North Korea to fete 70th birthday with tanks, dancing masses
9/8/2018, 5:50:18 PMPYONGYANG, North Korea (AP) — With tanks and dancing masses at the ready, North Korea is girding for what promises to be its biggest celebration in years. It's the 7 ✔ PYONGYANG, North Korea (AP) With tanks and dancing masses at the ready, North Korea is girding for what promises to be its biggest celebration in years ✔ (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan) North Korean performers take part in an evening gala held on the eve of the 70th anniversary of North Korea's founding day in Pyongyang, North Korea, Saturday, Sept
North Korea begins celebrating 70th anniversary of its official birth
9/8/2018, 7:55:28 PMThe celebrations began on Saturday evening with a concert in front of an invited audience of several thousand people at Pyongyang Indoor Stadium. ✔ We are confident in his powerful leadership, taking us to the future, Oh, Comrade Kim Jong-un.' Pictured: students performing at the concert Every time Kim's grandfather, the North's founder Kim Il Sung, or his successors appeared on screen the audience broke into applause, with the loudest reserved for the current leader But in a dramatic turnaround on the peninsula triggered by the Winter Olympics in the South in February, the North is engaged on multiple diplomatic fronts, even as the US insists it give up its weapons
Vladimir Putin’s spy girl warns Russia and US heading FULL SPEED for war over Syria
9/8/2018, 7:06:56 PMVLADIMIR Putin’s glamorous spy girl warned Russia and the US are heading “full speed” for a military clash over Syria amid fears of an imminent chemical attack. ✔ INSTAGRAM/ANNACHAPMAN RUSSIA: Anna Chapman took to Instagram to comment on growing US tensions over Syria Airstrikes have already begun on the Idlib, which looks set to the final battle of the long running Syrian Civil War ✔ Turkey urged restraint from Russia – saying it could turn the region into a lake of blood
Vladimir Putin invites Kim Jong-un to Russia as heavyweights to meet for first time EVER
9/8/2018, 4:13:49 PMVLADIMIR Putin and Kim Jong-un are to meet for the first time ever as the Pyongyang boss was invited to Russia on the dawn of the 70th anniversary of North Korea. ✔ Reports emerged last year Moscow was sending troops to its easternmost border to deal with a potential conflict ✔ Defectors claimed North Korea could break its missile silence tonight to celebrate its 70th anniversary – launching a never-before-seen weapon
Venezuela announces easing of currency controls, economists skeptical
9/8/2018, 7:43:40 PMVenezuela on Saturday eased 15-year-old currency controls, decreeing that private banks and exchange houses are allowed to sell dollars, but economists are skeptical the measure will improve the dysfunctional and crisis-stricken economy. ✔ Each attempt has fallen apart because the systems were unable to provide steady access to dollars ✔ The government currently sells dollars for around 62 bolivars, while the black market rate is around 90 ✔ Our Standards:The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles
War catches up with thousands of Syrians who fled to Idlib for safety
9/8/2018, 4:02:21 PMWhen the fighters of the Islamic State (Isil) began to murder opposition activists in Aleppo, Mostafa and his family fled south towards Raqqa. ✔ When the fighters of the Islamic State (Isil) began to murder opposition activists in Aleppo, Mostafa and his family fled south towards Raqqa ✔ Green buses would ferry the defeated to Idlib, which is largely under the control of Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham, al-Qaeda’s Syrian affiliate
Turkey warns Russia an attack on Idlib will turn it into ‘lake of blood’
9/8/2018, 4:21:59 PMErdoğan pleads with Putin not to launch offensive on Syrian opposition enclave ✔ While the scale of the expected exodus concerns Turkish officials, Ankara is also deeply worried about the implications for its interests in the aftermath of Assad being able to claim a decisive victory just south of the Turkish border ✔ But the people around me here are having no talks of humanitarian corridors and fleeing
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Happy birthday, Google: this week in tech, 20 years ago
9/8/2018, 6:05:58 PMGoogle’s 20th anniversary, a fight over flame mail, and other science and technology stories from the week of September 8th, 1998. ✔ Google stickers from a 1999 archive of its site ✔ It’s Monopoly Week on The Verge , so I wrote a bit about that lawsuit’s place in the ‘90s legal landscape ✔ An international child pornography bust This week also reminded people how horrifying the internet could be, though
Who is shaping Syria's future?
