Politics

  Fallujah / AFP The IS group battled Iraqi forces and held civilians hostage on Wednesday to defend its bastion of Fallujah, where three weeks of fighting has forced tens of thousands from their homes. Security forces have retaken significant parts of southern Fallujah over the past two weeks and are now attacking the extremists in the Jbeil neighbourhood, officers said. ...

  HYDERABAD / AFP The southern Indian state of Telangana has declared a “high alert” for polio after an active strain of the virus was found in samples of sewage water in the state capital. RajeshwarTiwari, Telangana’s top health official, said on Wednesday that a vaccination drive will be launched next week after tests revealed the Type-2 polio virus in ...

  Tripoli / AFP Forces allied with Libya’s unity government said on Wednesday they had repelled a counter-attack by the IS group in the extremists’ coastal stronghold of Sirte. IS extremists hit positions controlled by fighters loyal to Libya’s UN-backed Government of National Accord west of the city with tank, mortar and sniper fire on Tuesday, according to a statement ...

  Washington / AFP In February, the richest world powers pledged more than $11 billion to help frontline states in the Middle East cope with the Syrian refugee crisis. But four months later, less than a quarter of the headline sum has been turned over and five million people are still at risk in an unstable region. Countries like Lebanon, ...

  South Sudan / AFP Aid workers in South Sudan have suffered an increase in attacks in recent weeks, the UN warned Wednesday, with three killed in May since the formation of a unity government. Violence continues despite efforts to end a civil war that broke out in December 2013, a conflict that has now seen 55 aid workers killed. ...

  Norway / ap US Secretary of State John Kerry met his Iranian counterpart in Norway on Wednesday to once again discuss Iran’s complaints that it’s not getting the sanctions relief it deserves under last year’s landmark nuclear deal. Kerry also raised the importance of Iran using its influence with Syria’s government to ensure humanitarian aid deliveries and respect a ...

  Washington / AFP Hillary Clinton captured the mostly symbolic Democratic primary in the US capital, the final vote of the 2016 presidential primaries, as the race shifts to her showdown with Republican rival Donald Trump. Clinton won nearly 79 percent of the vote against 21 percent for Bernie Sanders, with nearly all votes counted, according to US networks. It ...

  Beijing / AFP US President Barack Obama was to meet the Dalai Lama at the White House on Wednesday, a move condemned by China which portrays the exiled Tibetan spiritual leader as a dangerous separatist. Obama has met the Dalai Lama several times before and calls the monk “a good friend,” but the pair will—as usual—talk behind closed doors ...

  Brussels / AFP NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg on Wednesday demanded that Russia withdraw its forces and military hardware from Ukraine and halt its support for pro-Moscow separatists battling Kiev. “Russia needs to stop supporting the militants and withdraw its forces and military equipment from Ukrainian territory,” Stoltenberg said after a meeting of NATO defence ministers with their Ukrainian counterpart ...

  Washington / AFP CIA lawyers sought guarantees the US spy agency would never be prosecuted for torturing suspects after the September 11, 2001 attacks, while other staff warned the program was an impending “train wreck,” documents showed. The correspondence provides a new glimpse into tussles within the CIA as it implemented its notorious “enhanced interrogation” techniques aimed at thwarting ...