News archive of July 2017

Turkish interior minister slams US over PKK, YPG support

Turkish Interior Minister Süleyman Soylu has criticized the United States, indirectly saying that it supports the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) through its Syrian wing, the People's Protection Units (YPG). 

Qatar accuses Saudis of hampering Qatari hajj pilgrims

The Qatari authorities have accused Saudi Arabia of jeopardizing the annual hajj pilgrimage to Mecca of Qatari pilgrims by refusing to guarantee their safety.

Saudi Arabia and its allies have been boycotting Qatar since June 5, accusing it of backing extremist groups and of ties to Shiite Iran, in the region's worst diplomatic crisis in years.

Australian plane plot may have involved bomb or gas

Four men accused of plotting to bring down a plane planned to use poisonous gas or a crude bomb disguised as a meat mincer, reports said on July 31, with Australian officials calling preparations "advanced."

The men -- reportedly two Lebanese-Australian fathers and their sons -- were arrested in raids across Sydney on July 29 evening.

Poland Vows to Keep Logging Ancient Forest Despite EU Court Ruling

Poland said on Monday it would press on with logging the country's primeval Bialowieza forest in defiance of a ruling by the European Union's top court, saying it needed to cut down trees to defeat insect pests, according to Straitstimes.com

Food access in Syria's Raqqa at 'critical turning point'

Food access in Syria's battle-torn Raqqa is now at "a critical turning point," aid organizations said on July 31, with markets shuttered and residents depending fully on their dwindling stockpiles.

"Dialogue doesn't mean Kosovo recognition," says president

"My call to dialogue does not mean the recognition of Kosovo," says Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic.

"This is just a call to dialogue, solutions are not ready-made. Stop making things up on all sides. I will not come out with solutions before I hear the views of the whole society," Vucic said on Monday, while touring a hospital in Kragujevac.

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