Video appears to show al-Baghdadi raid underway - CNN

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1. Video appears to show al-Baghdadi raid underway  CNN
2. Trump Approves Special Ops Raid Targeting ISIS Leader Baghdadi, Military Says He's Dead  Newsweek
3. Iran was informed of IS leader Baghdadi's death - Iranian officials tell Reuters  Reuters
4. ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi believed to have been killed in a US military raid, sources say  CNN
5. ISIS target believed to be Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi is killed in Syria: sources  Fox News
6. View full coverage on Google News

https://www.cnn.com/videos/world/2019/10/27/us-military-strike-syria-isis-leader-abu-bakr-al-baghdadi-vpx.cnn

2019-10-27 07:26:35Z
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Pope Francis proposes female deacons, married priests at Amazon synod - Fox News

Pope Francis, rounding out his synod of Amazonian clergy, announced Saturday that he would be reopening a commission to study the history of women as deacons in the early days of the Catholic Church.

After calls by women for greater decision-making roles in the Church, the pope made the announcement at the end of his three-week assembly discussing issues facing the Amazon region, solutions to a shortage of priests, environmental protection and the role of women.

Francis originally opened a commission to study the possibility of women in the role in 2016, but the commission ended its work without a consensus on the topic. A gathering of 181 bishops voted on 120 recommendations presented to the pope. The recommendation to re-examine female deacons passed the two-thirds vote threshold, 137 in favor and 30 opposed, according to the Wall Street Journal.

Pope Francis waves during his weekly general audience in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican, Wednesday, Oct. 9, 2019. (Fabio Frustcai/ANSA via AP)

Deacons are ordained ministers of the church and can fulfill some, but not all, of the roles a priest may fill. In today's church, they must be men, but unlike priests, they are allowed to marry. Deacons do not celebrate Mass, but they can give the homily, teach in the name of the Church, baptize and conduct weddings, wakes and funeral services.

VIRGINIA COUPLE ADOPTS AFTER VIRAL PRO-LIFE POST TELLING EXPECTANT MOTHERS NOT TO GET ABORTION

“We still have not grasped the significance of women in the Church. Their role must go well beyond questions of function,” Francis said, according to Reuters. Francis, however, has said the “door is closed” to the question of women in the role of the priesthood.

Conservatives have argued against the potential of women in the diaconate, saying it is too closely linked to the priesthood which is explicitly reserved for men. The history of women in the role has been debated by scholars. Some say female deacons only ministered to other women, and some say women were fully ordained to perform rites the way male deacons did

In this photo taken on Saturday, Oct. 19, 2019, members of Amazon indigenous populations prepare for a a Via Crucis (Way of the Cross) procession from St. Angelo Castle to the Vatican. In foreground is a wooden statue portraying a naked pregnant woman. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)

POPE FRANCIS ASKS FOR FORGIVENESS AFTER AMAZON STATUES STOLEN, THROWN INTO RIVER

A gathering of bishops Saturday also recommended that Francos loosen the celibacy requirement for priests in South America’s Amazon region to address the severe priest shortage. The Roman Catholic Church ordaining married men to the priesthood would break a precedent over 1,000 years old. Of the assembly, 128 members voted in favor of this measure and 41 were opposed.

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On Friday at the synod, Francis asked Amazonian bishops and local tribal leaders for forgiveness after indigenous statues were stolen from a Vatican-area church and thrown into a river. The pope insisted the wood-carved statues of naked pregnant women, known as Pachamama, were not a symbol of idolatry as conservatives had claimed, but rather were symbols of life, fertility and Mother Earth.

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2019-10-26 20:28:26Z
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Brexit: 'Fears confirmed' over rights at work, says Labour - BBC News

Labour has said leaked government papers "confirm its worst fears" about plans to dilute workers' rights after Brexit.

The documents, revealed by the Financial Times, say that the drafting of commitments on workers' rights and the environment in the Brexit deal "leaves room for interpretation".

Labour said it is a "blueprint" for ending "vital rights and protections".

But Business Minister Kwesi Kwarteng said the claims are "way exaggerated".

