BAGHDAD: The United States said on Tuesday (Dec 31) it is sending hundreds more troops to the Middle East after a mob of pro-Iranian demonstrators stormed its embassy compound in Iraq, setting fires and chanting "Death to America!" Angered by US air strikes that killed two dozen paramilitary ...
US President Donald Trump has taken a swipe at his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron, highlighting a series of heated protests unfolding across France over a hot-button pension reform and poking fun at the Paris climate deal.
From his perch on Twitter, President Trump shared a brief video clip showing a line of parked cars set ablaze in Paris on the cusp of the New Year on Tuesday, adding only a simple caption:
While the motive behind the sizable (and likely quite expensive) car-b-que remains unknown, the arson comes amid mass demonstrations around the country in opposition to an overhaul of the French pension system, which in some cases have erupted into violent street clashes with riot police. Trade unions and other labor organizations have organized mass strikes and walkouts over the proposal, which the government insists will simplify the pension system and ensure it is “fair.”
The wave of anti-pension reform demonstrations follows another protest movement sparked last year by a fuel tax hike, the 'Yellow Vests,' who have continued to stage mass actions intermittently ever since. The two groups joined forces over the weekend in a joint protest to voice discontent with Macron’s government.
At President Trump’s direction, Washington ditched the Paris climate accord in 2017, a multilateral agreement among the majority of the world’s nations dealing with greenhouse gas emissions and other environmental issues. Dismissing it as “draconian,” Trump has repeatedly mocked Macron about the deal since the US withdrawal, once even suggesting the accord itself was responsible for the country’s ongoing unrest.
Some 750 paratroopers from the US Army’s 82nd Airborne Division are already on their way to Kuwait, and more may soon follow, after the US embassy in Baghdad was stormed and nearly taken by angry Iraqi militiamen.
The 82nd’s alert brigade has been ordered to deploy on Tuesday evening, Fox News reported citing multiple Pentagon officials, shortly before Defense Secretary Mark Esper confirmed it.
"The United States will protect our people and interests anywhere they are found around the world," Esper said, announcing the deployment.
...and facilities, such as we witnessed in Baghdad today. The United States will protect our people and interests anywhere they are found around the world.
— Secretary of Defense Dr. Mark T. Esper (@EsperDoD) January 1, 2020
The initial force has already departed Fort Bragg, North Carolina on board C-17 transports. The Immediate Response Force (IRF) consists of an estimated 4,000 soldiers of the 82nd Deployment Ready Brigade (DRB), whose three battalions can be fielded within 96 hours if needed.
Hundreds of members of the Iraqi Shia militia Kataib Hezbollah stormed the US embassy in Baghdad on Tuesday, chanting “Death to America” and setting the entrance checkpoint on fire. They were protesting the US airstrikes that killed 25 of their members over the weekend, in what the Pentagon said was retaliation for last week’s rocket strike at a US base in Kirkuk that killed one contractor.
The militia withdrew after a task force of some 100 US Marines, accompanied by attack helicopters, showed up to reinforce the embassy. US President Donald Trump has blamed Iran for the attack and openly threatened Tehran with a “big price” to pay.
There are currently 60,000 US troops in the Middle East at the moment, of which some 5,000 are in Iraq. Almost 14,000 of those have been added since May 2019, with the Pentagon citing a rising “threat” from Iran.
In May 2018, the Trump administration unilaterally repudiated the nuclear deal negotiated with Tehran in 2015, and imposed sanctions intended to destroy the Iranian economy. Despite Trump’s campaign rhetoric about ending US involvement in endless foreign wars, his advisers have repeatedly called for what amounts to regime change in Tehran.
A visibly indignant Pope Francis had to pull himself away from a woman in a crowd in St Peter's Square on Tuesday after she grabbed his hand and yanked him towards her.
The U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) said late on Tuesday it will investigate a fatal Dec. 29 Tesla Inc crash in Los Angeles that killed two people.
A visibly indignant Pope Francis had to pull himself away from a woman in a crowd in St Peter's Square on Tuesday after she grabbed his hand and yanked him towards her.
LONDON: Frank Lampard is determined to do all he can to protect Callum Hudson-Odoi after the England forward was criticised on social media. The teenager struggled during Chelsea's 2-0 loss at home to Southampton on Boxing Day, his first start since October, and found himself being trolled as a ...
BAGHDAD: The US flew a rapid response team of Marines into Baghdad to reinforce its embassy on Tuesday (Dec 31) after a mob of pro-Iranian demonstrators stormed the compound, setting fires and chanting "Death to America!" Angered by US air strikes that killed two dozen fighters, hundreds of ...
The U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) said late on Tuesday it will investigate a fatal Dec. 29 Tesla Inc crash in Los Angeles that killed two people.
A visibly indignant Pope Francis had to pull himself away from a woman in a crowd in St Peter's Square on Tuesday after she grabbed his hand and yanked him towards her.
LONDON: Frank Lampard is determined to do all he can to protect Callum Hudson-Odoi after the England forward was criticised on social media. The teenager struggled during Chelsea's 2-0 loss at home to Southampton on Boxing Day, his first start since October, and found himself being trolled as a ...
LOS ANGELES: Diego Alonso has been named the first head coach of David Beckham's Inter Miami ahead of their inaugural season in the North America's Major League Soccer. "In Diego we found a manager that fits our culture and has a strong desire to build a winning club for our fans," said Inter ...
SYDNEY: Fire-ravaged Australia has launched a major operation to reach thousands of people stranded in seaside towns after deadly bushfires ripped through popular tourist areas on New Year's Eve. Navy ships and military aircraft were deployed alongside emergency crews on Wednesday (Jan 1) to ...
BAGHDAD: The US flew a rapid response team of Marines into Baghdad to reinforce its embassy on Tuesday (Dec 31) after a mob of pro-Iranian demonstrators stormed the compound, setting fires and chanting "Death to America!" Angered by US air strikes that killed two dozen fighters, hundreds of ...
BAGHDAD: The US flew a rapid response team of Marines into Baghdad to reinforce its embassy on Tuesday (Dec 31) after a mob of pro-Iranian demonstrators stormed the compound, setting fires and chanting "Death to America!" Angered by US air strikes that killed two dozen fighters, hundreds of ...
SYDNEY: Fire-ravaged Australia has launched a major operation to reach thousands of people stranded in seaside towns after deadly bushfires ripped through popular tourist areas on New Year's Eve. Navy ships and military aircraft were deployed alongside emergency crews on Wednesday (Jan 1) to ...
LONDON: Frank Lampard is determined to do all he can to protect Callum Hudson-Odoi after the England forward was criticised on social media. The teenager struggled during Chelsea's 2-0 loss at home to Southampton on Boxing Day, his first start since October, and found himself being trolled as a ...
LONDON: Frank Lampard is determined to do all he can to protect Callum Hudson-Odoi after the England forward was criticised on social media. The teenager struggled during Chelsea's 2-0 loss at home to Southampton on Boxing Day, his first start since October, and found himself being trolled as a ...
LOS ANGELES: Diego Alonso has been named the first head coach of David Beckham's Inter Miami ahead of their inaugural season in the North America's Major League Soccer. "In Diego we found a manager that fits our culture and has a strong desire to build a winning club for our fans," said Inter ...
MANCHESTER: Pep Guardiola has insisted Manchester City are English football's team of the decade, despite his side heading into 2020 some 14 points behind runaway Premier League leaders Liverpool. Statistics appear to prove him right given City have won 13 domestic trophies since 2010, with only ...
Huawei Technologies on Tuesday said its full-year revenue would likely jump 18per cent in 2019 to 850 billion yuan (US$121.72 billion), lower than its earlier projections, as a U.S. trade blacklisting curbed growth and disrupted its ability to source key parts.
SYDNEY: Thousands of holidaymakers and locals were trapped on a beach in fire-ravaged southeast Australia on Tuesday (Dec 31), as blazes ringed a popular tourist area leaving no escape by land. As many as four thousand people are trapped on the foreshore of the encircled seaside town of Mallacoota ...
LONDON: England's record goalscorer Wayne Rooney will make his debut for second-tier Derby against Barnsley on Thursday, the club's manager Phillip Cocu confirmed. Rooney, 34, joined Derby as a player-coach from MLS side DC United but has been ineligible to play for his new side until January ...
