Patrick deHahn
I'm a "rising star in journalism," as seen in HuffPo.
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AFRICA
M23 rebels announce ceasefire near Goma as UN’s Ban Ki-moon visits DR Congo (Reuters)
Suicide bombings in Niger kill at least 17 soldiers (BBC News)
AMERICAS
Secretary of State Kerry may make bid to restart Middle East peace talks (NYTimes)
ASIA
Car bomb in Pakistan kills eleven police officers and one civilian (AP)
Malaysia police arrest opposition figures in crackdown (Reuters)
Iran says a new report by the IAEA shows its nuclear drive is “peaceful” (AFP)
North Korea says they are willing to take China’s advice to start talks (Reuters)
EUROPE
European banks stop sending money to North Korea, aid groups say (Reuters)
Sweden’s Stockholm continues to experience riots through city (NYTimes)
France backs call to put Hezbollah armed wing on EU terror list (Reuters)
MIDDLE EAST
In clashes, five killed and 50 wounded in Lebanon’s Tripoli (Reuters)
Former head of Syria’s opposition puts forward a new proposal on governing Syria (Al Jazeera)
A solid primer to catch up on what evolved last night:
Josh Rogin reports on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee’s approval of a bill to arm the rebels.
While not the defining legislation at this point, the proposal was approved last night by a Senate panel 15-3 and will be brought to the full Senate for a vote.
Even after it has the chance of passing through the Senate, it is not clear what opposition group fighting against the Syrian government will receive American arms. That will be a tough one to tackle.
Something to watch. Definitely give Rogin’s writing a read through.
AFRICA
Mortar lands in Congo city of Goma as U.N. secretary general arrives in capital (AP)
Egyptian security abducted in Sinai freed (Al Jazeera)
Egypt’s Morsi calls on people of Sinai to “give up their arms” (BBC News)
World Bank pledges $1 billion to aid peace in Africa’s Great Lakes (Reuters)
Mugabe signs Zimbabwe constitution into law (Reuters)
AMERICAS
Mysterious respiratory illness kills two, leaves five others hospitalized in Alabama (AP)
ASIA
North Korea has named hardline general as new military chief, state media shares (AP)
North Korea leader sends “special envoy” to China (NYTimes)
Iran bars candidates for June Presidential election (Reuters)
China premier to discuss trade ties with incoming Pakistan government (Al Jazeera)
EUROPE
Hague says, “we are working on lifting the arms embargo for the Syrian opposition” (Al Jazeera)
Ukraine prime minister bars reporters from government meetings after protest (Reuters)
France boosts up Africa and Middle East embassy security (Reuters)
Germany backs call to put Hezbollah armed wing on EU terror list (Reuters)
MIDDLE EAST
Sunni fighters backing Syria rebels fight Assad supporters in Lebanon’s Tripoli (Al Jazeera)
Refugee numbers drop dramatically on the Jordan-Syria border (Al Jazeera)
Rafah border crossing off Egypt and Gaza reopens after abduction (Al Ahram)
Syrian National Coalition to attend Friends of Syria meeting in Jordan’s Amman Wednesday (Al Jazeera)
Syria opposition calls for reinforcements in embattled Qusair (Reuters)
The battle to keep Tibetans under control is inflicting severe psychological damage on Chinese armed police, an internal training document has revealed.
Give it a read, it’s rather quite interesting.
Came across this today:
The sudden reduction in aggressive rhetoric and actions by North Korea has led to suggestions that Pyongyang has realized it has pushed its only ally in the region to the brink of severing its friendship.
The superpower state, China, may be working with members of the North Korean government, to encourage regime change and shift their stances, direction as a state. Intelligence reports tell this story, that China is preparing for such contingency plans, for Kim Jong-un’s brother to take over if the country fails under his control. Interesting finds.
From CS Monitor:
A new UN panel is vowing to hold North Korea’s Kim regime to ‘full accountability’ for decades of mass crime and murder. Will Pyongyang face ICC indictment?
“Virtually every legal scholar and former tribunal judge looking at North Korea has come to the conclusion that these are massive crimes against humanity,”
North Korea has largely kept these camps secret and have denied having these, with strong international suspicions that they did actually have them. The nation was able to control confirmation they had them; but now cannot control the skies, satellites eyes and curiousness. The photos are now here. Check them out.
Nigeria is under a state of emergency, with thousands of soldiers deployed in the northern region, cracking down on rebel camps throughout the nation. Here is a dispatch from Al Jazeera’s Yvonne Ndege, “Will peace return to Borno, which is known as the ‘Home of Peace’ in Nigeria, again?”
A recent wave of nationwide deadly violence has resulted in numerous deaths and a cause of concern, 10 years after the United States invaded Iraq. With the rocky region of the Middle East and the ongoing civil war in Syria, Iraq is more unstable than ever. BBC has a special report following the goings-on of Iraq.
Assad’s forces has launched a long-planned offensive to retake Qusair in Syria. It has been held by rebel forces and regime forces are showing its power by attempting to take it back.
From reuters, a very valuable infographic of Syria’s casualties after two years of civil war.
- HRW report shows torture evidence found in Syrian prisons (AP)
- United Nations chief Ban Ki-moon says an international conference on Syria should be held as soon as possible (Reuters)
- More than 1.5 million Syrians have fled the country to escape the conflict there and register as refugees, UN says (CNN)
- More advanced missiles - antiship cruise missiles - have been sent by Russia to Syria to support Assad (NYTimes)
- Russian FM: “I don’t understand the uproar over supplying weapons to Syria.” (Al Jazeera)
Things to watch today: Egypt with a possible million man march against its president Morsi, Syria with its conflict unraveling and international relations regarding the war occurring there. Follow @patrickdehahn for updates all day.
MIDDLE EAST
Turkey detains a new prime suspect in car bombings near their country’s Syrian border (Reuters)
United Nations’ UNCHR say that more than 1.5 million people have fled Syria since January of this year (Reuters)
Bahrain’s opposition say security forces raided top cleric’s house (Reuters)
AFRICA
A new revolutionary group in Egypt says they have collected millions of signatures against their president Morsi (Al Jazeera)
Nigerian forces bomb Islamist rebel camps using jets and attack helicopters in the northeastern part of their country (Reuters)
ASIA
Two bombings hit mosques in Pakistan killed twelve people after Friday prayers (Al Jazeera)
Myanmar frees 23 political prisoners before President Thein Sein leaves to visit the United States (Reuters)
Philippine “massacre clan” enjoys election wins, even with their historic political crimes (AFP)
AMERICAS
Obama pins hopes on more peace talks regarding Syria, while maintaining a cautious approach (The Guardian)
Guantanamo hunger strike reaches 100th day (CNN)
