Going back to school in a war zone
9/5/2018, 3:40:45 PMThe challenges of a new school year in countries facing war and millions of refugees. ✔ The war in Syria has threatened to deprive a generation of their chance of an education Jordan The war in Syria has raised concerns about a lost generation, in which young people have missed out on their years of education and the opportunity to prepare for a career and acquire skills
Yemen in crisis: More than 22 million people in need of humanitarian aid
9/5/2018, 2:22:43 PMMIDDLE EAST MATTERS : It's been dubbed the forgotten war, and today multiple factions are entangled in Yemen's ongoing conflict. For three years, a Saudi-led c... ✔ For three years, a Saudi-led coalition of Arab states have been battling the Iran-backed Houthi rebels across the Middle Eastern country ✔ Staying in Saudi Arabia, a senior official has confirmed that the kingdom is advancing with plans to turn rival nation Qatar into an island
Spain cancels arms sale to Saudi Arabia over Yemen war concerns
9/5/2018, 3:55:56 PMMadrid to pay back the $10m (£7.8m) they have already received as part of the deal
Kremlin says keen on Syria talks with Turkey, France, Germany
9/5/2018, 1:43:23 PMKremlin aide Yuri Ushakov said on Wednesday that Moscow was keen to see four-way talks with Turkey, France and Germany take place to discuss the Syrian conflict. ✔ MOSCOW (Reuters) - Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov said on Wednesday that Moscow was keen to see four-way talks with Turkey, France and Germany take place to discuss the Syrian conflict ✔ Ushakov said that, as far as he knows, all sides have agreed to hold the talks in Istanbul and advisers have been tasked with working out an appropriate date ✔ Our Standards:The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles
With Yemen in turmoil, U.N. to launch first peace talks in two years
9/5/2018, 2:10:14 PMWarring Yemenis due to attend the first peace talks since late 2015 on Thursday face an uphill struggle to rescue attempts to end a war marked by mass civilian casualties and fueled by rivalry between regional heavyweights Saudi Arabia and Iran. ✔ REUTERS/Anees Mahyoub/File Photo This is a futile dialogue because the planes are over our heads, the prices are going up, the dollar is going up, the [Saudi] rial is going up, all the currencies are going up and the [Yemeni] people are starving ✔ Our Standards:The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles
Syria: Russian-led attack on Idlib could see 700,000 displaced
9/5/2018, 3:29:43 PMAgencies say this is ‘last chance to avoid massacre’ as pace builds towards raid on last rebel enclave ✔ Aid agencies fear that as many as 700,000 people could be displaced within a day of a Russian-led bombardment of Syria’s Idlib province as momentum towards an expected attack on the last large rebel enclave continues to gather pace ✔ Over the past 18 months, it has established control of a swathe of northern Syria, in which its forces and proxies operate safely
Venezuela: how is the region coping with its collapse?
9/5/2018, 3:40:39 PMThe refugee crisis created by its implosion is comparable to that in Europe in 2015 ✔ More forward-looking Colombian leaders, including the new president, Iván Duque, argue privately that humane and decent treatment of Venezuelan refugees will benefit Colombia in the long run, after the regime falls and Venezuela again becomes one of Colombia’s largest trading partners
South Korean Officials Meet With Kim in Pyongyang
9/5/2018, 1:40:12 PMA special delegation of senior South Korean security officials wrapped up on Wednesday a nearly 12-hour visit to Pyongyang aimed at reinvigorating stalled diplomatic efforts with North Korea. ✔ Since then, progress on talks between Washington and Pyongyang has stalled ✔ Trump and Moon spoke by phone for about 50 minutes, and pledged to closely consult with one another ✔ The two leaders also agreed to meet in New York at the United Nations General Assembly later this month
Pompeo upbeat on 'reset' with Pakistan after meeting new PM Khan
9/5/2018, 2:53:34 PMU.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo met new Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan on Wednesday, saying he was hopeful of "a reset of relations" long strained over the war in Afghanistan. ✔ Press Information Department (PID)/Handout via REUTERS Pompeo landed in Islamabad minutes after the plane carrying U.S. Marine General Joseph Dunford, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff ✔ Ahead of the talks, Dunford said Trump’s South Asia strategy set clear expectations for Pakistan, including help to drive the Taliban to a peace process in neighboring Afghanistan ✔ Our Standards:The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles
Pompeo meets new Pakistan PM as U.S. seeks to reset ties
9/5/2018, 12:05:47 PMU.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo met Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan in Islamabad on Wednesday, in the first high-level U.S. visit to the new government, looking to reset relations strained over the war in Afghanistan. ✔ Press Information Department (PID)/Handout via REUTERS Pompeo landed in Islamabad minutes after the plane carrying U.S. Marine General Joseph Dunford, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff ✔ Ahead of the talks, Dunford said U.S. President Donald Trump’s South Asia strategy set clear expectations for Pakistan, including help to drive the Taliban to a peace process in neighboring Afghanistan ✔ Our Standards:The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles
Deadly suicide blast tears through Afghan sports hall
