News In Brief

15 Saudi journos arrested in past year. Report
AFP, France
At least 15 Saudi journalists and bloggers have been arrested over the past year, Reporters Without Borders (RSF) said on Wednesday, following the disappearance of Saudi columnist Jamal Khashoggi.
“In most cases, their arrests have never been officially confirmed and no official has ever said where they are being held or what they are charged with,” RSF, which defends press freedom around the world, said in a statement.
Cases included that of Saleh al-Shihi, a journalist whose arrest was only confirmed in February when his family learned he had been sentenced to five years in prison, RSF said.

15 Afghan cops killed in clash with Taliban
Reuters, Kunduz
At least 15 Afghan border police were killed battling Taliban insurgents on Thursday, an official said, as fighting continues ahead of this month’s elections, with 21 Taliban killed in an operation in Wardak, west of the capital Kabul.
Amruddin Wali, a member of the provincial council in Kunduz in northern Afghanistan, said 15 members of the paramilitary border police were killed when Taliban fighters attacked a checkpoint in Qala-e Zal district.

Three dead as strong quake hits Indonesia
AFP, Jakarta
An earthquake Thursday killed three people in Indonesia and rattled hotels where IMF delegates are attending a major summit, a fortnight after a quake-tsunami killed more than 2,000 elsewhere in the archipelago.
The 6.0-magnitude earthquake struck off the coast of Indonesia’s Bali and Java islands in the early hours, jolting residents awake and sending them rushing into the streets.
US seeks to
‘disturb’ Xinjiang policies : China
AFP, Beijing
China on Thursday accused the United States of seeking to “disturb” its security policies after a US congressional report said Beijing’s mass internment of Muslim minorities may constitute “crimes against humanity”.
The report by the Congressional-Executive Commission on China described the situation of human rights in China as “dire” and worsening, a trend epitomised by the internment of as many as one million Uighurs and other ethnic minorities in the far west Xinjiang region.

Kashmir rebel leader killed
AP, Srinagar
A Kashmiri scholar-turned rebel leader and his colleague were killed Thursday in a gunbattle with Indian troops, police and residents said, sparking violent anti-India protests by residents in the disputed region.

The incident could spark more unrest in a region that in recent years has witnessed renewed rebel attacks and public resistance against Indian rule.