Politics

  Sydney/ AFP Australia agreed on Wednesday to close a camp for asylum-seekers on Papua New Guinea, one of two controversial Pacific island centres attracting growing criticism, but said none of the hundreds of men there now would be resettled on its soil. Canberra’s policy of sending asylum-seekers who arrive by boat to outposts on Papua New Guinea and the tiny ...

  Moscow / AFP Russia on Wednesday launched warplanes from Iran for the second time to bomb the IS group in Syria, denying the action violated a UN Security Council resolution. The strikes came after Russia on Tuesday began flying warplanes from an Iranian airbase in a major switch in its bombing campaign in Syria, prompting concern from the United States. ...

  Tokyo / AFP Japan lodged a fresh diplomatic protest with China on Wednesday, accusing the country of again sending its coast guard ships into waters surrounding contested islands in the East China Sea. The two countries are locked in a long-running dispute over the uninhabited islets and tensions over them have been a frequent irritant between the countries. Tokyo ...

  Moscow / AFP Russian warplanes on Tuesday flew a bombing run from an Iranian airstrip against extremist groups in war-torn Syria, the defence ministry said — the first time Moscow has reported using an Iranian air base. The raids mark the first time that Russia has publicly stated that it has used a base in a Middle East country ...

  Sirte / AFP Libyan pro-government forces went back on the offensive on Tuesday against last pockets of resistance by fighters of the IS extremist group in the coastal city of Sirte. Backed by tanks and mortar fire, pro-government forces advanced inside “District Two” of central Sirte, an AFP photographer reported, after a day of clearing and demining areas of ...

  Srinagar / Agencies Security forces shot dead five people and wounded another 20 during protests in Kashmir on Tuesday, according to witnesses and security sources. Four people were killed in Aripanthan village after residents took to the streets to protest what they said were aggressive tactics by members of the security forces during an overnight patrol designed to enforce ...

  UNITED NATIONS / AP Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon says he would personally like to see a woman lead the United Nations for the first time since it was established more than 70 years ago. As he nears the end of his second five-year term on Dec. 31, Ban said that “it’s high time now” for a female secretary-general after eight ...

  Baton Rouge / AFP Louisiana faced epic flooding, with seven people killed and thousands evacuated to emergency shelters after waterways in the southern part of the state overflowed their banks. Some areas have received more than 20 inches (50 centimeters) of rain since late Thursday, submerging vast swaths of southern Louisiana in muddy waters. “Our state is currently experiencing ...

Jakarta / AFP President Joko Widodo pledged Tuesday to defend “every inch” of Indonesia’s land and maritime territory, following clashes with Chinese vessels around Indonesian islands in the South China Sea. In a state of the nation address he also said Indonesia was “actively involved” in seeking a peaceful solution to the broader regional dispute about ownership of islands in ...

  Washington / AFP Dozens of US nuclear weapons stored at a Turkish air base near Syria are at risk of being captured by “terrorists or other hostile forces,” a Washington think tank claimed Monday. Critics have long been alarmed by America’s estimated stockpile of about 50 nuclear bombs at Incirlik in southern Turkey, just 70 miles (110 kilometers) from ...