Thailand’s military begins overhaul of electoral system
BANGKOK (Reuters) – Thailand’s military government said on Monday it had begun an overhaul of the electoral system following an announcement by junta leader General Prayuth Chan-ocha that polls could take place by late 2015.
Sectarian genie is out of the bottle from Syria to Iraq
BEIRUT (Reuters) – As jihadists storm through the Sunni heartlands of Iraq towards Baghdad, where a Shi’ite government they regard as heretic clings on, they have lifted the veil on deep sectarianism which has also stoked the fires of Syria’s civil war and is spilling over into vulnerable mosaic societies such as Lebanon.
Polish far right party moves into third place: survey
WARSAW (Reuters) – Poland’s far-right New Right Congress has almost doubled its support in a month, a poll showed on Monday, riding a Europe-wide rise of anti-EU movements to become the country’s third-placed party.
Dutch Islamist radicals becoming elusive ‘swarm’: spy service
AMSTERDAM (Reuters) – Radical Islamist groups in the Netherlands have become a decentralized and elusive “swarm” that may broaden their focus from the conflict in Syria to the wider Middle East, the Dutch intelligence service warned on Monday.
Russian sailors arrive in France for amphibious assault ship training
SAINT-NAZAIRE France (Reuters) – About four hundred Russian sailors arrived in western France on Monday for training on Mistral amphibious assault ships before the first of two is delivered to Moscow by the end of the year.
China charges four in Kunming station attack
BEIJING (Reuters) – China charged four people for a deadly attack at a train station in the southwestern city of Kunming in March, state media said on Monday, a case that prompted a nation-wide crackdown on what officials have called an upsurge in mili…
Hong Kong poll backs free vote for leader in contrast to China’s plans
HONG KONG (Reuters) – An unofficial referendum on democracy in Hong Kong has found that 91 percent of voters want the public to be able to nominate candidates for the Chinese territory’s leader, organizers said on Monday, a plan of action ruled out by …
At least two killed in Somali market bomb blast: government official
MOGADISHU (Reuters) – At least two people were killed and seven wounded when a bomb ripped through a busy market in the Somali capital on Monday, a government official said.
Israel’s top court says mother need not have son circumcised
JERUSALEM (Reuters) – Israel’s Supreme Court has overturned a ruling by a court of rabbis that would have forced a mother to have her son circumcised under the terms her divorce.
Iraqi army presses Tikrit assault as lawmakers scramble to fill posts
BAGHDAD (Reuters) – Iraq’s army sent tanks and armored vehicles to try to dislodge insurgents from the northern city of Tikrit on Sunday, the second day of a pushback against a Sunni militant takeover of large stretches of Iraq.
