NEWS OF THE DAY
Missing millions: Governments and aid agencies have been unable to account for millions of dollars in school aid for Syrian refugees, frustrating efforts to meet schooling needs for children in Lebanon, Jordan, and Turkey, Human Rights Watch said Thursday. More than half a million school-age Syrian refugees in the three countries were out of school last year, in part because of severe funding gaps, the report by the New York-based group said. There are at least 1.6 million Syrian children refugees in the region.
Thailand bombings: A soldier and a policeman were killed and 26 other people wounded by two bombs believed to have been set off by Muslim separatists in southern Thailand on Thursday, police in Yala province said. The assailants detonated one bomb as a team of paramilitary rangers passed on a road. After more security personnel arrived about 20 minutes later, a second bomb exploded. Most of the wounded were bomb disposal officers. More than 6,500 people have been killed since a Muslim separatist insurgency flared in Thailand’s three southernmost provinces of Yala, Pattani, and Narathiwat in 2004. Recent cease-fire talks between the government and some separatist factions have made little progress.
Russia sanctions: The European Union extended sanctions by a further six months against dozens of Russian citizens and companies deemed to have a role in threatening the stability and independence of Ukraine. EU headquarters in Brussels said Thursday the restrictive measures have been prolonged until March 14 and now apply to 149 individuals and 38 entities. It said the sanctions are in response to “actions undermining or threatening the territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence of Ukraine.” The EU first imposed the sanctions after Russia annexed Ukraine’s Crimean Peninsula in 2014 and supported pro-Russia separatists fighting Ukrainian forces in Ukraine’s east. That fighting has left more than 10,000 people dead. A 2015 peace deal helped reduce the scale of fighting, but violence continues.
London fire: A government-ordered inquiry into the London tower fire that killed at least 80 people opened Thursday with a minute of silence for the victims — and with its leader acknowledging that survivors feel a “great sense of anger and betrayal.” Retired judge Martin Moore-Bick said he hoped his investigation would “provide a small measure of solace” by discovering how such a disaster could occur in 21st-century London, and preventing it happening again. The June 14 blaze began in a refrigerator in an apartment at Grenfell Tower before racing through the 24-story building. One aspect of the investigation will be the role of combustible aluminum cladding installed during a refurbishment to the 1970s tower block. Emergency safety checks have uncovered scores of other buildings across Britain with similar cladding.
Terror arrests: British officials say terrorism-related arrests have risen to a record high level as the threat to the country has increased. The Home Office said Thursday there were 379 arrests for terror-related offenses in the 12-month period ending June 2017. That represents a 68 percent increase over the year before. It is the highest numbers of arrests since the government started keeping tallies in 2001. The figures reflect a surge in arrests as police made wideranging sweeps after deadly attacks in London and Manchester earlier this year.