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Ousted leader Aung San Suu Kyi appears in court to hear two more charges against her. The charges are a colonial-era penal code prohibiting publication of information that may "cause fear or alarm", and a telecommunications law stipulating licenses for equipment. Meanwhile, police disperse protesters with tear gas and stun grenades. | (Reuters) - Ousted Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi appeared at a court hearing via video conferencing on Monday as supporters marched in several towns and cities in defiance of a crackdown after the bloodiest day since the Feb. 1 military coup.
Suu Kyi charged again as Myanmar protests rage
01:49
Police fired tear gas and stun grenades to disperse hundreds of protesters in the main city of Yangon on Monday, witnesses said. They later combed through side streets firing rubber bullets and at least one person was hurt, media reported.
In an evening address on state television, army chief Senior General Min Aung Hlaing said protest leaders and “instigators” would be punished. The army was also investigating financial abuse by the civilian government, he said.
Suu Kyi, 75, looked in good health during her appearance before a court in the capital Naypyidaw, one of her lawyers said. Two more charges were added to those filed against her after the coup, she said.
“I saw Amay on the video, she looks healthy,” lawyer Min Min Soe told Reuters, using an affectionate term meaning “mother” to refer to Suu Kyi. “She asked to meet her lawyer.”
The Nobel Peace laureate, who leads the National League for Democracy (NLD), has not been seen in public since her government was toppled and she was detained along with other party leaders.
She was initially charged with illegally importing six walkie-talkie radios. Later, a charge of violating a natural disaster law by breaching coronavirus protocols was added.
On Monday, two more charges were added, one under a section of a colonial-era penal code banning publication of information that may “cause fear or alarm”, the other under a telecommunications law stipulating licences for equipment, the lawyer said.
The next hearing will be on March 15. Critics of the coup say the charges were trumped up.
Myanmar has been in chaos since the military seized power after alleging fraud in a November election that the NLD won in a landslide, with daily protests getting increasingly violent as police and troops try to stamp them out.
In his speech, read out by a newsreader on state-run MRTV, Senior General Min Aung Hlaing said action would be taken against civil servants refusing to work for the junta.
He said the military was investigating what he called corruption by the civilian government, accusing the authorities of misusing money meant for COVID-19 prevention efforts.
“The respective ministries are working to find out such financial abuse,” he said, adding that action would be taken against organizations where foreign currency funds were found.
He said a committee formed by ousted lawmakers from the civilian government, which has announced the formation of a government-in-exile, was illegal and anyone associated with it would be punished.
The junta has promised a new election but not set a date.
On Monday, the Committee Representing Pyidaungsu Hluttaw, whose name uses the Burmese word for the Myanmar parliament, declared the junta a terrorist group and condemned the violence against protesters as a “declaration of war on unarmed civilians”.
On Sunday, police fired on crowds in several places, killing 18 people, the United Nations human rights office said. A committee representing lawmakers elected last year said 26 people were killed but Reuters was unable to verify that.
“We have to continue the protest no matter what,” Thar Nge said after tear gas volleys from the police forced him and others to abandon a barricade in a Yangon street.
The military has not commented on Sunday’s violence and police and military spokesmen did not answer calls. The state-run Global New Light of Myanmar newspaper warned that “severe action will be inevitably taken” against “anarchic mobs”.
Demonstrators marched on Monday in the northwestern town of Kale holding up pictures of Suu Kyi, and live video on Facebook showed a crowd in the northeastern town of Lashio, chanting slogans. Police and soldiers later raided a church in the town and detained 11 people, a church group said.
After nightfall, a journalist for the Democratic Voice of Burma live-streamed security forces outside his apartment in the coastal town of Myeik, where he had been filming protests. “They are shooting,” he cries out, appealing to neighbours for help as sounds of broken glass can be heard and smoke seen.
It was not clear whether the journalist had been detained.
‘ABHORRENT’
The coup brought a halt to Myanmar’s tentative steps towards democracy after nearly 50 years of military rule, and has drawn condemnation from the United States and other Western countries, and growing concern among its neighbours.
Foreign ministers from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), of which Myanmar is a member, will hold a video meeting on Myanmar on Tuesday and listen to representatives of the Myanmar military, Singaporean Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan said.
Balakrishnan called for the security forces to desist from the use of lethal force, for Suu Kyi’s release, and for talks on solutions and a way back to democratic transition.
Tom Andrews, a U.N. special rapporteur, said it was clear the junta’s assault would continue so the international community should ratchet up its response.
He proposed a global arms embargo, more sanctions on those behind the coup and on military businesses and a U.N. Security Council referral to the International Criminal Court. | Famous Person - Commit Crime - Accuse | March 2021 | ['(Reuters)'] |
Noor Salman, the wife of Omar Mateen who committed the 2016 Orlando mass shooting is arrested and charged with obstructing the investigation of the case. | WASHINGTON — The F.B.I. arrested the wife of the man who carried out a deadly terrorist attack in Orlando, Fla., and charged her with obstructing the investigation of the mass shooting, law enforcement officials said on Monday.
Noor Salman, whose husband, Omar Mateen, killed 49 people and wounded dozens in an Orlando nightclub that was popular with gays, was also charged with aiding and abetting by providing material support, the officials said.
She was taken into custody by F.B.I. agents at her home outside San Francisco, where she had been living with her young son. Prosecutors had been weighing charges against her for months in the aftermath of the attack by her husband on June 12, 2016.
Investigators interviewed Ms. Salman for hours after the attack and came to believe she was not telling the truth about her husband’s plans to carry out the rampage.
A Justice Department spokesman said Ms. Salman would make her initial appearance on Tuesday morning in federal court in Oakland, Calif.
The Justice Department’s decision to prosecute Ms. Salman, 30, ends part of the mystery that has surrounded her since the first days after the attack, when she became a central subject of the wide-ranging investigation into her husband.
“Noor Salman had no foreknowledge nor could she predict what Omar Mateen intended to do that tragic night,” said her lawyer, Linda Moreno. “Noor has told her story of abuse at his hands. We believe it is misguided and wrong to prosecute her and that it dishonors the memories of the victims to punish an innocent person.”
Accounts of what happened from officials and witnesses.
The aiding and abetting, a terrorism charge, suggests that prosecutors believe that Ms. Salman helped him in some way — either before or after the terrorist attack.
The decision to charge her is not without risks for prosecutors. If the case goes to trial, prosecutors will have to contend with a jury that could be sympathetic to Ms. Salman, who said she was in an abusive relationship and living in fear.
In an interview last year with The New York Times, Ms. Salman said she was “unaware of everything” in connection with the attack.
Ms. Salman said she had accompanied her husband to Orlando with their child once when he scouted the club but did not know the purpose of the trip. On the day her husband drove to Orlando, she claimed he said he was going to visit a friend, named Nemo, who lived in Florida. But Nemo was not living in Florida at the time, a fact Ms. Salman said she did not know.
She also said she had no reason to suspect that ammunition he bought in the days leading up to the attack was to be used in the shooting, given that her husband was a security guard who frequently purchased ammunition. On the day of the shooting, she bought her husband a Father’s Day card, expecting him to return that evening. Her lawyers believe that supports her story that she did not know about the attack.
During his rampage, Mr. Mateen used Facebook to pledge his allegiance to the Islamic State. President Obama has said that Mr. Mateen “took in extremist information and propaganda over the internet and became radicalized.”
Federal investigators do not believe that Mr. Mateen, who was 29 and who was killed by the police after the shooting, received any specific training or support from the Islamic State. Part of their inquiry has focused on whether anyone in the United States assisted in his plans for the attack.
There has perhaps been no figure more central to those questions than Ms. Salman, who grew up in an avocado-colored home in Rodeo, Calif., near San Francisco. In Rodeo, on a diverse block populated by Chinese, Indian, Korean and Mexican families, neighbors recalled a younger Ms. Salman as warm and kind.
Ms. Salman married Mr. Mateen in a ceremony near her childhood home in Northern California, a second marriage for both. After the wedding, Ms. Salman moved to Fort Pierce, Fla., where she and Mr. Mateen lived in a condominium complex.
Their marriage in 2011 caused consternation among some of Ms. Salman’s relatives, mostly because of her Palestinian heritage and Mr. Mateen’s ancestral ties to Afghanistan. Ms. Salman said in the interview with The Times that her husband beat her repeatedly and verbally abused her.
Members of Mr. Mateen’s family, who have tried to shield Ms. Salman from public scrutiny, have said they believe she did nothing improper.
“She is shocked, that poor lady,” Seddique Mateen, Mr. Mateen’s father, said in June 2016. “And she doesn’t know anything.”
The Orlando police chief, John W. Mina, said in a statement that he was “glad to see” that Ms. Salman had been arrested.
“Nothing can erase the pain we all feel about the senseless and brutal murders of 49 of our neighbors, friends, family members and loved ones,” the chief said. “But today, there is some relief in knowing that someone will be held accountable for that horrific crime.”
In two recent mass shootings, prosecutors have brought charges against people with ties to the attackers.
In South Carolina, a friend of Dylann S. Roof, who was convicted of killing nine people on June 17, 2015, in a Charleston church, pleaded guilty in April to lying to federal investigators and misprision of a felony, or failing to inform authorities that a felony had been committed. The friend did not testify against Mr. Roof, who was sentenced to death last week.
In 2015, the federal authorities in California brought charges against a neighbor of the husband and wife who killed 14 people and wounded 22 others in San Bernardino. The man, who bought the rifles used in the attack on Dec. 2, 2015, was accused of lying on forms filled out in connection with the purchase. Although he was also accused of planning a terrorist attack several years ago, the man was not charged with having a direct role in the San Bernardino rampage.
However, federal prosecutors in the summer of 2014 declined to prosecute Katherine Russell, the wife of one of the assailants in the Boston Marathon bombing on April 15, 2013. F.B.I. agents believed she had made false statements to investigators and concealed knowledge of a crime. | Famous Person - Commit Crime - Arrest | January 2017 | ['(New York Times)'] |
Prosecutors in Sweden reopen the rape allegation investigation against WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange. Swedish prosecutors mention their intent to seek extradition of Assange from the United Kingdom after he has served his 50–week prison sentence for skipping bail. | Swedish prosecutors have reopened an investigation into a rape allegation made against Wikileaks co-founder Julian Assange in 2010.
The inquiry has been revived at the request of the alleged victim's lawyer.
Assange, who denies the accusation, has avoided extradition to Sweden for seven years after seeking refuge at the Ecuadorean embassy in London in 2012.
The 47-year-old was evicted last month and sentenced to 50 weeks in jail for breaching his bail conditions.
He is currently being held at Belmarsh prison in London.
Swedish prosecutors originally decided to drop the rape investigation two years ago, saying they felt unable to take the case forward while Assange remained holed up inside the embassy.
But on Monday, Sweden's deputy director of public prosecutions, Eva-Marie Persson, announced the case would be reopened because there was still "probable cause to suspect" that Assange had committed the alleged rape.
"Now that he has left Ecuador's embassy, the conditions in the case have changed and... the conditions are in place once again to pursue the case," she said at a news conference, adding that a European Arrest Warrant would now be issued.
His removal from the embassy, and the subsequent decision to reopen the inquiry, is likely to raise the question of which extradition request should take precedence: that of Sweden or the US.
The US is seeking Assange's extradition from the UK over his alleged role in the release of classified military and diplomatic material by Wikileaks in 2010.
Australian-born Assange faces a charge of conspiracy to commit computer intrusion in the US. He is accused of participating in one of the largest ever leaks of government secrets, which could result in a prison term of up to five years.
Sweden's original extradition request was made under the European Arrest Warrant (EAW) arrangements. However, it was withdrawn and so the extradition request from the US now ranks first in line. In order to displace it, Sweden's deputy director of public prosecutions said a fresh EAW request would now be issued.
If that does happen the decision as to which of the two requests take precedence will be made by UK Home Secretary Sajid Javid. He would make his decision primarily on the basis of which alleged offence was considered to be more serious.
Rape is likely to be considered more serious than conspiracy to commit computer intrusion. That would mean ordering Assange's extradition to Sweden. Assange challenged the original Swedish request through the UK courts and could bring fresh challenges in response to a new request. These would most likely be based on human rights grounds and in particular that it would be unjust or oppressive in light of his health to extradite him.
Wikileaks said the reopening of the rape case would give Assange "a chance to clear his name".
"There has been considerable political pressure on Sweden to reopen their investigation, but there has always been political pressure surrounding this case," its editor-in-chief, Kristinn Hrafnsson, said in a statement.
A lawyer for Assange told Swedish broadcaster SVT that the decision was "embarrassing for Sweden", adding that his client wanted to resolve the case but feared being extradited to the US.
At a separate news conference, the alleged victim's lawyer, Elisabeth Massi Fritz, said the decision to reopen the case had been "very gratifying" and that she expected this would result in a criminal charge.
Nick Vamos, former head of extradition at the Crown Prosecution Service, told Reuters news agency that the UK proceedings should not take more than 18 months.
Considering Assange's potential objections to extradition, Mr Vamos said he did not think courts would accept the US case was politically motivated.
Assange was accused of rape by a woman and sexual assault by another one following a Wikileaks conference in Stockholm in 2010. He has always denied the allegations, saying the sex was consensual.
He also faced investigations for molestation and unlawful coercion, but these cases were dropped in 2015 because time had run out.
Prosecutors have decided to reopen the rape case before the 10-year statute of limitations expires in August 2020. The sexual assault investigation was dropped after the five-year statute of limitations expired.
| Famous Person - Commit Crime - Sentence | May 2019 | ['(BBC)', '(The New York Times)', '(Associated Press)'] |
Two hotels in Sousse, Tunisia came under attack from an unknown number of gunmen; at least 37 people have been killed and 36 injured. , , | TUNIS, Tunisia A lone gunman hiding a Kalashnikov under his umbrella opened fire on a Tunisian beach resort, killing 39 people, mostly tourists one of three deadly attacks Friday from Europe to the Middle East.
The Islamic State claimed responsibility for the attack at the Imperial Marhaba hotel, according to SITE Intelligence Group, a U.S.-based organization that monitors terrorists' activity online.
At least 36 people were wounded in the nation's deadliest onslaught before the shooter was killed by security forces. The gunman was identified by the Islamic State as Abu Yahya al-Qayrawani, according to SITE.
"Tunisia is in a constant war against terrorism," said President Beji Caid Essebsi, vowing to crack down on terrorism in his country. "Tunisian state is concerned about this issue, and it will take its responsibilities and take measures that could be painful but necessary."
The president said he would revoke the right of political parties and groups to assemble, if necessary, if they advocated militancy or expressed solidarity with the Islamic State.
Witnesses at the resort town of Sousse said bodies were strewn in the sand alongside beach chairs as the gunman opened fire on sunbathers.
The interior ministry initially said at least two gunmen were involved, but revised its report as investigators examined the chaotic scene and decided there was a single shooter.
"A terrorist infiltrated the buildings from the back before opening fire on the residents of the hotel, including foreigners and Tunisians," Ministry of the Interior spokesman Mohamed Ali Laroui said.
Sousse, a popular vacation spot for European tourists, is about 90 miles southeast of the capital Tunis.
Earlier Friday, Tunisia media outlets identified the gunman as Seif Eddine Rezgui, 23. Radio Mosaique reported Rezgui was radicalized at mosques in Kairouan about 40 miles west of Sousse where he earned his degree in electronics and enrolled in a master's program at a local sciences and technology university.
Tunisian security forces have been on alert since March when two Tunisian gunmen opened fire on the Bardo museum in Tunis, killing 22 people, mostly tourists. Two gunmen were killed in that attack, for which the Islamic State also claimed credit.
The scene of the massacre Friday was one of utter chaos, witnesses said. The gunman began his carnage on the beach before moving to the pool area and then into the hotel itself.
British Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond said at least five Britons were among the dead.
"There was a mass exodus off the beach," British tourist Gary Pine told Sky News. He said guests at his hotel were first told to lock themselves in their rooms, and later to gather in the lobby.
Elizabeth O'Brien, a tourist from Dublin, told Ireland's RTE News At One that at first she thought she heard fireworks going off, then realized the sound was gunfire.
"I ran to the sea to my children and grabbed our things and, as I was running toward the hotel, the waiters and the security on the beach started shouting 'Run, run, run,'" she said.
"We ran to our room, which is like a little bungalow, so we are actually trapped in our room, because we have no contact the phone here doesn't work to call reception."
The Imperial Marhaba hotel is owned by Spain's RIU Hotels & Resorts, which has more than 100 hotels in 19 countries. The company offered its condolences to the victims and their families.
Spainish Interior Minister Jorge Fernandez Diaz raised his country's terror alert level to 4 on a scale from 1 to 5.
A British tourist, Alan Callaghan, told the BBC guests at his hotel were taking shelter in the quarters of the hotel's staff and were being told to wait for an all-clear. Another British tourist told Sky News he was by the swimming pool when he heard "quite a large explosion," and guests began running back toward the hotel from the beach.
The two other attacks that occurred Friday were in Kuwait and France, but it was unknown yet if the incidents were related. In Kuwait City, the Islamic State claimed responsibility for a suicide bombing at a Shiite mosque during Friday prayers that killed more than two dozen people. In France, near Lyon, a driver rammed his truck into a U.S.-owned gas factory, triggering an explosion. A decapitated body was found at the scene with the head hanging at the factory entrance. | Armed Conflict | June 2015 | ['(Sky News)', '(BBC)', '(USA Today)'] |
Seven people are missing after a mobile home park fire near Lake Granbury, Texas. | Updated
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GRANBURY — Through the assistance of eye witnesses and law enforcement sources, News 8 has tentatively identified the six people killed in a fire at a mobile home shortly on the shore of Lake Granbury shortly after a birthday celebration early Sunday morning.
Calvin Reineck, a graduate of Richard Melbourne Academy, and Vivian Rodriguez and Alexis Schooley, both current students at the Fort Worth alternative school, were among the victims identified.
Savannah Marrero, a student at Western Hills, and Tim Moran and Nick Evans were also killed in the fire that injured three others.
The blaze broke out at about 5:30 a.m. following a late-night party in the double-wide trailer in the 4500 block of Wildwood Circle.
"This is the worst fire I've been on as far as fatalities," said Hood County Fire Marshal Brian Fine.
Three people escaped from the burning home. A neighbor called 911 after a woman ran to the door begging for help.
One of those able to escape, 18-year-old Cody Rubalcaba, said he was able to help some of his other friends out of the home, but the blaze became too strong. He was the last of the victims released from John Peter Smith Hospital.
Rubalcaba said authorities asked him to list out the 10 victims inside the mobile home and then learned of his friends' deaths.
"They said, 'Well, out of those 10, six of them are dead,'" he said. "And when they told me that, I started bawling in tears. I was like, 'Dang, I tried to save as many as I could and I couldn't even get the other six out."
Rubalcaba said he and friends had gone to bed after celebrating a friend's birthday for two days at the mobile home. He then awoke early Monday morning coughing and spotted flames coming from the master bedroom.
He broke a window, cutting his arm, and crawled out to safety. He said he then tried to go back in to save his friends.
"I was like, 'Follow my voice, there is a window I busted open, go underneath the pool table and I will be right here waiting for you,'" he said.
He was able to help get two friends out safely, but said he couldn't help the others.
"I called for their names and everything and no one would respond back to me," Rubalcaba said. "... All you could hear were flames burning."
Residents of the Port Ridglea East subdivision said they tried to save the others but the fire engulfing the 1985 model home was too intense.
"It's just a shock to see a house totally engulfed," said neighborhood resident Paul Woods. "Especially when the people are still inside. There's nothing you can do... literally nothing you can do. The flames are pouring out and no way you can get anywhere close to the house."
Shirley Culberhouse, who lives about seven houses down the street from the home that burned, told The Associated Press that it "was a group of boys who had moved in, and they were having a party."
Another neighbor, auto mechanic Michael Brennan, said the party woke him up.
"About 2:15 (a.m.), the noise woke me up," he said. "There was an argument going on. Then, there were cars pulling out, and I was sort of waiting for the sheriff to show up when the fire happened."
The house was occupied full time, Brennan said.
Nearly all the victims were in their teens or 20s.
Two of the injured, a male and a female, were airlifted to Parkland Memorial Hospital in Dallas, where they were treated for minor burns, cuts and smoke inhalation and later released. The third survivor, a female, was being cared for at John Peter Smith Hospital in Fort Worth for minor injuries.
The daughter of the homeowner was also involved in a serious car wreck just before the fire. She was driving a friend home.
The cause of the fire is under investigation, but it is not believed to be suspicious.
The Port Ridglea East development is made up mostly of retirees and weekenders.
This is the region's second mobile home fire tragedy of the weekend. A fire in Fannin County early Sunday claimed the lives of two small children.
The Tarrant County medical examiner is working to make positive identification of all the victims in this case.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
E-mail mdiaz@wfaa.com
| Fire | March 2011 | ['(WFAA)'] |
Twenty-five parliamentarians from the governing Syriza party announce plans to form a new party, the Popular Unity, led by former energy minister Panagiotis Lafazanis. , | Prime Minister and Syriza leader Alexis Tsipras stood down on Thursday, paving the way for new elections.
The move came after he lost the support of many of his own MPs in a vote on the country's new bailout with European creditors earlier this month.
Greek media reports say 25 rebel Syriza MPs will join the new party, called Laiki Enotita (Popular Unity).
The party will be led by former energy minister Panagiotis Lafazanis, who was strongly opposed to the bailout deal.
At a press conference in Athens, Mr Lafazanis said he was ready to respect the result of a referendum held in July, in which 61% of Greeks said they would not support the terms of the bailout.
"If it is necessary for us to cancel the memorandum, we will follow the course of exiting the euro," he is quoted by Kathimerini newspaper as saying.
Syriza won 149 seats in Greece's 300-seat parliament in the last election in January. The conservative New Democracy party came second, with 76 seats.
The new Popular Unity party becomes the third largest in parliament.
In exchange for a new €86bn ($95bn; £61bn) from European partners, Mr Tsipras had to agree to painful state sector cuts, including far-reaching pension reforms - and keep Greece in the eurozone.
Close to a third of Syriza's MPs abstained or voted against the terms of the new deal last week. At the time, Mr Lafazanis said he was determined to "smash the eurozone dictatorship".
What is Laiki Enotita (Popular Unity)? The new left-wing party has 25 rebel Syriza MPs, who object to Mr Tsipras's acceptance of more austerity. Its leader, Panagiotis Lafazanis, argues that Greece would be better off leaving the euro and going back to the drachma. What are Mr Tsipras's chances of re-election? Despite his dramatic policy reversal over austerity - an opinion poll last month gave him a 61% approval rating.
If elections are set for 20 September that deadline gives the new rival left-wing party very little time to organise and rally support to fight Mr Tsipras.
Many observers expect him to be re-elected, with a stronger mandate to push through the reforms demanded by the creditors.
How are people reacting to the latest developments? Greece's eurozone lenders are being cautious. The chair of the Eurogroup (the eurozone finance ministers), Jeroen Dijsselbloem, said "it's crucial that Greece maintain its commitments to the eurozone".
Voters are also worried. One Athens resident told Reuters: "We will go through a period of insecurity and this is, of course, not the best thing to happen right now."
What next for Greece?
On Friday morning, the head of conservative New Democracy party, Vangelis Meimarakis, met Greece's president and he will now have three days to form a government.
Observers say he does not have enough support and elections will be called.
Reports suggest the election - the fifth in six years - will be called for 20 September.
If Mr Meimarakis fails to form a government, the chance will be given to the new party, analysts say, and then the far-right Golden Dawn party.
They, too, are unlikely to be able to gain enough allies to establish a government.
All parties can waive the right to negotiate and allow the president to approve a snap election. Mr Meimarakis, however, has said he will try and use his mandate to form a government in the next few days.
Dimitris Stratoulis, one of the new members of Popular Unity, told Reuters that his party would also try to use the mandate and put a government together.
| Organization Established | August 2015 | ['(BBC)', '(To Vima)'] |
Incumbent President of Turkey Recep Tayyip Erdoğan claims victory as preliminary results show him winning a majority of votes. | Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan won more than half the votes in Sunday's presidential election after 97.2 per cent of votes have been counted, the head of Turkey's High Electoral Board (YSK) said.
Speaking at the YSK headquarters in Ankara after presidential and parliamentary elections, Sadi Guven also said the pro-Kurdish People's Democratic Party (HDP) had passed the 10 per cent threshold needed to enter parliament.
In the national elections that he called earlier than needed, Erdogan sought to extend his 15-year rule with the elections held under a state of emergency declared after the July 2016 failed military coup.
Supporters of Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan outside his official residence in Istanbul on Sunday. Lefteris Pitarakis
The opposition, earlier, raised doubts about the accuracy and reliability of the figures released by state-run Anadolu news agency, the sole distributor of the official vote tally.
Erdogan's main presidential rival, Muharrem Ince of the main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) urged election monitors to remain at polling stations to help ensure against possible election fraud.
Sunday's vote ushers in a powerful new executive presidency long sought by Erdogan and backed by a small majority of Turks in a 2017 referendum. Critics say it will further erode democracy in the NATO member state and entrench one-man rule.
With 95 per cent of votes counted in the presidential race, Erdogan had 52.8 per cent, comfortably ahead of Ince on 30 per cent, broadcasters said.
Results being compiled by the Fair Election Platform, formed by opposition parties, also pointed to Erdogan winning the presidency in the first round with about 53 per cent.
In the parliamentary contest, the Islamist-rooted AK Party had 43 per cent and its MHP ally 11 per cent, based on 90 per cent of votes counted, broadcasters said.
In the opposition camp, the CHP had 22 per cent and the pro-Kurdish Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) 10 per cent - the threshold it needs to reach to enter Parliament.
The HDP's presidential candidate, Selahattin Demirtas, has waged his election campaign from a prison near the Greek border as he awaits trial on terrorism-related charges, which he denies. He had 7 per cent, based on 90 per cent of votes cast.
AK Party supporters clogged a main road in the capital Ankara leading to party headquarters honking horns in celebration. Erdogan was expected to address supporters from a balcony of the headquarters building later in the evening.
Election turnout nationwide was very high at around 87 per cent for both contests, the state broadcaster said.
Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan addressed his supporters outside the official residence on Sunday. With more than 97 per cent of the votes counted, he apparently secured more than 50 per cent of the balloting, avoiding a run-off. Lefteris Pitarakis
Opposition parties and NGOs deployed up to half a million monitors at ballot boxes to ward against possible electoral fraud. They have said election law changes and fraud allegations in the 2017 referendum raise fears about the fairness of Sunday's elections.
Erdogan said there had been no serious voting violations.
"Turkey is staging a democratic revolution," he told reporters after casting his own vote in Istanbul.
"With the presidential system, Turkey is seriously raising the bar, rising above the level of contemporary civilisations."
Erdogan supporters celebrate outside his official residence in Istanbul on Sunday. Lefteris Pitarakis
Erdogan, the most popular but also divisive leader in modern Turkish history, argues the new powers will better enable him to tackle the nation's economic problems - the lira has lost 20 per cent against the dollar this year - and crush Kurdish rebels in south-east Turkey and in neighbouring Iraq and Syria.
Investors would welcome the prospect of a stable working relationship between the president and the new Parliament, although they also have concerns about Erdogan's recent comments suggesting he wants to take greater control of monetary policy.
Erdogan has declared himself an "enemy of interest rates", raising fears he will pressure the central bank to cut borrowing costs after the election despite double-digit inflation.
He brought forward the elections from November 2019, but he reckoned without Ince, a former physics teacher and veteran CHP lawmaker, whose feisty performance at campaign rallies has galvanised Turkey's long-demoralised and divided opposition.
Muharrem Ince, presidential candidate backed by Secular Republican People's Party (CHP) (centre). Kostas Tsironis
The state of emergency restricts some freedoms and allows the government to bypass Parliament with decrees. Both Erdogan and Ince have said they will lift the state of emergency as president.
Erdogan blamed the coup on his former ally, US-based Muslim cleric Fethullah Gulen, and has waged a sweeping crackdown on his followers in Turkey, detaining some 160,000 people, according to the United Nations.
The President's critics, including the European Union which Turkey still nominally aspires to join, say Erdogan has used the crackdown to stifle dissent.
Erdogan says his tough measures are needed to safeguard national security.
Supporters of Turkey's President and ruling Justice and Development Party, or AKP, leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan celebrate outside the party headquarters in Istanbul, Sunday, June 24, 2018. | Government Job change - Election | June 2018 | ['(Australian Financial Review)'] |
Human Rights Watch has found that Israeli forces have deliberately killed Palestinian civilians in Gaza, including ones fleeing the conflict. | (Gaza) Israeli forces in the southern Gaza town of Khuza’a fired on and killed civilians in apparent violation of the laws of war in several incidents between July 23 and 25, 2014. Deliberate attacks on civilians who are not participating in the fighting are war crimes. Seven Palestinians who had fled Khuza’a described to Human Rights Watch the grave dangers that civilians have faced in trying to flee the town, near the Israeli border, to seek safety in Khan Younis. These included repeated shelling that struck apparent civilian structures, lack of access to necessary medical care, and the threat of attack from Israeli forces as they tried to leave the area. “When will there be justice for the civilians in Khuza’a, who suffered shelling for days, then faced deadly attacks by Israeli soldiers after being ordered to leave the town?”asked Sarah Leah Whitson, Middle East and North Africadirector. Khuza’a, which has a population of about 10,000, was the scene of fighting between Israeli forces and Palestinian armed groups during an Israeli ground offensive in the area on July 23, Israeli news media reported. Israeli forces provided general warnings to Khuza’a residents to leave the area prior to July 21. While the laws of war encourage “advance, effective warnings” of attacks, the failure of civilians to abide by warnings does not make them lawful targets of attack for obvious reasons, since many people do not flee because of infirmity, fear, lack of a place to go, or any number of other reasons. The remaining presence of such civilians despite a warning to flee cannot be ignored when attacks are carried out, as Israeli forces have done previously. “Warning families to flee fighting doesn’t make them fair targets just because they’re unable to do so, and deliberately attacking them is a war crime,” Whitson said. Human Rights Watch investigated several incidents between July 23 and 25 when, local residents said, Israeli forces opened fire on civilians trying to flee Khuza’a, but no Palestinian fighters were present at the time and no firefights were taking place. On the morning of July 23, Israeli forces ordered a group of about 100 Palestinians in Khuza’a to leave a home in which they had gathered to take shelter, family members said. The first member to leave the house, Shahid al-Najjar, had his hands up but an Israeli soldier shot him in the jaw, seriously injuring him. Israeli soldiers detained the men and boys over age 15 in an area close to the Gaza perimeter fence. Based on statements from witnesses and news reports, some were taken to Israel for questioning. Israeli forces released others that day, in small separate groups. As one group walked unarmed to Khan Younis, Israeli soldiers fired on them, killing one and wounding two others. Two older men whom Israeli forces briefly detained near the perimeter fence had been seriously wounded in earlier Israeli bombardments and died soon after being released, two witnesses said. The laws of war provide that wounded civilians and combatants should be given necessary medical care to the fullest extent practicable and with the least possible delay. In another incident on July 23, Israeli soldiers fired on a group of civilians who had been told to leave their home in Khuza’a, killing Mohammed al-Najjar, a witness said. One case illustrates the dangers facing civilians both who remain in place and who heed Israeli orders to leave. On July 25, an Israeli strike killed three civilians Motassem al-Najjar, 5; Kamel al-Najjar, 62; and Salim Qdeih, around 70 who were among 120 people sheltering in the basement of a home, witnesses said. Another 15 people were wounded. The local Red Cross had difficulty reaching people wounded by shellings in the town. The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) reported that on July 25, a Red Crescent volunteer was mortally wounded in an Israeli attack in Khuza’a, and other volunteers who tried to rescue him were fired on. Under the laws of war, medical workers are civilians who may not be targeted for attack. Those who had survived the attack on the basement fled after the strike and walked to Khan Younis, carrying white flags and raising their hands when they came across Israeli soldiers. An Israeli missile strike hit one group of them, killing a man and wounding his cousin, the cousin told Human Rights Watch. Human Rights Watch interviewed displaced residents from Khuza’a in Khan Younis. They said they believed that several hundred people were trapped and unable to leave Khuza’a, and expressed concern that many bodies were left in the rubble after intensive Israeli shelling. Human Rights Watch was unable to conduct researchinKhuza’a itself. All four roads leading to the town were impassable due to large bomb craters, and it was not clear whether Israeli forces would permit entrance. Previous fighting in Gaza between Israeli and Hamas forces and other Palestinian armed groups has resulted in near-total impunity for serious violations of international humanitarian law. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas should urgently seek International Criminal Court (ICC) jurisdiction over crimes committed on and from Palestinian territory, as a step toward reducing the accountability gap for grave abuses and deterring crimes in violation of international law, Human Rights Watch said. “The horrors of war are bad enough for civilians even when all sides abide by the law,” Whitson said. “But it’s abhorrent that Israeli forces are making matters even worse by so blatantly violating the laws of war designed to spare civilians.”
Unlawful Attacks and the Plight of Civilians in Khuza’a
Incident 1, Khuza’a, July 23 Akram al-Najjar, 15, said that after Israeli forces began shelling Khuza’a on July 18, his family had “run from house to house seeking shelter.” On the night of July 22, “more than a hundred people had gathered in one house.” At 6 a.m. on July 23, he said, Israeli forces “caught us in the house and told us to come out.” He told Human Rights Watch:
The first one to walk out of the house was Shahid al-Najjar. He had his hands up, but the soldiers shot him. He was shot in the jaw and badly injured, but he survived. Two of the people in the house spoke Hebrew and asked the soldiers why they shot him, and the soldiers said that the rest of the men had to take our clothes off before we walked out. The rest of us came out. Akram al-Najjar and his grandfather, Mohammed al-Najjar, 75, interviewed separately, said that Israeli soldiers separated the women and men in the group, told the women to leave the area on foot, and allowed boys under age 14 to go with them. The Israeli forces then took the men and older boys to a nearby home, where they put about 50 of them in a room and allowed them to put their clothes back on. Next, the soldiers escorted the group to an alleyway, handcuffed them, and put them in a single-file line, where they waited for several minutes. The soldiers then ordered the group to walk east for about 10 minutes, until they reached another house. Mohammed al-Najjar said:
They put us in a corner. There were a lot of soldiers around, and their weapons. For half an hour, we were standing in the corner, not allowed to speak. Behind the house, there are sand dunes leading to the border [with Israel]. They took us to the sand dunes. They gave the older people water and treated the wounds of the injured. They separated us again, and let the old men and the younger boys go. He said soldiers had also taken him to the sand dunes where soldiers treated a head wound from a few days earlier when a shell exploded near where he was taking shelter. At around 11 a.m., soldiers again separated the group, according to age, he said. “The men aged 16 to 50 they kept with them, and let the rest of us go,” Mohammed al-Najjar said. Mohammed and Akram al-Najjar, who left Khuza’a in different groups, said that two elderly men died while trying to leave the area on foot. Mohammed al-Najjar said that one of the men in his group, Abu Wa’el Sanfoura, in his late 60s, “had been burned on the face in the bombardment, and he died from his injuries after we had been released by the Israelis, while we were on the road.” Akram al-Najjar said that his group “had been carrying Suleiman al-Najjar with us, who had been wounded before, during the shelling. He was 70. He died and we left his body behind.”
Akram al-Najjar said that soldiers allowed him to leave the area on the afternoon of July 23, in a separate group of 16 boys and young men, and that the group came under fire after they had reached the Tawhid mosque, in the northwestern part of Khuza’a:
The youngest boy in my group was 14 and the oldest one was 19 years old. We had walked from the dunes and had reached the mosque. We got 50 meters past it, and soldiers started shooting at us. The shooting injured three of us. One of them died. He was shot in the stomach. He said he did not know the name of the young man who had been killed, but that no one in the group was carrying a weapon. He said there were no Palestinian fighters near his group, and that he did not see or hear any exchanges of fire between Israeli ground forces and Palestinian fighters. After the shooting at the Tawhid mosque, the group ran toward a gas station that “had already been bombed”:
It had two rooms that we took cover in. There were six of us in one room, six in the other, and others were hiding across the street. We were trapped there for three days without food or water, there was shelling all around us. A neighboring house was hit, but there was nothing we could do. We used Suleiman’s phone to call our relatives who had made it out already, and they called the Red Cross, but they couldn’t get coordination [Israeli military permission for safe passage]. Then at 8 a.m. [on July 26] we were told there was a ceasefire, so we started walking, and then we met a family. While we were walking we heard soldiers on a megaphone telling us to go to the school in Abasan. After walking a few kilometers we met up with ambulances there. Mohammed al-Najjar said he believed that his sons Imad, 42 Akram’s father Adnan, 40, and Iyad, 30, were still in Israeli custody. Akram said that he last saw his brother Mohammed, 17, in Israeli custody. An Israeli news website, Walla, and the daily Haaretz, both reported that Israeli forces detained hundreds of Palestinians during military operations in Gaza as of July 24, including 150 on July 23. An unknown number of detainees have been released, according to media reports. Incident 2, Khuza’a, July 23 In a separate incident on July 23, Hossein al-Najjar, 58, said that he and 50 members of his extended family and neighbors had been trapped in Khuza’a by shelling from July 18 to July 22. He said that Israeli forces shot and killed his cousin, Mohammed al-Najjar, when a group of civilians tried to leave the area on July 23. At dawn on July 23, Israeli forces called his home, and “said we had to get out immediately.” Israeli forces attacked the house soon afterward. “We had only seconds to get out, we weren’t able to carry anything out with us,” al-Najjar said. “Why did they attack us? We had no weapons in the house. We were not fighting them.”
