DAILY NEWS IN ENGLISH
Israeli leaders back death penalty for ʼterroristsʼ The right-wing Yisrael Beiteinu has received backing for a controversial bill targeting convicted "terrorists." The proposal to change how the death penalty can be applied has divided lawmakers in Israelʼs parliament. Middle East Israeli leaders back death penalty for ʼterroristsʼ The right-wing Yisrael Beiteinu has received backing for a controversial bill targeting convicted "terrorists." The proposal to change how the death penalty can be applied has divided lawmakers in Israelʼs parliament. Political leaders of Israelʼs ruling coalition on Sunday evening backed a legislative proposal to allow capital punishment for convicted terrorists. While Israel allows for the death penalty under domestic law and in the occupied West Bank under military law, it has not carried out capital punishment since 1961, whenconvicted Nazi war criminal Adolf Eichmann was hanged.
UN to vote on resolution rejecting US Jerusalem decision The UN Security Council is set to vote on a draft resolution nullifying any changes to Jerusalemʼs status, after the US policy change on the holy city. Protest against the US decision broke out in Jakarta on Sunday. The United Nations Security Council will on Monday vote on a draft resolution earlier next week that would consider any changes to the status of Jerusalem legally invalid and call on any such changes to be reversed,. While not naming the US specifically, the Egyptian-drafted text, seen by AFP and Reuters news agencies, isa significant repudiation from the international communityof US PresidentDonald Trumpʼs decision earlier this monthto recognize the holy city as the capital of Israel and move the US embassy there from Tel Aviv.
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President Juan Orlando Hernandez declared election winner Honduras:
The electoral court in Honduras has declared incumbent President Juan Orlando Hernandez as the winner of last monthʼs election. The opposition has claimed electoral fraud and called for renewed protests. Incumbent President Juan Orlando Hernandez won last monthʼs contested election by 1.53 percentage points over center-left opposition candidate Salvador Nasralla, Hondurasʼ electoral court said Sunday. "This means the president elect for the Republic of Honduras for the next four years is Juan Orlando Hernandez Alvarado," said David Matamoros, the head of the electoral court, in a televised address. Nasralla and his opposition alliance have claimed the November 26 presidential vote was marked by fraud and irregularities. Nasralla and his ally, former President Manuel Zelaya, have called for renewed protests. Earlier Sunday, Organization of American States (OAS) head Luis Almagro said there were still "serious questions" surrounding the election results. Honduras has been hit by political uncertainty for nearly three weeks, with repeated delays in the announcement of a winner fueling feelings that the vote had been rigged. Violent protests prompted the government to declare a state of emergency and dusk-to-dawn curfew. At least 16
people, including two police officers, have been killed in protests since the vote, according to Hondurasʼ National Human Rights Commission. More than 1,600 people have been arrested. Nasralla had a 5-percent lead a day after the election with more than half the votes counted, but then fell behind when new numbers were announced 36 hour later. The opposition first demanded a recount of all ballot boxes, then laterfiled for the results to be annulled and called for a new election. The electoral court agreed to recount more than 5,000 of 18,128 ballot boxes that presented irregularities. From the date of the election it had 30 days to announce official results. The recount was done in presence of observers from Honduras, the European Union and OAS. "After comparing a large random sample of voting records provided to us by the [opposition] alliance and the original records published on the tribunalʼs website, the mission observed that the results presented practically no differences," said Jose Antonio de Gabriel, the adjunct head of the EUʼs mission.
Polish terror victimʼs parents disappointed with Germany The grieving family of the first victim killed in last yearʼs Berlin Christmas market attack is still waiting for Chancellor Angela Merkel to send her condolences. Frank Hofmann met the truck driverʼs parents in Poland. Janina Urban has set the table in the living room and placed a plate full of Christmas cookies on it, along with Berlin-style iced doughnuts filled with red jam. Her son, Lukasz Urban, was the first victim of last yearʼs Berlin terror attack. The cheerful Polish truck driver was shot by the attacker Anis Amri, who stole the truck and later drove it into a Christmas market, killing 11 more people and injuring 70. Ever since then, Janina Urban and her husband Henryk have tried daily to come to terms with the heinous crime.
Chile election: Billionaire Sebastian Pinera wins presidential vote Conservative former President Sebastian Pinera has won Chileʼs presidential runoff election. Initial results placed him well ahead of his centerleft opponent Alejandro Guillier, who subsequently conceded defeat. Conservative billionaire Sebastian Pinera looked set for a return to office after he secured a comfortable lead over his opponent in Chileʼs presidential runoff vote on Sunday. The electoral results push Chile politically towards the right, following other South American nations who have experienced similar electoral outcomes.
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