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101-year-old Man Kaur from India celebrates after competing in the 100m sprint in the 100+ age category at the World Masters Games at Trusts Arena in Auckland

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101-year-old Man Kaur of India celebrates after competing in the 100m sprint in the 100+ age category at the World Masters Games at Trusts Arena in Auckland

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Federica Mogherini, European Union's High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, at a press conference following a meeting with Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov

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Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and Federica Mogherini, the high representative of the European Union for foreign affairs and security policy, arrive to attend a joint press conference following their meeting in Moscow

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US Defense Secretary James Mattis pauses during his remarks during a news conference at Resolute Support headquarters in Kabul, Afghanistan

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An Indian security personnel throws a stone during cashes with Kashmiri students in central's Srinagar's Lal Chowk

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A Kashmiri female student kicks a police vehicle during clashes in Srinagar, the summer capital of Indian Kashmir

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Kashmiri students throws rocks during clashes with police in Srinagar, the summer capital of Indian Kashmir

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A Kashmiri student tries to drag his unconscious colleague during clashes in Srinagar, the summer capital of Indian Kashmir

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Lucca-born Del Grande, a blogger and human rights activist, was arrested in Hatay Province near the Syria-Turkey border but no charges have been brought

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Italian Reporter Gabriele Del Grande with his partner Alexandra D'Onofrio talian Mnister of Foreign Affairs Angelino Alfano on Del Grande's arrival at Bologna's airport, Italy

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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, President Reuven Rivlin, Austrian Chancellor Christian Kern, and his wife, Eveline Steinberger-Kern, stand during a ceremony marking the annual Holocaust Remembrance Day at the Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial, in Jerusalem

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An Israeli holocaust survivor and one of his relatives lay flowers at the Hall of Remembrance, where the names of major death and concentration camps are written, during a ceremony marking the annual Holocaust Remembrance Day at the Yad Vashem Holocaust Memorial in Jerusalem

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People stop and stand in silence in the Israeli city of Tel Aviv, as sirens wailed across Israel for two minutes marking the annual day of remembrance for the six million Jewish victims of the Nazi genocide

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Israel began marking Holocaust Martyrs and Heroes Remembrance Day at sundown on April 23 with a ceremony at the Yad Vashem memorial museum in Jerusalem, which commemorates the Jews killed by the Nazi regime during World War II

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People stop and stand in silence on a Jerusalem's downtown street, as sirens wailed across Israel for two minutes marking the annual day of remembrance for the six million Jewish victims of the Nazi genocide

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Members of team USA celebrate with Junkanoo dancers after the IAAF/BTC World Relays Bahamas 2017 at Thomas Robinson Stadium in Nassau, Bahamas

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Members of team USA celebrate with Junkanoo dancers after the IAAF/BTC World Relays Bahamas 2017 at Thomas Robinson Stadium in Nassau, Bahamas

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Emmanuel Macron wins First round of French presidential elections

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Emmanuel Macron wins First round of French presidential elections

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Emmanuel Macron celebrates ater the first round of presidential election

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A giant spider sculpture sits in the infield as cars go by during the Indy Grand Prix of Alabama auto race, in Birmingham, Alabama

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Afghan Special Forces watch at the site where a MOAB, or ''mother of all bombs'', struck the Achin district of the eastern province of Nangarhar, Afghanistan

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Guests watch a video of US President Donald Trump as he addresses the 15th Plenary Assembly of the World Jewish Congress in New York City

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Campaign posters of French presidential election candidate for the En Marche ! movement Emmanuel Macron and French presidential election candidate for the far-right Front National (FN) party Marine Le Pen

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In this handout provided by NASA, the Soyuz MS-04 rocket carrying Expedition 51 Soyuz Commander Fyodor Yurchikhin of Roscosmos and Flight Engineer Jack Fischer of NASA launches from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Baikonur, Kazakhstan

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Visitors listen to remarks by IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde on a giant monitor in the atrium of the IMF headquarters during a press briefing to open the IMF and World Bank's 2017 Annual Spring Meetings, in Washington DC

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A Kashmiri school girl throws stones at Indian paramilitary soldiers during a protest in Srinagar, Indian controlled Kashmir

