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Syria war: Aid reaches starving Eastern Ghouta civilians

Aid has reached starving civilians trapped in the Eastern Ghouta, a rebel-held area outside Damascus, for the first time in more than a year.

Supplies for 40,000 people were allowed into the towns of Kafr Batna and Saqba on Monday, according to the UN.

It comes days after the UN human rights chief said the plight of civilians living there was "an outrage" that might constitute a war crime.

Some 350,000 people have been besieged by pro-government forces since 2013.

The convoy of 49 lorries was carrying "8,000 food parcels and a similar number of bags of flour, medicine, medical supplies, and other nutritional materials", Mona Kurdi, a Syrian Arab Red Crescent (SARC) spokeswoman, told AFP news agency.

The aid would also be distributed to Hamouria and Ain Tarma, the SARC said.

A convoy carrying aid for 25,000 people reached parts of Eastern Ghouta on 23 September. But aid had not got through to Kafr Batna and Saqba since June 2016, Jens Laerke, a spokesman for UN Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), told Reuters news agency.

"More aid to complement today's delivery is planned in the coming days," he said.

• Why is there a war in Syria?
• Seeking 'normal life' under siege

On Friday, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Raad Al Hussein said recent images of malnourished children were a "frightening indication of the plight of people in Eastern Ghouta, who are now facing a humanitarian emergency".

The UN children's agency, Unicef, said 232 children were suffering from severe acute malnutrition, with two infants reported to have died in the past month. One of them was 34-day-old Sahar Dofdaa, photographs of whom were published recently.

Another 882 children were suffering from moderate acute malnutrition, while more than 1,500 were at risk, the agency added.

Skip Twitter post by @OCHA_Syria

The @UN & @SYRedCrescent entered #KafraBatna & #Saqba in besieged #EastGhouta with humanitarian assistance for 40,000 people in need #Syria pic.twitter.com/mjiNnVnyQK

— OCHA Syria (@OCHA_Syria) October 30, 2017

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End of Twitter post by @OCHA_Syria

Once a fertile agricultural belt, the Eastern Ghouta is in the throes of a humanitarian crisis as government forces have recently tightened their siege of the region, closing tunnels that had been used by the opposition to smuggle in food.

Human rights groups have frequently accused the Syrian government of using starvation as a weapon of war – a charge it denies.

News of the convoy's arrival in the Eastern Ghouta came as the latest round of Russian-sponsored peace talks got under way in the Kazakh capital, Astana.

Source – bbc.com

NBC and MSNBC sack Mark Halperin over harassment allegations

NBC News and MSNBC say they have terminated contracts with US political journalist Mark Halperin following allegations of sexual harassment.

The allegations relate to Mr Halperin's work at ABC more than a decade ago.

Penguin Press has cancelled a book co-authored by Mr Halperin about the 2016 election, and HBO has cancelled a planned TV adaptation of the book.

The Showtime network said Mr Halperin would not return to political programme The Circus, which will be renamed.

At least 12 women have come forward to report that Mr Halperin harassed or assaulted them during his stint as political director at ABC News.

The allegations include unwanted kissing and touching, and grabbing a woman's breast.

• Harvey Weinstein: How the allegations unfolded
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• Me too: I was sexually harassed at 11
• What to do if you are being sexually harassed at work

Mr Halperin issued a statement on Twitter on Friday, apologising for his actions and admitting that he "caused fear and anxiety for women who were only seeking to do their jobs".

Halperin said he had closely read his accusers accounts and "recognized conduct for which I feel profound guilt and responsibility".

CNN senior international correspondent Clarissa Ward said on Twitter that Halperin's conduct was an "open secret when I was at ABC for years".

A raft of sexual harassment allegations against media and entertainment industry figures has emerged in recent weeks, sparked by accusations against Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein.

Actor Kevin Spacey on Monday became the latest public figure to be accused of harassment or assault, when actor Anthony Rapp alleged Spacey made a sexual advance on him when Rapp was just 14.

Spacey responded by apologising – although he claimed not to remember the incident – and coming out as gay, sparking a backlash on social media for conflating the two issues.

Source – bbc.com

Ex-Trump aide Manafort charged with US tax fraud over Ukraine work

Donald Trump's former presidential campaign manager, Paul Manafort, has been charged with conspiring to defraud the US in his dealings with Ukraine.

The 12 charges brought against Mr Manafort and one of his business associates, Rick Gates, include conspiracy to launder money.

