🇲🇲War-torn Myanmar to hold first general election since 2021 coup
Myanmar will begin its general elections on 28 December, its military government announced, in a phased poll widely condemned as a sham that will be used to entrench the junta's power.
This will be the first vote since the junta seized power in a bloody coup in 2021, and imprisoned democratically elected leader Aung San Sung Kyi.
Myanmar has been embroiled in a civil war since, with deadly battles between the military and ethnic armed groups, many of whom have said they would not permit voting in their areas.
Previous plans to hold an election were repeatedly delayed as the military has struggled to contain an opposition insurgency which has gained control over much of the country.
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🇺🇸Washington talks could prove more vital for Ukraine's future than Trump-Putin summit
It is quite possible that Monday's meeting in the White House could prove even more crucial to the future of Ukraine - and for all of Europe's security - than last Friday's US-Russia summit in Alaska.
On the surface, that Putin-Trump reunion seemed to live down to every expectation.
There was no ceasefire, no sanctions, no grand announcements.
Were Ukraine and Europe about to get cut out of a deal cooked up behind closed doors by the world's two foremost nuclear powers?
Not, apparently, if Ukraine and its partners can prevent it.
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🇺🇸🇷🇺Trump and Putin leave Alaska with no Ukraine deal
US President Donald Trump has left Alaska without a deal to end the war in Ukraine, following a high-stakes meeting with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin.
"There's no deal until there's a deal," Trump told the world's media following the meeting, adding that "great progress" was made but "we didn't get there".
On his flight back to Washington he held a call with Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky, who later said he would travel to Washington on Monday. European leaders were also on the call.
Despite the fanfare around the summit - and Trump's confidence in being able to achieve a ceasefire - no tangible progress was made towards a resolution to the war in Ukraine.
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🇰🇵N Korea denies removing propaganda loudspeakers at border
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un's sister has rebutted South Korea's claims that Pyongyang removed some of its propaganda-blasting loudspeakers along the border.
North Korea has "never removed" the speakers and "are not willing to remove them", Kim Yo Jong said in a statement published by state media KCNA on Thursday.
"We have clarified on several occasions that we have no will to improve relations with [South Korea]," she said, adding that this stance "will be fixed in our constitution in the future".
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🇬🇧UK, 🇫🇷France and 🇩🇪Germany ready to reimpose sanctions on Iran over nuclear programme
The UK, France and Germany have told the UN they are ready to reimpose sanctions on Iran over its nuclear programme if it fails to resume talks by the end of August.
The three countries, known as the E3, said they were prepared to trigger a "snapback" mechanism - meaning previous sanctions would be reinstated - unless Iran resumes negotiations.
The E3 said they had offered to extend a deadline for negotiations to the end of August, which they said Iran has not replied to.
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🇷🇺🇰🇵Putin reaffirms 'friendship' with North Korea ahead of Trump talks
Russian President Vladimir Putin has reaffirmed his "friendship" with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, ahead of his talks with Donald Trump on Friday.
It also comes as the BBC reported the "slave-like" condition facing thousands of North Korean workers sent to Russia to take part in construction projects.
Putin and Kim spoke on Tuesday, with the Russian leader praising Pyongyang's military support for his country's war against Ukraine.
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🇺🇸🇨🇳US and China extend trade truce to avoid tariffs hike
The US and China have extended their trade truce for another 90 days, just hours before the world's two biggest economies were set to raise tariffs on imports of each other's goods.
On Monday, US President Donald Trump signed an executive order to keep the pause in place until 10 November, while Beijing also announced an extension.
It means the US will hold its levy on Chinese imports at 30%, while China will keep a 10% tariff on American goods.
Washington had threatened trade taxes as high as 145% on Chinese products earlier this year, with Beijing hitting back with 125% duties on US shipments. The rates for both countries were scaled back after a round of trade talks held in Geneva in May.
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🇨🇳🇵🇭China rams own warship while chasing Philippine vessel
A Chinese warship ploughed into its own coast guard vessel on Monday while the latter was chasing a Philippine vessel in the South China Sea, Manila said.
Philippine coast guard officials were distributing aid to fishermen in the disputed Scarborough Shoal, Commodore Jay Tarriela said, when the Chinese coast guard "performed a risky manoeuvre" which inflicted "substantial damage" on the Chinese warship's forward deck.