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Kashmiri school girls tend to wounded girl after she was hit by a stone during a protest in Srinagar, Indian controlled Kashmir. Government forces in Indian-controlled Kashmir on Thursday fired tear gas to stop student demonstrations as sporadic protests by students continued on straight fourth day even as authorities closed colleges and universities in the restive region. The students have been protesting since Monday against a police raid in a college in southern Pulwama town on Saturday in which at least 50 students were injured

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Former president of Madrid, Esperanza Aguirre addresses the media after testifying in the Guertel political corruption case at the National Court in Madrid, Spain

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US Defense Secretary James Mattis briefs reporters after his arrival in Tel Aviv, Israel

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An exterior view for the Holy Shrine of Imam Musa al-Kadim in the Kadhimiyah district of Baghdad, Iraq. Tens of thousands of Shiite worshippers streamed into the Iraqi capital amid heavy security to mark the anniversary of the death of Imam Musa al-Kadim who was the seventh of the twelve Shia Imams

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Indian nomad youths play in the water with their herd of buffaloes as they cool off in the Tawi River on a hot day on the outskirts of Jammu

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Russian Defence Ministry's forest guard member controls a firefighting robot during drills to fight wildfires

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A firefighting robot during drills to fight wildfires held by Russian Defence Ministry's forest guards

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Demonstrators take cover with a piece of corrugated tin roofing during anti-government protests in Caracas, Venezuela. Tens of thousands of opponents of President Nicolas Maduro flooded the streets of Caracas in what's been dubbed the 'mother of all marches' against the president

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Opposition supporters clash with police during protests against unpopular leftist President Nicolas Maduro in San Cristobal, Venezuela

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Government supporters attend a rally in Caracas, Venezuela

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An artist's rendering of a Harper's Bazaar magazine cover is projected onto the Empire State Building's north facade to celebrate the 150th anniversary of Harper's Bazaar Magazine in New York

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Zoe Saldana at the 'Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2' film premiere in Los Angeles, California

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A femen attacks Marine Le Pen as she delivers a speech in Paris

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People take part in the Colour Run 2017 's edition in front of the Eiffel Tower in Paris. The Colour Run is a five kilometres paint race without winners nor prizes, while runners are showered with coloured powder at stations along the run

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A woman pours coloured powder on a man as they take part in the Colour Run 2017 's edition, in Paris

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A Somali soldier patrols next to the burnt-out wreckage of a car that was used by suspected al-shabab fighters

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Rescuers of the Malta-based NGO Migrant Offshore Aid Station (MOAS) place a dead migrant on their rigid hulled inflatable boat (RHIB) into a body bag before transferring it to their ship Phoenix, after some 20 migrants drowned in the central Mediterranean in international waters off the coast of Libya

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Some 662 people dressed as Charlie Chaplin pose for a group photo in front of the Manoir de Ban during an attempt of the world's largest gathering of people dressed as 'The Tramp' on the occasion of Charlie Chaplin's birthday, and to celebrate the first year of the museum "Chaplin's World by Grevin", in Corsier, above Vevey, Switzerland

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Some 662 people dressed as Charlie Chaplin pose for a group photo in front of the Manoir de Ban during an attempt of the world's largest gathering of people dressed as 'The Tramp' on the occasion of Charlie Chaplin's birthday, and to celebrate the first year of the museum "Chaplin's World by Grevin", in Corsier, above Vevey, Switzerland

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A damaged bus is seen after an explosion yesterday at insurgent-held al-Rashideen, Aleppo province, Syria

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Girls enjoy ice cream in a zoo in Pyongyang, North Korea

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A child looks through the rear window of a bus in Pyongyang, North Korea

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Originally posted here:
Iraq considers next move after intercepting 'world's largest' ransom for kidnapped Qataris - The Independent

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull says Australian troops will remain in Afghanistan and Iraq long term, extending Australias Middle East commitment indefinitely.

The announcement comes off the back of his two-day visit to Aussie troops in both countries and puts an end to the Governments previous plan to withdraw from its training program in Afghanistan in 2018.

There is no doubt that in both theatres there is going to need to be a long-term commitment, Mr Turnbull told reporters at the Al Minhad Air Base in the United Arab Emirates.

But it is one of supporting, above all of training, the Afghan and Iraqi security forces both military and police to ensure that they have the ability to defend their own country, to push back the terrorists where theyve made gains and to secure the territory that the government is holding.

