Today In World News: July 16, 2017

Today In World News:

Courtesy of Politico

• Education Secretary Betsy DeVos said she is "returning" the Office for Civil Rights "to its role as a neutral, impartial, investigative agency”.

• At least 10 people have been killed by aerial bombardment in the opposition-held Damascus, Syria---a suburb of Ein Tarma.

• Al-Aqsa mosque officials have rejected new security measures put in place by Israel as it reopened the holy site following a deadly gun battle that prompted a two-day closure. Muslim religious authorities, who administer the compound, are refusing to pray there on Sunday after Israeli authorities installed metal detectors and additional close-circuit television cameras

• No injuries were reported in what the Syrian government said was an attack on the Russian embassy.  2 mortar shells were fired at the Russian embassy in Damascus.

• Last October, an airstrike in Yemen by the Saudi Arabia-led coalition hit a funeral, killing more than 130 people and drawing global condemnation.   Yet in the months following that strike, the United States doubled the amount of fuel it provided to coalition jets, according to figures obtained from the U.S. military.

• French President Emmanuel Macron has called for a resumption of long-stalled peace talks between Israel and Palestine based on a two-state solution.

• The United States has called on Iran to immediately release American citizens detained on "fabricated" national security charges, on the same day Tehran sentenced an American man to 10 years in prison.

• Pakistan has accused India of targeting its military vehicle and killing four Pakistani soldiers in unprovoked cross-border firing in the disputed Kashmir region.  India says it is not aware of the incident which reportedly killed four Pakistani soldiers in disputed Kashmir.

• There is growing anger over oil spills that is affecting local communities in Southern Nigeria, anger that is now threatening stability in the region. 

• The U.S. Secret Service on Sunday denied a suggestion from President Donald Trump's personal lawyer that it had vetted a meeting between the president's son and Russian nationals during the 2016 campaign.

• South Korea proposed military talks with North Korea this week, the first government-level talks since late 2015, in an effort to halt hostile activities near their joint border and after a series of missile tests by the North in recent weeks

• During an unofficial referendum organized by the opposition to push for an end to two decades of socialist rule, gunmen in Venezuela shot into a crowd of voters, activists said, killing 1 women and 3 others.

• The United Arab Emirates led an effort to hack Qatari government news and social media websites, sparking a diplomatic crisis.

• Republicans’ long-held plans to repeal Obamacare are again in serious doubt, with no clear timetable for a Senate vote following the surprise news that John McCain will be out as he recovers from surgery.