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In Effort to Neutralize ISIS and Protect American-Trained Forces, U.S. to Conduct Airstrikes in Syria (7/3/2015)

The United States has decided to allow airstrikes to defend Syrian rebels trained by the U.S. military from any attackers, even if the enemies hail from forces loyal to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, U.S. officials said on Sunday.
The decision by President Barack Obama, which could deepen the U.S. role in Syria's conflict, aims to shield a still-fledging group of Syrian fighters armed and trained by the United States to battle Islamic State militants -- not forces loyal to Assad.
But in Syria's messy civil war, Islamic State is only one of the threats to the U.S. recruits. The first batch of U.S.-trained forces deployed to northern Syria came under fire on Friday from other militants, triggering the first known U.S. airstrikes to support them.

Source:
Phil Stewart via The World Post
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/us-airstrikes-syria_55bed290e4b0b23e3ce3261c?

Turkey and U.S. Agree on Plan to Clear ISIS From Strip of Syria’s North (7/27/2015)

Turkey and the US have agreed in general terms on a plan that envisions American warplanes, Syrian insurgents and Turkish forces working together to sweep Islamic State militants from a 60-mile-long strip of northern Syria along the Turkish border.
The plan would create what officials from both countries are calling an Islamic State-free zone controlled by relatively moderate Syrian insurgents, which the Turks say could also be a “safe zone’ for displaced Syrians.
How deep the strip would extend into Syria has yet to be determined. The plan would significantly intensify American and Turkish military action against Islamic State militants in the country, as well as the United States’ coordination with Syrian insurgents on the ground.
The plan faces the same challenges that have long plagued American policy in Syria. While the US is focused on the Islamic State, both the Turks and the Syrian insurgents see defeating President Bashar al-Assad of Syria as their first priority.
The plan will put American and allied warplanes closer than ever to areas that Syrian aircraft regularly bomb, raising the question of what they will do if Syrian warplanes attack their partners on the ground.

Source:
Anne Barnard, Michael R. Gordon and Eric Schmitt of The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/07/28/world/middleeast/turkey-and-us-agree-on-plan-to-clear-isis-from-strip-of-northern-syria.html?_r=0

Iran Nuclear Deal (7/15/2015)

Arms Embargo:
The embargo will be lifted after a maximum of eight years for ballistic missiles and five years for conventional weapons, but the time frame could be shortened if the International Atomic Energy Agency certifies that Iran’s nuclear program is for peaceful purposes only.
Economic Sanctions:
The most important sanctions, those on the energy and financial industries, could be lifted this year if Iran complies with the principal requirements in the accord. The accord contains provisions for “snapback” sanctions if a panel of nations should detect Iranian cheating.
Nuclear Inspections:
The accord allows continuous surveillance at enrichment sites and at centrifuge production and storage sites. The IAEA has the right to visit suspicious sites “anywhere in the country,” but Iran has 24 days to comply with a request.
Developing Advanced Centrifuges:
The agreement bars most research and development work until after year 10.

Source:
Kyle Crichton and David E. Sanger of The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2015/07/14/world/middleeast/iran-nuclear-deal-who-got-what-they-wanted.html

Boko Haram’s Civilian Attacks in Nigeria Intensify (7/7/2015)

The violent campaign by the Boko Haram militant group against Nigerian civilians appeared to intensify late on Sunday with two deadly attacks underscoring the challenge the country’s new president faces in trying to suppress the group.
The attacks killed at least 44 people and possibly many more. Gunmen and suicide bombers struck a popular restaurant and a mosque, shooting worshipers who had gathered for a reading of the Quran during Ramadan. The attacks brought the death toll from Boko Haram attacks in the last week to more than 200.
The carnage was devastating. There was an explosion at the Yantaya mosque and worshipers began to flee. As the people fled, the militants shot into the crowds.
A second attack happened seconds later. A suicide bomber walked into a restaurant and detonated his charge.
There have been deadly attacks in Nigeria almost daily over the last week, including several in villages in the north. Each has generally involved a bombing and indiscriminate shooting into crowds of civilians.

Source:
Adam Nossiter of The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/07/07/world/africa/boko-haram-intensifies-attacks-on-civilians-in-nigeria.html?ref=world

Greeks Reject Bailout Terms in Rebuff to European Leaders (7/6/2015)

Greeks delivered a shocking rebuff to Europe’s leaders on Sunday, decisively rejecting a deal offered by the country’s creditors in a historic vote that could redefine Greece’s place in Europe and shake the continent’s financial stability.
61% of the voters said no to a deal that would have imposed greater austerity measures. The no votes carried virtually every district in the country, handing a sweeping victory to Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras, a leftist who came to power in January vowing to reject new austerity measures. He urged the voters to vote no so that he would have more bargaining power in negotiations with Greece’s creditors.
Prime Minister Tsipras’ victory in the referendum had settled nothing though. There remains the possibility that the creditors could walk away, leaving Greece facing default, financial collapse, and expulsion from the Eurozone and, in the worst case, from the European Union.
Greece’s future isn’t the only thing at risk. Greece’s actions could have dramatic consequences for the euro and the world’s financial markets. Even before the voting was over, some European leaders began trying to contain the potential damage. Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany said she would meet Monday with the French President, Francois Hollande, for a “joint assessment of the situation.” Later, the two leaders called for a European Union summit meeting on Tuesday.
Yanis Varoufakis, the Finance of Minister of Greece who supported the referendum, resigned after the people rejected the measure.

Source:
Liz Alderman of The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/07/06/world/europe/with-no-greek-vote-tsipras-wins-a-victory-that-could-carry-a-steep-price.html?ref=world

Jihadist Attacks on Egypt Grow Fiercer (7/2/2015)

Two years after President Adbel Fattah el-Sisi led a military takeover promising to restore order and security in Egypt, he faces a rising jihadist insurgency that has shaken the stability of this most populous Arab state, a key ally of the US.
Just two days after militants assassinated Egypt’s top prosecutor on a Cairo street, the military on Wednesday called in F-16 war planes and helicopters to beat back a coordinated assault in Northern Sinai by a jihadist group affiliated with the Islamic State.
The scale and complexity of the attack far exceeded any of the group’s previous strikes in Sinai, raising the possibility that it has begun to coordinate more closely with the Islamic State leadership based in Syria.
President Sisi has pressed a campaign to marginalize mainstream Islamists like the Muslim Brotherhood, but is facing growing opposition from more violent Islamists vowing retaliation for the government crackdown.
The failure to stop the violence and restore order has undercut President Sisi’s ability to revive the economy. The vital tourism industry faces new threats from militants. The economy remains deeply dependent on tens of billions of dollars a year in aid from Persian Gulf monarchies.
Source:
Kareem Fahim and David D. Kirkpatrick of The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/07/02/world/middleeast/sinai-isis-attack.html?ref=world

Tsipras Signals Greece May Accept Bailout Terms (7/1/2015)

The Greek government has indicated to its creditors that it is willing to accept many of the terms of a bailout package that it had earlier rejected if they are part of a broader deal to address the country’s funding needs for the next two years.
The development raised the prospect of progress in resolving a financial crisis that has sent shudders through global markets and has deeply strained European unity.
In a letter sent on Tuesday to the creditors – the ECB, IMF and other Eurozone countries – Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras said Greece was “prepared to accept” a deal set out publicly over the weekend by the creditors, with small modifications to some of the central points of contention on issues like pensions cuts and tax increases.
Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany responded by repeating her position that there should be no further negotiations until Greece holds a referendum on Sunday on whether to accept the terms of a previous offer from the creditors.
The change of tone from Mr. Tsipras, who formerly opposed the terms sought by the creditors, came hours after Greece missed a debt payment to the IMF, leaving Greece effectively in default and raising the pressure on the country to find a solution to its rapidly escalating financial squeeze.
With its banking system shut down and access to more aid cut off, Greece faced the prospect of further debt defaults and the possibility of being forced to abandon the euro as its currency.

