Politics

  SOUTH OF MOSUL / AP Iraqi forces pushed deeper into western Mosul on Saturday amid stiff resistance from entrenched IS fighters, a commander on the scene said. Special forces Lt. Gen. Abdul-Wahab al-Saadi said that his troops are “moving very slowly” and that IS fighters are responding with car bombs, snipers and dozens of armed drones. Hundreds of civilian ...

  ANKARA / AP Turkey’s prime minister has officially launched his ruling party’s campaign for a “yes” vote in a referendum on ushering a presidential system, which critics fear will concentrate too many powers in the hands of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Binali Yildirim formally got campaigning going on Saturday telling supporters in a sports arena that the proposed new ...

  BERLIN / AP Angela Merkel’s conservatives have formally nominated the German chancellor as her party’s top candidate for the September parliamentary election in the region where she has her political base. The dpa news agency reported that Merkel won the support of 95 percent of delegates at a convention of the Christian Democrats’ branch in northeastern Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania state ...

  Bloomberg Vice President Mike Pence told an influential group of Jewish Republicans gathered in Las Vegas that the US is “assessing” whether to move the American embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, as he sought to assure a key constituency and political fundraising powerhouse of the administration’s commitment to their causes. “The president I know will be ...

  KUALA LUMPUR / AP Malaysian police said on Saturday that they would issue an arrest warrant for a North Korean diplomat if he refuses to cooperate with the investigation into the deadly attack on North Korean ruler Kim Jong Un’s exiled half brother. The investigation has unleashed a serious diplomatic fight between Malaysia and North Korea, a prime suspect in ...

  MANILA / AP Hundreds of left-wing and pro-democracy activists on Saturday marked the anniversary of the 1986 revolt that ousted Philippine dictator Ferdinand Marcos to warn about what they say are the incumbent president’s dictatorial tendencies and condemn his decision to allow Marcos to be buried in a heroes’ cemetery. More than 1,000 activists from different groups gathered at the ...

  BAGHDAD / AP Backed by the US-led international coalition, Iraqi forces fought their way on Thursday into a sprawling military base outside of Mosul and onto the grounds of the city’s airport, taking control of the runway amid fierce exchanges of fire with IS militants. The two-pronged advance is part of a major assault that started earlier this week ...

  LAHORE / AP An explosion rocked an upscale neighborhood in the eastern city of Lahore on Thursday, killing eight people, officials said, in what could be the latest in a string of brazen attacks over the past two weeks that have killed over 125 people. It was not immediately clear what caused the explosion, which took place at a ...

  AMMAN / AP Jordan’s state security court has sentenced eight men to 15-year prison terms for involvement in alleged plans by the extremist IS group to attack a military airport, military personnel, foreign aircraft and foreign embassies in the kingdom. The sentences are part of an ongoing crackdown. Jordan is a member of a US-led coalition against IS, which ...

  SRINAGAR / AP Three Indian soldiers and a woman were killed when rebels ambushed soldiers in the disputed region of Kashmir, police said on Thursday. Inspector-General Syed Javaid Mujtaba Gillani said the militants tossed grenades and sprayed bullets at soldiers returning from a search operation in the southern Shopian area early Thursday. Gillani said the attack triggered a brief ...