Politics

  SRINAGAR / AP Anti-India protests erupted in Indian-controlled Kashmir following a fierce gunbattle in which two rebels and a counterinsurgency policeman were killed, police said Sunday. Government forces, acting on a tip, encircled a civilian home in the southern Tral area overnight, said police chief S.P. Vaid. He said fighting erupted after militants hurled grenades and fired automatic rifles ...

  BAGHDAD / AP Iraqi troops encountered the “heaviest” clashes yet with IS group fighters Sunday in western Mosul since the start of the new push more than two weeks ago, according to a senior commander. Maj. Gen. Haider al-Maturi of the Federal Police Commandos Division told The Associated Press that IS militants dispatched at least six suicide car bombs, ...

  PALM BEACH / AP The White House demanded on Sunday that Congress investigate whether former President Barack Obama abused his executive powers in connection with the 2016 presidential election. President Donald Trump leveled that claim on Saturday when he accused his predecessor of tapping telephones at Trump Tower. But Trump offered no supporting evidence, a spokesman for Obama denied ...

  MANILA / AP The Philippine defense chief and two other Cabinet members on Saturday toured a US aircraft carrier patrolling the disputed South China Sea on the invitation of the Navy, US Embassy officials said. Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana, Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez and Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II visited the USS Carl Vinson along with three Philippine security ...

  PRISTINA / AP The European Union’s foreign policy chief has urged Kosovo’s opposition to ratify a border demarcation agreement with Montenegro, the last remaining condition before its citizens enjoy visa-free travel with Europe’s Schengen member countries. Federica Mogherini was in Kosovo, the last stop on her tour of the Western Balkans, where she met senior leaders on Saturday. She ...

  AMMAN / AP Jordan on Saturday executed 10 prisoners with ties to militant groups who carried out five shootings and a bombing since 2003, the government spokesman said. It was the largest round of executions in the kingdom in recent memory. Among those killed in the attacks were a British tourist, an outspoken Jordanian critic of extremism and members ...

  TEHRAN/ AP Iran successfully test-fired a sophisticated Russian-made air defense system, the official IRNA news agency reported on Saturday. The report said the test of the S-300 system came during a recent military exercise named Damvand, the name of Iran’s highest mountain. It said the test targeted various flying objects including missiles. With a range of up to 200 ...

  KABUL / AP At least eight Afghan civilians, including four children, were killed in an attack in western Farah province, according to Afghan officials. However there is disagreement over what exactly caused the deaths. Mohammad Naser Mehri, spokesman for the provincial governor, said Saturday that the incident was a roadside bomb explosion which took place in the Bala Buluk ...

  IRBIL / AP The United Nations warned that the alleged use of chemical weapons in Mosul, if confirmed, would be a war crime and a serious violation of international humanitarian law, according to a statement released on Saturday. “This is horrible,” Lise Grande, the humanitarian coordinator in Iraq said in the statement, “there is never justification — none whatsoever ...

  WASHINGTON / AP Facing a new wave of questions about his ties to Russia, President Donald Trump is telling advisers and allies that he may shelve — at least temporarily — his plan to pursue a deal with Moscow on the IS group and other national security matters, according to administration officials and Western diplomats. In conversations with diplomats ...