INTERNATIONAL

Prime Minister Tony Abbott has refused to deny reports that an Australian navy ship paid the crew of a migrant boat to turn back to Indonesia. But Mr Abbott said Australia had developed “incredibly creative” approaches to stopping asylum boats from reaching Australia. Australia’s immigration and foreign ministers have denied allegations a payment was made to the crew. But Indonesia’s ...

China’s ex-security chief Zhou Yongkang has been jailed for life – the most senior politician to face corruption charges under Communist rule. He was found guilty of bribery, abuse of power and “intentionally disclosing national secrets”, China’s official Xinhua news agency reports. Until his retirement in 2012, Zhou was one of China’s most powerful men. He was put under investigation ...

Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott has urged Asia Pacific nations to fight jihadist groups, saying Islamic State (IS) has global ambitions. At a conference in Sydney on countering terrorist propaganda, he said IS was a death cult with far-reaching tentacles. Australia says more than 100 of its citizens are fighting with militant jihadist groups in Syria and Iraq. Last year, ...

Police in Egypt say they have foiled an attempted suicide bomb attack at the Temple of Karnak in Luxor, one of the country’s most popular tourist sites. Three men reportedly approached a barrier at the entrance to the temple complex on Wednesday morning. When confronted by police, one of the attackers detonated an explosive belt he was wearing. A second ...

The US police officer filmed wrestling a black girl to the ground and pointing his gun at teenagers in Texas has stepped down, officials say. They say Cpl Eric Casebolt, aged 41, submitted his resignation “on his own will” earlier on Tuesday. In a video – filmed on Friday in McKinney – Cpl Casebolt, who is white, is seen pinning ...

The remains of 44 victims of the Germanwings plane crash have arrived in Duesseldorf, where they will be returned to families for burial. Lufthansa sent the coffins by cargo plane on Tuesday night from Marseille. Elmar Giemulla, a lawyer for some of the families, said the arrival of the remains would give relatives “closure”. Co-pilot Andreas Lubitz is believed to ...

Exclusive footage reveals how Islamic State wields power over people’s everyday lives in Iraq’s second city, Mosul, a year after it was captured. Secretly filmed videos obtained by the BBC’s Ghadi Sary show mosques being blown up, abandoned schools, and women being forced to cover up their bodies. Residents said they were living in fear of punishment according to the ...

Three people have been killed and five injured in a shooting incident in a village in China’s northern Hebei province, state media report. A statement by local authorities said the suspected gunman Liu Shuangrui was also killed at the scene. It said he opened fire in a village in Suning county with a double-barrelled shotgun. One police officer was among ...

Exclusive footage from Iraq’s second city of Mosul reveals how Islamic State wields power over people’s everyday life, a year after it was captured. Secretly filmed videos obtained by the BBC’s Ghadi Sary show mosques being blown up, abandoned schools, and women being forced to cover up their bodies. Residents said they were living in fear of punishment according to ...

The US does not yet have a “complete strategy” for helping Iraq regain territory from Islamic State (IS), President Barack Obama has said. He said the Pentagon was reviewing ways to help Iraq train and equip its forces. But Mr Obama said a full commitment to the process was needed by the Iraqis themselves. He had earlier met Iraqi Prime ...