The U.S. and Global Security Review - Blog by Michael Novakhov

A new exhibition in New York City takes an in-depth look at the life and writings of Ernest Hemingway. The Morgan Library & Museum installation covers key periods in the Nobel Prize-winning author's life, from 1918 through World War II. Nearly 100 items shed light on his creative process. They include heavily revised manuscripts of such masterpieces as "For Whom the Bell Tolls'' and "The Sun Also Rises.'' There are also...

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At UN, Obama, Putin Remain Sharply Divided on Syria, Ukraine
Tuesday September 29th, 2015 at 5:59 PM

President Barack Obama and Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday used the world stage to offer up starkly contrasting views on the two long simmering areas of conflict – Syria and Ukraine. The two issues dominated the leaders’ talks on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly – the first such formal meeting in more than two years. VOA White House correspondent Aru Pande reports from the U.N. in New York.

Will the US-China Cybersecurity Pact Work?by webdesk@voanews.com (Joyce Huang)
Tuesday September 29th, 2015 at 5:59 PM

The new cybersecurity agreement signed by U. S. President Barack Obama and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping last week marks a significant first step for both governments to join forces in clamping down on commercial espionage in the cyberspace, analysts say. But many remain skeptical if concrete actions will follow. President Obama told a joint news conference on Friday that both countries had “affirmed the principle that governments don't engage in cyber espionage for commercial...

View from Moscow: Syria Move Aimed at Ending International Isolation by webdesk@voanews.com (Danila Galperovich)
Tuesday September 29th, 2015 at 5:58 PM

VOAvideo's YouTube Videos

Russia’s official media have been parsing Monday’s meeting between the American and Russian presidents in New York in detail, discussing everything from who initiated it (Moscow claims it was Washington, despite the fact that the White House denied this), to who clinked – or didn’t clink -glasses with whom at U.N. Secretary General Ban ki-Moon’s reception, to whether the two leaders smiled at each other, why they “met for longer than scheduled,” and so on. The Russian media noted that...

US Seeks Way Forward with Russia in Syria by VOAvideo
Tuesday September 29th, 2015 at 5:58 PM

From: VOAvideo
Duration: 01:56

A senior State Department official says the U.S. is emphasizing the “dangers” of giving Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s regime a sense that it will be able to retain power. The official commented Sunday after Secretary of State John Kerry discussed Russia’s military build-up in Syria with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov. VOA State Department correspondent Pam Dockins has the story.

Originally published at - http://www.voanews.com/media/video/us-seeks-way-forward-with-russia-in-syria/2981886.html

Obama Addresses U.N. General Assembly | The New York Times by TheNewYorkTimes
Tuesday September 29th, 2015 at 5:57 PM

From: TheNewYorkTimes
Duration: 03:34

President Obama said “there are no easy answers to Syria” and called for the cooperation of all the states in the United Nations General Assembly to end the fighting and help the victims.

Grab the embed code for this video at Times Video:
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Produced by: THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

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Vladimir Putin Addresses U.N. General Assembly on Syria | The New York Times by TheNewYorkTimes
Tuesday September 29th, 2015 at 5:57 PM

From: TheNewYorkTimes
Duration: 03:43

President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia defended his country’s support of the Syrian government and criticized other western states’ policies in the Middle East.

Grab the embed code for this video at Times Video:
http://nyti.ms/1QJ1pU4

Produced by: THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

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Whether it's reporting on conflicts abroad and political divisions at home, or covering the latest style trends and scientific developments, New York Times video journalists provide a revealing and unforgettable view of the world. It's all the news that's fit to watch. On YouTube.

Vladimir Putin Addresses U.N. General Assembly on Syria | The New York Times
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Obama Leads Anti-Terrorism Summit Meeting at U.N.by TheNewYorkTimes
Tuesday September 29th, 2015 at 5:57 PM

http://www.youtube.com/user/TheNewYorkTimes

From: TheNewYorkTimes
Duration: 00:00

President Obama and Joseph R. Biden Jr. chair a United Nations gathering of world leaders on Tuesday to discuss countering terrorism.

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Whether it's reporting on conflicts abroad and political divisions at home, or covering the latest style trends and scientific developments, New York Times video journalists provide a revealing and unforgettable view of the world. It's all the news that's fit to watch. On YouTube.

