Iraq's Victory In Mosul Raises Questions About The Future Of ISIS NPR July 11, 20174:31 PM ET. Heard on All Things Considered. NPR's Kelly McEvers talks with terrorism expert Bruce Hoffman about what to expect for the future of ISIS now that the city of Mosul, Iraq, has been liberated from the terrorist group. Facebook ... |
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Iraq's Victory In Mosul Raises Questions About The Future Of ISIS - NPR
By Maja Zuvela | SREBRENICA, Bosnia
SREBRENICA, Bosnia Four Yazidis from Iraq joined thousands of Bosnian Muslims at a commemoration on Tuesday of the 8,000 men and boys killed in 1995 at Srebrenica and called for atrocities committed against their sect by Islamic State to be recognized as genocide.
The Srebrenica massacre by Bosnian Serb forces near the end of Bosnia's war was declared a genocide by two United Nations courts and leaders including General Ratko Mladic have been prosecuted at the U.N. war crimes tribunal in The Hague.
The 2014 killings at Sinjar of thousands of Yazidis by IS militants who buried some alive and took thousands of women as slaves have also been called a genocide by a U.N. commission but activists are seeking wider recognition and prosecutions.
"We have endured horrific abuse and persecution -- the Bosnian Muslims at the hands of Serbs and Yazidis at the hands of the Islamic State (IS) -- and we share the memories and recognize each others' feelings," said Hussam Abdukah, a Yazidi lawyer who is documenting the IS crimes and is a member of a peacebuilding program in northern Iraq.
Tuesday's commemoration of the killings at Srebrenica 22 years ago included the burials of 71 newly identified victims at a cemetery near the eastern town, bringing the total number interred there to 6,575.
More than 1,000 men and boys are still missing. The Serb forces dumped the victims' bodies in pits and subsequently dug them up and scattered them in a systematic effort to conceal the crime, Europe's worst atrocity since World War Two.
Yazidis will commemorate the Sinjar massacre in August.
The activists attending the Srebrenica anniversary, who also included two Iraqis, said they hoped to use the Srebrenica families' experiences to help build cases against IS fighters that can eventually be used in international criminal courts.
"We urge the international community that just like in Srebrenica it helps open mass graves and build cases because we fear that traces of the crime might stay hidden," said Basma Naji, who fled Sinjar just hours before the attack.
Bosnian Serb wartime leader Radovan Karadzic was jailed last year for 40 years by The Hague tribunal while his military chief Mladic is still being tried on genocide charges.
Dozens of Bosnian Serb lower-ranking officials were jailed over the Srebrenica atrocity by the Bosnian war crimes court.
Most Serbs strongly deny the massacre was genocide, however, and regard Karadzic and Mladic as national heroes. That divide continues to hinder reconciliation and stifle Bosnia's progress toward integration with Western Europe.
Among those buried on Tuesday was Munib Salkic, who was 15 when he was killed at Srebrenica.
"For more than 20 years I had hoped my brother was alive," his sister Emina Kuranovic said through tears beside a green-draped coffin holding Salkic's remains.
"I did not believe that anybody could have killed a child."
(Editing by Daria Sito-Sucic and Catherine Evans)
WASHINGTON The United States said on Tuesday it shot down a simulated, incoming intermediate-range ballistic missile (IRBM) similar to the ones being developed by countries like North Korea, in a new test of the nation's THAAD missile defenses.
DOHA The United States and Qatar signed an agreement on Tuesday aimed at combating the financing of terrorism, as U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson visited Doha to try to end a month-long rift between Western-allied Arab states.
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At Srebrenica, Iraq's Yazidis demand genocide recognition - Reuters
BBC News | Battle for Mosul: Iraq PM Abadi formally declares victory BBC News Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi has formally declared victory over so-called Islamic State (IS) in Mosul. Mr Abadi waved a national flag with troops after announcing the "collapse of the terrorist state of falsehood". Earlier, clashes were ... US and Iraq Declare Victory Over ISIS in Mosul Iraq's Moment of Celebration Is One of Deeper Risk, Too Iraqi PM declares victory over Islamic State in Mosul |
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Battle for Mosul: Iraq PM Abadi formally declares victory - BBC News
The assignment for Meredith May, who used to be a Chronicle reporter and feature writer, was precise. You have five months, she was told by the publisher, ReganBooks, to meet the protagonists, hear them tell their story (through translators), research its veracity, and write the book, which would be in the first person, with alternating chapters told by each man involved. And thats what led to the publication of I, Who Did Not Die, a book she spoke about and signed at Book Passage in Corte Madera on Thursday.
