| Libya parliament speaker urges rejection of UN-recognised govt Posted: 28 Dec 2019 04:44 PM PST  The speaker of Libya's parliament on Saturday urged the international community to reject the legitimacy of the war-torn country's UN-recognised government which is pursuing closer military ties with Turkey. Libya has been beset by chaos since a NATO-backed uprising toppled and killed dictator Moamer Kadhafi in 2011, with rival administrations in the east and the west vying for power. In a reflection of the deep political divisions, the elected parliament in the east is allied with military strongman Khalifa Haftar, who is at war with the Tripoli-based Government of National Accord (GNA) recognised by the United Nations.
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| Trump retweets, deletes post naming alleged whistleblower Posted: 28 Dec 2019 04:40 PM PST  President Donald Trump retweeted, then deleted, a post that included the alleged name of the anonymous whistleblower whose complaint ultimately led to Trump's impeachment by the House. Just before midnight Friday, Trump retweeted a message from Twitter user @Surfermom77, an account that claims to be a woman named Sophia who lives in California. While Trump has repeatedly backed efforts to unmask the whistleblower, his retweet marks the first time he has directly sent the alleged name into the Twitter feed of his 68 million followers.
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| At Least 79 Dead in Truck Bomb Attack in Somalia’s Capital Posted: 28 Dec 2019 01:05 PM PST ![At Least 79 Dead in Truck Bomb Attack in Somalia's Capital]( "At Least 79 Dead in Truck Bomb Attack in Somalia's Capital") (Bloomberg) -- At least 79 people, many of them university students, died when a truck bomb exploded during rush hour at a busy intersection in Somalia's capital of Mogadishu, according to the Associated Press and other news reports.An explosives-laden vehicle hit the taxation office near a junction in Mogadishu, Ahmed Abdi Hussein, a Somali police officer, told Bloomberg News by phone. Another police official said the target was Turkish engineers who were in a vehicle near the intersection, without elaborating on how he got the information.Two Turks were killed in the attack, Turkey's state-run Anadolu Agency reported, citing Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu.At least 125 people were wounded and were being treated at nearby hospitals. The number of dead could exceed 100, Anadolu Agency said, quoting Ambassador Mehmet Yilmaz.The explosion took place at a checkpoint after police blocked the truck from entering the city, the Associated Press reported, citing the nation's police chief.No one has claimed responsibility for the attack. The al-Qaeda-linked militant group al-Shabab last week said they carried out a car bombing that killed eight people in central Somalia and the group has been blamed for an October 2017 bombing that killed more than 500 people.Somali President Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed blamed al-Shabab for what he called a "heinous act of terror.""This dark day has robbed our nation of dozens of innocent lives, the perpetrators of this heinous act of terror will never dim the spirits of the people of Somalia," he said in a statement posted on Twitter. "Let's join hands in countering this evil in our midst. Let's move fast and help out the survivors."The U.S. embassy in Somalia, speaking on behalf of Ambassador Donald Yamamoto, sent its "deepest condolences to the families and friends of the victims" in a Twitter message.The United Nations issued a statement on behalf of Secretary General Antonio Guterres that "strongly condemns" the attack and expressed condolences to the injured and families of the victims."He stresses that the perpetrators of this horrendous crime must be brought to justice," the UN said in the statement. "The Secretary-General reiterates the full commitment of the United Nations to support the people and Government of Somalia in their pursuit of peace and development."The African nation is among the world's poorest, and is struggling to rebuild after decades of civil war.(Updates death toll in first paragraph.)\--With assistance from Taylan Bilgic and Susan Decker.To contact the reporters on this story: Mohammed Omar Ahmed in Garowe at mahmed76@bloomberg.net;Mohamed Sheikh Nor in Mogadishu at msheikhnor@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Shamim Adam at sadam2@bloomberg.net, Ros Krasny, Matthew G. MillerFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
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| Thousands of koalas feared dead in Australia wildfires Posted: 28 Dec 2019 12:53 PM PST  Thousands of koalas are feared to have died in a wildfire-ravaged area north of Sydney, further diminishing Australia's iconic marsupial, while the fire danger increased in the country's east on Saturday as temperatures soared. The mid-northern coast of New South Wales was home to up to 28,000 koalas, but wildfires have significantly reduced their population in recent months. Koalas are native to Australia and are one of the country's most beloved animals, but they've been under threat due to a loss of habitat.
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| Klobuchar's Iowa tour: Bragging point and caucus strategy Posted: 28 Dec 2019 11:58 AM PST  To Amy Klobuchar, her just-completed tour of all 99 Iowa counties proves a point: As president, she would go everywhere and represent everyone, even in the heart of Trump country. In those places, personal connections can be made over coffee or, as happened this month, over hot chocolate and convenience store breakfast pizza aboard Klobuchar's campaign bus. Republican Rick Santorum campaigned in all 99 counties — known as the "full Grassley" after Iowa Sen. Chuck Grassley — for the 2016 election and finished close to last in the Iowa caucuses.
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| Woman charged with hate crime amid NYC anti-Semitic attacks Posted: 28 Dec 2019 11:35 AM PST  A woman accused of slapping three people in one of a series of apparently anti-Semitic attacks reported throughout New York during Hanukkah was charged Saturday with attempted assault as a hate crime, court records show. Tiffany Harris, 30, was released without bail after her arraignment on the attempted assault charge and misdemeanor and lower-level charges , according to the records.
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| Group: NW Syria at breaking point, warns of more displaced Posted: 28 Dec 2019 10:40 AM PST ![Group: NW Syria at breaking point, warns of more displaced]( "Group: NW Syria at breaking point, warns of more displaced") The International Rescue Committee warned that continued violence could displace as many as 400,000 in the coming weeks. After weeks of intense bombardment, Syrian government forces launched a ground offensive on the southern and eastern parts of Idlib in the northwest last week, forcing tens of thousands to flee their homes. The U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said that as a result of hostilities more than 235,000 people had been displaced between Dec. 12 and Dec. 25.
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| Doctor charged in 25 deaths sues hospital for defamation Posted: 28 Dec 2019 10:35 AM PST  An Ohio doctor accused of ordering drug overdoses in the deaths of 25 hospital patients has sued his former employer for defamation, arguing that he did nothing wrong and did not deviate from hospital policy on end-of-life care. Dr. William Husel, who is accused of murder, filed the lawsuit Thursday in Franklin County against the Columbus-area Mount Carmel Health System and its parent organization, Trinity Health Corp. "It would not be an exaggeration to state that Dr. Husel has suffered perhaps the most egregious case of defamation in Ohio's recent history," according to the lawsuit.