Source:
Suzanne Daley and Niki Kitsantonis of The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/07/02/business/international/greece-bailout-tsipras.html?_r=0

UN Report on Gaza Finds Evidence of War Crimes by Israel and by Palestinian Militants (6/23/2015)

A United Nations Commission of Inquiry on last summer’s war in the Gaza Strip found that both Israel and Palestinian militants were responsible for violations of international law that could amount to war crimes. Each side interpreted the commission’s long-awaited report according to its own version of the Middle East conflict.
In the 217-page report to The United Nations Human Rights Council, the commissioners said the militants clearly wanted to sow terror among Israeli civilians, just as they said they could not find clear evidence of why Israel targeted residential buildings in Gaza late at night, risking mass civilian causalities.
Each side saw what it wanted in the report. Israel condemned it as further evidence of bias against them in the United Nations, while Palestinians embraced it as further motivation in their bid to punish Israelis in the International Criminal Court and in the count of international public opinion.
The report called on Israel to “break with its recent lamentable track record in holding wrongdoers accountable.” As for Palestinian armed groups, the panel cited the “inherently indiscriminate nature” of rockets and mortars fired at Israeli civilians, condemned the killing of people suspected of being collaborators, and said the Palestinian authorities had “consistently failed” to bring violators of international law to justice.

Source:

Jodi Rudoren and Somini Sengupta of The New York Times

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/23/world/middleeast/israel-gaza-report.html?ref=world&_r=0

Hong Kong Legislature Votes Down Beijing-Backed Election Plan (6/18/2015)

Lawmakers on Thursday rejected a proposal to change how Hong Kong chooses its top official, voting down a Beijing-backed plan that set off huge street protests last year.
The plan would have allowed Hong Kong’s five million eligible voters to vote for the territory’s chief executive from a slate of two of three candidates, starting in 2017. The measure needed the support of at least 2/3 of Hong Kong’s Legislative Council to pass, and it failed to meet that mark.
Opponents of the measure, many of whom took part in the protests last year, argued that the restrictions China’s legislature imposed on who could appear on the ballot would have left voters with no real choice. Nominees would have been vetted by a committee of about 1,200 people dominated by loyalists to the Communist-run government in Beijing, ensuring that only people acceptable to the Chinese government could appear on the ballot.
Hong Kong is part of China but was allowed to retain a great deal of autonomy, including an independent legal system and robust civil liberties, as part of an agreement with Britain that led to the former colony’s return to Chinese sovereignty in 1977.

Source:
Michael Forsythe and Alan Wong of The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/19/world/asia/hong-kong-votes-down-beijing-election-plan.html?ref=world

Migration Workers in Dominican Republic, Most of Them Haitian, Face Deportation (6/17/2015)

Hundreds of thousands of migrant workers are facing deportation from the Dominican Republic, the latest in a series of actions by the government that has cast a light on the long-troubled relationship with its Haitian neighbors.
Undocumented workers in the Dominican Republic had until today to register their presence in the country, in the hope of being allowed to stay. The government has said that nearly 240,000 migrant workers born outside Dominican Republic have started the registration process. But there are an estimated 524,000 foreign-born migrant workers in the country (90% of them are from Haiti). They are all facing the risk of deportation.
Human rights groups had hoped the government would delay the registration deadline, given the difficulties faced by many in producing documents and satisfying bureaucratic requirements. There have been no indications that the authorities would stall their plan to begin ejecting the workers, about half of whom had failed to register.
Haitian workers, who have crossed the border for generations to cut sugar cane, clean homes and babysit, have long experienced an uneasy relationship fraught with resentment, racial tension and the long shadow of the massacre of tens of thousands of Haitian laborers ordered by the Dominican dictator Rafael Trujillo in 1937.
Dominican officials have long said that they have borne the bunt of Haiti’s economic troubles, both before and after the 2010 earthquake that devastated their neighbor and sent a stream of people fleeing across the border.
Tensions peaked in 2013, when a constitutional court moved to strip the citizenship of children born to Haitian immigrants in the Dominican Republic dating as far back as 1929, many of the people affected by the ruling had lived their whole lives in the Dominican Republic and knew nothing of Haiti, not even the language. After international denouncements, the government decided to take a softer stance.

Source:
Azam Ahmed of The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/17/world/americas/migrant-workers-in-dominican-republic-most-of-them-haitian-face-deportation.html?ref=world&_r=0

Pope Francis Calls for Climate Action in Draft of Encyclical (6/16/2015)

Pope Francis offers a broad vision of an endangered planet, partly blaming human activity and fossil fuels for climate change while calling for people of all religions to take swift action, according to a leaked draft of his much-awaited environmental encyclical (a papal letter sent to all bishops of the Roman Catholic Church) that was posted online by an Italian magazine.
The unauthorized release of the 192-page draft angered officials at the Vatican, who warned that the document did not represent the final version of Francis’ encyclical, which doesn’t get officially published until Thursday.
In the leaked document, Pope Francis often writes eloquently, citing scientific evidence about the human role in global warming. He calls on people to move away from a consumerist model that he says is depleting resources, to the detriment of the poor, and live simpler lives.
He also calls on governments to work together for solutions at the global, national and local level – while at times focusing on specifics, like his opposition to carbon credits.

Source:
Jim Yardley of The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/16/world/europe/pope-francis-environmental-encyclical.html?ref=world

Thousands Flee Syria as Kurds Gain on ISIS (6/15/2015)

Thousands of Syrians cut though a border fence and crossed into Turkey on Sunday, fleeing intense fighting in northern Syria between Kurdish fighters and Islamic State militants.
On Sunday, Turkish troops stationed in the border village of Akcakale were taken by surprise by the many Syrians crowding the crossing. Turkish troops later brought in reinforcements and gathered up the refugees, preventing them from moving farther into Turkey.
The flow of refugees came as the Kurdish fighters neared Tal Abyad, a strategic Syrian border town held by the Islamic State. Taking Tal Abyad, 50 miles north of the Islamic State stronghold of Raqqa, would deprive the militants of an important supply line for new fighters and supplies from Turkey.
Islamic state fighters fled from a town several miles southwest of Tal Abyad, and the Kurds now hold the town. The Kurdish fighters have also captured more villages near Tal Abyad on Sunday.

