Politics

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 ...

Rabat / AFP Morocco accused United Nations chief Ban Ki-moon of speaking out of turn during a visit to restart talks between Rabat and the Algeria-backed Polisario Front on disputed Western Sahara. The Moroccan government noted “with great surprise the verbal outpourings… and unjustified gestures of deference” by Ban during his visit, according to a statement released by the official ...

Jerusalem / AFP Two Palestinians opened fire on a bus and near Jerusalem’s Old City on Wednesday, seriously wounding one person, as an upsurge in attacks marred a visit by US Vice President Joe Biden. Six separate attacks have taken place shortly before or after Biden’s arrival on Tuesday, including a stabbing spree on the Tel Aviv waterfront by a ...

Mogadishu / AFP Special forces operatives in two helicopters staged an overnight raid on Somalia’s Shebab insurgents, government officials and the Al-Qaeda-linked gunmen said on Wednesday. The raid, reportedly by foreign troops, targeted the Shebab-controlled town of Awdhegele, some 50 kilometres (30 miles) west of Somalia’s capital Mogadishu. “There was an operation by Special Forces late last night around Awdhegele ...

brussels / ap European Union leaders hoped early Tuesday they reached the outlines for a possible deal with Ankara to return thousands of migrants to Turkey and said they were confident a full agreement could be reached at a summit next week. After months of disagreements and increasing bickering among the 28 EU nations, French President Francois Hollande said that ...

United Nations / AP Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon is planning to hold a donor’s conference before June to help tens of thousands of Sahraoui refugees from the 40-year-old dispute over the Western Sahara who are facing one of the world’s forgotten humanitarian crises. UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said that Ban understood the anger of the refugees living in “some of the ...