Input: That view is echoed by Zakaria Malahefji, the political officer of the 3,000-member Fastaqim Kama Umirt, a brigade aligned with the rebel alliance Jaish al-Mujahideen (Army of Holy Warriors)

Jaish al-Mujahideen

Army of Holy Warriors

Zakaria Malahefji

officer

Fastaqim Kama Umirt


Input: “We consider the YPG now the same as the Assad regime,” he told VOA

YPG

regime

VOA

Assad


Input: Malahefji says YPG commanders broke an agreement not to attack the strategically important air base at Menagh, six kilometers south of the border town of Azaz, close to Bab al-Salameh

base

town

Azaz

Menagh

border

Bab al-Salameh

YPG

Malahefji

commanders


Input: The rebels seized Menagh from the Syrian government after a lengthy siege in August 2013

Syrian

government


Input: Kurds seize airfield-YPG commanders contacted rebels holding the base Tuesday night and told them to withdraw, and Wednesday they took over the airfield, he added

base

airfield

YPG

Kurds

commanders

rebels

withdraw

base


Input: YPG supporters have posted photographs of Kurdish fighters in combat at the base on social media sites

base

Kurdish

fighters


Input: Malahefji claims the YPG received arms supplies from Damascus and Moscow months ago

Damascus

Moscow

YPG

Malahefji

received

YPG

Moscow


Input: In December, he says, a series of Syrian government and Russian helicopters flying in and out of the Kurdish enclave of Afrin, near Menagh, were believed to be ferrying in weapons

Syrian

Russian

enclave

Kurdish

Afrin

Menagh

government

helicopters

weapons


Input: He and the three-year-old, transferred to a hospital inside Turkey, were among the few refugees admitted by Turkish border authorities

hospital

Turkey

Turkish

border


Input: Operations by YPG forces and their allies in northern Syria the past few days have complicated the defenses the FSA and Islamist militias have tried to mount

allies

Syria

YPG

FSA

militias

forces


Input: “The YPG is acting as a spoiler tactically,” says General Idris, who believes the Syrian Kurds are facilitating the regime’s forces

Syrian

YPG

Idris

Kurds


Input: “They say they are not coordinating with the regime, but that is a lie,” he claims

regime


Input: “Many months ago, going back to the start of the war, the regime forces withdrew from Kurdish towns, handing control over to the YPG

YPG

Kurdish

regime

forces

withdrew

forces

Kurdish

YPG


Input: At the time, Assad was weak and didn’t want a confrontation with the Kurds

Assad


Input: Defectors say there was a deal cut for Damascus to accept a semi-autonomous Kurdistan in northeast Syria in the event he won.

Damascus

Syria

Kurdistan


Input: FILE - Syrian President Bashar Assad

Syrian

Bashar Assad


Input: A senior EU diplomat, though, told VOA Wednesday that he is no doubt that this week there has been close collaboration between the YPG and Damascus

Damascus

EU

VOA

YPG

diplomat


Input: Syrian Aya Sharqawi, 6, wounded in an airstrike 10 days ago in her hometown of Tel Rifaat, Syria, lays on her bed at a hospital in Kilis, Turkey, Feb. 9, 2016

hospital

Syrian

hometown

Syria

Kilis

Turkey

Tel Rifaat

Aya Sharqawi

airstrike

Tel Rifaat


Input: The Kurds will do anything that will further their interests and national identity and bring them closer to get a small state,” he says

state

Kurds


Input: Whatever the truth, rebels and opposition activists say YPG has also been fighting FSA and Islamist units around the Kurdish enclave of Afrin and on the northwestern outskirts of Aleppo

enclave

Aleppo

Kurdish

Afrin

outskirts

YPG

FSA


Input: Earlier this week YPG fighters seized 460 tons of wheat intended for the Syrian Coalition from a silo at Alqamiya village, the activists say

silo

Syrian

Alqamiya village

YPG

fighters

seized

fighters


Input: YPG commanders in Afrin say their operations are of a humanitarian nature, and that by expanding their territory they are in fact blocking government forces from making further advances

Afrin

YPG

government

commanders

forces


Input: In a bid to avoid being hit by Russian warplanes, locals in at least two villages invited the YPG to occupy them

Russian

YPG

warplanes


Input: YPG commanders issued a statement Wednesday saying they are ready to meet the call of all civilians who request that the YPG secure their villages

YPG

YPG

commanders

civilians


Input: Struggling to cope-The old man died hours later

man

died

man


Input: Doctors and clinics in northern Syria are struggling to cope

Syria


Input: Heavy fighting is placing extreme pressure on the area’s already devastated health-care system, Doctors Without Borders warned Wednesday

Doctors Without Borders


Input: After New Hampshire Win, Sanders, Trump Eye Next Primary-WASHINGTON/MANCHESTER, NH — -Democratic socialist Bernie Sanders and outspoken Republican billionaire Donald Trump coasted to big victories in their respective party presidential primaries in New Hampshire on Tuesday, but the focus of the U.S. presidential campaign quickly moved to upcoming votes in South Carolina and Nevada

New Hampshire

New Hampshire

U.S.

South Carolina

Nevada

Democratic

Republican

Sanders

Trump

Bernie Sanders

billionaire

Donald Trump


Input: Sanders, a Vermont senator, routed former secretary of state Hillary Clinton by a 60 - 38 percent margin in neighboring New Hampshire

Vermont

state

New Hampshire

Sanders

secretary

Hillary Clinton


Input: Fresh off his first-ever election victory, Trump, a one-time television reality show host, complained about a Kasich ad that targeted him and said he may "have to take a little tougher stance [against him] than I would have normally.

Kasich

Trump


Input: With a large field still in the race, Trump said his rivals are "all really potential threats; but, I'm OK at handling threats.

Trump


Input: In the Democratic race there, Clinton is holding a large edge over Sanders, largely because of her support from black voters, who are expected to comprise a large part of the electorate in the state's Democratic primary

Democratic

Clinton

Sanders

voters


Input: Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., right, accompanied by Rev. Al Sharpton, raises a fist as he arrives for a breakfast meeting at Sylvia's Restaurant, Feb. 10, 2016, in the Harlem neighborhood of New York

New York

Sylvia's Restaurant

neighborhood

Democratic

Bernie Sanders

Al Sharpton

raises

Al Sharpton

Sylvia's Restaurant


Input: Sanders said his victory "sent a message that will echo from Wall Street to Washington, from Maine to California

Washington

Maine

California

Sanders


Input: And that is that the government of our great country belongs to all the people and not just a handful of wealthy campaign contributors and their Super PACs [independent campaign committees].

country

government


Input: His campaign launched ads Wednesday in Oklahoma, Minnesota, Colorado and Massachusetts — all states where it believes he has a chance to boost his nomination chances

Oklahoma

Minnesota

Colorado

Massachusetts


Input: Even with Sanders's New Hampshire win, U.S. political analysts still say Clinton will eventually be the Democratic candidate in next November's national election to pick the successor to President Barack Obama, who leaves office next January

New Hampshire

U.S.

Democratic

analysts

Clinton

candidate

Barack Obama


Input: Trump collected 35 percent of the Republican vote, more than double that of his nearest challenger, Ohio Governor John Kasich, with even bigger margins over several other challengers

Ohio

Republican

Trump

Governor

John Kasich


Input: Democratic U.S. presidential candidate Hillary Clinton is accompanied by her daughter Chelsea Clinton (R) and her husband, former U.S. President Bill Clinton, as she speaks to supporters at her final 2016 New Hampshire presidential primary night rally

U.S.

New Hampshire

Democratic

U.S. presidential

candidate

Hillary Clinton

daughter

Chelsea Clinton

husband

Bill Clinton

she

supporters

speaks

she

New Hampshire


Input: "People have every right to be angry," Clinton said

Clinton


Input: We take this campaign to the entire country; we fight for every vote in every state; we are going to fight for real solutions that make a real difference in people’s lives.

country

state


Input: The New Hampshire results were in line with recent opinion polls which showed Sanders and Trump with comfortable, double digit leads over their rivals

New Hampshire

Sanders

Trump


Input: The New Hampshire outcome winnowed the large Republican field of candidates, with former technology executive Carly Fiorina, the seventh place finisher in the primary, and the sixth place contender, New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, announcing they have dropped out

New Hampshire

New Jersey

Republican

candidates

Carly Fiorina

Governor

Chris Christie


Input: We are going to start winning again, and we are going to win so much, you are going to be so happy,” Trump added

Trump


Input: The soft-spoken Kasich, whose campaign has focused on issues rather than personal attacks, put nearly all his resources into doing well in New Hampshire

New Hampshire

Kasich


Input: “Maybe, just maybe, we are turning the page on a dark part of American politics, because tonight the light overcame the darkness of negative campaigning,” Kasich said after the vote during what felt like a victory speech even as he trailed far behind Trump

American

Kasich

Trump


Input: Republican presidential candidate, Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla

Republican

candidate

Marco Rubio


Input: boards a plane with his family and staff to leave Manchester, N.H., Feb. 10, 2016, en route to South Carolina, after the New Hampshire primary

Manchester

N.H.

South Carolina

New Hampshire

family

plane


Input: “When you consider all the negative comments that are made about him, all the attacks - if he can survive it, and beat all these guys by 10 points or more, then he’s clearly the frontrunner,” conservative pollster Frank Luntz told VOA

VOA

Frank Luntz


Input: With his wife Karen at his side Republican presidential candidate Ohio Gov. John Kasich cheers with supporters, Feb. 9, 2016, in Concord, N.H., at his primary night rally

Ohio

Concord

N.H.

Republican

wife

Karen

candidate

John Kasich

supporters

cheers

supporters

N.H.


Input: All of the top contenders immediately eyed the next party contests on February 20, when Republicans hold a primary election in South Carolina, a conservative state along the Atlantic coast, and Democrats hold party caucuses in the western state of Nevada, best known as the country's gambling center

South Carolina

state

state

Nevada

Atlantic

coast

Republicans

Democrats


Input: Three days later, Republicans have their caucuses set for Nevada, while Democrats will hold their South Carolina primary on February 27

Nevada

South Carolina

Republicans

Democrats


Input: At his side are his wife Melania Trump, left, and daughter Ivanka Trump, right

wife

Melania Trump

daughter

Ivanka Trump


Input: Turkey Shells US-Allied Kurds in Northern Syria -GAZIANTEP, TURKEY — -The multi-sided war raging in Syria became even more tangled when Turkish troops shelled positions near the border controlled by U.S.-allied fighters from the Kurdish People’s Protection Units, or YPG

Turkey

Syria

Syria

Turkish

border

Kurdish

Kurds

troops

fighters


Input: Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu confirmed the overnight Saturday artillery barrage and demanded the YPG withdraw from the Syrian border town of Azaz and vacate a nearby air base the Kurds seized last week from Syrian rebel forces

base

Turkish

Syrian

town

Azaz

Syrian

border

YPG

Ahmet Davutoglu

artillery

withdraw

YPG

Azaz

vacate

base


Input: Despite continued Turkish shelling Sunday the YPG claimed to have captured the village of Ayn Daqnah, east of Menagh and south of Azaz

Turkish

village

Ayn Daqnah

Azaz

Menagh

YPG


Input: Mohammed Adeeb, a senior figure in the 10,000-strong Shamiya Front, an alliance featuring moderate and Islamist armed factions as well as fighters who describe themselves as Islamic nationalists, said his fighters had “overheard YPG militiamen on the radio calling in Russian airstrikes.

