Duterte accuses Philippine senator probing killings of taking drug money
MANILA (Reuters) – Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte on Thursday accused a senator heading an inquiry into extra-judicial drug killings of taking bribes from jailed drug lords, which she immediately denied.
Myanmar sends police, soldiers to protect ancient temples damaged in quake
BAGAN/YANGON (Reuters) – Myanmar sent truckloads of soldiers and squadrons of police to protect and rebuild centuries-old Buddhist pagodas around the ancient capital of Bagan on Thursday, a day after at least 187 of the brick temples were damaged in a …
HK independence activists claim harassment from pro-China media
HONG KONG (Reuters) – Activists who have advocated independence for Hong Kong say they have been harassed or followed by pro-China local newspapers in recent months, while Beijing has stepped up its rhetoric against what it calls the “dangerous absurdi…
No evidence of radicalization in Australian hostel killing: police
SYDNEY (Reuters) – There is no evidence that a Frenchman who shouted “Allahu akbar” (God is Greatest) as he stabbed a British woman to death at a backpackers’ hotel in Australia was radicalised or under the influence of a political ideology, police sai…
Without aid, 49,000 children will die this year in northeast Nigeria: U.N.
LAGOS (Reuters) – Nearly half a million children around Lake Chad face “severe acute malnutrition” due to drought and a seven-year insurgency by Islamist militant group Boko Haram in northeastern Nigeria, UNICEF said on Thursday.
Turkish tanks roll into Syria, pushing Islamic State out of key border town
KARKAMIS, Turkey/ANKARA (Reuters) – Syrian rebels backed by Turkish special forces, tanks and warplanes entered one of Islamic State’s last strongholds on the Turkish-Syrian border on Wednesday, in Turkey’s first major U.S.-backed incursion into its so…
U.N./OPCW inquiry blames Syria government for gas attacks, likely sanctions fight looms
UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) – Syrian government troops were responsible for two toxic gas attacks and Islamic State militants used sulfur mustard gas, a joint investigation by the United Nations and the global chemical weapons watchdog found on Wednesday, according to a confidential report seen by Reuters.
Cabinet missteps test Canadian PM Trudeau’s teflon image
OTTAWA (Reuters) – Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was knocked off message as he marshaled his cabinet back to work this week, distracted by recent spending miscues involving top ministers in the first major wobble of his Liberal government.
Libya’s unity government says still seeks approval from eastern parliament
TRIPOLI (Reuters) – Libya’s U.N.-backed government said on Wednesday it would continue seeking approval from the parliament based in the east of the country, despite members of the assembly voting to reject the fledgling administration.
Gunmen attack American university in Kabul, students flee
KABUL (Reuters) – Suspected militants stormed the Kabul campus of the American University of Afghanistan on Wednesday with some students jumping from second floor windows to escape the gunfire and explosions, witnesses and officials said.
