Extension of Brexit transition would not solve the problems — German minister

European Affairs Minister Michael Roth said there was ‘no reasonable solution yet over a hard border between Ireland and Northern Ireland.’ (AFP)
Updated 19 October 2018
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Extension of Brexit transition would not solve the problems — German minister

  • ‘But an extension alone does not solve the problems’
  • ‘There is no reasonable solution yet over a hard border between Ireland and Northern Ireland’

BERLIN: The European Union and Germany’s government will not block an extension of the post-Brexit transition period, but an extension alone will not solve the problems on hand, European Affairs Minister Michael Roth said on Friday.
“If that solves problems and if a few more months are needed to negotiate the details of future relations, then it will certainly not fail because of the EU-27 and because of us in Berlin,” Roth told German broadcaster WDR.
“But an extension alone does not solve the problems,” he added.” “There is no reasonable solution yet over a hard border between Ireland and Northern Ireland.”


Militants kill 6 officers and a civilian in ambushes on police vehicles in northwest Pakistan

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Militants kill 6 officers and a civilian in ambushes on police vehicles in northwest Pakistan

  • Assailants ambushed a police vehicle and killed one officer in Kohat — When police reinforcements arrived minutes later, they launched another attack and killed five more officers and a civilian
  • No group claimed responsibility for this week’s attacks, but suspicion may fall on the Pakistani Taliban, also known as Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan, or the TTP
PESHAWAR, Pakistan: A pair of attacks on police vehicles by suspected militants killed at least six police officers and a civilian in northwest Pakistan on Tuesday, authorities said.
The assailants ambushed a police vehicle and killed one officer in Kohat, a district in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. When police reinforcements arrived minutes later, they launched another attack and killed five more officers and a civilian, police official Kamran Khan said.
Separately on Tuesday, a suicide bomber detonated explosives at a police post in Bukkur, a district in eastern Punjab province, killing two officers and wounding four others, police official Shahzad Rafiq said.
He provided no further details and only said officers were still investigating.
No group immediately claimed responsibility for the attacks, which have increased across the country in recent months.
President Asif Ali Zardari condemned the attacks in Kohat and Bukkur and offered condolences to the victims’ families.
The latest violence followed an attack on a paramilitary post in Karak on Monday, when a drone loaded with explosives wounded several officers. The attackers later ambushed two ambulances transporting the wounded, killing three officers and burning their bodies before fleeing. The driver of the second ambulance transported several wounded officers despite suffering burn injuries and authorities recovered the remains of the three officers.
No group claimed responsibility for this week’s attacks, but suspicion may fall on the Pakistani Taliban, also known as Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan, or the TTP. The TTP is separate from, but closely allied with, Afghanistan’s Taliban. Islamabad has accused the group of operating from inside Afghanistan, a claim the TTP and Kabul deny.
Pakistan’s military said it killed at least 70 militants on Sunday in strikes along the Afghan border, targeting hideouts of Pakistani militants blamed for recent attacks inside the country.