Vientiane / AFP India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday pledged to formally join the Paris climate change agreement this year, a potentially major step toward the pact entering into force. After a meeting with President Barack Obama, a champion of the deal, in Vientiane, the White House said the two leaders had made a joint commitment “to join …

  Vientiane /AFP US President Barack Obama urged Philippine leader Rodrigo Duterte on Thursday to conduct his crime war “the right way”, as the pair clashed at an Asian summit over the crackdown that has claimed 3,000 lives. The showdown was a fitting climax to a brutal few days of diplomacy that began with the famously acid-tongued Duterte branding Obama …

  Ramallah / AFP A Palestinian court on Thursday suspended municipal elections set for October 8 following disputes between the rival Fatah and Hamas movements over candidate lists, jeopardising the first vote since 2006 to involve both parties. The decision was made by the high court in Ramallah in the West Bank, where Fatah is in power. It was not …