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May 25th, 2018 - Daily News Brief
DPRK US
North Korea has expressed regret at US President Donald Trump’s decision to cancel a historic summit, but says it's willing to talk any time.
In a statement issued on Friday, Vice Foreign Minister Kim Kye Gwan said North Korea was "willing to give the US time and opportunities" to reconsider talks "at any time an at any format."
Trump’s announcement came after repeated threats by North Korea to pull out of the summit over what it saw as confrontational remarks by US officials.
Libya Bomb
A car bomb has killed at least seven people in Libya’s Benghazi.
The explosion took place in the city centre, near Benghazi's biggest hotel.
Benghazi, Libya’s second-largest city, is controlled by the Libyan National Army, the dominant force in eastern Libya led by commander Khalifa Haftar.
Canada Bomb
A bomb has injured at least 15 people at a restaurant in Toronto, Canada.
The explosion took place at the Bombay Bhel Indian Restaurant in the suburb of Mississauga.
Police say the two suspects behind the bombing remain at large.
MH17
An international team of investigators has concluded that the Russian military shot down Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 in 2014.
The plane was shot down near Donetsk at the height of the conflict between Ukrainian government troops and pro-Russian separatists.
Inspectors say the missile was fired by a BUK surface-to-air system, and guided to the plane by radar.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has responded to the investigation, saying Moscow will analyse the findings of the investigation.
And finally,
Ireland Abortion
Voters throughout Ireland have begun casting votes in a referendum that may lead to a loosening of the country's strict ban on most abortions.
They're voting to change the 8th amendment of the constitution.
It gives equal right to life to a mother and a foetus, and has upheld the country's strict anti-abortion laws.
A YES vote would repeal the amendment, allowing abortion to be legalised.
Friday, May 25, 2018
Fri, 25 May 2018 11:33:13 +0000
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May 24th, 2018 - Daily News Brief
DPRK US
North Korea says it's as prepared for a nuclear war as it is for a summit with the United States.
A senior official in Pyongyang's Foreign Ministry says the planned meeting between Kim Jong-un and Donald Trump is totally dependent on the attitude of the United States.
The leaders are supposed to meet in Singapore next month, but North Korea has become increasingly upset at Washington's insistence the meeting include a promise from Pyongyang to denuclearise.
The problem is the two sides can't reach an agreement on what denuclearisation means.
Iran Nuclear
German Chancellor Angela Merkel says Germany and China will stick to the Iran nuclear deal.
Merkel is meeting with Chinese Premier Li Keqiang in Beijing to discuss the Iran deal as well as several international trade issues.
The premier has also said he hopes for a fair discussion on human rights, after he was asked about artist Liu Xia, who is under house arrest.
Syria Strikes
Dozens of homes have been destroyed after rockets fired by regime forces hit the city of Hama in Syria.
The Syrian Observatory For Human Rights says more than 150 shells were fired by pro-regime forces on surrounding farmland.
The regime is attacking Hama's northern countryside on a daily basis, despite the area being designated as a de-escalation zone by three guarantor states, Russia, Turkey and Iran.
Erdogan Palestine
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has criticised the US and Israel for declaring Jerusalem as the Israeli capital.
Speaking exclusively to TRT World, Erdogan said Washington's role in the Middle East peace process had ended.
Erdogan said the embassy move by the US holds no value as the US had reduced its reputation to zero when the majority of UN nations voted against the decision.
And finally,
Hawaii Volcano
The eruption from Hawaii's Kilauea volcano shows no sign of easing.
Nineteen days after the volcano began spewing smoke and ash into the sky, lava is pouring into the ocean, creating hazardous gases.
Geologists say the eruptions could last a few more weeks.
Thursday, May 24, 2018
Thu, 24 May 2018 10:28:46 +0000
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May 23rd, 2018 - Daily News Brief
US DPRK
US President Donald Trump says there’s a ‘substantial chance’ the historic summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un may be delayed.
The US has concerns that Pyongyang is not willing to give up its nuclear weapons.
Trump made the comments after a meeting with South Korea's leader Moon Jae-in who urged the US president not to let a rare opportunity slip away.
If the summit is called off, it would be a major blow to what could possibly be the biggest diplomatic achievement of Trump’s presidency.
Gaza Airstrike
New Israeli air strikes have hit Gaza hours after Palestine called for Israel to be investigated by the International Criminal Court.
The overnight strike hit Gaza's main port, damaging two boats that belonged to a pro-Palestinian activist group called the "International Committee for Breaking the Siege of Gaza."
The attack followed reports of a new flotilla of ships intending to set sail from Denmark to challenge Israel’s blockade of Gaza.
No injuries were reported.
Zuckerberg EU
Facebook's CEO Mark Zuckerberg sailed through a grilling by European MPs in Brussels over the massive data leak scandal.
An emotionless Zuckerberg apologised to the European Parliament for his company's failure to protect user data...and for the proliferation of fake news on the social media network.
