President Trump expands US military footprint despite candidate Trump's rhetoric
Updated 0719 GMT (1519 HKT) January 17, 2018
At one rally after the next, candidate Donald Trump lamented the "trillions of dollars spent and thousands of lives lost" in the Middle East, criticized his opponent as a warmonger and signaled he would scale back US military commitments abroad.
"America First" would become the driving mantra, and the US would refocus taxpayer dollars on domestic problems rather than foreign ones, he said. Much of the Washington foreign policy establishment worried that Trump would usher in a diminished -- perhaps even isolated -- US posture.
But in his first year as commander in chief, Trump has largely discarded the non-interventionist campaign rhetoric, expanding the US military footprint around the world and demonstrating a willingness to use military force to confront even indirect threats to the US.
The deadly African gold rush fuelled by people smugglers' promises
Sudanese refugees in northern Chad are risking their lives to mine the precious ore in a desperate bid to secure a new life in Europeby Gethin Chamberlain in Farchana
Wed 17 Jan 2018 07.13 GMT
Refugees from the troubled Sudanese region of Darfur, who are living in camps in neighbouring Chad, are being drawn into an African gold rush in a desperate effort to pay smugglers to get them to Europe.
Digging in holes 50m deep, Sudanese refugees are risking their lives in an area not only littered with landmines but also beset by violence, which claimed at least 25 lives last year.
Lowered by rope into the darkness below, they spend hours at a time hacking away at the hard rock by torchlight. The hope is to find a nugget of gold big enough to pay the thousands of pounds demanded by smugglers to take them through Libya and on to boats that offer the chance of a new life in Europe.
Trump’s escalating threats to Iran risk destabilising the Middle East
The confrontation between Washington and Tehran has worsened since the US President signed ‘his last’ waiver on new sanctions. Trump and his generals have convinced themselves they just need to kick the Iranian regime and it will collapse
The US-Iran confrontation is already destabilising parts of the Middle East that were starting to settle down after the defeat of Isis in the second half of last year. “The escalating American threats against Iran mean that the Iranians will be more vigorous in safeguarding their position in Iraq and Syria,” said a former Iraqi minister who did not want his name published.
He warned that senior US officials, particularly those with a military background, “will do everything short of war against Iran”. They had convinced themselves that Iran’s clerical government was weaker than was really the case. “They believe that they just have to kick the system and it will collapse,” he said. This wishful thinking has been encouraged by the protests that have broken out in Iranian cities since 28 December.
Boko Haram’s lesser-known reign of terror in southeast Niger
Kaka Touda Mamane Goni
Activists in Niger are trying to spread the word about the kidnapping of 39 women and children by Boko Haram in the village of Nguéléwa, Niger last July. The tragedy highlights the terror wreaked by the jihadist group in the Nigerien region of Diffa, where more than 300,000 internally displaced people and refugees are living in fear.
On the night of July 2, 2017, men from the Boko Haram armed group entered the village of Nguéléwa on foot and launched an attack, killing some residents and kidnapping others.
Shortly thereafter, activists in the region took to Twitter and Facebook to launch the campaign #JeSuisNguéléwa (I am Nguéléwa). The campaign’s organisers asked supporters to post photos of themselves posing with a sign stating "Je suis Nguéléwa".
A joint women's hockey team could be the first unified Korean Olympics team ever
The two Koreas took a great stride toward unity when they agreed to consider fielding a joint women's Olympic hockey team. If successful, the unified Korean Olympics team would be monumental in reconciling the alienated sister countries and reducing frontline hostilities.
North Korea's delegation to the Winter Olympics in South Korea will include a 140-member art troupe, the two sides agreed Monday, while discussions continue over fielding a joint women's hockey team.
The two Koreas met Monday for the second time in a week as they try to hammer out details for the North's participation in next month's Games, which the South sees as a way to calm tensions caused by Pyongyang's nuclear and missile tests.
North Korea said the art troupe will comprise 80 orchestra members and 60 members who sing and dance. The North Koreans will perform twice – once in Seoul and the other in the city of Gangneung, where some of the Olympic competitions will be held, according to South Korean delegates who attended the meeting.
Joshua Wong receives second jail term over 2014 protests
A Hong Kong court has jailed activist Joshua Wong for three months, his second prison sentence related to the 2014 pro-democracy protests.
Along with other activists he was found guilty of contempt of court for blocking clearance of a protest site.
He had been on bail pending an appeal against another six-month term in a separate case linked to the protests.
Wong was the public face of the protests against the perceived increase of authoritarian influence from China.
Known as Umbrella Movement, the 2014 protests brought parts of central Hong Kong to a standstill for nearly three months.
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