These are some of the headlines we are tracking for you in this episode of On the News Line:
UN U-turn on Assad?
Following the numerous strategic battlefield victories scored by the Syrian government against militants, it seems Damascus has made an even greater gain: United Nations has stopped using the word transition as the aim of the upcoming peace talks in Geneva. UN envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura has said he will implement the agenda which has been laid out by a UN Security Council resolution whose goal is to end the conflict that has been savaging Syria since 2011.
US national guards for deployment?
Four weeks into Donald Trump’s presidency in the US, his decisions and measures have been causing controversy incessantly. On Friday, reports began circulating that the Trump administration was weighing the mobilization of up to 100,000 National Guard troops in a bid to crack down on illegal immigrants. A draft memo of the order written by the Department of Homeland Security was obtained by the Associated Press. Despite the solid proof, the White House was quick to deny the report. "There is no effort at all to utilize the National Guard to round up illegal immigrants. This is 100 percent not true”. Last week, President Donald Trump issued a decree titled Presidential Executive Order on Preventing Violence Against Federal, State, Tribal, and Local Law Enforcement Officers.
Munich showdown: the US and Europe
The German city of Munich has taken center stage in global politics. Foreign ministers and senior officials from across the world have gathered in the city for a security conference. Diverse security issues have already been raised in the summit. From the war in Iraq and Syria to the crisis in Ukraine. But one major issue has already raised eyebrows. The security conference featured the opposing camps of the US and Russia. Needless to say, Europe is monitoring the situation vigilantly. Ties between the West and Russia have been tense over the crisis in Ukraine.