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Hamas marks anniversary<br />
with parade of new missiles<br />
MUMBAI:<br />
GAZA: Tens of thousands<br />
of Palestinians have<br />
attended a huge rally in the<br />
besieged Gaza Strip to<br />
mark the 31st anniversary<br />
of the establishment of the<br />
Hamas resistance movement.<br />
Hamas was established<br />
in 1987 soon after the first<br />
Palestinian Intifada or<br />
uprising broke out against<br />
the Israeli occupation. The<br />
movement has been administering<br />
Gaza since 2007<br />
when it scored a surprise<br />
parliamentary victory.<br />
On Saturday, Hamas<br />
marked the anniversary of<br />
its foundation with a military<br />
parade featuring the<br />
Palestinian resistance<br />
movement’s new defensive<br />
hardware.<br />
Members of the group's<br />
military movement, the<br />
LOS ANGELES:<br />
Thousands of US teachers<br />
have rallied in Los Angeles,<br />
California, to demand higher<br />
wages and protest cuts to<br />
education funding in the<br />
nation's second-largest<br />
school district.<br />
The teachers and their<br />
supporters wore red shirts,<br />
banged drums and carried<br />
signs that read "Stand With<br />
LA Teachers!" as they took<br />
to the streets on Saturday<br />
demanding a new contract.<br />
The teachers union is<br />
threatening to go on strike<br />
next month for the first time<br />
in nearly 30 years as frustrations<br />
mount over more than<br />
18 months of negotiations<br />
with Los Angeles Unified<br />
Izzddin al-Qassam<br />
Brigades, showcased various<br />
military vehicles and<br />
weapons.<br />
The ceremony was held<br />
in the southern city of<br />
Khan Yunis in the Gaza<br />
Strip which is ruled by the<br />
movement.<br />
The movement's special<br />
units staged a march-past<br />
during which truck-mounted<br />
missile defense systems<br />
School District.<br />
Leaders of United<br />
Teachers Los Angeles, a<br />
union representing Los<br />
Angeles teachers, rejected<br />
the latest contract offer last<br />
month.<br />
The teachers union contends<br />
that the school district<br />
is hoarding a huge financial<br />
reserve that could be used to<br />
pay teachers more and<br />
improve conditions for students.<br />
Union leaders also criticized<br />
a plan to reorganize<br />
the district by dividing it into<br />
32 networks.<br />
There has been no agreement<br />
despite three state<br />
mediation sessions, and the<br />
standoff is now in a factfinding<br />
stage — the final<br />
step of a negotiation process<br />
under California state law.<br />
School workers are also<br />
demanding smaller class<br />
sizes, more full-time nurses<br />
and librarians.<br />
The district has said it's<br />
Thousands of teachers in Los Angeles<br />
protest over pay, class conditions<br />
$1m reward to solve 1988<br />
US gay murder in Sydney<br />
By SJA Jafri<br />
Bureau Chief Australia<br />
SYDNEY: A $1 million<br />
reward is being offered for<br />
information on the 1988<br />
murder of a man found to<br />
have been killed in a gay<br />
hate crime in Sydney.<br />
Scott Johnson, a US<br />
national who was based in<br />
Sydney, was discovered at<br />
the bottom of Blue Fish<br />
Point near Manly's North<br />
Head in <strong>Dec</strong>ember 1988.<br />
A 20<strong>17</strong> inquest found the<br />
27-year-old was the victim<br />
of a gay hate crime after an<br />
earlier inquest ruled his<br />
death a suicide.<br />
New South Wales<br />
(NSW) Police said<br />
Johnson's case was referred<br />
to a special team in<br />
September, and a $100,000<br />
reward for information has<br />
been increased to $1 million.<br />
A coronial inquest ruled<br />
in 1989 Johnson had taken<br />
his own life, while a later<br />
inquest in 2012 returned an<br />
open finding.<br />
A third inquest pointing<br />
to Johnson suffering a fatal<br />
clifftop fall due to having<br />
been threatened or attacked<br />
for being homosexual.<br />
Johnson’s brother Steve<br />
flew from the US to attend<br />
