Missing Russian jet pilot 'picked up by Syrian army'
A Russian pilot who went missing after his jet was shot down by Turkey was rescued by the Syrian army, Russia's ambassador to France said.
Alexander Orlov told Europe 1 radio the pilot had been taken to a Russian base. However, this report has not yet been confirmed by the authorities in Moscow.
The second pilot, and a marine involved in their rescue operation, were killed, Russia's defence ministry says.
Nato's chief said it stood by member Turkey butechoed calls for calm.
Nato's Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said he backed the Turks' assessment, but added "diplomacy and de-escalation are important to resolve this situation".
Turkey said the jet had strayed into its airspace but Russian President Vladimir Putin insisted the Su-24 had been hit by an air-to-air missile while flying over Syrian territory.
Fears for North Korean refugees who may 'face death' if returned by China
Human Rights Watch urges pressure to be brought to bear on Beijing amid signs the defectors may be forcibly repatriated
Nine North Koreans being held by Chinese authorities face imprisonment, torture and possibly death if they are forcibly repatriated, human rights campaigners have warned.
In an open letter, Human Rights Watch (HRW) urged the South Korean president, Park Geun-hye, to pressure China into allowing the defectors, who include an 11-month-old child, to travel and seek asylum in South Korea or another country of their choice.
“Time is running out for these nine refugees, so president Park needs to immediately press China’s government to ensure this group is not sent back into harm’s way,” said Phil Robertson, Asia deputy director at Human Rights Watch. “No one should forget that if this group is handed over, they will likely disappear into a North Korean prison camp system characterised by torture, violence, and severe deprivation.
“If China sends them back to North Korea, they could well be sending them to their deaths.”
In Burma, false claims of French rally 'to kick out Muslims'
In just 24 hours, this Facebook post in Burmese has been shared more than 5,000 times, and “liked” nearly as much. Two photos of massive protests are captioned “a hundred thousand French people protested on November 22 to kick Muslims out of France”. In Burma, where Islamophobia runs rampant, this seemed believable to many.
The post was spotted by Aung Aung, a Burmese Observer living in France. It was published by a popular Facebook page whose name translates to “Knowledge Digest”. Apparently aimed at young people, this page shares all types of news and opinion, including a lot of anti-Muslim and anti-Rohingya rhetoric. In the past few years, the rise of extremist Buddhist nationalists in Burma has led to growing Islamophobia and persecution of the Rohingyas, a Muslim ethnic minority.
Of course, anyone who pays attention to news from France knows that there have been no major anti-Muslim protests since the November 13 Paris attacks. A quick Google Images search shows that the two photos used in the post are not at all what the caption claims they are.
Of course, anyone who pays attention to news from France knows that there have been no major anti-Muslim protests since the November 13 Paris attacks. A quick Google Images search shows that the two photos used in the post are not at all what the caption claims they are.
Updated: November 25, 2015 14:29 IST
Three militants, civilian killed in Kashmir
Three militants and a civilian were killed in the ongoing operation in an army camp in Tanghdar area in north Kashmir's Kupwara district. A Junior Commissioned Officer was also injured in the attack. Army spokesman Colonel Manish Kumar told The Hindu that "three militants are confirmed dead. The operation is on. The operation will be called off only when the entire area is sanitised," said Colonel Kumar. He said a civilian was also killed in the militant attack on an army camp in Tanghdar area, more than 90 km north of Srinagar.
On Wednesday morning, militants stormed an army installation in Tangdhar area, near the Line of Control in Kupwara district. With fog enveloping the entire Valley, the militants are suspected to have launched the attack early in the morning by sneaking in near the army camp through dense forests in Darshak Forest Range.
There are reports of fire and fume bellowing from the camp as fuel depot is believed to have been hit by the fire. Three massive blasts were heard and the gun fire is going on near the camp site till last reports came in.
Tech world takes on icon-smashing Islamic State with a virtual Palmyra
By drawing on contributors from around the world, the New Palmyra project hopes to reconstruct what jihadists have destroyed at the UNESCO World Heritage site in Syria.
ISTANBUL, TURKEY — Islamic State jihadists may have destroyed some of ancient Palmyra’s most stunning monuments, but tech gurus and digital archaeologists around the world are determined to bring Syria’s cultural treasure back to life in the virtual world.
In so doing, they also hope to help save the life of a Syrian anti-censorship activist and computer engineer who they fear has been sentenced to death by the regime.
By drawing on architectural plans, data, and photographs collected from contributors across the world, the project hopes to reconstruct what has been destroyed in Palmyra. The UNESCO World Heritage site has been targeted in recent months by IS as part of its systematic destruction of competing cultures’ relics in its self-declared “caliphate.”
“We are brothers,” says Dima, his eyes lowered, his fingers fidgeting nervously in his lap.
The 33-year-old builder sits in military fatigues outside an old, single-storey cottage, its windows and doors painted a brilliant blue.
This is Luhanske, a village in the Donetsk region of Ukraine. Scarcely populated even before the conflict broke out with Russia in the summer of 2014, it is now home to just a handful of pro-Russian villagers and dozens of Ukrainian soldiers and contractors - people like Dima, who either occupy the abandoned buildings or hide in the trenches nearby.
It is just 15km from the enemy line.
And on the other side of that line are the people Dima calls brothers; the Russians he says crossed into Donetsk to wrestle the region from the control of the Ukrainian government.
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