Friday, February 22, 2019

The Venezuela crisis is now about aid, and Israel is aiming for the moon.

This is TRT World’s Daily News Brief for Friday, February 22nd.

Venezuela crisis highlighted by aid showdown

Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro has ordered the border with Brazil to be closed.

He wants to prevent so-called 'aid' from getting into the impoverished country, a crisis the president blames on foreign interference.

The opposition's Juan Guaido, who's named himself interim president, says he'll attempt to escort an aid convey into Venezuela from Colombia on Saturday.

Guaido is defying the military to stop him. So far, it's remained loyal to Maduro.

US to keep 200 soldiers in Syria

The US says it will keep around 200 soldiers in Syria after it formally withdraws its troops from the country.

The announcement comes as President Trump spoke to Turkey's President Erdogan by phone on Thursday.

The two leaders agreed on a joint commitment to fight all forms of terrorism in Syria.

Vatican sex abuse summit hears searing indictments

The Vatican sex abuse summit has opened with searing indictments from victims.

Rape, paedophilia, forbidden love and the children of so-called celibate priests and nuns.

Decades of abuse, complicity, denial and silence are under scrutiny.

Catholic Pope Francis offered 21 proposals to address the problem.

How the Church responds could well determine its future.

Nigeria goes to the polls 2.0

Nigeria's delayed election is on again on Saturday.

It's Africa's biggest economy, but also suffering 20 percent unemployment.

It's Africa's most populous country, some 200 million people. About half of them are living in extreme poverty.

It's a young country. Over half the 84 million registered voters are under the age of 35.

And they'll almost certainly be electing a president who is older than 70.

Private Israeli venture aims for the moon

And finally,

Israel is aiming for the moon. Literally.

The country's first spacecraft was launched on a SpaceX rocket on Thursday.

The payload is the size of a washing machine and should touch down on April 11 if all goes according to plan.

It's actually a private non-profit venture, which is a first for the commercialisation of space.

Success would make Israel only the fourth country, after the US, Russia and China to land on the moon.

And that’s your daily news brief from TRT World... For more, head to TRTWORLD.com.

Thursday, February 21, 2019

Fire in Bangladesh kills at least 70, and Jussie Smollett is charged with lying to police.

This is TRT World’s Daily News Brief for Thursday, February 21st.

Fire in Bangladesh capital kills at least 70

Officials in Bangladesh say at least 70 people have died in a fire in the capital Dhaka.

It started in a residential building also used as a chemical warehouse.

The city's fire chief said the death toll is likely to rise.

Daesh families evacuated from war zone in eastern Syria

Hundreds of men, women and children left the last enclave held by Daesh in eastern Syria on Wednesday.

Their departure could signal the beginning of the end for Daesh hold-outs in the area, and the end of Daesh control of any part of Syria.

Trump thinks American Daesh member is not a US citizen

President Donald Trump says an Alabama woman who traveled to Syria to join Daesh will not be allowed back into the United States.

It's based on an assessment she's not a US citizen, because her father was a diplomat.

But legal advocates say he's got his facts wrong — that her father was not a diplomat when she was born, and that she should be allowed to go home.

US arrests man planning massive terror attack

US authorities have arrested a Coast Guard lieutenant for allegedly plotting a massive attack on Democrat politicians and mainstream media.

Christopher Paul Hasson is accused of stashing guns and ammunition to carry out domestic terrorism.

Hasson wanted a white homeland.

He was apparently a fan of Norwegian terrorist and white supremacist Anders Breivik, who killed 77 people, mostly teenagers, at a summer camp in 2011.

Jussie Smollett charged with lying to police

And finally,

US actor Jussie Smollett has been charged with lying to police.

Smollett, who is black and gay, plays a gay character in the hit Fox series 'Empire'.

He told police in January he'd been attacked by two men who hurled racist and homophobic slurs against him.

The right is having a field day with Smollett's troubles, now that his account is in question.

And that’s your daily news brief from TRT World... For more, head to TRTWORLD.com

Wednesday, February 20, 2019

White House pushes Saudi nuclear plan, and UK revokes citizenship for teen who joined Daesh.

This is TRT World’s Daily News Brief for Wednesday, February 20th.

Trump-Saudi nuclear deal under investigation

The White House has been pushing a project to share nuclear technology with Saudi Arabia.

The plan ignores objections of national security officials, who fear how it could be used.

