September, 2016

• 13 September

  ‘Last chance’ Syria truce holding on first full day

  

    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 ...

  Read More »
• 13 September

  Modi urges calm in B’lore after deadly protests

  

    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 ...

  Read More »
• 13 September

  South Sudan corruption report is ‘rubbish’: Govt

  

    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 ...

  Read More »
• 13 September

  Zimbabwe police ban Harare demonstrations

  

    Harare / AFP Zimbabwean police have announced a fresh ban on protests in the capital Harare, state media said on Tuesday, in another attempt to end demonstrations against veteran ruler President Robert Mugabe. The order came hours after a coalition of opposition parties said they would stage mass rallies across the country on Saturday to push for reform before ...

  Read More »
• 13 September

  Philippines says US ties strong despite Duterte tirades

  

    Manila / AFP The Philippines assured the United States on Tuesday it will honour its obligations as a military ally following volleys of profane tirades by unpredictable President Rodrigo Duterte. Duterte said he was “not a fan” of Washington and on Monday called for the small number of US military advisers to leave the southern Philippines. On Tuesday Duterte ...

  Read More »
• 13 September

  Tusk scolds Poland as tension erupts in Brexit’s wake

  

    Bloomberg European Union President Donald Tusk lashed out at his Polish compatriots, telling them to stop attacking the bloc as a spat between Luxembourg and Hungary underlined the east-west tension he’s struggling to defuse ahead of this week’s summit of European leaders. In untypically blunt remarks, Tusk told reporters after meeting Prime Minister Beata Szydlo in Warsaw that the ...

  Read More »
• 13 September

  Crisis forms backdrop to crucial Russia vote

  

    Moscow / AFP Russia gears up for parliamentary elections on September 18 in the grips of its longest economic crisis since President Vladimir Putin took charge in 2000. Despite falling incomes and rising poverty, parties loyal to the Kremlin strongman look set to dominate the vote yet again. What role is the crisis playing in the vote and can ...

  Read More »
• 13 September

  Brazil’s President Temer gets down to messy job of saving economy

  

    Brasília / AFP Fresh off his predecessor’s impeachment, Brazilian President Michel Temer is launching reforms meant to save the tanking economy, but his austerity plan risks triggering backlash — including among his allies. The center-right president was sworn in on August 31 to serve out the rest of predecessor Dilma Rousseff’s term, after she was removed from office on charges ...

  Read More »
• 13 September

  Zambia inaugurates president but challenger protests

    Lusaka / AFP Zambian President Edgar Lungu called for national unity in his inauguration speech on Tuesday, as a defeated opposition candidate dismissed the ceremony as “illegal and unconstitutional”. Lungu, who first took power last year, won the August 11 election by around 100,000 votes but his opponent Hakainde Hichilema has alleged that the result was riddled with fraud. ...

  Read More »
• 13 September

  Libya unity government loses third oil port to rivals

    Tripoli / AFP Libya’s UN-backed unity government lost control on Monday of a third oil port seized by rival forces, raising fears of a major outbreak of fresh violence in the chaos-ridden country. The loss comes after fighters backing a rival administration in east Libya seized two other terminals from guards loyal to the Tripoli-based Government of National Accord (GNA) ...

  Read More »