Politics

  Kabul, Afghanistan / AFP The Taliban on Thursday attacked a convoy of buses transporting police cadets in Kabul, officials said, killing at least 27 of them and wounding 40 in two powerful explosions. The incident, which was condemned as a “crime against humanity” by President Ashraf Ghani, comes little over a week after 14 Nepali security guards who were heading ...

  Gaziantep /AFP As Liberia’s security forces take over on Thursday from UN peacekeepers for the first time since civil war ended 13 years ago, national pride is mixed with fears the underfunded police are not up to the task. Government forces and rebel groups raped, massacred and maimed hundreds of thousands of people during two conflicts between 1989 and ...

London / AFP Brexit campaigner Michael Gove announced a surprise bid on Thursday to become Britain’s next prime minister, in a blow for his close ally Boris Johnson’s chances, as turmoil gripped both the country’s main political parties after the shock vote to leave the EU. The race for the leadership of the governing Conservative Party kicked off as impatient ...

  Paris / AFP Hamza Attou, who helped key Paris attacks suspect Salah Abdeslam flee to Brussels, has been charged and taken into custody in France, the Paris prosecutor said on Thursday. The 22-year-old Belgian has been charged over his role in accompanying Abdeslam back to Brussels shortly after the IS-claimed attacks in the French capital on November 13 left 130 ...

  MELBOURNE / AP A teenager pleaded guilty on Thursday to plotting to run over and behead a police officer as part of an IS group-inspired attack on an Australian Veterans’ Day ceremony. Sevdet Besim, 19, pleaded guilty in Victoria state’s Supreme Court to one count of planning for a terrorist act, which carries a maximum sentence of life in prison. ...

  Manila / AFP Authoritarian firebrand Rodrigo Duterte warned of a “rough ride” after being sworn in as the Philippines’ president on Thursday, promising a relentless war on crime and corruption, but also to be a unifying leader. Duterte, 71, won last month’s election in landslide after a campaign dominated by foul-mouthed threats to kill tens of thousands of criminals ...

  Beijing / AFP Beijing will reject any ruling by an international tribunal in a contentious case brought by the Philippines over the South China Sea, the foreign ministry said, as tensions mount over the disputed waters. The United Nations-backed Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) said Wednesday it will rule on July 12 in a closely watched case challenging China’s ...

  Kuala Lumpur / AFP A vocal critic of Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak was charged with corruption on Thursday in a further blow to the divided opposition, which alleged that the case was politically motivated. Lim Guan Eng, who has repeatedly demanded that Najib explain a massive financial scandal that engulfed his administration last year, appeared in the High ...

  Mumbai / AFP Eight people were killed when a fire gutted a pharmacy in India’s financial capital Mumbai on Thursday, police said. One other person was seriously injured in the blaze, which broke out early Thursday morning, Mumbai police spokesman Ashok Dudhe said. “The primary reason for the fire seems to be a short circuit. But officials will have ...

  Brussels / AFP European leaders met on Wednesday without Britain for the first time in 40 years to prepare for life after the Brexit bombshell, as the race began to succeed Prime Minister David Cameron. Highlighting the seismic shock from last week’s referendum, one person who was in Brussels however was Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon, “utterly determined” to ...