Modi orders Indian officials to clean loos on Gandhi’s birthday
NEW DELHI (Reuters) – India’s new Prime Minister Narendra Modi has ordered government officers to work on Mahatma Gandhi’s birthday, a national holiday, to clean ministries – including toilets – in a nationwide cleanliness drive.
Repeal law punishing gay sex with lashes in Indonesia’s Aceh, says Amnesty
BANGKOK (Thomson Reuters Foundation) – Amnesty International called for an immediate repeal of a new law in the Indonesian province of Aceh punishing anyone caught having gay sex or extramarital sex with 100 lashes, saying the legislation would stoke h…
Bulgaria election frontrunner open to talks with other parties
SOFIA (Reuters) – The frontrunner in Bulgaria’s October election said on Thursday he was ready to hold talks with other parties after the vote, including to discuss securing cross-party support for legislation to ensure political stability.
Spanish diplomat found stabbed to death at home in Khartoum: police
KHARTOUM (Reuters) – A Spanish diplomat was found stabbed to death in his home in Sudan’s capital Khartoum on Monday, Sudanese police said.
Spanish government asks court to declare Catalonia vote illegal
MADRID (Reuters) – Spain’s government moved to block a planned independence referendum in its Catalonia region by asking the constitutional court on Monday to declare the vote illegal.
Party of Indonesia president-elect denied parliament speaker role
JAKARTA (Reuters) – Indonesia’s highest court on Monday rejected a legal challenge by president-elect Joko Widodo’s party to a law that prevents it from filling the role of parliamentary speaker, complicating efforts to push through economic reforms.
Putin to attend EU-ASEM summit in Milan next month: diplomats
(Reuters) – Russian President Vladimir Putin will attend a summit of European and Asian leaders in Italy next month, two diplomats familiar with the plans told Reuters.
NATO’s planned Balkan expansion a ‘provocation’: Russia’s Lavrov
SARAJEVO (Reuters) – NATO’s potential expansion to the former Yugoslav republics of Bosnia, Macedonia and Montenegro could be seen as a “provocation”, Russia’s foreign minister was quoted as saying in a newspaper interview published on Monday.
U.S. may keep secret prisoners in custody after Afghan war exit
KABUL (Reuters) – The fate of a group of prisoners held in near-total secrecy by U.S. forces at a prison in Afghanistan is hanging in limbo, the facility’s commander said, as Washington gropes for options after its legal right to hold them there expire…
U.S. envoy says North Korea rejects talks on prisoners
BEIJING (Reuters) – North Korea has rejected U.S. efforts to discuss the detention of three Americans, a U.S. diplomat said on Monday, adding the secretive state was missing a chance to build relations with Washington.
