Western agencies scramble to obtain samples from Syria chemical attack
Intelligence agencies will attempt to establish if nerve agent came from store of sarin Assad was supposed to surrender
Western intelligence agencies are seeking biological samples from survivors of the chemical weapons attack in northern Syria to compare against specimens of sarin taken from the Syrian military’s stockpiles four years ago.
The testing will be used to established whether the nerve agent used in the attack – which the US, Britain and France say is very likely sarin – came from stores of the gas that Damascus was supposed to surrender in a UN-supervised process after more than 1,300 people were killed in an attack in August 2013.
Intelligence officers are also seeking environmental samples from the town of Khan Sheikhun in Idlib province where, according to witnesses, a dawn airstrike on Tuesday released a noxious gas over the area, killing at least 70 people and wounding more than 100.
Russia set to ban Jehovah's Witnesses as 'extremist' group
Denomination targeted as opposition to Russian Orthodox Church and, by extension, President Vladimir Putin's efforts to unify population behind one religion
A dedicated pacifist who has never even held a gun, Andrei Sivak discovered that his government considered him a dangerous extremist when he tried to change some money and the teller “suddenly looked up at me with a face full of fear.”
His name had popped up on the exchange bureau’s computer system, along with those of members of al-Qaeda, the Islamic State and other militant groups responsible for shocking acts of violence.
The only group the 43-year-old father of three has ever belonged to, however, is Jehovah’s Witnesses, a Christian denomination committed to the belief that the Bible must be taken literally, particularly its injunction “Thou shalt not kill.”
Turkey's referendum runs deeper than 'Yes' or 'No'
Less than two weeks remain before Turkey’s referendum on a presidential system and street campaigners are baring the brunt of grievances ahead of the polarizing decision. Diego Cupolo reports from Ankara.
In central Ankara, it can be hard to think amidst the noise. Campaign buses are parked daily on opposite corners of Kizilay square, each one blasting propaganda as shoppers snake through crowds of flag wavers and flyer distributors.
Foot traffic is heavy and campaigners from across the political spectrum work side by side to sway voters for the upcoming referendum. In less than two weeks, Turks will decide on whether to consolidate power under the presidency, currently held by Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
Currently, national polls show the "Yes" and "No" votes are nearly tied and as the referendum approaches, the two contrasting visions for the nation's future often play out in the streets.
Former Burundi street child helps heal civil war divisions
In northern Burundi 90 young people are harvesting their first crops – beans, maize and potatoes – but this is no ordinary smallholding.
The farmers come from both sides of the country's ethnically charged civil war; some were orphaned by the conflict, while others are the children of those who were the killers.
"They share what is grown as an example of reconciliation. We call it redeeming the land because there was so much bloodshed," said Dieudonne Nahimana, founder of the charity New Generation which runs the project.
"The young people come together to talk about what happened, why it happened and how we can stop it happening in the future."Double standards: Do all journalist lives matter?
Little attention is paid to reporters from the Global South who are killed, abused, or left stranded by foreign media.
Taha avoids giving his last name to journalists, but not out fear of the Sudanese government, whose harassment he fled in 2015.
"I don't want any of the people I worked with to know I'm here," he tells Al Jazeera, writing by instant messaging from a temporary residence for refugees in the French city of Calais.
"I want to avoid causing any embarrassment or awkwardness," he adds.
The colleagues Taha refers to are journalists who covered the ongoing war in Sudan's western province of Darfur.
The father-of-two worked as a stringer, fixer, and translator there for a number of major broadcasters based in the UK and South Africa .
Taiwan announces submarine building ahead of Trump-Xi summit
Taiwan has announced plans for eight new submarines, a senior Taiwanese navy official confirmed on Wednesday.
The new vessels will be Taiwanese-made, unlike its current fleet of four, which were bought from overseas decades ago.
The announcement comes the day before Chinese President Xi Jinping and US President Donald Trump meet in Florida.
Taiwan has never built its own submarines before. The new additions will go towards upgrading the island's ageing foreign fleet.
"In our indigenous submarine project, we hope to be able to make eight submarines," said Lee Tsung-hsiao, navy chief of staff, after a report on the project was presented at a legislative hearing.
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