by reuters –– A Ukrainian airliner that crashed in Iran, killing all 176 people aboard, was likely brought down by an Iranian missile, Canada’s prime minister, Justin Trudeau, said on Thursday, citing intelligence from Canadian and other sources and reaffirming what U.S. officials were saying earlier in the day. The destruction of the airliner, which carried 63 Canadians, “may well have been unintentional,” Trudeau told a news conference in Ottawa. “We have intelligence from multiple sources, including our allies and our own intelligence. The evidence indicates that the plane was shot down by an Iranian surface-to-air missile,” he said. The Ukraine International Airlines flight to Kiev from Tehran crashed on Wednesday hours after Iran fired ballistic missiles at two U.S. military bases in Iraq, and Iranians were on high alert for a U.S. military response. Trudeau said his government would not rest until it had obtained closure, transparency, accountability and justice. Earlier on Thursday, a U.S. official, citing an extensive review of satellite data, said Washington had concluded with a high degree of certainty that anti-aircraft missiles brought down the plane. The official said the Boeing 737-800 had been tracked by Iranian radar.

The U.S. government believes Iran shot down the plane by mistake, three U.S. officials told Reuters. The data showed the plane was airborne for two minutes after departing Tehran when the heat signatures of two surface-to-air missiles were detected, one of the officials said. That was quickly followed by an explosion in the vicinity of the plane, this official said. Heat signature data then showed it on fire as it went down. Heat signatures are infrared emissions detected by U.S. military satellites. Iran denied that the airliner had been hit by a missile, government spokesman Ali Rabiei said in a statement. “All these reports are a psychological warfare against Iran … all those countries whose citizens were aboard the plane can send representatives and we urge Boeing to send its representative to join the process of investigating the black box,” he said.

by catholicherald.co.uk — Matt Hadro/CNA —  A new US government report says that human rights abuse in China has worsened in the last year, and specifically highlighted the escalating persecution of Chinese Catholics in the wake of the Vatican-China agreement of 2018. “During its 2019 reporting year, the Congressional-Executive Commission on China found that the human rights situation has worsened and the rule of law continued to deteriorate, as the Chinese government and Party increasingly used regulations and laws to assert social and political control,” stated the commission’s annual report, released on Wednesday. The report said that “After the PRC Ministry of Foreign Affairs signed an agreement with the Holy See in September 2018 paving the way for unifying the state-sanctioned and underground Catholic communities, local Chinese authorities subjected Catholic believers in China to increasing persecution by demolishing churches, removing crosses, and continuing to detain underground clergy.”

by Julia La Roche — finance.yahoo.com — Former Nissan chief Carlos Ghosn slammed the Japanese justice system during his first public appearance since fleeing the country. “I did not escape justice. I fled injustice and persecution, political persecution,” Ghosn said at a press conference in Beruit, Lebanon on Wednesday. “You’re going to die in Japan or you’ve got to get out.” During his speech, he described how he was “brutally taken” from his world as he knew it on the day of his arrest in Japan in November 2018. “I have not experienced a moment of freedom since November 19, 2018. It is impossible — it is impossible to express the depth of that deprivation and my profound appreciation to once again be able to be reunited with my family and loved ones,” Ghosn said. The high-profile auto executive was arrested in November 2018 at the airport in Tokyo on allegations of under-reporting his compensation and misusing company funds. “These allegations are untrue and I should have never been arrested in the first place,” he said. Ghosn, who has maintained his innocence and called the charges against him “baseless,” said his treatment by the Japanese judicial system was a “travesty against his human rights and dignity.” While enduring this “nightmare” imprisonment, Ghosn said his only contact with friends and family was through letters his attorneys showed him through a looking glass.

He added that he spent 130 days in detention and upon being granted bail the first time he sought to share his side of the story only to be “thrown back in solitary confinement within 24 hours.” He called this “confinement that flies in the face of global and United Nations standards of justice.” Ghosn escaped Japan to Lebanon on December 30. However, he said he was “not here today to talk about how I l managed to leave Japan, although I can understand that you are interested in that. I’m here to talk about why I left.”

by foxnews.com —Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have announced they will take “a step back” as senior members of the royal family and instead work independently, splitting their time between the United Kingdom and North America. The Duke and Duchess of Sussex said their decision came “after many months of reflection and internal discussions.” “We have chosen to make a transition this year in starting to carve out a progressive new role within this institution,” the couple shared on Instagram Wednesday. “We intend to step back as ‘senior’ members of the Royal Family and work to become financially independent, while continuing to fully support Her Majesty The Queen. It is with your encouragement, particularly over the last few years, that we feel prepared to make this adjustment. “We now plan to balance our time between the United Kingdom and North America, continuing to honor our duty to The Queen, the Commonwealth, and our patronages,” they continued. “This geographic balance will enable us to raise our son with an appreciation for the royal tradition into which he was born, while also providing our family with the space to focus on the next chapter, including the launch of our new charitable entity.”

