Washington / AFP Exasperated US diplomats are in open revolt over Barack Obama’s Syria policy, but radical change is unlikely in the twilight of his presidency. More than 280,000 people have been killed. Millions more have fled their homes. A relentless drumbeat of cluster bombs, barrel bombs, chemical bombs, murder, rape and torture has turned swaths of Syria to dust. …

  Jakarta / AFP Flash flooding and landslides in Indonesia have killed 31 and left more than two dozen missing, an official said on Sunday, with mud avalanches burying people inside their homes. Torrential rain since Saturday has triggered serious flooding across Central Java, with thousands of homes inundated, said disaster agency spokesman Sutopo Purwo Nugroho. “Initial data… shows the …

  Japan / AFP Thousands of demonstrators rallied on the Japanese island of Okinawa on Sunday against the heavy US military presence and violent crimes by American personnel that have angered residents for decades. Protesters, which organisers expected to number more than 50,000, gathered in the prefectural capital Naha, infuriated with the United States after a former Marine employed as …