Ukraine in arabic News
Iran signs order for 80 Boeing jets
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- Iran signs order for 80 Boeing jets
- Date posted
- 7 years ago
- Description
- Iran has signed a $16.6 billion deal for 80 Boeing passenger jets and claims to be close to another for dozens of Airbus planes.
It’s Tehran’s biggest package of firm contracts with Western companies since Iran’s 1979 Islamic revolution.
The Airbus deal, which is expected to involve a first batch of 50-60 jets, should be completed in the next couple of days.
The Boeing contract comes after last year’s pact between Iran and world powers to reopen trade in return for curbs on Iran’s nuclear activities.
However political opposition could yet threaten the deal in both countries.
In the US, Congressional Republicans are trying to counter last year’s nuclear accord by passing a bill last month to restrict financial transactions by US banks in an effort to block the sale of Western passenger jets to Iran.
In Iran the deal is viewed as a crucial political test for the government of pragmatist President Ha...
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- Kyrgyzstan voters approve constitutional changes in referendum
- Date posted
- 7 years ago
- Description
- Atambayev’s supporters cast the amendments as part of efforts to increase the power of parliament and strengthen checks and balances between branches of government.
The amendments also envisage a ban on same-sex marriages.
Around 80% of a 42% turnout supported the package.
Kyrgyzstan, an impoverished and mostly Muslim nation, has been volatile in recent years and was the scene of violent protests in 2005 and 2010 which toppled successive presidents.
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- Syria: opposition 'milestone' agreement paves way for government talks
- Date posted
- 7 years ago
- Description
- Powerful rebel group Ahrar al-Sham has reportedly signed up to a Syrian opposition statement after two days of negotiations in Riyadh.
Political activists and rebels have agreed to set up a joint body to prepare for proposed peace talks with the Syrian government.
It came as rebel fighters and their families pulled out of Homs under a local ceasefire agreement.
American says the Riyadh statement is significant.
“This was an important milestone in getting to a place where, in early January, they can actually begin to have political negotiations with the regime,” said John Kirby, US State Department spokesman.
“This was a critical first step of getting there.”
The statement says President Bashar al-Assad should leave power at the start of a transitional period. It also calls for an all-inclusive, democratic civic state.
Earlier, Ahrar al-Sham said that it had pulled out of the Riyadh talks ...
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- Thousands escape war torn Aleppo, says Russia
- Date posted
- 7 years ago
- Description
- Up to 10,500 Syrians have poured out of parts of war-torn eastern Aleppo in 24 hours, Moscow’s defence ministry said on Friday.
The figure has not been independently verified.
Russian claims that the Syrian army suspended military action to let civilians out of rebel-held areas are being doubted amid reports of continued fighting.
“The people who joined the armed groups did it for the salary and the food and drink, and to protect themselves from abuse,” explained one man who escaped.
“The groups mistreat those who don’t join. And they have a monopoly on all the food, which they sell (to the citizens).”
Another man added: “They tried in any way with me to volunteer with them, but I refused and they beat me. I tried several times to escape from their areas to areas under government control.”
The Russian air force and Iran-backed Shi’ite militias are fighting in Aleppo on the government side.
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- ISIL fighters re enter ancient Palmyra in Syria
- Date posted
- 7 years ago
- Description
- Syrian activists say ISIL fighters have re-entered the historic city of Palmyra in central Syria.
The activist-run Palmyra Coordination Collective says the militants seized the city’s military warehouse and its northern and western neighborhoods after taking several government positions, oil fields, and strategic hilltops in the surrounding countryside in a lightning three-day assault.
It comes nine months after ISIL were expelled by Syrian and Russian forces in a highly publicized campaign.
The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights says the militants have reached the city’s Tadmor Hospital and its strategically located wheat silos.
The militants destroyed several of the city’s famed ancient Roman monuments and executed its archaeological director after sweeping into the city in July 2015 and holding it for 11 months.
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- Fears over hundreds of missing
- Date posted
- 7 years ago
- Description
- Marjeh
Hundreds of civilians are queuing up with small bundles of their personal belongings, in anticipation of being evacuated from the neighbourhood of Marjeh in Aleppo.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov says it is the largest operation of its kind so far.
Situation report
More than three quarters of the rebel-held areas of Aleppo have now fallen under the government’s control.
This includes the symbolically-important neighbourhood of ancient Aleppo.
