World

Japan's green tea exports reach highest level in over 70 years

TOKYO: Japan's green tea exports in the first 10 months of this year reached the highest level in over 70 years on the back of the booming overseas market for matcha powder, and the depreciation of the Japanese yen, government and industry data showed Saturday (Dec 13), Kyodo News reported.

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Brown University shooting leaves 2 dead, 9 injured as police search for killer

Dec 13 (Reuters) - More than 400 law enforcement personnel were deployed on Saturday as police sought the suspect in a shooting at Brown University in Rhode Island that left two students dead and another nine people wounded at the Ivy League school, officials said. 

World

Two US soldiers and an interpreter killed in suspected Islamic State attack in Syria

Dec 13 (Reuters) - Two U.S. Army soldiers and a civilian interpreter were killed in Syria on Saturday by a suspected Islamic State attacker who targeted a convoy of American and Syrian forces before being shot dead, the U.S. military said.

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Engine failure forces United Airlines flight to return to DC-area airport

Dec 13 (Reuters) - A United Airlines flight bound for Tokyo was forced to return to Dulles International Airport in northern Virginia on Saturday afternoon after experiencing an engine failure during departure, the Federal Aviation Administration said.  

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Interview: UCL president highlights China's progress in research and education

LONDON, Dec. 13 (Xinhua) -- China's research and higher education sector has seen remarkable progress, with Chinese universities emerging as important partners for international higher education institutions, Michael Spence, president and provost of University College London (UCL), said in an interview with Xinhua on Friday.

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Young people in Portugal cut back on social media use

LISBON, Dec. 13 (Xinhua) -- Young people in Portugal are sharply reducing their social media use, reflecting a shift toward more conscious digital habits, according to new data and researchers.

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U.S. lifts sanctions on Belarusian potash: U.S. special envoy

MINSK, Dec. 13 (Xinhua) -- The United States has decided to lift sanctions previously imposed on the Belarusian potash industry, U.S. special envoy for Belarus John Coale said here on Saturday.

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Thousands march in Hungary in protest over child abuse scandal

BUDAPEST, Dec 13 (Reuters) - Thousands of Hungarians marched to Prime Minister Viktor Orban's offices on Saturday, led by opposition leader Peter Magyar, who urged the veteran nationalist to resign over an abuse scandal at a juvenile detention centre.

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US says Belarus agreed to stop balloon flyovers into Lithuania

VILNIUS, Dec 13 (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump's envoy John Coale said on Saturday that Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko had promised to stop weather balloons flying from his country into Lithuania.

World

Feature: Standing amid atrocities: John Rabe and his record of Nanjing Massacre

BERLIN, Dec. 13 (Xinhua) -- In the winter of 1937, invading Japanese troops captured Nanjing, then the Chinese capital, and over the course of six weeks, they proceeded to kill approximately 300,000 Chinese civilians and unarmed soldiers in one of the most barbaric episodes of World War II.

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Bangladesh says peacekeepers killed, injured in Sudan UN base attack

DHAKA, Dec 13 (Reuters) - At least six Bangladeshi peacekeepers were killed and eight injured in an attack on a United Nations base in Abyei, Sudan, the Bangladesh Army said on Saturday.

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Ukraine says Russian drone attack hit civilian Turkish vessel

KYIV, Dec 13 (Reuters) - Ukraine's navy accused Russia of deliberately attacking a civilian Turkish vessel carrying sunflower oil to Egypt with a drone on Saturday, a day after Moscow hit two Ukrainian ports.

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Two U.S. soldiers, one interpreter killed in Syria, Pentagon says

WASHINGTON, Dec 13 (Reuters) - Two U.S. Army soldiers and a civilian interpreter were killed in an Islamic State attack on Saturday in Palmyra, Syria, where they were supporting counterterrorism operations, the Pentagon said.

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1 injured in light aircraft crash near Moscow

MOSCOW, Dec. 13 (Xinhua) -- A light aircraft crashed during takeoff near Novinki Airfield in Russia's Moscow region, leaving one injured, TASS news agency reported, citing local emergency services on Saturday.

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New fish species discovered in China's Xizang

LHASA, Dec. 13 (Xinhua) -- A new fish species has been discovered in Zayul County, southwest China's Xizang Autonomous Region, providing insights for studies of fish diversity and biological evolution in the Himalayan area, said the Institute of Plateau Biology of Xizang Autonomous Region on Saturday.

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Flights between Phnom Penh, Bangkok remain normal despite ongoing border clashes

PHNOM PENH, Dec. 13 (Xinhua) -- Flights between Phnom Penh and Bangkok as well as those between Siem Reap and Thailand are operating as normal although the Cambodia-Thailand border fighting is still going on, a Cambodian civil aviation spokesperson said on Saturday.

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Maria Kalesnikava, hero of Belarus opposition, freed after more than 5 years

Dec 13 (Reuters) - When Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko used the full force of his security apparatus to smash mass demonstrations in 2020, Maria Kalesnikava became an icon of the protest movement.

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Belarusian opposition politician Maria Kalesnikava freed by authorities, report says

Dec 13 (Reuters) - Opposition politician Maria Kalesnikava has been freed from prison in Belarus after serving more than five years, independent news outlet Zerkalo cited her sister Tatsiana Khomich as saying on Saturday.

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Rwanda's actions in eastern Congo a clear violation of accords, Rubio says

WASHINGTON, Dec 13 (Reuters) - Rwanda's actions in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo are a "clear violation" of the peace deal signed in Washington under President Donald Trump, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Saturday.

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Lukashenko frees Nobel winner Bialiatski and key Belarus opposition figures in deal with US

VILNIUS, Dec 13 (Reuters) - Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko freed 123 prisoners on Saturday including Nobel Peace Prize winner Ales Bialiatski and leading opposition figure Maria Kalesnikava in a deal brokered by an envoy for U.S. President Donald Trump.