The group was walking northeast, in the direction of Abasan, a town between Khuza’a and Khan Yunis, when they came under small-arms fire, al-Najjar said. “While we were walking out, my cousin Mohammad was shot,” he said. “He was shot with a bullet, not hit by shrapnel. We carried him with us all the way to Abasan.” Al-Najjar did not see where the shot was fired from, but said he saw only Israeli ground forces in the area, not Palestinian fighters. Al-Najjar’s cousin died soon after. Incident 3, Khuza’a, July 23-25
Kamel Ibrahim al-Najjar, 59, and his daughter-in-law Hakima Abu Reida, 28, interviewed separately, said that Israeli shelling had trapped them in Khuza’a from July 23 until the early morning of July 26. They had called the Red Cross repeatedly to request evacuation, but said they were told that the Israeli military would not agree to coordinate it. The family had gathered for shelter with about 30 other people when Israeli forces began shelling the area on the night of July 22. Attacks nearby blew out the windows and damaged the building, and the next day, the group moved to a neighbor’s house, where there were already 80 people in the basement. “By that point we were 120 people, 10 men and the rest women and children,” Kamel al-Najjar said. Abu Reida, who is eight months’ pregnant, told Human Rights Watch:
At 6 or 7 a.m. on [July 24] we heard there was a ceasefire. Our house is in the middle of Khuza’a, and we walked and walked to get to the western end of town, counting on an ambulance to be there. We were getting close but then we saw another group of people up ahead, coming under attack. I don’t know where the shelling came from, but people were saying, “There’s no ceasefire, it’s a trap.” So we turned back. We went to a neighbor’s basement. Following a night of heavy shelling, after dawn on July 25 an Israeli munition hit the house where the group was taking refuge, without warning. The strike killed Motassem al-Najjar, 5, Kamel al-Najjar, 62, and Salim Qdeih, aged about 70, Abu Reida and al-Najjar said. Abu Reida said:
It was a shock, the blast, it knocked the breath out of me. I had no time to say the [prayer for the dying]. I don’t know why they hit the house, it was random. There was no resistance there, just us. We realized people had been killed, and everyone focused on getting out of the building: grab your children and run before the roof caves in. A nearby house was not as badly damaged, so we went there. I work as a nurse so I started giving first aid. The attack wounded about 15 people, said Kamel al-Najjar, who was wounded in the eye and head. Abu Reida said she performed first aid on Rawan Ali al-Najjar, 7, who had a deep cut on her head, and Rana Kamel al-Najjar, 23, who was injured in her left leg, and Mohammed Qdeih, 6. The Israeli military permitted two Palestinian ambulances to enter part of Khuza’a for one hour on July 24 to collect the wounded and recover bodies, according to news reports. On July 25, Israeli forces granted a request by the International Committee of the Red Cross for “coordination” or permission to access Khuza’a for the Palestinian Red Crescent Society (PRCS), so that workers could retrieve the bodies of “a number of people killed during the bombardment in Khuza’a on 23 July,” the UN reported. However, members of the al-Najjar family said that the Palestinian Red Crescent had not been able to reach them. “We kept calling the Red Cross but they could not get coordination from the army for us to leave, so the women went and made a white flag,” Kamel al-Najjar said. The ICRC reported that also on July 25, an Israeli attack killed “a Palestinian Red Crescent [Society] volunteer […] as he attempted to treat wounded people in Khuza`a.” The ICRC said, “Other paramedic volunteers who tried to rescue him were also targeted, making it impossible to bring him to hospital in time.”
Kamel al-Najjar and Abu Reida said that their group left at 6 a.m. on July 26 because of the deteriorating condition of the wounded and fears that the house where they were taking refuge would collapse. Abu Reida said:
The only men with us were our husbands and children. We thought we saw resistance next to the house, and we shouted at them to stop fighting and move away, but then we saw that they were Israeli special forces! So we made white flags and started walking, we took random back roads and alleys to avoid soldiers and tanks, but they were everywhere. They joined another group of people trying to get to safety, 150 people in all. They carried the wounded and a woman with a physical disability for almost a kilometer until they found an abandoned cart, which they then pushed over sandy ground for another kilometer. Kamel al-Najjar said that the group passed by Israeli military bulldozers and tanks on the outskirts of Abasan al-Kabira: “We were about 50 meters from them, we raised our white flag and continued walking. | Armed Conflict | August 2014 | ['(Human Rights Watch)'] |
A Canadian woman is arrested for sending ricin poison to U.S. President Donald Trump last week. | Envelopes with ricin were intercepted last week on their way to the White House, a sheriff’s office and a detention facility in Texas.
By Katie Benner and Robert Draper
WASHINGTON A Canadian national suspected of having mailed an envelope containing ricin to the White House was arrested on Sunday while trying to enter the United States from Canada, nearly a year after she had been deported from the United States for engaging in criminal activity, according to two American officials.
Customs and Border Protection agents detained the woman, who had a firearm, as she tried to cross the border into Buffalo, the officials said. Currently in the custody of border agents, she is set to be charged by the U.S. attorney’s office in Washington.
The suspect had been living in the United States last year and was arrested in March 2019 by the Mission, Texas, police for possession of an unlicensed weapon, resisting arrest and carrying a fake driver’s license, according to a senior intelligence official.
While in the Hidalgo County Jail in Edinburg, Texas, authorities discovered that she had overstayed her six-month visa and had violated the terms of her passport by committing a crime while in the United States, and she was deported back to Canada, the official said.
The Joint Terrorism Task Force in Washington has been leading the investigation into who sent an envelope containing ricin to the White House, addressed to President Trump, in recent days, as well as other envelopes containing ricin sent to a sheriff’s office and a detention facility in Texas.
Once discovered, the substance in the envelopes was confirmed to be ricin, a poison that is part of the waste produced when castor oil is made and has no known antidote.
Law enforcement officials said this weekend that the letters could have been sent from Canada, but that it was not clear when they were sent. The mail was intercepted last week, before it reached its destination.
No links to any international terrorist groups have been found, according to two law enforcement officials.
“An arrest was made of an individual allegedly responsible for sending a suspicious letter,” the F.B.I. said in a statement. “The investigation is ongoing.”
NBC News previously reported that the suspect had been detained.
The envelope addressed to Mr. Trump was intercepted at the final off-site processing facility before mail is sent to the White House mail room, according multiple law enforcement officials. All mail sent to the White House and other federal agencies in the Washington area is irradiated by the Postal Service and sorted in a facility that samples the air for suspicious substances.
This is the second time someone has tried to send ricin to Mr. Trump. In 2018, federal authorities intercepted mail suspected of containing ricin that was addressed to Mr. Trump and to top Pentagon and other national security officials. The Justice Department determined that the suspect, a Navy veteran named William Clyde Allen, had sent castor beans instead of ricin. He was charged in a seven-count federal indictment for threatening to use a biological toxin as a weapon.
Two people separately sent mail with ricin to President Barack Obama in the spring and summer of 2013. A Mississippi man, J. Everett Dutschke, received 25 years in prison for sending a ricin-laced letter to Mr. Obama and a Republican senator. And an actress, Shannon Richardson, was sentenced to 18 years in federal prison for mailing letters with ricin to Mr. Obama and other public figures. | Famous Person - Commit Crime - Accuse | September 2020 | ['(The New York Times)'] |
Marriott International and Starwood Hotels and Resorts merge into one company with Marriott International purchasing Starwood for $13 billion and making Marriott the largest hotel company in the world. | Marriott International and Starwood Hotels and Resorts officially merged into one company on Friday, and the new Marriott has already made its first major decision: to give reciprocal benefits to members of each loyalty program.
Almost a year after first announcing the merger agreement, Marriott International has completed its $13 billion purchase of Starwood. With the addition of Starwood’s portfolio, the new Marriott now has 30 brands with more than 5,700 hotels. That amounts to 1.1 million rooms in more than 110 countries, making Marriott the largest hotel company in the world.
Members of the Marriott Rewards program and Starwood Preferred Guest (SPG) were immediately able to link their accounts at Members.marriott.com to begin earning and redeeming points at all those hotels.
“We did want to deliver real benefits to our customers immediately,” Marriott CEO Arne Sorenson, who is leading the combined company, said during an interview with USA TODAY prior to the close. The two programs will remain separate while Marriott works on technology and product enhancements, Sorenson says.
The highly anticipated merger had a few starts and stops since the deal was reached in November 2015. A Chinese insurance consortium, Anbang, swooped in with a counter-offer that Starwood seriously considered for several weeks earlier this year. Anbang eventually dropped its bid. Then Chinese regulatory authorities, whose approval Marriott needed for the merger in order to operate properties in that coveted market, requested an extension of the review process.
Chinese authorities gave their final approval last week, clearing the way for the merger to be finalized.
Sorenson said the merger will more than double the company’s presence in such lucrative regions as Asia, the Middle East and Africa.
The alliance is the biggest hotel merger in years, but it is not the only one. InterContinental Hotels group acquired boutique chain Kimpton Hotels and Restaurants last year. AccorHotels purchased the Fairmont, Raffles, and Swissôtel brands this year. Destination Hotels and Commune Hotels have merged.
Many have likened the consolidation of the hotel industry to that of the airlines.
But Gray Shealy, executive director of the Master's of Hospitality Management Program at Georgetown University, says the Marriott-Starwood merger is likely to be less rocky.
“They’ve had tons and tons of time to prepare for it,” he says. “If anyone is going to do it as smoothly as possible it would be Marriott. Airline operations are so wildly different than hotel operations.”
David Loeb, senior hotel research analyst at Baird, says consumers will have a lot more options within the Marriott family, but perhaps not across the entire industry.
“It will be tougher and tougher for smaller companies to compete,” he says. “Consumers do like choice.”
With the merger, Marriott has acquired such luxury Starwood brands as St. Regis and W Hotels. Those will complement Marriott’s The Ritz-Carlton, JW Marriott, and EDITION.
Marriott will also inherit lifestyle brands such as Aloft, which will operate in the same category as Moxy and AC Hotels. The Marriott Hotels brand will co-exist with Sheraton.
Sorenson says he will retain the existing brands, even if they appeal to similar customers.
“We think we’re advantaged and our customers are advantaged by having more choice, not less,” he said.
That doesn’t mean Marriott won’t look to improve any brands. Marriott plans to "provide as clear a distinction as we can between the brands in terms of product and service so that our customers can have a sense of what each brand stands for," Sorenson says.
For instance, he said, Starwood's Element, an eco-friendly lifestyle brand, now has just 22 properties worldwide. Sorenson would like to see more growth there.
Another Starwood brand that needs some attention is Sheraton, he said.
“I suspect over the course of the next few years, we will work on strengthening the position of that brand and hopefully driving better returns for owners for all those hotels,” he said.
As for the loyalty program, Marriott has already made some decisions. The combined programs have 85 million members.
Members of both Marriott Rewards, which include The Ritz-Carlton frequent guests, and SPG will have their status matched. If they link their accounts, they will be able to transfer and redeem points at a three-to-one ratio. Three Marriott Rewards points will equal one SPG Starpoint. That will apply to redemption stays and the Marriott Rewards Experiences Marketplace and SPG’s Moments platform. Those programs allow members to redeem points for exclusive experiences, such as sporting events.
Loyalty program experts praised the initial execution.
"Marriott nailed it with their 3:1 transfer ratio,” says Gary Leff, a travel industry expert who studies rewards programs.
He says Starwood is also known for its better treatment of top guests, offering perks such as suite upgrades and fewer limits on complimentary breakfast.
“Until we know how Starwood’s best elite benefits and lifetime status will work, and whether the unique partnerships Starwood has forged with airlines like Delta, Emirates, and China Eastern survive the merger, members will continue to be in wait and see mode,” he says.
Loeb says he expects Marriott to “go out of its way to be very good to Starwood’s elite guests.”
“They will do all they can to engender loyalty across the family of brands,” he says. “I think that’s a very important strategic goal to them.”
Brian Kelly, founder of ThePointsGuy.com, says that as an elite member of both programs, he’s pleased so far with how Marriott is handling the merger of the programs.
“My biggest fear was that they were going to take benefits away or do a one-size-fits-all approach of Marriott is it,” he says. “They haven’t, at least not yet ….This merger is so big they don’t have to follow in the lead of airline mergers. And in the hotel space, there’s never been a hotel merger of this magnitude with these loyalty programs.” | Organization Merge | September 2016 | ['(USA Today)'] |
Six Vietnamese pro–democracy activists are sentenced to up to six years in prison for "spreading propaganda" against the government. | HANOI (Reuters) - Vietnam jailed six people on Friday for advocating democracy after similar sentences to three others earlier in the week, moves that analysts say look choreographed to deter dissent in the run up to a major Communist meeting.
The six, including a leader of a banned pro-democracy group called Bloc 8406, were sentenced in one trial in the port city of Haiphong to prison terms ranging from two to six years for “conducting propaganda against the state”.
Earlier in the week, three people were convicted of the same crime in separate back-to-back trials in the capital Hanoi, and handed jail terms of three to four years.
All nine had hung banners on bridges in the two cities calling for multi-party elections in Vietnam. Prosecutors argued that such actions were illegal because pluralism would constitute a violation of the Vietnamese constitution, which says the Communist Party leads the state and society.
The trials were “bundled together for maximum deterrent effect”, said Carlyle Thayer, a Vietnamese politics expert at the University of New South Wales Australian Defence Force Academy.
“It is no coincidence that renewed repression coincides with advance preparations for the 11th Party congress. Party conservatives are trying to stem pressures to step up the pace of political reform in order to remain in power.”
The Vietnamese Communist Party holds a national congress once every five years to draw up a socio-political blueprint and make leadership changes. The 11th congress is due to take place in January 2011, and experts say jockeying is already under way.
Sophie Richardson, Asia advocacy director for Human Rights Watch, also linked the trials to the upcoming congress, calling the Vietnamese government “an intransigent and unaccountable regime that knows it can get away with flagrantly violating the rights of its citizens”.
“It’s essential that Vietnam’s donors weigh in directly with government authorities at the highest levels to strongly condemn Vietnam’s latest assault on free expression,” she said.
The trials have attracted the attention of several Western governments concerned about Vietnam’s human rights record and were attended by a handful of foreign diplomats.
But from an investor’s perspective, they are unlikely to cause alarm, economists said. Political stability has been one of Vietnam’s selling points.
“Does it make people feel queasy? Probably. But right now my feeling is that the government probably has pretty good control of things,” said one banker at a U.S. investment bank who declined to be identified by name.
Most investors know what they are getting into here, said one economist. “As long as there isn’t massive underlying dissatisfaction with the government, and no possibility of social instability, their investments will be fine,” she said.
But Thayer said there appears to be concern among some in Vietnam’s leadership about growing dissent.
“Those promoting repression have been unnerved both by the revival of dissent by Bloc 8406 members and by the growing coalescence of dissent across different issues such as human rights, bauxite mining and relations with China,” he said.
The trials were scheduled earlier but postponed, analysts say, so they would not coincide with President Nguyen Minh Triet’s trip to the United Nations and Foreign Minister Pham Gia Khiem’s meeting two weeks ago with U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
| Famous Person - Commit Crime - Sentence | October 2009 | ['(BBC)', '(UPI)', '(Reuters India)'] |
The Russian Air Force uses an Iranian airbase near Hamadan to launch airstrikes in Syria. | Russia's defence ministry says it has used a base in western Iran to carry out air strikes in Syria.
Tupolev-22M3 long-range bombers and Sukhoi-34 strike fighters took off from Hamedan on Tuesday, a statement said.
Targets were hit in Aleppo, Idlib and Deir al-Zour provinces, it added. Local groups said 27 civilians had died. It is reportedly the first time Russia has struck targets inside Syria from a third country since it began a campaign to prop up Syria's president last year. Iran is Bashar al-Assad's main regional ally and has provided significant military and financial support since an uprising against him erupted in 2011.
The US State Department said Russia's use of an Iranian base was "unfortunate but not surprising". Asked about moves towards a possible agreement with Russia to co-operate in fighting so-called Islamic State (IS), a spokesman, Mark Toner, said closer Russian-Iranian ties would not necessarily preclude a deal. But he added: "We're not there yet."
In recent months, senior Russian and Iranian officials have discussed boosting their military co-operation, reports the BBC's Steve Rosenberg in Moscow.
Last week, Russia asked Iran and Iraq to allow Russian cruise missiles to fly through their airspace for attacks on terrorist targets in Syria.
Russia has been operating jets and helicopters from bases in Syria for the past year, but this is the first time that Moscow has deployed aircraft to a third country in the region. Reports indicate that up to six Tupolev Tu-22M3 bombers - known by the Nato codename of "Backfire" - are now operating from an air base in western Iran. These planes - originally designed as a long-range strategic bomber - have already been engaged in the Syrian air campaign but operating from bases in southern Russia. Placing them in Iran dramatically reduces the duration of their missions. The Russian defence ministry says that an unspecified number of Sukhoi-34 strike aircraft have also been sent to Iran. Their deployment marks an intensification of the Russian air campaign - perhaps a reflection of the scale of the fighting in and around Aleppo - and it is a demonstration of the growing warmth in ties between Moscow and Tehran, the Syrian government's two closest allies. The Russian defence ministry statement said Tuesday's air strikes had killed a "large number" of militants from IS and Jabhat Fateh al-Sham, a rival jihadist group previously known as al-Nusra Front.
They had also resulted in the destruction of five warehouses filled with weapons, ammunition and fuel, and jihadist training camps in the northern provinces of Aleppo and Idlib, it added. Three command centres in the eastern province of Deir al-Zour were also hit.
The Local Co-ordination Committees in Syria said 15 civilians had died in Russian strikes in the Tariq al-Bab district of Aleppo and a further two in the Daret Izza district.
Another 10 people died in air attacks in the Ommal neighbourhood of Deir al-Zour, the committees said.
The strikes came a day after Russia's defence minister suggested Moscow was close to an agreement with the US on collaborating in attacks on IS around the divided city of Aleppo, where fighting between Syrian government and rebel forces has escalated in recent weeks.
"We are moving step by step closer to a plan - and I'm only talking about Aleppo here - that would really allow us to start fighting together to bring peace so that people can return to their homes in this troubled land," Russia's RIA news agency cited Sergei Shoigu as saying.
The US has conducted hundreds of air strikes against IS and Jabhat Fateh al-Sham militants in Syria since September 2014, but it backs the rebellion.
Also on Tuesday, Human Rights Watch alleged that Russian and Syrian government aircraft had been using incendiary weapons in civilian areas in violation of international law - something Moscow has denied.
A review of photographs and videos indicated there were at least 18 incendiary weapon attacks on rebel-held areas in Aleppo and Idlib between 5 June and 10 August, the US-based group said. Witnesses and emergency workers reported at least 12 civilians wounded in five of the attacks. | Armed Conflict | August 2016 | ['(BBC)'] |
Police in China detain 75 people in connection with a service that determined the female gender of unborn babies for the purpose of abortion. Authorities say that at least 300 people were involved in the illegal service in the eastern Chinese province of Zhejiang. Expectant parents wanting male children smuggled fetal blood samples to Hong Kong for gender testing. China ended its onechild policy last year. | Police in China have detained 75 people in connection with a widespread network that illegally determined the gender of unborn babies.
The illegal service - aimed at expectant parents wanting male children - smuggled fetal blood samples to Hong Kong for gender testing, officials say.
It operated across much of China and brought in $30m (25m).
Despite decades of campaigning, Chinese families, particularly in rural areas, continue to prize boys above girls.
At least 300 people were involved in the illegal service, the authorities in the eastern Chinese province of Zhejiang said.
The size of the operation and the money involved reveal the desperation of the parents who wanted the service, BBC Asia Pacific regional editor Celia Hatton says. China ended its one-child policy last year, which was seen as contributing to the gender imbalance in China.
But Chinese population officials this week warned that that imbalance, 113 boys for every 100 girls, would remain for years to come.
| Famous Person - Commit Crime - Accuse | October 2016 | ['(BBC)'] |
The United States Air Force's robotic Boeing X–37B spaceplane returns to Earth after a classified 469–day orbital mission. | The U.S. Air Force's robotic X-37B space plane finally returned to Earth Saturday (June 16), wrapping up a mysterious mission that lasted more than year in orbit.
The unmanned X-37B spacecraft, also known as Orbital Test Vehicle-2 (OTV-2), glided back to Earth on autopilot, touching down at California's Vandenberg Air Force Base at 5:48 a.m. PDT (8:48 a.m. EDT, 1248 GMT). The landing brought to an end the X-37B program's second-ever spaceflight, a mission that lasted more than 15 months with objectives that remain shrouded in secrecy.
Air Force officials announced the X-37B space plane's successful landing in a brief statement posted on the Vandenberg website and emailed to reporters.
"Team Vandenberg has put in over a year's worth of hard work in preparation for this landing and today we were able to see the fruits of our labor," said Col. Nina Armagno, 30th Space Wing commander at Vandenberg. "I am so proud of our team for coming together to execute this landing operation safely and successfully."
The X-37B stayed in orbit for 469 days this time, more than doubling the 225 days its sister ship, OTV-1, spent in space last year on the program's maiden flight. Officials at Vandenberg said the spacecraft conducted "on-orbit experiments" during its mission. The landing window for the X-37B actually opened on June 11, and was expected to close on Monday (June 18).
An extended, mysterious mission
OTV-2 launched aboard an Atlas 5 rocket from Florida's Cape Canaveral Air Force Station on March 5, 2011. The space plane was designed to stay aloft for 270 days, but the Air Force kept it flying well beyond that milestone in a mission that officials recently called a "spectacular success."
"With the retirement of the space shuttle fleet, the X-37B OTV program brings a singular capability to space technology development," said X-37B program manager Lt. Col. Tom McIntyre in today's statement. "The return capability allows the Air Force to test new technologies without the same risk commitment faced by other programs. We're proud of the entire team's successful efforts to bring this mission to an outstanding conclusion."
Exactly what the spacecraft, which is built by Boeing, was doing up there for so long is a secret. The details of the X-37B's mission, which is overseen by the Air Force's Rapid Capabilities Office, are classified, as is its payload.
This secrecy has led to some speculation, especially online and abroad, that the X-37B could be a space weapon of some sort — perhaps a sophisticated satellite-killer. Some experts also suspect that the vehicle may be an orbital spy platform.
The Air Force, however, has worked to tamp down such speculation, stressing repeatedly that the X-37B isn't doing anything nefarious hundreds of miles above the Earth's surface.
"This is a test vehicle to prove the materials and capabilities, to put experiments in space and bring them back and check out the technologies," Richard McKinney, the Air Force's deputy undersecretary for space programs, said shortly after OTV-1 landed in December 2010.
"My words to others who might read anything else into that is, 'Just listen to what we're telling you,'" McKinney added. "This is, pure and simple, a test vehicle so we can prove technologies and capabilities."
The X-37B looks a bit like NASA's recently retired space shuttle, but it's far smaller. The X-37B is about 29 feet (8.8 meters) long and 15 feet (4.5 m) wide, with a payload bay about the size of a pickup truck bed. Two X-37B vehicles could fit inside the payload bay of a space shuttle.
The spacecraft's orbital longevity is enabled by its solar array, which generates power after deploying from its payload bay.
Cargo and crew carrier?
While the X-37B currently flies only hush-hush missions for the Defense Department, its spaceflight role may be expanded in the future.
In its current state, the vehicle could fly cargo missions to the International Space Station, docking to the orbiting outpost's common berthing port, Boeing officials have said.
Boeing is also looking into building a larger variant of the spacecraft called the X-37C, which could ferry up to six astronauts to the space station. The X-37C would be 65 to 80 percent bigger than the X-37B.
Originally, NASA used the X-37B as an experimental test bed until funding for the project ran out in 2004. The vehicle then passed to the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, and it was ultimately turned over to the Air Force in 2006.
Vandenberg officials said the next X-37B mission will launch sometime later this year, most likely during autumn. That mission will use the first X-37B to fly, OTV-1, lofting it to orbit for a second flight.
| New achievements in aerospace | June 2012 | ['(Space.com)'] |
Hundreds of people protest in Hong Kong over alleged beatings of its journalists in mainland China covering unrest in Xinjiang. | HONG KONG - HUNDREDS of journalists protested in Hong Kong on Sunday over alleged police brutality towards three of their colleagues covering syringe attacks in China's restive Xinjiang region.
On September 4, TVB reporter Lam Tsz-ho, his cameraman Lau Wing-chuen, and Now TV cameraman Lam Chun-wai were reportedly tied up, beaten and detained by police while covering protests in Urumqi that erupted after a spate of needle attacks in the city.
At a press conference a few days after the incident, Xinjiang government spokeswoman Hou Hanmin voiced regret but blamed journalists for inciting unrest.
Mak Yin-ting, chairwoman of the Hong Kong Journalists Association (HKJA), said media workers were angry over the 'outrageous and blatantly false' allegations against the journalists.
'This is a violent trampling on press freedom,' she said. 'It is not a single incident. Even last year, lots of our journalists were beaten while reporting in China. The situation is getting worse now.'
The Foreign Correspondents' Club of Hong Kong, which co-organised the protest, said Beijing should conduct a full and impartial investigation into the affair and publish an uncensored report of its findings.
'It is the first time the entire spectrum of the Hong Kong society, including senior government officials and National People's Congress delegates, have condemned such treatment of reporters,' the club's president Tom Mitchell told AFP. 'I think, as a result, the Central Government will take notice.'
The protesters, who included some of the territory's pro-democracy politicians, marched to the Central Government Liaison Office and tied red ribbons at the entrance. Pro-Beijing political parties were not represented at the march but have voiced condemnation of the Xinjiang authorities over the incident.
Local delegates to the National People's Congress have urged Beijing to investigate the matter. -- AFP | Protest_Online Condemnation | September 2009 | ['(RTHK)', '(BBC)', '(Straits Times)'] |
Islamist militants kill two Tunisian soldiers and injure four others who were seeking to free a man kidnapped in a mountainous area near the border with Algeria. | Baku-APA. Two Tunisian soldiers were killed and four more were injured after a group of terrorists opened fire on them during an army patrol on Mount Samama, in Kasserine near the Algerian borders, on Monday, APA reports quoting Xinhua.
The spokesperson for the defense ministry Belhassan Oueslati said that the army patrol was on a mission to sweep the area, and search for a reportedly missing shepherd from the region.
The Tunisian army received information that the shepherd, a young man named Najib Guesmi, was kidnapped by a group of terrorists.
According to the same statement, Guesmi was accompanied by a friend who escaped the kidnapping and reported the incident to the local authorities. The latter explained that the group of terrorists consisted in six individuals who were violent to both him and his friend, and that they stole his clothes and some of his sheep.
He also said that the terrorists had Kalashnikov weapons among other types of arms.
Oueslati announced that the injured soldiers were immediately transferred to the closest hospital in the region, to receive the necessary treatment.
The Samama mountain has been declared a closed military zone along with other mountains on the Algerian borders in the region of Kasserine, mid-west Tunisia. Sweeping operations have been ongoing in search for terrorist camps and shelters for the past couple of years.
Tens of Tunisian soldiers were killed in the region whether in mine explosions, or during an armed confrontation with gunmen. | Armed Conflict | October 2015 | ['(Reuters)', '(AzeriPress Agency)'] |
Former President of Brazil Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva is charged with money laundering. | Brazilian prosecutors are filing charges against ex-President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva in a money laundering probe, officials say.
The charges, which are related to a major corruption scandal at state oil company Petrobras, still have to be formally accepted by a judge. Lula denies any wrongdoing and says the accusations are politically motivated. He is among 16 people who are formally being accused of money laundering by Sao Paulo prosecutors.
Lula's son is also reported to be on the list.
Lula and his wife, Marisa Leticia, face questions over the alleged ownership of a seafront penthouse in the exclusive resort of Guaruja. Prosecutors have announced a news conference for later on Thursday.
Lula's lawyer, Cristiano Zanin Martins, said he was not given official access to the accusations against the former leader.
"This action confirms the bias [against Lula] in this whole process," he said. Prosecutors say one of the country's biggest construction firms, OAS, carried out extensive refurbishment on the penthouse.
Officially the apartment belongs to OAS, which is under investigation. It has been accused of paying bribes to politicians and senior officials at Petrobras to secure lucrative contracts. Lula, 70, denies all accusations and says he never owned the apartment. He also accuses the prosecutor in the case of being arbitrary, says the BBC's Daniel Gallas in Sao Paulo.
The former president was detained last Friday for questioning over the three-storey penthouse.
His high-profile detention led to criticism not only from his supporters but also from judges and politicians, who said the measure was unnecessary.
Lula's supporters say the attacks on him are aimed at tarnishing his reputation, amid rumours that he may run for office again in 2018.
He was Brazil's president from 2003 to 2011 and was succeeded in office by his political protege, Dilma Rousseff, who has record-low approval rates amid a serious economic crisis.
She joined hundreds of people showing support for the former president last Saturday.
Lula, a former factory worker and union leader, remains a very popular figure in Brazil despite the accusations against senior members of his left-leaning Workers' Party. | Famous Person - Commit Crime - Accuse | March 2016 | ['(BBC)'] |
A fire tears through a combined residential and office building in Calcutta, India, killing 24 people, including two who leapt to their deaths. |
A fire that tore through a combined residential and office building in Calcutta has killed 24 people, including two who leapt to their deaths.
Initial reports said six people had died in the blaze, but firefighters later found more bodies inside the seven-storey structure.
"The bodies of 18 others burnt to death were recovered from the staircase of the building," said West Bengal fire service chief Gopal Bhattacharya.
"The door to the top roof was locked. They could have been alive if they had reached the roof."
Four others who suffered burn injuries died in hospital, state home secretary Ardhendu Sen said.
A further 20 people were being treated in hospital, with five said to be in a critical condition.
Large crowds gathered in the eastern Indian city to watch the rescue operation at the nearly century-old building.
As thick smoke billowed from the fourth floor, officials scrambled to get dozens of people to safety.
It took more than 100 firefighters several hours to bring the blaze under control.
"The damaged portion of the building will be razed," said Calcutta mayor Bikas Ranjan Bhattacharya.
An investigation into the cause of the fire was under way, but it was believed to have started in an elevator, police officer Javed Shamim said. | Fire | March 2010 | ['(Sky)', '(LBS)'] |
Voters in Latvia go to the polls to vote for a new parliament. The governing coalition loses its majority with two new parties Who owns the state? and the New Conservative Party becoming the second and third biggest parties behind Social Democratic Party "Harmony". , | Latvians are going to the polls in parliamentary elections that could see a strong showing from a Russia-friendly party. In 2018 the country celebrates a hundred years since it first became an independent state.
Latvians were voting Saturday in a general election that could see a pro-Kremlin-populist coalition come to power, as the Baltic state celebrates the centenary of its independence from the Tsarist Russian empire after the World War I.
With a quarter of voters remaining undecided on the eve of the election, according to independent polling firm SKDS, the result is still wide open.
But the center-left and pro-Moscow Harmony party enjoys strong support among Latvia's ethnic Russian minority, which makes up about a quarter of the country's 1.9 million population.
Harmony, which was formerly allied with the United Russia party of Russian President Vladimir Putin, is expected to put in another good showing after winning the majority of votes in the last three elections. It did not enter government solely because it failed to find any other party to form a coalition.
This time around, however, it could find the necessary ally in the KPV LV, a populist party led by former stage actor Artuss Kaimins, who has retained popularity with voters despite his being detained over corruption allegations in June.
A willing partner
The KPV LV — which translates as "Who owns the state? — has suggested it is willing to work with any other parties, saying it had "no red lines."
Polls show that a relatively new rightist party, the New Conservative Party, which opposes Russian being considered a national language in Latvia, is also likely to enter parliament. The Russian language dominated during Latvia's periods under Soviet rule from 1940-41 and 1944-1991. The current national language is Latvian but there have been attempts by Russian speakers to re-establish their tongue at an official level alongside it.
Read more: Latvia pushes majority language in schools, leaving parents miffed
Latvia, an EU and NATO member, is currently ruled by a center-right coalition of the Unity party, the Union of Greens and Farmers and the National Alliance, but opinion polls have shown it losing ground.
Saturday's election in Latvia, which sees 16 parties vying for 100 parliamentary seats, is being monitored by a team from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE). Polling stations are to close at 1900 UTC and final results are expected early on Sunday.
The World War II memorial in Riga divides public opinion. Some see it as a symbol for the Soviet victory over fascism, whilst others - mostly Latvians - consider it as a symbol of the subsequent Soviet occupation. Latvia's second-largest city Daugavpils is geographically and socially detached from Riga, with a population of over 50 percent ethnic Russians. The Kremlin has been keen to politicize the issue of non-citizens, with many fearing a similar separatism scenario to the one in Ukraine playing out in Latvia. Daugavpils has a population of just under 100,000 - a decrease of almost 10 percent since 2009 as people leave in the hope of better lives in western Europe. Daugavpils has also been portrayed as a potential hotbed for separatism.
Evgeny Drobat, a member of the Communist Party in the years during the transition to independence, told DW that he refuses to recognize Latvia's occupation - a prerequisite for taking the Latvian naturalization exam. He voted against the law which would establish many Russian-speakers as "non-citizens." Evgeny shows his "non-citizen" passport, which includes the title "alien" under his picture. This denies him full voting rights, entry to various professions, residency and working rights in the EU - just a few of almost 100 legal restrictions. Riga - the cosmopolitan capital of Latvia - has seen a 13-percent decrease in its population since joining the EU. Even though official language is Latvian, Russian is spoken predominantly in the streets. Alexandr Aleksandrov, himself an "alien," thinks it’s all part of a bigger problem. "A lot of Russians who came here during the occupation were aggressively pushed out of society," he told DW. "I don’ t feel victimized [by the status], I don't feel that separate, but in general I feel on the sidelines. I was thinking how this affected me, my vision; probably it did a lot." Alexandr maintains a level-headed approach. "The fact that Latvia was annexed legally, albeit using force, doesn’t make it any better." Baltic states were hit hard during the 2008 financial crash. Severe austerity contributed to the rise of social problems and a spike in emigration and subsequent depopulation. "Non-citizens," however, are denied working rights in the EU, among other legal restrictions. This memorial in Riga is dedicated to those who stood at the barricades in 1991. "Many Russians stood together with Latvians, and now they have to prove their loyalty?" said Aleksei Vasiljev, a teacher in Daugavpils. Aleksei, however, also said that the Russian-speakers in Daugavpils have "two presidents - one of them is Putin." Yelena Vecena, director of a school in Daugavpils, says that "language is not an obstacle to those who want to learn and to communicate." To become a Latvian citizen, it's necessary to take a naturalization exam, covering the basics of the constitution and language skills. The key question, however, is: "Do you recognize the Soviet occupation of Latvia?" For many, this remains a moral obstacle. Author: Benas Gerdziunas (Latvia) tj/ng (dpa, AFP) | Government Job change - Election | October 2018 | ['(Deutsche Welle)', '(Reuters)'] |
North Korea launches a missile from a submarine off the port city of Sinpo in the Sea of Japan, according to U.S. and South Korean officials. This missile, the third sub-based attempt this year, flew about 500 kilometers and landed in waters between the Korean Peninsula and Japan. The first test exploded and the second traveled 30 km (18½ miles). | Follow NBC News North Korea launched a missile from a submarine in the waters off the country’s east coast Tuesday, U.S. and South Korean officials said.
The missile launch was detected at around 5 a.m. Wednesday Pyongyang time (4:30 p.m. Tuesday ET), a U.S. defense official said.
The missile was fired in the Sea of Japan off the city of Sinpo, and it flew about 300 miles before splashing down in the sea, the U.S. defense official said. The country's previous sub-launched missiles this year either blew up or traveled a far shorter distance.
Kim Dong Jo, a spokesman for the presidential office in Seoul, said South Korea also tracked the test missile. He said the standing committee of the presidential National Security Council would convene Wednesday to discuss the launch.
The missile was most likely a KN-11 ballistic missile, the U.S. official said. U.S. Strategic Command said it tracked the missile and it posed no threat to the U.S.
"We strongly condemn this and North Korea's other recent missile tests, which violate U.N. Security Council Resolutions explicitly prohibiting North Korea's launches using ballistic missile technology," Strategic Command said in a statement.
Related: North Korean Diplomat Defects to South Korea, Seoul Says
North Korea has defied the resolutions barring ballistic missile tests. The country has conducted four nuclear tests, most recently in January.
The new test is the third submarine-launched ballistic missile launched by North Korea this year.
The last missile, launched on July 9, exploded in mid-air while a missile launched April 29 traveled about 30 km, or a little more than 16 and a half miles.
A South Korean military officer told NBC News Wednesday's test indicates North Korea is making progress. The officer said the launch was likely timed as a show of force amid planned South Korean-U.S. military exercises.
"We are warning North Korea sternly that today's test launch of SLBM is a serious challenge to the security of the Korean peninsula, as well as a serious violation of the U.N. Security Council's resolution," the military officer said. "We will swiftly and strongly respond to North Korea's provocation based on our combined forces' resolute military readiness."
