Politics

  Istanbul / AFP The German parliament resolution recognising as genocide the massacres of Armenians under the Ottoman Empire has “no value” and won’t change Turkey’s position on the matter, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Saturday. Erdogan said he wondered how German officials could look Turkey’s leaders in the face after Thursday’s vote in the Bundestag, which prompted Ankara ...

  San Bernardino / AFP Hillary Clinton launched stinging criticism of Donald Trump, even suggesting her likely Republican presidential opponent wants to be America’s “dictator,” as she proclaimed she will be the Democratic flag bearer once California votes next week. President Barack Obama lent his voice to the denunciation, saying Trump’s aggressive posture towards immigrants, Muslims and women is “feeding ...

  London / AFP Former leaders of Britain’s main opposition Labour on Saturday urged supporters to vote in favour of EU membership at this month’s referendum. Six senior figures including Tony Blair and Gordon Brown said that, unless the party’s supporters turned out to vote on June 23, there was a risk of Brexit. Current Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn has ...

  The Hague / AFP Initial results from a criminal inquiry into the downing of a Malaysia Airlines flight over war-torn eastern Ukraine nearly two years ago will be available within months, Dutch prosecutors have said. The results are expected to shed light on the exact type of missile used to shoot down Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 on July 17, ...

  New Delhi / AFP A mysterious cult at the centre of deadly clashes in India was running its own pseudo-government, army, court and a prison where torture was the norm, a senior police officer said. Some 3,000 followers of the sect clashed with police in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh during an eviction operation, leaving 24 people dead, ...

  Beirut / AFP Russian-backed Syrian troops pushed into the IS group’s bastion province Raqa on Saturday, threatening to catch the extremists in a pincer movement as US-backed Kurdish-led fighters advance from the north. The lightning advance from the southwest with Russian air support brought the army to within 40 kilometres of the Euphrates Valley town of Tabqa, site of ...

  Butig / AFP Philippine troops captured an militant training camp after a 10-day battle, officials said, as part of operations to clear insurgents from a remote jungle region. The offensive against the Maute group, one of several Filipino Muslim armed organisations which have pledged allegiance to the IS, left four soldiers dead and 15 others wounded, a Philippine military ...

  Paris / AFP The rain-swollen River Seine in Paris receded for the first time in a week after nearing its highest level in three decades, triggering a scramble to save artworks in riverside museums. The Seine stood at 6.06 metres above normal levels at 8:00am, down from a high of 6.10 metres overnight, the environment ministry’s Vigicrues flood watch ...

  Berlin / AFP Turkey on Thursday recalled its envoy to Germany and threatened consequences, in a furious reaction over the Bundestag’s decision to adopt a resolution recognising the World War I massacre of Armenians by Ottoman forces as genocide. Only one MP voted against and another abstained, as the German parliament approved overwhelmingly by a show of hands the resolution ...

  London / AFP ABBA star Bjorn Ulvaeus and Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger were among 140 European celebrities who signed a “love letter to the British people” on Thursday, hoping they will stay in the EU. The letter, also signed by Dutch film director Paul Verhoeven, French former Liverpool manager Gerard Houllier and French-American actress Julie Delpy, comes with exactly ...