By Andrew MacAskill LONDON (Reuters) – Two Hong Kong activists living in Britain, who were subjects of arrest warrants for alleged national security offences, said on Wednesday they will continue to highlight China’s crackdown on freedoms despite fears for their safety. Hong Kong police issued arrest warrants for eight overseas-based activists on Monday, accusing them…
By Gabriela Baczynska BRUSSELS (Reuters) -The European Union’s latest democracy health check showed there was no significant deterioration across the 27-nation bloc in areas like media and court freedoms or efforts to tackle corruption over the last year, a top official said on Wednesday. The assessment came as the EU executive released its latest rule…
By Ali Sawafta JENIN, West Bank (Reuters) – Palestinian militant fighters paraded in Jenin on Wednesday and angry crowds confronted senior Palestinian Authority officials, accusing them of weakness, after one of the largest Israeli military operations in the occupied West Bank in years. The two-day operation, which the Israeli military said targeted infrastructure and weapons…
NAIROBI (Reuters) – Kenya will delay re-opening its border with Somalia because of a “wave of attacks” it blames on al Qaeda-linked al Shabaab militants, interior minister Kithure Kindiki said on Wednesday. In May the two governments agreed to reopen within 90 days several border posts including Mandera, Liboi, and Kiunga, which have been closed…
By Anne Kauranen, Johan Ahlander TORNIO, Finland/KARLSKRONA, Sweden (Reuters) -High above a railway bridge spanning a foaming river just outside the Arctic Circle, Finnish construction workers hammer away at a project that will smooth the connections from NATO’s Atlantic coastline in Norway to its new border with Russia. “We will be removing some 1,200 of…
By Andrius Sytas VILNIUS (Reuters) – A mock prison cell imitating one in which prominent Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny has spent months of solitary confinement was put on display in Vilnius on Wednesday, ahead of a NATO summit in the Lithuanian capital next week. Oleg Navalny unveiled the display to highlight the case of…
By Tarek Amara TUNIS (Reuters) – Tunisia has removed hundreds of sub-Saharan African migrants to a desolate area along the border with Libya, a local rights group and a lawmaker said on Wednesday, with witnesses reporting dozens more put on outbound trains following days of violence. Disturbances between migrants and residents went on for a…
WASHINGTON(Reuters) – New orders for U.S.-made goods increased less than expected in May as a surge in civilian aircraft orders was partially offset by sluggishness elsewhere amid higher interest rates that are eroding demand. Factory orders rose 0.3% after advancing by the same margin in April, the Commerce Department said on Wednesday. Economists polled by…
BENGALURU (Reuters) – The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Wednesday asked banks and non-bank lenders to issue credit, debit and prepaid cards on multiple networks to give customers the freedom to choose. “On a review, it is observed that arrangements existing between card networks and card issuers (banks and non-banks) are not conducive to…
By Tom Balmforth KYIV (Reuters) – In a basement in downtown Kyiv late last month, away from prying eyes, hundreds of engineers and innovators met senior military officials to brainstorm ways to better neutralise the cheap Russian suicide drones that still devastate Ukrainian cities. It was a rare, close-up glimpse into Ukraine’s technology arms race…