AFP, PARIS: French police interrogated a suspected Islamist yesterday as they tried to piece together an attack in which the man put his boss's severed head on display in the second jihadist attack to hit France in six months. Prime Minister Manuel Valls, who cut short an official trip to South…

AFP, BANGKOK: Fourteen Thai students were taken into custody early yesterday after staging an anti-coup rally on charges that could see them jailed for seven years, police said, as the ruling junta escalates its chokehold on dissent. The pro-democracy campaigners are among the few activists that have…

AFP, VIENNA: US Secretary of State John Kerry and Iran's foreign minister both warned yesterday of hard work ahead as they sought to seal a historic deal after almost two years of intense diplomatic effort. “We've a lot of hard work to do. There are some very tough issues, and I think…

AFP, BEIRUT: Kurdish forces drove Islamic State group fighters from the flashpoint Syrian border town of Kobane yesterday, after a killing spree by the jihadists left more than 200 civilians dead. Fighters of the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) stormed IS's last remaining position, taking…

AFP, BUJUMBURA: Attackers in Burundi set fire to a building storing election material yesterday, two days ahead of key polls and following weeks of violence over President Pierre Nkurunziza's bid to stay in power. National electoral commission officials confirmed the attack in the northeast Ntega…

AFP, NEW YORK: A convicted killer who broke out of a maximum-security New York prison three weeks ago was shot dead by authorities Friday, police said, as they continued to hunt for his fellow escapee. Richard Matt, 49, was killed in the upstate town of Malone, less than 16  kilometers from the…

AFP, NUKU'ALOFA: Tonga yesterday began a week of celebrations to mark the upcoming coronation of the Pacific nation's monarch, King Tupou VI, with an ancient ceremony involving the mildly narcotic drink kava. The build-up to the July 4 coronation started near the Royal Palace in Nuku'alofa,…