The EU’s negotiator wants to de-dramatise the issue of the border The EU is “ready to improve” its offer on the Irish border, Michel Barnier has said as he warned the “moment of truth” was nearing for Brexit negotiations. The EU’s negotiator said he wanted to “de-dramatise” the issue of physical checks and ensure goods arriving in Northern Ireland from ...

Here is an easy-to-understand guide to Brexit – beginning with the basics, then a look at the negotiations, followed by a selection of answers to questions we’ve been sent. What does Brexit mean?   It is a word that is used as a shorthand way of saying the UK leaving the EU – merging the words Britain and exit to ...

Coca-Cola said Monday it is studying the use of a key ingredient in marijuana in “wellness beverages,” as a growing number of mainstream companies develop cannabis-infused drinks.   “We have no interest in marijuana or cannabis,” Coca-Cola said in a statement. But iconic soft drink producer is “closely watching the growth of non-psychoactive CBD (cannabidiol) as an ingredient in functional ...

An Afghan official says at least nine members of the local police force were killed when another policeman opened fire and shot them at a checkpoint in northern Balkh province, the latest in so-called “insider” attacks in Afghanistan. Mohammadudin Khanjer, a police official in the district of Char Boldak, says one policeman was wounded and three others were missing after ...

Iranian media are reporting that at least 21 people died in a road accident when a bus overturned following a collision with a tanker on a road in central Iran. Tuesday’s report by the semi-official Tasnim news agency says the accident happened late on Monday on the road linking the cities of Kashan and Natanz, about some 250 kilometers, or ...

Russia’s military says one of its aircraft with 14 people on board has disappeared over Syria’s Mediterranean Sea coast. The Russian Defense Ministry said in a statement Tuesday that the Il-20 jet went off radar 35 kilometers (22 miles) away from the coast late Monday as it was returning to the Russian base near the city of Lattakia. The military ...

At least 27 members of the Afghan security forces have been killed in multiple Taliban attacks on checkpoints as well as police and military bases in different parts of the country, according to officials. The attacks on Sunday and Monday in three separate provinces – Farah, Badghis and Baghlan – and the high casualty toll underscore the difficulties government forces ...

The first all-British radar satellite is set to go into orbit on an Indian rocket. Called NovaSAR, it has the ability to take pictures of the surface of the Earth in every kind of weather, day or night.   The spacecraft will assume a number of roles but its designers specifically want to see if it can help monitor suspicious ...

About 15 police personnel have been killed in fierce clashes in two Afghan western provinces, authorities said Monday.   Jamshid Shahabi, spokesman for the Badghis governor, said around 22 Taliban fighters were killed and 16 others were wounded during the gunbattle there, reports AP.    The insurgents issued no statements on these attacks and no group immediately claimed responsibility but ...

An American-French law professor arrested while protesting against the demolition of a Palestinian village in the West Bank says an Israeli court has revoked a deportation order against him.   Frank Romano, who teaches law at the Paris Nanterre University, was released late Sunday on the orders of the Jerusalem magistrates court and spoke in a video posted on social ...