Interpol investigation exposes how transnational organised criminal gang Black Axe funds, fixes who rules Nigeria
Scrutiny is needed on governments in China and the United Arab Emirates that serve as major financial transfer hubs for Black Axe’s illicit transactions.
Taliban morality law: New code stipulates length of men’s facial hair, considers woman’s voice ‘intimate part of the body’
Without doubt, the part of the law that has received the most media attention is Article 13, which stipulates that a woman’s voice – when engaged in singing, reciting, and reading in public – is considered awrah, or an intimate part of the body. It goes on to say that a woman should “cover” her voice when out in public.
Taliban’s new morality law has sparked fears Afghanistan is returning to the repressive and abusive rule of the 1990s
The 35 amendments to the Law on Promoting Virtue and Preventing Vice include prohibitions on everything from men’s haircuts that are deemed to be against shari’a to storing any visual representations of living beings on mobile phones.
Canada expels top India diplomats it accuses of organised crime and murder of Sikh leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar
India said it had asked six Canadian diplomats to leave by Saturday. The ministry also said it had summoned Acting High Commissioner in India Stewart Wheeler, currently Canada’s top diplomat in the South Asian country.
Singapore opens first graft trial in half a century for minister who accepted 10 bottles of whisky, 12 bottles of wine gifts
Singapore ministers are among the most well-paid in the world. Although the amount involved in Iswaran’s case appeared to be relatively minor, his indictment is an embarrassment to the PAP, which prides itself on a clean image. The last cabinet minister charged with graft was Wee Toon Boon, who was found guilty in 1975 and jailed for accepting gifts in exchange for helping a businessperson. Another cabinet minister was investigated for graft in 1986, but died before charges were filed.
Cautious Pope Francis warns against religious extremism during first stop in Muslim-majority Indonesia
Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi told journalists that Francis and Widodo had not spoken specifically about the Israel-Gaza war in their meeting, but more generally about ongoing conflicts and “the importance of peace”.
Thailand in grip of the Shinawatra family as parliament elects former PM’s daughter, 37, to lead country
Thaksin’s gamble on Paetongtarn at such a critical juncture surprised many analysts, who expected him to delay his dynasty and avoid exposing his daughter to the type of battles that led to the downfall of himself and sister Yingluck, who both fled overseas to avoid jail after their governments were ousted by the military.
Day Bangladesh army declined to enforce president’s curfew orders to suppress youth protests and sealed her fate
Ten people familiar with the events of the past week, including four serving army officers and two other informed sources in Bangladesh, were interviewed to piece together the final 48 hours of Hasina’s reign. Many of them spoke on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the matter.
Youth protests force Bangladeshi PM Sheikh Hasina to resign, flee to India as interim government is formed
Media reports said she had flown in a military helicopter with her sister and was headed to India. The CNN News 18 television channel said she had landed in Agartala, the capital of India’s northeastern state of Tripura. The report could not be immediately verified.
Unemployment storm: Bangladesh court scraps most job quotas that sparked deadly protests
Experts attribute the unrest to stagnant job growth in the private sector and high youth unemployment, making public sector jobs with regular wage hikes very attractive among the group who make up nearly a fifth of the population.
