By Kate Lamb and Renju Jose SYDNEY (Reuters) – Indonesia’s release of convicted Bali bomb maker Umar Patek will be a “difficult day” for Australians who lost loved ones and relatives in the attacks, Australia’s Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles said on Thursday. Patek was freed on parole late on Wednesday, the same day a …
Release of Bali bomb maker ‘difficult day’ for Australians, says deputy PM Read More »
By Thu Thu Aung and Poppy McPherson (Reuters) – In a monastery in central Myanmar, a Buddhist monk, Wathawa, rallies his militia with a cry: “What’s our spirit like?” “The spirit of iron!” shout a group of rifle-bearing men, loyalists of the military junta that seized power last year, now fighting to crush fledgling …
Monk militia: The Buddhist clergy backing Myanmar’s junta Read More »
By Patricia Zengerle WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. Congress is expected to start voting as soon as Wednesday on a massive military policy bill including authorization of up to $10 billion in security assistance and fast-tracked weapons procurement for Taiwan. The compromise version of the annual National Defense Authorization Act, or NDAA, does not include …
U.S. military bill features up to $10 billion to boost Taiwan Read More »
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Australia’s Foreign Minister on Wednesday praised Washington’s commitment to Indo-Pacific security but said its departure from a regional trade pact was still being felt and that enhanced U.S. economic engagement with the region should be a priority. In a speech to a Washington think tank a day after bilateral talks, Penny Wong …
Australian minister urges greater U.S. economic engagement with Indo-Pacific Read More »
By Martin Quin Pollard and Brenda Goh BEIJING (Reuters) -China on Wednesday announced the most sweeping changes to its resolute anti-COVID regime since the pandemic began three years ago, loosening rules that curbed the spread of the virus but sparked protests and hobbled the world’s second-largest economy. The relaxation of rules, which includes allowing infected …
‘We’re going to be free’: Chinese cheer as COVID curbs are loosened Read More »
KABUL (Reuters) -The Taliban administration on Wednesday put to death a man accused of murder in western Afghanistan, its spokesperson said, the first officially confirmed public execution since the hardline Islamist group seized power last year. The execution in Farah province was of a man accused of stabbing another man to death in 2017, Taliban …
Taliban publicly execute man accused of murder, in a first since takeover Read More »
BANDUNG, Indonesia (Reuters) -A suspected Islamist militant, angered by Indonesia’s new criminal code, killed one other person and wounded at least 10 in a suicide bomb attack at a police station in the city of Bandung on Wednesday, authorities said. The suicide bomber was believed to be affiliated with the Islamic State-inspired group Jamaah Ansharut …
Indonesian suicide bomber leaves note criticising new criminal code Read More »
JAKARTA (Reuters) – Indonesia has released on parole Umar Patek, a bomb maker in deadly 2002 Bali attacks, the ministry of law and human rights said on Wednesday. Patek, a member of the Al Qaeda-linked Jemaah Islamiyah, was jailed for 20 years in 2012 after he was found guilty of mixing bombs that ripped through …
Indonesia releases on parole Bali bomb maker Umar Patek – statement Read More »
By Poppy McPherson and Panarat Thepgumpanat BANGKOK (Reuters) -At least 150 ethnic Rohingya are stranded at sea off Thailand after their boat broke down, activists said on Wednesday, adding that several may have died and urging authorities to rescue the survivors. Each year many Rohingya, members of a Muslim minority, risk their lives boarding rickety …
More than 150 Rohingya stranded on leaking boat off Thai coast – activists Read More »
By Gopal Sharma KATHMANDU (Reuters) -The ruling Nepali Congress party emerged as the single largest party in Nepal’s general election last month, winning 89 seats in the 275-member parliament, and its leader Sher Bahadur Deuba is likely to retain his post as prime minister. The five-party alliance led by the Nepali Congress, which has been …
Ruling Nepali Congress party wins most seats, Deuba likely to remain PM Read More »
