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The UN Human Rights Council issues a report accusing both IS militants and Syrian government forces of committing war crimes in Syria. | Islamic State (IS) militants have committed "mass atrocities" in Syria and have recruited children as fighters, the United Nations says.
In a report, investigators say public executions are a "common spectacle" in areas run by IS, one of the groups fighting against Syria's government. The report also accuses the Syrian authorities of using chemical agents in eight separate incidents this year.
The conflict between government forces and several rebel groups began in 2011.
Some 200,000 people have died since then.
The UN report details abuses by the Syrian government and several of the armed groups fighting it. The report says the Syrian air force has used barrel bombs on civilian neighbourhoods. "In some instances, there is clear evidence that civilian gatherings were deliberately targeted" by government forces, the investigators said.
"In government prisons, detainees were subjected to horrific torture and sexual assault."
The findings are the result of interviews and evidence collected between January and July this year as part of an inquiry into human rights violations in Syria. Among the other allegations of war crimes committed by the Syrian government of President Bashar al-Assad was the use of suspected chlorine gas, a chemical agent, in eight separate incidents in April and May of this year.
The period covered in the report coincides with the growth of IS in Syria. The group seeks to create an independent Islamic State in an area that stretches across Syria and Iraq.
It has attracted jihadists from across the region, as well as fighters from Western countries including the UK and the US.
The brutal murder of American journalist James Foley last week has focused minds here on a broader response to the rapid advance of IS. The US is considering expanding its campaign of limited air strikes in Iraq, the most immediate possibility being a humanitarian relief operation for Shia Turkmen besieged by IS militants in the northern part of the country. US spy planes have also begun surveillance flights over Syria to identify potential IS targets, after America's top general said the militant group could not be defeated without attacking its Syrian bases. US officials say that President Obama has not yet decided whether to authorise direct military intervention in Syria, which would be a significant escalation. But they all stress that any campaign to root out IS in Iraq and Syria would be long and difficult and would need to include increased support for local armed forces as well as a political solution. It would also need to be backed by a coalition of European and regional countries, which the Obama administration has begun trying to mobilise.
In their report, UN investigators said IS was waging a campaign of fear in northern Syria, including amputations, public executions and whippings. "Bodies of those killed are placed on display for several days, terrorising the local population," the document says.
"Women have been lashed for not abiding by IS's dress code. In Raqqa, children as young as 10 are being recruited and trained at IS camps."
On Wednesday IS supporters tweeted pictures allegedly showing militants executing Syrian army soldiers after capturing the government Tabqa airbase near Raqqa in eastern Syria. The pictures have not been verified.
Paulo Pinheiro, the chairman of the UN panel, said the international community has failed "in its most elemental duties - to protect civilians, halt and prevent atrocities and create a path toward accountability".
One of the investigators, Carla del Ponte - a former chief prosecutor of two UN war crimes tribunals - has urged world powers to refer Syria to the International Criminal Court.
In a separate development, Syrian rebel groups including the al-Qaeda affiliated Nusra Front have taken control of a crossing between Syria and the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, according to a UK-based monitoring group.
"The Nusra Front and other rebel groups took the Quneitra crossing, and heavy fighting with the Syrian army is continuing in the surrounding area," said Rami Abdel Rahman, the director of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
The Israel Defence Forces said one of its officers "was moderately injured as a result of errant fire from Syria".
"In response, we struck 2 Syrian military positions in the Golan Heights," an IDF spokesperson
| Famous Person - Commit Crime - Accuse | August 2014 | ['(BBC)', '(UN Human Rights Council)'] |
The United Nations withdraws all of its international staff from the capital Tripoli. | The UN has withdrawn all its international staff from the Libyan capital Tripoli following a mob attack on its offices.
UN buildings and some foreign missions were targeted by angry crowds following a Nato air strike that reportedly killed a son of Col Gaddafi.
The UN says all its international staff have now left for Tunisia and the decision will be reviewed next week.
After its Tripoli embassy was sacked, the UK expelled the Libyan ambassador.
A BBC team in Tripoli said the British embassy was completely burnt out with fires still smouldering and paperwork and other debris scattered outside.
In other developments, witnesses reported heavy shelling by pro-Gaddafi forces on the port of Misrata on Sunday. The city has been besieged for two months. Libyan state TV said the port was shelled to stop Nato delivering weapons to insurgents but rebels said an aid ship had been trying to unload.
UK Foreign Secretary William Hague said Libyan ambassador Omar Jelban had been given 24 hours to leave the country.
By not protecting diplomatic missions, the Gaddafi regime had "once again breached its international responsibilities and obligations", said Mr Hague.
He added: "The attacks against diplomatic missions will not weaken our resolve to protect the civilian population in Libya."
The Italian foreign ministry condemned the "acts of vandalism" on its embassy, describing them as "grave and vile". Italy - which closed its embassy in March and is represented by Turkey - recently joined the Nato mission in Libya.
There were also protests outside the US mission in Tripoli.
A UN official said the Libyan government had apologised for the attack on its offices, blaming an angry mob for the damage.
Most Western governments evacuated staff from Tripoli when an international coalition began air strikes on Libya several weeks ago.
Late on Saturday, the Libyan government said Saif al-Arab Gaddafi and three of Col Gaddafi's grandchildren had died in a Nato attack on a villa in Tripoli.
Foreign reporters were shown widespread damage to the building in Col Gaddafi's Bab al-Aziziya compound.
Nato has insisted its raid targeted a "command-and-control" building, and that all Nato targets were "military in nature".
Libyan government spokesman Moussa Ibrahim said Col Gaddafi and his wife had been in the building at the time of the attack but they were both unharmed.
He said the air strike was against international law and "a direct operation to assassinate the leader of this country".
Nato is operating in Libya under a strict UN mandate to protect civilians.
Later on Sunday, Libyan state TV said funerals for Saif al-Arab Gaddafi and the other victims would be held on Monday after noon prayers.
The BBC's Christian Fraser witnessed the damage and said that if Col Gaddafi had been there, it is hard to imagine he could have walked away unscathed.
Russia expressed "serious doubts" that the West was not targeting Col Gaddafi and his family.
"The claims of the coalition members that strikes over Libya do not have the physical destruction of Muammar Gaddafi and members of his family as their goal cause serious doubts," a statement from the foreign ministry said.
In the eastern rebel stronghold of Benghazi, shots were fired in celebration following reports that Saif al-Arab Gaddafi had been killed.
However, the claims were also treated with scepticism.
Mahmoud Shammam, spokesman for the anti-Gaddafi Transitional National Council (TNC) based in Benghazi, told al-Jazeera he believed it was "a ploy to fish for people's sympathy".
Khaled al-Urfi, a resident of the rebel-held western city of Misrata, told AP news agency: "We don't know if it is true or not because Gaddafi is a liar. I will only believe it if you put the body in front of me."
On Saturday, Nato officials said the alliance would not consider talks until government forces stopped attacks on civilians. | Organization Closed | May 2011 | ['(BBC)', '(Al Jazeera)'] |
The Hableány, a sightseeing river cruise ship on the Danube in Budapest, capsizes and sinks with 34 South Korean tourists on board. At least seven people are killed and 19 remain missing. | BUDAPEST — A boat capsized and sank in the Danube River in Budapest just before midnight on Wednesday, leaving at least seven people dead and as many as 19 unaccounted for, officials said.
Under heavy rainfall, rescuers managed to bring 14 people to shore, the state television news broadcaster M1 reported. Speaking to reporters early Thursday, a representative for the National Ambulance Service said that seven people had died.
| Shipwreck | May 2019 | ['(The New York Times)'] |
Carlos Pascual resigns as United States Ambassador to Mexico due in part to tensions with the President of Mexico Felipe Calderón. | Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton » Secretary's Remarks » 2011 Secretary Clinton's Remarks » Remarks by Secretary Clinton: March 2011 » Ambassador Carlos Pascual
It is with great regret that I announce that Ambassador Pascual has asked President Obama and me to accept his resignation as our ambassador to Mexico
For the past year and a half, Ambassador Pascual has been an architect and advocate for the U.S.-Mexico relationship, effectively advancing the policies of the United States on behalf of the President and this Administration. He has collaborated tirelessly with his Mexican counterparts to lay the foundation for a cross-border renewable energy market, to open negotiations on the management of oil and gas reserves that span U.S. and Mexican territory, and to build a new border strategy to advance trade while staunching illicit flows. Carlos has also engaged U.S. and Mexican business to build markets that have helped make Mexico the number two destination of U.S. exports.
Ambassador Pascual worked with the Mexican government to integrate human rights into our respective policies and engagement; he also partnered to enhance the human and cultural connections that underpin the friendship between the people of Mexico and the United States. Carlos partnered with his counterparts to reach beyond the Merida Initiative’s initial focus on disrupting cartels to building institutions for the rule of law in Mexico and engaging Mexican civil society in advancing their security. These ties, grown and strengthened throughout his tenure, will serve both our nations for decades.
Within the U.S. Government, Carlos embraced a “whole of government” approach to addressing one of our most important bilateral relationships, winning the respect and cooperation of our foreign service, military and law enforcement agencies. The President and I are particularly grateful to Carlos for his efforts to sustain the morale and security of American personnel after tragic shootings in Mexico that killed four people from our extended family in the past year.
Carlos has relayed his decision to return to Washington based upon his personal desire to ensure the strong relationship between our two countries and to avert issues raised by President Calderon that could distract from the important business of advancing our bilateral interests. It is with great reluctance that President Obama and I have acceded to Carlos’s request. Prior to returning to assuming his new responsibilities at the State Department, the President and I have asked Carlos to stay in Mexico to help us organize an orderly transition.
The Office of Electronic Information, Bureau of Public Affairs, manages this site as a portal for information from the U.S. State Department.
External links to other Internet sites should not be construed as an endorsement of the views or privacy policies contained therein. | Government Job change - Resignation_Dismissal | March 2011 | ['(U.S. State Department)', '(Reuters)'] |
Former French minister Georges Tron, who resigned last month due to allegations of sexual assault, is arrested by police. | French police have detained former minister Georges Tron over sex charges, the local prosecutor's office has said.
Mr Tron resigned as junior civil service minister last month after being accused of sexually assaulting two women who worked in the town hall where he is mayor.
He was arrested on Monday for questioning, as part of prosecutors' preliminary inquiries.
He has not been charged in the case, and denies the accusations.
Police can hold Mr Tron for 24 hours and extend his arrest for another 24 hours, said prosecutor Marie-Suzanne Le Queau.
One of his deputies at the Draveil town hall is also being held.
A third accuser has also "recently brought charges" against Mr Tron, according to sources close to the investigation. Her identity or connection to Mr Tron is not known.
The first two accusers allege Mr Tron gave them reflexology foot massages which turned into forced sexual encounters.
Mr Tron resigned from the government at the end of last month over the allegations, a few days after ex-IMF chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn's arrest in New York on sex crime charges. He remains mayor of Draveil.
At the time of his resignation, Ms Le Queau said that "if the facts alleged were established, they could come under the headings of sexual aggression and rape". | Famous Person - Commit Crime - Accuse | June 2011 | ['(BBC)'] |
A Mexican judge authorises 40 days of detention for an alleged member of the Zetas drug cartel suspected in the killing of a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent. | MEXICO CITY -- A Mexican judge has authorized 40 days of detention for an alleged member of the Zetas drug cartel suspected in the killing of a U.S. immigration agent.
The Attorney General's Office says the judge's order will allow federal investigators to conduct a more thorough investigation of Julian Zapata Espinoza's alleged involvement with the drug cartel.
Zapata Espinoza is the main suspect in the Feb. 15 killing of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent Jaime Zapata.
The office said in a statement Saturday that the judge ordered that eight other people arrested along with Zapata Espinoza also be held for 40 days. Two of them are suspected of taking part in the attack, which also wounded U.S. immigration agent Victor Avila. | Famous Person - Commit Crime - Arrest | February 2011 | ['(AP via Washington Post)'] |
Pope Francis arrives in Vilnius, Lithuania, on his visit to the Baltic States. | Pope Francis will arrive in Vilnius, Lithuania, on Sept. 22. During his first day in the city, the pope will take a walk in the streets of the Old City, and he will head toward the Gate of Dawn, one of the ancient points of access to the Lithuanian capital. There, he will pray the Rosary and deliver a speech before an icon of Mary Mother of Mercy.
The speech and the rosary were not initially part of the pope’s schedule in Vilnius. They were a last minute addition to program, and a very meaningful one.
Inessa Caukaskien, a member of the Vilnius pilgrimage center, told CNA that “the Gate of Dawn is one of the most ancient and important place of pilgrimage in Lithuania.”
The Icon of Mary Mother of Mercy is a significant object of devotion. One of the few icons of the Blessed Virgin Mary without the infant Jesus in her arms, it was painted between 1620 and 1630, and dressed and crowned of silver in the 18th century.
The painter is unknown, but the pilgrimage center records more than 8,000 graces obtained thanks to the prayers offered in front of the icon.
It was first known as the painting of the Madonna of the Gate of Dawn Chapel. It was Pope Pius XI who decreed that the name of the icon would become the Icon of the Holy Mother of Mercy.
St. Faustina Kowalska lived briefly in 1929 at the convent of the Congregation of Our Lady of Mercy in Vilnius, attracted by this veneration. It was in Vilnius that St. Faustina envisioned for the first time her devotion to Divine Mercy.
Archbishop Gintaras Grusas of Vilnius told CNA that “Sr. Faustina and the image of Divine Mercy are tangibly put together with the Holy Mother of Mercy icon by the fact that the shrine was the first place where the original image of Divine Mercy was exposed for a public veneration.”
He added that “the strong tie with the image of Divine Mercy and the Mother of Mercy Chapel continues to this day, marking Vilnius very much as a City of Mercy.”
“When Saint John Paul II canonized St. Faustina, Grusas continued, “he mentioned the cities where she has been, and among them was Vilnius. He gave a mandate of being apostles of mercy and to continue to spread that message, which is what we are continuing to try to do. This is the city where through St. Faustina, with the help of Bl. Sopocko, we spread around the world the message of mercy, we continue to proclaim that message today.”
St. John Paul II was linked to the Holy Mother of Mercy, too. There is a reproduction of the Icon in the Lithuanian chapel in St. Peter’s Basilica.
“That image,” Grusas told CNA, “is very much beloved by St. John Paul II. As a matter of fact, when he was elected pope, he went to the Lithuanian Chapel to pray in front of the reproduction of the icon. There, he prayed for his papacy. When he came to Vilnius, he also brought his cardinal’s zucchetto here, to fulfill a promise he had made to the Blessed Virgin Mary. So, we have in the sacrity both Cardinal Wojtyla’s zucchetto and also his papal zucchetto, which he left as well.”
John Paul II kicked off his Sep. 4, 1993 visit to Lithuania with the rosary in the Chapel of the Gate of Dawn. Pope Francis, then, will do the same.
The pope is also scheduled to go to the Shrine of Divine Mercy, where the original image of Merciful Jesus painted under St. Faustina indications is exposed and where perpetual Eucharistic adoration take place.
In this way, Pope Francis will honor his visit to the “city of mercy.”
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Among Catholic devotions, the Divine Mercy message is well-known: the iconic image of Christ, with rays of red and white pouring from his heart; St. Faustina, called the “Apostle of Divine Mercy;” and the Basilica of Divine Mercy in Krakow, Poland. | Diplomatic Visit | September 2018 | ['(Catholic News Agency)'] |
The United States launches a prosecution against Liberty Reserve, based in Costa Rica, for money laundering worth $6 billion. | US prosecutors have announced what they say is the biggest international money laundering prosecution in history a $US6 billion ($A6.2 billion) trail that allegedly includes $US36.9 million ($A38.4 million) deposited in Westpac Bank accounts.
The trail was allegedly left by Costa Rica-based Liberty Reserve, a currency-transfer and payment-processing company that allowed customers to move money anonymously from one account to another via the internet with almost no questions asked, and has travelled through 17 countries, including the Westpac accounts in Australia.
Prosecutors described Liberty Reserve as a "financial hub of the cyber crime world ... one of the principal means by which cyber criminals around the world distribute, store and launder proceeds of their illegal activity ... including credit card fraud, identity theft, investment fraud, computer hacking, child pornography and narcotics trafficking."
"The scope of the defendants' unlawful conduct is staggering," officials said. Over roughly seven years, Liberty Reserve processed 55 million illicit transactions worldwide for 1 million users.
"The bank of choice for the criminal underworld": US Attorney Preet Bharara.Credit:AP
Prosecutors said 45 bank accounts have been restrained or seized.
According to the indictment, three Westpac accounts held in the name of Technocash Ltd contained $US36.9 million ($A38.4 million).
"We have rigorous processes in place to combat money laundering and have been working closely with regulators and law enforcement agencies," said a Westpac spokeswoman. In Australia, the agency responsible for detecting money laundering is AUSTRAC, which passes on intelligence to the Australian Federal Police and Australian Crime Commission.
'Bank of choice'
The Liberty Reserve network "became the bank of choice for the criminal underworld," US Attorney Preet Bharara said in announcing the unsealing of an indictment against the defendants, including founder Arthur Budovsky, an American who renounced his US citizenship after deciding to set up in Costa Rica.
Unlike traditional banks or legitimate online processors, Liberty Reserve did not require users to validate their identities, it is alleged.
It allowed users to open accounts using fictitious names, including "Russian Hacker" and "Hacker Account." One person was registered under the name of "Joe Bogus" and the address "123 Fake Main Street" in "Completely Made Up City, New York."
One person was registered under the name of "Joe Bogus" and the address "123 Fake Main Street" in "Completely Made Up City, New York."
"The only liberty that Liberty Reserve gave many of its users was the freedom to commit crimes the coin of its realm was anonymity, and it became a popular hub for fraudsters, hackers and traffickers," said Bharara. "It was the opposite of a know-your-customer policy."
Cyber-age laundering
"We're now entering the cyber age of money-laundering," said Richard Weber, chief of the Internal Revenue Service's Criminal Investigation division, who also alluded to Chicago Crime boss Al Capone. "If Al Capone were alive today, this is how he would be hiding his money."
The company operated one of the world's most widely used digital currencies, allowing users to send and receive "instant, real-time currency," according to the indictment in US federal court in Manhattan.
Digital currency, such as Bitcoin, was developed as a way to make anonymous transfers over the internet without paying fees to a bank. The US Justice Department warned as early as 2008 that criminals would increasingly rely on the digital currency industry to launder and move funds because it facilitates financial transactions outside the rules of the traditional banking system.
The alleged crimes involved only Liberty Reserve and its operators, and not any other digital currency, Bharara said.
"The actions brought today relate only to Liberty Reserve and no other system," Bharara said. "We're not taking any position on virtual currency generally and we're not taking any position with respect to any particular other company that engages in something that may look on the surface that something that Liberty Reserve was doing."
Arrests
Five of the seven defendants were arrested last week in a global swoop.
Budovsky, 39, was arrested in Spain, co-founder Vladimir Kats, 41, was arrested in Brooklyn, New York, while two other defendants, Ahmed Abdelghani, 42, and Allan Jimenez, 28, remain at large in Costa Rica, prosecutors said.
The names of the defendants' attorneys were not immediately available.
"The global enforcement action we announce today is an important step towards reining in the Wild West of illicit internet banking," said Bharara. "As crime goes increasingly global, the long arm of the law has to get even longer, and in this case, it encircled the earth."
A notice pasted across Liberty Reserve's website on Tuesday morning said the domain "has been seized by the United States Global Illicit Financial Team." As of Wednesday morning, the website is no longer accessible. Attempts to reach Liberty Reserve by phone and email were not immediately successful.
Liberty Reserve was incorporated in Costa Rica in 2006 and billed itself as the internet's largest payment processor and money transfer system serving millions of people around the world.
Prosecutors alleged Liberty Reserve was used extensively for illegal purposes, providing an infrastructure that enabled cyber criminals around the globe to conduct untraceable financial transactions.
The network charged a 1 per cent fee on transactions through "exchangers" middlemen who converted actual currency into virtual funds and then back into cash.
It is alleged when US authorities began to investigate the company, the defendants pretended to shut it down.
But it is alleged that they continued operating "and moved tens of millions of dollars through shell company accounts maintained in Cyprus, Russia, China, Hong Kong, Morocco, Spain, Australia and elsewhere".
Budovsky and Kats have previous convictions on charges related to an unlicensed money-transmitting business, according to court papers. After that case, the pair decided to move their operation to Costa Rica, the papers said.
In an online chat captured by law enforcement, Kats admitted Liberty Reserve was illegal and noted that authorities in the US knew it was "a money-laundering operation that hackers use".
Legitimate users
While authorities described Liberty Reserve as being rife with criminals, the site's ease of use, low fees and irreversible transactions that deterred fraud also attracted legitimate users.
Mitchell Rossetti, whose Houston-based ePayCards.com was one of several mainstream merchants that accepted Liberty Reserve's online-only currency, said his business still had about $US28,000 tied up in Liberty Reserve accounts.
"The irony of this is I went to them because of the security," Rossetti said. "All sales were final."
He acknowledged that the currency was being used by scammers but said Liberty Reserve funds were just like any other currency: "The US dollar can be donated to a church or it can pay a prostitute."
Liberty Reserve appears to have played an important role in laundering proceeds from the recent theft of some $US45 million from two Middle Eastern banks, according to documents made public by authorities earlier this month. In that scheme, thieves stole debit card information and then used it to drain cash from thousands of ATMs around the world in a matter of hours.
As part of the Liberty Reserve investigation, authorities raided 14 places in Panama, Switzerland, the US, Sweden and Costa Rica. In Costa Rica, investigators recovered five luxury cars, including three Rolls-Royces. Bharara said authorities also seized Liberty's computer servers in Costa Rica and Switzerland.
The seven defendants are each charged with one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering, which carries a maximum term of 20 years jail.
They're also charged with one count of conspiracy to operate an unlicensed money transmitting business and of operation of an unlicensed money transmitting business. Both of those charges carry a maximum jail term of five years. | Famous Person - Commit Crime - Accuse | May 2013 | ['(Sydney Morning Herald)'] |
Israeli aircraft hit at least six targets near Damascus, targeting Iranian-made Fateh-110 missile shipments en route to Hezbollah. | Syria has accused Israel of launching rocket attacks on Damascus, after a night of huge explosions near the city.
Syrian state media said the rockets hit the Jamraya research centre, which Western officials have suggested is involved in chemical weapons research.
Israeli radio quoted a senior security official confirming an attack, and sources said it targeted weapons bound for Hezbollah militants in Lebanon. It is the second suspected Israeli strike in Syria in two days.
On Friday Israeli aircraft hit a shipment of missiles near the Lebanon border, according to unnamed US and Israeli officials.
The BBC's Yolande Knell in Jerusalem says the latest developments are a significant escalation in Israel's involvement in the conflict.
She says Israel has already responded to fears of retaliation by locating two batteries of its Iron Dome missile defence system near Haifa, close to the Lebanese border.
Damascus was shaken by repeated explosions coming from the north-western suburbs.
Amateur video footage and eye witness testimony suggested rocket attacks had hit weapons dumps, triggering dramatic orange-flamed blasts.
The area houses numerous military facilities, including the Jamraya research centre, designated by Syria as a scientific research centre "in charge of raising our level of resistance and self-defence".
A state TV bulletin said: "The new Israeli attack is an attempt to raise the morale of the terrorist groups, which have been reeling from strikes by our noble army."
Damascus-based journalist Alaa Ebrahim told the BBC it was "the biggest explosion" the city had seen since the conflict began two years ago.
He said residents living near Jamraya reported feeling a "mild earthquake" just before the blast, indicating that the rockets may have hit an underground facility.
He added that the Syrian army was likely to have suffered major casualties in the attack.
The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights quoted eyewitnesses in the area as saying they saw jets in the sky at the time of the explosions.
The Jamraya facility was also apparently hit in an Israeli air strike in January. Israeli officials confirmed the January strike, but insisted it had targeted trucks carrying missiles to Hezbollah.
After the latest attack, unnamed Western intelligence sources have again said the target was a weapons cache heading for Lebanon.
Israel has repeatedly said it would act if it felt advanced weapons were being transferred to militant groups in the region, especially Hezbollah.
Analysts say the air strikes are unlikely to have a major effect on the civil war in Syria.
The latest reports from coastal regions around the town of Baniyas suggest dozens of Sunnis have been massacred in a campaign of sectarian cleansing.
The government said it had pushed back "terrorist groups" and restored security to the area.
The US said it was "appalled by the horrific reports" but that it did not foresee sending US troops to Syria.
However, the US is no longer ruling out supplying weapons to the rebels.
More than 70,000 people are estimated to have been killed since the conflict erupted in March 2011.
| Armed Conflict | May 2013 | ['(BBC)', '(The Times of Israel)'] |
Israel's military police investigates an air raid that killed at least 21 members of a single family and injured 19 others during the 20082009 Gaza War. | The order to bomb the house has been explained as the brigade commander's legitimate interpretation of drone photos shown in the war room.
A Military Police investigation into an air strike that killed 21 Palestinian civilians during Operation Cast Lead, according to a recent Haaretz report, indicates senior air force officers had approved the attack. The report, published on Friday by Amos Harel and Anshel Pfeffer ("IDF probes top officers on Gaza war strike that killed 21 family members" ), alleges senior officers authorized the bombing despite being warned by more junior officers that civilians were likely located at or nearby the target site.
| Armed Conflict | October 2010 | ['(Haaretz)', '(AFP via Google)'] |
One student is killed and three others wounded during an early morning shooting in a Northern Arizona University dorm in Flagstaff, Arizona. The suspected shooter was taken into custody. | Officials at Northern Arizona University say a suspect is in custody following a shooting at the campus of the Flagstaff school in the early hours of Friday morning. One person was killed; three other victims are in the hospital.
"The first call of shots fired came in at 1:20 a.m.," the school says via Facebook. It adds that the campus is not on lockdown.
All of the victims are students; some were shot multiple times, police say.
Update at 9:30 a.m. ET: Fraternity Says Its Members Were Involved
The headquarters of Delta Chi has issued a statement confirming that its members were involved in the shooting, although the fraternity adds that "this incident had no ties to the chapter."
The group did not release any other details.
Update at 9:18 a.m. ET: Shooting Followed A Dispute
NAU Police Chief G.T. Fowler said the shooting stems from a conflict that developed between two groups of students, saying that after the dispute escalated, one of the students "produced a handgun" and opened fire.
Fowler identified the suspect in the case as Steven Jones, an 18-year-old freshman. Fowler said that it's not yet known what the dispute was about, but that Jones did not flee the scene and is cooperating with police.
The victims haven't been publicly identified; they are all male, Fowler said.
"This is not going to be a normal day at NAU, school president Rita Cheng said at the morning news conference. "Our hearts are going to be heavy."
The shooting took place outside the Mountain View residence hall.
At the morning news conference, dozens of students showed up to get an update on the situation at the school, far outnumbering journalists in the room. Before the briefing began, many students gave each other hugs of consolation.
On the NAU Facebook page and at the news conference, students said they didn't receive an alert about the shooting until more than an hour after the incident began.
Fowler said police quickly determined that the situation was contained and that the alert was sent as soon as possible.
The shooting happened 10 days before the school, whose mascot is a Lumberjack, was scheduled to begin its homecoming celebration. | Armed Conflict | October 2015 | ['(New York Daily News)', '(NPR)'] |
A suicide bombing outside a Shia shrine in northern Baghdad, Iraq, kills at least 40 people and wounds at least 72. | BAGHDAD At least 40 people, 16 them Iranian pilgrims, were killed and 72 were wounded Sunday in a suicide bombing in Baghdad at the doorstep of one of Iraq’s holiest Shiite shrines, government and hospital officials said.
The attacker appeared to have singled out a procession of Iranian pilgrims visiting the shrine of Imams Musa al-Kadhim and Mohammed al-Jawad in Baghdad’s northern Kadhimiya district, witnesses and security officers said. Mohamed Hussein contributed reporting from Baghdad, Nazila Fathi from Tehran and an Iraqi employee of The New York Times from Diyala, Iraq.
| Armed Conflict | January 2009 | ['(The New York Times)'] |
Lawmakers in Nepal vote to elect a new Prime Minister. | Kathmandu, Nepal -- Constituent Assembly (CA) doubled Legislature parliament begins voting for a new prime minister. The lately organized meeting of the parliament on Thursday afternoon at New Baneshowr is going to break a month long deadlock that has left the country without a government for seven months, by electing the CPN UML chairman Jhala Nath Khanal as the Prime Minister of the country.
Speaker Subash Chandra Nembang declared to vote between the three contestants- NC leader Ram Chandra Paudel, CPN UML chairman Jhala Nath Khanal and Madhesi Janadhikar Forum (Loktantrik) chairman Bijaya Kumar Gachhadar. However, another candidate to the post of Prime Minister, UCPN Maoist chairman Pushpa Kqamal Dahal declared to withdraw his candidacy. In last minute meeting of the Maoist decided to support UML chairman Khanal as the Prime Minister. Nepalese parliamentarian had voted 16 times last year to try to elect a new leader after former prime minister Madhav Kumar Nepal stepped down in June, but. However, none of the candidate had win the race due to the rivalry between the political parties main the big three – UCPN Maoist, Nepali Congress and CPN UML on the issue of leadership of the government. | Government Job change - Election | February 2011 | ['(BBC)', '(Review Nepal)'] |
The Liberal Democratic Party wins most of the major local and prefectural contests, including all ten governorships at stake. | TOKYO—Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s Liberal Democratic Party cruised to victory in Japan’s local elections Sunday, as voter turnout likely remained at record-low levels throughout the country.
Voting took place in 10 gubernatorial races and five mayoral elections in government-designated major cities as well as for assembly seats in 41 prefectures and 17 cities.
Incumbent governors, all backed by the LDP, secured all of the 10 gubernatorial elections, according to public broadcaster NHK. LDP-backed candidates won the gubernatorial races in Hokkaido and Oita, the only two prefectures in which ruling and opposition blocs squared off.
“I believe this is a huge accomplishment,” Toshimitsu Motegi, chairman of the LDP’s election strategy committee, said of the gubernatorial elections Sunday night. He said it was the result of all governors receiving credit for their work during their previous term. | Government Job change - Election | April 2015 | ['(Wall Street Journal)'] |
15 people die in a plane crash near the Lockhart River in the Australian state of Queensland, the worst civilian air disaster in Australia in 36 years. | (ABC TV) Air safety investigators say the plane that crashed in far north Queensland struck a hill and then caught on fire.
The Metroliner crashed in bad weather near the Cape York community of Lockhart River yesterday afternoon, killing all 15 people onboard. It is the worst civilian air accident in more than 30 years. Ten male passengers, three women passengers and two crewmen were onboard.
Bad weather and the rough terrain prevented emergency crews from reaching the crash site until today.
Police say preliminary investigations at the site could take up to a week.
Alan Stray from the Australian Transport Safety Bureau says three investigators have flown over the wreckage this afternoon, but it is too early to say what caused the crash.
"The aircraft struck the ridge of a hill probably around about 100 feet below the top of the ridge," he said. "From what I have just had described to me just a few minutes ago, indicates that the impact was rather intense and a post impact fire has ensued, so it's very tragic circumstances."
Police have so far publicly identified 13 of the 15 crash victims.
The victims included 28-year-old Bamaga Police Constable Sally Urquhart. Constable Urquhart was flying south to attend a training course at the Townsville Police Academy. Her father Shane Urquhart says his daughter will be missed by many people.
"For the many many people who knew Sally from around the state please do not hesitate to contact us and share your thoughts," he said.
"As you well know, Sally touched the hearts of everyone." Queensland Police Minister Judy Spence says Constable Urquhart pioneered the way for other policewomen volunteering to serve in remote areas. "She was one of the female police officers who really pioneered policing in these remote Aboriginal communities and she's just so highly respected," she said.
A memorial service for the 15 victims is expected to be held in Cairns. Police spokesman Superintendent Michael Keating says the Police Disaster Victim Identification Squad is still at the crash site.
"We will be looking to remove and recover the deceased people from the scene, initially we will get them back here to Cairns," he said.
"We will deal with the John Tonge Centre in Brisbane and we will complete the disaster victim identification processes in management and through the processes of that organisation."
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AEDT = Australian Eastern Daylight Time which is 11 hours ahead of UTC (Greenwich Mean Time) | Air crash | May 2005 | ['(ABC Online)'] |
Government forces backed by the Arab coalition capture Marib Dam, one of the Houthi militant’s remaining strongholds in Marib Governorate, opening the path to a key highway leading to Sana'a. | ADEN // Pro-government forces backed by the Saudi-led coalition on Monday captured one of the Houthi rebel’s remaining strongholds in Yemen’s Marib Province, opening the path to a key highway leading to Sanaa.
Backed by land and air support from the coalition, which includes UAE forces, the Yemeni army took over Marib Dam at noon, said Brigadier General Murad Turaiq, head of the Yemeni military in Marib and Bayda provinces.
“Dozens of the coalition forces’ armoured vehicles participated in today’s offensive to retake the dam,” Brig Gen Turaiq told The National. He said they had managed to cut off a supply road to the dam used by the Houthis ahead of the offensive. Marib Dam, a reservoir south-west of Marib city is strategically important for the coalition, which is trying to restore the internationally-recognised government of president Abdrabu Mansur Hadi.
The roads around the dam have been used by the Houthis to bring in military reinforcements to hold the remaining areas of Marib Province under rebel control.
