MONTREAL (AFP) - After more than 2� years of diplomatic squabbling, Canada and China saw their relations sink to a new low this week after two Canadian citizens were handed stiff sentences by Chinese courts - one of them a death sentence ... Experts say only US intervention will break the "impasse" ... The arrest that started it all ... Chinese 'reprisals' ... �.
An Indian rocket failed in its attempt on Thursday to put a satellite into orbit to provide real-time images used to monitor cyclones and other potential natural disasters ... "Performance of first and second stages was normal. However, cryogenic upper stage ignition did not happen due to a technical anomaly ... It will fall back to Earth sometime soon ... .
The firing of rockets at Israel by Palestinians in Gaza during the conflict in May amounted to war crimes, Human Rights Watch (HRW) has said. The attacks "flagrantly violated" the laws of war, the campaign group said following an investigation. More than 4,360 unguided rockets and mortars were fired, Israel says, killing 13 people there ... .
Former Big Bang singer reportedly convicted of arranging sex services for potential business investors A military court jailed the disgraced former K-pop star Seungri for three years on Thursday for arranging sex services and other charges stemming from a sex and gambling scandal, according to reports ... Another said ... .
The Peruvian prosecutor's office said it has launched an investigation into Prime MinisterGuido Bellido and the leader of the ruling FreePeru party, Vladimir Cerron, on suspicion of terrorism ... ....
Afghan officials say three more provincial capitals have fallen to the Taliban, putting nine out of the country's 34 in the insurgents' hands amid the U.S. withdrawal. The officials told ... .
Saudi Arabia recently announced new regulations on the percentage of foreign workers in private sector establishments in the kingdom. The new rules set the percentage of Indian and Bangladeshi workers at 40 percent, while the maximum limit for Yemeni workers has been set at 25 percent and one percent for Ethiopian nationals ... .
LUSAKA (Reuters) -Zambians started voting on Thursday in an election showdown between PresidentEdgarLungu and main opposition rival Hakainde Hichilema that looks too tight to call and comes amid mounting debt and a flagging economy. Polls opened at 6 a.m ... The electoral agency says it expects to declare a winner within 72 hours after polls close ... .
Lebanon’s PresidentMichel Aoun summoned the governor of the central bank after its decision to drastically cut fuel subsidies. Central Bank governor Riad Salame announced late on Wednesday that fuel imports would no longer be subsidised at the rate of 3,900 Lebanese pounds to the dollar ... Three killed in brawls over fuel scarcity in Lebanon ... Updated ... .
Ortega is sweeping up not just political rivals but a newspaper columnist and ‘election geek’ as well It has been a fortnight since Georgiana Aguirre-Sacasa last heard from her elderly father ... “What????”, she replied from her home in Denver, Colorado. “Why????” No answer came ... Related.
The Taliban have taken the strategic Afghan city of Ghazni just 150 kilometres from Kabul, a senior lawmaker and the insurgents said on Thursday ... “The Taliban took control of the key areas of the city — the governor's office, the police headquarters and the prison,” Nasir Ahmad Faqiri, head of the provincial council, told AFP ... Read ... US intelligence ... .
Beirut. Lebanon’s central bank lifted fuel subsidies effective Thursday, adding another level of hardship to a country already reeling from a devastating economic crisis ... The central bank will use market prices for fuel when extending letters of credit to importers, according to a central bank statement released late Wednesday ... .