The fate of Abu Bakar Bashir is now in his own hands, even as a review of an earlier decision to release the convicted terrorist leader is under way, said a senior aide to President Joko Widodo. Mr Bey Machmudin said yesterday that Bashir will need to decide if he is willing to submit to […]
PARIS (Reuters) – French designer Jean Paul Gaultier evoked a sea journey to Japan at his latest Haute Couture fashion show on Wednesday, in a riot of colours and pleats that drew celebrities including actress Catherine Deneuve and model Irina Shayk to the front now. To the soundtrack of “La Mer” by Charles Trenet, the […]
NEW DELHI (REUTERS) – India’s Finance Minister Arun Jaitley will not present the government’s crucial interim budget next week because he is expected to undergo surgery, according to a source familiar with the matter. He has been replaced on an interim basis by railways and coal minister Piyush Goyal. The announcement is a blow to […]
JAKARTA – Geologists have urged that communities along the coastal areas facing the Sunda Strait and hit by last month’s deadly tsunami be roped in to run their own tsunami warning sensors and undertake their maintenance as well. They have also criticised the central government for failing to follow up on at least two studies by […]
KUALA LUMPUR (THOMSON REUTERS FOUNDATION) – Writing down the details of Zara Tan’s complaint, the female police officer broke off and suddenly asked why the victim didn’t just go back to her “sweet and loving” ex-boyfriend. By that point, Tan had made five reports to Malaysian police detailing how her abusive former boyfriend had stalked […]
ISLAMABAD (AFP) – A woman stabbed 23 times for rebuffing a romantic overture has praised Pakistan’s top court for ordering the rearrest of her alleged attacker, three years after her ordeal sparked a national debate on violence against women. Law student Khadija Siddiqui, then 23, survived the frenzied daylight attack outside her sister’s school in […]
KABUL, Afghanistan — Afghanistan’s intelligence agency said on Wednesday that the mastermind of a bloody attack on the agency’s base this week had been killed in an airstrike, but residents and local officials in the area said the airstrike had in fact targeted a group of hunters on a hilltop. In a daring attack on […]
OSLO (Reuters) – Norway’s sovereign wealth fund, the world’s biggest, has bought six logistics properties in Chicago, Nashville and Orlando together with real estate partner Prologis, the fund said on Wednesday. “Norges Bank Real Estate Management paid $87.7 million for its 45 percent interest … The sellers are ventures between Prologis and U.S. pension funds […]
BALI, INDONESIA (THE JAKARTA POST/ASIA NEWS NETWORK) – High waves have hit southern Bali since Tuesday, leading to the temporary closure of several popular beaches. Badung lifeguard coordinator Ketut Ipel told The Jakarta Post on Wednesday (Jan 23) that 5km of coastline covering the areas of Kuta, Legian, Seminyak and Petitenget have been closed to […]
(Reuters) – Strong earnings from Dow members IBM, United Technologies and Procter & Gamble lifted U.S. stock index futures on Wednesday, putting Wall Street on track to recover from its second biggest decline in 2019. Futures pointed to at least half a percent gain at the open, with 19 of the 25 most actively traded […]