AFP, YANGON: Witnesses to a boat capsize off Myanmar that left some 20 people dead, including children, say the victims were from the persecuted Rohingya Muslim minority and blamed the tragedy on travel restrictions that forced them to journey by sea. At least 21 people, including nine children, died…

AFP, JERUSALEM: When word spread that the Ahava cosmetics firm would move its factory from the occupied West Bank, it set off alarm bells among Israelis…

AFP, SANAA: Yemen’s Huthi rebels and their allies have agreed to join delayed peace talks in Kuwait after the United Nations assured them that pro-government forces would abide by a ceasefire. The UN-brokered talks were set to open in Kuwait on Monday but were put off after the Iran-backed insurgents…

AFP, PEDERNALES: A 6.1-magnitude earthquake struck off the coast of Ecuador on Wednesday, just four days after another, more powerful quake sparked devastation and killed nearly 500 people, with 1,700 others reported missing. The epicenter of the latest quake, which struck at 8:33 GMT at a depth of…

AFP, KABUL: The death toll from a Taliban suicide attack in Kabul has more than doubled to 64, officials said Wednesday, making it the deadliest militant assault in the Afghan capital for years. The brazen attack on Tuesday on a security services office in the heart of Kabul is seen as the opening salvo…

AFP, COLOMBO: The Maldives on Wednesday stripped jailed former president Mohamed Nasheed of his pension entitlements and health insurance, after demanding he return from medical leave in Britain. President Abdulla Yameen approved an amendment to a law on entitlements for past presidents, one day after…