Belarus leader says he may ask Putin "to get involved" as Belarus-Poland migrant crisis escalates
CBSN
Poland, near the border with Belarus — Russian President Vladimir Putin and his ally, Belarus' long-time autocratic leader Alexander Lukashenko, are being accused of using immigration to stoke tensions in Eastern Europe. Belarus now faces new sanctions from the European Union over the worsening migrant crisis along its border with Poland.
As CBS News senior foreign correspondent Charlie D'Agata reports, Polish authorities used water cannon and other means to keep thousands of increasingly frustrated migrants massed along the frontier out on Tuesday. There were chaotic scenes as a group of migrants charged the fence. One of the migrants told CBS News that Polish police responded with a volley of tear gas and rubber bullets, as well as the water cannon. Migrants were seen hurling rocks and stones at the barbed wire fence.
The EU and the U.S. have accused Belarus of encouraging thousands of refugees to try to cross into Poland. D'Agata and his team tried to get to the border where, on the other side of the barbed wire, at least 2,000 migrants and refugees have camped out for days in freezing weather, hoping to find a path into Poland.
Noumea — France's president held a flurry of meetings with local representatives in the restive Pacific territory of New Caledonia on Thursday, urging calm after deadly rioting, and vowing thousands of military reinforcements will stay in place to quell what he called an "unprecedented insurrection."
Kathmandu — Nepali climber Phunjo Lama on Thursday reached Mount Everest's summit in 14 hours and 31 minutes, smashing the record for the world's fastest ascent of the mountain by a woman. Climbers usually take days to reach the top of the 29,032-foot mountain, spending nights on its different camps to rest and acclimatize.
New Delhi — Indian justice officials have changed course amid outrage over the bail terms set for a teenager accused of killing two people while driving a Porsche at high speed while drunk and without a license. The 17-year-old son of a wealthy businessman had been ordered to write a 300-word essay and work with the local traffic police for 15 days to be granted bail — a decision that was made within 15 hours of his arrest.
Zurich — A woman jogger was killed by a naked man who was screaming and attacking people in a lakeside park in Switzerland, police said Wednesday. The attack happened Tuesday evening in Mannedorf on Lake Zurich, around 12 miles southeast of Switzerland's biggest city, the Zurich cantonal police said.
Norway, Ireland and Spain said Wednesday they are recognizing a Palestinian state in a historic move that drew condemnation from Israel and jubilation from the Palestinians. Israel immediately ordered back its ambassadors from Norway and Ireland and appeared ready to do the same with its ambassador to Spain.