EDITED BY KALAHAN DENG The funeral of Uzbekistan’s President Islam Karimov, who died after a stroke this week aged 78, has taken place in the city of Samarkand. Thousands lined the streets in both Samarkand and in Tashkent, from where his coffin was earlier flown. Karimov, one of Asia’s most autocratic leaders, ruled for 27 years, and was accused by ...

EDITED BY KALAHAN DENG The Abu Sayyaf militant group was responsible for a bomb attack in the home city of Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte which killed at least 14 people, the government has said. Dozens were wounded in the blast at a market in the southern city of Davao. Mr Duterte – who was in Davao at the time of ...

EDITED BY KALAHAN DENG Australia’s prime minister has said he “read the riot act” to three ministers after they went home early, meaning his government lost a series of votes. Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull’s conservative coalition holds a majority of one seat in the parliament. The opposition Labor Party came within a single vote of calling for a royal commission ...

EDITED BY KALAHAN DENG It’s monsoon season in the Philippines and in a ramshackle neighbourhood in Quezon City, near Manila, a sudden downpour has left gray puddles in the rutted streets and fat, dirty drops of rainwater steadily dripping from corrugated metal roofs. It’s getting late as Leny Glivano, the neighbourhood captain, a small woman with a zeal in her ...

EDITED BY KALAHAN DENG Twenty-five years ago this month, the Soviet Union was falling apart. A short-lived coup against the last Soviet leader, Mikhail Gorbachev, had failed, but some of the republics that made up the continent-spanning nation had declared independence. On August 24, 1991, Ukraine followed suit, launching itself on a rocky journey. Territory lost For years, the country ...

EDITED BY KALAHAN DENG Negotiators seeking to end the five-decades-old bloody insurgency in Colombia said Wednesday they had reached a final peace deal in one of the world’s longest-running conflicts. For nearly four years, representatives from the Colombian government and the FARC rebel group have struggled to reach a deal that would not only end the fighting but also address ...

EDITED BY KALAHAN DENG In an unassuming Quezon City neighbourhood, across from a municipal library and around the corner from a police station stands the local jail. A short ride from Manila — depending on traffic — the jail isn’t an imposing building, or even a particularly large one. Its total floor area is a shade over 30,000 square feet.More ...

REPORTED BY KALAHAN DENG Feyisa Lilesa of Ethiopia finished the Olympic marathon in second place with his arms crossed over his head, as a sign of solidarity for the Oromo people, his native group and the largest ethnic group in the country. By speaking out, he may not be able to go home.

REPORTED BY KALAHAN DENG In streaking away from the field on the final lap to Olympic gold for a fourth time, Mo Farah has stormed into the very upper echelons of any list of British sporting greats and stands on the verge of joining the select band with a knighthood. But even in his moment of triumph, the most decorated ...

REPORTED BY KALAHAN DENG Well hey, that ended up being kind of fun. While it’s true that Canadians don’t always get quite as excited about the Summer Olympics as some other countries we could mention, we still enjoy a good show. And for the most part, that’s what the last two weeks delivered, as Canadian athletes treated us to an ...