Kabul suicide car bomb: 30 killed in Afghan capital
A suicide car bomb has exploded in the Afghan capital, Kabul, killing at least 30 people, officials have told the BBC.
At least 42 people were injured in the blast and there are fears the number of casualties could rise.
The blast in the west of the city, in a mainly Shia district, struck a bus carrying government employees from the ministry of mines, officials said.
The Taliban said they had carried out the attack and were targeting intelligence service officials.
Kabul has seen a number of deadly attacks this year blamed on the Taliban or so-called Islamic State.
European and African ministers discuss plan to tackle flow of refugees
Meeting in Tunis follows pressure from UN refugee agency, which says EU efforts to train Libyan coastguard are not enough
European and African ministers are to meet in Tunis on Monday to discuss a plan to try to regularise the flow of refugees from Africa to Europe to about 20,000, coupled with a much tougher strategy to deport illegal migrants from Italy and break up smuggling rings.
The plan to regularise the migrant flow is being pushed by the UNHCR, the UN refugee agency, which warns that EU efforts to train the Libyan coastguard along with Italy’s intention to impose a new code of conduct on NGO rescue ships operating in the Mediterranean do not match the scale of the problem, or recognise the extent to which the flow of refugees and migrants is likely to become permanent.
The aim is to set up screening systems for EU-bound migrants in countries en route to Libya, such as Mali, Niger, Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, Chad and Sudan.
Staff of leading Turkish daily face trial in press freedom test
A group of journalists and directors from Cumhuriyet, one of Turkey’s leading newspapers, go on trial Monday in a high profile case that has raised new alarm bells over press freedom under Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
The 17 Cumhuriyet employees were detained in October under a state of emergency implemented after the July 15, 2016 failed coup blamed on the US-based preacher Fethullah Gulen.
If found guilty, they face up to 43 years in jail.
The trial, which opens Monday at Istanbul’s Çağlayan Justice Palace, is widely viewed as a test case for press freedom in Turkey, which ranks 155th on the latest Reporters Without Borders (RSF) world press freedom index -- below Belarus and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Suing for peace, Duterte gets all-out war
Communist rebels have seized on the government's pre-occupation with Islamic State linked militants to make strategic gains and undercut a once hopeful peace process
MANILA, JULY 24, 2017 2:24
I am here to bully you and to kill you because there’s a war going on between us and you are killing my soldiers,” Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte recently lashed out at exiled Communist Party of the Philippines’ (CPP) founder Jose Maria Sison.
“Maybe I will kill you if I have the chance.”
The Filipino president’s fiery comments against his former college professor and mentor came in response to escalating tensions between the Philippine government and communist rebels.
There are indications the insurgent group, the CPP’s affiliated New People’s Army (NPA), has seized on the government’s pre-occupation with combating Islamic State-affiliate groups in the besieged city of Marawi to up the momentum of its attacks.
Abe, on hot seat amid sagging support, denies favoritism claims
(Mainichi Japan)
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, facing a grilling from opposition lawmakers amid sagging support for his Cabinet, denied Monday favoritism allegations against him that have been blamed for his party's losses in two recent major local elections.
Abe told an ad hoc session of the House of Representatives Budget Committee that he was not asked by a friend for help in opening a new university department, and that he did not instruct government officials to benefit the friend's school operator.
Abe has faced allegations that he used his influence to sway the approval process for a new veterinary department of a private university run by Kake Educational Institution in a special economic zone. The group is headed by Abe's friend Kotaro Kake.
China demands India pulls back troops in border dispute
China tells India not 'to push your luck' and pull back troops from Doklam plateau amid rising tension.
China has demanded that India pull back its troops from a contested region high in the Himalayas, warning New Delhi not "to push your luck" amid a festering border dispute.
According to Indian officials, about 300 soldiers from either side face each other about 150 metres apart on the Doklam plateau, an area also claimed by India's ally Bhutan.
The stand-off began in June when Chinese troops started building a road onto the plateau towards India's border.
Bhutan sought help from India, which sent troops across the border from the northeastern state of Sikkim.
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