Liu Xiaobo: German anger at video taken of visit


Germany has accused Chinese authorities of controlling the cancer treatment of ailing dissident Liu Xiaobo, instead of his doctors.
The criticism comes after a video of a German doctor visiting Mr Liu appeared on Chinese media, according to the German embassy in Beijing.
German authorities had requested that no recordings be made of the visit.
Mr Liu was moved from prison to a hospital last month to receive treatment for terminal liver cancer.
The German embassy in Beijing said in a statement "security organs are steering the process, not medical experts".
In 2009, the pro-democracy activist and Nobel Peace Prize winner was given an 11-year sentence for subversion.
Following international pressure, Beijing allowed Western doctors to examine the dissident.
Chinese medical experts have said he is too ill to travel, but over the weekend the doctors from the US and Germany said he could go abroad for palliative care.

Man charged with murdering sleeping boy in Sydney


An Australian man has been charged with the "execution-style" killing of a 15-year-old boy who was shot in his bed.
Brayden Dillon was sleeping on Good Friday in April when a masked gunman entered his family's Sydney home and shot him in the head, police said.
On Monday, heavily armed officers arrested a 26-year-old man and charged him with murder.
It came hours after police released images of a car being driven in the area around the time of the shooting.
In April, police said the gunman had threatened Brayden's mother before entering his room and shooting him at close range.
His stepfather and young step-siblings were also in the house at the time.
"Brayden's murder was particularly callous," Detective Chief Inspector Mark Henney said on Monday.
He would have celebrated his 16th birthday on Wednesday, police said.
The man will appear in a Sydney court on Tuesday.

Iraq Mosul: Anti-IS forces used 'unnecessary force'


Iraqi and coalition forces fighting Islamic State (IS) militants in the city of Mosul used unnecessarily powerful weapons, an Amnesty International report says.
They deployed heavy weapons in densely-populated areas, Amnesty says.
Coalition officials have so far not commented on the allegations, but they have previously insisted they have done all they could to protect civilians.
IS fighters are also accused by Amnesty of committing serious abuses.
The militants are accused of using human shields during coalition attacks and of summarily killed hundreds - possibly thousands - of civilians, leaving bodies to hang from electricity pylons as a warning to others.

'Imprecise weapons'

Citing an eyewitness, the Amnesty report The Civilian Catastrophe in West Mosul says that bombardments by Iraqi and US-led coalition forces have killed a "huge number" of civilians.
The report calls for the formation of an independent commission to investigate the number of civilian deaths.
It examined hostilities in the west of the city from January to mid-May and accuses coalition forces of failing to adapt their tactics even when it was clear that IS militants had forced civilians into areas most likely to come under attack.
They used "imprecise weapons with wide-area effects in densely-populated urban environments", the report says, and subjected them to a terrifying barrage of fire.
The use of human shields by IS "does not lessen the legal obligation of pro-government forces to protect civilians", Amnesty's Middle East Research Director Lynn Maalouf said.

Amnesty allegations against Iraqi and coalition forces

  • They carried out a pattern of attacks which "appear not to have struck their intended military targets, instead killing and injuring civilians"
  • Some civilian deaths and injuries appear to have resulted from an inappropriate choice of weapons or a failure to take necessary precautions to verify a target
  • On 17 March a US airstrike on Mosul's al-Jadida neighbourhood was carried out to kill two IS snipers - but also killed more than 100 civilians
  • The UK government's claim that hundreds of RAF air strikes in and around Mosul have resulted in no civilian casualties "is at best implausible"

Amnesty allegations against Islamic State forces



  • They carried out a systematic campaign of forced displacement in the Mosul area, moving thousands of civilians from neighbouring villages to be used as human shields
  • They trapped people inside their homes by welding doors shut, rigging booby traps at exits, and summarily killing hundreds - perhaps thousands - of people attempting to escape
  • One witness described how militants hanged the bodies of civilians trying to flee from electricity pylons
  • "If you stayed, you would die in your house from the fighting," the witness said, "[but] if you tried to run away, they would catch you and kill you"

