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April 19th, 2018 - Daily News Brief
Turkey elections
Turkey is headed to the polls on June 24, seventeen months ahead of schedule
President Erdogan announced the snap presidential and parliamentary elections in a bid to fast-track Turkey’s transition to a presidential system of governance approved in a referendum last year.
Erdogan says the new system is needed to respond to developments in Syria and Iraq, and will ensure economic stability on the domestic front.
Chemical probe
One trigger for the early elections in Turkey was the war in Syria across the border.
Ankara welcomed the recent US-led strikes on the Syrian regime’s chemical weapons facilities.
But OPCW inspectors have yet to enter Douma, after its advance security detail from the UN was fired on.
The town in eastern Ghouta was the site of the suspected gas attack that triggered the recent US-led strike on the regime.
Cuba president
Cuba’s parliament has nominated Miguel Diaz-Canel to succeed Raul Castro as president.
Diaz-Canel is a trusted Castro ally. But his elevation to the top job still means it will be the first time since the 1959 revolution that a Castro hasn't been at the helm of the island nation.
Cuba is the only communist country in the Americas.
No confidence Kyrgyzstan
Kyrgyz President Sooronbai Jeenbekov has sacked his cabinet after a no-confidence vote in parliament.
The governing coalition withdrew its backing for Prime Minister Sapar Isakov, leading to his ouster.
The move exposed an apparent power struggle between the president and ex-president Almazbek Atambayev.
The former president is not a member of parliament, but heads the Social Democratic party, the core of the governing coalition.
Galatasaray win
And finally…
Basketball. And Istanbul's Galatasaray has won the EuroCup women's title.
It was the second EuroCup title win for the Turkish team. It lost Wednesday's return match to Italy's Reyer Venezia, but won the two-game final on aggregate.
Thu, 19 Apr 2018 12:01:02 +0000
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April 18th, 2018 - Daily News Brief
Douma
OPCW experts have yet to enter Douma….The town in Syria that was hit by a suspected chemical attack on April 7, triggering US-led strikes on Syria on Saturday.
The chemical weapons inspectors were meant to go in today, but gunfire in the area prevented that.
The US and its allies say Russia and the Assad regime are stalling the OPCW mission in a bid to clean up the attack site, where dozens died.
Korea peace talks
South Korea is hoping to use a summit with the North next week to start discussions on formally ending the Korean War.
The three-year conflict ended in 1953 with a truce, not a ceasefire. So the two Koreas are technically still at war.
The US also signed the treaty, so it has a stake. And the North-South summit comes ahead of an expected meeting between Trump and the DPRK's Kim Jong-un.
Pompeo nomination
Some of the hype around the Korean meetings comes after US officials said Trump's CIA director at the time met Kim Jong-un two weeks ago.
That ex-CIA director is Mike Pompeo, who's currently in the process of being confirmed as the next US secretary of state.
Although Pompeo is expected to get the job, Senate Democrats aren't making it easy for the trusted Trump lieutenant, last week grilling him on foreign policy.
As Washington's top diplomat he might be meeting Kim again soon, and this time not in secret.
Support for pastor
Relations between Turkey and the US will likely take another hit after Trump voiced support for an American pastor on trial in Turkey on terrorism-related offences.
Andrew Brunson was charged with helping the network of US-based Fetullah Gulen, who orchestrated the attempted coup in Turkey in July 2016.
Trump tweeted, "They call him a spy, but I am more a spy than he is."
We don't know whether Trump was joking, or whether there's even more we don't know about the US president.
Starbucks race education
And finally…
Coffee giant Starbucks is shutting 8,000 stores across the US on May 29 for an afternoon of 'racial bias' training.
Starbucks reacted to the fairly pointless arrest of two black men at a store in Philadelphia, after an employee called in police.
Racial bias training might help. But Starbucks is sure to milk the exercise for the PR. So I guess that'll be a white Americano please, if I can find somewhere to get my fix.
Wed, 18 Apr 2018 14:55:33 +0000
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April 17th, 2018 - Daily News Brief
Chemical weapons
Moscow has dismissed US suggestions that Russian forces in Syria may have tampered with the site of an alleged gas attack by the Assad regime, which triggered Saturday's US-led strikes.
The OPCW which has gone to investigate the attack has been unable to enter Douma, although Russia says they will let in the chemical weapons inspectors on Wednesday.
The US meanwhile, has done a U-turn on its Russia policy with President Trump saying there won't be any new sanctions on Russia for its support of the Assad regime. This, after UN Ambassador Nikki Haley said Russian companies linked to Syria's chemical weapons programme would be sanctioned.
New missile strikes against Syria reported on Tuesday were denied by the Pentagon. If confirmed, experts believe it was likely an Israeli attack.
Facebook lawsuit
The privacy debate continues to swirl with Facebook well and truly at the centre of it.
After a scandal over the mishandling of user data, Facebook now faces a class action lawsuit over allegations it violated the privacy of its millions of users by using a facial recognition tool on their pictures without their consent.
