Erdogan warns Syria offensive will resume unless Kurds complete pull out
AFP, Ankara
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Tuesday threatened to resume Turkey’s military offensive in Syria “with greater determination” unless the withdrawal of Kurdish fighters is completed under a US-brokered deal.
“If the promises given to our country by the United States are not kept, we will continue our operation from where we left off with greater determination,” Erdogan told reporters before departing for talks with Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin.
11 dead after violent protests in Chile
AFP, Santiago
Chile ordered an overnight curfew for the third day in a row as violent protests and looting that left 11 people dead over the weekend raged on into the working week.
Army general Javier Iturriaga announced the curfew would last from 8:00 pm to 6:00 am as protests originally against a hike in metro fares turned into anger at President Sebastian Pinera and the military.
Thousands protest in Sudan, call to disband ex-ruling party
AP, Cairo
Thousands of demonstrators took to the streets across Sudan on Monday to call for disbanding former President Omar al-Bashir’s party, the political organ he used to control the country during his 30 years of autocratic rule before being ousted in April.
Separately, Sudan’s transitional government and a main rebel faction signed a political declaration amid peace negotiations that began last week, taking a new step toward ending the country’s yearslong civil wars. The two sides also renewed a nationwide cease-fire for three months.
Taliban storm checkpoint, kill 15 Afghan cops
AP, Kabul
The Taliban stormed a checkpoint in northern Afghanistan, killing at least 15 policemen in the latest attack by insurgents, an Afghan provincial official said Tuesday.
The multi-pronged attack on the checkpoint in the Ali Abad district of northern Kunduz province began late on Monday night and set off an hours-long gunbattle, according to Ghulam Rabani Rabani, a provincial council member. Along with the 15 policemen killed, two other officers were wounded in the assault, he said.
Wildfire threatens homes, prompts evacuations in California
Los Angeles:
A wildfire raced up a steep hillside to threaten scores of homes in the Los Angeles coastal enclave of Pacific Palisades on Monday, prompting evacuations as water-dropping helicopters and firefighters swarmed the area to battle the flames.
Live aerial video footage broadcast by KABC-TV showed tall flames raging along a ridge-line at the edge of a neighbourhood, burning perilously close to several homes as authorities urged residents to flee.
