A US delegation has been pressing Turkey to accept a ceasefire in northern Syria hours after Donald Trump declared the US has no stake in defending Kurdish fighters who fought as America’s partners against Daesh extremists.
Vice-President Mike Pence, heading a delegation including Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, arrived in Turkey a day after Trump dismissed the crisis they were sent to douse.
Trump had suggested a Kurdish group was a greater terror threat than Daesh, and he welcomed the efforts of Russia and the Assad government to fill the void left after he ordered the removal of nearly all US troops from Syria amid a Turkish assault on the Kurds.
Trump’s failure to deter President Erdogan sending troops to attack the Kurds sparked outrage in the US and calls for punishment for the Nato ally.
HONG KONG leader Carrie Lam has again been forced from the legislative chamber because of protests by opposition members after a violent attack on a leader of the protest movement.
Pro-democracy legislators shouted and waved placards of Lam with bloodied hands. They were removed by guards and proceedings were suspended.
A day earlier Lam was forced to abandon an annual policy address in the chamber, later delivering it on television.
Disruption in the chamber and the attack on Wednesday on Jimmy Sham, by assailants with hammers and knives, marked the latest dramatic turn in the unrest that has rocked the city since June.
Before her departure, Lam reiterated that her “first priority” was ending the violence.
IN Germany a 93-year-old former Nazi concentration camp guard has gone on trial accused of 5,230 counts of being an accessory to murder.
Bruno Dey was pushed into the court building in Hamburg in a wheelchair. Prosecutor Lars Mahnke detailed how Jews were gassed, shot and starved to death in the Stutthof camp where he stood guard 75 years ago.
While there is no evidence of Dey’s direct involvement in the killings, prosecutors argue that as a camp guard from August 1944 to April 1945 he was a “small wheel in the machinery of murder”.
FINALLY, in the US, police say Tarzan actor Ron Ely’s wife was stabbed to death in their California home by the couple’s son, who police then shot and killed.
Deputies found 62-year-old Valerie Lundeen Ely dead with multiple stab wounds inside the Santa Barbara house.
The couple’s son, 30-year-old Cameron Ely was found outside the house and after an unspecified threat, four deputies fired on Cameron Ely and he was killed.
There was no report of the 81-year-old actor being injured.
Why are you making commenting on The National only available to subscribers?
We know there are thousands of National readers who want to debate, argue and go back and forth in the comments section of our stories. We’ve got the most informed readers in Scotland, asking each other the big questions about the future of our country.
Unfortunately, though, these important debates are being spoiled by a vocal minority of trolls who aren’t really interested in the issues, try to derail the conversations, register under fake names, and post vile abuse.
So that’s why we’ve decided to make the ability to comment only available to our paying subscribers. That way, all the trolls who post abuse on our website will have to pay if they want to join the debate – and risk a permanent ban from the account that they subscribe with.
The conversation will go back to what it should be about – people who care passionately about the issues, but disagree constructively on what we should do about them. Let’s get that debate started!
Callum Baird, Editor of The National
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here