Politics

  New York / AFP Donald Trump stepped up his attacks on Hillary Clinton as her campaign battled to silence suggestions that donors to her family’s charity paid for access when she was America’s top diplomat. The Democratic nominee, looking to make history as America’s first female commander-in-chief, is polling well ahead of her Republican rival but has hit choppy waters ...

  Karkamis / AFP Turkish tanks and hundreds of opposition fighters thrust deep inside Syrian territory on Wednesday in a lightning operation that within hours ousted IS extremists from a key Syrian border town. The air and ground offensive—the most ambitious launched by Ankara in the Syria conflict—made rapid progress towards Jarabulus with rebel fighters already proclaiming victory by the late ...

  Srinagar / AFP One protester was killed on Wednesday in fresh clashes with security forces armed with shotguns in Indian-administered Kashmir which is reeling from weeks of deadly violence, police said. As Home Minister Rajnath Singh arrived in the disputed region to discuss the unrest with local political, business and other leaders, thousands of residents rallied in Pulwama in ...

  Belgrade / AFP Serbian police have arrested a hunter after an Afghan migrant was shot dead in the country’s southeast near the border with Bulgaria, Belgrade said on Wednesday. Security forces were patrolling near the town of Pirot late Tuesday when they “heard a shot and then met six migrants, one of whom had been shot in the chest,” ...

  Riyadh / AFP Top US diplomat John Kerry arrives in Saudi Arabia to push for peace in Yemen after UN-brokered talks collapsed despite world concern over mounting civilian casualties. Over two days, Kerry is to meet Saudi Foreign Minister Adel Al-Jubeir and other Gulf ministers. He will also meet UN Yemen envoy Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed and Britain’s Under Secretary ...

  Sydney / AFP Replicas of a large piece of debris from missing Malaysia Airlines jet MH370 will be set adrift and tracked by satellite in the hope of helping find the plane’s crash site, Australian officials said on Wednesday. Canberra is leading the search for the aircraft which vanished in March 2014 with 239 people onboard and is currently ...

  Kathmandu / AFP Nepal’s new prime minister will visit India next month on his first foreign visit, seeking to repair the strained relationship between the neighbours, an official said on Wednesday. Nepal’s relationship with India—which is often accused of acting as a “big brother” to its smaller impoverished neighbor—soured after a months-long border blockade last year by ethnic minority ...

  Kiev / AFP Ukraine marks the 25th anniversary of its freedom from Kremlin rule Wednesday with moves to sweep away its totalitarian past and embrace a European future while grappling with its tense relations with Russia. A nation that once served as a geopolitical bridge between Moscow and the West is now the source of a deep and dangerous ...

  Seoul / AFP North Korea has been laying fresh landmines on its side of the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) with South Korea, the UN Command said on Tuesday, following a spate of high-profile defections. Military personnel were seen planting mines on the North’s side of a river crossing known as the Bridge of No Return—close to the border truce village of ...

  Bankok / AFP The trial of two Chinese Uighurs accused of killing 20 people when they allegedly bombed a Bangkok shrine was postponed on Tuesday because the men still do not have a translator. The delay is the latest snag in a cryptic case that has so far shed little light on the horrific attack in Thailand’s capital last year ...