In the last days of the battle against the Islamic State group in Syria, when members of the once-fierce caliphate were cornered in a dirt field next to a town called Baghuz, a U.S. military drone circled high overhead, hunting for military targets. But it saw only a large crowd of women and children huddled against a river bank.

Without warning, a U.S. F-15E attack jet streaked across the drone’s high-definition field of vision and dropped a 500-pound bomb on the crowd. Then a jet dropped one 2,000-pound bomb, then another.

It was March 18, 2019. At the U.S. military’s busy Combined Air Operations Center at Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar, uniformed personnel watching the live drone footage looked on in stunned disbelief.

“Who dropped that?” a confused analyst typed on a secure chat system being used by those monitoring the drone. Another responded, “We just dropped on 50 women and children.”

An initial battle damage assessment quickly found that the number of dead was actually about 70.

The Baghuz strike was one of the largest civilian casualty incidents of the war against the Islamic State, but it has never been publicly acknowledged by the U.S. military. The details, reported here for the first time, show that the death toll was almost immediately apparent to military officials. A legal officer flagged the strike as a possible war crime that required an investigation. But at nearly every step, the military made moves that concealed the catastrophic strike. The death toll was downplayed. Reports were delayed, sanitized and classified. U.S.-led coalition forces bulldozed the blast site. And top leaders were not notified.

The Defense Department’s independent inspector general began an inquiry, but the report containing its findings was stalled and stripped of any mention of the strike.

“Leadership just seemed so set on burying this,” said Gene Tate, an evaluator who worked on the case for the inspector general’s office and agreed to discuss the aspects that were not classified.

Tate, a former Navy officer who had worked for years as a civilian analyst with the Defense Intelligence Agency and the National Counterterrorism Center before moving to the inspector general’s office, said he criticized the lack of action and was eventually forced out of his job.

The details of the strikes were pieced together by The New York Times over months from confidential documents and descriptions of classified reports as well as interviews with personnel directly involved and officials with top secret security clearances who discussed the incident on the condition that they not be named.

The Times investigation found that the bombing had been called in by a classified U.S. special operations unit, Task Force 9, which was in charge of ground operations in Syria. The task force operated in such secrecy that at times it did not inform even its own military partners of its actions. In the case of the Baghuz bombing, the U.S. Air Force command in Qatar had no idea the strike was coming.

After the strike, an alarmed Air Force intelligence officer in the operations center called over an Air Force lawyer in charge of determining the legality of strikes. The lawyer ordered the F-15E squadron and the drone crew to preserve all video and other evidence. He went upstairs and reported the strike to his chain of command, saying it was a possible violation of the law of armed conflict — a war crime — and regulations required a thorough, independent investigation.

But a thorough, independent investigation never happened.

This past week, after the Times sent its findings to U.S. Central Command, which oversaw the air war in Syria, the command acknowledged the strikes for the first time, saying 80 people were killed but the airstrikes were justified. It said the bombs killed 16 fighters and four civilians. As for the other 60 people killed, the statement said it was not clear that they were civilians, in part because women and children in the Islamic State sometimes took up arms.

The only assessment done immediately after the strike was performed by the same ground unit that ordered the strike. It determined that the bombing was lawful because it killed only a small number of civilians while targeting Islamic State fighters in an attempt to protect coalition forces. Therefore, no formal war crime notification, criminal investigation or disciplinary action was warranted.

But the Air Force lawyer, Lt. Col. Dean Korsak, believed he had witnessed possible war crimes and repeatedly pressed his leadership and Air Force criminal investigators to act. When they did not, he alerted the Defense Department’s independent inspector general. Two years after the strike, seeing no evidence that the watchdog agency was taking action, Korsak emailed the Senate Armed Services Committee.

Korsak did not respond to requests for comment.

A Secret Task Force

The United States portrayed the air war against the Islamic State as the most precise and humane bombing campaign in its history. The military said every report of civilian casualties was investigated and the findings reported publicly, creating what the military called a model of accountability.

But the strikes on Baghuz tell a different story.

The details suggest that while the military put strict rules in place to protect civilians, the Special Operations task force repeatedly used other rules to skirt them.

Even in the extraordinary case of Baghuz — which would rank third on the military’s worst civilian casualty events in Syria if 64 civilian deaths were acknowledged — regulations for reporting and investigating the potential crime were not followed, and no one was held accountable.

Nearly 1,000 strikes hit targets in Syria and Iraq in 2019, using 4,729 bombs and missiles. The official military tally of civilian dead for that entire year is only 22, and the strikes from March 18 are nowhere on the list.

The battle at Baghuz represented the end of a nearly five-year U.S.-led campaign to defeat the Islamic State in Syria. On the ground, Task Force 9 coordinated offensives and airstrikes. The unit included soldiers from the 5th Special Forces Group and the Army’s elite commando team Delta Force.

Over time, some officials overseeing the air campaign began to believe that the task force was systematically circumventing the safeguards created to limit civilian deaths.

The process was supposed to run through several checks and balances. Drones with high-definition cameras studied potential targets, sometimes for days or weeks. Analysts pored over intelligence data to differentiate combatants from civilians. And military lawyers were embedded with strike teams to ensure that targeting complied with the law of armed conflict.

But there was a quick and easy way to skip much of that oversight: claiming imminent danger.

The law of armed conflict — the rule book that lays out the military’s legal conduct in war — allows troops in life-threatening situations to sidestep the strike team lawyers, analysts and other bureaucracy and call in strikes directly from aircraft under what military regulations call an “inherent right of self-defense.”

Task Force 9 typically played only an advisory role in Syria, and its soldiers were usually well behind the front lines. Even so, by late 2018, about 80% of all airstrikes it was calling in claimed self-defense.

The rules allowed U.S. troops and local allies to invoke it when facing not just direct enemy fire, but anyone displaying “hostile intent.” Under that definition, something as mundane as a car driving miles from friendly forces could in some cases be targeted. The task force interpreted the rules broadly, the former officer said.

CIA officers working in Syria grew so alarmed over the task force’s strikes that agents reported their concern to the Department of Defense inspector general, which investigated the claims and produced a report. The results of that report are top secret, but a former task force officer said the CIA officers alleged that in about 10 incidents, the secretive task force hit targets knowing civilians would be killed. The former officer said the report determined that all the strikes were legal.

The inspector general declined to release the report or discuss its findings.

A Fatal Strike

The camp at Baghuz was effectively the Islamic State’s Alamo — a last stand where hard-core militants vowed to fight to the death. The coalition had laid siege, hoping to starve the fighters out. In six weeks, 29,000 people, most of them women and children, surrendered. On March 18, drone footage showed the camp still harbored large numbers of people suspected of being fighters and their families.

Coalition drones had scoured the camp 24 hours a day for weeks and knew nearly every inch, including the daily movements of groups of women and children.

What happened on the morning of March 18 is in dispute.

That day Islamic State fighters trapped in the camp launched a predawn counteroffensive, according to Central Command, which oversaw Task Force 9. It said hundreds of Islamic State fighters started firing rifles and grenade launchers and sending forward fighters with suicide vests. The coalition pummeled the fighters with airstrikes — so many that by midmorning, the coalition had used all the missiles on its drones. Only one U.S. drone, controlled by the task force, was left in the area, and it was unarmed.

At about 10 a.m., local Syrian forces reported they were under fire and in danger of being overrun and called for an airstrike, Central Command said. The task force drone tracked a group of fighters as they made their way through the camp to the area where the women and children sheltered.

A 5th Special Forces Group officer in the task force looked at the drone footage and did not see any civilians. But the drone he relied on had only a standard-definition camera. Central Command said there were no high-definition drones in the area that could get a better view of the target.

The Special Forces officer gave the order to fire. With no precision missiles left, the ground commander called in 500- and 2,000-pound bombs. The strike log classified the strike as self-defense.

In fact, a high-definition drone was available. The task force did not use it. Circling above, it was streaming footage of the same patch of ground to the operations center in Qatar. Because the task force operated at a high level of secrecy, the people in Qatar watching the high-definition drone were not aware the task force was about to call in a strike.

Central Command said the task force did not know that the better drone was overhead.

The high-definition drone recorded a very different scene from what was described by Central Command this past week. In it, two or three men — not 16 — wander through the frame. They have rifles but do not appear to be maneuvering, engaging coalition forces or acting in a way that would seem to justify a self-defense strike with 2,000-pound bombs. A chat log used by analysts who were watching the footage noted the presence of women, children and a man with a gun but did not mention any active combat.

