Politics

Suspected al-Qaida bomber kills 5 soldiers in Yemen’s south

  SANAA / AP Yemeni security officials say a suicide bomber likely from al-Qaida has attacked a government building in the southern Lahj province, killing five soldiers and wounding ten, including civilians. They say the Monday attack in the provincial capital, al-Houta, could have been worse, but that guards managed to shoot the attacker before he drove his explosives-laden vehicle ...

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Thousands evacuated as cyclone barrels towards Australian coast

  Bloomberg The worst cyclone in six years is set to smash into the coast of Queensland on Tuesday morning, forcing thousands of Australians to evacuate or seek emergency shelter and prompting some of the world’s biggest miners to halt coal operations. Cyclone Debbie is forecast to intensify before it makes landfall north of the city of Mackay with winds ...

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Swiss, Turks open probes over ‘Kill Erdogan’ protest banner

  GENEVA / AP Swiss and Turkish prosecutors announced separate investigations on Monday after protesters hoisted a banner in Switzerland’s capital showing a gun pointed at an image of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan next to the words, “Kill Erdogan.” Bern regional prosecutors opened a probe for alleged “public provocation of crimes or violence,” Bern police spokesman Dominik Jaeggi said. ...

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Putin critic jailed as mass rallies energize Russian opposition

  Bloomberg Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny was jailed for 15 days after the largest anti-government demonstrations for at least five years energized President Vladimir Putin’s critics as presidential elections loom. Navalny was imprisoned by a Moscow court on Monday after being convicted of disobeying police and fined 20,000 rubles ($352) for organizing an unsanctioned protest after more than 1,000 ...

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Bulgarians vote for parliament, may expand Russian influence

  Bloomberg Bulgarians are voting in early parliamentary elections, with former Prime Minister Boyko Borissov’s Gerb party neck-and-neck with the Socialists in a contest that may strengthen Russia’s foothold in the region. In the third snap vote in five years, polls opened at 7 a.m and was to close at 8 p.m. While affirming their commitment to the European Union, ...

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Corruption protests sweep Russia; Navalny arrested

  MOSCOW / AP Thousands of people crowded into Moscow’s Pushkin Square on Sunday for an unsanctioned protest against the Russian government, part of a wave of demonstrations taking place throughout the country. Alexei Navalny, the anti-corruption campaigner who is leading the opposition to President Vladimir Putin, was arrested while walking from a nearby subway station to the demonstration, according ...

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US accepts its forces were behind airstrike on Mosul

  Baghdad / AP An airstrike targeting IS militants in the Iraqi city of Mosul that witnesses say killed at least 100 people was in fact launched by the US military, American officials said. US officials did not confirm the reports of civilian casualties but opened an investigation. In the days following the March 17 airstrike, US officials had said ...

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IS warns Syrian dam at risk, evacuates residents

  BEIRUT / AP The IS group ordered residents to evacuate the Syrian city of Raqqa on Sunday following reports that a dam contested by US-backed forces upstream on the Euphrates River could collapse, activists reported. The militants said coalition airstrikes had weakened the Tabqa Dam, some 40 kilometers west of Raqqa, and that the water level behind the dam ...

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EU leaders pledge unity just days away from UK exit trigger

  Bloomberg European Union leaders gathering in Rome on Saturday sought to reinforce the unity of the remaining member states, flagging a common defense as a priority, just four days before Britain officially sends notice it’s leaving. UK Prime Minister Theresa May’s absence from the celebratory summit, marking 60 years since the Treaty of Rome created the bedrock for the ...

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Airstrikes on rebel-held parts of Syria kill, wound dozens

  BEIRUT / AP Warplanes struck rebel-held parts of Syria on Saturday killing and wounding scores of people amid clashes on multiple fronts between government forces and insurgent groups in some of the worst violence to hit the country in weeks, opposition activists said on Saturday. The airstrikes, of which some activists said included Russian air raids, concentrated on the ...

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