The Chinese Foreign Ministry has reiterated the country's position on the Korean peninsula crisis in the wake of US President Donald Trump's latest statement, calling on Beijing to downgrade diplomatic ties with the DPRK. "We have noted relevant statements made by president Trump this morning and I want to stress that China's position on the Korean peninsula issue remains firm and clear… [China hopes] that all sides will be able to contribute to the de-escalation of the situation on the Korean peninsula and return to negotiations and dialogue," Hua Chunying, the spokeswoman for the Chinese Foreign Ministry, said Wednesday. The statement was made after US President Donald Trump had stated in a speech in Seoul earlier in the day that China and Russia need to downgrade diplomatic relations and cut economic ties with Pyongyang. READ MORE: 'Do Not Try Us': Trump Warns North Korea, Offers 'Path to a Much Better Future' According to Hua, China has also noted Trump's call for Beijing to put more effort into resolving the issue. "China is strictly and fully implementing its international commitments," the spokeswoman said. Reaction to Trump's Demand Amid Asia Tour The US president's address to South Korea’s National Assembly was made ahead of his visit to China as part of his 13-days trip to the Asia-Pacific, with the North Korean issue being high on the agenda. Russia has already commented on Trump's demand, saying that Moscow has never supported a total embargo of North Korea, adding that the joint Russia-China proposals to settle the North Korean crisis are an alternative to the hard line chosen by Washington. READ MORE: Ryabkov: Russia Never Supported Total N Korea Embargo, There is an Alternative In the course of the unprecedented escalation of tensions on the Korean Peninsula amid Pyongyang's repeated missile launches and a nuclear test, Moscow and Beijing have proposed the so-called "double freeze plan" aimining to settle the crisis. According to the proposal, which has been so far rejected by Washington, North Korea should stop conducting nuclear tests, while the US and South Korea should refrain from joint drills. Previously, China has decided to partially ban imports from North Korea after repeated calls by the US president, urging Beijing, the DPRK's largest trade partner, to put more pressure on Pyongyang. Denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula Since 2003, China, Japan, North Korea, Russia, South Korea and the United States have been trying to find a peaceful solution to the denuclearization of the Korean peninsula through a series of six-party talks. At first, in 2005, North Korea agreed to freeze its nuclear program in return for fuel aid and other types of compensation. However, the talks fell apart in 2008 and North Korea officially withdrew from the six-party negotiations in 2009, following a rebuke from the UNSC over Pyongyang's recent failed satellite launch. READ MORE: North Korea: We Will Build Nuclear Power Until the US Leaves Us Alone China has been trying to convince parties to resume the six-party talks, considering them "possible", as Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi had stated in February. In September, Pyongyang successfully tested a hydrogen bomb in its sixth nuclear test. The move triggered the introduction of sanctions by UNSC, banning the sale of natural gas to North Korea and exports of textiles from the country as well as capping crude and refined oil imports.

The South Korean Defense Ministry has stated that the intercontinental ballistic missile recently tested by Pyongyang could potentially reach the territory of the United States. MOSCOW (Sputnik) — South Korea’s Defense Ministry on Friday deemed the recent missile test by the North a success, saying it was a new type capable of traveling over 13,000 kilometers (8,000 miles), the Yonhap news agency reported. READ MORE: Lawmaker After Trip to DPRK: N Korea Expects ICBM to Guarantee National Security "It's assessed that the flight test was successful. In the case it was fired at a normal angle, it would be capable of flying over 13,000km. That means it can reach Washington D.C.," the ministry said. North Korea's New Missile Test North Korea has tested a Hwasong-15 on Wednesday with the intercontinental ballistic missile fired at a very steep angle and reaching an altitude of 4,475 kilometers (2,780 miles), flying 950 kilometers (590 miles) before splashing down off the Japanese coast. According to the South Korean military, the Hwasong-15 had an appearance and features that were quite different from the previous model, the Hwasong-14. In his turn, Pentagon chief James Mattis stated shortly after the launch that the latest test "went higher, frankly, than any previous shot they've taken." Previous estimates of exactly how high the missile traveled vary, but the projectile seems to have reached at least some 3,000 miles, and was described as being capable of striking anywhere on the globe. In the wake of President Donald Trump's statement promising to tighten sanctions on North Korea, the US and Chinese top generals have held a number of meetings following the latest missile launch. READ MORE: Crisis Management: Top US, Chinese Generals Talk North Korea After Missile Test

