Cotonou, Benin (AFP): Benin’s opposition has returned to parliament after a four-year absence, winning 28 seats in elections dominated by President Patrice Talon’s allies, according to preliminary results. Sunday’s vote was a test for the West African state where Talon has promoted development, but critics say his programme h...
MOSCOW (AA) – Armenia’s refusal to host military exercises of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) creates certain difficulties, Russia has said. Countries in the alliance are now forced to change previously agreed upon defense services plans, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said at a press briefing in Mo...
ANKARA (AA) – Turkish Parliament Speaker Mustafa Sentop has cancelled his Swedish counterpart Andreas Norlen’s visit to Türkiye in response to “recent provocations” by supporters of the Kurdish nationalist group PKK in Stockholm. “Swedish Parliament Speaker Norlen’s official visit to Türkiye on January 17 wa...
TRENTON, Canada (AA) – The Star Blanket Cree Nation in Canada has revealed that searchers found the remnants of a long-buried child at the site of a 19th century school for native Indians. Ground-penetrating radar had 2,000 “hits” that may indicate unmarked graves at the site of the former Indian Residential School. At a pres...
BELGRADE, Serbia (AA) – Washington is in favor of focusing on the German-French proposal to normalize relations between Serbia and Kosovo, US State Department Counselor Derek Chollet said Thursday. Chollet, on a Balkan tour, met Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic in Belgrade. Chollet said the US is in favor of the proposal that is though...
ANKARA (AA) – Turkish, Russian, and Syrian foreign ministers may meet early February, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said on Thursday, without giving a specific timeframe. “There is no clear date yet, but we will hold this trio meeting as soon as possible. Maybe at the beginning of February,” Cavusoglu told reporte...
LAHORE, Pakistan (AA) – Chaudhry Parvez Elahi, the chief minister of Pakistan’s Punjab province, signed on Thursday the summary to dissolve the provincial assembly, a move which could force early general elections in the country. “I, Parvez Elahi Chief Minister Punjab hereby advise you to dissolve the provincial assembly of Punjab,...
NAIROBI, Kenya (AA) – China’s foreign minister has said that Africa should not be a platform for international competition. “Africa should be a key stage for international cooperation, not a place where powerful nations compete with one another,” said Qin Gang, speaking in Ethiopia’s capital Addis Ababa while launching the Chinese-built Africa...
WASHINGTON (AA) – The US and Japan have said that China is the “greatest” strategic challenge for both nations. The assessment was announced during a joint press conference after security talks under the 2+2 format were held between the American and Japanese foreign and defense ministers in the US capital Washington, D.C. ...
ISTANBUL (AA) – The Constitutional Court in Kazakhstan has annulled the law on the first President Nursultan Nazarbayev. A statement by the Constitutional Court said that it considered the appeal of certain lawmakers but the court viewed that the law “On the First President of the Republic of Kazakhstan – Elbasy” is not consistent ...
