Politics

  CAIRO/ AFP An EgyptAir flight from Paris to Cairo crashed into the Mediterranean on Thursday with 66 people on board prompting an investigation into whether it was mechanical failure or a bomb. There were no immediate reports of the discovery of any debris in the area of sea between the Greek islands and the Egyptian coast where the plane ...

  ISTANBUL / AFP Turkey’s ruling party was expected to name on Thursday a close ally of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan as prime minister, as the strongman seeks to tighten his grip on power. The ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) was poised to appoint Transport Minister Binali Yildirim as its chairman, meaning he would automatically become prime minister. ...

  Berlin / AP The speaker of Germany’s Parliament is criticizing Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan over a push to strip legislators in Turkey of their immunity from prosecution. Norbert Lammert was quoted in daily Sueddeutsche Zeitung daily on Thursday as accusing Erdogan of “autocratic ambitions.” He added that the development continues “a whole series of events with which Turkey ...

  Paris, France / AFP France was disrupted by a third straight day of strikes and demonstrations on Thursday as the prime minister called for protesters who torched a police car to face “harsh” punishment. Rail staff and air traffic controllers downed tools in the latest mass protests against the government’s labour market reforms, causing dozens of flights and trains ...

  New Delhi / AP India’s ruling Hindu nationalist party made dramatic gains in elections in the eastern state of Assam but trailed in four other states, the election commission said on Thursday. Data from the commission as of late afternoon showed that Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party and its allies will form the government in Assam, which ...

  Tabanovce, Macedonia / AFP Mohamad Jomaa breathlessly recounts his covert journey from Greece to Macedonia: a 10-day trek through the mountains, getting robbed by local “mafia” and handing over costly bribes to police. While the so-called “Balkan route” is now officially closed to migrants, hundreds are still finding ways to cross it every day—whether furtively by foot or in ...

  Brussels / AFP NATO foreign ministers met on Thursday to finalise the alliance’s biggest military build-up since the end of the Cold War to counter what they see as a more aggressive and unpredictable Russia. At a Warsaw summit in July, NATO leaders will sign-off on the revamp which puts more troops into east European member states as part ...

  MOSCOW / AP A Russian artist known for his radical politically-charged performances has been convicted of vandalism in a pro-Ukraine protest and sentenced to 16 months in prison. The court, however, lifted the punishment for Pyotr Pavlensky in Thursday’s ruling on the grounds that the statute of limitations had expired for his pro-Ukraine protest in 2014. Pavlensky and a ...

  PRISTINA / AP Kosovo prosecutors have charged 14 persons of forming a criminal gang that also allegedly has funded terrorist activities. The special prosecutors’ office said in a statement on Thursday that seven of the 14 have also been accused of money laundry and funding terrorist activities. The charges did not explain how the group had channeled money into ...

  Bamako / AFP Five Chadian peacekeepers were killed and three others wounded in a shootout during an ambush in northeastern Mali, the United Nations said on Thursday. “Five… peacekeepers were killed and three seriously wounded during an ambush,” which occurred on Wednesday, according to a statement posted on the UN Mali mission’s social media accounts. The attack in Aguelhok ...