Sri Lanka court keeps five in Australia asylum case in detention
GALLE Sri Lanka (Reuters) – A Sri Lankan court on Monday ordered that five suspected ringleaders of a people-smuggling operation remain in custody for two more weeks, in a case that has fueled controversy over Australia’s tough line on immigration.
Ukraine forces end rebel airport blockade
KIEV/DONETSK Ukraine (Reuters) – Ukraine said on Monday its forces had ended a rebel blockade of a strategic airport in the east as it traded charges and threats with Russia over violations of their joint border during a weekend of fierce military comb…
Two car bombs in Baghdad kill six – police and medics
BAGHDAD (Reuters) – Two car bombs struck Baghdad on Monday, killing six people and wounding a dozen others, police and medical sources said.
UK child abuse inquiry head resigns after media pressure
LONDON (Reuters) – A retired female judge whom the British government appointed last week to lead an inquiry into allegations that public figures abused children in the 1980s has resigned from her post, a spokesman for Prime Minister David Cameron said…
Turkish mayor says five wounded in attack on his car after Erdogan rally
DIYARBAKIR (Reuters) – Five people including three police were wounded in southeastern Turkey, a pro-government mayor said on Monday, when suspected Kurdish militants attacked his car as he returned from a presidential campaign rally for prime minister…
Iraqi slaughter swells crowded Shi’ite cemetery
NAJAF Iraq (Reuters) – Responding to an appeal from Shi’ite clerics, Salah al-Wa’ili signed up earlier this month with a militia near Baghdad fighting the Islamist insurgents who have swept through northern Iraq and threatened the capital.
China begins criminal probe into three former top officials
BEIJING (Reuters) – Chinese authorities have begun criminal investigations into three former high-ranking officials over corruption allegations, state media said on Monday, two of whom were allies of powerful, retired domestic security chief Zhou Yongk…
Taliban survivor Malala, in Nigeria, pledges to help free girls
ABUJA (Reuters) – Pakistani rights activist Malala Yousafzai, who survived being shot in the head by the Taliban for campaigning for girls’ education, pledged while on a trip to Nigeria to help free a group of schoolgirls abducted by Islamist militants…
Hezbollah fighters killed in clash on Syria-Lebanon border
BEIRUT (Reuters) – Seven fighters from the Lebanese group Hezbollah were killed in fighting with Sunni Islamist insurgents in a mountainous area on the Syria-Lebanon border in which at least 16 rebels were also killed, a monitoring group reported on Mo…
Japan’s ruling party loses local vote after security policy shift
TOKYO (Reuters) – A candidate backed by Japan’s ruling coalition lost a race for a governorship on Sunday in an apparent backlash against Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s decision to end a security policy that has kept the military from fighting abroad sinc…
