AFP, Washington
The Pentagon said Thursday it had conducted background checks on all Saudi military personnel currently training in the United States and found no “immediate threat scenario,” two weeks after a deadly shooting rampage by a Saudi air force officer.
Defense Department officials had announced a security review following the attack, halting operational training for Saudi Arabian military students in the United States, though classroom instruction would continue.
Russia, Japan seek solutions to end WWII islands dispute
AFP, Moscow
Russia and Japan’s foreign ministers met on Thursday to try and find a solution to a territorial dispute that has prevented them from signing a formal WWII peace treaty.
The Soviet Union seized the strategically located volcanic archipelago north of Japan’s Hokkaido in the final days of World War II and has maintained a military presence there ever since. It’s the third time in four months that Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and his Japanese counterpart Toshimutsu Motegi have met.
Gorbachev hospitalised, says being treated for pneumonia
AFP, Moscow
Mikhail Gorbachev, the last Soviet leader, told Russian media on Thursday that he is being treated in hospital for pneumonia. Confirming a radio report about his illness, the 88-year-old told RIA Novosti news agency by phone: “It’s true but I’m recovering. The treatment is basically over, now they are keeping me in for a couple of days and that’s it.”
Egypt rejects Turkey-Libya deal on sea rights, security
AP, United Nations
Egypt has told the U.N. Security Council it rejects two agreements between Turkey and Libya’s U.N.-supported government on maritime rights in the Mediterranean and military cooperation.
The maritime deal would give Turkey access to an economic zone across the Mediterranean, over the objections of Greece, Cyprus and Egypt, which lie between Turkey and Libya geographically.
