Iraq Crisis: Amid IS Militants' Threat, Coup Fears Engulf Baghdad

Iraqi soldiers and volunteers from the Abbas Unit fan out into a field in Jurf al Sakhr, 60 kilometers southwest of BaghdadAFP

As strife-torn Iraq reels under the armed insurgency of Islamic State Sunni Islamists, political factions in Baghdad are engaged in a bitter battle for power raising fears of a coup d'état against Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's administration.

In a show of force, the embattled Maliki is amassing troops loyal to him in Baghdad amid rising speculation that his soldiers have surrounded the presidential palace.

Maliki, who is seeking a third term, has taken on the newly-elected president Fuad Masoum for not asking his political alliance, the State of Law Coalition (SLC), to form the next government.

"The president's actions are a coup over the constitution and political process in a country that has a democratic, federal and pluralist system," he said in an address on state-run television.

Maliki accused Masoum of "violating the constitution for political reasons and supporting one political faction at the expense of another and the interests of the Iraqi people".

Some analysts have interpreted the latest decision to deploy troops in the capital as Maliki's desire to take total control of Baghdad.

Maliki has also urged the parliament speaker to take necessary action against the president.

Maliki has been serving as a caretaker leader following the indecisive elections in April this year. He has refused to step down despite intense pressure since he is widely seen as a polarising figure.

In the meantime, a new prime minister is reportedly ready to be installed in Baghdad that could further infuriate Maliki.

The SLC bloc, the biggest Shiite-led coalition, is on the verge of finalising the name of the next Iraqi premier, said deputy speaker of parliament Haider al-Abadi.

Brazilian Women Forced to Take Virginity Tests Before Applying to Become Teachers

Several states and federal agencies require women to have virginity tests before applying for jobs.Reuters

Brazilian women are being forced to undergo virginity tests when seeking jobs in the education sector, it has been reported.

In the state of Sao Paulo, women aspiring to a career as teachers are required to undergo a series of invasive gynaecological examinations to prove they are not sexually active.

A pap smear to confirm they are free of cancers is a compulsory requirement and until recently, the education department also required women to have a colposcopy, used to detect disease.

Their applications would progress on presentation of a doctor's certificate confirming that they are virgins.

“The health inspections are intended to ensure, beyond technical ability, the physical and mental ability of candidates to keep their jobs for an average of 25 years.”

- Education Dept, Sao Paulo

The issue came to light after a news site interviewed a 27-year-old woman , who said she was ashamed to ask a doctor for a note declaring she was still a virgin, to escape the other tests.

It's claimed that the purpose of the tests is to ensure that candidates for long-term teaching positions are in good health and would not take extended or frequent absences to attend to health matters.

"The health inspections are intended to ensure, beyond technical ability, the physical and mental ability of candidates to keep their jobs for an average of 25 years," a statement from the department said.

The department also requires other health exams, such as mammograms for women and prostate tests for men older than 40.

The public management department for Sao Paulo said that all tests ordered follow the standards and recommendation of the country's Health Ministry for public servants as well as state law.

The tests are not specific to the education department, with other states and federal agencies having similar requirements as part of the application process.

“It violates women's rights. It's very intimate information that she has the right to keep. It's absurd to continue with these demands.”

- Ana Paula de Oliveria Castro

Women's rights campaign groups have denounced the practice as a gross violation of women's privacy and their human dignity.

Ana Paula de Oliveria Castro, a vocal champion for women's rights in Sao Paulo, said: "It violates women's rights. It's very intimate information that she has the right to keep. It's absurd to continue with these demands."

Brazil's national Special Secretariat for Women's Rights said it was against any requirements that compromise the privacy of women.

"The woman has the right to choose whether to take an exam that will not affect her professional life," a statement said.

"Such policies violate constitutional protections of human dignity and the principle of equality and right to private life."

