A Saudi-UAE coalition air raid has killed at least a dozen fishermen in Yemen’s Hodeidah province, according to Houthi-linked media.

Friday’s attack comes a day after a US Navy destroyer seized more than 1,000 AK-47 rifles from a “stateless” skiff in international waters off the coast of Yemen believed to be part of an illicit weapons shipment to the war-torn country, according to ABC news.

The Saudi-led coalition said the boats that were attacked on Friday were being used to smuggle weapons.

Al Jazeera’s Alan Fisher, reporting from neighbouring Djibouti, said verifying reports of the attack and the casualty figure was difficult because the location of the reported incident, an island off the coast of Hodeidah.

“Three fishing vessels, according to reports, were setting out to do their normal job when they were targeted by the Saudi-led coalition and were sunk,” he said. 

“Initial reports suggest that about 70 fisherman are missing. That figure has now been amended by Houthi media to 19.

“No one can get to the location to verify the number and the exact details of the incident.”

The Saudi-UAE military alliance is trying to recapture the city from Houthi rebels. Because of the ongoing fighting, fishermen in Hodeidah say they are now scared to go out to the sea.

In an attack of a fish market earlier this month, 28 people were killed and more than 30 were injured.

The reports of the attack also come after a team of UN-mandated investigators said they had “reasonable grounds to believe that the parties to the armed conflict in Yemen have committed a substantial number of violations of international humanitarian law”.

The damning report, published earlier this week, blamed the Houthis and the Saudi-UAE coalition for the violence in Yemen, but said air attacks by the military coalition had caused the most direct civilian casualties in the war.

It added that a blockade of Yemeni ports and airspace may have violated international humanitarian law.

A US official called for an investigation into attacks by the Saudi-UAE coalition in Yemen and for perpetrators to be held accountable. 

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Rodrigo Duterte has been condemned by women’s rights groups after the Philippine president joked about the number of rape case in the southern city of Davao.

At a public event on Thursday, Duterte suggested that the high number of rape cases recorded in Davao was due to the ‘many beautiful women’ in his home city.

“They say there are many rape cases in Davao,” Duterte said at the event in Cebu. “Well, for as long as there are many beautiful women, there will be many rape cases, too.”

But the president’s comments would “help normalize rape” and threaten the status of women in the country, according to a Filipino women’s rights activist Elizabeth Angsioco.

“Duterte seems to hate women so much that he comes up with statements that help normalize rape,” Angiosco told Al Jazeera on Friday. “This is unacceptable. Not from anyone, especially not from the highest official of the land.

“Not only does he advance the idea that rape normally happens to beautiful women, he makes men believe that it is ok to rape. 

“For decades, Filipino feminists have worked for women’s rights to be respected, recognized and enshrined in our laws. We’ve had some success with the progressive pro-women laws. Duterte is destroying all our gains and that pushes us back to the dark ages.”

Dear Mindanaoans & Millennials,

I urge you guys to please use the hashtag #RapeJokesAreNeverFunny as a sign of protest to, and disgust towards, the recent rape joke made by Duterte—AGAIN.

Let Malacañang know that we do not find Duterte’s sick, twisted rape jokes funny at all.

— Francis Baraan IV (@MrFrankBaraan) August 31, 2018

Throughout his presidency, Duterte has come out with crude and misogynistic content in his speeches.

In July 2017, Duterte suggested that he thought it would be acceptable for someone to rape the winner of Miss Universe, an international beauty pageant.

Earlier that year, while addressing a group of soldiers, he joked that men would be allowed to rape three women without punishment. 

In a statement issued on Friday, Gabriela, a Philippines women’s rights network, stressed that rape was a crime punishable under Filipino law.

“Yet again, President Duterte sends a very dangerous and distorted message in his latest rape remark, that a woman’s beauty is a cause of rape,” the organisation said in a statement.

“He toys with Davao pride and misogyny to gloss over a very important detail that women in his hometown of Davao City suffered the most number of rape cases in the country.

“This latest theatric only confirms one thing: President Duterte is proud to have rolled back whatever gains and legal mechanisms that have been instituted for women’s rights in Davao City.”