The pro-Hadi forces hope the fall of the dam will allow them to drive the rebels from the province and allow them to move on the highway linking Marib with Sanaa via the town of Sirwah.
The coalition forces will also take over the main road to Sirwah and free it from the Houthi rebels, Brig Gen Turaiq said.
Sirwah, west of Marib city, is one of the last strongholds of the Houthis in Marib Province.
The victory at the dam came after the pro-government forces attacked the eastern flank of the dam.
The attack killed at least 22 Houthi rebels, according to local sources.
Marib city is now controlled by troops and tribes loyal to President Hadi, but parts of the province are still in the hands of the rebels and their allies - renegade troops still loyal to ousted president Ali Abdullah Saleh.
However, Brig Gen Turaiq said the Iran-backed Houthi rebels and their allies now control only Sirwah, Gida’an, and Al Gawf less than 15 per cent of the province. The tribes in Marib are fighting alongside the army and the coalition forces, said Brig Gen Turaiq.
“Dozens of fighters from the Murad and Abeed tribes have joined the fight against the Houthis in the battle for the dam. In addition to that, more than 1,000 Yemeni soldiers have also returned from training in Saudi Arabia to help pro-Hadi forces,” according to Brig Gen Turaiq.
Elsewhere on Monday, a coalition spokesman denied any role in an attack reported to have killed 27 people at a wedding party in a Yemeni village on.
A local resident told Reuters that 12 women, eight children and seven men died in the air strike that hit two tents in the village of Al Wahijah, near the Red Sea port of Al Mokha.
Brigadier-General Ahmed Al Asseri said: “There have been no air operations by the coalition in that area for three days. This is totally false news.”
Forces from the UAE and Saudi Arabia have played a leading role in the months-long campaign to liberate Yemen from the Iran-allied Houthis, and have been at the forefront of the Marib offensive which was launched after the deaths of at least 67 coalition troops.
The province saw the heaviest coalition casualties of the campaign so far when a rebel missile hit a camp near Safer on September 4, killing 52 Emirati servicemen, 10 Saudis and five Bahrainis. At least two more Emirati soldiers have died since the Marib offensive was launched.
On Monday, Mr Hadi and his prime minister Khaled Bahah, visited Emirati forces in Aden who are part of Operation Restoring Hope in Yemen.
Mr Bahah congratulated the commander of the UAE force, senior officers and soldiers on the occasion of Eid Al Adha, and praised the participation of Saudi Arabia and the UAE, as well as the sacrifice of their armed forces.
Published: September 28, 2015 04:00 AM
| Armed Conflict | September 2015 | ['(The National)'] |
The United States and Russia agree on a draft United Nations Security Council resolution aiming to rid Syria of its chemical weapons. | UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - The United States and Russia reached an agreement on Thursday on a draft U.N. Security Council resolution aimed at ridding Syria of its chemical weapons arsenal. Following is the text of this draft resolution. The Security Council, PP1. Recalling the Statements of its President of 3 August 2011, 21 March 2012, 5 April 2012, and its resolutions 1540 (2004), 2042 (2012) and 2043 (2012), PP2. Reaffirming its strong commitment to the sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity of the Syrian Arab Republic, PP3. Reaffirming that the proliferation of chemical weapons, as well as their means of delivery, constitutes a threat to international peace and security, PP4. Recalling that the Syrian Arab Republic on 22 November 1968 acceded to the Protocol for the Prohibition of the Use in War of Asphyxiating, Poisonous or Other Gases and of Bacteriological Methods of Warfare, signed at Geneva on 17 June 1925, PP5. Noting that on 14 September 2013, Syria deposited with the Secretary-General its instrument of accession to the Convention on the Prohibition of the Development, Production, Stockpiling and Use of Chemical Weapons and on their Destruction (Convention) and declared that it shall comply with its stipulations and observe them faithfully and sincerely, applying the Convention provisionally pending its entry into force for the Syrian Arab Republic, PP6. Welcoming the establishment by the Secretary-General of the United Nations Mission to Investigate Allegations of the Use of Chemical Weapons in the Syrian Arab Republic ("the Mission") pursuant to General Assembly resolution 42/37 C (1987) of 30 November 1987, and reaffirmed by resolution 620 (1988) of 26 August 1988, and expressing appreciation for the work of the Mission, PP7. Acknowledging the report of 16 September 2013(S/2013/553) by the Mission, underscoring the need for the Mission to fulfill its mandate, and emphasizing that future credible allegations of chemical weapons use in the Syrian Arab Republic should be investigated, PP8. Deeply outraged by the use of chemical weapons on 21 August 2013 in Rif Damascus, as concluded in the Mission's report, condemning the killing of civilians that resulted from it, affirming that the use of chemical weapons constitutes a serious violation of international law, and stressing that those responsible for any use of chemical weapons must be held accountable, PP9. Recalling the obligation under resolution 1540 (2004)that all States shall refrain from providing any form of support to non-State actors that attempt to develop, acquire, manufacture, possess, transport, transfer or use weapons of mass destruction, including chemical weapons, and their means of delivery, PP10. Welcoming the Framework for Elimination of Syrian Chemical Weapons dated 14 September 2013, in Geneva, between the Russian Federation and the United States of America (S/2013/565), with a view to ensuring the destruction of the Syrian Arab Republic's chemical weapons program in the soonest and safest manner, and expressing its commitment to the immediate international control over chemical weapons and their components in the Syrian Arab Republic, PP11. Welcoming the decision of the Executive Council of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) of establishing special procedures for the expeditious destruction of the Syrian Arab Republic's chemical weapons program and stringent verification thereof, and expressing its determination to ensure the destruction of the Syrian Arab Republic's chemical weapons program according to the timetable contained in the OPCW Executive Council decision of, PP12. Stressing that the only solution to the current crisis in the Syrian Arab Republic is through an inclusive and Syrian-led political process based on the Geneva Communiqué of 30 June 2012, and emphasising the need to convene the international conference on Syria as soon as possible, PP13. Determining that the use of chemical weapons in the Syrian Arab Republic constitutes a threat to international peace and security, PP14. Underscoring that Member States are obligated under Article 25 of the Charter of the United Nations to accept and carry out the Council's decisions, 1. Determines that the use of chemical weapons anywhere constitutes a threat to international peace and security; 2. Condemns in the strongest terms any use of chemical weapons in the Syrian Arab Republic, in particular the attack on 21 August 2013, in violation of international law; 3. Endorses the decision of the OPCW Executive Council, which contains special procedures for the expeditious destruction of the Syrian Arab Republic's chemical weapons program and stringent verification thereof and calls for its full implementation in the most expedient and safest manner; 4. Decides that the Syrian Arab Republic shall not use, develop, produce, otherwise acquire, stockpile or retain chemical weapons, or transfer, directly or indirectly, chemical weapons to other States or non-State actors; 5. Underscores that no party in Syria should use, develop, produce, acquire, stockpile, retain, or transfer chemical weapons; 6. Decides that the Syrian Arab Republic shall comply with all aspects of the decision of the OPCW Executive Council of (Annex I); 7. Decides that the Syrian Arab Republic shall cooperate fully with the OPCW and the United Nations, including by complying with their relevant recommendations, by accepting personnel designated by the OPCW or the United Nations, by providing for and ensuring the security of activities undertaken by these personnel, by providing these personnel with immediate and unfettered access to and the right to inspect, in discharging their functions, any and all sites, and by allowing immediate and unfettered access to individuals that the OPCW has grounds to believe to be of importance for the purpose of its mandate, and decides that all parties in Syria shall cooperate fully in this regard; 8. Decides to authorize an advance team of United Nations personnel to provide early assistance to OPCW activities in Syria, requests the Director-General of the OPCW and the Secretary-General to closely cooperate in the implementation of the Executive Council decision of and this resolution, including through their operational activities on the ground, and further requests the Secretary-General, in consultation with the Director-General of the OPCW and, where appropriate, the Director-General of the World Health Organization, to submit to the Council within 10 days of the adoption of this resolution recommendations regarding the role of the United Nations in eliminating the Syrian Arab Republic's chemical weapons program; 9. Notes that the Syrian Arab Republic is a party to the Convention on the Privileges and Immunities of the United Nations, decides that OPCW-designated personnel undertaking activities provided for in this resolution or the decision of the OPCW Executive Council of shall enjoy the privileges and immunities contained in the Verification Annex, Part II(B) of the Chemical Weapons Convention, and calls on the Syrian Arab Republic to conclude modalities agreements with the United Nations and the OPCW; 10. Encourages Member States to provide support, including personnel, technical expertise, information, equipment, and financial and other resources and assistance, in coordination with the Director-General of the OPCW and the Secretary-General, to enable the OPCW and the United Nations to implement the elimination of the Syrian Arab Republic's chemical weapons program, and decides to authorize Member States to acquire, control, transport, transfer and destroy chemical weapons identified by the Director-General of the OPCW, consistent with the objective of the Chemical Weapons Convention, to ensure the elimination of the Syrian Arab Republic's chemical weapons program in the soonest and safest manner; 11. Urges all Syrian parties and interested Member States with relevant capabilities to work closely together and with the OPCW and the United Nations to arrange for the security of the monitoring and destruction mission, recognizing the primary responsibility of the Syrian government in this regard; 12. Decides to review on a regular basis the implementation in the Syrian Arab Republic of the decision of the OPCW Executive Council and this resolution, and requests the Director-General of the OPCW to report to the Security Council, through the Secretary-General, who shall include relevant information on United Nations activities related to the implementation of this resolution, within 30 days and every month thereafter, and requests further the Director-General of the OPCW and the Secretary-General to report in a coordinated manner, as needed, to the Security Council, non-compliance with this resolution or the OPCW Executive Council decision of; 13. Reaffirms its readiness to consider promptly any reports of the OPCW under Article VIII of the Chemical Weapons Convention, which provides for the referral of cases of non-compliance to the United Nations Security Council; 14. Decides that Member States shall inform immediately the Security Council of any violation of resolution 1540 (2004), including acquisition by non-State actors of chemical weapons, their means of delivery and related materials in order to take necessary measures therefore; Accountability 15. Expresses its strong conviction that those individuals responsible for the use of chemical weapons in the Syrian Arab Republic should be held accountable; Political transition 16. Endorses fully the Geneva Communiqué of 30 June 2012 (Annex II), which sets out a number of key steps beginning with the establishment of a transitional governing body exercising full executive powers, which could include members of the present Government and the opposition and other groups and shall be formed on the basis of mutual consent; 17. Calls for the convening, as soon as possible, of an international conference on Syria to implement the Geneva Communiqué, and calls upon all Syrian parties to engage seriously and constructively at the Geneva Conference on Syria, and underscores that they should be fully representative of the Syrian people and committed to the implementation of the Geneva Communiqué and to the achievement of stability and reconciliation; Non-Proliferation 18. Reaffirms that all Member States shall refrain from providing any form of support to non-State actors that attempt to develop, acquire, manufacture, possess, transport, transfer or use nuclear, chemical or biological weapons and their means of delivery, and calls upon all Member States, in particular Member States neighbouring the Syrian Arab Republic, to report any violations of this paragraph to the Security Council immediately; 19. Demands that non-State actors not develop, acquire, manufacture, possess, transport, transfer, or use nuclear, chemical or biological weapons and their means of delivery, and calls upon all Member States, in particular Member States neighbouring the Syrian Arab Republic, to report any actions inconsistent with this paragraph to the Security Council immediately; 20. Decides that all Member States shall prohibit the procurement of chemical weapons, related equipment, goods and technology or assistance from the Syrian Arab Republic by their nationals, or using their flagged vessels or aircraft, whether or not originating in the territory of the Syrian Arab Republic; Compliance 21. Decides, in the event of non-compliance with this resolution, including unauthorized transfer of chemical weapons, or any use of chemical weapons by anyone in the Syrian Arab Republic, to impose measures under Chapter VII of the United Nations Charter; 22. Decides to remain actively seized of the matter. (Reporting by Michelle Nichols; Editing by World Desk, Americas) | Sign Agreement | September 2013 | ['(Reuters via Yahoo! News)'] |
Casualties and 25 deaths are feared in a gun battle between Maoist rebels and supporters of the ruling Communist Party in the Indian state of West Bengal. | Casualties are feared in a gun battle between Maoist rebels and supporters of the ruling Communist party in the Indian state of West Bengal.
A five-hour battle ended after police arrived to break up the clash. Villagers in the West Midnapore region said that up to 25 people may have been killed or injured in the clash which began on Monday night. Separately, a top Maoist leader has been arrested in the capital, Delhi, a rebel spokesman said. Kobad Ghandy was in charge of spreading the rebels' influence in urban areas and running the publications wing of the Communist Party of India (Maoist), reports say. Ghandy, who grew up in Mumbai in an upper middle-class Parsi family and went to a public school, was taken into custody for 14 days, reports say. Maoist-linked violence across central and eastern India has killed 6,000 people over the past 20 years. 'Taken away'
The Maoists say they represent the rights of landless farmhands and tribal communities. Last week at least seven Maoists and one soldier were killed in a battle in the central state of Chhattisgarh and more than 20 police were killed in the eastern state of Jharkand. In the latest incident, villagers say both the rebels and the Communist supporters had taken away the dead bodies of their men before the police arrived The gun battle began after the rebels surrounded an office belonging to the Communist Party of India (Marxist) at Enayetpur in West Midnapore district on Monday evening. Rebel leader Kishenji told the BBC that the Communist supporters had hoarded a large number of weapons at the party office in order to carry out attacks against villagers who supported the Maoists. "The party supporters were harassing local women, so thousands of villagers led by our fighters encircled the party office," he said. The rebel leader said four local tribal women had died in the gun battle. More than 30 Communist party supporters have been killed by rebels in the Midnapore region since the West Bengal government launched a security offensive against Maoists in June. The offensive was initiated after the Maoists had taken complete control of the Lalgarh area in Midnapore in November last year. It took all of eight months and paramilitary troops to drive out the rebels from the area in June. The BBC's Subir Bhaumik in Calcutta says the insurgents and the CPI(M), which has been the state's dominant political force, have been fighting a turf war. In the past few years, he says, the Maoists have extended their influence with guerrilla commanders camping in the area and providing basic military training to local youths. Last week, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said India was losing the battle against Maoist rebels. What are these? | Armed Conflict | September 2009 | ['(BBC)', '(Press Trust of India)'] |
The Philippines Secretary of National Defense Delfin Lorenzana suspends participation in any joint patrols with the United States in the disputed South China Sea. Lorenzana will ask a detachment of 107 U.S. troops providing counterterrorism assistance on the southern island of Mindanao to leave as President Rodrigo Duterte requested. | MANILA, Philippines —Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana said Friday that he told the U.S. military that plans for joint patrols and naval exercises in the disputed South China Sea have been put on hold, the first concrete break in defense cooperation after months of increasingly strident comments by the country's new president.
Lorenzana also said that 107 U.S. troops involved in operating surveillance drones against Muslim militants would be asked to leave the southern part of the country once the Philippines acquires those intelligence-gathering capabilities in the near future.
President Rodrigo Duterte also wants to halt the 28 military exercises that are carried out with U.S. forces each year, Lorenzana said. Duterte has said he wants an ongoing U.S.-Philippine combat exercise to be the last during his six-year presidency as he backs away from what he views as too much dependence on the U.S.Skip
Duterte, who took office in June, has had an uneasy relationship with the U.S., his country's longtime treaty ally, saying in recent speeches that he wants to scale back the presence of visiting U.S. troops in the country, along with the annual bilateral military exercises.
But while some Filipino officials have walked back on Duterte's sometimes crude anti-U.S. pronouncements — early this week he told President Barack Obama "to go to hell" — Lorenzana's comments show for the first time that the Duterte administration will act by rolling back cooperation with the U.S. military in the Philippines.
Despite the difficult stage in the country's relations with its former colonizer, Lorenzana remained optimistic that those ties would eventually bounce back.
"I think it's just going through these bumps on the road," Lorenzana told a news conference. "Relationships sometimes go to this stage ... but over time it will be patched up."
Duterte's falling out with Washington will not necessarily spread to U.S. allies such as Japan, for example, which has committed to delivering patrol ships for the Philippine coast guard and has signed a deal to lease five small surveillance planes the country can use to bolster its territorial defense. The planes may arrive as early as next month, Lorenzana said.
The U.S. and Japan have helped the Philippines develop its capabilities to safeguard and defend its territorial waters amid China's increasingly aggressive actions in the South China Sea. Under Duterte's predecessor, Benigno Aquino III, the U.S. and Philippine militaries twice staged naval exercises near the disputed waters.
The split in military relations comes as Duterte, who describes himself as a leftist politician, has lashed out against U.S. government criticism of his deadly crackdown against illegal drugs, which has left more than 3,600 suspects dead in just three months, alarming Western governments and human rights groups.
While taking a critical stance on U.S. security policies, Duterte has reached out to China and Russia. Lorenzana said he has been ordered by Duterte to travel to Beijing and Moscow to discuss what defense equipment the Philippines can acquire from them. | Government Policy Changes | October 2016 | ['(The Philippine Star)'] |
A car bomb goes off in Benghazi, killing three members of the United Nations Support Mission in Libya and two other mission members, and wounding dozens of civilians. | A car bomb explosion in the eastern Libyan city of Benghazi killed three UN staff members and two other mission members on Saturday, the United Nations said.
The UN is trying to broker a truce in the capital Tripoli, where the eastern-based Libyan National Army (LNA) launched a surprise attack in April. A Reuters reporter at a Benghazi hospital where casualties of the blast were taken saw a list of names of those killed identifying them as part of the United Nations Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL).
The United Nations gave no more details, saying only some of its casualties had been members working in Benghazi, where its Libya mission had been boosting its presence recently.
UN secretary general António Guterres condemned the attack, a spokesman said in a statement.
“The secretary general calls on all parties to respect the humanitarian truce during Eid al-Adha and return to the negotiating table to pursue the peaceful future the people of Libya deserve,” UN spokesman Stéphane Dujarric said.
The United Nations security council was due to meet, at the request of France, to discuss the latest developments in Libya.
LNA spokesman Ahmed al-Mismari told reporters the two people killed were UNSMIL guards. He added that 10 people had been wounded, including children. UNSMIL spokesman Jean El Alam said via email that the organisation was “in the process of gathering information”.
The explosion happened in front of a shopping mall and bank. At least one burned-out UN car could be seen at the scene.
The LNA has yet to advance beyond the southern suburbs of Tripoli, which is home to the internationally recognised government.
Around the time of the blast, LNA commander Khalifa Haftar announced a halt to military operations during the Muslim Eid al-Adha holiday, which lasts from Saturday until Tuesday, according to a statement from his forces in Benghazi.
On Friday, the government in Tripoli said it had accepted a UN proposal for a ceasefire during the holiday. However, it was not clear whether fighting in the capital would actually cease. More than 105,000 people have been displaced during the clashes, according to the United Nations. | Armed Conflict | August 2019 | ['(The Guardian)'] |
Eighteen attorneys general, representing seventeen U.S. states and Washington DC, sue the Trump administration over migrant family separations at the U.S. border with Mexico. The litigants demand around 2,000 migrant children be reunited with their families. | Seventeen US states and Washington DC are suing Donald Trump's administration over its family separation policy at the US border. The lawsuit was filed by 18 Democratic attorneys general and attempts to force the administration to reunite the approximately 2,000 separated children with their families.
California Attorney General Xavier Becerra said in a statement the policy to detain children away from parents was a “heartless political manoeuvre". Though Mr Trump signed an executive order last week declaring that families would no longer be separated upon illegal entry into the US, the lawsuit stated the executive order is "so vague and equivocal that it is unclear when or if any changes will actually be made". The order did not reverse or end the underlying "zero tolerance" policy announced by Jeff Sessions, the US attorney general.
Families can also now be indefinitely detained and the policy still makes seeking asylum in the US a crime. US immigration law states people wanting the protected status must enter the country before applying for it. The order stated that "family unity" will be maintained "where appropriate and consistent with law and available resources". “Child internment camps in America...the Trump Administration has hit a new low. President Trump’s indifference towards the human rights of the children and parents who have been ripped away from one another is chilling,” Mr Becerra said. The lawsuit claims the implementation of the policy was "motivated by animus and a desire to harm” and said it is unconstitutional. Delaware, Iowa, Illinois, Maryland, Minnesota, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia joined the complaint which was filed in the US District Court, Western District of Washington, in Seattle. Parents are still being detained, sometimes thousands of miles from their children who were moved as far away as New York and Michigan, and neither the Department of Health Human Services' Office of Refugee Resettlement - in charge of the child detention centres - nor the Department of Homeland Security have announced a concrete reunification plan. The lawsuit alleged that parents are being denied due process and their right to seek asylum after fleeing rampant gang violence in their home countries. Another lawsuit was brought by an immigrant rights group in Seattle as well after approximately 70 families from South Asia were separated upon entering the country to seek asylum. For several days leading up to the executive order Mr Trump and his administration - in various stages - denied that families were being separated, called it "biblical" to enforce to US immigration law, and falsely blamed Democrats for the continuation of separating children, sometimes as young as four months old, from families.
Mr Trump and his surrogates also claimed the policy was aimed at taking children away from potential human traffickers. However, there is no US immigration law or court precedent that compelled the federal government to separate families. It was only due to Mr Sessions' policy announced in May 2018 that parents and guardians entered the US criminal justice system, therefore making it impossible for their children to accompany them.
Immigrants' rights activists, thousands of protesters, Democrats, all the living former first ladies and even some Republicans were harsh in their criticism of Mr Trump and the policy.
Former First Lady Laura Bush said it was "cruel" and Senator Lindsey Graham called it "a mess". Mr Trump's response was to wrongfully claim he did not have unilateral power to end the policy.
He said the day of the order signing: “The dilemma is that if you’re weak, if you’re weak, which some people would like you to be, if you’re really, really pathetically weak, the country’s going to be overrun with millions of people.
"And if you’re strong, then you don’t have any heart. That’s a tough dilemma. Perhaps I would rather be strong, but that’s a tough dilemma." | Famous Person - Commit Crime - Accuse | June 2018 | ['(The Independent)'] |
Wildfires in central Portugal kill at least 24 people and several firefighters are among 20 injured. The death toll so far is the largest due to a wildfire in Portugal since 1966. | A catastrophic forest fire in Portugal has claimed at least 62 lives, including four children, officials say.
Most died while trying to flee the Pedrógão Grande area, 50 km (30 miles) south-east of Coimbra, in their cars, according to the government. Hundreds of firefighters are continuing to tackle the blaze, which has spread across several fronts. Prime Minister Antonio Costa called it "the greatest tragedy we have seen in recent years in terms of forest fires".
The death toll could rise further as many people remain missing, he warned. The authorities have declared three days of national mourning, starting on Sunday.
Secretary of State for the Interior Jorge Gomes said that the majority of the victims died from smoke inhalation and burns, while two died in a road accident related to the fires.
He earlier said 30 bodies were found inside cars, with another 17 next to the vehicles, on one road leading on to the IC8 motorway. Another 11 died in a village next to the motorway.
Media in Portugal say the fire is no closer to being contained despite hundreds of firefighters and 300 vehicles working to put it out.
Among the dozens of people injured was an eight-year-old girl with burns found wandering alone close to the fire, the Correio do Manhã newspaper reported.
In pictures: Portugal forest fire
Six firefighters are seriously wounded, national broadcaster RTP said, and two who went missing overnight turned up injured.
The Correio do Manhã warned that many areas hit by the fire had not yet been reached by authorities, so the death toll was likely to increase.
About 60 forest fires broke out across the country overnight, with close to 1,700 firefighters battling them across Portugal.
The flames spread "with great violence" on four fronts near Pedrógão Grande, Mr Gomes said.
Spain has sent two water-bombing planes to help tackle the fires, and the European Union is co-ordinating an international firefighting and relief effort. It is not yet known what caused the fire, however Mr Costa said thunderstorms could have been one possible cause.
Portugal has been experiencing a heatwave, with temperatures of more than 40C (104F) in some areas.
"This is a region that has had fires because of its forests, but we cannot remember a tragedy of these proportions," Valdemar Alves, the mayor of Pedrógão Grande, was quoted as saying by the Associated Press agency.
"I am completely stunned by the number of deaths."
We have had large-scale fires before over the past couple of decades - this year is not unusual in that respect - but it is certainly unusual to have so many fatalities in one place. Portuguese officials are visibly shocked.
There were very particular circumstances with the lightning strikes here - this fire started with a dry lightning strike. There has been rainfall elsewhere but there was no rain there, and this is a heavily-forested area.
Getting it under control depends not only on temperatures, which do seem as though they will be high, but on the wind above all. It is very much in the hands of Mother Nature.
In pictures: Portugal forest fire
Portugal profile
Wildfires rage in central Portugal
Wildfires sweep across dry Portugal
| Fire | June 2017 | ['(BBC)'] |
Voters in Switzerland elect the members of the country's Federal Assembly and Council. Provisional results show the Swiss People's Party retaining their plurality, and that the Green Party has become the fourth-largest party. | 20/10/2019 By Le News On 20 October 2019, Swiss voters chose members of the 200-member National Council (parliament) and 46-member Council of States (upper house).
Parties winning the greatest number of seats in the National Council were the Swiss People’s Party (UDC/SVP) – 53 seats (-12), the Swiss Socialists Party (PS/SP) – 39 seats (-4) , the Liberal Radical Party (PLR/FDP) – 29 seats (-4), the Green Party – 28 seats (+17), the Christian Democratic People’s Party (PDC/CVP) – 25 seats (-3) and the Liberal Green Party – 16 seats (+9), according to RTS.
The biggest gainers compared to the previous election in 2015 were the Green Party (+17) and the Liberal Green Party (+9). The parties losing the most ground were the Swiss People’s Party (-12), the Swiss Socialist Party (-4), the Liberal Radical Party (PLR/FDP) (-4) and the Christian Democratic People’s Party (PDC/CVP) (-3). While the Mouvement citoyens genevois (MCG) lost the one seat it had leaving it unrepresented in the federal parliament.
The most significant shift was the Green Party moving into fourth place leapfrogging the Christian Democratic People’s Party (PDC/CVP). This matters because the Federal Council, Switzerland’s 7-member executive, has traditionally drawn members from the main parties, a convention known as the magic formula. Currently there is one Federal Council members from the PDC, a party now in fifth place, and none from the Green Party, now in fourth place.
The percentage of women in the National Council rose from 32% (64 seats) to 42% (84 seats). This is well ahead of the percentages in the UK (32%) and the US (23%). The world average in 2018 was 24%, according to World Bank data.
| Government Job change - Election | October 2019 | ['(DW)', '(Le News)', '(The Local)'] |
The Boy Scouts of America are ordered to pay $18.5 million in damages following the sexual abuse of a 12–year–old boy. | PORTLAND, Ore. — The Boy Scouts of America were ordered Friday to pay $18.5 million in a lawsuit that has focused new attention on the secret files the Scouts keep to document claims of sexual abuse by troop leaders and volunteers.
Known variously as the “perversion files,” the “red flag files” and the “ineligible volunteer files,” the documents have been maintained for more than 70 years at the Scouts’ national office in Texas. Yet even after scores of abuse cases against the Scouts in recent decades, the case here is one of the few times that substantial portions of the files have been made accessible to a jury. | Organization Fine | April 2010 | ['(The New York Times)', '(ABC News)', '(Miami Herald)', '[permanent dead link]', '(CNN)'] |
Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif offers to mediate between Syria and Turkey over escalating conflicts between the two nations following the recent offensive in the Idlib Governorate. | Iran is ready to help Turkey and Syria resolve their differences over the nearly nine-year-old war in Syria, the Foreign Ministry said on Saturday, adding that Tehran backs the sovereignty of its key regional ally Damascus.
Turkey has backed rebels looking to oust Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, while Iran and Russia have supported Assad’s forces in the war. The three countries have also collaborated on a political solution to the conflict.
In a meeting between the visiting United Nations’ special envoy for Syria, Geir Pedersen, and Iranian officials, Tehran underlined the importance of resolving issues in Syria through diplomacy, it said on its website.
“During the meeting, Iran reiterated that civilians in Syria should not be used as human shields ... and that Iran is ready to mediate between Turkey and Syria to solve the issue,” the website reported.
Iranian state TV reported that Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, in a separate meeting with Pedersen in Tehran, said Iran was prepared to help in the de-escalation of the crisis in Syria with respect to Syria’s independence and sovereignty.
Russian-backed Syrian forces have tried to capture Syria’s Idlib province, the last rebel stronghold in the country, displacing more than half a million people since early December.
Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan has threatened to drive back the Syrian troops in Idlib unless they withdrew by the end of the month, after eight Turkish soldiers were killed on Monday by Syrian government shelling near the town of Saraqeb. | Diplomatic Talks _ Diplomatic_Negotiation_ Summit Meeting | February 2020 | ['(Reuters)'] |
Prime Minister of Pakistan Nawaz Sharif bows to opposition demands that he ask Pakistan's chief justice to set up an independent commission to investigate offshore accounts linked to his family. Sharif said he would accept the commission's findings and even resign if called upon. | Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif bowed to opposition demands that he ask Pakistan's chief justice to set up an independent commission to investigate offshore accounts linked to his family.
In a national address on April 22, Sharif said he would accept the commission's findings and even resign if called upon. The panel will be looking into the Sharif family's offshore real-estate holdings which were recently disclosed in a massive leak of documents.
Sharif's sons are among several politicians, business leaders, and celebrities whose offshore dealings were disclosed in documents leaked from the Panamanian law firm Mossack Fonseca & Co., mostly detailing how the wealthy avoid tax obligations using offshore accounts.
Sharif's daughter, Maryam, who has been mentioned as a possible political successor, was named along with his sons Hasan and Hussain as a custodian of the family's offshore holdings.
Sharif had earlier said he would designate a retired judge to lead the investigation. But that drew criticism from opposition politician Imran Khan and others who demanded a commission established by the chief justice of the Supreme Court.
Sharif has denied any wrongdoing during his 30-year political career, saying the fact that he is serving a third term proves the nation has confidence in his "clean and transparent politics."
He dismissed allegations of corruption, saying they had been investigated long ago and that no wrongdoing had been found, even during the rule of General Pervez Musharraf, who overthrew Sharif in a 1999 military coup.
"We believe in uprooting corruption and providing good governance for the people," Sharif said, adding that his critics want him to "respond to baseless allegations instead of serving the masses."
"If the allegations leveled against me and my family members are proved, I will resign without any delay," he said.
Separately, Panamanian investigators on April 22 raided a property used by the Mossack Fonseca law firm and removed bags full of shredded documents as evidence, a local prosecutor said.
RFE/RL journalists report the news in 27 languages in 23 countries where a free press is banned by the government or not fully established. We provide what many people cannot get locally: uncensored news, responsible discussion, and open debate. | Famous Person - Commit Crime - Investigate | April 2016 | ['(Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty)'] |
The ban given following the Togo national football team attack ahead of the 2010 Africa Cup of Nations in Angola is lifted with immediate effect as confirmed by the Confederation of African Football at a meeting in Cairo. | A ban preventing Togo from competing at the next two African Nations Cups has been officially lifted.
The Confederation of African Football (CAF) today confirmed that the sanctions, which were imposed on the country after they withdrew from the 2010 tournament in Angola earlier this year, would no longer stand. | Sports Competition | May 2010 | ['(CAF)', '(AFP)', '(BBC)', '(The Daily Telegraph)'] |
The commissioner of the Metropolitan Police Service and the most senior policeman in the United Kingdom, Sir Ian Blair, announces that he will stand down from his post in December of this year, citing a lack of support from London Mayor Boris Johnson. | Sir Ian Blair says leading the Met Police was 'the proudest time' of his life
Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Ian Blair has announced his resignation, blaming a lack of support from London mayor Boris Johnson.
Sir Ian has faced controversies in the job but said he was not stepping down on 1 December because of any failures.
Mr Johnson said the Met needed "new leadership", but the home secretary said there was "a process in place that the mayor chose not to respect".
Gordon Brown said Sir Ian had made a "huge" contribution to the UK's safety.
The prime minister went on to commend Sir Ian's leadership at the time of the July 2005 suicide bomb attacks on London's transport system.
Home Secretary Jacqui Smith said: "I pay tribute to Sir Ian for the massive reductions in crime that his leadership of the Met has overseen and his continuing efforts to tackle gun, gang and knife crime.
"His part in leading neighbourhood policing across London has led to Londoners being safer and more confident."
But she accused Mr Johnson of ignoring protocol regarding the mayor's relationship with the police, adding: "Frankly you should put a bit of time and effort into that before you jump to judgement."
Mr Johnson, who took over as chairman of the police authority on Wednesday, has avoided publicly backing Sir Ian since being elected Conservative Party mayor in May.
Speaking after Sir Ian's resignation, the mayor said: "There comes a time in any organisation when it becomes clear it would benefit from new leadership and clarity of purpose. I believe that time is now."
'No secrets'
Sir Ian's tenure as head of Britain's biggest police force started confidently with reforms including community support officers, neighbourhood police, and a more diverse workforce.
But some senior officers disliked his close relationship with Downing Street when Tony Blair was prime minister, and his leadership style.
There were questions about his handling of events surrounding the 2005 death of Jean Charles de Menezes, who was shot dead at Stockwell Underground station in south London after being mistaken for a suicide bomber.
The Met Police was later convicted of a health and safety offence over the incident.
Sir Ian was also criticised after publicly questioning why the murders of two girls, Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman, in Soham, Cambridgeshire in 2002, had been such a big story in the media.
