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Britain's 'most prolific rapist', Reynhard Sinaga, jailed for life
Updated about an hour ago
A photo of a man with a bleached side fringe and dark rimmed glasses.
Photo: The rape investigation is the largest in British legal history. (AP: Greater Manchester Police)
A student from Indonesia was identified as Britain's most prolific rapist on Monday (local time) after being convicted of more than 150 offences, including 136 rapes.
Key points:
Sinaga targetted young men who looked drunk and rendered them unconscious
Police found graphic material of sexual assault on his devices
The court was told Sinaga kept men's belongings as trophies
In four separate trials, Reynhard Sinaga, 36, was found guilty of assaulting 48 men whom he drugged after taking them back to his apartment from outside bars and clubs in the city of Manchester.
Many of the victims were lured by the offer of a place to sleep or more drink, and Sinaga filmed the assaults on his mobile phone, the Crown Prosecution Service said.
At a court in Manchester, a judge ruled that Sinaga must serve at least 30 years in prison for 159 offences committed between January 2015 and May 2017, and lifted reporting restrictions.
Sexual assault support services:
1800 RESPECT: 1800 737 732
Lifeline: 131 114
Beyond Blue: 1300 224 636
QLife: 1800 184 527
Ian Rushton, a government prosecutor, described Sinaga as the "most prolific rapist in British legal history".
Sinaga, who has lived in the United Kingdom since 2007, targeted young men who looked drunk or vulnerable and rendered them unconscious with a sedative, probably the party drug gamma-hydroxybutyric acid that is known as GHB, the court was told.
The victims were mainly heterosexual and had little or no memory of the attacks but Sinaga was arrested after one of his victims woke up during an attack, fought him off and went to the police with one of his phones.
YouTube: ACC Mabs Hussain from Greater Manchester Police - Reyhnard Sinaga
Police discovered graphic material "equivalent to 250 DVDs or 300,000 photos" depicting sexual assaults on Sinaga's digital devices.
Sinaga had said his victims were acting out sexual fantasies.
The court was told Sinaga kept men's belongings as trophies and looked them up on Facebook.
The rape investigation is the largest in British legal history and the first time prosecutors have split charges across four separate trials.
Police said there could be many more victims and are appealing for others who may have been targeted to come forward
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-01-07/reynhard-sinaga,-britains-most-prolific-rapist-jailed/11845862
Qasem Soleimani death: The response options open to Iran
By Jeremy Bowen BBC Middle East editor
3 January 2020
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Image copyright AFP
Image caption Soleimani's influence stretched across the Middle East
The assassination of Qasem Soleimani has plunged Iran and the United States into their most serious confrontation since the hostage crisis in 1979.
President Donald Trump's decision to kill Soleimani removes one of the most obdurate and effective enemies of the US, and delivers a blow to the heart of the Islamic republic of Iran. It is also a dangerous escalation in a region that was already tense and full of violence.
The killing at Baghdad airport has increased tensions sharply, creating fears of a slide into an all-out war. That is no certainty. Neither the Americans nor the Iranians want one. But the crisis brought on by the killing of Soleimani - and a senior Iraqi ally - amplifies the chances of a bloody miscalculation.
Iran has sworn vengeance. That threat has to be taken seriously. Soleimani was at the core of the regime, and a talisman for Iran's hardliners. They will want to get even, perhaps more than that.
Proxy forces
Despite arms embargoes, Iran has developed a modern arsenal of rockets and missiles. But if it wanted to use them against US forces as part of a reprisal, Iran would risk making matters worse.
Media captionThousands took to the streets of Kerman to mourn Gen Soleimani, a popular figure in Iran
An act of war to answer that of the US - for example attacking US ships in the Gulf - would risk provoking a devastating response. Iran's oil refineries are on the coast and would be easy targets for the vast firepower the US has in and around the Gulf.
When Iran retaliates, it is likely to follow Soleimani's own indirect tactics: so-called asymmetric warfare, spurning an attack through the front door for one through a side window.
Why the US had Soleimani in its sights
Why kill Soleimani now and what happens next?
Soleimani cultivated a range of well-armed militias, which give Iran options short of a head-to-head confrontation with the Americans which it would only lose.
The Americans will now be looking at their most vulnerable deployments in the Middle East. One is the small force in Syria.
Calculated risk
A big question is why the Americans chose now to kill Soleimani.
He had been a thorn in their sides since at least the US invasion of Iraq in 2003. He made sure Iraqi Shias raised, trained and equipped militias which became effective and ruthless fighters against the US and its allies.
Your questions: Will Soleimani killing spark war?
A brief history of US-Iran relations
The Americans and their allies in Israel and the West have tracked Soleimani closely for years. It's likely that he has been in their sights before.
The fact that this time the Americans pulled the trigger suggests that President Trump believes the reward is worth the risk, that the Iranian regime has been so weakened by isolation, economic sanctions and recent demonstrations that it will rage but not offer a serious strategic threat.
Media captionTrump - We took action to stop, not start a war
But it is not at all clear whether the assassination fits into a coherent US strategy, and such an assumption could be dangerous and wrong.
Soleimani was a colossal figure inside Iran. He was its strategic mastermind. Perhaps he left a plan of steps to take if he were killed.
This assassination at the start of a new year and a new decade might turn into another Middle Eastern milestone, touching off another sequence of bloody events.
To begin with, the Iranian regime must now be planning its answer to his death, to show that the position Soleimani spent so long creating outside its borders in the Middle East can be defended.
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-50987333
John Bolton says he's willing to testify in Donald Trump's impeachment trial
John Bolton has accused the White House of blocking access to his personal Twitter account after he left the administration in September.
John Bolton (R) and US president Donald Trump. Source: AAP
Former national security adviser John Bolton said he would testify in President Trump's impeachment trial if he were subpoenaed by the Senate.
Updated Updated 2 mins ago
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Former US national security adviser John Bolton says he is willing to testify in the expected Senate impeachment trial of President Donald Trump in a surprise development that could complicate a weeks-long dispute over how the hearing would play out.
Democrats have been pressing for Bolton and three senior administration officials to testify as part of the Senate trial.
Mr Trump's fellow Republicans have held firm that any decision on witness testimony at the Senate trial must wait until after opening statements are heard.
But Mr Bolton said in a prepared statement on Monday, "if the Senate issues a subpoena for my testimony, I am prepared to testify."
He declined further comment.
READ MORE
Donald Trump speaks in Florida on Saturday.
Donald Trump says Democrat's impeachment delay 'violates the constitution'
House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi, the top Democrat in Congress, has yet to send the House-approved articles of impeachment to the Senate, putting a question mark over the schedule for a trial and buying time for Democrats to try to build the case for witnesses.
Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell has said a trial cannot begin until the charges are formally sent to the chamber, although another senior Republican called on Sunday for the rules to be changed if Ms Pelosi does not act soon.
"We're not going to let Nancy Pelosi use the rules of the Senate to her advantage," Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Lindsey Graham, a Trump ally, told Fox News Channel's "Sunday Morning Futures."
US President Donald Trump turns to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi as he delivers his State of the Union address.
US President Donald Trump turns to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi as he delivers his State of the Union address in 2019.
AP
The earliest the House could take any action would be on Tuesday when it reconvenes, but top Democrats have given no sign they are set to move this week.
"I don't think it's going to be indefinite," House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff, a Democrat, told CNN's "State of the Union" on Sunday when asked about the delay in transmitting the impeachment articles.
The Democratic-led House has charged Mr Trump with abusing his power for personal gain by asking Ukraine to announce a corruption investigation of former Vice President Joe Biden, a leading contender for the Democratic nomination to face Mr Trump in November's presidential election.
The Senate, which is controlled by Republicans, is unlikely to vote to find the president guilty and remove him from office, an act that would take a two-thirds majority.
But Democrats have been hopeful they could persuade a few Republicans to side with them on their push for witnesses, which would require only a simple majority and could unearth evidence damaging to Mr Trump.
https://www.sbs.com.au/news/john-bolton-says-he-s-willing-to-testify-in-donald-trump-s-impeachment-trial
and then the idiot replies