Politics

  Ankara / AFP Turkey was on Saturday holding 17 journalists on charges of “terror group” membership as President Recep Tayyip Erdogan told Western critics to “mind your own business” over a relentless crackdown following a failed coup. But in a goodwill gesture two weeks after the July 15 coup bid, Erdogan also announced he was withdrawing thousands of lawsuits against ...

  Paris / AFP Muslim and Christian groups will hold vigils for a French priest murdered by extremists on Saturday, as authorities charged a man in connection with the brutal church attack that rocked the nation. A shellshocked France is still coming to terms with the extremist murder of a priest at his altar that has sparked fears of tensions between ...

  Dhaka / AFP A Canadian citizen was one of the masterminds behind a mass killing at a Dhaka cafe, Bangladesh police said on Saturday, after new information came to light following a raid on an extremist hideout. Tamim Chowdhury, whose whereabouts are unknown, returned to Bangladesh from Canada three years ago. He has since led and financed efforts to radicalise ...

  Beijing / AFP China and Russia will hold joint naval exercises in the South China Sea in September, Beijing’s defence ministry said Thursday, after an international tribunal invalidated the Asian giant’s extensive claims in the area. The drills will be carried out in the “relevant sea and air of the South China Sea”, defence ministry spokesman Yang Yujun told ...

  Cilacap / AFP Indonesia on Thursday rejected appeals from the UN and EU to halt the execution of 14 drug convicts including foreigners, as speculation mounted they could face the firing squad in a matter of hours. The group, including foreigners from Nigeria, Pakistan, India and Zimbabwe as well as Indonesians, have been placed in isolation on a prison island ...

  Dhaka / AFP A Bangladesh court on Thursday upheld the death sentence for six militants convicted over a suicide bombing in 2005 of a lawyer’s office that killed eight people, a top prosecutor said. Bangladesh’s judiciary is under pressure to fast track cases involving militants as the government faces mounting criticism to crackdown on extremists over a series of recent ...

  Berlin / AFP German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Thursday “firmly” rejected calls to reverse her welcoming stance toward refugees following a series of brutal attacks in the country. Merkel told reporters that the assailants “wanted to undermine our sense of community, our openness and our willingness to help people in need”. “We firmly reject this,” she said. Merkel, who interrupted ...

  Moscow / AP Russia and the Syrian government said they will open humanitarian corridors in Syria’s embattled city of Aleppo on Thursday and offer a way out for opposition fighters wanting to lay down their arms, even as Syrian forces took another district from rebels in the city. The Russian announcement by Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu came as Syria’s President ...

  Ankara / AFP Turkey’s top military commanders met on Thursday to replace almost half of their generals in a radical shake-up after the failed coup, as authorities shut down dozens of media outlets in a widening crackdown. The hastily convened meeting came after the government ordered the discharge of 149 generals—nearly half the armed forces’ entire contingent of 358—for ...

  Philadelphia / AFP President Barack Obama will step onto the Democratic convention stage on to champion former political foe Hillary Clinton, defend his own legacy and bury Donald Trump’s chances of reaching the White House. Obama will address the penultimate night of the party convention in Philadelphia, making the case that America’s first black president should be followed by ...