Review Myanmar’s ASEAN membership: Malaysia minister

  Kuala Lumpur/ AFP Myanmar’s membership of ASEAN must be reviewed because of its “ethnic cleansing” of the Rohingya Muslim minority, a senior Malaysian minister warned on Wednesday. Khairy Jamaluddin said the 10-country Association of Southeast Asian Nations’ principle of non-interference in member states’ domestic affairs was void in the context of such violence. Myanmar’s army has carried out a bloody ...

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Former Mali coup leader Sanogo on trial for murder

  Sikasso / AFP Amadou Sanogo, a former army captain who staged a military coup in Mali in 2012, went on trial Wednesday charged with the murder of several soldiers whose bodies were found in a mass grave. “I’m in fine spirits. I was waiting for this day,” Sanogo said at the opening of the trial, held in a packed concert ...

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Trump may select Mitt Romney as chief diplomat

  New York / AFP Donald Trump dined Tuesday at one of New York’s swankiest restaurants with Mitt Romney, his erstwhile foe turned potential frontrunner in the race to become America’s next secretary of state. The dinner came as the president-elect got a shot in the arm by a manufacturing company announcing a deal to keep nearly 1,000 jobs in ...

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Colombia peace accord wins Senate approval

  Bogota / AFP Colombia’s Senate has approved a revised peace accord between the government and the FARC rebel group, taking a first step toward ratifying an agreement that was rejected by voters. The text, which was renegotiated after an earlier version was given a thumbs down in the October 2 national referendum, now must be approved by the lower house ...

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UK hits back after EU rejects early Brexit talks on expats

  Beijing / AFP Prime Minister Theresa May hit back on Wednesday at the European Union’s refusal to open talks on the future of EU citizens in post-Brexit Britain before formal divorce talks begin. EU President Donald Tusk on Tuesday rebuffed a call by British lawmakers to put the status of Europeans in the UK and Britons living elsewhere in ...

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Ukraine warns Russia of rocket tests

  Kiev / AFP Ukraine ratcheted up tensions with Moscow on Wednesday by warning the Kremlin its military intended to hold two days of rocket launching exercises near the border with Russian-annexed Crimea. The tests would begin on Thursday and almost certainly further damage relations between two former Soviet neighbours that treat each other as open foes. Rocket exercises near the ...

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Britain says Cyprus solution within reach

  Nicosia / AFP Rival Cypriot leaders can overcome their differences in stalled peace negotiations if they show “flexibility”, British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson said on Wednesday after talks with the two sides. “I welcome the progress that has been made in recent months and I salute the courage and determination that is being shown by the leaders on both ...

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Austria far-right, left revel in happy regional union

  Eisenstadt / AFP Campaigners for Austria’s Greens-backed presidential candidate Alexander Van der Bellen are having a hard time in Burgenland state, where the far-right has carved out a cosy alliance with the Social Democrats, one of the country’s two main parties. The SPOe, which grew out of a Marxist worker’s movement and remains close to the unions, broke a major ...

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Lufthansa clips 900 flights as pilots’ strike drags on

  AFP / Bloomberg German heavyweight airline Lufthansa cancelled a further 890 flights on Wednesday as pilots remained on strike in a long-running wage dispute. Lufthansa said some 98,000 passengers were grounded by the walkout, which flight crew extended to long-haul flights after Tuesday’s action affected only short-haul services. The airline has sought to limit the impact of the strike ...

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Disney cuts off Chinese toy factory over alleged labour violations

  Bloomberg Walt Disney Co. ceased doing business with one Chinese toymaker and put another on notice following reports of labor violations. Disney, the world’s largest entertainment company, said in a memo posted on its website that it would no longer allow the Dongguan Qing Xi Juantiway Plastic Factory to make products featuring the company’s characters. The violations had been ...

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