TURKEY’S OPPOSITION STRIKES BLOW TO ERDOGAN WITH ISTANBUL MAYORAL WIN
24 JUNE 2019 (SOURCE: REUTERS) – Turkey’s opposition has dealt President Tayyip Erdogan a stinging blow by winning control of Istanbul in a re-run mayoral election, breaking his aura of invincibility and delivering a message from voters unhappy over his policies. Ekrem Imamoglu of the Republican People’s Party (CHP) secured 54.21% of votes, according to state-owned…
IRAN SAYS TRUMP WARNED OF AMERICAN ATTACK BUT WANTS TALKS
21 JUNE 2019 (SOURCE: REUTERS) – Iranian officials told Reuters on Friday that Tehran had received a message from U.S. President Donald Trump warning that a U.S. attack on Iran was imminent but saying he was against war and wanted talks on a range of issues. News of the message, delivered through Oman overnight, came shortly after…
UN: NEARLY 71 MILLION NOW DISPLACED BY WAR, VIOLENCE AT HOME
20 JUNE 2019 (SOURCE: AP) – A record 71 million people have been displaced worldwide by war, persecution and other violence, the U.N. refugee agency said Wednesday, an increase of more than 2 million from a year earlier — and an overall total that would amount to the world’s 20th most populous country. The annual “Global…
DATABASE SAYS 91,600 KILLED IN YEMEN FIGHTING SINCE 2015
19 JUNE 2019 (SOURCE: AP) – A database tracking violence says at least 91,600 people have been killed in Yemen’s civil war, presenting a new estimate after completing reporting for the first months of fighting in 2015. The Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project said Wednesday that the Saudi-led coalition fighting Houthi rebels is responsible…
U.S. SAYS TO SEND MORE TROOPS TO THE MIDDLE EAST, CITES IRAN THREATS
18 JUNE 2019 (SOURCE: REUTERS) – Acting U.S. Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan announced on Monday the deployment of about 1,000 more troops to the Middle East for what he said were defensive purposes, citing concerns about a threat from Iran. Fears of a confrontation between Iran and the United States have mounted since last Thursday when…
SUDAN’S BASHIR CHARGED WITH CORRUPTION, IN FIRST APPEARANCE SINCE APRIL
17 JUNE 2019 (SOURCE: REUTERS) – Sudan’s ex-president Omar al-Bashir was charged with corruption-related offences on Sunday, as he appeared in public for the first time since he was overthrown and detained in April. Looking much the same as prior to his removal by the military, he was driven to the prosecutor’s office in Khartoum. He…
OIL PRICES SOAR AS TANKERS ABLAZE IN SUSPECTED ATTACKS IN GULF
14 JUNE 2019 (SOURCE: CITIZEN) – World oil prices surged following reports of the suspected attacks, exacerbating tensions in the crude-rich Middle East, analysts said. Suspected attacks left two tankers ablaze in the waters of the Gulf of Oman on Thursday, sparking fears of a broader conflict and sending world oil prices soaring. The mysterious incident…
MIGRANT HUMANITARIAN CRISIS LOOMING IN BOSNIA
13 JUNE 2019 (SOURCE: AP) -Aid groups are warning of a developing humanitarian crisis in Bosnia as more migrants make their way to one of Europe’s poorest and most volatile countries, where the needs of the existing population already strain a thin social safety net. The Bosnian Red Cross has sounded the alarm over a…
CONGO DECLARES MEASLES EPIDEMIC
12 JUNE 2019 (SOURCE: REUTERS) – Congo’s government has declared an epidemic of measles, which the latest health ministry figures show has now killed at least 1,500 people, over a hundred more than have died of Ebola. While health officials have focused on the far deadlier hemorrhagic Ebola virus concentrated in Democratic Republic of Congo’s lawless…
PRESSURE GROWS ON AFRICA TO TAKE BACK ITS MIGRANTS
11 JUNE 2019 (SOURCE: DM) – Migrant numbers to Europe have dropped dramatically since 2015 when the highest number of people recorded – over a million – arrived from outside the continent. In 2018, Europe saw an influx of 140,000 and by 4 June 2019, fewer than 30,000 had arrived for this year. Yet migration remains a key…