BERLIN: German Chancellor Angela Merkel said in a her New Year's message she is fighting climate change with all her strength to enable future generations to live in peace and prosperity. "Global warming is real. It is threatening," Merkel said in the recorded speech which will be broadcasted on ...
WASHINGTON: President Donald Trump's order for airstrikes on a Tehran-backed Iraqi militia group, after resisting retaliating against Iran for months, sent a clear message on Sunday that killing Americans was his red line. But experts warned that, far from being deterred, Iran might find that line ...
BEIRUT: Former Nissan chief Carlos Ghosn, who was on bail in Tokyo awaiting trial on financial misconduct charges, has arrived in Beirut, Lebanese official and security sources said on Monday (Dec 30). "Ghosn arrived Sunday in Beirut airport," the security source said. A Lebanese official ...
Huawei Technologies on Tuesday said its full-year revenue would likely jump 18per cent in 2019 to 850 billion yuan (US$121.72 billion), lower than its earlier projections, as a U.S. trade blacklisting curbed growth and disrupted its ability to source key parts.
SYDNEY: Thousands of holidaymakers and locals were trapped on a beach in fire-ravaged southeast Australia on Tuesday (Dec 31), as blazes ringed a popular tourist area leaving no escape by land. As many as four thousand people are trapped on the foreshore of the encircled seaside town of Mallacoota ...
LONDON: England's record goalscorer Wayne Rooney will make his debut for second-tier Derby against Barnsley on Thursday, the club's manager Phillip Cocu confirmed. Rooney, 34, joined Derby as a player-coach from MLS side DC United but has been ineligible to play for his new side until January ...
BERLIN: German Chancellor Angela Merkel said in a her New Year's message she is fighting climate change with all her strength to enable future generations to live in peace and prosperity. "Global warming is real. It is threatening," Merkel said in the recorded speech which will be broadcasted on ...
WASHINGTON: President Donald Trump's order for airstrikes on a Tehran-backed Iraqi militia group, after resisting retaliating against Iran for months, sent a clear message on Sunday that killing Americans was his red line. But experts warned that, far from being deterred, Iran might find that line ...
BEIRUT: Former Nissan chief Carlos Ghosn, who was on bail in Tokyo awaiting trial on financial misconduct charges, has arrived in Beirut, Lebanese official and security sources said on Monday (Dec 30). "Ghosn arrived Sunday in Beirut airport," the security source said. A Lebanese official ...
BERLIN: German Chancellor Angela Merkel said in a her New Year's message she is fighting climate change with all her strength to enable future generations to live in peace and prosperity. "Global warming is real. It is threatening," Merkel said in the recorded speech which will be broadcasted on ...
WASHINGTON: President Donald Trump's order for airstrikes on a Tehran-backed Iraqi militia group, after resisting retaliating against Iran for months, sent a clear message on Sunday that killing Americans was his red line. But experts warned that, far from being deterred, Iran might find that line ...
NEW YORK: US authorities laid federal hate crimes charges on Monday (Dec 30) against a man who allegedly referenced Adolf Hitler in his diaries and stabbed five people at a rabbi's house. Grafton Thomas, 37, had expressed anti-Semitic views, referred to "Nazi culture" and drew swastikas in ...
The dispute between Warsaw and Moscow over what started the Second World War – yes, really – has now expanded to Poland’s allies, as first the US and then German envoys chimed in with revisionist history.
“Dear President Putin, Hitler and Stalin colluded to start WWII. That is a fact. Poland was a victim of this horrible conflict,” US ambassador to Poland Georgette Mosbacher tweeted on Monday – in both English and Polish, suggesting that her message of “collusion” was intended more for domestic consumption than for the Russian head of state.
Drogi Prezydencie Putin, to Hitler i Stalin zmówili się, aby rozpocząć II wojnę światową. To jest fakt. Polska była ofiarą tego okropnego konfliktu.
“Dear Ambassador, do you really think that you know about history any more than you do about diplomacy?” the Russian embassy in Warsaw responded, in English. This likely referred to the fact that Mossbacher used to be the CEO of a cosmetics company before President Barack Obama appointed her to a diplomatic commission in 2015. She was sent to Warsaw in September 2018 by President Donald Trump.
Dear Ambassador, do you really think that you know about history any more than you do about diplomacy? https://t.co/q6IQuwwX1Z
Within an hour, none other than the German envoy in Warsaw saw fit to chime in, repeating Berlin’s official position, which – not surprisingly – echoed that of Poland and the US.
“The Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact served to prepare the criminal invasion of Nazi Germany against Poland. The USSR together with Germany participated in this brutal division of Poland,” Ambassador Rolf Nikel wrote, in Polish.
Stanowisko rządu federalnego jest jasne: Pakt Ribbentrop-Mołotow służył przygotowaniu zbrodniczej wojny napastniczej hitlerowskich Niemiec przeciw Polsce. ZSRR wspólnie z Niemcami uczestniczył w tym brutalnym podziale Polski.
The 1939 non-aggression pact between Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union is often referred to by the names of their respective foreign ministers, Joachim von Ribbentrop and Vyacheslav Molotov. It was inked on August 23, just a week before the Nazi invasion of Poland.
Modern Warsaw has argued – and got the US and the EU to agree – that this somehow caused the Second World War, and that the Soviets are just as guilty as the Nazis of invading Poland, since their troops entered from the east on September 16. Germany then invaded the Soviet Union less than two years later.
While modern Russia has rejected and condemned much of the legacy of the Soviet Union, its overwhelming role in defeating Nazi Germany in WWII is a line in the sand for Moscow – and revising history to assert moral equivalence between the German Reich and the USSR is simply unacceptable. That is what the Russian ambassador to Warsaw told his hosts when he was summoned on Friday, in the previous installment of the ongoing quarrel.
Poland had taken offense at last week’s remarks by Putin about Jozef Lipski, the Polish ambassador to Berlin (1934-39), whom the Russian president called “a bastard and anti-Semitic pig.” This was based on Lipski’s own words from 1938, when the envoy told Hitler the Poles would “erect him a beautiful monument in Warsaw” if he carried out the plan to expel European Jews to Africa.
The same year, Poland joined Germany in partitioning Czechoslovakia at the Munich conference, when Britain and France agreed to carving up that Eastern European country to appease Hitler, despite – or because of? – the Soviet offer of security guarantees to Prague.
Lipski’s remarks are a matter of public record and no one is contesting their veracity – which is why neither Warsaw nor its NATO allies are talking about them, choosing to repeat Polish talking points in service of a very modern argument about an “aggressive” Russia.
Soviet troops liberated Poland from the Nazis in 1944, and installed a pro-Communist government in Warsaw after the war. After the collapse of Communism, however, Warsaw went from being vassal of Moscow to being one of Washington – and engaging in questionable historical revisionism to make the past better fit the present.
That is how Germany’s Angela Merkel found herself as an honored guest at the September 1 commemoration of the 80th anniversary of the war’s outbreak, while Putin was not even invited. A far bigger insult is the decision not to invite the Russian president to the upcoming January 27 anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz by the Red Army’s 1st Ukrainian Front.
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Three staff members and all of the West Virginia corrections cadets that posed for a photo making a hand gesture resembling a Nazi salute, have been sacked, after an inquiry found the class instructor encouraged the practice.
All 34 would-be prison guards and three West Virginia Division of Corrections and Rehabilitation Academy employees have been fired after an in-depth investigation into the viral photo showing the trainees giving a Nazi salute in a class photo accompanied by the words “HAIL BYRD!”
“As I said from the beginning, I condemn the photo of Basic Training Class 18 in the strongest possible terms. I also said that this act needed to result in real consequences – terminations and dismissals,” Governor Jim Justice said Monday, as he gave his nod to all the recommendations laid out in the Virginia's Department of Military Affairs and Public Safety (DMAPS) report, urging it to “make sure nothing like this ever happens again.”
The photo began circulating in early December, after apparently having been leaked by someone within the academy. DMAPS later released the image in response to public records request, having blurred the faces of those doing the immediately recognizable gesture.
With the photo courting widespread controversy online, Justice ordered secretary for Virginia’s DMAPS, Jeff Sandy, to launch an inquiry into the incident. The resulting investigation has unearthed even more eyebrow-raising details, such as that the class instructor – identified only by her surname, Byrd – had not only welcomed the practice, but apparently “reveled” in it and “at times reciprocated the gesture.”
