Dushanbe / AFP Russia and fragile ex-Soviet ally Tajikistan have begun large-scale military drills close to the Central Asian state’s restless border with Afghanistan, a Tajik military official confirmed Tuesday. A spokesman for Tajikistan’s defence ministry said the drills involving around 50,000 Tajik troops and 2,000 Russian troops, including paratroopers flown in from Russia. “The manoeuvres involve around a thousand …

Idomeni / AFP Some 700 refugees and migrants were being held in Macedonia on Tuesday after they managed to slip across the border from Greece, a frontier that has been shut for a week. Dozens of others who failed to cross were returning to the overflowing Idomeni camp on the Greek side, where some 14,000 people are stuck in increasing …

Naypyidaw / AFP Myanmar’s lawmakers on Tuesday elected a close aide and longtime friend of Aung San Suu Kyi to become the first civilian president in decades, a historic moment for the formerly junta-run nation. Htin Kyaw, 69, hailed his elevation to the top post as “Suu Kyi’s victory”, a clear nod to her plan that he serve as a …