Day: December 30, 2016

Officers inspect one of the armoured vehicles from Singapore. Photo: Facebook

Ng Eng Hen also says without elaborating that the Singapore city state has changed its practices to protect its assets The Singapore military had learned a lesson from the seizure of its armoured vehicles by the Hong Kong authorities and had changed its practices to protect its assets, the country’s defence minister said on Friday in a Facebook post. In the post, titled 2016 – A Look Back , Ng Eng Hen described the episode as “a low point in 2016 from the defence perspective”.

Taiwan president to transit Houston, San Francisco next month

Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen will transit through Houston and San Francisco during her January visit to allies in Latin American countries, her office said on Friday, a move certain to anger mainland China which a day earlier urged the United States to block a stopover. Tsai is transiting in the US on her way to and from visiting Honduras, Nicaragua, Guatemala and El Salvador.

it Flew, Orville:

With no college education between them, the Wright brothers became entrepreneurs. They ran a series of failed daily and weekly newspapers and repaired and sold bicycles in a store close to their Dayton home.

Man gets death sentence for murder of female classmate

A 24-year-old man was sentenced to death by a Beijing court on Friday for the murder and attempted rape of a fellow student. Li Sida, who was studying audio engineering at the same university as the victim, Zhou Yunlu, had asked her to star in an amateur film in August last year, the Legal Evening News reported.

Malaysia’s 1MDB Scandal Claims Another Scalp

The legal ramifications following the scandal linked to the 1MDB fund continues to resonate with a court in Singapore convicting a private banker of trying to obstruct investigations into the indebted fund founded by Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak. Yeo Jiawei, 34, a former wealth planner at Swiss private bank BSI where he was known for his taste of the good life, was convicted of four charges related to obstructing, preventing or perverting the course of justice in regards to 1MDB or 1Malaysia Development Bhd.

All the fun of the Bear! Whittlesey to fight off winter blues with…

Thousands of people are expected to descend on the Fenland town from all over the world for the annual event, which this year runs from January 13-15. The colourful folk festival will see about hundreds of performers follow the Straw Bear around the town, on what promoters say will be a “fascinating weekend of music, colour, humour and dancing.”

Love at first sight for a couple from Devon who travelled 289 miles…

A couple travelled nearly 300 miles to the Fens to give a dog her forever home after falling in love with her online profile with a local rescue group. The pair made the 289 mile journey from Barnstaple to collect Misty from March rounding 2016 off in style for Ravenswood Pet Rescue who say the couple are the this year’s furthest travelled new owners.

India to start taxing capital gains to Singapore investors from April

India will start imposing capital gains tax on investments coming from Singapore from April and fully withdraw exemptions in two years as the two countries agreed to amend a decade-old treaty after New Delhi rolled back similar concessions to Mauritius and Cyprus earlier this year. India’s Finance Minister Arun Jaitley gestures as he addresses a gathering on July 10, 2016.

Berlin truck attacker may have got gun in Switzerland – report

The Tunisian man who killed 12 people last month by ploughing a truck into a Berlin Christmas market had made several trips to Switzerland and may have procured a gun there that he used to hijack a truck for the attack, German broadcaster ZDF reported. “A lot speaks for that in the investigations so far,” ZDF said of the possibility that Anis Amri, a failed asylum seeker from Tunisia, obtained the gun in Switzerland.

Cyber-warfare comes of age

In an intriguing and significant development in the deepening confusion around what’s permitted and forbidden to states in cyberspace, the White House yesterday issued sanctions against Russia via Executive Order 13694, ominously entitled “Taking Additional Steps to Address the National Emergency with respect to Significant Malicious Cyber-Enabled Activities.” The Order is being called the most severe imposition of US sanctions on Russia since the end of the Cold War.

China state broadcaster rebrands in international push

State broadcaster Central China Television has rebranded its international networks and digital presence under the name China Global Television Network as part of a push to consolidate its worldwide reach. CCTV on Friday unveiled several new mobile apps under the CGTN brand, and visitors to CCTV’s non-Chinese language websites are directed to a new http://www.cgtn.com site.

Guardiola tuning up for Klopp’s heavy metal attack

No coach in football is better at crafting the type of attacking play Jurgen Klopp implements at Liverpool, says Man City’s Pep Guardiola. Pep Guardiola hopes not to be on the receiving end of another lesson from Jurgen Klopp when Manchester City travel to face Liverpool and a man he believes to be the best out-and-out attacking coach in world football.

Clark County Sheriff Joe Lombardo’s Firearms Nescience

I was at the Crossroads of the West gun show in Las Vegas when I learned about Clark County Sheriff Joe Lombardo’s agitation for limits on firearm magazine sizes . Lombardo’s statement to the Las Vegas Sun, “I’m a very avid hunter, I was in the military myself, and there’s no need to have a high-capacity magazine for any practical reason,” is prima facie evidence that he is either grossly unqualified for his job; or willing to subordinate public safety to a political agenda that is far better suited to Los Angeles than any place in Nevada.

