As outrage grows, India’s top court places rights activists under house arrest
India’s Supreme Court ordered police on Wednesday to put five prominent rights campaigners suspected of links to Maoist guerrillas under house arrest as outrage grew over their detention.
More than 50,000 evacuated in Myanmar as homes, shops flooded after dam fails
More than 50,000 people have evacuated their homes in central Myanmar after part of a dam failed on Wednesday, inundating communities and damaging a bridge on a major highway, officials said.
Russia says militants in Syria’s Idlib province need liquidating
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Wednesday described militants in Syria’s last big rebel-held enclave of Idlib as a “festering abscess” that needed to be liquidated.
Iran’s Khamenei says Europe cannot save nuclear deal, help economy
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Wednesday cast doubt on the ability of European countries to save Iran’s 2015 nuclear accord with world powers, now under threat following a U.S. withdrawal, and said Tehran might abandon the agreement.
U.N. schools open in West Bank, Gaza despite U.S. funding cut
Schools run by the U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees opened in the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip on Wednesday after it secured funding to offset cuts by its main donor, the United States.
Germany, seeking independence from U.S., pushes cyber security research
Germany announced a new agency on Wednesday to fund research on cyber security and to end its reliance on digital technologies from the United States, China and other countries.
Putin dilutes pension reform that has hit his popularity
President Vladimir Putin diluted draft legislation to reform the pension system which has knocked his popularity and stirred protests, but said on Wednesday that Russia’s shrinking workforce meant reform was inevitable and would still hurt.
Pakistani Islamists call for Dutch envoy’s expulsion over cartoons
An Islamist party in Pakistan called for the expulsion of the Dutch ambassador on Wednesday as it launched a protest against a far-right Dutch politician’s plan for a cartoon competition featuring caricatures of the Muslim Prophet Mohammed.
France’s Macron says he is ‘main opponent’ to anti-immigrants Orban, Salvini
French President Emmanuel Macron on Wednesday billed himself as the main opponent to hard-right, anti-immigration parties in Europe, in a response to criticism from Italy’s Matteo Salvini and Hungary’s Viktor Orban.
Pakistani Islamist party protests Dutch cartoon contest
An Islamist party in Pakistan called for the expulsion of the Dutch ambassador on Wednesday as it launched a protest against a far-right Dutch politician’s plan for a cartoon competition featuring caricatures of the Muslim Prophet Mohammed.
