NEWS OF THE DAY
Cluster bombs: Casualties from cluster munitions, internationally outlawed weapons that kill indiscriminately, more than doubled in 2016 compared with the previous year, a disarmament group that monitors the bombs’ use reported on Thursday. The Geneva-based Cluster Munition Coalition said nearly 1,000 people had been killed or injured by the bombs, which are banned by international treaty. Most of the increase was attributed to the war in Syria, where, the group said, Syrian government forces began using the weapons in 2016 with Russia’s support. Dozens of other deaths last year were attributed to the Saudi-led bombing of Yemen and lethal remnants buried in Laos from the intensive U.S. bombing during the Vietnam War era. The group’s annual report is based on adherence to the 2010 treaty that prohibits them. To date, 119 countries have signed the treaty or agreed to its provisions. A number of major weapons-producing nations, however, have not signed or agreed to the treaty, including the United States, Russia, China and Ukraine. Nearly all countries in the Middle East also have not signed or agreed to it.
Controversial deal: The Islamic State handed over the body of a recently captured Iranian Revolutionary Guard member as part of a deal that allowed hundreds of extremists and their families to evacuate the Lebanon-Syria border region. The Lebanese Hezbollah group, which negotiated the controversial deal, said Thursday it had received the body of Mohsen Hojaji. The evacuation deal, in which the militants also revealed the locations of the remains of Lebanese soldiers captured in 2014 in exchange for safe passage to an Islamic State-held area in Syria, angered Iraq and the U.S.-led coalition, which said Islamic State militants should be killed on the battlefield.
Terror suspect: British authorities on Thursday charged a man with terrorism offenses following an incident near Buckingham Palace last week in which a suspect with a 4-foot sword injured three police officers. London’s Metropolitan police charged Mohiussunnath Choudhury, 26, from Luton in north London with engaging in the preparation to commit an act or acts of terrorism on Aug. 25.
Boat tragedy: Three boats carrying ethnic Rohingya fleeing violence in Myanmar have capsized in Bangladesh and 26 bodies of women and children have been recovered, Bangladesh officials in Cox’s Bazar said Thursday. Last week, a group of ethnic minority Rohingya insurgents attacked at least two dozen police posts in Myanmar, triggering fighting with security forces that left more than 100 people dead and forced at least 18,000 Rohingya to flee into neighboring Bangladesh. Myanmar’s estimated 1 million Rohingya Muslims face severe persecution in the Buddhist-majority country, which refuses to recognize them as a legitimate native ethnic minority, leaving them without citizenship and basic rights.
Iran nuclear deal: The U.N. agency monitoring Iran’s compliance with its nuclear deal with the U.S. and five other world powers has noted no violations by Tehran in its latest quarterly report on the issue. Agreed upon over two years ago, the nuclear deal commits Iran to strict limits on uranium enrichment and other programs that could be used both for peaceful purposes and in the pursuit of a nuclear weapon. President Trump has repeatedly criticized the deal, but has yet to pull the U.S. out of it.