Related: North Korea Says It Simulated Pre-Emptive Strikes on U.S. Targets
The U.N. and U.S. imposed new sanctions on North Korea after the Feb. 7 launch of a rocket that was claimed to be for a satellite but which was seen as a thinly-veiled intercontinental ballistic missile test.
North Korea's most recent nuclear test was claimed by the regime to be a miniaturized hydrogen bomb, but experts have doubted the claim.
The missile tests come amid tough talk from the isolated nation.
North Korea’s top diplomat said last month that the U.S. "crossed a red line" and effectively declared war by putting leader Kim Jong Un on a list of sanctioned individuals.
North Korea has also expressed outrage over the planned deployment of a U.S. missile defense system, the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense, in South Korea.
Phil Helsel is a reporter for NBC News.
Courtney Kube is a correspondent covering national security and the military for the NBC News Investigative Unit. | Military Exercise | August 2016 | ['(311 miles)', '(NBC News)', '(AP)'] |
Pakistan has decided to impose official prohibition on Jundallah and splinter groups that claim responsibility for terror attacks. | ISLAMABAD: The government has decided to impose a ban on Jundullah and all the terrorist groups that claim responsibility for terror attacks.
Sources said that the National Counter Terrorism Authority (NACTA), under the directives of the Interior Ministry, has decided to impose a ban on Jundullah and the splinter groups that separate them from proscribed outfits and the groups that claim responsibility of terror attacks.
The decision for slapping the ban has been taken after the responsibility for the Wagah border and Peshawar Church attack was claimed.
The provinces have been directed to provide details about Jundullah. Nacta has sent a letter to all the four provinces, AJK, Gilgit-Baltistan and chief commissioner Islamabad in this regard. | Government Policy Changes | January 2017 | ['(The News)', '(Daily Times)'] |
The Senate of the United States confirms the appointment of General David Petraeus as the Commander of the United States Central Command and Raymond T. Odierno as the Commander of the Multinational Force Iraq replacing General Petraeus. | By ANNE FLAHERTY – Jul 10, 2008 WASHINGTON (AP) — Notwithstanding months of partisan wrangling in Congress over the Iraq war, the Senate Thursday handily confirmed Gen. David Petraeus as the top commander in the Middle East and Lt. Gen. Raymond Odierno to replace Petraeus as the chief military officer in Iraq.
The Senate voted 95-2 in favor of Petraeus with Democratic Sens. Robert Byrd and Tom Harkin opposing. Harkin, D-Iowa, cast the lone vote opposing Odierno, who was confirmed 96-1.
The Senate action will keep the nation on its present course in Iraq for the remainder of the year. It also will hand the next administration a pair of combat-tested commanders who have relentlessly defended the need to keep troops in Iraq in large numbers, rather than wind down combat operations.
Despite their firm backing of the politically unpopular war, Petraeus and Odierno drew little criticism from congressional Democrats who typically reserve their sharpest critiques for Bush and his political appointees.
"This continuity in U.S. military leadership will be helpful in working with regional and Iraqi political and military leaders," said Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee.
Byrd, chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee, said he opposed Petraeus in part because the general should see through operations in Iraq.
With security gains being described as fragile, "it does not seem prudent to remove the mastermind behind the fragile successes that have been thus far achieved," said Byrd, D-W.Va.
Last year, Petraeus helped to tame growing opposition to the Iraq war in Congress by providing measured assessments of progress and warning that an exodus of U.S. troops would result in chaos. In the meantime, he advocated a buildup of some 30,000 troops in Baghdad and other hotspots, which eventually proved vital in tamping down violence.
Odierno, as Petraeus' deputy commander in Iraq, is credited with successfully managing the new strategy.
In their new jobs, Odierno will receive a fourth star and report to Petraeus, whose area of responsibility will broaden to include such countries as Iran and Pakistan.
By mid-July, the Pentagon is on track to withdraw the last of the additional combat brigades sent as part of the build-up, leaving behind roughly 142,000 troops. During his nomination hearing in May, Petraeus told Congress that he is likely to recommend more troop reductions this fall.
Petraeus would replace Navy Adm. William J. Fallon as chief of U.S. Central Command. Fallon resigned last month following news reports that he was at odds with the White House over Iran policy. | Government Job change - Appoint_Inauguration | July 2008 | ['(AP via Google News)'] |
New research suggests that the cloth in the Shroud of Turin likely dates from between 300 BC and 400 AD. | After decades of speculation, new research suggests that the Shroud of Turin, one of the Catholic Church’s holiest relics, may be the real deal.
Believed by some to have been Jesus’ burial cloth, the Shroud has been the subject of much research. The latest battery of experiments led experts to conclude the cloth may have come from the first century A.D., making it old enough to have been used to bury Jesus Christ
Giulio Fanti, a professor of mechanical and thermal measurement at the University of Padua, announced the findings in a book that hit shelves Wednesday in Italy, reports Vatican Insider. Fanti has written several papers about the shroud, including one in 2011 that hypothesized how radiation could have caused the image of a man’s bloody face and body to appear on the cloth. In his most recent effort, Fanti and a research team from the University of Padua conducted three tests on tiny fibers extracted from the shroud during earlier carbon-14 dating tests conducted in 1988, according to Vatican Insider. The first two tests used infrared light and Raman spectroscopy, respectively, while the third employed a test analyzing different mechanical parameters relating to voltage.
The results date the cloth to between 300 B.C. and 400 A.D., per The Telegraph. In an email with The Huffington Post, Fanti said that researchers also found trace elements of soil “compatible with the soil of Jerusalem.”
“For me the [Shroud] comes from God because there are hundreds of clues in favor to the authenticity,” he wrote, adding that there also “no sure proofs.” “The tests will revive the debate about the true origins of one of Christianity’s most prized but mysterious relics and are likely to be hotly contested by sceptics,” The Telegraph’s Nick Squires writes about Fanti’s experiments.
Much of the controversy about the Shroud centers around carbon-14 dating tests from 1988 that concluded the piece of linen was a medieval forgery. However, those results may have been contaminated by fibers used to repair the cloth during the Middle Ages, according to the BBC.
Fanti’s book, Il Mistero della Sindone (translated to The Mystery of the Shroud) , co-authored by journalist Saverio Gaeta, was released ahead of the Easter holiday, as Christians around the world prepare to celebrate the resurrection of Jesus.
The Shroud generally resides in a climate-controlled case in a cathedral in Turin, Italy, and is rarely viewed. It will make a rare televised appearance this year, however, on the Saturday before Easter. | New archeological discoveries | March 2013 | ['(The Huffington Post)'] |
Analysis shows that a rare fire tornado that barreled into the city of Redding on July 26 during the Carr Fire was responsible for the death of a firefighter as he raced towards a neighborhood in flames. | A rare “fire tornado” that barreled into Redding during the destructive Carr fire was responsible for killing a firefighter as he raced toward a neighborhood in flames, an investigation has found.
The twister may have been California’s strongest on record. It was roughly 1,000 feet in diameter and reached speeds of 136-165 mph, equivalent to a twister with a rating of EF-3 on the five-level Enhanced Fujita scale, the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection said.
Not only is it believed to be responsible for the death of Redding fire inspector Jeremy Stoke, but the twister was also in the general area where Melody Bledsoe, 70, and her great-grandchildren, 5-year-old James Roberts and 4-year-old Emily Roberts, died in the blaze.
Stoke died after he became trapped in the fire tornado as he was heading south on Buenaventura Boulevard — the only path of escape for residents of the Redding neighborhoods of Land Park and Stanford Hills, which burned. Stoke had been heading to Land Park.
The tornado was highly unpredictable, resulting in fire behavior that surprised many highly experienced firefighters, the report said. Stoke was killed on the evening of July 26, when the fire suddenly transformed from a fuel-dominated fire to one that was driven and spread in part by wind generated from the fire itself.
Cal Fire also released dramatic video showing the tornado from a couple of perspectives. In a video shot from a helicopter, the immense twister can be seen glowing orange as gray smoke twists counterclockwise, surrounded by flames all around the vortex. In another video shot from a fire engine in Stanford Hills, a giant spinning vortex can be seen in the background.
The tornado was very destructive, causing wind damage to large oak trees, scouring the ground, damaging roofs and throwing high up into the air large steel power-line towers, vehicles and a steel shipping container, the Cal Fire report said. Peak temperatures in the tornado probably exceeded 2,700 degrees, and the strong winds caused the fire to burn all but the smallest vegetation, officials said.
The report said that, based on witness observations and other evidence, there were either several fire tornadoes that occurred in different locations and at different times, or one fire twister that formed, waned and waxed, resulting in several separate areas of damage.
Stoke was racing to Land Park as the rapidly moving blaze approached the Sacramento River from the west and threatened the neighborhoods east of the river.
By 6:38 p.m., firefighters ordered the evacuation of Buenaventura Boulevard. Five minutes later, firefighters determined that the fire was going to cross the river, and by 6:59 they observed smoke just northwest of Land Park.
A spot fire was seen west of Buenaventura Boulevard by firefighters at 7:17, and numerous other spot blazes were detected east of the Sacramento River. Minutes later, firefighters sought to evacuate residents and prepared to defend homes. It was around 7:23 that they began to see a large rotating plume of smoke just north of Land Park near Buenaventura Boulevard.
“The swirling winds at the base of the plume dramatically increased fire intensity. The rotating plume continued to intensify until it developed into a fire tornado,” the report said. “Winds dramatically increased near the fire tornado, and embers were lofted in many directions.”
At around 7:35, Stoke was dispatched from a fire station to Land Park just as the blaze reached the area. Three minutes later, a fire captain saw a fire tornado near Buenaventura Boulevard north of Land Park.
Stoke was last heard at 7:40 radioing a mayday, calling out for a water drop, and said he was getting burned over, the report said. He said he was in the middle of a road. Another firefighter called out to get Stoke’s location. There was no response.
The report also described the circumstances of the death of Don Ray Smith, 81, a bulldozer operator who was killed while battling the fire. Smith had been traveling downhill while trying to improve a pathway toward Spring Creek Reservoir that had been dozed over as a firebreak when he was overcome by flames.
A Cal Fire hand-crew strike team leader who assigned Smith to improve that pathway was unaware that a different dozer earlier that morning had abandoned that pathway because the area was too steep and overgrown with vegetation, and that the firebreak would be left incomplete because it was not viable.
Smith proceeded to improve the firebreak after meeting with the team leader around 5:30 p.m. But soon after, the fire had begun to increase in intensity, and winds were gaining strength from the northwest.
As Smith traveled down the existing dozer line downhill toward the reservoir, firefighters saw the blaze intensify. By 5:44, the fire jumped the dozer line. The team leader radioed to Smith several times to tell him to “get out of there,” the report said.
Two firefighters near the top of the dozer line tried to chase down the tractor, but couldn’t make it through as the flames strengthened. Finally, Smith responded back to the team leader by radio, saying “he could not get out because he was cut off by the fire, and he would push down instead.” He was heard around 5:50 p.m. asking for a water drop and saying he was trying to make a safety zone. That was his last message.
Smith’s fire shelter was found behind his seat, and his fire curtains were not deployed.
As of Thursday, the Carr fire had burned more than 214,000 acres and was 71% contained. The blaze has destroyed more than 1,000 residences and has been blamed for eight deaths. Besides Stoke, Smith, Bledsoe and her two great-grandchildren, another Redding resident, a Pacific Gas & Electric utility worker and a Cal Fire mechanic have also died in connection with the blaze. | Fire | August 2018 | ['(Los Angeles Times)'] |
Japan and South Korea hold a high-level bilateral meeting for the first time since the trade dispute, with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzō Abe meeting with his counterpart Lee Nak-yeon. | To enjoy our content, please include The Japan Times on your ad-blocker's list of approved sites.
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Staff Writer
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Thursday met with South Korean Prime Minister Lee Nak-yon, who was in Tokyo this week for the imperial enthronement ceremony, but the leaders failed to make progress in easing highly strained bilateral ties.
The session was among dozens of courtesy meetings Abe held with world leaders who had come to Japan for the ceremony.
Despite the lack of clear progress, Lee handed Abe a personal letter from South Korean President Moon Jae-in during the 20-minute meeting, which was originally scheduled to last just 10 minutes. A briefing from Japanese officials suggested the two countries are still locked in a diplomatic standstill over the wartime labor compensation issue involving Japan’s 1910-1945 colonial rule of the Korean Peninsula.
According to Japanese officials, Abe repeated the government’s stance during the meeting over the wartime labor issue, saying he hoped that South Korea would “act in accordance with the promises made between” the two countries, referring to the 1965 economic cooperation pact designed to settle all post-colonial compensation issues. The pact was attached to a 1965 basic treaty that normalized the nation’s postwar relations, a result of marathon negotiations.
During the meeting, Lee reportedly claimed in return that South Korea “had always and will continue to comply with” the 1965 pact, effectively claiming that South Korea has not broken any promises.
Bilateral ties have been fraught since late last year, when the South Korean Supreme Court ordered Japanese companies to pay compensation for the emotional distress faced by forced wartime Korean workers.
Still, the tone of a press statement released by Tokyo suggested a subtle shift in the countries’ relationship. Although Abe reiterated the oft-repeated government line that South Korea was “breaching” international law, he also added that “the situation cannot stay this way,” suggesting the urgency with which Abe sees the worsening ties.
The contents of the letter from Moon have not been made public. But according to reports by Yonhap News Agency, it details Moon’s commitment to improving ties between the two countries and calls Japan a key partner in maintaining regional peace.
Yonhap also quoted a senior South Korean government official as saying the Lee-Abe talks were expected to serve as a “turning point” in efforts to rebuild ties, as the two sides agreed to hold “brisk, official” follow-up diplomatic consultations. Lee also reportedly said that bilateral diplomacy is expected to gain traction.
But in Tokyo, expectations for the Abe-Lee meeting had been low, as there were no signs of concessions from Tokyo or Seoul over the wartime labor issue. Japanese officials have feared any compromise on the issue could reignite numerous postwar compensation issues even beyond South Korea.Yuki Asaba, a professor well-versed in South Korean issues at Doshisha University, said the fact that Lee reconfirmed the importance of the 1965 agreements is “a step forward” but added that critical differences remain in interpretations of what exactly the agreements mean.
According to the South Korean ruling, the pact didn’t cover the mental suffering of forced wartime laborers under “illegal colonial rule,” but Japan has argued that the pact settled all compensation issues once and for all.
“The crux of the issue is that the understanding of what the treaty means is very different between the two countries,” he said.
Representatives for former forced wartime workers may start liquidating the seized assets of Japanese companies as soon as the end of this year, however, which would present a “point of no return” for South Korea-Japan ties, Asaba said.
The most realistic interim solution “would be to agree to a standstill,” where both countries pledge not to harm their relationship further, he added.
Lee was in Japan to attend the Sokui no Rei enthronement ceremony held on Tuesday. He is known to be knowledgeable about Japan, having lived in the country as a reporter before his career as a politician.
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Our showcase of organizations and communities' efforts toward a new way of thinking about the future. | Diplomatic Talks _ Diplomatic_Negotiation_ Summit Meeting | October 2019 | ['(The Japan Times)'] |
Following Russian airstrikes, the Syrian army and allied Lebanese Hezbollah militia take control of a highland area in Idlib province close to insurgent-held positions, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. | Published: 11 October 2015 3:51 PM Women run at a site hit by what activists said were airstrikes carried out by the Russian air force in Kafranbel, near Idlib Syria yesterday. Reuters pic, October 11, 2015.The Syrian army backed by allied militia have advanced in western Syria after heavy Russian airstrikes in areas around the main highway running through major cities, a group monitoring the war said today.
After deadly clashes the military and Lebanese Hezbollah militiamen took control of Tal Skik, a highland area in Idlib province close to insurgent-held positions along the highway, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.
Syria's state news agency SANA also said Tal Skik was now under Syrian army control after an "extensive military operation" on the ground backed by Russia air strikes against "terrorist organisations" in the area.
It said the military had destroyed weapons, ammunition and equipment during the offensive and that 50 enemy fighters had been killed in the air strikes. The Observatory and Lebanon-based TV channel al-Mayadeen said a senior Hezbollah fighter had also been killed in clashes.
Idlib is mainly held by the Army of Conquest, an Islamist insurgent alliance that includes al Qaeda's Syria wing Nusra Front but not the ultra hardline Islamic State (Isis) group Russia says is the focus of its airstrikes which started on September 30.
Russian strikes have focused on areas in Hama province and neighbouring Idlib where insurgents have advanced in recent months.
Their advance had threatened government-held territory further west including coastal areas vital to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's control of the country.
The highway that runs from the capital Damascus in the south up through Homs, Hama to Aleppo in the north is vital for controlling populous parts of the country.
Syria's military, backed allied militias on the ground and Russia in the air launched a major attack last week in Syria's west to recapture land lost to insurgents near the coastal heartland of Assad's minority Alawite sect. Reuters, October 11, 2015.
| Armed Conflict | October 2015 | ['(Reuters)', '(Malaysian Insider)'] |
The 2006 National People's Congress concludes in Beijing, China. Premier Wen Jiabao holds annual press conference from Chinese and foreign reporters. Wen reiterates Taiwan issue in serious tone. (People's Daily) | Once again Premier Wen Jiabao concluded the session of the National People's Congress with a press conference, reinforcing his image as a reasonable and down-to-earth leader.
In addition to his and the current leadership's acclaimed populist concerns, Premier Wen conveyed additional confidence yesterday when addressing the on-occasion aggressive inquiries, which ranged from rural poverty to overseas accusations of Internet regulation.
His answers left the impression that the leadership is well aware of the problems that the country is facing, and is trying to deal with them.
What is more, Wen revealed a fact that most domestic media had neglected in appraising implementation of the country's 10th Five-Year Plan (2001-05). That is our failure in curbing environmental protection.
He urged four "must-dos," namely reducing energy and resource consumption and pollutant release, eliminating polluting and wasteful industries via stricter market access, effective pollution treatment, and more aggressive law enforcement.
We hope that more people, particularly local development planners, share his anxiety and that his proposals are carried out to the letter.
Premier Wen showed us he is determined to broaden consensus. His and the leadership's appreciation of "people power," and their signature populism, will help in this regard.
The Chinese premier surprised his audience on the same occasion last year when he told the press he had read an official website where people had raised hundreds of questions for him prior to the press conference.
This time, several major Internet portals at home joined forces to solicit questions for the premier. Altogether, he and his cabinet received hundreds of thousands of questions and suggestions from enthusiastic netizens, Wen disclosed yesterday.
In saying that a people's government should subject itself to public scrutiny and listen to the public's voice, including soliciting their opinions via the Internet, Premier Wen acknowledged that a government cannot be slack when it is under the people's watchful eyes.
Such an invitation for public involvement inspires hope for benign interaction between the country's leaders and the general public.
For some other people, however, what was more interesting about Premier Wen's press conference was the part before he began taking questions.
Given what he said was intended for the "majority" who were not present at the press conference, Wen took the initiative to address recent concerns over the leadership's attitude towards reform.
Beginning last year, there have been heated debates in China over the assessment of reform over the past decades. The debate boils down to the question of whether or not we should continue to press ahead with reform.
The discord has attracted so much attention that a law professor's open expression of disapproval of the widely expected draft law on property rights was cited as a signal that reform may have hit a tough ideological snag.
"Though there are difficulties on our way ahead, we must not stop. There is no way out if we move backwards," Wen said.
This was a badly needed response to the worries and confusions regarding the direction of the country's future progress. Confusing signals on such a matter of principle were not just threatening to sap investor confidence. They were exerting a damaging impact on society's overall sense of direction.
That is why we believe this part of Premier Wen's press conference was the most important. | Famous Person - Give a speech | March 2006 | [] |
The Venezuelan de facto Attorney General Tarek William Saab announces a charge of high treason against acting president Juan Guaidó. This comes as part of an investigation where the Maduro government alleges Guaidó does not support the Venezuelan claim to the Guayana Esequiba region, despite Guaidó having been a vocal supporter of the claim since he entered politics in 2007. , | Caracas (AFP) - Venezuelan prosecutors said Friday they would charge opposition leader Juan Guaido with "high treason" for planning to renounce the country's claim to a disputed border area controlled by Guyana.
Guaido, the National Assembly speaker who is recognized as interim president by more than 50 countries, is being investigated for negotiating to renounce "the historical claim our country has on the territory of Esequibo," Attorney General Tarek William Saab told reporters.
State prosecutors successfully petitioned the country's all-powerful Constituent Assembly to lift Guaido's parliamentary immunity in April. He already faces several other charges, including one of "usurping the functions of the president".
Guaido has remained free, however, and continues to rally support against President Nicolas Maduro.
Guaido's main international sponsor, the United States, has warned Venezuelan authorities against any attempt to arrest him.
Maduro appeared on television on Thursday to call on prosecutors to file treason charges on Guaido for allegedly plotting to hand over Esequibo to multinational companies.
The case is based on audio recordings purported to involve a US administration official urging an advisor to Guaido to "deliver the Esequibo" to Exxon Mobil and other multinationals, according to the Maduro government.
The resource-rich 61,600 square mile (159,000 square kilometer) territory is the subject of a longstanding border dispute, exacerbated in 2015 by a "significant" oil discovery announced by Exxon Mobil. The oil company's exploration deal with Guyana angered Venezuela, which reasserted its territorial claim.
"We have initiated an investigation," Saab said in a televised press conference, of Guaido's involvement "in an illegal negotiation behind the country's back that intends to withdraw the historical claim our country has on the territory of Esequibo."
"The facts imply a crime of treason," he said.
It is Latin America's biggest remaining territorial dispute. If Venezuela's claim were to win out, Guyana -- the former British Guiana -- would lose more than half its territory.
| Famous Person - Commit Crime - Accuse | September 2019 | ['(South China Morning Post)', '(Yahoo)'] |
Russia confirms that a fireball seen over much of New Zealand on January 5 was its Kosmos 2430 missile early warning satellite, which was launched in 2007. | Russia has confirmed a fireball that streaked through the sky above New Zealand on Saturday was one of its early warning satellites burning up as it re-entered the Earth’s atmosphere.
The satellite’s dramatic descent was captured by TV cameras covering a cricket match between New Zealand and Sri Lanka in Mount Maunganui, New Zealand. The match commentator suggested it was a “meteor shower”.
Russia’s Aerospace Forces said the Kosmos 2430 missile early warning satellite, designed to detect intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) launches, was guided out of orbit as part of a planned operation on Saturday.
“The satellite burned up completely in the dense atmosphere above the Atlantic Ocean at a height of around 100km,” Aerospace Forces said, adding that its re-entry had been under control at all times. It said the early warning satellite had been non-operational since 2012. The satellite was launched in 2007 as part of Russia’s “Oko” ICBM detection system.
Russia is currently in the process of upgrading the Soviet-era system with more advanced missile-monitoring “Tundra” satellites. The first Tundra satellite was launched into orbit by Russia in 2015.
Norad, the North American Aerospace Defense Command, also confirmed that the brightly coloured object, which fragmented as it re-entered Earth’s atmosphere, was Kosmos 2430.
“It looked like a jet plane at first, and I thought I could see that. But then it broke up into a million pieces – like fireworks,”’ Steve Bloor, who witnessed the event, told the New Zealand Herald. | New achievements in aerospace | January 2019 | ['(The Guardian)'] |
In a meeting at the White House, U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese Vice Premier Liu He sign "Phase 1" of a new trade deal in which the U.S. will relax some of the tariffs imposed on Chinese imports while China agreed to buy more American products. Both sides also agree to not impose new tariffs. | President Trump and Vice Premier Liu He, China's top trade negotiator, sign a "Phase 1" trade agreement between the U.S. and China at the White House on Wednesday.
President Trump and Vice Premier Liu He, China's top trade negotiator, sign a "Phase 1" trade agreement between the U.S. and China at the White House on Wednesday.
Updated at 2:07 p.m. ET A year and a half after launching his trade war against China, President Trump signed a partial truce on Wednesday. "We mark more than just an agreement. We mark a sea change in international trade," Trump said during a White House signing ceremony. "At long last, Americans have a government that puts them first."
The president agreed to relax some of the tariffs he imposed on Chinese imports. In exchange, Beijing has agreed to buy more American products and make other changes.
"This is a big win for the president," Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin told Fox News, while conceding the "Phase 1" agreement does not achieve all of the reforms the administration initially sought.
"It's not everything," he acknowledged. "There will be a 'Phase 2.' But this is the first time we've had a comprehensive agreement with China."
As part of that deal, China has promised to provide more protection for American companies' intellectual property and to stop requiring U.S. companies to share their technology as a cost of doing business in China.
Beijing has a history of backsliding on such pledges. But the administration expressed confidence that the terms of this deal are enforceable. "This agreement will work if China wants it to work," said U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer. "They expect and we expect it to be enforced to the letter." The administration agreed not to impose tariffs last month on some $160 billion in Chinese imports — including popular consumer items such as cellphones and laptops — as part of the Phase 1 agreement. It also reduced the tariff rate on another $112 billion worth of goods from 15% to 7.5%.
But steep 25% tariffs remain in place on much of what the U.S. buys from China, including components that American factories use to assemble finished products. While Trump insists that China is paying those tariffs, numerous studies have found the costs are largely borne by American importers.
"This continues to be a drag on the manufacturing sector, which really has not been doing well in the last couple of quarters," said Syracuse University economist Mary Lovely.
Farmers also took a hit during the trade war, as China cut back sharply on its purchases of U.S. agricultural products.
"It's been a long haul, and the lack of certainty is probably the most challenging portion of this," said Kristin Duncanson, who raises soybeans, corn and hogs in south central Minnesota. "We can weather the weather. We know how to do that. It's weathering the politics that's the tough part."
Duncanson estimates her soybean crop lost 30% to 40% of its value during the trade war, thanks to low prices and the lack of Chinese demand. That loss was only partially offset by federal aid for affected farmers. Duncanson is hoping for a rebound once the trade agreement is signed.
"We're optimistic that signing the agreement will reopen some opportunities, especially for the Upper Midwest," she said. "But I'm also a realist enough to know until those beans are actually shipped to customers that we can't count our chickens before they're hatched."
The administration says China has pledged to boost its purchases of U.S. goods and services over the next two years by $200 billion over 2017 levels. That would represent an increase of more than 50%. That includes $32 billion in additional agricultural purchases, $78 billion in manufactured goods, $52 billion in energy products, and $38 billion in additional U.S. services. "We're delighted that the Chinese consumers will now enjoy the greater access to the best products on earth: those made, grown and raised right here in the USA," Trump said. Lovely said it's possible for China to increase its purchases by $200 billion, but warned it could have a disruptive effect on global trade flows.
"This should be giving our other trade partners some serious anxiety because one way [for China] to achieve those targets is simply to stop buying from other countries and shift purchases to the U.S.," she said.
China's Vice Premier Liu He joined Trump at the White House for the signing ceremony. While the agreement leaves major economic disputes between the two countries unresolved, Lovely said the 18-month trade war has allowed both sides to send a message.
"The U.S. is going to use whatever muscle it can to get what it wants," she said. "On the other hand, it's also shown the United States that China's going to be very hard to bully." NPR thanks our sponsors | Sign Agreement | January 2020 | ['(NPR)'] |
Saudi-led airstrikes kill at least 30 people and wound 25 others in the southwestern Yemeni town of Sanabani at a wedding hosted by a tribal leader known to support the Houthis. | Two airstrikes by the Saudi-led coalition killed at least 15 civilians and wounded 25 others in Yemen on Wednesday at a wedding hosted by a tribal leader known to support the Houthi rebels, witnesses and independent security officials said.
The strikes targeted the home of the tribal leader in Sanban, a region in Dhamar province 113 km (70 miles) southeast of the capital, Sanaa, the officials and witnesses said.
The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to the media. Witnesses declined to give their names for fear of reprisals.
There was no immediate coalition comment. The coalition last week denied that its airstrikes hit a wedding party Sept. 28, killing more than 130 people in the deadliest single event of Yemen's civil war.
News of the latest airstrikes emerged as officials said Yemeni government forces and their allies, including coalition troops, captured the last outpost of the Shiite Houthi rebels in the key Marib province. The forces took the town of Sirwah, said Col. Ayed al-Moradi, a Yemeni military official.
With pressure increasing on the Houthis, the United Nations on Wednesday announced that the rebels had accepted a Security Council resolution calling for an end to the fighting. The U.N. special envoy was on his way to the region to see how Yemen's government would respond.
The Houthis have long resisted calls to withdraw from all areas they have seized, which is a key part of the resolution the council approved in April shortly after the conflict began.
Previous attempts at peace talks have failed. U.N. special envoy for Yemen, Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed now will seek the support of all main parties to try again, U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric told reporters.
The fighting has killed more than 4,000 people, leaving the Arab world's poorest country in the grip of a humanitarian crisis and on the brink of famine.
The forces' advance on the Houthis' last outpost in Marib had been stalling for weeks.
Houthis said they repelled attacks amid coalition airstrikes, but Yemen's pro-government satellite TV broadcast footage of bodies and destroyed tanks and armored vehicles from inside Sirwah.
Emirati Brig. Gen. Ali Saif al-Kaabi, part of the coalition, told the satellite TV channel that Marib province is now under anti-Houthi forces' control.
According to medical officials, 70 Houthis and more than 50 pro-government fighters were killed in three days of fighting over the town. Witnesses in the town said few Houthi pockets still remain in Sirwah.
The coalition's goal is to retake Sanaa, which the rebels captured a year ago, but that still remains a challenge.
Obstacles along the road west of Marib include more than 10,000 land mines planted by the Houthis, according to a Yemeni military official who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to the media.
In another development Wednesday, the Houthi-run SABA news agency said rebel fighters targeted and hit a warship from the Saudi-led coalition that was stationed in Bab al-Mandab Strait, the strategic southern entrance to the Red Sea and the gateway to the Suez Canal. | Armed Conflict | October 2015 | ['(AP via ABC News)', '(The New York Times)', '(CNN)'] |
China fines Glaxosmithkline US$490 million for its alleged involvement in a bribery scandal. | China has fined UK pharmaceuticals firm GlaxoSmithKline $490m (£297m) after a court found it guilty of bribery.
The record penalty follows allegations the drug giant paid out bribes to doctors and hospitals in order to have their products promoted. The court gave GSK's former head of Chinese operations, Mark Reilly, a suspended three-year prison sentence and he is set to be deported.
Other GSK executives have also been given suspended jail sentences.
The guilty verdict was delivered after a one-day trial at a court in Changsha, according to the Xinhua news agency.
Chinese authorities first announced they were investigating GSK in July last year, in what has become the biggest corruption scandal to hit a foreign firm in years. The company was accused of having made an estimated $150m in illegal profits
GSK said it had "published a statement of apology to the Chinese government and its people".
"Reaching a conclusion in the investigation of our Chinese business is important, but this has been a deeply disappointing matter for GSK," said chief executive Sir Andrew Witty in a statement.
"We have and will continue to learn from this. GSK has been in China for close to a hundred years and we remain fully committed to the country and its people," he said.
"We will also continue to invest directly in the country to support the government's health care reform agenda and long-term plans for economic growth."
Mick Cooper, analyst at Edison Investment Research in London, said: "GlaxoSmithKline will hope that this will draw a line under events in China, but it will take time for its Chinese commercial operations to recover." This is a humiliating outcome for one of Britain's biggest companies: pleading guilty to systematic bribery, facing the biggest fine in Chinese history and making an abject apology to the Chinese government and people. But after a case lasting more than a year, there was no easy way out for GSK, and at least now, it can start to rebuild its battered brand in China. Today GSK said it had learned its lessons, and one of those is clearly that foreign companies need to keep a close eye on China's fast changing political and regulatory weather if they are to prosper, or even survive, in this promising but perilous market. | Organization Fine | September 2014 | ['(BBC)'] |
Cable TV giant Comcast abandons its US$66bn bid to take over Disney, citing a lack of interest from the Disney board. | Comcast launched its bid for Disney in February with an offer which - at the time - was worth $66bn (£37bn).
A union between the two companies would have created the world's biggest media firm. But resistance to the approach by Disney's board meant it was now time to "walk away", Comcast said.
A merger between the two firms would have seen Comcast's cable and internet services combining with Disney's assets, which include ABC television, ESPN and the Disney and Miramax film studios.
The original offer involved $54.1bn in stock and the taking on of $11.9bn of Disney debt, although share price movements since February have reduced the value of the offer.
The bid had piled pressure on Disney's chief executive Michael Eisner, who was already facing shareholder dissatisfaction at Disney's performance.
In March, a shareholder revolt saw Mr Eisner lose his title of chairman, with the company deciding to split the top two roles.
But on Tuesday, Disney's board of directors gave its full support to Mr Eisner following a two-day meeting.
New target?
The Disney board had consistently rejected Comcast's approach, and the cable firm said this resistance was behind the abandonment of the bid.
Comcast chief executive Brian Roberts said: "It has become clear that there is no interest on the part of Disney's management and board in putting Comcast and Disney together."
He said: "Being disciplined means knowing when it is time to walk away - that time is now. We're moving on. Our desire is to find attractive ways to grow."
Mr Roberts said he expected Comcast to begin taking a serious look at bankrupt cable company Adelphia, which recently announced it was seeking a buyer.
Comcast made its announcement on Disney as it reported earnings of $65m for the first three months of the year, compared with a loss of $297m in the same period in 2003. | Organization Merge | April 2004 | ['(BBC)'] |
Nurses in Fiji go on strike over a 5 per cent pay cut imposed on them by the interim government of Frank Bainimarama with teachers and other government workers to join them next week. | .
Pacific correspondent Campbell Cooney
Nurses in Fiji are holding a national strike over a pay cut forced on them by the country's interim government.
Over 1,400 members of the Fiji Nursing Association left their posts at midnight on Tuesday, saying they will not return until the interim government returns a 5 per cent reduction in pay imposed at the start of the year.
The interim Minister for Labour and Industrial Relations, Bernadette Rounds-Ganilau, is still hopeful a resolution can be found.
"There is still room to move. There is still room to talk," she said.
But it is not just nurses who are unhappy.
Teachers and other government workers are planning to walk off the job next week, for exactly the same reason.
The interim government of coup leader Commodore Frank Bainimarama maintains it now cannot afford any pay rises for government workers.
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AEST = Australian Eastern Standard Time which is 10 hours ahead of GMT (Greenwich Mean Time) | Strike | July 2007 | ['(ABC)'] |
Mount Merapi on Java, Indonesia, erupts. No casualties have been reported. | River of lava and gas clouds flow 3,000 metres down slopes of country’s most active volcano
Indonesia’s most active volcano has erupted, sending a river of lava and searing gas clouds flowing 3,000 metres (9,850ft) down its slopes.
The sounds of the eruption could be heard 18 miles (30km) away, officials said. No casualties were reported.
It was Mount Merapi’s biggest lava flow since authorities raised its danger level in November, said Hanik Humaida, the head of the Volcanology and Geological Hazard Mitigation Centre in the nearby city of Yogyakarta.
She said the volcano’s lava dome was growing rapidly, causing hot lava and gas clouds to flow down its slopes.
After morning rain, the ash fall turned into muck in several villages. More than 150 people, mostly elderly, living within 3 miles of the crater were evacuated to barracks set up for displaced people.
In November authorities evacuated nearly 2,000 people living on the mountain in Magelang and Sleman districts, but most have since returned.
The alert is being maintained at the second highest level, and authorities told people to stay out of a danger zone around the crater.
The 2,968-metre volcano on the densely populated Java island is the most active of dozens of Indonesian volcanoes and has erupted repeatedly of late. Merapi’s last major eruption, in 2010, killed 347 people.
Indonesia, an archipelago of 270 million people, is prone to earthquakes and volcanic activity because it sits along the Pacific’s so-called “Ring of Fire”, a horseshoe-shaped series of seismic fault lines. | Volcano Eruption | January 2021 | ['(The Guardian)'] |
At the Liberal Democrats conference, party leader Jo Swinson reaffirms that if elected any future Liberal Democrat led government, would halt Brexit by revoking Article 50, adding that in the case of a hung parliament she would not enter a coalition with either the Conservatives or Labour. | The Liberal Democrat leader, Jo Swinson, has ruled out entering into a coalition with the Conservatives or the Labour party if a general election delivers a hung Parliament.
Ms Swinson insisted that neither Boris Johnson nor Jeremy Corbyn was "fit to be our prime minister".
She said: "I'm not going to support Boris Johnson or Jeremy Corbyn. They are not up to the job."
And she said she wanted the party to win more than 300 seats in an election. To secure a majority in the House of Commons, a party has to win more seats than all the other parties put together in a general election. At the moment, that means winning at least 326 seats - more to ensure a comfortable majority. Ms Swinson dismissed the view that the Liberal Democrats were unlikely to win more than 300 seats.
"I reject this suggestion that you go into a general election campaign, particularly in these volatile political times and somehow people have to accept they don't have a genuine choice. "People do have a genuine choice and they do not have to choose between Boris Johnson and Jeremy Corbyn because frankly that choice is not good enough. Neither of those men is fit to be our prime minister."