When confronted by a staffer about the gesture and its rather obvious Nazi connotations, Byrd brushed off the concerns, allegedly saying that there was “nothing wrong” with the greeting since “people of all colors” were on the photo. She also remained unfazed when asked about the “Hail Byrd” caption, and effectively took a pride in comparing herself to Hitler.
"That's why they do that because I’m a hard-ass like Hitler,” Byrd allegedly said.
Byrd attempted to play down the incident in the interviews with the investigators, telling them she was completely oblivious to historical and racial implications of the gesture, insisting it was a simple greeting. However, the report notes, her account “was heavily contradicted by multiple sources,” including about 10 cadets who said that they did not make the “salute” until Byrd “told them to.”
The gesture allegedly did not come about at Byrd’s own initiative, but was reportedly started by one of the trainees, allegedly a black student described in the report as one of the “informal class leaders.”
The report submitted by Sandy to the governor’s office on December 27 recommended the termination of all the cadets in the photo, three academy staff who failed to report the incident, as well as the unpaid suspension of four instructors who did nothing to stop the Nazi-mimicking practice from going on.
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SINGAPORE: When the clock strikes 12 on Tuesday night (Dec 31), Singapore will usher in 2020 with a flurry of fireworks and raucous celebrations. The turn of the decade will also see multiple new laws go into effect – read on to keep up with the changes. LEGAL AGE FOR SMOKING RAISED TO ...
LONDON: England's record goalscorer Wayne Rooney will make his debut for second-tier Derby against Barnsley on Thursday, the club's manager Phillip Cocu confirmed. Rooney, 34, joined Derby as a player-coach from MLS side DC United but has been ineligible to play for his new side until January ...
LONDON: England's record goalscorer Wayne Rooney will make his debut for second-tier Derby against Barnsley on Thursday, the club's manager Phillip Cocu confirmed. Rooney, 34, joined Derby as a player-coach from MLS side DC United but has been ineligible to play for his new side until January ...
SINGAPORE: The upgraded Agreement between New Zealand and Singapore on a Closer Economic Partnership (ANZSCEP) has been ratified by both countries, the Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI) said on Monday (Dec 30). The upgraded agreement will enter in to force on Jan 1, 2020, the ministry added ...
SYDNEY: Vodafone's broadband services joint venture with Hutchison Telecommunications (Australia) has partnered with Nokia to roll out 5G services in Australia, the companies said on Monday (Dec 30). The 5G drive comes as the joint venture is caught in a legal appeal process against an antitrust ...
The actor took to social media to assure everyone that he's fine after reports surfaced that he was hospitalised in Australia for "typhoid or a similar bacterial infection".
LISBON: A three-day strike by workers at Lisbon airport led to the cancellation of several flights this weekend, with more likely before the action ends on Sunday (Dec 29), the workers' union and Portuguese airport authority said. EasyJet, Brussels Airlines, Eurowings, Transavia France, and Wizz ...
SINGAPORE: The upgraded Agreement between New Zealand and Singapore on a Closer Economic Partnership (ANZSCEP) has been ratified by both countries, the Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI) said on Monday (Dec 30). The upgraded agreement will enter in to force on Jan 1, 2020, the ministry added ...
SYDNEY: Vodafone's broadband services joint venture with Hutchison Telecommunications (Australia) has partnered with Nokia to roll out 5G services in Australia, the companies said on Monday (Dec 30). The 5G drive comes as the joint venture is caught in a legal appeal process against an antitrust ...
The actor took to social media to assure everyone that he's fine after reports surfaced that he was hospitalised in Australia for "typhoid or a similar bacterial infection".
LISBON: A three-day strike by workers at Lisbon airport led to the cancellation of several flights this weekend, with more likely before the action ends on Sunday (Dec 29), the workers' union and Portuguese airport authority said. EasyJet, Brussels Airlines, Eurowings, Transavia France, and Wizz ...
SINGAPORE: The upgraded Agreement between New Zealand and Singapore on a Closer Economic Partnership (ANZSCEP) has been ratified by both countries, the Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI) said on Monday (Dec 30). The upgraded agreement will enter in to force on Jan 1, 2020, the ministry added ...
SINGAPORE: Singapore Telecommunications (Singtel) is partnering with Southeast Asian ride-hailing firm Grab Holdings to apply for a digital full banking licence in Singapore, the two companies said on Monday (Dec 30). The pair in a joint statement said they will establish a consortium with Grab ...
SINGAPORE: Singapore Telecommunications (Singtel) is partnering with Southeast Asian ride-hailing firm Grab Holdings to apply for a digital full banking licence in Singapore, the two companies said on Monday (Dec 30). The pair in a joint statement said they will establish a consortium with Grab ...
JERUSALEM: Israel will withhold around US$43 million in tax handovers to the cash-strapped Palestinian Authority (PA) over its financial support for the families of slain or wounded Palestinian militants, the Israeli security cabinet said on Sunday (Dec 29). The decision followed Israel's similar ...
JERUSALEM: Israel will withhold around US$43 million in tax handovers to the cash-strapped Palestinian Authority (PA) over its financial support for the families of slain or wounded Palestinian militants, the Israeli security cabinet said on Sunday (Dec 29). The decision followed Israel's similar ...
JERUSALEM: Israel will withhold around US$43 million in tax handovers to the cash-strapped Palestinian Authority (PA) over its financial support for the families of slain or wounded Palestinian militants, the Israeli security cabinet said on Sunday (Dec 29). The decision followed Israel's similar ...
UNITED NATIONS: UN Security Council members are due to meet informally on Monday (Dec 30) for a second round of negotiations on a Russian and Chinese proposal to lift a raft of sanctions on North Korea, a move that some diplomats say has little support. China and Russia are convening negotiations ...
WASHINGTON: The US military carried out air strikes in Iraq and Syria against the Kataib Hezbollah militia group in response to the killing of a US civilian contractor in a rocket attack on an Iraqi military base, US officials said on Sunday (Dec 29). Iraqi security and militia sources said at ...
SYDNEY: Thousands of residents and holiday makers have been told to evacuate a swathe of Victoria as soaring temperatures and strong winds fan massive bushfires in the Australian state. With the mercury set to top 40 degrees Celsius in Melbourne, authorities urged an estimated 30,000 tourists to ...
MONSEY, United States: A suspect appeared in a New York court on Sunday (Dec 29) charged with five counts of attempted murder over a stabbing spree at a rabbi's suburban house - the latest in a spate of attacks on Jewish targets. Grafton Thomas, 37, allegedly entered the property in Monsey ...
UNITED NATIONS: UN Security Council members are due to meet informally on Monday (Dec 30) for a second round of negotiations on a Russian and Chinese proposal to lift a raft of sanctions on North Korea, a move that some diplomats say has little support. China and Russia are convening negotiations ...
WASHINGTON: The US military carried out air strikes in Iraq and Syria against the Kataib Hezbollah militia group in response to the killing of a US civilian contractor in a rocket attack on an Iraqi military base, US officials said on Sunday (Dec 29). Iraqi security and militia sources said at ...
SYDNEY: Thousands of residents and holiday makers have been told to evacuate a swathe of Victoria as soaring temperatures and strong winds fan massive bushfires in the Australian state. With the mercury set to top 40 degrees Celsius in Melbourne, authorities urged an estimated 30,000 tourists to ...
UNITED NATIONS: UN Security Council members are due to meet informally on Monday (Dec 30) for a second round of negotiations on a Russian and Chinese proposal to lift a raft of sanctions on North Korea, a move that some diplomats say has little support. China and Russia are convening negotiations ...
West Ham sacked manager Manuel Pellegrini after Saturday's 2-1 home defeat to Leicester left the Hammers just one point above the Premier League's relegation zone.
A stunning victory for Al Hilal of Sudan and an Ayoub el Kaabi hat-trick for Wydad Casablanca of Morocco were the CAF Champions League matchday three highlights on Saturday.
Serie A basement club Genoa have sacked coach Thiago Motta and appointed former player Davide Nicola in his place, the Serie A club announced on Friday.
Andy Murray has pulled out of next month's Australian Open because of a pelvic injury, the three-time Grand Slam champion's management team announced on Saturday.