They stem from an inquiry into alleged Russian meddling in the US election.

It has emerged that another adviser to Mr Trump admitted this month to lying about his links to Russia.

George Papadopolous pleaded guilty to making false statements to FBI agents about his dealings with an unnamed overseas academic who allegedly informed him that the Russians possessed "dirt" on Mr Trump's presidential opponent, Hillary Clinton.

The charges against Mr Manafort and Mr Gates do not relate to Mr Trump's campaign but to the alleged concealment of payments from the pair's Ukrainian business dealings up to 2016.

• Live updates on this story
• Who's who in the Russian drama?
• Manafort's short reign on the Trump campaign

An investigation headed by special counsel Robert Mueller is looking into any links between Russia and the Trump campaign. Both sides deny any collusion.

Responding to news of the charges, Mr Trump tweeted to point out that they did not concern his campaign and asked why "the focus" was not on alleged wrongdoing involving Mrs Clinton instead.

Skip Twitter post by @realDonaldTrump

Sorry, but this is years ago, before Paul Manafort was part of the Trump campaign. But why aren't Crooked Hillary & the Dems the focus?????

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 30, 2017

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End of Twitter post by @realDonaldTrump

What does this mean for Trump?

For years Paul Manafort operated on the fringes of power, a once-influential Washington player who worked with some less-than-savoury international characters because his services were no longer in high demand domestically, the BBC's Anthony Zurcher writes from Washington.

Then, like many other politicos in Donald Trump's orbit, he was thrust into the spotlight because more established hands wanted nothing to do with the upstart's presidential campaign.

Mr Manafort got his big break but it may end up breaking him. That resulting spotlight has drawn attention to Mr Manafort's past dealings and raised questions about his actions while in at the top of the Trump campaign.

The good news for Mr Trump is these charges stem from Mr Manafort's past business dealings, not his campaign efforts. He is being accused of working for years for pro-Russian Ukrainian politicians and laundering millions in subsequent payments.

It certainly makes Mr Trump's decision to cut Mr Manafort loose last August after details emerged of his Ukrainian ties seem a wise one.

The good news has its limits, however. Mr Manafort will be under growing pressure to co-operate with the Mueller investigation. If he offers up useful information about his time during the campaign, this could be just the first domino to fall.

What are the charges against Manafort and Gates?

The indictment looks at their links to pro-Russian politicians in Ukraine between 2006 and 2015.

It says they acted as "unregistered agents" of Ukrainian politician Viktor Yanukovych and his party, both in opposition and government.

Mr Yanukovych was deposed as president in 2014 amid mass unrest over his pro-Russian policies.

Mr Manafort is accused of having laundered more than $18m (£14m) through offshore bank accounts, using it to buy property, goods and services in transactions concealed from the US authorities.

He is said to have "used his hidden overseas wealth to enjoy a lavish lifestyle" in America.

Altogether, at least $75m in payments from Ukraine flowed through the accounts, the indictment says.

Mr Manafort and his lawyer arrived at an FBI office in Washington on Monday.

Mr Gates is accused of having transferred more than $3m from the offshore accounts to other accounts he controlled. He has been ordered to surrender to authorities, according to US media reports.

No immediate comment from lawyers for Mr Manafort and Mr Gates was reported after the charges were revealed.

What were Manafort's links to Trump?

Mr Manafort, 68, has worked on several Republican presidential campaigns, beginning with Gerald Ford's in 1976.

He resigned as chairman of the Trump campaign in August 2016 after being accused over his dealings with pro-Russian politicians in Ukraine. He denies any wrongdoing.

US intelligence agencies believe the Russian government sought to help Mr Trump win the election.

How does the Papadopolous case affect Trump?

The justice department statement on Mr Trump's former foreign policy adviser has the potential to damage the US leader because it relates directly to his election campaign.

When Mr Papadopolous was interviewed by the FBI this January, he told them that his interactions with the foreign professor, who is said to have "substantial connections to Russian government officials", had taken place before he joined the Trump campaign in March 2016.

But according to the US justice department, his meetings with the professor actually took place after he became an adviser to Mr Trump. The professor only took interest in him because of his new status within the Trump campaign, it is alleged.

Mr Papadopolous admitted having sought to arrange a meeting "between the Campaign and Russian government officials".

The alleged Russian "dirt" on Mrs Clinton took the form of "thousands of emails". No further details were given.

Why did Trump bring up Clinton?

On Friday, Mr Trump accused Mrs Clinton of links with Moscow.

