Eurasia

Ukraine’s pro-Western and moderately nationalist parties were on course today to score a crushing election win that boosted President Petro Poroshenko’s bid to merge his ex-Soviet country with Europe and end a pro-Russian revolt. A partial vote count and exit polls showed overwhelming support for Poroshenko’s drive to break his …

The Kurdish regional government in Iraq plans to send some 150 peshmerga fighters to Kobani through Turkey over the next few days to support Syrian Kurds there defending against ISIL militants. Fuad Hussein, the chief of staff for Kurdish regional president Massoud Barzani, said the fighters would take light weapons …

German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Friday discussed the situation in Ukraine with Russian President Vladimir Putin in a telephone conversation, the German government said. Merkel underlined the necessity to fully implement the Minsk deal reached between Ukraine’s government and insurgents, saying elections in the east of the country must be …

Russia still has troops in eastern Ukraine and retains a very capable force on the border despite a partial withdrawal, NATO’s military commander said on Friday. “We’ve seen a pretty good withdrawal of the Russian forces from inside Ukraine but, make no mistake, there remain Russian forces inside eastern Ukraine,” …

Unfazed by China’s objections to development of border areas, Government today announced setting up of 54 new border outposts and a Rs 175 crore package for beefing up the infrastructure along the border in Arunachal Pradesh. The announcement was made by Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh even as he made …

Washington is seeking more information on reports that militants of the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) used chlorine gas against Iraqi police officers last month, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said Oct. 24. The top U.S. diplomat told reporters he could not confirm the reports, but …

Tunisia has come through the Arab Spring better than other Arab countries, but now elections with an uncertain outcome lie ahead as the country seeks to find a path between chaos and dictatorship. Numbered grid patterns are painted on walls all over Tunisia, inviting political parties contesting Sunday’s parliamentary elections …

The death toll of the car bomb that targeted a security checkpoint on Friday in Egypt’s North Sinai province has increased to 17 soldiers, while 25 others were injured, a security source said, suggesting the toll is likely to increase. “The blast targeted a military checkpoint of Karm al-Qawadis in …

France’s Rafale fighter jets have struck a training center of the Islamic State (IS) militant group overnight in Iraqi city of Kirkuk, French army’s chief staff Peter de Villiers said on Friday. As part of the coalition military offensive to halt the militants’ advance, French aircraft dropped 70 bombs, of …

Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry met with Algerian President AbdelAziz Boutaflika to discuss a potential Joint Higher Committee addressing the Libyan crisis. During the meeting, Shoukry and Boutaflika also discussed other regional issues, according to a statement the Foreign Affairs released on Friday.