Report: Islamic State manufacturing arms on industrial scale
Report: Islamic State manufacturing arms on industrial scale
IRBIL, Iraq (AP) — The Islamic State group was manufacturing weapons in and around Mosul on an industrial scale with products largely purchased in bulk from Turkey, according to a report published by an arms research group Wednesday.
The findings show that IS maintained a “robust and reliable” supply chain between Turkey and Iraq that allowed the fighters to produce tens of thousands of weapons, the London-based Conflict Armaments Research said. The group’s researchers studied IS weapons found at manufacturing facilities and on the battlefield during the Iraqi operation to retake Mosul that is underway.
As Iraqi forces advance, the extremists are losing the physical capacity to manufacture weapons on an industrial scale, but the research group’s executive director James Bevan warned that highly trained fighters will take their expertise with them as they retreat.
“Given that this group is so organized, they clearly see the writing on the wall in Mosul,” Bevan told The Associated Press, saying he believes IS has already moved its highest-trained bomb-makers out of Mosul and into Syria and southern Turkey.
“They place a very high value on technical capacity and they will do everything they can to preserve it,” he said. Bevan added that IS fighters likely looked to Turkey to purchase weapons ingredients, knowing that their demand would outstrip what is available in Iraq.
Cosby is back in court for 2nd day of sex assault hearing
NORRISTOWN, Pa. (AP) — Bill Cosby returned to court Wednesday for the second day of an important pretrial hearing in his sexual assault case as his lawyers prepared to argue that a judge should bar testimony from 13 women who have accused the 79-year-old entertainer of molesting them.
Prosecutors at this week’s pretrial hearing are trying to show that Cosby, who was once known as “America’s Dad” for his top-rated family sitcom, “The Cosby Show,” had a history of drugging and attacking young women. He is charged with sexually assaulting one woman in 2004, but prosecutors are hoping to call the other accusers to testify at his spring trial.
“The defendant has engaged, over the course of decades, in a signature pattern of non-consensual sexual assaults on young women who were in an unconscious state due to an intoxicant that the defendant administered to them,” Montgomery County District Attorney Kevin Steele argued.
Cosby’s lawyers want the accusers barred from taking the stand. The defense is expected to attack their credibility at Wednesday’s hearing.
The defense team insists Cosby has vision and memory problems that make it difficult for him to help defend himself, but he seemed mentally fit on Tuesday in the suburban Philadelphia courtroom as he shouted out answers to questions meant for the prosecutor.
Arctic air brings frigid temperatures to Midwest, moves east
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Arctic cold brought frigid temperatures to the Upper Midwest again on Wednesday and the cold was expected to spread east later in the week.
The National Weather Service issued a wind chill advisory Wednesday for all of North Dakota, Minnesota and Wisconsin, and parts of Montana, Wyoming, South Dakota, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana and Ohio.
Fargo, North Dakota, was four below zero early Wednesday, while Duluth, Minnesota was two below zero. Highs Wednesday will range from 20 to 30 degrees below average. Temperatures will remain well below zero in Minnesota and Wisconsin on Wednesday night.
The Arctic cold is expected to spread across the northeastern United States while the Midwest remains frigid through the work week, forecasters said.
Much of the northern Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern states will stay cold for the next couple of days as the arctic air remains stuck over the northern Appalachians, the National Weather Service said.
Pellets fired to quell protests blind hundreds of Kashmiris
SRINAGAR, India (AP) — Indian authorities call the shotgun shells filled with hundreds of small metal pellets a “non-lethal” weapon for crowd control, but that does not make them harmless. They’ve inflicted a permanent toll on hundreds of Kashmiris hit by them.
Their faces are scarred. Their eyes are damaged or simply gone, replaced with prosthetics. And their psychological wounds run deeper still.
“What I miss most is being able to read the holy Quran,” says Firdous Ahmad Dar, 25, a Kashmiri man who lost vision in both eyes after being shot with the pellets during an anti-India protest in the troubled Himalayan region.
The pellets have been in use here since 2010. Soldiers are trained to fire the shotguns below protesters’ waists, causing immense pain but — in theory — no permanent injuries. But a police official acknowledged that the rules are “more or less not followed because of the intensity of stone-throwing protests. The officer spoke on condition of anonymity in keeping with department policy.
The latest wave of protests began in early July after Indian troops killed Burhan Wani, a young and charismatic militant commander. As government troops cracked down on angry street protests in the Kashmir valley, shotguns were their weapon of choice.
California tells Uber to stop rides in self-driving cars
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Hours after Uber began offering people in San Francisco rides in self-driving cars Wednesday, California regulators told the ride-hailing company to stop and said it could face legal action if it does not get a state permit.
Uber started a public pilot program in the morning, and by midafternoon, the California Department of Motor Vehicles sent the company a letter saying the service was illegal until it got a permit required for putting autonomous vehicles on public roads.
Uber knew about the requirement but argued its cars do not meet the state’s definition of an “autonomous vehicle” because it requires a person behind the wheel to monitor and intervene if needed.
“If Uber does not confirm immediately that it will stop its launch and seek a testing permit, DMV will initiate legal action,” DMV Chief Counsel Brian Soublet wrote.
He did not specify what that might entail but referenced the possibility of taking Uber to court.
Uber did not immediately respond to a request for comment, so it was unclear if it stopped the service.