World News Round-up: Boris Johnson says, Minister blasts Trump, Iraqi Kurdish party, Indonesia mourns

The toll from an earthquake and tsunami in Indonesia soared to 832 confirmed dead on Sunday, with authorities fearing the numbers will climb as rescuers grappled to get aid to outlying communities cut off from communications and help.

Boris Johnson says Britain should use aid to pursue national priorities

Boris Johnson, Britain's former foreign secretary, on Sunday called on the government to use its international aid budget to focus on national priorities amid speculation about whether he will challenge Prime Minister Theresa May. Johnson, who left the government during the summer over his opposition to May's Brexit plans and is the bookmakers' favourite to replace her, has declined to say whether he would challenge her for the leadership.

Iran foreign minister blasts Trump officials over consulate closure

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif on Sunday denied that his country was responsible for increased threats against a U.S. consulate in the Iraqi city of Basra. "We, of course, have influence in Iraq but that does not mean we control people in Iraq, as the United States doesn't control people in countries with whom it has good relations," Zarif said on CNN's "Fareed Zakaria GPS."

Main Iraqi Kurdish party says it may reject regional election result

One of the dominant Kurdish parties in northern Iraq said it might not recognize the results of Sunday's parliamentary election and then appeared to backtrack, injecting uncertainty into a region demoralized by a failed independence bid. The Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) said in a statement its decision to ignore results in several provinces, which have yet to be announced, was based on what it described as violations in the voting process.

U.S. warship sails near disputed South China Sea islands: U.S. official

A U.S. Navy destroyer sailed near islands claimed by China in the South China Sea on Sunday, a U.S. official told Reuters, potentially angering Beijing at a time of tense relations between the two countries. Beijing and Washington are locked in a trade war that has seen them impose increasingly severe rounds of tariffs on each other's imports.

Russia will pay high price if it doesn't play by international rules: UK's Hunt

British Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt warned Russia on Sunday it would pay a high price for its actions if it sought to intimidate Britain and flout international rules. Britain has accused two men it says are officers from Russia's GRU military intelligence service of carrying out an attack on a former Russian double agent and his daughter in Britain earlier this year using a military-grade nerve agent.

Indonesia mourns as death toll from quake jumps to 832

The toll from an earthquake and tsunami in Indonesia soared to 832 confirmed dead on Sunday, with authorities fearing the numbers will climb as rescuers grappled to get aid to outlying communities cut off from communications and help. Dozens of people were reported to be trapped in the rubble of several hotels and a mall in the city of Palu, on Sulawesi island, which was hit by waves as high as six meters (20 feet) following the 7.5 magnitude earthquake on Friday.

Critics of Britain's PM May press attack on Brexit proposals

Critics of Theresa May's Brexit plans stepped up their efforts on Sunday to force the British prime minister to change tack on leaving the European Union, setting the tone for one of the worst-tempered conferences for her Conservative Party. Her former foreign secretary and former Brexit minister both came out to rubbish her so-called Chequers plan, just six months before Britain is due to leave the EU in the country's biggest shift in foreign and trade policy in more than 40 years.

Maldives court grants bail to ex-leader Gayoom after Yameen's defeat

The Maldives High Court granted former president Maumoon Abdul Gayoom bail on Sunday, making him the latest jailed opponent of President Abdulla Yameen to win freedom since Yameen lost a re-election bid a week ago. The High Court granted Gayoom bail of 60,000 Maldivian rufiyaas ($3,891) after a secret hearing. Gayoom, who ruled the Maldives from 1978-2008, is awaiting trial on charges of trying to bribe officials to topple his the government of Yameen, his own estranged half-brother. He was separately sentenced in June to 19 months imprisonment on obstruction of justice charges for refusing to hand over his mobile phone during the investigation.

U.S. ambassador accuses China of 'bullying' with 'propaganda ads'

A week after an official Chinese newspaper ran a four-page ad in a U.S. daily touting the mutual benefits of U.S.-China trade, the U.S. ambassador to China accused Beijing of using the American press to spread propaganda. U.S. President Donald Trump last Wednesday referred to the China Daily's paid supplement in the Des Moines Register - the state of Iowa's biggest selling newspaper - after accusing China of seeking to meddle in the Nov. 6 U.S. congressional elections, a charge China denies.

Macedonia leader vows to press on with name change despite referendum failure

Macedonia's prime minister pledged on Sunday to press on with a vote in parliament to change the country's name to resolve a decades-old dispute with Greece, despite failing to secure the 50 per cent turnout at a referendum required to make it valid. The proposed name change is part of an agreement reached in June by pro-Western Prime Minister Zoran Zaev with Greece to resolve the dispute over the country's name, which had prevented Macedonia from joining NATO or the EU.