BEIRUT (AP) — A new wave of airstrikes and shelling on eastern suburbs of the Syrian capital Damascus left at least 22 people dead and dozens wounded, raising the death toll of a week of bombing in the area to 500, as the U.N. Security Council unanimously approved a resolution demanding a 30-day cease-fire across Syria.
The weeklong bombardment has overwhelmed rescuers and doctors at makeshift hospitals, many of which have also been bombed. Activists say that terrified residents have been hiding in underground shelters where dozens of people can be crammed into small places.
The latest wave of bombings came after the U.N. Security Council delayed a vote on a resolution demanding a 30-day humanitarian cease-fire for two days to try to get Russia on board.
Russia’s U.N. Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia had repeatedly called an immediate cease-fire unrealistic.
In a bid to get Russian support, sponsors Kuwait and Sweden amended the draft resolution to drop a demand that the cease-fire take effect 72 hours after the resolution’s adoption.
WASHINGTON (AP) — A redacted, declassified memo released by Democrats on the House intelligence committee aims to counter a narrative that Republicans on the committee have pushed for months — that the FBI and Justice Department conspired against President Donald Trump during his presidential campaign, abusing a secret surveillance process to spy on one of his operatives in its Russia investigation.
The Democratic memo was released recently after weeks of delays. The White House on Feb. 9th objected to its release, citing national security concerns. That sent the Democrats back to negotiations with the FBI over how much of the memo needed to be blacked out.
President Donald Trump had no such concerns about an earlier classified memo written by Republicans, which he declassified Feb 2nd over strong objections from the FBI. In that memo, Republicans took aim at the FBI and the Justice Department over the use of an anti-Trump dossier compiled by former British spy Christopher Steele in obtaining a secret warrant to monitor the communications of a former Trump campaign foreign policy adviser Carter Page.
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — Admirers took photos on their phones, fire trucks parked on freeway overpasses and police officers saluted as a motorcade carrying the body of the Rev. Billy Graham crossed the evangelist’s beloved home state of North Carolina for four hours from his mountain chapel to namesake library in the state’s largest city.
Residents in some of Graham’s most cherished places paid tribute to “America’s Pastor,” starting at the training center operated by his evangelistic association in Asheville. The motorcade rolled through Black Mountain where he shopped.
Well-wishers lined sidewalks and medians as the motorcade reached Charlotte. Pallbearers, followed by family, carried the coffin into the Billy Graham Library, which will serve as a backdrop for the funeral.
Franklin Graham said he was fulfilling a promise to his father to bring the body to Charlotte. He said he was overwhelmed by “the outpouring of love.”