Turkish jets hit Kurdish militants in Iraq and Isis targets in Syria
Turkey’s military carries out its first strike on Kurdish militants since a 2013 peace deal as Ankara also bombed Isis positions in Syria
Turkish jets struck camps belonging to Kurdish militants in northern Iraq, authorities said on Saturday – the first strike since a 2013 peace deal – as Ankara also bombed Islamic State positions in Syria.
The strikes in Iraq targeted the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK, whose affiliates have been effective in battling Isis. The strikes further complicate the US-led war against the extremists, which has relied on Kurdish forces making gains in both Iraq and Syria.
Zagros Hiwa, a spokesman in Iraq for the PKK, which has been fighting Turkey for autonomy since 1984 and is considered a terrorist organisation by Ankara and its allies, said the strikes was likely to spell the end of 2013 peace agreement.The impact of China's new crackdown on civil rights
In what seems to be a crackdown on public dissent, hundreds of Chinese rights lawyers have been detained or interrogated. While temporarily muzzled, the advocates' determination shouldn't be underestimated, say experts.
They challenge their country's authorities over human rights violations, frequently reporting about harassment, detentions or abuse of power, and often refusing to back down when told to do so. Some, such as Li Heping and Wang Quanzhang, have been engaged in this sort of work for over a decade. They have taken cases of people charged with speech crimes - such as "inciting subversion of the State" - and faith crimes - such as "using an evil sect to impede the implementation of the law" - at a time when almost nobody else dared to do this. In some cases, they would even enter "not guilty" pleas for their clients against the explicit instructions of the authorities.
But while the work of China's human rights lawyers or "weiquan lüshi" has always been difficult in the one-party communist state, it has become even more dangerous over the past few weeks. According to the Hong Kong-based NGO Chinese Human Rights Lawyers Concern Group (CHRLCG), a total of 249 human rights lawyers and activists have been taken either into custody, interrogated or temporarily detained across the country since July 10.
Greek crisis: Cleaning lady Despina Kostopoulou glad to be back at end of a mop
July 25, 2015 - 8:24PMNick Miller
Europe Correspondent
Athens: She became a symbol of Greece's anti-austerity uprising: the populist surge that put Syriza in power and Grexit on the cards.
But now Despina Kostopoulou, 53, cleaning lady at the Finance Ministry, is a symbol of Greece's next step: back at work, paying more tax (in euros) on less pay, unsure about the future – but somehow believing a line in the sand has been drawn.
Ms Kostopoulou worked for 22 years at the Finance Ministry but was laid off in August 2013.
"It was like someone took life from me," she said through an interpreter.
"The then minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis decided that among the layoffs that the troika [European financial bodies] was asking for, it would be the men and women, the cleaning people at the Finance Ministry. It wasn't announced to us, we learned from the television.
Time to leave Honduras? For many youths, the answer is easy.
Despite crackdowns at borders, many teens are still attempting the perilous journey north to the US, driven by violence and poor prospects for schooling and jobs.
COMAYAGÜELA, HONDURAS — Juan Ángel Pineda was almost 16 years old when his father finally agreed: It was time for him to leave Honduras.
“The gangs hadn’t come looking for me. Originally, I went looking for them,” says the now 17-year-old with spiked hair and a small scar between his eyebrows. He dropped out of school after 6th grade, couldn’t find work, and was having trouble at home. “I thought [the gang] would make me feel protected.”
Juan was one of the thousands of unaccompanied Central American minors who set out to migrate to the United States last summer. His reasons for leaving – violence in the streets and within his family – echo those of roughly two-thirds of deported Honduran youths interviewed for a recent regional report.
China is building a megacity that will be larger than all of Japan
By Chris Weller
China has a thing for megacities. The country is building one megacity out of a nine-city region in the country's Pearl River Delta, two more farther north, and now, a megacity that could eclipse the entire population of most countries.
In its latest undertaking, the Chinese government has announced plans to make Beijing (current population: 20 million) the center of an 82,000 square mile megacity called Jing-Jin-Ji that will eventually have 130 million inhabitants. That will make it more populated than Japan by roughly 3 million people.
In forming a new megacity, the idea is to marry the resources of each surrounding region: Beijing's deep pockets and research capabilities, Tianjin's port access to the Bohai Sea, and the technological developments in Hebei province. Newly formed highways and bridges, such as the one that links the central city of Yanjiao to Beijing, will connect the cities.
Australian arrested after acting as ISIL medic in Syria
Nurse appears in court after handing himself in to authorities in Turkey and voluntarily returning to Sydney.
25 Jul 2015 02:46 GMT
An Australian nurse who worked as a medic for the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) group has been arrested and is expected to face terrorism-related offences after returning to Sydney.
Adam Brookman, 39, voluntarily returned to Australia with a police escort on Friday night on a flight from Turkey, where he had surrendered to authorities after reportedly fleeing from Syria in December.
"A 39-year-old Australian national was arrested upon arrival at Sydney International Airport last night on an interstate arrest warrant, relating to his alleged involvement in the conflict in Syria," the Australian Federal Police said in a statement on Saturday.
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