International

Armed men seize two airports in Ukraine’s Crimea, Yanukovich reappears

(Reuters) – Armed men took control of two airports in the Crimea region on Friday in what the new Ukrainian leadership described as an invasion by Moscow’s forces, and ousted President Viktor Yanukovich surfaced in Russia after a week on the run. Yanukovich said Russia should use all means at its disposal to stop the chaos in Ukraine as tension rose on the Black Sea peninsula of Crimea, the only region with an ethnic Russian […]

South Korea Urges Japan To Write A “New History Of Truth”

(Reuters) — South Korean President Park Geun-hye on Saturday (March 1) urged Japan to stop denying the past during an official ceremony to mark Independence Movement Day. This year commemorates the 95th year of the declaration of the nation’s independence from Japanese colonisation on March 1, 1919. Japan’s ties with South Korea are increasingly strained over a host of issues, including the territorial rows and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s visit late last year to the Yasukuni Shrine, where convicted war criminals are […]

Obama warns Russia of ‘costs’ for intervention in Ukraine

(Reuters) – President Barack Obama warned Russia on Friday that military intervention in Ukraine would lead to “costs,” as tension with old foe President Vladimir Putin rose in a Cold War-style crisis. “We are now deeply concerned by reports of military movements taken by the Russian Federation inside of Ukraine,” he told reporters. Obama and European leaders would consider skipping a G8 summit this summer in the Russian city of Sochi if Moscow intervenes militarily […]

Baghdad Motorbike Blast Kills 31, Wounds 51

(Reuters) — Residents of Baghdad’s Sadr City neighbourhood lit candles at the scene where more than 30 people killed in a blast of motorcycle rigged with explosives on Thursday (February 27). The motorcycle was parked in a second-hand bike market in the Shi’ite Muslim neighbourhood that was filled with people, mostly young men, when it exploded late Thursday afternoon, killing 31 and wounding 51 others, Iraqi medical and police sources said. Blood covered the ground, storefront windows were […]

13 students, 2 teachers, killed in bus accident in Thailand

(Reuters) — At least 15 people were killed, mostly school students, and 40 injured in a bus accident in eastern Prachin Buri province during a school trip to the beach on Friday (February 28). A school bus, carrying female students from Baan Donlop school from northeastern Nakorn Ratchasima province bound for eastern Chonburi province. The bus collided with a truck in Prachin buri province, 135 kilometres east of Bangkok at dawn, police said. Local media reported that the bus driver lost control of the vehicle. […]

China Detains Over 1,000 In Online Baby Trafficking Crackdown

(Reuters) — Chinese police have detained 1,094 people and rescued 382 babies in a nation-wide crackdown on four online baby trafficking rings, state media reported on Friday (February 28), as criminals prey on citizens yearning to escape strict population curbs. Child trafficking is widespread in China, where population control rules have bolstered a traditional bias for sons, seen as the support of elderly parents and heirs to the family name, and led to the abortion, killing or […]

South Korea Calls North’s Missile Launch Intentional

(Reuters) — South Korean Defence Ministry said on Friday (February 28) they view the launch of North Korea’s short-range missiles as intentional. A media official at the ministry said North Korea fired four missiles over the sea off its eastern coast on Thursday (February 27), but provided no information as to the purpose of the firing. “This is the first time that North Korea has fired scud missiles since 2009. However, of all the occasions, they fired as the Key Resolve exercise was […]

Video of task group transporting chemical weapons out of Syria released

(Reuters) — Norwegian Armed forces have for the first time released video of the Danish-Norwegian joint Task Group transporting chemical weapons out of Syria. The video shot during the first operation on January 7, 2014 show Norwegian personnel on the Frigate HNK Helge Ingstad preparing for the operation and keeping a lookout while Danish naval vessel “Esbern Snare” escort cargo vessel “Ark Futura” in and out of Latakia Harbour in Syria. VHF correspondence during the operation hear the joint Task […]

Moscow pledges to respect Ukraine’s territorial integrity after Russian flag raised in Crimea

After armed men seized the Crimea parliament building and raised the Russian flag, the US says Russia has pledged to respect Ukraine’s territorial integrity. Kyiv’s new government has approached the IMF for help. Russia has denied that Moscow had any hand in the takeover of the local parliament building in Simferopol, the Crimean regional capital on Thursday. Gunmen with rocket-propelled grenades and sniper rifles erected a sign reading “Crimea is Russia” and raised the Russian […]

Ukraine’s New Interim Government

The new interim government of Ukraine was presented to the main protest camp in Kiev, one week after the deposition of its president Viktor Yanukovich. Ukraine’s protest leaders on Wednesday (February 26) named ministers they want to form a new government following the overthrow of President Yanukovich, as Russia put troops on high alert in a show of strength. In Kiev, leaders of the popular protests that toppled Yanukovich named former economy minister Arseny Yatseniuk as their choice to head a […]

Killer of Missouri schoolgirl executed after appeals dismissed

(Reuters) – A Missouri man was executed early on Wednesday for raping and murdering a 15 year-old school girl, authorities said after the U.S. Supreme Court dismissed a flurry of petitions seeking a stay. Michael Taylor died by lethal injection 25 years after he and an accomplice abducted Ann Harrison while she was waiting for a school bus. The two men then raped her and then stuffed her in the trunk of a car where they […]