Is this Iran's 'Chernobyl moment'?
Updated 1414 GMT (2214 HKT) January 14, 2020
Iran's admission that it mistakenly shot down a passenger plane sent protesters pouring into the streets over the weekend. Though demonstrations were smaller on Monday and nearly outnumbered by riot police, some observers have already begun to wonder if this could be the beginning of the end for the current regime.
After days of denial and obfuscation, Iranian officials finally acknowledged early Saturday that its military had shot down a Ukraine International Airlines jet, killing all 176 people on board, many of whom were Iranian citizens.
Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif blamed "human error" prompted by "US adventurism," alluding to the escalating brinkmanship between Iran and the United States over the US killing of a revered Iranian commander, Qasem Soleimani.
Deutsche Welle staff speak out about alleged racism and bullying
Whistleblowers say workers who raise concerns at German state broadcaster are silenced
Sexual harassment, racism, antisemitism and severe bullying have been taking place at the state-funded German public broadcaster Deutsche Welle, staff members have told the Guardian.
Mid- and top-level managers ignore, target or silence staff who speak out, dismissing them or restricting their shifts, according to former and current staff members.
Deutsche Welle, which is financed by tax revenue, has around 1,500 employees and is comparable to the BBC World Service. It launched in 1953 and produces content on TV, radio and online in 30 languages.
"Anyone who should be punished must be punished": First arrests made in Iran plane crash investigation
Iran's President Rouhani has announced the launch of a thorough investigation into last week's plane crash over Tehran. Iranian authorities have said some of those accused of having a role in the disaster have been arrested already. Yuka Royer reports.Libya's Haftar leaves Moscow without signing ceasefire agreement
Turkey's Erdogan criticises breakdown in talks, says Ankara will 'teach Haftar a lesson' if he resumes Tripoli push.
Libya's renegade military commander Khalifa Haftar has left Moscow without signing an agreement that would have formalised a tentative ceasefire in the war-wracked country, according to Russia's foreign ministry.
After hours of negotiations brokered by Russia and Turkey, Haftar on Monday evening asked until Tuesday morning to look over the agreement already signed by Fayez al-Sarraj, the head of the United Nations-recognised Government of National Accord (GNA).
The coming Supreme Court showdown over birth control
Justice Scalia’s death delayed a reckoning. Now the fight over contraception is back.By
As soon as Friday, the Supreme Court could announce that it will hear Trump v. Pennsylvania and Little Sisters of the Poor Saints Peter and Paul Home v. Pennsylvania, two consolidated cases examining the Trump administration’s rules allowing virtually any employer to deny birth control coverage to its employees.
The cases reignite a legal conflict over the rights of employers who object to contraception on religious grounds. This conflict raged throughout much of the Obama administration, then briefly simmered down after Justice Antonin Scalia’s death temporarily stripped conservatives of the Supreme Court majority they needed to expand the rights of religious employers.
The core question in the Pennsylvania cases, however, is not whether the Constitution gives such religious objectors a right to deny contraceptive coverage to their employees. Rather, it’s whether the Trump administration acted properly when it wrote a sweeping exemption into regulations requiring employers to include birth control coverage in employee health plans
Iran nuclear deal: European powers trigger dispute mechanism
European powers have triggered a formal dispute mechanism over Iran's breaches of key parts of the 2015 nuclear deal - a move that could spell its end.
Iran has gradually lifted all limits on its production of enriched uranium, which can be used to make reactor fuel but also nuclear weapons.
It has said it is entitled to do so in response to sanctions reinstated by the US when it abandoned the deal in 2018.
France, Germany and the UK said they did not accept Iran's argument.
The deal saw Iran, which insists that its nuclear programme is exclusively for peaceful purposes, agree to limit its sensitive activities and allow in inspectors in return for the lifting of crippling economic sanctions.
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