Politics

  Beirut / AFP Russian-backed Syrian regime forces inched closerto a key stop on a vital IS group supply line, as a twin offensive bore down on the extremists’ northern stronghold. The advance comes as 17 civilians were killed in air raids on a popular market in eastern Syria on the first day of the holy Muslim month of Ramadan. ...

  Niamey / AFP Niger vowed to avenge the deaths of 26 of its soldiers who were killed by Boko Haram insurgents in one of the extremist group’s deadliest attacks in the country. “We must continue to fight, this insult must be expunged, there is nothing to be done, it must be avenged,” Defence Minister HassoumiMassoudou said. The minister was ...

  Iraq / AP As Iraqi security forces tighten their grip on the outskirts of militant-held Fallujah allegations of human rights violations are surfacing on both sides of the operation. Hundreds of civilians, many bearing marks of torture were released north of Fallujah after being detained by a group of government sanctioned mostly Shiite militias. Five of those detained died while ...

  Warsaw / AFP Troops hit the ground in Poland on Tuesday as Warsaw kicked off its largest-ever joint military exercises with its NATO allies, aimed at shoring up regional security amid the West’s worst standoff with Russia since the end of the Cold War. The two-week long Anaconda manoeuvres are aimed at “checking the alliance’s ability to defend its ...

  Saint-Denis / AFP At least five people were killed and two others seriously injured in a building fire in a suburb of Paris, the fire service said. A further nine people had less serious injuries following the blaze in Saint-Denis, to the north of the French capital, a spokesman said. Firefighters at the scene were unable to identify the ...

  Athens / AFP Dozens of asylum seekers set fire to a migrants’ centre on the Greek island of Chios, angry that they were being kept there, a police source said. Some 40 asylum seekers set fire to two large tents set up by humanitarian groups as well as dustbins at the Souda centre, the source said, in protest at ...

  Los Angeles / AFP Hillary Clinton captured the Democratic White House nomination hours before Tuesday’s last major primaries of 2016, according to US delegate counts, taking a monumental step toward becoming America’s first female commander-in-chief. Passing the milestone of 2,383 delegates secures Clinton’s status as the presumptive nominee, and marks a dramatic political resurgence for a highly experienced but ...

  YANGON / AFP A BBC reporter in Myanmar has been jailed for three months with hard labour after being convicted of assaulting a police officer while covering a student protest, his lawyer said on Tuesday. The ruling marks the first time a journalist has been convicted under Myanmar’s new government, run by former political prisoner Aung San Suu Kyi. ...

  CANBERRA / AP Australia’s prime minister and opposition leader have agreed to hold the country’s first-ever online election campaign leaders’ debate. Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull said Tuesday that he had reached an agreement with Facebook and News Corp. Australia to stream the debate early next week in a bid to reach more voters. Opposition leader Bill Shorten later agreed ...

  Caracas / AFP Venezuela’s opposition held new protests, seeking to convert widespread anger over food shortages and economic havoc into pressure for a referendum on removing embattled President Nicolas Maduro. Clad in the red, yellow and blue of the Venezuelan flag, hundreds of opposition supporters rallied on a square in eastern Caracas, brandishing messages aimed at the allegedly pro-Maduro ...