Egypt court backs government in giving Red Sea islands to Saudi Arabia

<figure class="item-image" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: Roboto, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px 0px 20px;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhU2XPN6qr9PJTZrHYzFw0LaEvLveYbQR7Rb3mb-ZXKSwL_oOrJ0Ikq47ooxUWKLhtGfzWVuq4GRUCc06mVa7MX57OIpqU7BPaprhKr0l24P-ZBj2-mOYYrWfvpDF_43MshqcrAh-VCNO8/s1600/a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhU2XPN6qr9PJTZrHYzFw0LaEvLveYbQR7Rb3mb-ZXKSwL_oOrJ0Ikq47ooxUWKLhtGfzWVuq4GRUCc06mVa7MX57OIpqU7BPaprhKr0l24P-ZBj2-mOYYrWfvpDF_43MshqcrAh-VCNO8/s1600/a.jpg" /></a></div><figcaption id="mainFigCap" style="background: rgb(240, 240, 240); box-sizing: border-box; color: #666666; font-size: 12px; padding: 10px;">An aerial view of the coast of the Red Sea and the two islands of Tiran and Sanafir is pictured through the window of an airplane near Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, November 1, 2016. (Photo by Reuters)</figcaption></figure><div class="item-text" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: Roboto, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; width: 564.986px;"><div style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 18px; margin-bottom: 10px; text-align: justify;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;">An Egyptian appeal court has ruled in favor of the government’s contentious decision in giving control of two islands in the Red Sea to Saudi Arabia, reversing an earlier Administrative Court ruling that concluded the pair should remain under Egypt’s sovereignty.     </span></div><div style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 18px; margin-bottom: 10px; text-align: justify;">On April 9, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi announced that the islands of Tiran and Sanafir fall within the territorial waters of Saudi Arabia as stipulated in a border accord signed between Cairo and Riyadh the previous day.</div><div style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 18px; margin-bottom: 10px; text-align: justify;">The controversial decision, however, has triggered unprecedented mass demonstrations ever since, with protesters slamming the arrangement as unconstitutional. A number of lawyers filed a lawsuit in the administrative court to block the deal.</div><div style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 18px; margin-bottom: 10px; text-align: justify;">Back in June, the administrative court rejected the Egyptian-Saudi border re-demarcation agreement, saying Egyptian sovereignty over the two islands could not be given up, prompting the country's State Lawsuits Authority, representing the Sisi government in legal cases, to lodge an appeal to suspend the execution of the June ruling.</div><div style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 18px; margin-bottom: 10px; text-align: justify;">The government’s appeal was turned down by the same court in early November, but later in the month, the government submitted two further appeals against the court’s decision. On Thursday, the cabinet sent the deal to the parliament for voting.</div><div style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 18px; margin-bottom: 10px; text-align: justify;">On Saturday, Cairo’s appeal court approved a verdict by a lower court that rejected the June ruling by the administrative court. A more senior tribunal, the Higher Administrative Court, is due to deliver a verdict on January 16.</div><div style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 18px; margin-bottom: 10px; text-align: justify;">Demonstrators and critics have accused Sisi of surrendering Egyptian territory in return for Saudi money, with reports saying that Cairo is receiving 20 billion dollars in aid from Riyadh in return for agreeing to the handover of sovereignty. Egyptian courts have given jail terms to hundreds of protesters.</div><div style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 18px; margin-bottom: 10px; text-align: justify;">Riyadh and Cairo argue that the islands belong to Saudi Arabia and that the Arab kingdom asked Egypt in 1950 to protect them. However, lawyers and opponents say that Egypt’s sovereignty over the pair dates back to a 1906 treaty, before Saudi Arabia was founded.</div><div style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 18px; margin-bottom: 10px; text-align: justify;">The uninhabited islands of Tiran and Sanafir lie about 4 kilometers apart in the Red Sea. They are situated in the narrow entrance to the Gulf of Aqaba leading to Jordan and the occupied Palestinian territories.</div></div>

Africa Egypt Foreign Policy General News News Society Spotlight World News Egypt court backs government in giving Red Sea islands to Saudi Arabia

An aerial view of the coast of the Red Sea and the two islands of Tiran and Sanafir is pictured through the window of an airplane near Sharm...

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Russian President Vladimir Putin 'outsmarts' US President Barack Obama: Republican congressman

<figure class="item-image" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: Roboto, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px 0px 20px;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3sKkLrp7e-3MF-Z4bzKANsdRPj__oVhn4ul6ss1T34NWT2ejZZqcJEcf2R873biFtmehoEEJFc3FTvEbGTcw-lzvA9B0jkfUPYrY1-Z4tR5EPJEkyX76Sk6kdGbfPUzxspIbgxCcm0ig/s1600/a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3sKkLrp7e-3MF-Z4bzKANsdRPj__oVhn4ul6ss1T34NWT2ejZZqcJEcf2R873biFtmehoEEJFc3FTvEbGTcw-lzvA9B0jkfUPYrY1-Z4tR5EPJEkyX76Sk6kdGbfPUzxspIbgxCcm0ig/s1600/a.jpg" /></a></div><figcaption id="mainFigCap" style="background: rgb(240, 240, 240); box-sizing: border-box; color: #666666; font-size: 12px; padding: 10px;">Barack Obama (right) and Vladimir Putin are pictured before their meeting at the United Nations General Assembly in New York September 28, 2015. (Photo by Reuters)</figcaption></figure><div class="item-text" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: Roboto, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; width: 564.986px;"><div style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 18px; margin-bottom: 10px; text-align: justify;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;">Russian President Vladimir Putin has "outsmarted" his US counterpart, Barack Obama, by refraining from expelling American diplomats in response to a similar move by Washington, according to a Republican congressman.</span></div><div style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 18px; margin-bottom: 10px; text-align: justify;">New York Representative Lee Zeldin made the comments to CNN on Friday, after Putin rejected a foreign ministry proposal to retaliate against Obama’s decision to expel Russian diplomats.</div><div style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 18px; margin-bottom: 10px; text-align: justify;">“I do believe Putin is outsmarting President Obama with his response. He's been allowed to take the high road, be magnanimous. It's unfortunate. Now, we need to move forward," Zeldin said.</div><div style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 18px; margin-bottom: 10px; text-align: justify;">He explained that the political standoff between Washington and Kremlin is "like a complicated inside baseball game."</div><div style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 18px; margin-bottom: 10px; text-align: justify;">On Thursday, Obama ordered a series of new sanctions against Russia and expelled 35 Russian diplomats over allegations that they interfered in the US 2016 presidential election through cyberattacks. Russia denied the hacking accusations.</div><div style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 18px; margin-bottom: 10px; text-align: justify;">Putin said Washington’s move to expel Russian diplomats was designed to provoke a reaction from Kremlin, “but we will not sink to the level of this irresponsible ‘kitchen’ diplomacy.”</div><div style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 18px; margin-bottom: 10px; text-align: justify;">President-elect Donald Trump praised Putin for not responding to Obama and called him “smart.”</div><figure class="image" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 20px 0px;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrKgnGbyn14l9a7MvDVa1buGQaFEVbj6NY8ajEYKJRKGok8Ltm_BC3nqrm_k-2smWxrCcG13NPvSczbMDrW6fo9uuxly2suRVZlMECEPs2-ztHWQDn6h5-WM1EQIElJkU5hBWk29e3rmo/s1600/a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrKgnGbyn14l9a7MvDVa1buGQaFEVbj6NY8ajEYKJRKGok8Ltm_BC3nqrm_k-2smWxrCcG13NPvSczbMDrW6fo9uuxly2suRVZlMECEPs2-ztHWQDn6h5-WM1EQIElJkU5hBWk29e3rmo/s1600/a.jpg" /></a></div><figcaption style="background: rgb(240, 240, 240); box-sizing: border-box; color: #666666; font-size: 12px; padding: 10px;">Republican congressman Lee Zeldin</figcaption></figure><div style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 18px; margin-bottom: 10px; text-align: justify;">Zeldin, however, said he was not supporting Putin and urged Trump to keep the new sanctions imposed by Obama.</div><div style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 18px; margin-bottom: 10px; text-align: justify;">He said Trump should keep the new sanctions "if he can use these sanctions, leverage it as part of a bigger plan that we are moving in the right direction and we are realigning things around the map back to the way they are supposed to be."  </div><div style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 18px; margin-bottom: 10px; text-align: justify;">“But again, this needs to be part of a larger plan and not one step at a time," he added.</div><div style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 18px; margin-bottom: 10px; text-align: justify;">Trump has repeatedly praised Putin and said it is important for the US to improve ties with Russia. Any attempt to mend ties with Kremlin, however, would need Trump to encounter opposition from his fellow Republicans in Congress.</div><div style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 18px; margin-bottom: 10px; text-align: justify;">Republican chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, John McCain said earlier that Russia must face a penalty for the cyber attacks. Other Republicans, along with Democrats also urged a “tough response” to Moscow.</div></div>

General News International Politics News Politics Society Spotlight the United States United State's History United States US US President Barack Obama Vladimir Putin World News Russian President Vladimir Putin 'outsmarts' US President Barack Obama: Republican congressman

Barack Obama (right) and Vladimir Putin are pictured before their meeting at the United Nations General Assembly in New York September 28, 2...

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Lebanon’s prestigious As-Safir daily closes after more than 4 decades

<figure class="item-image" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: Roboto, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px 0px 20px;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3TiA1S8YcylaBEP7qJl7lrXYTEWPsBtCkUIzu7rJh7c-J2iI6bX2dRW4gUR1xGCnb1BDRtLao0XbuXTn20oh6mS14bAafX0zXVkvY5tQrNzIPJTvzLpsNBvwr9kYyp7QCllXj16hHHlw/s1600/a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3TiA1S8YcylaBEP7qJl7lrXYTEWPsBtCkUIzu7rJh7c-J2iI6bX2dRW4gUR1xGCnb1BDRtLao0XbuXTn20oh6mS14bAafX0zXVkvY5tQrNzIPJTvzLpsNBvwr9kYyp7QCllXj16hHHlw/s1600/a.jpg" /></a></div><figcaption id="mainFigCap" style="background: rgb(240, 240, 240); box-sizing: border-box; color: #666666; font-size: 12px; padding: 10px;">The last issue of prestigious Lebanese daily As-Safir is on display on a newspaper stand in Beirut's Hamra neighborhood on December 31, 2016. (Photo by AFP)</figcaption></figure><div class="item-text" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: Roboto, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; width: 564.986px;"><div style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 18px; margin-bottom: 10px; text-align: justify;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;">Lebanon’s leading Arabic-language daily newspaper, As-Safir (The Ambassador), has printed its final issue after more than four decades in print due to financial problems, as other news outlets in the tiny Mediterranean country face the same grim fate.</span></div><div style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 18px; margin-bottom: 10px; text-align: justify;">The front page of the Beirut-based political daily ran an editorial entitled “The nation without As-Safir,” which said the paper had “become exhausted ... but we continue to see some light on the horizon of the profession.”</div><div style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 18px; margin-bottom: 10px; text-align: justify;">Even though Lebanon has escaped the levels of violence that have beleaguered much of the region in recent years, the economic and political fallout has taken heavy toll on the country’s print media, the editorial also read.</div><div style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 18px; margin-bottom: 10px; text-align: justify;">As-Safir’s closure comes as its founder and editor-in-chief, Talal Salman, had announced earlier in March that falling revenues and Lebanon's political stalemate and internal divisions had left him with no choice but to close the newspaper.</div><div style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 18px; margin-bottom: 10px; text-align: justify;">“We've run out of funds and we're desperately looking for a partner to finance the paper,” he told AFP at the time.</div><div style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 18px; margin-bottom: 10px; text-align: justify;">As-Safir, which is known for its support for Hezbollah resistance movement and the Syrian government, was founded one year before the start of Lebanon's 1975-1990 civil war with the slogan “the voice of the voiceless.”</div><div style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 18px; margin-bottom: 10px; text-align: justify;">There are also reports that As-Safir's main media rival An-Nahar (The Day) would also stop printing.</div><div style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 18px; margin-bottom: 10px; text-align: justify;">Other newspapers like al-Liwaa (The Flag) and al-Mustaqbal (The Future) have also been affected by Lebanon's economic woes, which could force them to close.</div><div style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 18px; margin-bottom: 10px; text-align: justify;">Lebanese newspapers are among the most liberal and politically-orientated of the Arab world, where governments tightly control the media.</div></div>

General News Lebanon Media and Publishing Industry Middle East News Society Spotlight World News Lebanon’s prestigious As-Safir daily closes after more than 4 decades

The last issue of prestigious Lebanese daily As-Safir is on display on a newspaper stand in Beirut's Hamra neighborhood on December 31, ...

