Iraqi Kurds must give up on independence or go hungry

Image copyrightEPA

Image captionIraqi soldiers joined Turkish troops for exercises on the Turkish side of the border on Tuesday

Turkey's president has said Iraqi Kurds could go hungry as a result of the punitive measures it is considering after Monday's independence referendum.

Recep Tayyip Erdogan accused the head of the Kurdistan Regional Government of "treachery" for pressing ahead with the vote despite international opposition.

Massoud Barzani should now "give up on this adventure", he said.

Mr Erdogan has previously threatened to cut a vital Kurdish oil pipeline and stop lorries crossing Turkey's border.

Turkey fears that the emergence of an independent Kurdish state on its border will stoke separatist feeling in its own Kurdish minority.

The results of the referendum are yet to be declared, but a "yes" vote is expected.

Image copyrightAFP

Image captionSome 72% of the 5.2 million people eligible to vote in Kurdish-controlled areas voted

Kurdish leaders say that would not automatically trigger a declaration of independence, but rather give them a mandate to start negotiations on secession with the central government in Baghdad and with neighbouring countries.

Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi ruled out any such talks on Monday night, saying he would not discuss the referendum's results because it was "unconstitutional".

This was the strongest rhetoric yet from President Erdogan on the Kurdish referendum. He called it "treachery" and a "threat to national security". Once again he threatened military or economic intervention, without elaborating.

Turkey is worried that independence might further Kurdish insurgency here and is concerned for ethnic Turkmen in the city of Kirkuk, which the Kurds want to be part of any future state. But there was a lot for a domestic audience - sabre-rattling to please nationalists at home.

Ankara has built a strong relationship with the Iraqi Kurds through an oil pipeline that feeds the Kurdish economy and Turkey's energy needs. And the authorities in Irbil oppose the PKK Kurdish militant group, allowing Turkish military bases in northern Iraq. Mr Erdogan warned he could close the oil valves in Turkey - but it has not yet happened.

With Turkey's notoriously abrasive president, the oratory sometimes does not actually translate into action.

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In a speech on Tuesday, Mr Erdogan said he had expected "until the last moment" that Kurdistan Regional President Massoud Barzani would postpone the vote.

"This referendum decision, which has been taken without any consultation, is treachery," he said."If Barzani and the Kurdish Regional Government do not go back on this mistake as soon as possible, they will go down in history with the shame of having dragged the region into an ethnic and sectarian war," he warned.

Mr Erdogan said Turkey, which has long been the Kurdistan Region's main link to the outside world, might now impose sanctions to persuade Mr Barzani's administration to "give up on this adventure that can only have a dark end".

"It will be over when we close the oil taps, all [their] revenues will vanish, and they will not be able to find food when our trucks stop going to northern Iraq," he added.Cross-border trade between the Kurdistan Region and Turkey was worth some $5bn (£3.7bn) in the first six months of 2017, according to Kurdish officials, while hundreds of thousands of barrels of oil flow daily through a pipeline from Kurdish-controlled oil fields to the Mediterranean via Turkish territory.

Iraqi soldiers also joined Turkish troops for military exercises in south-eastern Turkey on Monday, near the border with Iraq.

The US earlier said it was "deeply disappointed" that the Kurdistan Region held the referendum, but stressed that their "historic relationship" would not change.

Image copyrightGETTY IMAGES

Image captionCelebrations continued long into the night in the disputed city of Kirkuk

The referendum was held in the three Iraqi provinces that make up the Kurdistan Region, as well as in adjoining disputed areas claimed by the Kurds and the Arab-led central government that are controlled by Kurdish Peshmerga forces.

The Kurdish news agency Rudaw reported that 72% of the 5.2 million Kurds and non-Kurds registered as resident in those areas had voted. Ballots were still being counted on Tuesday, with initial results expected by the end of the day.

Kurds are the fourth-largest ethnic group in the Middle East but they have never obtained a permanent nation state.

In Iraq, where they make up an estimated 15% to 20% of the population of 37 million, Kurds faced decades of repression before acquiring autonomy in 1991.