Russian

Shamiya Front

factions

YPG

Mohammed Adeeb

fighters

fighters

militiamen


Input: According to Turkish military officials, the shelling of YPG positions came in retaliation for Kurdish gunfire and was focused just southwest of Azaz

Turkish

Kurdish

military

YPG

officials


Input: Rami Abdel Rahman, of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a monitoring group, said Turkish shelling struck wider afield, targeting YPG positions near the Menagh, an air base the Kurds took from Syrian rebels

base

Turkish

Syrian

Menagh

Syrian Observatory for Human Rights

group

YPG

Rami Abdel Rahman


Input: FILE - A Free Syrian Army fighter cleans an anti-aircraft artillery gun near the Menagh military airport in Aleppo's countryside, Feb. 17, 2013

airport

Aleppo's

Menagh military airport

Free Syrian Army

military

artillery

gun


Input: Turkish officials also confirmed that on Saturday Turkish soldiers shelled Syrian regime forces near the Çalıboğazı border post in the province of Hatay

Turkish

Turkish

Syrian

border

regime

officials

soldiers

forces


Input: But in an interview Saturday with German newspaper Handelsblatt Saudi foreign minister Adel al-Jubeir focused his comments on Russia's military intervention, saying it would not help Assad remain in power, suggesting both Ankara and Riyadh may be contemplating military action against Assad, widening a war dangerously and raising the prospect of a Turkish clash with the Russians

German

Saudi

Ankara

Riyadh

Turkish

military

military

Adel al-Jubeir

Assad

Assad


Input: The Turkish shelling continued Sunday

Turkish


Input: “There will be no Bashar al-Assad in the future,” he told a German newspaper

German

newspaper

Bashar al-Assad


Input: Turkey’s Foreign Minister Melvin Çavuşoğlu seemingly took back on Sunday earlier remarks that suggested a strategy had already been agreed upon by Turkey and Saudi Arabia for a ground campaign, saying no solid decision for such an operation had yet been reached

Turkey

Saudi Arabia

Melvin


Input: But he did confirm Saudi Arabia would be sending an undisclosed number of warplanes to the NATO air base at Incirlik in Adana near the Syrian border in southern Turkey

base

Saudi Arabia

Adana

Syrian

Turkey

Incirlik

border

NATO

warplanes


Input: Turkish media are reporting that eight to10 Saudi jets will be deployed at Incirlik within the coming weeks

Turkish

Saudi

Incirlik

media

jets


Input: Four F-16 fighters are expected to arrive in a first wave

fighters


Input: Davutoglu expressed frustration with the ongoing UN-brokered peace negotiations in Munich, casting doubt on the hopes for a cessation of hostilities that is meant to begin in days

Munich

Davutoglu


Input: The Kurdish rebels backed by the West and Gulf countries have been battling for more than a week against a ferocious Russian-backed offensive by Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s forces

countries

Syrian

Kurdish

West

Gulf

rebels

Bashar al-Assad’s

forces

battling

rebels


Input: “Meetings between Russia and the U.S. continue,” Davutoglu said.

Russia

U.S.


Input: And behold, after every meeting, the siege on Aleppo gets tighter and the number of refugees coming from Aleppo increases.

Aleppo

Aleppo


Input: He added: “Somebody needs to draw a line against Russia and raise their voice.

Russia


Input: FILE - U.S. Vice President Joe Biden, left, shakes hands with Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu, right, following a joint news conference after their meeting in Dolmabahce Palace in Istanbul, Jan. 23, 2016

U.S.

Turkish

Istanbul

Dolmabahce Palace

Joe Biden

Ahmet Davutoglu

conference

Joe Biden

meeting

Joe Biden

Dolmabahce Palace


Input: U.S. officials say there is little to be done to counter militarily the Russian-backed Assad offensive and they argue the vicious five-year-long Syrian civil war that has left upwards of 250,000 dead won’t be resolved by the clash of arms but through a negotiated political settlement

U.S.

Syrian

officials

Assad


Input: In an interview with the AFP news agency Friday, President Assad said he didn’t rule out that Turkey and Saudi Arabia would intervene militarily in Syria

Turkey

Saudi Arabia

Syria

AFP

agency

Assad


Input: But said his armed forces “will certainly confront it.

forces


Input: Operations by YPG forces and their allies in northern Syria the past few days have complicated the defenses of the Western-backed Free Syrian Army (FSA) and Islamist militias

allies

Syria

YPG

Free Syrian Army

FSA

forces


Input: Syrian rebels accuse the YPG of coordinating with the Assad government and acting as a spoiler tactically

Syrian

YPG

government

Assad


Input: FILE - Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) fighters take up positions inside a damaged building in al-Vilat al-Homor neighborhood in Hasaka city, Syria

building

Hasaka city

city

Syria

Kurdish

neighborhood

People's Protection Units

fighters


Input: Rebel commanders say YPG fighters are now in parts of Azaz just six kilometers from the border with Turkey

Azaz

Turkey

border

YPG

commanders

fighters


Input: The YPG is in effect the armed wing of the Democratic Union Party (PYD), which in turn is an offshoot of Turkey’s outlawed Kurdistan Worker’s Party (PKK)

YPG

Democratic Union Party

PYD

Kurdistan Worker’s Party

PKK


Input: Turkey considers both the PYD and PKK as terrorist groups

Turkey

PYD

PKK

groups


Input: Ugandan Police Detain, Then Release Opposition Leader Besigye-KAMPALA — -Ugandan police detained opposition candidate Kizza Besigye in the capital Kampala Monday as he campaigned for the country's presidential election this week

Kampala

Ugandan Police

Besigye

Ugandan police

Kizza Besigye

he

Detain

Besigye

detained

Kizza Besigye


Input: Witnesses said police fired tear gas after Besigye was stopped at a junction and told to get out of his car

junction

police

Besigye

car

tear gas

fired

police

Besigye


Input: “We were together and actually we finished the first rally which was carried out there, and then we left to go to the convoy and then we had another rally but we were blocked, and they had to tear-gas us, which wasn’t called for because he’s a candidate like any other people," Shifrah said

candidate

convoy


Input: Voter Charles Opakrwoth said he had been a long-time supporter of NRM, President Museveni’s party, until recently, when he switched to Besigye’s FDC party

NRM

Besigye’s FDC party

Charles Opakrwoth

Museveni’s


Input: He says he was at the junction when the police took Besigye

junction

police

Besigye

took

police

Besigye


Input: Makerere University students burn campaign posters of incumbent President Yoweri Museveni after police detention of opposition candidate Kizza Besigye, Kampala, Feb. 15, 2016

Kampala

Makerere University

police

students

Yoweri Museveni

candidate

Kizza Besigye


Input: Even if they do to other person, even if to do to another person, it’s still not good,” he said

person

person


Input: After Besigye was released, his supporters and police faced off in Kampala, as supporters waited for him to make an appearance at Makerere University

Kampala

police

Makerere University

Besigye


Input: Some supporters threw stones and police fired tear gas canisters to disperse the crowds

police

supporters

stones

threw

police


Input: Ugandans go to the polls Thursday to vote for president, parliamentary seats and local government seats

government

president


Input: Museveni has been in power since a 1986 coup and won landslide victories in 2006 and 2011 in elections that observers said were marred by irregularities and intimidation of opposition parties

Museveni

observers


Input: Then they took him into custody, before moving him to another location outside of Kampala

outside of Kampala

they

him

him

custody

moving

they


Input: Police claim Besigye was holding campaign events in the central business district, which they say is off limits for campaigning

the central business district

Besigye

holding campaign events

Besigye


Input: Besigye has lost three disputed elections to President Yoweri Museveni, who has been in power since 1986

Besigye

Yoweri Museveni


Input: Uganda’s assistant inspector general of police accused Besigye of violating campaign rules

Uganda’s

police

Besigye


Input: Protesters line up in front of Kira Road Police Station where opposition candidate Kizza Besigye was detained while campaigning for president, Kampala, Feb. 15, 2016

Kampala

Kira Road Police Station

Protesters

candidate

Kizza Besigye

president

line up

Kira Road Police Station

detained

Kizza Besigye


Input: (E. Paula/VOA)-“If you choose because it is political period, to campaign, to go to a place where you are not supposed to be at that time, and then lead a procession through the central business district, the nerve center of economic activity, at such a time, I think we must protect other people,” he said

the central business district


Input: One of Besigye’s lawyers, Lukwago Shifrah, said she was in a car with the opposition candidate when they were stopped by police and tear-gassed

police

lawyers

Lukwago Shifrah

candidate

car

tear-gassed

Lukwago Shifrah

police


Input: Shifting Allegiances, A Free-for-All in Northern Syria-GAZIANTEP, TURKEY — -Syrian rebel commander Abu Ali Sijjo has for months fought Islamic State, liberating a village along the border from the terror group, while at the same time battling Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's regime

Syria

Syrian

village

Syrian

border

Islamic State

group

regime

Shifting Allegiances

commander

Abu Ali Sijjo

Bashar al-Assad's


Input: Two months ago IS targeted the rebel commander in a car bombing — he has a shattered shoulder and limited use of his right-arm

IS

commander

car

bombing

IS

commander


Input: In the face of impeding doom, deep divisions and disagreements remain

divisions


Input: The former chief of staff of the Western-backed Free Syrian Army (FSA), General Salem Idris, recently expressed his frustration to VOA about the bickering that erupted during an emergency meeting between militia commanders in the northern Aleppo countryside

Aleppo

countryside

Free Syrian Army

FSA

VOA

Salem Idris

commanders

meeting

Salem Idris

countryside


Input: As towns and villages have fallen the past week — some to the Assad regime, others to fighters with the Kurdish-dominated Syrian Democratic Forces —disputes have continued to flare, including over decisions about whether to retreat, surrender or withdraw

Assad regime

Syrian Democratic Forces

fighters


Input: In the town of Mare’ midweek some factions wanted to surrender; others refused to do so

town

Mare’


Input: On Monday, eight prominent Aleppo rebel groups agreed to unite for operational purposes under the tactical leadership of Hashim al Sheikh, a former member and ally of Ahrar al-Sham, the hard-line Islamist militia which is aligned with al-Qaida affiliate Jabhat al-Nusra

Aleppo

ally

groups

al-Qaida

Hashim al Sheikh

Ahrar al-Sham


Input: Although this is not a full merger with Ahrar al-Sham, it will strengthen the Islamist group, and will likely better position it to absorb later other militias, fear analysts

group

militias

Ahrar al-Sham


Input: FILE - Syrian rebels attend a training session in Maaret Ikhwan near Idlib, Syria

Syrian

Maaret Ikhwan

Idlib

Syria


Input: If more rebels Jjin Ahrar al-Sham or Jabhat al-Nusra, doesn’t this prove the rebels all along were extremists at heart

Jabhat al-Nusra


Input: But as mainly moderate and Islamic nationalist rebel militias -- some backed by the U.S. -- are faced with an unrelenting Assad ground offensive, pulverizing round-the-clock Russian airstrikes and Kurdish attacks in northern Syria, even this rebel commander is questioning where his future allegiances may lie

U.S.

