European Commission declines comment on tanker seized in Gibraltar
The European Union’s executive declined on Thursday to comment on the tanker detained in Gibraltar, saying that it had no information on the case and that implementing the bloc’s sanctions was a matter for the member states.
‘Firm actions’ on supertanker by Gibraltar send clear sanctions message: UK PM May’s spokesman
Britain welcomed on Thursday the “firm actions” by Gibraltar to detain a supertanker on suspicion of carrying crude oil to Syria, saying the move sent a clear message that the violation of EU sanctions was unacceptable.
U.S. deports 37 Cambodian refugees after criminal convictions
Thirty-seven Cambodian deported by the United States arrived in Phnom Penh on Thursday, 32 of them refugees who fled during the rule of the genocidal Khmer Rouge in the 1970s or war that followed their ouster, an aid group said.
Iran could consider talks with U.S. only if sanctions lifted, Khamenei permits: minister
Iran’s intelligence minister has said Tehran and Washington could hold talks only if the United States ended its sanctions and Iran’s top authority, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, gave his approval, state news agency IRNA reported on Thursday.
Philippine drug war enforcer defends police killing of toddler
A former police general who oversaw the bloodiest years of the Philippines’ war on drugs on Thursday shrugged off the killing by police of a 3-year-old girl in a sting operation, saying the world was not perfect, and “shit happens”.
New Saudi ambassadors take up posts in Washington and London
Saudi Arabia’s new ambassadors to the United States and the United Kingdom have taken up their posts after several months’ vacancy amid tensions with Western allies over the Yemen war and the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
Judges sentence Dutch crime boss Holleeder to life
Judges in Amsterdam sentenced crime boss Willem Holleeder to life in prison on Thursday for his involvement in five gangland killings.
U.N. says Libyan guards reportedly shot at migrants fleeing airstrikes
The United Nations said on Thursday it had information that Libyan guards shot at refugees and migrants trying to flee from airstrikes that killed at least 53 people, including six children, in a migrant detention center late on Tuesday.
Putin, after three days, says fire-hit Russian submarine was nuclear-powered
Russian President Vladimir Putin disclosed on Thursday for the first time that a secret military submarine hit by a fatal fire three days ago was nuclear-powered, prompting the defense minister to assure him its reactor had been safely contained.
German coalition in disarray over von der Leyen’s EU nomination
European leaders’ nomination of Ursula von der Leyen to head the European Commission did not give the Social Democrats (SPD) reason to quit Germany’s ruling coalition, a party leader said on Thursday.
