Afghanis reflect on years of conflict amid spike in violence
9/8/2018, 11:47:34 AMDefense Secretary James Mattis visited U.S. commanders in Afghanistan Friday, who are fighting what is now considered to be the longest war in American history. For residents of the region it means a generation living under the shadow of violence. Charlie D’Agata reports from Kabul, Afghanistan.
US and Russian troops will ‘start WW3 by MISTAKE’ in Syria
9/8/2018, 10:56:09 AMAMERICAN and Russian troops are in danger of accidentally triggering a war in the Middle East, a former Russian government adviser has claimed. ✔ Just as World War 1 was started by one small event – the assassination of Austrian Archduke Franz Ferdinand in Sarajevo – so World War 3 could be sparked by one simple accident ✔ Nekrassov also said Middle East powers were ramping up tensions with Saudi Arabia and Turkey stepping up their presence in Syria ✔ Last week, Russia sent 25 warships to the Mediterranean amid fears of a US attack on Syria
UN envoy to Yemen seeks to downplay non-start of talks
9/8/2018, 9:21:19 AMSANAA, Yemen (AP) — The U.N. special envoy to Yemen has sought to downplay the significance of the failure of peace talks to start, saying he will head back to Yemen "within days" ✔ A delegation of the internationally recognized government arrived in Geneva for the talks, which were supposed to start Thursday, but their war rivals Iranian-backed rebels known as the Houthis did not, arguing they could not go because they did not have guarantees for their safe return ✔ The talks would have been the first between Yemen's war rivals in two years
The Government Refused To Believe This Asylum Seeker Was Gay Because He Has Learning Disabilities
9/8/2018, 9:13:26 AMExclusive: After a six-year fight, with one judge accusing the Home Office of being "absurd", "feeble" and ignoring key medical evidence, Kabir, 23, told BuzzFeed News why he still lives in fear. ✔ When asked now about that first tribunal, he frowns and says, I didn’t know I mix up… I didn’t know… I didn’t know rule in this country, what it was ✔ All available evidence is carefully and sensitively considered in light of published country information, which covers country specific issues ✔ We are confident that we have a robust assurance mechanism for all claims based on sexual orientation
The 20 photographs of the week
9/8/2018, 8:11:25 AMDaily life in Pyongyang, protests in Gaza, the fire at the National Museum in Rio and Colin Kaepernick looks over New York – the week captured by the world’s best photojournalists ✔ Pyongyang, North Korea A commuter reads a newspaper on the platform of a subway station in Pyongyang ✔ Photograph: Cristobal Saavedra Escobar/Reuters Rio de Janeiro, Brazil A massive fire engulfs the National Museum in Rio de Janeiro ✔ A five-judge bench at the country’s highest court ruled that a 160-year-old law banning sex against the order of nature amounted to discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and was unconstitutional
After rejecting Turkey plea, Russia and Iran back offensive in Idlib
9/8/2018, 8:12:43 AMTurkey used a summit on Friday to Turkey plead for a ceasefire to avoid what many say would be a bloody humanitarian disaster. ✔ World Middle East Syria After rejecting Turkey plea, Russia and Iran back offensive in Idlib By Jon Gambrell8 September 2018 3:08pm Normal text sizeLarger text sizeVery large text size Tehran: Iran and Russia have backed a military campaign to retake Idlib, the last rebel-held stronghold in Syria, despite Turkey pleading for a ceasefire to avoid what many say would be a bloody humanitarian disaster ✔ Any fight against terrorists requires methods based on time and patience ✔ Assad's biggest backer: Russian President Vladimir Putin in Iran on Friday ✔ Our new podcast series from the team behind Phoebe's Fall View episodes
US weighs 'options' if chemical weapon used in Syria's Idlib
9/8/2018, 9:47:05 AMChair of Joint Chief of Staff says no decision has been made over US response to possible chemical attack in Syria. ✔ Dunford did not say, one way or the other, what he expected Trump to do should Syria use chemical weapons again ✔ Turkey says it fears a massacre and it can not accommodate any more refugees flooding over its border ✔ Turkey, Russia, Iran leaders meet in Tehran over Idlib
Intense air raids on edge of Syria's rebel-held Idlib
9/8/2018, 10:05:06 AMBEIRUT (AP) — Activists and a war monitoring group say Syrian government and Russian warplanes have targeted the southern edge of Idlib province with a series of airstrikes, ratch ✔ BEIRUT (AP) Activists and a war monitoring group say Syrian government and Russian warplanes have targeted the southern edge of Idlib province with a series of airstrikes, ratcheting up the military pressure on the densely populated rebel-held bastion ✔ Turkey has troops and observations points that ring Idlib ✔ Schools were shut in Khan Sheikhoun, an area under attack, because of the raids, the Observatory reported
No one can stop the coming bloodbath in Idlib
9/8/2018, 10:43:56 AMThe Syrian army is massing to take the last rebel stronghold. The West cannot do much to curb the carnage ✔ Apart from the moral obligation to end the suffering of Syrians and relieve the world’s worst refugee crisis, the West still has security interests in Syria ✔ The real questions are how long it takes, how many lives will be wasted and how much hatred it sows
Erdogan on Idlib: We won't watch from the sidelines
9/8/2018, 9:36:04 AMTurkish leader says Turkey will not sit idly by, if 'world turns a blind eye' to killing of tens of thousands. ✔ Russia and Iran back Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, while Turkey supports some of the rebels, who seek Assad's removal ✔ The statement also called for the creation of conditions safe enough to allow the return of those displaced by the seven-year conflict can ✔ Recep Tayyip Erdoğan (@RT_Erdogan) September 7, 2018
Tunisia feared the return of militants from abroad. The threat now is those who never left.
