Politics

Jakarta / AFP A Chinese envoy called on Indonesia on Monday to release eight crew members of a Chinese fishing boat detained during a maritime confrontation, after he was summoned by furious Indonesian ministers. Jakarta says Indonesian vessels were on Saturday trying to detain a Chinese fishing boat operating illegally near Indonesia’s Natuna Islands in the South China Sea, when ...

Astana / AFP Citizens of energy-rich Kazakhstan went to the polls on Sunday in an early parliamentary election expected to provide a commanding majority for ageing autocrat President Nursultan Nazarbayev’s ruling Nur Otan party. Close to 10 million voters are eligible to cast votes in a ballot held early amid economic gloom in the Central Asian state and featuring six ...

Karachi / AFP Pakistan’s southern Sindh province has announced a public holiday to celebrate Holi next week, the first time the Hindu “festival of colours” will be officially marked in the overwhelmingly Muslim country. The move comes days after Pakistan’s federal parliament passed a non-binding resolution that called for the country to observe Hindu and Christian holidays. “We have announced ...

Nablus / AFP Fire broke out on Sunday in the home of a key witness to an arson attack by Jewish extremists that killed a Palestinian family last year but he survived, police and residents said. The home of Ibrahim Dawabsha is located in Duma in the occupied West Bank, the same village where a July firebombing killed an 18-month-old ...

Rostov-on-Don / AFP Investigators in southern Russia on Sunday were probing the causes of a flydubai passenger jet crash that killed all 62 people on board, as emergency workers at the site wrapped up the salvage operation. The Boeing 737, which flew from Dubai to the southern Russian city of Rostov-on-Don, exploded into a fireball early Saturday after missing the ...

Istanbul / AFP Turkish investigators were scrambling on Sunday to identify the bomber who blew himself up in the heart of Istanbul, killing four foreigners in the latest bloodshed to rock the country. No group has yet claimed responsibility for Saturday’s blast, which killed three Israelis and an Iranian. The attack came six days after a suicide car bombing at ...

Dharamsala / AFP Tens of thousands of exiled Tibetans voted on Sunday for a new leader tasked with sustaining their struggle for greater autonomy in their Chinese-ruled homeland as the Dalai Lama retreats from the political frontline. While Tibetans from across the world were set to vote, those in the picturesque Indian hill town of Dharamsala where the Dalai Lama ...

BEIRUT / AP Backed by Russian aircraft, Syrian troops pushed towards the historic central town of Palmyra in an offensive to recapture it from the IS group whose fighters have damaged some of the world’s most precious archaeological sites since they overran the town last May. After night fell, Syria’s state news agency SANA reported that the offensive advanced toward ...

WASHINGTON / AFP The United States views a deal by Turkish and EU leaders to curb the influx of migrants into Europe as an “important step,” the State Department said. Under the deal all migrants arriving in Greece from Turkey as early as Sunday will be turned back. “We strongly endorse action to shut down the illegal smuggling operations that ...

BAGHDAD / AFP Iraqi forces have launched a broad offensive to retake the city of Hit from the IS group in the western province of Anbar, a top commander said on Saturday. Led by the elite Counter-Terrorism Service, forces from the police, army and local tribal fighters were making a final push to retake Hit, 145 kilometres (90 miles) west ...