Vietnam’s new premier sworn in by lawmakers
Hanoi: Vietnam’s parliament approved Nguyen Xuan Phuc as the communist country’s new PM on Thursday, handing him a five-year term and a range of tough challenges from domestic economic reforms to a simmering maritime dispute with China.
France bans buying sex, not selling it
Paris: French lawmakers on Wednesday approved a Bill against prostitution and sex trafficking that bans buying sex, not selling it. Customers will face fines and be made to attend awareness classes on the harms of the sex trade. The legislation, which passed 64-12 in the parliament’s lower house, the National Assembly, makes French law one of the toughest against sex buyers in Europe.
‘Danish police arrest 4 alleged ISIS fighters’
Copenhagen: Copenhagen police said on Thursday they had detained four people on suspicion of joining the Islamic State group in Syria and seized weapons and ammunition in a search linked to the arrests. All four were suspected of breaking Denmark’s terrorism law while in Syria, and were arrested in the Copenhagen area, police said in a statement without giving any further information on their identities.
‘lanka vital for China as Pak’s security shaky’
Beijing: Sri lanka is of great importance to China’s strategic interests in the Indian Ocean as Pakistan cannot provide a strong foothold due to its “calamitous state” of security, state media here said on Thursday, underlining Beijing’s concern in this regard for the first time.
Kerry urges Iran to help end wars in Yemen, Syria
Manama: US Secretary of State John Kerry urged Iran on Thursday to help end wars in Yemen and Syria, where Tehran and its Gulf Arab rivals are backing opposing sides. On the first visit by a US chief diplomat to Bahrain since 2010, Kerry told authorities in Manama accused of discriminating against the country’s Shia majority that respect for human rights was “essential”.