| Lawyers urge Britain to accept more Syrian refugees Posted: 11 Oct 2015 04:43 PM PDT  Britain must accept more Syrian refugees faster in response to a humanitarian crisis of people fleeing conflict, a group of over 300 lawyers demanded in a statement released Monday. The group, which includes a former president of Britain's supreme court and other prominent figures, called for the suspension of a system whereby asylum seekers claim asylum in the first EU country to which they arrive. "We consider that the UK Government's offer to resettle 20,000 of the most vulnerable Syrian refugees from camps in the Middle East, spread over five years, is too low, too slow and too narrow," the statement read.
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| Thousands rally against Erdogan as Turkey mourns deadliest attack Posted: 11 Oct 2015 04:16 PM PDT  Thousands of mourners filled the streets of Ankara Sunday and vented their anger at President Recep Tayyip Erdogan after 97 people were killed in the country's worst-ever terror attack, while the government raced to identify the two male suicide bombers it blamed for the bloodshed. Flags flew at half-mast across Turkey on the first of three days of national mourning declared by Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu, as questions grew over who could have ordered Saturday's bombings on a peace rally in Ankara. Turkey's pro-Kurdish Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP), one of the groups that had organised the rally, said it believes the death toll now stands at 128.
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| Britain dismisses reports about air force orders in Iraq Posted: 11 Oct 2015 03:37 PM PDT MOSCOW/LONDON (Reuters) - Russia called in the British defense attache in Moscow on Sunday after a British newspaper published what London said was an inaccurate report that its pilots had been given permission to attack Russian jets if fired on. The British tabloid, Daily Star Sunday, quoted unnamed senior defense sources as saying it was just "a matter of time" before British fighters were involved in a confrontation with Russian jets over Iraq. Moscow this month began bombing rebels in Syria in support of its ally, President Bashar al-Assad. |
| Nine killed in Cameroon blasts blamed on Boko Haram, as Chad toll rises Posted: 11 Oct 2015 02:19 PM PDT  Yaoundé (AFP) - Twin suicide blasts on Sunday killed at least nine people in far northern Cameroon, a day after triple explosions in Chad left 41 dead, in a weekend of violence blamed on Boko Haram Islamists. Both countries are part of a regional coalition that has been fighting the militants, who in recent months have extended their bloody assaults well beyond their traditional fiefdom in northern Nigeria. Two female suicide bombers carried out the attacks in the Cameroonian village of Kangaleri, security and local sources said.
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| Iraqi Kurdish opposition party says asked to leave Arbil Posted: 11 Oct 2015 01:41 PM PDT  Iraqi Kurdish opposition party Gorran said on Sunday its top politicians have been asked by the party of acting regional president Massud Barzani to leave the capital Arbil. The move came amid a wave of violent protests against Barzani in southern opposition strongholds which Barzani's Kurdish Democratic Party accuses Gorran of fomenting. The autonomous region's parliament speaker and ministers from the Gorran party were asked by the KDP to leave the city, a statement said.
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| New tensions in Netherlands over refugees Posted: 11 Oct 2015 01:38 PM PDT  New tensions flared in the Netherlands Sunday over the sensitive issue of taking in migrants, only hours after Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte sharply condemned a "cowardly" attack on a refugee shelter. Tensions are rising in The Netherlands over the thousands of refugees due to be given shelter in the country under a European Union scheme. "This cowardly action is totally unacceptable," Prime Minister Rutte said on his Facebook page, after visiting the group on Saturday who he said had been very "shocked" by the incident.
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| Islamic State figures killed in air strike; Baghdadi not believed among them Posted: 11 Oct 2015 12:51 PM PDT By Ahmed Rasheed BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Eight senior figures from Islamic State were killed in an air strike while meeting in a town in western Iraq, but the group's reclusive leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi did not appear to be among them, residents of the town and hospital sources said. Iraq said on Sunday its air force had hit the meeting and had also struck a convoy that was carrying Baghdadi to attend it. It said Baghdadi had been driven away from the convoy in an unknown condition.The Iraqi military's announcement was the latest unconfirmed report of the possible death or injury of Baghdadi, who has survived a year of U.S.-led air strikes and multi-sided wars in two countries since proclaiming himself caliph of all Muslims after his forces swept through most of northern Iraq last year. |
| Islamic State could gain from Turkish peace rally bombing Posted: 11 Oct 2015 12:13 PM PDT  ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — Thousands mourned the 95 victims of Turkey's deadliest attack in years as state inspectors tried Sunday to identify who sent suicide bombers to a rally promoting peace with Kurdish rebels.
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| Teen activists, future MPs swept away in Ankara attack Posted: 11 Oct 2015 11:44 AM PDT  They came from different backgrounds but died together -- the victims of the bombings in Ankara that killed 95 people ranged from teenage activists and a nine-year-old boy to candidates for parliament and a 70-year-old grandmother. All were caught up in the single most devastating attack in modern Turkey on Saturday, October 10, at 10:04 am (0704 GMT) when two bombs detonated by suspected suicide bombers went off as activists gathered for a peace rally. Images emerged on social media showing snaps of the happy life moments of the victims, ranging from a 70-year-old to 19-year-old students to party members, union workers and leftists activists.
