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Police in London say they have foiled a second active terror plot in 24 hours, after arresting six people in raids across the British capital and southeast England.

A woman shot by police in the latest counterterrorism investigation remains in a serious but stable condition. The investigation is ongoing but the threat is "contained," London's Metropolitan Police said Friday.

Police said the operation late Thursday night was not related to an earlier arrest near the British parliament, where officers detained a man armed with knives on suspicion of planning a terror attack, in what Deputy Assistant Commissioner Neil Basu described as "an extraordinary day" in London.

See Also:

Daily Mail: Armed police shoot woman in burka in London terror raid

BBC News: Willesden shooting: Police foil 'active terror plot'

Metro:  Police reveal they stopped ‘active plot’ in North London terror raid

Syrian and rebel officials blamed Israel for several explosions on Thursday morning at warehouses near the Damascus airport that the Israeli news media said were housing weapons bound for the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah.

Israel, which has carried out attacks on precision missiles and other forms of advanced weaponry in the past, did not directly confirm or deny the attack, in keeping with its policy.

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ABC News: Syrian media: Israel attacked installation near Damascus

Yahoo News (AFP): Syria accuses Israel of strike near Damascus airport

Aljazeera: 'Israeli strikes' hit arms depot in Damascus

The US military has started installing a controversial missile defence system at a site in South Korea, amid high tensions over neighbouring North Korea's nuclear and missile ambitions.

The Thaad system is designed to protect against threats from North Korea.

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NBC News: US's THAAD Missile Defense System Installed In South Korea As Tensions Rise

Yonhap News (Korea): (4th LD) THAAD equipment installation underway amid residents' protests

"Employees of Syria's Scientific Studies and Research Center have been put on a U.S. blacklist," NPR's Michele Kelemen reports, "which means any assets they might have in the U.S. will be frozen and Americans are barred from doing any business with them."

In a statement, the Treasury Department called the spate of sanctions one of the largest the Office of Foreign Assets Control has ever imposed.

The department says in a statement that the SSRC is "responsible for developing and producing non-conventional weapons and the means to deliver them."

See Also:

Washington Post: Trump administration sanctions 271 in Syrian chemical attack

[New York Times]

In France’s most consequential election in recent history, voters on Sunday chose Emmanuel Macron and Marine Le Pen to go to a runoff to determine the next president, official returns showed. One is a political novice, the other a far-right firebrand — both outsiders, but with starkly different visions for the country.

It is the first time in the nearly 59-year history of France’s Fifth Republic that both of the final candidates are from outside the traditional left-right party structure. Together, they drew less than half the total votes cast in a highly fractured election.

France24: French Presidential Election 2017

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AFP:  Macron, Le Pen vie to embody change in presidential run-off

France24:  Macron faces Le Pen for French presidency as mainstream parties bow out early

BBC News:  French election: Emmanuel Macron and Marine Le Pen to fight for presidency

[AFP]

One police officer was killed and two others wounded Thursday in a shooting on Paris's famed Champs Elysees, just days ahead of France's presidential election, police said.

France's interior ministry said the gunman was killed after opening fire on the officers at around 9:00 pm (1900 GMT) on the boulevard. Anti-terror prosecutors have opened an investigation.

"The attacker arrived by car and got out. He opened fire on a police car with an automatic weapon, killing one of the police officers and trying to attack others while running," a police source told AFP, asking not be named.

(read more...)

See Also:

BBC News:  Policeman and suspected gunman shot dead in Paris gun battle

Independent: Paris shooting: Police officer dead and two wounded in suspected terror attack

[Reuters]

Pakistan's Supreme Court on Thursday ruled there was insufficient evidence to order Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's removal from office over corruption allegations levelled by the opposition, but it ordered further investigations.

Two of five judges on the court bench recommended Sharif should step down, saying he was dishonest "to the nation as well as to the parliament", but they were out voted.

Presenting its 549-page judgment amid tight security in the capital Islamabad, the court ordered a joint investigation team be formed to look into allegations around three of Sharif's four children using offshore companies to buy properties in London.

(read more...)

See Also:

New York Times: Pakistan Court Keeps Nawaz Sharif in Power but Orders Inquiry of Family

[Bloomberg]

Protesters thronged the main avenues of Caracas and other Venezuelan cities, braving bullets, tear gas and militant supporters of President Nicolas Maduro in the biggest show of opposition to his rule in months.

The miles-long Caracas demonstration was called “the mother of all marches” by organizers, who rallied demonstrators from 26 points in Caracas. Opponents also took to the streets of cities including Barquisimeto, Porlamar and Maracaibo, where they were met by national guard and local police. At least two protesters were shot dead in the capital and the western city of San Cristobal.

(read more...)

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Washington Post: Venezuelans are still demonstrating. What happens next for the dictatorship of President Nicolás Maduro?

teleSUR (English): Venezuelan Opposition Announces Plans for More Street Actions

[NBC News]

The Trump administration is weighing whether to effectively break the terms of a landmark 2015 Iran nuclear deal, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said late Tuesday.

Tillerson notified Congress that despite finding that Iran is in compliance with the agreement, the White House is looking at whether the U.S. should break with the deal because of Iran's continued support of terrorism.

(read more...)

See Also:

CNN: Tillerson: Iran complying with nuclear deal, but still sponsoring terrorism

Reuters: US says Iran complies with nuke deal but orders review on lifting sanctions

[Washington Post]

Syrian state TV says the military is destroying a tunnel network that linked rebel-controlled towns which are being evacuated as part of a population transfer.

Government media said the area between Madaya and Zabadani came under military control Wednesday after gunmen and opposition activists were evacuated.

(read more...)

Wikipedia:2017 Aleppo suicide car bombing

BBC: Syria war: Evacuations resume after deadly bombing

ABC News: Syria resumes reciprocal evacuations after deadly bombing