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Israeli PM Netanyahu visits scene of Paris attack

Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday visited the kosher supermarket in eastern Paris where four Jews were killed by an Islamist gunman last week. Amedy Coulibaly, the gunman, took innocent shoppers hostage and murdered four. Netanyahu, who paid tribute to the victims, was under massive security protection, AFP reported.

Afghanistan forms unity govt after 3 month

Afghanistan’s “unity government” was unveiled on Monday. It was preceded by three months of wrangling following the election of President Ashraf Ghani, AFP said. Ghani’s chief of staff, Abdul Salam Rahimi, read out the names of the 25 new ministers at an event in Kabul’s presidential palace. Three women were named in the cabinet as ministers for higher education, information and culture, and women’s affairs. The list of ministers will be submitted to the parliament for approval.

12:28

SpaceX delivers supplies to ISS

A shipment of much-needed groceries and belated Christmas presents arrived on Monday morning at the International Space Station, AP reported. Station commander Butch Wilmore used a robot arm to grab the capsule and its 5,000 pounds of cargo delivered by the SpaceX Dragon supply ship. It should have arrived at the space station well before Christmas, but was stalled for a month by rocket problems. NASA is paying SpaceX and Orbital Sciences Corp. for shipments.

11:52

Pakistan reopens school after Taliban massacre of students

Pakistani children returned on Monday to the school where Taliban gunmen killed 150 of their classmates and teachers last month, AP said. The terrorist attack on December 16 in Peshawar was one of the worst Pakistan has experienced. A ceremony was held at the school to mark its reopening, with classes restarting on Tuesday. The country boosted safety measures at schools in the wake of the attack.

11:19

Pope Francis says French attackers enslaved by ‘deviant forms of religion’

Pope Francis on Monday denounced the religious fundamentalism that inspired the Paris massacres and ongoing conflicts in the Middle East. He said the attackers were enslaved by “deviant forms of religion” that used God as a mere ideological pretext to perpetuate mass killings, AP reported. In the annual foreign policy address to Vatican-based ambassadors, Francis called for a unanimous response from the international community to end “fundamentalist terrorism” in the Middle East. He also called for Muslim leaders to condemn “extremist interpretations” of their faith that seek to justify such violence.

10:24

Egyptian court acquits 26 men detained in police raid on gays

An Egyptian court has acquitted 26 men who were arrested in a raid last month by police looking for gays at a Cairo public bathhouse, AP reported. Monday’s verdict came after three hearings. At least 150 men were arrested or put on trial on charges, including “debauchery,” in Egypt during 2014, according to rights activists.

Islamic State ‘operating in S. Afghanistan’

Afghanistan’s Gen. Mahmood Khan, the deputy commander of the 215 Corp, has confirmed for the first time that the extremist Islamic State group State (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL) is active in the country, AP reported. Within the past week residents of a number of districts in the southern Helmand province said that a man called Mullah Abdul Rauf was recruiting fighters for the group, which controls large parts of Syria and Iraq, according to the general. Some parts of Helmand are not controlled by the government.

Germany plans to seize personal IDs of would-be jihadists

Germany plans to seize the personal identity cards of would-be jihadists for up to three years, Reuters said. The measure is aimed at preventing them from joining militants in the Middle East. The cabinet is set to approve the new law on Wednesday, according to a spokesman for the Interior Ministry.

US military reports 27 air strikes against Islamic State

The US and its allies targeted Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL) forces in 27 air strikes in Iraq and Syria in a 24-hour period, Reuters reported. In Syria, the air raids, which lasted until Monday morning, hit IS units and destroyed fighting positions and buildings near the city of Kobani, according to the Combined Joint Task Force. A strike near Dawr az Zawr reportedly hit an oil refinery. In Iraq, 16 strikes destroyed fighting positions, an artillery system, a rocket launcher and buildings, the military said.

13:55

Nigeria’s Boko Haram attacks military base in NW Cameroon

Boko Haram militants in Nigeria attacked a military base in northwestern Cameroon on Monday, TASS reported, citing police. Residents of Kolofata reportedly fled the town where fierce fighting broke out. Boko Haram has crossed the border with Cameroon in the past to avoid clashing with Nigeria’s military.

13:46

Turkish PM seeks Germany’s help in joining EU

Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu on Monday asked Germany to support Ankara’s efforts to join the EU, TASS said. The PM was speaking at a press conference with German Chancellor Angela Merkel in Berlin. Davutoglu earlier said that Turkey’s EU membership would ease the inter-cultural tensions currently threatening Europe, AFP reported.

13:05

12 people killed by Iraq suicide bombing

A suicide car bomb has killed 12 Shiite militiamen and soldiers north of Baghdad, AP reported, citing Iraqi officials. A suicide bomber rammed his explosive-laden car into a gathering of soldiers and Shiite fighters in the town of Abasiyat, south of Tikrit, 130km north of Baghdad on Monday. The attack killed 10 militiamen and two soldiers, while 18 people were injured.

 

Policeman kills district governor, commander in Afghanistan

An Afghan policeman shot and killed his commanding officer and a district governor in Helmand Province in southern Afghanistan, Reuters said, citing officials. Sayed Murad Sadat, chief of Helmand's Nawzad district, and police commander Shamsullah were killed during a meeting on Monday, according to police. The attack was claimed by Taliban insurgents, who said the policeman had defected to their movement.

7 convicted militants hanged as Kerry visits Pakistan

Pakistan on Tuesday hanged seven convicted militants, AFP reported. This brings to 16 the number of executions carried out since the country lifted a six-year moratorium on the death penalty in December in response to a brutal Taliban assault on a school in Peshawar that left 150 dead. The executions, carried out across the country, came as US Secretary of State John Kerry is visiting Pakistan.

Pope Francis urges respect for human rights in Sri Lanka

Pope Francis urged respect for human rights in Sri Lanka as he began a two-nation Asia tour on the island Tuesday, AFP said. The visit comes days after the election of a new Sri Lankan president, and is expected to focus on the country’s unity after a 37-year conflict that pitted troops against Tamil separatist rebels. The pope’s second visit to Asia will also take in the Philippines, home to one of the most populous Catholic communities in the region.

Bodies of 4 French Jewish citizens killed in Paris attack arrive in Israel

The bodies of four French Jewish citizens killed in the assault on the kosher supermarket in Paris have arrived in Israel to be buried in Jerusalem, according to an airport official. Yoav Hattab, Philippe Braham, Yohan Cohen and Francois-Michel Saada were at the kosher supermarket in eastern Paris on Friday, when the place came under attack from radical Islamist gunman Amedy Coulibaly. Later, police stormed the building and killed Coulibaly, who was connected to the two armed men that carried out the attack on the headquarters of the satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo almost a week ago.
Seventeen people were shot and killed during the three-day siege. The owner of the kosher store has expressed his intention to move to Israel, just days after the deadly attack that left 17 dead took place, his brother told Israel’s Army Radio.
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