World

UNITED NATIONS, United States — The UN General Assembly on Thursday appointed Antonio Guterres as the new secretary general of the United Nations, in a shift towards a more high-profile leadership of the world body.

The 193 member states adopted by consensus a resolution formally naming the former prime minister of Portugal as UN chief for a five-year term beginning January 1.

The socialist politician, who also served as UN refugee chief for a decade, is expected to play a more prominent role as the world’s diplomat-in-chief than Ban Ki-moon, the South Korean who will step down after two five-year terms.

His appointment comes at a time of global anxiety over the ongoing war in Syria, the refugee crisis and raging conflicts in South Sudan and Yemen.

Guterres was greeted by loud applause as he entered the packed hall following the vote and told the assembly he was “fully aware of the challenges the UN faces and the limitations of the secretary-general”.

 The 67-year-old polyglot pledged to work as a “convener, a mediator, a bridge-builder and an honest broker” to confront global crises.

On Syria, the most pressing crisis on the UN agenda, Guterres said it was time for world powers to overcome divisions over ending the war, just as the key players were gearing up for a new round of talks at the weekend.

“Whatever divisions might exist, now it’s more important to unite,” Guterres told reporters after the vote. “It’s high time to fight for peace.”

 The United States and Russia are to host a meeting of the countries involved in the Syrian conflict in the Swiss city of Lausanne on Saturday, and Washington will then hold talks with its European partners in London on Sunday.

The Security Council is deadlocked over Syria after two draft resolutions were defeated in separate votes, one of which was vetoed by Damascus ally Russia.

Fighting terrorists and populists 

The first former head of government to become UN chief also called for determined action to confront terrorists and populists who “reinforce each other” in their extremism.

“We must make sure that we are able to break these alliances between all those terrorist groups or violent extremists on one side, and the expression of populism and xenophobia on the other side,” he said.

The remarks were directed at the rise of European far-right politicians and also US presidential contender Donald Trump whose anti-immigrant platform has triggered global alarm.

Guterres campaigned on a pledge to promote human rights and enact reforms within the UN system, seen as clunky and too slow to respond to unfolding disasters.

US Ambassador Samantha Power praised Guterres as “supremely qualified” to be secretary-general and stressed he was chosen at a time when the world looks to the United Nations to “do more than it has ever done before”.

 She called on him to act as a peacemaker, a reformer and an advocate and declared that he brings “both head and heart” to what has been described as the most impossible job in the world.

Ban told the assembly that Guterres was well-known in diplomatic circles as a man of compassion during his decade as UN high commissioner for refugees.

“He is perhaps best known where it counts most — on the frontlines of armed conflict and humanitarian suffering,” said Ban.

“His political instincts are those of the United Nations — cooperation for the common good, and shared responsibility for people and the planet.”

 Guterres is set to move into his new office with his transition team in downtown Manhattan, just across from UN headquarters, until he formally takes up the job on January 1.

BANGKOK — Thailand's King Bhumibol Adulyadej, the world's longest-reigning monarch, has died at the age of 88, the palace announced on Thursday, leaving a divided nation bereft of a rare figure of unity.

US President Barack Obama led global tributes to Bhumibol, whose death ends a remarkable seven-decade reign and plunges Thailand into a deeply uncertain future.

Most Thais have known no other monarch and he has been portrayed as a guiding light through decades of political turmoil, coups and violent unrest.

In a statement the palace said the king passed away at 3:52pm.

As the news filtered out, large crowds erupted in mourning outside the hospital where Bhumibol spent most of the last two years, many of them wailing and sobbing. 

"How will Thailand live without you father?" cried one distressed young man as others chanted "Long Live the King!"

 Prime Minister Prayut Chan-O-Cha, the former army chief who leads Thailand's ruling junta, described the king's passing as "the most devastating moment for Thais" since the death of his predecessor and older brother Ananda in 1946.

He moved quickly to declare that the king's 64-year-old son, Crown Prince Maha Vajiralongkorn, is the named successor.

