Khartoum /Â AFP UN chief Ban Ki-moon has expressed disappointment over the failure of talks between the Sudanese government and rebels on a ceasefire in Darfur and two other conflict zones. The talks on a cessation of hostilities in Darfur, Blue Nile and South Kordofan were held in Addis Ababa last week after three prominent rebel groups signed a roadmap ...
Read More »Politics
Suu Kyi in China with dam project on agenda
Tokyo / AFP Myanmar’s de facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi met Chinese Premier Li Keqiang on Thursday as her country’s new civilian authorities seeks to cement ties with Beijing—long the former military junta’s protector. The five-day visit—with the suspension of a giant Beijing-backed dam project set to dominate talks—is Suu Kyi’s first major foreign trip since her government took ...
Read More »Turkey starts releasing 38,000 jailed for pre-coup crimes
Ankara / AFP Turkey on Wednesday began freeing the first of some 38,000 prisoners not linked to the failed coup who are to be released in a move aimed at relieving pressure on prisons overcrowded with putsch suspects. The parole decision came as Turkey presses on with the biggest purge in its modern history after the July 15 bid ...
Read More »Israel arrests Hamas election panel member
Ramallah /Â AFP Israeli troops arrested the Hamas representative on the organising committee for October Palestinian municipal elections on Wednesday, the radical movement said. Hamas condemned what it called an “attempt to influence” the outcome of the elections, the first in the Palestinian territories since 2012. “We condemn the arrest of Sheikh Hussein Abu Kweik,” a Hamas statement said, adding ...
Read More »2 soldiers, 1 police officer killed in Indian Kashmir
Sri Nagar /Â AFP Suspected militants killed two soldiers and one police officer in an ambush on a convoy overnight in Indian-administrated Kashmir, an official in the troubled region said on Wednesday. An unknown number of gunmen opened fire on the two army trucks and a police car travelling through Baramulla district, 60 kilometres (37 miles) west of the region’s ...
Read More »Australia, PNG to close immigration camp
Sydney/Â 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 ...
Read More »Russia launches 2nd Syria bombing raid from Iran
Moscow /Â 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. ...
Read More »Japan protests more Chinese ship ‘intrusions’
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 ...
Read More »Russia conducts first Syria airstrikes from Iran base
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 ...
Read More »Anti-IS forces launch offensive in Libya’s Sirte
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 ...
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