Politics

  Paris / AFP Three French soldiers have been killed in Libya, the defence ministry said on Wednesday, in the first confirmation that France has troops in the country where the IS extremist group has rear bases. “Defence Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian regrets the loss of three French officers who died while on mission in Libya,” the ministry said in ...

  Taipei / AFP Taiwanese lawmakers and fishermen headed to an island in the disputed South China Sea on Wednesday to protest at an international tribunal ruling which undermined Taipei’s claims there. Eight lawmakers from the ruling Democratic Progressive Party and the opposition Kuomintang (KMT) boarded a military plane to the Taiwan-controlled Taiping island in the Spratlys archipelago. Five fishing ...

Washington / AFP With extremist attacks proliferating around the world, the United States has reassembled its coalition partners for meetings on Wednesday and Thursday to review a two-year-old war that has so far failed to eliminate the IS extremist group. The militant group may have lost ground in Iraq and Syria, but in recent weeks it has claimed horrific attacks in ...

  Paris, France / AFP French lawmakers voted massively on Wednesday to extend a state of emergency as President Francois Hollande said that a call to boost reserve forces had paved the way towards a “National Guard.” The government is scrambling to find new ways to assure a jittery population after its third major attack in 18 months saw a ...

  Cleveland / AFP Having prevailed in his remarkable run to the Republican presidential nomination, Donald Trump turns to his next task of healing crippling party divisions and solidifying support for his White House campaign. Trump wasted little time basking in the glow of Tuesday’s historic achievement, flipping the script once again on the Republican National Convention and telling delegates ...

  Kiev / AFP A car bomb in central Kiev on Wednesday morning killed well-known pro-Western journalist Pavel Sheremet, with the crisis-hit nation’s president demanding the perpetrators are brought to justice. The 44-year-old, originally from Belarus but a Russian citizen who worked for Ukrainska Pravda, an independent news site, died when an explosion tore through the car he was in. ...

  United Nations / AFP After months of public campaigning, debates and open hearings, Security Council ambassadors huddle behind closed doors on Thursday to begin secret voting for a new secretary-general to lead the world body. The 15 council members including the powerful permanent five — Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States — will each rate the 12 ...

  Ankara / AFP Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim on Tuesday warned against exacting revenge on supporters of the failed coup, as Ankara arrested top generals in a relentless crackdown that has sparked global alarm. Erdogan has denounced the coup bid, which left more than 300 dead on all sides, as a treacherous bid to oust him from power devised ...

  Beijing / AFP Chinese people who blame Washington for an international tribunal’s dismissal of Beijing’s maritime claims have called for a boycott of Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC) in protests outside branches in 11 cities, reports said. Crowds gathered to wave placards and shout anti-US slogans outside restaurants stretching from the northern province of Hebei to Hunan province, some 1,600 ...

  Manila / AFP Manila has rejected Beijing’s demand that it “disregard” an international ruling that invalidated the Asian giant’s claims to much of the South China Sea before negotiating on the issue, the Philippines’ foreign secretary said on Tuesday. China last week denounced a UN-backed tribunal’s finding that there was no legal basis for its claims to most of ...