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Turkey: 38 killed, 155 wounded in twin bombings in Istanbul: Interior minister

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Some 38 people were killed and another 155 were wounded on Dec. 10 when a double bombing hit central Istanbul near Beşiktaş’s Vodafone Arena Stadium.

Interior Minister Süleyman Soylu said seven civilians are among the dead, while 30 others are police officers and one of the victims has yet to be identified.

Thirteen suspects have been detained in connection to the attack, Soylu added.

Health Minister Recep Akdağ said 14 of the 155 wounded are in intensive care.

Meanwhile, the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) expressed condolences to the relatives of the victims, vowing that the fight against terrorism would continue “until the last terrorist is neutralized.”

In addition, the Turkish Football Federation (TFF) announced that planned matches would go ahead, Doğan News Agency reported.

“A day of morning has been declared for the police officers and civillians killed in the twin bombings after the match between Beşiktaş and Bursaspor. One minute’s silence will be observed and flags will be lowered to half-mast before all matches in professional and amateur leagues on Dec. 10 and Dec. 11,” it stated.

The first explosion came from a moving car that directly targeted riot police near the stadium, Deputy Prime Minister Numan Kurtulmuş said in a press conference early on Dec. 11.

The second attack came 45 seconds after the first one when a suicide bomber detonated explosives at Maçka Park just across from the stadium, Kurtulmuş said.

Beşiktas has announced that one of the civilians killed was a staff member at the Beşiktaş store while the other was a congress member and a police officer.

The huge blasts occurred at around 10:20 p.m., around 90 minutes after a match between Beşiktaş and Bursaspor ended at the nearby ground. It was heard on both sides of the Bosphorus.

Following the attack, Bursaspor stated on its official Twitter account that there were no injuries among its supporters.

Beşiktaş also condemned the attack in a statement issued on its website, as did the Turkish Football Federation (TFF), Fenerbahçe, Galatasaray and Trabzonspor.

A number of ambulances were immediately dispatched to the scene as eyewitnesses reported the sound of gunfire after the explosions, although the lack of hospitals in the Taksim area meant most of the wounded had to be taken to Şişli Etfal Hospital or other medical centers in the area.

Security forces later detonated a suspicious car near the scene in a controlled explosion early on Dec. 11, Doğan News Agency reported.

The prime minister was immediately briefed about the attack by Soylu and Istanbul Gov. Vasip Şahin.

Presidential sources also said Erdoğan was at Tarabya Palace by the Bosphorus in Istanbul and that he was also briefed by officials.

Meanwhile, Turkey’s media watchdog, the Radio and Television Supreme Council (RTÜK), announced a gag order on reporting the attack.

A total of six prosecutors were assigned to investigate the attack.

Source: http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/38-killed-155-wounded-in-twin-bombings-in-istanbul-interior-minister.aspx?pageID=238&nID=107142&NewsCatID=341

Armenia, Northern Ireland to host U19 EURO

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Armenia and Northern Ireland have been chosen to host the UEFA European Under-19 Championship final tournaments of 2019 and 2020, respectively, by the UEFA Executive Committee at its meeting in Nyon, Switzerland, UEFA said in a statement.

This will be the first UEFA final tournament to be staged in Armenia, who reached the Under-19 finals in 2005, departing at the end of the group stage with the respectable record of W1 D1 L1.

That tournament was held in Northern Ireland, which will be the venue again for the 2020 event. The home side will be looking to improve on that 2005 campaign, in which they lost all three of their finals games.

Georgia will host this season’s U19 final tournament in July, with the 2018 edition taking place in Finland.

Parliamentary friendship group for Armenia announced in Australia parliament

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The Parliamentary Friendship Group for Armenia was announced in the Federal Parliament of Australia by the group’s elected Chair, Trent Zimmerman MP.

The Member for North Sydney has been working closely with fellow MPs and the Armenian National Committee of Australia (ANC-AU) to re-form the group after the most recent Federal Elections.

Zimmerman told the House of Representatives: “Our relationship with modern Armenia – which celebrated 25 years of independence just this year – is an important one. I am pleased this has been recognised through the establishment of a Parliamentary Friendship Group for Armenia and I am honoured to have been appointed as its Chair.”

He added: “I want to thank the many members who have helped establish the group, including the Member for Hunter (Joel Fitzgibbon MP) and the Member for Bennelong (John Alexander MP) – both of whom have been such strong supporters of the Australian-Armenian community. I also want to particularly acknowledge the advocacy of the Armenian National Committee which has done so much to encourage the formation of the Group.”

ANC-AU Managing Director, Vache Kahramanian welcomed the formation of the Parliamentary Friendship Group for Armenia.

“The Armenian National Committee of Australia always looks for ways to improve ties between Australia and Armenia, and the formation of this group – which has a sister group in Armenia’s National Assembly.

Syria: Almost 18,000 civilians evacuated from areas of Aleppo controlled by militants

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Almost 18,000 civilians, including over 7,500 children, have been evacuated from areas of Aleppo controlled by militants over the last 24 hours, the Russian Center for reconciliation of the warring parties in Syria said on Saturday, according to TASS agency.

