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Germany bans Islamic organization, police search 190 sites
Hundreds of police officers searched about 190 offices, mosques and apartments of members and supporters of the Islamic group "The true religion" as the German government announced a ban of the organization Tuesday.
Police raided places in 60 cities in western Germany and also in Berlin seizing documents and files, German Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere said. Nobody was detained.
The group — also known as "Read!" — has been distributing German-language copies of the Quran across the country. The interior minister said that more than 140 youths had traveled to Syria and Iraq to join fighters there after having participated in the group's campaigns in Germany.
"The translations of the Quran are being distributed along with messages of hatred and unconstitutional ideologies," de Maiziere told reporters in Berlin. "Teenagers are being radicalized with conspiracy theories."
Young men in long robes and bushy beards handing out German copies of the Quran has been a common sight in downtown and shopping areas across Germany for several years.
The ban of the group comes a week after security authorities arrested five men who allegedly aided the Islamic State group in Germany by recruiting members and providing financial and logistical help. The recent operations suggest that the German government is trying to clamp down hard on radical Islamists.
The German interior minister stressed that the ban does not restrict the freedom of religion in Germany or the peaceful practice of Islam in any way, but that the group had glorified terrorism and the fight against the German constitution in videos and meetings.
"We don't want terrorism in Germany ... and we don't want to export terrorism," de Maiziere said adding that the ban was also a measure to help protect peaceful Islam in the country.
ICC prosecutors: US forces may have committed war crimes
U.S. armed forces and the CIA may have committed war crimes by torturing detainees in Afghanistan, the International Criminal Court's chief prosecutor says in a report, raising the possibility that American citizens could be indicted even though Washington has not joined the global court.
"Members of US armed forces appear to have subjected at least 61 detained persons to torture, cruel treatment, outrages upon personal dignity on the territory of Afghanistan between 1 May 2003 and 31 December 2014," according to the report issued by Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda's office on Monday.
The report added that CIA operatives may have subjected at least 27 detainees in Afghanistan, Poland, Romania and Lithuania to "torture, cruel treatment, outrages upon personal dignity and/or rape" between December 2002 and March 2008.
Most of the alleged abuse happened in 2003-2004, the report said.
Prosecutors said they will decide "imminently" whether to seek authorization to open a full-scale investigation in Afghanistan that could lead to war crimes charges.
State Department spokeswoman Elizabeth Trudeau said the U.S. does not believe an ICC investigation is "warranted or appropriate."
"The United States is deeply committed to complying with the law of war, and we have a robust national system of investigation and accountability that more than meets international standards," Trudeau said.
A Pentagon spokesman, Navy Capt. Jeff Davis, said officials were awaiting more details about the ICC findings before commenting.
Established in 2002, the International Criminal Court is the world's first permanent court set up to prosecute war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide. More than 120 countries around the world are members, but superpowers including the United States, Russia and China have not signed up.
Former U.S. President Bill Clinton signed the Rome treaty that established the court on Dec. 31, 2000, but President George W. Bush renounced the signature, citing fears that Americans would be unfairly prosecuted for political reasons.
Even though the United States is not a member of the court, Americans could still face prosecution at its headquarters in The Hague if they commit crimes within its jurisdiction in a country that is a member, such as Afghanistan, and are not prosecuted at home.
So far, all of the ICC's trials have dealt with crimes committed in Africa.
Prosecutors say investigations also are reportedly underway in Poland, Romania and Lithuania — all signatories to the Rome Statute — into possible crimes at CIA detention facilities in those countries.
The abuse allegations came in a wide-ranging annual report into the prosecution office's so-called preliminary examinations, which involve studying reports of possible crimes to establish if they fall under the court's jurisdiction.
The same report said that Taliban and Afghan government forces also may have used torture and committed other atrocities in that country's long and bitter conflict. The report says that the Taliban and its affiliates killed thousands of people and are suspected of committing war crimes including murder, recruiting and conscripting child soldiers and attacking civilians and humanitarian workers.
Referring to the alleged U.S. war crimes, the report said they "were not the abuses of a few isolated individuals. Rather, they appear to have been committed as part of approved interrogation techniques in an attempt to extract 'actionable intelligence' from detainees."
The report adds that, "The information available suggests that victims were deliberately subjected to physical and psychological violence, and that crimes were allegedly committed with particular cruelty and in a manner that debased the basic human dignity of the victims."