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| Report: Small plane crashes in Louisiana, five dead Posted: 28 Dec 2019 10:16 AM PST  Five people are dead after a small plane crashed near a post office in southern Louisiana on Saturday, authorities said. Lafayette Fire Chief Robert Benoit told KLFY-TV that the aircraft was an eight-passenger plane. Acadian Ambulance said via Twitter that it responded to the scene of a "crash of a small civilian airplane" in Lafayette and transported a total of four patients: one who was on board the aircraft and three who were on the ground.
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| Egypt says 22 killed in road crash in country's north Posted: 28 Dec 2019 10:07 AM PST ![Egypt says 22 killed in road crash in country's north]( "Egypt says 22 killed in road crash in country's north") Health authorities say about two dozen people, mostly laborers, were killed Saturday when a minibus collided with a truck on a highway in Port Said in northern Egypt. Officials said in a statement that the minibus, a vehicle widely used in Egypt as a communal taxi, was bringing the laborers from a garment factory in Port Said. At least 22 people were killed in the crash, which took place on a highway linking the cities of Port Said and Damietta, the statement said.
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| Traditional Han clothing makes comeback as youth reject Westernised fashion in China Posted: 28 Dec 2019 08:38 AM PST  Chi Yunuo's white silk robe embroidered with an owl and flora pattern puffed through the air as she flitted around the boutique to help customers trying on pieces. She paused in the corner to style a woman's hair into two elaborate chignons, finishing the look with a red ribbon. Stepping inside Beijing shop Dreamy Garments is an exercise in time travel – the store caters to a growing clientele of "hanfu" devotees, dedicated to wearing ancient attire believed to be worn by China's Han ethnic majority before centuries of foreign domination brought Western fashion into vogue. Some of the most committed, like Ms Chi, 31, don daily these intricate outfits, ignoring the stares. They are proud to slip into robes they say reflect a return to a collective Chinese identity and traditional values. Chi Yunuo, owner of a Hanfu shop, drinks tea in her shop Credit: Giulia Marchi for The Telegraph "For example, every piece of 'hanfu' must have a back seam...it symbolises the integrity of a person," said Ms Chi, spinning around to display her rear. "'Hanfu' embodies so much wisdom of our ancestors." And anyway, "it is more comfortable to wear 'hanfu' than modern attire – it's loose, but still forms a nice silhouette," she said. "I can't imagine squeezing my legs into jeans again!" In a country where large social gatherings and activities are often banned, the retro fashion boom is one that even Xi Jinping, leader of the Chinese Communist Party, seems to have endorsed. Since taking office in 2012, he has stressed the revival of the Chinese spirit, traditional values, and the importance to "proceed with the inheritance of cultural bloodlines." As "hanfu" popularity grows, so have sales at Ms Chi's shop – on a good day, more than 30 garments fly off the racks, some as expensive as 2,500 yuan, equivalent to the average monthly salary. Enthusiasts trace the trend to 2003 when electrician Wang Letian wore a few of his own handmade garments on the streets. Liu Jingqiu (right), 32, and her partner He Shipeng, pose in traditional Han clothing in Xihai, Beijing Credit: Giulia Marchi for The Telegraph Now, a social media account that chronicles the movement claims there are two million "hanfu" lovers in China. Followers around the country have formed clubs to share their love for the clothes and to stage traditional activities – putting on tea ceremonies, practicing archery, painting calligraphy and playing the zither, a stringed Chinese instrument. "When I walk on campus wearing 'hanfu', it feels like I've entered history," said Wang Tongyu, 19, who studies garden design at the North China University of Technology. "In a time of material affluence, we should pursue something more spiritual. I feel it's my duty and mission to promote 'hanfu' and trace our historical roots," said Liu Jingqiu, 32, a social worker, who wears traditional outfits outside of work. Today, she had on a pink robe with phoenix birds and peony flowers lining the bottom. Ms Liu's boyfriend, He Shipeng, 23, an IT worker – they met at a "hanfu" event – explained that such flora and fauna patterns harken back to a more "peaceful and glamorous era," as he gracefully pulled a pair of glasses from a billowy sleeve designed to store small items. The Hanfu group of students displaying the designs at North China University of Technology. Credit: Giulia Marchi The "hanfu" revival, however, highlights what experts perceive as a growing intolerance for minority ethnic groups, many of whom are persecuted under the Han ethnic majority. "While it's called a Zhonghua [Chinese] identity, it is a Han-centric national identity that has little space for ethnic cultural diversity," said James Leibold, a professor at Australia's La Trobe University who specialises in China's ethnic policy. But "hanfu" devotees say they're simply expressing a love for their heritage. People at times "confuse the clothing with Japanese kimonos or traditional Korean attire," said Ms Chi. "But now more people recognise that this is the traditional attire of the Han people," she said. "I'm just happy to show that Han people have their ethnic costumes as well."
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| Even amid affluence of tech capital, local news struggles Posted: 28 Dec 2019 07:48 AM PST  The cities and suburbs on the eastern side of San Francisco Bay are home to 2.7 million people, a world-class University of California campus and bedroom communities for Silicon Valley that produce median incomes 50 percent higher than the national average. What they no longer have is a thriving landscape of local daily newspapers. Gone is the Oakland Tribune, the Contra Costa Times, The Daily Review of Hayward, The Argus of Fremont and the Tri-Valley Herald, among others.
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| Japanese police find human heads in boat from North Korea Posted: 28 Dec 2019 07:48 AM PST  Japanese police found the remains of at least five people in a wooden boat suspected to be from North Korea on the coast of one of Japan's outlying islands on Saturday, a Coast Guard official said. Police made the discovery in the wooden boat's stem around 9:30 a.m local time on Saturday on Sado island, which is off the coast of Japan's northwestern prefecture of Niigata, Coast Guard official Kei Chinen said. Police found the heads of two persons, as well as five bodies, Chinen said, adding that the cause of death is under investigation. The official could not immediately confirm whether the heads belonged to the five bodies or were from two other people, saying that is being investigated. The wooden boat had letters and numbers written in Korean on its outside, he added. A police officer first spotted the wooden boat on Friday afternoon. Police waited until Saturday before entering it due to unstable weather. The discovery on Saturday marks the second time since last month that a wooden boat has washed up on the shores of Sado island, Chinen said. The grisly find adds to the troubles that Japan and South Korea have with their neighbour North Korea, as strained diplomatic ties over the North's nuclear arms programme could make an investigation difficult to carry out. North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has given the United States until the end of the year to propose new concessions in talks over his country's nuclear arsenal and reducing tensions between the adversaries. Also on Friday, Japanese public broadcaster NHK sent a news bulletin that incorrectly reported North Korea had launched a missile that fell into waters east of the Japanese archipelago, issuing an apology explaining it was a media training alert.
