AFP, JUBA: South Sudan President Salva Kiir met regional leaders yesterday ahead of an expected signing of a peace deal with rebels, amid threats of UN sanctions in the absence of an accord. Presidential spokesman Ateny Wek Ateny has told AFP that Kiir “will sign the peace agreement”, but…

AFP, BANGKOK: Thailand destroyed more than two tonnes of ivory Wednesday—a victory for animal rights groups fighting against the trade in a country renowned for being a hub for illegal tusks. The ceremony, in which 2,155 kilograms of raw tusks and carved trinkets were fed into an industrial rock…

AFP, PARIS: Some 35 aid groups from around the world, including ActionAid and Oxfam, launched a joint call yesterday to end Israel’s blockade of the Gaza Strip, which is in dire need of reconstruction. Last summer’s devastating war in Gaza caused mass casualties, killing 2,251 Palestinians,…

AFP, NAKYAL SECTOR, Pakistan: India and Pakistan aborted rare talks this weekend under a cloud of recriminations, while on the front line of their festering conflict in Kashmir, villagers cowering from artillery in mud huts despair of ever seeing lasting peace. Pakistan’s National Security Adviser…

AFP, COLOMBO: The United States said yesterday it backed the new Sri Lankan government’s plans for a local inquiry into alleged wartime atrocities, reversing its demand for an international probe. Assistant Secretary of State Nisha Biswal said the US wants to sponsor a resolution at next month’s…

IS kills two police in Egypt’s Sinai AFP, CAIRO: Gunmen killed two Egyptian policemen Wednesday in the Sinai Peninsula, the interior ministry said, in an attack claimed by Islamic State group jihadists. Egypt’s security forces have come under regular attack since the military ousted Islamist…