“Crimes pile up until they become invisible” - When playwright Bertolt Brecht made this observation it was the era of fascism and European colonialism in the 1930s. The world was separated between states privileged by the dint of their power to speak, and the states forced to listen and obey. It was an epoch that culminated in World War II. Lamentably, today, the 1930s are back and the crimes are once again piling up – so many they are in danger of becoming invisible. Yugoslavia, Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, Yemen, Syria, the charge sheet grows ever longer with no end yet in sight; the latest chapter in this dismal story arriving with the illegal missile strike unleashed against Syria by the US, UK, and France over an alleged chemical weapons attack carried out in Douma on the outskirts of Damascus by Syrian government forces. I say alleged because at time of writing OPCW inspectors are yet to undertake an on-site investigation to ascertain if such an attack did in fact occur and, if so, with what precise chemical weapon or substance used. READ MORE: Syria Got Rid of Chemical Weapons, OPCW Confirmed Destruction — Russian FMA So here we have a situation where not only was this military action illegal under international law, it was undertaken before OPCW inspectors could begin their investigation, as per the existing and established international protocols which are set out in the Chemical Weapons Convention. Article IX states: 11. Pursuant to a request for a challenge inspection of a facility or location, and in accordance with the procedures provided for in the Verification Annex, the inspected State Party shall have: a) The right and the obligation to make every reasonable effort to demonstrate its compliance with this Convention and, to this end, to enable the inspection team to fulfil its mandate; I, for one, am long past the stage of believing that the world is divided between goodies and baddies, with the country I happen to live in, the UK, on the side of the goodies, along with the United States and various countries that come under the rubric: the West. It’s not as easy you think to arrive at this understanding, not when from cradle to grave people in the West are conditioned by the media, culture industry, and political elites to believe that a metaphorical Hadrian’s Wall separates us, the nice civilized people, from the bad barbaric people on the other side. They would have us believe that Western governments and their loyal journalists and media outlets are noble purveyors of truth and justice, while non-Western governments and their journalists and media outlets are incorrigible liars and propagandists. They would have us believe that the West’s ‘democracy bombs’ are only ever dropped in the cause of good, while their ‘barbarism bombs’ are only ever dropped in the cause of evil. The end result is acts of raw aggression such as the one unleashed against Syria over the alleged chemical weapons attack in Douma, dressed up as ever in the threadbare clothes of humanitarian intervention. On this occasion, as with ever other occasion when it comes to these chemical weapons attacks, the video footage and other visual evidence used to make the case for the prosecution emanated exclusively from opposition sources within Douma itself — in particular the notorious White Helmets civil defence organization, established by former British army officer and private military contractor James Le Mesurier. Though for some perhaps these are mere trifling details, but that this organization operates exclusively in opposition held Syrian territory and is funded by Western governments, isn’t this sufficient reason to at least try to resist suspension of disbelief? To ask is surely to answer. Other pro-opposition organizations involved in shaping the narrative on this latest alleged chemical weapons attack have been the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, based in the UK, and the Syrian American Medical Society. On the latter of these, the Syrian American Medical Society, here’s US author and commentator Max Blumenthal: “SAMS is not merely a group of Syrian doctors tending to the wounded in war torn areas, nor can it be considered an objective source on chemical attacks and other atrocities. The organization is a USAID-funded lobbying powerhouse that functions with a single-minded determination to stimulate a US-led war of regime change that will place Syrian Islamists in power in Damascus.” None of the details, information or footage of the attack derived from an independent or credible source – not difficult to understand why when no Western journalist or news crew would dare set foot in any part of the country controlled by the ‘rebels’, knowing that as soon as they did they’d be abducted and murdered. Veteran Middle East correspondent Robert Fisk is someone who knows what the Syrian government and its people are up against. Writing in the aftermath of the military attack mounted by the US and its allies, he informs us that in the suburbs of Damascus it was not only Ghouta where jihadi militants were entrenched. There is another suburb of the Syrian capital where Salafi-jihadi militants have managed to retain a presence. In this instance it is Daesh, and at time of writing Syrian troops are gathering there to engage in their next operation to secure the capital. Fisk informs us that on the 27th of March 116 Syrian soldiers were surrounded and captured here in a Daesh ambush, having strayed into the area in the mistaken belief that a ceasefire was in place and it was safe. Subsequently, the soldiers were taken away and executed — some were shot and some were beheaded. In the by now accustomed manner, the grisly event was caught on film. The point that needs to be made is that this base barbarism, rife throughout Syria over these past seven years, did not take place in a desert somewhere. No, it occurred in 2018 on the outskirts of a major capital city in the Middle East. Imagine for a moment if it was taking place on the outskirts of London or Washington or Paris. Just imagine. Or can’t you? Can’t you imagine it? Are you unable to grasp the sheer horror of having on your doorstep the kind of people for whom there is no constraint, no limit when it comes to wanton murder and massacre? It is precisely because we cannot imagine it that the outrageous moral equivalence made between a secular non-sectarian government, supported by an army whose soldiers are drawn from every part of Syria’s religious and cultural mosaic, and brutal sectarian butchers intent on genocide, has been allowed to pass muster in the West. It has led us to the criminal folly of the US, UK and France refusing to align themselves with the people who’ve been on the receiving end of this sectarian barbarism in Syria, choosing instead to effectively join forces with the barbarians of al-Qaeda, Daesh, Nusra, and Jaish al-Islam. It is tantamount to entering a pact with hell. The views of John Wight do not necessarily reflect those of Sputnik.

The US military is building a new overseas military base in Niger, adding to its existing inventory of more than 800 bases in more than 70 countries, according to a recent dispatch from central Niger. The Associated Press reported Monday that the US Air Force was constructing hangars and runways for armed MQ-9 Reaper drones to conduct flights around West Africa. The base is supposedly being built at the request of Niger's government. US defense officials have not disclosed just how many deadly drones will call the new base home. The base's $110 million construction cost makes it the "largest troop labor construction project in US history," the AP reported, citing US Air Force officials. The MQ-9 Reaper is arguably the most advanced drone in the US arsenal. The remotely piloted aircraft has a range of 1,150 miles, allowing it to provide strike support and intelligence gathering capabilities across West and North Africa from the new base outside of Agadez. The unmanned aircraft is larger than its MQ-1 Predator drone cousin, features laser designators for dropping GBU-12 Paveway II bombs, a synthetic aperture radar for integrating GBU-38 Joint Direct Attack Munitions, and the capability to carry an armament of four Hellfire air-to-ground anti-armor and anti-personnel missiles. The multi-role aircraft can perform surveillance and reconnaissance duties as a secondary function as well. Since Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi was overthrown in 2011, smuggling routes between Niger and Libya have reopened for business. Politico Europe reported in October 2016 that Agadez, Niger — a few miles from where the new US drone base will be located — had earned the title of the "de facto smuggling capital of the sub-Saharan region." Drugs, weapons and humans are routinely trafficked through Agadez before being sent up to Libya or Tunisia and then through the Mediterranean to Europe, Politico reported. The US military's presence in Niger emerged from relative obscurity last October when four US Army Special Forces troops were killed in an ambush by Daesh-affiliated fighters. The US military's deployment of manpower and military assets to Niger is not obscure or trivial at all from a military operations standpoint. "Already the US military presence here is the second largest in Africa, behind the sole permanent US base on the continent, in the tiny nation of Djibouti, on the Horn of Africa," the AP noted. One official in Niger's government expressed concern about the deployment of powerful US drones around the poor, former French colony. "We are afraid of falling back into the same situation as in Afghanistan, with many mistakes made by American soldiers who did not always know the difference between a wedding ceremony and a training of terrorist groups," Nigerian government official Amadou Roufai told AP. The US military is officially on the continent to help combat militants with ties to Al-Qaeda, Daesh, and Boko Haram, which operates in Niger's eastern neighbor, Nigeria.