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Palestinian gunman kills three Israelis in West Bank

The attack happened as Palestinian workers waited to enter the settlement

Three Israelis have been shot dead by a Palestinian at the entrance to the Jewish settlement of Har Adar in the occupied West Bank, Israeli police say.

The gunman, a 37-year-old from a nearby village, was also shot and died later.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu blamed the attack on Palestinian incitement.

It came as Donald Trump's Middle East envoy Jason Greenblatt arrived in Jerusalem to try to revive Israel-Palestinian peace talks.

The White House has tried to lay the groundwork for a resumption of negotiations since Donald Trump took office in January, but there has been no sign of progress.

Peace talks between the two sides broke down amid acrimony in April 2014.

Police say the gunman, identified in Israeli media as Nimer Jamal, struck after he raised suspicions of security personnel at a rear gate at Har Adar.

He shot his victims - two security guards and a border policeman - at close-range and seriously wounded another person, before being shot by security forces.

The gunman was a father-of-four who had an Israeli permit to work in Jewish settlements along the boundary of the West Bank, Israel's internal security agency said.

Image copyrightEPA

Image captionThe gunman opened fire at guards as he approached a checkpoint

He came from the village of Beit Surik, about a mile east of Har Adar.

The area is about 18km (11 miles) north-west of Jerusalem.

No group has taken responsibility for the attack, although Gaza-based Palestinian militant organisations Hamas and Islamic Jihad welcomed it.

The head of the Information Office of Fatah, the political faction of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, said Israel bore responsibility for the attack, because of its "continuous aggression" against the Palestinians.

Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu said the attacker's home would be demolished and relatives' work permits revoked. He called on Mr Abbas to condemn the attack unequivocally.

Wave of attacks

About 36,000 Palestinians have permits to work in Jewish settlements, where security to guard against attacks is tight.

The issue of settlements is one of the most contentious between Israel and the Palestinians, who see them as an obstacle to peace.

More than 600,000 Jews live in about 140 settlements built since Israel's 1967 occupation of the West Bank and East Jerusalem. The settlements are considered illegal under international law, though Israel disputes this.

Tuesday's attack is the latest in a wave of stabbings, shootings and car-rammings of Israelis predominantly by Palestinians or Israeli Arabs since late 2015.

Since then, some 50 Israelis and five foreign nationals have been killed in such attacks in Israel and the Occupied Territories.

Around 300 Palestinians - most of them assailants, Israel says - have also been killed in that period, according to AFP news agency. Others have been killed in clashes with Israeli troops.

Israel says Palestinian incitement has fuelled the attacks. The Palestinian leadership has blamed frustration rooted in decades of Israeli occupation.

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Herdsmen vs IPOB: Presidency reveals why pro-Biafra group is more dangerous than Fulani Herdsmen(Nigeria)

-        Senior special assistant on media and publicity Garba Shehu says IPOB had all the appearances of a terrorist organisation 

- Unlike IPOB, Fulani herdsmen, he said, were only a criminal organisation

 - Garba Shehu named at least five reasons that made federal government consider IPOB more dangerous than herdsmen 

        The Nigerian Presidency has listed reasons why it brought down the hammer on Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) while appearing to ignore the activities of rampaging Fulani herdsmen. According to the presidency, IPOB had clear tendencies of a terrorist group while the herdsmen were just a criminal group. 
     
         The clarifications were made by President Muhammadu Buhari’s media aide Garba Shehu in an interview with Nigerian Tribune published on Saturday, September 23. According to Shehu, comparing IPOB to the herdsmen is like ‘comparing apples with paw paws’. 

Explaining further, Shehu gave five reasons why the federal government deemed IPOB more dangerous than Fulani herdsmen.

 1. State declaration IPOB declared the state of Biafra. He said: “The herdsmen, no matter how criminal their actions, have never declared a sovereign state within Nigeria.”