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| Who carried out the Ankara attacks? Posted: 11 Oct 2015 11:26 AM PDT  The Turkish authorities have said one of several groups could be behind the twin suspected suicide attacks in Ankara that killed 95 people, with initial investigations reportedly focusing on IS jihadists. Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said groups including Islamic State (IS) jihadists, the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) and the far-left Revolutionary People's Liberation Party–Front (DHKP-C) were capable of carrying out such an attack. Press reports have indicated that the authorities are looking at the possibility of a link to IS jihadists but this has yet to be confirmed by the government.
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| Syrian army advances with help of Russian strikes; Putin reaches out to Saudis Posted: 11 Oct 2015 10:55 AM PDT  By Vladimir Soldatkin and Suleiman Al-Khalidi SOCHI, Russia/AMMAN (Reuters) - Russian warplanes pounded Syrian rebels unaffiliated with Islamic State on Sunday, insurgents said, helping Moscow's ally Bashar al-Assad reclaim territory and dealing a fresh setback to the strategy of Washington and its allies. President Vladimir Putin - who has infuriated Assad's enemies in the United States, Europe, Turkey and the Arab world by bombing the rebels to protect him - reached out to one of the Syrian leader's fiercest opponents by meeting the powerful defense minister of Saudi Arabia. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a group that monitors the 4-year-old conflict, said the Syrian military and its Lebanese Hezbollah militia allies had taken control of Tal Skik, a highland area in Idlib province, after fierce Russian bombing.
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| Iraq claims IS chief Baghdadi hit in air raid Posted: 11 Oct 2015 10:29 AM PDT  Iraq claimed Sunday to have struck a convoy carrying Islamic State group leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi in an air raid near the Syrian border but said his fate was unknown. In Syria, meanwhile, regime troops backed by Russian air strikes made progress on two fronts but were battling other rebel groups. Iraqi aircraft hit Baghdadi's convoy as it was "moving towards Karabla to attend a meeting of the Daesh (IS) terrorist leaders," an Iraqi security statement said.
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| Turkey sees Islamic State hand in bombing, vows election will go on Posted: 11 Oct 2015 08:25 AM PDT  By Orhan Coskun and Ece Toksabay ANKARA (Reuters) - Turkey is targeting Islamic State in investigations of a double suicide bombing in Ankara that killed up to 128 people, officials said on Sunday, while opponents of President Tayyip Erdogan blamed him for the worst such attack in Turkish history. Government officials made clear that despite alarm over the attack on a rally of pro-Kurdish activists and civic groups, there would be no postponement of November polls Erdogan hopes can restore an overall majority for the AK Party he founded. Thousands of people gathered near the scene of the attack at Ankara's main railway station, many accusing Erdogan of stirring nationalist sentiment by his pursuit of a military campaign against Kurdish militants, a charge Ankara vehemently rejects.
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| Iran general did 80 missions in Syria, mourners told Posted: 11 Oct 2015 08:15 AM PDT  An Iranian general killed in the Syrian city of Aleppo had taken part in 80 missions in the war-torn country, mourners were told at his funeral in Tehran on Sunday. Hossein Hamedani of the Islamic Republic's Revolutionary Guards Corps became its highest-profile casualty of the effort to shore up Syrian President Bashar al-Assad when he died Thursday. Hamedani was martyred in Syria so that insecurity does not reach Tehran," General Mohsen Rezaie, who recently came out of retirement to rejoin the military, said in tribute.
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| Foreign toll figures show hajj tragedy deadliest in history Posted: 11 Oct 2015 07:38 AM PDT  Dubai (AFP) - The death toll from last month's stampede at the hajj has risen to at least 1,535, according to tallies given by foreign officials, making it the deadliest incident in the pilgrimage's history.
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| Two Turkish soldiers killed in Kurdish rebel attack: media Posted: 11 Oct 2015 07:33 AM PDT  Two Turkish soldiers were killed in eastern Turkey in an attack blamed on Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) militants, a day after the rebel group declared it suspended all offensive operations, media said. The soldiers were killed during clashes with PKK militants in the Senkaya district of Erzurum province, the Dogan news agency said, citing the local governor's office. The PKK announced it would suspend all attacks -- except in self defence -- after months of attacks in Turkey, a move seen as an attempt to help the pro-Kurdish People's Democracy Party (HDP) boost its score in the upcoming election on November 1.
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| Books on autism, technology up for Samuel Johnson Prize Posted: 11 Oct 2015 07:20 AM PDT LONDON (AP) — Two provocative books about the brain are among six finalists for Britain's leading literary award for nonfiction. |
| Iraqi air force claims hit on IS leader al-Baghdadi Posted: 11 Oct 2015 06:45 AM PDT  BAGHDAD (AP) — Iraq's air force says it struck a convoy carrying Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the leader of the Islamic State group.
