Kabul: Afghan forces 'end Intercontinental Hotel siege'
A 12-hour siege of a luxury hotel by gunmen in the Afghan capital has come to an end, security forces say.
Six civilians, including a foreign woman, died at the Intercontinental Hotel in Kabul, along with three attackers, the interior ministry said.
Some 160 people were rescued after Afghan troops fought through the night to regain control of the building.
Questions are being asked as to how the heavily-armed gang was able to enter such a highly-fortified place.
No group has yet said it was behind the attack, although suspicion will fall on the Taliban who targeted the hotel in 2011.
Anger that drove the Arab spring is flaring again
Riots in Tunisia echo the events of 2011, when unrest swept the Middle East
When the people of Balta wanted to protest, they had to leave town. “This place is so small that blocking the road is like sitting in your own hall – no one notices,” said Wathik Balti, a 19-year-old student.
So in December, they headed to the nearest motorway, where dozens of them blocked an important junction for hours and called on the government to do something about the lack of jobs, the chronic corruption and the faltering public services that blight the picturesque village.
But while Balta is out of the way, it turned out to be ahead of its time. A couple of weeks later similar protests sprang up in bigger towns and cities across the country, occasionally turning violent. One person was killed, and hundreds were arrested.
Women's March 2018: Hollywood A-listers Natalie Portman, Viola Davis and Scarlett Johansson address crowds at LA rally
Hundreds of thousands of people flood streets of Los Angeles in one of the biggest marches across the USElizabeth Segal Los Angeles
In what was said to be the largest of the Women’s Marches held across the US, hundreds of thousands of Los Angeles residents poured onto their city’s downtown streets, joined by a number of Hollywood stars as they once again looked to "resist" President Donald Trump.
“Ugh - Where Do I Even Begin?” read a sign that spoke volumes about the large swath of issues addressed by a demonstrative crowd in their chants and placards. Anger about the government shutdown was palpable, as was frustration with myriad Trump Administration policies, but the marchers also picked up on topics that have gained traction since the first marches on the president's inauguration day one year ago - such as the fight against sexual harassment and assault that has swept through the entertainment business and beyond.
Fact-CheckIs There Truth To Refugee Rape Reports?
Right-wing websites claim that Germany is facing an alleged epidemic of rape cases committed by refugees, fueling panic about the recent influx of foreigners and the safety of women in the country. We investigated one site's reports and found many problems with them. By DER SPIEGEL Staff
On April 6, 2016, an unidentified assailant attacked a 20-year-old woman on a playground in the German port city of Rostock and forced her to engage in oral sex before fleeing the scene. The woman reported that the man had been dark-skinned.
On Aug. 6, 2016, an unidentified man attacked a 21-year-old female university student from China near the university of Bochum, choked her with a rope and raped her. The woman said the perpetrator had spoken with a foreign accent. The police conducted a manhunt for a suspect with a "Central Asian/dark skin type."
The two rapes in Germany were picked up by the national media. But one of them didn't even happen.
Greek hardliners plan mass protest over Macedonia name row
Thousands of people are expected to take to the streets of northern Greece's biggest city Thessaloniki on Sunday as hardliners seek to block any deal in the long-running name dispute between Athens and Skopje that contains the term Macedonia.
Athens argues that the name Macedonia suggests that Skopje has territorial claims to the northern Greek region of the same name, of which Thessaloniki is the capital.
Hardline clerics, far-right leaders and Greek diaspora groups have called for rallies, and Greek media reports say 30,000 people are expected to demonstrate in Thessaloniki alone, with more than 400 buses bringing people in from across the country.
"The mobilisation of the people has exceeded all expectations, " Irini Leonardou, a member of the rally's organising committee, told AFP.
How the seizure of a US spy ship by North Korea nearly sparked nuclear war
Updated 0007 GMT (0807 HKT) January 21, 2018
"This is it, they're taking us out here to kill us," Stu Russell thought as he trudged through the snow in the middle of the night into a dark forest.
Russell was one of 83 Americans held captive inside North Korea, following the seizure of the USS Pueblo spy ship in international waters, on January 23, 1968.
For weeks they were kept in a sparse, freezing-cold building they nicknamed "the Barn." It had no running water and was infested with rats and bed bugs. Inside, the men were denied sleep, forced into stress positions, whipped and beaten. Their officers, particularly Lloyd Bucher, the ship's commander, came in for vicious punishments, as their interrogators demanded they sign "confessions" stating they were illegally spying in North Korean territorial waters when they were captured.
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