Britain: Snow and ice are set to cause more misery today as the wintry weather dubbed the "mini beast from the east" continues to disrupt the UK. An amber weather warning for snow is in place in southwest England and the Met Office says travel delays are likely, stranding some vehicles and passengers. Devon County Council has confirmed the closure of dozens of schools and described roads as "treacherous", while train services are also affected. Some places are likely to see up to 40cm of snow, while it could feel as chilly as minus 10C in parts. Great Western Railway said train services were disrupted due to severe weather.
Syria: Turkish forces and their Syrian rebel allies have swept into the northwestern Syrian town of Afrin, raising their flags in the town centre and declaring full control after an eight-week campaign to drive out Kurdish YPG forces. A spokesman for the rebel fighters said they entered Afrin before dawn local time, meeting no resistance. A war monitor, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, said pockets of YPG fighters defied orders to withdraw, but Turkish forces were in control. Meanwhile, Syrian President Bashar Assad visited troops on the front line in the newly captured areas of Eastern Ghouta, Damascus, according to images broadcast on state media and on the presidency sites. State media said Syrian troops had entered Saqba, a town in a southern pocket of Eastern Ghouta. It was the latest town to be captured by the Syrian troops and allied militia in a swift advance over the last few days. The Syrian Observatory said the Syrian Government is now in control of over 80 per cent of the area, which has been a rebel stronghold since 2012.
“Basically, anything goes. There is no right or wrong any more. The international order is dying in the ruins of Syria:” Syria’s new exiles: Kurds flee Afrin after Turkish assault https://t.co/0u4O88d6iz
— Kareem Shaheen (@kshaheen) March 18, 2018
Australia: Students and non-essential Northern Territory public servants have been told to stay home as the clean-up from Tropical Cyclone Marcus continues. Public schools are closed and parents of students attending non-government schools have been told to contact their schools directly for updates. As well, the Casuarina, Waterfront and Palmerston campuses of Charles Darwin University also remain closed. Marcus is expected to pass off the coast of far-north Western Australia after dumping more rain on the Kimberley region.
Italy: The inauguration of a memorial stone to a Nazi wartime hideout in central Italy has been called off after the initiative sparked angry protests. A local hoteliers' association planned to unveil a memorial in the Foltin cave at the foot of Monte Cassino, a hill 130km south of Rome where an estimated 250,000 troops were killed in 1944. The cave served as a shelter for Nazi paratroopers during Allied air raids, and headquarters for their commander, Captain Ferdinand Foltin. The ANSA news agency said the ceremony was called off after Cassino Mayor Carlo Maria D'Alessandro advised against "any initiative that may offend the history and sensitivities of our city". The stone would have said in Italian, German and English: "In Memory and Recognition of the Soldiers of all nations who fell in the bloody Battle of Cassino and all the Civilian Victims of the terrible war." The Italian wartime Partisans' Association billed the memorial as an "anti-historical, anti-Italian initiative" offending "the hard-won democracy attained by the Allies and Italian fighters".