The crown prince is much less well-known to Thais and has yet to attain his father's widespread popularity. He spends much of his time overseas, especially in Germany, and is a keen pilot.

Year-long mourning 

In a televised address to the nation, Prayut said Thailand would hold a one-year mourning period and that all entertainment functions must be "toned down" for a month.

Trading on the Thai stock exchange would not be suspended, he added.

Bhumibol's death is a major test for the country's generals, who seized power in 2014 vowing to restore stability after a decade of political chaos, a turbulent period exacerbated by the king's declining health as jostling elites competed for power.

The military has deep links with the palace and many inside the kingdom saw the putsch as a move to ensure generals could stamp down on any instability during a succession.

It is difficult to overestimate Bhumibol's importance to most of his subjects. 

Backed by an intense palace-driven personality cult, he is revered as a demigod by many, seen as rising above the kingdom's notoriously fractious political scene.

It is not unusual to see Thais moved to tears when they talk of a future without him. 

Officially known as King Rama IX, he descended from the Chakri dynasty which came to power in Thailand in the late eighteenth century.

His subjects have had many years to get used to the prospect of no longer having Bhumibol — their king has not been seen in public for months and has suffered prolonged ill health.

But his passing is still a huge shock to the nation.

His reign spanned a remarkable era in which Thailand transformed itself from an impoverished, rural nation into one of the region's most successful economies, dodging the civil wars and communist takeovers of its neighbours.

He built a reputation for criss-crossing the nation to visit the rural poor and sometimes intervened to quell key moments of political violence — although other times he stayed silent and he approved most of the army's many coups during his reign.

In a statement Obama described Bhumibol as a "close friend" and "tireless champion" of his country's development. UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said he was a "unifying national leader... respected internationally".

Criticism muted 

Any criticism or effective republican sentiment has been erased inside Thailand by a draconian lese majeste law, use of which has surged since the military's latest takeover.

In recent years, and especially since the 2014 coup, the heir apparent Vajiralongkorn has made more frequent public appearances inside Thailand and taken on a larger number of royal engagements.

He will inherit one of the world's richest monarchies.

During his reign Bhumibol, with his establishment allies, built up a multi-billion-dollar-empire spanning property, construction and banks under the banner of the Crown Property Bureau (CPB).

Analysts say the CPB's vast reserves allowed the crown to build a deep network among the Thai elite, helping insulate the king from the political pressures felt by monarchs who rely chiefly on state funding.

The palace's announcement that the king was gravely ill sent shudders through the stock market and pushed the baht currency to a two-month low earlier this week.

"The death of Thailand's highly-revered king will plunge the country into a state of mourning, and also deep political uncertainty," Capital Economics said in a note.

"There is a risk that political tensions flare up, triggering a slowdown in economic growth," it said. "All eyes now will turn to the succession process."

CANBERRA, Australia — The Australian Senate on Thursday lifted tough censorship rules on media coverage of its sessions at the urging of a senator who himself was recently snapped snoozing in the chamber.

Independent lawmaker Derryn Hinch, who is a former journalist, was caught napping by a photographer in the senate in August when it sat for the first time after July elections.

The extraordinary restrictions on press photographers working in the senate have banned such candid and unflattering pictures for the past 25 years. Senators can be snapped only when they stand to speak.

The rules had been relaxed the day Hinch was photographed because of the special circumstances of the opening of Australia's 45th Parliament. It was a rare sitting of all federal 226 lawmakers in a single chamber to hear a speech by the governor-general. Many, like Hinch, had never before been seen publicly as senators because they had just been elected. Lawmakers in the house of representative were accustomed to more liberal media rules in their own chamber.

Hinch on Thursday successfully moved the motion that allows the press to photograph largely whatever they want in the senate. No senator opposed the motion to lift the current restrictions from November 28. The senate rules will then be the same as those in the house of representatives. Media are not permitted to photograph the contents of lawmakers' documents in either chamber.

