Blast hits communist meeting in Ukraine
MOSCOW -- Four people were wounded Saturday in an explosion at a meeting of the Communist Party in the largest city in Ukraine's separatist east.
The blast occurred in Donetsk, capital of the Donetsk region, where Russia-backed separatists have been fighting Ukrainian forces since 2014. The separatist government said in a statement that preliminary information indicated the explosion was caused by a bomb. It did not say how seriously any of the four victims were wounded.
The explosion came a month after Donetsk separatist leader Alexander Zakharchenko and a bodyguard were killed in a blast in a cafe in Donetsk.
Russia's state news agency RIA-Novosti said one of the wounded was communist leader Igor Khakimzyanov, who intends to run in November elections that will choose a successor to Zakharchenko.
India calls Pakistan haven for terrorists
UNITED NATIONS -- In a speech Saturday before the U.N. General Assembly, India's foreign minister accused neighboring Pakistan of harboring terrorists and rejected the notion that India is sabotaging peace talks with Pakistan, calling it "a complete lie."
Sushma Swaraj pointed to the fact that Osama bin Laden had been living quietly in Pakistan before he was found and killed by U.S. Navy SEALs, and said the mastermind of the 2008 attack in Mumbai in which 168 people died "still roams the streets of Pakistan with impunity."
"In our case, terrorism is bred not in some faraway land, but across our border to the west," Swaraj said. "Our neighbor's expertise is not restricted to spawning grounds for terrorism, it is also an expert in trying to mask malevolence with verbal duplicity."
Swaraj and her Pakistani counterpart were supposed to meet on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly. India called it off only one day after it was announced, after the killing of an Indian border guard in the disputed region of Kashmir.
There was no immediate official reaction by the Pakistani government to the speech. Pakistan's foreign minister, Shah Mahmood Qureshi, was to speak later Saturday.
Fellow officer kills 2 Afghan policemen
KABUL, Afghanistan -- Two Afghan police officers were gunned down by a fellow policeman in southern Kandahar province, the latest in so-called insider attacks in the country, a spokesman said Saturday.
According to Aziz Ahmad Azizi, the provincial governor's spokesman, three other policemen were wounded in the attack late Friday.
The incident took place at a remote police outpost in Raghistan district. Azizi said the attacker, who had joined the police force about a year ago, fled.
A police investigation has been opened into the attack. No militant group immediately claimed responsibility.
In other developments, six Afghan soldiers were injured when a military helicopter crash-landed in northern Parwan province on Saturday afternoon, Ghafor Ahmad Jawed, spokesman for the Afghan Defense Ministry, said.
Jawed said the crash, which occurred in Koh-e Safi district, was caused by a technical malfunction and was not the result of enemy fire.
However, Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said the insurgents had downed the chopper, allegedly killing several members of Afghan commando units. The insurgents typically exaggerate casualties in their claims.
In Germany, Turk condemns 'racist drift'
COLOGNE, Germany -- Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan wound up a sometimes-fraught visit to Germany on Saturday by condemning the treatment of soccer players of Turkish descent and urging "a joint stance against this racist drift."
Erdogan specifically decried the treatment of the German national team's Mesut Ozil and Ilkay Gundogan, who were widely criticized for posing for a picture with Erdogan. Ozil quit the national team over the criticism.
"They ostracized our Mesut Ozil, our Ilkay, who were born and raised in Germany, just because we had a photo taken with them," Erdogan said while speaking at the ribbon-cutting for a new mosque in Cologne.
The mosque visit followed a state banquet Friday that many German opposition politicians skipped. Dinner guests heard Erdogan reject criticism about the arrests of journalists, lawyers and union officials that followed a failed coup in Turkey.
Nonetheless Erdogan described his visit as a success: "I have stressed that we need to put our difference of views to one side and focus on our common interests."
Erdogan was in Germany for a visit aimed at reducing tensions between the two NATO allies. He had breakfast Saturday with Chancellor Angela Merkel in Berlin.
Germany and Turkey have clashed over numerous issues in recent years, including Turkey's jailing of German journalists. The rhetoric escalated to the point where Erdogan called Germany's mainstream parties "enemies of Turkey" and accused German officials of acting like Nazis, prompting Merkel to condemn his comments.
A Section on 09/30/2018