Australia declared their second innings closed at 168 for five before lunch on day four of the Boxing Day test on Sunday, setting New Zealand a victory target of 488 runs.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has convened a key meeting of top ruling party officials, state media said Sunday, ahead of a year-end deadline for Washington to shift its stance on stalled nuclear talks.
Australia paceman Peter Siddle has announced his retirement from international cricket at the age of 35 after taking 221 wickets in a distinguished 67-test career.
Australia declared their second innings closed at 168 for five before lunch on day four of the Boxing Day test on Sunday, setting New Zealand a victory target of 488 runs.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has convened a key meeting of top ruling party officials, state media said Sunday, ahead of a year-end deadline for Washington to shift its stance on stalled nuclear talks.
Australia paceman Peter Siddle has announced his retirement from international cricket at the age of 35 after taking 221 wickets in a distinguished 67-test career.
West Ham sacked manager Manuel Pellegrini after Saturday's 2-1 home defeat to Leicester left the Hammers just one point above the Premier League's relegation zone.
A stunning victory for Al Hilal of Sudan and an Ayoub el Kaabi hat-trick for Wydad Casablanca of Morocco were the CAF Champions League matchday three highlights on Saturday.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has convened a key meeting of top ruling party officials, state media said Sunday, ahead of a year-end deadline for Washington to shift its stance on stalled nuclear talks.
Australia paceman Peter Siddle has announced his retirement from international cricket at the age of 35 after taking 221 wickets in a distinguished 67-test career.
West Ham sacked manager Manuel Pellegrini after Saturday's 2-1 home defeat to Leicester left the Hammers just one point above the Premier League's relegation zone.
A stunning victory for Al Hilal of Sudan and an Ayoub el Kaabi hat-trick for Wydad Casablanca of Morocco were the CAF Champions League matchday three highlights on Saturday.
Serie A basement club Genoa have sacked coach Thiago Motta and appointed former player Davide Nicola in his place, the Serie A club announced on Friday.
MELBOURNE: The Australian government announced on Sunday (Dec 28) it would compensate volunteer firefighters in the state of New South Wales (NSW), as the country's intense bushfire season rages on. Prime Minister Scott Morrison said payments of up to A$6,000 would be available for eligible ...
Andy Murray has pulled out of next month's Australian Open because of a pelvic injury, the three-time Grand Slam champion's management team announced on Saturday.
Australia's pacemen laid waste to New Zealand's top batting order to leave the tourists teetering at 102 for six in their reply to the hosts' first innings of 467 on day three of the Boxing Day test on Saturday.
The Mars 2020 rover, which sets off for the Red Planet next year, will not only search for traces of ancient life, but pave the way for future human missions, NASA scientists said Friday as they unveiled the vehicle.
Venezuela's traditional cocuy liquor is making a comeback due to the country's punishing economic crisis, which has put rum, whiskey and even beer financially out of reach for many.
The United Nations on Friday approved a Russian-led bid that aims to create a new convention on cybercrime, alarming rights groups and Western powers that fear a bid to restrict online freedom.
Australia's pacemen laid waste to New Zealand's top batting order to leave the tourists teetering at 102 for six in their reply to the hosts' first innings of 467 on day three of the Boxing Day test on Saturday.
Bribes paid by international military contractors in Afghanistan were used by the Taliban to fund attacks on companies that didn’t make the payments, according to a lawsuit filed by families of those injured or killed as a result.
“Large corporations that had lucrative businesses in Afghanistan” paid off the Taliban through a series of subcontractors, bribing the Afghan militants in order to save money on security, according to a lawsuit filed on Friday in federal court by the families of 143 US soldiers and contractors injured and killed during the longest war in American history. The 288-page civil suit alleges the Taliban then used the money to finance acts of terrorism against companies that didn’t bribe them, detailing the grisly circumstances that led to the deaths and injuries of the victims.
Those protection payments aided and abetted terrorism by directly funding an al-Qaida-backed Taliban insurgency that killed and injured thousands of Americans.
An employee of the US Embassy in Kabul referred to the payments as “organized crime,” according to the suit, which seeks unspecified relief for their families under the Anti-Terrorism Act.
Anywhere between 20 and 40 percent of the funding for major projects like the Kajaki Dam and a portion of the Ring Road went into the pockets of Afghan militants between 2009 and 2017, the lawsuit alleges. Contractors used Pentagon cash to hire sub-contractors, who hired their own sub-contractors and so on, until some of the money – amounting to millions of dollars, if not more – ended up in the hands of the Taliban.
Some government estimates show the Taliban strength in 2019 greater than at any time over the past 18 years of war that claimed the lives of more than 38,000 Afghan civilians, 2,400 US soldiers, and over $2 trillion in taxpayer funds.
Two defendants, DAI Global and Louis Berger Group, received approximately half the total contracts in Afghanistan distributed by the US Agency for International Development (USAID) from 2007 to 2009 – about $1 billion. DAI stands accused of paying off the Taliban from 2006 to 2012 while executing contracts worth hundreds of millions of dollars in the areas they controlled.
“Standard practice in such circumstances was to pay protection money in order to discourage the Taliban from attacking their projects,” the suit claims. Louis Berger allegedly categorized the Taliban recipients of its payments as “moderate,” because they weren’t actively destroying the corporation’s work.
Other American contractors being sued are Black & Veatch Special Projects Corp., Centerra Group LLC, and Janus Global Operations LLC. British contractor G4S PLC and South African MTN Group are also on the list of defendants. None of the companies responded to requests for comment from the Wall Street Journal, the first outlet to report the lawsuit, except a Black & Veatch spokesman who claimed the contractor had followed US government instructions and was “proud” of its work in Afghanistan.
Multiple congressional investigations have confirmed that US companies were flooding local warlords and insurgents with millions of dollars in protection money at the height of the war. Even then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton acknowledged in 2009 that such bribes were a major funding source for the Taliban. The following year, a congressional report called ‘Warlord, Inc.’ confirmed that Pentagon cash flowing through contractors was supporting a “protection racket,” buying safe passage of goods by bribing local officials (and likely Taliban members).
None of the corporations who paid the Taliban have been prosecuted, nor were any of the Pentagon officials who paid the contractors. A decade later, US troops remain in Afghanistan – even as documents published earlier this month (and dating from 2014) revealed that US officials knew that the war was doomed from the outset.
The Mars 2020 rover, which sets off for the Red Planet next year, will not only search for traces of ancient life, but pave the way for future human missions, NASA scientists said Friday as they unveiled the vehicle.
Venezuela's traditional cocuy liquor is making a comeback due to the country's punishing economic crisis, which has put rum, whiskey and even beer financially out of reach for many.
The United Nations on Friday approved a Russian-led bid that aims to create a new convention on cybercrime, alarming rights groups and Western powers that fear a bid to restrict online freedom.
Poland has summoned the Russian ambassador in Warsaw to explain President Vladimir Putin’s remarks about the anti-Semitism of the 1930s Polish ambassador to Germany. Moscow is refusing to budge from the historical truth.
In a speech on Tuesday, Putin described Jozef Lipski, the Polish ambassador to Berlin (1934-1939) as “a bastard and anti-Semitic pig.” He based this on Lipski’s own words from 1938, when the envoy told Hitler the Poles would “erect him a beautiful monument in Warsaw” if he carried out the plan to expel European Jews to Africa.
Warsaw responded on Friday by summoning Russian Ambassador Sergey Andreyev to the Foreign Ministry to explain himself. After having a “harsh but diplomatic” discussion with the head of the Eastern Department, Andreyev said he stood by the president’s statements as Russia’s official position.
We will not allow anyone to lecture us
“We have something to say ourselves, on the topic of politics of history,” Andreyev told reporters after the meeting.
Putin had brought up Lipski in the context of Poland’s push for WWII revisionism, including the removal of monuments to Soviet soldiers who died in its liberation from Nazi Germany, and a resolution Warsaw pushed in the European Parliament in September, which claimed that the 1939 non-aggression pact between Moscow and Berlin had “paved the way for the outbreak of the Second World War.”
Modern Polish historical narrative argues that the Molotov-Ribbentrop agreement was a conspiracy against Warsaw, and that there is no difference between the Nazi invasion of Poland on September 1, 1939 and the Soviet troops coming in from the east sixteen days later.
