Politics

  Ulan Bator, Mongolia / AFP Tokyo raised pressure on Beijing at an Asia-Europe summit Saturday to respect an international tribunal’s ruling that dismissed its claims to much of the South China Sea. At a retreat outside the Mongolian capital Ulan Bator, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe told the assembled leaders that the rule of law was “a universal principle that ...

Moscow / AFP US Secretary of State John Kerry and Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov said on Friday they had agreed on “concrete steps” to salvage a failing truce and tackle extremist groups in Syria but refrained from laying out their deal. The top diplomats emerged from 12-hour marathon talks saying they agreed on the way forward, but Kerry stressed that ...

  Muzaffarbad / AFP A Pakistani social media celebrity whose selfies polarised the deeply conservative Muslim country has been murdered by her brother in a suspected honour killing, officials said Saturday, prompting shock and revulsion. Qandeel Baloch, praised by many of the country’s youth for her willingness to break social taboos but condemned by conservatives, was strangled near the city ...

  Srinagar / AFP Police seized tens of thousands of newspapers in Indian-controlled Kashmir early Saturday and detained printing press workers, ramping up an information blackout after a week of unrest left 39 dead, officials and media outlets said. Teams of officers swooped on major newspaper offices in the restive region overnight, seizing printing plates in an attempt to curb ...

  London / AFP British Prime Minister Theresa May completed a major overhaul of the government on Thursday, promoting leading Brexit campaigners and stunning observers by picking gaffe-prone Boris Johnson as her top diplomat. After six years as interior minister under David Cameron, May took office on Wednesday signalling her intention to start with a clean slate — before ruthlessly ejecting ...

  Berlin, Germany / AFP Europe’s media reacted with incredulity, sarcasm and sometimes dismay on Thursday to the news that top Brexit campaigner Boris Johnson is Britain’s new foreign secretary. In a shock move, new PM Theresa May appointed the eccentric former London mayor, known for his political antics and gaffe-prone style, as the top diplomat to lead the country ...

  Caracas / AFP Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro has extended the country’s state of “economic emergency” for another 60 days, an official newspaper reported, a sign of declining conditions in the crisis-hit country. The state of emergency, in place since January, was necessary due to “extraordinary… social, economic, political, natural and ecological” pressures, according to the presidential decree, signed by Maduro ...

  Washington, United States / AFP White House hopeful Donald Trump will announce his pick for vice president in New York Friday, he said on Twitter, as speculation runs rampant over a handful of potential running mates. Among those believed to be at the top of the Republican’s list are Indiana Governor Mike Pence, New Jersey Governor Chris Christie and ...

  Beirut / AFP Syrian President Bashar al-Assad said on Thursday he has never faced pressure from Russia to step aside, as US Secretary of State John Kerry headed to Moscow seeking to revive stalled peace efforts. Speaking to NBC News in Damascus, Assad insisted his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin and Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov had never raised the issue ...

  Kuwait City / AFP Kuwait has set a minimum wage for its hundreds of thousands of mostly Asian domestic workers, in a first for Gulf states which have come under widespread accusations of abuse. A decree issued by Interior Minister Sheikh Mohammad Khaled Al-Sabah set the minimum wage at 60 dinars ($200) a month and also granted domestic staff ...