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In American football, LSU defeats Clemson to win the national championship. | Follow NBC News LSU and its Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback, Joe Burrow, comfortably beat defending champions Clemson, 42-25, on Monday night to win the College Football Playoff national championship and cap off one of the more remarkable transformations in the sport's recent history.
No. 1 LSU's victory — in a Battle of the Tigers played in LSU's backyard at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome in New Orleans — was no small feat. No. 3 Clemson came in having won 29 straight games — which included a 44-16 trouncing of Alabama in last year's championship game.
Burrow threw for 463 yards and five touchdowns (he also ran for 58 yards and another touchdown) to give LSU (15-0) its fourth national title and hand Clemson sophomore quarterback Trevor Lawrence his first loss as a college football player.
Lawrence struggled, throwing for only 234 yards and no touchdowns. And Clemson's defense — ranked second in the nation statistically — didn't have enough answers for LSU's sophisticated NFL-style attack.
Clemson (14-1) limited LSU to just three yards on its first two possessions, but as it has done all season, LSU adjusted once it figured out what the defense was doing, and on its next possession, Burrow threw a 52-yard touchdown pass to Ja'Marr Chase to tie the game at 7.
Clemson stormed back to go ahead 17-7, but in the second quarter, Burrow hit Chase for 56 yards, setting LSU up at the 3-yard line; Burrow ran it in himself for the touchdown. Burrow and Chase then teamed up for a 14-yard touchdown to finish off an 87-yard drive, and LSU was rolling.
LSU scored on drives of 70, 75, 87 and 95 yards in the first half. It managed the game in the second half, aided by the ejection of linebacker James Skalski, a leader of Clemson's defense, for targeting in his hard hit on LSU wide receiver James Jefferson in the third quarter.
Full coverage of the College Football Playoff championship game
Burrow graduated in three years from Ohio State University, where he played in only 10 games, and transferred to LSU in 2018 with two seasons of eligibility remaining. He spent the first of those seasons managing LSU's traditional 3-yards-and-a-cloud-of-dust offense efficiently but unspectacularly, throwing for less than 3,000 yards and just 16 touchdowns in 13 games.
But over the off-season, LSU coach Ed Orgeron vowed to bring the offense into the 21st century. He hired Joe Brady, an assistant coach for the New Orleans Saints, to develop a sophisticated passing game for offensive coordinator Steve Ensminger, turned the reins over to Burrow and presided over what was, by some measures, an offensive turnaround unprecedented in the game's history.
LSU's average points per game leaped from 32.4 in 2018 to a nation's-best 48.9 this season. It threw for 5,561 yards — 87 percent more than it had in 2018. And it took only four games for Burrow to throw his 17th touchdown.
He would go on to throw 55 in 14 games before Monday night, surpass 5,200 yards through the air and sweep the end-of-season awards for quarterbacks, adding the Heisman Trophy last month. After having fled Ohio State because he wasn't thought to be good enough to play, Burrow is widely expected to be picked first in the NFL draft in April.
The historic season was also vindication for Orgeron, a Louisiana Cajun who got his dream job when he took over as LSU's coach in September 2016, when the school fired Les Miles. He was already 55 and had had only four years' experience as a head coach, three of them at Mississippi, which ended in disaster in 2007 after he'd won only 10 of his 35 games.
But Orgeron changed his hard-nosed approach when he got the LSU job, saying he'd learned a lot about leading young men as the father of three children.
The victory Monday night was his 40th in 49 games at LSU, and as he does every time he's on TV, he ended his interviews by declaring, in a deep Cajun growl that sounds like your car when you try to drive with the parking brake on, "Go, Tigahs!" | Sports Competition | January 2020 | ['(NBC News)'] |
The United States and Russia broker a truce which is due to come into effect on midnight 27 February. | The US and Russia have announced that a planned cessation of hostilities in Syria will come into effect at midnight on 27 February.
Their statement said the truce did not include so-called Islamic State (IS) and the al-Qaeda-linked Nusra Front.
World powers agreed on 12 February that a truce would come into effect within a week, but that deadline passed and scepticism remains over the new plan.
On Sunday 140 died in bombings in Homs and Damascus as the violence continued.
More than 250,000 Syrians have been killed in the conflict which began in March 2011. Some 11 million others have been forced from their homes, of whom four million have fled abroad - including growing numbers who are making the dangerous journey to Europe. History of the conflict - how the civil war has spread
Separately, Syria's government has called a parliamentary election for 13 April. The last was in 2012 and they are held every four years.
The White House said that President Barack Obama had phoned his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin at Mr Putin's request to discuss the efforts to establish the cessation of hostilities.
After their phone call, the joint Russian-US statement was released.
The truce applied to "those parties to the Syrian conflict that have indicated their commitment to and acceptance of its terms", the statement said.
This excluded IS, Nusra and "other terrorist organisations designated by the UN".
Air strikes by Syria, Russia and the US-led coalition against these groups would continue, the statement read.
It said that armed opposition groups taking part would have to confirm their participation by midday on 26 February.
Russian and Syrian planes would halt any attacks on the armed opposition groups.
Russia and the US will work together to "delineate territory where groups that have indicated their commitment to and acceptance of the cessation of hostilities are active".
The deal also sets up a communications hotline and calls for a working group to monitor ceasefire violations.
Syria's main opposition grouping, the High Negotiations Committee, said it would accept the truce, but its commitment was conditional on the lifting of sieges, an end to attacks on civilians, the freeing of prisoners and the delivery of aid.
US Secretary of State John Kerry welcomed the deal, saying: "If implemented and adhered to, this cessation will not only lead to a decline in violence, but also continue to expand the delivery of urgently needed humanitarian supplies to besieged areas."
Russia and the US back opposing sides in the war; Moscow is President Bashar al-Assad's strongest ally.
On Saturday, President Assad had said he would be ready for a ceasefire, if what he termed "terrorists" did not take advantage of the lull in the fighting. But he had previously cast doubt on the success of a truce.
Government forces, backed by Russian air strikes, have been making advances against rebels around the northern city of Aleppo.
Analysts say there will be huge scepticism about the possibility of an effective ceasefire, given the current fighting and failure of the first deadline.
Air strikes will continue and it is unclear whether Kurdish forces, which have been making ground in the north, sparking artillery fire from Turkey, will abide by any truce.
The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitoring group said fighting and air strikes continued unabated on Monday, with IS fighters attacking the army's main supply route between Damascus and Aleppo.
Islamic State militants said they carried out the attacks in Homs and Damascus on Sunday.
Russia said the attacks were aimed at "subverting attempts" to reach a political settlement.
On Monday, a spokesman for the US-led coalition fighting IS in Syria, Col Steve Warren, said he believed that IS was "beginning to lose".
He said the number of Islamic State fighters in Iraq and Syria, previously placed at between 19,000 and 31,000, was now between 20,000 and 25,000.
"They have been able to replenish their forces at roughly the same rate as we've been able to kill their forces. That's hard to sustain," Col Warren said.
| Sign Agreement | February 2016 | ['(BBC)'] |
Carol Ann Duffy, the Poet Laureate of the United Kingdom, is announced as the winner of the 2012 PEN/Pinter Prize. | The annual prize - in memory of the playwright Harold Pinter - is awarded to a British writer of outstanding literary merit. Duffy, who will receive the award at the British Library on 8 October, said she was "hugely honoured and moved".
"Carol Ann Duffy is a great poet," said judge Lady Antonia Fraser, praising her ability "to make important points through her work".
"She comments on contemporary events directly in a way we do not believe a Poet Laureate has done before," added Lady Fraser, the widow of Harold Pinter.
'At Risk'
Duffy became the first female Poet Laureate in 2009. Her most recent book of poetry, The Bees, was the winner of the 2011 Costa Poetry Award.
"I am hugely honoured and moved to receive an award which commemorates one of the greatest English writers of the 20th Century," said Duffy.
Lady Fraser was joined on the judging panel by playwright and director Sir David Hare, Lord Melvyn Bragg and novelists Dame Margaret Drabble and Gillian Slovo, who is president of English Pen.
English Pen is the founding centre of a worldwide association of writers designed to promote literature and defend free expression.
The Pinter prize was established in 2009 by the association, in memory of the Nobel-winning playwright, and honours a British writer, or writer resident in Britain, who - in Pinter's words - shows "a fierce intellectual determination... to define the real truth of our lives and societies".
Previous winners include Sir David Hare, Hanif Kureishi and Tony Harrison.
As in past years, Duffy will share her prize with an international writer, who has been persecuted for speaking out about their beliefs. Duffy will select the winner in association with the English Pen Writers at Risk Committee.
| Awards ceremony | July 2012 | ['(BBC)'] |
The 148 members of the World Trade Organization officially appoint the former European Union Trade Commissioner, Pascal Lamy, as its 5th Director–General. , |
The 148 members of the World Trade Organization officially appointed the former European Union Trade Commissioner, Pascal Lamy, as its Director-General. Unlike five years ago, the process of choosing a new chief for the World Trade Organization went smoothly. In 1999, the WTO was unable to agree on one candidate for director-general. After a long bitter battle, the post was finally split between two candidates. Kenyan Ambassador Amina Mohamed, who led the selection process, praises the WTO members for, as she says, having successfully appointed a new director-general within the prescribed time and in a dignified manner.
"I told them that we had turned the corner and that we had proved the skeptics wrong," she said. I said together all of us had laid a solid and firm foundation for the future of this organization and that we must all be very proud as a result." Pascal Lamy, 58, of France, who will be the organization's fifth director-general, formerly served as the European Union Trade Chief. He succeeds Supachai Panitchpakdi.
Ms. Mohamed says Mr. Lamy has made it very clear that he sees his major task to be the conclusion of the Doha round of free trade negotiations. "It is really the membership that will be making the decisions," she noted. "But, we will definitely need his charisma and his professionalism, his knowledge of issues and of the institution to help drive the process…He is a master runner. He will have to learn to be a sprinter by the time he gets here on the first of September." In a statement, Pascal Lamy expressed his thanks to the WTO members and promised he would work hard to make the Hong Kong Ministerial in December a success. Among other things, he said he would place the interests of developing countries at the center of the world trading system. In another major decision, the WTO General Council agreed to allow Iran to begin negotiations to join the body. Ms. Mohamed says the deal was struck after the United States dropped its long-standing veto.
"There was no objection from the United States which had previously objected to establishing a working party for Iran's accession, for other reasons, for many other reasons. So we were very pleased in fact that no objections were expressed today and that we could go ahead and establish a working party for the accession of Iran," she added. Diplomats believe the United States dropped its objection to Iran to reward it for continuing to suspend its nuclear activities until the end of July. But, this is only the first step. It is likely to take many years of negotiations before Iran achieves the economic reforms demanded for it to become a full member. And, WTO watchers say, Teheran also will have to stay on the right side of Washington. | Government Job change - Appoint_Inauguration | May 2005 | ['(VOA News)', '(WTO official website)'] |
Thousands have been forced to evacuate their homes as two potentially devastating cyclones are expected to hit the country this weekend. Cyclone Trevor will make landfall in the north near Numbulwar and Borroloola, while Cyclone Veronica, a Category 4 storm, will strike Pilbara on Australia's west coast. | A vast cyclone has crashed into Australia's northern coast, bringing torrential rains and winds of up to 250km/h (155 mph).
Cyclone Trevor made landfall as a category four storm and officials have declared a state of emergency in some areas.
Another storm, Cyclone Veronica, is set to strike the country's west coast.
Thousands of Australians have evacuated their homes in preparation for the two potentially devastating cyclones.
Destructive winds are expected, while heavy rains and large waves threaten to cause severe flooding. It is only the second time in history that two cyclones are predicted to strike the country at the same time. Tropical Cyclone Trevor hit the communities of Numbulwa and Borroloola in the Northern Territory on Saturday morning. It was downgraded to a category three shortly after making landfall but officials have warned that it is still dangerous.
"There's a concern that flash flooding may occur," emergency operations official Michael Hebb told AFP news agency.
The storm could bring a year's worth of rain in just a couple of days. In the biggest ever evacuation ahead of a cyclone, people living in its the path have moved into tented sites in Darwin and Katherine.
Some of those who were evacuated say they are worried about what they will return to. "We are only new to the area and the house we are in isn't going to sustain the expected winds that are predicted," Emily Crawford, who evacuated to Darwin, told AFP.
Emergency services and the military were called in to rescue residents from the island of Groote Eylandt, off the north coast on Thursday. The last evacuation of a similar scale was for Tropical Cyclone Tracy, which killed 49 people in Darwin in 1974. "All the locals that I've talked to say it really is one of the biggest weather events here in the last 20 years or so," Kristy O'Brien, journalist for the broadcaster ABC, told the BBC.
"When you look on a map of Australia it just takes up the entire northern half. It's quite phenomenal - it's about 1,000km or so wide."
Cyclone Veronica is due to hit the northwest coast of Australia between Saturday afternoon and Sunday morning. Very strong gusts are expected and the Bureau of Meteorology in Western Australia said a "severe impact" is likely. Severe Tropical Cyclone Veronica remains a Category 4 system and is slowly tracking towards the coast. A severe impact for the Pilbara coast is likely from later Saturday afternoon and on Sunday. #CycloneVeronica https://t.co/B1MVXBYXhh pic.twitter.com/m0P0zaEV2B
In the mining town of Port Headland, where the storm is set to strike first, supermarkets have been stripped bare as residents stockpile in preparation, ABC News reported.
The town's mayor, Camilo Blanco, has warned residents to be ready for "this massive weather event" and people have been protecting their houses with sandbags.
" | Hurricanes_Tornado_Storm_Blizzard | March 2019 | ['(BBC)'] |
Four people are injured and 85,000 households lose power as Sanba moves across Okinawa and Kagoshima Prefectures. | FUKUOKA (Kyodo) -- A powerful typhoon injured at least four people and caused blackouts to around 85,000 households in Okinawa and Kagoshima prefectures Sunday, local authorities said.
In Okinawa, a 46-year-old man in Nago was hit by a board blown by strong wind, while 62,800 households were temporarily blacked out. As of 8 a.m., some 460 people had evacuated to public facilities to escape flooding, according to the authorities.
Blackouts also affected around 22,200 households in four remote islands of Kagoshima Prefecture. In the town of Yoron, an evacuation advisory was issued to all 2,454 households.
The season's 16th typhoon, Sanba, with an atmospheric pressure of 925 hectopascals, was located at around 140 kilometers west-southwest of Amami-Oshima Island as of noon, and was moving northward at a speed of 25 km per hour, according to the Japan Meteorological Agency.
It is likely that the typhoon will bring about extremely heavy rains in western Japan and the Tokai region centering on Nagoya through Monday, according to the agency. | Hurricanes_Tornado_Storm_Blizzard | September 2012 | ['(Kyodo News via Mainichi Shimbun)'] |
Voters in Brazil go to the polls for the second round of a presidential election with incumbent President Dilma Rousseff re-elected. , | Brazilian president Dilma Rousseff has been re-elected to a second term to lead the world's fifth-largest nation.
Official results released by Brazil's top electoral court show that the left-leaning Ms Rousseff beat opposition contender Aecio Neves.
With 98% of the vote counted, Ms Rousseff had won 51.5% of the ballots. There are not enough outstanding votes left to be counted to allow her rival to catch up with her.
Her victory extends her Workers' Party rule, which has held the presidency since 2003.
During that time, they have enacted expansive social programmes that have helped pull millions of Brazilians out of poverty and into the middle class.
The choice between Ms Rousseff and Mr Neves split Brazilians into two camps - those who thought only the president would continue to protect the poor and advance social inclusion versus those who were certain that only the contender's market-friendly economic policies could see Brazil return to solid growth.
The Workers' Party's time in power has seen a profound transformation in Brazil. But four straight years of weak economic growth under Ms Rousseff, with an economy that's now in a technical recession, has some worried those gains are under threat. | Government Job change - Election | October 2014 | ['(AP)', '(Belfast Tellegraph)'] |
Re–examination of old images taken by the Mars Global Surveyor several years ago may have led to the identification of the crash site of the Mars Polar Lander, which failed in December 1999. Using insights and techniques developed for analyzing images of the Mars Exploration Rovers, Malin Space Science Systems may have spotted the rocket blast zone, Mars Polar Lander and the parachute. | The search is back on for a spacecraft that disappeared during a landing attempt nearly six years ago. And there are hints that the probe might have been found.
Mars Polar Lander was headed for a touchdown near the planet's south pole Dec. 3, 1999. But the spacecraft never reported home.
An investigation of the mishap concluded that the most probable cause of the failure was the generation of spurious signals when the craft's legs were deployed during descent.
Those bogus signals are thought to have given a false indication that the spacecraft had actually touched down. That, in turn, resulted in a premature shutdown of Mars Polar Lander's descent engines, with the craft falling through martian sky to destruction somewhere in the south pole region.
Making matters worse, Mars Polar Lander was designed under NASA's the "faster, better, cheaper" program that aimed to build highly focused projects for relatively small sums. The probe provided no entry, descent and landing telemetry data, so there was no way to know whether the lander reached its terminal descent propulsion phase. If it did reach this landing stage, it is almost certain that early engine shutdown occurred, an investigative report concluded.
But nobody really knows what happened.
Alternative views
Following the loss of Mars Polar Lander, NASA and the then National Imagery and Mapping Agency (NIMA) - now the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency -- blended research talents to search for the missing spacecraft.
A study team used high resolution imagery taken by NASA's Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) spacecraft, now in orbit around the red planet, in the hopes of spotting the lander and related gear, including a protective aeroshell, heat shield and parachute.
But doing so proved challenging, to say the least. One of the principal difficulties in finding the lander using images from the MGS is that the Mars Polar Lander is only somewhat larger -- about six and a half feet across -- than the smallest objects the orbiter's camera could see on the surface of Mars at that time.
Despite the problems, in an initial analysis, NIMA researchers reviewed and assessed features seen in several images that they believe could be indicative of the lander and its protective aeroshell.
But an alternative view presented by NASA was that these features could be noise introduced by the camera system.
New observational tool
Fast forward to 2005. Enter, once again, the Mars Global Surveyor and its Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC).
MOC is operated daily at Malin Space Science Systems (MSSS) in San Diego, California.
At the March meeting of the Lunar and Planetary Science Conference in League City, Texas, how the Mars Global Surveyor's MOC is being used to obtain far-higher resolution imagery than originally designed was reviewed.
The tactic is called "cPROTO", short for compensated Pitch and Roll Targeted Observation, noted Michael Malin and Ken Edgett of MSSS in a research paper presented at the scientific gathering.
To acquire a cPROTO image, the entire MGS spacecraft is moved in pitch and roll directions, the team reported. "The 'c'in 'cPROTO' is for planetary motion compensation. While MGS is pitching, rolling, and moving along its orbit, Mars is rotating underneath it. The pitch and roll are timed to account for the rotation of Mars, as well as the desired image resolution and target location," the research paper explains.
Whereabouts of landers
However, uncertainty in the motion of MGS can cause specific targets to be missed by miles. Several tries are often needed to hit the intended target. Furthermore, other limitations mean that only certain parts of Mars are accessible to cPROTO imaging at any specific time during the year.
In addition, PROTO images have been taken - a method using no compensation for Mars rotation. Both techniques have proven workable, with images produced not only ideal for studying martian landforms and geologic materials - they can also reveal the whereabouts of Mars landers.
The Mars Exploration Rovers - Spirit and Opportunity -- can be seen from orbit.
Other PROTO and cPROTO efforts imaged the locales of the Viking and Mars Pathfinder landing sites.
Attempts were also made to image candidate British-built Beagle 2 landing locations. That craft also failed to phone home in late 2003. A small impact crater was detected, "unusual for that part of Isidis Planitia," a feature that also had a dark dune in it, Malin and Edgett said in their paper.
Additionally, the two researchers added that cPROTO images of candidate locations for the Mars Polar Lander are scheduled to be attempted this year.
Lost and found?
Word is that the MSSS team is hot on the trail of the missing Mars Polar Lander. Insiders suggest that MGS in cPROTO mode is to be trained on a suspected Mars spot next month. But the observation will again be challenging.
Meanwhile, a "next issue" teaser in the just issued June Sky and Telescope magazine has spotlighted the look for the lost-to-Mars mission: "Hidden in Plain Sight - The Mars Orbiter Camera, using a special technique to boost image resolution, may have found NASA's missing-in-action spacecraft, Mars Polar Lander."
What really happened to Mars Polar Lander may soon, quite literally, be resolved.
| New achievements in aerospace | May 2005 | ['(Spaceflight Now)', '(Space.com)'] |
The United Nations appeals for nearly $164 million to fund the battle against Haiti's outbreak of cholera as hospitals overflow and space and time run out. | The UN has appealed for nearly $164m (£102m) to fight a cholera outbreak in Haiti which has now claimed 724 lives.
UN spokeswoman Elisabeth Byrs said that unless funds were provided, "all our efforts can be outrun by the epidemic".
She said the disease had so far infected at least 11,125 people in five of Haiti's 10 districts.
Aid agencies are battling to contain cholera in the capital Port-au-Prince, amid fears it will spread through camps housing 1.1m earthquake survivors.
More than 80 people have died in the past 24 hours across the country, according to the health ministry.
Ms Byrs, of the UN's Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), said the funds will be used to bring in more doctors, medicines and water-purification equipment.
"We absolutely need this money as soon as possible," she said.
Stefano Zannini, head of mission for Medecins Sans Frontieres in Haiti, said on Friday that hospitals in Port-au-Prince are overflowing and patients may have to be treated in the streets.
"We are really worried about space," he said.
"If the number of cases continues to increase at the same rate, then we are going to have to adopt some drastic measures. We are going to have to use public spaces and even streets. I can easily see this situation deteriorating to the point where patients are lying in the street, waiting for treatment. At the moment, we just don't have that many options."
The World Health Organization said on Friday it did not expect the epidemic to end soon.
"The projections of 200,000 cases over the next six to 12 months shows the amplitude of what could be expected," said spokesman Gregory Hartl. He said that the current fatality rate of 6.5% was far higher than it should be.
"No-one alive in Haiti has experienced cholera before, so it is a population which is very susceptible to the bacteria," he said. "Once it is in water systems it transmits very easily."
The outbreak began in Haiti's Artibonite River valley in mid-October and at first seemed to have been contained.
But Hurricane Tomas, which struck earlier this month, flooded rivers believed to be contaminated with cholera and submerged refugee communities already struggling to survive.
The disease is spread by contaminated drinking water or food, but is treatable with oral or intravenous rehydration and antibiotics.
Aid agencies say access to clean water is a major problem, and they are struggling to get the message across to Haitians to seek medical help as soon as cholera-like symptoms appear.
Even before the earthquake only 40% of Haitians had safe drinking water.
Haiti's besieged health services have been warned to expect a different scale of disaster if cholera takes hold in the capital, which was devastated by January's earthquake that left more than 250,000 people dead.
"We greatly fear a flare-up in the capital which would be serious given the conditions in the camps," Claude Surena, president of the Haitian Medical Association, told AFP news agency.
Meanwhile, the first portion of US financial aid for reconstruction in Haiti is on its way, more than seven months after it was promised to help the country re-build after the earthquake in January.
The $120m (£74m) - about a tenth of the amount pledged in total by the US - has faced several delays.
| Financial Aid | November 2010 | ['(BBC)'] |
Sri Lankan investigators believe that the bombings were revenge for attacks on New Zealand mosques in March. | COLOMBO (Reuters) - Islamic State claimed responsibility on Tuesday for the bomb attacks in Sri Lanka that killed 321 people in what officials believe was retaliation for assaults on mosques in New Zealand.
The claim, issued through the group’s AMAQ news agency, was made after Sri Lanka said two domestic Islamist groups with suspected links to foreign militants were suspected to have been behind the attacks at three churches and four hotels. About 500 people were also wounded in the bombings.
Three sources told Reuters that Sri Lankan intelligence officials had been warned hours earlier by India that attacks by Islamists were imminent. It was not clear what action, if any, was taken.
President Maithripala Sirisena said he would change the heads of the defense forces following their failure to act on the intelligence.
“I will completely restructure the police and security forces in the coming weeks. I expect to change the heads of defense establishments within the next 24 hours,” Sirisena said in an address to the nation.
“The security officials who got the intelligence report from a foreign nation did not share it with me. I have decided to take stern action against these officials.”
Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe told a news conference investigators were making progress in identifying the perpetrators.
“We will be following up on IS claims, we believe there may be some links,” he said.
The government has said at least seven suicide bombers were involved.
In a statement, Islamic State named what it said were the seven attackers who carried out the attacks. It gave no further evidence to support its claim of responsibility.
Th hardline militant group, who have lost the territory they once held in Syria and Iraq to Western-backed forces, later released a video on Amaq showing eight assailants, seven of whom were masked, pledging allegiance to Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.
Reuters could not independently verify the claim and authorities did not officially identify the assailants.
Earlier, junior minister for defense Ruwan Wijewardene told parliament two Sri Lankan Islamist groups - the National Thawheed Jama’ut and Jammiyathul Millathu Ibrahim - were responsible for the blasts, which detonated during Easter services and as hotels served breakfast.
Related Coverage
The first six bombs - on three churches and three luxury hotels - exploded within 20 minutes of each other. Two more explosions - at a downmarket hotel and a house in a suburb of the capital, Colombo - took place in the early afternoon.
Wickremesinghe said the militants had tried to attack another hotel but had failed.
Sri Lankan government and military sources said a Syrian had been detained among 40 people being questioned over the bombs.
Most of the dead and wounded were Sri Lankans, although government officials said 38 foreigners were killed. That included British, U.S., Australian, Turkish, Indian, Chinese, Danish, Dutch and Portuguese nationals.
The U.N. Children’s Fund said 45 children were among the dead.
Footage on CNN showed what it said was one of the bombers wearing a heavy backpack. The man patted a child on the head before entering the Gothic-style St. Sebastian church in Katuwapitiya, north of Colombo. Dozens were killed there.
‘RETALIATION’
Wijewardene said investigators believed revenge for the March 15 killing of 50 people at two mosques during Friday prayers in the New Zealand city of Christchurch was the motive.
“The initial investigation has revealed that this was in retaliation for the New Zealand mosque attack,” he said.
He did not elaborate on why authorities believed there was a link to the New Zealand bloodshed, unleashed by a lone gunman.
The bombs brought a shattering end to a relative calm that had existed in Buddhist-majority country since a civil war against mostly Hindu, ethnic Tamil separatists ended 10 years ago, and raised fears of a return to sectarian violence.
Sri Lanka’s 22 million people include minority Christians, Muslims and Hindus. Until now, Christians had largely managed to avoid the worst of the island’s conflict and communal tensions.
Pressure is likely to mount on the government over why effective action had not been taken in response to warnings from India about a possible attack on churches by the little-known National Thawheed Jama’ut group.
Indian intelligence officers contacted their Sri Lankan counterparts two hours before the first attack to warn of a specific threat on churches, one Sri Lankan defense source and an Indian government source said.
Another Sri Lankan defense source said a warning came “hours before” the first strike.
Sri Lanka’s presidency and the Indian foreign ministry both did not respond to requests for comment on the warnings.
A government minister had said on Monday that Wickremesinghe had not been informed about a warning and had been shut out of top security meetings because of a feud with President Maithripala Sirisena.
Wickremesinghe dismissed any suggestion that the rift with the president had hampered coordination on security, saying although they had had differences they had been thrashed out.
Sirisena fired Wickremesinghe last year only to be forced to reinstate him under pressure from the Supreme Court.
Tuesday was a day of mourning and more than 1,000 mourners gathered for a mass funeral at St. Sebastian church in the coastal city of Negombo, just north of the capital, Colombo, where more than 100 parishioners were killed on Sunday.
The ceremony began with prayers and singing under a tent put up in the courtyard of the church, which had most of its roof torn away by the blast.
Pall-bearers wearing white carried in wooden coffins one by one, followed by distraught relatives.
Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith, the Archbishop of Sri Lanka who led the service, urged other churches to delay memorials amid fears that more bombers may be at large.
Security forces were on alert for more attack and the government imposed emergency rule giving police extensive powers to detain and interrogate suspects. An overnight curfew has also been in place since Sunday.
The government also said it had blocked online messaging services to stop the spread of inflammatory rumors that it feared could incite communal clashes.
The FBI is assisting Sri Lankan authorities with their investigation.
(GRAPHIC: Sri Lanka bombings - tmsnrt.rs/2Xy02BA)
(GRAPHIC: A decade of peace shattered - tmsnrt.rs/2W4wZoU)
Reporting by Sanjeev Miglani and Alasdair Pal; Additional reporting by Ranga Sirilal, Joe Brock, Mark Hosenball and Kieran Murray in WASHINGTON, Lena Masri and Omar Fahmy in CAIRO and Stella Qiu and Ryan Woo in BEIJING; Writing by Robert Birsel; Editing by Michael Perry, Paul Tait and Alex Richardson and Angus MacSwan
| Armed Conflict | April 2019 | ['(Reuters)'] |
The United Nations Climate Change Conference opens in Copenhagen. | “The world is depositing hope with you for a short while in the history of mankind,” Danish Prime Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen told delegates at the opening ceremony of the talks, seeking to agree the first U.N. climate pact in 12 years.
He said that 110 world leaders, including US President Barack Obama, would attend a summit at the end of the Dec. 7-18 meeting to agree deep cuts in greenhouse gas emissions for the rich by 2020 and raise billions of dollars for the poor in aid.
“A deal is within our reach,” Rasmussen said.
The presence of so many world leaders “reflects an unprecedented mobilization of political determination to combat climate change. It represents a huge opportunity. An opportunity the world cannot afford to miss,” Rasmussen said.
“The ultimate responsibility rests with the citizens of the world, who will ultimately bear the fatal consequences, if we fail to act,” he said.
But the summit will have to overcome deep distrust between rich and poor nations about sharing the cost of emissions cuts.
Activists asked delegates arriving at the conference centre, with a large wind turbine nearby; to go through a green gateway marked “Vote Earth” or a red one marked “Global Warming”. They told off anyone choosing red.
Others handed out free coffee to delegates, pamphlets about global warming and buttons urging wider use of public transport.
The attendance of the leaders and pledges to curb emissions by all the top emitters — led by China, the United States, Russia and India — has raised hopes for an accord after sluggish negotiations in the past two years.
South Africa added new impetus, saying on Sunday it would cut its carbon emissions to 34% below expected levels by 2020, if rich countries furnished financial and technological help.
World leaders did not attend when environment ministers agreed the existing U.N. climate pact, the Kyoto Protocol, in 1997.
Plans by world leaders to attend have brightened hopes since Rasmussen said last month that time had run out to agree a full legal treaty in 2009. The aim for Copenhagen is a politically binding deal and a new deadline in 2010 for legal details.
British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, writing in the Guardian newspaper on Monday, said: “The British government is absolutely clear about what we must achieve. Our aim is a comprehensive and global agreement that is then converted to an internationally legally binding treaty in no more than six months.”
He added: “If by the end of next week we have not got an ambitious agreement, it will be an indictment of our generation that our children will not forgive.”
Some 56 newspapers from 45 countries including The Guardian, Le Monde, El Pais and Toronto Star on Monday published a joint editorial urging world leaders to take decisive action.
“Humanity faces a profound emergency. Unless we combine to take decisive action, climate change will ravage our planet,” it said.
“The politicians in Copenhagen have the power to shape history’s judgment on this generation: one that saw a challenge and rose to it, or one so stupid that we saw a calamity coming but did not avert it.”
The Kyoto pact binds industrialised nations to cut emissions until 2012 and even its supporters admit it is only a pinprick in rising world temperatures, especially since Washington did not join its allies in ratifying the pact.
This time, the idea is to get action from all major emitters including China and India to help avert more droughts, desertification, wildfires, species extinctions and rising seas.
The meeting will test how far developing nations will stick to entrenched positions, for example that rich nations must cut their greenhouse gases by at least 40% by 2020 — far deeper than targets on offer.
The United Nations wants developed nations to agree deep cuts in greenhouse emissions by 2020 and come up with immediate, $10 billion a year in new funds to help the poor cope. He wants developing nations to start slowing their rising emissions. | Diplomatic Talks _ Diplomatic_Negotiation_ Summit Meeting | December 2009 | ['(CNN)', '(Indian Express)', '(Bernama)', '(Times LIVE)'] |
Voters in Ukraine go to the polls in the second round of the country's presidential election. | Ukrainians go to the polls to elect a new president today in the second round of an election that has been marked by vitriol and personal insults between the two candidates. If, as many analysts predict, Viktor Yanukovych gets a narrow victory, it will be a remarkable turnaround in his personal fortunes, and the country will have come full circle since the Orange Revolution five years ago.
But whatever happens, the country is likely to see a shift back towards Russia, whether the vote is won by the dour Mr Yanukovych, who draws his main support from the Russian-speaking south and east of Ukraine, or his bitter rival, the fiery nationalist Yulia Tymoshenko, heroine of the Orange Revolution.
The two candidates have radically different bases, which reflect the east-west divide in Ukraine. Mr Yanukovich is most popular in the grimy eastern mining towns and gets his financial support and political backing from the oligarchs who control the mines and factories. Ms Tymoshenko appeals mostly to those in the Ukrainian-speaking west of the country.
But while one of the promises of the Orange Revolution was to bring Ukraine closer to Europe and disengage from the suffocating Russian embrace, this no longer seems viable. In August, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev sent Viktor Yushchenko, the Ukrainian President, a letter, criticising him for the "anti-Russian course" on which he had led the country. "In Russia, we hope that the new political leadership of Ukraine will be prepared to build relations between our countries that will, in practice, correspond to the genuine hopes of our nations, and the interests of European security," wrote Mr Medvedev in his letter, which essentially ended all co-operation between Mr Yushchenko's government and Moscow.
While Ms Tymoshenko still advocates integration with the EU, she is too astute not to realise that much depends on Moscow. There are the near-annual disputes over gas, and vast trade links between the two countries, all far too important to risk Moscow's ire.
She was once a hate figure in Russia on a par with Georgian president Mikheil Saakashvili. With her charismatic speeches and aggressive nationalism, she represented everything that the Russian authorities despised about the Orange Revolution. One Russian MP even made a pornographic film, in which lookalikes of Ms Tymoshenko and Mr Saakashvili plotted against Russia while frolicking in a sauna.
But Ms Tymoshenko has begun to mend fences. She has built up a rapport with Vladimir Putin, and is likely to embark on a rapprochement with Russia if elected. But there is still no doubt that Moscow would like Mr Yanukovych in charge. He is more likely to promote its language, and be less driven towards Nato and the EU.
The candidates took a breather from mudslinging yesterday in an official "day of silence" before the election. Many analysts expect Mr Yanukovych to edge to victory, but the result is likely to be close.
Ms Tymoshenko has promised to bring her followers out into the streets if she believes Mr Yanukovych has tried to falsify the poll. Her supporters say Mr Yanukovych has brought 2,000 former police and security officials to Kiev, as a physical presence if things turn nasty.
Meanwhile, earlier in the week, Ukrainian special services said they had arrested five Russian secret agents near the city of Odessa, who were part of a plot to steal state secrets.
The story so far
The 2004 Orange Revolution was hailed in the West as part of a chain of "coloured revolutions" in former Soviet states that would kick out the old guard and bring in new, modernising democrats.
When Leonid Kuchma stepped down as president, Viktor Yanukovych was his chosen successor and the Kremlin's shoo-in. But thousands of Ukrainians, disillusioned with the rigged election, came out on to the streets, demanding a rerun – a rerun that saw Viktor Yushchenko, his face disfigured by a poisoning attempt, sweeping to victory with Yulia Tymoshenko at his side.