"It sounds crazy, but I got caught falling asleep... and that was the only day you could legally take my photo," the 72-year-old told reporters. "I could sleep every afternoon for the rest of the session and you're not allowed to photograph it — now that's just wrong."

 Hinch, who was dubbed "the Human Headline" during his media career due to his tendency to become the centre of news stories, denied suspicions that his nap was a publicity stunt. But he said the fact that he was caught and still wanted more media freedom added impetus to his campaign.

He personally defied the restrictions by photographing himself in the chamber and posting the picture on social media. He was not sanctioned for the rule breech.

The censorship rules ignited debate in March when a journalist tweeted from the senate that a senator was playing the video game Candy Crush on his iPad. Senate security then seized the journalist's phone in case it contained photographic evidence, sparking complaints from the media that security had overstepped its authority.

Federal Parliamentary Press Gallery President Andrew Meares welcomed the Senate rule change after 25 years of negotiations with journalists.

OTTAWA, Ontario — French Prime Minister Manuel Valls said Thursday that his country supports the election of Hillary Clinton over Donald Trump in the upcoming US presidential election.

Valls said during a visit to Ottawa that he and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau have discussed the US election. Valls did not share Trudeau’s thoughts, but he was categorical about his pick in the November 8 election: Clinton.

Valls, speaking in French, said US President Barack Obama was “elected by the world” and “Trump is rejected by the world”.

 On the allegations of sexually predatory behaviour swirling around the Republican nominee, a stone-faced Trudeau — a self-avowed feminist — would say only that he “has stood clearly and strongly all my life around issues of sexual harassment”.

 The two prime ministers were scheduled to travel to Montreal later in the day for discussions with Quebec Premier Philippe Couillard about the Canada-EU free trade deal.

Valls said he expects Trudeau to be in Brussels on October 27 to sign the deal.

Trudeau called the deal a “win-win” for both sides. He also said it is a “progressive agreement that heralds a new approach with regard to defending the rights of governments to legislate on the environment, the rights of workers, the issues that our constituents care about”.

Trudeau ended a joint news conference with Valls on a pointed note, saying that in a post-Brexit world, not signing the agreement would send a strong and unsavoury message.

“If Europe cannot manage to sign this agreement, that sends a very clear message not only to Europeans but to the whole world that Europe is choosing a path that is not productive either for its citizens or for the world,” he said. “That would be a shame.”

Climate change and the Canada-EU free trade deal have been singled out by Trudeau’s office as being among Canada’s top priorities.

Speaking to reporters at the French embassy early Thursday, Valls also reiterated France’s desire to see Canada send peacekeepers to West Africa to join the fight against Islamic militants.

The Trudeau government has said it will commit 600 peacekeepers to UN missions, and France has been pushing Canada to join the UN mission in West Africa.

France has 3,000 troops fighting a separate counterinsurgency mission in several of its former colonised countries, under the banner of Operation Barkhane.

GENEVA — The world will be in danger if Republican nominee Donald Trump becomes president of the United States, the top United Nations human rights official said on Wednesday.

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights HH Prince Zeid cited Trump’s views on vulnerable communities including minorities and his talk of authorising torture in interrogations, banned under international law, as “deeply unsettling and disturbing”.

“If Donald Trump is elected on the basis of what he has said already — and unless that changes — I think it is without any doubt that he would be dangerous from an international point of view,” the prince told a news briefing in Geneva.

Trump lashed out at US House Speaker Paul Ryan and other “disloyal” Republicans on Tuesday and vowed to campaign in whatever style he wants now that the party establishment has largely abandoned him. This occurred after a 2005 video surfaced last week showing him bragging crudely about groping women and making unwanted sexual advances.

Trump has said he would immediately re-authorise the waterboarding of suspected militants if elected on November 8, contending that “torture works”.

US President Barack Obama, a Democrat, signed an executive order after taking office in January 2009 that banned waterboarding and other “enhanced interrogation techniques”. Such executive orders can be rescinded by a successor.