Russian

Kurdish

Syria

militias

Assad

commander

airstrikes

Russian

Syria

Syria

attacks

Kurdish

Syria

Syria


Input: Syrian President Assad has always argued that his opponents are terrorists — including political foes not even in armed groups

Syrian

groups

Assad

opponents


Input: And that has been the constant refrain of Moscow

Moscow


Input: Since the Assad offensive started more than a week ago, that line has been echoed by the leaders of the Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD)

Kurdish Democratic Union Party

PYD

Assad


Input: Its leader Saleh Muslim declined to condemn the Russian airstrikes and Assad offensive in an interview with VOA, insisting that the Russians and regime forces were “just attacking terrorists, Ahrar al-Sham and Jabhat al-Nusra.

Russian

VOA

regime

leader

Saleh Muslim

Assad

forces

terrorists

Ahrar al-Sham

Jabhat al-Nusra

airstrikes

Russian

offensive

Assad

attacking

forces


Input: The commanders of the People’s Protection Units (YPG), the armed wing of the PYD, insist the towns they have been overrunning this week are being grabbed from Ahrar al-Sham or al-Qaida fighters

People’s Protection Units

YPG

PYD

al-Qaida

commanders

Ahrar al-Sham

fighters


Input: But towns like Tell Rifaat were never in the hands of either Ahrar al-Sham or Jabhat al-Nusra, and fighters from al -Qaida’s Syria affiliate long ago vacated much of the northern Aleppo countryside, although in some areas they have returned since the offensive, especially in the city of Aleppo to fight alongside other rebel factions

Syria

Aleppo

city

Aleppo

countryside

factions

fighters

vacated

fighters

countryside


Input: A rebel realignment that appears to be emerging that strengthens Salafi-Jihadist and hardline Islamist groups will be a self-fulfilling prophecy, argue many Syria watchers

Syria

groups


Input: They say Moscow has been pursing a strategy it used in Chechnya: target the moderates and crush them, which in turn leaves only extremists remaining, allowing the regime to force people and foreign governments to choose between either the regime or the extremists with no moderate alternative

Moscow

Chechnya

regime

regime


Input: “It is straight out of the Kremlin playbook: destroy the middle ground, back us or back the extremists,” says a senior European Union diplomat

Kremlin

European Union

diplomat


Input: With the noose tightening around the city of Aleppo and militias on the back foot in the countryside to the north of the city, many rebel fighters will have no option but to join the bigger more powerful groups like Ahrar al-Sham or al Nusra or align with them, says Bassam al Kuwaiti, a well known figure in pro-opposition civil society circles

city

Aleppo

city

north

groups

fighters

Bassam al Kuwaiti


Input: Most rebel fighters and commanders are debating with themselves and each other about what they should do, how they should re-group and who they should align with in defense of what is left of the dwindling territory they are clinging onto in the Aleppo countryside

Aleppo

territory

fighters

commanders


Input: “They will follow anyone who can pay them and give them a gun and ammunition,” he says

gun

ammunition


Input: FILE - Young Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) fighter who recently volunteered holds a position with his weapon in Kobani, Syria

Kobani

Syria

Kurdish

People's Protection Units

weapon


Input: Where do the Kurds come into this

Kurds


Input: The YPG dominates the so-called Syrian Democratic Forces

YPG

Syrian Democratic Forces


Input: Some Sunni Arab and Turkmen militias are also members of the SDF but several have checkered histories and have formed opportunistic alliances in the past with rebel militias they are now fighting

militias

SDF

militias


Input: Some fighters are from Western-backed militias such as the Hazzm Movement and the Syrian Revolutionaries Front, which collapsed last year after being attacked by by Islamist militias and al-Nusra

the Hazzm Movement

the Syrian Revolutionaries Front

fighters


Input: The SDF, which was unveiled in October, was embraced by U.S. officials as a proxy army to partner with in northern Syria to fight Islamic State and was seen by Washington as an alternative to a ground force the Obama administration had hoped to recruit from scratch and train and equip

U.S.

Syria

Washington

SDF

army

Islamic State

administration

officials

Obama


Input: Until the Assad offensive, the Kurdish-dominated SDF focused on fighting IS to the east of the Euphrates River and received arms supplies from the U.S. to do so

U.S.

Euphrates River

SDF

IS

Assad


Input: Some fighters have left the battlefield — not from a lack of valor but in anger at what they see as Western passivity — some say betrayal — or in disgust with their commanders who still squabble among themselves

Western

fighters

commanders


Input: But in December it seized the Tishrin dam from the terror group and some of its fighters — to the anger of Ankara — crossed west of the river

Ankara

river

group

Tishrin dam

fighters


Input: There were signs SDF fighters would move into the Aleppo countryside

Aleppo

SDF

fighters


Input: PYD leaders have made little secret they want to unite Kurdish cantons along the border

Kurdish

border

PYD


Input: Once the Assad offensive started SDF fighters — mainly Kurdish — launched attacks on FSA and other rebels in the Aleppo countryside not from the East but from their enclave at Afrin to the West, seizing at first a couple of villages

Aleppo

Kurdish

East

Afrin

West

SDF

FSA

Assad

fighters


Input: But they have quickly expanded, exploiting the Assad offensive and Russian airstrikes, which noticeably have not been targeting them, to seize more towns and territory, including a major airbase that has been in rebel hands since August 2013

Russian

Assad

offensive

Assad

airstrikes

Russian


Input: This week they occupied the strategic town of Tell Rifaat, just 15 kilometers form the border with Turkey

town

Turkey

Tell Rifaat

border


Input: YPG commanders — and the PYD’s social media propaganda machine — deny the Kurdish action has been coordinated with the Assad regime or the Russians

Kurdish

YPG

regime

commanders

Assad


Input: They contend they have sheltered Arab Sunni families who have fled heavy fighting in the Kurdish enclave of Afrin and by taking towns are ensuring they are denied to the regime

enclave

Arab

Kurdish

Afrin

regime

families


Input: Syrian rebel commanders, however, insist there has been clear military coordination, and say they will never forgive what they consider treachery by the Kurds

Syrian

military

commanders

Kurds


Input: The spectacle has been bewildering of U.S.-backed Kurds — who now appear to be Russian-backed, too — battling U.S.-backed rebel militias, prompting head-scratching from some analysts and triggering loud accusations from rebels that Washington and Moscow are in league with each other

Washington

Moscow

Kurds


Input: Others are pondering whether to join al-Qaida affiliate Jabhat al-Nusra or even Islamic State — not out of theological reasons but to be able to continue to fight Assad

al-Qaida

Islamic State

Assad


Input: The Obama administration has urged the Kurds to restrain themselves but the rebels say that if Washington really wanted the YPG to stop it could exert more pressure

Washington

administration

YPG

Obama


Input: FILE - Free Syrian Army rebels hold a revolutionary flag during a demonstration in the Bustan al-Qasr neighborhood of Aleppo, Syria

Aleppo

Syria

Bustan al-Qasr

neighborhood

Free Syrian Army


Input: Where does this Leave the US

US


Input: The realignments and shifts will impact U.S. strategy in Syria, say analysts

U.S.

Syria


Input: The Obama administration has made the defeat of the Islamic State its top priority in Syria and has argued only a political solution and not a military one can resolve the five-year-long civil war that has left upwards of 250,000 people dead

Syria

administration

Islamic State

military

Obama


Input: But some analysts warn that even the U.S. objective of defeating IS will be undermined by the events of the past week

U.S.

IS


Input: “The U.S. requires partnerships with Syrian armed opposition groups in order to destroy ISIS and al-Qaida affiliate Jabhat al Nusra in the long term,” warns analyst Jennifer Cafarella in a paper for the Institute for the Study of War, a Washington-based think tank

U.S.

Syrian

groups

ISIS

al-Qaida

Jabhat al Nusra

Institute for the Study of War

analyst

Jennifer Cafarella

tank


Input: “Without local Sunni partners that hold the support of the population, the U.S. faces high costs to destroy ISIS and al-Qaida in Syria and risks failure,” she says

U.S.

Syria

ISIS

al-Qaida


Input: Rebel commanders say that the U.S. will find fewer militias trusting it in the future

U.S.

commanders


Input: The picture is changing by the hour in the northern Aleppo in what one rebel commander told VOA is the “make-or-break moment of the Syrian revolution.

Aleppo

Syrian

VOA

commander


Input: “America by its inaction is pushing fighters to join IS or Jabhat al-Nusra,” says Abu Ali Sijjo

America

IS

Jabhat al-Nusra

fighters

Abu Ali Sijjo


Input: FILE - Syrian President Bashar Assad

Syrian

Bashar Assad


Input: Turkey’s leaders have long argued that Western policy has been flawed and that IS can’t be vanquished until Assad is ousted

Western

IS

Assad


Input: They lobbied last year for the U.S.-led international coalition to carve out a safe haven for the rebels — and civilians — in northern Syria

coalition

Syria

civilians


Input: Last autumn, it looked as if Washington would agree to this in return for the use of a NATO airbase in Turkey for coalition warplanes striking at IS

Washington

Turkey

coalition

NATO

IS

warplanes


Input: But after weeks of talks Washington decided against establishing a safe haven

Washington


Input: Turkish and Gulf allies such as Saudi Arabia have been lobbying for a ground force to intervene in Syria but in recent days they have made it clear that such a force would have to be agreed by the coalition and there are no signs of Western appetite for such an intervention

Turkish

allies

Saudi Arabia

Syria

coalition

Gulf


Input: Here’s a look at the "who, what, where and why" of the current situation on the ground in northern Syria and what it might portend for U.S. policy and the fate of the Syrian revolution

Syria

U.S.

Syrian


Input: Now the Turks are calling for a smaller safe haven to be established around the border town of Azaz to protect the tens of thousands of displaced civilians there — and to avoid the Turks having to open the border to admit them

town

Azaz

border

border


Input: The Turks have warned also they will not tolerate the Kurds expanding their territory in the Aleppo countryside and are continuing to shell YPG positions

Aleppo

territory

YPG

Kurds


Input: The shelling though hasn’t stopped YPG advances

YPG


Input: And, according to the rebels, isn’t helping them either as it is it not deterring the Russian airstrikes

Russian

airstrikes

Russian


Input: The Syrian revolution has been marked by the fractiousness of its armed groups and political factions

Syrian

groups

factions


Input: Obama’s Asia Pivot Increases US Influence But Fails to Stop China-SEOUL — -Five years after U.S. President Barack Obama committed to a strategic rebalance to Asia, shifting diplomatic and military resources to the globe’s economic engine, critics say the move was oversold and, so far, it has under delivered

US

China

SEOUL

U.S.

Asia

Asia

military

Barack Obama

critics


Input: At a time when Beijing’s assertive moves to claim territory in the South China Sea draw headlines and worried responses from regional countries, some say China appears to be outmaneuvering its rivals in the race to assert claims over the vast strategic sea

countries

China

territory

South China Sea

sea


Input: This week's absence of such exercises, he said, should alert the U.S. about Beijing’s intentions, but that South China Sea differences between China and the U.S. should be resolved via diplomacy, and that navies of both countries should try to prevent tactical miscalculation from becoming strategic confrontation

U.S.