Republican lawmakers have alleged that a uranium deal with a Russian company in 2010, when Mrs Clinton was secretary of state, was sealed in exchange for donations to her husband's charity.

A Congressional investigation has been opened into the case. Democrats say it is an attempt to divert attention from the alleged ties between Russia and Mr Trump.

• Republicans investigate Clinton and Obama

Source – bbc.com

Syria war: Besieged Eastern Ghouta gets first aid for weeks

Aid convoys have reached starving civilians trapped in the Eastern Ghouta, a rebel-held area outside Damascus, for the first time in weeks.

Supplies for 40,000 people were allowed into the towns of Kafra Batna and Saqba on Monday, according to the UN.

It comes days after the UN human rights chief said the plight of civilians trapped there was "an outrage" that might constitute a war crime.

Some 350,000 people have been besieged by pro-government forces since 2013.

Skip Twitter post by @OCHA_Syria

The @UN & @SYRedCrescent entered #KafraBatna & #Saqba in besieged #EastGhouta with humanitarian assistance for 40,000 people in need #Syria pic.twitter.com/mjiNnVnyQK

— OCHA Syria (@OCHA_Syria) October 30, 2017

Report

End of Twitter post by @OCHA_Syria

The convoy of 49 trucks was carrying "8,000 food parcels and a similar number of bags of flour, medicine, medical supplies, and other nutritional materials", Mona Kurdi, a Syrian Arab Red Crescent spokeswoman, told AFP news agency.

The last UN aid convoy, carrying aid for 25,000 people, reached the area on 23 September.

• Why is there a war in Syria?
• Seeking 'normal life' under siege

Once a fertile agricultural belt, the Eastern Ghouta region is in the throes of a humanitarian crisis as government forces have recently tightened the siege.

Last week, the UN children's agency Unicef said more than 1,100 children there were suffering from acute malnutrition, with two infants reported to have died in the past month.

Human rights groups have frequently accused the Syrian government of using starvation as a weapon of war – a charge it denies.

Source – bbc.com

Smartphone use falls among young for first time

Are we seeing the start of peak phone?

For the first time, young people in the UK aged between 16 to 24 are spending slightly less time on their smart devices, according to a report.

Market researcher Kantar TNS found that those within that group now spent an average of 3.8 hours on their phones a day down from 3.9 hours last year.

And this may be a surprise to parents, but a third of those said they thought they spent too much time on their phones and wanted to cut down.

That of course leaves the other two thirds.

June King, who is 24 years old, says she has not cut down her usage: "It's part of my life, I just use it all the time. I think I'm on it for 12 hours a day!

"The only thing that worries me is electro-magnetic waves at night. So I try to keep it away from me while I sleep."

The group with the biggest growth in smartphone use are pensioners, according to the research.

Kantar TNS said the amount of time the older generation in the UK spent on their phones had rocketed between this year and last year, from 36 minutes to 54 minutes a day globally.

The average use across all generations is 2.4 hours a day.

Ann Morseby, who is in her 60s, says her usage remains fairly modest, about 40 minutes a day, but it is creeping up.

"I check my emails more frequently, although I still mostly use it for texting. I have started playing games more on it, though, so perhaps those 40 minutes are actually more like an hour," she says.

Can't live

The slight fall in smartphone use among the young in the UK does not mean the appetite for connectivity is still anything less than voracious.

The vast majority of under-24s – 94% – have a smartphone, and one device is often not enough. Some 40% of 16 to 24 year-olds use multiple devices at the same time when they're online.

Kantar's research found that over half of 16 to 24 year-olds (52%) don't think they could live without social media and 84% use social media on a daily basis – up from 75% in 2015.

Source – bbc.com

Kim Wall death: Danish inventor Madsen admits dismembering journalist

The Danish inventor Peter Madsen has admitted dismembering the body of Swedish journalist Kim Wall aboard his submarine, but denies killing her.

Danish police said in a statement that he also admitted dumping her body parts in the sea.

He told police she had died in August from carbon monoxide poisoning inside the submarine, while he was up on deck.

Mr Madsen had previously denied cutting up her body and said she died when a heavy submarine hatch fell on her head.

Divers found bags containing her head, legs and clothing in Koge Bay, just south of Copenhagen, earlier this month. Police said they had been weighed down with pieces of metal.

