Foreign Tit Bits Today
By Yadnom Awu/ Asaba
Syria
Calm in Suwaydan after ceasefire Kicks In
Relative calm pervaded the otherwise troubled Syrian region of Suwaydan overnight after a ceasefire between the feuding parties came into effect.
The ceasefire, the fourth in the series, was hammered out by a coalition of countries, including Turkiye, Qatar and America, following the collapse of three previous ones.
It followed the resumption of hostilities between militias of Bedouin tribesmen and those of the minority Druze community in Suwaydan.
The violent clashes in which hundreds of persons died and close to 2,000 others were wounded, erupted after the Druze community accused the Syrian Army and the Bedouin tribesmen of jokingly attacking them.
Following the alleged attacks, the Druze Community appealed to both America and Israel for military support.
The Israeli response which came in prompt, targeted core security assets in and around Damascus, capital of Syria, including the seat of the Ministry of Defence.
The Israeli intervention drew a rare rebuke from America, and calls for a more decisive action by the Ahmed Al- Sharaa Presidency to restore order .
The calls prompted the redeployment of Syrian forces, who had been withdrawn, back to Suwaydan, to restore order by enforcing the ceasefire.
Locals say there was relative calm on Saturday night, and they hoped that the new development would endure.
Syria has been battling ethnic and sectarian crises since the late last year fall of the Assad regime.
America
Trump Due to Sign $9 billion cut in funding of Public media,international aid
The American President is due later today to sign a cut to public media andinternational aid.
A handsome $9 billion is due to be sliced off the funding of the two key items.
The move is part of efforts to reduce public expenditure, under the aegis of its Tax Reforms Act, which Trump describes as Big and Beautiful.
The cut is likely to affect public radio and television media , as well as America’s funding of projects across the globe under the auspices of the United States Aid (USAID).
The Trump presidency has toyed with the idea of scrapping the USAID, which a large part of its function has been taken over by the State Department.
Major media to be impacted by the move include the Voice of America(VOA),while aid efforts to be impacted include health programmes related to the awareness campaign linked to the Human Immuno Deficiency Syndrome (HIV) and its correlate, the Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (,AIDS).
Experts have warned that cuts to the funding of core public institutions could significantly impair their efficiency as well as eroding America’s diplomatic potency across the globe.
Vietnam
38 Drown, Others Missing in Vietnam’s Boat Capsize
At least 38 persons have been confirmed dead in a boat mishap in Vietnam.
Many others are reported missing after the boat carrying tourists capsized late on Saturday.
Details of the tragedy were sketchy at press time.
However, it was learnt that while 10 persons had been rescued, many more persons remained unaccounted for, at press time.
Search and Rescue operations are continuing , though the efforts have been hampered by heavy precipitations and poor weather conditions
Russia
Russia,Ukraine Set To Amplify Peace Talks
Russian State media today reported the imminence of the resumption of peace talks with Ukraine.
The reports hint at the resumption of talks by next week, though Kremlin officials were yet to speak on the development at press time..
The reports come just days after both countries exchanged Prisoners of War (POWs) and the bodies of their fallen troops.
Last week’s exchange, the fourth in the series, involved Russia handing over the bodies of 1,000 soldiers to Kiyev, which, in turn, handed over 19 bodies to Moscow.
Both countries have held two rounds of talks in the Turkish city of Istanbul, formerly called Constantinople.
The talks led to the prisoner exchanges, but have yet to record any major breakthroughs on how to end their three- year war.
Ukrainian President, Wladimyr Zelensky, had said that no efforts would be spared to ensure the resumption of peace talks with Russia, hopefully as early as this week.
American President, Donald Trump, had, last week, issued Russia a 50-day window to strike a peace deal with Ukraine or face severe sanctions.
The Kremlin spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, dismissed the ultimatum.
Russia ‘s Foreign Minister, Sergey Lavrov, affirmed the position of Peskov, adding that though the country was ready for talks and engage in negotiations for peace, it would not be forced by ultimatum issued by any country.
Ukraine
Fatalities As Russia Pounds Ukraine Again
Ukraine has reported casualties in Russia ‘s overnight attacks on it.
The dead include the five confirmed dead in the Sumy Region where there were at least 70 attacks on seven settlements.
Ukrainian officials, on condition of not being named in the media, said the attacks, carried out with drones and missiles, targeted mainly Odesa and the Sumy regions.
The officials failed to pinpoint the actual targets of the attacks, but admitted that not fewer than 300 drones and three missiles were deployed in the attacks.
Locals, especially in Odessa, said most of the targeted facilities were severely damaged and some of the buildings had turned to rubble.
Locals said that at least five persons were killed and 28 others wounded in the attacks on targets in Odesa.
Palestine
More Gazans Die In Israeli Attacks
More than 32 persons have died in Israeli military attacks on Palestinians in Gaza since Saturday.
They included those killed in their shelters in the embattled enclave and those – about 14 of them- reportedly killed as they made to access humanitarian supplies at a designated site run by the controversial Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF.).
Locals said that Israeli troops opened fire on them as they gathered to access food at the only functional aid centre currently being operated by the GHF.
The attacks, which have drawn global condemnation , are a continuation of the trend since the GHF began operations in Gaza on May 27.
The United Nations (UN) and other credible organizations say that more than 900 starving Gazans have been killed in the last two months by Israeli soldiers who allegedly attack them with drones, tanks and machine gun fire.
The GHF is the main supplier of aid in Gaza after Israel accused the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) of colluding with Hamas to steal supplies.
Israel failed to provide proof to prop its allegations.
The foundation has four centres but operates only one , a development which has been roundly criticized.
UNRWA, which had been in charge of the humanitarian supplies in Gaza since the 1950s, had 400 such aid centres across Gaza.
America
30 Injured In LA Crowd Car Plough
About 30 persons were injured, including seven seriously, when a car ploughed into a large crowd of people outside a night club in Los Angeles.
The identity of the driver, who was shot by a bystander, as well as that of his shooter, remained unknown at press time.
There were no words on the fate of the driver, and the whereabouts of the bystander who went incommunicado after the shooting.
On the heels of the ploughing, Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD,) and emergency teams stormed the scene to attend to those injured..
The LAPD ruled out terrorism – link and also said there was no ground to suspect that the man had accomplices in the Eastern Hollywood attack.
The Mayor of Los Angeles County, Karen Bass, in a social media post, described the incident as tragic and condoled with victims and their families.
Ukraine
Zelensky Seeks Return of 20,000 Ukrainian Children “Abducted” By Russia.
The President of Ukraine, Wladimyr Zelensky, is pushing for the prompt return of Ukrainian children allegedly abducted and taken into Russia by its troops.
Sources close to Kiyev said that Zelensky was wont to put the return of the children atop the agenda for the up coming peace talks with Moscow.
The talks may hold as early as this week, according to the anonymous sources.
It is estimated that 20,000 Ukrainian children were forcibly taken to Russia by its troops.
Russia, which Ukraine and its Western allies accused of abducting the children, has dismissed the charge of abductions, insisting , instead, that it acted on humanitarian grounds to save the children that it accused Ukraine of neglecting.
The children, mainly orphans, motherless babies and the disabled, were taken from orphanages and related places in Russian- controlled parts of Ukraine.
Aside from the children, Russia has gained a significant military foothold in its neighbour where it has gained either full or partial control of four regions of Ukraine.