Source:
The Associated Press via The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/15/world/middleeast/thousands-flee-syria-as-kurds-gain-on-isis.html?ref=world

US Airstrike in Libya Targets Planner of 2013 Algeria Attack (6/15/2015)

The US carried out an airstrike in Libya early Sunday against the mastermind of the 2013 terrorist seizure of an Algerian gas plant that left 38 foreign hostages dead, American and Libyan officials said.
The Libyan government issued a statement saying that the airstrikes killed the terrorist leader, Mokhtar Belmokhtar, and a number of Libyan terrorists in the eastern part of the country. American officials confirmed that Mr. Belmokhtar was the target of the strike.
The death of Mr. Belmokhtar is a major counterterrorism victory for the US against one of the world’s most wanted militants. He had a long history of leading terrorist activities and maintained his personal allegiance to Al-Qaeda. He was considered the last major surviving figure among the jihadists in North Africa. All the others have been killed in French raids.

Source:
Eric Schmitt of The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/15/world/middleeast/us-airstrike-targets-qaeda-operative-in-libya.html?_r=0

South Korea to Focus on Pneumonia Patients Amid Bid to Contain MERS (6/10/2015)

South Korea said on Tuesday that it would investigate all hospitalized pneumonia patients to determine whether they had been exposed to Middle East respiratory syndrome, as it struggled to contain an outbreak of the virus that has infected 95 people in the country and killed seven.
The government said that on Wednesday it would interview all hospitalized pneumonia patients and also check their medical records to see if they had recently visited any of the hospitals where the infection had been found.
The outbreak of the virus known as MERS in South Korea is the largest reported outside Saudi Arabia, where more than 440 people have died of the disease since it was discovered there in 2012. MERS symptoms are similar to those of pneumonia.
South Korea’s first MERS case, a 68-year-old man who had traveled to Saudi Arabia and neighboring countries, was discovered to have the virus on May 20.
Although a vast majority of MERS patients in South Korea were infected in two hospitals, cases have also been found in seven other hospitals in Seoul, the capital, and elsewhere.
Nearly 2,900 people who had been near any of the confirmed cases had been isolated as of Tuesday, to be monitored for symptoms by the government, more than 2,200 schools remained closed.

Source:
Choe Sang-Hun of The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/10/world/asia/south-korea-mers-virus-pneumonia-patients.html?ref=world&_r=0

A Raid on ISIS Yields a Trove of Intelligence (6/9/2015)

American intelligence agencies have extracted valuable information about the Islamic State’s leadership structure, financial operations and security measures by analyzing materials seized during a Delta Force commando raid last month that killed a leader of the terrorist group in eastern Syria.
The information harvested from the laptops, cellphones and other materials recovered from the raid have helped the US identify, locate and carry out an airstrike against another Islamic State leader in eastern Syria. American officials expressed confidence that an influential lieutenant, Abu Hamid, was killed in the attack, but the Islamic State has not yet confirmed his death.
New insights yielded by the seized trove – four to seven terabytes of data – include how the organization’s shadowy leader, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, operates and tries to avoid being tracked by coalition forces.
Baghdadi meets periodically with regional emirs (leaders) at his headquarters in eastern Syria. To ensure his safety, specially entrusted drivers pick up each of the emirs and demanded that they hand over their cellphones and any other electronic devices to avoid disclosing their location through tracking.

Source:
Eric Schmitt of The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/09/world/middleeast/us-raid-in-syria-uncovers-details-on-isis-leadership-and-finances.html?ref=world&_r=0

Turkey’s Ruling Party Loses Parliamentary Majority (6/8/2015)

Turkish voters delivered a rebuke on Sunday to President Erdogan as his party lost its majority in Parliament. The President wished to alter Turkey’s constitution to increase his power, but this election makes this impossible.
The results represented a significant setback for President Erdogan, an Islamist who has steadily increased his power since being elected last year as president. In Turkey, the president’s power is mostly ceremonial and pales in comparison to the prime minister’s; President Erdogan was prime minister for over a decade and pushed for more power over the judiciary, the crackdown on criticism and the suppression of the media.
The vote was a victory to the cadre of Kurds, liberals and secular Turks who found their voice of opposition to President Erdogan during sweeping antigovernment protests two years ago.
President Erdogan’s Justice and Devlopment Party (AKP) still won the most seats by far, but not a majority. The party must form a coalition government now. The results of the election raised questions about the political future of Prime Minister Davutoglu, who is a loyal subordinate of President Erdogan. Prime Minster Davutoglu gave a speech commending his party for getting the most seats and doesn’t seem to be worried about his future. The party and President are supported by Turkey’s religious conservatives.

Source:

Tim Arango and Ceylan Yeginsu of The New York Times

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/08/world/europe/turkey-election-recep-tayyip-erdogan-kurds-hdp.html?_r=0

South Korea Says It Tested Missile That Can Strike Anywhere in North (6/3/2015)

South Korea successfully test-fired on Wednesday its first ballistic missile with a range far enough to hit any part of North Korea, Defense Ministry officials said.
The government released a photograph of a missile being fired from a tube mounted on what appeared to be a vehicle, suggesting that the model tested was a prototype for a mobile system.
South Korea has been developing a new ballistic missile since the US agreed in 2012 to allow it to extend the range of those arms up to 800 kilometers (500 miles), enough to reach any target in North Korea but not to threaten China or Japan.
A defense ministry spokesman, citing ministry policy, declined to reveal the range and payload of the missiles tested on Wednesday, except to say that they had a range sufficient to hit anywhere in North Korea. South Korean news media, citing unidentified military sources, reported that the new missiles had a range of more than 310 miles and a payload of 2,200 pounds.
North Korea has an arsenal of ballistic missiles that can reach all of South Korea and Japan.

Source:
Choe Sang-Hun of The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/04/world/asia/south-korea-north-missile-hyunmoo-2b.html?ref=world

Hundreds Missing After Chinese Cruise Ship Sinks on Yangtze (6/2/2015)

Most of the 458 people aboard a chartered cruise ship in China were still missing on Tuesday morning, more than a dozen hours after the vessel sank during a torrential rainstorm along the central Yangtze River.
Just 13 people had been rescued, making this the worst passenger maritime disaster in East Asia since the sinking of a South Korean ferry last year.
The water where the boat sank is about 50 feet deep. Rescuers could hear the sounds of people trapped inside. The ship, whose name translates as “Oriental Star” was crossing Hubei Province in the middle of the country when it sank at 9:28 p.m. on Monday.
Rescue work was hampered by strong winds and heavy rain. There were hundreds of soldiers, police and paramilitary officers on the scene.
Most of the passengers were 50 to 80 years old and had been traveling on a group tour. The ship had been hired by the Shanghai Xiehe Tourism Agency to carry hundreds of retirees on a multiday trip.