It later emerged he had recorded a telephone conversation with the attorney general without asking his permission.
In 2006, in the course of arresting two brothers who were later cleared of any involvement in terrorism, armed Met officers shot and injured one of them.
Recently, Sir Ian has faced criticism over the racism row involving the Met's most senior Asian officer Tarique Ghaffur.
And Metropolitan Police Authority auditors are in the process of examining Scotland Yard contracts given to consultancy firm Impact Plus, run by a friend.
Please turn on JavaScript. Media requires JavaScript to play. Boris Johnson says a new start for policing in London is needed
Sir Ian has said he had been "open and straightforward" in informing both the police service and the police authority about the friendship.
Sir Ian, whose contract was due to run until 2010, defended his record as he announced his resignation at Scotland Yard.
"I am resigning not because of any failures of my service and not because the pressures of the office and the many stories that surround it are too much.
"I am resigning in the best interests of the people of London and of the Metropolitan Police Service."
Shadow home secretary Dominic Grieve said Sir Ian had taken the "right decision" in standing down.
Lib Dem home affairs spokesman Chris Huhne said the resignation was "long overdue".
But the former London mayor Ken Livingstone said the resignation appeared to make the role of the commissioner more political.
"Whoever is now appointed to replace Sir Ian Blair will know that there's a precedent that an incoming mayor feels they've got the right to change the commissioner of police," he said.
Erionaldo da Silva, speaking for the de Menezes family, said Sir Ian should have resigned three years ago and the decision to do so now should not deflect attention from Jean Charles' ongoing inquest.
The Home Office and the Metropolitan Police Authority will draw up a shortlist for Sir Ian's successor.
Met Deputy commissioner Sir Paul Stephenson will take over as acting head should no candidate be appointed by the time Sir Ian leaves.
The Metropolitan Police Federation, which represents rank and file police officers, said it was looking forward to building a "positive and constructive relationship" with the new chief.
Sir Edward Henry was the last commissioner of the Metropolitan Police to quit in 1918, following a damaging police strike, the last time officers were allowed to walk out. | Government Job change - Resignation_Dismissal | October 2008 | ['(BBC News)'] |
Boris Johnson is elected as Leader of the UK Conservative Party, and as a result is expected to become Prime Minister of the United Kingdom on 24 July 2019. | Boris Johnson has been elected new Conservative leader in a ballot of party members and will become the next UK prime minister.
He beat Jeremy Hunt comfortably, winning 92,153 votes to his rival's 46,656. The former London mayor takes over from Theresa May on Wednesday. In his victory speech, Mr Johnson promised he would "deliver Brexit, unite the country and defeat Jeremy Corbyn".
Speaking at the Queen Elizabeth II centre in London, he said: "We are going to energise the country.
"We are going to get Brexit done on 31 October and take advantage of all the opportunities it will bring with a new spirit of can do. "We are once again going to believe in ourselves, and like some slumbering giant we are going to rise and ping off the guy ropes of self doubt and negativity." Mr Johnson thanked his predecessor, saying it had been "a privilege to serve in her cabinet". He was Mrs May's foreign secretary until resigning over Brexit.
The outgoing PM - who is standing down after a revolt by Conservative MPs over her Brexit policy - congratulated her successor, promising him her "full support from the backbenches". Foreign Secretary Mr Hunt said he was "very disappointed", but Mr Johnson would do "a great job". He said he had "total, unshakeable confidence in our country" and that was a valuable quality at such a challenging time.
Mr Hunt added: "It was always going to be uphill for us because I was someone who voted Remain and I think lots of party members felt that this was a moment when you just had to have someone who voted for Brexit in the referendum.
"In retrospect, that was a hurdle we were never able to overcome."
Donald Trump told an event in Washington "a really good man is going to be the prime minister of the UK now," and Mr Johnson would "get it done", referring to Brexit.
The president added: "They call him Britain Trump. That's a good thing."
Almost 160,000 Conservative members were eligible to vote in the contest and turnout was 87.4%. Mr Johnson's share of the vote - 66.4% - was slightly lower than that garnered by David Cameron in the 2005 Tory leadership election (67.6%). The former London mayor and ex-foreign secretary spoke to staff at Conservative Party HQ after his victory was announced.
He was then given a rousing reception by Tory MPs at a meeting in Parliament, where he urged them to "unite, unite, unite and win". The BBC's Nick Eardley, who was outside the room, said such gatherings had been gloomy and downbeat for many months, but this one was full of laughter. One MP told our correspondent: "The BoJo show is up and running." Another said: "The cloud has been lifted."
Mr Johnson will begin announcing his new cabinet on Wednesday, but it has already been confirmed that Mark Spencer, MP for Sherwood in Nottinghamshire, will become chief whip - the person responsible for enforcing party discipline in the Commons.
A number of senior figures have already said they will not serve under Mr Johnson, though, citing their opposition to his stance on Brexit. He has pledged the UK will leave the EU on 31 October "do or die", accepting that a no-deal exit will happen if a new agreement cannot be reached by then.
Education Minister Anne Milton tweeted her resignation just half an hour before the leadership result was due to be revealed, insisting the UK "must leave the EU in a responsible manner". And International Development Secretary Rory Stewart confirmed he would be returning to the backbenches, where he would be spending more time "serving Cumbria" and "walking". David Gauke, another vocal opponent of a no-deal Brexit, announced he was resigning as justice secretary. They join the likes of Chancellor Philip Hammond, Foreign Office minister Sir Alan Duncan and Culture Minister Margot James who have all said they disagree too strongly with Mr Johnson's Brexit strategy to work closely with him.
Boris Johnson will become our next prime minister. A sentence that might thrill you. A sentence that might horrify you. A sentence that 12 months ago even his most die-hard fans would have found hard to believe.
But it's not a sentence, unusually maybe for politics, that won't bother you either way. Because whatever you think of Boris Johnson, he is a politician that is hard to ignore. With a personality, and perhaps an ego, of a scale that few of his colleagues can match. This is the man who even as a child wanted to be "world king". Now, he is the Tory king, and the Brexiteers are the court. Read Laura's blog here
The EU Commission's Brexit negotiator, Michel Barnier, said he was looking forward to working with Mr Johnson "to facilitate the ratification of the withdrawal agreement and achieve an orderly Brexit". The new Tory leader has previously said the agreement Mrs May reached with the EU was "dead", having been rejected three times by MPs. Guy Verhofstadt, the European Parliament's chief Brexit co-ordinator, said the parliament would hold an extraordinary meeting on Wednesday in response to Mr Johnson's election.
Jeremy Corbyn reacted to the result by tweeting that Mr Johnson had "won the support of fewer than 100,000 unrepresentative Conservative Party members".
"The people of our country should decide who becomes the prime minister in a general election," he added. Speaking to the BBC later, Mr Corbyn said Labour planned to table a motion of no confidence in Mr Johnson. Asked when that would be, he replied: "It will be an interesting surprise for you all."
Wednesday 12:00 BST onwards: Theresa May takes part in her last Prime Minister's Questions. After lunch she will make a short farewell speech outside No. 10 before travelling to see the Queen to tender her resignation.
Boris Johnson will then arrive for an audience at Buckingham Palace where he will be invited to form a government. After that he will make a speech in Downing Street before entering the building for the first time as prime minister.
Later, he will begin announcing his most senior cabinet appointments, such as chancellor, home secretary and foreign secretary, and will make and take his first calls from other world leaders. Thursday: Mr Johnson is expected to make a statement to Parliament about his Brexit strategy and take questions from MPs. Parliament will break up for its summer recess later.
The new PM will also continue announcing his new cabinet.
Newly-elected Lib Dem leader Jo Swinson said Mr Johnson had "shown time and time again that he isn't fit to be the prime minister of our country". First Minister of Scotland Nicola Sturgeon congratulated Mr Johnson, but said she had "profound concerns" about him becoming prime minister. The new leader also received congratulations from Arlene Foster, the leader of Northern Ireland's Democratic Unionist Party, whose support has kept the Conservatives in government since the 2017 general election. She said the pact - known as a confidence and supply agreement - continued and would be reviewed over the coming weeks "to explore the policy priorities of both parties".
Leader of the Scottish Conservatives Ruth Davidson, who backed Mr Hunt in the campaign, also sent her congratulations, adding that the new PM had "an enormous task ahead of him".
In the often divisive Brexit world of "them and us" it's easy to forget that, beyond Brexit, EU leaders still see the UK as a close partner and ally. Today's messages of congratulation to Boris Johnson from across Europe were a timely reminder. Whatever happens with Brexit, France, Germany, Poland et al still very much hope to work closely with the UK on international issues like Russia sanctions, Iran, and human rights protection. But EU leaders' welcoming tone does not signal a willingness to accept whatever Prime Minister Johnson might demand in terms of changes to the Brexit deal. He's right when he says a no-deal Brexit is bad for Brussels, but he overestimates EU wiggle room. Amendments will only be forthcoming if EU leaders deem them workable and are convinced the new prime minister commands a majority in Parliament to get an agreement through once and for all.
| Government Job change - Appoint_Inauguration | July 2019 | ['(BBC)'] |
A magnitude 7.5 earthquake strikes near the Mentawai Islands, but tsunami warnings for western Sumatra proved unwarranted. , | AT least nine Australians are missing after a powerful undersea earthquake struck a popular surfing area in Indonesia's west.
The Sumatran Surfarii's charter boat company has not been able to contact the Southern Cross since the 7.7-magnitude quake hit Kepulauan Mentawai, off Sumatra's west, at 1.42am (AEDT) today.
The boat is skippered by Melbourne man Chris Scurrah and Japanese man Akinori Fujita. Also missing are former New South Wales MP and Mayor of Pittwater Alex McTaggart, Gary Mountford, Chris Papallo, Jeff Annesley, Chris Scurrah, Colin Steele, Steve Reynolds, Neil Cox and several crewmen.Chris Scurrah's dad, Hal Scurrah, said he hoped to have contact soon."My feeling is that he's possibly out of range, and hopefully he's all well," Mr Scurrah said."I keep watching news, and I keep trying to text him or contact him on Facebook. He'll have a laptop with him."Generally he's not out of contact for a long time because often they will go into a sheltered spot or into a local town for supplies. That's when they can make contact, too."Chris Scurrah survived last year's 7.6-magnitude earthquake in Indonesia, texting his family that he was running inland after the quake hit Padang, home to nearly a million people on the coast of Sumatra.More than 1100 people were killed during the quake last October.Mr Scurrah said the family was used to his son being in dangerous situations."(It's) something we sort of live with," Mr Scurrah said. "We're always on our toes."Mr Scurrah said he hoped his son was north of the area hit by the quake, as that was generally the direction he headed on surfing adventures lasting between 12 and 14 days.Foreign Minister Kevin Rudd said the government was monitoring events very closely, adding that authorities were also "very concerned" about the whereabouts of Southern Cross.Meanwhile, another Australian surf charter boat skipper has described how the tsunami hurtled towards him, lifted his boat 4m into the air and tossed it into a nearby boat, which burst into flames.
Ten villages on a remote island chain in Indonesia were reportedly swept away by the tsunami overnight.
The death toll from the 7.7-magnitude quake had already hit 23 by 8pm (AEST). A further 167 people are missing and the toll is expected to climb.
Originally published asNine Aussies missing in tsunami
| Earthquakes | October 2010 | ['(BBC News)', '(News Limited)', '(Sina)'] |
Police arrest two men in Cheshire in connection with the bombings. | LONDON (Reuters) - British police said on Sunday they had arrested two people in northern England in connection with an attempted car bombing in London and an incident at Glasgow airport when a car was rammed into the airport building.
"Police have this evening arrested two people in connection with events in London and Scotland on the 29th and 30th of June," London's Metropolitan Police said in a statement.
The arrests were made in the county of Cheshire by counter-terrorism officers, the statement said. | Famous Person - Commit Crime - Accuse | June 2007 | ['(Reuters via Canada.com)'] |
At least six people die and dozens injured as major storms, packed with tornadoes, move through the American South and Midwest. Three people died when a tornado hit northern Mississippi, one was killed in Arkansas and two more in Tennessee. Officials continue searching into the night for the missing. |
Tornadoes and severe storms slammed parts of the South and Midwest on Wednesday leaving at least 14 dead—including a 7-year-old boy in Mississippi—injuring at least 40 others and leaving a trail of damage across the country.
On Thursday, heavy rain flooded parts of Alabama, Georgia and North Carolina causing mudslides, multiple road closures. It also shut down two stations on Atlanta's public rail system.
Officials in Mississippi have confirmed that four people were killed Wednesday evening in Benton County and two more in Marshall County and another in Tippah county in connection with the severe weather that swept through the area. One is still missing in Benton.
Holly Springs coroner James Anderson told The Weather Channel that a 7-year-old boy was found dead in a van on Highway 7 outside Holly Springs in Marshall County. The boy's family was taken in unknown condition to a nearby hospital. Anderson didn't release any preliminary cause of death, but did confirm it was related to the severe weather in the area.
The three other deaths in Benton County were confirmed by the emergency management director for Benton County. The vicitms have not been identified, but Benton County Coroner Shane Ward said the dead are two men and one woman, all approximately in their 60s.
At least 40 people across six Mississippi counties were injured in severe storms, according to the Mississippi Emergency Management Agency.
One person—an 18-year-old woman—died in Arkansas. The Tennessee Department of Health confirmed 6 fatalities on Wednesday evening in Tennessee. A 70-year-old male and 69-year-old female were killed in Perry County while a 19-year-old female, a 22-year-old male, and another 22-year-old male died in Maury County. Another 22-year-old male was killed when storms hit Rhea County.
The preliminary estimated tornado count for Wednesday is at least 20, according to Dr. Greg Forbes, a severe weather expert at The Weather Channel. The greatest concentration of damage is in northern Mississippi and southern Tennessee.
Here's a look at the other problems that have been caused by these storms so far.
Mississippi Governor Phil Bryant has declared a state of emergency for seven counties after deadly tornado outbreak Wednesday evening.
The National Weather Service confirmed that a tornado touched down near Clarksdale, a town of 17,000 in Coahoma County in northwest Mississippi. A preliminary damage survey team has assigned at least an EF-3 rating for the tornado.
"I could see it coming," Clarksdale resident Michael Johnson told WREG. "I was already outside, I could hear the sirens down from town — sounds like Learjets. Sounds like about 10 Learjets taking off."
Johnson grabbed his brother-in-law and 8-year-old niece -- and even a family he never met driving down the road -- and they all took cover at his parents' home on Highway 322 as the tornado hit.
"The roof came off," Johnson told WREG. "I was holding my dogs, and it was picking me off the floor. I am lucky to be alive. I get to see my kids."
Johnson is alive, but his parents' home can't be saved. The roof caved in, and debris is everywhere. Even the Christmas tree was crushed.
The National Weather Service received reports that at least 15 homes just south of Clarksdale were severely damaged or destroyed. Clarksdale Mayor Bill Luckett told the Associated Press the only confirmed casualty was a dog killed by storm debris, but as many as 20 homes and a local airport were hit.
"I'm looking at some horrific damage right now," the mayor said. "Sheet metal is wrapped around trees, there are overturned airplanes, a building is just destroyed."
At least two injuries were confirmed in Panola County, and the Sardis Fire Department reported several homes with major damage just north of town.
According to the Benton County sheriff's dispatch, there was widespread damage, power outages, trees down and reports of people trapped in homes on Hamilton Road and Minor Bridge Road in Ashland. Dozens have been reported injured in Benton County. Mississippi Highway 5 is closed.
In Marshall County, where the 7-year-old child was killed, homes have been reported damaged and power lines downed near Mississippi Highway 4 and Mississippi Highway 7, located near the city of Holly Springs.
The Tennessee Department of Agency (TEMA) declared a Level III State of Emergency Wednesday night after at least two people were killed in severe storms in Tennessee. The deaths were confirmed by the Tennessee Department of Health. The victims are a man and woman from Perry County, but their identities have not been released.
The severe weather has caused isolated damage in a number of counties including Dyer, Hickman, Hardeman Madison, McNairy, Martin, Montgomery, Perry, Sumner, Wayne and Wilson counties, according to the Tennessee Emergency Management Agency.
Nashville Mayor Megan Barry had encouraged businesses to send employees home early Wednesday so they weren't on roads when the storms arrived.
Earlier storms caused problems Monday, ABC News reported, when at least 10 people were injured by a falling tree on the campus of Vanderbilt University during a tour late Monday morning. Four people were hospitalized following the ordeal, and all are expected to recover, the report added.
Officials believe rain brought down the hackberry tree, as a statement from the university revealed the roots were still alive when it collapsed. About 120 prospective students and parents were on the campus tour, and witnesses said they heard a large cracking sound before the tree fell, News Channel 5 reported.
A fast-moving line of storms delivered many 60-70mph gusts today and at least one tornado spin-up embedded along the line in Johnson County in Greenwood.
According to the NWS, an EF1 tornado touched down near town Wednesday evening, leaving a damage track around a quarter of a mile wide and about a mile long, WTHR reports.
"We do have some damage back in the woods here with a lot of tall trees that are uprooted, and there's another house where the tornado started - that northwest section is totally collapsed and there are some other homes back in there that are damaged, but just some light roof damage," NWS meteorologist Dan McCarthy told the station.
McCarthy also said that damage to an animal hospital at SR 135 was consistent with a tornado. No one (including the animals) was injured, but there was extensive damage to the building, including the roof, which blew off.
At the Height of the storm Indianapolis Power and Light reported around 5,000 customers without power.
Additional damage was reported in Noblesville, where at least 16 homes in the Twin Oaks subdivision were affected by high winds and heavy rain. The storms also flipped an unoccupied mobile home in Noblesville along State Road 32. The sheriff's department says it hadn't been occupied in years.
The 18-year-old woman killed in Pope County, Arkansas has been identified as Michaela Remus, Pope County Sheriff Shane Jones said late Wednesday evening.
The Pope County Sheriff's Office said in a press release that Remus was killed Wednesday morning when a tree fell on a home northeast of Atkins. Her 18-month-old sister, also inside the home, was rescued by emergency personnel.
The toddler was transported to a local hospital, but his or her condition is unknown. Three other people were inside the home and escaped unharmed.
"It's terrible that this happened, especially at Christmas," Jones told the AP.
Wednesday afternoon, hail as big as baseballs fell in parts of eastern Arkansas, according to local storm reports.
Reports from the National Weather Service also revealed major damage to several homes Wednesday morning in Sharp County. Local law enforcement said those destroyed homes were in the Highland area.
Trees and power lines were downed across Yell County, according to storm reports from the NWS Wednesday morning. It has yet to be determined if the damage was caused by a tornado or straight-line winds.
Georgia governor Nathan Deal declared a state of emergency for Fannin, Gilmer and Pickens Counties on Thursday following a severe weather system that led to significant flooding and damage in the state.
Heavy rain in Atlanta flooded two stations on the the city's public rail system Thursday, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports. Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority spokeswoman Saba Long said there were delays on all rail lines, and the Garnett and West End stations were closed.
“Rail service between the Five Points and Oakland City stations has been terminated and a bus bridge has been established,” she said. “This will remain in effect until it is safe to resume rail service.”
The Cateret River is flooding parts of Ellijay, and swift water teams are assisting with rescues and evacuations, the NWS reports.
Two water rescues were in progress Thursday morning in the city of LaGrange in Troup County, where flooding has washed out at least six roads and three more are submerged.
Secondary roads in Fannin County are flooding, and cabins along US Highway 76 are beginning to take on water. At least one county road has been completely blocked by a mudslide.
According to the NWS, there is extensive flooding on a street in Carrollton, in Carroll County, with cars stuck in the water. Several roads in Pike County are flooded as well.
The storms also knocked out power around the state. As of mid Thursday morning Georgia Power was reporting outages affecting more than 6,000 customers.
The line of severe weather crossing the South has brought flooding and mudslides to Macon County, North Carolina Thursday morning.
The NWS is reporting that musdlides have covered at least three roads in Macon County and several other roads in the county are impassable due to high water.
The NWS has confirmed an EF1 tornado hit the town of Canton Wednesday evening, the first tornado ever recorded in Michigan in December. Rich Pollman, a warning coordination meteorologist for the NWS, said damage surveys indicate the twister was on the ground for only about two minutes, moving along at about 60 mph.
“The track of the tornado was about 2 miles long and about 100 yards wide,” Pollman told the Detroit News. “We...discovered a lot of uprooted pine trees. At least four buildings had sections of their roofs blown away. Once high winds enter a building, they look for a way out.”
According to the paper, the weather service said additional damage occurred near the intersection of Joy and Haggerty, where a metal roof was ripped off a gas station, but there were no reported injuries from the storm.
Consumers Energy reported Thursday afternoon that more than 8,000 customers in western and northern Michigan were without electricity after the storms toppled trees, utility poles and power lines.
The storms dropped
Torrential rainfall and strong thunderstorms moved through the Mobile area Wednesday morning, and many of the city's roads were flooded, making the morning commute difficult and dangerous.
In the small town of Loxley, across Mobile Bay, Mandy Wilson worked the cash register at Love's Travel Shop Wednesday morning, and she was sure to warn drivers to be careful as flooding worsened.
"It's very ugly; it's very scary," she told the Associated Press. "There's an 18-wheeler turned over on I-10. There's water standing really bad. It's a really interesting way to spend Christmas Eve eve."
The town of Oakley, located just east of Decatur in central Illinois, reported storm damage to the roof of a church late Wednesday morning. An image of the damaged church was shared by a resident to the Facebook page of WAND-TV after the storms passed.
In southern Illinois, at least one home was destroyed as storms rolled through Mulkeytown Wednesday afternoon.
A pair of tornadoes, both rated EF1, were confirmed Monday night in Rapides Parish as a line of storms moved through. The Lake Charles office of the NWS originally said three tornadoes were confirmed, but later said only two twisters hit the area Monday night.
Both tornadoes packed maximum winds of 95 mph, and one flipped a trailer southeast of Calcasieu, injuring the man inside, according to the AP. The second tornado was in progress less than a mile from Louisiana State University's Alexandria campus, destroying one home and leaving several others with minor damage, the NWS reported.
| Hurricanes_Tornado_Storm_Blizzard | December 2015 | ['(CNN)', '(AP via The Washington Post)', '(Weather.com)', '(Reuters)'] |
Verizon employees in nine states (Connecticut, Delaware, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Virginia) and Washington, D.C. vote to go on strike on August 1 if disputes between the union and the company result in no new contracts. | Verizon workers in nine states have voted to go on strike if necessary over a dispute about a new contract, a union official said at a rally Saturday.
“Our members are clear and they are determined,” said Dennis Trainor, an official with the Communications Workers of America union. “They reject management’s harsh concessionary demands.”
At the rally in New York, the CWA announced that 86 percent of Verizon workers who voted in a recent poll backed strike action if required. A contract that covers 39,000 workers represented by the CWA and the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers expires at midnight on August 1.
The contract covers employees the nine states from Massachusetts to Virginia who work for Verizon’s wireline business, which provides fixed-line phone services and FiOS Internet service.
The unions say the telecom giant is demanding that workers sharply increase their health care contributions and make concession on pensions. Verizon spokesman Rich Young said that the company had made the unions “a solid proposal that recognizes the changing communications landscape and offers a path toward success.”
Many of the aspects of the contracts that were set “decades ago” were no longer relevant in an industry that was facing increased pressure and structural change, Young said. He also said that the company had been training non-union employees to take on additional roles to ensure that there was no disruption to customers in the event of a strike.
The contract also affects wireline workers in Connecticut, Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, as well as Washington, D.C. | Strike | July 2015 | ['(New Haven Register)'] |
At least 32 people are killed in a car bomb attack targeting Shia Muslims in the Iraqi capital, Baghdad. | Two separate car bomb attacks targeting Shia Muslim pilgrims in Baghdad have killed at least 32 people, Iraqi officials say.
At least 14 died when the first bomb exploded on a route used by thousands of pilgrims in the Shula district.
The second blast, which happened nearby a few of hours later, killed at least 18 others, police and medics said.
On Wednesday, a wave of attacks targeting Shia pilgrims left at least 70 people dead across the country.
The Islamic State of Iraq, a Sunni militant umbrella group that includes al-Qaeda, said it was behind those attacks.
It was the worst single day of violence in Iraq since the last US troops withdrew in December. There has been a marked deterioration in the country's fragile political process since then.
Iraq's most prominent Sunni Arab politician, Vice-President Tariq al-Hashemi, is being tried in absentia on terrorism charges. He denies financing death squads told to kill Shia government and security officials.
Shia Prime Minister Nouri Maliki has also faced calls for a confidence motion in parliament from parties within his national unity government, which have accused him of breaking promises to share power.
Thousands of Shia pilgrims had travelled to Baghdad on Saturday for the final day of the festival marking the anniversary of the death of Moussa al-Kadhim, the seventh Shia imam and great-grandson of the Prophet Muhammad.
The first bomb, which exploded just after 12:00 (09:00 GMT) in the north-western district of Shula, was left in a taxi abandoned on a main road used by the pilgrims visiting the shrine in the Kadhimiya district where the imam is said to be buried, police said.
"We rushed to the scene, there were dismembered bodies, shoes, plastic bags, women's robes left all around, and people were screaming everywhere," Ahmed Maati, a policeman who had been working nearby, told the Reuters news agency. The second blast took place as pilgrims were returning from Kadhimiya.
At least 32 people were injured in the first attack, while 36 were hurt in the second, officials said.
One of the 22 co-ordinated bombings on Wednesday also targeted Shia pilgrims in Kadhimiya, killing seven people. Another blast near food tents for pilgrims in the Karrada district left another 16 dead.
"The terrorists will not discourage us, even if they cut off our bodies into pieces," promised a song played over the Moussa al-Kadhim shrine's loudspeakers on Saturday, according to the Associated Press. | Armed Conflict | June 2012 | ['(BBC)', '(CNN)'] |
The United States refuses to recognize the results, describing the election as a "charade". The European Union also rejects the legitimacy of the election. | The United States said Monday that the legislative elections held in Venezuela on Sunday in which President Nicolas Maduro's socialist political alliance is set to gain control of the National Assembly were a sham.
"The United States, along with numerous other democracies around the world, condemns this charade, which failed to meet any minimum standard of credibility," U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said in a statement.
The National Assembly is the last of the country's branches of government where the U.S.-backed opposition held sway.
"Maduro brazenly rigged these elections in his favor through the illegal seizure of political parties' names and ballot logos, manipulation of the process by his loyalist electoral council, violence and intimidation, and other undemocratic tactics," the statement said.
The United States is one of 50 countries that does not recognize Maduro as Venezuela's leader, instead supporting National Assembly President Juan Guaido, who claimed victory in January 2019 presidential elections but has not assumed office.
The European Union refused to send independent election monitors Sunday, claiming the conditions for a democratic process did not exist.
Pro-Maduro candidates received 67% of votes cast, according to Venezuela's National Electoral Council, with voter participation at just more than 30%.
The opposition accused Maduro of rigging the election and called on their supporters to boycott the vote.
"The majority of Venezuela turned its back on the fraud that began months ago," Guaido said.
The boycott did not dampen Maduro's mood.
"We have recovered the National Assembly with the majority vote of the Venezuelan people," The Associated Press quoted the Venezuelan leader as saying in a televised address. "It's a great victory without a doubt for democracy." | Government Job change - Election | December 2020 | ['(Reuters)', '(VOA)'] |
A BMW collides with two oncoming minibuses between Fouriesburg and Bethlehem in Free State, South Africa, killing thirteen and injuring eight. | The crash happened on the R26 between Fauriesburg and Bethlehem in the early hours of Saturday morning.
Thirteen people have been killed and eight others injured in a collision between a car and two minibuses in the Free State.
The crash happened on the R26 between Fouriesburg and Bethlehem in the early hours of Saturday morning.
One vehicle lost control and hit a minibus which lost control and then hit another minibus in a head-on collision which instantly caught fire.
Spokesperson for the police, Roads and Transport in the Free State Hilary Mophete said: “11 people died in the minibus and the BMW driver also died on the scene and one person from the other minibus and eight people were injured and taken to hospital. | Road Crash | March 2019 | ['(Eyewitness News)'] |
China threatens to cut off regular communication with Taiwan unless it acknowledges the "One China principle". | China has threatened to cut off regular communication with Taiwan unless the country’s new president acknowledges the so-called One China principle.
According to a report from Xinhua, the Chinese state media outlet, China’s Taiwan Affairs Office spokesman Ma Xiaoguang said on Saturday that only by Taiwan confirming the One China principle - which dictates that the island of Taiwan and mainland China are parts of a single Chinese state - could “cross-Strait affairs authorities continue regular communication.”
Ma said the Chinese and Taiwanese authorities had had active interactions since at least 2014 through a hotline and other means, after establishing a regular mechanism that was based on a political agreement called the 1992 consensus.
Ma said the communications arrangement had allowed the countries “to contact each other in a timely fashion, avoid misjudgments, keep disagreements under control, and it was also conducive to enhancing understanding and mutual trust.”
“With the operation of the regular communication mechanism, some ‘impossibilities’ in cross-Strait relations have become realities,” Ma said, according to the Xinhua report.
Tsai Ing-wen, leader of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), which has traditionally favored independence from China, was sworn in on May 20, replacing China-friendly Ma Ying-jeou of the Nationalist Party (KMT). Ma had led Taiwan for the past eight years. Although Tsai, Taiwan’s first woman president, said in her inauguration speech on Friday that Taiwan would play a responsible role and be a “staunch guardian of peace” with China, that was considered by China to be insufficient acknowledgment of the One China principle.
After Tsai’s speech on Friday, the Taiwan Affairs Office said Tsai’s remarks were an “incomplete answer,” while an editorial published on Saturday in the People’s Daily, the official newspaper of China’s ruling Communist Party, said that “Taiwan’s new leadership must complete their currently incomplete response.” “We will not only listen to what she says, but also see what she will do,” the People’s Daily said in its commentary, according to Xinhua.
China wants Tsai to explicitly endorse an interpretation of the One China principle that China says was agreed with the KMT under a framework known as the 1992 Consensus.
According to China and the KMT, the 1992 Consensus, reached at a meeting that year between semi-official representatives of the two countries, provided a tacit understanding that the geographic territory of Taiwan belonged to mainland China but that both countries were free to pursue their own interpretation of what “One China” meant.
But Tsai’s DPP does not accept that there was, in fact, a consensus in 1992.
Japan, which had ruled Taiwan as a colony, handed the island to China in 1945. In 1949 the KMT retreated from the mainland to Taiwan after losing to the Chinese Communist Party in a fight for control of China. No armistice or peace treaty between China and Taiwan has ever been signed and China views the territory as a renegade province that can be re-taken by force if necessary.
Although there have been rocky patches with military action threatened over the decades, relations between the two countries had warmed since 2008 under Ma Ying-jeou’s administration. The DPP wrested power from the KMT in a January presidential election.
Since the election win, Chinese commentators have piled pressure on Taiwan’s new president to publicly acknowledge the 1992 Consensus.
In the weeks leading up Tsai’s inauguration, China repatriated to China Taiwanese individuals suspected of perpetrating cyber-crimes from Kenya and Malaysia. China’s argument: Most victims of the cyber-crimes are on the mainland.
In March, China’s military commemorated a key victory over Taiwan’s Nationalist forces in 1949. In the same month, the Chinese government warned Taiwan not to pass new laws governing relations with China. | Government Policy Changes | May 2016 | ['(CNBC)', '(Business Insider)'] |
Romanian Justice Minister Florin Iordache resigns after losing the support of Prime-Minister Sorin Grindeanu. | BUCHAREST (Reuters) - Romanian Justice Minister Florin Iordache resigned on Thursday after a decree on corruption that he drafted triggered a week of street protests, international criticism and finally an embarrassing climbdown by the month-old government.
The decree would have effectively shielded dozens of public officials from prosecution for graft and was widely viewed as reversing Romania’s drive to tackle endemic corruption. The government rescinded the decree on Sunday after the biggest protests in the country since the fall of communism in 1989.
“Ever since I arrived at the justice ministry I have ...done all legal steps to fix a series of existing and fairly sensitive problems,” Iordache told reporters.
“As you have seen, all the initiatives I have undertaken are legal and constitutional. However, this was not enough for public opinion, so I have decided to submit my resignation.”
Prime Minister Sorin Grindeanu said European Affairs Minister Ana Birchall would also hold the justice portfolio until a permanent replacement for Iordache was chosen.
President Klaus Iohannis has the final say in approving ministerial replacements.
Iohannis, a former leader of the center-right opposition, strongly criticized the government over the decree. He has also called for a national referendum on continuing the fight against corruption.
The government easily survived a vote of no-confidence on Wednesday as it has a large parliamentary majority following an election in December. Parliament must still endorse the government’s decision to rescind the decree.
Earlier on Thursday Romania’s constitutional court said it would not rule on the decree as it had now been ditched. The country’s ombudsman had earlier asked the court to intervene.
Anti-government demonstrators took to the streets for a tenth consecutive day on Thursday, though numbers have fallen sharply since Sunday when a quarter of a million people took part in capital Bucharest.
An estimated 2,000 people, braving temperatures of -5 degrees Celsius (23 Fahrenheit), gathered outside government headquarters to demand the cabinet’s resignation. Protesters also rallied in other cities. | Government Job change - Resignation_Dismissal | February 2017 | ['(Reuters)'] |
Venezuelan authorities detain six people involved in what they call an assassination attempt on Venezuela President Nicolás Maduro. | Venezuelan authorities said Sunday that they have detained six people allegedly connected to what President Nicolás Maduro claimed was an assassination attempt, and what other leaders have deemed a terrorist attack.