Ms Swinson, who has two children, added: "I'm not prepared to let my kids' future be sold down the river just because the kind of previous rules of the way politics was done somehow have to apply." The Liberal Democrats currently have 18 MPs, including defectors from other parties including Chuka Umunna, Luciana Berger and former Conservative minister Sam Gyimah. In recent times, the number of seats held by the party has peaked at 62 seats in 2005. Questioned on the possibility of having to choose between supporting Mr Johnson or Mr Corbyn, she said: "I'm not going to support Boris Johnson or Jeremy Corbyn to be prime minister because they're not up to the job. Our country deserves better." Asked to clarify that she would not support either man in the event of another hung Parliament, she replied: "Absolutely. They're not up to it." On Sunday, Lib Dem members voted overwhelmingly in favour of a manifesto pledge to revoke Article 50 - the formal process of leaving the EU - if they came into power with a majority government.
Ms Swinson said: "As a party that wholeheartedly believes that our best future is within the European Union, we need to give the British people the chance to vote for that by saying that if you elect a Liberal Democrat government we will stop Brexit by revoking Article 50."
And she revealed that she had had conversations over the weekend with further potential defectors because so many people were "unhappy" in the Labour Party and the Conservative Party.
Where do the parties stand on Brexit?
Hardliner Raisi set to win Iran election
Vote-counting shows Ebrahim Raisi - Iran's top judge - has so far received 62% of the vote.
UN calls for end of arms sales to Myanmar
Tokyo Olympics: No fans is 'least risky' option
Asia's Covid stars struggle with exit strategies
Why residents of these paradise islands are furious
The Gurkha veterans fighting for Covid care. VideoThe Gurkha veterans fighting for Covid care
Troubled US teens left traumatised by tough love camps
Why doesn't North Korea have enough food?
Le Pen set for regional power with eye on presidency
How the Delta variant took hold in the UK. VideoHow the Delta variant took hold in the UK | Famous Person - Give a speech | September 2019 | ['(BBC)'] |
In response to rocket fire six hours before the end of a cease-fire, Israeli airstrikes kill 11 Palestinians including the wife and infant son of Hamas military leader Mohammed Deif - the first deaths in a week - while Hamas launches over 130 missiles at Israel during the day. This is the 11th cease-fire broken by rocket fire from Hamas. , | Hamas says the wife and child of its military commander, Mohammed Deif, have been killed in an Israeli air strike on the Gaza Strip.
At least 19 Palestinians have died since hostilities resumed on Tuesday, with both sides blaming each other for the collapse of the Cairo peace talks.
The Israeli military said it had carried out 92 air strikes in response to 137 rockets fired at its territory.
Six weeks of fierce fighting have left at least 2,103 people dead.
Egypt has expressed "profound regret" at the end of the 10-day period of calm and said it will continue trying to secure a lasting truce.
It is believed the air strike on a house in Gaza City late on Tuesday that killed Mohammed Deif's wife and their young son was intended to kill the militant himself, reports the BBC's Kevin Connolly in Jerusalem.
A Hamas official told the AFP news agency that Mr Deif was "still alive and leading the military operation" against Israel. The commander of Hamas' armed wing, the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades, has survived a number of previous Israeli assassination attempts believed to have left him with severe disabilities.
Israeli Interior Minister Gideon Saar said the attack was justified because Mr Deif was "personally responsible" for dozens of deaths.
Yaakov Perry, Israel's science minister and former security service chief, said he was "convinced that if there was intelligence that [he] was not inside the home, then we would not have bombed it". Rescue workers later pulled out of the remains of the house the bodies of three members of the family that lived there, medics said.
No-one is rushing to make an official declaration that the Cairo peace talks are dead but it is hard to see what could now bring them back to life. Hamas blames Israel for the end of the ceasefire just as Israel blames Hamas - the one point of agreement between them appears to be that the time for talking has gone at least for now.
Any diplomatic failure in the Middle East can be explained by the formula that the maximum one side was prepared to offer was less than the minimum that the other side was prepared to accept. Never has it been truer than it is now.
Both sides went in to this round of negotiations with what diplomats would call maximalist positions - Hamas demanding an opening of Gaza's borders, Israel aspiring to the demilitarisation of Gaza. But neither side can afford to allow any concessions which might be portrayed as a victory for the other. In neither society would public opinion stand for it.
That is a recipe for stalemate - and at times of stalemate both sides are inclined to turn back to their weapons of war.
There were further Israeli air strikes on Gaza on Wednesday which, according to local medics, killed a heavily pregnant woman and several children. Our correspondent says the apparent attempt to kill Mohammed Deif may explain the intensity of the rocket fire that came after the collapse of the Cairo peace talks.
Air-raid sirens sounded in many towns and cities in southern and central Israel, including Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, as 50 rockets were launched on Tuesday and 30 on Wednesday. The Israeli government accused Hamas of breaking the ceasefire by launching a salvo of rockets about eight hours before it was to have expired, and told its delegation in Cairo to return home shortly afterwards.
Palestinian negotiators blamed Israel for the failure of the indirect talks.
"Israel thwarted the contacts that could have brought peace," said Azzam al-Ahmed, a senior member of the Fatah movement of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.
However, Israeli government spokesman Mark Regev rejected the accusation, saying rockets from Gaza were "a clear violation of the ceasefire" and "destroyed the premise upon which the talks were based."
Israel has been seeking guarantees that Hamas and other factions in Gaza would be disarmed, while the Palestinians were demanding an end to the Israeli and Egyptian blockades of Gaza, and the establishment of a seaport and airport.
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said he was "gravely disappointed by the return to hostilities".
Meanwhile, human rights groups have called on Israel to allow them into Gaza so they can investigate allegations of violations of international humanitarian law by both sides. In a joint statement, Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch accused Israel of "playing bureaucratic games" with them by continually denying the groups' requests to cross the border. Israel launched Operation Protective Edge on 8 July with the aim of ending Hamas rocket fire. It also sought to destroy tunnels dug under the frontier with Israel used by militants to launch attack.
Since then, at least 2,036 people, most of them civilians, have been killed in Gaza, according to the Palestinian health ministry. The Israeli authorities say 64 Israeli soldiers have been killed, along with two Israeli civilians and a Thai national.
Hamas military commander Mohammed Deif
| Armed Conflict | August 2014 | ['(BBC)', '(AP via Fox News)', '(Reuters)', '[permanent dead link]'] |
The Pentagon is considering conducting airstrikes in Marawi, which if approved would later put U.S. troops on the ground to battle the ISIS-affiliated Maute group as well as related Islamist terror groups. A spokesperson later denied the claims as well as clarified that the Philippines has yet to make a request. | Follow NBC News The Pentagon is considering a plan that allows the U.S. military to conduct airstrikes on ISIS in the Philippines, two defense officials told NBC News.
The authority to strike ISIS targets as part of collective self-defense could be granted as part of an official military operation that may be named as early as Tuesday, said the officials. The strikes would likely be conducted by armed drones.
Related: Duterte to Tillerson: 'I Am Your Humble Friend'
If approved, the U.S. military would be able to conduct strikes against ISIS targets in the Philippines that could be a threat to allies in the region, which would include the Philippine forces battling ISIS on the ground in the country's southern islands.
But Pentagon spokesperson Lt. Col. Christopher B. Logan told NBC News Tuesday that "The Philippines have not requested nor is the U.S. planning drone strikes in the Philippines."
Another U.S. official said that the authorization for collective self-defense was more about intelligence sharing than offensive U.S. strikes.
“Collective self-defense doesn’t necessarily mean airstrikes,” the official said.
For example, if the U.S. sees a threat to the Philippine military, it could provide that intelligence to them to protect themselves.
The official would not rule out that the U.S. would be able to launch the strike themselves. The official also would not say whether the additional drones the U.S. is considering sending would be armed or not.
Related: Duterte Calls U.S. 'Lousy' And Vows Never to Visit
The U.S. military has been sharing intelligence with the Philippines for years, according to Pentagon spokesperson Capt. Jeff Davis, who called it a "steady state."
"We have had a consistent CT [counterterror] presence in the Philippines for fifteen years now," he said.
In Manila on Monday, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said the U.S. was providing the Philippines government with "intelligence capabilities" in the fight against ISIS, including "some recent transfers of a couple of Cessnas and a couple of UAVs (drones) to allow to them to have better information with which to conduct the fight down there."
"We're providing them some training and some guidance in terms of how to deal with an enemy that fights in ways that are not like most people have ever had to deal with.
"I see no conflict at all in our helping them with that situation and our views of other human rights concerns we have with respect to how they carry out their counternarcotics activities."
Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch have linked Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte to more than 1,400 extra judicial killings while a public official. The UN said that Duterte, as mayor of Davao City, had done nothing to stop extrajudicial killings.
Duterte has denied any role in the killings while expressing support for them but has also said he personally killed some suspected criminals, a claim his spokesman called an exaggeration.
Related: Duterte Says He Threw Rape Suspect Out of Helicopter, Would Do It Again
Last month, the vice chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs endorsed the idea of naming the mission in the Philippines, saying that naming it would provide more funding.
"In every case where we see the resurgence of terror networks," said Gen. Paul Selva in testimony before the Senate Armed Services Committee, "particularly in the fragile areas of the southern Philippines, I think it's worth considering whether or not we reinstate a named operation, not only to provide for the resources that are required, but to give the Pacific Command commander and the field commanders in the Philippines the kinds of authorities they need to work with indigenous Philippine forces to actually help them be successful in that battle space."
Courtney Kube is a correspondent covering national security and the military for the NBC News Investigative Unit. | Armed Conflict | August 2017 | ['(NBC News)'] |
The United States Federal Reserve System reports that banks are tightening lending standards on home mortgages, other types of consumer loans and business loans in response to the subprime mortgage crisis. | By MARTIN CRUTSINGER – 3 days ago WASHINGTON (AP) — The Federal Reserve reports that more banks are tightening lending standards on home mortgages, other types of consumer loans and business loans in response to a spreading credit crisis.
The Fed reported Monday that the percentage of banks reporting tighter lending standards was near historic highs for nearly all loan categories.
The survey, conducted in April, found that nearly two-thirds of banks surveyed had tightened lending standards on traditional home mortgages with 15 percent saying those standards had been tightened considerably.
The current credit crisis began last year with rising defaults in the market for subprime loans, loans extended to borrowers with weak credit histories. Many of those subprime loans were packaged into mortgage-backed securities and sold to investors around the world.
Those investors, however, have pulled back from the subprime market and from other types of credit as losses have soared with the rising mortgage defaults.
As losses have mounted, more and more banks have grown reluctant to make loans and have been tightening up on standards. The Fed has been pumping billions of dollars into the banking system in an effort to encourage banks to keep lending to guard against the threat that the tighter credit could push the country into a deep recession.
The latest Fed survey found that banks tightened their lending standards on not just prime or traditional mortgages but also on nontraditional mortgages such as "Alt-A" loans given to people who supplied only limited income verification. The survey found that about 32 percent of the banks responding to the survey had tightened "considerably" their standards for nontraditional mortgages and another 43 percent had tightened standards in this category "somewhat."
The survey found that only nine banks are currently making loans in the suprime category and of that group, 78 percent had tightened lending standards either considerably or somewhat.
About 55 percent of banks reported imposing tougher standards on business loans, up from about 30 percent in the previous survey in January, the Fed reported.
"The net fractions of domestic banks reporting tighter lending standards were close to, or above, historical highs for nearly all loan categories in the survey," the Fed said.
The central bank last week announced new steps to aid with tight credit conditions by increasing the size of cash auctions to banks and allowing financial institutions to put up credit card debt, student loans and car loans as collateral for Fed loans.
The central bank also last week cut a key interest rate, the federal funds rate, by a quarter-point, in an effort to lower borrowing costs for consumer and business loans. However, the central bank signaled that this rate cut may be the last for a while as the Fed pauses to determine the impact of the seven rate cuts it has made since September. | Financial Crisis | May 2008 | ['(AP via Google News)'] |
Five NATO International Security Assistance Force troops are killed in fighting. | Five American soldiers have been killed accidentally by their own side in southern Afghanistan, US military sources have confirmed.
An Afghan soldier and an interpreter also died in the Nato air strike after Monday's operation in Zabul province Afghan officials say coalition forces called in air support when they were attacked by the Taliban at the end of the operation. Nato is investigating.
Militants have stepped up attacks as foreign combat troops leave this year. The incident, which happened on Monday, is among the most serious cases of so-called "friendly fire" in Afghanistan, where Nato-led troops have been battling Taliban and other insurgents since 2001.
A statement from international forces in Kabul said: "Tragically there is the possibility that fratricide may have been involved." Nato did not immediately confirm the nationality of these latest casualties.
But the BBC's David Loyn in Kabul says the term "fratricide" is used by US forces when they mistakenly kill soldiers on their own side. Chroniclers of the battle of Waterloo, fought in 1815, have recorded how British infantry squares engaged one another by mistake and other allied cavalry, causing many casualties.
Similar incidents happened in the Crimea in 1854, during the American Civil War of the 1860s and the Boer War of 1899-1902. War diaries from World War I are peppered with accounts, mainly of British artillery shelling British troops by accident, poison gas clouds being misdirected, or a worn gun barrel firing shells inaccurately.
In World War Two, many allied aircraft were lost to so-called friendly fire, because of poor aircraft recognition skills, or the split seconds in which a pilot had to decide whether to engage an oncoming plane or not.
Historians now think that the famous RAF fighter ace Douglas Bader was shot down by one of his wingmen, not the Germans. A history of friendly fire
The Isaf force currently has soldiers from 50 contributing nations in Afghanistan. Most troops stationed in the south are American. The governor of Zabul province told the BBC there was a joint operation involving Afghan and international troops.
The incident happened in Arghandab district, a place hotly contested between the Taliban and international forces for some years, our correspondent reports. Southern Afghanistan is the heartland of the Taliban movement and insurgents frequently attack security forces in the region. There have been more than 30 Nato forces killed this year in Afghanistan - the latest incident is the deadliest so far in 2014.
Afghanistan is set to hold a run-off round of voting in its presidential election on Saturday.
Insurgents - who vowed to disrupt campaigning and voting - attacked the campaign rally of one of the contenders last week. | Armed Conflict | June 2014 | ['(BBC)'] |
Parliament is dissolved as the deadline to approve the 2020 state budget expires without an agreement, requiring elections within 90 days, for the fourth time in less than two years. | The 23rd Knesset officially dispersed as the clock struck midnight on Tuesday night and the deadline to approve a 2020 budget expired, sending Israelis to the polls for the fourth time in less than two years. Elections were automatically called for 90 days from now, namely March 23, 2021, though that date could yet be changed by vote.
The failure to pass a budget came just seven months after the swearing-in of the “unity government” between Likud and Blue and White. The two parties, which had fought each other bitterly in three indecisive elections, agreed to form a power-sharing government with a rotating premiership between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Blue and White leader Benny Gantz in May.
But despite pledges to put aside their differences in order to fight the coronavirus pandemic, the political turmoil followed them into government, with both leaders soon claiming the other was breaking their coalition agreements.
Unlike the previous three elections, when Netanyahu’s chief rival was Gantz and his centrist Blue and White alliance, the prime minister’s main challengers this time are set to come from his own right wing of the political spectrum. A former Likud minister, Gideon Sa’ar, has set up a new party, New Hope, dedicated to ousting Netanyahu, and the right-wing/Orthodox Yamina party leader Naftali Bennett is also aiming to try to supplant him. Both Sa’ar and Bennett are seen as more hawkish than Netanyahu on issues relating to the Palestinians and the settlements.
Netanyahu, 71, has held power uninterrupted since 2009, and also served a term as prime minister from 1996-1999, making him Israel’s longest-serving leader. He remains in office as head of the transitional government until the elections are held and a new coalition is formed. | Organization Closed | December 2020 | ['(The Times of Israel)'] |
A court in Tehran, Iran, sentences two women's rights activists to a combined total of 15 years in prison. Hoda Amid and Najmeh Vahedi, who were arrested in 2018, were accused of "collaborating with the United States government against the Islamic Republic on the issue of women and the family". | Iran sentences two women’s rights activists to total of 15 years in prison Iran has sentenced two women’s rights activists to a total of 15 years in prison, Iranian media reported.
A court in Tehran charged Hoda Amid and Najmeh Vahedi, who were both arrested in 2018, with “collaborating with the US government against the Islamic Republic on the issue of women and the family,” Iranian news website Emteded reported on Saturday.
Amid, a lawyer, has been sentenced to eight years in prison and banned from practicing law for two years. Vahedi, a sociologist, has been sentenced to seven years in prison.
Amid and Vahedi had organized “marriage workshops” aimed at educating women about their rights in marriage, according to the Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA), a news site run by a collective of Iranian human rights advocates.
Judicial authorities have accused the two activists of trying to overthrow the regime by weakening the Iranian family.
On Saturday, Iran executed dissident journalist Ruhollah Zam, drawing condemnation from rights groups and the European Union.
Iran court hands ‘Zombie Angelina Jolie’ Sahar Tabar 10 years in jail
Persons involved in killing of Iranian nuclear scientist arrested, official says
Iran executes dissident journalist Ruhollah Zam: Iranian media
Iran has sentenced two women’s rights activists to a total of 15 years in prison, Iranian media reported.
A court in Tehran charged Hoda Amid and Najmeh Vahedi, who were both arrested in 2018, with “collaborating with the US government against the Islamic Republic on the issue of women and the family,” Iranian news website Emteded reported on Saturday.
| Famous Person - Commit Crime - Sentence | December 2020 | ['(Al Arabiya English)'] |
Academy Award winning producer Richard D. Zanuck dies in Los Angeles of a heart attack. | Zanuck, above, at the 63rd Academy Awards, where he won the Best Picture Oscar for 'Driving Miss Daisy.'
•Photos: Richard Zanuck (1934-2012)•Q&A; with Zanuck in May
Richard Zanuck, the son of legendary 20th Century Fox mogul Darryl F. Zanuck who carved out his own career as the Oscar-winning producer of "Driving Miss Daisy," the blockbuster "Jaws" and several Tim Burton films, including "Alice in Wonderland," died Friday at his home in Los Angeles from a heart attack. He was 77.
Zanuck's association with Burton -- which began with 2001's "Planet of the Apes," a remake of the 1968 Fox hit made under Zanuck's own watch as a high-level executive at the studio in his younger days -- would largely define the last decade of his career, spanning six films, including their most recent collaboration, "Dark Shadows," based on the paranormal TV series of the '60s. Although the film opened to a disappointing $29.7 million domestically, the film has grossed $233.8 worldwide to date.
Their collective output had generated more than $2 billion in worldwide grosses, with "Alice" alone accounting for about half of that.
When they were making 2005's "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory," Burton talked about Zanuck's "calming influence." "I've worked with a lot of people who like to create chaos so they can solve the chaos," Burton told Variety. "He's not one of those people. It's amazing that someone who's been through as much as he's been through remains as passionate and optimistic about the whole thing."
Zanuck's last notable non-Burton film, 2008's "Yes Man," starring Jim Carrey, grossed $97.7 million domestic and $223.2 worldwide, despite mixed reviews.
Even before he attended his first Oscar ceremony at 7, the business of filmmaking was in Zanuck's blood. Zanuck would be entertained by stars like Tyrone Power and Orson Welles as frequent guests in his home growing up. "I was practically born on Stage 5 at the studio," he told Variety in 2005. "As a young kid I had to be driven to the lot to sell Saturday Evening Posts. Every summer through high school and college I worked in a different department (at Fox). So the studio to me was like a home."
After attending Stanford as a lit major, Zanuck promptly entered the family business. In 1962, at the tender age of 28, he became the youngest production chief in Hollywood when he was appointed by his father as exec VP in charge of production at Fox.
At the time, with the help of executive story editor David Brown -- who would eventually become his production partner -- Zanuck helped shepherd a string of hits through the Fox pipeline, from "The Sound of Music" and "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid" to "The French Connection" and "Patton."
Zanuck also pushed the greenlight on some major dogs, including "Dr. Dolittle," "Hello Dolly" and "Star," behemoths that helped signal the death knell of the Hollywood musical, crippled the studio financially and ultimately sealed Zanuck's doom in a boardroom coup in 1970. "We were eliminated," recalled Brown, who died in 2010, in a 2005 interview with Variety. "Dick was told by his father that he could've been spared, but that I -- who was regarded as Dick's Svengali -- would have to go. He said, 'If David goes, I go.' That's the way it's been with us." Working with the silver-tongued Brown, whom Zanuck described to Variety as the "East Coast intellectual" to his own "kid from the beach in Santa Monica," Zanuck would eventually display a canny nose for material. In choosing projects, Brown said they relied on "our guts, not focus groups, not research." "There was no committee and there were no development executives," Zanuck added at the time. "I was the committee. And we didn't buy anything we didn't make." Even as he and Brown emerged, defeated from that Fox boardroom proxy battle in 1970, Universal's Lew Wasserman and Warner Bros.' Ted Ashley were ready to snatch them up. They went with Ashley, and Mel Brooks' "Blazing Saddles" and William Friedkin's "The Exorcist" were developed on their watch. After they left Warners to form the Zanuck-Brown Co. in 1972, they helped bring Universal out of its doldrums, beginning with 1973 Oscar best-picture winner "The Sting," which they exec produced, and continuing with Steven Spielberg's feature debut, "The Sugarland Express" (1974), and his follow-up, "Jaws" (1975), largely credited as ushering in the age of the summer blockbuster. Universal's Sid Sheinberg may have been Spielberg's mentor, but Zanuck was responsible for getting his first movie made. "I had two requirements (for making 'Sugarland')," recalled Spielberg in 2005. "One was that a strong producer produce me, and the second was I had to cast a star (Goldie Hawn) in one of the three principal roles." Spielberg described Zanuck as "a director's producer. He always feels his job is to protect the director. Having run a studio for many years, he understood the corporate pressure put on filmmakers and yet he still turned out to be the filmmaker's best friend." Zanuck pushed Spielberg for "Jaws" when Wasserman thought the young director was too green for such a logistically difficult film and protected him when it mushroomed to twice its original $4.5 million budget. "I said to the (studio suits) who were threatening to come, 'If I see one Lear jet coming into Martha's Vineyard airport, we're going to stop shooting,'" Zanuck said. A self-described sports fanatic who ran five miles a day even as a septuagenarian, Zanuck exercised an iron-man work ethic. "Dick's a good athlete and a great competitor," said Samuel Goldwyn Jr. some years back. Goldwyn, a close friend who knew a thing or two about living in his father's shadow, added that Zanuck loved to compete: "He does that when he plays tennis, he does that when he runs, he does that when he makes movies."
At age 70, Zanuck told Variety that he considered himself "too old to retire. I think people should retire in their 50s. But now, at my age, I'm considered cool. (Retirement) to me is like a punishment. If this were all taken away, it would be like being sent to prison. Besides, it's very stimulating to work with younger people."
In an interview with Variety conducted in May, Zanuck offered his definition of a producer at a time when the title has become somewhat amorphous: "I think there's been a devaluation of the concept," he told Variety. "Maybe too many people have used the term 'producer' when they weren't qualified. That's what the Producers Guild has been fighting for years. I was the chairman of the producers' branch of the Academy for about 10 years, and we were constantly trying to find ways to prevent this proliferation of credits. A producer should contribute from the very beginning until the very end, in all aspects. I'm there at the set every day, on every shot. Not that the director, particularly Tim (Burton), needs me, but just in case. There are producers who don't even watch the dailies, who have some contact with the project and get their name slapped on there. That's what we've been trying to get rid of."
Lili Fini Zanuck, 20 years his junior, married Richard in 1977 and joined the Zanuck/Brown production team on 1985's "Cocoon" when she brought the property to their attention. She would eventually share the best picture Oscar with her husband on "Driving Miss Daisy" (1989). They collaborated on a number of projects, including producing the 72nd Annual Academy Awards.
Lili once told Variety that "obviously a lot of the ways I produce I learned from Dick." But it wasn't until she got behind the camera to direct 1991's "Rush" that she learned to appreciate the environment Zanuck fostered on a set. "As a director, my value of a producer was pretty incredible," she said. "(As producers) we've always found our own material, developed it, found a director and, at that point, you turn it over to some degree. At that point it's your responsibility to protect the integrity of the project and protect the director from any interference that compromises it in any way." If Lili learned the ropes from her husband, then Zanuck and Brown learned from the previous generation. "My film school was Darryl Zanuck, and so was Dick's," Brown said. "We learned that a movie depended on four words: story, story, story and story."
Along with the best picture Oscar, Zanuck also was awarded the Academy's Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award in 1991 and the Producers Guild of America's David O. Selznick Lifetime Achievement Award in 1993 (both of which he shared with Brown), and together the kudos would constitute the Triple Crown of producer laurels.
At the time of his death, Zanuck was in development on an action-adventure film called "Monsterpocalypse," which was set up at DreamWorks with Disney slated to distribute. However, DreamWorks, through a spokesperson, told Variety that its option on the property had expired "a few months ago," with the rights having reverted back to the publisher, Privateer Press.
Zanuck is survived by his wife Lili Fini Zanuck; sons Harrison and Dean; daughters Virginia and Janet; nine grandchildren; and sister Darrylin. | Famous Person - Death | July 2012 | ['(Variety)'] |
Hurricane Florence weakens to a category 1 storm, but "life-threatening storm surge and rainfall" to the Carolinas remain likely with tropical-storm-force winds on Thursday. , | Hurricane Florence's center made landfall in North Carolina Friday morning after it was downgraded to a Category 1 storm late Thursday night, with sustained winds topping 90 mph.
The storm knocked out electricity services to more than 150,000 customers in North Carolina. Beaufort, Carteret, Craven, Onslow, Pamlico and Pender counties were most affected by the outages late Thursday night, North Carolina Emergency Management reported.
"If you are in the path of Florence, please stay safe and take shelter today," FEMA said on Twitter Thursday. "Communicate with family and friends. Let them know where you are and how you’ll stay in touch."
The NHC has issued hurricane and storm surge warnings for the coastal areas between the South Santee River in South Carolina and Duck, North Carolina as well as Albemarle and Pamlico Sounds.
Powerful waves and walls of water have moved inland, bringing flooding. North Carolina's barrier islands, from Cape Fear to Cape Lookout could see the biggest storm surge: between 7 and 11 feet.
Much of the rest of the Carolina coastline, from the Virginia border down to Edisto Beach, South Carolina is under hurricane and storm surge watch. Hurricane-force winds extend up to 80 miles from Florence's center and tropical-storm-force winds extend outward up to 195 miles.
"This is a very serious storm. The power could go out for many weeks," Brock Long, the administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, said Thursday morning.
Florence was expected to slow down considerably, according to the NHC, meaning it will likely sit over the Carolinas late into the weekend, pounding the area near the shore with rain.
Around 5.25 million people live in areas under hurricane warnings or watches, and 4.9 million live in places covered by tropical storm warnings or watches, the National Weather Service said, per The Associated Press
"Storm surge is why many of you have been placed under evacuation, and we are asking citizens to please heed the warning. Your time is running out," Long said.
Five states declared states of emergency ahead of the storm: Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Virginia, and Maryland, along with Washington, DC.
Evacuation orders were issued in one of South Carolina's four coastal counties. Virginia's governor, Ralph Northam, issued a mandatory evacuation order for residents of the state's low-lying coastal areas as well. In North Carolina, evacuations were ordered in Dare County, which includes the Outer Banks, as well as other coastal counties, according to The Observer.
The storm could leave thousands of buildings flooded. Duke Energy, the Carolinas' major power supplier, said up to 3 million customers could lose power, perhaps for weeks, according to The New York Times.
"This may be a marathon, not a sprint," Cooper added.
Read More: The 14 most important things you should do to prepare for a hurricane
Florence is currently a Category 1 hurricane, meaning it has maximum wind speeds between 74 and 95 mph.
Predicting hurricane paths is a difficult science, and there are still uncertainties about this storm's track. But if predictions hold, Florence will move over South Carolina and western North Carolina, followed by eastern Kentucky and Tennessee.
The chart below shows the probability that an area that will see winds of at least 39 mph. The area in purple corresponds to a 90% or higher probability of experiencing those gusts.
Hurricane Florence is predicted to slow over the Carolinas, where rainfall totals could reach 40 inches.
Heavy rain, up to 10 inches, may extend as far inland as Charlotte, North Carolina's largest city, and Raleigh, its capital. The NHC also said the storm's effects — including rain, high winds, rip currents, and tidal surges — would most likely be felt outside the "cone of probability" and could extend hundreds of miles from the storm's center.
Sluggish or stalled hurricanes — like Hurricane Harvey, which flooded swaths of Houston, Texas, and the Gulf Coast last year — can become even more dangerous as they stick around, pouring rain.
These types of slow-moving hurricanes are becoming more frequent. Recent research from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration found that storms had slowed by an average of 10% over land between 1949 and 2016.
| Hurricanes_Tornado_Storm_Blizzard | September 2018 | ['(WBIR)', '(Business Insider)'] |
A white Kenyan, Thomas P. G. Cholmondeley, is released after five months of an eight month prison sentence for manslaughter. | A white Kenyan aristocrat convicted of the manslaughter of a black poacher on his estate has been freed five months into an eight-month prison sentence.
Thomas Cholmondeley was convicted in May for shooting Robert Njoya in 2006, having spent the previous three years in jail awaiting trial. He was released for good behaviour and because he had less than six months to serve, prison officials said. Mr Njoya's widow was reported as saying said she could not believe he was free. At the trial, the judge cut the murder charge to manslaughter, saying Cholmondeley did not show "malice aforethought". The Eton-educated 40-year-old shot Mr Njoya who had been hunting on Cholmondeley's 55,000-acre Soysambu ranch near Lake Naivasha in Kenya's Great Rift Valley. Widow Serah Njoya said: "I can't believe that he is free. There is nothing I can do. This is beyond me," AFP news agency reported her as saying. The case, involving the great-grandson of the third Baron Delamere, one of Kenya's first major white settlers more than a century ago, attracted huge media attention. The killing was the second time in just over a year that Cholmondeley had fatally shot a black man. In 2005 Cholmondeley admitted shooting a Maasai ranger, but the case was dropped owing to insufficient evidence. That decision provoked outrage and mass protests among the Maasai community. | Famous Person - Commit Crime - Release | October 2009 | ['(Daily Nation)', '(BBC)'] |
Elementary and middle schools in the Chinese capital Beijing suspend outdoor activities due to heavy smog. |
BEIJING (Bloomberg) - Elementary and middle schools in Beijing will suspend outdoor activities from Monday to Wednesday after China's capital issued an orange alert for smog this week, Xinhua news agency reported on Sunday (Dec 6).
The suspension also covers kindergartens and extracurricular training schools and will remain in force during the alert, Xinhua reported, citing the city's Commission of Education.
Smog began to cover parts of northern and central China from Sunday, and will cause medium-level or heavy air pollution in coming days, according to the National Meteorological Center (NMC).
Medium to heavy smog will hit parts of Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei on Tuesday and Wednesday, though it won't be as severe as the air pollution earlier this week, the NMC said according to Xinhua.
China, the world's biggest carbon emitter, plans to upgrade coal power plants in the next five years to crack down on the kinds of pollutants and heavy smog that blanketed northern parts of the country last week.
Beijing on Nov 29 raised its air- pollution alert for the first time in more than a year to orange, the second-highest level in a four-tier system.
Beijing's skies have only just cleared after concentrations of PM2.5 - the pollutants that pose the greatest risk to human health - reached 666 micrograms per cubic meter on Dec 1. The World Health Organization recommends average exposure over a 24- hour period of no higher than 25 micrograms per cubic meter.
With a lack of wind hampering the dispersion of pollutants, readings of PM2.5 near Tiananmen Square in the center of Beijing rose again to 117 as of noon Sunday, the Beijing Municipal Monitoring Center said on its website. | Environment Pollution | December 2015 | ['(Bloomberg vs The Straits Times)'] |
The Archdiocese of Milwaukee faces 550 abuse claims in bankruptcy proceeding. The archdiocese has asked the court to dismiss up to 95% of the claims, saying that they are excluded by the statute of limitations or because the alleged molesters were not priests. , | More than 550 people who say they were sexually abused by Roman Catholic priests or church employees have filed claims against the Archdiocese of Milwaukee in bankruptcy proceedings, the largest group of claimants against any of the eight dioceses that have declared bankruptcy since 2004.
The claimants came forward, many just before the deadline late Wednesday, after being encouraged to do so by the church itself and by victims’ advocates. The archdiocese ran notices in local parish bulletins and in newspapers across the country, as the bankruptcy court required. However, if the archdiocese has its way in court, as many as 95 percent of the claims could be dismissed. The archdiocese has filed motions asking the bankruptcy judge to throw out the claims of those whose cases are beyond the statute of limitations, or who already have settlements from the archdiocese or whose alleged abuse was at the hands of a layman or laywoman working for the church, not a cleric, said Jerry Topczewski, a spokesman for the Milwaukee archdiocese. The archdiocese will also ask the judge to bar any claims involving priests who were members of religious orders. Although those priests may have been working in parishes that are part of the archdiocese, the archdiocese contends that they were not technically employees.
Mr. Topczewski said: “Our parishes are separately incorporated, always have been, and someone who’s a layperson employed by X-Y-Z parish is not an employee of the archdiocese. A judge is going to have to make the interpretation.” The church’s legal maneuver has infuriated those who came forward, who now feel doubly betrayed. Among them is Jerry Hoekman, who filed a claim saying that he was molested repeatedly when he was 11 by the Rev. William Farrell, who would summon him to his bedroom. “I’m very angry,” Mr. Hoekman said in a telephone interview. “To know that they want to shove it under the rug when it’s still so vivid in my head I can make a blueprint of his house? What about this image I live with every day?”
The church will argue that Mr. Hoekman’s case is beyond the statute of limitations, which is six years because it is a fraud case, like many of the claimants’. Mr. Hoekman is 50 and said he was abused in about 1973. He first confided in his mother just a few years ago. Mr. Hoekman’s lawyer, Michael Finnegan, said he would argue that the case was within the statute because the church had never acknowledged its allegedly fraudulent act of concealing this priest’s record of abuse (even though Father Farrell, who died in 1999, was listed by the archdiocese as a clergy offender). Advertisement
The Archdiocese of Milwaukee filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in January 2011, after mediation sessions between the church and those who said they had been abused deadlocked. Archbishop Jerome E. Listecki said at the time that this would be the best way to compensate victims fairly while allowing the church to continue its mission.
The seven other dioceses besides Milwaukee to file for bankruptcy are Davenport, Iowa; Fairbanks, Alaska; Portland, Ore.; San Diego; Spokane, Wash.; Tucson; and Wilmington, Del. | Famous Person - Commit Crime - Accuse | February 2012 | ['(Catholic World News)', '(New York Times)'] |
At least 17 people die after a tourist bus crashes in Antalya. (Hürriyet Daily News & Economic Review) (Today's Zaman) | Sixteen people have been killed in a coach crash in Turkey's Mediterranean province of Antalya, Turkish and Russian officials say.
The coach was carrying Russian tourists when it plunged off a bridge and landed on its roof in a river bed.
The Turkish driver and tour guide were reported to be among the dead. Twenty-five people were also injured.
The coach was taking the tourists from the coastal resort of Alanya to the Pamukkale hot springs and waterfalls.
Russian consul general Mirdzhalol Khusanov said all the injured tourists were being treated in hospital.
A Russian plane is being sent to pick up the injured tourists and bring them home, Russia's Itar-Tass news agency said.
The cause of the accident is not known, but the coach was reported to have broken through the bridge's crash barrier in the early hours of the morning.
The BBC's Jonathan Head in Istanbul says the road at the point of the crash is a modern four-lane highway.
Turkey's roads have a much higher accident rate than the rest of Europe, our correspondent says, with about 7,000 people killed every year. | Road Crash | May 2010 | ['(RIA Novosti)', '(BBC)', '(CBS News)'] |
China says it will "not protect" the Syrian government. | Homs: In a significant shift in tone, China on Tuesday said it will not protect the regime of Syrian President Bashar Al Assad.
"China will absolutely not protect any party, including the government in Syria," Chinese Prime Minister Wen Jiabao told reporters in Beijing.
China and Russia vetoed a UN Security Council resolution condemning the crackdown on protesters, drawing international anger and criticism.
Wen's comments, during an EU-China summit, came after the United Nations' top human rights representative said the world body's inaction had "emboldened" the Syrian government to use overwhelming force against its own civilians.
Rejected
Syria flatly rejected the accusations and accused the world body of ignoring crimes it said were being committed by foreign-backed "terrorist groups".
Meanwhile, France said it was reviewing a range of options proposed by the Arab League at the United Nations to deal with the crackdown in Syria.
"We understand that there are several possible options concerning peacekeepers as put forward by the Arab League. That's all being discussed, clarified," foreign ministry spokesman Bernard Valero said.
Up to 900 killed in February alone
Between 500-900 people have been killed in February alone, according to various activist groups who have been monitoring the current escalation in government attacks, particularly in the city of Homs.
On Tuesday, Syrian troops battered Homs in some of the heaviest shelling for days in the flashpoint city as the international community warned of a humanitarian disaster.
Gulf News was witness to the shelling of the city every few minutes. Two Kalashnikovs were pointed at this writer as an officer checked his passport. Four more shells burst before the officer returned. "You are free to go, but be careful," he warned.
| Diplomatic Talks _ Diplomatic_Negotiation_ Summit Meeting | February 2012 | ['(Gulf News)'] |
Three people are killed during a flare of fresh fighting in the Libyan desert town of Kufra overnight. | AFP - Fresh fighting flared in the Libyan desert town of Kufra overnight leaving three people dead and 17 others wounded, local sources told AFP on Saturday.
