Iraq security forces kill protesters in Nasiriya, army deploys - Al Jazeera English

Baghdad, Iraq - At least 14 people have been killed after security forces used live ammunition and tear gas canisters to disperse anti-government protesters in the southern city of Nasiriya, medical sources and witnesses told Al Jazeera.

Authorities in the capital Baghdad dispatched troops to southern Iraq, which has seen massive protests for weeks, to "restore order" there, the military said in a statement on Thursday.

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Security sources told Al Jazeera that at least 120 others were wounded in the crackdown on protests in Nasiriya on Thursday, a day after the Iranian consulate was set on fire in Shia holy city of Najaf.

Several of the wounded are believed to be in critical condition. Medical sources, however, have told Al Jazeera that the death toll has gone up to 18 but it has yet to be confirmed by officials.

The raid on the Iranian consulate was the strongest expression of anti-Iranian sentiment by Iraqi protesters, who have taken to the streets in Baghdad and Iraq's mainly Shia south since early October.

More than 360 people have been killed and more than 15,000 wounded so far, according to an AFP news agency tally.

Southern Iraq and Baghdad have been gripped by an escalating wave of anti-government demonstrations demanding an overhaul of the ruling system, seen as corrupt, sectarian and inefficient.

Iran demands action

Responding to the attack on its consulate in Najaf, Iran demanded that Iraq take decisive action against "aggressors" behind the arson attack.

The foreign ministry spokesperson, Abbas Mousavi, quoted by state news agency IRNA, condemned the attack and "demanded decisive, effective and responsible action... against destructive agents and aggressors".

"Iran has officially communicated its disgust to the Iraq ambassador in Tehran," he said.

The Najaf consulate was set ablaze late on Wednesday after anti-government protesters moved away from the centre of the city and into side streets near the consulate, two witnesses told Al Jazeera.

"The protesters were holding a demonstration in central Najaf when a group started to close off main roads and set the tires of police cars ablaze.

"The security forces responded using tear gas and sound bombs to disperse the protesters who ran towards the Iranian embassy," a witness told Al Jazeera.

"The protesters were angered by the security forces trying to disperse the demonstration. They started burning tires near the consulate and eventually set the consulate ablaze, minutes after the consulate staff evacuated the building," said the source.

As the consulate is near the home of the leading Iraqi Shia authority Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, locals moved to surround his home in an attempt to protect it from being targeted, witnesses told Al Jazeera.

Responding to the incidents, Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, a commander in the Iran-backed Popular Mobilization Forces - Hashd al-Shaabi - an umbrella group of Iraq's mostly Shia militias, warned in a statement on Wednesday that the group would take action against any protesters who target al-Sistani.

"We will cut their hands off," he warned in a statement share in Iraqi media.

Message to Iran

The incident is the second of its kind this month, after Iraqi protesters attacked the Iranian consulate in the Iraqi holy city of Karbala on November 4.

Three people were shot dead after security forces opened fire on the demonstrators who tried to climb the consulate walls, demanding that Iran stop interfering in Iraq's internal affairs.

Commenting on the developments, Iraqi analyst Jasim Moussawi told Al Jazeera that protesters setting the consulate ablaze was an attempt to tarnish historical relations between Tehran and Baghdad.

"Those who are responsible for setting fire to the Iranian consulate in Najaf have the same message as those who did it in Karbala.

"Their message is a warning to against the intervention of Iran in Iraq's internal affairs, said Moussawi, adding that he expects the incidents will push the security forces and government to use more force to quell protests.

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2019-11-28 09:31:00Z
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North Korea fires unidentified projectile, South Korea says - CNN

If confirmed to be a missile test, it would be Pyongyang's 13th missile test since May.

The uptick in weapons testing comes amid increasing friction between North Korea and its main adversaries, South Korea and the United States. Nuclear negotiations between Washington and Pyongyang have been at an impasse for weeks, and North Korea recently stated it is no longer interested in holding talks with the US.

