Politics

  Beirut / AFP US Secretary of State John Kerry pressed Tuesday for more cooperation with India on security and trade as the world’s two biggest democracies try to strengthen ties, in part to counter China’s rising influence. Kerry also said he was hopeful of moving ahead on a deal to provide nuclear energy assistance to India, as the nations seek ...

  Berlin / AFP Germany’s EU Commissioner Guenther Oettinger raised doubts on Tuesday about whether Britain would leave the bloc, saying he wouldn’t bet on “Brexit”. Oettinger told Germany’s daily Bild that he assumed June’s referendum outcome in favour of Britain exiting the EU was “binding”. “But it is possible that public opinion will tip if the economic situation in ...

  Naypyidaw / AFP Fresh fighting between ethnic minority rebels and Myanmar’s military is overshadowing an upcoming peace conference led by Aung San Suu Kyi’s new civilian government, people involved in the talks said on Tuesday. The five-day gathering, which officially opens on Wednesday, is Suu Kyi’s first big drive to end multiple insurgencies that have raged in Myanmar’s borderlands ...

  Mogadishu /AFP At least five people were killed and 28 injured when extremists exploded a suicide car bomb outside a popular hotel close to the presidential palace in Somalia’s capital Mogadishu on Tuesday. “We have confirmed five people killed including security guards”, police officer Mohamed Abdulkadir said. He said the vehicle rammed through a checkpoint and was fired on ...

Singapore / AFP Vietnamese President Tran Dai Quang warned on Tuesday there would be no winners in any armed conflict sparked by territorial disputes in the South China Sea. Quang, who is on a state visit to Singapore, told a forum that recent developments there were threatening regional security. The Vietnamese leader did not mention any country but there is ...

  Jolo /AFP The Philippine military deployed thousands of extra troops on Tuesday to destroy an extremist group notorious for kidnapping foreigners, after 15 soldiers were killed, authorities said. President Rodrigo Duterte has ordered his security forces to wipe out the Abu Sayyaf, which has declared allegiance to the IS group and recently beheaded two Canadian hostages. But an assault ...

  Washington / AFP US President Barack Obama will meet controversial Philippine leader Rodrigo Duterte next week, the White House said, despite concerns over a war on crime that has claimed more than 2,000 lives. Since taking office two months ago, Duterte has begun making good on an election pledge to kill tens of thousands of suspected criminals, prompting criticism ...

  Istanbul / AFP Turkey’s week-old cross-border offensive in Syria could become a drawn-out affair that stokes tensions with Washington if Ankara continues to take the fight to US-backed Kurdish fighters, analysts say. Turkey says its unprecedented operation aims to rid the border of both the IS group and the anti-IS Kurdish YPG militia, which Ankara considers a terrorist group. ...

  London / AFP United Nations aid contracts worth tens of millions of dollars have gone to people closely associated with Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad despite US and EU sanctions, the Guardian reported on Tuesday. The newspaper’s analysis of hundreds of UN contracts granted since the Syrian conflict began in 2011 showed many awarded “to companies run by or linked to ...

  Jerusalem / AFP Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office on Tuesday called criticism of Israeli settlement building “absurd” after a UN envoy strongly hit out at his government over the issue. “The claim that it is illegal for Jews to build in Jerusalem is as absurd as saying Americans can’t build in Washington or the French can’t build in Paris,” Netanyahu ...