So it is going to be a long-term commitment and well consider, with our allies in these conflict areas, well consider requests for further support. As it evolves, well be looking at that.

Australian troops are currently working in non-combat in both Iraq and Afghanistan, training local armed forces and helping build resistance against ISIS and the Taliban.

Turnbull also announced an additional $110 million in humanitarian assistance for Iraq in an effort to help the struggling state defeat ISIS terrorists.

Since the majority of Coalition forces withdrew from Iraq and Afghanistan both countries have had difficulty maintaining order and resisting insurgent advances.

See the article here:
Turnbull: Aussie troops to stay in Iraq, Afghanistan - Starts at 60

Wadha Khalaf sits cross-legged on the rough ground, throwing dough between her hands like shes done it a million times before.

The 45-year-old mother of 13 is a new arrival among the thousands of displaced Yazidis living on top of Mount Sinjar, in northern Iraq a sacred place for people of her faith.

But it is not the first time she has sought safety here.

Nearly three years after fleeing a murderous rampage by ISIS fighters, Khalaf is part of a wave of Yazidi families who have been forced to escape again, this time because of fighting between groups that have sworn to protect them.

It has made me feel like we would never feel happy again in our life, she saysas she piles the bread high.

This tent city on the mountain where Khalaf is taking shelter has been here since 2014, when thousands fled an ISIS invasion of dozens of towns and villages in the Sinjar region, in what the United Nations says was genocide against the Yazidi people.

ISIS kidnapped thousands of Yazidi women to use as sex slaves and killed civilians by the hundred. Nearly 4,000 Yazidi women are still being held by the militant group, according to the Women and Girls Support Center.

Those were the atrocities that prompted the United States, in August 2014, to launch its first strikes against ISIS in Iraq, opening a long campaign against the group that has extended to Syria, and been overseen by two presidents.

Related:This 84-year-old woman crawled on her knees to safety to escape ISIS

Years later, despite huge international attention for their plight, many Yazidis are still searching for safety.

In March, long-simmering tensions between rival Kurdish groups boiled over into armed clashesin the Sinjar region.

With ISIS to the south and Kurdish infighting in the north, there is now a sense among Yazidis that they are once again trapped on Mount Sinjar. It has become both a sanctuary and a prison.

After being stranded on the mountain for nearly two weeks in 2014, Khalaf and her family made their way to a refugee camp in Syria, where they lived for two years. They later came back to the Kurdish region in northern Iraq and stayed in a relatives house in the town of Sinuni. They were there for nine months when fighting broke out in March between Kurds in a neighboring town.

We dont dare to go back again. There are people getting killed in these fights, she says. When we got to Sinuni, we thought everything would be OK. But it is not safe there.

At the root of the fighting is a battle for influence in the Sinjar regionand the presence of the Kurdistan Workers Party, or PKK.

The PKK was founded in the late 1970s to fight for autonomy and greater rights for Turkeys more than 20 million Kurds. It is considered a terrorist organization by Turkey, the US and the European Union.

More recently, it has played a key role in the fight against ISIS.

The peshmerga, the semi-autonomous Kurdish regions official army in northern Iraq, fled as ISIS advanced in 2014. But PKK fighters based in the mountains farther north, together with their Syrian affiliates, raced to the area to support the few Yazidis who had weapons to fight. These Kurdishmilitants carved out an escape route thatled the minority group through Syria and back into Iraq.

Many Yazidis credit the PKK and its affiliates with saving thousands of lives. The PKK has since trained Yazidi fighting groups and taken them under its banner, and stayedin the Sinjar region ever since.

The fightingin March broke out after a dispute between one of the Yazidi fighting groups operating under the PKK's umbrella and Syrian peshmerga fighters trained by the Kurdish region's president, Masoud Barzani.

Now, the Kurdish government in northern Iraq says Sinjaris secure and the PKK has no authority to stay theyshould return to where they came from.

Turkey, which is allied with President Barzani'sgovernment, is adamant that they do so. The Turkish government wants to prevent the PKK from setting up a permanent base in Sinjar, from which it says the group could traffic weapons to fighters in Turkey.

In a sign of growing impatience on the matter, the Turkish air force bombed a PKK building in the foothills of Mount Sinjar on Tuesday and declared it would continue to target the group there until it leaves the area.

