Russia has decided to withdraw its signature from the founding statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC), saying the tribunal has failed to live up to the hopes of the international community. In a statement issued on Wednesday, Russia’s Foreign Ministry said it would pull out from the ICC following a decree by President Vladimir Putin, who decided for Moscow not to be “a participant in the ICC statute.”

The statement said the main reason for the withdrawal was the ICC’s way of treating Russia’s brief war with neighboring Georgia in 2008, adding that the international tribunal had ignored Georgia’s aggression against pro-Moscow civilians in the separatist region of South Ossetia. “In these conditions one cannot speak of trust in the International Criminal Court,” the ministry said, calling the ICC’s work as “one-sided and inefficient.”

The statement also slammed the ICC’s lack of independence in dealing with war cases, saying “The court did not live up to the hopes associated with it.” Russia has yet to ratify the Rome Statute that set up the ICC, the world’s first permanent war crimes court. The government has only been a signatory to the treaty since 2000.

The decision by Moscow to pull out from the ICC could further complicate the situation surrounding the court as several African members, such as South Africa and Burundi, have already decided to withdraw from the tribunal, saying it is biased and lacks justice. Gambia has also notified the United Nations that it would leave the ICC next week.

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The US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has been allowed to run child pornography websites as an attempt to track their users, court documents reveal. The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) has obtained an affidavit that states the bureau has run at least 23 websites in its operations to hunt down pedophiles and promoters of child abuse, the New York Daily News reported Sunday.

The new revelation means that the extent of FBI’s secret sting was beyond the initial assessments. It was revealed last year that FBI agents had operated a child porn site for 13 days  and used it in an international operation. The websites were all located in the so-called dark web, meaning that special software were needed to access them. The FBI oversaw the sites via its “network investigative technique” (NIT), the document noted.

Interestingly, all of the websites were operating from a “government facility,” so that NIT could collect the users’ “request data” more easily, the affidavit added. FBI spokesman Christopher Allen told tech news website Ars Technica that it is “patently not true” to assume that the bureau is commonly running child porn websites. However, he did not deny the existence of FBI-run websites either.

The report came less than a week after a former official with the US Defense Intelligence Agency was sentenced to 20 years in prison for producing child pornography. Army Lieutenant Colonel Steven Frederiksen, 42, received the term on November 8, after admitting to luring six girls, aged between 14 and 17, into producing indecent photos and videos through social media. He used his government laptop for the purpose.

According to the Crimes Against Children Research Center, child pornography is one of the fastest growing underground business online, with an estimated revenue of $3 billion. The Association of Sites Advocating Child Protection (ASACP) states that the US has the largest share of commercialized child pornography websites, hosting nearly half of world’s child porn sites.

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Demonstrators have again taken to the streets in cities across the United States to protest against Republican nominee Donald Trump’s victory in the November 8 presidential election, voicing concerns that he will strike a blow against civil rights.

In the state of California, hundreds of high school and university students on Thursday walked out of classes to join other protesters who held demonstrations in the cities of Los Angeles and San Francisco. Police arrested dozens of protesters in both cities. Similar rallies were held in Minneapolis, New York, Washington, DC, and Texas.

A number of demonstrators marched from the White House, where Trump held his first transition meeting with President Barack Obama on Thursday, to the Trump International Hotel some blocks away. The protesters were carrying signs against racism and in favor of unity. They were also chanting “love Trumps hate.”

“This generation deserves better than Donald Trump,” said Lily Morton, 17, who joined classmates from the Georgetown Day School. “The queer people, colored people, women, girls, everyone that is going to be affected by this, we need to protest to help them.”

Tens of thousands of protesters, including school and college students, held demonstrations in more than a dozen major US cities, including in New York, Los Angeles and Oakland, California on Wednesday. The protesters slammed Trump’s controversial campaign rhetoric about undocumented immigrants, Muslims and other groups. They expressed their anger and sadness at the shocking victory of Trump by putting his effigies on fire in California, Philadelphia, Boston and Portland, Oregon, and Washington.

