Politics

  Brussels / AFP NATO and the European Union are partners in defence, not rivals, top officials said on Thursday, downplaying any suggestion EU military ambitions might undermine the US-led alliance which has protected Europe for decades. “I strongly believe it is absolutely possible to strengthen European defence without duplicating efforts by NATO,” alliance chief Jens Stoltenberg said. “EU leaders ...

  Tokyo / AFP The United States on Thursday reassured its key Asian allies Japan and South Korea that its policy seeking North Korea’s nuclear disarmament remains unchanged, after its intelligence chief called it a “lost cause”. Washington has always maintained it cannot accept North Korea as a nuclear state and, under President Barack Obama, has made any talks with ...

  Visso /AFP Italy was counting the cost on Thursday after another major earthquake forced thousands to flee their homes in terror but “miraculously” did not cause any fatalities. Two months after a quake left nearly 300 dead in the country’s tremor-prone central spine, two powerful shocks ripped through the mountainous, sparsely-populated region on Wednesday evening. Despite numerous building collapses, ...

  Seoul /AFP South Korean prosecutors on Thursday set up a high-powered “task-force” to probe a widening scandal involving alleged influence-peddling by a close confidante of President Park Geun-Hye. Choi Soon-Sil, an enigmatic woman with no government position, was already part of an investigation into allegations that she used her relationship with the president to strong-arm conglomerates into multi-million dollar ...

  Arbil / AFP The United States said on Thursday that up to 900 IS group extremists have been killed in the offensive to retake Iraq’s Mosul, as camps around the city filled with fleeing civilians. Iraqis who fled their homes expressed joy at escaping IS’s brutal rule as they were given shelter and assistance, in some cases reuniting with relatives ...

  Ankara / AFP Turkish authorities ordered the detention of 73 air force pilots as part of the probe into the group blamed for July’s failed coup, state media reported on Thursday. At least 45 had already been detained after police operations began on Thursday across the country including the central Konya province and the capital Ankara, the official Anadolu news ...

  Ankara /AFP Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Thursday that the military operation supporting Syrian opposition fighters in northern Syria will target the IS-held city of Raqa. Erdogan said the rebels were now advancing on the important city of Al Bab to clear IS group elements. After retaking the city, they will target Manbij, captured by Syrian Kurdish ...

  Afghanistan / AFP US drone strikes targeted two top Al-Qaeda leaders in Afghanistan, American officials said, calling it the most significant attack against the militant group in the country in several years. The strikes on Sunday in Kunar province targeted Farouq al-Qahtani, Al-Qaeda’s emir for northeastern Afghanistan, and his deputy Bilal al-Utabi. Multiple Hellfire missiles “levelled” two different compounds in ...

  Mogadishu / AFP A breakaway group of around 50 Somali militants who declared loyalty to the IS extremists abandoned a small port town on Thursday a day after occupying it, residents and an official said. “The militants left town early this morning but they are not far away,” said Abdiweli Adan, an elder in a town close to Qandala ...

  New Delhi / AFP India announced on Thursday it was expelling a Pakistani visa official for suspected spying after he was briefly detained carrying sensitive defence documents, with tensions between the nuclear-armed neighbours already running high. New Delhi police said the official had been recruiting Indian nationals for two and a half years to spy for Pakistan’s powerful Inter-Services Intelligence ...