With additional reporting by Ted Regencia

Italian Grand Prix first and second practice commentary – Live – BBC Sport

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An Australian filmmaker has been sentenced to six years in prison after being convicted of espionage in Cambodia.

After a six-day trial, Judge Seng Leang on Friday found James Ricketson guilty on two charges of espionage.

“We have decided to convict [him] to six years in prison for espionage and collecting harmful information that could affect national defence,” he said.

The prosecution had accused Ricketson of working as a filmmaker in Cambodia for years as a front for spying.

“Unbelievable. Which country am I spying for?” Ricketson asked out loud in court.

Ricketson has been held in jail since his arrest in June last year after he flew a drone over a rally held by the opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP), which was disbanded months later.

The CNRP’s dissolution paved the way for Prime Minister Hun Sen to win a clean sweep of all parliamentary seats in July’s national election.

Ricketson’s lawyer Kong Sam Onn told reporters outside the court that he plans to request a royal pardon from the Cambodian king.

Opposition crackdown

Earlier this week, 14 opposition lawmakers and activists jailed before the election were released after sending apology letters to Hun Sen, which the premier said he sent on to the monarch.

The family of the 69 year-old filmmaker hopes he will be released soon.

“This is absolutely devastating for James and for us, and for his family, and his friends, and everyone. It’s been such a long hard process and to get this result is just devastating. I don’t know … we need some time to get our thoughts together and work out what to do next. Obviously we won’t be giving up,” said his son Jesse.

The trial “exposed everything that’s wrong with the Cambodian judicial system”, according to Human Rights Watch’s Phil Robertson who decried the court’s findings.

Robertson said the Australian was used as a “scapegoat” by the government to crack down on political opposition.

He also criticised what he said was inaction by the Australian government in “failing to publicly and consistently challenge this ludicrous charade and demand Ricketson’s immediate and unconditional release”.

Ricketson has faced legal problems in the past. He was handed a two-year suspended prison sentence in 2014 for allegedly threatening to broadcast allegations that a church working in Cambodia had sold children.

Two years later, he was fined after a court found him guilty of defaming an anti-paedophile NGO by accusing the group of manipulating witnesses.

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Throughout Aretha Franklin’s life, her faith was a central part of her identity, influencing and guiding her journey to stardom.

On Friday, her spiritual grounding in the black church will be on display to the public as her funeral at Greater Grace Temple is broadcast, showcasing noted singers and the traditions of Baptist funerals that are about both mourning and joy.

“In a Baptist funeral, there is duality,” explained Rev. Kenneth E. Flowers, pastor of Greater New Mt. Moriah Baptist Church in Detroit. “It’s a time for celebration; it’s a time of sadness and tears. But there will also be a celebration of life, we can celebrate, our faith tells us.”

“… We call them a homecoming celebration because that means you’re going to be home with God.”

Flowers spoke Monday at a tribute to Aretha Franklin at her home church, New Bethel Baptist Church, which was led by Franklin’s late father, the influential preacher and civil rights advocate Rev. C.L. Franklin. Flowers said he would sometimes text with Aretha Franklin, sending her messages of support and quotes form the Bible to give her a lift as she battled pancreatic cancer and personal challenges.

“I would text her, I’m praying for you Queen, told her to keep the faith,” Flowers said. 

The funeral will feature well known performers, but also elements that can often be seen at Christian funerals in Detroit. 

“Tears of sadness, but also shouts of joy and dancing, a time of celebration and jubilation to thank God for the Queen of Soul, that she is out of her suffering, out of her pain and going home to be with God,” Flowers said. “We can be sad and at the same time flip it around and be happy and joyous because we know where she is. She’s gone to be with God.”

More on Aretha Franklin:

Grace, pressure for bishop officiating Aretha Franklin’s funeral

Aretha Franklin funeral performers: Stevie Wonder, Faith Hill, more

Detroit’s ritual for Aretha Franklin becomes a family reunion

Franklin was rooted in a Baptist church while the funeral will be held at Greater Grace Temple, an Apostolic church that’s part of a Pentecostal denomination. Its pastor, Bishop Charles Ellis III, the head of Pentecostal Assemblies of the World, will co-lead the services along with Rev. Robert Smith Jr. of New Bethel Baptist.

The denominational differences don’t really matter too much given how Franklin broke across musical and religious barriers with her art, said local pastors. 

“She transcended musically and our denominations are not stuck the way they were 25 to 30 years ago,” said Rev. Robert D. Lodge Jr. pastor of People’s Missionary Baptist Church in Detroit. “We’re not locked into denomination, but we’re locked into the body of Christ.”

Rev. Lodge said “the most important thing is she loved the Lord and she loved the people of Detroit. She always represented Detroit well, and she was an Ambassador for the city of Detroit as we’re going through this renaissance again.”

“We’re thankful for all Aretha Franklin has done for this city and the people of church,” Lodge said. 

Pastor Edward L. Branch of Third New Hope Baptist Church in Detroit used to be an associate minister at Franklin’s home church, New Bethel Baptist, serving under her father, the late Rev. C.L. Franklin. 

“For Mr. Aretha, as with many believers, faith is a central part of their lives,” Rev. Branch said. “Faith was always the foundation of her life, with all of her family.”

“To actually see her faith in day-to-day things was always amazing and refreshing because she truly believe in God, and believe in the church.”

During her concerts, Franklin would take “the audience to church because she would include gospel music and include songs of prayer,” Branch said.

Franklin’s first album, Songs of Faith, was a gospel recording made at New Bethel Baptist Church.

“She would attract not only those who enjoy music on a secular level, but also church people who attend church on Sundays,” Branch said. 

“In whatever genre of music she sang, you could feel it from deep within,” said Rev. Flowers. “Her faith in God came out through her music.”

“She got her start in the church as a little girl and so all of her music — whether classical, jazz, soul, rock music … she always put the church in it.”

“The gospel spirit was always in all of her songs,” Flowers added. “She could sing anything and people could be touched by it. … that comes through the power of the spirit of God.” 

Flowers and other pastors remembered how she would give back to the community, including an annual gospel celebration at New Bethel Baptist Church with free soul food.

Pastor Flowers said Franklin’s faith was important not only for her music, but for her personal life, as she dealt with the deaths of her father, who was in a coma for years before his death in 1984, and other family members. 

Flowers said: “She had a strong faith, a deep love for God.” 

 

Contact Niraj Warikoo: nwarikoo@freepress.com or 313-223-4792. Follow him on Twitter @nwarikoo

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The Australian Catholic Church has rejected a recommendation to implement laws forcing priests and other members of the Church to report sexual abuse.

The Australian Catholic Bishops Conference (ACBC), the country’s top Catholic body, said on Friday it will not break the seal of confession, one of the core beliefs of the catholic faith, even if that means the clergy might face criminal charges.

“First of all, the seal is a non-negotiable of our religious life, and it embodies a particular understanding of the believer and God,” ACBC president archbishop Mark Coleridge said at a press conference.

“We don’t believe it will make children safer, and in certain cases we think it could make children less safe. Any suggestion that a perpetrator may, in fact, confess is removed all but certainly by the imposition of a law such as this,” he added, saying that most confessions are done anonymously and do not go into much detail.

About seven percent of Australian priests were accused of sexual abuse between 1950 and 2011, according to a five-year-long inquiry by Australian authorities into the large-scale abuse by members of the Catholic Church. 

The inquiry added that more than 4,400 people reported abuse, with the average age of the victim being almost 11 for girls and almost 12 for boys.

The Catholic Church is trying to deal with thousands of cases of sexual abuse around the world. 

More than 1,000 children were molested by hundreds of Roman Catholic priests in six dioceses just in the US state of Pennsylvania alone.

Last week, Pope Francis addressed victims of sexual abuse in Ireland, saying he felt shame over the Catholic Church’s failure to prevent sexual abuse by members of the clergy. He also referred to abusers as “repugnant”.

In Australia, one state and a territory have introduced laws making it a crime for priests to fail to report abuse heard in the confessional after the inquiry released its findings.

The other five states and remaining territory have said they are considering their response.

The ACBC’s response agreed to a recommendation by the inquiry to request The Vatican to create a new set of Catholic laws specifically dealing with child abuse.

“All delicts relating to child sexual abuse should be articulated as canonical crimes against the child, not as moral failings or as breaches of the ‘special obligation’ of clerics and religious to observe celibacy,” the ACBC wrote in its report.

Last month, an Australian archbishop was sentenced to a year in detention for concealing historical sexual abuse, becoming the highest-ranking Catholic clergyman to face confinement for a cover-up.

Philip Wilson, former president of the ACBC, was found guilty of covering up the sexual abuse of children by paedophile priest Jim Fletcher in May, which he allegedly knew about as early as the 1970s.

That sentencing came as Australian Cardinal George Pell, the Vatican’s third-highest-ranking official, prepares to stand trial on charges of historical child sex offences later this year.

Both Pell and Wilson’s charges are the result of the five-year inquiry by the Australian authorities.

Sam Curran is playing only his fourth Test, but he is becoming used to digging England out of trouble.

In his 78 on the first day of the fourth Test against India at Southampton, an innings that dragged England from 86-6 to 246 all out, he once again looked like an accomplished, confident young player.

I wrote during the first Test, when Curran played a similar knock in the second innings to set England on their way to victory, that I liked his temperament.

He seems like he relishes being in situations where the team need him stand up and pull them through. That is certainly what England required on Thursday.

The Surrey all-rounder is only 20 years old, so probably has not had the opportunity to experience any doubts of his own ability just yet. He is certainly playing like a man free of negative thoughts.

On a day when the ball nipped around, I cannot remember a time when Curran was beaten. His movement was excellent, he was tight and light on his feet and he had the audacity to take on off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin. It was a brilliant innings.

The confidence that Curran showed was everything that some of his team-mates are currently lacking. He is a bit of a free spirit who just goes out and plays the game.

There was some discontent from England fans when Curran was left out of the side for the third Test at Trent Bridge in favour of the in-form Chris Woakes and Ben Stokes, who had just been cleared of affray.

In reality, that decision from the selectors was sound, but Curran is giving them a harder one to make when Woakes recovers from the quad problem that has ruled him out of this game.

I am not sure what the answer will be, but it is very difficult to see how Curran gets left out again.

There will be times when he will struggle, but he is looking more and more like a player than can be pushed up to number six and act as a fourth seamer.

England have four number sixes

Strangely, though, that in itself is a problem for an England side that already have enough number sixes.

It could be argued that all of Jonny Bairstow, Stokes, Jos Buttler and Moeen Ali are best suited to batting at six. In this game, Bairstow has found himself at number four, Stokes at five, with Buttler and Moeen behind them.

Having so many all-rounders providing plenty of depth and options can be a great strength, but the long-standing issues around England’s batting, which showed themselves again in Southampton, centre around an excess of free-scoring players.

There is abundance of lower-middle-order players when England are in desperate need of specialist batsmen.

Yes, all-rounders can make telling contributions with the bat but, in general, they play with greater freedom because batting is only one part of their game.

That collective freedom is one of the reasons for all of England’s collapses. Time and again they find themselves four wickets down or worse with less than 100 runs on the board.

In Southampton, the ball did a little for the India pace bowlers and, when that is the case, you have to have a tight defensive technique. We have said for so long that is something missing from England’s batting – and it was exposed again here.

Without a number of established middle-order batsmen putting their hands up in the County Championship, I am not sure what the answer is. England cannot move the likes of Bairstow, Stokes or Buttler because, at the moment, there is no one better to take their places.

Jennings’ mind looks a mess

However, one person now under real pressure is Keaton Jennings. The opener was already short of runs before he was dismissed in a horrible fashion by Jasprit Bumrah.

It is fair to say that it was a lovely piece of bowling by Bumrah, moving the ball back into a left-hander who was clearly determined to leave as many deliveries as he could.

But, for Jennings to play no stroke to a ball that would have hit middle and leg stumps did not look great. It was the dismissal of someone whose mind is a mess.

His place in the side looks incredibly vulnerable and he may well be playing for his international future in the second innings.

Before he gets that chance, England will hope to replicate the performance of India, who were outstanding with the ball in the early part of the first day.

Because of the movement enjoyed by the tourists, you would fancy England to bowl well when they take a ball that is only four overs old on Friday morning.

Still, India will be the happier of the two teams, even if Curran has given the home side a chance of dragging themselves back into contention.

Jonathan Agnew was speaking to BBC Sport’s Stephan Shemilt.