AFP, Budapest
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday denounced the EU’s political demands on Israel as “absolutely crazy”, in remarks leaked from a closed-door meeting with eastern and central European leaders in Budapest.
“The European Union is the only association of countries in the world that conditions the relations with Israel… in every area on political conditions,” he said in a recording heard by AFP.
Iran still top state terror sponsor: US
AP, Washington
Iran continues to be the world’s leading state sponsor of terrorism, the Trump administration said Wednesday in a new report that also noted a decline in the number of terrorist attacks globally between 2015 and 2016. In its annual “Country Reports on Terrorism” released Wednesday, the State Department said Iran was the planet’s “foremost” state sponsor of terrorism in 2016, a dubious distinction the country has held for many years. It said Iran was firm in its backing of anti-Israel groups as well as proxies that have destabilized already devastating conflicts in Iraq, Syria and Yemen.
Russian protester sentenced for
throwing brick at cop
AP, Moscow
A Moscow court has sentenced a protester to 2 ½ years in prison for throwing a brick at a riot policeman during an opposition rally earlier this year.
The March 26 rally on Moscow’s main street, organized by opposition leader Alexei Navalny, was a rare unauthorized protest against President Vladimir Putin. Rallies were held in dozens of other Russian cities and towns in the biggest outpouring of discontent in years.
State of emergency in British Columbia extended
Reuters, Vancouver
British Columbia’s government took the unprecedented step on Wednesday of extending a state of emergency by two weeks as it battled 155 wildfires that have forced nearly 50,000 people from their homes.
The province’s Premier John Horgan said evacuated households would receive C$600 ($476.53) from the government to cover basic needs for every 14 days they cannot return home.
