Hundreds of Militants’ Bodies Still Rot in Old Mosul Amid Rebuilding Efforts

8 Months Later, Hundreds of Militant Bodies Still Rot in Old Mosul

Nearly eight months after Iraqi and coalition forces captured Mosul’s Old City from Islamic State militants, hundreds of bodies of militants still litter the streets of destroyed neighborhoods and lie mangled in the rubble. VOA’s Heather Murdock is on the scene in the Old City of Mosul in Iraq.

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Israeli Police Question Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu

Police are questioning Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for the first time as part of an investigation into a corruption case involving the country’s telecom company Bezeq, Israeli media reported.

Army Radio and other media said police entered Netanyahu’s residence on Friday, while Netanyahu’s wife, Sara, was being questioned at another location.

Police allege that Bezeq’s news site, Walla, provided favorable coverage of Netanyahu and his wife in return for favors from communications regulators.

It was the first time that Netanyahu, who held the communications portfolio until last year, was questioned over the affair, known as Case 4000.

Last week, two close associates of Netanyahu were arrested on suspicion of promoting regulation worth hundreds of millions of dollars to Bezeq.

According to reports, legal complications for Netanyahu are mounting by the day, with four cases under investigation and others to come.

Police have recommended indicting Netanyahu for bribery. He is also suspected of receiving hundreds of thousands of dollars in gifts from billionaire friends in exchange for government favors.

Netanyahu has denied any wrongdoing, dismissing the accusations as a media witchhunt.

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Report: Turkey Attacks Pro-Syrian Troops, Kill 17

BEIRUT/ISTANBUL — 

Turkish warplanes attacked pro-Syrian government forces overnight, killing at least 17 people in a village in the north of the Afrin region in northwestern Syria, the British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said Friday.

The dead included three members of the Syrian Kurdish YPG force, while the rest came from militias that support President Bashar al-Assad and entered Afrin last week to help repel a Turkish offensive, the Observatory said.

The Turkish military declined to comment on the Observatory report, but the Turkish state-run Anadolu news agency reported Friday that Turkish attack helicopters had killed nine YPG fighters in the west of Afrin.

Another Turkish news agency, Dogan, reported that Turkish and allied forces had started an operation Friday morning to take control of the town of Rajo in Afrin.

Turkey and allied Syrian rebel groups began their operation against the YPG in Afrin in January, aiming to drive out the Kurdish militia, which Ankara sees as a terrorist group linked to an insurgency inside Turkey’s borders.

Despite making slow progress at first, the offensive has gained control over all of Afrin’s border areas adjoining Turkey.

Late Thursday, the Turkish military said eight Turkish soldiers had been killed and 13 injured in clashes in Afrin.

Last month, after the YPG asked the Syrian government to send its army to repel the offensive, pro-Syrian government militias crossed into Afrin and deployed along the frontlines with Turkey.

However, the move did not deter the Turkish offensive and has not so far heralded any wider escalation involving the Syrian government and the forces that support it.

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Egyptian Teen Offers Hope to Disabled With New Exoskeleton

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An Egyptian teenager has turned cables and sheets of aluminum and metal into a robotic exoskeleton that he says can one day help the disabled walk. Faith Lapidus reports. Read More Egyptian Teen Offers Hope to Disabled With New Exoskeleton : http://ift.tt/2oD2V4V

Russia's Humanitarian Corridor in Syria a 'Joke,' State Department Spokeswoman Says

Possible Breakthrough in Delivery of Aid to Syria's Eastern Ghouta