US delegation to attend Taiwan inauguration as China tensions flare
By Trevor Hunnicutt WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Joe Biden will dispatch former U.S. officials to Taiwan as its new president takes office, a show of support for the island calibrated to avoid enraging Beijing. Biden is sending a bipartisan del...
9h ago
EU leaders shocked by 'vile attack' on Slovak PM Fico
BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Several EU leaders condemned the attack on Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico on Wednesday. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen strongly condemned "the vile attack", she said on social media platform X. "Such acts...
9h ago
Palestinians mark 1948 Nakba in the shadow of war in Gaza
By Mohammad Salem and James Mackenzie GAZA/JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Palestinians commemorated the 1948 "Nakba" or catastrophe, on Wednesday, marking the time when hundreds of thousands were dispossessed of their homes in the war at the birth of the st...
9h ago
Factbox-Major cases keeping former Pakistan PM Imran Khan in jail
ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - Former Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan was granted bail in a land corruption case on Wednesday, but will remain in prison on other charges. The 71-year-old former cricket star who has been in jail since August last year has...
9h ago
Slovak PM Fico in a life-threatening condition, govt office says
(Reuters) - Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico is in a life-threatening condition, the Slovak government office said in an emailed statement, adding that he was being transported by a helicopter to Banska Bystrica hospital. (Reporting by Alan Charl...
9h ago
Finland plans to use reservists to patrol border with Russia
HELSINKI (Reuters) - Finland plans to change its conscription rules to allow thousands of reservists to help patrol its border with Russia should there be a sudden wave of migrants, the government said on Wednesday. Finns who have completed militar...
9h ago
UK government releases prisoners early to ease overcrowding in jails
By Andrew MacAskill LONDON (Reuters) - The British government triggered emergency measures to release some criminals from prisons early and to delay the start of certain court hearings to prevent overcrowding in jails. The prison population in Engl...
9h ago
South Africa's president approves major health reform law
By Nqobile Dludla and Nellie Peyton PRETORIA (Reuters) - South Africa's President Cyril Ramaphosa signed into law on Wednesday a bill that aims to provide universal health coverage, hailing it as a major step in the journey towards a more just soci...
9h ago
Blinken says Israel needs a clear and concrete plan for Gaza's future
By Simon Lewis KYIV (Reuters) - Israel needs a clear and concrete plan for the future of Gaza where it faces the potential for a power vacuum that could become filled by chaos, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Wednesday. Washington an...
9h ago
Russian strikes injure at least 17 in Ukraine's south
(Reuters) - Russian airstrikes on Ukraine's southern cities of Mykolaiv and Kherson injured at least 17 people, local officials said on Wednesday. Eleven people, including at least one teenager, received injuries when Russia struck Kherson using av...
9h ago
India grants citizenship to first batch of 14 refugees under controversial law
By Sakshi Dayal NEW DELHI (Reuters) - India granted citizenship on Wednesday to a first batch of 14 people under a controversial law that has been criticised for discriminating against Muslims, midway through general elections in which religious di...
10h ago
Estonia parliament backs using frozen Russian assets for Ukraine reparations
By Andrius Sytas TALLINN (Reuters) - Estonia's parliament has approved a proposal allowing the use of frozen Russian assets to pay compensation for war damage in Ukraine. Last week European Union ambassadors agreed to use windfall profits from Russ...
10h ago
Who is 'The Fly', the French gangster on the run after a prison van assault?
PARIS (Reuters) - Hundreds of police are scouring northern France for Mohamed Amra, a fugitive known as "The Fly" who was freed by gunmen in a brazen attack against a prison van that killed two guards and wounded three. Here's what we know about Am...
10h ago
Yemen's Houthis say they targeted US warship and vessel 'Destiny' in Red Sea
DUBAI (Reuters) - Yemen's Houthis said on Wednesday that they had targeted a U.S. warship and a vessel called "Destiny" in the Red Sea, part of an ongoing campaign of attacks that the Iran-backed group says is designed to show solidarity with the P...
10h ago
Blinken's guitar performance in Ukraine seen as tone-deaf by some
KYIV (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken took to the stage with a Ukrainian band at a bar late on Tuesday during a surprise trip to Kyiv, drawing applause from the audience but some criticism online from people who felt the performan...
10h ago
Ireland to recognise Palestinian state by end May, foreign minister says
DUBLIN (Reuters) - Ireland will recognise a Palestinian state before the end of this month if not on May 21 as first thought, Irish Foreign Minster Micheal Martin said on Wednesday. European Union members including Ireland, Spain, Slovenia and Malt...
10h ago
Palestinians wounded in Gaza desperate for Rafah crossing to reopen
By Ramadan Abed DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza (Reuters) - Ni'ma Ali Imad is desperate to get her wounded son Mohammed out of Gaza for the medical treatment that doctors say they cannot provide in the Palestinian enclave. Five-year-old Mohammed lost his sight...
10h ago
Slovak PM Fico shot and injured, TASR agency reports
(Reuters) - Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico was injured in a shooting after a government meeting, news agency TASR reported on Wednesday. TASR cited parliament's vice-chairman Lubos Blaha as saying Fico was shot and injured. A Reuters witness sai...
10h ago
Portugal rejects far-right bid to charge president with treason over slavery reparations
By Catarina Demony LISBON (Reuters) - Portugal's parliament on Wednesday dismissed a proposal by the far-right to charge the country's president with treason over his support for reparations for transatlantic slavery and colonialism. President Marc...
10h ago
Putin says Russian forces are advancing on all fronts against Ukraine
MOSCOW (Reuters) - President Vladimir Putin said on Wednesday that Russian forces were improving their positions every day along the front in Ukraine in all directions and that the advance was going to plan. Russia has been pushing Ukrainian forces...
10h ago
Blinken says U.S. rushing ammunition, weapons to Ukraine amid fierce new fighting
KYIV (Reuters) - The United States is rushing ammunition and weapons to the front lines in Ukraine, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Wednesday during a visit to the country which has lately faced setbacks in its war with Russia. Kyiv has p...
10h ago
Politicians and election officials offered cyber protection ahead of UK election
LONDON (Reuters) - Politicians, election officials and other high risk individuals in Britain are to be offered support to help protect them from hacks by foreign spies ahead of an election expected later this year, the country's cyber experts said...
11h ago
Israeli PM presses bill on drafting ultra-Orthodox Jews into military
JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has decided to present a highly contested bill that seeks to conscript ultra-Orthodox Jews into the military to a ministerial committee on Thursday. His office said on Wednesday that ...
11h ago
Blinken says U.S. will give Ukraine another $2 billion in military financing
KYIV (Reuters) - The United States will provide Ukraine an additional $2 billion in foreign military financing, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Wednesday. He was speaking at a joint press conference in Kyiv alongside Ukrainian Foreign Min...
12h ago
Russian forces take control of three settlements in Ukraine, says defence ministry
MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russian forces have taken control of two more settlements in Ukraine's north-east Kharkiv region and one in the southern Zaporizhzhia region, the defence ministry said on Wednesday, building on a run of incremental gains that hav...
12h ago