China says meeting with U.S. Defense Secretary was constructive
China’s defense ministry said on Thursday that last week’s meeting between Defense Minister Wei Fenghe and U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis in Singapore was constructive.
As winter comes, NATO kicks off largest maneuvers since Cold War
Military forces from 31 countries began NATO’s largest exercise in decades, stretching from the Baltic Sea to Iceland, on Thursday, practicing military maneuvers close to Russia, which itself held a huge military drill last month.
Ex-French President Sarkozy loses latest court appeal
Former French President Nicolas Sarkozy has lost an appeal against an earlier decision to send him to trial over charges of illegal campaign financing, in a case known as the “Bygmalion” affair.
Swamped with plastic waste: Malaysia struggles as global scrap piles up
Hundreds of sacks filled with plastic waste from the United States, Britain, South Korea and Spain spill onto the streets of an industrial zone in Pulau Indah, an island town just an hour’s drive from Kuala Lumpur and home to Malaysia’s biggest port.
Former Malaysian PM Najib faces six more corruption charges over state funds
Former Malaysian premier Najib Razak was charged with six counts of criminal breach of trust involving government funds worth more than $1.5 billion on Thursday, adding to the 32 charges he already faces for money laundering and graft.
Turkey says Russian S-400 systems installation to begin Oct. 2019: Hurriyet
The installation of Russian S-400 surface-to-air missile systems in Turkey will begin in October 2019, Turkish Defence Minister Hulusi Akar was quoted as saying by the Hurriyet newspaper on Thursday.
China, Japan seek warmer ties against backdrop of U.S. trade friction
Japan’s prime minister arrived in Beijing on Thursday for his first formal bilateral summit with Chinese leaders in seven years as the Asian rivals seek to build on a thaw in ties against a backdrop of trade friction with the United States.
Singapore opposition leaders appeal for help to stave off bankruptcy
Leaders of Singapore’s only parliamentary opposition party have appealed to supporters for financial help, saying they face the risk of bankruptcy as costs mount in civil cases they are fighting.
Bolsonaro’s anti-China rants have Beijing nervous about Brazil
(In this October 25 story, corrects price paid by China Three Gorges for Brazil dams in paragraph 33 to 13.8 billion reais not 4.8 billion reais)
Commander of Khmer Rouge’s most notorious prison in intensive care in hospital
A senior Khmer Rouge figure who ran Cambodia’s most notorious prison during the genocidal regime is in intensive care in hospital, but his health has stabilized, the director of a prison where he is serving a life sentence said on Thursday.
