International

Firefight erupts between Syrian army and rebels in Golan Heights

Heavy fighting between Syrian army and rebels has erupted in the Golan Heights.   (Reuters) – Heavy fighting between Syrian army forces and rebels erupted on the Golan Heights on Monday, a Reuters photographer said, but it was unclear if either of the two sides had gained an advantage to control a key frontier crossing. Rebels of al Qaeda-linked Nusra Front have been battling the Syrian army in the area and have wrested control of […]

Moscow, Kiev swap troops as Ukraine port girds for pro-Russian assault

(Reuters) – Ukraine and Russia swapped soldiers who had entered each other’s territory near the battlefield in eastern Ukraine, where Kiev says Moscow’s forces have come to the aid of pro-Russian insurgents advancing for an assault on a major port. Ukrainian troops and local residents were reinforcing the port of Mariupol on Sunday, the next big city in the path of pro-Russian fighters who pushed back government forces along the Azov Sea this past week […]

Photographs of seized Fiji UN peacekeepers released on social media

Two undated photographs of UN peacekeepers from Fiji seized by al Qaeda-linked Nusra Front on the Syrian side of the Golan Heights were posted on a social media website on Sunday (August 31). One photograph had the soldiers in their uniforms posing in a group photo. Another photograph showed 45 identification cards said to be of the peacekeepers. In their statement, al-Nusra said they were holding 45 peacekeepers but so far, the Fijian army said […]

China slams door shut on full Hong Kong democracy in 2017 vote

(Reuters) – China’s parliament said on Sunday it will tightly control the nomination of candidates for a landmark election in Hong Kong in 2017, a move likely to trigger mass protests in the city’s Central business district by disappointed democracy activists. The Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress (NPC) said it had endorsed a framework to let only two or three candidates run in a 2017 vote for Hong Kong’s next leader. All candidates […]

Macau ‘re-elects’ new leader as authorities stifle democratic rumblings

(Reuters) – Macau, the world’s largest gambling hub, re-elected its leader and sole candidate Fernando Chui on Sunday, a widely expected result after the pro-China government stifled an unofficial referendum on democracy. Chui was returned to office by a select panel of 400 largely pro-China loyalists in the tiny but wealthy former Portuguese colony. Macau’s leaders have taken a much harder line than in neighboring in Hong Kong, where pro-democracy activists have been struggling for […]

F-16s dispatched for unresponsive pilot of small plane near D.C.

(Reuters) – Two F-16 fighter jets were dispatched to check on a small plane that entered restricted airspace around Washington, D.C., on Saturday, and the fighter pilots observed the person at the controls to be unconscious before the plane ran out of fuel and crashed into the Atlantic Ocean, officials said. The pilot of the Cirrus SR22 propeller plane took off from Waukesha County Airport in Wisconsin and had been destined for Manassas Regional Airport […]

China and Hong Kong poised for showdown over democracy

(Reuters) – Hong Kong is poised for a showdown with Chinawhen the Chinese parliament meets later on Sunday, with the largely rubber-stamp body likely to snuff out hopes for a democratic breakthrough in the regional financial hub at elections due in 2017. Political reform has been a constant source of friction between Hong Kong’s pro-democracy movement and the mainland since the former British colony was handed back to Communist Party rulers in 1997. On the surface, […]

Lesotho PM says army staged coup, flees to South Africa

(Reuters) – Lesotho’s prime minister, Thomas Thabane, on Saturday accused his country’s army of staging a coup against him and fled to neighbouring South Africa, which condemned the military’s action and called for a peaceful settlement. Early morning gunfire was heard in Maseru, capital of the small southern African kingdom encircled by South Africa. Army units occupied police headquarters and surrounded the prime minister’s residence, residents and diplomats said. Hours after the army’s move, the […]

Polish president warns Germany of Putin’s ’empire’ ambitions

(Reuters) – Polish President Bronis law Komorowski said that Vladimir Putin is trying to build a new Russian empire for Moscow and that the region now had to choose whether it wanted “a Cossack Europe or a democratic one”. “Russia has carried out an invasion in Ukraine,” the Polish head of state told German public radio, according to excerpts of an interview to be broadcast later on Saturday. Komorowski said Putin was quite open about […]

Pressure mounts on Pakistan leader to quit as protests continue

(Reuters) – Thousands of protesters massed outside the residence of Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on Saturday to demand he step down, after efforts to find a negotiated solution to the country’s political crisis failed. Pakistan has been gripped by unrest for more than two weeks, with protest leaders Imran Khan and Tahir ul-Qadri saying they will not back down unless Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif resigns. On Saturday Sharif once again said he would not […]