AFP, Kiel
Chancellor Angela Merkel’s conservatives secured a strong win on Sunday in state polls in northern Germany, early results showed, lending a boost to her bid to retain power in September’s national elections.
Voters in the small, northern state of Schleswig-Holstein on the Baltic Sea handed her CDU party 34 per cent, while the centre-left Social Democratic Party (SPD) clinched 27 per cent, according to public broadcaster ZDF. Another public broadcaster ARD gave the CDU 33 per cent and the SPD 26 per cent.
IS head in Afghanistan confirmed killed
Reuters, Kabul
The head of Islamic State in Afghanistan, Abdul Hasib, was killed in an operation on April 27 conducted jointly by Afghan and U.S. Special Forces in the eastern province of Nangarhar, U.S. and Afghan officials said on Sunday.
Hasib, appointed last year after his predecessor Hafiz Saeed Khan died in a U.S. drone strike, is believed to have ordered a series of high profile attacks including one in March 8 on the main military hospital in Kabul, a statement said.
Indonesia to disband radical Islamist group
AFP, Jakarta
Indonesia said Monday it would disband the local branch of radical Islamist group Hizb ut-Tahrir, as concerns grow about hardliners in the world’s most populous Muslim-majority country.
Hizb ut-Tahrir, which calls for Islamic law and wants to unify all Muslims into a caliphate, has been operating for decades in Indonesia and has a large following.
Philippines, US begin joint
military exercises
AP, Manila
Philippine and U.S. troops kicked off on Monday annual joint exercises that are smaller in scale than in years past, focusing on disaster response and counterterrorism while excluding territorial defense operations and maritime security. The changes were directed by President Rodrigo Duterte, who has had an antagonistic stance toward U.S. security policies while expanding security ties with China and Russia.
