Ex-Interpol chief under probe for bribery

China said on October 8 it was investigating former Interpol chief Meng Hongwei for bribery and other violations, days after French authorities said the Chinese official had been reported missing by his wife after travelling to his home country. Under President Xi Jinping, China has been engaged in a sweeping crackdown on official corruption. On Sunday, Interpol, the France-based global police coordination body, said that Meng had resigned as its president. "The investigation against Meng Hongwei taking bribes and suspected violations of law is very timely, absolutely correct and rather wise," China's Ministry of Public Security said in a statement on its website. "The investigation of Meng Hongwei fully shows there is no privilege and no exception in front of the law, and anyone who violates the law must be severely punished," it added.

Suu Kyi vows 'transparency' over Rohingya atrocities

Embattled leader Aung San Suu Kyi on October 7 vowed to increase transparency over her government's handling of the Rohingya crisis while pitching for foreign investment in Myanmar ahead of a regional summit in Tokyo. Suu Kyi, once garlanded as a global rights champion, has seen a sharp fall from grace due to her failure to speak up following a brutal military crackdown on Myanmar's Rohingya minority. "I'm ready to acknowledge that we have challenges to face particularly with regard to the Rakhine and with the struggles we have on the peace front," Suu Kyi said in a speech before Japanese businessmen, referring to Myanmar's westernmost state where the minority dwelled. In the speech ahead of the summit in Tokyo, Suu Kyi said she was aware that peace and stability in her country were necessary for attracting foreign investment.

Missing Saudi journalist killed in consulate: Turkey

Turkish authorities believe Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi was killed inside his country's consulate in Istanbul last week, Turkish sources said, in what they described as the deliberate targeting of a prominent critic of the Gulf kingdom's rulers. Khashoggi, a former newspaper editor in Saudi Arabia and adviser to its former head of intelligence, left the country last year saying he feared retribution for his growing criticism of Saudi policy in the Yemen war and its crackdown on dissent. On October 2 he entered the Saudi consulate in Istanbul to get documents for his forthcoming marriage. Saudi officials say he left shortly afterwards but his fiancee, who was waiting outside, said he never came out.

Nobel Peace Prize 2018: Award goes to two anti-rape activists

Denis Mukwege, a doctor who helps victims of sexual violence in the Democratic Republic of Congo, and Nadia Murad, a Yazidi rights activist and survivor of sexual slavery by Islamic State, won the 2018 Nobel Peace Prize on October 5. They were awarded the prize for their efforts to end the use of sexual violence as a weapon of war, the Norwegian Nobel Committee said. "Denis Mukwege is the helper who has devoted his life to defending these victims. Nadia Murad is the witness who tells of the abuses perpetrated against herself and others," it said in its citation. "Each of them in their own way has helped to give greater visibility to war-time sexual violence, so that the perpetrators can be held accountable for their actions." Mukwege heads the Panzi Hospital in the eastern Congolese city of Bukavu. Opened in 1999, the clinic receives thousands of women each year, many of them requiring surgery from sexual violence. Murad is an advocate for the Yazidi minority in Iraq and for refugee and women's rights in general. She was enslaved and raped by Islamic State fighters in Mosul, Iraq, in 2014.