Iraq is descending into yet another bloody conflict. Thousands have fled the city of Fallujah, which is now held by militants. So what next for this blood-stained state? Lindsey Hilsum explains.
Lindsey Hilsum
After August’s chemical attack on the Damascus suburb of Ghouta, prospects for peace in Syria looked remote. But then Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and his US counterpart, John Kerry, managed to pull the world back from the brink.
At least 36 people, including children, have died after Syrian army helicopters dropped improvised “barrel bombs” on the northern city of Aleppo, opposition activists say.
After Islamist fighters seize Western-backed rebel weapons warehouses, the United States and Britain suspend non-lethal aid to northern Syria.
The organisation overseeing the destruction of chemical weapons in Syria says the US has offered to destroy some of the country’s chemical agents at sea in an effort to meet the December 31 deadline.
Lindsey Hilsum
“If a mortar falls, it only affects us for an hour or so. After that, things go back to normal. The next day it’s as if nothing happened.”
Lindsey Hilsum
The nuclear deal is just a start of what could become a major shift in alliances in the Middle East. What happened in Geneva may have huge ramifications in Damascus and beyond.
As youth unemployment in Italy reaches a new all-time high of 40.1 per cent, our newest “Austerity Kid”, Agata Scionti, 26, tells Channel 4 News that young Italians “are unable to dream any more”.
Aid agency Save The Children tells Channel 4 News that ‘vaccination ceasefires’ are needed across Syria within the next month to prevent a polio outbreak from becoming a regional epidemic.
Having been prevented from getting food, Syrian activists in a besieged suburb of Damascus say regime forces have now attacked their water supply, in a desperate situation.
Alex Thomson
From imminent intervention to the realpolitik of Moscow, outplaying the west at every turn – what a difference a few weeks makes.
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad says he is committed to destroying his country’s chemical weapons but it will take about a year to do so.
Syria insists Bashar al-Assad is a “legitimate” president, as Russia says it opposes any “use of force” clause in a UN resolution to put his chemical weapons under international control.
A UN inspectors’ report into the Damascus chemical weapons attack in August says there is “clear and convincing evidence” that sarin was used.
US Secretary of State John Kerry says any deal over Syria’s chemical weapons is not a “lifeline” to President Bashar al-Assad, whose regime has “lost all legitimacy”.