Section: Jordan Times (Jordan)
France fights to keep Macron e-mail hack from distorting election
PARIS —France sought to keep a computer hack of frontrunner Emmanuel Macron’s campaign emails from influencing the outcome of the country’s presidential election with a warning on Saturday it could be a criminal offence to republish the data. Macron’s team said a “massive” hack had dumped e-mails, documents and...
US F35s fly into Estonia in show of NATO solidarity
AMARI AIRBASE, Estonia — Two of the US Air Force’s newest and most advanced jets landed in the Baltic state of Estonia for the first time on Tuesday, a symbolic gesture meant to reinforce the United States’ commitment to the defence of NATO allies that border Russia. The visit of the F-35 stealth fighters, which flew from Britain and...
Russian FM presses US’ Tillerson over Syria probe
MOSCOW — Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov voiced “regret” in a phone call with his US counterpart Friday at Washington’s opposition to a Moscow-backed plan to investigate an alleged chemical attack in Syria. In the call with Secretary of State Rex Tillerson which “took place at US initiative”, Lavrov raised the...
Russia’s undeclared death toll in Syria battle creeps higher
KHUTOR POCHTOVY, Russia — The death toll among Russian forces in Syria during a period of intense fighting to retake the city of Palmyra now stands at 21, according to evidence gathered by Reuters, after information emerged about the deaths of three military contractors. The Reuters tally over the period from January 29 until late March is more...
Middle East helps double weapons-maker Kalashnikov’s sales — CEO
ABU DHABI — Russian weapons maker Kalashnikov Group’s sales doubled last year, helped by demand in the Middle East for its drones, missiles, rifles and military vehicles, making up for US sanctions that cost it its largest market, its chief executive said. Kalashnikov, whose AK47 assault rifles have armed Russian forces for 70 years,...
Tourism shows signs of recovery in Egypt
CAIRO — Tourists are slowly returning to Egypt, easing pressure on a key sector battered by years of turmoil and the 2015 bombing of a plane carrying Russian holidaymakers. “There is an increase in the number of tourists. This situation was much better in January than in previous years,” Tourism Ministry spokeswoman Omaima Al Husseini...
Trump rails at intelligence leaks as Russia crisis deepens
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump railed at US intelligence agencies on Wednesday as Washington was shaken by new reports of high-level Russian contacts with his aides and associates during the 2016 presidential campaign. Intercepted calls and phone records show Trump aides were in repeated contact with Russian intelligence officials at least a...
US must signal China’s access to artificial islands will be denied — Tillerson
WASHINGTON — The United States must send a clear signal to China that its island-building in the contested South China Sea must stop, and that its access to those islands will not be allowed, US President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee for secretary of state said on Wednesday. In comments certain to enrage Beijing, Rex Tillerson told his...
New Republican-led US Congress lays groundwork for Trump era
WASHINGTON — The Republican-led US Congress begins a new session on Tuesday in which it will start laying plans for enacting President-elect Donald Trump’s agenda of cutting taxes, repealing Obamacare and rolling back financial and environmental regulations. With Trump set to be sworn in as president on January 20, Republican lawmakers hope...
Joe Smith Jr. stops 51-year-old Bernard Hopkins in 8th round
INGLEWOOD, California — Joe Smith Jr. stopped Bernard Hopkins 53 seconds into the eighth round of their WBC International Light Heavyweight title fight Saturday night. Smith used a six-punch combination to send Hopkins through the ropes and on to the floor, effectively ending the 51-year-old’s 28-year boxing career. Smith successfully...
