Protesting migrants block Athens’ main train station

All six constituencies in Mumbai will go to polls on April 29 in the fourth phase of Lok Sabha elections....

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un crossed the border into Russia on Wednesday by train for his first trip there, aimed at galvanising support from President Vladimir Putin while nuclear talks with Washington are in limbo. Kim is expected to project himself as a serious world player at his first meeting with the Russian leader on Thursday and at the same time seek assistance from a key ally to ease economic pressure brought on by US and international sanctions. The young leader will meet Putin in the Russian Pacific port of Vladivostok, with the nuclear stalemate with the United States topping the agenda, Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov said. "In the last few months the situation around the peninsula has stabilised somewhat, thanks in large part to North Korea's initiatives of stopping rocket testing and closing its nuclear test site," Ushakov told reporters. "Russia intends to help in any way possible to cement that positive trend."

A US threat to veto UN Security Council action on sexual violence in conflict was averted on Tuesday after a long-agreed phrase was removed because President Donald Trump's administration sees it as code for abortion, diplomats said. A German-drafted resolution was adopted after a reference was cut referring to the need for UN bodies and donors to give timely "sexual and reproductive health" assistance to survivors of sexual violence in conflict. The US veto threat was the latest in a string of policy reversals that some UN diplomats say has been driven by US Vice President Mike Pence, a conservative Christian who staunchly opposes abortion rights. Pence was not involved in directing US diplomats during the negotiations, a White House aide said, but added that the adopted text "ended up in a place that is closer in line with the White House's priorities." Acting US Ambassador to the United Nations Jonathan Cohen did not speak after the council vote. After the vote, French UN Ambassador Francois Delattre told the 15-member body: "It is intolerable and incomprehensible that the Security Council is incapable of acknowledging that women and girls who suffered from sexual violence in conflict - and who obviously didn't choose to become pregnant - should have the right to terminate their pregnancy." The language promoting sexual and reproductive health is long-agreed internationally, including in resolutions adopted by the Security Council in 2009 and 2013 and several resolutions adopted annually by the 193-member General Assembly. The text adopted on Tuesday simply reaffirms the council's commitment to the 2009 and 2013 resolutions. A reference to the work of the International Criminal Court in fighting the most serious crimes against women and girls was also watered-down to win over Washington, which is not a member of the institution.

Britain will block China's Huawei Technologies from all core parts of the 5G network and access to non-core parts will be restricted, a security source said.