Turkey

Video PlayerClose WASHINGTON, Nov. 14 (Xinhua) -- The United States has threatened to punish Egypt for its decision to purchase fighter jets from Russia, flexing its muscles against a second regional power that is veering toward Moscow. According to reports by the Wall Street Journal Thursday, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Defense Secretary Mark Esper sent a letter Wednesday to Cairo, urging the country to scrap a deal to purchase Su-35 jets from Russia. "Major new arms deals with Russia would-at a minimum-complicate future U.S. defense transactions with and security assistance to Egypt," the letter said. Egypt reportedly signed a 2-billion-dollar agreement earlier this year with Moscow to buy more than 20 Su-35 jets. The menacing tone came after similar tactics failed to bring Turkey, another regional power and a member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, to drop its bid to acquire Russian S-400 missile systems. Threats to kick Turkey out of the F-35 program was met … [Read more...] about U.S. threatens to punish Egypt over arms deal with Russia

Email By court reporter Karen Percy Updated November 15, 2019 17:04:04 Photo: Samed Eriklioglu was arrested along with his brother and friend in November. (ABC News) Map: Melbourne 3000 Three men have been committed to stand trial on terrorism offences a year after they were arrested in a series of raids across Melbourne's northern suburbs. Key points:The men are accused of planning an attack with firearms in a well-populated area of MelbourneThe court was told the men wanted to travel to Syria after Islamic State declared a caliphate thereA defence lawyer pointed to police reports which indicated the men did not have the capability or means to travel overseas Ertunc Eriklioglu, 31, his brother Samed Eriklioglu, 27 and their friend Hanifi Halis, 22, have each been charged with preparing for an act of terrorism between November 12 and 19 last year.During a five-day committal hearing which began on Monday, the court heard the trio were planning "an attack on members of the … [Read more...] about Melbourne trio committed to stand trial over alleged terror plot

Email The Drum By Jeff Sparrow Updated July 01, 2015 17:18:55 Photo: 'A prison is exactly the kind of environment in which tobacco appeals.' (Dave Hunt, file photo: AAP) A prison system plagued by overcrowding, rapes and bashings has rather more urgent needs than a ban on cigarettes. In one sense, the dire state of our prison system makes a smoking crackdown seem quite bizarre. In another sense, it helps explain it. Jeff Sparrow writes."I smoke," writes Linda Tirado in her new book Hand to Mouth. "It's expensive. It's also the best option."Tirado's book recounts her experience in the ranks of the American working poor. She's not writing about joblessness so much as employment on the minimum wage, a pittance that requires her to work two or more menial jobs just to pay her rent.That's part of why she likes smoking."It's a stimulant," she says. "When I am too tired to walk one more step, I can smoke and go for another hour."But that's only part of her argument. She knows … [Read more...] about The ban on cigarettes in prison is stranger than you might think

In unusual but true stories this week, we have 'mobile phone safe lanes', a river-crossing competition that involves carrying sheep, a ship replica made from reed, and a river football match. All the odd and interesting anecdotes from around the world are here in our review. Pedestrian lanes for phone users Two 75-meter long pedestrian lanes for phone users have been installed in central Manchester, after new research by AO-Mobile that found 96 percent of people say someone has walked into them because they were busy looking at their phone. The lanes are thought to be the first of their kind in Europe. According to a survey of 1,500 people, 75 percent admitted to walking and using their phone at the same time, while 70 percent said they regularly walk and text at the same time. Mobile phone lanes have been introduced in the Chinese of city of Chongqing and smartphone distraction has even been blamed for a sharp rise in pedestrian deaths in the US in recent years. … [Read more...] about Unusual but true: A football match in a river

Video PlayerClose WASHINGTON, Nov. 14 (Xinhua) -- U.S. officials and industry groups on Thursday lauded China's lifting of restrictions on imports of American poultry products, which could lead to more than 1 billion U.S. dollars in annual sales of U.S. poultry to China. "This is great news for both America's farmers and China's consumers," U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer said in a statement after China's General Administration of Customs (GAC) and the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs (MARA) announced that the country has lifted restrictions on imports of U.S. poultry products. "Reopening China to U.S. poultry will create new export opportunities for our poultry farmers and support thousands of workers employed by the U.S. poultry industry," Lighthizer said. "We estimate they will now be able to export more than 1 billion dollars worth of poultry and poultry products each year to China," he added. "U.S. poultry producers and exporters welcome the reopening of … [Read more...] about U.S. officials, industry groups laud China’s lifting of restrictions on poultry imports