today’s police media conference<br />
about the reward.<br />
The tech entrepreneur<br />
has reportedly spent more<br />
than $1 million of his own<br />
money trying to find out the<br />
truth of what happened to<br />
his brother.<br />
"After 30 years I can<br />
finally say: Scott, the police<br />
are keen to find your killers",<br />
Johnson said.<br />
"The police are the ones<br />
that can help you tell us what<br />
happened that day. We're<br />
with you now; we're going<br />
to find out what happened,<br />
we may finally get answers<br />
and justice for you."<br />
“Someone knows what<br />
happened to Scott, either<br />
because they were present or<br />
because they heard of what<br />
happened from others who<br />
were present.”<br />
committed to bargaining in<br />
good-faith and providing<br />
teachers with better pay and<br />
support.<br />
The district has more<br />
than 640,000 students in Los<br />
Angeles and 31 surrounding<br />
smaller cities.<br />
Nations agree<br />
milestone rule book for<br />
Paris climate treaty<br />
K A T O W I C E ,<br />
POLAND: Nations on<br />
Sunday struck a deal to<br />
breathe life into the landmark<br />
2015 Paris climate<br />
treaty after marathon UN<br />
talks that failed to match<br />
the ambition the world´s<br />
most vulnerable countries<br />
need to avert dangerous<br />
global warming.<br />
Delegates from nearly<br />
200 states finalised a common<br />
rule book designed to<br />
deliver the Paris goals of<br />
limiting global temperature<br />
rises to well below<br />
two degrees Celsius (3.6<br />
Fahrenheit).<br />
were driven through the<br />
streets.<br />
The movement also<br />
honored its fighters who<br />
outed and neutralized an<br />
Israeli infiltration near<br />
Khan Yunis last month.<br />
Undercover Israeli special<br />
forces infiltrated into<br />
the territory in a civilian<br />
car near Khan Yunis, opening<br />
fire and killing local<br />
commander Noor Baraka<br />
when they were discovered.<br />
The unit was chased by<br />
Hamas fighters who killed<br />
a ranking Israeli officer.<br />
Israel then launched<br />
dozens of airstrikes on<br />
Gaza, drawing Hamas<br />
retaliation. During a twoday<br />
flare-up, more than<br />
500 rockets were fired at<br />
Israel, forcing Tel Aviv to<br />
accept a hasty declaration<br />
of a ceasefire.<br />
The Saturday ceremony<br />
also coincided with the<br />
anniversary of the first<br />
Palestinian Intifada, which<br />
broke out in 1987 after four<br />
young Palestinians were<br />
killed by Israeli soldiers at<br />
a checkpoint in Gaza as<br />
well as the shooting death<br />
of a <strong>17</strong>-year-old boy during<br />
an unarmed protest.<br />
An Arabic word that literally<br />
translates to "shaking<br />
off," Intifada has been<br />
used to refer to legitimate<br />
means of resistance against<br />
oppression across the<br />
Middle East for decades. In<br />
the Arab-Israeli conflict, it<br />
means a concerted<br />
Palestinian effort to shake<br />
off Israeli occupation and<br />
gain independence.<br />
Heavy clashes as<br />
Saudi push in<br />
Hudaydah repelled<br />
HODEIDA: Saudi<br />
airstrikes and fierce clashes<br />
have shaken the outskirts<br />
of Yemen's Hudaydah<br />
despite a UN-brokered<br />
ceasefire that Yemenis<br />
already feared could collapse<br />
at any moment.<br />
Residents were hoping<br />
that the ceasefire reached<br />
in Sweden Thursday would<br />
provide them a respite after<br />
months of clashes which<br />
have seen a push by Saudi<br />
Arabia and the United Arab<br />
Emirates to seize<br />
Hudaydah thwarted.<br />
But heavy clashes broke<br />
out on the outskirts of<br />
Hudaydah overnight following<br />
fresh attempts by<br />
Saudi and Emirati troops<br />
and their mercenaries to<br />
advance into the city amid<br />
aerial bombings.<br />
A military source loyal<br />
to Yemen's former Saudibacked<br />
regime told AFP<br />
that least 29 fighters,<br />
including 22 Houthis, had<br />
been killed on Saturday<br />
night.<br />
