Kiev / AFP Ukraine ratcheted up tensions with Moscow on Wednesday by warning the Kremlin its military intended to hold two days of rocket launching exercises near the border with Russian-annexed Crimea. The tests would begin on Thursday and almost certainly further damage relations between two former Soviet neighbours that treat each other as open foes. Rocket exercises near the …

  Nicosia / AFP Rival Cypriot leaders can overcome their differences in stalled peace negotiations if they show “flexibility”, British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson said on Wednesday after talks with the two sides. “I welcome the progress that has been made in recent months and I salute the courage and determination that is being shown by the leaders on both …

  Eisenstadt / AFP Campaigners for Austria’s Greens-backed presidential candidate Alexander Van der Bellen are having a hard time in Burgenland state, where the far-right has carved out a cosy alliance with the Social Democrats, one of the country’s two main parties. The SPOe, which grew out of a Marxist worker’s movement and remains close to the unions, broke a major …