Russia and China to sign Power of Siberia-2 gas pipeline contract 'in near future', says Novak
MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia and China expect to a sign a contract "in the near future" on the Power of Siberia-2 gas pipeline, which will carry Russian gas to China, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak was cited as saying by Interfax late o...
1h ago
Israel tells World Court South Africa case makes a mockery of genocide
THE HAGUE (Reuters) - Israel on Friday defended the military necessity of its Gaza offensive at the International Court of Justice after South Africa asked judges to order it to halt operations in Rafah and completely withdraw from the Palestinian ...
1h ago
Mongolian climber dies in season's first Everest fatality
By Gopal Sharma KATHMANDU (Reuters) - Sherpas recovered the body of a Mongolian climber from Mount Everest and were looking for another mountaineer missing since the weekend, officials said on Friday. It marked the first confirmed death on Everest ...
1h ago
Aid trucks begin moving ashore via Gaza pier, US says
DUBAI (Reuters) - The U.S. Central Command said on Friday that trucks carrying humanitarian assistance began moving ashore via a temporary pier in Gaza at 9 a.m. local time (0600 GMT). No U.S. troops went ashore in Gaza, it added. "This is an ongoi...
1h ago
German minister: Ukraine needs long-range weapons to defend Kharkiv
STRASBOURG (Reuters) - Ukraine needs more long-range weapons to fight off Russian advances in the northern Kharkiv region where the situation around the country's second-largest city remains "highly dramatic", Germany's foreign minister said on Fri...
2h ago
Belgium's Ghent university severs ties with three Israeli institutions
BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Belgium's University of Ghent (UGent) is severing ties with three Israeli educational or research institutions which it says no longer align with UGent's human rights policy, its rector said. Pro-Palestinian protesters in Ghent...
2h ago
Taiwan lawmakers exchange blows in bitter dispute over parliament reforms
By Ben Blanchard and Fabian Hamacher TAIPEI (Reuters) - Taiwanese lawmakers shoved, tackled and hit each other in parliament on Friday in a bitter dispute about reforms to the chamber, just days before President-elect Lai Ching-te takes office with...
3h ago
Spain will not authorise calling of ships carrying weapons for Israel
MADRID (Reuters) - Spain will not authorise ships carrying weapons for Israel to call at its ports, Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares said on Friday, after the country refused to let a ship call at the southeastern port of Cartagena. The ship wa...
3h ago
Hugs but not the full socialist-era kiss for Putin, Xi in Beijing
BEIJING (Reuters) - A vaunted 'new era' of strategic partnership between Russian President Vladimir Putin and his counterpart Xi Jinping begun in Beijing on Thursday may not exactly have been sealed with a kiss, but it did lead to rare hugs between...
3h ago
Foreigners sell Vietnam securities amid political turbulence, data show
By Francesco Guarascio and Phuong Nguyen HANOI (Reuters) - Foreign investors have reduced by nearly $2 billion their securities holdings in Vietnam's main stock market since early 2023 despite the bourse's positive performance, with the largest out...
3h ago
French police 'neutralised' armed person who tried to set fire to synagogue in Rouen - Darmanin
PARIS (Reuters) - French police officers in Rouen 'neutralised' an armed individual who was intent on setting fire to the town's synagogue, Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin said on Friday. The incident occurred early on Friday morning, Darmanin sa...
4h ago
Slovak doctors to discuss transporting PM Fico to Bratislava on Monday - local media
(Reuters) - Slovak doctors will meet on Monday to assess Prime Minister Robert Fico's health and discuss the possibility of transporting him from Banska Bystrica to the capital Bratislava, local media reported on Friday without citing sources. Fico...
4h ago
Russia says its diplomacy with the West is in crisis management mode, says TASS
MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia's diplomacy with the West is in crisis management mode and is focused on trying to ensure that tensions do not spill over into a large-scale conflict, the TASS news agency on Friday reported a top diplomat as saying. TASS ...
4h ago
Russian oil refinery fire after drone attack contained
MOSCOW (Reuters) - Authorities have managed to contain a fire at Russia's Tuapse oil refinery that broke out after a Ukrainian drone attack, officials in the Krasnodar region said. According to preliminary information, there are no casualties, they...
4h ago
North Korea fires ballistic missile, reports Yonhap
SEOUL (Reuters) - North Korea fired a ballistic missile towards the sea off its east coast, Yonhap news reported, citing South Korea's military. (Reporting by Jack Kim; Editing by Ed Davies)
4h ago
Ukraine military says it downs all 20 drones launched by Russia
KYIV (Reuters) - Ukrainian forces shot down all 20 drones Russia dispatched in an overnight attack, the Ukrainian military said on Friday. The drones were shotdown over the regions of Kharkiv, Poltava, Vinnytsia, Odesa and Mykolaiv. Russian forces...
5h ago
China to let local govt officials buy affordable housing at 'reasonable' prices
BEIJING (Reuters) - China will allow local government authorities to buy some homes at "reasonable" prices to provide affordable housing, Vice Premier He Lifeng told an online meeting on housing policy on Friday, the official news agency, Xinhua, s...
5h ago
Suspected gunshots near Israeli embassy in Stockholm prompt police cordon
STOCKHOLM (Reuters) - Swedish police have detained several people and cordoned off a large area in Stockholm after a patrol heard suspected gunshots, they said on Friday, with the Israeli embassy located in the closed-off area. "A police patrol at...
5h ago
Kenyan lawyers ask court to hold government in contempt for planned police deployment to Haiti
NAIROBI (Reuters) - Kenyan lawyers and their opposition party have asked a court to hold the government in contempt for a planned police deployment to Haiti, their filing to the court showed. (Reporting by George Obulutsa; Editing by Christopher C...
6h ago
Four deaths confirmed from severe storm that ravaged Houston
(Reuters) - A severe storm packing hurricane-force winds pummeled Houston on Thursday, killing at least four people, blowing windows out of high-rise buildings and leaving some 800,000 homes without power as much of the city was plunged into darkne...
6h ago
Chinese state-backed company to launch space tourism flights by 2028
BEIJING (Reuters) - Chinese commercial space company CAS Space announced its "space tourism vehicle" will first fly in 2027 and travel to the edge of space in 2028, state media reported on Friday. The announcement comes just days after Jeff Bezos-b...
7h ago
'Massive' French police deployment arrives to secure New Caledonia
By Kirsty Needham and Camille Raynaud SYDNEY/PARIS (Reuters) - French police reinforcements have started arriving in New Caledonia as part of a massive operation to regain control of the capital Noumea, the top French official in the Pacific island...
7h ago
Putin to push growing Moscow-Beijing trade in China's northeast
By Bernard Orr BEIJING (Reuters) - After sealing pledges of a "new era" of strategic partnership with China's Xi Jinping, Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday is set to highlight the growing importance of trade near the Russian border in Chin...
7h ago
Exclusive-Vietnam forfeits billions of dollars in foreign aid amid anti-graft freeze, document says
By Francesco Guarascio and Khanh Vu HANOI (Reuters) - Vietnam forfeited at least $2.5 billion in foreign aid over the last three years and may lose another $1 billion because of administrative paralysis, the United Nations, the World Bank and Weste...
7h ago
Ukrainian drone attack kills mother, son in Russia's Belgorod region, governor says
(Reuters) - A Ukrainian drone strike killed a mother and her 4-year-old son who were travelling in a car in Russia's southern Belgorod region, the regional governor said early on Friday. Vyacheslav Gladkov, writing on the Telegram messaging app, sa...
9h ago