© Suhaib Salem / Reuters
A Palestinian stands inside the remains of a house, that witnesses said was destroyed by Israeli shelling during a 50-day war in 2014 summer, during a sandstorm in Gaza September 8, 2015
A Palestinian stands inside the remains of a house, that witnesses said was destroyed by Israeli shelling during a 50-day war in 2014 summer, during a sandstorm in Gaza September 8, 2015
During peaceful protests on March 30 in eastern Gaza, an unarmed Palestinian man walked on farmland towards the fence built by his occupiers. Within minutes, he was shot by one of the 100 Israeli special forces snipers deployed along the fence precisely to quash dissent-by any means necessary-under the old pretext of "self-defense."
On the same day, a Palestinian woman, armed solely with a flag, walked towards the fence which has imprisoned her for so many years. She, too, was targeted by one of the snipers.
Among the 17 killed that day was a 16-year-old girl and a 27-year-old farmer, the latter killed by Israeli tank fire.
© Vanessa Beeley
Driving towards Wafedin camp in Eastern Ghouta that has been receiving civilian evacuees from Eastern Ghouta.
Driving towards Wafedin camp in Eastern Ghouta that has been receiving civilian evacuees from Eastern Ghouta.
The UN held a press briefing yesterday in Damascus. We arrived late but in time to hear UN figures of 75,000 civilians who have escaped Eastern Ghouta for the safety of the Syrian government centres set up to receive these traumatised civilians as they flee the terrorist occupation of their towns and villages via the Syrian/Russian established and negotiated humanitarian corridors.
According to a UN official, 25,000 of those civilians have been reunited with their families by the Syrian government, the remaining 50,000 are in the IDP centres and are being taken care of by Syrian civil society organisations.
These UN figures are lower than the Syrian Government and Russian negotiator numbers but it is not unusual for the UN to be out of alignment in this respect. Syrian Arab News Agency recently reported numbers closer to 135,000. However these UN figures still expose western media reporting of much lower numbers as deeply flawed at best, deliberately misleading at worst.
© David Mdzinarishvili / Reuters
A British flag flies near the United Kingdom's embassy in Moscow.
A British flag flies near the United Kingdom's embassy in Moscow.
And of course we are supposed to assume it is true because this latest fake news is built on an edifice of an entire history of fake news. Simon Tisdall recently wrote in one of the largest purveyors of fake news, The Guardian:
It has taken a long time for western politicians to recognise the extent and depth of the threat represented by Vladimir Putin's Russia. Some in the Labour party still don't. It is also plain, as Theresa May embarks on an open-ended confrontation with Moscow, that the dispute provoked by the Salisbury outrage could take years to resolve.
Cold or hot, overt or covert, this is going to be a long war - and Britain will need all its friends and allies if it is to prevail against a ruthless opponent. Whether sincere, sufficient and timely support will be forthcoming is in serious doubt.
But they actually reveal much more than rudeness and lack of civility, which are unbecoming of any civil servant, even if he is the servant of Her Majesty, the Queen of England.
This week on Behind the Headlines, we'll be taking a look at the major events and developments of the past week and giving our analysis of what is really going on.
Join us later today - from 12-1:30pm EST / 4-5:30pm UTC / 6-7:30pm CET - as we go Behind the Headlines.
Running Time: 01:39:35
Download: MP3
The questions, provided in full below, include a demand to clarify whether samples of the nerve agent "Novichok" have ever been developed in the UK. The embassy's statement calls the incident that started the recent diplomatic row a "fabricated case against Russia."
