Ousted Catalan leader in Belgium court

BRUSSELS • Axed Catalan separatist leader Carles Puigdemont appeared in court in Belgium yesterday for a hearing on whether to send him back to Spain to face charges of rebellion and sedition.

Madrid issued a European arrest warrant for Puigdemont and four of his former ministers after they fled to Brussels last month and ignored a summons to appear before a Spanish judge, claiming they would not get a fair trial.

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE

Turkey pulls out troops after poster incident

ANKARA • Turkey is pulling 40 soldiers out of a Nato exercise in Norway, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said yesterday, after his name was included in a list of enemies on a poster at the drill.

Mr Erdogan said an "enemy poster", featuring his name on one side and a picture of modern Turkey's founder, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, on the other, was unfurled at the training exercise.

The incident prompted Turkey's military chief and European Union minister to pull the troops out.

Nato Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg apologised for the incident.

REUTERS