But, since then, it has been downhill for the Orange revolutionaries. Tymoshenko soon fell out with Yushchenko, leading to a three-way power struggle between the two of them and a revamped Yanukovych. Promised reforms were stalled, corruption flourished, and annual disputes over gas with Russia threatened to bring the country to its knees. | Government Job change - Election | February 2010 | ['(Al Jazeera)', '(The Independent)'] |
1996 Turner Prize winner Douglas Gordon becomes the first visual artist to have been nominated for a prize at the Royal Philharmonic Society Music Awards. | Douglas Gordon has become the first visual artist to have been nominated for a prize at the Royal Philharmonic Society (RPS) Music Awards.
The 45-year-old, who won the Turner Prize in 1996, has been shortlisted in the creative communication category for his film installation K364. Conductor Claudio Abbado, pianist Maurizio Pollini and composer Harrison Birtwistle are also up for prizes.
The winners will be announced at a ceremony in London on 8 May.
BBC Radio 3's Katie Derham and Petroc Trelawny will present the show and a special programme dedicated to the ceremony will be broadcast on Radio 3 on 13 May.
Abbado has been shortlisted for his performance of Bruckner with the Lucerne Festival Orchestra at the Royal Festival.
Former chief conductor of the BBC Philharmonic Gianandrea Noseda and Donald Runnicles, chief conductor for the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, complete the conductor category list.
Pollini will contend with Marc-Andre Hamelin and violinist Christian Tetzlaff for the prestigious best instrumentalist prize.
Tenor Toby Spence, who sang the part of Russian poet Lensky in Eugene Onegin is shortlisted for the singer award alongside the soprano star Eva-Maria Westbroek, for her performance as Anna Nicole Smith. South African mezzo-soprano Michelle Breedt and Roderick Williams completed the category. Gordon's split-screen film installation K364, which explored "the battle between history and the fleeting beauty of music" has been on display at London's Gagosian Gallery.
The creative communication category also features the book, Gyorgy Ligeti: Of Foreign Lands and Strange Sounds, which was edited by Louise Duchesneau and Wolfgang Marx.
BBC Radio 3's Hear and Now Fifty, a year-long series of exploratory features on works by 50 composers from the second half of the 20th Century and the BBC 4 landmark series, Symphony, which looked at the symphonic tradition on television and radio, were also nominated.
Organisers said the annual awards ceremony is the "highest recognition for live classical music in the UK". They honour musicians, composers, writers, broadcasters and inspirational arts organisations. Fourth classical award for Dillon
| Awards ceremony | April 2012 | ['(BBC)'] |
An electrical fire at a Saudi wedding kills 25 people in a courtyard of a home in the village of Al Badr in the Abqaiq region. | At least 25 people have died and 30 others were hurt in a fire at a wedding in eastern Saudi Arabia, officials say.
Hundreds were inside the courtyard of a home in the village of Ain Badr, in the Abqaiq region, when the blaze began.
A high-voltage power line reportedly fell down and sent sparks flying after it was hit by celebratory gunfire.
The power line is also believed to have touched a metal door at the only exit from the courtyard, causing the electrocution of many of the victims.
Most of those killed and injured are reported to have been women.
The local newspaper al-Youm cited Civil Defence chief Gen Abdullah Khsheiman as saying a women-only marquee was set on fire. Women are separated from men at weddings in Saudi Arabia in line with the kingdom's strict rules on gender segregation.
A photograph of the aftermath posted online showed a large courtyard strewn with chairs and a pole in the middle supporting strings of lights.
Survivors have been taken to the Aramco and Central Abqaiq hospitals.
Civil Defence spokesman Col Mohammed al-Ajami said the governor of Eastern Province, Prince Mohammed bin Fahd bin Abdul Aziz, had ordered the authorities to investigate the incident.
The Saudi authorities last month banned the shooting of firearms at weddings - a popular tradition in tribal areas of the kingdom - according to the Reuters news agency.
In July 1999, 76 people died in a similar incident in Eastern Province.
| Fire | October 2012 | ['(BBC)'] |
José Ramos–Horta resigns as both Foreign and Interim Defence Minister of East Timor amidst ongoing political turmoil. | Jose Ramos Horta has resigned from the government of embattled East Timor Prime Minister Mari Alkatiri, the office of the country's president Xanana Gusmao said on Sunday night.
Mr Horta resigned as foreign and defence minister, effective from 5pm on Sunday.
Mr Gusmao's office said Mr Alkatiri had been informed.
Mr Gusmao's spokesman Agio Pereira said Mr Horta had stated that
"I do not wish to be associated with the present government or with any government involving Mr Alkatiri."
Informed sources said the day long central committee meeting of the ruling Fretilin party confirmed their confidence in Mr Alkatiri to continue as prime minister despite mounting pressure for him to resign. | Government Job change - Resignation_Dismissal | June 2006 | ['(SMH)'] |
Thailand arrests suspected Canadian child molester Christopher Paul Neil after an international man hunt. | BANGKOK (Reuters) - Canadian pedophile suspect Christopher Neil, focus of a global hunt that ended in rural Thailand on Friday, will be charged with molesting underage children after being tracked down through his boyfriend’s phone.
Policemen escort suspected Canadian paedophile Christopher Paul Neil to the national police headquarters in Bangkok October 19, 2007.
Thai police appealed for more victims to come forward after nabbing Neil at a rented house. Neil is also accused of raping young boys in Vietnam and Cambodia after being unmasked by nifty police computer work and hunted in a unique Internet appeal.
“From pictures on the Internet, there were five to seven children under age 10 who have been abused by him, including one girl,” Deputy National Police Chief Wongkot Maneerin told a packed news conference in Bangkok.
Neil, 32, caught in the northeast Thai province of Nakhon Ratchasima, 250 km (150 miles) from Bangkok and well off the normal tourist trail, refused to answer reporters’ questions.
Police said Neil, who arrived in handcuffs at national police headquarters, his head covered by a blue T-shirt, had confirmed his identity to investigators but said nothing else.
Neil was no stranger to Thailand, having once taught in a Bangkok language school, but his hiding place was revealed by a trace on the mobile phone of his 25-year-old Thai boyfriend, identified by transvestites in the seedy beach town of Pattaya.
“They went together to different provinces, probably on the run, and the last call made was from Nakhon Ratchasima. So I sent my men there,” tourist police chief Chuchart Suwannakom told Reuters.
Thai police issued a warrant for Neil’s arrest on Thursday, a week after he fled South Korea, after two Thai teenagers accused him of paying for oral sex when they were nine and 14, grounds for prosecution under Thai law.
Neil could face up to 20 years in jail if convicted in Thailand. Wongkot said he would be prosecuted in Bangkok, but left open the possibility he could be extradited once he had served his sentence.
Related Coverage
“He has to be prosecuted in Thailand first,” he said.
“SWIRLY FACE”
Canada -- which can prosecute its citizens for child sex crimes committed abroad, but has rarely done so -- has not said if it plans to seek Neil’s extradition.
“We are aware an arrest has been made and we will offer consular services as necessary,” a spokesman for the Canadian embassy in Bangkok said.
Cambodia said it also wanted to question Neil and would charge him if police there could put a case together.
“We want to know did he really commit sexual abuses on Cambodia’s children and women,” Police Major General Keo Vannthan said. “If so it will lead us to locate the victims and we will file suit against him.”
Vietnam might also want to question Neil.
Detectives in various countries had been trying to track Neil down since German police discovered photographs on the Internet three years ago of a man sexually abusing 12 boys in Vietnam and Cambodia.
His face had been scrambled with a digital swirling pattern, but German police computer experts managed to unravel the “Swirly Face” disguise and Interpol issued an unprecedented worldwide appeal through the Internet for information on who the man was.
More than 350 people came forward and Neil was identified by five sources from three different continents, Interpol said.
Neil abruptly left South Korea, where he was teaching, after Interpol broadcast his cleaned-up photograph and flew to Thailand, where he was photographed with shaved head and glasses by airport security cameras.
Thailand and its neighbors immediately alerted border posts in case he tried to sneak across a land frontier as Thai police launched a manhunt to rival their search a year ago for JonBenet Ramsey murder suspect John Mark Karr.
Karr was arrested in a run-down Bangkok hostel and sent back to the United States, where he was eventually cleared of any involvement in Ramsey’s murder, one of America’s most infamous unsolved crimes.
| Famous Person - Commit Crime - Accuse | October 2007 | ['(Reuters)', '(CNN)'] |
The Landtag of Baden-Württemberg announces a full ban on face coverings in schools, including burqas and niqabs worn by Muslims. Previously, the ban only applied to teachers in Baden-Württemberg. Minister-President Winfried Kretschmann says that full-face veiling "does not belong in a free society". | Baden-Württemberg will now ban full-face coverings for all school children. State Premier Winfried Kretschmann said burqas and niqabs did not belong in a free society. A similar rule for teachers was already in place.
The government of the western German state of Baden-Württemberg agreed on Tuesday to ban full-face coverings, often known as burqa or niqab, in schools.
The new rule comes as the topic of Muslim face coverings has been hotly debated in Germany and follows a ruling by a court in Hamburg that reversed that city's own ban.
Baden-Württemberg's city council's decision to ban full-face coverings, typically worn by ultra-conservative Muslim girls, matches the ban for teachers that is already in effect.
State Premier and prominent Green politician Winfried Kretschmann conceded that cases of full-face veiling in schools were rare, but said that nonetheless, a legal ruling was necessary for the rare cases.
Kretschmann said that full-face veiling did not belong in a free society. But he added that such a ban at the university level, where students are adults, was a more complex question. For now, the rule in Baden-Wurttemberg will only apply to primary and secondary education.
y
Proponents of full-face bans in Germany say they are necessary to protect young girls, that forcing or encouraging them to wear them infringes on their rights. Prominent members of conservative parties, including Julia Klöckner in Angela Merkel's Christian Democrats (CDU), have called for a nationwide full-face veil ban.
The Greens have been split on the issue, but in the case of school kids in Baden-Württemberg, they sided with the CDU. Baden-Württemberg Green party leaders Sandra Detzer and Oliver Hildenbrand have previously referred to the burqa and the niqab "symbols of oppression."
But opponents say that such rulings can lead to the marginalization of Muslim communities in Germany. A school student in Hamburg recently fought and won a legal battle allowing her to wear the attire, though the court noted that a ban might be possible if the state's school laws were altered, which local politicians are now working on.
Filiz Polat, migration policy spokesperson for the Greens' federal parliamentary group, has said that the freedom to wear religious symbols or not was one of the features of a democratic society.
Currently, full-face veils have been banned in neighboring countries such as The Netherlands, France, Denmark and Austria.
A 2019 YouGov poll released found that 54% of respondents in Germany would support a ban on burqas.
jcg/msh (epd, dpa)
Most Islamic scholars agree that the hijab, which covers the head and neck, and comes in any number of shapes and colors, must be worn by Muslim women. American teen Hannah Schraim is seen wearing one here while playing with her brother.
The chador, which is usually black, is a body-length outer garmet often worn in Iran and among modern-minded women in the Gulf States, as here in Saudi Arabia. It is not fastened with clasps or buttons and therefore has to be held closed by the wearer. A niqab is a veil and scarf that covers the entire face yet leaves the eyes free. It covers a woman's hair, as it falls to the middle of her back and some are also half-length in the front so as to cover her chest. Here it is being worn by women attending a rally by Salafi radicals in Germany.
An abaya is a loose-fitting, full-length garment designed to cover the body. It may come in many different styles, as seen here at an Arab fashion show, and is often worn in combination with hijab or niqab.
The burqa is the most extensive of all Muslim garments, covering the entire body from head to toe. It traditionally has a woven mesh area around the eyes, severely restricting the wearer's vision. Here they are seen casting their ballots in Pakistani parliamentary elections.
Queen Rania of Jordan says that Islam does not coerce women to wear any head coverings and that it is more important to judge a woman by her ethics and values, rather than what she wears. She is seen here meeting refugees in Greece.
Author: Jon Shelton The ruling stopped a school's attempt to ban a 16-year-old girl from wearing a full-face veil during classes. The state's education senator is now calling for a change to state law. (03.02.2020)
A spokesman said the move was not exceptional, citing similar decisions by other institutions of higher education. But some politicians have called the decision "untenable," saying it undermines religious freedom. (13.02.2019)
The Netherlands joins a number of other European nations in implementing the controversial law. Some consider burqas a symbol of the oppression of women, while others view the ban as a violation of religious freedom. (01.08.2019) | Government Policy Changes | July 2020 | ['(DW)'] |
Israel conducts airstrikes on Islamic Jihad Movement in Palestine targets in Gaza Strip. | A vehicle burns outside a factory that was apparently hit with rocket fire Tuesday in the southern Israeli town of Sderot. Israel's military announced it had killed a commander of the Palestinian militant group Islamic Jihad in an early morning strike on his home in the Gaza Strip, prompting retaliatory barrages from Gaza.
A vehicle burns outside a factory that was apparently hit with rocket fire Tuesday in the southern Israeli town of Sderot. Israel's military announced it had killed a commander of the Palestinian militant group Islamic Jihad in an early morning strike on his home in the Gaza Strip, prompting retaliatory barrages from Gaza.
Updated at 1:37 p.m. ET
Rocket fire rained from the sky across the border between Israel and the Gaza Strip, leaving at least seven people dead in Gaza and dozens more injured on either side Tuesday. Among the dead was Bahaa Abu el-Atta, commander of a militant group in Gaza known as Palestinian Islamic Jihad, according to the Israel Defense Forces.
The IDF announced early Tuesday that it had successfully targeted Abu el-Atta in an airstrike a move that set off a furious barrage from Gaza. The Israeli military says militants retaliated by launching scores of rockets into Israel, where residents in the country's center and south scrambled into shelters and schools closed amid the wail of air raid sirens.
"He was a ticking bomb," Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said of Abu el-Atta during a news conference Tuesday, asserting that the militant leader was "in the midst of planning additional attacks in the immediate short term."
"Over the past year, this archterrorist was the main instigator of terrorism from the Gaza Strip. He initiated, planned and carried out many terrorist attacks," Netanyahu added including "hundreds of rockets at communities in the area adjacent to the Gaza Strip."
The prime minister noted that he and Israeli military and intelligence leaders approved the operation 10 days ago and that they waited for a "unique window of opportunity to carry out the action, under optimal conditions with maximum chance of success and minimal chance for hitting anyone uninvolved."
Still, the Palestinian news agency WAFA reports that the attack killed not only Abu el-Atta and his wife but also at least three other Palestinians. At least 45 other people in Gaza reportedly were injured, according to Gaza health officials, and at least 19 people in Israel were injured in the retaliation.
A mother mourns her 25-year-old Palestinian son Tuesday in Beit Lahia, in the northern Gaza Strip. Israel said it had carried out an airstrike in the area amid an escalation of violence between Israeli troops and Palestinian militants.
A mother mourns her 25-year-old Palestinian son Tuesday in Beit Lahia, in the northern Gaza Strip. Israel said it had carried out an airstrike in the area amid an escalation of violence between Israeli troops and Palestinian militants.
Syria's state-run media agency says that around the same time as the Israeli raid on Gaza, Israeli warplanes fired missiles at a residential building in Damascus, where SANA reports two civilians were killed and 10 others injured. The attack targeting another Islamic Jihad commander, Akram al-Ajouri, reportedly failed to harm him but killed his son and granddaughter.
Israel did not comment Tuesday on the reported attack in Syria.
"Israel executed two coordinated attacks, in Syria and in Gaza, in a declaration of war," Khaled al-Batsh of Islamic Jihad said at a funeral for Abu el-Atta in Gaza, according to Reuters. The wire service noted that other mourners replied by firing their weapons in the air and chanting, "Revenge!"
Hamas, the Islamist group that controls Gaza, condemned Abu el-Atta's killing in a series of statements Tuesday, saying the move represented a "dangerous escalation and a continuation of the Israeli aggression and terrorism against the Palestinian people and resistance."
"Targeting an icon of the Palestinian resistance reveals preliminary intentions of the Israeli occupation to go into a new battle against the Palestinian resistance in order to export its internal crises and impose new rules of engagement," said Fawzi Barhoum, a spokesperson for the organization, which the U.S. and Israel consider a terrorist group.
"This aggression will backfire in the face of Israeli occupation and its criminal leaders," he added. "The Israeli occupation has started such attack and thus has to pay a price for it."
The spasm of cross-border violence, the deadliest to rack the region in months, comes at a turbulent time in Israel's domestic politics. Two muddled elections this year have failed to break a stalemate between Netanyahu's conservatives and the centrist Blue and White party of his rival Benny Gantz. Just last month, Netanyahu acknowledged his failure to form a new governing coalition, leaving the mandate to Gantz. But with both their parties nearly evenly matched among lawmakers, it's unclear whether Gantz will have any greater success.
If he, too, fails to form a government, Israel faces the prospect of holding yet a third election in the span of less than a year. | Armed Conflict | November 2019 | ['(PIJ)', '(NPR)'] |
The chargé d'affaires of the U.S. Embassy in Beijing, China, resigns following President Donald Trump's announcement he will withdraw the United States from the 2015 international Paris Agreement on climate change mitigation. | WASHINGTON (Reuters) - David Rank, the chargé d’affaires of the U.S. Embassy in Beijing, has left the State Department over the Trump administration’s decision to quit the 2015 Paris agreement to fight climate change, a senior U.S. official said on Monday.
A State Department spokeswoman confirmed Rank’s departure, but said she was unable to verify Twitter posts that said he resigned as he felt unable to deliver a formal notification to China of the U.S. decision last week to quit the agreement.
“He has retired from the foreign service,” said Anna Richey-Allen, a spokeswoman for the department’s East Asia Bureau. “Mr. Rank has made a personal decision. We appreciate his years of dedicated service to the State Department.”
Iowa Governor Terry Branstad, President Donald Trump’s pick as the next U.S. ambassador to Beijing, is expected to take up the post later this month.
A tweet from China expert John Pomfret quoted unnamed sources as saying that Rank had resigned as he could not support Trump’s decision last week to withdraw from the Paris agreement.
Another tweet from Pomfret said Rank called a town hall meeting to announce his decision to embassy staff and explained that he could not deliver a diplomatic note informing the Chinese government of the U.S. decision.
A senior U.S. official confirmed the account given in the tweets but added that after Rank announced his intention to retire on Monday in Beijing, he was told by the State Department to leave his post immediately. The official spoke on condition of anonymity.
On June 1, the U.S. State Department accepted the resignation of its top personnel officer, who had been among its few remaining senior Obama administration political appointees, another U.S. official said.
Arnold Chacon had served as the director general of the foreign service and director of human resources.
The official said Chacon had tendered his resignation when Trump was inaugurated on Jan. 20, along with all presidential appointees, who serve at the pleasure of the president and secretary of state.
The acceptance of Chacon’s resignation was first reported by the DiploPundit website.
It was not immediately clear whether he would be offered another post at the department.
Other than Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, his deputy John Sullivan and Undersecretary of State for Political Affairs Tom Shannon, the third-ranking U.S. diplomat, most of the State Department’s senior posts are currently vacant or filled by acting officials.
Chacon could not immediately be reached for comment.
Contacted by Reuters for comment, Rank, a career foreign service officer who took over the post of deputy chief of mission in Beijing in January 2016, referred all questions to the U.S. embassy.
Jonathan Fritz, the embassy’s economics councilor, would serve as chargé in his place, Richey-Allen said.
Rank had been with the department for 27 years and served as the political councilor at the U.S. Embassy in Afghanistan from 2011 to 2012.
Trump’s announcement on Thursday that he would withdraw the United States from the Paris climate accord, saying it would undermine the U.S. economy and cost jobs, drew anger and condemnation from world leaders and heads of industry.
“The world has paid attention to the U.S. withdrawal from the Paris agreement”, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying told a regular news briefing on Tuesday, but added that personnel changes were the United States’ “internal affairs”. | Government Job change - Resignation_Dismissal | June 2017 | ['(Reuters)'] |
Nicola Sturgeon becomes Leader of the Scottish National Party. | LONDON — After 10 years as deputy leader, Nicola Sturgeon moved into the top job of the pro-independence Scottish National Party on Friday and immediately suggested that the party might seek another referendum on separation from the United Kingdom after the defeat of an independence vote in September.
Ms. Sturgeon, 44, was unopposed for the position at a party convention in Perth, Scotland. She will replace Alex Salmond, who announced his resignation as party leader and first minister of Scotland, the head of government, after Scots voted “no” on independence.
The party holds a majority of seats in the Scottish Parliament in Edinburgh, and Ms. Sturgeon is expected to be formally elected first minister next week. Known as a tough and effective politician, Ms. Sturgeon studied at Glasgow University and worked as a lawyer before being elected to the Scottish Parliament at the age of 29 in 1999.
After her long apprenticeship as deputy, Ms. Sturgeon had no rival for the leadership and takes over a buoyant party.
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Despite losing in September, the pro-independence campaign has galvanized support for the Scottish National Party, which has increased its membership and is expected to make gains at the expense of the opposition Labour Party in next year’s British general election.
Ms. Sturgeon’s early statements suggested that September’s referendum on independence was no longer seen as the once-in-a-lifetime decision it had been portrayed as by both sides leading up to the vote.
Speaking to the BBC, Ms. Sturgeon said she believed that Scotland would become independent in her lifetime. “It will be the wishes and the will of the Scottish people that determine if and when there is another referendum,” she said.
Prime Minister David Cameron of Britain has promised, if re-elected next year, to hold a referendum in 2017 on whether to remain in the European Union, and Ms. Sturgeon said this vote could prove to be a trigger for Scots to reassess their constitutional position.
She argued that to have a mandate to quit the European Union, there would need to be a majority of votes in all parts of the United Kingdom — England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
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“It would be democratically indefensible for Scotland, or indeed Wales or Northern Ireland, to be taken out of the European Union against our will,” she said.
Most opinion polls suggest that Scots are less hostile to the European Union than the English are.
One task facing Ms. Sturgeon is to negotiate new powers for the Scottish Parliament promised by the main British political parties before the independence referendum in September. In interviews on Friday, Ms. Sturgeon also suggested that a failure to agree on these would stoke demands for another referendum.
Asked what the Scottish National Party would do in the event that no party won next year’s general election outright, Ms. Sturgeon ruled out a coalition with Mr. Cameron’s Conservative Party.
Mr. Salmond’s future remained unclear, with speculation that he would fight for a seat in the British Parliament next year. | Government Job change - Appoint_Inauguration | November 2014 | ['(NY Times)'] |
Police shoot and kill two homeowners after invading their house. 5 officers were injured in a substantial shootout in Harris County. Reports later indicated one of the officers lied that drugs were in the house. | A married couple was killed and four officers were wounded in the drug raid. Houston police embroiled in scandal after 'lies' found in no-knock warrant that led to fatal raid on alleged drug house
Less than 48 hours after President Donald Trump called him up on a stage to express pride in the Houston Police Department, Chief Art Acevedo struggled to explain a scandal in which one of his narcotics agents allegedly lied to get a no-knock warrant for a drug-house raid that left a married couple dead and four officers shot.
"What a job you've done. I'm proud of you," Trump told Acevedo while giving the keynote address on Wednesday at the Major Cities Chiefs Association and Major County Sheriffs of America joint conference in Washington, D.C.
"I like these people," Trump said of the Houston Police Department delegation on hand. "I feel very safe with these people."
During a news conference in Houston on Friday, Acevedo noted the dramatic contrast between Trump's praise for his department and an investigation into the troubling actions of one veteran narcotics officer.
"Here we are less than 48 hours later talking about one person," said Acevedo, who asked the public not to paint the 5,200 members of his department "in a broad brush" over the actions of a single officer.
That officer, identified in court papers as Gerald Goines, 54, was one of the four drug-team members shot in January when they raided a house where Goines claimed a confidential informant had made two purchases of black tar heroin.
But an affidavit filed in Harris County District Court on Thursday by Houston internal affairs detectives investigating the raid indicates the confidential informant Goines said conducted the drug buys on his instruction claims he never even went to the house.
"Regardless of whether we had reason or probable cause to engage in an investigation or even get a search warrant, what that affidavit will show you is that, thus far, it appears that there are some material untruths or lies in that affidavit, and that's a problem," Acevedo said.
Killed in the Jan. 28 raid were homeowners Dennis Tuttle, 59, and his 58-year-old wife, Rhogena Nicholas.
Armed with a search warrant, nine narcotics detectives backed up by at least six patrol officers surrounded the home on Harding Street just before 5 p.m.
After Goines, the lead investigator on the case, broke open the front door, a 33-year-old officer armed with a shotgun entered the residence and was immediately attacked by a pit bull, Acevedo said a day after the raid.
He said that the officer being attacked shot and killed the dog.
One of the suspects, Tuttle, charged from the back of the house firing a .357-caliber Magnum revolver at the officer, hitting him in the shoulder, Acevedo said.
He said Nicholas was shot and killed when she tried to grab the wounded officer's shotgun and that Tuttle was killed by police after shooting three other officers, including Goines, who suffered a bullet wound to the neck and remains in a hospital.
Police recovered two shotguns and three rifles from the residence and seized marijuana and a white powder they believe to be either cocaine or the powerful synthetic opioid fentanyl, Acevedo said at the time. But officers did not seize any black tar heroin, he said.
In his application for a search warrant, Goines claimed he was outside the house and "observed the confidential informant" go into the house, make the heroin buy and came out and handed him the drugs, according to the internal affairs affidavit.
Goines gave investigators the name of the informant he said made the drug deal, according to the affidavit. But when the informant denied he had bought drugs from the house on the instruction of Goines, investigators confronted Goines, who then gave them another informant's name.
Internal affairs detectives interviewed all of the confidential informants Goines worked with "and all denied making a buy for Goines from the residence located at 7815 Harding Street, and ever purchasing narcotics from Rhogena Nicholas or Dennis Tuttle."
On Friday, Acevedo said he has ordered a full audit of drug investigations by his narcotics unit and a review of other cases Goines has been in charge of.
He said Goines, who has been with the department for 34 years and was previously shot twice in the line of duty, has been relieved of his duties and will likely face serious criminal charges.
"We know that there's already a crime that's been committed," Acevedo said. "It's a serious crime when we prepare a document to go into somebody's home, into the sanctity that is somebody's home, it has to be truthful, it has to be honest, it has to be factual. We know already there's a crime that's been committed. There's high probability there will be a criminal charge."
Acevedo said detectives were first alerted to the alleged drug-dealing at the Harding Street house in a 911 call from a mother concerned her daughter had been involved in drugs at the residence. Police launched an investigation about two weeks before the fatal January raid.
"We weren't there willy nilly," Acevedo said.
As part of the investigation into the drug raid, a second undercover officer was also relieved of his duties, but Acevedo said investigators do not believe he was aware that Goines allegedly concocted information to obtain the no-knock warrant.
"When we're done, I guarantee you we will leave no stone unturned and the truth will come out," Acevedo said. | Riot | January 2019 | ['(ABC News)'] |
Over Sunday and Monday, 55 people die of asphyxiation in various prisons across the Brazilian city of Manaus. | Forty inmates have been found dead at four separate prisons in Manaus, the capital of Amazonas state in northern Brazil.
All the bodies, which were found during routine inspections, showed signs of asphyxiation, officials said.
Monday's violence came a day after 15 prisoners were killed in jail clashes in Manaus.
The state governor said a task force had been sent to Amazonas to help control the disturbances. Prison officials said that the victims belonged to the same drug trafficking group and that they had been killed due to an internal gang rift. Robert Muggah, who is research director at the Igarape Institute think tank in Rio de Janeiro, told Agence France-Presse news agency that he thought a "settling of scores" was behind the killings. Fifteen inmates died in clashes in Anísio Jobim jail when prisoners turned on each other. Some were stabbed with sharpened toothbrushes while others were strangled.
The violence broke out during visiting hours and the mother of one inmate described it as "total chaos".
"Everyone started to run, and everyone was pounding on the cell gates, at the doors, and running down the corridors."
"It was not a rebellion, it was a fight among inmates," Col Marcus Vinicius, who is in charge of prisons in Amazonas state, said.
He said the fact that the killings had happened during visiting hours broke an unwritten prison rule of "never to kill during a family visit".
Col Vinicius said murders inside jails were inevitable: "We have to have the maturity to understand that in any prison in the world, when someone wants to kill, they will kill."
Brazil has the world's third-largest prison population with more than 700,000 people in jail, not counting the more than 35,000 held in police facilities, according to data from the World Prison Brief.
Prisons suffer from serious overcrowding, with the number of prisoners almost double that of the official capacity.
Many prisons are run by the inmates and there are frequent clashes between rival gangs. Riots to demand better conditions and prison escapes are also common.
Attempts to reform the prison system and to introduce tighter controls have met with resistance from powerful criminal gangs which operate both inside and outside of jails. The crisis in the Amazonas jail system is not new. In January 2017, in the worst jail violence in Amazonas state, 56 inmates were killed in Anísio Jobim prison.
Following those killing, officials launched an investigation which concluded that there had been a number of failings at the jail.
They included a lack of communication between prison authorities and the police, which meant that the latter had not been alerted when officials found out about plans to launch a riot. In the following days there were also uprisings and riots in other jails in Manaus. National security forces were deployed to Anísio Jobim jail and others in the wake of the 2017 killings and, according to local media, the forces were still there when the latest killings happened.
Amazonas State Governor Wilson Lima said that the justice ministry would send a "prison intervention team" to Manaus.
In the past, rival gangs have been separated within prisons by placing them in different wings and using shipping containers to divide the prison yard. Venezuelan prison clashes leave 29 inmates dead
Seven dead in Guatemala prison shooting
Dozens on run after deadly prison riot
| Riot | May 2019 | ['(BBC)'] |
Due to recent floods in Venezuela, President Hugo Chávez announces the erection in his garden of a Bedouin tent given as a gift by Muammar al–Gaddafi from which he is to live and govern to make room for more homeless families in his presidential palace at Miraflores. 25 families made homeless by the disaster had already sought shelter there and Chávez has been personally supervising the provision of relief in the country. | Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez says he is going to govern temporarily from a tent so that families made homeless by recent floods can take refuge in his office. Mr Chavez said he would have a Bedouin tent given to him by the Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi put up in the garden of the presidential palace. Twenty-five families are already living in the palace after losing their homes.
The floods have made more than 100,000 people homeless across the country. "Put up Gaddafi's gift," said Mr Chavez during a visit to a refuge for flood victims close to the Miraflores palace in Caracas. "You can install it in the garden at Miraflores because I'm going to move into the tent. We can put some beds in my office."
Mr Chavez is an admirer of Col Gaddafi, who lives in a huge Bedouin tent in Libya, and brought one with him when he visited Venezuela last year. The Venezuelan leader has been personally supervising relief efforts in response to the floods. The worst rains in a decade have caused widespread destruction and killed more than 30 people. Some of the worst damage has been in poor hillside neighbourhoods of Caracas, where landslides have swept away precarious houses. Mr Chavez has promised a massive home-building programme, and on Friday appointed culture minister Francisco Sesto to the new role of minister for reconstruction in Caracas. Neighbouring Colombia and much of Central America have also suffered from one of their worst May-November rainy seasons in decades. Venezuela floods kill at least 25
Devastating floods hit Venezuela
Ruins abound 10 years on from Venezuela floods
Venezuelan presidency
| Floods | December 2010 | ['(BBC)'] |
The United States says that Morocco will normalize diplomatic relations with Israel, becoming the fourth Arab country to do so in recent months, in an agreement mediated by the United States. U.S. President Donald Trump also says that he recognizes "Moroccan sovereignty over the entire Western Sahara territory". Morocco says that the United States "will open a consulate in Western Sahara as part of Morocco’s deal with Israel". | Israel and Morocco agreed on Thursday to normalize relations in a deal brokered with U.S. help, making Morocco the fourth Arab country to set aside hostilities with Israel in the past four months.
It joins the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Sudan in beginning to forge deals with Israel, driven in part by U.S.-led efforts to present a united front against Iran and roll back Tehran’s regional influence.
In a departure from longstanding U.S. policy, President Donald Trump agreed as part of the deal to recognize Morocco’s sovereignty over the Western Sahara, a desert region where a decades-old territorial dispute has pitted Morocco against the Algeria-backed Polisario Front, a breakaway movement that seeks to establish an independent state.
President-elect Joe Biden, due to succeed Trump on Jan. 20, will face a decision whether to accept the U.S. deal on the Western Sahara, which no other Western nation has done. A Biden spokesman declined to comment.
While Biden is expected to move U.S. foreign policy away from Trump’s “America First” posture, the Democrat has indicated he will continue the pursuit of what Trump calls “the Abraham Accords” between Israel and Arab and Muslim nations.
Trump sealed the Israel-Morocco accord in a phone call with Morocco’s King Mohammed VI on Thursday, the White House said.
“Another HISTORIC breakthrough today! Our two GREAT friends Israel and the Kingdom of Morocco have agreed to full diplomatic relations – a massive breakthrough for peace in the Middle East!” Trump wrote on Twitter.
Mohammed told Trump that Morocco intends to facilitate direct flights for Israeli tourists to and from Morocco, according to a statement from Morocco’s royal court.
“This will be a very warm peace. Peace has never - the light of peace on this Hanukkah day has never - shone brighter than today in the Middle East,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a statement, referring to a Jewish eight-day holiday starting on Thursday night.
| Sign Agreement | December 2020 | ['(The Jerusalem Post)', '(Reuters)'] |
The al-Nusra Front claims that its leader Abu Yousef al-Turki was killed in the air strikes. | (CNN) -- The United States is doing what it must to "take the fight to terrorists," leading a coalition of Arab nations in a series of airstrikes against the so-called Islamic State terror group in Syria, U.S. President Barack Obama said Tuesday.
At the same time, the United States took action -- on its own -- against another terrorist organization, the Khorasan Group. Obama described its members as "seasoned al Qaeda operatives in Syria."
U.S. officials said the group was plotting attacks against the United States and other Western targets.
The plots against the United States were discovered by the intelligence community in the past week, an intelligence source with knowledge of the matter told CNN. The source did not say what the target may have been, but said the plot potentially involved a bomb made of a nonmetallic device like a toothpaste container or clothes dipped in explosive material.
A plot involving concealed bombs on airplanes "was just one option they were looking at," a U.S. official said.
"Once again, it must be clear to anyone who would plot against America and try to do Americans harm that we will not tolerate safe havens for terrorists who threaten our people," Obama said in televised remarks from the White House.
Concern over a possible backlash by the terror groups has prompted the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to issue a bulletin warning law enforcement agencies to be on heightened alert for lone-wolf terror attacks on U.S. soil in wake of the airstrikes, a U.S. law enforcement official with knowledge of the warning told CNN.
The bulletin calls for vigilance as well as scrutinizing social media for anyone encouraging violence in response to the strikes, according to a U.S. law enforcement official with knowledge of the warning's contents. It points to the use of social media as a tactic by ISIS to spread its message and call for violence.
It also advises agencies to look for changes in appearance or behavior in those they're tracking, the official said.
Terror group: 'Turk' is dead
The airstrikes, meanwhile, appear to have taken a toll on another terror group, killing the leader of the al Qaeda-linked al-Nusra Front, according to a statement released by the group. It identified the leader as Abu Yousef al-Turki, also known as "The Turk."
The al-Nusra statement posted on Twitter was accompanied by a so-called proof-of-death -- a photograph -- of the former fighter.
CNN cannot independently verify al-Nusra's claims, but the monitoring group the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported the terror group was among those targeted during the airstrikes. The United States has not identified al-Nusra as a group targeted in the strikes.
The airstrikes that began early Tuesday morning local time "were only the beginning," Pentagon spokesman, Navy Rear Adm. John Kirby, said. He declined to comment about future military operations.
Just released: VIDEO of airstrike on target in Syria: http://t.co/Py6IYN4ybX from @CENTCOM
Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Jordan took part in airstrikes on ISIS targets, the U.S. military said. Qatar played a supporting role, the U.S. military said.
