MANILA, Philippines – Senate Minority Leader Franklin Drilon asked Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II to immediately axe a Caloocan City prosecutor for his biased statements against Kian Loyd delos Santos, the 17-year-old boy killed by policemen.

Drilon, a former justice chief, said Aguirre should "immediately remove" Caloocan City Assistant Prosecutor Darwin Cañete from the case for his "hostility" toward the victim. (READ: Our son Kian: A good, sweet boy)

"The risk of prejudice is too great in the case of Cañete and this behooves the secretary of justice to intervene, if he is intent on fulfilling his job of administering justice in the country," Drilon said in a statement on Sunday, August 20.

The senator said he was "dismayed" and "furious" upon hearing about the remarks made the prosecutor.

Cañete, a vocal supporter of President Rodrigo Duterte and his bloody drug war, questioned in his social media accounts the innocence of Delos Santos, whose killing sparked public outrage.

"The case is seriously prejudiced by Cañete. His frame of mind and line of reasoning are very disturbing. We must never tolerate such behavior of a fiscal that imperils the administration of justice in the country," Drilon said.

In an interview with the Philippine Daily Inquirer, Cañete was also quoted as saying that the possibility of Delos Santos being a "totally innocent boy" is "too far-fetched."

"I am not saying they did not kill the kid. [Police] should be held accountable if ever it's a proven EJK (extrajudicial killing). But making the kid super innocent? I am not buying it," Cañete told the newspaper.

Because of these remarks, Drilon said Cañete "cannot be trusted" to fulfill his duties to investigate and prosecute the policemen responsible for Delos Santos' death.

Caloocan police claimed that Delos Santos was a drug suspect who, upon seeing them during anti-drug operations, fired his gun toward the direction of the cops. CCTV video and witnesses' testimonies, however, indicated otherwise. 

Violations

Citing Section 7 of Republic Act 10071 or the Prosecution Service Act of 2010, Drilon said the secretary of the Department of Justice (DOJ) is allowed to designate another prosecutor "in instances where parties question the partiality or bias of a particular city or provincial prosecutor."

"Secretary Aguirre publicly said that he has ordered the NBI (National Bureau of Investigation) to probe into the death of Delos Santos and file the appropriate charges against those responsible. This would be nothing but lip service if he, in his capacity as Justice Secretary, does not properly respond to Cañete's public pronouncements," Drilon said.

The senator added that Cañete may have also violated the Code of Conduct of Prosecutors, which mandates prosecutors to conduct themselves in the highest ethical standards of fairness, dignity, impartiality, and integrity.

Drilon said Aguirre should reassign Cañete to other posts such as one in the DOJ main office so "he can reacquaint himself with the basics of due process and respect for the rule of law."

"The administration of justice in the country is better served without the likes of Cañete who are the reason why the public does not trust our justice system," Drilon said.

Cañete, through his Facebook account, earlier encouraged the killing of "yellow forces," or groups critical of Duterte, including the Liberal Party where Drilon is a member.

"This is why no ceasefire. No stopping. No compromise. Fact is, yellows are evil. You do not talk to them. You kill them. After you kill one, you find another to destroy. Like cockroaches," the prosecutor said in a Facebook post last June 12. – Rappler.com

DAMASCUS, Syria – Rocket fire injured several people Sunday, August 20, near the entrance to the Damascus International Fair, a key business gathering being held for the first time in 5 years, Syrian television said.

State television, citing its reporters on the scene, said the rocket hit near the entrance of the exhibition complex where the business fair opened this week.

The breaking news alert gave no details on the number of injured or the source of the rocket fire, and there was no immediate mention of the incident on state news agency SANA.

"We were preparing to receive visitors when I heard an explosion... then I saw smoke so the side of the of the entrance to the exhibition hall," said Iyad Jaber, 39, a Syrian working at a textile stand.

The Damascus International Fair was once the top event on Syria's economic calendar, but was last held in the summer of 2011, months after the start of a revolt against President Bashar al-Assad's government.

This year's fair opened on Thursday, August 17, and was scheduled to last 10 days.

Its general director, Fares al-Kartally, said the decision to hold the fair this year was a result of "the return of calm and stability in most regions" of Syria.

"We want this fair to signal the start of (the country's) reconstruction," Kartally told Agence France-Presse earlier this week.

While Damascus has been insulated from much of the worst violence of the country's war, several key rebel enclaves remain in the Eastern Ghouta region outside the city.

Fighters in the area have regularly fired rockets into the capital, and government warplanes have frequently carried out devastating raids across Eastern Ghouta.

But in recent weeks, much of the area has been quieter after the implementation in July of a "de-escalation zone" covering parts of Eastern Ghouta.

The United States and European countries, which have imposed sanctions on Assad's government, were not officially invited to participate in the fair, which was first held in 1954.

But a handful of European companies are participating on an individual basis in the event.

More than 330,000 people have been killed in Syria since the conflict began in March 2011 with anti-government protests. – Rappler.com

DAMASCUS, Syria – Countries that want to reopen embassies in Damascus or resume ties with Syria's government must end their support for Syria's rebels, President Bashar al-Assad said on Sunday, August 20.

"We are not isolated like they think, it's their arrogance that pushes them to think in this manner," said Assad in a speech to members of Syria's diplomatic corps carried on state television.

"There will be neither security cooperation, nor the opening of embassies, nor a role for certain states that say they want to find a way out (of Syria's war), unless they explicitly cut their ties with terrorism," he added.

The United States and most European countries shut their embassies in Damascus after the government's bloody crackdown on protests that erupted in March 2011.

Ties have remained severed throughout the brutal civil war that followed, which has since killed more than 330,000 people.

But in recent months there have been reports that Western countries could be seeking to quietly resume ties.

In May, the pan-Arab newspaper Al-Hayat reported that French President Emmanuel Macron was considering revisiting the decision to shutter Paris's embassy, though the Quai d'Orsay denied it.

France has been a leading backer of the Syrian opposition since 2011, and has regularly called for Assad's departure.

Assad's government has recovered large swathes of territory from rebels and jihadists in recent months, its advances enabled by the start in September 2015 of a Russian military intervention to bolster regime troops. – Rappler.com

JAIPUR, India – An Indian court has given a woman permission to divorce her husband because their home did not have a toilet, forcing her to seek relief outdoors.

The family court in the northwestern state of Rajasthan ruled on Friday, August 18, in favor of the woman, who argued that her husband's failure to provide an indoor toilet during their 5 years of marriage amounted to cruelty.

Justice Rajendra Kumar Sharma said women in villages often endured physical pain waiting until darkness to relieve themselves outdoors.

The judge labelled open defecation – a major health problem in India – disgraceful and deemed it torture to deny women a safe environment for relief, the woman's lawyer Rajesh Sharma told Agence France-Presse.

Divorce is only granted in India if proof such as cruelty, violence or undue financial demands are shown in court.

It is not the first time a marriage has been called off over a toilet.

Last year a woman refused to tie the knot in Uttar Pradesh state after her fiancé refused to build a toilet for the couple. 

In June another woman refused to return to the home of her in-laws until they constructed a toilet.    

Nearly half of India's population -- almost 600 million people -- defecate in the open, according to UNICEF.

Some 70% of Indian households do not have  toilets, although 90 percent have access to mobile phones.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has promised to build a toilet in every home by 2019 in a bid to stamp out open defecation.

The government says 20 million toilets have been constructed since the start of the scheme in 2014. 

But experts say open defecation not only stems from poverty but a belief that toilets inside the home are unclean. – Rappler.com

MANILA, Philippines – Police involved in the killing of 17-year-old Kian Loyd delos Santos maintain that he fought back.

According to the Caloocan police's consolidated initial investigation report obtained by Rappler, cops were only forced to retaliate during the raid that claimed Delos Santos' life, which was part of the cops' one-time, big-time operation.

As told by PO3 Arnel Oares, it all happened at around 8:45 pm of August 16 with an 11-man team from Caloocan Police Community Precinct 7 (PCP-7) conducting an anti-drug and anti-crime operation at Block 7, Riverside, in Barangay 160.

Oares said they "divided themselves into groups" to cover more ground.

Oares, PO1 Jerwin Cruz, PO1 Jeremias Pereda, and a civilian informant formed "one of the groups that crossed the basketball court." Other groups were tasked to cover other narrow passages.

Oares and his team entered an alley "on the right portion" of the court and "subsequently turned left."

In that lane, they were met "by several male persons who were scampering away after sensing the operation."

Oares said in the report that they were "prompted to go after" the men, starting a chase.

He said they identified themselves as cops but the men did not stop.

As they reached the end of the path, described by Oares as "a narrow road blocked by a concrete fence bordering Valenzuela City by [the] Tullahan River," shots were fired "from their left side."

He said the shots got them ducking, but they "managed to spot the retreating male person."

Oares then chased the gunman. The cop said he was "prompted to return fire" to prevent further aggression, and ended up killing the gunman.

The supposed gunman was Kian Loyd delos Santos.

Kian the family 'drug runner'?

Recovered from the scene were 4 fired cartridge cases, a caliber .45 pistol, and two transparent plastic sachets containing white crystalline substances believed to be shabu.

The next day, PCP-7 conducted another operation along Tullahan Road, Apple Ville, Barangay 162, resulting in the arrest of a certain Renato Lovares and "3 other drug personalities."

Lovares apparently told police that Delos Santos "receives 10 grams of shabu daily," sometimes handed to him by a certain Jeslyn Escopin, daughter of arrested drug suspect Jessie Escopin.

The police report added that a background investigation on Saldy delos Santos, Kian's father, revealed that he was "involved in criminal activities in the past."

Despite accusations against the Delos Santos family, however, Metro Manila police chief Director Oscar Albayalde said they are focusing primarily on the allegation that the younger Delos Santos was a victim of an extrajudicial killing.

Based on CCTV footage and eyewitness reports, Delos Santos was unarmed, but given a gun by the police and coerced to run and shoot.

Countering reports

With doubts surrounding the narrative of Oares and his team, they have been placed under the Regional Personnel Holding and Accounting Unit – the unit where cops report daily when they are suspended.

Their supervisor, Police Chief Inspector Amor Cerillo, was also relieved and assigned to the holding unit.

The case of Delos Santos has sparked outrage in the country, with many believing there was foul play.

The cops are facing a probe by the Philippine National Police (PNP) Internal Affairs Service (IAS), but separate investigations are also being conducted by the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) and Commission on Human Rights (CHR).

Senators allied with President Rodrigo Duterte are also calling for an inquiry into Delos Santos' death and the other recent killings in Duterte's war on drugs. – Rappler.com

MANILA, Philippines – The Senate majority bloc adopted a resolution calling for a probe into the recent spate of killings in the Duterte administration's drug war, including the death of 17-year-old Kian Loyd delos Santos, who was shot by police conducting anti-drug operations in Caloocan City.

Majority senators signed the resolution following a caucus on Sunday, August 20.

They condemned "the recent spate of abuses by the police resulting in excessive and unnecessary deaths in the conduct of the campaign against illegal drugs."

Senator Joel Villanueva posted photos of the resolution on his Twitter account, showing that he and the following senators have signed the document: Senate President Aquilino Pimentel III, Senate Majority Leader Vicente Sotto III, Senate President Pro-Tempore Ralph Recto, Sonny Angara, Joseph Victor Ejercito, Sherwin Gatchalian, Richard Gordon, Gregorio Honasan II, Panfilo Lacson, Loren Legarda, Grace Poe, Cynthia Villar, and Juan Miguel Zubiri.

Villanueva said senators Nancy Binay and Francis Escudero also committed to sign the resolution. Aside from Binay and Escudero, Senator Manny Pacquiao is the only other member of the majority bloc who has yet to sign.

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According to Villanueva, the resolution would be referred to the Senate committee on public order and dangerous drugs, chaired by Lacson who is a former chief of the Philippine National Police (PNP).

Also on Sunday, National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO) Director Oscar Albayalde said their investigation primarily seeks to determine whether or not Delos Santos was a victim of an extrajudicial killing, not to find out if he was a drug courier as alleged by Caloocan police.

The National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) and the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) are also separately looking into Delos Santos' death.

The 17-year-old student was among the 81 people killed in anti-drug and anti-crime operations in parts of Metro Manila and Bulacan in the past week. (READ: Robredo on Kian's killing: It could happen to our children) – Rappler.com

MANILA, Philippines – Vice President Leni Robredo on Sunday, August 20, expressed gratitude to those who supported her in a recent online poll on who should be the next secretary of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD).

The Twitter poll, posted by Presidential Communications Operations Office (PCOO) Assistant Secretary Mocha Uson, asked netizens who should replace outgoing Social Welfare Secretary Judy Taguiwalo, who was rejected by the Commission on Appointments (CA) last Wednesday, August 16.

Robredo got 81% of the total 16,432 votes, far ahead of the other names in Uson's poll – Social Welfare Assistant Secretary Lorraine Badoy and Monica Prieto-Teodoro, wife of former defense chief Gilberto "Gibo" Teodoro Jr.

"Mas malaki sigurong pagpapasalamat sa mga nagpahayag na ako iyong preference nila, kasi pagpapakita na tinitiwalaan tayo sa ganitong larangan," Robredo said during her weekly radio show "BISErbisyong LENI" on Sunday. "Nabalitaan ko pa lang po iyan noong nakaraang araw, kaya medyo nagulat po tayo, at nagpapasalamat tayo."

(I am grateful to those who expressed that they prefer me because that shows they trust me in that field. I just learned about it the other day, so I was surprised, and I am thankful.)

The Vice President also said she was surprised that Uson, one of her fiercest critics and a prominent supporter of President Rodrigo Duterte, included her in the choices.

"Nagpapasalamat na din tayo kay Asec Mocha Uson, na pagpapakita siguro na may tiwala na puwede tayong humawak ng ganyang kabigat na puwesto," Robredo said. (We also thank Asec Mocha Uson, as this may show that she is confident I can take on such an important position.)

Robredo previously headed the Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council (HUDCC) but resigned in December 2016 after Duterte ordered her to stop attending all Cabinet meetings. (READ: How did Duterte break with Robredo? Through text message)

Since her resignation from the Duterte Cabinet, the Vice President has been focusing instead on her flagship poverty alleviation program, Angat Buhay.

Robredo was part of the Duterte Cabinet for only 5 months. Philippine vice presidents traditionally hold Cabinet posts, but an exception was Diosdado Macapagal when he served as second-in-command to Carlos P. Garcia from 1957 to 1961. (READ: Spare tire or not? The role of the Philippine vice president) – Rappler.com

NEW DELHI, India – The confirmed death toll passed 700 and more than a million were driven from their homes as large swathes of South Asia reeled under monsoon floods Sunday, August 20, officials said. 

At least 100 deaths were reported overnight across India and Bangladesh following the latest in a series of deluges since August 10, as the annual monsoon hit the north and east of the region.

Anirudh Kumar, a top disaster management official in India's eastern state of Bihar, said 53 bodies were recovered as water levels started to recede in some areas. 

"The total death toll stands at 205," Kumar told Agence France-Presse.

Nearly 400,000 people were staying in state-run shelters, with an estimated 10 million affected by the deluge, the worst since 2008 when nearly 300 people were killed. 

Some 10,000 emergency workers and soldiers were supporting local officials in relief and rescue operations. In neighboring Uttar Pradesh state 69 deaths were reported as two million residents remain affected by the floods. 

Nearly half of the 75 districts in the state have been hit by the floods and authorities are seeking military help to evacuate people in at least two districts.

Both the states border Nepal, which was also hit by landslides and floods that killed 135 people. Another 30 are reported to be missing.

At least 20% of the 28 million people in the landlocked Himalayan state are affected by what the United Nations has called the worst floods to hit the country for 15 years. 

In India's eastern state of West Bengal and in the remote northeastern state of Assam, 122 people have died with nearly 3 million affected by floods.

More than 450,000 people were living in relief camps in Assam after the second wave of floods to hit the state in less than 4 months.

The deluge has badly damaged railways and roads.

'Situation improving'

Three more bodies were retrieved in a northern village in West Bengal state, where 55 people have now died. More than a million have been affected, although officials say the situation is fast improving. 

In Bangladesh at least 115 people have died and some 5.7 million people have been affected by the floods, Shamim Naznin, head of the control room at the department of disaster management, told Agence France-Presse.

She said 31 of the country's 64 districts have been hit by the floods, forcing nearly 300,000 people to flee their homes and take refuge in makeshift shelters. 

The state flood forecasting and warning center said some 30% of the country has been inundated, the worst flooding for a decade.  

But the situation in the country’s north and west was improving quickly because the level of major rivers was falling fast, officials said.  

Every year hundreds die in landslides and floods during the monsoon season that hits India's southern tip in early June and sweeps across South Asia for 4 months.

A massive landslide in India's Himachal Pradesh state swept two passenger buses off a hillside, killing 46 people on August 13.

Eight others, including two soldiers, were killed in Uttarakhand state in landslides on August 14.

Nearly 350 people died in the first wave of floods that began in mid-July in India's western states of Gujarat and Rajasthan and several remote northeastern states. – Rappler.com

HELSINKI, Finland – Finland observed a minute of silence on Sunday, August 20, for the victims of a stabbing attack that left two people dead in what is being investigated as the country's first-ever terror attack. 

Another 8 people were wounded in the stabbing spree on Friday, August 18, in the southwestern port city of Turku.

The suspect, an 18-year-old Moroccan asylum seeker, was interrogated on Sunday and is due to appear before a judge early Monday, August 21, to be remanded in custody, police said.

At the market square where the attack happened, several hundred people gathered Sunday to hold a minute of silence at 10 am (0700 GMT).

Among the crowd were emergency workers, city officials, and police who formed a ring around a makeshift memorial of candles and flowers.

Archbishop Kari Makinen, who heads Finland's Evangelical Lutheran Church, was also present.

"Peace and Love - No Violence Finland" read one note next to a bouquet of flowers.

The bells of Turku Cathedral, the country's largest church, rang out for 15 minutes before falling silent as the crowd bowed its head to remember the victims. 

Also there was Hassan Zubier, a visiting British paramedic who was injured in the attack after coming to the aid of a woman who later died.

He arrived directly from hospital, attending the ceremony in a wheelchair.

"I wanted to show my respect to the victims," he told Swedish daily Aftonbladet before returning to hospital for further treatment.

Similar ceremonies were held across the country.

Women targeted

Finnish police said Saturday, August 19, that the attacker deliberately targeted women. 

His motive was not yet known.

All of the victims were women, including the dead, except for two men who tried to fend off the attacker.

An Italian, a Swede, and a Briton were among the injured.

The suspect was shot and wounded by police minutes after he began his rampage on Friday afternoon.

The National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) said it had interrogated the suspect on Sunday for the first time, but revealed no details of the outcome.

"We do not comment the contents at this point in time."

The suspect is in hospital with a gunshot wound to the thigh.

Police arrested 4 Moroccans linked to the suspect in a raid in the early hours of Saturday, but police said Sunday their involvement in the attack had "not yet been fully established."

The 4 were cooperating with police in interrogations, investigators said.

Officers also carried out searches in a Turku suburb but said no new arrests had been made. 

Ahead of the minute's silence, police reconstructed the crime at the market square as part of their investigation. – Rappler.com

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia – Qatar has blocked Saudi planes from transporting hajj pilgrims, Saudi state media said Sunday, August 20, after Riyadh reopened the border despite a major diplomatic crisis roiling the Gulf.

Riyadh last week reopened its land border with Qatar and allocated 7 flights of the Saudi national carrier to bring pilgrims from Doha, in a temporary lifting of a weeks-long boycott of its Gulf neighbor.

"Qatari authorities have not allowed the aircraft to land as it did not have the right paperwork, although the paperwork was filed days ago," the state-run Saudi Press Agency (SPA) said.

"Saudi Arabian Airlines director general Saleh al-Jasser has said that the airline has thus far been unable to schedule flights to transport Qatari pilgrims from Hamad International Airport in Doha," SPA added.

The reopening of the border initially sparked hope of a thawing in the Gulf crisis, which saw Saudi Arabia and its allies cut diplomatic ties with Doha in June over accusations that the emirate supported Islamist extremists.

Qatar has denied the allegation. 

But even as Doha cautiously welcomed the reopening of the border, it blasted the move as "politically motivated."

Doha has also accused Riyadh of jeopardizing the pilgrimage to Mecca by refusing to guarantee the safety of Qatari citizens.

Its delay – or refusal – to grant landing rights to Saudi planes could now further stoke tensions.

Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Bahrain, and the United Arab Emirates severed diplomatic and trade ties with Qatar on June 5 in what has become the worst political crisis to grip the Gulf region in decades. 

Saudi Arabia last month said Qatari pilgrims would be allowed to enter the kingdom for hajj this year but imposed several travel restrictions, including flying in only on airlines approved by Riyadh.

The hajj, a pillar of Islam that capable Muslims must perform at least once, is to take place this year at the start of September and it is expected to draw around two million Muslims from around the world. – Rappler.com

MANILA, Philippines – Rappler retraces the path from the family sari-sari store, where the 17-year-old Kian delos Santos was dragged by policemen on the night of August 16, through dark winding alleys, up to a dead end, where he was shot dead.

Watch the video here. – Rappler.com

TAL AFAR AIRBASE, Iraq – Iraqi forces on Sunday, August 20, pounded the Islamic State (ISIS) group in Tal Afar, one of its last bastions in the country, in a new assault just weeks after ousting ISIS from second city Mosul.

Once a key ISIS supply hub between Mosul – around 70 kilometers (45 miles) further east – and the Syrian border, Tal Afar is the last major population center in northern Iraq under jihadist control.

Weeks after recapturing Mosul in a major blow to the jihadists, convoys of Iraqi forces around Tal Afar began pounding ISIS positions from 3 sides at dawn Sunday.

An Agence France-Presse correspondent reported mortar fire in the mostly desert area dotted by some farmland, with columns of smoke billowing skywards.

Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi announced the offensive in a pre-dawn televised speech.

Wearing black military fatigues and standing in front of an Iraqi flag and map, he announced "the start of an operation to free Tal Afar."

"I am saying to Daesh that there's no choice other than to leave or be killed," he said, using an alternative acronym for ISIS.

"We have won all our battles, and Daesh have always lost," he said, telling his troops: "The entire world is with you."

Several hours after the battle began, the federal police said it had retaken the village of Al-Abra Al-Sghira west of Tal Afar.

The US-led coalition fighting ISIS in Iraq and Syria welcomed the start of the offensive and pledged support to Iraqi forces involved.

The "operation to liberate Tal Afar is another important fight that must be won to ensure the country and its citizens are finally free of ISIS," the head of the anti-ISIS coalition Lieutenant General Stephen Townsend said in a statement.

Coalition support

"The coalition is strong, and fully committed to supporting our Iraqi partners until ISIS is defeated and the Iraqi people are free," he said.

The coalition would continue to support Iraqi forces with "equipment, training, intelligence, precision fires, and combat advice."

ISIS in June 2014 overran Tal Afar, a Shiite enclave in the predominantly Sunni province of Nineveh, on the road between Mosul and Syria.

At the time, its population of around 200,000 was overwhelmingly Turkmen, one of Iraq's largest ethnic minorities.

Tal Afar's Shiites were directly targeted by ISIS, while some members of its Sunni minority joined the jihadists and went on to form a contingent with a particularly brutal reputation.

According to the coalition, between 10,000 and 50,000 civilians remain in and around the city.

UN Humanitarian Coordinator for Iraq Lisa Grande said Sunday that "more than 30,000 people have already fled" the Tal Afar region and that thousands more were expected to seek to flee.

"Families are trekking for 10 to 20 hours in extreme heat to reach mustering points. They are arriving exhausted and dehydrated," Grande said in a statement.

"We don't know how many civilians are still in the areas where fighting is occurring, but we are preparing for thousands more to flee in coming days and weeks."

Authorities have accused the approximately 1,000 jihadists in the city of using civilians as human shields during Iraqi and coalition air strikes earlier this week in preparation for the ground assault.

Abadi said that Iraq's Hashed al-Shaabi paramilitary forces would help army, police, and counter-terrorism units to retake Tal Afar.

'Victory is near'

The umbrella organization, which is dominated by Iran-backed Shiite militias, has already been fighting to retake other Iraqi cities from ISIS.

"In the early hours, the guns and flags turned towards their targets," said Hashed spokesman Ahmed al-Assadi.

"Victory is near" in Tal Afar, an "Iraqi city taken hostage and humiliated for years by attacks from these barbarians," he said.

Even before Abadi's announcement, Iraqi planes had dropped leaflets to residents in Tal Afar and its surroundings, the Hashed said in a statement.

The authorities said they had set up a radio station to keep residents briefed.

ISIS overran large areas north and west of Baghdad in 2014, but Iraqi forces have since regained much of the territory.

Once Tal Afar is retaken, Iraqi authorities intend to turn their sights south to jihadist-held Hawijah in the province of Kirkuk, 300 kilometers (185 miles) northwest of Baghdad.

Jihadists also still hold areas of Anbar, a western province that borders Syria and faces major security challenges.

As well as in Iraq, ISIS has suffered major setbacks in Syria, where US-backed fighters have retaken more than half of its de facto Syrian capital Raqa.

Russia-supported Syrian troops have almost entirely encircled ISIS in Syria's central desert region, and the jihadists are also facing twin assaults from the Lebanese army and Shiite movement Hezbollah on the Lebanon-Syrian border. – Rappler.com

CHARLESTON, USA – On Monday, August 21, when a total solar eclipse sweeps across the United States for the first time in 99 years, people gathering in Charleston, South Carolina, will be the last on the continent to experience it.

They are ready.

Historic Charleston, with its cobblestone streets and elegant antebellum mansions, was clearly a-bustle on Sunday, August 20, in full pre-eclipse mode.

Its restaurants were packed and downtown parking was at a premium as excited locals and tourists strolled cheerfully along the seafront Battery promenade.

"It has been crazy since Friday night [August 18]," said bar owner Chaz Wendell.

"This is probably going to be our busiest weekend all year."

Weather predictions for Monday were iffy – with clouds and scattered thunderstorms predicted through the hours when the eclipse is due, from the moment when the moon first obscures a small arc of the sun, to totality, and through the end of the whole cosmic viewing experience.  

For locals, and for those who have come from far away, it is a big deal.

"We're very excited," said Brandy Mullins, a 38-year-old stay-at-home mother who moved to Charleston 6 weeks ago with her family.

She and her 3 children all have solar glasses and are planning to watch the eclipse from an open area – weather permitting.

"It's not looking very good," she said of the weather forecasts, "but it's OK – we still get to experience it and see the darkness."

Nick Willder, 59, and his wife, Sarah Boylan, aged 60, of Nottingham, England had planned their two-week vacation through the Southern US to end in Charleston in time for the eclipse.

It will be their third try to see a total eclipse: earlier attempts in England and China, Willder said, were both rained out.

12 million in path of totality

The "Great American Eclipse," as it is being called, will move diagonally across the country, northwest to southeast, providing a spectacular solar show – again, weather permitting – and an excellent excuse for scores of eclipse-viewing parties and music festivals.

It will first be visible in the northwestern state of Oregon at 9:05 am (1605 GMT), with totality there coming 75 minutes later. Oregon authorities say they expect a million people to flood into the state for the event, clogging roadways and overflowing campgrounds, the Oregonian newspaper reported.

In all, about 12 million people living in 14 states will be in the path of totality, with many million others able to witness at least a partial eclipse, according to the American Astronomical Society. 

Some street vendors sold T-shirts and buttons to mark the eclipse. 

Jan Dahouas, a vendor from Atlanta, Georgia, sold eclipse-themed shirts he designed for $20 each, and buttons that read, "Keep Calm and Stare at the Sun."

"I am really pumped up about it," Dahouas said. 

"I hear it is supposed to be really moving."

Some restaurants advertised sales of the prized solar glasses that make eclipse-viewing safe.

Experts have cautioned people not to look directly at the eclipse or risk causing permanent blind spots in their vision.

Weeks ago, these viewers sold for about $1 each in bulk. Now, a pair sold on the street fetches $15 to $20. 

"You put them on and you can't really see anything," explained Zoe Spyridonos, age six, showing off the cardboard solar eclipse glasses her parents bought her. 

"So you just look at the Sun and then it is not really bright."

In Charleston, some local government offices are closing to allow workers to avoid driving during the eclipse, and police and emergency services are putting extra personnel on duty to deal with crowds, the Post and Courier newspaper reported.

As many as two million visitors were expected in the state for the eclipse.

The small town of McClellanville, directly under the path of the eclipse, is even renting extra port-a-potties.

And what if – after all the hubbub and extensive preparations – bad weather should bring disappointment to would-be eclipse viewers?

Willder, the British architect, seemed philosophical.

"If we don't get to see an eclipse it doesn't really matter," he said. 

"It's just like putting a pin in a map" – a great excuse to travel. – Rappler.com

BARCELONA, Spain – Spanish police said Sunday, August 20, they had uncovered a cache of 120 gas canisters at a house believed to be the bomb-making factory of suspects in terror attacks that claimed 14 lives, as Barcelona mourned victims of the rampage.

The suspected jihadists had been preparing bombs for "one or more attacks in Barcelona", regional police chief Josep Lluis Trapero told reporters, revealing that traces of TATP explosive had also been found.

But the suspects accidentally caused an explosion at the house on the eve of Thursday's (August 17) attack in Barcelona – an error that likely forced them to modify their plans.

Instead, they used a vehicle to smash into crowds on Barcelona's Las Ramblas boulevard as it was thronged with tourists, killing 13 people and injuring about 100.

Several hours later, a similar attack in the seaside town of Cambrils left one woman dead.  Police shot and killed the 5 attackers in Cambrils, some of whom were wearing fake explosive belts and carrying knives.

The Islamic State (ISIS) group claimed responsibility for the attacks, believed to be its first in Spain.

Police are hunting a 22-year-old Moroccan man, Younes Abouyaaqoub, suspected of driving the van used in Barcelona. They warn he could be at large outside Spain.

'No music, no children, no women'

In the small town of Alcanar, investigators combed the rubble of a house believed to be the suspects' bomb factory, and where the gas canisters were uncovered.

Traces of triacetone triperoxide (TATP) – a homemade explosive that is an IS hallmark – were also found at the house.

A neighbor, 61-year-old French retiree Martine Groby, told AFP that four men "who all speak French" had been in the house next door since April.

"They were very discreet, too discreet. The shutters were closed, there was no music, no children, no women," she recalled.

"Sometimes they would stay just two days and they would leave. They said hello to me but never looked me in the eye."

Imam's role?

Investigators said they believe the terror cell comprised at least 12 men, some of them teenagers.

An imam, Abdelbaki Es Satty, is among the suspects, police confirmed.

He is believed to have radicalized youths in Ripoll, a small town at the foot of the Pyrenees, where several suspects – including Abouyaaqoub – grew up or lived.

On Saturday, August 19, police raided the imam's apartment there. Investigators are also looking for DNA traces to see if the imam may have been blown up in the explosion in Alcanar.

The imam was reportedly known to police, with Spanish media saying he had spent time in prison.

El Pais and El Mundo said the imam had met prisoners linked to the Al-Qaeda-inspired bombing of Madrid trains that killed 191 people in March 2004 in what remains the worst terror attack in Europe.

Nordeen El Haji, 45, who four months ago moved into the apartment that Satty occupied, said that "on Tuesday morning [August 15], (the imam) left saying that he was going on vacation to Morocco."

"He spoke little, spent most of the time with his computer in his room, and had an old mobile phone with no internet, and few books," said Satty's flatmate.

'Brainwashed'

In the Moroccan town of M'rirt, relatives of Abouyaaqoub accused the imam of radicalizing the young man, as well as his brother Houssein.

"Over the last two years, Younes and Houssein began to radicalize under the influence of this imam," their grandfather told Agence France-Presse.

Most of the suspects are children of Moroccan immigrants, including Ripoll-born Moussa Oukabir, 17, one of 5 suspects shot dead in Cambrils. His older brother Driss is among the four arrested.

A cousin said Moussa "loved playing football, having a good time, chatting up girls". 

"The last few months, he started to become interested in religion. He used to go to a mosque in Ripoll. Maybe that's where he was brainwashed," the cousin said. 

Snipers on rooftops

Three days after the attack that plunged the country into deep grief, locals and tourists turned out in force on Sunday at Barcelona's Sagrada Familia basilica.

King Felipe, Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy and Catalonia's president, Carles Puigdemont, led a 90-minute ceremony commemorating the victims, who came from three dozen countries, some as far afield as Australia, China and Peru.

In the evening, local football heroes FC Barcelona staged a minute's silence at the 99,000-capacity Camp Nou stadium for their first game of the league season, against Seville-based Real Betis.

Barcelona stars including 5-time World Player of the Year Lionel Messi wore shirts with "Barcelona." replacing individual names on the back, while their opponents donned shirts with the message "Real Betis with Barcelona."

In Paris, a mass in Notre-Dame Cathedral was attended by the city's mayor, Anne Hidalgo and France's minister of European affairs, Nathalie Loiseau.

The list of individual tragedies lengthened as a seven-year-old British-Australian boy, Julian Cadman, who had been named as missing, was confirmed as being among the 13 killed in Barcelona.

"He was so energetic, funny and cheeky, always bringing a smile to our faces," his family said.

"We are so blessed to have had him in our lives and will remember his smiles and hold his memory dear to our hearts." – Rappler.com

SINGAPORE (3rd UPDATE) – A rescue operation is under way after a US destroyer was damaged in a collision with a tanker east of Singapore on Monday, August 21, the US Navy said, in the second accident involving an American warship in two months. 

Guided-missile destroyer USS John S. McCain collided with the merchant vessel Alnic MC east of Singapore and near the Straits of Malacca in the early hours, it said a statement.

"Initial reports indicate John S. McCain sustained damage to her port side aft. Search and rescue efforts are underway in coordination with local authorities," it said.

"The extent of damage and personnel injuries is being determined. The incident will be investigated."

The navy added that the ship was sailing under its own power and heading to port. 

US Senator John McCain tweeted that he and his wife "are keeping America's sailors aboard the USS John S McCain in our prayers tonight – appreciate the work of search &amp; rescue crews".

The rescue operation involves tug boats, a helicopter and a police coast guard vessel, and US aircraft were also responding, the navy said.

The collision was reported at 5:24 am (2124 GMT Sunday, August 20) while the ship was heading for a routine port visit in Singapore, it said.

The ship involved in the collision was a Liberian-flagged tanker used for transporting oil and chemicals and weighing over 30,000 tonnes, according to industry website Marine Traffic.

It was the second collision in recent times involving a US warship. 

On June 17, seven sailors died when the destroyer USS Fitzgerald collided with a Philippine-flagged cargo ship in a busy channel not far from Yokosuka, a gateway to container ports in the Japanese capital Tokyo and nearby Yokohama.

The sailors, aged 19 to 37, were found by divers in flooded sleeping berths a day after the collision tore a huge gash in the side of the Fitzgerald.

Investigators are probing what caused the crash. Japanese investigators have interviewed the Filipino crew of the 222-meter (730-foot) cargo ship, while the US authorities are also probing the crash.

There have been around 30 ship collisions over the past decade in that area, including a 2013 incident in which six Japanese crew died, according to the Japan Coast Guard. – Rappler.com

WASHINGTON DC, USA – Researchers discovered wreckage of the lost warship USS Indianapolis, 72 years after the World War II cruiser was torpedoed by a Japanese submarine.

The wreckage was found in the Philippine Sea 5.5 kilometers (3.4 miles) below the surface, according to philanthropist and Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen, who headed the civilian research crew that located the ship.

The ship was hit in the final days of World War II just after completing a secret mission delivering parts of the atomic bomb used in Hiroshima.

The vessel sank in just 12 minutes, meaning it was unable to send a distress signal or deploy life-saving equipment, according to the history division of the US Navy.

Some 800 of the ship's 1,196 sailors and marines initially survived the maritime disaster, but only 316 ultimately lived after enduring several days in shark-infested waters where they also faced risks of dehydration and drowning. Of those survivors, 22 are still alive today, the US Navy said.

"To be able to honor the brave men of the USS Indianapolis and their families through the discovery of a ship that played such a significant role in ending World War II is truly humbling," said Allen. 

"As Americans, we all owe a debt of gratitude to the crew for their courage, persistence and sacrifice in the face of horrendous circumstances," he said. 

We've located wreckage of USS Indianapolis in Philippine Sea at 5500m below the sea. '35' on hull 1st confirmation: https://t.co/V29TLj1Ba4pic.twitter.com/y5S7AU6OEl

— Paul Allen (@PaulGAllen) August 19, 2017

Important chapter of WWII history concludes--I hope survivors/families gain some closure. Anchor and ship's bell seen here. #USSIndianapolispic.twitter.com/Kk1YrcaeN1

— Paul Allen (@PaulGAllen) August 19, 2017

"While our search for the rest of the wreckage will continue, I hope everyone connected to this historic ship will feel some measure of closure at this discovery so long in coming," he said. 

Allen posted several photos of the wreckage on his Twitter account, including images of the ship's anchor and bell.

'Never be forgotten'

Before it was struck the USS Indianapolis was advancing towards the Philippines to deliver atomic bomb parts to Tinian island.

But 4 days after completing that mission, on July 30, 1945, it was spotted by a Japanese submarine that fired 6 torpedoes at the vessel.

The Indianapolis burst into flames when one hit a magazine near the fuel bunker and another struck the ship's bow.

Others have searched for the Indianapolis in the past, but the wreckage location long eluded researchers. 

But last year Richard Hulver, a historian with the Naval History and Heritage Command, identified a naval landing craft that had documented a sighting of the vessel hours before it was hit.

The research team then developed an estimated position, which covered a vast 600 square miles of open ocean.

The Navy called the ship's discovery "significant" given the "depth of the water in which the ship was lost."

Allen recently acquired and retrofitted the 250-foot R/V Petrel research vessel, which has equipment capable of diving 6,000 meters (19,685 feet) deep.

His team is currently surveying the full site and plans to give a live tour of the wreckage in the coming weeks. Since the sunken ship is a war grave, it is protected by US law from being disturbed.

The search vessel's crew has been working in collaboration with Navy authorities and is developing plans to honor survivors still living as well as the families of the deceased.

"Even in the worst defeats and disasters there is valor and sacrifice that deserves to never be forgotten," said Sam Cox, the Naval history command's director. – Rappler.com

QUEBEC CITY, Canada – Clashes erupted Sunday, August 20, between police and dozens of anti-racist activists on the sidelines of a pro-immigration rally in Quebec City, an Agence France-Presse journalist witnessed, while a demonstration organized by extreme-right activists gained little traction.

A few hundred people gathered in Quebec City's center early afternoon to counter-protest a planned far-right rally, supporters of which spent much of the day stuck in a parking lot.

In a bid to keep the two rallies apart, police erected a security cordon but declared the anti-racist demonstration illegal after sporadic clashes broke out and hooded individuals threw projectiles at police.

"Given acts of violence and vandalism, this demonstration is illegal," tweeted the Quebec police, adding that one protestor had been arrested.

The counter-demonstration was organized in response to a rally planned by La Meute, a far-right, anti-immigration group. 

The group called on Quebec residents to demand from the government "sovereignty" of borders.

In addition to 40,000 refugees Canada has accepted since the end of 2015, many migrants have fled north across the US-Canada border since the swearing-in of President Donald Trump, who espouses hardline immigration views.

In the first half of 2017 some 6,500 asylum seekers entered Canada. Approximately 7,000 have entered the North American country via Quebec since early July, about 6,000 of them Haitians.

They face expulsion from the United States at the end of the year, when temporary asylum granted to 60,000 Haitians affected by a devastating 2010 earthquake is due to expire. – Rappler.com

MANILA, Philippines – The Philippine Navy rescued a Vietnamese hostage of the Abu Sayyaf in Basilan in a military operation that forced the bandits to flee.

"A Vietnamese kidnap victim who had been held captive by the Abu Sayyaf Group for months was rescued by military forces on August 20, 2017 at Mataja Island, Basilan," said Rear Admiral Rene Medina, commander of the Naval Forces Western Mindanao.

Do Trung Huiqe, a crew member of MV Royal 16 that the bandits attacked in November 2016, was brought to a military hospital for medical check up and debriefing. 

Two of his colleagues in the crew were beheaded in July. (READ: Abu Sayyaf beheads 2 Vietnamese hostages) 

The hostage was rescued by the team of Colonel Juvymax R. Uy of the Joint Task Force Basilan with the help of the Naval Intelligence Service Group Western Mindanao.

Vietnam asked the Philippines to closely monitor its citizens following the beheading of the two crew members last month.

The Basilan faction of the Abu Sayyaf is led by Isnilon Hapilon, who moved to Central Mindanao to join the notorious Maute Group. They attacked Marawi City on May 23, prompting a war that continues to rage nearly 3 months later. 

Hapilon is reportedly the Southeast Asian emir of international terrorist network Islamic State (ISIS). Hapilon reportedly failed to recruit the Sulu faction of the Abu Sayyaf Group to support ISIS. – Rappler.com

MANILA, Philippines – The Court of Appeals has affirmed the life imprisonment sentence for the 19 individuals convicted over the 2004 kidnap-murder case of Coca-Cola executive Betty Chua-Sy.

CA's Fourth Division issued a 25-page decision penned by Associate Justice Carmelita Salandanan ruling that the convicts failed to prove their innocence in the crime.

Chua-Sy, 33 at the time, was kidnapped in November 2004 in Novaliches while on her way to her office. The convicts shot the victim on the hip as they asked her family for P10 million in ransom.

Chua-Sy's body was later found dumped in Parañaque City wrapped in a garbage bag.

One of the suspects, Romeo Dacallos, turned state witness and identified the convicts as having conspired to commit the crime. The convicts claimed before the appellate court that Dacallo's testimonies, as well as that of another eyewitness Jorlito Lucero, did not prove their direct participation in the kidnapping.

"A careful examination of the records of shows that there was conspiracy among the accused-appellants since each of them played a role in the commission of the crime,” the CA's ruling said.

Justice Salandanan's ruling adds: “The collective and concerted acts of the accused-appellants before, during and after the commission of the crime clearly proved that they conspired with one another to attain a common purpose of depriving Betty Sy of her liberty and demanding a ransom money in exchange for her release."

Judge Alexander Balut of Quezon City Regional Trial Court branch 76 convicted the 19 individuals in 2009 and sentenced them to life imprisonment. Another suspect, Hunks Cornista, is still at-large.

“In the case at bench, it was clearly established that the overt acts of the accused-appelants were undoubtedly geared towards unlawfully depriving Betty Sy of her liberty and extorting ransom in the amount of P10 million in exchange for her release. Therefore, accused appellants are liable as principals by direct participation in the crime of kidnapping for ransom with homicide," Judge Balut's ruling said.

The convicts who have been affirmed to a sentence of life imprisonment are: Alvin Labra, Cesar Amado, Benedicto de Lima, Mariolito Demol, Edith Alazer, Silverio Superable, Renato Superable, Ramon Demol, Ernesto Callos, Fidel Superable, Rodolfo Artoza, Hector Cornista, Jose Artoza Jr., Vicencio Soliat, Ciderio Macanib, Ramil Victoriano, Gerardo Anover and Alejandro Aldas. – Rappler.com

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates – Two months into a bitter Gulf crisis, Saudi Arabia's use of a previously unknown Qatari royal family member has opened a new – and bizarre – front in the conflict.

On August 17, it was announced that Saudi's King Salman had ordered the reopening of the Qatar border to allow pilgrims from the emirate to join the annual hajj pilgrimage to Mecca.

The decision, at first glance an apparent thawing in a crisis ongoing since June 5, was apparently taken after Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman met an obscure member of Qatar's ruling dynasty, Sheikh Abdullah bin Ali bin Abdullah bin Jassim al-Thani.

Notably, it was the first public high-level encounter between the nations since the crisis erupted.

Saudi Arabian authorities highlighted the role of the mysterious Qatari in reopening the border.

Then it was reported that King Salman had received Sheikh Abdullah at his residence in Tangier, Morocco.

And straight afterwards, a Twitter account was set-up in the sheikh's name, gaining more than 250,000 followers in just two days and 9 tweets.

"What I did was only for the good of Qatar," he wrote in one tweet.

Not part of inner circle

But far from playing a conciliatory role, the emergence of Sheikh Abdullah may have aggravated matters.

Doha was quick to point out that he was in Saudi Arabia on a "personal" mission, not for the government, and angry social media users in Qatar claimed the Twitter account was "fake".

It also prompted speculation that the sheikh, the brother of a former emir, was being used to undermine or even replace the current Qatari leadership.

Unlikely, say analysts.

"Sheikh Abdullah... is not part of the very inner circle of the ruling elite in Qatar today," said Andreas Krieg, a strategic risk analyst and assistant professor at King's College London university and who knows the workings of the state apparatus in Qatar.

"He lives abroad but is not exiled."

The sheikh belongs to a branch of the Al-Thani royal family which may have seen its power eroded in recent years, but is still very well-connected.

He is a cousin of the Father Emir, Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al-Thani, who seized power in 1995, overseeing a transformation of his country into an economic powerhouse until stepping down in 2013 to give power to his son and current leader, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani.

Sheikh Abdullah is also the son of a former emir deposed by the grandfather of Sheikh Tamim.

The meetings in Saudi Arabia and Morocco were meant to put pressure on Qatar's so far unyielding leadership, since the crisis began on June 5, added Krieg.

"It is unusual that someone like him gets an official audience with the king and the crown prince," said Krieg.

"But the Saudis exploited the situation and presented this meeting with a lot of fanfare in their media.

"It was certainly done to put pressure on the royal family."

Regime change ruled out

Another Western analyst, Mathieu Guidere, a professor of Arab geopolitics in Paris, agrees.

But both rule out any chance of regime change in Qatar.

"If they were really working for regime change, the Saudis would not have made this mediation public," said Guidere.

And Krieg says any such attempt would prove futile.

"It would be foolish to think that regime change is possible. Saudi Arabia knows that," he said.

"The lineage of the current emir has made Qatar the richest country in the world with one of the biggest wealth funds and arguably the most resilient economy in the region.

"The loyalty of Qataris to Tamim is therefore unconditional."

Certainly the crisis, which has seen Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates and Egypt cut ties with Doha over accusations that it backs extremism – charges Qatar denies – has bolstered the current emir's popularity at home.

His image now appears everywhere, and emphasizing this on Sunday, August 20, Qatar unveiled an exhibition of 30 murals depicting "Tamim the Glorious" in a central Doha park.

In another development Sunday, Saudi Arabia said Qatar had refused to allow its aircraft to land in Doha to transport Qatari Muslims to Mecca for the hajj. – Rappler.com