New research lays bare discrimination faced by gay people in not a single country do they enjoy equal rights as heterosexuals LGBT rights around the world an interactive More than 2.7 billion people live in countries where being gay is punishable by imprisonment, lashes or even death, new research obtained by the Guardian shows. The stark figure from the International Lesbian and Gay Association (ILGA)...
Detainees' letters claim US keeps numbers artificially low US admits it has recorded video of Guantánamo force-feedings Recent letters written by Guantánamo Bay detainees on hunger strike accuse the US military of manipulating data about the strike and using force-feeding techniques as a method of punishment. Letters from a Yemeni detainee, Emad Hassan, and a Saudi former resident of the UK,...
Court hears in prosecution's closing speech that Hamza, 56, 'spoke about jihad, lived it, and was proud of it' Abu Hamza al-Masri, the radical Islamist cleric on trial on terror charges in New York, was devoted to a life of violent jihad, encouraging his global followers that they had a religious obligation to kill, but changed his tune in the witness box, a Manhattan jury heard on Wednesday. In his...
Hamza was interrogated about document reportedly kept in Belmarsh prison cell on making improvised explosive devices A New York jury heard that a document on how to make improvised explosive devices was found in the prison cell of Abu Hamza al-Masri, the Islamist cleric and former imam of Finsbury Park mosque, while he was serving at Belmarsh high security prison in Britain in 2011. In a day of testy...
Tom Watson MP and rights group express concern as MoD admits presence of UK personnel in Djibouti but denies involvement in plotting strikes on al-Qaida British liaison staff are embedded with US forces in the Horn of Africa, the Ministry of Defence has revealed, as concern grows about redeployment of the UK squadron of 10 armed Reaper drones. Although three British officers are based at Camp Lemonnier...
US security personnel having haircut during failed abduction Attackers linked to growing presence of al-Qaida in Yemen One of the two officers at the US embassy in Yemen who shot and killed a pair of suspected al-Qaida gunmen was getting a haircut at a barbershop when the attempted abduction took place, Yemeni security officials said on Sunday. The attempted kidnapping, which occurred on 24 April,...
CIA officer and special forces agent fight off kidnap attempt amid rising violence in volatile Gulf state Two officers at the US embassy in Yemen shot and killed a pair of armed civilians who tried to kidnap them, the state department said on Friday. The officers have left Yemen, Marie Harf, a spokeswoman for the state department, said in a statement. No other details were provided. Continue reading......
Gunfight in capital of Sana'a appears to be retaliation for army campaign against insurgency in southern strongholds Four Yemeni soldiers have been killed in a gunfight with militants at the presidential palace in Sana'a, a security source told Reuters, in a major escalation in the country's fight against an Islamist insurgency. After a series of drone strikes and an army offensive in the south of...
Schoolgirls from Jakarta to Timbuktu describe what education means to them and their outrage at the Boko Haram abduction The first time I heard about the kidnappings of schoolgirls in Nigeria was on Twitter, when the headline came up in my feed. I told my best friend about it and she was pretty surprised because she didn't know about it yet. Continue reading... ...
Gunmen also attack electricity lines, causing power cuts in northern cities Yemen's main oil export pipeline has been bombed, halting crude flows, local officials said, while other gunmen attacked electricity lines, causing a power outage in most of the country's northern cities. There was no immediate claim of responsibility but Yemeni tribesmen often attack oil pipelines and power lines. Al-Qaida-linked...
The smooth passage of legislation outlawing child marriage and female genital mutilation is key to Yemen's long-term prosperity Yemen is poised to vote on a comprehensive Child Rights Act over the coming months, which would ban child marriage and female genital mutilation (FGM). The new law would establish the minimum age for marriage as 18, in line with the international human rights standard. Fines...
Riyadh announces arrest of 62 suspected members of jihadi group that had planned 'large-scale assassinations' Saudi Arabia has broken up a "major terrorist network" linked to al-Qaida groups in Syria, Iraq and Yemen that was plotting attacks against government installations and foreign interests, authorities in Riyadh said. The Saudi interior ministry said security forces had arrested 62...
Government officials confirm death of Ali bin Likra al-Kazimy Twitter account details military attack on Mahfad camp Yemen's al-Qaida branch said on Saturday one of its local commanders had died from wounds he suffered during an attack by the Yemeni army and US drones. A Twitter account associated with al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula issued a message saying Ali bin Likra al-Kazimy died on Saturday...
Sharif Mobley, detained since 2010, considered by his attorneys to be 'disappeared' and has not been seen since 27 February Lawyers for an American missing from a jail in Yemen are asking the United Nations to intervene, even as Yemeni officials insist he has not been disappeared. Sharif Mobley has not been seen by his lawyers since 27 February. Attorneys for Mobley, who has been detained since 2010...
London conference discusses ways of helping country suffering from poverty, malnutrition and grave security problems Yemen is urging the international community to boost efforts to tackle its multiple crises of poverty, economic underdevelopment, resource depletion and grave humanitarian problems as it continues fighting a resurgent al-Qaida. Abu Bakr al-Qirbi, the country's foreign minister, said...
The killing of two Australian citizens is not end of the conversation, but the beginning. If these men were threats to national security, then the public deserves to know why The news that the US had killed two Australian militants in a drone strike was announced in mid-April. Christopher Havard and Muslim bin John, who also held New Zealand citizenship, were allegedly killed by a CIA-led airstrike...
Campaign against al-Qaida in the spotlight, as Yemeni govt investigates whether prominent bombmaker is among the dead The killing of about 55 people in southern Yemen has highlighted an ongoing US-backed campaign against al-Qaida's most active frontline. Reports from Sana'a and Washington confirmed the deaths in air raids and drone strikes against targets in Shabwa and Abyan provinces, a stronghold...
Colonel Abdul Razak al-Jabali becomes fourth security force officer to be killed in suspected militant attacks in two days A military police colonel shot dead on Tuesday was the fourth officer to be killed in suspected militant attacks in the Yemeni capital, Sana'a, in two days, an official said. Similar attacks in the past have been blamed on al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), a terrorist group...
Interior ministry says prominent fighters among those killed in weekend campaign thought to have involved US drones At least 55 al-Qaida militants have been killed in Yemen, the country's interior ministry claimed after an intensive weekend air offensive in which US drones are believed to have been involved. The operation, which started on Sunday and continued into Monday, focused on a rugged mountain...
Sources say third attack in three days hit southern region Thirteen killed on Saturday, around 30 on Sunday Yemeni security officials and tribal chiefs said on Monday that a suspected US drone strike has killed several al-Qaida militants in the country's south, including a local militant commander. The Monday morning attack was the third in three days. On Saturday, 10 suspected militants and three...