Russia has rejected this as a falsification of history, often pointing out that neither the government in Warsaw at the time, nor its British and French allies – who had earlier declared war on Germany in support of their security guarantees to Poland – saw it fit to declare war on the Soviet Union.
The Soviet Union was the last country in Europe to sign a non-aggression pact with Berlin – Lipski had negotiated Poland’s in 1934 – and only after the UK and France had partitioned Czechoslovakia at the 1938 Munich conference to appease Hitler, over Moscow’s objections.
Lipski had played a key role in interwar Poland’s pro-German and anti-Soviet foreign policy. After the war, he moved to the US and represented the de-recognized ‘Polish Government in Exile’ until his death in 1958. His anti-Semitic remark quoted by Putin is public knowledge in the West.
CIUDAD JUAREZ, Mexico: An outbreak of chicken pox has forced the temporary closure of a shelter housing Central American migrants sent to Mexico from the United States, Mexican authorities said on Friday, as officials sought to contain the highly contagious virus. The shelter in the northern city ...
Race favourite Comanche snatched victory in the gruelling Sydney-Hobart yacht race Saturday, edging InfoTrack in tricky conditions after a race that saw an ever-changing leaderboard.
CIUDAD JUAREZ, Mexico: An outbreak of chicken pox has forced the temporary closure of a shelter housing Central American migrants sent to Mexico from the United States, Mexican authorities said on Friday, as officials sought to contain the highly contagious virus. The shelter in the northern city ...
Race favourite Comanche snatched victory in the gruelling Sydney-Hobart yacht race Saturday, edging InfoTrack in tricky conditions after a race that saw an ever-changing leaderboard.
CIUDAD JUAREZ, Mexico: An outbreak of chicken pox has forced the temporary closure of a shelter housing Central American migrants sent to Mexico from the United States, Mexican authorities said on Friday, as officials sought to contain the highly contagious virus. The shelter in the northern city ...
Race favourite Comanche snatched victory in the gruelling Sydney-Hobart yacht race Saturday, edging InfoTrack in tricky conditions after a race that saw an ever-changing leaderboard.
Race favourite Comanche snatched victory in the gruelling Sydney-Hobart yacht race Saturday, edging InfoTrack in tricky conditions after a race that saw an ever-changing leaderboard.
Documents published by WikiLeaks that suggest a cover-up of inconvenient facts about the Douma, Syria chemical attack investigation raise serious questions about the OPCW, security experts, scholars and diplomats tell RT.
The US, UK and France launched missile strikes against Syria in April 2018, after ‘White Helmets’ and jihadist rebels accused the government of a chemical attack in the town of Douma. The Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons eventually published a report saying its investigators may have found traces of chlorine, which was trumpeted as proof of the accusations in mainstream Western media.
Emails published by WikiLeaks on Friday, however, show that a senior OPCW official ordered to “remove all traces” of the engineering assessment questioning the report’s conclusions. Moreover, the observations by toxicologists who ruled out exposure to chlorine or any other chemical weapon could have caused the symptoms shown on White Helmets videos were likewise buried.
“It’s difficult to look at that email exchange without thinking at least there’s a whiff of a coverup,” security analyst Charles Shoebridge told RT, adding that the documents show the OPCW has been “subverted and led astray.”
While the experts seem to have done their job honorably and properly, it looks like the OPCW officials twisted and manipulated their work to fit the pre-ordained narrative, on behalf of the countries that carried out the strikes, and have been backing the militants in Syria against the government in Damascus.
The OPCW “right now looks awful,” Max Abrahms, a scholar at the Quincy Institute, told RT. “They have a lot of explaining to do.”
US officials seem to have pressured the OPCW to find the Syrian military responsible for the alleged chemical attack “regardless of what the actual scientists on the ground discovered,” according to Abrahms.
It is notable that the US, UK and France launched their missile strikes before the OPCW investigators even reached Douma. The final report, published in March 2019, provided an after-the-fact rationalization for the attack.
“This is a very conscious coverup at the very high level of the OPCW,” former UK intelligence officer Annie Machon told RT. It is unlikely that the OPCW will ever issue a follow-up in light of the new revelations, much less that any apology will be forthcoming from London, Paris and Washington.
The bigger problem, Machon points out, is that the OPCW suppressing evidence means that the chemical weapons watchdog is no longer credible. If they can’t be trusted about Douma, why should they be trusted about, say, the use of “novichok” in Salisbury just weeks before that incident?
London has accused Moscow of “highly likely” trying to assassinate former double agent Sergey Skripal and his daughter Yulia with the nerve agent, which Russia has denied. Meanwhile, the very same people who blamed the Syrian government for Douma – including the “open source intelligence” outfit Bellingcat – have promoted the official Skripal narrative as well.
For Shoebridge, the implications of the apparent cover-up go far beyond OPCW’s credibility, also raising the question of who might have been behind what amounts to a war crime in Douma.
“If a chemical attack did not kill all of those victims, mostly children, then what on earth did?” he told RT.
This question becomes especially relevant now, as the Syrian army is making a push against the last militant stronghold in Idlib. Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump is warning Damascus to back off and accusing Syria, Russia and Iran of being “on their way to killing thousands of innocent civilians.”
Email from the Chief of Cabinet at the OPCW, demanding deletion of dissenting engineering assessment: “Please get this document out of DRA [Documents Registry Archive]... And please
remove all traces, if any, of its delivery/storage/whatever in DRA”https://t.co/j5Jgjiz8UYpic.twitter.com/8yojf8teFC
Trump is making his decisions “based on what is a pack of lies,” former US diplomat Jim Jatras tells RT. These outrageous claims come from Al-Qaeda terrorists that control Idlib, and their public relations arm, the ‘White Helmets,’ but are taken at face value by the Western mainstream media.
“Any rational person would want the Syrian army and the Russian air force go clear out Al-Qaeda from this area,” said Jatras.
Uruguayan authorities seized a record haul of 4.4 tonnes of cocaine at the port of Montevideo in what the navy described Friday as "the biggest blow to drug trafficking in the country's history."
New Zealand paceman Neil Wagner denied Steve Smith his first century of the home summer but Australia's batsmen dug in to push to 336 for five at lunch on day two of the Boxing Day test on Friday.
Japan will send a warship and patrol planes to protect Japanese ships in the Middle East as the situation in the region, from which it sources nearly 90per cent of its crude oil imports, remains volatile, a document approved by the cabinet showed on Friday.
Japan will send a warship and patrol planes to protect Japanese ships in the Middle East as the situation in the region, from which it sources nearly 90per cent of its crude oil imports, remains volatile, a document approved by the cabinet showed on Friday.
Japan will send a warship and patrol planes to protect Japanese ships in the Middle East as the situation in the region, from which it sources nearly 90per cent of its crude oil imports, remains volatile, a document approved by the cabinet showed on Friday.
TOKYO: The Japanese government on Friday (Dec 27) delayed the planned removal of fuel from two reactors at Fukushima Daiichi nuclear station, highlighting difficulties facing a clean-up at the site of the 2011 disaster. Japan plans to fully decommission Tokyo Electric Power's Fukushima Daiichi ...
Japan will send a warship and patrol planes to protect Japanese ships in the Middle East as the situation in the region, from which it sources nearly 90per cent of its crude oil imports, remains volatile, a document approved by the cabinet showed on Friday.
TOKYO: The Japanese government on Friday (Dec 27) delayed the planned removal of fuel from two reactors at Fukushima Daiichi nuclear station, highlighting difficulties facing a clean-up at the site of the 2011 disaster. Japan plans to fully decommission Tokyo Electric Power's Fukushima Daiichi ...
US sanctions against the ‘Russian’ Nord Stream 2 pipeline have caused widespread anger in Germany, with even critics of the project now ironically seeking to slap the American ‘molecules of freedom’ with an eco-tax in reprisal.
The prospect of “crushing sanctions” included in the funding the US military, signed by President Donald Trump last week, has already compelled the Swiss-Dutch company Allseas to halt construction on the last remaining portion of the pipeline, which runs under the Baltic Sea, from Russia to Germany.
An economist from the progressive, government-funded think-tank has called the sanctions a ploy by the US to sell its own liquefied natural gas (LNG) to Germany and Europe at the highest possible cost, accusing both Washington and Moscow of using gas as a political weapon.