The Associated Press reported that the six individuals are suspected of packing two drones with explosives,which exploded during a speech Maduro was giving at a military ceremony on Saturday.
Venezuelan Interior Minister Néstor Luis Reverol said more arrests could follow in the incident, which he called a terrorist attack, according to the AP.
Reverol said security disabled one drone that was headed toward the stage where Maduro was speaking, while another crashed into a nearby building and exploded.
Video of the scene shows Maduro speaking, followed by two explosions. Bodyguards quickly move to shield Maudro, while troops that were lined up in the street scattered.
Maduro on Saturday seemed to blame Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos, while also suggesting those behind the attacks live in the United States.
President TrumpDonald TrumpChinese apps could face subpoenas, bans under Biden executive order: report Kim says North Korea needs to be 'prepared' for 'confrontation' with US Ex-Colorado GOP chair accused of stealing more than 0K from pro-Trump PAC MORE's national security adviser, John BoltonJohn BoltonUS drops lawsuit, closes probe over Bolton book John Bolton: Biden-Putin meeting 'premature' Republicans request documents on Kerry's security clearance process MORE, appeared on "Fox News Sunday," where hedenied any U.S. involvement in the incident. He added that all Americans located at the U.S. Embassy in Venezuela are safe and secure.
Bolton noted that Maduro has a history of baselessly blaming Santos and the U.S. for incidents in Venezuela.
"If the government of Venezuela has hard information that they want to present to us that would show a potential violation of U.S. criminal law, we'll take a serious look at it," he said. "But in the meantime, I think what we really should focus on is the corruption and the oppression of the Maduro regime in Venezuela."
The U.S. has ratcheted up pressure on the Maduro regime in recent months, particularly around the time of his reelection. The U.S. decried the vote inMay as a "sham."
One day after the election, the Trump administration levied sanctions that bluntedVenezuela's ability to liquidate assets and prevented Americans from carrying out certain financial transactions with theVenezuelan government.
| Famous Person - Commit Crime - Accuse | August 2018 | ['(The Hill)'] |
India's government decides to relax rules concerning the operation of foreign–owned retailers such as Wal–Mart and Tesco within India. | MUMBAI — The Indian government decided on Thursday to allow foreign retailers like Wal-Mart and Tesco to open stores in the country, the first time that policy makers have moved to open India’s vast and fast-growing retail market to outsiders.
The long-awaited decision by the cabinet of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will allow retailers who sell multiple brands of products to own 51 percent of their Indian operations, with the rest held by an Indian partner. Previously, such retailers were not allowed to conduct retail business in the country.
Motoko Rich contributed reporting from New York.
| Government Policy Changes | November 2011 | ['(The New York Times)'] |
Tens of thousands of people march in Asia, Europe and North America, protesting against job cuts, inequality, and austerity measures. | On May Day, Occupy protesters sought to signal that last year was the beginning – not the ending – of their movement. But this year, they have to be more than lobbyists, experts say.
May 1, 2012
The Occupy movement kicked off its “spring awakening” in New York’s Bryant Park with a mini-replica of Occupy Wall Street efforts from last fall – free food, a skills exchange, and plenty of noise and soap-box style rhetoric.
But the movement, which was displaced from its Wall Street area encampment by the New York Police Department last November, mainly used the midtown park as a staging area with groups of 40 to 50 mostly youthful protesters at a time marching to nearby corporate headquarters.
“Pay your taxes!” chanted one group outside of News Corporation, which owns Fox News and The Wall Street Journal. “No New York City taxes!” they yelled outside the building housing the hedge fund Paulson & Co. The NYPD monitored the protests and made some isolated arrests of about seven people through midafternoon, according to the National Lawyers Guild, which was monitoring the events.
Protest organizers said that the goal of the day, aside from much of the anticorporate rhetoric, was to show that it was back after a relatively dormant winter.
“We want to displace the narrative that this is a fad and disappearing,” says Mark Bray, a spokesman for the Occupy movement. “We want to show that we are building a long-term social movement.”
Outside observers believe it’s important for the Occupy movement that the May Day protests appear successful. “There have been lots of false starts,” says George Ciccariello-Maher, a political scientist at Drexel University in Philadelphia.
“This is the next big stage,” says Mr. Ciccariello-Maher, who is a specialist in social movements. “They have to be able to show they can attract the numbers, not just do political lobbying.”
Much of the May Day rhetoric was way to the left of even the liberal Democrats.
At an impromptu press conference in Bryant Park, guitarist Tom Morello of Rage Against the Machine, said that gross economic inequality “is not only morally wrong, it is a crime.”
Economist Dennis Jacobe of Gallup, a polling company in Princeton, N.J., says most Americans would be hard-pressed to consider earning a lot of money a crime. “That is a big step,” he says.
In polls, he says, most people indicate that they think taxes are fair, but if they are asked if the wealthy should pay more, they agree. But in a recent poll, Gallup also found that half of Americans felt taxes were fair and the other half thought they were too high.
In addition, he says, Americans are loath to add taxes to the rich because they think that they, too, might become wealthy. “We still have a lot of upward mobility in the US,” he says. “In the back of everyone’s mind is: If you tax the wealthiest, I might be one of them.”
After several hours of protest in midtown Manhattan, the protesters left Bryant Park for Union Square, where Mr. Morello and others planned to perform. The marchers took up about six city blocks, with some participants singing “This Land is Your Land,” and chanting, "Whose Streets? Our Streets!" The police kept pace with motor scooters, while people watched from office windows along Fifth Avenue.
At Union Square they planned to hear more of the music of the disenfranchised from Mr. Morello and other musicians. Then, late in the day, they planned to walk to Wall Street with labor, interfaith, and other organizations. Once there, they planned on a “People’s Assembly,” a quirky system of participatory democracy that aims to work out consensus by debate and hand signals, such as wiggling of fingers.
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Protester Buddy Bolton of New York said he hoped the day would result in more exposure and more recognition in the community about the goals of the Occupy movement.
“Time will tell if that happens,” he says. “If there are more laws passed by Congress and they address some of our concerns about student loans and other laws concerning economic justice and black people.”
| Protest_Online Condemnation | May 2012 | ['(Al Jazeera)', '(Reuters)', '(The Guardian)', '(Christian Science Monitor)', '(MSNBC)', '(ABC News)'] |
Typhoon Soudelor strengthens to the strongest storm of 2015; it is expected to be equivalent to a Category 3 or Category 4 hurricane when it hits Taiwan. | The storm is forecast to continue to weaken before making landfall, but is still expected to be a large and powerful typhoon — likely equivalent to a Category 3 or Category 4 hurricane — when it hits Taiwan. Super Typhoon Soudelor spares Philippine, locally known as Typhoon Hanna, is currently a tropical cyclone in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, which recently wrecks the Northern Mariana Islands.
“The thirteenth named storm of the annual typhoon season developed as a tropical depression just west of the International Dateline on July 29.”
According to the latest updates on Wiki, Typhoon Soudelor passed directly over Saipan on August 2 as a Category 2 equivalent storm, causing widespread damage on the island. The National Weather Service’s anemometer at Saipan International Airport broke after recording a gust of 146 km/h (91 mph). The winds downed numerous trees and power lines, leaving much of the island without power and rendering roads impassible. In some areas, cars were flipped over by the force of the wind.
Super Typhoon Soudelor sparing Philippines, as of 4 p.m. yesterday, the eye of the typhoon was located at 1,720 kilometers east of Luzon with maximum sustained winds of 215 kilometers per hour. It was forecast to move west northwest at 20 kph.
PHILIPPINES –The Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa) said that as of 10 a.m., Typhoon Soudelor was located based on all available data at 1,855 kilometers east of Luzon and was moving west northwest at 20 kilometers per hour (kph). The typhoon’s maximum sustained winds has increased to 215 kph from 210 kph.
The Super Typhoon Soudelor is expected to leave Philippines Thursday morning, the typhoon will be at 850 kilometers east of Itbayat, Batanes and by Friday morning, it is expected to be at 400 kilometers east northeast of the town still in the country’s territorial limits at Philippine Area of Responsibility (PAR). It will be at 520 kilometers north of Itbayat, or already outside the PAR by Saturday morning.
JAPAN —Japan Meteorological Agency estimated Soudelor’s central pressure at 8 a.m. EDT Tuesday was 900 millibars, making Soudelor the strongest tropical cyclone on Earth so far in 2015. That central pressure has come up quite a bit, reflecting Soudelor’s weakening, to an estimated 930 millibars.
For now, the main island of Okinawa (including Kadena Air Base) lies to the north of the forecast swath, but it remains too soon to rule out a more northward trend. If the track trends closer to Okinawa, the nearest pass would occur Thursday night or Friday morning, according to Weather.com report.
CHINA —It is expected to make landfall in Fujian and neighboring Zhejiang Province late on Saturday. In southeast China, the provinces of Fujian, Zhejiang and Guangdong are most at risk of a typhoon landfall this weekend. These provinces have a combined population of 200 million. Soudelor’s circulation is then expected to curl northward, potentially bringing heavy rain to Jiangxi, Anhui and Hubei provinces.
Soudelor will continue a west-northwest track the next couple of days over open waters of the western Pacific Ocean and is expected to strengthen again before hitting Taiwan later this week. Image courtesy of CNN
| Hurricanes_Tornado_Storm_Blizzard | August 2015 | ['(Hanna)', '(The Independent)', '(Free District)'] |
Luis Gutiérrez, an Illinois member of the United States House of Representatives, is arrested outside the White House in Washington D.C. during protests calling for immigration reform. | Rep. Luis Gutierrez was arrested Tuesday by U.S. Park Police while advocating for immigration reform during a demonstration in front of the White House.
It wasn’t the first time the Illinois Democrat has been arrested during a protest. According to Press Secretary Douglas Rivlin, Gutierrez was also arrested in 2010 and 2001. “The Congressman has used acts of civil disobedience, including arrest, in the past,” Rivlin said.
Gutierrez and 10 others were arrested Tuesday when they failed to remain in motion while demonstrating and failed to comply with three separate warnings issued by officers, according to Park Police spokesman David Schlosser.
The demonstration was organized by Casa de Maryland, a community organization dedicated to fighting for equality for low-income Latinos. In a news release issued by Casa de Maryland, Gutierrez said, “The President says Republicans are blocking immigration reform and he’s right, but it doesn’t get him off the hook.”
Rivlin said: “The issue has been that the president feels that his hands are tied when it comes to deportation. A lot of people disagree with him.”
Gutierrez and others want President Barack Obama to use his executive authority to stop the deportation of illegal immigrants, particularly those who could be affected by a bill known as the DREAM Act. That bill would grant legal status to some undocumented immigrants who entered the United States as children and who attend college or serve in the military.
Obama said during a speech at the National Council of La Raza’s conference on Monday that he does not have such power. Following the appearance, Gutierrez issued a statement asking whether Obama “will exercise the powers he has under current law to give DREAM Act students and other immigrants relief from deportation when it is in the national interest of the United States.”
His statement concluded, “It is simply not the case that the President’s hands are tied when it comes to enforcement and people, like those in the audience, know it.” | Famous Person - Commit Crime - Arrest | July 2011 | ['(Rollcall)'] |
Thailand votes in its 26th general election with results showing the Pheu Thai Party loyal to former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra winning a majority. Yingluck Shinawatra, the opposition party leader, is expected to be the first female Prime Minister of Thailand. | The party allied to ousted and exiled ex-leader Thaksin Shinawatra has won a major victory in Thailand's general election, provisional results show.
With most votes counted, outgoing Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva has conceded victory to his rival, opposition leader Yingluck Shinawatra.
Ms Yingluck, who will become Thailand's first female prime minister, said there was "a lot of hard work ahead".
She is the younger sister of Thaksin Shinawatra, ousted in a coup in 2006.
With 92% of votes counted, Ms Yingluck's Pheu Thai party had won 260 seats, giving it a majority in the 500-seat parliament.
"It is now clear from the election results so far that the Pheu Thai party has won the election, and the Democrat Party concedes defeat," Mr Abhisit said on national TV.
"I will give the chance to Yingluck, the first woman to form a government," he added. "I want to see unity and reconciliation. The Democrats are ready to be in opposition."
After Mr Abhisit admitted defeat, Miss Yingluck was cautious in her response. She thanked Mr Abhisit and said she would wait for the official results to be declared.
"I don't want to say it is victory for me and the Pheu Thai party but people are giving me a chance and I will work to my best ability for the people," she said at her party headquarters.
"I would like to reiterate that we are ready to deliver on all of the policies that we have announced. There is a lot of hard work ahead."
She said her party officials had been in talks with the smaller Chart Thai Pattana party with a view to forming a coalition.
"In the future there are more parties expected to come and work with Pheu Thai," she said.
The BBC's Rachel Harvey in Bangkok says the result is a clear rejection of the military's intervention in Thai politics and a bitter disappointment for Mr Abhisit. Mr Thaksin told the BBC from his self-imposed exile in Dubai that it was clear the Thai people had voted for change.
"They want to see reconciliation, we want to have reconciliation," Mr Thaksin told the Newshour programme. All parties will have to respect the voters' decision, he said.
Mr Thaksin, whose government was toppled in a military coup in 2006, said the military should also "be listening to what the people think".
Asked whether he would now be returning to Thailand, the former prime minister said he was in "no hurry". "I want to see reconciliation really happen," he said. "I want to be part of the solution, not part of the problem."
The past few years have seen street protests, airport closures and clashes between the supporters of the two main groups, which our correspondent says have tarnished the country's economy and reputation for being a bastion of democracy in south-east Asia.
Last year, protesters shut down parts of Bangkok for two months in a bid to force the government to resign. When the army stepped in to clear the capital's streets it degenerated into violence, leaving 91 people dead.
Many of the red-shirt demonstrators were supporters of Mr Thaksin.
More than 40 parties fielded 3,832 candidates for the 500-seat lower house of parliament, the House of Representatives. In a two-tier system of voting, 375 legislators will be elected by constituency, while 125 candidates will be chosen from lists according to the proportion of votes each party receives nationwide on a separate ballot. There are some 47 million eligible voters.
Ms Yingluck is a political novice and analysts say her popularity seems to rest on the fact she is campaigning on the policies of her brother, who many believe is Pheu Thai's real leader. He is living in Dubai to avoid a corruption conviction.
With Pheu Thai's win all but confirmed, analysts say all eyes will once again be on the military, which has regularly intervened in the political process. Army chief Gen Prayuth Chan-ocha on Thursday stressed that he would stay neutral.
Thailand has had 18 attempted or successful military coups since democracy was established in 1932.
. | Government Job change - Election | July 2011 | ['(Thai News Agency)', '(BBC)', '(Bangkok Post)', '(Bloomberg)', '(ABC News Australia)', '(Al Jazeera)'] |
Clashes erupt in Tehran as some protesters come out to demonstrate and dozens are detained as security forces disperse them. | Clashes erupted in downtown Tehran late Saturday afternoon between demonstrators seeking to mark the one-year anniversary of Iran’s disputed presidential elections and baton-wielding security forces.
The small skirmishes between security forces and demonstrators unfolded along streets adjacent to Tehran University, the capital’s main institution of higher learning. Protests occurred despite opposition leaders Mir Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karroubi having called off the demonstrations, apparently concerned that the official crackdown would be too harsh.
Both men ran and lost against President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad a year ago Saturday in an election landslide immediately derided as fraudulent by the nation’s reformist opposition and suspect by most independent observers.
The vote sparked a months-long, largely peaceful anti-government uprising quashed by Iranian authorities using mostly non-lethal force, mass imprisonments and a relentless media campaign on state-controlled television and radio depicting the opposition as foreign dupes.
Dozens were killed in the crackdown and thousands imprisoned, though many were released on hefty bail.
In Saturday’s clashes, at least five young men were arrested, handcuffed and hauled away by militiamen and uniformed officers.
Security forces opened fire with paint guns and rubber bullets, one striking the ear of a young man.
Police and demonstrators played cat-and-mouse through side streets, and pro-government militiamen could be seen pummeling protesters as cries of “Death to the dictator” rang out.
Helicopters hovered over the east-west transportation corridor Enqelab Avenue.
An opposition supporter said in a phone conversation that police and demonstrators also were clashing in the side streets adjacent to Azadi Avenue. Forces had cordoned off the area to disperse a gathering and were using paint guns to frighten away opposition supporters.
Video footage also showed a protest on the campus of Tehran’s Sharif University, and opposition news websites reported crowds gathering in Tehran’s Vali Asr Square.
| Protest_Online Condemnation | June 2010 | ['(Ynetnews)', '(Los Angeles Times)'] |
The United Nations and human rights groups warn the tentative EU deal with Turkey that would return irregular migrants in exchange for political and financial rewards could be illegal. U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi says it's unclear whether migrants, set to be returned, would be afforded the refugee protection as stated in international law. Amnesty International's Gauri van Gulik says this is outsourcing Europe's refugee responsibility. "The EU is treating Turkey as the only solution it has to the refugee crisis," van Gulik added. | The United Nations and human rights groups warned on Tuesday that a tentative European Union deal to send back all irregular migrants to Turkey in exchange for political and financial rewards could be illegal.
EU-Turkey migration deal nothing to celebrate, says U.N.
“I am deeply concerned about any arrangement that would involve the blanket return of anyone from one country to another without spelling out the refugee protection safeguards under international law,” U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi told the European Parliament in Strasbourg.
He was speaking hours after the 28 EU leaders sketched an accord with Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu in Brussels that would grant Ankara more money to keep refugees in Turkey, faster visa-free travel for Turks and a speeding up of Ankara’s long-stalled membership talks.
Rights group Amnesty International called the proposed mass return of migrants a “death blow to the right to seek asylum”. Relief charity Doctors without Borders said it was cynical and inhumane.
But Davutoglu insisted the preliminary deal would not stop Syrian refugees legitimately seeking shelter in Europe.
“The aim here is to discourage irregular migration and ... to recognize those Syrians in our camps who the EU will accept - though we will not force anyone to go against their will - on legal routes,” he said at a meeting with his Greek counterpart in the Turkish coastal city of Izmir.
The executive European Commission also said the deal to put an end to a mass influx of more than a million people fleeing war and poverty in the Middle East and beyond, due to be finalised next week, was legally sound.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who pushed for the accord to assuage anxious voters before regional elections on Sunday, said things were finally moving in the right direction after nearly a million Syrians, Iraqis, Afghans and others flooded into Germany alone last year.
Denying charges by German critics that Turkey was using refugees to blackmail Europe, she told a campaign event that Ankara had taken in 2.7 million Syrian refugees. “That’s why it’s only fair of us to ask first: can we give Turkey a little bit of help in shouldering this task?” Merkel said. | Sign Agreement | March 2016 | ['(Reuters)', '(Los Angeles Times)'] |
The Obama administration through the United States Department of Labor sues Peter Thiel's Palantir Technologies for alleged discrimination against Asians in its hiring practices. , | Silicon Valley firm Palantir Technologies is being sued by the US government over alleged "systematic" discrimination against Asian applicants and members of staff.
A lawsuit has been filed which alleges that the firm has used discriminatory recruitment procedures since 2010.
The US Department of Labor is seeking compensation for those affected, including lost wages and promotions.
Palantir Technologies said it "firmly denied" the allegations.
"We are disappointed that the Department of Labor chose to proceed with an administrative action and firmly deny the allegations," the company said in a statement shared by the Wall Street Journal (subscription website).
"Despite repeated efforts to highlight the results of our hiring practices, the Department of Labor relies on a narrow and flawed statistical analysis relating to three job descriptions from 2010 to 2011."
On its website it says it "celebrate(s) difference and diversity - of background, approach and identity".
The government identified three staff roles for which it alleges there was biased recruiting:
It said the likelihood of the software engineer position having been filled that way by chance was "approximately one in 3.4 million".
"From at least January 1, 2010 and going forward to the present, Palantir utilised a four-phase hiring process in which Asian applicants were routinely eliminated during the resume, screen and telephone interview phase despite being as qualified as white applicants with respect to the QA Engineer, Software Engineer and QA Engineer Intern positions," the lawsuit paperwork reads.
"In addition the majority of Palantir's hires into these positions came from an employee referral system that disproportionately excluded Asians."
The firm, which specialises in data mining, is credited with helping the US government find Osama Bin Laden.
Last year, Reuters reported that it was valued at $20bn (15bn).
| Famous Person - Commit Crime - Accuse | September 2016 | ['(Reuters)', '(BBC)'] |
Iran's Revolutionary Guards leader, Hossein Salami, warns that "any country that attacks the Islamic Republic will have their mainland turned into the main battlefield". He further added that "any attack will not stop until the full destruction of the aggressor". | The commander of Iran's Revolutionary Guards warned Saturday that any country that attacks the Islamic republic will see its territory turn into the conflict's “main battlefield.”
“Whoever wants their land to become the main battlefield, go ahead,” Guards commander Hossein Salami told a news conference in Tehran. “We will never allow any war to encroach upon Iran's territory.”
Salami's statements come after Iran came under fire after recent attacks that targeted Saudi Aramco's oil facilities on September 14. The United States has said that initial investigations of the attacks show that Iran was in some way responsible. Iran denies any responsibility.
“Be careful, a limited aggression will not remain limited. We are after punishment and we will continue until the full destruction of any aggressor,” Salami, said in remarks broadcast on state TV.
Salami added that Iran will continue to down drones that “violate its airspace.”
A US military drone had been shot down in international airspace over the Strait of Hormuz by an Iranian surface-to-air missile in June.
The US military confirmed the incident and said that it took place in international airspace, challenging Iran’s account that the US aircraft had been flying over Iranian territory.
The commander of Iran's Revolutionary Guards warned Saturday that any country that attacks the Islamic republic will see its territory turn into the conflict's “main battlefield.”
“Whoever wants their land to become the main battlefield, go ahead,” Guards commander Hossein Salami told a news conference in Tehran. “We will never allow any war to encroach upon Iran's territory.”
Salami's statements come after Iran came under fire after recent attacks that targeted Saudi Aramco's oil facilities on September 14. The United States has said that initial investigations of the attacks show that Iran was in some way responsible. Iran denies any responsibility.
“Be careful, a limited aggression will not remain limited. We are after punishment and we will continue until the full destruction of any aggressor,” Salami, said in remarks broadcast on state TV.
Salami added that Iran will continue to down drones that “violate its airspace.”
A US military drone had been shot down in international airspace over the Strait of Hormuz by an Iranian surface-to-air missile in June.
The US military confirmed the incident and said that it took place in international airspace, challenging Iran’s account that the US aircraft had been flying over Iranian territory. | Famous Person - Give a speech | September 2019 | ['(Al Arabiya English)'] |
U.S. President George W. Bush nominates Ben Bernanke to succeed Alan Greenspan as chair of the Federal Reserve Board. | WASHINGTON, Oct. 24 - President Bush today nominated Ben S. Bernanke, a senior White House adviser and a highly regarded academic economist, to succeed Alan Greenspan as chairman of the Federal Reserve Board.
If confirmed by the Senate, Mr. Bernanke, 51, will assume the most powerful economic post in the United States - and arguably the world - with a promise to continue the basic policies of a man who achieved a nearly mythic reputation during 18 years at the helm of the economy.
| Government Job change - Appoint_Inauguration | October 2005 | ['(New York Times)', '(CNN)'] |
A small aircraft crashes into a building at 524 East 72nd Street, on Manhattan's Upper East Side in New York City killing 2 people. FBI states that there is so far no reason to suspect terrorism, and the alert level hasn't been raised. The plane was registered to New York Yankees pitcher Cory Lidle. Lidle is reported to have been the pilot, and along with his flight instructor, was killed in the crash. | NEW YORK New York Yankees pitcher Cory Lidle was presumed dead Wednesday along with a second person when their small plane veered into a high-rise condominium tower Wednesday on the Upper East Side, raining flaming debris on the sidewalks below, authorities said. Although Mayor Michael Bloomberg declined to identify the victims, a law enforcement official in Washington, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Lidle was aboard the plane. And Federal Aviation Administration records showed the single-engine plane was registered to the pitcher, who was a new pilot and had repeatedly assured reporters in recent days that flying was safe. It was unclear who was at the controls when the plane, headed north up the East River, went toward Manhattan and crashed into the condominium tower between its 30th and 31st stories, Bloomberg said. Initial reports from the city of four dead were inaccurate, the mayor said. Bloomberg said a flight instructor and a student pilot with 75 hours of experience were aboard and killed. The pair had circled the Statue of Liberty in New York Harbor before heading uptown. Both bodies were found on the street below, and the plane's engine was found in one of the apartments turned into a four-alarm inferno by the crash, Bloomberg said. Lidle's passport was found on the street, according to a federal official speaking to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity. Eleven firefighters suffered minor injuries by the crash on an overcast October afternoon, which sent thick black smoke soaring above the city skyline and flames shooting out of apartments above the tony neighborhood. On Sunday, the day after the Yankees were eliminated from the playoffs, Lidle cleaned out his locker at Yankee Stadium and talked about his interest in flying. He explained to reporters the process of getting a pilot's license, and said he intended to fly back to California in several days and planned to make a few stops. Lidle, 34, a nine-year major league veteran with a wife and a 6-year-old boy, came to the Yankees from the Philadelphia Phillies in a late-season trade. The journeyman pitched for seven teams during a career in compiling an 82-78 lifetime record. Large crowds gathered at the crash scene, with many people in tears and others trying to reach loved ones by cell phone. Rain started pouring at the scene at around 4 p.m., and people gazed up at the smoke and fire as they covered their heads with plastic bags; earlier, parts of the plane fell to the ground. "I just saw something come across the sky and crash into that building," said Young May Cha, 23, a medical student who was walking along 72nd Street. "There was fire, debris ... The explosion was very small." Christine Monaco, a New York spokeswoman for the FBI, said there was no indication of terrorism. Cha said it appeared the plane was "flying erractically" before it slammed into The Belaire Condo, where apartments sell for more than $1 million. "I was worried the building would explode, so I got out of there fast," said Lori Claymont, who fled the adjoining building in sweat pants. The small private aircraft, with four seats, took off from New Jersey's Teterboro Airport around 2:30 p.m. A federal aviation official, speaking on condition of anonymity because the investigation was continuing, said the plane was a Cirrus SR20 -- an aircraft equipped with a parachute designed to let it float to earth in case of a mishap. Mystery writer Carol Higgins Clark, daughter of author Mary Higgins Clark, lives on the 38th floor of the building and was coming home in a cab when she saw the smoke. "Thank goodness I wasn't at my apartment writing at the time," she said. She described the building's residents as a mix of actors, doctors, laywers and writers, and people with second homes. "It's a mob scene with police and helicopters circling," said Sandy Teller, watching from his apartment a block away. "There's a dozen ambulances and lots of firefighters waiting on 72nd, on the corner. There's lots of stretchers ready, gurneys." The crash struck fear in a city devastated by the attacks of Sept. 11 five years ago. Witnesses said sirens echoed across the east side of Manhattan as emergency workers rushed to the scene. The crash triggered a loud bang. Broken glass and debris was strewn around the neighborhood. Fighter planes were scrambled over several cities across the country in the aftermath of the crash, despite the quick assurances that it was nothing more than an accident. "We see this as a prudent measure at this time," said Sgt. Claudette Hutchinson, a spokeswoman for the North American Aerospace Defense Command in Colorado Springs, Colo. Richard Drutman, a professional photographer who lives on the building's 11th floor, said he was speaking on the telephone when he felt the building shake. "There was a huge explosion. I looked out my window, and saw what appeared to be pieces of wings, on fire, falling from the sky," said Drutman, who quickly exited the building with his girlfriend. The address of the building is 524 E. 72nd Street -- a 50-story condominium tower built in the late 1980s between York Avenue and FDR Drive. The Belaire Condo, developed by William Zeckendorf Jr., has 183 apartments. Several lower floors of the building are occupied by doctors and administrative offices, as well as guest facilities for family members of patients at the Hospital for Special Surgery, which specializes in orthopedic operations.
(© 2006 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
"I was worried the building would explode, so I got out of there fast." -- Witness Lori Claymont
A high-ranking law enforcement official in Washington has confirmed that Yankees right-hander Cory Lidle was on the plane that crashed into the Manhattan high-rise.
Jim McIsaac/Getty Images
CBS
A small aircraft has crashed into a high-rise apartment building on the upper east side of Manhattan at 72nd and York Avenue. CBS | Air crash | October 2006 | ['(CBS 2 New York)', '(CNN)', '(The New York Times)', '(ESPN)'] |
The US Navy has announced that about a dozen sailors of the USS Fitzgerald are to be disciplined in the aftermath of the collision with a container ship last June, where 7 crew members died. | The US Navy has announced that about a dozen sailors are to be disciplined after seven crew on the USS Fitzgerald were killed in a collision.
The destroyer collided with a Philippines container ship in Japanese waters in June.
The deputy chief of naval operations, Admiral Bill Moran, said the commanding officer and two other senior crew would no longer serve aboard the ship. He said the Navy had lost trust and confidence in their ability to lead. The Filipino-flagged ACX Crystal collided with the USS Fitzgerald in the early hours of 17 June in Tokyo Bay, causing a large gash below the water line of the destroyer and flooding lower decks.
"The collision was avoidable," the US 7th Fleet said in a statement, adding that "both ships demonstrated poor seamanship".
The dead sailors, aged 19 to 37, were later found in their bunks, after divers gained access to damaged areas of the ship. The commanding officer was trapped in his cabin by the force of the collision and five sailors had to use a sledgehammer to break down the door.
"Even after the door was open, there was a large amount of debris and furniture against the door, preventing anyone from entering or exiting easily," a report into the incident said.
The ACX Crystal sustained lighter damage to its port bow.
There were no injuries among the 20 Filipino crew members on board the container ship.
USS Fitzgerald crash: In pictures
Investigations into the cause of the crash continue.
According to maritime rules, vessels are supposed to give way to ships on their starboard side which is where the destroyer sustained damage, sparking questions over whether the US ship could have been at fault.
Missing US Navy sailors found dead
In pictures: US Navy ship crash
| Shipwreck | August 2017 | ['(BBC)'] |
The Nobel Prize committee awards Americans Rainer Weiss, Barry Barish, and Kip Thorne the Nobel Prize in Physics for their work in the LIGO Scientific Collaboration that discovered gravitational waves. , | The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences has decided to award the Nobel Prize in Physics 2017 with one half to
Rainer Weiss LIGO/VIRGO Collaboration
and the other half jointly to
Barry C. Barish LIGO/VIRGO Collaboration
and
Kip S. Thorne
LIGO/VIRGO Collaboration
“for decisive contributions to the LIGO detector and the observation of gravitational waves”
On 14 September 2015, the universe’s gravitational waves were observed for the very first time. The waves, which were predicted by Albert Einstein a hundred years ago, came from a collision between two black holes. It took 1.3 billion years for the waves to arrive at the LIGO detector in the USA.
The signal was extremely weak when it reached Earth, but is already promising a revolution in astrophysics. Gravitational waves are an entirely new way of observing the most violent events in space and testing the limits of our knowledge.
LIGO, the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory, is a collaborative project with over one thousand researchers from more than twenty countries. Together, they have realised a vision that is almost fifty years old. The 2017 Nobel Laureates have, with their enthusiasm and determination, each been invaluable to the success of LIGO. Pioneers Rainer Weiss and Kip S. Thorne, together with Barry C. Barish, the scientist and leader who brought the project to completion, ensured that four decades of effort led to gravitational waves finally being observed.
In the mid-1970s, Rainer Weiss had already analysed possible sources of background noise that would disturb measurements, and had also designed a detector, a laser-based interferometer, which would overcome this noise. Early on, both Kip Thorne and Rainer Weiss were firmly convinced that gravitational waves could be detected and bring about a revolution in our knowledge of the universe.
Gravitational waves spread at the speed of light, filling the universe, as Albert Einstein described in his general theory of relativity. They are always created when a mass accelerates, like when an ice-skater pirouettes or a pair of black holes rotate around each other. Einstein was convinced it would never be possible to measure them. The LIGO project’s achievement was using a pair of gigantic laser interferometers to measure a change thousands of times smaller than an atomic nucleus, as the gravitational wave passed the Earth.
So far all sorts of electromagnetic radiation and particles, such as cosmic rays or neutrinos, have been used to explore the universe. However, gravitational waves are direct testimony to disruptions in spacetime itself. This is something completely new and different, opening up unseen worlds. A wealth of discoveries awaits those who succeed in capturing the waves and interpreting their message.
| Awards ceremony | October 2017 | ['(Nobel Prize.org)', '(The Washington Post)'] |
Voters in Hong Kong go to the polls for a Legislative Council election, the first major election since the 2014 pro-democracy street protests. Several young pro-independence candidates win seats in the election. , | HONG KONG (Reuters) - Several pro-independence candidates won seats in Hong Kong’s first major election since pro-democracy protests in 2014, prompting a robust warning from China that any independence would damage the city’s security and prosperity.
China wary as Hong Kong votes
In comments carried by the official Xinhua news agency, China’s Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office said it “resolutely opposed” any form of independence for Hong Kong, noting this would violate China’s constitution.
The election of a new generation of pro-democracy activists in a record turnout in Chinese-controlled Hong Kong on Sunday underscores a deep divide in a city of more than 7 million people where tensions with Beijing are intensifying.
