Iraq

Chinese workers safe in Baghdad

All of the more than 1,200 Chinese workers trapped in the northern Iraqi city of Samarra have been safely evacuated to the capital Baghdad, according to the Chinese embassy in Baghdad. The evacuated Chinese employees, hired by China Machinery Engineering Corp, were working at a construction site of a local power plant in Samarra when Sunni militants began their offensive two weeks ago.

Talks could change leadership

Iraqi party leaders planned delicate talks that could end Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's divisive rule after a top Shi'ite cleric called for a new premier to be chosen without delay to tackle Islamist rebels threatening to tear apart the country. Major powers are pushing for a new inclusive government, and influential Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani urged political blocs to agree on the next premier, parliament speaker and president before a newly elected legislature meets in Baghdad on Tuesday.

Ukraine

New leader seeks Russian support

Ukraine on Saturday sought concrete steps from Russia to back up a tenuous truce it extended with pro-Moscow rebels in the hope of calming a deadly insurgency sparked by its new Westward course. President Petro Poroshenko returned triumphant from Brussels on Friday having opened the way to Ukraine's eventual membership in the European Union by signing the final chapters of a landmark free trade and political association accord. Poroshenko has decided to extend the shaky ceasefire until Monday evening under the condition that Russia requires the insurgents to return border crossings to Ukrainian forces and set up a monitoring mechanism for a long-term truce.

India

Building collapse kills 5, injures 12

A three-story building collapsed in the northern part of the Indian capital New Delhi early on Saturday morning, causing five deaths, local media reported. Twelve people have been rescued so far, four with serious injuries. Many others are feared to be still trapped inside.

Thailand

General says no long coup plot

Thailand's junta-leading army chief has dismissed allegations he plotted to seize power for years before May's coup. "It is not true," General Prayut Chan-ocha said, addressing accusations that he had discussed uprooting the divisive Shinawatra clan from politics with firebrand protest chief Suthep Thaugsuban.

Nigeria

Brothel blast kills 11

An explosion overnight in a brothel in the northeastern Nigerian city of Bauchi killed 11 people, police said on Saturday, while 14 others were wounded. The cause of the blast was unknown.

Singapore

Gay supporters hold 'pink' rally

Thousands of people gathered in Singapore on Saturday for an annual gay-rights rally celebrating sexual diversity in the city-state, despite fierce opposition from religious conservatives. Straight and gay Singaporeans turned Speakers' Corner, a government designated free-speech park, into a sea of pink - the color chosen by organizers to represent the freedom to love.

Pakistan

Family slits throats of newlyweds

A young couple in Pakistan were tied up and had their throats slit with scythes after they married for love, police said Saturday. The 17-year-old girl and 31-year-old man married on June 18 without the consent of their families in eastern Pakistan's Punjabi village of Satrah, police said. The girl's mother and father lured the couple home late on Thursday with the promise that their marriage would receive a family blessing, police said.

Xinhua - Reuters

(China Daily 06/29/2014 page2)