Saying he "made clear that America would act as part of a broad coalition," Obama said: "That's exactly what we've done."
"The strength of this coalition makes it clear to the world that this is not America's fight alone," the President said.
Obama met hours later with officials from the five Arab nations who make up the coalition. There was an a strong agreement that "the campaign against ISIS was a long-term one and they were all in it for the long haul," a senior State Department official with knowledge of the meeting said.
"Everyone at the table agreed there are times in the world when you need to take a stand," the official said on condition of anonymity.
But Syria warned the United States not to repeat the "American fiasco in Iraq by undertaking the same kind of blind military attacks," Bashar Ja'afari, Syria's ambassador to the United Nations, told CNN.
What is the Khorasan Group?
Strikes came in three waves
The airstrikes came in three waves, with coalition partners participating in the latter two, Army Lt. Gen. William Mayville Jr. said Tuesday. The first wave, which mostly targeted the Khorasan Group, started at 3:30 a.m. (8:30 p.m. ET Monday) and involved U.S. ships firing missiles into eastern and northern Syria.
The second wave, 30 minutes later, involved planes striking northern Syria, with targets including ISIS headquarters, training camps and combat vehicles. The third wave, begun shortly after 7 a.m., involved planes targeting ISIS training camps and combat vehicles in eastern Syria, Mayville said.
It's too early to say what effect the U.S. strikes had against the Khorasan Group, Mayville said.
Maps: Arab nations join U.S., expand fight against terror to Syria
The airstrikes against ISIS focused primarily on the city of Raqqa, the declared capital of ISIS' self-proclaimed Islamic State.
The operation began with a flurry of Tomahawk missiles launched from the sea, followed by attacks from bomber and fighter aircraft, a senior U.S. military official told CNN.
The goal: Taking out ISIS' ability to command, train and resupply its militants.
In all, 200 pieces of ordnance were dropped by coalition members, and four dozen aircraft were used, a U.S. official told CNN. About 150 weapons used were precision-guided munitions. The United States fired 47 Tomahawk missiles, eight of them against Khorasan targets.
The strikes marked the first time the United States used F-22 Raptor stealth aircraft in a combat role. The military has previously run into problems with the aircraft.
The number of casualties was not immediately clear. But U.S. Central Command said the strikes damaged or destroyed ISIS targets including fighters, training compounds, command-and-control facilities, a finance center and supply trucks.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said at least 70 ISIS militants were killed and more than 300 were wounded. But CNN and other news outlets were unable to confirm the figures.
Celebration amid fear
For months, civilians in Raqqa have been living under the harsh rule of ISIS after militants took over their city, which had been one of Syria's most liberal cities. The group now controls much of their lives, imposing a strict brand of Sharia law and doling out barbaric punishments, such as beheadings and crucifixions.
Abo Ismail, an opposition activist inside Raqqa, said Tuesday that residents were elated to see the U.S. attacking ISIS targets there.
But at the same time, he said, ISIS has increased security in the city.
"I would dance in the streets, but I am too afraid," Ismail said.
A U.S. intelligence official said that while law enforcement is aware the airstrikes against ISIS in Syria could incite a response, there is no evidence to suggest any terrorist strike is in the works against the United States.
The inclusion of Sunni-majority countries fighting a radical Sunni militant group sends a strong message, former CIA counterterrorism official Philip Mudd said.
"Prominent religious leaders have said ISIS is not representative of Islam, and now you have countries that are coming to the fore to attack it," he said.
Iraq's Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi welcomed news of the coalition airstrikes against ISIS in Syria, so long as they "do it right this time."
While he told CNN's Christiane Amanpour it was good some Arab nations joined the fight, he said he wished they had understood and acted on the danger posed by ISIS sooner.
"We have warned ... this is going to end in a bloodbath if nobody stops it," he said. "Nobody was listening."
Rouhani: No legal basis for airstrikes
Iran lashed out at the air campaign. Meeting with journalists at the United Nations, where world leaders are gathering for the General Assembly this week, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said there was no legal basis for the strikes without U.N. authorization or an invitation from the Syrian government.
But U.S. Deputy National Security Adviser Tony Blinken told CNN that a number of countries, including Iran, were told the United States would be taking action.
"We obviously didn't say exactly when or where. We wanted to make sure that nobody got in our way," he said.
The United States defended its actions in a letter to the U.N. secretary-seneral, invoking Article 51 of the U.N. charter -- acting when a country is unwilling or unable to handle a threat itself.
"The Syrian regime has shown that it cannot and will not confront these safe havens effectively itself," Samantha Power, the U.S. ambassador to the U.N., wrote in a letter obtained by CNN. "Accordingly, the United States has initiated necessary and proportionate military actions in Syria."
Problem-plagued plane hits ISIS: F-22 goes into combat
READ: U.S.-led airstrikes on ISIS: What you need to know
CNN's Greg Botelho, Josh Levs. Raja Razek, Jake Tapper, Hamdi Alkhshali, Holly Yan, Gul Tuysuz, Steve Almasy, Jim Acosta, Barbara Starr, Arwa Damon, Mohammed Tawfeeq, Deb Feyerick and Pamela Brown contributed to this report. | Famous Person - Death | September 2014 | ['(CNN)'] |
European interior ministers and transport officials hold emergency talks in Paris following the recent attack on the Thalys train between Amsterdam and Paris. | Bernard Cazeneuve said there would be increased identity and baggage controls at stations and more police patrols on board international trains.
France called the emergency meeting in Paris, attended also by security and transport officials, after the foiled attack on a train on 21 August.
A heavily-armed man was overpowered on the Amsterdam to Paris train.
French prosecutors have filed charges against 25-year-old Ayoub El-Khazzani. But questions have been raised about how someone was able to board the train in Brussels carrying an assault rifle, 270 rounds of ammunition, a handgun, a box-cutter and petrol.
Viewpoint: new anti-terror approach needed
What we know
Profile: Ayoub El-Khazzani
Mr Cazeneuve announced a raft of tighter security measures after meeting with ministers from Germany, Italy, Spain, Belgium, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and Switzerland as well as the UK.
"Visual passenger identity checks will be reinforced as well as random controls. Official inspections of luggage will step up, both at stations and onboard trains, where appropriate," he said.
"Mixed patrols, made up of law enforcement personnel from several countries, already exist in many countries. We will further reinforce these teams and deploy them more extensively."
He said the ministers also agreed to study the idea of name-based ticketing for international trains.
This is significant because it would allow the intelligence services to keep closer track of suspect individuals when they travel, the BBC's Hugh Schofield reports.
But, he adds, in Europe's Schengen border-free zone, the free movement of people is supposed to be matched by closer co-operation between intelligence services - and on this, Mr Cazeneuve, admits, there is still a way to go.
At his news conference, the French interior minister called for "an enhanced and more focused" co-operation between transport bodies, intelligence services and the police.
The recommendations from the meeting are expected to be debated first by a European rail security working group on 11 September and then by EU transport ministers meeting on 7-8 October.
Mr Khazzani is accused of carrying out a "targeted and premeditated" jihadist attack.
No-one died in the incident, although two passengers who helped to overpower the gunman were injured in the struggle.
Three Americans and one Briton have been awarded the Legion d'honneur by President Francois Hollande for their bravery, with awards for four more on the train likely to follow.
Mr Khazzani is said to have denied plotting a terrorist attack, saying he found a bag of weapons the night before and planned to use them to rob passengers.
However, prosecutor Francois Molins said his explanation became less clear during questioning and eventually he stopped talking altogether.
| Diplomatic Talks _ Diplomatic_Negotiation_ Summit Meeting | August 2015 | ['(BBC)'] |
The Central Criminal Court in London jails Kane Gamble, 18, for two years for unlawfully accessing CIA, FBI and United States Department of Justice databases and phone and email accounts of senior US intelligence officials. | A teenager who tricked his way into obtaining the email and phone accounts of senior US intelligence officials has been sentenced.
Kane Gamble, 18, targeted CIA, FBI and US Department of Justice databases from his bedroom in Leicestershire.
The Old Bailey was told Gamble, who has admitted a number of charges, damaged the "effectiveness" of the wider law enforcement community.
He will serve two years at a youth detention centre.
Live updates from the East Midlands
His defence said he was "naive" and never meant to "harm" any individuals.
But the judge, Mr Justice Haddon-Cave said Gamble ran a "campaign of cyber terrorism".
Gamble obtained "extremely sensitive" documents on military and intelligence operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, the court was told. Between June 2015 and February 2016, he targeted the former CIA chief John Brennan and FBI deputy director Mark Giuliano from his home in Linford Crescent, Coalville.
The judge was told he impersonated his victims and conned call centres into divulging confidential information.
He then sent emails from agents' accounts and accessed sensitive military information. Gamble also leaked some of the information he gathered using various websites including WikiLeaks.
The court was told Gamble uploaded details of 20,000 FBI employees obtained from the US Department of Justice, with the message "This is for Palestine".
He bragged "this is so serious I'm shaking" and "this has to be the biggest hack ever".
He even managed to use the TV in the house of then US Secretary of Homeland Security Jeh Johnson to post the message "I own you".
The teenager also left a disturbing voicemail message for Mr Johnson's wife, Susan DiMarco asking "hi spooky, am I scaring you?".
Gamble - the founder of hacking group, Crackas With Attitude (CWA) - pleaded guilty in October to 10 charges.
Prosecutor, John Lloyd-Jones QC highlighted the level of sophistication and persistence in the attacks, as well as the damage caused.
Defending, William Harbage QC said Gamble, who is on the autistic spectrum, was "naive" and "childish" and his actions were a response to what he had read about in online chat rooms about US policy.
Mr Harbage said the teen thought he could get them to change "as a result of what he was doing from his bedroom".
Mr Harbage had argued for a suspended sentence, saying Gamble was due to sit GCSEs in June and hoped to read computer studies at university and pursue a "useful" career.
Gamble made no reaction as he was sentenced but his mother wept in the well of the court.
| Famous Person - Commit Crime - Sentence | April 2018 | ['(BBC)'] |
Syrian State TV claims that a rebel mortar attack kills 19 people in the government-controlled Ghouta and Karm al shami areas of the city of Homs. | The official SANA news agency said late on Sunday mortar rounds slammed into the pro-government Ghouta and Karm al-Shami neighbourhoods of Homs.
It blamed "terrorists" for the attack, employing the term the government uses to describe those trying to topple President Bashar al-Assad.
Syrian rebels often lob mortar rounds into pro-government neighbourhoods of cities and towns, while the president's forces indiscriminately strike rebel-held areas with artillery, air strikes and surface-to-surface missiles.
Syria's civil war has killed more than 120,000 since the crisis began in March 2011.
| Armed Conflict | January 2014 | ['(News Limited)'] |
A U.S. service member is in custody in connection with the shooting deaths of two other service members and the injury of a third in Iraq. They were assigned to 3rd Infantry Division, Fort Stewart, Georgia. | Read more about this story from CNN affiliate WFSB. Baghdad, Iraq (CNN) -- A U.S. soldier is in custody in connection with the shooting deaths of two fellow soldiers and the wounding of a third in Iraq, the U.S. military said Tuesday.
Spc. Neftaly Platero is in pretrial confinement, a U.S. military statement said.
Platero is suspected in the deaths of Spc. John Carrillo Jr., 20, of Stockton, California, and Pfc. Gebrah P. Noonan, 26, of Watertown, Connecticut, the military said.
Carrillo and Noonan died Friday of injuries sustained in a "non-combat" incident that occurred a day earlier, the U.S. Department of Defense said.
They were assigned to 3rd Battalion, 15th Infantry Regiment, 4th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division, Fort Stewart, Georgia.
The incident remains under investigation. "Our condolences go out to the families of those service members whose lives were lost," Brig. Gen. Jeffrey Buchanan said in a statement. "We are saddened by this tragic incident."
Carrillo's mother, Desiree Carrillo, told CNN that her son was a good son and a good father to a 3-year-old and a 3-month-old.
"He was a very young father and he was in school, but he joined the military to provide more for his family," she said.
Desiree Carrillo said the military notified them of Spc. Carrillo's death on Friday after family members learned through the media their son may have been killed by another soldier. Dane Street, Noonan's former track coach, told WFSB that Noonan was loved by nearly everyone.
"His big hair matched his big personality," Street said. "He loved experiencing life, and it was great."
Several people posted rest-in-peace messages on what appears to be Noonan's Facebook page. The page of "Gebrah Noonan" also lists "Neftaly Platero" -- the same name as the suspect -- as a Facebook friend. CNN's Mohammed Tawfeeq contributed to this report. | Famous Person - Commit Crime - Arrest | September 2010 | ['(CNN)'] |
White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan announces his resignation. Karl Rove is expected to lose his position as Deputy Chief of Staff for political development. President George W. Bush tries to shake up his cabinet because of the mid–term elections in November. | "It's going to be hard to replace Scott, but... he made the decision and I accepted it," Mr Bush said.
Mr McClellan has been in the job for nearly three years.
In another move, Mr Bush's chief policy adviser Karl Rove is giving up his policy role to focus on the November mid-term elections.
The policy role will be taken over by Joel Kaplan, the deputy White House budget director.
'Transition'
Speaking alongside the president, Mr McClellan, 38, said he was looking forward to the next chapter of his life.
"I have given it my all sir and I have given you my all sir," he said. "I will continue to do so as we transition to a new press secretary.
WHITE HOUSE APPOINTMENTS
Joshua Bolten, chief of staff
Rob Portman, budget director
Joel Kaplan, deputy chief of staff Susan Schwab, chief trade negotiator
Profile: Scott McClellan
"The White House is going through a period of transition. Change can be helpful and this is a good time and good position to help bring about change," he added.
Mr Bush said Mr McClellan had had "a challenging assignment", which he had handled with class and integrity.
"One of these days, he and I are going to be rocking in chairs in Texas and talking about the good old days," Mr Bush said.
There was no immediate word from the White House on Mr McClellan's successor.
Party pressure
The resignation comes days after the new White House Chief of Staff, Joshua Bolten, took office.
Many within the Republican party have been demanding a shake-up of the White House staff for several months, says the BBC's Adam Brookes in Washington.
The president's public approval ratings remain in the doldrums, while Iraq and high oil prices hang like dark clouds over the presidency, our correspondent says.
Mr Bush seems unable to get much done domestically either - his push to reform immigration law, this year's big idea, has stalled in Congress.
On Tuesday, former US trade representative Rob Portman took over as the government's budget director at the Office of Management and Budget. Mr Portman's deputy, Susan Schwab, is to replace him as Washington's chief trade negotiator. | Government Job change - Resignation_Dismissal | April 2006 | ['(BBC)'] |
Taliban insurgents overrun two security checkpoints near Kandahar in the southern Helmand Province, killing at least 29 border police officers, according to local officials. | KANDAHAR, Afghanistan Taliban insurgents overran two checkpoints in southern Helmand province and killed 29 border police officers, a provincial official said.
Bashir Ahmad Shakir, a provincial council member in Helmand province, said on Wednesday that the police officers were killed after a three-day battle, when reinforcements failed to arrive.
Shakir said the Taliban initially killed 21 officers and took eight hostages, but later killed the eight prisoners.
Shakir said the Nawzad district of Helmand province, where the battles took place, is a particularly volatile area that is regularly targeted by insurgents.
"If reinforcements would have gotten there, the police forces could have survived," said Shakir, who added that the Taliban fighters captured vehicles, weapons and ammunition.
Qari Yousef Ahmadi, a spokesman for the Taliban, claimed responsibility for the attack.
| Armed Conflict | October 2015 | ['(Star Tribune)'] |
Voters in Bahrain go to the polls for the Bahraini parliamentary election. | Bahraini voters are heading to the polls for parliamentary elections, as tensions run high between the Sunni-led government and the country's Shia majority. The government has detained opposition leaders, shut down newspapers, and charged 23 prominent activists with plotting a coup.
Prior to today's vote, ordinary Bahraini voters have been sharing their views with the BBC Arabic service. Here are some of their comments, translated from the original Arabic report by Faisal Irshaid.
The fact that there is a representative parliament in Bahrain is something to be proud of and a step in the right direction for the country. It's a relatively new experience in the region and we should make the best of it. But I don't think it's the right time yet to pass a verdict on the parliament as it's relatively young.
The current tensions in the country are due to a small group who are opposed to the democratic process. The elections can ease those tensions. The opposition was present in the parliament in 2006 and still is, despite recent events, and this is a good thing for Bahrain. I believe that the next parliament will be a democratic one where representatives are chosen by the people in a credible and transparent manner. Past elections point in that direction, such as the 2006 poll when the Wifaq party, the main opposition party, won many seats. If there was no transparency, why would the government allow these seats to be won by the opposition?
Some important issues for me are housing and increasing wages.
The elections will be lukewarm since a large segment of people has already lost any hope of change. I have decided to participate to expose the erosion of power and identify the mistakes of the current government. Many argue that the elections will ease tensions, but that is not entirely true. Tensions are caused by the government, as it discriminates against citizens and exercises oppression and humiliation on an ongoing basis. In addition, it always requests the declaration of loyalty to the throne rather than to the country. Therefore, I believe discrimination will continue and the government will continue to suppress the opposition.
The government controls the parliament through an unfair system of constituencies that ensures the loyalty to the king through the unequal distribution of votes. The power of the lower house has been reduced in favour of the appointed Shura Council which is loyal to the king.
I think constitutional reform is the most important issue. Is it important to restore the constitution of 1973, which was taken from the people in 2002, and for the lower house to have the power of legislation. Otherwise, problems will never cease. The elections will be fair, and the proof of that is that a number of Shia opposition representatives won unopposed in their constituencies [in the last election]. Does this happen elsewhere?
The participation of the opposition in parliament does not indicate whether stability will take place or not. The issue is regional stability, and as long as there is instability in the region, specifically with Iran, the situation in Bahrain will remain unsettled. I am against the classification of citizens according to their sect, and against the sectarian representation; it brings us back to medieval times. As for the human rights organisations which claim the cases of torture by the government, I doubt their impartiality and believe that they are politically motivated. Elections send a message to those who advocate violence and boycott. The only way to resolve disputes is through the elected parliament.
I strongly call upon everyone to participate in the parliamentary elections; they are an expression of democracy. There are a number of issues in Bahrain that are particularly important, including the issue of freedom of opinion and the issue of naturalisation of foreigners.
I expect a landslide victory for the opposition in case there is no fraud - they have the right to vote and represent the majority. But it is difficult to have free and fair elections with the lack of transparency.
In my opinion, the elections will increase the tension. If the opposition wins, there will be splits within its factions. On the other hand, there is sectarian violence happening in the street caused by the tension happening in parliament.
I am boycotting the parliamentary elections as it won't lead to change. Parliament is weak. Participating in it means insulting the majority - the Shia community. How do you expect us to get into parliament with the minority of seats while we are the majority in terms of number? I believe that fraud will take place, especially in the public polling centres that are not subject to control.
The most prominent issues in my opinion: Citizenship, amending the constitution, reforming property laws, and guaranteeing freedoms. The recent security crisis was just another attempt by the government to prevent some parties from entering the elections because they touched upon many issues that expose the state. | Government Job change - Election | October 2010 | ['(Al Jazeera)', '(BBC)'] |
A major power outage occurs in Sudan, leaving almost the entire country without electricity amid ongoing anti–government protests. | Sudan’s ministry of electricity has confirmed a total power blackout across the country on Sunday but it has yet to announce the exact cause of the situation.
The development comes on the second-day of a sit-in protest by thousands close to the presidential palace in Khartoum.
Protesters from across the country have upped their call on embattled President Omar Al-Bashir to leave office after three decades in charge. The protests started in December 2018 and have been ongoing since then.
The country is currently under a state of emergency declared ostensibly to quell the protests. President Bashir declared a 16-month measure which has since been halved by the parliament.
The protesters gathered around an area that also housed the army headquarters and other state security outfits calling for support of the army in the move to oust Bashir.
Crunch day in Sudan. A diplomatic source says major announcement awaited. Several Arab states said offered Bashir a haven. “Egypt ready to evacuate Bashir at moment’s notice.” | Protest_Online Condemnation | April 2019 | ['(Africanews)'] |
U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces say they have seized full control of Manbij in Syria's northern Aleppo Governorate after ISIL militants withdrew from their last remaining strongholds in the city. | BEIRUT (Reuters) - U.S.-backed forces have seized full control of the northern Syrian city of Manbij near the Turkish border after the last remaining Islamic State fighters, who had been using civilians as human shields, left, a spokesman for the group said Friday.
Elation in Syria's Manbij after Islamic State's ouster from city
01:27
Syria Democratic Forces (SDF) were now sweeping the city after the departure of a last remaining group of militants who had been holed up in the city. They had freed over 2,000 civilian hostages who had been held by the militants, Sharfan Darwish of the SDF allied Manbij Military Council told Reuters.
“The city is now fully under our control but we are undertaking sweeping operations,” Darwish said, adding militant sleeper cells in the city were still a threat.
The SDF, with heavy air support from a U.S.-led coalition, said last week they had taken almost complete control of Manbij, where a small number of IS fighters had been holed up.
The SDF’s offensive, which began at the end of May, aims to remove Islamic State from areas it controls along the Turkish border.
The Manbij operation in which U.S. special forces have played a significant role on the ground marks the most ambitious advance by a group allied to Washington in Syria since the United States launched its military campaign against Islamic State two years ago.
Manbij’s loss to the militants is a big blow as it is of strategic importance, serving as a conduit for transit of foreign jihadists and provisions coming from the Turkish border.
Earlier the alliance of Kurdish and Arab fighters grouped in the SDF said Friday’s operation was “the last operation and the last assault.”
Darwish said earlier roughly 100 Islamic State fighters were left in the city center using civilians as human shields, some of whom were killed trying to flee.
Reuters pictures showed residents being released from an Islamic State-held neighborhood on Friday and being welcomed by SDF forces.
Kurdish sources and the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which monitors Syria’s five-year-old conflict, later said around 500 cars had left Manbij carrying Islamic State members and civilians. They were heading northeast towards Jarablus, a town under Islamic State control on the Turkish border, the Observatory said.
The convoy carried the final Islamic State members leaving the city, under an agreement between the fighting parties that would not be announced officially, Kurdish sources and the monitor said, marking the end of the operation.
The SDF’s campaign quickly captured the countryside surrounding Manbij, but slowed once fighting entered the city. The SDF said it had been avoiding a large-scale assault inside Manbij out of concern for civilians.
Dozens of civilians, including children and women from Manbij who had fled the city at the height of the aerial strikes, were killed in suspected U.S. coalition air strikes last month, residents and monitors said.
U.S. officials have said once the Manbij operation is completed, it would create the conditions to move on the militant group’s de facto capital of Raqqa. U.S. officials anticipate a tough battle.
| Armed Conflict | August 2016 | ['(SDF)', '(Reuters)'] |
A U.S. Border Patrol agent is shot dead near the U.S.Mexico border in the state of Arizona. A second agent was shot and is being treated for nonlife threatening injuries. | A US border patrol agent has been shot dead near Arizona's US-Mexico border in an area known for drug-smuggling, authorities say.
Another was wounded when the two responded to a tripped ground sensor in early on Tuesday.
Nicholas Ivie, 30, was the first agent killed since 2010, when a death led to a review of a botched US-run operation.
In Operation Fast and Furious, agents lost track of illegal guns from Arizona allowed into Mexico to target dealers.
Authorities said Mr Ivie and a fellow agent had been on foot near Naco, Arizona, about five miles (8km) north of the border, when gunshots rang out around 02:00 local time (09:00 GMT).
The second agent, who has not been identified, was airlifted to hospital and is being treated for non-life threatening injuries.
Speaking at a news briefing, authorities declined to say whether any weapons had been seized at the scene.
"As they were walking up the trail, they reported taking gunfire," Cochise County Sheriff's spokeswoman Carol Capas told Reuters.
She said it was not known who shot the agents.
Arizona's Republican Governor Jan Brewer, who has previously criticised the Obama administration's immigration policy, said in a statement: "Arizonans and Americans will grieve, and they should.
"There should be anger, too. Righteous anger - at the kind of evil that causes sorrow this deep, and at the federal failure and political stalemate that has left our border unsecured and our border patrol in harm's way."
In December 2010 Agent Brian Terry was killed in a shootout with Mexican bandits. Later, his death was linked with Operation Fast and Furious, which was tracking illegal guns. Two of the illegal weapons were found at the scene of the border agent's murder. Fast and Furious ended in early 2011.
No arrests were made in connection with Terry's death, but 14 officials were recently cited for possible disciplinary action in a US justice department investigation into the handling of the operation.
In a statement, Republican Senator Chuck Grassley said: "Because of Operation Fast and Furious, we'll wonder for years if the guns used in any killing along the border were part of an ill-advised gun-walking strategy."
US-Mexico gun-running 'misguided'
| Armed Conflict | October 2012 | ['(BBC)'] |
U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia Judge Amy Berman Jackson sentences Roger Stone, long-time adviser and ally to the President of the United States Donald Trump, to 40 months in federal prison for seven charges of obstruction, lying to Congress and witness tampering. |
Hours after he was sentenced to more than three years in prison, Roger Stone sat in a Washington, DC restaurant, using a phone to watch as President Trump talked about Stone’s sentence.
Stone, sitting among a group of people at The Palm, appeared calm as he sat with his jacket off at a table in the center of the room.
Earlier Thursday, US District Judge Amy Berman Jackson sentenced Stone, an adviser and friend to Trump, to three years and four months in prison for lying to Congress and threatening a witness regarding his efforts for the President's 2016 campaign. Stone also received two-years probation on each count, running concurrently. He must undergo substance abuse testing, participate in community service and pay a $20,000 fine.
Asked if he was expecting good news today, Stone told CNN reporters, “I don’t know, that’s why we’re watching. The President is speaking right now.”
The President didn't rule out an eventual pardon or commutation, but said the process should play out first.
"At some point I'll make a determination, but Roger Stone and everybody has to be treated fairly. And this has not been a fair process," Trump said.
Stone later told CNN reporters the gag order is still in place but he offered a compliment before going off to eat grilled chicken paillard.
From CNN's Jason Hoffman
President Trump said he won't act to grant clemency to Roger Stone right now, saying he wanted the process to play out before making a decision.
“I’m not going to do anything in terms of the great powers bestowed upon a President of the United States, I want the process play out, I think that’s the best thing to do," Trump said today in Las Vegas. "Because I’d love to see Roger exonerated, and I’d love to see it happen because I personally think he was treated very unfairly.”
Trump didn't rule out an eventual pardon or commutation, but said the process should play out first.
From CNN's Jeff Zeleny and Jason Hoffman
President Trump said his friend and former associate Roger Stone "has a very good chance of exoneration."
Speaking hours after Stone was sentenced to more than three years in prison, Trump said he was following the matter closely and "want to see it play out to its fullest."
Trump called Stone a "character" and said he likes him.
"Roger was never involved in the Trump campaign for president," Trump said. "Early on before I announced, he may have done a little consulting work or something."
Trump went on to attack the forewoman of the jury, calling her an “anti-Trump activist.”
From CNN's Marshall Cohen
Before the hearing began, Roger Stone watched attentively as the pews filled with reporters, friends, family, and well-wishers.
There was a large cohort from the Justice Department in attendance, but none of the Robert Mueller prosecutors who handled Stone’s case. Many of those prosecutors attended past sentencing hearings for key players.
During the hearing, Stone paid close attention and took notes while his lawyer argued that he never really threatened witness Randy Credico.
Later, Stone fidgeted around in his seat while Judge Jackson explained how he lied to the court and obstructed the proceedings, including when he posted an image of her in crosshairs on his social media page.
Stone’s stepdaughter leaned forward at times, with her hands clasped in front of her face, while Jackson delivered Stone’s sentence.
Michael Caputo, a longtime Stone friend and colleague, was hunched over at times, staring at the ground while the sentence was read.
Another one of Stone’s supporters sat with his hands in front of his face, covering his eyes.
After the verdict was delivered and the court adjourned, some of the Justice Department lawyers who watched the case were overheard praising Jackson and how she handled the hearing. One woman said it’s “amazing how her brain works so quickly.”
After the hearing, Stone exited the courtroom with a smirk, looking at the crowd of reporters and supporters who gathered to see him leave. He declined to comment on the sentence.
While Stone was walking around the courthouse, doing paperwork, someone apparently tried to film him. This drew a swift and loud rebuke from the court staff, who reminded the crowd that recordings aren’t permitted inside the courthouse.
“Let the marshals do their job,” Stone said.
Roger Stone left the US District Court in DC with a smile on his face. He did not speak before getting into a black SUV. Watch Roger Stone leave court: From CNN's Katelyn Polantz
US District Judge Amy Berman Jackson has sentenced Roger Stone, an adviser and friend to President Trump, to three years and four months in prison for lying to Congress and threatening a witness regarding his efforts for the President's 2016 campaign.
Stone also receive two-years probation on each count, running concurrently. He must also... Jackson said she is transferring supervision of his release to Southern District of Florida. She will determine later whether he will have a reentry progress hearing.
Roger Stone's sentencing hearing just wrapped up after judge Amy Berman Jackson sentenced the Trump ally to three years and four months in prison.
Prosecutors initially asked for seven to nine years in prison — but Attorney General William Barr retracted that recommendation hours after Trump criticized it on Twitter for being too harsh. Four prosecutors withdrew from the case in response to Barr's decision. Two new DC US Attorney's Office supervisors stepped up to handle Stone's sentencing, and a new sentencing memo was released asking for "far less" time. Today, one of the new prosecutors said the Justice Department stands by the original sentencing memo and argued that "the court should impose a substantial period of incarceration" on Stone.
Judge Amy Berman Jackson has sentenced Trump ally Roger Stone to 40 months in prison. He was convicted last year on seven charges of obstruction, lying to Congress and witness tampering.
Prosecutors initially asked for seven to nine years in prison — but Attorney General William Barr retracted that recommendation hours after Trump criticized it on Twitter for being too harsh. Four prosecutors withdrew from the case in response to Barr's decision. Two new DC US Attorney's Office supervisors stepped up to handle Stone's sentencing, and a new sentencing memo was released asking for "far less" time.
Today, one of the new prosecutors said the Justice Department stands by the original sentencing memo and argued that "the court should impose a substantial period of incarceration" on Stone. | Famous Person - Commit Crime - Sentence | February 2020 | ['(CNN)', '(BBC)'] |
Former Vice President of Guatemala Roxana Baldetti appears in court to face corruption charges as finance minister Dorval Carías resigns. , | A former vice-president of Guatemala has appeared in court accused of taking millions of dollars in bribes in a scandal that has rocked the government.
Prosecutors said Roxana Baldetti took a 50% cut of illegal payments channelled to officials helping businesses evade customs duties.
She was arrested last week over the scheme and denies wrongdoing.
Guatemala's President Otto Perez Molina has apologised but said he would not resign over the matter.
Addressing the nation on Sunday, he rejected any link to the scandal and said his conscience was clear.
Eight members of his government have resigned over the allegations and nearly 30 people detained. In court, Ms Baldetti - who resigned in May - spoke to confirm her identity, taking notes as prosecutors played some of the wiretapped conversations that led to her detention.
The bribery scam has become known as "La Linea", or "The Line", after the hotline businesses allegedly rang to clear their imports through customs at cut-price rates.
Presidential elections are being held in early September, but electoral law bars Mr Perez Molina from standing for another term.
He has faced calls to stand down from across Guatemalan society and investigators are seeking to end his immunity from prosecution.
| Famous Person - Commit Crime - Accuse | August 2015 | ['(BBC)', '(Reuters)'] |
A Thai military court commences the trial of two Uighurs from the People's Republic of China with the bombing of a popular shrine in Bangkok that killed 20 people. | BANGKOK — A Thai military court on Tuesday rejected allegations by two Uighur defendants that they were tortured in custody to confess to bombing a popular Hindu shrine in Bangkok last year that left 20 people dead. The court then postponed the rest of the hearing to next month because no Uighur-language translator was available.
In previous preliminary hearings, the two men who are from the Uighur-speaking region of China have said they were tortured and mistreated by their jailors in military detention, and on Tuesday pleaded to be moved to a different correctional facility.
"After investigating these claims, the court finds them to be false and the defendants will remain where they are since this is a case of national security," one of the three judges on the panel ruled.
The judges, who have not been identified in keeping with protocol in military trials, said the defendants' safety may be at risk in a regular correctional facility because of the high-profile nature of the case, and that they were safer in military detention.
The ruling came on what was to be the first day of the trial of the two ethnic Uighurs of Chinese nationality. But the opening day, which was set aside for recording witness testimonies, got off to a shaky start when the court realized that there was no Uighur-language translator available.
The makeshift translator in previous hearings was also a Uighur, who was arrested in a separate criminal case. Defense lawyers said he had apparently skipped bail and disappeared.
The hearings scheduled for Tuesday and Wednesday were then postponed to Sept. 15-16 while authorities try to bring a new translator.
The two defendants — Mieraili Yusufu and Bilal Mohammad, also known as Adem Karadag — have pleaded not guilty. At a recent pre-trial appearance they broke down in tears alleging mistreatment and torture by Thai authorities.
They are the only two men in custody out of the 17 people that authorities say were responsible for the Aug. 17, 2015, bombing of the Erawan shrine in Bangkok's most famous shopping district of Ratchaprasong. It was one of the deadliest acts of violence in Thailand in decades.
The Erawan shrine, dedicated to Hindu god Brahma, is popular among Chinese and other tourists. Of the dead, 14 were tourists. Many Chinese were among the 120 people injured.
Thai authorities have said the bombing was revenge by a people-smuggling gang whose activities were disrupted by a crackdown. However, some analysts suspected it might have been the work of Uighur separatists angry that Thailand in July had forcibly repatriated scores of Uighurs to China, where they may be persecuted.
Chuchart Kanpai, the lawyer for one of the defendants, has told reporters in the past that Bilal had been tortured to admit that he was the person seen in surveillance video planting the bomb. Bilal says his captors poured cold water into his nose, threatened to send him back to China and had a barking dog frighten him.
Police say the case against the two men is supported by closed-circuit television footage, witnesses, DNA matching and physical evidence, in addition to their confessions. Police believe Yusufu detonated the bomb minutes after a backpack containing the device was left at the shrine by Bilal.
Since a May 2014 coup installed the military in power, its courts in Thailand have handed criminal cases deemed to involve national security.
The two men have been held at an army base since their arrest in late August and early September 2015. No other details of their interrogation have been revealed. Some of the 15 other suspects are Turks, with whom Uighurs share ethnic bonds, and Turkey is home to a large Uighur community. Beijing charges that some Uighurs are Islamist terrorists and that some have been smuggled out of China to join Islamic State fighters in Syria via Turkey. | Famous Person - Commit Crime - Sentence | August 2016 | ['(AP via Star Tribune)'] |
Divers arrive at the scene of lift boat MV Seacor Power, which capsized and partially sank off the coast of the state of Louisiana in the United States. Rescuers suspect crew members may be trapped. Since the accident, six crew members have been rescued, one has died, and twelve remain missing. | The National Transportation and Safety Board says it is now working on the investigating surrounding the capsized lift boat in the Gulf of Mexico.
Keith Holloway with the NTSB confirmed to KATC that a team of investigators will be working with the Coast Guard on gathering information about the accident.
The Coast Guard is currently still in charge of the investigation.
On Thursday, a team of divers was reportedly setting out to begin rescue operations at the site. According to Nola.com, Coast Guard Petty Officer 3rd Class Carlos Galarza said that the divers, which the agency contracted, were prepared to be out there throughout Thursday afternoon.
The dive would depended on weather conditions.
"As long as … it's not harsh, and they're not in rough seas, that'll determine whether they can begin their diving operations, make it to the hull and pull out any crewmembers who may be trapped there," Galarza said to Nola.com. "That depends on their … assessment."