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Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro releases six political prisoners

<figure class="item-image" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: Roboto, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px 0px 20px;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgopAFwQPEh1RJqe64_X7M7JnpMlAFr8hndGfLRHVMEClO8I_b2UjHlc0U8QhzXdWuZnrPd4kaBEshhHa7hLTBpBzduYAVacdwm2XR0BzVvUkStrm2pt0bHjOInb6M1eJVsAtbOOgo-RB4/s1600/a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgopAFwQPEh1RJqe64_X7M7JnpMlAFr8hndGfLRHVMEClO8I_b2UjHlc0U8QhzXdWuZnrPd4kaBEshhHa7hLTBpBzduYAVacdwm2XR0BzVvUkStrm2pt0bHjOInb6M1eJVsAtbOOgo-RB4/s1600/a.jpg" /></a></div><figcaption id="mainFigCap" style="background: rgb(240, 240, 240); box-sizing: border-box; color: #666666; font-size: 12px; padding: 10px;">Venezuela’s former presidential candidate Manuel Rosales</figcaption></figure><div class="item-text" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: Roboto, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; width: 564.986px;"><div style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 18px; margin-bottom: 10px; text-align: justify;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;">Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro has ordered to release six opponents, including former presidential candidate Manuel Rosales, amid the country’s worst political and economic crises.</span></div><div style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 18px; margin-bottom: 10px; text-align: justify;">“I have been freed, along with other political prisoners,” the 64-year-old Rosales, who had been under house arrest for over two months, said on Twitter on Saturday following his release.</div><div style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 18px; margin-bottom: 10px; text-align: justify;">According to opposition groups, the dissidents had been arrested during 2014 protests, demanding the removal of Maduro from power.</div><div style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 18px; margin-bottom: 10px; text-align: justify;">Rosales was taken into police custody on October 19 upon his return to the country following six years of exile. “We will continue to fight for the liberation of everyone,” Rosales added.</div><div style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 18px; margin-bottom: 10px; text-align: justify;">A former lawmaker, Rosales was two-time mayor of the northwestern city of Maracaibo, from 1996 to 2000, and from 2008 to 2009. He also served as the governor of the northwestern state of Zulia from 2000 to 2008. In 2006, he also challenged then President Hugo Chavez in presidential elections.</div><div style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 18px; margin-bottom: 10px; text-align: justify;">The opposition leaders had called for his release along with the freedom of other dissident leaders during negotiations with the government in an attempt to ease Venezuela’s crippling crises.</div><div style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 18px; margin-bottom: 10px; text-align: justify;">The crash of oil prices in 2014 triggered an economic crisis in Venezuela, leading to severe shortages of basic supplies and soaring inflation. While the center-right opposition holds Maduro’s administration responsible for the country’s economic woes, the Venezuelan leader has blamed a US-sponsored conspiracy.</div><div style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 18px; margin-bottom: 10px; text-align: justify;">Caracas has also lambasted its recent suspension from the South American economic bloc Mercosur as a “coup” against Venezuela that continues to resist Washington’s attempts to regain influence in the country.</div><div style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 18px; margin-bottom: 10px; text-align: justify;">During the past couple of months, the South American country has witnessed numerous protests against Maduro, demanding his ouster.</div></div>

General News Latin America News Nicolas Maduro Society South America Spotlight Venezuela World News Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro releases six political prisoners

Venezuela’s former presidential candidate Manuel Rosales Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro has ordered to release six opponents, including...

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UN Security Council adopts resolution supporting Syria ceasefire agreement

<br /><figure class="item-image" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: Roboto, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px 0px 20px;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEherfOU3tjFlydiycadGRDQPPV7TWiYp8Jm59lM8u9fzWTOTJhXy3J9E4k4fdxZInFvHXVRloFM9fL3bKUKSlnIQysqiCMDuq7vwU1xh4ZhyShnHPOWRBe0XeCib8CQIg4KIrw6Suc4Jls/s1600/a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEherfOU3tjFlydiycadGRDQPPV7TWiYp8Jm59lM8u9fzWTOTJhXy3J9E4k4fdxZInFvHXVRloFM9fL3bKUKSlnIQysqiCMDuq7vwU1xh4ZhyShnHPOWRBe0XeCib8CQIg4KIrw6Suc4Jls/s1600/a.jpg" /></a></div><figcaption id="mainFigCap" style="background: rgb(240, 240, 240); box-sizing: border-box; color: #666666; font-size: 12px; padding: 10px;">Members of the UN Security Council vote on a Russian-Turkish peace plan for Syria, on December 31, 2016, at UN Headquarters in New York. (Photo by AFP)</figcaption></figure><br /><div class="item-text" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: Roboto, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; width: 564.986px;"><div style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 18px; margin-bottom: 10px; text-align: justify;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;">The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) has adopted a resolution endorsing a ceasefire agreement in Syria, which was brokered by Russia and Turkey. </span></div><div style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 18px; margin-bottom: 10px; text-align: justify;">On Saturday, the UNSC approved the resolution which also aims to pave the way for new talks in the Kazakh capital city of Astana next month<span style="box-sizing: border-box; color: black;">, ahead of the resumption of UN-brokered talks in the Swiss city of Geneva in February.</span></div><div style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 18px; margin-bottom: 10px; text-align: justify;">The text of the resolution "welcomes and supports the efforts by Russia and Turkey to end violence in Syria and jumpstart a political process."</div><div style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 18px; margin-bottom: 10px; text-align: justify;">The resolution also calls for rapid access for humanitarian aid to be delivered across Syria.</div><div style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 18px; margin-bottom: 10px; text-align: justify;">The adoption of the Syria ceasefire deal comes as Moscow has said it wants the UN’s involvement in the peace negotiations between representatives from the Syrian government and foreign-sponsored opposition in Astana.</div><div style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 18px; margin-bottom: 10px; text-align: justify;">Both Turkey and Russia have stressed that the forthcoming talks do not aim to replace UN-backed peace efforts, but rather supplement them.</div><div style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 18px; margin-bottom: 10px; text-align: justify;">The talks will be mediated by Russia, Turkey, and the Islamic Republic of Iran. The three countries successfully implemented a similar accord earlier this month following the defeat of militants in the northwestern Syrian city of Aleppo.</div><div style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 18px; margin-bottom: 10px; text-align: justify;">The United States is obviously absent from the new process, but Moscow hopes the incoming administration of President-elect Donald Trump would play a role.</div><div style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 18px; margin-bottom: 10px; text-align: justify;">The nationwide ceasefire in Syria, which came into effect on Thursday midnight, has been largely holding, with most of the country witnessing a relative calm.</div><div style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 18px; margin-bottom: 10px; text-align: justify;">There were, however, sporadic clashes between Syrian government forces and their allies on one side and Takfiri militants on the other in the mountainous Wadi Barada region near the capital, Damascus, as well as the southern city of Dara’a.</div><div style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 18px; margin-bottom: 10px; text-align: justify;">The so-called Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, based in Britain, also said in Saturday that most of Syria remained calm, despite limited clashes.</div><div style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 18px; margin-bottom: 10px; text-align: justify;">Jabhat Fateh al-Sham, formerly known as the al-Nusra Front, and Daesh terrorist groups are excluded from the ongoing truce in the country.</div><div style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 18px; margin-bottom: 10px; text-align: justify;">On Thursday, Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Muallem hailed the ceasefire deal as a “real opportunity” for a political settlement of the deadly crisis in Syria, which has been plaguing the Arab country since early 2011.</div><div style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 18px; margin-bottom: 10px; text-align: justify;">“It is the duty of the factions (militant groups) who have signed it to distance themselves from, and declare that they are not linked to the Nusra Front or Daesh,” Muallem said in an interview broadcast live on state TV.</div></div>

General News Middle East News Society Spotlight Syria UN United Nations World News UN Security Council adopts resolution supporting Syria ceasefire agreement

Members of the UN Security Council vote on a Russian-Turkish peace plan for Syria, on December 31, 2016, at UN Headquarters in New York. (Ph...

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Sarah Palin urges Donald Trump to quit the UN after Israel vote

