Turkey voiced readiness Saturday to discuss Finland and Sweden’s plans to join NATO, despite accusing them of harbouring “terrorist organisations”.
“A big majority of the Turkish people are against the membership of those countries who are supporting PKK terrorist organization … but these are the issues that we need to talk of course with our NATO allies as well as these countries,” said Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu while arriving for talks in Berlin with NATO counterparts as well as Finland and Sweden.
The PKK is the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, which has been designated a terrorist organisation in the UK, European Union and the United States.
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Two years on, Cannes film festival prepares for ‘normal’ party
After the 2020 Cannes Film Festival was canceled by the pandemic and the 2021 edition was scaled back — even kisses were forbade on the red carpet — the lavish French Riviera cinema soiree is set to return with a festival that promises to be something like normal.
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Sri Lanka: President Rajapaksa swears in 4 cabinet ministers, all from his party
Sri Lanka’s president swore in four new Cabinet ministers Saturday in an effort to ensure stability until a full cabinet is formed in the island nation engulfed in a political and economic crisis. In a move bring back stability, President Gotabaya Rajapaksa reappointed five-time former Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe on Thursday and swore in four cabinet ministers Saturday until a full cabinet is appointed. All four ministers belong to the president’s Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna party.
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Thousands expected to rally across US for abortion rights
The planned nationwide demonstrations are a response to leaked draft opinion showing the United States Supreme Court’s conservative majority is considering overturning Roe v. Wade, a landmark 1973 ruling guaranteeing abortion access nationwide. “We’re done with attacks on abortion. We’re marching TODAY to make our voices loud and clear,” read a tweet from the Women’s March, one of the groups behind the Bans Off Our Bodies protests.
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G7 criticises India decision to stop wheat exports: Germany
Agriculture ministers from the Group of Seven industrialised nations on Saturday condemned India’s decision to ban unapproved wheat exports after the country was hit by a punishing heatwave. “If everyone starts to impose export restrictions or to close markets, that would worsen the crisis,” German agriculture minister Cem Ozdemir said at a press conference in Stuttgart.
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New Zealand PM Jacinda Ardern tests positive for Covid
New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern tested positive for Covid-19 with moderate symptoms, her office said in a statement on Saturday. She will not be in parliament for the government’s emissions reduction plan on Monday and the budget on Thursday, but “travel arrangements for her trade mission to the United States are unaffected at this stage,” the statement said. She has been in isolation since Sunday, when her partner Clarke Gayford tested positive, it said.