Monitors protest expulsion of 16 candidates for Afghan president
KABUL (Reuters) – The disqualification of 16 presidential candidates from Afghanistan’s presidential race prompted an outcry from independent monitors on Wednesday, while some victims accused the government of being behind the move.
Syria frees 10 women prisoners as part of three-way hostage swap
BEIRUT (Reuters) – Syrian authorities have released 10 women jailed for helping the opposition, the first batch of 126 women expected to be freed in the final stages of a three-way hostage swap, activists said on Wednesday,
China, India sign deal aimed at soothing Himalayan tension
BEIJING (Reuters) – China and India signed a deal on Wednesday aimed at soothing tension on their contested border, as the two nuclear-armed giants try to break a decades-old stalemate on overlapping claims to long remote stretches of the Himalayas.
China’s top graft buster urges ‘shock and awe’ for offenders
BEIJING (Reuters) – China’s top official battling deeply-ingrained corruption warned staff on Wednesday their jobs were on the line if they failed to root out abuses, telling them to “shock and awe” their targets.
Free our reporter, begs newspaper as China cracks down on journalists
BEIJING (Reuters) – A Chinese newspaper pleaded with police on Wednesday to release an investigative reporter accused of defamation in an unusual public rebuke amid a wider government crackdown on freedom of expression.
Manila backtracks on South China Sea accusation against China
MANILA (Reuters) – Philippine President Benigno Aquino said on Wednesday the concrete blocks found on a disputed shoal in the South China Sea are “very old”, backtracking on Manila’s earlier accusation that China was building new structures in the area…
Malaysia curbs on use of ‘Allah’ hurting moderate Muslim image
KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) – Malaysia’s self-styled image as a global leader of moderate Islam has been undermined by a court ruling that only Muslims can use the word “Allah” to refer to God, with a growing number of Muslim scholars and commentators conde…
Yemeni burns daughter to death for contacting fiance: police
DUBAI (Reuters) – A Yemeni father has burned his 15-year-old daughter to death for keeping in touch with her fiance, police said, sparking further outrage in Yemen, where an eight-year girl died from internal bleeding on her wedding night a month ago.
Jerusalem mayor re-elected in blow to ex-Foreign Minister Lieberman
JERUSALEM (Reuters) – The Israeli mayor of Jerusalem won re-election on Wednesday in a hotly contested race that dealt a political blow to his challenger’s main backers, former Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman and the ultra-Orthodox Shas party.
France may revise transport tax after trucker, farmer strike
PARIS (Reuters) – France will consider revising a proposed tax on heavy road transport following go-slow operations by farmers and truck drivers who say it will add to their economic problems, Agriculture Minister Stephane Le Foll said on Wednesday.