China bristles at open dissent, especially over sensitive matters such as demands for universal suffrage, and many in Hong Kong are increasingly concerned about what they see as Beijing’s meddling in the city’s affairs.
In the election, the pro-democracy opposition also kept its crucial one-third veto bloc in the 70-seat Legislative Council over major laws and public funding that has helped check China’s influence.
The vote, which ushered in a new crop of legislators including a 23-year-old former protest leader who vowed to “fight” the Chinese Communist Party, underscores growing frustration with how Beijing has handled its “special administrative region” and marks a significant turning point.
The former British colony was handed back to China in 1997 under a “one country, two systems” agreement that promised to maintain the global financial hub’s freedoms and separate laws for at least 50 years, but gave ultimate control to Beijing.
Beijing officials have repeatedly warned Hong Kong not to stray too far.
Despite the disqualification of six pro-democracy election candidates from the election in July on the grounds that they backed independence, at least five “localists” and younger democratic newcomers won seats, including Nathan Law, one of the leaders of mass democracy protests in 2014.
Those protests posed one of the greatest challenges to Beijing’s rule in decades and were deemed illegal by the local government in Hong Kong and the central government in Beijing.
Localists put the interests of Hong Kong before those of Beijing.
“I’m quite shocked,” said Law. “We inherit some spirit from the movement and I hope that can continue in the future... We still have to unite in order to have stronger power to fight the Chinese Communist Party.”
“PEOPLE WANT CHANGE”
Sunday’s vote was the first major election since the 2014 student-led “Umbrella Revolution” protests that blocked roads for 79 days.
Since then, many disaffected youngsters have decried what they see as increasing Beijing interference stifling dissent and civil liberties, leading to a radicalisation of the political scene and occasional violent protests.
Several veteran democrats lost their seats, as voters backed a new batch of younger candidates espousing self-determination and a more confrontational stance with China.
“It’s a new era,” said Lee Cheuk-yan, a democratic lawmaker who lost his seat after more than two decades in public office.
“People want change, change meaning that they want new faces ... but the price is a further fragmentation (of the democracy camp). Ideologically they’re talking about independence and they want to assert themselves.”
Hong Kong Secretary for Constitutional Affairs Raymond Tam said the government would do its best to “bring them around to a more centrist position”.
“But it’s too early to say if this will be an issue,” he said.
Pro-establishment lawmakers like Elizabeth Quat said she hoped the issue of splitting from China wouldn’t enter the legislature or it could damage Hong Kong’s economic interests.
“Independence is not realistic at all,” she said. “Hopefully this will not be their main objective.”
Voters flocked to cast ballots in record numbers with some having to wait several hours after polls closed, leading to some delays in vote counting on Monday.
“Hong Kong is really chaotic now. I want to do something to help,” said 28-year-old Maicy Leung, who was in a snaking queue of several hundred. “It’s to help the next generation and to help myself.”
The Electoral Affairs Commission said 58 percent of an eligible 3.8 million voters had cast their ballot, up from 53 percent in 2012 and the highest legislative election turnout since 1997.
| Government Job change - Election | September 2016 | ['(AP)', '(Reuters)'] |
Thousands of people attend rival demonstrations for or against the policies of Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez in Venezuela, Spain, Honduras and in other Latin American capitals. | Politics A great number of Venezuelans shouted slogans, carried banners and wore white T-shirts to join the "No More Chávez" global rally which is held in the Parque Cristal building and was convened through social networks such as Facebook and Twitter. Roderick Navarro, the coordinator of the Presidency of the Federation of Students' Council (FCU) at the Central University of Venezuela, said that the rally in Caracas and in the Venezuelan provinces began at 9:00 a.m. "We have received reports from students of the Federation of Students' Council at the University of Zulia; the Lisandro Alvarado University, in the city of Barquisimeto; and from the University of The Andes, in the city of Mérida," Navarro said in an interview to El Universal. The student leader explained that they "began to receive messages since early hours, through Facebook and Twitter, from all over the world. They say that people are already gathered in a peaceful protest."
03:06 PM.
Politics. Representatives of the Unity Panel made a tour of several diplomatic missions in order to forward a paper where they ask the international community to act as "standing observer" of the developments in Venezuela. "We will keep united in the fight for democracy and will demand freedom of expression," said opposition leader Alejandro Sánchez.
02:13 PM.
Western Hemisphere. The Bolivian government is to enlarge and refurbish with the financial aid of Venezuela a military barrack near the Brazilian border, one of the main routes of cocaine. "It is not a military base," but the enlargement and "overhaul" of a barrack on the site of San Ignacio de Velasco, Bolivia’s Defense Minister Walker San Miguel said.
12:12 PM.
World Affairs. The Islamic Republic of Iran is helping Venezuela to develop a civilian nuclear program as both countries have the right to produce nuclear energy, Venezuela's President Hugo Chávez told the conservative French newspaper Le Figaro in an interview published on Wednesday. | Protest_Online Condemnation | September 2009 | ['(BBC)', '(BBC video)', '(Associated Press)', '(El Universal)'] |
Guus Hiddink, the head coach of the Netherlands national football team, prematurely resigns before the end of his term. | THE HAGUE, Netherlands -- The Dutch football federation (KNVB) terminated the contract of national team coach Guus Hiddink on Monday, ending his second stint in charge after just one disappointing season.
The KNVB said that Hiddink's contract will now end on Wednesday. It had been set to last through to next year's European Championship.
Hiddink took over after Louis van Gaal led the Netherlands to third place at last year's World Cup, but the Netherlands have had a poor qualifying campaign for Euro 2016 so far. It sits third in Group A, behind leader Iceland and the Czech Republic.
"It's a shame that it went this way," Hiddink said in a statement released by the KNVB. "It was an honour to coach the Netherlands team again and I wish my successor, the staff and the squad every success on their way to the European Championship in France."June 29, 2015
KNVB director Bert van Oostveen said he regretted the move.
"Sadly, the results of Guus' work were not immediately visible to everybody," he said.
Hiddink's assistant, Danny Blind, was set to replace him after Euro 2016, but was not immediately named to take over Monday. Instead, the KNVB said it was considering how to fill the vacancy left by Hiddink's early exit.
Hiddink, who led the Netherlands to the semifinals of the World Cup in France in 1998 in his first stint as national team coach, never managed to build on the success of Van Gaal's World Cup campaign and left the job with a record of five losses, four victories and a draw.
Monday's announcement marked one of the lowest points in the 68-year-old Hiddink's storied international coaching career. After taking the Netherlands to the semifinals in France, he repeated the feat with unfancied South Korea in 2002, when the country co-hosted the tournament with Japan.
Hiddink is still revered in South Korea, where statues of him were built after the 2002 World Cup and where he was named an honorary citizen of the capital, Seoul.
He continued his run of international successes by leading Australia in 2006 to only its second qualification for the World Cup. Australia lost in the round of 16 to Italy, which went on to win the tournament.
He also guided Russia to the European Championship semifinal in 2008, coached Turkey's national team and won the European Cup with PSV Eindhoven in 1988.
But he seemed to have lost the knack of getting the best out of teams in his second term at the helm of his home country's national team.
His last match was a 2-0 victory over Latvia this month that came days after the United States rallied to beat the Dutch 4-3 in a friendly in Amsterdam.
That result again exposed frailties in the Dutch defense that Hiddink, unlike his predecessor Van Gaal, failed to successfully patch up. | Government Job change - Resignation_Dismissal | June 2015 | ['(Espnfc)'] |
French President Nicolas Sarkozy says he might boycott the opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympics if China continues its crackdown in Tibet. | TARBES, France (Reuters) - French President Nicolas Sarkozy urged China on Tuesday to show responsibility over the unrest in Tibet and refused to rule out boycotting the opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympic Games.
Sarkozy spoke shortly after a media rights group which staged a brief protest at the Olympic torch-lighting ceremony in Greece on Monday urged him to threaten to boycott the Games' opening ceremony because of Tibet.
"I don't close the door to any option, but I think it's more prudent to reserve my responses to concrete developments in the situation," Sarkozy said, when asked about a possible boycott.
Aides later said he was talking only of a possible boycott of the opening ceremony, not of the Games in general.
"All options are open but I appeal to the sense of responsibility of Chinese authorities," he said.
France has called for an end to the violence, in which Tibet's government-in-exile says 140 people have been killed. But like other Western governments, it has rejected the idea of boycotting the Games.
Sarkozy said China had to understand there was worldwide concern over the situation in Tibet and he said action would depend on how its leaders responded.
"I want dialogue to begin and I will graduate my response according to the response given by Chinese authorities," he said.
Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner has called on China to let foreign media into Tibet and on Tuesday called for an end to China's "repression" of dissent there.
MORE PROTESTS
Rights group Reporters Without Borders urged officials to boycott the opening ceremony because of China's human rights record in Tibet and elsewhere.
The group, known by its French acronym RSF, staged a brief protest at Monday's torch-lighting ceremony when three of its activists broke through a tight security cordon at the site that hosted the Olympics in ancient Greece.
One of them approached Beijing Games chief Liu Qi during his speech in front of hundreds of officials but was quickly led away by police.
"We are asking heads of state and government, and here in France Mr Sarkozy, to say today that if the (rights) situation does not improve in Tibet and in the rest of China, they will not be present on August 8 at the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games," RSF chief Robert Menard told reporters.
Kouchner said last week that the idea was interesting and worth discussing but that it did not have the French government's support. He later said it was unrealistic.
"There will be other possible demonstrations. We will continue," RSF's Menard, who was one of the three activists arrested in Greece, told reporters at the main Paris airport after his release from Greek police custody. | Armed Conflict | March 2008 | ['(Reuters)'] |
Democratic U.S. Senator Kamala Harris from California announces she will run for President in 2020. |
Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., speaks at Vote For Justice: An Evening of Empowerment with activists and artists at the Newseum in Washington, D.C., in May 2018.
California Sen. Kamala Harris is running for president in 2020. The first-term Democratic senator made the announcement on ABC's Good Morning America Monday morning.
"I love my country, and this is a moment in time that I feel a sense of responsibility to fight for the best of who we are," Harris said.
The 54-year-old Harris has been seen as a rising star in the Democratic Party even before she won a Senate seat in 2016. She received national attention as San Francisco district attorney before being elected California attorney general in 2010.
Her campaign is highlighting that career, citing her experience on issues like sexual assault, housing and college affordability. Some of her proposals include middle-class tax cuts, rent relief, immigration and criminal justice overhauls, and Medicare for all.
Harris's background in law enforcement could be a challenge in a Democratic primary, and she was asked on ABC about comments criticizing opposition to law enforcement on the left. "I think it is a false choice to suggest that communities do not want law enforcement," Harris said. "Most communities do. They don't want excessive force. They don't want racial profiling, but then nobody should."
Harris is biracial — her parents were immigrants from Jamaica and India — making her only the second black woman and first South Asian-American person ever to serve in the Senate. One of just three black current senators, Harris plans to embrace that background in what is likely to be a large and diverse Democratic primary field.
Announcing her run on Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Harris' campaign says that is intended to highlight "a reminder of the aspirational fight for progress that marked Harris' upbringing and that guides her today." She has modeled her campaign logo on graphics used by the late Rep. Shirley Chisholm, the first black woman to run for president.
Harris spoke of her parents' involvement in the civil rights movement on Monday. "That's the language that I grew up hearing, and it was about a belief that we are a country that was founded on noble ideals. And we are the best of who we are when we fight to achieve those ideals," Harris said.
After arriving in the Senate in 2017, Harris quickly leveraged her seat on two high-profile Senate committees to become a national figure. Tapping into her prosecutorial background, Harris grilled Attorney General Jeff Sessions and Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein in nationally televised intelligence committee hearings in 2017, then did the same last fall when the Senate Judiciary Committee questioned Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh amid allegations of sexual misconduct.
A recent NPR/PBS Newshour/Marist Poll found that a majority of Americans — 54 percent — have not yet formed an opinion of Harris. But those who have a positive opinion of the California Democrat outnumbered those with a negative opinion by more than 3 to 1.
Harris's announcement comes about a week after New York Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand kicked off her own presidential campaign, and three weeks after Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren became the first high-profile Democrat to launch a 2020 White House run. Former Housing and Urban Development Secretary Julián Castro formally declared a presidential run last week, as well, and several other Democrats have announced or indicated they will run, too.
Unlike Warren, Gillibrand or Castro, Harris is not initially forming a presidential exploratory committee but instead immediately launching a full-scale presidential campaign.
Harris has done little to hide her presidential ambitions. She traveled extensively for candidates during the 2018 midterm elections and made a stop in Iowa, which holds its caucuses before any other state holds primary contests. In the weeks leading up to her announcement, Harris made multiple high-profile media appearances promoting a recently released memoir. "There's an incredible amount of change that has happened in a relatively short period of time, and it has understandably had a lot of people feeling displaced, wondering and asking a question about where do they fit in, their relevance, are they obsolete," said Harris in an interview with NPR's Morning Edition earlier this month. "And [Trump] read it accurately. And then he took it to the lowest common denominator. [He said] it is us versus them instead of what real leadership would be about — which is to read it and say, 'Hey everybody, We're all in this together.' "
Harris will hold her first campaign rally next weekend in Oakland, Calif. — the city where she was born and held her first job as a prosecutor. Despite that connection, Harris will actually headquarter her campaign in Baltimore, a location that will allow her staff to be better positioned to travel to early-primary states as well as work in a news cycle driven by the Eastern time zone. (The campaign will maintain a second office in Oakland, as well.)
An earlier Web version of this story incorrectly stated that Sen. Kamala Harris traveled to New Hampshire as she was preparing to launch her presidential campaign. | Government Job change - Election | January 2019 | ['(NPR)'] |
International Atomic Energy Agency approved Rafael Grossi as the new Director General. | Argentinian diplomat Rafael Mariano Grossi takes office as Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) this week after winning unanimous support from the organization’s Member States.
A special session of the IAEA’s General Conference today approved by acclamation his appointment for a term of four years from 3 December. In his new capacity, Director General Grossi will lead the world’s centre for cooperation in the nuclear field. He will be the IAEA’s sixth Director General since it was founded in 1957.
The decision by the General Conference, which consists of representatives of the 171 Member States, comes just over a month after the IAEA’s 35-member Board of Governors on 31 October appointed Mr Grossi to the post.
"The IAEA is a formidable institution with a unique mandate, and I want to ensure that it delivers at its full potential," the newly-appointed Director General said. "Our functions cover highly diverse areas such as medicine, agriculture, energy, climate change, and the non-proliferation of nuclear weapons. The IAEA’s activities are important to all Member States and their citizens."
A senior diplomat with over 35 years of experience in the fields of non-proliferation and disarmament, Mr Grossi was Argentina’s Ambassador to Austria and its Representative to the IAEA and other Vienna-based International Organizations from 2013 to 2019. In this function he presided over several important conferences in the nuclear domain. He served as Assistant Director General for Policy and Chief of Cabinet at the IAEA from 2010 to 2013. From 2007 to 2009 he held the position of Political Affairs Director General with the Argentinian Foreign Service. He was Chief of Cabinet at the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) in The Hague from 2002 to 2007. Previously, he held several positions within the Argentinian Foreign Ministry after joining in 1985.
The IAEA works with its Member States and partners throughout the world to promote the safe, secure and peaceful use of nuclear technologies. It has helped to improve the health and prosperity of millions of people by making nuclear science and technology available for generating electricity and fighting cancer as well as in food and agriculture, industry and many other areas. IAEA inspectors verify that nuclear material is not being diverted from peaceful activities.
Mr Grossi, 58, said the dynamic development of nuclear applications during recent decades had widened the IAEA’s mission.
”The IAEA today is more significant than ever,” he said, emphasizing its relevance for some of the most pressing issues of our time. “My leadership will focus on current challenges such as preventing the spread of nuclear weapons, fostering development and fighting climate change. To achieve these goals, we will intensify our efforts and explore new, creative ways to improve the Agency’s management, gender balance, communication and transparency. We will efficiently provide our services to Member States as a state-of-the art organization of the 21st century.”
Mr Grossi succeeds Yukiya Amano of Japan who was the IAEA’s fifth Director General. Mr Amano was first appointed to the office in 2009 and died on 18 July 2019. He followed Mohamed ElBaradei of Egypt, Director General from 1997 to 2009; Hans Blix of Sweden, 1981-1997; Sigvard Eklund of Sweden, 1961-1981; and Sterling Cole of the United States of America, 1957-1961. | Government Job change - Appoint_Inauguration | December 2019 | ['(IAEA)'] |
Former Governor of Massachusetts Mitt Romney wins the Nevada Republican caucus. | CHARLESTON, S.C. Senator John McCain staved off a spirited challenge by former Gov. Mike Huckabee to win the South Carolina primary on Saturday, exorcising the ghosts of the attack-filled primary here that derailed his presidential hopes eight years ago.
Mr. McCain’s victory here, on top of his win earlier this month in New Hampshire, capped a remarkable comeback for a campaign that was all but written off six months ago. In an unusually fluid Republican field, his campaign said it hoped the victory would give Mr. McCain a head of steam going into the Jan. 29 Florida primary and the nationwide series of nominating contests on Feb. 5. | Government Job change - Election | January 2008 | ['(The New York Times)'] |
A fugitive rebel captain in the Philippines, Nicanor Faeldon, accused of participation in the Oakwood mutiny, turns himself in after three years. | A rebel soldier, Nicanor Faeldon, has surrendered after three years on the run, saying he recognises the legitimacy of the new Philippine government.
Mr Faeldon was one of several soldiers who walked out of their 2007 trial to occupy the five-star Peninsula Hotel.
The soldiers had been on trial for a 2003 coup attempt but said they did not recognise the court's legitimacy.
They accused former President Gloria Arroyo of lacking the right to rule.
Mr Faeldon's lawyer, Trixie Angeles, said the soldier had now surrendered "in recognition of the legitimacy" of newly-elected President Benigno Aquino.
Navy spokesman Lt Col Edgard Arevalo said Mr Faeldon walked into Marine headquarters on Wednesday. "There is no reason for me to stay unaccountable now. We have a new government which has the mandate of the people," Mr Faeldon told reporters shortly after his surrender.
"He was not captured," the lawyer, Trixie Angeles, told reporters. "He voluntarily returned to his camp. "This has been planned long ago because he wanted himself to be under the jurisdiction of a duly elected president."
In the 2003 coup attempt against Gloria Arroyo, Mr Faeldon was accused of helping to lead 300 soldiers in a takeover of the Oakwood Hotel and a nearby shopping centre in the centre of Manila. He was among the soldiers brought to trial for this in November 2007 who walked out of the court-room and occupied the Peninsula Hotel, sparking a day-long siege.
| Famous Person - Commit Crime - Accuse | July 2010 | ['(Al Jazeera)', '(BBC News)', '(Philippine Inquirer)'] |
Hurricane Ike makes its second landfall on Cuba, near San Cristóbal, north of the Isle of Youth, on its way into the Gulf of Mexico. | (CNN) -- Anticipating the possibility that Hurricane Ike might hit the Texas coast this weekend, the cities of Corpus Christi and Galveston warned residents Tuesday to plan.
The National Hurricane Center indicated Ike would likely come ashore along the Texas coast between Galveston and Brownsville as a major hurricane. But forecasters stressed the unpredictability of the storm, which could change course at the last minute.
"It's very frustrating for all of us," said Galveston Mayor Lyda Ann Thomas, adding, "We're on alert and we will continue to monitor this storm. I wish we could be clearer about where it's going."
Ike's center left western Cuba late Tuesday afternoon, having hit it with 75-mph winds, high surf and torrential rains in its second Cuban landfall in three days, the National Hurricane Center said.
At 5 a.m. ET Wednesday, Ike, with its 85-mph winds, was churning in the southeastern Gulf of Mexico, according to the center. The wind speed of the storm increased by 10 mph overnight.
Forecasters say Ike is likely to make landfall around Port O'Connor, Texas late Friday or early Saturday as a Category 3 hurricane, with winds of between 111-130 mph. Tropical storm-force winds extended Tuesday to the Florida Keys. Storm-surge flooding of 1-to-3 feet beyond the normal tide levels was possible there, and large swells that could generate life-threatening rip currents were expected along the east coast of Florida into Wednesday, the hurricane center said. iReport.com: Big waves hit Florida Keys
Thomas warned residents to stock up on nonperishable items, including pet food and diapers, and to prepare for going without electricity. Track the storm
City Manager Steve LeBlanc issued a warning to residents of Galveston's West End, citing forecasters' estimates that the area could get tides of 6 feet above normal if the storm arrives there. The West End, he said, is the area of Galveston most susceptible to flooding.
Thomas said she could call for voluntary evacuations of the West End by Wednesday morning, depending on forecasts.
By Tuesday night, officials in Corpus Christi, Texas, had called for the evacuations of special-needs residents beginning Wednesday morning. They also called for the relocation of high-profile vehicles -- including vans, motor homes, travel trailers and hitched boats -- that could hinder traffic if expanded evacuations become necessary. The Texas Department of Transportation said it expected to open a shoulder of northbound Interstate 37 to traffic -- from coastal Corpus Christi to U.S. 281 roughly 80 miles inland -- on Wednesday morning to help people trying to leave the city.
Texas Gov. Rick Perry put 7,500 National Guard members on standby Tuesday, his office said. Watch where Ike may be headed along U.S. coast »
In Cuba, evacuations appeared to save lives. Four deaths were reported from the storm, according to the Cuban government. The Cuban Civil Defense brought buses or trucks to take people to shelters. See the damage from the storm »
Cuban state television reported that two people were killed when they tried to remove an antenna, The Associated Press said. One man died when a tree crashed into his home, and a woman died when her home's roof collapsed, according to the AP.
The storm shredded hundreds of homes and caused some dilapidated buildings in Havana's older areas to collapse, the AP reported. Teresa Tejeda, who is in her 70s, told the AP she joined several hundred other elderly people at a government shelter because she was too scared to stay in her old apartment building.
"My house has really bad walls, and I feel much more secure here," Tejeda said. Watch as winds and waves pound Cuba »
The United States, which provided $100,000 in emergency aid to communist-run Cuba through private aid agencies after Hurricane Gustav hit the island August 30, said Tuesday that it was considering additional emergency aid for Cuba because of Ike.
Also, the United States said it will lift restrictions on cash and humanitarian assistance sent to Cuba for the next 90 days. That will allow non-governmental organizations to provide assistance and cash donations. Flooding and rains from Ike's outer bands have been blamed for 70 deaths in Haiti, bringing that country's death toll from four recent major storms -- including Fay, Gustav and Hanna -- to 341, said Abel Nazaire, deputy head of Haiti's Civil Protection Service. On Sunday night, waves as high as 50 feet crashed ashore in Baracoa, Cuba, southeast of where Ike made landfall as a Category 3 storm. At least 1,000 homes were damaged or destroyed as the sea surge moved into the city, witnesses said. Watch what Ike did to Cuba »
An estimated 900,000 people left their homes ahead of Ike's arrival and went inland or to higher ground. Some of the evacuees were homeless after Gustav pounded western Cuba.
Residents on the western half of the island scrambled to get necessities before the worst of the storm hit, CNN's Morgan Neill reported from Havana.
Coastal storm surge flooding of 3 to 5 feet above normal tide levels and rainfall of 6 to 12 inches were possible in Cuba, the hurricane center said.
People in the capital were worried that Ike's heavy rain would bring flooding and landslides to the area and damage some of its more fragile infrastructure.
Many evacuees went to schools or government buildings with stronger roofs. The Cuban government cut power to the eastern half of the island before Ike arrived and canceled all domestic flights. | Hurricanes_Tornado_Storm_Blizzard | September 2008 | ['(CNN)'] |
A report by Amnesty International states that Israeli military activities and Palestinian militant rocket attacks during the Gaza War were war crimes. | Israel committed war crimes and carried out reckless attacks and acts of wanton destruction in its Gaza offensive, an independent human rights report says.
Hundreds of Palestinian civilians were killed using high-precision weapons, while others were shot at close range, the group Amnesty International says. Its report also calls rocket attacks by Palestinian militants war crimes and accuses Hamas of endangering civilians. The Israeli military says its conduct was in line with international law. Israel has attributed some civilian deaths to "professional mistakes", but has dismissed wider criticism that its attacks were indiscriminate and disproportionate. Amnesty says that some 1,400 Palestinians were killed in the 22-day Israeli offensive between 27 December 2008 and 17 January 2009, which agrees broadly with Palestinian figures.
More than 900 of these were civilians, including 300 children and 115 women, it says. In March, Israel's military said the overall Palestinian death toll was 1,166, of whom 295 were "uninvolved" civilians. Pattern
The 117-page report by Amnesty International says many of the hundreds of civilian deaths in the conflict "cannot simply be dismissed as 'collateral damage' incidental to otherwise lawful attacks - or as mistakes". It says "disturbing questions" remain unanswered as to why children playing on roofs and medical staff attending the wounded were killed by "highly accurate missiles" whose operators had detailed views of their targets. Lives were lost because Israeli forces "frequently obstructed access to medical care," the report says. It also reiterates previous condemnations of the use of "imprecise" weapons such as white phosphorous and artillery shells. The destruction of homes, businesses and public buildings was in many cases "wanton and deliberate" and "could not be justified on the grounds of military necessity", the report adds. "All of those things occurred on a scale that constitutes pattern - and constitutes war crimes," Donatella Rovera, who headed the research, told the BBC. The document also gives details of several cases where it says people - including women and children posing no threat to troops - were shot at close range as they were fleeing their homes in search of shelter. Israeli officials responded saying the military targeted only areas where Palestinian militants were operating, and accused Hamas of turning civilian neighbourhoods into "war zones". "We tried to be as surgical as is humanly possible in a difficult combat situation," Israeli government spokesman Mark Regev told the BBC. Human shields
The Amnesty report says no evidence was found that Palestinian militants had forced civilians to stay in buildings being used for military purposes, contradicting Israeli claims that Hamas repeatedly used "human shields". However, Amnesty says Hamas and other Palestinian militant groups had endangered Palestinian civilians by firing rockets from residential neighbourhoods and storing weapons in them. It says local residents had in one case told researchers that Hamas fighters had fired a rocket from the yard of a government school. The Israeli military has repeatedly blamed Hamas for causing civilian casualties, saying its fighters operated from buildings like schools, medical facilities, religious institutions, residential homes and commercial premises. In the cases it had investigated, Amnesty said civilian deaths "could not be explained as resulting from the presence of fighters shielding among civilians, as the Israeli army generally contends". However, Amnesty does accuse Israel of using civilians, including children, as human shields in Gaza, forcing them to remain in houses which its troops were using as military positions, and to inspect sites suspected of being booby trapped. It also says Palestinian militants rocket fire from the Gaza Strip was "indiscriminate and hence unlawful under international law", although it only rarely caused civilian casualties. Hamas leader in Gaza Ismail Haniya declined to comment on the Amnesty International criticism, but said: "We believe the leaders of the occupation state must be tried for these crimes." Thirteen Israelis were killed, including three civilians, during the offensive, which Israel launched with the declared aim of curtailing cross-border rocket attacks. | Armed Conflict | July 2009 | ['(BBC)'] |
Indonesian police arrest more than 34 people over "charges of treason" for attempting to raise the outlawed Morning Star flag, which represents the independence movement of West Papua Province. | Dozens of West Papuans have been named as treason suspects for attempts to raise the outlawed Morning Star flag.
The West Papua Morning Star flag Photo: AFP
Indonesian police arrested over 34 people in Papua province for planned activities to mark 1 December, which some Papuans consider their national day.
Benar News reports a human rights lawyer, Yohanis Mambrasar, confirming that 20 people arrested in Sentani are expected to be charged with treason.
Dozens of other people were arrested in other Papuan towns and face possible treason charges.
Raising the Papuan nationalist flag is illegal in Indonesia, with police mobilising in extra numbers before the anniversary to prevent public rallies.
Tensions remain high in Papua following violent demonstrations earlier this year and escalating demands for a referendum on independence for the region.
Mr Mambrasar said the 20 suspects and 14 others who were questioned and released came to Jayapura from other parts of the province to attend a flag-raising.
Of these, six also will be charged with possessing weapons and one will face charges of incitement, said Victor Makbon, the police chief in Jayapura.
Meanwhile, seven people arrested in Manokwari, a coastal town in West Papua province, were being held for questioning after being picked up on Nov. 27, a local police official said.
A lawyer from the Legal Aid Research, Study and Development Institute, Yan Warinussi said police had named seven of the eight people detained in Manokwari as suspects.
West Papua Police Chief Brig. Gen. Herry Rudolf Nahak said police had arrested 11 people and charged them with treason after a flag-raising ceremony in Sorong, another coastal town in West Papua province.
Arrests also took place in Fakfak, on the southern coast of West Papua, including dozens who allegedly attempted to raise a flag at the official residence of the regent, the top local official.
Twenty of these people reportedly stated they were members of the West Papuan National Liberation Army.
Fakfak police chief Ary Nyoto Setiawan said 23 people had raised Papua's Morning Star flag in Warpa Kayuni village, adding that about 20 would be named treason suspects.
The news outlet also reported that two leaders of the United Liberation Movement for West Papua were questioned by police in Jayapura.
They had reportedly made an appeal for people to commemorate the 1 December anniversary, the date Papuans declared independence from Dutch colonial rule in 1961.
About 50 activists flew the Morning Star flag at New Zealand's Parliament on Monday to mark the 58th anniversary of the declaration of West Papuan independence. Audio
Indonesian police in Jayapura have arrested dozens of people for planning to celebrate a key West Papuan nationalist anniversary.
A group calling for an end to violence in West Papua say they have received threats in the lead-up to a protest at Parliament today. | Famous Person - Commit Crime - Accuse | December 2019 | ['(RNZ)'] |
The trial of Major Nidal Malik Hasan, a former United States Army Medical Corps officer and the Gunman during the Fort Hood shooting, begins. | KILLEEN, Tex. — Sitting in a wheelchair, his voice soft but unwavering, Army psychiatrist Nidal Malik Hasan took responsibility Tuesday for the 2009 mass shooting at Fort Hood.
“Fellow members, good morning,” Hasan began at the opening of his court-martial at the Army post here in central Texas. “On November 5, 2009, 13 U.S. soldiers were killed and many more injured. The evidence will clearly show that I am the shooter.”
Hasan, a 42-year-old American-born Muslim who is representing himself, was in a small courtroom just miles from Fort Hood’s Soldier Readiness Processing Center, where he said he opened fire four years ago on fellow soldiers preparing to deploy to Afghanistan.
Dressed in Army fatigues and with a full-length beard in defiance of military regulations, Hasan spoke for little more than a minute as he addressed the panel of 13 military officers who will decide whether he should be executed. He said he had been on the wrong side of a war against Islam and had switched over.
“We the mujahideen are imperfect Muslims trying to establish the perfect religion in the land of the supreme God,” said Hasan, a major, who is paralyzed from the waist down after being shot by Army civilian police officers. He apologized for “any mistakes I’ve made in this endeavor.”
During a busy day of testimony, Hasan made little effort to mount a defense. He asked few questions when he had the opportunity to cross-examine 12 witnesses, who included victims of the shooting, preferring to sit placidly and occasionally shuffle his legal papers. Staff Sgt. Alonzo M. Lunsford Jr., who lost sight in his left eye as a result of injuries suffered during the shooting, fixed Hasan in his gaze as he testified that the shooter had followed him outside and fired into his back as he tried to crawl away. Hasan declined to cross-examine him.
Earlier in the day, the defendant lowered his head and stared at a table as Col. Steve Henricks, a military prosecutor, gave a detailed account of Hasan’s radicalization, his preparation for the mass shooting and the day itself. The Army lawyer said the psychiatrist — who worked at what is now Walter Reed National Military Medical Center between 2003 and 2009 — meticulously prepared for months and deliberately targeted those in uniform while sparing civilians. Henricks said the accused, who was also scheduled to go to Afghanistan at the end of November 2009, “did not want to deploy, and he came to believe he possessed a jihad duty to kill as many soldiers as possible.”
The court heard that Hasan had researched suicide bombers and paid for a membership at a nearby shooting range, training himself to consistently hit the head and chest of targets from 100 yards away. In the hours before the shooting, Hasan gave away some of his belongings, led the call to prayer at a local mosque, and used his computer to read an article that described Taliban leaders urging their followers “to commit jihad and not be cowards,” Henricks said.
Employees of a Killeen gun store later testified that Hasan purchased an unusually large amount of ammunition and evaded questions about what he intended to do with it.
Speaking for just under an hour, Henricks described how Hasan had entered the processing center shortly after 1 p.m. with two guns, one of them equipped with two laser sights, concealed in the pockets of his Army uniform.
Inside, dozens of soldiers were waiting for blood testing.
Hasan told the only civilian in the waiting area, a data entry clerk, to leave the room. He then stood behind a desk, shouted “Allahu akbar!” meaning “God is great,” and “opened fire on unarmed, unsuspecting and defenseless soldiers,” Henricks said.
As Hasan methodically stalked through the building, Michael Cahill, a physician’s assistant, emerged and tried to tackle him with a chair, the prosecutor said. Cahill was the only civilian killed during the attack. Another victim, who was pregnant, allegedly pleaded with Hasan for the life of her unborn child, and one witness heard shouts of “My baby! My baby!” Henricks added.
After walking outside, Hasan was twice confronted by soldiers attending a graduation ceremony in a nearby building. He told one “that a training exercise is going on and that he’s carrying a paintball gun,” and he assured another that there was nothing to worry about, Henricks said. Both men were in civilian clothes to attend the graduation and were unharmed.