So far, searchers have rescued six people. Another person was found dead and at last count, 12 are still missing. Continuing rough seas are making the search and rescue process more difficult, authorities say. We have no official information at this time as to who was on the boat and who has been recovered. | Shipwreck | April 2021 | ['(KATC–TV)'] |
In the Kitzmiller v. Dover Area School District case, Judge John E. Jones III rules that it is unconstitutional to teach intelligent design as an alternative to evolution in a public school science classroom in the United States. | A group of parents in the Pennsylvania town of Dover had taken the school board to court for demanding biology classes not teach evolution as fact.
The authorities wanted to introduce the idea that Earth's life was too complicated to have evolved on its own.
Judge John Jones ruled the school board had violated the constitutional ban on teaching religion in public schools.
The 11 parents who brought the case argued that teaching intelligent design (ID) was effectively teaching creationism, which is banned.
We find that the secular purposes claimed by the board amount to a pretext for the board's real purpose, which was to promote religion
Judge John Jones
They complained that ID - which argues life must have been helped to develop by an unseen power - was tantamount to religious education.
The separation of church and state is enshrined in the US constitution.
The school board argued they had sought to improve science education by exposing pupils to alternatives to Charles Darwin's theory of evolution.
But Judge Jones said he had determined that ID was not science and "cannot uncouple itself from its creationist, and thus religious, antecedents".
In a 139-page written ruling, the judge said: "Our conclusion today is that it is unconstitutional to teach ID as an alternative to evolution in a public school science classroom."
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He accused school board members of disguising their true motives for introducing the ID policy.
"We find that the secular purposes claimed by the board amount to a pretext for the board's real purpose, which was to promote religion in the public school classroom," he said.
He banned any future implementation of the policy in Dover schools.
The case, the first of its kind, sets an important precedent in a country where several states have adopted the teaching of ID, reports the BBC's James Coomerasamy in Washington.
Ironically, he adds, it is a somewhat academic ruling in the Dover area since parents there voted last month to replace the school board members who brought in the policy.
That move provoked US TV evangelist Pat Robertson to warn the town was invoking the wrath of God.
A lawyer for the parents said the ruling was a "real vindication" for those families who challenged the school board. | Famous Person - Commit Crime - Sentence | December 2005 | ['(Aljazeera)', '(Associated Press)', '(BBC)', '(Christian Science Monitor)', '(CNN)', '(Guardian)', '(Time)'] |
President Mahmoud Abbas announces that the legislative elections will be held on May 22, while the presidential elections will be held on July 31. These are the first elections in the State of Palestine since 2006. | RAMALLAH: Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas on Friday announced dates for the first Palestinian elections in more than 15 years, setting legislative polls for May 22 and a July 31 presidential vote.
Abbas’s Fatah party, which controls the Palestinian Authority based in the occupied West Bank, and the Hamas group, who hold power in Gaza, have for years expressed interest in taking Palestinians back to the polls.
A long-standing rivalry between the two main Palestinian factions was seen as a leading factor in stalling progress toward a new vote.
But Fatah and Hamas have lately been engaged in unity talks, reaching an agreement in principle in September to hold elections in 2021.
Hamas on Friday welcomed Abbas’s announcement.
“In recent months, we have worked to overcome obstacles in order to reach this day,” it said in a statement.
It added that it looked to “free elections in which voters can express themselves without pressure and without restrictions, in all fairness and transparency.”
A statement on the official Palestinian Wafa news agency said Abbas has signed “a presidential decree concerning elections,” specifying the May and July dates.
“This announcement was eagerly awaited,” Palestinian analyst Arif Jaffal, head of the Arab World Democracy and Electoral Monitor, told AFP.
“It is a very important step,” he said.
The 2005 Palestinian presidential vote saw Abbas elected with 62 percent support to replace the late Yasser Arafat.
There has been no indication from Fatah as to whether the 85-year-old Abbas intends to seek re-election.
A rare poll by the Palestinian Center for Policy and Research carried out last year said Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh would beat Abbas in a presidential election.
The statement from Abbas said he expects polls will be held “in all governorates of Palestine, including east Jerusalem,” which was annexed by Israel following the 1967 Six-Day War but is considered occupied territory.
Israel bans all Palestinian Authority activity in east Jerusalem, and there was no indication the Jewish state would allow a Palestinian vote within the city.
Israel’s right-wing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who faces his own re-election contest in March, describes Jerusalem as Israel’s “undivided capital.”
Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammed Shtayyeh said his government “was ready to get things going to facilitate the electoral process, in total transparency, while waiting for pluralism.”
Some 2.8 million Palestinians live in the West Bank, while the densely populated Gaza Strip is home to two million.
The last Palestinian parliamentary elections in 2006 saw Hamas win an unexpected landslide.
The polls resulted in a brief unity government but it soon collapsed and in 2007, bloody clashes erupted in the Gaza Strip between the two principal Palestinian factions, with Hamas ultimately seizing control of Gaza.
Numerous attempts at reconciliation, including a prisoner exchange agreement in 2012 and a short-lived coalition government two years later, have failed to close the rift.
But experts have said intra-Palestinian reconciliation talks have taken on greater urgency following a series of US-brokered normalization agreements signed between Israel and four Arab states.
The deals to normalize ties with Israel signed by the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Morocco and Sudan were condemned across the Palestinian political spectrum.
They also broke with decades of Arab League consensus against recognition of Israel until it reached an agreement to end the Palestinian conflict that included the creation of Palestinian state, with a capital in east Jerusalem.
Palestinian leaders have also voiced hope that the incoming administration of US President-elect Joe Biden will lead to renewed diplomacy on the Palestinian cause.
The PA cut ties with President Donald Trump’s administration, accusing it of egregious bias toward Israel.
DUBAI: President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi has affirmed Cairo’s support for the Libyan government to achieve stability, presidential spokesperson Bassam Radi said.
Radi issued the statement on Thursday following Egypt intelligence chief Abbas Kamel’s visit to Tripoli, where he met with Abdel Hamid Al-Dabaiba, Libya’s Prime Minister-designate of the new Government of National Unity. They discussed how to strengthen cooperation relations and support the political process in the war-torn country.
Sisi affirmed that the efforts exerted for national unity in Libya are a key pillar for its stability, renewing Egypt’s support for carrying out the Libyan elections, local daily Egypt Today reported.
Sisi called on Libyan institutions concerned with the upcoming elections to fulfill their national duty, the report said.
Meanwhile Egypt’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Sameh Shokry met with his Libyan counterpart Naglaa Al-Manqoush on the sidelines of an Arab ministerial meeting in Doha earlier this week.
Both ministers discussed developments in Libya steps to hold elections by the end of the year.
GAZA CITY, Palestinian Territories: Israeli jets launched air strikes on Gaza overnight Thursday to Friday after militants in the Palestinian territory again set off incendiary balloons into southern Israel, the army and AFP journalists said.
The fire balloons and air strikes are the latest violence heaping pressure on a fragile cease-fire between Israel and Gaza’s Hamas rulers that came into place on May 21, ending 11 days of heavy fighting.
“Over the past day, arson balloons were launched from the Gaza Strip into Israeli territory,” Israel’s military said in a statement.
“In response... fighter jets struck military compounds and a rocket launch site belonging to the Hamas terror organization.”
AFP journalists in the Palestinian enclave also reported hearing explosions, which the army said hit sites in both Gaza City and in Khan Yunis, in the south of Gaza, home to some two million people.
Soon after the strikes, Hamas militants opened fire with heavy machines guns toward the Jewish state, as Israeli warning air raid sirens rang out.
US Secretary of State Blinken spoke on Thursday with Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid and discussed “the need to improve Israeli-Palestinian relations in practical ways,” the State Department said in a statement.
“They also shared opinions on opportunities to deepen normalization efforts as well as on regional security issues, including Iran,” the State Department said.
Palestinian militants in Gaza launched balloons for a third day running on Thursday, according to Israeli firefighters battling the blazes sparked by the devices.
The balloons are basic devices intended to set fire to farmland and bush surrounding Gaza.
| Government Job change - Election | January 2021 | ['(AFP via Arab News)'] |
Former News of the World managing editor Stuart Kuttner is arrested and later bailed as part of the ongoing investigation into phone hacking. | A man, thought to be ex-News of the World managing editor Stuart Kuttner, has been released on bail after he was arrested in the phone-hacking probe.
He was bailed until later this month after an interview at a London police station arranged by appointment. The 71-year-old was arrested on suspicion of conspiring to intercept communications and corruption.
The phone-hacking scandal prompted the closure of the NoW and has resulted in 10 other arrests this year.
The Metropolitan Police investigation into phone hacking is called Operation Weeting. Another investigation called Operation Elveden is probing allegations of inappropriate payments to officers and is being supervised by the Independent Police Complaints Commission.
Mr Kuttner held a number of senior roles at the NoW before he retired in 2009. He was the newspaper's managing editor for 22 years and had been its deputy editor prior to that. The BBC's June Kelly said Mr Kuttner's role would have seen him "very much involved with the finances of the paper, so he was a pivotal figure in the organisation". "In terms of the pecking order in the company, he is way up there," our correspondent added.
Earlier, a spokesman for News International (NI) - which owned the News of the World - said the company did not know who had been arrested. NI said it would only be told if it was a current employee.
The man is the 11th person to be arrested since Scotland Yard's latest investigation into phone hacking was launched in January.
A number of high-profile figures are among those who have been arrested, including former News International chief executive Rebekah Brooks and ex-Downing Street communications chief and former NoW editor Andy Coulson.
Metropolitan Police
UN calls for end of arms sales to Myanmar
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Le Pen set for regional power with eye on presidency
How the Delta variant took hold in the UK. VideoHow the Delta variant took hold in the UK | Famous Person - Commit Crime - Arrest | August 2011 | ['(BBC)'] |
A United States air strike kills an al-Qaeda leader who was thought to have been planning suicide bombings. | KUNDUZ, Afghanistan (Reuters) - An air strike in northern Afghanistan killed an al Qaeda leader who was planning suicide attacks, NATO-led forces said on Monday, underscoring the spread of the insurgency to once-peaceful areas of the country.
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In another incident demonstrating the breadth of the Taliban’s reach outside traditional strongholds in the south and east, a couple were stoned to death in public in northern Kunduz over an alleged illicit love affair, government officials said.
The spread of the insurgency has come despite the presence of almost 150,000 foreign troops, backed by about 300,000 Afghan soldiers and police, who have attempted to take the fight to the militants in southern Helmand and Kandahar provinces.
While Osama bin Laden’s al Qaeda is widely believed to be funding and training the Taliban insurgency in Afghanistan, the capture or killing of senior al Qaeda figures has been relatively uncommon in recent years.
The NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) said Abu Baqir, a man they described as a Taliban sub-commander and al Qaeda group leader, was killed when an alliance aircraft fired on a truck in Kunduz province.
The strike was called in after insurgents attacked a police station, ISAF said.
“The air weapons team killed two insurgents including Baqir, who was reportedly housing four potential suicide bombers for upcoming attacks on the city of Kunduz,” it said in a statement.
An ISAF spokesman said no other details, such as the man’s nationality, could be made available yet.
Pursuing al Qaeda after the September 11, 2001, attacks on the United States was the main reason behind the U.S.-led invasion that toppled the Taliban later that year.
In October 2009, White House national security adviser James Jones estimated there were fewer than 100 al Qaeda militants still operating in Afghanistan. He said the question of Afghanistan once again becoming a haven for al Qaeda was “hypothetical.”
A NATO soldiers on a joint patrol with Afghan Army troops in Kandahar province, August 10, 2010. REUTERS/Bob Strong
Once relatively peaceful, Kunduz has been drawn slowly into the insurgency in recent months.
The fragile grip of NATO-led forces there was shown last September, when a U.S. air strike called in by German troops killed scores of people, at least 30 of them civilians. The incident led to the resignation of the German defense minister.
Mohammad Omar, the governor of Kunduz, said on Monday the Taliban had a day earlier publicly stoned to death a couple for adultery.
If confirmed, the executions would be the first of their kind by the Taliban in the area and follow a call last week by Afghan clerics for a return to sharia and capital punishments carried out under the Islamic law.
“The two were stoned to death in a bazaar of Dasht-e Archi district on the accusation of committing the act of adultery,” Omar said.
The Taliban arrested the two, who were each engaged to be married to other people, at the request of their families after they tried to elope, said district police chief Hameed Agha.
Such punishments were commonplace under the Taliban when they ruled Afghanistan from 1996-2001 but they have distanced themselves from the Kunduz executions, and the public flogging and execution of a woman in northwestern Badghis last week.
In the south, Afghan border police seized nearly 17 tonnes of ammonium nitrate, a key component in roadside bombs that are one of the main weapons used by insurgents, officials said.
While the discovery of caches of materials used to make bombs is not unusual, the Kandahar find was the largest of its kind since the chemical was banned earlier this year.
Roadside bombs accounted for about 60 percent of deaths among foreign troops in the past three years, independent monitoring group www.iCasualties.org has estimated.
The total number of foreign troops killed in Afghanistan since 2001 passed the grim milestone of 2,000 at the weekend, focusing attention on a strategic review of the war U.S. President Barack Obama has said he will conduct in December.
The review will follow crucial mid-term Congressional elections, where Obama’s Democrats face a backlash from an increasingly skeptical public. Parliamentary elections are also due in Afghanistan on September 18, with President Hamid Karzai seeking to assert his independence from Western backers.
With no real end to the war in sight, Karzai has been pushing his plan to reconcile with the insurgents, including offering cash and job incentives to Taliban foot soldiers.
Obama wants to begin a phased withdrawal of U.S. troops from July 2011, depending on the readiness of Afghan forces to take over. Karzai has set his forces an ambitious goal of 2014 to take over complete security responsibility.
Further angering Afghan leaders, civilian casualties have also hit record levels in Afghanistan, rising 31 percent in the first half of 2010, according to a U.N. report last week.
Such incidents have long been a major cause of friction between Karzai and his Western backers, even though the number caused by foreign forces has fallen dramatically after tactical directives were tightened by U.S. and NATO commanders.
The tens of thousands of private security contractors operating in Afghanistan have also been a major irritant. Karzai’s office said on Monday such firms would be dissolved within four months.
Additional reporting by Sayed Salahuddin, Hamid Shalizi and Andrew Hammond in KABUL; Writing by Paul Tait; Editing by David Fox
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Former Russian Premier and founder of Gazprom Viktor Chernomyrdin dies at 72. | Viktor Chernomyrdin, who served under Boris Yeltsin as Russian prime minister during the 1990s, has died aged 72.
He came to political prominence as a Soviet minister for the gas industry, and then as head of Russia's new gas monopoly, Gazprom.
In 1992 he became prime minister, overseeing economic reform as well as talks to end the first Chechen war.
He took control of the Budyonnovsk hostage crisis in 1995, when rebels seized 1,500 people at a hospital.
During the five-day siege in southern Russia, Mr Chernomyrdin led negotiations with rebel leader Shamil Basayev while President Yeltsin was in the United States.
The crisis eventually came to an end when the prime minister promised a ceasefire in Chechnya.
Close to Yeltsin
But it is for his role in developing Russia into a market economy that Mr Chernomyrdin is most likely to be remembered.
Another former prime minister, Sergei Stepashin, said that in the mid-1990s, while Russia's economy was "languishing", Mr Chernomyrdin "pulled it out of the abyss".
He was Russia's longest-serving post-Soviet prime minister, in the post from 1992-98.
Viktor Chernomyrdin was very close to Boris Yeltsin and at one point was seen as a likely successor as president.
In November 1996, he became acting president for 23 hours while Mr Yeltsin was undergoing heart surgery.
When Vladimir Putin was elected president, Viktor Chernomyrdin left politics but served as ambassador to Ukraine from 2001-2009.
He was known to have been ill for some time but the Kremlin did not state the cause of his death.
The Itar-Tass news agency reported that Mr Chernomyrdin had been abroad for treatment.
Mr Putin, Russia's current prime minister, described him as a major political figure.
"He did a lot for the formation of our country, for the development of its economy, its social sphere, for strengthening its foreign policy."
President Dmitry Medvedev has told his chief of staff to organise the funeral, which is due to be broadcast live on Russian television on Friday.
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But the drug-maker faces hefty fines if it fails to supply doses of Covid-19 vaccine over the summer. | Famous Person - Death | November 2010 | ['(RT)', '(The Guardian)', '(Wall Street Journal)', '(BBC)', '(AFP)', '(The New York Times)'] |
The UK House of Commons passes an "English votes for English laws" bill by 312 to 270 votes giving English MPs a greater say over legislation that only applies to England. The bill has been fiercely opposed by the opposition Labour Party and the Scottish National Party. | Plans to introduce "English votes for English laws" for MPs have been voted through in the House of Commons.
The government won the backing of MPs by 312 to 270 votes. A series of amendments by Lib Dem and Labour MPs were also defeated.
Commons leader Chris Grayling dismissed objections to the new law as "nonsense" during a bad-tempered debate.
The SNP's Pete Wishart said the "stupid" plans would make Scottish MPs "second class citizens".
There will now be a new stage added to the usual law-making process at Westminster allowing MPs for English constituencies to vote on issues deemed to only affect England. These MPs would be able to veto the legislation before all MPs from across the United Kingdom voted in the bill's final readings.
Speaker John Bercow will decide whether a Bill only affects England, and all MPs in the Commons will still have to pass legislation at other stages of the process.
The Speaker will be able to explain his reason for certifying an issue as English or English and Welsh only and call on two senior MPs to help make the ruling.
The idea is to eliminate the anomaly where Scottish MPs in Westminster can vote on matters such as health or education in England, but English MPs cannot do likewise on issues devolved to the Scottish Parliament. This is known as the West Lothian question and has tormented MPs for decades. Mr Grayling told MPs: "These proposed changes enable us to give an answer to the West Lothian question, they enable us to give an answer to our constituents, to say England will have its own piece of our devolution settlement."
He rejected as "nonsense" claims that it would create "two classes of MPs" adding that the measures were "fair, sensible and I'm entirely comfortable as a unionist presenting them to this House".
He added: "It can't be in anyone's interest to see English people becoming cynical about the union... it isn't tenable to have devolution for Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland and for England to have no powers at all."
The SNP's Pete Wishart told MPs: "Scotland is watching this and the mood is darkening. If this is an exercise in saving the Union you could not have contrived of a more inept way to save the Union.
"Support for independence is actually increasing."
Labour's Chris Bryant said Mr Grayling's plans were so complicated that they resembled a "bowl of soggy, overcooked spaghetti" and claimed they would hasten the break up of the United Kingdom.
Labour backs "an English voice in Parliament" but does not want "an English veto," which would set England against Scotland.
DUP leader Nigel Dodds said: "The proposals neither deal with the problem they diagnose" and threatens the "fabric of our union". Lib Dem Alistair Carmichael said the government "was still inviting" MPs "to do the wrong thing".
Heather Wheeler, Conservative MP for South Derbyshire, said she was "delighted" the plans are being introduced - telling MPs it is a matter of utmost importance to her constituents who object to MPs from devolved nations voting on England-only matters.
Senior Conservative MP John Redwood, who wants an English Parliament, backed the "very mild and moderate" proposals which he said would "start to put right some of the injustice to England". He said English MPs had "always been at the bottom of the heap" and that it was wrong that Scottish MPs could vote on matters in his constituency, such as hospitals and schools, but that he didn't have the right to vote on these matters in Scotland.
When Scotland voted last year to remain part of the UK, David Cameron promised significantly increased powers for the Scottish Parliament, including the ability to set some tax and benefit levels.
At the same time, he promised English MPs they would get more power too - they would be able to legislate in areas such as health and education without any input from MPs representing Scottish seats.
Getting the balance of power between the different legislative bodies right is seen as important to the future of the UK. If the Westminster Parliament is going to have any authority, voters from all parts of the country must feel they are being fairly represented.
A beginners' guide to 'English votes for English laws' How 'English votes' will affect Westminster decision
| Government Policy Changes | October 2015 | ['(BBC)'] |
BP sets aside $32.2bn to clean up the Gulf of Mexico oil spill. | BP says it has set aside $32.2bn (£20.8bn) to cover the costs linked to the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.
The company said the charge gave it a loss of $17bn for the three months between April and June - a UK record. BP's chairman said the costs estimate was based on the company's belief that it was not grossly negligent, and added the bill could be higher.
BP also said Bob Dudley, head of the Gulf clean-up operation, will replace Tony Hayward as chief executive
Mr Hayward will leave his post by mutual agreement in October.
He is likely to retain a role within the company. BP plans to nominate him as a non-executive director of its Russian joint venture, TNK-BP. BP also announced it would increase its asset sales over the next 18 months to $30bn, a total that includes the $7bn-worth earmarked for sale last week.
The $32.2bn cost of the clean-up includes the $20bn already set aside in an escrow account for compensation claims.
"That estimate is also based on our belief that we are not grossly negligent," BP chairman Carl-Henric Svanberg told the BBC's business editor Robert Peston. "Of course we will not know precisely because it depends on how many claims are coming in and [other] things that could happen."
But he insisted that the company was in good financial shape, with strong cashflow. "It's of course a huge loss that overshadows everything else, but the underlying performance of the company is actually strong," he told the BBC. "There is no worry about our financial position and our ability to get through this. It's of course a tragedy and it has large consequences, but we have no doubt that we will be able to rebuild the company," he said.
Stripping out the oil spill costs, BP made a second quarter profit, on a replacement cost basis, of $5bn, compared with $2.9bn for the second quarter of 2009.
Bob Dudley, currently managing director and a US citizen, told ABC's Good Morning America programme, that BP would become a leaner organisation. "It will be smaller and financially, it will grow. We're going to learn a lot from this incident and this accident... There's no question that we will change as a company."
The announcements were welcomed by most investors for their clear-cut approach.
Peter Hitchens, of Panmure Gordon stockbrokers, said: "It's basically a kitchen sink job...
"I think it's the board trying to wipe the slate clean."
Tony Hayward said that, now oil had stopped spilling from the Macondo well, it was a good time to leave his post.
"With the leak now capped, we have reached a significant milestone. This provides a firm basis to reshape the company," he said.
On Monday, the BBC revealed that 53-year old Mr Hayward will receive a year's salary plus benefits, together worth more than £1m.
He will also be entitled to draw an annual pension of £600,000 once he reaches the age of 55.
Mr Hayward's pension pot is valued at about £11m and he will keep his rights to shares under a long-term performance scheme which could - depending on BP's stock market recovery - eventually be worth several million pounds.
Carl-Henric Svanberg said Mr Hayward would be missed.
"The BP board is deeply saddened to lose a CEO whose success over some three years in driving the performance of the company was so widely and deservedly admired," he said.
The handling of the explosion on the drilling rig off Louisiana on 20 April, which killed 11 workers and triggered the worst oil spill in the US, raised questions about Mr Hayward's leadership.
| Financial Aid | July 2010 | ['(BBC)'] |
British Defense Secretary Michael Fallon says only five percent of Russia's airstrikes in Syria have targeted Islamic State extremists. Instead, other Syrian rebel groups, including the Western-backed Free Syrian Army, have been attacked. "Our evidence indicates they are dropping unguided munitions in civilian areas, killing civilians," Fallon added. , | Last updated on: October 03, 2015 2:35 PM
Russia said that its warplanes bombed a terrorist stronghold and other terror targets in northern Syria on Saturday and that it would continue its push against Islamic State extremists despite Western claims that the aerial campaign is largely targeting Western-backed rebels.
Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Lt. Gen. Andrei Kartapolov, speaking to Russian reporters, described "panic and desertion among [Islamic State] ranks" and said "nearly 600 mercenaries" were fleeing the northern town of Raqqa.
"We will not only continue strikes ... we will also increase their intensity," Kartapolov said in comments quoted by Russia's RIA news agency.
The United States and its allies have condemned the days-old Russian air campaign, claiming that Moscow is using the offensive as a cover to buttress the government of embattled Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
In the latest Western critique, Britain's defense chief said only 5 percent of Russia's airstrikes had targeted IS extremists, with most of the Russian bombs instead aimed at rebel groups seeking to oust Assad.
"We're analyzing where the strikes are going every morning," British Defense Secretary Michael Fallon said in an interview with the Sun newspaper. "The vast majority are not against IS at all.
"Our evidence indicates they are dropping unguided munitions in civilian areas, killing civilians, and they are dropping them against Free Syrian forces fighting Assad," Fallon added. "He [Russian President Vladimir Putin] is shoring up Assad and perpetuating the suffering."
More airstrikes
Kartapolov also said Saturday that Russian warplanes had conducted more than 60 flights in the past 72 hours, targeting more than 50 Islamic State facilities.
"All the targets were destroyed quickly, irrespective of weather conditions and time of day," he said.
The ministry also posted YouTube videos of the strikes, which it said were carried out using SU-34 and SU-24M fighter jets.
Obama: No proxy war
On Friday, President Barack Obama insisted the conflict was not going to become a "proxy war" between Washington and Moscow, even as the two countries conduct airstrikes on different groups inside Syria.
"This is not some superpower chessboard contest," Obama said at a White House news conference.
At the same time, he was critical of Russia's military engagement in Syria, calling it a "recipe for disaster."
"[Putin] had to go into Syria not out of strength, but out of weakness because his client [Assad] was crumbling and it was insufficient for him [Putin] to send him arms and money. Now, he's got to put in his own planes and his own pilots," he said.
Obama noted that the Russians do not distinguish between Islamic State militants "and a moderate Sunni opposition that wants to see Assad go. From their perspective, they're all terrorists."
The president said this lack of distinction would have consequences for the Syria that emerges from the conflict, because the moderates will be needed to help run the country.
Obama said the U.S. would continue its current policies of attacking Islamic State, supporting Syrian moderates and working with the Turks along the border and above all, seeking a political solution, which he said would “not be easy” but was “still possible."
Strikes discouraged
A U.S.-led coalition on Friday urged Moscow to halt any attacks on the Syrian opposition and focus on Islamic State targets.
"These military actions constitute a further escalation and will only fuel more extremism and radicalization," said the coalition statement, posted on the Turkish Foreign Ministry's website.
The coalition that includes U.S., Britain, Turkey, France, Germany, Qatar and Saudi Arabia has been carrying out airstrikes against IS targets for about a year.
In a comment clearly aimed at the coalition airstrikes, Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Moualem told the U.N. General Assembly in New York on Friday that airstrikes "are useless unless they are conducted in cooperation with the Syrian army, the only force in Syria that is combating terrorism."
Political solution
Putin, French President Francois Hollande and German Chancellor Angela Merkel discussed Syria during a peace summit on Ukraine Friday.
Hollande said afterward that he told Putin Russian airstrikes must target Islamic State and only Islamic State.
In his speech Friday at the U.N., Moualem said that his government would participate in U.N. working groups to reach a peace deal, but that it could not implement democratic reforms related to elections or the constitution while "fighting terrorism." | Armed Conflict | October 2015 | ['(Voice of America)', '(Reuters)'] |
Georgian Interior Ministry claims "shots were fired" at a convoy including Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili and Polish President Lech Kaczyski on the border of Georgia and South Ossetia. Several witnesses travelling with the convoy say they heard the automatic gunfire, though it was unclear from which direction it came. Polish Parliament spokesman later comments the incident was "not very serious at all", though "unfortunate" as it put the Polish president in an "awkward" situation. | MOSCOW, Nov. 24 -- The presidents of Georgia and Poland said they encountered gunfire while attempting to visit a Russian checkpoint near the South Ossetian border on Sunday, an assertion Russia immediately denied and described as a provocation and "wishful thinking."
Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili and visiting Polish President Lech Kaczynski said Russian troops fired machine guns as the leaders' motorcade approached a checkpoint near the breakaway province of South Ossetia, which Moscow recognized as an independent state after defeating Georgia in a five-day war in August.
No one was injured, and it was unclear whether the shots were aimed at the motorcade or fired into the air, the presidents said at a news conference in Tbilisi, the Georgian capital.
"The reality is you are dealing with unpredictable people," Saakashvili said. "They weren't happy to see our guest, and they weren't happy to see me either."
Russian and South Ossetian authorities denied any shooting occurred and accused the two presidents of deliberate provocation by making the unannounced visit to the checkpoint outside the town of Akhalgori.
"This is one more instance of wishful thinking on the part of Georgia," Grigory Karasin, a Russian deputy foreign minister, told the Interfax news agency.
A Russian Defense Ministry spokesman was quoted as saying that Russian personnel fired no shots, "least of all in the direction of Georgian territory." South Ossetian officials also denied firing any shots.
But several witnesses traveling with Saakashvili and Kaczynski reported hearing automatic gunfire, though they said it was unclear from which direction it came.
Kaczynski said the incident highlighted the ineffectiveness of the French-brokered cease-fire agreement that ended the war.
"I appeal from this spot to my friends in the European Union to draw the proper conclusions from this event before it is too late," said Kaczynski, a firm backer of Georgia.
An E.U. team is monitoring the cease-fire, which called for Russia and Georgia to withdraw troops to positions held before the war. Russian forces have withdrawn from much of Georgia but have reinforced positions in South Ossetia and Abkhazia, another separatist region. | Armed Conflict | November 2008 | ['(CNN-IBN)', '(Washington Post)', '(Moscow Times)'] |
U.S. Representative Chris Collins is arrested on charges of securities and wire fraud, conspiracy and lying to investigators. He is accused of passing nonpublic information about Innate Immunotherapeutics, a biotech company, to his son, who traded on the information and passed it along to others. Collins was a director of the company and also a major investor. | Rep. Chris Collins delivers a speech at the Republican National Convention in 2016 in Cleveland. Collins was the first sitting member of Congress to endorse Donald Trump's presidential bid.
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Rep. Chris Collins delivers a speech at the Republican National Convention in 2016 in Cleveland. Collins was the first sitting member of Congress to endorse Donald Trump's presidential bid.
Updated at 8:08 p.m. ET
Rep. Chris Collins, R-N.Y., was arrested Wednesday on charges related to insider trading.
A federal grand jury accused the Buffalo-area lawmaker of passing nonpublic information about a biotech company to his son, who traded on the information and passed it along to others.
"Congressman Collins cheated our markets and our justice system," said Geoff Berman, the interim U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York. "He placed his family and friends above the public good."
Collins was indicted along with his son, Cameron, and Stephen Zarsky, the father of Cameron's fiancée.
According to the newly-unsealed indictment, timely sales based on inside information allowed Cameron Collins, Zarsky and others to avoid losses totaling more than $768,000 when the biotech company, Innate Immunotherapeutics, failed a key clinical trial.
Rep. Collins was a director of the company and also a major investor.
According to the indictment, Collins was attending the congressional picnic at the White House on June 22, 2017, when he received an email from Innate's CEO, notifying him that a promising drug had failed a clinical trial. Within minutes, Collins telephoned his son, who then passed the information along to others.
"The crime that he committed was to tip his son Cameron so that Cameron and a few select others could trade on the news while the investing public remained in the dark," Berman said.
Collins and the other defendants are charged with securities and wire fraud, conspiracy and lying to investigators. The congressman pleaded not guilty and was released on bond.
"I believe I acted properly and within the law at all times with regard to my affiliation with Innate," Collins told reporters Wednesday night. "The charges that have been levied against me are meritless, and I will mount a vigorous defense in court to clear my name."
Collins stressed that he had not sold any of his own shares in the company. His stock lost 92 percent of its value after the adverse results of the clinical trial were made public.
According to the indictment, the elder Collins was not able to sell his stock because it was held in Australia, where trading had been halted in advance of the company's announcement. Over-the-counter trading continued, however, in the U.S., where Cameron Collins' and Zarky's shares were held.
Collins' dealings with Innate Immunotherapeutics are also the subject of an ongoing congressional ethics probe. He had promoted the stock to former Rep. Tom Price, R-Ga. Price's own holdings in the company became an issue when he was nominated to be President Trump's first secretary of health and human services.
House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., called on the House Ethics Committee to conduct its own review of the new allegations against Collins.
"While his guilt or innocence is a question for the courts to settle, the allegations against Rep. Collins demand a prompt and thorough investigation by the House Ethics Committee," Ryan said in a statement. "Insider trading is a clear violation of the public trust. Until this matter is settled, Rep. Collins will no longer be serving on the House Energy and Commerce Committee."
The Securities and Exchange Commission filed a parallel civil complaint that seeks to bar Collins from serving as an officer or director of any public company in the future.
Collins, who is one of the wealthiest members of Congress, was the first member to publicly endorse Donald Trump during the 2016 presidential campaign. He also served on Trump's transition team.
Berman said prosecutors were mindful of the upcoming midterm election but added that did not color the timing of the indictment. Collins' Democratic challenger, Nate McMurray, called the charges "shocking and sad, but not surprising."
"Anyone who's been paying attention knows what's going on," McMurray said in a statement. "And now the jig is up, because no matter how this is spun, it's clear that the swamp is alive and well in Washington, DC."
The nonpartisan Cook Political Report rates the district as likely to remain in GOP hands.
Collins is believed to be the first member of Congress to face charges related to insider trading, even though lawmakers are privy to all kinds of inside information and some are active stock traders.
A study of stock trades by U.S. Senators in the 1990s found they outperformed the market by an average of 12 percent per year.
"They're either geniuses at the stock market, or they know something that we don't know," said Craig Holman, a lobbyist with Public Citizen's Congress Watch division.
In 2012, after a "60 Minutes" expose, Congress passed a law requiring members to disclose their stock trades within 45 days. Since that new transparency standard took effect, Holman said, the volume of trading on the Senate side has declined by more than two-thirds. | Famous Person - Commit Crime - Arrest | August 2018 | ['(R–NY)', '(NPR)'] |
The victorious Zambia national football team arrives back in Lusaka after winning the 2012 Africa Cup of Nations in a penalty shoot–out. | Africa's new football champions, Zambia's Chipolopolo, have arrived to a heroes' welcome in the capital, Lusaka.
A BBC correspondent says waiting fans went wild as captain Christopher Katongo came out of the plane clutching the golden Africa Cup of Nations.
The Zambian team beat Ivory Coast 8-7 in a dramatic penalty shoot-out late on Sunday night in Gabon.
The win is particularly poignant because 19 years ago Zambia lost its entire team in a plane crash in Gabon.
The BBC's Mutuna Chanda in Lusaka says the airport road is a sea of green, red, orange and black as thousands of fans line up to catch a glimpse of the players making their way to official celebrations to be held downtown in Lusaka's showgrounds.
Several thousand people, some of whom had walked 25km (15 miles), were at the airport to greet the teams.
The event is expected to be attended by former Presidents Rupiah Banda and Kenneth Kaunda, both of whom are huge football fans.
Many Zambians have taken an impromptu day off work to continue celebrating the country's first ever Africa Cup of Nations victory.
The current victorious squad departed from the same airport in the Gabonese capital, Libreville, where a Zambia air force plane had refuelled on its way to Senegal for a World Cup qualifier in March 1993 - and then crashed shortly after take-off.
Zambia's players, nicknamed Chipolopolo (the Copper Bullets), paid tribute to the 18 players who died in that crash - dedicating their triumph to them.
"The players who were killed in the plane crash in Gabon was what was behind us and what was driving us through the tournament," goalkeeper Kennedy Mweene told reporters just before leaving Libreville. "We did not want to go home empty-handed," he said. Winger Felix Katongo told reporters: "We wanted to win the trophy to make the Zambian people proud and so those who died may rest in peace. Now their souls are at peace." But for some of the bereaved relatives, the Chipolopolo's win has been bittersweet.
Joyce Chabala lost her husband Efford, who was the team goalkeeper in 1993.
She said Zambia's victory - in the same place where her husband died - had brought back painful memories, not just of his death but of how relatives were treated by previous governments. Mrs Chabala said she remained unhappy with the official report into what caused the crash and how much compensation she had received.