The US-led coalition has made every effort to undermine the achievements of Damascus and Moscow, Syrian parliamentarian Fares Shehabi told Sputnik, suggesting that the Skripal poisoning case, the alleged Douma attack and the US-led coalition's missile strike on Syria are interconnected. The US, France and the UK have failed to break the will of the Syrian people by its joint missile strike; likewise, the US-led coalition's plan to support the creation of an autonomous region in southern Syria is doomed to failure, Fares Shehabi, a Syrian parliament member from Aleppo and chairman of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Syrian Arab Republic (SAR), told Sputnik Arabic. "[Separatists] can only sow discord for a limited period of time just to hold us back, just to weaken us," Shehabi said. "But eventually we will liberate the area. They tried to do the same in Aleppo, in Homs, in Eastern Ghouta, in Deir ez-Zor, but all their attempts failed. Very soon every city on the southern border will be liberated." Speaking to journalists on April 19, Russian Foreign Ministery spokeswoman Maria Zakharova revealed that Moscow has information that al-Nusra* militants, supported by the US, were creating an autonomous region in southern Syria. According to the Syrian parliamentarian, by launching a large-scale missile strike on Syria on April 14, Washington, Paris and London sent a message to Russia: "Don't try to act like a major superpower since you are not." "Their goal was to insult the integrity and pride of Russia and the Syrian people. It was an aggression against us [the Syrians] not against the government, but they didn't succeed," the Syrian politician stressed. US-Led Coalition's Attack on Syria Based on Lie He highlighted that the US-led coalition's attack was based "on a big lie" and was an outright violation of international law. "The people who ordered this attack should be put in jail, brought to trial by their people because they lied," the parliamentarian opined referring to the alleged use of chemical weapons in the Syrian town of Douma, Eastern Ghouta, on April 7. The attack was immediately blamed on the Syrian government by the US and its allies. Meanwhile, evidence continues to emerge indicating that the alleged attack was nothing short of a false flag operation. Following the supposed strike, the Russian Defense Ministry's chemical corps commission on the ground reported that it had found no traces of chlorine or sarin poisoning. The family of Hasan Diab, a Syrian boy presented in the White Helmets' video as a "victim" of the alleged Douma attack, confirmed that there was no chemical strike in the town. Another boy, 10-year-old Mustafa, who also played the role of a "victim" in the non-governmental organization's video, told Sputnik that he and other kids were given cookies and potatoes for taking part in the staged filming. For his part, Uli Gack of the German TV network ZDF visited Syria and reported that Douma residents told him that the alleged April 7 attack had been staged by terrorists. Furthermore, on April 22, Syrian government forces discovered a makeshift chemical weapons factory in Douma on territories previously held by terrorists. Earlier, on April 13, on the eve of the joint missile strike the Russian Defense Ministry reported that it had evidence "indicating Britain's direct participation in organizing this provocation in Eastern Ghouta." "We said that before," Shehabi highlighted. "The White Helmets who faked the attack were shouting: 'Chemical attack, chemical attack!' Some people were at the clinic at the Douma hospital under treatment for hypoxia not for a chemical attack. Then the White Helmets came and started filming fake videos." Theresa May Should Pay The parliamentarian pointed out that the NGO was "funded, ruled and managed by David Messier, a London-based ex-MI6 agent." He's the one who funded the White Helmets in 2013 and he's from MI6 — that means that MI6 was behind the Douma attack and [UK Prime Minister] Theresa May should pay a price for this because she is heading the British government. This means she perpetrated a fraud on her own people, she attacked us, she violated our rights in Syria," Shehabi stressed. According to the Syrian politician the poisoning of former spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia in Salisbury, England, on March 4, which was groundlessly blamed on the Kremlin, the alleged Douma attack and the April 14 missile strike on Syria are deeply interconnected. "It's a clear fabrication to make Russia and Syria look bad," he said. "They want to show that Syria and Russia use chemical weapons to get rid of their opponents and that they are chemical abusers, they want to demonize us." In light of this, the US-led coalition may try to complicate the investigation by the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) into the Douma case, he believes: "They want to keep Russia out of the investigation, and pin the blame on it." Meanwhile, on April 23, Vladimir Ermakov, the director of the department of nonproliferation and arms control of the Russian Foreign Ministry, stated that Russia does not consider it necessary to take part in the OPCW chemical weapons probe in Douma. "Why should Moscow participate in this investigation? It is conducted by qualified experts of the OPCW. Russia's task is to provide them with working conditions if possible," Ermakov told Sputnik, adding that the organization remains under heavy pressure from the US because Washington "made the decision in advance that Syrian President Bashar Assad should be removed." US Has Never Really Fought Daesh Commenting on Washington's real objectives in Syria, Shehabi underscored that the US had never really sought to get rid of Daesh (ISIS/ISIL).** "The US has never waged a war on Daesh: They were managing terrorism but they never wanted to get rid of it. I'll give you an example: Daesh fighters were located in the Deir ez-Zor region and when we [Syrian government forces] defeated them there, when we made every effort to eliminate them — who stepped in and stood up for them? It was the United States. They created an enclave on the Syrian-Iraqi border allowing Daesh to regroup there." The parliamentarian opined that Washington has always kept an eye on Daesh and does not allow anyone to eradicate the terrorist group. The US motivation is clear, according to the politician: Once the Syrian army gets rid of the terrorist group, Washington will have no more justification for its already illegal presence in Syria. Previously, Syrian news agency SANA reported about the alleged evacuation of Daesh militants of Iraqi origin and their families from Syria's al-Hasakah by US helicopters. US Air Force aircraft have been repeatedly spotted transferring Daesh commanders and militants from various spots in Syria to the US-controlled territories amid the Syrian Arab Army's advances. *al-Nusra (Nusra Front, al-Nusra Front) is a terrorist organization banned in Russia. ** Daesh (ISIS/ISIL/IS) is a terrorist organization banned in Russia. The views and opinions expressed by Fares Shehabi are those of the speaker and do not necessarily reflect those of Sputnik.

