Politics

  Meureudu / AFP Rescuers scrabbled through the rubble of shattered homes, shops and mosques in search of survivors on Wednesday after a powerful earthquake struck western Indonesia and killed at least 97 people. The shallow 6.5-magnitude quake struck Pidie Jaya district in Aceh province at dawn as many in the mainly Muslim region on Sumatra island were preparing for morning ...

  Brussels / AFP Damaging economic sanctions imposed on Russia over the Ukraine crisis must be kept in place to force Moscow to meet its Minsk ceasefire commitments, NATO head Jens Stoltenberg said on Wednesday. “The international community must keep pressure on Russia to respect its obligations, especially (when) the security situation in eastern Ukraine remains so serious,” Stoltenberg said ...

  Seoul / AFP Friends and associates of the woman at the heart of a corruption scandal engulfing South Korean President Park Geun-Hye told a hearing on Wednesday her influence extended to everything from Park’s wardrobe to senior appointments. The impeachment-threatened Park has been accused of letting long-time confidante Choi Soon-Sil meddle in a wide range of state affairs, and ...

  The Hague / AFP Prosecutors urged UN judges on Wednesday to jail Ratko Mladic for life, accusing the former Serb commander of a ruthless campaign of ethnic cleansing to create a Greater Serbia in the 1990s Balkans wars. “It would be… an insult to the victims, living and dead, and an affront to justice to impose any sentence other than ...

  Aleppo / AFP Rebels in Aleppo called for a five-day truce and the evacuation of civilians on Wednesday after losing more than three quarters of their territory including the Old City to a Syrian army offensive. In the face of a blistering assault by forces loyal to President Bashar Al-Assad, the rebels were reported to have retreated on Wednesday from ...

  Aden / AFP Around 40 people were missing off the Yemeni island of Socotra on Wednesday after a cargo vessel carrying islanders home from the mainland sank in the Indian Ocean, authorities said. Nineteen people were rescued from the water after a major search operation was launched in the early hours, Yemeni Fisheries Minister Fahd Kavieen said. The first two ...

  Bartalla/ AFP Iraqi forces battled extremists deep inside Mosul on Wednesday, edging closer to the River Tigris that divides the city and looking for a breakthrough in the seven-week-old offensive. The fighting to retake the IS group’s last major stronghold in Iraq has prompted a steady trickle of people to leave their homes, many taking refuge in camps where ...

  Mogadishu / AFP The government of Somalia’s northern Puntland region said on Wednesday it had retaken control of a small port town from extremists who have declared allegiance to the IS group. “Puntland forces have secured control of Qandala and the armed militants have fled, now the situation is quite calm and everything is under control,” said Yusuf Mohamed Waceys, ...

  New Delhi/ AFP Torrential rain and rough seas have stranded around 1,000 tourists on one of India’s tropical islands off its east coast, officials said Wednesday. Officials from the local Andaman and Nicobar Islands administration said they have asked the Indian navy to help rescue tourists from Havelock, one of the smaller islands most popular with visitors. “Around 1,000 tourists ...

  Jerusalem / AFP Israeli lawmakers could vote on Wednesday to advance a bill legalising some 4,000 settler homes in the occupied West Bank despite international criticism and warnings over its implications. The bill was set for a first reading in the Knesset, or parliament, and if approved would require two more full votes before becoming law. A vote was expected ...