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The United States is concerned by reports of an impending Assad regime operation in southwest Syria within the boundaries of the de-escalation zone negotiated between the United States, Jordan and the Russian Federation and reaffirmed between President's Trump and Putin in DaNang, Vietnam in November. The United States remains committed to maintaining the stability of the southwest de-escalation zone and to the ceasefire underpinning it. We also caution the Syrian regime against any actions that risk broadening the conflict or jeopardize he ceasefire. As a gurantor of this de-escalation area with Russia and Jordan, the United States will take firm...

Authorities in Venezuela have seized a plant owned by the American cereal manufacturer Kellogg. It comes after the firm announced it was pulling out of the country because of the worsening economic situation. President Nicolas Maduro, who has previously accused the US of waging economic war against his government, called the closure "absolutely unconstitutional and illegal". He said the factory had been handed to workers and would continue production. Earlier, workers had said they had been prevented from entering the plant in the central city of Maracay on Tuesday. The announcement comes ahead of Sunday's presidential elections. "We've begun judicial...

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Former Mexican President Vicente Fox proposed on Wednesday the legalization of opium poppy production as a way to help end bloody turf battles fought by drug cartels in various parts of the country. Fox served as president from 2000-2006 with the center-right National Action Party but has since distanced himself from the party. In the past, he has also advocated for the legalization of marijuana. “The plants themselves are not harmful, we make them harmful, (especially) the criminals who use them for evil purposes,” Fox said at a pro-marijuana event in the capital. He also implored...

“We’ve got to do something about Syria!” goes the common Western refrain. Actually, no you don’t. “What? You’re saying we should just do nothing??” goes the common response. Yeah that’d be great. Definitely please get as far away from Syria as possible, thanks. Arguing that the Western war machine is a good way to bring about peace and justice in Syria is like arguing that the gasoline which was used to start a house fire can also be used to extinguish it. The cutesy fairy tale you will hear from empire loyalists is that what started out as peaceful protests...

Former Mexican President Vicente Fox offered his condolences to the victims of the Florida high school shooting before adding that the tragedy is "what you get" with "aggressive and violent language" from the Trump White House. .... "We need harmony. We need love. We need happy communities," Fox said... Full Title: "Former Mexican Pres. Fox: FL Shooting 'What You Get' With 'Racist' Trump's 'Violent Language'"

Two British men believed to be members of a notorious Islamic State group (IS) cell have been seized by Syrian Kurdish fighters, US officials say. Alexanda Kotey, 34, and El Shafee Elsheikh, 29, were the last two members of the cell to remain at large. The four, all from London, were nicknamed "the Beatles" because of their British accents. US officials said the "execution cell" had beheaded more than 27 Western hostages and tortured many more. Who were the IS 'Beatles'? The US state department says the four-man cell was responsible for beheading several Westerners. They are: Mohammed Emwazi -...

This is a longer one, and follows fast on the heels of the last one, but there is a lot happening now. Damascus is being destroyed by Assad, not by Israel as was Amir's guess previously. Amir believes they are using chemical weapons, which could very well make Damascus "uninhabitable," as it says in Isaiah. Russia is angry over U.S. involvement as we keep our word on protecting the Kurds. Russia wants the oil in the area that the Kurds control and is accusing us of going after the oil. Some positive words about Trump, who is loved in Israel.

The US has launched rare air strikes in eastern Syria to thwart and attack on allied Kurdish and Arab fighters aligned to Syria's government. Some 500 fighters had tried to take ground captured from the Islamic State (IS) group by the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF). SDF and government forces control areas on either side of the Euphrates River. Some US forces are embedded with the SDF but they suffered no casualties. One SDF fighter was injured, the US officials said. The pro-government forces had been backed by artillery, tanks and other heavy weaponry when the attacked an SDF headquarters...

Regime, terror group maintain tactical cooperation in areas where fighting is expressly forbiddenSyria’s Assad regime, backed up by Russian fighter jets and the Daesh terrorist group, have seized over 3,000 square kilometers of opposition-held territory in southern and southeastern Idlib within the last three months, according to measurements carried out by Anadolu Agency. Regime forces secured eastern Hama in October of last year, allowing Daesh terrorists to enter several parts of Idlib, which is held by opposition forces and armed anti-regime groups. Operating in coordination, both Daesh and Assad regime forces have advanced far into Idlib following three months of...