 2. Holding Nigerian territories According to Shehu, IPOB was holding on to Nigerian territories and making moves to take more. “They don’t have territorial ambitions. IPOB on the other has put us on notice that they want to take Kogi, Benue, Rivers, Bayelsa and Delta!”

 3. Flags Shehu also noted that the pro-Biafra secessionists had flags like terrorist groups 4. Passports The presidential aide also made allusion to the creation of embassies across the world by IPOB. He said:

 “The Fulani don’t have flags or national passports” The presidency also said the government was able to quickly identify the source of IPOB’s funding but had failed to trace that of Boko Haram because the method used by the pro-Biafra group to source for funds was open. 

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70-YR-OLD MAN WITH 3 WIVES, 14 CHILDREN ARRESTED FOR RAPING 7-YR-OLD ORPHAN FOR 4 YEARS

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The police have arrested a 70-year-old man in Akpoha, Ebonyi state, Simon Alobu, for allegedly hypnotizing and repeatedly raping a 7-year-old orphan, Favour. Favour was first raped in 2014 and since then, the man has allegedly been raping her. 

.The suspect tore Favour’s bottom with razor blade where he presumably apply some charms to prevent the girl from revealing his identity until the girl revealed his illicit acts on her after attending a crusade at Adoration Ministry, Enugu owned by a Charismatic Catholic Priest Rev. Fr. Ejike Mbaka. 

.Favour is facing health challenges with a body odour following the rape. She is yet to be given adequate medical treatment. Alobu was handed over to the police by a special court in the state known as family law centre where the matter was reported by Favour’s aunt, Enya Martha. 

.The man married three wives and has 14 children. None of the wives and children are living with him. One of his wives was divorced while another is dead. The remaining one left him and went to her son who is living outside the area. 

The suspect lives in the same compound with the girl and her aunt and was reported to the centre by the victim’s aunt Enya Martha who alleged that the man also raped her when she was a little girl. 

Narrating her ordeal in the hands of Alobu, the victim said “the man said I should come and prepare food for him. After preparing the food, my brother who was with me said he was not eating and left immediately.

When my brother left and I was still eating, the man locked the door and carried me to his bed and raped me”. The girl’s aunt, became aware of Favours condition after she complained of severe pains in her private. 

According to the woman, she took the girl to Afikpo where the rape was confirmed why efforts to make her reveal the identity of the rapist failed as he continued the act till this year. 

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Miss Turkey stripped of her crown over coup tweet

Itir Esen (C) has lost her crown, and runner-up Asli Sumen (L) will take her place

The winner of Miss Turkey 2017 has been stripped of her crown after one of her past tweets came to light.

Itir Esen, 18, had shared a post referencing last year's coup attempt, comparing her menstrual cycle to the spilt blood of "martyrs".

The competition's organisers said the tweet was "unacceptable" and confirmed their decision to dismiss her, just hours after she won.

Ms Esen has since said, via Instagram, that she was not being political.

The tweet was posted around the first anniversary of the 15 July coup attempt, when nearly 250 people died fighting an army uprising.

She wrote: "I am having my period this morning to celebrate the July 15 martyrs' day. I am celebrating the day by bleeding a representation of our martyrs' blood."

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan regularly refers to the "martyrs" who died resisting the coup.

The beauty pageant's organisers said the tweet did not come to light until after Thursday's ceremony in Istanbul, after which they held a long meeting to discuss the situation and verify the post.

On Friday, they released a statement to announce their decision to rescind her title: "We regret to say that this tweet has been tweeted by Itir Esen. It is not possible for the Miss Turkey Organisation to promote such a post, when it aims to introduce Turkey to the world and contribute to its image."

Ms Esen later responded with her own statement on social media: "I want to say that as a 18-year-old girl, I had no political aims while sharing this post."

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"I was raised with respect for the homeland and the nation," she added, apologising for "being misunderstood".

Runner-up Asli Sumen will now travel to China to represent Turkey in the Miss World competition.

Ms Esen is not the first Miss Turkey to find herself embroiled in a political row.

