Tag: InternationalNews

{A girl who was stolen at birth from a Florida hospital 18 years ago has been found in good condition and the woman who raised her has been charged with kidnapping, US authorities said Friday.}

Kamiyah Mobley, whose abduction was national news, was found in Walterboro, South Carolina, a small town where she has lived all her life with the woman she thought was her mother.

“Last night we received confirmation that the young woman was in fact Kamiyah Mobley,” Jacksonville sheriff Mike Williams told reporters.

“She appears to be a normal 18-year-old woman. She has a lot to process,” he added.

“Informed of the DNA finding early Friday, her biological parents were “overwhelmed with emotion,” he said.

Williams declined to give the victim’s current name, and asked for privacy for the family.

Gloria Williams, 51, has been charged with kidnapping and interfering with custody, he said.

The saga began on July 10, 1998 when a woman posing as a health care worker approached the young mother of a newborn in a Jacksonville hospital and then disappeared with her baby.

The sheriff said investigators checked out more than 2,500 leads until finally finding an 18-year-old born on the same day but with a different last name.

“Even when a case is deemed cold, we’re always looking for new information, a tip or an advancement in technology,” Williams said.

“This is what we strive for, justice for our victims, no matter how long it takes.”

{Deal reached after damaged water infrastructure in Wadi Barada left 5.5 million in Damascus area enduring shortages.}

Syrian government workers have entered a formerly rebel-held area near Damascus to begin restoring water to the capital after weeks of shortages, state media reported.

The engineers entered the facilities at Ain al-Fija in the opposition-held Wadi Barada area by agreement with the rebels, the governor said on Ikhbariya channel on Friday.

“We have halted military operations in Ain al-Fija and started reconciliation with the militas there,” said provincial governor Alaa Ibrahim, speaking to reporters from an area near the spring.

“God willing, the pipe will be fixed within three days … rapid measures will be taken to get water to Damascus tomorrow,” he added.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based monitor, confirmed that repair crews had reached the Ain al-Fija spring and that the Syrian flag had been raised in the area.

The reported deal comes after weeks of fighting in the region, 15 kilometres northwest of Damascus, that has threatened a fragile truce in place since December 30.

The fighting has damaged water infrastructure and left some 5.5 million people in the capital and its suburbs facing water shortages, according to the United Nations.

Earlier on Friday, the army had advanced into Wadi Barada, taking the village of Baseema under heavy fire, the Syrian Observatory said.
Peace talks

The truce brokered by government ally Russia and rebel-backer Turkey is intended to pave the way for new peace talks in the Kazakh capital Astana, which Russia confirmed on Wednesday were scheduled for January 23.

“At this time there is no indication that the meeting will be postponed. The date of January 23 is set,” a source in the foreign ministry said.

He added that work was under way to compile a list of participants.

A Russian diplomatic source said on Wednesday that the talks would be held between the government and rebels only, with the political opposition excluded for the first time.

But Turkey and the rebels have warned that the ongoing fighting in Wadi Barada could jeopardise the talks in Astana.

And while the truce has brought quiet to large parts of Syria, sporadic violence has continued elsewhere.

Syria’s conflict started as a largely unarmed uprising against President Assad’s rule in March 2011, but it has since morphed into a full-scale civil war that has killed hundreds of thousands and displaced more than half of the country’s prewar population.

{Hundreds of thousands of people are expected to attend Donald Trump’s inauguration, but hundreds of thousands of protesters are also expected in Washington next week to vent their frustration over his election win.}

Demonstrations are scheduled across the United States, but the focal point of anti-Trump ire will be in the nation’s capital, where a small minority — several thousand — have pledged to disrupt the January 20 inauguration ceremony.

The main protest will come the following day at 10:00 am – the Women’s March on Washington, which is backed by celebrity A-list participants including Katy Perry, Julianne Moore, Cher and Scarlett Johansson.

It all began with a simple Facebook post from Hawaii grandmother and retired lawyer Teresa Shook to about 40 of her friends.

Word travelled quickly, and eventually made it to the pro-Hillary Clinton Facebook group Pantsuit Nation, which has nearly four million members.

Now, nearly 190,000 people have said on Facebook they will attend. Another 250,000 said they were interested.

“We expect elected leaders to act to protect the rights of women, their families and their communities,” organizers said in a statement.

THE MESSAGE

Of course, a mass turnout is no guarantee, especially with temperatures often glacial in mid-January.

But at least 1,200 buses have asked for parking permits at Washington’s RFK Stadium for the protest day — compared with just a few hundred for Inauguration Day.

Organizers have not specifically used the term “anti-Trump” to describe their efforts, but the message is clear.

Bringing together “people of all genders, ages, races, cultures, political affiliations and backgrounds,” organizers say the protest march seeks to secure immigrant rights and access to abortion services, among other demands — things which Trump’s critics accuse him of wanting to curb.

Dozens of progressive organizations are supporting the event, with African Americans are expected to make a strong showing.

