Top ISIS executioner shot dead in ambush

One of the Islamic State’s chief executioners – who beheaded more than 100 people with a long ceremonial sword – was shot to death during an ambush in Iraq, according to published reports. Abu Sayyaf, infamous for his beefy physique and pitch-black clothing that covered him from head to toe, was gunned down Sunday by several shooters who rode up to him in a car near Mosul, ARA News reported .

Socialist primary winner in France had backing of prominent anti-Semites

A left-wing politician in France who handily defeated Prime Minister Manuel Valls in the Socialist presidential primaries was endorsed by the founders of the country’s Anti-Zionist Party. Benoit Hamon, who supports dramatically expanding welfare payments and has called for his party to support Palestinian causes to increase its appeal to Muslim voters, beat his hard-line challenger Sunday with 58 percent of the vote in the second and final round of the balloting.

US ban forces Iranians home after days at Vienna airport

Three Iranians have been forced to return home after being stuck in transit at Vienna airport for three days due to the United States travel ban on people from seven mainly-Muslim countries, an Austrian Airlines official said Monday. An elderly couple and an unrelated middle-aged woman arrived from Isfahan, south of Tehran, on Saturday morning, expecting to catch connecting flights to the US to visit family members, AUA spokesman Peter Thier said.

Iraqi lawmakers call for ban on Americans after Trump order

Iraq’s lawmakers on Monday backed a “reciprocity measure” that would bar Americans from entering Iraq in retaliation for President Donald Trump’s banning of Iraqis and citizens of six other majority-Muslim countries from traveling to the United States. But though the deputy parliament speaker said the Iraqi vote is non-binding for the government, it will likely strain Baghdad’s relations with Washington amid joint efforts to quash the Islamic State group and retake Mosul, Iraq’s second-largest city, from the extremists.

British PM May visits Turkey, reaches $125M fighter jet deal

Turkey and Britain signed a deal to jointly build fighter jets during Prime Minister Theresa May’s visit to Ankara on Saturday, even as the British leader called on Turkey’s government to uphold democracy and abide by human rights standards. Britain’s BAE Systems and Turkish aerospace industries signed the nearly $125.5 million agreement for the development of Turkey’s fighter jet program after May met with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and other Turkish officials about boosting trade between the countries once Britain leaves the European Union.

Trump and Saudi king agree tosupport safe zones in Syria

US President Donald Trump and Saudi Arabian King Salman bin Abd Al-Aziz “agreed to support safe zones in Syria” in a phone call on Sunday, the White House said, marking a potentially dramatic shift in WashingtonA s posture toward the civil war there. The White House cast TrumpA s support for safe zones in Syria as just one of many policy ideas that will “help the many refugees who are displaced” from the war, which has prompted the worst refugee crisis since World War II.

Trump and Saudi king agree to support safe zones in Syria

US President Donald Trump and Saudi Arabian King Salman bin Abd Al-Aziz “agreed to support safe zones in Syria” in a phone call on Sunday, the White House said, marking a potentially dramatic shift in Washington’s posture toward the civil war there. The White House cast Trump’s support for safe zones in Syria as just one of many policy ideas that will “help the many refugees who are displaced” from the war, which has prompted the worst refugee crisis since World War II.

UPDATE 1-Houthi-run authorities in Yemen capital condemn Trump ban

U.S. President Donald Trump’s temporary ban on Yemeni citizens travelling to the United States is “illegal and illegitimate,” authorities controlled by the Iran-allied Houthi group in Yemen’s capital said. The war-damaged and impoverished country in the south of the Arabian Peninsula is one of seven majority Muslim countries whose citizens face a 90-day ban on entering the United States.

Yemeni officials say US makes surprise raid

U.S. forces launched a raid in central Yemen on Sunday, security and tribal officials said, landing troops off of aircraft and killing three alleged senior al-Qaida leaders in a battle that was the third such U.S. ground engagement against the extremist group in Yemen. The surprise dawn attack in Bayda province killed Abdul-Raouf al-Dhahab, Sultan al-Dhahab, and Seif al-Nims, they said.

