Taliban prepare for Afghan president to order prisoner swap
The Taliban have sent vehicles to be ready to collect fighters expected to be released by the Afghan government in a prisoner exchange and said they will honor the deal by handing over 1,000 government troops.
Greece rebuffs 963 migrants in border standoff with Turkey
Nearly 1,000 migrants tried to cross into Greece from Turkey in the past 24 hours despite tight border security, Greek officials said on Tuesday, suggesting little respite in a nearly two-week diplomatic bust-up between Ankara and the European Union.
Hard habit to shake: Dutch PM Rutte has to hold his hands up
Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte had just gone on live TV to tell the country’s 17 million residents to stop shaking hands to help combat coronavirus when he immediately broke the new rule.
Baghdad’s booksellers won’t let coronavirus close them down
They survived censorship under Saddam Hussein and the years of violence that followed his downfall, so the booksellers of Baghdad are not too worried by coronavirus.
‘It’s a pain in the neck,’ Madrid parents say as schools shut over coronavirus
Parents across the Madrid region scrambled for ways to cope with a two-week shutdown of schools starting Wednesday in the hope of stemming the spread of coronavirus, while authorities prepared to carry out daily disinfection of the metro network.
Russia’s ruling party backs idea of allowing Putin to run again for president: RIA
Russia’s ruling United Russia party said on Tuesday it would back a constitutional amendment that would allow President Vladimir Putin to run again for president, the RIA news agency reported, a prospect Putin has previously played down.
Israel travel restrictions could ease when virus spreads locally
Orders for all visitors arriving in Israel to self-isolate for two weeks could be eased if the coronavirus outbreak begins to spread locally en masse, one of the country’s epidemic management team said on Tuesday.
Turkey’s Erdogan says U.S. softening stance on Patriot systems
Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said that the United States was softening its stance on a potential sale of U.S. Patriot defense systems, adding that Washington had asked Ankara to guarantee it will not activate Russian S-400 defense systems.
We want to end up with no high-risk vendors in 5G network: UK government
Britain wants to end up with no “high-risk” telecommunications vendors, like China’s Huawei, involved in running its 5G networks, Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s spokesman said on Tuesday.
Spanish parliament rejects request to investigate King Juan Carlos
The Spanish parliament on Tuesday rejected for the second time in two years a request by several parties to open an investigation into the business activities of former King Juan Carlos.
