Politics

  Washington / AFP US Vice President Joe Biden and Ukraine’s President Petro Poroshenko in a phonecall urged a speedy resolution to the conflict with pro-Russian separatists amid a spike in tensions with Moscow, the White House said. Biden and Poroshenko “expressed concern over the recent surge in fighting in eastern Ukraine, where ceasefire violations by combined Russian-separatist forces are at ...

  Ankara/ AFP Donald Trump sought to reboot his flagging presidential bid, dismissing his tainted campaign chairman and seeking to broaden his shrinking support base by appealing to black voters and visiting flood-ravaged Louisiana. The resignation of the seasoned Republican strategist Paul Manafort—under fire for his pro-Kremlin ties and role in a Ukrainian corruption scandal—represents the Republican nominee’s latest effort to ...

  Manila / AFP The Philippine government and communist guerrillas have agreed to ceasefires from Sunday, both sides said, ahead of crucial peace talks next week to end one of Asia’s longest insurgencies. Both sides said a break from the fighting will create a conducive environment at the negotiations next week in Norway, which are aimed at reaching a political ...

Istanbul / AFP Prime Minister Binali Yildirim on Saturday insisted the United States was Turkey’s “strategic partner, not our enemy” despite Ankara’s anger at Washington for failing to extradite Fethullah Gulen, whom it blames for last month’s failed coup. “There can be ups and downs in the two countries’ relations (but) we need to remove elements that harm our relations,” Yildirim ...

  California / AFP Weary firefighters on Thursday battled a raging inferno that was threatening the homes of more than 82,000 people in southern California and sent flaming “firenadoes” tearing across the brush. Nearly 1,600 firefighters were fighting the giant blaze, but had only contained four percent of it, according to a fire service official. Dramatic local TV news footage ...

  Jerusalem / AFP Israel’s hardline defence minister Avigdor Lieberman has a new “carrot and stick” policy for the West Bank that will penalise the hometowns of Palestinian attackers while rewarding others, his ministry said on Thursday. Under the policy, Palestinian families, villages and towns that are linked to attackers will face extra punitive measures, while those that are not will ...

  Hanoi / AFP Two senior communist officials were shot dead by a colleague at their offices in northern Vietnam, state media reported on Thursday, a rare high profile gun homicide in the country. Northern Yen Bai province’s most senior official, party chief Pham Duy Cuong and head of the provincial people’s council Ngo Ngoc Tuan, were gunned down by a ...

  Ankara/ AFP Eastern Turkey was rocked by two deadly bombings against police as Kurdish guerrillas launched a new campaign of attacks targeting areas that are not predominantly Kurdish. The car bombings—less than 12 hours apart—killed at least 10 people in total and injured over 200, officials said Thursday, blaming the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK). The rebels, who have been ...

  Khartoum / AFP UN chief Ban Ki-moon has expressed disappointment over the failure of talks between the Sudanese government and rebels on a ceasefire in Darfur and two other conflict zones. The talks on a cessation of hostilities in Darfur, Blue Nile and South Kordofan were held in Addis Ababa last week after three prominent rebel groups signed a roadmap ...

Tokyo / AFP Myanmar’s de facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi met Chinese Premier Li Keqiang on Thursday as her country’s new civilian authorities seeks to cement ties with Beijing—long the former military junta’s protector. The five-day visit—with the suspension of a giant Beijing-backed dam project set to dominate talks—is Suu Kyi’s first major foreign trip since her government took ...