WORLD

Ankara, Turkey | AFP | Turkey on Monday vowed it would not be intimidated by US President Donald Trump’s threats of economic devastation if Ankara attacks Kurdish forces as American troops withdraw. Trump’s threat came after Ankara repeatedly threatened a new cross-border operation against the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG), which have been working closely …

Riyadh, Saudi Arabia | AFP | US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Monday that talks were under way on Washington’s proposal to establish a “safe zone” in flashpoint border areas of northeastern Syria, where tensions are rising between Turkey and Kurdish militia. “We want to make sure that the folks who fought with us …

Paris, France | AFP | French President Emmanuel Macron on Sunday spelled out the questions underpinning his “great national debate”, a public consultation aiming to quell “yellow vest” anger after nearly two months of sometimes violent protests. Macron made his appeal in a “letter to the French” released on Sunday, …

New York, United States | AFP | Three-time Grammy Award-winning band Maroon 5 was named Sunday as the headline act of next month’s Super Bowl 53 half-time show, a performance that has aroused controversy and protest petitions. The league and pop music band announced they will perform in the National …

Jérusalem, Undefined | AFP | The World Food Programme has suspended or reduced aid for some of its Palestinian beneficiaries in the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip due to funding shortages, an official with the organisation said Sunday. Some 27,000 Palestinians are no longer receiving aid through the United …

Washington, United States | AFP | US President Donald Trump faced uncomfortable new questions Sunday about his relationship with Vladimir Putin despite his angry dismissal of a report that he has kept top aides in the dark about his private conversations with the Russian leader. Republican lawmakers generally defended the …

London, United Kingdom | AFP | British Prime Minister Theresa May on Sunday warned MPs preparing to vote down her EU divorce deal that failing to deliver Brexit would be a “catastrophic and unforgivable breach of trust in our democracy”. May, who is fighting to save her withdrawal agreement negotiated …

Jerusalem, Undefined | AFP | Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Sunday that Israel had at the weekend carried out an air strike on Iranian weapons in Syria, a rare public confirmation of such attacks. “Just in the last 36 hours the air force attacked Iranian warehouses containing Iranian weapons in …

Washington, United States | AFP | The US government shutdown on Saturday became the longest in history and is taking a growing bite out of the world’s largest economy with each passing day, economists say. While most of the 21 “lapses” in government spending since 1976 left barely a scratch …

London, United Kingdom | AFP | Hundreds of demonstrators wearing yellow vests took to the streets of London on Saturday, in the largest protest yet in Britain copying the “yellow vest” protests rocking France. Protesters opposed to the government’s austerity programme and demanding a general election marched through the centre …