The bar association of Sao Paulo said the practice was unconstitutional. The group 'Catholics for the Right to Choose,' also complained about the requirement, saying in a statement: "We are living in the Middle Ages!"

Last year, a similar incident sparked anger in the state of Bahia, in north-eastern Brazil, when female candidates for police jobs were asked to take the tests or prove their hymens were not torn.

The government has demanded that such tests be eliminated.

Gaza Fighting Prompts Spike in Demand for Sperm Donations from IDF Combat Soldiers

Women are seeking sperm donations from IDF soldiers.

A hospital in Haifa has reported a surge in the number of requests for sperm donations from members of the Israeli Defence Forces.

A spirit of patriotism in Israel and a desire for noble progeny has prompted women to seek special donations from IDF Operation Protective Edge combat soldiers.

Haifa's Rambam Medical Centre has said that of 60 women who approach the sperm bank seeking donors each month, almost half have requested a donor with a history of combat service.

Operation Protective Edge has inspired more women to opt for donations from men in military service, in the hope that their future offspring will display the same character traits as the combat soldiers.

Now, as well as choosing the hair and eye colour, height and educational background, the combat criteria has become a priority.

“These women build a profile of what they feel is the ideal donor and the father of their future child. It touches on the donors' character, and military service seems to indicate something about a person.”

- Dina Aminpour, head of the Haifa hospital sperm bank

"These women build a profile of what they feel is the ideal donor and the father of their future child," said Dina Aminpour, head of the hospital's sperm bank.

"It seems that the (Gaza) military operation and the stories the Israeli public were exposed to recently (about the IDF) have helped clarify some things for those requesting donations," she explained.

"It touches on the donors' character, and military service seems to indicate something about a person.

"A man who serves in the army in a combat role is usually assumed to have impressive constitution, which confirms the genetic aspirations of the women. They believe he will be fit, healthy, and have several other important attributes."

The increased demand for specialized sperm follows a significant decrease in the sperm quality of men in Israel and the world, meaning there are less and less potential donors which can actualize the donation.

The problem with the sperm quality has led to a large shortage in donations and the need to recruit more and more men to donate.

Prof. Shachar Kol, who runs the artificial insemination clinic at Rambam, said: "On average, only 10 percent of potential donors are accepted."

Who Are the Yazidis, the Persecuted Religious Minority in Iraq?

Yazidi families are fleeing the bloodshed and violence in the northern Iraqi town of Sinjar.(Safin Hamed/Getty)

Islamic militants have reportedly executed 300 families from the minority Yazidi group. But who are they and why are they being persecuted?

The Yazidi are considered heretical devil worshippers by many Muslims, and their beliefs have made them the target of hatred for thousands of years.

Iraq has an estimated 500,000 Yazidis.

"Extermination, emigration and settlement of this community will bring tragic transformations to the Yazidi religion," Khanna Omarkhali, a Yazidi scholar at the University of Göttingen told National Geographic.

In Sinjar, Islamic State militants (formerly known as Isis) destroyed a Shiite shrine and demanded that the remaining population convert to their version of Islam, pay a religious tax or be executed. An estimated 40,000 Yazidi fled the city before it was captured by Islamic State forces.

With the capture of Sinjar, home to the oldest and biggest Yazidi community, the Islamic militants are forcing the Yazidi to convert, face execution or flee the area. "Our entire religion is being wiped off the face of the Earth," said Vian Dakhil, a Yazidi leader.

Accounts have emerged in the past week of people brutally slain, with local officials reporting that at least 500 Yazidis, including 40 children, have been killed, and many more still in mortal danger.

Roughly 130,000 residents of the Yazidi stronghold of Sinjar have fled to Dohuk, in Iraqi Kurdistan to the north, or to Irbil.

The Yazidi is a Kurdish-speaking religious community who practice an ancient religion linked to Zoroastrianism.(Wikipedia)

"This dilemma to convert or die is not new," says Christine Allison, an expert on Yazidism at Exeter University.

