UN push for Syria ceasefire as 400 civilians die in five days
UN chiefs were hoping to thrash out a Syrian ceasefire deal last night to end five days of carnage which has left more than 400 people dead.
Ms Rudd visits Syrian refugees in Lebanon, many bound for the UK
Delegates were expected to push for a 30-day truce at a Security Council meeting over the bombardment of the rebel-held Ghouta suburb of Damascus.
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad – with the help of the Russian military – has mercilessly pounded the civilian enclave.
But yesterday, after increasingly vocal appeals from UN officials and aid workers, Russia indicated it would support an end to the slaughter, if Muslim terror groups were excluded.
Putin's SU 57 stealth fighters combat trials in Syrian war zone
Bashar al-Assad has mercilessly pounded the civilian enclave
Britain could see an increase in the number of vulnerable refugees fleeing Syria given sanctuary.
Figures released yesterday revealed 10,500 people have been granted refuge here in the past 18 months.
Home Secretary Amber Rudd, who this week visited a settlement for Syrian refugees in eastern Lebanon, said she was hopeful the Vulnerable Person Resettlement Scheme, which aims, by 2020, to re-home 20,000 of those in the greatest need – including survivors of torture, women and children – would hit its target much earlier and could be expanded.