Iran bombs Isis in Iraq, says Pentagon
US military says air strikes may be first of their kind and were not co-ordinated with US-led coalition against Islamic State
Iranian fighter jets have bombed Islamic State militants in eastern Iraq in recent days, the Pentagon has said, in a development that confirms Tehran’s determination to confront the jihadists.
The air raids mark an escalation in Iran’s role in a conflict where Tehran and Washington have no formal partnership but share a common enemy in the Isis group, which both governments view as a dangerous threat.
“We have indications that they [Iran] did indeed fly air strikes with F-4 Phantoms in the past several days,” Pentagon spokesman Rear Admiral John Kirby told Agence France-Presse.
His comments came a few days after al-Jazeera ran footage of what appeared to be an ageing F-4 fighter similar to those used by the Iran’s air force attacking targets in the eastern province of Diyala.
Kalashnikov rifles rebranded as ‘weapon of peace’
Notorious guns undergo €300,000 PR campaign which promotes their ‘responsibility’
Equipped with a shiny new logo, shrugging off US sanctions and claiming its guns are “protecting peace”, the Russian weapons manufacturer Kalashnikov have launched a major rebranding drive in Moscow.
Kalashnikov Concern, a new overarching brand that includes the famed assault rifles as well as hunting and sports weaponry, paid a leading Russian agency to design a new brand and renew its worldwide image, even as US sanctions against Russia have stopped orders of the rifles from the US and Canada.
“The Kalashnikov is a Russian symbol that is known across the world,” said Alexei Krivoruchko, Kalashnikov’s chief executive.
Corruption a "problem for all," latest global index shows
No country in the world has managed to achieve a perfect score of 100 in the 2014 Corruption Perceptions Index. The study by Transparency International urges failing states to adopt radical anti-corruption measures.
According to the Corruption Perceptions Index 2014, published by Transparency International on Wednesday, corruption is a problem "for all economies." To prevent the growing problem, the anti-corruption group said leading financial centers in the EU and US need to "act together with fast-growing economies."
"Poorly equipped schools, counterfeit medicine and elections decided by money," were just some of the consequences of corruption listed by the Index.
No perfect score
The Corruption Perceptions Index, which is based on expert opinion from around the world, measures the perceived levels of global public sector corruption worldwide. Somewhat alarmingly, not one single country managed to achieve a perfect score in this year's Index. On a scale of 0 (highly corrupt) to 100 (very clean), more than two-thirds of countries scored below 50.
Cambodia's treatment of Montagnard refugees focuses critics on Australia's asylum seeker deal
Lindsay Murdoch
South-East Asia correspondent for Fairfax Media
Bangkok: Cambodian authorities are hunting more than a dozen ethnic minority hill people from Vietnam, drawing international criticism and raising further doubts about Australia's controversial agreement to send refugees to Phnom Penh.
The United Nations refugee agency and human rights advocates have called on the Cambodian government to call off its efforts to track down, detain and forcibly deport 13 Christian Montagnards who have fled Vietnam where their people have faced years of persecution.
The Montagnards have been hiding in the Cambodian jungle since October after fleeing Vietnamese authorities who were trying to arrest them. They are reported to have little food and their health is deteriorating.
Out with Peña Nieto? For Mexicans, missing students case overshadows all. (+video)
Their confidence shaken in his ability to address corruption and security, the majority of Mexicans say they disapprove of Peña Nieto, the lowest approval rating of any Mexican president in nearly two decades. Monday evening saw more nationwide protests.
MEXICO CITY — Mexico’s President Enrique Peña Nieto kicked off his third year in office this week, expressing pride in the passage of landmark reforms like education, energy, and telecommunications. But during a speech in the southern state of Chiapas Monday, he noted that “we’re not satisfied.”
Neither is the public.
The grisly case of 43 students kidnapped and presumed massacred in Igualathis fall still hangs over President Peña Nieto, his government, and the entire nation. The brutal event became a national symbol of the depth of corruption, the power of criminal groups, the weakness of governance, and police impunity. With presidential approval ratings faltering and violence once again taking center stage, the government is under pressure to actively address the problems at the root of the Iguala case.
China to send artists to countryside for 're-education'
During Chairman Mao's heyday, he sent millions of young people to the countryside to learn from the masses.
Now in an echo of history, the State General Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and TV, says artists, film directors and news presenters will be following the same well-trodden path.
The authorities say they will live in rural areas in order to "form a correct view of art".
It is being seen as a government attempt to educate wayward artists.
Some of the recruits will spend at least a month in a village in order to experience local life.
Others will be sent to areas deemed to be of historical significance to China's revolutionary past.
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