<br /><figure class="item-image" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: Roboto, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px 0px 20px;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9NLE2m0KGQigfquV7SZ3YqFZKk5SqXm4zYeEir3qqsk4lqYGdTYqRHye8F7-IDrSO3lyn9S0IErJmNICSGUZ-Egu4NgoehH2eTnq6J4uratM5Pd3iW4bmbRjdy4i3R-vcXEte5r-Bfps/s1600/a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9NLE2m0KGQigfquV7SZ3YqFZKk5SqXm4zYeEir3qqsk4lqYGdTYqRHye8F7-IDrSO3lyn9S0IErJmNICSGUZ-Egu4NgoehH2eTnq6J4uratM5Pd3iW4bmbRjdy4i3R-vcXEte5r-Bfps/s1600/a.jpg" /></a></div><figcaption id="mainFigCap" style="background: rgb(240, 240, 240); box-sizing: border-box; color: #666666; font-size: 12px; padding: 10px;">NEW YORK, NY - NOVEMBER 08: Former Gov. Sarah Palin (R-AK) attends Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump's election night event at the New York Hilton Midtown on November 8, 2016 in New York City. (Photo by AFP)</figcaption></figure><br /><div class="item-text" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: Roboto, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; width: 564.986px;"><div style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 18px; margin-bottom: 10px; text-align: justify;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;">Former Alaska Republican Governor Sarah Palin is calling on US President-elect Donald Trump to extricate Washington from the United Nations over the world body’s recent vote on Israel’s illegal construction of settlements in Palestine.</span></div><div style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 18px; margin-bottom: 10px; text-align: justify;">The hawkish GOPer made the remarks in an interview with Breitbart Daily News, the Hill reported Saturday.</div><div style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 18px; margin-bottom: 10px; text-align: justify;">Palin, who served as the ninth governor of Alaska from 2006 until her resignation in 2009, said there are two ways the future president could remove the country from the UN.</div><div style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 18px; margin-bottom: 10px; text-align: justify;">“One is, I called for our next president, Donald Trump, to call for the unshackling of the political bands tying us to the UN,” she said. “By exiting the U.N., where injustice is actually rewarded, we then will be able to uphold America’s reputation as the leader, and as the kind and compassionate and generous nation that we are – as the nation sharing values that, when emulated by any other nation, can bring justice and equal rights to any other nation.”</div><div style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 18px; margin-bottom: 10px; text-align: justify;">She also added that different factions in the government should join forces to move against the world body, headquartered in New York City</div><div style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 18px; margin-bottom: 10px; text-align: justify;">“Our government, our bureaucrats and our elected leaders, work for us,” said the 2008 GOP vice presidential nominee. “We are the ones that need to call for this, that the UN shackles be next on the chopping block.”</div><div style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 18px; margin-bottom: 10px; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbIf5xUctIANfxF_oaiOtEtEEKRhSOpjqANatuCCMiPMFgHnc1Xp6K0O8Blj0T0alb8G4ey5HkE7_XjNl_1VQBg8mo0H1UnB9l62lOIGCcZCZxigV17KhzGJZ5JnfR72aKtbXHNjHnF1A/s1600/a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbIf5xUctIANfxF_oaiOtEtEEKRhSOpjqANatuCCMiPMFgHnc1Xp6K0O8Blj0T0alb8G4ey5HkE7_XjNl_1VQBg8mo0H1UnB9l62lOIGCcZCZxigV17KhzGJZ5JnfR72aKtbXHNjHnF1A/s1600/a.jpg" /></a></div><div style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 18px; margin-bottom: 10px; text-align: justify;">Being unpopular among American conservatives, the UN has specifically been targeted by pro-Israeli GOPers, including the president-elect himself, over a resolution against the Israeli settlements.</div><div style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 18px; margin-bottom: 10px; text-align: justify;">“Speaking of Israel, it’s almost laughable, if it weren’t so dangerous, that the left now is so obsessed with national borders, obsessed with Israel’s borders,” Palin said. “Their defense of what they have just done, in stabbing Israel, is based on their supposed desire to see borders enforced. Since when? They never have seemed to understand the concern that we have, nor the purpose of a nation’s borders. They don’t care about America’s porous borders continuing as is.”</div><div style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 18px; margin-bottom: 10px; text-align: justify;">The administration of US President Barack Obama was a staunch supporter of the so-called two-state solution but to no avail as Tel Aviv kept up with its expansive policies in Palestine with an intransigent attitude.</div><div style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 18px; margin-bottom: 10px; text-align: justify;">The attitude has in part been the reason for sour ties between Obama and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, which finally led to the US abstention from voting on Security Council Resolution 2334 on December 23.</div><div style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 18px; margin-bottom: 10px; text-align: justify;">The resolution calls on Israel to “immediately and completely cease all settlement activities in the occupied Palestinian territory, including East Jerusalem al-Quds.”</div><div style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 18px; margin-bottom: 10px; text-align: justify;">It also states that the building of settlements by Israel has “no legal validity and constitutes a flagrant violation under international law.”</div><div style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 18px; margin-bottom: 10px; text-align: justify;">The continued expansion of Israeli settlements has created a major obstacle for the efforts to establish peace in the Middle East.</div><div style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 18px; margin-bottom: 10px; text-align: justify;">Hundreds of Israelis live in over 230 illegal settlements built since the 1967 Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territories.</div></div>

Donald Trump Foreign Policy General News International Politics News Politics Sarah Palin the United States United State's History United States United States (Overview) US World News Sarah Palin urges Donald Trump to quit the UN after Israel vote

NEW YORK, NY - NOVEMBER 08: Former Gov. Sarah Palin (R-AK) attends Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump's election night event a...

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Russia’s UN envoy Vitaly Churkin calls on UNSC not to discredit ceasefire

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzRF7DLbPuCD_h4cHt2iGsxojYyYRC-K2DooLdgfZ5A0J2FT7hfZ3NOvWJPr-ai9lJV6hLyJlYoSjWj64OC7DekJl_p8OWfbvMIt_EiIphW3yA-NnPzUrkEEBieEc-N2p9hAGR2yy9hIo/s1600/a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzRF7DLbPuCD_h4cHt2iGsxojYyYRC-K2DooLdgfZ5A0J2FT7hfZ3NOvWJPr-ai9lJV6hLyJlYoSjWj64OC7DekJl_p8OWfbvMIt_EiIphW3yA-NnPzUrkEEBieEc-N2p9hAGR2yy9hIo/s1600/a.jpg" /></a></div><div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: Roboto, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 18px; margin-bottom: 10px; text-align: justify;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; color: black;">Russian UN envoy Vitaly Churkin</span></span><span style="box-sizing: border-box; color: black;"> <span style="box-sizing: border-box;">has called on his UNSC colleagues not to complicate the situation in Syria and not to discredit a ceasefire proposed by Russia and Turkey.</span></span></div><div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: Roboto, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 18px; margin-bottom: 10px; text-align: justify;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; color: black;">Churkin made the comments on Saturday, after the UN Security Council adopted a resolution welcoming a ceasefire agreement in Syria.</span></div><div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: Roboto, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 18px; margin-bottom: 10px; text-align: justify;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; color: black;">The nationwide ceasefire in Syria, which came into effect on Thursday midnight, has been largely holding, with most of the country witnessing a relative calm.</span></div><div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: Roboto, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 18px; margin-bottom: 10px; text-align: justify;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; color: black;">"This is a very important initiative. This resolution which was adopted by us today speaks to the need to have compliance with cessation of hostilities of regime in Syria and of a very important meeting in Astana, where delegations of the opposition and of the government will for the first time meet face to face,” he added.</span></div><div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: Roboto, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 18px; margin-bottom: 10px; text-align: justify;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; color: black;">The Astana talks will be mediated by Russia, Turkey, and Iran. The three countries successfully implemented a similar accord earlier this month following the defeat of militants in the northwestern Syrian city of Aleppo.</span></div><div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: Roboto, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 18px; margin-bottom: 10px; text-align: justify;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; color: black;">Churkin also called on other UNSC members for their aid as the peace process in Syria is a highly complicated and difficult process.  </span></div><blockquote style="background-color: white; border-left: 5px solid rgb(235, 235, 235); box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: Roboto, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 17.5px; margin: 0px 0px 20px; padding: 10px 20px;"><div style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 18px; text-align: justify;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; color: black;">“If you can't help, if you don't want to help, just make sure that you don't complicate things," he noted.</span></div></blockquote><div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: Roboto, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: center;"><figure class="image" style="box-sizing: border-box; display: inline-block; margin: 20px 0px;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEil_7Tioak1wMYvf1_17No_Dekv6Dp163AL8VVZ2Gs7K9-TBPbJXtbyJBMLJixW4TiF_pbJ8S-gGuyhX9rXm6mZb1yZ_qVGH_Y3BtIRVqS2jLfqrwhaqtc3unmEsQ6mOCWFhpflVory41E/s1600/a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEil_7Tioak1wMYvf1_17No_Dekv6Dp163AL8VVZ2Gs7K9-TBPbJXtbyJBMLJixW4TiF_pbJ8S-gGuyhX9rXm6mZb1yZ_qVGH_Y3BtIRVqS2jLfqrwhaqtc3unmEsQ6mOCWFhpflVory41E/s1600/a.jpg" /></a></div><figcaption style="background: rgb(240, 240, 240); box-sizing: border-box; color: #666666; font-size: 12px; padding: 10px;">Members of the UN Security Council meet on December 31, 2016, at the UN Headquarters in New York, after unanimously approving a resolution supporting a Russian-Turkish peace initiative for Syria, including an ongoing ceasefire and talks next month in Kazakhstan.</figcaption></figure></div><div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: Roboto, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 18px; margin-bottom: 10px; text-align: justify;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; color: black;">US, UK: We hope ceasefire holds</span></span></div><div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: Roboto, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 18px; margin-bottom: 10px; text-align: justify;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; color: black;">The deputy US permanent representative to the UN, Michele Sison, also hailed the vote, and voiced hopes that the ceasefire would hold.</span></div><div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: Roboto, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 18px; margin-bottom: 10px; text-align: justify;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; color: black;">"We have voted in favor of this resolution because it strikes the right balance - cautious optimism and support, predicated on hope, but tempered by a realistic need to wait to see how this arrangement is implemented before casting the full weight of the Security Council behind it,” she added.</span></div><div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: Roboto, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 18px; margin-bottom: 10px; text-align: justify;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; color: black;">The UK’s deputy permanent representative to the United Nations, Peter Wilson, also hailed the vote and voiced hopes that it holds.</span></div><div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: Roboto, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 18px; margin-bottom: 10px; text-align: justify;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; color: black;">“As we end 2016 we can all agree that it is time to end bloodshed in Syria. The ceasefire is still very fresh and the situation on the ground will develop in the coming days and weeks. But if this ceasefire holds then I sincerely hope that it can provide the foundation for a breakthrough in the wide political process and that 2017 turns out to be a far better year for the people of Syria than 2016 has been," he said.</span></div><div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: Roboto, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 18px; margin-bottom: 10px; text-align: justify;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; color: black;">Since March 2011, Syria has been gripped by militancy it blames on some Western states and their regional allies.</span></div><div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: Roboto, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 18px; margin-bottom: 10px; text-align: justify;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; color: black;">The Takfiri terrorists operating in the Arab country have suffered major setbacks over the past few months as the army has managed to liberate a number of areas from their grip.</span></div>

Europe Foreign Policy General News News Russia Society Spotlight UN United Nations Vitaly Churkin World News Russia’s UN envoy Vitaly Churkin calls on UNSC not to discredit ceasefire

Russian UN envoy Vitaly Churkin   has called on his UNSC colleagues not to complicate the situation in Syria and not to discredit a ceasefir...

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Hundreds march in Chicago to commemorate 760 killed in Chicago in 2016

