Russia’s grip on Syria tightens as brittle ceasefire deal leaves US out in the cold
At the peace talks in Munich and on the ground in Aleppo, two things became clear last week: Moscow was running the show and Assad’s opponents felt abandoned by Washington
Russia’s economy may be stumbling as oil prices fall, but in a week of extraordinary military and diplomatic turmoil over the war in Syria, President Vladimir Putin has proved that his global influence and ambitions have only been sharpened by financial troubles.
For now he seems to be calling all the shots in Syria’s civil war. Russian jets allowed Syrian government troops to break out of a stalemate in Aleppo, cutting supply routes into a city that has been a rebel stronghold for years.
With hundreds of thousands of people facing siege in the ruins of Aleppo, and Europe fearful that thousands more fleeing to the border could trigger a new influx of refugees, top diplomats gathered to agree a flimsy ceasefire deal.Anger as US Senate votes to name square outside Chinese embassy after dissident
Communist Party-controlled newspaper says Ted Cruz’s bill to name the Washington plaza after Liu Xiaobo is provocative and petty
A Chinese nationalist newspaper says Americans politicians are being petty after the Senate approved a bill to rename the plaza in front of the Chinese embassy in Washington after an imprisoned Chinese political dissident.
The Communist Party-controlled Global Times on Sunday called the move provocative and said it was intended to outrage Beijing, although China would not consider it a big deal.
“The US has been at its wits’ end in dealing with China as it is reluctant to employ military threats or economic sanctions that may backfire,” the newspaper wrote. “The only option for Washington seems to be petty actions that disturb China.”Afghan civilian casualties hit new high: UN
The United Nations says civilian casualties in Afghanistan's conflict have hit a record high for the seventh year running. Children made up a large proportion of the dead and wounded.
The United Nations reported on Sunday that 11,002 civilians were killed or wounded in Afghanistan in 2015, a 4 percent rise in comparison with the year before.
It said that 3,545 of these were fatalities.
"The harm done to civilians is totally unacceptable," said Nicholas Haysom, the head of the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan.
The annual report attributed the rise in casualties to a surge in fighting between Western-backed government forces and insurgent groups encouraged by the withdrawal of most international troops from the country.
Taliban most dangerous
Insurgent groups such as the Taliban were blamed for 62 percent of the civilian deaths and injuries, with investigators accusing the rebels of operations that "deliberately or indiscriminately" put civilans at risk.
Scenes of devastation after clashes in Kurdish town of Cizre in Turkey
Images coming out of southeastern Turkey show the town of Cizre in ruins. Located in the predominantly Kurdish province of Sirnak, fighting there has recently become as intense as the battles raging just across the border in neighbouring Syria.
Since June, the town has been the site of fierce clashes between Turkish government forces and the PKK. On Thursday, the Turkish government announced the end of its military operation and announced a 24-hour curfew. Although minor skirmishes between the Turkish Army and groups from the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) have existed for at least four decades, the collapse of a major ceasefire last year has plunged the town into an all-out war, leaving hundreds of civilians in the crossfire.
Photos circulating on social media and in some Turkish media outlets show the sheer devastation and the bodies of men and women lying in the rubble of buildings. While the government in Ankara claims that the dead are “PKK terrorists,” officials from the People’s Democratic Party – a pro-Kurdish organisation – blame the government for carrying out a massacre in Cizre.
How Cheap Oil Handicaps Nigeria's Fight Against Boko Haram
The crisis for Africa's biggest economy "could not have come at a worse time.
Charlotte AlfredWorld Reporter, The Huffington Post
The crash in global oil prices has pushed Nigeria -- Africa’s biggest economy -- into economic crisis, with potentially dangerous implications for civilians vulnerable to attack by militant group Boko Haram.
The price of U.S. crude oil has plummeted by 75 percent since mid-2014. That’s a disaster for Nigeria, which depends on revenue from its oil production to fund about three-fourths of the government’s budget.
Nigeria’s oil revenues have fallen dramatically, and the country's currency, the naira, has dropped 50 percent in value on the black market. The country expects to run a record deficit in 2016 -- around $15 billion. President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration is seeking to borrow some $9 billion to plug the budget shortfall.
Cycling doctor declares world better than expected
Stephen Fabes, a junior doctor from London, has spent six years cycling round the world. He has slept in schools, in police stations, in churches, mosques, monasteries and in army barracks - and thinks the world is a much better place than we are led to believe.
Twenty-five tyres, 12 bicycle chains and two saddles - that's how many times you can expect to change parts on a bicycle when cycling 86,000km (53,000 miles) around the world.
And you'd better be ready to mend about 200 punctures.
Stephen Fabes has cycled across six continents from Europe to the Americas, from Africa to Asia - all on his bike, with the exception of intercontinental flights.
We met in the Georgian capital Tbilisi, as he was preparing to pedal his way home. He had made a big loop of the country and pronounced it one of the most beautiful he had visited.
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