Moments after the task force called in the strike, an F-15E attack plane hit the spot with a 500-pound bomb. Five minutes later, when ground forces saw people fleeing the blast site, the F-15E dropped two 2,000-pound bombs on the survivors. The entire attack took 12 minutes.

A Failed Investigation

Defense Department regulations require any “possible, suspected or alleged” violation of the law of armed conflict to be reported immediately to the combatant commander in charge as well as criminal investigators, the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the secretary of defense and the secretary of the Army.

After viewing the footage, Korsak ordered the units involved to preserve nine pieces of evidence, including video, and reported the strike to his chain of command. He also notified the command of concerns that the unit appeared to be covering up the alleged war crimes violations by adding details to the strike log that would justify a self-defense strike. Commanders did not take action.

Coalition forces overran the camp that day and defeated the Islamic State a few days later.

Civilian observers who came to the area of the strike the next day found piles of dead women and children.

Satellite images from four days later show the sheltered bank and area around it appeared to have been bulldozed.

Concerned that details of the airstrike would be buried as well, Korsak alerted the Air Force’s version of the FBI, the Office of Special Investigations. A major responded that agents probably would not look into it.

The Air Force Office of Special Investigations declined to comment.

Korsak again pressed his chain of command to act, informing his command’s chief legal officer in a memo in May 2019 that regulations required an investigation. His superiors did not open an investigation.

Unwilling to let the issue drop, Korsak filed a hotline complaint with the inspector general’s office in August 2019.

A four-person team in the office was already looking into shortcomings in the civilian casualty reporting processes in Syria and quickly set up an interview in a secure setting. After reviewing the high-definition footage and interviewing Korsak, the team, which included Tate, told superiors in the inspector general’s office that the allegation of a war crime was “extremely credible.”

But like the Air Force lawyer’s earlier effort, Tate’s team soon hit roadblocks. Central Command was slow to turn over evidence. Tate obtained video from several drones flying over Baghuz that day but could not locate the footage from the task force drone that called in the strike.

Tate studied the task force’s casualty report, but it did not match what he saw on video. The civilian deaths stated in the report were “an impossibly small number,” he said.

The final section of the casualty report was reserved for the legal opinion. In one version of the report that Tate was sent by the staff at Operation Inherent Resolve, the Baghdad-based military command overseeing operations in Iraq and Syria, a task force lawyer and an operations officer wrote that a violation of the law of armed conflict may have taken place. In another copy that came from Central Command, he said, that opinion had been removed.

Tate could find no evidence that the Joint Chiefs, the defense secretary or criminal investigators had been alerted, as required.

Within days of interviewing Korsak, Tate’s team took their findings to supervisors and told them the office was required to alert those officials and criminal investigation agencies. Tate said his supervisors took no action. The team pressed leaders numerous times over the next several months, and in January 2020, Tate’s team leader drafted a memo that would formally alert authorities. It only needed to be signed by the deputy inspector general overseeing the team. Tate said the supervisor did not sign it.

In the months that followed in 2020, the team finished its report on broader issues in the civilian casualty reporting process, but as it went through the editing and approval process, all mentions of the Baghuz strike were cut.

Tate became increasingly pointed in criticizing the leadership of the inspector general’s office. In October 2020, he said he was forced out of his position and escorted from the building by security.

A spokesperson for the inspector general’s office disputed Tate’s account. She said that it alerted the proper authorities at Central Command shortly after receiving the first hotline complaint in 2019. The spokesperson said the office also notified criminal investigators about the strike in October 2020, 14 months after receiving the hotline call.

Tate refused to give up. He contacted the Senate Armed Services Committee in May and sent a 10-page letter describing the strike and what he viewed as a “systematic failure” on civilian casualty reporting. The committee then contacted Korsak, who replied with a detailed email.

Tate waited for months for the committee to call back and give him an indication that it was actively looking at the case. This past week, he said with a sigh that he was still waiting.

In the last days of the battle against the Islamic State group in Syria, when members of the once-fierce caliphate were cornered in a dirt field next to a town called Baghuz, a U.

