news

Air strikes have rained down on civilian areas of Syria days after Trump pulled support, & more in news in 5.

– With AAP.

1. Air strikes have rained down on civilian areas of Syria days after Trump pulled support.

It’s only been days since US President Donald Trump announced he was pulling military support for Kurdish fighters in northeast Syria, and Turkey has already launched air strikes in the area.

The Turkish President tweeted that Operation Peace Spring had begun, claiming they had targeted Syrian Kurdish forces in the town of Tal Abyad. But a spokesperson for the Syrian Democratic Forces says the strikes have caused massive panic and that civilian areas have been hit already.

Some in Washington say the move by President Trump to withdraw was a betrayal of America’s Kurdish militia allies, with world powers now concerned that the move will start a fresh wave of unrest in the region.

Turkey sees the north east Syrian fighters as terrorists because of their ties to militants who are waging an insurgency inside Turkey.

2. Fatal German synagogue attack livestreamed.

Footage from shooting attacks in the German city of Halle have been livestreamed on Amazon’s video gaming platform Twitch.

Two people were killed in the attacks on a synagogue and a kebab shop and one suspect was arrested.

“We are shocked and saddened by the tragedy that took place in Germany today, and our deepest condolences go out to all those affected,” Twitch wrote on Twitter.

“Twitch has a zero-tolerance policy against hateful conduct, and any act of violence is taken extremely seriously. We worked with urgency to remove this content and will permanently suspend any accounts found to be posting or reposting content of this abhorrent act,” said a second tweet.

Twitch, which says it has 15 million daily users, is primarily a site where gamers can livestream their games and chat to other users, though it also has channels focused on sports, music and politics.

The violence occurred on Yom Kippur, the holiest day of the calendar in Judaism.

An attacker wearing a steel helmet and boots placed homemade explosive devices in front of the synagogue on Wednesday afternoon and tried to enter it, security sources told German news agency dpa.

Several shots were fired, and sources said a woman was shot dead outside the synagogue.

Local media reported that shortly after the attacker failed to enter the synagogue, a grenade or an improvised explosive device was thrown into an adjacent Jewish cemetery.

A second victim – a man – was then killed at a nearby kebab shop, sources said.

A suspect has been arrested and police believe he was acting alone.

The attacker is believed to be a 27-year-old German man with an extreme-right background, security sources told dpa.

German Interior Minister Horst Seehofer said it could be assumed that the events were “an anti-Semitic attack”.

Seehofer also said it seemed likely the attack was motivated by right-wing extremism.

3. Dutch PM and Scott Morrison promise MH17 justice.

Australia and the Netherlands “will not rest” until they feel justice has been served over the downing of Malaysian Airlines flight MH17, the Dutch prime minister says.

Mark Rutte met Prime Minister Scott Morrison in Sydney on Wednesday with the 2014 MH17 disaster topping the agenda alongside talks on two-way trade.

The international team investigating the downing of the flight announced in June murder charges against three Russians and one Ukrainian for their alleged roles in the attack, which killed all 298 people on board including 38 Australians.

Mr Rutte said it could take many years to bring those responsible to justice but Australia, the Netherlands and their partners in the joint investigation team were “absolutely adamant” they would get the job done.

“There is no guarantee at this moment that people can get jailed if that is the conclusion out of the court case,” he told reporters.

“But I can guarantee you one thing: that we will not rest before that court case is closed in a way in which we all feel a sense that justice has been done.”

Mr Morrison said they would stand “shoulder to shoulder” to pursue justice “for as long as it takes”.

“That is the very least we owe to those who were murdered on that night and all of their families who have survived and so today we have reaffirmed our commitment to that task,” he said.

Mr Rutte was on Wednesday appointed as an honorary companion of the order of Australia, in recognition of his leadership after the downing of MH17 and his service to the Australia-Netherlands relationship.

4. Brisbane bridge climate activist appears in court.

A man who suspended himself from Brisbane’s Story Bridge for six hours to urge the premier to declare a climate emergency has been released from custody.

Paul David Jukes, a 49-year-old carpenter, briefly appeared in Brisbane Magistrates Court on Wednesday on one charge of unregulated high-risk activity after climbing the bridge on Tuesday.

He was not required to enter a plea and the matter was adjourned to the same court on November 20.