The UN thinks around 100,000 people remain in eastern Aleppo.
Allegations against the opposition forces
There are claims rebel fighters tried to stop people from leaving:
“We were on the ground floor of our building, when we saw the army we tried to get out but the rebels would not let us out,” one young boy told reporters.
“They asked, do you want to join the army and kill us?”, his brother added.
“The rebels told us, ...
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- The Iraqi army has been pounding ISIL targets in Mosul
- Date posted
- 7 years ago
- Description
- The Iraqi army has been pounding ISIL targets in Mosul, as part of their bid to drive out the group from the city.
The artillery of the army’s Ninth Armoured Division struck the district of al-Quds from the army’s positions in the nearby district of Kokjali.
The long-awaited attack aims to relieve pressure on Iraqi Counter-Terrorism Service (CTS) troops who have spearheaded the fighting in eastern Mosul for the last month and have come up against the jihadists lethal defences.
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- What next after ISIL's defeat in Sirte?
- Date posted
- 7 years ago
- Description
- This week ISIL lost Sirte, the group’s only foothold in Libya. Apart from a few pockets, the jihadists have been completely driven out of the coastal city.
For the moment, the victory of forces backed by the pro-unity government based in Tripoli ends ISIL’s ambition of expanding its self-declared ‘‘caliphate’‘ into the North African nation.
But the group’s downfall in Libya also raises the question of what next in a country which has been plagued by violence since the ousting and death of its former strongman, Colonel Gaddafi.
Libya still remains deeply divided with governing administrations in both the east and west. A complex network of rival factions and militias also threatens a new chapter of turmoil.
Meanwhile, the instability has made the country a hub for people-trafficking and smugglers.
‘‘We’re just a business, a commodity for them, they just want to use us to enrich themselves,’‘ one mig...
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- Migrant boats bound for EU should be 'shot at,' says Danish politician
- Date posted
- 7 years ago
- Description
- Security forces should shoot at boats of migrants trying to reach Europe’s shores. That from a member of parliament for the Danish government’s main political ally – the Danish People’s Party.
“The only efficient way is to turn the boats and say: ‘You cannot sail within this national border and if you do, you will either be shot at or be turned around and sailed back,” Kenneth Berth, EU spokesman for the anti-immigrant party, said on television.
He later softened his statement on Facebook, saying he did not mean that people should be shot at, but that NATO-ships should shoot in the air as a warning.
Party spokesman Soren Sondergaard has said that shooting at refugees is not the official party line.
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- Syrian army 'stops operations' in east Aleppo to evacuate civilians Lavrov
- Date posted
- 7 years ago
- Description
- The Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has said the Syrian army has suspended active military operations in eastern Aleppo because a large civilian evacuation effort was underway, according to reports.
He described it as the largest operation yet to remove civilians from eastern districts.
The Syrian army’s advance in Aleppo reportedly slowed on Thursday as allied forces attacked the last rebel-held areas. Army gains have lost momentum after the advance of recent days in which the historic Old City was recaptured.
However victory was still in sight after President Assad said that re-taking the nation’s second city would change the course of the war.
His forces have captured most of Aleppo’s eastern territory, but an estimated 200,000 civilians and some 8,000 rebels are still thought to be trapped in the siege.
Earlier on Thursday, the United Nations’ humanitarian adviser for Syria had some harsh words about internati...
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- Iraqi army withdraw from Mosul hospital amid fierce fighting
- Date posted
- 7 years ago
- Description
- The Iraqi army pounds ISIL positions in Mosul, as it continues its campaign to drive the extremists from the city.
Troops who briefly captured a hospital, believed to be an ISIL based were forced to retreat, but managed to establish a base nearby following days of fierce fighting in the east of the city.
They were forced to pull back after coming under ‘heavy enemy fire’ and were attacked by six suicide bombs, according to a statement by the US-led coalition supporting the Iraqi soldiers.
Men suspected of working for ISIL militants are rounded up in the El Elam neighbourhood. A lieutenant with the special forces said they arrested ten people suspected of collaborating with the group.
Now into its seventh week, the offensive is pushing from the southeast towards the centre of Mosul.
In light of the heightened danger posed by intense fighting, thousands of civilians are fleeing and the UN is struggling to find shelter f...
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- Greek court refuses extradition of last two Turkish soldiers
- Date posted
- 7 years ago
- Description
- A Greek court has ruled against the extradition of the last two Turkish servicemen from a group of eight who fled their own country after July’s failed coup against the government in Ankara.
