Politics

  Brussels / AFP The European Union begun training the Libyan coast guard as part of efforts to curb the growing influx of irregular migrants from North Africa, EU foreign affairs head Federica Mogherini said on Thursday. “Today we are starting the training of the Libyan coast guard in Operation Sophia which is a very important step,” Mogherini said as she ...

  KHAZER / AP Iraqi special forces have moved more than 1,000 people out of villages near the front lines of the battle to retake the IS -held city of Mosul and surrounding areas, where the UN says militants have committed a number of abuses in recent days, officials said on Wednesday. Special forces Maj. Gen. Haider Fadhil said residents ...

  Beirut / AFP Air strikes on Syria’s rebel-held Idlib province hit a school and the surrounding area on Wednesday, killing at least 26 civilians including many children, a monitor and activists said. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said “warplanes—either Russia or Syrian—carried out six strikes” in the village of Hass, including on a school complex. The Britain-based Observatory, which ...

  Kabul / AFP Militants linked to IS extremists abducted and killed around 30 civilians, including children, in central Afghanistan, officials said on Wednesday, raising concerns about the group’s expanding presence beyond its eastern stronghold. The killings occurred late Tuesday north of Firoz Koh, the capital of Ghor province, with the local government calling it a revenge attack after a ...

  Peshawar / AFP A polio worker was gunned down on Wednesday as he was administering vaccines to children in northwest Pakistan, officials said, the latest casualty in the country’s long campaign against the crippling disease. The incident occurred in Jamrud area of the tense Khyber tribal district that borders Afghanistan and was once a haven for Taliban militants, though ...

  Diyarbakir / AFP Turkish police clashed with protesters in Diyarbakir on Wednesday, using tear gas and water cannon to prevent them demonstrating against the detention of the Kurdish-majority city’s co-mayors. Gultan Kisanak and Firat Anli were taken into custody on Tuesday night in a surprise move against the leaders of a city which has been hit by the renewed fighting ...

  Madrid / AFP Russia scrapped plans on Wednesday to refuel Syria-bound warships in a Spanish port after Madrid came under pressure to refuse access to a flotilla that may be used to help attacks on Aleppo. The Spanish foreign ministry said that three Russian ships—part of a wider flotilla led by aircraft carrier Admiral Kuznetsov—had been due to take on ...

  Calais / AFP Workers ramped up demolition of France’s notorious Calais “Jungle” on Wednesday after fierce blazes cut through a swathe of the camp overnight, sending migrants fleeing for safety. Wearing hardhats and orange overalls in the morning fog, a team of around 15 workers resumed tearing down tents and makeshift shelters at the camp that has become a symbol ...

  New Delhi / AFP Five people were killed in an explosion at an illegal firecracker workshop in India, police said on Wednesday, ahead of the annual Diwali festival when demand hits its peak. The building housing the workshop was completely destroyed when a fire hit gunpowder stocks used to make the fireworks in northern India’s Uttar Pradesh state late ...

  Taipei / AFP Hostages were forced to eat mice, scorpions and centipedes to survive during the nearly five years they were held by Somali pirates, according to a Taiwanese seafarer who arrived home on Wednesday. Shen Jui-chang, among 26 hostages freed from the crew of Naham 3 seized south of the Seychelles in March 2012, added he had constantly ...