Source:
Edward Wong of The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/02/world/asia/ship-reported-sunk-in-chinas-yangtze.html?hp&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&module=first-column-region&region=top-news&WT.nav=top-news

India Heat Wave Persists, Claiming Over 1,400 Lives (5/29/2015)

There’s been a brutal heat wave in India that has killed more than 1,400 in the past month. Most of the 1,412 heat-related deaths so far have occurred in Andhra Pradesh and neighboring Telangana, where temperatures have soared to 117 degrees Fahrenheit.
Among the most vulnerable were the elderly and the poor, many of whom live in slums or farm huts with no access to air conditioners or sometimes even shade-giving trees.
Meteorological officials have said the heat would likely last several more days, which will result in the scorching of crops, the killing of wildlife, and the endangerment of anyone laboring outdoors. Officials warned people to stay out of the sun, cover their heads and drink plenty of water. Still, poverty forced many to work despite the risks.
Cooling monsoon rains are expected to arrive next week in the southern state of Kerala and gradually advance north in coming weeks.

Source:
Omer Farooq and Katy Daigle via The World Post
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/05/28/india-heat-wave_n_7458348.html?utm_hp_ref=world&utm_hp_ref=world

FIFA Officials Arrested on Corruption Charges; Sepp Blatter Isn’t Among Them (5/27/2015)

Swiss authorities conducted an extraordinary early-morning operation on Wednesday to arrest several top soccer officials and extradite them to the US on federal corruption charges.
As leaders of FIFA gathered for their annual meeting, more than a dozen plainclothes Swiss law enforcement officials arrived at the Baur au Lac hotel, an elegant five-star property with views of the Alps and Lake Zurich. The arrests were carried out peacefully.
The charges, backed by an FBI investigation, allege widespread corruption in FIFA over the past two decades, involving bids for World Cups as well as marketing and broadcast deals. Swiss authorities said that they had opened criminal cases related to the bids for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups.
The arrests were a startling blow to FIFA, a multibillion-dollar organization that governs the world’s most popular sport but has been plagued by accusations of bribery for decades.
The inquiry is also a major threat to Sepp Blatter, FIFA’s longtime president, though he was not charged. An election, seemingly preordained to give Mr. Blatter a fifth term as president, is scheduled for Friday. A FIFA spokesman insisted that Mr. Blatter was not involved in any alleged wrongdoing and that the election would go ahead as planned.

Source:
Matt Apuzzo, Michael S. Schmidt, William K Rashbaum, and Sam Borden of The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/28/sports/soccer/fifa-officials-arrested-on-corruption-charges-blatter-isnt-among-them.html?_r=0

Migrants Flooding Into Malaysia and Indonesia Trade One Nightmare for Another (5/26/2015)

The more than 3,000 migrants from Bangladesh and Myanmar who recently landed in Indonesia and Malaysia ended weeks of a nightmare at sea only to fall into an administrative limbo that could last years.
Last week, Malaysia and Indonesia agreed to shelter the migrants and thousands more who may still be at sea on the condition that they be returned home or resettled in third countries within a year.
Few countries seem willing to accept the migrants, even those who qualify as refugees deserving asylum; there is already a tremendous backlog of applicants seeking resettlement; and the agencies that deal with them are overwhelmed.
There are at least 200,000 migrants from Myanmar already in Bangladesh, and only 32,600 of them have been granted formal protection as refugees fleeing persecution. The problem is just as bad in Malaysia. The migrants receive no government aid while they wait, nor can they legally take jobs to support themselves. They also can’t send their children to government-accredited schools.

Source:
Chris Buckley and Austin Ramzy of The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/26/world/asia/migrants-flooding-into-malaysia-trade-one-nightmare-for-another.html?ref=world

Taliban and Afghan Peace Officials Have Secret Talks in China (5/26/2015)

A peace envoy from Afghanistan met in western China last week with former Taliban officials with close ties to Pakistan’s intelligence agency, in an attempt to keep open the possibility of formal Afghan peace talks.
The meeting took place in the region of Xinjiang, which has mountainous borders with Afghanistan and Pakistan and is home to many Muslims. The fact that China agreed to host the talks was the latest sign that Beijing in encouraging peace efforts and an end to Afghanistan’s 13-year civil war.
The main representative of the Afghan government was Mohammad Masoom Stanekzai, who has been nominated by President Ashraf Ghani as defense minister. On the other side of the table were three figures from the old Taliban government in Afghanistan.
Mr. Stanekzai is awaiting confirmation as defense minister and has been the architect of efforts by the government to begin formal peace negotiations.

Source:
Edward Wong and Mujib Marshal of The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/26/world/asia/taliban-and-afghan-peace-officials-have-secret-talks-in-china.html?ref=world

Afghans Form Militias and Call on Warlords to Fight Taliban (5/25/2015)

Facing a fierce Taliban offensive, the government in Kabul is turning to a strategy filled with risk: forming local militias and beseeching old warlords for military assistance, according to Afghan and Western officials.
The effort is expected to mobilize several thousand Afghans from the north to fight against the Taliban in areas where the Afghan military and police forces are losing ground. The action is being seen as directly undermining assurances by officials that the security forces were holding their own against the Taliban forces.
The establishment of the Afghan military and police forces, which are said by officials to number more than 320,000 members as of late last year, has been held up as one of the signal accomplishments of the US led presence here. The forces have continued to fight effectively in a number of areas across the country, but are taking casualties at an alarming rate. They feel that by adding militias to their ranks, it will turn the tide in the north against the Taliban.

Source:
Mujib Mashal, Joseph Goldstein, and Jawad Sukhanyar of The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/25/world/asia/as-taliban-advance-afghanistan-reluctantly-recruits-militias.html?ref=world&_r=0

Peace Activists Cross Demilitarized Zone Separating Koreas (5/25/2015)

A group of 30 female peace activists crossed the demilitarized zone from North Korea to South Korea on Sunday, calling for an end to the Korean War, whose unresolved hostility has been symbolized by the heavily armed border for six decades.
It was rare for the two rival Korean governments to agree to allow a group of peace activists to pass through the border area, known at the DMZ. One of the activists said, “we have accomplished what no one said can be done, which is to be a trip for peace, for reconciliation, for human rights and a trip to which both governments agreed.”
The crossing took place amid tension over the North’s pursuit of nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles, and over its human rights record.
Some rights activists in the US and South Korea opposed the women’s trip, saying that it would be used as propaganda by North Korea. They urged the peace activists to call on the North to dismantle political prison camps and end human rights abuses.

