Witness links Duterte to mosque bombing, killings
Manila, The Philippines – A witness in a Senate hearing on the extra-judicial killings in the Philippines has testified that he was a member of a death squad in the home city of President Rodrigo Duterte, and that the then-mayor himself ordered the killings of crime and drug suspects as well as the bombing of […]
US and Israel sign record $38bn military aid deal
The United States has signed a record $38bn deal to provide Israel with military assistance over a 10-year period – the largest such agreement ever by the US with any country. Following 10 months of frequently tense negotiations, the two allies finalised the memorandum of understanding (MOU) with a signing ceremony on Wednesday in Washington […]
Arrest made in arson fire at Florida mosque
A 32-year-old man has been arrested and is facing a charge of arson and hate crime in a fire that heavily damaged a mosque in Florida, according to authorities. Joseph Michael Schreiber was arrested without incident on Wednesday afternoon and was being interrogated by investigators looking into the fire set late on Sunday at the […]
What’s next for France after the burkini madness?
The burkini hysteria of the 2016 summer has once again turned France into the laughing stock of the Western, if not of the entire, world. It took weeks of controversy and the seizing of the country’s highest administrative authority – the Council of the State – to reaffirm the right for women to dress as […]
UK: Arrest made in hate crime attack on pregnant woman
A man has been arrested in connection with a racially motivated attack on a pregnant woman last month in the UK, which resulted in the loss of her baby. The 34-year-old woman was verbally abused with “racial remarks” while shopping at a supermarket in the town of Bletchley, north of London, on August 6, police […]
Five reasons why US-Israel military deal stinks
Israel is the largest cumulative recipient of United States foreign assistance since World War II. And this week it received the largest US military aid package ever signed between two countries. This begs the question: why does Israel, whose per capita income is among the world’s top 20, receive tens of billions of dollars in […]
US congress report: Snowden not a ‘whistleblower’
A House intelligence committee report has called National Security Agency leaker Edward Snowden a “serial exaggerator and fabricator” who does not fit the profile of a whistleblower. The Republican-led committee released a three-page unclassified summary of its two-year bipartisan examination on Thursday, which details how Snowden was able to remove the documents from secure NSA […]
Faced with a $14 billion fine, Deutsche Bank says we’re not paying that!
Deutsche Bank has vowed to fight a massive demand from the US Department of Justice. The DoJ wants $14 billion (12.48 billion euros) to settle claims that Germany’s biggest bank mis-sold mortgage-backed securities. This dates back to the sub-prime scandal that led to the 2008 financial crisis and recession that followed. As its shares tumbled […]
Donald Trump finally concedes that President Obama was born in the US after years of promoting conspiracy theory
WASHINGTON — Donald Trump, who for years has stoked unfounded conspiracies about President Barack Obama’s birthplace, said Friday that he is now convinced the president is an American-born citizen. “President Barack Obama was born in the United States. Period. Now we all want to get back to making America strong and great again.” he said, […]
Netflix now has some of the only footage you’ll see from inside Syria
Some cities in Syria are battered by hundreds of airstrikes every day. And when those bombs hit — at least when they fall in opposition areas — unarmed volunteers known as the White Helmets are the first on the scene digging through rubble and searching for survivors. Officially called the Syrian Civil Defense, the group […]