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Israel Buys Gas Masks from WWII Nazi Supplier
Wikimedia Commons The State of Israel has been buying gas masks for decades from suppliers who also sold them to the Nazi regime, Israeli newspaper Yediot Ahronot reported Wednesday. The country obtains its gas masks from two companies: the German firm Drager and the American MSA, which used to be German and whose previous name was Auer. Based on recent findings, both companies manufactu...
Mediterranean Refugee Crisis: 4,000 Deaths This Year
Wikimedia Commons A total of 4,027 refugees and migrants have died in the Mediterranean in the first seven months of this year, a 35 percent increase compared with the same period of 2015, the International Organization for Migration, or IOM, reported on Tuesday. Drowning was the main cause of death though fatalities sometimes resulted from violence among people on the crowded boa...
Three Children Killed by U.S. Drone Strike in Yemen
Wikimedia Commons At least three children died and their parents were wounded in an air strike on Tuesday by a U.S. drone that missed its target in Al-Wadiah, in southern Yemen, witnesses told EFE. The bombing destroyed the house of the family, located in the village of Al-Shemil in the district of Al-Wadiah, birthplace of Yemeni President Abdo Rabu Mansur Hadi. The adults were taken to ...
Airstrike in Syria Injures Babies at Maternity Hospital
Airstrikes on a hospital in northern Syria has wounded babies staying in incubators, according to the UK-based Save the Children NGO, which said there is "no excuse for this vile attack", in a tweet. The bombing, which took place on Friday night, targeted the entrance of a maternity hospital in the Syrian province of Idleb, said the non-profit in a recently released statement. The bombing wo...
Terrorism Feared After Explosion and Machete Attack in Germany
Photo: JayPLee Flickr CommonsGerman police is investigating the possibility that the Sunday night explosion in the city of Ansbach in Bavaria, southern Germany, which killed the perpetrator of the attack and injured at least ten people, is an Islamic attack. Bavarian Interior Minister, Joachim Herrmann, said at a press conference that the fact the attacker attempted to kill several people near...
Suspect Walking Around With Explosives Arrested in Jerusalem
Wikimedia CommonsIsraeli police on Sunday arrested a Palestinian man carrying explosives in his backpack as he was about to board a tram in the center of Jerusalem, a police spokesman said. The 20-year-old Palestinian, who lives in the West Bank, was arrested after raising the suspicion of a security guard near the light rail stop on Jaffa Road. The guard, who asked to check the contents of...
Russian Army Helicopter Shot Down by ISIS in Syria
Source: IS Aqam The Islamic State (IS) terrorist group shot down on Saturday a Russian military helicopter in the central Syrian province of Homs, killing all of its crew, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) reported on Sunday. The aircraft fell in the wilderness of the ancient city of Palmyra, SOHR added. The London-based NGO gave no further details on the downing of the heli...
U.S. Will Keep Significant Troop Presence in Afghanistan
Wikimedia Commons President Barack Obama on Wednesday announced that the scheduled reduction of U.S. troops in Afghanistan will be decelerated and, when he leaves office next January, 8,400 U.S. soldiers will still remain in that country, significantly more than the 5,500 he initially had promised. In a White House speech, Obama noted that "The security situation in Afghanistan remains prec...
July 4 Suicide Bombings Included U.S. Consulate in Saudi Arabia
Wikimedia Commons Four police officers were killed and five others wounded Monday in a suicide bombing near the Prophet's Mosque in Medina, the Saudi interior ministry said. The attacker detonated explosives taped to his body when police intercepted him as he was walking toward the mosque that holds the remains of the prophet Muhammad. The blast occurred shortly ahead...
Hezbollah Destroys ISIS Positions Within Lebanon
Nighttime drone footage of the strike. Al-Manar TV Lebanese Shiite group Hezbollah has destroyed two positions of the Islamic State (IS) militants in northeastern Lebanon, according to Hezbollah's Al-Manar TV network. According to Al-Manar, the positions were located in the regions of Baalbek and Ras al-Zaytun, and the attack has also killed or wounded jihadists inside the locations. The...
