| Iran's president declares end of Islamic State Posted: 21 Nov 2017 07:14 AM PST  By Babak Dehghanpisheh BEIRUT (Reuters) - Iranian President Hassan Rouhani declared the end of Islamic State on Tuesday while a senior military commander thanked the "thousands of martyrs" killed in operations organized by Iran to defeat the militant group in Syria and Iraq. "Today with God's guidance and the resistance of people in the region we can say that this evil has either been lifted from the head of the people or has been reduced," Rouhani said in an address broadcast live on state TV. "Of course the remnants will continue but the foundation and roots have been destroyed." Major General Qassem Soleimani, a senior commander of the elite Revolutionary Guards, also said Islamic State had been defeated, in a message sent on Tuesday to Iran's supreme leader which was published on the Guards' news site, Sepah News.
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| Evangelical Christian leader 'helped cover up alleged sexual assault by anti-LGBT politician' Posted: 21 Nov 2017 06:32 AM PST  The leader of an anti-LGBT evangelical activist group has been accused of helping to cover up sexual assault allegations against a Republican politician. Wes Goodman, the Republican state legislator for Ohio who pushed for "family values", resigned last week after being caught having sex with a man in his office. Mr Goodman has also been accused of sexually assaulting an 18-year-old man at a conference in 2015, allegedly unzipping his trousers and fondling him in a hotel room early in the morning.
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| Bashar al-Assad says he is ready for Syria peace talks during rare meeting with Vladimir Putin Posted: 21 Nov 2017 04:35 AM PST  Russian president Vladimir Putin met with his embattled Syrian counterpart Bashar al-Assad in Sochi ahead of talks with leaders from Turkey and Iran aimed at re-booting the peace process in the conflict-torn country. The Kremlin said Monday's meeting in the Black Sea resort came during a "working visit" by Mr Assad to Russia. Mr Putin praised Assad for "fighting terrorism," which he predicted would suffer an "inevitable" defeat in Syria, the Kremlin said. "It is in our interest to advance the political process... we don't want to look back and we are ready for dialogue with all those who want to come up with a political settlement," Mr Assad said in translated comments. Mr Putin said he would "consult" world leaders, including US president Donald Trump, on his talks with Assad. Mr Putin's telephone talks with Mr Trump are due on Tuesday, the Kremlin said. On Wednesday, the presidents of Russia, Turkey and Iran will meet for the first of a series of summits to bring peace in Syria, where regime forces now have an upper hand over rebels and the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (Isil). Russia's President Vladimir Putin (L) welcomes Syria's President Bashar al-Assad during a meeting at Bocharov Ruchei residence. Credit: Photo by Mikhail Klimentyev\\TASS via Getty Images Mr Putin will host Turkey's Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Iran's Hassan Rouhani in Sochi ahead of parallel UN-led talks in Geneva set for November 28. The meeting - the first such three-way summit between the trio - comes as Ankara, Moscow and Tehran cooperate with increasing intensity on ending the over six-year civil war in Syria that has left 330,000 dead and millions homeless. The cooperation comes despite Turkey still officially being on an opposite side of the Syria conflict from Russia and Iran, which are key Assad backers. Turkey has supported rebels seeking Assad's ouster but has muted its criticism of the Syrian regime. Syria's President Bashar al-Assad, Russia's President Vladimir Putin, and Russia's Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu (L-R) during a meeting at Bocharov Ruchei residence. "The open-war phase in the Syria conflict will soon be over and the question of a political solution will become more pressing than before," Russian political analyst Azhdar Kurtov told AFP. "Russia, Iran and Turkey each have their own interest in Syria. It is clear that they also have disagreements. And they are meeting to try to smooth over these disagreements." The three countries have backed negotiations in the Kazakh capital Astana that have brought together the representatives of the opposition and the regime seven times this year. The talks have led the creation of four so-called "de-escalation zones" that have produced a drop in violence, but sporadic fighting and bombardment has continued. Moscow is now seeking to steer the process, which has so far focused on military questions, in a political direction. Syria war timeline The Sochi summit will help to "relaunch direct negotiations between the Syrian government and the range of the opposition", said Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov. "As a victory over Islamic State in Syria...grows closer, there are conditions for the relaunch of political negotiations," he said Friday. Moscow's military intervention in Syria from 2015 is widely seen as tipping the balance in the conflict. Since then the Syrian army has reclaimed the ancient city of Palmyra from Isil and driven rebels out of their northern bastion Aleppo. Palmyra recaptured This week regime forces ousted Isil from its last urban stronghold in the country, Albu Kamal, which has changed hands several times. Previous attempts to end the war have stalled over the question of the fate of Assad. But Turkey is showing greater flexibility on that issue, even if it remains unlikely that it will officially accept the prospect of the Syrian president remaining in power, said Timur Akhmetov, an Ankara-based Turkey expert at the Russian International Affairs Council. "For now, to keep a say in the future political negotiations is more important for Turkey than to have Assad departed from power," he told AFP. The last attempt by Moscow to bring together the regime and the opposition in Russia was coldly received by the rebels and no date has been fixed for a meeting which was originally set for November 18. Different factions of the Syrian opposition will meet from Wednesday in Riyadh in talks hosted by Saudi Arabia. The aim of the Saudi-backed High Negotiations Committee is to reach consensus on a strategy for talks in Geneva, which will focus on a new constitution for Syria and fresh elections.