Saudi Arabia is facing scrutiny over its role in the war in Yemen and murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

Venezuela 'on alert,' suspends links with Curacao to block aid

Venezuela's military has suspended travel to and from the island of Curacao ahead of a planned aid shipment.

Self-declared interim president Juan Guaido has vowed to bring aid in from various points.

But military commanders doubled down on their allegiance to President Nicolas Maduro after Trump on Monday urged them to abandon him.

Pakistani PM willing to talk but warns India not to attack

Pakistan's Prime Minister Imran Khan is offering to hold talks with India as tension simmers over the killing of more than 40 soldiers in India-administered Kashmir.

India has accused Pakistan of complicity in the attack claimed by Jaish-e-Mohammad.

Pakistan has denied any involvement and called for the UN to step in.

Turkey no longer able to face new refugee flow - Erdogan

President Erdogan says Turkey will not be able to handle another wave of migration by itself.

Turkey is currently sheltering some 4 million refugees from the war in Syria.

But Erdogan pointed to a much bigger issue - 25 million refugees worldwide and a quarter of a billion migrants.

The president said building higher walls with barbed wire was no way to prevent irregular migration.

British teen who joined Daesh loses UK citizenship

And finally,

Britain has revoked the citizenship of a teenager who joined Daesh in Syria.

Shamima Begum left London in 2015, when she was 15.

She married a Daesh terrorist and has now given birth to a son.

Her plight shows the problem many countries will face as the war in Syria winds down and militants and their families linked to Daesh seek to return home.

And that’s your daily news brief from TRT World... For more, head to TRTWORLD.com

Tuesday, February 19, 2019

US-backed SDF calls for coalition forces to stay in Syria, and Djokovic and Biles win this year's top Laureus awards.

This is TRT World’s Daily News Brief for Tuesday, February 19th.

SDF calls for 1,500 coalition troops to stay

The US-backed SDF have called for about 1,000 to 1,500 international troops to remain in Syria to prevent any resurgence by Daesh.

The terror group is facing the loss of its last remaining territory in Syria to the US-backed SDF, which is dominated by the YPG.

The YPG is the Syrian wing of the PKK terror group.

Two bombs in Idlib kill at least 25 people

Staying with Syria, and two bombs in the northern city of Idlib have killed at least 25 people, including seven children.

Dozens more were injured. Nobody has claimed the attacks.

Idlib is largely held by the HTS, a group with historical links to Al Qaeda.

Damascus has been stepping up attacks on Idlib and neighbouring Hama, but observers report a de-escalation of shelling in a demilitarised zone agreed by Turkey and Russia.

Maduro says Trump sounds "Nazi-like"

Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro says the US president is starting to sound like a "Nazi."

Maduro was speaking after Trump called on Venezuela's military to withdraw its support from the president.

The US is backing Congress leader Juan Guaido who triggered a constitutional crisis on January 23 by naming himself interim president and calling for Maduro to step down.

Poland shuns Israel summit

A summit of the Visegrad group planned for Israel has been canceled after comments by Israeli politicians saying Poland was complicit in the Holocaust.

Poland withdrew from the event in protest.

The Visegrad forum is a cultural and political alliance grouping Poland, the Czech Republic, Hungary and Slovakia.

Biles and Djokovic win top Laureus World Sports Awards

And finally,

US gymnast Simone Biles has won the Laureus sportswoman of the year prize.

The men's award went to Serbian tennis player Novak Djokovic.

And that’s your daily news brief from TRT World... For more, head to TRTWORLD.com

Monday, February 18, 2019

Four soldiers are killed in a battle in Kashmir, and the Pope defrocks a Cardinal for sex abuse.

This is TRT World’s Daily News Brief for Monday, February 18th.

Gun battle kills four soldiers in India-administered Kashmir

At least four soldiers and a civilian have been killed in a gunfight with rebels in India-administered Kashmir.

The battle took place in the same area where a suicide bomber killed more than 40 soldiers on Thursday.

Indian security forces have detained more than 20 men suspected of links to Jaish-e-Mohammad, the Pakistan-based group which claimed Thursday's attack.

US-led coalition tactics in Syria slammed by French officer

A senior French officer in Syria is facing possible disciplinary action after criticising the US-led coalition's tactics against Daesh.

He said ground troops had wrongly been kept out of the fight.

Instead the coalition had used air strikes and artillery which spread wanton destruction and indiscriminately killed civilians.

Warring sides in Yemen agree on Hudaida pullback

Yemen's government has reached an agreement with Houthi rebels on the first phase of a redeployment of forces from the port city of Hudaida.

