MADRID / AP Spain wants to raise 500 million euros ($528 million) from new environmental taxes as part of a package of fiscal measures to meet the European Union’s budget deficit goals. The new environmental taxes are part of the revised budgetary plan Spain has submitted to the European Commission. The plan says the new taxes will target a …

  Bloomberg The Federal Trade Commission is seeking to further question Volkswagen AG’s US officials about whether evidence including mobile phones was destroyed amid the probe of diesel vehicles rigged to cheat emissions tests. “In the context of the massive scandal at the center of this case, 23 lost or bricked phones is a bright red flag, especially when they …

  Aleppo / AFP Syria’s army pushed forward in Aleppo on Sunday as thousands fled rebel-held areas but its forces lost ground to the south where the IS group recaptured the ancient city of Palmyra. After a sudden withdrawal by regime forces, IS extremists made a lightning-fast advance across Palmyra, sparking new worries for its remaining ancient treasures. Forces loyal to …

  Baghdad / AFP US Defence Secretary Ashton Carter held talks in Baghdad on Sunday to discuss the coming stages of the offensive to retake the city of Mosul from the IS group. Carter flew to the Iraqi capital on an announced visit to “survey key locations directly supporting the battle for Mosul”, the Pentagon said in a statement. The United …

  Cairo / AFP A bomb blast tore through a church near Cairo’s Coptic cathedral during a service on Sunday, killing at least 25 people in the deadliest attack in recent memory on Egypt’s Christian minority. There was no immediate claim of responsiblity for the bombing. Coptic Christians make up about 10 percent of Egypt’s population. At least 31 people were …

  Aden / AFP Forty-eight Yemeni soldiers were killed in a suicide bombing claimed by the IS group in the southern port city of Aden, officials said on Sunday in an updated casualty toll. “We have 48 dead and 29 wounded,” all soldiers, Abdel Nasser al-Wali, health department chief for Aden, told AFP, revising an earlier toll of 35 dead. The …

  Istanbul / AFP Turkey observed a day of mourning on Sunday after twin bombings killed 38 people near an Istanbul football stadium in attacks authorities said were likely the work of Kurdish militants. A car bomb detonated Saturday night outside the home stadium of football giants Besiktas after a Super Lig match against Bursaspor, and less than a minute later …

  Mogadishu / AFP More than 20 people were killed on Sunday in a suicide truck bombing in the Somali capital Mogadishu, police said, in a fresh strike claimed by the Al-Qaeda-linked Shabaab group. “The tally we have made so far indicates that more than 20 people, most of them civilians, were killed in the blast,” said Ibrahim Mohamed, a Somali …

  Bloomberg Pilots of at least three Indian flights, including one operated by market leader IndiGo, lied to air traffic controllers about being short on fuel to get priority landing at an airport, according to an investigation by the country’s aviation safety regulator. The incident occurred on November 30, when pilots of an IndiGo plane radioed traffic controllers at Kolkata …

  AFP / Reuters Iran Air said on Sunday it had finalised a contract to buy 80 planes from US firm Boeing, the official IRNA news agency reported. “Fifty of the planes are 737 and the other 30 are the long haul 777 that will be delivered to Iran Air in a period of 10 years,” said Farhad Parvaresh, chief executive …