Iran covertly recruits Afghan soldiers to fight in Syria
Shia men from Afghanistan are coaxed into war to support Syrian president Bashar al-Assad, Guardian investigation reveals
Iran is covertly recruiting hundreds of Afghan Shias in Afghanistan to fight for Syrian president Bashar al-Assad, drawing them out of their own conflict-ridden country and into another war in which Afghanistan plays no official part.
The Afghan fighters are often impoverished, religiously devout or ostracised from society, looking for money, social acceptance and a sense of purpose that they are unable to find at home.
Iran’s recruitment of Afghan migrants and refugees within its own borders has been documented. But similar Iranian activities inside Afghanistan had previously gone unreported.
Iran denies using “any kind of allurement or coercion”, or to otherwise recruiting Afghans to fight in Syria, according to an embassy spokesman in Kabul. But a Guardian investigation can reveal both how Iran coaxes Afghan men into war, and the motives that prompt these men to travel thousands of miles to join a battle they might not return from.
Chilling images show Istanbul bombers - and how they 'herded' victims to create more chaos and carnage
'The other two took advantage of the panic to get inside'
Turkish officials have released CCTV images appearing to show two of the three suicide bombers who killed at least 42 people at Istanbul’s Ataturk airport, as more details emerged of how the attackers acted with deadly precision to target as many people as possible.
In a briefing, the Turkish prime minister Binali Yildirim said officials now believe the first attacker detonated his bomb outside the airport’s international arrivals hall – so his accomplices could take advantage of the chaos inside.
Turkey has blamed Isis for the attack, which injured a further 239 people, though there has been no official claim of responsibility from the group.
Philippines swears in 'vigilante president' Duterte
The incoming president of the Philippines, Rodrigo Duterte, has taken office vowing to launch a violent crack down on crimes and criminals. But critics fear his support for vigilantism will worsen the cycle of violence.
Rodrigo Duterte was sworn in as the country's 16th president on Thursday, and minutes later he told the nation that he would wage a "relentless" and "sustained" battle against crime and warned officials that he would not tolerate corruption.
Duterte has capitalized on his image as a man-of-the-people with no tolerance for the nation's political and business elite.
"When I become president, by the grace of God, I serve the people, not you," he told reporters in the final stages of the election campaign, referring to the elite. "My problem is the people at the bottom of society... my problem is how to place food on the table."
‘Get back to Africa’ video highlights rise in racist attacks post Brexit
“Get back to Africa”. If the teenagers shouting this abuse in a Manchester tram had been a little bit smarter, they would have realized that the man they were insulting had an American accent. Indeed, Juan Jasso is an American who has lived in the United Kingdom for 18 years.
But intelligence was clearly not these teenagers’ strong suit, as we can see in the video filmed by a passenger on Tuesday. It shows the former soldier being verbally abused by the young men, who call him an immigrant and shout at him to “f---ing get off the tram now. Don’t chat sh--- or get deported.”
Jasso stays calm, and asks them, “What are you, 18, 19? I’ve been here longer than you have.” One of the teenagers then flicks beer at him from the bottle he’s carrying. Passengers yell at the teenagers: “You are an absolute disgrace, a disgrace to England”. The teens then get off the tram, all the while continuing to hurl abuse.
Inside Britain's secret weapons research facility
As Porton Down marks its 100th anniversary, what really goes on inside Britain's most secretive and controversial military research base?
Porton Down - also known as the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory - is where much of our top-secret military research is concentrated. It has a budget of £500m a year and employs more than 3,000 scientists. It is the most controversial, most misunderstood and, some say, most-feared scientific institution in Britain. Though many will have heard of Porton Down, few will have much idea about what goes on inside.
So I was delighted when I was invited to go behind the fence, make a documentary about the research that goes on there.
Hong Kong's Brexit ambitions: Could city ever be independent from China?
Updated 0442 GMT (1242 HKT) June 30, 2016
Hong Kong has its own legal system, government, currency, flag and Olympic sports team.
So could the city -- officially a Special Administrative Region of China -- ever become fully independent? That's what an increasing number of people, frustrated by a stalled political reform process and perceived Chinese encroachment, are asking.
The city's leaders, and Beijing, have dismissed the calls out of hand -- with some commentators even suggesting discussion of independence could be a criminal offense. But in the wake of the UK's shock vote to leave the European Union and the increasing likelihood that Scotland andCatalonia will break away in the near future, is it so crazy to suggest that Hong Kong could go it alone?
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