Politics

  Sydney / AFP Former Australian prime minister Kevin Rudd on Monday revealed he wants to succeed Ban Ki-moon as the next UN secretary general, asking Canberra to endorse his nomination. A growing list of candidates have declared their interest in becoming the world’s top diplomat, including UNESCO chief Irina Bokova of Bulgaria and former New Zealand prime minister and ...

Kigali, Rwanda / AFP African heads of state meeting in Kigali failed on Monday to elect a new head of the African Union and will try again in January, an official said. Current AU Commission President Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma was due to stand down but leaders were unable to agree on a successor to lead the executive branch of the continental ...

  Brussels / AFP New British foreign minister and top Brexit backer Boris Johnson pledged on Monday Britain would continue to play a “leading role” in Europe as he met his European Union peers in Brussels for the first time. The normally ebullient Johnson was on his best behaviour after infuriating his partners in the run-up to last month’s referendum ...

  London / AFP Theresa May will visit Berlin on Wednesday in her first foreign visit as Britain’s new prime minister, Downing Street said, for talks with Chancellor Angela Merkel on the UK’s preparations to leave the EU. She will then head for Paris on Thursday for similar talks with French President Francois Hollande, and for discussions on counter-terrorism cooperation ...

  Beirut / AFP Syrian refugee Abu Adnan was rushing his newborn to the doctor one night in the Lebanese town of Rmeish when municipal police stopped him and began questioning him. He was in violation of a municipal curfew that prevents Syrian refugees from leaving their homes between sunset and sunrise. “They began questioning me — ‘Where are you ...

  Istanbul / AFP Turkish authorities on Sunday pressed on with a ruthless crackdown against suspects in the failed coup against President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, with 6,000 people including generals detained in action that has sparked international concern. World leaders including US President Barack Obama have strongly condemned the attempted putsch but also urged Turkey to respect the rule of law ...

  Yerevan / AFP An armed Armenian group with links to a jailed opposition leader seized a police building in Yerevan on Sunday, killing one policemen and taking several more hostage, including top officers. One of the gunman said they were demanding the resignation of President Serzh Sarkisian and the release of political prisoners but the country’s security services dismissed ...

  Dubai / AFP A court on Sunday ordered the dissolution of Bahrain’s Shiite main opposition group Al-Wefaq, a judicial source said, despite international criticism of the Sunni-ruled Gulf kingdom’s intensified crackdown on dissent. The administrative court in Manama also ordered the funds of the group, accused by authorities of “harbouring terrorism” among other charges, to be seized by the ...

  Yangon / AFP Myanmar’s de facto premier Aung San Suu Kyi held landmark talks with senior rebel leaders on Sunday, as she strives to seal a ceasefire with a patchwork of ethnic minority militias that have battled the national army for decades. Suu Kyi has made peace a flagship policy of her newly installed civilian-led government which replaced decades ...

  New Delhi / AFP Twenty-one labourers died after drinking toxic homemade liquor in northern India, police said on Sunday, in the latest incident of alcohol poisoning in the country. Police in Uttar Pradesh state’s Etah district said the victims started to vomit and fall sick, complaining of severe stomach aches and blurred vision after consuming the illicit moonshine late ...