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Israel assassinates Hezbollah figure Samir Quntar

Sunday, 20 December 2015 10:29 AM [ Last Update: Sunday, 20 December 2015 10:29 AM ]

1. Lebanon's resistance group Hezbollah says Israel has assassinated one of its senior figures. Samir Quntar was killed in an Israeli strike on his home in the city of Jaramana in the Damascus countryside. Reports say two Syrians were also killed in the attack. Quntar had spent 29 years in Israeli jails.

2. Israel is to revoke the residency rights of 230,000 Palestinians living in a number of neighborhoods in Jerusalem al-Quds. The plan was initially put forward by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu last month. Palestinians say the plan aims to change the demographic equation in the area and Judaize the occupied territory.

3. President Barack Obama has signed into law a bill that restricts visa-free travel to the US. Under the bill, people from 38 Visa Waver nations, who've traveled to Iran, Iraq, Sudan and Syria in the past five years, cannot enter the US without a visa. Iran and the EU have criticized the move.

4. An Air France flight from Mauritius to Paris has been diverted to Kenya after a suspicious package was found on board. The pilots requested to land in Mombasa after the package, believed to be an explosive device, was found in the toilet. All passengers and crew were safely evacuated.

5. Spaniards are casting their ballots in historic general elections, with more than two parties vying for the first time in decades. The anti-austerity Podemos party and the Liberal Party of Citizens are competing with the ruling Popular Party and the Socialists. Opinion polls have put the ruling conservatives narrowly ahead.

6. US Defense Secretary Ash Carter admits that an American airstrike has mistakenly killed Iraqi forces near the city of Fallujah. Carter made the remark while on a visit aboard the USS Kearsarge. Baghdad earlier blamed the US airstrike for the death of 10 Iraqi soldiers in Anbar province.

7. India's top court will hear a plea against the release of a culprit in the fatal gang-rape of a 23-year-old student. A women's rights body has filed a petition seeking a stay order for the juvenile convict. He was involved in the 2012 assault of the victim in New Delhi.

8. Burundi rejects the African Union's plan to deploy a peacekeeping force to curb the country's escalating violence. The government says sending troops without its consent will be viewed as an attack. Burundi’s crisis began after President Piere Nkurun-ziza declared his candidacy for a third term in office.

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