Islamic State kills 17 in Syria after hit-and-run attacks
BEIRUT (Reuters) – Islamic State has beheaded or shot 17 men in Syria in the past two days as it faces increasing attacks from unidentified gunmen in areas it controls, a monitoring group said on Friday.
Ukraine needs ‘financial mobilization’: finance minister
KIEV (Reuters) – Ukraine needs “financial mobilization” and further help from foreign backers to survive the economic crisis, Finance Minister Natalia Yaresko said on Friday, stressing that the country was meeting all its current foreign debt obligatio…
Italian hostage release raises questions over ransom
ROME (Reuters) – Italian politicians welcomed the liberation of two Italian aid volunteers held hostage in Syria but their release drew criticism over a possible ransom payment.
Foreigners among over 20 missing after tug sinks in China’s Yangtze
SHANGHAI (Reuters) – More than 20 people are missing after a tug boat sank in the Yangtze River in China’s eastern Jiangsu Province on Thursday, the state-run Xinhua news agency reported on Friday quoting local authorities.
North Korea says committed to fighting money laundering, terror financing
SEOUL (Reuters) – North Korea said on Friday it was committed to fighting money laundering and financing of terrorism, two weeks after being slapped with more U.S. sanctions in the wake of a cyberattack on Sony Pictures which Washington blamed on Pyong…
Belgian police kill two in raid on suspected Islamists
VERVIERS, Belgium (Reuters) – Belgian police killed two men who opened fire on them during one of about a dozen raids on Thursday against an Islamist group that federal prosecutors said was about to launch “terrorist attacks on a grand scale”.
Indonesia’s president faces pressure over police chief nominee suspected of graft
JAKARTA (Reuters) – Indonesia’s new president, Joko Widodo, faced mounting pressure on Friday to replace his sole pick for national police chief after the anti-graft agency declared the nominee a corruption suspect.
Ousted Thai PM a no-show at second round of impeachment hearings
BANGKOK (Reuters) – Former Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra failed to appear at her second impeachment hearing on Friday, sending ministers involved in a controversial rice subsidy program to answer questions from parliamentarians critical of he…
Indonesia to execute drug convicts, first under new president
JAKARTA (Reuters) – Indonesian authorities plan to execute six prisoners on Sunday convicted of drug offences, including five foreigners, the government said, the first time capital punishment will be carried out under new President Joko Widodo.
Cameroon says Chad to send large military contingent to fight Boko Haram
DAKAR (Reuters) – Chad will send a large number of troops to neighboring Cameroon to help it fight increasing incursions from Boko Haram Islamist militants attacking from Nigeria, the Central African nation’s president said on Thursday.




