Defiant Merkel vows to stand by refugee policy despite security fears
BERLIN (Reuters) – Chancellor Angela Merkel vowed on Wednesday to stick to her open-door refugee policy, defying criticism at home and abroad which has intensified due to growing fears about a potential security risk after the Islamist attacks in Paris…
Bangladesh detains two political activists for IS propaganda
DHAKA (Reuters) – Police have detained two members of Bangladesh’s biggest religion-based party on suspicion they were involved in Islamic State propaganda, including one who called himself “Jihadi John”, a police commissioner said on Wednesday.
Germany to send up to 650 soldiers to Mali for peacekeeping mission
BERLIN (Reuters) – Germany is ready to send up to 650 soldiers to Mali to bolster the United Nations peacekeeping mission in the West African country and to help France in the region, Defense Minister Ursula von der Leyen said on Wednesday.
Canada refugee plan revives concerns over porous U.S. border
HAVRE, Montana (Reuters) – Standing two feet from Canada on windswept Montana prairie land, U.S. Border Patrol agent Andrew Herdina looks out over a line of crooked old fence posts with no wire between them — the international border.
Putin says Turkey’s leaders back ‘Islamisation’ of Turkish society: agencies
MOSCOW (Reuters) – Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday said Turkey’s political leaders had been encouraging the Islamisation of Turkish society, something he said was a problem, Russian agencies quoted him as saying.
U.S. raises military aid to Philippines amid sea tension with China
MANILA (Reuters) – The United States has raised its military aid to the Philippines this year to $79 million, the U.S. ambassador said on Wednesday, as tension rises in the region over China’s new assertiveness in the South China Sea.
China set to pledge more aid to Africa ahead of Xi’s trip
BEIJING (Reuters) – China is set to announce new aid to African nations when President Xi Jinping visits Zimbabwe and South Africa next month, a senior Chinese official said on Wednesday.
Thai constitution could give free rein to military abuses, says rights group
BANGKOK (Reuters) – A proposal by Thailand’s junta for a provision in the constitution exempting the military from prosecution would allow the armed forces to commit abuses with impunity, a rights group said on Wednesday.
French PM says Europe can’t take in more refugees: Sueddeutsche Zeitung
BERLIN (Reuters) – European countries are stretched to their limits in the refugee crisis and cannot take in any more new arrivals, French Prime Minister Manuel Valls was quoted as saying in a German newspaper on Wednesday.
Afghan forces launch bid to rescue 18 captured by Taliban
KABUL (Reuters) – Afghan security forces have launched an operation on Wednesday to rescue 18 people who Taliban insurgents captured after their helicopter made an emergency landing in territory under militant control, the Ministry of Defense said.
