Aleppo / AFP A ceasefire billed as the “last chance” for peace in Syria appeared to be holding on its first full day Tuesday, with residents nationwide reporting a rare respite from years of violence. The truce brokered by Russia and the United States saw guns fall silent at sundown on Monday, in the latest bid to end a …

  Bangalore / AFP Prime Minister Narendra Modi appealed for calm on Tuesday in the Indian tech hub of Bangalore which was placed under curfew after deadly violence erupted over a water dispute with a neighbouring state. Thousands of police officers were deployed on the largely deserted streets of the southern city to enforce the curfew, after rampaging, stone-pelting mobs …

  Juba / AFP A report commissioned by actor-activist George Clooney alleging massive corruption and war profiteering by leaders of South Sudan, the world’s newest nation, is “completely rubbish”, the government said on Tuesday. A spokesman for President Salva Kiir said the report released in Washington at a high-profile press conference headed by Clooney was both “misleading” and ill-intentioned. Released …