The leaked paper suggests that the government believes there is considerable scope to diverge from the EU on employment rights and other regulations after Brexit, despite its pledge to maintain a "level playing field" in Boris Johnson's latest deal.

In Mr Johnson's Brexit deal, references to a level playing field - the idea that the UK and EU countries keep their rules and standards close to prevent one trying to gain a competitive advantage - were removed from the legally binding withdrawal agreement.

Instead, they were put into the non-binding "political declaration", which describes the potential future relationship between the UK and EU.

According to the FT, the leaked document says the UK's and EU's interpretation of the "level playing field" pledge will be "very different", and the text represents a "much more open starting point" for negotiations over a future trade deal.

Purportedly drafted by the Brexit department, the paper appears to contradict promises by the prime minister on Wednesday that the UK is committed to the "highest possible standards" for the environment and rights at work.

It comes as EU leaders consider their decision on a new deadline for Brexit, having agreed to an extension in principle after the UK government admitted it could not meet its 31 October deadline.

The document will fuel fears among some in the EU that Boris Johnson is planning to shape Britain into a Singapore-style economy, with low taxes and light regulation, which could compete against Europe by potentially downgrading rights.

'Better than our word'

Suggestions that workers' rights could be diluted will also raise concerns among Labour MPs, 19 of whom voted for the Withdrawal Agreement Bill to progress in the House of Commons.

Labour shadow Brexit minister Jenny Chapman said the documents "confirm our worst fears".

She said: "Boris Johnson's Brexit is a blueprint for a deregulated economy, which will see vital rights and protections torn up."

The Brexit department said it did not recognise the document, however.

And Business Minister Kwesi Kwarteng told the BBC the claims were "completely mad" after the government had worked to win the support of Labour MPs.

"It wouldn't make any sense at all to dilute workers' rights in building that coalition to land the bill," he said.

"We have said we will be better than our word. We have said our ambition on securing workers' rights will be stronger than the provision of the bill."

A Brexit department spokesman said the government "has no intention of lowering the standards of workers' rights or environmental protection after we leave the EU".

He said the UK already exceeds the minimum standards in areas such as maternity leave, shared parental leave and greenhouse gas emissions targets.

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https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-50194676

2019-10-26 14:02:49Z
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Rebel British Parliament members plot to force new Brexit referendum: report - New York Post

Rebellious members of the British Parliament are plotting to find a way to force a second Brexit referendum, to give citizens the chance to vote again on whether or not to leave the European Union.

Several MPs are working on a plan that could seize control of the Brexit agenda from Prime Minister Boris Johnson, the Guardian reported.

Parliament voted Tuesday to support the deal Johnson reached with the EU, but they declined to fast-track the plan in time to leave the 28-nation political and economic union by the old deadline of Oct. 31. The EU in turn agreed Friday to extend the deadline, but didn’t set a new date, Reuters reported.

Johnson, a Conservative, has called for a snap election, which Parliament is slated to vote on Monday. Opposition leader Jeremy Corbyn of the Labour Party said he will support an election only if Johnson pledges the UK will not exit the EU with no deal, a possibility that could significantly damage the economy. The EU did not set new deadline in part because of the call for a new election.

Support for a second referendum “ebbs and flows,” Labour MP Peter Kyle told the Guardian, but that presently “the tide is coming back on it” among MPs.

Last Saturday, hundreds of thousands marched in the streets of London calling for a second referendum.

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2019-10-26 13:06:00Z
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Iraqi forces use tear gas in Baghdad as protests continue - Al Jazeera English

Security forces in Iraq have fired tear gas to disperse protesters in the capital, Baghdad, before a planned march on parliament where the government is set to hold an emergency session to discuss the resumption of deadly demonstrations. 

Despite the police's effort to clear them, hundreds of protesters dug in around Baghdad's Tahrir Square on Saturday, demanding Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi's government resign over corruption, mass unemployment and poor public services. 

Al Jazeera's Natasha Ghoneim, reporting from the protest site, said the mood in Baghdad was tense after security forces opened fire on demonstrators in the capital and several southern cities on the previous day, killing at least 42 people. 

"People here are furious. Some are trying to storm barricades leading to the Green Zone, where government offices and the parliament building are located," she said.