Prince Zeid said that he would rather not interfere in political campaigns. But when a candidate’s comments pointed to a potential use of torture, prohibited under the Convention Against Torture, a pact ratified by Washington, or to vulnerable groups possibly losing their basic rights, he had to speak out.

In a speech in The Hague last month, Prince Zeid accused Trump of spreading “humiliating racial and religious prejudice” and warned of a rise of populist politics that could turn violent.

“I always believe that it’s incumbent on leaders to lead and to lead in a way that is ethical and moral,” the prince said on Wednesday, when asked about Trump. “The use of half-truths is a very clever political device. Because as every propagandist knows, you allow the listener to fill in the rest.”

 Trump has portrayed himself as tough on national security and promised to build a wall to stop Mexican immigrant “rapists” from crossing the border.

“We have to be on guard to see that in the end vulnerable populations, populations at risk do not again see their rights deprived because of a view that is in the ascendancy based on false premises,” Prince Zeid said.

SRINAGAR, India — A gunbattle which lasted almost three days in Indian Kashmir ended on Wednesday with the killing of two militants holed up inside a government building, as the region reels from deadly unrest.

The militants took up positions on Monday morning inside a 60-room institute in the region’s main city of Srinagar, the second time this year rebels have used the compound as cover to attack soldiers. The building was empty at the time.

Soldiers pounded the government-run Entrepreneurship Development Institute with rocket grenades, flamethrowers and other weaponry before gaining access to it.

Major-General Ashok Narula said soldiers then searched the six-storey building room-by-room for the militants in a slow-moving operation that left one soldier injured. 

“Two people have been eliminated and two weapons have also been recovered,” Narula told reporters at the scene after the operation was declared over.

In February five soldiers, three militants and a civilian were killed during a gunbattle that also raged for three days in another building on the same compound. Rebels took refuge in the building after ambushing a paramilitary convoy. 

Scores of villagers gathered this week near the compound shouting slogans in support of the militants and against Indian rule over the Himalayan territory. 

Rebel groups have for decades fought Indian soldiers deployed in the territory, demanding independence for the region or its merger with Pakistan. Currently an estimated 500,000 troops are deployed there. 

Kashmir has been divided between India and Pakistan since their independence from British rule in 1947. Both claim the territory in full. 

More than 90 civilians have been killed and thousands injured during the latest protests against Indian rule, sparked by the killing on July 8 of a popular rebel leader during a gunfight with soldiers.

Shops, schools and most banks have remained shut during the ongoing unrest, the deadliest since 2010.

Rebel attacks on government forces have also increased in recent weeks. On Saturday militants attacked a police post in the southern Kashmir valley, killing one officer.

Militants raided an Indian army base in the region last month, killing 19 soldiers in the deadliest such attack for more than a decade. New Delhi blamed it on a Pakistan-based group.

BEIJING — China and Russia will hold their second joint anti-missile drills next year, Chinese state media said on Tuesday, after South Korea and the United States angered the two countries with plans to deploy a US anti-missile system in South Korea.

The Chinese and Russian militaries held their first such exercises in May as Washington and Seoul were in discussions over installing the US Terminal High Altitude Area Defence (THAAD) system to protect against any North Korean threats.

THAAD is now due to be deployed on a South Korean golf course, unsettling Moscow and Beijing, which worry that the system's powerful radar will compromise their security and do nothing to lower temperatures on the Korean Peninsula.

China and Russia announced the new round of drills for 2017 at a defence forum in Beijing, the official Xinhua news agency said. It did not give further details.

The Global Times, a popular nationalist tabloid run by the ruling Communist Party's People's Daily, cited a senior Chinese military official criticising the THAAD plans before announcing the new round of drills.

"The United States' blind development of anti-missile systems that exceed demand and its search for absolute unilateral military superiority inevitably damage global strategic equilibrium and gravely harm major powers' strategic trust," Major General Cai Jun said.