For the US, the fighting has highlighted precariousness of the united front it has built among anti-ISIS groups.

The US has has provided significant support to the peshmerga to take on ISIS. But ithas also supported the Syrian offshoot of the PKK, the Peoples Protection Unitsor YPG. This support has strained the US relationship with Turkey, which views the PKK and its affiliates as one and the same a terror organization on the same level as ISIS.

The US State Department expressed deep concern over Turkeys airstrikes on Tuesday, but has since not taken any decisive steps to de-escalate tensions in Sinjar.

The threat of airstrikes is just another danger to add to the list for Yazidis, a religious group thats been persecuted for centuries for its beliefs. Some of the displaced Yazidis think the PKK should leave, while others say they do not yet feel safe enough.

If it were not for the PKK, most of the Yazidis would have been dead by the hands of ISIS, Khalaf says. As long as one Yazidi is in danger, we dont want the PKK to leave. If we are given international protection and Yazidis feel safe, and the US keeps an eye on our situation, then we wont have any problem with the PKK leaving our areas.

Higher up the mountain road that snakes through the peaks here on Sinjar, 41-year-old Hassan Selo is putting a fence up around his tent. He recently moved here from another part of the mountain, which he has called home for the last three years.

At the beginning, the PKK came to help us, he says. They brought us food, water, they aided our wounded people, they protected us from ISIS. We didnt have military experience but they did.

But when the situation changes, he adds, the PKK should consider leaving Sinjar.

To say they should leave now is wrong because there is not complete safety in our area yet. But when our situation gets better and security is restored, they should leave. We are Iraqi people, they are not even Iraqis themselves. They are from other countries such as Syria and Turkey, they cannot rule here.

In the shadow of the mountain, to the south, lies the town of Sinjar, where most of the displaced people here are from. Before ISIS arrived in 2014, it was home to some 360,000 Yazidis. Today, they are scattered in camps across northern Iraq.

For those on the mountain, stability has been elusive. There are a number of aid organizations active here providing food, water and medical care, but work opportunities are limited.

One man who got bored of waiting is Kassem, a 25-year-old from Sinjar who has set up a small shack as a barbershop by the side of the road. Its filled with young men waiting for their turn in the chair.

Kassem, who asks that only his first name be used, says the most popular haircut in his shop is the American style, or more specifically, the American soldier style. He jokes that the man in his seat is getting an Obama.

Maybe later we will we do this for Trump soon, he says.

For Kassem, a young man with ambition, every day that passes here feels like an eternity. He says the Yazidis feel forgotten.

The humanitarian services are very low, things such as water, tents. It is around three years that we are under these tents, I have a feeling that the international community have closed their eyes, and I dont know why.

Kassem learned to cut hair on the fly. He watched other people do it and just practiced. He seems like an optimistic person, but like most people on Mount Sinjar, he foresees a difficult time ahead for the Yazidis.

We have nothing left, and there is nothing that didnt happen to us. We as Yazidi people dont see much safety in the Middle East. Especially with the racist ideology that is here. We hope that someday it will vanish, and we can live together peacefully.

For now, he says, nobody can reach the mountain.

Richard Hall reported from Mount Sinjar, Iraq.

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Years after US Iraq intervention, Yazidis are still seeking safety on a ... - PRI

By Ulf Laessing | ERBIL, Iraq

ERBIL, Iraq High on a rocky outcrop, just 50 miles from the fighting that is wrecking historic sites across Iraq, workers are busy laying out floor tiles, determined to save at least one ancient structure amidst the turmoil.

The team is rebuilding the last remains of the fortified citadel in the Iraqi-Kurdish capital of Erbil, constructed on top of the world's longest continuously-occupied site according to UNESCO, parts of it up to 8,000-years-old.

While Islamic State sends out suicide bombers and snipers in Mosul to the east, the authorities in Erbil are already looking ahead to the day when they can pull in more visitors.

"We not only want to preserve the citadel but also revive it," said Dara al-Yaqoobi, head of the project. "Around 14 sites are ready for visits. More will come as this is a long-term plan."

The autonomous government has taken advantage of the region's relative stability to invest $15 million in rebuilding the citadel, say authorities.

After years of work, the first buildings are opening, among them two museums, one dedicated to gem stones, the other to textiles.