The Yazidi religion is often misunderstood.

"Many Muslims consider them to be devil worshippers," says Thomas Schmidinger, an expert of Kurdish politics at the University of Vienna. "So in the face of religious persecution, Yazidis have concentrated in strongholds located in remote mountain regions."

The Yazidis are one of the world's smallest and oldest religious minorities. Their religion is considered a pre-Islamic sect that draws from Christianity, Judaism, the ancient religion of Zoroastrianism and early Mesopotamian cults.

Yazidis worship one God and honour seven angels. Unlike Muslims and Christians, they reject the idea of sin, the devil and hell itself.

They believe in "holy beings" and the chief archangel is Melek Taus, the "Peacock Angel".

In Zoroastrian-like tradition, the Peacock Angel embodied humanity's potential for both good (light) and bad (dark) acts. Some followers of other monotheistic religions mistakenly equate the Peacock Angel with Satan.

Anti-Yazidi violence dates back to the Ottoman Empire. In the second half of the 19th century, Yazidis were targeted by the leaders of Kurdish principalities under Ottoman control, and subjected to brutal campaigns of religious violence.

"Yazidis often say they have been the victim of 72 previous genocides, or attempts at annihilation," says Matthew Barber, a scholar of Yazidi history at the University of Chicago who is in Dohuk interviewing Yazidi refugees. "Memory of persecution is a core component of their identity."

Iraq War Created Isis, Concedes David Miliband

David Miliband has conceded that Iraq was destabilised by the 2003 US-led invasion.(Getty)

The 2003 invasion of Iraq by the US and its ally the UK helped to destabilize the country, leading to the rise of militant group Isis, admitted former UK foreign secretary David Miliband.

As the US launched air strikes on the militant group that has seized controls of swathes of Iraq, Milliband said that the situation in the country nine years after the war "induces a high degree of humility".

"It's clearly the case that the invasion of Iraq, or more importantly what happened afterwards, is a significant factor in understanding the current situation in the country," Miliband told the Observer.

Asked whether the conflict ravaging the country had led him to regret voting in favour of war in Iraq, Miliband, who is now chief executive of charity the International Rescue Committee, replied: "I regret it because I made a decision on the basis of upholding the norms of respect to weapons of mass destruction, and there were none."

He said that he accepted that the consequences of the Iraq war had left the majority of the public in the US and the UK unwilling to support interventions in the Middle East, even to prevent humanitarian catastrophes, such as Syria.

"You have to, you have to take responsibility," said Miliband. He added: "You can't press the rewind button."

When asked if deposed dictator Saddam Hussein would have been able to hold the country together, he replied "perhaps".

The remarks contrast with those of former prime minister Tony Blair, who in an essay on his website in June, described as "bizarre" the view that the chaos resulting from the Iraq war had led to the rise of Sunni jihadist Islamic State, formerly known as Isis.

"We have to liberate ourselves from the notion that 'we' have caused this," Blair said. "We haven't."

BREAKING: Iran Jet Crashes in Tehran Near Military Zone, All 40 Passengers On Board Feared Killed

Plane crashes near Tehran, all 40 passengers and eight crew members feared killedReuters file photo

A passenger plane with nearly 40 people on board including seven children has crashed near an airport in the Iranian capital Tehran, and all the passengers and eight crew members are feared killed.

The flight reportedly went down in a military zone within a few minutes of its takeoff from Mehrabad airport, according to the state-run Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA).

The cause of the crash remains unknown but initial reports suggest it could be due to a technical glitch.

The plane, heading to the eastern city of Tabas from Tehran, was operated by Taban Airlines.

Rescue personnel are at the site of the crash, and at least 10 bodies have been recovered so far.

According to eyewitness accounts cited by local reports, the pilot struggled during the takeoff but managed to get airborne after a few minutes.

Iran has suffered many such plane accidents owing to poor maintenance of aircraft.