"China and Russia are in close communication on next year's exercises," Cai, the vice head of the Central Military Commission Joint Staff Department's warfare bureau, said.

The paper also cited Cai as saying that the THAAD deployment "could lead an arms race into space".

This year's drills were held at a Russian military research centre and were intended to help the two militaries familiarise themselves with their respective command structures and data transmission processes, state media reported at the time.

Tension on the Korean Peninsula has been high this year, beginning with North Korea's fourth nuclear test in January, which was followed by a satellite launch, a string of tests of various missiles, and its fifth and largest nuclear test last month.

CARACAS — The Colombian government and the country’s second-largest rebel group, the ELN, announced Monday they would launch negotiations on October 27 in Ecuador’s capital, with President Juan Manuel Santos predicting “total peace”.

Both sides have committed to doing everything in their power to “create an environment favourable to peace” once the talks begin, according to a joint statement delivered at the Venezuelan Foreign Ministry in Caracas.

The move comes as welcome news for Santos, fresh from his Nobel Peace Prize win but still reeling from voters’ rejection in a referendum of a peace deal with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), the country’s largest rebel group.

“We’ve been seeking negotiations with the ELN for almost three years to end the armed conflict with them as well... Now that we’re moving forward with the ELN, we will have total peace,” Santos said in Bogota.

The National Liberation Army (ELN) freed a civilian hostage, the International Committee of the Red Cross said, ahead of what the rebels had billed as an “important announcement” on potential peace talks with the government.

It was the third hostage release in two weeks by the leftist ELN.

Colombia and the ELN agreed in March to launch peace talks, in parallel with the government’s negotiations with the FARC.

But the government has said negotiations with the ELN cannot begin until the group frees all its hostages.

In the text presented in Caracas, the ELN vowed to “initiate the process to free hostages before October 27”.

The Red Cross said ELN fighters had handed over the latest hostage, who it did not identify, in a remote area in the department of Arauca, on the Venezuelan border.

Catholic Church sources identified the hostage as Nelson Alarcon, kidnapped three months ago.

The ELN is still believed to be holding at least one hostage, former congressman Odin Sanchez. But the text announcing peace talks spoke of “two cases”, without giving further details.

Sanchez handed himself over to the rebels in April in exchange for the release of his brother, Patrocinio Sanchez, a former governor who had fallen ill after nearly three years in captivity.

Fight for peace 

Santos is working to end half a century of conflict in Colombia that has killed more than 260,000 people, left 45,000 missing and uprooted nearly seven million.

Over the decades, the conflict has drawn in several leftist rebel groups, right-wing paramilitaries and drug gangs.

The last two leftist guerrilla groups, the FARC and ELN, have been at war with the state since 1964.

The ELN is estimated to be about one fourth the size of the FARC, with some 1,500 fighters.

After nearly four years of talks with the FARC in the Cuban capital Havana, the government and rebels signed a peace deal on September 26 — only for the Colombian people to unexpectedly vote against it six days later, sending both sides back to the drawing board.

Critics of the deal argued it was too soft on the FARC.

Its top opponent, former president Alvaro Uribe — Santos’s predecessor and former boss — said the deal would give impunity to rebels who committed gross human rights violations and let them run for elected office.

SRINAGAR, India — Anxious to quell anti-India protests in Kashmir, Indian forces are carrying out their most severe crackdown in more than two decades against civilian protesters, arresting more than 8,000 this summer across the disputed Himalayan territory, police said Monday.

That includes 450 or so civilians being held, possibly for up to six months without trial, under a harsh security law criticised as a human-rights violation. India has said the separatist rebels — and civilians who help them — are undermining the country's territorial integrity and forcing authorities to keep the India-controlled portion of Kashmir under tight control.

"This is, so far, the biggest crackdown against miscreants," said a senior police officer, requesting anonymity because he was not authorised to share details of the crackdown.