9/8/2018, 10:08:57 AMISIS and al-Qaeda are recruiting locally, taking advantage of economic and social turmoil. ✔ In 2015, Tunisian gunmen with the Islamic State attacked the resort town of Sousse and the famed Bardo Museum in the capital, killing scores of people, mostly foreign tourists ✔ So it is likely if they are released, they would just revert back to their old ways with ISIS or al-Qaeda, depending on their affiliation when they went in
How feelings took over the world
9/8/2018, 8:29:10 AMPopulist turbulence, viral panics, experts under attack: instinct and emotion have overtaken facts and reason in the digital age – can feelings now propel us into a better future? ✔ On a late Friday afternoon in November last year, police were called to London’s Oxford Circus for reasons described as terror-related ✔ Reports circulated of shots being fired, and photos and video appeared online of crowds fleeing the area, with heavily armed police officers heading in the opposite direction ✔ This era produced the intellectual building blocks of the modern age
Russian and Syrian jets pound Idlib province after summit
9/8/2018, 10:27:21 AMRussian and Syrian warplanes pounded towns in Syria's opposition-held Idlib province on Saturday, a day after a summit of the presidents of Turkey, Iran and Russia failed to agree on a ceasefire that would forestall a Russian-backed offensive. ✔ Tehran and Moscow have helped Assad turn the course of the war against an array of opponents ranging from Western-backed rebels to the Islamist militants, while Turkey is a leading opposition supporter and has troops in the country ✔ The United Nations fears a full-scale offensive could cause a humanitarian catastrophe involving tens of thousands of civilians ✔ Our Standards:The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles
North Korean military parades: 70 years of propaganda, intimidation and unity
9/8/2018, 10:37:38 AMDuring the 70 years that the Kim family has ruled, North Korea's 30-plus massive military parades have been used as much for propaganda, intimidation and internal unity as for commemorating important anniversaries. ✔ In 1992, Kim Jong Il attended and reviewed a parade marking the army's founding from an elevated veranda along with his father ✔ If he shows a new ICBM during Sunday's parade, it would probably further complicate relations with the United States amid a stalemate over nuclear diplomacy
Chinese government's top diplomat says Beijing not saddling...
9/8/2018, 10:06:40 AMThe Chinese government's top diplomat defended Beijing's Belt and Road infrastructure initiative during a visit to Pakistan on Saturday, rejecting criticism the project has saddled Pakistan with expensive debt. ✔ He also rejected concerns about transparency of CPEC by saying those worries were false as all the projects had undergone necessary approvals ✔ Qureshi said CPEC remains the top priority of the new government, adding that the two governments would focus on projects with socio-economic development ✔ Our Standards:The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles
Trump's scandals: An unprecedented president
9/8/2018, 8:41:01 AMUS President has faced multiple scandals since taking office, with the Mueller probe of chief concern. ✔ In the 20th Century, such presidents as John F Kennedy and Franklin Roosevelt were spared scandals, as claims of extra-marital affairs were brushed under the carpet ✔ ABOUT THE AUTHOR James Reinl James Reinl is a journalist and world affairs analyst who has reported from more than 30 countries and won awards for covering Haiti’s earthquake, Sri Lanka’s civil war and human rights abuses in Iran
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