Nepali voters cast their ballots for a new parliament Sunday in a contest dominated by public frustrations over the Himalayan republic's elderly political elite and anxiety over its teetering economy.. Though analysts expect Nepal's entrenched political veterans to again dominate the next assembly, many voters have lost faith in the status quo and a mood for change is palpable.
Turkey has launched a string of offensives in neighbouring Syria since 2016 targeting Kurdish militias, Islamic State group jihadists and forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad.. - Peace Spring - Turkey launched a broad air and ground assault against Kurdish militias in northeastern Syria after former President Donald Trump controversially withdrew US forces from the region in October 2019.
Turkey announced early Sunday it had carried out air strikes against outlawed Kurdish militant bases across northern Syria and Iraq which it said were being used to launch "terrorist" attacks on its soil.. "In line with our self-defence rights arising from Article 51 of the United Nations Charter, air operation Claw-Sword was carried out in the regions in the north of Iraq and Syria which are used as bases for attacks on our country by terrorists," it added.
The World Cup kicks off with host nation Qatar facing Ecuador on Sunday as the month-long football showpiece finally gets under way after a tortuous 12-year build-up dogged by off-field controversies.. World Cup organisers hope the start of the football will quell the controversies that have overshadowed preparations for the tournament ever since Qatar was named as host nation in a shock FIFA vote in 2010.
When dozens of Syrian asylum seekers were stranded on the Greek-Turkish border in July, lawyer Evgenia Kouniaki never imagined taking on their case would lead to her quitting her NGO in protest at perceived government pressure.. - 'Toxic' rhetoric - "We have had to deal with dozens of similar situations... but this high-profile case embarrassed the government," said Kouniaki, who was denied access to the northern Greek camp where the Syrians were later taken.
Syrian refugee swimmer Yusra Mardini, who almost drowned at sea fleeing her war-torn country before competing at two Olympics, hopes a new film about her life will help other displaced people.. It's where I belong" and predicting she would one day compete in the Olympics.
Rival blocs claimed on Sunday they had secured the support they needed to form a government after Malaysia's hotly contested poll saw no party emerge with a clear majority of parliamentary seats.. Ethnic Malay parties have campaigned on a platform that claims that members of Malaysia's majority ethnicity would lose their rights if non-Malays -- such as Anwar's multi-ethnic bloc -- are elected.
King Charles III next week hosts his first state visit as monarch, welcoming South African President Cyril Ramaphosa and his wife to Buckingham Palace.. The last state visit to the UK came in June 2019, when queen Elizabeth II hosted US president Donald Trump and his wife Melania.
The West's attempts to persuade Ukraine to negotiate with Moscow, after a series of major military victories by Kiev, are "bizarre" and amount to asking for its capitulation, a key adviser to the Ukrainian presidency told AFP. "When you have the initiative on the battlefield, it's slightly bizarre to receive proposals like: 'you will not be able to do everything by military means anyway, you need to negotiate," said Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky's adviser Mykhaylo Podolyak.. According to Podolyak, Moscow has not made "any direct proposal" to Kiev for peace talks, preferring to transmit them through intermediaries and even raising the possibility of a ceasefire.
Vulnerable nations least responsible for planet-heating emissions have been battling for three decades for wealthy polluters to cough up the cash for climate damages.. In the end a decision to create a loss and damage fund was the first item confirmed on Sunday morning after fraught negotiations went overnight with nations clashing over a range of issues around curbing planet-heating emissions.
