War

Since the air war against the so-called Islamic State kicked off in August 2014 ,the United States has spent just under $11 billion financing it. According to the most recent Pentagon figures, Statista'a Niall McCarthy reports that the bill for the campaign hit $10.99 billion as of December 31, 2016. On a daily basis, the cost of operations against the terrorist group averages $12.5 million. Since 2014, the cost of flying operations has reached $4.4 billion while $2.4 billion of munitions have been expended against ISIS targets.

In a tragic development one would expect to see play out in its economically devastated northern neighbor, Venezuela, more than 100 people have been reported killed in violence and looting during a six-day strike by police in the Brazilian state of Espirito Santo, resulting in public chaos and anarchy, with schools and businesses closed and public transportation frozen.

Police officers patrol the perimeter at the scene of a fatal shooting in Vila Velha, Espirito Santo, Brazil

Israel struck a Syrian military position after a tank shell landed in an open area in the occupied Golan Heights. The IDF fired on a Syrian government position on Wednesday night after a tank shell landed in uninhabited Israeli territory during reported clashes between Syrian government and rebel forces. The shell casued no casualties. The IDF did not specify how it attacked the Syrian post, but Syrian media said that Israeli helicopters attacked the position. Press TV reports: Tel Aviv has targeted the region several times over the past few years.

Former president Barack Obama has been accused of aiding ISIS militants, according to a senior military figure who says that terrorists were tipped off about a top-secret raid in Yemen. Navy SEAL William Ryan Owen was killed during a recent raid in Yemen, and according to Captain Joseph John, Obama hired people in the Muslim Brotherhood to work in Washington in order to collect information about the raid and tip off militants in Yemen before it occurred.

A bulletproof glass wall is to be erected around the base of Eiffel Tower. The Paris municipality announced it is to set up a 2.5 mete high glass wall around the French capital’s iconic Eiffel Tower as part of a multi-million euro plan to help prevent terrorist attacks on the famous historic monument. “The terror threat remains high in Paris and the most vulnerable sites, led by the Eiffel Tower, must be the object of special security measures,” said deputy mayor Jean-Francois Martins, who is in charge of tourism at the Paris City Hall.