China

U.S.

countries

South China Sea


Input: With the weapons and military infrastructure Beijing is stationing on the man-made islands being built in disputed waters, some more than 800 kilometers from the mainland, China is gaining both a quick strike capability and naval superiority over other countries in the region

Beijing

China

countries

waters

region

military

weapons


Input: "In the past we have seen them conduct training in that part of the Paracels that involve this kind of equipment,” Pentagon Press Secretary Peter Cook told reporters Friday

Pentagon

Secretary

Peter Cook

reporters


Input: Satellite imagery analysis by geopolitical intelligence firm Stratfor shows overall land, building and military expansion by China on Woody Island in the South China Sea

China

Woody Island

South China Sea

firm

Stratfor

military


Input: That has not meant, however, that ASEAN has banded together to address the South China Sea issue

South China Sea

ASEAN


Input: ASEAN, with its emphasis on consensus building and non-interference, has been reluctant to publicly stand with the U.S. to support any meaningful action against China

building

U.S.

China

ASEAN


Input: "ASEAN countries haven’t really asked of Uncle Sam what they want Uncle Sam to do," Choong said

Uncle Sam

Uncle Sam

ASEAN

Choong


Input: Still, American influence in the region has increased as a result of Obama’s commitment to more fully engage with Southeast Asia and to personally participate in annual forums like the East Asia Security summit, Southeast Asia security analyst Thayer said

American

region

Southeast Asia

East Asia

Southeast Asia

Thayer


Input: “As somebody sitting in the Asia Pacific region and observing the U.S. presence in the Asia Pacific, we’ve only seen glimmers of the rebalance,” said William Choong, a Shangri-La Dialogue senior fellow for Asia-Pacific Security in Singapore

U.S.

Singapore

Asia Pacific

region

Asia Pacific

Asia-Pacific Security

William Choong


Input: “Obama is leaving a legacy that a new American president would ignore at their peril,” he said

American

Obama

president


Input: U.S. President Barack Obama hosts a meeting with leaders from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) during a summit held at Sunnylands in Rancho Mirage, California, Feb. 16, 2016

U.S.

Rancho Mirage

California

Association of Southeast Asian Nations

ASEAN

Barack Obama

leaders

meeting

Barack Obama

Rancho Mirage

summit

Rancho Mirage


Input: US buildup-In recent years, Washington has been moving more troops and military assets into the region and strengthening security alliances with a number of ASEAN members

US

Washington

region

military

ASEAN

troops

assets

moving

troops

region


Input: Admiral Harry Harris, commander of the U.S. Pacific Fleet, said the Navy has already brought its “newest and most capable” military equipment to the area, like the P-8 surveillance airplane, the Littoral Combat Ship, the Virginia-class submarine, and new amphibious ships such as the USS America

area

USS America

U.S. Pacific Fleet

Navy

military

Harry Harris

commander

airplane

submarine

ships

equipment

brought

Navy

area


Input: In Australia last year, over 1,000 U.S. Marines were deployed to the city of Darwin to join in exercises with Australian Defense Forces

Australia

city

Darwin

U.S. Marines

Marines

Australian Defense Forces


Input: FILE - United States Marines complete quarantine checks as they arrive at a Royal Australian Air Force Base in Darwin

Darwin

Royal Australian Air Force Base

United States Marines

arrive

United States Marines

Royal Australian Air Force Base


Input: The Philippines’ Supreme Court recently endorsed a bilateral security cooperation agreement that will station U.S. troops and weapons on a rotational basis at five Philippine military airfields and two naval bases

airfields

bases

U.S.

Philippine

Philippines’ Supreme Court

military

troops

weapons


Input: The return of the U.S. military to the Philippines is seen by supporters as a significant deterrent to China and comes 25 years after Manila voted to close U.S. military bases in the country at the end of the Cold War

bases

Philippines

China

Manila

U.S.

country

U.S. military

military

military


Input: Washington is also providing maritime assistance to other ASEAN nations, including Vietnam, which is receiving several refurbished U.S. Coast Guard patrol ships

Washington

Vietnam

ASEAN

U.S. Coast Guard

ships


Input: For decades, the U.S. Navy has protected key shipping routes in the Pacific

Pacific

U.S. Navy


Input: These increased capabilities in Southeast Asia are complemented by extensive U.S. military bases and deployments in Guam, Japan and South Korea

bases

U.S.

Guam

Japan

South Korea

Southeast Asia

military


Input: VOA National Security Correspondent Jeff Seldin and Tra Mi of VOA's Vietnamese Service contributed reporting from Washington

Washington

VOA

VOA's Vietnamese Service

Jeff Seldin

Tra Mi


Input: Li Bao of VOA's Mandarin Service contributed reporting from San Diego, California

San Diego

California

VOA's Mandarin Service

Li Bao


Input: The U.S. Navy is still the supreme ocean power, but China has moved to enforce its claims and expand its presence in the South China Sea – without putting its official military forces in the foreground

China

South China Sea

U.S. Navy

military

forces


Input: “China’s cutting edge has been through a gray area of Coast Guard, paramilitary forces, and even the construction on the artificial islands is being masked as serving the public good, search and rescue, scientific activities, oil exploration and fishing,” said Southeast Asia security analyst Carlyle Thayer with Australia's Defense Force Academy in Canberra, adding that China already has more coast guard ships than all the other nine ASEAN nations combined

Canberra

China

area

Southeast Asia

Coast Guard

Australia's Defense Force Academy

ASEAN

forces

analyst

Carlyle Thayer

ships


Input: Reclaims land-In the last two years China has reclaimed at least 1,170 hectares of land in the South China Sea, building upon small reefs, shoals and islets

China

South China Sea


Input: This week came another reminder of their efforts to fortify their existing outposts: the U.S. said China appeared to have deployed HQ-9 surface-to-air missile batteries on Woody Island in the Paracel chain, drawing official protest from Vietnam and expressions of concern from U.S. naval brass

outposts

U.S.

China

Vietnam

U.S.

Woody Island

Paracel

missile


Input: Speaking at the annual WEST Conference in San Diego on Thursday,U.S. Pacific Fleet Commander Adm. Scott Swift said China has twice previously deployed HQ-9 surface-to-air missiles on Woody Island for missile defense exercises, including exercises to shoot down unmanned aircrafts

San Diego

U.S.

China

Pacific

Woody Island

Scott Swift

missiles

missile

deployed

China

missiles

Woody Island


Input: Al-Qaida Recruitment in Syria May Jump-Rebel commanders and opposition activists are warning that jihadist recruitment of Syrian fighters is likely to jump in the coming months because of the collapse of some moderate militias and a shake-up of others in the wake of a Russian-backed Syrian government offensive in northern Syria

Syria

Syrian

Syrian

Syria

Al-Qaida Recruitment

government

commanders

fighters


Input: But it is not Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi’s Islamic State that will benefit the most, but al-Qaida affiliate Jabhat al-Nusra, they warn

Islamic State

al-Qaida

Jabhat al-Nusra

Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi’s


Input: Al-Nusra fighters set up checkpoints to protect larger incoming conveys

checkpoints

fighters


Input: The group also expropriated several large buildings and warehouses in rebel-held districts of Aleppo for use as offices and barracks

buildings

warehouses

barracks

Aleppo

group


Input: Stalls are seen on a street beside damaged buildings in the rebel held al-Shaar neighborhood of Aleppo, Syria, Feb. 10, 2016

street

buildings

Aleppo

Syria

al-Shaar

neighborhood


Input: Political activists quickly raised an alarm about the large presence of al-Nusra fighters, arguing it would make more sense to have them on the outskirts of the city if they were there to combat the Assad offensive in the suburbs of Aleppo

city

Aleppo

outskirts

suburbs

fighters

Assad


Input: The anger can be heard in southern Turkish border towns

Turkish

towns

border


Input: “The Americans, the Russians, the regime, they are all responsible for the deaths, for the killing of Syrians,” said Mustafa, a refugee in Kilis

Syrians

regime

refugee


Input: His words were greeted with vigorous nods by a small crowd of Syrians

Syrians


Input: Al-Nusra has pursued a stealthier approach in Syria than its jihadist rival, alternately intermingling with other rebel militias and assisting them when more is to be gained or turning on them and seeking to dominate when circumstances change

Syria

Al-Nusra

militias


Input: In a joint study issued last month by the Institute for the Study of War and the Critical Threats Project at the American Enterprise Institute, both Washington-based research organizations, analysts warned Western powers “must alter the popular narrative that the West has abandoned the Syrian Sunni Arabs in favor of Iran, Assad, and Russia.

Syrian

Iran

Russia

Western

West

Institute for the Study of War and the Critical Threats Project

American Enterprise Institute

organizations

Assad


Input: Developing such a strategy and countering al-Nusra is not being helped by the Assad government or the Russians

government

Assad


Input: The targeting of al-Nusra, which has been excluded from the shaky U.N.-mediated cessation of hostilities, is building up even more sympathy among rebel fighters for al-Qaida’s affiliate, cautions Nader Othman, deputy prime minister in the opposition's Syrian Interim Government

Syrian

al-Qaida’s affiliate

Government

fighters

Nader Othman

minister


Input: A Syrian national flag waves as vehicles move slowly on a bridge during rush hour, in Damascus, Syria, Feb. 28, 2016

bridge

Syrian

Damascus

Syria

vehicles

move

vehicles


Input: “The Assad offensive has damaged the moderates, and more fighters will move over to al-Nusra and Ahrar al-Sham,” he says

al-Nusra

Assad

fighters

Ahrar al-Sham


Input: Only five percent of Russian airstrikes were on ISIS, most were on us, the moderate rebels

Russian

ISIS


Input: And the regime’s idea was to demolish the moderate alternative to the regime.

regime


Input: “People will keep on fighting, but we should worry about where the fighters whose militias collapse will go,” he adds

fighters


Input: FILE - This image posted on the Twitter page of Nusra Front, April 25, 2015, shows Nusra Front fighters in the town of Jisr al-Shughour, Idlib province, Syria

town

Idlib

Syria

Jisr al-Shughour

Twitter

Nusra Front

Nusra Front

fighters


Input: “There is huge danger,” says a Turkey-based European diplomat

European

diplomat


Input: Many more fighters are going to become highly radicalized and we are going to be seen as much the enemy as Assad.

fighters

Assad


Input: “They feel the world is against them and they will lash out,” he adds

world


Input: With the majority of Jabhat al-Nusra's fighters being Syrian — analysts estimate only about 20 percent of the group’s fighters are from overseas — the group has appeared less alien than IS and more rooted in the country

Syrian

country

group

IS

fighters

fighters


Input: Jabhat al-Nusra is being seen by rebel fighters as the best vehicle to continue the fight against President Bashar al-Assad and his foreign Shi’ite allies from Iran and Lebanon

allies

Iran

Lebanon

fighters

Bashar al-Assad

vehicle


Input: “Many fighters already furious with the West for its passivity in the face of the Russian airstrikes and Assad offensive will feel they have no other option but to join with the jihadists,” says Bassam al-Kuwaitli, a well-known figure in political opposition circles

Russian

West

fighters

Assad

Bassam al-Kuwaitli


Input: “They will follow the money and join who can supply them with arms,” he laments

arms


Input: Al-Qaida’s affiliate is expanding geographically, sending fighters back into Aleppo a year-and-half after it withdrew from the city to focus on building control of neighboring Idlib province as a counter to the Islamic State's presence in Raqqa and Deir ez-Zor

Aleppo

city

Idlib

Raqqa

Deir ez-Zor

Al-Qaida’s affiliate

Islamic State's

fighters

sending

fighters

Aleppo

withdrew

fighters

Aleppo


Input: Israeli Parliament’s ‘Expulsion’ Bill Stirs Hot Debate-TEL AVIV — -For decades Israel has prided itself as the only real democracy in the Middle East, but some senior Israeli officials are saying newly proposed legislation could tarnish that image

Israeli

TEL

Israel

Israeli

Middle East

Parliament’s ‘Expulsion’

officials


Input: This week, the Knesset’s Constitution, Law and Justice Committee introduced a controversial bill that would allow 90 of the parliament’s 120 members to expel legislators who support armed struggle against Israel, incite racism and negate Israel’s existence as a Jewish and democratic state

Israel

state

the Knesset’s Constitution, Law and Justice Committee

legislators


Input: “When members of Knesset stand at attention in memory of children’s murderers, we shall act just as people would do in Britain, Canada and the United States, if someone would stand [to pay tribute] to the memory of Jihadi John or other murderers,” Netanyahu said

Britain

Canada

United States

Knesset

Jihadi John

murderers

Netanyahu


Input: Balad is a small party and champions turning the State of Israel into a "state of all of its citizens.

