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ISRAEL AIR FORCE fighter jet

Israel Strikes Gaza Sites After Terrorist Rocket Fire

GAZA CITY (AFP) – The Israeli air force carried out attacks on Hamas sites in the Gaza Strip early Saturday, Palestinian security sources said, just hours after rockets from the enclave hit southern Israel. According to the sources, the Israeli strikes targeted

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France Confirms Death of Jihadist with Paris Attacks Links

France on Wednesday confirmed the death of French jihadist Charaffe el Mouadan, who had close links to at least one of the Paris attackers, as it emerged the gunmen coordinated the November 13 assault in real time. Defence Minister Jean-Yves

Charlie Hebdo

Charlie Hebdo to Release Special Issue One Year After Attack

French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo on Wednesday said it would release nearly a million copies of a special issue to mark a year since jihadists killed a dozen people in its Paris offices. The 32-page double issue — featuring a

GettyImages-53309563 hijab

Israel Approves Broad Economic Plan for Arab Minority

The Israeli government on Wednesday approved a plan worth several billion dollars to improve the economic situation of the Arab minority, officials said. Details on how the money will be spent were not immediately available. But a statement from Prime

AP

Anne Frank Fund Fights Plans to Publish Diary Online

An academic and a French MP have announced plans to publish online Friday the famous diary of Anne Frank, with the organisation holding publication rights threatening legal action. University of Nantes lecturer Olivier Ertzscheid told AFP Wednesday that the planned

Barack Obama, Benjamin Netanyahu

Israel Plays Down U.S. Spying Scandal

Jerusalem (AFP) – An Israeli minister and close ally of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu sought Wednesday to play down revelations the United States monitored the premier’s private communications.  “I didn’t fall off my chair from The Wall Street Journal report,”

people smugglers

Over One Million Migrants Reach Europe by Sea in 2015: UN

GENEVA (AFP) – Over one million migrants and refugees crossed the Mediterranean Sea to Europe in 2015, nearly half of them Syrians, the UN refugee agency (UNHCR) said Wednesday. The milestone marks an almost five-fold increase over 2014 figures, when UNHCR recorded

Mein Kampf

Anguish as Reprints of ‘Mein Kampf’ Planned For New Year

BERLIN (AFP) – The copyright of Hitler’s “Mein Kampf” expires Friday, with plans by several publishers for annotated reprints sparking fierce debate over how one of the world’s most controversial books should be treated seven decades after the defeat of the Nazis.

Ehud Olmert

Ex-Israeli PM Olmert to Serve Jail Time on Bribery Conviction

JERUSALEM (AFP) –  Israel’s top court on Tuesday upheld a bribery conviction against Ehud Olmert, making him the country’s first ex-prime minister to serve jail time. The 70-year-old, who was prime minister from 2006 to 2009, was sentenced in May 2014

Polish President Andrzej Duda

Polish President Defies EU to Sign Disputed Court Reform Into Law

President Andrzej Duda on Monday signed into law a controversial bill reforming Poland’s constitutional court despite widespread domestic opposition and mounting alarm in the international community. Thousands of people have taken to the streets over changes pushed through by the

Italy

No Christmas Break in Migrant Flow to Italy

Around 4,000 migrants and refugees were saved from waters between Italy and North Africa over the course of the Christmas weekend, with further rescue operations expected in the final days of an “exceptional” year, officials said Monday. The Italian coastguard

eurozone

No Further Eurozone Expansion Seen ‘In Next Few Years’

The eurozone is not expected to welcome any new members in the coming years, as the region’s long crisis seems to have put some countries off, deputy European Commission chief said in a newspaper interview Monday. “No new members are

AP Photo

Palestinian Terrorist Dies of Wounds from Gaza Clash: Ministry

GAZA CITY (AFP) – A Palestinian wounded at the Gaza border in clashes with the Israeli army last week died early Monday from his injuries, the Gaza health ministry said. Yusef al-Buhel, 48, died after being shot east of the Maghazi refugee

AP Photo/Burhan Ozbilici

15,000 in Dusseldorf March Protesting Turkey’s Crackdown on Kurds

Around 15,000 people marched in Dusseldorf on Saturday to protest against Turkey’s military crackdown against Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) rebels, local police said. The marchers, demonstrating on behalf of Germany’s federation of Kurdish groups, Nav-Dem, also slammed the European Union

Paris attackers

Belgian Police Quiz Brussels School on Paris Attacker, Media Say

The Belgian authorities are questioning staff at a Brussels school attended by one of the Paris attackers whose warnings that he had become worryingly radicalised were missed, press reports said Saturday. The reports, based on Flemish language dailies De Morgen

Corsica-Muslim-Prayer-Hall-Fire-AFP

Protesters Ransack Muslim Prayer Hall on Corsica

Demonstrators ransacked a Muslim prayer hall and set fire to copies of the Koran on the French island of Corsica Friday, police said, in an attack condemned by the government. The violence came on Christmas Day amid heightened security measures

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Islamabad’s Christian Slum Dwellers Pray for Christmas Miracle

As the winter sun sets on Pakistan’s leafy capital Islamabad, residents of the city’s largest Christian slum use bicycles, donkey carts and their backs to haul jerry cans filled with water to their homes. Situated on the capital’s periphery, the

Poland

Polish Senate Backs Contested Court Reforms, Despite EU Warnings

Poland’s Senate approved controversial reforms to the country’s highest court which have triggered protests at home (pictured above) and EU warnings that they could undermine the rule of law, in a overnight session. The bill, which changes current conditions in