This week’s top stories
Photo credit: anver.com
By Nora Tidey, News Editor
National
The Obama administration has officially accused Russia of trying to interfere with the 2016 election process, stating that Russia was behind the recent hackings of emails about upcoming U.S. elections. The announcement marks the first time that the U.S. administration has officially accused Russia of hacking into U.S. political systems and hacking emails on sites such as DCLeaks.com and WikiLeaks. In a joint statement the Department of Homeland Security and Office of the Director of National Intelligence said, “We believe, based on the scope and sensitivity of these efforts, that only Russia’s senior-most officials could have authorized these activities.” The statement went on to explain that the disclosures of hacked emails are intended to interfere with the election process and influence public opinion, and that such tactics are “not new to Moscow.” Dmitry Peskov, Russian presidential spokesman, referred to the accusations as “some kind of nonsense” and stated that despite the numerous hacking attempts on Putin’s website that are traced to U.S. territory, Russia does not blame the White House each time it happens. The House intelligence committee is calling for the U.S. to work with European allies to develop a response that will protect institutions and deter any meddling.
International
The Syrian civil war continues to cause devastation with an airstrike on the biggest market in the rebel-held side of Syria’s Aleppo killing at least 15 people on Wednesday. This strike comes just a day after at least 41 people, including five children, were killed in another series of airstrikes across rebel-held regions of the city. Rescuers were still digging through the rubble from Tuesday’s strikes when they were called to respond to the scene of the market bombing. Numerous other countries and prominent figures have responded to these attacks; Pope Francis has called for an urgent cease-fire in Syria to give time to evacuate civilians. The United Nations Security Council is at a deadlock over how to respond, with Russia and the U.S. failing to agree on renewing a cease-fire. Russia blocked the resolution proposed by France and Spain on ending the hostilities in Syria, prompting the French Foreign Minister to call on the International Criminal Court to investigate Russia for possible war crimes in Syria.
This week’s top stories were compiled by Nora Tidey with information from cnn.com and abcnews.go.com.