Heavy Fighting as Iraqi Soldiers Reclaim Fallujah from ISIS
Wikimedia Commons The Iraqi forces retook control over Al-Mualimin neighborhood of Fallujah from the Islamic State, or IS, group and advanced to al-Golan, the last IS stronghold in Fallujah, Iraqi joint command said in a statement on Saturday. According to the statement, the troops managed on Saturday to completely liberate Al-Mualimin neighborhood in the city of Fallujah, 50 kilometers (31...
In Egypt, Lonely Pyramids Lament the End of Tourism
Wikimedia Commons By Marina Villen Luxor, Egypt, May 30 (EFE).- Temples that are almost empty and docked cruise ships unlikely to sail the Nile anytime soon are elements of the image presented by the Egyptian cities of Luxor and Aswan, whose Pharaonic ruins wait impassively for tourists to return. The dispirited inhabitants of these historic sites dedicate themselves - or rather dedicate...
Terrorism Still Being Considered in Loss of EgyptAir Flight
An EgyptAir Airbus. Wikimedia Commons Cairo, May 19 (EFE).- An EgyptAir passenger jet that left Paris bound for Cairo with 66 people on board crashed into the Mediterranean Sea early Thursday for unknown reasons, although authorities are not ruling out a terrorist attack and say that hypothesis is more likely than technical failure. The Airbus A320 disappeared from radar screens at 2:45 a.m...
U.S. Soldier Files Lawsuit Against President Obama for Fighting ISIS
EFE file photo Washington, May 5 (EFE).- A U.S. Army officer has sued President Barack Obama for waging war against the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria without congressional authorization, U.S. media said Thursday. Capt. Nathan Michael Smith, an intelligence officer stationed in Kuwait, filed the lawsuit on Wednesday in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. Smith argues that ...
Release of classified info on foreign support of 9/11 attacks seems imminent
(FILE) WASHINGTON (VOA) Nearly 15 years after terrorists hijacked four passenger jets and crashed them into the World Trade Center in New York, the Pentagon outside Washington, D.C., and a farm field in Pennsylvania, 28 pages detailing foreign support for the attackers could soon be made public. Only a select group of U.S. officials have read the highly classified document, which has been l...
Heavy Fighting as Iraqi Army Gets Closer to ISIS Stronghold
Wikimedia Commons Baghdad/Mosul, Apr 9 (EFE).- At least 58 jihadists of the Islamic State, or IS, including an armed commander, were killed Saturday in attacks and skirmishes in central and northern Iraq, security officials told EFE. The Center of Operations for the liberation of Nineveh province reported in a communique the death of the Islamic State's head of security in the northern town...
U.S. Special Forces in Syria Kill High-Ranking ISIS Leader
US Special Forces. Pentagon file photo Washington, Mar 25 (EFE).- The United States believes it has killed the Islamic State's second-in-command, Abd al-Rahman Mustafa al-Qaduli, U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter said at a press conference Friday morning, confirming earlier media reports. "We are systematically eliminating ISIL's Cabinet. Indeed, the U.S. military killed several key terrori...
Syria Allows United Nations Humanitarian Missions
Wikimedia Commons United Nations, Feb 16 (EFE).- The Syrian government has approved the access of humanitarian aid to seven besieged parts of the country, the United Nations announced Tuesday as it prepared the convoys that will bring assistance to the more distressed areas. Their specific destinations are Deir al-Zor in the east; Foua and Kafraya in Idlib; and Madaya, Zabadani, Kafr Batna ...
Intelligence Reports Suggest ISIS Will Attack U.S. in 2016
FBI arrests ISIS suspects in New York. 2015 EFE file photo. Washington, Feb 9 (EFE).- U.S. intelligence services on Tuesday said that the Islamic State "probably" will try to stage direct attacks on U.S. territory in 2016, and it warned that the terrorist group has infiltrated the masses of refugees fleeing the armed conflicts in Iraq and Syria. The IS probably intends to carry out more att...
