Dec 28 Putin apologizes for 'tragic incident' without acknowledging Azerbaijani plane was shot down By Associated Press Russian President Vladimir Putin on Saturday apologized to his Azerbaijani counterpart for what he called a “tragic incident” following the crash of an Azerbaijani airliner in Kazakhstan that killed 38 people, but stopped short of acknowledging that Moscow was responsible. Continue reading
Dec 27 Watch 6:18 News Wrap: South Korea's parliament impeaches acting president In our news wrap Friday, South Korea's parliament impeached acting president Han Duck-soo after he decided against appointing three judges to the court reviewing the impeachment of his predecessor, the White House sees signs Russian defense systems may be to… Continue watching
Dec 27 Watch 9:15 Syria's new rulers try to contain growing tensions involving Assad loyalists By Simona Foltyn Unrest is brewing in Syria’s coastal plains, home to the Assad family’s Alawite sect. Earlier this week, a group of regime loyalists staged an ambush on the now-governing rebel forces, killing 14. With the Shia Alawite sect making up only… Continue watching
Dec 27 Chinese hacking campaign hit a 9th U.S. telecom firm, White House says By Eric Tucker, Associated Press A ninth U.S. telecoms firm has been confirmed to have been hacked as part of a sprawling Chinese espionage campaign that gave officials in Beijing access to private texts and phone conversations of an unknown number of Americans, a top White House official said… Continue reading
Dec 27 Chinese court sentences man to death for driving into a crowd and killing 35 people By Ken Moritsugu, Associated Press The attack was one of several in China in late October and November and spurred Chinese leader Xi Jinping to order local governments to take steps to prevent future “extreme cases.”… Continue reading
Dec 27 Azerbaijani minister says downed plane was hit from the outside, possibly by weapon By Associated Press Officials in Moscow have said a drone attack was underway in the region that the Azerbaijan Airlines flight was destined for but have not addressed statements from aviation experts who blamed the crash on Russian air defenses responding to a… Continue reading
Dec 27 Israeli troops burn northern Gaza hospital after forcibly removing staff and patients, officials say By Wafaa Shurafa, Fatma Khaled, Lee Keath, Associated Press Staff say it has been hit multiple times in the past three months by Israeli troops waging an offensive against Hamas fighters in surrounding neighborhoods. Continue reading
Dec 26 Watch 9:57 Russian anti-aircraft system may have downed Azerbaijani plane, U.S. official says By Stephanie Sy, Zeba Warsi, William Brangham, Dan Sagalyn There are early indications a Russian air defense system may have hit the Azerbaijan Airlines plane that crashed in Kazakhstan, a U.S. official says. Some of the speculation focuses on damage to the plane's tail section that could have been… Continue watching
Dec 26 Watch 4:38 News Wrap: 5 Palestinians killed in Israeli airstrike on TV broadcast van In our news wrap Thursday, five Palestinians were killed in an Israeli airstrike on a TV broadcast van, Israel escalated attacks on Houthi rebels in Yemen, authorities in Finland detained a ship with suspected Russian ties to investigate whether it… Continue watching
Dec 26 Watch 8:31 How the Assad regime made billions producing and exporting party drugs By Leila Molana-Allen, Abdul Razzaq Al-Shami Now that the Assad regime in Syria has fallen, the full scale of that government’s production and distribution of illicit drugs is coming to light. Leila Molana-Allen reports from the drug factories in Syria. Continue watching