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Us Army Commander Accuses Russia Of Live Fire Training In Syria

The US army’s commander in Europe has accused Russia of using its military campaign in Syria as a “live-fire training opportunity”.

Lt Gen Ben Hodges said Russia’s “disregard for civilian casualties… is not the conduct of a nation that wants to be treated like a superpower”.

Russia’s defence minister said on Thursday that its air force had killed 35,000 fighters in Syria. But Russia has been accused of using heavy weapons in civilian areas. It has consistently denied targeting civilians.

Russia’s aerial intervention in the Syrian conflict last year has helped the Syrian army capture eastern Aleppo. But it has further heightened tensions with the West, after it annexed the Crimean peninsula from Ukraine in March 2014.

Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu said 162 types of modern armaments had been tested during the campaign in Syria, which included 18,800 aerial sorties. “What we see in Syria of course is a demonstration of capabilities and using weapons that are not necessary,” Gen Hodges said.

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Theresa May Urges People To Go About Their Business After Berlin Attack

The prime minister has said people should go about their business as usual and not be “cowed by terrorists” after the Christmas market attack in Germany.

Theresa May told the London Evening Standard it was important to “send a clear message that people should “carry on with our lives as usual”. She added that the police and security services were “unsung heroes”.

Twelve people were killed on Monday when a truck was driven into a crowd at the Breitscheidplatz market in Berlin. So-called Islamic State has said one of its militants carried out the attack but has offered no evidence.

The market has now reopened and police are searching for a Tunisian suspect, named as Anis Amri.

Mrs May told the Standard: “Of course our thoughts are with those who have been affected by the terrible attack that took place in Berlin, but Londoners should go about their business as usual. They should enjoy this Christmas period.” The prime minister added: “It is important, I think, that we send a very clear message that we will not be cowed by the terrorists – that we will carry on with our lives as usual.” She said: “The security services and the police are working day in and day out to keep us safe…. “They are often unsung heroes but they are actually doing a very good job. However, they have to be vigilant all the time and we should be very grateful for the work they do.”

Security Tightened Around Buckingham Palace During Changing The Guard

Roads around Buckingham Palace will be closed during changing the guard as part of a tightening of security in the wake of the Berlin market attack.

From Wednesday, surrounding roads will be shut from 10:45 to 12:30 GMT on the days of the ceremony.

The three-month trial – planned for some time – has been brought forward amid a UK security review.

Twelve people were killed and 49 injured when a lorry ploughed through a Berlin Christmas Market on Monday.

Police say they have a detailed plan to protect the public throughout Christmas and New Year celebrations across the UK. Huge numbers of people will be in London as shoppers flock to the capital for the Christmas sales and more than than 100,000 revellers are expected to attend the capital’s New Year’s Eve fireworks display.

The Royal Parks, which manages the roads, has agreed to shut vehicle access to Constitution Hill, the Queen Victoria Memorial, Spur Road, Link Road and The Mall up to the junction with Marlborough Road. It follows a request for the closures from the Met, who said they were a necessary precaution due to the event’s high profile, large crowds and substantial military presence.

Extra security barriers around the palace were also put in place on Wednesday morning. Scotland Yard and Police Scotland said they were reviewing “detailed plans” for the festive period as a precaution, following the attack in Germany and shooting of a Russian ambassador in Turkey.

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Manhunt Underway Across Schengen States For Lorry Attack Suspect

A manhunt is under way across Europe’s Schengen states after prosecutors identified a suspect in the lorry attack on a Berlin Christmas market.

As an arrest warrant circulated, German prosecutors named him as Tunisian man Anis Amri, 24, and warned that he could be armed and dangerous. His residence permit was found in the cab of the lorry. It has emerged that he was reported to counter-terrorism police last month and had been facing deportation since June.

Reports suggest he may have been injured in a struggle with the lorry driver, found murdered in the cab. The attack claimed 12 lives in all.

Police are searching a migrant shelter in the Emmerich area of North Rhine-Westphalia, western Germany, where the suspect’s permit was issued.

Chancellor Angela Merkel has met her security cabinet to discuss the investigation into the attack.

The Schengen area covers most EU states plus Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland. Anis Amri is reported to have travelled to Italy in 2012 and then on to Germany in 2015 where he applied for asylum and was granted temporary leave to stay in April of this year.

Ralf Jaeger, the minister of interior of North Rhine-Westphalia, said on Wednesday that the claim for asylum had been rejected in June but the papers necessary for deportation had not been ready. “Security agencies exchanged their findings and information about this person with the Joint Counter-Terrorism Centre in November 2016,” the minister said.

Germany’s Spiegel news magazine reports that the suspect was “classified as a so-called danger, a police category of people who are suspected of being capable of an attack, and who were therefore regularly checked”.

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Gunman Found Dead After Shooting At Zurich Islamic Centre

A man who shot and wounded three people at an Islamic centre in the Swiss city of Zurich has been found dead a short distance away.

The attacker opened fire on Monday evening at a Somali-Islamic centre close to Zurich station.

A body and a gun were later spotted under a bridge a few streets away. Police confirmed it was the attacker.

The only information police have given so far is there is no indication of a link with so-called Islamic State. Two of the victims, aged 30 and 56, were severely wounded while the third man in his mid-30s was in a less serious condition, reports said.

Local media said that around 10 people had been at the centre when the gunman entered the building at around 17:30 (16:30 GMT), wearing dark clothes and a woollen hat.

After opening fire, the gunman ran off and police began a search of the surrounding streets. His body, with a gun beside it, was eventually found beneath the Gessner bridge a few hundred metres away. Most of the centre’s congregation comes from Somalia, Eritrea and North Africa.

One worshipper at the centre told Neue Zuercher Zeitung that people there were very scared. “Our children come to the mosque every weekend. But now I wonder if we’re still safe here,” he said.