Istanbul / AFP Turkey launched fresh raids and sacked almost 9,000 officials on Monday in a relentless crackdown against suspects behind an attempted coup that left over 300 people dead, as Western allies warned against reinstating the death penalty. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has vowed to wipe out the “virus” of the putschists after facing down the coup bid ...

  Beijing / AFP Beijing will close off access to part of the South China Sea for military drills, officials said on Monday, after an international tribunal ruled against its sweeping claims in the waters. An area off the east coast of China’s island province of Hainan will host military exercises from Tuesday to Thursday, China’s maritime administration said on ...

  Nablus / AFP Clashes erupted on Monday as Israel’s military demolished the home of a Palestinian accused of involvement in a February attack outside Jerusalem’s Old City that killed a policewoman, officials said. The family home of Bilal Abu Zeid in Qabatiya, in the north of the occupied West Bank, was destroyed by a bulldozer around 2:00 am (2300 ...

  Manila/ AFP Human rights are not a concern in Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte’s war on drugs, he said, as he vowed to ignore due process and compared himself to Ugandan dictator Idi Amin. Duterte’s threat came as the International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) joined the chorus of groups criticising Duterte’s advocacy of killing. In the latest of a series ...

  Yangon / AFP Continuing fighting is undermining Aung San Suu Kyi’s drive for lasting peace in Myanmar, rebel leaders warned Monday as they cautiously welcomed her new civilian-led government’s landmark talks. Suu Kyi has made peace a flagship policy of her new government, which took over in March after decades of brutal junta rule. She has strived to reach ...

  Almaty / AFP Three police officers and one civilian were killed on Monday following armed attacks on a police station and a security service office in Kazakhstan’s largest city Almaty, the interior ministry said. Parts of the city were in lockdown following the incident with one suspect in custody and a manhunt underway for an accomplice still at large, ...

  Nice, France / AFP France fell silent on Monday for the victims of the Nice truck attack, but the mourning was overshadowed by politicians tearing into each other over the massacre. A sea of people thronged the Nice promenade for the emotional minute’s silence just days after a Tunisian attacker drove a truck into a crowd at the same ...

  Sydney / AFP Former Australian prime minister Kevin Rudd on Monday revealed he wants to succeed Ban Ki-moon as the next UN secretary general, asking Canberra to endorse his nomination. A growing list of candidates have declared their interest in becoming the world’s top diplomat, including UNESCO chief Irina Bokova of Bulgaria and former New Zealand prime minister and ...

Kigali, Rwanda / AFP African heads of state meeting in Kigali failed on Monday to elect a new head of the African Union and will try again in January, an official said. Current AU Commission President Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma was due to stand down but leaders were unable to agree on a successor to lead the executive branch of the continental ...

  Brussels / AFP New British foreign minister and top Brexit backer Boris Johnson pledged on Monday Britain would continue to play a “leading role” in Europe as he met his European Union peers in Brussels for the first time. The normally ebullient Johnson was on his best behaviour after infuriating his partners in the run-up to last month’s referendum ...