U.S. President Trump Recognizes Jerusalem As Israel’s Capital and Orders U.S. …
Dec 6, 2017 – President Trump formally recognized Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and announced a plan to move the U.S. Embassy from Tel Aviv to the fiercely contested city. … “It would be folly to assume that repeating the exact same formula would now produce a different or better result,” Trump declared.
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Istanbul Declaration announces E. Jerusalem capital of Palestine state (OIC)
ISTANBUL ( 13 Dec, 2017) The “Istanbul Declaration” dubbed “Freedom for Jerusalem” was issued on 13 Dec, 2017,after an extraordinary summit held in Istanbul. “We confirm that we recognize the state of Palestine with East Jerusalem as its capital, and call the world to recognize East Jerusalem as the occupied capital of Palestine,” the declaration read.
The declaration also rejected and condemned the “unlawful” decision of the U.S. President. It added that it was “not possible to give up on an independent and sovereign Palestine state, with East Jerusalem as its capital.”
The OIC was established during a historic summit in Rabat, Morocco in 1969 following an arson attack on Al-Aqsa Mosque in occupied Jerusalem. Al-Aqsa was set on fire by an Australian Christian called Michael Denis Rohan on Aug. 21, 1969. The shrine and a 1,000-year-old pulpit were totally destroyed as well as several historical sites.
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Turkey Blasts ‘Weak’ Arab World Reaction to Trump’s Jerusalem
12 Dec 2017 | Turkey criticized what it said was a feeble Arab reaction to the U.S. decision to recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, saying on the eve of Wednesday’s Muslim summit in Istanbul that some Arab countries were scared of angering Washington. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who has accused the United States of ignoring Palestinian claims to Israeli-occupied East Jerusalem and “trampling on international law”, has invited leaders from more than 50 Muslim countries to agree on a response. Jerusalem, revered by Jews, Christians and Muslims alike, is home to Islam’s third holiest site and has been at the heart of Israeli-Palestinian conflict for decades. “Some Arab countries have shown very weak responses (on Jerusalem),” Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said. “It seems some countries are very timid of the United States.”
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E.U. Leaders Reject Netanyahu on Jerusalem Recognition
By: Josie Ensor, Middle east correspondent | James Crisp, Brussels
11 DEC 2017 | Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has appealed to allies in Europe to join the US in recognising Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, but was rebuffed by foreign ministers who said it would harm the peace process. Netanyahu met with EU leaders in Brussels and told them it was time they “recognised the facts”, in a first visit by an Israeli head of government to the Belgian city in 22 years.
Federica Mogherini, EU foreign policy chief, said after the closed-door meeting that Netanyahu could “keep his expectations for others, because from the European Union member states’ side this move will not come.” She said that the bloc – the Palestinians’ largest donor – would stick to the “International consensus” on Jerusalem. Margot Wallstrom, Sweden’s minister for foreign affairs, said no European leader had voiced support for Mr. Trump’s decision, and no country was likely to follow the US in announcing plans to move its embassy.
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The former British army barracks likely to house the US embassy in Jerusalem
By: Raf Sanchez, Jerusalem | 7 DECEMBER 2017 |Ever since 1989, when the Israeli-Palestinian peace process began to gather steam, the US government has leased a plot of land from Israel for just $1. The 7.7 acre site, which is off one the main thoroughfares in west Jerusalem, has remained mysteriously empty for nearly thirty years even as shopping malls and housing units have risen around it. Many observers believe it is being kept open to one day house the American embassy in Israel. The site was once the home of the Allenby Barracks, a British military garrison named after General Edmund Allenby, who captured Jerusalem from the Ottomans exactly 100 years ago in December 1917. ‘Courtesy Telegraph’
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UN General Assembly rejects Trump’s Jerusalem move
(21 Dec, 2017) : A resounding majority of United Nations member states has defied unprecedented threats by the US to declare President Donald Trump’s recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital “null and void”.
The non-binding resolution was approved at a UN General Assembly emergency meeting on Thursday 21st Dec, 2017, with 128 votes in favour and nine against, while 35 countries abstained. The US was outnumbered 14 to 1 in that vote.
It passed despite intimidation by Trump, who had threatened to eliminate financial aid to member states who would vote against his decision, while Nikki Haley, the US ambassador to the UN, had warned that she would be “taking names” of those countries.
