President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Tuesday that NATO-member Turkey would take delivery of Russia's S-400 missile defence system in July - a deal that has created tensions with the United States.
"The issue of S-400 is an issue directly related to our sovereignty and we will not backtrack from that," Erdogan said in a televised speech.
"God willing, the delivery of the S-400 will start next month," he said.
"In order to meet its security needs, Turkey... does not need to get permission, let alone bow to pressure." Erdogan has vowed to use his good relations with US counterpart Donald Trump to defuse tensions when they meet on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Osaka, Japan later this week.
The US has given Turkey a deadline of July 31 to drop the purchase of the S-400 system, or face sanctions and removal from the United States' F-35 fighter jet programme.
Turkey has plans to buy 100 F-35s, and has lucrative contracts to build parts of the jet.
Relations with Washington have ...

Erdogan says 'no backtrack' on Russia missile deal

PTI Automatic

Seven people, including five Chinese nationals, have been charged with manslaughter or as accomplices to manslaughter in connection with a building collapse in Cambodia that killed 28 people and sparked anger over shoddy construction regulations.
The collapse of a seven-storey, under-construction Chinese building in the resort town of Sihanoukville on Saturday is the deadliest industrial accident in recent memory in Cambodia.
A close Beijing ally, Cambodia has seen an influx of investments from Chinese developers, including in the booming gambling hub of Sihanoukville.
But the building frenzy has raised concerns about sub-standard safety regulations in a country where most construction workers are informal day-labourers.
On Tuesday, Chinese building owner Cheng Kun was charged with involuntary manslaughter, causing bodily harm and causing destruction of property, according to a court warrant seen by AFP.
Three other Chinese citizens -- contractor Deng Xin Gui, site manager Xie Ya Ping 

Seven people, including Chinese, charged over Cambodia building collapse

China on Tuesday urged "calm and restraint" as tensions between the US and Iran escalate following US President Donald Trump's new sanctions on Iran.
"We believe that blindly applying maximum pressure will not help solve the problem," said Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Geng Shuang at a press briefing in Beijing.
"Facts have proved that these measures have had the opposite effect and aggravated regional unrest," he added.
Relations between Washington and Tehran have rapidly deteriorated over the past few weeks, after the US accused Iran of being behind a series of attacks on ships in sensitive Gulf waters -- claims hotly denied by Tehran.
On Monday, Trump further raised the stakes in an escalating regional standoff by imposing sanctions against Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and top military chiefs.
Iran's foreign ministry spokesman denounced the sanctions as "the permanent closure of the path to diplomacy" with the Trump administration.
"We hope that the parties ...

China calls for 'calm' as US-Iran tensions rise

American logistics giant FedEx sued the US government on Monday, saying Washington's restrictions on exports and imports due to growing trade disputes and sanctions created an "impossible burden" for delivery firms.
The announcement of the lawsuit comes as Beijing and Washington face off in a trade war that has seen both sides exchange steep tariffs on hundreds of billions in exports.
The US has also sought to bar Chinese telecom giant Huawei from the American market and limit its ability to purchase US technology.
A statement by the delivery firm said the restrictions placed "an unreasonable burden on FedEx to police the millions of shipments that transit our network every day" or face heavy fines.
The company said it was impossible for employees to determine "the origin and technological make-up of contents of all the shipments it handles and whether they comply with" US laws.
The statement was released hours after China called on FedEx to explain why a parcel from Huawei to the US .

FedEx sues US government over shipment restrictions

US President Donald Trump once said there was "love" between him and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, but Xi Jinping is intruding into the relationship to remind them that China is an indispensable chaperone in their nuclear dance.
With his first trip to Pyongyang as president, Xi took another big step to patching up his tattered relations with Kim, whose nuclear tests prompted Beijing to join UN sanctions against its longtime ally.
Xi's two-day visit, which ended Friday, will also serve the Chinese leader in his complicated relationship with Trump, as they prepare to hold talks on their trade war at the G20 summit in Japan next week.
Months after Trump declared that he and Kim had fallen "in love", their nuclear talks faltered as their second summit in Vietnam in February ended without an agreement.
Trump has also repeatedly called Xi his "friend", but their own negotiations to end the US-China tariffs war broke down last month.
With Trump's relationship with Kim on the rocks, Xi has 