Source:
Choe Sang-Hun of The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/25/world/asia/peace-activists-cross-demilitarized-zone-separating-koreas.html?ref=world

Key Iraqi City Falls to ISIS as Last of Security Forces Flee (5/18/2015)

The last Iraqi security forces fled Ramadi on Sunday, as the city fell completely to the militants of the Islamic State, who ransacked the provincial military headquarters, seizing a large store of weapons, and killed people loyal to the government.
The fall of Ramadi represented the biggest victory so far this year for the Islamic State, which has declared a caliphate, or Islamic State, in the vast areas of Syria and Iraq that it controls. The defeat also exposed the failed strategy of the Iraqi government. Last month, the Iraqi government launched a new offensive to retake Anbar Province, a large desert region in the west of which Ramadi is the capital.
In the city, at least 500 civilians and security personnel had been killed over the last few days. All security forces and tribal leaders have either retreated or been killed in the battle.

Source:
Tim Arango of The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/18/world/middleeast/isis-ramadi-iraq.html

​Migrants From Myanmar, Shunned by Malaysia, Are Spotted Adrift in Andaman Sea (5/15/2015)

A wooden fishing boat carrying several hundred desperate migrants from Myanmar was spotted adrift in the Andaman Sea between Thailand and Malaysia on Thursday. This is part of an exodus in which thousands of people have taken to the sea in recent weeks with no country willing to take them in.
Journalists could hear cries for help from the passengers. People were begging for food and water. They said that they had been on the boat for three months and that the boat’s captain and crew abandoned them six days ago. Ten passengers died during the voyage, and their bodies were thrown overboard.
On Wednesday, as the boat approached their territory, Malaysian authorities turned them away. The Thai military provided some water and food on Thursday, and then assisted the boat’s departure farther out to sea early Friday.
These migrants are trying to escape ethnic persecution in Myanmar and poverty in Bangladesh, but none of the counties in the area seem willing to take them in. These people aren’t the only migrants; there are thousands of migrants in the area, all of whom are being shunned. The Indonesian Navy turned away a boat with thousands of passengers on Tuesday, urging them on to Malaysia. Malaysia turned away two boats with a total of at least 800 passengers on Wednesday.

Source:
Thomas Fuller and Joe Cochrane of The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/15/world/asia/burmese-rohingya-bangladeshi-migrants-andaman-sea.html?ref=world

Uncertainty Reigns in Burundi After Attempted Coup (5/15/2015)

President Pierre Nkurunziza was back in Burundi on Thursday, a day after an attempted coup against his government.
The president called on citizens to remain calm, saying that the situation was under control and that constitutional order was being maintained.
Gunfire and explosions were heard on Thursday morning in the capital, after an army general announced on Wednesday that the president had been ousted, but it remained unclear Thursday who was in control of the country. The government’s hold on the capital was in dispute, with the military appearing to be divided in its support for the president and the general seeking to unseat him.
The president and his loyal forces seem to hold most of the city.
This all started because President Nkurunziza indicated that he planned to run in next month’s elections for a third term, which is a breach of the country’s constitution. The constitution limits presidents to two five-year-terms. The President tried to bypass this using a technicality.

Source:
Isma;il Kushkush and Dan Bilefsky of The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/15/world/africa/burundi-godefroid-niyombare-pierre-nkurunziza.html?ref=world

Vatican to Recognize Palestine State in New Treaty (5/14/2015)

The Vatican announced Wednesday that it would soon sign a treaty that includes recognition of the “state of Palestine,” lending significant symbolic weight to an intensifying Palestinian push for international support for sovereignty that bypasses the paralyzed negotiations with Israel.
Palestinian leaders celebrated the Pope’s endorsement as important, given the international stature of Pope Francis. For Israelis, it was an emotional blow, since Francis has deep relationships with Jews dating back decades, and Christians are critical backers of their enterprise.
Husam Zomlot, a senior Palestinian foreign-affairs official said, “the Vatican is not just a state. The Vatican represents hundreds of millions of Christians worldwide, including Palestinians, and has vast moral significance.”
Israel’s Foreign Ministry said it was “disappointed” by the Vatican’s decision, and that the recognition would “not advance the peace process.”

Source:
Jodi Rudoren and Diaa Hadid of The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/14/world/middleeast/vatican-to-recognize-palestinian-state-in-new-treaty.html?ref=world

South Korean Soldier Goes on Shooting Rampage Before Killing Himself (5/13/2015)

A South Korean Army reservist shot and killed a fellow soldier and wounded three others at a firing range on Wednesday before committing suicide.
The shootings took place at a training ground for reservists in southern Seoul. The attacker killed himself with a rifle; his motive is being investigated.
Mass shootings by disgruntled soldiers in South Korea, which has technically been at war with North Korea for decades, have occurred occasionally in recent years, raising concerns about discipline within the military.
All able-bodied South Korean men are required to serve in the armed forces for 21 to 24 months; afterward, they must serve in the reserve army for several years and attend regular training sessions, including shooting drills.

Source:
Choe Sang-Hun of the New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/14/world/asia/south-korean-army-reservist-shoots-fellow-soldiers.html?ref=world

Nepal Rattled by Powerful New Earthquake East of Capital (5/12/2015)

A powerful earthquake shook Nepal on Tuesday, less than three weeks after a devastating earthquake there killed more than 8,000 people. Dozens of deaths and more than a thousand injuries were reported.
Residents of Kathmandu, the capital, reported that buildings swayed in the earthquake, which was felt as far away as New Delhi. Preliminary reports are saying that the earthquake had a magnitude of 7.3. The earthquake that struck the country a few weeks ago had a magnitude of 7.8.
There have been many reports of destroyed buildings and casualties, but it’s still too early to tell how much damage was inflicted and how many lives were taken. So far 36 deaths and 1,117 injuries have been reported.

Source:
Ellen Barry of the New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/13/world/asia/nepal-earthquake-east-of-kathmandu.html?hp&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&module=photo-spot-region&region=top-news&WT.nav=top-news&_r=0

Some Russian Soldiers Quit Army Over Ukraine War (5/12/2015)

Some Russian soldiers are quitting the army because of the conflict in Ukraine. This account calls into question the Kremlin’s continued assertions that no Russian soldiers have been sent to Ukraine, and that any Russians fighting alongside rebels in Ukraine are volunteers.
There is plenty of evidence that proves that Russians have been fighting in Ukraine. Russian army equipment has been found in the country. There is abundant testimony from soldiers’ families and Ukrainians who say Russian paratroopers captured them.
Until now, it has been very difficult to find Russian soldiers who have fought there and are willing to talk. It is rare to find soldiers who have quit the army. Five soldiers who recently quit, including two who said they left rather than serve in Ukraine, have told the media about their experiences. Last year, one of them was told that he was going to southern Russia for training exercises, but in actuality he ended up going into Ukraine in an armored convoy.
He said, “after we crossed the border, a lieutenant colonel said we could be sent to jail if we didn’t fulfill orders. Some soldiers refused to stay there.”
He said he knew two soldiers who refused to stay. “They were taken somewhere. The lieutenant colonel said criminal cases were opened against them but in reality – we called them afterwards – they were at home. They just quit.”

