Politics

  Jerusalem / AFP Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed on Sunday that the Israeli-annexed Golan Heights would “forever” remain in his country’s hands as his cabinet held its first meeting in the territory. “The Golan Heights will remain in the hands of Israel forever,” Netanyahu said at the start of the cabinet meeting, in comments broadcast on public radio. “Israel will ...

  Myanmar / AFP Myanmar President HtinKyaw pardoned 83 political prisoners on the country’s traditional New Year on Sunday, a spokesman from his office said, as the fledgling civilian-led administration seeks to cast off the shackles of nearly half a century of military rule. The new government, steered by veteran democracy activist Aung San SuuKyi, has spent its first weeks in ...

  Tripoli / AFP The United Nations’ Libya envoy urged lawmakers to back a unity government as he landed in Tripoli on Sunday on the eve of a crucial confidence vote. Libya’s recognised parliament is set to vote Monday on the UN-backed Government of National Accord, supported by the international community in a bid to end years of chaos in the ...

  Washington / AFP Republican Ted Cruz picked up more delegates in the race for the White House, winning all 14 that were up for grabs at his party’s state convention in Wyoming. The sweep comes as the Texas senator is attempting to chip away at rival Donald Trump’s lead in the contest for the Republican presidential nomination. “Thank you Wyoming!” ...

  Somalia / AFP The African Union peacekeeping mission in Somalia (AMISOM) apologised for accidentally killing four civilians after soldiers mistook them for Shebab fighters when they failed to stop at a roadblock. The incident happened in the area of BuuloMareer in the Lower Shebelle region, 80 kilometres (50 miles) south of the capital Mogadishu. “A speeding vehicle approached the roadblock ...

GENEVA / AP Two figures from the main Syrian opposition team to the peace talks in Geneva said that they have rejected a suggestion that was put forward by the UN special envoy to Syria in which President Bashar Assad would stay in power during a transitional period and the opposition would choose three vice presidents. The UN envoy to ...

  BEIRUT / AP A UN agency says around 10,000 civilians are trapped in “desperate” humanitarian conditions in a Palestinian refugee camp in Damascus, where fighting has raged for days between IS militants and other extremists. The UN Palestinian refugee agency, UNRWA, says residents of the Yarmouk camp have gone without food or water for more than a week. UNRWA ...

  Kabul / AP Child casualties have soared in Afghanistan this year as the Taliban stepped up attacks in urban areas, the United Nations said on Sunday, branding the figures “appalling”. Between January and March, 161 children were killed and 449 others injured—a 29 percent increase from a year earlier—the UN’s mission in Afghanistan said in a report. Danielle Bell, the ...

  BAGHDAD / Reuters Hundreds rallied in central Baghdad in support of powerful Shi’ite Muslim cleric Moqtada Al Sadr who has threatened to call mass protests if the prime minister fails to name a new cabinet to fight corruption by Tuesday. People in Tahrir Square on Sunday said many more would join them if Prime Minister Haider Al Abadi did ...

  Tehran / AFP Iran used its annual Army Day parade on Sunday to showcase parts of a long-awaited air defence system ordered from Russia, a move likely to irk critics of the arms deal. The S-300 system has been on order since 2007 but Russia postponed the sale three years later after the UN Security Council passed a resolution ...