Politics

Bangladesh / AFP Cyclone Roanu struck the Bangladesh coast on Saturday killing six people and forcing hundreds of thousands more to flee their homes as the storm unleashed strong winds and heavy downpours. Authorities took more than 500,000 people into shelters as the cyclone made landfall just after noon local time (0600 GMT), packing winds as strong as 88 kilometres (54 ...

BEIJING / AP Chinese state media say a strong storm that hammered a southern city has left at least eight people dead and four missing. The official Xinhua News Agency said Saturday that all deaths and the missing people were reported in the city of Xinyi, which was hit the hardest by Friday’s storm. The Xinyi government says it is the ...

  Cairo / AFP Smoke was detected inside an EgyptAir plane shortly before it plunged into the Mediterranean with 66 people on board, investigators said on Saturday, offering clues but no answers about why it crashed. The Airbus A320 had been flying from Paris to Cairo early Thursday when it plummeted and turned full circle before vanishing from radar screens, ...

  Sydney / AFP Families of victims of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17, which was shot down over Ukraine in 2014, are suing President Vladimir Putin and Russia for Aus$10 million each in the European Court of Human Rights, The Sydney Morning Herald reported on Saturday. The compensation claim was filed with the Strasbourg-based court by Sydney legal firm LHD Lawyers ...

  Colombo / AFP Foreign aid began arriving in Sri Lanka on Saturday, bringing help to half a million people who have been driven from their homes by heavy rains and landslides that have killed at least 71. The heaviest rains in a quarter of a century have pounded Sri Lanka since last weekend, triggering huge landslides that have buried some ...

  CAIRO/ AFP An EgyptAir flight from Paris to Cairo crashed into the Mediterranean on Thursday with 66 people on board prompting an investigation into whether it was mechanical failure or a bomb. There were no immediate reports of the discovery of any debris in the area of sea between the Greek islands and the Egyptian coast where the plane ...

  ISTANBUL / AFP Turkey’s ruling party was expected to name on Thursday a close ally of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan as prime minister, as the strongman seeks to tighten his grip on power. The ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) was poised to appoint Transport Minister Binali Yildirim as its chairman, meaning he would automatically become prime minister. ...

  Berlin / AP The speaker of Germany’s Parliament is criticizing Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan over a push to strip legislators in Turkey of their immunity from prosecution. Norbert Lammert was quoted in daily Sueddeutsche Zeitung daily on Thursday as accusing Erdogan of “autocratic ambitions.” He added that the development continues “a whole series of events with which Turkey ...

  Paris, France / AFP France was disrupted by a third straight day of strikes and demonstrations on Thursday as the prime minister called for protesters who torched a police car to face “harsh” punishment. Rail staff and air traffic controllers downed tools in the latest mass protests against the government’s labour market reforms, causing dozens of flights and trains ...

  New Delhi / AP India’s ruling Hindu nationalist party made dramatic gains in elections in the eastern state of Assam but trailed in four other states, the election commission said on Thursday. Data from the commission as of late afternoon showed that Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party and its allies will form the government in Assam, which ...