Source:
Maria Tsvetkova via The World Post
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/05/11/russia-soldiers-ukraine_n_7257900.html?utm_hp_ref=world

North Korea Tests Ballistic Missile Fired From Submarine (5/11/2015)

North Korea said Saturday that it successfully test-fired a newly developed ballistic missile from a submarine in what would be the latest display of the country’s advancing military capabilities.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un personally directed the submarine test launching and called the missile a “world-level strategic weapon” and an “eye-opening success.”
Hours after the announcement, South Korean officials said the North fired three anti-ship cruise missiles into the sea off its east cost.
Experts say the North’s military demonstrations and hostility are attempts to wrestle concessions from the US and South Korea, whose officials have recently talked about the possibility of holding preliminary talks with the North to test its commitment to denuclearization.
For the second straight day, North Korea said it would fire without warning at South Korean naval vessels that it claims have been violating its territorial waters off the west coast of the Korean Peninsula.

Source:
Associated Press via The World Post
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/05/09/north-korea-missile-test-submarine_n_7247568.html?utm_hp_ref=world

Liberia Conquers Ebola, but Faces a Crisis of Faith (5/11/2015)

The World Health Organization announced on Saturday that the Ebola outbreak in Liberia that has taken almost 5,000 lives has finally ended.
The country is desperately trying to rebuild just about everything, from its health and education systems to its economy and international image. Liberia has reopened markets, clinics and schools, eager to move past the outbreak.
While Ebola still haunts Guinea and Sierra Leone, where infections have dwindled but refuse to disappear, Liberia has passed a remarkable threshold.

Source:
Norimitsu Onishi of the New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/10/world/africa/after-ebola-outbreak-liberian-churches-confront-crisis-of-faith.html?ref=world

​David Cameron and Conservatives Emerge Victorious in British Election (5/8/2015)

Prime Minister David Cameron and his Conservative Party won a surprising solid victory in the British general election on Thursday. Projections show that the Conservative Party won (or at least came close to winning) an outright majority in Parliament. Even if the Conservatives fall short of a majority, Mr. Cameron now appears all but certain to remain prime minister, with the choice of working with at least two smaller parties or trying to run a minority government.
The vote was a significant disappointment for the Labour Party and its leader, Ed Miliband, who saw his hopes of ejecting Mr. Cameron from his position destroyed. The results were also a disaster for Nick Clegg and his centrist Liberal Democrats, who have been the junior partner in coalition with the Conservatives.
The latest projections by the BBC, based on incomplete results and a national exit poll, put the Conservatives at 329 seats, three more than an absolute majority in the 650-member House of Commons. If these projects are correct, it would mean that the Conservatives gained 22 seats since their 2010 general election.
Mr. Cameron isn’t out of trouble yet though. He still has to deal with holding off calls from Scotland for independence. He also has to manage pressure from within his own party for Britain to leave the European Union.
Mr. Cameron promised to try to renegotiate terms of Britain’s membership in the 28-national European Union and to hold a referendum by the end of 2017 on whether Britain should remain in the Union.

Source:
Steven Erlanger and Stephen Castle of The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/09/world/europe/david-cameron-and-conservatives-emerge-victorious-in-british-election.html

​Turkey Officials Confirm Pact With Saudi Arabia to Help Rebels Fighting Syria’s Assad (5/7/2015)

Turkey and Saudi Arabia have converged on an aggressive new strategy to bring down Syrian President Bashar Assad. This announcement has bolstered the rebels in Syria who have made significant gains in the north.
This alliance is causing concern for the US because they do not want rebel groups, including the al-Qaida linked Nusra Front, uniting to topple Assad. The Obama administration worries that the revived rebel alliance could potentially put a more dangerous radical Islamist regime in Assad’s place.
The coordination between Turkey and Saudi Arabia reflects renewed urgency and impatience with the Obama administration’s policy in the region.

Source:
Desmond Butler via The World Post
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/05/07/turkey-saudi-arabia-syria-rebels-pact_n_7232750.html?utm_hp_ref=world&utm_hp_ref=world

​Greece Battles To Avoid Catastrophic Funding Crunch (5/6/2015)

Greece is desperate to appease the Eurozone in order to get more bailout money. Greece’s main reason for needing the money quickly is that they owe the IMF a huge debt payment later this month; without the bailout, they can’t afford the payment. Greece has already commandeered cash reserves from municipalities and government bodies as it scrapes together funds to repay 970 million euros to the IMF by May 12th.
Greek Finance Minister, Yanis Varoufakis, said that he expected Eurozone finance minsters to acknowledge, next Monday, progress towards a cash-for-reform deal. He expects this statement to make it easier for Greece to alleviate its financial crisis.
The European Economics Commissioner, Pierre Moscovici, had warned that the Eurozone would not even begin to discuss long-term funding and ways to reduce Greece’s debt until Athens has agreed to a consistent, detailed, and complete economic reform.
Greek Deputy Prime Minister, Yannis Dragasakis, met with European Central Bank President. Greece wants the ECB to increase the liquidity lifeline and permit the banks to buy more short-term treasury bills, easing the government’s immediate funding crunch.

Source:
Lefteris Papadimas and Jan Strupczewski of The World Post
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/05/05/greece-funding_n_7216356.html?ir=WorldPost

John Kerry Makes Unannounced Visit to Somalia (5/6/2015)

Secretary of State John Kerry became the highest-ranking American official to visit the war-ravaged country in the past 20 years.
He conferred with President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud and Prime Minister Omar Abdirashid Ali Sharmarke. Mr. Kerry wants to help Somalia, a country that is trying to move on from their current mayhem and despair and wants to move on from their history of warlordism. These things have made Somalia one of Africa’s most dysfunctional countries.
Mr. Kerry told the president and prime minister this: “I visited Somalia today because your country is turning around.” Mr. Kerry says that the US and the world will benefit from a more prosperous Somalia. He said: “the world cannot afford to have places on the map that are essentially ungoverned.”
Over the years the US has remained heavily involved in Somalia. It is an important financial contributor to the African Union Mission in Somalia (a force that fights terrorists in Africa).

Source:
Rick Gladstone of the New York Timeshttp://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/06/world/africa/john-kerry-makes-unannounced-visit-to-somalia.html?ref=world&_r=0

​U.S. Aims to Make Iran Nuclear Deal Immune to Russian, Chinese Veto (5/6/2015)

Washington wants to be certain that any nuclear deal between Iran and major powers includes the possibility of restoring U.N. sanctions if Iran breaks the agreement without risking Russian and Chinese vetoes.
United Nations sanctions and a future mechanism for Iran to buy atomic technology are the two core points; Iran and world powers have been struggling to agree on those points recently. The countries involved are Iran, the US, Britain, France, Germany, Russia, and China, as well as the European Union.
The United States wants it to be easy to bring back the sanctions if Iran betrays the deal, and they don’t want to have to deal with a veto from China or Russia to re-impose the sanctions if that happens.
The deadline to reach a deal to curb Iran’s nuclear program in exchange for an end to sanctions is now June 30th.