The couple added they will continue to work with the reigning monarch, 93, as well as Harry’s father Prince Charles, as well as the 35-year-old’s older brother, Prince William. Meghan Markle receives sympathy from Kate Middleton, royal expert claims: ‘She wants to patch things up’Video “We look forward to sharing the full details of this exciting next step in due course, as we continue to collaborate with Her Majesty The Queen, The Prince of Wales, The Duke of Cambridge and all relevant parties. Until then, please accept our deepest thanks for your continued support.”

by Fred Imbert, Silvia Amaro and Saheli Roy Choudhury cnbc — Stocks rose on Wednesday after President Donald Trump spoke about an attack by Iran on an Iraqi airbase that houses American troops, which had led to a massive sell-off in overnight trading. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 213 points, or 0.8%. The Nasdaq Composite advanced 0.7% and hit an all-time high. The S&P 500 also climbed 0.7% and hit a record high as well. Trump said Iran appeared to be “standing down” after that nation attacked the Ain al-Asad airbase overnight. However, he added the U.S. will “immediately impose additional punishing economic sanctions on the Iranian regime.” “Now, as the president has to some degree defused some of the anxiety, so you’re getting … a little bit of a sigh of relief rally here,” Art Cashin, director of floor operations at the NYSE for UBS, said on CNBC’s “Squawk Alley.” The president’s comments pressured safe havens such as gold as investors flocked back into riskier assets. Gold futures for February delivery dropped 0.9% to $1,560 per ounce. Overnight, the precious metal jumped to its highest level in about seven years. Investors around the globe had been bracing themselves for a bigger conflict between Iran and the U.S. after last week’s killing of Gen. Qasem Soleimani, a top-ranking Iranian military official. But so far there have been no reports of casualties from Tuesday night’s airstrikes. The attacks did not target oil infrastructure, boosting investor sentiment as well.

by AP — Iran says it has launched “tens” of surface-to-surface missiles at Iraq’s Ain Assad air base housing U.S. troops over America’s killing of a top Iranian general. State TV described it early Wednesday as Tehran’s revenge operation over the killing of Revolutionary Guard Gen. Qassem Soleimani. Iran’s Revolutionary Guard then warned the U.S. […]

by cnbc.com — Japanese prosecutors have obtained an arrest warrant for the wife of fugitive ex-Nissan boss Carlos Ghosn. Her husband fled Japan in late December, using the bullet train and two private jets to travel to Lebanon. The former executive was first arrested in Japan in 2018 and charged with financial crimes while serving as the boss of Nissan. He denied any wrongdoing in January 2019 and has also claimed that Japan’s justice system is “rigged.” According to several media reports on Tuesday, investigators believe that n April last year his spouse Carole Ghosn may have made false statements about the case to a Tokyo court. A spokeswoman for Carole Ghosn told Reuters that the issuance of a warrant was “pathetic,” noting that Ms Ghosn had traveled to Japan last year to answer questions and had left without any charges at the time.

Carole Ghosn is an American passport holder and, unlike her husband, could potentially be made subject to an extradition request between Japan and the United States. The spokesperson added that the timing of the warrant is designed to undermine a press conference by the former Nissan boss which is due this week. “Last time Carlos Ghosn announced a press conference and got re-arrested. This time, the day before he is announced to speak out freely for the first time, they issued an arrest warrant for his wife Carole Ghosn,” the spokesperson said.

by reuters — Defense Secretary Mark Esper says the United States has made “no decision” about withdrawing troops from Iraq amid heightened tensions with neighboring Iran. Esper spoke to reporters Monday after a letter from a U.S. Army general circulated that seemed to suggest a withdrawal had been ordered in response to a vote by […]

Lauren Graham, Rose Leslie and Annabelle Wallis wore gowns from Lebanese designers. AFP

DUBAI: The awards season kicked off Sunday night with the 77th Annual Golden Globes at Los Angeles’ Beverly Hilton Hotel. Hosted by Ricky Gervais, the ceremony awarded the year’s best and brightest in television and film, as decided by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association. Honored actors included Egyptian-American Ramy Youssef, who took home the award for Best Actor in a Comedy Series, making him the second consecutive actor of Arab descent to win the prestigious accolade.

But it wasn’t just Arab actors that got us talking; the elegant and glamorous dresses on the red carpet that were created by our region’s talent were worthy of their very own awards too. “Game of Thrones” actress Rose Leslie arrived on the red-carpet arm-in-arm with her co-star and real-life husband Kit Harrington wearing an emerald beaded long-sleeved evening gown with a sheer skirt from Lebanese couturier Elie Saab — whom she tasked with creating her wedding dress in 2018.

by thenational.ae — The husband of Lebanese popstar Nancy Ajram, who was detained for shooting a burglar who died of 16 bullet wounds on Sunday, has been transferred to hospital. Celebrity dentist Dr Fadi Al Hashem surprised an alleged bugler, Syrian national Mohammed Hassan Al Moussa, 30, as he broke into his family home at around dawn in the Keserwan district, north of the capital Beirut, reported the state-run National News Agency. Security camera footage broadcast by local television network MTV allegedly shows Al Moussa, who is wearing a mask, threatening Dr Al Hashem with appears to be a gun. He told MTV that the burglar was carrying one of Ajram’s handbags and asking for money. Dr Al Hachem complied and gave him cash from his jacket, but Al Moussa then asked: “Where is the gold? Don’t make me hurt you. Call your wife.” Images show several other men arriving on the scene, who Dr Al Hashem says in the video are his security guards. In the meantime, he picked up a gun and later said that he “lost his mind” when he realised that Al Moussa had entered his young daughters’ bedroom. “I ran to him like a kamikaze. I wanted to cut him into pieces. Even if he shot me,” he told MTV.

The security footage cuts as the gun is fired. Al Moussa died at the scene and a judicial source told MTV that the cause was 16 gunshot wounds. MTV also reported that the gun Al Moussa had been carrying had been fake. It remains unclear whether the other men who were present also shot Al Moussa. “The guests were inside and before they turned on the alarm, he climbed over the fence and hid,” Ajram’s manager Jiji Lamara said of the intruder on Egyptian talk show Kul Youm. “Once the guests left he did what he did.”