El‪ #‎Sisi ‬, ‪#‎Putin‬ to talk strategic ties this week in ‪#‎Moscow‬

The Egyptian president’s visit to Moscow this week will mark his third trip to Russia since taking office last year

Russia's President Vladimir Putin (L) shakes hands with Egypt's President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi during a meeting in Cairo February 10, 2015

Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi will hold talks with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin in Moscow next week in efforts to boost strategic ties and economic cooperation between both states, the presidency announced on Thursday.

El-Sisi's three-day visit, which will begin on 25 August, highlights the "special relations" between Cairo and Moscow and "reflects a common will to consolidate strategic relations between the two countries," the president's office said in a statement.

The talks will focus on promoting bilateral relations, namely bolstering trade and economic cooperation and promoting Russian investment in Egypt, the statement added.

The Kremlin said on Thursday that the discussions will include "extensive exchange on international issues, primarily on the situation in the Middle East and North Africa."

Russia, the world's second-largest arms exporter, has also sought to reinforce military ties with Egypt.

The Egyptian army said earlier this week that Moscow has gifted Cairo with a new missile corvette that was part of the inauguration of the new Suez Canal expansion project earlier this month.

In June, Russia and Egypt held their first ever joint naval exercise.

This is El-Sisi's third visit to Russia in a year, after a trip in May and another last August, months after he came to office.

Russia's President Vladimir Putin visited Cairo in February, marking his first state visit to Egypt since 2005.

Cairo and Moscow began cultivating ties as Egypt’s relations with the US soured following the 2013 ouster of Islamist Mohamed Morsi.

Tensions have recently eased between Cairo and Washington with the US resuming in March its $1.3 million annual military aid to Egypt that was partly suspended following Morsi's ouster to boost Cairo's ability to combat threat by extremists.

#Obama urges #Gulf nations to help with chaos in #Libya

President Barack Obama urged Gulf nations to help calm the chaotic political situation in Libya, saying that outside military action would not be enough to help reduce tensions in the war-ravaged North African country.

After a meeting with Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi at the White House on Friday , Obama said a political solution was needed in the oil-rich Mediterranean state, where two rival governments are fighting for control.

"We're going to have to encourage some of the countries inside of the Gulf who have, I think, influence over the various factions inside of Libya to be more cooperative themselves," Obama told reporters.

"In some cases, you've seen them fan the flames of military conflict, rather than try to reduce them."

Obama is set to meet with leaders from Saudi Arabia and other members of the Gulf Cooperation Council in Washington on May 13 and 14 to discuss a host of crises in the Middle East.

Obama noted Islamic State militants, who have taken over large parts of Syria and Iraq, have also been active in Libya. The United States is leading a coalition fighting the group in Iraq and Syria.

"We are consistently looking where terrorist threats might emanate, and Libya, obviously, is an area of great concern," Obama said. He compared the situation to Somalia, where Washington has carried out drone strikes against suspected al Qaeda militants.

"We will not be able to solve the problem with just a few drone strikes or a few military operations," he said, adding that he and Renzi did not discuss the possible sale of U.S. drones to Italy, which some Italian media reports had expected.

The United States, Italy and their allies must combine counterterrorism efforts with a push for a political resolution, Obama said.

"The answer ultimately is to have a government that can control its own borders and work with us. That's going to take some time," he said.

Renzi agreed it was up to the Libyans themselves. "Peace in Libya: either the tribes do this, or no one is going to do this," he said. 

Blackwater guards get heavy sentences in 2007 #Iraq killings

This combination made from file photo shows convicted former Blackwater guards, from left, Dustin Heard, Evan Liberty, Nicholas Slatten and Paul Slough

A former Blackwater guard was sentenced to life in prison and three others received 30-year sentences Monday for their roles in a 2007 mass shooting in Iraq that left at least 14 civilians dead.

The four ex-employees of the US private security firm were convicted last October on an array of charges ranging from first degree murder to voluntary manslaughter stemming from the incident in Baghdad's Nisour Square.

During a two month-trial in US federal court in Washington, a jury heard how the four defendants opened fire with sniper rifles, machine guns and grenade launchers in the bustling square as they escorted a diplomatic convoy.

A toll compiled by American investigators recorded 14 deaths and 17 injured. Iraqi officials say 17 civilians were killed, and 18 injured in the shooting.

US federal judge Royce Lamberth sentenced Nicholas Slatten, who was accused of firing the first shots, to life in prison on the first-degree murder charge.

The other three defendants -- Paul Slough, Evan Liberty and Dustin Heard -- received sentences of 30 years, the minimum by law for the charge of using a machine gun in a violent crime, plus a token additional day for each of the other counts.

"The wild thing that happened here can never be condoned by the court," Lamberth told the court, saying he had taken into account statements made on behalf of the four defendants.

But he added: "It's clear these fine young men just panicked."

The killings on September 16, 2007 deepened Iraqi resentment of America's involvement in the country.

In final statements, all four defendants protested their innocence and asked for leniency. Slatten asked for the verdict against him to be overturned.

But Lamberth said he fully supported the jury's decision.