"They want the government to go. Security forces are using lots of tear gas and stun grenades."

There were calls for fresh protests in the south as well despite authorities announcing curfews across several provinces on Saturday. 

Legislators are scheduled to meet at the parliament at 1:00 pm (10:00 GMT) to "discuss protesters' demands, cabinet's decisions and the implementation of reforms". 

Iraqi protesters gather on the capital Baghdad's Al-Jumhuriyah Bridge on Saturday [AFP]

The Iraqi commission for human rights said the death toll from Friday's protests stood at 42. It said more than 2,300 people were wounded. 

The Interior Ministry, meanwhile, praised what it called the restraint shown by security forces on Friday.

"The security forces secured the protection of demonstrations and protesters responsibly and with high restraint, by refraining from using firearms or excessive force against demonstrators," the ministry said in a statement on Saturday.

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The unrest came three weeks after an earlier bout of rallies, in which more than 150 people were killed in a crackdown by security forces.

People gathered at the Tahrir Square said they were struggling to make sense of what they called the security forces' excessive use of force, claiming all they carried on them were flags and water to fight off tear gas and rinse their eyes.

"Just yesterday, we lost more than 30 men ... We need a safe country," said Batoul, a 21-year-old protester.

"We want to have a life literally. It's not about jobs or money, it's about being in a good country that we deserve. We have a great country but not a great government," she told Al Jazeera.

Anti-government protesters gather for a demonstration in Baghdad, Iraq, Saturday [Hadi Mizban/ AP]

Another protester decried perceived corruption and cronyism in the country.

"It's enough - theft, looting, gangs, mafias, deep state, whatever. Get out! Let us see a (functioning) state," he told AFP news agency, as puffs of smoke from tear gas rose behind him.

The ongoing turmoil has broken nearly two years of relative stability in Iraq, which in recent years has endured an invasion by the United States and protracted fighting, including against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL or ISIS) armed group.

The demonstrations have posed the biggest challenge yet to the year-old government of Abdul Mahdi, who has pledged to address demonstrators' grievances by reshuffling his cabinet and delivering a package of reforms.

The moves have done little to quell the demonstrators, however, whose ire is focused not just on Abdul Mahdi's administration but also Iraq's wider political establishment, which they say has failed to improve the lives of the country's citizens.

Dozens killed as anti-government protests grip Iraq (2:29)

Many view the political elite as subservient to one or other of Iraq's two main allies, the US and Iran - powers they believe are more concerned with wielding regional influence than ordinary Iraqis' needs.

Nearly three-fifths of Iraq's 40 million people live on less than six dollars a day, World Bank figures show, despite the country housing the world's fifth-largest proven reserves of oil.

Sami Hamdi, editor-in-chief of the UK-based International Interest magazine, said Iraq had seen similar mass protests in the past, but they had dissipated because of a lack of leadership. 

"And the other dynamic that many or not talking about, which painful to say, is that Iraqi society is itself very divided. Many Iraqi voted in elections across sectarian lines, and therefore it produced a sectarian government. These parties rewarded their loyalists with public sector jobs," he said. 

"While the protesters are united over their basic rights, they are not united over who should give it to them."

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2019-10-26 11:26:00Z
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Lebanon protests are rare show of unity among often-divided public - NBCNews.com

BEIRUT — In a country defined by sectarian divisions, in which every discernible group flies its own flag, the sea of young people waving Lebanese flags in downtown Beirut is an arresting sight.

"Revolution, revolution," goes one chant emerging from the blur of red, white and green.

Prompted by new proposed taxes, the burgeoning protest movement demanding that the country's leaders stand down is amorphous, leaderless and overwhelmingly young. These are people who feel left out of the economy, with unemployment rates for those under 25 at 30 to 40 percent.

Oct. 23, 201901:57

Many of those who spoke to NBC News this past week on the streets of Beirut, Lebanon's capital, said recent plans to levy taxes on calls on internet services like WhatsApp had jolted them into action, but their anger at government corruption and economic mismanagement has been building for years.

No one person told these young people to come here, and yet many of those who have turned up in front of the Mohammad al-Amin mosque in central Beirut have done so every day for over a week.

