AFP, NEW DELHI: A convicted bomb plotter due to be hanged next week lodged yesterday a last-ditch challenge with India’s top court, claiming his death warrant had been issued before all legal avenues to appeal were exhausted. The Supreme Court on Tuesday rejected a final appeal by Yakub Memon,…

AFP, JUBA: UN aid chief Stephen O’Brien warned yesterday of the “devastating” toll on civilians in South Sudan, as he witnessed the impact of 19 months of a civil war marked by atrocities. O’Brien is on a four-day visit to see “first-hand the humanitarian consequences of…

AFP, BAGHDAD: Pentagon chief Ashton Carter flew to Baghdad Thursday for talks on Iraq’s war against the Islamic State group, whose “caliphate” is shrinking but is ramping up deadly car bombings. Carter was to meet Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi and Sunni Arab tribal leaders from Anbar,…

AFP, WASHINGTON: On the eve of his trip to Africa, US President Barack Obama said he was excited about the impending visit to his ancestral continent, which he said had great resilience and enormous potential for growth. Obama is due to leave on Thursday for Kenya, marking his first presidential visit…

AFP, NEW YORK: Protesters poured into New York’s Times Square on Wednesday to denounce the Iran nuclear deal as a threat to Israel and global security, demanding that Congress reject the agreement. Speakers, including Republican politicians, called on Congress to throw it out, whipping up the…

AFP, COLOMBO: Lawmakers in the Maldives have voted to allow foreign ownership of land for the first time, triggering concern over a possible landgrab by China in the strategic Indian Ocean region. Dozens of foreign companies already run luxury resorts on islands that they lease from the government of…