Iran jails woman for 12 years because she drew critical cartoons of politicians who restricted female birth control

An Iranian artist has been sentenced to 12 years in prison for drawing satirical cartoons of politicians who decided to restrict women's access to birth control.

Atena Farghadani was on trial at Tehran's so-called Revolutionary Court for 'insulting members of parliament through paintings' in relation to an illustration depicting government officials as animals.
The trial was held on May 19 but she only received the verdict and prison sentence this week.
Although the 28-year-old has been given 12 years and nine months in jail, experts believe this far exceeds the legal limit for such a crime, which currently stands at seven years and six months.

Israeli planes strike Gaza after rocket attacks

Israeli warplanes struck multiple militant targets in the Gaza Strip early on Thursday in response to Palestinian rocket fire, but nobody was injured according to Palestinian security sources.

They said that the raids hit three training bases of the Ezzedine al-Qassam brigades, the military wing of Hamas, in Gaza City and a fourth in the southern city of Khan Yunis. An Israeli military statement spoke only of three hits in total and did not give their location or identify the targets.

"Yesterday, June 3 2015, two rockets were launched at southern Israel from the Gaza Strip," it said, adding that they fell on open ground near the southern city of Ashkelon and the town of Netivot. "No injuries were reported."

Propaganda machine in overdrive for China shipwreck

All hands on deck: China's propaganda machine has cranked into top gear after a ship disaster, extolling the official response while dousing any public criticism and tightly controlling foreign media.

Thousands of police, soldiers and rescue workers were dispatched to the banks of the Yangtze, where the "Eastern Star" capsized on Monday evening with more than 450 people on board. But with only 14 survivors found, there is little hope for the rest.

Premier Li Keqiang has been the omnipresent face of the rescue operation since Tuesday morning.

"The sleeves-rolled-up, megaphone-in-hand image of the premier directing rescue efforts at the scene has become a recurring feature of China's domestic media coverage of disasters," said Nicholas Dynon, an expert in Chinese media at Macquarie University in Sydney.

Tony Blair takes new role in fighting anti-Semitism

Britain's former prime minister, Tony Blair, is taking a new role in combating anti-Semitism in Europe, days after stepping down as the international community's Mideast envoy.

Blair revealed on Thursday he will chair the European Council on Tolerance and Reconciliation, a group which champions legislation and dialogue on tolerance.

5 Ukrainian servicemen killed in fighting with eastern separatists

Five Ukrainian servicemen were killed in fighting in eastern Ukraine on Wednesday, mostly near the government-held town of Maryinka where pro-Russian rebels were trying to make a significant advance, a presidential aide said on Thursday.

Thirty-nine other Ukrainians were wounded, the aide, Yuri Biryukov, said on his Facebook page.

Ukraine's defence ministry said on Wednesday that the separatists, using tanks and artillery, had tried to take government positions near Maryinka, to the east of the rebel-held city of Donetsk, in violation of a ceasefire declared in February.

Dutch lawmaker wants to show Mohammed cartoons on TV

Dutch anti-Islam politician Geert Wilders has vowed to show cartoons depicting the Prophet Mohammed on television during time reserved for political parties, after parliament turned down such an exhibition. Wilders said he would make the broadcast to defend freedom of speech after two militants were shot dead attacking a Mohammed cartoon contest in Garland, Texas last month.

"The only way to show jihadis that we will never bow for terror and violence is to do exactly that which they try to prevent us to do," Wilders said in a statement.

Indian nurse who's been in a coma for 42 years after being raped in 1973,dies

Aruna Shanbaug, who became the face of a debate on euthanasia after being in a vegetative state for more than four decades following her brutal rape in 1973, died in Mumbai’s KEM Hospital on Monday after a bout of pneumonia.

Egypt hangs 6 convicted Islamist militants

Egyptian authorities hanged six men convicted of killing soldiers on Sunday, police said, ignoring appeals to spare them amid allegations two of them had been in custody at the time of their alleged crimes.

A military court upheld the death sentences last March, following a trial in which the six were convicted of carrying out the attacks in the months after the army's overthrow of Islamist president Mohammed Morsi in July 2013.

Prosecutors said they were members of the Sinai-based Ansar Beit al-Maqdis jihadist group, which late last year pledged allegiance to ISIS in Iraq and Syria.

Angola demands UN apology

Angola demanded an apology from the UN on Saturday after the world body called for an investigation into the killing of members of a Christian sect by police in April.

Details of an April 16 police raid in the remote hills of central Huambo province have been fiercely contested, with authorities saying 13 sect members were killed, while opposition party Unita claims over 1 000 civilians were slain in the operation.

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (UNHCR) spokesperson Rupert Colville has urged Angola to ensure "a truly meaningful, independent, thorough investigation" into the alleged massacre.

Boko Haram attack: Nigeria army imposes curfew on Maiduguri

The Nigeria army on Thursday imposed a dusk-to-dawn curfew on the restive north-eastern town of Maiduguri in the aftermath of a Boko Haram attack on the city, a military statement said.

"In view of the recent development within Maiduguri metropolis a 24-hour curfew is hereby imposed in the city," army spokesperson Colonel Tanko Gusau said in the statement.

"This is done to protect lives and properties of innocent and law-abiding people of Maiduguri," capital of Borno state.