The Black Lives Matter movement, which has focused on denouncing police misconduct, is one of the participants — leading some who see the movement as too radical to withdraw from the January 21 event.

Trump can expect to see lots of signs recalling some of his questionable interactions with women, including allegations of sexual assault, sexist comments and fat-shaming a former beauty queen.

PINK PROTEST HATS

The “Pussyhat Project” is hoping knitters will make one million pink hats with cat ears for protest participants.

The play on words is deliberate: they are drawing attention to one of Trump’s more vulgar remarks, made in 2005 and caught on video but which only surfaced in October.

“When you’re a star, they let you do it. Grab them by the pussy. You can do anything,” Trump is heard bragging.

The route

Getting approval for the march was not a given, with authorities limiting the number of permits handed out.

Authorities are also somewhat on edge, with 28,000 security forces to be deployed when Trump takes the oath of office on the steps of the Capitol.

The march should start near Capitol Hill and head up the National Mall.

Co-organizer Linda Sarsour said the event would be made accessible to the elderly, pregnant women and those with handicaps.

Protesters are using the hashtag #WhyIMarch to explain why they are heading to Washington — from calls for equality to initiatives to curb gun violence to pleas for health care reform.

Nearly 300 “sister marches” have been organized in other US cities — including New York, Boston, Los Angeles and Seattle — and around the world.

Beyond traditional rallies, other protest events planned nationwide include poetry slams and an “Art Strike” calling on museums and businesses to shut down on January 20 to “combat the normalization of Trumpism.”

{An icy storm has been lashing parts of western Europe, causing power cuts in many homes, felling trees and disrupting some rail services.}

In France power cuts affected more than 237,000 homes as the storm swept across Normandy and regions north of Paris.

In Dieppe, on the coast, winds reached 146km/h (90.5mph).

The storm, nicknamed “Egon”, later hit southern Germany – mainly Rhineland-Palatinate and northern Bavaria. Power cuts and traffic jams were widespread.

Emergency teams were out in force during the night in France and Germany.

A woman died in Saint-Jeannet, in south-eastern France, when a tree toppled over and crushed her. She had been getting her children ready for school, Le Parisien website reported (in French).

In some parts of France schools and colleges have cancelled classes. In Soissons, north of Paris, the storm smashed a rose window in the historic cathedral and damaged the organ.

Drivers have been warned of treacherous conditions on some German roads, because of snow and black ice. Three motorists died in crashes in Bavaria.

Meanwhile, flood defences have been reinforced on Belgium’s coast.

The cold snap across Europe has claimed more than 65 lives. Poland and much of south-eastern Europe, including Romania, Bulgaria, Greece and western Turkey, are in the grip of heavy snow and freezing cold.

Thousands of migrants in the Balkans are poorly protected against the icy conditions, as many are still in tents and have little heating.

The UN refugee agency UNHCR said several migrants had died from cold and exhaustion in Bulgaria.

It urged Greece to move more quickly to transfer migrants to better facilities on the mainland, following a report that on the island of Samos at least 1,000 people were sheltering in unheated buildings.

The wind and snow in Germany forced Lufthansa to cancel 125 flights at Frankfurt/Main airport.

German rail operator Deutsche Bahn also set a 200km/h speed limit on high-speed ICE trains, which caused some travel delays.

{Blocking China from islands it has built in contested waters would lead to “devastating confrontation”, Chinese state media have warned.}

The angry response came after secretary of state nominee Rex Tillerson said the US should deny Beijing access to new islands in the South China Sea.

Two state-run papers carry editorials strongly criticising his comments.

The hawkish Global Times tabloid warned that any such action would lead to “a large-scale war”.

Beijing has been building artificial islands on reefs in waters also claimed by other nations. Images published late last year show military defences on some islands, a think-tank says.

Speaking at his confirmation hearing on Wednesday, Mr Tillerson likened China’s island-building to Russia’s annexation of Crimea from Ukraine.

“We’re going to have to send China a clear signal that first, the island-building stops and second, your access to those islands also is not going to be allowed.”

China’s official response, from foreign ministry spokesman Lu Kang, was muted. China had the right to conduct “normal activities” in its own territory, he said.

Asked specifically about the remark on blocking access, he said he would not respond to hypothetical questions.
‘Unrealistic fantasies’

But editorials in the China Daily and the Global Times were more direct in their comments.

The China Daily suggested Mr Tillerson’s remarks showed ignorance of Sino-US relations and diplomacy in general.

“Such remarks are not worth taking seriously because they are a mish-mash of naivety, shortsightedness, worn-out prejudices and unrealistic political fantasies,” it said.

“Should he act on them in the real world, it would be disastrous.

“As many have observed, it would set a course for devastating confrontation between China and the US. After all, how can the US deny China access to its own territories without inviting the latter’s legitimate, defensive responses?”

The Global Times, a nationalist daily, suggested that Mr Tillerson’s “astonishing” comments came because “he merely wanted to curry favour from senators and increase his chances of being confirmed by intentionally showing a tough stance toward China”.

