World

MIAMI: US President Donald Trump urged Venezuela's military on Monday (Feb 18) to accept opposition leader Juan Guaido's amnesty offer, or stand to "lose everything," as a crisis deepened over President Nicolas Maduro's refusal to let in desperately needed humanitarian aid.Bringing in humanitarian aid is crucial to the viability of Guaido, who has denounced Maduro's re-election last year as fraudulent and in January declared himself interim president, a move recognised by some 50 countries.He has given the Maduro government until Saturday to let the shipments into the country, which is in the grip of a humanitarian crisis due to shortages of food and medicine exacerbated by hyperinflation.Addressing supporters and Venezuelan expatriates in Miami on Sunday, Trump declared he had a message for officials helping keep Maduro in place."The eyes of the entire world are upon you today, every day and every day in the future," he said."You cannot hide from the choice that now confronts … [Read more...] about Trump tells Venezuela military to back Guaido or ‘lose everything’

By Chris Sommerfeldt New York Daily News Mon., Feb. 18, 2019 Roger Stone took aim at the federal judge overseeing his criminal case on Monday, blasting her as a partisan Barack Obama appointee and posting a photo of her face featuring what appeared to be a crosshairs symbol. The embattled confidant to U.S. President Donald Trump posted the picture of Washington, D.C., Judge Amy Berman Jackson on Instagram but quickly deleted it after the New York Daily News reached out and asked about the apparent rifle scope symbol in the left hand corner. Stone, who was indicted in special counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia investigation last month, claimed he “didn’t notice the symbol in the corner.” “I saw no such thing,” Stone told the Daily News. “It is simply a photo of the Judge off the Internet.” Article Continued Below Minutes later, Stone deleted the photo and replaced it with one cropping out the crosshairs. … [Read more...] about Roger Stone posts photo of judge in his case featuring crosshairs symbol despite gag order

By Reis Thebault The Washington Post Mon., Feb. 18, 2019 U.S. President Donald Trump on Monday hurled sharp criticism at Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, accusing him of engaging in “illegal and treasonous” activity. The president trained his ire on Rosenstein — a member of his own administration — and two bygone officials from the Trump Justice Department, former acting FBI Director Andrew McCabe and former Attorney General Jeff Sessions, in a pair of morning tweets. “Wow, so many lies by now disgraced acting FBI Director Andrew McCabe. He was fired for lying, and now his story gets even more deranged. He and Rod J. Rosenstein, who was hired by Jeff Sessions (another beauty), look like they were planning a very illegal act, and got caught,” Trump wrote. “This was the illegal and treasonous ‘insurance policy’ in full action!” Trump was apparently referring to comments McCabe has made recently, amid a … [Read more...] about Trump says Rosenstein was part of a ‘coup attempt’ which he labels ‘illegal and treasonous’

JERUSALEM: One of Israel’s most prominent dovish politicians, former foreign minister Tzipi Livni, said on Monday (Feb 18) she was leaving politics and warned "democracy is in danger".A former peace negotiator with the Palestinians, Livni won recognition abroad for her part in US-brokered talks that aimed to end the decades-old conflict and which collapsed in 2014. But her career has foundered in recent years, along with the Middle East peace process. The United States plans to present a new peace plan after Israel's Apr 9 election, although expectations of a breakthrough are low."I am leaving politics but I will not let Israel abandon the hope for peace," a tearful Livni told a televised news conference in Tel Aviv."These past years have been hard for me and for the things I believed in ... peace became a dirty word, and democracy is in danger," she said, citing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's criticism of legal authorities conducting corruption probes against him … [Read more...] about Livni warns over peace and democracy as she quits Israeli politics

BEIRUT: A double bomb attack killed 13 people, including 10 civilians, in Syria’s jihadist-held city of Idlib on Monday, a war monitor said. The first blast was caused by a bomb planted under a car in the main city of the Idlib region, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. After ambulances arrived at the site, a motorcycle bomb then detonated, the Britain-based monitoring group said. There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack, which the Observatory said also wounded at least 25. Idlib, the last major part of Syria still outside the control of the regime of President Bashar al-Assad, is held by an alliance led by Syria’s former Al-Qaeda affiliate. Hayat Tahrir al-Sham took administrative control of the whole of the region last month, after overpowering smaller Turkey-backed factions. The Islamic State group also has sleeper cells in the area. A local office of the “Salvation Government”, an administrative body created by HTS, is located … [Read more...] about Twin bombing kills 13 in Syria’s Idlib: Monitor