AFP, Nicosia
Cypriot authorities said a boat carrying over 140 migrants believed to be Syrians, more than half of them women and children, was escorted to shore by the coast guard Monday near the resort of Paphos.
Police said the 143 migrants, including 31 women and 50 children, said they had set off from the Turkish port of Mersin and paid up to $2000 each for the crossing.
Myanmar floods kill two, displace thousands
Reuters, Yangon
Flooding across large parts of Myanmar has displaced more than 100,000 people, causing two deaths, while dramatic riverbank erosion has washed away a Buddhist pagoda, officials, residents and state media said on Monday.
Water levels have risen steadily since unrelenting monsoon rain began to lash the heart of the Southeast Asian country in early July, driving some people to higher land or seek shelter in Buddhist monasteries, a disaster relief official said.
Drugs war will go on, despite
criticism: Duterte
Reuters, Manila
Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte on Monday vowed to forge on with his controversial war on drugs and said no amount of criticism or international pressure would deter him.
Delivering his annual State of the Nation address, Duterte said his critics at home and abroad should focus on using their influence to educate Filipinos of the ills of illicit drugs.
Polish President to veto 2 bills
Reuters, Warsaw
Polish President Andrzej Duda said on Monday he will veto two of three bills reforming the country’s judiciary system, easing worries that the ruling Law and Justice party will undermine the division of powers.
“I have decided that I will send back to Sejm (lower house of parliament), which means I will veto the bill, on the Supreme Court, as well as the one about the National Council of the Judiciary,” Duda said after days of mass street protests.
