United States formally announces troop reduction in Iraq
American military presence in Iraq will be reduced from 5,200 to 3,000 troops this month, US Central Command announces.
The United States military on Wednesday announced it will reduce its presence in Iraq from 5,200 to 3,000 troops this month, formalising a move that had been long expected.
"We are continuing to expand on our partner capacity programmes that enable Iraqi forces and allow us to reduce our footprint in Iraq," Marine General Frank McKenzie, the head of US Central Command, said during a visit to Iraq.
How China's strained relationship with foreign media unravelled
Reporting in China has historically been difficult, but Beijing is now using journalists to retaliate against governments with whom it disagrees
Last Wednesday in the middle of the night, Australian reporters Bill Birtles in Beijing and Mike Smith in Shanghai received simultaneous knocks on the door of their homes. Outside were groups of state security officers, there to inform the journalists they were needed for questioning over a national security matter. In case they were thinking of leaving, they had also been placed under exit bans.
Smith had already packed his bags and Birtles was that night hosting a farewell party, having been warned by Australian government officials of an increased risk to their safety after the recent detention of another Australian journalist Cheng Lei.
Climate change: Global water and food shortages ‘to cause new European migrant crisis’
More than 1.2 billion people could be driven from homes by extreme weather, drought and food shortages by 2050
A significant rise in climate refugees will seek asylum in Europe as more than 1.2 billion people are displaced by ecological threats over the next three decades, a report has predicted.
Water and food shortages are set to cause mass migration from 31 countries which are unable to cope with looming environmental crises, the Institute of Economics and Peace (IEP) warned.
The resulting displacement will “be on a vastly larger scale” than the 2015-16 migrant crisis if nothing is done to tackle the ecological breakdown, the think tank’s founder Steve Killelea told The Independent.
Thousands flee fire at Greece's largest migrant camp
Several fires have mostly destroyed the Moria refugee camp, home to more than 12,000 asylum seekers. There are no known casualties so far. Authorities are now investigating reports of arson.
Firefighters on Wednesday fought to contain multiple fires at Greece's largest migrant camp, located on the island of Lesbos.
Thousands of residents fled from the camp, but were stopped by police vehicles. Most were being guarded by police on a nearby highway. There is no suggestion of injuries or casualties.
Olympic chiefs, UN must act on China abuses, say NGOs
Hundreds of organisations urged the United Nations to probe rights violations in China on Wednesday as other groups called for Olympic chiefs to strip Beijing of the 2022 winter games.
Two separate coalitions of rights groups issued calls for a clear international response to China's abuses as concern grows over its clampdown in Hong Kong and mass internment of Uighur Muslims in Xinjiang.
More than 160 rights groups warned in a letter dated Tuesday to International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Thomas Bach that allowing the 2022 Games to go ahead could cause more repression in China.
Trump Makes A Bewildering Confession About Who's Paying For His Border Wall
President Donald Trump on Tuesday seemed to finally admit that Mexico hasn’t paid to build the border wall as he has repeatedly vowed. Then he suggested yet another way he could get the cash: toll booths.
“And you know, Mexico is paying for the wall,” he said at a rally in North Carolina on Tuesday. “Just so you understand, they don’t say that. They never say it. But we’re gonna charge a small fee at the border. You know, the toll booths.”
“We’re putting a small toll on and maybe we’re going to do something with remittance,” Trump added. “All the money that we spent on the wall will be coming back.”
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