Trump urges Congress to amend 'wasteful' coronavirus aid bill
US President Trump has urged Congress to amend a $900bn (£670bn) coronavirus relief bill to more than triple its stimulus payments to Americans.
In a video message posted on Twitter, he said the package "really is a disgrace", full of "wasteful" items.
"It's called the Covid relief bill, but it has almost nothing to do with Covid," he said.
The $900bn bill includes one-off $600 payments to most Americans, but Mr Trump said the figure should be $2,000.
Trump pardons Blackwater contractors jailed for massacre of Iraq civilians
Four guards fired on unarmed crowd in Baghdad in 2007, killing 14 and sparking outrage over use of private security in war zones
Donald Trump has pardoned four security guards from the private military firm Blackwater who were serving jail sentences for killing 14 civilians including two children in Baghdad in 2007, a massacre that sparked an international outcry over the use of mercenaries in war.
The four guards – Paul Slough, Evan Liberty, Dustin Heard and Nicholas Slatten – were part of an armoured convoy that opened fire indiscriminately with machine-guns, grenade launchers and a sniper on a crowd of unarmed people in a square in the Iraqi capital.
The Nisour Square massacre was one of the lowest episodes of the US-led invasion and occupation of Iraq.
UK regulator slaps £20,000 fine on Indian private TV channel for allowing hate speech
Ofcom expressed concern at the number of breaches by news channel within a short time of operations in the UK
The UK’s broadcasting watchdog, Ofcom, has imposed a fine of £20,000 on an Indian news channel, Republic Bharat, for allowing hate speech against Pakistani people.
The regulator held that a debate aired by the channel on 6 September 2019 contained comments made by its host Arnab Goswami and some of his guests amounted to “hate speech against Pakistani people, and derogatory and abusive treatment of Pakistani people.”
Though the Worldview Media Network Limited, which has the license for the broadcast of Republic Bharat in the UK, argued that such statements were “figures of speech not intended to be taken literally”, the regulator was not convinced.
Can Dundar: Turkey sentences journalist to 27 years in jail
The former editor-in-chief of Turkish opposition newspaper "Cumhuriyet" was charged with terrorism and espionage. He fled to Germany in 2016 amid Ankara's crackdown on journalists after a failed coup.
Turkish journalist Can Dundar has been sentenced to more than 27 years in prison for allegedly supporting terrorism and "military or political espionage."
A court in Istanbul sentenced Dundar to 18 years and nine months for obtaining state secrets for the purpose of political or military espionage, the verdict said on Wednesday. The court also sentenced him to an additional eight years and nine months for supporting an armed terrorist organization without being a member.
UN agrees to end Darfur peacekeeping mission
The United Nations Security Council has agreed to end the UN and African Union's long-running peacekeeping mission in Darfur when its mandate ceases on December 31.
The Council on Tuesday adopted resolution 2559 that closes UNAMID and hands over responsibility for maintaining peace and security in the ravaged region to Sudan's transitional government.
The termination of the mission -- deployed since 2007 and which had 16,000 peacekeepers at its peak -- was requested by Sudan's government and recommended by the AU and United Nations.
Vaccine hesitancy stirs in nearly COVID-free Singapore
First vaccines arrived this week with prime minister expected to be among first recipients to boost public confidence.
Singapore is preparing to roll out COVID-19 vaccinations, but the city state’s striking success in controlling the virus is making some question whether they should take the jabs.
In a country where compliance with the authorities is generally high, some Singaporeans fear the potential side effects – even if minimal – are not worth the risk when daily cases are almost zero and fatalities are among the world’s lowest.
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