Politics

Bloomberg President Barack Obama said he was concerned that crackdowns against the press by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan could lead his nation down a “troubling” path. The comments, which represented a rare pointed critique of the leader of a NATO ally, came the day after Turkish security officials clashed with protesters and reporters before Erdogan delivered a speech in ...

Bloomberg The Argentine government is asking China to revise a nuclear reactor accord signed by the previous administration as it seeks uranium providers from the US ahead of resuming output, two people with knowledge of the situation said. China is open to amending dam and nuclear energy contracts that it signed with the previous Argentine government administration, La Nacion reported. ...

Bloomberg President Barack Obama said recent statements by Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump about letting South Korea and Japan have their own nuclear arsenals demonstrate he doesn’t know much about foreign policy “or the world generally.” Trump has suggested he’d be willing to overturn decades of US security policy by considering withdrawing US troops from Japan and South Korea if ...

United Nations / AFP The UN Security Council unanimously backed a resolution that lays the groundwork for deploying a UN police presence in Burundi to help quell nearly a year of violence. Drafted by France, the resolution tasks UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon with drawing up within 15 days a list of options for the proposed police force, in consultation with ...

Bloomberg Azerbaijan stepped up attacks against Armenians in a disputed region of South Caucasus on Saturday, using artillery, tanks and air raids. One child was killed and two others wounded. The attacks, targeting civilian areas and military units across the contact line of Nagorno-Karabakh, came in response to Armenian shelling of Azeri areas, Azerbaijan’s Defense Ministry said on its website. ...

Netherlands / AFP UN war crimes judges on Thursday acquitted radical Serb leader Vojislav Seselj on all nine charges of committing atrocities in the 1990s Balkans wars, in a surprise judgement which was swiftly denounced by Croatia. “The chamber by majority holds that the prosecution has not provided sufficient evidence to establish that the crimes were committed” by Seselj, Judge ...

Belgium / AFP Paris attacks suspect Salah Abdeslam wants to cooperate with French authorities once he is extradited from Belgium, his lawyer said on Thursday, as Belgian police carried out a raid linked to a foiled French terror plot. Soldiers and police could be seen taking part in the operation near a busy motorway in Courtrai in northwestern Belgium, the ...

South Africa / AFP South Africa’s top court on Thursday delivered a damning verdict against President Jacob Zuma, saying he flouted the constitution over public funds used to upgrade his private residence, sparking immediate calls for him to be impeached. Zuma “failed to uphold, defend and respect the constitution as the supreme law of the land,” Chief Justice MogoengMogoeng said ...

Bloomberg The Hong Kong government threatened to bar formation of a political party advocating independence from China, adding to tensions over Beijing’s control of the city before legislative elections in September. Hong Kong is an “inalienable part of the People’s Republic of China” and any movement that advocates independence violates the city’s stability and the Basic Law, the city’s de-facto ...

Myanmar / AFP Aung San Suu Kyi’s party moved on Thursday to make her a special state adviser, giving her access to every tier of government and cementing her control over Myanmar’s first civilian administration in decades. Hopes are growing the newly sworn-in government can accelerate the country’s economic and political rejuvenation after nearly half a century of military repression. ...