BERLIN German diplomats helped broker a ceasefire between the Syrian government and rebel forces in a mountainous valley near Damascus, a deal designed to restore water supplies to the capital, the German foreign ministry said on Friday. The agreement, first reported by German news magazine Der Spiegel, is aimed at giving opponents of the Syrian government an opportunity to withdraw from the Wadi Barada valley to the […]
Donald Trump will be sworn in on Friday as the 45th president of the United States, taking power over a divided country after a savage campaign and setting the country on a new, uncertain path at home and abroad. In a ceremony likely to draw 900,000 people, including protesters, Trump and his vice president, Mike Pence, will take the oath of office at midday (1700 GMT) outside […]
In the chaotic aftermath of the collapse, ambulances had to fight their way through onlookers drawn to the scene, some taking selfies in front of the rubble. Army conscripts were deployed to clear paths for the emergency vehicles. The high-rise, the 17-story Plasco Building in the center of Tehran, housed a shopping center and garment manufacturers, and it was as familiar to most residents as the Empire […]
January 20, 2017 by: Jude Webber in Mexico City One the eve of Donald Trump’s inauguration, Mexico has extradited Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán, the country’s most powerful drug lord, to face trial in the US. Mr Guzmán, at one time credited with smuggling half of all the illicit drugs entering the US, twice escaped from maximum security jails in Mexico, most recently in 2015 through a tunnel […]
Bernie Dunn may have retired from the US Army but he remains on a mission in the Middle East. The Boeing regional president hit a bullseye on December 11 when his team secured an $8 billion deal with Iran Air in the airline’s first plane contract since 1979. The world’s largest aerospace manufacturer beat out its French rival, Airbus, by 11 days. Though Airbus then secured 20 […]
When it comes to bare-knuckle political lobbying, 12-year-old Claudia Conway is a chip off the old block. Today her mother, Kellyanne Conway, the Republican pollster credited with turning round Donald Trump’s presidential campaign, will be celebrating her 50th birthday at the inauguration of the 45th President of the United States. As his special counsellor, Conway is looking forward to life as the most powerful woman in the […]
Many worry it would only set off new fighting with the Palestinians as well as the rest of the Arab world, a big price tag for a symbolic change that would hardly move the ball on the broader conflict. Continue reading the main story “I don’t know what’s in it for Trump,” said Akiva Eldar, a longtime Israeli columnist and co-author of a book on the issue […]
BEIJING China asked foreign diplomats in Beijing to help “weave a cooperative network against corruption,” state media reported on Friday, as Beijing seeks greater international cooperation in Chinese President Xi Jinping’s four-year war on graft. Xi has vowed to fight deep-rooted graft at all levels of the ruling Communist Party until officials “dare not, cannot and don’t want to” be corrupt, warning that a failure to deal […]
By Idrees Ali and Phil Stewart | WASHINGTON WASHINGTON More than 80 Islamic State militants, some of whom were believed to be plotting attacks in Europe, died in U.S. air strikes on camps outside the group’s former North African stronghold of Sirte in Libya, the United States said on Thursday. “These strikes were directed against some of ISIL’s external plotters,” U.S Defense Secretary Ash Carter told a […]
GENEVA — Deliveries of lifesaving aid to Syrian civilians trapped in besieged areas are at their lowest level in almost a year, despite a cease-fire that has curbed fighting across much of the country, the United Nations said on Thursday. In Idlib Province, residents of some towns are dying for want of medical care. Armed opposition groups and government forces “are routinely doing what they can, all […]
By Ayesha Rascoe and Julia Edwards Ainsley | WASHINGTON WASHINGTON Donald Trump is ready to begin taking executive actions on his first day in the White House on Friday to move quickly on his pledge to crack down on immigration, build a wall on the U.S.-Mexican border and roll back outgoing President Barack Obama’s policies. Trump, a Republican elected on Nov. 8, arrived in Washington on a […]
The release of the newly available primary documents, which include information not discussed in a 500-page executive summary of the Senate Intelligence Committee’s investigation into the C.I.A. torture program that was released in 2014, comes at the same time as an urgent legal battle is unfolding over the potential fate of the still-classified, 6,700-page full version of that report. Continue reading the main story Lawyers for two […]