Balad

State of Israel

state

party


Input: Its previous leader, Azmi Bishara, left the country when security services suspected him of passing intelligence to Hezbollah, considered by much of the West as a terrorist organization

country

West

Hezbollah

organization

leader

Azmi Bishara


Input: The chairman of the Knesset’s law committee, Nissan Slomiansky, said that Israeli laws already prohibit support of an armed struggle against Israel, incitement of racism and negating Israel’s existence as a Jewish-democratic state

Israeli

Israel

state

Knesset’s

committee

Nissan

chairman


Input: Knesset members who violate these laws cannot claim parliamentary immunity so the causes for eviction are “reasonable.

Knesset

members


Input: Israeli settler boys throw stones during clashes with Palestinians after a stabbing attack outside the Jewish settlement of Kiryat Arba in the West Bank, Friday, Oct. 9, 2015

Israeli

West Bank

boys

Palestinians

Kiryat Arba

stones

throw

boys

attack

West Bank


Input: ‘Shame on you’-Right wing legislators supported the motion, sometimes wholeheartedly

legislators


Input: Oded Forer of the secularist and right-wing nationalist political party Israel Beitenu blasted the Arab legislators

Arab

Israel Beitenu

legislators


Input: “Shame on you who do not condemn terror, who support it and think they ought to be in this house,” he said

house


Input: Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu initiated the proposed legislation after three Arab Knesset members met relatives of Palestinian assailants killed in clashes

Israeli

Palestinian

Arab Knesset

Binyamin Netanyahu

members

relatives

assailants

met

relatives

killed

assailants


Input: Nava Boker of Netanyahu’s Likud faction said “whoever stands for a moment of silence to the memory of murderers, causes 13 and 14-year-old children to go to the streets and murder Jews.

streets

Netanyahu’s Likud

Nava Boker

children


Input: To ensure continued democratic representation, the bill provides that a dismissed legislator be replaced by the next person on their list of candidates

legislator

candidates


Input: In last year’s elections, Balad and three other Arab parties were afraid that by running separately they might not pass the threshold for entering the parliament, so they formed the Joint Arab List

Arab

parties

parliament


Input: But, if all three legislators of Balad are evicted, only one Balad member would enter the Knesset

Balad

Balad

Knesset

legislators


Input: “Today Arabs are unwanted and tomorrow it will be leftists,” said Zehava Gal’on of the left-wing Meretz party

Meretz party

Zehava Gal’on


Input: FILE - Israeli police officers inspect the scene of a stabbing attack in Beit Shemesh, central Israel, Oct. 22, 2015

Israeli

Beit Shemesh

Israel

police

officers


Input: The Knesset should not be a body that investigates and punishes.

Knesset


Input: Some of those attackers reportedly killed Israeli civilians

Israeli

attackers

civilians

killed

attackers

civilians


Input: The non-partisan think tank Israel Democracy Institute agreed, noting that legislators “are not professional judges but members of parliament who have political interests.

Israel Democracy Institute

parliament

legislators

judges

members

tank


Input: Opposition legislators argued that the proposed law is superfluous since the causes cited for eviction are criminal acts and convicted offenders would be removed from the Knesset anyway

Knesset

legislators


Input: Miki Rosenthal of the Zionist Camp said the law could, however, be used to intimidate members, “to silence uncomfortable views.

Zionist Camp

Miki Rosenthal


Input: There were elections,” Ahmad Tibi of the Joint Arab List told the committee

committee

Ahmad Tibi


Input: The bill is expected to go to the full Knesset next week for the first of three plenum votes

Knesset


Input: The three lawmakers, Jamal Zahalka, Haneen Zoabi, and Basel Ghattas of the National Democratic Assembly, better known by its Hebrew acronym Balad, met the families in Jerusalem

Jerusalem

National Democratic Assembly

Jamal Zahalka

Haneen Zoabi

Basel Ghattas

families

met

Basel Ghattas


Input: Then they tried to help their hosts retrieve the bodies of 10 assailants being held by police

police


Input: FILE - Israeli emergency services remove the body of an alleged Palestinian attacker in Jerusalem Friday, Feb. 19, 2016

Israeli

Palestinian

Jerusalem

attacker


Input: The Palestinian stabbed two officers before he was shot and killed, police said

police

Palestinian

officers

stabbed

Palestinian

officers

shot

Palestinian


Input: In India, Biometric Data Storage Sparks Demands for Privacy Laws-NEW DELHI — -In India, calls for strict privacy laws are growing after this week's passage of a measure that allows federal agencies access to biometric data of the nation's citizens, the world's largest such repository

India

NEW DELHI

India


Input: The government says the use of biometrics will help cut rampant graft in the distribution of subsidies, but activists and opposition lawmakers warn it could usher in an era of increased state surveillance

state

government


Input: “From verifying yourself to the ticket conductor on a train to someone who is delivering something at your house, all the way to opening a new bank account, all these transactions get logged against the centralized data base," says Pranesh Prakash of the Center for Internet and Society in Bangalore

house

base

Bangalore

Center for Internet and Society

Pranesh Prakash


Input: Some lawyers and privacy advocates say this has made it even more important to support a strong privacy law to ensure the huge government database isn't misused

government

lawyers


Input: Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has defended the biometrics legislation, saying the data will be accessed only in rare cases that require authorization by a senior official

Finance

Arun Jaitley


Input: “You mark my words, you are midwifing a police state,” said lawmaker Asaduddin Owaisi, just one parliamentarian opposed passage of the legislation and found no comfort in Jaitley's assurances

state

police

Asaduddin Owaisi


Input: Prior to the intruduction of biometric cards, millions of poor people across India did not have any proof of identity, making it difficult for them to take advantage of government welfare programs

India

government


Input: Attempts to draft a right to privacy bill to protect individuals against misuse of data by government or private agencies date back to 2010, but have made little headway

government

agencies


Input: Raghubir Gaur, who works as an electrician in the capital, New Delhi, says he has never collected subsidized rations such as wheat and rice, because “somebody else has been taking the rations I should have gotten.

capital

New Delhi

Raghubir Gaur


Input: Citing a cyberattack targeting the U.S. government, in which a hacker gained access to the information of millions of people, research groups have also flagged security concerns around India’s ambitious Aadhaar program

U.S.

government

groups


Input: So identity fraud is a great concern,” said Prakash of the Center for Internet and Society

Center for Internet and Society

Prakash


Input: Nearly one billion biometric identity cards have been issued in India in the last six years

India


Input: Now, with a national proof of identity, or "Aadhaar" card in his hands, Gaur says he is confident he will be able to access his designated subsidies

Gaur


Input: The Aadhaar card is being used to give welfare benefits to the poor, who often cannot provide any proof identity, allowing corrupt officials to siphon entitlements

officials


Input: The government says it has saved nearly $2 billion by preventing misuse of the subsidies in the last fiscal year alone

government


Input: They point to identity-verification systems in other countries, where cards or identification numbers are used for verification without creating a gigantic central database that documents every last transaction

countries


Input: Raghubir Gaur (L) and his wife Kusum are confident their "Aadhaar" cards with their biometric data will enable them to access entitlements such as subsidized food rations

Raghubir Gaur

wife

Kusum


Input: Cuba's Human Rights Record in Spotlight Ahead of Obama Trip-CAPITOL HILL — -Supporters and critics of U.S. President Barack Obama’s history-making trip to Cuba later this month agree on one thing: there has been little, if any, progress on basic liberties and human rights on the island since Washington and Havana restored full diplomatic ties

U.S.

Cuba

island

Washington

Havana

Obama

critics

Barack Obama’s

trip

Barack Obama’s

Cuba


Input: While tourists flock to Cuba as never before, Cubans continue to flee the island to reach the United States, often taking a circuitous route from western Cuba to Central America and traveling north through Mexico to reach the U.S. border

Cuba

island

United States

Cuba

Mexico

U.S.

Central America

border

Cubans

flee

Cubans

island

United States

route

Cuba

Central America

traveling

Cubans

Central America

border


Input: “Last year there were documented 8,616 political arrests in Cuba, a huge increase,” said Republican Congressman Mario Diaz-Balart, a Cuban-American

Cuba

Republican

Mario Diaz-Balart


Input: “By any objective measure, the Castro regime has not improved its human rights record

regime

Castro


Input: Slow progress-Even those who support the rapprochement between Washington and Havana concede that Cuba’s progress on human rights has been slow

Washington

Havana


Input: “I think it’s very hard to point to real change,” said Michael Shifter, president of the Washington-based Inter-American Dialogue

Michael Shifter

president


Input: "This is a government and a system that has been entrenched since 1959

government


Input: There is a lot of resistance to change, and I think it’s too early to tell which direction Cuba will go in," Shifter said

Cuba

Shifter


Input: Top administration officials have said they never expected a swift transformation in Cuba, but hope to advance change on the island

Cuba

island

administration

officials


Input: For his part, Obama promised to be vocal

Obama


Input: “The American dream – it’s the best, the best in the world,” said a Cuban who only identified himself as Luan while waiting at the border checkpoint at Cuidad Juarez, Mexico

checkpoint

American

Cuban

Cuidad Juarez

Mexico

world

border


Input: FILE - Former Republican presidential candidate Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida speaks to supporters, March 1, 2016

Florida

Republican

Marco Rubio


Input: A Cuban-American, Rubio has criticized the recent thaw in U.S.-Cuban relations

Rubio


Input: “I’ll speak candidly about our serious differences with the Cuban government, including on democracy and human rights

Cuban

government


Input: I’ll reaffirm that the United States will continue to stand up for universal values like freedom of speech and assembly and religion,” he said

United States


Input: Discussion points-Cuban officials say no topic is off the table

Cuban

officials


Input: “Cuba is open to discuss any issue with the U.S. government, including human rights,” said Cuban Foreign Ministry official Josefina Vidal

Cuba

U.S.

