News in Brief
MOSCOW (Reuters) -- Russia said on Wednesday that new U.S. sanctions on a subsidiary of Russian oil giant Rosneft over Venezuela were a violation of international law and that they would not affect Moscow’s ties with Caracas. The Kremlin was commenting after Washington tightened financial restrictions on Venezuela, blacklisting a Rosneft subsidiary that U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration has said provides a lifeline to Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro’s government.
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CAIRO (Reuters) -- Libya’s internationally recognized Prime Minister Fayez al-Serraj said on Wednesday talk about resuming peace negotiations has been overtaken by events on the ground amid ongoing shelling from eastern factions trying to take Tripoli. "There must be first a strong signal from all international players who are trying to talk to us,” he told reporters at Tripoli’s sea port which got shelled by eastern forces on Tuesday. Libya’s unity government announced late Tuesday it would halt its participation in UN talks aimed at brokering a lasting ceasefire in the war-torn country where a fragile truce has been repeatedly violated. The pullout came after a barrage of rocket fire hit a port in the capital Tripoli -- the target of a months-long operation by eastern military commander Khalifa Haftar to oust the Government of National Accord (GNA). "We are announcing the suspension of our participation in the military talks taking place in Geneva until firm positions are adopted against the aggressor (Haftar) and his violations” of the truce, the GNA said in a press release.
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MOGADISHU (Reuters) -- Al Shabaab militants killed at least 12 Somali soldiers and briefly captured a military base southwest of the capital on Wednesday, officials said, underscoring the insurgents’ ability to launch attacks despite a government offensive. A suicide bomber detonated at the El Salini base before gunmen stormed in and briefly occupied it, police said. The military recaptured the base after reinforcements arrived. "They took the base and took weapons and ammunitions, this includes anti-aircraft guns fixed on pickups,” said Nur Ahmed, a police officer from Afgoye in Lower Shabelle region. Military officer Ismail Ali said 12 soldiers were killed and the commander of the base was injured. Al Shabaab claimed responsibility. "We took the base. We took two pickups with anti-aircraft guns hooked on. We destroyed four other military vehicles,” Abdiasis Abu Musab, al Shabaab’s military operation spokesman, told Reuters. He said the attackers had killed 15 soldiers. Al Shabaab has been fighting the UN-backed Somali government for more than a decade in a bid to impose their strict version of Islamic law. The Horn of Africa nation has been in the midst of civil war since 1991, after warlords overthrew a dictator but then turned on each other.
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NEW DELHI (Reuters) -- India’s cabinet has approved a plan to buy U.S. naval helicopters, a government source said on Wednesday, without giving details. Reuters reported this month that India was likely to give final approval to a $2.6 billion deal for Lockheed Martin helicopters ahead of a visit by U.S. President Donald Trump.
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WASHINGTON (Reuters) -- U.S. Attorney General William Barr is considering resigning over President Donald Trump’s tweets about Justice Department investigations, a source familiar with the situation told Reuters, while the department said he was not leaving. "The Attorney General has no plans to resign,” Justice Department spokeswoman Kerri Kupec said in a post on Twitter late Tuesday night. The Washington Post separately reported on Tuesday that Barr has told people close to Trump about his concerns, but it was not immediately clear if Barr had spoken to the president directly. "He has his limits,” the newspaper quoted one person familiar with Barr’s thinking as saying. Barr may be sharing his position with people close to Trump in hopes the president gets the message and stops tweeting about the Justice Department’s criminal investigations, the Post added.
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UNTED NATIONS (AFP) -- The world is failing to protect children from the health dangers posed by climate change and poor diet, a landmark UN report said Wednesday, warning that every child is under "immediate threat”. According to more than 40 of the world’s pre-eminent child and adolescent health experts, not one country on Earth is adequately protecting the next generation from the impacts of carbon emissions, the destruction of nature and high-calorie and processed foods. They said that excessive carbon emissions, produced overwhelmingly by wealthier nations, "threaten the future of all children” and will burden them with additional health dangers, from deadly heatwaves to the increased spread of tropical diseases. The report, commissioned by the World Health Organization and UNICEF, also highlights the threat children face from harmful marketing of fat- and sugar-laden foods, alcohol and tobacco. "The big message is that no single country is protecting children’s health today and for their future,” said Anthony Costello, professor of International Child Health and Director of the Institute for Global Health at University College London.