After three verdicts this week, judges have now ruled that five soldiers should not be extradited, but that three others should be sent back to Turkey.
The servicemen denied involvement in the coup attempt and sought political asylum in Greece, arguing their lives would be in danger in Turkey amid the government crackdown on its opponents since the summer.
Ankara has branded them as traitors. After a court decision against extradition on Monday, Turkey’s defence minister accused Greece of failing to show the solidarity expected of an ally.
Referring to the last cases to be judged, the servicemen’s lawyer Christos Mylonopoulos said:
“The court rejected the extradition request. It is a decision that is a credit to Greek justice and it is in a...
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- EU relocation scheme flops
- Date posted
- 7 years ago
- Description
- This is the Brief from Brussels, a roundup of top stories from Europe’s de facto political capital.
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- Call for Iraq inquiry over 'dozens killed' in air strikes
- Date posted
- 7 years ago
- Description
- Iraq’s parliamentary speaker has called for a government inquiry into air strikes on a town controlled by ISIL, amid reports that dozens of people, mostly civilians, were killed.
The ISIL-affiliated Amaq news agency released a video showing what it said was the aftermath of the attacks in al-Qaim, near the Syrian border. It blamed Iraqi planes, saying at least 120 civilians died.
Burning white minibuses could be seen on a wide main road lined by shops, as well as corpses, some charred and others bloodied, and the bodies of several children. Many buildings had been wrecked.
Iraq’s joint military command confirmed its aircraft had carried out missions on Wednesday but rejected claims of dozens of civilian deaths as a ‘fake story’ from the so-called Islamic State group.
It said that, based on accurate intelligence, it targeted buildings where around 50 terrorists and suicide bombers, all foreigners, were sheltering and that the a...
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- Britain's MI6 chief warns of 'unprecedented' terror threat to UK
- Date posted
- 7 years ago
- Description
- ISIL militants are using the chaos created by the Russian backed military campaign of Bashar al-Assad in Syria to plot attacks against the UK and its allies, the head of MI6 has warned.
In his first major public speech since taking the top job at the Secret Intelligence Service in 2014, Alex Younger, said the continuing war posed a major risk to Britain.
“The scale of the threat is unprecedented. The UK intelligence and security services have disrupted 12 terrorist plots in the UK since June 2013. And MI5 and the police continue to run hundreds of investigations into those intent on carrying out or supporting terrorist atrocities against our citizens,” said Younger.
Since the London attacks in 2005, that killed 52 people, the UK has been largely spared from Islamist inspired terrorism.
However, the MI6 chief, said that Britain also faced a threat from ‘hybrid warfare’ from hostile states attempting to undermine western democra...
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- SYRIAN ARMY SEIZES ALL OF OLD CITY
- Date posted
- 7 years ago
- Description
- Syrian government forces have reportedly recaptured all of Aleppo’s historic ‘Old City’, pushing the last remaining rebels there out.
The British-based monitoring group, The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, said an army advance on Tuesday and overnight, supported by heavy air strikes and shelling, caused insurgents to withdraw from the Old City.
The report indicates that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s regime, helped by its ally Russia, is closer than ever to what would be its biggest victory of the conflict – retaking eastern Aleppo in its entirety.
The Syrian army advance has already seen rebels lose two thirds of the besieged enclave.
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- Pakistan passenger plane crashes with more than 40 on board
- Date posted
- 7 years ago
- Description
- A passenger plane with more than 40 people on board has crashed in Pakistan on its way to Islamabad from the northern region of Chitral.
Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) said Flight PK-661 lost contact with air traffic controllers on Wednesday afternoon local time.
Local media reports say those on board the aircraft included Junaid Jamshed, a well-known pop star-turned evangelical Muslim cleric.
The airline said the plane crashed near Havelian to the south of Abbottabad, about 125 kilometres north of the capital.
A government minister was quoted as saying the aircraft had suffered engine problems but it was too early to determine the cause.
Local people at the crash site said there were unlikely to be any survivors. A local official said witnesses told him the plane was on fire before it hit the ground.
That has not been confirmed, but images shown on Pakistani TV and shared on social media show a trail ...
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- Netanyahu statue toppled
- Date posted
- 7 years ago
- Description
- A golden statue of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been given a mixed reception by onlookers as it made a brief appearance in Tel Aviv.