Before the killings, Slatten allegedly told acquaintances he wanted to "kill as many Iraqis as he could as 'payback for 9/11'," according to court documents.

Relatives of two of the Iraqi victims spoke before the sentencing about the loss of their loved ones.

"I have a question for them," said Fatimah al-Fadwi Kinani, the tearful mother of a nine-year old boy killed by a machine gun round, speaking through an interpreter.

"I just want to know why they killed my son? Why did you guys kill my son?" she said.

The boy's father, Mohammed al-Kinani, called on Lamberth to "show Blackwater and (former CEO) Erik Prince what the law is."

The courtroom was crowded with supporters of the four men, some wearing black sweatshirts emblazoned with the Blackwater name.

Testimonials by friends and relatives portrayed them as upstanding former military men who bore no animus toward the Iraqis.

"Mr Kinani," said Paul Slough, turning in the man's direction. "I could not and did not kill your son."

Slough and his lawyers contended that Ali al-Kinani was killed by a black-tipped, armor-piercing round from an M-240 machine gun, while Slough was using a different kind of ammunition.

It was the closest any of the defendants came to an apology for the 10 to 15 minute explosion of violence that trapped civilians in cars, trucks, buses and unable to flee the onslaught in Nisour Square.

The four insisted they were responding to incoming fire. No eyewitness testimony supported that claim during the trial, Lamberth reminded them.

"I feel utterly betrayed by a government I served honorably," Slough said.

Liberty insisted: "With God as my witness, I shot at two people in Iraqi uniform who were shooting at me."

Their lawyers asked Lamberth to show leniency, arguing that the guards used weapons issued by the government. They had put their lives on the lines, and had been asked to make "split second decisions in the most dangerous city on earth," said Slough's lawyer, David Schertler.

The judge rejected that argument but agreed to limit prison time in the case of all but Slatten to the 30-year minimum, considerably less than the stiffer sentences sought by the prosecution, which ranged from 47 to 57 years.

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Members of the media are hit with a snow gusts caused by the landing of Marine One on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, Wednesday, Jan. 7, 2015. President Barack Obama is traveling to Detroit area to speak to workers at Ford automotive plant.

 

Parents gather to reunite with their children at Spartan Recreation Center in Shoreline, Washington, January 7, 2015. A Washington state school district near Seattle placed all of its schools on lockdown on Wednesday after reports of an armed man on the campus of an elementary school, the King County Sheriff's Office said.


 

Ice forms along the Lake Michigan shore, Wednesday, Jan. 7, 2015, in Chicago. Subzero temperatures and high winds are expected in the area.


 

Wind blows snow off the North Avenue Beach along the Lake Michigan shore, Wednesday, Jan. 7, 2015, in Chicago. Subzero temperatures and high winds are expected in the area.


 

A view of the top of the Unicredit Tower at the Porta Nuova Garibaldi business district in Milan, Italy, Wednesday, Jan.7, 2015. The UniCredit Tower complex, designed by architect Cesar Pelli, consists of three towers, respectively of 230 meters (754 feet), 100 meters (328 feet), and 50 meters (164 feet). With its 230 meters height, including the Sipre, an 80 meters (262 feet) steel and glass spire shaped structure that completes the tower, the UniCredit Tower is one of the tallest buildings in Italy. Milan is the host city of the upcoming Expo 2015 that opens in May and is expected to draw 20 million people. The theme of the Expo 2015 is "Feeding the Planet, Energy for Life".


 

Water puddles surround tents where displaced Syrians are taking shelter during a winter storm in Jabal al-Zawiya in the southern countryside of Idlib January 7, 2015. A storm buffeted the Middle East with blizzards, rain and strong winds on Wednesday, keeping people at home across the region and raising concerns for Syrian refugees facing freezing temperatures in flimsy shelters.


 

A woman walks along a frozen beach at Lake Michigan in Chicago, Illinois, January 7, 2015.


 

Gunmen flee the offices of French satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo in Paris, in this still image taken from amateur video shot on January 7, 2015, and obtained by Reuters. Hooded gunmen stormed the Paris offices of the weekly satirical magazine known for lampooning radical Islam, killing at least 12 people, including two police officers in the worst militant attack on French soil in recent decades.


 

Steam from one of the city's heating power plants rises in the cold air as the sun sets at dusk in Bucharest January 7, 2015. The National Weather Administration has issued a warning for extremely cold weather, frost and strong winds until the end of the week, according to local media.


 

Persons hold placards which read "I am Charlie" to pay tribute during a gathering in Strasbourg January 7, 2015, following a shooting by gunmen at the offices of weekly satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo in Paris. Gunmen stormed the Paris offices of the weekly satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo, renowned for lampooning radical Islam, killing at least 12 people, including two police officers in the worst militant attack on French soil in recent decades. The French President headed to the scene of the attack and the government said it was raising France's security level to the highest notch.

 

 

Hassan Kassab, of Dedham, Mass., fuels up a vehicle at a gas station where regular unleaded was listed for a cash price of $1.99 per gallon, Wednesday, Jan. 7, 2015, in Boston.