EUROPEAN UNION: EU foreign ministers urged US President Donald Trump yesterday not to break his country’s nuclear energy deal with Iran.

French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said all EU parties should stick to the 2015 accord, adding: "Our American allies should respect it as well. There is no particular reason for any rupture."

British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson said: "It's incumbent on those who oppose the (deal) really to come up with that better solution, because we haven't seen it so far."

RUSSIA: Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov ridiculed “paranoid” claims by US Senate Democrats that Russia has meddled in US and European elections for 20 years yesterday.

He said accusations in a report commissioned by Maryland Senator Ben Cardin “not only hurt bilateral relations but the US itself."

US journalist Max Blumenthal said: “The report recommends a major defence build-up, expansion of Nato, “pre-emptive sanctions” on new countries and reinforcement of the war on terror apparatus to wage a new cold war.”

GERMANY: Thousands of factory workers walked out yesterday to increase pressure on employers as talks got under way about a new national agreement.

The IG Metall union said it had called for walkouts across the country as it seeks a 6 per cent pay increase for 3.9 million workers.

It also wants employees to be able to reduce work weeks from 35 to 28 hours for up to two years with a guarantee they can return to regular hours.

YEMEN: A Saudi-led coalition air raid on a marketplace has killed 11 people, including a child, the health director for northern Saada province said on Wednesday night.

Hassab al-Azay said an 11-year-old boy was among the dead and that five others were injured.

Earlier, families of suspected al-Qaida militants held by coalition forces in the occupied southern city of Aden said 12 were injured last month when guards fired on a protest at their prison camp.