Jimmy Carter’s Lifelong Pursuit of a Palestinian State

Perhaps sensing that he would soon have to relinquish his position as America’s worst ex-president, Jimmy Carter reminded everyone last month how he earned the title with yet another call for the U.S. to recognize a Palestinian state. Carter’s call is a departure from American diplomacy, which insists, per UN Resolution 338, that an Israeli-Palestinian peace agreement can only be reached through negotiations “between the parties.”

What Kerry Should Have Said

When Secretary of State John Kerry delivered his comprehensive statement on the Arab-Israel conflict in front of a safe audience at the State Department, he took over an hour to defend the decision of the United States to in essence allow passage of the recent UN anti-Israel resolution by abstaining from it, rather than adhering to the longstanding policy of the U.S. to veto such resolutions. The general thrust of his message was to chastise Israel for building “settlements” on land defined as “occupied Palestinian territory,” as the main obstacle preventing a two-state solution.

ITALEAF: TerniEnergia signed agreement with JuicePower for a pipeline …

TerniEnergia has subscribed today a partnership agreement with JuicePower , a company established in London , to develop and build clean energy generation plants and energy management structures which combine on-site and off-site generation and storage, and to support the management of JuicePower portfolio of customers with smart energy management systems. JuicePower, is a Clean Energy Platform which aims at directly selling energy to commercial and industrial customers as well as special smart grids, in emerging markets, starting with India, by generating and trading energy using Smart Energy Management systems.

Syria’s cease-fire holding despite minor violations

Osama Abu Zeid of the the main moderate Syrian opposition group Free Syrian Army, shows what he said is a copy of the five-point cease-fire agreement for Syria, during a news conference in Ankara, Turkey, Thursday, Dec. 29, 2016. Abu Zeid said that his group, one of the 13 armed opposition factions, had agreed to abide by the nationwide cease-fire agreement that will go into effect at midnight Thursday.

Armenian Ombudsman’s Office, UN sign agreement

On 29 December 2016, The Human Rights Defender of the Republic of Armenia, Mr. Arman Tatoyan, and UNHCR Representative in Armenia, Mr. Christoph Bierwirth, signed a project agreement for 2017 titled “Enhancing the capacity of Human Rights Defender’s Office to monitor the situation of refugee and asylum-seekers in Armenia”. The signing ceremony took place at the UNHCR office in UN House in Yerevan.

U. researcher awarded for decades of study and care

The second desk drawer on the right in John Opitz ‘s study isn’t lined with the typical pens, pencils and Post-it notes: It’s lined with eggs. Twenty-two eggs, to be exact, laid by his bird, Darwin, who is just one of myriad animals that roam Opitz ‘s home, his love of zoology and biology brought to life.

Turkish committee clears draft expanding Erdogan’s powers

A Turkish parliamentary commission has cleared a set of draft constitutional amendments that would greatly expand the powers of the president. The constitutional commission approved the reforms that would turn the largely ceremonial presidency into one where the president enjoys full executive powers early on Friday.

Letter: U.S. veto an insult to Israel

Letter: U.S. veto an insult to Israel President Obama did not just “rebuke” Israel, but metaphorically spit in the face of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Check out this story on northjersey.com: http://northjersy.news/2iKOS85 When the United States abstained on United Nations Security Council Resolution 2334, President Barack Obama did not just “rebuke” Israel, but metaphorically spit in the face of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Israelis and supporters of Israel everywhere.

Update on state project statuses

An update on the government’s progress over the past three months found delays have held back school capital works and crisis accommodation projects. Premier Will Hodgman provided the update on the state’s projects and their timeframes when he released the government’s Third Quarter update for October to December 2016.

Russian air strikes target IS around Syria’s al-Bab – Turkish military

ANKARA: Russian aircraft have carried out three air strikes on Islamic State around the Syrian town of al-Bab over the past 24 hours, the Turkish military said on Friday, in what appeared to be the first Russian support for Turkish army operations in the area. The strikes came as a nationwide ceasefire in Syria, brokered by Russia and Turkey which back opposing sides in the conflict, got off to a shaky start at midnight.

Five killed, many trapped in Indian coal mine collapse – police

BHUBANESWAR, India: At least five Indian miners were killed and nearly two dozen trapped when mine waste collapsed at a mine run by state-owned Coal India Limited, police said on Friday. Several vehicles working at the mine were also trapped in the accident in Jharkhand state on Thursday evening at the Lalmatia mines owned by Eastern Coalfields Limited , a subsidiary of the world’s largest miner.