The controversial effigy which was nick-named “King Bibi” by its artist was apparently in response to the idol-like status of the leader among some of his supporters.
Sculptor Itay Zalait told reporters he had also placed the four metre tall statue of Netanyahu on a white pedestal in Tel Aviv’s Rabin Square, adjacent to city hall, to test the limits of freedom of expression in Israel.
The Israeli government and artists have been locked in a so-called “culture war” over steps by Culture Minister Miri Regev to withhold state funds from institutions that do not express loyalty to the state.
One person took offence and pulled the statue down. Officials said it had been erected without permission
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- Libyan forces clear ISIL out of Sirte
- Date posted
- 7 years ago
- Description
- Pro-government forces in Libya have celebrated clearing out the last ISIL jihadists from the city of Sirte.
It’s been a gruelling seven-month long battle for control led by brigades from Misrata, backed by US air strikes.
More than 700 fighters have been killed and thousands wounded in the campaign.
“We have full control over Sirte,” said one Libyan fighter. “There is no trace of ISIL left now in this city. We have some people combing the area for mines and bombs, the battle today was fierce, there was a large number of suicide bombers, but a large number of families and children have been rescued.”
The loss of Sirte is a major blow for ISIL, leaving the group without much territory in Libya, though it retains an active presence in isolated pockets of the vast country.
The militants had taken over Sirte in 2015, turning it into their most important base outside the Middle East and attracting large numbers of foreign fi...
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- Iran won't let Trump tear up nuclear deal, says Rouhani
- Date posted
- 7 years ago
- Description
- Iran’s president Rouhani has said he will not let US President-elect Donald Trump tear up the global nuclear deal agreed with several world powers, warning of unspecified repercussions if that happens.
Describing it as “the worst deal ever negotiated”, Trump said during the election campaign that he would scrap the pact under which Iran agreed to curb its nuclear programme in return for lifted sanctions.
Speaking at the University of Tehran on Tuesday, Hassan Rouhani said:
“Some man has been elected in the US. Any plans he might have will be revealed later on. We will continue our own path. He may desire many things. He may desire to weaken the JCPOA (the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action); he may desire to rip up the deal. Do you suppose we will allow that? Will our nation allow that?”
The deal reached in Vienna in July 2015 represents an important part of President Obama’s legacy in foreign policy.
The US C...
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- Fate of asylum seeking Turkish soldiers remains unclear
- Date posted
- 7 years ago
- Description
- A court in Athens has ruled that three of eight Turkish officers said to be implicated in July’s failed coup attempt in Turkey should be extradited back to their home country.
The ruling comes a day after the same court but with different judges rejected extradition requests for three other soldiers.
Two more men are due up in court on Thursday.
Turkey has asked Greece to extradite all eight, alleging that they were involved in the July 16 coup attempt and has called them traitors. They all deny involvement in the attempt to oust President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
The Greek Appeals Court ruled on Tuesday (Dec 6) that the three soldiers should be returned to Turkey to stand trial for three of the four crimes it accuses them of – attempting to abrogate the constitution, attempting to dissolve parliament, and seizing a helicopter using violent means – but not for attempting to assassinate Erdogan, the officials said.
All ...
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- Death toll rises in Indonesia 'quake, with dozens feared trapped
- Date posted
- 7 years ago
- Description
- The Indonesian Army says the death toll in Wednesday morning’s (December 7) earthquake has risen to at least 97, but more bodies are likely to be found under the rubble.
Search and rescue operations are underway in the badly-hit Aceh province after a magnitude 6.5 tremor struck just off the north-east coast of Sumatra island.
Indonesia’s president, Joko Widodo, said he’d instructed his chief of staff to visit the area.
“This morning I received the report (about the earthquake) and I’ve already ordered all agencies to take action according to their authority.”
There is no risk of a tsunami, according to the national meteorological agency.
However, a state of emergency has been declared in Aceh, where dozens of residents remain missing.
Hundreds of people were injured in the quake, at least 70 seriously.
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- Russia and China block UN call for Aleppo truce
- Date posted
- 7 years ago
- Description
- Diplomatic attempts to arrange a temporary truce to allow aid into the Syrian city of Aleppo have been blocked by Russia and China. The two nations vetoed a UN resolution draft submitted jointly by Egypt, New Zealand and Spain. Russia’s UN ambassador argued it would allow rebels to regroup.
