Politics

  MOSCOW / AP The largest provider of humanitarian aid in rebel-held eastern Ukraine said on Wednesday that it has suspended its operations there. The charity foundation run by billionaire Rinat Akhmetov has been distributing food and other supplies to residents in the rebel-controlled east, where most of the international aid organizations have no access. Akhmetov’s foundation said in a statement ...

  Bloomberg Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said another vote on independence is the only way to protect the country’s interests unless the UK softens its plan to leave the European Union and its single market. Speaking at an event organized by the David Hume Institute in Edinburgh on Tuesday evening, Sturgeon said factions in the UK Parliament want to ...

  Bloomberg Turkey is seeking US support to lead a ground offensive against IS main stronghold in Syria, a Turkish official said, a move that could give President Recep Tayyip Erdogan more influence in the conflict and undermine Kurdish groups linked to separatists he’s fighting at home. Troops and Syrian rebels loyal to Ankara would advance on Raqqa through areas ...

  BEIRUT / AP Syrian government forces and their allies from the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah reached the outskirts of Palmyra in their push to drive IS militants from the ancient town, activists said on Tuesday. The advancing forces reached the town’s southwestern gateway, located about 5 kilometers (3 miles) from its famed Roman ruins, according to the activist-run Palmyra Coordination ...

  MOSCOW / AP President Vladimir Putin says Russia will close its military base in Kyrgyzstan if the government of the Central Asian nation asks it to. Putin was speaking on Tuesday in the Kyrgyz capital, Bishkek, as part of a Central Asian tour. The Kyrgyz president said in December that the base should close when the lease runs out at ...

  ISLAMABAD / AP Pakistan deployed extra police forces and paramilitary units on Tuesday in the country’s capital to boost security ahead of a regional summit on economic cooperation, officials said. Islamabad is to host representatives from 10 countries of the Economic Cooperation Organization on Wednesday to finalize a plan on expanding the region’s trade and prosperity. Iranian President Hassan Rouhani ...

  NEW YORK / AP When White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer wanted to crack down on leaks last week, he collected his aides’ cell phones to check for communication with reporters. The crackdown quickly leaked. President Donald Trump now says he probably would have handled the situation differently, meeting with staff one-on-one instead — but perhaps still demanding to look ...

  KUALA LUMPUR / AP A high-level North Korean delegation arrived in Kuala Lumpur on Tuesday seeking the body of leader Kim Jong Un’s half brother, the victim of a nerve-agent attack that many suspect the North itself of orchestrating. The body of Kim Jong Nam, killed Feb. 13 at Kuala Lumpur’s airport, is at the center of a heated diplomatic ...

  TAIPEI / AP Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen said on Tuesday the island’s democracy is mature enough to handle a thorough investigation into a bloody crackdown on anti-government protesters 70 years ago, an event seen as a rallying point by those who reject China’s claim to the self-governing island. Tsai, speaking at a gathering in Taipei, pledged to take a “rigorous ...

  WASHINGTON / AP A new military strategy to meet President Donald Trump’s demand to “obliterate” the IS group is likely to deepen US military involvement in Syria, possibly with more ground troops, even as the current US approach in Iraq appears to be working and will require fewer changes. Details are sketchy. But recommendations due at the White House ...