BBC NEWS

Colombia: President Santos grants Farc members amnesty

Colombia's President Juan Manuel Santos has signed a decree granting amnesty to another 3,600 members of the Farc rebel group, which last year reached a peace deal with the government.
It is the third and final amnesty decree signed by Mr Santos.
More than 7,000 rebels in total have been granted amnesty or released from prison as part of their reintegration into Colombian society.
Last month the Farc completed its disarmament process.
The rebels handed all its 7,000 registered weapons to the United Nations mission in Colombia.
Earlier on Monday, the United Nations Security Council voted to set up a new mission in the country, which from September will oversee the implementation of the peace deal.
The move puts an end to more than five decades of conflict.
The Marxist rebel group was found in 1964 to defend the rights of landless peasants.
It entered formal peace negotiations with the government in 2012. The talks were held in Cuba and lasted four years.
The final agreement was rejected by the Colombian people in a referendum last October. But a reviewed version was approved by Congress a month later and signed into law.
The Farc has agreed to give up its armed struggle to become a political party.
A key part of the agreement was the rebels' reintegration to civilian life. It was agreed that all Farc members who did not commit serious crimes would be granted amnesty.
The three decrees signed by Mr Santos have benefited 6,005 former rebels. Another 1,400 who were serving prison sentences have been released in the past few months.
Mr Santos won last year's Nobel Peace Prize for his peace efforts.
Following the success of the Farc negotiations, Colombia's second rebel group, the National Liberation Army, or ELN, also entered formal peace talks. They are being held in neighbouring Ecuador.

Hindu pilgrims killed in militant attack in Kashmir

Seven Hindu pilgrims, six of them women, have been killed in a militant attack in Indian-administered Kashmir after their bus apparently got caught in crossfire.
The bus is understood to have been returning from the Amarnath Cave pilgrimage site when militants launched an attack in Anantnag district.
It is thought the target was vehicles at a counter-insurgency base.
The attack, which also left 19 pilgrims wounded, could raise tensions.
A police source told the BBC the attack did not appear to be aimed at the bus, but hardline Hindu groups linked to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's ruling party have long wanted to see tough action against the armed revolt against Indian rule in the Muslim-majority region.
News of the attack has already sparked anger on social media, with people demanding immediate retaliation on behalf of the pilgrims, most of whom came from Gujarat, Mr Modi's home state.
Mr Modi tweeted he was "pained beyond words", adding: "India will never get bogged down by such cowardly attacks and the evil designs of hate."
The attack has also been condemned by separatist leader Syed Ali Geelani, whose spokesman called it "an act of terror", while outlawed armed group Lashkar-e-Toiba distanced itself from the attack, saying "it was aimed at bringing a bad name to the Kashmiri movement".
Meanwhile, Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti, who stayed overnight with the wounded, all of whom were out of danger, promised that her forces "would not spare" those involved.
The attack comes after some hardline separatist leaders said they welcomed the pilgrims - about 100,000 of whom have already completed the journey - as their fight is not with ordinary Indians.
One police source told the BBC the bus was not properly registered, and should have been off the road by the time of the attack, at 20:20 local time (14:50 GMT) on Monday.

Trump son defends meeting Russian 'with Clinton material'

Donald Trump Jr at Trump Tower in New York City, 18 January 2017Image copyrightGETTY IMAGES
Image captionDonald Trump Jr said "no meaningful information" on Mrs Clinton was provided
President Donald Trump's son has hit back at US media reports of his meeting with a Russian lawyer who said she had damaging material about Hillary Clinton.
Donald Trump Jr denied issuing inconsistent statements about last year's meeting.
He also suggested it was normal practice to receive information about a political opponent.
US officials are investigating alleged Russian meddling in the US election.
The president's son-in-law, Jared Kushner, and then-campaign head, Paul J Manafort, were also at the meeting with Natalia Veselnitskaya.
Mr Trump Jr insists she provided "no meaningful information" on Mrs Clinton, his father's rival for the presidency.
On Monday he tweeted sarcastically: "Obviously I'm the first person on a campaign to ever take a meeting to hear info about an opponent."
He then tweeted: "No inconsistency in statements... In response to further Q's [questions] I simply provided more details."
And he linked to a piece in the New York Post headlined "The Times' exposé' on Donald Trump Jr is a big yawn".
Later, Mr Trump Jr tweeted: "Happy to work with the committee to pass on what I know", after a Republican member of the Senate Intelligence Committee said it should interview him.
The White House says there was nothing inappropriate about Mr Trump Jr's meeting with the Russian lawyer.

When was the meeting and how did it come to light?

