Bahrain more than doubles jail sentence of top opposition leader
DUBAI (Reuters) – A Bahraini appeals court on Monday more than doubled the prison term imposed on the country’s most prominent opposition leader, Sheikh Ali Salman, to nine years from four, a ruling that could increase political tensions in the Gulf ki…
Philippine Congress proclaims Duterte winner of presidential election
MANILA (Reuters) – Rodrigo Duterte became the 16th president of the Philippines on Monday when a joint session of Congress declared him winner of a May 9 election, succeeding Benigno Aquino who steps down next month after six years in office.
Philippine troops kill 54 Islamist militants in the south
MANILA (Reuters) – Philippine security forces killed 54 Islamist militants linked to the Jemaah Islamiah group in a week-long air and ground offensive in the country’s south, an army spokesman said on Monday.The fighting took place near the stronghold …
Reconstruction of ruined palace begins in Afghan capital
KABUL (Reuters) – Afghan President Ashraf Ghani dedicated an ambitious reconstruction project on Monday to restore the ruins of historic Darul Aman palace, an initiative aimed at signaling a new future for the war-torn country.
Myanmar says record drug seizure has street value of $36 million
YANGON (Reuters) – Authorities in Myanmar seized roughly 21 million methamphetamine pills with a street value of around U.S.$35.5 million near the border with China, state-owned media said on Monday, the country’s second largest haul of the contraband…
Hopes and fears for jobs as Afghan cement factory reopens
JABAL SARAJ, Afghanistan (Reuters) – After a break of 20 years, Afghanistan’s first cement factory is once more clanking noisily in the countryside near Kabul as crushed-up limestone rocks rattle along a battered conveyor belt to the newly restored kil…
More than 20 killed in series of bombings in Baghdad, police says
BAGHDAD (Reuters) – More than 20 people were killed and about 50 injured in three bombings, including two suicide attacks, that hit Baghdad on Monday, police and medical sources said.
Two Tunisians killed in landmine blast near Algerian border: ministry
TUNIS (Reuters) – Two Tunisian civilians were killed and one other injured on Monday by a landmine planted by jihadist groups in a mountainous region near the Algerian border, the defense ministry said.
U.S.-backed Syrian alliance widens offensive near IS capital
BEIRUT (Reuters) – A U.S.-backed alliance of Syrian militias is widening an offensive against Islamic State near its de facto capital of Raqqa, targeting an area where the group controls a disused air base, a monitoring group and a Kurdish official sai…
For many Chinese migrants, the lure of the city is fading
WENZHOU, China/HONG KONG (Reuters) – After two decades trying to make a life in China’s entrepreneurial city of Wenzhou, Ji Shouquan and his brother Shoufang are ready to head home.