9/5/2018, 2:46:53 PMNo immediate claim of responsibility but ISIS has previously attacked the largely Shiite Muslim neighborhood in Kabul ✔ A deadly suicide bombing hit a sports club in western Kabul on Wednesday, police spokesman Hashmat Stanikzsi told CBS News ✔ The latest violence in the Afghan capital comes about a week after a U.S. strike killed a senior ISIS commander in eastern Afghanistan, Afghan and U.S. officials said
Mali peace deal jeopardised by armed groups linked to terrorism, UN warns
9/5/2018, 3:54:15 PMUN security council takes unusual step of identifying signatories that have hampered implementation of 2015 agreement ✔ However, it remains to be seen if the UNSC will take effective sanctions against individuals in the coming weeks ✔ A recent report by International Alert that looked at the rise of violent extremism in the central Sahel among Fulani communities found that state abuse and unchecked corruption were the main drivers for young people joining Islamists groups in Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger
Prelude to WAR? Russia chillingly compares Novichok killings to days before Iraq invasion
9/5/2018, 3:46:55 PMRUSSIA has compared the Novichok row to the prelude to war in Iraq in a chilling comparison after Britain released the identities of spies Alexander Petrov and Ruslan Boshirov. ✔ Vladimir Putin’s foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova accused Downing Street and Washington of using false facts on Novichok to justify action against Russia ✔ GETTY NOVICHOK: Maria Zakharova compared the Salisbury incident to the prelude of the Iraq War Britain and Russia have been at loggerheads since ether attempted poisoning of Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia
West Ham 'sorry' for paying £17.5m to sign Andriy Yarmolenko this summer
9/5/2018, 1:18:20 PMWEST HAM are “sorry” they splashed out £17.5million on Andriy Yarmolenko. That is the view of former Ukraine ace Hennadiy Orbu, who has labelled his countryman’s move from Borussi… ✔ The sorry Irons have lost every game and scored just twice to leave Pellegrini sweating over his job ✔ Yarmolenko issued a grovelling apology to furious fans before heading off for international duty ✔ This result (against Wolves) is very, very bad for us ✔ It’s really difficult for us and I don’t know what to say
US’s Pompeo arrives in Pakistan hoping to ‘reset’ relations
9/5/2018, 12:07:29 PMU.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo arrived in Pakistan on Wednesday at a time when relations between the two countries have sunk to a new low. ✔ Afghanistan and the prospects of a negotiated end to the war are likely to dominate talks before Pompeo leaves later Wednesday for neighbor India ✔ Although neither the U.S. nor Pakistan can afford a complete rupture in relations, Hussain said Islamabad is frustrated that the relationship has been reduced to a single point agenda: Afghanistan ✔ Associated Press writer Matthew Lee in Washington contributed to this report
Russian journalist attacked on the street while broadcasting live show
9/5/2018, 12:56:11 PMSemyon Pegov was broadcasting for a show called Vremya Pokazhet (Time Will Show) led by anchor Artem Sheynin, 52, when a man on the street attacked him ✔ Alexander Zakharchenko, pictured in 2015, was killed in an explosion at a cafe last month (Image: AFP) An armed serviceman stands guard at a cordon near where Alexander Zakharchenko was killed (Image: REUTERS) Alexander Zakharchenko was the prime minister of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People Republic (Image: AFP) Read More Putin condemns 'dastardly' act after pro-Russian rebel leader Alexander Zakharchenko killed in explosion He said since the killing the atmosphere in the region has been relatively difficult
What is Russia's GRU military intelligence agency?
9/5/2018, 3:36:10 PMBritain said two Russian military intelligence officers, almost certainly acting with the approval of senior Russian officials, were responsible for the attempted murder of former Russian spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter with a nerve agent. ✔ LONDON (Reuters) - Britain said two Russian military intelligence officers, almost certainly acting with the approval of senior Russian officials, were responsible for the attempted murder of former Russian spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter with a nerve agent ✔ Valery Gerasimov is currently chief of the general staff ✔ He was sanctioned by the EU over Russia’s annexation of Ukraine ✔ Our Standards:The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles
Meet the millennial who has visited the world's most dangerous cities
9/5/2018, 12:17:43 PMundefined ✔ At 27 years old, most holidays involve travelling somewhere hot with friends, a city break with a partner or perhaps a hedonistic weekend at a festival ✔ Caracas has the highest homicide of any capital city in the world ✔ There is a concept of the ‘houseman’ where the man does whatever he wants and the woman does whatever he says
Shells hit Syria's Idlib as rebels brace for assault
9/5/2018, 12:54:10 PMThe Syrian military shelled the last stronghold of active rebellion against President Bashar al-Assad on Wednesday as a war monitor said insurgents blew up another bridge in anticipation of a government offensive. ✔ Graphic on phased assault: tmsnrt.rs/2NHAqh3 ALARM The prospect of an offensive in Idlib has alarmed humanitarian agencies ✔ The United Nations has said displaced people already make up about half of the 3 million people living in rebel-held areas of the northwest ✔ Our Standards:The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles
Ancient city of Palmyra could re-open to tourists next year