Shortly after the vote, Palestinian leaders called the vote a victory for Palestine and thanked the UN member states that rejected Trump’s unilateral move “despite all the pressure exerted on them”.
“This decision reaffirms once again that the just Palestinian cause enjoys the support of international community, and no decisions made by any side could change the reality, that Jerusalem is an occupied territory under international law,” Nabil Abu Rudeina, spokesman for Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, said in a statement. Saeb Erekat, the Palestinian chief negotiator, condemned Washington’s decision but said the UN vote showed respect for the rule of law. “It’s a day of shame to those who stood shoulder to shoulder with the occupation and settlements against international law,” he said.
Mevlut Cavusoglu, foreign minister of Turkey, a co-sponsor of the resolution, said on Twitter that “dignity and sovereignty are not for sale”.
Embassy move
No country currently has its embassy in the city, which is home to holy religious sites and has particular significance for Muslims, Christians and Jews. The status of Jerusalem has long remained a sensitive topic and one of the core issues in the Israeli-Palestine conflict. After occupying the city’s eastern part in the 1967 War, Israel annexed the territory. In 1980, it proclaimed it as its “eternal, undivided capital.”
Thursday’s 21st Dec, vote was reminiscent of a session in 2012, when an overwhelming majority backed Palestine’s upgrade in the UN to non-member state status.
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UN Jerusalem resolution: How each country voted
The United Nations has voted by a huge majority to declare a unilateral US recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital “null and void”. At an emergency session of the body’s General Assembly on Thursday 21 Dec 2018.
128 countries voted in favour of a resolution rejecting US President Donald Trump’s controversial decision on December 6th 2017. 9 countries voted against, while 35 abstained.
Here is a country breakdown of the General Assembly vote:
Member states that voted in favour of the resolution
A: Afghanistan, Albania, Algeria, Andorra, Angola, Armenia, Austria, Azerbaijan
B: Bahrain, Bangladesh, Barbados, Belarus, Belgium, Belize, Bolivia, Botswana, Brazil, Brunei, Bulgaria, Burkina Faso, Burundi
C: Cabo Verde, Cambodia, Chad, Chile, China, Comoros, Congo, Costa Rica, Cote d’Ivoire, Cuba, Cyprus,
D: Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (North Korea), Denmark, Djibouti, Dominica
E: Ecuador, Egypt, Eritrea, Estonia, Ethiopia | F: Finland, France | G: Gabon, Gambia, Germany, Ghana, Greece, Grenada, Guinea, Guyana | I: Iceland, India, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Ireland, Italy | J: Japan, Jordan
K: Kazakhstan, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan | L: Laos, Lebanon, Liberia, Libya, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg
M:Madagascar, Malaysia, Maldives, Mali, Malta, Mauritania, Mauritius, Monaco, Montenegro, Morocco, Mozambique
N: Namibia, Nepal, Netherlands, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Niger, Nigeria, Norway | O: Oman | P: Pakistan,
Papua New Guinea, Peru, Portugal | Q: Qatar | R: Republic of Korea (South Korea), Russia | S: Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Serbia, Seychelles, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, Somalia, South Africa, Spain, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Suriname, Sweden, Switzerland, Syria | T: Tajikistan, Thailand, The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Tunisia, Turkey
U: United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, United Republic of Tanzania, Uruguay, Uzbekistan
V: Venezuela, Vietnam | Y: Yemen | Z: Zimbabwe
Member states that voted against the resolution
G: Guatemala| H: Honduras | I: Israel | M: Marshall Islands, Micronesia | N: Nauru | P: Palau | T: Togo
U: United States
Member states that abstained
A: Antigua-Barbuda, Argentina, Australia | B: Bahamas, Benin, Bhutan, Bosnia-Herzegovina
C: Cameroon, Canada, Colombia, Croatia, Czech Republic | D: Dominican Republic | E: Equatorial Guinea
F: Fiji | H: Haiti, Hungary | J: Jamaica | K: Kiribati | L: Latvia, Lesotho | M: Malawi, Mexico
P: Panama, Paraguay, Philippines, Poland | R: Romania, Rwanda | S: Solomon Islands, South Sudan
T: Trinidad-Tobago, Tuvalu | U: Uganda | V: Vanuatu | ‘Courtesy Al Jazeera’
Protester with no legs is shot dead by Israeli troops
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Wheelchair-bound Ibrahim Abu Thurayeh, 29, was shot and killed in Gaza City
By JULIAN ROBINSON | By Daily Mail
The death of Abu Thuraya came on the bloodiest day of protests since Trump’s controversial announcement earlier this month, with no sign of the unrest dying down. Abu Thuraya, who lost his legs in an Israeli airstrike in 2008, was one of four Palestinians to die in clashes with Israeli security forces on 15 Dec, 2017, in Gaza and the West Bank.