China confirmed that a confrontation took place and accused the Philippines of "forcibly intruding" into Chinese waters, but did not mention the collision.
The South China Sea is at the centre of a territorial dispute between China, the Philippines and other countries.
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🇺🇸🇷🇺Trump and Putin to meet in Alaska for Ukraine talks next week
US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin will meet in Alaska next Friday to discuss the future of the war in Ukraine.
Trump announced the 15 August meeting on social media and it was later confirmed by a Kremlin spokesperson, who said the location was "quite logical" given Alaska's relative proximity to Russia.
President Volodymyr Zelensky said any solutions must include Ukraine, adding he is ready to work with all partners towards a "lasting peace".
The announcement of the meeting came just hours after Trump had signalled that Ukraine might have to cede territory in order to end the war, which began with Russia's full-scale invasion of its neighbour in February 2022.
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🇲🇲Myanmar's figurehead president dies after long illness
Myanmar's figurehead president who came to power after a 2021 coup, Myint Swe, has died, the South East Asian nation's military leaders said. He was 74.
Before his death, Myint Swe had been on medical leave for over a year due to declining health.
Junta leader Min Aung Hlaing has been performing Myint Swe's largely ceremonial duties since July 2024.
The country's junta named Myint Swe acting president after it overthrew the civilian government led by Aung San Suu Kyi.
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🇺🇸🇮🇳Trump orders India tariff hike to 50% for buying Russian oil
US President Donald Trump has issued an executive order hitting India with an additional 25% tariff over its purchases of Russian oil.
That will raise the total tariff on Indian imports to the United States to 50% - among the highest rates imposed by the US.
The new rate will come into effect in 21 days, so on 27 August, according to the executive order.
A response from India's foreign ministry on Wednesday said Delhi had already made clear its stance on imports from Russia, and reiterated that the tariff is "unfair, unjustified and unreasonable".
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🇺🇸🇷🇺Trump's envoy Witkoff meets Putin as ceasefire deadline looms
A meeting between US envoy Steve Witkoff and Russia's Vladimir Putin is under way at the Kremlin, Russian media has said.
Witkoff arrived in Moscow on Wednesday as Donald Trump's deadline for Russia to agree a ceasefire in Ukraine looms.
The US president has said Russia could face hefty sanctions or see secondary sanctions imposed against all those who trade with it if it doesn't take steps to end the "horrible war" with Ukraine.
Volodymyr Zelensky, Ukraine's president, has warned that Russia would only make serious moves towards peace if it began to run out of money. He welcomed the threat of tougher US sanctions and tariffs on nations buying Russian oil.
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🇷🇴Former Romanian President Ion Iliescu dies aged 95
Former Romanian President Ion Iliescu, who presided over the country's chaotic transition from communism to democracy, has died aged 95.
Iliescu had been diagnosed with lung cancer and hospitalised in early June in Romania's capital, Bucharest.
"It is with deep regret that the government announces the passing of the former President of Romania, Mr Ion Iliescu," a government statement said.
Iliescu was Romania's first freely elected president, and served twice, between 1990-1996 and 2000-2004.
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🇮🇳🇺🇸India calls Trump's tariff threat over Russian oil 'unjustified'
India has called Donald Trump's threat of "substantially" higher tariffs over its purchase of oil from Russia "unjustified and unreasonable".
In a post on Truth Social, the US president warned he would raise levies, saying India "don't care how many people in Ukraine are being killed by the Russian War Machine".
India is currently among the largest buyers of Russian oil. It has become an important export market for Moscow after several European countries cut trade when Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
Trump did not specify what the new tariff would be, but it comes just days after he unveiled a hefty 25% levy on India.
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⚠️Hamas refuses to disarm until Palestinian state established
Hamas has reaffirmed that it will not agree to disarm unless a sovereign Palestinian state is established, in response to one of Israel's key demands in talks about a ceasefire in Gaza.
The Palestinian armed group said it was responding to remarks it attributed to US President Donald Trump's Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff that Hamas had "expressed its willingness" to lay down its weapons.
Israel considers the disarmament of Hamas one of several key conditions for any deal to end the conflict.
