Politics

Aleppo / AFP The last residents hoping to leave rebel-held Aleppo waited in the snow on Wednesday as delays hit an evacuation that will leave Syria’s army in full control of the devastated city. An AFP correspondent in the government-held neighbourhood of Ramussa—through which thousands of evacuees have passed in recent days—saw no convoys leaving the last pocket of opposition-controlled ...

  Istanbul / AFP Turkish authorities were on Wednesday looking into claims the alleged mastermind of the failed July coup was involved in the assassination of Moscow’s ambassador, but the Kremlin warned against jumping to conclusions. Monday’s murder of Andrei Karlov stunned Russia and prompted warnings of retribution from the Kremlin. But both sides responded by vowing to step up ...

  Baghdad / AFP The IS group is “indiscriminately” attacking civilians who refused to retreat along with the extremists in the Iraqi city of Mosul, Human Rights Watch said on Wednesday. Iraqi forces launched a massive operation to retake the last IS-held city in Iraq more than two months ago, and have pushed the extremists out of several neighbourhoods on ...

  Berlin / AFP German police launched a manhunt on Wednesday for a Tunisian suspected of driving the truck that ploughed through a Berlin Christmas market in a deadly assault claimed by the IS extremist group. Media reports said asylum office papers believed to belong to the man were found in the cab of the 40-tonne lorry used in the ...

  Brussels / AFP The European Union on Wednesday proposed tighter checks on cash and gold transfers as part of a crackdown on terrorist financing across a bloc grappling with a wave of terrorism. EU officials put forward greater powers to freeze or seize assets of suspected terrorists, crack down on money laundering and stop the flow of terror funds. ...

  Berlin / AFP Should Germany’s popular Christmas markets be ringed with concrete, patrolled by armed soldiers and screened with surveillance cameras? After a truck ploughed through a crowd of holiday revellers in central Berlin, the country—having so far been spared large-scale attacks—is debating the balance between security and an open society. “This attack could have been prevented if the ...

  Seoul / AFP South Korea’s Constitutional Court will Thursday start hearings into whether to confirm the impeachment of President Park Geun-Hye, with her ruling conservative party deeply split on the issue before a likely fresh election. The court has up to 180 days to decide whether to uphold or reject parliament’s impeachment of the country’s first female president on ...

  Tokyo/ AFP A deal to return American military land on Okinawa to the Japanese government was hailed on Wednesday as the biggest such land transfer in more than four decades. But the move is unlikely to reduce frustration on the strategic island that remains crowded with American bases—a legacy of World War II. The agreement covers about 4,000 hectares ...

  Aleppo / AFP Buses began entering the last rebel-held parts of Aleppo on Sunday to resume the evacuation of thousands of increasingly desperate Syrian civilians and rebels trapped in the besieged enclave. As international alarm grew over the plight of the residents including women, children, the sick and wounded, the UN Security Council was to vote on whether to send ...

  Moscow / AFP Russia, Iran and Turkey agreed on Tuesday to guarantee Syria peace talks and backed expanding a ceasefire in the war-torn country, laying down their claim as the main powerbrokers in the conflict. “Iran, Russia and Turkey are ready to assist in preparing the agreement in the making between the Syrian government and the opposition and to become ...