Two days before his death he told a video interviewer that he had been protesting against the US decision. “This land is our land. We are not going to give up. America has to withdraw the declaration it has made,” he said. The man in the wheelchair had taken part in several border skirmishes recently, images on social media show him carrying a Palestinian flag. Firing aimed at Israel from inside the Palestinian coastal enclave of Gaza, which began after the announcement by Trump’s Jerusalem declaration. The Israeli air force which has killed four Palestinians in Gaza in recent strikes retaliated, another 150 were hurt as protests over US President Donald Trump’s recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital. Most of the casualties were on the Gaza Strip border, where thousands of Palestinians gathered to hurl rocks at Israeli soldiers beyond the fortified fence.
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The Trump doctrine in regional context
By : Nisar ul Haq
The US draws significant attention what it describes as Pakistan-based threats on multiple occasions, slyly speaking tongue-in-cheek when talking about the Pakistan that it’s supposedly seeking in order to indirectly accuse the Pakistan of today of embodying these said threats. For example, when the authors write that their country “seeks a Pakistan that is not engaged in destabilizing behavior…will press Pakistan to intensify its counterterrorism efforts, since no partnership can survive a country’s support for militants and terrorists who target a partner’s own service members and officials…(and) will also encourage Pakistan to continue demonstrating that it is a responsible steward of its nuclear assets”, it’s essentially saying that Pakistan is destabilizing the region, supporting anti-American militants and terrorists who target US forces in Afghanistan, and irresponsibly wielding nuclear weapons which might one day fall into the hands of the same terrorists that it’s accused of backing.
All of these hostile narratives against Pakistan explain why the US wants the world to think that “the prospect for an Indo-Pakistani military conflict [which] could lead to a nuclear exchange remains a key concern requiring consistent diplomatic attention”, as the thinly veiled inference is that Islamabad is solely responsible for this dangerous state of affairs. It’s predictable that Washington would weave such a one-sided storyline because it envisions New Delhi as its 21st-century partner for ‘containing China’, with its strategists writing that the US “will deepen [its] strategic partnership with India and support its leadership role in Indian Ocean security and throughout the broader region”.
Concerning Central Asia, the NSS says that the US “will encourage the economic integration of Central and South Asia to promote prosperity and economic linkages that will bolster connectivity and trade”, and since it’s improbable that this is an oblique statement of support for CPEC, the only realistic conclusion is that it’s an American endorsement for the Central Asian component of India’s Chabahar project. As even the most inexperienced observer would know, this port is based in Iran, so the US will have to work overtime in crafting a semi-cohesive explanation for why it doesn’t mind India working with Washington’s hated nemesis in Tehran, though the answer could probably be simplistically summed up as ‘realpolitik’ for ‘containing China’.
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French documentary film maker arrested in Kashmir
New Delhi, Dec 12, 2017– Authorities in India’s Jammu and Kashmir state must immediately release French documentary filmmaker Comiti Paul Edwards from custody, the Committee to Protect Journalists. State police arrested Edwards on December 9, 2017, in the city of Srinagar while he was shooting a documentary on people injured by pellet guns, according to a Reuters report.
Use of pellet guns on protesters by the Jammu and Kashmir police resulted in 80 deaths and over 5,000 injuries, according to report on TheWire.in website.
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Kabul: Five killed as ISIL bomber targets spy agency
25 Dec: The attack near Abdul Haq Square comes one week after gunmen stormed a military training centre in Kabul, an assault also claimed by ISIL. The interior ministry said the attacker blew himself up near the gate of the National Directorate of Security. The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL, also known as ISIS) claimed responsibility for the blast on Monday morning.
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Kabul blast at Afghan Voice, Tebyan centre kills more than 40
28 Dec: A suicide bomber detonated explosives in Kabul at a compound comprising a news agency, Tebyan ‘Shia’ cultural centre and religious school, the interior ministry has said. People gathered at Tebyan were marking the 38th anniversary of the Soviet invasion in Afghanistan. Women and children were among those killed. The majority of victims were visitors to the centre.
