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☆ Nigerian Army massacred children in war on insurgents, witnesses say
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-12 | by ( Reuters Graphic | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +11 min

CJTF members provide the army with intelligence on suspected insurgents, serve as interpreters and help soldiers navigate sometimes unfamiliar terrain. Bello Danbatta, a spokesman for the CJTF, told Reuters that the military and CJTF forces did not target civilians. During combat operations, soldiers told Reuters, it was common to take aim at anyone they came across in areas the army did not fully control. And in a war in which insurgents have forced minors to fight, soldiers said they couldn't even trust in the innocence of children. Soldiers told the women that their children needed injections for malaria and other afflictions, she said.

☆ Right-winger Ciotti wins French conservative party leadership
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-11 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

PARIS, Dec 11 (Reuters) - Right-winger Eric Ciotti was elected as the next leader of France's formerly heavyweight conservative Les Republicains (LR) party after winning the second round ballot of party members on Sunday. Ciotti, who is on record as saying he wants to stop what he calls a "migratory invasion" of France, won 53.7% of the votes against Bruno Retailleau, a senator who scored 46.3%, LR acting chairwoman Annie Genevard said. Ciotti, whose home base is the Nice region, is politically further to the right than outgoing LR leader Christian Jacob. His program proposes to "rehabilitate the value of work, fight against violence and disorder in the streets, stop the migratory invasion and the rise of Islamism". Reporting by Sybille de La Hamaide Editing by Ros RussellOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Taliban carry out first public execution since Afghan takeover
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-08 | by ( The Associated Press | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +2 min

ISLAMABAD — The Taliban authorities on Wednesday executed an Afghan convicted of killing another man, the first public execution since the former insurgents took over Afghanistan last year, a spokesman said. The execution, carried out with an assault rifle by the victim’s father, took place in western Farah province before hundreds of spectators and many top Taliban officials, according to Zabihullah Mujahid, the top Taliban government spokesman. The executed man, identified as Tajmir from Herat province, was convicted of killing another man five years ago and stealing his motorcycle and mobile phone. Taliban security forces had arrested Tajmir after the victim’s family accused him of the crime, said a statement from Mujahid, the spokesman. During the previous Taliban rule of the country in the late 1990s, the group carried out public executions, floggings and stoning of those convicted of crimes in Taliban courts.

☆ Taliban carry out first public execution since returning to power in Afghanistan
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-08 | by ( Sahar Akbarzai | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

CNN —The Taliban on Wednesday put an alleged murderer to death in the first public execution held in Afghanistan since the Islamist group returned to power. Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said the man was shot three times by the father of his alleged victim in an execution attended by senior Taliban officials in southwestern Farah province. The man had been accused of stabbing the victim to death in 2017 and stealing a cell phone and bicycle. It is the first public execution since Kabul fell to the Taliban following the withdrawal of US forces from the country in August 2021. During the Taliban’s earlier period of rule, from 1996 to 2001, public executions were common, as were other violent punishments.

UNMASKINGGlobal oil and energy consumption have been falling since the third quarter under the impact of exceptionally high prices and a slowing economy. But the impact was initially masked by concerns about the planned introduction of the price cap on Russia's crude and refined products exports. Traders anticipated the price cap and Russia's response would cut production by more than the economic slowdown cut consumption. LESSONS FROM 2014The recent slump in oil prices shares some, though not all, characteristics with the slump occurring in the third quarter of 2014 ("A brief history of the oil crash", Reuters, January 2015). It is also probable recent hedge fund liquidation has exaggerated the recent fall in oil prices creating some headroom for a short-term rebound; positions are now unusually low.

JAKARTA, Dec 6 (Reuters) - Indonesia's new criminal code ushers in a raft of new laws, including banning sex outside of marriage, insulting the president, and expressing any view that runs counter to state ideology. Indonesia is also trying to entice foreign visitors back after the pandemic and the national tourism board described the new code as "totally counter-productive". We have already expressed our concern to the ministry of tourism about how harmful this law is," said Maulana Yusran, deputy chief of Indonesia's tourism industry board. Indonesia has been discussing revising its criminal code since declaring independence from the Dutch in 1945. Defending the passage of the bill against criticism, Indonesia's Law and Human Rights Minister Yasonna Laoly told parliament on Tuesday: "It's not easy for a multicultural and multi-ethnic country to make a criminal code that can accommodate all interests."

