While the role of president is largely ceremonial, it is regarded as a weathervane of the country’s political direction. Prague, Czech Republic – Incumbent Milos Zeman has won the first round of the Czech presidential election but faces a runoff after failing to gain the outright majority needed to win outright. With over 99 percent of ballots counted, Zeman led the pack […]

A U.S. citizen was detained in Russia on charges of spying, according to NPR. Paul Nicholas Whelan was arrested in Moscow on December 28 for espionage, Russia’s Federal Security Service announced on Monday, a charge that can carry up 20 years in prison if Whelan is convicted. The FSB released a brief statement saying that Whelan had been taken into […]

The desperate plight of migrants has been laid bare after two people were discovered hidden inside sealed mattresses as they attempted to reach Europe from Africa. Video of the two men shows police lifting the single mattresses, wrapped in plastic, off the top of a white van at a check-point between Melilla, on the north African coast, and Morocco. As […]

After two years of silence, North Korea and South Korea are set to re-open lines of communication. Tuesday’s talks will initially focus on the North’s participation in the Winter Olympics in the South next month. After two years of silence, North Korea and South Korea are set to re-open lines of communication. Tuesday’s talks will initially focus on the North’s […]

PA leader says the US president’s decision to recognise Jerusalem as Israel’s capital will never be accepted. Mahmoud Abbas has sharply criticised Donald Trump, saying the Palestinian Authority (PA) will never accept the US president’s decision to recognise Jerusalem as Israel’s capital. The PA president made his comments on Sunday at the start of a two-day central council meeting of the […]

At least 15 people have been reportedly killed and hundreds arrested as protests show no sign of letting up. New protests have erupted in Iran as a wave of anti-government rallies that began last week shows no sign of losing its momentum. Iranian state media has said that 14 people and one policeman have been killed after five days of demonstrations […]

The captives, mostly fishermen, farmers and their families, were held as farm workers by the armed group Boko Haram. More than 700 people abducted by the armed group Boko Haram in Nigeria have escaped from captivity, according to a spokesman for the army. The captives included farmers, fishermen and members of their families, Colonel Timothy Antigha said in a statement […]

A gas station in Penticton had the lowest fuel price in the province on Monday at 98.9 cents, according to the Gas Buddy website. It was among a handful of gas stations in the south Okanagan city, where fuel prices dropped below a dollar. Lineups for fuel formed at the Petro Canada gas station in Penticton on Monday, where the […]

International aid organisation says deaths in Yemen likely to rise as bacterial disease spreads. Deaths caused by diphtheria, a serious bacterial infection, are “likely to rise” in Yemen if a blockade imposed by a Saudi-led military coalition is not lifted, a major international charity has warned. Save the Children said in a statement on Sunday that minors in the war-torn country […]

US defence chief outlines the US’s new security strategy, warns of diminished capability ‘in every domain of warfare’. United States Defence Secretary James Mattis has said that “great power competition, not terrorism” will now be the main focus of national security policy. Mattis, unveiling the US’s first new defence strategy in a decade on Friday, said the US is facing growing […]