A man in Cambridgeshire, England, videotaped what appears to be a UFO hovering in the night sky Sunday evening. The video shows two flickering balls of light floating west of Landbeach, a small village in eastern England. "I went out for a cigarette before bed, it must have been about 11 o'clock at night, and I saw these two lights," the anonymous resident told Cambridge News, a British daily newspaper. "One was roughly 300 feet in the air and white, the other hovering just above the tree line and orange. The orange one hovered for about five minutes before disappearing out of view. The one you can see hovered for at least 15 minutes. It was still there after I got the footage and went back inside." The man initially thought the light was a twinkling star — until it started moving. He described its movement as erratic, "not like anything I've seen… It darted around slightly and went behind a tree before coming out again. It felt like it was staring at me," he said. "I'm quite spooked; I'm not a person who goes out looking for stuff like UFOs, but I can't think of anything that would explain it. If it was a helicopter or airplane I'd have heard the engine. It could have been a drone, but I just don't think the light looks right," he added. This is not the first time mysterious lights have been spotted over Cambridgeshire. Last August, reports of an orange ball of light impelled the East Anglia UFO group to explore the area around the city of Cambridge. At the time of that sighting, the group's chairman, Tony Buckingham, said, "Around 95 percent of sightings are mistakes or hoaxes… but some are unexplained and stunning." On Monday., another resident told Cambridge News that last summer, she saw a similar "cluster of sparkles" to the ones spotted this past weekend. "I saw a similar phenomenon last summer driving toward Milton from Cottenham," she said. "This was about 10 p.m. and it was a clear-skied night. I saw clusters of white sparkles in the horizon that disappeared then reappeared in another section of the skyline." "I thought they were stars at first, then some flew off at upward angles. It really freaked me out. I remember telling people at work the next day, but I didn't have any evidence. Then I just forgot about it. Seeing this footage, I'm certain it's the same thing," she added. However, after viewing Sunday's footage, Buckingham speculates that the light is most likely the planet Venus. "The image on the video does not appear to move when zoomed in. However, the camera is obviously moving, so this makes any estimation of object movement poor. The apparent movement — when zoomed in — could also be caused by the digital malfunction process of the camera," Buckingham told Cambridge News on Monday. "The white spot, with sometimes a slither of color, could be any of the following: Venus — the planet is very large at the moment and can be seen in the west — the International Space Station or other satellite or a bright star," Buckingham said. "I think the most likely explanation is the planet Venus. It was very bright last night and appeared to me last night to be at the same angle of elevation in the sky. We do have the time and date, and if the location and orientation were known, we could make a more accurate assessment," he added.