“Over the last 24 hours, another 17,971 civilians, including 7,542 children, were evacuated from areas of Aleppo controlled by militants with the help of the Russian Center for reconciliation of the warring parties,” the center said, as quoted by the source.

“Twenty-eight militants laid down their arms and went to the western part of the city. In accordance with the decision made by the Syrian president, they were amnestied,” the center noted.

“Russian servicemen from the International Anti-Mine Center continued humanitarian demining of neighborhoods in eastern Aleppo liberated from militants,” the reconciliation center said. “Over the last 24 hours, they demined the territory of 8 hectares in total. Moreover, they cleared 24 buildings from explosive devices, including one mechanized bakery, two schools, one mosque, one power substation, as well as 4.5 kilometers of roads,” the center added.

 

Source Panorama.am

Obama is doing his best to muddy the water between Russia and U.S. before he leaves.

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US President Barack Obama has ordered American intelligence agencies to investigate Russian cyber attacks as the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) concluded that Russia moved deliberately to help elect Donald Trump as president, not just to undermine the US political process more generally.

Obama requested that the intelligence agencies issue a report before he leaves office next month, White House Homeland Security and Counterterrorism Adviser Lisa Monaco told reporters Friday.

“The President has directed the Intelligence Community to conduct a full review of what happened during the 2016 election process. It is to capture lessons learned from that and to report to a range of stakeholders,” Monaco said.

Obama issued the order shortly before The Washington Post reported that US intelligence agencies have identified individuals with connections to the Russian government who were part of a wider Russian operation to boost Trump and reduce Hillary Clinton’s chances of winning the election.

Apparently, before publishing the report, the Post informed the White House about the content of its story, as this is standard practice with some American newspapers.

Citing unnamed US officials briefed on the matter, the Post said individuals connected to Moscow provided thousands of hacked emails from the Democratic National Committee and others, including the chairman of Clinton’s presidential campaign, to WikiLeaks.

The hacked emails provided to WikiLeaks were a regular source of embarrassment to the Clinton campaign during the presidential race.

“It is the assessment of the intelligence community that Russia’s goal here was to favor one candidate over the other, to help Trump get elected,” the Post quoted a senior US official as saying. “That’s the consensus view.”

It was now “quite clear” that electing Trump was Russia’s goal, the Post quoted officials as saying on condition of anonymity.

However, the CIA’s conclusion was not based on a formal assessment by all 17 US intelligence agencies, the Post said. There are still minor disagreements among intelligence officials about the assessment because some questions are unanswered.

Intelligence agencies did not have specific information showing Moscow directed the individuals to pass the hacked emails to WikiLeaks and those individuals were “one step” removed from the Russian government rather than government employees, another senior official told the Post.

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has said in a television interview that the Russian government was not the source of the emails, the Post said.

In October, the US government formally accused Russia of a campaign of cyber attacks against Democratic Party organizations ahead of the Nov. 8 presidential election.

Trump has repeatedly rejected reports that Russian hackers were working to help his campaign and says the reports were politically motivated.

Trump’s transition office issued a statement Friday questioning the credibility of the CIA in response to the report. “These are the same people that said Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction,” the statement said. “The election ended a long time ago in one of the biggest Electoral College victories in history. It’s now time to move on and ‘Make America Great Again.'”

Turkey wants arrest of 55 people suspected of financing Gulen

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Turkish authorities issued arrest warrants for 55 people, including businessmen, suspected of giving financial support to the network of the U.S.-based cleric Ankara accuses of orchestrating a failed military coup in July, broadcaster NTV said.

The businessmen suspected of being linked to the cleric’s network allegedly carried large sums of cash, which they have called a “favor”, back and forth between Turkey, Tanzania, Uganda, and Kazakhstan since 2014, NTV said.

Ankara accuses the cleric Fethullah Gulen of orchestrating the July 15 coup bid, in which rogue soldiers commandeered tanks, fighter jets and helicopters to attack the parliament and attempt to overthrow the government. Gulen, who has lived in self-imposed exile in Pennsylvania since 1999, has denied involvement and condemned the coup, Reuters reports.

Police from the Istanbul financial-crimes unit conducted operations in 57 separate addresses on Saturday to root out sympathizers of Gulen, NTV said. Authorities have detained some of the suspects in the operations, while others are still being sought, NTV said, adding that some were found to be using Bylock, a smartphone messaging app which Ankara says was used by Gulen’s adherents as a communication tool.

Turkey has so far jailed some 36,000 people pending trial and has suspended or dismissed more than 100,000 people from the military, judiciary, public service and others in the crackdown.

Turkey’s Western allies have voiced concern at the extent of the purges under President Tayyip Erdogan, who has repeatedly rejected such criticism, saying Ankara is determined to root out its enemies at home and abroad.

Turkey classified Gulen’s movement, which espouses philanthropy, interfaith dialogue and science-based education, as a terrorist network in July 2015. It says Gulen’s followers spent four decades infiltrating the bureaucracy and security forces in a bid to eventually take control of the state.

