Call to protect Gulf internal front amid jihadist blitz Gulf torn  DUBAI, United Arab Emirates, June 19, (AP): Saudi Arabia and other petro-powerhouses of the Gulf for years encouraged a flow of private cash to Sunni rebels in Syria. Now an al-Qaeda breakaway group that benefited from some of that …

COLOMBO, June 19, (AFP): Several hundred Muslim-owned businesses shut down in the Sri Lankan capital on Thursday to protest deadly riots by extremist Buddhists, defying President Mahinda Rajapakse’s plea to stay open. Shops and restaurants in central Colombo were shuttered following the riots in two mainly Muslim coastal resorts popular …

7 security forces and 10 rebels killed in clashes MANILA, Philippines, June 19, (AP): Philippine security forces battled Abu Sayyaf militants in the south on Thursday in fierce clashes that killed seven troops and 10 rebels in the latest confrontation in the insurgency-wracked region, military officials said. Government forces were …