Under the UN-backed deal, both sides will leave the city. The Houthis will withdraw first, and Saudi-backed forces will follow.

Hudaida is a key entry point for aid for Yemen where four years of war have left millions on the brink of starvation.

MBS in Pakistan

Saudi Arabia and Pakistan have signed deals worth $20 billion in sectors like petrochemicals, agriculture and food processing.

The agreements were inked during a visit by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

Pakistan was the first stop of a three-nation tour by MBS that critics say is an attempt to distract from the Saudi murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

Pope defrocks cardinal for sex abuse

And finally,

The Catholic pope has defrocked a US cardinal for sex abuse.

The move comes ahead of this week's Vatican summit on sex abuse by the clergy.

Survivors of abuse will be in Rome, but won't be at the summit.

They're calling on the church to stop denying the scale of the problem and deal with it.

And that’s your daily news brief from TRT World... For more, head to TRTWORLD.com

Daily News Brief for Friday, February 15th:

*)Turkey, Russia, Iran outline road map for Syria

Turkey’s President Erdogan says a solution to the eight-year war in Syria is closer than it has been before.

Erdogan was speaking at a meeting in Sochi with his Russian and Iranian counterparts.

The three leaders agreed to work on a new constitution for Syria as well as rid it of terrorists.

*)Kashmir car bombing tests India Pakistan relations

India and Pakistan's troubled ties are being tested after New Delhi blamed Islamabad for harbouring militants behind the deadliest bombing in three decades of bloodshed in India-administered Kashmir.

Over 40 paramilitary troops were killed on Thursday in a suicide attack on a troop convoy.

Kashmir has been split between India and Pakistan since independence in 1947 with the nuclear-armed neighbours each claiming it as their own.

*)Maduro dismisses aid but open to discussion

The crisis in Venezuela took an unexpected turn on Thursday when President Nicolas Maduro said his government was in secret contact with the US administration. Beyond the possibility of further talks, the substance of the talks is not yet known.

The crisis was triggered in late January when opposition leader Juan Guaido named himself interim president with US backing.

*)Trump ups ante in battle for border wall

Boxed in by the US Congress, President Trump now says he'll declare a national emergency to get funding for his border wall.

The president's latest move comes after Congress passed a bipartisan resolution to keep the government open with minimal money for a wall.

Trump is expected to sign the bill after the negative fallout from his first shut down of the government over wall funding.

*)Chicago police dispute reports 'Empire' actor attack a hoax

And finally,

Chicago police are denying media reports that an attack on actor Jussie Smollet was staged.

Chicago's ABC7 television is reporting that Smollet staged being physically assaulted because he was being written out of the show ‘Empire’.

Producers of the hit Fox drama are also disputing reports that Smollett's character is being written off.

Daily News Brief for Thursday, February 14th:

*)US House votes to end support for Yemen war

The US-controlled House has voted to end American involvement in the war in Yemen.

The US is supporting the Saudi-led coalition fighting Iran-backed Houthis in a proxy war that has become a humanitarian catastrophe.

The Republican-controlled Senate could also back the resolution given the level of bipartisan revulsion at ongoing US involvement in the war.

However President Trump is a staunch Saudi ally and has threatened to veto the bill.

*)Suicide bomber targets Iran's Revolutionary Guard

A suicide car bombing on a Revolutionary Guards bus in southeastern Iran has killed at least 27 soldiers.

The Jaish al Adl militant group claimed responsibility for the attack.

Tehran linked the attack to ongoing US attempts to isolate Iran.

*)Google, Apple face pressure to pull app that monitors Saudi women

Activists are urging Google and Apple to remove from online stores a Saudi government app that allows men to monitor women.

The Absher app lets men give or revoke permission for their wives and female relatives to travel internationally and get text messages.

Campaigners say it's yet another sign of the repression and abuse of women in the kingdom.

*)US knuckles down on Venezuela

In the latest on the Venezuelan crisis, Trump heads to Miami on Monday when he's expected to voice support for opposition leader Juan Guaido.

The head of Congress has named himself interim president in defiance of President Nicolas Maduro.

Dozens have died in street protests on both sides in support of their preferred leader.

*)NASA bids adieu to Opportunity

And finally,

NASA has said goodbye to Opportunity, its trusty Mars rover.

The rover was originally designed to sniff about Mars for three months.

It ended up sending back data to Earth for 15 years.

But engineers lost contact with the little robot last June, and yesterday finally pulled the plug on its amazing mission.