students who posed in social media photos giving Nazi salutes over a swastika made of red cups used in a drinking game.
Women bang pots and pans in Madrid to kick off International Women’s Day
Loudly banging pots and pans, a few hundred women protesters gathered in Madrid in the early hours of Friday to mark the start of International Women’s Day.
Venezuela hit by major blackout, government blames ‘sabotage’
A major power outage hit crisis-stricken Venezuela on Thursday, according to Reuters witnesses, a problem the government of President Nicolas Maduro quickly blamed on “sabotage” at a hydroelectric dam that provides much of the country’s power.
Two U.S. citizens deported from Russia, two others in custody
(This March 7 story corrects to change spelling of family name of one of the deportees in paragraph two.)
Britain hands jailed British-Iranian aid worker diplomatic protection
Britain will hand diplomatic protection to British-Iranian aid worker Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe to underline the government’s belief that Iran has behaved unjustly in its treatment of her, foreign minister Jeremy Hunt said on Thursday.
Italy coalition chiefs clash as rail-link row escalates
A dispute in Italy’s coalition over the future of a high-speed rail link with France escalated suddenly on Thursday and raised the risk of a government collapse, with one party chief accusing his partner of acting irresponsibly.
