Headlines

Evacuation planned in frontline town of Avdiivka after renewed attacks from pro-Russian rebels

Kiev, Jan.31.─ If evacuation takes place, officials say up to 8,000 people could be removed each day from the government-held town, which has no water or electricity.

Shelling and the deaths of several more people were reported by both sides on Tuesday. Each blames the other for the upsurge in violence.

It erupted from the pro-Russian side despite an attempt to renew a ceasefire last month. Ukrainian forces say the outbreak began when rebels launched an attack on Avdiivka, which borders land controlled by the separatists.

• Donald Trump has said he will name his nominee for the US Supreme Court on Tuesday night.
• Given the immense impact the US Supreme Court has on US political life, the nominee will face tough questions from the Senate  

Washington DC, Jan 31.─ The highest court in the US is often the final word on highly contentious laws, disputes between states and the federal government, and final appeals to stay executions.

What does the Supreme Court do?

It hears fewer than 100 cases a year and the key announcements are made in June. Each of the nine justices serve a lifetime appointment after being nominated by the president and approved by the Senate.

In their presidential primary, France’s Socialists tack to the left and Benoît Hamon beats Manuel Valls with promises of a universal basic income 

Manuel Valls was the favourite to win the first round of the Socialist presidential primary. But last night the centrist former prime minister finished second

Paris, Jan.22.─ As France prepares for its presidential election this spring, the unexpected is becoming routine. Few predicted that the socially conservative François Fillon would emerge as the Republican party’s candidate, until he came from behind to win the primary in November. In December François Hollande decided not to seek re-election—the first incumbent president not to do so since the birth of the fifth republic.

Now comes January’s surprise. Polls suggested that Manuel Valls, a centrist who served as prime minister until last month, was the front-runner in the first round of the Socialist presidential primary on January 22nd. Instead he finished second; first place went to Benoît Hamon, a figure from the party’s left wing.

The Kurdish "peshmerga" carried for years the heaviest burden of the fight against the IS with practically no military support. However, they advanced boldly and steadily from the North and Northeast on Mosul, while the Iraqi army is taking months to recapture Mosul with a very scant allied military support. The current situation of prolonged war results from the hasty and announced withdrawal of coalition troops prematurely initiated in 2011 when total victory against islamist forces was already in sight.  

Jan. 12.─ Iraqui and Western coalition commanders had promised a rapid victory in Mosul when they launched an offensive to retake the city from Islamic State (IS) in October. But the battle for Iraq’s second city has lasted three months, and Iraq’s prime minister says it will continue for at least as long again.

IS fighters initially put up stronger resistance than expected. After stalling in December, Iraq’s army has made rapid gains in the eastern half of the city over the past ten days. IS leaders have retreated to the west, blowing up the remaining bridges over the Tigris river as they left. But as the Iraqi army consolidates its hold on Mosul’s east, the siege of the west will intensify. A fresh assault across the river is not planned until early March. What is the scene on the ground—and how are the 1.1m civilians left in the divided city coping?