(Reuters) – Thailand’s martial law will not be lifted for the foreseeable future, the justice minister said on Friday, despite an earlier pledge to lift the law in some provinces to help the tourism industry which has struggled since a military coup in May. The announcement comes as Thailand prepares to enter its peak tourism season, over the Christmas and New Year period. The tourism sector accounts for nearly 10 percent of GDP.Thailand expects around 25 million tourists […]
International
Russia warns U.S. vs. arms to Ukraine as Biden due in Kiev
(Reuters) – Russia warned the United States on Thursday against supplying arms to Ukrainian forces fighting pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine, hours before U.S. Vice-President Joe Biden was due to arrive in Kiev. Ukraine accused President Vladimir Putin of treating its territory like a “playing field”, trying to unleash a full-scale war that would pose a broader threat to NATO countries. Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman Alexander Lukashevich said in Moscow that a U.S. official’s suggestion Washington should consider sending […]
Exclusive: U.S. increasing non-lethal military aid to Ukraine
(Reuters) – The United States plans to increase non-lethal military assistance to Ukraine, including deliveries of the first Humvee vehicles, having decided for now not to provide weapons, U.S. officials said. The increase in non-lethal aid to Ukraine, which is grappling with a Russian-backed separatist movement in its east, is expected to be announced on Thursday during a visit to Kiev by Vice President Joe Biden. The officials, who spoke to Reuters on condition of anonymity, described […]
Obama unveils U.S. immigration reform, setting up fight with Republicans
(Reuters) – President Barack Obama imposed the most sweeping immigration reform in a generation on Thursday, easing the threat of deportation for some 4.7 million undocumented immigrants and setting up a clash with Republicans who vow to fight his moves. In a White House speech, Obama rejected Republican arguments that his decision to bypass Congress and take executive action was tantamount to amnesty for illegal immigrants. It was his biggest use of executive actions in a year […]
Pre winter snowstorm kills ten in New York
In New York, a pre-winter snowstorm caused ten deaths, placing the New York in a state of emergency. ‘
Illegal immigrants in US safe for deportation
United States President Barack Obama may make an statement saying that five million illegal immigrants are safe from deportation.
Three French IS fighters call on fellow country men to join them
Three French fighters in the Islamic State (IS) urged Muslims among their fellow countrymen to travel to Iraq or Syria to join the group, in a recently released video taped message titled “What Are You Waiting For? In footage that was posted on a social media website, the men are seen burning their passports and then sitting together as they give speeches. The three speakers were identified on the video as Abu Osama al-Faranci, Abu Maryam al-Faranci, and Abu Salman al-Faranci. Reuters […]
Obama to announce go-it-alone plan on immigration Thursday
(Reuters) – President Barack Obama will outline a plan on Thursday to relax U.S. immigration policy and grant relief from deportation to as many as 5 million undocumented immigrants in a go-it-alone move that will deepen a partisan divide with Republicans. The White House said Obama will deliver a televised speech on Thursday night laying out the plan followed by a trip to Las Vegas on Friday to build support. Nevada is home to the highest proportion […]
Honduran Miss World contestant and sister found murdered
(Reuters) – A Honduran beauty queen has been found shot dead in a suspected crime of passion just days before she was due to compete in the Miss World pageant in London, police said on Wednesday. The bodies of Maria Jose Alvarado, 19, and her sister Sofia, 23, were found buried near a river in the mountainous region of Santa Barbara in western Honduras, said Leandro Osorio, head of the criminal investigation unit. Police suspect […]
Rallyists enter government building in Hong Kong
A small group of rallyists in Hong Kong entered a government building by destroying said building’s glass doors.
Families in shock as Islamic State lures sons into ‘barbaric madness’
(Reuters) – “Do you know how much it hurts to raise someone and watch them grow and suddenly they’re just gone?” says Ahmed Muthana, 57, a retired electronics engineer in Wales whose two sons Nasser, 20, and Aseel, 17, have gone to fight for Islamic State. Like any father of faraway children, he can easily slip into a reverie, talking about the studious older son who was accepted into medical school and his more rambunctious and athletic […]
All 50 U.S. states feeling freezing temperatures
(Reuters) – Temperatures in all 50 U.S. states dipped to freezing or below on Tuesday as an unseasonably cold blast of weather moved across the country, while heavy snow prompted a state of emergency in western New York. In the U.S. South, states were bracing for a record chill from the Arctic-born cold that swept the Rocky Mountains last week. Every U.S. state, including Hawaii, was bitten by temperatures at the freezing point of 32 […]