However, he avoided answering numerous questions, notably around opt-outs from targeted advertising, the sharing of data between Facebook and its messaging service WhatsApp, as well as Facebook’s collection of data on non-users.
He did say that Facebook would double the number of people working on safety and security to more than 20,000 by the end of this year.
India Nipah
The rare Nipah virus has killed at least 10 people in the southern Indian state of Kerala.
The disease causes convulsions, fever, and vomiting and at its most dangerous stage, it attacks the brain.
Fruit bats are considered the main carrier of the virus for which there is no vaccination
Medical teams dispatched to Kerala are setting up quarantine tents to contain the virus.
The health ministry hopes it has tackled the outbreak early enough to keep it from spreading and killing more people in the world’s second most populous country.
Philip Roth
And finally,
Philip Roth, a dominant force in American literature throughout the latter half of the 20th century, has died at the age of 85.
A prolific essayist, novelist and critic, Roth was best known for mining the Jewish-American experience in his work.
He was an atheist who swore allegiance to earthly imagination.
The decorated author won almost all the top literary honors, but the coveted Nobel Literature Prize eluded him.
Wednesday, May 23, 2018
Wed, 23 May 2018 09:15:31 +0000
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May 22nd, 2018 - Daily News Brief
Iran US
Iran's President Hassan Rouhani says the era of the US making decisions for the rest of the world is over. He was speaking after US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo unveiled a list of demands for a new nuclear deal with Iran which included imposing what he called, the ‘strongest sanctions in history’.However, Pompeo says Washington is willing to restore full diplomatic and commercial ties, if Iran makes major changes.
Pakistan Heatwave
At least 65 people have reportedly been killed in a heatwave in Pakistan's southern city of Karachi over the past three days.Local media say temperatures reached as high as 44 degrees celsius on Monday. Social welfare organisations say the death toll could climb as soaring temperatures and frequent power outages are set to continue. In 2015 over 1,000 people died from a heatwave in Karachi.
Malaysia Corruption
Malaysia's former Prime Minister Najib Razak is appearing before the country's Anti-Corruption Commission.Razak is the subject of a government probe launched by Malaysia's newly elected Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad into suspected corruption surrounding a multi-billion dollar state fund.On Friday, police launched raids on several of Razak's properties, seizing suitcases of cash and luxury designer items
Damascus Retaken
Syrian regime forces say they've taken full control of the capital Damascus from Daesh for the first time in six years.Intense battles against the terrorist group began on April 20th, after the collapse of evacuation talks.In a statement, the regime military said the capital and the surrounding countryside are now free of terrorism in "all its forms and designations".
Netflix Obamas
Netflix says it's reached a deal with Barack and Michelle Obama to produce material for the online streaming service.Under the name Higher Ground Productions, the Obamas have the option to produce scripted and unscripted series, documentaries and feature films.Netflix chief executive Ted Sarandos said the Obamas are in a position to highlight the stories of people who make a difference in their communities.
Tuesday, May 22, 2018
Tue, 22 May 2018 10:41:51 +0000
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May 21st, 2018 - Daily News Brief
Maduro Venezuela
Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro has won another six-year term in office but his rivals are already calling for a rerun to prevent a national crisis.Turnout was below 50 percent as the main opposition candidates boycotted the vote alleging massive irregularities.Maduro has hailed the results of the elections as a “truly popular victory.”
Trump FBI
US President Donald Trump says he will ask the Justice Department to investigate whether the FBI spied on his presidential campaign.In a tweet on Sunday, Trump demanded a probe into whether federal investigators 'infiltrated the campaign for political purposes', and whether the Obama administration was behind it. He said the request would be formally put forward on Monday. A special counsel is already investigating allegations of collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia.
US China
The US trade war with China is “on hold” after the world’s largest economies agreed to drop their tariff threats while they work on a wider trade agreement. US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and President Donald Trump’s top economic adviser, Larry Kudlow, said the agreement reached by Chinese and American negotiators set up a framework for addressing trade imbalances in the future.Tension between the two sides has been growing since the Trump administration proposed tariffs of $50 billion on Chinese goods and said it might extend the levies to an additional $150 billion. China responded with its own measures targeting US agriculture.
Dirty Money
A committee of British MPs say Russian money hidden in British assets and laundered through City of London financial institutions is damaging the government’s efforts to take a tough stance against Moscow’s aggressive foreign policy.Britain’s financial centre has been a major beneficiary of the massive flight of Russian cash since the 1991 fall of the Soviet Union.Britain has led an international diplomatic backlash against Russia following the poisoning of an ex-Russian spy in an English city - an attack which the government blames on the Kremlin. Moscow has denied any involvement in the incident.
Hawaii Volcano
Lava from Hawaii's Kilauea volcano has reached the Pacific Ocean and created a steam cloud authorities have warned could be toxic.The lava can reach 2,000 degrees celsius, and when mixed with seawater it can produce plumes of laze, a mix of hydrochloric acid, steam and volcanic glass particles.This is a potentially deadly new challenge for Hawaii’s residents who have recently been dealing with evacuations and property damage from the eruption that has lasted 18 days.Authorities are also warning of more mandatory evacuations with many residents having already fled their homes.