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🇧🇴Bolivia set to elect first non-left wing president in two decades
Bolivia is set to elect a non-left wing president after nearly two decades of near-continuous rule by the incumbent socialist party, according to official preliminary results.
Senator Rodrigo Paz Pereira and former president Jorge Quiroga came in first and second place respectively in Sunday's presidential elections.
Neither received a high enough share of the vote to secure an outright win, so the vote will go to a run-off between these two candidates, due in October.
Paz Pereira, of the Christian Democratic Party, was a surprise vote leader, after opinion polls had suggested Samuel Doria Medina, a businessman, was the frontrunner.
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🇺🇸US halts visitor visas used for medical trips from Gaza
The US State Department announced it was halting all visitor visas for people from Gaza.
The pause was issued to conduct a "full and thorough review of the process and procedures used to issue a small number of temporary medical-humanitarian visas in recent days," the agency said on X.
The decision has drawn condemnation from some Palestinian rights groups.
Palestine Children's Relief Fund said in a statement that the decision "will have a devastating and irreversible impact on our ability to bring injured and critically ill children from Gaza to the United States for lifesaving medical treatment".
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🇸🇬F1 tycoon fined $23,000 in Singapore gift scandal
A Singapore-based billionaire has been fined $23,400 (S$30,000; £17,251) after he had earlier pleaded guilty to a charge connected to a gift scandal that shocked the country last year.
Hotel tycoon Ong Beng Seng had admitted to abetting the obstruction of justice by helping ex-transport minister Subramaniam Iswaran cover up evidence while the latter was being investigated for corruption.
Ong gave expensive gifts, including an all-expenses paid trip with a private jet ride, to Iswaran while they were engaged in official business.
The 79-year-old had faced a maximum penalty of seven years in jail but a judge said "judicial mercy" would be granted in light of his poor health.
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🇵🇪Peru president issues amnesty for hundreds accused of atrocities
Peru's president has signed a controversial new law pardoning soldiers, police and civilian militias on trial for atrocities during the country's two-decade armed conflict against Maoist rebels.
Dina Boluarte enacted the measure that was passed by Congress in July, despite an order from the Inter-American Court of Human Rights to suspend it pending a review of its impact on victims.
The law will benefit hundreds of members of the armed forces, police and self-defence committees accused of crimes committed between 1980 and 2000.
It will also mandate the release of those over 70 serving sentences for such offences.
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🇫🇷🇨🇲Macron admits French repression in Cameroon's independence struggle
French President Emmanuel Macron has acknowledged the violence committed by his country's forces in Cameroon during and after the Central African nation's struggle for independence.
It followed a joint report by Cameroonian and French historians examining France's suppression of independence movements from 1945 to 1971.
In a letter to Cameroon's President Paul Biya made public on Tuesday, Macron said the report made clear "a war had taken place in Cameroon, during which the colonial authorities and the French army exercised repressive violence of several kinds in certain regions of the country".
"It is up to me today to assume the role and responsibility of France in these events," he said.
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🇰🇷Wife of South Korea's jailed ex-president arrested
The wife of South Korea's jailed former president, Yoon Suk Yeol, has been arrested over a raft of charges, including stock manipulation and bribery.
Former first lady Kim Keon Hee denied all charges during a four-hour court hearing in Seoul on Tuesday. But the court issued a detention warrant, citing the risk that she may destroy evidence.
South Korea has a history of former presidents being indicted and imprisoned. However, this is the first time both the former president and former first lady have been jailed.
Yoon was detained in January to face trial over a failed martial law bid last year that plunged the country into chaos and eventually led to his ouster.
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🇺🇸🇷🇺Trump says he will try to get back territory for Ukraine in talks with Putin
US President Donald Trump has said he will try to get some territory back for Ukraine during his meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday.
"Russia's occupied a big portion of Ukraine. They occupied prime territory. We're going to try to get some of that territory back for Ukraine," he told a news conference at the White House.
He and the Russian president are due to hold talks in Alaska at the end of the week. Trump claimed that he could know within two minutes of meeting Putin whether progress was possible.
He said Friday would be a "feel-out meeting" aimed at urging Putin to end the war - suggesting he may view the summit as just an initial encounter.
