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  Tehran / AFP Iran formally requested a meeting of the commission that oversees its nuclear deal with world powers to complain about the renewing of sanctions by the United States, state television reported on Saturday. The request was made in a letter by Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif to the European Union’s foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini, calling for “a ...

  Istanbul / AFP Thirteen Turkish soldiers were killed and dozens more wounded on Saturday in a suicide car bombing targeting off-duty conscripts blamed on Kurdish militants, the latest in a string of attacks to rock Turkey in recent months. The government said all signs so far suggested the the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) was behind the bombing in the ...

  Qayyarah / AFP The battle to retake Mosul from the IS group is leaving a legacy of environmental damage and health risks that will pose dangers to people for years to come. Iraqis have already paid the initial price from burning oil wells and a sulphur factory that IS set alight south of Mosul, Iraq’s last extremist-held city which is ...

  Beijing / AFP China has objected to the Dalai Lama meeting with Indian President Pranab Mukherjee earlier this month, saying the talks had negatively impacted ties between the Asian neighbours. The Tibetan spiritual leader met with Mukherjee at the Indian presidential palace in New Delhi during a child welfare summit attended by Nobel laureates and world leaders on December 10-11. ...

  Caracas / AFP Desperate Venezuelans looted delivery trucks and clashed with police as a botched plan to introduce new banknotes left people without cash—the latest shortage in a spiraling economic crisis. President Nicolas Maduro blamed opposition politicians for the unrest, claiming that there were pictures and videos of some opposition members of the National Assembly involved in “attempts of ...

  Paris / AFP A French anti-terrorist judge has charged three more men suspected of helping to arm the radical who crushed 86 people to death with a truck in Nice, a judicial source said on Saturday. The three, who were among 11 arrested on Monday in Nice and the western city of Nantes, were remanded into custody on Friday, said ...

  Warsaw / AFP Dozens of Polish MPs protested in parliament over plans to restrict journalists’ right to cover proceedings, as thousands of demonstrators marched outside in support for their stance. The demonstration at the gates of parliament in Warsaw was called by the KOD pro-democracy movement, which is critical of the ruling Law and Justice (PiS) party’s policies on ...

  BEIJING / AP China said on Saturday that its military was in contact with its American counterparts on “appropriately handling” the Chinese navy’s seizure of a US Navy unmanned underwater glider, one of the most serious incidents between the two militaries in years. The one-sentence comment by the foreign ministry offered no details on what discussions were underway or ...

  Sydney / AFP A major 7.9-magnitude earthquake struck off Papua New Guinea on Saturday, the US Geological Survey said, but no immediate casualties were reported and an initial tsunami threat was later deemed to have passed. The earthquake struck 60 km to the east of Taron, New Ireland, at 8.51 pm local time (1051 GMT) at a depth of ...

  Seoul / AFP Tens of thousands of protestors turned out in Seoul for the eighth straight week on Saturday, pushing for the immediate and permanent removal of impeached South Korean President Park Geun-Hye. Unlike previous weeks, the demonstrators didn’t have the streets of the capital all to themselves, with a sizeable rally by Park loyalists seeking to buttress support for ...