9/8/2018, 7:31:54 PMRussian and Iranian presidents give green light for all-out offensive on Idlib, the rebels' last stronghold in Syria. ✔ It is the last remaining rebel stronghold, and likely to be the scene of a major military offensive ✔ Is this the beginning of the end to the seven year war in Syria ✔ Presenter : Hashem Ahelbarra Guests : Galip Dalay - research director at Al Sharq Forum Alexey Khlebnikov - Middle East expert at the Russian International Affairs Council Foad Izadi - professor at the University of Tehran Source: Al Jazeera News
Airstrikes hit Syria's Idlib province, the last remaining rebel stronghold
9/8/2018, 5:01:57 PMAirstrikes were reported Saturday in the Syrian province of Idlib, the last remaining rebel stronghold in the war-torn country, according to volunteer rescue group the White Helmets and the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. ✔ The strikes occurred a day after Russia, Turkey and Iran failed to agree on a ceasefire in Idlib at a trilateral summit in the Iranian capital ✔ Read More On Monday, President Donald Trump warned Syria and its allies Russia and Iran against attacking Idlib province in the country's northwest ✔ CNN's Hande Atay Alam and Schams Elwazer contributed to this report
Everything you need to know about the looming battle for Idlib
9/8/2018, 5:32:49 PMThree scenarios are likely: massive onslaught; protracted offensive; rebel infighting followed by deal with Damascus. ✔ On August 31, Turkey officially designated HTS a terrorist group, fuelling speculation that it could consider engaging in a campaign against it or encouraging NFL to attack it ✔ Instead, Syria will witness a precarious security situation similar to the one in Iraq following the 2003 US invasion ✔ Without a just political solution, said Kabalan, Syria will not stabilise
Airstrikes batter Syria’s last rebel stronghold after cease-fire bid fails
9/8/2018, 6:05:25 PMFears mount that Syrian and Russian could wage an all-out assault to try to retake Idlib province, touching off a potential humanitarian crisis. ✔ Russia is wary of being drawn deeper into a bloody battle as it tells international partners that Syria is stabilizing and open for reconstruction ✔ Emad al Moujahid, a spokesman for HTS, described his organization as part of the Syrian society and vowed military surprises against Syrian and Russian forces
Va. state senator who met with Assad says British planning fake chemical attack
9/8/2018, 6:55:43 PMThe State Department flatly denied the allegations, which echo “outrageous” Syrian and Russian propaganda. ✔ By Laura Vozzella September 8 at 2:45 PM RICHMOND – Fresh off a sit-down with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, Virginia state Sen ✔ I’m just an individual who is deeply concerned about achieving peace and stopping the slaughter in the Middle East, Black said
Space: Another frontier for the US-Russian rivalry
9/8/2018, 4:30:07 PMIt sounded like a dark twist to a science-fiction film: The head of Roscosmos, Russia's space agency, hinting at a foreign plot to sabotage the International Space Station. ✔ MUST WATCH First look inside SpaceX Crew Dragon 00:53 But Rogozin's appointment earlier this year injected some uncertainty into the mix ✔ The commission's investigation, the statement added, will be completed in mid-September ✔ This time we are flying over the Nile, the famous Egyptian pyramids and the Suez Canal
Rouhani: U.S. asks Iran 'every day' to begin talks
9/8/2018, 6:24:51 PMIranian President Hassan Rouhani said on Saturday that the United States continually sends messages to Iran asking it to begin negotiations. ✔ Washington aims to force Tehran to end its nuclear program and its support of militant groups in Syria and Iraq ✔ Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif took aim at U.S. criticism of Iran’s regional policy in a Twitter post on Saturday ✔ Our Standards:The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles
Protect Assange from US extradition, Amnesty International tells UK
9/8/2018, 4:56:02 PMAmnesty International has backed calls to not extradite WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange to the United States, arguing that this would put his human rights at serious risk of abuse. ✔ Amnesty International releases statement denouncing attempts to extradite @JulianAssange to the United States [joining @UNHumanRights, @HRW and the Inter American Court of Human Rights] pic.twitter.com/FWks1LNdhk WikiLeaks (@wikileaks) September 8, 2018 While Amnesty said it took no position on Ecuador’s decision to grant, and then withdraw, Assange’s diplomatic asylum, it did call on the UK government to recognize the need for international protection vis-a-vis the USA in relation to the whistleblower’s case ✔ Assange has been resident in the Ecuadorian embassy in London since 2012 ✔ However, he didn’t think Assange would agree to testify unless he was granted some type of immunity from prosecution
Analysis | ‘How hard can that be, saying that Nazis are bad?’ Obama’s anti-Trump speech, annotated
9/8/2018, 4:33:45 PMHe's baaaaaack. And has a lot on his mind. ✔ By Amber Phillips September 8 at 12:20 PM Former president Barack Obama said he had planned to stay out of national politics after leaving the White House ✔ And if they're still in power next fall, you better believe they're coming at it again
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