Nevertheless, she congratulated the current squad.
"I wish my husband were alive so that he could see the team bring the cup here to Zambia - because that was his aim and that is what he died for," she told the BBC's Focus on Africa programme.
Meanwhile, in Abidjan, thousands of Ivorians also turned out to support their team, lining the route across the city from the airport to the players' hotel, the BBC's John James reports.
Monday was declared an official national holiday by the government despite the fact that the Elephants lost, he says.
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But the drug-maker faces hefty fines if it fails to supply doses of Covid-19 vaccine over the summer. | Sports Competition | February 2012 | ['(BBC News)'] |
A mandatory evacuation order for more than 29,000 people remains in place for the Canadian town of Fort McMurray, Alberta, which is threatened by an out of control wildfire. | Flames rise in Industrial area south Fort McMurray, Alberta. The whole city of Fort McMurray is under a mandatory evacuation order because of an uncontrolled wildfire that is rapidly spreading, local authorities said on Tuesday.
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The entire 80,000-strong population of Fort McMurray was ordered to leave everything behind and evacuate quickly as an out-of-control wildfire veered into the city on Tuesday with little warning, creating the largest fire evacuation in Alberta's history.
As fire burned through suburbs toward downtown Tuesday afternoon, a wall of flames sprouted up along the only highway out of Fort McMurray. Within a few hours, the whole city was ordered to evacuate.
The fire had been burning southwest of Fort McMurray since Sunday, but a sudden shift in winds around 1:30 p.m. on Tuesday led to a dramatic turn of events as the fire jumped over rivers and roads, tearing into the northern Alberta city. Residents reported hearing the popping noises of fuel tanks rupturing as they drove on a jammed Highway 63 for safety.
"Our focus is completely and entirely right now on ensuring the safety of people, of getting them out of the city," Premier Rachel Notley said Tuesday afternoon from the government's emergency centre in Edmonton.
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The Fort McMurray fire: How to help, and receive help
Emergency officials confirmed late Tuesday that whole neighbourhoods of Fort McMurray have been destroyed.
Fire chief Darby Allen said they did not have an estimate of the number of homes destroyed, but said the fire is burning in several areas in the city's south end. There have been no reports of serious injuries.
"My home of the last 10 years and the home I had for 15 years before that are both destroyed," said Brian Jean, the leader of Alberta's Opposition and member of the legislature for the area.
On Tuesday morning, the fire had covered nearly 27 square kilometres outside of the city, but as the flames surged toward Fort McMurray, the 100 firefighters battling the flames had to pull back. To fight back the flames, nine air tankers and more than a dozen helicopters dropped long streams of water and fire retardant as the fires spread.
"The wildfire behaviour is extremely erratic and it isn't safe for firefighters to be on the ground," said Laura Stewart, a wildfire information officer with the Alberta government. "It's a very fluid situation and things are changing by the moment."
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Officials called for calm Tuesday as worried residents took to the roads and caused traffic chaos as they fled. Many evacuations orders were given with less than 30 minutes' warning as officials seemed to be caught off-guard by the rapid advance of the flames. The city was cut in half in the afternoon as flames leapt across Highway 63.
Cassie White, 19, said she feared for her life as she tried to flee the area only to be turned around near Gregoire, just south of Fort McMurray.
"On the left was a big gas station; the flames jumped over the highway and blew up the gas station. It was torched," said Ms. White, who was making her way to Edmonton with her boyfriend.
"People were driving on the shoulder. There were flames maybe 15 feet high right off the highway. There was a dump truck on fire – I had to swerve around it – and there was a pickup truck on fire as well. The entire trailer park on my right was in flames. Roofs were coming down."
A huge sheet of debris – possibly part of a roof – hit her car as she drove up a hill, she recalled. She saw police officers in oxygen masks and civilians breathing through wet cloths.
"It almost looks like a zombie apocalypse," she said. "At the time, I didn't know if I was going to make it out … It was very, very scary. I felt like I was in a vacuum bag and all the air was being sucked out."
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Chas Coley awoke midday from a night shift to a friend calling to warn him to "start packing."
When the heavy equipment operator escaped with his Rottweiler around 5 p.m. he said a blaze 15 metres high was licking at the tree line of the property next to his home in the Dickinsfield neighbourhood.
"When I left the house I saw flames, so I wouldn't be surprised if my house was barbecued," said Mr. Coley, a Newfoundland native who has owned the home for six years.
Alberta Opposition Leader Brian Jean was driving to his home in Fort McMurray on Tuesday afternoon when he heard that most of his neighbourhood had burnt down. Staff in Mr. Jean's office said that it appeared likely that the Wildrose Party Leader's home was lost in the blaze.
The province had found room for only 6,000 evacuees as of Tuesday evening. Fort McMurray is in a remote area in Alberta's northeast and its health facilities and amenities were evacuated on Tuesday.
Noralta Lodges Ltd, which operates facilities that provide housing for the oil sector, said it was opening the doors to hundreds of rooms, free of charge, to evacuees from Fort McMurray.
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"We're just trying to get people safe," spokesperson Blaire McCalla said from the Edmonton area where she was monitoring the situation. "Our operations teams are just flat out trying to get everybody safe, and get them food and get them calm."
Curtis Galas said he had no choice but to offer evacuees free lodging at his small resort on Elinor Lake, about a three hours' drive south of the destruction.
Mr. Galas, who spent 14 years working in Fort McMurray before taking over the resort four years ago, said three families had booked rooms and two remained open as of Tuesday evening.
"We're ex-Fort McMurray residents, so we've opened our hearts and the doors," Mr. Galas told The Globe from Normandeau, Alta. "This is just devastating, but it's amazing how the people have pulled together."
More heavy equipment and more than 100 additional fire fighters are headed toward the city. Emergency crews from nearby oil-sands operations helped fight the flames, with municipalities across the province offering aid.
Much of Alberta has been under extreme or very high wildfire warnings over the past month. After 2015 was marked by the worst drought in a half-century, the province experienced a mild winter that left little snow. A heat wave across the province this week, as well as strong winds, turned the vast forests around Fort McMurray into an inferno.
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Late Tuesday afternoon, municipal Councillor Allan Vinni said a significant portion of the Abasand Heights neighbourhood in Fort McMurray has been lost. He was in the area as the fire approached, trying to help an employee and her daughter evacuate.
He says he saw a wall of flames nearly 12 metres high only a block away from his car and they were fortunate to get out on time.
"I'm covered in ash here," he said in a phone interview. "It's still burning like hell up there."
"From what I can see, we're in serious trouble here," he said. "It's going to be very difficult to stop this fire."
Mr. Vinni, a lawyer, was driving his employee's antique Mustang that kept stalling as he tried to evacuate Fort McMurray. Downtown, he said, was a "ghost town."
Alberta's fire crews had been on alert across the province since March 1. The province's wildfire officials say they were ready for this fire as a result of the 2011 blaze that destroyed more than 400 buildings in the community of Slave Lake.
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Fire officials had warned on Tuesday morning that they faced a challenging day ahead keeping the fire at bay. At 11 a.m. they said the flames were 1.2 kilometres away from Highway 63 and a night of work building fire defences seemed to be working.
Whipped up by the strong winds and heat, the flames moved toward the city around 1:30 p.m. By 2:15 the first residents were told to leave. Two hours later, more than half the city faced a mandatory evacuation order. The first homes were on fire as those residents fled.
By late afternoon Tuesday, Fort McMurray residents were being evacuated south to the hamlet of Anzac, and north to the Noralta Lodge at a Suncor Energy site 20 kilometres north of town.
All non-essential personnel in Suncor's oil-sands operations were evacuated on Tuesday evening. Spokesman Paul Newmarch said the company's primary concern is the safety of its employees. "We're monitoring the situation closely and working closely with the municipality," he said.
Syncrude Canada Ltd. spokesman Will Gibson was speaking to reporters by phone as he and his family tried to navigate the bumper-to-bumper evacuation traffic. He said there were houses on fire in their Beacon Hill neighbourhood as they drove away late Tuesday afternoon.
At about 5 p.m. MST, Mr. Gibson said the fire was nowhere near Syncrude's operations, and he was unsure whether facilities were still running normally.
Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale said the federal government was monitoring the situation.
"I strongly encourage impacted residents of Fort McMurray to follow the directions of their municipal law enforcement and first responders." he said in a statement. "If you are being ordered to evacuate, please do so for your own safety." | Fire | May 2016 | ['(The Globe and Mail)'] |
Harry Patch, the last surviving World War I veteran to have fought in the trenches, dies aged 111. | The last British survivor of the World War I trenches, Harry Patch, has died at the age of 111.
Mr Patch was conscripted into the Army aged 18 and fought in the Battle of Passchendaele at Ypres in 1917 in which more than 70,000 British soldiers died. He was raised in Combe Down, near Bath, and had been living at a care home in Wells, Somerset. The sole British survivor of the war is former seaman Claude Choules, who is aged 108 and lives in Perth, Australia. 'Great man'
Mr Choules, who is originally from Worcestershire, saw service with the Royal Navy. Henry Allingham, who served in the navy and the RAF in WWI, died at the age of 113 a week ago. The Queen said she was "saddened" to hear of Mr Patch's death.
Please turn on JavaScript. Media requires JavaScript to play. Gordon Brown: ''This is the last of a generation of heroes''
"We will never forget the bravery and enormous sacrifice of his generation, which will continue to serve as an example to us all." Prime Minister Gordon Brown said: "I had the honour of meeting Harry, and I share his family's grief at the passing of a great man. "I know that the whole nation will unite today to honour the memory, and to take pride in the generation that fought the Great War. The noblest of all the generations has left us, but they will never be forgotten." A national memorial service should be held as "a special commemoration" of the efforts of Mr Patch and "a generation of people" who fought in World War I, Mr Brown added. 'Remained loyal'
The Prince of Wales said nothing could give him greater pride than paying tribute to Mr Patch. He told the BBC: "Harry was involved in numerous bouts of heavy fighting on the front line but amazingly remained unscathed for a while.
"Tragically one night in September 1917 when in the morass in the Ypres Salient a German shrapnel shell burst overhead badly wounding Harry and killing three of his closest friends. "In spite of the comparatively short time that he served with the Duke of Cornwall's Light Infantry, Harry always cherished the extraordinary camaraderie that the appalling conditions engendered in the battalion and remained loyal to the end." Chief of the General Staff, General Sir Richard Dannatt, said: "He was the last of a generation that in youth was steadfast in its duty in the face of cruel sacrifice and we give thanks for his life - as well as those of his comrades - for upholding the same values and freedom that we continue to cherish and fight for today." Conservative leader David Cameron said: "The passing of our last surviving WWI soldier marks the end of an era and is a reminder of the huge debt of gratitude we owe Harry and those he served alongside." 'Last of generation'
Mr Patch was born on 17 June 1898 and left school at the age of 15 to train as a plumber. He was a machine-gunner in the trenches and served as a private from June to September 1917.
Please turn on JavaScript. Media requires JavaScript to play. Prince Charles spoke of the terrible conditions faced by soldiers during WWI
Mr Patch was at the time of his death the oldest man in Europe and the third oldest man in the world, according to the Ministry of Defence. He was married twice, first in 1919 in Hadley, Shropshire, to Ada which lasted 60 years, and then to Jean when he was 81. He had two sons with Ada, Dennis and Roy, both of whom he outlived. From 2003 he had a third partner, Doris, who lived in the same retirement home and died two years ago.
His biographer Richard Van Emden said Mr Patch "had a sparkle about him" and was "one of the most rewarding people to be with". "He was the last of that generation and the poignancy of that is almost overwhelming. He remembered all of those who died and suffered and every time he was honoured he knew it was for all of those who fought," he said. 'True gentleman'
Mr Patch's friend Lesley Ross said she felt great affection towards him.
"Extremely modest, dignified gentleman, with a slightly wicked sense of humour and considerate to everybody he met. Very polite and I would sum him up as a true gentleman," she said. The Ministry of Defence said there would be a funeral cortege through Wells followed by a service at Wells Cathedral. The Fletcher House care home said in a statement it extended its deepest sympathies to Mr Patch's family and friends. Andrew Larpent, chief executive of Somerset Care, said Mr Patch died peacefully in his bed having been unwell for some time. "His friends and his family have been here. He just quietly slipped away at 9am this morning," he said. "It was how he would have wanted it, without having to be moved to hospitals but here, peacefully with his friends and carers." | Famous Person - Death | July 2009 | ['(BBC)', '(CNN)'] |
Two Army soldiers and 13 Taliban militants are killed during a raid in Mohmand Agency, Pakistan. | The Pakistan army has fought off a Taleban attack on an outpost near the Afghan border, killing at least 13 militants, the military says.
An army major said the two soldiers died in the pre-dawn attack in the lawless Mohmand tribal region, bordering Afghanistan's Kunar province. Mohmand in North-West Frontier Province is said to be a hub for Taleban. The attack comes days after the army fought with Taleban in the north-west's Buner region, killing about 60. "The Taleban attack [in Mohmand] was launched before dawn, troops retaliated and heavy fighting continued until early this morning," military spokesman Major Fazal Khan said, according to AFP news agency. The Taleban had carried out a series of attacks on trucks laden with supplies for Nato personnel in Afghanistan near Peshawar, the capital of North-West Frontier Province. On Friday, following the days of battle in neighbouring Buner and Lower Dir, talks were held to shore up a peace deal in the NWFP. Both sides - the cleric who negotiated the deal and NWFP officials - said they backed the peace deal but no agreement was concluded on a truce. The Pakistani government and some Western nations are concerned that the Taleban are trying to extend their influence beyond the Swat Valley, an area which they largely control already. The Taleban and the NWFP government this year agreed a deal that would bring Sharia law to large parts of the region in return for an end to the insurgency. However, the Taleban have not laid down their arms. What are these? | Armed Conflict | May 2009 | ['(BBC)'] |
The United States imposes a 25% tariff on goods imported from China worth $50 billion, set to come into effect on July 6, and accuses Beijing of "intellectual copyright theft". | US President Donald Trump is to impose 25% tariffs on $50bn worth of Chinese goods, accusing Beijing of intellectual copyright theft.
Tariffs that affect more than 800 products worth $34bn in annual trade are due to come into effect on 6 July. The White House said it would consult on tariffs on the other $16bn of products, and would apply these later.
China retaliated, saying it will impose an additional 25% tariff on 659 US goods worth $50bn.
The US had earlier warned that it will impose even more tariffs should China retaliate. Mr Trump said the tariffs were "essential to preventing further unfair transfers of American technology and intellectual property to China, which will protect American jobs."
The Chinese product lines that have been hit range from aircraft tyres to turbines and commercial dishwashers.
In response, China announced tariffs on $34bn of US goods including agricultural products, cars and marine products which will also take effect from 6 July.
Tariffs on other US goods will be announced at a later date, the Xinhua news agency reported.
"If the US takes unilateral and protectionist measures that harm Chinese interests, we will respond immediately by taking the necessary decisions to safeguard our legitimate rights and interests," Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said earlier on Friday.
All trade talks between China and the US would be void if Washington imposed trade sanctions, he added. Stock markets dropped in Europe and the US after the announcements with investors concerned about a possible trade war.
The US wants China to stop practices that allegedly encourage transfer of intellectual property - design and product ideas - to Chinese companies, such as requirements that foreign firms share ownership with local partners to access the Chinese market. However many economists and businesses in the US say the tariffs are likely to hurt some of the sectors the administration is trying to protect, which depend on China for parts or assembly. Farmers are also worried about harm caused by retaliation.
Economists estimate that the tariffs will hurt GDP by less than half of a percentage point. But the measures could also lead to higher prices and job losses in some industries.
The Motor and Equipment Manufacturers Association, which represents car parts makers, called the tariffs "taxes that hurt U.S. companies, put jobs at risk, and negatively impact consumers." Boat-makers, which are also facing higher costs due to US tariffs on steel and aluminium, will now be hit with tariffs on almost 300 parts, said the National Marine Manufacturers Association.
The organisation described the tariffs as "bad trade policies that are piling up on top of each other".
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) warned that the dispute could hurt business and consumer confidence.
IMF Director Christine Lagarde said Thursday that a trade war would lead to "losers on both sides" and could have a "serious" impact.
The US announced plans for tariffs this spring, after an investigation into China's intellectual property practices. It published a draft list of about 1,300 Chinese products slated for tariffs in April. The list released Friday incorporates feedback and criticism received in the ensuing weeks.
It contains about 1,100 items, including about 285 newly proposed items - such as items for the semiconductor industry - that are subject to further review.
The White House said the measures shouldn't hurt consumers, pointing out that items such as televisions that were included on the draft list had been taken off the list.
It will also allow companies to apply for exclusions from the duties.
The plans have elicited a mixed political reaction, drawing praise from Democrats and opposition from Republicans, who typically favour free trade policies.
Senator Chuck Schumer, a leading Democrat, said the president's actions were "on the money"
He said: "China is our real trade enemy, and their theft of intellectual property and their refusal to let our companies compete fairly threatens millions of future American jobs."
Republican Kevin Brady said it was "encouraging" that the administration had revised the initial list but urged the White House to further narrow the items subject to the tariffs. He said: "My message has been consistent: we need to hit our target, which is China and its deceptive and harmful trading practices. But I am concerned that these new tariffs will instead hurt American manufacturers, farmers, workers, and consumers."
By Tara McKelvey, White House reporter
Trump talked about the forgotten people, white working-class folks, at his inauguration. But the plans to impose tariffs will hurt individuals in the farm belt, an important part of his base. Recently, I visited Missouri, driving past soybean fields, and heard people talk about the way China would retaliate, imposing tariffs on soybeans. White House aides have warned Trump about implications of his policies. One official told me they'd haul in maps to show him rural states and how they'd be affected. He'd listen carefully, said the official. Later, though, he'd move ahead with tariffs and other policies that were upsetting for Missourians and those in the farm belt. | Government Policy Changes | June 2018 | ['(BBC)', '(Business Insider via AOL)'] |
Azerbaijan Air Force Lieutenant General Rail Rzayev is killed in Baku. | The commander of Azerbaijan's air force has been shot dead outside his house in the capital, Baku, officials have said.
Lt-Gen Rail Rzayev, 64, was shot once in the head by an unknown gunman while getting into his car in a western area of the city at around 0800 (0400 GMT).
Defence ministry officials said the general was taken to a military hospital, but died shortly afterwards.
The authorities say they have launched an investigation into the murder, but they do not know what the motive was.
Nijmedin Sadykhov, the head of the Azeri military general staff, told Lider TV that security cameras near Gen Rzayev's home might help catch the perpetrator.
"There was a single shot. According to preliminary information, Rzayev's car had been under surveillance for several days," he said.
Oil-rich nation
Gen Rzayev, who had commanded Azerbaijan's air force since 1992, was rarely seen in public or in the media.
He was the first high-ranking military official to be killed in the former Soviet state since 1994, when the country was at war with Armenia over the disputed territory of Nagorno-Karabakh.
Since then, a fragile ceasefire has held in the region, but there is still no lasting resolution as to how the territory should be governed.
More recently, the general was the Azeri representative in the stalled negotiations between Russia and the US over the use of the Qabala radar station in northern Azerbaijan.
Moscow had offered Washington access to data from the Soviet-built radar station, which it leases from the Azeri government, as an alternative to US plans to station elements of a missile defence shield in Eastern Europe.
Azerbaijan, which lies on the Caspian Sea and has major oil and gas resources, has recently invested much of its wealth into the military.
Official statistics show the government spent more than $1bn (£696m) on improvements to its armed forces last year.
Some military analysts say Gen Razayev played a role in the country's recent large-scale military acquisitions.
"Rzayev was the focal point for air force and air defence military acquisitions, and the largest part of [Azerbaijan's] military budget is being allocated for acquisitions in these spheres," Baku-based analyst Uzeir Jafarov told the AFP news agency.
In October 2008, the International Crisis Group described Azerbaijan's armed forces as "fragmented, divided, accountable-to-no-one-but-the-president, un-transparent, corrupt and internally feuding", and highlighted problems in supply and procurement.
"A lack of transparency and parliamentary oversight of tenders for military construction and food and other purchases for the army allows inflated prices and proxy companies to receive preferential treatment," it said in a report.
However, the BBC's Tom Esslemont in Baku says it is too early to say whether the general's role in such decisions may have formed any part of a motive for his murder.
Foreign diplomats have also warned that the mainly Muslim country, which borders Iran and Russia's troubled Caucasus region, also faces a real threat from Islamic extremism.
Azerbaijan's President, Ilham Aliyev, won re-election in October in a vote which international observers said fell short of fully democratic standards.
He took over power from his father, Heydar Aliyev, who was president for 10 years until his death in 2003.
The country will vote in a referendum in March on the scrapping of a two-term limit on the presidency, which would allow Mr Aliyev to run again for office after his current term ends in 2013. | Famous Person - Death | February 2009 | ['(BBC)'] |
Rupert Murdoch gives evidence to the Leveson inquiry, claiming former British Labour Prime Minister Gordon Brown "declared war" on his organisation after The Sun newspaper came out in support of the Conservatives in 2009, an allegation denied by Brown. | Ex-Labour Prime Minister Gordon Brown has denied News Corp chairman Rupert Murdoch's claim that he threatened to "make war" on the media company.
Mr Murdoch told the Leveson Inquiry Mr Brown had phoned him in 2009 after the Sun moved to back the Conservatives.
He quoted Mr Brown as saying: "Well, your company has declared war on my government and we have no alternative but to make war on your company."
But later, Mr Brown responded by saying the allegation was "wholly wrong".
Mr Murdoch had claimed that Mr Brown had not been in a "balanced state of mind" when he made the phone call.
Mr Brown said he did not phone, meet, or write to Mr Murdoch about the Sun's decision to support the Conservatives.
"The only phone call I had with Mr Murdoch in the last year of my time in office was a phone call specifically about Afghanistan and his newspaper's coverage of the war," he said.
"I hope Mr Murdoch will have the good grace to correct his account."
In his written witness statement to the inquiry, Mr Murdoch described attending breakfast and lunches with Mr Brown in which politics and policy were discussed. He added: "I am afraid that my personal relationship with Mr Brown suffered after the Sun no longer supported him politically."
Mr Murdoch said he had frequently met Tony Blair when he was prime minister.
The media mogul said he regarded Mr Blair as a personal friend and enjoyed speaking to him before, during and after his time as prime minister.
In his written statement, he recalled the then-Labour leader speaking "convincingly about the ability of a new Labour Party to energise Britain" at a News Corp conference in 1995.
"Mr Blair did not expressly request our support in 1995, 1997 or any other election, but he was a politician and I had no doubt that he would welcome the support of our newspapers and our readers," he said.
"I want to say that I, in 10 years of his power, never asked Mr Blair for anything.
"Nor indeed did I receive any favours. If you want to check that, I think you should call him."
Meanwhile, Culture Secretary Jeremy Hunt's special adviser Adam Smith has quit after Rupert Murdoch's son James on Tuesday revealed details of contacts between Mr Smith and senior figures at News Corp, while the firm was bidding to take control of BSkyB. But Mr Hunt has rejected calls for him to resign, telling the Commons he had "strictly followed due process" in overseeing the bid.
In his written statement, Mr Murdoch said he first met David Cameron, who was then Leader of the Opposition, at a family picnic at his daughter's country home.
They did not discuss politics as they were surrounded by children, Mr Murdoch said. Mr Cameron visited him at his offices in Wapping, east London, some time later at the Tory leader's request.
Mr Murdoch said: "Mr Cameron, since his election as prime minister, I have met principally in social settings, where little of substance was discussed."
The News Corp chairman said he could not remember meeting Mr Cameron on a yacht near the Greek island of Santorini in August 2008, but that his wife Wendi could.
Counsel to the inquiry Robert Jay QC asked Mr Murdoch if he had discussed policy such as broadcasting regulations with Mr Cameron.
"Mr Jay, you keep inferring that endorsements were motivated by business motives and if that had been the case we would have endorsed the Conservative Party in every election," he said. "But I didn't. I was interested in issues."
"I want to put it to bed once and for all, that that is a complete myth… that I used the influence of the Sun or the supposed political power to get favourable treatment." He said the perception of his influence over politicians irritated him.
"Because I think it's a myth. And, everything I do every day I think proves it to be such. Have a look at - well it's not a problem - but how I treat Mayor Bloomberg in New York - sends him crazy. But, we support him every time he runs for re-election."
Mr Murdoch also denied ever discussing with Mr Cameron News Corp's bid for the 61% of UK broadcaster BSkyB it did not own.
He said there was no link in his mind between his support for the Conservatives and News Corp's bid. Mr Murdoch said he had no strong feelings over the Scottish National Party (SNP) - despite The Sun in Scotland backing them in the last general election. He denied that any deal had been done with the party's leader, Alex Salmond, who he said was "an amusing guy" with whom he had a warm relationship.
The inquiry yesterday considered claims made in an email from a senior News Corp figure suggesting Mr Salmond would call Culture Secretary Jeremy Hunt "whenever we need him to".
Mr Salmond denied any wrong-doing over the BSkyB takeover bid, saying he would be "delighted" to appear before the Leveson Inquiry.
Earlier, Mr Murdoch denied asking or being offered any favours when he met then-Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher at a lunch in 1981, at the same time his company was buying The Times and Sunday Times newspapers.
He admitted he was a "great admirer" of Baroness Thatcher, whom the Sun supported in the 1979 general election.
Counsel Robert Jay QC suggested Mr Murdoch wanted to show Mrs Thatcher he had the will to take on the unions over his bid for the Times and Sunday Times.
But the media mogul replied: "I didn't have the will to crush the unions, I might have had the desire, but that took several years."
Asked about the News of the World, which was forced to close in the wake of the phone-hacking scandal, Mr Murdoch said he was "sorry to say" he "never much interfered" with it.
Mr Murdoch said he tried very hard to set an example of ethical behaviour and made it clear he expected it. He said he did not believe in using hacking or private detectives because it was a "lazy way of reporters not doing their job". But he added: "I think it is fair when people have themselves held up as iconic figures or great actors that they be looked at."
In his witness statement to the inquiry, Mr Murdoch also confirmed that News Corporation's Management and Standards Committee was co-operating with the US Department of Justice. The news comes after reports that investigations into phone-hacking allegations could extend to the US authorities.
Leveson Inquiry
Department for Culture Media and Sport | Famous Person - Commit Crime - Accuse | April 2012 | ['(BBC)'] |
The Karen National Union attacks an army outpost near the MyanmarThailand border at dawn. The Myanmar military retaliates with airstrikes as some 450 Thai villagers are moved to safety by the Thai military. There are no immediate reports of casualties. | April 27 (Reuters) - Ethnic minority Karen insurgents attacked a Myanmar army outpost near the Thai border on Tuesday in some of the most intense clashes since a military coup nearly three months ago threw the country into crisis.
| Armed Conflict | April 2021 | ['(Reuters)'] |
Hungary's ruling party Fidesz withdraws from the conservative European Parliament bloc European People's Party , after the EPP changed its rules to allow it to expel a party's entire delegation. Fidesz's membership had been suspended since 2019 after it accused then–European Commission President Jean–Claude Juncker and philanthropist George Soros of conspiring to "flood" Europe with migrants during a national campaign. | Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban says Fidesz is quitting the European People's Party, an alliance of center-right EU lawmakers, after EPP officials changed internal rules to make it easier to expel members.
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has quit the EPP bloc
On Wednesday, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban's Fidesz quit the center-right European People's Party bloc in the European Parliament after EPP members backed rule changes that would have made it easier to kick lawmakers out.
One hundred forty-eight MEPs voted in favor of, and 28 against, new rules to allow them to suspend or dismiss an entire national party delegation
The EPP group is the biggest in the parliament. German Chancellor Angela Merkel's Christian Democrats are members.
Orban hit out in a letter released on Wednesday, saying Fidesz was quitting before it could be ousted from the center-right alliance.
"I hereby inform you that Fidesz MEPs resign their membership in the EPP group," Orban wrote to group leader Manfred Weber, claiming the changes were "clearly a hostile move against Fidesz and our voters."
EPP officials had already suspended Fidesz from the party itself in 2019 over a Hungarian government campaign that used posters to accuse Jean-Claude Juncker, then the head of the European Commission, and the US billionaire George Soros of plotting to flood Europe with migrants..
EPP chairman Weber said he regretted that Fidesz was leaving, telling a press conference that it was "a sad day because we couldn't manage this anymore."
Weber said the behavior of Hungary's ruling party towards the European Union was a main reason for the split: "It is about rule of law. It is about the things that are going on in Hungary. That is the substance of the problem. It's a provocative approach against Europe in some of the statements of Viktor Orban."
The vote on changing the parliamentary grouping suspension rules came after the EPP sanctioned Fidesz group leader Tamas Deutsch.
He had compared remarks by Weber, a member of the Bavarian Christian Social Union party, to the slogans of the Gestapo and the Hungarian Communist Party's secret police.
It follows years of tensions within the EPP, with splits emerging over whether to keep the Hungarian ruling party inside the group.
More centrist members of the EPP have backed charges of backsliding on democracy and the rule of law leveled at Budapest by EU institutions.
It is as yet unclear whether Orban's MEPs will seek to join another group inside the parliament. | Withdraw from an Organization | March 2021 | ['(EPP)', '(DW)'] |
Morris Iemma resigns as Premier of New South Wales following a loss of support in the Australian Labor Party caucus, and is replaced by Nathan Rees. | New NSW Premier Nathan Rees has praised outgoing Premier Morris Iemma for his integrity and courage, insisting Mr Iemma was not pushed out of the job.
"He's a man of extraordinary decency, integrity and honour, and his actions today in resigning the premiership of NSW demonstrate he's also a man of enormous courage,'' Mr Rees told reporters.
He also said sacked Treasurer Michael Costa would not be returning to the new-look cabinet.
Mr Rees said NSW faced clear service delivery challenges in transport and health.
"You know those challenges as well as I do,'' he told reporters.'' "Today we start work on fixing those issues. Those issues that directly relate to peoples lives, that impact on their lives, in their homes, their streets and their communities and their schools.
Mr Rees said he would work to restore public confidence in the administration of NSW.
"On occasions, the administration has let you down. You are right to feel frustrated, you are right to feel annoyed, you are right to feel disappointed.
"On occasions, you are right to feel angry.''
"On that basis that I say this to you: we need real change an that real change starts today.'' Mr Rees was sworn in as Premier of NSW this afternoon.
The former garbage collector has had a meteoric rise to the top of the political heap in NSW.
He was first elected a member of state parliament in March last year and was immediately appointed to the front bench as Water Utilities and Emergency Services Minister.
In February this year, he took over the main water portflio as Water Minister, when Phil Koperberg resigned because of ill health.
He emerged from today's caucus meeting saying he would not announce his new cabinet until next week. But he said he would "start work for the people of NSW today".
It's understood Ms Tebbutt wants her old education portfolio back.
While Mr Iemma's eyes were bloodshot, he appeared to have recovered his composure and looked calm.
About 40 minutes after they went in, Mr Iemma and Mr Watkins emerged together while the meeting continued inside.
Applause could be heard as they left the room.
Tears for Iemma
It has been a bruising morning for some ministers, with Kristina Keneally and Linda Burney, some of Morris Iemma's closest backers, visibly in tears as they made their way into the meeting.
Former minister Phil Koperberg told waiting media outside caucus that the dumping of the Premier had come as a shock.
Caucus revolt Morris Iemma resigned as NSW Premier this morning. Mr Iemma faced a caucus revolt and Mr Rees, a former greenkeeper and garbage collector, had the numbers to overthrow Mr Iemma. It is understood that there was so much division within the dominant Right faction that Mr Iemma appeared to have lost a significant amount of support from once-loyal backers. The right-wing powerbrokers Eddie Obeid and Joe Tripodi are understoood to have told Mr Iemma that he had lost the support of MPs and would not survive a caucus meeting. The pressure intensified after outgoing Treasurer Michael Costa set off a series of bombs at his press conference earlier this morning.
Punters get it right
Political punters were right on the money by backing Nathan Rees to become NSW Premier by New Year's Day, a bookmaker says.
Sportingbet Australia opened a book on the NSW premiership in early July and priced Mr Rees at $5.00.
A flurry of bets saw that price reined in to $1.80, with outgoing premier Morris Iemma's odds racing out to $2.45 from $1.65.
"Sportingbet Australia opened the market in early July with Morris Iemma the short-priced favourite at $1.65, but a surge of good sized bets quickly saw Mr Rees backed into outright favouritism and Mr Iemma's price blow out to $2.45,'' Sportingbet Australia chief executive Michael Sullivan said.
"Punters have a very good nose for politics. I'm sure there are politicians who get nervous when they see their odds go down.'' | Government Job change - Resignation_Dismissal | September 2008 | ['(Sydney Morning Herald)'] |
It is reported that former Chess World Champion Bobby Fischer was detained in Japan on July 13, 2004, and may face deportation due to competing in Yugoslavia in 1992. | Fischer, was stopped at Tokyo's Narita International Airport on Tuesday as he tried to go to the Philippines, an airport official said on condition of anonymity.
The Kyodo News agency said he was detained for allegedly using an invalid U.S. passport. Kyodo and the Asahi newspaper reported officials were preparing to deport him to the United States.
The U.S. Embassy in Tokyo said it knew Fischer had been detained but refused to comment further, citing privacy concerns.
Fischer became a Cold War hero in 1972 when he defeated Boris Spassky of the Soviet Union to become the first American world chess champion. But the chess prodigy, long know for his eccentric ways, stunned the chess world by refusing to play again, and had slipped mysteriously in and out of public view in the years since.
He forfeited the title in 1975, and resurfaced for a dramatic rematch against Spassky in Yugoslavia in 1992, beating him 10-5 to win $3.35 million.
U.S. authorities accused him of violating U.N. sanctions imposed against Yugoslavia by playing the match. The sanctions were imposed on Yugoslavia for provoking warfare in neighboring Bosnia-Herzegovina.
Fischer, indicted by a grand jury in 1992, managed to elude authorities and left a tantalizing trail that included radio broadcasts from the Philippines and sightings in Japan.
In radio interviews, he praised the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, saying America should be "wiped out," and described Jews as "thieving, lying bastards." His mother was Jewish.
Fischer, now 61 years old, became grandmaster at age 15. He announced that he had abandoned chess in 1996 and launched a new version, "Fischerandom," a computerized shuffler that randomly distributes chess pieces on the back row of the chess board at the start of each game.
Fischer claimed it would bring the fun back into the game and rid it of cheats.
photo credit and caption:
FILE --- Japanese immigration authorities have detained former world chess champion Bobby Fischer, shown at right in this 1970 file photo, an official said Friday July 16, 2004. Fischer, wanted in the United States for attending a 1992 chess match in Yugoslavia in violation of international sanctions, was stopped at Tokyo's Narita International Airport on Tuesday, an airport spokesman said on condition of anonymity. Officials were preparing to deport him to the United States, the Asahi Shimbun newspaper said Friday, citing unnamed sources. Reigning chess world champion Fisher of the United States, right, is shown playing Boris Spassky of the U.S.S. R., left, during a game at the XIX World Chess Olympiad, in Siegen, Germany, on September 20, 1970. (AP Photo/Heinz Ducklau)
| | Famous Person - Commit Crime - Arrest | July 2004 | ['(ABC NEWS)', '(CNN)'] |
Mohammed Badie, the guide of Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood, will appear in court with 680 others to face charges of incitement to kill. | The UN human rights commissioner has condemned an Egyptian court's decision to sentence to death 528 supporters of ousted President Mohammed Morsi. A spokesman for Navi Pillay said the "cursory mass trial" was "rife with procedural irregularities" and breached international human rights law.
The defendants were found guilty on Monday of charges relating to an attack on a police station in Minya in August.
