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James left North Korea this year with smuggled currency, stamps and a poster of “the great leader,” Kim Il Sung, that he bought on the black market. Months later, James’s fellow American, Otto Warmbier, died after suffering from a mysterious brain injury while in detention in North Korea, accused of stealing a propaganda poster from a hotel. The US State Department has long recommended against travel to North Korea, but Warmbier’s death prompted Secretary of State Rex Tillerson to authorize his department to block Americans from traveling to the country.

Fri, 21 Jul 2017 21:26:49 -0400

One of America's most senior generals said on Friday he instructed the Kurdish YPG militia to change its "brand" a day or so before it unveiled an alliance with Syrian Arabs in 2015 under the name Syrian Democratic Forces. The recounting by U.S. Army General Raymond Thomas, the head of Special Operations Command, offered a glimpse into the mechanics that preceded a major rampup in U.S. support to the Kurdish fighters despite fierce opposition from NATO ally Turkey. Turkey views the YPG as an extension of PKK militants waging an insurgency on Turkish soil, and has sharply criticized U.S. support to the group, which has increased over time.

Fri, 21 Jul 2017 18:29:55 -0400

In a rare show of defiance, Republicans in Congress are coming close to preventing Donald Trump from being able to roll back sanctions against Russia. The White House has sought to change a bill that would toughen sanctions on Moscow for meddling in the 2016 US election. Despite telling reporters that the White House supports new sanctions on Russia, Marc Short, its legislative director, declared that the bill would set “an unusual precedent of delegating foreign policy to 535 members of Congress.

Fri, 21 Jul 2017 17:17:00 -0400

The United States will withhold $50 million remaining in military reimbursements to Pakistan for fiscal year 2016 because Defense Secretary Jim Mattis believes that Islamabad has not done enough to blunt the Islamist militant Haqqani network, a U.S. official said on Friday.

Fri, 21 Jul 2017 16:57:16 -0400

Palestinian gunmen ambushed and killed two Israeli police officers at the al-Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem on Friday, bringing bloodshed and chaos to a religious site that is sacred to both Jews and Muslims.  According to Israeli police, the three attackers smuggled weapons into the mosque complex - which is known to Jews as the Temple Mount - and then burst out and opened fire on the officers early on Friday morning.  All three of the attackers were killed in the shoot out. One of them was gunned down on a plaza in front of the Dome of the Rock, one of Jerusalem’s best known sites.   Palestinians clash with Israeli security forces outside Jerusalem's Old city on Friday Credit: Ronen Zvulun/Reuters The shooting led to the cancellation of Friday prayers at the mosque for the first time in decades. Israeli authorities said the mosque, which is the third holiest site in Islam, would remain shut until at least Sunday.   The attackers were all Israeli citizens of Palestinian descent and came from an Arab village in northern Israel, according to the Shin Bet, Israel’s equivalent of MI5. Two of them were 19 and the third was 29 and all they appear to all be relatives.  One of Jerusalem attackers posted a selfie at al-Aqsa right before the shooting. He wrote: "Tomorrow's smile will be more beautiful" pic.twitter.com/Bfs2iLh0li— Raf Sanchez (@rafsanchez) July 14, 2017 No group immediately claimed responsibility for the attack but at least one of the gunmen appears to have been motivated by the belief that Israel was trying take control of the mosque.  Mohamammed Hamed Jabreen posted a selfie of himself in front of the Dome of the Rock shortly before the attack, with the message: “Tomorrow's smile will be more beautiful, God willing.” Under an agreement struck after the 1967 war, Jews are only allowed to go the site at certain times and cannot pray there, while Muslims can access it at almost all times. Jewish visits to the site are a constant source of tension.  Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas speaking on Friday Credit:  ABBAS MOMANI/AFP Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, and Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian president, spoke after the attack and both appealed for calm following the violence at the sensitive site.  Mr Abbas condemned the attack but also called on Israel to re-open the mosque and allow Friday prayers to go ahead. Israeli authorities refused, saying they needed to search the complex for weapons.  Mr Netanyahu said he remained committed to the status quo agreement at the mosque complex. Israel has always denied it has any plans change the agreement, which has more or less held for fifty years.    Palestinian Muslim worshippers pray outside Damascus Gate, a main entrance to Jerusalem's Old City on Friday Credit: GALI TIBBON/AFP Reuven Rivlin, the Israeli president, said: "We cannot allow for agents of murder, who desecrate the name of God, to drag us into a bloody war, and we will deal with a heavy hand against all the arms of terror, and its perpetrators." The most senior Islamic cleric at the mosque, Mohammed Hussein, was taken into custody by Israeli troops but released later in the day.  Police sealed most of the gates of Jerusalem’s Old City after the attack and many Muslim worshippers prayed in the streets in 91F (33C) heat.  Video block text Mahmoud Abu Khdeir, a 74-year-old Palestinian man from Jerusalem, prayed in the street when he was not allowed to go to the mosque.  Asked what he thought of the attack, he replied: "We say it is good and it is bad. It's good because for the young men who did it, they are heroic and fought the occupation. It's not good because al-Aqsa is a house of God and it's Friday, the holy day, and people came from all over to pray."   Israeli security forces arrest a Palestinian man following clashes outside Jerusalem's Old city on Friday Credit: Ammar Awad/Reuters The two police officers killed were both from Israel’s Druze minority.  They were named as Kamil Shnaan, 22, the son of a former Israeli member of parliament and Haiel Sitawe, who became a father three weeks ago. They were both buried on Friday night, just hours after their deaths. A wave of unrest that broke out in October 2015 has claimed the lives of at least 277 Palestinians, 42 Israelis, two Americans, two Jordanians, an Eritrean, a Sudanese and a Briton, according to an AFP toll. Israeli authorities say most of the Palestinians killed were carrying out knife, gun or car-ramming attacks. Others were shot dead in protests and clashes, while some were killed in Israeli air strikes on the Gaza Strip. The violence has greatly subsided in recent months.

Fri, 21 Jul 2017 16:55:40 -0400