Iraqi Kurds launch offensive to retake Sinjar from ISIL
Peshmerga fighters, backed by US-led coalition jets, close in on three fronts in bid to cut off ISIL supply lines.
| War & Conflict, Iraq, Syria, United States, Middle East
Kurdish Iraqi fighters, backed by US-led coalition warplanes, have launched a major offensive to retake the strategic town of Sinjar in northern Iraq from Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) fighters.
A statement from the Kurdish Regional Security Council on Thursday said about 7,500 Peshmerga fighters were closing in on the mountain town from three fronts in an effort to cut off ISIL supply lines.
Al Jazeera's Imran Khan, reporting from the city of Erbil, said US-led coalition warplanes bombed ISIL positions in the region on Wednesday evening, ahead of what Kurdish officials called "Operation Free Sinjar".
"What we are hearing is that a number of air strikes have taken place before the offensive began on the ground in the early hours of Thursday. Kurdish Peshmerga troops and Yazidi militias have moved towards the central area under ISIL control," Khan said.Apple store accused of racial profiling after video shows staff ejecting black students
Staff member recorded saying security guards wanted group of six teenagers to leave Melbourne store because they were worried ‘they might steal something’
A group of black teenagers was told to leave an Apple store in Melbourne because staff were worried they “might steal something”.
A video of the interaction between a Highpoint Apple store staff member and a group of students was uploaded to Facebook on Tuesday night.
The six boys from Maribyrnong College were denied entry to the store by a staff member and two security guards.
“These guys [security guards] are just a bit worried about your presence in our store. They’re just worried you might steal something,” the Apple staff member says in the video.
A member of the group replied: “Why would we steal something?”
Many comments on social media say it was a blatant case of racial profiling.
“That’s what people do, racial profiling happens a lot, and white Australians want to ignore that. Smart of u guys for recording it,” Fardawsa Shanino wrote on Facebook.Use of torture for forced confessions still ‘rampant’ in China, claims Amnesty International
Torture techniques used include starvation, sleep deprivation and police beatings
Using torture techniques to extract confessions from suspects is still “entrenched” in pre-trial detention in China, a report has warned.
Additionally, when lawyers have attempted to protest, defend or raise the issue of the torture of their clients, they have endured torture themselves.
The report No End in Sight by Amnesty International revealed the widespread use of torture in the country.
The human rights organisation interviewed 37 lawyers and analysed a sample of 590 court decisions to reach their conclusion.
The report details various methods of pre-trial torture used, including beatings by police or other detainees on officer’s orders.
According to Amnesty, ‘confessions’ form the basis of most convictions in China so there is “an almost irresistible incentive for law enforcement agencies to obtain them by any means necessary”.
NZ PM John Key claims he is the victim in 'backing the rapists' parliamentary uproar
Lia Timson and Sam Sachdeva
An MP ejected from the New Zealand Parliament for speaking out against sexual violence and the Australian mistreatment of detainees on Christmas Island is demanding NZ Prime Minister John Key apologise for accusing her party of defending rapists.
Labour's Clare Curran, who is associate spokesperson for the Justice and Commerce portfolio, was one of 12 women MPs to walk out or be ejected when they rose to protest Mr Key's claims.
Mr Key caused uproar with the comments made in defence of the country's official reaction to Australia's policy of deporting detained New Zealanders.He said the Labour Party was "backing the rapists", as well as murderers and child molesters, by demanding more be done for the detainees.
U.S. agents arrest members of Venezuelan President's family in Haiti
Updated 0558 GMT (1358 HKT) November 12, 2015
U.S. federal agents have detained two members of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro's family in Haiti, according to a Drug Enforcement Administration source who participated in the arrest.
The two men, identified as Efrain Antonio Campo Flores and Francisco Flores Freites, were arrested Tuesday night in the Haitian capital of Port-au-Prince as they were preparing to finalize a deal that would have allowed them to transport 800 kilograms of drugs to the United States, the source said.
One of the men was raised by Venezuelan first lady Cilia Flores; the other is her nephew.
Information about the arrest was corroborated by Mike Vigil, a former chief of international operations for the Drug Enforcement Administration who has contacts that are high-level federal law enforcement officials.
A look at the growth of Israeli settlements over the years
The European Union's move to label goods produced in Israeli settlements is the latest expression of international disapproval of one of the country's most controversial policies.
The Palestinians view Jewish settlements in the West Bank and east Jerusalem as a major obstacle to reaching any two-state solution, saying they carve up lands expected to form a future Palestinian state. Virtually the entire international community, including the United States, views the settlements as illegal or illegitimate.
Israel has long dismissed the criticism, saying most settlement growth is in areas it expects to keep in any future peace agreement and that the issue should be resolved in peace talks along with other core issues like security and borders. Many Israelis want to keep the West Bank and east Jerusalem -- territories captured from Jordan in the 1967 Arab-Israeli war -- citing security concerns as well as the deep religious significance of the territories for devout Jews.
No comments:
Post a Comment