Another 683 Morsi supporters went on trial at the same court on Tuesday.
They include the Muslim Brotherhood's general guide, Mohammed Badie, and the chairman of its Freedom and Justice Party (FJP), Saad al-Katatni.
Later, security forces clashed with hundreds of Minya University students protesting against the trials. Tear gas was fired at the students after they blocked a main road, threw stones and set an armoured police vehicle on fire.
There has been widespread condemnation of Monday's decision by the Minya Criminal Court to sentence 528 people to death for their alleged participation in an attack on a police station in the central city in mid-August, in which a police officer was killed.
The incident took place in the immediate aftermath of an operation by security forces to break up two sit-ins in the capital Cairo that left almost 1,000 people dead. The sit-ins were set up by supporters of Mr Morsi's after he was overthrown by the military the previous month.
The trial, at which more than three-quarters of the defendants were not present, is reported to have lasted less than an hour on Saturday. The prosecution did not put forward evidence implicating any individual defendant, even though it had compiled significant evidence, and the court prevented defence lawyers from presenting their case or calling witnesses, according to Human Right Watch. A second session was held on Monday solely to announce the verdict.
On Tuesday, a spokesman for the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Rupert Colville, told a news conference in Geneva: "The astounding number of people sentenced to death in this case is unprecedented in recent history."
"The mass imposition of the death penalty after a trial that was rife with procedural irregularities is in breach of international human rights law." Sixteen Egyptian rights groups voiced concern, saying the trial constituted a "dangerous, unprecedented shift in the Egyptian's judiciary's treatment of such cases" and represented "a grave violation of both the right to a fair trial and the right to life".
But Egypt's interim government defended the court, insisting that the sentences had been handed down only "after careful study".
The state-run al-Ahram newspaper said the court would issue its final verdict on 28 April after Egypt's grand mufti, who under the law must ratify each death sentence before it can be carried out, had passed judgement.
The defendants may then appeal. Legal experts said a higher court would most probably order a retrial or reduce their sentences.
Mr Colville also expressed concern about the 683 people who went on trial at the Minya Criminal Court on Tuesday on similar charges relating to an attack on another police station in which no-one died.
The BBC's Orla Guerin, who is outside the courthouse, says that after an opening session lasting just a few hours the case was adjourned until 28 April, when the judge, Said Youssef, said a verdict would be given.
Critics will ask how the fate of so many people could be decided after the briefest of trials, our correspondent says. And, she adds, there were two key elements missing - most of the defendants and any of their lawyers.
Only 62 defendants reportedly appeared in court, with officials saying Mr Badie and Mr Katatni could not attend for security reasons, while the defence team staged a boycott in protest at the preceding trial.
"As lawyers, we haven't seen anything like what happened here yesterday in our entire professional lives and we will not see anything like it until our deaths," Khaled Fouda of the Minya lawyers' syndicate said.
Despite the boycott, the judge heard testimony from witnesses and questioning several of the defendants before adjourning the case.
The wife of one of the accused in Tuesday's case told the BBC she feared the verdict had been decided in advance. She said her husband was an innocent man who had been arrested while picking up their daughter from hospital. The 1,200 defendants in the two cases in Minya are among more than 16,000 Egyptians arrested over the past eight months, according to figures recently provided by senior interior ministry officials. They include about 3,000 top or mid-level Brotherhood members.
| Famous Person - Commit Crime - Accuse | March 2014 | ['(BBC)'] |
In Russia, police arrested over 400 people in Manege Square hours after picking up some 200 people outside the court where the Bolotnaya square case defendants were being tried. | Russian police have made nearly 500 arrests at opposition rallies in the country's two main cities, including several well-known protest figures.
Opposition leader Alexei Navalny was among those picked up in Moscow on Monday evening, as he attended an unapproved rally near the Kremlin.
He and others have appeared in court, charged with offences that entail a fine or detention of up to 15 days.
The rallies were called to protest at sentences passed on other activists.
Seven people had received prison terms of up to four years on Monday, for rioting and attacking police at a demonstration against Vladimir Putin's inauguration for a third presidential term in May 2012, in Bolotnaya Square, Moscow. Human rights organisation Amnesty International condemned the sentences as a "hideous injustice", at the end of a "show trial".
An eighth defendant, the only woman on trial, received a suspended sentence. While the rallies on Monday in Moscow and St Petersburg were called to protest at the Bolotnaya sentences, some demonstrators also made shows of solidarity with the protesters in Ukraine, who brought down President Viktor Yanukovych last week. Police arrested 420 people in Manege Square, under the walls of the Kremlin, hours after picking up some 200 people outside the court where the Bolotnaya defendants were being tried. It appears that many of those detained near the court were released shortly afterwards, and at least some of them went to Manege Square for the bigger rally. Among those detained in Moscow were Pussy Riot punk band members Nadezhda Tolokonnikova and Maria Alyokhina, both recently freed from prison under an amnesty, and former Deputy Prime Minister Boris Nemtsov.
Those held overnight were apparently being charged with either disobeying a police request or breaching the rules on holding rallies.
In St Petersburg, 60 people were arrested at a similar protest rally.
Outside the court in Moscow, some demonstrators had shouted "Maidan" - a reference to the square in Kiev where Ukrainian protesters camped out before finally toppling the country's elected president.
However, Mr Navalny distanced himself from events in Ukraine, saying that Russia had its own battle for freedom.
Russian state TV coverage of the Bolotnaya trial drew analogies with the unrest in Ukraine, the Associated Press notes.
"With the events on the Maidan as a background, it's even more obvious what all of this could have led to, had it not been for the government's clear, tough response," one unnamed TV presenter was quoted as saying. | Famous Person - Commit Crime - Arrest | February 2014 | ['(BBC)', '(RFE/RL)', '(The Moscow Times)'] |
Indonesia is hit by a tsunami after being hit by a 7.7-magnitude earthquake, resulting in at least 50 deaths and entire families being reported missing. | Updated on: September 28, 2018 / 2:10 PM
/ CBS/AP
JAKARTA, Indonesia -- A powerful earthquake rocked the Indonesian island of Sulawesi on Friday, triggering a 10-foot-tall tsunami that an official said swept away houses in at least two cities. Disaster agency spokesman Sutopo Purwo Nugroho said the tsunami hit Palu, the capital of central Sulawesi province, as well as the smaller city of Donggala and several other coastal settlements.
Indonesian TV showed a smartphone video of a powerful wave hitting Palu, with people screaming and running in fear. The water smashed into buildings and a large mosque that collapsed under the force.
Houses were swept away and families were reported missing, Nugroho said, adding that communications and power to the area were disrupted. "The cut to telecommunications and darkness are hampering efforts to obtain information," he said.
"All national potential will be deployed, and tomorrow morning we will deploy Hercules and helicopters to provide assistance in tsunami-affected areas," Nugroho said. The region was rocked by a magnitude 7.5 earthquake Friday and numerous strong aftershocks, including one of magnitude 6.7.
An earlier magnitude 6.1 quake in central Sulawsi killed several people, injured 10 and damaged dozens of houses. The chief of the meteorology and geophysics agency, Dwikorita Karnawati, said the tsunami waves were up to 10 feet high.
Karnawati said the tsunami warning triggered by the biggest quake, in place for about half an hour, was lifted after the tsunami was over. "The situation is chaotic, people are running on the streets and buildings collapsed," Karnawati told the Reuters news agency. "There is a ship washed ashore."
Sutopo said the military was deploying troops to Palu and Donggala and the national police were also mobilizing to help the emergency response, as well as personnel from the search-and-rescue and disaster agencies. "People are encouraged to remain vigilant," Sutopo said.
"It is better not to be in a house or building because the potential for aftershocks can be dangerous," Sutopo said. "People are encouraged to gather in safe areas. Avoid the slopes of hills."
Palu's airport halted operations for 24 hours due to earthquake damage, according to AirNav, which oversees airline traffic in Indonesia. Mirza Arisam, a resident of Kendari, the capital of neighboring Southeast Sulawesi, said his uncle and his family of five, including three children, were on vacation in Palu and he has been unable to contact them since the tsunami hit.
After the 7.5 quake struck, television footage showed people running into the streets. Women and children wailed hysterically in a video distributed by the disaster agency, which also released a photo showing a heavily damaged department store.
"It was so strong. The strongest I ever felt. We all ran out of buildings," said Yanti, a 40-year-old housewife in Donggala who goes by a single name.
"All the things in my house were swaying," another Donggala resident, Mohammad Fikri, said of the earlier 6.1 quake. U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric said U.N. officials were in contact with Indonesian authorities and "stand ready to provide support as required."
Indonesia is prone to earthquakes because of its location on the "Ring of Fire," an arc of volcanoes and fault lines in the Pacific Basin. In December 2004, a massive magnitude 9.1 earthquake off Sumatra in western Indonesia triggered a tsunami that killed 230,000 people in a dozen countries.
First published on September 28, 2018 / 6:55 AM
| Tsunamis | September 2018 | ['(BBC)', '(CBS News)'] |
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu arrives in Washington, D.C. for talks with President of the United States Barack Obama. | WASHINGTON - Netanyahu convinces Obama Israel is serious: Israel "wants peace" and is serious about its intentions to move forward to direct negotiations with the Palestinians, President Barack Obama said after meeting with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu Tuesday.
Obama expressed his hope to see Israel and the Palestinians embarking on direct talks before September, when the temporary construction freeze adopted by Israel in Judea and Samaria is slated to end.
He added that the meeting "marked just one more chapter in the extraordinary friendship between our two countries".
Netanyahu reiterated that Israel is "committed" to peace with the Palestinians and said any reports of the demise of the US-Israeli relationship are "flat wrong."
Obama, Netanyahu at White House (Photo: AP)
The US president said America's bond with Israel is unbreakable, and that the US will never ask Israel to do anything that undermines its security.
Obama said he will maintain pressure on Iran, while welcoming PM Netanyahu's relief efforts in respect to the Gaza Strip blockade. Obama said he sees "real progress" in Gaza dn praised Israel's decision to allow more goods into the Strip.
The one-on-one meeting between the two leaders was scheduled to last an hour but went on for an hour and 40 minutes. Meanwhile, PM Netanyahu invited Obama to visit Israel.
Prime Minister Netanyahu arrived in the White House earlier Tuesday for his fifth meeting with President Obama. A senior source in Jerusalem characterized the meeting as "more important than ever" in respect to the Palestinian front, adding that the White House session would determine the future of the regional peace process.
Netanyahu headed to the White House from the Blair House, the official US guest house. At the beginning of the meeting, the PM told Obama that the distance between Jerusalem in Ramallah is merely 15 minutes by car, stressing that progress on the peace front requires Israel and the Palestinians to advance to direct talks soon.
The issue of shifting from indirect proximity to direct negotiations was expected to be the main issue in Tuesday's meeting.
Before meeting with Obama, Netanyahu met with his advisors and with Israeli Ambassador to the US Michael Oren for a final brainstorming session ahead of the summit. In addition to the peace process, the two leaders were also expected to discuss Iran's nuclear program and Israel's modified policy on the Gaza blockade.
Netanyahu was scheduled to meet with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton later Tuesday. Meanwhile, the wives of the two leaders, Michelle Obama and Sara Netanyahu, were also scheduled to meet at the White House. | Diplomatic Talks _ Diplomatic_Negotiation_ Summit Meeting | July 2010 | ['(BBC News)', '(CNN)', '(Ynet)'] |
Volkswagen agrees to pay $175 million to United States lawyers suing the German automaker on behalf of the owners of 475,000 polluting vehicles. | WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Volkswagen AG VOWG_p.DE, in another step to move past its costly diesel emissions cheating scandal, has agreed to pay $175 million to U.S. lawyers suing the German automaker on behalf of the owners of 475,000 polluting vehicles, two people briefed on the agreement said on Friday. In August, the lawyers in the class action litigation sought up to $332.5 million in fees and costs for their work in a $10 billion settlement that gives U.S. owners of 2.0 liter polluting cars the ability to sell back their vehicles to Volkswagen (VW).
The latest deal with the lawyers means VW now has agreed to spend up to $16.7 billion to compensate U.S. owners and address claims from states, federal regulators and dealers arising from the “Dieselgate” scandal.
The amount to be paid out to lawyers was first reported by Reuters on Friday.
The resolution of legal fees clears another hurdle as the world’s No. 2 automaker looks to resolve all of the outstanding aspects of a scandal that disrupted its global business, hurt its reputation and led to the ouster of its chief executive officer last year.
VW in September 2015 admitted using sophisticated secret software in its cars to cheat exhaust emissions tests, with millions of vehicles worldwide affected. The cheating allowed VW’s U.S. vehicles sold since 2009 to emit up to 40 times legally allowable pollution levels.
The $175 million includes attorneys’ fees and other costs, according to the sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
Lawyers for the owners of polluting vehicles and a spokeswoman for Volkswagen declined to comment.
Lead plaintiff lawyer Elizabeth Cabraser, who is part of a committee of 22 lawyers overseeing the owner suits, said in August the amount sought in attorneys fees was far less than the “judicially established benchmark” for class actions of approximately 25 percent of the settlement amount.
U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer on Tuesday is set to hold a hearing in San Francisco on whether to grant final approval of the vehicle owners’ settlement announced in June, which would be the largest-ever automotive buy-back offer in the United States. Breyer must also decide whether to approve the legal fee agreement.
VW has agreed to spend up to $10.033 billion to buy back the vehicles and compensate owners. It may also offer vehicle fixes if regulators approve. Under a timetable announced this summer, regulators could approve a fix for some 2015 VW diesel vehicles as early as next month.
In addition, VW has agreed to pay up to $1.21 billion to compensate U.S. VW brand dealers, pay more than $600 million to 44 U.S. states, spend $2 billion on zero-emission vehicle promotion and infrastructure, and another $2.7 billion to offset diesel pollution.
It still faces billions of dollars in potential fines from the U.S. Justice Department in its criminal probe into VW’s cheating scandal, and must resolve the fate of larger vehicles that were not part of the initial $10 billion settlement.
VW and U.S. regulators are in continuing discussions over whether the automaker should agree to buy back 85,000 larger 3.0-liter Porsche, Audi and VW vehicles that also exceeded U.S. emission standards, and whether it should offer additional compensation to those owners.
VW may have to pay additional owner attorneys’ fees as part of a separate potential 3.0-liter settlement, the sources said. | Famous Person - Commit Crime - Accuse | October 2016 | ['(Reuters)'] |
A mortar attack on the coastal city of Latakia kills at least 23 and injures 65. | DAMASCUS, Syria, Nov. 10 (UPI) -- At least 23 people were killed and some 65 wounded Tuesday in a mortar attack on the Syrian coastal city of Latakia.
Two blasts occured on a highway connecting Latakia and the Russian airbase Hmeymim, where Russian forces are launching airstrikes against the Islamic State in Syria, the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.
One of the blasts targeted an area near Tishreen University, the third largest university in Syria.
No one has claimed responsibility for the attack. Some speculate the militant coalition Ahrar al-Sham fired rockets from a village in the Latakia countryside.
In October, dozens of people were killed or injured in Russian airstrikes in Latakia province, as well as Hama, Idlib, Damascus, Aleppo and Deir ez-Zor provinces. Russia said the strikes targeted IS militants, but activist groups say the jihadist group has little to no presence in the coastal province of Latakia, which is the heartland of the ruling Alawite sect and a stronghold of forces loyal to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. | Armed Conflict | November 2015 | ['(UPI)'] |
Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak leads a protest rally against the persecution of Myanmar's Muslim Rohingya minority in the predominately Buddhist country, and calls on Myanmar State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi and the United Nations to address the Rohingya's plight and end the violence. Myanmar's president's office said the rally is timed for Malaysian political purposes, and that Malaysia should respect the Association of Southeast Asian Nations's principle on sovereignty. | Myanmar has warned its ASEAN counterpart Malaysia to respect the principle of non-interference after the leader of the Muslim-majority nation reportedly agreed to attend a protest condemning the ongoing military operations in Rakhine State.
Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak’s office told AFP that the country’s 63-year-old leader would be taking part in the protest, which has yet to have a confirmed location.
“The major gathering on December 4 is to express our concern over the violence taking place on the Rohingya,” Deputy Prime Minister Zahid Hamidi was quoted as saying by the Malay Mail Online on November 29.
In response, deputy director general of the President’s Office U Zaw Htay said yesterday that the neighbouring country should respect sovereign affairs.
“According to ASEAN principles, a member country does not interfere in other member countries’ internal affairs. We have always followed and respected this principle. We hope that the Malaysian government will continue to follow it,” U Zaw Htay told The Myanmar Times.
He added that the protest appeared to be a calculated political decision to win the support of the Malaysian public and had little to do with Myanmar.
“We will call on the Malaysian ambassador regarding the protest and to ask if the Malaysian prime minister is participating. If so, we will monitor the event,” said U Zaw Htay.
The announcement by Mr Najib’s office follows a series of recent moves by Malaysia to dial up the rhetoric in response to violence in northern Rakhine State, where the Tatmadaw has been conducting a crackdown since October 9.
On November 25, the Malaysian cabinet discussed Rakhine State and issued a strongly worded statement condemning the escalation of violence “resulting in the loss of innocent lives and displacement of people”.
“Malaysia also calls on the government of Myanmar to take all the necessary actions to address the alleged ethnic cleansing in northern Rakhine State,” the statement issued by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said.
Last week, Malaysia summoned the Myanmar ambassador in Kuala Lumpur while around 500 people staged a protest outside Myanmar’s embassy.
Malaysia also abruptly pulled out of two scheduled football matches against Myanmar this week. The last-minute cancellation was announced on November 30 and cited the handling of the Rakhine State crisis as the reason Malaysia would not compete in the December 9 and 12 matches.
According to the Tatmadaw’s True News and Information Team, 69 people have been killed and hundreds of suspects have been rounded up in the Muslim-majority townships of Buthidaung and Maungdaw since the military began sweeps to find suspects connected to a spate of lethal attacks on border-guard posts on October 9. The Myanmar government has repeatedly denied allegations of abuse and has said the situation on the ground is being carried out within the parameters of the rule of law. Journalists and outside observers have been restricted from accessing the military operation zones, making it impossible to independently verify information.
According to the UN refugee agency, as many as 10,000 Muslim residents of Rakhine State who self-identify as Rohingya have fled to neighbouring Bangladesh over the past few weeks. The UN estimates that 30,000 people in northern Rakhine State have been displaced by the violence.
U Zaw Htay said that amid the public denunciations and protests in Malaysia, the government is concerned for the safety of Myanmar citizens living in the country. He advised them to keep in contact with the Myanmar embassy in Kuala Lumpur.
“Myanmar citizens should be careful and they should not go outside without companions,” he said.
. | Protest_Online Condemnation | December 2016 | ['(AP)', '(Asian Correspondent)', '(The Myanmar Times)'] |
The High Court of Fiji overturns that country's sodomy laws after hearing the case of one Australian and one native Fijian who were previously sentenced to two years in jail under the legislation | In April, Thomas McCosker, 55, of Warrnambool was sentenced to two years' jail under the country's homosexuality laws, along with Fijian national Dhrirendra Nandan, 23. Justice Gerard Winter has now ruled the Fijian constitution's privacy provisions protect people engaging in homosexual acts in the privacy of their own home. "What the constitution requires is that the law acknowledges difference, affirms dignity and allows equal respect to every citizen as they are," Justice Winter said in his judgment. "A country so founded will put sexual expression in private relationships into its proper perspective and allow citizens to define their own good moral sensibilities, leaving the law to its duties of keeping sexual expression in check by protecting the vulnerable and penalising the predator." The conviction has been quashed and Mr McCosker's passport has been released by the court.
Mr McCosker's lawyer Natasha Khan said the ruling would have a big impact in Fiji, although she said state prosecutors have indicated they might appeal to Fiji's Supreme Court. "It's the not the all-encompassing victory we were looking for but it's middle ground nonetheless," Ms Khan said. Australia's parliamentary secretary for foreign affairs, Bruce Bilson, says Canberra had approached the Fijian Government, urging it to review the legislation.
"We had pointed to the inconsistencies, indicating that there were very clear indications in the Fijian constitution and in broader human rights terms as a right to privacy and non-disciminatory conduct within the country," he said.
"That would seem a key issue that the Fijian judiciary had to consider and Justice Winter has handed down his judgement today."
The case sparked widespread debate about Fiji's strict, but rarely enforced, homosexual laws, which carry a maximum 14-year jail term.
Australia has since added a warning to its travel advisory for Fiji about homosexuality being illegal. -ABC/AFP
The Fiji High Court has overturned academic Thomas McCosker's conviction for sodomy, allowing him to return to Australia. | Government Policy Changes | August 2005 | ['(365gay.com)', '(ABC)'] |
The Eurozone agrees to a €10.3 billion ($11.48 billion) bailout package for Greece. | After a marathon meeting, the Eurogroup has agreed to extend bailout loans to Greece... and the IMF are on board too. Graeme Wearden (now) and Nick Fletcher
Wed 25 May 2016 02.42 BST
First published on Tue 24 May 2016 07.55 BST
25 May 2016
02:40
Eurozone ministers are finally heading to their beds, and the frazzled Brussels press pack are heroically filing copy. So let’s have a brief recap. Greece has finally received the green light to receive more than €10bn in bailout funds, easing concerns that it could face financial peril this summer. After a marathon meeting in the Belgian capital, creditors agreed that Greece has done pretty-much everything required under its bailout
A few prior actions do remain, concerning pensions and privatisations, but once that is resolved, the money will flow -- starting with €7.5bn in June. Eurogroup president Jeroen Dijsselbloem told reporters that Greece’s programme was back on track. “We achieved a major breakthrough on Greece which enables us to enter a new phase in the Greek financial assistance programme,....This is stretching what I thought would have been possible not so long ago.”
In an important development, the International Monetary Fund has signalled that it could join the bailout. That could happen by the end fo 2016. However, European chief Poul Thomsen insisted that the Fund must check that the eurozone is offering substantial debt relief. Thomsen said:
We welcome that all stakeholders recognise that Greek debt is unsustainable. We welcome that it is understood that Greece needs debt relief to make it sustainable. Crucially, Eurozone ministers have agreed to “a package of debt measures” to make Greece’s debts sustainable. That will start with short-term tweaks to Greece’s debts, to smooth out its obligations. Medium-term measures are also promised, although not until 2018, which looks like a concession from the IMF. There is also a commitment to consider whether further restructuring will be needed once the bailout ends, assuming Athens sticks to the programme and everything works out. The deal has been welcomed by Greece’s finance minister. Euclid Tsakalotos said it would help end the country’s vicious circle of austerity and recession. Donald Tusk, the head of the European Council, said the Greek deal was good for the global economy. Slovakia’s finance minister Peter Kazimir also sounded satisfied, comparing the negotiations to “a complicated birth”. And France’s Michel Sapin was positively upbeat, saying the deal was “first and foremost a declaration of confidence in today’s Greece.”
| Financial Aid | May 2016 | ['(The Guardian)'] |
The opposition coalition chooses lawmaker Martin Fayulu, leader of the Engagement for Citizenship and Development party, as its joint presidential candidate. | KINSHASA (Reuters) - Congo’s opposition coalition picked businessman and lawmaker Martin Fayulu to be its candidate in a December presidential election, it said in a statement.
Fayulu will face President Joseph Kabila’s preferred successor for the ruling party, Emmanuel Ramazani Shadari, in Democratic Republic of Congo’s election on Dec. 23.
In power since his father died in 2001, Kabila and the ruling party are unpopular across Congo, especially in the west and the capital Kinshasa, but a weak and divided opposition has so far failed to capitalise on the Congolese’ resentments.
Picking a unified candidate at least gives the opposition someone to rally around.
Kabila surprised a lot of Congolese when he agreed to step aside in August, which would make December’s election, if it goes ahead, Congo’s first peaceful change of power since independence from Belgium in 1960.
An opinion poll in July, before Kabila came out to back Ramazani, showed opposition leaders were favored by about 70 percent of voters, but the ruling party enjoys significant financial and institutional advantages.
Several prominent opposition leaders, including former vice president Jean-Pierre Bemba and millionaire businessman Moise Katumbi, were barred by authorities from running, decisions the opposition accused of being politically motivated.
Reporting Giulia Paravicini; Writing by Tim Cocks; Editing by Matthew Mpoke Bigg
| Government Job change - Appoint_Inauguration | November 2018 | ['(Reuters)', '(AFP via Yahoo News)'] |
Cambodia passes a controversial law that makes it illegal to deny atrocities committed by the Khmer Rouge regime. | Cambodia's parliament has approved a bill which makes it illegal to deny that atrocities were committed by the Khmer Rouge in the 1970s.
The move comes amid political in-fighting in the run-up to elections.
Anyone found guilty of denying or playing down the crimes could face up to two years in prison.
About 1.7 million people, about one-third of the population, are thought to have been killed, or died of over-work, starvation or torture from 1975-1979.
Prime Minister Hun Sen proposed the law after an opposition leader apparently blamed Vietnam for some of the deaths and reportedly said that the infamous S-21 torture prison "was staged". The lawmaker maintains that the recording of his words was doctored.
The Vietnamese invasion in January 1979 shattered the Khmer Rouge's leadership in Cambodia.
The bill was drafted within a week and passed unanimously but in the absence of all opposition politicians. They were expelled from parliament after forming a new party, the Cambodia National Rescue party.
The party said it was "disappointed" by the move because the expulsion of its lawmakers had left parliament without a quorum, the Associated Press news agency reported.
Critics say the denial law runs the risk of being used as a weapon against the political opposition.
Human Rights Watch's Asia director Brad Adams said Prime Minister Hun Sen's advocacy of the law was "entirely election-related".
"It's a tool to try to intimidate the opposition but also to galvanise his side, to demonise the opposition as unfit to govern, and to show that he's in charge, to show the country that he can completely dominate the opposition - and make them squirm," he said.
The Khmer Rouge regime fell in 1979, and the process of trying its senior figures has taken many years.
The only former Khmer Rouge leader to have been successfully prosecuted was chief jailer Kaing Guek Eav, known as Duch, who was sentenced to life imprisonment for his role in running the notorious Tuol Sleng prison, where thousands of inmates were killed.
| Government Policy Changes | June 2013 | ['(BBC)'] |
1 person is killed and at least 40 others are injured due to an explosion and a fire in Maracay, Aragua. | A fire set off a series of explosions at a military arms depot in Maracay, Venezuela today, killing one person and leading authorities to evacuate about 10,000 people from the surrounding area.
Residents were evacuated from within a four-mile perimeter around the depot, Rafael Isea, governor of Aragua state, told state television. "This is a preventive measure because the ammunitions that were detonating have a powerful impact," he said.
The cause of the fire was unclear. State radio reported that firefighters were beginning to extinguish the blaze after a series of smaller explosions. | Fire | January 2011 | ['(Xinhua)', '(BBC)', '(AP via The Guardian)', '(Press TV)', '(The Voice of Russia)'] |
Wildfires in the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone, Ukraine, reach the abandoned city of Pripyat, 2 km away from the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant. | Wildfires in Ukraine have spread to just over a mile from the defunct Chernobyl nuclear power plant and a disposal site for radioactive waste, according to activists, as more than 300 firefighters work to contain the blaze.
A video posted by a Chernobyl tour operator showed flames and a cloud of smoke rising within sight of the protective shelter over the carcass of Chernobyl’s Unit 4 nuclear reactor, the site of the worst nuclear disaster in history.
The tour operator, Yaroslav Yemelianenko, wrote that the fire had reached the abandoned city of Pripyat and was just 2km (1.24 miles) away from the nuclear power plant and the Pidlisny radioactive waste disposal site.
“The situation is critical. The zone is burning,” he wrote in a Facebook post accompanied by a video of the blaze. Yemelianenko, a member of a public advisory board to Ukraine’s emergency service, also accused the government of covering up the severity of the fires.
Ukraine’s emergency service on Monday said the fire was “difficult” but called for calm, saying all radiation levels in Kyiv, Ukraine’s capital, were normal and urging people not to listen to “apocalyptic messages”.
“The main thing we can say is that there is no threat to the nuclear power station, the spent fuel storage, and to other critical sites in the exclusion zone,” the agency said.
The agency said 310 firefighters and dozens of fire trucks, as well as three aircraft and three helicopters, had been deployed to extinguish the fire. The agency did not say exactly how far the fire was from the site of the former reactor or other sensitive sites.
On Monday, a member of Greenpeace’s Russia branch told Reuters that the fires were larger than Ukraine’s official estimates and could pose a health risk.
“A fire approaching a nuclear or hazardous radiation facility is always a risk,” Rashid Alimov, head of energy projects at Greenpeace Russia, told the agency.
Fires have been burning since 4 April in Chernobyl’s exclusion zone, the 30-kilometre (18.6-mile) area around the former nuclear reactor where authorities have barred people from living.
The fires were a result of locals setting fire to grass, police said. Ukraine’s parliament on Monday raised fines for grass arson to more than £4,500, an 18-fold increase adopted amid considerable public anger over the fires.
The fires gained strength over the weekend due to strong winds. “At the moment, we cannot say the fire is contained,” Kateryna Pavlova, the acting head of the agency that oversees the area, told the New York Times on Saturday. | Fire | April 2020 | ['(1.2\xa0mi)', '(The Guardian)'] |
Multiple bomb blasts hit Bangkok, Thailand, as United States Secretary of State Mike Pompeo attends a regional security summit. At least four people are injured. | Six explosions, one near a famous skyscraper, have hit Bangkok as US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo attended a regional security summit. Unconfirmed reports suggest that other devices were found across the city.
At least fourpeople were injuredon Friday when several small bombs went off in the Thai capital, Bangkok, during the morning rush hour, police said.
The explosions sounded as the city hosted aregional security meeting of foreign ministers from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN),along with representatives from the United States, China and Russia.
One blast hitthe city's Suanluang district, a short distance from the international airport.
"Three people received slight injuries from shrapnel," local official Renu Suesattaya told the Agence France-Presse news agency.
Suesattaya, director of the Suanluang region, said: "I received a report that they are pingpong bombshidden in bushes by the road."
"Pingpong bombs" are called as such due to their size.
Government and business districts hit
At least three other bombs detonated in the area around a government complex hosting severalministries on the northern side of the city.
Thai media reportedtwo further blasts near a Skytrain station in the city's Silom business district, including one close to a famous downtown skyscraper.
The Thai government has told the public not to panic following six small explosions in Bangkok
Eyewitnesses said a security guard was hurtcloseto the 77-story King Power Mahanakhon building. Police cordoned off nearby streets and conducted a full search of the area.
There were unconfirmed reports of several other devices being found across the city. Police said one small explosive was recovered before it blew up.
Two arrests
Two men were reported arrested, though it is unclear what their connection to the bombings may be.
The men were detainedafter wires and ball bearings were foundin an inactive device outside police headquarters. Thai authorities confirmedthe discovery was linked to the attacks. However, later information available to DW showed the men had no discernable connection to the attack.
Police headJakthip Chaijinda saidthe men originatedfrom the Muslim-majority regionbordering Malaysia which is in the midstof a 15-year insurgency that has resulted innearly 7,000 deaths.
However, the superintendent said it was "too early" to establish a distinctconnection to the rebellion.
Prime minister orders probe
Thai Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-o-cha immediately orderedan investigation into the blasts.
"I would like to condemn those causing a situation which destroys peace and damages thecountry's image. I have instructed officials to take care ofpublic safety and those affected promptly," he said.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the blasts. Thailandhas a long history of political violence linked to mass protests, coups and short-lived governments.
Bangkok was hit by a series of small bomb blasts in 2017 in opposition to Thailand's then-military junta. One man was jailed for planting a bomb that wounded 21 people at a hospital.
USSecretary of StateMike Pompeo andChina's top diplomat Wang Yi are in the Thai capital on Friday to attendtheregional security meeting of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). | Armed Conflict | August 2019 | ['(DW)'] |
Iran confirms receipt of Saudi Arabian invitation to discuss bilateral talk for Hajj-2017. The Iranian delegation is expected to travel to Saudi Arabia on 23 February this year for participation in the next pilgrimage. , | Iran said Tuesday it had finally received an official invitation from Saudi Arabia for its pilgrims to attend this year´s hajj, two weeks after Riyadh announced it.
There was no official Iranian delegation at last year´s pilgrimage to the Muslim holy places after Saudi Arabia severed relations with Iran following the torching of its missions in Tehran and Mashhad by protesters in January last year.
It was the first time in three decades that Iranian pilgrims had been absent and the culmination of years of worsening relations over the conflicts in Syria and Yemen.
"The Iranian delegation will travel to Saudi Arabia on February 23... and we hope to get tangible results," hajj affairs representative Ali Ghazi Askar told the Mizan Online news website.
"For the time being, nothing is certain and we will attend the hajj as long as the situation is prepared for us," he said.
"Undoubtedly, there are problems that must be resolved." Negotiations for Iranian pilgrims to join last year´s hajj broke down over the questions of where their visas should be issued and how their security could be ensured following the deaths of 464 Iranians in a stampede at the 2015 hajj.
The tone of the invitation is "not that much different from past letters", Askar said earlier Tuesday. "All matters regarding the hajj -- including accommodation, food, medical affairs, transport, pilgrims´ security, banking and consular issues -- must immediately be studied and appropriate solutions put forward."
The Saudi-owned Al-Hayat newspaper reported on December 30 that Saudi Pilgrimage Minister Mohammed Bentin had opened discussions with more than 80 countries, including Iran, on the arrangements for the 2017 hajj. | Diplomatic Talks _ Diplomatic_Negotiation_ Summit Meeting | January 2017 | ['(The Washington Post)', '(The News)'] |
Floods leave 1 dead, 3 missing, 33,000 evacuated in the Chinese province of Hainan. | Local fire fighters transfer residents in rain in Qionghai, south China's Hainan Province, Oct. 5, 2010. On-going torrential rains poured over Hainan, causing Qionghai waterlogged while over 10,000 residents had been transferred to safe areas. (Photo: Xinhua)
At least two people were missing and nearly 33,000 evacuated as floods wreaked havoc in China's southernmost island province of Hainan, local authorities said Tuesday.
Floods inundated more than 100 villages in Qionghai, Lingshui and Wanning, forcing the evacuation of 32,713 residents, the provincial flood control and drought relief office said in a statement.
In Qionghai City, the traffic was paralyzed as its urban areas were inundated in floodwater, it said.
A major highway in the east of Hainan was also flooded and traffic was not expected to resume for at least five days.
Local tourism was hit hard by the floods. China is currently celebrating National Day holidays, a peak travel season.
Further, ten major tourist destinations received about 29,200 visitors on Tuesday, a decline of 42.8 percent year on year, the local tourism administration said.
Hainan Island is famous for tropical tourism and attracts millions of tourists every year.
Torrential rains have battered Hainan for five days. The island received 400 mm of rainfall on average, with some parts recording as high as 700 mm.
The floods also damaged 7,420 hectares of crops and destroyed another 2,260 hectares, according to the provincial civil affair department.
The direct economic loss was estimated at 39.6 million yuan (5.9 million U.S. dollars), with about 17.7 million yuan in agriculture.
A tropical depression in the South China Sea Tuesday afternoon added havoc to Hainan as passenger ship services to the mainland were disrupted.
More than 6,000 passengers and 1,400 cars were stranded at Xiuying port in Haikou, the provincial capital, as of 6 pm Tuesday, because of strong winds. | Floods | October 2010 | ['(Global Times)', '(China Dialy)'] |
A mass stabbing at Crossroads Center in St. Cloud, Minnesota, U.S., leaves nine injured. An off-duty police officer shoots dead the perpetrator, Dahir Adan. | The FBI is investigating the Crossroads Center knife attacks on Saturday as "a potential act of terrorism."
Nine people were injured by an attacker who was killed inside the Macy's store by an off-duty Avon police officer.
