English

Robert Hackwill

Syria

Syrian government forces claim successes but ISIL still rampant

ISIL attacked the Syrian city of Homs on Tuesday, killing at least 24 people with a car bomb and explosive belt-wearing terrorist. A mainly Alawite

Denmark

Pay up or push off immigration law passes in Danish parliament

Despite Denmark watering down its new immigration law, passed in parliament on Tuesday, it has faced harsh criticism for it. But several lawyers and

World

Lost hopes, simmering anger: Egypt five years after failed revolution

Five years ago in Cairo’s Tahrir square Egyptians thronged in their tens of thousands to call for Hosni Mubarak to go. Thirty years in power were

World News

ISIL horror video threatens France but Hollande extends State of Emergency

This weekend ISIL released a slickly-edited and stuffed with special effects video; 17 minutes long, it also contains doyens of beheadings

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World

Setting emergency standards for aid and education

This edition of Learning World looks at crisis education, and crisis management; two schools, two approaches to tackling disasters professionally

World News

And also...too stoned for the FBI, a wild ride in the snow, and lotsa pants

As usual, here is our normal weekly roundup of the weird and wonderful lesser stories you may have missed, but spotted by our journalists in media

Somalia

19 dead as al-Shabaab attacks tourist spot near Mogadishu

Somali police say at least 19 people have been killed when al-Shabaab Islamic militants shot up a beach resort near the capital, Mogadishu. Two bombs

USA

Eastern USA braces for "historic" snowstorm

The eastern seaboard of the United States is bracing itself for a great white storm forecasters are saying is of epic proportions. A metre of snow is

World News

H1N1 Swine flu: a new pandemic on the way?

An outbreak of swine flu in eastern Europe is claiming lives and causing a stir in the media. A major H1N1 outbreak sparked a World Health

United Kingdom

Asylum seekers in Middlesborough say they are being housed in "marked" homes

Suspicions are running high in the northern English city of Middlesborough, which has welcomed the highest number of refugees and asylum seekers

Tunisia

Policeman dies as jobs protests in central Tunisia continue

Protests continue in Kasserine and several other Tunisian cities including the capital as people demonstrate against unemployment and the country’s

World News

ISIL faces cash crunch as fighters' pay is halved and revenues dry up

Revolutions and mass movements can only do so much with fanaticism and passion, as ISIL are finding out in Syria and Iraq as they are squeezed by the

Germany

Cologne police sweep Kalk district in search for New Year's Eve attackers

Police in Cologne have raided a number of games arcades and betting shops as part of their investigations into the New Year’s Eve sexual attacks in

Pakistan

Taliban calls attack on university in NW Pakistan which left 30 dead "un-Islamic"

Pakistani police say that the operation against gunmen who attacked a university in the northwest of the country is over, and that at least 30 people

Switzerland

Davos World Economic Forum opens with DiCaprio

This year’s World Economic Forum has opened in the Swiss ski resort of Davos in a climate of uncertainty as stock markets around the world experience

World News

UN and aid agencies sound alarm about refugees stuck on EU's fringes facing disaster

The United Nations and aid agencies are calling for increased assistance for migrants coming through Turkey and eastern Europe, and are warning a

Netherlands

Dutch town latest to angrily protest against refugee centre

Heesch is the latest Dutch town to suffer anti-immigrant protests after police made three arrests on Monday night as a demonstration forced

Greece

Greece faces first 2016 protests against reforms

The Greek government’s plans for pension reforms have brought thousands of farmers out on the streets in protests in the north of the country, and in

World News

Photographer Leila Alaoui latest victim of Hotel Splendid attack

The death has been announced of Franco-Moroccan photographer Leila Alaoui, who succumbed to the wounds she received in the Hotel Splendid attack in

Lebanon

Geagea strikes deal backing Aoun presidency in Lebanon

A possible end to the political deadlock at the summit of Lebanese politics may be in sight. Christian Michel Aoun’s presidential candidacy has been

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