The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL, also known as ISIS) claimed responsibility for the attack on its Amaq website, but provided no evidence of its claim. ISIL, which has a presence in Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan, regularly targets Shia Muslims.
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‘Shameful tactic’: Myanmar bars top UN investigator from entering the country
By : Lindsay Murdoch : Myanmar has barred a top United Nations investigator from visiting the country in what appears to part of a campaign to cover-up atrocities against Rohingya Muslims in Rakhine State. Yanghee Lee, the UN’s Special Rapporteur, lashed out at the government led by Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, saying she is “puzzled and disappointed by the decision” made only days before she due was to make an official visit. “This declaration of non-cooperation with my mandate can only be viewed as a strong indication that there must be something terrible happening in Rakhine, as well as the rest of the country,” Lee said in a statement released in Geneva.
Suu Kyi’s government and Myanmar’s military have rejected widely documented atrocities in Rakhine that the UN Human Rights Council has described as “very likely” crimes against humanity and human rights groups label genocide.
Myanmar’s military has claimed an internal investigation had shown that no one civilian had been killed in Rakhine since its forces launched “cleaning operations” against insurgents, after attacks on police posts on August 25.
But a survey of survivors in the camps indicates as many as 13,000 Rohingya could have been killed in the latest wave of atrocities. Lee’s ban comes amid international condemnation of the arrest of two Reuters journalists after they had allegedly obtained photographs from residents of a village in Rakhine where a mass grave has been found.
Almost 650,000 Rohingya have fled Myanmar for Bangladesh since August, creating an unfolding humanitarian emergency in squalid refugee camps. The government has for months refused to allow a fact-finding mission appointed by the Human Rights Council to enter Rakhine, where more than one million Rohingya have been persecuted and denied basic rights, including citizenship, for decades.
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40 Rohingya villages burnt in Myanmar : HRW
The United Nations and the U.S. accuse Myanmar’s military of human rights violations against members of the Rohingya Muslim community in Rakhine, including killings, rapes and the burning of homes.
Washington: Human Rights Watch (HRW’s) Asia director Brad Adams, in a statement, citing analysis of satellite imagery, said the buildings in 40 villages were destroyed in October and November, increasing the total to 354 villages that had been partially or completely razed since last August.
‘The satellite imagery shows what the Burmese army denies: that Rohingya villages continue to be destroyed. Burmese government pledges to ensure the safety of returning Rohingya cannot be taken seriously,’ he said. Deadly attacks by Rohingya insurgents on August 25 prompted a ferocious military crackdown on the Muslim minority living in the north of Myanmar’s Rakhine state. The crackdown has led more than 655,000 people of this Muslim minority community to flee to Bangladesh.
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Yemen’s ex-president Ali Abdullah Saleh killed by Houthi Rebels
By: Raf Sanchez, Middle East correspondent | 4 DECEMBER 2017
Yemen’s former president, Ali Abdullah Saleh, was killed after he appeared to switch sides against his former rebel allies and join with a Saudi-led military coalition, plunging the complex war into further chaos. The 75-year-old former president was reportedly shot as he tried to flee the city and Houthi fighters joyfully paraded his bloody corpse before the cameras, much as Libyan rebels did after killing Muammar Gaddafi in 2011. He was part of a young group of military officers who seized power in North Yemen in 1962 and then became the country’s president in 1978. In 1990 North and South were reunited and Mr Saleh became the ruler of the entire country. He was forced from power in late 2011 after mass protests inspired by the Arab Spring and only narrowly survived an assassination attempt.
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7 million on brink of starvation as Yemen marks 1000 days of conflict
A deeper dive into the day’s most notable stories
By: Jonathon Gatehouse, CBC News
The struggle between Houthis militias and the army of President Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi has broadened into a regional conflict with Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates backing the government, and Iran arming the rebels. The violence, coupled with an air-, sea- and land-blockade enforced by the Saudis, have brought the country to its knees. There are some 17 million people 70 per cent of the population in need of immediate humanitarian assistance, and as many as 7 million on the brink of starvation.
Today, 350 high-profile world figures released an open letter calling on the governments of the United States, France and the U.K. to “stop stoking the flames of war in Yemen,” and use their diplomatic and economic might to bring an end to the conflict. The signatories include six Nobel peace prize laureates, academics, politicians, an ex-general, and celebrities like musician Peter Gabriel and actress Thandie Newton. The war has turned “the Middle East’s poorest country into the world’s largest humanitarian crisis,” says the letter. “Every 10 minutes, a child dies from hunger or disease.”
