January, 2017

• 3 January

  Video weakens Myanmar claims ‘it’s not abusing Rohingya’

  

    YANGON / AP Newly revealed video of Myanmar police beating Rohingya Muslims in northern Rakhine state has weakened months of government claims that its forces have not committed abuses in the tense and isolated region it has largely closed off to foreigners since a deadly insurgent attack in October. The footage has made it more difficult for the government ...

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• 3 January

  China confirms ‘carrier drills’ in South China Sea

  

    BEIJING / AFP China confirmed that its aircraft carrier has for the first time conducted drills in the South China Sea with a formation of other warships and fighter jets, a move that could raise concerns among its neighbors. The Defense Ministry said several J-15 fighter jets took off and landed from the flight deck of the aircraft carrier Liaoning ...

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• 3 January

  Border guards in Spain find migrants hidden in suitcase, car

    MADRID / AFP Guards on the border of Ceuta, Spain’s enclave in North Africa, say they have recently detained one Moroccan suspected of attempting to smuggle migrants concealed in a suitcase and another suspected of hiding migrants in a car. Custom agents found a 19-year-old migrant from Gabon hidden in a suitcase pushed on a trolley by a woman who ...

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• 3 January

  Syria rebels suspend talks over alleged ceasefire violations

  

    BEIRUT / ap Syrian government forces pressed ahead with their offensive in the water-rich Barada Valley northwest of Damascus on Tuesday as 10 rebel groups said they were suspending talks about planned peace negotiations because of what they describe as ongoing government violations of a cease-fire deal. The cease-fire, brokered by Russia and Turkey, is meant to be followed ...

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• 3 January

  Prosecutors accuse German IS suspect of Syria killings role

    BERLIN / AP German prosecutors are accusing a man already convicted of membership in a terrorist organization of participating in the killing of six captives by the IS group. Federal prosecutors said on Tuesday they obtained a new warrant against the 28-year-old German, identified only as Harry S. in line with privacy laws, on suspicion of murder and committing ...

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• 3 January

  Netanyahu denies wrongdoing after police grilling

  JERUSALEM / AP Israel’s prime minister is denying wrongdoing a day after he was questioned by police for more than three hours over corruption allegations. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu wrote on Twitter on Tuesday that “there won’t be anything because there is nothing,” and decried “years of daily persecution against me and my family.” Police investigators grilled Netanyahu on Monday ...

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• 3 January

  Migrants set fires in protest at center near Venice

    ROME / AP Italian police say they have quelled a violent protest by occupants of a migrant center near Venice that left fearful workers barricaded inside offices. Carabinieri paramilitary police in Chioggia, near the Cona migrant center, said the protest ended in the early hours of Tuesday. Italian state RAI radio said migrants were protesting the alleged delay in ...

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• 3 January

  Grim selfie video ‘shows’ suspect in Turkey killings

  

    ISTANBUL / AP Turkish state media aired new footage on Tuesday of a man believed to be the IS gunman who killed 39 people at a nightclub, showing a grim selfie video of the suspect as he circles Istanbul’s most famous square. The camera never leaves the man’s unsmiling face as he walks through Taksim square, one of Istanbul’s prime ...

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• 3 January

  Judges rule Jakarta governor blasphemy trial closed to media

    JAKARTA / AP An Indonesian court ruled on Tuesday that witness testimony will be closed to the media in the blasphemy trial of the capital’s minority Christian governor. Jakarta Gov. Basuki “Ahok” Tjahaja Purnama is charged with insulting Islam and desecrating the Quran by using one of its verses to boost his chances of winning re-election. Ahok, 50, is seeking ...

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• 3 January

  UN: 6,878 civilians killed in Iraq violence in 2016

  

    BAGHDAD / AP Violence claimed the lives of at least 6,878 civilian Iraqis last year, the United Nations said, as the Iraqi government struggles to maintain security nationwide and to dislodge IS group militants from areas under their control. The UN Assistance Mission for Iraq, known as UNAMI, said its numbers “have to be considered as the absolute minimum” as ...

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