Police prosecutor Josh Kelly did not oppose bail but did seek conditions banning Jukes from climbing any structures and not approaching six Brisbane bridges, including the Story, Captain Cook, Victoria, William Jolly and Go-Between bridges.

Magistrate Elizabeth Hall rejected the application, saying Jukes did not have a criminal history and the conditions would be onerous given he has to return to court.

The maximum penalty if found guilty of unregulated high-risk activity is one-year’s imprisonment.

About 30 protesters have appeared in court, including Emma Jane Briggs, a 50-year-old hand-gliding instructor charged with obstructing traffic on Tuesday.

Asked why she had failed to heed police requests to leave the road, Briggs told Ms Hall the federal government was not doing enough to combat climate change.

“We’re running out of time. I just don’t know what else to do,” she said.

Briggs pleaded guilty to the charge and was released without penalty.

Another climate protester, Dylan James Bell, a 25-year-old disability support worker, who was arrested after he climbed onto the King George Square bus station with a banner on Tuesday and refused to come down for 28 minutes, was also released.

Police had sought a cost order for $500 for use of police resources against Bell but Ms Hall refused it, saying the work of responding to a protester was in the scope of normal police work.

Bell pleaded guilty to the charge of unregulated high-risk activity and was convicted but not fined.

Extinction Rebellion spokeswoman and midwife Emma Dorge, 23, also faced court.

Dorge was arrested on Wednesday morning for breaking a bail condition imposed two days earlier banning her from entering the Brisbane CBD.

Sergeant Kelly opposed her bail but the application was rejected after Dorge explained to Ms Hall the incursion occurred only because police pulled the car in which she was a passenger into a side street that was in her no-go zone.

Dorge was released to reappear for the breach of bail and two other protest-related matters on three dates later in October.

5. Two charged with $2.86m fraud of Queensland woman.

A man and a woman have been charged with fraud after money was allegedly illegally taken from an 85-year-woman with an enduring power of attorney in Queensland.

Police allege the 77-year-old woman illegally obtained about $2.86 million in a series of withdrawals that saw $297,000 deposited into her 49-year-old male co-accused’s bank account.

Detective acting Superintendent Vince Byrnes has urged the community to be vigilant against this type of offending.

“Misuse of an enduring power of attorney is a serious offence, and the alleged offending in this case could be considered a form of elder abuse and a grave abuse of trust,” he said.

Police will allege that from February 2018 until January 2019, the woman used the enduring power of attorney to illegally obtain the money which was used for their personal benefit.

They began investigating in July 2019 a tip-off from the Office of Public Guardian and Public Trustee.

The woman from Coorparoo appeared in the Brisbane Magistrates Court on Wednesday charged with two counts of fraud.

The man will appear in the same court on October 29 charged with one count of fraud, two of possessing dangerous drugs and one count of possessing a utensil.

Related Stories

Recommended

Top Comments

Beebs 5 years ago

This is such a bad move on the part of the US, not only are they throwing their allies under the bus (take note allies), they are literally giving IS a leg up. Jails overflowing with IS fighters have been abandoned by guards and now today two car bombs have exploded in a Kurdish area claimed by IS. This makes no sense at all. The war against IS is not done, but now Turkey and the Kurds are fighting each other instead of IS things are going to get bad again.

Cat 5 years ago

Yep. Trump has just proved himself the greatest ally that ISIS have ever had. Every time we think he can’t possibly get worse, he proves us wrong. The blood of the next people who die in IS bombings is on his hand... even if he doesn’t care about Syrian lives, I thought he might care about American ones. Silly me!

Beebs 5 years ago

Yep, spot on.


Brett 5 years ago

Trump has been played by Putin, Kim Jong-un, and now Erdogan.

Les Grossman 5 years ago

Deserves the Nobel Peace Prize, has already done a lot more to get America (and us as allies) out of endless wars in countries far away, than Obama the Drone Strike King, ever did.

Brett 5 years ago

You talking about the endless wars Bush got us into, such as Afghanistan and Iraq?

Les Grossman 5 years ago

Well not just those, but yes.

Laura Palmer 5 years ago

When you are a major player in starting those wars, you don't just get to pull out when you realise that you maybe shouldn't have gotten involved.