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Iraqi PM Declares ‘Dnd of War Against IS’ in Iraq
By AFP | 10 Dec, 2017 | BAGHDAD: Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi on Saturday declared victory in a three-year war by Iraqi forces to expel the Islamic State group that at its height endangered Iraq’s very existence. “Our forces are in complete control of the Iraqi-Syrian border and I therefore announce the end of the war against Daesh (IS),” Abadi told a conference in Baghdad. “Our enemy wanted to kill our civilisation, but we have won through our unity and our determination. We have triumphed in little time,” he said, hailing Iraq’s “heroic armed forces”.
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Syria War: President Putin’s Russian Mission Accomplished
By Steven Rosenberg – BBC News, Moscow
When Russia launched its military operation in Syria in 2015, the then US President Barack Obama predicted Moscow would get “stuck in a quagmire”. His defence secretary, Ashton Carter, warned that Russia’s approach was “doomed to fail”. Two years on, Russia appears to have proved the doomsayers wrong. On a surprise trip to Syria, President Vladimir Putin told his troops they had fought “brilliantly” and could “return home victorious”. He ordered the withdrawal of a “significant part” of Russia’s military contingent. So, mission accomplished for Moscow? It seems so. The mission – at least as stated publicly by President Putin in September 2015 – was to fight “international terrorism”. Russia has suffered casualties in Syria: officially 41 servicemen have been killed, while dozens more Russian private contractors are reported dead.
US must leave Syria: Russian Foreign Minister
(Dec. 29) Speaking to Interfax news agency, Russian Foreign Minister, Sergey Lavrov stated that the UN Security Council has not approved the work of the United States and its coalition in Syria, nor has been invited by the Syrian legitimate government.
On the statement of the US Defense Secretary, James Matisse, about the intention of US troops to stay in Syria until achieving progress in the political settlement, Lavrov pointed out that such statement is “surprising” because it means that Washington reserves the right to determine the progress and wants to keep control over part of Syrian territory to achieve the result it wants.
The Russian minister affirmed that according to the UNSC No.2254, which the United States supported, the decision on the future of Syria can only be taken by the Syrian people and this is what Moscow will start with in its contacts with the Americans later. He also expressed his satisfaction that cooperation with the US in Syria is possible if the Americans’ goal is to fight terrorism.
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Saudi Arabia to allow Cinemas in kingdom after 35-year ban
Agence France-Presse | 11 DECEMBER 2017 | Saudi Arabia has lifted a decades-long ban on cinemas, part of a series of social reforms by the powerful crown prince that are shaking up the ultra-conservative kingdom. The government said it would begin licensing cinemas immediately and the first movie theatres are expected to open next March, in a decision that could boost the kingdom’s nascent film industry. Reviving cinemas would represent a paradigm shift in the kingdom, which is promoting entertainment as part of a sweeping reform plan for a post-oil era, despite opposition from conservatives who have long vilified movie theatres as vulgar and sinful. “Commercial cinemas will be allowed to operate in the Kingdom as of early 2018, for the first time in more than 35 years,” the culture and information ministry said in a statement.
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ISIL members to deploy in Sinai desert
President Erdoğan reiterated his criticism of the U.S. for its strategy in the fight against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) in Syria, where Washington has been cooperating with the Democratic Union Party (PYD) and its armed wing People’s Protection Units (YPG), which Ankara see as offshoots of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).
“Against whom will the U.S. use the truckloads of weapons massed on our borders. Against DAESH? There is no DAESH there anymore. Against Syria? No, they are now in the same coalition. Iraq? No, they have already invaded there. They will use them against Iran, Turkey or Russia if they dare,” Erdoğan said, referring to weapons supplied to the YPG in the anti-ISIL campaign.
“No one can lecture Turkey on the war against DAESH because Turkey is the only NATO member directly fighting the terrorist group,” he said. Erdoğan also slammed the recent evacuation deal struck between ISIL militants and Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), saying these figures will later be used elsewhere to disrupt stability in the Middle East. “DAESH militants that were set free in the Raqqa operation will be deployed in the deserts of Sinai in Egypt. They will serve there from now on and we [Turkey] will be monitoring this,” he said.
