AFP, SEOUL: North Korea said Monday it had successfully tested a new ballistic missile, triggering a US-led call for an urgent UN Security Council meeting after a launch seen as a challenge to President Donald Trump. The North’s leader Kim Jong-Un “expressed great satisfaction over the possession…

AFP, ISLAMABAD: A Pakistani court Monday banned public celebrations of Valentine’s Day in the capital Islamabad, the latest attempt by authorities to outlaw a holiday seen by many in the traditional Muslim society as vulgar and Western. The Islamabad high court issued the order after a petitioner…

AFP, BAMAKO: A dozen people were killed in clashes between herders and farmers from separate ethnic groups over the weekend in central Mali, as jihadist tensions drive conflict in rural communities. Increased availability of arms from Libya has contributed to intercommunal violence in Mali, experts…

AFP, BELGRADE: Calling their dead “second-class victims”, Serbian families of civilians killed by Kosovo’s ethnic Albanian rebels in…

AFP, BRUSSELS: The EU on Monday sharply improved its gloomy predictions for the British economy next year, admitting that the Brexit vote would have less impact than earlier thought. In its winter forecasts, the European Commission said it was pencilling in growth of 1.5 percent for Britain in 2017,…

AFP, DUBAI: UN chief Antonio Guterres on Monday said he “deeply” regretted opposition to former Palestinian prime minister Salam Fayyad as the organisation’s peace envoy to Libya, days after Washington vetoed the appointment.“I deeply regret this opposition and I do not see any…

AFP, ADEN: Twenty rebels and government troops were killed overnight in clashes as warring parties pushed north along Yemen’s western coast, medical and government sources said Monday. The renewed clashes in the coastal towns of Midi and Mokha, north and south of the major Red Sea port of Hodeida…