News In Brief
Nawaz Sharif to probe Panama Papers leak
Embattled Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on Wednesday left for Pakistan amid a raging scandal back home over his family’s offshore wealth after the Panama Papers leak mentioned his children’s name for having shell companies.
Mr Sharif dashed to the UK last week for “medical treatment” amid reports he was under immense pressure to quit over the unfolding scandal that mentioned the names of his two sons and a daughter as having shell companies through which they owned expensive residential properties in London.
Israel demolishes Palestinian home
AP, Jerusalem
The Israeli military says it has demolished the home of a Palestinian who carried out a lethal stabbing attack in a West Bank Jewish settlement in January.
In the attack, Hussein Mohammed Abu Ghosh and another Palestinian stabbed two women and were killed by an Israeli guard. One woman later died of her wounds.
NATO, Russia to hold highest-level talks
AP, Brussels
The NATO-Russia Council is meeting for the first time in nearly two years, with the U.S.-led alliance planning to object to what it deems provocative and dangerous actions by Moscow’s military.
NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said on Wednesday’s meeting at alliance headquarters is being held to exchange views on Ukraine and other issues, but also to discuss improving “mechanisms of risk-reduction related to military activities.”
Abe may not call snap poll
Reuters, Tokyo
Japan’s top government spokesman said on Wednesday he did not think Prime Minister Shinzo Abe would call a snap election although it was up to him to decide.
Speculation has simmered that Abe might dissolve parliament’s lower house and call an election on the same day as an upper house poll is due in July.
3 Red Cross workers missing in Mali
AFP, Bamako
The International Red Cross on Tuesday said three of its workers were being held in northeastern Mali by an unidentified group.
The team were flagged down in their vehicle “by someone on a motorbike, who told them to follow him,” Valery Mbaoh Nana, the spokesman for the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in the Malian capital Bamako, told AFP.
US, Iran diplomats meet at UN
AFP, UN
US Secretary of State John Kerry was meeting with Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif in New York on Tuesday to discuss implementation of the Iran nuclear deal and ways Tehran can use its influence to end Syria’s civil war, officials said.
Kerry was expected to raise Tehran’s concerns over difficulties with accessing the global financial system despite the lifting of some US sanctions under the nuclear deal, US officials said on Monday.
