Assad must face justice for war crimes

  Amnesty International released horrifying details of mass hangings, exterminations, abuse and torture taking place in Syrian human ‘slaughterhouse’. Assad regime has killed more than13,000 people since the start of the 2011 uprising in mass hangings at Saydnaya Prison, north of Damascus. According to Amnesty report, 20-50 people were hanged each week at the prison. The killings were authorized by ...

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Travel ban decision in hands of federal appeals court judges

  SAN FRANCISCO / AP A federal appeals court will decide whether to reinstate President Donald Trump’s travel ban after a contentious hearing in which the judges hammered away at the administration’s motivations for the ban, but also directed pointed questions to an attorney for two states trying to overturn it. It was unclear which way the three judges of ...

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Gunmen in northern Afghanistan kill 6 Red Cross staff

  KABUL / AP Gunmen killed six employees of the International Committee of the Red Cross in northern Afghanistan on Wednesday, the aid group said, adding that two other staffers were missing. The eight-person team was delivering livestock materials near the northern town of Shibirghan, capital of the Jowzjan province, when the gunmen attacked their convoy, it said. “We condemn ...

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Court upholds guilty verdict for Russian oppn leader

  MOSCOW / AP A Russian court on Wednesday found opposition leader Alexei Navalny guilty in the retrial of a 2013 fraud case, which formally disqualifies him as a candidate for president next year. However, the first time Navalny was convicted, his sentence was suspended and he was allowed to be a candidate for mayor of Moscow. An associate said ...

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Poland’s top politician pleased with talks with Merkel

  WARSAW / AP Poland’s ruling party leader says his talks with German Chancellor Angela Merkel were held in “good atmosphere” and that he believes her visit will bring “good results.” Poland’s most powerful politician, Jaroslaw Kaczynski, met with Merkel late Tuesday during her half-a-day visit to Warsaw. TVN24 on Wednesday showed him kiss Merkel’s hand in greeting, a vanishing, ...

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CIA chief Pompeo to visit Turkey, discuss security

  ANKARA / AP CIA Director Mike Pompeo will visit Turkey on Thursday in his first overseas visit to discuss security issues, including Turkey’s fight against a movement led by a US-based cleric accused of orchestrating a failed military coup, Turkish officials said, in a sign of improving relations between the allies. Pompeo’s visit was decided during a 45-minute telephone ...

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Amid row, China planning policies to attract Taiwanese

  BEIJING / AP China is drafting policies to attract Taiwanese to live and work on the mainland, a government spokesman said on Wednesday, in a direct appeal to the island’s population amid a deepening political standoff between the governments in Taipei and Beijing. The Cabinet’s Taiwan Affairs Office said on Wednesday that residents of the self-governing island democracy will ...

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Separatist commander assassinated in Ukraine

  MOSCOW / AP A prominent rebel leader in eastern Ukraine has been killed in an explosion in his office, his associates said on Wednesday. The rebels’ Donetsk News Agency said Mikhail Tolstykh, better known under his nom de guerre Givi, died early Wednesday morning in what it described as a terrorist attack. The agency said 35-year old Tolstykh was ...

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ADNEC delivers economic impact of AED3bn

  Abu Dhabi / WAM A staggering AED3 billion business activity was generated by the Abu Dhabi National Exhibitions Company, ADNEC, in 2016. Its key venues include Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre and Al Ain Convention Centre, AACC, and together, the centres hosted more than 1.5 million visitors across 480 local and international events, an increase of 30 percent over 2015. ...

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MBRSC, AUS to launch Nayif-1 between Feb 14, 25

  Dubai / Emirates Business The Mohammed bin Rashid Space Centre (MBRSC) and the American University of Sharjah (AUS) announced that the launch of the nanosatellite Nayif-1 will occur between February 14 and 25, from Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota, India, on board a PSLV-C37 rocket. Nayif-1 is expected to be launched on the morning of February 15, if ...

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