Naypyidaw, Myanmar: Myanmar’s most heavily armed ethnic group held “positive” talks Friday with the country’s de facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi, a spokesman for her office said, in a major boost for peace prospects. The United Wa State Army (UWSA) stopped fighting the government in 1989 in exchange forRead More

Beirut: The Islamic State jihadist group has executed at least 24 civilians after seizing a village in northern Syria from a Kurdish-Arab alliance, a monitor said Friday. “IS has executed at least 24 civilians in the last 24 hours” after seizing the village of Buyir close to the northern townRead More

Rawalpindi, Pakistan: The husband of a British woman who was killed in Pakistan called for the UK and Pakistani governments to ensure his wife received justice Thursday, as he sought to keep the spotlight on so-called honour killings. Mukhtar Kazam presented a copy of the post-mortem report into his wifeRead More

Oswiecim, Poland: Pope Francis on Friday walked alone through the notorious wrought-iron “Arbeit Macht Frei” gate at Auschwitz-Birkenau, beginning a historic visit to the former Nazi death camp. His head bowed, the pope prayed in silent contemplation before meeting Holocaust survivors — some of whom he tenderly kissed — inRead More

Paris: A jihadist involved in the brutal killing of an elderly priest pledged to attack France in a newly released video, as Catholic bishops called for a day of prayer in a nation shaken by the latest assault. The assailant has been named as 19-year-old Abdel Malik Petitjean, who wasRead More

Damascus: Syrian President Bashar al-Assad on Thursday offered an amnesty to armed rebels battling his forces if they surrender, the official SANA news agency reported. “Everyone carrying arms and sought by justice is excluded from full punishment if they hand themselves in and lay down their weapons,” SANA said, quotingRead More

Paris: The second jihadist involved in a French church attack had tried to travel to Syria, prosecutors said Thursday as calls mounted for the prime minister and interior minister to resign after the latest terror attack. The prosecutor’s office said that the second killer was 19-year-old Abdel Malik Petitjean, whoRead More

Dhaka: One of nine suspected militants killed in a police raid in Bangladesh this week was a Bangladeshi-American who was a friend of one of the gunmen who attacked a cafe on July 1 killing 22 people, police said on Thursday. The attack on the Holey Artisan Bakery, a cafeRead More

Seoul: South Korean police launched an investigation Thursday after 200 badges featuring the portrait of late North Korean leader Kim Jong-il were found at a hotel near the country’s main airport, Yonhap news agency reported. Police found the badges scattered on a flowerbed at the Grand Hyatt near Incheon InternationalRead More

Sydney: Australian officials confirmed on Thursday that data recovered from a home flight simulator owned by the captain of Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 showed that someone had used the device to plot a course to the southern Indian Ocean, where the missing jet is believed to have crashed. There hasRead More