Australian PM strikes conciliatory note over Indonesia executions
SYDNEY/JAKARTA (Reuters) – Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott struck a conciliatory tone on Thursday after speaking with Indonesian President Joko Widodo about the looming execution of two convicted Australian drug traffickers.
Four years after Egypt uprising, patronage politics dominate again
SADAT CITY, Egypt (Reuters) – How much is a vote worth? In Egypt’s Sadat City – a sprawling, industrial center filled with the young and unemployed – it costs the same as it did under Hosni Mubarak: blankets, sacks of fertilizer and affordable healthca…
South Korean condom stock surges after court says adultery not a crime
SEOUL (Reuters) – South Korea’s highest court struck down a decades-old law banning adultery, a statute that critics said is anachronistic and infringes on personal freedom, sending shares in the country’s biggest condom maker surging.
China’s top court unveils deadlines for legal reform
BEIJING (Reuters) – China’s top court set a five-year deadline on Thursday for legal reforms to protect the rights of individuals, prevent miscarriages of justice and make its judiciary more professional as the ruling Communist Party seeks to quell pub…
UAE court sentences six Iranians to life in jail over British businessman’s kidnap
DUBAI (Reuters) – A court in the United Arab Emirates has sentenced six Iranians, three of them in absentia, to life in prison for kidnapping a British businessman who went missing in Dubai in 2013, newspapers reported on Thursday.
After the ‘Three Represents,’ China pushes ‘Four Comprehensives’
BEIJING (Reuters) – Following in the footsteps of Mao Zedong Thought, Deng Xiaoping Theory and the “Three Represents,” China is promoting President Xi Jinping’s “Four Comprehensives,” calling for rule of law and enforcement of Communist Party disciplin…
Thai bill to restrict protests sails through first reading
BANGKOK (Reuters) – Thailand’s parliament voted overwhelmingly on Thursday in favor of a bill that restricts political demonstrations, something critics fear will be used to smother dissent after martial law is lifted.
Guatemalan ex-president returns home after release from U.S. prison
(Reuters) – Former President Alfonso Portillo returned to Guatemala on Wednesday following his release from a U.S. prison, nearly six-years after his arrest on money laundering charges.
Philippine army kills 14 Islamic militants
MANILA (Reuters) – U.S.-trained army commandos on Thursday killed 14 Islamist militants belonging to the al-Qaeda-linked Abu Sayyaf group in the first major battle this year on a remote southern island, as the Philippines stepped up efforts to rescue f…
North Korea shipping firm skirts sanctions by renaming ships: U.N. panel
UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) – A U.N.-blacklisted North Korean shipping company has renamed most of its vessels in a bid to disguise their origin and continues its illicit shipments in violation of United Nations sanctions, according to a U.N. experts repo…