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| 6 men become 1st to cross perilous Drake Passage unassisted Posted: 28 Dec 2019 07:45 AM PST  As freezing water thrashed their rowboat in some of the most treacherous waters in the world, six men fought for 13 days to make history, becoming the first people to traverse the infamous Drake Passage with nothing other than sheer manpower. The team of men from four countries finished crossing the Drake Passage on Wednesday in just under two weeks after pushing off from the southern tip of South America. "This is a really big deal in Antarctic history to hear about this," said Wayne Ranney, a Flagstaff, Arizona-based geologist who has led expeditions to Antarctica and crossed the Drake Passage in motorized vessels more than 50 times.
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| Russia Deploys Hypersonic Weapon, Potentially Renewing Arms Race Posted: 28 Dec 2019 07:05 AM PST  WASHINGTON -- The Russian military on Friday said it had deployed a hypersonic weapon that flies at superfast speeds and can easily evade U.S. missile defense systems, potentially setting off a new chapter in the long arms race between the world's preeminent nuclear powers.U.S. officials said Friday they have little doubt that the Russians have a working hypersonic weapon -- which sits on top of a modified missile and is capable of carrying a nuclear warhead at speeds faster than 3,800 mph.Moscow has been working on the technology for years and has invested heavily in it, determined to reverse the pattern in the Cold War, when it was often struggling to catch up with U.S. nuclear weapons systems. If the new system, called "Avangard," works as President Vladimir Putin of Russia boasted when he described the weapon a year ago, it would significantly enhance Moscow's already powerful nuclear forces, U.S. officials said.Hypersonic weapons can maneuver along unpredictable trajectories, making them incredibly difficult for current systems to track, much less shoot down. Senior U.S. military officials said the United States plans to deploy its own hypersonic weapons by 2022, but some experts believe that the schedule may prove optimistic.Yet the Russian announcement may be as much about spurring a new round of diplomatic talks as it is about reviving an arms race, current and former diplomats said. Moscow is eager for President Donald Trump to renew the last remaining arms control treaty between the United States and Russia, called New START, which limits strategic nuclear missile launchers and deployed warheads for both nations. The treaty expires soon after the next presidential inauguration in 2021.The Trump administration has been noncommittal about extending the treaty, and Trump has repeatedly said that he would renew it only if it includes China and other nuclear powers. China has said it is not interested in any numerical limits on its arsenal, which is one-fifth of the size of America's and Russia's.Last month, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo declared that "the world has changed" in the decade since the Obama administration negotiated New START and that arms control treaties can no longer be limited "to the United States and Russia."By showcasing its new weapon, Russia could be trying to pressure Trump to open talks. Putin said earlier this week that Russia was ahead on hypersonic technology, reveling in a rare moment of superiority to American and Chinese technology. The Russian leader has been unafraid to use "nuclear diplomacy" in the past and Moscow has been designing new weapons that can threaten the United States.Trump has at times called for starting a new arms race, saying that American technology would ultimately win. Yet while the U.S. military was once thought to be well ahead in hypersonic technology, the pace of development flagged in recent years."China and Russia made hypersonic weapons a national priority. We didn't," William Roper, the head of Air Force acquisitions and technology, said Friday. "Every service now has a major hypersonics program in a departmentwide effort to catch up."The U.S. Air Force has two hypersonic prototypes in testing and, while development is on an accelerated pace, the weapons are not scheduled to be operational until 2022. Other parts of the Pentagon, including the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, have other hypersonic initiatives, but they are many years down the road.Still, experts say the threat to the United States appears limited. Russia's system is being deployed in relatively low numbers, likely no more than a couple of dozen, according to Daryl Kimball, the executive director of the Arms Control Association. As a result, the system "does not significantly increase the threat to the United States and the world" of Russia's already fearsome nuclear arsenal, Kimball said.But he said the two countries should discuss hypersonics as part of any new negotiations."Washington and Moscow should immediately commence talks on how new weapons technologies and all types of nuclear weapons should be regulated so that neither side believes they can gain an advantage by 'racing' ahead of the other," Kimball said.The Russian weapon -- known as a hypersonic glide vehicle -- can fly lower in the atmosphere, avoiding ballistic missile defense radars. It is mounted on an intercontinental ballistic missile, allowing the warhead to be initially carried toward a target on a traditional piece of technology. But as it gets closer to the target, it flies at hypersonic speeds in an unpredictable path -- making detection, tracking and interception extremely difficult. Most U.S. missile defenses work by predicting the path of an incoming weapon and shooting an "interceptor" at it.On Friday, Russia's defense minister, Sergei Shoigu, informed Putin that the first missile regiment armed with the glide vehicle was operational, the ministry said in a statement. The strategic missile forces chief, Gen. Sergei Karakayev, said at a meeting later in the day that the new missile was deployed with a military unit in the town of Yasny of the Orenburg region on the border with Kazakhstan.The Pentagon declined to comment on the Russian statement, but other U.S. officials said there was no reason to doubt Moscow had deployed the new weapon.Nothing in the existing arms treaty would prohibit the new Russian weapon from being mounted atop an intercontinental weapon. In November, before Friday's deployment of the hypersonic weapon, the Russian military exhibited it for U.S. officials, as required under the treaty.The weapons that Putin has tried to highlight in recent years have all been systems designed to reach the United States."The Russians are developing capabilities to reach out and attack us," Brig. Gen. S. Clinton Hinote, a senior Air Force official, said in an interview this month, before the Russian technology was declared operational. "When you look at some of the capabilities Russia has announced, they are designed for offensive attack into the homeland of the United States."The Avangard project was among the few new Russian strategic weapons Putin unveiled during his State of the Union speech in March 2018. Putin boasted that the new weapon "flies to its target like a meteorite, like a ball of fire" and is "absolutely invulnerable to any air or missile defense system."Russia began looking at ways to improve the capabilities of its strategic missile force after the United States withdrew from the anti-ballistic missile treaty in 2002 in order to expand its missile defenses.Russia has several other projects underway, including a long-range torpedo that could detonate a nuclear weapon on the American West Coast, and a nuclear-powered cruise missile. Neither would be covered by New START but development is still years away.The new U.S. defense budget devotes significant funds to developing both new weapons and new defenses against hypersonic weapons. Progress has been cloaked in secrecy. But Lt. Col. Robert Carver, a Pentagon spokesman, said hypersonic weapons "remain a technical research and engineering priority" for the Pentagon.Unlike the new Russian system, two Air Force prototypes are designed to be carried and released by aircraft, not launched atop ICBMs.Roper said the Air Force is moving more aggressively than usual to test the prototypes in an effort to build new weapons faster. Even if the new prototypes work, he said, there can be no "sense of comfort" and warned that the United States will need to continue developing new hypersonic weapons "if we want to dominate this new domain of fast flight."This article originally appeared in The New York Times.(C) 2019 The New York Times Company
