Mes: septiembre 2019

(AP) BEIRUT – Armed Shiite clansmen in Lebanon said Wednesday they had captured more than 20 Syrians and will hold them until one of their relatives seized by rebels inside Syria is freed. The tensions were a stark reminder of how easily Syria’s civil war could spill over to neighboring states. In Geneva, a U.N. investigation said Syrian President Bashar Assad’s forces and pro-government militiamen were responsible for war crimes during a May bloodbath in the village of Houla that killed more than 100 civilians, nearly half of them children. It also said rebels were blamed for war crimes in at least three other killings. The report by the U.N. Human Rights Council said the scale of the Houla carnage indicated “involvement at the highest levels” of Syria’s military and government. It is first time the U.N. has described events in Syria’s civil war as war crimes and could be used in possible future prosecution against Assad or others. The council also said the conflict is moving in increasingly “brutal” directions on both sides. Hotel used by U.N. observers rocked by explosion in Damascus, Syria’s capital cityPentagon: Iran training militiamen for AssadU.S. lifts sanctions on ex-Syria PM More in After the Arab Spring As the fighting deepens, so do the fears of it triggering unrest in fragile Lebanon, which is deeply divided between supporters and opponents of President Bashar...

LOS ANGELES — The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has concluded its review of a misconduct allegation against film academy president John Bailey and determined that no further action is required. The film academy said late Tuesday that Bailey will remain in his position, which he has held since August. Bailey, a cinematographer whose credits include “Groundhog Day,” ”The Big Chill” and “As Good as It Gets,” had previously denied the allegation that he attempted to touch a woman inappropriately on a movie set a decade ago. The film academy says the membership and administration committee and its sub-committee took his response, the claim and corroborating statements into account in its review. Outside counsel was also consulted, including from Ivy Kagan Bierman, an adviser to the Anita Hill-chaired Commission on Eliminating Sexual Harassment and Promoting Equality in the Workplace. More in Sexual misconduct The committee’s unanimous conclusion was also backed by the academy’s Board of Governors. Bailey’s attorney David Schindler did not immediately reply to an email seeking comment. The investigation comes as the academy has sought to make the fight against sexual misconduct a central goal after the wave of revelations beginning in October that brought down movie mogul Harvey Weinstein and spread throughout the industry. Bailey was two months into his presidency in October when Weinstein’s membership was revoked. Prior to Weinstein, only one other person...

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(AP) AZAZ, Syria – Residents of this north Syrian border town like to snap photos of their children atop the tank parked downtown, one of more than a dozen captured or destroyed by rebels in the battles last month that “liberated” the area from President Bashar Assad’s army. Across the street in air-conditioned offices once occupied by Assad’s Baath party, a new political order is emerging. Local rebels have formed committees to fix power lines, fire up bakeries and staff the nearby border crossing with Turkey. They also run security patrols and a prison with some 60 captives. Two men were executed by firing squad recently after a judge and Islamic clerics found them guilty of murder. “We run a state system here,” said Samir Hajj Omar, the silver-haired former teacher who heads the rebel political office for Azaz, a town of 35,000. “We’re enforcing the law.” In recent months, Syria’s rebels have extended control over a large swath of territory in the northeastern corner of the country after forcing the army from town after town in a string of bloody street battles. As a result, for the first time in Syria’s 17-month conflict, rebels have a cohesive enclave in which they can move and organize with unprecedented freedom, plus a long stretch of the border with Turkey key for moving out refugees and smuggling in weapons. They also...