Dire conditions for Syrian refugee camp close to Jordan border

Refugees in Rukban camp face difficult choice of picking safety over food as Syrian government puts chokehold on aid.

The United Nations says conditions are dire for the remaining Syrian refugees in Rukban camp near the border with Jordan.

Most have left for Syrian government-controlled areas but the UN says it can’t guarantee the safety of those who want to go to opposition-held areas in the north.

Al Jazeera’s Zeina Khodr explains why from Beirut.

Santander to book $1.6 billion impairment charge over U.K. business

Banco Santander SA will book a roughly 1.5 billion euros ($1.65 billion) impairment following a review of the goodwill ascribed to its U.K. subsidiary.

The impairment is mostly due to a challenging regulatory environment, with the bank SAN, -1.76%SAN, -0.75% mentioning the negative impact of “ring-fencing” rules, under which U.K. lenders must separate retail banking from riskier investment-banking operations. Growing competition and the impact on the British economy of uncertainty related to Brexit also played a role, the bank said late Tuesday.

The impairment will be reported in the banking giant’s third-quarter results.

“While ring-fencing reforms and Brexit have impacted profitability in the UK, it remains a critically important market, in which the group is investing significantly to service our customers and to continue to compete,” Executive Chairman Ana Botin said.

The lender also said that it would pay the first of two annual dividend payments starting in November. Shareholder will get EUR0.10 a share in cash.

In Pictures: Tragedy as seven children killed, 64 injured in Kenya classroom collapse

China foreign ministry says U.S. 'lies' on Xinjiang will 'crumble'

BEIJING (Reuters) – China’s foreign ministry said on Wednesday that it strongly opposed U.S. “lies”, after the United States led more than 30 countries in condemning what it called China’s “horrific campaign of repression” against Muslims in the western region of Xinjiang on the sidelines of the U.N. Tuesday.

“U.S. lies will crumble in front of facts and truth,” said Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang at a daily news briefing in Beijing.

Nigeria floods: 'Too late' to replant damaged crops

Meteorologists are warning Nigerians to expect more flooding nationwide, raising fears of food shortages.

Food supplies are threatened in northwest Nigeria where floods have destroyed crops.

Dozens of people have been killed recently and thousands of homes washed away.

Al Jazeera’s Ahmed Idris reports from Auyo in Jigawa state, where the local government is struggling to help.

Thomas Cook holidaymakers should ‘enjoy rest of their stay’

The 120,000 UK holidaymakers still stranded abroad following the collapse of Thomas Cook are being advised to “enjoy the rest of their stay” amid continuing demands for payments by resorts.

In an update from the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), which is leading the repatriation effort, customers are told to expect a flight home on the day of their original departure or “shortly thereafter”.

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Boeing's offer to crash victims' kin slammed as 'publicity stunt'

About $140,000 is to be paid to each claimant after 346 people were killed in the 737 MAX disasters in Indonesia and Ethiopia.

A “publicity stunt” is how some lawyers are describing Boeing’s offer to bereaved families following two jetliner crashes last year and earlier this year.

About $140,000 is to be paid to each claimant after 346 passengers and crew members were killed in the 737 MAX disasters in Indonesia and Ethiopia.

Al Jazeera’s Malcolm Webb reports from Nairobi, the capital of Kenya, a country that some of the victims were from.

Trump’s Global Trade War Comes to Alabama

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Jimmy Lyons ought to be sleeping soundly. Business is good at the port in Mobile, which he oversees as chief executive officer of the Alabama State Port Authority. European aviation giant Airbus SE is expanding a plant nearby that relies on the port for shipments of critical parts. And near Tuscaloosa, a 3½-hour drive north, things are humming at a Mercedes-Benz plant, which is one reason the port authority is building a new auto export facility.

But Lyons has plenty to worry about. Alabama may have avoided the wrath of Hurricane Dorian in September (despite President Trump’s forecasts), but the trade wars threaten to bring a severe economic storm down on the state. “The thing that keeps me up at night is a global recession,” says Lyons. “I’ve seen what it can do to our business. It dips very quickly and comes back very slowly.”

New US gun law may allow firearm seizures

National inaction has moved individual states to push forward with their own gun laws.

New laws that allow guns to be temporarily seized from dangerous owners are spreading across the United States.

The so-called “red flag” laws are now in 17 states, with more looking to follow.

Al Jazeera’s Alan Fisher reports from Maryland.