Blog
The United States and Japan sought to reinvigorate their 70-year-old alliance in the face of China’s ever-increasing clout Tuesday, as President Barack Obama welcomed Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to the White House. Hailing the alliance as the “cornerstone of peace and security in the Asia-Pacific region,” the two countries vowed to counter new threats and increase military deterrence. They pledged to forge a Trans-Pacific trade deal that would encompass 12
SARAJEVO, Bosnia-Herzegovina (AP) — The killing of a policeman by a Muslim gunman prompted Bosnian Serb leaders on Tuesday to renew calls for independence from the federation forged in a U.S.-brokered peace deal in 1995. That’s dangerous talk in the Balkans, whose economically depressed states are rife with ethnic rivalries and border disputes that could explode at any moment.
Iranian naval ships fired across the bow of a Marshall Islands-flagged cargo vessel in the Strait of Hormuz on Tuesday, and forced it to head to Iranian territory, US defense officials said. At least five Iranian ships demanded that the Maersk Tigris, which had no Americans on board, head to Larak Island. The cargo ship’s captain “declined” the demand and one of the Iranian vessels “fired shots” across the bow
Saudi Arabia has arrested nearly 100 jihadists, mostly linked to the Islamic State group, and foiled several plots to carry out attacks including on the American embassy, authorities said Tuesday. The arrests have taken place since December and most of those detained were Saudis, the interior ministry said in a statement published by the official news agency SPA. It said two Syrians and a Saudi who had threatened to launch
Riots erupt following the funeral of a black man who died in police custody.
GORKHA, Nepal (AP) — Helicopters crisscrossed the mountains above a remote district Tuesday near the epicenter of the weekend earthquake in Nepal that killed more than 4,600 people, ferrying the injured and delivering emergency supplies. Officials said 250 villagers were feared missing in a new mudslide.
By Ian Simpson and Warren Strobel BALTIMORE (Reuters) – Baltimore residents on Tuesday began to clear the wreckage of rioting and fires that erupted after the funeral of a 25-year-old black man who died in police custody, while the city’s mayor defended local law enforcement’s light initial response. Acrid smoke hung over streets where violence broke out just blocks from Freddie Gray’s funeral and spread through much of the poor
By Lawrence Hurley WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. Supreme Court heard arguments on Tuesday on whether the Constitution provides same-sex couples the right to marry, with a majority of the nine justices firing skeptical questions at a lawyer asking them to legalize gay marriage nationwide. Five justices including a possible swing vote, Justice Anthony Kennedy, and a member of the court’s liberal wing, Justice Stephen Breyer, asked lawyer Mary Bonauto
By Richard Valdmanis BOSTON (Reuters) – The older brother of convicted Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev was transformed from a heavy drinker and drugs user into someone obsessed with Islam after returning from a trip to Russia in 2012, witnesses said on Tuesday. The 21-year-old ethnic Chechen was convicted this month of killing three people and injuring 264 in the bombing, and shooting dead a police officer three days later
