State leadership crisis could split Malaysia’s opposition
KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) – Malaysia’s opposition alliance, which has taken strides towards national power in recent elections, is embroiled in a crisis over the leadership of the country’s richest state that is tarnishing its image and could break it apa…
Saudi jolts wife by taking 10 and 11-year-old boys to fight in Syria
DUBAI (Reuters) – A Saudi father gave his ex-wife the shock of her life when he informed her he was taking their 10 and 11 year-old-sons to join Islamist militants in Syria, telling her to count them as “birds in heaven”, Saudi-owned media reported.
Russia sending aid convoy to Ukraine despite Western warnings of ‘invasion pretext’
BRUSSELS/DONETSK (Reuters) – President Vladimir Putin said on Monday Russia is sending an aid convoy to eastern Ukraine despite urgent Western warnings against using humanitarian help as a pretext for an invasion.
Power struggle on Baghdad streets as Maliki replaced but refuses to go
BAGHDAD (Reuters) – Iraq’s president named a new prime minister to end Nuri al-Maliki’s eight-year rule on Monday, but the veteran leader refused to go after deploying militias and special forces on the streets, creating a dangerous political showdown …
India’s Modi accuses Pakistan of waging proxy war
SRINAGAR India (Reuters) – Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi accused Pakistan on Tuesday of waging “proxy war” by sending militants to attack India and he used a trip to the disputed Kashmir region to stress that reconciliation between the nuclear-ar…
Russia says begins military exercises in Pacific islands also claimed by Japan
MOSCOW (Reuters) – Russia began military exercises in the Kurile Islands in the Pacific Ocean, a Defence Ministry spokesman said on Tuesday, a move likely to anger Japan, which also lays claim to them.
U.S., Australia push for global response to Middle East foreign fighters
SYDNEY (Reuters) – The United States and Australia plan to push the United Nations to adopt international standards to deal with growing numbers of foreign fighters in Middle East conflicts and the threat they could pose when they return to their home …
Islamists sought to turn Lebanon into Iraq: army chief
BEIRUT (Reuters) – Islamic State insurgents who seized a Lebanese border town this month planned to turn Lebanon into another Iraq by unleashing sectarian war between Sunnis and Shi’ites that would have endangered the nation’s very existence, the army …
Afghan trade to rebound sharply once election deadlock over, officials say
KABUL (Reuters) – Uncertainty over Afghanistan’s bitterly contested presidential election has helped drive a 20 percent drop in exports this year but Afghan trade officials say they expect revenue to rebound once a deadlock between rivals is resolved.
World Bank again criticized for investments in Honduras
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The World Bank’s private sector arm did not pay enough attention to environmental and social risks when it lent to Honduras’ largest bank, Ficohsa, an internal bank watchdog said on Monday.
