US fighter jets target ISIL in Libya for first time
Washington says air raids aimed at backing Libyan forces seeking to retake city of Sirte from the group.
US fighter jets have carried out air raids on positions of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) in the Libyan city of Sirte for the first time, according to the country's unity government.
"The first American air strikes on precise positions of the Daesh (ISIL) organisation were carried out today, causing heavy losses ... in Sirte," Prime Minister Fayez al-Sarraj said in a speech on television on Monday.
The Pentagon said the raids were launched in response to a request from the unity government, known as the Government of National Authority (GNA). China puts human rights activists on trial
Prominent rights lawyer filmed denouncing campaigners and blaming ‘foreign forces’ for law firm’s activities
China has has put on trial a number of detained human rights activists, handing down a suspended three-year sentence to one activist after he reportedly confessed to colluding to subvert the state.
Zhai Yamin, who has been accused of working with rights lawyers from the Fengrui law firm, was given a relatively light sentence, suggesting he might have cooperated with the investigation.
Authorities have detained and arrested hundreds of activists and lawyers since the government deepened a crackdown on dissent in mid-2015. Many of those detained were associated with the Fengrui law firm, previously headed by Zhou Shifeng, who is also expected to go on trial this week.
America's parallel societies
Trump has been condemned after recent verbal attacks on the Muslim parents of a fallen soldier and his crude comments about Ukraine. But many of his followers barely notice any of it, says DW 's Ines Pohl.
The Washington Post speaks of an outrage; the New York Times went as far as calling it an extreme crisis. Even liberal TV channels such as MSNBC and CNN seem to focus only on one main issue these days: how could Donald Trump have dared to insult the parents of an American soldier, who had died in combat in Iraq?
Without prejudice, Trump's total lack of respect and empathy appear to be taking on exceptional facets in this instance - even by his very own standards. This might be down to the fact that the Muslim couple really managed to hit the Republican presidential candidate hard, lashing out at him directly during the Democratic National Convention for never having sacrificed anything for the United States. They juxtaposed Donald Trump and his recurring rhetoric demanding a categorical ban on Muslims entering the US with the ultimate sacrifice they and many other Muslim and other immigrant families have had to endure: the life of their beloved child.
Venezuela clears presidential recall vote hurdle, but no date set
Latest update : 2016-08-02
Venezuela’s opposition gathered enough signatures to proceed with efforts to call a referendum on removing President Nicolas Maduro, electoral authorities said Monday, without setting a date for the next step.
The head of the National Electoral Council (CNE), Tibisay Lucena, told a press conference Maduro’s opponents had cleared the threshold of 200,000 valid signatures on a petition demanding the leftist leader face a recall referendum.
The opposition blames Maduro for an economic crisis that has seen food shortages, hyperinflation, violence and looting erupt in the once-booming oil giant.
The council did not set a date for the next stage of the lengthy recall process, in which the opposition must collect four million signatures in just three days.
Postcard program tracks education of children in India's migrant families
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More than 10 million children are estimated to migrate with their families to different parts of India every year. As part of the postcard program, they send confirmation that they're back in school when they go home.
CHENNAI, INDIA — Over the last two years, G Prakash Raj, a charity worker from India's Tamil Nadu state, has received hundreds of yellow postcards. Each reads the same.
Sent by a migrant child, the postcard informs Raj that the child is safely back home, and more importantly, back in school.
The postcard program was launched in Tamil Nadu in 2014 as a way of tracking the education of some of the more than 10 million children who are estimated to migrate with their families to different parts of India every year.
Election hit-list? Politicians' unsolved killings mar South African campaign
Updated 0829 GMT (1629 HKT) August 2, 2016
The killing happened in broad daylight.
It was Mandela Day, a day many South Africans dedicate to helping others.
Khanyisile Ngobesi-Sibisi's car was full of blankets to donate to charity, but as she drove around a bend near the edge of this small town, a white car pulled up alongside her convoy.
"She was following me from behind. I heard the first gunshot; not knowing my mother had been shot. Then I heard the second gunshot," says Zhamokhule, her 18-year-old son.
Two gunmen shot Khanyisile eight times through the driver's side door and window, according to witnesses.
"I can't explain the feeling I was having," Zhamokhule says. "I was shocked by disbelief that my mother had been shot."
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