Beijing / AFP Political concerns over the North Korean regime are stopping vital relief aid from reaching the victims of a major flood there, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) said on Saturday. Nearly 70,000 people are estimated to have lost their homes in disastrous flooding in North Hamgyong province in August and September …

  Madrid / AFP Spain turns the page on a 10-month political crisis on Saturday as lawmakers ready to vote the conservatives back in power, although at the head of a government with unprecedented opposition. Aided by divisions among his rivals, Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy is widely expected to win a crunch parliamentary confidence vote on Saturday evening which will see …

  Yangon / AFP Allegations that Myanmar soldiers are killing, raping and torturing villagers in Rakhine, a restive region that is home to the persecuted Muslim Rohingya, must be independently investigated, rights groups said. Northern Rakhine has been under a military lockdown since an attack on border guards three weeks ago left nine policeman dead. The government has blamed the …