The U.S. Secretary of State, John Kerry, has told the U.N. Security Council that all aircraft in northern Syria should be grounded in order to allow humanitarian aid to get through. He said Monday’s attack on an aid convoy raised profound doubt about whether Russia and the Syrian government would live up to the ceasefire deal. Moscow says a U.S. predator drone was in the area at the time.
A boat carrying an estimated 600 illegal migrants has capsized off the coast of Egypt, killing at least 42 people. The authorities say 150 people have been rescued so far.
The Prime Minister of Pakistan, Nawaz Sharif, has warned that the international community is ignoring the danger of rising tensions in South Asia at its peril. Mr. Sharif said his country could not ignore an unprecedented arms buildup by India, and would do whatever was necessary to maintain a credible deterrent.
The founder of Facebook, Mark Zuckerberg and his wife, Priscilla Chan, have pledged 3 billion dollars over the next 10 years for scientific research to fight disease. Their stated aim is to cure, prevent or manage all disease within their children’s lifetime.
The BBC has learned that Britain’s secret intelligence service, MI6, is to hire almost 1,000 staff over the next four years. MI6 has said the expansion is necessary because of the development of the Internet and technology.
An enormous fire is threatening large areas of Amazon rainforest in Peru. Officials say the fire has reached an indigenous reserve that’s home to 5,000 members of the Ashaninka people, and destroyed more than 20,000 hectares of pristine forest.
The mayor of Rome has refused to endorse the city’s campaign to host the 2024 Olympics. Virginia Raggi said that it would be irresponsible to support the bid, as winning it would bury the city under huge debts.
