Japan visitors exceed 3 million for 2nd straight month, tourism agency says
TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan welcomed more than 3 million visitors for a second straight month in April, official data showed on Wednesday, setting the stage for a potential record year for tourism. The number of foreign visitors for business and leisur...
4h ago
Malaysia to ask Meta to explain removal of Facebook posts on PM's Hamas meeting
KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) - Malaysia will ask Meta Platforms to explain the removal of posts from Facebook related to media reports of Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim's publicised meeting this week with a Hamas leader, its government said on Wednesday. A...
4h ago
Philippines says to ensure safety of civilian mission in South China Sea
MANILA (Reuters) - The Philippines has sent three coast guard vessels to ensure the safety of a civilian flotilla sailing to a shoal in the South China Sea, where Manila and Beijing have been embroiled in heated stand-offs over competing claims. Th...
4h ago
Georgia's pro-EU Generation Z spearheads 'foreign agent' protests
By Felix Light TBILISI (Reuters) - For 20-year-old Georgian student Irakli, the almost nightly trip to protest outside parliament is part of a wider struggle where he and his generation have a special role to play. For weeks, the international rela...
4h ago
Ukraine emergency power cuts cancelled, grid operator says
(Reuters) - Ukrainian grid operator Ukrenergo has cancelled previously imposed emergency country-wide power cuts, private energy firm DTEK said on Wednesday. Ukrenergo imposed restrictions from 6:40 a.m. to 9 a.m. (0440-0700 GMT), saying that power...
5h ago
Indonesia set to ratify changes to controversial top court
By Kate Lamb and Ananda Teresia JAKARTA (Reuters) - Indonesia is set to pass a revision to its constitutional court law, legislators have confirmed, ushering in changes that legal experts say will threaten the independence of the judiciary in the w...
6h ago
China considers local government purchases of unsold homes, Bloomberg News says
(Reuters) -China is considering a plan for local governments nationwide to buy millions of unsold homes, Bloomberg News said on Wednesday, after a meeting of leaders of the ruling Communist Party called for efforts to clear mounting housing inventory. ...
6h ago
New Caledonia riots rage on after Paris approves voting change
By Kirsty Needham SYDNEY (Reuters) - Gunshots could be heard and schools remained shut in New Caledonia's capital Noumea on Wednesday morning after a night of rioting despite a curfew, as France's National Assembly approved changes to voting rules ...
6h ago
Dutch nationalist Wilders says deal on right-wing government is very close
AMSTERDAM (Reuters) - Dutch nationalist Geert Wilders said on Wednesday he was very close to an agreement with his prospective right-wing government partners, almost six months after his election victory. With parties divided over migration policie...
6h ago
Indonesia searches for 35 still missing in deadly Sumatra floods
JAKARTA (Reuters) - The search for 35 people who are still missing from flash floods and mud slides in Indonesia's West Sumatra province continued on Wednesday, authorities said, as the death toll from the weekend disaster rose to 58. Heavy rain on...
6h ago
Russia repels massive Ukraine air attack on Sevastopol, official says
(Reuters) - Russian air forces repelled a "massive" air attack by Ukraine on Sevastopol, though debris from a missile fell onto a residential area, the Russia-installed governor of the Crimean port, Mikhail Razvozhayev, said on Wednesday. According...
8h ago
Taiwan says WHO should let it attend all its meetings
TAIPEI (Reuters) - Taiwan Foreign Minister Joseph Wu called on the World Health Organization on Wednesday to allow the island to attend all its meetings if it is serious about its goal of "Health for All", ahead of a key summit Taipei wants to take...
9h ago
US Capitol riot's shadow looms over Maryland, West Virginia primaries
By Makini Brice and Richard Cowan WASHINGTON (Reuters) - More than three years have passed since former President Donald Trump's supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, trying to overturn his election defeat, but the event will play a ...
10h ago
Brazil states ask court to double what Vale, BHP should pay for dam burst
By Marta Nogueira RIO DE JANEIRO (Reuters) - Two Brazilian states have asked a court to more than double the amount that miners Vale and BHP, plus a jointly owned tie-up, must pay in damages for a 2015 deadly tailings dam failure, according to a le...
11h ago
Singapore to inaugurate new PM as Lee makes way after 20 years in charge
By Xinghui Kok SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Singapore will inaugurate Lawrence Wong on Wednesday as its new prime minister and fourth leader since independence six decades ago, completing a carefully calibrated power transfer designed to guarantee continu...
11h ago
Factbox-Singapore's new leader Lawrence Wong
By Xinghui Kok SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Lawrence Wong, 51, will take over as prime minister of Singapore on Wednesday, becoming the fourth leader of the Asian financial hub since its independence in 1965. Wong succeeds Lee Hsien Loong, the son of the ...
11h ago
Putin backs China's Ukraine peace plan, says Beijing understands the conflict
(Reuters) - Russian President Vladimir Putin, in an interview published early on Wednesday, said he backed China's plan for a peaceful settlement of the Ukraine crisis, saying Beijing had a full understanding of what lay behind the crisis. Putin, s...
12h ago
YouTube to block Hong Kong protest anthem videos after court order
MOUNTAIN VIEW, California (Reuters) -Alphabet's YouTube on Tuesday said it will comply with a Hong Kong court decision and block access to 32 video links deemed to be prohibited content. The action follows a government application granted by Hong Kong'...
12h ago
Three Libyan fighters killed in clashes with smugglers near border with Algeria
TRIPOLI (Reuters) - Three Libyan fighters of a military force based in Tripoli were killed in clashes with smugglers and drug dealers in the desert near the border with Algeria, the force said in a statement on Tuesday. The force, 444 Brigade, said...
13h ago
North Korean leader oversees tactical missile weapons system, KCNA says
SEOUL (Reuters) - North Korean leader Kim Jong Un on Tuesday oversaw a tactical missile weapons system that will be newly installed at missile units of its army, state media KCNA reported on Wednesday. Kim expressed satisfaction with missile system...
13h ago
Video of rebel commander Marquez is real-Colombia government
By Luis Jaime Acosta BOGOTA (Reuters) -A video released over the weekend of Colombian rebel commander Ivan Marquez, who had reportedly died last year, is real, defense minister Ivan Velasquez said on Tuesday. Marquez, the well-known leader of a faction...
13h ago
Defying West, Russia's Putin due to meet Xi Jinping in Beijing
By Greg Torode and Guy Faulconbridge HONG KONG/MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russian President Vladimir Putin's Beijing visit on Thursday is likely to be light on hard deals but will mark the start of his new presidential term with a show of support from his ...
13h ago
Exclusive-French, Dutch seek EU sanctions on financial institutions helping Russia military
By Jan Strupczewski BRUSSELS (Reuters) - France and the Netherlands are seeking European Union sanctions on any financial institution in the world that helps Russia's military pay for goods or technology for making weapons, according to a proposal ...
14h ago
Ukrainian military moves troops in Kharkiv region in response to Russian fire
(Reuters) - Ukraine's military said on Tuesday it was moving troops to new positions in the north of Kharkiv region in response to heavy Russian fire and advances. "In certain sectors in the area of Lukyantsi and Vovchansk, units have moved to mor...
14h ago
Explainer-Canada wildfire season is heating up: Here's what to know
By Nia Williams (Reuters) - Firefighters in western Canada are battling the first major wildfires of 2024, which sparked into life after unseasonably warm temperatures and an ongoing drought left forests tinder-dry. Wildfire season in Canada typica...
14h ago