NewsReutersU.S. believes there is ongoing terrorist plotting in Sri Lanka: envoy
COLOMBO (Reuters) - The United States had no prior knowledge of the Easter Sunday suicide bombing attacks on churches and hotels in Sri Lanka, but now believes there is ongoing terrorism plotting in the country, Washington's ambassador to Colombo said on Wednesday.
NewsReutersU.S. federal judge to block Trump's new abortion rule: media, activists
President Donald Trump's new Title X rule, set to take effect in May, would halt government funds for Planned Parenthood clinics that subsidize birth control for low-income women, and other clinics that provide abortions. Critics say the plan is aimed at fulfilling Trump's campaign pledge to
NewsReutersSri Lanka deputy defence minister says one of nine bombers was a woman
COLOMBO (Reuters) - One of the nine bombers that detonated explosives in Sri Lanka on Easter Sunday was a woman, deputy defence minister Ruwan Wijewardene told reporters on Wednesday.
NewsAFP NewsHong Kong democracy leaders jailed over Umbrella Movement protests
Four prominent leaders of Hong Kong's democracy movement were jailed on Wednesday for their role in organising mass protests in 2014 that paralysed the city for months and infuriated Beijing. The prison terms are the latest hammer blow to the city's beleaguered democracy movement which has seen
NewsAFP NewsSix years after Bangladesh factory disaster, rights groups issue 'grim' warning
Six years after one of the world's most devastating factory disasters led to international safety monitoring in Bangladesh, campaigners are warning of "grim consequences" if such oversight is abandoned. The collapse of the nine-floor rabbit warren of textile factories at Rana Plaza in
NewsReutersSri Lanka says 60 people arrested since Easter Sunday blasts
COLOMBO (Reuters) - More than 60 people have been arrested since the rash of Easter Sunday suicide bombing attacks on churches and hotels in Sri Lanka that killed at least 359 people, the leader of the country's parliament said on Wednesday.
NewsAFP NewsWith Iran and trade rifts, India feels brushed aside by Trump
President Donald Trump may count Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi among his international allies, but New Delhi is smarting over unexpected US decisions it sees as ignoring the interests of an increasingly close partner. The Trump administration this week said it would start to sanction countries
NewsReutersSamsung Elec to invest $9.6 billion annually in logic chips until 2030
Samsung Electronics plans to invest 11 trillion won ($9.57 billion) annually through 2030 in logic chip businesses, including its foundry business, and expects the move to help create 15,000 jobs over the period. The total investment of around 133 trillion won comes at a time when the world's top
NewsReutersNorth Korea's Kim enters Russia for summit with Putin
SEOUL/MOSCOW (Reuters) - North Korean leader Kim Jong Un crossed the border into Russia on Wednesday by train, Russian media reported, for his first trip there aimed at galvanising support from President Vladimir Putin while nuclear talks with Washington are in limbo. Kim is expected to project himself
NewsAFP NewsSri Lanka detains new suspects amid frantic hunt for bombers
A Sri Lankan security dragnet hunting those responsible for horrifying bombings that claimed more than 350 lives has scooped up a further 18 suspects, police said Wednesday, as pressure mounted on politicians to explain why no one acted on intelligence warnings. The government announced there would
NewsReutersFour Hong Kong 'Occupy' leaders jailed for 2014 democracy protests
A Hong Kong court jailed four leaders of the 2014 pro-democracy "Occupy" movement on Wednesday amid heightened concerns over the decline of freedoms in the China-ruled city nearly five years after activists took to the streets in mass protests. The sentencing followed a near month-long trial
NewsAFP NewsAlgeria's richest man held in jail in graft probe
Algeria's richest man Issad Rebrab has been detained in jail on the public prosecutor's orders, state media reported Tuesday, a day after his arrest as part of a corruption probe. The crackdown on alleged graft follows the resignation of veteran president Abdelaziz Bouteflika in early April
NewsReutersFear consumes Sri Lankan blast survivor after scenes from hell
Ab Nirmala had just recounted how a day earlier she had found her daughter alive amid the body parts and bloody corpses strewn across the nave of St Anthony's Church, when a car exploded outside her home, plunging the 54-year-old woman deeper into the trauma consuming all of Sri Lanka. Until now
NewsReutersSwiss investment firm, Bitfury launch bitcoin mining fund
Both companies, however, did not disclose the size of the fund, which was developed by Final Frontier for institutional and professional investors to gain access to the esoteric world of bitcoin mining. Bitcoin mining entails updating the ledger of bitcoin transactions known as the blockchain. Bitfury
- NewsSouth China Morning Post
China’s co-working offices poised for a boom, offering unicorns the freedom to expand and contract with changing businesses
Commercial landlords in business parks and the operators of co-working offices are likely to see a surge in occupancy rates in mainland China, as a 41-fold jump in the number of unicorns raises the demand for flexible workspace that can contract and expand with rapidly changing business operations.