Read the whole story

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The Syria Problem at the United Nations | The New York Timesby TheNewYorkTimes
Tuesday September 29th, 2015 at 5:57 PM

From: TheNewYorkTimes
Duration: 03:11

At the 70th annual session of the United Nations General Assembly, world leaders addressed the war in Syria, which has contributed to the rise to ISIS and a global migrant crisis.

Grab the embed code for this video at Times Video:
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Produced by: YOUSUR AL-HLOU

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Whether it's reporting on conflicts abroad and political divisions at home, or covering the latest style trends and scientific developments, New York Times video journalists provide a revealing and unforgettable view of the world. It's all the news that's fit to watch. On YouTube.

The Syria Problem at the United Nations | The New York Times
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Jamaicans Call for Slavery Reparations Ahead of British PM Visit by Maya Rhodan
Tuesday September 29th, 2015 at 5:56 PM

TIME

Ahead of British Prime Minister David Cameron’s visit to Jamaica, leaders on the island are calling for Cameron to issue a formal apology for slavery and offer reparations.

Leaders in Jamaica are threatening not to attend parliamentary meetings, at which Cameron is expected to speak, and others are suggesting members of Parliament turn their back on the Prime Minister when he speaks.

“We ask not for handouts or any such acts of indecent submission. We merely ask that you acknowledge responsibility for your share of this situation and move to contribute in a joint [program] of rehabilitation and renewal,” Sir Hilary Beckles, vice chancellor at the University of the West Indies, wrote in the Jamaica Observer.

The purpose of Cameron’s trip is to restore ties between the United Kingdom and island nations like Jamaica and Grenada, but the focus on slavery could overshadow his speeches about the future.

Officials in the U.K. told the Guardian that they do not believe there is a need for an apology or reparations.

“The PM’s point will be he wants to focus on the future. We are talking about issues that are centuries old and taken under a different government when he was not even born. He wants to look at the future and how can the U.K. play a part now in stronger growing economies in the Caribbean,” an official told the Guardian.

Meet the LGBTI Refugees Who Are Fleeing Syria for the U.S.by Bryan Walsh
Tuesday September 29th, 2015 at 5:56 PM

TIME

ISTANBUL: Jaafar Moustafa and Hasan Salem are counting down the days until they can board a plane in Istanbul, each with a one-way ticket to Oakland, California, and escape from the trauma and tragedy of their native Syria.

Moustafa, 26, and Salem, 30, are part of a very select group. They are among the 18,336 Syrian refugees whom the United Nations has recommended for resettlement in America since the Syrian civil war began in 2011. Compared to the more than four million people who have escaped Syria, that number seems tiny—and it is. But most of the refugees the U.S. will try to take in for resettlement have extremely dire medical needs or can never return home because they will almost certainty face political, religious or social persecution.

For Moustafa and Salem, returning to Syria would be suicide. The two friends left the port city of Latakia, Syria on May 10, 2014. It’s a date they will never forget. The city they ran from remains under the grip of Syrian President Bashar Assad, whose war with an array of rebel groups has killed over 200,000 Syrians and displaced millions more. But neither Assad’s brutality nor the fear of their hometown one day falling under the control ISIS are why these men abruptly fled their home. Both Moustafa and Salem are gay, and they left Latakia because they were outed.

“We could never be out of the closet in Syria,” said Moustafa. “You can’t tell people that you’re gay and live a normal life.”

After relatives found emails between the two about a LGBTI conference in neighboring Turkey, staying in Syria was no longer possible. Moustafa was afraid his uncle would kill him, and Salem feared his own father would murder him. So the two packed what they could and flew to Istanbul together, joining the more than 1.5 million Syrians who have sought refuge in neighboring Turkey.

Moustafa and Salem were lucky—in Istanbul a UN caseworker deemed them highly vulnerable refugees. Because they are at such high risk of becoming victims of a hate crime, they fall into the category of refugees most in danger and best suited for resettlement. When refugees like Salem and Moustafa face having their fundamental human rights violated, resettlement becomes the most appropriate solution, according to UN regulations.