Xi muscles in on Trump-Kim 'love' affair

China may have intensified its lookout for North Koreans who have escaped the reclusive state to Chinese territory, a senior UN official said on Friday.
Beijing currently works with Pyongyang to send escapees who are arrested in China back to the repressive regime, which subjects them to severe punishments such as imprisonment and torture.
And Tomas Ojea Quintana, the United Nations special rapporteur on human rights in the North, believes China "may have strengthened the search".
"I have been receiving an increasing number of individual cases of North Korean escapees, including children, detained in Shenyang City, in China's Liaoning province," he said.
"Information suggests that China may have strengthened the search for North Korean escapees."
The impoverished but nuclear-armed nation stands accused by the UN of "systematic, widespread and gross" human rights violations that range from rape, torture, extrajudicial killings to running political prisoner camps.
Pyongyang calls such ..

China ramps up search for N Korean escapees: UN official

Petr Cech will return to Chelsea in an advisory role after retiring from his duties as a goalkeeper last month, aged 37.
Cech will perform an intermediary role between the club's new manager and director Marina Granovskaia, which had been left vacant since Michael Emenalo quit as technical director nearly two years ago.
"Petr Cech returns to Chelsea as Technical and Performance Advisor," said Chelsea in a statement.
"The focus of the job will be to provide advice on all football and performance matters throughout the club as well as embed and facilitate strong links between our men's and academy teams, ensuring that the various support departments are working together effectively."
Cech won 13 major honours, including four Premier League titles and the Champions League, in a stellar 11-year career with Chelsea before joining Arsenal in 2015.
The former Czech international's final game before retirement came in a 4-1 defeat by Chelsea as the Blues lifted the Europa League in May.
"I ...

Cech makes Chelsea return as technical advisor

Fernando Torres, the former Atletico Madrid, Liverpool and Chelsea forward who won the World Cup with Spain, announced Friday he was retiring.
"I have something very important to announce. After 18 exciting years, the time has come to put an end to my football career," Torres, 35, said on Twitter.  Torres currently plays for Japanese side Sagan Tosu.
"Next Sunday, the 23rd at 10:00AM, local time in Japan, I will have a press conference in Tokyo to explain all the details. See you there," he added.
Torres left Atletico last summer to play in Japan after returning to his boyhood club in 2015.
He played 334 times in total for Atletico, scoring 111 goals. Torres also made 142 appearances for Liverpool, finding the net 81 times, and scored 45 goals in 172 matches for Chelsea.
Torres was a key member of Spain's 2010 World Cup-winning squad.

Spain's Fernando Torres announces retirement

Dutch airline KLM said Friday it has suspended its flights over the Strait of Hormuz after Iran shot down a US drone in the strategic region.
"Safety is the top priority for KLM," it said in a statement.
"We closely follow all developments that may be related to the safety of airspace 24/7 and we organise the operation in such a way that the safety of the flights is guaranteed.
"The incident with the drone is reason not to fly over the Strait of Hormuz for the time being. This is a precautionary measure."
Iran's downing of the drone -- which Washington insists was above international waters but Iran says was within its airspace -- has seen tensions between the two countries spike further after a series of attacks on tankers the US has blamed on Tehran.

KLM halts flights over Strait of Hormuz after drone downing

At least two dozen people were killed when a fire ripped through a matchstick warehouse in Indonesia on Friday, authorities said.
"There have been 24 deaths," said the head of North Sumatra's disaster agency Riadil Lubis, adding that investigators believed they had identified the charred remains of 21 adults and three children.
"We don't know what caused the fire but it has been extinguished," he added.

At least 24 killed in Indonesia matchstick warehouse fire: official

Mohammad Hafeez said Pakistan's dismal showing at the World Cup was hurting the players, who were determined to battle back in a bid to reach the semi-finals.
Pakistan are languishing in ninth place in the 10-team table, with only Afghanistan below them, after a single victory in five matches.
The 1992 winners need to win all four of their remaining games and hope other results go in their favour, with four teams qualifying from the round-robin phase.
Their next match is against fellow strugglers South Africa at Lord's on Sunday and Hafeez said the players were determined to make amends for their poor performances so far at the tournament in England and Wales.
"I tell you that to see the team at number nine is hurting all of us," said veteran Hafeez, whose 84 anchored Pakistan's innings of 348-8 in their only win, over hosts England.
They opened their campaign with a seven-wicket loss against West Indies, also going down to defeats to Australia and India, while their match against Sri 

