Six In The Morning Sunday August 2

PATRICK COCKBURN

Turkey-Kurdish conflict: Obama's deal with Ankara is a betrayal of Syrian Kurds and may not even weaken Isis

World View: Since the accord, the Turks have only waged war on Kurds while no US bomber has used Incirlik airbase

The deal between the US and Turkey which will allow American bombers to use Incirlik airbase while Turkey takes action against Islamic State (Isis) looks stranger and stranger. When first announced over a week ago, US officials spoke triumphantly of the agreement being “a game-changer” in the war against Isis. In fact, the war waged by Turkey in the days since this great American diplomatic success has been almost entirely against the Kurds, at home and abroad.

Turkish jets are pounding sites occupied by the PKK (Kurdistan Workers Party) guerrillas in the Qandil Mountains and other parts of northern Iraq. Inside Turkey, the majority of those detained by the security forces turn out to be Kurdish or left-wing activists and not suspected Isis sympathisers. Prosecutions are threatened against MPs of the largely Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) which has tirelessly advocated peace between the PKK and the Turkish government. Evidently, the HDP’s offence was to win 13 per cent of the votes in Turkey’s general election on 7 June, thereby depriving President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s ruling AKP of its parliamentary majority for the first time since 2002.

UK and France set "top priority" to end migrant crisis in Calais

UK and French ministers have published a joint statement committing to solving the migrant crisis in Calais together. They warned there was "no easy way into the UK."

The statement from French Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve and his British counterpart, Theresa May, appeared in France's "Journal Du Dimanche" and in Britain's "Telegraph" newspaper.

"Tackling this situation is the top priority for the UK and French governments. We are committed and determined to solve this, and to solve it together," the ministers said.

The British government has committed 10 million euros ($11 million) to improve fencing and security around the Eurotunnel rail terminal. An additional 120 French police were sent to Calais this week.

Thousands of migrants have made their way to Calais after arriving in Europe from Syria, Libya, Eritrea and other African and Middle East countries in the hope of getting into Britain.

MIFF 2015: George Gittoes' Snow Monkey shows the other face of Afghanistan

August 2, 2015 - 3:17PM

Karl Quinn

National Film Editor

The Taliban have had a bum rap, says Australian artist and filmmaker George Gittoes. "Oh, absolutely. We have a fantastic relationship with the Taliban. The whole conflict in Afghanistan has been grossly misreported."

Gittoes ought to know. Since 2011, he and his partner Hellen Rose have been running The Yellow House in Jalalabad, a major city in eastern Afghanistan, near the border with Pakistan. An arts and community hub with 18 residents (all adult), The Yellow House is where he teaches the basics of filmmaking and distribution to a gang of street kids called the snow monkeys – so named because they wander the city selling icy poles out of small refrigerated push-along carts. Here, too, the kids have received tutoring that's helped them get into school – and to glimpse for the first time the possibility of a life beyond the street.

Turning the Taliban: A Rare Visit to Deradicalization Center in Pakistan

by WAJAHAT S. KHAN

BARA, Pakistan — The whitewashed mansion once housed a millionaire — but these days its marbled halls are home to a military experiment on returning former Taliban fighters to mainstream society.

The deradicalization center in war-torn Bara resembles a typical elite boarding school: there's a library, dormitory, canteen, recess and different sports teams. Its students are a select few — but weren't chosen for their academic strengths.

NBC News was granted access to one of the Pakistani military's three deradicalization centers in Bara — a critical component in the nation's war against terrorism. Pakistan's military has been accused by human-rights groups of abusing or even killing suspects in its custody.

Trial of Al Jazeera staff adjourned for tenth time

Cairo court once again delays verdict in retrial of Baher Mohamed, Mohamed Fahmy and Peter Greste.

02 Aug 2015 09:16 GMT 

The retrial of three Al Jazeera journalists has been adjourned for a tenth time in Egypt.

The Cairo court said on Sunday that a verdict in the case would now be delivered on August 29.

Egyptian Baher Mohamed, Canadian Mohamed Fahmy and Australian Peter Greste were found guilty in June 2014 of aiding a terrorist organisation, a reference to the Muslim Brotherhood, which was outlawed in Egypt after the army overthrew President Mohamed Morsi in 2013.

Greste and Fahmy received seven years, while Mohamed was given 10 years.

After the announcement that the trial had once again been adjourned, Greste described the situation as "frustrating as hell".

Dan RoanBBC SPORTS EDITOR

Leaked IAAF doping files: Wada 'very alarmed' by allegations

2 August 2015Last updated at 06:30 GMT

The World Anti-Doping Agency (Wada) says it is "very alarmed" after fresh allegations of suspected doping emerged in a leak of test data.

The Sunday Times  and German broadcaster ARD/WRD have obtained access to the results of 12,000 blood tests from 5,000 athletes.

According to the newspaper, the evidence - which has been seen by the BBC - reveals the "extraordinary extent of cheating" by athletes at the world's biggest events.

Wada's independent commission will investigate the claims in the ARD/WRD documentary Doping - Top Secret: The Shadowy World of Athletics. 

Wada president Sir Craig Reedie said his organisation was "very disturbed by these new allegations... which will, once again, shake the foundation of clean athletes worldwide".