BEIRUT Syrian government warplanes carried out several air strikes and low-level clashes persisted in some areas on Sunday, but a Russian- and Turkish-backed ceasefire largely held in other areas on its third day, a monitoring group and rebels said. Jets bombed the villages of Kafr Kar, Mintar and around the town of Banan in the southern Aleppo countryside, the British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. It […]
ISTANBUL: Thirty-nine people, including many foreigners, were killed when a gunman reportedly dressed as Santa Claus stormed an Istanbul nightclub as revellers were celebrating the New Year, the latest carnage to rock Turkey after a bloody 2016.The assailant shot dead a policeman and a civilian at the entrance to the Reina club, one of the city’s most exclusive nightspots, and then went on a shooting rampage inside, […]
SEOUL North Korean leader Kim Jong Un said on Sunday that the isolated nuclear-capable country was close to test-launching an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM). “Research and development of cutting edge arms equipment is actively progressing and ICBM rocket test launch preparation is in its last stage,” Kim said during a televised New Year’s Day speech. North Korea tested ballistic missiles at an unprecedented rate during 2016, although […]
Photo The Russian ambassador to the United Nations, Vitaly I. Churkin, voted Saturday in favor of a resolution encouraging the new cease-fire in Syria. Credit Jason Szenes/European Pressphoto Agency BEIRUT, Lebanon — The United Nations Security Council on Saturday unanimously endorsed a resolution encouraging a new cease-fire in the war in Syria, adding international support for an agreement brokered by Russia and Turkey that has been in […]
Submitted by Jason Ditz via TheAntiMedia.org, Adding to concerns about the civilian toll of the US air war against ISIS targets, the Pentagon yesterday admitted that they carried out an airstrike against the parking lot of a Mosul hospital, conceding that they “may have killed civilians” in the attack. The Pentagon’s Combined Joint Strike Force said in a statement that they were after a van they suspected of […]
BEIRUT Syrian rebel groups said on Saturday they would consider a ceasefire deal brokered by Russia and Turkey “null and void” if the Damascus government’s forces and their allies continued to violate it. Russia, which supports Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, has urged the United Nations to give its blessing to the fragile ceasefire, the third truce this year seeking to end nearly six years of war in […]
Back in September we wrote about what we thought for sure would be the wackiest new state law passed in 2016. The law came from the state of California (of course) and demanded a 40% reduction in methane gas from cow flatulence by 2030. Here’s what we had to say about the bill: In yet another attack on California businesses, yesterday Governor Jerry Brown signed into law […]
Photo Ruined buildings in Douma, Syria, a rebel-held area near Damascus, on Friday. Credit Bassam Khabieh/Reuters BEIRUT, Lebanon — A cease-fire between the Syrian government and rebel groups tentatively took hold across the country on Friday, with only scattered reports of clashes, shelling and airstrikes. The truce, brokered primarily by Russia and Turkey, who pledged to guarantee the compliance of the government and the opposition, was announced […]
Photo The body of a 15-year-old girl at a makeshift morgue on Thursday in the rebel-held town of Douma, Syria, on the outskirts of Damascus, after reports of airstrikes. Credit Abd Doumany/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images MOSCOW — The Syrian government and its most important ally, Russia, announced on Thursday that they had reached a cease-fire agreement with Syrian rebels and with Turkey — a potential turning […]
By Andrew Osborn and Orhan Coskun | MOSCOW/ANKARA MOSCOW/ANKARA Syria would be divided into informal zones of regional power influence and Bashar al-Assad would remain president for at least a few years under an outline deal between Russia, Turkey and Iran, sources say. Such a deal, which would allow regional autonomy within a federal structure controlled by Assad’s Alawite sect, is in its infancy, subject to change […]
By Andrew Osborn and Tom Perry | MOSCOW/BEIRUT MOSCOW/BEIRUT Russia’s foreign minister on Tuesday said the Syrian government was consulting with the opposition ahead of possible peace talks, while a Saudi-backed opposition group said it knew nothing of the negotiations but supported a ceasefire. In an interview with Interfax news agency, Sergei Lavrov did not say where the consultations were taking place or which opposition groups were […]
In order to meet this demand for fresh content — a demand created by the process that supplies it — Jukin scales idle browsing to industrial proportions. A researcher, on average, watches 200 clips daily. That’s a thousand videos each week, or 50,000 per year, give or take. The company’s research is aided by proprietary software called Riff, which generates feeds based on niche viral keywords. Maybe […]