The EU should enact "climate tariffs" against the US in response to sanctions against the bloc for the construction of the deep sea gas pipeline Nord Stream 2 https://t.co/hNWOpvRESH
Claudia Kemfert, an economist at the German Institute for Economic Research (DIW), has argued that Nord Stream 2 is “environmentally harmful, economically unnecessary and financially unprofitable” – but described the US sanctions as “unacceptable” and requiring a response from the EU.
Europe should consider imposing climate tariffs on the United States so that environmentally harmful fracking gas cannot be exported from the United States to Germany and Europe
While the government in Berlin has expressed“regret” over US “interference in our domestic affairs,” it has done precisely nothing to counter it. Kemfert’s initiative, first mentioned in the daily Handelsblatt earlier this week, appears to be the only proposed reprisal so far.
This may also be the first time anyone has criticized American LNG as environmentally harmful; most of it is produced by hydraulic fracturing, or “fracking,” a practice that critics say causes earthquakes and pollutes the water with toxic substances.
Ironically, Germany is one of Europe’s biggest carbon emitters, because almost half of its energy generation comes from burning coal. Berlin has directed immense subsidies to wind, solar and biofuels over the past decade, while seeking to shut down its nuclear power plants – resulting in some of the highest retail prices for electricity in Europe, and leaving Germany desperate for cheaper energy sources, such as Russian gas.
Meanwhile, the US envoy to Germany Richard Grenell called the sanctions “a very pro-European decision” and said that thankful “European diplomats” have kept calling him about it. While he did not specify which European countries they represented, Poland and the Baltic States have been outspokenly opposed to Nord Stream 2. So is Ukraine, which is in Europe but not an EU member.
Objections to the pipeline from both Washington, Kiev and Warsaw have been mainly political in nature, dealing with the potential loss of leverage more than anything else. The US has condemned the EU’s “increasing dependency” on Russian gas, while offering its own LNG – officially described as “molecules of freedom” – as an alternative, though at a much higher price.
Warsaw and Kiev, on the other hand, have bemoaned that Nord Stream 2 would rob them of billions of dollars in transit fees they’ve been collecting from Russia over the years. The Baltic pipeline was conceived after a 2009 dispute between Ukraine and Russia, when Kiev effectively blocked the flow of gas to Europe during a vicious cold snap in order to get a better deal from Moscow.
TOKYO: The Japanese government on Friday (Dec 27) delayed the planned removal of fuel from two reactors at Fukushima Daiichi nuclear station, highlighting difficulties facing a clean-up at the site of the 2011 disaster. Japan plans to fully decommission Tokyo Electric Power's Fukushima Daiichi ...
MONTREAL: Canada's national public broadcaster confirmed on Thursday (Dec 26) it had cut out US President Donald Trump's cameo from the movie Home Alone 2, but said the edit was made before he was elected. When the CBC recently aired the 1992 Christmas film, some viewers and Canadian media outlets ...
ANCHORAGE, Alaska: Alaska is set to finish 2019 with a record average high temperature after a year of extremes ranging from a sweltering summer and rampant wildfires to vanishing sea ice and winter rains where heavy snows were once the norm. Wildlife also suffered from the state's chaotic weather ...
MILAN: Sweden star Zlatan Ibrahimovic has reached agreement to join AC Milan on an initial six-month contract, according to multiple reports in Italy on Thursday (Dec 26). Ibrahimovic has accepted Milan's proposal and is ready to sign a deal to return to the former European giants within the next ...
MANCHESTER: Pep Guardiola believes Sergio Aguero is "irreplaceable" as the Manchester City forward enters the final 18 months of his glorious career in English football. The record-breaking Argentinian is likely to be on the bench for the reigning Premier League champions visit to Wolves on Friday ...
MONTREAL: Canada's national public broadcaster confirmed on Thursday (Dec 26) it had cut out US President Donald Trump's cameo from the movie Home Alone 2, but said the edit was made before he was elected. When the CBC recently aired the 1992 Christmas film, some viewers and Canadian media outlets ...
ANCHORAGE, Alaska: Alaska is set to finish 2019 with a record average high temperature after a year of extremes ranging from a sweltering summer and rampant wildfires to vanishing sea ice and winter rains where heavy snows were once the norm. Wildlife also suffered from the state's chaotic weather ...
MONTREAL: Canada's national public broadcaster confirmed on Thursday (Dec 26) it had cut out US President Donald Trump's cameo from the movie Home Alone 2, but said the edit was made before he was elected. When the CBC recently aired the 1992 Christmas film, some viewers and Canadian media outlets ...
ANCHORAGE, Alaska: Alaska is set to finish 2019 with a record average high temperature after a year of extremes ranging from a sweltering summer and rampant wildfires to vanishing sea ice and winter rains where heavy snows were once the norm. Wildlife also suffered from the state's chaotic weather ...
The latest border skirmish between the forces of two nuclear-armed nations in the disputed Kashmir region claimed at least four lives, the arch-rivals confirmed trying to shift the blame for ceasefire violation on each other.
The clash that occurred late on Wednesday was acknowledged by both Islamabad and New Delhi, but their accounts and casualty numbers differ significantly.
Two Pakistani soldiers were killed while responding to fire from the Indian side, Pakistan's military spokesman Major General Asif Ghafoor said on Thursday, claiming that at least three Indian servicemen were killed by return fire.
Indian military officials, however, insist that it was the Pakistani military that shot first. One Indian soldier and a female civilian were killed during the skirmish, India’s military spokesman Colonel Rajesh Kalia said. No claims were made by New Delhi about the Pakistani casualties, yet the officials insisted the troops responded to the shooting from the Pakistani side “strongly and befittingly.”
The disputed Kashmir region, claimed by both nations as their own, has been the major source of tensions between India and Pakistan since they gained independence from the British rule in 1947. Two major wars and numerous smaller-scale conflicts have taken place over the years due to this dispute.
While a ceasefire along the so-called Line of Control (LoC) – the de-facto border that crosses Kashmir – was established back in 2003, it has been repeatedly violated by both nations. The latest major escalation occurred back in February, when a major suicide bombing by a Pakistani-based military group prompted a large-scale military response from India. New Delhi conducted cross-border bombing raids into Pakistan, and the two nuclear-armed countries even engaged into an aerial battle, stopping just short of an all-out war.
Both India and Pakistan ultimately took steps to de-escalate the situation, but Kashmir once again became the flashpoint in August, when New Delhi revoked the region's autonomous status to integrate it with the rest of India.
MILAN: Sweden star Zlatan Ibrahimovic has reached agreement to join AC Milan on an initial six-month contract, according to multiple reports in Italy on Thursday (Dec 26). Ibrahimovic has accepted Milan's proposal and is ready to sign a deal to return to the former European giants within the next ...
MANCHESTER: Pep Guardiola believes Sergio Aguero is "irreplaceable" as the Manchester City forward enters the final 18 months of his glorious career in English football. The record-breaking Argentinian is likely to be on the bench for the reigning Premier League champions visit to Wolves on Friday ...
MEXICO CITY: Archaeologists have discovered a large palace likely used by the Mayan elite more than 1,000 years ago in the ancient city of Kuluba, near the modern day tourist hot spot of Cancun in eastern Mexico, Mexican anthropology officials said. The remains of the six-metre high building, 55 ...
SHANGHAI: China's central bank lifted its official yuan midpoint to the highest in more than four-and-a-half months on Thursday (Dec 26), breaching a key threshold, to reflect strong gains in the spot yuan a day earlier. The People's Bank of China (PBOC) set the midpoint rate at 6.9801 per dollar ...
SHANGHAI: China's central bank lifted its official yuan midpoint to the highest in more than four-and-a-half months on Thursday (Dec 26), breaching a key threshold, to reflect strong gains in the spot yuan a day earlier. The People's Bank of China (PBOC) set the midpoint rate at 6.9801 per dollar ...
MINNEAPOLIS: Fire swept a hotel apartment building that provides transitional housing for the poor in downtown Minneapolis early on Wednesday (Dec 25), leaving about 250 people homeless on Christmas morning, city officials said. No deaths or serious injuries were reported in the four-alarm blaze ...
MINNEAPOLIS: Fire swept a hotel apartment building that provides transitional housing for the poor in downtown Minneapolis early on Wednesday (Dec 25), leaving about 250 people homeless on Christmas morning, city officials said. No deaths or serious injuries were reported in the four-alarm blaze ...