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Gunman kills 11 in attacks on Coptic church, Christian-owned shop in Egypt
CAIRO (29 Dec) : Reports by security sources and state media said at least two attackers were involved in Friday’s attack, and that one was shot dead and another fled the scene. The Coptic Church said the gunman first shot at a Christian-owned shop 4 km (3 miles) away, killing two people, before proceeding to the Mar Mina Coptic church in the southern Cairo suburb of Helwan.
The gunman killed at least nine people, including a policeman, at the Coptic church.
Islamic State claimed responsibility for the attacks, in a statement carried out by its Amaq news agency, though it provided no evidence for the claim.
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Worst attack on UN in recent history kills 15 peacekeepers in DR Congo
GOMA: Dec 8, 2017| The United Nations suffered its worst attack on a peacekeeping mission in nearly a quarter of a century when suspected Ugandan rebels attacked a base in the restive Democratic Republic of Congo, killing at least 15 peacekeepers. The UN Security Council said the peacekeepers, who were all from neighbouring Tanzania, were killed in the North Kivu province, alongside 5 Congolese soldiers, with 53 personnel wounded.
UN chief Antonio Guterres led an outpouring of outrage over the deadly ambush, calling it a “heinous” act. “I condemn this attack unequivocally. These deliberate attacks against UN peacekeepers are unacceptable and constitute a war crime,” he said in a statement. North Kivu province, which borders Uganda and Rwanda, has seen a particular uptick in killings and kidnappings between rival ethnic groups.
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Over 400,000 Children in DR Congo
Are At Risk of Dying from Acute Malnutrition
(12 Dec 2017) : Nearly 2.7 million people have been displaced internally by conflict, violence or disasters, per the latest figures released by the Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre, IDMC, in Africa and Norwegian Refugee Council, NRC, earlier this December.
“This nutrition crisis and food insecurity in the Kasai region follows the displacement of thousands of families who have been living for months in very harsh conditions,” Tajudeen Oyewale, the acting head of UNICEF in the central African country said in a statement. Nearly 220 health centers have been damaged, looted and destroyed in the region, per the UN news center. “Approximately 220 health centers were destroyed, looted or damaged, leading to a weakening of the health delivery system, reduced access to healthcare and an increased risk in the spread of communicable diseases like measles,” the UN news center reported.
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Veteran Indian Bollywood star Shashi Kapoor dies at 79
December 4, 2017: Shashi died at a hospital in Mumbai. Shashi began his career early, assisting in his father’s travelling theatre company and appearing on stage in a production of ‘Shakuntala’, a classic Hindu love story, at the age of six.
His Bollywood career also began in childhood and he grew into a matinee idol, appearing in more than 150 Bollywood and English language films, winning over fans with his charm and suave good looks. Debuting as a leading man in ‘Dharmputra’ in 1961, his most memorable roles were in films such as ‘Jab Jab Phool Khile’, Kabhie Kabhie, ‘Silsila’and ‘Do Aur Do Paanch’.
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INDIAN ARMY TO PROBE SOPS VIOLATION IF ANY BEHIND SOLDIERS’ DEATHS
By: Mohit Kandhari | Jammu : Amid fresh reports of ceasefire violations by the Pakistan Army from neighbouring Poonch district, angry jawans of the Indian Army bid farewell to four soldiers, who attained their martyrdom in Pakistan’s unprovoked firing in Keeri sector of Rajouri on Saturday 24 Dec, on their last journey back home. The Army is most likely to hold a detailed enquiry into the circumstances leading to the martyrdom of senior Army officer along with three jawans. So far the Indian Army has maintained that a Major and three jawans were martyred as Pakistan Army initiated ‘unprovoked’ ceasefire violation on Indian Army posts in Rajouri sector.
However, serious question marks were raised late Saturday evening soon after ‘gory’ images of jawans (not authenticated by the Army authorities) went viral on social media. These pictures of Army men were reportedly shot at a forward location before shifting their bodies to a nearby Army hospital. It is a matter of investigation too how those images from the forward area surfaced on the social media and created piquant situation for the Indian Army while it was engaged in defending frontiers of the nation.
Countering the ‘malicious’ propaganda on social media, the Army denied reports appeared in some section of media that the bodies of Army men were mutilated. “There has been no mutilation of bodies. The injuries suffered were due to splinters and gunshot wounds sustained due to firing by the enemy on the patrol,”ANI news agency reported quoting Army authorities.