The Turkish government has sacked almost 4,000 more public officials in what appears to be the latest purge related to a failed coup last July. They include more than 1,000 justice ministry workers, a similar number of army staff and more than 100 air force pilots, officials said. In a separate decree, Turkey banned TV dating shows and earlier on Saturday, Turkey blocked the online encyclopedia Wikipedia website.
Over in Iraq, the US confirmed the death of an American soldier supporting Iraqi armed forces after he sustained wounds in an explosion outside the embattled city of Mosul in a statement on Saturday. To date the US has suffered four combat casualties since returning to Iraq to fight ISIS. Earlier on Friday, Iraqi Army Chief of Staff Lieutenant General Othman al-Ghanemi said Iraqi forces would drive Islamic State (ISIS) out of Mosul within a maximum of a three-week period.
Lastly, US President Donald Trump marked his 100 day in office by launching a scathing attack on the media during one of his rallies. He told supporters in Pennsylvania that he was keeping “one promise after another”, dismissing criticism as “fake news” by “out of touch” journalists. Trump also decided to skip the White House Correspondents’ Dinner – the first US leader to miss the annual event since Ronald Reagan in 1981.
