Destruction, razed monastery left behind by IS in Syria town ADVERTISING Destruction, razed monastery left behind by IS in Syria town QARYATAIN, Syria (AP) — Syrian troops fired their guns in celebration amid smoldering buildings inside the town of Qaryatain
Destruction, razed monastery left behind by IS in Syria town
QARYATAIN, Syria (AP) — Syrian troops fired their guns in celebration amid smoldering buildings inside the town of Qaryatain on Monday, hours after recapturing it from retreating Islamic State militants who had abducted and terrorized dozens of its Christian residents.
An Associated Press crew was among the first journalists to enter the town and witnessed the destruction wrought on the once-thriving Christian community and its fifth-century monastery, which was bulldozed by the extremist group last summer.
Once a cherished pilgrimage site, much of the St. Elian monastery had been reduced to a pile of stones.
Escorted by the Syrian government, the AP crew was allowed to venture only about three kilometers (1½ miles) inside Qaryatain, located 125 kilometers (75 miles) northeast of Damascus, because army experts were still clearing explosives and mines left by the group.
Black smoke billowed from the western side of town where skirmishes continued. Near the central square, some residential and government buildings were completely destroyed, their top floors flattened. Others had gaping holes where they had taken direct artillery hits or were pock-marked by gunfire. Electricity poles and cables were broken and shredded; a snapped tree hung to one side.
Supreme Court bolsters political influence of US Latinos
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court unanimously endorsed election maps that bolster the growing political influence of America’s Latinos on Monday, ruling that states can count everyone, not just eligible voters, in drawing voting districts.
The decision rejected a challenge from Texas voters that also could have diluted the voting power of urban Democrats, to the benefit of rural Republicans.
The case offered a test of the principle of “one person, one vote,” the requirement laid out by the Supreme Court in 1964 that political districts be roughly equal in population. The issue here, though, was what population to consider: everyone or just eligible voters.
All 50 states use total population as their basis for drawing district lines, but the challengers said the rural state Senate districts in which they lived had vastly more eligible voters than urban districts, making their votes count for less, in violation of the Constitution.
In Texas, and other states with large immigrant populations, urban districts include many more people who are too young, not yet citizens, in the country illegally or otherwise ineligible to vote. All of them, recorded by the census, count for the purpose of drawing political districts.
EU begins shipping migrants in Greece back to Turkey
ATHENS, Greece (AP) — A controversial European Union plan to stem the flow of refugees began Monday with the deportation of more than 200 people from Greek islands to Turkey, despite concerns over human rights and criticism that Europe was turning its back on refugees.
As dawn broke, buses filled with migrants left under heavy security from a detention center on the island of Lesbos headed to the port for the short boat ride to the Turkish port of Dikili. More were ferried across from the island of Chios, where riot police clashed hours earlier with demonstrators protesting the expulsions.
In all, 202 people from 11 nations — 191 men and 11 women — were sent back. They included 130 Pakistanis, 42 Afghans, 10 Iranians, five Congolese, four Sri Lankans, three Bangladeshis, three from India, and one each from Iraq, Somalia and Ivory Coast, as well as two Syrians who Greek authorities said had asked to be sent back.
Human rights groups expressed deep concern over the operation.
“The returns underway this morning in the Aegean are the symbolic start of the potential disastrous undoing of Europe’s commitment to protecting refugees,” said Amnesty International’s deputy director for Europe, Gauri van Gulik. “Urgent key questions are: What process is everyone going through and what will become of them after their return?”
Trump, Cruz make final pitches to Wisconsin voters
MILWAUKEE (AP) — After Donald Trump’s toughest stretch of the campaign, he and Ted Cruz made spirited final pitches Monday to Wisconsin voters, who will cast ballots Tuesday in a Republican primary that both consider a key step in the race for president.
After Tuesday, there’s a two-week lull before the next important voting, in New York.
Trump is facing pressure on multiple fronts following a difficult week marked by his controversial comments, reversals and rare moments of contrition. While his past remarks on topics like Mexican immigrants have drawn a backlash, even he appeared to recognize the damage caused by missteps in the lead-up to Wisconsin.
Those included re-tweeting an unflattering photo of Cruz’s wife and a series of contradictory comments on abortion that managed to draw condemnation from both abortion rights activists and opponents.
While Trump is the only Republican with a realistic path to clinching the nomination ahead of the Republican convention, a big loss in Wisconsin would greatly reduce his chances of reaching the needed 1,237 delegates before then. A big win for Trump would give him more room for error down the stretch.
