Najaf / AFP An attack claimed by the IS group on a police checkpoint in southern Iraq left at least seven people dead on Sunday, officials said. Gunmen wearing suicide vests and driving an explosives-laden vehicle opened fire on the checkpoint near the town of Qadisiyah, which lies around 180 kilometres (110 miles) south of Baghdad. “The security forces fought …

  Kinshasa / AFP The new year in one of Africa’s most troubled countries began in a burst of optimism on Sunday after rival groups agreed a deal for hauling DR Congo out of a perilous political crisis. Under a landmark accord, the country’s contested president, Joseph Kabila—who under the constitution should have left office on December 20—will stay in …

  United Nations / AFP The new United Nations chief Antonio Guterres said on Sunday he would like to make 2017 a year to “put peace first,” in a message heralding the new year and marking his first day as the world body’s chief. The Portuguese former prime minister, 67, took over as UN Secretary-general from South Korea’s Ban Ki-moon, inheriting …