Sri Lanka asylum seekers returned by Australia face ‘rigorous imprisonment’
SYDNEY/COLOMBO (Reuters) – Forty-one Sri Lankan asylum seekers returned by Australia are to be charged with leaving the country illegally and those found guilty face “rigorous imprisonment”, police said on Monday, fuelling concerns about Australian pol…
Britain pledges to investigate child sex abuse conspiracy claims
LONDON (Reuters) – Britain pledged on Monday to investigate allegations that politicians may have sexually abused children in the 1980s and then used their position to scuttle attempts to uncover their crimes.
Modi faces uphill task to put India’s railways on track
NEW DELHI (Reuters) – Departing Platform One at New Delhi station last week was India’s fastest train: the test run of the Delhi-Agra express – dubbed “semi-high speed” by local media – topped a record-breaking 160 kilometres per hour on its way to the…
Israel’s Netanyahu phones father of murdered Palestinian teen
JERUSALEM (Reuters) – Israel’s prime minister phoned the father of a murdered Palestinian teenager on Monday to promise that the attackers would be prosecuted, the government said, as anger over the killing fuelled Arab street protests.
Military chopper crash kills 16 in Vietnam capital
HANOI (Reuters) – A military helicopter crashed into a residential area on the fringes of Vietnam’s capital Hanoi on Monday, killing 16 people and seriously injuring five, the army said.
Impeachment move filed against Philippines’ Aquino
(Reuters) – A former Philippine congressman on Monday filed an impeachment complaint against President Benigno Aquino for bribery and violating the constitution, but analysts said the popular leader could defeat the motion, thanks to his grip on the le…
Israeli air strikes kill seven Gaza gunmen, Hamas says
GAZA (Reuters) – Israel launched a series of air strikes on Gaza early on Monday to quell Hamas rocket fire, and the Islamist group’s armed wing said seven of its gunmen were killed, making it the deadliest day for Hamas since a 2012 cross-border war w…
Six Jewish suspects arrested over death of Palestinian teenager
JERUSALEM (Reuters) – Israel has arrested six Jewish suspects in the abduction and killing of a Palestinian teenager whose death sparked violent protests in Jerusalem and Israeli Arab towns, a security source said on Sunday.
Thai junta says peace in restive south a national priority
BANGKOK (Reuters) – Thailand’s military government said on Monday peace in the Muslim-dominated south was an “urgent national priority” for the Buddhist-majority country following a decade of unrest blamed on separatists.
Egypt’s Sisi says he wishes Al Jazeera journalists were not tried
CAIRO (Reuters) – Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi said he wished the imprisoned Al Jazeera journalists, convicted of aiding “a terrorist group”, had been deported and not put on trial, a newspaper reported on Monday.