Gatwick airport reopens after drone saboteur sows chaos
Britain’s Gatwick Airport reopened on Friday after a rogue drone saboteur wrought travel chaos for hundreds of thousands of Christmas travelers by playing cat-and-mouse with police snipers and the army.
Britain’s Gatwick says runway currently available for limited number of aircraft
Britain’s Gatwick airport said on Friday its runway was currently available and a limited number of aircraft were scheduled for departure and arrival.
Governor of Indonesia’s Papua calls for army to end hunt for rebels
The governor of Indonesia’s Papua province has called for an end to a hunt for separatist rebels who killed at least 16 workers this month, saying villagers were being traumatized and should be allowed celebrate Christmas in peace.
Migrant workers’ struggles push Uzbekistan to open up
Maksud Mahmudov was among millions of Uzbeks who left their impoverished homeland as soon as they finished school to find work in Russia. In 2014, he and others came back as the Russian economy floundered, but it took two more years to find work.
Chinese judges make rare defense of death penalty amid Western criticism
Top judges from China’s Supreme People’s Court have made a rare defense of the death penalty, with one saying “a life for a life” is ingrained among the people, and backed “social credit” blacklists as necessary to made people repay their debts.
U.S., South Korea agree to help provide flu drugs to North Korea: envoy
The United States and South Korea agreed to help provide antiviral flu medications to North Korea, Seoul’s nuclear envoy said on Friday, after Washington said it would expedite humanitarian aid amid stalled nuclear talks with Pyongyang.
Sacred and political: world’s largest religious festival to kick off in India
Spirituality, politics and tourism: welcome to the Kumbh Mela, the world’s largest gathering of humanity, that begins next month in India.
U.S. plans for more than 5,000 troops to be withdrawn from Afghanistan
President Donald Trump is planning to withdraw more than 5,000 of the 14,000 U.S. troops in Afghanistan, a U.S. official said on Thursday, in the latest sign Trump’s patience is thinning with America’s longest war and overseas military interventions.
China denies ‘slanderous’ economic espionage charges from U.S., allies
China’s Foreign Ministry said on Friday it resolutely opposed “slanderous” accusations from the United States and other allies criticizing China for economic espionage, urging Washington to withdraw its accusations.
Canadian detained in China questioned daily, no lawyer access, not allowed to turn lights out at night: sources
A former Canadian diplomat detained in China is being denied legal representation and is not allowed to turn the lights off at night, people familiar with the situation said, offering new details on the highly charged and closely watched case.