<figure class="item-image" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: Roboto, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px 0px 20px;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgT5kNw0kqYj72f3e0ENPErnhc_jUfhc-gRk-8fZwfOuk7YjF_pvLeUENAY9XsjXIQ0KLjzlXAjpcmTrjSwCGZnHprprFh0bS2qCYEvwcZ7eWm_KTFffwkdsDZGnJhHBwDJy9jXxONlYkM/s1600/a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgT5kNw0kqYj72f3e0ENPErnhc_jUfhc-gRk-8fZwfOuk7YjF_pvLeUENAY9XsjXIQ0KLjzlXAjpcmTrjSwCGZnHprprFh0bS2qCYEvwcZ7eWm_KTFffwkdsDZGnJhHBwDJy9jXxONlYkM/s1600/a.jpg" /></a></div><figcaption id="mainFigCap" style="background: rgb(240, 240, 240); box-sizing: border-box; color: #666666; font-size: 12px; padding: 10px;">Residents, activists, and friends and family members of victims of gun violence march down Chicago’s Michigan Avenue carrying nearly 800 wooden crosses bearing the names of people murdered during 2016 in the city on December 31, 2016.</figcaption></figure><div class="item-text" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: Roboto, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; width: 564.986px;"><div style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 18px; margin-bottom: 10px; text-align: justify;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; color: black;">Hundreds of people have joined a silent march in Chicago to commemorate nearly 800 murder victims killed during 2016 in the country’s thirds most populous city on the last day of the year.</span></span></div><div style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 18px; margin-bottom: 10px; text-align: justify;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; color: black;">Demonstrators marched Saturday afternoon along the city’s major lakefront Michigan Avenue while carrying crosses representing each of those killed in violent crimes mostly by the use of guns, local press reports said.</span></div><div style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 18px; margin-bottom: 10px; text-align: justify;">The memorial rally was organized by Chicago priest Reverend Michael Pfleger, who insisted that the growing homicide rate in the large Midwestern city in state of Illinois is a city-wide problem that must be recognized by all its residents.</div><div style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 18px; margin-bottom: 10px; text-align: justify;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; color: black;"> “The reason we’re on Michigan Avenue is because this is a Chicago problem. And until everybody in Chicago decides it’s their problem we’re not going to end it,” Pfleger said.</span></div><div style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 18px; margin-bottom: 10px; text-align: justify;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; color: black;">The cleric further stated, “The last day of the year we will remember all of who’ve been shot and killed in 2016 (and prior). We want to break the cycle of violence for 2017!”</span></div><div style="box-sizing: border-box; text-align: center;"><figure class="image" style="box-sizing: border-box; display: inline-block; margin: 20px 0px;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnYw1vxd2EPzpERycreCa4l1QQVvkz8gJApK5ldlGry1AiI55je2O9gAJYyqei-dB0iiclEs4VlEyuZYU9_f5gbm5h4tQ04diBGNoZAok0wSr6KkP83tmE61aqab3fypdQlAz7ooU32Ns/s1600/a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnYw1vxd2EPzpERycreCa4l1QQVvkz8gJApK5ldlGry1AiI55je2O9gAJYyqei-dB0iiclEs4VlEyuZYU9_f5gbm5h4tQ04diBGNoZAok0wSr6KkP83tmE61aqab3fypdQlAz7ooU32Ns/s1600/a.jpg" /></a></div><figcaption style="background: rgb(240, 240, 240); box-sizing: border-box; color: #666666; font-size: 12px; padding: 10px;">The Reverend Jesse Jackson (L) and Reverend Michael Pfleger carry crosses as they march with other residents and family members of victims of gun violence in Chicago on December 31, 2016.</figcaption></figure></div><div style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 18px; margin-bottom: 10px; text-align: justify;">Chicago authorities say more than 760 people have been killed in the city throughout 2016, compared to fewer than 500 homicides in Chicago during the previous year.</div><div style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 18px; margin-bottom: 10px; text-align: justify;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; color: black;">Among the demonstrators carrying the crosses during the silent march were family members of some of the victims. </span></div><div style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 18px; margin-bottom: 10px; text-align: justify;">The participants went north on Michigan Avenue from the Tribune Tower and then returned before police officers opened the street to vehicle traffic.</div><div style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 18px; margin-bottom: 10px; text-align: justify;">The march came as loved ones mourned the loss of one of the city’s latest shooting victims, 19-year-old Yuri Hardy, who was gunned down Wednesday night in the Austin neighborhood while on his way home from a dance competition. He died Friday morning.</div><div style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 18px; margin-bottom: 10px; text-align: justify;">Chicago police said they are investigating the shooting incident, but so far have made no arrests.</div><div style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 18px; margin-bottom: 10px; text-align: justify;">The city is also known for its high rate of police brutality and shooting cases particularly against unarmed African American suspects.</div></div>

Chicago General News News protesting Society Spotlight the United States United State's History United States US World News Hundreds march in Chicago to commemorate 760 killed in Chicago in 2016

Residents, activists, and friends and family members of victims of gun violence march down Chicago’s Michigan Avenue carrying nearly 800 woo...

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Armed attack on nightclub kills 39, injures 40: Istanbul governor

<br /><br /><div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: Roboto, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 18px; margin-bottom: 10px; text-align: justify;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;">At least 39 people are dead and 40 others are wounded in an armed attack on a nightclub in Turkey’s Istanbul, the governor of the city says.</span></div><div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: Roboto, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 18px; margin-bottom: 10px; text-align: justify;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; color: black;">According to reports, the gunman, wearing a Santa Claus costume, killed a police officer and a civilian before he entered the club and opened fire at the people who were celebrating the New Year in Reina nightclub in the early hours of Sunday. </span></div><figure class="image" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: Roboto, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 20px 0px;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNL4GyHXNgoyMMkRRCTjUPBeX57Zoclnzv7LrTNDjhMes_P2fWb0Ef9cDEvG9lzWxaYzr8V9u0cd61WLYfVQ70aHz-sYPxuyuKyc2bktJLEMekWXgcTcr29DW4BdD3tlb1pGXFwpBYoXU/s1600/a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNL4GyHXNgoyMMkRRCTjUPBeX57Zoclnzv7LrTNDjhMes_P2fWb0Ef9cDEvG9lzWxaYzr8V9u0cd61WLYfVQ70aHz-sYPxuyuKyc2bktJLEMekWXgcTcr29DW4BdD3tlb1pGXFwpBYoXU/s1600/a.jpg" /></a></div><figcaption style="background: rgb(240, 240, 240); box-sizing: border-box; color: #666666; font-size: 12px; padding: 10px;">An ambulance arrives near a nightclub where a gun attack took place during a New Year party in Istanbul, Turkey, January 1, 2017.</figcaption></figure><div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: Roboto, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 18px; margin-bottom: 10px; text-align: justify;">"A terrorist with a long-range weapon ... brutally and savagely carried out this incident by firing bullets on innocent people who were there solely to celebrate the New Year and have fun," Istanbul Governor Vasip Sahin told reporters at the scene.</div><div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: Roboto, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 18px; margin-bottom: 10px; text-align: justify;">Some 500 to 600 people are thought to have been present at the club when the attack happened. Some people jumped into the nearby Bosphorus Strait to avoid being shot and were later rescued by the police.</div><figure class="image" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: Roboto, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 20px 0px;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTVYuz8R7zc9DXuebR51eAtrX8S3p9G_5plMg4Ez6nIddotvFJ2UIEq5PlK8AHkBsCeEtrLV9IK9wWW996-LmxhvLXXUakPsFPbUdC5K90NfyntPRX6hFvc9D62E4kz1iJSPamNK2a4Bc/s1600/a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTVYuz8R7zc9DXuebR51eAtrX8S3p9G_5plMg4Ez6nIddotvFJ2UIEq5PlK8AHkBsCeEtrLV9IK9wWW996-LmxhvLXXUakPsFPbUdC5K90NfyntPRX6hFvc9D62E4kz1iJSPamNK2a4Bc/s1600/a.jpg" /></a></div><figcaption style="background: rgb(240, 240, 240); box-sizing: border-box; color: #666666; font-size: 12px; padding: 10px;">Police secure area near a nightclub where a gun attack took place during a New Year party in Istanbul, Turkey, January 1, 2017.</figcaption></figure><div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: Roboto, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 18px; margin-bottom: 10px; text-align: justify;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;">US president offers condolences</span></div><div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: Roboto, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 18px; margin-bottom: 10px; text-align: justify;">"This afternoon the president (Barack Obama) was briefed by his national security team on the attack in Istanbul," White House spokesman Eric Schultz said in a statement.</div><div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: Roboto, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 18px; margin-bottom: 10px; text-align: justify;">"The president expressed condolences for the innocent lives lost, directed his team to offer appropriate assistance to the Turkish authorities, as necessary, and keep him updated as warranted," he added.</div><figure class="image" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: Roboto, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 20px 0px;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNRHDrp29Z1srHu0kPCFuvP3rY8s5Rb-Tz1GW8-ygYb8h22kADbI0e1_5mPY5H8ozvjSFGTkiQHNIg6VN_jHwJHJRhbt4MMqK8NW1QewiUwbTypmcSn0zyGWXS3bJCVX10ZuL5QupS7zc/s1600/a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNRHDrp29Z1srHu0kPCFuvP3rY8s5Rb-Tz1GW8-ygYb8h22kADbI0e1_5mPY5H8ozvjSFGTkiQHNIg6VN_jHwJHJRhbt4MMqK8NW1QewiUwbTypmcSn0zyGWXS3bJCVX10ZuL5QupS7zc/s1600/a.jpg" /></a></div><figcaption style="background: rgb(240, 240, 240); box-sizing: border-box; color: #666666; font-size: 12px; padding: 10px;">Ambulances line up on a road leading to a nightclub where a gun attack took place during a New Year party in Istanbul, Turkey, January 1, 2017.</figcaption></figure><div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: Roboto, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 18px; margin-bottom: 10px; text-align: justify;">Turkey has seen attacks on a host of targets over the past year and a half. Most of the bombing attacks have been blamed on the Daesh Takfiri terrorist group, Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) and other Kurdish groups. </div><div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: Roboto, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 18px; margin-bottom: 10px; text-align: justify;">On December 10, 44 people, mostly policemen, were killed and over 150 more injured in a twin bomb attack, during the second of which a bomber detonated his explosive belt as police arrived to surround him.</div><div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: Roboto, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 18px; margin-bottom: 10px; text-align: justify;">Russian's ambassador, Andrei Karlov, was also killed during the opening of a photo exhibition at a gallery in the capital Ankara on December 19. The assassin, an off-duty policeman Mevlut Mert Altintas was shot dead at the scene by police.</div><div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: Roboto, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 18px; margin-bottom: 10px; text-align: justify;">Back in June, at least 41 people were killed and some 240 more injured in a Daesh attack at Istanbul's main Ataturk Airport.</div><div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: Roboto, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 18px; margin-bottom: 10px; text-align: justify;">Turkey has also so been under a state of emergency since a failed military coup against the government in mid-July. Ankara has launched a heavy-handed crackdown against those suspected of having links with the coup plotters.</div>

General News Istanbul Middle East News Society Spotlight Terrorism terrorists Turkey World News Armed attack on nightclub kills 39, injures 40: Istanbul governor

At least 39 people are dead and 40 others are wounded in an armed attack on a nightclub in Turkey’s Istanbul, the governor of the city says....

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Boko Haram leader says Kill, slaughter, kidnap infidels

