Global

White House in disarray sows distrust in Mideast ahead of peace plan roll-out

Jim Mattis. (photo credit: REUTERS) Trump’s defense secretary, Jim Mattis, and his top counter-ISIS official, Brett McGurk, resigned in protest last week over the president’s Syria policy, his treatment of longstanding allies and his perceived acquiescence to international strongmen. WASHINGTON – The implosion of US President Donald Trump’s Syria policy team has rattled Middle Eastern

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Two boys reported missing at sea during rescue of 69 migrants, Spain says

In this Friday, Dec. 21, 2018, photo, migrants sit in a rubber dinghy after Proactiva Open Arms, a Spanish NGO, spotted and rescued them in the Central Mediterranean Sea at 45 miles (72 kilometers) from Al Khums, Lybia. (AP Photo) Spain’s maritime rescue service said two children were reported missing at sea when 69 migrants

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A popular journalist fled danger in Somalia. He returned home and was killed.

Awil Dihar Salad knew firsthand the dangers of practicing journalism in Somalia. The veteran reporter had spent years working there, but he fled the Horn of Africa nation in 2005, fearing he could be targeted. When he finally returned, he hosted a popular talk show on Universal TV. But despite his precautions, Salad was killed

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Trump Syria pullout ‘blow’ to Tel Aviv: Israeli experts

Decision to pull US troops from Syria is ‘defeat for Israel’, Hebrew-language Yedioth Ahronoth declares JERUSALEM-U.S. President Donald Trump’s decision to withdraw troops from Syria has come as a “major blow” to Tel Aviv, according to Israeli analysts. On Wednesday, Trump — citing the defeat of the Daesh terrorist group — announced that U.S. troops

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US: James Mattis to step down as defense secretary over differences with Trump

US: President Trump announced Thursday that Defense Secretary Jim Mattis would leave his position in February, marking the departure of an influential figure who has steered the Trump administration toward foreign policy continuity and restraint. Mattis’s departure could add new uncertainty to which course the administration might take on its global challenges, including Iran and

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At least 2 dead as thousands protest economic woes in Sudan

IHA Photo Violent anti-government protests broke out Thursday for the second consecutive day in a string of cities across much of Sudan, including the capital Khartoum where police used tear gas to disperse hundreds of protesters and an eastern city where at least two protesters are said to have died in clashes with police. In

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Denmark to move ‘unwanted’ migrants to remote island

Parliament ratified controversial draft law allowing to move ‘unwanted’ migrants to a remote island COPENHAGEN, Denmark Danish parliament approved on Thursday a controversial draft law allowing authorities to move “unwanted” migrants to a remote uninhabited island once used for contagious animals. Harshly criticized by human rights groups, the draft law was ratified with the support

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‘US Rohingya genocide declaration to encourage others’

The U.S. House of Representative vote declaring persecution of the Rohingya minority in Myanmar a “genocide” should encourage other nations to follow suit, a senior rights activist said. In an interview with Anadolu Agency on last week’s vote, Harn Yawnghwe, son of Myanmar’s first president Sao Shwe Thaike, said the move “affirms the action taken

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Sudan’s Bashir first Arab leader to visit Syria since war began

Omar al-Bashir expresses hopes Syria will soon recover important regional role in talks with President Bashar al-Assad. Sudan’s President Omar al-Bashir has become the first Arab League leader to visit Damascus since the war in Syria began nearly eight years ago. Syria’s state-run news agency SANA said al-Bashir was greeted on Sunday at the capital’s

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Blast smashes windows, wrecks offices at Greece’s SKAI TV in “attack on democracy”

Forensic experts search for evidence after a bomb blast outside the Greece’s SKAI TV building in Athens, Greece December 17, 2018. REUTERS/Costas Baltas A powerful blast smashed windows and wrecked offices at Greece’s SKAI TV in Athens on Monday in what officials called an attack on democracy. No one was injured. SKAI is one of

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