Israel will bar a visit by two of its sharpest critics in the U.S. Congress, Democrats Rashida Tlaib and Ilhan Omar, who planned to tour the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem, the country’s deputy foreign minister said on Thursday. “The decision has been made, the decision is not to …
Read More »Blackwater Contractor Gets Life Sentence for Iraq Shooting.
A former Blackwater security guard has been sentenced to life in prison for his role in the 2007 shooting of unarmed civilians in Iraq that left 10 men, two women, and two boys, aged 9 and 11, dead. Federal Judge Royce Lamberth delivered the sentence despite pleas for leniency from …
Read More »Iranian tanker released in Gibraltar despite US attempts to hold it further.
Authorities in Gibraltar have released the Iranian oil tanker Grace 1, after receiving assurances that its cargo is not destined for Syria. The US had formally requested them to detain the vessel for a further period. Gibraltar Chief Minister Fabian Picardo agreed to lift the detention on the ship, however, …
Read More »Beijing: US ‘insanely involved in anti-Chinese criminal cases in Hong Kong’
China has accused the United States of collaborating with violent extremists in an effort to undermine stability in Hong Kong. A statement released by the Office of the Commissioner of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of China in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region condemned House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and …
Read More »Video: Moscow plane largely intact after hero pilot’s emergency landing.
Flattened cornstalks and a dented nose cone make up the bulk of the damage in the aftermath of an emergency landing near Moscow. Footage shows the wreckage of the largely intact aircraft up close. Russia’s Investigative Committee rushed to the scene of Thursday’s accident, near Moscow’s Zhukovsky Airport, but what …
Read More »Five Indians, Three Pakistani killed after gunfire exchange along kashmir line.
Five Indian soldiers and three Pakistani troops were killed in an exchange of gunfire across the de facto border of the disputed Kashmir region, the Pakistani Army claimed in a statement. The chief spokesman, Major General Asif Ghafoor, said in a tweet that the Indian troops had “increased fire” …
Read More »Greece wildfires: plane battles massive wildfires under Orange sky.
Air tankers and helicopters were deployed to drop water over devastating wildfires raging on Eubea, Greece’s second-largest island. The video shows an air tanker in the sky, which quickly goes from light blue to hellish yellow and bright orange when the aircraft flies above the wildfire, dousing the blaze with …
Read More »Somalia’s al Shabaab hits military base, deaths on both sides
Militant terrorist group al Shabaab struck a Somali government military base on Wednesday with car bombs and gunfire in a battle that both sides said caused multiple deaths to the other. Witnesses said some local residents were also killed by stray crossfire during the mid-morning attack on the base in …
Read More »Tunisia electoral commission approves 26 presidential candidates.
Tunisia’s electoral commission said on Wednesday it had approved 26 candidates including two women for next month’s presidential election and had rejected 71 other applicants. The Sept. 15 vote follows the death at age 92 last month of Beji Caid Essebsi, the first president to be democratically elected in Tunisia …
Read More »Merkel wants close Britain-EU partnership after Brexit.
Germany wants Britain to maintain a close partnership with the European Union after its divorce from the bloc, Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Wednesday. “We have of course spoken about Britain’s exit from the European Union and in this regard made clear that we want a withdrawal that will at …
Read More »African Americans underserved by US banks: study
Many African Americans have difficulty accumulating savings in part because they lack access to mainstream financial services like banking, a new study on the contributing factors to the U.S. racial wealth gap by McKinsey & Co found on Tuesday. Many minorities in the United States depend on more expensive financial …
Read More »Video: Hong Kong airport in Chaos after protesters and police clash.
The already tense situation at Hong Kong international airport became outright chaotic as Chinese riot police clashed with protesters blocking outgoing flights, with reporters and travelers among the injured. Demonstrators demanding democracy blocked the departures terminal late on Tuesday local time, preventing any passengers from leaving the airport. Incoming flights …
Read More »Kangaroos Discover Snow.
It’s been a summer of heatwaves in the Northern Hemisphere. But in Australia, a group of kangaroos is enjoying wintry conditions. Stephen Grenfell captured their joy as the troop leaped across open fields, undeterred by the cold, wet ground just north of Goulburn, in New South Wales. While the area …
Read More »Video: Russian village near site of nuclear accident told to evacuate.
Russian authorities have told people in a village near the site of a deadly missile explosion involving a nuclear power test to “leave the territory” after the accident triggered a spike in radiation. The country’s state weather service said radiation levels spiked in the Russian city of Severodvinsk by up …
Read More »Bolton says Washington favors a no-deal Brexit.
US National Security Adviser John Bolton has said the United States “enthusiastically” supports a no-deal Brexit. The European Union’s French chief negotiator for Brexit Michel Barnier had warned Britain if it wanted to avoid a no-deal Brexit then London needed to stick to the divorce agreement signed with Brussels. “If …
Read More »In a new migrant standoff, Italy’s Salvini blocks two NGO boats.
Italian Interior Minister Matteo Salvini said on Tuesday he was working to prevent two rescue ships operated by French and Spanish charities from bringing more than 500 migrants to Italy in the latest Mediterranean stand-off. The Ocean Viking, which is run by French non-governmental groups (NGOs) Doctors Without Borders and …
Read More »Video: Man goes on a stabbing rampage in Sydney.
A knife-wielding man stabbed a woman in Sydney, Australia and tried to attack “multiple people” before he was apprehended, police said. Video from the scene shows a distraught male as he jumps on the roof of a black car at an intersection. The vehicle then flees and the attacker jumps …
Read More »The New Zealand government buys more than 10,000 weapons from its citizens to avoid a repeat of the massacre of mosques
The New Zealand government has bought more than 10,000 firearms in less than a month, as part of a plan to buy back weapons after the Christ Church massacre last May. “In mid-July, the government of New Zealand launched a six-month, multi-million dollar plan to buy semi-automatic weapons from citizens …
Read More »China: All flights canceled at Hong Kong airport as thousands protest
The Hong Kong Airport Authority canceled all scheduled flights on Monday, amid thousands protesting at the airport for the fourth consecutive day, the airline said in a statement. “Traffic on the roads leading to the airport is heavily congested because of the demonstrations,” said the Hong Kong and Macao Affairs …
Read More »U.S. turning Gulf region into ‘tinderbox’
Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif accused the United States on Monday of turning the Gulf region into a “matchbox ready to ignite”, according to Al Jazeera television. Oil tanker traffic passing through the Gulf via the Strait of Hormuz has become the focus of a U.S.-Iranian standoff since Washington …
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