China’s Xi and Iran’s Pezeshkian in Kyrgyzstan, Putin expected

China’s Xi Jinping and Iranian President Massoud Pezeshkian were in Kyrgyzstan for a summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, with Russia’s Vladimir Putin expected later on Monday for the two-day event that will involve over a dozen other leaders. The regional SCO bloc — which seeks to be a counterinfluence to the West — is celebrating […]

Rescuers hunt for missing after deadly N.Cyprus ferry accident

Rescuers were on Monday still hunting for survivors a day after a ferry capsized off Northern Cyprus, leaving eight dead and more than a dozen missing, authorities said. The ferry left the northern port of Girne around midday (0900 GMT) on Sunday en route for the Turkish mainland but capsized shortly afterwards, sparking a major […]

Iran, US trade fire in first exchange for a month

Iran attacked US military targets in the Middle East on Monday in retaliation for American strikes on an island in the Strait of Hormuz, the first exchange of fire for a month in a war that has engulfed the region. Six months into the conflict, the two sides remain at an impasse, with Iran keeping […]

South Korea court gives Unification Church leader 2 years prison

A South Korean court sentenced the leader of the secretive and powerful Unification Church on Monday to two years in prison on charges of bribing officials, including the then president’s wife. Han Hak-ja, 83, was accused of providing luxury items, including a designer handbag, to former first lady Kim Keon Hee while her husband, Yoon […]

Ethiopia’s Abiy could consolidate power as ‘executive president’

A weeks-long political dialogue in Ethiopia has backed constitutional changes to create a new presidential system that could extend Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s control over the country. Abiy, 50, has ruled the Horn of Africa country of 130 million since 2018. His party won another landslide victory at elections in June, albeit in the midst of a […]

Mauled Australian swimmer recalls punching shark

An Australian school teacher mauled by a large shark at a Sydney beach says she fired a “left hook” at the predator before it dragged her underwater. Leah Stewart, a primary school teacher, was placed in an induced coma and had part of her left arm amputated after the June 13 attack at Sydney’s Coogee […]

Passengers stranded overnight by Kenya airport strike

Hundreds of passengers were stranded at Kenya’s main international airport overnight as the latest strike by workers entered a second day on Monday. Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) in Nairobi is a major hub for the east African region and vital to the country’s tourism trade, but has seen multiple strikes in recent years as workers […]

South Korea court gives Unification Church leader 2 years prison

A South Korean court sentenced the leader of the secretive and powerful Unification Church on Monday to two years in prison on charges of bribing officials, including the then president’s wife. Han Hak-ja, 83, was accused of providing luxury items, including a designer handbag, to former first lady Kim Keon Hee while her husband, Yoon […]

Nepal recovers bodies but presses on for trapped tunnel workers

Nepali rescuers raced on Monday in a bid to free dozens of hydropower workers believed trapped in tunnels after devastating floods as search efforts entered a sixth day, officials said. Rescuers pulled three dead bodies out of two tunnels, finding routes smothered in mud. No contact has yet been made with any of those feared […]