Philippine troops are trying to validate intelligence information that a Malaysian militant leader survived the defeat of an Islamic State-linked siege and is helping restart efforts to establish an extremist alliance, a military official said on Wednesday.
Brigadier General Cirilito Sobejana said troops were trying to validate reports that Amin Baco was wounded during the siege of southern Marawi city but managed to escape to Sulu province, where he is hiding with Abu Sayyaf militants.
Rebel…
US is ‘seriously’ training for possible North Korean conflict, top brass confirm
The US military is conducting “very serious” training for a possible conflict with North Korea, a top Republican lawmaker confirmed on Tuesday, though he said he hoped such preparations would never be put to use.
Congressman Mac Thornberry, who chairs the powerful House Armed Services Committee that provides civilian oversight to the Pentagon, said the administration of President Donald Trump is closely studying its options – including armed conflict.
“The administration…
New gambling laws could be in force in Ireland before the end of 2018
New gambling laws could be in force in Ireland before the end of this year, a government minister has said.
These nine companies banned from the world’s largest sovereign wealth fund for ethical reasons
Norway’s US$1 trillion sovereign wealth fund, the world’s largest, has excluded nine groups, including the UK’s military equipment maker BAE Systems, from its portfolio based on ethical grounds, the Norwegian central bank said on Tuesday.
The British defence group, along with the US firms Aecom, Fluor and Huntington Ingalls Industries have been banned for producing components to build nuclear weapons, the central bank said.
The fund has banned BAE Systems in the past but later…
Rohingya children in diphtheria-riddled refugee camps vaccinated as disease returns to Bangladesh
Aid workers are ramping up efforts to vaccinate half a million children against diphtheria in and around Rohingya refugee camps in Bangladesh, the World Health Organisation (WHO) said.
The respiratory disease has killed as many as 31 people and infected about 4,000 since it broke out in November in the camps, which house more than 655,000 Rohingya Muslims who fled Myanmar military operations that began in August.
About 316,000 Rohingya children were vaccinated last month, according to a Sunday…
Malaysia plans special court on human-trafficking as cases soar
Malaysia is setting up a special court to tackle rising numbers of human-trafficking cases in a move welcomed by campaigners who hope it will deliver justice to victims.
The Southeast Asian nation relies heavily on foreign domestic workers as well as labourers from countries including Indonesia, Bangladesh and Nepal for jobs shunned by locals including work on plantations and in construction.
It has nearly two million registered migrant workers, according to government data, but rights groups…
Businesses put under strain by increasingly lengthy tax investigations, says expert
Businesses are being burdened by increasingly lengthy UK tax investigations carried out by HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC), Pinsent Masons, the law firm behind Out-Law.com, has said.
Japanese parties align to become largest opposition force
Two Japanese political parties have decided to form an alliance in the Diet, becoming the largest opposition force in both the lower and upper house, their senior officials said on Sunday.
Secretary generals of the Party of Hope and the Democratic Party, Motohisa Furukawa and Teruhiko Mashiko, said the parties are set to solidify the formal agreement on Monday.
They said the parties reached a compromise on how to deal with the contentious security legislation, over which the two parties had…
Philippines raises volcano alert level as eruptions spew ash
The Philippines raised the alert at its restive Mayon volcano by one notch early on Sunday, citing signs of rising magma that could lead to hazardous eruptions.
Residents were evacuated from two villages near the volcano, a tourist attraction in Albay province because of its near-perfect cone shape, following a “phreatic or steam-driven eruption” on Saturday, and there was a further eruption on Sunday.
Saturday’s eruption unleashed ash, rocks and sulphuric odour, and was…
Japan PM increases European ties amid North Korea tensions
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and his Latvian counterpart Maris Kucinski agreed on Saturday to cooperate in adding pressure on North Korea to give up its pursuit of nuclear and missile capabilities.
The two leaders also affirmed in their meeting in the Latvian capital Riga the need to promote economic ties by taking advantage of Latvia’s position as a logistics centre in the Baltic region, Japanese officials said.
As Abe called for a tough approach to Kim Jong-un’s government,…