Cuban

government

Foreign Ministry

Josefina Vidal


Input: Such assertions do not satisfy Obama’s critics

critics


Input: “There are no elections in Cuba,” said Florida Senator Marco Rubio, a Cuban-American and former Republican presidential candidate

Cuba

Florida

Republican

Senator

Marco Rubio

candidate


Input: “There are no choices in Cuba, and so my whole problem is I want the relationship between the U.S. and Cuba to change, but it has to be reciprocal.

Cuba

U.S.

Cuba


Input: “It represents a way of trying to get the Castro government perhaps to open up a little bit more – a different approach than the one that was tried for over half a century that failed,” said Shifter

government

Castro


Input: As far as impact and historical importance, Shifter compares Obama’s trip to Cuba with the 1977 Panama Canal Treaty

Cuba


Input: He said Obama will be closely watched and applauded far beyond Cuba

Cuba

Obama


Input: Engagement-“I’m going to Cuba,” Obama announced last month

Cuba

Obama


Input: “I believe that the best way to advance American interests and values, and the best way to help the Cuban people improve their lives, is through engagement.

American

Cuban


Input: International human rights organizations have yet to release annual reports covering the months since August, when the United States opened an embassy in Havana and Cuba opened one in Washington

embassy

United States

Havana

Cuba

Washington

organizations


Input: The Cuban Commission for Human Rights and National Reconciliation reported more than 1,400 political arrests on the island this past January, continuing a surge of such detentions over the last year

Cuban

island


Input: U.S. lawmakers have taken note

U.S.


Input: Cuba's Damas de Blanco, Going to Jail in Spotlight of Obama's Visit -HAVANA — -The city is steamy enough on a March night, but pack 60 people into a small living room: Handkerchiefs come out to dab glistening skin

room

city

Cuba's Damas de Blanco


Input: They need to stay ahead of what they describe as constant surveillance from security agents who target dissidents

dissidents


Input: One Dama shares a recorded video on her phone of police pouncing on her and her husband earlier this month as they exit their home in the capital with their two young children, 5 and 7

capital

police

her

husband

they

children

pouncing

police

husband

exit

capital

children


Input: Her husband was detained

husband

detained

husband


Input: Between the two of them, they are arrested regularly enough it seems to be a full-time occupation

they

arrested

they


Input: For Soler, one of the group’s founding members and its elected leader, political resistance is a way of life

members

leader


Input: “We’re fighting for the freedom of political prisoners,” says Soler, 52

prisoners

Soler


Input: “But we’re also fighting to change course for our country, so that in Cuba, there is freedom and rights for all Cubans.

country

Cuba


Input: Damas de Blanco protest in Havana, Cuba, March 20, 2016

Havana

Cuba

Damas de Blanco

protest

Damas de Blanco

Havana


Input: The Damas de Blanco began arriving at the two-story, three-bedroom home a week earlier, coming from across the country to camp out in the house that serves as their headquarters, because they feared security officials would block them from leaving their homes ahead of a historic visit by U.S. President Barack Obama

home

camp

house

headquarters

homes

country

U.S.

Damas de Blanco

officials

Barack Obama


Input: (V. Macchi / VOA)-When the group began in 2003, the women who joined were the wives, sisters, daughters and mothers of political prisoners

VOA

group

women

wives

sisters

daughters

mothers

prisoners


Input: They oppose the Castro government

government

Castro


Input: It’s a moment to show the world what happens every week when they protest – the “repression,” they call it

world

they

protest

they


Input: The days almost always end with some of the women and their supporters behind the bars of Cuban jails, sometimes for hours, sometimes for days

jails

Cuban

women

supporters


Input: No one likes to be hit," Soler said

Soler


Input: One woman, from Guantanamo, hitched a ride with a trucker by pretending to be pregnant

Guantanamo

woman

trucker

ride

woman

Guantanamo

trucker


Input: "But when we see that they hit us – unjustly, that they arrest us arbitrarily, it makes us stronger.

they

us

they

us

hit

they

us

arrest

they

us


Input: You can come out dead,” Luisa Toscano-Quindelan, 61, says of the Sunday protests

Luisa Toscano-Quindelan

protests

Luisa Toscano-Quindelan


Input: Damas de Blanco protest in Havana, Cuba, March 20, 2016

Havana

Cuba

Damas de Blanco

protest

Damas de Blanco

Havana


Input: (V. Macchi / VOA)-Some are excited, some nervous

VOA


Input: Berta also serves as the mother hen, delegating tasks

Berta

mother


Input: They arrange themselves two or three to a mattress, which are splayed across every room in the house and the front porch, facing a poster of Cuba’s revolutionary leader Fidel Castro someone hung about 40 feet away

room

house

Fidel Castro


Input: A few of the men sleep on cardboard to cut the chill of the tile floor

floor

men


Input: Fresh paint goes up; roads Obama will travel on are repaved and repainted

Obama


Input: No, according to officials on both sides

officials


Input: For 34-year-old Jacqueline Herredia-Morales, one of the Damas, it validates a government she sees as unjust

government

Jacqueline Herredia-Morales

Damas


Input: “I think when the people realize that (money) is just going to the government, that’s when there’s going to be a problem

government


Input: … The people will realize that Obama came, and ... there’s still nothing.

Obama


Input: Margarita Vardena is one of the oldest Damas

Margarita Vardena

Damas


Input: At 71, she has no fear of being detained in Havana, Cuba

Havana

Cuba

she

detained

she

Havana


Input: (V. Macchi / VOA)-In white dresses and skirts and pants and T-shirts on Sunday morning, the 55 Damas file onto a public bus for the half-hour journey to the usual protest site

VOA

Damas

bus

file

Damas

bus


Input: The group’s leader comes down the stairs, dressed in a white ruffled shirt

leader


Input: “It’s never been this tranquil,” said Margarita Vardena, 71

Margarita Vardena


Input: “Usually we’re terrorized from the moment we leave the house

house


Input: Soler sees that constant surveillance as a sign the group has gotten under the government’s skin

group


Input: “I feel important, that we bother the Cuban government that much,” says Soler

Cuban

government


Input: After her adult children and granddaughter moved to Florida last year, Soler and her husband's family in Cuba became much smaller

Florida

Cuba

children

granddaughter

Soler

family

moved

children

Florida

Cuba


Input: “That even though there are only a few of us, like the Cuban government says, we give them a headache.

Cuban

government


Input: A block away, a group member and her partner were walking toward the park when plainclothed police stopped them

park

group

police

member

partner


Input: A fracas ensued, the woman said later over questions about ID cards

woman


Input: Blood dripping down over eyes wide with disbelief, her boyfriend Lazaro Yuri Valle-Roca was forced into the back of a green sedan and whisked away

Lazaro Yuri Valle-Roca

sedan

whisked

Lazaro Yuri Valle-Roca


Input: Damas de Blanco protest in Havana, Cuba, March 20, 2016

Havana

Cuba

Damas de Blanco

protest

Damas de Blanco

Cuba


Input: (V. Macchi / VOA)-As of Monday morning, the Damas said he hadn’t been released

VOA

Damas

he


Input: Still, she keeps trips to the U.S. short so she never misses a Sunday march

U.S.

she

trips

she

U.S.


Input: For 90 minutes, the women attended Palm Sunday Mass and emerged with palm leaves knotted into crosses

women


Input: Nearby, the media flocked to a shouting match between a counterprotester and a supporter of the Damas

Damas


Input: “I love the revolution,” the woman shouted

woman


Input: The Damas marched down the boulevard, silently as always

Damas

marched

Damas


Input: “The truth is on our side,” Soler said the night before

Soler


Input: [Government officials] don’t sleep well at night

Government

officials


Input: They returned to Parque Gandhi, along the same route as every week

Parque Gandhi


Input: And as usual, the police arrived en masse to take them to jail

police

them

jail

police

them


Input: US Presidential Candidates Trade Barbs Over Terrorism-WASHINGTON — -The leading U.S. presidential candidates are trading new ideas and sharp barbs over how best to cope with the threat of terrorism in the immediate aftermath of the deadly Brussels terrorist attacks

US

WASHINGTON

U.S.

Brussels

candidates

terrorist


Input: The Republican front-runner, billionaire real estate mogul Donald Trump, suggested that Tuesday's attack in the Belgian capital that killed at least 31 people and injured another 271 could have been prevented if authorities had resorted to harsh interrogation techniques, including torture, against Paris attacker Salah Abdeslam, who was captured in Belgium last week

Belgian capital

Paris

Belgium

Republican

billionaire

Donald Trump

31 people

attacker

Salah Abdeslam

attack

captured

Salah Abdeslam

Belgium

killed

31 people


Input: Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton arrives to a cheering crowd to speak at a campaign event at the Grady Cole Center in Charlotte, N.C., Monday, March 14, 2016

Charlotte

N.C.

Grady Cole Center

Democratic

candidate

Hillary Clinton

crowd

speak

Hillary Clinton

N.C.


Input: Clinton, the wife of former president Bill Clinton, added, "We don't build walls or turn our back on our allies

allies

Clinton

wife

president

Bill Clinton


Input: The charged atmosphere about possible terrorist threats in the United States came as voters cast ballots Tuesday in three more presidential nominating contests, in the western states of Arizona, Utah and Idaho

United States

states

Arizona

Utah

Idaho

voters


Input: Tuesday's results-Trump routed Cruz in Arizona, along the U.S.-Mexican border, winning all 58 of the state's delegates to the Republican national nominating convention in July

Arizona

border

Republican

Trump

Cruz


Input: Republican presidential candidate Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, speaks to the media about events in Brussels near the Capitol in Washington, March 22, 2016

Brussels

Washington

Capitol

Republican

media

Ted Cruz

speaks

Ted Cruz


Input: Cruz easily won in heavily Mormon Utah, collecting all 40 of the state's national convention delegates

Mormon Utah

Cruz

delegates


Input: The day's results left Trump far ahead in the race to win enough pledged convention delegates ahead of the quadrennial gathering, but still 40 percent away from the majority of delegates he needs to claim the nomination

Trump

delegates

delegates


Input: Cruz on Wednesday picked up the endorsement of former Florida governor Jeb Bush, who dropped out of the race last month

Florida

Cruz

governor

Jeb Bush


Input: In a statement released by the Cruz campaign, Bush called Cruz the only hope for Republicans to win back the White House and criticized Trump

White House

Cruz

Bush

Cruz

Trump

called

Cruz


Input: FILE - Former U.S. Republican presidential candidate Jeb Bush stands in front of a photo of former president and brother George W. Bush as he speaks at the New Hampshire GOP's FITN Presidential town hall in Nashua, New Hampshire, Jan. 23, 2016

New Hampshire

town

Nashua

New Hampshire

U.S. Republican

candidate

Jeb Bush

president

brother

George W. Bush


Input: "For the sake of our party and country, we must move to overcome the divisiveness and vulgarity Donald Trump has brought into the political arena," Bush said

country

party

Donald Trump

Bush


Input: The next Republican voting is set for April 5, with a party primary in the Midwestern state of Wisconsin

state

Wisconsin

Midwestern

Republican


Input: A third contender in the Republican contest, Ohio Governor John Kasich, was not a factor in either Arizona or Utah

Ohio

Arizona

Utah

Republican

Governor

John Kasich


Input: A new Quinnipiac University poll Wednesday showed that Kasich is the only Republican, and not Trump or Cruz, who would defeat Clinton in a hypothetical match in the November national election

Quinnipiac University

Kasich

Trump

Cruz

Clinton


Input: The winner of the U.S. election will replace President Barack Obama, who leaves office in January 2017

U.S.

