Lead story
SYRIA AND CHINA COOPERATE
by our Arab Affairs correspondent
SYRIAN FORCES are assembling in northern Latakia for what may be the build-up for the long-awaited offensive against the terrorist gangs amid reports that Chinese troops may soon be deployed to assist the Syrian Arab Army in its next big push.
The Idlib enclave, which exists under the covert protection of the Turkish army, has been in the hands of sectarian gunmen since the start of the conflict in 2011. But while the Syrian troops are expected to launch probing attacks in the next few weeks any major offensive will likely wait for the arrival of crack units currently mopping up ISIS cells still operating in the southern deserts.
Meanwhile a senior Syrian scientist that the imperialists claim was a chemical weapons expert was assassinated last weekend. Dr Aziz Asbar, the director of the Syrian Scientific Research Centre (SSRC), died in a car bomb attack on Saturday. His driver was also killed. The SSRC, run by Asbar, had been the target of at least two Israeli air raids over the past few months. Many suspect that he was killed by agents of Israeli intelligence. Back in the 1980s, the Israelis, hand in glove with the Muslim Brotherhood which today constitutes the backbone of the Syrian wings of Al Qaeda, murdered a number of scientists as well as many doctors, journalists, engineers and experts across Syria..
Read the full story here >>
SYRIA AND CHINA COOPERATE
Workers’ Notes
Remembering the victims of atomic war
by New Worker correspondent
LABOUR and peace activists held events across the country to remember all those who perished in Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August 1945. In London the traditional Hiroshima Day commemoration was held in Tavistock Square on Monday. In Bristol CND members and supporters staged an event in the Peace Garden in Bristol’s Castle Park.
Alex Kempshall, the Trade Union Officer for Bristol CND, reminded all that in August 1945 two nuclear weapons were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki killing an estimated 280,000 men, women and children with another 340,000 dying a slow and agonising death over the ensuing five years. Generations have been poisoned by the radiation with the after-effects in terms of birth defects and social stigma continue to this day.
He then pointed out that “The United Nations saw the dangers to the planet’s survival of nuclear war so passed a resolution in 1946 which called for ‘the elimination from national armaments of atomic weapons and of all other major weapons adaptable to mass destruction.’”
Pound slips over Brexit
Sputnik
THE POUND made a notable move in the markets on Monday, albeit not a favourable one for the economy rocked by Brexit uncertainty. The pound was trading at 1.30 against the US dollar for the first time in almost a year.
The pound fell to US$1.2970 — its lowest since 19th July — and 0.2 per cent against the Euro to 89.15 pence.
Fluctuations of British currency have been largely attributed to developments in Brexit negotiations between London and Brussels.
The deadline for the government to reach a divorce deal with the European Union is fast approaching. Time is running out for the powers in Westminster to achieve the best possible trade deal for the country before it quits the EU on 29th March 2019.
Over the weekend, the Secretary of State for International Trade Liam Fox told the Sunday Times that he estimated the odds of a no deal Brexit at “60-40.”
On Monday, a spokesman for the Prime Minister said that Theresa May continues to believe a Brexit deal with EU is the most likely outcome of talks. The PM still believes that no deal is better than a bad Brexit deal, the spokesman added.
Read the full story here >>
Remembering the victims of atomic war