China would ensure his “rabble rousing” would not succeed, it went on.

“Unless Washington plans to wage a large-scale war in the South China Sea, any other approaches to prevent Chinese access to the islands will be foolish.”

The Obama administration has spoken out strongly against the island-building, pledged to ensure freedom of navigation in the South China Sea and sending navy ships to sail in contested areas.

But it has not threatened to block access to the islands, a step likely to enrage Beijing.

Mr Tillerson did not explain how the US might block access to the islands, and both Chinese papers suggested a wait-and-see policy.

“It remains to be seen to what extent his views against China will translate into US foreign policies,” the China Daily said.

{A 12-year-old boy is accused of pulling a gun on a girl and demanding one of her chicken nuggets, New York police say.}

They say he asked for a nugget in a McDonald’s fast food outlet in Harlem on Tuesday.

When she refused, he is then alleged to have followed her to a nearby subway station and held the gun to her head.

She pushed the gun away and boarded the train, and he was later taken into custody, police say.

The New York Police Department says the gun has not been found, and it remains unclear whether it was real or a replica.

They say the boy was released on Thursday, and the case has been referred to the family courts.

{The damage to water infrastructure supplying Damascus has left some 5.5 million people without water.}

Syrian rebels have rejected a provincial governor’s claim that a deal has been reached for government forces to enter a rebel-held area near Damascus and restore the capital’s water supply.

Ahmed Ramadan, an official with the opposition National Coalition, denied any such deal had been reached.

“This information is untrue and is a part of the [regime and its allies’] psychological warfare,” he told AFP.

Yet, a source inside the Wadi Barada region told AFP several hundred civilians were leaving under an agreement.

State news agency SANA also reported people were leaving the region, among them several dozen fighters.

The reported deal comes after weeks of fighting in the region, 15 kilometres northwest of Damascus, which has threatened a fragile truce in place since December 30.

The fighting has damaged water infrastructure and left some 5.5 million people in the capital and its suburbs facing water shortages, according to the United Nations.

Damascus provincial governor Alaa Ibrahim had earlier on Wednesday told SANA there was now a deal to allow the government to retake control of the region.

“The agreement that was reached in principle requires the militants to give up their heavy weapons and for non-local militants to leave the area of Wadi Barada,” he said.

“[Then] the Syrian Arab Army will enter the area to clear it of mines and bombs to prepare for the entry of maintenance teams… to fix the damage caused to the water pumps and pipes by the terrorists’ attacks.”

Civilians evacuated

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based monitor of the war, also said the government had not reached a comprehensive deal with rebels.

But it reported that residents wishing to leave were being offered safe passage on an individual basis.

And a source on the ground in Wadi Barada said on Wednesday that some 600 civilians had left, passing through a makeshift tent where government officials were checking documents.

SANA reported that some 500 people had left the area, among them some 60 rebels.

Syria’s government accuses rebels in Wadi Barada, including former al-Qaeda affiliate Jabhat Fateh al-Sham, of deliberately cutting water supplies to the capital.

But the rebels say government strikes damaged pumping facilities and deny that Fateh al-Sham, previously known as al-Nusra Front, has forces in the area.

The government has concluded dozens of so-called “reconciliation deals” with rebel-held areas in Syria in recent months, particularly around the capital.

The deals usually offer civilians and rebels safe passage to opposition-held territory elsewhere in exchange for surrendering the area to the army.

The opposition says it is forced into such deals by government sieges and assault, and terms them a “starve or surrender” tactic.

The United Nations warned that sabotaging water supplies is a war crime after the water to Wadi Barada was cut.

Jan Egeland, head of a UN-backed humanitarian task force for Syria, said last week that the shutdown already had “dramatic” consequences.

{{Peace negotiations}}

Syria’s conflict started as a largely unarmed uprising against President Bashar al-Assad’s rule in March 2011, but it has since morphed into a full-scale civil war that has killed hundreds of thousands and displaced more than half of the country’s prewar population.

Fighting has continued in Wadi Barada despite the start of a truce brokered by government ally Russia and rebel backer Turkey in late December.

The ceasefire is intended to pave the way for new peace talks in the Kazakh capital Astana, which Russia confirmed Wednesday were scheduled for January 23.

“At this time there is no indication that the meeting will be postponed. The date of January 23 is set,” a source in the foreign ministry said.

He added that work was under way to compile a list of participants.

A Russian diplomatic source said Wednesday the talks would be held between the government and rebels only, with the political opposition excluded for the first time.

But Turkey and the rebels have warned the ongoing fighting in Wadi Barada could jeopardise the talks in Astana.

And while the truce has brought quiet to large parts of Syria, sporadic violence has continued elsewhere.

On Wednesday, the Observatory reported government air strikes in several parts of the Eastern Ghouta region outside Damascus that killed one person and wounded nine.

And overnight it said air strikes hit rebel-held parts of Aleppo and Idlib province in the north and northwest of the country, killing at least three rebels.