International

Trump and Sanders projected winners of New Hampshire primary

UNITED States (Reuters) — Billionaire businessman Donald Trump is projected to win New Hampshire’s Republican presidential nominating contest on Tuesday, while U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont is projected to win the Democratic primary over Hillary Clinton, U.S. television networks said after early results. Trump’s projected win solidifies his front-runner status in the race to be the party’s White House nominee in 2016. The reality television star’s untraditional campaign has been marked by calls for […]

Climate change will slow transatlantic flights – study

Winds bolstered by climate change will slow flights between North America and Europe, boosting fuel costs and carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions — which caused the problem in the first place, researchers said Wednesday. Climate change will speed up the jet stream, a high-altitude wind blowing from west to east across the Atlantic ocean, they wrote in the Institute of Physics journal Environmental Research Letters. “The bad news for passengers is that westbound flights will be […]

US: NOKOR may get plutonium from restarted reactor in weeks

North Korea, which conducted its fourth nuclear test last month and launched a long-range rocket on Saturday, could begin to recover plutonium from a restarted nuclear reactor within weeks, the director of U.S. National Intelligence said on Tuesday. James Clapper said that in 2013, following its third nuclear test, North Korea announced its intention to “refurbish and restart” facilities at its Yongbyon nuclear complex, to include the uranium enrichment facility and its graphite-moderated plutonium production […]

Hawaii’s Big Island declares emergency over dengue fever infections

The mayor of Hawaii’s Big Island declared a state of emergency on Monday to deal with a growing outbreak of dengue fever, spread by infected mosquitoes, with 250 cases confirmed over the past four months. As a result of Hawaii County Mayor Billy Kenoi’s order people on the Big Island will be allowed to resume disposing of old tires in landfills, since tires which are left lying around are a known breeding spot for mosquitoes. […]

Hong Kong leader condemns riots

(Reuters) –Hong Kong Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying told reporters at a hastily called news conference on Tuesday (February 9) that the city’s government strongly condemned the violence which took place in the early morning. “There was a riot in Mong Kok in the early hours of today. A few hundred mobs attacked police officers and the media in Mong Kok. They damaged police cars and public properties, committed acts of arson, threw bricks and other […]

Japanese parliament condemns North Korea rocket launch, vows to impose stronger sanctions

TOKYO, Japan (Reuters) — The Japanese Parliament on Tuesday (February 9) adopted a resolution condemning North Korea’s rocket launch and vowed to impose stronger sanction against Pyongyang. “North Korea pushed ahead with the launch of a ballistic missile. It’s a conduct that can be never accepted and is a clear violation of the U.N. Security Council resolutions,” Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said in parliament on Tuesday. North Korea’s launch of a long-range rocket carrying […]

N. Korea rocket appears to have longer range: Seoul

SEOUL, South Korea (AFP) — The rocket launched by North Korea at the weekend seemed more powerful than its 2012 predecessor, but Pyongyang still lacks the expertise to transform it into a ballistic missile capable of reaching the US mainland, South Korean officials said Tuesday. The comments came as leaders of South Korea, the United States and Japan discussed how to punish the North for its latest defiant launch and nuclear test, eyeing “strong and […]

Thousands of Syrians stuck at Turkey’s border

(Reuters) – With the latest Syrian government offensive backed by Russian airstrikes in Aleppo, tens of thousands more Syrians have shown up at the Turkish-Syrian border, desperately hoping the gates will open. Turkey is currently hosting over 2.5 million Syrian refugees. The swelling numbers are taking a toll on many of its cities — the number of refugees in some areas such as Kilis is almost equal to that of the local population. The town […]

US urges Thais to hold election as military drills begin

    SATTAHIP, Thailand  (AFP)–The United States launched annual military exercises with Thailand on Tuesday but repeated a call for a swift return to democracy in the junta-ruled country. The two countries have held the joint Cobra Gold exercises since 1980. But Washington has come under increased pressure to scrap the event since Thailand’s military seized power in 2014 — the latest coup to obstruct attempts to build democracy. Some 3,600 US troops are in […]

British member of Vatican sexual abuse commission leaves

  (Reuters) — A British member of a Vatican advisory commission on sexual abuse who has been among the most outspokenly critical of the Vatican, has left the group, the Vatican said on Saturday (February 6), in an embarrassment for the Holy See. A statement said that at a commission meeting “it was decided” that Peter Saunders should take a leave of absence.  Saunders himself a victim of sexual abuse by a priest, did not immediately […]

Violent street clashes erupt in Hong Kong

  Baton-wielding Hong Kong riot police fired warning shots and pepper spray early Tuesday after a riot erupted in a busy district when officials tried to shift illegal hawkers on Chinese New Year. Television footage showed one officer pointing his gun at crowds of protesters on the streets of Mongkok who hurled bricks, bottles and pieces of wooden pallets at police in the worst clashes since pro-democracy demonstrations in late 2014. Police fired at least […]

North Korea holds dance event to celebrate rocket launch

(Reuters) – North Korean students participate in an outdoor dancing event in Pyongyang on Monday (February 8) to celebrate the country’s controversial rocket launch. State-run television KRT showed video of thousands of students, some dressed in traditional Korean clothes, dancing in Kim Il Sung square despite the snow. North Korea on Sunday (February 7) said the launch of the satellite Kwangmyongsong-4, named after late leader Kim Jong Il, was a “complete success” and that it […]