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| Freezing Syrians seek shelter in olive groves as Assad bombings intensify in last rebel bastion Posted: 28 Dec 2019 06:54 AM PST  In the olive groves of north-west Syria, tarpaulin sheets stretched across barren trees do little to keep out the sleeting rain. The families huddle for warmth as the temperatures drop to nearly zero degrees celsius. Babies are bundled in coats and blankets, the adults burn wood and use up the last of their dwindling gas supplies. They are among the 235,000 people who have fled air strikes and shelling elsewhere in Idlib province in recent weeks. The exodus was triggered by ramped-up Syrian and Russian attacks on some of the most densely populated areas of the country's last-remaining rebel bastion. So many have fled in such a short period that even the sprawling makeshift tent cities that abut the Turkish border are now full, forcing thousands to sleep out in the open. Aid agencies warn the situation is untenable and is now threatening to turn into one of the worst humanitarian disasters of the eight-year war. Syrians are seen with their belongings who have been forced to displace due to the ongoing attacks carried out by Assad regime and Russia, during winter season at makeshift tent area in Harbanos town of Idlib, Syria Credit: Anadolu Even President Donald Trump, who is not usually moved to speak out about the plight of Syrians, tweeted on Thursday: "Russia, Syria, and Iran are killing, or on their way to killing thousands of innocent civilians in Idlib Province. "Don't do it! Most of the 3.5 million people living in the province had been displaced from formerly rebel-held areas across the country and as a result have nowhere left to go. Turkey, which is already hosting the largest number of refugees of any country in the world, closed the frontier with Syria in response to the 2015 migrant crisis and built a wall to stem the flow. They have been sending in truckloads of aid into Idlib and accepting some of its most urgent medical cases, but have signalled they are not prepared to offer much else. It is in Europe's interest to help avoid a large-scale humanitarian disaster. Ankara has threatened to send new arrivals its way if it is pressured to open the border. Syrian families, who have been forced to displace despite attacks carried out by Assad regime and Russia, sit on soil field despite the cold weather during winter season at Harbanush village in Idlib, Syria Credit: Anadolu Agency Earlier this month, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Turkey's president, told the EU to prepare for a "new wave" of Syrian refugees, saying his country "will not carry the migration burden alone." Civilians in Idlib say they feel abandoned by Turkey, which has been the opposition's main backer during the uprising against the government. Turkey has been strengthening its alliance with Russia, a key ally of President Bashar al-Assad's regime, in recent months. Western diplomats say they believe Ankara agreed something of a quid pro quo with Moscow - if the latter turns a blind eye to the former's operation against Syrian Kurdish militias, it will not stand in its way over Idlib. The move has effectively sold out the revolution. Families unable to find tents due to overcrowding sleep under the olive groves Credit: Anadolu Agency Mustafa Sejari, a senior official in the Turkey-backed rebel Syrian National Army, pleaded with Mr Erdogan in an open letter, asking for him to take a "historic stand" by opening Turkey's borders to women and children, and resuming military support to opposition forces. The Syrian offensive is part of the regime's strategy to secure the M4 and M5 highways running through Idlib, both key routes connecting the government-controlled cities of Aleppo and Hama with capital Damascus. Assad has promised to retake "every inch" of Syria, but the rebels, who are largely aligned with Islamist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), have had years to dig in. The city of Maaret al-Numan, which had a population of around 100,000, has been at the centre of Assad's most recent campaign. It had become known for its fierce resistance to the regime, but also in more recent times for its resistance to HTS and the hardline groups who overran it. Intense shelling and strikes has driven out virtually the entire population. Footage captured by a handful of remaining residents shows a decimated ghosttown. Dareen Khalifa, a Syria analyst with the International Crisis Group, said she believed government forces have been "overcompensating" for the slow progress made so far in Idlib by using "devastating levels of air force." A smoke plume billows following a reported Syrian government air strike on a residential district of Maaret al-Numan in the northwestern Idlib province Credit: AFP "If the regime continues and if the rebels don't surrender, this will mean the worst humanitarian disaster we've seen in Syria," she said. "The casualties and displacement levels are catastrophic." Mahmoud Sadeq, a 30-year-old father of two young children, was forced to flee his house in Maaret al-Numan last week. "On Friday, Dec 20, we woke up to the sound of warplanes and airstrikes," he told the Telegraph by phone. "The regime and Russia began a brutal aerial assault as well as shelling from troops on the ground. Friday is a day to remember because the bombing didn't stop for a minute, it was continuous, fierce, and hysterical. "I waited until the bombing eased down. By dawn of Saturday, I rode a motorbike with my wife and two children, who are three years old and one month old, and we fled the city towards Binnish in the northeast of Idlib, I drove slowly because the weather was so cold, so we suffered a lot, the trip took two hours." The family is now seeking shelter in a building next to an orchid field. All they managed to take with them was a change of clothes, a gas cylinder for cooking, a small amount of food supplies and photographs. Few places are safe. Earlier this month a refugee camp was bombed, leaving at least 16 civilians dead and 50 wounded. There have been at least 65 attacks on 47 health facilities in Idlib since the offensive began in earnest in April, according to the Syrian American Medical Society (SAMS). Earlier this year, UN officials alleged Russian forces may be deliberately targeting hospitals and schools as a tactic to "terrorise" civilians - accusations denied by both Damascus and Moscow. The UN in Syria on Tuesday sent an email to local NGOs saying its request for a pause in fighting had been met, and encouraged people in Maarat al-Numan to leave. Hours later, Russian warplanes bombed a school, killing six children. The bombing campaign has killed more than 5,262 civilians, including 246 children, since April, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based war monitoring group. More than 100 of whom died in the last week. Russia and China last week vetoed a United Nations Security Council resolution that would have allowed aid to continue flowing to Idlib. The UN, US and its European partners have been able to do little other than issue statements of condemnation. "It seems that 2019 was the year the international community and the UN completely abandoned Syria and politicians have even run out of words of condemnation," said Raed Al Saleh, head of the White Helmets civil defence this week. "My biggest fear as the year comes to a close is for the attacks to intensify further, causing new waves of displacement because there is nowhere left for people to run to. Every olive tree has become a tent and every camp has exceeded its capacity ten times over," he said. "I still cannot understand how the world's most powerful nations can meet those horrors with silence and inaction."
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| Man, 60, dies after beating in $1 Christmas Eve mugging Posted: 28 Dec 2019 06:12 AM PST  A 60-year-old man who was kicked and punched while defending his partner during a $1 mugging on Christmas Eve has died. Juan Fresnada died Friday afternoon at the Bronx hospital where he was taken in critical condition after the mugging early Tuesday, the New York Police Department said Saturday.