"The situation is very bad," Toubu tribe leader Issa Abdelmajid Mansur told AFP in reference to fresh fighting in Kufra, where tribal clashes claimed more than 100 lives in February.
He said that Toubu living in the southeastern town were attacked on Friday by what was meant to be a peacekeeping brigade, Shield Libya, under defence ministry command.
Mansur said cries for help to the national army had fallen on deaf ears.
"No one has come yet and we are still under fire," he said.
Residents in a Toubu neighbourhood said there was intermittent fighting since the morning.
"They've been firing since 6 am," a resident told AFP by telephone, adding that it was unclear what brought on the fighting.
A nurse in a Toubu residential area said the clashes were continuing.
"We have three people dead and at least 17 people wounded," until now, a nurse in a clinic in a Toubu residential area told AFP, adding that the majority of the wounded were in critical condition.
He expected that number to rise because "clashes are ongoing and the clinic can only provide primary care."
Gunfire could be heard in the background of both testimonies.
On Friday, Wissam Ben Hamid, head of the Shield Libya brigade, said that fighting erupted after Zwai tribesman shot dead a Toubu man.
"The Toubu reacted by firing on every car passing near their neighbourhood," Hamid told AFP, adding three of his men were wounded.
"We asked them to pull back in vain," he said.
On Saturday, Colonel Fradj Bushaala, a local representative of the defence ministry, told AFP that fighting had stopped and "negotiations were underway between tribal leaders to settle the problem once and for all."
In February, the clashes pitting Toubu against Zwai tribesmen in Kufra that cost more than 100 lives also displaced half the population, according to UN figures.
Libya's nascent army intervened by sending a brigade of former rebel fighters to uphold a hard-won ceasefire between the two camps.
Kufra, a town of about 40,000, is located in a triangle where the borders of Egypt, Chad and Sudan meet.
The Toubu, who are dark-skinned and present in southeast Libya as well as in Chad, Sudan and Niger, faced discrimination under toppled Libyan leader Moamer Kadhafi's regime. | Armed Conflict | April 2012 | ['(France 24)'] |
Indonesia's National Transportation Safety Committee releases a preliminary report detailing the circumstances of a collision between two passenger planes on a runway at Kuala Namu International Airport last year. | A Lion Air Boeing 737-900, registration PK-LJZ performing flight JT-197 from Banda Aceh to Medan Kuala Namu (Indonesia) with 144 people on board, landed on Kuala Namu International Airport's runway 23 at about 10:55L (03:55Z).A Wings Air Avions de Transport Regional ATR-72-212A, registration PK-WFF performing flight IW-1252 from Medan Kuala Namu to Meulaboh (Indonesia) with 66 people on board, was lining up for departure from Kuala Namu's runway 23 from taxiway D at about 10:55L (03:55Z).On Aug 3rd 2017 the airport as well as Lion Air had reported, that the collision had occurred on a taxiway well off the runway (rendering the occurrence a ground incident outside the coverage of The Aviation Herald). The airport further reported it had been a normal landing, the airport was not affected, there had been no closure with normal operation continuing.However, on Aug 10th 2017 Indonesia's NTSC reported the Boeing 737-900 during the landing roll on runway 23 collided with the ATR-72 lining up runway 23 from taxiway D resulting in substantial damage. The NTSC rated the occurrence an accident and opened an investigation.On Sep 5th 2017 the NTSC released their preliminary report reporting IW-1252 reported ready for departure from runway 23 intersection taxiway D. The Lion Boeing received landing clearance on runway 23. About one minute later IW-1252 was instructed to hold short of runway 23 at taxiway D, about another minute later the crew reported holding short of runway 23. Tower queried whether they were able to an immediate departure, repeated the query after receiving no reply and the crew confirmed they were able for an immediate departure.Tower thus instructed IW-1252: "IW1252 behind traffic Lion on short final landed passing line up behind runway 23 from intersection D additional clearance after departure direct Meulaboh."The crew read back: "departure direct to Meulaboh IW1252", tower acknowleged: "Namu Tower". IW-1252 continued to line up runway 23.About 35 seconds after that last transmission JT-197 touched down and a few seconds later collided with the ATR. JT-197 reported there was another aircraft on the runway.The NTSC reported there were no injuries, however, both aircraft sustained substantial damage.The tower supervisor took over communication and instructed the next arrival to go around. JT-197 was instructed to vacate the runway via taxiway G. The controller subsequently cleared IW-1252 for takeoff, the crew declined "negative". The crew subsequently requested to return to the apron.About 8 minutes after the collision JT-197 advised tower of the possibility of debris on the runway. The crew of another aircraft waiting for departure reported seeing debris on the runway. Tower issued a landing clearance to the aircraft that had gone around earlier. JT-197 advised again there was possibly debris on the runway, tower responded that maintenance had been informed. The aircraft on final landed and after landing reported foreign objects on the runway. Only then the runway was closed for about 25 minutes until the debris had been cleared off the runway.The NTSC reported the ATR was still on ground frequency when the landing clearance to JT-197 was issued. The NTSC reported further that the conditional taxi clearance to line up behind the landing traffic was issued without verifying the crew was able to see the landing traffic.The NTSC released one immediate safety recommendation to AirNav Indonesia (ATC Service Provider) and another one to Wings Abadi. In addition, AirNav Indonesia and Wings Abadi already took safety actions.On Apr 19th 2018 the NTSC released their final report concluding the probable cause of the accident was:The communication misunderstanding of the conditional clearance to enter runway while the IW1252 pilots did not aware of JT197 had received landing clearance and the unobserved IW1252 aircraft movement made the IW1252 aircraft entered the runway.The NTSC analysed:In the previous experience, the Medan Tower controller did not recall any pilot misunderstanding a conditional clearance. Even though the readback was incomplete, the Medan Tower controller assumed that the pilot acknowledged the clearance properly and the required immediate action to correct the discrepancies of the pilot readback, was considered not necessary....The IW1252 pilots assuming that they had clearance to enter the runway 23 for departure caused by combination of:- requested confirmation from the Medan Tower controller for IW1252 to make an immediate departure,- an incomplete understanding of clearance that was delivered faster than the requirement,- absence of correction to the incomplete readback from the pilot of IW1252,- information transmitted to other arriving traffic that the IW1252 would depart,- the pilots of IW1252 not being aware of JT197 had received landing clearance....At 04:00:46 UTC, at an altitude of 37 feet, the JT197 PM advised to the PF of the close position of IW1252 to the runway. The distance between these two aircraft was approximately 643 meters. At this time IW1252 had not crossed the runway side strip marking. The JT197 PF was aware that the clearance for the IW1252 was to enter the runway after the JT197 landed. The JT197 pilot assumed that the IW1252 would not enter the runway. Therefore, the JT197 PF decided to continue the landing approach and focused on handling the aircraft.The NTSC analysed how the outcome of the occurrence would have been had JT-197 initiated a go around upon recognizing that the ATR was going to enter the runway and concluded the outcome would have been much more severe as the go around would not have prevented a collison. The NTSB wrote:Refer to the condition above, assumed the JT197 pilot decided to go around at the first time when the PM suspected that the IW1252 aircraft was about to enter the runway at 04:00:46 UTC, the calculation was made as follows:The FDR recorded the altitude was 37 feet, the ground speed was 160 knots, the distance to the IW1252 was about 643 meters and the N1 was indicated that the engines were not in idle position.Taking into account an expected height loss shortly after a go-around is initiated, a go around executed as the aircraft was descending through 37 feet would most likely not have avoided the collision. Additionally, the time it took for the PM to advise the PF of the position of IW1252 may have resulted in further delays in initiating the go-around. Therefore, initiation of a go-around from 37 feet, may have resulted in more severe circumstances.The NTSB analysed a collision was unavoidable: "The pilot decision to move away from the runway centerline avoided a centerline collision however, the wing collision was unavoidable. The wing collision was less severe compared than an aircraft collision on the runway centerline."The NTSC analysed that a runway inspection was delayed and the runway remained open with several landing clearances issued following the discussion leaving debris on the runway. The NTSB wrote:The collision occurred near the taxiway D intersection which was at about the 11 o’clock direction from the tower building (see figure 1 for the aerodrome layout). The Medan Tower controller was unable to clearly observe the collision, since the impact point was on the right side of the IW1252 and might have been obstructed by the IW1252 fuselage.The collision resulted in damage to the left wing of JT197 aircraft, and the right wing and nose section of IW1252. Debris was scattered on the runway including the detached section of the right wing of IW1252 approximately 2.8 meters in length.After the collision, the JT197 pilot informed Medan Tower controller of another aircraft on the runway when JT197 landed. The Medan Tower supervisor on duty noticed two aircraft on the runway and the Medan Tower controller panicked. Thereafter, the Medan Tower supervisor took over the communications on Medan Tower. The existing of two aircraft on the runway and the panic of the Medan Tower controller indicated that unusual condition had occurred.The Medan Tower controller issued take off clearance to the IW1252 pilot which was rejected, and the pilot requested to return to apron to inspect the possibility of the aircraft damage. The pilots of JT197 and IW1252 did not report that a collision had occurred.At 04:07:21 UTC, after the IW1252 vacated the runway, the Medan Tower supervisor issued takeoff clearance for other departure aircraft. This indicated that the Medan Tower supervisor was not aware of the collision, including the debris on the runway.The condition of two aircraft on the runway and the departure aircraft requesting to return to apron for inspection for possible damage did not trigger the Medan Tower supervisor to seek further information of possibility of an aircraft collision.At 04:08:55 UTC, the JT197 pilot advised the Medan Ground controller the possibility of aircraft debris on the runway that might become hazard to the other aircraft. The Medan Ground controller acknowledged this and relayed the information to the Medan Tower supervisor.At 04:10:26 UTC, the other departure pilot after airborne advised to the Medan Tower supervisor that there were FOD on the runway.At 04:10:44 UTC, the Medan Tower supervisor issued landing clearance to other arriving aircraft.Two pilots had informed the Medan Tower supervisor of debris on the runway, who then informed the Airport Runway and Accessibility unit. While waiting for the runway to be inspected, other arriving aircraft landed.At 0431 UTC, the Medan Tower controller closed the runway operation for runway inspection. | Air crash | April 2018 | ['(The Aviation Herald)'] |
Bahrain gives Abdullah of Saudi Arabia the Ajrab sword of Imam Turki bin Abdullah kept by Bahrain for 140 years and confers on him the Sheikh Isa bin Salman Al Khalifah Medal during a ceremony at Al–Sakhir Palace. | Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah, draped in Bahraini flag, and King Hamad bin Isa Al-Khalifa, draped in Saudi flag, join the Ardah dance during a reception ceremony at Al-Sakhir Palace in Bahrain on Sunday. (SPA)
By ARAB NEWS
Published: Apr 19, 2010 01:17
Updated: Apr 19, 2010 01:18
MANAMA: Bahrain honored Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah by giving him the historic Ajrab sword of Imam Turki bin Abdullah, which the country has been keeping for 140 years, and conferred on him the Sheikh Isa bin Salman Al-Khalifa Medal during a colorful ceremony at Al-Sakhir Palace here Sunday.
King Hamad bin Isa Al-Khalifa, who presided over the function, welcomed King Abdullah and his delegation to Bahrain and thanked him for the landmark visit. “On this occasion, I have the pleasure to give you the sword of your grandfather Imam Turki bin Abdullah, on behalf of the entire Al-Khalifa family,” he said.
In his short crisp speech, King Abdullah emphasized the historic relations between the two GCC neighbors. “Our visit today is not to add anything new, but to tell others that we are one nation and one people in good times as well as in bad times,” said King Abdullah drawing applause from the gathering.
In his welcome speech, King Hamad said the sword, nicknamed “Ajrab,” was sent to his great grandfather Sheikh Isa bin Ali Al-Khalifa by Imam Saud bin Faisal Al-Saud. “Ajrab remained a symbol of the one family having a united stand over the years,” he said. Bahrain’s king also quoted a historic statement of King Abdul Aziz, the founder of Saudi Arabia, when he visited Al-Sakhir Palace. “Let our hearts be united until the Day of Judgment,” King Abdul Aziz told Sheikh Hamad bin Isa Al-Khalifa, the grandfather.
Bahrain gave its highest medal to King Abdullah in appreciation of his contribution to the Arab and Islamic Ummah. King Abdullah thanked King Hamad for his kind words, and for expressing his good feelings about Saudi Arabia and its people. King Abdullah reciprocated by decorating the Bahraini monarch with the King Abdul Aziz Medallion of the First Order.
Following the ceremony, the two leaders held a one-on-one meeting at Al-Sakhir Palace and discussed major regional and international issues. King Abdullah ordered the establishment of a SR1 billion medical city under Arabian Gulf University in Manama as a gift to the people of Bahrain. Khaled Al-Ouhali, the university’s vice chancellor, said the medical city would be named after King Abdullah.
King Abdullah was accompanied by a high-level delegation including Foreign Minister Prince Saud Al-Faisal, intelligence chief Prince Muqrin, Education Minister Prince Faisal bin Abdullah, Deputy Commander of the National Guard for Executive Affairs Prince Miteb bin Abdullah, Finance Minister Ibrahim Al-Assaf and Culture and Information Minister Abdul Aziz Khoja.
In a statement on the occasion, Prince Salman bin Hamad, the crown prince of Bahrain, commended King Abdullah’s key role in building bridges of love between cultures and civilizations based on a spirit of tolerance, friendship and mutual respect. He underlined the reputation King Abdullah enjoys at the Arab and international levels and his stance supporting Arab and Islamic causes.
Foreign Minister Sheikh Khaled bin Ahmed Al-Khalifa said the royal visit is living proof of the brotherly relations between the two royal families. “King Abdullah’s historic visit will open up horizons for further cooperation,” the minister said. Saudi Arabia is Manama’s largest trading partner with the Saudi investment in the country amounting to SR7 billion. Saudis have investments in 315 companies in Bahrain.
| Awards ceremony | April 2010 | ['(Arab News)', '(Bahrain News Agency)', '[permanent dead link]', '(Gulf Daily News)'] |
A landslide hits an illegal gold mine in North Sulawesi, Sulawesi, Indonesia. An estimated 60 people are trapped underground as shafts give way, while three others are found dead. | As many as 60 people are believed to have been buried alive after a landslide at an illegal gold mine in Indonesia's North Sulawesi province.
So far there have been three confirmed deaths and 15 people have been rescued.
Rescuers have reported hearing voices from inside the makeshift mine shafts that have been cut into the hillside.
Indonesia's disaster agency (IDA) said dozens of people were mining when when beams and support boards broke suddenly.
Those trying to reach the trapped miners are being hampered by the treacherous terrain and having to use picks and spades rather than heavy machinery for fear of causing another landslide.
The IDA's Abdul Muin Paputungan said: ""We are able to detect that many of them are still alive because we can hear their voices, as there are some places where air is getting in and out and there are gaps in the mud."
He added that families of those missing had begun to gather at the site of the accident.
The Indonesian government has banned small-scale gold mining, but there is little control, particularly in remote areas and they are prone to accidents. | Mine Collapses | February 2019 | ['(Sky News)'] |
Indian police report that Sayed Zabiuddin, a key figure allegedly involved in the planning of the deadly Mumbai attacks of 2008, is arrested. | Police in the Indian capital, Delhi, say they have arrested a key figure allegedly involved in the planning of the deadly Mumbai attacks of 2008.
Abu Jindal, also known as Syed Zabiuddin, has been remanded to police custody, a senior police official told the BBC.
He is being described as the "handler" of the 10 gunmen who carried out the deadly assault on targets in Mumbai.
The attacks claimed 165 lives. Nine gunmen were also killed.
The sole surviving gunman from the attacks, Mohammad Ajmal Amir Qasab, was convicted of murder and waging war on India in May 2010 and given a death sentence.
The 60-hour siege of Mumbai began on 26 November 2008, targeting luxury hotels, the main railway station and a Jewish cultural centre.
Relations between India and Pakistan hit rock bottom after India blamed the Pakistan-based militant group Lashkar-e-Taiba for the attacks.
After initial denials, Pakistan acknowledged that the assault had been partially planned on its territory and that Qasab was a Pakistani citizen.
| Famous Person - Commit Crime - Accuse | June 2012 | ['(BBC)', '(Times of India)'] |
In Malawi, President Bingu wa Mutharika quits the governing party, the United Democratic Front, stating he is fed up of criticism of his anti–corruption campaign. The party had debated whether to expel him for alleged misconduct. (IOL, SA) | Malawian ministers lined up behind Bingu wa Mutharika, the president, today after the leader quit the ruling party over a corruption row, sparking a political crisis in the impoverished southern African nation. Five cabinet ministers interviewed pledged allegiance to the president after he resigned yesterday from the United Democratic Front (UDF), which is headed by Bakili Muluzi, wa Mutharika's arch-foe and former president. The UDF said it would quit government but a high-level government source said most of the party's 17 cabinet ministers planned to stick by wa Mutharika. That would give him the upper hand in a long-running power struggle with Muluzi over a graft probe into top-ranking members of the previous administration. "I have decided to work with the president because it gives me the chance to continue serving the nation," said Henry Phoya, the justice minister. "My allegiance goes to the president," said George Chaponda, the foreign minister. An economist plucked from relative obscurity, wa Mutharika was initially considered a stooge of the former president, but his relentless war on graft has pitted him against Muluzi and made him the enemy of some party insiders.
The public rift between wa Mutharika and factions loyal to Muluzi grew so bad that the president last month accused his predecessor of plotting with officials to assassinate him. The party last week came close to expelling the president, but wa Mutharika apparently outflanked Muluzi and his supporters by building a power base within the government then quitting of his own accord.
However, although wa Mutharika may have won enough backing to keep running the poverty-stricken and Aids-ravaged country, it was still unclear how he would organise his support. Experts said the president could start a new party and press MPs to quit the UDF and join him. Alternatively they could become independent MPs or even stay in the party while remaining loyal to the president and part of the government. - Reuters | Government Job change - Resignation_Dismissal | February 2005 | ['(SABC)', '(BBC)'] |
A riot in the Pedrinhas prison in north–eastern Brazil results in eighteen prisoner deaths and a guard being wounded. | Eighteen inmates were killed and a prison guard shot and wounded during a prison riot in north-eastern Brazil that ended on Tuesday, officials said.
The riot began on Monday in the Pedrinhas penitentiary complex in Maranhao state when prisoners overpowered and shot the guard during an inspection, and took him and another five guards hostage to demand better conditions.
Nine of the prisoners were murdered in score-settling by other convicts on Monday, and the other nine on Tuesday, the state secretary for security, Aluisio Guimarares, told AFP.
Media reports said several of the inmates killed were serving time for rape. Some were reportedly decapitated.
Mr Guimarares lamented the "useless killings".
He added that police "have retaken control of the prison and calm has returned".
He said the wounded guard was released by the prisoners on Monday and was in a stable condition in hospital, and the other five guards were freed unharmed on Tuesday.
Prison riots are frequent in Brazil, where overcrowding of cells is common and gangs often run their wings.
Mr Guimeraes said this latest riot occurred in a high-security wing of the penitentiary which held 320 prisoners. The whole complex has an inmate population of 4,000 - twice its official capacity.
| Riot | November 2010 | ['(AFP via ABC News Australia)'] |
U.S. president–elect Donald Trump calls President Abdel Fattah el–Sisi of Egypt, who then agrees to postpone a United Nations resolution regarding Israel. | Egypt agreed to postpone a vote on a UN Security Council resolution against Israeli settlements after US President-elect Donald Trump called President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, the Egyptian president’s office said.
Egypt had circulated the draft late on Wednesday, demanding Israel halt settlement activity in the occupied West Bank, and a vote was initially scheduled for Thursday. But it requested that the resolution be postponed after Israel launched a frantic lobbying effort, including calls from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for the US to use its veto power at the Security Council to block the resolution.
On Friday, Sisi’s spokesman said the two leaders agreed to allow Trump’s incoming administration a chance to tackle the issue.
“During the call, they discussed regional affairs and developments in the Middle East, and in that context the draft resolution in front of the Security Council on Israeli settlement,” said spokesman Alaa Yousef.
“The presidents agreed on the importance of affording the new US administration the full chance to deal with all dimensions of the Palestinian case with a view of achieving a full and final settlement.”
A similar resolution was vetoed by the US in 2011.
Earlier, diplomats from New Zealand, Venezuela, Malaysia and Senegal told Egypt that if it did not clarify on whether it planned to call the vote, they would press ahead without Cairo’s involvement.
Trump, who campaigned on a promise to recognise Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, had called on Washington to use its veto to block the resolution.
“The resolution being considered at the United Nations Security Council regarding Israel should be vetoed,” the Republican said in a statement released hours ahead of the scheduled vote.
OPINION: Trump and Israel “As the United States has long maintained, peace between the Israelis and the Palestinians will only come through direct negotiations between the parties, and not through the imposition of terms by the United Nations.
“This puts Israel in a very poor negotiating position and is extremely unfair to all Israelis,” Trump added.
Israeli settlements are illegal under international law and seen as a major stumbling block to peace efforts as they are built on Palestinian land occupied by Israel.
The United Nations maintains settlements are illegal, but UN officials have reported a surge in construction over the past months.
Palestinians want an independent state in the West Bank, Gaza and East Jerusalem, areas Israel occupied in a 1967 war.
Israel disputes that settlements are illegal and says their final status should be determined in any future talks on Palestinian statehood.
With Trump in the White House, Israel will continue expanding settlements in the West Bank.
Four UN council members press Egypt to go ahead with UN Security Council vote demanding an end to Israeli settlements.
Egypt withdraws draft resolution that demands an end to Israeli settlements after Donald Trump weighs in. | Diplomatic Talks _ Diplomatic_Negotiation_ Summit Meeting | December 2016 | ['(al–Jazeera)'] |
Montenegro and Serbia expel their respective ambassadors following controversial comments by Serbian ambassador Vladimir Bozovic, who described the Kingdom of Montenegro's decision to merge with the Kingdom of Yugoslavia in 1918 as a "liberation". He was accused of "interfering in Montenegro's internal affairs" and was given 72 hours to leave the country by the Montenegrin government. | Serbia has rescinded its decision to expel the Montenegrin ambassador following a row over a historical dispute dating back more than a century. Serbia expelled Montenegrin ambassador, Tarzan Milosevic, after Montenegro gave Serbia's envoy 72 hours to leave.
Montenegro accused Vladimir Bozovic of "interfering in Montenegro's internal affairs". Relations between the two nations have been tense for much of the past year. On Sunday, Serbia's Prime Minister Ana Brnabic revoked the decision to expel Mr Milosevic and said her country wanted to extend "the hand of cooperation and friendship" to Montenegro. Serbia's envoy, Mr Bozovic, was expelled after he described a decision by Montenegrin authorities in 1918 to unify with Serbia as a "liberation". The 1918 assembly ruled that Montenegro would become part of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes, which was later known as Yugoslavia. In 2006, Montenegro declared independence, becoming a sovereign state for the first time since the end of the First World War. Mr Bozovic made the comments at a meeting of an association representing Montenegrin Serbs. He described the decision in 1918 as a "free expression of people's will to unite with fraternal Serbia". Montenegro's incoming Prime Minister Zdravko Krivokapic criticised the current government's decision and accused it of trying to deepen divisions between ethnic Serbs and Montenegrins. Mr Krivokapic, will lead a coalition of pro-Serb parties and is set to take office this week. He says his new administration will "promote a good-neighbour policy with Belgrade" based on "non-interference in the internal affairs of other countries".
| Famous Person - Commit Crime - Accuse | November 2020 | ['(BBC)'] |
Prosecutiors in the case of the latest attempt to kill Samoan Prime Minister Tuilaepa Sailele Malielegaoi announce that Eletise Leafa Vitale, convicted of the assassination of one of Malielegoai's Cabinet members in another failed attempt at killing him in 1999, will testify in the trial against the conspirators of this year's plot. | A convicted murderer will be a key witness in the trial of two men charged with allegedly plotting to assassinate Samoa's prime minister.
Samoa PM and Police Minister, Tuilaepa Sailele Malielegoai Photo: RNZ Pacific /Autagavaia Tipi Autagavaia
The Samoa Observer newspaper reports that Alatise Leafa Vitale, jailed for committing Samoa's first political assassination, will appear as a police witness in the case against Paulo Malele, also known as King Faipopo, and Lema'i Sione.
The two are facing two counts each of conspiracy to murder Tuilaepa Sailele Malielegaoi.
The men's lawyer Unasa Iuni Sapolu has confirmed Vitale will appear for the prosecution.
She says Vitale's affidavit, and those of other witnesses means they will be called during the bail hearing.
The two men had been held at the Tanumalala Prison but were transferred to Police headquarters last Friday to await their hearing.
One man, Taualai Leiloa, has already pleaded guilty to plotting to murder Tuilaepa.
Copyright © 2019, Radio New Zealand
One of three suspects facing charges of conspiring to assassinate Samoa's Prime Minister has pleaded guilty while two co-defendants have entered not guilty pleas on a charge of conspiring to commit…
Two men charged with conspiracy to assassinate Samoa's Prime Minister have pleaded not guilty to the crime.
Two men have appeared in the Samoan Supreme Court on a joint charge of conspiring to murder relating to the alleged plot against the Prime Minister, Tuila'epa Sa'ilele Malielegaoi.
A Samoan village has backtracked on a move to banish a villager allegedly involved in a plot to assassinate Prime Minister Tuila'epa Sa'ilele Malielegaoi.
In Samoa, two people will be facing charges relating to an alleged conspiracy to assassinate Prime Minister Tuila'epa Sa'ilele Malielegaoi.
In Samoa the sentence of Malele Atofu Paulo also known as King Faipopo on a charge of making false accusations and defaming Prime Minister Tuila'epa Sa'ilele Malielegaoi, has been set aside. | Famous Person - Commit Crime - Sentence | September 2019 | ['(RNZ)'] |
Voters in Thailand head to the polls to elect all 500 members of the House of Representatives. This is the first parliamentary election held in the country since the invalidation of the 2014 Thai general election and the ensuing 2014 Thai coup d'état. | BANGKOK (Reuters) - Partial results from Sunday’s election in Thailand showed a pro-military party slightly ahead of the populist party leading a “democratic front”, an unexpected and - for many - stunning outcome from the country’s first poll since a 2014 army coup.
With 93 percent of overall votes counted, the Election Commission reported the pro-military party Palang Pracharat, which is seeking to keep junta chief Prayuth Chan-ocha in power, was leading with 7.59 million votes.
Trailing with 7.12 million votes was Pheu Thai, a party linked to exiled former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, whose loyalists have won every election since 2001.
The numbers were for the popular vote, but these did not reflect parliamentary constituency seats that would ultimately be won. Pheu Thai could still win the lion’s share of these because of its concentrated popularity in the north and northeast of the country.
Nevertheless, there was dismay among many voters who had hoped that the poll would loosen the grip on power that traditional elites and the military have held in a country that has one of the highest measures of inequality in the world.
At Pheu Thai’s headquarters in Bangkok, the mood fluctuated from cheerful to quiet disbelief.
“I didn’t think this is likely. I don’t think this is what the people wanted,” said Pheu Thai supporter Polnotcha Chakphet.
A #PrayforThailand hashtag started trending on Twitter as the results trickled out, and some people tweeted that they would leave the country if Prayuth was returned to power to remain prime minister.
The Election Commission chairman said unofficial results would be announced on Monday afternoon. The commission said turnout was 66 percent, based on 90 percent of the vote counted.
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The royal family, which wields great influence and commands the devotion of millions of Thais, played a part in the election though how far it influenced the outcome was unclear.
On the eve of the vote, King Maha Vajiralongkorn made an unexpected and cryptic statement, recalling a comment made by his late father in 1969 on the need to put “good people” in power and to prevent “bad people from ... creating chaos”.
His message was a departure from the approach of his late father, who died in 2016: in his latter years, the former king usually kept a distance between the monarchy and politics.
Although the king did not refer to any of the sides in the election race, there was speculation on social media that it was a coded reference to main political factions - broadly the middle class and urban establishment, who identify with the monarchy and the military, and their pro-Thaksin opponents.
King Vajiralongkorn also weighed in on electoral affairs last month after a startling turn of events when a pro-Thaksin party nominated Princess Ubolratana, the king’s sister, as its prime ministerial candidate.
Within hours, the king issued a statement saying her candidacy was “inappropriate” and she was disqualified.
Still, the connection between the princess and Thaksin persisted in voters’ minds, particularly after they were seen hugging on Friday at the wedding of his daughter in Hong Kong.
“We had a lot of dramas in the last hours before the election,” said Thitinan Pongsudhirak, a political analyst at Chulalongkorn University told Reuters. “Thaksin overplayed with a royal involvement and that was countered by his opponent.”
Thailand has been racked for the past 15 years by crippling street protests both by Thaksin’s opponents and supporters that destabilized governments and hamstrung business.
The country has been under direct military rule for nearly five years since then-army chief Prayuth overthrew an elected government linked to populist Thaksin, who himself was thrown out by the army in 2006.
The election will determine the make-up of parliament’s 500-seat House of Representatives. The lower house and the upper house, the Senate - which is appointed entirely by the ruling junta - will together select the next prime minister.
Critics have said a new, junta-devised electoral system gives a built-in advantage to pro-military parties and appears designed to prevent Pheu Thai from returning to power.
The provision means Prayuth’s Palang Pracharat Party and allies have to win only 126 seats in the House, while Pheu Thai and its potential “democratic front” partners would need 376.
The non-aligned Democrat Party, which many had thought could hold the balance of power between pro-military and “democratic front” factions, appeared to have been deserted by many voters. Its leader, former Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva, announced his resignation within five hours of the polls closing.
| Government Job change - Election | March 2019 | ['(Reuters)', '(The Washington Post)'] |
Typhoon Maysak, the strongest typhoon of the season, makes landfall along the southern coast of the Korean Peninsula, southwest of Busan, South Korea. | After already causing destruction in Japan's Ryukyu Islands, powerful Typhoon Maysak made landfall along the south coast of the Korean Peninsula on Thursday.
Portions of western Japan also continue to feel gusty winds and heavy bands of rain spinning around the periphery of Maysak.
The storm roared ashore early Thursday just west-southwest of the metropolis of Busan.
As of Wednesday evening, local news in Jeju reported over 20,000 homes were without power on the Korean island as the center of Maysak passed just to the east. Local news also reported a wind gust of 110 mph on Jeju Island around 6 p.m. Wednesday.
Thousands were evacuated along the coast of Gyeongnam. According to Yonhap News in Seoul, 40 scheduled trains on the nation's seven rail lines have been canceled or partly suspended.
The Korean Meteorological Administration said that Maysak was expected to follow a similar route as Typhoon Maemi in 2003. Maemi left 131 people dead or missing, and caused $3.5 billion in damage.
This region has been no stranger to tropical activity this year. Just a week ago some of the same locations were dealing with Bavi, which strengthened to a typhoon on Aug. 24 just north of the Ryukyu Islands before it navigated into the Yellow Sea and made landfall in North Korea on Aug. 27.
"Maysak has surpassed Bavi and is now the strongest typhoon of the season with sustained winds reported up to 110 mph," said AccuWeather lead international forecaster Jason Nicholls.
Bavi's maximum sustained winds were 100 mph.
According to the Japan Meteorological Agency, a storm of this strength is a very strong typhoon, equivalent to a Category 3 hurricane in the Atlantic or East Pacific oceans.
After Maysak became a typhoon Saturday evening, the powerful storm steered toward the island of Okinawa early this week. Maysak's wrath first brought rough seas and wind-swept rain, but it quickly evolved into destructive winds, storm surge and flooding rainfall that lasted into early Wednesday, local time.
The city of Nago on Okinawa reported more than 9 inches of rain on Monday and Tuesday alone. On the southern side of the island, the city of Naha reported winds of 82 mph Tuesday.
On Tuesday morning, local news outlets reported that more than 33,000 homes in Okinawa were without electricity due to Maysak. This ferocious storm is also referred to as Julian in the Philippines.
The typhoon also caused the cancellation of more than 100 flights, which according to FlightAware is more than 40% of the island's air traffic. Maysak further disrupted travel in Okinawa by suspending bus operations throughout the day Tuesday.
As Maysak passes western Kyushu of Japan and approaches the southern shores of South Korea, similar, or worse, impacts were expected.
Widespread wind gusts of 40 mph to 60 mph were expected from Kyushu through the Korean Peninsula and into the Liaoning and Jilin provinces of China.
"A concentrated area from western Kyushu through the southern half of South Korea can expect wind gusts over 80 mph on Wednesday and Thursday," said Nicholls.
An AccuWeather Local StormMax of 140 mph for wind gusts is also possible near landfall along the southern coast of South Korea.
The strongest winds will be near the typhoon's center or just to east of the center at the time of landfall.
Coastal flooding and dangerous storm surge will also be a concern for cities like Busan, which are expected to remain east of the typhoon's eye.
Tremendous amounts of rain are also anticipated across the already flood-weary countries of North Korea and South Korea, and while the storm center has still not made landfall, heavy tropical rain has already spread across much of the Korean Peninsula.
Widespread rainfall 4 inches to 8 inches is forecast for much of the Korean Peninsula, including in Seoul.
Southern and central parts of South Korea are the most likely areas for the AccuWeather Local StormMax for rainfall of 12 inches.
Beacuse of these anticipated impacts, Maysak is expected to be a 3 on the AccuWeather RealImpact Scale for Tropical Cyclones for South Korea. The RealImpact Scale is a 6-point scale with ratings of less-than-1 and 1 to 5. Maysak is forecast to be a 2 on the AccuWeather RealImpact Scale for Tropical Cyclones in southern Japan.
The current forecasts for Maysak could make the typhoon one for the record books.
Maysak is not alone in the Western Pacific Ocean, as a new tropical system emerged in the basin on Monday. This new system could bring yet another tropical strike to the Korean Peninsula.
What started out as depression late on Monday strengthened into Tropical Storm Haishen on Tuesday evening.
As of Wednesday evening Haishen was located about 300 miles south of Iwo, Japan, and was classified as a Strong Tropical Storm by the Japanese Meteorological Agency, with sustained winds of 58 mph.
AccuWeather meteorologists are also forecasting Haishen to strengthen in the coming days as it continues on a westward to northwestward trajectory throughout the week.
"Just as soon as Maysak takes the title of strongest typhoon in the West Pacific so far this year, it looks like Haishen will come right on it's heels and unseat it, becoming even stronger than Maysak," said AccuWeather meteorologist Jake Sojda.
"Haishen could follow right behind Maysak and aim for southern Japan and the Korean Peninsula as early as this weekend, bringing a second dose of tropical impacts," Nicholls explained.
"This has the potential to be particularly devastating for some parts of the Ryukyu Islands and South Korea as two strong typhoons, both the equivalent of major hurricanes in the Atlantic, could strike in almost the same spot in less than a week," Sojda warned.
"Any building or infrastructure that is weakened or only sustains minor damage from Maysak could then be taken out by Haishen. There simply will not be enough time to repair and reinforce things." | Hurricanes_Tornado_Storm_Blizzard | September 2020 | ['(UPI)'] |
China appoints Zheng Yanxiong to head up the newly formed Office for Safeguarding National Security of the CPG in the HKSAR; Yanxiong is best known for his suppression of protests in Wukan in 2011. | China has appointed a hard-line figure as head of its new security agency in Hong Kong.
Zheng Yanxiong is best known for his role in dealing with a protest over a land dispute in the southern Chinese village of Wukan.
The new agency, answering directly to Beijing, is being set up to enforce a draconian security law passed this week in Hong Kong.
Opponents of the law say it erodes the territory's freedoms. The law targets secession, subversion and terrorism with punishments of up to life in prison.
Several leading pro-democracy activists have stepped down from their roles and one of them, one-time student leader and local legislator Nathan Law, has fled the territory.
Separately, one of 10 people arrested using the new law during protests on Wednesday has become the first to be charged under it. Hundreds were detained during the clashes.
The motorcyclist, accused of riding into a group of police while carrying a flag calling for the liberation of Hong Kong, was charged with inciting secession and terrorism.
Beijing has dismissed criticism of the law, saying it is necessary to stop the type of pro-democracy protests seen in Hong Kong during much of 2019.
Hong Kong's sovereignty was handed back to China by Britain in 1997 and certain rights were supposed to be guaranteed for at least 50 years under the "one country, two systems" agreement.
But China has rejected complaints by the UK and other Western nations that it is in breach of these guarantees as interference in its internal affairs.
Mr Zheng's most recent senior position was as secretary general of the Communist Party committee in the southern province of Guangdong.
But he is best known as party boss in the Guangdong city of Shanwei when a protest by villagers in Wukan seeking compensation for land requisitioned by the government broke out in 2011.
He famously criticised the villagers for talking to "a few rotten foreign media organisations" instead of the government about their grievances.
"These media organisations will only be happy when our socialist county falls apart," he said in remarks broadcast on local TV.
The unrest led to a rare concession by the authorities, with the direct election of a popular local leader. However, five years later he was jailed for corruption and the protests were quashed.
Though by then Mr Zheng was no longer in his Shanwei role, he was still a senior party official in Guangdong.
Other appointments by Beijing include Luo Huining, who has been made adviser to Hong Kong's chief executive on the new security law.
Mr Luo currently heads Beijing's liaison office in the territory. Veteran Hong Kong official Eric Chan will head the territory's national security commission.