Before deciding to open a full-scale investigation, ICC prosecutors have to establish whether they have jurisdiction and whether the alleged crimes are being investigated and prosecuted in the countries involved. The ICC is a court of last resort that takes on cases only when other countries are unable or unwilling to prosecute.
The report noted that U.S. authorities have conducted dozens of investigations and court-martial cases and says ICC prosecutors are seeking further clarifications on their scope before deciding whether any American cases would be admissible at the ICC.
After the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, the administration of President George W. Bush allowed the use of waterboarding, which simulates drowning, and other so-called enhanced interrogation techniques against suspected terrorists. President Barack Obama banned such practices after taking office in 2009.
During the presidential campaign, Republican nominee Donald Trump suggested that as president he would push to change laws that prohibit waterboarding and other harsh interrogation techniques, arguing that banning them puts the U.S. at a strategic disadvantage against Islamic State militants.
Myanmar says 34 people killed after they attacked troops
Myanmar's government says 34 people were killed after they attacked government troops in western Rakhine state over the weekend, but villagers belonging to the Muslim Rohingya minority say the victims were unarmed civilians.
The government has been conducting counterinsurgency operations since nine police officers were killed in attacks last month on guard posts along the border with Bangladesh generally blamed on Muslim insurgents. Tensions have been high in Rakhine since fighting in 2012 between Buddhists and Muslims.
The government said in a statement Monday that 28 people described as violent attackers were killed on Sunday. An earlier statement said six attackers died on Saturday, in addition to two government soldiers.
Human rights groups accuse the army of abuses against the Rohingya minority, including killings, rapes and burning of homes.
Pakistan claims Indian fire kills 7 soldiers in Kashmir
Pakistan's army claims that Indian troops have opened fire across the Line of Control in the disputed Himalayan region of Kashmir, killing 7 soldiers.
A military statement says Pakistani troops were responding with heavy fire on Monday.
The nuclear arch-rivals have been trading cross-border fire and accusations since a September attack on an Indian military base, which Delhi blamed on a Pakistani militant group. Islamabad denied those charges.
India and Pakistan have fought two of their three wars over control of Kashmir, which is divided between the two countries and claimed in its entirety by both.
1 dead, 5 injured in Albanian oil refinery explosion
Albanian police say one person has died and five others were injured in an explosion at an oil refinery.
A statement Friday said that an explosion the previous evening at the oil refinery in Ballsh, 140 kilometers (85 miles) south of the capital, Tirana, caused by the failure of a hydrogen pump sparked a fire that killed a 40-year old man and injured five other people, one seriously.
Firefighters managed to get the fire under control.
The refinery, with a capacity of one million tons per year, is managed by an offshore company registered in Virgin Islands. After a one-year halt due to business problems it resumed operation earlier this month.
Pirates kidnap 6 Vietnamese sailors off Philippine coast
State media and a maritime official say pirates have attacked a Vietnamese cargo ship and kidnapped six of its crew members off the Philippines' Basilan island.
The Tuoi Tre newspaper reported that the ship, named "Royal 16," was on its way from Vietnam's northern port city of Hai Phong to Indonesia with 19 crew members and a cargo of cement when it was attacked early Friday.
It said six crew members were kidnapped. After the attack, the ship anchored safely at Zamboanga port in the southern Philippines with the remaining 13 crew members, including one who suffered gunshot wounds in the arm.
A Vietnam Maritime Administration official confirmed the attack, but gave no details.
The agency has asked regional and international anti-piracy agencies for help.
Russia says militants used chemical weapons in Syria
The Russian military says its officers have found evidence of chemical weapons use by Syrian militants.
Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Maj. Gen. Igor Konashenkov said Friday that ministry experts have found unexploded ordnance and fragments of munitions containing chlorine and white phosphorus on Aleppo's southwestern outskirts. Konashenkov said the discovery proves the militants have used chemical weapons against civilians and Syrian army soldiers.
The U.S. and its allies have pushed for sanctions on the Syrian government for using chemical weapons. Russia has questioned international investigators' conclusions linking chemical weapons use to the Syrian government and pointed at evidence of their use by the militants.
The U.N. Security Council has voted to extend the mandate of inspectors working to determine those responsible for chemical weapons attacks in Syria.
