Baghdad / AFP A group of Iraqi lawmakers said they would not take part in a Saturday parliament session to select a replacement for the speaker, apparently leaving it without the necessary quorum. Iraq was on course to have two rival claimants to the speakership, further increasing chaos in parliament, which has already seen a vote to sack speaker Salim Al ...

  United Nations / AFP The UN Security Council strongly condemned North Korea’s test-firing of a missile on Friday, saying that the launch violated UN resolutions even if it was a failure. The council demanded that North Korea refrain from further actions in violation of resolutions barring Pyongyang from developing ballistic missile technology. In a unanimous statement, the council said ...

SEOUL / AP Thousands of South Koreans participated in memorial events on Saturday for the more than 300 people who died in a ferry disaster two years ago that deeply rattled the country. Hundreds of people, carrying umbrellas in light evening rain, created long lines at a square in the capital, Seoul, waiting to place flowers on a makeshift altar ...