To understand Zheng Yanxiong you need to know about a Guangdong village called Wukan.
In 2011, disaffected locals forcibly expelled government officials from the area, accusing the officials of grabbing their land in a series of corrupt deals with developers.
A blockade ensued and, as part of a negotiated settlement to defuse tensions, the locals were given the right to elect their own council. It became a grass roots democratic exemption in China.
Five years later, the residents - angry that no money had been paid for the stolen land - started marching in the streets again. The situation escalated after their elected leader was taken away by the authorities on what are thought to have been trumped up charges.
The empowered locals were in charge of their own affairs and they believed they could achieve justice. But when the Communist Party became fed up with this rebellion it was over to senior cadre Zheng Yanxiong and others to deal with it. Hundreds of riot police were ordered in to seize control, making mass arrests and crushing the "Wukan experiment".
Since then this Cantonese-speaking enforcer has moved up through the ranks with a reputation for doing whatever is necessary. Now he's in charge of a new security agency in Hong Kong which operates without any legal restraints whatsoever, and which no other agencies can touch.
The law is wide-ranging, making inciting hatred of China's central government and Hong Kong's regional government offences. It also allows for closed-door trials, wire-tapping of suspects and the potential for suspects to be tried on the Chinese mainland.
Acts including damaging public transport facilities - which often happened during the 2019 protests - can be considered terrorism. There are also concerns over online freedom as internet providers might have to hand over data if requested by police. US lawmakers have unanimously approved new Hong Kong-related sanctions, with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi saying the law amounted to a "brutal, sweeping crackdown against the people of Hong Kong, intended to destroy the freedoms they were promised".
Meanwhile, UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson said the passing of the law was a "clear and serious breach" of the 1985 Sino-British joint declaration.
The UK has offered residency, and possible citizenship, to up to three million Hong Kongers in the wake of the law's implementation.
Numerous others have also expressed strong concerns. Australia revealed that, like the UK, it was considering offering safe haven to Hong Kongers.
China has responded by saying Hong Kong's affairs are "none of your business". However, Cuba - on behalf of 53 countries - welcomed the law at the United Nations Human Rights Council.
| Government Job change - Appoint_Inauguration | July 2020 | ['(BBC)'] |
President Kurmanbek Bakiyev makes a last-ditch attempt to quell the riots by imposing a curfew as six people reportedly die. | "People said that they'd been shot"
At least four people have been killed in clashes between police and protesters in Kyrgyzstan's capital, Bishkek, witnesses and medics say.
There are reports that police fired live rounds at the demonstrators after failing to disperse them with tear gas and stun grenades. Protesters in several parts of the country are calling for the president to resign over rising fuel prices. Russia and the US, which have military bases in Kyrgyzstan, appealed for calm. The clashes in Bishkek come a day after thousands of people stormed government offices in the north-western town of Talas. Government offices in another town, Naryn, have also been seized by opposition supporters. President Kurmanbek Bakiyev has declared a state of emergency and imposed customs in Bishkek, Talas and Naryn. Leaders arrested
Witnesses said at least four bodies were on the ground in the square outside the president's office and a medical official told Reuters news agency that several people had been killed and dozens injured, mostly from firearms.
We've been to the square where the demonstrations were taking place - the situation is very chaotic.
There are thousands of people there, mainly young men, and lots of them have arrived from different parts of Kyrgyzstan.
They are very angry and it was very noisy, the police were firing stun grenades and also live rounds. We saw people who had been shot - one man walked past me, he had been shot in the hand.
We seemed to be the only camera there - and the protesters wanted us to see the people who had been killed. We saw at least one dead man.
All this has angered the protesters even further - they say they won't go anywhere and were shouting "the president must go".
The protesters in Bishkek appeared to be leaderless, says the BBC's Rayhan Demytrie in the capital, after a number of opposition heads were arrested overnight. Earlier, police had used tear gas and stun grenades to break up crowds outside an opposition headquarters but the protesters overcame the police and marched to the presidential offices in the city centre. Police cars have been overturned and set alight and officers attacked by the crowd, some of whom are reported to be armed. The unrest began on Tuesday in Talas, where protesters briefly took the local governor hostage while another group surrounded the local police headquarters. Angry crowds attacked special forces police with rocks and petrol bombs. They reportedly set fire to portraits of President Bakiyev.
Prime Minister Daniyar Usenov said at least 85 people were injured in the unrest - most of the injured were reported to be police officers. Protests spread on Wednesday to Bishkek and Naryn. Thousands of people occupied a government building in Naryn and have installed what they are calling a "people's governor". The protests have been touched off by rising fuel prices, but the opposition has also accused President Bakiyev of economic mismanagement and failing to tackle corruption.
The most popular opposition leader, Almazbek Atambayev, and several other politicians have been arrested and journalists attacked, adding to the tensions in the country, says our correspondent. In a statement, the US embassy in Bishkek said it would call on "all parties to show respect for the rule of law and call on both the demonstrators and the government to engage in talks to resolve differences in a peaceful, orderly and legal manner". The US base in Manas, near Bishkek, is a key resupply hub for the operations in Afghanistan. Russia's Foreign Minister Grigory Karasin has urged the authorities not to use force against demonstrators, the Interfax news agency reported. Web blocked
In recent weeks, the authorities have clamped down on independent media, and several internet news sources are still blocked in the country.
There has also been rising discontent with the role of President Bakiyev's son who was recently appointed as the head of an important government agency. Five years ago, mass protests in Kyrgyzstan brought Mr Bakiyev to power. He promised to fight corruption and promote democracy, but his critics say the country has become increasingly authoritarian under his rule, our correspondent says. Last week UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon visited Bishkek and called on the government to do more to protect human rights. On Tuesday, the UN said Mr Ban was "concerned" at events in Talas and urged all parties to show restraint. Are you in Kyrgyzstan? Are you taking part in the protests? What is your reaction to the unrest? | Riot | April 2010 | ['(RIA Novosti)', '[permanent dead link]', '(BBC)'] |
Israel kills ten people in airstrikes conducted against Syrian military targets in the Golan Heights in response to two rockets fired at Mount Hermon late Saturday. | Israel has carried out airstrikes in Syria in response to rare rocket fire from the neighbouring country. A war monitor reported that 10 people were killed, including Syrian soldiers and foreign fighters.
Israel’s army said two rockets were fired from Syria at Mount Hermon, in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, late on Saturday and one was “located within Israeli territory”.
In response, the army attacked two Syrian artillery batteries, a number of observation and intelligence posts on the Golan Heights and an SA-2 aerial defence battery, it said.
The Israeli attack left three Syrian soldiers and seven foreign fighters dead, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.
According to the UK-based monitor, they died in missile strikes close the capital, Damascus, where Syrian troops, Iranian forces and Hezbollah fighters are stationed. The observatory did not specify the nationality of the foreign fighters killed.
Syria’s official news agency Sana quoted a military source as saying anti-aircraft defences fired against “enemy missiles” from Israel targeting positions in south-west Damascus.
The Israeli army said its own aerial defence systems were activated due to the Syrian anti-aircraft fire, but none of the Syrian fire hit Israel.
The Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, said he had ordered the strike. “We won’t tolerate fire at our territory and will respond forcefully to any aggression against us,” he said. Israel has carried out hundreds of airstrikes in Syria, most of them against what it says are Iranian and Hezbollah targets. Israel says it is determined to prevent its arch-foe Iran from entrenching itself militarily in Syria, where Tehran backs President Bashar al-Assad in the country’s eight-year war, which has killed more than 370,000 people.
Israel insists it has the right to continue to target positions in Syria held by Iran and its Lebanese ally Hezbollah out of self-defence.
On 27 May, Syria said Israel carried out a missile attack in Quneitra. The Israeli army said it was retaliation for anti-aircraft fire targeting one of its fighter jets.
Syrian air defence batteries intercepted projectiles from Israel and downed a number of them on 17 May, according to Sana.
The Syrian province of Quneitra includes the Golan Heights, most of which is occupied and annexed by Israel.
In January, Israel hit Iranian positions in Syria in response to missile fire. According to the observatory, 21 people, mainly Iranians, were killed in those raids.
The latest reported strike comes at a time of rising tensions between Iran and the US. The standoff has been simmering since the US withdrew from the 2015 nuclear treaty between Iran and world powers. In recent weeks the US has accused Iran of alleged threats and deployed an aircraft carrier group and B-52 bombers to the Gulf. | Armed Conflict | June 2019 | ['(The Guardian)'] |
The European Union suspects a new outbreak has occurred in the Republic of Macedonia. | LONDON, England (CNN) -- Samples from a dead bird have been sent to London for testing after a large number of birds died in the Macedonian city of Bitola near the border with Greece, a member of Macedonia's parliament said.
Gorgi Orovcanec, who is also former minister of health, said that while "many" birds died only one was suspected of having "some kind of disease."
The development comes after confirmed cases of the deadly H5N1 avian flu were detected in Romania and Turkey and a suspected case was found in Greece.
To limit any potential cases of bird flu, the Macedonian government ordered the extermination of all poultry in a 2 km radius of the village, Orovcanec said. That adds up to approximately 10,000 birds.
Bitola is the second largest city in Macedonia.
Another member of parliament, former foreign affairs minister Slobodan Casule, said dead poultry had also been found near the town of Kumanovo.
He said many of the birds may have died from different diseases such as salmonella and plague and not bird flu.
Casule said Macedonians feel that "the government is dragging its feet in terms of a protection strategy against the bird flu."
The Macedonian government has allocated 1 million euros for defense against bird flu. Casule said that while no bird flu cases have been found in Macedonia, the public is scared, which could make it hard to control disease in the country.
Macedonian authorities hope to organize a regional conference to develop a common strategy for prevention and to fight against bird flu.
Union foreign ministers on Tuesday declared the spread of bird flu from Asia into Europe a "global threat" requiring international action. The meeting issued a statement saying bird flu posed a serious, global health threat if it shifted from birds to humans and one that required "a coordinated international reaction." However, European Health Commissioner Markos Kyprianou said that the presence of bird flu in southeastern Europe did not increase the risk of a pandemic. (Full story) | Disease Outbreaks | October 2005 | ['(CNN)'] |
AlQaeda in the Arabian Peninsula claims responsibility for the cargo plane bomb plot of October 29, 2010 and a September UPS plane crash in Dubai. | DUBAI (Reuters) - Al Qaeda’s Yemen-based wing claimed responsibility for a foiled plot to send explosive parcels to the United States last week, and for the crash of a UPS jet in Dubai in September.
A forensic officer removes a package from a UPS container at East Midlands Airport in Castle Donington, central England October 29, 2010.
A statement that appeared on Islamist websites on Friday, attributed to Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), also vowed more strikes on the United States in comments addressed to President Barack Obama.
“We say to Obama, we have struck your jets three times in one year and we will continue, God willing, to strike the interests of America and its allies.”
In Washington an official said the United States could not confirm that AQAP was behind the September 3 crash of the aircraft operated by the U.S. parcel delivery firm UPS.
“There are very strong indications that AQAP was responsible for plotting last week’s disrupted cargo plane plot,” a U.S. counter-terrorism official told Reuters. “But we can’t confirm at this point their claims about the early September incident,” added the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
AQAP’s statement also blamed Saudi Arabia for tipping off security services and allowing them to intercept the bombs, addressed to two Chicago synagogues, in Britain and Dubai last Friday. “Our devices were headed to Jewish Zionist temples but you intervened with your treachery to protect them,” it said.
The militant group claimed responsibility for the UPS crash, in which two crew members died, even though the United Arab Emirates’ civil aviation authority said on Sunday that there was no evidence of an explosive device aboard the jet.
“Because the act was not attributed to us, we were able to wait until we could return and strike again,” the AQAP statement said.
A UPS spokesman in the United States said the company had no independent verification of what caused its Germany-bound Boeing 747-400 plane to crash after the pilot reported fire and smoke in the cockpit.
“We certainly have no independent knowledge of these claims...we have to rely on investigators, and the investigators are telling us there was no bomb,” he said. | Armed Conflict | November 2010 | ['(Reuters)'] |
In Formula One racing, Sebastian Vettel wins the 2012 Indian Grand Prix, with Fernando Alonso and Mark Webber in second and third place. | Last updated on 28 October 201228 October 2012.From the section Formula 1
Sebastian Vettel dominated the Indian Grand Prix to take a fourth win in a row and extend his championship lead over Ferrari's Fernando Alonso.
The Red Bull driver is 13 points clear of the Spaniard, who was second ahead of Vettel's team-mate Mark Webber.
The Australian was holding off Alonso when he suffered a Kers power-boost problem and the Ferrari swept by.
Lewis Hamilton closed on Webber but had to settle for fourth ahead of McLaren team-mate Jenson Button.
1 Sebastian Vettel - Red Bull 1:31:10.744
2 Fernando Alonso - Ferrari +00:09.437
3 Mark Webber - Red Bull +00:13.217
4 Lewis Hamilton - McLaren +00:13.909
5 Jenson Button - McLaren +00:26.266 6 Felipe Massa - Ferrari +00:44.674
7 Kimi Raikkonen - Lotus +00:45.227
8 Nico Hulkenberg - Force India +00:54.998
9 Romain Grosjean - Lotus +00:56.103
10 Bruno Senna - Williams +01:14.975
Vettel is a strong favourite for the title, with Red Bull in imperious form and 75 points available in the remaining races. The German equalled the legendary Ayrton Senna's record of leading every lap of a race for three consecutive grands prix, set for McLaren in 1989. And Vettel won in India for the second straight year after dominating here in 2011. "It has been an incredible two years for us here to get pole on Saturday and win the race on Sunday," said Vettel. "It's a very special grand prix, I really like the flow of this circuit. Sector one is a bit slow with long straights, but sector two and three is very nice."
Ferrari's Felipe Massa took sixth, closely followed throughout the race by Lotus's Kimi Raikkonen, who is now almost completely out of the title race, 67 points behind Vettel in third place overall.
Webber, in fourth place in the championship and 70 points adrift of Vettel, retains a mathematical chance but the championship battle is now effectively a fight between Vettel and Alonso.
On current form, it is hard to see how the Spaniard has any realistic chance of closing the gap and preventing Vettel and Red Bull making it three championships in a row.
"It's not easy at the moment to fight the Red Bull but we will never give up," Alonso said. "We lost points but this was more or less the plan this weekend; we were not fast enough to compete with them. We lost the minimum points and better races will come."
Vettel has now led every single lap of the last three races, after a series of technical upgrades to the Red Bull moved it onto a separate level from any other car.
Here at the Buddh International Circuit in Greater Noida, to the south-east of Delhi, Vettel aggressively fended off a challenge from Webber off the start line and controlled the race from there.
After a measured first 20 laps, during which he extended his lead over Webber to five seconds, the world champion suddenly cut loose with a series of laps 0.7 seconds faster than anyone else.
At this time, Alonso was beginning to close on Webber and threaten the Australian's second place.
The Spaniard moved up from fifth on the grid to third by lap four after some impressive racing between himself, Hamilton and Button on the opening lap.
They went three abreast into Turn Four on the opening lap, after Alonso had taken advantage of the duelling McLarens to close on them.
Hamilton and Button tried to go into Turn Four either side of the Ferrari and while Button hung on to third place, Alonso managed to stay ahead of Hamilton.
The Ferrari then passed Button on the fourth lap. Webber inched clear of Alonso to move second by lap 16 before the Ferrari driver began to come back at him.
Alonso made his sole pit stop on lap 29, a lap before Webber and was right on the Red Bull's tail when it emerged from its stop.
Webber began to suffer Kers problems from about lap 20 but he held Alonso off for the next 25 laps. But then he lost time behind two backmarkers and that put Alonso on to his tail. With no Kers, Webber was unable to defend and the Ferrari swept by into second place, grabbing an extra three points that could be crucial at the end of the season.
Vettel then appeared to hit some trouble, with the underside of his car - the area called the 'tea tray' under the drivers legs - starting to spark as it dragged on the ground.
Alonso was urged by his team to put pressure on him, but Vettel was able to stay in control until the end.
Webber was then left to fend off an attack from Hamilton, which he managed to do.
The final points positions were taken by Force India's Nico Hulkenberg in eighth place, just holding off the Lotus of Romain Grosjean. Williams's Bruno Senna, fighting to save his drive, was 10th. | Sports Competition | October 2012 | ['(BBC)'] |
At least 10 children are killed and 28 injured in an air attack on a school in northern Yemen. The Houthi group claims that the Saudi Arabia led coalition is responsible. | A spokesperson for the aid group Medicines Sans Frontiers (MSF) says their staff in northern Yemen received the bodies of at least 10 dead children after Saudi-led coalition warplanes bombed a school.
MSF said 21 children, all under 15 years of age, were admitted with injuries in the town of Haydan, near Saada.
"A bit before 10:00am we received the first 15 children," Hassan Boucenine, the MSF head of mission in Yemen, told the ABC.
"Relatives, neighbours brought them to the hospital."
Mr Boucenine said the children who were killed died of multiple trauma and head injuries. He called on all parties to respect civilians. "All warring parties have the responsibility of the civilians, and must respect civilian lives," he said.
"Civilian infrastructure, such as schools and hospitals, must be respected. This war is now claiming a greater number of civilian lives and it must stop."
Supplied: Hussain Albukhaiti
In a statement the UN children's agency, UNICEF, said the children who were killed were aged between six and 14 years old.
They were studying in a religious school in the Juma'a Bin Fadil village in Haydan. The UN agency said they had verified seven deaths so far but that "bodies are still being pulled out of the rubble and the death toll is expected to increase".
"With the intensification in violence across the country in the past week, the number of children killed and injured by airstrikes, street fighting and landmines has grown sharply," UNICEF said. "UNICEF calls on all parties to the conflict in Yemen to respect and abide by their obligations under international law.
"This includes the obligation to only target combatants and limit harm to civilians and civilian infrastructure."
Supplied: Hussain Albukhaiti
Local journalists in the town of Saada posted graphic photos of dead children lined up in a row on social media, saying the school had been bombed by Saudi-led coalition jets. A spokesman for the Saudi-led coalition had no comment on the attack.
Saudi Arabia and its allies have launched thousands of air strikes against the Houthis since they drove the internationally recognised Government into exile in March 2015.
The UN accuses the coalition of targeting civilians, with 2,000 believed to have been killed in the airstrikes. Saturday's (local time) incident in Saada comes after 13 civilians in the capital Sana'a were killed on Tuesday after Saudi aircraft bombed a potato chip factory.
| Armed Conflict | August 2016 | ['(Reuters via ABC News)'] |
Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko signs legislation banning all Russian films made after January 1, 2014. The legislation also bans movies produced by Russia after 1991 if they "glorify the work of government bodies" of Russia, citing such movies to be a threat to national security. | Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has signed legislation banning all Russian films made after January 1, 2014.
Legislation signed by President Petro Poroshenko on April 20 also bans movies produced by Russia after 1991 if they "glorify the work of government bodies" of Russia.
"The legislation will help raise the level of protection of Ukraine's national security, reduce separatist sentiments in society, and strengthen the government's authority," a parliamentary description of the bill was quoted as saying.
Russian films and television series have long dominated the Ukrainian market where an overwhelming majority of the population is bilingual. Ukrainian and Russian TV channels have also been engaged in a partnership to coproduce movies and series. | Government Policy Changes | April 2016 | ['(Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty)'] |
Stocks gain worldwide after China announces a stimulus package involving US$586 billion to finance programs in 10 major domestic areas in the next two years. | (CNN) -- Markets rallied Monday after China announced a $586 billion stimulus package aimed at countering a slowdown in the Asian powerhouse's export-led economy.
But in the U.S. ongoing recession fears overshadowed any relief caused by the Chinese plan. China's spending spree caused an immediate jump in oil prices to $64 a barrel in Asian trading. Oil prices had been dropping due to the economic downturn.
Earlier, Shanghai's index soared 7.3 percent, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng finished the day up 3.5 percent. The stimulus plan pushed Tokyo's Nikkei index 5.8 percent higher.
The response was more muted in other parts of the region, with South Korea's KOSPI index up 1.6 percent, Australia's All Ordinaries down 1.1 percent, the Taiwan Weighted flat and Singapore's Straits Times index up 1.3 percent.
In Mumbai, the BSE SENSEX was up 4.6 percent.
European markets were stronger across the board, with London's FTSE 100, the Paris CAC 40 and Frankfurt's CAC 30 all closing up by around 1 percent.
Major U.S. markets closed down though after Monday brought a heavy spate of corporate news, including the huge restructuring of AIG, bankruptcy for national electronics chain Circuit City and more weakness for the automakers
The Dow Jones lost 0.8 percent, the Nasdaq 1.8 percent and the S&P 1.3 percent.
"When the top companies are giving the kind of guidance they're giving and announcing layoffs, that tells you we are looking at at least a few more quarters of this recession," said John Wilson, chief technical strategist at Morgan Keegan.
The Chinese stimulus package includes loosening of credit restrictions, tax cuts and a massive infrastructure spending program, according to China's Xinhua news agency.
The money will be spent over the next two years to finance several areas, including low-income housing, technological innovation and rebuilding from several disasters -- including the May 12 earthquake in Sichuan province that killed nearly 70,000 people.
The plan was approved Sunday by the State Council.
The growth in China's economy slowed for the first nine months of 2008 compared to the same period last year, officials reported in late October, but still increased by nearly 10 percent. | Financial Aid | November 2008 | ['(CNN)'] |
A state of emergency is declared in New South Wales, Australia, as a bushfire continues to burn out of control. More than 500 personnel from the New South Wales Rural Fire Service, Fire and Rescue NSW and the Australian Defence Force are tackling the bushfire, which has torn through the Holsworthy Barracks and threatens the suburbs of Sydney. | Shane Fitzsimmons of the Rural Fire Service says evidence suggests fire that destroyed more than 2,500 hectares was deliberately lit
Last modified on Mon 16 Apr 2018 05.42 BST
The New South Wales rural fire chief has described the suspected deliberate starting of the Holsworthy fire as “sickening and reprehensible”, while urging residents in south-western suburbs of Sydney to remain vigilant despite easing conditions. Police have set up a strike force to investigate the bushfire that tore through vast areas of bushland and threatened homes on the weekend. The strong winds that fanned the fire on Sunday eased on Monday, allowing authorities to downgrade the alert level to “advice” and tell residents it was safe to return home. Wind gusts had reached up to 70km/h on Sunday, and dry conditions combined with “unprecedented” early autumn temperatures to create a high-risk environment. Firefighters worked through the night, conducting tactical back-burning, particularly around the fire’s northern and south-western fronts, and patrolling streets for flare-ups and floating embers. Resources were scaled down significantly from about 500 firefighters on Sunday to about 250 on Monday. The fire was still not contained on Monday morning, and authorities were urging residents to remain vigilant, particularly with winds forecast to pick up again on Monday afternoon. The Rural Fire Service assistant commissioner, Shane Fitzsimmons, said evidence suggested the fire was deliberately lit. “It is sickening and reprehensible,” Fitzsimmons said. “How dare anyone in society think that they can deliberately light a fire, endangering first and foremost all of these men and women, the vast majority of whom are volunteers, putting their lives on the line to bring these fires under control.”
The fire is thought to have started near Leacocks reserve in Casula, and had spread over 2,500 hectares by late Sunday.
Easing Conditions have seen the Morebank Ave Fire downgraded to Advice. Residents in fire effected areas should continue to be vigilant and monitor conditions #NSWRFS pic.twitter.com/u55gUH6SXq
Detectives believe several spot fires began in the Leacock Reserve area on Friday night, and have looked at CCTV footage in the area. The bushfire flared up about 2.30pm the next day in the same location. “The area where we believe the fire commenced has been forensically examined,” Acting Superintendent Paul Albury told reporters on Monday.
“We have taken a number of statements from people who called the police and fire services in regards to the fire.”
Conditions were particularly dry, and there had been very little rain, Fitzsimmons said. The dry spell had combined with what Fitzsimmons said were “unprecedented” autumn temperatures.
“We do see fires all throughout the year, but we don’t see them to the sort of magnitude we have seen in the last couple of days here in south-west Sydney,” Fitzsimmons said. There were initial fears about the scale of damage to property, particularly to homes in west Menai and Barden Ridge. But Fitzsimmons said no homes had been lost and the damage had been relatively minor. There were reports of damage to fences, a cubbyhouse and gardens, he said. The result was described as “extraordinary”. Residents of Voyager Point, Pleasure Point, Sandy Point, Illawong, Menai and Bangor had been warned of the danger of ember attacks as many scrambled with hoses and buckets to protect their houses.
By 5pm on Sunday, some Menai residents were starting to relax.
Daniel Borg, who lives on Hall Drive in Menai alongside bushland, admitted it was concerning to see how close the flames came. “It was pretty scary,” he said when finally opening a beer, thankful his house came with sprinklers on the roof.
Firefighters took advantage of the conditions to do a back burn along Heathcote Road near Pleasure Point as well as in areas of the Holsworthy military base.
Fitzsimmons said the fire was not thought to have started on defence land. On Monday the fire was continuing to burn in a south-easterly direction towards Barden Ridge.
The NSW government has also indicated it will investigate why trains were allowed to continue running past the fire ground while it was active. | Fire | April 2018 | ['(The Guardian)'] |
The family of Abdelbaset al-Megrahi, the Lockerbie bomber, loses a posthumous appeal at a top Scottish court against his conviction. Al-Megrahi was the only person convicted for the terrorist attack, whereas his family say that he was the victim of a "miscarriage of justice". | Scottish judges have rejected a third appeal on behalf of the Libyan man convicted of the Lockerbie bombing.
The family of Abdelbaset al-Megrahi, who died in 2012, argued that he was the victim of a miscarriage of justice.
But the Court of Criminal Appeal upheld the verdict of the original trial, which took place at special Scottish court in the Netherlands in 2001.
Megrahi is the only person to have been convicted over the bombing of Pan Am flight 103 in December 1988.
All 259 passengers and crew on board the flight were killed, along with 11 people in Lockerbie who died when the wreckage fell onto their homes.
Last month the US announced new charges against a Libyan man who is accused of making the bomb. Abu Agila Mohammad Masud has been charged with terrorism-related crimes, and prosecutors say they will seek his extradition to stand trial in the US.
Megrahi was found guilty of playing a central role in the bombing in 2001 after the trial at Camp Zeist, and lost the first appeal against his conviction the following year.
He abandoned a second appeal shortly before he was released from prison in 2009 after being diagnosed with terminal cancer. He returned to Libya, where he died in 2012.
His family continued their efforts to ensure a further appeal against his conviction, and the Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission referred his the case back to the courts last year.
A written judgment rejecting the appeal was delivered by Scotland's most senior judge, Lord Carloway, the Lord Justice General.
He said they had rejected the argument that the trial court had come to a verdict that no reasonable court could have reached.
"On the evidence at trial, a reasonable jury, properly directed, would have been entitled to return a guilty verdict," the judgement says.
The five judges also rejected the second grounds of appeal, that the Crown failed to disclose material which would have created a real prospect of a different verdict.
In a statement issued by lawyer Aamer Anwar, the family said they were "heartbroken" by the decision and would now lodge an appeal with the UK Supreme Court.
He said Megrahi's son, Ali Al-Megrahi, maintained his father's innocence and was determined to clear his name.
"All the Megrahi family want for Scotland is peace and justice, but as Ali stated today their journey is not over.
"Libya has suffered enough, as has the family for the crime of Lockerbie. They remain determined to fight for justice," said Mr Anwar.
Dr Jim Swire, who lost his daughter Flora in the bombing, said he had believed the Scottish system would deliver "truth and justice" - but did not think it had done so.
"I very much regret that we have to see whether we can go elsewhere to look for those outcomes," he said.
However Kara Weipz, whose brother Richard Monetti was killed in the atrocity, said she was "quite pleased" with the decision.
"We have always had confidence in the system that it would turn out this way," she said.
"I don't know how many more decisions can be made that say the conviction at trial was the correct decision.
"I don't know how many more judges can confirm what was decided at Camp Zeist."
Justice Secretary Humza Yousaf said the Scottish government had always been clear that the courts were the only "appropriate forum" to determine Megrahi's guilt or innocence.
He said it did not comment or intervene in any criminal case and added that the investigation into the bombing remained ongoing.
Police Scotland's Chief Constable Iain Livingstone said his thoughts remained with the families of the victims.
He said the force would continue to work on its investigation along with the Crown Office, American law enforcement and other international partners.
That commitment was reiterated by Scotland's top prosecutor, Lord Advocate James Wolffe QC.
The appeal against Megrahi's conviction was heard by five judges at the High Court in Edinburgh in November.
Advocate depute Ronald Clancy, representing the Crown, said the original trial judges had been fully entitled to infer that Megrahi was involved in the bombing.
He said a number of factors suggested his involvement, including his use of a false passport.
Claire Mitchell QC, representing the Megrahi family, argued that evidence in relation to his identification was of "poor quality".
She said the court had read into a mass of conflicting evidence a conclusion which was not justified.
US and British investigators indicted Megrahi in 1991 but he was not handed over by the Libyans until April 1999.
May 2000 - A special trial under Scots law starts on neutral ground at Camp Zeist in the Netherlands.
31 January 2001 - Former Libyan intelligence officer Megrahi is found guilty of mass murder and jailed for life with a minimum term of 27 years.
March 2002 - Megrahi loses an appeal against his conviction.
June 2007 - The Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission (SCCRC) recommends that Megrahi is granted a second appeal against his conviction.
18 August 2009 - Megrahi's move to drop his second appeal is accepted by judges at the High Court in Edinburgh.
20 August 2009 - Megrahi, who has terminal prostate cancer, is released from prison on compassionate grounds. May 2012 - Megrahi dies at his home in Tripoli, aged 60.
July 2017 - Megrahi's family launch a new bid to appeal against his conviction.
March 2020 - The Scottish Criminal Case Review Commission says Megrahi's conviction can be taken to a fresh appeal. | Famous Person - Commit Crime - Sentence | January 2021 | ['(BBC)'] |
Nine of the miners who went missing during a mine collapse in Qixia, Shandong, China, are found dead by rescue workers. Yesterday another miner was found dead, bringing the death toll to 10, while eleven others were rescued alive. Another miner is still missing. | Nine Chinese miners have been found dead a day after 11 of their colleagues were rescued after two weeks trapped in a gold mine in Shandong province.
The Yantai city mayor confirmed the deaths, state broadcaster CCTV said. One miner remains missing. Another died last week after falling into a coma.
The miners became trapped in the Hushan mine when the entrance to the tunnel collapsed after a blast on 10 January.
There was joy on Sunday after the 11 were brought to the surface.
"From Sunday afternoon to this afternoon, rescue workers have not stopped searching, and found a further nine trapped miners who unfortunately all died," Yantai Mayor Chen Fei told a briefing on Monday.
"Along with one miner who died on Thursday, the bodies of the nine deceased miners were all lifted out of the mine."
Rescue efforts had been expected to take weeks, but took a "big step forwards" on Sunday morning when "a huge obstacle blocking the well suddenly fell to the bottom of the shaft," lead rescue worker Du Bingjian told the state-run Global Times.
The first man to be rescued had been trapped in a different part of the gold mine to the main group of 10.
TV footage showed him being lifted out as emergency workers cheered. He was blindfolded to protect his eyes from the light and was immediately taken to hospital for treatment, with his condition described as "extremely weak".
About an hour after his rescue, 10 more miners were brought out from a different section of the mine. CCTV said one of them was injured. Several others were seen walking by themselves, supported by rescue workers, before being transported to hospital.
The nine dead miners were believed to have been in the "Sixth Central Section" of the mine, but details of how they were located are not yet known.
The miners had been working 600m (2,000ft) beneath the surface when the unexplained explosion happened, severely damaging entry to the mine and cutting off communication. For a week, there was no sign of life. Then, on 17 January, rescuers felt a pull on one of the ropes they were lowering into small shafts leading down into the dark.
A paper note was then sent up on a rope from a group of 12 surviving miners - 11 trapped in one place and a 12th trapped further below.
After that, the contact with the 12th miner was lost, while one of the group of 11, who had fallen into a coma after sustaining a head wound in the explosion, was confirmed dead on Thursday. A communication line was established and food and medicine were lowered down through a narrow shaft. The miners received porridge and nutritional liquids, and a few days before their rescue, requested a traditional meal of sausages. Mining accidents are not uncommon in China, where the industry safety regulations can be poorly enforced. In December last year, 23 miners died after a carbon monoxide leak at a coal mine. In September, 16 workers were killed at another mine on the outskirts of Chongqing, also due to carbon monoxide. In December 2019, an explosion at a coal mine in Guizhou province, south-west China, killed at least 14 people. | Mine Collapses | January 2021 | ['(BBC)'] |
The leader of the People's Alliance opposition party Alexei Navalny placed under house arrest. | Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny has been placed under house arrest and forbidden from using the internet or receiving visitors.
The house arrest is for two months, but can be extended.
Investigators accused him of violating the terms of a suspended sentence from an earlier case.
Navalny, a leading opposition figure and anti-corruption campaigner, has dismissed the charges against him as ridiculous and politically motivated.
He was given a five-year suspended sentence for the theft of 16m roubles ($450,000; £270,000) from a timber company in 2009.
Officials said he had repeatedly travelled outside Moscow, in violation of the sentence.
He was also charged with resisting arrest at a rally on Monday evening, at which hundreds of other activists were also picked up by police.
Mr Navalny and his supporters published a damning report in January alleging massive corruption regarding preparations for the Sochi Olympics.
Unsanctioned demonstrations have become rare since the government signed anti-protest legislation in 2012, levying heavy fines and sometimes imposing jail terms on protesters.
Critics of Russia's president accuse him of stepping up pressure on dissent in recent weeks, with an eye on upheaval in neighbouring Ukraine. | Famous Person - Commit Crime - Arrest | February 2014 | ['(Russia)', '(RFE/RL)', '(BBC)', '(RIA)'] |
The Under Secretary of Veterans Affairs for Benefits, Allison Hickey, at the beleaguered United States Department of Veterans Affairs resigned. She held the post since June 2011. | Allison Hickey, the Veterans Affairs Department's top benefits official and arguably the most polarizing figure in the VA leadership ranks in recent years, stepped down from her post Friday amid praise from her colleagues and renewed attacks from her critics.
As under secretary for benefits, Hickey oversaw more than 20,000 VA employees and the delivery of benefits to more than 12 million veterans and their families. She is one of the last holdovers from former VA Secretary Eric Shinseki's tenure, frequently praised by top officials for her efforts to modernize the department and her dedication to veterans.
"She has been an exceptional colleague and an even better friend to me," VA Secretary Bob McDonald said in a statement. "Her commitment to excellence and service to our country is unquestioned."
But her work also drew intense criticism from conservatives on Capitol Hill and some veterans advocates, who blamed her for management failings within the Veterans Benefits Administration.
In March 2013, Rep. Jeff Miller, R-Fla., chairman of the House Veterans' Affairs Committee, called for her resignation as the number of backlogged disability claims from veterans ballooned to more than 600,000.
A year later, officials from the American Legion began an ongoing dismissal petition not only for Hickey, but also for Shinseki and former VA Under Secretary for Health Robert Petzel, for problems related to lengthy patient wait times and data manipulation throughout the department.
Last month, those same critics renewed those calls after reports emerged about abuse of the VA's employee relocation bonuses. A VA Inspector General report suggested Hickey should be investigated for negligent oversight of the program, and Miller's committee has scheduled an Oct. 21 hearing on the issue.
A senior VA official said those repeated requests have taken a toll on the 57-year-old Hickey, who worried she had become a distraction to further reform efforts. "There are only so many times you can go back into that cauldron before you get fed up with the process," the official said. | Government Job change - Resignation_Dismissal | October 2015 | ['(Military Times)'] |
Hurricane Gustav weakens to a tropical depression. | HURRICANE GUSTAV scoured southern Louisiana with blistering winds and dangerous storm surges, but New Orleans endured its latest encounter with natural disaster, emerging with a strained levee system that mostly held after a tense day of uncertainty.
Ploughing in from the Gulf of Mexico across coastal lowlands dominated by oil pipelines and fishing wharves, Gustav quickly weakened west of New Orleans on Monday, spinning towards eastern Texas.
Even as Gustav moved into Louisiana's interior, Hurricane Hanna was forming over the Bahamas. Hurricane experts predicted the new storm could reach the south-eastern US within days.
By day's end, New Orleans clearly had escaped a catastrophic replay of the destruction left by Hurricane Katrina three years ago. The unprecedented mass evacuation of 1.9 million people emptied the hurricane zone and appeared to have spared the region from heavy casualties.
Stern warnings by Louisiana's Governor, Bobby Jindal, and the Mayor of New Orleans, Ray Nagin, led most New Orleans residents to evacuate, leaving fewer than 10,000 who "stayed indoors", Mr Nagin said.
Police reported only one storm-related death and three other fatalities that occurred during the evacuation.
A dusk-to-dawn curfew remained in force in New Orleans and Mr Nagin reported only one arrest for looting.
Despite winds that gusted above 100kmh and sent rain slanting sideways, the city avoided heavy structural damage. Officials remained guarded in their assessments as Monday drew to a close but grew optimistic that the city had missed the brunt of the storm. A relaxed Mr Nagin said he felt "really good" about the city's status.
By early yesterday Gustav had been downgraded to a tropical depression, the US National Hurricane Centre said.
