Australian police raid Melbourne properties in foreign bribery probe
SYDNEY (Reuters) – Australian police raided a home and a business in central Melbourne on Thursday as part of a foreign bribery investigation reportedly involving Malaysian government officials and a multi-million dollar property deal.
Islamic State seizes parts of Syrian city Hasaka, says monitor
BEIRUT (Reuters) – Islamic State fighters wrested areas of the northeastern Syrian city of Hasaka from government control in fighting overnight, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitoring organization said on Thursday.
China counts on textile industry jobs to defuse Xinjiang unrest
BEIJING (Reuters) – China will step up support for the textile industry in its troubled far western region of Xinjiang, state media said on Thursday, as the government moves to shore up stability in an area where unemployment is seen as fuelling unrest…
Car bomb explodes in Syria’s Kobani near border, some people killed: YPG
DIYARBAKIR, Turkey (Reuters) – A car bomb exploded in the Syrian town of Kobani near the Turkish border gate on Thursday as Islamic State militants staged an attack from three sides of the town, a Kurdish YPG militia official told Reuters.
Lattes and Mars bars on sale at North Korea’s gleaming new airport terminal
SEOUL (Reuters) – Designer shirts, duty free watches and cosmetics, and chocolate fondue will soon await visitors to North Korea, according to photos of Pyongyang’s new airport terminal released by state media on Thursday.
Egypt’s imprisonment of journalists at all-time high: CPJ
CAIRO (Reuters) – Egypt is holding the highest number of journalists behind bars since record keeping began, using the pretext of national security to crack down on press freedoms, the Committee to Protect Journalists said on Thursday.
China says getting good global cooperation on graft fight
BEIJING (Reuters) – China has been getting good international cooperation in its campaign to return suspected corrupt officials who have fled abroad, including tip-offs from overseas and help from the media, the Communist Party’s graft watchdog said on…
China may increase penalties for illegal cults to life in prison
SHANGHAI (Reuters) – China may extend the maximum sentence for people found guilty of cult-related crimes to life imprisonment from 15 years in jail, according to a draft amendment to the country’s criminal law reported by state media on Thursday.
Five Thai students detained in Pakistan return home
BANGKOK (Reuters) – Five Thai students detained in Pakistan for trying to board a plane with a pistol and ammunition have been freed and returned to Bangkok on Thursday, said Thailand’s foreign ministry.
Ex-Panama dictator Noriega asks for forgiveness
PANAMA CITY (Reuters) – Former dictator Manuel Noriega on Wednesday asked Panama to forgive the military leaders that ruled the Central American country for two decades before their eventual overthrow after a U.S. military invasion in 1989.
