Syria's Daraya bombing: France 'outraged beyond words'
Western powers flay government for dropping barrel bombs on town shortly after delivery of first food aid in four years.
Western powers have criticised President Bashar al-Assad's government, accusing its forces of dropping barrel bombs on the Syrian town of Daraya just hours after it received its first food aid in almost four years.
The strikes in Daraya on Friday used crude unguided weapons that kill indiscriminately.
On Saturday, in a separate incident, twin explosions rocked southern Damascus in which at least two people were killed, Syrian state media reported.
Isis in Libya: Government forces 'capture key port of Sirte' as battles to drive out jihadists continue
Battles are still taking place in the city centre as government forces advanced from three sides
Forces fighting Isis in Libya claim to have taken the port of Sirte as troops battle to drive jihadists out of their biggest stronghold outside Syria and Iraq.
Militias aligned with the new Government of National Accord (GNA) are being backed by air strikes and bombardment from naval ships as they fight to dislodge militants from the city centre.
Leaders said senior Isis members had fled into the desert to the south, while there were reports of the group’s fighters shaving off beards and cutting their hair in attempts to blend in with displaced civilians.
The "squirrel man" replanting Iran's forests
OBSERVERS
Huge oak forests are in the process of dying in the area around Mount Zagros, in western Iran. The culprit isn’t drought or deforestation, it’s squirrel poaching. These animals are essential to the forest ecosystem because they bury the acorns that grow into trees. One man decided to take up the fight for these little rodents and the big forests they care for.
Once captured, squirrels are often sold as pets in markets across Iran for roughly 15-30 euros. In the forest, the animals make a habit of burying acorns and various seeds to save them for later. However, they often forget where they’ve buried these reserves and their hidden acorns can grow peacefully into trees.
Squirrel poachers also use methods that destroy the forest. For example, they often set fire to the trees where the squirrels take refuge. By law, a poacher who destroys a tree faces a fine of 800,000 Iranian rials (equivalent to roughly 20 euros), while hunting a squirrel can result in a fine of 3,500,000 Iranian rials (equivalent to roughly 100 euros). But this isn't enforced.
Bangladesh unravels the targeted slaughter of secular thinkers
June 11, 2016 - 3:14PMGeeta Anand
Dhaka: The young man, inching past a crowded checkpoint near a truck stand in Bangladesh's capital, caught the attention of an alert police officer.
His backpack, together with his appearance, from the unshaven beard to the long Punjabi tunic over baggy pants, set off the suspicion that he was an Islamist militant. The man was arrested after he was found to be carrying a machete, an unregistered pistol and six bullets.
The discovery of the weapons raised alarms. For the last three years, atheist writers, freethinkers, foreigners, religious minorities, gay rights activists and others have been terrorised and killed in Bangladesh by shadowy figures who have struck with machetes and sped off on motorbikes.How Thailand kept cigarettes cheap despite a tax hike
State-owned company says new brand aims to protect health of low-income smokers, but campaigners decry double standards.
Smokers in Thailand have been paying considerably more for their cigarettes after the government introduced a tax increase earlier this year.
The three-percent tax hike caused cigarette prices in the country to go up by 30 to 76 cents and resulted in an immediate downturn in sales by around 15 percent.
But, in a move that upset anti-smoking campaigners, the government's own tobacco company responded to the new regulations by offering a cheaper alternative.
Thailand's state owned Tobacco Monopoly introduced the country's newest brand of cigarette, "Line 7.1", just weeks after the government increased the cigarette tax.
NEW NATION, OLD WAR
“We Can Assassinate You at Any Time” — Journalists Face Abduction and Murder in South Sudan
Nick Turse
H AKIM WAS HOME alone with his two dogs, relaxing one night in March, when his cellphone rang. The man on the other end of the line asked a simple question: “Do you know that we can assassinate you at any time?”
In seconds, the line went dead.
Harassment is nothing new for Hakim. The 30-year-old has been questioned by national security operatives many times. But none of those experiences was quite like the assassination threat.
“This last one was really serious,” he says, with understatement.
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