ANKARA (AFP) -- Internationally acclaimed Turkish writer Orhan Pamuk has accused the European Union of turning a blind eye to the state of democracy in Turkey because of its cooperation in the migration crisis, local media reported on Sunday."They have forgotten all their values," Pamuk told the Hurriyet newspaper in an interview, referring to the EU, adding that the fight against the Islamic State group and the migrant crisis had "tied Europe's hands".Brussels reached an agreement with EU hopef

ADDIS ABABA (AFP) -- Ethiopia is struggling with its worst drought for 30 years, with millions in dire need of life-saving aid, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon warned Sunday.At least 10.2 million people need food aid in Ethiopia, a figure the U.N. has warned could  double within months, casting a fifth of the population into hunger.Floods and failed rains caused by the El Nino weather phenomenon have sparked a dramatic rise in the number of people going hungry in large parts of Africa, with E

DAMASCUS (AFP) -- At least 45 people were killed and 110 wounded on Sunday in three bomb blasts near the revered Shiite shrine of Sayyida Zeinab outside the Syrian capital Damascus, state media said.State news agency SANA said the first blast was caused by a car bomb that detonated at a bus station near the shrine.It said two suicide bombers then detonated their explosive belts when people gathered at the scene.An AFP photographer at the scene said the blasts caused massive damage, shattering wi

A former leader of South Korea's ruling party demanded Sunday the government re-introduce tactical nuclear weapons in a bid to counter North Korea's nuclear and missile threats.Chung Mong-joon, who led the Saenuri Party from 2009-2010, stressed the need for the South to declare the end of an inter-Korean denuclearization deal and the withdrawal from the Non-Proliferation Treaty."(We) should consider and review 'all alternatives' before too late for our survival," he said on his blog.Chung, once

JAKARTA (AFP) -- An Indonesian research institute said Sunday it had found one positive Zika case on Sumatra island, adding that the virus has been circulating in the country "for a while".Indonesia's health ministry could not immediately comment on the report by the Eijkman Institute for Molecular Biology.The mosquito-borne virus has sparked widespread alarm in parts of the Americas. It is suspected of causing grave brain damage in newborns and has similar symptoms to dengue fever.The institute

MELBOURNE (AFP) -- World number one Novak Djokovic hammered a misfiring Andy Murray in straight sets to win a record-equalling sixth Australian Open title and strengthen his grip on men's tennis on Sunday.The Serbian world number one swept to a 6-1, 7-5, 7-6 (7/3) victory in two hours, 53 minutes to hand Murray his fifth defeat in the Australian Open final.Djokovic equalled the tally of Australia's Roy Emerson, who won the tournament six times between 1961 and 1967, an achievement that has gone

Foxconn Technology Group Chairman Terry Gou is confident his company will win in its bid to take control of Sharp Corp., the embattled maker of Aquos flat-screen televisions, he said Sunday.Sharp will make a decision next week on the offer, Gou said at a year-end event for his company in Taipei after he met with Sharp management at their headquarters in Osaka Saturday. The Foxconn chairman had planned to make a bid of about 660 billion yen ($5.4 billion) for Sharp, according to a person familiar

BEIJING (AP) -- China strongly condemned the United States after a U.S. warship deliberately sailed near one of the Beijing-controlled islands in the hotly contested South China Sea to exercise freedom of navigation and challenge China's vast sea claims.The missile destroyer USS Curtis Wilbur sailed within 12 nautical miles (22 kilometers) of Triton Island in the Paracel chain "to challenge excessive maritime claims of parties that claim the Paracel Islands,'' without notifying the three claiman

BRUSSELS (AP) -- In the last quarter century, at least 2,297 journalists and media staff have been killed for doing nothing more than trying to inform the world on war, revolution, crime and corruption. And killers continue to act with impunity, the International Federation of Journalists announced in a new report. The annual total stood at 40 in the federation's first year of counting, 1990, but has not dipped under the 100-mark since 2010. "The last ten years were the most dangerous,'' said IF

BERLIN (AFP) -- Support for German Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservative alliance has slumped to its lowest since July 2012 as opposition over her liberal refugee policy grows, a survey showed Sunday, while a right-wing populist party polled a record high.According to the poll published by the Bild am Sonntag newspaper, public support for Merkel's Christian Democratic Union and sister party Christian Social Union now stands at just 34 percent, down two percentage points.The Social Democratic P