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| Iraqi group says 490 protesters killed since October Posted: 28 Dec 2019 06:11 AM PST  Iraq's semi-official human rights commission said Saturday at least 490 protesters have been killed in Baghdad and southern cities in nearly three months of anti-government rallies. Iraq has been roiled by protests since Oct. 1 in which demonstrators have taken to the streets to decry corruption, poor services and a lack of jobs. The protesters demand an independent candidate to hold the post.
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| Ukraine, separatists expected to swap prisoners on Sunday Posted: 28 Dec 2019 06:01 AM PST ![Ukraine, separatists expected to swap prisoners on Sunday]( "Ukraine, separatists expected to swap prisoners on Sunday") Kyiv expects to swap prisoners with Russia-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine on Sunday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said Saturday. Zelenskiy and Russian President Vladimir Putin in their first meeting failed to find a compromise to end the five-year war that has killed 14,000 people, but agreed to revive the peace process and exchange prisoners. Separatist officials confirmed the exchange was to take place Sunday and said they expected to swap 55 Ukrainians for 87 rebels.
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| More than 70 dead in Somalia bombing at busy checkpoint Posted: 28 Dec 2019 04:08 AM PST  A massive car bomb exploded in a busy area of the Somali capital Mogadishu during rush hour on Saturday, leaving more than 73 dead and 50 injured. The attack during rush-hour this morning was one of the deadliest attacks in the Somali capital in recent memory. The toll was likely to rise because scores of people were taken to hospital, Ismail Mukhtar, a government spokesman, said. Officials said most of those killed at the site, where traffic is often heavy because of a security checkpoint and a tax office at the intersection, were university and other students returning to class. Witnesses described carnage at the scene. Security officers gather at the scene of a large explosion near a check point in Mogadishu Credit: REX "All I could see was scattered dead bodies ... amid the blast and some of them burned beyond recognition," said Sakariye Abdukadir, who was close to the explosion. A small team of Turkish engineers present at the time of the blast, who were constructing a road from the checkpoint into the city, were reported to have been killed. The witnesses said that a car belonging to the engineers was destroyed instantly. Turkey has been a major donor to Somalia since a famine in 2011. Yesterday's attack was the third deadliest terrorist incident in Mogadishu in recent years. A truck bombing in 2011 killed around 11 schoolchildren and Somali soldiers at the Hargaha and Samaha compounds in the capital. The most deadly attack blamed on the group was in October 2017 when a bomb-laden truck exploded next to a fuel tanker, sparking a fire that killed nearly 600 people. A woman reacts as her injured child is assisted at the Madina hospital following a car bomb explosion at a checkpoint in Mogadishu Credit: Reuters Al-Qaeda-linked Islamist group al Shabaab regularly carries out such attacks in an attempt to undermine the government, which is backed by the United Nations and African Union troops. While al Shabaab carries out frequent attacks, the death tolls are often lower than in Saturday's blast. The group has sometimes not claimed responsibility for attacks that sparked a big public backlash, such as a 2009 suicide bombing of a graduation ceremony for medical students. Somalia has been riven by conflict since 1991, when clan warlords overthrew former leader Siad Barre, then turned on each other. The latest attack has raised concerns about the readiness of Somali forces to take over responsibility for the country's security from an African Union force in the coming months.
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| Lebanese protesters turn their ire on banks Posted: 28 Dec 2019 03:55 AM PST  Dozens of Lebanese protesters held a brief sit-in inside a bank in Beirut and another in the country's south on Saturday, part of their focus on banking policies they complain are inefficient and corrupt. Banks are imposing unprecedented capital controls to protect their deposits amid a deepening confidence crisis. Dozens of protesters entered a private bank in the commercial Hamra district in Beirut, protesting capital controls and insisting that no one would leave without the money they came for.
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| ‘Stay vigilant’ with North Korea despite failure to deliver ‘Christmas gift’: Experts Posted: 28 Dec 2019 02:23 AM PST  Christmas passed without the promised "gift" from North Korea's Kim Jong Un, but South Korean authorities are still keeping an eye on possible provocations by the North. Kim announced in the Supreme People's Assembly speech in April that North Korea "will wait till the end of this year to see whether the United States makes a courageous decision or not," demanding concessions in the nuclear negotiations such as lifting sanctions.
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| A final fundraiser for man who boosted ice bucket challenge Posted: 28 Dec 2019 02:02 AM PST  Hundreds of people plunged into the chilly ocean at a Massachusetts beach on Saturday to honor Peter Frates, the former college baseball player whose battle with Lou Gehrig's disease helped spread the ALS ice bucket challenge. The event, in its eighth year, raised money for the Pete Frates #3 Fund, which helped pay for Frates' medical bills. The former Boston College baseball player, who lived in Beverly, a suburb north of Boston, died Dec. 9 after a seven-year battle with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.
