Global news
US embassy in Yemen closes to public
The US embassy in Yemen’s capital, Sanaa, was closed to the public over
security concerns amid turmoil in the Arabian Peninsula state. The
embassy “will resume consular operations as soon as our analysis indicates we are able to do so safely," it
said in a statement. On January 22, Yemeni President Hadi submitted a
resignation letter to the parliament under pressure from advancing Shia
militias.
5 killed as passenger pick-up hits landmine in SW Pakistan
At least five people were killed and one injured when a pick-up truck
hit a landmine in the southwestern province of Baluchistan on Monday,
Pakistani officials said. The incident happened in the Chattar area of
Dera Murad district, around 257 kilometers southeast of the provincial
capital of Quetta, AFP reported. No group has claimed responsibility,
but separatists in the area have regularly attacked security personnel
and state infrastructure.
Fight for Nigeria’s Maiduguri leaves over 100, mainly militants, killed
More than 100 people, mainly insurgents, died in fighting on Sunday in
Nigeria’s Maiduguri, Reuters said, citing a local journalist as saying
on Monday. The local reporter, Bello Dukku, said the dead also included
at least 15 soldiers and a few civilians. Another 50 people were wounded
in the fighting, according to the reporter.
Turkey orders Facebook to block pages insulting Mohammad
A Turkish court has ordered Facebook to block a number of pages deemed
insulting to the Prophet Mohammad, Reuters reported. The court also
threatened on Sunday to stop access to the whole social network if it
doesn’t comply, according to local media. The court order followed a
request by a prosecutor, TRT said.
Ukraine govt declares ‘high alert regime’ nationwide – PM
The Ukrainian government has introduced “an emergency situation regime”
on the territory of the Donetsk and Lugansk Regions, and “a high alert
regime” nationwide, TASS quoted Prime Minister Arseny Yatsenyuk as
saying on Monday. This decision was made to “coordinate the activities of all state bodies to ensure citizens’ security and public order,” he said. The PM will also head a new commission on emergency situations.
34 airstrikes against Islamic State in Syria, Iraq – US military
The US and its allies launched 21 airstrikes in Syria and 13 in Iraq
against the Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS) over a 24-hour period,
Reuters reported. The Combined Joint Task Force said Monday that 17 of
the strikes since Sunday targeted Kobani, a contested city on the border
with Turkey. The strikes in Iraq targeted near Mosul, Tal Afar, Haditha
and Fallujah.
Kurds fighters expel ISIS militants from Syria’s Kobani
Kurdish fighters have expelled jihadists from the Islamic State (IS,
formerly ISIS) from the Syrian border town of Kobani after more than
four months of fighting, AFP reported, citing a monitor. Fighters from
the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) had “expelled all Islamic
State fighters from Kobani and have full control of the town,” said Rami
Abdel Rahman, director of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. The
Kurds are pursuing some jihadists on the eastern outskirts of Kobani, “but there is no more fighting inside now,” Rahman said.
Italian prosecutors seek 26 years prison for Costa Concordia captain
Italian prosecutors called Monday for the captain of the doomed Costa
Concordia, to serve 26 years and three months in jail for the 2012
shipwreck which left 32 people dead, AFP said. “This is not an exaggerated sentence,” prosecutor
Maria Navarro told the court in Grosseto, Tuscany. The prosecutor said
Francesco Schettino, dubbed ‘Captain Coward’ by the media was guilty of
multiple manslaughter, causing a shipwreck and abandoning ship before
all the passengers were safe.
3 killed in first US drone strike in Yemen this year
The US has carried out its first drone strike in Yemen since its
president resigned, AP reported, citing tribal leaders and security
officials. The first strike this year on a vehicle in an area called
Hareib, located between the provinces of Marib and Shabwa, killed three
suspected Al-Qaeda militants on Monday. It was also the first since
Shiite Houthi in control of the capital, Sanaa, put President Abed Rabbo
Mansour Hadi and his ministers under house arrest.
Japan seeks help from Jordan, other states to save hostage
Japan sought help from Jordan and other countries Monday in its race to
save a hostage held by Islamic State militants, AP said. No details of
the talks with Jordan, where a Japanese envoy is coordinating regional
efforts to save hostage Kenji Goto, were reported. Japanese officials
have indicated they are accepting the likelihood that the second
hostage, Haruna Yukawa, a 42-year-old adventurer captured in Syria last
summer, had been killed.