The elusive handmade ‘copy’ of Tesla Cybertruck that has been spotted outside Moscow, is now up for sale in Russia. Unlike the fancy original, it has a very modest price tag of $10,000 – but is it actually worth it?
The vehicle, somewhat resembling Elon Musk’s latest contraption, was put up for sale by its creators after the car was first spotted driving outside Russia’s capital last week, causing enormous stir on Russian social media.
The unique vehicle already propelled Tesla stocks to over $420, and its futuristic forms, 1-door hatchback design, custom wheels and fully tinted panoramic plastic windows are sure to leave innocent onlookers in shock and awe, the owners joke.
The hellish ride is available for ‘only’ 666,666 rubles (some $10,700), and with the original expected to cost around $50,000 it might sound like a good deal, until you look under the hood.
The Russian ‘Cybertruck’ was created by the team of Pushka Garazh YouTubers, who focus on low-budged garage ‘tuning’ of shabby Russian cars using cheap materials and lots of handiwork.
The ‘Cybertruck’ is in fact a LADA 2109 hatchback, plastered with sheet metal. The video of its creation has revealed the main mystery of the bootleg car, that seemingly has no visible doors. Turns out it has a single large hatch in the rear, that not only provides the only way in, but gives access to the car’s cardo hold.
The cheeky creators of the car listed its production year as 2019 – which might be true for the ‘Cybertruck,’ but is still misleading, since the production of LADA 2109s ended in the early 2000s. The price tag for the vehicle appears to be way too high as well, as the entire project cost the team only 80,000 rubles (some $1,200) – yes, including the car itself.
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WASHINGTON: Allee Willis, who wrote the theme song for the hit television show Friends, has died at age 72, her partner Prudence Fenton announced Wednesday (Dec 25). "Rest In Boogie Wonderland Nov 10,1947-Dec 24, 2019," Fenton wrote on her Instagram account in a post with a photo of Willis ...
WASHINGTON: Allee Willis, who wrote the theme song for the hit television show Friends, has died at age 72, her partner Prudence Fenton announced Wednesday (Dec 25). "Rest In Boogie Wonderland Nov 10,1947-Dec 24, 2019," Fenton wrote on her Instagram account in a post with a photo of Willis ...
WASHINGTON: Allee Willis, who wrote the theme song for the hit television show Friends, has died at age 72, her partner Prudence Fenton announced Wednesday (Dec 25). "Rest In Boogie Wonderland Nov 10,1947-Dec 24, 2019," Fenton wrote on her Instagram account in a post with a photo of Willis ...
NEW YORK: E-bikes and electric scooters are becoming increasingly popular in the United States, but the powered bikes carry a higher risk of severe injuries than traditional bicycles and a different pattern of injury risks compared with scooters, a recent study finds. The authors analysed ...
NEW YORK: E-bikes and electric scooters are becoming increasingly popular in the United States, but the powered bikes carry a higher risk of severe injuries than traditional bicycles and a different pattern of injury risks compared with scooters, a recent study finds. The authors analysed ...
New Zealand captain Kane Williamson won the toss and elected to bowl first in the second test against Australia at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on Thursday.
NEW YORK: E-bikes and electric scooters are becoming increasingly popular in the United States, but the powered bikes carry a higher risk of severe injuries than traditional bicycles and a different pattern of injury risks compared with scooters, a recent study finds. The authors analysed ...
Manchester United have not progressed as much as what manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer had hoped for as they near the halfway stage of the Premier League season, but the Norwegian said his team would become more consistent with experience.
Former Newcastle United and West Ham United manager Alan Pardew has been appointed head coach of ADO Den Haag until the end of the season, the Dutch Eredivisie team announced.
Manchester United have not progressed as much as what manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer had hoped for as they near the halfway stage of the Premier League season, but the Norwegian said his team would become more consistent with experience.
Manchester United have not progressed as much as what manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer had hoped for as they near the halfway stage of the Premier League season, but the Norwegian said his team would become more consistent with experience.
अक्षय कुमार और करीना कपूर खान की फिल्म 'गुड न्यूज', आईवीएफ विषय पर आधारित है। यह दो ऐसे कपल्स की कहानी है, जो आईवीएफ तकनीक से पैरंट्स बनने की तैयारी कर रहे हैं और बाद में उन्हें पता चलता है कि उनके स्पर्म एक्सचेंज हो गए। फिल्म कॉमिडी और मस्ती से भरपूर है। लेकिन अक्षय को इस बात से एतराज है कि ट्रेलर से स्पर्म शब्द बीप कर दिया गया। दरअसल हाल ही में एक इंटरव्यू में अक्षय ने कहा कि एक टीवी चैनल ने 'गुड न्यूज' का ट्रेलर दिखाया था, जिसमें स्पर्म शब्द को बीप कर दिया गया था। अक्षय का कहना है कि अगर ऐसा किया जाएगा तो फिल्म बनाने का उद्देश्य ही चला जाएगा। फिल्म बनाने का कारण इसलिए है ताकि लोग इस विषय पर खुलकर बात करे और स्पर्म शब्द का इस्तेमाल तो ट्रेलर में 5-6 बार किया गया है। बता दें कि 'गुड न्यूज' को राज मेहता ने डायरेक्ट किया है। यह फिल्म 27 दिसंबर को रिलीज हो रही है। बात करें अक्षय की अन्य फिल्मों की, तो वह आने वाले साल यानी 2020 में 'सूर्यवंशी', 'लक्ष्मी बम' और 'पृथ्वीराज चौहान' बायॉपिक है। इसके अलावा उनकी कई और फिल्में हैं जो 201 तक रिलीज होंगी। इनमें 'बेल बॉटम', 'बच्चन पांडे' और 'क्रैक' जैसी फिल्में शामिल हैं। वहीं इस साल यानी 2019 में अक्षय ने 'मिशन मंगल', 'हाउसफुल 4' और 'केसरी' जैसी ब्लॉकबस्टर फिल्में दीं। कुछ ऐसी ही उम्मीद उनकी इस शुक्रवार रिलीज होने वाली फिल्म 'गुड न्यूज' से लगाई जा रही है।
from Entertainment News in Hindi, Latest Bollywood Movies News, मनोरंजन न्यूज़, बॉलीवुड मूवी न्यूज़ | Navbharat Times https://ift.tt/39awTTv