Former Miss Turkey Merve Buyuksarac got in trouble for "insulting" the president

In 2016, another past winner, Merve Buyuksarac, was given a 14-month suspended prison sentence for insulting President Erdogan via satirical poem she shared on social media.

Ms Buyuksarac, who won the 2006 crown, was also briefly detained over the issue in 2015.

Around that time, President Erdogan launched thousands of lawsuits against people he said had insulted him.

He later withdrew them, saying he was inspired by the feelings of unity after the failed coup.

However, a harsh crackdown has continued, which the president insists is necessary for national security. More than 150,000 state employees have been dismissed and some 50,000 people arrested

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Migrant crisis: Dozens feared drowned off Libya coast

Lifejackets believed to be from the capsized boat were washed up on the coast

At least 50 migrants are feared drowned after their boat ran out of fuel and capsized off the Libyan coast.

The dinghy, which had been carrying at least 100 people, had set off from Libya's western city of Sabratha last Friday, local officials told the BBC.

The vessel was adrift for days before it capsized and was washed onshore near the city of Zuwara in the early hours of Wednesday.

Thirty-five survivors were found, along with eight bodies, officials said.

A spokesman for the Libyan navy said the survivors were all from sub-Saharan Africa.

Libya is a popular transit route for migrants trying to reach southern Europe by sea. Many are packed into unseaworthy vessels by traffickers who then abandon them to their fate in the Mediterranean Sea.

More than 100,000 have crossed the Mediterranean to Italy so far this year, according to the UN. More than 2,400 people have died in the attempt.

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Migrants caught by Libyan authorities are often taken to overcrowded detention centres in Tripoli where they are kept in poor conditions.

Arrivals to Italy from Libya fell sharply earlier this summer following a reported deal between the internationally recognised government in Tripoli and a Libyan militia alleged to have been involved in human trafficking.

Italy's parliament also approved a plan to send naval boats to Libya to stop migrants crossing the Mediterranean.

A note on terminology: The term migrant to refer to all people on the move who have yet to complete the legal process of claiming asylum. This group includes people fleeing war-torn countries such as Syria, who are likely to be granted refugee status, as well as people who are seeking jobs and better lives, who governments are likely to rule are economic migrants.

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Man and woman charged with murder after burned body found in London

Sabrina Kouider and Ouissem Medouni appear in court over remains in garden, which police have been unable to identify

 Kouider and Medouni were remanded in custody at Westminster magistrates court to appear at the Old Bailey on 26 September.

A man and a woman have appeared in court charged with murder after the discovery of a badly burned body in the garden of their home in London.

Sabrina Kouider and Ouissem Medouni are alleged to have killed the victim on or before 20 September at the address in Wandsworth, south-west London.

Police have been unable to tell the age or gender of the dead person because of the level of burns, but the victim has been named in local reports as Sophie Lionnet, a nanny from Troyes, north-east France, who is said to have worked for Kouider.

Police discovered the body on Wednesday after parents walking their children home from school reported a large fire and “foul-smelling smoke”, according to reports.

Kouider, 34, a makeup artist and designer, is the former girlfriend of Mark Walton, who was part of the initial lineup of the boyband Boyzone. On Friday, she and Medouni, 40, were remanded in custody at Westminster magistrates court to appear at the Old Bailey on 26 September.

A friend of Lionnet’s told the Daily Mail she had come to London to learn English but found it difficult living there, adding: “Sophie had been unhappy for a long time, so unhappy she left to stay with one of her few friends for two nights last month.

“She had finally decided to go home, though, and had just asked her mum to send her £40 so she could afford the fare. She was supposed to have gone back on Monday. She never arrived.”

Forensic officers continued their work on Thursday. Scotland Yard said: “Police were called to a residential address at Wimbledon Park Road at 6.26pm on Wednesday, 20 September, following reports of a fire and a person deceased.

“A body was found at the scene. The body was too badly burned to establish the gender and age. A postmortem examination will be held in due course.”

The Metropolitan police’s homicide and major crime command is leading the investigation.

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