More than 2,000 civilians left the village of Baghouz in a convoy of dozens of trucks. Coalition warplanes could be seen overhead and the sounds of intermittent gunbattles could be heard from the area, which is completely surrounded by the SDF. "The terrorists are entrenched inside, still betting on ending it militarily," said Mustafa Bali, head of the SDF media office.
SANTA ANA, Calif. (AP) — The Latest on cold-case arrests in the separate killings of a boy and girl in California (all times local):
Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman met China's President Xi Jinping on Friday and bagged a $10-billion oil deal, pressing on with his diplomatic charm offensive in Asia following a global outcry over the Khashoggi killing. Mohammed arrived in Beijing on Thursday following visits to Pakistan and India, showing the world that his country still has allies after the grisly murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi at the kingdom's Istanbul consulate. "China is a good friend and partner to Saudi Arabia," Xi told Mohammed in a meeting in the Great Hall of the People.
Canada is looking to quickly bring over siblings of a Syrian refugee distraught over the loss of her seven children in a Halifax house fire, the prime minister said Thursday. "The immigration minister is seized with this particular case," Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said when asked if Ottawa would fast-track the immigration or asylum process to bring the woman's brothers to Canada in order to provide her with family support. The family was among tens of thousands of Syrian refugees welcomed by Canada over the past four years.
WASHINGTON (AP) — A federal judge issued a broad gag order forbidding Roger Stone to discuss his criminal case with anyone and gave him a stinging reprimand Thursday over the longtime Trump confidant's posting of a photo of the judge with what appeared to be crosshairs of a gun.
Emissions of carbon dioxide – the greenhouse gas most responsible for global warming – could soar to levels not seen in 56 million years, scientists warned.
France is to recognise anti-Zionism, the denial of the state of Israel, as a form of anti-Semitism in response to a surge in acts against Jews not seen “since the Second World War”. Emmanuel Macron, the French president, also promised new legislation in May to fight hate speech on the Internet, which could see platforms such as Facebook and Twitter fined for every minute they fail to take down racist or violent content. Speaking at the annual meeting of France’s largest Jewish organization, CRIF, Mr Macron said that France and other countries in Europe had recently witnessed "a resurgence of anti-Semitism that is probably unprecedented since World War II.” “We have denounced it a lot, adopted plans, passed laws sometimes. But we haven’t been able to act efficiently,” he said. While stopping short of calling for new legislation, the President said the working definition of anti-Semitism drawn up by the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance would help guide police forces, magistrates and teachers in their daily work. That definition stipulates that anti-Semitism can take the form of "denying the Jewish people their right to self-determination, e.g., by claiming that the existence of a State of Israel is a racist endeavour”. "Anti-Zionism is one of the modern forms of anti-Semitism,” said Mr Macron. "Behind the negation of Israel's existence, what is hiding is the hatred of Jews.” Such guidelines in no way infringed on people’s right to criticise to the Israeli government and its policies, he said. Mr Macron also said that his party would introduce a bill in parliament in May to force social media to withdraw hate speech posted online and use all available means to identify the authors "as quickly as possible.” Digital minister Mounir Mahjoubi said: “There will be an obligation for results: if the content is not taken down then there will be a fine, and a large fine,” Mr Mahjoubi told France Info radio. “Each minute that content remains online, it increases the harm to society. Twenty-four hours is far too long.” Anti-Semitic acts surged by 74 per cent last year in France, according to government figures Credit: Getty Images Europe France has been pressuring Internet companies to better regulate their content ever since a series of terror attacks starting in 2015. The recent “yellow vest” protests have largely been orchestrated online. Many postings have included links to anti-Semitic, anti-immigrant and anti-vaccine messages, as well as a string of conspiracy theories. Mr Macron’s speech came a day after thousands attended rallies across France to denounce a rise in anti-Semitic acts and in a week in which almost 100 gravestones spray-painted with swastikas were discovered in a Jewish village cemetery in eastern France. The number of anti-Semitic incidents rose last year by 74 per cent from 311 in 2017 to 541, the government announced last week.
Their family says they were involved in volunteering and believed in giving back before they died.
In a wide-ranging interview about what it means to be a man, Barack Obama said that you don't need women "twerking around you" if you are "very confident about your sexuality". During a town hall in Oakland, California as part of the former president’s My Brother’s Keeper programme, Mr Obama engaged in a candid conversation with Golden State Warriors basketball star Steph Curry. When it came to self-confidence, Mr Obama suggested that those who know who they are do not always flaunt it.
U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) handed over more than 150 Iraqi and other foreign Islamic State fighters to Iraq on Thursday. "The majority of the fighters are Iraqi," said a military colonel whose unit is stationed at the Syrian border. "But we have a few foreigners." The mayor of Iraqi border town Al-Qaim, Ahmed al-Mahallawi, said some fighters' families were also transferred.