Facebook says it will fight the case “vigorously."
Russian journalist
Maksim Borodin, a Russian crime reporter who recently wrote about Russian mercenaries fighting for the Assad regime in Syria, has been found dead in unexplained circumstances.
Police are investigating whether he killed himself by jumping from his apartment balcony.
The editor in chief of Novy Den, where Borodin worked, says she does not believe Borodin committed suicide.
#MeToo coverage
The New York Times and New Yorker magazine have won the Pulitzer Prize for public service for their reporting on the sexual harassment scandal surrounding Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein.
The coverage sparked the #MeToo movement that pushed the issue of sexual harassment in the workplace to the centre of US public debate.
Since then, the #MeToo movement has gone global, with an ever-growing list of powerful and abusive men being brought to account for their behaviour.
Plastic eater
And finally…
Scientists have accidentally created an enzyme that could wipe away our plastic waste.
Researchers at Britain’s University of Portsmouth and the US energy department’s renewable energy lab made the discovery while testing an enzyme thought to have evolved in a waste recycling centre in Japan.
The bug, critter, thing, can digest a form of plastic used in millions of tonnes of plastic bottles. Researchers want to improve it so it can work on an industrial scale.
We don't know whether they've considered what might happen if the enzyme gets out, and well, goes public.
Tue, 17 Apr 2018 12:48:22 +0000
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April 16th, 2018 - Daily News Brief
Russia sanctions
The US is planning new sanctions on Russia in response to Moscow’s continued support for Syrian regime leader Bashar al Assad.
The sanctions will target companies that Washington says have links to Assad’s chemical weapons program.
The move follows the US-led attack on Syria on Saturday, which targeted chemical weapons production and launch sites.
Douma investigation
The US-led strike on Syria followed an alleged gas attack on rebels and civilians in Douma. More than 40 people died in the attack, prompting the retaliation from the US, UK and France.
Meanwhile, the world’s chemical weapons watchdog, the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, is in Syria and due to start its investigation in Douma.
The OPCW says it won't lay blame, but only try to find out whether chemical weapons were actually used in the Douma attack blamed on the Assad regime.
NATO chief in Turkey
The US, UK and France are all members of NATO, which was united in its support for Saturday's missile strike on Syria.
Turkey is also a NATO member, and NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg is visiting Turkey for talks with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and senior government and military officials.
Stoltenberg has called on all allies to provide more support to Turkey, which is active in Syria where Ankara is fighting terror groups in a bid to secure its borders.
Planet hunter
In one of its most ambitious programs ever, NASA is about to go planet hunting again, in a bid to find Earth-like worlds around stars beyond our solar system.
The Transit Exoplanet Survey Satellite, or TESS, is set to lift off later today from Cape Canaveral in Florida.
TESS is designed to orbit around the Earth and the moon and focus on 200,000 pre-selected stars where planets might be lurking.
The launch will use one of Elon Musk's SpaceX rockets, the Falcon 9.
Boring games
And finally…
The Commonwealth Games are over for another four years. For the first time at a multi-event games there were an equal number of medal events for men and women across all sports.
And at this year's games, hosted by Australia, five countries won Commonwealth Games medals for the first time.
However, it wasn't all fun and games on the Gold Coast.
The games’ boss had to apologise for what many called a dull closing ceremony. Some athletes went missing, and activists protested the games, in a bid to draw attention to the treatment of indigenous Australians since colonisation over two hundred years ago.
Mon, 16 Apr 2018 12:30:44 +0000
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April 13th, 2018 - Daily News Brief
Palestinians protest
Palestinian 'right of return' protests are entering their third week on Gaza's border with Israel.
Israeli forces have already killed more than 30 demonstrators, with the protests expected to continue for another month.
Much of the international community has condemned the Israeli military’s use of live ammunition against the protesters demanding the right to return to their homes across the border.
Syria
Chemical weapons experts are headed to Douma in Syria to investigate a suspected gas attack, which France says was the work of the Assad regime.
Damascus and its key ally Russia, which has deployed military police to Douma, deny the charge.
US President Donald Trump has walked back his threat of an imminent missile strike on Syria, as the region grapples with the possibility of a US-Russia showdown.
Nawaz no more
Ex-Pakistan prime minister Nawaz Sharif has been banned for life from holding public office.
Pakistan's Supreme Court made the ruling on Friday.
Sharif's governing party said the ruling was a joke and a conspiracy.
Sharif and his family's problems began last year with the publication of the Panama Papers, investigative journalism which detailed globally the corruption of many of the world's rich and powerful.
Rape cases
There have been protests in India and Indian-administered Kashmir after police officers and a governing party politician were named separately in connection to two unrelated child rape cases.
Outrage continues over the rape and murder of an 8-year-old Muslim girl, whom police allege was gang raped and murdered in a Hindu temple, in India-administered Kashmir.
