Russia warns of 'dangerous' escalation over Syria
Syrian civil war
Russia has warned the US that launching air strikes in response to a suspected chemical attack in Syria could spark a war between the two countries.
"The immediate priority is to avert the danger of war," Moscow's UN ambassador Vassily Nebenzia said on Thursday.
He accused Washington of putting international peace at risk and said the situation was "very dangerous".
Western powers are thought to be preparing for strikes but Russia, a Syrian ally, opposes such action.
Hungarian journalists admit role in forging anti-migrant 'atmosphere of fear'
Employees of state TV network describe how channels pumped out pro-government messaging ahead of Victor Orbán’s election victory this week
Aleading editor at Hungary’s state television network punched the air in jubilation as he took a phone call on Sunday evening. Shortly afterwards, his subordinates realised what he had been told: Viktor Orbán had secured a resounding victory in the parliamentary election.
Orbán and his Fidesz party achieved a third consecutive supermajority in the Hungarian parliament after a campaign primarily fought on an anti-migrant platform. International monitors would later complain about the campaign’s “intimidating and xenophobic rhetoric” and note that public television “clearly favoured the ruling coalition, at odds with international standards”.
The Guardian spoke to several employees of the taxpayer-funded MTVA network to hear the inside story of how its channels pumped out government messaging, and at times false stories, with the goal of winning support for the prime minister’s anti-immigration message.
United Nations own sanctions hinder its humanitarian aid efforts in North Korea
Of 10 million people that need help, the UN says it could only reach 660,000
The United Nations was only able to help a fraction of the impoverished North Koreans it had planned to as money was scarce in the face of rising tensions between the west and Pyongyang over nuclear weapons.
The UN’s own Security Council sanctions were part of what hampered humanitarian aid supplies and financial transfers making their way into the country, UN resident coordinator Tapan Mishra told AFP News Agency. The UN was only able to solicit $31m in member country contributions of the required $114m.
Out of that 10.3 million people that Mr Mishra said need help, the UN targeted helping about four million with the decreased amount of aid money they had received. They reached approximately 660,000 people - or 15 per cent - of them.
Donald Trump cast as lying 'mafia boss' in James Comey book
Ex-FBI chief James Comey has blasted Donald Trump as a mobster-like figure who is "untethered to the truth," in a new book. The account comparing the presidency to a "forest fire" has provoked a concerted backlash.
In a forthcoming book, former FBI Director James Comey paints US President Donald Trump as a "mafia boss," who exists in "a cocoon of alternative reality," according to excerpts quoted by US media.
"His leadership is transactional, ego driven and about personal loyalty," Comey writes in the book, "A Higher Loyalty: Truth, Lies and Leadership," which is due to be released next week.
Trump fired Comey in May 2017 while he was investigating possible ties between the Trump campaign and Russia. Soon afterwards, Robert Mueller was appointed special counsel to probe allegations of Moscow meddling in the 2016 presidential election. That investigation has since expanded to examine whether the president obstructed justice by dismissing Comey.
Cameroon's isolated Anglophones face humanitarian crisis
Cameroonians swept up in a conflict between anglophone separatists and the government are facing a humanitarian crisis, aid groups say as they struggle to reach people in remote areas that have become virtually off-limits.
They have "numerous humanitarian needs", said Allegra Maria Del Pilar Baiocchi, the UN's humanitarian coordinator for Cameroon. "Beyond the violence, (the crisis) has an impact on health, on employment," she told AFP.
Separatist ambitions have long simmered in two minority anglophone regions in the west of the country, where people complain of being marginalised by the French-speaking elite.
Xi Jinping's China shows off force in South China Sea
Updated 0755 GMT (1555 HKT) April 13, 2018
Chinese President Xi Jinping oversaw the largest naval parade in his country's history Thursday, as China concluded two days of military drills in the hotly contested South China Sea, a massive show of strength amid growing tensions with the United States.
At least 10,000 personnel took part in drills, which involved 48 naval vessels and 76 fighter jets, said the country's Defense Ministry.
Xi, dressed in camouflage military fatigues and speaking aboard the Chinese destroyer Changsha, called for further modernization efforts, and underlined his goal of transforming the country's navy into a "world-class force" under the leadership of the Chinese Communist Party.
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