Pakistan hurting after World Cup slump, says Mohammad Hafeez

Southeast Asian leaders are eager to sign a sweeping China-led trade pact by the end of this year, Thailand's prime minister said Friday, with further talks expected at a Bangkok summit on the world's biggest commercial deal.
Beijing is seeking to shape the rules of free trade across the Asia-Pacific, as America retreats from multilateral deals under US President Donald Trump.
The China-crafted Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) includes all 10 economies of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) who are meeting this weekend in the Thai capital.
But it also sweeps in China's main regional rival India, as well Japan, South Korea, Australia and New Zealand, covering half the world's population and around 40 per cent of its trade.
Squabbles with India over access to its giant consumer market -- as well as Australia and New Zealand over the lack of 'high quality' labour and environmental standards -- have undercut talks in recent months.
Analysts say these ...

ASEAN seeks conclusion of China-led trade deal this year: Thai PM

Greenpeace accused British minister Mark Field of assault after the Conservative politician was filmed physically removing a climate change protester from a dinner in the City of London.
Field accosted the female activist as she walked towards finance minister Phillip Hammond, pushing her against a column at Mansion House before holding her by the neck and frogmarching her out of the room.
Greenpeace activist Areeba Hamid said she was "shocked at the footage of an elected MP and government minister assaulting one of our peaceful protesters." Field told ITV that he "deeply" regretted his actions, saying that "in the confusion many guests understandably felt threatened and when one protester rushed past me towards the top table.
"There was no security present and I was for a split-second genuinely worried she might have been armed." The junior Foreign Office minister has referred himself to the Cabinet Office for investigation.
Labour MP Jess Phillips called the footage "so, so awful" ..

British minister under fire for manhandling protester

A Mexican airline is offering one-dollar flights to undocumented migrants wishing to return to Costa Rica, El Salvador and Guatemala as the country struggles to curb arrivals from Central America.
The Reuniting Families program, announced by Volaris on Thursday, aims to "to assist in the repatriation of migrants," the airline said on its Twitter account.
The offer will run until June 30 and is open to Central Americans in an "irregular migration situation" who wish to depart from airports in Tijuana and Ciudad Juarez -- both close to the US border -- or Guadalajara and Mexico City.
Passengers must be willing to board "the next available seat" in order to take advantage of the ultra-cheap fare, which does not include taxes.
Mexico City's airport charges an airport use fee of $45 for international flights.  Adult migrants must identify themselves with their unique identity document and minors must show a passport or birth certificate.
A wave of Central American migrants has arrived in ..

Mexican airline offers one-dollar flights to returning migrants

North Korea lauded its ties with historic ally China on Friday as Xi Jinping wrapped up a highly symbolic two-day visit to his nuclear-armed neighbour, with both countries facing deadlock in their negotiations with US President Donald Trump.
Kim Jong Un told the Chinese president that his visit was an opportunity to demonstrate "the immutability and invincibility of the DPRK-China friendship before the world", the KCNA news agency reported, using the abbreviation of North Korea's official name.
At a time when "serious and complicated changes are happening in international and regional situations", KCNA said, the two leaders agreed to "promote close strategic communication" and develop their "common interests".
Pyongyang pulled out all the stops to welcome Xi, the first Chinese president to visit in 14 years -- a period in which Pyongyang has carried out five nuclear tests and launched missiles capable of reaching the entire US mainland.
China always prefers stability in its ...

N. Korea lauds China ties as Xi wraps up trip

A camp in Papua New Guinea housing refugees and asylum seekers, sent there under Australia's harsh immigration policy, was on fire Friday after a man set himself alight amid growing despair among residents, advocates said.
Hundreds of refugees and asylum seekers are held in processing camps on the remote islands of Nauru and Papua New Guinea after attempting to reach Australia by sea, with rights groups criticising the facilities' conditions.
Refugee advocates said there has been a spike in self-harm and suicide attempts on Papua New Guinea's Manus Island, after the centre-left Labor opposition -- which they hoped would treat them more leniently -- failed to win power in May elections.
Ian Rintoul from the Refugee Action Coalition said Friday the latest such incident involved a 31-year-old Indian man who set himself on fire, burning his face and hands.
Photos released by Rintoul showed a shipping container at the camp on fire, with people attempting to put out the flames.
Multiple ...