The psychiatrist was shot in the chest by an Army police officer minutes later, ending the shooting spree. Investigators later found 146 spent rounds inside the building and a further 68 casings from Hasan’s gun outside.
The hearing took place amid high security. Almost 100 U.S. and foreign journalists covered the opening day of the trial, which was also attended by several family members of the victims.
Col. Tara Osborn, the military judge in the case, warned the attendees: “Some of the evidence you are going to hear may be graphic and it may be emotional . . . but the court has a responsibility to ensure that this trial is conducted with proper decorum.”
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| Famous Person - Commit Crime - Investigate | August 2013 | ['(Washington Post)'] |
Google announces that it is shutting down its Google+ network for consumers after seven years due to "very low usage" and a software error, first reported by The Wall Street Journal, that potentially exposed the data of 500,000 users. Google+ will fully shut down in August 2019. | Google will "sunset" the social network, which saw "very low usage" and failed to truly challenge market leader Facebook.
By Ajay Nair, news reporter Monday 8 October 2018 22:27, UK
Google is pulling the plug on its flagship social network Google+ after data from up to 500,000 users was left exposed by a bug.
The tech giant said it would shut down the consumer version of the platform after it revealed users' data may have been exposed by a bug that was present for more than two years.
In a blog post, the company revealed it discovered the leak and patched it in March. It said it had no evidence that the data was misused or that any developer was aware of it or had exploited the leak.
A Google spokesperson said there were "significant challenges in creating and maintaining a successful Google+ that meets consumers' expectations".
They said the firm would now "sunset" the app, which failed to truly challenge market leader Facebook, citing "very low usage".
Google said it would "wind-down" the consumer version of the website over the next 10 months, with 90% of users accessing the site for less than five seconds.
The case was unusual in that it was brought on behalf of four million iPhone users in a so-called representative action
However, it is planning to keep the platform alive for "enterprise users" in the workplace.
"Our review showed that Google+ is better suited as an enterprise product where co-workers can engage in internal discussions on a secure corporate social network," Google said.
"Enterprise customers can set common access rules, and use central controls, for their entire organisation. We've decided to focus on our enterprise efforts and will be launching new features purpose-built for businesses. We will share more information in the coming days."
Following the announcement, shares in Google's parent company Alphabet Inc were down 1.5% in response to the privacy issues.
According to The Wall Street Journal, Google had decided not to disclose the issue with its application programming interfaces (API) due to fears of increased regulatory scrutiny.
But the company said it reviewed the issue and looked at the type of data involved, if it could correctly identify the users affected to inform them, if there was any evidence of misuse, and if there was any action a user or developer could take.
"None of these thresholds were met in this instance," the firm said in its blog post. "We found no evidence that any developer was aware of this bug, or abusing the API, and we found no evidence that any profile data was misused."
Companies have to inform a supervisory authority within 72 hours of a personal data breach under the EU's general data protection regulation (GDPR) - unless the breach is not likely to risk the rights and freedom of affected users. | Organization Closed | October 2018 | ['(Sky News)'] |
Karim Wade, son of Senegalese president Abdoulaye Wade, issues a strong denial of speculation that his father plans to pass on power to him as if he were a monarch. | The son of Senegal's President Abdoulaye Wade has strongly denied that his father will hand him power in the style of a monarch. Karim Wade issued the denial after widespread speculation that his 85-year-old father was grooming him as his successor.
Mr Wade has ruled Senegal for more than a decade.
Last month, he was forced to drop plans to change electoral rules after riots broke out. The opposition said the changes were aimed at helping Mr Wade win elections in 2012, before handing power to his son. Karim Wade heads a "super ministry" in his father's government, which includes the transport and energy portfolios.
He denied in an open letter that he intended to inherit the presidency. "I repeat and will repeat as long as is necessary - it is an insult to the Senegalese to talk of a plan for monarchic devolution. "Such a plan has not, is not, and never will be the intention of the president or myself," Karim Wade said.
He said he was the victim of a hate campaign. "This confusion must be ended. This spin-doctoring must finish. This injustice must cease," he said. Last month, the president dropped proposed changes to the country's constitution after police fired tear gas and rubber bullets at thousands of protesters outside parliament.
Abdoulaye Wade had wanted to reduce the proportion of votes needed to win a presidential election, and avoid a run-off, from more than 50% to 25%.
He had also wanted to create an elected post of vice-president.
| Famous Person - Give a speech | July 2011 | ['(BBC)'] |
Same-sex marriage becomes legal in Taiwan, making Taiwan the first nation in Asia to recognize same-sex marriage. | Taiwan's parliament legalised same-sex marriage on Friday in a landmark first for Asia as the government survived a last-minute attempt by conservatives to pass watered-down legislation.
Lawmakers comfortably passed a bill allowing same-sex couples to form “exclusive permanent unions” and another clause that would let them apply for a “marriage registration” with government agencies.
The vote - which took place on the International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia - is a major victory for the island's LGBT community who have campaigned for years to have equal marriage rights and it places the island at the vanguard of Asia's burgeoning gay rights movement.
In recent months conservatives had mobilised to rid the law of any reference to marriage, instead putting forward rival bills that offered something closer to limited same-sex unions. But those bills struggled to receive enough votes.
Gay rights groups hailed the vote on Friday, saying the ability to apply for a “marriage registration” - known as Clause Four - put their community much closer to parity with heterosexual couples.
“The passage of Clause Four ensures that two persons of the same-sex can register their marriage on May 24th and ensure that Taiwan becomes the first country in Asia to legalise same-sex marriage and to successfully open a new page in history,” said the Taiwan Alliance to Promote Civil Partnership Rights.
Two years ago Taiwan's top court ruled that not allowing same-sex couples to marry violates the constitution with judges giving the government until May 24, 2019 to make the changes or see marriage equality enacted automatically.
Other key sections of the law were still being debated and voted on Friday, including what, if any, provisions there will be for same-sex couples to adopt.
Whatever the result, the law will not bring full parity with heterosexual couples as even the most progressive version only offers biological adoptions.
Gay rights groups had previously indicated they were willing to accept compromises, as long as the new law recognised the concept of marriage, adding they could fight legal battles over surrogacy and adoption down the line.
“In Taiwan a marriage will take effect when it's registered, so allowing marriage registration is no doubt recognising the marriage itself,” Victoria Hsu, a gay rights lawyer, told AFP.
In the last decade, Taiwan has been one of the most progressive societies in Asia when it comes to gay rights, staging the continent's biggest annual gay pride parade.
But the island remains a staunchly conservative place, especially outside urban areas.
Conservative and religious groups were buoyed by a series of referendum wins in November, in which voters comprehensively rejected defining marriage as anything other than a union between a man and a woman, illustrating the limited popular support.
In a Facebook post President Tsai Ing-wen said she recognised the issue had divided “families, generations and even inside religious groups”.
“Today, we have a chance to make history and show the world that progressive values can take root in an East Asian society,” she added in a tweet ahead of the vote.
Tsai had previously spoken in favour of gay marriage but was later accused of dragging her feet after the court judgement, fearful of a voter backlash.
Taiwan goes to the polls in January.
Thousands of gay rights supporters gathered outside parliament for the vote, despite heavy downpours.
“We are just a group of people who want to live well on this land and who love each other,” gay activist Cindy Su told the crowd.
| Government Policy Changes | May 2019 | ['(The Telegraph)'] |
Tropical Storm Isaac forms in the Atlantic Ocean with tropical storm warnings in place for Puerto Rico, the US and British Virgin Islands, Martinique, Dominica, Guadeloupe, St Martin, St Kitts, Nevis, Antigua, Barbuda, Montserrat, Anguilla, Saba, St Eustatius, St Maarten, Culebra and Vieques. | FORECASTERS say tropical storm Isaac continues to move west toward the Caribbean on a track that could possibly take it toward Florida, where the Republican National Convention is to be held next week.
The National Hurricane Center said Isaac had top sustained winds near 64km/h at 11pm EDT on Tuesday (1300 AEST on Wednesday) and was expected to strengthen.
It was 628 kilometres east of Guadeloupe and heading west near 29km/h.
Tropical storm warnings were issued on Tuesday for Puerto Rico, the US and British Virgin Islands and a swath of islands across the Caribbean including Martinique, Dominica, Guadeloupe, St Martin, St Kitts, Nevis, Antigua, Barbuda, Montserrat, Anguilla, Saba, St Eustatius, St Maarten, Culebra and Vieques.
It's too soon to gauge the storm's exact path.
Some computer models forecast Isaac to head toward Cuba and then the US mainland, while others suggest a sharp northern turn in coming days near Puerto Rico before entering the open Atlantic.
| Hurricanes_Tornado_Storm_Blizzard | August 2012 | ['(AAP via News Limited)'] |
A suicide bomber attacks a United Nations convoy near Aden Adde International Airport killing six people. | At least six people have been killed in a car bomb blast next to a UN convoy in Somalia's capital, police say.
The vehicle packed with explosives blew up as the convoy travelled along the road near the international airport in Mogadishu, police said.
A second blast targeted African Union (AU) vehicles about 25km (15 miles) from the city, a BBC reporter says.
Al-Shabab, an Islamist militant group linked to al-Qaeda, has claimed responsibility for the airport attack.
On Tuesday, the group said it killed 36 quarry workers near the northern Kenyan town of Mandera because of the involvement of Kenyan forces in Somalia.
The United Nations and the British and Italian embassy compounds are based near Mogadishu's heavily fortified airport.
"The explosion was very big and there is smoke all around the area. I can hardly see people lying on the ground, either dead or wounded," witness Shamso Idle told AFP news agency. Police said at least six people, including a Somali intelligence officer, were killed and some others were wounded in the blast, reports the BBC's Mohamed Moalimu from Mogadishu. The UN has not reported any casualties among its staff. Its security personnel were at the site, inspecting the wreckage, our correspondent says. The explosion targeting AU troops took place in Lafole village, south of Mogadishu, our correspondent says.
Al-Shabab spokesman Abdulaziz Abu Musab said the aim of the Mogadishu attack was to target "foreign mercenaries".
The UN has no troops in Somalia, and says its staff are involved in political activities aimed at helping the government achieve stability. The AU has some 22,000 troops, from Burundi, Djibouti, Ethiopia, Kenya, Sierra Leone and Uganda, helping the weak and divided Somali government battle al-Shabab.
Various armed groups have been battling for control of Somalia since the overthrow of President Siad Barre in 1991. | Riot | December 2014 | ['(AP)', '(BBC)'] |
Up to 10,000 people protest in Minsk against President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko. | MOSCOW, March 25 -- As many as 10,000 protesters took to the streets of Minsk, the capital of Belarus, on Sunday in one of the largest demonstrations ever staged against the authoritarian rule of President Alexander Lukashenko.
The demonstrators marched in three groups to a meeting away from the city center after riot police prevented them from entering a central square. No injuries were reported, but several activists were arrested, organizers said.
The rally was addressed by Alexander Milinkevich, who ran against Lukashenko for the presidency last year in elections that were widely condemned as flawed.
"We are the majority. We will win," Milinkevich told the protesters, who were marking the anniversary of the establishment in 1918 of an independent republic that was quickly suppressed by Red Army troops. "The authorities will fall under the pressure of their lies."
Belarus, which borders the European Union, Russia and Ukraine, attained its independence when the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991. Lukashenko, a former collective-farm manager, won a third term last year with nearly 83 percent of the vote. Milinkevich, a former physics professor, received 6 percent.
Lukashenko, who brooks little dissent, has become increasingly isolated as his country's relations with Russia, its principal ally, have frayed because of the Kremlin's unwillingness to continue to subsidize his rule with cheap energy supplies.
Increasingly disillusioned with Russia, Lukashenko has hinted that he might try to improve relations with the West. The United States and the E.U. have long ostracized his government, frequently called the last dictatorship in Europe.
Jose Manuel Barroso, head of the European Commission, said Sunday that the E.U. was ready for a "full partnership" with Belarus, but only if Lukashenko adopts democratic reforms.
Lukashenko and 30 senior Belarusan officials are barred from traveling to E.U. countries. The union has barred only two other heads of state, the leaders of Zimbabwe and Burma. | Protest_Online Condemnation | March 2007 | ['(Washington Post)'] |
The European Ombudsman, Emily O'Reilly, mentions four counts of maladministration by the European Commission in the fasttrack nomination of Martin Selmayr as its SecretaryGeneral in February. | The EU ombudsman has given a damning verdict on the way Jean-Claude Juncker's chief of staff was given the top post in the bloc's civil service.
The promotion of Martin Selmayr, nicknamed "the monster" by his boss, was fast-tracked in February, in a move condemned by one Euro MP as a "coup".
Ombudsman Emily O'Reilly identified four counts of maladministration by the European Commission.
She said the affair had damaged public trust in EU institutions.
Ms O'Reilly agreed with the European Parliament's assessment that the promotion had "stretched and possibly even overstretched the limits of the law".
However, her report will not affect his promotion. She calls only for the top job to have an appointment procedure separate from that for other senior posts.
A lawyer originally from the German city of Bonn, he has worked for the Commission since 2004, but really came to the fore in 2014 when he was picked by Mr Juncker, then the new president of the European Commission, as his chief of staff.
He masterminded Mr Juncker's campaign for the presidency, and has since been described as the most powerful man in Brussels and the "Frank Underwood" of the Commission, in a reference to the House of Cards political thriller. In 2017, there were reports that he had leaked details of a confidential Brexit dinner meeting between Theresa May and Mr Juncker. German newspaper FAZ said Mr Juncker had left "ten times more sceptical than before".
Mr Selmayr has been in charge of the 32,000-strong EU bureaucracy since 1 March. One widely-circulated joke in Brussels about his alleged self-importance runs: "What's the difference between God and Selmayr? God knows he's not Selmayr." It all happened in the space of a dizzying few minutes at a meeting of European commissioners on 21 February.
Mr Selmayr was appointed deputy secretary-general and the existing top civil servant, Alexander Italianer, suddenly announced he was retiring. Without being promoted to the deputy's post first, Mr Selmayr could not have been given the top job. The only other candidate for deputy had conveniently pulled out the day before.
Mr Juncker then said his chief of staff should get the top job and he was duly appointed.
The European Parliament condemned the handling of the promotion, and there were reports that Mr Juncker had threatened to quit if the newly appointed secretary-general was forced out.
In her scathing report, Emily O'Reilly pointed to several "issues of concern":
She cited four instances of maladministration, including failing to avoid risking a conflict of interests, and warned that the sequence of events had placed the "wider legitimacy of the EU... at unnecessary risk".
The European Commission said it did not share all aspects of the report, but welcomed her decision not to contest the legality of the appointment.
| Famous Person - Commit Crime - Accuse | September 2018 | ['(BBC)'] |
Twin explosions kill at least 3 people and injure at least 50 others in a crowded shopping area in Kut, Wasit; women and children are seen bleeding in the streets. | Twin car bombings have killed at least six people and injured about 50 in southern Iraq, officials say.
The near-simultaneous bombs went off in Kut, the capital of Wasit province, 100 miles (160km) south of Baghdad.
The bombings came hours after a series of smaller attacks targeting members of the security forces in Baghdad killed eight police officers.
The deaths have renewed concerns about security in Iraq, with US combat troops due leave the country later this month.
US President Barack Obama confirmed on Monday that US combat troops would leave Iraq at the end of August, asserting that violence was the lowest it had been for years.
Witnesses say the co-ordinated car bombs exploded in a crowded shopping area in the city of Kut.
Two cars parked a few metres from each other exploded at the same time in Kut's commercial centre, police spokesman Lt Ismail Hussein told AFP.
Local shopkeeper Nasir Salman said the blasts happened at about 1800 local time (1500 GMT) when the streets were crowded. "I saw with my own eyes women and children lying dead and wounded on the ground," said Mr Salman, whose tyre shop was damaged.
Haidar Habib, a currency trader, said he had been "thrown to the floor" of his shop by the force of the explosions. On Tuesday morning, five policemen were killed at a checkpoint in Baghdad by men using guns with silencers.
Witnesses said the black flag of the Islamic State of Iraq - a front organisation for al-Qaeda - was left at the scene, suggesting it was behind the attack. Elsewhere in the capital, two police officers were killed as they tried to defuse a bomb in Sadr City in the eastern part of the Iraqi capital. Another policeman was killed by an explosive device attached to his motorbike.
While violence in Iraq has fallen in the last three years, shootings and bombings still take place regularly.
The Iraqi Ministry of Interior says nearly 400 civilians were killed in attacks in July.
US and Iraqi officials have raised concerns that insurgents are taking advantage of the political vacuum in the country to try to destabilise it.
Nearly five months after Iraq's parliamentary elections failed to produce a clear winner, there is still no agreement on a coalition government. | Armed Conflict | August 2010 | ['(BBC)'] |
Three million Italians go to the polls to elect the leader of the new Democratic Party. The current Mayor of Rome, Walter Veltroni, wins with about 75% of the votes. | ROME (AFP) — Rome Mayor Walter Veltroni appears headed to a landslide victory in a vote to elect the leader of Italy's new centre-left Democratic Party, according to first projections from poll organisers.
Veltroni, 52, polled 74.6 percent of the vote Sunday according to a sampling of 100 ballot papers from each of 1,000 polling stations chosen.
The official result is expected on Monday.
After polling stations closed at 1800 GMT, organisers predicted an "extraordinary" three million strong voter turnout.
The strength of the predicted victory and the high turnout could set Veltroni up as the likely heir apparent to Prime Minister Romano Prodi.
The ballot -- open to any official resident of Italy over the age of 16 who made a one euro donation -- was organised to elect the first leader of the new Democratic Party, born of a merger of the former Democrats of the Left (DS) and the Daisy party of progressive Christian Democrats.
The same projections put Families Minister Rosy Bindi in second place with 14.1 percent and Enrico Letta, undersecretary in the prime minister's office, in third with 11 percent. The other two candidates received 0.1 percent each.
Casting his vote after supervising a wedding ceremony at Rome's townhall, Veltroni said: "It's a fantastic day for Italian democracy. We have in these primaries chosen to create a new party -- a choice absolutely unique and unprecedented in European politics."
Prodi, who heads a shaky 12 party centre-left coalition which has already narrowly survived one vote of confidence, said that left-wing leaders across Europe were "very interested in the Italian experience: how to move forward traditional parties without repudiating their principles."
The Democratic Party is seeking to become Italy's largest political grouping. Former prime minister Silvio Berlusconi's right-wing Forza Italia is currently Italy's largest single party.
Voters in Sunday's party poll picked both the DP's leader as well as regional secretaries and 2,400 delegates to national and regional constituent assemblies from among 35,000 candidates.
Veltroni has insisted throughout his campaign that he would not undermine the 68-year-old Prodi's position but bring stability to the executive.
"This evening, we confirm our full support for the Prodi government to guide and transform the country," Veltroni said after the first projections were announced.
Prodi echoed those sentiments: "We started together and we have grown together."
But Italian commentators doubted whether that cordial spirit would last.
Il Sole-24 Ore financial newspaper wrote: "It is hard to see how Veltroni's ambition -- to become head of the government -- can sit comfortably alongside the demands of Prodi -- the actual head of the government."
Rome's daily Il Messaggero said on Sunday that many politicians "saw the 'new-born party' as the natural hitman for a 'dying government', the victim of Prodi's unpopular choices which have seen it crash in the polls."
Veltroni is a former communist-turned-social democrat. He has long dreamed of a large US-style party that would at last give Italy's centre-left a stable majority. Reform-minded elements in the old Christian Democrat party take a similar view. | Government Job change - Election | October 2007 | ['(AFP via Google News)'] |
At least 21 people are killed in multiple attacks in Baghdad with more than 70 others injured. , (Headlines & Global News) | Islamic State (IS) militants say they were behind two suicide bombs in Iraq's capital, Baghdad, that killed at least 23 people and wounded more than 60.
The attacks targeted police checkpoints in the Wathba and Haraj markets during morning rush-hour, police said.
The bombers were said to have been on foot and wearing explosives vests.
The Reuters news agency said four people were killed in a third blast in the nearby Bab al-Muadham district, but it is unclear who was behind it. Fighters from the IS group have carried out numerous suicide bombings and other attacks against civilian and government targets in and around Baghdad.
Government forces and allied mainly Shia militia have been fighting IS since the group took over large parts of the country last year. | Armed Conflict | September 2015 | ['(BBC)'] |
The historic Serbian Orthodox Cathedral of St. Sava in New York City is almost completely destroyed in a massive four–alarm fire. | A huge fire has ripped through a Serbian Orthodox Cathedral in Manhattan on Orthodox Easter Sunday.
Videos from the scene show flames emerging from the church and smoke rising over the Madison Square area of New York.
"Huge fire at Serbian Orthodox Church ... ppl crying, horrible fire," witness Mike Gallagher said from the scene.
Local media reported that the fire broke out hours after an afternoon Easter service.
The New York City Fire Department (FDNY) tweeted that 170 personnel had been dispatched to the fire at 25th and Broadway.
It added that no injuries had been reported, and that firefighters were engaged in an "exterior operation due to heavy fire throughout the church".
The 4-alarm fire is said to have started just before 7:00pm (local time), FDNY officials said.
By about 9:40pm, the FDNY reported on Twitter that the fire was under control.
"Nothing left [but] bones of the beautiful church that was. Heartbreaking," resident Katelyn Hertel wrote on Twitter.
It is still unclear what started the fire.
The Cathedral was opened as an Episcopal church called Trinity Chapel in 1855, until it was purchased by the Serbian Orthodox Church in 1940, according to the church's website.
| Fire | May 2016 | ['(ABC)'] |
Britain's Serious Fraud Office launches a criminal investigation into the Libor scandal. | The Serious Fraud Office (SFO) has confirmed that it has formally launched an investigation into the rigging of inter-bank lending rates. The case could lead to criminal charges being brought against individuals. Its involvement follows an investigation by US and UK regulators into the manipulation of Libor, which resulted in a record fine for Barclays.
The Chief Secretary to the Treasury, Danny Alexander, said he was "delighted" by the decision.
"As a government, we will make sure the SFO has all the resources it needs to conduct this investigation in full," he said.
"I want the SFO to follow the evidence wherever it goes, to bring prosecutions if they can."
Last week the bank agreed to pay £290m in penalties after its traders tried to rig inter-bank lending rates, sometimes working with staff at other financial institutions. Regulators are continuing to look into possible rate manipulation at other banks, while the US Department of Justice is carrying out its own criminal investigations. An SFO spokesperson confirmed that a dedicated case team had now started work, but would not say whom it was investigating. Its short statement said only:
"The SFO Director David Green QC has today decided formally to accept the Libor matter for investigation."
The Libor affair, described by the prime minister as a scandal, has led to the resignation of three of Barclays' most senior executives in a matter of days, including chief executive Bob Diamond. He appeared before MPs on the Treasury Select Committee this week, when he called the behaviour of those responsible for Libor rigging at the bank "reprehensible".
Regulators in the UK and the US found that Barclays staff had tried to affect rates over a number of years, first for profit and then to reduce concerns about how much it was being affected by the financial crisis. The SFO is responsible for investigating allegations of serious and complex frauds. It considers whether to prosecute using a number of criteria, including whether it is a matter of public concern, and whether the value of any fraud is more than £1m. The government agency said a few days ago that it was considering whether a criminal prosecution was appropriate and possible, and said this could take a month. "Normally when there is such a public outcry, the law enforcement agencies manage to act in a more accelerated pace," said Bradley Simon, a former US federal prosecutor who now defends clients in fraud cases. He said the SFO would be sensitive to criticism that it had been slow to respond in the past. "They have to show they are on top of this. There are a lot of angry people out there," he told BBC News. SFO | Famous Person - Commit Crime - Investigate | July 2012 | ['(BBC)'] |
Novak Djokovic beats Roger Federer in straight sets to reach his first French Open final. | Last updated on 8 June 20128 June 2012.From the section Tennis
Novak Djokovic outclassed Roger Federer to reach the French Open final and maintain his bid to hold all four Grand Slam titles at the same time.
The world number one came from a break down to win the first set before overturning a 3-0 deficit, preventing Federer serving out to take the second.
Djokovic sealed a comfortable 6-4 7-5 6-3 win in two hours and five minutes. In his first Paris final on Sunday, Djokovic faces Rafael Nadal, who has won 11 of their 13 matches on clay.
"Perhaps this is Federer in decline? On today's evidence he hasn't got the consistency to live with Djokovic and Nadal. He can do it in best-of-three set tournaments but that's the difference for me. I don't like saying this because he is a legend and I hope he continues playing long into the future."
The world's two best players will both be attempting records, Nadal a seventh Roland Garros title and Djokovic seeking to become only the third player, and the first since Rod Laver in 1969, to hold all the major trophies at once.
Djokovic and Federer's 10th Grand Slam meeting could not sustain expectations as the Serbian levelled the overall score to 5-5. Federer won in four sets when the pair met in the semi-finals at Roland Garros last year, but his many followers will have been alarmed with his failure to compete for long periods in this encounter. The match began in suitably gladiatorial fashion with the two players trading imperious winners.
Federer captured the first break with a sweeping forehand but Djokovic, who needed to save four match points to overcome Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the quarter-finals, broke back immediately. As Federer tried to combat Djokovic's athleticism with some bold winners, his precision deserted him and the opening set slipped away. Having prevailed in an epic 36-stroke rally. Federer then landed a smash to break in the first game of the second set, before sending an ace down the middle for his first love hold in the next.
It appeared there was to be no response from Djokovic, who netted then sent a forehand long to drop serve again, but a more expansive approach saw him swiftly break Federer and the set was soon all square.
The fluctuations continued as a backhand down the line created a break point for Federer, which he duly accepted.
But when serving to level the match he was broken for a third time and Djokovic soon moved ahead for the first time in the set.
Federer has not won a Grand Slam since January 2010 and when he sent a forehand long to concede the set, he would no doubt have been aware that Djokovic had never lost from two sets up, a statistic that was not about to change.
A single break in the sixth game of the third set was enough for Djokovic to complete victory as Federer succumbed to his sixth successive defeat against a number one ranked player.
"I thought I was playing very aggressive early on but it was always going to be hard serving well in the wind and when Novak picks up some good returns my first serve is always going to be difficult," Federer lamented. "I was actually feeling well in the second set so that one hurts the most to lose. In the third I wasn't able to put a good game together and with a two sets lead it's not the same match anymore and Novak goes for broke.
"The Olympics is still two months away, Wimbledon is two weeks away so there is still time, but semi-finals is a very good result for any tennis player.
"I've got to change things for grass anyway and I'm looking forward to that. It's been a difficult clay court season, I wasn't in the best shape physically and maybe I did feel that coming down the stretch."
Assessing the challenge awaiting him against Nadal, Djokovic said: "I know I have to be playing consistently well on a very high level to win a best-of-five against Nadal here. "It's the ultimate challenge. But I believe today was my best match of 2012 Roland Garros for me. I raised my game when I needed to. That's something that gives me confidence before the final.
"When you come back from double break down against a player like Federer, it's a success, a great achievement, but I can't allow myself to have that many ups and downs, especially in the next match." | Sports Competition | June 2012 | ['(BBC)'] |
People rallying against last weekend's gang rape of a female student are showered in tear gas and water cannons in New Delhi, India. | After forcibly dispersing protesters rallying against the rape of a female student, police ban public assembly in area.
Police in India’s capital New Delhi have used tear gas and water cannons on people demonstrating in the wake of a brutal gang rape of a female student on a bus last weekend.
Some female protesters were injured after the police charged them when they tried to approach a key federal government building near the India Gate monument in the heart of the capital on Saturday.
Many of the protesters clashed with the police, pelting stones at them, local network NDTV reported.
On Sunday, police imposed orders prohibiting public assembly in the area, calling on protesters to demonstrate at alternate locations.
“Security has been tightened in the heart of New Delhi, with police in riot gear in every area of possible demonstration. Section 144, a criminal code that prohibits assembly of more than five people, has been imposed. The situation turned quite ugly on Saturday, after protesters clashed with police, and the police retaliated with water cannon and tear gas,” reported Al Jazeera’s Subina Shrestha from New Delhi.
Television footage of Saturday’s clashes showed several hundred protesters shouting, “We want justice”, as police struggled to stop the crowd from smashing flower pots and other symbols of the capital’s beautification drive.
The gang rape in New Delhi has sparked public outrage across India, bringing thousands of people onto city streets. Marches, demonstrations and candlelight vigils have spread during the last week.
A silent march was also organised in the southern Indian city of Hyderabad on Saturday.
In the northeastern state of Assam, hundreds of women and girls marched through the city of Guwahati, carrying placards and shouting “Hang Rapists” and “Stop Violence Against Women”.
On Friday, hundreds of students and activists blockaded roads in New Delhi and marched to the president’s palace, breaking through police barricades, despite the use of water cannons, to demand better safety across the country.
Last week’s case – covered intensively by TV news networks – provoked uproar in parliament earlier this week, prompting the authorities to announce measures to make the capital safer for women.
These include increased policing and fast-tracking court hearings for rape.
Stricter policing
The Indian government vowed on Friday to press for life sentences for her six attackers and promised stricter policing.
RK Singh, the home secretary, said the government would pay the medical bills of the 23-year-old victim, who is fighting for her life after suffering serious injuries to her intestines in the attack on Sunday night.
Six drunken men were joyriding on a bus when they picked up the physiotherapy student and her 28-year-old male companion and took turns raping her. Afterwards, they threw the pair off the speeding vehicle.
Police say the woman was attacked with an iron rod after being raped.
The public verbal and physical sexual harassment of women, known as “Eve-teasing”, is routine in New Delhi, which has come to be known as India’s “rape capital”.
New Delhi, home to about 16 million people, has the highest number of sex crimes among India’s cities.
Police figures show rape is reported on average every 18 hours and some other form of sexual attack every 14 hours in the capital.
Five of the suspects were arrested soon after the crime and a sixth was caught on Friday, the Press Trust of India reported.
Ranjana Kumari, the director of the Centre for Social Research, told Al Jazeera that activists wanted quick dispensation of justice in the case, but also changes in the way that police deal with such cases.
“We want more effective policing. We want police to be gender-sensitised so that a woman after being sexually assaulted or [being the victim of] any sexual crime, when she walks into the police station, the police must not start blaminig her,” she said.
| Protest_Online Condemnation | December 2012 | ['(BBC)', '(Al Jazeera)'] |
Protests occur in several American cities following the acquittal of George Zimmerman in relation to the shooting of Trayvon Martin. | US PRESIDENT Barack Obama has appealed to Americans for restraint amid anger over the acquittal of a man who gunned down an unarmed black teenager.
In this image from video, George Zimmerman smiles after a not guilty verdict was handed down in his trial at the Seminole County Courthouse, Sunday, July 14, 2013, in Sanford, Fla. Neighborhood watch captain George Zimmerman was cleared of all charges Saturday in the shooting of Trayvon Martin, the unarmed black teenager whose killing unleashed furious debate across the U.S. over racial profiling, self-defense and equal justice.US PRESIDENT Barack Obama has appealed to Americans for restraint amid anger from civil rights activists and public protests against the acquittal of a man who gunned down an unarmed black teenager.
A Florida jury comprising six women - reportedly five white and a Hispanic - late on Saturday found neighbourhood watch volunteer George Zimmerman not guilty of murdering Trayvon Martin, after a long and racially charged trial that transfixed much of the US for weeks.
Zimmerman, 29, was charged with second-degree murder, having pursued Martin, 17, through a gated community in the town of Sanford, eventually shooting him during an altercation on the rainy night of February 26, 2012.
The trial aroused strong passions and divided those who believed that Zimmerman - whose father is white and mother is Peruvian - had racially-profiled Martin, and those who believed he acted in self-defence.
Spontaneous protests broke out in San Francisco, Philadelphia, Chicago, Washington and Atlanta overnight, following the verdict, though they were mostly peaceful.
On Sunday, a large demonstration in New York attracted several thousand people, with placards that read, "Jail racist killers, not black youth'', and "We are all Trayvon. The whole damn system is guilty.''
One of the marchers in lower Manhattan wore a T-shirt proclaiming: "I'm black. Please don't shoot?''
However, Obama, the first black US president, urged people to accept the trial verdict.
"We are a nation of laws, and a jury has spoken,'' Obama said in a statement. "I now ask every American to respect the call for calm reflection from two parents who lost their young son.''
Earlier in Oakland, California, protesters had smashed windows and spray-painted cars after the verdict was announced live on television.
Obama had spoken sombrely on Martin before, noting that if he had a son he would "look like Trayvon''.
On Sunday, the President tied the killing of the teenager to the problems surrounding gun use in the United States - he had tried but failed to push through new control measures in the US congress earlier this year.
"We should ask ourselves, as individuals and as a society, how we can prevent future tragedies like this. As citizens, that's a job for all of us. That's the way to honour Trayvon Martin,'' Obama said.
"Obviously, we are ecstatic. George Zimmerman was never guilty of anything except protecting himself in self-defence,'' said his lead lawyer, Mark O'Mara, after the verdict.
Fearing violence after the Zimmerman verdict, police were out in force in Sanford, and the crowd of several hundred outside the courthouse was loud at times, but not violent.
A racial divide, however, was evident in Sanford pastor Valerie Houston's sermon on Sunday.
"Dr (Martin Luther) King (Jr) stated, the daily life of the Negro is still in the basement of the Great Society,'' she said. "And today I state, the daily life of my people is still enslaved to a white supremacist society.''