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🇲🇽🇺🇸Mexico rejects Trump's reported military plan against drug cartels
Mexico has said US military would not be entering its territory following reports that President Donald Trump had directed the Pentagon to target Latin American drug cartels.
"The United States is not going to come to Mexico with the military," President Claudia Sheinbaum said on Friday. "We co-operate, we collaborate, but there is not going to be an invasion. That is ruled out, absolutely ruled out."
The New York Times reported on Friday that Trump had secretly signed a directive to begin using military force on foreign soil.
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🇦🇿🇦🇲Azerbaijan and Armenia sign peace deal at White House summit with Trump
The leaders of Azerbaijan and Armenia signed an agreement aimed at ending decades of conflict as they were hosted by President Donald Trump at the White House on Friday.
Azerbaijan's President Ilham Aliyev and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan shook hands after the US president described the event as "historic".
"It's been a long time coming," Trump said of the agreement, which will reopen some key transport routes between the countries and increase US influence in the region.
Azerbaijan and Armenia fought over Nagorno-Karabakh, an ethnically Armenian enclave in Azerbaijan, in the 1980s and 1990s and violence has flared up in the years since.
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🇮🇹Italy gives final approval for world's longest suspension bridge to Sicily
Rome has given final approval to a €13.5bn ($15.6bn) project to build the world's longest suspension bridge, connecting the island of Sicily to the region of Calabria, on the tip of Italy's boot.
The designers claim the bridge – which is due to be built on one of the most seismically active areas in the Mediterranean – will be able to withstand earthquakes.
It is the latest attempt by Italian officials to launch the Messina Bridge project - several have tried over the years but plans have later been scrapped due to concerns over cost, environmental damage, safety or potential mafia meddling.
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🇮🇪Irish president welcomes Princess Anne to Dublin
Irish president Michael D Higgins has welcomed the Princess Royal to his official residence in Dublin.
Princess Anne visited Áras an Uachtaráin in what has been described as "a courtesy call".
The King's sister met President Higgins and his wife, Sabina, on her second visit to the president's residence.
She is also attending the official opening day of the 150th Dublin Horse Show at the Royal Dublin Society (RDS).
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🇬🇧Rwanda says it has agreed to take up to 250 migrants from the US
Rwanda has said it will accept up to 250 migrants from the US in a deal agreed with President Donald Trump's administration.
Under the scheme the deportees would be given "workforce training, health care, and accommodation to jump start their lives in Rwanda", government spokesperson Yolande Makolo confirmed to the BBC.
A condition of the agreement was that Rwanda would have "the ability to approve each individual proposed for resettlement", she added.
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🇺🇸🇧🇷US condemns house arrest of Brazil's ex-president Jair Bolsonaro
Brazil's Supreme Court has ordered that the former right-wing President Jair Bolsonaro be put under house arrest.
He is standing trial over allegations he plotted a coup, which he denies.
The judge in charge of investigating Bolsonaro, Alexandre de Moraes, said the decision was because Bolsonaro hadn't complied with restraining orders put on him last month.
In response to the order, Bolsonaro's legal team denied breaching any restraining order and said they would appeal the ruling, according to Reuters news agency.
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🇸🇬F1 tycoon pleads guilty to abetting the obstruction of justice
A Singapore-based billionaire hotelier has pleaded guilty to a charge connected to a rare corruption scandal that shocked the country last year.
Ong Beng Seng has admitted to abetting the obstruction of justice by helping ex-transportation minister Subramaniam Iswaran cover up evidence while he was being investigated for corruption.
Ong gave expensive gifts, including an all-expenses paid trip which included a private jet ride, to Iswaran while they were engaged in official business.
Ministers in Singapore cannot keep gifts unless they pay the market value of the gift to the government, and they must declare anything they receive from people they have business dealings with.
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Mali charges ex-PM with undermining the state over post on X
A former prime minister of Mali, which is now under military rule, has been charged with undermining the credibility of the state over comments on social media.
After a prison visit to see detained opposition figures in July, Moussa Mara declared on X his "unwavering solidarity with prisoners of conscience".
Mara, who served as prime minister for nine months a decade ago, has been a recent outspoken critic of the military government.
The junta, in power since coups in 2020 and 2021, dissolved all political parties in May following rare anti-government protests.
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