AFP, Istanbul
Turkey and Germany on Friday vowed their critical alliance would not be broken by a ferocious dispute sparked by the German parliament’s resolution recognising the mass killings of Armenians by Ottoman forces as genocide.
Seeking to keep the row from erupting into a full-blown crisis, Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim emphasised the key relationship would continue while Berlin said ties were strong enough to weather splits.
The German lower house on Thursday passed a non-binding resolution recognising the mass killings of Armenians from 1915 under the Ottoman Empire as genocide, prompting Ankara to recall its ambassador from Berlin for consultations.
Afghanistan, India inaugurate major dam
AP, Kabul
Afghan President Ashraf Ghani and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated a multi-million-dollar dam in western Afghanistan on Saturday that will bring power and irrigation to vast tracts of the war-torn country.
The Afghan-India Friendship Dam in Herat province, which borders Iran, was built with Indian aid at a cost of $300 million and was under construction for about a decade.
Modi arrived in Afghanistan on Saturday for the formal inauguration of the project, which will provide 42 megawatts of power and irrigate 75,000 hectares (185,000 acres) of agricultural land.
“Afghanistan and India have long and continued relations and today millions of ties bind our nations together,” Ghani said at the inauguration ceremony in Herat.
Foundations for the dam were laid about 40 years ago, also with Indian assistance, in the Chishti-Sharif district of Herat on the Heray Rud River. Construction was delayed by attacks on engineers, workers and guards.
14 IS militants killed in Syria attacks
Reuters, Istanbul
Cross-border shelling by the Turkish army and air strikes by U.S.-led coalition aircraft killed 14 Islamic State militants in Syria, state-run Anadolu Agency cited Turkey’s military as saying on Saturday.
Eleven Islamic State targets were hit by Turkish artillery and by nine air strikes as they were believed to be preparing to fire on Turkey, the armed forces was reported as saying. It was not clear when the military action occurred.
The strikes targeted several areas near the Syrian town of Azaz, west of a U.S.-backed operation against IS militants and directly south of the Turkish border town of Kilis, which has been repeatedly hit by Islamic State rockets.
Lightning hurt 71 in Germany rock festival
BBC Online
At least 71 people were injured, eight seriously, when lightning struck at a rock festival in western Germany early on Saturday, police say.
Organisers of the Rock am Ring festival, which is headlined by the Red Hot Chili Peppers, said lightning hit at 00:30 local time (22:30 GMT).
Police told German media two people had to be resuscitated.
Central Europe has been hit by severe storms and rain over the past few weeks, leading to 11 deaths in Germany.
The festival also suffered lightning strikes last year, when 33 people were taken to hospital.
The organisers of Rock am Ring, now in its 31st year, said this year’s event would continue, and that clear weather was expected on Saturday.
The Red Hot Chili Peppers are among several bands, including Foals, Deftones and We Are Scientists, expected to perform on Saturday. Some 45,000 people are expected to attend over the course of the weekend.
