The number of asylum-seekers and refugees to Germany will quadruple to a record 800,000 this year compared with last, twice as many as forecast in January, the government said on Wednesday. Germany has become a magnet for refugees from Africa, Asia and the Middle East and has criticized European Union partners for not doing more. “We’ve got to reckon there will be 800,000 people coming to Germany as refugees or
Nearly 30,000 firefighters and support staff were battling blazes across a handful of mainly western US states, officials said Wednesday, after millions of acres and multiple buildings have burned. A total of 7.16 million acres (2.9 million hectares) have gone up in flames across the country this year, the National Interagency Fire Center said. The firefighters and other personnel, who totaled 28,884 as of Wednesday, were battling large wildfires in
Eurogroup President Jeroen Dijsselbloem said on Wednesday he believes that euro zone countries and the International Monetary Fund will be able to come to an agreement on IMF participation in Greece’s latest bailout package. Dijsselbloem said that while European governments opposed any nominal writedown of Greek debt, and while the IMF believed Greek debt was not sustainable as is, they will be able to find a compromise in the form
Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras called for the European Parliament to join the so-called quartet of creditor institutions overseeing the country’s 86-billion-euro EU/IMF bailout program. “I deem it politically imperative that the sole European institution with direct popular mandate acts as the ultimate guarantor of democratic accountability and compatibility of economic policy in Europe,” Tsipras wrote in a letter to European Parliament President Martin Schulz. Tsipras’ office said Schulz reacted
AZRAQ REFUGEE CAMP, Jordan (AP) — Jordan’s second-largest refugee camp for Syrian refugees now has a water well and a new school.
By Amy Sawitta Lefevre and Aukkarapon Niyomyat BANGKOK (Reuters) – Thai authorities said on Tuesday they were looking for a suspect seen on closed-circuit television (CCTV) footage near a popular shrine where a bomb blast killed 22 people, nearly half of them foreigners. The government said the attack during Monday’s evening rush hour in Bangkok’s commercial hub was aimed at destroying the economy. Major-General Werachon Sukhondhapatipak said there were similarities
Warplanes from a Saudi-led coalition hit Yemen’s Red Sea port of Hodeida on Tuesday, and officials there said the raids destroyed cranes and warehouses in the main entry point for aid supplies to the north of the country. Hodeida, controlled by Iranian-allied Houthi forces, has become a focal point of efforts to resupply the impoverished Arab state, battered by five months of war that has killed over 4,300 people. “The
By Lefteris Papadimas ATHENS (Reuters) – Alexis Tsipras has presided over a near-death experience for the Greek financial system and performed a U-turn on resisting austerity. With his ministers openly discussing the possibility of a snap election, Tsipras seems nearly ready to exploit his enduring popularity in Greece and further consolidate his position after seven turbulent months in office. Tsipras’s one tangible achievement has been to seal a new bailout
By Orhan Coskun ANKARA (Reuters) – Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu will formally give up trying to form the next government on Tuesday after weeks of coalition talks failed, raising the prospect of a fractious interim administration leading the country to a new election. Davutoglu had been trying to find a junior coalition partner since the AK Party lost its parliamentary majority in an election in June, leaving it unable
By Shihar Aneez and Douglas Busvine COLOMBO (Reuters) – Former president Mahinda Rajapaksa’s attempt to stage a comeback in Sri Lanka’s general election has ended in defeat as results on Tuesday showed the alliance that toppled him making decisive gains. The ruling United National Party (UNP) fell just short of an outright majority, but Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe should still command enough support to form a stable government after eight