-
July 23rd, 2018 - Daily News Brief
Security concerns
Pakistan goes to the polls on Wednesday. But it's unclear how secure the vote can be, with violence almost daily.
Scores of people have been killed in attacks on campaigning parties and politicians, ahead of the election.
The latest victim was Ikramullah Gandapur, a candidate for Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf Party, or PTI as it’s known.
The PTI is in a close race with the governing party of jailed former prime minister Nawaz Sharif.
Rouhani-Trump
Iran and the US are at it again.
On Sunday, Iran's President Hassan Rouhani called for peace with his US counterpart, but warned that war with Iran would be the "mother of all wars."
President Trump responded on twitter, warning Tehran to stop threatening the US or, quote, "you will suffer consequences the likes of which few throughout history have ever suffered before."
Toronto shooting
Fifteen people have been shot in the Canadian city of Toronto, and at least two, including the shooter are dead.
Police are looking for a motive. They said it was a deliberate attack and are not ruling out terrorism.
Duterte’s nation
Philippine’s President Rodrigo Duterte delivers his state of the nation address to a joint session of Congress.
Duterte is facing criticism for his attitude to God, his war on drugs and over a long-standing rebellion in the south. The rebellion centres on the impoverished Mindanao region, which is home to most of the country's minority Muslim population.
Mesut Ozil
And finally,
Turkish-German football star Mesut Ozil has quit the German national team over racism.
The German of Turkish descent says he's sick of the disprect for his roots. Ozil wrote on Twitter: "I am German when we win, but I am an immigrant when we lose."
German fans have voted Ozil player of the year five times. And even critics seem to agree he copped more than his fair share of blame for Germany's early exit from the World Cup.
Monday, July 23, 2018
Mon, 23 Jul 2018 10:27:09 +0000
-
July 19th, 2018 - Daily News Brief
State of Emergency lifted
Turkey has lifted the two-year state of emergency imposed after the July 2016 coup attempt.
The law was renewed seven times in the past two years after it was imposed five days after the attempted putsch in which 250 people died.
The government says new counterterrorism measures are now under review.
Jewish nation-state
Israel’s parliament has passed a law that defines Israel as the "nation state of the Jewish people."
Critics say it's a racist law that verges on apartheid. Palestinian Israelis make up about 20 percent of the population.
The bill also strips Arabic of its designation as an official language in Israel.
Skripal Poisoning
UK media are reporting that British police believe they know who tried to poison former Russian double agent Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia.
According to the UK Press Association, police say they believe Russians did it.
The Skripals were poisoned with a Soviet-era nerve agent Novichok in March, but have since recovered.
Two other people were poisoned this month with Novichok in the UK. One of them has died.
Pastor trial
A Turkish court has ruled that US pastor, Andrew Brunson, must stay in jail pending his trial on spying and terrorism charges.
Brunson is charged with esponiage and having links to terror groups.
Brunson has lived in Turkey for more than two decades. He denies the charges.
Turkey's Wimbledon champion
And finally,
Turkey’s Yanki Erel and his Finnish partner won the junior boys’ doubles title at Wimbledon.
It was Turkey's first ever win in a male category at a Grand Slam.
We know we're a little late reporting on this. But we thought it was worth celebrating.
Thursday, July 19, 2018
Thu, 19 Jul 2018 11:33:29 +0000
-
July 18th, 2018 - Daily News Brief
Alleged spy
A Russian woman named Maria Butina has been charged with spying in the US.
Federal officials accuse her of trying to influence American politics and infiltrate the National Rifle Association.
She was arrested on Sunday. That was just hours before President Trump cast doubt on the value of US intelligence about the Russian hack of the 2016 presidential election.
Trump was in Helsinki at a summit with Vladimir Putin when he made the comment. Trump now says he misspoke, and has every confidence in US intelligence.
Fuaa, Kafraya
Syrian regime and rebel forces have made a deal to evacuate thousands of civilians and fighters from two besieged Shia-majority districts in northwest Syria.
The agreement calls for the evacuation of civilians from Kafraya and Fuaa in Idlib province.
Some 7,000 rebels and their families are expected to leave.
At the same time, the Assad regime says it will release 1,500 civilians and fighters held prisoner.
