Banda Aceh / AFP Thousands of Indonesians prayed for their loved ones at mass graves and mosques on Monday to mark a tsunami which devastated Aceh province 12 years ago today, one of the worst natural disasters in human history. Some 170,000 lives were lost in the country when a 9.1-magnitude “megathrust” quake struck Aceh, a predominantly Muslim province in …

  Sochi / AFP Russian rescuers found on Monday the first parts of the Syria-bound military plane that plunged into the Black Sea, as officials said they do not suspect terrorism as the reason for the crash that killed 92 people on board. The Tu-154 jet, whose passengers included more than 60 members of the internationally-renowned Red Army Choir, was heading …

  Tokyo / AFP Prime Minister Shinzo Abe departed on Monday for Hawaii where he will visit Pearl Harbour with US President Barack Obama as the two countries highlight decades of post-World War II reconciliation. Abe’s visit to the site, which was bombed by Japan in a surprise attack in December 1941 that drew the United States into World World II, …