St. Cloud Mayor Dave Kleis identified that officer as Jason Falconer during a press conference Sunday.
A short time earlier, St. Cloud Somali-American community members identified the deceased suspect as Dahir Adan.
Leaders of the Somali-American community in St. Cloud gathered Sunday with his family and issued a statement of sympathy for the family and the nine victims of the attack.
Community leader Abdul Kulane said as far as the family and community know, the suspect did not have any history of violence. He was known as a smart, accomplished student at Apollo High School. He was a junior at St. Cloud State University, Kulane said. Adan was also working part-time as a private security officer, leaders said.
The last time he was seen by family was about 6 or 6:30 p.m. Saturday when he said he was going to the mall to buy an iPhone 7. They don't know what happened after that.
The attack was reported about 8:15 p.m.
St. Cloud Police Chief Blair Anderson said the victims were stabbed by a man dressed in a private security uniform.
Kleis called Falconer a hero and said he "happened to be in the right place at the right time." Falconer identified himself as a police officer, and the suspect lunged at him, Kleis said.
Initially, Anderson said eight victims were taken to St. Cloud Hospital. On Sunday morning, hospital Communications Specialist Chris Nelson told the Times that five were released, and three were admitted with injuries that were not life-threatening. They were discharged by Sunday evening.
A ninth victim drove himself to the hospital in Long Prairie and was initially unknown to officials.
Anderson said the attacker, who was armed with a knife, reportedly made references to Allah during the attack and asked at least one person whether they were Muslim. But Anderson pointedly declined to call the attacks an act of terrorism, saying the motive isn't yet known.
Like the police, Minnesota FBI spokesman Kyle Loven declined to say Sunday if investigators believe the attack was a terrorist act. The FBI says it is assisting St. Cloud police in the investigation
"We will be diligent and get to the bottom of this," Anderson said. "Starting tomorrow, things won't be the same here."
Local police had about three previous encounters with the suspect, most for minor traffic violations, Anderson said. The attacker was not named by authorities early Sunday.
Authorities "have no reason to believe" anyone else was involved in the attacks, Anderson said.
The stabbings occurred in several places within the mall: corridors, businesses and common areas.
"The entire mall is an active crime scene," Anderson said. The mall is expected to reopen on Monday, according to its social media page.
Sydney Weires was shopping at the mall with her friends, Jenna Remmele and Maggie Gelke, all three freshmen at the College of St. Benedict. Weires said they got to the mall at about 8:10 p.m. and started shopping in stores near J.C. Penney.
They were walking down the hallway toward Sears when they heard a loud scream.
"I saw this security guard sprinting down the hallway toward Target," Weires said. "He was yelling, 'Call the cops! Call the cops!' "
Weires said she and her friends followed the guard because they thought maybe there was a shoplifter or a kidnapping.
"We saw these two guys. One guy was bleeding from the side of his face," Weires said. "He was screaming at us, 'get the F out!'"
The second man had blood on the back of his shirt, Weires said.
"They were just drenched," Remmele added.
Weires said a few red lights on the drive to the mall and an impulsive decision to shop in Victoria's Secret might have been pivotal for the friends.
"We would've been in that hallway. We could have been one of those victims," Weires said. "It's insane."
The girls left the mall before the lockdown was implemented and saw a police car arriving as they left the mall parking lot, Weires said. They went back to their apartment and called family members.
Weires and Remmele broke down crying from the shock of their experience.
"We don't really know what to think," Remmele said. "Hearing the possibility of the number of people who could have been injured ... it's really scary."
Danny Carranza of Willmar was with his children at the play area near Macy's when the chaos started.
"People came running around the corner and I freaked out because I thought it was a terrorist attack or something because I saw a lot of people, so I grabbed my kids," he said.
"I ran as much as I could and I heard someone yell 'Stop! Stop!' As soon as the door shut I heard gunshots."
He and his children made it out of the mall before it was locked down, but his wife was still inside the mall hours later.
Carranza said police were checking identification and taking names of everyone as they were released from the mall.
Vivian Woods, an employee at Forever 21, said employees of the fashion store helped one victim who came into their store while they awaited an ambulance.
“That right there, I started crying," Woods said. "That was hard for me to swallow. It’s hard to fathom this happened here at this mall."
Harley and Tama Exsted of Isle, who were in St. Cloud on Saturday to watch their son play in a college golf tournament at Blackberry Ridge, were in the mall when the incident occurred.
"All of a sudden I heard pop pop pop," Harley said. "I thought someone tipped over a shelf. All of a sudden these people started running. I just saw everybody running our way."
"It was a 'pa-pow' and then we saw the people start to run, which didn't catch me at first," he said. "But when we heard the screaming, then we knew it was time to go."
The couple escaped unharmed and said they helped another woman who was running from the scene to her car.
Worried relatives of shoppers and mall workers gathered near the scene Saturday night.
Anthony Bello, 18, a Technical High School student who recently moved to St. Cloud from Columbus, Ohio, went to the mall to visit his brother Dominic, 21, who works at Target but was told to leave. He wasn't sure why.
Anthony Bello said his brother, whose shift was about a half-hour from ending when the violence broke out, sent him a text from inside Target that said there was a shooter in the mall.
"My brother and I have always been really close. I want to make sure he's OK and give him a hug," Anthony Bello said.
Target employees huddled in the men's clothing department, Bello said his brother had communicated by text message. They later moved up to the registers, he said.
Their mother, who is still in Ohio, asked Dominic to text her a photo from inside the mall to show he's safe, and he did, Bello said.
Adonis Samuels, 42, St. Cloud, also was outside the mall where his wife Roxanne is a manager at Clinique at Macy's.
"She called me on the phone and told me she was hiding under the counter with a customer," Samuels said. She later called and said she was safe in a secured area.
Samuels remained outside, watching for her. He said he'd seen her through the glass doors at one point so he knew she was safe.
Desi Spoden, 52, of Sauk Rapids, and her husband were in the parking lot awaiting word from their 17-year-old daughter, Carly, who was inside the mall at Lady Foot Locker. They raced to the scene after hearing about the incident.
Spoden said her daughter's friend reached her. "Her friend called to let us know they were OK; they are on lockdown," she said.
The seriousness of the incident wasn't immediately obvious to those who couldn't see it happening. Emee Jagielski, who works at Apricot Lane and was preparing the store for closing time, said: "All of a sudden we see the gates of the other stores go down and I asked 'is it 9 o’clock already?'”
Shortly before 9 p.m., a St. Cloud police officer with an assault rifle could be seen near the west entrance of Macy’s. Other officers were searching shrubbery near the mall with flashlights, according to Times staffers on the scene.
Nelson said the hospital was placed under containment on Saturday night as a part of the mass causalities response. She said the hospital gathers a team of two dozen that trains year-round to respond to incidents like Saturday's.
Authorities said there were about 20 witnesses left to interview around midnight and 50 others still in the mall waiting to be allowed to get their belongings. | Riot | September 2016 | ['(The St. Cloud Times)'] |
Four Israel Defense Forces naval commandos are arrested by Israeli Military Police for suspected theft of laptops and cell phones from activists during May's Gaza flotilla raid. | At least four soldiers being detained on suspicion of stealing and selling laptops belonging to activists aboard the Mavi Marmara ship, Israeli media report.
Military Police arrested an Israel Defense Forces officer suspected of stealing laptop computers from activists aboard the Gaza-bound aid ship raided by Israeli commandos in May and selling them to other officers.
The officer allegedly sold the computers to a friend, who in turn sold them to friends of his. Three officers who are suspected of having bought the computers have also been detained for questioning.
The officer, who holds the rank of first lieutenant, allegedly stole between four and six computers from activists on the Mavi Marmara, which was trying to break the naval blockade on the Gaza Strip when Israel raided it, leaving nine Turkish activists dead.
Israel Navy commandos boarded six ships that made up the Gaza-bound flotilla on May 31, in an effort to prevent them from breaking through an Israeli marine blockade and reaching Gaza.
The naval commandos who boarded the sixth ship - the Mavi Marmara - were met with violence and nine Turkish activists were killed in the subsequent clashes.
News of the officers' arrests was first reported by Ynet, which quoted a high-ranking officer who said, "The investigation has just begun, but as it appears now it will prove embarrassing and shameful. These are soldiers who don't understand what their uniform represents."
Israel Radio reported that cellular phones were also stolen from the activists.
The IDF Spokesmans Office said the Military Police had opened an investigation, but said it remains unclear if the computers in question were indeed stolen from the Mavi Marmara activists.
In June, an Italian journalist who was detained by the IDF following the raid on the Gaza-bound flotilla says his credit card was used to purchase items after it was confiscated by the Israeli authorities. Automatic approval of subscriber comments. | Famous Person - Commit Crime - Arrest | August 2010 | ['(Haaretz)'] |
Virgin Galactic's SpaceShipTwo successfully completes its fourth powered test flight with VSS Unity and reaches space at an altitude of 82.7 km but does not breach the 100 km Karman Line. | The latest test flight by Sir Richard Branson's Virgin Galactic successfully rocketed to the edge of space and back. The firm's SpaceShipTwo passenger rocket ship reached a height of 82.7km, beyond the altitude at which US agencies have awarded astronaut wings.
It marked the plane's fourth test flight and followed earlier setbacks in the firm's space programme.
Sir Richard is in a race with Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos to send the first fee-paying passengers into space.
He founded the commercial spaceflight company in 2004, shortly after Mr Musk started SpaceX and Jeff Bezos established Blue Origin.
In 2008, Virgin Galactic first promised sub-orbital spaceflight trips for tourists would be taking place "within 18 months". It has since regularly made similar promises to have space flights airborne in the near future.
Wonderful having @sambranson here on the flightline with @virgingalactic @TheSpaceshipCo pic.twitter.com/PUjuS0xnhW
But delays and a fatal crash in 2014 prevented Sir Richard's original ambitions.
On Thursday, the SpaceShipTwo passenger rocket ship took off from the Mojave Desert in California.
The company said the space ship's motor burned for 60 seconds, travelling at 2.9 times the speed of sound as it gained height.
The rocket carried two pilots and a mannequin named Annie as a stand-in passenger, as well as four research experiments for NASA. "Today we have shown Virgin Galactic can open space to the world," Sir Richard said.
SpaceShipTwo, welcome to space.
The US government has awarded astronaut wings to pilots who ventured farther than roughly 80km beyond earth's surface.
But Thursday's flight did not breach the 100km Karman Line, which many organisations use to resolve debates about where space begins. While the trip marked a milestone for Virgin Galactic, the firm's rivals have already ventured farther - albeit without humans on board.
SpaceX, in partnership with NASA, is planning crewed missions for early next year. Mr Bezos has also said Blue Origin plans to send its first crew to space in 2019. Virgin Galactic, which is charging $250,000 for a 90-minute flight, has said more than 600 people have bought tickets or put down deposits for an eventual voyage. The billionaires fuelling a space race
Virgin Galactic to reach space 'in weeks'
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| New achievements in aerospace | December 2018 | ['(51.4\xa0mi)', '(62\xa0mi)', '(BBC)'] |
China's leader and Party General Secretary Xi Jinping addresses more than 2,000 delegates in Beijing. The congress is expected to finish next week. | China has entered a "new era" where it should "take centre stage in the world", President Xi Jinping says.
The country's rapid progress under "socialism with Chinese characteristics" shows there is "a new choice for other countries", he told the Communist Party congress.
The closed-door summit determines who rules China and the country's direction for the next term.
Mr Xi has been consolidating power and is expected to remain as party chief.
The congress, which takes place once every five years, will finish on Tuesday. More than 2,000 delegates are attending the event, which is taking place under tight security.
Shortly after the congress ends, the party is expected to unveil the new members of China's top decision-making body, the Politburo Standing Committee, who will steer the country.
Listing China's recent achievements in his three-hour speech, Mr Xi said that "socialism with Chinese characteristics in this new era" meant China had now "become a great power in the world", and had played "an important role in the history of humankind".
The Chinese model of growth under Communist rule was "flourishing", he said, and had given "a new choice" to other developing countries.
"It is time for us to take centre stage in the world and to make a greater contribution to humankind," he added.
Since Mr Xi took power in 2012, China's economy has continued to grow rapidly. But correspondents say the country has also become more authoritarian, with increasing censorship and arrests of lawyers and activists.
Analysis by Carrie Gracie, BBC China editor Xi Jinping is a much more assertive leader than his recent predecessors. In a long and confident speech, he looked back on his first five years in office, saying the party had achieved miracles and China's international standing had grown. But the most striking thing in his mission statement was ideological confidence. Recently Party media have talked of crisis and chaos in western democracies compared to strength and unity in China. Today Xi Jinping said he would not copy foreign political systems and that the Communist Party must oppose anything that would undermine its leadership of China.
In his speech, Mr Xi also:
He also introduced measures to increase party discipline, and touched on his wide-reaching corruption crackdown that has punished more than a million officials, report BBC correspondents in Beijing.
#china Xi promises to eliminate 'the virus inside the Party'.
Xi's mention of his anti-corruption campaign gets big round of applause.
Beijing is decked out in welcome banners and festive displays for the congress. However, the capital is also on high alert. Long queues were seen earlier this week at railway stations due to additional checks at transport hubs. The congress has also affected businesses, with some restaurants, gyms, nightclubs and karaoke bars reportedly shutting down due to tightened security rules.
An austerity drive, instituted by Mr Xi, has meant a more pared down congress, with reports this week of delegates' hotels cutting back on frills such as decorations, free fruit in rooms and lavish meals.
Meanwhile, state media have said the Party is expected to rewrite its constitution to include Mr Xi's "work report" or political thoughts, which would elevate him to the status of previous Party giants Mao Zedong and Deng Xiaoping.
Some see Mr Xi as accruing more power than any leader since Mao, and the congress will be watched closely for clues on how much control now rests in the hands of just one man, says the BBC's John Sudworth.
Mr Xi has tightened control within the Party and also in Chinese society, but continues to enjoy widespread support among ordinary citizens.
| Famous Person - Give a speech | October 2017 | ['(BBC)'] |
Mad Men wins the Emmy Award for Best Drama and 30 Rock wins for Best Comedy at the 60th Primetime Emmy Awards. | LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - “Mad Men,” the acclaimed new show set in a New York advertising agency on the cusp of the 1960s social revolution, won the Emmy Award as best television drama on Sunday for its first season on the air.
The AMC network’s period piece becomes the first series from a cable channel other than HBO to claim the prestigious best-drama title.
“Mad Men” prevailed in a rare six-way contest against two other cable shows -- “Damages” from FX and Showtime’s “Dexter” -- as well as ABC’s “Boston Legal,” the Fox medical hit “House” and the 2005 winner, “Lost,” also from ABC.
| Awards ceremony | September 2008 | ['(Reuters)'] |
The United States House of Representatives votes to provide $50 billion over five years to fight AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria in Africa and other third world areas. | By JIM ABRAMS – 5 days ago WASHINGTON (AP) — The House voted Wednesday to triple to more than $10 billion a year U.S. humanitarian spending on fighting AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis in Africa and other stricken areas of the world.
About $41 billion of the $50 billion over five years would be devoted to AIDS, significantly expanding a program credited with saving more than 1 million lives in Africa alone in the largest U.S. investment ever against a single disease.
Every day another 6,000 people are infected with the HIV virus, said House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Howard Berman, D-Calif. "We have a moral imperative to act and to act decisively," he said.
The House voted 308-116 to extend and broaden the scope of the $15 billion President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief that President Bush promoted and Congress enacted in 2003. It has been hailed as a noteworthy foreign policy success of the Bush presidency.
The White House, which backs the House bill, said the program is supporting anti-retroviral treatment for about 1.45 million people and is on track to meet its goals of backing treatment for 2 million, preventing 7 million new infections and providing care for 10 million, including orphans and vulnerable children.
In 2007, 33 million people worldwide were living with HIV and AIDS, according to the United Nations.
Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen of Florida, top Republican on the Foreign Affairs Committee, added that while the program is based on altruism, it has strengthened U.S. security.
Without addressing the AIDS pandemic, she said, it "will continue to spread its mix of death, poverty and despondency that is further destabilizing governments and societies, and undermining the security of entire regions."
The compromise bill was one of the last endeavors of the former Foreign Affairs Committee chairman, Tom Lantos, D-Calif., who died of cancer in February. The measure is named after Lantos and his predecessor as Foreign Affairs chairman, the late Rep. Henry Hyde, R-Ill., who worked together on the 2003 act.
The Senate Foreign Relations Committee has approved a similar $50 billion bill, and the legislation is seen as having a good chance of passing in an election year in which few major bills will reach the president's desk.
To advance the legislation, conservatives had to give up a provision in the 2003 act requiring that one-third of all HIV prevention funds be spent on abstinence programs. Instead it directs the administration to promote "balanced funding for prevention activities" in target countries.
Liberals, in turn, had to accept some restrictions on family planning groups participating in AIDS programs. Conservatives, concerned that money might be diverted to abortion promotion, pushed for a provision that allows the use of funds for HIV/AIDS testing and counseling services in those family planning programs supported by the U.S. government.
A measure in the 2003 act requiring groups receiving funds to have a policy explicitly opposing prostitution and sex trafficking, opposed by some health groups as impeding efforts among sex workers, was also left intact.
The White House, which originally promoted doubling the program to $30 billion, has expressed concern over the $50 billion figure but not opposed it.
Some conservatives still objected. "This is irrational generosity," said Rep. Dana Rohrabacher, R-Calif., saying the country doesn't have enough money to help veterans and the elderly. "This is benevolence gone wild."
The bill authorizes $10 billion a year, or $50 billion through 2013. Of that, $41 billion is for AIDS prevention and treatment, $4 billion for tuberculosis and $5 billion for malaria. The actual dollars still have to be approved in annual spending bills, but over the last five years Congress exceeded the $15 billion goal, appropriating $19 billion for global AIDS and related programs.
It expands the program, originally focused on 15 mainly sub-Saharan African countries, to include Caribbean nations as well as Malawi, Swaziland and Lesotho in Africa. The goal of the next five years is to prevent 12 million new infections, provide anti-retroviral treatment for 3 million, and train more than 140,000 health care workers. The bill increases coordination with drinking water and nutrition programs and efforts to educate girls and women.
"This will be remembered as the single most significant achievement of President Bush's two terms in office," said Rep. Donald Payne, D-N.J., chairman of the Foreign Affairs subcommittee on Africa. | Financial Aid | April 2008 | ['(AP via Google News)'] |
In horseracing, Solemia defeats Japanese Triple Crown winner Orfevre in Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe. | Last updated on 7 October 20127 October 2012.From the section Horse Racingcomments12
Solemia, ridden by Olivier Peslier, won the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe at Longchamp, pipping Japanese horse Orfevre at the post.
It was a fourth win in the famous race for the French jockey, who won three consecutive Arcs between 1996-98, on Helissio, Peintre Celebre and Sagamix.
Orfevre (5-1), Japan's 2011 horse of the year, looked certain to claim his country's first victory.
Despite the obvious achievements of the Solemia team, there was a strong feeling of anti-climax after this year's Arc had been won by a horse miles down most lists of likely winners, if she was on them at all.
This was not a vintage running of the great Flat racing feature, as was always a worry on the very soft, examining going, especially after a build-up that was certainly premier cru in terms of eventfulness.
But let's remember that after the 2009 Arc we were hailing Sea The Stars as one of the all-time greats, and now we are saying the same back home about Frankel, so here in the land of Marie Antoinette was a demonstration that we can't always have our cake and eat it. But the 33-1 outsider's sweeping run in the home straight secured the win.
The Aidan O'Brien-trained Ernest Hemingway led for much of the race but stablemate Camelot, ridden by Frankie Dettori, failed to live up to its billing as one of the favourites, finishing seventh on a rain-softened course.
Masterstroke (11-1) came third with Haya Landa (150-1) fourth.
"It's the Arc," said four-year-old filly Solemia's trainer Carlos Laffon-Parias. "I thought we were beaten in the straight, then I saw Orfevre stopping.
"Sometimes the jockey can make the difference and Olivier Peslier is the one who won the race."
Peslier, 39, said: "It's fantastic, for the yard, for everyone."
O'Brien said of Camelot: "It was very sporting of the lads to let him run, but he wants fast ground.
"He's something for us to look forward to next season, as he will remain in training. Hopefully he has a good winter and he could be something unbelievable next year." | Sports Competition | October 2012 | ['(BBC)'] |
Honduran authorities arrest four men in the March 3 home invasion killing of Goldman Environmental Prize–winning environmental activist Berta Cáceres. One of the suspects was an active duty army officer while the others worked for Desarrollos Energeticos SA, whose hydroelectric project Cáceres had opposed since 2006. The four also face charges on the attempted murder of Mexican environmental activist Gustavo Castro Soto, who was injured in the attack. | Honduras officials report arrests of two people linked to company building hydroelectric dam which Cáceres had fought
Last modified on Thu 5 May 2016 16.42 BST
Four men have been arrested in connection with the murder of the Honduran indigenous activist Berta Cáceres, who was shot dead at her home two months ago.
Two of those arrested are linked to the company building a hydroelectric dam which Cáceres had campaigned against. Sergio Ramón Rodriguez, an engineer for the Agua Zarca dam being built by Desarrollos Energéticos SA (Desa), and Douglas Geovanny Bustillo, a retired military officer and the former head of Desa’s security detail, were both detained on Monday morning, according to the Honduran public prosecutor’s office. The four men were due to appear before a judge later on Monday, where prosecutors will outline their alleged links to the crime.
Cáceres, who last year won the Goldman environmental prize for her work opposing the Agua Zarca dam on the Gualcarque River, had previously reported both men to authorities for making threats against her life.
Rodriguez had allegedly threatened Cáceres just days before her death as she led a protest by her group the Civic Council of Popular and Indigenous Organizations of Honduras (Copinh) to the river which is considered sacred by the indigenous Lenca people. Cáceres reported the incident to the authorities, and accused Desa of using local thugs to intimidate her. The arrests were made after police carried out 10 simultaneous early morning raids in the capital, Tegucigalpa, and the coastal cities La Ceiba and Trujillo. The other two detainees are Mariano Díaz Chávez and Edison Atilio Duarte Meza. Duarte Meza is a former military officer; Mariano Díaz Chávez is a member of the country’s armed forces on active duty.
The arrests come amid mounting pressure on the Honduran government to authorize an independent international investigation into the activist’s murder, which has triggered widespread condemnation.
Cáceres, who had reported 33 death threats linked to her campaign against the dam, was killed after two assailants broke into her house just before midnight on 2 March. The four detainees face charges linked to her murder and the attempted murder of her friend Gustavo Castro, director of Friends of the Earth Mexico, who was injured in the attack. The investigation thus far has been condemned by Cáceres’ family, colleagues and independent observers. The first suspects were members of Copinh and Castro who were interviewed for several days. It took investigators 11 days to visit the offices of Desa.
The family, who have also criticized the authorities for failing to communicate with them while leaking important information to the press, found out about the arrests on the news.
Laura Cáceres, 23, the activist’s youngest daughter, told the Guardian: “The Honduran state is too closely linked to the murder of my mother to carry out an independent investigation. It is the government who awarded the dam commission and the government who sent military and police to work with Desa’s private security guards, who threatened my mother.” “If it wasn’t for our struggle and the international pressure for justice, my mother’s murder would already be extinct. We have woken up to this news but it doesn’t change our demands for an international investigation,” she said, speaking by telephone from the town of La Esperanza, where her mother was murdered.
The government has so far rejected an offer by the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights to send a team of experts to Honduras to investigate into the murder of Cáceres and other high-profile activists. Honduras is the world’s most dangerous country for environmental rights defenders, with 109 murdered between 2010 and 2015, according to the NGO Global Witness. | Famous Person - Commit Crime - Arrest | May 2016 | ['(AP)', '(The Guardian)'] |
Blacktown District Soccer Football Association's CEO says he will ignore a FIFA ruling to ban the hijab even if it is enforced by Football Federation Australia after the Iran girls' football team is disqualified from the Youth Olympic Games by FIFA for their view on the hijab. | The chief executive of a Sydney football club says he will ignore a ruling by the sport's world governing body to ban hijabs even if it is enforced by Football Federation Australia.
The Iran girls' football team was thrown out of the Youth Olympic Games, to be held in Singapore in August, after an appeal by Iran to review a ban on the Islamic head scarf was rejected by FIFA.
A FFA spokeswoman said this morning that it was still discussing the FIFA ruling internally.
Jack Taylor, chief executive officer of the Blacktown District Soccer Football Association, told 2UE Radio this morning that he did not expect any Sydney football association to comply with the ruling if the FFA chose to impose it.
"I couldn't see any association, certainly in Sydney - and I know most of them - I can't see us implementing it," he said.
"Rules are for things that aren't dangerous to the player or others. You can't make political statements ... but I don't see the hijab as a political statement."
Mr Taylor said he did not expect any backlash from the FFA if local clubs did not toe the line.
"What are they [the FFA] going to do?" he said.
The Asian Football Confederation, the governing body of Asian football, said on its website that FIFA general secretary Jerome Valcke had written to Iran's Football Federation about the ban.
“… taking into consideration the clear position stated by the [National Olympic Committee] of Iran, the FIFA Executive Committee had no choice but to take the decision that the [Iran's] Football Federation will not be able to participate in the inaugural Youth Olympic Football Tournaments in Singapore.” | Sports Competition | April 2010 | ['(The Sydney Morning Herald)'] |
Baton–wielding Egyptian police disperse a pro–democracy demonstration in Cairo. | They beat protesters and dragged dozens away from outside the upper house of Parliament, taking them away in trucks before reportedly releasing them later. Demonstrations are illegal under Egypt's stern "emergency laws", which have been in place for 30 years. The protesters were calling for a change to the constitution that they say would make elections more fair. The demonstration was called by the 6 April youth movement, which backs the presidential candidacy of Mohamed ElBaradei, the former head of the United Nations' nuclear watchdog. "It's an insulting image for Egypt," opposition politician Ayman Nour told reporters. "Hundreds of soldiers are denying the right of a few dozen civilians trying to express their desire to amend the constitution." Journalists beaten
Mr ElBaradei was not at the demonstration but he has said he would run in elections planned for next year if there were changes made to the constitution allowing fairer polls. Opposition parties are in effect banned by the government's use of the tight restrictions on the political process in the Egyptian constitution. Journalists covering the protest were also beaten with police batons, and photographers' cameras confiscated. The 6 April movement was formed in 2008 through the social networking site Facebook. The group campaigns for political reform through a series of strikes and has over 70,000 members. Mr ElBaradei, 67, has hinted he may stand against 81-year-old President Hosni Mubarak, who has ruled since 1981, in an election due in 2011. Observers believe President Mubarak wants his son Gamal to succeed him. Analysts say Mr ElBaradei's appeal for many Egyptians is that he is a civilian in a country long ruled by soldiers, and that he is untainted by corruption allegations. But detractors writing in state media have portrayed him as a figure who is out of touch with Egyptian life, having lived abroad for so many years. | Protest_Online Condemnation | April 2010 | ['(BBC News)', '(Reuters)', '(The Washington Post)'] |
Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo sacks education minister Fabian Osuji for corruption. (Vanguard, Nigeria) (Link dead as of 03:13, 15 January 2007 ) | ABUJA— THE N55 million bribe scandal involving top officials of the Federal Ministry of Education and the National Assembly, last night, swept out of office Education Minister, Professor Fabian Osuji, and Senate President, Chief Adolphus Wabara, among others. Prof. Osuji was dismissed by President Olusegun Obasanjo while Chief Wabara resigned. His resignation takes effect April 5.
President Obasanjo in a nationwide broadcast said Prof. Osuji would be handed over to the Independent Corrupt Practices Commission (ICPC) for necessary action.
The broadcast:
"My dear Fellow Nigerians.
"It is with a heavy heart that I have to address the nation today. As you know, the issue of transparency, accountability and eradication of corruption assumed a central place in the policies and programmes of this administration from its inception.
"The fight against corruption is meant to be observed within the three arms of government, the Executive, Judiciary and Legislature, because corruption will not disappear in our national life if the measures adopted in the fight are designed for the Executive arm or within the Judiciary alone while the Legislative arm wallows in corruption.
"In addition, our fight against corruption will be meaningless if it is concentrated within the federal tier of government while the states and local governments wallow in corruption; neither would the battle against corruption be won if it is concentrated within the public sector while the private sector, the Fourth Estate of the realm, and civil society wallow in corruption.
We have never made shy of our undiluted commitment to eliminating corruption from our national life because it compromises national development, contaminates collective morality and values, distorts national planning, corrodes integrity and discipline, and destroys the foundations of creativity, innovation, and democratic structure and development.
Sometime in the month of February 2005, intelligence report came to me that contrary to my firm instructions to ministers and departments and parastatals under them that nobody should bribe or give inducement to any individual or group in the National Assembly for approval or enhancement of the budget proposed by me, some ministers have disregarded my instructions.
"The intelligence report confirmed that some ministers have violated the rule and actually paid bribe to committees and individuals in the National Assembly. I asked that the allegation be investigated and while I was away in Europe during the week of March 13 to 19, 2005, the investigation came to a climax.
The following facts have now been established in the investigation report:
*That the Minister of Education invited his acting Permanent Secretary and some Directors to collect money from votes under their control to bribe some members of the National Assembly so that they can ensure that their budget will not be reduced, in fact, in order that the budget for the ministry submitted by the Executive may be increased;
*That those Directors produced from the votes under their control the sum of N35 million while an additional loan of N20 million was taken from the National Universities Commission (NUC) to pay a total bribe of N55 million which was collected by the Senate President, Adolphus Wabara; Senator John Azuta Mbata, Chairman, Senate Appropriation Committee; Senator Ibrahim Abdulazeez, Chairman Senate Committee on Education; Senator (Dr) Chris Adighije, Senator Badamasi Maccido, Senator Emmanuel Okpede, and a member of the Federal House of Representatives, Honourable (Dr) Shehu Matazu who is Chairman of the House Committee on Education.
"On my brief return on Saturday, the 19th of March 2005, an Interim Oral Report of the investigation into the allegations was made to me while the investigation continued. I insisted that the N55 million be recovered from those who received it. By the time I returned on Monday from Namibia, the money had been recovered through the Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) brought in by Senator (Dr) Chris Adighije, and it will be kept and used as exhibit. A written report confirming the oral report has now been submitted to me.
In the meantime, the following actions are to be immediately instituted:
*The Minister of Education is dismissed from office and he would be handed over to the ICPC for necessary follow-up action;
*The Acting Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Education, Mr. P. S. Abdu and the five Directors of the ministry are to be referred to the Federal Civil Service Commission for necessary disciplinary action;
*I have forwarded the Report on the Senate President, Senator Ibrahim Abdulazez, Senator (Dr) Chris Adighije, Senator John Azuta Mbata, Senator Badamasi Maccido, and Senator Emmanuel Okpede, to the Deputy Senate President and Leader of the Senate for appropriate action while sending the same report to the Chairman of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) and Chairman of the All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) for appropriate action by their respective parties. In addition, a formal report will be made to the ICPC for necessary action;
*A copy of the Report has been forwarded to the Honourable Speaker of the House of Representatives in respect of the Chairman of the House Committee on Education, Honourable Shehu Matazu for appropriate action at the House level and at the party level;
*The Vice-Chancellor of the Federal University of Technology, Owerri, Professor Jude E. Njoku, who also provided the sum of N25 million (including N10 million to Honourable Matazu, Chairman House Committee on Education) as bribe to the House Committee on Education in the 2004 budget year is being recommended to be appropriately disciplined by the Ministry of Education in the absence of a council and I am doing this in my capacity as Visitor to the institution based on the Report. He too will be referred to the ICPC for necessary action. This should serve as a lesson to the heads of other institutions and parastatals. Further investigation on the receivers of Professor Njoku’s payment during the 2004 Budget confirmed Honourable Gabriel Suswan and Honourable Osita Izunaso as members who shared the bribe money with Dr. Shehu Matazu.
*The Executive Secretary of the National Universities Commission (NUC), Professor Peter Okebukola, will be dealt with appropriately for providing a loan of N20 million to the Ministry of Education on instruction of the then minister; and
*The allegations against other ministers and departments that may have committed similar offences will continue to be investigated.
Fellow Nigerians, it is a disheartening event that the number three man in the government hierarchy in the country is involved in this sordid matter. It is an action that violates all known norms of good governance, progressive leadership, integrity and credibility. This tends to vindicate those who made similar allegations in the past.
"Let me commend and express appreciation to those ministers and officials who have stood firmly against the harassment and demands of some, I repeat, some members of the National Assembly for bribe to approve or increase their budget or not to make negative comments on the performance of the Ministry or Department as the legislators carry out their oversight functions.
"I want to appeal to all Nigerians that the fight against corruption in all its ramifications is a relentless one and should involve all citizens. Nobody, no matter how highly or lowly placed, irrespective of status or stature that is caught engaging in any act of corruption will go free. Let me use this opportunity to point out that in the Senate and in the House of Representatives, there are men and women of honour, probity, integrity and discipline that deserve the respect of all Nigerians.
I salute such men and women and I wish we have them in sufficient critical mass to make the National Assembly a haven of integrity, probity, transparency, honesty, patriotism and accountability.
"But what has now happened must make us all to be extra cautious in the realisation that when some members of the National Assembly are inviting people to question them on what they have done or are doing, or to discuss or defend their budgets or investigate what may not be their business, no one should fall for the antics of using that guise to engage in acts of bribery and corruption.
"Contractors have also alleged such acts on the part of members of the Senate and the House in the past but such contractors were scared to substantiate their allegations. There have also been allegations against some members of the National Assembly who directly or indirectly make demands from Ministries and parastatals in the performance of their oversight functions. Equally, allegations have been widespread about demands from members of the National Assembly during political appointment confirmation exercises as well as during the on-going N25 billion equity requirement on banks.
In fact, allegations that will confound the honest Nigerian and boggle the minds of the public on all sorts of demands for bribe and gratification by some public servants continue to complicate our campaign for transparency, accountability, service delivery and due process. These allegations have to be laid to rest through thorough investigation. We cannot continue to solicit for debt relief without being prudent and relentless in our fight against corruption at home.
"We must match our words with sincere, honest, transparent and serious action. Then, the world will take us seriously.
"It is the responsibility of the National Assembly to cleanse itself, to show to Nigerians that it deserves their respect, to rebuild public confidence, and to flush out those members who continue to derogate and degrade its integrity and stature. Because this has never been part of the Assembly’s agenda, past leaders of the Senate and the House got away with near murder and are now living in obscene opulence. Such opulence is without foundation except abused privilege of being a leader in the National Assembly for a few years. Their honour, integrity and credibility will remain impaired and dented no matter how they live and where they live and certainly cannot meet acceptance in the eyes of their Creator. In the final analysis justice will catch up with them.
Membership of the National Assembly, I believe, is a sacred trust and responsibility reposed in a legislator by the electorate. Such trust and responsibility must not be violated, abused or compromised through the sale of this sacred mandate for personal material gain.
"I want to reiterate my appeal to the National Assembly to be moderate and conscious about what it puts in the budget for its own remuneration and upkeep which has tendency to encourage corruption and lack of accountability. We sure cannot continue in this way. I believe that this is also a time for us to carefully watch the cost per head to the nation of members of the National Assembly.
"We must not continue to tolerate limited service delivery for the astronomical cost of maintaining legislators, some of whom are more interested in compromising their mandates rather than serving the nation as expected.
"The National Assembly must be earnest, stringent and serious in its self-monitoring and self-sanctioning efforts to earn and sustain respect, honour and dignity for itself as the highest law-making body in the land. It is in our best national interest to have an honourable and respected National Assembly which is the pride of all of us. I will leave no stone unturned to achieve such a stature and status for the National Assembly.