“As we know, these kinds of pauses have been used by fighters to reinforce their ammunition and to strengthen their positions and this will only worsen the suffering of civilians,” said Russian UN Ambassador Vitaly Churkin.
Venezuela also voted against the draft resolution, while Abgloa abstained. The remaining 11 states voted in favour.
The US’s deputy UN ambassador Michele Sison gave a scathing response to Russia which has now vetoed Security Council resolutions on Syria six times since the conflict began in 2011. China has blocked action five times.
“Russia says that they were on the cusp of reaching a deal with the United States to al...
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- Turkey receives first Israeli ambassador since Mavi Marmara row
- Date posted
- 7 years ago
- Description
- Turkey has received its first ambassador from Israel since the two countries broke off ties six years ago after an attempt to break the blockade of Gaza ended in violence.
President Erdogan welcomed Eitan Naeh to the presidential palace in Ankara, where the handshakes marked an end to several years of hostilities.
The two countries reached agreement in June to restore relations after nearly two years of talks behind the scenes.
Under the deal Israel has apologised for its actions in 2010 and agreed to pay compensation, while Turkey has promised to drop charges against Israelis involved.
Israeli commandos raided the Mavi Marmara humanitarian ship which was trying to break Israel’s blockade of Gaza, killing nine Turkish citizens and one Turkish-American.
The ensuing feud put an end – until now – to decades of military cooperation between the two countries.
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- ISIL claims car bomb killing of Aden governor
- Date posted
- 7 years ago
- Description
- The governor of Yemen’s southern port city of Aden was killed in a car bomb attack on Sunday.
ISIL says it was responsible.
Targeted as he headed to work, General Jaafar Mohammed Saad died with at least six members of his entourage.
After early reports that the blast was caused by a rocket propelled grenade, ISIL announced in a statement posted on a messaging service it uses that it had detonated a vehicle laden with explosives aimed at Saad’s convoy.
It promised more operations against “the heads of apostasy in Yemen”.
The group’s local branch has stepped up operations since civil war broke out in Yemen, emerging as a rival to Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), the main militant group in the country in recent years.
Sunday’s attack came one day after assailants killed a senior army officer and a judge who had presided over the trial of militants suspected in the bombing of the US warship USS Cole in Ade...
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- Aleppo 27. 11. 2016
- Date posted
- 7 years ago
- Description
- Videos uploaded to social media websites purport to show thousands of residents from eastern Aleppo streaming into the Kurdish-controlled Sheikh Maqsoud district of the city after the Syrian Army and its allies drove rebels from a strategically important area.
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- Germany warns against anti refugee incitement following student murder
- Date posted
- 7 years ago
- Description
- The rape and murder of a 19-year-old German student has raised concerns over a possible anti-refugee backlash.
The body of the young woman was found on a river bank in the south western German town of Freiburg in October.
Tests now reveal that DNA samples appear to link a 17-year-old Afghan boy to the spot where she was attacked. The youth who arrived in Germany as an unaccompanied minor last year has been arrested.
Vice Chancellor Sigmar Gabriel has warned Germans via social media not to exploit the crime “for incitement and conspiracy propaganda”.
Chancellor Angela Merkel ‘s open door policy which last year saw in a massive influx of migrants has fuelled tensions in the country over immigration.
The anti-immigration and anti-Islam Alternative for Germany (AfD) has since gained ground in local elections.
In the past two years there has been an escalation of attacks on migrant hostels with some even set...
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- Hungarian director Bela Tarr heads the jury at the 16th Marrakech International Film Festival
- Date posted
- 7 years ago
- Description
- The brollies were up in Marrakech but the rain didn’t dampen the enthusiasm of the crowd at the opening of the 16th international film festival.
The jury, headed by legendary Hungarian director Bela Tarr will have to chose its winners among 14 films from across the globe, from Asia to South America, Africa and Europe.
It is a rich selection which reflects the festival’s global perspective according to British actor Jason Isaacs.
“I think anytime you celebrate film, certainly those films that aren’t about superheroes, that don’t have a hundred million dollar publicity budget, it’s important to celebrate and give them a profile so that we are all reminded we need to watch and learn how other people live, think and feel in other parts of the world because it looks like today’s world is fragmenting more and more,” he opined.
US director Jessica Woodworth’s film ‘King of the Belgians’ was one of the first screened as ...
