Politics

Brussels / AFP European Union leaders began a difficult summit on Thursday to push for a crucial agreement with Turkey to curb the continent’s massive migration crisis despite threats by Cyprus to quash the deal. The proposed plan, which would make Turkey a central pillar of the divided EU’s response to the crisis, has been hailed by German Chancellor Angela ...

Rome / AFP Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El Sisi has warned Western powers Libya could spiral out of control if they try to intervene militarily in the conflict-wracked North African state. Speaking in a rare interview, the military-backed ruler of one of the region’s biggest powers said the West and its allies should instead concentrate on strengthening the army of ...

Ankara / AFP German diplomatic missions and a school in Turkey were closed on Thursday for security reasons, the German consulate in Istanbul said, less than a week after a suicide car bomb attack in the capital. The measure concerns the German embassy in Ankara as well as the consulate and German school in Istanbul, it said on its website. ...

LONDON / AP A handful of UK lawmakers have warned US President Barack Obama not to intervene in the debate about whether Britain should remain in the European Union. In an open letter on Thursday, five lawmakers and Nigel Farage, leader of the anti-EU UKIP party, argue that interfering in the debate would mark an “unfortunate milestone” in Obama’s presidency. ...

Washington / AFP US President Barack Obama signed an order implementing UN-backed sanctions on North Korea after a nuclear test and missile launch this year, as Pyongyang promised reprisals. The White House said Obama had signed an executive order targeting the volatile hermit state’s energy, financial and shipping assets. The measures were agreed to at the United Nations in response ...

Ankara / AFP A radical Kurdish group with ties to the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party on Thursday claimed responsibility for the suicide car bomb attack that killed 35 people in Ankara last weekend. The claim by the Kurdistan Freedom Falcons (TAK) came as Germany closed diplomatic missions and a school in Turkey Thursday over security concerns. In a statement on ...

Maputo / AFP Mozambique’s arterial north-south highway has earned the moniker of a “ghost road” with former rebels staging regular raids ahead of a threatened power grab in the country’s centre this month. “We registered eight attacks by Renamo gunmen last week, which caused a total of three deaths—including a three-year-old—and 23 injured,” police spokesman Inacio Dina told a news ...

Bloomberg Hillary Clinton took a monumental step towards clinching the Democratic party’s White House nomination, while Donald Trump’s seemingly unstoppable rush to victory hit a bump in Ohio. Trump on Tuesday won key Republican primaries in Illinois, North Carolina and Florida—where he thumped home state Senator Marco Rubio, who immediately announced he was suspending his presidential campaign. “This was an ...

Washington / AFP Barack Obama has warned that the 2016 White House race is damaging America’s image abroad, sounding the alarm on harsh campaigning that risks eroding gains made during his presidency. Lashing out at “vulgar and divisive rhetoric” in the race to replace him, Obama told a bipartisan group of lawmakers: “This is also about the American brand.” “We ...

Los Angeles / AFP “Scandal” showrunner Shonda Rhimes revealed her writers had been forced to change sections of dramatic dialogue after seeing their lines spoken for real in the US presidential debates. The ABC political thriller features a presidential race which mirrors the current battle for the Republican and Democratic nominations—and a White House hopeful in upcoming episodes who bears ...