The Democratic Party has initiated new legal proceedings, accusing the Trump campaign of conspiring with Russia and Wikileaks to undermine the US presidential elections in 2016. Sputnik discussed this with Anthony Moretti, Associate Professor in the Department of Communications at Robert Morris University. Sputnik: Why have the Democrats initiated this legal action now? What took them so long and what are they trying to achieve here? Anthony Moretti: What you have to do is look at the calendar and remember that with the November midterm elections coming up in just a few months, for the Democrats this is sort of a cash register decision I think. I don't often find myself in agreement with this political administration in Washington, I will admit that, but in this case I think that the president is probably spot on when he says, that this is probably a deflection, this is probably a bit of a distraction, but remember for Democrats that this is one of those sort of events that they should not and will not let go of until all of the information is out. My suspicion is that most of the information is already out, I don't suspect something new is going to be found here, but this again is a very good opportunity for Democrats to bang this drum a little more, and a little more loudly to try and raise some money. READ MORE: WikiLeaks Claims Cryptocurrency Exchange Shut Down Its Bitcoin Account Sputnik: Considering there's never been any solid proof of collusion, would this lawsuit make any difference? Anthony Moretti: The problem I think that they're going to face above anything else is that this is going to allow that sort of chaotic discussion and those chaotic pictures from the 2016 Democratic convention to come back into the public spotlight, and there's going to be questions about how much were the party officials really trying to ensure that Hillary Clinton was the nominee. Were they were working against Bernie Sanders, if so, how and in what ways. I understand the idea of trying to shine that spotlight on the President and to try and raise the issue of collusion as a way to try and generate interest and support among party members. But if you're looking at it from an outside perspective there certainly is this 'wait a minute was it yours the party that it didn't look like you really didn't want Bernie Sanders to win?' aspect, and all of these accusations are going to come up. I'm not sure that's a good image you want, going into the 2018 midterm elections. Sputnik: One of the key things here are your points regarding the midterm elections in November and the way of deflecting that, but isn't the American audience, the American population rather sick and tired of this ongoing rhetoric from the Democratic Party? It's a bit like your previous boyfriend trying to win the girlfriend back and he's going to all end of means of try and get her back, but it's just not going to happen. They're continuing with this, they American population, surely they must be tired of this by now, aren't they? Anthony Moretti: I think that's fair statement to make. My suspicion is that at some level, as Robert Mueller's investigation winds down, my sense is that Democratic officials are probably becoming more and more convinced that whatever Mueller is going to find, it's going to be very little, if anything, directed directly at Russia, and is probably going to be much more directed at the President and either his personal contact or his personal business deals. Those are the kinds of things that make for a great scandal, great headlines and all those things, but that is much more of a domestic political issue rather than an international scandal, and I wonder, and I have no evidence to support this, this is at least I hope an educated guess, I wonder if the Democrats are becoming convinced, that you know what, sure this is a good thing if the President is embarrassed, but the whole collusion thing still does allow us to raise a lot of money. Sputnik: You make some very valid points; I can understand the rationale behind that. The Democratic party's lawsuit controversy has already been likened to the Watergate scandal, it is as big as that? What's your view in terms of this comparison? Is history repeating itself or is that a different story now? Can it be compared to Watergate or are we overstating the case with that really? Anthony Moretti: There's only a valid comparison if there is solid evidence that makes for a criminal conspiracy in that way. To this point there has been nothing concrete that has validated that. Does that mean that something could come up in the next few weeks, few months, few years? Sure, but as of now there is no concrete evidence to point to that, and until there is, I don't look at that comparison to be very solid or legitimate, because you need to have proof to back it up. The views of the speaker do not necessarily reflect those of Sputnik.

On Monday, Johns Hopkins Hospital doctors announced that their plastic and reconstructive surgeons had successfully carried out the world’s first transplant of a penis, scrotum and abdominal wall on a soldier who sustained injuries in Afghanistan and lost his genitals. "We are hopeful that this transplant will help restore near-normal urinary and sexual functions for this young man," said W.P. Andrew Lee, professor and director of plastic and reconstructive surgery at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, according to a Monday press release. The 14-hour surgery was conducted on March 26 by a team of nine plastic surgeons and two urological surgeons on the veteran, who chose to remain anonymous. The surgeons transplanted a penis, scrotum without testicles and a partial abdominal wall from a dead donor onto the man. "It's a real mind-boggling injury to suffer, it is not an easy one to accept," the patient said, according to the press release. Many soldiers sustain injuries causing them to lose their lower limbs or genitals as the use of improvised explosive devices (IEDs) in war have increased during the last decade. IEDs, extensively used against US-led invasion troops during the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, are commonly seen as roadside bombs. "When I first woke up, I felt finally more normal… [with] a level of confidence as well. Confidence… like, finally, I'm okay now," he added. The patient has recovered from the surgery and is expected to be discharged from the hospital this week, although he is still taking medication to prevent his body from rejecting the transplant, the Baltimore Sun reported. This type of transplant, in which a body part is moved from one person to another, is called vascularized composite allotransplantation and involves transplanting skin, muscles, tendons, nerves, bone and blood vessels. After such a surgery, the patient must continue to take a variety of immunosuppressive drugs to prevent their body from rejecting the foreign tissue. This surgery is the latest success for Hopkin's reconstructive team. In 2013, doctors performed a double arm transplant on Brendan Marrocco, a veteran who lost all four limbs when he drove over a bomb during the Iraq war in 2009. Doctors at Massachusetts General Hospital transplanted a penis without a scrotum in 2016.

A passenger onboard an American Airlines flight was shocked with a taser stun gun by officers from the Miami-Dade Police Department on Sunday after resisting arrest. Officers were called to the plane at Miami International Airport after the man allegedly fondled a woman and yelled out racial slurs at another couple on the flight. Video of the incident was recorded and later uploaded on Twitter by Jabari Ennis. Throughout the arrest and the moments he was shocked, 28-year-old Jacob Garcia repeatedly asked the officers why he was being detained. Another passenger responding to Garcia is heard saying, "well you just assaulted a lady, for one, and you're racist, for two." The roughly two-minute recording shows Garcia fighting officers and trying to swat away the taser. According to police, the altercation began when Garcia touched a woman without her permission and began to argue with the woman's boyfriend. When Garcia refused to get off the plane, officers were called to the scene. "Once law enforcement was on the aircraft, the passenger then became combative with the officers from the Miami-Dade Police Department," American Airlines said in a statement to ABC News. "The same passenger was subsequently arrested by law enforcement." A second video shared on Twitter by traveler Kaitlin Waters shows Garcia continuing to be combative with officers as they escort him from the terminal. With all passengers of Flight 2446 having been forced to deplane because of the incident, loud cheers were heard from the group as officers whisked Garcia away from the terminal on a security golf cart. After Garcia was removed from the airport, he allegedly tried to grab the handgun of an officer and attempted to kick out the window of a police car. He was later charged with battery, resisting arrest, disorderly conduct and depriving an officer of their means of protection. Garcia is being held on $9,000 bond pending his hearing, NBC Miami reported. The flight, which was traveling from Miami to Chicago, was delayed by an hour.

