Politics

  Dhaka / AFP Bangladesh has executed a tycoon and top financier for the largest radical party for war crimes, dealing a major blow to its ambitions in the troubled Muslim-majority country. Mir Quasem Ali, a key leader of Jamaat-e-Islami, was hanged late Saturday after being convicted by a controversial war crimes tribunal of murder and abduction during the 1971 independence ...

  Ankara / AFP Turkish warplanes have destroyed 10 Kurdish rebel positions in the restive southeast as Ankara steps up its fight against the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), state media reported on Sunday. Jets bombed four PKK targets in the Cukurca district of the southeastern province of Hakkari close to northern Iraq on Saturday evening, security sources told state-run Anadolu ...

  Kandahar / AFP At least 35 people were killed on Sunday when a bus collided with a fuel tanker and burst into flames in southern Afghanistan, in the latest road accident in the war-torn country. Many of the victims, including women and children, were burned beyond recognition in the accident in Zabul province, one of the areas worst hit by ...

  Schwerin / AFP Chancellor Angela Merkel’s party braced for a backlash at state polls on Sunday, while anti-migrant populists are poised for major gains a year after the German leader opened the borders to refugees. Around 1.33 million voters are electing a new regional parliament for the northeastern state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, which is also home to Merkel’s constituency Stralsund. ...

  Bloomberg Chinese President Xi Jinping urged world leaders to avoid “empty talk” and confront sluggish economic growth and rising protectionism as their summit opened on Sunday in the scenic city of Hangzhou. Xi welcomed Group of 20 presidents and prime ministers with a handshake, and an extended clasp with Barack Obama, as both men smiled despite protocol stumbles around ...

  Hangzhou / AFP Despite warm relations between Moscow and Beijing, Vladimir Putin brought a chilly gift for his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping as they met on the sidelines of the G20 summit on Sunday: a tub of ice cream. Putin did not divulge the flavour of the frozen gift as he was welcomed by Xi at an official government ...

  Hangzhou / AFP A tarmac tiff between US and Chinese officials over media access highlighted the gap between views on human rights and press freedom, US President Barack Obama said on Sunday after the incident soured the start of a global summit. China’s government minders gave American National Security Advisor Susan Rice and other US officials trouble over press ...

  Hong Kong / AFP Young Hong Kong independence activists calling for a complete break from China stood in major elections for the first time on Sunday, the biggest vote since 2014 pro-democracy rallies. They are fighting for seats in the Legislative Council, or LegCo—Hong Kong’s lawmaking body —as concerns grow that Beijing is tightening its grip on the semi-autonomous ...

  Manila / AFP The Philippines has asked China to explain the increased presence of Chinese vessels near the disputed Scarborough Shoal in the South China Sea, the defence secretary said on Sunday, expressing “grave concern”. Philippine Defence Secretary Delfin Lorenzana said a Philippine air force plane saw four Chinese coast guard ships, two barge-like vessels and two suspected troop ...

  Ankara / AFP Turkey on Saturday sent more tanks into the northern Syrian village of al-Rai to fight IS extremists, opening a new front after its intervention last month against the group, state media reported. The tanks crossed into the village from Elbeyli in the Turkish province of Kilis to provide military support to Syrian opposition fighters after ridding northern ...