In the last days of the battle against the Islamic State group in Syria, when members of the once-fierce caliphate were cornered in a dirt field next to a town called Baghuz, a U.S. military drone circled high overhead, hunting for military targets. But it saw only a large crowd of women and children huddled against a river bank. Without warning, a U.S. F-15E attack jet streaked across the drone’s high-definition field of vision and dropped a 500-pound bomb on the crowd. Then a jet dropped one 2,000-pound bomb, then another. It was March 18, 2019. At the U.S. military’s busy Combined Air Operations Center at Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar, uniformed personnel watching the live drone footage looked on in stunned disbelief. “Who dropped that?” a confused analyst typed on a secure chat system being used by those monitoring the drone. Another responded, “We just dropped on 50 women and children.” An initial battle damage assessment quickly found that the number of dead was actually about 70. The Baghuz strike was one of the largest civilian casualty incidents of the war against the Islamic State, but it has never been publicly acknowledged by the U.S. military. The details, reported here for the first time, show that the death toll was almost immediately apparent to military officials. A legal officer flagged the strike as a possible war crime that required an investigation. But at nearly every step, the military made moves that concealed the catastrophic strike. The death toll was downplayed. Reports were delayed, sanitized and classified. U.S.-led coalition forces bulldozed the blast site. And top leaders were not notified. The Defense Department’s independent inspector general began an inquiry, but the report containing its findings was stalled and stripped of any mention of the strike. “Leadership just seemed so set on burying this,” said Gene Tate, an evaluator who worked on the case for the inspector general’s office and agreed to discuss the aspects that were not classified. Tate, a former Navy officer who had worked for years as a civilian analyst with the Defense Intelligence Agency and the National Counterterrorism Center before moving to the inspector general’s office, said he criticized the lack of action and was eventually forced out of his job. The details of the strikes were pieced together by The New York Times over months from confidential documents and descriptions of classified reports as well as interviews with personnel directly involved and officials with top secret security clearances who discussed the incident on the condition that they not be named. The Times investigation found that the bombing had been called in by a classified U.S. special operations unit, Task Force 9, which was in charge of ground operations in Syria. The task force operated in such secrecy that at times it did not inform even its own military partners of its actions. In the case of the Baghuz bombing, the U.S. Air Force command in Qatar had no idea the strike was coming. After the strike, an alarmed Air Force intelligence officer in the operations center called over an Air Force lawyer in charge of determining the legality of strikes. The lawyer ordered the F-15E squadron and the drone crew to preserve all video and other evidence. He went upstairs and reported the strike to his chain of command, saying it was a possible violation of the law of armed conflict — a war crime — and regulations required a thorough, independent investigation. But a thorough, independent investigation never happened. This past week, after the Times sent its findings to U.S. Central Command, which oversaw the air war in Syria, the command acknowledged the strikes for the first time, saying 80 people were killed but the airstrikes were justified. It said the bombs killed 16 fighters and four civilians. As for the other 60 people killed, the statement said it was not clear that they were civilians, in part because women and children in the Islamic State sometimes took up arms. The only assessment done immediately after the strike was performed by the same ground unit that ordered the strike. It determined that the bombing was lawful because it killed only a small number of civilians while targeting Islamic State fighters in an attempt to protect coalition forces. Therefore, no formal war crime notification, criminal investigation or disciplinary action was warranted. But the Air Force lawyer, Lt. Col. Dean Korsak, believed he had witnessed possible war crimes and repeatedly pressed his leadership and Air Force criminal investigators to act. When they did not, he alerted the Defense Department’s independent inspector general. Two years after the strike, seeing no evidence that the watchdog agency was taking action, Korsak emailed the Senate Armed Services Committee. Korsak did not respond to requests for comment. A Secret Task Force The United States portrayed the air war against the Islamic State as the most precise and humane bombing campaign in its history. The military said every report of civilian casualties was investigated and the findings reported publicly, creating what the military called a model of accountability. But the strikes on Baghuz tell a different story. The details suggest that while the military put strict rules in place to protect civilians, the Special Operations task force repeatedly used other rules to skirt them. Even in the extraordinary case of Baghuz — which would rank third on the military’s worst civilian casualty events in Syria if 64 civilian deaths were acknowledged — regulations for reporting and investigating the potential crime were not followed, and no one was held accountable. Nearly 1,000 strikes hit targets in Syria and Iraq in 2019, using 4,729 bombs and missiles. The official military tally of civilian dead for that entire year is only 22, and the strikes from March 18 are nowhere on the list. The battle at Baghuz represented the end of a nearly five-year U.S.-led campaign to defeat the Islamic State in Syria. On the ground, Task Force 9 coordinated offensives and airstrikes. The unit included soldiers from the 5th Special Forces Group and the Army’s elite commando team Delta Force. Over time, some officials overseeing the air campaign began to believe that the task force was systematically circumventing the safeguards created to limit civilian deaths. The process was supposed to run through several checks and balances. Drones with high-definition cameras studied potential targets, sometimes for days or weeks. Analysts pored over intelligence data to differentiate combatants from civilians. And military lawyers were embedded with strike teams to ensure that targeting complied with the law of armed conflict. But there was a quick and easy way to skip much of that oversight: claiming imminent danger. The law of armed conflict — the rule book that lays out the military’s legal conduct in war — allows troops in life-threatening situations to sidestep the strike team lawyers, analysts and other bureaucracy and call in strikes directly from aircraft under what military regulations call an “inherent right of self-defense.” Task Force 9 typically played only an advisory role in Syria, and its soldiers were usually well behind the front lines. Even so, by late 2018, about 80% of all airstrikes it was calling in claimed self-defense. The rules allowed U.S. troops and local allies to invoke it when facing not just direct enemy fire, but anyone displaying “hostile intent.” Under that definition, something as mundane as a car driving miles from friendly forces could in some cases be targeted. The task force interpreted the rules broadly, the former officer said. CIA officers working in Syria grew so alarmed over the task force’s strikes that agents reported their concern to the Department of Defense inspector general, which investigated the claims and produced a report. The results of that report are top secret, but a former task force officer said the CIA officers alleged that in about 10 incidents, the secretive task force hit targets knowing civilians would be killed. The former officer said the report determined that all the strikes were legal. The inspector general declined to release the report or discuss its findings. A Fatal Strike The camp at Baghuz was effectively the Islamic State’s Alamo — a last stand where hard-core militants vowed to fight to the death. The coalition had laid siege, hoping to starve the fighters out. In six weeks, 29,000 people, most of them women and children, surrendered. On March 18, drone footage showed the camp still harbored large numbers of people suspected of being fighters and their families. Coalition drones had scoured the camp 24 hours a day for weeks and knew nearly every inch, including the daily movements of groups of women and children. What happened on the morning of March 18 is in dispute. That day Islamic State fighters trapped in the camp launched a predawn counteroffensive, according to Central Command, which oversaw Task Force 9. It said hundreds of Islamic State fighters started firing rifles and grenade launchers and sending forward fighters with suicide vests. The coalition pummeled the fighters with airstrikes — so many that by midmorning, the coalition had used all the missiles on its drones. Only one U.S. drone, controlled by the task force, was left in the area, and it was unarmed. At about 10 a.m., local Syrian forces reported they were under fire and in danger of being overrun and called for an airstrike, Central Command said. The task force drone tracked a group of fighters as they made their way through the camp to the area where the women and children sheltered. A 5th Special Forces Group officer in the task force looked at the drone footage and did not see any civilians. But the drone he relied on had only a standard-definition camera. Central Command said there were no high-definition drones in the area that could get a better view of the target. The Special Forces officer gave the order to fire. With no precision missiles left, the ground commander called in 500- and 2,000-pound bombs. The strike log classified the strike as self-defense. In fact, a high-definition drone was available. The task force did not use it. Circling above, it was streaming footage of the same patch of ground to the operations center in Qatar. Because the task force operated at a high level of secrecy, the people in Qatar watching the high-definition drone were not aware the task force was about to call in a strike. Central Command said the task force did not know that the better drone was overhead. The high-definition drone recorded a very different scene from what was described by Central Command this past week. In it, two or three men — not 16 — wander through the frame. They have rifles but do not appear to be maneuvering, engaging coalition forces or acting in a way that would seem to justify a self-defense strike with 2,000-pound bombs. A chat log used by analysts who were watching the footage noted the presence of women, children and a man with a gun but did not mention any active combat. Moments after the task force called in the strike, an F-15E attack plane hit the spot with a 500-pound bomb. Five minutes later, when ground forces saw people fleeing the blast site, the F-15E dropped two 2,000-pound bombs on the survivors. The entire attack took 12 minutes. A Failed Investigation Defense Department regulations require any “possible, suspected or alleged” violation of the law of armed conflict to be reported immediately to the combatant commander in charge as well as criminal investigators, the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the secretary of defense and the secretary of the Army. After viewing the footage, Korsak ordered the units involved to preserve nine pieces of evidence, including video, and reported the strike to his chain of command. He also notified the command of concerns that the unit appeared to be covering up the alleged war crimes violations by adding details to the strike log that would justify a self-defense strike. Commanders did not take action. Coalition forces overran the camp that day and defeated the Islamic State a few days later. Civilian observers who came to the area of the strike the next day found piles of dead women and children. Satellite images from four days later show the sheltered bank and area around it appeared to have been bulldozed. Concerned that details of the airstrike would be buried as well, Korsak alerted the Air Force’s version of the FBI, the Office of Special Investigations. A major responded that agents probably would not look into it. The Air Force Office of Special Investigations declined to comment. Korsak again pressed his chain of command to act, informing his command’s chief legal officer in a memo in May 2019 that regulations required an investigation. His superiors did not open an investigation. Unwilling to let the issue drop, Korsak filed a hotline complaint with the inspector general’s office in August 2019. A four-person team in the office was already looking into shortcomings in the civilian casualty reporting processes in Syria and quickly set up an interview in a secure setting. After reviewing the high-definition footage and interviewing Korsak, the team, which included Tate, told superiors in the inspector general’s office that the allegation of a war crime was “extremely credible.” But like the Air Force lawyer’s earlier effort, Tate’s team soon hit roadblocks. Central Command was slow to turn over evidence. Tate obtained video from several drones flying over Baghuz that day but could not locate the footage from the task force drone that called in the strike. Tate studied the task force’s casualty report, but it did not match what he saw on video. The civilian deaths stated in the report were “an impossibly small number,” he said. The final section of the casualty report was reserved for the legal opinion. In one version of the report that Tate was sent by the staff at Operation Inherent Resolve, the Baghdad-based military command overseeing operations in Iraq and Syria, a task force lawyer and an operations officer wrote that a violation of the law of armed conflict may have taken place. In another copy that came from Central Command, he said, that opinion had been removed. Tate could find no evidence that the Joint Chiefs, the defense secretary or criminal investigators had been alerted, as required. Within days of interviewing Korsak, Tate’s team took their findings to supervisors and told them the office was required to alert those officials and criminal investigation agencies. Tate said his supervisors took no action. The team pressed leaders numerous times over the next several months, and in January 2020, Tate’s team leader drafted a memo that would formally alert authorities. It only needed to be signed by the deputy inspector general overseeing the team. Tate said the supervisor did not sign it. In the months that followed in 2020, the team finished its report on broader issues in the civilian casualty reporting process, but as it went through the editing and approval process, all mentions of the Baghuz strike were cut. Tate became increasingly pointed in criticizing the leadership of the inspector general’s office. In October 2020, he said he was forced out of his position and escorted from the building by security. A spokesperson for the inspector general’s office disputed Tate’s account. She said that it alerted the proper authorities at Central Command shortly after receiving the first hotline complaint in 2019. The spokesperson said the office also notified criminal investigators about the strike in October 2020, 14 months after receiving the hotline call. Tate refused to give up. He contacted the Senate Armed Services Committee in May and sent a 10-page letter describing the strike and what he viewed as a “systematic failure” on civilian casualty reporting. The committee then contacted Korsak, who replied with a detailed email. Tate waited for months for the committee to call back and give him an indication that it was actively looking at the case. This past week, he said with a sigh that he was still waiting.

