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Clinton emails declared 'Tope Secret'

The Obama administration has confirmed for the first time that Hillary Clinton's home server contained closely-guarded government secrets, censoring 22 emails with material requiring one of the highest levels of classification. The revelation comes just days before the Democrats' presidential front-runner competes in the Iowa caucuses. State department officials also said the agency's Diplomatic Security and Intelligence and Research bureaux were investigating if any of the information was classified at the time of transmission, going to the heart of Clinton's defence of her email practices.Republicans have been trying to slow the momentum of Clinton's campaign by playing up her email issues.

Syrian opposition group head Geneva peace talks

A delegation from Syria's main opposition group flew to Geneva yesterday to assess whether to join Damascus government officials in United Nations-brokered peace talks, an opposition representative said.

Notorious gang leader arrested

One of Pakistan's most notorious gangsters, the alleged mastermind of a string of murders of local politicians and policemen, was arrested yesterday in the country's crime-ridden commercial capital of Karachi.

US destroyer conducts territorial operation

A US Navy destroyer sailed within 12 nautical miles of an island claimed by China and two other states in the South China Sea yesterday to counter efforts to limit freedom of navigation, the Pentagon said.

Islamic State suspects arrested

Rwandan police have arrested several people suspected of being linked to Islamic State (IS), less than a week after the police killed a preacher accused of encouraging youths to join the militant group.

Merkel placates critics

German Chancellor Angela Merkel yesterday tried to placate the increasingly vocal critics of her open-door policy for refugees, insisting that asylum seekers from Syria and Iraq would go home once the conflicts there had ended. Merkel, despite appearing increasingly isolated over her policy, has resisted pressure from some conservatives to cap the influx of refugees, or to close Germany's borders. A record 1.1 million migrants arrived in Germany last year. But growing concern about the country's ability to cope and worries about crime and security after assaults on women are weighing on support for Merkel's Christian Democratic Union (CDU) party and its Bavarian sister party, the Christian Social Union (CSU).

Thousands protest against racism attacks on refugees

Thousands of people gathered yesterday in the German city of Stuttgart in protest at racism and violence against asylum-seekers amid the country's massive influx of migrants. The demonstration in the south-western city was organised by churches, unions and other groups. Germany registered nearly 1.1 million asylum-seekers last year, and the country saw regular attacks on migrant housing. Tensions have been heightened lately by hundreds of New Year's Eve assaults on women in Cologne and elsewhere that have been blamed largely on foreigners. Police estimated 7,000 people turned out for the protest, the news agency dpa reported.

UN agency confirms Iran's compliance with nuclear deal

International sanctions on Iran were lifted yesterday when the United Nations nuclear agency declared that Tehran has complied with an agreement to scale back its nuclear programme. "Implementation day" of the nuclear deal agreed last year marks the biggest re-entry of a former pariah state onto the global economic stage since the end of the Cold War, and a turning point in the hostility between Iran and the United States that has shaped the Middle East since 1979. Sanctions on Iran had cut off a nation of nearly 80 million from the global financial system, drastically reduced the exports of a major oil producer and imposed severe economic hardship on ordinary Iranians

Foreigners shot dead at Burkina Faso luxury hotel

Security forces in Burkina Faso retook a hotel in the capital yesterday from al-Qaeda fighters who seized it in an assault that killed two dozen people from at least 18 countries and marked a major escalation of Islamist militancy in West Africa. Until Friday's attacks the landlocked nation, an ally of Western governments against jihadist groups in the arid reaches of the southern Sahara, had largely been spared the kinds of attacks that have plagued its neighbours. The assault follows a similar raid in November on a luxury hotel in Mali's capital Bamako which killed 20 people, including citizens of Russia, China and the United States.