5936 25 by Shannon K. O’Neil January 18, 2017 A dye factory worker suns fabric after washing them in Narayanganj near Dhaka, Bangladesh, December 25, 2016 (Reuters/Mohammad Ponir Hossain). In late December, tens of thousands of Bangladeshi garment workers went on strike, shutting down over fifty factories making fast-fashion clothes for international brands including Gap, H&M, and Zara. What started as a walkout in support of 121 […]
By Isabel Coles | MOSUL, Iraq MOSUL, Iraq Most Islamic State (IS) commanders in Mosul have been killed in battles with Iraqi government forces that raged over the past three months in the eastern side of the city, an Iraqi general said on Thursday. The fight to take the western side of Mosul, which remains under the jihadists’ control, should not be more difficult than the one […]
With Donald Trump’s inauguration just a day away, “Meet the Press” host Chuck Todd is preparing to cover a president who occasionally treats journalists like political punching bags. “I think he sees the media as an incredible political tool for him,” Todd told Poynter. “I don’t like being a political prop. And I think we have been set up as a political prop in some ways.” Todd, […]
Harris was initially pleased by this development. Top predators have long played an important role in nature. Wolves and cougars once put pressure on bison to keep moving over long ranges of land, and he says, “There was never overgrazing because the predators were behind the animals pushing them on, giving the land naturally a chance to rest.” Harris mimics that cycle of rotation and rest in […]
By Parisa Hafezi | ANKARA ANKARA At least 38 firefighters were injured when a blazing high-rise building in Tehran collapsed, state television reported on Thursday. Everyone had been evacuated from the building, state TV said, but firefighters were still trying to control the blaze and police have cordoned off the area. Rescue teams were at the scene, state TV said. “The building is one of the oldest […]
WASHINGTON U.S. President-elect Donald Trump will name former Georgia Governor Sonny Perdue as his nominee for secretary of agriculture on Thursday, a senior transition official said on Wednesday. Perdue, 70, served on Trump’s agricultural advisory committee during his presidential campaign. His nomination, which must be confirmed by the Republican-led Senate, will complete Trump’s proposed cabinet just before he is sworn in as president on Friday. By nominating […]
Lt. Gen. Talib Shaghati of the Iraqi Army said on Wednesday that his forces had effectively taken control of the eastern side, declaring that “important lines and important areas are finished.” He spoke at a news conference in Bartella, a town east of Mosul. Continue reading the main story Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi of Iraq, in a statement posted on his Twitter account, extolled what he described […]
The Freedom of Information process begins with a letter, right? Why does it become necessary to sue? We bring a lawsuit either when it takes too long for a government agency to respond to our request, or when they do respond but withhold records that we believe should be disclosed. Why has the Center pursued FOIA suits so vigorously? How does the Center differ from other organizations […]
WASHINGTON: In the first visit of its kind since 2012, US Democratic Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard has traveled to Syria on a trip that has taken her so far to Aleppo and Damascus.The move, according to Syrian-conflict watchers, indicates that President Bashar Assad “is no longer beyond the pale in US politics and policymaking.”Gabbard, who made news in November with her meeting with President-elect Donald Trump, and was […]
Blockchain has moved on from its Bitcoin past and is being touted as an effective and inexpensive way to safeguard data, with one Singapore-based vendor launching its first blockchain-based authentication tool. Because it provides a shared replicated “immutable” ledger, blockchain can facilitate a “single source of truth” and a secure, tamper-proof system of record, according to Alan Lim, Asean practice lead for IBM Blockchain and Bluemix Garage. […]
A secret agent with an extreme-sports background, Xander Cage has always been a character close to Vin Diesel’s heart. “I am very much into extreme sports,” says the Fast & Furious star. “I was into them growing up in New York City, and I can’t tell you how many dangerous things I did – until I started to do these action movies.” Realising he might be pushing […]
The artist behind the iconic “Hope” poster of Barack Obama that became synonymous with his successful presidential campaign has released a new set of images, just in time for Trump’s inauguration and the subsequent Women’s March. Artist Shepard Fairey, who created the original in 2008 as well as a less flattering Donald Trump print complete with the caption “Demagogue,” has shifted his focus this time round. Now […]
