Politics

  Ankara / AFP Turkey will intensify talks with Russia and other countries for a ceasefire to end the “humanitarian tragedy” in the Syrian city of Aleppo, Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said on Tuesday. “Today, tomorrow, everyday, we will intensify our talks with Russia and other countries so we can find a solution to this humanitarian tragedy,” Cavusoglu said at a ...

  Ankara/ AFP Turkish police detained two more pro-Kurdish lawmakers hours after arresting over 200 people accused of links to Kurdish militants, their party said early Tuesday. The two women, Caglar Demirel and Besime Konca, who represent the southeastern Kurdish-majority cities of Diyarbakir and Siirt respectively, were held as part of a sweeping anti-terror probe, state news agency Anadolu said. ...

  Aleppo / AFP Once renowned for its bustling souks, grand citadel and historic gates, Aleppo’s Old City has been rendered virtually unrecognisable by some of the worst violence of Syria’s war. For centuries, Aleppo was Syria’s economic and cultural powerhouse, attracting tourists from around the world to its celebrated heritage sites. But now, only gaunt stray cats roam the rubble-strewn ...

  Seoul / AFP Senior US, Japanese and South Korean officials with special responsibility for the North Korean nuclear issue held talks on Tuesday, at a time of political flux and policy uncertainty in Washington and Seoul. “We shared the view that it is more important than ever to keep close cooperation among the three countries,” South Korea’s nuclear envoy Kim ...

  Sanaa/ AFP Nearly 2.2 million Yemeni children are acutely malnourished, victims of the near-collapse of the health care system during two years of escalating conflict, UN children’s fund UNICEF said on Tuesday. At least 462,000 are suffering from severe acute malnutrition, as food supplies have been disrupted by the devastating war between the Saudi-backed government and Shiite rebels, the agency ...

  Aleppo / AFP The Syrian army captured a major district of Aleppo on Monday from rebel fighters, now confined to a small pocket of their former bastion in the city’s east. President Bashar al-Assad’s forces held more than 90 percent of the onetime opposition stronghold, a monitor said, and appeared on the verge of retaking the whole city. The fall ...

  Dubai / AFP Bahrain’s appeals court on Monday upheld a nine-year jail sentence against opposition chief Sheikh Ali Salman, a judicial source said. The sentence against Salman, for inciting hatred and calling for regime change by force, had been overturned by the court of cassation in October. Salman, 51, is considered a moderate who has pushed for a constitutional monarchy ...

  Khartoumi / AFP Sudanese President Omar Al-Bashir vowed on Monday to brutally crush anti-regime protests, warning the authorities will crack down on demonstrators as they did in 2013 when dozens were killed during clashes. Bashir’s warning came as opposition activists issued a new call to hold a two-day nationwide strike next week against a government decision to cut fuel subsidies ...

  Ankara / AFP Turkey arrested nearly 200 officials from a pro-Kurdish party and struck Kurdish militants in Iraq on Monday in response to this weekend’s twin bombings claimed by a radical Kurd separatist group. The toll from Saturday’s attacks, which struck an Istanbul football stadium and a nearby park, rose to 44 on Monday, Health Minister Recep Akdag said. Turkish ...

  Cairo / AFP Grief-stricken mourners gathered in Cairo on Monday for the funeral of 24 people killed when a blast tore through a Coptic church, in the deadliest attack on Egypt’s Christian minority. Wooden coffins, each bearing a cross, were covered with the Egyptian flag and lined up at the Saint Mary and Saint Athanasuis Coptic Orthodox Church in Nasr ...