MOSCOW Russia said on Tuesday that a U.S. decision to ease some restrictions on arming Syrian rebels had opened the way for deliveries of shoulder-fired anti-aircraft missiles, a move it said would directly threaten Russian forces in Syria. Moscow last year launched a campaign of air strikes in Syria to help President Bashar al-Assad and government forces in a conflict with rebels, some of whom are supported […]
By Stephen Kalin | EAST OF MOSUL, Iraq EAST OF MOSUL, Iraq Iraqi forces will resume their push against Islamic State inside Mosul in the coming days, a U.S. battlefield commander said, in a new phase of the two-month-old operation that will see American troops deployed closer to the front line in the city. The battle for Mosul, involving 100,000 Iraqi troops, members of the Kurdish security […]
But with few spies in the city, American officials say assessing the enemy is difficult. “We’ve spent a lot of time trying to understand the situation on the ground in Raqqa,” Lt. Gen. Jeffrey L. Harrigian, the air war commander, said in an interview from his headquarters in Qatar. “It’s improving. It’s still not at the level we’d like it to be.” Continue reading the main story […]
By Stephen Kalin | EAST OF MOSUL, Iraq EAST OF MOSUL, Iraq This is the third Christmas that Staff Sergeant Magdiel Asencio is spending in Iraq. For Sergeant First Class Noel Alvarado, it is number four. And so it is with many U.S. troops stationed less than a hour’s drive from the front line with Islamic State. Few thought they would be back nearly 14 years after […]
A Russian military aircraft crashed into the Black Sea on its way to Syria on Sunday, and none of the 92 people on board were expected to have survived, according to the Russian defence ministry. Among those on board the Tupolev-154 were members of the well-known Alexandrov Choir, who were to perform at Hmeymim air base. From that base, in Latakia province, Russia has flown most of […]
SANTIAGO An earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 7.7 struck 225 km (140 miles) southwest of Puerto Montt in southern Chile on Sunday, United States Geological Survey said. A tsunami warning was issued for areas within 1,000 km (621 miles) of the epicenter of the quake, the U.S.-based Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said. The Chilean Navy also issued a tsunami warning. The quake’s depth was about 15 […]
A Russian military plane carrying 92 people, including dozens of Red Army Choir singers, dancers and orchestra members, crashed into the Black Sea shortly after takeoff from Sochi on its way to Syria on Sunday, killing everyone on board, Russian authorities said. Earlier, the Russian Defense Ministry said one of its TU-154 Tupolev planes had disappeared from radar screens at 0525 MSK (9.25 p.m. ET), two minutes […]
The UAE is set to be one of the world’s main centres for New Year’s Eve concerts on Saturday, with a variety of gigs in genres ranging from stadium rock and EDM to Arab pop and hip-hop. The locations are as eclectic as the sounds on offer, with mammoth venues such as Abu Dhabi’s du Arena and Dubai’s Meydan Racecourse hosting events along with resorts, restaurants and […]
Russian jets stepped up strikes on several towns in Syria’s rebel-held Idlib province and rural Aleppo two days after the evacuation of rebels from their last pocket in the northern city of Aleppo, rebels and residents said on Saturday. They said at least eight strikes targeted Binish, Saraqeb and Jisr al Shaqour – main towns in the northwestern Syrian province of Idlib. There were reports of several […]
Doctor Who showrunner Steven Moffat is trying to explain what he loves most about superhero movies. He talks excitedly about the cape and the mask. The importance of a hero’s “normal” life. “When Superman doesn’t work, it’s because there’s not enough Clark Kent,” he says. And then there’s the romance. “There’s always a good one at their heart – and Clark Kent/Lois Lane is certainly the only […]
By Lisa Barrington and Angus McDowall | BEIRUT BEIRUT Syrian rebels shelled Aleppo and air strikes resumed around the city on Friday as Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and his allies said the insurgents’ withdrawal from the city could pave the way towards a political solution for the country. A day after the last rebels left their remaining pocket of territory in the city, the Syrian Observatory for […]
By Kate Kelland A vaccine developed by Merck is the first shown to be highly effective in preventing human infection with Ebola, according to final results from a clinical trial. Among 5,837 people who received the rVSV-EBOV vaccine in the trial in Guinea in 2015, no Ebola cases were recorded 10 days or more after vaccination, signalling 100 percent protection. More than 11,300 people died in West […]