<figure class="item-image" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: Roboto, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px 0px 20px;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFjzA68mFu7KZIhv_3ihIyDlKmyJ1x1VNciTJUEpTEw6rTxuP7H9yH-r8GpxFs9aBg8cD1kXNWlX0GWWR5bN-qe68PDEQVOv04jMz3YUZp7C50SsgZ2FxFYIq2EVCW2bRwMvhouDjcj88/s1600/a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFjzA68mFu7KZIhv_3ihIyDlKmyJ1x1VNciTJUEpTEw6rTxuP7H9yH-r8GpxFs9aBg8cD1kXNWlX0GWWR5bN-qe68PDEQVOv04jMz3YUZp7C50SsgZ2FxFYIq2EVCW2bRwMvhouDjcj88/s320/a.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><figcaption id="mainFigCap" style="background: rgb(240, 240, 240); box-sizing: border-box; color: #666666; font-size: 12px; padding: 10px;">The undated photo purportedly shows the ringleader of the Nigeria-based Boko Haram Takfiri terrorist group, Abubakar Shekau.</figcaption></figure><div class="item-text" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: Roboto, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; width: 564.986px;"><div style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 18px; margin-bottom: 10px; text-align: justify;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;">The ringleader of the Nigeria-based Boko Haram Takfiri terrorist group has urged the militants to beef up extreme violence against people, denying recent claims by the government that the group has been crushed.</span></div><div style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 18px; margin-bottom: 10px; text-align: justify;">In a video posted on YouTube purportedly by Boko Haram on Friday, a man, standing in front of almost a dozen armed men and a couple of pickup trucks in an undisclosed location, identified himself as Abubakar Shekau, the leader of the terror group, and read a statement, calling on his fellow militants to "kill, slaughter and abduct all the infidels... and detonate bombs everywhere."</div><div style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 18px; margin-bottom: 10px; text-align: justify;">"I am here, well and alive," he said, rejecting the Nigerian government's earlier reports that he had been fatally wounded in anti-terror air raids.</div><div style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 18px; margin-bottom: 10px; text-align: justify;">He also denied that the army had ultimately defeated terrorists after it captured Boko Haram’s last major stronghold. "The battle is just beginning."</div><div style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 18px; margin-bottom: 10px; text-align: justify;">"You should not be telling lies to the people," he said, referring to Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari, who announced on Christmas Eve that the Takfiri group had been defeated and driven away from its last known bastion deep inside the thick Sambisa Forest in the northeastern volatile state of Borno.</div><div style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 18px; margin-bottom: 10px; text-align: justify;">President Buhari, who came to power in 2015, under the motto of crushing Boko Haram, also said the terrorists were on the run and no longer had a place to hide.</div><div style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 18px; margin-bottom: 10px; text-align: justify;">The group, whose name means "Western education is forbidden," has pledged allegiance to Daesh, a Takfiri terrorist group operating mostly in Iraq and Syria. Back in early August, Daesh reportedly terminated Shekau’s seven-year-long leadership by replacing him with Abu Musab al-Barnawi, a former spokesman for Boko Haram.</div><div style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 18px; margin-bottom: 10px; text-align: justify;">Shortly after the announcement, Shekau released an audio message saying, "People should know we are still around," apparently defying Daesh and the decision to oust him.</div><figure class="image" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 20px 0px;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3ghQ9TDSIv-wd5wXzV9CEz7k866E7_ZBW6MI-KsPEQ4O4Xzhi36VpFnvmSZAUiIW4UYGpjEMFY3ed4zlXql5zoxK9n8P7FBVO9Vb8WzrYZYiZedpB3ZKmVD3YHGUrkq1aEs_GnXinW24/s1600/a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3ghQ9TDSIv-wd5wXzV9CEz7k866E7_ZBW6MI-KsPEQ4O4Xzhi36VpFnvmSZAUiIW4UYGpjEMFY3ed4zlXql5zoxK9n8P7FBVO9Vb8WzrYZYiZedpB3ZKmVD3YHGUrkq1aEs_GnXinW24/s1600/a.jpg" /></a></div><figcaption style="background: rgb(240, 240, 240); box-sizing: border-box; color: #666666; font-size: 12px; padding: 10px;">This video grab image, created on August 14, 2016, from a video released by Boko Haram, shows a militant at an undisclosed location standing in front of schoolgirls kidnapped from Chibok, Nigeria, in April 2014. (Via AFP)</figcaption></figure><div style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 18px; margin-bottom: 10px; text-align: justify;">Boko Haram terrorists started their reign of terror in 2009 with the aim of toppling the Nigerian government. In their heyday in early 2015, they managed to control an area in the country’s northeast as vast as Belgium, but they lost most of that territory over the last year as the Nigerian government, along with troops from some affected neighboring countries such as Chad and Cameroon, launched a joint military campaign to eradicate the group.</div><div style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 18px; margin-bottom: 10px; text-align: justify;">Boko Haram terrorists have so far killed more than 20,000 people and forced over 2.7 million others from their homes.</div></div>

Africa Boko Haram General News News Nigeria Society Spotlight Takfiri Boko Haram Terrorism terrorists World News Boko Haram leader says Kill, slaughter, kidnap infidels

The undated photo purportedly shows the ringleader of the Nigeria-based Boko Haram Takfiri terrorist group, Abubakar Shekau. The ringleader ...

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Hundreds of thousands of South Koreans rally to demand Park Geun-hye’s ouster

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGEt68ITrdBD5ulLiLuAKzTRjrykZym_NqyByptgzbZmBeW03IbCHZYdpwToHVws0OmJsfqhwhHjRp2-R0ka3_p85nnmrbxeexae_ns3S9J_7E0bMoZwJDpYR8wKGG4if517y9TkKyenM/s1600/a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGEt68ITrdBD5ulLiLuAKzTRjrykZym_NqyByptgzbZmBeW03IbCHZYdpwToHVws0OmJsfqhwhHjRp2-R0ka3_p85nnmrbxeexae_ns3S9J_7E0bMoZwJDpYR8wKGG4if517y9TkKyenM/s1600/a.jpg" /></a></div><div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: Roboto, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 18px; margin-bottom: 10px; text-align: justify;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;">Hundreds of thousands of people have attended a New Year's Eve rally in South Korea's capital, Seoul, to demand a year 2017 without President Park Geun-hye.</span></div><div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: Roboto, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 18px; margin-bottom: 10px; text-align: justify;">Protesters marched with candles and banners at hands on key government offices on Saturday.</div><div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: Roboto, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 18px; margin-bottom: 10px; text-align: justify;">There was no clear estimate by the government but the organizers said more than 600,000 people attended the rally, which was the tenth since protests erupted over a scandal involving Park and her closest friend Choi Soon-sil.</div><div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: Roboto, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 18px; margin-bottom: 10px; text-align: justify;">The two have been accused of colluding to wrest donations from large conglomerates to two dubious foundations.</div><div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: Roboto, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 18px; margin-bottom: 10px; text-align: justify;">"I came here to help usher in a new year that has no Park Geun-hye," said a protester who was in the demonstration with his two children.</div><div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: Roboto, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 18px; margin-bottom: 10px; text-align: justify;">Reports said an even bigger event had been staged for midnight in which the protesters were to continue their calls for Park’s ouster concurrent with the ringing of a giant bronze bell, which has been the tradition in Seoul to usher in the New Year.</div><div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: Roboto, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 18px; margin-bottom: 10px; text-align: justify;">South Korea’s parliament voted earlier this month to impeach Park. However, it is the Constitutional Court which should rule on the impeachment in the six-month deadline it has. And Park has resisted calls for resignation, saying she will wait until the court ruling is issued.</div><div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: Roboto, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 18px; margin-bottom: 10px; text-align: justify;">On Saturday, officials arrested former Health Minister Moon Hyung-pyo as part of a probe into Park’s alleged receipt of bribes from businesses, including Samsung. Moon is accused of using his position as a minister to pressure the National Pension Service (NPS), a state-run fund and a major Samsung shareholder, to back a controversial merger of two Samsung units. The deal, which ensured a smooth power transfer in Samsung's founding family, has allegedly incurred millions of dollars in losses for NPS subscribers.</div>

Asia Asia-Pacific region General News Korea News Park Geun-hye protesting Society South Korea Spotlight World News Hundreds of thousands of South Koreans rally to demand Park Geun-hye’s ouster

Hundreds of thousands of people have attended a New Year's Eve rally in South Korea's capital, Seoul, to demand a year 2017 without ...

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US president Barack Obama's report on alleged Russian hacks fails to satisfy critics

<figure class="item-image" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: Roboto, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px 0px 20px;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmtnY-KBrCdzVwQ9stmQXek2MkjdLvYz45QDN6kBP7vTQ0ozamDjA6uIZwN2gb-OFEWHu4vJONzQhvWj92BLquKijPU_qSYYrlwNlhvF03Wj1tndl1E1GLNi4TxCHRboDy6Jgj0dSHbzE/s1600/a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmtnY-KBrCdzVwQ9stmQXek2MkjdLvYz45QDN6kBP7vTQ0ozamDjA6uIZwN2gb-OFEWHu4vJONzQhvWj92BLquKijPU_qSYYrlwNlhvF03Wj1tndl1E1GLNi4TxCHRboDy6Jgj0dSHbzE/s1600/a.jpg" /></a></div><figcaption id="mainFigCap" style="background: rgb(240, 240, 240); box-sizing: border-box; color: #666666; font-size: 12px; padding: 10px;">US president Barack Obama</figcaption></figure><div class="item-text" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: Roboto, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; width: 564.986px;"><div style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 18px; margin-bottom: 10px; text-align: justify;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;">A report issued by American intelligence services, which claims Russia was behind hacks of the 2016 US presidential election, has failed to satisfy critics who say the Obama administration has no proof Moscow tried to interfere in the vote.</span></div><div style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 18px; margin-bottom: 10px; text-align: justify;">In a joint analysis issued on Thursday, the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) provided technical details about the tools and cyber infrastructure they said Russian civilian and military intelligence services used for the hack attack, code named Grizzly Steppe.</div><div style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 18px; margin-bottom: 10px; text-align: justify;">The document said the cyberattack was carried out to “compromise and exploit networks and endpoints associated with the US election, as well as a range of US government, political, and private sector entities.”</div><div style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 18px; margin-bottom: 10px; text-align: justify;">But the critics have turned down the 13-page report, saying it is far from the “proof” that they have called for.</div><div style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 18px; margin-bottom: 10px; text-align: justify;">“What they released doesn’t add anything to the discussion [about attribution],” said Rob Lee, founder of the critical infrastructure cybersecurity company Dragos.</div><div style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 18px; margin-bottom: 10px; text-align: justify;">Security experts say the technical data provided by the agencies is a very basic footprint pointing to Russian intruders, but it often turns out to be a “false positive”.</div><div style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 18px; margin-bottom: 10px; text-align: justify;">“What they released is what we would consider to be the lowest form of indicators of compromise,” Lee said.</div><div style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 18px; margin-bottom: 10px; text-align: justify;">According to security experts, the technical indicators the US agencies have released in the report are very weak, and it doesn’t achieve what the government says is the purpose of the document.</div><div style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 18px; margin-bottom: 10px; text-align: justify;">“Said more simply: the written portion of the report has little to nothing to do with the intended purpose or the technical data released,” Lee said in a blog post.</div><div style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 18px; margin-bottom: 10px; text-align: justify;">Some intelligence experts, however, have pointed out that the report’s sketchy attribution is most likely intentional, and its purpose is preventative, not persuasive.</div><div style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 18px; margin-bottom: 10px; text-align: justify;">"That [the DHS/FBI report] doesn't engage with the question of attribution seems, to me, to be quite deliberate,” said Matt Tait, founder of the United Kingdom-based security consultancy Capital Alpha Security.</div><div style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 18px; margin-bottom: 10px; text-align: justify;">“Its purpose is to act as a measure against Russia — by adding a US stamp of approval to private sector information, and making life harder for [Russia] by exposing some of their malware — not to persuade the public that the DNC hack was by Russia,” he stated.</div><div style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 18px; margin-bottom: 10px; text-align: justify;"> “I suspect that this document will go into more detail about what the US knows about Russian interference in the 2016 election, although even this I suspect won't satisfy skeptics,” Tait said.</div><div style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 18px; margin-bottom: 10px; text-align: justify;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #2b2c30;">President-elect Donald trump has denied that Russia was involved in the </span>cyber interference,<span style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #2b2c30;"> and the Obama administration has been under pressure to provide evidence. </span></div><div style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 18px; margin-bottom: 10px; text-align: justify;">Moscow has rejected the US accusations as "unfounded," and vowed to retaliate.</div><div style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 18px; margin-bottom: 10px; text-align: justify;">The White House said in a statement on Thursday that there was the consensus from the US Intelligence Community that Russia's intervention in the US election via cyberhacking as "unacceptable and will not be tolerated."</div><div style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 18px; margin-bottom: 10px; text-align: justify;">Republican Senator John McCain on Thursday called Russia's alleged cyberattacks against political organizations an "act of war."</div><div style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 18px; margin-bottom: 10px; text-align: justify;">McCain, chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, has scheduled a hearing for next week on foreign cyberattacks targeting the US, which will also focus on Russian hacking.</div></div>

General News International Politics News Politics Society Spotlight the United States United State's History United States United States (Overview) US US President Barack Obama World News US president Barack Obama's report on alleged Russian hacks fails to satisfy critics

US president Barack Obama A report issued by American intelligence services, which claims Russia was behind hacks of the 2016 US presidentia...