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CAIRO (Reuters) -- Libya’s internationally recognized Prime Minister Fayez al-Serraj said on Wednesday talk about resuming peace negotiations has been overtaken by events on the ground amid ongoing shelling from eastern factions trying to take Tripoli. "There must be first a strong signal from all international players who are trying to talk to us,” he told reporters at Tripoli’s sea port which got shelled by eastern forces on Tuesday. Libya’s unity government announced late Tuesday it would halt its participation in UN talks aimed at brokering a lasting ceasefire in the war-torn country where a fragile truce has been repeatedly violated. The pullout came after a barrage of rocket fire hit a port in the capital Tripoli -- the target of a months-long operation by eastern military commander Khalifa Haftar to oust the Government of National Accord (GNA). "We are announcing the suspension of our participation in the military talks taking place in Geneva until firm positions are adopted against the aggressor (Haftar) and his violations” of the truce, the GNA said in a press release.
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MOGADISHU (Reuters) -- Al Shabaab militants killed at least 12 Somali soldiers and briefly captured a military base southwest of the capital on Wednesday, officials said, underscoring the insurgents’ ability to launch attacks despite a government offensive. A suicide bomber detonated at the El Salini base before gunmen stormed in and briefly occupied it, police said. The military recaptured the base after reinforcements arrived. "They took the base and took weapons and ammunitions, this includes anti-aircraft guns fixed on pickups,” said Nur Ahmed, a police officer from Afgoye in Lower Shabelle region. Military officer Ismail Ali said 12 soldiers were killed and the commander of the base was injured. Al Shabaab claimed responsibility. "We took the base. We took two pickups with anti-aircraft guns hooked on. We destroyed four other military vehicles,” Abdiasis Abu Musab, al Shabaab’s military operation spokesman, told Reuters. He said the attackers had killed 15 soldiers. Al Shabaab has been fighting the UN-backed Somali government for more than a decade in a bid to impose their strict version of Islamic law. The Horn of Africa nation has been in the midst of civil war since 1991, after warlords overthrew a dictator but then turned on each other.
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NEW DELHI (Reuters) -- India’s cabinet has approved a plan to buy U.S. naval helicopters, a government source said on Wednesday, without giving details. Reuters reported this month that India was likely to give final approval to a $2.6 billion deal for Lockheed Martin helicopters ahead of a visit by U.S. President Donald Trump.
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WASHINGTON (Reuters) -- U.S. Attorney General William Barr is considering resigning over President Donald Trump’s tweets about Justice Department investigations, a source familiar with the situation told Reuters, while the department said he was not leaving. "The Attorney General has no plans to resign,” Justice Department spokeswoman Kerri Kupec said in a post on Twitter late Tuesday night. The Washington Post separately reported on Tuesday that Barr has told people close to Trump about his concerns, but it was not immediately clear if Barr had spoken to the president directly. "He has his limits,” the newspaper quoted one person familiar with Barr’s thinking as saying. Barr may be sharing his position with people close to Trump in hopes the president gets the message and stops tweeting about the Justice Department’s criminal investigations, the Post added.
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UNTED NATIONS (AFP) -- The world is failing to protect children from the health dangers posed by climate change and poor diet, a landmark UN report said Wednesday, warning that every child is under "immediate threat”. According to more than 40 of the world’s pre-eminent child and adolescent health experts, not one country on Earth is adequately protecting the next generation from the impacts of carbon emissions, the destruction of nature and high-calorie and processed foods. They said that excessive carbon emissions, produced overwhelmingly by wealthier nations, "threaten the future of all children” and will burden them with additional health dangers, from deadly heatwaves to the increased spread of tropical diseases. The report, commissioned by the World Health Organization and UNICEF, also highlights the threat children face from harmful marketing of fat- and sugar-laden foods, alcohol and tobacco. "The big message is that no single country is protecting children’s health today and for their future,” said Anthony Costello, professor of International Child Health and Director of the Institute for Global Health at University College London.