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JERUSALEM, Israel (AFP) — Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu condemned a speech by US Secretary of State John Kerry on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict Wednesday as biased against Israel and more focused on settlements than Palestinian violence. Speaking from his office following Kerry’s speech in Washington, Netanyahu said the outgoing secretary of state paid only “lip service” to Palestinian violence against Israelis. “What he did was he spent most of his speech blaming Israel for the lack […]
TOKYO, Japan (AFP) — Japan’s defense minister went to a controversial war shrine in Tokyo Thursday, media reports said, the day after accompanying Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on a highly symbolic visit to Pearl Harbor. The shrine honours millions of mostly Japanese war dead and has been criticised by countries such as China and South Korea which suffered under Japan’s colonialism and aggression in the first half of the 20th century. Tomomi Inada, Abe’s hawkish […]
by Maher al-Mounes and Rim Haddad ALEPPO, Syria (AFP) — Midnight means lights out in Syria’s Aleppo: as the clock strikes 12, overworked power generators shut off across the city, plunging war-ravaged neighborhoods and heritage sites into darkness. It will take many months and millions of dollars to breathe life back into Aleppo’s devastated water, electricity, and transportation networks. Four years of fighting have transformed it from Syria’s industrial and commercial powerhouse to a divided […]
TAIPEI (Reuters) — Taiwan warned on Tuesday (December 27) that “the threat of our enemies is growing day by day”, as Chinese warships led by the country’s sole aircraft carrier sailed towards the island province of Hainan through the South China Sea on a routine drill. The drill comes amid renewed tension over Taiwan, which Beijing claims as its own, following U.S. President-elect Donald Trump’s telephone call with the island’s president that upset Beijing. “I […]
ANKARA, Turkey (AFP) — Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Tuesday said the West was breaking promises in Syria, accusing Ankara’s partners of backing “terror groups” including IS jihadists in the country. At least 37 Turkish soldiers have died in Turkey’s major incursion inside Syria since it was launched in August to back pro-Ankara Syrian fighters battling IS and Kurdish militia. Casualties have mounted as the military seeks to take the town of Al-Bab from […]
SEOUL, South Korea (AFP) — North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un is planning a “prime time” nuclear weapons push in 2017 to take advantage of leadership transitions in South Korea and the United States, a high-ranking defector said Tuesday. In his first press conference since fleeing his post as North Korea’s deputy ambassador to Britain in August, Thae Yong-Ho said Kim had issued a directive at a rare ruling party congress in May to “complete” nuclear […]
NEW DELHI, India (AFP) — An Indian plane carrying 161 passengers and crew skidded off the runway at Goa airport early Tuesday, injuring 15 people. The Indian Navy, which runs the airport in western India, said it was not yet clear what caused the Jet Airways plane to veer off the runway. The incident happened at the height of the tourist season in Goa, whose palm-fringed beaches attract thousands of holidaymakers every year. “There are […]
KUWAIT CITY, Kuwait (AFP) — A Kuwaiti court on Monday sentenced a Filipino woman to 10 years in jail after convicting her of joining the Islamic State jihadist group and plotting attacks. The ruling, which is not final, also calls for deporting the 32-year old after serving her term. The woman was arrested in August, two months after arriving in the oil-rich Gulf state to work as a domestic helper. At the time, the interior […]
by Vasily MAXIMOV with Maria ANTONOVA in Moscow Agence France Presse SOCHI, Russia (AFP) — Russian rescuers found Monday the first parts of the Syria-bound military plane that plunged into the Black Sea, as officials dismissed terrorism as a possible cause of the crash that killed all 92 people on board. The Tu-154 jet, whose passengers included more than 60 members of the internationally-renowned Red Army Choir, was heading to Russia’s military base in Syria […]
WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — The White House orchestrated a “gang-up” against Israel on last week’s UN settlement vote, its ambassador to Washington said Monday in the latest sign of anger between the longtime allies. Ambassador Ron Dermer said in an interview with CNN that the Israeli government plans to show evidence of the alleged US maneuvering in due time. “What is outrageous is that the United States was actually behind that gang-up. I think […]
(REUTERS) A group of Chinese warships led by the country’s sole aircraft carrier entered the top half of the South China Sea on Monday after passing south of Taiwan, the self-ruled island’s Defense Ministry said of what China has termed a routine exercise. The move comes amid renewed tension over Taiwan, which Beijing claims as its own, ineligible for state-to-state relations, following U.S. President-elect Donald Trump’s telephone call with the island’s president that upset […]
(REUTERS) A group of Chinese warships led by the country’s sole aircraft carrier has passed through waters south of Taiwan and is heading southwest, Taiwan’s defense ministry said on Monday of what China has termed a routine exercise. The ministry said the aircraft carrier the Liaoning, accompanied by five other vessels, had passed 90 nautical miles south of Taiwan’s southernmost point on Monday morning via the Bashi Channel, between Taiwan and the Philippines. “Staying […]
