Politics

Ankara / AfP Turkey will not take back migrants already on Greek islands under a deal proposed to European Union leaders at a crunch summit this week, Ankara’s EU affairs minister said on Thursday. Volkan Bozkir was quoted by the Anatolia news agency as saying Turkey would take back “tens of thousands” of migrants, “not hundreds of thousands or millions”, ...

Bloomberg Brazilian prosecutors dealt another blow to former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, accusing him of hiding assets from authorities just days after a separate probe unleashed a new round of political turmoil in the country. The Sao Paulo state prosecutor’s press office confirmed the charges, declining to provide additional details. Newspaper O Globo reported they are for money ...

Seoul/ AFP North Korea looked to ratchet up already elevated tensions on the Korean peninsula still further on Thursday, firing a pair of short-range missiles and announcing the liquidation of all remaining South Korean assets on its territory. The moves were a direct response to unilateral sanctions announced by South Korea on Tuesday to punish the North for its January ...

Washington / AFP Democratic frontrunner Hillary Clinton suffered a surprise loss to challenger Bernie Sanders in a major state primary, as billionaire Donald Trump notched a trio of easy victories in the Republican presidential nomination race. The former secretary of state slumped to defeat in the industrial rust belt state of Michigan, where Sanders snagged 49.9 percent of the vote ...

Sydney / AFP Washington is in talks to station its strike bombers in Australia, according to a US general, amid concern about China’s military expansion in the South China Sea. General Lori Robinson, commander of US Pacific Air Forces, said negotiations were under way to have American B-1 bombers and aerial tankers temporarily stationed in northern Australia. “We’re in the ...

Vilnius / AFP Five EU states have proposed sanctions against Russian officials responsible for the trial of hunger-striking Ukrainian military pilot Nadia Savchenko, Lithuanian Foreign Minister Linas Linkevicius said Wednesday. Savchenko is on trial for alleged involvement in the death of two Russian state television journalists in a mortar attack that occurred two months after Ukraine’s pro-Moscow eastern revolt broke ...

Tehran / AFP Iran fired two more long-range ballistic missiles on Wednesday as it continued military tests in defiance of US sanctions and fresh warnings from Washington. Coming just weeks after the implementation of Iran’s historic nuclear deal with world powers, this week’s multiple missile tests were described by Iran’s powerful Revolutionary Guards as a show of force in the ...

Ankara / AFP Turkey’s foreign minister on Wednesday rejected the idea Ankara was “begging” the EU for money, after it dramatically doubled its demand for funding during crunch talks on Europe’s migrant crisis. The European Union and Turkey clinched a deal in November for three billion euros ($3.3 billion) in funds for refugees in return for Ankara’s cooperation in tackling ...

ljubljana / afp The Balkan trail from Greece to northern Europe used by floods of migrants was blocked on Wednesday after a string of nations slammed shut their borders, hiking pressure on the EU and Turkey to nail down a “game-changing” grand bargain. Slovenia and Croatia, two of the countries along the well-trodden route, said late Tuesday that no migrants ...

Riyadh / AFP Yemen’s Iran-backed rebels have freed a Saudi soldier in return for seven detained Yemenis as part of a tribal-mediated border truce agreed by both sides, the Riyadh-led coalition said Wednesday. The agreement reached during a visit by a Yemeni tribal delegation to the kingdom is the first of its kind since the Saudi-led coalition began a military ...