SYDNEY: Australian PM Tony Abbott has defended what critics have described as government secrecy over asylum policy. Officials have in recent days refused to comment on reports that Australian naval forces have turned back at least one boat to...
"Our soldiers have lost control of Bor to the force of Riek Machar," said army spokesman Philip Aguer. President Salva Kiir has accused Mr Machar, the former vice-president, of plotting a coup - a claim he denies. The unrest, which began in the...
Fresh violence broke out on Tuesday, a day after the government said it had quashed an attempted coup. Thousands of people have sought shelter at two UN compounds in the capital. On Monday, President Salva Kiir blamed soldiers loyal to his former...
Thamsanqa Dyantyi, who stood alongside national and international leaders at the event, has blamed his actions on a schizophrenic episode. He said he had become violent during such episodes in the past. The agency who employed him, SA Interpreters,...
To Graça Machel and the Mandela family; to President Zuma and members of the government; to heads of state and government, past and present; distinguished guests - it is a singular honour to be with you today, to celebrate a life unlike any other....
More than 70 heads of state and government are expected to attend the events. US President Barack Obama will attend Tuesday's memorial service at the Soweto stadium, while others will arrive later in the week for Mandela's burial on December 15 in...
The American writer Maya Angelou has written and recited a poem in honour of Nelson Mandela, whom she met in the 1960s when she lived in Cairo. In the poem, His Day is Done, Angelou mourns Mandela's death, praises him as a modern-day...
US President Barack Obama, Francois Hollande of France and UK PM David Cameron will be among those attending Tuesday's memorial at a Soweto stadium. South Africa's first black president died on Thursday and the nation has held a day of prayer and...
The bill, which was adopted by a vote of 268 to 138, with 79 abstentions, establishes a fine of at least 1,500 euros ($2,030) for buying sexual acts. Under the new bill, prostitution will remain legal and the act of soliciting will now not be...
The Nonhuman Rights Project wants a chimp named Tommy to be granted "legal personhood" and thus entitled to the "fundamental right of bodily liberty". The group is planning to file the same lawsuit on behalf of three other chimps across New York...
Citing South Korea's intelligence agency, they say Chang Song-thaek, 67, lost his position as vice-chairman of the North's top military body. Two close aides were also executed for corruption, according to the reports. If confirmed, Mr Chang's...
It is the first time the UN's human rights office has so directly implicated Mr Assad. Commissioner Navi Pillay said her office held a list of others implicated by the inquiry. The UN estimates more than 100,000 people have died in the...
Japanese aircraft had conducted routine "surveillance activity" over the East China Sea zone, the top government spokesman said. South Korea had also conducted a flight, its defence ministry said. China says planes transiting the zone, which covers...
He made the announcement at a meeting with President Andris Berzins, Latvian and other media reported. "The country needs a government which is capable of resolving the situation which has emerged," he was quoted as saying by the Baltic news agency...
The protesters, who began their action over the weekend, want the government of Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra to step down. After a huge rally on Sunday, crowds marched on Monday to several different locations in the city. The protests have...
The court said on its official microblog that using "freezing, starving, extreme heat, fire branding or extreme exhaustion" to extract confessions was also illegal. It is the latest in a series of moves aimed at reforming the Chinese police and...
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said he would not intervene directly in the negotiations, but that he had set "red lines" for Iran's representatives. President Barack Obama meanwhile urged US senators not to impose new sanctions on Iran to allow time for...
There are conflicting reports as to whether the Iranian cultural attache survived the attack or was killed. Iran is a major backer of the Lebanese Shia militant group Hezbollah, which has sent fighters to Syria to back the government of Bashar...
Bernard Randall, originally from Faversham, Kent, denies a charge of trafficking obscene publications. Homosexual acts are illegal in Uganda and Mr Randall faces a possible two-year prison sentence if found guilty. The 65-year-old is charged...
In future, families will be allowed two children if one parent is an only child, says the Xinhua news agency. The one-child policy already exempts rural dwellers and ethnic minorities. The move comes after this week's meeting of a key...
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