Migrant crisis: EU 'to back' visa-free travel for Turkey
The European Commission will give conditional approval for Turks to travel without visas to Europe's passport-free Schengen area, sources have told the BBC.
The move is part of a deal in which Turkey is taking back migrants who have crossed over the Aegean Sea to Greece.
But Turkey must still meet EU criteria, and the deal must be approved by the European Parliament and member states.
The EU fears that without a visa deal, Turkey will not control migration.
The large influx of migrants and refugees arriving in Europe from Turkey, and from North Africa, has caused a political crisis among EU states.
Crackdown in Turkey's Kurdish south-east turns journalists into 'terrorists'
Reporters for pro-Kurdish media are routinely detained, while those of pro-government outlets cannot always write what they want
Refik Tekin, an award-winning photographer and video journalist, had been covering the curfew in the predominantly Kurdish city of Cizre, south-eastTurkey, for more than a month when a report by a pro-government news agency turned him into a terrorist.
Tekin accompanied a group carrying white flags that wanted to retrieve bodies and injured people from a nearby street when security forces suddenly opened fire, wounding nine and killing two, including a member of the city council. Tekin was shot in the leg but kept filming.
A police officer later dragged the injured journalist along the ground to an ambulance. “The policeman shouted at me, telling me not to look at him. He said: ‘You are all terrorists, you will see the strengths of the Turks!’ This struck me as an especially strange thing to say. Am I not a citizen of this country?” said Tekin.
Why we should be mourning the death of the Great Barrier Reef
By now, you've probably heard that at least 90 percent of the Great Barrier Reef has been affected by a global bleaching event. But these "rocks" on the seabed play a key role for life in oceans - and for people, too.
The world's largest coral reef ecosystem is dying at alarming rate - and there are plenty of reasons to care.
The Great Barrier Reef is home to 600 different types of hard and soft corals and thousands of animal species, including threatened species. No other UNESCO World Heritage site boasts such biodiversity.
The reefs provide key protection for the shoreline - without it, surrounding villages would fall into the ocean. Reefs dampen the effect of storms from the open sea and reduce the force of waves, preventing the erosion of shorelines.
But 93 percent of the reef within this rich ecosystem has been affected by coral bleaching - a deadly phenomenon taking place due to environmental changes over the past decades, such as warmer water temperatures and ocean acidification.
IS group suicide vehicles force Iraqi army to change strategy
The Islamic State jihadist organisation’s specialty has become suicide vehicles; it uses them relentlessly in its combat against the Iraqi Army and Kurdish peshmerga forces. All too many videos capture the devastating effects of these attacks. As the IS group continues to use these suicide vehicles, the Iraqi army has had to change their strategy to deal with them.
The vehicles used in suicide bombings by the Islamic State group (IS) are the stuff of nightmares for Iraqi and Kurdish forces. These specially made armored vehicles are filled with several tons of explosives and then used to break up enemy lines. When they go off, they can destroy things within hundreds of metres.
"The IS group triggers a big explosion, usually with a suicide vehicle, and then follows that with a ground attack"
When contacted by FRANCE 24, an arms specialist who wanted to remain anonymous explained that this weapon is often referred to as a SVBIED, or suicide vehicle-borne improvised explosive device.
It's party time as North Korea holds Workers' Party congress in Pyongyang
May 3, 2016 - 6:56PMJack Kim
Seoul: North Korea has started welcoming delegates from around the country to its first ruling party congress in 36 years, state media reported on Tuesday, as rival South Korea expressed concern that Pyongyang could conduct a nuclear test before or during the event.
The isolated North has conducted a series of weapons tests, including three failed launches of an intermediate-range missile, in the run-up to the Workers' Party congress starting in Pyongyang on Friday.
North Korea's young leader Kim Jong-un has aggressively pursued nuclear weapons and could be looking at a successful test this week as a crowning achievement. South Korean Defence Minister Han Min-koo said Pyongyang's fifth nuclear test might come before or around the time of the opening of the congress.
Brazil blocks WhatsApp
Updated 0629 GMT (1329 HKT) May 3, 2016
A regional judge on Monday ordered all telephone operators in Brazil to block WhatsApp, the popular messaging app owned by Facebook, for failing to turn over data as part of an ongoing drug trafficking investigation.
Starting about 2 p.m., the app ceased to function, a move sure to frustrate and anger Brazilians who use the messaging and free-calling functions regularly.
According to the Sergipe state tribunal's website, the app will be blocked for 72 hours.
Jan Koum, CEO and co-founder of the messaging service, posted a statement on his Facebook page in response to the blocking:
No comments:
Post a Comment