9/5/2018, 1:40:35 PMRussian scientists have been trying to restore some of the buildings at the ancient site, which used to be one of the most visited tourist attractions in the Middle East. ✔ I suppose that Palmyra will be completely ready for receiving tourists by summer 2019.' News of the re-opening comes after an antiquities museum in Syria's rebel-held province of Idlib said to house one of the world's oldest dictionaries reopened earlier this month after being shut for five years
Russia’s new political directorate vital in battle against ‘raving propaganda’ - general
9/5/2018, 1:07:08 PMThe recent creation of the military-political directorate in the Russian Defense Ministry is due to the “undisguised and cynical information war” that the country is now facing on all fronts, the head of the body has said. ✔ Today we see an absolutely undisguised informational war ✔ The raving propaganda and absolute lies on many issues, the intolerance to our point of view or attempts to hush it up - all of these are changing the society’s political conscience and in modern conditions such changes can have very serious consequences , the general said, adding that anyone interested in particular examples of such negative consequences could have a look at certain countries near Russia’s borders ✔ The body was dissolved into several small departments during the depoliticization of forces in the 1990s after the collapse of the Soviet Union
The forgotten countries you should visit, by the man who's seen them all
9/5/2018, 1:38:51 PMHave you been to any of the least-visited countries in the world? ✔ The world's least visited countries - how many have you been to ✔ Eritrea, Africa Visitors per year: 2,000 The Foreign Office advises against all travel to areas of Eritrea bordering Sudan and Ethiopia ✔ Art Deco architecture in AsmaraCredit:GETTY 5 ✔ Win a luxury holiday worth up to £80,000
UK charges two Russians for attempted murder of Skripals, blames...
9/5/2018, 12:57:29 PMBritain charged two Russians on Wednesday with the attempted murder of a former Russian spy and his daughter, describing the suspects as military intelligence officers almost certainly acting on behalf of the Russian state. ✔ They spent two nights in a London hotel, making two day trips by train to Salisbury, the first for reconnaissance, the second to kill Skripal ✔ They traveled under genuine Russian passports although their names are believed to be aliases ✔ Our Standards:The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles
U.S.'s Mattis says 'zero intelligence' that rebels in Syria's Idlib...
9/5/2018, 12:05:52 PMThere was "zero intelligence" of chemical weapons capabilities possessed by groups opposing Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in the province of Idlib, U.S. Defence Secretary Jim Mattis said, adding that the facts did not back Russian assertions. ✔ REUTERS/Ammar Abdullah/File Photo Syrian government forces plan a phased offensive in Idlib and surrounding areas held by rebels opposed to Assad, who has been backed by both Russian and Iranian forces in the country’s civil war ✔ We cannot see anything that indicates the opposition has that capability ✔ He said instead there was a history of Assad’s government using such weapons ✔ Our Standards:The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles
Britain charges two Russians for state-backed plot to kill Skripals
9/5/2018, 3:56:09 PMBritain charged two Russians in absentia on Wednesday with the attempted murder of a former Russian spy and his daughter, and said the suspects were military intelligence officers almost certainly acting on orders from high up in the Russian state. ✔ REMARKABLY SOPHISTICATED The remarkably sophisticated attack appeared to be a clear assassination attempt, said Neil Basu, head of UK counter terrorism policing ✔ He described an investigation which involved 250 detectives and analysis of some 11,000 hours of video ✔ Our Standards:The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles
Inside Vladimir Putin's feared GRU spy network
9/5/2018, 3:21:25 PMThe GRU - Russia's 'Main Intelligence Directorate' - was founded in 1918 after Lenin's Bolshevik Revolution. ✔ Former FSB agent Alexander Litvenenko - who was murdered in London by Russian intelligence after defecting to Britain - was one of many Russians to accuse the GRU of being involved in four apartment bombings in Moscow in 1999 ✔ The former spy was living at an address in Salisbury, Wiltshire, when the suspected poisoning took place in the city centre
US has long history of sticking its political nose where it doesn’t belong
9/5/2018, 1:20:48 PMA senior Russian diplomat claims the US is attempting to meddle in Russian elections. If true, it certainly wouldn’t be the first time America stuck its proverbial nose where it doesn’t belong – and likely won’t be the last. ✔ That agency spent tens of millions of dollars each year to support their preferred political parties, movements and media in dozens of countries including, but not limited to: France, China, Paraguay, the Philippines, Panama, Poland, Costa Rica, Bolivia, Czechoslovakia, Nicaragua and Northern Ireland
Sanders: If Woodward book was 'accurate' no way we'd be successful!
9/5/2018, 3:09:50 PMSarah Sanders said in a new rebuttal of Bob Woodward book on Wednesday that a damaging characterization of the White House as 'crazytown' and the president as 'unhinged' can't possibly be true. ✔ It's just made up,' Trump told The Daily Caller in a furious response to the book ✔ But insiders speculated the fallout could be worse than that from 'Fire and Fury,' given Woodward's storied reputation ✔ Woodward's account relies on deep background conversations with sources, meaning their identities are not disclosed
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