• ‘Exceptional’ journalist remembered
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• What we know about Kim Wall case

Ms Wall's torso was found on 21 August. A post-mortem examination revealed knife wounds to her genitals and ribcage, which were believed to have been caused "around or shortly after her death".

Police said on Monday they were extending the charges against Mr Madsen – which already include murder and mutilating Ms Wall's body – to include sexual assault without intercourse. The inventor denies the charges against him.

Ms Wall, 30, was last seen alive on the evening of 10 August as she departed with Mr Madsen on his self-built 40-tonne submarine, UC3 Nautilus, for a story she was writing about his venture.

Her boyfriend raised the alarm the next day when she did not return from the trip.

Initially, Mr Madsen said he had dropped her off safely in Copenhagen, but the 46-year-old later changed his story to say there had been a "terrible accident", that he had "buried her at sea" and planned afterwards to take his own life by sinking his submarine.

Danish Prosecutor Jakob Buch-Jepsen told a court earlier this month that footage of women being decapitated alive had been found on a hard drive believed to belong to Mr Madsen. Mr Madsen said the hard drive was not his.

The inventor was supposed to appear in court on Tuesday but will now remain in custody until 15 November.

Source – bbc.com

North Korea: Fresh test could trigger radioactive leak, South says

A fresh nuclear test at North Korea's mountainous testing site could trigger a leak of radioactive material, South Korea's chief meteorologist has warned.

A hollow space of up to 100m in length in the bottom of Mount Mantap could implode, Nam Jae-cheol said.

Pyongyang's last nuclear test in early September appeared to have triggered several landslides.

North Korea has conducted six nuclear tests since 2006, using the same site test each time.

• What we know about North Korea's nuclear test site
• How do you defend against North Korea?
• North Korea crisis in 300 words

"There is a hollow space, which measures about 60 to 100 metres in length, at the bottom of Mount Mantap in the Punggye-ri site," Mr Nam was quoted by South Korean news agency Yonhap as saying.

"Should another nuke test occur, there is the possibility of a collapse," he warned.

The Punggye-ri test site, situated in mountainous terrain in the north-east of the country, is thought to be Pyongyang's main nuclear facility and the only active nuclear testing site in the world.

Hong Kong's South China Morning Post newspaper reported on Friday that Chinese geologists warned North Korean officials after the September test that additional tests there could lead to a massive collapse and a leak of radioactive waste.

Separately, North Korea's main newspaper, Rodong Sinmun, has said the country has a sovereign right to launch satellites.

The statement comes amid speculation that Pyongyang might soon launch a satellite – widely seen as a test of the country's ballistic missile technology.

Source – bbc.com

Is your phone listening in? Your stories

Facebook has always denied using smartphone microphones to gather audio from people's real-life conversations and then use that data to serve advertising.

Last week Facebook's vice-president of ads, Rob Goldman, said on Twitter that the technology giant did not and had never carried out the practice.

"Just not true," he tweeted in response to a call for people's stories of occasions when they believed it had happened.

Given the amount of online advertising that people see every day, there is a strong argument that it is pure coincidence – that perhaps the advert has been served before unobserved and is only now noticeable because of an unrelated discussion.

However, there are those who are convinced that they have experienced it. Here are some of the stories you told us.

We saw wedding ads before we announced our engagement

"My fiancee and I both had wedding ads the day after we got engaged, before we had told anyone," said Nate, from Springfield, in the US.

"We bought the ring in the spur of the moment and never looked anything related up.

"And even two weeks ago my fiancee and I went to a friend's and drank a certain kind of liquor neither of us had ever bought or talked about on the phone, and the next morning it was the first ad Facebook showed her."

My hearing aid kept connecting to my phone

"In 2016, I lost the hearing in my right ear. I was given a 'made for iPhone' compatible hearing aid," said Jon, in the US.

"This meant I could take calls, stream music, et cetera from my new hearing aid.

"Whenever the phone connected to the hearing aid, there would be an audible change, like a little click, because it would be switching from streaming the world around me to audio from the hearing aid.

"This worked in reverse too, with a microphone.

"In both the Facebook Messenger app for iOS and the main Facebook app, I would hear that click, the flipping over of the audio source for my hearing aid, at inexplicable times, including when I had audio from apps disabled."

My jokey career move appeared in an ad

"Just last week I left my employment and was sat with my friend having a chat about which direction I was going to go in," said Lindsey, in Lincoln.

"I said, 'I like coffee, I might just end up at Starbucks so I can drink more coffee.'

