Politics

  London / AFP Security has been stepped up on the London Underground network, police said on Saturday, following the arrest of a 19-year-old man after a suspicious item was discovered on a Tube train. “The public will see more officers, including armed police, in and around transport hubs,” a Scotland Yard spokesman said. Armed police arrested the 19-year-old in London ...

  Moscow / AFP Nineteen people died when a helicopter carrying oil and gas field workers crashed in a remote area of Siberia in bad weather, Russian investigators said on Saturday. The Mi-8 helicopter carrying 22 people including three crew crashed on Friday night in the far-northern Yamalo-Nenetsky region some 2,400 kilometres (1,500 miles) northeast of Moscow, investigators said. Photos ...

  Moscow / AFP Moscow on Saturday escalated a row over its attempts to send observers to the US presidential polls, accusing Washington of adopting an “anti-Russian” stance. Moscow has said that it is trying to send its own observers to various US states to monitor the November 8 vote, but has been refused accreditation so far. Deputy foreign minister ...

  Santiago / AFP Chilean President Michelle Bachelet faces a test of strength on Sunday in municipal elections that will serve as a political barometer with just over a year to go in her term. The local polls are the last vote before general elections in 2017 that will decide the Socialist leader’s successor, at a time when the left in ...

  Kabul / AFP An Afghan Taliban delegation arrived in Pakistan, militant sources said on Saturday, raising speculation over efforts to revive peace negotiations days after reports of secret talks with Afghan officials in Qatar. Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid confirmed the delegation from the militants’ political office in Qatar had arrived in Pakistan, but ruled out any chance of peace ...

  Aleppo / AFP Hundreds of wounded civilians were stranded in rebel-held areas of Syria’s Aleppo on Saturday after the UN said security concerns had prevented evacuation convoys even as Russia extended a ceasefire into a third day. The unilateral “humanitarian pause” in the Syrian army’s devastating Russian-backed assault on the opposition-controlled east of the city has largely held since it ...

  Ankara / AFP Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim warned the EU on Saturday not to forget that Turkey has alternatives to the bloc, whose ties with Ankara have become increasingly strained.He did not say what the alternatives were could be but closer relations between Russia and Ankara has caused concern in the West. “Turkey always has alternatives. Europe should ...

  Dubai / AFP Bahrain will auction the confiscated assets of the main Shiite opposition in the Sunni-ruled Gulf kingdom after it was dissolved over terrorism-related charges, a judicial source said on Saturday. An administrative court on Thursday ordered the auctioning of Al-Wefaq’s assets to be held on October 26, the source said. The group’s dissolution in July drew strong ...

  Kirkuk /AFP Security forces battled for a second day on Saturday with IS gunmen who infiltrated Kirkuk in a brazen raid that rattled Iraq as it ramped up an offensive to retake Mosul. A day after the shock attack on the Kurdish-controlled city, extremist snipers and suspected suicide bombers were still at large, prompting Baghdad to send reinforcements. Special ...

  Baghdad / AFP US Defence Secretary Ashton Carter arrived in Baghdad on Saturday to review the six-day-old offensive to retake Mosul, the IS group’s last major stronghold in Iraq. He will meet commanders from the 60-nation coalition which is led by the United States and assists Iraqi forces in their drive against the extremists. Carter is also due to ...