Martin's parents - father Tracy and mother Sybrina Fulton - had before the trial asked the public to respect the outcome and afterward gave thanks for the outpouring of support they received over the past year.
The Martin family's lawyer, Benjamin Crump, declined to say whether they would file a civil lawsuit against Zimmerman, but said ``they are going to certainly look at that as an option''.
"They deeply want a sense of justice. They deeply don't want their son's death to be in vain,'' he told ABC News's This Week.
Community leaders, meanwhile, called for non-violent demonstrations."There will be protests, but they must be carried out with dignity and discipline and let no act discredit the legacy of Trayvon Martin on the appeal of his family,'' civil rights leader Reverend Jesse Jackson said on CNN.
The NAACP, the largest US civil rights group, urged supporters to sign a letter asking Attorney General Eric Holder to file civil rights charges against Zimmerman.
"The most fundamental of civil rights - the right to life - was violated the night George Zimmerman stalked and then took the life of Trayvon Martin,'' read the NAACP letter.
The Department of Justice said on Sunday it continued to have an open investigation into the case, following the Florida trial.
"Experienced federal prosecutors will determine whether the evidence reveals a prosecutable violation of any of the limited federal criminal civil rights statutes within our jurisdiction,'' it said in a statement.
Most protests were peaceful.
"While the verdict may be legal, a system that doesn't take into account what happened is a broken legal system,'' said Jennifer Lue, 24, an Asian-American resident of New York.
"Everyone should feel about this, whether you're Asian-American or African-American,'' she said.
The trial has aroused strong passions among those who believed that Zimmerman - a volunteer neighbourhood watchman whose father is white and whose mother is Peruvian - racially profiled and stalked Martin, and those convinced he acted in self-defence.
The racially charged trial has transfixed the country.
Spontaneous protests broke out overnight in cities including San Francisco, Philadelphia, Chicago, Washington and Atlanta, with larger organised gatherings planned later on Sunday.
In Oakland, California, protesters smashed windows and spray painted cars, but most demonstrations were peaceful - and closely watched by police.
Zimmerman, 29, had been accused of pursuing Martin, 17, through a gated community in Sanford, Florida, and shooting him during an altercation on the rainy night of February 26, 2012.
Florida police initially declined to press charges against Zimmerman, sparking mass protests in several US cities. He was eventually arrested in April 2012 and charged with second-degree murder and manslaughter.
The spectre of the deadly April 1992 riots in Los Angeles, which broke out after a similarly racially-charged case, still lingers among law enforcement officials.
Fearing violence after the verdict, activists and community leaders appealed for calm. Police were out in force in Sanford, and the crowd of several hundred outside the courthouse was loud at times, but peaceful.
"Obviously, we are ecstatic with the results. George Zimmerman was never guilty of anything except protecting himself in self-defence," said his lead lawyer Mark O'Mara after the verdict.
Defence lawyers insist Zimmerman feared for his life after Martin attacked him, pinned him to the ground and started slamming his head against the pavement.
Zimmerman is the only living witness to how the fight began.
"Even though I am broken-hearted my faith is unshattered I WILL ALWAYS LOVE MY BABY TRAY," Martin's father Tracy wrote on Twitter.
The Martin family's lawyer Benjamin Crump declined to say whether they would file a civil lawsuit against Zimmerman.
| Protest_Online Condemnation | July 2013 | ['(AAP via News Limited)'] |
Tropical Storm Ignacio, currently headed north-northwest away from Hawaii, is anticipated to turn northeast on Sunday, heading for the Alaskan panhandle and northwestern British Columbia. , | Steering winds could take Ignacio, as a remnant storm, into the Alaskan Panhandle or British Columbia during the middle days of next week.
Ignacio will lose tropical characteristics well north of Hawaii in the coming days. However, a part of the storm system will survive over the cooler waters.
Regardless of the strength of the system when it reaches the Alaska/British Columbia coast, there will be impacts.
"A round of heavy rain, gusty winds and rough seas will occur, most likely spanning Tuesday into Wednesday," AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Brett Anderson said. "Ignacio could be a problem for fishing, shipping and cruise interests in the region."
Areas from Yakutat to Juneau and Ketchikan, Alaska, to as far south as Prince Rupert, British Columbia, should monitor the storm system.
After Ignacio gets pulled northward into the Labor Day weekend, it will turn eastward by early next week.
Latest Statistics on IgnacioIgnacio Stirs High Surf Warnings on the Big Island, HawaiiAccuWeather Hurricane Center
According to AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Kristina Pydynowski, "Ignacio will become part of the storm train stretching along the northern rim of the Pacific Ocean."
Whether or not Ignacio merges with one of the other storms in the train will determine its intensity when it reaches southeastern Alaska and neighboring British Columbia.
"If Ignacio were to merge with another storm system, impacts could be severe along a small part of the coast and into the coast ranges," Pydynowski said. "If it remains a separate entity, less severe winds and more strung-out rainfall could occur in the region."
The storm could especially be a problem for cruise ships which travel north-south in the region.
"Swells will approach from the west and could cause considerable rocking motion on some vessels," Anderson said.
People traveling on vessels in these waters during the first part of next week may want to bring along medication for sea sickness.
In terms of expired typhoons and hurricanes reaching southern Alaska, British Columbia and Washington, remnant tropical systems from the western Pacific occur more often than the central Pacific.
"Remnant systems from the central Pacific are extremely rare when compared to the western Pacific," Anderson said.
This is due to a warm current flowing northeastward in the western Pacific and a typical fast flow of air stretching from eastern Asia to southern Alaska. Both tend to move the systems along quickly and slow down their total breakdown.
Systems moving up from the central Pacific tend to move more slowly and relatively spend more time over cooler waters.
Vongfong (2014), Roke (2011) and Freda (1962) are but a few examples of former typhoons reaching the upper Pacific coast. Freda caused fatalities, widespread power outages and nearly $600 million (Canadian) in damage to British Columbia. Roke produced wind gusts to 105 mph (170 km/h) on Solander Island, British Columbia.
Ana from 2014 is an example of a system from the central Pacific that merged with a non-tropical storm and hit the British Columbia and Washington coasts with drenching rain and flooding problems.
"A cycle of warmer-than-average waters off the coast of southern Alaska and British Columbia this year could play a role in keeping Ignacio more organized as it approaches," Anderson said.
Temperatures will be a few degrees below average across the UK this weekend, but largely dry conditions are expected.
After no rain for almost a month, Santiago braces for rain early in the week. Cool air follows, spreading into Chile, Argentina and Uruguay mid-week.
There is a significant chance that Jimena will turn back toward Hawaii and threaten the islands during the second week of September.
An unusually strong push of cool air for early September will move southward along the Atlantic Seaboard into the Labor Day weekend before July-like heat returns by next week.
Steering winds could take Ignacio, as a remnant storm, into the southeastern arm of Alaska or British Columbia during the middle days of next week.
Strong thunderstorms will roll across the Upper Midwest while rain and strong winds roar through the Northwest this weekend. | Hurricanes_Tornado_Storm_Blizzard | September 2015 | ['(AccuWeather)', '(SurfLine.com)'] |
Snyder Rini resigns as Prime Minister of the Solomon Islands immediately before facing a motion of no confidence in Parliament, prompting celebrations in the streets of Honiara. , | Latest Newscast News Now Live VOA Africa Live Africa Americas Asia Europe Middle East U.S.A. American Life Health & Science Entertainment News Analysis Special Reports Find VOA Radio or TV Programs Podcasts Webcasts Correspondents Broadcast Info Articles in Special English Pronunciations Read Editorials
The controversial prime minister of the Solomon Islands, Snyder Rini, has resigned. His appointment eight days ago sparked a wave of unrest in the capital of the South Pacific nation. The violence prompted several neighboring countries, including Australia to send in troops and police officers to restore order. It has been another dramatic day in the Solomon Islands.
Snyder Rini at parliament house in Honiara, WednesdaySnyder Rini's resignation prompted noisy celebrations among his opponents on the streets of the capital Honiara.
The prime minister stepped down as members of parliament were preparing to vote on a motion of no confidence against him. It was clear the embattled leader had lost the support of key allies.
Mr. Rini said he had no alternative but to quit and hoped his decision would bring peace to his troubled country.
His appointment last week sparked violent disturbances. Rioters particularly targeted the city's Chinatown district, because of allegations that Mr. Rini had used money from local Chinese businessmen to bribe his way into office. His strong denials did little to quell 48 hours of looting and arson. The violence was so extreme that hundreds of ethnic Chinese fled the country.
Australia, New Zealand and Fiji sent in peacekeepers to restore order.
Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer told the National Press Club in Canberra that he hopes the election of a new leader will be free and fair.
"I'd like to feel that the members of the parliament of the Solomon Islands are able to vote unencumbered and without inappropriate incentives, if you know what I mean, and I'm sure you do," he said. "If there was any corruption involved in the last vote, well, that will be exposed through police investigations and charges might be brought and prosecutions take place."
In July 2003 foreign troops were deployed in the Solomon Islands after years of ethnic fighting. The situation was improving until the controversial election of Mr. Rini. Lawmakers are expected to elect his replacement early next week.
Analysts have said Mr. Rini's resignation should ensure there is no return to the violence that shook Honiara a week ago. | Government Job change - Resignation_Dismissal | April 2006 | ['(NZ Herald)', '[permanent dead link]', '(BBC)', '(VoA)'] |
21 people are killed and 25 others are injured in a collision between a passenger bus and a trailer carrying flammable materials in Isfahan, Iran | TEHRAN, Sept. 18 (Xinhua) -- At least 21 people were killed in a collision between a passenger bus and a trailer carrying flammable materials in the central Iranian province of Isfahan, semi-official ISNA news agency reported on Tuesday.
The passenger bus was heading from Tehran to Kerman city in the southern part of the country, when the accident took place in the early hours of Tuesday morning, Javad Dorostkar from Isfahan police office told ISNA.
Nineteen passengers of the bus were killed on the spot, and two others died later in the hospital, said Dorostkar.
Also, 25 people were injured as the huge fire engulfed the two vehicles.
The rescue operators of the Red Crescent of Isfahn province have moved the injured to the hospitals in Dorud city, the report said.
The bus hit the rear end of the tanker and further details about the cause of accident will be announced after the due investigations.
In July, 13 people were killed in a similar accident in Iran' western Kurdistan province. 2018 Summer Davos focuses on innovative society | Road Crash | September 2018 | ['(Xinhua)'] |
Israeli Prime Minister and Likud chairman Benjamin Netanyahu and the Israeli Foreign Minister and Yisrael Beiteinu chairman Avigdor Lieberman announce the unification of their two parties which will run as a single bloc for the upcoming election to be held in January 2013; the joint party will be called "Likud Beiteinu" ("The Likud Is Our Home") and Netanyahu will be number 1 on the list, followed by Liberman who will be number 2 on the list. | Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu's party will run alongside that of his ultra-nationalist Foreign Minister, Avigdor Lieberman, in January's election.
Mr Netanyahu said Likud and Yisrael Beitenu's joint list would create a stable government able to deal with the security and economic challenges ahead.
Mr Lieberman said he was confident the alliance could win the election, which has been called nine months early.
Opinion polls put the ring-wing list ahead of leftist and centrist parties.
But a survey published by Channel Two television suggested Likud and Yisrael Beitenu would win more seats in the Knesset as separate entities.
"Unifying lists usually shrinks them," wrote Nahum Barnea in a commentary for the biggest-selling newspaper, Yedioth Ahronoth. "Anyone who did not tolerate Lieberman and voted for Netanyahu will think twice, and the same is true for those who did not tolerate Netanyahu and voted for Lieberman."
The decision to form an electoral alliance was reportedly the result of secret negotiations between Mr Netanyahu and Mr Lieberman without senior officials present. The joint list, which will reportedly be called "Likud Beitenu", was unveiled at a news conference in Jerusalem on Thursday night.
"One ticket will strengthen the government, it will strengthen the prime minister, and it will strengthen the country," Mr Netanyahu said.
"We are asking the public for a mandate to deal with the security threats, at the top of which is stopping Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons, and fighting terrorism.
"We are asking for a mandate from the public to continue the changes in the economy, in education and in the need to lower the cost of living."
Mr Lieberman said: "The merger is a combination of experience, force and unity. This is what Israel's citizens expect. Given the challenges, we need national responsibility."
"We are not like the fashionable parties that are created for one term, we are a true party that will allow the government to deal with challenges in the best way possible."
The chairwoman of the Labour party, Shelly Yacimovich, and the chairman of the Kadima party, Shaul Mofaz, were both quick to call on Israel's centrist parties to unite to challenge the new right-wing list.
"Netanyahu could tell that he was going to lose his job, and took a step inspired by political panic due to Labour's strength," Ms Yacimovich said. "This step turns the Likud into Lieberman's party. Tonight, Likud disappeared and instead there's an extreme Lieberman party."
Mr Mofaz described the right-wing union as "a wake-up call".
Correspondents say the decision to join forces with Mr Lieberman will raise questions about whether Mr Netanyahu is still committed to the Middle East peace process.
Mr Lieberman, who was appointed foreign minister after Yisrael Beitenu finished third in the 2009 elections, has in recent months repeatedly criticised Palestinian Authority (PA) President Mahmoud Abbas, whom he has described as an "obstacle to peace".
The Moldovan-born politician favours a two-state solution, but advocates swapping parts of Israel that are predominantly Arab in exchange for Jewish settlement blocs in the occupied West Bank. He also wants a law demanding Israeli-Arabs pledge allegiance to Israel as a Jewish state.
However, one of Mr Netanyahu's advisers told the Jerusalem Post after Thursday's announcement that the prime minister continued to call for a resumption of negotiations with the PA without preconditions.
| Organization Merge | October 2012 | ['(BBC)', '(The Jewish Press)', '(The Times of Israel)'] |
NATO and the civilian council of Misrata request ground troops to protect the city of Misrata from Gaddafi's forces, after NATO admits it is unable to stop the artillery shelling of Misrata. | Turns out air power’s not enough in heavily populated urban areas, a development that was … totally foreseeable, actually. And since no one’s eager to send in ground troops, we appear to be stuck. “We rushed into this without a plan,” a retired Army general told the LA Times. “Now we’re out in the middle, going in circles.”
Says Eli Lake, the Washington Times’s national security reporter, “At this point if NATO was in a fight with the Broadway production of CATS, would you bet on NATO or CATS?”
NATO officials acknowledged that they are having trouble destroying Gadhafi’s mortars and rocket launchers from the air, for fear of inadvertently harming civilians in such strikes.
“There is a limit to what can be achieved by airpower to stop fighting in a city,” said NATO Brig. Gen. Mark van Uhm…
He said his forces have destroyed more than 40 tanks and several armored personnel carriers there.
Adm. Giampaolo Di Paola, chairman of NATO’s military committee, said that even though NATO operations have done “quite significant damage” to the Libyan regime’s heavy weaponry, what Gadhafi has left is “still considerable.”
Rebels trapped in Misrata grumbled yesterday to WaPo that they feel “let down” by NATO’s unwillingness to bomb buildings where Qaddafi’s snipers are holed up. One of them, referring to the UN mandate to protect Libyan civilians, said, “If they cannot do it, they should say they cannot do it.” Today they’re taking a different tack, calling on the coalition to do the one thing no one wants to do:
“We need a force from NATO or the United Nations on the ground now,” said Nouri Abdullah Abdulati, of the city’s 17-member judicial committee, speaking to a handful of reporters…
“We did not accept any foreign soldiers on our land. But that was before we faced the crimes of Gaddafi,” Abdulati said Tuesday. “We are asking on the basis of humanitarian and Islamic principles for someone to come and stop the killing. … The whole Arab world is calling for the intervention of the West for the first time in history.”
Abdulati said the committee would want British or French troops to fight alongside rebel fighters in Misurata, both to protect civilians and to fight off Gaddafi forces.
Believe it or not, the EU’s actually toying with the idea of sending in ground troops but only to escort humanitarian relief convoys, which isn’t quite necessary yet since the port of Misrata remains open for shipments. (Qaddafi’s promising to fight any such force that shows up.) France and the UK are also sending very small squads of military trainers to Benghazi to help the rebels get better organized. It’s escalation by inches, in other words, but escalation all the same to preserve what little remains of European military prestige. A simple question, then, per Lake’s snarky comment up top: At this point, is there any way to really preserve European prestige? The best possible outcome for the EU would be to get cracking on that larger “humanitarian escort” force and send it in to try to intimidate Qaddafi into choosing exile. But that’s a huge gamble: If, as he’s said, he chooses to fight and manages to hold off the European advance for awhile, it’ll be even more crushing to their prestige. He might relish the idea too, given his own ideas of himself as an African king and the European legacy of colonialism on the continent. A gloss:
“By the U.S. taking a back-seat role, it has a psychological effect on the mission,” said Dan Fata, a former Defense Department official who was responsible for overseeing NATO issues during the George W. Bush administration. “If I’m Kadafi, I’m thinking I can probably wait the Europeans out.”
The U.S.’s stake in this mission is comparatively low since no one doubts American military superiority, whatever the outcome in Libya. Not so for the EU. Exit question: What’s their next move? | Armed Conflict | April 2011 | ['(Hotair)'] |
The Turkish government dismisses nearly 1,400 military personnel for alleged links to exiled cleric Fethullah Gülen. | ANKARA/ISTANBUL, Turkey (Reuters) - Turkey dismissed nearly 1,400 more members of its armed forces and stacked the top military council with government ministers on Sunday, moves designed by President Tayyip Erdogan to put him in full control of the military after a failed coup.
Erdogan tightens grip on the military
01:19
The scale of Erdogan’s crackdown - more than 60,000 people in the military, judiciary, civil service and schools have been either detained, suspended or placed under investigation since the July 15-16 coup - has unnerved Turkey’s NATO allies, fuelling tension between Ankara and the West.
Adding to the acrimony, Turkey’s EU Affairs minister hit out at Germany on Sunday after its constitutional court upheld a ban on Erdogan making a televised address to a rally of pro-government Turks in Cologne.
The new wave of army expulsions and the overhaul of the Supreme Military Council (YAS) were announced in the official state gazette just hours after Erdogan said late on Saturday he planned to shut down existing military academies and put the armed forces under the command of the Defence Ministry.
According to the gazette, 1,389 military personnel were dismissed for suspected links to the Islamic preacher Fethullah Gulen, who is accused by Turkey of orchestrating the failed putsch. Gulen, who lives in self-imposed exile in the United States, has denied the charges and condemned the coup.
It comes after an announcement last week that more than 1,700 military personnel had been dishonourably discharged for their role in the putsch, which saw a faction of the military commandeer tanks, helicopters and warplanes in an attempt to topple the government.
About 40 percent of Turkey’s generals and admirals have been dismissed since the coup, in which Erdogan says 237 people excluding the plotters were killed and more than 2,100 wounded.
The government also said its deputy prime ministers and ministers of justice, the interior and foreign affairs would be appointed to YAS. The prime minister and defence minister were previously the only government representatives on the council.
They will replace a number of military commanders who have not been reappointed to the YAS, including the heads of the First, Second, and Third Armies, the Aegean Army and the head of the Gendarmerie security forces, which frequently battle Kurdish militants in the southeast. The changes appear to have given the government commanding control of the council.
Erdogan, who narrowly escaped capture and possible death on the night of the coup, told Reuters in an interview on July 21 that the military, NATO’s second-biggest, needed “fresh blood”.
‘BACKSLIDING’
German media said authorities had decided to bar Erdogan from addressing a rally via videoconference in the city of Cologne on Sunday due to concerns over public order, prompting an angry response from Turkey’s EU Affairs Minister Omer Celik.
“German Constitutional Court’s decision on the anti-coup rally in Cologne is an utter backsliding in freedom of speech and democracy,” he said in English on Twitter.
Related Coverage
Germany is home to Europe’s largest ethnic Turkish diaspora.
The rally in Cologne, in which Turks waved national flags and pictures of Erdogan, was one of several planned on Sunday in European as well as Turkish cities and towns.
Erdogan has upbraided Western leaders for not visiting Turkey since the coup. He said it was “shameful” that some in the West seemed more concerned about the fate of the plotters than in standing with a fellow NATO member.
The aggressive military purges come at a time when the armed forces is stretched by fighting with Kurdish insurgents in southeast Turkey and threats from Islamic State militants on its border with Syria. Four soldiers were killed by the Kurdish militants on Sunday in two separate incidents, officials said.
Turkey’s military is taking part in the U.S.-led coalition against Islamic State in Iraq and Syria. Its Incirlik Air Base is used by coalition forces for missions against Islamic State.
Security was tight in the immediate area around Incirlik on Sunday, Turkish security sources said, before an expected visit by the U.S. chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Joseph Dunford.
While there were rumours on social media that security forces were at the ready on worries about another coup attempt, a U.S. military spokesman at the base said they had not seen an increased Turkish police presence.
“It’s business as usual here,” he said, without giving his name. “We are not seeing anything like that.”
Incirlik has seen some scattered protests in the days since the coup as pro-government supporters have called on the United States to extradite Gulen. Washington says it will only do so if it receives clear evidence of Gulen’s involvement in the coup.
Dunford’s visit comes at a delicate time for Turkey’s relations with the United States, given Erdogan’s constant demands for Gulen’s extradition.
With mass purges of suspected Gulen supporters well underway in all state institutions, the media and some private companies, the Turkish Football Federation said on Sunday all its affiliated boards had resigned for the sake of “security checks”. It said it was cooperating fully with the authorities.
Erdogan told broadcaster A Haber on Saturday that Gulen was a “pawn” being controlled by a greater power.
“There is a mastermind behind him. That mastermind is the one who took him to the United States and who helped him avoid any judicial process,” he said.
Conspiracy theories have flourished in Turkey since the attempted coup, with one pro-government newspaper saying the putsch was financed by the CIA and directed by a retired U.S. army general using a cell phone in Afghanistan.
The United States has denied any involvement and any prior knowledge of the coup attempt.
Erdogan has said that Gulen harnessed his extensive network of schools, charities and businesses, built up in Turkey and abroad over decades, to create a “parallel state” that aimed to take over the country.
The government is now going after Gulen’s network of schools and other institutions abroad. Since the coup, Somalia has shut two schools and a hospital believed to have links to Gulen, and other governments have received similar requests from Ankara, although not all have been willing to comply.
In an unexpected move, Erdogan has said that as a one-off gesture, he would drop all lawsuits filed against people for insulting him. He said the decision was triggered by feelings of “unity” against the coup attempt.
It could also be aimed at silencing his Western critics.
Prosecutors have opened more than 1,800 cases against people for insulting Erdogan since he became president in 2014 after serving as prime minister for 11 years. Those targeted include journalists, cartoonists and even children.
Additional reporting by Gulsen Solaker in Ankara, Humeyra Pamuk, Ayla Jean Yackley and Daren Butler in Istanbul and Seyhmus Cakan in Diyarbakir; Writing by David Dolan; Editing by Gareth Jones and Richard Balmforth
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
All quotes delayed a minimum of 15 minutes. See here for a complete list of exchanges and delays.
Exclusive: Fed’s Neel Kashkari opposes rate hikes at least through 2023 as the central bank becomes more hawkish | Government Policy Changes | July 2016 | ['(Reuters)'] |
International aid group Oxfam sets up an emergency appeal for victims of the 2011 Sindh floods in Pakistan, which have so far killed more than 200 people. | International aid group Oxfam has launched an emergency appeal to help millions of people caught in the middle of huge floods in Pakistan.
More than 200 people have died and about 5 million have been affected by severe flooding in the southern Pakistani province of Sindh.
The situation has worsened after heavy rains in the past 10 days.
Aid workers from Oxfam say families desperately need drinking water and sanitation or more lives will be lost.
The United Nations World Food Program announced earlier this week it will provide emergency rations to more than half a million people.
Sindh province was also hit by last year's record-breaking flood disaster.
But one official says the situation now is even worse than last year.
"So far, 209 people have been killed and 5.3 million affected," Zafar Qadir, head of the country's disaster management authority, told reporters yesterday.
"Around 1.7 million acres of agricultural land has also been affected by the rains and floods."
We acknowledge Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as the First Australians and Traditional Custodians of the lands where we live, learn, and work.
| Floods | September 2011 | ['(ABC News Australia)'] |
Standard Life Investments suspends trading in its UK property fund, in response to increased withdrawal calls since the vote, to protect the interests of all investors in the fund. | Standard Life Investments has suspended trading in its UK property fund blaming "exceptional market circumstances" following the EU referendum result.
The fund manager said the number of investors asking to withdraw their money had increased following the vote.
"The suspension was requested to protect the interests of all investors in the fund," it said in a statement.
The last time Standard Life stopped investors taking their money out of the fund was during the financial crisis.
The £2.9bn fund invests in a mixture of commercial real estate in the UK, including office blocks, shopping centres and warehouses. The move comes after Standard Life Investments, the insurer's fund management arm, wrote down the value of the fund by 5% last week, saying the Brexit vote had "negatively impacted" valuations for UK commercial property.
It said the suspension would end "as soon as practicable" and it would review the decision every 28 days.
Most investment funds always leave a bit of ready cash in the kitty in case the odd investor decides he or she wants their money back. When a lot of people want their money back at the same time, you have to start selling stuff to raise enough cash and that is a major problem if what you own is office blocks. They are not easy to sell at short notice. Other investors, who hadn't really wanted their money back, now think they might not be able to - and so they suddenly do want it back. In the immediate aftermath of the EU referendum vote, a number of big property funds cut the estimated value of their holdings.
Henderson Global Investors and Aberdeen Asset Management reduced the value of their UK property funds by 4% and 5% respectively. Several fund managers have also decided to price their property funds weekly, rather than monthly, to try to safeguard themselves against market volatility.
Data published earlier showed that investors sold off UK and property funds in favour of bonds in the run up to the EU referendum.
Private investors withdrew a net £342m from UK funds in May, compared to a £1.1bn investment in the same month last year, according to figures from fund manager trade body the Investment Association.
Hargreaves Lansdown senior analyst Laith Khalaf said property funds were clearly under pressure due to the Brexit vote.
"We could now see a new wave of investors being unable to liquidate their property funds quickly, which we last witnessed during the financial crisis," he said.
Investors pulling out their money could put "downward pressure" on commercial property prices, Mr Khalaf said. "The risk is this creates a vicious circle, and prompts more investors to dump property, until such time as sentiment stabilises," he added.
Last week, one of Singapore's largest lenders, UOB, suspended its loan programme for London properties.
The bank said the decision was in response to the uncertainty caused by the UK's decision to leave the EU.
| Organization Closed | July 2016 | ['(BBC)'] |
Tiger Woods wins the 2007 PGA Championship played at the Southern Hills Country Club in Tulsa, Oklahoma. | Tiger Woods fought off back-nine charges by Woody Austin and Ernie Els to capture his 13th major title this morning, firing a final round 1-under-par 69 to win the 89th PGA Championship in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
World number one Woods finished 72 holes at Southern Hills Country Club on 8-under-par 272 to defend his title in the year's final major, defeating US veteran Austin by two strokes and three-time major winner Els by three.
John Senden was the best-placed Australian, recovering from a bad start to finish in a share of fourth place at 1-under.
Compatriot Geoff Ogilvy, the 2006 US Open champion, finished even with the card.
Woods moved five majors shy of matching the all-time career record of 18 major triumphs set by Jack Nicklaus. Woods now has won four Masters titles, four PGA Championships, three British Opens each and two US Opens.
Woods, who began the round with a three-stroke lead, improved to 13-for-13 in majors and 40-3 in PGA events when at least sharing the lead after 54 holes.
It was the first major victory for Woods since he became a father in June with the birth of his daughter Sam Alexis, who was at the course for the final round.
"To have her here, it just brings chills to me," Woods said. "I was surprised she was here. It's just so cool."
Woods, who briefly led by five strokes after eight holes, lipped out a five-foot par putt at the par-3 14th, trimming his lead to one stroke over Austin, who had birdied three holes in a row starting at the par-3 11th.
"I kind of made a mess of it there at 14," Woods said. "Woody was playing well and Ernie was making a run."
But Woods answered by sinking a 12-foot birdie putt at the 15th, pointing at the ball as he walked to the cup, just as he did in 1999 after sinking a key putt to hold off Sergio Garcia down the stretch and win his first PGA crown.
"When I got to 15 I said, 'You got yourself into this mess, you get your way out of it,'" Woods said.
That lifted Woods to 8-under par, two ahead of Austin, and the two traded pars to the finish, with Woods taking home the $US1.26 million top prize at the $US7 million event.
Austin fired a 67 for his first top-10 finish in a major and Els had a 66 to take third. Canada's Stephen Ames, who began the day in second place three strokes back, soared to a 76 to finish 10 strokes behind Woods.
Woods, who settled for sharing second at the Masters and US Open and 12th at the British Open, lifted the Wanamaker Trophy for his 59th PGA victory in 213 pro PGA starts, fifth-best on the all-time list.
Woods ranks just three shy of Arnold Palmer's fourth-place total and five off Ben Hogan in third. Sam Snead holds the career win mark at 82, nine ahead of Nicklaus.
-AFP
We acknowledge Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as the First Australians and Traditional Custodians of the lands where we live, learn, and work.
This service may include material from Agence France-Presse (AFP), APTN, Reuters, AAP, CNN and the BBC World Service which is copyright and cannot be reproduced.
AEST = Australian Eastern Standard Time which is 10 hours ahead of GMT (Greenwich Mean Time) | Sports Competition | August 2007 | ['(AFP via ABC News Australia)'] |
Indonesian crews locate the bodies of all 54 people aboard the wreckage of Trigana Air Service Flight 257 in a remote area of Papua. , | JAKARTA, Indonesia — Indonesian rescue teams on Tuesday reached the crash site of a commercial aircraft that went down over the weekend in the remote eastern part of the country, killing all 54 aboard, officials said.
All 54 bodies were found, said Tatang Kurniadi, chairman of the National Transportation Safety Committee.
Henry Bambang Soelistyo, head of the Indonesian National Search and Rescue Agency, told reporters at a command center at Sentani Airport in Jayapura, “The teams have succeeded in getting to the location by foot.” Jayapura is the capital of Papua Province.
“Right now, they are preparing equipment for the evacuation process and also building a helipad,” Mr. Soelistyo added.
An Indonesian spotter plane had located and photographed debris from the flight on Monday, but the search for the Trigana Air Service plane, which vanished Sunday in stormy weather, was then halted because of darkness.
The photographs, which the agency made public Monday at a news conference, showed debris in a heavily forested area of Papua’s Bintang Mountains.
transcript
SHOWS:
JAKARTA, INDONESIA (AUGUST 17, 2015) (REUTERS - ACCESS ALL)
1. NATIONAL SEARCH AND RESCUE AGENCY BUILDING
2. SIGNBOARD READING (Bahasa Indonesia): “NATIONAL SEARCH AND RESCUE AGENCY”
3. NATIONAL DAY COMMEMORATION CEREMONY AT NATIONAL SEARCH AND RESCUE AGENCY
4. CEREMONY IN PROGRESS
5. FLAGMEN RAISING FLAG
6. INDONESIAN FLAG
7. (FROM LEFT) HERONIMUS GURU, DEPUTY OPERATIONAL OFFICER OF NATIONAL SEARCH AND RESCUE AGENCY, AND IVAN AHMAD RISKI TITUS, DIRECTOR OF FACILITIES AND INFRASTRUCTURE TALKING TO REPORTERS
8. (SOUNDBITE) (Bahasa Indonesia) DEPUTY OPERATIONAL OFFICER OF NATIONAL SEARCH AND RESCUE AGENCY, HERONIMUS GURU SAYING:
“So, the approximate location is 7 nautical miles southwest from the Oksibil Airport.”
9. GURU TALKING
10. (SOUNDBITE) (Bahasa Indonesia) DEPUTY OPERATIONAL OFFICER OF NATIONAL SEARCH AND RESCUE AGENCY, HERONIMUS GURU SAYING:
“No discovery yet, we have only received a signal from that location. Thus, we will be focusing our search in that location.”
11. NAMETAG OF DEPUTY OPERATIONAL OF NATIONAL SEARCH AND RESCUE AGENCY, “HERONIMUS GURU”
12. (SOUNDBITE) (Bahasa Indonesia) DEPUTY OPERATIONAL OFFICER OF NATIONAL SEARCH AND RESCUE AGENCY, HERONIMUS GURU SAYING:
“It depends on the weather I guess, on how long we will conduct the search. But the important thing is we have the approximate location, therefore we will be focusing on our search in that area.”
13. NATIONAL SEARCH AND RESCUE AGENCY EMPLOYEES WALKING
JAYAPURA, PAPUA PROVINCE, INDONESIA (AUGUST 16, 2015) (ORIGINALLY 4:3) (METRO TV - NO ACCESS INDONESIA)
14. SIGNBOARD READING (Bahasa Indonesia): “SEARCH AND RESCUE AGENCY AT JAYAPURA”
15. OFFICIALS OF SEARCH AND RESCUE AGENCY LOOKING AT SCREEN
16. VARIOUS OF MAP SHOWING THE LOCATION OF SIGNAL FOUND/COORDINATES
17. MAP SHOWING LOCATION OF JAYAPURA
18. MAP SHOWING LOCATION OF OKSIBIL
19. MAP
20. VARIOUS OF SEARCH AND RESCUE AGENCY OFFICIALS
21. VARIOUS OF SIGNBOARD READING (Bahasa Indonesia): “JAYAPURA SENTANI AIRPORT”
JAYAPURA, PAPUA PROVINCE, INDONESIA (AUGUST 16, 2015) (ANTARA FOTO SUPPLIED TO REUTERS-EDITORIAL USE ONLY, SEE DETAILS ABOVE)
22. (MUTE) FAMILY WAITING FOR UPDATE AT SENTANI AIRPORT
23. (MUTE) MAN STANDING IN FRONT OF TRIGANA AIR COUNTER
Heronimus Guru, the agency’s deputy director of operations, described the crash site as extremely hard to reach. “Even local people have never been to this location,” he said.
