The Thai military declares martial law as violent protests continue to plunge the country in a political crisis despite the court’s dismissal of the Thai prime minister.
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France’s Strauss-Kahn to sue over Cannes sex addict film
(Reuters) – Former IMF chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn has instructed lawyers to sue the makers of a movie in which veteran French star Gerard Depardieu plays a sex addict who commits a sexual assault on a hotel maid, his lawyer said on Monday. “Welcome to New York” by Abel Ferrara, which had a private screening on the sidelines of the Cannes film festival at the weekend and has been on pay-per-view in France, is billed […]
Egypt court acquits 169 Brotherhood supporters
(Reuters) – An Egyptian court acquitted 169 Muslim Brotherhood supporters charged in connection with unrest that followed the overthrow of president Mohamed Mursi last year, breaking a pattern of mass convictions at trials involving the Islamist opposition. The men were charged with “illegal gathering” in relation to violence in Cairo on August 16 last year, two days after the security forces killed hundreds of Mursi supporters while breaking up their protest camps in the capital. […]
Balkan floods raise health concerns and threaten power supplies
People in Serbia and Bosnia are struggling to deal with the record floods which have inundated vast areas and cut power supplies. There is increasing concern about health problems because of contaminated water. Flooding and landslides are the major problems being tackled by rescue teams and volunteers as the Balkans struggle with the consequences of in more than a century. Serbia’s capital Belgrade is preparing for a river water surge that has threatened to inundate the […]
AstraZeneca rejects Pfizer’s take-it-or-leave-it offer
(Reuters) – Britain’s AstraZeneca on Monday rejected a sweetened and “final” offer from Pfizer, undermining the U.S. drugmaker’s plan for a merger to create the world’s biggest pharmaceuticals group. The rebuff came nine hours after Pfizer said on Sunday it had raised its takeover offer to 55 pounds a share, or around 70 billion pounds ($118 billion) in total, and would walk away if AstraZeneca did not accept it. The rejection left some major shareholders fuming as […]
Former Bosnian-Serb army chief Ratko Mladic defends against charges of 1990s atrocities
Bosnian Serb military chief Ratko Mladic has called his first witness in his defense at the UN court in the Hague. He faces 11 charges, including genocide, during the 1992-95 Bosnian war. A summary of the testimony from the witness, Mile Sladoje, a former assistant commander of a Serb battalion in Sarajevo, was read by one of Mladic’s lawyers at the hearing. He said he was never ordered to fire on civilians in the besieged […]
Kremlin again says Putin has ordered troops from Ukraine
(Reuters) – The Kremlin announced on Monday President Vladimir Putin had ordered Russian forces near Ukraine back to their bases, but NATO and the United States said they saw no sign of a pullback and Moscow had failed to carry out such promises before. Moscow has massed tens of thousands of troops near the border regions where pro-Russian separatists have declared independent states, and Kiev and its Western allies fear they could be used to invade in […]
Thai PM rules out resigning as protesters move to oust him
(Reuters) – Thailand’s acting prime minister on Monday ruled out resigning as a way out of a protracted political crisis that is stunting economic growth, as anti-government protesters stepped up pressure to remove him and install a new administration. Thailand is stuck in political limbo following the dismissal of Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra and nine of her ministers on May 7 after a court found them guilty of abuse of power. Six months of turmoil that […]
U.S. accuses China of cyber spying on six American companies
(Reuters) – A U.S. grand jury has indicted five Chinese individuals with cyber espionage charges for allegedly targeting six American companies and stealing trade secrets, the U.S. Justice Department said, publicly accusing China of cyber spying for the first time. The hackers targeted U.S. companies in the nuclear power, metals and solar products industries to steal information useful to competitors in China, the department said on Monday. The companies targeted include Alcoa Inc, United States Steel Corp, Allegheny […]
China raises travel alert, suspends Chinese-Vietnamese projects due to riots
(Reuters) — China on Monday (May 19) raised its travel alert for Vietnam and said it has already suspended some joint projects with the country. China reported it had evacuated about 4,000 people from its southern neighbour, after a flare-up over disputed sovereignty in the South China Sea sparked rare and deadly rioting in Vietnamlast week. “China has raised the travel alert to Vietnam to ‘temporarily unsuitable for travelling.’ At the same time, due to the current situation, China has no choice but to suspend some Chinese-Vietnam joint projects. […]
Red alert status, raised over the Visayas grid
MANILA, Philippines — The National Grid Corporation of the Philippines placed the Visayas region on “red alert” because of the insufficient power reserve brought about by the shutdown of three major power plants in the region. Energy Secretary Jericho Petilla said the shutdown of three major power plants had created a power supply deficiency of 71 megawatts. The power plants that had shut down are Cebu Energy Corporation’s Cebu facility, Panay Energy Development Corporation’s Iloilo […]
JV considers suing Napoles camp over erroneous “Napolist”
Senator JV Ejercito is considering filing charges after Napoles’ lawyer admitted that Ejercito is not supposed to be included in the “Napo-list”, saying that he appreciates the admission of the error but further added that the damage has been done.