China’s first indigenously constructed aircraft carrier is poised to begin sea trials this week, about a year after the massive ship was commissioned, according to a new report. The Type 001A carrier may start sea trials as the People's Liberation Army-Navy celebrates its 69th birthday Monday, the South China Morning Post reported. In addition to PLA-Navy sources informing the Post of the looming sea drills, the Liaoning Maritime Safety Administration announced Friday that parts of the Bohai and Yellow Sea would be off limits to non-military ships from April 20 to April 28. Weather and sea conditions are said to play a role in whether the vessel will start sea trials, SCMP noted. According to the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies, the Type 001A is quite similar to China's Liaoning aircraft carrier, a Soviet-built hull that Beijing purchased from Kiev in 1998. Beijing modernized the ship and commissioned it with the PLA-Navy in 2012. The Type 001A displaces almost the same amount of water as the Liaoning and utilizes a ski-jump inclination for fixed-wing aircraft taking off from the ship, just like Liaoning. The Type 001A's dimensions measure 315 meters in length and 75 meters at the beam. "Extensive training on the country's first aircraft carrier, Liaoning, has given the PLA-Navy experience operating the huge ship in the open sea, and gained initial capabilities on military operations in the far sea," a retired PLA-Navy officer told China's Global Times on Monday. China established its first overseas base last year on the Horn of Africa by purchasing the leasing rights to a port in Djibouti. Chinese President Xi Jinping has called for the development of a powerful naval force capable of operating across the world's waters. Xi Guangyu, a retired major general from the PLA, also told the Global Times on Monday that "in the future, the Chinese navy will need more bases around the globe, especially in key regions, to support its overseas mission."

Commenting on an alleged April 7 chemical weapons attack in Douma during an interview with Sputnik, local medic Mirwan Jaber specifically underscored that he and his colleagues had never treated patients exposed to chemical agents. Speaking to Sputnik, doctor Mirwan Jaber from a Douma hospital has described a video depicting victims of an alleged chemical attack in Eastern Ghouta as fabricated footage. "Many people burst into the hospital. Among them were those clad in medical outfit but they were not our employees, and I do not think that they were medics at all. They started shouting something about a chemical attack dousing people with water and all this was filmed. As a result, rumors were spread among Douma residents, something which in turn sparked panic," Jaber said. READ MORE: Ex-UN Commission Member: Militants' Lab Equipment in Douma Made in UK or Germany He added that the medics did not know the cause of all this chaos and that doctors approached people who were wet from water, but who had no signs that they were damaged by chemical weapons. According to Jaber, symptoms indicating that a person is affected by a chemical warfare agent include burns or sores on the skin and eyes, as well as coughing, chest pain, dizziness, nausea, drowsiness, involuntary urination and defecation, skin acne, rashes and severely narrowed pupils. "The participants of the staged video did not have these symptoms," the doctor underlined. READ MORE: Moscow Slams Reports Russia Stopping OPCW from Entering Douma as 'Unscrupulous' He drew attention to the fact that using chemical weapons typically leads to the death of animals and insects in a kill zone where trees and grass wither, being covered by dust. "All those who were hit by chemical weapons can be hospitalized long after a chemical attack; a strong smell of fruit, flowers or garlic emerges in the air. As you can see, all this is not the case with Douma," Jaber stressed. Last week, Russian Foreign Ministry's spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said that Hasan Diab, the Syrian boy who told Russian Rossiya 24 TV channel about the details of the fake video of the alleged chemical weapons attack in Douma, should speak at the UN Security Council. Earlier this month, a number of media outlets and Western countries accused Damascus of using chemical weapons in the Damascus suburb of Douma on April 7. The Syrian government and the Russian Defense Ministry rejected the allegations as a false flag provocation, which they said was staged by the White Helmets group to influence public opinion and prod the US to launch a missile strike on Syria. The views and opinions expressed by Mirwan Jaber are those of the analyst and do not necessarily reflect those of Sputnik.

Israel’s air force cancelled the participation of its F-15 fighters in the Red Flag - Alaska multinational aerial combat exercises as the country faces rising tensions with Iran and Syria and mass protests by residents in Gaza. Instead, the fighter jets will remain at home, on high alert. Two Israeli F-15 fighter jets struck the T-4 airbase in Syria April 9, killing seven Iranians operating in the country on behalf of the government, the Russian Foreign Ministry said after the attack. The strike came in response to allegations that an explosive drone was sent into Israeli air space from the base, according to the Times of Israel After the attack on the base, Israel reportedly placed its F-15s on high alert in case Iran struck back. The Iranian Foreign Ministry has promised to respond to the attack. "The Zionist entity will sooner or later receive the necessary response and will regret its misdeeds," Bahram Qasemi, a spokesperson for Iran's Foreign Ministry, said at an April 16 press conference. An IDF official who admitted that Israel had conducted the strike spoke with The New York Times, but the paper published a correction after speaking with an IDF spokesperson who said the official did not speak for the military. "It was the first time we attacked live Iranian targets — both facilities and people," the New York Times' original source stated. An IDF spokesman said other air force assets would still take part in the drills in the northernmost US state, such as aerial refuelers. Red Flag exercises are an advanced aerial combat training exercise hosted at Nevada's Nellis Air Force Base and at the Eielson Air Force Base in Alaska. This will be Israel's first time participating in Red Flag — Alaska, which is arranged a few times a year and allows other nations to drill in snowy terrain and cold weather — a rare opportunity for some US partners like Israel. The country has taken part in other Red Flag drills. Reportedly, Israel had intended to send up to a dozen F-15s to the event. IDF spokesperson Lieutenant Kitsana Dounglomchan would not give details about how Israel's involvement in the drills will play out instead.

