Suspected separatist insurgents stormed a security checkpoint in&nbsp;Thailand's&nbsp;Muslim-majority south and&nbsp;killed at least&nbsp;15&nbsp;people, including a police officer and many village defence volunteers, security officials said on Wednesday.

It was the&nbsp;worst&nbsp;single&nbsp;attack&nbsp;in&nbsp;years&nbsp;in a region where a Muslim separatist insurgency has&nbsp;killed thousands.

The&nbsp;attackers, in the province of Yala, also used explosives and scattered nails on roads to delay pursuers late on Tuesday night.

"This is likely the work of the insurgents," Colonel Pramote Prom-in, a regional security spokesman, told Reuters.

"This is one of the biggest&nbsp;attacks&nbsp;in recent times."

There was no immediate claim of responsibility, however, as is common with such&nbsp;attacks.

A decades-old separatist insurgency in predominantly Buddhist&nbsp;Thailand's&nbsp;largely ethnic Malay-Muslim provinces of Yala, Pattani, and Narathiwat has&nbsp;killed nearly 7,000 people since 2004, says Deep South Watch, a group that monitors the violence.

The population of the provinces, which belonged to an independent Malay Muslim sultanate before Thailand annexed them in 1909, is 80 per cent Muslim, while the rest of the country is overwhelmingly Buddhist.

Some rebel groups in the south have said they are fighting to establish an independent state.

Authorities arrested several suspects from the region in August over a series of small bombs detonated in Bangkok, the capital, although they have not directly blamed any insurgent group.

The main insurgency group, the Barisan Revolusi Nasional (BRN), denied responsibility for the Bangkok bombings, which wounded four people.

In August, the group told Reuters it had held a secret preliminary meeting with the government, but any step towards a peace process appeared to wither after the deputy prime minister rejected a key demand for the release of prisoners.

Suspected separatist insurgents stormed a security checkpoint in Thailand's Muslim-majority south and killed at least 15 people, including a police officer and many village defence volunteers, security officials said on Wednesday.

Suspected separatist insurgents stormed a security checkpoint in Thailand's Muslim-majority south and killed at least 15 people, including a police officer and many village defence volunteers, security officials said on Wednesday. It was the worst single attack in years in a region where a Muslim separatist insurgency has killed thousands. The attackers, in the province of Yala, also used explosives and scattered nails on roads to delay pursuers late on Tuesday night. "This is likely the work of the insurgents," Colonel Pramote Prom-in, a regional security spokesman, told Reuters. "This is one of the biggest attacks in recent times." There was no immediate claim of responsibility, however, as is common with such attacks. A decades-old separatist insurgency in predominantly Buddhist Thailand's largely ethnic Malay-Muslim provinces of Yala, Pattani, and Narathiwat has killed nearly 7,000 people since 2004, says Deep South Watch, a group that monitors the violence. The population of the provinces, which belonged to an independent Malay Muslim sultanate before Thailand annexed them in 1909, is 80 per cent Muslim, while the rest of the country is overwhelmingly Buddhist. Some rebel groups in the south have said they are fighting to establish an independent state. Authorities arrested several suspects from the region in August over a series of small bombs detonated in Bangkok, the capital, although they have not directly blamed any insurgent group. The main insurgency group, the Barisan Revolusi Nasional (BRN), denied responsibility for the Bangkok bombings, which wounded four people. In August, the group told Reuters it had held a secret preliminary meeting with the government, but any step towards a peace process appeared to wither after the deputy prime minister rejected a key demand for the release of prisoners.

Gunmen kill 15 in southern Thailand's worst attack in years

Halimah Yacob, the former speaker of Singapore&#39;s Parliament, is set to become the first woman president of Singapore.&nbsp;

Halimah became eligible to contest the elections after the Singapore&#39;s Presidential Elections Committee gave its approval. This year the ceremonial post had been reserved&nbsp;for the candidates from the Malay minority.&nbsp;

63-year-old Yacob who belongs to the ethnic Malay minority&nbsp;was the only presidential hopeful after Farid Khan, 61, and Salleh Maricane, 67, were informed by the presidential committee that they weren&#39;t&nbsp;qualified to contest the elections,&nbsp;The Straits Times said.&nbsp;

Halimah Yacob entered politics in 2001&nbsp;as an MP for the Jurong Group Representation Constituency (GRC). On 14 January 2013, Halimah Yacob became Speaker of Parliament after being nominated by the Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong.&nbsp;

Halimah Yacob is the&nbsp;daughter of an Indian&nbsp;who died when she was 8-years-old.

Halimah&nbsp;is married to Mohammed Abdullah Alhabshee and has five children.

She completed her LLM degree from Singapore University of Law.

From the ethnic Malay minority, Halimah Yacob is set to be the first women President of Singapore

Halimah Yacob, the former speaker of Singapore's Parliament, is set to become the first woman president of Singapore. Halimah became eligible to contest the elections after the Singapore's Presidential Elections Committee gave its approval. This year the ceremonial post had been reserved for the candidates from the Malay minority. 63-year-old Yacob who belongs to the ethnic Malay minority was the only presidential hopeful after Farid Khan, 61, and Salleh Maricane, 67, were informed by the presidential committee that they weren't qualified to contest the elections, The Straits Times said. Halimah Yacob entered politics in 2001 as an MP for the Jurong Group Representation Constituency (GRC). On 14 January 2013, Halimah Yacob became Speaker of Parliament after being nominated by the Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong. Halimah Yacob is the daughter of an Indian who died when she was 8-years-old. Halimah is married to Mohammed Abdullah Alhabshee and has five children. She completed her LLM degree from Singapore University of Law.

Halimah Yacob set to be first woman president of Singapore

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