Politics

  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 ...

  Essen / AFP Chancellor Angela Merkel onTuesday lashed populists trying to exploit fears over Germany’s refugee influx but set out a tough line on integration, including a ban on the veil, as she launched into election campaign mode. Outlining her strategy to counter a wave of populism that has consumed key allies abroad, Merkel vowed there would not be ...

  Los Angeles / AFP Authorities ratcheted up security on the Los Angeles metro following a tip from overseas about an impending bomb attack on Tuesday against a station in the sprawling rail network. The threat was relayed by an anonymous man who called a public safety line run by an unidentified foreign government, which then passed on the information to ...

  Brussels / AFP Top US and NATO officials stressed the importance of preserving transatlantic security ties on Tuesday amid doubts raised by Donald Trump’s election as president. Trump stoked concerns that Washington’s near 70-year European defence guarantee might no longer hold when he said on the campaign trail he would think twice about helping NATO allies who did not pay ...

  Moscow / AFP Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday signed off on a broad-ranging plan aimed at bolstering the country’s defences against cyberattacks from abroad and cracking down on perceived foreign influence. The Kremlin’s new “information security doctrine” comes as attention has focused on the rise in state-sponsored hacking after the US blamed Moscow for cyberattacks aimed at influencing ...

  London / AFP Up to 40 lawmakers from British Prime Minister Theresa May’s Conservative party could back a motion in parliament demanding she publish her plan for Brexit before starting negotiations, it emerged on Tuesday. The rebellion might be enough to push the opposition motion through the 650-seat House of Commons on Wednesday, in a symbolic blow against May’s ...