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- Pakistan hotel blaze kills 11 as guests jump from windows
- Date posted
- 7 years ago
- Description
- At least 11 people were reported dead on Monday, with a further 75 injured, as fire swept through a luxury hotel in Pakistan.
Some of the victims jumped to try to make their escape from the four-star Regent Plaza in Karachi.
Others fleeing used bed sheets to climb down from windows on top floors as smoke filled the hotel which has more than 400 rooms.
“We broke the glass(es) and tied bed sheets together and tried to escape,” said injured hotel guest Muhammad Saeed.
“During the escape, we got a lot of injuries. Then we helped other people to escape from the spot but for at least four to five hours, everybody was looking helpless, crying for help and nobody was there to help them.”
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- Syrian army advances on Aleppo airport
- Date posted
- 7 years ago
- Description
- The Syrian army and its allies have advanced deeper into rebel-controlled areas, taking over a major access road leading to Aleppo International Airport.
The army lost control of the strategic motorway to rebels four years ago.
Restoring full control over Aleppo would mark the biggest triumph yet for President Bashar al-Assad in a war that spiralled from protests against his rule in 2011.
Syrian forces have also made gains in rebel-held areas of Aleppo’s Old City, thrusting deeper into opposition parts of the city in their relentless attack.
In north western Syria activists claim at lest three children and 18 others were killed in a series of airstrikes on the opposition controlled town of Kafranbel.
According to a UK based monitoring group, the strikes hit the town’s main market place. Lat month Russia said it was resuming its airstrikes on the north western Idlib province. Kafranbel is not on any front line in the c...
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- Thirty two oil workers reported dead as rig catches fire in Caspian Sea
- Date posted
- 7 years ago
- Description
- Thirty-two oil workers died in a fire on an offshore platform in the Caspian Sea on Saturday.
The rig was operated by Azerbaijan’s state energy company SOCAR.
The country’s Oil Workers’ Rights Protection Committee said 42 people were rescued.
The company said the fire started after a gas pipeline was damaged in high winds.
SOCAR said on its Facebook page that 26 workers had beenrescued.
Around 60 percent of SOCAR’s oil production passes via the platform where the fire
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- Triple suicide attack in Chad leaves dozens dead
- Date posted
- 7 years ago
- Description
- Around 30 people have been killed and another 80 injured in three suicide attacks on the island of Koulfoua in Lake Chad in Africa.
It wasn’t immediately clear who carried out the attacks but Chad has been previously targeted by Boko Haram militants from neighbouring Nigeria.
A double suicide attack last month killed 17 people.
Earlier this year thousands of people fleeing the Islamist militant group sought refuge on the island.
The UN says that around 50 000 displaced people have arrived in the region since July.
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- Uzbekistan election: acting president expected to win easily
- Date posted
- 7 years ago
- Description
- Uzbekistan is holding its first presidential election since the death of Islam Karimov, the man who ruled the Central Asian country with an iron fist for 27 years.
The result is predicted to be a foregone conclusion.
Acting president Shavkat Miriyoyev, who was long-time prime minister under Karimov, is expected to win by a landslide.
The 59-year-old became front-runner after the head of Uzbekistan’s Senate stepped aside – three other candidates taking part in the vote are seen to pose little challenge.
Miryoyev’s candidacy has also been openly supported by the leaders of neighbouring Central Asian countries. If elected, he is not expected to bring about major political change in the ex-Soviet Republic.
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- Iraqi forces inflict heavy toll on ISIL fighters in Mosul
- Date posted
- 7 years ago
- Description
- Iraqi special forces claim to have killed nearly 1,000 ISIL militants in the battle for Mosul.
The six-week old offensive to re-take the jihadists’s stronghold has seen Iraqi troops enter about a quarter of the city on its eastern outskirts where they are now moving cautiously to avoid civilian casualties.
Iraqi military estimates initially put the number of insurgents in Mosul at 5,000 to 6,000, but that may have been too high.
In an attempt to slow down the Iraqi military advance ISIL fighters are deploying snippers, using car bombs and improvised explosive devises.
On Monday (Nov. 28) Iraqi special forces claimed to have recaptured six districts of eastern Mosul. Heavy gunfire echoed across neighbourhoods as troops backed by armoured personnel carriers, cleared houses, one by one, to flush out ISIL militants who might be inside.
It is then that the Iraqi government and various humanitarian organisations send in lorri...
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- Thousands flee Aleppo fighting
- Date posted
- 7 years ago
- Description
- An estimated 16,000 people have been displaced as a result of Syrian government advances on rebel-held districts of Aleppo.