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UK politician Nigel Farage praises Russian President Vladimir Putin for ‘mature response’ to US

<figure class="item-image" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: Roboto, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px 0px 20px;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFh0ggR-vsZpOxC6uW-7iV7gtI0xTJQ7Ouysgyn_pxFA-KMmesjAzCGTOvOHOHigPSOT9kpReZRQJ452h5irToDFxx5UKpO2DYwOgcbaSrBTFHV83AT5XcOVhaXM4dcdonbA5yUIhzdyI/s1600/a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFh0ggR-vsZpOxC6uW-7iV7gtI0xTJQ7Ouysgyn_pxFA-KMmesjAzCGTOvOHOHigPSOT9kpReZRQJ452h5irToDFxx5UKpO2DYwOgcbaSrBTFHV83AT5XcOVhaXM4dcdonbA5yUIhzdyI/s1600/a.jpg" /></a></div><figcaption id="mainFigCap" style="background: rgb(240, 240, 240); box-sizing: border-box; color: #666666; font-size: 12px; padding: 10px;">Member of the European Parliament and former leader of the UK Independence Party (UKIP) Nigel Farage (Photo by AFP)</figcaption></figure><div class="item-text" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: Roboto, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; width: 564.986px;"><div style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 18px; margin-bottom: 10px; text-align: justify;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;">British politician Nigel Farage has praised Russian President Vladimir Putin for his “mature” decision not to expel American diplomats in response to a similar move by Washington.</span></div><div style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 18px; margin-bottom: 10px; text-align: justify;">“Pleased to see a mature response from Putin,” Farage tweeted on Friday.</div><div style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 18px; margin-bottom: 10px; text-align: justify;">The former leader of the UK Independence Party (UKIP), who has cultivated a close relationship with US President-elect Donald Trump, expressed dissatisfaction over what he said “a real Donald Trump presidency can't come soon enough.”</div><div style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 18px; margin-bottom: 10px; text-align: justify;">Trump has also praised Putin after he rejected on Friday a foreign ministry proposal to retaliate against US President Barack Obama’s decision to expel Russian diplomats.</div><div style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 18px; margin-bottom: 10px; text-align: justify;">Putin even rejected to close a wooded picnic area on a Moscow River island used by diplomats, saying he did not want to deprive their children.<em style="box-sizing: border-box;"> </em>He also sent a New Year’s greetings to Obama, his family, Trump and “all the American people.”</div><figure class="image" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 20px 0px;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlcvZk5xKu2gLQiqyIbxS_HtJCy4DS8NA2kOAlrIv3vz2shR9U2U-1GH0Ce6Fkl4fAo6ugMId7LmUMnEgDkeprJk17WWPzLq7qXYPsZCciumewM26ASnUnYxojXTwYlGmpeGrqIXj5XLo/s1600/a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlcvZk5xKu2gLQiqyIbxS_HtJCy4DS8NA2kOAlrIv3vz2shR9U2U-1GH0Ce6Fkl4fAo6ugMId7LmUMnEgDkeprJk17WWPzLq7qXYPsZCciumewM26ASnUnYxojXTwYlGmpeGrqIXj5XLo/s1600/a.jpg" /></a></div><figcaption style="background: rgb(240, 240, 240); box-sizing: border-box; color: #666666; font-size: 12px; padding: 10px;">Russian President Vladimir Putin (Photo by AFP)</figcaption></figure><div style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 18px; margin-bottom: 10px; text-align: justify;">Putin said Washington’s move to expel Russian diplomats was designed to provoke a reaction from Kremlin, “but we will not sink to the level of this irresponsible ‘kitchen’ diplomacy.”</div><div style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 18px; margin-bottom: 10px; text-align: justify;">“We will take further moves on restoring Russian-American relations based on the policies that the administration of President-elect Donald Trump adopts,” he added.</div><div style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 18px; margin-bottom: 10px; text-align: justify;">On Thursday, Obama ordered a series of new sanctions against Russia and expelled 35 Russian diplomats over allegations that they interfered in the US 2016 presidential election through cyberattacks. Russia denied the hacking accusations.</div><div style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 18px; margin-bottom: 10px; text-align: justify;">Should Putin have chosen to retaliate against Washington, he would likely have deepened the current rift between the US and Russia, and would have left the Trump administration with a diplomatic standoff from the very beginning. Putin’s move, which is considered as a gesture of good will, could now disarm his American critics and give Trump more room to maneuver on restoring ties with Russia.</div></div>

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Member of the European Parliament and former leader of the UK Independence Party (UKIP) Nigel Farage (Photo by AFP) British politician Nigel...

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Halting Haiti's cholera outbreak requires more funds: UN

<figure class="item-image" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: Roboto, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px 0px 20px;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4SGfLzHlK1xd0S_ZTLPOGk-kRK5-6si4B4SBam5EcE573Yo03jgSj8xp1amycbLZJR9E9MFgtgZi_E85QwDyeRN6_0-3_CuH5UQc0sfb0vLwYJKEFrw_Z9RzMUzSf57oPnksT1hzUb14/s1600/a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4SGfLzHlK1xd0S_ZTLPOGk-kRK5-6si4B4SBam5EcE573Yo03jgSj8xp1amycbLZJR9E9MFgtgZi_E85QwDyeRN6_0-3_CuH5UQc0sfb0vLwYJKEFrw_Z9RzMUzSf57oPnksT1hzUb14/s1600/a.jpg" /></a></div><figcaption id="mainFigCap" style="background: rgb(240, 240, 240); box-sizing: border-box; color: #666666; font-size: 12px; padding: 10px;">A Haitian man with cholera symptoms is being carry to a small clinic, in Randelle, Haiti, on October 19, 2016. (Photo by AFP)</figcaption></figure><div class="item-text" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: Roboto, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; width: 564.986px;"><div style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 18px; margin-bottom: 10px; text-align: justify;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;">The United Nations has expressed concern over the persistence of a cholera epidemic in the Caribbean nation of Haiti due to lack of funding. </span></div><div style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 18px; margin-bottom: 10px; text-align: justify;">The spate of the waterborne disease -- which spread following a huge earthquake struck the nation in 2010 -- witnessed a resurgence after Hurricane Matthew overwhelmed the impoverished country in early October as the number of recorded cholera cases more than doubled in Haiti between September and October, AFP reported Saturday citing the UN.</div><div style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 18px; margin-bottom: 10px; text-align: justify;">Funding is vital for supporting the humanitarian requirements of the poorest nation in the Americas, said the deputy special representative for the UN's stabilization mission in Haiti, Mourad Wahba.</div><div style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 18px; margin-bottom: 10px; text-align: justify;">"The rainy season will return and inevitably there will be an increase in the number of cholera cases," Wahba added. "I'm optimistic, but it all depends on the funding."</div><div style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 18px; margin-bottom: 10px; text-align: justify;">This is while no funds have yet been set aside beyond the first quarter of 2017, which could lead to a growing risk of hospital mortality if none are ultimately allocated, according to the UN’s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in Haiti.</div><div style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 18px; margin-bottom: 10px; text-align: justify;">Suspected cases of the disease dropped by 25 percent - from 2,400 to 1,800 - between October to November, OCHA said in its latest report from Haiti.</div><div style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 18px; margin-bottom: 10px; text-align: justify;">The UN further states that the situation in the Caribbean nation has improved thanks to a three-fold boost in the deployment of emergency teams, the delivery of drinking water as well as a vaccination campaign.</div><div style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 18px; margin-bottom: 10px; text-align: justify;">Cholera struck nearly 40,000 patients in Haiti between January and November, leading to 420 deaths. On an international scale, Haiti's cholera outbreak is the most vicious in recent history.</div><div style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 18px; margin-bottom: 10px; text-align: justify;">According to numerous independent experts, cholera was introduced to Haiti by infected Nepalese UN peacekeepers deployed to the island nation following the 2010 earthquake.</div></div>

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A Haitian man with cholera symptoms is being carry to a small clinic, in Randelle, Haiti, on October 19, 2016. (Photo by AFP) The United Nat...

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Portugal set to extradite CIA operative to Italy

<figure class="item-image" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: Roboto, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px 0px 20px;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoqwPpoSJ2-RY9HZ3LHnR79rI5AnP9HLHkCmjhid8SnS0mziD0Lra4em0CElBd5A_Xsyee0WPDZw7Bp0tBRSbXU-iX-NhByvWo6s8z9xZx0b2AIU0JCfkSeZGa2L6ae4S6gmyZ8t4MRAY/s1600/a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoqwPpoSJ2-RY9HZ3LHnR79rI5AnP9HLHkCmjhid8SnS0mziD0Lra4em0CElBd5A_Xsyee0WPDZw7Bp0tBRSbXU-iX-NhByvWo6s8z9xZx0b2AIU0JCfkSeZGa2L6ae4S6gmyZ8t4MRAY/s1600/a.jpg" /></a></div><figcaption id="mainFigCap" style="background: rgb(240, 240, 240); box-sizing: border-box; color: #666666; font-size: 12px; padding: 10px;">EX-CIA agent Sabrina de Sousa</figcaption></figure><div class="item-text" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: Roboto, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; width: 564.986px;"><div style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 18px; margin-bottom: 10px; text-align: justify;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;">Portugal is poised to hand over to Italy Sabrina de Sousa, a former US spy convicted of the abduction of an Egyptian cleric. </span></div><div style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 18px; margin-bottom: 10px; text-align: justify;">De Sousa, a Portuguese-American dual who was a former agent of the CIA, said on Friday that the extradition process was due to start "after January 3."</div><div style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 18px; margin-bottom: 10px; text-align: justify;">She further noted that the decision to proceed with her extradition had been expected, adding, "I will have to explore options, if any are available to me.”</div><div style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 18px; margin-bottom: 10px; text-align: justify;">De Sousa, who was born in India, was arrested at Lisbon Airport in October 2015 on a European warrant while on her way to visit her family in the South Asian country.</div><div style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 18px; margin-bottom: 10px; text-align: justify;">Back in 2009, an Italian court convicted her in absentia over the kidnapping of Egyptian cleric Abu Omar in Milan in 2003 when she was working in Italy under diplomatic cover.</div><figure class="image" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 20px 0px;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVL-ivEe_bmzfRt2cuFDpnkJPxq_ogTpW-iIOD4I0cVNECnGs3YVJNfTPxlc9Pp0AhzncJ6ykxLj_Yr1ZZBrOmn4NE6etQ96WukvaeZc-8pw6cA1uZK5HpWuACawtvK_Vh1WvunPJzRZQ/s1600/a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVL-ivEe_bmzfRt2cuFDpnkJPxq_ogTpW-iIOD4I0cVNECnGs3YVJNfTPxlc9Pp0AhzncJ6ykxLj_Yr1ZZBrOmn4NE6etQ96WukvaeZc-8pw6cA1uZK5HpWuACawtvK_Vh1WvunPJzRZQ/s1600/a.jpg" /></a></div><figcaption style="background: rgb(240, 240, 240); box-sizing: border-box; color: #666666; font-size: 12px; padding: 10px;">Abu Omar in Alexandria, Egypt on Feb. 22, 2007 (Photo by AP) </figcaption></figure><div style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 18px; margin-bottom: 10px; text-align: justify;">De Sousa said she served as an interpreter for the CIA team and denied any direct involvement in Omar’s kidnapping.</div><div style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 18px; margin-bottom: 10px; text-align: justify;">Asked if she felt betrayed by Washington, she said, "Betrayal was a sentiment I felt many years ago."</div><div style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 18px; margin-bottom: 10px; text-align: justify;">Omar's abduction operation was allegedly led jointly by the CIA and the Italian intelligence services.</div><div style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 18px; margin-bottom: 10px; text-align: justify;">Omar was flown to the Egyptian capital, Cairo, via the US Ramstein Air Base in Germany. He was allegedly imprisoned, interrogated and tortured in the North African country.</div><div style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 18px; margin-bottom: 10px; text-align: justify;">He was abducted as part of the CIA's contentious extraordinary rendition, a practice of transferring presumed terror suspects to countries where torture is allowed. The practice has been condemned by rights groups as a violation of international agreements.</div></div>

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EX-CIA agent Sabrina de Sousa Portugal is poised to hand over to Italy Sabrina de Sousa, a former US spy convicted of the abduction of an Eg...

