Canada offers to lead NATO operation in Iraq
AP, Brussels
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says his country is offering to lead NATO’s new military training mission in Iraq for the first year and stands ready to provide 250 troops plus helicopters for the effort.
Trudeau said Wednesday that it is important to help build the conflict-ravaged country’s resilience against the Islamic State group.
Greece hints at Russian diplomats’ expulsion
AP, Nicosia, Cyprus
Greece’s government spokesman is suggesting that Russian diplomats stationed in the country acted unlawfully and “disrespected” the Greek state, which may lead to their expulsion.
Spokesman Dimitris Tzanakopoulos told private TV station Skai on Wednesday that at “all measures” will be taken against the Russian diplomats.
Landslides kill
9 in India
Reuters, Guwahati
Torrential rains triggered landslides in northeastern India on Wednesday, killing eight children and a woman, an official said.
Heavy rains set off landslides in Tamenglong, about 155 kilometers (96 miles) west of Imphal, capital of the state of Manipur, a government official said.
“A total of nine people were killed and that includes eight children and a woman in three separate incidents of landslides in the Tamenglong area since early Wednesday,” Tamenglong district magistrate Ravinder Singh told Reuters by telephone.
Egypt’s forces kill 11 militants
AP, Cairo
Egypt’s official news agency says security forces killed at least 11 suspected militants in a shootout in the northern Sinai Peninsula.
MENA quoted an unnamed security official Wednesday as saying that the fighting erupted when forces raided a hideout in the city of al-Arish. It says security forces dismantled two explosive devices and seized weapons.
It did not say when the raid took place or whether any security forces were killed or wounded. Egypt heavily restricts media access to the northern Sinai.