The Latest: Iraq: We understand motives behind travel ban

The Latest on U.S. President Donald Trump and his ban on refugees from Muslim-majority countries : The Iraqi government says it understands the security motives behind President Donald Trump’s decision to ban seven predominantly Muslim nations, including Iraq, from entering the United States, but underlined that their “special relationship” should be taken into consideration. Government spokesman Saad al-Hadithi says Iraqis are hoping that the new orders “will not affect the efforts of strengthening and developing the bilateral relations between Iraq and the United States.”

Israeli troops kill Palestinian in West Bank: medics

Palestinian protesters burn tires during clashes with Israeli security forces following a weekly demonstration against the expropriation of Palestinian land by Israel in the village of Kfar Qaddum, near Nablus, in the occupied West Bank on January 27, 2017. / AFP / JAAFAR ASHTIYEH

Councilman Randy Burkett says Facebook posts led to threats

Amarillo City Councilman Randy Burkett said Saturday that a Facebook exchange in which he was involved ended with threats made against him and that those threats are now being investigated by “law enforcement entities.” This most recent war of words involving the councilman, the third this month, stems from his responses to posts on a “friend’s” Facebook timeline.

Anger erupts over Trump’s order banning refugees from US

In this Saturday, Jan. 28, 2017 photo, released by the French Foreign ministry, French foreign minister Jean-Marc Ayrault, left, greets his newly appointed German counterpart, Sigmar Gabriel, before… . In this Saturday, Jan. 28, 2017 photo, released by the French Foreign ministry, French foreign minister Jean-Marc Ayrault, left, greets his newly appointed German counterpart, Sigmar Gabriel, before… LONDON – Anger erupted on Saturday – along with some praise from the far-right – about U.S. President Donald Trump’s ban on refugees entering the United States.

Donald Trump’s Muslim visa ban may keep Iranian director from attending Oscars

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Trump’s strangely limited entry ban

There’s a lot to say about President Trump’s executive order on Holocaust Remembrance Day banning citizens from seven Muslim-majority countries from entering the United States for 90 days. His proposed list doesn’t include Muslim-majority countries where his Trump Organization has done business or pursued potential deals.

The Latest: Official: Trump ban affects all non-US citizens

The Latest on U.S. President Donald Trump and his ban on refugees from Muslim-majority countries : A U.S. federal law enforcement official says any non-U.S. citizen from Iraq, Syria, Iran, Sudan, Libya, Somalia or Yemen is now barred from entering the United States. That covers legal permanent residents – green card holders – and visa-holders from those seven countries who are out of the United States after Friday, when President Donald Trump signed an executive order with the temporary ban.

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I was struck this week by the comments of Israeli dancer and choreographer, Ido Tadmor, about his participation in the Pafos2017 opening ceremony which takes place on Saturday night. We were talking about his collaboration in the ceremony and, while doing so, he spoke about how he sees the European Culture Capital title that Paphos is holding for the duration of 2017 as a ‘rebirth’ for the town in dark times.

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A SWEET DEAL: The European Bank of Reconstruction and Development put on quite a spread during its MoU signing this week with the Finance Ministry, which sets out responsibilities, division of labour and scope of cooperation. Those with a sweet tooth were also in for a treat.

May’s mission to woo Trump a success, but makes some uneasy

May left Washington after a 24-hour visit as Saturday’s British newspapers splashed front-page photos of the two leaders touching hands as they walked at the White House before a strikingly collegial news conference. May wanted her meeting, Trump’s first as president with a foreign leader, to revitalize the trans-Atlantic “special relationship.”

British PM Theresa May flies to Turkey ‘on trade mission’…

As the British PM touched down in Ankara this morning, Downing Street made a surprise announcement that the UK and Turkey have agreed terms on what could eventually become a groundbreaking deal. The two countries have agreed to set up a new joint working group to carry out the groundwork for a trade deal when the UK eventually leaves the EU .