Libya naval forces deny charges of attack on migrant boat

Libyan naval forces denied charges from a rescue organisation that one of their crew had attacked a migrant boat packed with around 150 people, causing some to fall into the sea and at least four to drown, a spokesman said.
Some reports said that with the missing the death toll could rise into the 20s.
The Germany-based humanitarian group Sea-Watch said on Friday a speedboat labelled “Libyan Coast Guard” attacked a migrant boat packed with some 150 migrants, beating them with sticks. Four bodies were later recovered.
Migrant rescues are often complicated in Libya, where the U.N.-backed Tripoli government struggles to impose its authority, coast guard operations are under-equipt and police units are run by some of the competing armed brigades.
Sea-Watch, one of several non-governmental organisations operating vessels off the coast of Libya, said the speedboat swooped in just as they were about to go to the aid of the overcrowded rubber boat in the early hours of Friday.

Trump will accept election results – daughter

She is as calm and thoughtful as her father is strident and impetuous. She is Ivanka Trump, and the distance she has taken from her father Donald has earned her both the respect of Democrats and the head-scratching of analysts.
So the Republican candidate shocked the nation by saying he might not recognise the results of the presidential election if he loses? Ivanka, the model-turned-business-executive, insists “he’ll accept the outcome either way.”
So Donald Trump is caught bragging in lewd terms that he can do whatever he wants to women, then insists this was only “locker-room talk”? His daughter calls the comments “inappropriate and offensive” and admits that her father’s words can be “uncomfortable for us.”
Ivanka, soon to turn 35, is still clearly her father’s protegee. He has been unstinting in his praise for his glamorous offspring, a graduate of the prestigious Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. Trump counts on her to attract young and female voters.
In introducing her father at the Republican convention in July, Ivanka bragged about his

North Carolina voters flood polls after voting battle

Lines were long and excitement high as people queued in unusually hot fall weather on the first day of early voting in North Carolina.
Some 162,000 people cast their ballots on Thursday, according to numbers given by the state’s Board of Elections.
The voting season follows months of political wrangling over polling schedules that voting rights advocates, and in one case a federal court, said was an effort by Republicans to suppress the black vote – a demographic that generally swings Democrat.
“We’re going blue,” said Bill Jones, a 69-year-old African-American, referring to the colour of the Democratic Party. He waited for two hours outside the University City Regional Library to vote.
In 2008, Barack Obama reversed decades of Republican election wins in North Carolina. But in 2012, the state flipped Republican again.
In an average of state polls, Democrat Hillary Clinton is now ahead of Republican Donald Trump at 45.8 to 43.3 percent.

British military carrying out cyberattacks on IS forces in Mosul

The British military is carrying out cyberattacks against Islamic State for the first time.
The tactic is being used to support Iraqi and Kurdish forces in the battle for Mosul.
Although the US military has previously admitted using offensive cyber-tactics, this is the first time the British Armed Forces have come clean about their use of the technology.
Defence Secretary Sir Michael Fallon revealed the development after a speech at an International Cyber Symposium in London.
Asked if the UK was carrying out cyberattacks in the campaign to retake the northern Iraqi city, Sir Michael said: “I’m not going into operational specifics, but yes, you know we are conducting military operations against Daesh as part of the international coalition, and I can confirm that we are using offensive cyber for the first time in this campaign.”
Although the Ministry of Defence is being coy about its capabilities, it is understood the tactic involves ‘disrupting’ Islamic State’s ability to communicate online and via mobile phones.
Although this is the first time the military has used this technology against Islamic State, similar

Trump, Clinton court new citizens as US election nears

Soledad Herrera has lived in the United States for nearly half-a-century and never cast a single vote. All that will change on November 8.
The 74-year old mother of 10 took the oath of citizenship this week in Los Angeles, alongside 4,000 other immigrants. As new US citizens, they are eligible to vote in the presidential election.
Herrera and other newly-minted citizens can now expect to be furiously courted by US politicians as Republican Donald Trump and Democrat Hillary Clinton wrap up months of hard-fought campaigning in their bitter race.
Like vendors hawking wares at an open-air bazaar, Democratic and Republican party volunteers set up stalls outside the cavernous convention center where the naturalization ceremony was held and called out to the new citizens.
“Are you registered to vote?” was the constant refrain.
Herrera, who was born in Mexico, stopped to pose for a picture next to a life-sized cutout of Republican icon Ronald Reagan.