Dozens Killed in Terrorist Attacks in Syria
ISIS fighters in Iraq. Source: Wikimedia Commons Cairo, Jan 31 (EFE).- At least 58 people died Sunday in at least two bomb blasts in the mainly Shiite Damascus neighborhood of Sayida Zeinab, the Syrian Human Rights Observatory reported. According to the NGO, the victims included 25 Syrian and foreign Shiite militia members loyal to the regime of President Bashar al Assad. The Observatory...
After an Impasse, Syrian Peace Talks Continue in Geneva
Free Syrian Army forces fighting in urban terrain. Source: Flickr CC. Cairo, Jan 29 (EFE).- The Higher Negotiating Committee of the Syrian opposition decided Friday to take part in the peace talks that began in Geneva between the United Nations and the Syrian regime, after obtaining guarantees that its demands would be met. According to a communique, the HNC won international guarantees tha...
U.S. Citizens Freed from Prison in Iran as Sanctions are Lifted
File photo Washington, Jan 16 (EFE).- U.S. President Barack Obama signed Saturday an executive order to lift economic sanctions on Iran, the White House said. Obama signed the order after the International Atomic Energy Agency, or IAEA, confirmed that Iran has met all the commitments it made last July in Vienna to reach a historic nuclear accord and have international sanctions on that coun...
ISIS Video Appears to Show Executions of 5 “British Spies”
ISIS fighters in Iraq. Source: Wikimedia Commons London, Jan 3 (EFE).- The Islamic State jihadist group on Sunday released a videotape online in which it allegedly executes five men it described as British "spies," going on to threaten one day to invade the British Isles, the BBC reported. In the video, which British media showed portions of, a masked man - pistol in hand and speaking with ...
Taliban Attacks Spain’s Embassy in Afghanistan: 10 Killed
Taliban operating in Afghanistan. Wikimedia Commons Kabul, Dec 12 (EFE).- Ten people, including two Spanish police officers, died in a Taliban attack on a Spanish Embassy compound in the Afghan capital and an ensuing gun battle, a nearly 12-hour incident that ended early Saturday and represented a new show of force by the insurgents. Both the Spanish and Afghan governments confirmed Saturda...
Interview with President Assad of Syria: “I’m Staying”
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. Source: Wikimedia Commons By Jose Antonio Vera and Jose Manuel Sanz Damascus, Dec 11 (EFE).- Full transcript of Agencia EFE's exclusive interview Thursday in Damascus with Syrian President Bashar Assad: Question 1: Thank you very much, Mr. President, for your hospitality and for giving the Spanish News Agency EFE the opportunity to understand wha...
Turkish Soldiers Enter Iraq
Wikimedia Commons Baghdad, Dec 5 (EFE).- Iraqi Prime Minister Haidar al-Abadi demanded Saturday that Turkey withdraw its troops from Iraqi territory, the day after a first contingent of Turkish soldiers advanced toward the city of Mosul in the northern part of the country. Al-Abadi described as "a serious violation of Iraqi sovereignty" the entry of Turkish forces into Nineveh province, who...
Afghan Refugees Pay Up to $10K to Get to Europe
Hashoo Foundation. Flickr Commons By Baber Khan Kabul, Dec 4 (EFE).- At least 146,000 Afghan migrants have sought to reach Europe in the wake of the withdrawal of NATO troops in January and an accompanying rise in violence, many of whom have had to shell out up to $10,000 to people traffickers to fulfill their dream. Sabawoon Baqizowy, 16, is preparing to leave his home in the eastern pr...
US Congressman Worried About Syrians Passing Through Costa Rica
Source: MSP WASHINGTON, D.C. – House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte (R-Va.) and Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) today pressed Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Jeh Johnson for information about the threat of ISIS members entering the United States through the porous southwest border. Recent news reports have highlighted concerns about Sy...
Canada Will Not Give Refuge to Single Syrian Men
Wikimedia Commons Toronto, Nov 23 (EFE).- The Canadian government's plan to accept 25,000 Syrian refugees in the coming weeks is to be open only to women, children and families, The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation reported Monday. Single males are excluded based on security concerns, according to the CBC network. Details of the plan will be revealed Sunday by Prime Minister Justin Trud...
