RUSSIA’S PUTIN CALLS SAINT PETERSBURG BLAST ‘ACT OF TERROR’

MOSCOW: Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday called an explosion that tore through a Saint Petersburg supermarket, wounding 13 people, “an act of terror.” “As you know, an act of terror took place in Saint Petersburg yesterday,” he said at a meeting of military officers in the Kremlin. The homemade bomb went off in a locker at the supermarket on Wednesday evening, officials said. Anna Mityanina, vice governor of Saint Petersburg, said on Twitter that of the 13 wounded eight remained in hospital care while five people declined to be hospitalized. The explosion occurred at around 1845 local time (1545 GMT) as Russians geared up to celebrate the New Year—the country’s biggest holiday—followed by Russian Orthodox Christmas, which falls on January 7. Officials earlier said 10 people had been injured, saying the bomb had the power equivalent to 200 grams of TNT. The blast comes after a suicide bombing killed 15 people and wounded dozens on the Saint Petersburg metro in April. That bombing was claimed by a group linked to Al-Qaeda which said it was a message to countries engaged in war with Muslims, a veiled reference to Russia’s military campaign in Syria.

NO US PRESSURE BEHIND GUATEMALA EMBASSY MOVE TO JERUSALEM – FM

GUATEMALA CITY: Wednesday (Thursday in Manila). “There wasn’t any pressure. There wasn’t any overture from the United States to make this happen. This was a decision by the government, the state and the foreign policy of Guatemala,” the minister, Sandra Jovel, told a news conference in Guatemala City. Her affirmation follows Guatemalan President Jimmy Morales’s announcement on Sunday that his country was to move its embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. The declaration made Guatemala the first— and so far, only—country to follow US President Donald Trump’s lead in saying its embassy would be relocated to the holy city.

WORLD COULD SEE 1.8 BILLION TOURISTS BY 2030 – UN AGENCY