Source:
Louis Charbonneau of Reuters
http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/05/06/us-iran-nuclear-idUSKBN0NQ2I020150506

​Nigeria’s Boko Haram In Disarray As Government Forces Advance (5/5/2015)

Boko Haram is fracturing as shortages of weapons and fuel ferment tensions between its foot soldiers and leaders. This information comes from the women who were held as hostages by the Islamist Jihadi fighters until they were rescued last month. According to the freed women, the militants began complaining to their captives about lacking guns and ammunition last month. Many were reduced to carrying sticks while some of their vehicles were either broken down or lacked gasoline.
The group has abducted an estimated 2,000 women and girls last year as it sought to carve out an Islamic state in the northeast of Africa’s biggest economy.
The army has freed nearly 700 in the past week as it advances on Boko Haram’s last stronghold in the vast Sambisa forest.
Few of the women were over 18 and most of them, especially the children, were malnourished. The women were kept inside, occasionally brought food and sometimes beaten severely.

Source:
Julia Payne of the World Post (A Partnership of The Huffington Post and Berggruen Institute)
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/05/04/nigeria-boko-haram-offensive_n_7206812.html?utm_hp_ref=world

​3,690 Migrants Rescued From Mediterranean In One Day (5/4/2015)

Italian Coast Guard and commercial vessels came to the rescue of at least 16 boats of migrants Sunday, saving hundreds of them and recovering 10 bodies off Libya’s coast, as smugglers took advantage of calm seas to send packed vessels across the Mediterranean.
Smugglers use aging vessels. The boats are crammed with too many people as traffickers try to maximize earnings off the migrants, who pay hundreds of euros for the passage between the Mediterranean’s southern shore and Italy.
3,690 migrants were saved from smugglers’ boats.
This has caused far-right politicians in Europe to call from drastic actions to stop migrants from reaching European shores. Far-right National Front leader Marine Le Pen said France should send migrants back across the Mediterranean Sea. He says France should send migrants back to their port of departure so traffickers know that no migrant will come ashore on French coasts.
A French patrol boat on Saturday rescued 217 migrants from three rubber dinghies and detained two suspected smugglers before all were turned over to Italian authorities.

Source:
Frances D’Emilio of the World Post
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/05/03/migrant-crisis-rescues_n_7198824.html

Yemenis in Desperate Need of Food and Fuel After Weeks of Airstrikes (5/1/2015)

In one of Yemen’s largest cities, residents have been reduced to a diet of rice. They sleep overnight in lines waiting for gasoline. Hospitals may soon be forced to close, bombs and shells are raining down ever more thickly and randomly, and in places snipers target anyone brave or desperate enough to walk the streets.
Five weeks after the start of a Saudi-led bombing campaign, more than 1,000 Yemenis have died in the fighting, and the United Nations says that at least 300,000 people have been displaced, forced to hunt for food and fuel in a country that’s lacking in both.
On Thursday, little more than a week after Saudi Arabia said it was shifting the focus of its military operations in Yemen to make way for political negotiations and humanitarian relief, Saudi Arabia commenced its heaviest airstrikes since this conflict began.
The Saudis bombed two airports to prevent an Iranian plane from landing; the strikes damaged a runway that was being used for international aid deliveries. Saudi Arabia’s navy is preventing deliveries of fuel and food by sea to a country that depends critically on imports.

Source:
Kareem Fahim of the New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/01/world/middleeast/yemenis-in-desperate-need-of-food-and-fuel-after-weeks-of-airstrikes.html?ref=world

U.S. Sends Ships to Strait of Hormuz to Shield Vessels After Iran Seizure (5/1/2015)

On Thursday the navy began deploying warships to protect American commercial vessels passing through the Strait of Hormuz against any interference from Iran, which this week seized a cargo ship in the narrow waterway. 20% of the world’s oil passes through that strait.
American officials said that there had been growing concerns in recent weeks that Iranian gunboats were harassing cargo ships passing through the strait, part of which includes Iran’s territorial waters.
On Tuesday, Iranian forces fired shots across the bow of a container ship registered in the Marshall Islands, which has close ties to the US. The Iranians then seized the ship and detained its crew, which was sailing to a port near Dubai, in the United Arab Emirates.
No time limit has been set on the US operation. It’s simply a precautionary move to prevent any future interference.

Source:
Matthew Rosenberg and Danny Hakim of the New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/01/world/middleeast/iran-maersk-tigris-container-ship-seizure.html?ref=world

Iranian Foreign Minister: Iran, U.S., Saudi Have ‘Common Interest’ In Fighting ISIS (4/30/15)

Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javas Zarif said that the Iranian government is ready and willing to work with international partners to fight ISIS.
Zarif acknowledged that there exists a mutual lack of confidence among the three powers but he said he believes that they can come together to defeat the radical group that’s been gaining support in Yemen, Afghanistan, Syria, Iraq, Nigeria, Somalia, and Libya.
On Tuesday, Saudi Arabia announced it had captured 93 suspected ISIS members over the past few months, foiling their plans to attack targets including the U.S. embassy in Riyadh.
Iran has been working with the U.S. on a nuclear deal that United States Secretary of State John Kerry said is close to being complete.

Source:
Peter Mellgard of the World Post (a partnership of The Huffington Post and the Berggruen Institute)
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/04/29/zarif-iran-isis_n_7176178.html?utm_hp_ref=world

​​Military Evacuating Girls, Women Rescued From Boko Haram (4/29/15)

Nigeria’s military carried out the rescue of 200 girls and 93 women from the stronghold of an Islamic insurgent group, Boko Haram. Their stronghold was in the Sambisa Forest, which is a large expanse of land, easy for renegades to use for insurgency and refuge.
These girls are not the same girls who were kidnapped from a boarding school over a year ago in Chibok. Though the Chibok kidnappings made the group famous, Boko Haram has been steadily kidnapping girls for sometime now. They have kidnapped 2,000 women and girls since the start of 2014 and many have been forced into sexual slavery and trained to fight.
There is hope that the Chibok girls are in the other strongholds that they are targeting.
Boko Haram literally means “western education is forbidden” and the group is staunchly against any western influence in the Islamic world.

Source:
The Associated Press
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2015/04/29/world/africa/ap-af-nigeria-kidnapped-girls.html?_r=0

Japan and U.S. Set New Rules for Military Cooperation (4/28/15)

President Obama and Prime Minister Shinzo Abe of Japan have reached an accord to tighten defense cooperation and are pressing toward an agreement to tear down trade barriers between their two countries and across the Pacific Rim. The goal of this is to counter rising economic and military threats from China and North Korea.
With China’s growing assertiveness and North Korea’s nuclear and ballistic missile programs Japan wants a stronger relationship with America for protection. Japan has a long history of dispute with China and North Korea over territorial claims in the South China Sea.
Mr. Obama and Mr. Abe will discuss disputes between their two nations over trade – including tariffs on American automobiles and Japanese agricultural products – whose resolution are widely seen as a prerequisite for sealing the accord. Officials are close to clearing away those disagreements.

