Polish police break up blockade of Parliament

WARSAW • Police yesterday forcefully broke up an hours-long blockade of exits from the Polish Parliament by protesters who said ruling party lawmakers violated the Constitution by illegally passing the Budget for next year.

The passage sparked the biggest political stand-off in years in European Union member Poland and the sharpest escalation of the conflict between the opposition and the ruling Law and Justice party since it came to power in October last year.

REUTERS

Malaysia to raise issue of Rohingyas at Asean meet

PETALING JAYA • Malaysia's Foreign Ministry plans to bring up the plight of Rohingyas in Myanmar's Rakhine State during the Asean foreign ministers' retreat in Yangon tomorrow.

Foreign Minister Anifah Aman said the retreat would provide an opportunity for fellow Asean ministers to exchange views and deliberate on finding a just, expeditious and durable solution to the situation in Myanmar's northern Rakhine State.

THE STAR/ASIA NEWS NETWORK

US doubles bounty on ISIS leader to $36m

WASHINGTON • The United States has more than doubled the bounty on the head of the shadowy leader of the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) group, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, to US$25 million (S$36 million).

The announcement by the State Department "Rewards for Justice Programme" came as US-backed local forces closed in on the Islamist movement's main urban strongholds in Iraq and Syria, the cities of Mosul and Raqqa.

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE