Car bomb goes off in Syria's Raqqa, casualties feared

17:35, October 24, 2019

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  Syria cease-fire off to rocky start amid reports of fighting

  In this photo taken from the Turkish side of the border between Turkey and Syria, in Ceylanpinar, Sanliurfa province, southeastern Turkey, smoke billows from a fire in Ras al-Ayn, Syria, Friday, Oct. 18, 2019. (Photo: AP)The cease-fire in northern Syria got off to a rocky start Friday, as Kurdish leaders accused Turkey of violating the accord with continued fighting at a key border town while casting doubt on provisions in theUS-brokered dealwith Ankara.Turkey’s president warned that Turkish forces would go back on the attack in four days unless Kurdish-led fighters withdraw “without exception” from a zone 20 miles (30 kilometers) deep in Syria running the entire 260-mile (440-kilometer) length of the border.“Without exception, if the promise is not fulfilled, Operation Peace Spring will resume the minute the 120 hours end with even more determination,” President Recep Tayyip Erdogan told journalists in Ankara.There was no sign of any pullout by the Kurdish-led forces. They say the deal only covers a much smaller section of the border, about 125 kilometers (75 miles) and haven’t committed to pull out from anywhere.Some fighters have vowed not to withdraw, calling the accord an “insult to Kurdish dignity” and tantamount to a surrender arranged by the US, the former ally that abandoned them to the Turkish assault.The Kurdish self-administration said some provisions of the cease-fire deal “need further discussion with the United States,” though it did not specify what. A senior Kurdish politician, Ilham Ahmed, was due in Washington over the weekend to meet US officials.The cease-fire agreement — reached in negotiations between Erdogan and US Vice President Mike Pence —requires the Kurdish fightersto vacate a swath of territory in Syria along the Turkish border. That effectively means the Kurds would grant Turkey its goals in the offensive and consecrate its control of territory it captured.Criticism mounted for a deal that President Donald Trump...

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  5 female militants sentenced to prison for failed 2016 Notre Dame car bomb attack

  A man views the Notre Dame Cathedral under repair in Paris, France, Oct. 17, 2019. A French court on late Monday sentenced five female militants who had planned a car bomb plot outside Notre Dame Cathedral here in 2016 to between five and 30 years in prison, local media reported. (Photos: Xinhua) The Notre Dame Cathedral is undergoing repair in Paris, France, Oct. 17, 2019. A French court on late Monday sentenced five female militants who had planned a car bomb plot outside Notre Dame Cathedral here in 2016 to between five and 30 years in prison, local media reported.People take selfies with the Notre Dame Cathedral under repair in Paris, France, Oct. 17, 2019. A French court on late Monday sentenced five female militants who had planned a car bomb plot outside Notre Dame Cathedral here in 2016 to between five and 30 years in prison, local media reported.The Notre Dame Cathedral is undergoing repair in Paris, France, Oct. 17, 2019. A French court on late Monday sentenced five female militants who had planned a car bomb plot outside Notre Dame Cathedral here in 2016 to between five and 30 years in prison, local media reported.People view the Notre Dame Cathedral under repair in Paris, France, Oct. 17, 2019. A French court on late Monday sentenced five female militants who had planned a car bomb plot outside Notre Dame Cathedral here in 2016 to between five and 30 years in prison, local media reported.The Notre Dame Cathedral is undergoing repair in Paris, France, Oct. 17, 2019. A French court on late Monday sentenced five female militants who had planned a car bomb plot outside Notre Dame Cathedral here in 2016 to between five and 30 years in prison, local media reported.People view the Notre Dame Cathedral under repair in Paris, France, Oct. 17, 2019. A French court on late Monday sentenced five female militants who had planned a car bomb plot outside Notre Dame Cathedral here in 2016 to between five and 30 years in prison, local media reported.The Notre Dame Cathed...

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  'Unprecedented' Afghan civilian casualties in July-September: UN

  An "unprecedented" number of civilians were killed or wounded in Afghanistan from July to September this year, the United Nations said in a new report released Thursday, calling the violence "totally unacceptable".Friends and relatives take part in funeral of a suicide attack victim in Kabul, capital of Afghanistan, July 16, 2018. (Photo: Xinhua)The figures -- 1,174 deaths and 3,139 injured -- represent a 42 percent increase over the same time period last year, the report said, with the UN recording more casualties in July alone than in any other month on record since it began documenting the violence in 2009.