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http://ift.tt/2r6M4aG Cambodian Buddhist monks walk asking for food at a village in Kandal province on May 24, 2017. TANG CHHIN SOTHY / AFP Hundreds of monks and supporters of Myanmar’s ultra-nationalist Ma Ba Tha movement gathered in a Yangon monastery Saturday, in a defiant meeting days after Buddhist authorities banned their network, which has been accused of stoking Islamophobia. The monk-led movement grew in strength under the country’s previous military-backed government, peddling a brand of Buddhist nationalism that aggravated religious unrest mainly targeted at minority Muslims. But after months of distancing itself from the radical group, Myanmar’s top Buddhist clergy on Tuesday ordered the Ma Ba Tha to cease all activities by mid-July or face prosecution. The threat did not deter hundreds of maroon-robed monks, nuns and followers from attending a weekend summit at a Yangon monastery decorated with Ma Ba Tha banners. “Our journey is not at the end… We need to keep...

http://ift.tt/2rCBWcm Larry W. Smith/Getty Images/AFP A man at a wedding in southern Vietnam murdered a fellow guest and seriously injured another after he was booed off stage during a karaoke performance, state-run media reported. Nguyen Ngoc Diep, 44, went on a stabbing spree at the wedding party after another guest mocked his singing and stole the microphone, sparking an argument between the two men, according to VNExpress news portal on Thursday. A third guest, Le Hong An, 35, tried to stop the attacker and was stabbed several times. He later died in hospital. The man who snatched the microphone remains in hospital and Diep has been arrested, according to Tien Giang province Senior Lieutenant Colonel Truong Van Sau, reported by Tuoi Tre newspaper. Karaoke is popular across Vietnam, and the singing sessions are often fuelled by heavy alcohol consumption. Wedding parties — also often booze-soaked events — are frequently accompanied by karaoke performances. In April, tw...

http://ift.tt/2rXYXmy British Prime Minister Theresa May / AFP PHOTO / Daniel LEAL-OLIVAS Britain’s Prime Minister Theresa May said Thursday she would raise the issue of leaks from a probe into the Manchester terror attack that have infuriated British authorities with their US counterparts. Speaking ahead of her departure for a NATO summit in Brussels, May said she would “make clear to President (Donald) Trump that intelligence which is shared between our law enforcement agencies must remain secure”. May also said in televised comments that the terror threat level would remain at “critical” — the maximum level — after being raised on Tuesday following the attack in which 22 people were killed. “The public should remain vigilant,” she said, following an emergency ministerial meeting. May said around 1,000 soldiers were assisting police “providing important reassurance ahead of a bank holiday weekend of busy events”. May said she would work with “international colleagues on...