In the second case, a man died this week in police custody after accusing a lawmaker from the governing BJP Party in the Uttar Pradesh province…. of the abduction and rape of his 16-year-old daughter nine months ago.
Boss Trump
Former FBI director James Comey has blasted US President Donald Trump as unethical and "untethered to truth," comparing him to a mob boss in his forthcoming book.
Keep in mind this is the same Comey that critics say helped deliver the White House to Trump through the FBI's investigation of Hillary Clinton's email ahead of the 2016 election.
Trump then fired Comey in 2017 over what has become Special Counsel Robert Mueller's investigation into the alleged Russian hack of the vote, and alleged collusion with the Trump camp.
Comey's book should make interesting reading. It's out on Tuesday.
Fri, 13 Apr 2018 13:02:41 +0000
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April 12th, 2018 - Daily News Brief
This is TRT World’s Daily News Brief for Wednesday, April 12th.
Eastern Ghouta
The Syrian regime has taken full control of Douma, the last rebel bastion in eastern Ghouta, Russia and a war monitor say.
Russia's defence ministry says it has deployed military police to the town.
Douma was the last rebel-stronghold in the enclave on the outskirts of Damascus. It has been under siege since 2013, but it only fell after the regime and its ally Russia intensified their assault on the town earlier this year.
Syria strikes
Douma was also the site of a suspected chemical attack on the weekend which has put the region on edge as the US and Russia trade barbs at the UN, and the US threatens a missile strike on regime assets in Syria.
US President Donald Trump told Moscow to "get ready" for "nice and new and 'smart'" missiles. Russia retorted that Moscow doesn't engage in Twitter diplomacy.
Trump also spoke by phone on Wednesday with Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. The two leaders agreed to stay in touch over developments in Syria.
Mike Pompeo
The confirmation hearing for Mike Pompeo, the CIA director Trump has picked to be the next secretary of state after firing Rex Tillerson, begins today.
Pompeo is expected to be confirmed and further tilt the US administration to the right.
Pompeo's tenure as the top US diplomat begins as the White House ramps up its rhetoric against Russia, Syria and Iran on the political and military front, and against China on the issue of trade.
Athletes on the run
Athletes are running at the Commonwealth Games in Australia. And they're also apparently running from the games.
Organisers on Thursday said another five athletes from Africa have vanished, after eight competitors from Cameroon were suspected of fleeing a day earlier.
Australia is well known as a great tourist destination, not so much its treatment of would-be refugees. The missing athletes all have valid visas until May 15, so maybe they're just out sightseeing?
Impressing Ms. Swift
And finally...
A Connecticut man with a crush on singer Taylor Swift has apparently robbed a bank in a bid to impress the singer.
According to police, he took the stolen money to her Rhode Island mansion and threw about $1,600 over the fence.
Ms Swift probably makes that much every time she goes on Twitter. So, we don't know if she was impressed, as she has yet to comment on the incident.
Thu, 12 Apr 2018 13:40:10 +0000
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April 11th, 2018 - Daily News Brief
Algeria plane crash
An Algerian military plane crashed near Boufarik airport near the capital Algiers on Wednesday.
A local television station has put the the death toll at at least 247. Most of those on board are thought to be military personnel.
The government has opened an investigation into the crash.
Zuckerberg ‘sorry'
Facebook chief Mark Zuckerberg appeared before US lawmakers on Tuesday and apologised for how his company has handled the growing furor over online privacy.
Zuckerberg accepted personal responsibility for the leak of users' data and vowed that the company will do more to guard such information.
The scandal relates to Cambridge Analytica's harvesting of 87 million user profiles. Its suspended CEO later said the data were used to deliver the 2016 US presidential election to Donald Trump.
Azerbaijanis head to polls
Azerbaijanis are voting in a snap presidential election that is set to extend the tenure of Ilham Aliyev.
The incumbent president is running unopposed after the country’s main opposition parties boycotted the vote.
Aliyev is poised to secure a fourth consecutive term after being elected for the first time in 2003. He became president following the death of his father Heydar Aliyev, who was his predecessor as president.
Heydar Aliyev was also Azerbaijan's last communist leader, before the country became a democracy with the collapse of the Soviet Union.
Bangladesh protests
Hundreds of university students across Bangladesh blockaded roads in a third day of protests on Wednesday against what they say are discriminatory quotas for government jobs.
The protesters are particularly irate that 30 percent of government positions are reserved for descendents of veterans from Bangladesh's independence war in 1971.
So far the protests have been largely peaceful, but they are a challenge for the government of Sheikh Hasina.
UNSC on Syria
The UN Security Council failed again to pass a resolution on Syria after the US and Russia vetoed each other's attempts to set up international investigations into the use of chemical weapons in Syria.
Meanwhile, the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) says it will take up an invitation from Damascus to visit the site of the latest alleged gas attack, rebel-held Douma in eastern Ghouta.
Wed, 11 Apr 2018 12:42:23 +0000
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