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by Matthew Xuereb Agence France Presse VALLETA, Malta (AFP) — Hijackers claiming to have a grenade took over a Libyan plane and diverted it to Malta Friday, before releasing almost all the passengers onboard, the prime minister of the Mediterranean island said. After more than an hour on the tarmac, the door of the Airbus A320 opened and a first group of women and children were seen descending a mobile staircase. Dozens more passengers […]
BEIJING, China (Reuters) — China said on Friday (December 23) its government was paying attention to President-elect Donald Trump’s Twitter post where he called for an expansion of the United States’ nuclear capabilities. BEIJING, China (Reuters) — On Thursday (December 22) Trump tweeted that “The United States must greatly strengthen and expand its nuclear capability until such time as the world comes to its senses regarding nukes,” but gave no further details. It was not […]
MOSCOW, Russia (AFP) — Russia’s President Vladimir Putin said Friday that US President-elect Donald Trump accurately read the popular mood in the United States to win the election, although “nobody except us” believed in his success. The US president-elect “precisely felt the mood of the society and worked in that precise paradigm, he went to the end, though nobody believed that he would win except us,” Putin said while answering a state media journalist at […]
VALLETTA, Libya (AFP) — Malta’s Prime Minister Joseph Muscat said Friday on Twitter he had been alerted to a “potential hijack” of a Libyan plane reported to be headed for the Mediterranean island. “Informed of potential hijack situation of a #Libya internal flight diverted to #Malta. Security and emergency operations standing by -JM,” the premier said in a post from his official account. Maltese government sources told AFP there were 118 people on board the […]
TAIPEI, Taiwan (Reuters) — In Taipei’s leafy Tienmu district, nearly half the flagpoles in front of the imposing pink building that houses most foreign embassies are bare, as Taiwan’s dwindling band of diplomatic friends jump ship to its giant neighbor. Another flag was taken down this week when tiny West African state Sao Tome and Principe severed ties with the self-ruled island. Taiwan had as many as 30 diplomatic allies in the mid-1990s, but now […]
ROME, Italy (AFP) — The Tunisian man suspected of carrying out the deadly Berlin truck attack at the market was shot dead by police in Milan on Friday, Italy’s interior minister Marco Minniti said. The minister told a press conference in Rome that Anis Amri had been fatally shot after firing at two police officers who had stopped his car for a routine identity check around 3:00 am (0200 GMT). Identity checks had established “without […]
MOSCOW, Russia (AFP) — Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday said there was “nothing unusual” about US President-elect Donald Trump’s call to boost America’s nuclear capability. “As concerns the new president-elect of the United States Mr Trump, there is nothing new here. During his election campaign he spoke about the necessity of strengthening the nuclear component of the United States, to strengthen the armed forces. There is nothing unusual here,” Putin said at his annual press […]
ROME, Italy (AFP) — The Tunisian man suspected of carrying out the deadly Berlin truck attack was shot dead by police in Milan Friday, Italian media reported, citing security sources. Italy’s interior minister Marco Minniti has announced a press conference for 10.45 am (0945 GMT). According to the reports, the suspect, Anis Amri, was stopped in his car around 3am for what was a routine identity check. He pulled out a pistol and shootout ensued in […]
MOSCOW, Russia (AFP) — President Vladimir Putin said Friday the recapture of the devastated city of Aleppo by Syrian regime forces was a “very important” step towards stabilizing the war-torn country. “The liberation of Aleppo from radical elements is a very important part of the normalization in Syria, and I hope, for the region overall,” Putin told defense minister Sergei Shoigu in a meeting, Russian news agencies reported. The Syrian army said late Thursday that […]
BEIRUT, Lebanon (AFP) — At least 88 civilians have been killed in 24 hours of Turkish air strikes on an Islamic State group bastion in northern Syria, a monitoring group said Friday. A barrage of raids hit Al-Bab on Thursday, killing 72 civilians including 21 children, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. Bombardment continued on Friday, leaving another 16 civilians dead, including three children. “Eighty-eight civilians have been killed in 24 hours,” Observatory […]
TOKYO, Japan (Reuters) — Tens of thousands of people flocked to the Imperial Palace in Tokyo on Friday (December 23) to wish Japan’s Emperor Akihito a happy 83rd birthday. The Imperial Household Agency said more than 33,000 people gathered at the palace before noon, the biggest turnout in Emperor Akihito’s 28-year-long reign, as this year may be the last year they hold a mass celebration for him. “There are only few days left in […]
BERLIN, Germany (AFP) — German authorities have arrested two brothers on suspicion of planning an attack on one of the country’s biggest shopping centers, in the western city of Oberhausen, police said Friday. The two men, aged 28 and 31, are originally from Kosovo, police said, four days after a jihadist drove a truck into a Christmas market in Berlin killing 12 people. Investigators were trying to establish what stage of preparation the plot was […]