Trump took to twitter late on Thursday to hit back at protesters, calling them “professionals incited by the media.” Trump supporters say the protesters are not respecting the democratic process. This tweet also comes after The New York Times reported his aides took control of his Twitter account during his presidential campaign hoping to tame his controversial Internet presence.

Trump stunned the world on Wednesday by defeating heavily favored Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton in Tuesday’s presidential election, sending the United States on a new, uncertain path.

Trump’s election campaign had been marred by his disparaging remarks against minorities in the US. His comments include a call to ban all Muslims from coming to America as well as stopping Mexican migrants by building a long wall along the US-Mexico border.

He has also sought for a database to track Muslims across the United States and said that the US would have “absolutely no choice” but to close down mosques.

Trump’s proposal was widely condemned by Muslim and human rights groups as well as his Democratic rivals and many of his Republican proponents who describe the proposal as divisive, counterproductive and contrary to American values.

Culled from Presstv

US President Barack Obama has called his newly-elected successor Donald Trump to congratulate him on his election victory and invite him to the White House to discuss the transition of power.

Obama made the call on early Wednesday, when Trump had secured enough electoral votes to beat his Democratic rival Hillary Clinton, the White House said. The two were slated to meet on Thursday.

Obama also called Clinton, his former secretary of state between 2009 and 2013, to express his “admiration for the strong campaign she waged throughout the country,” according to a statement by White House press secretary Josh Earnest. The president officially endorsed Clinton in June and hit the campaign trail to garner support for the former first lady.

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Talks on climate change and the implementation of the landmark Paris climate agreement have started in Morocco, amid a threatening rise in global temperatures and greenhouse gases to new heights. Negotiations over global warming and climate change kicked off in the western Moroccan city of Marrakesh on Monday, with diplomats from 196 countries across the world discussing the planet-saving deal reached in the French capital last December. As many as 15,000 negotiators, CEOs and environment activists settle in for the 12-day talks from November 7-18.

The Paris Agreement seeks to wean the world economy off fossil fuels in the second half of the century and cap the global average rise in temperatures below two degrees Celsius (36 degrees Fahrenheit). “We have made possible what everyone said was impossible,” French Environment Minister Segolene Royal said at the opening ceremony, adding that 100 countries had ratified the climate deal, which entered into force last Friday.

US election overshadowing climate meeting

The climate meeting this year is heavily impacted by the US presidential election and its outcome, as Donald Trump, the Republican presidential nominee, has said he will “cancel” the deal if he wins the election which takes place on November 8.

This is while Trump’s Democratic rival, Hillary Clinton, has vowed to uphold domestic energy policies and international climate commitments already set by President Barack Obama’s government.

In the meantime, United Nations climate chief Patricia Espinosa also stressed the need for concerted effort in implementing the Paris deal.

“The agreement has entered into force and we are all obliged to deliver on those commitments,” Espinosa said. “No politician or citizen, no business manager or investor” can doubt that the world is determined to shift toward a “low-emission, resilient society,” she noted.

A report by the UN Environment Program released on Thursday said annual emissions must be kept below 42 billion tons of CO2 (carbon dioxide) by 2030 for the world to have a chance to meet the goals set out in the Paris Agreement.

Even if emission-cutting pledges under the Paris Agreement are fully implemented, the predicted 2030 emissions could put the world on track for a temperature rise of 2.9 to 3.4 degrees Celsius this century, the report said.

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Syrian President Bashar al-Assad says Western powers are “becoming much weaker” in his conflict-ridden country as government forces, backed by fighters from allied popular defense groups, are gaining more ground in battles against foreign-backed terrorists.

“In the past, if I said anything, people would say the Syrian president is disconnected from reality. Now it is different. The West is becoming much weaker,” Assad said in an interview with the British weekly The Sunday Times, which was published on Sunday.

The 51-year-old Syrian leader further questioned the role that the so-called US-led military coalition is playing in the fight against Daesh extremists, saying, “They don’t have a leg to stand on explaining to people what’s going on. Daesh was smuggling oil and using Iraqi oil fields under American satellites and drones to make money, and the West was not saying anything.”