Source:
Julie Hirschfeld Davis and Michael R. Gordon of the New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/28/world/asia/japan-and-us-set-new-rules-for-military-cooperation.html?_r=0

Villages Near Nepal Earthquake’s Epicenter are Desperate as Death Toll Tops 4,000 (4/28/15)

 The villages near the epicenter of Saturday’s quake have no food, shelter and are littered with bodies.
Two days after Nepal’s worst earthquake in 80 years, the official death toll had risen to more than 4,000 and humanitarian aid was starting to flow to the capital.
Outside of the capital, landslides that make them inaccessible even to the country’s armed forces have surrounded many of the worst hit villages.
The authorities began airdropping packages, dry food and medicine into mountain villages and unsuccessfully attempted to land a helicopter.
The government is only gradually getting a grasp of the destruction in these isolated places. It is nearly impossible to identify which villages are most in need, and how many may be dead or injured.

Source:
Thomas Fuller and Ellen Barry of the New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/28/world/asia/nepal-earthquake.html?ref=world

Earthquake Devastates Nepal, Killing More Than 1,200

A powerful earthquake shook Nepal on Saturday near its capital, killing more than 1200 people, flattening sections of the city’s historic center and trapping dozens of sightseers in a 200-foot watchtower that came crashing down into a pile of bricks.
The quake set off avalanches around Mount Everest, where several climbers were reported to have died.
The earthquake, with an estimated magnitude of 7.8, struck shortly before noon. Aftershocks with a magnitude of 6.6 then ravaged the area.
The pressure from the northern Eurasia tectonic plate grinding with the Indian tectonic place caused the earthquake.

Source:
Ellen Barry of The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/26/world/asia/nepal-earthquake-katmandu.html?_r=0

Migration Crisis Puts Europe’s Policy Missteps Into Focus, Experts Say

 There once existed an Italian patrol and rescue program known as Mare Nostrum. Its primary purpose was to save migrants who were escaping the conflicts in the Middle East and found themselves lost at sea in the Mediterranean Sea.
As an added bonus, the program helped to identify and prosecute the smuggling networks behind the surge in human trafficking across the Mediterranean. Italian ships patrolled international waters, making it possible to capture some smugglers in the act.
Mare Nostrum was shut down because of budget concerns and was replaced by a EU project known as Triton. Triton is a pale imitation to Mare Nostrum and proved to be ineffectual.
After seeing the failures of Triton, European leaders have pledged to triple funding and added additional resources for search-and-rescue missions while also dedicating new resources to fighting the smuggling rings.

Source:
Jim Yardley of the New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/25/world/europe/europes-migration-crisis-cannot-be-solved-at-sea-analysts-say.html?ref=world

Greece Under Fire From Creditors As Bailout Talks Drag On

European creditors turned up the heat on Greece to deliver an economic reform program that it needs to avoid a possible default and even an exit from the euro.
Greece’s finance minister faced a series of rebukes from his peers in the Eurozone for failing to come up with a comprehensive list of economic reforms after weeks of slow progress.
In February, Greece secured an agreement rom the Eurozone to get the remaining money in its bailout fund, but only if it came up with a mutually agreed set of reforms by the end of April. The end of April is almost upon us and there has yet to be a deal.
Greece owes a huge payment on its debt to the IMF on May 11th and needs to secure money before then.

 Source:
Pan Pylas of the Huffington Post
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/04/24/greece-bailout-talks_n_7139438.html

American Naval Force Off Yemen Gets Credit After Iranian Convoy Turns Away

Pentagon officials credited the deployment of an American aircraft carrier group in waters off the coast of Yemen for a decision by Iran to turn back a naval convoy suspected of carrying weapons bound for Shiite rebels.
The pentagon feels that this lowered tensions in the continuing regional proxy war between Iran and Saudi Arabia.
The Defense Department says that the point of this was to reassure Saudi Arabia that the US was committed to supporting them and to make it clear that the US wouldn’t allow weapons shipments to the Houthi rebels in Yemen.

Source:
Helene Cooper of the New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/25/world/middleeast/american-naval-force-off-yemen-gets-credit-after-iranian-convoy-turns-away.html?ref=world

Saudis Announce Halt to Yemen Bombing Campaign

Saudi Arabia said on Tuesday that it was halting a nearly month-old bombing campaign aimed at the Iranian-backed Houthi rebels who have seized much of neighboring Yemen, in a conflict that has threatened to escalate into a new regional war.
The Saudi Operation (Operation Decisive Storm) whose mission was to prevent a Houthi takeover of Yemen has been achieved, according to the Saudi government. The Saudi government also reserved the right to ‘counter any military moves by the Houthis….”
The aerial attacks by a Saudi-led coalition of 10 Arab countries began on March 26, leaving hundreds of people dead and thousands injured and homeless.
Saudi Arabia got involved in Yemen because their religion is Sunni Islam, which was the same religion of the now exiled president of Yemen. Saudi Arabia doesn’t want the Shia Houthis who are backed by Iran (also Shia) to take over Yemen.

Source:
Rick Gladstone of the New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/22/world/middleeast/saudis-announce-halt-to-yemen-bombing-campaign.html?ref=world

Russian Workers Take Aim at Putin as Economy Exacts its Toll

All across Russia, teachers, plant workers, autoworkers… are going on strike.
After months of frustration with an economy sagging under the weight of international sanctions and falling energy princes, workers across Russia are starting to protest against unpaid wages and go on strike, in the first nationwide backlash against President Vladimir V. Putin’s economic policies.
Unpaid wages rose on April 1 to 2.9 billion rubles ($56 million).

Source:
Andrew E. Kramer
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/22/world/europe/russian-workers-take-aim-at-putin-as-economy-exacts-its-toll.html?ref=world

Obama Urges 'Creative' Talks to Bridge Divide With Iran on Sanctions

President Obama directed his diplomats to use “creative negotiations” (with Iran) to bridge a sharp divide with Iran over the fate of sanctions if it agrees to curb its nuclear program, signaling flexibility in hopes of keeping a tentative agreement from unraveling.
Iranian leaders have insisted that the punishing sanctions be lifted as soon as a written accord is signed.
According to Mr. Obama “our main concern here is making sure that if Iran doesn’t abide by its agreement, that we don’t’ have to jump through a whole bunch of hoops in order to reinstate sanction.”
Mohammed Javad Zarif, Iran’s foreign minister has maintained that Iran’s nuclear program is strictly for energy purposes but also has said “we can have the path of confrontation, or we can have the path of cooperation. We cannot have a little bit of each. If we take the path of confrontation, the US and the UN will continue with their sanctions, and Iran will continue with its enrichment program. Without any limitation.”
Another topic of the deal is how much leeway international inspectors will have to visit suspected nuclear sites and how forthcoming Iran will have to be.

Source:
Peter Barker and Rick Gladstone at the New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/18/us/politics/obama-praises-congress-on-iran-and-trade-but-chides-senate-gop-over-nominee.html?ref=world