Peace deal inked with Afghan warload

KABUL • Afghanistan yesterday signed a peace agreement with notorious warlord Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, paving the way for him to make a political comeback despite a history of war crimes and after years in hiding.

Hekmatyar, who heads the now largely dormant Hezb-i-Islami militant group, is the latest in a series of controversial figures that Kabul has sought to reintegrate in the post-Taleban era.

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE

China jails prominent civil rights lawyer

BEIJING • A Chinese court yesterday jailed a prominent civil rights lawyer for 12 years on fraud charges, his lawyer said, a punishment that rights advocates called retaliation for his defence of high- profile clients who had challenged the government.

Xia Lin is the latest to be sentenced as President Xi Jinping's administration tightens control over civil society, citing a need to boost security and stability.

REUTERS

HK arrests 2,000 in raids on triads

HONG KONG • Hong Kong police have arrested more than 2,000 people in raids on suspected criminal triad gangs, with the city's underworld in the spotlight after a lawmaker received death threats.

The raids, which started in late July, have netted 2,120 people believed to be connected with triad, vice and drug offences.

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE