International

Doctor with Ebola in Manhattan hospital after return from Guinea

(Reuters) – A doctor who worked in West Africa with Ebola patients was in an isolation unit in New York on Friday after testing positive for the deadly virus, becoming the fourth person diagnosed with the disease in the United States and the first in its largest city. The worst Ebola outbreak on record has killed at least 4,900 people and perhaps as many as 15,000, mostly in Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea, according to […]

Canada Parliament gunman had planned to travel to Syria: police

(Reuters) – The gunman in Wednesday’s attack on Canada’s capital had a criminal record and recently applied for a passport, planning to travel to Syria after undergoing a “radicalization process,” police said on Thursday. Michael Zehaf-Bibeau, 32, was a Canadian who may also have held Libyan citizenship, said Bob Paulson, commissioner of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP). He said the suspect had no apparent links to another Canadian who killed a soldier in Quebec earlier in […]

New York tests doctor who was in West Africa for Ebola

(Reuters) – A physician with Doctors without Borders who returned from West Africa recently and developed potential symptoms was being tested for Ebola at a New York City hospital, health officials said on Thursday, setting off fresh fears about the spread of the virus. The doctor was identified as Craig Spencer, who was working for the humanitarian organization in Guinea, one of three West African nations hardest hit by Ebola. Spencer, 33, developed a fever […]

Family of murdered Filipino transgender demand to see accused at detention facility

Family members and the boyfriend of a murdered transgender Filipino gathered outside the detention facility where the U.S. serviceman accused of killing him is allegedly being held on Wednesday (October 22) demanding to see proof he is on Philippine soil. Earlier on Wednesday, the United States had transferred U.S. Private First ClassJoseph Scott Pemberton to a detention facility under U.S. guard at the main headquarters of the Philippines’ Armed Forces. Pemberton is accused of murdering Jeffrey Laude, who also went […]

Aquino defends military agreement with the US despite murder inquiry

Philippine President Benigno Aquino on Wednesday (October 22) defended the Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA) with the United States amid calls to scrap the treaty after an American serviceman was charged with the murder of a Filipino transgender. U.S. Private First Class Joseph Scott Pemberton is accused of murdering Jeffrey Laude, who also went by the name Jennifer, in Olongapo City, about 50 km (30 miles) north of Manila. Speaking at an annual forum of the Foreign Correspondents Association of thePhilippines, Aquino said the case will […]

Hong Kong protesters march after fruitless talks with government

(Reuters) – About 200 Hong Kong protesters marched to the home of the city’s Beijing-backed leader on Wednesday to push their case for greater democracy a day after talks between student leaders and senior officials failed to break the deadlock. Others continued to occupy main streets in the Chinese-controlled city, where they have camped for nearly a month in protest against a central government plan that would give Hong Kong people the chance to vote […]

Police chase Canada shooting suspect into parliament, more shots heard

(Reuters) – A Canadian soldier was shot at the Canadian War Memorial in Ottawa and a shooter was seen running towards the nearby parliament buildings, where more shots were fired, according to media and eyewitness reports on Wednesday. The buildings were put on lockdown as police and tactical teams converged on the area. The wounded soldier was taken into an ambulance where medical personnel could be seen giving him cardio-pulmonary resuscitation. The shooting comes two […]

United States welcomes release of jailed Vietnam blogger

(Reuters) – The U.S. government on Tuesday welcomed Vietnam’s decision to release jailed blogger Nguyen Van Hai, who staged a hunger strike to protest treatment of political prisoners, and said he was set to travel to the United States. Hai, better known by the pen name Dieu Cay, was set to arrive in the United States on Tuesday, State Department spokeswoman Marie Harf told a daily briefing. “We welcome the decision by Vietnamese authorities to […]

Sweden gets two new sightings, as hunt for undersea intruder goes on

(Reuters) – Sweden’s military is working on two new observations that could be evidence of suspected “foreign underwater activity” near the country’s capital, a senior naval officer said on Tuesday. Swedish forces have been scouring the sea off Stockholm since Friday, after what the military called three credible reports of activity by foreign submarines or divers using an underwater vehicle. The vessels were unidentified, but during the 1980s the Swedish navy from time to time […]