GENEVA (AFP) -- The future of the biggest push to date to end Syria's tangled civil war looked highly uncertain Sunday with the main opposition group threatening to walk away before planned peace talks even begin in earnest.Representatives from the umbrella body for mainstream opposition groups, who arrived in Geneva late Saturday, are refusing for now to enter the hoped-for talks with President Bashar al-Assad's government.The High Negotiations Committee, set to meet with UN envoy Staffan de Mi

President Park Geun-hye on Friday called for a separate meeting of five members of the six-party talks to step up pressure on North Korea, expressing skepticism for the first time over the efficacy of the decade-old negotiations.During an annual New Year policy briefing, she prodded her top foreign, defense and unification aides to come up with ways to increase the “effectiveness” of Seoul’s approach, saying the nuclear issue should be first and foremost tackled as the center of North Korea poli

Six units of unmanned aerial vehicles run by South Korean Army battalions were found to have crashed while landing during an operational test last month, raising concerns over a possible setback for their envisioned full-scale deployment, military officials said Thursday. The Defense Acquisition Program Administration, the country’s weapons procurement agency, picked Uconsystem in 2013 as the provider of small drones for a project to boost reconnaissance and preemptive strike capabilities of the

PATHANKOT, India (AP) -- Indian security forces on Sunday continued to try to secure a major air force base near the border with Pakistan where an attack by suspected militants left at least 11 people dead, amid reports of fresh gunfire at the compound.The attack on the Pathankot air force base, which started before dawn Saturday, left seven Indian troops and four gunmen dead, and is seen as an attempt to undo recent improvements in the relationship between archrivals India and Pakistan.Combing

HONG KONG (AFP) -- A Hong Kong lawmaker said Sunday he believes Chinese security officers kidnapped five publishing company employees who have gone missing in the city, possibly because of a planned book about the former love life of President Xi Jinping."Hong Kong people are very shocked and appalled," Democratic legislator Albert Ho told a press conference.The five work for a publishing house known for producing books critical of the Chinese government. The disappearances add to growing unease

TEHRAN (AP) -- Iran's top leader on Sunday warned Saudi Arabia of "divine revenge" over the execution of an opposition Shiite cleric while Riyadh accused Tehran of supporting terrorism, escalating a war of words hours after protesters stormed the Saudi Embassy in Tehran.Saudi Arabia announced the execution of Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr on Saturday along with 46 others, including three other Shiite dissidents and a number of al-Qaida militants. It was largest mass execution carried out by the kingdom in

A passenger jet bound for South Korea’s southeastern port city of Busan had to return to Cebu soon after takeoff on Sunday due to safety concerns, company officials said.The LJ038 flight of Jin Air Co. carrying 163 passengers left Mactan-Cebu International Airport at 1 a.m. local time. Its return was decided about 20-30 minutes after its takeoff as some “strange noise” was heard from the front door area, according to officials.Jin Air is a low-cost carrier owned by South Korea’s top flag carrier

FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) -- The European Central Bank cut one of its key interest rates and promised to unveil more stimulus measures on Thursday in an attempt to boost lending and help the growth in the 19-country eurozone economy.  The bank said it is reducing the interest rate on deposits from commercial banks from minus 0.2 percent to minus 0.3 percent. The negative rate is intended to push banks to lend excess cash by imposing a penalty for leaving it at the central bank.  The size of the cu

The court ruled on Thursday that the police ban on the second mass anti-government rally planned for this weekend is "unjust," giving the event the greenlight.The Seoul Administrative Court said that one cannot assure that the protest will pose a threat to the public safety simply because the event will be led by some of the groups who were in charge of last month's violent protest.Following the ruling, police said that it will respect the court decision but will take stern measures if the rally

BERLIN (AP) -- The European Space Agency launched a rocket Thursday carrying two cubes of gold and platinum almost a million miles from Earth so scientists can see how they'll behave in a freefall -- at a cost of more than $450 million.What may sound like a frivolous enterprise is actually the prelude to a far more ambitious mission that hopes to measure ripples in space time caused by black holes and other massive objects lurking unseen in dark corners of the galaxy.Also known as gravitational