Some Gulf Arabs commiserate over Iran’s Rafsanjani, Saudi silent
DUBAI (Reuters) – Four Gulf states sent condolences on Monday for former Iranian president Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, signaling appreciation for a pragmatist who sought regional detente, but there was no immediate word from Riyadh, Tehran’s main Gul…
Philippines says finalizing deal to observe Russian military drills
MANILA (Reuters) – The Philippines is finalizing a security deal with Russia allowing the two countries’ leaders to exchange visits and observe military drills, a minister said on Monday, at the same time assuring the United States that ties with Mosco…
German investigators find only pilot Lubitz at fault in Germanwings crash
DUESSELDORF, Germany (Reuters) – German prosecutors have decided that nobody other than pilot Andreas Lubitz could be held accountable for the crash of a Germanwings plane in March 2015, a spokesman for the public prosecutor’s office said on Monday.
Uzbekistan postpones plan to liberalize entry visa rules
TASHKENT (Reuters) – Uzbekistan announced on Monday that it was delaying by four years a plan to allow tourists from dozens of countries to visit without an entry visa, with security cited as one of the reasons for the postponement.
Give us back our troop carriers, Singapore urges Hong Kong
SINGAPORE (Reuters) – Singapore’s defence minister on Monday said the nine armoured vehicles seized in Hong Kong could not be detained or confiscated, but that he welcomed Hong Kong’s pledge for the dispute to be handled in line with its laws.
Myanmar warns its workers in Malaysia after five hacked to death
YANGON/KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) – Myanmar said on Monday it had sent out safety instructions to its workers in Malaysia after attackers hacked five of them to death with swords, weeks after it barred workers from going there, partly because of security f…
Poland retracts from curbing media access to parliament
WARSAW (Reuters) – Polish ruling party has retracted from its proposals to limit media access to the country’s parliament, speaker of the upper house said on Monday, adding that the party wants to resolve the ongoing parliamentary crisis conciliatory.
South Korean leader’s friend Choi now charged with bribery
SEOUL (Reuters) – South Korean special prosecutors team have filed fresh charges including bribery against a close friend of impeached President Park Geun-hye, the central figure in a political scandal that has engulfed the country, the team said on Mo…
Eight police killed in attack in north Sinai
CAIRO (Reuters) – At least eight policemen were killed in an attack on a checkpoint in the northern Sinai city of al-Arish on Monday, security and medical sources said.
Indonesia’s president moves to rein in ‘out of control’ military chief
JAKARTA (Reuters) – Indonesia’s President Joko Widodo reproached his military chief in a meeting last week amid concerns the commander was “out of control” after he unilaterally suspended defense cooperation with Australia, two sources briefed on the m…
