Briefs
Carter: No quick Iraq exit
The American military, along with its international partners, will need to remain in Iraq even after the expected defeat of the Islamic State group, Defence Secretary Ash Carter said yesterday. Carter said the US and its coalition partners must not stop after completing the current campaign to expel IS from Mosul. He said the militants are on a path to lasting defeat. ’’But there will still be much more to do after that to make sure that, once defeated, IS stays defeated,’’ he said. ‘‘We’ll need to continue to counter foreign fighters trying to escape and IS’S attempts to relocate or reinvent itself.‘‘
Ban on Castro street names
After a week of national mourning that reached near-religious peaks of adulation, Cuban President Raul Castro announced yesterday that his government would prohibit the naming of streets and monuments after his brother Fidel and bar the construction of statues of him in keeping with the former leader’s desire to avoid a cult of personality. The younger Castro told a massive crowd gathered to pay homage to Fidel Castro in the eastern city of Santiago that the country’s National Assembly would vote in its next session on a law fulfilling the wishes of his brother, who died last week at 90 but remains a revolutionary icon. ‘‘The leader of the revolution rejected any manifestation of a cult of personality and was consistent in that through the last hours of his life, insisting that, once dead, his name and likeness would never be used on institutions, streets, parks or other public sites, and that busts, statutes or other forms of tribute would never be erected,’’ Raul Castro said.
Boost for police numbers
Victoria’s police force is boosting its numbers by almost 3000 officers in response to the state’s rising crime rates and spate of carjackings.victoria Police has been given more than A$2 billion to recruit another 2729 officers over the next four years, build new police stations and expand their specialist units. ‘‘Sadly, many in our community do not feel safe at this time,’’ Premier Daniel Andrews told reporters yesterday.’’we have seen crime rise and we have seen the need to do more, and not more of the same.’’ Chief Police Commissioner Graham Ashton said crime statistics have risen in the past six years.almost all of the increased crimes between 2010 and 2014 were associated with family violence.
PM’S job at stake in poll
Italians are voting in a referendum on constitutional reform which will decide the political future of Prime Minister Matteo Renzi, who has promised to resign if he loses. Financial markets and Europe’s politicians fear victory for the opposition ‘No’ camp could trigger political instability and renewed turmoil for Italy’s battered banks, pushing the euro zone towards a fresh crisis. About 51 million Italians are eligible to vote today on Renzi’s plan to drastically reduce the role of the upper house Senate and claw back powers from regional authorities.