It took place on 9 June 2016 at New York's Trump Tower, just two weeks after Donald Trump secured the Republican nomination.
It is thought to be the first confirmed private meeting between a Russian national and members of President Trump's inner circle.
After the New York Times first reported the meeting on Saturday, Mr Trump Jr released a statement which confirmed that it had taken place but did not mention whether it was related to the presidential campaign.
However, another Times report, on Sunday, said Mr Trump Jr had agreed to the meeting after being offered information that would potentially prove detrimental to Mrs Clinton.
The paper cited three White House advisers briefed on the meeting, and two others with knowledge of it, as its sources.
Mr Trump Jr said that an acquaintance he had known from the 2013 Miss Universe pageant had set up the meeting. The Washington Post said that figure was music publicist Rob Goldstone, who has links to the Russian music industry.
In a statement on Sunday, Mr Trump Jr said he had been asked to meet "an individual who I was told might have information helpful to the campaign".
"I was not told her name prior to the meeting. I asked Jared [Kushner] and Paul [Manafort] to attend, but told them nothing of the substance."

What was discussed at the meeting?

Mr Trump Jr's statement continues: "After pleasantries were exchanged, the woman stated that she had information that individuals connected to Russia were funding the Democratic National Committee and supporting Mrs Clinton.
"Her statements were vague, ambiguous and made no sense. No details or supporting information was provided or even offered. It quickly became clear that she had no meaningful information.
"She then changed subjects and began discussing the adoption of Russian children and mentioned the Magnitsky Act.
"It became clear to me that this was the true agenda all along and that the claims of potentially helpful information were a pretext for the meeting."
Ms Veselnitskaya said on Saturday that "nothing at all was discussed about the presidential campaign" and insisted she had "never acted on behalf of the Russian government and have never discussed any of these matters with any representative of the Russian government".

What is the Magnitsky Act and who is Natalia Veselnitskaya?

Adopted by Congress in 2012, the act allows the US to withhold visas and freeze financial assets of Russian officials thought to have been involved in human rights violations.
It is named after a Moscow lawyer, Sergei Magnitsky, who had accused Russian officials of tax fraud but was himself arrested and died in police custody.
The US law so incensed President Vladimir Putin that he suspended a programme allowing Americans to adopt Russian children.
Mr Veselnitskaya is a lawyer whose clients include companies and individuals said to be close to the Kremlin and she has been at the forefront of a campaign - backed by the Russian state - to overturn the Magnitsky Act.
Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov insisted the Kremlin had no idea who she was: "We cannot keep a close watch on the meetings of all Russian lawyers inside the country and abroad."

Analysis: One piece of an unseemly puzzle?

Anthony Zurcher, BBC North America reporter
If it walks like collusion and talks like collusion... what exactly is it?
For the first time there appears to be direct evidence that three individuals in US President Donald Trump's inner circle met with a well-connected Russian prior to the presidential election where the campaign - including the possibility of damaging information about Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton - was discussed.
Donald Trump Jr has denied that anything relevant came out of the meeting but that could be beside the point. Intent is key and this may end up just one piece of a particularly unseemly puzzle.
This is also troubling news for the two other principals involved - son-in-law Jared Kushner and campaign chair Paul J Manafort - who are both embroiled in their own Russia-related controversies.
In May the president insisted that he had not colluded with the Russians. "But I can only speak for myself," he said. Some in his administration may have swallowed hard at that line - and now three individuals, if the New York Times is right, are leaking dynamite to the press.
Try as they might, the Trump team cannot seem to escape this Russia-related vortex. It makes one wonder what grim reality spins beneath the surface, pulling everyone down.

How has the rest of the Trump team responded?

Mr Kushner and Mr Manafort have not commented, although Mr Kushner's lawyer said her client had previously disclosed the meeting on security clearance forms. Mr Manafort has disclosed the meeting to congressional investigators.
Jared KushnerImage copyrightREUTERS
Image captionJared Kushner has not yet commented on the Donald Trump Jr statement
A spokesman for President Trump's legal team said on Sunday that the president was "not aware of and did not attend" the meeting.
White House chief of staff Reince Priebus said the meeting was a "big nothing burger".
The New York Times said Mr Trump Jr had told the paper in March that he had not met any Russian nationals to discuss campaign-related matters.

Why is Russia being investigated?

It is alleged that Russian hackers stole information linked to the Clinton campaign and passed it to Wikileaks so it could be released and help tip the election towards Mr Trump.
Congressional committees and a special prosecutor are investigating whether there was any collusion between the Trump team and the Russians.
The investigations have yet to reveal any evidence of collusion, something the president has always denied.
Last week Mr Trump said interference in the election "could well have been" carried out by countries other than Russia and interference "has been happening for a long time".

Apple to scan iPhones for child sex abuse images

  Apple has announced details of a system to find child sexual abuse material (CSAM) on customers' devices. Before an image is stored on...