Politics

  Sofia / AFP Bulgaria on Wednesday switched its candidate to be the next head of the United Nations, shaking up the race to succeed Ban Ki-moon when he steps down on December 31. Sofia is now throwing its weight behind European Commission Vice President Kristalina Georgieva, dumping UNESCO chief Irina Bokova after she came a lowly sixth in the ...

  New Delhi / AFP A key South Asian summit was in doubt on Wednesday after India and three other countries pulled out following a deadly attack on an army base that New Delhi blames on a Pakistan-based group. India has sought to isolate Pakistan in the wake of the raid on its base in the disputed region of Kashmir, ...

  Brussels / AFP The EU said on Wednesday it hopes to move the remaining 30,000 eligible refugees out of Greece by the end of next year, but appears set to fall far short of its plan to share 160,000 migrants around the bloc. The European Commission insisted there had been “important progress” despite so far only 5,651 refugees having been ...

  Jalalabad / AFP Civilians were among at least 18 people killed in a US air strike against IS extremists in eastern Afghanistan on Wednesday, officials said, with conflicting claims about the number of civilian deaths. The attack happened in Achin district, a hotbed of IS insurgents in Nangarhar province near the border with Pakistan, as local residents gathered to welcome ...

  Geneva / AFP Women in Switzerland will likely need to work for a year longer, after the lower house of parliament voted Wednesday to extend their retirement age to 65. Following the example of the upper house, the lower house of parliament overwhelmingly voted to require women to work up to the age of 65 before receiving a full retirement, ...

  Aleppo / AFP An air strike and artillery fire hit the two largest hospitals in rebel-held parts of Syria’s Aleppo on Wednesday, in what rights groups said was a deliberate strategy of targeting civilian infrastructure. President Bashar Al Assad’s forces and his ally Moscow have carried out a barrage of air strikes on opposition-controlled eastern Aleppo since Syria’s regime ...

  Jerusalem / AFP Israeli ex-president and Nobel Peace Prize winner Shimon Peres died on Wednesday, some two weeks after suffering a major stroke. Peres, who was 93, held nearly every major office in the country, serving twice as prime minister and also as president, a mostly ceremonial role, from 2007 to 2014. He won the 1994 Nobel Peace Prize jointly ...

  Ankara / AFP Turkey said on Wednesday that courts have placed 32,000 suspects under arrest on charges of links to a group run by the US-based preacher blamed for the July coup bid, as the country braces for the most extensive trials in its history. Justice Minister Bekir Bozdag told NTV television that 70,000 people had been investigated after the ...

  Manbij / AFP Children rushed out into the schoolyard for break time on the first day of classes in the Syrian town of Manbij, ignoring the IS group insignia on a nearby wall. They were savouring more than just the late September sun: it was their first normal schoolday after two years of brutal extremist rule over their hometown. “We ...

  White Plains / AFP Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton jumped back onto the campaign trail on Tuesday after a bitter first head-to-head debate in which Clinton frequently forced her prickly opponent on to the back foot. The White House hopefuls sparred over temperament, stamina, judgment, and other issues in a televised match-up Monday night that seemed to have gone ...