DOHA: Qatari citizens held hostage in Iraq by unidentified gunmen since 2015 have been freed and handed over to the Iraqi interior ministry, Qatar-based al-Jazeera reported on Friday.The satellite channel gave no further details on the release of the hostages, who were seized by gunmen in December 2015 while on a hunting trip near the border with Saudi Arabia.An Iraqi security official later said Iraq would hand […]
By Eyanir Chinea and Efrain Otero | CARACAS CARACAS Eight people were electrocuted to death during a looting incident in Caracas, a firefighter said on Friday, amid violent protests against Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro by opponents accusing him of seeking to create a dictatorship. The accident occurred when a group of looters broke into a bakery in the working class neighborhood of El Valle, according the firefighter, […]
Just when you thought it was over – after Trump ‘Tomahawks’ Putin’s pal Assad, and Tillerson trounces Lavrov – and the media had stopped the constant “Russia did it” narrative, the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence (which seems like as big an oxymoron as can occur) has called numerous current (and former) officials to testify once again on Russia’s “active measures during the 2016 election.” As […]
WASHINGTON The U.S. House of Representatives Intelligence Committee, which is investigating Russia’s involvement in the 2016 U.S. election, said on Friday it had invited the directors of the Federal Bureau of Investigation and National Security Agency to appear at a closed hearing on May 2. Apparently ending a dispute between Democrats and Republicans over who would testify as it investigates possible links between President Donald Trump’s campaign […]
ABU DHABI // The capital is the safest cities in the world, according to a 300-strong online index. Compiled by Numbeo.com, a database of user-contributed information, the Crime Index Rate puts the capital in 288th place among 288 cities in terms of crime, meaning it is the safest city on the planet. Dubai is in 279th place. Sheikh Saif bin Zayed, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of […]
New York’s highest court on Tuesday rejected effort to challenge search warrants demanding information about hundreds of customers in connection with a Social Security fraud probe. As Law Blog earlier reported, New York City prosecutors obtained the warrants as part of a sweeping investigation into fraudulent Social Security disability claims, including claims submitted by retired […] (via WSJ)
CARACAS A man was killed in a protest in the Venezuelan capital on Thursday night, an official said on Friday, marking the ninth death in a wave of sometimes violent demonstrations against President Nicolas Maduro’s government. Melvin Guaitan died of a bullet wound in the slum of Petare, municipal mayor Carlos Ocariz said via Twitter. Local media reported looting and street clashes with security forces in poor […]
PARIS French presidential frontrunner Emmanuel Macron on Friday said France should not yield to fear and candidates in the election should avoid one-upmanship after the killing of a police officer in an Islamic State-claimed attack claimed. “Don’t yield to fear, don’t yield to division and intimidation. Our generation must rise to this challenge,” he said in a statement broadcast from his campaign headquarters. Macron said he had […]
Although Google is processing more requests, it’s also producing data for a smaller share of them. Image: Google Government requests for Google user data in the second half of 2016 were the highest since the firm first reported the figures in 2009. As Google notes in its latest Transparency Report, it received 45,549 government requests for user data in the second half of 2016, of which about […]
By Mica Rosenberg and Yeganeh Torbati | NEW YORK/WASHINGTON NEW YORK/WASHINGTON When Raj, a Sri Lankan fisherman, sought refuge in the United States in 2005, he had precisely the kind of fear of returning home that U.S. asylum laws require. In 2004, he was kidnapped by the separatist rebel group the Tamil Tigers and had to pay $500 to secure his release, according to Raj, his lawyer […]
SYDNEY U.S. Vice President Mike Pence is expected to discuss trade and regional security when he meets Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull on Saturday, Australian officials said. Pence arrives in Australia late on Friday for the last stop on his 10-day tour of U.S. allies in the Asia-Pacific region that has included a series of roundtables with leading business executives in South Korea, Japan, and Indonesia. His […]
PARIS France has fully mobilised its security forces, including elite units, to ensure citizens’ protection during the forthcoming presidential election following Thursday night’s shooting in central Paris, Prime Minister Bernard Cazeneuve said on Friday. Speaking after an emergency meeting of top security officials, Cazeneuve said all elite units were on top alert for the election to back up the 50,000 police already earmarked for special election duty. […]