How the US hid an airstrike that killed dozens of civilians in Syria

Playing a game of truth or dare with friends can often lead to enjoyment, but the same is not the case with a 21-year-old British man, who has been sentenced to life in prison on Friday, as he allegedly confessed to killing an elderly grandmother during the game. &nbsp;

According to the Lancashire Constabulary, Tiernan Darnton was convicted this week. Darnton had killed 94-year-old Mary Gregor when he set afire her home on May 28, 2018. &nbsp;&nbsp;

Also Read:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/grave-mistake-kurdish-politicians-wife-gets-jail-for-a-typo-in-miscarriage-form-in-turkey-428894" hreflang="en">Grave mistake? Kurdish politician’s wife gets jail for a typo in miscarriage form in Turkey</a>

On June 1, 2018, Gregory died and the cause of death was initially ruled as pneumonia and smoke inhalation. &nbsp;&nbsp;

After a joint investigation by police and the Lancashire Fire and Rescue Service, it was concluded that the fire started as the result of a discarded cigarette. In October 2018, her death was determined to have been accidental. &nbsp;&nbsp;

Also Read:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/trumps-former-advisor-steve-bannon-indicted-for-refusing-to-testify-for-capitol-riot-probe-428893" hreflang="en">Trump’s former advisor Steve Bannon indicted for refusing to testify for Capitol riot probe</a>

A year later, the case was reopened after Darnton allegedly confessed to a counselor that he deliberately set the house on fire. In the investigation, it was also revealed that he made a similar confession weeks after Gregory's death during a game of truth or dare with friends, reported Sky News. &nbsp;

In the new probe, it was determined that the fire was set intentionally. Darnton was charged with murder in March. He will now have to serve at least 15 years in prison before he can give petition for parole. &nbsp;

(With inputs from agencies) &nbsp;

Playing a game of truth or dare with friends can often lead to enjoyment, but the same is not the case with a 21-year-old British man, who has been sentenced to life in prison on Friday, as he allegedly confessed to killing an elderly grandmother during the game.

Playing a game of truth or dare with friends can often lead to enjoyment, but the same is not the case with a 21-year-old British man, who has been sentenced to life in prison on Friday, as he allegedly confessed to killing an elderly grandmother during the game. According to the Lancashire Constabulary, Tiernan Darnton was convicted this week. Darnton had killed 94-year-old Mary Gregor when he set afire her home on May 28, 2018. Also Read: Grave mistake? Kurdish politician’s wife gets jail for a typo in miscarriage form in Turkey On June 1, 2018, Gregory died and the cause of death was initially ruled as pneumonia and smoke inhalation. After a joint investigation by police and the Lancashire Fire and Rescue Service, it was concluded that the fire started as the result of a discarded cigarette. In October 2018, her death was determined to have been accidental. Also Read: Trump’s former advisor Steve Bannon indicted for refusing to testify for Capitol riot probe A year later, the case was reopened after Darnton allegedly confessed to a counselor that he deliberately set the house on fire. In the investigation, it was also revealed that he made a similar confession weeks after Gregory's death during a game of truth or dare with friends, reported Sky News. In the new probe, it was determined that the fire was set intentionally. Darnton was charged with murder in March. He will now have to serve at least 15 years in prison before he can give petition for parole. (With inputs from agencies)

Truth or dare? 21-yr-old makes confession during game, gets jail for killing elderly woman

We bring you the biggest stories of the day so far. From&nbsp;Kurdish politician’s wife getting jail for a typo in miscarriage form in Turkey to&nbsp;Trump’s ex-advisor Bannon getting indicted for refusing to testify in&nbsp;Capitol riot case,&nbsp;we have it all.

You can also read about&nbsp;bees screaming as rallying call for defence when&nbsp;under attack by giant hornets.

Please click on the headline to read the full story.

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<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/grave-mistake-kurdish-politicians-wife-gets-jail-for-a-typo-in-miscarriage-form-in-turkey-428894">Kurdish politician’s wife gets jail for a typo in miscarriage form in Turkey</a>

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In yet another example of an “appalling” political persecution, the wife of a jailed Kurdish politician has been sentenced to jail for two-and-a-half years over a mistake in a medical report on a miscarriage. The case had begun in March 2018.&nbsp;

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<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/trumps-former-advisor-steve-bannon-indicted-for-refusing-to-testify-for-capitol-riot-probe-428893">Capitol riot: Trump’s ex-advisor Bannon indicted for refusing to testify</a>

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Former US president Donald Trump’s advisor Steve Bannon has been indicted after he refused to testify before a congressional committee investigating Capitol riot that took place in January 6 this year.&nbsp;

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As per a new study, bees scream when they are under attack by giant “murder” hornets.&nbsp;This new defence mechanism was revealed by a study published in the Royal Society Open Science journal this week. As per the research, the bees release a “rallying call for collective defence” against the hornets.

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We bring you the biggest stories of the day so far. From Kurdish politician’s wife getting jail for a typo in miscarriage form in Turkey to Trump’s ex-advisor Bannon getting indicted for refusing to testify in Capitol riot case, we have it all.

We bring you the biggest stories of the day so far. From Kurdish politician’s wife getting jail for a typo in miscarriage form in Turkey to Trump’s ex-advisor Bannon getting indicted for refusing to testify in Capitol riot case, we have it all. You can also read about bees screaming as rallying call for defence when under attack by giant hornets. Please click on the headline to read the full story. Kurdish politician’s wife gets jail for a typo in miscarriage form in Turkey In yet another example of an “appalling” political persecution, the wife of a jailed Kurdish politician has been sentenced to jail for two-and-a-half years over a mistake in a medical report on a miscarriage. The case had begun in March 2018. Capitol riot: Trump’s ex-advisor Bannon indicted for refusing to testify Former US president Donald Trump’s advisor Steve Bannon has been indicted after he refused to testify before a congressional committee investigating Capitol riot that took place in January 6 this year. Under attack by giant hornets, bees scream as rallying call for defence, reveals study As per a new study, bees scream when they are under attack by giant “murder” hornets. This new defence mechanism was revealed by a study published in the Royal Society Open Science journal this week. As per the research, the bees release a “rallying call for collective defence” against the hornets. Watch | Gravitas: As Afghans face terror attacks, Taliban is busy in target practice × Watch | Gravitas: Why migrants are a tricky issue around the World ×

Morning news brief: Woman gets jail for typo, bees scream and more

If a new study is to be believed, bees scream when they are under attack by giant “murder” hornets. &nbsp;

This new defence mechanism was revealed by a study published in the Royal Society Open Science journal this week.&nbsp;

If left unchecked, the giant Asian hornets can completely destroy a honeybee hive in hours. In what scientists call a “slaughter phase”, they feed on larvae and decapitate bees. The hornets later also feed severed body parts to their young.

Also Read:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/sharks-spotted-londons-river-thames-no-longer-biologically-dead-428629" hreflang="en">Sharks spotted! London's River Thames no longer 'biologically dead'</a>&nbsp;

As per the research, the bees release a “rallying call for collective defence” against the hornets. &nbsp;&nbsp;

The signal, which was previously undiscovered, is now known as an “anti-predator pipe, shares acoustic traits with alarm shrieks, fear screams and panic calls of primates, birds and meerkats,” said the study. &nbsp;

The bees produce the sound by vibrating their wings or thorax. It also elevates their abdomens and exposes a gland to release a pheromone. &nbsp;

Also Read:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/night-out-grizzly-bear-four-cubs-take-a-stroll-through-wyoming-town-in-us-428781" hreflang="en">Night out? Grizzly bear, four cubs take a stroll through Wyoming town in US</a>

Heather Mattila, a co-author of the study, told Gizmodo, “It’s alarming to hear. It’s characterised by rapid bursts of high-pitched sounds that change unpredictably in frequency – they’re quite harsh and noisy.” &nbsp;

During a hornet attack, signal rates increase seven- to eight-fold, shared the study. &nbsp;&nbsp;

(With inputs from agencies)&nbsp;

If a new study is to be believed, bees scream when they are under attack by giant “murder” hornets. This new defence mechanism was revealed by a study published in the Royal Society Open Science journal this week.

If a new study is to be believed, bees scream when they are under attack by giant “murder” hornets. This new defence mechanism was revealed by a study published in the Royal Society Open Science journal this week. If left unchecked, the giant Asian hornets can completely destroy a honeybee hive in hours. In what scientists call a “slaughter phase”, they feed on larvae and decapitate bees. The hornets later also feed severed body parts to their young. Also Read: Sharks spotted! London's River Thames no longer 'biologically dead' As per the research, the bees release a “rallying call for collective defence” against the hornets. The signal, which was previously undiscovered, is now known as an “anti-predator pipe, shares acoustic traits with alarm shrieks, fear screams and panic calls of primates, birds and meerkats,” said the study. The bees produce the sound by vibrating their wings or thorax. It also elevates their abdomens and exposes a gland to release a pheromone. Also Read: Night out? Grizzly bear, four cubs take a stroll through Wyoming town in US Heather Mattila, a co-author of the study, told Gizmodo, “It’s alarming to hear. It’s characterised by rapid bursts of high-pitched sounds that change unpredictably in frequency – they’re quite harsh and noisy.” During a hornet attack, signal rates increase seven- to eight-fold, shared the study. (With inputs from agencies)

Under attack by giant hornets, bees scream as rallying call for defence, reveals study 

Making a typo may lead to an apology in most parts of the world but Turkey seems to be an exception where a woman has been jailed for an error in a report. &nbsp;

