Politics

Lisbon / AFP Traditionally a country of emigration, Portugal has offered to take up to 10,000 migrants from countries struggling to cope with the influx, to help maintain its own population. Portugal’s socialist premier Antonio Costa last week sent letters to Austria, Greece, Italy and Sweden—countries that have seen refugees arrive in large numbers—offering to welcome up to 5,800 more ...

Bloomberg The US called off nascent talks with North Korea aimed at formally ending the Korean War when it became clear that the reclusive nation wasn’t interested in stopping its nuclear program by conducting a ballistic missile test. The talks, which Pyongyang requested according to the US, ended after North Korea rebuffed a US demand that denuclearization be a condition ...

Bloomberg Not since Nelson Mandela walked out of Victor Verster prison 26 years ago have investors been gloomier about South Africa’s economy. Money is pouring out at a record pace as inflows dwindle. The rand has plunged and unemployment is the highest among almost 40 developing nations tracked by Bloomberg. Drought is driving up food costs. Hanging in the balance ...

Spartanburg / AFP Republican presidential frontrunner Donald Trump grabbed a big win in the South Carolina primary, while Democrat Hillary Clinton breathed life into her sluggish campaign with a victory over Bernie Sanders in Nevada. The wins for the brash billionaire and the former secretary of state give the candidates a major boost heading into the next major phase of ...

Chicago / AFP A man suspected of randomly opening fire in a Michigan town and shooting dead at least six people, including a teenager, was arrested Sunday, US police said. The suspect was apprehended at 12:40 am on Sunday after a shooting rampage Saturday in the town of Kalamazoo, police said. “We believe we have our suspect in custody,” Lieutenant ...

Kiev / AFP One Ukrainian soldier was killed in clashes between pro-Russian rebels and government forces in the war-torn east, Ukraine’s military said Sunday. Ukrainian military spokesman Oleksandr Motuzyanyk said the situation along the frontline was “insecure”, accusing the rebels of violating a shaky truce agreement over the past 24 hours. He said the soldier had died in a sniper ...

Bloomberg Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni was re- elected for a fifth term, extending his 30-year rule over the East African nation in polls marked by opposition arrests and international concern over the vote’s credibility. The former guerrilla commander won 60.75 percent of Thursday’s vote, renewing his mandate to govern the continent’s biggest coffee exporter as it plans oil production in ...

Rohtak / Afp Ten people have died in caste protests which triggered widespread arson and looting in a north Indian state, police said on Sunday, as New Delhi faced a water crisis after mobs shut down a key supply. Thousands of troops with shoot-on-sight orders were deployed on Saturday in Haryana state, a day after week-long protests turned violent with ...

Beirut / AFP Double car bomb attacks killed at least 57 people in Syria’s central city of Homs on Sunday as international efforts to bring about a ceasefire in the war-torn country floundered. More than 100 people were injured in the twin bomb attacks in the Al-Zahraa district, according to the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitor. Syrian state ...

Ankara / AFP Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has defended his country’s fight against Kurdish fighters in Syria as “legitimate defence”, after international powers urged Ankara to rein in its cross-border bombardments. Turkey has been shelling targets in northern Syria for the past week in a bid to stem the advances of a Kurdish-led coalition that has seized territory in ...