There is a sense of joy at the largely peaceful protest, as it marks a rare show of unity among Lebanon’s often-divided public, with people from different religions and sects finding common cause united under the Lebanese flag.

It’s the first time people have come together "from all over Lebanon, all over the cities, different religious groups, different sects, and it’s the first time that they don’t have a leader here, which is actually more dangerous for the country,” said Leil Fouladkar, who carried a sign that ribbed both her parents and the country.

Leil Fouladkar, an aspiring film producer, protesting in Beirut.Gabe Joselow / NBC News

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What started as anti-government demonstrations on Oct. 17 has spread into a nationwide revolt, with people across Lebanon flooding public squares, blocking roads and leaving banks and schools shuttered. It has left much of the small Mediterranean country paralyzed.

Many of those protesting in downtown Beirut are from the country's expansive diaspora, and their aim is to oust the ruling elite.

“This was an unexpected grassroots movement focused on rejecting corruption, corruption that forced my father to leave this country — I am a diaspora child,” said Georges Chlouk, one of the demonstrators.

Chlouk was not the only one to remark that people are Lebanon's No. 1 export. Families have been forced to go overseas to make ends meet, while in Lebanon not a day goes by without massive power outages as trash has slowly piled up on the streets over the years, spilling into the Mediterranean Sea.

Lebanon’s president has pleaded with the protesters to back sweeping economic reforms proposed by Prime Minister Saad Hariri as the “first step” toward saving the country from economic collapse.

Oct. 22, 201900:26

The reforms include cutting in half the salaries of top officials, including legislators and members of Parliament, as well as abolishing several state institutions, according to The Associated Press. The government will also give millions of dollars to families living in poverty, as well as $160 million in housing loans.

But the protesters have already rejected the prime minister's initiative and are demanding a much greater overhaul. Many are asking if the country's Constitution, heavily amended after the 15-year civil war ended in 1990, is modern enough and still appropriate.

Ali Mazur, a doctor who, at 45, was one of the older protesters, rejected this sort of reading of the movement.

“The president must be a Christian, the chief of Parliament must be Shiite and prime minister must be Sunni,and this is the problem," he said, referring to Lebanon’s sectarian-based leaders. "We have to bring down this system to be civilized.”

But Lebanon is far from united in opposing the government.

Supporters of Iran-backed Hezbollah and the Shiite Amal movement, which is closely allied with Hezbollah, have tried to disrupt the protests. And Hezbollah has said it is against a change of government.

Lebanese riot policemen stand guard on a road leading to the government palace, in Beirut, Lebanon, Wednesday. Hussein Malla / AP

Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah said Friday that Lebanon was being "targeted" internationally and regionally, and he expressed fear that someone was looking to plunge the country into another civil war.

As prime minister, Hariri heads a national unity government that includes the militant Shiite group.

The Hezbollah supporters were cut off by the army and physically turned around, highlighting the shift in the army’s approach to political upheaval.

In the past, the Lebanese army has tried to stay out of politics almost at any cost. In 2008 gunfire rattled across the Lebanese capital when Hezbollah stormed the Western part of the city and occupied it for months. The army returned to its barracks, not wanting to step into the fray.

This time they are standing their ground, protecting the protesters.

Cal Perry and Gabe Joselow reported from Beirut. Saphora Smith reported from London.

Gabe Joselow

Gabe Joselow is a multimedia producer at NBC News.

Saphora Smith

Saphora Smith is a London-based reporter for NBC News Digital. 

Associated Press contributed.

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https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/lebanon-protests-are-rare-show-unity-among-often-divided-public-n1071806

2019-10-26 08:33:00Z
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Japan floods: Death toll reaches 10 after heavy rain and landslides - BBC News

Heavy rain in eastern and northeastern Japan has led to the deaths of 10 people.

Chiba and Fukushima prefectures have been affected by torrential rain and landslides, with a months worth of rain falling in half a day in some areas.

It comes just weeks after Typhoon Hagbis left almost 80 dead and caused widespread damage.

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https://www.bbc.com/news/av/world-asia-50193426/japan-floods-death-toll-reaches-10-after-heavy-rain-and-landslides

2019-10-26 10:42:25Z
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