Istanbul / AFP Turkey and Saudi Arabia could launch a ground operation against IS extremists in Syria, the Turkish foreign minister said on Saturday, adding the kingdom was already sending jets to a Turkish base to attack the extremists. The coordinated plans by Riyadh and Ankara, who are pursuing an increasingly tight alliance, add a new element to the explosive …

Munich / AFP More major attacks in Europe are a “certainty”, French Prime Minister Manuel Valls told an audience at the Munich Security Conference on Saturday. “We have entered—we all feel it—in a new era characterised by the lasting presence of ‘hyper-terrorism’,” said Valls, whose country was hit by two attacks last year. “We must be fully conscious of the …

Yangon / AFP Myanmar’s outgoing president has scrapped a planned trip to the US next week in order to oversee the power hand-off to Aung San SuuKyi’s new government, a presidential spokesman said on Saturday. Thein Sein was due to attend a summit for leaders from the 10-nation Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) bloc hosted by US president Barack …