July, 2016

• 11 July

  Abe set for some tough battles after convincing election win

  

    Bloomberg Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s convincing win in Sunday’s election has put him on course to scrape the two-thirds majority needed to press ahead with his long-held ambition of revising the country’s pacifist constitution. He also vowed to take “bold” action on the economy. Here’s a look at what’s on Abe’s plate over the coming months: Constitutional Scrap …

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• 11 July

  Turkey charges 7 more over Istanbul airport attack

    Istanbul / AP Turkish authorities have placed seven more suspects under arrest over the triple suicide bombings at Istanbul’s main airport last month, bringing to 37 the number charged over the attack. Forty-seven people were killed and 200 wounded in the June 28 bombings and gun attacks on Ataturk International Airport which the Turkish authorities blamed on IS extremists. …

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• 11 July

  Syria rebels attack regime held Aleppo districts

    Aleppo/ AFP Syrian opposition fighters launched a major assault on government-held districts of Aleppo city on Monday after the regime severed their only remaining supply route into the city. The multi-front assault was also reported by the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based monitor. The attack was accompanied by a barrage of rocket fire into the regime-held west …

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• 11 July

  6 killed, 8 missing in China tropical storm

    Beijing / AFP A tropical storm in China left six people dead and at least eight more missing, reports said, after it lashed Taiwan with typhoon-grade winds and rain. Super Typhoon Nepartak brought chaos to Taiwan Friday, forcing more than 15,000 people to flee their homes as part of the island saw its strongest winds in over a century. …

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• 11 July

  US to send 560 more troops to aid Iraq’s anti-IS fight

  

    BAGHDAD / AFP Pentagon chief Ashton Carter said on Monday that Washington will deploy 560 additional troops to aid Iraq’s fight to retake Mosul from extremists, further deepening US military involvement in the country. The announcement, which will bring the total authorised number of American military personnel in Iraq to more than 4,600, came two days after Baghdad announced …

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• 11 July

  5 more protesters killed in Indian Kashmir clashes

  

    Srinagar / AFP Five people including a teenage girl were killed in overnight clashes between protesters and government forces in Indian Kashmir after a popular rebel leader was shot dead, police said on Monday, taking the toll to 23. Hundreds more have been wounded in the demonstrations that broke out on Saturday despite a curfew imposed across much of …

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• 11 July

  N Korea threatens action over US anti-missile system

  

    Seoul / AFP North Korea threatened on Monday to take “physical action” after Washington and Seoul announced they would deploy a sophisticated US anti-missile defence system to counter the growing menace from Pyongyang. Seoul and Washington on Friday revealed their decision to deploy the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system in the South following recent North Korean missile …

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• 11 July

  US demo arrests swell as police describe Dallas bomb plot

  

    Dallas / AFP The Dallas gunman was plotting a major bomb attack, authorities said, urging calm as hundreds of people were arrested in weekend protests in US cities over police violence against African-Americans. Demonstrators marched demanding justice for two black men shot dead by cops in Minnesota and Louisiana, their dying moments captured in video that went viral online. …

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• 11 July

  Theresa May becomes sole contender to be British Prime Minister

  London / AFP Theresa May became the sole contender to be Britain’s next prime minister on Monday after her only rival pulled out in a dramatic twist as turmoil sweeps the political scene in the wake of the Brexit vote. Andrea Leadsom, who had come in for heavy criticism after appearing to imply that she was more qualified than May because …

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• 11 July

  German military said to take more assertive role in policy shift

    Bloomberg Germany will take on greater military leadership in global conflicts, requiring a sustained increase in defense spending and troop strength, according to plans for the nation’s first overhaul of security policy in a decade. A “renaissance of classic power politics” is increasing “the risk of violent conflict between states, including in Europe and its neighborhood, as the example …

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