India takes direct control in Kashmir after alliance ends

India’s federal government took direct control of Kashmir state Wednesday after the ruling Hindu nationalist party ended its long-troubled alliance there with a Kashmiri political party.

The shift to direct rule in the disputed region was approved after the Bharatiya Janata Party withdrew its support Tuesday for the People’s Democratic Party, following years of feuding and a deteriorating security situation. The BJP also heads the central government, and officials say Prime Minister Narendra Modi was involved in the decision to withdraw from the coalition.

J-K govt collapses after BJP pulls out of alliance with PDP

The three-year Jammu and Kashmir government, wracked by bitter political feuds and worsening security challenges, collapsed today with the BJP pulling out of its alliance with the PDP setting the stage for yet another round of governor's rule.

BJP general secretary Ram Madhav made the surprise announcement after the party high command summoned its Jammu and Kashmir ministers for emergency consultations in New Delhi. A few hours later, Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti submitted her resignation to Governor N N Vohra amid a swirl of political activity in Srinagar and New Delhi.

Political prisoner, Nobel laureate Liu Xiaobo dies at age 61

Imprisoned for all the seven years since he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, Liu Xiaobo never renounced the pursuit of human rights in China, insisting on living a life of “honesty, responsibility and dignity.” China’s most prominent political prisoner died Thursday of liver cancer at 61.

His death — at a hospital in the country’s northeast, where he’d been transferred after being diagnosed — triggered an outpouring of dismay among his friends and supporters, who lauded his courage and determination.

New Gambian president promises reforms, freedoms

Gambia's new president promised greater freedom, an improved economy and better education as thousands attended a ceremony Saturday marking his inauguration after a tense political standoff with the country's former longtime leader.

"This is a victory for democracy. It is a victory for all Gambians," President Adama Barrow said to a packed stadium near the capital that included dignitaries and several African heads of state.

Spokesman: Congolese opposition leader Tshisekedi dies at 84

Congo's opposition icon Etienne Tshisekedi, who pushed for democratic reforms for decades in the vast Central African nation throughout dictatorship and civil war, has died, his political party said late Wednesday. He was 84.

His death comes at a politically fragile moment for Congo, where he was heavily involved in the recent deal to get President Joseph Kabila to agree to step down by the end of this year after months of deadly protests. The parties signed a deal that has yet to be implemented.

Throngs cheer new president's triumphant return to Gambia

President Adama Barrow returned triumphantly to Gambia on Thursday, nearly two months after winning an election disputed by the country's longtime dictator, to the cheers of hundreds of thousands who jammed the roads in welcome.

"That's my president!" the crowds cried, eager to see Barrow fulfill the promise of democratic reforms and newfound freedoms in this tiny West African nation.

With Hindu party leading India, beef grows more political

The legislator was full of outrage when he arrived in the north Indian village days after the killing of a Muslim farmer who was rumored to have slaughtered cows. A Hindu mob had smashed through the heavy wooden door to the man's home, then beat him to death with his wife's sewing machine.

The legislator's anger, though, was not about the killing. Instead, Sangeet Som was furious that men had been arrested in the attack in the village, just 30 miles from New Delhi. Som, a member of India's ruling Bharatiya Janata Party, called the arrests "atrocities on innocent villagers." As for the family of the dead man, he dismissed them as "those cow killers."