Politics

  MOSCOW / AP President Vladimir Putin on Thursday emphatically denied allegations of Russian meddling in the US presidential election and said Moscow would maintain hopes of improving relations while waiting for political infighting in Washington to stop. Putin also said he is ready to meet with President Donald Trump in Finland if that country hosts an Arctic leaders’ summit, ...

ANKARA / AP The United States and Turkey struggled on Thursday to resolve a deep dispute over the Kurdish role in the fight against the IS group, but appeared no closer to a resolution as US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson wrapped up his first trip to Turkey. As the US prepares an operation to retake the de facto IS ...

  BRUSSELS / AP NATO’s chief says the allies and Russia remain at loggerheads over the conflict in Ukraine but have exchanged briefings on their troop movements elsewhere in Europe to help ease tensions. NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said the “allies and Russia continue to have clear disagreements on the crisis in and around Ukraine.” Stoltenberg’s remarks came after ...

  GENEVA / AP The number of Syrians who have fled their country after six years of war has surpassed the 5 million mark, the UN refugee agency said on Thursday. UNHCR announced the milestone a year after participating countries at a Geneva conference pledged to “resettle and facilitate pathways for 500,000 refugees” from Syria — but that only half ...

  LONDON / AP The United Kingdom filed for divorce from the European Union on Wednesday, overturning four decades of integration with its neighbors, demolishing the notion that EU expansion is inevitable and shaking the foundations of a bloc that is facing challenges to its identity and its place in the world. Britain’s top envoy to the EU, Tim Barrow, ...

  LONDON / AP Police officers, Muslim youths and hundreds of others linked hands on Wednesday on Westminster Bridge to honor the four people who died in a terrorist attack that started on the span a week earlier. The bridge fell silent at 2:40 p.m to mark the moment when Khalid Masood began mowing down pedestrians, killing three. Masood then ...

  Kosovo / AP Albanians in Kosovo blocked roads on Wednesday to prevent the local Serb minority and people coming from Serbia from holding an electoral rally. Police said that the road was blocked in five or six locations but cleared after a couple of hours. Media said Albanians raised roadblocks to stop some 60 buses from Serbia and more ...

  MOSCOW / AP A senior Russian general on Tuesday criticized the US-led coalition fighting IS militants for allegedly targeting Syria’s infrastructure — including a key dam — in territory held by the Sunni extremist group. Col. Gen. Sergei Rudskoi of the military’s General Staff accused the coalition of trying to “completely destroy critical infrastructure in Syria and complicate post-war ...

  Bloomberg Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon is expected to win backing for her plan to pursue a second independence referendum in a parliamentary vote that comes a day before the UK triggers two years of talks on withdrawing from the European Union. Lawmakers in Edinburgh will vote around 5 p.m. local tine on Tuesday, with the Greens already saying ...

  BERLIN / AP German officials on Tuesday warned Turkey against spying on its territory, after Ankara allegedly sought Berlin’s help in eavesdropping on hundreds of Turks in Germany thought to be supporters of US-based cleric Fethullah Gulen. The Turkish government claims Gulen supporters were behind a July coup attempt and has arrested 41,000 people in a crackdown on the ...