"We've got carpets some 100 to 150 years old which were bought from residents and shops," said Sertip Mustafa, in charge of the museum.

CARPETS, GEMS, MISSILES

Archaeologists have uncovered ancient artifacts - and some more modern remains, including artillery shells dating back to the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in 2003, and Saddam Hussein's crackdown on a Kurdish uprising in 1991.

History is piled layer upon layer. The new floor tiles are going down in a 19th-century mansion. In another part of the site, a dilapidated public bath marked with a Star of David is testament to the large Jewish community that lived there before leaving for Israel in the 1940s.

Other houses were left abandoned when the government moved out the citadel's last permanent residents around 2008 to start renovating the site.

Restoration work was held up after Baghdad cut off state revenues in 2014 to the regional government in a row over oil exports.

But residents and visitors have already started returning, partly spurred on by the fact that there are few other places to go to in a region surrounded by war.

"We have hundreds of thousands of ancient sites in Iraq but they are all in a poor state because of the security situation," said Riyadh al-Rekabi, a public servant from Baghdad, where the main museum was looted.

"It's nice," he adds, looking round at the small area open to tourists, including the museums and a souvenir shop. "But it would be better if there was a cafe."

(Editing by Andrew Heavens)

KABUL Afghanistan's defense minister and army chief of staff resigned on Monday after the deadliest Taliban attack on a military base, and U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said he was "under no illusions" about the problems facing the country.

PARIS France's outgoing president, Francois Hollande, on Monday urged people to back centrist Emmanuel Macron in a vote to choose his successor next month and reject far-right leader Marine Le Pen, whose place in the runoff represented a "risk" for France.

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As war wrecks ancient Iraq, Erbil works to rebuild citadel - Reuters

Ahmad al-Assadi, spokesman for Iraq's Popular Mobilization Units (al-Hashd al-Sha'abi)

Iraqi group Popular Mobilization Units has delivered a counterblast to the Turkishpresident who had called the volunteer force fighting Daesha terrorist organization and part of Irans regional policy.

The group, known as Hashd al-Shaabi by its Arabic name, hasjoined forces with the Iraqi government against Daesh terrorists.

Last November, the Iraqi Parliament approved a law, giving legal status to the fighters and recognizingthem as part of the national armed forces.

On Wednesday, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan made incendiary remarks about the fighters in an interview with Doha-based al-Jazeera television channel, calling the group a terrorist organization supported by Iran.

Who are the Hashd al-Sha'abi? Who is backing them? The Iraqi Parliament supports Hashd al-Shaabi, but, honestly, they are a terrorist organization and should be known who stands behind it, he saidbefore adding he believed that the fighters were part of a Persian expansion policy.

The accusationspromptedHashd al-Sha'abispokesman Ahmad al-Assadi to issue an angry reposteon Sunday, saying Erodgan had clearly targeted the Arab country and its leadership.

Who has given Erdogan the right to intervene in Iraqs internal affairs? Iraq is a democratic country with institutions elected by its people. No one has the right to intervene in Iraqs domestic affairs, he said.

As for the Turkish president's Iran bashing,Assadi said, "The Iranian government is assisting Iraq in the fight against terrorism within legal frameworks.

The Islamic Republic has been providing military advisory support to Iraq and Syria at the request of theirgovernments. SeveralIraqi leaders have said that had it not been for Iran's assistance, Daesh would have overrun Baghdad.

Irans policy vis--vis regional issues is completely transparent and clear. It helps the new and democratic Iraq in the fight against Daesh, Assadi said.

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Iraq and Syria, hesaid, are now paying the price for Daeshs reign of terror in the region as he tookan indirect jab at Ankara over its allegedsupport for Takfiriand other militantoutfits.

Erdogans comments surprised IraqiPrime Minister Haider al-Abadi and prompted the Arab nation's Foreign Ministry to summon the Turkish ambassador to Baghdad andhand him a formal protest note.

Diplomatic relations between Ankara and Baghdad have taken a nosedive since Turkey sent around 2,000 troops into northern Iraq in December 2015.

The deployment drew harsh criticism from Iraqi leaders and political parties, warning that it could trigger a war between the two neighbors.

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Hashd al-Sha'abi calls on Erdogan to stop meddling in Iraq - Press TV