1. Saudi-Led Coalition Says Will Work to Reduce Yemen Civilian Deaths
A Saudi-led coalition fighting in Yemen regrets civilian deaths, which it says are unintentional, and is improving its targeting mechanisms with Western help, the alliance said on Sunday. The coalition “greatly regrets civilian casualties in Yemen”, it said in a statement posted by Saudi Arabia’s mission to the United Nations on its Twitter page.
2. UN Asks for $861 Million to Help Iraq Meet Humanitarian Bill
The United Nations appealed on Sunday for $861 million to help Iraq meet a big funding gap in its 2016 emergency response to the humanitarian crisis caused by the war against Islamic State. Baghdad, whose revenues have fallen as oil prices have plunged, has said it would manage to finance less than half of its $1.56 billion plan to assist 10 million people in need.
3. Asia Shrimp Farmers Restock Mangrove “Supermarket” by Going Organic
Since the 1980s, a boom in shrimp farming has decimated mangroves around the world, destroying a key ecosystem for carbon storage. Now, growing consumer demand for organic and sustainable foods has spurred interest in organic shrimp farms.
4. Syria Peace Talks Hit Trouble After Damascus Blast Kills 60
Syria’s main opposition group is considering a proposal by UN special envoy Staffan de Mistura that could pave the way to the delegation pressing ahead with talks after holding their first meeting with him, a Western diplomatic source said.
5. Suu Kyi Allies to Form Myanmar Ruling Party After Decades of Struggle
After decades of struggle, hundreds of lawmakers from Aung San Suu Kyi’s camp will form Myanmar’s ruling party, with enough seats in parliament to choose the first democratically elected government since the military took power in 1962.
6. Turkish and NATO Radars Detected Russian Jet’s Airspace Violation: Turkish PM
Both Turkish and NATO radars detected a Russian jet violating Turkish airspace, Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said on Sunday, refuting Russian claims that the violation was “pure propaganda”. Turkey said on Saturday a Russian SU-34 jet had violated its airspace despite warnings, once more stoking tensions between two countries involved in Syria’s war, but Russia had denied that there had been any incursion.
7. Mexico Kills Two, Nabs 22 in Bust of Sinaloa Cartel Smuggling Ring
Twenty-two members of Mexico’s powerful Sinaloa cartel have been arrested and two were killed in a police raid near the US-Mexico border where authorities seized assault-type weapons, according to US and Mexican officials. Two were killed on Friday after they opened fire on Mexican federal police as they surrounded a building in the desert outside a small Mexican town where an armed group was running a drug and migrant smuggling operation, Mexico’s federal police said in a statement on Sunday.
8. Netanyahu Rejects French Ultimatum on Palestinian Statehood
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called on Sunday for a more “sober” approach towards the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in dismissing a French peace initiative as only encouraging Palestinians to shun compromise. The proposal on Friday by French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius for an international peace conference was the latest sign of Western frustration over the absence of movement toward a two-state solution since the collapse of US-brokered negotiations in 2014.
9. Zika Virus Spreads Fear Among Pregnant Brazilians
For Elisangela Barros, like scores of pregnant women in the region at the centre of the Zika outbreak in Brazil, what she thought would be the happiest time of her life has been overshadowed by fear. The virus linked to birth defects has sown panic in maternity wards in northeastern Brazil.