West uses Ukraine tragedies to impose new sanctions on Russia – Lavrov
The tragedies in Ukraine are used by the West to stir anti-Russian
hysteria and impose new sanctions, TASS quoted Russian Foreign Minister
Sergey Lavrov as saying on Monday. “We are well aware of the cynical use of such tragedies to pervert the truth” without waiting for results of unbiased investigations, the minister said.“The
West should understand how they will build policy both on Russia and
Ukraine, as well as on the security situation on our continent,” according to Lavrov. He added he hopes that common sense and objective national interests will prevail.
Number of Philippines police officers killed in clash with Muslim rebels rises to 49
At least 49 Philippines police commandos have been killed in a clash
with Muslim rebels in the south, AFP said. An 11-hour gun battle broke
out after police entered the remote town of Mamasapano, held by the Moro
Islamic Liberation Front. There was reportedly no coordination with the
rebels as required under their ceasefire agreement. The bodies of 49
police have been recovered from the town on Mindanao Island and moved to
an army camp, according to regional police spokeswoman Judith Ambong.
‘No threat’ as Secret Service recovers ‘device’ at White House
A “device” has been found on the grounds of the White House, AP quoted a
spokesman for President Barack Obama as saying. Secret Service agents
recovered the object but early indications are that it doesn’t pose a
threat to anyone in the building, according to Josh Earnest. Obama and
his wife, Michelle, are on a three-day visit to India.
Houthi rebels disperse demonstrators in Yemen capital
Houthi Shiite rebels armed with knives and batons attacked and detained
demonstrators on Monday, who were protesting against their power grab in
Yemen’s capital, AP reported. Militiamen attacked protesters and
journalists who had converged on Sanaa’s Change Square - the epicenter
of Yemen’s 2011 uprising. The violent dispersal came as Sanaa University
students staged a demonstration inside the campus. The Houthi rebels
seized Sanaa in September. Days of gun battles last week ended with
rebels placing the president, prime minister and top officials under
house arrest.
Turkey opens biggest camp for 35,000 Kobani refugees
Turkey opened its biggest refugee camp on Sunday to house 35,000 people
fleeing fighting between Kurdish forces and Islamist militants in
Kobani, Syria, Reuters reported. The tent camp in the southeastern
border town of Suruc has two hospitals, seven medical clinics and
classrooms for 10,000 children, according to national disaster
management agency AFAD. Turkey has some 24 camps housing 265,000 Syrian
refugees with another set to open in Mardin next month. The majority of
1.7 million refugees in Turkey live on the streets and in shanty towns,
and authorities have begun to transfer them to camps.
The sons of Egypt’s ex-President Mubarak freed from prison
Two sons of ousted Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak have been released
from prison, AP reported, citing officials. Wealthy businessman Alaa and
Mubarak’s one-time heir apparent Gamal were first arrested along with
their father nearly four years ago. The two walked free from Torah
Prison in a southern Cairo suburb shortly after daybreak on Monday and
were believed to have headed to their homes in the capital. They
separately face trial on insider trading, and had been acquitted of
other charges. Mubarak and his sons face a retrial on corruption
charges.
Philippines police recover 43 bodies of commandos killed by Muslim rebels
Philippine police have recovered at least 43 bodies of the dozens
commandos who were mown down by Muslim rebel gunfire in a far-flung
southern village, AP reported. The national police’s elite Special
Action Forces moved in the village over the weekend to hunt down one of
Southeast Asia’s most-wanted terrorists, officials said Monday. The
government reportedly suffered its biggest single-day combat loss in
many years in the battle scene in and around the village of Tukanalipao
in Mamasapano township. The commandos had apparently had a
“misencounter” with members of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, the
main Muslim insurgent group.
Syrian govt officials, opposition to meet in Moscow
Representatives of Syrian opposition are meeting in Moscow on Monday,
and they will be joined by Syrian government officials later in the day,
TASS reported. Both sides will be able to meet Foreign Minister Sergey
Lavrov, according to Russian President’s special Middle East and Africa
envoy, Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov. “If they all gather, then representatives of both sides will be able to meet the minister,” he said.
Syria rebels fire rockets at central Damascus, 7 killed
Seven people were killed when rebels fired a barrage of rockets and
mortar rounds Sunday in central Damascus, AFP reported, citing a
monitoring group. “Five civilians and two soldiers have been killed and dozens more wounded,” according
to the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. Rebels in the
Eastern Ghouta area fired more than 43 locally-made rockets and mortar
rounds at several areas of central Damascus, it added. The attack came
two days after militants threatened to retaliate for fatal air raids by
the Syrian government forces against an opposition-held area on the edge
of the capital.
Comments
Post a Comment