Politics

  Beirut / AFP Syrian President Bashar al-Assad said on Thursday he has never faced pressure from Russia to step aside, as US Secretary of State John Kerry headed to Moscow seeking to revive stalled peace efforts. Speaking to NBC News in Damascus, Assad insisted his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin and Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov had never raised the issue ...

  Kuwait City / AFP Kuwait has set a minimum wage for its hundreds of thousands of mostly Asian domestic workers, in a first for Gulf states which have come under widespread accusations of abuse. A decree issued by Interior Minister Sheikh Mohammad Khaled Al-Sabah set the minimum wage at 60 dinars ($200) a month and also granted domestic staff ...

  Beijing / AFP A tropical storm in China has left 21 people dead and 13 missing, reports said Thursday, after it lashed Taiwan with typhoon-grade winds and rain. Super Typhoon Nepartak brought chaos to Taiwan last week, forcing more than 15,000 people to flee their homes as part of the island saw its strongest winds in over a century. ...

  Beijing / AFP China warned on Thursday of a “decisive response” to provocations in the South China Sea, as it faced mounting pressure to accept an international tribunal’s ruling against its claims to most of the strategically vital waters. The Philippines, which launched the legal challenge, called for China to respect the decision and defied Chinese objections by saying ...

  Baghdad / AFP Iraqi security forces paraded through Baghdad on Thursday to celebrate victories over the IS extremist group, but an unannounced rehearsal two days earlier put a damper on the festivities. PM Haider al-Abadi reviewed the forces from a pavilion as they passed through central Tahrir Square, and military jets and helicopters overflew the city. The parade was ...

  London / AFP Outgoing British prime minister David Cameron urged his successor Theresa May on Wednesday to maintain close ties with the EU even while negotiating to leave it, as he paid a fond farewell to MPs hours before leaving office. In his final question and answer session in the House of Commons, Cameron said he would “miss the ...

  WASHINGTON / AFP A frustrated US Secretary of State John Kerry is heading back to Moscow once again to meet President Vladimir Putin and test his commitment to the stalled Syrian peace process. Russia and the US are nominally co-chairs of international efforts to bring Bashar al-Assad’s regime to the negotiating table with armed opposition groups. But ferocious bloodshed continues ...

  Paris / AFP French President Francois Hollande, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Italy’s Prime Minister Matteo Renzi will meet in August for a summit on Britain leaving the EU, the French presidency said on Wednesday. On the day that Theresa May takes over as the post-referendum British prime minister, French government spokesman Stephane Le Foll said “a summit or meeting” ...

  Ankara /AFP France on Wednesday said it had closed its embassy in the Turkish capital Ankara and its consulate in Istanbul until further notice for security reasons, after cancelling events to mark the July 14 Bastille Day holiday. “The Embassy of France in Ankara, as well as the Consulate General in Istanbul will be closed from Wednesday July 13, ...

  Dallas, United States / AFP President Barack Obama implored Americans of all races to show more unity and understanding as he addressed an emotional memorial for five slain policemen in Dallas. The president, accompanied by First Lady Michelle Obama, leaned heavily on scripture as he ministered to a country stunned by gun violence and torn asunder by race and ...