Turkish fighter jets have bombed Kurdish rebel locations in northern Iraq for the second time in eight days, the army said on Sunday. Turkey has escalated its attacks on the outlawed Kurdistan Worker's Party in recent months.
Critics say the Arab League’s monitoring mission in Syria is toothless and ineffective. We ask why it won't take bolder steps to stop the violence. Next, we meet the Iraqi Kurd forces keeping Kurdistan safe and stable amid the chaos. Finally, 40% of Egyptians cannot read or write. It's not just an educational challenge, but also an economic challenge to lift these families out of poverty.
With the US troop withdrawal raising concerns about Iraq’s future, Marc Perelman speaks to Barham Salih, Prime Minister of Kurdistan’s regional government, about democracy, power struggles and oil-related issues in post-American Iraq.
In Turkey, Kurdish rebels have recently stepped up attacks. Last week they targeted several police stations in the largely Kurdish south-east of the country. Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has said Ankara is running out of patience with the Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK, which has been waging a violent campaign for autonomy in the south-east since 1984.
Protests in Syria stoke tensions in neighbouring Lebanon, where Salafists in particular are openly calling for the fall of president Bashar al-Assad. Also, Turkey launches new raids on Kurdish militants, the latest episode in the decades-old conflict between Ankara and the PKK. Finally, a team of reporters follows Iraqi policemen on patrol in Baghdad.
Turkish jets bombed hideouts of the separatist Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) in northern Iraq overnight after deadly clashes in Turkey, the military said. The PKK takes refuge in rear bases in northern Iraq, using them to launch attacks on Turkey.
Turkey's Supreme Court recently banned the only party that claims to give voice in parliament to the interests of the Kurdish minority. The ruling of the court caused violent unrests in Kurdistan, but also in Istanbul. This complicates the task of the government which is trying to show some ouverture to the Kurds.
The Iraqi parliament has put off a vote on a key election law after failing to reach a quorum, raising the prospect of January polls being delayed. Some MPs blamed a Kurdish boycott for the failure.
The first population census in Iraq in two decades will be delayed indefinitely because of a land dispute in the country's north pitting Kurdish autonomous authorities against the central government in Baghdad.