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John McCain says Russian cyber attacks against US an 'act of war'

<figure class="item-image" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: Roboto, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px 0px 20px;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrYffDSf4N9BN1IaWBzH2mdfGxHD2WzYhXik2ecvGNWo5A_JcdxJcmtQ9qkYZuuUHN7GJKkiWIo_RJ6O5Bt5zPHipxpRi4RkrzTzf8yjQ843xEjeiXpBntkC6nc-QFJ5WF9NrVtVm7U7M/s1600/a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrYffDSf4N9BN1IaWBzH2mdfGxHD2WzYhXik2ecvGNWo5A_JcdxJcmtQ9qkYZuuUHN7GJKkiWIo_RJ6O5Bt5zPHipxpRi4RkrzTzf8yjQ843xEjeiXpBntkC6nc-QFJ5WF9NrVtVm7U7M/s1600/a.jpg" /></a></div><figcaption id="mainFigCap" style="background: rgb(240, 240, 240); box-sizing: border-box; color: #666666; font-size: 12px; padding: 10px;">US Republican Senator John McCain delivers a message to the media at the Benjamin Franklin library at the US Embassy in Mexico City on December 20, 2016. (Photo by AFP)</figcaption></figure><div class="item-text" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: Roboto, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; width: 564.986px;"><div style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 18px; margin-bottom: 10px; text-align: justify;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;">Senior US Senator and former presidential candidate John McCain says Russia's alleged cyber attacks against political organizations to influence the 2016 presidential election amounted to an "act of war."</span></div><div style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 18px; margin-bottom: 10px; text-align: justify;">McCain, a Republican from Arizona, has scheduled a hearing for next week on foreign cyber attacks targeting the US, which will also focus on Russian hacking.</div><div style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 18px; margin-bottom: 10px; text-align: justify;">He has invited Director of National Intelligence James Clapper, Director of the National Security Agency Mike Rogers and Undersecretary of Defense for Intelligence Marcel Lettre, to next week's hearing</div><div style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 18px; margin-bottom: 10px; text-align: justify;">McCain, who is chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, is one of Washington's most well-known foreign policy hawks.</div><div style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 18px; margin-bottom: 10px; text-align: justify;">"When you attack a country, it's an act of war," McCain said of the recent hackings on Ukrainian TV <span style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #141414;">while on a visit to Kiev.</span></div><div style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 18px; margin-bottom: 10px; text-align: justify;">"And so we have to make sure that there is a price to pay so that we can perhaps persuade Russians to stop this kind of attacks on our very fundamentals of democracy," he said.</div><div style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 18px; margin-bottom: 10px; text-align: justify;">McCain and other top congressional leaders have pledged to press legislation next year on sanctions against Russia in addition to those announced by President Barack Obama this week. The senator has criticized the recent sanctions as insufficient and overdue.</div><div style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 18px; margin-bottom: 10px; text-align: justify;">However, incoming President Donald Trump has repeatedly questioned the accuracy of US intelligence pointing to Russia’s responsibility for the hacks and has said it was time to "move on."</div><div style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 18px; margin-bottom: 10px; text-align: justify;">The US claim has been rejected by Moscow. Julian Assange, the founder of WikiLeaks, which published the stolen emails, has denied that the Russian government provided the files.</div><div style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 18px; margin-bottom: 10px; text-align: justify;">Obama took unprecedented steps Thursday to retaliate against alleged Russian interference in this year’s presidential election, including expelling 35 Russian diplomats from the US.</div></div>

Foreign Policy General News International Politics John McCain News Politics Society Spotlight the United States United State's History United States United States (Overview) US World News John McCain says Russian cyber attacks against US an 'act of war'

US Republican Senator John McCain delivers a message to the media at the Benjamin Franklin library at the US Embassy in Mexico City on Decem...

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Nearly 15,000 Israelis stormed Al-Aqsa Mosque in 2016: Group

<figure class="item-image" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: Roboto, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px 0px 20px;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBuyRYg1wflah2xdr2aHgMMsOkWOzOsP6Cp8GTLSuNEVk4cRBCZ1wVvuEaJiLesFz19p0RmapSevBcWi28iLzQwZM0MxmuJIFbYh3CGpRW11Puchssqxs0skP7zYynpnJefgDWdr87CHg/s1600/a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBuyRYg1wflah2xdr2aHgMMsOkWOzOsP6Cp8GTLSuNEVk4cRBCZ1wVvuEaJiLesFz19p0RmapSevBcWi28iLzQwZM0MxmuJIFbYh3CGpRW11Puchssqxs0skP7zYynpnJefgDWdr87CHg/s1600/a.jpg" /></a></div><figcaption id="mainFigCap" style="background: rgb(240, 240, 240); box-sizing: border-box; color: #666666; font-size: 12px; padding: 10px;">A view of the Al-Aqsa Mosque, in the Old City of Jerusalem al-Quds (file photo)</figcaption></figure><div class="item-text" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: Roboto, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; width: 564.986px;"><div style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 18px; margin-bottom: 10px; text-align: justify;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;">Nearly 15,000 Israelis have stormed the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in East Jerusalem al-Quds since the beginning of 2016, an Islamic group says.</span></div><div style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 18px; margin-bottom: 10px; text-align: justify;">The group, the Islamic Waqf in Jerusalem, which controls and manages current Islamic edifices on and around the Haram esh-Sharif (Temple Mount), released the figure in a recent statement.</div><div style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 18px; margin-bottom: 10px; text-align: justify;">On Thursday, Jordanian government spokesman Mohammed al-Momani denounced any attempt by Israelis to storm or enter the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound as illegal and an aggressive act against the Islamic holy site. He underlined Jordan’s determination to maintain the status quo at Al-Aqsa.</div><div style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 18px; margin-bottom: 10px; text-align: justify;">Momani’s remarks came in reaction to the storming of the Al-Aqsa Mosque by 149 Israeli settlers on Thursday.</div><div style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 18px; margin-bottom: 10px; text-align: justify;">Temple Mount is also a site of worship by Jews. According to an agreement signed between the Tel Aviv regime and the Jordanian government — which administers Al-Aqsa Mosque — after Israel’s occupation of East Jerusalem al-Quds in 1967, visits to the compound by Israelis are permitted but non-Muslim worship is prohibited. Jordan is one of the only two Arab countries that have open diplomatic ties with Israel.</div><div style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 18px; margin-bottom: 10px; text-align: justify;">Muslims consider trespasses by Israelis into the Al-Aqsa Mosque as part of a provocative Israeli campaign. They say the Tel Aviv regime seeks to change the demography of the holy city of al-Quds, where the mosque is located.</div><div style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 18px; margin-bottom: 10px; text-align: justify;">In August 2015, Israel imposed restrictions on the entry of Palestinian worshipers into the compound, which is under the administration of Jordan, sparking a fresh wave of tensions with Palestinians.</div><div style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 18px; margin-bottom: 10px; text-align: justify;">Over the past decades, Tel Aviv has been trying to change the demographic makeup of Jerusalem al-Quds by constructing illegal settlements, destroying historical sites, and expelling the local Palestinian population.</div></div>

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A view of the Al-Aqsa Mosque, in the Old City of Jerusalem al-Quds (file photo) Nearly 15,000 Israelis have stormed the Al-Aqsa Mosque compo...

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48 Iraqi refugees discovered on Romania border

<figure class="item-image" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: Roboto, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px 0px 20px;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvxu4FcxB4WHhRUfp2sGqaUkiblR4by5Qjx5Co1rxTZbm8qQmLnI75hzAACPIvma0L1HR2AsGDc3PgMD7XxKNrl_fgEI_swt4zY3Rdh8Tlb_v5xj-gSwjY6TsKQuZmIwKMW3Fi_dq0Q0s/s1600/a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvxu4FcxB4WHhRUfp2sGqaUkiblR4by5Qjx5Co1rxTZbm8qQmLnI75hzAACPIvma0L1HR2AsGDc3PgMD7XxKNrl_fgEI_swt4zY3Rdh8Tlb_v5xj-gSwjY6TsKQuZmIwKMW3Fi_dq0Q0s/s1600/a.jpg" /></a></div><figcaption id="mainFigCap" style="background: rgb(240, 240, 240); box-sizing: border-box; color: #666666; font-size: 12px; padding: 10px;">In this photo taken on October 11, 2016, a border guard and a police dog inspect a truck in Calafat, Romania. (Photo by AP)</figcaption></figure><div class="item-text" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: Roboto, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; width: 564.986px;"><div style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 18px; margin-bottom: 10px; text-align: justify;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;">Romanian border guards have intercepted a truck illegally transporting nearly 50 Iraqi citizens.</span></div><div style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 18px; margin-bottom: 10px; text-align: justify;">The Romanian border police said in a statement on Saturday that the truck with 48 Iraqis, including nine women and 17 minors, was spotted at the Danube port of Giurgiu on the Romanian-Bulgarian border on December 29.</div><div style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 18px; margin-bottom: 10px; text-align: justify;">The statement said the truck, which was officially transporting boxes of Bulgarian chocolate to Hungary, was emitting a high level of carbon dioxide as checks revealed. It said a young infant was also on board. The driver, a Bulgarian man, said he was unaware of the people in the back of the vehicle.</div><div style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 18px; margin-bottom: 10px; text-align: justify;">All the refugees and the driver, who were allegedly headed for Hungary, were being questioned by the Romanian police.</div><div style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 18px; margin-bottom: 10px; text-align: justify;">Romania, the second poorest member state of the European Union, has experienced a surge in the arrival of refugees since the beginning of 2015.</div><div style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 18px; margin-bottom: 10px; text-align: justify;">Many of the more than one million refugees who have hit Europe’s borders normally cross the eastern countries to reach the wealthier nations in the west. However, some refugees choose to stay, prompting concerns among the public and far-right politicians in eastern countries such as Romania.</div><div style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 18px; margin-bottom: 10px; text-align: justify;">The European Union managed to reach a deal with Turkey in March. Under the deal, there was a drastic reduction in the flow of refugees crossing the Mediterranean to reach the shores of Greece. However, the conflicts and poverty in the Middle East still force many to dare the journey despite increasing restrictions on borders.</div><div style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 18px; margin-bottom: 10px; text-align: justify;">Europe is facing an unprecedented influx of refugees, most of whom are fleeing conflict-ridden zones in Africa and the Middle East, particularly Syria. The conflicts they are fleeing are usually instigated by the very European and non-European countries they seek to finally settle in.</div></div>

Europe General News News Romania Society Spotlight World News 48 Iraqi refugees discovered on Romania border

In this photo taken on October 11, 2016, a border guard and a police dog inspect a truck in Calafat, Romania. (Photo by AP) Romanian border ...

