Daily Heritage Newspaper - December 21. New Digital Newspaper

Inside DEC 20, 2018 .qxp_Layout 1 12/20/18 8:02 PM Page 3
•US troops have
largely been stationed
in the Kurdish region
in northern Syria
Syria's Kurds say Trump US troop pullout harms anti-IS fight
A KURDISH-LED alliance in
Syria says President Donald
Trump's surprise decision to
withdraw US troops will allow
the Islamic State (IS) group to
recover.
A statement from the Syria
Democratic Forces (SDF)
warned of a military vacuum
that would leave the alliance
trapped between "hostile parties".
Mr Trump made the announcement
on Wednesday,
saying IS had been defeated.
However, major allies and
some US politicians have disputed
the claim.
A US partnership with the
SDF - an alliance of Syrian
Kurdish and Arab fighters - is
credited with playing a major
role in the virtual elimination
of IS after it overran large
swathes of Syria four years
ago.
About 2,000 US troops
have largely been stationed in
the Kurdish region in northern
Syria. BBC
DAILY HERITAGE FRIDAY, DECEMBER 21, 2018
WWW.DAILYHERITAGE.COM.GH
Morocco murders: Three arrested
over 'bestial' tourist killings
World news in 4 stories
THE "BESTIAL"
murder of two
young women in
Morocco is being investigated
as a terrorism
attack,
Danish Prime Minister Lars Lokke
Rasmussen said.
Three men were arrested on
Thursday over the murder of
Louisa Vesterager Jespersen, 24,
from Denmark, and Maren Ueland,
28, from Norway.
The pair were found dead from
knife wounds near a popular
tourist spot on Monday.
At least one of the suspects has
been linked to an Islamist extremist
group.
One person had already been
arrested on Monday, hours after
the bodies of the two women were
discovered with injuries to their
necks.
Police also supplied photos of
the three other suspects, prompting
a 72-hour manhunt. Moroccan
news outlet 2M said they were
shepherds, and had been arrested
in the city of Marrakesh on Thursday
morning.
After the prime minister's statement,
Denmark's PET intelligence
agency said it was investigating a
video circulating online, which appeared
to show one of the two
women being murdered.
In the video, the words "this is
in revenge for our brothers in
Hajin" are heard, a reference to a
stronghold of so-called Islamic
State in eastern Syria that was
seized by US-backed forces earlier
this week.
Reuters news agency quoted a
police source as saying that the
video appeared to have been
filmed in a •Asia Bibi's case had
been
different
hugely
place
divisive
from
in
where the bodies religiously were found.
"We do conservative not know the Pakistan circumstances,
but there are many indications
that the cruel killing may be a
terrorist act," Mr Rasmussen said
on Thursday. BBC
•Maren Ueland, left, and •President Louisa Vesterager Joseph Kabila Jespersen was supposed to
•Michael Flynn has admitted one count of
were
lying
found
to the
dead
FBI
in have a popular stepped tourist down area nearly two years ago
•DR Congo has not had a peaceful transfer of power
since independence in 1960
DR Congo vote 'to be
postponed', candidate
says
OFFICIALS IN the Democratic
Republic of Congo
have postponed the presidential
election scheduled
for Sunday, an opposition
candidate has told Reuters
news agency.
Theodore Ngoy was
quoted as saying that the
chief electoral official had
told presidential candidates
that the destruction of
polling equipment in a Kinshasa
warehouse fire had
contributed to the decision.
The official also reportedly
blamed the postponement
on ethnic violence
and a current Ebola outbreak.
There has been no independent
confirmation of
the report.
The campaign to elect a
successor to President
Joseph Kabila on 23 December
has been marred by
deadly clashes.
The president's mandate
ended in 2016, but elections
have been repeatedly delayed.
Dozens of opposition
supporters have been killed
in protests demanding that
he step down. BBC
Andrea Leadsom and Amber Rudd suggest rival Brexit 'Plan Bs’
CABINET COLLEAGUES Andrea
Leadsom and Amber Rudd
have set out rival plans if Theresa
May can't get her Brexit deal
through Parliament.
The two ministers stressed that
their top priority was securing Parliamentary
backing for the prime
minister's deal.
But Ms Rudd said a referendum
was a "plausible" way forward
if MPs were deadlocked.
Mrs Leadsom said a new referendum
would be "unacceptable"
and argued instead for a "managed
no deal".
Asked if a second referendum
was plausible if Parliament remains
gridlocked, the prime minister's
official spokesman said: "No."
Mrs May had "been very clear
on the dangers of calling a second
referendum" and Amber Rudd had
been "clear" that the priority was
to get the prime minister's deal
through Parliament, he added.
Asked about Mrs Leadsom's
comments on a managed no-deal
Brexit, the spokesman said: "The
Andrea Leadsom and Amber Rudd
Leader of the House was clear
this is not government policy.
"This is not something that is
available. The EU has been very
clear that there is no withdrawal
agreement available that does
not include a backstop."
Explaining what she meant
by a "managed no deal", Mrs
Leadsom told BBC Radio 4's
Today programme: "A managed
no deal does not necessarily
mean there is no withdrawal
agreement at all.” BBC