NEWS BRIEFS

Turkey official rips U.S.

Turkey’s foreign minister criticized the United States on Monday, saying American forces in Syria are intentionally stalling the fight against Islamic State militants as an excuse not to cut ties with Syrian Kurdish militiamen as Ankara has demanded.

Mevlut Cavusoglu told reporters in Istanbul that U.S. forces are leaving “pockets” with IS militants intact to justify continued cooperation with the Kurdish militia.

South Africa president may be asked to resign

Leaders of South Africa’s governing ANC party are meeting to decide the future of President Jacob Zuma. The National Executive Committee (NEC) is likely to ask him to step down, says BBC Africa correspondent Andrew Harding.

Mr. Zuma, 75, faces a number of corruption charges after nine years in power.