करीना कपूर ने अपनी रील और रियल लाइफ में गजब का संतुलन बना रखा है। फिल्मों के फ्रंट पर वह 'गुड न्यूज' से चर्चा में हैं। निजी जिंदगी में वह सैफ के साथ अपनी खुशहाल जिंदगी का आनंद ले रही हैं। यहां वह अपनी फिल्म, शादी, पति सैफ, मां बबीता, महिला सशक्तिकरण, प्राउड पल, हीरोइनों की मौजूदगी और रेप कल्चर जैसे मुद्दों पर बात कर रही हैं : आज हर कोई महिला सशक्तिकरण का झंडा बुलंद करता नजर आ रहा है। आपके लिए महिला सशक्तिकरण की परिभाषा क्या है? मुझे लगता है कि इस मामले में कथनी के बजाय करनी होनी चाहिए। इंग्लिश में एक कहावत है, 'ऐक्शन स्पीक्स लाउडर देन वर्ड्स'। कई बार हम सिर्फ बातें करते हैं। हमें महिला सशक्तिकरण के लिए जो कुछ भी कहना है, उसे करके दिखाना होगा। आज अगर मां बनने के बाद भी एक अभिनेत्री के रूप में मैं लोगों को प्रेरित कर रही हूं, तो वह मेरा ऐक्शन बोल रहा है। मुझे लगता है कि महिला मुद्दों पर भाषणबाजी करने के बजाय हमें फैसले लेने चाहिए। डिसिजन मेकिंग में मजबूती दिखानी चाहिए। आपको लगता है कि बीते सालों में हिंदी सिनेमा में नायिकाओं की उपस्थिति सशक्त होती जा रही है? बिलकुल। मैं आपकी बात से सहमत हूं। कंगना, दीपिका आलिया जैसी अभिनेत्रियों ने इतनी अलग-अलग भूमिकाओं को अंजाम दिया है कि नायिकाओं की मौजूदगी मजबूत होती जा रही है। आज रानी मुखर्जी की 'मर्दानी 2' को भी काफी सराहा जा रहा है। आज दर्शक भी महिला प्रधान फिल्में देखना चाहते हैं। अभिनेत्रियां भी अपनी प्राइज मनी और भूमिकाओं को लेकर स्टैंड लेने लगी हैं। जैसे अनुष्का और दीपिका प्रड्यूसर के रूप में भी आगे आई हैं। जिन-जिन अभिनेत्रियों में कुछ कर दिखाने की चाह है, वे लगातार अपने आप को साबित करती जा रही हैं। मुझे लगता है यह अभिनेत्रियों के लिए ही नहीं बल्कि इंडस्ट्री के लिए भी अच्छा समय है। महिलाओं के लिए इस दौर को कैसे देख रही हैं? विश्व में बलात्कार के मामलों के कारण भारत की छवि धूमिल पड़ी है?मुझे लगता है कि महिलाओं को किसी भी हाल में अपने सपनों को पूरा करने से वंचित नहीं होना चाहिए। यह नहीं कि शहर सुरक्षित नहीं, तो महिलाएं घर से निकलना बंद कर दें। हमें तो अपनी जिंदगी जीनी पड़ेगी। जब तक मर्दों की सोच में सामाजिक रूप से बदलाव नहीं आएगा, तब तक ये हादसे होते रहेंगे। हम फिल्म इंडस्ट्री की बात नहीं करेंगे कि यहां मेल और फीमेल में डिस्क्रिममिनेशन है। ये हमारी आम जिंदगी में हो रहा है। इसके लिए जब तक सोच में बदलाव नहीं आएगा, तब तक कुछ भी नहीं बदलेगा। बहुत मुश्किल है, मगर हमारी कोशिश तो लगातार बनी हुई है। महिलाओं के जो भी मुद्दे हैं, उनकी जड़ें बहुत गहरी हैं। इनको संवरने में समय लगेगा। आप अपनी मॉम (बबीता) को कैसे अपने जीवन का स्पोर्ट सिस्टम मानती हैं? मुझे लगता है, मेरी मां ने हमारे लिए सब कुछ किया है। आज मैं और करिश्मा जो कुछ भी हैं, अपनी मॉम के कारण ही हैं। मॉम की सोच हमेशा इतनी मॉडर्न और कॉन्टेम्पररी रही कि उन्होंने हमेशा हमें सपॉर्ट किया। उनका हमेशा से कहना था कि आप लड़कियों को जो करना है, आप करो, मैं आप लोगों के साथ हूं। वह हमेशा कहती हैं कि मैं हूं, मगर तुम गिरो तो खुद को संभालना भी सीखो। उनकी सीख हमारे लिए बहुत अहम रही है। आज तक उनका स्पॉर्ट सिस्टम जस का तस बना हुआ है। ऐसा क्यों है कि इतना आगे बढ़ जाने के बावजूद औरतों को लेकर सोच शादी और बच्चे तक सीमित रहती है। हाल ही में आपके दूसरे बच्चे को लेकर भी बहुत सवाल किए जा रहे थे? यह सोच समाज में सालों से हैं। इसे बदलने में वक्त लगेगा। सामाजिक सोच है कि औरतों को ऐसा होना चाहिए। अब औरत-मर्द सभी इस सोच को तोड़ने की दिशा में काम कर रहे हैं और दिख रहा है। आपके जीवन की सबसे बड़ी गुड न्यूज क्या थी? मुझे लगता है मेरे करियर और जिंदगी की सबसे बड़ी गुड न्यूज थी, जब मैंने 'रिफ्यूजी' साइन की थी। बचपन से मेरा एक ही सपना था कि मैं ऐक्ट्रेस बनूं। मैं बचपन से करिश्मा के सेट्स पर जाती थी और वहां शूटिंग में सपने देखा करती थी कि मैं कब हीरोइन बनूंगी? मुझे याद है, वह करिश्मा का 'अंदाज अपना अपना' का सेट हो या 'जीत', 'जुड़वा' या फिर 'बीवी नंबर वन' के सेट्स, मैं हमेशा करिश्मा के सेट पर पहुंच जाया करती थी। अगर मैं प्राउड मोमेंट की बात करूं, तो मुझे लगता है कि 'वीरे दी वेडिंग' करना मेरे लिए बहुत गर्व भरा पल था। हमने पुरुषों की दोस्ती पर 'दिल चाहता है', जैसी फिल्में देखी थी, मगर सिस्टरहुड या लड़कियों की दोस्ती पर कहानी नहीं बनी। 'वीरे दी वेडिंग' चार लड़कियों की दोस्ती पर थी और उसे डबल डिजिट की ओपनिंग लगी थी, वह मेरे लिए बहुत बड़ी बात थी। सैफ आपको पति के रूप में कैसे कॉम्प्लिमेंट करते हैं? वह एक अलग तरह के अदाकार है और मैं एक अलग तरह की अभिनेत्री हूं। हमारी फिल्मों की चॉइस बहुत अलग हैं। वह फिल्मों में अपनी यूएसपी प्ले करते हैं। फिल्मों को लेकर उनकी सोच प्रक्रिया भी अलग है। इसके बावजूद उन्होंने आज तक यह नहीं कहा कि यह मत करो, वह मत करो। उनकी खासियत यह है कि वह कभी मना नहीं करते किसी भी काम के लिए। अब जैसे मैं 'लाल सिंह चड्ढा' कर रही हूं। फिल्म के लिए मुझे लगातार ट्रैवल करना पड़ रहा है, इसके बावजूद वे मुझे सपॉर्ट करते हैं। औरतों के लिए सबसे बड़ी चुनौती क्या होती है? शादी को निभाना, मदरहुड, लेबर पेन? मुझे लगता है, मदर नेचर ने हमें बनाया ही ऐसा है कि हम चुनौतियों का सामना कर सकें। मगर सबसे बड़ी चुनौती यह होती है कि हम औरतें जो करना चाहें, वह कर सकें, क्योंकि एक लंबे अरसे तक तो हमें यही बताया जाता रहा है कि हम यह नहीं कर सकते, हम वह नहीं कर सकते। आज अगर हम काम कर रही हैं, तो यह सबसे बड़ी बात है। तमाम बंधनों और अवधारणाओं के बावजूद घर की दहलीज को पार करके काम करना सबसे बड़ी बात है।
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Parts of the Middle East, India, Sri Lanka, Philippines and Indonesia will be treated to a rare “ring” eclipse of the sun, the last of this decade, but people across the world can still watch it online without risking eye damage.
The new moon will pass across the face of the sun and cover 97 percent of it on December 26, leaving a distinctive “ring of fire” visible along a line 118 kilometers wide, stretching from Saudi Arabia to the Philippines.
The ring-shaped, or annular, eclipse occurs because the moon is currently near its farthest orbital distance from the earth, and won’t be quite large enough to cover the entire face of the sun.
December 26,2019 begins at 03:43 a.m. Phenomenon-referred to as a “ring of fire” or “annual solar eclipse”—it will appear smaller in the sky so will only block the center of the Sun’s disk. Observers will therefore see a ring around the Sun, and for a maximum of 3 mins. and 40 s pic.twitter.com/F880trMqJF
Sun-watchers in the Middle East will be able to see the phenomenon in the early morning. Those in southern India and Sri Lanka should shoot for mid-morning. In Indonesia, the phenomenon will happen in the early afternoon, and in the Philippines towards sunset.
The Solar Eclipse is upon us!
Regions directly on its path this time: Saudi Arabia 🇸🇦, Oman 🇴🇲, southern India 🇮🇳, and parts of Indonesia 🇮🇩.
Astronomer Fred Espenak has provided a table of exactly when the maximum extent of the eclipse will be visible in a number of cities across Asia, with local times. The ring of fire will be visible the longest – for three and a half minutes – just east of the island of Pulau Gin Besar in Indonesia.
Anyone interested in observing the eclipse directly should remember to use protective eyewear, or pinhole projection devices. For the rest of humanity, multiple live feeds of the event will be available online, such as this one from the Institute of Astronomy Sri Lanka.
While this will be the last solar eclipse of both 2019 and the decade, there are two coming up in 2020. In June, a 99-percent ring eclipse will be visible for about a minute, from central Africa to China. There is also a total eclipse expected on December 14, where the sun will be covered for over two minutes in southern Argentina and Chile.
