What is left of ISIL in Iraq?
Far from the force that swept across Iraq in mid-2014 and seized control of nearly a third of the country, ISIL today has been weakened significantly, relegated to just a few dozen square kilometres of ground, with manpower in the low thousands.
The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL, also known as ISIS) group was removed last week from yet another stretch of the country, the latest in a series of blows to the once-powerful armed group. The town of Hawija, which ISIL had held since 2014, lies around 240km north of Baghdad and was its last urban stronghold in Iraq.
Inside Life's hotel, a launchpad for crackdown on North Korean refugees
Defectors’ odds of success are lengthening, and not only because of the spies said to have checked in to this Chinese hotel
Life’s business hotel’s reception is perfumed with black vanilla fragrance sticks from Zara Home. Its rooms boast geranium-scented shower gel and stunning river views.
“Really nice,” one satisfied guest wrote on Ctrip, China’s top travel website. “And also interesting to see all the business [people] from North Korea who are also staying there.”
The glowing reviews may not tell the whole story. This 20-floor riverside retreat is reportedly one of at least two hotels in the pretty Chinese border town of Dandong used by North Korean “abduction teams” tasked with hunting down defectors fleeing one of the world’s most repressive regimes.
Thor star Tessa Thompson: Harvey Weinstein allegations show 'systemic' disrespect of women in Hollywood
Exclusive: 'I hope it opens a bigger conversation,' says Thompson
Tessa Thompson has spoken out against Harvey Weinstein and the “systemic” culture of disrespect towards women in Hollywood.
The New York Times published an account of sexual harassment allegations against the movie mogul going back 30 years - with more and more women from the industry coming forward to talk about their experiences.
Thompson, who plays Valkyrie in the upcoming Thor: Ragnarok, has spoken up about her own disrespectful treatment working with male filmmakers.
“It’s something that I have experienced in a more benign sense by just feeling like I’m not treated with the same respect, professional respect as my male cohorts are,” the actress told The Independent.
Turkey's prosecution of German journalist Mesale Tolu 'unlawful'
The German journalist and translator Mesale Tolu has been in a Turkish jail since April. Her trial begins on October 11. Her lawyer, Ezgi Gungordu, spoke to DW about filing for her release.
DW: When and under what circumstances was Mesale Tolu arrested?
Ezgi Gungordu: Tolu was arrested on April 30 in a police house raid. She was charged on May 6 with being a "member of an armed terrorist organization" and "spreading terrorist propaganda." She has spent five-and-a-half months in custody. She had been working as a reporter and translator for the news agency ETHA, which is not connected to armed actions. The indictment cites her membership in the Socialist Party of the Oppressed (ESP) as membership in a terrorist organization. In regards to ETHA, we see this as an effort to undermine journalism.
Olympic stadium worker's suicide was 'death from overwork'
TOKYO (AFP) -
A 23-year-old construction worker on Tokyo's Olympic Stadium killed himself due to overwork, his family's lawyer said on Wednesday, the latest in a series of cases that have sparked alarm in the workaholic nation.
The employee, whose name has not been released, began working on the project in December and clocked around 200 hours of overtime in the month before his body was found in April.
The official labour bureau has now concluded he had become mentally ill "due to excessively long working hours at the Olympic stadium", lawyer Hiroshi Kawahito said in a statement sent to AFP.
His parents applied for compensation in July and asked the government to recognise his suicide as a case of "karoshi" or death from overwork.
Following the Money: Uncovering a Chinese state secret
China has a long list of state secrets - how many people it puts to death every year, and even the birthdays of its top leaders. But now, overseas researchers have uncovered another Chinese state secret: how much money Beijing gives in aid to other countries.
Not very long ago, China was a foreign aid recipient. Now, it rivals the United States as one of the world's largest donors, through traditional development aid or through financial loans.
For the first time, a large group of researchers outside China have compiled a major database detailing virtually all of China's financial money flow to recipient countries. Citing more than 5,000 projects found across 140 countries, it reveals that China and the US rival each other in terms of how much they offer to other countries.
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