For weeks, Indian authorities have carried out nighttime raids, rolling curfews and stops at roadblocks, but have failed to stop the rebel attacks and angry public rallies.

On Monday, government forces were battling a group of suspected rebels near a highway running by saffron-rich Pampore town, on the outskirts of the region's main city of Srinagar.

Gunshots and grenade blasts were heard from the site, where units of the army's special forces, paramilitary soldiers and counterinsurgency police had cordoned off and encircled a building, according to an officer who spoke on condition of anonymity, in keeping with department policy.

The officer said the two sides were exchanging intermittent gunfire. One soldier was reported injured.

Scores of people gathered on nearby streets to chant anti-India slogans in a show of solidarity with the rebels.

India has faced a separatist challenge in Kashmir since 1947, when India and neighbouring Pakistan gained independence and launched the first of two wars they would fight over their rival claims to the Muslim-majority region.

India blames Pakistan for arming and training rebels to cross the heavily militarised border that divides the region between the two countries; Pakistan denies the allegation and says it offers the rebels only moral support.

Most people in the Indian-controlled portion of the divided territory favour independence or a merger with Pakistan. Rebel groups have been fighting in the region since 1989, and more than 68,000 people have been killed in the armed uprising and ensuing Indian military crackdown.

While anti-India protests are somewhat common during warmer summer months, this year's have been especially fraught amid widespread anger over the killing of a popular rebel commander by Indian forces in July.

India has responded with a clampdown that has nearly paralysed daily life.

More than 80 civilians have been killed and thousands injured in clashes with police and paramilitary troops. Two policemen have also been killed and hundreds of government forces injured in the clashes.

Police say they have detained at least 8,000 people on suspicion of participating in anti-India protests and throwing rocks at government troops, including more than 400 people picked up in nighttime raids in the last week alone. Many detained have been subsequently released on bail as well, police said.

Officers are still hunting for at least 1,500 more people suspected of participating in protests, according to three other top police officers overseeing the crackdown operations. The officers also spoke on customary condition of anonymity.

Rights activists expressed alarm over the government's targeting of protesters. Almost all of the thousands of suspects arrested in a crackdown in the early 1990s were either suspected militants or people accused of harbouring them.

"The state is arresting noncombatant activists and protesters at such alarming and unprecedented rate," local human rights lawyer Pervez Imroz said. "This crackdown marks the Indian government's failure to reach to a political solution of the issue."

Activists have long campaigned against India's armed forces special powers act, which gives troops sweeping powers to interrogate or shoot suspects on sight. Also, under the draconian act, federal army and paramilitary soldiers cannot be prosecuted in civilian courts unless federal approval is granted.

BEIJING — A country's domestic law should not supersede international law on anti-terrorism cooperation, China said on Monday, after the US Congress last month approved a bill that allows relatives of the victims of the September 11 attacks to sue Saudi Arabia.

Congress on September 28 overwhelmingly rejected President Barack Obama's veto of the "Justice Against Sponsors of Terrorism Act" (JASTA), the first veto override of his presidency, meaning the legislation will become US law.

Saudi Arabia, one of the United States' longest-standing allies in the Arab world, has said the law is a threat to a leading principle that has regulated international relations for hundreds of years preventing lawsuits against sovereign governments.

China's Foreign Ministry said it opposes all forms of terrorism and supports the international community on anti-terrorism cooperation, but that such efforts should respect international relations.

"China believes international anti-terrorism cooperation should... respect international law and principles of international relations, including fundamental principles of nations' sovereign equality," ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said.

"It should not put any country's domestic laws above international law and should not link terrorism with any specific country, religion or ethnicity," Geng told reporters at a regular press briefing.

He did not mention Saudi Arabia or the September 11 attacks.

China says its people and assets at home and around the world face a growing risk from terrorism, but also insists it follows a foreign policy of non-interference in other countries' affairs.

As China's state-owned enterprises have expanded their footprints abroad, China has frequently cited sovereign immunity in its defence when it has been the targets of law suits overseas, including in the United States.