Malaysia scraps beer festival following Islamists’ objections
KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) – Malaysian authorities scrapped an annual beer festival on Monday after an Islamist party objected to the event that had been planned for the first weekend of October in the country’s capital.
Korean peninsula draws range of military drills in show of force against North Korea
BEIJING/SEOUL (Reuters) – The U.S. military staged bombing drills with South Korea over the Korean peninsula and Russia and China began naval exercises ahead of a U.N. General Assembly meeting on Tuesday where North Korea’s nuclear threat is likely to …
Priest rescued as Philippine troops retake Marawi militant stronghold
MANILA (Reuters) – Philippine troops rescued a catholic priest held hostage for almost four months by Islamic State-linked rebels after an offensive that captured a stronghold of the militants in southern Marawi City, defense officials said on Monday.
Vietnam jails dissident for five years in crackdown on activists
HANOI (Reuters) – A court in Vietnam jailed dissident Nguyen Van Oai for a further five years on Monday for violating the terms of his probation after a spell in prison, his lawyer said.
Britain proposes new security treaty with EU after Brexit
LONDON (Reuters) – Britain will propose on Monday signing a new security treaty with the European Union after Brexit to maintain and intensify cooperation to thwart “ever-growing and increasingly cross-border threats”.
Growing unease as India curbs the net to keep the peace
MUMBAI (Reuters) – First he tried messaging friends, but WhatsApp was down. Then, the credit card readers at his clothing store weren’t working. Ride-sharing apps were offline too.
Late summer rains, private food supplies limit impact of North Korea drought
SEOUL (Reuters) – Late summer rains and the growing importance of privately produced crops mean North Korea will likely avoid acute food shortages this year despite earlier fears of drought and mounting international sanctions, defectors and experts sa…
Thai junta and Muslim separatists trade blame over peace steps
BANGKOK (Reuters) – Thailand’s junta and a Malay Muslim separatist faction have blamed each other for a delay in setting up a ‘safety zone’ as a confidence-building measure towards ending a decades-old insurgency.
China, Russia begin naval drills near North Korea
BEIJING (Reuters) – China and Russia began naval drills near North Korea on Monday amid continuing tensions over the isolated state’s nuclear ambitions and ahead of a United Nations General Assembly meeting this week, where North Korea is likely to loo…
Rights group urges new Myanmar sanctions over Rohingya crisis
YANGON (Reuters) – A rights group has called for targeted sanctions and an arms embargo against the Myanmar military in response to an offensive that has sent 410,000 Rohingya Muslims fleeing to Bangladesh to escape what the United Nations has branded …
