Myanmar's National League for Democracy has named two candidates for the forthcoming presidential election. A third candidate will be nominated by the military.

NLD leader Aung San Suu Kyi is not allowed to stand in the election under the country's military constitution. However as her party is in control of parliament, a NLD candidate is almost guaranteed a win.

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The US government has called on the Taliban to engage in peace talks with the Afghan government and become part of the political system, after the group backed out of planned negotiations, saying they rejected the process.

The Taliban said on Saturday it would not take part in the talks, which are brokered by representatives of Afghanistan, Pakistan, China and the United States, casting doubt on efforts to revive negotiations.

US State Department spokesperson John Kirby said to media on Monday,

Turkey's biggest selling newspaper is expected to be charged with terrorism offences, reports The Times, following a raid on its offices on Friday.

Speaking to The Times, Zaman's chief columnist Bulent Kenes said he expects to be detained under terrorism offences “in the coming days”. “It is a matter of when, not if,” he said.

His comments come following the Turkish government ordering armed police to raid the offices of Zaman on Friday. “We are going through the darkest and gloomiest days in terms of freedom of the press, which is a major benchmark for democracy and rule of law,” read a statement in Zaman's English-language sister paper. “Intellectuals, businesspeople, celebrities, civil society organisations, media organisations and journalists are being silenced via threats and blackmail.”

Though members of the European Union reportedly raised the issue on both public and private, the Kurdish leader of the HDP criticised Western countries for not speaking up on the issue and on the Turkish war on Kurds in the southeast, for fear of jeopardising a hotly debated agreement on refugees.

The White House has announced it will for the first time publish the number of civilians and combatants killed in US drone strikes since 2009.

President Barack Obama's Homeland Security adviser Lisa Monaco said the figures would be released in the coming weeks but that they would not include strikes in "areas of active hostilities," such as Iraq, Syria and Afghanistan, where hostilities against the US remain.

"In the coming weeks, the administration will publicly release an assessment of combatant and non-combatant casualties resulting from strikes taken outside areas of active hostilities since 2009," she said, adding that the report would then be published annually.

The Philippines announced that it will impound a vessel linked to North Korea, as it becomes the first government in the world to enforce freshly passed sanctions.

The ship, which flew under the flag of Sierra Leone, is due to be impounded and the crew deported, announced Manila, after it appeared on a blacklist of vessels suspected to be operated by North Korea.

Philippine foreign ministry spokesperson Charles Jose said the move was “in compliance with the UN Security Council resolution” and added that “the most important thing is to impound the vessel so it cannot engage in economic activity that could benefit North Korea”.

“The world is concerned over North Korea's nuclear weapons program, and as a member of the UN, the Philippines has to do its part to enforce sanctions,” said a member of the president's communications team on Saturday.

Syria’s opposition will stick to the cessation of hostilities despite alleged violations by the Syrian government on Saturday, reports Reuters.

The Syrian opposition alleged that Syria’s government violated the ceasefire 15 times  with more breaches on Sunday.

The spokesperson for the opposition High Negotiating Committee (HNC) Salim al-Muslat said,

“The decision to remain quiet, not to do anything, and I believe they will stick to the truce. Yesterday was the first day people can really go out and walk on the streets.”