He then praised Russian airstrikes on the positions of Daesh and other terrorist groups in Syria. “What made the difference, of course, was firepower. They have firepower we don’t have. At the end, we were fighting an unlimited reserve of terrorists coming to Syria and we struggled, so Russian firepower and Iranian support has compensated,” Assad pointed out.

The Syrian president underlined that Russia is not interfering in Syria’s internal affairs, and that Moscow is not looking for political deals with the Damascus government. “They never try to interfere because they don’t want anything from us. They don’t ask us to be a puppet president,” Assad commented.

He also expressed determination that Syrian forces will eventually retake Aleppo, once Syria’s largest city and the country’s industrial and financial center, from Takfiri terrorists. “Aleppo is an issue where terrorists have occupied part of the city, and we need to get rid of them,” the Syrian president said.

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President Paul BIYA received the new Commander of the United States Africa Command (AFRICOM), General Thomas D. WALDHAUSER at the Unity Palace on Wednesday 2 November 2016 for discussions on a wide range of security matters of concern to the two countries.

It was a get to know each other audience with the new Africom Commander, U.S. Marine Corps General Thomas D. WALDHAUSER, who assumed duties in July 2016. This was in company of the U.S. Ambassador to Cameroon, Michael Stephen HOZA.

Speaking to the press after the audience, General WALDHAUSER underlined the important role Cameroon plays in the security of Africa. He said they reviewed a wide range of security issues especially the way forward in the cooperation between the two countries in military matters.

Meanwhile, Ambassador Michael Stephen HOZA, revealed some of the matters of utmost concern, such as the fight against terrorism, the ongoing conflict in the Central African Republic and maritime security in the Gulf of Guinea. The Americans will continue to stand by Cameroon, especially with the training of Cameroonian military staff and the supply of high end equipment.

President Paul BIYA and General WALDHAUSER exchanged souvenir gifts during the audience, a mark of the intimate friendship that underlies cooperation ties between Cameroon and the United States of America.

South Korea has named a new prime minister and finance minister amid a political scandal concerning President Park Geun-hye allegedly letting a close friend meddle in state affairs. Early on Wednesday, presidential spokesman Jung Youn-kuk said Premier Hwang Kyo-ahn had been replaced by Kim Byong-joon in relation to “the current situation.”

Yim Jong-yong, the chairman of the country’s financial services commission, was also named as the new finance minister and deputy prime minister. Meanwhile, Park’s longtime friend, Choi Soon-sil, was held for a second day of questioning after being detained over alleged corruption and influence-peddling on Monday.

The 60-year-old, reportedly a fortuneteller and a cult leader, has been Park’s confidante for decades and is accused of allegedly masterminding government policy and decision making for financial gain. South Korean media portrays Choi as a Rasputin-like figure who wielded an unhealthy influence over Park and interfered in government policy despite holding no official post and having no security clearance.

Earlier in the week, around 8,000 angry people took part in the rally that was held in the capital, Seoul, calling on Park to resign over allegations made against her and Choi.

Culled from Presstv

An earthquake measuring 5.4 on the Richter scale has hit central Italy, including the capital Rome. Italy’s national geophysics institute said the quake struck at a depth of nine kilometers in the Macerata area of the central region of Marche on Wednesday.

The United States Geological Survey (USGS) confirmed the magnitude, saying the epicenter was seven kilometers south-southwest of Visso village in Macerata. There was no information immediately available about potential casualties or damage caused by the quake, which was felt in the towns of Pescara, Ancone and L’Aquila, which was jolted by a 6.3-magnitude quake in 2009 that killed over 300 people.

Wednesday’s quake rattled windows and doors in the capital of Rome. The quake comes about two months after nearly 300 people were killed as a strong earthquake hit central Italy. On August 24, a powerful earthquake measuring 6.2 on the Richter scale hit Italy, and almost flattened scores of towns and villages in the central parts. The quake was followed by a series of aftershocks, the strongest of which measured 4.2, rattling the already hit areas.

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