The Homeland Security Secretary, Michael Chertoff, said boats, helicopters and military aircraft had searched for stranded people.
The city's most anxious moments came as water streamed over levee walls along the Industrial Canal, the artery that connects the Mississippi River with Lake Pontchartrain. | Hurricanes_Tornado_Storm_Blizzard | September 2008 | ['(Sydney Morning Herald)'] |
The Dominican senate unanimously approves a bill which will set up a system to grant citizenship to Dominican–born children of immigrants. | The Dominican senate has unanimously approved a bill which will set up a system to grant citizenship to Dominican-born children of immigrants.
The bill had already been approved by the lower house on Friday.
It was proposed by the president after the country's highest court ruled last year that the children of undocumented migrants were not automatically eligible for Dominican nationality.
The ruling drew international criticism and soured relations with Haiti.
The two countries share the island of Hispaniola and the overwhelming majority of undocumented migrants to the Dominican Republic come from Haiti. The court's ruling was decried as "racist" by international rights groups which accused the Dominican Republic of discriminating against Haitian immigrants, who often work in low-paid and low-skilled jobs.
The office of United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights said at the time that it was "extremely concerned" as the ruling "may deprive tens of thousands of people of nationality, virtually all of them of Haitian descent, and have a very negative impact on their other rights".
Simmering tensions between Haiti and the Dominican Republic were stoked by the court's decision.
The two neighbours withdrew their ambassadors, although there have been high-level meetings between the two governments since. President Danilo Medina had urged lawmakers to pass the bill swiftly to create "a country without exclusion and without discrimination".
The new law will create different categories for people depending on whether they have documents proving they were born in the Dominican Republic.
Critics say this still discriminates against those who do not possess such documents, but the government says they will be given the opportunity to apply for naturalisation two years after registering in the Dominican Republic.
The law will come into force as soon as it is officially published. Dominican Republic denies racism claim
The Dominican ruling which could leave thousands stateless
Bye-bye, birthplace
UN calls for end of arms sales to Myanmar
In a rare move, the UN condemns the overthrowing of Aung San Suu Kyi and calls for an arms embargo.
The ethnic armies training Myanmar's protesters. VideoThe ethnic armies training Myanmar's protesters
Tokyo Olympics: No fans is 'least risky' option
Asia's Covid stars struggle with exit strategies
Why residents of these paradise islands are furious
The Gurkha veterans fighting for Covid care. VideoThe Gurkha veterans fighting for Covid care
Troubled US teens left traumatised by tough love camps
Why doesn't North Korea have enough food?
Le Pen set for regional power with eye on presidency
How the Delta variant took hold in the UK. VideoHow the Delta variant took hold in the UK | Government Policy Changes | May 2014 | ['(BBC)'] |
A $28,500 deposit was made to Syed Farook’s bank account two weeks before he and his wife, Tashfeen Malik, carried out the San Bernardino massacre, a source close to the investigation says. Investigators are exploring whether the transaction was a personal loan or something else. | San Bernardino shooter Tashfeen Malik denied ever receiving weapons training or engaging in 'terrorist activity' on her US permanent residence application. San Bernardino shooters Syed Farook and Tashfeen Malik first met in person and became engaged during the 2013 Haj pilgrimage in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, according to a statement Farook made as part of Malik's official US visa application. In a separate part of Malik's immigration file, provided to Reuters news agency by congressional sources, Malik answered "no" to questions about her background and activities, including whether she had ever received weapons training or engaged in "terrorist activity". The questions were included as part of a US permanent residence application, Form I-485 used by the Department of Homeland Security's immigration unit. Tashfeen Malik, left, and her husband, Syed Farook, as they passed through O'Hare International Airport in Chicago. Islamic militant groups ignored contact attempts from Pakistan-born Tashfeen Malik in the months before she and her husband killed 14 people at a California holiday party probably because they feared getting caught in a US law enforcement sting, government sources say. The number of organisations Malik, 29, tried to contact and how she tried to contact them were unclear, but the groups almost certainly included al-Qaeda's Syria-based official affiliate, the Nusrah Front, the sources said on Thursday. One source said the government currently has little, if any, evidence that Malik or her husband, Syed Rizwan Farook, 28, had any direct contact with Islamic State, which has captured control of large parts of Syria and Iraq. Islamic State said last week the couple were among its followers. The militant groups likely ignored Malik's approaches because they have become extremely wary of responding to outsiders they do not know or who have not been introduced to them, the sources said. The December 2 shooting massacre by Farook, the US-born son of Pakistani immigrants, and Malik, 29, a Pakistani native he married in Saudi Arabia last year, has heightened security concerns in the United States and has become an issue in the US presidential campaign. The FBI said last week that Malik posted a pledge of allegiance to Islamic State on Facebook just before the shooting rampage. FBI Director James Comey, Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson and John Mulligan, deputy director of the National Counterterrorism Center, planned to brief members of both houses of the US Congress on Thursday about the investigation of Farook and Malik in closed, classified sessions. The Federal Bureau of Investigation is trying to determine the couple's motivation for opening fire with assault-style rifles at a holiday party for Farook's San Bernardino County government co-workers. Twenty-one people were also wounded in the attack. Authorities say Farook and Malik embraced radical Islam before they met online in 2013 and married last year. A law enforcement source said investigators are focusing on how Malik obtained the K-1 fiance visa that the United States issued so she could come to the country with Farook. The K-1 program is now under scrutiny by an interagency committee that includes the State Department and the Department of Homeland Security. The couple who massacred 14 people at a California holiday party were discussing martyrdom online before they met in person and married last year, FBI Director James Comey says. Comey, testifying at a hearing of the Senate Judiciary Committee, on Wednesday said there was no evidence yet that the marriage of Syed Rizwan Farook, 28, who was born in the United States to Pakistani immigrants, and Tashfeen Malik, 29, who was born in Pakistan and lived most of her life in Saudi Arabia, was arranged by a militant group. "They were actually radicalised before they started ... dating each other online, and as early as the end of 2013 they were talking to each other about jihad and martyrdom before they became engaged," Comey said. The Federal Bureau of Investigation believes that the couple, who were killed in a shootout with police a few hours after their attack on the party, were inspired by foreign terrorist organisations. Comey said it would be "very, very important to know" if their marriage last year had been arranged as a way to carry out attacks in the United States. The investigation of the San Bernardino, California, shooting is also looking at the relationship between Farook and boyhood friend Enrique Marquez. The New York Times has reported that Marquez had converted to Islam a few years ago and state documents showed that he was connected to Farook's family by marriage. Police have said Marquez legally bought the AR-15 assault-style rifles that Farook and Malik used in their attack on the party, which also left 21 people wounded. Marquez, who worked at a Walmart Supercenter in Corona, California, has not been arrested in the case but he was questioned by the FBI on Tuesday and his family home was raided over the weekend. Marquez checked himself into a Los Angeles-area psychiatric facility soon after the shooting. State documents showed that last year Marquez married Mariya Chernykh, whose sister is married to Farook's brother, Syed Raheel Farook, a US Navy veteran. It could not be immediately determined if Marquez lived with his wife. The New York Times reported that he split his time between his family's home and that of a girlfriend. David Bowdich, FBI Assistant Director in Charge of the Los Angeles Field Office, speaks to the media about the terrorist attack at the Inland Regional Centre. (Getty Images) A deposit of $28,500 was made to Syed Farook's bank account on November 18, some two weeks before he and his wife, Tashfeen Malik, went on a shooting rampage in San Bernardino, California, Fox News reported on Monday, citing a source close to the investigation. Investigators were trying to determine whether the transaction, made from Utah-based WebBank.com, was a loan, Fox News said, citing the source. Farook and Malik killed 14 people and wounded 21 others when they started shooting at a holiday lunch event on December 2. On or around Nov. 20, Farook withdrew $10,000 of the money in cash and deposited it at a Union Bank branch in San Bernardino, according to the Fox News source, who also told the cable news network that in the days before the shooting, there were at least three transfers of $5000 each that appeared to be to Farook's mother. Fox News quoted the source as saying the transactions appeared to represent a "significant source of pre-meditation". Investigators believe the married couple who massacred 14 people in California last week - the U.S.-born husband and his Pakistani wife - had been radicalized "for quite some time," but no clues pointing to an international plot have yet emerged, the FBI said on Monday. Authorities also have evidence that Syed Rizwan Farook, 28, and his spouse, Tashfeen Malik, 29, had engaged in firearms target practice near their Southern California home within days of last week's deadly shooting rampage, according to the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The latest disclosures in the FBI-led investigation came as San Bernardino County employees began returning to work under tighter security, five days after Farook, an environmental health inspector for the county, and his spouse opened fire with assault-style rifles on a holiday gathering of his colleagues. The couple were killed in a shootout with police several hours after their attack on Wednesday morning in a conference room at the Inland Regional Center social services agency in San Bernardino, about 60 miles (100 km) east of Los Angeles. The FBI said last week that authorities are investigating the mass shooting as an "act of terrorism," noting that Malik, a Pakistani native who lived most of her life in Saudi Arabia, was believed to have pledged allegiance on Facebook to the leader of the militant group Islamic State. If the mass shooting - the deadliest burst of U.S. gun violence in three years - proves to have been the work of people inspired by Islamic militants, it would mark the most lethal such attack in the United Sates since Sept. 11, 2001. In addition to five firearms recovered by investigators, authorities also have seized thousands of rounds of ammunition amassed by the couple, along with explosives and other materials for making as many as 19 pipe bombs, the FBI said. Mounting signs that extremist ideology played some role in Wednesday's attack continued to reverberate in the campaign for the November 2016 U.S. presidential election. A day after Democratic President Barack Obama urged Americans in a televised White House address to avoid scape-goating of Islam as a religion, Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump called for a ban on Muslims entering the United States. Questions have been raised about the extent to which Farook, who was born in Illinois to Pakistani immigrant parents and grew up in Southern California, might have been introduced to extremism by Malik, whom he married in Saudi Arabia in the summer of 2014 and then returned with to the United States. "The answer is we still do not know," said David Bowdich, assistant director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation's Los Angeles office. But, he added, "We have learned and believe that both subjects were radicalised and had been for quite some time." Malik's transformation began before she came to the United States, according to the FBI. But Bowdich said it remained be seen whether the husband and wife were indoctrinated by other individuals or whether they turned to extremist ideology on their own. Two U.S. government sources familiar with the case said on Monday that investigators had uncovered electronic communications indicating that the couple had at least tried to contact militants abroad, but those communications were believed to have been part of a self-radicalisation process. One source told Reuters the probe was focusing closely on contacts the shooters may have had with radical Islamists in the United States, rather than oversees. Addressing that aspect of the probe in a news conference on Monday, Bowdich said. "I want to be crystal clear here. We do not see any evidence so far of ... an outside-the-continental-U.S. plot. We may find it some day, we may not. We don't know." While the couple may have been inspired by Islamic State, U.S. government sources last week said there was no evidence their attack was directed by the militant group, or that the organisation even knew who they were. FBI Director James Comey said on Friday that no information had been uncovered suggesting the killers were part of an extremist cell or network. Bowdich said on Monday the FBI was working with its foreign counterparts to expand its investigation. To date, he said authorities have conducted well over 400 interviews in Southern California and collected more than 320 individual pieces of evidence. The FBI, he said, was continuing to seek a motive for the attack. Agents believe the couple had been planning more violence because of their cache of ammunition and explosives found in a bomb-making workshop in the suspects' home. One individual still being questioned was Farook's mother, who shared the couple's rented home in the town of Redlands, and in whose care the suspects left their 6-month-old daughter the morning of the shooting. Officials have said the infant has since been placed in protective custody. John D'Angelo, a special agent for the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, confirmed that the two rifles used in the attack were purchased by an individual named Enrique Marquez, a friend of Farook. But investigators were still trying to pin down how the two weapons were transferred to the shooters. The two handguns and a .22-caliber rifle recovered by investigators were bought by Farook himself. D'Angelo said all five guns were legally purchased by licensed gun dealers in California. The mass shooting and its possible connections to Islamic militants quickly found its way into presidential politics, with several candidates for the 2016 Republican nomination accusing Obama of hesitancy in linking Wednesday's bloodshed in California to international terrorism. In a televised address from the Oval Office on Sunday night, Obama condemned the attack as "an act of terrorism designed to kill innocent people" while cautioning against fear-mongering against the Muslim community and overreaction to the militantthreat at home. On Monday, Trump called for a blanket halt to immigration of Muslim individuals to the United States. "Until we are able to determine and understand this problem and the dangerous threat it poses, our country cannot be the victims of horrendous attacks by people that believe only in Jihad," he said. The FBI is investigating the massacre of 14 people in California by a married couple armed with assault rifles as an "act of terrorism," officials said on Friday, noting the wife was believed to have pledged allegiance to a leader of the militant group Islamic State. The Los Angeles Times reported, citing a federal law enforcement official, that the husband had contact with people from at least two militant organizations overseas, including the al Qaeda-affiliated Nusra Front in Syria. Both the U.S.-born husband, Syed Rizwan Farook, 28, and his spouse, Tashfeen Malik, 29, a native of Pakistan who lived in Saudi Arabia for more than 20 years, died in a shootout with police hours after Wednesday's attack on a holiday party at the Inland Regional Center social services agency in San Bernardino, about 60 miles (100 km) east of Los Angeles. If the mass shooting proves to have been the work of people inspired by Islamist militants, as investigators now suspect, it would mark the deadliest such attack in the United States since Sept. 11, 2001. Federal Bureau of Investigation officials said mounting signs of advanced preparations, the large cache of armaments amassed by the couple and evidence that they "attempted to destroy their digital fingerprints" helped tip the balance of the investigation. "Based on the information and the facts as we know them, we are now investigating these horrific acts as an act of terrorism," David Bowdich, assistant director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation's Los Angeles office, said at a news conference. He pointed, in particular, to investigators' discovery of two crushed cell phones left by the couple in a trash can near their rented townhouse. Bowdich said the FBI hoped examination of data retrieved from the phones and other electronic devices seized in the investigation would lead to a motive for the attack. The couple had two assault-style rifles, two semi-automatic handguns, 6,100 rounds of ammunition and 12 pipe bombs in their home or with them when they were killed, officials said. And Bowdich said they may have been planning an additional attack. One startling disclosure came from social media network Facebook, which confirmed that comments praising Islamic State were posted around the time of the mass shooting to a Facebook account established under an alias by Malik. However, it was uncertain whether the comments were posted by Malik herself or someone with access to her page. A Facebook Inc spokesman said the profile in question was removed by the company on Thursday for violating its community standards barring promotion or praise for "acts of terror." He declined to elaborate on the material. But CNN and other news media outlets reported that Malik's Facebook posts included a pledge of allegiance to Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. Asked about a reported Facebook post by Malik on the day of the attack pledging loyalty to Islamic State, Bowdich said, "I know it was in a general timeline where that post was made, and yes, there was a pledge of allegiance." San Bernardino County Sheriff John McMahon Source: AAP
While Malik and her husband may have been inspired by Islamic State, there was no evidence the attack was directed by the militant group, or that the organization even knew who they were, U.S. government sources said. Islamic State, which has seized large swaths of Syria and Iraq, claimed responsibility for the Nov. 13 attacks in Paris in which gunmen and suicide bombers killed 130 people. Speaking to reporters separately in Washington, FBI Director James Comey said the investigation pointed to "radicalization of the killers and of potential inspiration by foreign terrorist organizations." But no evidence has been uncovered yet suggesting the killers were "part of an organized larger group, or form part of a cell," Comey said. "There is no indication that they are part of a network." Bowdich said neither Farook nor Malik had been under investigation by the FBI or other law enforcement agency prior to Wednesday. And while federal agents have since discovered contacts between the couple and the subjects of other FBI inquiries, none of those "were of such a significance that it raised these killers up onto our radar screen," Comey said. The Times gave no additional details for its report that Farook had been in contact with individuals from the Nusra Front and another unspecified militant group abroad. Farook family attorneys, holding a news conference in Los Angeles, denied there was any evidence that either the husband or wife harbored extremist views. "She was like a typical housewife," lawyer David Chesley said, describing Malik as "caring, soft-spoken" and a devout Muslim who prayed five times a day, chose not to drive and "kept pretty well isolated." She spoke broken English and her primary language was Urdu, he said, adding, "She was very conservative." They said Farook, too, largely kept to himself, had few friends and said co-workers sometimes made fun of his beard. Farook, born in Illinois to Pakistani immigrant parents, worked as an inspector for the San Bernardino County Department of Environment Health, the agency whose holiday party he and Malik are accused of attacking on Wednesday. Investigators are looking into a report that Farook had an argument with a co-worker who denounced the "inherent dangers of Islam" prior to the shooting, a U.S. government source said. The couple's landlord in the town of Redlands opened their townhouse to media on Friday, leading to a flurry of reporters and camera crews surveying the scene after the FBI had finished conducting its 24-hour-long search of the premises. The landlord later asked media to leave the home. The couple and their 6-month-old daughter shared the home with Farook's mother, in whose care they left the child on Wednesday morning, saying they had a doctor's appointment, according to family representatives. Child welfare authorities have taken custody of the baby, and Farook's relatives were seeking return of the infant, hoping to place her with Farook's older sister, Abuershaid said. Pakistani intelligence officials have contacted Malik's family in her homeland as part of the investigation, a family member said. "I only found out about this tragedy today when some intelligence officials contacted me to ask me about my links with Tashfeen," Malik's uncle, Javed Rabbani, said in an interview. "I had heard in the news that this tragedy had taken place but I could never even imagine that it would be someone from my family. Of course, we are in shock." He said his brother, Malik's father, had become considerably more conservative since moving with his family to Saudi Arabia a quarter century ago. Tashfeen Malik had not come to the attention of authorities while living in Saudi Arabia, according to a source close to the Saudi government. She had moved back to Pakistan five or six years ago to study pharmacy, Pakistani officials said. Christian Nwadike, who worked with Farook for five years, told CBS that his co-worker had been different since he returned from Saudi Arabia. "I think he married a terrorist," Nwadike said. Twenty-one people were wounded in the attack, the worst gun violence in the nation since the December 2012 shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut. The San Bernardino attacks have raised concerns among Muslim-Americans of an anti-Islamic backlash. Two days after the San Bernardino attacks, a Reuters/Ipsos poll showed 51 percent of Americans view Muslims living in the United States the same as any other community, while 14.6 percent were generally fearful of Muslims. | Famous Person - Commit Crime - Investigate | December 2015 | ['(SBS)', '(Fox News)'] |
2000 winner Juan Pablo Montoya holds off teammate Will Power by 0.105 seconds to win the 2015 Indianapolis 500. 2008 winner Scott Dixon started on the pole position and finished fourth. Concerns about safety had been raised after several practice crashes before the race, including one that hospitalized James Hinchcliffe. | INDIANAPOLIS -- His career at a crossroads, his confidence shot, Juan Pablo Montoya received a lifeline from The Captain.
Roger Penske called the driver in late 2013, when Montoya found himself without a job after seven frustrating seasons in NASCAR that had turned one of the baddest drivers on the planet into a struggling also-ran.
The catch? Penske's offer was a return to Indy cars, which Montoya had left behind years ago. The Colombian jumped at the opportunity and cashed in on it Sunday with his second Indianapolis 500 victory.
The first one was 15 years ago and a stepping stone to Formula One.
The second one came for a 39-year-old man who proved JPM is back.
In a moment of sincerity following his win, flanked by Team Penske president Tim Cindric, Montoya briefly suggested how much this one meant to him.
"I'm glad I am proving them right, that they made the right choice," Montoya said, pausing and lowering his eyes. "I'm loving racing right now."
That was evident for two weeks at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, where Montoya confidently boasted to his three teammates that he would win the race.
On Sunday, he twice drove from the back of the field and fearlessly charged into the final few laps as the leader in a race where few wanted to be out front with the checkered flag looming, holding off teammate Will Power in the fourth-closest Indy 500 finish ever.
That 2000 victory was easy -- Montoya has always said so -- and when a driver leads 167 of the 200 laps, it clearly was a relaxed Sunday drive.
Win No. 2 was a battle from the beginning. Montoya started 15th, but an accident on the first lap brought out the caution and Montoya was hit from behind by Simona de Silvestro under yellow. He had to pit to repair the damage and restarted second-to-last in the field.
After working his way back through the field, he was penalized for running over his air hose during a pit stop -- and again was sent deep into the pack.
"Montoya coming from all the way in the back -- I'll tell you, you give that guy the bit and put it in his mouth ... he doesn't give up," Penske said.
The victory gave Penske his 16th Indianapolis 500 win and first since Helio Castroneves in 2009. Penske also joined Chip Ganassi as the only owners to win the Daytona 500 and the Indianapolis 500 in the same year. Ganassi did it in 2010; Joey Logano won the Daytona 500 for Penske in February.
The 15 years between Indy 500 victories are a record for a driver, surpassing A.J. Foyt, who needed 10 years between his third and fourth wins. That first win for Montoya? It came when he drove for Ganassi.
Montoya is the 19th driver to win the Indy 500 twice. He and Castroneves, who finished seventh, are the only drivers to win two of their first three 500 starts.
This victory was almost certainly going to go to a Team Penske or Chip Ganassi Racing driver. With a combined nine cars in the field, the two owners showed over the past two weeks that their organizations are head-and-shoulders above the competition and Indianapolis is their personal playground.
Penske and Ganassi drivers led the majority of the laps Sunday -- 193 of the 200 -- and turned the final restart with 15 laps to go into a three-car thriller between Penske teammates Montoya and Power and Ganassi driver Scott Dixon.
Power finished second and Ganassi driver Charlie Kimball was third, ahead of teammate Dixon.
"We didn't have enough speed. We kind of went back and forth on ignition settings," Dixon said. "The car was overheating a bit and just too much understeer is what it came down to."
The two team owners embraced on pit road as Montoya headed to grab his bottle of milk. Later, as Montoya began the traditional victory lap around the 2.5-mile track in a convertible, Ganassi stopped the car to give Montoya a hug, smile and thumbs up.
"We're still good friends. He made a business decision, and that's what it was," Montoya said of his former boss. "He brought his A-game, and we did as well."
It was thought that the leader on the final lap would be a sitting duck, but Montoya didn't care as he charged past Power with three laps remaining and stayed out front when it counted.
"Montoya got that last run, and maybe I was a bit nice to him into (Turn) 1 and lifted," said Power. "That was some serious racing there, a lot of fun."
Montoya, sometimes a surly and scowling veteran, grinned ear-to-ear Sunday as he reveled in his return to relevance. He is the IndyCar Series points leader and now has two wins this season.
"This is what racing in IndyCar is all about -- awesome racing all the way down to the wire," said Montoya, who won just two Sprint Cup Series races in seven seasons driving for Ganassi in NASCAR.
Montoya led just nine laps -- far fewer than the race-high 84 by pole-sitter Dixon -- but he just had to be out front for the one that mattered.
Chevrolet, which has dominated both the entire month at Indianapolis and this IndyCar season, took the top four spots and eight of 10. Graham Rahal and Marco Andretti finished fifth and sixth to represent Honda, which grossly underperformed in the speedway debut of the new aerokits.
The body work designs by the two manufacturers have been under scrutiny since three cars -- all Chevys -- went airborne during practice last week. Driver James Hinchcliffe suffered a life-threatening leg injury in an unrelated crash and has been hospitalized since Monday.
With a genuine concern about cars taking flight lingering over the race, IndyCar wasn't sure that a quick fix a week ago had truly solved the problem.
But the race had no issues aside from typical racing accidents, including one that gave Sebastian Saavedra a contusion to his foot. There were some pit road incidents involving crew members, and one of Dale Coyne Racing's crew members went to a local hospital with an ankle injury after he was struck by James Davison during pit stops.
Castroneves, one of the drivers to go airborne last week, said the final 15 laps of racing was too dangerous.
"I'd rather go airborne than get to the last 15 laps of this race just to see the level of aggressiveness," he said. "I am not happy with these guys. I don't care if they crash each other. They can go ahead and hurt themselves. But when they put me into that scenario, that is when I get upset." | Sports Competition | May 2015 | ['(ESPN)'] |
NATO member countries decide not to offer MAP to Georgia and Ukraine, the war in South Ossetia and the Ukrainian government collapse being the main reasons. | Despite intense lobbying, Georgia and Ukraine look certain not to be offered a fast track towards NATO membership at a meeting of alliance foreign ministers in Brussels on Tuesday, diplomats said.
NATO doors don't seem likely to open for Georgia and Ukraine for a long time
The highly contentious issue of NATO expansion was taken off the table ahead of the meeting in light of the lack of unanimity among alliance members over the issue.
"A great many countries think that Georgia and Ukraine have not made enough progress to even be considered for the Membership Action Plan (MAP)," a trial period prior to being allowed into the western alliance, said Thomas Steg, deputy spokesman for the German government.
US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said she felt the time had not yet come to offer the two former Soviet republics a MAP.
"Georgia and Ukraine are not ready for membership. That is very clear," Rice said.
Bucharest pledge
In April, at a summit in Bucharest, alliance leaders agreed that Georgia and Ukraine would join NATO at an unspecified future date, but failed to find the consensus needed to offer them a MAP.
The summit called for progress on reforms that would bring the two states closer to membership, and tasked NATO foreign ministers with giving an initial assessment of that process in December.
'No reason' for immediate expansion
German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier insists no need to hurry on expansion
Since then, the Georgian and Ukrainian governments have lobbied intensively for a MAP, with the US their most vocal supporter.
But given the summer's war in Georgia and the collapse of the Ukrainian government, the member states which most opposed giving the two countries a MAP in April -- Germany, France and Italy -- have argued that now would be the wrong time to make a membership offer.
There is "no reason" for the alliance to go further than the April agreement at this stage, German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier told the German parliament Wednesday, Nov. 26.
Since it would take a unanimous decision by NATO members to offer either country a MAP, diplomats say it was highly improbable that either would receive the coveted plan Tuesday.
Commissions to weigh up expansion
Ministers now look set to use Tuesday's meeting to focus on the question of how much power NATO should give to the cooperation commissions it has set up with each country to judge their readiness for membership.
"We believe that the NATO-Georgia Commission and the NATO-Ukraine Commission can be the bodies with which we intensify our dialogue and our activities with Georgia and (Ukraine)," Rice said.
However, that question also looks set to be divisive, with the skeptics of Georgian and Ukrainian NATO membership fearing that the US and Britain were attempting to bring the duo closer to membership without following the formal MAP procedure.
Russian relations
Russia's leadership has bitterly opposed NATO expansion
Ministers are also set to discuss relations with Russia, after they agreed to suspend all high-level meetings with the Moscow following the Georgia war.
The Russian government is currently lobbying for the creation of a new "security architecture" in Europe which would sideline NATO, a force Moscow sees as an outmoded "product of the Cold War."
But any such security facelift would require NATO's unanimous approval, something member states seem unlikely to give at present.
The ministers are also expected to discuss operations in Afghanistan and against pirates in Somalia, after the alliance's top commander called Monday for a 40-percent boost in troop numbers in the fight against the Taliban.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel affirmed her opposition to quickly admitting Ukraine and Georgia to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) through a spokesman on Monday. (01.12.2008)
Russia is prepared to make plans to deploy missiles in its Kaliningrad exclave "disappear" if the US drops plans to base part of its missile defence system in Poland and the Czech Republic, Russia's prime minister says. (24.11.2008)
Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili demanded Thursday that his Caucasus republic be offered a timetable showing what it must do to qualify for membership in NATO. (20.11.2008) | Armed Conflict | December 2008 | ['(Deutsche Welle)'] |
Prominent Indian journalist and Lankesh Patrike editor Gauri Lankesh is shot dead by unidentified men outside her house in the city of Bengaluru. | NEW DELHI (Reuters) - A senior Indian journalist was shot dead on Tuesday in the southern city of Bengaluru by unidentified assailants, police said.
The body of Gauri Lankesh, the editor of an Indian weekly newspaper, was found lying in a pool of blood outside her home.
“People in front of her house heard gunshots,” the city’s Police commissioner, T. Suneel Kumar, told reporters. “We found four empty cartridges from the scene.”
Lankesh was known as a fearless and outspoken journalist. She was a staunch critic of right-wing political ideology.
Last year, she was convicted of criminal defamation for one of her articles.
While the motivation for the killing was not immediately clear, political leaders, journalists and activists took to Twitter to express their outrage and denounce intolerance and any threat to free speech.
Karnataka state’s chief minister Siddaramaiah called it an “assassination on democracy”. | Famous Person - Death | September 2017 | ['(Reuters)'] |
Voters in Germany go to the polls to elect members of the Bundestag. Chancellor Angela Merkel of the Christian Democratic Union is widely expected to win a fourth term in office. | Chancellor Angela Merkel and her main challenger, Martin Schulz have made their final appeals to voters ahead of Sunday's parliamentary elections. Both have urged Germans not to back the right-wing populist AfD party. The two candidates for chancellor made their last-ditch bids for support on Saturday, pleading with Germany's 61.5 million voters to cast their ballots in the long-awaited national election.
Incumbent Angela Merkel was in her home state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania to visit the town of Greifswald and the island of Rügen. The populist Alternative for Germany (AfD) has grown its voter base in both districts, beating Merkel's Christian Democratic Union (CDU) in state elections there last year.
AfD leaders Alice Weidel and Alexander Gauland
Merkel told supporters in Berlin on Saturday they needed to keep up their efforts to convince undecided voters: "many make their decision in the final hours," she said.
Meanwhile, Social Democratic Party (SPD) leader Martin Schulz was addressing a rally in the western city of Aachen, close to his hometown of Würselen.
Opinion polls put the CDU and its sister Christian Social Union (CSU) party in Bavaria well ahead of the SPD, with the AfD posing a serious challenge to the Left party for third place.
AfD challenges the Left for third place
In surveys published on Friday, the right-wing AfD was seen to strengthen its third place setting by two percentage points to a projected 13 percent of the vote. The Insa survey, commissioned by mass circulation newspaper Bild, suggested the CDU would keep its top spot with 34 percent support, ahead of the SPD on 21 percent. The Left party was showing 11 percent support.
In a separate poll for Stern-RTL, the AfD was projected to win 11 percent of the vote with the CDU-CSU holding a lead with 36 percent and the SPD on 22 percent. An Emnid poll for the Bild am Sonntag newspaper showed similar results.
Martin Schulz speaking in Aachen
While voters have a choice of 42 parties and 4,828 candidates, the focus has sharpened on the top three, and the likely coalition which will come from the votes. While the CDU has been holding its position as the SPD weakens, if opinion polls prove correct then both parties would see their overall share of the vote fall to a level they have not seen since 2009.
The pro-business Free Democrats (FDP) look set to pass the 5 percent threshold for seats in parliament, which they failed to do in 2013, but the Greens are falling closer to the limit as support holds at 7 percent.
Low turnout?
In the last federal elections in 2013, some 29 percent of registered voters did not cast a ballot. This week, polls showed those planning either not to vote or who unsure of who to vote for was at 34 percent.
Fears of a low turnout, which many experts have said would benefit the AfD as its base is motivated to head to the polls, have encouraged mainstream parties to call for voters to turn out on Sunday.
"My request to everyone is that they vote, and vote for those parties that adhere 100 percent to our constitution," Merkel told MDR radio this week in a clear reference to the far-right party. "We have to take a clear stance when it's about our basic values."
The chancellor's comments followed controversial ones from the head of her chancellor's office, Peter Altmaier, who suggested it would be better for Germans not to vote at all, rather than vote for the AfD.
SPD Justice Minister Heiko Maas accused Altmaier of helping the AfD: "Telling people not to vote is helping the AfD's campaign, that's exactly what they want," he said.
After four years as Merkel's junior coalition partner, the SPD is facing a challenge to do well as a party in its own right and with its own policies in the elections. With her predicted fourth term in office likely to be her last, Merkel may well be talking to others to form a coalition government.
Chancellor Angela Merkel campaigning in Munich two days before the election was keen to stress her mantra of stability. Merkel heads the Christian Democratic Union (CDU). In Munich, she was campaigning for votes among the CDU's more conservative Bavarian sister party, the CSU (the Christian Social Union).
Of course, not every one wants Merkel to serve another four year term as chancellor.
Martin Schulz leads the Social Democratic Party in its bid to seize the reins of power from Merkel and her CDU party. Despite being at least 12 points behind in the polls, Schulz maintained a positive attitude on the campaign trail just two days before the vote.
Sahra Wagenknech leads Die Linke (The Left) party as it battles to finish third in the election. Polls show them with about 11 percent of the vote. Here she is campaigning in Berlin two days before the election.
Alexander Gauland and Alice Weidel lead the far-right, anti-immigrant, AfD (Alternative for Deutschland) party that appears destined to smash its way into parliament with 11 percent or more of the vote. They are battling with Die Linke for third place. Here, the two party leaders are speaking at a press conference in Berlin earlier this week.
The Grüne Partei (Green Party) is led by Katrin Goering-Eckhardt and Cem Özdemir. Their poll numbers are in the single digits. They're expected to cross the 5 percent threshold needed to hold seats in parliament but that's uncertain.
Christian Lindner leads the Free Democratic Party (FDP) as it tries to return to parliament after a four year absence. The classic right-of-center party failed to cross the 5 percent threshold in the 2013 election, leaving it without representation in the Bundestag for the first time since it entered parliament in 1949.
Christian Social Union leader Horst Seehofer maintains the party's close (sister party) ties with the CDU, which virtually assures it of a role in government. | Government Job change - Election | September 2017 | ['(DW)'] |
Israel captures Hamas leader Ibrahim Hamed in a Ramallah raid. | Israel accuses Ibrahim Hamad, 41, of masterminding a string of suicide bombings, including attacks on cafes and the Hebrew University in Jerusalem.
Hamas took over Palestinian government in March after winning parliamentary elections in January.
It launched some of the biggest attacks against Israel, but it has been holding an informal truce for 15 months.
Mr Hamad was made leader of the Izzedine al-Qassam brigades in the West Bank in December 2003 and Israel says he is behind the deaths of scores of Israeli citizens and five Americans.
Shortly before the arrest, Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniya told an Israeli newspaper that Hamas would observe a long-term ceasefire if Israel withdrew to its pre-1967 borders. Rammed
Israeli troops moved into Ramallah with several jeeps and a bulldozer in the early hours of Tuesday.
They surrounded a row of shops where Mr Hamad was hiding - some 200m from the residence of Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas, who is away.
HAMAS BOMBINGS
Alleged by Israel to have been masterminded by Ibrahim Hamad March 2002: Moment Cafe, Jerusalem (11 dead)
May 2002: Rishon Letzion poolhall (16 dead)
July 2002: Hebrew University of Jerusalem (seven dead)
Sept 2003: double Jerusalem attack, Hillel cafe and Tzrifin army base (15 dead)
Eyewitnesses quoted by Associated Press say an army bulldozer rammed the iron doors of the shops and troops called over loudspeakers in Arabic for Mr Hamad to come out or they would demolish the building. When he emerged the troops ordered him to take off his shirt and trousers to make sure he was unarmed, then he walked toward the soldiers in his underwear. A family member quoted by AP said Mr Hamad has been wanted by Israel since 1998, and has been imprisoned by the Palestinian Authority for his anti-Israeli activities. He was released by the PA in 2002, during a major Israeli military offensive in the West Bank. The Israeli army officer who led the capture is quoted by Israeli army radio saying that Hamas would have trouble replacing Mr Hamad.
"What made him special was his creativity in finding very complex ways to attack Israelis," the colonel, who was only identified by his first name, Amir, said.
BBC correspondent Caroline Hawley in Jerusalem says it is not clear why the Israeli army has moved against Hamad now.
Hamas has not carried out any suicide attacks for 15 months and Israeli military operations in the past few months have focused instead on the militant Islamic Jihad group, which has been responsible for most of the recent bombs. The arrest comes on the day that Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert is holding talks with US President George W Bush in Washington.
Power struggle
Mr Haniya said "peace would prevail" if Israel gave up all the land it captured in the 1967 war. The term civil war does not appear in the Palestinian vocabulary
PM Ismail Haniya
BBC analyst Roger Hardy says the idea is not new, but Mr Haniya aired it in his first direct interview with the Israeli media, the liberal daily Haaretz. The remark could be sign that Mr Haniya wants to signal to Israel and the US that Hamas is not inflexible, although the proposal falls far short of their demands that Hamas renounce violence and recognise Israel, our correspondent adds.
In separate remarks to journalists in Gaza, Mr Haniya played down the prospects of a Palestinian civil war, amid continued fighting between Hamas and the former ruling Fatah party. "The term civil war does not appear in the Palestinian vocabulary," he told journalists after high-level talks between representatives of different factions.
"I assure all the Palestinian people that we are capable of overcoming these events," he said. On Monday, a Jordanian diplomatic driver was killed in Hamas-Fatah clashes that appear to be dragging the two into an increasingly dangerous power struggle. | Famous Person - Commit Crime - Arrest | May 2006 | ['(BBC)'] |
Prime Minister Mark Rutte presents his third cabinet. It took a record 225 days of negotiations to form the government composed of VVD, D66, CDA and CU. | The third consecutive cabinet of Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte has been sworn after a record 225 days of negotiations since the March election. His new coalition is set to move the Netherlands further to the right.
The new coalition is made up of Rutte's People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD), the leftist-liberal Democrats 66, the Christian Democrats (CDA) and the small faith-based Christian Union party.
