French stabbing "religiously motivated" - prosecutor

PARIS:Evidence gathered by French authorities suggests the Muslim convert suspected of stabbing a soldier near Paris was acting in accordance with his religious beliefs, a state prosecutor said after the suspect's arrest on Wednesday.

Prosecutor Francois Molins told a news conference the suspect was seen on video surveillance camera "saying a Muslim prayer" minutes before an attack which came three days after the May 22 murder of a British soldier on the streets of London.

Mosque, orphanage burned in Myanmar violence

YANGON, Myanmar: A police officer and a monk in the remote Myanmar city of Lashio have confirmed that a mob burned down a mosque, a Muslim orphanage and shops in the northeastern town after rumors spread that a Muslim man had set fire to a Buddhist woman.

According to the policeman and the Buddhist monk contacted by telephone Wednesday morning there were no fatalities after violence erupted the night before in the northeastern city.

Core committee: PML-N huddle to pick top slots

LAHORE: Pakistan Muslim League – Nawaz (PML-N) decided on Monday to convene a core committee meeting before June 1 in which names for members of the cabinet, speaker and deputy speaker for the National and Punjab assemblies would be finalised, The Express Tribune has learnt.

During a party meeting, PML-N members decided against appointing the incumbent Punjab Assembly Speaker, Rana Muhammad Iqbal, and Deputy speaker Rana Mashood Khan to the posts in the next term.

Myanmar unrest 'harms country's image': President

YANGON :Communal conflict in Myanmar "tarnished" the country's world image, President Thein Sein said on Sunday, in the wake of violence targeting Muslims that saw dozens killed and sparked international concern.

A wave of violence that began on March 20 saw mosques and homes burned in several towns in central Myanmar, leaving at least 43 dead and prompting the government to impose emergency rule and curfews in some areas.

Buddhists-Muslims violence spreads in Myanmar

Sectarian clashes between Buddhists and Muslims in Myanmar spread to at least two other towns in the country’s heartland over the weekend, undermining government efforts to quash an eruption of violence that has killed dozens of people and displaced 10,000 more.

President Thein Sein declared a state of emergency in the region on Friday and deployed army troops to the worst hit city, Meikhtila. But even as soldiers were able to impose order there after several days of anarchy that saw armed Buddhists torch the city’s Muslim quarters, unrest was reported in two other towns to the south.