Italy backs Turkish membership of the European Union “100 per cent” but Ankara needs to make progress on key issues such as the Cyprus question, the Italian foreign minister said Thursday.

Lebanese took a day off work on Thursday, 64th anniversary of independence, but with foreign powers hovering over the search for a new president, many Lebanese wonder if they can ever shake off outside intervention.

OTTAWA – A senior Canadian general painted an upbeat picture of the war in Afghanistan to a House of Commons committee Thursday, contradicting an international think-tank.