He also claimed that<br />
seven Houthi fighters had<br />
been taken captive during<br />
an attack by pro-Saudi militants<br />
in Hudaydah<br />
Province's Durayhimi district.<br />
A Hudaydah resident<br />
said the fresh fighting was<br />
"fierce" and that the sounds<br />
of fighter jets, operated by<br />
Saudi Arabia and its allies,<br />
could be heard throughout<br />
the night until Sunday<br />
morning.<br />
On a recent<br />
episode of Koffee With<br />
Karan, actor Kajolconfessed<br />
her love for dressing up and<br />
attending events even as her<br />
actor husband Ajay Devgn<br />
prefers to stay at home.<br />
Kajol found another reason<br />
to get decked up for a relative’s<br />
wedding in Mumbai,<br />
which she attended with her<br />
sister Tanishaa and mother<br />
Tanuja.<br />
Kajol looked lovely in a<br />
red saree while her sister<br />
wore a golden outfit. Their<br />
mother Tanuja was seen in a<br />
pristine white saree. “All<br />
dressed up and together for<br />
a change,” Kajol captioned a<br />
photo that showed her with<br />
the two. Tanisha also shared<br />
the same picture and captioned<br />
it, “Me and mine.”<br />
Kajol was last seen in<br />
Helicopter Eela with<br />
Riddhi Sen. She played an<br />
obsessive mother in the<br />
movie. Asked whether she<br />
is equally protective about<br />
her children like the protagonist<br />
in the film, she said,<br />
“I like to believe a little bit<br />
of both - protective and<br />
cool... I think the world has<br />
changed and you can’t help<br />
but be protective,” she told<br />
PTI?in an interview. Kajol<br />
and Ajay have a daughter<br />
Nysa and a son Yug.<br />
Monday, <strong>Dec</strong>ember <strong>17</strong>, <strong>2018</strong><br />
International<br />
5<br />
Kajol attends family wedding with<br />
mother Tanuja and sister Tanishaa<br />
Nicaragua police beat journalists<br />
in crackdown on free press<br />
MANAGUAN: Nicaraguan police beat at<br />
least seven journalists with batons, including<br />
one of the country’s best known editors, in an<br />
escalating crackdown on independent media<br />
in the aftermath of protests against President<br />
Daniel Ortega.<br />
Earlier this week police occupied the<br />
offices of prominent editor Carlos Fernando<br />
Chamorro, along with buildings used by several<br />
civil society organizations it had banned.<br />
Journalists on Saturday gathered outside<br />
the police headquarters in the capital<br />
ALEPPO: At least eight<br />
civilians have been killed<br />
and dozens more injured<br />
after an explosives-laden<br />
vehicle exploded at a marketplace<br />
in Syria’s northern<br />
province of Aleppo.<br />
The so-called Syrian<br />
Observatory for Human<br />
Rights reported that the<br />
Managua. Chamorro asked officers outside<br />
for information about what he called the illegal<br />
raid on his offices, in which officers confiscated<br />
equipment and papers.<br />
After his request, policemen in anti-riot<br />
gear emerged from the headquarters swinging<br />
batons at and kicking Chamorro, his colleagues<br />
and reporters who were at the scene<br />
to cover the event.<br />
At least seven journalists from international<br />
and national media, including Chamorro,<br />
who were grabbed and kicked by the police.<br />
Car bomb goes off at marketplace<br />
in Syria's Afrin, kills 8<br />
explosion struck al-Hal<br />
market in the city of Afrin,<br />
situated 43 kilometers<br />
north of the provincial capital<br />
city of Aleppo, on<br />
Sunday afternoon.<br />
The Britain-based monitor<br />
group added that security<br />
forces have sealed off<br />
the attack scene, members<br />
of the so-called White<br />
Helmets are rushing to the<br />
area to provide help to the<br />
victims<br />
The death toll is expected<br />
to rise as some of the<br />
injured are in a critical<br />
condition.<br />
EU foreign policy chief urges Turkey to refrain from military operation in Syria<br />
ANKARA: EU foreign<br />
policy chief Federica<br />
Mogherini on Saturday<br />
commented on Turkish<br />
