BB FANS

A law that would permit Afghan men to hurt and rape female relatives
President Karzai is about to ratify a law that would prevent relatives testifying against men accused of domestic violence

Manizha Naderi www.theguardian.com

Afghanistan still one of the worst places to be a woman, says EU ambassador
Franz-Michael Mellbin criticises prosecution of 'moral crimes' and says Hamid Karzai's government has failed Afghan women

Emma Graham-Harrison in Kabul www.theguardian.com

Afghanistan: as China forges new alliances, a new Great Game has begun
A common interest in central Asia over Uighur and Taliban militancy is bringing together Beijing and the United States
William Dalrymple www.theguardian.com

Two female journalists working for the Associated Press news agency have been shot by a police officer in eastern Afghanistan, officials say. BBC

Iraq ready to legalise childhood marriage
Children under nine years old could be legally married and wives forced to comply with sexual demands under newly tabled legislation described by critics as a setback for women's rights www.telegraph.co.uk

Allegations that British troops murdered Iraqis in the aftermath of an infamous 2004 battle were the result of a "conspiracy" to pervert the course of justice, the UK government has said. BBC

Sectarianism overshadows Iraq's elections; the winner will be Iran
Sunnis and Shias are on the brink of civil war, and Islamism is emboldened. Two years after US withdrawal, Iraq is unravelling

Ranj Alaaldin guardian.com

At least 350 people have been killed and many more are missing, the UN says, after a landslide hit the north-east Afghan province of Badakhshan. BBC

Iraqi Kurdish forces said to have taken Kirkuk as Isis sets its sights on Baghdad
Major oil city is controlled by peshmerga fighters after central government's army abandons posts in a rapid collapse

Peter Beaumont www.theguardian.com

We anti-war protesters were right: the Iraq invasion has led to bloody chaos
The horrific fallout from the war was inevitable, and continues today. This calamity must never be allowed to happen again
Owen Jones www.theguardian.com

The battle for Baghdad is nigh: Thousands of men answer Iraqi government's call to arms as ISIS jihadists bear down on capital
Iraq's government has indicated a willingness for the US military to conduct airstrikes against radical Islamist militants
Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant have taken over Iraq's second biggest city Mosul and town of Tikrit
Government forces have stalled the militants' advance near Samarra, a city just 110km (68 miles) north of Baghdad
ISIS's goal is to create a Islamic caliphate (state) - it already controls territory in eastern Syria and western/central Iraq
Iraq's parliament were to hold an emergency session today but it was postponed due to a opposition boycott
Kurdish forces are in full control of Iraq's oil city of Kirkuk after the federal army abandoned their posts
Iran has sent special forces and a unit of elite troops to Iraq to assist the Iraqi government halt the advance
Turkey is negotiating for the release of 80 nationals held by Islamist militants in Mosul
By JILL REILLY Mail

Iraq's most senior Shia cleric has issued a call to arms as Sunni-led insurgents seize more towns. BBC

Iraq crisis: Executions and rape reported as Islamist militants close in on Baghdad www.independent.co.uk

BAGHDAD (AP) — Iraq's Shiite clerical leadership Friday called on all Iraqis to defend their country from Sunni militants who have seized large swaths of territory, and a U.N. official expressed "extreme alarm" at reprisal killings in the offensive, citing reports of hundreds of dead and wounded.
www.huffingtonpost.com