North Korea hails anti-smoking progress; leader Kim keeps puffing
SEOUL (Reuters) – North Korea said on Wednesday a campaign was helping to cut the number of smokers, although its leader Kim Jong Un is frequently seen with a cigarette in hand in photographs in state media.
Turkey approves law among final hurdles for EU visa deal
ANKARA (Reuters) – Turkey’s parliament has approved a law on setting up a panel to monitor discipline for law enforcement officials, one of the last hurdles remaining before the country wins visa-free access to Europe for its nationals.
Asylum seekers aiming for Australia try to prevent transfer to tiny Nauru
SYDNEY (Reuters) – Lawyers for more than 700 asylum seekers seeking a new life in Australia but held instead in Papua New Guinea filed an injunction on Wednesday aiming to halt their transfer to a much-criticized detention center on the tiny Pacific is…
Pakistan army launches inquiry into political worker’s death
KARACHI, Pakistan (Reuters) – Pakistan’s army chief on Wednesday ordered an inquiry into the death of a political activist in custody of the paramilitary Rangers force, the first known inquiry since 2013 when Rangers launched a major crime crackdown in…
Indonesia to hold new round of executions; no word on foreigners
JAKARTA (Reuters) – Indonesia is preparing to execute several prisoners, a police official said on Wednesday, though authorities have not said if foreigners will be among them, a year after the execution of foreign drug traffickers drew widespread cond…
Girl’s gang rape in Indonesia prompts angry calls for protection
JAKARTA (Reuters) – Indonesian President Joko Widodo on Wednesday called for severe punishment for a group of men charged with raping and killing a schoolgirl, a case that has angered rights groups who say the government is not doing enough to protect …
Dhaka arrests five Bangladeshis deported from Singapore
DHAKA (Reuters) – Police in Bangladesh have arrested five men deported from Singapore as part of an investigation into an alleged Islamist plot to carry out attacks in the South Asian country, authorities in Dhaka said.
Air raids hit east of Damascus after ‘calm’ expires: Observatory
BEIRUT (Reuters) – Air strikes targeted a Syrian rebel-held area east of Damascus on Wednesday after an agreement aimed at halting the fighting there expired at midnight, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported.
Turkey’s Erdogan advances weekly PM meet to Wednesday as tension rises
ANKARA (Reuters) – Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan is to meet Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu on Wednesday, bringing forward by a day their usual weekly meeting, as tension between the two rises.
‘Bongbong’, the son, leads Marcos revival in the Philippines
MANILA (Reuters) – For the son and namesake of late Philippine dictator Ferdinand Marcos, winning the vice presidency in next week’s election is as much about restoring his family’s tainted image as it is about making the country a better place.
