Turkey 'in no position' to become EU member
PARIS • Turkey is in no position to become a European Union (EU) member any time soon and all negotiations for it to join will stop immediately if it reintroduces the death penalty, EU Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker said yesterday.
The Turkish authorities are investigating more than 60,000 soldiers, police, judges, teachers, civil servants and others since the July 15 failed military coup.
Turkey abolished capital punishment in 2004, bolstering its long-running bid for EU membership but President Tayyip Erdogan has told those who want the return of the death penalty that this may be discussed in Parliament.
REUTERS
MH370: FBI probe 'a matter for Malaysia'
SYDNEY • Australia has brushed off a reported FBI probe into the pilot of missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370, saying yesterday it was a matter for Malaysia and did not shed light on the plane's location.
The New York magazine on Friday cited a secret FBI document claiming the captain, Zaharie Ahmad Shah, had earlier used his home-built flight simulator to chart a route similar to the one believed taken by the doomed plane. But his family and friends have rejected such claims as baseless.
AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
Human-smuggling ring busted in Austria
VIENNA • Austria has broken up an international people- smuggling ring that illegally spirited more than 1,000 migrants into Germany, France and other countries from Hungary, police said yesterday.
The authorities arrested 17 people, most from the southern Russian region of Chechnya, who were led by a Syrian based in Budapest. Those being smuggled were mainly from Syria, Iraq, Iran and Afghanistan.
REUTERS
Policeman breaks law, then fines himself
OSLO • A Norwegian policeman has fined himself for breaking the law.
A picture in a newspaper of officer Arne Stavnes at the helm of his police boat set off a flurry of complaints that he was flouting the law by not wearing his regulation, police-issue life jacket.
He has responded with a photo of his self-issued 500 Norwegian kroner (S$79.40) penalty notice.
AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
