By Reuters Staff
2 Min Read
SINGAPORE (Reuters) - A British man pleaded guilty on Monday to breaking Singapore’s strict coronavirus rules by sneaking out of his hotel room to meet his fiancée while he was undergoing two weeks of mandatory quarantine.
Slideshow ( 3 images )
Nigel Skea, 52, faces six months in prison for leaving his room three times on Sept. 21 last year, one of which was to meet Singaporean partner Agatha Maghesh Eyamalai, who was not in quarantine but had booked a room in the same hotel.
Eyamalai, 39, who married Skea in November, pleaded guilty to abetting him. Skea was also not wearing a mask, which is required in Singapore.
A Malaysian court on Wednesday overturned a decades-old government policy barring non-Muslim publications from using the word "Allah" to refer to God, in a landmark ruling on an issue that has fanned religious tensions in the mainly Muslim country.
4 Min Read
CAIRO (Reuters) - Yasmina al-Habbal always wanted to take in an orphan but only did so last year after Egypt’s government eased regulations over who could do so and campaigned to change public attitudes, enabling her to take home baby Ghalya.
Yasmina al-Habbal, plays with Ghlaya, an orphan she sponsors, at her home in Cairo, Egypt February 22, 2021. REUTERS/Hanaa Habib
Formal adoption - where people permanently adopt a child, give them their surname and make them their legal heir, is not accepted in Islam due to the importance of respecting lineage, and not practised in Egypt, although people are encouraged to sponsor children or foster them.
By Reuters Staff
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MANILA (Reuters) - Veteran Philippine journalist Maria Ressa, who runs a website known for its tough scrutiny of President Rodrigo Duterte, took the witness stand for the first time on Thursday to counter tax evasion charges that she maintains were politically motivated.
Ressa, a Time Magazine Person of the Year in 2018 for fighting media intimidation, is facing several government lawsuits that have stoked international concern about harassment of journalists in the Philippines, a country once seen as a standard bearer for press freedom in Asia.
Speaking to reporters after testifying for two and a half hours in Manila, Ressa asked the government to allow journalists to work freely and independently. “We’re here to work with you, and you will want us to do that,” she said.
Thai Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha left reporters stunned and amused on Tuesday when he interrupted his own news conference to spray them with hand sanitiser in a bid to dodge tough questions.