Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/567863
8 maltatoday, WEDNESDAY, 9 SEptEmbEr 2015 News Turkey bombs Kurd rebels following deadly attack turkish warplanes launch air strikes on Kurdish pKK rebel bases in northern Iraq after 16 turkish soldiers are killed in bomb attack Turkish warplanes yesterday launched a wave of air strikes on kurdish Pkk rebel positions in northern iraq in retaliation for a deadly attack on the army in south- east Turkey. some 50 Turkish air force jets were involved in six hours of bomb- ing in the early hours of Tuesday after President recep Tayyip Er- dogan promised a "decisive" reac- tion. Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu also pledged to "wipe out" kurdish rebel strongholds fol- lowing sunday's Pkk (kurdistan Workers' Party) attack in which 16 Turkish soldiers died in hakkari province. Bombs were detonated near two military vehicles in the village of Daglica, a mountainous area close to the border with iraq. Davutoglu told reporters Turkey would not be discouraged from its "war on terror". "Those mountains will be cleared of these terrorists. Whatever it takes, they will be cleared," he warned. At least 35 Pkk rebels were killed in air raids by F4 and F16 jets early on Tuesday, according to Anadolu. The attacks are the latest in a surge in violence between the ar- my and the Pkk since a ceasefire collapsed in July. More than 40,000 people have died since the Pkk launched its armed campaign in 1984, calling for an independent kurdish state within Turkey. Newspaper attacked by pro- Erdogan supporters More than 200 people chanting "God is the greatest" attacked the offices of Turkish newspaper hur- riyet in istanbul. They accused the news organi- sation of misquoting Erdogan and implying that he was trying to gain political capital from the Daglica attack. Led by an istanbul member of Parliament, the pro-Erdogan protestors attacked the newspa- per's offices with stones. Police controlled the crowd be- fore more damage was caused. The attack followed a tweet by the newspaper's social media ac- count quoting Erdogan in a man- ner his supporters deemed out of context and incorrect. in response, supporters, includ- ing AkP istanbul MP Abdülrahim Boynukalın, called for protesters to assemble at the headquarters of the newspaper. Zaman, another Turkish newspa- per, described the campaign as be- ing organised by "pro-government trolls and columnists". The head of the ruling AkP's youth organisation, who was present as a leader in the attack, de- livered remarks in which he called the two newspapers "terrorist or- ganizations" and insisted that the crowd would "make recep Tayyip Erdogan the president" regardless of the results of the November 1 parliamentary elections. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan pledges to strike back at Kurdish rebels China remembers Tibet anniversary and attacks Dalai Lama China marks 50th anniversary of tibet annexation with rallying cry against Dalai Lama ChiNA celebrated the 50th anni- versary of the establishment of the Tibet Autonomous region (TAr), rallying against the exiled spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama. Attracting sharp criticism for its human rights record in Tibet, Beijing's top political adviser, Yu Zhengsheng led a massive rally in the Tibetan capital yesterday, stressing the official line that the Dalai Lama, who fled China in 1959 after an abortive uprising against Chinese rule, is a violent separatist. The Dalai Lama, who is based in india, says he is merely seeking greater autonomy for his himalay- an homeland. "People of all ethnicities are stead- fastly engaged in a struggle against separatism, continuously thwarting the Dalai clique and foreign hostile forces' splittist and sabotage ac- tivities," Yu said in front of Lhasa's grand Potala Palace, once the home of the Dalai Lama. Yu, who led the central govern- ment's delegation to the region, spoke to officials, Tibetans dressed in ethnic costumes and students waving Chinese flags. A procession of gaudy floats cel- ebrating the achievements of the Communist Party and others that showed famous Tibet landmarks such as the Potala Palace paraded down the street after the speeches. On Monday, Yu urged army, po- lice and judicial staff in Tibet to be ready to "fight a protracted battle against the clique of the 14th Dalai Lama," state news agency Xinhua reported. state media used the anniversary to launch attacks on the Dalai Lama with the Global Times, a nationalist tabloid owned by the ruling Com- munist Party's official newspaper the People's Daily, calling the Nobel Peace Prize Laureate a "cheater" and a "cruel ruler in exile". This year marks several sensitive anniversaries for the remote region that China has ruled with an iron fist since 1950, when Communist troops marched in and took control in what Beijing calls a "peaceful lib- eration". Tibet has been a source of contro- versy for decades, since Beijing sent troops to occupy the himalayan re- gion following the 1949 communist revolution. Beijing said the region has been part of Chinese territory for centu- ries, while many Tibetans said it has a long history of autonomous rule led by a series of Buddhist leaders. Free Tibet, a London-based rights group, said Beijing was trying to define Tibetan identity according to its priorities, and that Tibetans suffered restrictions on movement, censorship and lived in a system de- signed to punish opposition to the Beijing government. in a statement posted online, the group said the Beijing-controlled autonomous government "is a prod- uct of the ongoing propaganda ef- fort" to rewrite Tibetan history. "The celebrations imposed on the people of Tibet to accompany the TAr's 50th anniversary may be dressed up in 21st century Pr but they belong in the era of Mao." Palestinians call for 'day of rage' PALEsTiNiANs called for a "day of rage" throughout the West Bank in response to the death of reham Da- wabsha, who succumbed to wounds she suffered in a firebomb attack on her home on 31 July. reham Dawabsha, a 27-year-old teacher, died in hospital on sunday night after suffering burns to more than 80% of her body in the arson at- tack, which was allegedly carried out by israeli settlers. The attack also killed her husband and their 18-month-old son, while another son, four-year-old Ahmed, remains in hospital. With second- degree burns covering 60% of his body, Ahmed's chances of survival are slim, burn experts say. Activists have called for a "day of rage" on Friday in response to the tragic developments, while human rights activists are questioning the slow response of israeli authorities in apprehending the perpetrators. After the attack, israeli police de- tained a handful of extremist set- tlers, but they were subsequently released without charge. The detentions followed a change in israeli legislation that allowed israelis to be held in administrative detention – a practice traditionally reserved for Palestinians – amid a reported increase in the number of attacks on Palestinians by israeli settlers. According to the united Nations' Office for the Coordination of hu- manitarian Affairs, israeli settlers have perpetrated at least 142 attacks against Palestinians in occupied East Jerusalem and in the West Bank since the beginning of 2015. Critics have charged that the israeli government would likely have dealt with Dawabsha's murders more se- verely if the victims were Jewish and the perpetrators Palestinian. This claim is backed by a study carried out by israeli human rights organisation Yesh Din which shows that less than 2% of Palestinian com- plaints against israeli settlers have resulted in convictions. The Dalai Lama was described as a violent separatist by a Chinese government official