In a case being denounced as an “appalling” political persecution, the wife of a jailed Kurdish politician has been sentenced to jail for two-and-a-half years over a mistake in a medical report on a miscarriage. &nbsp;

Also Read:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/for-ps24mn-insurance-payout-man-gets-legs-cut-off-under-train-ends-up-with-jail-sentence-fine-428703" hreflang="en">For £2.4mn insurance payout, man gets legs cut off under train, ends up with jail sentence, fine</a>

For submitting an error-ridden medical report, a court in Diyarbakır has given sentences of 30 months each for Başak Demirtaş, a teacher and her doctor on Thursday, reported a local Kurdish news agency. &nbsp;

The case had begun in March 2018. The case relates to hospital admissions and two surgeries for a miscarriage suffered by Demirtaş in 2015. &nbsp;&nbsp;

As per her legal team, the teacher has been charged with fraud after a doctor’s note for medical leave of five days from work was issued during an appointment on December 11, 2015, but mistakenly dated as December 14, four days later. &nbsp;

Also Read:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/this-country-has-made-it-illegal-for-bosses-to-call-employees-after-office-hours-428679" hreflang="en">This country has made it illegal for bosses to call employees after office hours</a>

For the second half of the 2015-16 school year, Demirtaş took unpaid leave to recover. &nbsp;

Although the court board ruled that the hospital record book showing the dates she attended should be submitted as evidence to show the mistake was made, it gave the sentence without looking at it, Demirtas’s lawyers said after the ruling. &nbsp;&nbsp;

(With inputs from agencies)&nbsp;

Making a typo may lead to an apology in most parts of the world but Turkey seems to be an exception where a woman has been jailed for an error in a report. In a case being denounced as an “appalling” political persecution, the wife of a jailed Kurdish politician has been sentenced to jail for two-and-a-half years over a mistake in a medical report on a miscarriage.

Making a typo may lead to an apology in most parts of the world but Turkey seems to be an exception where a woman has been jailed for an error in a report. In a case being denounced as an “appalling” political persecution, the wife of a jailed Kurdish politician has been sentenced to jail for two-and-a-half years over a mistake in a medical report on a miscarriage. Also Read: For £2.4mn insurance payout, man gets legs cut off under train, ends up with jail sentence, fine For submitting an error-ridden medical report, a court in Diyarbakır has given sentences of 30 months each for Başak Demirtaş, a teacher and her doctor on Thursday, reported a local Kurdish news agency. The case had begun in March 2018. The case relates to hospital admissions and two surgeries for a miscarriage suffered by Demirtaş in 2015. As per her legal team, the teacher has been charged with fraud after a doctor’s note for medical leave of five days from work was issued during an appointment on December 11, 2015, but mistakenly dated as December 14, four days later. Also Read: This country has made it illegal for bosses to call employees after office hours For the second half of the 2015-16 school year, Demirtaş took unpaid leave to recover. Although the court board ruled that the hospital record book showing the dates she attended should be submitted as evidence to show the mistake was made, it gave the sentence without looking at it, Demirtas’s lawyers said after the ruling. (With inputs from agencies)

Grave mistake? Kurdish politician’s wife gets jail for a typo in miscarriage form in Turkey

Gov. Roy Cooper of North Carolina on Friday granted a pardon to a man who spent more than 24 years in prison for murder before a judge vacated his conviction in 2019, finding that a key witness had “entirely made up” her testimony.

The pardon for the man, Montoyae Dontae Sharpe, clears the way for him to seek compensation from the state and comes after prominent pastors and others had demonstrated outside the governor’s mansion in support of Sharpe.

“It’s been a long time coming,” Sharpe, 46, of Charlotte, said in an interview Friday. “My name has been cleared, and me and my family can move on. And I can go on with the next stage of my life, which is to still help other guys behind me.”

In 1995, Sharpe was convicted and sentenced to life in prison for the murder of George Radcliffe, who was found fatally shot in his pickup truck in Greenville, North Carolina, on Feb. 11, 1994.

During the trial, Charlene Johnson, who was 15, testified that she saw Sharpe, who is Black, shoot Radcliffe, who was white, in a face-to-face altercation over a drug deal, according to one of Sharpe’s lawyers, Theresa A. Newman, who was a co-director of the Wrongful Convictions Clinic at Duke University School of Law.

Johnson testified that Sharpe and another man then put Radcliffe into the truck, crashed it into a vacant lot and threw away the key, Newman said.

Johnson recanted her testimony weeks later, and Sharpe’s efforts to overturn his conviction worked their way through the courts until 2019, when a Superior Court judge in Pitt County, North Carolina, held two evidentiary hearings that destroyed the case.

After the second hearing, on Aug. 22, 2019, the judge, G. Bryan Collins Jr., found that if the case were tried again, Johnson would testify that “she was not present at the time of the shooting and that her trial testimony was entirely made up based on what she saw on television and what investigators told her.”

Collins also found that the medical examiner who had testified at the trial, Dr. Mary Gilliland, learned of Johnson’s testimony only “well after the trial was over.” If Gilliland were called to testify at a retrial, the judge found, she would testify that Johnson’s initial description of the shooting was “medically and scientifically impossible.”

Radcliffe had been shot in the arm, and Johnson’s description of a face-to-face confrontation “didn’t line up with the trajectory of the bullet through the body,” Newman said.

Collins vacated Sharpe’s conviction, released him from prison and granted his motion for a new trial.

That same day, the Pitt County District Attorney’s Office dismissed the murder charge against Sharpe and refused to retry the case on the grounds that there was insufficient evidence to prove it beyond a reasonable doubt.

Sharpe then spent the next two years fighting for a pardon, Newman said, before Cooper granted it Friday.

“I have carefully reviewed Montoyae Dontae Sharpe’s case and am granting him a Pardon of Innocence,” Cooper, a Democrat, said in a statement. “Mr. Sharpe and others who have been wrongly convicted deserve to have that injustice fully and publicly acknowledged.”

Newman said the pardon would allow Sharpe to petition the state for compensation of $50,000 for each year of wrongful imprisonment up to $750,000 — the most Sharpe could receive for the 24 years he spent in prison.

Sharpe said he had been sustained throughout the decades by his faith in God, his lawyers, the pastors who supported him and his mother, who gave him the strength to resist pressure from prosecutors to accept plea deals that could have resulted in his release from prison.

“If it weren’t for them, it would have been bad,” Sharpe said. “I would have still been in there, most likely.”

At a rally outside the governor’s mansion on Friday, the Rev. William J. Barber II, a North Carolina pastor, celebrated the “tremendous, tremendous news” of Sharpe’s pardon and asked those in attendance to think of all those who fought for Sharpe throughout the years.

“This was a family victory,” Barber said, adding that Sharpe deserved special praise.

“He has more courage than any man that has ever sat in that governor’s office — or woman — and more courage than anybody that’s ever sat in the state Legislature,” Barber said.

Sharpe said he hoped to use his pardon to fight for others who have been wrongfully convicted and are seeking to clear their names.

“I know there are more cases out there like mine because the system isn’t perfect,” he said. “We can change the system and my case is just a steppingstone for me to step out and help change the system.”

Gov. Roy Cooper of North Carolina on Friday granted a pardon to a man who spent more than 24 years in prison for murder before a judge vacated his conviction in 2019, finding that a key witness had “entirely made up” her testimony.