☆ Ambush claimed by Pakistani Taliban kills three police officers in northern Pakistan
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-03 | by ( Jibran Ahmad | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

PESHAWAR, Dec 3 (Reuters) - The Pakistani Taliban on Saturday claimed responsibility for a gun ambush that killed three police officers in northern Pakistan, the second attack claimed by the group just days after it announced an end to a ceasefire with the government. He said three police officers were killed on the spot and the identity of the attackers was unknown. The militant group Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) claimed responsibility for the attack in a statement. The Afghan Taliban have been facilitating peace talks between local militants and the government since late last year. The Pakistan army has conducted several operations against the militants in their strongholds in lawless districts along Afghan border in recent months.

One month since Arshad Sharif was killed, Kenyan and Pakistani authorities have not concluded their reports nor have there been any arrests in the case. “I have no faith in the Pakistani government,” his mother, Riffat Ara Alvi told CNN in a video interview. But I request all the international journalistic organizations and United Nations to investigate this killing,” his widow, Javeria Siddique told CNN. Arshad Sharif Sharif was a critic of the Pakistani military and an ally of former prime minister Imran Khan. Sharif and Khurram Ahmed left Ammodump around 8:30 p.m. local time, a detective involved in the case told CNN.

☆ Islamic State leader Quraishi blew himself up after being surrounded -sources
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-01 | by ( Suleiman Al-Khalidi | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

AMMAN, Dec 1 (Reuters) - Islamic State (IS) militant leader Abu al-Hassan al-Hashemi al-Quraishi, who was killed in mid-October in Syria, blew himself up after he and his aides were surrounded by local fighters in the town of Jasem, fighters involved in the clash told Reuters. The province was brought under the control of the Syrian army following Russian-brokered reconciliation agreements in 2018 that gave control of southern Syria back to Damascus. Islamic State has selected Abu al-Hussein al-Husseini al-Quraishi as its new leader, a spokesman for the group said in a recording. Islamic State emerged from the chaos of the civil war in neighbouring Iraq and took over vast swathes of Iraq and Syria in 2014. Former IS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi declared an Islamic caliphate from a mosque in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul that year and proclaimed himself caliph of all Muslims.

☆ Why Saudi Arabia is hosting one of the world's biggest raves
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-30 | by ( Nadeen Ebrahim | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +14 min

The kingdom’s Soundstorm music festival, which began in 2019, is back again for its fourth year and will start on Thursday. “(It) is a particularly powerful example because it seeks to bring together young people and women from across Saudi Arabia and the world,” she said. By contrast, Las Vegas’ Electric Daisy Carnival, considered North America’s biggest dance music festival, had an attendance of over 400,000 this year. Last year, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said that performers should either “speak up” about Saudi Arabia’s human rights violations or not attend the festival at all. Some however argue that opening up countries to international norms and values can allow for better discussion on human rights shortcomings.

He said Abu al-Hassan al-Hashemi al-Quraishi was killed while "fighting enemies of God", without elaborating. The spokesman urged Islamic State members in all countries to pledge allegiance to the new leader, adding that "he is one of the loyal sons of the (Islamic) state". The White House welcomed the news that Abu al-Hassan al-Hashemi al-Quraishi had been killed, National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told reporters. Islamic State announced Abu al-Hassan al-Hashemi al-Quraishi as its new leader in March after the death of predecessor Abu Ibrahim al-Hashemi al-Quraishi. Islamic State emerged from the chaos of the civil war in neighbouring Iraq and took over vast swathes of Iraq and Syria in 2014.

☆ Iran threatened families of its World Cup team after players refused to sing the national anthem, report says
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-29 | by ( Sinéad Baker | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Iran's World Cup team did not sing their country's anthem, in apparent solidarity with protesters. They were then told their families would met with "violence and torture" if they didn't sing, a source told CNN. They were told that their families would face "violence and torture" if they did not sing the national anthem, or if they protested at all, the source said. The team then sang the anthem during the build up to their second match, on November 25. "There are a large number of Iranian security officers in Qatar collecting information and monitoring the players," the source told CNN.

☆ Somalia: Gunfire heard inside besieged hotel, parliament session delayed
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-28 | by ( Story Reuters | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

Reuters —Gunfire was heard on Monday from inside a besieged hotel in the Somali capital that was attacked on the weekend, a nearby resident and a police officer said, while parliament said it had postponed a scheduled session. “There is still heavy gunfire inside the hotel, and we hear explosions from time to time … we are still in our houses since last night, when the siege started,” Ismail Haaji, who lives near the hotel, told Reuters. “The fighters who launched the attack are still fighting inside the hotel, and they are fighting with the forces of Haramcad and Gaashaan, and security forces are trying to rescue the people trapped inside the hotel,” the officer added. Government officials in Mogadishu frequently use the Villa Rosa hotel for meetings. Somalia’s parliament said it had postponed a scheduled session for both of its houses.