Related links:

Reuters. Turkey seeks to arrest 55 people suspected of financing Gulen – NTV

Five Armenian teams to challenge European Basketball Championships

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Five Armenian basketball teams will participate in men’s and women’s championships in five age groups, to be played across the European continent in July and August.

The draws will be held on Saturday, December 10 in the Czech capital city of Prague and will be followed by another draw for the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2019 European Pre-Qualifiers.

The Armenian men’s basketball team will for the first time participate in the World Cup qualifying round, to be held on August 2-17.

The Prague-hosted draws will determine the cities that will host the various events in 2017, the Armenian basketball federation said.

Armenia’s national team in July won the 2016 FIBA European Championship For Small Countries, thus winning the opportunity to participate in the qualifying campaign of the European Championship finals.

Oscar Isaac Armenian Genocide Film ‘The Promise’ Goes to Open Road

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Terry George historical romance will hit theaters on April 28

By Matt Pressberg,

Open Road Films has acquired the U.S. rights for “The Promise,” a Terry George love story set during the Armenian genocide, TheWrap has learned. The movie will come out on April 28, 2017.

“The Force Awakens” star Oscar Isaac headlines the film, playing Michael Boghosian, an ethnic Armenian medical student living and studying in Constantinople. Christian Bale plays Chris Myers, a photojournalist in love with Armenian artist Ana (Charlotte Le Bon). The two men form a romantic rivalry over Ana, but as the Ottoman Empire aligns with Germany and starts cracking down on minorities, they have to work together to survive.

“The Promise” also features Shohreh Aghdashloo, Angela Sarafyan, Jean Reno, James Cromwell, Daniel Gimenez Cacho and Marwan Kenzari. It was produced by Eric Esrailian, Mike Medavoy and William Horberg.

“We are proud to add this prestigious film to our 2017 slate,” Open Road President Tom Ortenberg said in a statement. “An epic love story set against a turning point in world history, ‘The Promise’ features top notch performances and first class filmmaking and we are looking forward to sharing the movie with audiences across the country.”

The deal was negotiated on behalf of Open Road Films by Ortenberg, Elliott Kleinberg, the studio’s chief operating officer and general counsel, and SVP of acquisitions Lejo Pet.

WME and David Boyle handled the negotiations on behalf of Survival Pictures.
Source: http://www.sfgate.com/entertainment/the-wrap/article/Oscar-Isaac-Armenian-Genocide-Film-The-10786306.php

Metro Vancouver snow causing closures and traffic incidents

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Reduced service on Expo and Millenium Lines; SFU and Capilano have cancelled remaining classes

The second snowstorm of the week in Metro Vancouver took longer than expected to hit on Friday but is now starting to impact services in the region.

Southbound lanes on the Alex Fraser Bridge are heavily delayed because of an accident and there is currently no estimate for when it will be fully cleared.

Meanwhile, the Expo and Millennium Line routes are running on reduced service because of the weather, but are not experiencing delays as of 5:45 p.m. PT.

Further north, Simon Fraser University and Capilano University have cancelled their classes and exams for the rest of the day, and Capilano has also preemptively closed its campus for Saturday.

“As this weekend’s weather remains unpredictable, students and employees should consult capilanou.ca before travelling to the campus on Sunday.”

TransLink has suspended bus routes to SFU, and there have been changes made to the 20, 151, 152, 169 and 210 routes, with multiple reports of Commercial Drive being very slippery between Broadway and Venables.

“The afternoon snow is impacting bus service across the region, causing many delays,” said TransLink in a statement.

7 to 15 cm in many areas

Snow failed to accumulate in the early hours of Friday across the region, promoting some online mockery — but picked up in earnest later in the morning.

Source: CBC.ca

Iraqi Special Forces win back 3 districts in eastern Mosul

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Iraqi government forces have established full control over three more neighborhoods in the eastern quarter of Mosul as they try to drive Takfiri Daesh terrorists out of the northern city in joint operations with allied fighters and Kurdish Pershmerga forces.

On Friday, Iraqi Special Operations Forces managed to liberate the neighborhoods of Adl, al-E’lam and al-Ta’mim in the eastern part of Mosul, located some 400 kilometers north of the capital Baghdad, and raised the national Iraqi flag over a number of buildings there, Arabic-language al-Forat news agency reported.

Scores of Daesh members were killed and injured during the fierce exchanges of gunfire between government forces and the extremists.

The development came on the same day that pro-government fighters from Popular Mobilization Units, also known by the Arabic name Hashd al-Sha’abi, defused a car bomb in the strategic Tal Abtah region west of Mosul.

Additionally, the Iraqi Defense Ministry announced that Iraq’s Air Force fighter jets had carried out a string of airstrikes against Daesh positions in the eastern and western flanks of Mosul, killing dozens of the Takfiris in the process.

Iraqi warplanes pounded a missile depot in Mosul’s eastern neighborhood of Rashidiya, before targeting a workshop for booby-trapping vehicles and manufacturing bombs near a train station in western Mosul.

Another Daesh position was bombarded in Mosul’s western al-Mansour district as well.

Separately, Iraqi jets, based on information from the Directorate General for Intelligence and Security, launched precision strikes against a Daesh arms depot in Qadisiyah district.