The four-party coalition government consists of Rutte, three deputies from each of the other coalition parties who will also serve as ministers, 12 further ministers and eight deputy ministers.
With 76 seats, the four-party coalition has a one-seat majority in the 150-seat second chamber of parliament. The VVD won 33 seats in the March elections and was the strongest party, but its longtime coalition partner, the Social Democratic Workers Party, left the government after suffering historic losses.
The second-strongest party in the March elections was the right-wing Party for Freedom (PVV) with 20 seats, led by populist politician Geert Wilders. Virtually all the other Dutch parties ruled out any cooperation with the PVV.
The new center-right coalition is expected to focus on tax cuts after years of austerity and measures to contain immigration.
EU Council President Donald Tusk congratulated Rutte. Tusk said he was convinced the bloc's founding nation "will continue playing a dynamic and constructive role in the European Union."
After months of negotiations, four Dutch parties have reportedly reached a tentative agreement to form a new government. After years of austerity, it is expected to bring in tax cuts and boost spending on defense. (06.10.2017)
Mission accomplished. The Netherlands has shown that populists can be stopped. With more elections on the way, Bernd Riegert writes that Europe must learn a lesson from the Dutch results. (16.03.2017)
It hasn't taken this long to form a Dutch government since 1977. Four parties will come together to form a coalition that will only have a majority of one seat in the lower house. (09.10.2017) | Government Job change - Appoint_Inauguration | October 2017 | ['(Deutsche Welle)'] |
President Donald Trump appoints incumbent Office of Management and Budget director Mick Mulvaney as Acting White House Chief of Staff, to replace John F. Kelly at the end of the year. | President Trump says director of the Office of Management and Budget Mick Mulvaney will be acting White House chief of staff, replacing John Kelly at the end of the year.
ARI SHAPIRO, HOST: President Trump has tapped his budget director to serve as the next White House chief of staff on an interim basis. Mick Mulvaney replaces John Kelly, who's leaving at the end of this month. The announcement comes after several other high-profile candidates turned down the job. This will be Trump's third chief of staff in less than two years. NPR's Scott Horsley joins us from the White House. Hi, Scott.
SCOTT HORSLEY, BYLINE: Hi, Ari.
SHAPIRO: We've heard Mick Mulvaney's name attached to a lot of titles in the last couple of years. Remind us who he is.
HORSLEY: He is a former South Carolina congressman. The White House hopes that will be an asset for the administration with his former colleagues on Capitol Hill. He's known as a fiscal conservative even though as budget director he has overseen a ballooning federal deficit. He's been budget director since the beginning of the Trump administration, and he also did double duty for a time as director of the Consumer Financial Watchdog Agency, a watchdog that he tried to keep on a very short leash. His replacement at that job was just confirmed by the Senate last week, so Mulvaney maybe had some time on his hands. Trump announced his appointment as acting chief of staff this evening via Twitter.
SHAPIRO: Tell us about that acting word before his title. Do we know if he's a candidate for the post permanently?
HORSLEY: A senior administration official was asked about that acting designation tonight and simply said that's what the president wants. There is no expiration date on the title, so for all intents and purposes, Mulvaney is the chief of staff for the time being. The officials said the president tapped him for the acting post because he likes Mulvaney and they get along. And there is some precedent, Ari, for Trump giving someone a tryout in an acting position and then after a period of time just promoting them to the permanent post.
SHAPIRO: The outgoing chief of staff, John Kelly, had a tough time during his 17 months in the job. And we know other people have said they've taken themselves out of the running. Do you think people are scared away from wanting this post?
HORSLEY: Well, Kelly's experience may have frightened some folks off. You know, the retired Marine general came in with high hopes of instilling military discipline here at the White House, but the president himself doesn't like being corralled. And over time, Kelly's control of the West Wing waned.
When Trump announced last Saturday that Kelly would be leaving at the end of the month, he thought he had a replacement all lined up, but the frontrunner, Vice President Pence's chief of staff, Nick Ayres, abruptly dropped out. And as you mentioned, since then, we've had some other high-profile candidates say they're not interested, including former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, the U.S. trade representative, Robert Lighthizer, who's got his hands full with China talks. So it's possible Mulvaney can keep this job as long as he wants. The president said he looks forward to working with Mulvaney, and he also tweeted his thanks for outgoing chief of staff Kelly. | Government Job change - Appoint_Inauguration | December 2018 | ['(NPR)'] |
At least 25 people have died as a result of forest fires in eastern Russia with thousands of Russians being evacuated in the hottest summer since records began. | Forest fires sweeping across eastern Russia have killed at least 25 people and the forced the evacuation of thousands in the hottest weather since records began 130 years ago.
Fanned by strong winds, fires ripped through woods and fields that have been scorched for weeks by a heatwave, incinerating hundreds of wooden houses.
"We don't know where to go," said Galina Shibanova, 52, standing outside her burning home in the town of Maslovka in the Voronezh region, about 500 kilometres south of Moscow.
"We called the emergency services, and not one person answered the phone," said Ms Shibanova.
Igor Vlasnev, head of the Voronezh region fire services, said the situation was expected to worsen on Saturday because of rising temperatures.
"Everyone is waiting, and wishing, for rain," he said.
"The forecast for tomorrow is that the situation will worsen both in terms of temperature and wind conditions, which are expected to change (on Saturday night)."
Russia has been sweltering since June in a heatwave that has destroyed crops and pushed thousands of farmers to the verge of bankruptcy.
Drought in some regions of Russia, one of the world's biggest wheat exporters, has sent global prices soaring to year highs, putting US wheat futures on track for their biggest monthly gain since 1973.
The emergencies ministry said 240,000 people have been deployed to fighting peat and forest fires across 866 square kilometres.
The ministry said that as of Friday evening a total of 1,257 private houses had burnt down in European parts of Russia, leading to the evacuation of more than 3,000 people.
Prime minister Vladimir Putin cancelled meetings in Moscow to fly to the Nizhny Novgorod region, where at least 540 homes were destroyed.
He ordered his government to allocate 5 billion roubles ($183 million) to help victims. | Fire | July 2010 | ['(Reuters via ABC Online)'] |
Two people in Vernon Parish, Louisiana and five in Texas die during Hurricane Laura, bringing the national death toll to 27. The two people in Louisiana died due to heat-related illness while removing debris. | Follow NBC News Two men in their 40s died in Louisiana from what health officials said was heat-related illness while clearing debris from Hurricane Laura, bringing the number of deaths blamed on the storm in the state to at 22.
The Louisiana Department of Health said Friday that the men, 41 and 47, died in Vernon Parish, which is in the western part of the state north of Lake Charles. The area suffered major damage in the storm that made landfall near Cameron early Aug. 27.
Five deaths blamed on the storm have also been reported in Texas, bringing the total number of deaths linked to the hurricane or its aftermath to 27.
Six of Louisiana's 22 deaths have been classified by the health department as heat-related.
The storm knocked out power to more than 600,000 customers, and as of Friday, more than 183,000 remained without, according to the Louisiana Public Service Commission's website.
Other deaths in Louisiana and Texas were blamed on carbon monoxide poisoning from generators.
On Thursday, a man in Louisiana who had been in the hospital for several days suffering from carbon monoxide poisoning died. He was the fifth person in a single home to die from that, Gov. John Bel Edwards said.
"It's important to remember that just because the storm passed, that doesn't mean that the threat has passed," Edwards said.
Heat indexes in Louisiana have averaged more than 100 degrees all week, the governor said. Heat advisories covered the western and southwestern parts of the state Friday, according to the National Weather Service. | Hurricanes_Tornado_Storm_Blizzard | September 2020 | ['(KLFY)', '(NBC News)'] |
Stéphane Hessel, influential French diplomat, writer, thinker and inspiration for multiple political movements, dies at age 95. | Stephane Hessel, the former French Resistance fighter whose 2010 manifesto Time for Outrage inspired social protesters, has died aged 95.
Hessel died overnight, his wife Christiane Hessel-Chabry told France's AFP news agency in Paris. A German by birth, he was imprisoned in Nazi camps during World War II for his activities in France.
In Time for Outrage, he called for a new form of "resistance" to the injustices of the modern world.
He expressed outrage at the growing gap between haves and have-nots, France's treatment of illegal immigrants and damage to the environment.
The Indignados protest movement in Spain was inspired by Hessel's manifesto, according to Spanish media. The 95-year-old's name was the top trending term on Twitter in Spain and France on Wednesday morning, as admirers paid tribute with quotes such as: "To create is to resist, to resist is to create." French President Francois Hollande said he had learnt "with great sadness" about Hessel's death. "His capacity for indignation knew no bounds other than those of his own life," he said in a statement. "As that comes to an end, he leaves us a lesson: to refuse to accept any injustice."
The chairman of the UN Human Rights Council, Poland's Remigiusz Henczel, said: "Mr Hessel was a monumental figure of human rights. His life will continue to inspire our work."
Born of Jewish origin on 20 October 1917 in Berlin, Hessel arrived in France at the age of eight.
His parents Franz and Helen Hessel (born Grund) inspired two of the characters in Francois Truffaut's classic romantic film Jules And Jim. A naturalised French citizen from 1939, Hessel became a prominent Resistance figure, says French news agency AFP. He was arrested by the Gestapo and later sent to the Buchenwald and Dora concentration camps.
After surviving the war, Hessel worked as a French diplomat at the UN, where he was involved in compiling the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. However some, like the French Jewish activist Gilles-William Goldnadel, have accused him of exaggerating his role in the work. According to Mr Goldnadel, France's leftist press idealised the former Resistance fighter, a strong critic of Israeli policy, as a "secular saint". Hessel's diplomatic postings also included Vietnam in the 1950s and Algeria in the 1960s.
In France, he took up the cause of illegal immigrants and championed the rights of the oppressed.
Time for Outrage, which has sold more than 4.5m copies in 35 countries, argues that the French need to again become outraged like those who participated in the wartime Resistance.
Whether Hessel inspired the global Occupy movement, as some have argued, is more open to debate.
Speaking to the European broadcaster RTL in 2011, Hessel gave his thoughts on dying. "I'm eagerly awaiting the taste of death," he said.
"Death is something to savour, and I hope to savour mine. In the meantime, given that it has not yet happened and that I'm generally getting around normally, I'm using the time to throw out some messages."
BBC Radio 4 - Things We Forgot to Remember, Series 7, French Resistance
Setback for EU in legal fight with AstraZeneca
But the drug-maker faces hefty fines if it fails to supply doses of Covid-19 vaccine over the summer. | Famous Person - Death | February 2013 | ['(BBC)'] |
Voters in Arizona, Florida, and Illinois go to the polls in their primary elections. | Former Vice President Joe Biden has won the 2020 Democratic presidential primary in Florida, trouncing Sen. Bernie Sanders in a landslide victory.
Biden's strong performance in "The Sunshine State" marks yet another dominant performance from his campaign in the South. In addition to the Florida victory, Biden won North Carolina, South Carolina, Alabama, Mississippi, and Virginia, among others.
Turnout in the state was way up from 2016 voter totals.
Florida has 219 pledged delegates on the table. Of those 219 pledged delegates, 143 are pledged proportionally to presidential contenders based on the results in each of Florida's 27 congressional districts, while 76 delegates are pledged based on the statewide primary vote.
Among the congressional districts, the biggest prizes were the 20th, 21st, and 22nd districts, with seven delegates up for grabs in each. The 20th district is a geographically large landmass located in southeast Florida, while the 21st and 22nd districts are clustered to its East. These three districts encompass Boca Raton, Fort Lauderdale, Pompano Beach, Coral Springs, Palm Beach, West Palm Beach, Boynton Beach, Delray Beach, and more.
As of Tuesday night, Decision Desk HQ in partnership with the University of Virginia Center for Politics projected that Biden won at least 129 of Florida's pledged delegates compared to 33 so far for Sanders.
As in most other states, candidates must earn over the minimum threshold of 15% of the vote in a given district or statewide to earn any delegates. While this was a major factor in earlier primaries when there were still several candidates in the running, now that the race has largely consolidated into a two-way affair between Biden and Sanders, the 15% threshold played a less important role in Tuesday's elections.
According to Real Clear Politics' average of the latest polling data, Biden held a clear lead in the state, with the support of 65.4% of voters to Sanders' 22.6%.
According to FiveThirtyEight's primary election forecast, Biden had a greater than 99% chance of winning the most votes in Florida. FiveThirtyEight projected that Biden's probable victory would likely translate into winning just more than two-thirds of the delegates up for grabs in the state and its congressional districts. | Government Job change - Election | March 2020 | ['(Business Insider)', '(CNN)'] |
Pakistan says seven of its soldiers have been killed in the South Waziristan tribal region by fire from across the border with Afghanistan. The soldiers belonged to the Frontier Corps; the attack targeted a checkpoint northeast of the border village of Angoor Adda. | Pakistan says seven of its soldiers have been killed in the South Waziristan tribal region by fire from across the border with Afghanistan.
It is not clear who was behind the firing, but Pakistan has blamed Islamist militants for such incidents in the past.
The two countries often accuse each other of failing to counter militants.
The Pakistani military has mounted an offensive against militants in the South Waziristan and Khyber regions.
South Waziristan is one of Pakistan's seven tribal regions near the Afghan border where home-grown insurgents as well as Taliban and al-Qaeda militants operate.
A statement from the army said the soldiers belonged to the Frontier Crops and that the attack targeted a checkpoint north-east of the border village of Angoor Adda.
| Armed Conflict | October 2015 | ['(UPI)', '(BBC)'] |
World leaders from members of NATO gather for their annual summit in Watford, Hertfordshire, England. | When the leaders of 29 countries gather in London at the NATO summit on Dec. 3, the future of military cooperation in the Western world will be top of the agenda.
That’s because, on its 70th anniversary, the military alliance’s future looks less certain than ever.
NATO was founded in the wake of the Second World War by the U.S. and the main European powers as a means of military defense against Soviet Russia. Its founding members pledged that an attack on one would be considered an attack on all, and that each ally would retaliate against the aggressor.
But the world in 2019 looks very different to how it did in 1949. NATO has been slow to adapt to a changing world, and the leaders assembling in London know it. The alliance was conceived as a defense against Russian military force, but the rise of China has shifted the balance. It matured as a forum for military cooperation and coordination, but President Donald Trump has often acted unilaterally — for instance withdrawing U.S. troops from Syria in October without consulting NATO allies. “We are currently experiencing the brain death of NATO,” French President Emmanuel Macron told the Economist in an interview published early November. “Strategically and politically, we need to recognize that we have a problem.”
So, amid celebrations and banquets to celebrate 70 years of NATO’s existence, leaders will also be discussing how to make sure it survives another decade.
The NATO summit will be held on December 3 and 4 at the Grove Hotel in Watford, just outside London. The leaders of NATO’s 29 member states are attending. They include President Trump, Macron, U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
The full list of NATO members is: Albania, Belgium, Bulgaria, Canada, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Montenegro, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Turkey, the United Kingdom and the United States.
Queen Elizabeth II will host a dinner on Dec. 3 with the world leaders and NATO officials to celebrate the alliance’s 70th anniversary.
The biggest issue on the agenda is what Macron was referring to in his “brain death” comments. Macron’s intervention was a thinly-veiled criticism of President Trump, the commander in chief of the U.S. military — the force that has largely underpinned NATO’s might since 1949. Trump has said the U.S. is footing too much of NATO’s military bill, and has suggested he could pull out of the alliance unless other members begin to spend 2% of their GDP on defense.
In October, Trump withdrew U.S. troops from northeast Syria, clearing the way for a Turkish incursion against Syrian Kurds in the region — longstanding allies of the U.S. in the fight against ISIS, but seen by Turkey as enemies. Trump’s move angered Macron because he refused to notify NATO members of his decision before acting on it.
The French leader has made his frustration clear at Trump’s unilateralism, and will be seeking to convince the U.S. President to think about foreign policy in terms of Western interests instead of through his America-first lens. “You have no coordination whatsoever of strategic decision-making between the United States and its NATO allies. None,” Macron told the Economist ahead of the summit. “You have an uncoordinated aggressive action by another NATO ally, Turkey, in an area where our interests are at stake.” But Macron likely knows that it will be difficult to change Trump’s mind. “Look, when President Trump committed to doing a certain way with his voters, he does it,” Macron told TIME in September. “I always failed changing his mind when it was about clear commitment taken during his campaign.”
After Macron’s comments about NATO’s “brain death,” prime ministers and presidents are expected to discuss in London how to save the alliance.
“I’d argue that we should reassess the reality of what NATO is in the light of the commitment of the United States,” Macron said in his interview with the Economist.
Officials including NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg and German foreign minister Heiko Maas have signaled support for holding “brainstorming” talks on how to survive the coming years, in response to criticisms.
But the progress might be slow: one suggestion is to set up a “group of experts” to respond to Macron’s criticisms; they would not publish a report until after the next U.S. election.
At the last NATO summit in July 2018, disagreements over defense spending dominated the discussions. President Trump criticized Germany for not spending enough, and even reportedly threatened to pull out of the alliance if countries failed to meet NATO’s target to spend 2% of their GDP on defense.
Trump’s threat to pull out of the alliance left leaders stunned. But the threat had an effect: 18 months later, nine European NATO members including France and the U.K. have increased the percentage of GDP they spend on defense — though only six countries other than the U.S. are estimated to be spending at least 2% of GDP.
In London, Trump is likely to have spending high on his agenda again.
On Dec. 12, just a week after the NATO summit, Brits go to the polls to decide whether to keep Boris Johnson as prime minister. President Trump is close to Johnson, and the opposition Labour Party have capitalized on their relationship by portraying Johnson as willing to sell Britain’s health service to U.S. medical firms at Trump’s behest in their election campaigning.
Trump’s presence in the U.K. so close to the vote could yield unexpected outcomes. The President has a proven track record of making comments that cause upheaval in British politics. On his last U.K. visit, in June, Trump said Britain’s National Health Service should be “on the table” in future post-Brexit trade talks between the U.S. and U.K. (The NHS, which is funded by taxes, gives British people most healthcare services for free at the point of use and is one of the U.K.’s most beloved institutions.)
Then Prime Minister Theresa May pushed back on the claims — but in the ongoing election campaign, Labour obtained documents showing minutes of meetings between U.S. and U.K. trade officials in which the NHS was discussed.
Despite Macron’s strong language ahead of the summit, NATO officials are optimistic the leaders’ meeting will yield progress on one of the key challenges faced by the alliance: the rise of China as a global economic power investing heavily in military technology.
“We hope very much and we are confident that leaders will launch a comprehensive roadmap to address new technologies and to maintain our technological edge,” said Edward Ferguson, the top defense official at Britain’s Washington embassy, ahead of the summit. “We will need to consider the challenges that China, as well as Russia, present to the alliance. Just as NATO needs to understand and respond to the threat of Russian novel weapons… so we must adapt to disruptive technologies where China is seeking to become a world leader, including in areas such as artificial intelligence, automation, machine learning, quantum computing.”
One of those areas is 5G, an area dominated by Chinese firms like Huawei. NATO leaders are expected to “agree an update to our baseline requirement” regarding the telecoms technology, which some security experts have said, if built by Huawei, could allow China to snoop on Western military technology.
Another new area is space. In August, Trump said the U.S. would set up a new “Space Command” to counter Russian and Chinese threats in orbit.
Ahead of the summit, Secretary General Stoltenberg said NATO would follow suit by recognizing space as “a fifth operational domain,” allowing NATO members to coordinate their defensive efforts. “Nato has no intention to put weapons in space. We are a defensive alliance,” Stoltenberg said. NATO leaders will have a chance to declare that development formally in London. | Diplomatic Talks _ Diplomatic_Negotiation_ Summit Meeting | December 2019 | ['(Time)'] |
Israeli forces kill a Palestinian and wound four others in three separate incidents of cross-border violence in the Gaza Strip | One Palestinian was killed and four wounded by IDF fire in several incidents on the Gaza border on Friday.
A Palestinian was wounded by Israel Defense Forces fire on the Gaza border on Saturday, following several violent border incidents on Friday.
A 22-year-old Palestinian was killed near Beit Hanoun, in northern Gaza, in one of Friday's incidents, according to Palestinian sources. Four other Palestinians were wounded in incidents that occurred in Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip and in Jabaliya in the north.
| Armed Conflict | December 2013 | ['(Haaretz)'] |
French police launch a terror investigation into a racist attack on Sunday, in which two Muslim women were repeatedly stabbed near the Eiffel Tower while the perpetrators, believed to be two other women, shouted racial slurs at the victims. The attack came as tensions mount over the murder of Samuel Paty. |
Searches of their homes and vehicles had netted neither weapons nor explosives or other evidence.
“The detainees are being released,” Berlin police spokeswoman Patricia Braemer told AFP.
Interior Minister Horst Seehofer nonetheless praised the detentions Sunday as a prudent preventative measure for a country that has suffered several deadly jihadist attacks.
“We have a very tense security situation,” Seehofer said, adding that Germany faced the continued threat of another attack at any time.
Berlin authorities said Sunday they had detained the men aged 18 to 21 after receiving indications of a possible plot to carry out a “violent crime” at the sports event.
The security services said that on that basis, and after a deadly van rampage on Saturday in the western German city of Münster, they had decided to swoop on the suspects.
The half marathon, which drew 36,000 runners and big crowds of onlookers with 630 police in attendance, went off without incident.
The Die Welt and Der Tagesspiegel newspapers reported that one of the six detainees had links to Tunisian asylum-seeker Anis Amri, who carried out a deadly truck attack on a Berlin Christmas market in December 2016.
Amri had hijacked a truck and murdered its Polish driver before killing another 11 people and wounding dozens more by ploughing the heavy vehicle through the crowd.
He was shot dead by Italian police in Milan four days later while on the run.
Germany, like other European countries, remains a target for Islamist militants, in particular because of its involvement in the coalition fighting the Islamic State group in Iraq and Syria and its deployment in Afghanistan since 2001.
German security services estimate there are around 10,000 Islamist radicals in Germany, some 1,600 of whom are suspected of being potentially violent. | Famous Person - Commit Crime - Release | October 2020 | ['(Al Jazeera)', '(Euro Weekly News)', '(National Turk)'] |
Colorado abolishes the death penalty and commutes sentences of death row inmates. | Colorado abolished its seldom-used death penalty on Monday, joining a growing number of states that have eschewed capital punishment as a deterrent to the most serious crimes.
Gov. Jared S. Polis, a Democrat, signed the repeal into law after it had reached his desk from the state legislature. It had passed the Senate in January and the House in February after several failed attempts to end capital punishment in the state.
Colorado had executed just one person since reinstating the death penalty in the mid-1970s: Gary Davis, who had been convicted of the rape and murder of Virginia May, was given a lethal injection in 1997.
On Monday, Mr. Polis also commuted the sentences of three men on death row — Robert Ray, Sir Mario Owens and Nathan Dunlap — to life in prison without the possibility of parole. He said in a statement that he wanted the law to be applied consistently.
“Commutations are typically granted to reflect evidence of extraordinary change in the offender,” Mr. Polis said, noting that this was not the reason he was commuting the three sentences.
“Rather, the commutations of these despicable and guilty individuals are consistent with the abolition of the death penalty in the state of Colorado,” he said, “and consistent with the recognition that the death penalty cannot be, and never has been, administered equitably in the state of Colorado.”
Colorado joined 21 other states that have repealed the death penalty, according to the advocacy group Equal Justice USA, which had campaigned for the end of capital punishment in the state. The organization mounted similar efforts in New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Maryland and Illinois, which have all abolished the death penalty.
Shari Silberstein, the group’s executive director, said in a statement that it was a proud moment for Colorado.
“With Gov. Polis’s signature, the state liberated itself from one of the most glaring failures of the legal system and is charting a new path toward justice,” she said. “Instead of wasting millions of dollars every year, the state can focus on the healing that survivors of violence need while also working toward making families and communities safe by preventing future violence.”
George Brauchler, a Republican district attorney in Colorado, criticized the repeal in a statement on Monday.
“There are a few in Colorado today who will cheer the sparing of the lives of these coldblooded murderers,” he said. “For the rest of Colorado, make no mistake: We will save no money. We are not safer. We are not a better people. And the only lives spared are those who commit the ultimate acts of evil against us.” | Government Policy Changes | March 2020 | ['(The New York Times)'] |
Pope Francis accepts the resignation of Auxiliary Bishop Richard B. Higgins, the episcopal vicar for veterans affairs of the Archdiocese for the Military Services. During his career, Bishop Higgins’ is vicar for veterans affairs and responsible for more than 200 chaplains serving at over 150 VA hospitals in the United States, Puerto Rico and Guam. His retirement at age 75 is announced in Washington by Archbishop Christophe Pierre, the apostolic nuncio to the United States. | Pope Francis has accepted the resignation of Auxiliary Bishop Richard B. Higgins, the episcopal vicar for veterans affairs of the Archdiocese for the Military Services. Bishop Higgins is pictured in a Nov. 17, 2015, photo. (CNS photo/Bob Roller) See HIGGINS-RETIRE Jan. 2, 2020.
By: Catholic News Service
Date: January 2, 2020
WASHINGTON (CNS) — Pope Francis has accepted the resignation of Auxiliary Bishop Richard B. Higgins, the episcopal vicar for veterans affairs of the Archdiocese for the Military Services.
The retirement of Bishop Higgins, who reached the normal retirement age of 75 last February, was announced Jan. 2 in Washington by Archbishop Christophe Pierre, the apostolic nuncio to the United States.
Bishop Higgins’ duties as vicar for veterans affairs included responsibility for the more than 200 chaplains serving at more than 150 VA hospitals in the United States, Puerto Rico and Guam.
Born Feb. 22, 1944, in Longford, Ireland, he studied at Rome’s Pontifical Lateran University and was ordained to the priesthood for the Diocese of Sacramento, California, March 9, 1968.
After serving in several parishes in the diocese, he joined the U.S. Air Force in September 1974 and served as a Catholic chaplain at bases in the United States, Iceland, Germany and in the Pacific. He reached the grade of colonel before his military retirement in October 2004, five months after he was ordained a bishop. St. John Paul II had named him an auxiliary for the archdiocese serving members of the U.S. military and their families.
At the time of his appointment, Bishop Higgins said he was going to have “to get real smart real quick” about the Army, Navy, Marines and Coast Guard. “I’m a blue-suiter,” he said, referring to the color of the Air Force uniform.
Commenting a month later on the photos that surfaced showing U.S. soldiers torturing and abusing Iraqi detainees and prisoners, Bishop Higgins said the abuses go against what the U.S. military stands for and the actions of the vast majority of the members of the U.S. armed forces. “The military is no place for Rambos. We have to weed them out,” he added.
At his episcopal ordination later in 2004, he said he was “grateful to our marvelous God who has a wonderful sense of humor,” adding that “he really knows how to mess with me.” He compared his emotions at the ordination Mass to the twists and turns he experienced on the Canyon Blaster, a 47-second roller-coaster ride in Las Vegas.
Bishop Higgins served as vicar for veteran affairs and as bishop protector for the 10,000 members of the Catholic War Veterans of America.
During a 2007 confirmation ceremony at the Army’s Fort Bragg in North Carolina. Bishop Higgins asked the assembly how many use their phones to talk to friends and families — and then asked those who raised their hands how many of those minutes are spent talking to the Lord.
In July 2007, when Cardinal Edwin F. O’Brien, then archbishop for the military services, was appointed archbishop of Baltimore, Bishop Higgins served as administrator of the military archdiocese until the January 2008 installation of Archbishop Timothy P. Broglio.
In a Veterans Day statement in 2007, Bishop Higgins lauded the example of two chaplains who died in action and whose sainthood causes are being pursued: Father Emil J. Kapaun, an Army chaplain who died in a Chinese prisoner-of-war camp during the Korean War, and Maryknoll Father Vincent R. Capodanno, a U.S. Navy chaplain who died in 1967 while serving with the Marines in Vietnam.
“These two servants of God exemplified the best characteristics of true Christian generosity and compassion for their brother soldiers,” Bishop Higgins said. “In giving their lives in the service of God and country, they lived the Gospel message of ‘laying down one’s life’ for one’s friends and fellow soldiers.”
The bishop attended a 2013 White House ceremony during which Father Kapaun was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor, the United States’ highest military honor.
In 2011, Bishop Higgins distributed ashes for the last Ash Wednesday at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington. The medical center was combined with a naval hospital in the Maryland suburbs, with the Washington site undergoing a conversion for diplomatic, housing, retail and children’s medical needs.
At Walter Reed, he told Catholic News Service that Americans do not always appreciate the service of the military.
Bishop Higgins said only about 5 percent of Americans have ever spent time in a uniform, so the U.S. war in Afghanistan — which is still being fought — does not always make the top 10 list of concerns of the other 95 percent of Americans. “When our troops went to war,” he told CNS, “America went to the mall.” | Government Job change - Resignation_Dismissal | January 2021 | ['(Catholic News Service)'] |
The United States Department of Defense will create a computer–security military command. | WASHINGTON The Pentagon plans to create a new military command for cyberspace, administration officials said Thursday, stepping up preparations by the armed forces to conduct both offensive and defensive computer warfare.
The military command would complement a civilian effort to be announced by President Obama on Friday that would overhaul the way the United States safeguards its computer networks.
John Markoff contributed reporting from San Francisco.
| Organization Established | May 2009 | ['(New York Times)'] |
At least 100 people are killed and 1,000 injured in clashes so far. , | At least 102 people have been killed - including 33 on Saturday - in five days of anti-government unrest in Egypt, security and medical sources say.
Ten more deaths were reported around the town of Beni Sueif, 140 kilometres south of Cairo, bringing the toll there to 22 after protesters tried to burn down a police station, witnesses said.
PHOTOS: Egyptian protesters rampage
An earlier overall toll said that 92 people had died since protests erupted on Tuesday.
Three other people were killed on Saturday in Cairo, three in Rafah on the border with Gaza, and five in Ismailia, on the west bank of the Suez Canal.
On Friday, 62 people were killed, including 35 in Cairo, in the deadliest day of protests calling for regime change in the Arab world's most populous country.
Seven people were killed between Tuesday and Wednesday in Cairo and the canal city of Suez, amid unprecedented protests demanding the ouster of President Hosni Mubarak. | Armed Conflict | January 2011 | ['(Reuters)', '(NineMSN)'] |
Greek legislative election, 2004: New Democracy, led by Kostas Karamanlis, wins over the Panhellenic Socialist Movement, led by George Papandreou. | The leader of Greece's socialists has accepted defeat in Sunday's elections. Exit polls gave conservative leader Costas Karamanlis' New Democracy party a lead of about 5% over the socialists led by George Papandreou. The results - to be confirmed later on Sunday - mean Mr Papandreou's Pasok party has lost power after 11 years. Mr Karamanlis will face the immediate task of ensuring Athens is ready for this August's Olympics, with many projects still to be completed. "It is a big honour and also a big obligation," he said after news of his victory broke. "The Olympic Games will be the best and safest... and Greece will show its modern face. New Democracy supporters have been driving through the streets of Athens with the party flags waving from the windows, the BBC's Malcolm Brabant reports from the Greek capital. He says crowds also gathered outside the conservatives' headquarters waiting to anoint Mr Karamanlis as the country's new prime minister. 'Vote for change'
With half of the actual ballots counted, New Democracy had won 46.7% compared with 40.4% for Pasok. "New Democracy has won the elections. I wish Karamanlis success in his work for the good of Greece," said Mr Papandreou when the result became clear from the exit polls. Provisional estimates say New Democracy will end up with 165 of parliament's 300 seats and the socialists will have only 117. Greece has voted for change in a big way, our correspondent says. He adds that the country is due to elect a new president next year, and if the conservatives fail to persuade 180 MPs to accept their candidate, then there will have to be new elections. New Democracy must immediately tackle two tasks: the Olympics and negotiations aimed at reuniting Cyprus before it joins the European Union in May. Much remains to be done to ensure everything will be ready for the Olympics in August. Preparations are well behind schedule, and there are even rumours - vehemently denied by the Olympic Committee - that the Games might have to be cancelled. A competitive Greece
Revellers celebrating the conservatives' victory on the streets of Athens said a change at the top had been long overdue. "We had that regime for 20 years," one told the BBC. "No matter if they were good or bad, they had to change... and I think that the attitude towards the people will change." The man tipped to become the new finance minister, George Alogoskoufis, has said that New Democracy has been given a clear mandate for economic reform "to make Greece more competitive". Mr Alogoskoufis has previously called for tax cuts, investment incentives and market deregulation. He recently listed his priorities for development as agriculture, tourism, shipping, energy production, transportation and telecoms. | Government Job change - Election | March 2004 | ['(BBC)', '(BBC)'] |
Protesters and police clash after a crackdown ordered by Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra with one policeman shot dead and dozens wounded. , | At least four people have been killed and dozens injured in violence that erupted as Thai police began clearing protest sites in the capital, Bangkok.
Police were trying to retake official sites that have been blocked by demonstrators since late last year.
Meanwhile, Thailand's anti-corruption body said it would file charges against Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra over a controversial rice subsidy scheme.
Thailand has been embroiled in anti-government protests since November.
One of the dead was a police officer - one of about 15,000 that authorities say were involved. Several more were seriously hurt by a grenade apparently thrown by protesters. Police also claimed they were targeted by snipers.
Police too fired live rounds during the operation, which they say successfully reclaimed the first of five sites from protesters, nearly 200 of whom have been arrested.
Demonstrators have occupied official sites over the past few months, calling on the government to step down. The government has announced that it intends to retake all the besieged buildings this week.
The prime minister's office, Government House, has been a focal point for the demonstrators. Thousands gathered outside the building on Monday, cementing the gates shut in a bid to stop officials returning to work.
Early on Tuesday, police started negotiations with the protesters, who over the past few days have come in large numbers to defend protest areas. Violence then erupted near Democracy Monument in central Bangkok.
The Erawan Medical Center, which monitors hospitals, said that more than 60 people were injured.
Elsewhere, police reclaimed the besieged Ministry of Energy, with about 100 protesters arrested. Until now, police had been reluctant to use force against the protesters, allowing demonstrators to enter government buildings in a bid to defuse tensions.
Also on Tuesday, Thailand's official anti-corruption commission said it would charge Ms Yingluck with improperly handling the government's rice subsidy scheme.
Ms Yingluck proceeded with the scheme despite warnings it was prone to corruption and could cause losses, the National Anti-Corruption Commission said in a statement.
The programme saw the government buying farmers' crops for the past two years at prices up to 50% higher than world prices.
The prime minister had been summoned to hear charges on 27 February, the commission added. Reports say she could potentially be impeached and removed from official duties.
Ms Yingluck leads a government that won elections in 2011 with broad support from rural areas.
The anti-government protesters want her to step down, and her government to be replaced by an unelected "people's council" to reform the political system.
They allege that money politics have corrupted Thailand's democracy and that Ms Yingluck is controlled by her brother, ousted leader Thaksin Shinawatra.
In response to the protests, Ms Yingluck called snap elections on 2 February, which her government was widely expected to win.
However, the polls were boycotted by the opposition and voting was disrupted by protesters at about 10% of polling stations, meaning by-elections are needed before a government can be formed.
The government is also unable to pay the rice farmers until a new parliament has convened. | Protest_Online Condemnation | February 2014 | ['(BBC)', '(Sydney Morning Herald)'] |
Bobi Wine, challenger to the incumbent President Yoweri Museveni who has been in office since 1986, is arrested along with his entire campaign team in the town of Kalangala. No information about the arrest has been made available. | Ugandan opposition presidential candidate Robert Kyagulanyi, also known as Bobi Wine, was arrested on Wednesday alongside members of his campaign team in the country's central region, according to a post shared by an administrator on his official Twitter account. "Bobi Wine and his entire campaign team arrested in Kalangala! Media blocked," the tweet said. Load Error
No further details of their arrest have yet been made available.
Wine is challenging incumbent President Yoweri Museveni -- who has been in power for more than 30 years -- in January 14 elections. The presidential candidate has accused Museveni of being a dictator responsible for human rights abuses, after at least 45 people were killed in protests last month sparked by Wine's earlier arrest for contravening coronavirus regulations at a campaign rally.
He said one of his bodyguards was run over and killed Sunday by a military police truck, while the guard was taking a journalist to the hospital.
A spokesperson for the Ugandan military denied Wine's bodyguard had been targeted.
In an interview with CNN earlier this month, Wine said he had nearly been killed on two occasions in recent weeks and urged the international community to hold Uganda's government accountable ahead of elections next month.
While authorities have said the restrictions are necessary to curb the spread of Covid-19, opposition members and their supporters say they are an excuse to limit campaigning before the election.
United Nations human rights experts on Tuesday released a statement expressing serious concerns about the violence ahead of Uganda's presidential election. They urged authorities to "put an end to the arrest, detention and judicial harassment of political opponents, civil society leaders and human rights defenders."
Nicholas Opiyo, a prominent human rights activist, was arrested along with four other individuals on December 23. He is accused of money laundering and will be tried accordingly, a statement from authorities said. "Since the publication of the guidelines on the conduct of elections during Covid-19 in June by the Uganda Electoral Commission, we have witnessed gradual shrinking of civic space, and misuse and abuse of health-related restrictions to curb dissent in the country ahead of the election on 14 January," said the UN experts. | Famous Person - Commit Crime - Accuse | December 2020 | ['(CNN via MSN)'] |
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