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| Child sex offender's release from jail had tormented tragic Gaia Pope Posted: 21 Nov 2017 03:08 AM PST  Gaia Pope was traumatised by the impending release from jail on child sex offences of a college friend against whom she had made a police complaint. Gaia, 19, had accused Connor Hayes of sexual abuse after they had stopped seeing each other two years ago, the offender's mother said yesterday. Police had dropped that investigation into Hayes, 24, but had prosecuted him successfully for persuading another girlfriend to take part in a sex video which was then uploaded onto the internet. Hayes was jailed for two years in April after pleading guilty to three separate offences of taking an indecent moving image of a child, possession of indecent images of a child and paying for the sexual services of a child. He was due for release in the coming months, under rules which mean offenders serve half their sentence. Connor Hayes, 24, was jailed for sex offences Gaia's family and friends said the "traumatic incident" and fear of Hayes' release had made her "very anxious" and that could have triggered an epileptic seizure. Gaia's body was discovered on Saturday close to a cliff edge near to Swanage, in Dorset, where she had last been seen on November 7. A post mortem ruled out the involvement of any third party in her death and yesterday police acknowledged the "stress and anxiety" caused to three members of one family arrested on suspicion of her murder. Rosemary Dinch, 71, her son Paul Elsey, 49, and her grandson Nathan Elsey, 19, who were all dragged into the case, are threatening to sue police for wrongful arrest after an alleged CCTV mix-up caused by the clocks changing. Ms Dinch's daughter, Deborah Elsey, told The Sun she had given police CCTV footage from her house that showed her son, who said he had known Miss Pope, leaving his home. "When they questioned him, the time didn't match the time on the footage so they dragged him in for murder," Ms Elsey said. Gaia Pope The inquiry into Gaia's death will now turn to what triggered her behaviour in the hours before she vanished. Hannah Sutherland, her aunt, spoke of "a traumatic incident a couple of years ago". She said: "And because of her epilepsy, prior to a seizure she could get very anxious and that was apparently part of what came out as some of the anxiety. She was anxious there could potentially be some parole or something coming up." Gaia's father Richard Sutherland said the incident had "had a really devastating effect on her". Mr Sutherland said he had lots of questions that now needed answers, telling ITV News: "We want to know more. I think we know that she was really struggling [with] a lot of issues and she clearly just couldn't cope with that. With the epilepsy she was just struggling badly." Hayes's mother confirmed that Gaia had made a complaint against her son although the detail of the allegation is not clear. In a statement, she said: "I am aware that my son had a brief friendship with Gaia Pope when she was 16 and had just started college. "Within weeks of their friendship ending, Gaia made an accusation to the police which was not upheld. "To the best of my knowledge my son has not had any contact with Gaia since their friendship ended at least two years ago." Police cordon off an area close to the coastal path at Swanage Hayes, from Bournemouth, and his friend William Wright, 24, from Bovington, also in Dorset, were both jailed for two years for abusing another victim. The victim had been persuaded by Hayes in November 2014 to take part in a sex video with Wright, telling the girl that the video was for personal use. Bournemouth Crown Court heard that Hayes and Wright shot 10 video clips and 27 still images of them having sex with the girl. Their victim was 16 at the time and over the age of consent for sex but under the age of 18, meaning it was illegal to make or possess indecent images of her. A year later, in November 2015, the video was uploaded onto the internet and the men were arrested shortly afterwards. Gaia Pope's sister says she was the 'light of my life' 01:38 Wright's father Jeremy Wright insisted yesterday his son had not known Gaia and bore no responsibility for her death. Mr Wright said he had been told by his son's friends that Hayes had faced further accusations, although he was unclear what they were. Gaia's family and friends have now begun a campaign seeking justice. Lucy Tuffin, her close friend, posted on Facebook: "No one can hurt you anymore Gaia, if I could have protected you from it all I would have," adding: "Justice for Gaia. It was You and Me against the world and still is." Her cousin, Marienna Weidemann-Pope, had posted on Facebook "#JusticeForGaia" which was being shared across the social networking site. Gaia Pope caught on CCTV on the day she went missing Gaia's mother, Natasha Pope said in a written tribute: "A wise magnificent soul that burns far too bright for this world. Her spirit overflows with love and compassion for others. "Gaia our free spirit, our wild pony, a light that will radiate for all eternity. Meet me at the gate my darling and so we are here longing for you for the rest of our lives. Together forever, united as one, your Mum always." Gaia's twin sister, Maya, said in tribute: "Gaia is my everything and I am heartbroken." Dorset police confirmed the three people arrested in connection with Gaia's disappearance had been released from investigation without any further action. Detective superintendent Paul Kessell, said: "I appreciate our enquiries would have caused these individuals stress and anxiety. However, we have an obligation in any missing person investigation to explore every possible line of enquiry. "The public would expect Dorset Police to fully investigate the sudden disappearance of a teenage girl. Our aim was not only to find Gaia but to find out what happened to her." The cause of Gaia's death remains undetermined pending toxicology results.
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| Chinese rights lawyer jailed two years for inciting subversion Posted: 21 Nov 2017 01:46 AM PST  By Philip Wen BEIJING (Reuters) - A prominent Chinese rights lawyer was sentenced to two years jail on Tuesday after being found guilty of inciting subversion of state power, the latest in a series of similar verdicts amid a sweeping crackdown on activism. In a verdict posted on its official Weibo microblog on Tuesday morning, the Changsha Intermediate People's Court said the lawyer, Jiang Tianyong, developed notions of overthrowing China's political system after being influenced by training workshops held by "anti-China foreign forces" overseas. The court said Jiang, 46, used social media to "attack or defame" Chinese government departments and incited others to gather and demonstrate in public.
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| As World Turns More Slowly, We Face Earthquake Boom, Scientists Warn Posted: 20 Nov 2017 11:19 PM PST  More powerful earthquakes could rock the globe in 2018 because of infinitesimal changes in the speed of the Earth's rotation, scientists warn.
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| A Timeline Of Charles Manson’s Path To Infamy Posted: 20 Nov 2017 09:36 PM PST  Charles Manson has been called many things over the years.
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| Trial wrapping up in case that sparked immigration debate Posted: 20 Nov 2017 07:42 PM PST  SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Lawyers painted the Mexican man on trial for killing a woman along a San Francisco pier as either a sick individual who brought a gun to the tourist spot in order to harm someone, or as a hapless homeless person who picked up an object he didn't know was a firearm until it went off accidentally.
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| Bounty offered for beheadings of Bollywood director, actress Posted: 20 Nov 2017 06:21 PM PST  NEW DELHI (AP) — A member of India's Hindu nationalist ruling party offered 100 million rupees ($1.5 million) to anyone who beheads the lead actress and the director of an unreleased Bollywood film "Padmavati" rumored to depict a relationship between a Hindu queen and a Muslim ruler.
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| The Latest: Moore campaign fires back against media, accuser Posted: 20 Nov 2017 06:04 PM PST  WASHINGTON (AP) — The Latest on Republican Alabama Senate candidate Roy Moore (all times local):
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