Although it is perception which may be different from reality, and although we have expressed some dissatisfaction with its process and methodology including not stigmatising corrupting countries of the North and their corrupting companies, it is still unacceptable for Nigeria to be rated third on the ladder of corruption by Transparency International. This is irrespective of the fact that Transparency International itself properly and profusely acknowledges the effort of this Administration in the fight against corruption. For as long as this perception persists, it is a stigma on all Nigerians, no matter the honesty and integrity of any individual. We must collectively fight to destroy this monster.
"I, therefore, count on all Nigerians to join hands in this fight against corruption. Let us all give our dear nation a chance to grow. Corruption brings a nation no good. The resources meant for water supply, roads, education, health, and other basic and social services that are captured and stolen by a handful of Nigerians through corrupt acts stultify development.
"When you encourage, cover up or join hands in such acts you are destroying the nation and our collective future.
"I am pleased to note that things are changing for the better as more and more Nigerians are voting for transparency, accountability, due process, fair competition, and prudent management of our scarce resources. I take this opportunity to express appreciation to those individuals who have taken it upon themselves to expose corruption wherever they have found it.
"It is the action of such individuals that has given us some successes that we have had in recent times. That is how it should be and with God on our side we shall win this war against corruption. The Executive at the Federal level will continue to do its best. Other tiers of government and other sectors must be actively involved in the war.
"This is a warning to all those who have tendencies to be corrupt. This Administration is fully poised to deal ruthlessly with corruption in all its ramifications. And being under pressure is no excuse. | Government Job change - Resignation_Dismissal | March 2005 | ['(AllAfrica)', '(Reuters SA)', '(UTC)'] |
In curling, Scotland wins the 2013 World Women's Curling Championship defeating Sweden 6–5 in the final. | Last updated on 24 March 201324 March 2013.From the section Winter Sportscomments155
Scotland have been crowned women's world curling champions after beating Sweden 6-5 in Riga.
"It feels amazing," skipper Eve Muirhead told BBC Scotland. "We knew if we played the way we could play, we'd be close to a medal.
"It's been one of my lifetime dreams to become world champion. It shows you so much hard work finally pays off!"
Muirhead's team also consisted of Anna Sloan, Vicki Adams, Claire Hamilton and Lauren Gray.
Sweden, who had beaten Scotland twice earlier in the tournament, went into a 2-0 lead after two ends but never led again after the Scots turned it round to 3-2 after four ends.
"When you get to the final, you don't really want anything other than the gold medal and being world champions doesn't happen very many times in your life," said Muirhead, who had lost to Germany in her previous World Championship final in 2010.
"All the girls have played unbelievably and to come out as world champions feels great."
The Scots defeated Canada 8-7 in Saturday's semi-final to set up a third match versus Margaretha Sigfridsson's rink.
The previous losses to the Swedes had been the only reverses for the Scottish team in Latvia.
Scotland had finished the round-robin stage in second place, with 10 wins from their 11 ties. They take the title from Switzerland, who won in 2012. | Sports Competition | March 2013 | ['(BBC)', '(WWCC2013)'] |
Flash floods caused by heavy rain in Petra, Jordan, kill 11 people while 24 others are injured. | Flash floods in Jordan have killed 11 people and forced the evacuation of nearly 4,000 tourists from the ancient city of Petra.
Rescue teams and helicopters are searching for five people whose car was swept away in Madaba, south-west of the capital, Amman.
Downpours also triggered a state of emergency in the port city of Aqaba.
It comes two weeks after 21 people, mostly children, drowned in a flash flood in the Dead Sea area.
A civil defence spokeswoman told AFP news agency on Friday that a child was among those killed by floods in the Dabaa region, south of Amman.
A main road connecting the capital with the south of the country was also cut off, she added.
In Petra, floodwaters in some areas rose up to 4m (13ft), state TV reported. Footage showed people on the city's main road trying to stay clear of the water. Evacuated tourists were taken to safe areas, government spokeswoman Jumana Ghunaimat said.
She said more heavy rain was expected on Saturday and residents in affected areas were being urged to evacuate their homes. Jordan has suffered weeks of heavy rain. There was a public outcry last month after 18 children on a school trip were swept away, leading to the resignation of the country's education and tourism ministers.
School bus swept away in Jordan floods
| Floods | November 2018 | ['(BBC)'] |
All 10 U.S. sailors are freed by Iran and are in U.S. custody. The U.S. Naval Forces Central Command says, "There are no indications that the sailors were harmed during their brief detention." | Iran on Wednesday freed 10 American sailors from two small Navy vessels that Tehran claimed strayed into Iranian waters, prompting their overnight detention as Washington opened direct contacts with Iran seeking their release.
A senior defense official, speaking in Washington, said the sailors were not harmed but would undergo medical evaluation and a debriefing in the Persian Gulf nation of Qatar. Meanwhile, their vessels were taken by another American crew to Bahrain, their original destination and home to the U.S. Navy’s 5th Fleet.
The release appeared to end a potential flash point as Iran and world powers move toward the possible next steps in a landmark nuclear deal that limits Tehran’s atomic program in exchange for the easing of international economic sanctions.
The detention also added to tensions in the Persian Gulf region amid the worst diplomatic unraveling in decades between Shiite power Iran and Saudi Arabia and its Sunni allies. The feud — opened by Saudi Arabia’s execution of a prominent Shiite cleric earlier this month — has put Washington in the middle as it seeks to implement the nuclear deal while also backing its key regional partner, Saudi Arabia.
“Ten U.S. Navy Sailors safely returned to U.S. custody today, after departing Iran,” said a statement from U.S. Naval Forces Central Command. “There are no indications that the Sailors were harmed during their brief detention.”
According to the Navy’s statement, the sailors departed Farsi Island, where they were held, at 8:43 a.m. GMT (3:43 a.m. EST) on board the same boats that were intercepted. They were picked up by Navy aircraft and transferred ashore, eventually ending up in Qatar, while other sailors took charge of the vessels, called riverine command boats, and continued to Bahrain.
The sailors will receive support to reintegrate with their unit, said Cmdr. Kevin Stephens, a spokesman for the 5th Fleet. He declined to provide details on the identities of the 10 sailors, reportedly including one woman. Stephens said the Navy’s priority now is “determining … how exactly these sailors found themselves in Iran. And that’s something we’re going to be looking at.”
Iranian and U.S. ships often come within hailing distance in the Persian Gulf during patrols and maneuvers. The gulf is also the route for more than one-fifth of the world’s oil tanker traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, which is jointly controlled by Iran and Western-ally Oman.
Secretary of State John F. Kerry, in a statement, expressed his “gratitude to Iranian authorities for their cooperation in quickly resolving this matter…. That this issue was resolved peacefully and efficiently is a testament to the critical role diplomacy plays in keeping our country safe, secure, and strong.”
The incident, meanwhile, offered a test of new high-level channels opened during the nuclear talks between the two nations. Diplomatic relations between Washington and Tehran soured after Iran’s 1979 Islamic revolution, and they were formally severed in April 1980, five months after militants seized the U.S. Embassy in Tehran and took Americans hostage.
For hours — even as President Obama gave his annual State of the Union address — messages passed directly between Iran and Washington instead of the intermediary nations used for decades. The exchanges included Kerry reaching out to Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, who was Iran’s point man during the nuclear talks, said a senior U.S. official, who was not authorized to discuss the matter publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.
Kerry “made the case very strongly” to Zarif that the incident had stemmed from a mechanical problem aboard one of the boats and that they appeared to have drifted into Iranian territorial waters, the official said.
Zarif asked for more information about the incident, which the State Department later communicated to Iran. Zarif, the official said, “came back and said they were all safe and sound, that nobody was hurt,” and that Iran would “return them promptly.”
Iran’s Fars News Agency quoted a statement from the country’s powerful Revolutionary Guard Corps saying the sailors were released after “investigations showed that they had gone astray during their voyage in the Persian Gulf.” In its statement, the Guard added that the “illegal entry into Iranian water was not the result of a purposeful act.”
The quick moves by the Revolutionary Guard also suggested that Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, sought to keep the detention from overshadowing regional affairs, including the nuclear deal.
Video of the seizure, however, indicated tense moments. The U.S. crew is shown kneeling on the deck with their hands behind their heads. Other images, broadcast by Iranian state television, included the sailors sitting on the floor in a carpeted room, and an apparent Iranian official examining their American passports.
“After it became clear that the U.S. combat vessels’ illegal entry into the Islamic Republic of Iran’s waters was the result of an unintentional action and a mistake and after they extended an apology, the decision was made to release them,” the Revolutionary Guard’s statement said.
“The Americans have undertaken not to repeat such mistakes,” it added. “The captured marines were released in international waters under the supervision of the IRGC Navy.”
But State Department spokesman John Kirby said there was “zero truth” to reports of a formal U.S. apology, citing only Kerry’s expression of thanks to Iranian officials.
“Nothing to apologize for,” Kirby wrote in a tweet.
The exact circumstances surrounding the incident remained unclear.
The two small boats, used largely on coastal waters and on rivers, had been en route from Kuwait to Bahrain in the Persian Gulf when they disappeared from the Navy’s scopes. Senior administration officials said the vessels appeared to have experienced mechanical trouble or ran out of fuel, but Fars said the sailors had been “snooping.”
[These are the U.S. Navy riverine command boats that Iran just ‘took into custody’]
The Iranian military took the boats and their crews to Farsi Island, where Iran maintains a naval base.
The run-in, which in the United States drew calls for reprisal from Republican lawmakers and candidates, came at a sensitive time. Economic sanctions against Iran could be lifted as soon as this month under the nuclear deal.
[Top Navy admiral releases new plan to stay ahead of rivals at sea and prepare for combat]
The incident marked the latest encounter between Iranian and U.S. crews. In December, Iranian gunboats fired unguided missiles about 1,000 yards from the aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman.
A U.S. defense official said the small boats were believed to have been within 12 nautical miles of Iran on Tuesday when they broke down. Many officials stressed, though, that it is unclear exactly what happened.
The vessels are agile and often carry Special Operations forces into smaller bodies of water.
[Aircraft carrier U.S.S. Harry S. Truman headed to Persian Gulf to fight Islamic State]
Defense Secretary Ashton B. Carter was updated throughout Tuesday afternoon about the incident and spoke with Kerry and national security adviser Susan E. Rice.
In recent weeks, U.S. lawmakers have called for increased sanctions on Iran after the country tested two ballistic missiles in recent months. Since the tests, President Hassan Rouhani vowed to expand the country’s ballistic missile program.
Even though details about the incident were sparse, former Florida governor Jeb Bush, a Republican presidential candidate, had quickly weighed in, accusing President Obama of having a “humiliatingly weak Iran policy.”
Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.), who opposed the nuclear deal, said on CNN that “this kind of openly hostile action is not surprising. It’s exactly what I and so many others predicted when President Obama was negotiating the nuclear deal with Iran — that it would embolden their aggression towards the United States and our allies in the region.”
In 2007, Iran held 15 British Royal Navy personnel for nearly two weeks. Iran claimed the ship entered its territorial waters off the Iran-Iraq coast. Britain said the vessel never left seas under Iraqi control.
Carol Morello, Brian Murphy and Karen DeYoung contributed to this report.
The most important news stories of the day, curated by Post editors and delivered every morning. | Famous Person - Commit Crime - Release | January 2016 | ['(The Washington Post)'] |
German national Christian Gerhartsreiter is charged with the murder of a San Marino, California man in the 1980s. | Twenty-six years after a San Marino couple disappeared from their home, Los Angeles County prosecutorsWednesday charged an elusive German national with murder in the slaying of the husband.
The charge against Christian Karl Gerhartsreiter caps a sensational murder mystery that took a bizarre twist in 2009 when officials dug up the couple's backyard searching for evidence. John Sohus' body was found buried in the backyard in 1994, but Linda Sohus' body has not been found.
Gerhartsreiter rented a guest house from the Sohuses in the early 1980s, using the name Chichester. But in 1985, the couple disappeared, and soon after, Gerhartsreiterleft.
Police investigated the disappearance, but the case didn't go far. Nine years later, though, as a new homeowner constructed a swimming pool, workers uncovered what is believed to be Jonathan Sohus' skeleton from the backyard.
Gerhartsreiter surfaced again in 2009 under the name Clark Rockefeller, claiming that he was a member of the famed family. He was accused of abducting his daughter during a supervised visit. He was later convicted.
He faces 26 years to life if convicted of murder.
[Updated at 5:10 p.m.: In the single-count indictment, prosecutors allege Gerhartsreiter used a “blunt object” to kill John Sohus, said Los Angeles County Sheriff’s spokesman Steve Whitmore.] | Famous Person - Commit Crime - Accuse | March 2011 | ['(Los Angeles Times)'] |
Three people die of asphyxiation due to fires set by protesters. | Malcom Brabant describes the scene as a group of protesters tried to storm the Greek parliament
At least three people have been killed in the Greek capital as protesters set fire to a bank during a general strike over planned austerity measures.
The bodies were found inside the Marfin Bank in Athens. The Greek prime minister said it was a "murderous act". The protest became violent, with petrol bombs thrown at police, who responded with pepper spray and tear gas. Protesters are angered by spending cuts and tax rises planned in return for a 110bn euro (95bn) bail-out for Greece. A police spokesman said the three victims - two women and a man - were among 20 people working in the Marfin bank branch on Stadiou Avenue in central Athens when the petrol bomb was thrown. Most of the employees managed to escape the fumes as the flames took hold. This demonstration however, looks better organised too, with clear "military" objectives. But the deaths are going to make the protesters pause. And there is going to be a backlash against the anarchists who are going to be the main suspects in this.
It is very difficult to predict which way the situation is going. This is a very volatile country. But the protesters have managed to send a message to the international community that social unrest is a serious problem and that is going to undermine trust in the Greek government.
But three found their way blocked as they tried to escape to the roof and they suffocated. "We took 15 minutes to get to the site because it was very difficult to get there," said fire brigade spokesman Panayiotis Falaras. He said another five people had been rescued from the building's balcony. Parliament is to vote on the measures by the end of the week. They include wage freezes, pension cuts and tax rises. They aim to achieve fresh budget cuts of 30bn euros over three years, with the goal of cutting Greece's public deficit to less than 3% of GDP by 2014. It currently stands at 13.6%. As the demonstration gained momentum, a group of protesters rushed up a flight of steps at the parliament building in Syntagma Square, taunting MPs to come out and calling them "thieves". Riot police forced them back, but right next to parliament, other groups set buildings on fire - including a department of the finance ministry in charge of the the austerity programme, as well as an office of the Athens prefecture. Prime Minister George Papandreou told MPs in parliament: "Nobody has the right to violence and particularly violence that leads to murder. Violence breeds violence." World concern
But one of the protesters told the BBC it had been the fault of the police, whose "brutality" had led to the escalation. "It's something tragic, but I think that the responsibility in the last instance lies with the government because the government unleashed a tremendous amount of police violence against a huge demonstration," Panayotis Sotiris said. The BBC's Malcolm Brabant in Athens says it is not clear whether shock over the deaths will have the effect of diminishing the protests. But the fear is that the campaign to defeat the government will escalate, our correspondent adds. The general strike is the third to hit Greece in as many months. Flights in and out of Greece stopped at midnight, and trains and ferries were not running. Schools, hospitals and many offices are shut. The government has appealed to demoralised staff in the military, police, schools and hospitals not to retire, fearing the surge in demand for benefits could further drain treasury resources. Meanwhile, the German parliament has begun considering the bail-out plan for Greece. Chancellor Angela Merkel urged MPs to back the emergency loan package agreed by European finance ministers at the weekend. It requires Germany to pay the largest proportion of the loans. "Quite simply, Europe's future is at stake," she said. The EU has agreed to provide 80bn euros (69bn) in funding - of which around 22bn euros would come from Germany - while the rest will come from the International Monetary Fund (IMF). European Council President Herman van Rompuy said the European Union was watching events in Greece. "We are all concerned by the Greek economic and budgetary situation, but at this moment our thoughts are with the human victims in Athens," Mr van Rompuy said. "A major programme has just been finalised. This programme is ambitious and credible in efforts that it represents towards the budgetary plan and competitiveness." The bail-out deal is designed to prevent Greece from defaulting on its massive debt. However, it must first be approved by some parliaments in the 15 other eurozone countries. What are these?
| Armed Conflict | May 2010 | ['(Reuters)', '(BBC)'] |
Three large earthquakes measuring between magnitude 6.5 and magnitude 6.8 strike near Vancouver Island. No tsunami warning is issued. | Three earthquakes measured at magnitudes of anywhere between 6.5 and 6.8 struck off Vancouver Island on Sunday night.
They hit about 200 kilometres west of the island, according to Natural Resources Canada (NRC).
A 6.5-magnitude quake hit at 10:39 p.m., a 6.8-magnitude quake at 11:16 p.m. and another 6.5-magnitude quake at 11:22 p.m., it said.
WATCH: What’s behind the string of earthquakes off Vancouver Island?
One of the quakes, which was measured at a magnitude of 6.5, hit approximately 200 kilometres from the Vancouver Island community of Port Alice on Sunday night.
The 6.8-magnitude quake is believed to have struck just under 200 kilometres west of Port Alice.
There were no reports of damage, and “none would be expected,” according to NRC.
WATCH: Three strong earthquakes reported off Vancouver Island
The earthquake’s location was pegged at 208 kilometres west-southwest of Port Alice, and 478 kilometres west of Vancouver.
The quake happened at a depth of approximately 10 kilometres and no tsunami was expected.
WATCH: A closer look at the string of earthquakes off the coast of Vancouver Island
“We’re still recording very small aftershocks, even this morning right now,” Dr. John Cassidy, a seismologist with NRC told CKNW Monday morning. “But there were three very strong earthquakes last night. They occurred within a span of about 45 minutes.”
There were no reports of the quake having been felt.
READ MORE: Chance of the ‘big one’ hitting higher due to seismic activity – expert
Coverage of earthquakes on Globalnews.ca:
Though the quake may seem large compared to other events that have hit the West Coast of North America in recent years, it was far from the biggest.
Earlier this year, a 7.9-magnitude earthquake hit just under 600 kilometres south of Anchorage, triggering a tsunami that was less than a foot high.
Historically, the largest of quakes measuring at a magnitude of five or more near B.C. happened in 1970, when an event hit a magnitude of 7.4, according to Natural Resources Canada. | Earthquakes | October 2018 | ['(Global News)', '(Spokesman)'] |
In American horse racing, Cloud Computing wins the 2017 Preakness Stakes in only his fourth race. | In a stunner, Cloud Computing won the Preakness Stakes, spoiling Always Dreaming’s bid at a Triple Crown.
The 142nd Preakness was billed as a head-to-head battle between Kentucky Derby winner Always Dreaming and Classic Empire, who was looking for revenge after a rough trip two weeks ago at Churchill Downs. And for three-quarters of the race, that’s exactly what it was, with Always Dreaming running in the lead, and Classic Empire on his right hip the entire way.
But as they rounded the final turns, Always Dreaming began to fade, ceding the lead to Classic Empire, who was, it appeared, home free.
But out of nowhere came Cloud Computing, who entered the race at 13-1 odds. The three-year old ridden by Javier Castellano had run third for most of the way, but at the top of the stretch blew by Always Dreaming and eventually caught Classic Empire just a few feet from the finish line, beating him by a nose in 1:55.98.
Senior Investment (30-1) finished third. Always Dreaming faded to eighth.
Was this expected? No. No. No. Always Dreaming won the Derby as the favorite in somewhat easy fashion. But that was a bit misleading. Classic Empire might as well have been a co-favorite, but his Derby got off to a brutal start when he got side-slammed right out of the gate. That took him out of contention and eliminated Always Dreaming’s main competition.
So while Always Dreaming went into the Preakness as the 6-5 favorite, Classic Empire was right there at 2-1 – essentially a co-favorite again. Hence, the pre-race billing, and the relative anonymity of the rest of the field, including Cloud Computing – the sixth favorite in a 10-horse race.
So how did this happen? Well, for starters, there was a reason for the 37-year Triple Crown drought before American Pharoah broke it two years ago: it’s hard to win three races in five weeks.
More precisely, Todd Pletcher, trainer for Always Dreaming, isn’t a fan of racing his horses on two-weeks rest. It’s why he often skips the Preakness if he doesn’t have a Derby winner and goes to the Belmont, his home track, with a rested stable. He didn’t have that choice this time around.
Coincidentally or not, Pletcher’s only other Derby winner, Super Saver in 2010, also finished eighth at the Preakness, the only leg of the Triple Crown Pletcher hasn’t won.
On the flip side, Cloud Computing, trained by Chad Brown, was fresh, having not competed in the Derby and working on six weeks rest.
What’s next? The Belmont Stakes on June 10.
More from Yahoo Sports: • Turkish NBA player’s passport ‘canceled’ • Insane 675-pound workout for Steelers star • LeBron, Cavs dismantle Celtics in historic blowout • NBA vet gives Lonzo Ball father-related advice
Jane Curtin and Laraine Newman, stars of Saturday Night Live when the show was in its infancy, appeared on Watch What Happens Live With Andy Cohen Thursday, where they spoke about the fight between Bill Murray and Chevy Chase in 1978. After leaving the show, Chase had returned to host. Murray and Chase exchanged some deeply hurtful words following dress rehearsal, which soon resulted in a physical altercation just minutes before Chase took the stage to deliver the monologue. “I think Jane and I, and Gilda both witnessed it,” Newman said. “But, ya know, it was very sad and painful and awful.” “It was that sad kind of tension that you would get in a family,” Curtin added, “and everybody goes to their corners because they don't want to have to deal with the tension, and it was uncomfortable. You could understand, you know, there were these two bull mooses (sic) going at each other, so the testosterone was surging and stuff happens.”
The G.O.A.T. is serving some serious summertime vibes ahead of the Olympics.
The Celtics shook up the NBA landscape Friday morning by trading Kemba Walker to the Thunder for old friend Al Horford. Chris Forsberg shares his reaction to the blockbuster transaction.
In a clip from the series “Covid and the Vaccine: Truth, Lies and Misconceptions Revealed” making the rounds on social media Thursday, the former Utah Jazz guard brags about his supposed expertise on the coronavirus pandemic. Sometimes your hero’s crush your heart…..thank god this mofo meant nothing to me.
Dallas Mavericks hell week continues; coach Rick Carlisle quits 10 days after saying he wants to return
Former Celtics center Kendrick Perkins explains why he loves the Kemba Walker trade for Boston.
Bears quarterback Justin Fields recently praised QB1 (for now) Andy Dalton for taking the rookie under his wing. But one this Fields said raises eyebrows. “I think there was one day after OTAs, I was throwing extra after practice, and he stayed out there specifically just to see maybe what I was doing wrong and [more]
Jayson Tatum, Marcus Smart and Tristan Thompson gave special shout-outs to Kemba Walker on social media after the Celtics traded the popular point guard Friday.
Here's what fans and analysts are saying about Friday's big trade.
From Slovenia, Dallas Mavericks’ Luka Doncic addressed the departure of team president Donnie Nelson.
Al Horford is back in Boston after the Celtics acquired him in a trade with the Thunder, and he seems pretty happy with the move, judging by his Instagram page.
Here's a look at how young center Moses Brown, who the Celtics acquired in a trade with the Thunder involving Kemba Walker and Al Horford, can help Boston's frontcourt.
The Sixers' second star is at the center of fans' frustrations following Game 5, and they're ready to ship him out - but for whom? By Adam Hermann
This is a play you don't see everyday.
Gerrit Cole said gripping the ball is "so hard" after his first start since MLB announced a strict penalty for pitchers who use sticky substances.
NBA Twitter was pretty fired up in response to the blockbuster trade between the Celtics and Thunder involving Kemba Walker and Al Horford.
Julian Edelman reacted to the Celtics' Kemba Walker trade on Twitter and even gave a new nickname for Brad Stevens.
Katie Ledecky is used to slaying her competition, winning not by hundredths but by full seconds. Taking notice was Ariarne Titmus. Titmus fired the first shot, clocking a winning time of 3 minutes, 56.90 seconds at the Australian trials.
Here are the best MLB free agent signings of 2021 so far, including some Mets and Yankees.
Kemba Walker is gone. Are Tristan Thompson and Evan Fournier next? A new report sheds light on some potential fallout from Friday's Celtics-Thunder trade. | Sports Competition | May 2017 | ['(Yahoo! Sports)'] |
The number of Zika virus infected in Singapore rises above 40. | Follow NBC News Singapore has confirmed 41 cases of locally transmitted Zika virus, mostly among foreign construction workers, and said it expected more cases to be identified.
All but seven of those infected had fully recovered, the Health Ministry and the National Environment Agency said in a statement on Sunday. The other seven remain in hospital.
On Saturday, authorities confirmed a 47-year-old Malaysian woman living in southeastern Singapore as the city-state's first case of a local transmission of the virus.
Zika, carried by some mosquitoes, was detected in Brazil last year and has since spread across the Americas. The virus poses a risk to pregnant women because it can cause severe birth defects. It has been linked in Brazil to more than 1,600 cases of microcephaly, where babies are born with small heads.
Singaporean authorities said they tested 124 people, primarily foreign construction workers employed on a site in the same part of Singapore. That site has been ordered to halt work, and workers' dormitories are being inspected. Seventy-eight people tested negative and five cases were pending. Thirty-four patients had fully recovered.
Four Singaporean men had developed symptoms of the virus in the past week and were hospitalized on Saturday. It was not clear where the foreign workers were from or when their cases were detected. Singapore hosts a large contingent of workers from the Asian subcontinent.
None of those infected had traveled recently to Zika-affected areas. "This confirms that local transmission of Zika virus infection has taken place," the statement said.
The ministry "cannot rule out further community transmission since some of those tested positive also live or work in other parts of Singapore," the statement said. "We expect to identify more positive cases."
The World Health Organization said in a statement on Sunday that it did not know "which lineage of Zika is circulating" or "what the level of population immunity is to this lineage of Zika in Asia."
Related: Another New Zika Case Found in Florida
"It is important for countries to remain vigilant through surveillance for cases, to continue vector control, to inform people about Zika and how they can protect themselves, and to have the health system ready to supply the services needed to prevent and manage Zika and its consequences," the group told Reuters.
Singapore, a major regional financial center and busy transit hub that maintains a constant vigil against the mosquito-borne dengue virus, reported its first case of the Zika virus in May. It was in a middle-aged man who had been to Brazil.
Singapore deployed about 200 NEA officers to clean drains and spray insecticide in the mainly residential area early on Sunday to counter mosquito breeding grounds, and volunteers and contractors handed out leaflets and insect repellent.
All medical services in Singapore had been alerted "to be extra vigilant" and immediately report any Zika-associated symptoms to the health ministry.
Singapore said there were "ongoing local transmission" cases in Indonesia, Thailand and Vietnam. Other countries in the region to have detected the Zika virus since 2013 include Bangladesh, Cambodia, Laos, Malaysia, Maldives and the Philippines, according to the WHO.
Malaysia said on Sunday it stepped up surveillance at main transit points with Singapore - handing out leaflets on Zika prevention and having paramedics ready to handle visitors with potential symptoms of the virus.
In Thailand, where close to 100 cases of Zika have been recorded across 10 provinces this year, the Department of Disease Control was screening athletes returning from the Olympic Games in Brazil, but was not otherwise changing its prevention measures.
"Every country in this region has Zika transmission cases," said Prasert Thongcharoen, an adviser to the DDC. "Thailand has, however, managed to contain the problem through early detection."
A Foreign Ministry spokesman said Indonesia was "following developments". Oskar Pribadi, a Health Ministry official, said there had been no recent Zika cases in the country.
Vietnam has to date reported three cases of locally transmitted Zika infection.
The current strain of Zika sweeping through Latin America and the Caribbean originated in Asia, where people may have built up greater immunity. | Disease Outbreaks | August 2016 | ['(NBC)'] |
In boxing, the World Boxing Organization strips Floyd Mayweather Jr. of the welterweight title he won in his fight with Manny Pacquiao for failing to pay a US$200,000 fee in time and failing to vacate a Light middleweight title he also held. | Floyd Mayweather Jr. has been stripped of the welterweight world title he won after beating Filipino Manny Pacquiao this year for failing to comply with rules, the World Boxing Organization said on Monday.
Mayweather, who improved to 48-0 by beating Pacquiao in May, missed a deadline by which he had to pay a $200,000 sanctioning fee from the fight and vacate the junior middleweight title he also held, the WBO said in a statement.
The WBO said it is against rules for boxers to hold world titles in multiple weight classes and that Mayweather had to indicate which weight division he would retain.
Mayweather, who finished ahead on all three scorecards of what proved to be the top-grossing prize fight of all-time, had until 4:30 p.m. ET (2030 GMT) last Friday to advise the WBO of his position.
"The WBO World Championship Committee is allowed no other alternative but to cease to recognise Mr. Floyd Mayweather, Jr. as the WBO Welterweight Champion of the World and vacate his title, for failing to comply with our WBO Regulations of World Championship Contests," the WBO said in a statement.
Mayweather, who earned over $200 million from the fight which generated a record pay-per-view revenue in the United States of $400 million, has two weeks to launch an appeal. | Sports Competition | July 2015 | ['(Reuters via MSN)'] |
It is impossible that Abdelbaset al–Megrahi could have pretended to have terminal prostate cancer, according to an oncologist who examined him. | Leading oncologist Professor Karol Sikora examined Abdelbaset al-Megrahi, who has terminal prostate cancer, in prison and estimated he had about three months to live.
Last August, the Libyan was released from jail on compassionate grounds.
Megrahi is still alive, although there are no current reports on his health.
His release provoked fury in the US, where politicians are looking into claims that the release was linked to oil deals with Libya - a claim that has been denied.
Megrahi was jailed in 2001 for the 1988 bombing over the Scottish town of Lockerbie, which claimed 270 lives.
"I am surprised he is still alive," said Professor Sikora, who was asked by the Libyans to give a medical opinion on Megrahi's health prior to his release. He said he did not believe he and other experts had been fooled.
"You take into account the type of cancer he had, and the X-ray evidence that it had spread. The blood test for PSA (prostate specific antigen) was rising - everything pointed towards the fact that he had end-stage disease."
Former prison doctor and writer Theodore Dalrymple agreed that it would be impossible for Megrahi to fake the severity of his disease.
"There is a difficulty of knowing prognosis, with medicine not being an exact science.
"You can't say, except in very rare cases, that somebody is going to die on the 14th of April next.
"And just because someone has certain symptoms, it is not possible to say someone will die within weeks.
"The reason you are suspicious is because you suspect prisoners might have been pulling the wool over your eyes.
"With something like dementia it is possible, but I don't think is is possible to act respiratory failure or cancer."
Section 3 of the Prisoners and Criminal Proceedings (Scotland) Act 1993 gives Scottish ministers the power to release prisoners on licence on medical grounds. In Scotland, only 26 prisoners have been released in the last decade, with seven requests denied.
Eleven of those died within days of release; only two survived more than six months - one for 16 months - and of these only Megrahi, who was one of the last to be released, is still alive.
The release of Megrahi is still causing controversy, with the US Senate's Foreign Relations Committee currently investigating the circumstances behind it.
It is led by Senator Robert Menendez, who is asking for the release of all relevant medical documents. | Famous Person - Sick | August 2010 | ['(BBC)'] |
Pakistan's former leader Pervez Musharraf is directed to appear before the country's Supreme Court on allegations of treason. | Pakistan's top court has ordered former military ruler Pervez Musharraf to respond to allegations he committed treason.
On Tuesday, judges at the Supreme Court will consider an application to have him put on trial for imposing emergency rule and arresting judges in 2007.
The order comes after he was approved to run in next month's polls.
But he has also been barred from leaving the country - two weeks after he returned from self-imposed exile.
Mr Musharraf - who led a military government from 1999 until 2008 - had lived in Dubai and London and returned to run in the forthcoming parliamentary elections despite outstanding court cases against him.
Correspondents say his path has been rocky since his return. His election nomination papers were rejected in other locations before he was chosen as a candidate in the remote northern district of Chitral. The Supreme Court was responding to petitions from lawyers who allege that Mr Musharraf committed treason by suspending the constitution and sacking the entire higher judiciary in November 2007.
The court has asked the former leader to appear on Tuesday when it considers whether or not to put him on trial. It is unclear whether he will appear in person or send his lawyer.
This is not the only legal case Mr Musharraf is facing in relation to his time in office.
He is accused of failing to provide adequate security for former PM Benazir Bhutto ahead of her assassination in 2007; and he is wanted in connection with the murder of a Baloch tribal leader, Nawab Akbar Bugti. | Famous Person - Commit Crime - Sentence | April 2013 | ['(BBC)'] |
Fourteen people are shot at a women's dance class in LA Fitness gymnasium in Collier Township, Pennsylvania, United States. Three women die, as does the gunman. | A man has killed at least three women at a gymnasium in the US state of Pennsylvania, before shooting himself.
Another 10 people were injured by gunfire in the town of Bridgeville near Pittsburgh, after the incident at the LA Fitness Center. An eyewitness told a local TV station that a man entered an all-female dance class, turned off the lights, took two guns out of a bag and began firing. Police sources named the gunman as 48-year-old George Sodini. . They said he lived just a few miles from the gym. "He did not say anything. He walked right into the room where the shootings occurred as if he knew exactly where he was going," said Allegheny County police Superintendent Charles Moffatt. On a website registered in his name, Sodini described years of rejection by women and his struggles with alcoholism. The site also chronicles, over a nine-month period, his plans to carry out a shooting. 'Flashes in the dark'
One witness said there were about 30 women in the dance class when the shooting took place. She said there were "flashes in the dark" as the gunman began firing into the group. Stacey Falk, 26, who was in the class, described the panic as women in the room realised what was happening. "All of us girls were just ducking behind each other and it was just, you know, I was behind a girl, one of the girls in front to get hit," she told a local TV station. Others said they saw several women bleeding from bullet wounds to the legs, back and shoulder. Loretta Moss said she tried to help one woman who was shot in the leg. "She was screaming, 'It's burning, just please call the ambulance'," Ms Moss said. One man who was in the gym at the time of the shooting said people ran into the complex bleeding. "One lady was shot in the leg, one lady was shot in the shoulder. We started picking her up and dragging her out," Richard Walker said. The gym management said in a statement: "Each of us in the LA Fitness family are shocked and saddened by the senseless acts of violence that took place." | Armed Conflict | August 2009 | ['(BBC News)'] |
US company Titan Corporation agrees to pay a fine equivalent to US$28.5 million after they admit attempting bribery to get a military communications contract in Benin. The corporation allegedly gave US$2 million to the re–election campaign of president Mathieu Kérékou. , , | The Titan corporation was accused of funnelling more than $2m into the 2001 re-election campaign of President Mathieu Kerekou. At the time, Titan was trying to get a higher price for a telecommunications project in Benin.
There is no suggestion that Mr Kerekou was himself aware of any wrongdoing.
Titan, a California-based company, pleaded guilty to falsifying its accounts and violating US anti-bribery laws.
It agreed to pay $13m in criminal penalties, as well as $15.5m to settle a civil lawsuit brought by the US financial watchdog, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
T-shirt
The SEC had accused Titan of illegally paying $2.1m to an unnamed agent in Benin claiming ties with President Kerekou.
Some of the money was used to pay for T-shirts with campaign slogans on them ahead of the 2001 election.
Shortly after the poll, which Mr Kerekou won, Benin officials agreed to quadruple Titan's management fee.
Prosecuting attorney Carol Lam said: "All US companies should take note that attempting to bribe foreign officials is criminal conduct and will be appropriately prosecuted."
The company says it no longer tolerates such practices.
Under the US Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, it is a crime for American firms to bribe foreign officials. | Organization Fine | March 2005 | ['(Reuters)', '(Financial Times)', '(BBC)'] |
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