Group items tagged

One has to do with economics; the other with ideology.

Russia is one of Syria's biggest arms suppliers

Syrian contracts with the Russian defense industry have likely exceeded $4 billion

t's been more than 100 years since the world began observing International Women's Day, and yet no country has achieved full gender equality.

But in Yemen, the country that ranks lowest according to the same data,

About two-thirds of countries in the developing world have achieved gender equality in primary education according to U.N. data, but the progress is less substantial at the secondary school level.

The United Nations is concerned by the presence of Islamic State in Afghanistan but says the militant group's power to unite insurgents is more significant than its capabilities in the war-torn country

forces

attempts are under way to broker an end to 13 years of conflict between the Taliban, who were ousted in a U.S.-led war in 2001, and Afghan and foreign

U.N. envoy is pressing ahead on that front, while Russia tries to play peacemaker

Russia is inviting the parties to Moscow this month, but some opposition groups won't go to a country that has been backing Syrian President Bashar al-Assad

Shiite militia that seized power in Sanaa said Sunday it would not cave in to "threats" after Yemen's Gulf neighbours urged the U.N. to act forcefully against its takeover.

The United Nations Security Council is expected to adopt a resolution on Sunday urging the Houthis to step aside, release government officials and begin U.N.-brokered negotiations, diplomats said.

prompting Western-backed President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi to tender his resignation.

But even prior to the use of chemical weapons, Syria was a humanitarian disaster: The U.N. estimates the death toll at more than 100,000, with some 2 million refugees displaced.

France and Britain dismissed on Friday any suggestion of restoring relations with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, saying this would likely end all hope of a political transition and push moderates into the arms of radical Islamist groups.

With the rise of Islamic State insurgents, some European |Union member states are critical of the position in Paris and London and say it might be time to re-establish communication with Damascus given that a four-year-old revolt has failed to overthrow Assad

"In reality, Bashar represents injustice, chaos and terror. We, France and Britain, say no to all three

The absence of Obama administration officials at these meetings, even as observers, was deliberate.

purposely stayed away from contributing to the direct overthrow of the Assad regime,

not directly involved U.S. government officials

As Saudi-led airstrikes pound Yemen rebels, UN and Red Cross alarmed over civilian casualties

The U.N. human rights office in Geneva said that in the past five days, at least 93 civilians have been killed and 364 wounded in five Yemeni cities engulfed in the violence, including, Sanaa. The overall figures are likely much higher and it was not immediately clear if the casualties cited by Geneva referred to just airstrikes or the strikes and fighting between Yemen's warring factions. The Saudi-led coalition says rebels have set up positions near civilians but that it is doing its best to avoid civilian casualties

They will prevent Tehran from using the $100-plus billion in previously frozen oil revenues that will be released under the JCPOA to go on a buying spree next year for advanced conventional weaponry and ballistic missile technology. Although Iran will seek to evade the renewed restrictions, Russia and China voted for them and, together with other U.N. members, will be bound to enforce them. Although the arms embargo does not cover all categories of arms (air defense systems such as the S-300 are not included), neither Russia nor China is expected to sell Iran the weapons that are covered, such as high-performance aircraft.