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World in brief: January 2 2019

UNITED STATES: Strategic Command was forced to apologise yesterday after tweeting that it was ready for nuclear war this new year.

Tagging the drop of an illuminated ball in Times Square that marks the start of the new year in New York, it tweeted that it was “ready to drop something much, much bigger,” accompanying the tweet with an image of a B2 bomber dropping bombs.

It now says the tweet was in “poor taste” and did not reflect its values which were embedded in its motto “peace is our profession.”

TURKMENISTAN: Selling alcohol on trains, planes, ferries and at sports grounds has been banned as of yesterday.

The new law specifies that sale of alcohol outside bars and restaurants will be banned on weekends and holidays from 2021 in line with a health drive from President Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov, who is a weightlifting and horse-riding enthusiast and likes to be depicted doing those things on TV.

AFGHANISTAN: The army claimed it had killed 27 members of the Isis terror group yesterday in a raid in Nangarhar province, while the Taliban said it had killed 15 police officers in Sar-e-Pul.

Over 20,000 Nato troops are still stationed in the country 18 years after the US-led invasion of 2001. US President Donald Trump says he will withdraw 7,000 soldiers, about half the US total, this summer.

SYRIA: The al-Qaida and Nour al-Din al-Zenki terrorist groups clashed in Aleppo province yesterday in a major confrontation involving tanks.

The rival jihadists had concluded an alliance in October on the grounds that unity was needed to prevent the Syrian government from retaking their remaining territory, mostly in Idlib. But frequent gunfights and assassinations of each other’s fighters have plagued the truce.

Two civilians, including a nurse, fell victim to the clash.

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