Gaza Strip: 55 Palestinians killed while protesting US embassy in Jerusalem

At least 55 Palestinians were killed and 2,771 were injured on Monday as Israeli troops fired on demonstrators along the Gaza-Israel boundary protesting the opening of the US embassy in Jerusalem, making it the deadliest day of violence since the 2014 Gaza war.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan today accused Israel of "state terror" and "genocide" after Israeli forces killed at least 55 Palestinians on the Gaza border.

In one of his most vehement broadsides ever against the Jewish state, Erdogan also announced three days of national mourning over the deaths, as well as a giant protest in Istanbul on Friday.

US blocks call for independent Gaza inquiry at UN

Despite the bloodshed, Trump hailed the move in a video message. He told the dedication ceremony that it had been a "long time coming", adding: "Israel is a sovereign nation with the right to determine its own capital but for many years we failed to acknowledge the obvious."

Xi Jinping revamps PLA ahead of 19th Communist Party Congress

Chinese President Xi Jinping has reshuffled the top leadership of the powerful PLA, packing it with a new set of generals, vastly strenghtening his power base in the world's largest military ahead of the Congress of the ruling Communist party.

The reshuffle comes prior to the 19th Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC) which will open here from October 18. The meeting is widely expected to confer a second five-year term to Xi as General Secretary.

Two top officials, Gen. Fang Fenghui, head of the Joint Staff Department Central Military Commission (CMC), and Gen. Zhang Yang, head of its Political Work Department have been removed in the latest shake up of the 2.3 million strong PLA, increasing Xi's dominance over the military.

Xi heads the all-powerful CMC the overall high command of the PLA and he is the only civilian in the 11-member body.

The "ousting" of Fang and Zhang is further proof that Xi is "cementing his control over the military", the Hong Kong- based South China Morning Post reported today.
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Village near Doklam evacuated, India thickens Sikkim-Tibet border presence

Although army planners are not expecting a Chinese attack on the disputed Doklam bowl, where some 150 Indian soldiers have been in an eyeball-to-eyeball face-off against some 40 Chinese border guards since June, the army is taking no chances.

Villagers in Nathang, a border village 10-12 kilometres as the crow flies from Doklam, have been asked to evacuate their homes and move elsewhere. Nathang is overlooked directly by mountain features at Doklam, like Gyemochen, which China claims as the disputed India-China-Bhutan tri-junction.

Another Indian village nearby, Kuppup, is significantly closer to the border. But it is shielded from the Doklam area by high mountains that Indian troops occupy.

Army spokespersons deny the military has asked for Nathang to be evacuated. The civilian administration, however, is unlikely to have taken such a step unilaterally.

Simultaneously, two Indian mountain divisions –17 Division, headquartered in Gangtok; and 27 Division, based in Kalimpong – are discreetly moving troops to their battle stations on the Sikkim-Tibet border, including areas far removed from Dolkam.
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