Explosion reported near Turkish government building in south
Turkish media reports say an explosion has occurred near a government building in the mainly-Kurdish town of Derik in the south.
The private Dogan news agency said Thursday that several ambulances were sent to the scene.
There was no immediate word on the number of casualties.
Iraq troops pause in advance on Mosul
Iraqi troops are consolidating gains in their advance on the northern city of Mosul, regrouping as they clear neighborhoods and houses once occupied by the Islamic State group.
In Mosul proper, where troops have established a foothold in a sliver of territory in the city's east, officials say Thursday that the special forces have taken control of the Zahra neighborhood, once named after former dictator Saddam Hussein.
The regular army's ninth division is stationed in east Mosul's Intisar neighborhood, he said, speaking on condition of anonymity because he wasn't authorized to brief reporters.
Brig. Firas Bashar, spokesman for Nineveh operations command, says troops south of Mosul have been stopped at the town of Hamam al-Alil while other forces push forward on the city.
At least 1 injured in grenade attack outside French Embassy in Athens
A hand grenade attack outside the French Embassy in central Athens lightly wounded a policeman early Thursday, police said, days before U.S. President Barack Obama is due to visit the Greek capital.
Authorities said the policeman, who had been on guard outside the embassy, was wounded when unknown assailants threw a hand grenade outside the embassy building, located opposite Parliament on a major avenue.
Police shut down the area to vehicles and pedestrians, while anti-terrorism forensics experts combed the scene for evidence.
Police said the attack was apparently carried out by two people on a motorbike, and a bike matching the description was later found in a central Athens neighborhood popular with anarchists and was being examined to determine whether it was the one that had been used in the attack.
Authorities said it appeared the policeman had only been lightly wounded because he had been inside an armored guard post outside the embassy entrance.
The attack came days before Obama is to arrive in Athens next week for an expected overnight visit. Left-wing organizations have announced they will hold protests during the visit.
Greece has a history of domestic militants who periodically carry out bomb or shooting attacks against authorities, diplomatic locations or businesses. There was no immediate claim of responsibility for Thursday's attack, and it was unclear why the French Embassy was targeted.
At least 2 trapped, dozens reported injured after tram derails in London
A tram derailed in London before dawn on Wednesday, leaving at least 50 people injured and several trapped, the emergency services said.
The London Fire Brigade said eight fire engines and four specialist rescue units were at the scene in Croydon, south London. Emergency services called to the Sandilands tram stop at around 6.10 a.m. Photographs showed the two-car tram lying on its side next to an underpass.
Station manager Joe Kenny said "firefighters have released a number of people and two people remain trapped."
The London Ambulance service said it treated a number of people at the scene, and more than 50 had been taken to the hospital.
5 Islamic State suspects arrested in Germany
The federal prosecutor's office said in a statement Tuesday that the men were arrested by officers of the western state of North Rhine-Westphalia.
The statement says the suspects were focused on recruiting young Muslims in Germany, and raising funds to send them to Syria to join IS. They're also accused of providing logistical support for the trips.
Justice Minister Heiko Maas called the arrests an "important blow to the extremist scene in Germany."
Syrian Kurds push ahead in their offensive toward Raqqa
U.S.-backed Kurdish-led Syrian fighters are clashing with Islamic State militants north of Raqqa in Syria, a day after announcing the start of a campaign to liberate the city from the extremist group.
The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights says fighting was underway on Monday north of Raqqa between IS and members of a coalition of Kurdish and Arab fighters known as the Syria Democratic Forces.
SDF says its fighters destroyed a vehicle rigged with explosives in a farm north of Raqqa, de IS de facto capital.
The IS-linked Aamaq news agency says IS militants hit an SDF armored vehicle north of Raqqa with a missile, killing everyone inside.
The United States, France and Britain have said they would provide air support for the Kurdish forces' offensive on Raqqa.
36 IS suspects on trial over deadly suicide attack in Turkey
Prosecutors say the Oct. 10, 2015 attack in Ankara was carried out by a Turkish national and a Syrian.
The defendants appearing in court on Monday include the owners of two vehicles that allegedly brought the bombers to Ankara, a person who allegedly trained them and others charged with aiding and abetting the attackers.
Some of the defendants face 101 separate life terms for the deaths of the victims and additional life terms for the attempted murder of hundreds of people who were wounded.