Monday, May 21, 2018
Mon, 21 May 2018 12:21:16 +0000
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May 18th, 2018 - Daily News Brief
Vladimir Assad
Russia’s President Vladimir Putin says foreign forces will soon be leaving Syria.
Putin was speaking during a rare meeting with Syrian regime leader Bashar al Assad on Thursday in the Russian city of Sochi.
He said the "military success" in Syria allowed for a large-scale "political process" leading to the withdrawal of foreign forces and the reconstruction of the country.
Neither Putin nor Assad specified which foreign forces will be withdrawing.
The announcement comes a day after UN special envoy to Syria Staffan de Mistura warned that a regime assault on the rebel-held area of Idlib could affect 2.3 million people.
OIC Gaza
Turkey is hosting an emergency Organization of Islamic Cooperation meeting on Friday to discuss joint action against Israel in the wake of the recent Gaza killings.
The Istanbul summit has been called by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and is expected to send a strong message against Israel.
At least 62 Palestinians, the youngest an 8-month-old baby, were killed by Israeli forces during mass rallies along Gaza's eastern border on Monday.
A number of heads of state and government officials are expected to participate in the summit.
A final declaration will be released after the meeting.
Ebola DRC
The World Health Organization has warned that an Ebola outbreak in Democratic Republic of the Congo has a high risk of spreading internally.
It is meeting today to discuss whether to declare the outbreak an event of international concern.
The move comes after the agency confirmed a case in a large urban centre connected to major national and international routes.
Rafah Opening
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al Sisi has ordered that the Rafah border crossing with Gaza be opened for the entire month of Ramadan.
The border with the Palestinian territory is mostly shut but opens at regular intervals. This would be the longest single opening in years.
Hamas controls Gaza, but not its most important crossings, Rafah with Egypt and Erez with Israel.
It handed control of those crossings late last year to its rival, the West Bank-based Palestinian Authority, in a reconciliation deal signed in Cairo.
Uber Shakeup
And finally,
Uber’s Chief Product Officer Jeff Holden is leaving the ride-hailing company and becomes the latest of more than a dozen senior executives to depart since last year.
Holden oversaw Uber Elevate, the company’s flying car operation, which is now headed by Eric Allison.
Uber’s new CEO, Dara Khosrowshahi, has been shaking up the company since taking over last August, aiming to improve Uber’s reputation after a string of scandals.
Uber, along with Lyft, scrapped mandatory arbitration to settle sexual harassment or assault claims earlier this week, giving victims several options to pursue their claims including public lawsuits.
Friday, May 18, 2018
Fri, 18 May 2018 12:58:16 +0000
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May 17th, 2018 - Daily News Brief
EU-Balkans Summit
European Union leaders have asked six Balkans countries to continue on the path of EU-oriented reform but have given no timeline for when any of the countries might be able to join the bloc.
At a summit in Bulgaria, the EU's Enlargement Commissioner Johannes Hahn said that the process is merit based and that these countries would have to do their homework.
The prospect of joining the EU has been a powerful driver of reform in Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia and its former territory of Kosovo.
Arab League
The Arab League is holding an emergency meeting in Cairo in response to the US embassy move to Jerusalem and the killing of 60 Palestinians by Israeli forces at the Gaza border.
Assistant Secretary-General Hossam Zaki says the Arab League will draw up a plan to "counter the latest decisions taken by the United States, or any other country that plans to move its embassy to Jerusalem."
On Monday Israeli forces shot and killed nearly 60 Palestinians and injured more than 2,700 during mass protests along the Gaza border, while just a few miles away Israel and the US held a festive inauguration ceremony for the new American Embassy in contested Jerusalem.
Malaysia raids
Malaysian police conducted raids at five places linked to former prime minister Najib Razak, including his family home.
Najib’s lawyer said police seized handbags and other personal items from the home in connection with a money laundering probe.
A multibillion-dollar scandal at state fund 1-M-D-B, founded by Najib, is being investigated by police in at least six countries.
Najib, who was voted out of office in last week's general election, has denied any wrongdoing.
Congo-Ebola
The Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo has entered "a new phase" after a case of the deadly virus was detected for the first time in the populous northwest city of Mbandaka.
This is a worrying shift for DRC’s authorities as the risk of infection is more easily passed on in densely populated urban areas.
So far, the 23 deaths believed to have been caused by the Ebola outbreak were all reported in more remote areas, giving authorities a better chance of isolating the virus.
YouTube Music
YouTube is launching a new music streaming service to take on Spotify and Apple Music.
YouTube Music will be launched next and along with a premium video service that will charge more for its original shows.
While Youtube Music will be free, you will now have to pay a little more to watch your favourite shows like Cobra Kai, YouTube’s hit spin off of the Karate Kid series.
Thursday, May 17, 2018
Thu, 17 May 2018 14:34:40 +0000
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