ABU DHABI // Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces, held bilateral talks with Russian president Vladimir Putin in Moscow on Thursday to discuss efforts to bring about an end to conflicts in the region as well as increasing security cooperation and economic ties. The UAE is Russia’s closest partner in the GCC, and Moscow has […]
Your daily guide to community and cultural activities across the Emirates for April 21, 2017, including performances, festivals, art exhibitions, film screenings, health and fitness events, talks, classes, workshops and family fun. Ellen Fortini rounds up 10 things to do today in the UAE. Want to see your event listed here? Email us with the details and contact information at listings@thenational.ae newslide Abu Dhabi Kids’ fun Take […]
France has launched an anti-terror investigation after a policeman was killed and two other officers injured in an apparent Islamist attack in Paris on Thursday that threatens to disrupt the country’s presidential election. French authorities said the suspected gunman had been shot dead in the assault on the Champs-Élysées shortly before 9pm local time. One civilian was also injured in the attack. “We are convinced that the […]
FRANKFURT German police arrested a man on Friday who is suspected of planting explosives targeting the bus of soccer team Borussia Dortmund last week, the office of the German federal chief prosecutor said. The 28-year old man, a dual German and Russian national identified as Sergei V., had bought options on Borussia Dortmund’s stock before the attack, hoping to make a profit, it said in a statement. […]
Photo An image from a video, released on Thursday through a Muslim Brotherhood channel, appears to show Egyptian soldiers summarily executing unarmed detainees in the Sinai Peninsula. Credit Mekameleen TV, via Youtube A video has emerged that appears to show members of the Egyptian military shooting unarmed detainees to death at point-blank range in the Sinai Peninsula and staging the killings to look as if they had […]
A suspect nicknamed Black Jesus who police say killed three white men during a racially motivated shooting spree in downtown Fresno, California, was charged on Thursday with the murder of an unarmed Motel 6 security guard days earlier. Kori Ali Muhammad, 39, was also charged by Fresno County prosecutors with the attempted murder of a second security guard at the motel on April 13, five days before […]
By Mark Hosenball and Joseph Menn French voters are being deluged with false stories on social media ahead of the country’s presidential election, though the onslaught of “junk news” is not as severe as that during last year’s U.S. presidential campaign, according to a study by Oxford University researchers. The study to be published Friday and another published on Wednesday add evidence to complaints by officials in […]
President Donald Trump has tried to ban people from certain Muslim-majority countries from entering the U.S. and has begun deportation raids, following through on his campaign promise to creating a more cautious, less open America. Recent migrants to the country are starting to worry how far the measures will go and some Indians are worried that the skilled-worker visas they use to enter the country could become […]
DUBAI // The UAE’s youth have the will, knowledge and culture to carry the vision of the country’s leadership into the future, said Dr Anwar Gargash, Minister of State for Foreign Affairs. Addressing Emirati youth at an open dialogue session to encourage political participation, held at Etihad Museum, Dr Gargash answered questions on the challenges facing the country and the running of the Federal National Council. “Young […]
It isn’t the first time that imprisoned Palestinian activist Marwan Barghouti has written a controversial comment-article for a major newspaper in the United States. In fact, it isn’t even the first time that, in giving him a platform in the western media, an American newspaper has glossed over some details of the life of a man who is now 13 years into five life sentences handed down […]
WASHINGTON The United States is aware of a higher-than-usual level of activity by Chinese bomber planes, signalling a possible heightened state of readiness, U.S. officials told Reuters on Thursday, but downplayed concerns and left open a range of possible reasons. None of the officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity, suggested alarm or signalled that they knew the precise reason for such Chinese activity. Those possibilities include […]
A secret court that oversees the US government’s legal surveillance requests rejected a record number of applications last year, according to new figures. Newly released data by the US Courts show that the Washington DC.-based Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISA court) rejected nine applications during the final year of the Obama administration’s tenure. It’s the largest number of requests the FISA court has denied in its entire […]
