President Donald Trump has ordered a slowdown to the withdrawal of United States troops from Syria, Republican Senator Lindsey Graham has said. “I think we’re in a pause situation,” the South Carolina Republican said outside the White House on Sunday. On December 19, Trump announced the withdrawal of all the roughly 2,000 troops from war-torn Syria, with aides expecting it …
Russia’s domestic security service (FSB) has said it had detained an American citizen suspected of spying in Moscow. The FSB, which said the American had been detained on December 28, said in a statement on Monday that a criminal case had been opened against him. The statement identified the American in Russian, using a name that appeared to translate as …
A United Arab Emirates (UAE) appeals court has upheld a 10-year prison sentence against prominent pro-democracy activist Ahmed Mansoor for criticising the government on social media, Amnesty International reported. Mansoor, an electrical engineer and poet, was arrested in March 2017 and sentenced in May by Abu Dhabi’s Federal Appeals Court for “defaming the UAE through social media channels”. Mansoor was …
US Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren has announced that she is establishing an exploratory committee to consider a presidential run in 2020. The move, the first by a high profile Democrat for 2020, allows Ms Warren, 69, to ramp up her fundraising. In October, Ms Warren revealed the results of a DNA test she said proved her Native American heritage …
US President Donald Trump has now said the abrupt withdrawal of US troops from Syria he announced earlier this month will be carried out “slowly”. “We’re slowly sending our troops back home to be with their families, while at the same time-fighting Isis [Islamic State] remnants,” he tweeted on Monday. His clarification confirmed remarks by Republican Senator Lindsey Graham. When …
Rescuers are searching for survivors in the central Russian city of Magnitogorsk, where an explosion devastated a block of flats, killing at least four people. Officials in the city, in the Urals region, say a gas leak caused the blast. About 40 people are missing. President Vladimir Putin has arrived in the city to assess the situation. The building was …
The internet has been shut down in key cities in the Democratic Republic of Congo a day after the much-delayed presidential election. Opposition candidate Martin Fayulu’s campaign team accused the government of ordering the shut down to avoid broadcasting his “overwhelming victory” in Sunday’s poll. Telecoms minister Emery Okundji said he was unaware of the situation. Observers have complained of …
The World Food Programme has demanded Yemen’s rebel Houthi movement stops diverting desperately needed food aid from people in areas under its control. A survey by the UN agency said people in the capital Sanaa had not received rations to which they were entitled. The WFP said lorries were illegally removing food from distribution areas, with rations sold on the …
Democrats in the U.S. House of Representatives plan to vote on Thursday on a funding package to end the 10-day-old partial U.S. government shutdown, without providing the $5 billion President Donald Trump has demanded for a U.S.-Mexico border wall. The planned vote sets up a Democratic showdown with Trump’s fellow Republicans on an issue dear to the president on the …
A small van has ploughed into pedestrians celebrating the new year on one of Tokyo’s most famous streets. Nine people were injured, one seriously, by the attacker who struck in the Harajuku fashion district shortly after midnight. The street, which was sealed off to traffic, was packed with people heading to a shrine for New Year’s prayers. The man driving …
