Thursday, December 26, 2019

Six In The Morning Thursday 26 December 2019

Erdogan announces plan to send troops to Libya

Turkish PM to seek his parliament's support in January following Tripoli-based govt's request for military backing.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has announced military backing for Libya's internationally recognised Government of National Accord (GNA), now that the north African country requested it.
In a speech in Ankara on Thursday, Erdogan said on January 7 he will present a bill to the Turkish Parliament on deployment legislation.
"Since there is an invitation [from Libya] right now, we will accept it," Erdogan told members of his AK Party. "We will present the motion to send troops [to Libya] as soon as Parliament resumes."



Riley Howell, US student who died tackling gunman in shooting, honored as Jedi

The Star Wars fan has been immortalised in a visual dictionary as Ri-Lee Howell, Jedi master and historian



 




A college student hailed by police as a hero for preventing more injuries and deaths after a gunman opened fire in a classroom has been immortalized as a Jedi by the production company behind the Star Wars franchise.
News outlets report the family of Riley Howell, the University of North Carolina at Charlotte student who is described as a huge Star Wars fan, was tipped off by Lucasfilm in May that it planned to honor him in a forthcoming book, Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker - The Visual Dictionary.

The book was released by publisher DK to coincide with the release of the new film Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker.

Thousands gather for stunning ‘ring of fire’ eclipse

Rare event sees only bright outline of sun visible from Earth, with remainder covered by moon

Zoe Tidman

Thousands of people across the eastern hemisphere looked skyward on Thursday to watch a rare "ring of fire" solar eclipse.
The annular eclipse, during which the moon covers the sun but leaves its outer edges visible, was seen in parts of the Middle East and Asia on Boxing Day.
"This will be the first of only two annular eclipses visible from Singapore for the rest of the century,” said the Astronomical Society of Singapore’s president, Albert Ho.
“In that sense, it's a very rare event for us,” he said.

Russian police raid opposition leader Alexei Navalny's office

Alexei Navalny has been targeted again by a raid on his anti-corruption center. It comes after one of his allies was forcibly sent to a remote outpost in the arctic.
Russian politician Alexei Navalny was dragged away by police on Thursday during a raid on his Anti-Corruption Foundation (FBK) headquarters in Moscow, according to his spokeswoman.
"Alexei was forcibly detained and taken away. He did not resist. Lawyers are still at the FBK, and there's a search underway," Kira Yarmysh, Navalny's spokeswoman, wrote on Twitter.
Navalny was released shortly afterwards, Yarmysh said.

The best of times, the worst of times for India’s Modi

The year began with an electoral landslide for Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, but is ending in an unprecedented display of opposition against his divisive policies. But police crackdowns and an organised Hindu right-wing mobilisation could make 2020 a very violent year for the world’s largest democracy.
It was the year, it appeared, that would see Narendra Modi’s star rising to unassailable heights. Coasting on a landslide victory in the April-May elections, the Indian prime minister kick-started his second term with a turbocharged Hindu supremacist agenda that seemed unstoppable by an opposition party in shambles and a populace split between exultant nationalist supporters and cowered detractors silenced by the intimidation and assaults on free speech.
But if 2019 began with the stars aligning to make it another “year of Modi”, it's ending in cosmic disarray for the man at the centre of a personality cult that could not be questioned for more than half a decade without the fear of threats, legal harassment, arrest, trolling or, at worst, a violent “justice” by vigilantes.

Japan hangs Chinese man in rare execution of foreigner


Japan has hanged a Chinese man for the high-profile and brutal murder of a family of four, the first execution of a foreigner in 10 years.
The man, Wei Wei, carried out the murders in 2003 with two accomplices.
They fled to China, where one was executed in 2005 and the other sentenced to life in jail.
Japan has more than 100 prisoners on death row. Fifteen were executed last year, including 13 members of the Aum Shinrikyo doomsday cult.

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