Month: January 2017

Italy expels Tunisian with indirect link to Berlin attacker

Italy says it has expelled a Tunisian who allegedly was in contact with an Islamic State group member with links to the Berlin attacker. The Interior Ministry said Friday that the 32-year-old Tunisian, who was living in Ancona, Italy, praised IS on his Facebook page and was in contact with a fellow Tunisian who is an IS member.

Kosovo says Serbia’s train to its north violates sovereignty

Kosovo considers Serbia’s effort to launch a rail link between the two countries as a provocation and an aggressive violation of its sovereignty. The Serbian government announced Friday it will launch a railway link between Belgrade and northern Mitrovica in Kosovo, where most of the country’s ethnic Serb minority is located.

Today in History

On Jan. 13, 1967, the Rolling Stones’ double-A sided single “Let’s Spend the Night Together” and “Ruby Tuesday” was released in the United Kingdom by Decca Records.

Cyprus Talks Moving Toward Endgame

United Nations officials say negotiations aimed at wrapping up a reunification deal for the divided Mediterranean island of Cyprus will resume next week. The adviser to the U.N. secretary general on Cyprus, Espen Barth Eide, described Thursday’s international conference on the island as a turning point for negotiations.

Oil Falls on China Concerns, Down for the Week on OPEC Doubts

Oil prices fell on Friday and ended the week 3 percent lower on lingering doubts over the extent of OPEC cuts, with sentiment worsened by concerns over the economic health of the world’s second-largest oil consumer, China, after it reported the steepest falls in overall exports since 2009. Record Chinese crude imports of 8.6 million barrels per day in December helped to buoy prices somewhat, traders said, but they could not hide underlying fears over the overall health of the world’s second-biggest economy.

Rich history of Whanganui Inlet shows how much we’ve lost

OPINION: At the start of every summer for the last 20 years or so our family has headed out with the same group of friends to set up camp at Rakopi on the northern edge of Whanganui Inlet. The weather in mid-December can be dodgy, but tucked behind the forested dune amongst the sparse stands of kanuka affords good protection from whatever mother nature can dish up.

Maintenance stems clashes over Syrian capital water source

Maintenance workers arrived in Syria’s rebel-held valley near Damascus Friday to fix the water facility there, signalling an end to the violent standoff that has dried out the capital for weeks and threatened a fragile cease-fire, activists and the government said. For days, negotiations stalled, failing to restore the water flow to the capital restricted since Dec. 22 and to end a government offensive there to uproot rebels in control of the area for years.

Cubans sold everything to reach U.S., now hundreds stranded

A group of Cuban migrants share travel stories outside the Caritas shelter for migrants in Panama City, Panama, January 13, 2017. Lilia Gonzales , a staff member of the Caritas shelter for migrants, explains the center policy and options to new Cuban migrants that arrived the previous night to the center in Panama City, Panama, January 13, 2017.

Acting DEA Administrator Meets With Drug Control Officials in China

At the invitation of the China Ministry of Public Security , Drug Enforcement Administration Acting Administrator Chuck Rosenberg visited China this week to discuss issues of mutual concern and to build on the DEA’s existing relationship with Chinese counternarcotics law enforcement authorities. Rosenberg emphasized the increased cooperation between the DEA and the MPS and recognized China’s actions toward combating global synthetic drug trafficking and illicit money laundering.

Train hits car in Waikato

Emergency services were called to the crash on the rail tracks at the south end of Matamata, at State Highway 27, at 7.21am on Saturday. The driver, the sole occupant, was able to get out of the car before the train hit it, Northern Fire Communications shift manager Colin Underdown.

Power company wants to introduce sea water A/C system to Jamaica

Jamaican power and conservation solutions company, New Leaf Power said it is desirous of introducing sea water air conditioning technology to Jamaica following a 12-member public and private sector study tour of two alternative energy systems in Canada. This is against the background that in the Caribbean, according to the Caribbean Development Bank , air conditioning accounts, on average, for 50 per cent of total energy consumption in commercial buildings, while sea water technology is estimated to reduce electricity consumption for air conditioning by up to 90 per cent.

Despite doping scandals, Russia could bid for 2028 Olympics

Still mired in a doping scandal and with a track team banned from international competition, the president of the Russian Olympic Committee said his country may put forth a bid to host the 2028 Games. Alexander Zhukov said Friday that Russia is considering three cities as candidates for a 2028 bid, even as it battles accusations of a mass doping coverup at the Sochi Olympics three years ago.

Eight New Faces Picked For U-22 Centralised Training

National Under- 22 head coach Frank Bernhardt has called up 27 players including eight new faces for the U-22 national squad centralised training as preparations for a friendly match against Vietnam’s U-22 team in Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam on Feb 7. The eight players are Matthew Davies , Muhammad Syazwan Andik Mohd Ishak , Muhammad Irfan Zakaria , Muhammad Shahrul Hakim Rahim and Muhammad Danial Ashraf Abdullah .

‘Digital Mailbox’, New Innovation For Electronic Commerce

KUALA BERANG, Jan 13 — The Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission and Pos Malaysia will implement a new transformation called the ‘Digital Mailbox’ to meet the demands of electronic trading. Deputy Communications and Multimedia Minister Datuk Jailani Johari said the pilot project which will begin in the second quarter of this year is an innovation to meet the demands of electronic trading and the digital lifestyle of the people.