NewsAFP NewsAll aboard for Vladivostok: Kim follows in father's tracks
Waving and smiling, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un boarded one of his signature olive-green trains early Wednesday, following in his father's tracks to head for Vladivostok and a summit with Vladimir Putin. Pictures released by Pyongyang's official Korean Central News Agency showed him inspecting
- NewsSouth China Morning Post
Didi reveals it is still making losses on many fares charged in China as it discloses costs breakdown
Didi Chuxing, China’s largest ride-hailing platform, has revealed it is still losing money on many trips after one of the world’s most valuable start-ups publicly disclosed its expenses breakdown for the first time. In a statement published earlier this week, company executive Chen Xi said Didi pocketed
NewsAFP NewsMore civilians now killed by US, Afghan forces than by insurgents: UN
Afghan civilians are for the first time being killed in greater numbers by US and pro-government forces than by the Taliban and other insurgent groups, a UN report released Wednesday revealed. The bloody milestone comes as the US steps up its air campaign in Afghanistan while pushing for a peace deal
huffpostHuffPostGOP Senator’s Campaign Tried To Feud With Comic Patton Oswalt. It Didn’t Go Well.
Comic Patton Oswalt had to deal with an unlikely heckler on Tuesday when oneof Sen
- NewsSouth China Morning Post
Chinese man sues supermarket that short-changed him out of 0.6 US cents
A man from northwest China has successfully sued a local supermarket that short-changed him out of 0.04 yuan (0.6 US cents), according to a local news website. A court in Xian, Shaanxi province, ruled that the plaintiff, surnamed Xiao, had not been given the change he was due and ordered the Yonghui
NewsAFP NewsJapan's sterilised 'eugenics' victims to get payout
Thousands of Japanese people -- some as young as nine -- forcibly sterilised under now-defunct eugenics laws, will receive government compensation after lawmakers passed historic legislation on Wednesday. Following the unanimous vote, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe voiced "sincere regret" and said
NewsAFP NewsRescuers battle to find bodies in Myanmar mudslide
Recovery teams in Myanmar fought against a huge lake of sludge on Wednesday in their search for bodies after a landslide engulfed more than 50 jade miners -- the latest fatal accident in a notoriously dangerous but highly-lucrative industry. The disaster struck the mine in Hpakant township in northern
NewsReutersExclusive: Sri Lanka was warned of threat hours before suicide attacks
Sri Lankan intelligence officials were tipped off about an imminent attack by Islamist militants hours before a series of suicide bombings killed more than 300 people on Easter Sunday, three sources with direct knowledge of the matter said. Three churches and four hotels were hit by suicide bombers
NewsReutersDeath toll from Sri Lanka bombing attacks rises to 359: police
The death toll from the Easter Sunday suicide bombing attacks on churches and hotels in Sri Lanka rose to 359, police said on Wednesday without providing any further details. Police spokesman Ruwan Gunasekera released the toll but did not give a breakdown of casualties from the three churches and four
NewsAFP NewsIranians brace for harder times as US oil sanctions close in
Iranians, already hard hit by punishing US economic sanctions, are bracing for more pain after Washington abolished waivers for some countries which had allowed them to buy oil from Iran. "In the end the pressure (America) is putting out is on the people," said a 28-year-old technical instructor
