Iranian parliament bans vasectomies in bid to boost birth rate
DUBAI (Reuters) – Iran’s parliament has voted to ban permanent forms of contraception, the state news agency IRNA reported, endorsing the Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s call for measures to increase the population.
Rouhani calls Iranian critics of his nuclear policy ‘cowards’
DUBAI (Reuters) – Iranian President Hassan Rouhani called critics of his nuclear policy “cowards”, state news agency IRNA reported on Monday, defending his stance to engage in talks with the West.
EU officials seek to limit impact of Russia’s food import ban
BRUSSELS (Reuters) – European Union regulators on Monday began analyzing product-by-product the impact of a Russian ban on EU food imports announced in retaliation for Western sanctions over Moscow’s actions in Ukraine.
Islamic State beheads, crucifies in push for Syria’s east
BEIRUT/AMMAN (Reuters) – Islamic State has crushed a pocket of resistance to its control in eastern Syria, crucifying two people and executing 23 others in the past five days, a monitoring group said on Monday.
China cracking down on Christian groups along North Korea border: sources
TUMEN China/SEOUL (Reuters) – China is cracking down on Christian charity groups near its border with North Korea, missionaries and aid groups say, with hundreds of members of the community forced to leave the country and some who remain describing an …
Afghans tortured, killed by U.S. troops need justice: Amnesty
KABUL (Reuters) – U.S. forces who have tortured or killed civilians in Afghanistan have not been brought to justice because of failures in the U.S. military justice system, human rights group Amnesty International said on Monday.
U.N. chief says access not a must for Sri Lanka war crimes probe
NEW DELHI (Thomson Reuters Foundation) – The United Nations can conduct an effective investigation into reports of war crimes in Sri Lanka without visiting the country, said U.N. Human Rights Chief Navi Pillay, reacting to a government decision to deny…
China says over 150 ‘economic fugitives’ at large in the U.S
BEIJING (Reuters) – More than 150 economic fugitives, many of whom are corrupt officials or suspected of graft in China, are at large in the United States, Chinese state media said on Monday, citing a senior official from the public security ministry.
Kosovo police arrest 40 for fighting in Iraq, Syria
PRISTINA (Reuters) – Kosovo police arrested 40 men on Monday on suspicion of having fought with Islamist insurgents in Syria and Iraq, a crackdown aimed at deterring recruitment of volunteer fighters, authorities in the small Balkan state said.
Former Thai PM returns home as legal threat lingers
BANGKOK (Reuters) – Former Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra has returned home from a trip overseas, putting an end to speculation she would stay away from Thailand as prosecutors decide whether to indict her for mismanaging a state rice-buying s…
