Turkey takes final step on Sweden's NATO membership
ISTANBUL, Jan 26: Turkey's government newspaper on Thursday published a protocol on Sweden's accession to NATO, a final technical step in Ankara's ratification of the Nordic nation's bid to join the US-led alliance. The Official Gazette's publication of the law on Sweden's accession to the alliance, which the Turkish parliament approved on Tuesday, ends a nearly two-year saga that tested Ankara's relations with its Western allies. Erdogan had earlier signed the document, meaning that Turkey has completed all its required steps. — AFP
China, N Korea vice foreign ministers meet in Pyongyang
SEOUL, Jan 26: China's vice foreign minister was in Pyongyang on Friday for a meeting with his North Korean counterpart. China and Russia are North Korea's traditional allies, and Washington warned last year that military ties between Pyongyang and Moscow were "growing and dangerous". The United States has called on Beijing-the North's biggest economic benefactor-to restrain Pyongyang. "The Foreign Ministry delegation of the People's Republic of China, headed by Comrade Sun Weidong, Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs, arrived in Pyongyang on the 25th," the North's official Korean Central News Agency said Friday. — AFP
S Korean president labels attack on MP act of 'terrorism'
SEOUL, Jan 26: South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol has called an attack by a minor against a ruling party lawmaker this week an act of "terrorism", his office said Friday. Lawmaker Bae Hyun-jin, 40, was attacked on Thursday by a minor who repeatedly struck her on the back of the head with a rock in Seoul's upscale Gangnam district. She has since been hospitalised and is recovering, after medical staff used a stapler to perform two sutures to treat a non-life-threatening, one-centimetre scalp injury, according to doctors who treated her. — AFP
Washington, Baghdad to discuss future of foreign troops in Iraq
BAGHDAD, Jan 26: The United States and Iraq said Thursday they will begin discussions on the future of American and other foreign troops in the country, with Baghdad expecting the talks to lead to a timeline for reducing their presence. Washington has forces in Iraq as part of the international coalition against the Islamic State (IS) jihadist group, but the country's prime minister-whose government relies on the support of Iran-aligned parties-has called for the coalition to leave. AFP
Britain's King Charles III admitted to hospital for prostate surgery
LONDON, Jan 26: King Charles III was on Friday admitted to a London hospital for scheduled surgery, Buckingham Palace said, a week after revealing the British monarch would be treated for an enlarged prostate. "The king was this morning admitted to a London hospital for scheduled treatment," the palace added in a statement. "His Majesty would like to thank all those who have sent their good wishes over the past week and is delighted to learn that his diagnosis is having a positive impact on public health awareness." — Reuters
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