Gov. Roy Cooper of North Carolina on Friday granted a pardon to a man who spent more than 24 years in prison for murder before a judge vacated his conviction in 2019, finding that a key witness had “entirely made up” her testimony. The pardon for the man, Montoyae Dontae Sharpe, clears the way for him to seek compensation from the state and comes after prominent pastors and others had demonstrated outside the governor’s mansion in support of Sharpe. “It’s been a long time coming,” Sharpe, 46, of Charlotte, said in an interview Friday. “My name has been cleared, and me and my family can move on. And I can go on with the next stage of my life, which is to still help other guys behind me.” In 1995, Sharpe was convicted and sentenced to life in prison for the murder of George Radcliffe, who was found fatally shot in his pickup truck in Greenville, North Carolina, on Feb. 11, 1994. During the trial, Charlene Johnson, who was 15, testified that she saw Sharpe, who is Black, shoot Radcliffe, who was white, in a face-to-face altercation over a drug deal, according to one of Sharpe’s lawyers, Theresa A. Newman, who was a co-director of the Wrongful Convictions Clinic at Duke University School of Law. Johnson testified that Sharpe and another man then put Radcliffe into the truck, crashed it into a vacant lot and threw away the key, Newman said. Johnson recanted her testimony weeks later, and Sharpe’s efforts to overturn his conviction worked their way through the courts until 2019, when a Superior Court judge in Pitt County, North Carolina, held two evidentiary hearings that destroyed the case. After the second hearing, on Aug. 22, 2019, the judge, G. Bryan Collins Jr., found that if the case were tried again, Johnson would testify that “she was not present at the time of the shooting and that her trial testimony was entirely made up based on what she saw on television and what investigators told her.” Collins also found that the medical examiner who had testified at the trial, Dr. Mary Gilliland, learned of Johnson’s testimony only “well after the trial was over.” If Gilliland were called to testify at a retrial, the judge found, she would testify that Johnson’s initial description of the shooting was “medically and scientifically impossible.” Radcliffe had been shot in the arm, and Johnson’s description of a face-to-face confrontation “didn’t line up with the trajectory of the bullet through the body,” Newman said. Collins vacated Sharpe’s conviction, released him from prison and granted his motion for a new trial. That same day, the Pitt County District Attorney’s Office dismissed the murder charge against Sharpe and refused to retry the case on the grounds that there was insufficient evidence to prove it beyond a reasonable doubt. Sharpe then spent the next two years fighting for a pardon, Newman said, before Cooper granted it Friday. “I have carefully reviewed Montoyae Dontae Sharpe’s case and am granting him a Pardon of Innocence,” Cooper, a Democrat, said in a statement. “Mr. Sharpe and others who have been wrongly convicted deserve to have that injustice fully and publicly acknowledged.” Newman said the pardon would allow Sharpe to petition the state for compensation of $50,000 for each year of wrongful imprisonment up to $750,000 — the most Sharpe could receive for the 24 years he spent in prison. Sharpe said he had been sustained throughout the decades by his faith in God, his lawyers, the pastors who supported him and his mother, who gave him the strength to resist pressure from prosecutors to accept plea deals that could have resulted in his release from prison. “If it weren’t for them, it would have been bad,” Sharpe said. “I would have still been in there, most likely.” At a rally outside the governor’s mansion on Friday, the Rev. William J. Barber II, a North Carolina pastor, celebrated the “tremendous, tremendous news” of Sharpe’s pardon and asked those in attendance to think of all those who fought for Sharpe throughout the years. “This was a family victory,” Barber said, adding that Sharpe deserved special praise. “He has more courage than any man that has ever sat in that governor’s office — or woman — and more courage than anybody that’s ever sat in the state Legislature,” Barber said. Sharpe said he hoped to use his pardon to fight for others who have been wrongfully convicted and are seeking to clear their names. “I know there are more cases out there like mine because the system isn’t perfect,” he said. “We can change the system and my case is just a steppingstone for me to step out and help change the system.”

Man pardoned after spending 24 years in prison for murder

The climate change is real and has been affecting even the wildest parts of the Amazon untouched by humanity, said a study. &nbsp;&nbsp;

Over the past four decades, hotter and&nbsp;drier conditions in the region have led to a reduction in the body size of the birds. But it has also&nbsp;resulted in an increase in their wingspans, a study, which was published in the journal 'Science Advances', said on Friday. &nbsp;&nbsp;

Also Read:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/under-attack-by-giant-hornets-bees-scream-as-rallying-call-for-defence-reveals-study-428901" hreflang="en">Under attack by giant hornets, bees scream as rallying call for defence, reveals study&nbsp;</a>

These alterations seem to be a response to nutritional and physiological challenges, especially in the June to November dry season. &nbsp;

Vitek Jirinec, an ecologist at the Integral Ecology Research Center and the paper's lead author told AFP, "The biggest takeaway for me is that this is happening far from direct human disturbance, such as deforestation, in the heart of the world's biggest rainforest. That is something to ponder on the last day of COP26." &nbsp; &nbsp;

Also Read:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/us-8-big-cats-test-positive-for-covid-19-at-st-louis-zoo-428910" hreflang="en">US: 8 big cats test positive for COVID-19 at St. Louis Zoo</a>

The data collected on over 15,000 birds, which were caught, weighed, measured and tagged in over 40 years of field work, was analysed by Jirinec and his colleagues. &nbsp;

Nearly all the birds had become lighter since 1980s, found the researchers. Every decade, several species lost an average of two per cent body weight. &nbsp;

(With inputs from agencies)&nbsp;

The climate change is real and has been affecting even the wildest parts of the Amazon untouched by humanity, said a study. Over the past four decades, hotter and drier conditions in the region have led to a reduction in the body size of the birds.

The climate change is real and has been affecting even the wildest parts of the Amazon untouched by humanity, said a study. Over the past four decades, hotter and drier conditions in the region have led to a reduction in the body size of the birds. But it has also resulted in an increase in their wingspans, a study, which was published in the journal 'Science Advances', said on Friday. Also Read: Under attack by giant hornets, bees scream as rallying call for defence, reveals study These alterations seem to be a response to nutritional and physiological challenges, especially in the June to November dry season. Vitek Jirinec, an ecologist at the Integral Ecology Research Center and the paper's lead author told AFP, "The biggest takeaway for me is that this is happening far from direct human disturbance, such as deforestation, in the heart of the world's biggest rainforest. That is something to ponder on the last day of COP26." Also Read: US: 8 big cats test positive for COVID-19 at St. Louis Zoo The data collected on over 15,000 birds, which were caught, weighed, measured and tagged in over 40 years of field work, was analysed by Jirinec and his colleagues. Nearly all the birds had become lighter since 1980s, found the researchers. Every decade, several species lost an average of two per cent body weight. (With inputs from agencies)

Birds in Amazon turning smaller, longer-winged, courtesy climate change: Study

Different establishments around the world have been giving different incentives to encourage vaccination against COVID-19. These attempts are being made to ensure several lives can be saved in the fight against coronavirus. &nbsp;

In a unique initiative, a brothel in Austria has been offering several incentives, such as granting free entry and private sessions, to people, who would take a shot of the COVID-19 vaccine at the facility.

Also Read:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/us-8-big-cats-test-positive-for-covid-19-at-st-louis-zoo-428910" hreflang="en">US: 8 big cats test positive for COVID-19 at St. Louis Zoo</a>

FunPalast, a brothel in Vienna, "offers clients a 30-minute session in the sexual 'sauna club' with the 'lady of their choice' if they get the vaccine at the on-site clinic," said a Daily Mail report. &nbsp;

The initiative seems to be an attempt to not just boost revenue in the business after the COVID-19 pandemic affected its clientele totals, but also increase vaccination rates across the country. &nbsp;The project has begun this month. &nbsp;

Also Read:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/europe-becoming-covid-19s-epicentre-yet-again-some-countries-planning-lockdown-booster-shots-428986" hreflang="en">Europe becoming COVID-19’s epicentre yet again, some countries planning lockdown, booster shots</a>

Around 67% of Austria's population is partially or fully vaccinated, said the recent data provided by Our World in Data. &nbsp;

The effort started as a clever "marketing idea," but has become an "absolutely serious" operation, said FunPalast's chief executive Christoph Lielacher in an interview with NBC News. &nbsp; &nbsp;

(With inputs from agencies)&nbsp;

Different establishments around the world have been giving different incentives to encourage vaccination against COVID-19. These attempts are being made to ensure several lives can be saved in the fight against coronavirus.

Different establishments around the world have been giving different incentives to encourage vaccination against COVID-19. These attempts are being made to ensure several lives can be saved in the fight against coronavirus. In a unique initiative, a brothel in Austria has been offering several incentives, such as granting free entry and private sessions, to people, who would take a shot of the COVID-19 vaccine at the facility. Also Read: US: 8 big cats test positive for COVID-19 at St. Louis Zoo FunPalast, a brothel in Vienna, "offers clients a 30-minute session in the sexual 'sauna club' with the 'lady of their choice' if they get the vaccine at the on-site clinic," said a Daily Mail report. The initiative seems to be an attempt to not just boost revenue in the business after the COVID-19 pandemic affected its clientele totals, but also increase vaccination rates across the country. The project has begun this month. Also Read: Europe becoming COVID-19’s epicentre yet again, some countries planning lockdown, booster shots Around 67% of Austria's population is partially or fully vaccinated, said the recent data provided by Our World in Data. The effort started as a clever "marketing idea," but has become an "absolutely serious" operation, said FunPalast's chief executive Christoph Lielacher in an interview with NBC News. (With inputs from agencies)

Brothel offers free entry, private sessions to people taking Covid shot on-site in Austria

Women in the United States have been at receiving end of tough abortion laws for quite some time. Now, they are getting charged with manslaughter after having miscarriage. &nbsp;&nbsp;

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Why is there ZERO MEDIA COVERAGE of Brittney Poolaw’s conviction of manslaughter for having a miscarriage?!? 
 