President Recep Tayyip<br />
Erdogan's plans to conduct<br />
a military operation<br />
in the east of Syria, urging<br />
Ankara to refrain from<br />
any unilateral actions in<br />
the area.<br />
On Friday, Erdogan<br />
said that Ankara was<br />
ready to launch an operation<br />
in the Syrian Manbij<br />
against the Kurdish<br />
People's Protection Units<br />
(YPG) if the United States<br />
does not withdraw them<br />
from the area. Erdogan<br />
discussed the situation in<br />
Syria with Trump on the<br />
same day.<br />
She noted that the<br />
European Union was concerned<br />
over Erdogan's<br />
statements.<br />
The Turkish authorities<br />
view the YPG as an affiliate<br />
of the Kurdistan<br />
Workers’ Party (PKK),<br />
listed as a terrorist organization<br />
in Turkey, the<br />
United States and the<br />
European Union. Ankara<br />
has been claiming that the<br />
YPG presence near its<br />
border hampers its national<br />
security.<br />
Trump's revolving door: Zinke is latest senior White House departure<br />
WASHINGTON: Interior<br />
Secretary Ryan Zinke will be<br />
leaving by the end of the year,<br />
US President Donald Trump<br />
announced.<br />
That will make him the latest<br />
top official to exit the US leader's<br />
circle of close advisers.<br />
Dozens of White House aides<br />
-- from attorney general Jeff<br />
Sessions to press secretary Sean<br />
Spicer to chief of staff Reince<br />
Priebus -- have either left or been<br />
sacked from their posts since<br />
Trump took office on January 20,<br />
20<strong>17</strong>.<br />
Here is a sampling of senior<br />
departures:<br />
Zinke, a former Navy SEAL<br />
and ex-member of the House of<br />
Representatives, was one of the<br />
main executors of Trump's<br />
efforts to reduce environmental<br />
protections in the United States.<br />
Interior Secretary Ryan<br />
Zinke, a former Navy SEAL and<br />
ex-member of the House of<br />
Representatives, was one of the<br />
main executors of Trump's<br />
efforts to reduce environmental<br />
protections in the United States<br />
He managed to hold onto his<br />
post for some two years despite a<br />
series of scandals over expenditures,<br />
including reports that his<br />
department was spending nearly<br />
$139,000 to upgrade three sets of<br />
double doors in his office -- a<br />
cost he later said he negotiated<br />
down to $75,000.<br />
Zinke has also faced criticism<br />
over costly US Park Police helicopter<br />
flights last year that<br />
allowed him to return to<br />
Washington for a horseback ride<br />
with Vice President Mike Pence,<br />
and several other flights on noncommercial<br />
aircraft.<br />
Kelly, a retired four-star<br />
Marine Corps general, has been<br />
credited with helping restore a<br />
degree of order to the oftenchaotic<br />
Trump White House.<br />
But in the process he clashed<br />
with members of the Trump clan,<br />
and at times infuriated Democrats<br />
with his blunt comments.<br />
Chief of staff John Kelly, a<br />
retired four-star Marine Corps<br />
general, has been credited with<br />
helping restore a degree of order<br />
to Donald Trump's often-chaotic<br />
White House<br />
Trump, who once said he<br />
wanted his aide to stay with him<br />
until the presidential election<br />
year of 2020, had made it clear of<br />
late that the relationship had<br />
chilled.<br />
"At some point he's going to<br />
want to move on," the president<br />
said in mid-November.<br />
Indeed, Kelly, 68, made it<br />
known he did not always love the<br />
job -- one of the most vital in any<br />
White House, quipping, "God<br />
punished me, I guess."<br />
Sessions, a Republican senator<br />
from Alabama, was the first<br />
member of the Senate to back<br />
Trump's insurgent bid in 2015 for<br />
the Republican presidential nomination.<br />
After winning the presidency,<br />
Trump rewarded Sessions by<br />
naming him to head the<br />
Department of Justice.<br />
Attorney General Jeff<br />
Sessions, who was fired by<br />
President Donald Trump.