Asia

Hunt on in India for leopard that killed meditating monk

Editorial Bureau December 14, 2018

MUMBAI (Reuters) – Indian forest rangers have launched a hunt for a leopard that killed a monk meditating under a tree deep in a jungle. The monk, Rahul Walke Bodhi, had been meditating in the Tadoba Andhari Tiger Reserve in the western state of Maharashtra for the last month, and was

Europe

Main suspect in Strasbourg attack killed in gunbattle with police – officials

Editorial Bureau December 14, 2018

STRASBOURG/PARIS (Reuters) – The suspected gunman who killed three people at a Christmas market in the French city of Strasbourg was shot dead on Thursday in a brief gunbattle with police after being on the run for 48 hours, police sources said. Cherif Chekatt, 29, was killed in the Neudorf/Meinau area of the city shortly […]

Europe

Some see ‘devil’s work’ as Ukrainian Church prepares to split with Russia

Editorial Bureau December 14, 2018

KOROSTEN, Ukraine (Reuters) – Ukrainian security service officers raided the Orthodox Christian cathedral in this northwestern town this month, saying it suspected its Russia-aligned clergy of spreading religious hatred. But Archpriest Anatoliy, the senior priest at the Cathedral of the Nativity, saw the raid as a hostile act in a theological battle between

Asia

Hong Kong democracy leaders defiant as landmark trial wraps up

Editorial Bureau December 14, 2018

HONG KONG (Reuters) – Hong Kong democracy leaders pledged on Friday to sustain their fight for full democracy at the end of a month-long trial that could see them jailed for leading and inciting 2014 protests against what they see as Beijing’s unjust curbs on freedom. Nine defendants face a maximum seven years in jail […]

Middle East

Turkey will enter Syria’s Manbij if U.S. doesn’t remove YPG fighters, Erdogan says

Editorial Bureau December 14, 2018

ISTANBUL (Reuters) – Turkish forces will enter the Syrian town Manbij if the United States does not remove the YPG Kurdish militia from the area, President Tayyip Erdogan said on Friday, after Ankara said this week it would launch a new operation to target the fighters. Erdogan, in a speech in Istanbul, said Turkey was […]

USA

U.S., South Korea can’t agree on splitting the bill after Trump’s criticism

Editorial Bureau December 14, 2018

SEOUL (Reuters) – The United States and South Korea have failed to agree on a bigger South Korean share of the cost of maintaining U.S. troops, an official said on Friday, as the U.S. military warned Korean workers they might be put on leave if no deal is reached. U.S. President Donald Trump has repeatedly […]

Europe

Swedish parliament rejects Lofven in PM vote as deadlock lingers

Editorial Bureau December 14, 2018

STOCKHOLM (Reuters) – Sweden’s parliament voted as expected on Friday against giving Social Democrat Stefan Lofven’s centre-left coalition a second term in office, bringing a fresh election closer after three months of political deadlock. September’s vote produced a hung parliament and the centre-left and centre-right blocs have been unable to reach

Asia

U.S. House calls on Myanmar to release Reuters journalists

Editorial Bureau December 14, 2018

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. House of Representatives called nearly unanimously on Thursday for the government of Myanmar to release Reuters journalists Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo, who were imprisoned one year ago in a landmark free speech case. House members voted by 394 to 1 for a resolution calling for release of Wa […]

Asia

South Korea’s Moon urges “restrained” language in forced labour row with Japan

Editorial Bureau December 14, 2018

SEOUL (Reuters) – South Korea’s President Moon Jae-in told Japanese lawmakers on Friday “cautious, restrained” language is needed when discussing wartime forced labour to avoid “inciting antagonistic emotions” between the people of the two East Asian countries. A row between Seoul and Tokyo flared again in late October when South

Asia

Sri Lanka parliament passes confidence vote backing ousted PM

Editorial Bureau December 13, 2018

COLOMBO (Reuters) – Sri Lanka’s parliament on Wednesday passed a vote of confidence in its ousted prime minister, as it sought his reinstatement by the president to defuse a political crisis and avoid a government shutdown. The South Asian island nation has been locked in political gridlock for more than a month since President Maithripala […]