Saudi woman held for veil removal on Twitter
Riyadh: Police in the Saudi capital said on Monday they had arrested a woman for taking off her veil in public and posting pictures of her daring action on Twitter.
lagarde in court for start of French trial
Paris: IMF boss Christine lagarde was in a Paris court for the start of her trial for negligence over a state payout to a tycoon made while she was French Finance Minister. lagarde listened to the start of proceedings at the Court of Justice of the Republic, a special tribunal used to try Ministers, where her defence team is expected to ask for an adjournment.
US Def Secy in Israel as country gets F-35 jets
Tel Aviv: US Defence Secretary Ash Carter is visiting Israel as it’s about to receive the first two next-generation F-35 fighter jets. Carter was welcomed with a military honor guard at a Tel Aviv Army base on Monday.
Over 10K civilians flee east Aleppo in 24 hours
Beirut: More than 10,000 civilians have fled eastern parts of Aleppo in the past 24 hours for districts of the city under the control of Syria’s Government, a monitor said.
Kremlin blames lack of US cooperation
Moscow: The Kremlin deplored the lack of cooperation with the United States in Palmyra after ISIS re-entered the ancient Syrian city at the weekend.
Cairo blast was suicide attack: Sisi
Cairo: A 22-year-old suicide bomber was behind the deadly attack at a church adjacent to Egypt’s main Coptic Christian cathedral during a Sunday mass that killed 25 worshippers, President Abdel Fattah to-Sisi said. Sisi identified the bomber as Mahmoud Shafik Mohamed Mostafa who blew himself up using an explosive belt.
Bill English sworn in as New Zealand PM
Wellington: New Zealand’s socially conservative finance chief Bill English was sworn in as the country’s new prime minister today following last week’s shock resignation of his popular predecessor John Key. The centre-right National Party caucus unanimously backed English at a meeting today morning and he travelled to Government House in Wellington a few hours later to officially take over.
Austria calls for freeze of Turkey’s EU talks
Brussels: Austria wants the European Union to freeze membership talks with Turkey over Ankara’s massive crackdown following the failed coup. Austrian Foreign Minister Sebastian Kurz said the EU “must at least freeze the accession negotiations.”