Barack Obama


Input: FILE - Special operations police secure an area during a police raid in the Molenbeek neighbourhood of Brussels, Belgium on March 18, 2016

Brussels

Belgium

area

Molenbeek neighbourhood

police

police

raid

police

Belgium


Input: Clinton easily won Tuesday's Democratic primary in Arizona against her sole rival, Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders, but he captured two party caucuses against her, in Utah and Idaho

Arizona

Vermont

Utah

Idaho

Tuesday's Democratic

Clinton

Senator

Bernie Sanders


Input: Sanders, who has centered his campaign on the growing income equality in the United States and the power of Wall Street financial titans, won a handful more convention delegates than Clinton in the three contests, but remains far behind her in the overall race to win the Democratic nomination

United States

Democratic

Sanders

delegates

Clinton


Input: He said U.S. law enforcement authorities need to be given the authority "to patrol and secure Muslim neighborhoods before they become radicalized.

U.S.

neighborhoods


Input: From left, Republican U.S. presidential candidates businessman Donald Trump and Texas Senator Ted Cruz

U.S.

Texas

Republican

businessman

Donald Trump

Senator

Ted Cruz


Input: Trump, who has called for a temporary ban on Muslims entering the U.S., said he thought Cruz's idea to patrol Muslim neighborhoods was "a good idea.

U.S.

neighborhoods

Trump


Input: Tight Security in Jerusalem on Good Friday-JERUSALEM — -Christians around the world are observing Good Friday, marking the crucifixion of Jesus

Jerusalem

world

Jesus


Input: Here in the Old City, security was tight as pilgrims from around the world marched in the traditional Good Friday procession, many of them carrying big wooden crosses

Old City

world


Input: Jerusalem has been the focal point of a wave of Palestinian stabbing attacks on Israelis, and Israeli police and soldiers were out in force

Jerusalem

Israeli

police

Palestinian

Israelis

soldiers

attacks

Palestinian


Input: Policing the procession-Israeli police forces escort Franciscan priests along the Via Dolorosa (Way of Suffering) in Jerusalem’s Old City during the Good Friday procession on March 25, 2016

Israeli

Jerusalem’s Old City

Via Dolorosa

Way of Suffering

police

forces

priests

escort

forces

priests


Input: Italian pilgrim Emilio Carmone said Jerusalem looks like an armed camp

camp

Italian

Jerusalem

Emilio Carmone


Input: "In all my life, I don’t see so many weapons like in one day here in Jerusalem," he said

Jerusalem

weapons


Input: But all the military and police presence doesn’t make me feel safer.

military

police


Input: The procession wound up at the ancient Church of the Holy Sepulcher, the traditional site of Jesus' crucifixion

site

Church of the Holy Sepulcher


Input: A picture taken with a fisheye lens shows Christian worshippers praying inside the Church of the Holy Sepulchre as rays of sunlight come through the top rotunda in Jerusalem’s Old City during the Good Friday procession on March 25, 2016

Jerusalem’s Old City

the Church of the Holy Sepulchre

worshippers

procession

worshippers


Input: They made their way through the narrow cobblestone streets of the Via Dolorosa, or Way of Sorrows, singing hymns and reading scripture as they visited the 14 Stations of the Cross

streets

Via Dolorosa

Way of Sorrows

Stations of the Cross


Input: Local Arab Christian pilgrims carry a wooden cross along the Via Dolorosa (Way of Suffering) in Jerusalem’s Old City during the Good Friday procession on March 25, 2016

Jerusalem’s Old City

Via Dolorosa

Way of Suffering

pilgrims

procession


Input: Jacob Adeyemi, who came from Nigeria, said Jerusalem on Good Friday brings the Bible to life

Nigeria

Jerusalem

Jacob Adeyemi


Input: N. Korea Jams GPS, Blocks VOA, Twitter, Facebook, Other Media-SEOUL — -North Korea has begun jamming GPS signals in South Korea, affecting some communications and navigation systems, and it also said Friday it is blocking a number of popular websites

N. Korea

SEOUL

North Korea

South Korea

VOA


Input: Government officials in Seoul said North Korea should immediately cease its "dangerous and reckless" jamming activity

Seoul

North Korea

Government

officials


Input: The restrictions will make it more difficult for visitors or foreign residents to post real-time information about the reclusive country to the outside world

country

world


Input: The announcement added that anyone who tries to hack onto such sites, access them in an "improper" way or distribute "anti-republic data" from them will be subject to punishment under North Korean law

North Korean


Input: FILE - In this Friday March 16, 2012 file photo, North Korean woman uses a mobile phone on a sidewalk in Pyongyang, North Korea

sidewalk

North Korean

Pyongyang

North Korea

woman


Input: In another development Friday, North Korea launched another projectile presumed to be a ballistic missile into the sea, according to the South Korean military

North Korea

South Korean

sea

military

missile


Input: The launch and other North Korean provocations are the latest in a series of threatening acts by Pyongyang, both to protest against the U.S.- South Korean exercises, and in retaliation for tough new sanctions the U.N. imposed on North Korea after its most recent nuclear test

North Korean

Pyongyang

U.S.

South Korean

North Korea

U.N.


Input: Seoul has previously accused Pyongyang of jamming activity, especially during a period of heightened tensions in 2012

Seoul

Pyongyang


Input: North Korea was said to be using Russian-made jamming devices at the time, but authorities in Pyongyang said all such allegations were a "sheer fabrication.

North Korea

Pyongyang


Input: Many computer networks and software programs rely on signals sent from the worldwide network of global-positioning satellites

network

satellites


Input: North Korea against world-U.S. President Barack Obama, South Korean President Park Geun-hye and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe met at the Nuclear Security Summit in Washington on Thursday to underscore their united commitment to exert increasing pressure on North Korea to abandon its nuclear program

North Korea

U.S.

South Korean

Japanese

Washington

North Korea

Barack Obama

Park Geun-hye

Shinzo Abe

met

Shinzo Abe

Washington


Input: The tough new U.N. sanctions imposed in March are meant to cut funding to Pyongyang’s nuclear arms program and to further isolate the Kim Jong Un leadership

U.N.

Kim Jong Un

arms


Input: Chinese President Xi Jinping, who met separately with Obama at the Washington summit, said North Korea should resolve this "predicament," as he called it, by returning to international talks and giving up its nuclear weapons in return for security assurances and economic assistance

Chinese

Washington

North Korea

Xi Jinping

Obama

weapons

met

Obama

Washington


Input: The Kim Jong Un government has so far responded to all sides with defiance, launching numerous short and medium range missiles into the sea, ordering further nuclear tests, and threatening nuclear strikes against South Korea and the United States

South Korea

United States

sea

government

missiles


Input: FILE - A man watches a TV screen showing a file footage of the missile launch conducted by North Korea, at Seoul Railway Station in Seoul, South Korea, Friday, March 18, 2016

North Korea

Seoul

South Korea

Seoul Railway Station

man

missile


Input: Arduous march-This week the Rodong Sinmun, the official newspaper of the ruling Workers’ Party of Korea, warned the North Korean people in an editorial that the sanctions will cause severe economic pain

North Korean

newspaper

Workers’ Party of Korea

Rodong Sinmun


Input: “Arduous march” refers to the severe North Korean famine that killed over three million people in the 1990s after the Soviet Union collapsed and stopped sending economic aid, and because the communist government grossly mismanaged the country’s economy

North Korean

Soviet Union

government


Input: This time the Kim Jong Un leadership wants the people to know who to blame for any hardships to come

Kim Jong Un


Input: “It claims that the responsibility does not belong to North Korea but it belongs to the U.S. and neighboring countries, which include China this time,” said Kang Chul-hwan, a North Korean defector with the center for North Korea Strategy

North Korea

U.S.

China

North Korean

Kang Chul-hwan


Input: North Korea has been sending signals from ground-based transmitters on frequencies overlapping those used by GPS satellites, so the jamming did not cause any significant, widespread effect

North Korea

satellites


Input: FILE - North Korean leader Kim Jong Un salutes as he arrives to inspect a military drill at an unknown location, in this undated photo released by North Korea's Korean Central News Agency, March 25, 2016

North Korean

military

North Korea's Korean Central News Agency

leader

Kim Jong Un


Input: To make up for shortfalls being caused by the sanctions, Pyongyang residents are reportedly being ordered to provide a kilogram of rice to state warehouses every month, and farmers are being forced to "donate" more of their crops to the military

Pyongyang

state

military


Input: The North Korean economy has improved under Kim Jong Un in part because of the economic reforms he implemented that allow farmers to sell a portion of the crops they produce, and provides some industries more incentives and control to manage their production and workforce

North Korean

Kim Jong Un


Input: But North Korean mineral exports, most of which are banned under the new sanctions, and the export of North Korean labor has also helped improve overall economic conditions, even if the vast majority of earnings have gone to ruling elites and the military

North Korean

North Korean

military


Input: North Korea has requested nearly half a million tons of food aid from other countries

North Korea

countries


Input: There is some concern that giving more food aid to North Korea would undermine the sanctions by allowing the leadership to direct more funding to develop nuclear weapons

North Korea

weapons


Input: But there is also concern that the vast majority of North Koreans already living in poverty conditions will suffer the most from these tough new international restrictions

North Koreans


Input: “If the international community imposes more pressure, then it could lead to a terrible result,” said Kang

Kang


Input: Youmi Kim in Seoul contributed to this report

Seoul

Youmi Kim


Input: However, GPS problems were reported by more than 50 airliners flying over the Korean Peninsula, and they evidently affected hundreds of South Korean fishing boats, some of which returned to port as a result

port

South Korean

Korean Peninsula

airliners

boats


Input: Some information for this report was provided by AP

AP


Input: Authorities in Seoul said the jamming did not hamper ongoing U.S.-South Korean joint military exercises, which have been repeatedly denounced by the communist North

Seoul

military


Input: Separately, North Korea announced officially Friday that it is blocking web pages from YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, the Voice of America and a number of South Korean media sites

North Korea

South Korean

the Voice of America


Input: Very few North Koreans have Internet access, but foreign residents and visitors previously have been able to access web pages with almost no overt restrictions

North Koreans


Input: More than 2 million North Koreans now are estimated to use mobile phones, but with few exceptions access to the Internet is limited to officials, technicians or others who have special permission to use it, usually under close supervision

North Koreans

officials


Input: What's Hiding Behind Russia's Calls for Peace in Nagorno-Karabakh -The presidents of Russia, Iran and Azerbaijan – Vladimir Putin, Hassan Rouhani and Ilham Aliyev, respectively -- are planning to hold security talks in Baku soon

Russia

Iran

Azerbaijan

Baku

What's Hiding

Vladimir Putin

Hassan Rouhani

Ilham Aliyev

hold

Ilham Aliyev

Baku


Input: While no further details of the planned meeting have been announced, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said last week in a meeting in Baku that security cooperation in the Caspian Sea region, which he said has become a "corridor" for the "trafficking" of terrorists, will top the meeting’s agenda

Russian

Baku

Caspian Sea

region

Sergei Lavrov


Input: FILE - A tank of the self-defense army of Nagorno-Karabakh moves on the road near the village of Mataghis, April 6, 2016

road

village

Mataghis

Nagorno-Karabakh

army

tank

moves

tank

army

village


Input: “Moscow has been the prime reason why there has been no movement in the Minsk group talks," Goble said

Moscow

Minsk

group

Goble


Input: “Moscow was happy to keep this low-grade conflict that could be used to Russia’s benefit.

