Politics

Washington / AFP NATO’s secretary general, responding to Donald Trump’s criticism of the alliance, recalled how it stood behind America after the September 11, 2001 terror attacks. The first and only time NATO invoked “collective defense goals” was after the suicide plane bombings against New York and Washington, NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg said in a speech in Washington. “Europeans stepped ...

Brussels / AFP Extraditing Paris attacks suspect Salah Abdeslam from Belgium to France is likely to take several weeks, as investigators question him about a shootout with police in Brussels last month, his lawyer said on Thursday. “He will be handed over to France in several weeks. He must first be heard in another case,” lawyer Sven Mary told reporters, ...

Copenhagen / AFP Copenhagen police said on Thursday they had detained four people on suspicion of joining the IS group in Syria and seized weapons and ammunition in a search linked to the arrests. All four were suspected of breaking Denmark’s terrorism law while in Syria, and were arrested in the Copenhagen area, police said in a statement without giving ...

Dublin / AFP Irish Prime Minister Enda Kenny held talks on Thursday with opposition leader Micheal Martin to end the impasse over a new government following inconclusive elections in February. After an initial meeting on Wednesday, Kenny’s Fine Gael party said in a statement it had offered a “full and equal partnership” in a future administration to Martin’s Fianna Fail—its ...

Skopje / AFP Macedonia’s main opposition party said it will boycott a “sham” election in June, as parliament dissolved ahead of the vote which is supposed to end a political crisis. The June 5 election is part of a European Union-backed deal reached last year between the government and the opposition to end months of turmoil. But Zoran Zaev, leader ...

Tripoli / AFP Libya’s UN-backed unity government moved to cement control over the country’s finances and institutions on Wednesday after the rival administration in Tripoli ceded power in a boost to efforts to end years of chaos. The concession late Tuesday by the militia-backed administration that had controlled Tripoli since 2014 was a major about-turn for a body that had ...

KANO/ AP Nigeria’s military has opened a camp to rehabilitate Boko Haram fighters who have surrendered and are repentant, according to a statement on Wednesday that urged other fighters to abandon the insurgency that has claimed 20,000 lives in six years. The military also said it has rescued 11,595 civilian hostages in attacks on Boko Haram camps and villages in ...

LONDON / AP British police say they have arrested a man and a woman on suspicion of terrorism offenses over suspected support for a far-left Turkish militant group. The Metropolitan Police says a 49-year-old man and 45-year-old woman were detained early Wednesday at two addresses in London. The man is suspected of disseminating a terrorist publication, while the woman was ...

ANBAR / AFP Heavy resistance has slowed Iraqi forces as they pushed forward toward the center of a town held by IS militants in western Anbar province, commanders at the scene said. Hundreds of roadside bombs, car bombs and heavy mortar fire slowed advancing Iraqi troops to a near halt Tuesday after entering the small town of Hit the previous ...

Ankara/ AFP Turkey’s authorities launched a probe Wednesday into an alleged leak of the personal data of some 50 million citizens which threatens to compromise the information security of much of its population. The massive database—purportedly containing the names, identity numbers and addresses of those listed —was posted online by hackers earlier this week along with sharp jabs at the ...