Racist bill
Israel's parliament, the Knesset, is expected to vote on a “Nationality Bill" today.
If the vote passes and the bill becomes law it will make Israel a nation state first and foremost for Israeli Jews.
Critics say the bill is racist and will make Israel's Arab and non-Jewish populations second class citizens in their homeland.
EU-Google
The EU is set to hit Google with a $5 billion antitrust fine. It's a record for the bloc, which says Google blocked its competitors on devices using the Android operating system.
The European Commission says the installation of Chrome and Google search on mobile devices put competitors at a disadvantage.
Thai boys
And finally,
The twelve Thai boys and their football coach who were trapped in a flooded cave are out of hospital and meeting the press for the first time since their dramatic rescue last week.
The thirteen went missing on June 23. They were caught in the cave by heavy rains.
It was ten days before a team of Navy Seals and international divers found them. It was then another several days before they were safely brought out.
Tragically, a former Thai Navy Seal died in the rescue operation.
Wednesday, July 18, 2018
Wed, 18 Jul 2018 13:08:06 +0000
-
July 17th, 2018 - Daily News Brief
Helsinki
Is US President Donald Trump serious? Or just joking?
It's hard to tell, after he told the world he trusts Russia's President Vladimir Putin, as much as, if not more than the collective findings of the US intelligence services.
US Intelligence concluded that Moscow hacked the 2016 presidential election. So, are they just stupid?
Former CIA director, John Brennan said Trump's performance in Helsinki was “treasonous,” and that was fairly typical of what the president's critics back home had to say.
Manbij
On a serious note, ahead of his meeting with Putin, Trump discussed the latest developments in Syria in a phone call with Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
The two leaders spoke about the importance of a joint roadmap in the northern city of Manbij, saying it would "significantly contribute" to a solution in the war-torn country.
EU-Japan
Meanwhile, the EU and Japan are signing a widespread trade deal today that will eliminate nearly all tariffs.
Both sides are heralding the deal, which covers a third of the global economy and more than 600 million people.
Champions of free trade will welcome the move.
Nicaragua protests
In Nicaragua, ten people, including four police officers and two children, have been killed in the latest of ongoing protests. 20 others were injured.
Pro-government forces have been clashing with demonstrators for the past three months. They started with protests against economic problems and alleged corruption.
Now people are also protesting the government's heavy-handed response to the original demonstrations, as the numbers killed continue to climb.
Thought experiment
And finally,
In other news, a court in a country we cannot name under threat of prosecution, has banned reporting on a high-profile trial, in any format that is accessible inside that country.
The country in question is usually thought of as a model for democracy. Kind of weird for a democracy, right? Or is this the future of free speech in a connected world?
Tuesday, July 17, 2018
Tue, 17 Jul 2018 12:02:17 +0000
-
July 16th, 2018 - Daily News Brief
Night of defiance
Sunday was the second anniversary of the defeat of the July 15, 2016 coup attempt in Turkey.
Tens of thousands of people joined rallies in major cites to mark the day.
President Erdogan addressed the crowd at Istanbul's July 15 Martyrs' bridge. 34 people were killed there. They were confronting soldiers and security forces who tried to overthrow the government.
In total, at least 250 people died in defence of democracy that night. More than 2,000 were wounded.
The coup was orchestrated by US-based cleric, Fetullah Gulen.
Putin-Trump summit
Russia's President Vladimir Putin today meets his US counterpart Donald Trump, in Helsinki.
The stakes could be high with Russia-US relations at a low off the back of new allegations about Moscow's hack of the 2016 US presidential election.
Evacuating Daraa
Hundreds of rebels and their families are vacating southern Daraa in Syria. They're leaving under a Russian-brokered deal to bring the city back under regime control.
Buses have taken more than 400 fighters and their families to opposition-held Idlib in Syria’s northwest. Over a thousand more are due to leave.
Daraa was the first city to rise up against Bashar al Assad over seven years ago. A brutal crackdown by Damascus triggered the civil war, now in its eighth year.
Eritrea-Ethiopia
Eritrea has re-opened its embassy in neighbouring Ethiopia.
Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed and Eritrea's longtime President Isaias Afwerki (i-SAI-as af-WER-ki) attended the ceremony in the capital Addis Ababa.
A week ago, in deal brokered by Algeria, the two leaders declared their "state of war" over.
Isaias spent the weekend in Ethiopia.
Eritrea seceded from Ethiopia in 1993. They fought a border war between 1998 and 2000 in which tens of thousands of people died.
Obama visits Kenya
And finally,
Staying in Africa, former US president Barack Obama is in Kenya for a family reunion of sorts, before before heading to South Africa to attend a birthday tribute to Nelson Mandela.
It's Obama's first visit to his father's birthplace since leaving office.
He will also be the guest of honour at the launch of a sports facility built by the foundation of his sister Auma Obama.
Monday, July 16, 2018
Mon, 16 Jul 2018 13:02:14 +0000
-
July 13th, 2018 - Daily News Brief
Syria's Daraa
Syrian regime forces have entered the city of Daraa. It's the city where the revolution against Bashar al Assad began.
Some 2,000 rebels and their families are thought to be still holed up in the southwestern Syrian city.
But raising the regime flag in Daraa is a symbolic victory for Damascus after more than seven years of war.
A third of a million people have fled fighting in the region since mid-June.
Nawaz Sharif
Pakistan's former prime minister Nawaz Sharif and his daughter are on their way home.
They face lengthy prison terms for corruption. Sharif says he will appeal the conviction.
Police have shut down Lahore, where they're expected to land, to prevent the ex-prime minister's Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz, or PML-N, from giving him a hero's welcome home.
It's a high stakes gamble ahead of a July 25 election, with the PML-N losing ground in opinion polls to Imran Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf or PTI.
Trump in UK
To the UK and the visit of US President Donald Trump.
The so-called 'special relationship' between the US and UK could be tested, after Trump blasted Prime Minister Theresa May, saying she had caved in to the EU on Brexit.
Trump arrived in Britain after a frosty NATO summit. His next stop after the UK is Moscow, where he could well get the warmest welcome of his European jaunt.
Chemical explosion
At least 19 people were killed and 12 injured when a chemical plant blew up overnight in China.
The blast was in the city of Yibin (EE-BIN) in southwestern Sichuan (SITCH-WAN) province.
China is the world's biggest producer of chemicals. An investigation into the explosion is underway.
Wimbledon women
And finally,
It's Wimbledon finals weekend.
Serena Williams faces Angelique Kerber for the women's title.
The American is on a 20-match winning streak. And she will add an eighth Wimbledon crown if she beats Germany's Kerber on Saturday.
Friday, July 13, 2018
Fri, 13 Jul 2018 11:37:15 +0000
-
July 12th, 2018 - Daily News Brief
NATO summit
NATO leaders will try today to move beyond US President Donald Trump's demands for higher defence spending.
The focus of Thursday's talks will be the seemingly endless war in Afghanistan.
The government backed by NATO is facing a resurgent Taliban. But as with all wars, it's the ordinary people who continue to suffer.
Syria-Israel
Israeli forces attacked Syrian military positions near the frontier of the occupied Golan Heights on Thursday.
Israel said it was responding to a Syrian drone shot down over northern Israel.
Syria refugees
Staying with Syria, and the area where the drone was shot down is close to a developing humanitarian crisis.
Some 350,000 civilians have fled Daraa province in recent weeks, many heading to the Jordanian border. They fled after the Assad regime attacked rebels in and near Daraa province in mid-June.
Among those trapped in Daraa are almost 300 journalists. That's according to the Syrian Journalists Association.
The association says the journalists are seeking safe exit to the Jordanian border. But they fear Assad forces could attack them.
Japan floods
The death toll in Japan's floods has risen to 195.
Intense heat and water shortages are adding to the misery.
Close to half a million households are without water after a week of torrential rains.
Dozens of people are still missing.
World Cup
And finally,
It was good news for Croatian fans, but another horrible end for England.
Croatia will face France in the World Cup final on Sunday, after they beat England 2-1 in the dying minutes of Wednesday's semi-final.
Thursday, July 12, 2018
Thu, 12 Jul 2018 11:58:21 +0000
Like
Follow