WEST BANK: Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas named a veteran aide and confidant as his new vice-president on Saturday, in a major step by the ageing leader to designate a successor.

The appointment of Hussein al-Sheikh as deputy head of the Palestine Liberation Organisation does not guarantee that he will be the next Palestinian president, but it makes him the frontrunner among long-serving politicians in the dominant Fatah party who hope to succeed the 89-year-old Mr Abbas.

RUSSIA: A man suspected of killing a general with a car bomb pleaded guilty to terrorism charges and said he had been paid by the Ukrainian Security Service, the authorities said today.

Lieutenant General Yaroslav Moskalik was killed on Friday by a bomb in his car in Balashikha, just outside Moscow.

Ukrainian authorities did not comment on the attack, the second in four months targeting a top Russian military officer that Moscow has blamed on Ukraine amid the conflict between the neighbouring countries.

SOUTH KOREA: Lee Jae Myung, a liberal who wants greater economic parity in his country and warmer ties with the North, became the main opposition party’s presidential candidate today.

The former Democratic Party leader had led parliament’s impeachment of President Yoon Suk Yeol over the imposition of martial law in December. The Constitutional Court dismissed Mr Yoon earlier this month, triggering early presidential elections on June 3.

“Now, the people and our party colleagues gave me an opportunity to win back the presidency and build a new, real Republic of Korea,” Mr Lee said in a victory speech.

FRANCE: A man suspected of killing a Muslim worshipper at a mosque in La Grand Combe remained on the run today.

Both men were alone in a mosque on Friday when the victim was fatally stabbed. The assailant recorded the attack on his phone and security camera footage showed him shouting insults at “Allah,” local media reported.

Local prosecutor Abdelkrim Grini said today that investigators were taking into account “the possibility that this was an Islamophobic act,” adding: “It’s the one we’re working on first, but it’s not the only one."