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17 Dec 2018

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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.

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