☆ Taliban militants in Pakistan end ceasefire with government - spokesman
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-28 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

PESHAWAR, Pakistan, Nov 28 (Reuters) - Taliban militants in Pakistan will no longer abide by a months-long ceasefire with the Pakistani government, a spokesman for the militant group said on Monday. The Afghan Taliban have been facilitating peace talks between local militants and the government since late last year. The end of the ceasefire comes ahead of a visit by a Pakistani delegation, led by state minister for foreign affairs Hina Rabbani Khar, to Kabul on Tuesday. Mohammad Khurasani, a spokesman for the militant group Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) told Reuters in a text message that its leadership had decided to end the ceasefire with Pakistan. The Pakistani military has carried out several offensives against the militants in their strongholds in remote lawless districts bordering Afghanistan.

☆ Iran is calling for the U.S. to be thrown out of the World Cup after flag change
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-28 | by ( Natasha Turak | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Ahmad Nourollahi of Iran in action during the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 Group B match between England and IR Iran at Khalifa International Stadium on November 21, 2022 in Doha, Qatar. Iranian state media is calling for the U.S. World Cup soccer team to be thrown out of the 2022 tournament in Qatar after it briefly changed the icon of the Iranian flag on its social media accounts in support of protests taking place in the country. In the posts, the Iranian flag icon was missing its Islamic Republic emblem, and only showed its red, white and green stripes. Iranian media reacted swiftly, with state media agency Tasnim calling for the U.S. team to be booted from the tournament. Thank you thank you thank you."

☆ Fans pause action for Friday prayers during first World Cup in a Muslim country
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-25 | by ( Andrew Mills | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

DOHA, Nov 25 (Reuters) - As noon approached, muezzins across Qatar called Muslim soccer players, fans and officials to the first Friday prayers of the first World Cup to take place in a Muslim country. Unusually for soccer, Muslim fans say Qatar's World Cup has accommodated them like never before - with stadium prayer rooms, concessions selling halal food and no beer-swilling supporters to contend with in the stands following a stadium alcohol ban. For now, Muslim fans are just enjoying an event that caters to their needs. Ridwaan Goolam Hoosen, an avid South African soccer fan, is used to having to leave the grounds to find a prayer space, including at the 2010 World Cup in South Africa. "It feels as if this World Cup is for me, it works for me, it fits for me...This is the first of its kind like this," Goolam Hoosen said.

☆ England soccer fans have been warned not to dress up as medieval Christian crusaders in Qatar, the first Islamic country to host the World Cup, report says
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-25 | by ( Bethany Dawson | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

England fans have been banned from dressing up as Christian crusaders at World Cup matches. It has been ruled that fans outfitted as crusader knights, including chain mail and carrying plastic swords, is "offensive" to Muslims, The Times reports. The Times reports that two English fans dressed as crusaders were turned away from the England game against Iran on Monday. The announcement came hours before England plays the USA at the 60,000-seater Al Bayt Stadium in Al Khor, north of Doha, at 2 p.m EST. Dressing as a medieval knight sporting the flag of St George has become popular among football fans attending England games in recent years.

☆ Taliban's treatment of women may be crime against humanity: UN experts
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-25 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

GENEVA, Nov 25 (Reuters) - The Taliban's treatment of Afghan women and girls, including their exclusion from parks and gyms as well as schools and universities, may amount to a crime against humanity, a group of U.N. experts said on Friday. The assessment by the U.N. Special Rapporteur on Afghanistan Richard Bennett and nine other U.N. experts says the treatment of women and girls may amount to 'gender persecution' under the Rome Statute to which Afghanistan is a party. There was no immediate response from a Taliban spokesperson to a Reuters request for comment on the experts' assessment. The experts also cited as an example the arrest earlier this month of female activist Zarifa Yaqobi and four male colleagues. They say they respect women's rights in accordance with their interpretation of Islamic law.

☆ Inside the Syrian refugee camp where supplies are low and ISIS fears run high
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-22 | by ( Https | Media-Cldnry.S-Nbcnews.Com Image Upload Newscms Courtney-Kube-Circle-Byline-Template.Jpg | Courtney Kube | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +11 min

Members of the Syrian Kurdish Asayish security forces inspect tents at the Kurdish-run al-Hol camp, on Aug. 28, 2022, during a security campaign by the Syrian Democratic Forces against IS "sleeper cells" in the camp. While most ISIS fighters were killed or captured, their families were bused to the refugee camp as a temporary holding place, but with no long-term alternatives. In September, the SDF conducted an operation to root out ISIS fighters inside the camp. Over 24 days, they rounded up about 300 ISIS fighters, killed several more, and confiscated weapons and explosives. U.S. military officials warn that ISIS has divisions of troops waiting to fight inside Hasakah and the other prisons.