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| China’s Space Force Is Way Ahead of Trump’s Posted: 28 Dec 2019 01:59 AM PST  HONG KONG—Nearly a year and a half after Donald J. Trump ordered the Pentagon to establish the U.S. Space Force—a whole new sixth branch of the American armed forces—he signed the 2020 National Defense Authorization Act on Dec. 20. At least on paper, the U.S. Space Force is now a reality. But the United States is late to this game. The Russians have been organizing and reorganizing space force variants since the 1990s. And more importantly, the Chinese Communist Party's People's Liberation Army has had such an organization up and running for the last four years. It's called the PLA Strategic Support Force, and it is something of a technological juggernaut responsible for space, cyber, electronic, and psychological warfare.China's Looming Land Grab in Outer Space"Outer space has become the new commanding heights in international strategic competition," declared a document published by the State Council in Beijing in 2015. "Countries concerned are developing their space forces and instruments, and the first signs of weaponization of outer space have appeared." CCP leader Xi Jinping's move to dominate those commanding heights is one more of his moves to modernize the Chinese military, which is also developing potentially revolutionary technology for its conventional air force, and a blue water navy. The competition in space, as elsewhere, is squarely directed at the United States. It's part of the tech war between the U.S. and China—a front often overlooked in the slow drip of information related to the trade war and potential export deals.China's recent achievements in space have eclipsed those of Russia, and it's quickly catching up to the United States. China's biggest rocket, the Long March 5, was loaded onto a launchpad a week ago and successfully launched on Friday, carrying an eight-ton satellite. The heavy-lift rocket previously failed to launch in 2017, but its successful launch puts China's space program on track to send a probe to Mars and acquire rock and fine-grain "soil" samples from the moon next year. The Long March 5 will also deliver modules of the Tiangong space station, which is due to go online within two to four years.Even though China hasn't sent any "taikonauts" into space since late 2016, it has been placing a lot of equipment into orbit. Its BeiDou system—an alternative to the American GPS—is set to be completed in June. And the Chinese space program already has a rover on the far side of the moon; it has been operating for about a year. Civilian operations also are progressing rapidly. iSpace, a company based in Beijing, is similar to SpaceX. It placed two satellites in orbit in late July.In Its Epic Sci-Fi Movie 'The Wandering Earth,' China Saves the World From AnnihilationHow does the PLASSF operate? The branch projects power in what it describes as "strategic frontiers," specifically referring to areas that are not defined as part of geographical topology. China hasn't been involved in large-scale armed conflicts since the 1970s, so the force has been contributing to training exercises where it plays the role of an adversary, deploying electronic and psychological warfare, preparing the PLA's other branches for disruptive battle tactics. Although outer space remains an untested domain for armed conflict, the PLASSF is busy formulating the Chinese military's space operational doctrine. And China's space warfare specialists have been conducting research and training as a unit for nearly four years to rival U.S. Space Command and the newly formed Space Force.In the meantime, the PLASSF has recruited hundreds of specialists and scientists whose expertise in deep tech will define China's space warfare capabilities. The scenario that is of utmost concern is a long-range attack launched from, say, the United States. Only by controlling a chunk of outer space can the PLA conduct long range operations against the U.S. or other forces—or deter potential attacks.Xi Jinping and the CCP believe it is crucial to match and surpass the U.S. in technological prowess in all arenas. As Chinese entities bulk up their presence beyond the stratosphere, the Party is also harnessing other forms of cutting-edge tech, like big data, artificial intelligence, and cloud computing. In September, Xi appointed a big-data expert, Wang Yingwei, as the CCP's new cybersecurity chief. And the People's Bank of China—the country's central bank—is redoubling efforts to create a digital currency, likely in response to Facebook's proposed Libra, which may be rolled out in 2020.The Party recognizes that warfare is evolving, and new fronts have emerged. Its plans for "civil-military fusion" mirror the U.S. military's cooperation with contractors to develop new weapons. Clusters of private companies in China specialize in serving the PLA's needs.This month, Xi Jinping commissioned the Shandong, China's first domestically built aircraft carrier. CCP officials find parallels in maritime power projection and dominance in space. Last year, the head of China's lunar exploration program likened the moon and Mars to islands in the South China Sea, a region where territorial disputes have pitted the governments of the Philippines, Vietnam, Taiwan, and others against Beijing.China has even staked its claim for supremacy in outer space on the silver screen. In The Wandering Earth, a film based on a novella of the same name written by Hugo Award-winner Liu Cixin, a few taikonauts and futuristic truck drivers from China save our planet from total destruction. The absence of America (and other nations) from the narrative may not have been politically motivated, but as Daily Beast contributor David Axe wrote, it's a "handy metaphor for China's rise in space."Beijing says it "always adheres to the principle of use of outer space for peaceful purposes and opposes the weaponization of or an arms race in outer space." The PLA's readiness to co-opt China's developments beyond Earth's surface tell us otherwise.Read more at The Daily Beast.Get our top stories in your inbox every day. Sign up now!Daily Beast Membership: Beast Inside goes deeper on the stories that matter to you. Learn more.
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| Nuclear power plant in UAE risks sparking arms race, expert warns Posted: 27 Dec 2019 11:00 PM PST  Four nuclear reactors being built in the United Arab Emirates could spark a nuclear arms race in the Middle East and leave the Persian Gulf at risk of a Chernobyl-style disaster, a leading nuclear scientist has claimed. In a report, Dr Paul Dorfman, chairman of the Nuclear Consulting Group, warned the UAE's Barakah nuclear power plant lacks key safety features, poses a threat to the environment, is a potential target for terrorists and could be part of plans to develop nuclear weapons. "The motivation for building this may lie hidden in plain sight," Dr Dorfman told the Telegraph. "They are seriously considering nuclear proliferation." Dr Dorfman, who is also an honorary senior research associate at University College London's Energy Institute, has served as a nuclear adviser to the British government and led the European Environment Agency response to the Fukushima disaster. However, the UAE has stressed that it is committed to "the highest standards of nuclear safety, security and non-proliferation." The UAE hired the South Korean firm Korea Electric Power Corporation to build the Barakah - "Divine Blessing" in Arabic, plant in 2009. It will be the first nuclear power plant in the Arabian peninsula, and has fuelled speculation that Abu Dhabi is preparing for a nuclear arms race with the Islamic Republic. The UAE has denied allegations by the Qatari government that its power plant is a security threat to their capital of Doha and the Qatari environment, dismissing any causes for concern. Abu Dhabi's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed al Nahyan photographed in Germany earlier this year Credit: Reuters However, Houthi rebels in Yemen claimed they hit the Barakah nuclear power plant with a missile in 2017. The UAE denied that the rebels fired any such missile, adding that they had an air defence system to deal with such threats. Dr Dorfman said that scrambling fighter aircraft or firing surface to air missiles in time to intercept an incoming strike would be difficult. In September, Saudi air defences failed to stop a drone attack on oil processing facilities. Houthi rebels claimed responsibility for that attack, though Saudi Arabia blamed Iran. The increase in transportation of radioactive materials through the Persian Gulf when the plant goes into operation could also raise the risk of potentially fatal collisions, explosions, or equipment and material failure. Any radioactive discharge resulting from accidents could easily reach population centres on the Gulf coast and have a potentially devastating impact on delicate Gulf ecosystems, including rare mangrove swamps. The plant is also vulnerable to climate change and extreme temperatures that could affect its cooling system, Dr Dorfman's report says. The International Panel on Climate Change has said that extreme sea level events are now likely to happen more frequently, meaning coastal power plants such as Barakah could become defenseless against rising sea levels, tidal ingress and storm surges. High average sea water temperatures in the Gulf could also make it more difficult to cool the reactor using sea water. The cost of the 1986 Chernobyl accident has been recently estimated to be around $235 billion (£179 billion). The Japanese Centre for Economic Research has said the 2011 Fukushima accident cost over 81 trillion YEN(£567 billion), although the Japanese government has put the cost at YEN 22 million (£142 billion). The United Arab Emirates Foreign ministry had not responded to a request for comment at the time of publication.
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| Truck bomb in Somali capital kills at least 79 at rush hour Posted: 27 Dec 2019 10:14 PM PST  A truck bomb exploded at a busy security checkpoint in Somalia's capital Saturday morning, killing at least 79 people including many students, authorities said. It was the worst attack in Mogadishu since the devastating 2017 bombing that killed hundreds. The explosion ripped through rush hour as Somalia returned to work after its weekend.
