India donates $5 m for Palestinian refugees fund
PTI, Jerusalem
India on Tuesday contributed USD 5 million to the UN Palestine refugee agency and called for ensuring sustained fiscal support for the organisation’s work.
The cheque for the amount was handed over to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) for Palestinian Refugees by Representative of India (ROI) in Palestine, Sunil Kumar, at the agency’s headquarters in Jerusalem.
Ukrainian leader urges Putin to help end fighting
AP, Kiev, Ukraine
Ukraine’s new leader said he called Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday to urge him to help halt fighting in eastern Ukraine.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said he asked the Russian leader to “influence the other side so that they stop killing our people.” Zelenskiy’s call came a day after four Ukrainian soldiers were killed by pro-Russia insurgents.
4 dead in Mali attacks
AFP, Bamako
Twin attacks in Mali have killed four people, including two Malian soldiers, security sources said Tuesday, as the International Committee of the Red Cross suspended activities in Timbuktu due to “growing insecurity”.
A gendarme was killed in an ambush the Segou region, east of the capital Bamako on Tuesday, while at the scene of a robbery, a security source said.
Two missing in Guinea army copter crash
AFP, Conakry
Two officers were missing after a military helicopter crashed into the sea on Tuesday off the capital of the West African state of Guinea, the army said.
The search for the two pilots was under way with “all means human and materiel mobilised by the national defence ministry,” the army said in a statement.
Talks with US on Syria zone ‘positive’: Turkey
AP, Beirut
Turkey’s defense minister says his country would like to establish a so-called “safe zone” in northeast Syria jointly with the United States but will act alone if necessary.
Hulusi Akar made the comments on Wednesday as Turkish and U.S. military officials continued to hold talks in Ankara over the zone.
Powerful explosion rocks tax office in Copenhagen
AFP, Stockholm
Danish police said today they were investigating a powerful explosion that rocked the country’s tax agency in Copenhagen hours earlier, causing severe damage to the building’s exterior but no injuries.
The cause of the blast, which occurred around 10:00 pm (20.00 GMT) at the agency’s headquarters in the capital’s Osterbro district, was not immediately known, Copenhagen police said.
