U.S. student freed from North Korea has severe brain injury

Source: Reuters

An American university student who was returned to the United States this week after being held in North Korea for 17 months has a severe brain injury and is in a state of "unresponsive wakefulness," doctors said on Thursday.
Otto Warmbier, 22, who arrived in the United States on Tuesday, is stable but "shows no sign of understanding language, responding to verbal commands or awareness of his surrounding," said Dr. Daniel Kanter, medical director of the neuroscience intensive care unit at the University of Cincinnati Medical Center.

Islamic State leader Baghdadi 'may have been killed by Russia'

Source: BBC

Russia's defence ministry is investigating whether one of its air strikes in Syria killed the leader of the Islamic State militant group (IS).

The ministry said an air strike may have killed Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi on 28 May.
The raid targeted a meeting of the IS military council in its de-facto capital of Raqqa in northern Syria.

Nigeria on a Precipice as Northern Youths calls for Sack of Igbos residing in Northen Nigeria

Some Northern Nigeria youth groups on Tuesday in Kaduna issued what they called a 'Kaduna Declaration' in which they declared “war” against all Igbos residing in the North, demanding they leave the area within three months.  
They also asked Northerners in the South-East to leave the area, warning that as from October 1, which happens to be Nigeria’s National Day, they will commence implementation of ‘visible actions’ to prove they are no longer part of a federal union that includes the Igbo.
The groups that signed the declaration include Arewa Citizens Action for Change, Arewa Youth Consultative Forum, Arewa Youth Development Foundation, Arewa Students Forum and Northern Emancipation Network, but it is unclear if known officials of any of the groups actually signed the document.

U.S. lawmakers to press intel chiefs on Russia ahead of Comey hearing

REUTERS: June 6, 2017


Top U.S. intelligence officials will face questions on the Federal Bureau of Investigation's probe into Russian involvement in the 2016 U.S. election and fallout from the firing of former FBI director James Comey when they appear at a Senate hearing on Wednesday.
The U.S. Senate Intelligence Committee's open hearing will feature officials closely tied to President Donald Trump's abrupt firing last month of Comey, which sparked accusations that the Republican president had dismissed him to hinder the FBI probe and stifle questions about possible collusion between Trump's campaign and Russia.

Victory Day Flyover Cancelled Due to Bad Weather

Despite uncharacteristically cold and rainy conditions for this time of year, Russia’s annual Victory Day military parade proceeded through central Moscow as planned. But one critical feature of the parade, the air force flyover, has been cancelled.

“Due to adverse weather conditions in the Moscow region,” the Defence Ministry press office was quoted by TASS as saying on May 9, “the participation of the air force in the Victory Day parade has been cancelled.”

Nigeria Chibok girls: Parents learning if daughters among those freed

Parents of the missing Chibok girls are slowly learning if their daughters are among the 82 freed by Boko Haram militants in Nigeria two days ago.

The girls' names were put on Twitter by the president's office on Sunday. They were flown to the capital Abuja.
But in Chibok, their home region in north-eastern Nigeria, not everyone has access to the social media site.
It is unclear if the government has made other attempts to let them know if their daughters are now safe.

A Foreigner’s Guide to Surviving Victory Day

 Teachers, Businessmen and Students of the Moscow expat community! You are about to embark on the Great Crusade, through which we must endure once per year.

Yes, my friends, Victory Day is upon us.

Each year, Russians dedicate an entire weekend to celebrating their victory in the Second World War. And each year, it is one of the best weekends in Moscow. Nuclear missiles are paraded through the streets, fireworks shrapnel rains down on the embankments, and the bars are packed.

But Victory Day weekend is also one of the most perilous in Moscow. Russian patriotism reaches feverish heights, making it difficult to avoid talking about World War Two. Or, as your Russian interlocutors will no doubt insist on calling it, the Great Patriotic War against fascism.

This can lead to undesirable outcomes, such as lost friends, breakups, and/or bar fights.