Right to bare arms: US Congresswomen protest against dress code

US Congresswomen have protested for the right to bare arms in parts of Washington DC's Capitol building.

The National Rifle Association may be disappointed to learn that this is not a typo. They are not campaigning to bear weapons, but to stand against the Congressional dress code.

The long-standing code bans sleeveless tops, among other things.

The protest comes after a number of women have recently reported being told their outfits violated the rules.

Female reporters have said they had been prevented from entering the lobby area, where the press meets to ask questions of US politicians.

On Friday, Representative Jackie Speier tweeted to encourage colleagues to dress in clothes that showed their arms, calling the protest "Sleeveless Friday".

A group of around 25 women gathered on the steps of Congress, wearing sleeveless shirts and dresses.

"It's 2017 and women vote, hold office, and choose their own style. Time to update House Rules to reflect the times!" tweeted Congress member Chellie Pingree.

Although the rules are long-standing, they are rarely enforced, and so those affected recently expressed surprise.

News network CBS said one reporter tried to fashion makeshift sleeves out of her notebook so she would be able to work.

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The sleeves rule also applies to men, who are required to wear suit jackets and ties to enter the same areas.

Open-toed shoes are also not allowed.

Temperatures in Washington on Friday reached 36C (97F).

Policing of the rules is left to the chamber's security team, under the guidance of the house speaker.

After a backlash, House Speaker Paul Ryan emphasised that the code had not been devised under his term, and agreed it needs to be modernised.

"It came to my attention that there was an issue about dress code," he said in a press conference on Thursday morning, with a laugh.

Speaker Ryan said, earlier in June, that members should wear "appropriate business attire".

In the UK, a similar debate recently erupted when House of Commons Speaker John Bercow said he was happy to relax the rules.

In June, he accepted a question from a member of parliament who was not wearing a tie.

He also said members should wear "businesslike attire".

Yet what this constitutes in 2017 - especially with the rise of more casual media and tech companies - is not always clear.

Liu Xiaobo: Chinese dissident's ashes scattered at sea

Chinese activist and Nobel Peace Prize winner Liu Xiaobo has been cremated in a private ceremony in the north-eastern city of Shenyang.

His ashes were later scattered in the sea, his brother said.

Mr Liu, who had been serving an 11-year prison term for "subversion", died of liver cancer on Thursday. He was China's most prominent dissident.

His wife, Liu Xia, has been under house arrest since 2010. But she attended Saturday's funeral.

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An official said that Mr Liu's remains were cremated "in accordance with local customs and the wishes of the family".

Mozart's Requiem was played at the ceremony, he said.

Photographs shared by local authorities showed Mrs Liu and other mourners beside Mr Liu's open coffin, which was surrounded by white chrysanthemums, a symbol of grief in China.

She was visibly distressed.

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Later pictures showed Mrs Liu and others on a ship apparently throwing flowers into the sea, during a ceremony to scatter her husband's ashes.

Supporters of Mr Liu say the authorities wanted to avoid providing a burial ground where he could be remembered.

"It was a deliberate move by the Chinese government to hastily arrange the funeral so that no-one can visit his body, which would evoke the most memories," said activist Hu Jia, quoted by the South China Morning Post.

The official who spoke about the funeral said he believed Mrs Liu had been freed, but Mr Liu's lawyer, Jared Genser, rejected this claim and said Mrs Liu had been held "incommunicado" since her husband's death.

"The world needs to mobilise to rescue her - and fast," he wrote in a statement. On Friday, the committee that awards the Nobel Peace Prize said it was "deeply worried" about her and urged China to free her.

At a government-organised news conference, Mr Liu's older brother Liu Xiaoguang said the funeral arrangements had been carried out in accordance with the family's wishes.

Liu Xiaoguang is regarded by Mr Liu's friends as someone who had long disagreed with his brother's views.

Meanwhile in Hong Kong several thousand people held an evening vigil for the dissident, calling him a "people's hero" and demanding "true freedom" for Liu Xia, Reuters reported.

Liu Xiaobo was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2010 for his non-violent struggle for human rights in China.

Turkey marks anniversary of failed coup

Turkey is holding a series of events to mark the first anniversary of a failed coup in which at least 260 people died and 2,196 were wounded.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan will unveil a memorial on an Istanbul bridge that became a landmark of resistance and will later address parliament.

An army faction tried to seize power last July but the attempt collapsed.

The government has since dismissed more than 150,000 state employees, saying it is rooting out coup supporters.

Critics say the dismissals, and a wave of 50,000 arrests, are part of an attempt to purge dissent.

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Kicking off a series of events that will extend into dawn on Sunday, Prime Minister Binali Yildirim told a special session of parliament that 15 July 2016 was a "second War of Independence", following the conflict that led to the creation of the modern state in the 1920s.

"It has been exactly one year since Turkey's darkest and longest night was transformed into a bright day, since an enemy occupation turned into the people's legend," Mr Yildirim said.

Huge rallies are to take place on Saturday, with 15 July declared an annual holiday.

Mr Erdogan will attend a rally in Istanbul on the bridge across the Bosphorus where crowds confronted soldiers. It has been renamed the Bridge of the Martyrs of July 15 and the president will unveil a "martyrs' memorial" there.

Istanbul is awash with giant anniversary billboards and posters showing people confronting pro-coup soldiers, with anti-coup slogans strung between the minarets of mosques.

Mr Erdogan will later return to Ankara to address parliament at midnight (21:00 GMT), the exact time last year it was attacked by coup plotters.

He will unveil a monument to the coup's victims at his palace in the capital at dawn.

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On 15 July last year, the coup plotters, armed with tanks, warplanes and helicopters, declared that they had taken over on state media, and bombed parliament and other key locations.

They tried to detain Mr Erdogan as he holidayed in an Aegean resort, but he had left and the coup was thwarted by civilians and soldiers loyal to the president.

The Turkish authorities accused a movement loyal to the Muslim cleric, Fethullah Gulen, of organising the plot.

Mr Gulen, who remains in the United States, denies any involvement.

Washington has so far resisted calls from the Turkish authorities to extradite the cleric.

Mr Erdogan and his supporters may see the defeat of the coup as Turkey's rebirth, but for others it is less triumphant, says the BBC's Mark Lowen, with the memory of the attempt dividing the country.

Critics say Mr Erdogan is using the purges to stifle political dissent, and last week hundreds of thousands of people gathered in Istanbul at the end of a 450km (280-mile) "justice" march against the government.

Its organiser, opposition politician Kemal Kilicdaroglu, condemned the coup but said the measures Mr Erdogan had taken since constituted a "second coup".

The president accused the marchers of supporting terrorism.

On Friday, the government continued its dismissal of state employees, sacking another 7,395 for alleged links to what it calls terrorist groups.