World

Yangon, Sept 13: Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi has scrapped plans to attend the United Nations General Assembly later this month, her spokesman said Wednesday, as the Nobel laureate faces intense global scrutiny over the Rohingya refugee crisis. "The state counsellor won't attend the meeting of the United Nations General Assembly," said government spokesman Zaw Htay, using Suu Kyi's formal title

Beijing, Sep 12: A 49-year-old man has been sentenced to two years in prison for forming online discussion groups to teach Quran in China's volatile Xinjiang province. Huang Shike was found guilty of illegally using information on the internet, according to the verdict released by the Ili Kazak Autonomous Prefecture branch court of Higher People's Court of Xinjiang. "Huang, by preaching and

Geneva, Sept 12: Prime Minister Narendra Modi led-NDA government of India on Tuesday reacted strongly to remarks made by UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein on the issue of deportation of Rohingya Muslims. Ambassador Rajiv K Chander, the Permanent Representative of India to the United Nations, expressed disapproval of the remarks of Al Hussein, who had criticised New Delhi

Mexico, Sept 12: A powerful earthquake that struck Mexico last week has left some 2.5 million people in need of aid and killed 96 others, authorities said on Monday, as officials rushed to get food and water to afflicted communities in the poor south. Oaxaca state Governor Alejandro Murat told local television the death toll in his state had risen to 76. He said preliminary reports showed that at

Singapore, Sep 11: There are no Muslim Malays in the top echelons of Singapore’s army, and few among the senior ranks of its judiciary, but a member of its poorest ethnic minority is set to become the first woman President of the Southeast Asian city state this week. Halimah Yacob, a former speaker of Parliament, will be formally named to the mostly ceremonial post on Wednesday, media reported

New Delhi, Sep 11: The Dalai Lama has spoken out for the first time about the Rohingya refugee crisis, saying Buddha would have helped Muslims fleeing violence in Buddhist-majority Myanmar. Hundreds of thousands of Rohingya have arrived in Bangladesh in recent weeks after violence flared in neighbouring Myanmar, where the stateless Muslim minority has endured decades of persecution. The top

Sydney, Sep 11: India has lodged an official complaint over an Australian advertisement that features the Hindu god Ganesha and other religious icons endorsing lamb. In the TV commercial from industry group Meat and Livestock Australia, a number of religious figures -- including Lord Ganesha, Jesus, Buddha and Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard -- are seen sitting down together to a lamb-based

Geneva, Sep 11: The UN human rights chief said today that the violence and injustice faced by the ethnic Rohingya minority in Myanmar, where UN rights investigators have been barred from entering, "seems a textbook example of ethnic cleansing." Speaking at the start of UN Human Rights Council session, Zeid Ra'ad al-Hussein first recognised the September 11 attacks anniversary then chronicled human

Florida, Sept 11: Hurricane Irma is giving Florida a coast-to-coast pummeling with winds up to 210km/h, swamping homes and boats, knocking out power to millions and toppling massive construction cranes. The 640-kilometre-wide storm blew ashore Sunday morning in the mostly cleared-out Florida Keys as a Category 4 hurricane before eventually weakening to a Category 2 storm as it moved up the coast

A humanitarian crisis of near genocidal proportions is taking place in Myanmar’s Rakhine State, yet the world’s reaction is confined to mere condemnation instead of sanctions or direct intervention. Although international journalists are not allowed to visit the troubled province that has for the past five years been witnessing state-sponsored terror against the hapless Rohingya, a Muslim ethnic