Politics

  Moscow / AFP Russia and Egypt will hold joint military drills involving airborne troops on Egyptian soil for the first time this month, the Russian defence ministry said on Tuesday. “The joint Russian-Egyptian drills will happen in mid-October 2016 on the territory of Egypt,” it said, without specifying their start date. The drills, called “Protectors of Friendship-2016”, will include 500 ...

  Beijing / AFP China and Russia blasted Washington on Tuesday for its decision to deploy a missile defence system in South Korea in response to Pyongyang’s nuclear programme. Speaking at the 7th annual Xiangshan regional defence forum in Beijing, top military officials from the countries said the move by Seoul and Washington represented a threat to regional stability and was ...

  Lashkar Gah / AFP Afghanistan has deployed hundreds of commandos backed by NATO air strikes in Lashkar Gah to drive Taliban insurgents from the southern city after the militants killed 14 people in a coordinated attack, officials said on Tuesday. The assault Monday marked the insurgents’ latest attempt to seize the capital of Helmand province, underscoring unravelling security as ...

  Karbala / AFP Thousands of Iraqi security personnel guarded areas in and around Karbala on Tuesday to protect hundreds of thousands of Shiite pilgrims flocking to the shrine city for annual mourning rituals. Shiites in Iraq have come under frequent attack by extremists of the IS group who still control some territory in Anbar province, to the west of ...

  Istanbul / AFP President Vladimir Putin on Monday said non-OPEC member Russia was ready to work with the cartel in imposing measures to limit oil production, in comments that propelled the price of crude to its highest levels in a year. Eyes have turned to Russia, the world’s top oil producer alongside Saudi Arabia, to see if it will ...

  DUBAI / AFP Two missiles fired from rebel-held territory in Yemen fell short of a US warship patrolling the Red Sea off the coast of the war-torn country, the US navy said on Monday. The USS Mason “detected two inbound missiles” within an hour of each other from around 7:00 pm (1600 GMT) on Sunday, said US Naval Forces ...

  Ankara /AFP Police in Ankara on Monday used tear gas and plastic bullets to prevent pro-Kurdish activists from holding a protest to mark the first anniversary of the worst attack in Turkey’s modern history. One hundred and three people were killed on October 10, 2015 when suicide bombers said to be linked to IS extremists blew themselves up in ...

  Riyadh/ AFP Syria’s main opposition group called on Monday for foreign allies to supply rebel forces with ground-to-air weapons to counter deadly air raids in Aleppo. Gathered for two days of talks in the Saudi capital, the High Negotiations Committee (HNC) umbrella group denounced the “scorched earth policy” of President Bashar al-Assad and his allies. Regime troops and Russian ...

  White Plains / AFP Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton on Monday headed back to the campaign trail after a fiery presidential debate, with the Republican looking to bounce back after a weekend that crippled his White House bid. With just over four weeks to go before American voters head to the ballot boxes to choose their next commander-in-chief, the ...

Vilnius / AFP Lithuanians fed up with economic inequality voted for change in round one of a general election, with Monday’s results showing the opposition set to oust the governing leftists in an October 23 run-off. The national elections commission said near full results showed the centrist Lithuanian Peasants and Green Union party (LPGU) winning 21.62 percent of the vote, ...