The story, first reported in Canadian newspapers, is stunning: In 1982, during the Iran-Iraq War, Najah Aboud, a 29-year-old Iraqi who had been drafted, was severely wounded. Iranian Zahed Haftlang, a 13-year-old Iranian child soldier whod enlisted to escape a bullying father, was ordered to make sure every Iraqi enemy in a certain area of the battleground was dead. Searching, he found only one, Najah, barely alive.
Although Zahed had been ordered to kill anyone he encountered, he was unable to do it. Instead, he ministered to Najah for three days, hiding him and saving his life. Ultimately, both men were captured, Zahed spending two years in an Iraqi prison, Aboud spending 17 years in an Iranian prison, way past the end of the war.
Eventually, both men wound up in Canada. And 20 years after their first encounter, by chance, they meet again, at a clinic for people suffering the effects of traumatic stress.
May was speaking at the bookstore, which has a busy schedule of events, just after Al Frankens presentation of his Al Franken, Giant of the Senate. That audience was huge and friendly, a choir to be preached to, a crowd easily amused. (More about his presentation tomorrow.) But no one got the chills until May told her books story.
May will be at a Writers With Drinks event at the Make-Out Room in San Francisco at 7 p.m. on Sept. 9.
Mark Kelly, who retired as an astronaut in 2011, the year his wife, Arizona Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, was shot in the head, is going to be at Shreve & Co. on Tuesday, July 11, on behalf of Breitling watches, which calls him a company Ambassador. Kelly was a space shuttle pilot who became a mission commander. The (sort of) tie in between his distinguished public and scientific life with this commercial gig is that the watch company has a new Navitimer Breitling DC-3 watch thats being shlepped around the world on a Breitling DC-3 plane.
In the comments section of the Mission Local story alleging that many items in the permanent collection of the Mexican Museum are not authentic artifacts, a person identifying himself as George Washington weighed in. This isnt just in Mexico museums but all over the world. Dinosaurs are fake. Its one of the biggest hoaxes. Every single dinosaur skeleton you see at a museum isnt real. They are all cast. Dinosaurs were invented to support the evolution myth. Nice coincidence that dinosaurs werent discovered until right after the evolution theory came to be. And remember, George Washington cannot tell a lie.
Julie Brown Saari attended a Salute to America July 4 concert of the Cleveland Symphony, and overheard a small boy who was there with his mom, who told him there would be fireworks after the concert. Then will they play some real music? he asked her. Saari thought this amusing; perhaps he was disappointed there was no rock n roll. But having looked at the program which included the Strategic Air Command March, Army Air Corps March and March-Past of the U.S. Armed Forces I think the kid may have a future as a music critic.
Those San Rafael Pacifics, mentioned herein last week for their Alternative Facts Night, seem to like combining baseball with social action: On Aug. 26, in support of Tri-Valley Socks (Stepping Out for Cancer Kures), they will make baseball history, says an announcement, by being the first professional mens team to wear bras over their jerseys to support the fight against breast cancer. Challenge to players in womens leagues: What are you going to do about the fight against prostate cancer?
Leah Garchik is open for business in San Francisco, (415) 777-8426. Email: lgarchik@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @leahgarchik
PUBLIC EAVESDROPPING
Can we get the
vegan chocolate bunny?
Little girl to mother, overheard at Target
in San Rafael by Gary Meyer
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One enemy saves another's life; an Iran-Iraq war story - San Francisco Chronicle
Good morning. These are todays top stories:
President Donald Trumps eldest son, Donald Trump Jr., offered two different explanations over the weekend for why he met with a Russian lawyer during the 2016 presidential campaign. In his latest statement, Trump Jr. said he was promised damaging information about Hillary Clinton, the New York Times reported.
Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi has declared a big victory over ISIS in Mosul, according to the Associated Press. The liberation of Iraqs second-largest city was almost nine months in the making.
Nelsan Ellis , who portrayed Lafayette Reynolds on HBO's True Blood , has died at 39, reportedly due to complications of heart failure. HBO said the actor was a longtime member of the HBO family whose groundbreaking portrayal of Lafayette will be remembered fondly.
Also:
Cardinal George Pell , a top Vatican cleric, has returned to Australia to face sexual assault charges.
Five people were gored during the first two days of Spain's running of the bulls.
Elon Musk has revealed the first photos of Tesla's Model 3 .
The Amazon Echo is crazy cheap for tomorrow's Amazon Prime Day .
Pringles is introducing a ramen-flavored chip for a limited time.
The Morning Brief is published Mondays through Fridays. Email Morning Brief writer Melissa Chan at melissa.chan@time.com .
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The Morning Brief: Donald Trump Jr., ISIS in Iraq and Amazon Echo - TIME