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| Drawn-out sex crimes case rattles Israel-Australia ties Posted: 27 Dec 2019 10:06 PM PST  Nicole Meyer endured years of sexual abuse allegedly at the hands of her former school principal. The lengthy, Kafkaesque legal saga over the sex crimes suspect's fate has not only agonized Meyer but is testing the relationship between Israel and one of its closest allies, Australia. Malka Leifer's case is still far from resolved and even Australia's pro-Israel Jewish community is losing patience.
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| Helicopter tours criticized after deadly Hawaii crash Posted: 27 Dec 2019 10:02 PM PST  Tour helicopter operations in Hawaii are under increased scrutiny after a deadly crash this week, one of several recent accidents in the state, with a congressman calling the trips unsafe and lacking proper oversight. A helicopter that was set to tour Kauai's rugged Na Pali Coast, the picturesque and remote northern shoreline of Kauai that was featured in the film "Jurassic Park," crashed on a mountaintop Thursday. Two of the passengers were believed to be minors, the U.S. Coast Guard said.
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| Hundreds of accused clergy left off church's sex abuse lists Posted: 27 Dec 2019 09:02 PM PST  Victims advocates had long criticized the Roman Catholic Church for not making public the names of credibly accused priests. Now, despite the dioceses' release of nearly 5,300 names, most in the last two years, critics say the lists are far from complete. An AP analysis found more than 900 clergy members accused of child sexual abuse who were missing from lists released by the dioceses and religious orders where they served.
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| North Korean Fighter Pilots Battled American Jets Over Vietnam Posted: 27 Dec 2019 09:00 PM PST  In the year 2000, a visit by North Korea's foreign minister to a cemetery in Bac Giang, Vietnam confirmed a long-rumored fact: dozens of North Korean pilots had dueled American Navy and Air Force pilots over the skies of Vietnam during the 1960s. And fourteen North Korean Air Force did not return alive.
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| UN condemns human rights abuses against Myanmar's Rohingya Muslims Posted: 27 Dec 2019 08:57 PM PST  The United Nations has approved a resolution strongly condemning human rights abuses against Myanmar's Rohingya Muslims and other minorities, including arbitrary arrests, torture, rape and deaths in detention. The 193-member world body voted 134-9 with 28 abstentions in favor of the resolution which also calls on Myanmar's government to take urgent measures to combat incitement of hatred against the Rohingya and other minorities in Rakhine, Kachin and Shan states. General Assembly resolutions are not legally binding but they do reflect world opinion. Earlier this month, Aung San Suu Kyi, the Nobel peace laureate and Myanmar's de facto civilian leader, denied that her country's military acted with "genocidal intent" towards the Rohingya. Myanmar has long considered the Rohingya to be "Bengalis" from Bangladesh even though their families have lived in the country for generations. Nearly all have been denied citizenship since 1982, effectively rendering them stateless, and they are also denied freedom of movement and other basic rights. Telegraph photographer Heathcliff O'Malley's pictures of Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh The long-simmering Rohingya crisis exploded on August 25, 2017, when Myanmar's military launched what it called a clearance campaign in Rakhine in response to an attack by a Rohingya insurgent group. The campaign led to the mass Rohingya exodus to Bangladesh and to accusations that security forces committed mass rapes and killings and burned thousands of homes. Hau Do Suan, Myanmar's UN ambassador, called the resolution "another classic example of double-standards (and) selective and discriminatory application of human rights norms" designed "to exert unwanted political pressure on Myanmar." He said the resolution did not attempt to find a solution to the complex situation in Rakhine and refused to recognise government efforts to address the challenges. The resolution, the ambassador said, "will sow seeds of distrust and will create further polarization of different communities in the region." The resolution expresses alarm at the continuing influx of Rohingya Muslims to neighbouring Bangladesh over the past four decades, now numbering 1.1 million including 744,000 who arrived since August 2017, "in the aftermath of atrocities committed by the security and armed forces of Myanmar." The assembly also expressed alarm at an independent international fact-finding mission's findings "of gross human rights violations and abuses suffered by Rohingya Muslims and other minorities" by the security forces, which the mission said "undoubtedly amount to the gravest crimes under international law." Rohingya refugee crisis | Key facts The resolution called for an immediate cessation of fighting and hostilities. It reiterated "deep distress at reports that unarmed individuals in Rakhine state have been and continue to be subjected to the excessive use of forces and violations of international human rights law, international humanitarian law by the military and security and armed forces." And it called for Myanmar's forces to protect all people, and for urgent steps to ensure justice for all rights violations The resolution also urged the government "to expedite efforts to eliminate statelessness and the systematic and institutionalized discrimination" against the Rohingya and other minorities, to dismantle camps for Rohingyas and others displaced in Rakhine, and "to create the conditions necessary for the safe, voluntary, dignified and sustainable return of all refugees, including Rohingya Muslim refugees." It noted that the Rohingya have twice refused to return to Myanmar from Bangladesh because of the absence of these conditions.
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| US base near North Korea accidentally sounds attack alarm instead of bugle call Posted: 27 Dec 2019 08:40 PM PST  An American military base in South Korea accidentally sounded an alert siren instead of a bugle call, causing a scare that the base might have been under attack from North Korea. The US and its allies are closely monitoring Pyongyang for signs of provocation amid a recent escalation of threats from the secretive state, which has warned that it could send Washington a "Christmas gift". The siren at Camp Casey, which is near the border with North Korea, went off by "human error" at around 10pm on Thursday, said Lt Col Martyn Crighton, a public affairs officer for the 2nd Infantry Division. The operator immediately identified the mistake and alerted all units at the base of the false alarm, which did not interfere with any operations, Crighton said. The incident came a day before Japanese broadcaster NHK caused panic by mistakenly sending a news alert saying that North Korea fired a missile over Japan that landed in the sea off the country's northeastern island of Hokkaido early Friday. The broadcaster apologised, saying the alert was for media training purposes. North Korean missile ranges North Korea has been increasing pressure on Washington before an end-of-year deadline issued by leader Kim Jong-un for President Trump to offer acceptable terms for a nuclear deal. There are concerns that Pyongyang could react if Washington does not relieve sanctions imposed on the North's broken economy. North Korea fired two missiles over Japan during a run of weapons tests in 2017, which also included three tests of developmental intercontinental ballistic missiles that demonstrated potential capabilities to reach the US mainland. Tensions eased after Kim initiated diplomacy with Washington and Seoul in 2018 while looking to leverage his nukes for economic and security benefits. But negotiations have faltered since a February summit between Mr Kim and Mr Trump broke down after the US side rejected North Korean demands for broad sanctions relief in exchange for a partial surrender of its nuclear capabilities.
