WASHINGTON -- U.S. President Donald Trump said Friday he has not yet decided whether the United States will launch ground strikes inside Venezuela, contradicting media reports of looming attacks on military facilities in the South American country.
"No, it's not true," Trump told reporters while boarding Air Force One when asked if he had made the decision. (U.S.-Trump-Venezuela-Ground Strikes)
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ISTANBUL -- A Turkish court on Friday sentenced 11 people to life imprisonment for a deadly hotel fire at a ski resort that killed 78 people in the northwestern province of Bolu in January.
The Bolu 1st High Criminal Court convicted the hotel owner Halit Ergul, his wife and two daughters, hotel managers, a deputy mayor, and a deputy fire chief, of negligence with probable intent to kill. They were each sentenced to life imprisonment for the deaths of 34 children and received an additional 25 years for the deaths of 44 adults in the fire. (Imprison-Hotel Fire)
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MINSK -- The Belarusian Ministry of Foreign Affairs said Friday that Poland and Lithuania cannot unilaterally decide on reopening border crossings, as it requires bilateral agreement.
Ruslan Varankov, spokesperson for the Belarusian Foreign Ministry, said that Belarus will agree to reopen border crossings only when fully prepared in terms of infrastructure, personnel and security. (Belarus-Border-Poland-Lithuania)
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MOSCOW -- Russia has imposed more extensive entry bans on representatives from European institutions and countries in response to the 19th package of anti-Russian sanctions by the European Union (EU), the Russian Foreign Ministry said Friday.
In response to the approval of the 19th package of EU sanctions against Russia, Moscow has "significantly expanded" the entry ban list of representatives of European institutions, EU member states, and several other European countries that follow the EU's anti-Russian policy, the ministry said in a statement on its official website. (Russia-Bans-European Union-Sanctions) Enditem
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