Erdogan says Turkish offensive will target Syrian towns of Manbij and Raqqa

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan makes a speech during his meeting with mukhtars at the Presidential Palace in Ankara, Turkey, October 26, 2016. Yasin Bulbul/Presidential Palace/Handout via REUTERS

ANKARA (Reuters) - Turkey's military operation in northern Syria will target the town of Manbij, recently liberated from Islamic State by Kurdish-led forces, and the jihadists' stronghold of Raqqa, President Tayyip Erdogan said on Thursday.

Syrian rebels, backed by Turkish warplanes, tanks and artillery, launched an operation dubbed "Euphrates Shield" in August to push Islamic State and Kurdish militia forces away from the border area of northern Syria.

In a speech in Ankara broadcast live, Erdogan said he had informed U.S. President Barack Obama about his plans for the operation in a telephone call on Wednesday. Before Manbij and Raqqa, the operation will target the town of al-Bab, he said.

Japan, U.S., South Korea agree to put more pressure on North Korea: Japan official

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un gives a speech at the 9th Congress of the Kim Il Sung Socialist Youth League in this undated photo released by North Korea's Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) in Pyongyang on August 29,

TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan, the United States and South Korea agreed on Thursday to work together to put more pressure on North Korea to get it to abandon its nuclear and missile programmes, Japanese Vice Foreign Minister Shinsuke Sugiyama said.

Tension on the Korean peninsula has been high this year, beginning with North Korea's fourth nuclear test in January, which was followed by a satellite launch, a string of tests of various missiles, and its fifth and largest nuclear test last month, all in defiance of international sanctions.

"We reaffirmed the necessity to increase pressure against North Korea to have it give up its nuclear and missile development and realise the denuclearization of the peninsula," Sugiyama told reporters.

China says latest South China Sea drill was normal search and rescue exercise

BEIJING (Reuters) - China's latest drill in the South China Sea was a normal search and rescue exercise, the defense ministry said on Thursday, less than a week after a U.S. navy destroyer sailed near the Paracel Islands, provoking a warning from Chinese warships to leave.

China routinely holds drills in the busy waterway, where Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam also have rival claims.

The search and rescue exercises were being conducted off the coast of the island province of

Duterte says Philippines could join sea exercises with Japan, again vents anger at U.S.

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte (C) speaks to the media after his inspection at Japan Coast Guard base in Yokohama, south of Tokyo, Japan October 27, 2016. REUTERS/Issei Kato

YOKOHAMA, Japan (Reuters) - Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte said on Thursday his country could join naval exercises with Japan, but repeated there would be no more war games with long-time ally the United States and again gave vent to his anger against Washington.

Duterte also said he had explained to Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in talks on Wednesday just why he resented the United States, reiterating that Washington treated the Philippines like "dogs on a leash" and lectured about human rights in connection with his domestic campaign against drugs.

The Philippine leader's visit to Japan coincides with jitters about his foreign policy after weeks of verbal attacks on the United States, including threats to end military agreements, and overtures towards China.

Warning of ‘mass extinction’ like dinosaurs as wildlife declines

Conservationists have warned that nature is facing a global “mass extinction” for the first time since the demise of the dinosaurs.
It comes after figures show global wildlife populations are set to fall by more than two thirds on 1970 levels by the end of the decade.
Assessment of 14,152 populations of 3,706 species of mammals, birds, fish, amphibians and reptiles from around the world reveals a 58% fall between 1970 and 2012.
And there is no sign the average 2% drop in numbers each year will slow, says a Living Planet report from the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) and the Zoological Society of London (ZSL).
The report warns that by 2020 populations of vertebrate species could have fallen by 67% over a 50-year period unless action is taken to reverse the damaging impacts of human activity.
African elephants in Tanzania have seen numbers crash due to poaching, while maned wolves in

What Trump thought of Clinton before things turned sour

Donald Trump has once again been left red faced by comments caught on camera several years ago – this time relating to his rival Hillary Clinton.
The US presidential campaign has been defined by a relentless nastiness never seen before in a race for the White House.
Democratic candidate Mrs Clinton has described Mr Trump as “the most dangerous person to run for president in the modern history of America”.
For his part, the Republican nominee can barely say Mrs Clinton’s name without claiming that she’s “crooked”.
Amid a flurry of insults fired at her at campaign rallies and during the presidential debates, he has also famously called her a “nasty woman”, proving there is no love lost between the rivals.
But a newly unearthed video proves that Mr Trump – who had both Bill and Hillary Clinton as

Paris, the upstart startup capital

Could Paris, the City of Light, soon become known as the City of Innovation helping propel young entrepreneurs to push technological and business frontiers?
While efforts by Paris to lure financial companies from London in the wake of Britain’s vote to leave the European Union have dominated the headlines, a different sort of rivalry has also been playing out.
With over three dozen startup incubators, including the continent’s largest, and soon the world’s largest, Paris is vying with London to become Europe’s innovation capital.
Although perceptions are that France is not as friendly a place to do business — it ranked 27th compared with 6th for Britain in the World Bank’s ease of doing business last year — a recent survey shows that Paris is catching up to London and other top spots among startups.
“There isn’t just Silicon Valley to help startups emerge, Paris is today in the top three worldwide,” said Loic Dosseur, co-director of Paris and Co, the city’s economic development and innovation agency .

One dead and three hurt in explosions in Japanese park

Firefighters investigate a burnt car at the site of an explosion in Utsunomiya, Japan, in this photo taken by Kyodo October 23, 2016.Reuters/Kyodo

One person has been killed and three injured by two almost simultaneous explosions near Tokyo.
The blasts – in a public park and a car park – occurred just after 11.30am (3.30am UK time) in Utsunomiya, about 60 miles north of Japan’s capital.
Public broadcaster NHK quoted police as saying a suicide note had been found in one of the three cars that were burnt but they said the cause of the explosions was not known.