NEWS IN BRIEF
WASHINGTON (Press TV) – Republican presidential candidate Senator Rand Paul says the hawkish members of his party are responsible for the creation of the ISIL Takfiri terrorists in the Middle East.
Paul blamed hawks like Senators John McCain and Lindsey Graham for the creation of ISIL, saying the group "exists and grew stronger because of the hawks in our party who gave arms indiscriminately, and most of those arms were snatched up by ISIS (ISIL).”
Talking to MSNBC on Wednesday, Paul said, "These hawks also wanted to bomb [Syrian President Bashar] Assad, which would have made ISIS’ job even easier. They’ve created these people.”
Senator Graham, a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said formerly that he advocated sending around 10,000 US troops to Iraq to help train and support militants fighting ISIL.
Graham is expected to announce his White House bid next Monday.
"Right now there are 1,500 groups, many of them bad people, including ISIS, that hawks in our party have been arming," Paul noted.
The US and its allies have been conducting airstrikes against ISIL in Iraq and Syria since last year. However, the terror network is controlling large parts of the two countries.
The terrorists managed to capture Ramadi, the capital city of Iraq’s Anbar Province, last week.
CANBERRA (Press TV) – About 2.5 million Australians are living in poverty, with many trying to survive on just $18 (14 USD) a day after accommodation expenses, the Salvation Army charity organization says.
The survey of people visiting the Salvation Army's centers around Australia for help shows that one in four missed at least one meal a day, half said their situation was worse than a year ago, and 60 percent of children reported severe deprivation.
"We are deeply alarmed at the findings of this survey,"The Salvation Army spokesman Major Bruce Harmer said, adding that "Without sufficient financial investment … the situation for disadvantaged individuals is likely to remain unchanged or further deteriorate."
According to the charity which has more than 1.5 million members worldwide, About 2.5 million Australians are estimated to be living under the poverty line. Half of Australians couldn't afford up-to-date school books or out-of-school activities for their children.
The survey found 75 percent of respondents had cut down on basic necessities, 68 percent went without dental treatment and 37 percent went without medical treatment.
The Salvation Army said the results painted an alarming picture of what was happening to many marginalized Australians.
BERLIN (Press TV) – German Chancellor Angela Merkel deceived her people about an inclination by the United States to sign a no-spy agreement with Germany, according to a new report.
The high-circulation daily Sueddeutsche Zeitung reported on Wednesday that Merkel’s claims in the run-up to the general elections in 2013 regarding Washington’s readiness to stop espionage on Berlin had been totally fake.
The report, which is based on some confidential documents seen by some German broadcasters, said that Merkel was aware at the time that the US would not agree to refrain from spying, but she, along with members of her government, still led the public to believe that this would be the case.
According to a document, which has also been seen by Merkel, Germany’s then-foreign minister Guido Westerwelle received "no concrete confirmation” from US Secretary of State John Kerry after asking him about the possibility of such an agreement between Berlin and Washington.
Merkel has repeatedly been criticized in the German media about her deceptive methods of handling the controversial US espionage case with many saying that she has tried to mislead the public about the deep layers of cooperation between the US National Security Agency (NSA) and the German intelligence service BND.
Paul blamed hawks like Senators John McCain and Lindsey Graham for the creation of ISIL, saying the group "exists and grew stronger because of the hawks in our party who gave arms indiscriminately, and most of those arms were snatched up by ISIS (ISIL).”
Talking to MSNBC on Wednesday, Paul said, "These hawks also wanted to bomb [Syrian President Bashar] Assad, which would have made ISIS’ job even easier. They’ve created these people.”
Senator Graham, a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said formerly that he advocated sending around 10,000 US troops to Iraq to help train and support militants fighting ISIL.
Graham is expected to announce his White House bid next Monday.
"Right now there are 1,500 groups, many of them bad people, including ISIS, that hawks in our party have been arming," Paul noted.
The US and its allies have been conducting airstrikes against ISIL in Iraq and Syria since last year. However, the terror network is controlling large parts of the two countries.
The terrorists managed to capture Ramadi, the capital city of Iraq’s Anbar Province, last week.
CANBERRA (Press TV) – About 2.5 million Australians are living in poverty, with many trying to survive on just $18 (14 USD) a day after accommodation expenses, the Salvation Army charity organization says.
The survey of people visiting the Salvation Army's centers around Australia for help shows that one in four missed at least one meal a day, half said their situation was worse than a year ago, and 60 percent of children reported severe deprivation.
"We are deeply alarmed at the findings of this survey,"The Salvation Army spokesman Major Bruce Harmer said, adding that "Without sufficient financial investment … the situation for disadvantaged individuals is likely to remain unchanged or further deteriorate."
According to the charity which has more than 1.5 million members worldwide, About 2.5 million Australians are estimated to be living under the poverty line. Half of Australians couldn't afford up-to-date school books or out-of-school activities for their children.
The survey found 75 percent of respondents had cut down on basic necessities, 68 percent went without dental treatment and 37 percent went without medical treatment.
The Salvation Army said the results painted an alarming picture of what was happening to many marginalized Australians.
BERLIN (Press TV) – German Chancellor Angela Merkel deceived her people about an inclination by the United States to sign a no-spy agreement with Germany, according to a new report.
The high-circulation daily Sueddeutsche Zeitung reported on Wednesday that Merkel’s claims in the run-up to the general elections in 2013 regarding Washington’s readiness to stop espionage on Berlin had been totally fake.
The report, which is based on some confidential documents seen by some German broadcasters, said that Merkel was aware at the time that the US would not agree to refrain from spying, but she, along with members of her government, still led the public to believe that this would be the case.
According to a document, which has also been seen by Merkel, Germany’s then-foreign minister Guido Westerwelle received "no concrete confirmation” from US Secretary of State John Kerry after asking him about the possibility of such an agreement between Berlin and Washington.
Merkel has repeatedly been criticized in the German media about her deceptive methods of handling the controversial US espionage case with many saying that she has tried to mislead the public about the deep layers of cooperation between the US National Security Agency (NSA) and the German intelligence service BND.