☆ 19 people lashed in northeastern Afghanistan, official says
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-21 | by ( The Associated Press | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +2 min

KABUL, Afghanistan — Nineteen people in northeastern Afghanistan were lashed for adultery, theft and running away from home, a Supreme Court official said Sunday. It appeared to be the first official confirmation that lashings and floggings are being meted out in Afghanistan since the Taliban seized power in August 2021. After they overran Afghanistan last year, the Taliban initially promised to be more moderate and allow for women’s and minority rights. A Supreme Court official, Abdul Rahim Rashid, said 10 men and nine women were lashed 39 times each in Taloqan city in northeastern Takhar province, on Nov. 11. He said their cases were assessed by two courts before they were convicted, confirming information in a Supreme Court statement.

☆ Five dead, 18 injured in shooting at gay nightclub in Colorado, police say
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-20 | by ( Kevin Mohatt | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/3] A police officer lifts barricade tape while in their vehicle as they respond to a mass shooting at the Club Q nightclub in Colorado Springs, Colorado, U.S., November 20, 2022. REUTERS/Kevin MohattCOLORADO SPRINGS, Colo., Nov 20 (Reuters) - Five people were killed and 18 injured in a shooting at a gay nightclub on Saturday night in Colorado Springs, Colorado, police said. A suspect was in custody and was being treated for injuries after the attack at Club Q, Colorado Springs police Lieutenant Pamela Castro told a news conference. In 2016, a gunman killed 49 people at gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida, before he was shot dead by police. Reporting by Kevin Mohatt in Colorado Springs and Shubham Kalia in Bengaluru Editing by Raissa Kasolowsky and Frances KerryOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Afghan Taliban say group will stick to strict Islamic law
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-18 | by ( The Associated Press | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +2 min

KABUL, Afghanistan — The Taliban will stick to their strict interpretation of Islamic law, or Sharia, a spokesman said Thursday, underscoring the group’s intention to continue hard-line policies implemented since they took over Afghanistan more than a year ago. During their previous years in power in the late 1990s, the Taliban carried out public executions, floggings and stoning of those convicted of crimes in Taliban courts. According to Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid, the group’s supreme leader, Hibatullah Akhunzada, met with Taliban judges a few days ago and instructed them to implement Sharia law in their rulings. Mujahid said this instruction prompted perceptions that Islamic law had been abandoned in the Islamic emirate, as the Taliban call their administration. “It doesn’t mean that the Islamic emirate didn’t implement the limits of Allah Almighty since it came to power,” he said.

The attack that killed six people on a busy Istanbul street on Sunday has brought national security back on the political agenda. With Turkey quick to accuse Syria-based Kurdish militants for the latest attack, analysts say Erdogan may now press for another cross-border campaign into northern Syria after three such incursions since 2016. Were Sunday's attack followed by more, Peker expected outcomes including a rapid escalation of "counter-terrorism operations, particularly against the PKK and the YPG". The YPG, espousing the same ideology as the PKK, has established control over swathes of northern Syria since war began there in 2011. In a November re-run - following that spate of violence and two major Islamic State bomb attacks - AK Party won comfortably.

☆ EU piles pressure on Iran's leaders with more sanctions
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-14 | by ( Parisa Hafezi | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

Macron said the crackdown by Iranian leaders would make it harder to reach agreement on reviving the 2015 nuclear deal, which would give Iran sanctions relief in exchange for curbs on its nuclear programme. "I don't think there will be new proposals which can be made right now to save the nuclear deal." Speaking after he met four Iranian women activists in Paris over the weekend, Macron said that more European Union sanctions would be adopted in reaction to Tehran's actions. Iranian leaders blame foreign enemies including the United States for what they call riots. In a letter published by Emtedad news website, some 2,300 graduated students of Amirkabir University in Tehran urged authorities to release students detained.

☆ Iran sentences first person to death over protests triggered by death of a young woman, Mahsa Amini, in police custody
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-14 | by ( Charles R. Davis | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Iran has issued its first death sentence to a protester accused of setting a building on fire. Iran has been rocked by protests following the death of a young woman in police custody. At least 20 other people are also facing potential execution, the outlet said, citing Iranian human rights activists. Thousands of people have been detained across Iran since mid-September, when mass protests began following the death of a 22-year-old Kurdish woman, Mahsa Amini, in police custody. Iran Human Rights, an activist group based in Norway, on Monday accused the Islamic Republic of "using the death penalty to create societal fear."

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