Could it be because she’s an Indigenous woman? 
 
Obviously. <a href="https://t.co/l0ULUmx4hA">pic.twitter.com/l0ULUmx4hA</a>
— Nahanni Fontaine (@NahanniFontaine) <a href="https://twitter.com/NahanniFontaine/status/1450645161248133123?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 20, 2021</a></blockquote>
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The development has attracted sharp reactions from several corners of the country. Some victims of these repressive rulings are Brittney Poolaw, etc. &nbsp;

Also Read:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/truth-or-dare-21-yr-old-makes-confession-during-game-gets-jail-for-killing-elderly-woman-428922" hreflang="en">Truth or dare? 21-yr-old makes confession during game, gets jail for killing elderly woman</a>

In January 2020, Poolaw was about four months pregnant when she lost her baby in the hospital. In this October, she was convicted and sentenced to four years in jail for the first-degree manslaughter of her unborn son.

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Brittney Poolaw was convicted of 1st degree manslaughter for suffering a miscarriage. 
 
Bringing the U.S. one step closer to Gilead. <a href="https://t.co/I1COJ8wNe1">https://t.co/I1COJ8wNe1</a>
— 49erGirl4Ever (@Big_BrotherHBIC) <a href="https://twitter.com/Big_BrotherHBIC/status/1454825718559358978?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 31, 2021</a></blockquote>
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The woman’s suffering began with losing her baby to a miscarriage and seems to be continuing with the outrageous conviction and jail term over the death of the foetus. &nbsp;

She is not alone, a 21-year-old Native American woman from Oklahoma was also convicted of manslaughter after having a miscarriage some time back. &nbsp;

Also Read:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/grave-mistake-kurdish-politicians-wife-gets-jail-for-a-typo-in-miscarriage-form-in-turkey-428894" hreflang="en">Grave mistake? Kurdish politician’s wife gets jail for a typo in miscarriage form in Turkey</a>

The eye-opening plight of the woman has caught the attention of several people. &nbsp;

Some people noted that Poolaw was convicted during pregnancy loss awareness month in the US, while some netizens compared it to Margaret Atwood's dystopian novel The Handmaid's Tale. &nbsp;

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October is National Pregnancy and Infant Loss Awareness Month, and Brittney Poolaw is facing 4 years in prison for something that happens in 1 in 4 pregnancies. <a href="https://t.co/ibu5Kv98EF">https://t.co/ibu5Kv98EF</a>
— Nicole Marna (@nicole_menges) <a href="https://twitter.com/nicole_menges/status/1449240270407491585?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 16, 2021</a></blockquote>
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However, Poolaw had admitted to using illicit drugs while being pregnant at the time of seeking treatment at hospital. The medical examiner's report also found traces of methamphetamine in baby's liver and brain. &nbsp;

(With inputs from agencies)&nbsp;

Women in the United States have been at receiving end of tough abortion laws for quite some time. Now, they are getting charged with manslaughter after having miscarriage.

Women in the United States have been at receiving end of tough abortion laws for quite some time. Now, they are getting charged with manslaughter after having miscarriage. Why is there ZERO MEDIA COVERAGE of Brittney Poolaw’s conviction of manslaughter for having a miscarriage?!? Could it be because she’s an Indigenous woman? Obviously. pic.twitter.com/l0ULUmx4hA — Nahanni Fontaine (@NahanniFontaine) October 20, 2021 × The development has attracted sharp reactions from several corners of the country. Some victims of these repressive rulings are Brittney Poolaw, etc. Also Read: Truth or dare? 21-yr-old makes confession during game, gets jail for killing elderly woman In January 2020, Poolaw was about four months pregnant when she lost her baby in the hospital. In this October, she was convicted and sentenced to four years in jail for the first-degree manslaughter of her unborn son. Brittney Poolaw was convicted of 1st degree manslaughter for suffering a miscarriage. Bringing the U.S. one step closer to Gilead. https://t.co/I1COJ8wNe1 — 49erGirl4Ever (@Big_BrotherHBIC) October 31, 2021 × The woman’s suffering began with losing her baby to a miscarriage and seems to be continuing with the outrageous conviction and jail term over the death of the foetus. She is not alone, a 21-year-old Native American woman from Oklahoma was also convicted of manslaughter after having a miscarriage some time back. Also Read: Grave mistake? Kurdish politician’s wife gets jail for a typo in miscarriage form in Turkey The eye-opening plight of the woman has caught the attention of several people. Some people noted that Poolaw was convicted during pregnancy loss awareness month in the US, while some netizens compared it to Margaret Atwood's dystopian novel The Handmaid's Tale. October is National Pregnancy and Infant Loss Awareness Month, and Brittney Poolaw is facing 4 years in prison for something that happens in 1 in 4 pregnancies. https://t.co/ibu5Kv98EF — Nicole Marna (@nicole_menges) October 16, 2021 × However, Poolaw had admitted to using illicit drugs while being pregnant at the time of seeking treatment at hospital. The medical examiner's report also found traces of methamphetamine in baby's liver and brain. (With inputs from agencies)

Women face tough time as miscarriages lead to manslaughter charge in US

Calling the situation 'very serious', the Chief Justice of India (CJI) on Saturday asked the central government to come up with an emergency plan to tackle toxic air quality and dangerous smog conditions in the capital. &nbsp;

The Central Pollution Control Board of the country on Friday ordered states and local bodies to be in "complete readiness" for emergency measures to tackle worsening smog conditions in New Delhi. &nbsp;

Also Read:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/india-news/indias-bimal-patel-elected-to-uns-international-law-commission-for-5-yr-term-428919" hreflang="en">India's Bimal Patel elected to UN's International Law Commission for 5-yr term</a>

NV Ramana, CJI, said, "We have been forced to wear masks at home also, the situation is very serious." The top judge sought clarity on the measures initiated by the government so far. &nbsp;

Ramana said, "Delhi air quality will become severe and increase in surface wind may help .. another two to three days, it will increase further. Take an emergency decision." &nbsp;&nbsp;

Also Read |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/india-news/watch-ndrf-personnel-rescue-nearly-500-persons-from-in-and-around-chennai-rescue-ops-continue-428862" hreflang="en">Watch: NDRF personnel rescue nearly 500 persons from in and around Chennai, rescue ops continue</a>

As per the Central Pollution Control Board data on Saturday, the Air Quality Index (AQI) in and around capital city hit 470 to 490 on a scale of 500. The smog has reduced visibility greatly. &nbsp;

Ramana added the government should consider a two-day lockdown to protect citizens from the rising toxicity and inform the court on Monday about the emergency steps taken to improve air quality. &nbsp;

(With inputs from agencies) &nbsp;

Calling the situation 'very serious', the Chief Justice of India (CJI) on Saturday asked the central government to come up with an emergency plan to tackle toxic air quality and dangerous smog conditions in the capital.

Calling the situation 'very serious', the Chief Justice of India (CJI) on Saturday asked the central government to come up with an emergency plan to tackle toxic air quality and dangerous smog conditions in the capital. The Central Pollution Control Board of the country on Friday ordered states and local bodies to be in "complete readiness" for emergency measures to tackle worsening smog conditions in New Delhi. Also Read: India's Bimal Patel elected to UN's International Law Commission for 5-yr term NV Ramana, CJI, said, "We have been forced to wear masks at home also, the situation is very serious." The top judge sought clarity on the measures initiated by the government so far. Ramana said, "Delhi air quality will become severe and increase in surface wind may help .. another two to three days, it will increase further. Take an emergency decision." Also Read | Watch: NDRF personnel rescue nearly 500 persons from in and around Chennai, rescue ops continue As per the Central Pollution Control Board data on Saturday, the Air Quality Index (AQI) in and around capital city hit 470 to 490 on a scale of 500. The smog has reduced visibility greatly. Ramana added the government should consider a two-day lockdown to protect citizens from the rising toxicity and inform the court on Monday about the emergency steps taken to improve air quality. (With inputs from agencies)

Air pollution situation 'very serious’ in New Delhi, says India's CJI NV Ramana

Tesla Inc Chief Executive Elon Musk seems to be on cloud nine at the moment. After becoming the richest man on Earth, the CEO has gone on a stock selling spree after asking followers about it. &nbsp;

In the latest development, Musk sold 1.2 million shares held by his trust for over $1.2 billion on November 12, the US securities filings showed on Friday.&nbsp;It is an addition to the multi-billion dollar list of sales reported this week. &nbsp;

Also Read:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/trumps-former-advisor-steve-bannon-indicted-for-refusing-to-testify-for-capitol-riot-probe-428893" hreflang="en">Trump’s former advisor Steve Bannon indicted for refusing to testify for Capitol riot probe</a>

Earlier, staying true to his word, Tesla CEO Elon Musk sold 930,000 shares of his company stock worth about $1.1 billion. &nbsp;

This development comes a few days after Musk posted a poll for his Twitter followers asking if he should sell 10 per cent of his stock holdings in the company. He had said that he would “abide by the results of this poll, whichever way it goes.” &nbsp;

The poll came amid pressure in Washington to increase taxes on billionaires. A few Democrats have been wanting to impose a new tax on America’s wealthiest by taxing unrealised capital gains.