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| Islamic State targeted in 24 air attacks by U.S.-led coalition: statement Posted: 11 Oct 2015 05:39 AM PDT WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States and its allies staged 24 air strikes on Islamic State in Syria and Iraq on Saturday, the Combined Joint Task Force said in a statement on Sunday. Seventeen of the attacks were in Iraq, targeting Islamic State near 10 cities and hitting tactical units, buildings, weapons, fighting positions and other assets, the task force said. In Syria, seven strikes struck similar targets, as well as a crude oil collection point. (Writing by Bill Trott; Editing by Janet Lawrence) |
| Turkey launches air strikes on PKK camps after ceasefire move Posted: 11 Oct 2015 04:18 AM PDT By Daren Butler ISTANBUL (Reuters) - Turkish warplanes struck Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) militant targets in northern Iraq and southeastern Turkey on Saturday and Sunday, pressing their military campaign a day after the rebel group ordered its fighters to halt attacks on Turkish soil. Security sources said some 30-35 PKK guerrillas were killed in northern Iraqi raids on Sunday. The PKK umbrella group told its fighters on Saturday to halt militant activities unless they face attack, in response to calls for them to avoid acts which could prevent a "fair and just election" being held on Nov. 1. |
| Indonesia's return to OPEC complicates Dec decision on output target Posted: 11 Oct 2015 02:26 AM PDT  By Alex Lawler LONDON (Reuters) - OPEC's policy meeting in December will welcome Indonesia's return as a member, complicating a decision by the producer group on whether to change its oil output target. After refusing to cut output last year, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries is pumping much more than its target of 30 million barrels per day (bpd) because of near-record Saudi Arabian and Iraqi production, and smaller increases elsewhere in the group. Indonesia's return to OPEC will expand the group's members to 13 and add about 900,000 bpd to OPEC output.
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| Stunned Turkey mourns 95 killed in deadliest ever attack Posted: 11 Oct 2015 01:41 AM PDT  Turkey on Sunday mourned the killing of at least 95 people in twin suspected suicide bombings on a peace rally in Ankara, the country's deadliest ever such attack that raised fears for its stability. Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu declared three days of national mourning, with flags flying at half mast across the country, as questions grew over who might have planned such an attack. Saturday's bombings intensified tensions in Turkey ahead of snap elections on November 1 and as the government wages a relentless offensive against Kurdish militants.
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| UN, World Bank to launch refugee and reconstruction bonds Posted: 11 Oct 2015 01:38 AM PDT  International agencies plan to raise billions of dollars to tackle the worsening refugee crisis in the Middle East and North Africa by issuing new bonds to help displaced people and support reconstruction in the war-torn region. The United Nations, World Bank and Islamic Development Bank announced the proposal on Saturday after global policymakers met to discuss ways to ease the growing humanitarian and economic crisis stemming from conflicts in countries including Syria, Iraq, Yemen and Libya. World Bank President Jim Yong Kim said more than 15 milllion people had fled their homes, sending a massive influx of refugees into countries like Lebanon and Jordan.
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| Bombs kill 95 at pro-Kurdish rally in Turkish capital Posted: 11 Oct 2015 01:01 AM PDT  By Ece Toksabay and Gulsen Solaker ANKARA (Reuters) - At least 95 people were killed when two suspected suicide bombers struck a rally of pro-Kurdish and labour activists outside Ankara's main train station just weeks before elections, in the worst attack of its kind on Turkish soil. Bodies covered by flags and banners, including those of the pro-Kurdish opposition Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP), lay scattered on the road among bloodstains and body parts. The HDP blamed the government which, it said, had blood on its hands.
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| Syria, migrant crisis coverage wins war correspondents prizes Posted: 11 Oct 2015 12:52 AM PDT  France's prestigious Bayeux-Calvados award for war correspondents on Saturday honoured journalists covering conflicts in Syria and Ukraine, as well as Europe's worst migrant crisis since World War II. Two of the awards went to correspondents covering the Islamic State group's game plan and its atrocities. The text category award went to German Der Spiegels' Christoph Reuter, who wrote an in-depth story on the shadowy mastermind of IS's strategy in Syria and Iraq.
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| Russia seeks victory over the West in Syria campaign: analysts Posted: 10 Oct 2015 10:59 PM PDT  Cruise missiles fired from warships, the latest jets pounding far-off targets: Russian President Vladimir Putin's show of strength in Syria looks aimed at proving that a resurgent Moscow can rival the West, analysts said. Since late September Russia has flexed its muscles in a bombing campaign across the war-torn country that has put a US-led coalition in the shade and angered Washington and its allies. The dramatic military campaign is Moscow's first outside the former USSR since Soviet troops went into Afghanistan in 1979 and has led some to suggest that an emboldened Kremlin is aiming to reassert some of its lost super power status.
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| 5 Wyoming veterans sue company over toxic burn pits in Iraq Posted: 10 Oct 2015 06:38 PM PDT CASPER, Wyo. (AP) — Five Wyoming military veterans are seeking damages related to their service in Iraq. |
