Israeli military deploy in West Bank
Israeli military said it was deploying reinforcements to the occupied West Bank after US President Donald Trump’s recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital. The military said that upon the conclusion of the general staff’s situation assessment, it was decided that a number of battalions will reinforce in the area of the West Bank, as well as combat intelligence and territorial defence.
At least 31 Palestinians were wounded in clashes in the Gaza Strip and across the occupied West Bank. Islamist group Hamas has already called for a new intifada, or uprising. In a related development, Jibril Rajoub, a senior member of Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas’s Fatah has said that US Vice President Mike Pence is not welcome in Palestine during his upcoming regional visit. However, Abbas himself has not made any comments over the visit. On the other hand, the White House has warned that cancelling a planned meeting between Abbas and Pence would be counterproductive.
Meanwhile, Russian President Vladimir Putin said he is deeply concerned by Donald Trump’s decision, the Kremlin said in a statement. In a telephone conversation with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Putin called for the Palestinians and Israel to “hold back” and renew negotiations.
On the other hand, facing global condemnation on the issue of recognition of Jerusalem as the Israeli capital, the White House has defended the decision of President Donald Trump.White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders told reporters that US is committed to the peace process as ever, and want to continue to push forward in those conversations and those discussions.
When asked whether any other country is planning to follow the US in this regard, Sanders said, she is not aware of any country’s commitment to follow suit on this.
United States today issued a worldwide caution to its citizens travelling overseas. The State Department’s travel advisory includes South Asia in particular Afghanistan and Pakistan in addition to the Muslim-majority countries.
Britain & EU thrash Brexit
Britain and the European Union reached a historic deal today on the terms of the Brexit divorce. European Commission, President Jean-Claude Juncker said sufficient progress had been made by Britain on separation issues including the Irish border, Britain’s divorce bill, and citizens rights.
Jean-Claude Juncker,Theresa May crack an agreement feel wheels on to the Brexit process. Britain and EU effectively place the Irish border issue at ease.
British Prime Minister Theresa may said EU citizens in the UK will be able to go on living as before and there would be no hard border. She said getting to this point had required give and take from both side. May said she expected a formal agreement to be approved at the summit. The agreement paves the way for EU leaders at a summit on 14th and 15th of this month to open the second phase of Brexit negotiations, covering trade talks and a transition period.
The EU had set a deadline of Sunday after the last talks on Monday broke down when May’s Northern Irish allies objected to terms for future arrangements for the Irish border.
Britain voted in June 2016 to become the first state to leave the EU, after more than four decades of membership, but the talks have been slow moving and often acrimonious so far.
Nepal hit 5.2M quake
Nepal, a moderate intensity earthquake hit Dolakha district today. It measured 5.2 on the Richter scale.
The epicentre of the tremor was about 10 kilometres below the surface and located around 160 kilometres north-east from Kathmandu.
There was no immediate report of any damage or casualty.
Seismologists described it as an aftershock sequence of the 7.8 magnitude earthquake that rocked Nepal in April 2015, claiming about 9,000 lives and injuring around 22 thousand persons.
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