MOSCOW – Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and his German counterpart, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, on Wednesday called for the strengthening of international anti-terror cooperation. The two ministers agreed that issues related to the fight against terrorism would be studied more closely in the framework of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE). Steinmeier said Tuesday’s attacks in Brussels once ...

ANKARA – Turkey’s forcible return of around 30 Afghan asylum seekers just hours after the European Union (EU)-Turkey refugee deal came into force shows that implementing the deal would risk refugees’ lives from the word go, Amnesty International (AI) said. The organization has received credible information indicating that Turkey violated European and international law by forcibly returning the asylum-seekers, who ...

BRUSSELS – The latest attacks at Brussels airport and a metro station mark another low by terrorists, European Council President Donald Tusk said on Tuesday, following the explosions which caused at least 13 death in the morning. “I am appalled by the bombings this morning at Zavantem airport and the European district in Brussels which have cost several innocent lives ...

Thirty-four people were killed in attacks on Brussels airport and a rush-hour metro train in the Belgian capital on Tuesday, according to public broadcaster VRT, triggering security alerts across Europe and bringing some cross-border traffic to a halt. A witness said he heard shouts in Arabic and shots shortly before two blasts struck a packed airport departure lounge at Brussels ...

BEJI Caïd Essebsi, 89, was elected president of Tunisia in 2014 after running for the secular Nidaa Tounes party. Previously, he served as prime minister in 2011 and as foreign minister from 1981 to 1986. He sat down with The Washington Post at his presidential palace a few days before the country’s Independence Day, which it marked on Sunday, to ...

NAYPYITAW: Myanmar democracy champion Aung San Suu Kyi will steer the incoming government of her National League for Democracy (NLD), staying on as party head, and is unlikely to take a formal position in the government, the party said on Sunday. Myanmar’s parliament last week elected Htin Kyaw, a close friend and confidant of the Nobel peace prize laureate, as ...

Senior Japanese diplomat Tadamichi Yamamoto has been appointed as UN Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Afghanistan. He replaces Nicholas Haysom of South Africa, who has been appointed as UN’s special envoy for Sudan and South Sudan, a spokesman for Ban Ki-moon said on Friday. Yamamoheld several positions in the Japanese Foreign Ministry before joining the United Nations. He has served as ...

RIYADH: Saudi-led air strikes killed 41 civilians and wounded 75 on Tuesday in Yemen’s northwestern province of Haja, a senior provincial health official said, a region largely controlled by the Houthi militia. A spokesman for the Saudi-led coalition that intervened in Yemen’s civil war was not immediately available for comment. The coalition entered the conflict a year ago to stop ...

Peace talks with Taliban failed; HPC a symbolic body; Afghan officials lack consensus over peace with militants; women’s status will become worse after peace deal; Taliban fight for Pakistan’s interest AT-KABUL: Pakistan, regional countries, the United State and the West see their interests in war and insecurity in Afghanistan, a survey said. According to the survey launched by the Afghanistan ...

Saudi Arabia has long been a major ally of the United States but the relationship has deteriorated under Obama. —AP/File RIYADH: A senior Saudi royal has criticised President Barack Obama for comments accusing the longtime US ally of feeding Middle East conflicts. Saudi Arabia, the world’s top oil exporter, has long been a major ally of the United States but ...