MANBIJ, Syria – On the ground in Syria, the top U.S. general in the coalition fighting the Islamic State group pledged on Wednesday that American troops would remain in the northern Syrian Kurdish town of Manbij despite Ankara's demands for a U.S. pullout. "We're here to ensure the lasting defeat of ISIS is maintained in this area," Lt. Gen. Paul E. Funk said during a visit to U.S. forces in Manbij. ISIS is an alternative acronym for the Islamic State group. Funk's visit comes amid rising tensions between Turkey and the United States — NATO allies that have ended up...

Israeli warplanes have fired missiles at a Syrian military position near the capital, Damascus, Syrian media report. A Syrian military statement said its air defence systems blocked most of the missiles, but gave no further details. A monitor said ammunition depots in Jamraya were hit. It is the location of a scientific facility where the West suspects chemical weapons are produced.

“The real tools Israel uses today, more important than the most recent strikes, are the terrorists in Syria,” Assad told the Al-Manar TV station, run by his Lebanese ally group Hezbollah. “What they are doing is far more dangerous than what Israel has done recently. “This is the core issue,” he continued. “If we want to fight Israel, we must first deal with its emissaries in Syria.” Israel said the Iranian Revolutionary Guards planned the Thursday attack, and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad carried it out. According to a senior Israeli security official, it was Saeed Izadi, the head of the...

Activists from various religious parties thronged the Faisal Chowk (Charing Cross Chowk) on Mall Road on Saturday afternoon on the call of Tehreek-e-Labbaik Ya Rasool Allah (TLYR) chief Khadim Hussain Rizvi on the social media following the government’s crackdown on the participants of the protest sit-in at Faizabad Interchange in Islamabad on the orders of the Islamabad High Court (IHC). Surprisingly, there was no police presence in the most sensitive location in Lahore which houses the Punjab Assembly, headquarters of the Lahore Police, and provincial headquarters of the country’s premier intelligence agency, the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI). ... One of the...

(QUETTA, Pakistan) — Two suicide bombers attacked a church in the Pakistani city of Quetta on Sunday, killing eight people and wounding 42 others, officials said. The Islamic State group later claimed responsibility for the attack. Sarfaraz Bugti, home minister for the southwestern Baluchistan province, said hundreds of worshippers were attending services at the church ahead of Christmas. He said the attackers clashed with security forces, with one assailant killed at the entrance while the other made it inside. [snip]

The Islamic State terrorist group claimed responsibility for the attack in a statement by its Amaq news agency. It was one of the group’s deadliest attacks against religious minorities in Pakistan this year, following a blast at a Sufi shrine in February that killed more than 70 people. Initial reports suggested that two assailants had approached the church before the attack. Officials said security personnel shot one to death while another reached the gate of the main hall. Authorities said they were searching for two other suspects believed to be accomplices. Rescue teams reached the church to evacuate the dead...

A proposed law giving the government formal powers to send the military into the streets to fight crime in Mexico faces unified opposition from human rights groups and the United Nations. The “internal security” law currently before Mexico’s Senate passed the lower house of Congress last month, pushed through by President Enrique Peña Nieto’s ruling Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) party. In a statement opposing the proposed law, U.N. human rights commissioner Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein said the Mexican government has been using the military to fight organized crime and drug cartels for the past decade, but without success. “Violence has...

Sweden was reportedly on the verge of civil war this past summer; its national police chief cried out “help us, help us,” but nothing has been done to control the problem with Muslim migrants. At least 80 percent of Swedish police want to quit their jobs, and now:

The push to raise Mexico’s low wages got some unusual champions Monday. The Mexican Employers’ Federation said the minimum wage should be raised 19 percent, to the equivalent of about $5 a day. And telecom magnate Carlos Slim, Mexico’s richest man, told a business conference that “what has to be done is to substantially increase people’s incomes.” He called for a larger, better-paid middle class to stimulate Mexico’s internal market. …

Just like any other day, Dr. Jessica Sevilla Pedraza went to work at the hospital that morning, came home for a quick lunch and then left again. The plan was to see more patients, hit the gym and be back in time for her usual dinner with dad before he went to his night-shift job. Instead, a hospital co-worker showed up at the family’s door in the evening. She said a man had come in with a bullet wound in his leg and told doctors he had been with Sevilla when gunmen intercepted them, shot him and took off with...

Latin America’s largest airline, Latam, has announced that it has suspended its flights to Venezuela. The news comes barely a day after Germany’s Lufthansa suspended its services to the country. The suspension of air services underlines the worsening economic conditions in the South American country. Low oil prices and the socialist government’s expensive social welfare programs have pushed Venezuela to the brink of an economic disaster, with people queuing for hours to purchase basic goods.In a statement, Latam airlines said flights on its Sao Paulo to Caracas route would be suspended within the next few days, while routes to Caracas...