Syrian Terrorism Suspect Bribed Colombian Immigration Officers
El Dorado airport in Bogota. Wikimedia Commons Bogota, Nov 19 (EFE).- One of the people being investigated for having participated in last week's terrorist attacks in Paris left Bogota in July and traveled to the French capital after bribing officials to let him leave the country, a source in the immigration agency told EFE. The suspect, identified as Syrian national Al Sakhadi Seham, made ...
Major French Airstrikes on ISIS Targets in Syria
French Mirage fighter jet. Wikimedia Commons Paris, Nov 15 (EFE).- France on Sunday launched massive airstrikes on an Islamic State terrorist camp near the Syrian town of Raqqa, a zone controlled by the jihadist group, officials with the French Defense Ministry told EFE. According to the officials, the French air strikes, which came two days after terrorists killed at least 132 people in Pa...
Daring Hostage Rescue in Northern Iraq; One US Soldier Killed
US Special Forces. Pentagon file photo Washington, Oct 22 (EFE).- A special forces operation in Iraq to free Kurdish troops led to the rescue of 70 hostages and the death of the first American service member in direct combat with the Islamic State, the U.S. Defense Department said Thursday. The mission was carried out Thursday at the request of the Kurdistan Regional Government in Iraq to f...
Catholic Church in Brazil Welcomes Muslim Refugees from Syria
Rio de Janeiro By Manuel Perez Bella Rio de Janeiro, Sep 17 (EFE).- A Catholic church in Rio de Janeiro has become a welcoming shelter along the flight routes of Syrian refugees who leave their country because of the ongoing civil war there and move to Brazil. Stories of bombardments, of families separated by war and fleeing on foot across international borders are exchanged among the ni...
FBI Arrests 3 New York Men Planning to Join ISIS in Syria
EFE New York, Feb 25 (EFE).- The FBI on Wednesday arrested three New York residents who allegedly were planning to join the jihadist Islamic State and commit terrorist acts in the United States, officials with the agency and the Justice Department said. Abdurasul Hasanovich Juraboev and Abror Habibov, both citizens of Uzbekistan, and Akhror Saidakhmetov, a citizen of Kazakhstan, are facing ...
This article is a press release from the US Embassy in Costa Rica, if you would like The Costa Rica Star to publish your announcements, please contact us. The Embassy of the United States in Costa Rica welcomes last night’s strong statement of support from the Government of Costa Rica regarding the Framework Agreement for the Elimination of Syria’s Chemical Weapons. Costa Rica, recognized ...
The Costa Rica Star recently reported on how Costa Rica views the conflict in Syria. Not surprisingly, former Costa Rican President Oscar Arias has a somewhat different view of U.S. President Barack Obama's acceptance of a Russian proposal to act as negotiator in the poison gas elimination in Syria. Arias gave the Spanish press an earful Friday. Arias claims it was not just Russia and China ...
Free Syrian Army forces fighting in urban terrain. Source: Flickr CC. Recent communications by Costa Rica's Ministry of Foreign Affairs reiterate the country's allegiance to, and respect of, International Law and Human Rights with regard to the conflict in Syria. The diplomatic mission of Costa Rica to the United Nations expressed the Central American nation's repudiation of the use of che...
U.S. President Barack Obama and former Costa Rican President Oscar Arias have much in common. Both are winners of the Nobel Peace Prize and, as such have been critical of war as foreign policy and as a solution for problems. So why is Arias taking Obama to task without mincing words? Arias reacted on Facebook Thursday to President Obama’s speech promising armed retaliation against the Syrian re...
GENEVA | Wed Dec 19, 2012 9:38am EST GENEVA (Reuters) - The United Nations appealed on Wednesday for $1.5 billion to provide life-saving aid to Syrians suffering from a "dramatically deteriorating" humanitarian situation. The twin appeals, $519.6 million for aid within Syria and $1 billion to meet the needs of up to 1 million Syrian refugees in five coun...
By Oliver Holmes BEIRUT | Wed Dec 19, 2012 8:32am EST BEIRUT (Reuters) - The amber light of the street lamp illuminates the boy, wrapped in a thin blanket, his legs exposed to the December cold as he sleeps by a kerbside in a wealthy district of Damascus. The child - barely in his teens, if that - was said by the opposition activist who posted hi...