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Germany's Chancellor Angela Merkel urges Germans to counter terrorism through unity

<figure class="item-image" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: Roboto, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px 0px 20px;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYN_6NOHyKeA4-u-DlzWRBt8jf-xbJy8q9Lh91X-vaY5_MCLeB7Od8iMNz-xnCpFwlBHEEcVqHt62brqspk7Aim7xziMsq3jB-E6ja070xVEBNQtAOSuDDVtX0PG2EyPdTW_Byvo1CwU8/s1600/a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYN_6NOHyKeA4-u-DlzWRBt8jf-xbJy8q9Lh91X-vaY5_MCLeB7Od8iMNz-xnCpFwlBHEEcVqHt62brqspk7Aim7xziMsq3jB-E6ja070xVEBNQtAOSuDDVtX0PG2EyPdTW_Byvo1CwU8/s1600/a.jpg" /></a></div><figcaption id="mainFigCap" style="background: rgb(240, 240, 240); box-sizing: border-box; color: #666666; font-size: 12px; padding: 10px;">German Chancellor Angela Merkel poses for a photograph after the recording of her annual New Year's speech at the Chancellery in Berlin on December 30, 2016. (Photo by Reuters)</figcaption></figure><div class="item-text" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: Roboto, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; width: 564.986px;"><div style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 18px; margin-bottom: 10px; text-align: justify;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;">Germany's Chancellor Angela Merkel has described terrorism as the biggest challenge facing the country in 2016, calling on her compatriots to face down the scourge through solidarity and humanity.</span></div><div style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 18px; margin-bottom: 10px; text-align: justify;">In her annual televised address broadcast on Saturday, Merkel said 2016 had been "a year of severe tests," the toughest of them undoubtedly being extremist terror.</div><div style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 18px; margin-bottom: 10px; text-align: justify;">She also urged Germans to stick to democratic values in the face of terror and counter with compassion and cohesion "murderers who are full of hate." </div><div style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 18px; margin-bottom: 10px; text-align: justify;">“We are stronger together. Our state is stronger. Our state is doing everything to guarantee its citizens security in freedom,” she added.</div><div style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 18px; margin-bottom: 10px; text-align: justify;">The German chancellor further vowed swift government action in 2017 "where political or legal changes are necessary."</div><div style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 18px; margin-bottom: 10px; text-align: justify;">Germany was rocked by a series of deadly attacks in 2016.</div><div style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 18px; margin-bottom: 10px; text-align: justify;">On July 18, an alleged teenage asylum-seeker went on an axe rampage on a train in the German city of Wuerzburg, severely wounding four people and injuring a woman. The Daesh terrorist group claimed responsibility for the assault.</div><div style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 18px; margin-bottom: 10px; text-align: justify;">Less than a week later, a Syrian allegedly set off his explosives outside a bar in the city of Ansbach, wounding 15 people.</div><figure class="image" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 20px 0px;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbqzjIgHADUOfKlj4kh_W_bbdsKei2IyFw_u6do9B0AnQsKQbg_EQpkNrls1FQn-tIP27xkCNA9aTliHrEkWD9o-mi1p6AYStaxZREiQ0Rjv_mp99Z4IqxStbJOQo67p9vd1rhfQR2UE8/s1600/a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbqzjIgHADUOfKlj4kh_W_bbdsKei2IyFw_u6do9B0AnQsKQbg_EQpkNrls1FQn-tIP27xkCNA9aTliHrEkWD9o-mi1p6AYStaxZREiQ0Rjv_mp99Z4IqxStbJOQo67p9vd1rhfQR2UE8/s1600/a.jpg" /></a></div><figcaption style="background: rgb(240, 240, 240); box-sizing: border-box; color: #666666; font-size: 12px; padding: 10px;">The photo taken on December 20, 2016 shows German authorities inspecting a truck that plowed into a Christmas market in Berlin the previous day. (Photo by AFP)</figcaption></figure><div style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 18px; margin-bottom: 10px; text-align: justify;">Most recently, a Tunisian man was reported to have driven a truck into crowds of people at a Christmas market in Berlin, killing 12 people. Daesh claimed responsibility for the December 19 assault.</div><div style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 18px; margin-bottom: 10px; text-align: justify;">In her remarks, Merkel acknowledged it was "bitter and sickening" that the three attacks were carried out by asylum seekers, but defended her open door policy on refugees.</div><div style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 18px; margin-bottom: 10px; text-align: justify;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;">Anti-refugee demos banned in Cologne</span></div><div style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 18px; margin-bottom: 10px; text-align: justify;">On Friday, German police banned planned anti-refugee demonstrations by the right-wing groups of Alternative for Germany (AfD) and National Democratic Party of Germany (NPD) in the city of Cologne.</div><div style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 18px; margin-bottom: 10px; text-align: justify;">Cologne police chief Juergen Mathies said the ban was imposed due to "security reasons.”</div><div style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 18px; margin-bottom: 10px; text-align: justify;">The city allegedly witnessed a string of sexual assaults and robberies on New Year's Eve by mobs of mostly North African men last year. Alleged victims filed 1,222 criminal complaints, among them 513 for sexual assaults.</div><div style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 18px; margin-bottom: 10px; text-align: justify;">Germany, one of the most popular destinations for refugees, has recently seen the rise of far-right groups opposing the entry of those who are fleeing conflict zones in Africa and the Middle East, particularly Syria.</div></div>

Europe Federal Republic of Germany General News Germany News Society Spotlight World News Germany's Chancellor Angela Merkel urges Germans to counter terrorism through unity

German Chancellor Angela Merkel poses for a photograph after the recording of her annual New Year's speech at the Chancellery in Berlin ...

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Daesh cuts off water supply to Syria’s Aleppo

<figure class="item-image" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: Roboto, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px 0px 20px;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgV2UfYQu3QyqbU9Z_Y1bHH-DFGzh9ITDZmmdvxSaWgejlUZbK7E75aix-tkkKiR_H4Hk3pmn-BCgdVTnQHYK_76oCTa-KyjDTj7rvmTpcEY9R2DBk9-TrFr7f-L143-7kkCdJq9UD3H9A/s1600/a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgV2UfYQu3QyqbU9Z_Y1bHH-DFGzh9ITDZmmdvxSaWgejlUZbK7E75aix-tkkKiR_H4Hk3pmn-BCgdVTnQHYK_76oCTa-KyjDTj7rvmTpcEY9R2DBk9-TrFr7f-L143-7kkCdJq9UD3H9A/s1600/a.jpg" /></a></div><figcaption id="mainFigCap" style="background: rgb(240, 240, 240); box-sizing: border-box; color: #666666; font-size: 12px; padding: 10px;">The image shows a reservoir at the water station in Aleppo’s Suleiman al-Halabi neighborhood on December 27, 2016. (By AFP)</figcaption></figure><div class="item-text" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: Roboto, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; width: 564.986px;"><div style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 18px; margin-bottom: 10px; text-align: justify;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;">Takfiri Daesh terrorists in Syria have cut off the water supply from two pumping stations on the Euphrates to the east of the city of Aleppo, which was recently liberated from militants.</span></div><div style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 18px; margin-bottom: 10px; text-align: justify;">The blockage occurred on Friday, prompting Aleppo’s Water Organization, Syria’s Red Crescent Society, and local residents to look for ways to restore the water supply to the city.</div><div style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 18px; margin-bottom: 10px; text-align: justify;">Takfiri terrorist groups in Syria have resorted to cutting off water supplies to different residential areas in an apparent bid to retaliate battlefield losses.</div><div style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 18px; margin-bottom: 10px; text-align: justify;">On Thursday, the United Nations warned that four million people in the Syrian capital city of Damascus had been deprived of safe drinking water supplies for over a week after springs outside the city were deliberately contaminated by militants.</div><div style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 18px; margin-bottom: 10px; text-align: justify;">Water supplies from the Wadi Barada and Ain al-Fija springs to the northwest of Damascus, which served 70 percent of the population in the city, were cut after water facilities were deliberately targeted and damaged, the UN announced in a statement.</div><div style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 18px; margin-bottom: 10px; text-align: justify;">Syrian officials had earlier detected diesel contamination in the water piped to the capital and had cut supplies over safety concerns.</div><div style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 18px; margin-bottom: 10px; text-align: justify;">According to the UN, 15 million people across Syria are in need of help to access water and households spend nearly a quarter of their income on water.</div><figure class="image" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 20px 0px;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjk_NO5oMMa23IGzVVV1lG7iWsaqCX_Lfih1h6OPM6-I_iD7dS0OQcdyE3tPAfJUX19EqcA3wymqtL58aSWoUX4Yc6A7xkAhf75EKGZ1koH2x-NO0FhLLn71CeKGlgdP8N9fvmpBk80Uak/s1600/a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjk_NO5oMMa23IGzVVV1lG7iWsaqCX_Lfih1h6OPM6-I_iD7dS0OQcdyE3tPAfJUX19EqcA3wymqtL58aSWoUX4Yc6A7xkAhf75EKGZ1koH2x-NO0FhLLn71CeKGlgdP8N9fvmpBk80Uak/s1600/a.jpg" /></a></div><figcaption style="background: rgb(240, 240, 240); box-sizing: border-box; color: #666666; font-size: 12px; padding: 10px;">The image shows Syrian civilians drive past a tractor removing rubble in the northern city of Aleppo, December 27, 2016. (By AFP)</figcaption></figure><div style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 18px; margin-bottom: 10px; text-align: justify;">In a separate development on Friday, the Syrian government forces found a cache of US-manufactured weapons worth of millions of dollars in eastern Aleppo, Russian media reported. The weapons had been sent to the Takfiri terrorists in hundreds of boxes disguised as humanitarian aid, the reports said.</div><div style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 18px; margin-bottom: 10px; text-align: justify;">An evacuation deal brokered by Russia and Turkey recently saw militants move from the east of the city — which had been held by armed groups for four years — to designated areas in the Idlib Governorate. As the evacuations were underway, the Syrian government said that trucks meant to deliver humanitarian aid to the area under the auspices of international organizations had to be inspected. Some of those organizations, however, denied inspections.</div><div style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 18px; margin-bottom: 10px; text-align: justify;">Last week, a Syrian army unit also discovered a major cache loaded with a considerable amount of munitions in an Aleppo neighborhood. The military later released footage of the weapons depot.</div><div style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 18px; margin-bottom: 10px; text-align: justify;">On Friday, the Syrian army announced a nationwide halt to fighting under a deal with the foreign-backed opposition. The ceasefire, also brokered by Russia and Turkey, does not apply to Daesh and Fateh al-Sham terrorist groups.</div><div style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 18px; margin-bottom: 10px; text-align: justify;">Over the past almost six years, Syria has been fighting foreign-sponsored militancy. UN Special Envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura estimated in August that more than 400,000 people had been killed in the Syrian crisis until then. The UN has stopped its official casualty count in Syria, citing its inability to verify the figures it receives from various sources.</div></div>

Aleppo Daesh General News Middle East News Syria Terrorism terrorists World News Daesh cuts off water supply to Syria’s Aleppo

The image shows a reservoir at the water station in Aleppo’s Suleiman al-Halabi neighborhood on December 27, 2016. (By AFP) Takfiri Daesh te...

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