Politics

  Berlin/ AFP German prosecutors said on Monday they have launched a probe after receiving a complaint alleging that top Facebook bosses including founder Mark Zuckerberg are condoning hate speech, as pressure grows on the social network to clamp down on racist content. The probe comes as top politicians are ratcheting up warnings against the US group, with the German ...

  Ain Issa/ AFP A US-backed Kurdish-Arab alliance launched an offensive on Sunday on the IS group’s de facto Syrian capital Raqa, upping pressure on the extremists after Iraqi forces entered their Iraqi bastion Mosul. “The major battle to liberate Raqa and its surroundings has begun,” Jihan Sheikh Ahmed, a spokeswoman for the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), said at a press ...

  Kirkuk /AFP Suicide bombings claimed by the IS group killed at least 18 people and wounded more than 30 in two cities north of Baghdad on Sunday, officials said. One bomber detonated an explosives-rigged vehicle at the southern entrance to Tikrit, while the other blew up an ambulance in Samarra, the officials said. Jassem Al-Jbara, the head of Salaheddin ...

  Aden / AFP Fresh clashes in two different parts of Yemen on Sunday killed 14 pro-Iran rebels and six fighters loyal to the internationally recognised government, military officials said. Among them was loyalist General Yehia al-Khayati who died at a Saudi hospital where he was taken after being wounded in clashes in Midi, a northwestern town close to the Saudi ...

  Mosul / AFP Iraqi forces battled extremists inside Mosul for the third day running on Sunday while civilians risked their lives dodging bombs and snipers to slip out of the city. The IS group put up fierce resistance to defend the city it seized more than two years ago and also claimed responsibility for deadly suicide attacks further south. ...

  London / AFP President Bashar al-Assad claimed Western powers are “becoming much weaker” in Syria, in a confident interview published Sunday in The Sunday Times. “In the past if I said anything, people would say the Syrian president is disconnected from reality. Now it’s different. The West is becoming much weaker,” told the British weekly. “They don’t have a leg ...

  Istanbul / AFP Turkey’s main pro-Kurdish party on Sunday said it was pulling out of parliament after nine of its MPs including the two co-leaders were arrested in an unprecedented crackdown. The Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP), the third-largest party in this legislature, said it would no longer be taking part in general sessions of parliament or commission work. The ...

  Istanbul /AFP A Kurdish militant group that has carried out a string of attacks in Turkey this year on Sunday claimed a bombing on the southeastern city of Diyarbakir that killed 11, a report said. The claim by the Kurdistan Freedom Falcons (TAK), seen as an splinter group of the better-known Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), came after a news ...

  Cleveland / AFP Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton packed their schedules with last minute campaign events on Sunday, two days out from an election that has gripped the world. Clinton is banking on star power to lock in her narrow poll lead, hosting back-to-back weekend pop concerts with Beyonce and Katy Perry and booking a date with President Barack Obama. ...

  New Delhi / AFP Schools in the Indian capital will be closed for the next three days, the Delhi state government said on Sunday, as the city struggles with one of the worst spells of air pollution in recent years. “Emergency measures are needed to solve this problem together,” state chief minister Arvind Kejriwal said. “All construction and demolition ...