A young girl carrying a teddy bear and waving a white flag, heads towards an army outpost in the Samah neighbourhood on the eastern outskirts of Mosul, away from the heavy fighting engulfing the city. Photo: UNHCR/Ivor Prickett

Details Emerge of Chemical Weapons Attacks in Mosul

This would be the first confirmed use of chemical weapons in Iraq by ISIS. ”It was one of at least four similar attacks in the past 10 days, prompting international organizations to warn that Islamic State militants could be using chemical weapons against civilians in eastern Mosul. Police confirm the bomb and another that hit a home in the nearby Mishraq neighborhood the same day contained homemade chemical poisons. Victims among the 15 people treated in the West Emergency hospital in Irbil say they are from Garage Shmel and Zahoor, two other east Mosul neighborhoods. The International Committee of the Red Cross says testing is not yet conclusive, but symptoms of the hospitalized patients suggest the weapon was mustard gas. Two victims are in critical condition and at least five are children.” (VOA http://bit.ly/2mbT8lk)

Another Travel Ban Expected….President Donald Trump is expected to sign a revised travel ban on Monday, just over a month after his original decree sowed controversy across the United States and chaos at airports, US media reported. The president will sign the new executive order at the Department of Homeland Security, according to Politico, which cited senior government officials. It was unclear what changes Trump planned to make, according to the publication. Trump’s original January 27 order was widely criticized as amounting to a ban on Muslims, and also for being rolled out sloppily — with virtually no warning to the public or preparation of the agencies tasked with enforcing it. (AFP https://yhoo.it/2mbnW5L)

Chinese Premier Li Keqiang warned Sunday the world’s second-largest economy faces severe challenges, signalling a further deceleration as he announced a trimmed 2017 GDP growth target of “around 6.5 percent.” (AFP https://yhoo.it/2lOBJNd)

This is what a cut in US Foreign Aid Could Mean for this Woman’s Family.  (UN Dispatch http://bit.ly/2lPrNmF)