AP, Washington
President Donald Trump’s administration has rejected Turkey’s offer to condition the release of an American pastor on clearing a top Turkish bank of billions of dollars in US fines, media reported Monday.
Washington and Ankara are locked in a bitter feud over the nearly two-year jailing of Andrew Brunson over disputed terror charges, which has triggered a trade row and sent the lira into a tailspin.
Russian military braces for massive war games
AP, Moscow
Russia’s defense minister says the military forces in the country’s east have been put on high alert in the run-up to massive war games that also involve China and Mongolia.
Sergei Shoigu said the five-day drills that began Monday will pave the way for the Vostok (East) 2018 military exercise. Shoigu said those maneuvers, set for next month, will be the largest since the massive Soviet war games in 1981.
10 dead after multiple quakes rock Indonesia’s Lombok
AFP, Mataram
A series of powerful earthquakes have rocked the Indonesian holiday island of Lombok, killing at least 10 people and setting off fresh waves of panic after nearly 500 died there following a huge tremor two weeks ago. The quakes hit throughout Sunday, with the first measuring 6.3 shortly before midday which triggered landslides and sent people fleeing for cover as parts of the island suffered blackouts.
Canada’s PM to run again in 2019
AFP, Montreal
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced Sunday he will run for re-election in 2019 legislative polls. The Liberal Party leader was officially nominated by his party in the central Montreal district of Papineau, a centrist stronghold he has represented since 2008. He was re-elected in 2011 and 2015.
He spoke of his “deep conviction that despite the politics of fear and division, staying positive, pulling people together, looking for ways to emphasize our common ground, our shared values among our differences, is the only way to build a stronger country, a stronger world.”
