Readers’ Forum

Trump’s plan for Syria withdrawal weakens GOP unity

AP, Washington

Congressional Republicans have spent most of the past two years trying to limit public fights with President Donald Trump, either out of party loyalty or fear of being on the wrong end of a presidential tweetstorm. But that show of unity was put to the test this week when Trump announced he would withdraw U.S. forces from northern Syria in advance of an impending Turkish military operation against Syrian Kurdish militia fighters.

2 Polish soldiers killed as WWII bomb explodes

AFP, Warsaw

Two Polish soldiers were killed and four others injured on Tuesday when a bomb exploded as they were attempting to defuse it, Defence Minister Mariusz Blaszczak said.
The bomb dated back to World War II, local media reported. The explosion occurred in the forest near the town of Kuznia Raciborska, the military said. Two of those injured were flown to hospital in serious condition.

Explosive device kills 4 children in Yemen

AP, Sanaa, Yemen

 Yemeni health officials on Tuesday said an explosive device has gone off near the flashpoint port city of Hodeida, killing at least four children. The explosion took place late on Monday in the town of Wadi Nakhla in the southern district of Hays, the officials said. Two other children were wounded, they said. All the causalities were from the same family.

Germany warns of repeat of 2015 migrant influx into EU

Reuters, Luxembourg

Germany warned on Tuesday of a repeat of the chaotic influx of migrants that caught the European Union unprepared in 2015, with Greece and Cyprus sounding alarms over a fresh surge of arrivals from neighbouring Turkey. EU ministers were meeting to discuss migration as Greece has again become the main gateway to Europe for people fleeing wars and poverty in the Middle East, Asia and Africa, with U.N. data showing nearly 45,600 arrivals by sea so far this year.

China, Solomon Islands sign deals

Reuters, Beijing

Solomon Islands Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare met Chinese Premier Li Keqiang in Beijing on Wednesday and signed several agreements in the first official visit since the two countries established diplomatic relations last month.