The news comes from the United Nations’ humanitarian chief, Stephen O’Brien.
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- Police investigate if Ohio university attack was "terror related"
- Date posted
- 7 years ago
- Description
- A student who drove his car into a crowd of pedestrians and then got out and stabbed several people has been identified as Abdul Razak Ali Artan.
The incident took place at Ohio State University on Monday morning. Eighteen-year-old Artan was shot dead by police at the scene.
Monica Moll, Director of Public Safety, Ohio State University described what happened:
“And so the suspect drove his vehicle into a group of pedestrians, there were some injuries that resulted from that. The suspect got out of the vehicle with a knife and began cutting individuals in the area. And the officer engaged the suspect and fired shots and used deadly force to stop the threat.”
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- Syrian army captures a third of rebel held territory in east Aleppo
- Date posted
- 7 years ago
- Description
- The Syrian army and its allies have captured a large swathe of eastern Aleppo in a rapid advance against opposition rebel positions.
Facing a combination of air bombardments and ground attacks, the insurgents have been driven out of numerous neighbourhoods in the northern part of eastern Aleppo.
The amount of territory taken by government forces amounts to a third of what was held by the rebels in the city and is reportedly their biggest defeat in Aleppo since 2012. US-backed Kurdish forces have also taken control of one area in an agreed handover with the rebels.
Thousands of residents of have been fleeing into areas controlled by government forces and Kurdish groups since the fighting intensified on Saturday.
Up to an estimated 10,000 people have fled into the Sheikh Maqsoud district. A large proportion of them are said to be children.
The UN has warned of a humanitarian disaster unfolding in eastern Aleppo with little ...
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- 'Mr Flirt' teaches new migrants how to approach women in Germany
- Date posted
- 7 years ago
- Description
- Horst Wenzel, dubbed ‘Germany’s number one love expert’, has been volunteering his services to teach new migrants how to flirt and approach women.
The 27-year-old, who makes his living teaching wealthy but shy German men, has recently decided to offer his advice to young Syrian and Iraqi refugees in Dortmund, most of them from war-torn Muslim countries.
“Some German women are a bit racist towards us,” said this Syrian refugee. “They don’t know how refugees think or how they are living. Some people are getting the wrong idea.”
Wenzel usually charges 1,400 euros for a private one-day class, or 4,000 euros for a group. According to him, flirting is a large part of the integration process and hopes that the migrants will “fall in love with Germany”.
While a part of the population is said to be against this project as it is conducted in a country where Europe’s migrant influx is already having deep political and socia...
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- Greece: migrants set fire to Lesbos refugee camp after two die in gas blast
- Date posted
- 8 years ago
- Description
- A woman and a child are said to have died in an explosion at the Moria refugee camp on the Greek island of Lesbos.
Reports speak of others including children having been injured.
According to local police quoted by AFP, the blast was caused by gas as the woman was cooking.
Migrants are said to have started a fire after the explosion, burning a large part of the camp.
The past few months have seen several incidents at refugee camps on Greek islands, where the number of migrants is more than double their capacity.
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- Air strikes kill dozens in eastern Aleppo monitor
- Date posted
- 8 years ago
- Description
- Video shared online purports to show the aftermath of air strikes in eastern Aleppo.
At least 32 civilians died, five of them children during Thursday’s bombardments by the Syrian regime on the rebel-held sectors, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
The monitor said it was a marked escalation in the campaign by the government backed by Russia, since the fighting resumed on November 15.
An estimated 250,000 civilians are living in the besieged eastern part of the city. The last working hospitals have also suffered severe damage from the continued air strikes.
The UN’s Syria envoy fears that eastern Aleppo could be decimated by Christmas if the current fighting continued, with tens of thousands of refugees fleeing to Turkey.
He added it was not in the interest of the Syrian regime to be left with a completely destroyed country.
- Title
- Two Iranian passenger trains collide killing 36 people
- Date posted
- 8 years ago
- Description
- A deadly train crash in Iran has claimed the lives of at least 36 people, and injured more than 95 others.
Two passenger trains collided in Semnan province early on Friday morning. In total four carriages derailed, and two caught fire. No reason has yet been advanced as to why one train crashed into the other, which was immobile at a station platform at the time.
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- Date posted
- 8 years ago
- Description
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- Date posted
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- Description