Thursday's launch took place on Thanksgiving morning in the US, and the symbolism might be significant. North Korea has previously conducted missile tests on important American holidays. Its first successful test launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) came on July 4 -- US Independence Day -- in 2017. North Korean state media went on to call that launch part of a "package of gifts" for "American bastards."

It also comes almost exactly two years after North Korea test-fired its Hwasong-15 ICBM, which analysts believe could target much of the United States with a nuclear warhead.

Those launches preceded the flurry of summit diplomacy between North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, South Korean President Moon Jae-in and US President Donald Trump.

But nuclear talks between Pyongyang and Washington have essentially been on ice since early October, when the two sides met in Stockholm. That ended abruptly and without any agreement, and North Korea would go on to conduct two missile tests later that month.

Washington and Seoul postponed military drills scheduled for mid-November in an attempt to convince North Korea to return to the negotiating table, but Pyongyang rebuffed those efforts and went ahead with its own drills.

US Defense Secretary Mark Esper called North Korea's response "disappointing," but said he did not "regret trying to take the high road, if you will, and keep the door open for peace and diplomacy if we can move the ball forward."

However, the clock could be ticking. North Korean leader Kim said in an important policy speech in April that he would give the Trump administration until the end of the year to change its negotiating strategy. It is unclear how serious that deadline is.

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2019-11-28 09:09:00Z
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North Korea has fired an unidentified projectile, Seoul says - Fox News

SEOUL -- South Korea says North Korea has fired an unidentified projectile.

A brief statement Thursday from Seoul's Joint Chiefs of Staff gave no further details, such as what kind of projectile was launched and where it landed. In the past, such reports by South Korea about North Korean launches have turned out to be test launches of missiles and artillery pieces.

The reported launch came three days after North Korea said its troops performed artillery drills near its disputed sea boundary with South Korea.

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U.S.-led diplomacy on ending the North Korean nuclear crisis has remained stalled for months.

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2019-11-28 08:59:05Z
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North Korea fires unidentified projectile, South Korea military says - CNBC

People watch a TV broadcast showing file footage for a news report on North Korea firing two projectiles, possibly missiles, into the sea between the Korean peninsula and Japan, in Seoul, South Korea, October 31, 2019.

Heo Ran | Reuters

North Korea fired unidentified projectiles on Thursday, South Korea's military said, the first such launch in nearly a month, amid a stalemate in denuclearization talks between Pyongyang and Washington, as a year-end deadline looms to strike a deal.

Japan's Coast Guard said it had detected what appeared to be a missile launched by the North and was monitoring where it would land. The defense ministry said the projectile did not enter its airspace or its Exclusive Economic Zone, however.

South Korea's military said the North fired two projectiles from an eastern province into the sea off its coast. The launch is the first since the North fired two suspected missiles into the sea between the Korean peninsula and Japan on Oct. 31.

It comes after South Korea pulled back from a decision to scrap an intelligence-sharing pact with Japan, a key element of regional security cooperation between the two biggest Asian allies of the United States.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has set an end-of-the-year deadline for denuclearization talks with Washington, but negotiations have been at an impasse after a day-long working level meeting on Oct 5 ended without progress.

North Korean officials have warned the United States to abandon its hostile policy toward the North or Pyongyang would walk away from the talks.

The North has demanded the lifting of sanctions against it and the abandonment of joint military drills by the United States and South Korea, which it calls preparations for an invasion.

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2019-11-28 08:14:00Z
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Hong Kong protesters praise Trump, Congress for law; Beijing calls move sinister - Fox News

Pro-democracy protesters in Hong Kong cheered President Trump and members of Congress for passing two laws that support the months-long uprising that has crippled the city while Beijing's anger over the legislation was on full display, calling the move a "nakedly hegemonic act" before summoning the top American diplomat in the country in protest.

The protests in Hong Kong started in June in response to, in part, an extradition bill that would have sent alleged criminals to China to stand trial. The bill never went forward, but the protests remained and only grew in size and violence since June.

