MOSCOW – Russia said yesterday it had agreed terms for a new oil deal with Ukraine a few hours after spooking Europe with a warning the continent could face oil supply cuts because of a dispute between Moscow and Kiev.
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TEHRAN – Iran arrested at least 10 leading opposition figures yesterday, a day after eight people were killed in anti-government protests that erupted during a Shi’ite Muslim religious festival, an opposition website said.
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KARACHI – A suicide bomber blew up a Shi’ite Muslim procession in Pakistan’s commercial capital Karachi, killing at least 25 people, in an attack that underscored multiple security challenges facing the US ally.
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ASADABAD, Afghanistan – Afghan President Hamid Karzai condemned the killing of 10 civilians in an attack in the remote northeast on Saturday night and promised an investigation.
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JERUSALEM – Israel announced plans yesterday to build nearly 700 new Jewish homes in areas of the occupied West Bank it considers part of Jerusalem, prompting strong US criticism implying they could undermine peace talks.
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ISTANBUL – Turkey’s civilian and military leaders met as police searched a key unit of the army’s special forces for a third day in an investigation into a suspected plot to assassinate the deputy prime minister.
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BEIJING – A senior Chinese police official has vowed “pre-emptive attacks” against threats to Communist Party control, in a speech published days after the nation’s most prominent dissident was jailed for criticising the Party.
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NEW DELHI – Japan’s prime minister, who has promised to forge a new place for east Asia in international diplomacy, opened three days of talks in India yesterday focusing on engineering a further thaw in relations and boosting trade.
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HUAY NAM KHAO, Thailand – Thailand expelled thousands of ethnic Hmong asylum-seekers from a refugee camp before their planned deportation to Laos, sparking angry criticism from the United States and Europe.