US, Turkey pledge to work closely to deal IS ‘lasting defeat’

US Secretary of Defence Ashton Carter (C) visits the Grand National Assembly of Turkey (TBMM) after a meeting with Turkish Defence Minister (R) in Ankara, on October 21, 2016, following the bomb attack of the Turkish parliament during the July 15 failed military coup attempt. US Defence Secretary Ashton Carter arrived in Ankara on October 21, 2016 for talks with the leaders of Turkey, a crucial but sensitive ally in the fight against the Islamic State group.The Pentagon chief was due to meet with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Prime Minister Binali Yildirim, as well as Defence Minister Fikri Isik.AFP/Adem Altan

US Defence Secretary Ashton Carter vowed during a visit to Ankara on Friday to ramp up joint efforts with Turkey to deal Islamic State jihadists a “lasting defeat”, the Pentagon said.
Carter met President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Prime Minister Binali Yildirim, as well as Defence Minister Fikri Isik on a flying visit to Turkey, a crucial but sensitive NATO ally in the fight against the IS group.
“Both sides agreed to maintain frequent communication on the full range of mutual interests, including close coordination and continued transparency in the coalition effort to deal ISIL a lasting defeat,” Pentagon spokesman Peter Cook said in a statement, using another name for the jihadist group.
Carter reaffirmed his support for the strategic US-Turkey alliance and vowed that Washington would “continue to stand side-by-side with our NATO ally against shared threats”.
Washington is alarmed by tensions between Turkey and Iraq as the long-awaited battle to retake Iraq’s second city Mosul from IS jihadists enters a decisive phase.
Turkey, which fears the Mosul offensive could boost the influence of anti-Ankara Kurdish militia, says it cannot stay on the sidelines, but Baghdad is firmly against the involvement of Turkish troops.
– Iraq sovereignty ‘important’ –
Washington wants Ankara to refrain from military operations in Iraq without the green light from

Islamic State may use civilians as human shields in Mosul battle

A member of the Iraqi government forces takes a position on top of a vehicle as smoke rises on the outskirts of the Qayyarah area, some 60 kilometres (35 miles) south of Mosul, on October 20, 2016, during an operation against Islamic State (IS) group jihadists to retake the main hub city. In the biggest Iraqi military operation in years, forces have retaken dozens of villages, mostly south and east of Mosul, and are planning multiple assaults for October 20.AFP/Bulent Kilic

Islamic State group fighters may be preparing to use civilians as human shields, or simply kill them, rather than let them be liberated in an Iraqi offensive to retake Mosul, the UN said Friday.
Elite Iraqi troops have been closing in on Mosul, the last jihadist bastion in Iraq, in a long-anticipated offensive.
United Nations human rights chief Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein said his office had reports that civilians were being held close to IS fighter positions in Mosul, possibly as a buffer against advancing Iraqi forces.
“There is a grave danger that ISIL fighters will not only use such vulnerable people as human shields but may opt to kill them rather than see them liberated,” Zeid said in a statement, using another acronym for IS.
Separately, Zeid said his office had reports that the jihadists forced an estimated 200 families to walk from the nearby Samalia village to Mosul last week.

UN rights chief denounces Aleppo raids as ‘war crimes’

Zeid Ra'ad al Hussein called for major powers to put aside their differences regarding Aleppo [Denis Balibouse/Reuters]Zeid Ra'ad al Hussein called for major powers to put aside their differences regarding Aleppo.Reuters/Denis Balibouse

The siege and bombing of eastern Aleppo in Syria constitute “crimes of historic proportions” that have caused heavy civilian casualties amounting to “war crimes”, according to the top United Nations human rights official.
Zeid Ra’ad al Hussein’s comments on Friday came during a special session of the UN human rights council called by Britain to set up a special inquiry into violations, especially in Aleppo’s rebel-held east where an estimated 275,000 civilians are besieged by a Syrian government offensive backed by Russia.
In a video speech, Zeid said Aleppo is a “slaughterhouse” and called for major powers to put aside their differences and refer the situation in Syria to the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC).
“Armed opposition groups continue to fire mortars and other projectiles into civilian