The charges include crimes against the state, murder, and membership in a terror group.
Explosion rocks mainly-Kurdish city in Turkey
Turkish media reports say an explosion has occurred in the Turkey's largest mainly Kurdish city of Diyarbakir.
The private Dogan news agency says Friday several ambulances were sent to the scene.
The cause of the explosion was not immediately known but Turkey has been plagued by a series of deadly bomb attacks in the past 18 months.
The blast came hours after two of the leaders of a pro-Kurdish party were detained by police along with nine other legislators.
At least 19 killed after trains crash in Pakistan
A passenger train crashed into the back end of another in Pakistan's southern port city of Karachi on Thursday, killing at least 19 people and injuring 50, officials said.
The collision happened in the early morning hours when a train was parked along the rail lines at a small stopover platform on the city's outskirts, said Nasir Nazeer, an official at the Karachi railway.
The driver of the second train, which rammed into the first, likely ignored the rail traffic signal and caused the crash, he said. An investigation was underway, Nazeer added.
Three women and two children were among those killed, said Dr Seemi Jamali at Karachi's Jinnah Hospital, where most of the injured were rushed to. She said that of the injured, five were in critical condition and were undergoing surgery for head injuries.
At the scene of the crash, wreckage of twisted and broken coaches, many turned over on their sides, was spread over a large area, as police and rescue workers were going through the site, searching for more victims of the crash.
Police official Mukhtar Shah said there were fears of a higher casualty toll as bodies still remained trapped in some of the rail cars.
Putin offers new pause, exits for Syrian's besieged Aleppo
Russian President Vladimir Putin has offered a new humanitarian pause in Syria's Aleppo, urging rebels to use it to leave the eastern, besieged districts.
The defense ministry says Putin has ordered that the aid corridors — which Russia had opened earlier — also be open on Friday, for longer hours, from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m., along with two new exit routes for the rebels to leave eastern Aleppo.
The ministry announced Putin's new gesture in a statement on Wednesday.
The statement says the exits will be open on Friday for both civilians and rebels "in order to prevent a senseless loss of life."
It also says the rebel offensive on the Syrian government-held districts in western Aleppo that was launched last week has failed to break through the siege.
The Latest: Aid agency: Mosul civilians face 'grave danger'
An aid agency is warning that the lives of more than 1 million civilians trapped inside the Islamic State-held Mosul "are in grave danger" as Iraqi troops advance and set foot inside the city where fighting is expected to intensify.
The Norwegian Refugee Council, which works with refugees and internally displaced Iraqis, says that around 18,000 Iraqis have fled their homes since the start of the massive military operation to retake Mosul over two weeks ago.
The council's Iraq chief, Wolfgang Gressmann, says the agency's aid workers "are now bracing ... for the worst. The lives of 1.2 million civilians are in grave danger, and the future of all of Iraq is now in the balance."
In their battle for Mosul, Iraqi forces for the first time in two years on Tuesday entered the eastern Gogjali and Karama neighborhoods inside Mosul's city limits.
Afghan official: Roadside bomb blast kills 7 civilians
An Afghan official says a roadside bombing has killed seven civilians in a northern province.
District chief Ahmad Lemar Osmanyar says the victims were all relatives and they were travelling in a car to a wedding ceremony on Tuesday when their vehicle struck a bomb in Parwan province sometime around noon.
The attack took place in Sayedkhail district, which is a relatively secure area in Parwan.
Osmanyar says an investigation is underway. No group has immediately claimed responsibility for the attack, but the Taliban have stepped up their attacks against Afghan security forces across the country.
Explosion at Pakistani ship breaking yard kills 7 laborers
Police say an explosion at a ship breaking yard in the country's southwest has killed at least seven laborers and wounded dozens of others.
Police official Mohammad Abdullah says an oil tank exploded on Tuesday while workers were dismantling an old ship, which then caught fire. He says initial reports indicate dozens of laborers remain trapped after the blast in the coastal town of Gadani. He says several workers jumped overboard into the sea as the fire raged.
Abdullah says rescuers are transporting the casualties to a hospital in Karachi, the capital of southern Sindh province.
Gadani is one of the world's largest ship breaking yards and was established in the 1970s. Laborers are often injured while breaking ships there, mainly due to poor safety measures.
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