Group: Mustard gas used in Syrian town
The world’s chemical weapons watchdog has determined that mustard gas was used over two months ago in a Syrian town, an official from that group said, raising fresh questions about the deployment of such weaponry in the country’s bloody, messy war.
The August 21 incident in Marea, a town about 28 miles (45 kilometers) north of Aleppo, exposed at least two people “to sulfur mustard, and there is reason to believe that a baby might have also suffered and died as a result,” according to an official with the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons.
The increased security at Sharm el-Sheikh Airport turned into a mixed blessing for British vacationer Nicky Bull, one of tens of thousands whose travel plans became uncertain after Metrojet Flight 9268 crashed.
She felt safer but had to stand in line for hours before boarding a plane.
Russian Plane Crash: Was A Bomb On Board?
British Prime Minister David Cameron says it’s “more likely than not.” U.S. President Barack Obama says “it’s certainly possible.”
But Russian and Egyptian authorities pushed back Thursday on suggestions that a bomb brought down Metrojet Flight 9268 over Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula, saying there’s no evidence yet to support that theory.
Thousands of migrants caught in European bottleneck
Thousands of migrants and refugees are stranded in Serbia as countries farther west in Europe tighten restrictions on their borders.
About 10,000 refugees are in Serbia, where they are facing shortages of aid and shelter, the U.N. refugee agency, the UNHCR, told CNN.
Airstrikes hit Doctors Without Borders clinic in Yemen
Five airstrikes hit a Doctors Without Borders health clinic in Yemen on Monday, the medical organization said.
The nonprofit group, which works in challenging areas around the world, blamed the Saudi-led coalition that’s bombing Yemen for carrying out the attack — an allegation the Gulf kingdom denied.
Cold weather brings new misery for migrants
I interviewed U.N. worker Melita Sunjic who was on the Serbia-Croatia border about the desperate situation for migrants there
Refugees and migrants trying to find their way to a new life in Europe are now facing an added difficulty: increasingly wintry weather in the Balkans.
At the Serbian border crossing of Berkasovo, more than 2,000 people were stuck in “hellish conditions” as they waited to get into Croatia, a U.N. refugee official said
BBC: Tracking a migrant from Syria to Sweden
Really fantastic reporting here by the BBC. James Reynolds tracks one woman’s journey from Syria, through Europe to a police station in Sweden: her final destination where she claims asylum. Well worth watching – link below
Good reporting here: Thailand’s Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha appealed on Wednesday for the chief suspect in the bombing of a shrine in the heart of Bangkok to turn himself in to authorities.
Really good reporting here:
Europe’s migrant crisis came into ugly focus this week on an idyllic Greek island as reports emerged of thousands of men, women and children corralled in a stadium for days in blazing heat with little food, water or shelter.
TEHRAN: The detained Washington Post reporter Jason Rezaian will be back in court Monday on what could be the final hearing in his trial for spying on Iran, his lawyer said.
Full article in the Daily Star Lebanon
Hoping for a good outcome. His detention must end now!
lucypawle.com 