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Showing posts with the label News
Friday, February fourteenth, the   UN says at least 22 people have been killed in a village in the Northwest region of Cameroon. Over half of those killed were children. No one has claimed responsibility for Friday’s incident but the opposition parties blame the killing on the government.

Islamic state responsible for Istanbul bombing

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A Turkish member of the Islamic State militant group was responsible for Saturday's suicide bombing in Istanbul that killed three Israelis and an Iranian and wounded dozens of others, Turkey's interior minister said. Efkan Ala identified the bomber as a man born in the southern province of Gaziantep, adding that five people had been detained so far in connection with the bombing. "We have determined that Mehmet Ozturk, born in 1992 in Gaziantep, has carried out the heinous attack on Saturday in Istanbul. It has been established that he is a member of Daesh," Ala told a news conference broadcast live on television, using an Arabic acronym for Islamic State.  Israel has confirmed that three of its citizens died in the blast. Two of them held dual citizenship with the United States. An Iranian was also killed, Turkish officials have said. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said Israel is trying to determine whether its citizens were deliberately

Suicide bomb kills five in Istanbul shopping district

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A suicide bomber killed himself and four others in a central Istanbul shopping and tourism district on Saturday, wounding at least 36 people in the fourth such attack in Turkey this year. The blast sent panicked shoppers scurrying into side alleys off Istiklal Street, a long pedestrian avenue lined with international stores and foreign consulates, a few hundred meters from an area where police buses are often stationed. The attack will raise further questions about NATO member Turkey's ability to protect itself One of the officials said the bomber had planned to hit a more crowded location but was deterred by the police presence. "The attacker detonated the bomb before reaching the target point because they were scared of the police," the official said, declining to be named as the investigation is ongoing. Another official said investigations were focusing on three possible suspects, all of them male and two of them from the southern city of Gazi

EU and Turkey sealed migrant deal

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Europe and Turkey sealed a controversial migration deal aimed at deterring refugees from coming illegally to the bloc, but several leaders warned​the logistical and legal challenges involved could limit its success.  The accord, which aimed to break the business model of human smugglers, was hailed on Friday by Donald Tusk, the European Commission’s lead negotiator, as a “breakthrough” in Europe’s efforts to stop illegal migration. Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu called it a “success story,” although the country didn’t get several concessions it had sought in exchange for its help.  Under Friday’s deal, Turkey agreed to take back all migrants, including Syrian refugees, who arrive on Greek islands from March 20. In return, European countries agreed to Turkey’s demand to double the bloc’s assistance for Syrian refugees in Turkey to €6 billion ($6.79 billion) by the end of 2018.  Big practical, political and legal obstacles must be resolved before the deal can be consi