Canadian police said they had been called to Yonge Street and Finch Avenue East in one of Canada's major cities, for a collision amid the G7 meeting in the city. A white van had run over pedestrians in Toronto, the local police reported, saying at least two people were killed in the incident. The total reported amount of injured people is estimated as eight to ten people. The cause and extent of injuries remain unknown, according to their tweet. The incident occurred some 30 kilometers from the city center, where the G7 foreign ministers had a meeting on Monday. A police spokesperson said that the truck had apparently jumped the curb. "Reports were that a white van mounted the curb, drove down the sidewalk at southbound Yonge, south of Finch, and struck eight to 10 people possibly, the numbers aren't confirmed yet," Gary Long, a police spokesperson, told Canadian broadcaster Global News. Police stopped the van and arrested the driver shortly after it fled the scene of the crash, the CBC reported. The video of the alleged driver's detention has been circulating on social media platforms. Medical crews arrived at the scene to treat multiple patients but didn't confirm the number or severity of injuries, according to Toronto paramedic spokeswoman Kim McKinnon. Toronto's Sunnybrook Hospital reported receiving 7 patients from the scene of the incident. The subway service between nearby stations was suspended after the incident, according to media reports.

The Israeli armed forces launched an attack after a mortar shell fell next to a security fence in the north of the Israel-held Golan Heights. "In response, the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) targeted one artillery piece in the area from which the fire originated, in the northern Syrian Golan Heights," the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) said in a Twitter statement on Monday. An IDF spokesperson refused to comment on what kind of weapons Israel used in response, saying only that "the Syrian regime" will be held accountable and that any attempts to "breach Israeli sovereignty or endanger civilians" will be thwarted. The Golan Heights, which have been under Israel's control since the 1967 Six-Day War, regularly witness cross-border fire between Israel and Syria. Israeli forces have conducted dozens of airstrikes against Syrian armed forces and their allies in recent months.

Thanks @norma for the invite.

BELGRADE (Sputnik) - Serbian Prime Minister Ana Brnabic expressed protest to Matthew Palmer, the director of the Office for South-East Europe in the US State Department, over the arrest of Director of the Office for Kosovo and Metohija Marko Djuric in Kosovo, the Serbian government said Thursday. "Brnabic voiced a strong protest over the arrest of Director of the Office for Kosovo-Metohija Marko Djuric and attacks on Serbian officials, civilians and journalists by the Pristina police. She also pointed out that Serbia expects the international community to condemn the violence of the Pristina security forces," the statement reads. Brnabic also highlighted the importance of creating the Association of Serb Municipalities in Kosovo, stressing Serbia’s readiness to pursue dialogue with Kosovo. READ MORE: Sleepless in Kosovo: A New Balkan War in the Making? In turn, Palmer stressed that the United States wanted to keep the Western Balkans region peaceful and stable, expressing concern over recent incidents in Kosovo. In March, Kosovo police special forces broke into the administration building in Kosovska Mitrovica and arrested Djuric. A total of 32 people, including high-ranking officials, were reportedly injured. Tensions between Kosovo and Serbia have escalated recently in the wake of the detention and deportation of Marko Djuric. The Serbian official came to Kosovo to participate in a meeting in Kosovska Mitrovica despite the fact that Kosovo authorities banned him from doing so. According to media reports, Djuric took a bypass route instead of entering the city through one of the border crossings and was detained by Kosovo police special forces. READ MORE: Four Scenarios for Kosovo: From Frozen Conflict to Expulsion of Serbs Djuric claimed that his arrest was a "rehearsal" for Kosovo's possible endeavour to take over northern Kosovo, where a Serbian majority live. Later, a total of 32 people were reportedly injured as police deployed tear gas to disperse Serbs demonstrating against the detention of Djuric. Kosovo, Serbia's former province, declared independence in 2008, but Belgrade did not recognize that decision. The arrest of Djuric damaged already tense relations between the two neighbours.

Serbian representatives to the Kosovo government have announced their exit from the body after the director of the Office for Kosovo and Metohija, Marko Djuric was expelled from the region. Sputnik has discussed the possible implications of this move on the future of relations between Belgrade and Pristina with political experts. The Incident is a Result of Political Feud With the recent Serbian demarche, Ramush Haradinaj's government is facing possible dismissal and even new elections. Nexhmedin Spahiu, a political scientist from Kosovo, notes that Haradinaj has enough people to garner a majority government without Serbs, but he can't do so, as some of the seats are ethnically reserved. He recalls though that the people occupying these posts do not necessarily have to be members of the party — just being Serbian would suffice. If the problem isn't solved new elections must be conducted, but Haradinaj himself expressed hope that the Serbs would change their minds, because otherwise they won't be able to protect their national interests. Milivoje Mihajlovic, an expert on Kosovo from Belgrade, sees the incident as a part of a political feud. He is confident that President of Kosovo Hashim Thaci wants to demonstrate he is capable of handling tough situations in order to protect himself from possible prosecution over Kosovo Liberation Army war crimes. Mihajlovic recalls that Thaci recently had a talk with EU top diplomat Federica Mogherini, where he explained that he had demanded Kosovo citizens to uphold the peace. Another reason behind the move may be a desire to create problems for his political rival — Ramush Haradinaj Four Scenarios on the Development of Kosovo-Serbian Relations Zeljko Cvijanovic, a political scientist, says that negotiation process between two states is currently deadlocked, as is the process of admission of Kosovo to the UN. "The US can't pressure the Serbs like they used to in the 1990s or 2000s. The world has changed. Stronger pressure will push Serbs towards Russia and China. Something was needed to be done in Kosovo, so the situation in the region changed more or less," Cvijanovic said. According to the political scientist, there are several scenarios on how the situation might play out. The first suggests an attack on the civilian Serbian population in Kosovo and their exodus to central Serbia. The key idea behind that is to threaten the Serbian government in Belgrade with such an exodus (and according to the expert no government there will survive that) to force them to accept any deal the US offers. The second scenario suggests Serbia shifting priorities from entering the EU to keeping Kosovo under its wing. Cvijanovic is adamant that the idea of joining the EU has been limiting Serbia's options for ten years already. He notes though, that such a scenario will face backlash from the West and could even lead to attempts to overthrow the government through the stimulation of internal conflicts or some kind of revolution. Third in line is the incident will be forgotten and negotiations will continue, said Cvijanovic. In this case the conflict will sway back and forth from the frozen to active phase. The political scientist gives little credence for the radical scenario, whereby Albanians attempt to seize Northern Kosovo, predominantly inhabited by Serbs and Serbia retaliates. He adds that regardless of whichever scenario will be chosen, the Kosovo issue won't be resolved within the next five years. The views and opinions expressed are those of the speakers do not necessarily reflect those of Sputnik.