Also Read:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/us-8-big-cats-test-positive-for-covid-19-at-st-louis-zoo-428910" hreflang="en">US: 8 big cats test positive for COVID-19 at St. Louis Zoo</a>&nbsp;

“Much is made lately of unrealised gains being a means of tax avoidance, so I propose selling 10 per cent of my Tesla stock. Do you support this?” he tweeted. &nbsp;

The majority voted in favour of Musk selling 10 per cent of his company's stock. There were nearly 3.5 million votes. While 57.9 per cent said they supported the initiative, 42.1 per cent said they were not in favour of it. &nbsp;

(With inputs from agencies)&nbsp;

Tesla Inc Chief Executive Elon Musk seems to be on cloud nine at the moment. After becoming the richest man on Earth, the CEO has gone on a stock selling spree after asking followers about it.

Tesla Inc Chief Executive Elon Musk seems to be on cloud nine at the moment. After becoming the richest man on Earth, the CEO has gone on a stock selling spree after asking followers about it. In the latest development, Musk sold 1.2 million shares held by his trust for over $1.2 billion on November 12, the US securities filings showed on Friday. It is an addition to the multi-billion dollar list of sales reported this week. Also Read: Trump’s former advisor Steve Bannon indicted for refusing to testify for Capitol riot probe Earlier, staying true to his word, Tesla CEO Elon Musk sold 930,000 shares of his company stock worth about $1.1 billion. This development comes a few days after Musk posted a poll for his Twitter followers asking if he should sell 10 per cent of his stock holdings in the company. He had said that he would “abide by the results of this poll, whichever way it goes.” The poll came amid pressure in Washington to increase taxes on billionaires. A few Democrats have been wanting to impose a new tax on America’s wealthiest by taxing unrealised capital gains. Also Read: US: 8 big cats test positive for COVID-19 at St. Louis Zoo “Much is made lately of unrealised gains being a means of tax avoidance, so I propose selling 10 per cent of my Tesla stock. Do you support this?” he tweeted. The majority voted in favour of Musk selling 10 per cent of his company's stock. There were nearly 3.5 million votes. While 57.9 per cent said they supported the initiative, 42.1 per cent said they were not in favour of it. (With inputs from agencies)

Musk on stock selling spree? Tesla CEO sells another $1.2 bn worth shares  

We bring you the biggest stories of the day so far. From&nbsp;Xi Jinping's position getting cemented in history as Communist Party passed resolution to&nbsp;US court blocking National Archives from sharing Trump records with riots panel,&nbsp;we have it all.

You can also read about&nbsp;SpaceX capsule with crew of four getting welcomed aboard International Space Station,&nbsp;Western countries slamming Belarus and&nbsp;WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange looking to tie knot with partner Stella Moris in jail.

Please click on the headline to read the full story.

&nbsp;

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/xi-jinpings-position-cemented-in-history-as-chinas-communist-party-passes-resolution-428596">Xi Jinping's position cemented in history as Communist Party passes resolution</a>

<img alt="Brief 2" data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="675977dd-bc8c-4cfa-ac3b-79957cf58583" src="//cdn.wionews.com/sites/default/files/inline-images/R1.JPG" />

China’s ruling Communist Party has approved a resolution which has increased the President Xi Jinping’s status. This resolution was a conclusion of sixth plenary session of the party's 19th Central Committee.

&nbsp;

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/temporary-victory-us-court-blocks-national-archives-from-sharing-trump-records-with-riots-panel-428590">US court blocks National Archives from sharing Trump records with riots panel</a>

<img alt="Brief 3" data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="6cd808bd-e4ef-4e3a-bf70-7a154b94fb9f" src="//cdn.wionews.com/sites/default/files/inline-images/R2.JPG" />

In what can be called a temporary victory for former US president Donald Trump, a federal appeals court of the country granted a hold sought by the leader to block the National Archives from handing over documents to the January 6 House committee.&nbsp;

&nbsp;

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/spacex-capsule-with-crew-of-four-welcomed-aboard-international-space-station-428589">SpaceX capsule with crew of four welcomed aboard International Space Station</a>

<img alt="Brief 3" data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="c450b7d6-fc21-4eb0-a420-ee976ff9d6b3" src="//cdn.wionews.com/sites/default/files/inline-images/R3.JPG" />

Four astronauts on Thursday have arrived at the International Space Station as they docked their SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule with the orbiting laboratory, kicking off a 6-month long mission. Out of these four scientists, four come from NASA and one comes from the European Space Agency.

&nbsp;

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/destabilising-neighboring-countries-western-countries-slam-belarus-428604">'Destabilising neighboring countries': Western countries slam Belarus</a>

<img alt="Brief 3" data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="16133415-481d-4b6b-aa06-2adf8be78aa5" src="//cdn.wionews.com/sites/default/files/inline-images/R4.JPG" />

After an emergency meeting at the UN Security Council, various European countries and the US condemned Belarus on Thursday due to the ongoing migrant situation. Hundreds of migrants are trapped on its border with Poland.&nbsp;

&nbsp;

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/wikileaks-founder-julian-assange-to-tie-knot-with-partner-stella-moris-in-belmarsh-jail-428605">WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange to tie knot with partner Stella Moris in jail</a>

<img alt="Brief 5" data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="2eb91763-db4f-4bce-885c-224d286267df" src="//cdn.wionews.com/sites/default/files/inline-images/Assange.jpg" />

In a win for Julian Assange, the WikiLeaks founder has been allowed to marry partner in Belmarsh jail.&nbsp;After applying to the prison governor, Assange was granted permission to marry his partner, Stella Moris. The couple have two children.&nbsp;

&nbsp;

Watch | Gravitas: Is Pakistan buying American weapons from Taliban?

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We bring you the biggest stories of the day so far. From Xi Jinping's position getting cemented in history as Communist Party passed resolution to US court blocking National Archives from sharing Trump records with riots panel, we have it all.

We bring you the biggest stories of the day so far. From Xi Jinping's position getting cemented in history as Communist Party passed resolution to US court blocking National Archives from sharing Trump records with riots panel, we have it all. You can also read about SpaceX capsule with crew of four getting welcomed aboard International Space Station, Western countries slamming Belarus and WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange looking to tie knot with partner Stella Moris in jail. Please click on the headline to read the full story. Xi Jinping's position cemented in history as Communist Party passes resolution China’s ruling Communist Party has approved a resolution which has increased the President Xi Jinping’s status. This resolution was a conclusion of sixth plenary session of the party's 19th Central Committee. US court blocks National Archives from sharing Trump records with riots panel In what can be called a temporary victory for former US president Donald Trump, a federal appeals court of the country granted a hold sought by the leader to block the National Archives from handing over documents to the January 6 House committee. SpaceX capsule with crew of four welcomed aboard International Space Station Four astronauts on Thursday have arrived at the International Space Station as they docked their SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule with the orbiting laboratory, kicking off a 6-month long mission. Out of these four scientists, four come from NASA and one comes from the European Space Agency. 'Destabilising neighboring countries': Western countries slam Belarus After an emergency meeting at the UN Security Council, various European countries and the US condemned Belarus on Thursday due to the ongoing migrant situation. Hundreds of migrants are trapped on its border with Poland. WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange to tie knot with partner Stella Moris in jail In a win for Julian Assange, the WikiLeaks founder has been allowed to marry partner in Belmarsh jail. After applying to the prison governor, Assange was granted permission to marry his partner, Stella Moris. The couple have two children. Watch | Gravitas: Is Pakistan buying American weapons from Taliban? ×

Morning news brief: Jinping's position cemented, Assange to tie knot and more

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