ljubljana / afp The Balkan trail from Greece to northern Europe used by floods of migrants was blocked on Wednesday after a string of nations slammed shut their borders, hiking pressure on the EU and Turkey to nail down a “game-changing” grand bargain. Slovenia and Croatia, two of the countries along the well-trodden route, said late Tuesday that no migrants ...

Riyadh / AFP Yemen’s Iran-backed rebels have freed a Saudi soldier in return for seven detained Yemenis as part of a tribal-mediated border truce agreed by both sides, the Riyadh-led coalition said Wednesday. The agreement reached during a visit by a Yemeni tribal delegation to the kingdom is the first of its kind since the Saudi-led coalition began a military ...

Rabat / AFP Morocco accused United Nations chief Ban Ki-moon of speaking out of turn during a visit to restart talks between Rabat and the Algeria-backed Polisario Front on disputed Western Sahara. The Moroccan government noted “with great surprise the verbal outpourings… and unjustified gestures of deference” by Ban during his visit, according to a statement released by the official ...