"Next time I checked my Facebook on my phone, [I saw] a Starbucks advert as they were holding an open event in London to find new staff."

Bin storage suddenly popped up after a chat

"I recently had an extremely bizarre and unsettling experience with some targeted advertising that felt like more than coincidence, after a voice call on WhatsApp," said Olivia, from Austin.

"I was catching up with a friend who lives in London and she told me a story about how her new landlord purchased an outdoor storage shed for their bins (a product that I think is rather uniquely British).

"We had a good laugh about that, and I expressed how I needed something similar here in Texas.

"The next day as I was scrolling through my Facebook newsfeed I came across an ad from Wayfair advertising a storage shed for outdoor bins and was immediately taken aback.

"Before our conversation happened, this was not a product that I even knew existed."

Two mattress ads in five minutes

"Debated this at a bar with some friends… to test it and settle the debate, we got a random product type from another table: a new mattress," said Justin, in Atlanta.

"As I had not bought, searched for, or even thought about a new bed in several years and I couldn't remember seeing a mattress ad online ever, we started talking about beds and mattresses and guessing keywords, like slipping 'California king' and 'buy a mattress online' into the conversation, while intermittently scrolling facebook.

"Two mattress ads in five minutes. None before that conversation."

Ads appeared in Spanish

"I work in the mobile industry and I've noticed this happening more and more over the last few years," wrote Michael, from Grimsby.

"To put it to the test I started learning Spanish on Duolingo, and within one day I had adverts for normal products in Spanish! It was absolutely unbelievable."

Home security became an ad

"I visited a friend who was setting up security cameras at her house," Melissa, from Australia, wrote.

"I have never used the internet to look at anything remotely linked to home security, yet less than an hour after discussing how to set up the cameras, I had a Facebook ad for home security cameras.

"My phone had been in my pocket the whole time."

Eyesight ads but I have perfect vision

"Once, my friend was over and he discussed that he needed Lasik eye surgery," said Austin, from Tigard, Oregon.

"Immediately after, I went on Facebook and a Lasik advertisement appeared.

"I have perfect eyesight, have never searched Lasik ever before."

Bug killer I'd never seen before

"I saw a product at school called the Bug-a-salt salt shooting gun, used for killing flies," said Peter, "something I'd never seen before, nor have I searched for any related products.

"That night I was telling my wife about the product in a personal conversation.

"The following morning after the conversation with my wife about the product, my Facebook opened with an ad from Amazon with the Bug-a-salt fly killer gun listed as 'things you may be interested in'."

It's happened more than once

"I have experienced several instances of ads that relate to a conversation that I was having or had just finished," said Faris, from Cairo.

"I was talking to my wife about a second child, and on that day there were ads related to the topic.

"We talked about a friend's brother who had passed away, and immediately one of the guys we were talking to found ads for undertakers.

"We were talking about the possibility of a Six Flags theme park being opened in Egypt, and on my Facebook that night were ads for Six Flags."

Source – bbc.com

Ex-Trump aide Paul Manafort 'faces charges over Russia'

The former manager of Donald Trump's presidential campaign, Paul Manafort, is to face charges related to an inquiry into alleged Russian election meddling, US media report.

He was seen arriving at an FBI office in Washington with his lawyer early on Monday.

An investigation headed by special counsel Robert Mueller is looking into any links between Russia and the Trump campaign.

Both sides deny any collusion.

• Live updates on this story
• Who's who in the Russian drama?
• Manafort's short reign on the Trump campaign

Mr Mueller's team is known to have conducted extensive interviews with several current and former White House officials as part of the inquiry.

One of Mr Manafort's business associates, Rick Gates, has also been ordered to surrender to authorities, according to the reports.

The nature of the charges Mr Manafort and Mr Gates face is not yet clear.

Mr Manafort, 68, has worked on several Republican presidential campaigns, beginning with Gerald Ford's in 1976.

He resigned as chairman of the Trump campaign in August 2016 after being accused of having links to a pro-Russian political party working in Ukraine. He denies any wrongdoing.

Mr Manafort was also present at a meeting with a Russian lawyer who promised damaging information on Mr Trump's rival Hillary Clinton.

US intelligence agencies have already concluded that the Russian government sought to help Mr Trump win the election.

But President Trump has strenuously rejected allegations of collusion, calling the investigation a "witch hunt".

Source – bbc.com

Google's big cheese is ready to put everything aside to tackle the debate over hamburger emojis that ignited on Twitter over the weekend.
Source – abcnews.go.com