According to the search agency, two civilian rescue teams, supported by the Indonesian military, battled through mountainous jungle and camped in the jungle on Monday night.
The short-haul airliner left Jayapura on Sunday afternoon for Oksibil, about 170 miles to the south. The plane lost contact with air traffic controllers about 30 minutes after takeoff, said Toha, a spokesman at the command center of the National Search and Rescue Agency in Jakarta, the Indonesian capital.
The plane was carrying 49 passengers, including two children and three babies, along with five crew members from Trigana, said Mr. Toha, who, like many Indonesians, goes by one name.
Four postal workers aboard the plane were escorting four bags containing $468,750 in government cash that was to be distributed to poor families to offset a rise in fuel prices, The Associated Press reported. The money was from the Indonesian Social Affairs Ministry, Franciscus Haryono, the head of the post office in Jayapura, told The A.P.
Indonesia has had many commercial and military aircraft disasters in recent years, including two deadly crashes in the past eight months, raising questions about the safety of the industry.
On Dec. 28, an AirAsia flight from Surabaya, the capital of East Java Province, crashed en route to Singapore, killing all 162 people aboard. On June 30, an Indonesian military C-130 transport plane crashed shortly after takeoff in the northern city of Medan, on Sumatra Island, killing all 122 people aboard and at least 21 people on the ground.
No-frills, regional commercial airlines like Trigana are among the only ways that residents of the region, which encompasses Papua and West Papua Provinces, can travel by air. Trigana has had three fatal episodes since it began operations in 1991, according to the Aviation Safety Network, an online database. | Air crash | August 2015 | ['(The New York Times)', '(CNN via Twitter)'] |
Sri Lankan Civil War: Heavy fighting continues as part of the Northern offensive between the country's Army and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam around the city of Kilinochchi. | Dozens of Sri Lankan soldiers and Tamil Tiger rebels have been killed in the latest heavy fighting in the north of the country, the two sides say.
The rebels say they beat back an army attack against the town of Kilinochchi, killing at least 100 troops.
The army, on the other hand, says that it only lost 10 soldiers, and that more than 50 rebels died.
There have been no independent reports from the frontlines, and it is impossible to verify either account.
There has been fierce fighting in recent months as the army closes in on Kilinochchi.
It has claimed a number of times that it was about to capture the town.
Target
The rebels insist they can defend the town and the head of the Tamil Tigers' political wing, Balasingham Nadesan, told the BBC by e-mail that even if it falls, they will fight on.
"Freedom... never depends on one city. We can create more communities, more cities and [in] our freedom struggle, we are supported by people."
The BBC's Roland Buerk in Colombo says Kilinochchi is a hugely symbolic target of the government's offensive to crush the rebels.
In the town, the Tigers - or Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) - have assembled the trappings of the independent state they want for the ethnic Tamil minority, including political offices, courts and a police force.
A military spokesman said the people of Sri Lanka wanted the LTTE to be eliminated.
"The military also wanted the same thing and they are doing their level best to capture the rest of the areas" under Tamil Tiger control, said Brigadier Udaya Nanayakkara.
Sri Lanka's government says it is on track to win the war but heavy battles are likely to still lie ahead and there is concern about the fate of the large number of civilians in the Tiger-controlled north, our correspondent says.
The rebels deny using them as human shields and reject allegations they are forcing people into their ranks to fight. | Armed Conflict | December 2008 | ['(BBC)'] |
Danish Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen will become NATO's Secretary General on August 1. | STRASBOURG, France, April 4 (Reuters) - NATO leaders agreed unanimously on Saturday to appoint Danish Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen as the next head of the alliance after Turkey dropped its objections.
NATO Secretary-General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer told a joint news conference with Rasmussen: "You know that there has been discussion over the past 36 hours, but the fact that we are standing here next to each other means a solution has been found also for the concerns expressed by Turkey, and we all very much agree and are unanimous."
Rasmussen, whose nomination was controversial because of his handling of a 2006 crisis over cartoons of the Prophet Mohammad in a Danish newspaper, will succeed the Dutch diplomat on Aug. 1. (reporting by Tim Hepher, editing by Timothy Heritage)
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
All quotes delayed a minimum of 15 minutes. See here for a complete list of exchanges and delays. | Government Job change - Appoint_Inauguration | April 2009 | ['(Reuters)'] |
Preliminary results see the ruling People’s National Movement winning a plurality of 22 seats in Trinidad and Tobago's latest election. The United National Congress is assumed to come in second with 19 seats. | PORT OF SPAIN (Reuters) - Trinidad and Tobago Prime Minister Keith Rowley claimed victory for his ruling party in a general election on Monday, appearing to secure a second term despite concern over the coronavirus, migration and recession in the energy-rich Caribbean country.
Preliminary results showed the ruling People’s National Movement (PNM) won 22 of the 41 electoral seats, while the opposition United National Congress (UNC) led by former prime minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar won 19 seats.
Official results are expected on Tuesday.
“In a most difficult situation, we have once again been called to the service of the people of Trinidad and Tobago,” Rowley told reporters late on Monday.
The election campaign in the twin island nation of 1.3 million people was overshadowed by the novel coronavirus pandemic, with traditional, colorful political rallies replaced by streamed rallies and noisy motorcades.
Trinidad and Tobago, which has been officially closed to travel since March, has registered a relatively low total of 280 cases of the virus and 8 deaths - a fact the ruling PNM heralded as testament to its successful handling of the outbreak.
Yet, like in many countries worldwide, the number of cases has jumped again since it started easing initial lockdown measures. It currently has 134 active cases.
Moreover, the opposition UNC has criticized Rowley’s government for requiring nationals who did not return to the country before the border closure to obtain exemptions to travel home.
The party also accused the government of not protecting borders and allowing thousands of Venezuelans, fleeing their country’s economic collapse, to enter illegally.
Trinidad and Tobago’s own economy has not fared well of late, contracting seven out of the last 10 years largely due to lower energy prices.
The ruling party has said it will continue to seek to diversify the economy by boosting exports of energy services, digitalising services to improve ease of business and providing support to the private sector.
| Government Job change - Election | August 2020 | ['(Reuters)'] |
Iraq War: At least 100 people are killed in two separate attacks on busy streets in Baghdad and Baquba. | Eighty-eight people died and 160 were injured in a double car bombing at a second-hand clothes market in Baghdad. A further 12 died in a bomb and mortar attack in the nearby city of Baquba, while Iraqi police found 29 bodies in and around the capital. The attacks came as the first of over 21,000 extra US troops arrived in Baghdad on a mission to boost security.
The 3,200 troops are the advance guard of an increase ordered by President George W Bush earlier this month. Choked with traffic
The first big attack on Monday came in the Haraj market, which sells second-hand clothing and DVDs, shortly after midday (0900 GMT). Columns of thick smoke immediately covered the area.
One unconfirmed account of the attacks said that a bomb in a parked car was followed seconds later by a suicide bomber ploughing his car into the terrified crowd.
In pictures: Baghdad bombing
At least 12 vehicles were set ablaze, said a photographer for the AFP news agency at the scene.
He said there were so many victims that the wounded were piled up alongside the dead on wooden market carts.
Bodies could be seen covered in blue sheeting outside a Baghdad mortuary, while doctors at al-Kindi Hospital worked frantically to save the lives of the badly injured.
Relatives of the dead could be seen crying and weeping nearby.
The BBC's Mike Wooldridge in Baghdad says the market is popular with the many Baghdad residents on low incomes.
It is also a busy transport junction, and was choked with traffic at the time, he added.
At about 1700 (1400 GMT) there was a second attack, this time on a market near the town of Baquba, north-east of Baghdad.
Police said a bomb went off, followed by a mortar attack, leaving at least 12 civilians dead and 26 injured.
Lieutenant Ahmed Mohammed told AFP the bomb was hidden in a vegetable cart and exploded as people shopped late in the day at Khalis market.
Five minutes later further carnage was wrought in the shape of an incoming missile.
Elsewhere, a teacher was killed in west Baghdad and at least one woman died in a mortar attack in the south of the city. Late in the day, police confirmed that they had found 29 unidentified bodies with gunshot wounds. New tactics
The attacks are seen as highlighting the challenges faced by US forces as they prepare to try to rein in the Sunni and Shia fighters who have been carrying out deadly tit-for-tat attacks.
Previous attempts to stop the killings in the capital have failed, in part, analysts say, because coalition and Iraqi troops have not stayed in an area once insurgents have been cleared. Under the new plans, once an area is taken, the extra US troops will stay behind, backing up Iraqi forces to hold the area. Doubts, however, remain as to whether there will be enough extra troops to stabilise a city of more than six million people, while among Baghdad residents there are fears the presence of the troops will simply inspire more violence.
US troops have suffered significant losses in recent days. On Saturday, 25 soldiers were killed - one of the worst days for the US army since the invasion. 56,514 people are reading stories on the site right now. | Armed Conflict | January 2007 | ['(BBC)', '(CNN)'] |
Tornados hit the midwestern and southern United States two days after the 2012 Leap Day tornado outbreak. | A series of powerful storms and tornadoes have killed at least 28 people in the US states of Indiana, Kentucky and Ohio, officials say.
Local police confirmed that at least 13 people died as tornadoes swept across three counties in Indiana.
Twelve more died in Kentucky, with two fatalities in Ohio. Earlier, tornadoes hit Alabama, killing one person.
"We are no match for Mother Nature at her worst," said Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels.
There are fears the death toll may rise as the scale of the devastation and the breadth of the storms made immediate assessments of the destruction difficult.
The storms - stretched across a vast part of the US Midwest - came days after another system killed 13 people.
The first deaths on Friday were reported in Indiana, where the small town of Henryville was badly damaged.
Reports of extreme damage includeda roof torn off a high school.
An official from Clark County sheriff's department described the nearby town of Marysville, Indiana - located close to Henryville - as "completely gone".
Jenn Helvering, 24, told the BBC she saw a storm cell cross the highway as she drove towards Henryville. She then came across wreckage, including an overturned tractor-trailer, alongside the road near the town.
Ms Helvering, who posteda series of imagesonline said she saw "what seemed to be a funnel", when driving between two storm cells.
"The weather was terrible. I suddenly saw a tornado coming towards me, I could see it swirling, then I saw one behind me. I was stuck in between two tornadoes - my dad directed me while I was driving between the two tornadoes. It was truly terrifying."
In Salem, Indiana, a toddler was found injured in a field after tornadoes passed through, reports said before being taken to a children's hospital, where she was later identified.
A family of four were found dead in Washington County, Indiana, Sheriff Claude Combs told the Louisville Courier-Journal.
Meanwhile, in Henryville, authorities found a man dead inside his vehicle. It was the first confirmed death in Clark County.
"We've got total devastation in the north-central part of the county [and] widespread damage from the west to the east," Clark County Sheriff Clark Adam told CNN.
Neighbouring Marysville was totally destroyed.
"Marysville is completely gone,'' said Chuck Adams of Clark County Sheriff's Department.
As Friday's storms grew in intensity, the National Weather Serviceissued severe tornado warningsfor a host of states.
By 19:30 EST (00:30 GMT on Saturday) tornado warnings were in effect across swathes of Alabama, Kentucky, Tennessee and Indiana, with parts of West Virginia and Florida also under advisory.
In a strongly worded warning, the NWS said residents in the path of the Indiana storm were facing an "extremely dangerous and life threatening situation".
"If you are in the path of this tornado... take cover immediately!" the NWS said.
Additional tornadoes were reported near Mumfordville, Kentucky and Memphis, Indiana, as well in southern Ohio.
Local TV broadcaster WHAS in Kentucky showed a storm-tracking team driving through Mumfordville, speeding away from a potential tornado as golf-ball sized hailstones fell from the sky.
As the evening progressed more details of the scale of destruction began to emerge, with officials in Kentucky and Ohio confirmed fatalities there.
Earlier this week, 13 people died after twisters swept through Missouri, Kansas, Illinois and Tennessee.
On Friday morning five people were taken to hospital and 11 houses were flattened in the town of Athens, Alabama by an apparent tornado in the Huntsville area.
More than 20 school networks in Alabama closed early on Friday because of the weather warning.
Local media reported that about 9,000 people lost power in the area around Huntsville.
A possible twister also hit a maximum security jail near Huntsville, although officials said inmates remained secure.
The severe weather warning was to remain in place until about midnight on Friday.
The town of Harrisburg, Illinois, was particularly badly damaged on Wednesday by the storm system.
Six residents died there, while three deaths were reported in Missouri, three in Tennessee and another in Kansas. | Hurricanes_Tornado_Storm_Blizzard | March 2012 | ['(BBC)', '(MSNBC)', '[permanent dead link]', '(USA Today)'] |
North Korea rejects South Korea's offer to send special envoys to defuse the current tensions on the peninsula, after having destroyed the Inter-Korean Liaison Office, and says the Korean People's Army will re-enter the demilitarized Kaesong and Mount Kumgang areas. | North Korea said on Wednesday it had rejected a South Korean offer to send special envoys to ease escalating tension over defiance by North Korean defectors and stalled reconciliation efforts, and it vowed to redeploy troops to border areas.
The North Korean announcements came a day after it blew up a joint liaison office set up on its side of the border as part of a 2018 peace agreement between the two countries’ leaders.
Any moves to invalidate cross-border peace deals pose a major setback to South Korea’s President Moon Jae-in’s efforts to foster more lasting reconciliation with the North.
They could also complicate efforts by U.S. President Donald Trump, already grappling with the coronavirus pandemic and anti-racism protests, to persuade North Korea to abandon its nuclear and missile programmes.
“The solution to the present crisis between the North and the South caused by the incompetence and irresponsibility of the South Korean authorities is impossible and it can be terminated only when proper price is paid,” the North’s KCNA state news agency said.
The North’s Rodong Sinmun, the newspaper of the Workers’ Party, published photographs showing the liaison office before and after its demolition, alongside a series of KCNA articles and commentaries criticising South Korea.
“Ominous prelude to total catastrophe of North-South relations,” one of the articles was headlined, referring to the destruction of the office.
Related Coverage
Tension had been rising this month with North Korea threatening to cut ties with South Korea and retaliate over North Korean defectors in the South sending propaganda leaflets - by balloon or by sea - into North Korea.
South Korea, which had been keen to improve ties with the North, called on the defectors to stop but they said they intended to push ahead with their campaign.
The worsening situation led South Korean Unification Minister Kim Yeon-chul, who oversees relations with the North, to offer his resignation, apologising in remarks to reporters for failing to deliver on expectations for peace and prosperity on the peninsula.
On Monday, Moon offered to send his national security adviser Chung Eui-yong and spy chief Suh Hoon as special envoys, KCNA said. But Kim Yo Jong, the sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and a senior ruling party official, “flatly rejected the tactless and sinister proposal”.
‘UNREASONABLE BEHAVIOUR’
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un’s sister, Kim Yo Jong, harshly criticised Moon in another KCNA statement, saying he had failed to implement any of the 2018 pacts and “put his neck into the noose of pro-U.S. flunkeyism”.
South Korea’s presidential Blue House said the criticism of Moon was rude and senseless, and damaged the trust the leaders of the two Koreas had built.
“We will no longer accept such unreasonable behaviour,” Blue House press secretary Yoon Do-han told a briefing.
Moon offered to play a mediator role between Trump and Kim Jong Un as they pulled back from trading threats and insults in 2017, leading to a series of meetings in 2018 and 2019 that were high on symbolism but which failed to achieve a breakthrough on denuclearisation.
In Monday’s speech, which marked the 20th anniversary of the first inter-Korean summit, Moon expressed regret that North Korea-U.S. and inter-Korean relations had not made progress as hoped but asked North Korea to maintain peace deals and return to dialogue.
“In the eyes of the Kims, Moon’s administration gave too much of false hope that it would defy U.S. pressure to move their relations forward,” said Chun Yung-woo, a former South Korean nuclear envoy.
“But after two years, what they have left is a failed summit with Trump and no progress whatsoever on inter-Korean economic cooperation.”
In a separate KCNA dispatch on Wednesday, a spokesman for the General Staff of the (North) Korean People’s Army said it would dispatch troops to Mount Kumgang and Kaesong near the border, where the two Koreas had carried out joint economic projects in the past.
The spokesman also said police posts that had been withdrawn from the heavily fortified Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) would be reinstalled, while artillery units near the western sea border, where defectors frequently send propaganda leaflets drifting in balloons over North Korea, will be reinforced.
The North will also resume sending anti-Seoul leaflets across the border, he added.
South Korea’s defence ministry has urged North Korea to abide by a 2018 inter-Korean military pact, under which both sides vowed to cease “all hostile acts” and dismantled some structures along the DMZ.
Jang Kum Chol, director of North Korea’s United Front Department in charge of cross-border affairs, said the North would never have talks or exchanges with South Korean authorities “who evoke only disgust and nasty feelings”.
| Diplomatic Talks _ Diplomatic_Negotiation_ Summit Meeting | June 2020 | ['(Yonhap)', '(Reuters)'] |
Germany's vice–chancellor, Sigmar Gabriel, accuses Saudi Arabia of financing Islamic extremism in the West and warns that it must stop. He tells German media, “We have to make clear to the Saudis that the time of looking away is over, Wahhabi mosques all over the world are financed by Saudi Arabia. Many Islamists who are a threat to public safety come from these communities in Germany". His comments come days after Germany's Federal Intelligence Service released a report saying Saudi Arabia was "destabilizing" the Arab world. | In a highly unusual moment of a Western politician attacking a critical Arab ally, Sigmar Gabriel says the time has come to make it clear to Riyadh the time of looking away is over
The German vice-chancellor has publicly accused Saudi Arabia of financing Islamic extremism in the West and warned that it must stop. Sigmar Gabriel said that the Saudi regime is funding extremist mosques and communities that pose a danger to public security. “We have to make clear to the Saudis that the time of looking away is over,” Mr Gabriel told Bild am Sonntag newspaper in an interview. “Wahhabi mosques all over the world are financed by Saudi Arabia. Many Islamists who are a threat to public safety come from these communities in Germany.” The allegation that Saudi Arabia has funded mosques with links to Islamist terrorism in the West is not new. But it is highly unusual for a Western leader to speak out so directly against the West’s key Arab ally. Mr Gabriel is Angela Merkel’s deputy and the leader of the German chancellor's main coalition partner. His intervention comes just days after German intelligence issued a rare public warning that Saudi Arabia is at risk of becoming a major destabilising force in the Arab world. Mrs Merkel’s government quickly distanced itself from the BND intelligence service’s assessment, saying it did not reflect official policy. But Mr Gabriel’s remarks make it clear there are serious misgivings about the Saudi regime within the government. Wahhabism, a fundamentalist sect of Sunni Islam that inspired both Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (Isil) and al-Qaeda is also the official form of the religion in Saudi Arabia.
The Saudis have long funded the building of Wahhabi mosques around the world to spread the sect. King Salman has already been widely criticised in the German media for offering to build 200 mosques for Syrian refugees arriving in Germany, even as Saudi Arabia refuses to take in any refugees itself. Mr Gabriel’s linking of Saudi-funded mosques to Islamic extremism will heighten concerns over the offer. It is not the first time he has clashed with the Saudi royal family. On a trip to Riyadh earlier this year he spoke out in support of Raif Badawi, a Saudi blogger sentenced to 1,000 lashes for insulting Islam. He also intervened to block a deal to build a German arms factory in Saudi Arabia which had been approved by a previous German government. “Of course we need Saudi Arabia to solve the conflicts in the region,” Mr Gabriel told Bild am Sonntag. “We cannot and must not ignore the country. “And it does not help to put it in the pillory every day, because that won’t increase its readiness for serious negotiations over Syria.” The German parliament on Friday voted to deploy up to 1,200 military personnel to support international air strikes against Isil. German forces will not directly take part in combat missions, but will provide reconnaissance flights and force protection. Saudi Arabia is to host a conference of Syrian rebel factions opposed to both Isil and the regime of Bashar al-Assad, the Syrian president, next week. Isil has claimed responsibility for a number of terror attacks in Saudi Arabia. But there have also been persistent allegations the Saudis supplied arms and funding to Isil and other jihadist groups in the Syrian civil war. | Famous Person - Give a speech | December 2015 | ['(The Telegraph)'] |
Rival Palestinian factions Hamas and Fatah sign a unity deal, calling for the foundation of a single government in the Gaza Strip and Palestinian Authority-controlled areas of the West Bank, presidential and legislative elections in a year, and the release of prisoners. , | say they have reached an initial agreement on ending a four-year-old rift that has left them divided between rival governments in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.
The officials say the plan calls for the formation of a single caretaker government in the coming days, and preparations to hold presidential and legislative elections a year from now.
"The two sides signed initial letters on an agreement. All points of differences have been overcome," Taher Al-Nono, the Hamas government spokesman in Gaza, told Reuters. He added that Cairo would shortly invite both sides to a signing ceremony.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu issued a recorded video message in response to the announcement on Wednesday saying that the "Palestinian Authority needs to choose between peace with the people of Israel and peace with Hamas. You cannot have peace with both, because Hamas aspires to destroy the State of Israel, and it says so openly."
According to Netanyahu, "Hamas fires rockets at our cities and anti-tank missiles at our children. I think the mere idea of reconciliation demonstrates the Palestinian Authority's weakness, and brings up the question of whether Hamas will take over Judea and Samaria as it did Gaza."
Netanyahu added: "I hope the PA makes the right choice – to choose peace with Israel. The choice is hers."
State officials told Ynet that the new agreement sends a message that in the absence of a peace process and amid Mideast unrest, the PA can also walk the road of radicalization.
"The details of the agreement must be examined. The PA is sending a message which can be problematic for Israel and is aimed at stressing that without a peace process, the Palestinians have other options that are not necessarily in Israel's interest," one state official said.
A US official said in response that any Palestinian government must renounce violence, respect past peace deals and recognize Israel's right to exist if it is to play a constructive role.
The accord was first reported by Egypt's intelligence service, which brokered the talks. "The consultations resulted in full understandings over all points of discussions, including setting up an interim agreement with specific tasks and to set a date for election," Egyptian intelligence said in a statement.
In a statement carried by the Egyptian state news agency MENA, the intelligence service said the deal was hatched by a Hamas delegation led by Moussa Abu Marzouk, deputy head of the group's politburo, and Fatah Central Committee member Azzam al-Ahmad.
Al-Ahmad and Abu Marzouk said the agreement covered all points of contention, including forming a transitional government, security arrangements and the restructuring of the Palestine Liberation Organization to allow Hamas to join it.
A senior Egyptian intelligence official told Reuters that he expected Abbas and Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal, who is based in Damascus, to attend the signing of the agreement in Cairo.
Despite the agreement, key questions remain about who will control the rival security forces.
Disagreements over security control erupted into the June 2007 civil war that ended with Hamas seizing control of Gaza.
Earlier on Wednesday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said
that the Palestinian plan to declare an independent state hurts their commitment to peace talks with Israel and an accord. "The accord can only be achieved through negotiations," he told US senators. | Sign Agreement | April 2011 | ['(Ynetnews)', '(Palestine News Network)'] |
Taliban militants execute a 7-year-old boy for "spying for the government" in Helmand province in southern Afghanistan, in an increasing wave of killings. | KABUL, Afghanistan The Taliban have been stepping up a campaign of assassinations in recent months against officials and anyone else associated with local government in an attempt to undermine counterinsurgency operations in the south.
Government assassinations are nothing new as a Taliban tactic, but now the Taliban are taking aim at officials who are much more low-level, who often do not have the sort of bodyguards or other protection that top leaders do. Some of the victims have only the slimmest connections to the authorities. The most egregious example came Wednesday in Helmand Province, where according to Afghan officials the insurgents executed a 7-year-old boy as an informant.
As the coalition concentrates on trying to build up the Afghan government in the southern province of Kandahar, a big part of that strategy depends on recruiting capable Afghan government officials who can speed delivery of aid and services to undercut support for the Taliban. The insurgents have just as busily been trying to undermine that approach, by killing local officials and intimidating others into leaving their posts.
“They read the papers; they know what we are doing,” said a NATO official here, who spoke on condition of anonymity in line with his government’s policy. “It’s very much game on between the coalition and the Taliban.”
The assassinations have been effective in slowing recruitment of government officials, he said. “Am I going to live through the workweek? No one should have to ask that question.”
Just since March, according to reports compiled by The New York Times from the police, military sources, witnesses and local government officials, there have been at least 11 assassinations in Kandahar, mostly of low-level officials. These reports, which are not complete, do not include police officers or other officials killed in more indiscriminate attacks, like suicide bombings.
Among the victims have been Mohammed Hassan Wolsi, head of the agriculture and livestock cooperative in the province, shot April 2 by a man with a pistol while buying a loaf of bread at an outdoor stall; an 18-year-old Afghan woman named Hosay, shot to death in an auto-rickshaw as she rode home from her job at Development Alternatives, Inc., an implementing partner of USAID, in Kandahar; Hajji Abdul Hay, the brother of a prominent member of Parliament, shot in the bazaar in the city; a bodyguard named Hajji Mohammed who worked for the provincial council chairman, Ahmed Wali Karzai; and a district intelligence agent, identified only as Zia, killed on a visit to the city.
The youngest victim was the 7-year-old boy, identified only as the grandson of a farmer named Qodos Khan Alokozy, from the village of Herati in the Sangin District of Helmand Province. According to Daoud Ahmadi, a spokesman for the governor’s office in Helmand, Taliban insurgents went to his village and dragged the boy from his home at 10:30 in the morning, accusing him of acting as a government informant by telling the authorities of their movements. They killed him by hanging him from a tree in the middle of the village, Mr. Ahmadi said. A spokesman for the Taliban, reached by telephone, denied that the episode took place.
Some of the victims have been more prominent, including the deputy mayor of Kandahar, Hajji Azizullah Yarmal, shot to death while he prayed in a mosque on April 19, and Abdul Majeed Babai, head of the information and culture department of Kandahar, killed in a motorcycle drive-by shooting in February.
Assassins narrowly missed in attempts to kill both Kandahar’s mayor, Ghulam Hayder Hamidi, and the Kandahar Province governor, Tooryalai Wesa, last year. Mayor Hamidi, in a recent interview during a ceremony to mark the reconstruction of a local mosque, shrugged off the risks. “When it’s time to die, no one can save me,” he said, pointing out that he travels with a modest security detail.
An exile who lived in the United States until he returned here three years ago, Mr. Hamidi said his daughter, who had come back to Afghanistan first, talked him into doing so as well. “She said you have to come here, that we cannot change the time of death and one day you will have to die and I will cry. It could just as well be from a car accident in the United States.”
The mayor acknowledged, though, that the assassination campaign had made it harder to hire government workers a task already complicated by the low salaries offered by the Afghan government, compared with what international organizations and even the military pay qualified workers. American officials said they planned to address that by helping provide secure housing and security assistance, which low-level Afghan employees cannot afford.
The NATO official said the authorities had compiled statistics on an increase in assassination-style killings in Kandahar, but a request for that information was turned down by the American Embassy on the grounds that it was classified.
A spokesman for the International Security Assistance Force, the NATO force in Afghanistan, cautioned, however, that it was not clear whether all of the recent spate of killings could be attributed to the Taliban. “Due to lack of accurate information, it is difficult to determine if a killing is an assassination, an act of revenge or criminal activity,” Maj. Steven Cole said.
Often just the threat of assassination has been enough to drive people from their jobs. A Kandahar communications expert who worked for the International Committee of the Red Cross said he left his job after receiving a series of death threats. He asked not to be named because he feared for his life.
The expert planned to take a new job with the American-financed Afghanistan Stabilization Initiative, as the director of a program in one of the rural districts around Kandahar. Then, on April 15 two car bombings hit the program and other American-supported aid organizations, killing three Afghans and wounding dozens of Afghans and foreigners.
“My family pushed me to give it up,” he said. “I know so many people who are afraid to take jobs with the government or the aid community now. It’s a very effective and very efficient campaign; the armed opposition are using this tool because it works.” | Armed Conflict | June 2010 | ['(CNN)', '(The New York Times)'] |
The Prime Minister of Spain José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero visits the Canary Islands to inspect the damage caused by five days of fires on the islands of Gran Canaria and Tenerife. | More than 12,000 people have fled their homes on the islands of Gran Canaria and Tenerife, where fires have burnt 35,000 hectares (86,000 acres) of land.
The fires are now under control, but the situation remains dangerous as more high temperatures are expected.
Wildfires have also hit Greece amid a summer heatwave across southern Europe.
Record temperatures in southern Europe have been blamed for recent forest fires in Bulgaria, Macedonia, Serbia and Italy.
In Greece, the government has declared a state of emergency in another popular tourist destination, the island chain known as the Cyclades, because of severe water shortages. Arrest
Hundreds of firefighters, backed up by helicopters and water planes, have been fighting the fires in the Canaries which are mainly burning inland.
Paulino Rivero, head of the regional government, said: "These are the biggest fires on the archipelago in the last 10 years," he said.
"The rugged landscape of these islands makes firefighting very complicated, except from the air.
"But while there is a lot of wind and very high temperatures, helicopters generally cannot operate."
Mr Zapatero postponed a planned trip to Barcelona to visit the Canary Islands, one of Spain's top tourist destinations,
Environment Minister Cristina Narbona called a state of "maximum alert" and ordered more water-bombing planes to help douse the fires.
On Saturday, police arrested a forest ranger on Gran Canaria who admitted to starting one of the fires.
The 37-year-old man told police his job contract was about to expire and he wanted to keep working, according to the AP news agency. | Fire | August 2007 | ['(BBC)'] |
Colonel Gaddafi gives a major speech claiming that he will remain head of the revolution. | Libyan leader Col Muammar Gaddafi has refused to stand down amid widespread anti-government protests which he said had tarnished the image of the country.
In his first major speech since unrest began last week, Col Gaddafi said the whole world looked up to Libya and that protests were "serving the devil".
He urged his supporters to go out and attack the "cockroaches" demonstrating against his rule. Rights groups say nearly 300 have been killed in the violence so far.
A defiant and angry Col Gaddafi said that he had brought glory to Libya. As he had no official position from which to resign, he would remain the head of the revolution, he said.
He blamed the unrest on "cowards and traitors" who were seeking to portray Libya as a place of chaos and to "humiliate" Libyans. At other points he referred to the protesters as rats and mercenaries.
During the speech there were reports of gunfire on the streets of the capital, Tripoli. In Benghazi, the second largest city, people watching the address reportedly threw shoes at screens as a sign of their anger.
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton later described the violence as "completely unacceptable".
After an emergency session on Tuesday, the UN Security Council condemned the crackdown on protesters and called for an "immediate end" to the violence.
State TV had said Col Gaddafi was going to announce "major reforms" in his speech, but the only such reference was to some devolution of power to local authorities.
In his angry and rambling speech, Col Gaddafi said the protesters represented less than 1% of Libya's population.
They had been given drink and drugs, he said, urging people to arrest them and hand them over to the security forces.
He called on "those who love Muammar Gaddafi" to come out on to the streets, telling them not to be afraid of the "gangs". "Come out of your homes, attack them in their dens. Withdraw your children from the streets. They are drugging your children, they are making your children drunk and sending them to hell," he said.
He would "cleanse Libya house by house", he said.
"If matters require, we will use force, according to international law and the Libyan constitution," he said, and warned that the country could descend into civil war or be occupied by the US if protests continued.
Anyone who played games with the country's unity would be executed, he said, citing the Chinese authorities' crushing of the student protests in Tiananmen Square as an example of national unity being "worth more than a small number of protesters".
He also railed against western countries, in particular the United States and Britain, which he accused of trying to destabilise Libya.
It was unclear whether the speech, which lasted about an hour, was live or pre-recorded.
But it was apparently filmed at his Bab al-Azizia barracks in Tripoli, which still shows damage from a US bombing in 1986. The cameras occasionally cut away to show a statue of a giant fist crushing a US war plane.
The BBC's Frank Gardner said Col Gaddafi appears to be completely divorced from reality, as if he has been living inside a bubble for the 40 years of his rule.
The Libyan leader said he had not authorised the army to use force, despite opposition statements that more than 500 people have been killed and more than 1,000 are missing - an indication that he was either not aware of the deaths or was deluded, says our correspondent.
The Libyan authorities have reacted fiercely to the outbreak of protests in the country, which have come amid anti-government unrest in many other countries in the region.
Foreign journalists work under tight restriction in Libya, and much of the information coming from the country is impossible to verify.
But witnesses say foreign mercenaries have been attacking civilians in the streets and that fighter planes have been shooting down protesters.
The BBC's Jon Leyne, in eastern Libya, said the region appears to be wholly under opposition control and people are deliriously happy.
Many of the army and police have defected and have been accepted by the opposition.
Local people said the government there had collapsed on Thursday after the first protests. They believe the only people now supporting Col Gaddafi are foreign fighters in the country.
Our correspondent says there is now little doubt that Col Gaddafi's rule is finished, but the only question of how long it takes and how bloody the end will be.
| Famous Person - Give a speech | February 2011 | ['(BBC)'] |
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