AFP, Brussels
EU negotiator Michel Barnier will unveil a long-awaited draft Brexit divorce treaty on Wednesday which threatens to trigger new arguments with Britain on key issues.
The 120-page document appears set to overlook key demands by British Prime Minister Theresa May on the Irish border, citizens rights and a post-Brexit transition period.
China to build nuclear-powered aircraft carrier
Reuters, Beijing
China is developing technologies to build a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, state media reported on Wednesday, as Beijing pushes forward with an ambitious military modernization program.
Chinese President Xi Jinping pledged in October last year to turn China’s military into a world-class fighting force by 2050, and has made new technology development a key policy plank, investing in stealth fighters, aircraft carriers and missiles.
Cold blast across Europe kills 24
AFP
Paris, France: Europe remained Wednesday gripped by a blast of Siberian weather which has killed at least 24 people and carpeted palm-lined Mediterranean beaches in snow. The frigid temperatures, down to minus 24 degrees Celsius (minus 11 degrees Fahrenheit) in parts of Germany and minus 29 in Estonia overnight.
have prompted warnings for the most vulnerable homeless and elderly.
Cities across the continent have been providing emergency shelter and relief to rough sleepers, who accounted for most of the deaths since Friday.
Trump discusses Iran with Saudi, UAE leaders
Reuters, Washington
U.S. President Donald Trump discussed Iran’s “destabilizing activities” and other security and economic issues in separate telephone calls with senior Saudi and Emirati leaders on Tuesday, the White House said.
In calls with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed al-Nahyan of the United Arab Emirates, Trump thanked them for highlighting ways that Gulf Arab states “can better counter Iranian destabilizing activities and defeat terrorists and extremists,” the White House said.
Jerusalem’s Church of Holy Sepulchre reopens
Reuters, Jerusalem
Jerusalem’s Church of the Holy Sepulchre, revered as the site of Jesus’s crucifixion and burial, reopened on Wednesday after Israel backtracked on Tuesday from a tax plan and draft property legislation that triggered a three-day protest.
Maldives detains and deports Int’l lawyers
AP, Colombo
The Maldives detained and deported a group of international lawyers who travelled to the troubled honeymoon islands to study the impact of emergency rule, their organisation said Wednesday.
Law Asia, a regional lawyers’ association, said it had sent four members in response to an open invitation the government issued two days after President Abdulla Yameen imposed a state of emergency.