Moscow


Input: Despite its public posture of being committed to resolving the conflict, he said, Moscow continues to play a double game, trying to use the recent escalation of violence to its advantage

Moscow


Input: Goble believes Russia will desert its current client state, Armenia, as soon as developments allow the Kremlin to claim credit for returning to Azerbaijan what Baku calls its “occupied territories.

Russia

state

Armenia

Azerbaijan

Kremlin

Goble


Input: “There is no doubt in my mind that, for Moscow, Azerbaijan is the prize and Armenia is the tool for achieving that,” he said, adding that Azerbaijan’s geopolitical location and rich oil resources are what interest the Kremlin

Moscow

Azerbaijan

Armenia

Kremlin


Input: IS allegation-On April 4, one day before Armenia and Azerbaijan agreed to stop fighting after several days of intense combat, LifeNews, a Russia-based TV station, aired a program alleging that Azeri forces were using Islamic State fighters in the battle in Nagorno-Karabakh

Armenia

Azerbaijan

IS

LifeNews

Azeri forces

Islamic State

forces

fighters


Input: The report claimed that Azerbaijani IS militants in Syria had crossed Turkish territory to reach Azerbaijan and join the fight against the Armenians in the contested territory

Syria

Turkish

Azerbaijan

Armenians

territory

IS

militants


Input: Azerbaijan’s Defense Ministry rejected the allegations, charging on April 5 that the LifeNews report was “sabotage by Kremlin media” aimed at raising questions about Azerbaijan’s “sovereignty, territorial integrity and inviolability.

Azerbaijan’s Defense Ministry

LifeNews

Kremlin


Input: FILE - Armenian soldiers aim a howitzer, April 3, 2016, in the village of Mardakert, in the separatist region of Nagorno-Karabakh

Armenian

village

Mardakert

region

Nagorno-Karabakh

soldiers


Input: The announcement of the Putin-Rouhani-Aliyev summit followed a rapid escalation of the “frozen conflict” between Azerbaijan and neighboring Armenia over the disputed territory of Nagorno-Karabakh, which officially is a part of Azerbaijan

Azerbaijan

Armenia

Azerbaijan

territory


Input: The ministry added that any member of a terrorist organization who attempted to enter Azerbaijan for any reason would be prosecuted

Azerbaijan

ministry

organization


Input: Following the LifeNews report, its TV crew in Azerbaijan was expelled from the country

Azerbaijan

country

LifeNews


Input: Azerbaijan’s Foreign Ministry accused the station’s employees of having arrived in Azerbaijan without accreditation, reporting false information and staging “provocations.

Azerbaijan

Azerbaijan’s Foreign Ministry


Input: Secular state-While more than 90 percent of Azerbaijan’s population is Muslim, the country’s constitution declares that it is a secular state, and a 2013 study by the Pew Research Center found that support for basing national laws on the Islamic code of sharia was lower in Azerbaijan than in any other Muslim nation in the region

state

Azerbaijan

nation

region

the Pew Research Center


Input: Another key factor is that the vast majority of the Azeri Muslims are Shi’ites, while the IS and other extremist groups consist of Sunni Muslims

IS

groups


Input: IS considers Shi’ites “not pure Muslims” and violently represses Shi’ites in areas under its controls

IS


Input: According to the Soufan Group, a New York City-based security consulting firm, 216 Azerbaijani citizens joined IS in Iraq and Syria, 49 of whom returned home

home

Iraq

Syria

Soufan Group

firm

IS

citizens


Input: Forty of the latter were reportedly arrested after returning to Azerbaijan

Azerbaijan

Forty of the latter

arrested

Forty of the latter

returning

Forty of the latter

Azerbaijan


Input: In an online posting a few months ago, an Azerbaijani IS fighter accused Azerbaijan’s government of harshly treating practicing Muslims

government


Input: People walk during a march to commemorate Armenian servicemen killed in recent clashes over the breakaway Nagorno-Karabakh region in Yerevan, Armenia, April 10, 2016

Armenian

Yerevan

Armenia

Nagorno-Karabakh region

People

servicemen

clashes

Nagorno-Karabakh region

march

Nagorno-Karabakh region

killed

servicemen


Input: Since the end of separatist war in 1994, the region has de facto been under the control of the local Armenian forces and the Armenian military, and low-level armed clashes have occasionally broken out

Armenian

Armenian

region

military


Input: “We are much criticized in Azerbaijan,” the figher said

Azerbaijan


Input: The cause is to be found in Azerbaijan itself

Azerbaijan


Input: The media speaks against us, calling us Wahhabis

media


Input: Therefore, we decided to go to Syria.

Syria


Input: Maxim Shevchenko, a prominent Russian journalist and editor-in-chief of the Caucasus Politics (Kavpolit) news agency, said, “The Azeri government is frequently criticized for harsh treatment of religious activists

Russian

Caucasus Politics (Kavpolit) news agency

agency

Azeri government

government

Maxim Shevchenko

journalist

editor-in-chief


Input: Moscow and Tehran are facilitating the peace talks between the warring sides as Armenia and Azerbaijan accuse each other of violating the cease-fire, reached last week after U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and Lavrov spoke by telephone

Moscow

Tehran

Armenia

Azerbaijan

U.S.

State

Secretary

John Kerry

Lavrov

spoke

John Kerry


Input: Although Gabrielyanov, who is at the helm of a growing media empire in Russia, denies any ties to the Russian government, his loyalty to President Putin is no secret

Russia

Russian

government

Gabrielyanov

Putin


Input: In numerous interviews, he has referred to Putin as “Papa Natsii” – the father of the nation

nation

Putin

Papa Natsii

father


Input: In May 2014, Putin recognized Gabrelyanov’s contribution to Russia’s efforts against Ukraine by decorating him with the Order of Honor, which is usually reserved for those who have directly participated in combat

Ukraine

Putin


Input: Some experts say Gabrelyanov’s political preferences and apparent participation in the Kremlin’s information wars cast doubt on the objectivity of LifeNews’ reporting

experts


Input: Journalist Shevchenko said the LifeNews report alleging that Azerbaijan is using IS militants in the fight against Armenia is “a hideous lie based on gossip.

Azerbaijan

Armenia

LifeNews

IS

Shevchenko

militants


Input: Still, he praised the “bravery” of LifeNews’ journalists in the field

journalists


Input: He said they “actually provided quality reporting from the both sides of the conflict zone.

sides


Input: “I think it was invented,” he said, noting that the Azerbaijani government is very careful “in making sure that the country’s military and law enforcement is not infected by radicalization.

government

military


Input: The United States encouraged Armenia and Azerbaijan to resume peace talks and avoid further escalation

The United States

Armenia

Azerbaijan


Input: “It is clear that there are people in Moscow who are interested in discrediting Azerbaijan and that was part of it,” Goble said

Moscow

Azerbaijan


Input: Two days before the sides reached a cease-fire, an IS-style video appeared on the Internet claiming to show the beheading of an Armenian Yezidi soldier by a person wearing an Azeri military uniform

Armenian

military

soldier

person


Input: In the video, which was posted on VKontakte, a Russian social network similar to Facebook, the person in the uniform is holding what appears to be a head in his hands

Russian

network


Input: VOA could not verify the veracity of the video

VOA


Input: Azerbaijani officials said it was fabricated

officials


Input: LifeNews, however, said the video supports its claims that IS militants are fighting on the Azeri side in Nagorno-Karabakh

LifeNews

IS

militants


Input: History of conflict-The fighting that erupted in Nagorno-Karabakh last weekend is the worst outbreak of violence in the history of the conflict

Nagorno-Karabakh

fighting

Nagorno-Karabakh


Input: According to The Associated Press, at least 64 people were killed in the fighting

Associated Press

64 people


Input: Since the emergence of the conflict in 1994, Russia has been a key member of the Minsk group, an international body created to provide a “road map” for peace in Nagorno-Karabakh

Russia

Minsk

group


Input: The Minsk group showed little success, and the group’s format was gradually marginalized, at least in part due to Moscow’s attempt to “sabotage” the efforts, said Paul Goble, an American expert on Russia who served as a U.S. State Department special adviser on Soviet nationality issues and Baltic affairs

American

Russia

Soviet

Baltic

group

U.S. State Department

Paul Goble

expert

adviser


Input: China Exports Rebound, Lifting Markets-BEIJING — -Chinese exporters saw surprisingly good performance in March as the improved flow of goods out of the country gave a boost to local authorities and a lift to world stock markets

China

BEIJING

Chinese

country


Input: Commenting on the figures Huang Songping, spokesman for China’s General Administration of Customs, was restrained, citing a better policy environment and the low base of exports in March last year as reasons behind the dramatic rise

base

China’s General Administration of Customs

Huang Songping

spokesman


Input: “Exports this March have shown significant growth compared to the low base last year

base


Input: Chinese exporters did poorly compared to the past in their top two markets, the European Union and the United States, in the first quarter

Chinese

European Union

United States


Input: FILE - A truck carrying a container from the Danish vessel Ark Futura drives into the hold of the U.S.-owned MV Cape Ray, at Gioia Tauro port, southern Italy, July 2, 2014

port

Danish

Italy

Ark Futura

MV Cape

Gioia Tauro port

truck

vessel

carrying

truck

Ark Futura

Gioia Tauro port


Input: China is a net commodity importer, but it still exports substantial amounts so the value of exports has been affected,” Williams said

China

Williams


Input: FILE- People look at an electronic stock indicator of a securities firm in Tokyo

Tokyo

firm


Input: This is the first time in nine months that Chinese exports have risen

Chinese


Input: “[The] world economy is still sluggish, and external demand is weak

world


Input: This means Chinese exports will continue to remain sluggish,” he said

Chinese


Input: The decline in Chinese imports, which is affecting the world economy, is caused by low internal demand in China, which is going through an economic slowdown, Yan Se said

Chinese

China

world

Yan Se


Input: “Chinese industries have built up huge inventories

Chinese


Input: FILE - North Korean students and volunteers work to repair water supply system in Haeju, capital of the South Hwanghae province

North Korean

Haeju

capital

South Hwanghae

students


Input: Just last week, China’s Commerce Ministry announced it was banning the import of North Korean gold and rare earths as well as the export of jet fuel and other oil products used to make rocket fuel

North Korean

China’s Commerce Ministry

jet

rocket


Input: China is North Korea’s most important trading partner and ally

China

North Korea’s

ally


Input: Stock markets in Shanghai, Hong Kong and Europe rose following the announcement of Chinese trade data in Beijing

Shanghai

Hong Kong

Chinese

Beijing

Europe


Input: China’s Foreign Ministry defended the rise in trade even as sanctions were put into place

Foreign Ministry


Input: Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang said China would continue to uphold sanctions, but also maintain what he called “normal relations” with North Korea outside the framework of the sanctions

China

North Korea

Foreign Ministry

spokesman

Lu Kang