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South East Asia
Sino-Myanmar gas pipeline concludes construction in Myanmar section
After three years of intensive work, the construction work for the Sino-Myanmar natural gas pipeline in the Myanmar section has been completed, CNPC, the parent company of PetroChina (PTR.NYSE; 601857.SH; 0857.HK), said in a statement on Tuesday. The statement added that operation of the gas pipeline could start at any time upon successful test of…
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West Asia
Protest continues in Turkey while gov’t apologize for violent crackdown
Turkey’s deputy prime minister offered an apology Tuesday for the government’s violent crackdown on an environmental protest, a calculated bid to ease days of anti-government rallies in the country’s major cities. The message was a bit mixed, however, as hundreds of riot police deployed with water cannons around the prime…
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East Asia
China blocks remembrance on 24th anniversary of Tiananmen Crackdown
Activists in China are taking to social media to urge the public to wear black on the 24th anniversary of the bloody military crackdown on protesters who had camped out for weeks on Tiananmen Square. The crackdown on pro-democracy protesters on June 4, 1989, killed hundreds, possibly more. The Chinese…
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West Asia
Afghan President Hamid Karzai favors security agreement with US
Afghan President Hamid Karzai says he favors a security agreement with America allowing some of its troops to remain after the end of 2014 but wants unspecified “guarantees.” Karzai provided no details when he spoke Thursday at a gathering on rural development. But he has said in the past that…
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West Asia
Israel sends thousands of African migrants to unidentified country
Israel has reached an agreement to send thousands of African migrants to an unidentified country, according to a court document obtained Monday, a plan that has elicited criticism over its potential harm to the migrants. The plan, if implemented, is an attempt to address one of Israel’s more pressing issues:…
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East Asia
119 dead from fire at poultry slaughterhouse in Jilin, China
A swift-moving fire trapped panicked workers inside a poultry slaughterhouse in northeastern China that had only a single open exit, killing at least 119 people in one of the country’s worst industrial disasters in years. Survivors described workers, mostly women, struggling through smoke and flames to reach doors that turned…
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West Asia
Turkish PM Erdogan rejects comparison with Arab Spring uprisings
Turkish riot police launched round after round of tear gas against protesters on Monday, the fourth day of violent demonstrations, as the president and the prime minister staked competing positions on the unrest. Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan rejected the protesters’ demands that he resign and dismissed the demonstrations as…
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West Asia
Conflict between Egypt-Ethiopia deepens due to Ethiopian dam
Politicians meeting with Egypt’s president on Monday proposed hostile acts against Ethiopia, including backing rebels and carrying out sabotage, to stop it from building a massive dam on the Nile River upstream. Some of the politicians appeared unaware the meeting with President Mohammed Morsi was being carried live on TV.…
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East Asia
Private sector role stressed at Japanese-African leaders’ meeting
Japanese and African leaders stressed the importance of private sector investment in promoting Africa’s economic growth as they wrapped up a development conference Monday held once every five years. Japan promised 3.2 trillion yen ($32 billion) in government and private-sector aid to the region at the outset of the three-day…
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West Asia
Anti-government clashes in Turkey spread as protesters hold square
A demonstrator was killed Monday during a wave of protests in Turkey’s largest city of Istanbul, the Turkish Doctors’ Union (TTB) said. Mehmet Ayvalitas, 20, was hit by a car driver, who ignored warnings in demonstrations in Umraniye district, the TTB said. The victim, a member of Socialist Solidarity Platform,…
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