PROTEST LEADER SPEAKS OUT AGAINST BEIJING 

Trump signed the bills, which were approved by near-unanimous consent in the House and Senate, even as he expressed some concerns about complicating the effort to work out a trade deal with China's President Xi Jinping.

Up until Wednesday's announcement, Trump did not indicate whether or not he would sign the bill. Secretary of  State Mike Pompeo refused to answer a reporter's question about the president's leanings as recent as Tuesday.

The Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act, which was sponsored by Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., requires that the U.S. conducts yearly reviews into Hong Kong’s autonomy from Beijing. If ever found unsatisfactory, the city's special status for U.S. trading could be tossed.

"I signed these bills out of respect for President Xi, China, and the people of Hong Kong," Trump said in a statement. "They are being enacted in the hope that Leaders and Representatives of China and Hong Kong will be able to amicably settle their differences leading to long term peace and prosperity for all."

The statement did little to calm Beijing. The Chinese foreign ministry said in a statement that the bill will only "strengthen the resolve of the Chinese people, including the Hong Kong people, and raise the sinister intentions and hegemonic nature of the U.S."

The statement continued, "The US side ignored facts, turned black to white, and blatantly gave encouragement to violent criminals who smashed and burned, harmed innocent city residents, trampled on the rule of law and endangered social order."

The statement, which was obtained by Reuters, said the U.S. plot "is doomed" and threatened vague "countermeasures."

The Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office called the U.S. the "largest black hand causing chaos in Hong Kong."

Carrie Lam's administration said it "strongly opposes and regrets" the laws, according to London’s Independent newspaper. Her office said "Democracy is alive and well" there and pointed to the recent elections that overwhelmingly favored antigovernment candidates.

Protesters, however, cheered the bill and, according to the New York Times, see the measure as a warning to Beijing and Hong Kong.

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"I hope it can act as a warning to Hong Kong and Beijing officials, pro-Beijing people and the police," Nelson Lam, 32, told the Times. "I think if they know that what they do may lead to sanctions, then they will become restrained when dealing with protests. We just want our autonomy back. We are not their foe."

The Associated Press contributed to this report

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2019-11-28 07:19:58Z
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China furious after Trump signs Hong Kong legislation - Al Jazeera English

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2019-11-28 06:14:55Z
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Seven Islamist militants to be hanged for roles in Bangladesh terror attack that left American, 21 others dead - Fox News

Seven Islamist militants are set to be hanged in Bangladesh for their roles in a 2016 terror attack that left 22 people, including one American, dead.

The siege on a café in Dhaka was carried out by five men who shot and hacked diners to death with machetes while taking others hostage. Following a 12-hour standoff, Bangladesh’s army stormed in and killed all five assailants. Thirteen hostages were rescued, but 22 people died during the attack, including an American, nine Italians and seven Japanese citizens, according to the BBC.

"The court gave them the highest punishment," Golam Sarwar Khan, a prosecutor, is reported to have said to the media Wednesday after the sentences were announced.

Police escort a member of a banned militant group after he was sentenced to death for an attack on a cafe that killed more than 20 people in Dhaka, Bangladesh, in 2016. (AP)

AT LEAST SEVEN KILLED IN BANGLADESH GAS EXPLOSION

Bangladesh has accused a local militant group of being behind the attack and those on trial were suspected of supplying the attackers with machetes and assault rifles, in addition to helping them plan the siege, the BBC reported.

The lawyer of those sentenced to death said he would appeal their punishment. Some of the men, the AFP said, shouted “Allahu Akbar” as they were led to a police van outside of the courtroom Wednesday.

Eight other militants connected to the attack reportedly were killed in government raids in the months afterward.

Members of the militant group shout slogans from inside a police van after their sentence was announced Wednesday. (AP)

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Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in 2016 called the café attack “an extremely heinous act.”

"What kind of Muslims are these people? They don't have any religion,” she said during a televised address, according to the BBC.

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2019-11-27 13:30:19Z
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