Salem and Moustafa’s caseworker determined that America would be the safest place for them. When they left Syria, they had no connection to California. To this day, they have no clue why the UN recommended they be resettled in the U.S. and not somewhere in Europe, though family ties and language skills are factors when finding refugees a new home. While Moustafa and Salem have no relatives in America, they both speak some English. Their basic English skills could now be why their potentially lethal “outing,” has become a blessing in disguise.

“I feel very lucky, of course,” said Salem. In California, “society will accept me.”

But while these two no longer have to live in fear of their families brutally attacking them, they are leaving the only home they’ve ever known for a new life in a foreign country.

Peter Vogelaar, head of Affiliated Services at the International Catholic Migration Committee, says refugees like Salem and Moustafa who ICMC helps resettle in America are told, “streets aren’t paved with gold. There are a lot of challenges. Making ends meet is going to be very hard to do.”

Once the UN recommends a refugee in Turkey to be resettled in the U.S., non-profits like ICMC in Istanbul are summoned to provide the asylum seeker everything from a thorough medical exam to a translator for an in-depth interview with the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). The DHS agents are tasked with ensuring the refugee poses no security risk to the U.S. Salem and Moustafa also had to respond to a series of questions designed to confirm they truly would face death at the hands of their relatives if they were to return to Latakia.

When Moustafa and Salem land in California next month, U.S.-based non-profits will help them find work and classes to improve their English. Before they land jobs they’ll be eligible for U.S. federal assistance, like food stamps, but won’t be given a stipend to get started—as refugees are in Europe. The responsibility will ultimately be on them to make their resettlement successful.

Of the 18,336 refugees the UN recommends the U.S. adopt, only about 1,500 of them have already completed the lengthy resettlement process and moved to America. It’s not clear how many of them are LGBTI. “In some countries of asylum, gender identity may make refugees particularly vulnerable and in others it may not,” said Ariane Rummery, a spokeswoman with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.

With White House pledging to take in at least 10,000 Syrians this upcoming fiscal year, Moustafa and Salem are part of a pioneering group of refugees. They say they are up to the challenge of adapting to a new country—a prospect that seems significantly less scary after surviving wartime Syria.

The two will arrive in their new country emotionally scarred from experiencing Syria’s civil war. Since their hometown remains under Assad’s control, Latakians were not pounded daily with barrel bombs from the Syrian Air Force. But even so, Moustafa says life in Latakia is, “still miserable.” If you dare to publicly speak out against the relentless regime, “they arrest you immediately,” he says. And the crackling of gunfire they frequently heard reminded them the front was not so far away.

“War, blood, I saw many things,” said Salem.

While Salem hopes to continue his career as a computer technician, Moustafa intends to seek a position in social work once in Oakland. He wants to be an LGBTI activist and help other gay refugees. And above all else, they want the freedom to be “out” in the open.

“It’s a liberal country and you can follow your dreams,” said Moustafa. His American Dream is to fall in love and eventually marry. It is a dream that could never turn into reality in Syria.

“I want to live a normal life. I want to feel safe. I want basic things that everybody should have.”

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U.S. sanctions Islamic State supporters, targets finances
Tuesday September 29th, 2015 at 5:55 PM

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States announced sanctions on Tuesday against major Islamic State leaders and financial figures and designated additional groups and individuals as foreign terrorist fighters.

Scrapped Russian arms deal to cost France up to 250 million euros
Tuesday September 29th, 2015 at 5:55 PM

PARIS (Reuters) - The scrapping of a deal to sell two Mistral helicopter carriers to Russia should cost French taxpayers no more than 250 million euros ($280 million), a Senate report said on Tuesday.

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Ukraine leader mocks Russia's call for anti-terrorism coalition
Tuesday September 29th, 2015 at 5:55 PM

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko on Tuesday derided Russia's call for the creation of an international antiterrorism coalition, saying the Russians inspire terrorism on their own doorstep and back bellicose puppet governments.

Powers struggle to agree on Syria; Russia urged to strike Islamic State
Tuesday September 29th, 2015 at 5:54 PM

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - France challenged Russia to back its words with deeds over fighting Islamic State militants in Syria as major powers on Tuesday struggled to resolve differences between Moscow and the West over ending the civil war in the Middle Eastern country.

30 killed in coalition strikes on IS camp in Syria on Sunday: monitor
Tuesday September 29th, 2015 at 5:54 PM