Canadian dairy could face Trump challenge

U.S. dairy groups are calling on Donald Trump to set his sights on Canada’s “protectionist” dairy practices as he seeks to safeguard American jobs. The International Dairy Foods Association, National Milk Producers Federation and U.S. Dairy Export Council, along with the National Association of State Departments of Agriculture say a planned national Canadian ingredients strategy will block U.S. exports in violation of NAFTA and the World Trade Organization.

Najib And Wife Attend An Evening With South Korean Ballet Troupe, The Little Angels

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak and his wife, Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor, attended An Evening With The Little Angels Children Folk Ballet Of South Korea at Seri Perdana here tonight. The event was held in conjunction with Little Angels’s Malaysia peace tour and goodwill performances to be held at Istana Budaya, Kuala Lumpur starting tomorrow until Jan 16. For tonight’s event, the world-class ballet troupe featured their performances which flamboyantly expressed Korean traditional culture of folk songs, dance and pulsating drum-and-gong rhythms.

Syria says Israeli missiles struck near military airport

Syria accused Israel of firing missiles early on Friday that struck near a major military airport west of Damascus, sparking a fire, and warned Israel of repercussions without specifying whether it would retaliate for the attack. In a statement carried on the official news agency SANA, the Syrian military said several missiles were launched just after midnight from an area near Lake Tiberias.

Najib Extends Pongal Greetings

KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 13 — Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak has extended ‘Pongal’ greetings to Malaysians celebrating the event. “As the Malaysian Indian community welcomes the auspicious month of Thai which signifies a new beginning, I take this opportunity to wish our Indian brothers and sisters a very blessed and prosperous ‘Ponggal Vaalthukal’,” he said in his Facebook posting.

Obama administration ends special immigration policy for Cubans | Reuters

The Obama administration on Thursday repealed a measure granting automatic residency to virtually every Cuban who arrived in the United States, whether or not they had visas, ending a longstanding exception to U.S. immigration policy. The end of the “wet foot, dry foot” policy, which allowed any Cuban who reached U.S. soil to stay but returned any picked up at sea, is effective immediately.

Syrian troops capture rebel-held village near Damascus

The Syrian army and an opposition activist group say government forces have captured a village near the capital Damascus that has witnessed intense clashes for weeks. The Syrian army’s Military Media says troops are now in full control of Basima after gunmen fled to two nearby villages in the Barada Valley region.

Deals of the day-Mergers and acquisitions

** Britain’s Centrica has completed its withdrawal from wind power generation with the sale of a 50 percent stake in the Lincs offshore wind farm to the Green Investment Bank and its offshore wind fund, the companies said. ** Private equity firms Advent and Bain Capital agreed to buy German payment group Concardis from a group of private, savings and cooperative banks, the parties said in a joint statement, not disclosing a purchase price.

Czech president invites pope to mark 75th anniversary of Lidice

President MiloA Zeman has invited Pope Francis to visit the Czech Republic in June this year to mark the 75th anniversary of the LidA ce massacres. Around 20 Czechs from the village north of Prague were executed in a reprisal for the assassination of the Nazi acting governor of Bohemia and Moravia, Reinhard Heydrich, in 1942 by Czechoslovak parachutists from Britain.

Iran: Halt imminent executions of 12 alleged drug offenders

Iran should immediately halt the execution of 12 men convicted of drug offences, scheduled for 14 January in Karaj Central Prison, Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International said today. The human rights organizations expressed concern that, despite repeated government promises, Iran has not made any tangible progress in reducing its alarming execution rate.

Regional maritime piracy agreement broadened to cover other illicit maritime activity

An international agreement that has been instrumental in repressing piracy and armed robbery against ships in the western Indian Ocean and the Gulf of Aden has seen its scope significantly broadened to cover other illicit maritime activities, including human trafficking and illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing. A high-level meeting of signatories to the Djibouti Code of Conduct , held in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia has adopted a revised Code of Conduct, which will be known as the “Jeddah Amendment to the Djibouti Code of Conduct 2017”.

Zimmermann discovers new purpose after the Olympics

It’s been said that athletes die two deaths. The first occurs when their competitive careers end and the cheering stops, often at a relatively young age, and they are confronted with a frightening question: “Now what?” Iris Zimmermann’s first death, if you will, occurred in 2008 when the onetime Olympic fencer’s final attempt at making the U.S. team and pursuing an elusive medal ended on a gray, rainy February day in Gdansk, Poland.

A Springsteen – sort of – Trump event

Tirdad Derakhshani was born in Tehran, Iran, and raised in London and rural North Jersey, where he closely studied a theoretical, radical post-Hegelian approach to cow-tipping. He moved to Philadelphia in the mid-’80s to seek enlightenment, and instead received a B.A. in literature at Penn.

John Muir Way awarded Scotland’s Great Trail status

The 134 mile route – which stretches across Scotland’s heartland running between Helensburgh in the west and Muir’s birthplace in Dunbar on the east coast – joins other world famous paths which have been honoured with the prestigious award. Since its launch in April 2014, which marked the centenary year of the Scots-born conservationist’s death, the route has fulfilled the key criteria to earn the highly sought after status.

UP: Two nabbed with Rs. 1 crore in Rs 2000 notes

The Uttar Pradesh Police arrested two people with Rs. 1 crore during a checking exercise in Moradabad’s Kundarki area on Thursday. According to a report in ANI, the currency was in Rs 2000 notes. The recovery was made from a swift car and the accused are reportedly employees with a bank.