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SINGAPORE (Reuters) – Japan and South Korea agreed on Sunday to quickly resolve disputes over past military encounters that stand in the way of closer security cooperation, Japan’s defence minister said at the Shangri-La Dialogue security conference in Singapore. Yasukazu Hamada held talks with his South Korean counterpart, Lee Jong-sup, as part of Asia’s top …

Japan, South Korea to speed up talks over pending military issues Read More »

By Hyonhee Shin SEOUL (Reuters) -North Korea denounced on Sunday the U.N. Security Council for discussing its recent satellite launch in response to a “gangster-like U.S. request”, and it vowed to reject sanctions and take action to defend itself. The U.S. called for a UNSC meeting last week to discuss North Korea’s attempt to put …

North Korea denounces UN over satellite, ‘gangster-like’ US demand Read More »

By Jatindra Dash and Abinaya V BAHANAGA, India (Reuters) – At least 288 people have died in India’s worst rail crash in over two decades, officials said on Saturday, after a passenger train went off the tracks and hit another one in an accident a preliminary report blamed on signal failure. One train in Friday’s …

India’s worst train crash in decades kills at least 288 Read More »

By Jatindra Dash and Krishn Kaushik BALASORE, India (Reuters) – Ompal Bhatia, a survivor of the three-train crash in India on Friday, had first thought he was dead. When the train he was traveling in went off-track, Bhatia was with three friends on his way to Chennai for work. The 25-year-old had spent most of …

India train crash survivor recounts: ‘We thought we were dead’ Read More »

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A senior U.S. State Department official will travel to China next week, the department said on Saturday, as Washington seeks to boost communication with Beijing at a time of tense relations between the two countries. U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs Daniel Kritenbrink will discuss “key issues …

Senior U.S. State Department official to visit China next week amid tense ties Read More »

BERLIN (Reuters) – German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius on Saturday called on China to stop enlisting former German military pilots for the training of its own forces. “I have made it clear that I expect this policy to be stopped immediately,” German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius told reporters after meeting his Chinese counterpart at the …

Berlin calls on China to stop enlisting former German military pilots Read More »

By YP Rajesh NEW DELHI (Reuters) – India’s vast rail network is undergoing a $30 billion transformation with gleaming new trains and modern stations but Friday’s deadly train accident shows more attention should be paid to safety, industry analysts said. At least 261 people were killed in the country’s worst rail accident in over two …

Deadly Indian rail crash shifts focus from new trains to safety Read More »

By Philip Pullella VATICAN CITY (Reuters) – Pope Francis will make an Aug. 31-Sept. 4 trip to Mongolia, one of the most far-flung places he has ever visited and which has only about 1,300 Catholics but is strategically significant for the Roman Catholic Church because of its proximity to China. The Vatican announced the trip …

Pope to visit Mongolia, home to just 1,300 Catholics Read More »

TAIPEI (Reuters) – A U.S. and a Canadian warship sailed through the Taiwan Strait on Saturday, the U.S. Navy said, in a rare joint mission in the sensitive waterway at a time of heightened tensions between Beijing and Washington over Chinese-claimed Taiwan. The U.S. Navy’s 7th Fleet said the guided-missile destroyer USS Chung-Hoon and Canada’s …

US, Canadian navies stage rare joint mission through Taiwan Strait Read More »