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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 […]
(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 […]
(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 […]
(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, […]
(Reuters) – World number ones Novak Djokovic and Serena Williams advanced safely to the next round of the U.S. Open on Saturday but the women’s draw saw yet another big upset as Wimbledon winner Petra Kvitova was sent packing by a 145th-ranked qualifier. Third-seed Kvitova fell victim to 21-year-old Serbian Aleksandra Krunic, leaving only three of the top eight women’s seeds still in the tournament. Simona Halep (2nd), Agnieszka Radwanska (4th), Angelique Kerber (6th) and Ana Ivanovic (8th) have […]
(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 […]
(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 […]
(Reuters) – All Philippine peacekeepers trapped at Golan heights have been moved to a more secure place within the U.N. Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF) mission, the Philippines’ armed forces chief said on Sunday. Israel and Syria helped in what was the “greatest escape” of Filipino troops after engaging about a hundred Islamist militants surrounding them in a seven-hour firefight, General Gregorio Catapang told a press conference, adding the troops escaped in the middle of the night while the […]
(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 […]
(Reuters) – Thirty-two Philippine U.N. peacekeepers were rescued on Saturday from Islamists who fired at their post on the Syrian side of the Golan Heights and trapped them for two days, U.N. officials said, while militants reinforced their siege of another group of 40. “The situation at Position 68 is calm but tense, as more than 200 militants have assembled around it in the last few hours,” a U.N. official said, referring to the place […]
(Reuters) – European Union leaders on Saturday chose Poland Prime Minister Donald Tusk to chair their Council and named Italian Federica Mogherini to run the bloc’s foreign relations, as the EU prepared to threaten Russia with new sanctions overUkraine. A summit in Brussels shared the two coveted EU posts between a Kremlin critic from ex-communist Eastern Europe and the foreign minister of one of Moscow’s biggest customers for gas. EU officials gave Ukraine’s embattled President Petro Poroshenko […]
(Reuters) – The U.S. Open women’s draw was blown wide open by a series of upsets on Friday but it was business as usual on the men’s side with Roger Federer leading a parade of seeds into the third round at the year’s final grand slam. The shockwaves began early on another sunny day at Flushing Meadows with 32-year-old qualifier Mirjana Lucic-Baroni dismissing Romanian second seed Simona Halep 7-6(6) 6-2 to reach the fourth round. […]
