This Week in War

 One corner of this school, destroyed in the push to liberate the town from ISIS, is now home to a family displaced from Afrin. IRIN/Afshin Ismaeli.

1st week, April 2018.

This Week in War:  A Friday round-up of what happened and what’s been written in the world of war and military/security affairs this week.  

It’s a mix of news reports, policy briefs, blog posts, and long-form journalism.

• Based in Berlin, The Syrian Archive aims to catalog and preserve atrocities in Syria.

• The Pentagon may create an army of killer robots for future conflicts.

• Locals knew he was mentally ill, but the new neighborhood didn’t. Gentrification combined with extreme police tactics are disproportionally killing our black American population.

• The Israel Defense Forces, which shot 773 Gazans with live ammunition and said, “we know where every bullet landed” actively admitting to massacring Palestinians during their protest within their borders.

• Israeli forces have killed 25 Palestinians during the past week, including 17 on the first Friday of protest, and wounded more than 1,600 others.

• Trump administration targets Putin’s inner circle as it freezes the US assets of Russian oligarchs.

• The White House declared on Apr. 4 that the “military mission to eradicate ISIS in Syria is coming to a rapid end.” But is it a premature declaration of victory?

• Almost 80% of men are paid more than women in the UK.

• Facebook has halted plans to collect patient data from hospitals and match it up with its users' information.

• Russia has warned Britain, “you will be sorry” and that it is "playing with fire" by blaming Moscow for poisoning a former Russian spy and his daughter.

• India is finalizing a purchase of a Russian missile defense system.

• Former Trump aide, Paul Manafort, authorized secret media operation that sought to discredit key opponent of then Ukrainian president.

• Dozens of civilians, including children, have been killed in an Afghan air attack on a gathering at a religious school.

• Lt. McMaster, outgoing National Security Advisor, blasted Russian President Vladimir Putin for trying to undermine democratic societies in his last public address before stepping down as national security advisor next week.

• China questions legality of US tariffs at WTO.

• Youtube shooting suspect was furious that the site stopped paying her for her clips. She injured 3 before killing herself. 

• In Indian-administered Kashmir, violent clashes have erupted between protesting students and Indian police across the city of Srinagar.

• A Vietnamese human rights lawyer and activist, has been jailed for 15 years.

• South Korean court has jailed former President Park Geun-hye for 24 years on Friday over a scandal that exposed webs of corruption between political leaders and the country’s conglomerates.

• Ethiopia's parliament has elected Abiy Ahmed as the new prime minister and he is the first Oromo to hold Ethiopia's top seat.

• African Union troops in Somalia killed at least 30 al-Shabab fighters.

• 6 teenagers have been stabbed within 90 minutes in another night of violence in London.

• America’s largest police force has agreed not to conduct surveillance operations based on religion or ethnicity. This is part of a deal to settle claims that it illegally spied on Muslims in the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks.

• The Philippines are shutting the billion-dollar-revenue island of Boracay for 6 months due to its raw sewage problem.

• A $930 million check from Saudi Arabia has broken records for humanitarian fundraising in the run-up to a UN pledging conference for aid to Yemen, but the motivations behind it are being questioned.

• A former U.S. Army sniper and 2 other ex-American soldiers agreed to become contract killers for an international crime boss.

• Trump says ‘pain’ from China tariffs will make US ‘much stronger’.