ISIS leadership involved in Istanbul attack planning, Turkish source says
Updated 0330 GMT (1130 HKT) July 1, 2016
Turkish officials have strong evidence that ISIS leadership was involved in the planning of the Istanbul airport terrorist attack, a senior government source told CNN on Thursday.
Officials believe the men -- identified by state media as being from Russia, Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan -- entered Turkey about a month ago from the ISIS stronghold of Raqqa in Syria, bringing with them the suicide vests and bombs used in the attack, the source said.
The terrorists rented an apartment in the Fatih district of Istanbul, where one of the attackers left behind his passport, the Turkish government source said.
The attack was "extremely well planned with ISIS leadership involved," the source said.
Hong Kong protesters call for leader to stand down
Thousands demand resignation of CY Leung who critics accuse of failing to confront China over bookseller scandal
Thousands of demonstrators have taken to the streets of Hong Kong to demand the resignation of its unpopular leader and answers over China’s alleged abduction of five local booksellers.
The march comes a fortnight after a simmering row over China’s detention of the five boiled over again when, after being released, one of the men publicly accused Beijing of sending special forces to take him into secret custody.
Lam Wing-kee, a 61-year-old bookshop manager who spent eight months in detention, had been expected to lead Friday’s march, which is held each year to mark the date of Hong Kong’s return to Chinese rule in 1997. However, just hours before the protest was scheduled to start organisers announced he had pulled out after receiving an unspecified “severe threat”.
In the fight against Isis, there's hope in the history of Islam
There used to be a genuine if imperfect mosaic of tolerance in the Islamic world, according to Islamic scholar Tarif Khalidi
The Near East School of Theology in Beirut is housed in a bland grey and brown building near the Mediterranean Sea. A few days ago, the audience in its underground lecture theatre was witness to one of the most remarkable lectures on ancient and modern Islam in recent times, which – had it been more widely advertised – might have had just about every shade of religious protester huffing and puffing outside in the aptly named Jeanne D’Arc Street.
The speaker was Dr Tarif Khalidi, one of Islam’s foremost scholars and translator of the latest English-language edition of the Koran, whose earlier works on Jesus in Muslim stories match his most recent anthology of Arab literature. The title of his address was an almost frightening world-beater: Does Islam need a Martin Luther?
‘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.
Saudi Arabia 'alarmed and outraged' by rights groups' criticism
July 1, 2016 - 9:53AMLouis Charbonneau
United Nations: Saudi Arabia on Thursday said it was "alarmed and outraged" by a call from Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch for the kingdom to be suspended from the UN Human Rights Council until a Saudi-led military coalition stops killing civilians in Yemen.
The two human rights advocacy groups said the Saudis have had "an appalling record of violations in Yemen while a Human Rights Council member." Saudi Arabia is in its final year of a three-year term on the 47-member Human Rights Council.
A Saudi-led coalition began an air campaign in Yemen in March 2015 to defeat Iran-allied Houthi rebels.
"We were alarmed and outraged at Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch's statement accusing Saudi Arabia of unlawful attacks in Yemen," the Saudi UN mission said in a statement.
More than 100 Nobel laureates are calling on Greenpeace to end its anti-GMO campaign
Updated by Brad Plumer
This week, 109 Nobel laureates signed onto a sharply worded letter to Greenpeace urging the environmental group to rethink its longstanding opposition to genetically modified organisms (GMOs). The writers argue that the anti-GMO campaign is scientifically baseless and potentially harmful to poor people in the developing world.
Joel Achenbach broke the news in the Washington Post, and you can read the full letterhere. The signatories include past winners of the Nobel Prize in medicine, chemistry, physics, and economics.
Nobel laureates to Greenpeace: Your anti-GMO campaign has to end
The letter notes that scientific assessments have repeatedly found GM foods are just as safe to eat as conventional foods and don’t pose an inherent risk to the environment (though, like any technology, they can be misused). Greenpeace, it argues, is on the wrong side here:
No comments:
Post a Comment