Malaysian move toward harsher Islamic law divides opposition
KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) – Calls by Malaysia’s Islamist opposition party for strict Islamic law that includes amputations and stonings is symptomatic of a drift to more conservative Islam in politics and could further strain relations in the multi-ethnic…
Somali Islamists kill four in cross-border attack on Kenyan town
ISIOLO, Kenya (Reuters) – Somali Islamist militants killed at least four people during a raid on a Kenyan town near the border with Somalia, police said on Wednesday.
Food concerns mount in Vanuatu after monster cyclone
PORT VILA (Reuters) – International aid agencies ramped up appeals for cyclone-hit Vanuatu on Wednesday, warning that the powerful storm that affected more than two-thirds of the South Pacific island nation had wiped out crops and destroyed fishing fle…
Indonesia to call off search for AirAsia crash victims
JAKARTA (Reuters) – Indonesia will on Sunday end a search for the bodies of 56 people missing from an AirAsia jet that crashed in the Java Sea in December, a national rescue agency official said.
Militias destroy Iraqi villages, displace thousands: rights group
LONDON (Thomson Reuters Foundation) – Iraqi Shi’ite militias unleashed a campaign of “deliberate and wanton destruction” as they rampaged through dozens of villages last year after driving Islamic State fighters out of the northern town of Amerli, righ…
Russia says Chinese, North Korean leaders to attend WWII anniversary in Moscow
MOSCOW (Reuters) – Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Tuesday Chinese President Xi Jinping and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un will attend celebrations in Moscow to commemorate the end of World War Two.
China paper details ‘repentance letters’ of corrupt officials
BEIJING (Reuters) – An official Chinese newspaper provided unusual details on Wednesday of the “repentance letters” officials sometimes write after being accused of corruption, shining a light on the murky process the government employs to fight a deep…
U.S., eyeing Iranian arms in Iraq, warns on sectarian tensions
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The United States is concerned about how heavy Iranian weaponry might be used inside Iraq, including as Iran-backed militia help the offensive to retake the Iraqi city of Tikrit from Islamic State militants, a U.S. official said …
Brazil’s opposition calls for Rousseff probe in Petrobras scandal
SAO PAULO (Reuters) – Brazil’s main opposition party said on Tuesday it would call on the Supreme Court to investigate President Dilma Rousseff’s involvement in a corruption scheme at state-run oil firm Petroleo Brasileiro SA.
Death toll climbed sharply in major 2014 conflicts – study
LONDON (Reuters) – The death toll in the world’s most brutal conflicts climbed by more than 28 percent last year from 2013 with bloodshed in Syria worse than all others for the second year running, according to a study released on Wednesday.
