International Glance
Nearly half a million tourists annually walk past two fenced-in minefields to visit Qasr al-Yahud, meaning Castle of the Jews in Arabic - the site where Jesus was believed to have been baptised in the River Jordan.
A $4m project launched last year by the de-mining charity Halo Trust is hoping to make the site safer, after the group struck an agreement with Israeli authorities, the Palestinian Authority (PA) and local churches that own plots in Qasr al-Yahud. The deal allows Halo Trust to work on de-mining the site, located several kilometres from Jericho.
But Israel, whose army peppered the site with mines after the 1967 war, is not paying for these de-mining efforts, observers note.
Israel not paying to de-mine Christian holy site
Mexico denies report that Trump threatened to send in troops during call with Peña Nieto
The Mexican government on Wednesday denied reports that Donald Trump threatened the Mexican president with U.S. troops during his phone call with the foreign leader.
In a radio interview Wednesday, Peña Nieto spokesman Eduardo Sanchez insisted he knows with absolute certainty there was no threat.”
“The things that have been said are nonsense and a downright lie,” Sanchez added.
Iran warns Trump about trying to undo nuke deal
Iran's foreign minister says U.S. President-elect Donald Trump "will be surprised" if he tries to renegotiate the hard-won nuclear deal reached by the Obama administration and other world powers with the Islamic Republic.
Mohammad Javad Zarif told a panel at the World Economic Forum in Davos that he's taking a "wait and see" attitude about the Trump administration and "The jury is still... the jury is not even yet convened."
Suicide bombs kill at least 23 in Baghdad
At least 23 have been reported dead in a series of suicide bomb attacks in Baghdad. It's the second weekend in a row marred by a wave of deadly attacks.
The first attack took place in the Shia district of Alwat-Jamila, a neighborhood in Sadr City in eastern Baghdad. A suicide bomber drove an explosives-filled truck into a crowd of people shopping at the city's main vegetable market. The attack killed 13 -- according to several reports -- and wounded at least 25 others. A similar attack claimed 35 lives on Monday, January 2.
Massive road accident kills 25 people in Thailand
A minivan and a pick-up truck both packed with passengers have collided in eastern Thailand, killing 25 people.
Police said the minivan driver lost control after making a U-turn and ploughed into oncoming traffic in the eastern province of Chonburi on Monday. Both vehicles burst into flames.
"The victims were killed by fire or the impact," police Lieutenant-Colonel Wiroj Jamjamras at Ban Bueng provincial police station told AFP news agency, adding two toddlers were among the dead.
U.S. Punishes Russia for Election Hacking, Ejecting Operatives
The Obama administration struck back at Russia on Thursday for its efforts to influence the 2016 election, ejecting 35 Russian intelligence operatives from the United States and imposing sanctions on Russia’s two leading intelligence services, including four top officers of the military intelligence unit the White House believes ordered the attacks on the Democratic National Committee and other political organizations.
In a sweeping set of announcements, the United States was also expected to release evidence linking the cyberattacks to computer systems used by Russian intelligence. Taken together, the actions would amount to the strongest American response ever taken to a state-sponsored cyberattack aimed at the United States.
Syria government renews shelling on east Aleppo
Syrian government forces renewed shelling on the last holdouts of rebel-held eastern Aleppo, raising fears that a deal to evacuate civilians and fighters from the devastated city may not be honoured.
"There is artillery [being fired] now ... as I speak," Zouhir Al Shimale, a journalist in east Aleppo, told Al Jazeera in a WhatsApp message on Wednesday.
"There aren't any clashes," he said, explaining rebel groups were not fighting at the moment. "There are injuries, but we don't know how many. We can't go outside because the shelling is indiscriminate."
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