With the Kosovo Serb party withdrawing from the Kosovan Parliament following the arrest of a Serbian Politician during a visit to Kosovo, the region could potentially be set for a political shake-up. Kosovan Prime Minister Ramush Haradinaj will either have to hold another election or form a new coalition. Increased tensions between Serbia and Kosovo could negatively impact Serbia’s attempts to join the EU by 2025. Sputnik spoke with political commentators Fabian Vendrig and Nikola Mitrovic for more insights into the issue. Sputnik: Will this event serve to disrupt the Balkans? Fabian Vendrig: It will not destabilise the region because both governments need each other to maintain their power and these situations occur a couple of times a year. It is tense for a week and then it calms down, this is just power politics. Sputnik: Would Serbia join the EU and NATO? Fabian Vendrig: Serbia will not join NATO, the people do not that want that here. The wounds of the bombings conducted by NATO in the 1990’s are still fresh. I think Serbia will join the EU by 2025 but the opinions of the Serbs are mixed, they are caught between the east and the west. Sputnik: Was Kosovo’s declaration of independence legitimate? Nikola Mitrovic: It’s totally illegitimate and I think this is why we’ve had these problems. Please bear in mind that Kosovo was invented by NATO and the EU, there is no such thing as the Kosovar language or history, it was invented to bring Serbia to its knees because Serbia would not fall in line with Washington’s plans for Europe, following the breakup of the Soviet Union. Kosovo is a banana republic, 30% of the population is unemployed, 60% of youth is unemployed, it is serving only due to funding from Washington and the EU. Despite the backing, this is a failed state and demonstrates that NATO nation building is a failure. The views and opinions expressed by Fabian Vendrig and Nikola Mitrovic are those of the speakers and do not necessarily reflect those of Sputnik.

The president said that the US, French and British attack on Syria on April 14 was a reminder that a policy of military neutrality was the only correct course for Belgrade to take. "For all of us who are over 18 or 19 years old, this campaign is a painful reminder of the period we went through," Aleksandar Vucic said, speaking to Serbian television on Saturday. The US led-tripartite attack made several things very clear, Vucic said. "The policy of military neutrality is the only policy which we can conduct, because being on the side of the strong does not necessarily mean that you are on the side of morality and truth," he noted. According to Vucic, the situation in the world today now resembles the one which the world faced ahead of the First World War. "There is a struggle for resources, for oil, copper, aluminum – a clash of interests. This atmosphere reminds me of the one which existed ahead of the First World War; although I will not say that something like this can happen, since the forces and military might of countries today are frightfully immense." Serbia's goal must now be to quietly work to improve its economy, but also to strengthen its military "to be able of defend ourselves," the president said. Yugoslavia was subjected to a 78-day NATO bombing campaign between March 23 and June 10, 1999. The bombing led to upwards of 5,700 civilian deaths, and contaminated areas of the country with radiation from NATO's depleted uranium (DU) rounds. The US, France and the UK launched 103 air and warship-launched cruise missiles into Syria on Saturday morning, aiming at targets in Damascus and Homs province. According to the Russian military, Syrian air defenses intercepted 69% of the missiles.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - Foreign citizens visiting Russia will begin receiving tax refunds in several FIFA World Cup host cities on April 10, Russian Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Viktor Evtukhov said Tuesday. “From April 10, the shops that will participate in the system and within the yet limited locations determined [by the government] will be able to issue tax-free documents. Therefore, those foreign citizens who acquire goods within the current system [of tax-free payments], will be able to receive VAT refunds,” Evtukhov told reporters. According to the official, four cities were chosen to participate in the project so far, namely Moscow, St. Petersburg, Sochi and the city of Krasnogorsk in the Moscow Region. “We have instructions to develop the tax-free system in the host cities of the football World Cup as well,” Evtukhov added. The tax-free regulations came into force in Russia on January 1. According to the regulations, foreigners visiting Russia will be able to obtain a tax refund for purchases worth at least 10,000 rubles (over $170). The refund stands at 18 percent from the product’s price. Citizens of the member states of the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU), comprising Russia, Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan, are not eligible for a refund, the legislation stipulates. READ MORE: Football Fans Book About Half of Free Train Seats to Russia World Cup — Official From June 14 to July 15, Russia will host the FIFA World Cup for the first time in history, with the matches set to be held in Moscow, St. Petersburg, Rostov-on-Don, Sochi, Yekaterinburg, Saransk, Kaliningrad, Nizhny Novgorod, Kazan, Volgograd, and Samara.