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.
Chinese police net over 60,000 people in vast drug sweep: Xinhua
SHANGHAI (Reuters) – Police in China have arrested 60,500 people for drug-related crimes and seized 11.14 metric tons of narcotics in a vast, multi-city sweep, the official Xinhua news agency reported.
Afghan leader seeks to sideline powerful bloc in break with past
KABUL (Reuters) – The Afghan cabinet, finalised this week after months of haggling, leaves a powerful faction that helped oust the Taliban in 2001 significantly weakened, in a bold but risky break from the past by President Ashraf Ghani.
