BBC: The US is hurtling towards a government shutdown on Tuesday night, and there appears to be little appetite on either side of the partisan divide to avoid it. A last-ditch meeting between President Donald Trump and Democratic leaders in Congress made little progress. If anything, both sides have been digging deeper into their positions. […]
BBC: The Taliban government in Afghanistan have imposed a nationwide shutdown of telecommunications, weeks after they began severing fibre-optic internet connections to prevent what they call immorality. The country is currently experiencing a “total internet blackout”, internet watchdog Netblocks reports. International news agencies say they have lost contact with offices in the capital Kabul. Mobile internet and […]
BBC: For a first-time visitor, landing in India’s financial capital Mumbai can be quite an experience. At approach, as the flight cuts across the Arabian Sea and flies past the mangrove marshes, the great metropolis emerges – swarming with railway tracks, towering skyscrapers and the dense habitation of Asia’s largest shantytown pressed tightly against the […]
Reuters: BANGKOK, Sept 29 – Thailand’s influential former Prime Minster Thaksin Shinawatra has submitted a petition for a royal pardon for his one year jail sentence, his lawyer said on Monday. The former premier was jailed earlier this month after the country’s Supreme Court ruled that he did not serve his initial prison sentence after spending six months in […]
Reuters: CAIRO/JERUSALEM, Sept 29 – Israeli tanks thrust closer to the heart of Gaza City on Monday, pressing a ground offensive hours before talks between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and U.S. President Donald Trump, who has hinted at a diplomatic breakthrough in a bid to end the war. After nearly two years of failed diplomatic efforts, Washington presented […]
BBC: A pro-democracy campaigner who fled Hong Kong has been denied entry to Singapore despite being granted a visa, with the city-state saying his presence “would not be in its national interests”. Nathan Law, who lives in exile in the UK, said he arrived in Singapore on Saturday to attend a “closed-door, invitation-only” conference but […]
BBC: The pro-European party of Moldovan President Maia Sanduhas claimed victory and a new majority in parliament in elections seen as critical for her country’s future path to the EU. Sandu had warned of “massive Russian interference” after voting, saying the future of her country, flanked by Ukraine and Romania, was at stake. Igor Grosu, […]
BBC: An Indian superstar-turned-politician is at the centre of a massive row after 40 people died in a crush at his party’s rally on Saturday. Tens of thousands of people turned up at the campaign event held by Vijay in Karur district in Tamil Nadu state. The actor was in the middle of his speech when […]
Reuters: JAKARTA, Sept 29 – Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto on Monday defended his ambitious plan to provide free meals for children after some 6,000 cases of food poisoning, saying the percentage of those affected was small and the programme was still finding its footing. The food poisonings have sparked a public outcry with TV channels […]
Al Jazeera: China and North Korea have pledged to work together to counter “hegemonism” and “unilateralism” in international affairs, the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs has said, in a veiled reference to the countries’ confrontations with the United States. Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi held talks with his North Korean counterpart, Choe Son Hui, in […]
BBC: Denmark has banned all civilian drone flights this week ahead of a European Union summit in Copenhagen, the Danish Minister for Transport said on Sunday. The ministry said the decision was made in order to “simplify security work” for the police, and they could not accept “foreign drones creating uncertainty and disruption”. Denmark is […]
BBC: At least four people have been killed andseveral others injured after a gunman drove a vehicle into a Michigan church, opened fire and set the building ablaze, police say. Officials said the attack on the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Grand Blanc, a town 60 miles (100km) northwest of Detroit, happened […]
