Reuters World News Summary

07/28/2016 19:52

Following is a summary of current world news briefs.

Turkey military purge harming fight against Islamic State: Clapper

Turkey's purge of its military after a failed coup attempt is hindering cooperation in the U.S.-led fight against Islamic State, James Clapper, the U.S. director of national intelligence, said on Thursday. The purge has swept aside many Turkish officers who dealt with the United States and landed some of them in jail, Clapper and head of U.S. Central Command General Joseph Votel said while both were speaking at the Aspen Security Forum in Aspen, Colorado.

In a country wary of migrants, Pope tells Poles to welcome refugees

Pope Francis urged young people on Thursday to welcome migrants and refugees, putting himself in direct contrast with the government of Poland on the second day of his visit there. Francis addressed more than 600,000 young people gathered in the city of Krakow for World Youth Day, a jamboree that actually lasts six days and has been dubbed the "Catholic Woodstock."

Peru's Kuczynski takes office with a vow to fight inequality

Pedro Pablo Kuczynski took office as Peru's president on Thursday, asking the opposition-controlled Congress to help him fight income inequality and ensure all Peruvians have access to running water, health care and free primary education. The 77-year-old Oxford-educated former investment banker, deemed "elitist" by opponents in last month's tight election, said he would modernize Peru with policies aimed at raising the incomes of the poorest while fighting racism, sexism and corruption.

Israel's Netanyahu celebrates warming ties with Sisi's Egypt

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday praised warming relations with Egypt and its president, Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, who ousted an Islamist government seen as hostile to ties between the neighbors. Egypt was the first of a handful of Arab countries to recognize Israel, in 1979, but the downfall of Hosni Mubarak in 2011 brought to power the government of Mohamed Mursi of the Muslim Brotherhood, straining relations with Israel.

France had been hunting second church attacker after tip-off

Police had been hunting the second teenager who killed a priest in a church in France this week after a foreign intelligence tip-off that a suspected jihadist might be preparing an attack, police and judicial sources said. The revelation is likely to further fuel criticism by opposition politicians that President Francois Hollande's Socialist government did not do enough to stop the pair given that they were both already known to intelligence services.

Syria's Nusra Front says ending al Qaeda ties; U.S. fears for Aleppo

Al Qaeda's powerful Syrian branch, the Nusra Front, announced on Thursday it was ending its relationship with the global jihadist network founded by Osama bin Laden, to remove a pretext used by world powers to attack Syrians. The announcement came as Russia and President Bashar al-Assad's government declared a "humanitarian operation" in the besieged rebel-held sector of Aleppo, opening "safe corridors" so people can flee Syria's most important opposition stronghold.

Erdogan wants army under president's control after coup: Turkish official

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan wants the armed forces and national intelligence agency brought under the control of the presidency, a parliamentary official said on Thursday, part of a major overhaul of the military after a failed coup. Erdogan's comments came after a five-hour meeting of Turkey's Supreme Military Council (YAS) - chaired by Prime Minister Binali Yildirim and including the top brass - and the dishonorable discharge of nearly 1,700 military personnel over their alleged role in the abortive putsch on July 15-16.

China says to hold drills with Russia in South China Sea

China and Russia will hold "routine" naval exercises in the South China Sea in September, China's Defence Ministry said on Thursday, adding that the drills were aimed at strengthening their cooperation and were not aimed at any other country. The exercises come at a time of heightened tension in the contested waters after an arbitration court in The Hague ruled this month that China did not have historic rights to the South China Sea and criticized its environmental destruction there.

Australia's Muslim migrants on edge, race relations falter with rise of the right

Race relations in Australia have deteriorated so badly that some community leaders fear violence will erupt in a political vacuum where the new government, elected with a bare majority, must rely on the support of parties that have fomented the discord. The potential for violence after a bitter election campaign, which featured calls for a ban on Muslim immigration, is palpable for people like Afghan-born Muhammad Taqi Haidari.

Exclusive: Japan to upgrade Patriot batteries for Olympics as North Korean missile threat grows: sources

Japan is upgrading its Patriot PAC-3 missile defense system in time for the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games, adding range and accuracy needed to intercept more advanced North Korean ballistic missiles, four sources with knowledge of the plan said. The move represents the most significant upgrade to Japan's missile defense system in a decade and is part of an increase in military spending in the region, where geopolitical tensions are rising.

07/28/2016 19:52