Papua New Guinea migrant camp on fire as self-harm incidents rise

Iran said Friday that it had "indisputable" evidence that a US drone it shot down this week had violated its airspace.
Deputy foreign minister Abbas Araghchi told Swiss ambassador, Markus Leitner, whose country represents US interests in Iran, of the evidence on Thursday night, the foreign ministry said in a statement.
"Even some parts of the drone's wreckage have been retrieved from Iran"s territorial waters," Araghchi told the Swiss envoy." Araghchi urged US forces to "respect Iran's aerial and maritime borders and fully abide by international regulations," the ministry said.
He "reiterated that Iran does not seek a war and conflict in the Persian Gulf, warning the American forces against any unconsidered measure in the region," it added.
"The Islamic Republic of Iran would not hesitate for a moment to decisively defend its territory against any aggression," the statement quoted Araghchi as saying.
Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said Thursday that Iran would go to the United .

Iran says has 'indisputable' evidence US drone violated airspace

North Korea's state media on Friday described North Korea-China relations as "invincible" as Chinese President Xi Jinping wrapped up a closely watched two-day visit to the North.
Pyongyang's state-run newspaper Rodong Sinmun carried front-page pictures that showed North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and his wife Ri Sol Ju welcoming Xi on Thursday.
Kim said Xi's visit was an "important opportunity" for the two countries to boast their "invincible" and "unchangeable" friendship to the world, the official KCNA news agency reported.
The streets of Pyongyang were filled with cheers and "friendly affection" for Chinese citizens who have "shared joys and sorrows" with North Koreans while pursuing socialism, it added.
Xi is the first Chinese president to visit North Korea in 14 years, after relations between the Cold War-era allies deteriorated over Pyongyang's nuclear programme and Beijing's subsequent backing of UN sanctions.  But as he embarked on a flurry of diplomacy last year, Kim ensured ..

N. Korea-China ties 'invincible', says KCNA, as Xi wraps up trip

Donald Trump approved but then scrapped strikes against Iranian targets on Thursday, The New York Times reported, after Iran shot down a US drone in what the president termed a "big mistake."
The US was planning to hit "a handful of Iranian targets, like radar and missile batteries" Thursday evening, the newspaper said, citing senior administration officials, but the plan was suddenly aborted in its early stages.
White House and Pentagon officials declined to comment, the Times said, and it was unclear whether there were plans for such strikes to go forward in the future.
Iran said earlier it had recovered parts of a US Global Hawk spy drone in its territorial waters after downing the aircraft in a missile strike, but the Pentagon says it was above international waters when it was hit.
"Iran made a very big mistake!" Trump tweeted, before later appearing to dial back tensions.
"I find it hard to believe it was intentional, if you want to know the truth," Trump said. "I think that it ..

US approves, then cancels, Iran strikes after drone shot down: report

Thousands of black-clad protesters blocked a highway outside Hong Kong's parliament Friday, demanding the resignation of the city's pro-Beijing leader over a controversial extradition proposal that has sparked the territory's biggest political crisis in decades.
The protest comes after the government refused to meet the demands of demonstrators who have marched in their millions to oppose a bill that would allow extraditions to the Chinese mainland.
The movement has morphed into a larger rebuke of Chief Executive Carrie Lam's administration.
Opposition groups, after putting on the biggest political rallies in Hong Kong's history, have called for the complete withdrawal of the legislation and for Lam to step down.
After converging at Hong Kong's main government complex before rush hour, hundreds of protesters -- many wearing face masks and chanting anti-government slogans -- poured onto Harcourt Road outside the parliament building, blocking the major artery completely before allowing .

Thousands converge on Hong Kong parliament in fresh anti-govt demo

Voters in Istanbul will take part in a re-run of the mayoral election on Sunday after a vote in March was annulled over alleged irregularities.
Local elections around Turkey on March 31 showed the ruling party of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan remained the most popular overall, but it suffered a shock defeat in Istanbul, as well as losing the capital Ankara.
It was the first time in 25 years that neither Istanbul nor Ankara were under the control of the Justice and Development Party (AKP) or its predecessors.
However, the main opposition candidate Ekrem Imamoglu's success was short-lived in Istanbul after Turkey's top election body accepted claims of fraud by the AKP and called a re-run for June 23.
It did not annul the votes for the city council that were cast at the same time, and where the majority of seats went to Erdogan's party.
Binali Yildirim, an Erdogan loyalist and former premier, lost by around 13,000 votes to Imamoglu of the Republican People's Party (CHP) in March.
After .

AFP

AFP

Page 529 - Afp