Six In The Morning Wednesday

29 October 2014 Last updated at 08:20

Islamic State conflict: Kurdish fighters arrive in Turkey

A group of 150 Iraqi Kurdish Peshmerga fighters have arrived in Turkey from where they plan to cross into Syria to battle Islamic State (IS) militants besieging the town of Kobane.

One contingent flew from Iraq to a south-eastern Turkish airport.

Another contingent, carrying weapons including artillery, is travelling separately by land through Turkey.

Turkey agreed to the deployment last week after refusing to allow Turkish Kurds to cross the border to fight.

Thousands of cheering, flag-waving supporters gathered to see off the first batch of Peshmerga forces as they left the Iraqi Kurdish capital of Irbil by plane.

The group of 90-100 fighters landed in the early hours of Wednesday at Sanliurfa airport in south-eastern Turkey.

Moscow support for illegal east Ukraine polls denounced

Separatists in Donetsk and Luhansk to hold elections in ‘people’s republics’

Daniel McLaughlin

 Kiev and Washington have denounced Sunday’s planned elections in rebel-held easternUkraine, as Russia defied the West by saying it would recognise the legitimacy of the ballots.

Moscow-backed separatists in Donetsk and Luhansk regions intend to elect leaders of their so-called people’s republics and deputies to “people’s councils”, in votes that Kiev, the EU and US say would be illegal and unacceptable.

Ukrainian president Petro Poroshenko said the ballots would run counter to a plan agreed in the Belarusian capital on September 5th, which laid out conditions for a ceasefire and a framework for a possible peace deal.

“The quasi-elections announced by the Donetsk and Luhansk People’s Republics don’t comply with the Minsk protocol and contradict its spirit,” Mr Poroshenko said yesterday. “They are threatening the entire peace process.”

Interview with an Islamic State Recruiter: 'Democracy Is For Infidels'

Interview Conducted by Hasnain Kazim

How does Islamic State think? How do its followers see the world? SPIEGEL ONLINE met up with an Islamic State recruiter in Turkey to hear about the extremist group's vision for the future.

The conditions laid out by the Islamist are strict: no photos and no audio recording. He also keeps his real name secret as well as his country of origin, and is only willing to disclose that he is Arab. His English is polished and he speaks with a British accent.

He calls himself Abu Sattar, appears to be around 30 years old and wears a thick, black beard that reaches down to his chest. His top lip is shaved as is his head and he wears a black robe that stretches all the way to the floor. He keeps a copy of the Koran, carefully wrapped in black cloth, in his black leather bag.

Abu Sattar recruits fighters for the terrorist militia Islamic State in Turkey. Radical Islamists travel to Turkey from all over the world to join the "holy war" in Iraq or Syria and Abu Sattar examines their motives and the depth of their religious beliefs. Several Islamic State members independently recommended Abu Sattar as a potential interview partner -- as someone who could explain what Islamic State stands for. Many see him as something like an ideological mentor.

As Day of the Dead looms, families of missing Mexican students hold out hope (+video)

Four new suspects in the case of 43 missing college students pointed Mexican authorities toward a mass grave this week. A month after the students' disappearance, families still have no answers.

By Whitney Eulich, Staff writer

MEXICO CITY — Orange and yellow marigolds and sugary breads are making an appearance across Mexico City this week as families prepare to celebrate the Nov. 2 Day of the Dead.

To commemorate deceased loved ones on this Catholic-inspired holiday, Mexicans build altars, visit graves, and leave offerings, such as a favorite food or drink.

But for weeks already, some of the parents of the 43 college students who disappeared a month ago in Guerrero state after an encounter with police have gathered around an “altar of hope” on their children's campus. It underscores their demand for answers in what has become a grim national scandal. 

Under pressure, North Korea proposes human rights visit

By Madison Park, CNN

October 29, 2014 -- Updated 0444 GMT (1244 HKT)

Under unprecedented scrutiny over its human rights record, North Korean officials met with a UN human rights investigator on Tuesday for the first time in 10 years.

Marzuki Darusman, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in North Korea, said he met "unexpectedly" with the delegation for about an hour. North Korean officials proposed the possibility of arranging a visit by human rights officials to the country.

He said they also raised concerns about the UN resolution on possible consequences against North Korea.

Darusman said the timing of the sudden meeting with the officials was "notable."

Why 12 Nobel Peace Prize winners are calling Obama out

President Obama's fellow Nobel laureates are raising questions about transparency regarding the Central Intelligence Agency's torture tactics post-9/11.

 

By Anne Steele11 hours ago

Twelve Nobel Peace Prize winners are looking for answers from President Barack Obama about US torture.

Specifically, they want their fellow laureate winner to make public a Senate report on the Central Intelligence Agency's interrogation tactics since Sept. 11, 2001 that some say amount to torture.

In a letter and petition to the president Sunday, they said the "open admission by the President of the United States that the country engaged in torture is a first step in the US coming to terms with a grim chapter in its history."

They want Obama release the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence summary report as an opportunity for the country and world to see "the extent to which their government and its representatives authorized, ordered and inflicted torture on their fellow human beings."

They pointed out the group has reason to feel strongly about torture – some of them have survived torture, many have helped their nations through recovery.