Politics

  Kiev / AFP Ukraine said on Tuesday seven of its soldiers had been killed and 14 wounded in “very heated” fighting that marked the bloodiest clashes with pro-Russian separatists in two months. The announcement — the highest daily death toll since Ukraine reported seven of its soldiers dying on May 24 — follows a flurry of talks between world ...

  London, United Kingdom / AFP US Secretary of State John Kerry on Tuesday became the first senior foreign official to meet British Prime Minister Theresa May since she took office after the Brexit referendum. Kerry visited May at her Downing Street office on the last day of a five-stop tour of European capitals, ahead of talks with the British, ...

  Paris / AFP French lawmakers, prompted by the Bastille Day massacre in Nice, were on Tuesday to debate extending the country’s state of emergency for a fourth time amid mounting criticism of the government’s response to extremist attacks. President Francois Hollande had announced last Thursday that he planned to lift the measures on July 26. But within hours, he ...

  Cleveland / AFP Donald Trump faced an embarrassing plagiarism scandal on Tuesday that tarnished his wife Melania’s prime-time speech to a Republican National Convention already roiled by an opening day rank-and-file revolt. It was a rough start to the four-day political jamboree, which was designed to crown Trump as the presidential nominee and catapult the party toward November’s elections. ...

  Wuerzburg/ AFP A 17-year-old Afghan refugee who attacked four people with an axe on a German train had an Islamic State flag at his house, police said on Tuesday shortly before the extremist group claimed him as one of its fighters. German authorities said they had found the hand-painted IS flag among the belongings of the asylum-seeker, who seriously ...

  Istanbul / AFP Turkey launched fresh raids and sacked almost 9,000 officials on Monday in a relentless crackdown against suspects behind an attempted coup that left over 300 people dead, as Western allies warned against reinstating the death penalty. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has vowed to wipe out the “virus” of the putschists after facing down the coup bid ...

  Beijing / AFP Beijing will close off access to part of the South China Sea for military drills, officials said on Monday, after an international tribunal ruled against its sweeping claims in the waters. An area off the east coast of China’s island province of Hainan will host military exercises from Tuesday to Thursday, China’s maritime administration said on ...

  Nablus / AFP Clashes erupted on Monday as Israel’s military demolished the home of a Palestinian accused of involvement in a February attack outside Jerusalem’s Old City that killed a policewoman, officials said. The family home of Bilal Abu Zeid in Qabatiya, in the north of the occupied West Bank, was destroyed by a bulldozer around 2:00 am (2300 ...

  Manila/ AFP Human rights are not a concern in Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte’s war on drugs, he said, as he vowed to ignore due process and compared himself to Ugandan dictator Idi Amin. Duterte’s threat came as the International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) joined the chorus of groups criticising Duterte’s advocacy of killing. In the latest of a series ...

  Yangon / AFP Continuing fighting is undermining Aung San Suu Kyi’s drive for lasting peace in Myanmar, rebel leaders warned Monday as they cautiously welcomed her new civilian-led government’s landmark talks. Suu Kyi has made peace a flagship policy of her new government, which took over in March after decades of brutal junta rule. She has strived to reach ...