Iran-Iraq earthquake: Deadly tremor hits border region
A 7.3-magnitude earthquake has shaken the northern border region between Iran and Iraq, killing at least 335 people and injuring thousands more.
One Iranian aid agency said 70,000 people needed shelter after the quake, one of the largest this year.
The majority of those who died were in Iran's western Kermanshah province. Nearly 4,000 were said to be injured.
Seven people died in Iraq, where people fled into the streets in the capital, Baghdad.
Mosques in the city have been broadcasting prayers through loudspeakers.
"I was sitting with my kids having dinner and suddenly the building was just dancing in the air," a Baghdad mother-of-three, Majida Ameer, told Reuters news agency.
What do Europeans consider sexual harassment?
Does a sex joke constitute sexual assault? Or only if they grab your bottom? A survey shows that tolerance levels vary across Europe. EU countries deal differently with sexual harassment, and Germany often lags behind.
Sexual harassment comes in many forms. It could be your boss giving you an unsolicited neck massage. Or a slap on a woman’s bottom, or an arm around her waist. If a man coerces his female colleague to watch porn, some deem that a clear instance of sexual harassment. But what about a (possibly well-intended) compliment on her tight-fitting dress?The Weinstein affair has brought to light countless other sordid incidents, opening people's eyes to how many men routinely behave in an unacceptable way towards women. The hashtag #MeToo is indicative of the number of women all over the world who have experienced sexual harassment. However, critics point out that it is not always clear what exactly those affected are referring to.
Australian academic's book pulled over China backlash fears
An Australian publisher has shelved plans to release a book detailing alleged Chinese interference in the country over fears of legal attacks by Beijing, the author said Monday.
Academic Clive Hamilton said his book "Silent Invasion" was pulled by publisher Allen & Unwin last week just as it was about to go to press.
He told AFP that Allen & Unwin had cited "serious... threats" of possible legal action from Beijing should the company release the work.
The book, which was to be his ninth with the publishing house, included the names of individuals and organisations trying to influence Australian society and politics in China's interests, Hamilton said.
Accounts of rape, burning children and murder
How a Rohingya massacre unfolded at Tula Toli
Updated 0507 GMT (1307 HKT) November 13, 2017
Discarded and left for dead, Mumtaz says she found herself on top of a mound of charred, entangled bodies.
"They killed and killed and piled the bodies up high. It was like cut bamboo," says Mumtaz, a Rohingya woman from the village of Tula Toli in western Myanmar.
"In the pile there was someone's neck, someone's head, someone's leg. I was able to come out, I don't know how.
ARKANSAS JUSTICE: RACISM, TORTURE, AND A BOTCHED EXECUTION
JUST OVER SIX MONTHS have passed since the disturbing execution of Kenneth Williams, but as far as the state of Arkansas is concerned, it might as well be ancient history. No sooner did media witnesses return to the press room on the night of April 27 to describe how Williams coughed and convulsed on the gurney than officials acted like nothing had happened. Never mind the veteran reporter who said it was unlike any execution he had ever seen. Gov. Asa Hutchinson dismissed calls for an investigation. “My goal was to make sure that we had justice in Arkansas in a way that reflected well on the state,” he said the next day, “and I think that was accomplished.”
In reality, the apparently botched execution was the culmination of an ugly ordeal that had put Arkansas at the center of international controversy for weeks. Hutchinson had originally scheduled execution dates for eight men to take place over 11 days last spring, in a rush to use drugs set to expire at the end of April. The plan sparked chaos, with defense attorneys scrambling to write clemency petitions, state lawyers beating back legal challenges, and prison staff preparing to try out a questionable sedative, midazolam, never previously used in Arkansas. The drug has been linked to several executions gone awry, and many observers warned something was bound to go wrong. Of the four executions that proceeded, Williams’s fulfilled the worst predictions. One attorney called it “horrifying.”
Somaliland vote: Young people decry clan politics
by Megan Iacobini de Fazio
One evening in October, the three presidential candidates in Somaliland's elections sat backstage in one of Hargeisa's best hotels, listening to a briefing about the televised debate they were about to take part in.
No talk of clan or personality, they were admonished, and no personal attacks. Instead, the candidates were to focus strictly on foreign policy, domestic policy and socioeconomic plans.
This landmark event was organised not by top-tier politicians, but by a group of very young Somalis, who, dissatisfied with the level of political discourse, came together to draw attention to some of the issues affecting the country's youngest citizens.
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