Boko Haram fighters launched an attack on the city on Wednesday but were repelled by Nigerian troops after intense clashes, residents and the army have said.

Conservation group: Tourist deaths behind walking ban in Zim park

Has the fear of a foreign tourist being killed by a wild animal led Zimbabwe's state parks authority to ban visitors walking alone in a national park that is popular with South Africans?

That's one of the suggestions that emerged this weekend from the local Zambezi Society conservation group in the wake of the Zimbabwe National Parks and Wildlife Authority (ZNPWA)'s insistence that walking without an armed professional ranger will no longer be allowed in the Mana Pools, in the wild north of the country.

"It is understood that there will be a perception that a fatality of a foreign tourist will be damaging for tourism," said a statement from the society, which says it works to "conserve wildlife and wilderness” in the Zambezi Valley.

Car bomb kills at least 3 in Afghan capital

A car bomb rammed a convoy of foreign troops near the main airport in Afghanistan's capital on Sunday, killing at least three civilians in the latest attack in the city, police and a witness said.

The Nato force in Afghanistan said it could not confirm if any of its vehicles had been hit.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility, though Taliban insurgents have launched a wave of attacks around the country since the drawdown of most foreign troops last year to a small training force.

76 dead in fighting for Syria's Palmyra

Syrian government troops and militia put up fierce resistance on Sunday to an ISIS assault on one of the jewels of the country's heritage, ancient Palmyra.

At least 47 regime loyalists and 29 jihadists were killed as ISIS overran northern neighbourhoods of the adjacent modern town of Tadmur late on Saturday, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

The Britain-based watchdog reported heavy artillery exchanges in the west of the town, close to the Unesco-listed world heritage site.

Thousands in Chile's 'March for Equality' to support gay rights

Thousands of people, many waving rainbow-colored flags, gathered in Santiago on Saturday for a "March for Equality", pushing for Chile to acknowledge more gay rights.

The boisterous crowds showed their support for equality in the socially conservative South American nation, which has been slower to adopt gay marriage laws than some of its neighbours.

March organizers estimated the size of the crowd at 50 000. Couples, some wearing wedding dresses, kissed for the cameras as they marched in downtown Santiago, ahead of International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia on Sunday.

Pope Francis canonises 2 Palestinian women

Vatican City - Pope Francis named two Palestinian women as saints on Sunday, in a ceremony in Saint Peter's Square just days after the Vatican formalised its de facto recognition of the State of Palestine.

The canonisation of Sister Marie-Alphonsine Danil Ghattas, founder of the Sisters of the Most Holy Rosary of Jerusalem, and Maryam Baouardy, who founded a Carmelite convent in Bethlehem, was not directly connected with the Vatican's Wednesday announcement of a new accord with the State of Palestine.

But the ceremony, attended by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and a delegation of senior clergy including the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem Fouad Twal, highlighted Pope Francis' longstanding drive to help embattled Christian communities in the Middle East.

Malaysian minister to meet Indonesian, Thai counterparts on migrants

Malaysia said on Sunday that its foreign minister would meet his Indonesian and Thai counterparts to discuss the surge in stricken migrants from Bangladesh and Myanmar flooding to Southeast Asia.

Foreign minister Anifah Aman was to meet Indonesia's Retno Marsudi in the Malaysian city of Kota Kinabalu on Monday, a government official said.

That would be followed by separate talks between Anifah and Thai Foreign Minister Tanasak Patimapragorn later in the week, "most probably on Wednesday".

Police, rebels clash in India, 4 dead

Two policemen and two guerrillas were killed in a clash in India's central state of Chhattisgarh on Sunday, officials said.

Another policeman was injured in the clash that occurred in a Bijapur district forest area.

"Police were on a search operation to track down Maoists when the insurgents opened fire on them," Bijapur deputy police chief Indira Kalyan Elesela said.

Kidnappers demand ransom for Malaysian hostages in Borneo

Suspected Philippine Abu Sayyaf rebels have demanded a ransom in exchange for the release of two Malaysians seized in Borneo earlier in the week, a Malaysian police official said on Sunday.

The kidnappers have allowed Thien Nyuk Fun, a restaurant owner, and Bernard Ted Fen to speak to their families, according to Sabah police chief Jalaluddin Abdul Rahman. Jalaluddin did not disclose when the kidnappers contacted the families of the victims or how much ransom money was demanded, but he said the captives were unharmed and being held in the southern Philippines.

Fire engulfs building in Pakistan, killing 6 children

A Pakistani police officer says six siblings have died in a fire in a residential building in the eastern city of Lahore.

Basharat Hasan says the fire broke out at the two-story building due to a short circuit early Sunday. He says three boys aged five to 12 were burned to death, while three girls, ages seven, nine and 15 died of suffocation. He says their mother was hospitalised in critical condition. Their father was not home at the time of the incident.

Taliban release dozens of kidnapped Afghan civilians

Taliban insurgents who kidnapped dozens of people in southeast Afghanistan early on Saturday released most of them that night but at least two are still being held, officials said.

The insurgents set up roadblocks in the Sayed Karam district of Paktia province, pulling passengers out of cars at gunpoint on suspicion they were government workers before taking them to an unknown location. A total of 25 people who had been abducted were freed, interior ministry spokesman Sediq Sediqqi said on his Twitter account Sunday.