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| US military base blares false alarm amid N Korea concerns Posted: 27 Dec 2019 07:58 PM PST  A U.S. military base in South Korea accidentally blared an alert siren instead of a bugle call, causing a brief scare just as the U.S. and its allies are monitoring for signs of provocation from North Korea, which has warned it could send a "Christmas gift" over deadlocked nuclear negotiations. The siren at Camp Casey, which is near the border with North Korea, went off by "human error" at around 10 p.m. Thursday, said Lt. Col. Martyn Crighton, a public affairs officer for the 2nd Infantry Division. The incident came a day before Japanese broadcaster NHK caused panic by mistakenly sending a news alert saying North Korea fired a missile over Japan that landed in the sea off the country's northeastern island of Hokkaido early Friday.
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| UN extends investigation of leader's mysterious 1961 death Posted: 27 Dec 2019 07:33 PM PST  The United Nations General Assembly on Friday approved a resolution extending the investigation into the mysterious 1961 death of secretary-general Dag Hammarskjold. The Swedish diplomat had been traveling in southern Africa for a mission when his plane crashed. Sweden recommended the reappointment of Tanzanian lawyer Mohamed Chande Othman, who has led the investigation for several years.
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| Russia claims to have deployed Avangard hypersonic missiles that 'cannot be intercepted' Posted: 27 Dec 2019 07:26 PM PST  Russia says it has deployed its first hypersonic missiles which President Putin claims are capable of transporting nuclear warheads at 27 times the speed of sound. The location of the Avangard hypersonic glide vehicle has not been confirmed but has been widely reported to be the Urals, a mountain range in western Russia. Sergei Shoigu, Russia's defence minister confirmed that the missiles entered service at 10am Moscow time on Friday, describing their deployment as a "landmark event". Vladimir Putin said that the missiles put Russia ahead of the rest of the world. "Not a single country possesses hypersonic weapons, let alone continental-range hypersonic weapons," he said, arguing that the West was "playing catch-up with us". "The Avangard is invulnerable to intercept by any existing and prospective missile defence means of the potential adversary." Vladimir Putin said that the West is now "playing catch-up" Credit: REUTERS Moscow said the Avangard is launched on top of an intercontinental ballistic missile but it can make sharp manoeuvres on the way to its target, making it more difficult to intercept. The Russian government had announced the missiles last year and in March 2018 Mr Putin likened the missile to a "meteorite" and a "fireball" in a state address. The Avangard, which Mr Putin said could penetrate current and future missile defence systems, can carry a nuclear weapon of up to two megatons. The Pentagon responded to the deployment by saying it would "not characterise the Russian claims" about the Avangard's capabilities. The United States has its own hypersonic missile programme, as does China, which in 2014 said it had carried out a test flight. The US has been developing hypersonic weapons in recent years. In August, Mark Esper, the defence secretary, said the Pentagon was some years from deploying its own missiles.
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| Mexico says Bolivia blocked Spanish diplomats' cars at La Paz embassy amid deepening diplomatic row Posted: 27 Dec 2019 06:48 PM PST  Mexico's government has accused Bolivian police of blocking Spanish officials from leaving the Mexican ambassador's residence on Friday, deepening a growing diplomatic row between the two countries. Two Spanish diplomats were about to leave the Mexican ambassador's residence in La Paz when they were told their cars had been detained some minutes away and would not be allowed to re-enter the compound, Mexico's foreign ministry said in a statement. Karen Longaric, Bolivia's foreign minister, complained that Spanish diplomats were accompanied by masked and armed men on a visit to the residence, calling that an abuse of Bolivia's sovereignty. She said a protest would be lodged with the European Union, United Nations and Organization of American States. Television stations broadcast images of a masked person getting out of a Spanish diplomatic vehicle and exchanging words with local police. Civilians then approached and began attacking the car, shouting that there could be an attempt to free nine officials sheltered inside. Mexico says Bolivian authorities have harassed and intimidated its diplomatic staff in a row that erupted over the Mexican government's decision to grant asylum to nine people, now housed in its diplomatic facilities in La Paz. Some of them are wanted by Bolivia's new conservative administration. Jeanine Añez, Bolivia's interim president, took power last month when long-serving socialist leader Evo Morales resigned and fled to Mexico City after a presidential election that the Organization of American States said was rigged in his favour. Mr Morales's acceptance of an offer of political asylum from the leftist Mexican government of President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador strained ties with Ms Añez, an opponent of Mr Morales. On Friday, Mexico's ambassador eventually made contact with Bolivia's foreign ministry, which urged the diplomats to exit the premises and walk back to their cars, but they refused to do so without their security details, the statement added. In the end, the two diplomats were collected by a car sent by the Bolivian foreign ministry over an hour later, it said. "The right to asylum has to be guaranteed," President López Obrador said on Friday. "We hope they act sensibly and they don't invade our diplomatic representation in Bolivia. Not even Pinochet did that." Ms Longaric told a news conference that the Spanish diplomats were accompanied on arrival by men with their faces covered trying to enter the residence surreptitiously. As diplomatic personnel are not allowed to conceal their identities, police stopped the masked men going in, she said. "There was an evident threat to the security of the Mexican mission," she said. The Mexican statement did not mention the masked men. Spain's embassy in Bolivia did not immediately respond to a request for comment. According to the Bolivian government, Juan Ramon Quintana, a former senior aide to Mr Morales, is among the nine people who have taken asylum in the Mexican embassy. Bolivia's government has not named all of the nine inside. Those who have been identified, including Mr Quintana, are allies of Mr Morales wanted by the government for crimes including sedition and armed revolt. Mr Morales left Mexico this month and is now in Argentina. According to Mexico's government, Bolivia has issued arrest warrants for at least four of the people inside its embassy. On Thursday, Mexico said it was asking the International Court of Justice to mediate in the dispute.
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| UN gives green light to draft treaty to combat cybercrime Posted: 27 Dec 2019 05:50 PM PST ![UN gives green light to draft treaty to combat cybercrime]( "UN gives green light to draft treaty to combat cybercrime") The U.N. General Assembly approved a resolution Friday that will start the process of drafting a new international treaty to combat cybercrime over objections from the European Union, the United States and other countries.
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| Shooting inside suburban Denver mall kills 1; suspect sought Posted: 27 Dec 2019 04:54 PM PST ![Shooting inside suburban Denver mall kills 1; suspect sought]( "Shooting inside suburban Denver mall kills 1; suspect sought") Aurora Police Department spokesman Anthony Camacho said officers were looking for at least one suspect who wielded a handgun in the shooting that occurred at 4 p.m. inside a J.C. Penney store at the Town Center at Aurora mall. Camacho said he could not immediately confirm how many people were involved in the shooting. It was the second shooting in the Aurora mall this month, Camacho said.
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