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Five U.S. Marines have been arrested after they were accused of raping a local Filipino woman. The USS Essex was prevented from leaving the Philippines until the men were apprehended. | The woman, 22, was allegedly raped by troops who were in the Philippines for joint military exercises. Foreign Secretary Alberto Romulo said he was "deeply concerned" about the claims, and the US embassy in Manila said it took the report very seriously.
Analysts say the incident could fuel local opposition to America's military presence in the Philippines.
US troops often take part in counter-terrorism training in the country, together with Filipino soldiers.
According to the French news agency AFP, the Subic Bay authority said the alleged victim had been visiting a karaoke bar when she met the five men, on 1 November.
They had then reportedly invited her to get into a rented van with them.
A few hours later, witnesses said they saw the woman being dumped from the van into a road.
"The perpetrators of this heinous crime shall be brought to justice," said Philippine Foreign Secretary Alberto Romulo.
"The US takes reports of violations of US and Philippine law by US military personnel very seriously, and will fully co-operate with the Philippine authorities in the investigation of this incident," the US embassy in Manila said in a statement.
According to press reports, the Philippine authorities briefly delayed the departure of a US warship while searching for the marines.
The five men were then prevented from leaving the country with the rest of their compatriots on Wednesday, and are currently in the custody of the US embassy in Manila. | Famous Person - Commit Crime - Arrest | November 2005 | ['(LHD–2)', '(BBC)', '(Xinhua)'] |
A U.S. drone strike kills Hakimullah Mehsud, the leader of the Pakistani Taliban (whom the United States had a reward for $5 million) and five others. | The leader of the Pakistani Taliban, Hakimullah Mehsud, has been killed in a drone strike, a high-ranking Taliban official has told the BBC.
The strike targeted a vehicle used by Mehsud with four missiles in the north-western region of North Waziristan.
Four other people were killed in the strike, including two of Mehsud's bodyguards, intelligence sources say.
Several previous claims of his death, made by US and Pakistani intelligence sources, have proven untrue.
Pakistan's government has issued a statement strongly condemning the drone attack, saying such strikes were a "violation of Pakistan's sovereignty and territorial integrity". Friday's strike targeted Mehsud's vehicle in the Dande Darpakhel, some 5km (3miles) north of the region's main town, Miranshah.
A senior US intelligence official told the Associated Press that the US received positive confirmation on Friday morning that he had been killed.
However, a spokesperson for the US National Security Council said that "we are not in a position to confirm those reports, but if true, this would be serious loss for the... Taliban".
BBC diplomatic correspondent James Robbins says that however weakened the Taliban may be by this loss, they will fight on under a new leader.
Hakimullah Mehsud had come to prominence in 2007 as a commander under the militant group's founder Baitullah Mehsud, with the capture of 300 Pakistani soldiers adding to his prestige among the militants.
In January 2010 he gained further notoriety when he appeared in a video alongside a Jordanian who is said to have blown himself up, killing seven CIA agents in Afghanistan to avenge Baitullah Mehsud's death.
Hakimullah Mehsud had a $5m FBI bounty on his head and was thought to be responsible for the deaths of thousands of people.
Mehsud became leader of the Pakistani Taliban in 2009, aged 30, after Baitullah Mehsud died in a US drone strike at his father-in-law's residence in South Waziristan.
The strike against Baitullah Mehsud reportedly came after repeated complaints by Pakistani officials that the Americans were not hitting militant groups who attacked targets in Pakistan.
His second-in-command, Waliur Rehman, died in a drone strike in May.
The attack targeting him comes on the same day that the Pakistani government announced it was about to send a delegation to North Waziristan to try to get peace negotiations with the Taliban under way.
Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif had pledged to talk with the Taliban to try to end its campaign of violence, which has left thousands dead in bombings and shootings across the country. In a rare interview with the BBC two weeks ago, Mehsud said he was open to "serious talks" with the government but said he had not yet been approached.
Mehsud denied carrying out recent deadly attacks in public places, saying his targets were "America and its friends".
He had loose control over more than 30 militant groups in Pakistan's tribal areas.
The BBC's M Ilyas Khan in Islamabad says that Khan Said Sajna is one of those now tipped to become the new leader of the Pakistani Taliban. | Armed Conflict | November 2013 | ['(BBC)', '(Reuters)'] |
Three German soldiers are killed in north Afghanistan, five other Germans were wounded in fighting southwest of Kunduz. 22 German soldiers have been killed by fighting or attacks in Afghanistan since 2001 and another 138 wounded. | KABUL Taliban fighters attacked a detachment of German troops who were on a bridge-building and mine-clearing mission, triggering a gunbattle that left three soldiers dead, the German Defense Ministry said.
Five other Germans were wounded in the fighting Friday southwest of Kunduz city, the ministry said.
One Taliban fighter was killed and another was wounded, but the Germans and Afghan police were unable to use heavy firepower because the militants were firing from inside and on top of civilian homes, Omar Khil said.
Kunduz provincial police Chief Gen. Abdul Razaq Yaqoubi said the battle began after a mine exploded under a German armored vehicle. He said the troops were preparing to build a bridge and clear mines in the Chahar Dara area, about eight miles (12 kilometers) from the provincial capital.
Berlin has more than 4,000 troops in Afghanistan - the third largest foreign troop contingent - as part of the NATO presence fighting the Taliban and seeking to establish central government authority.
German forces control much of the country's north, which is relatively peaceful. The surroundings of Kunduz, however, have recently proven increasingly volatile.
Including Friday's casualties, 22 German soldiers have been killed by fighting or attacks in Afghanistan since 2001 and another 138 wounded, according to the Defense Ministry.
Another 17 German soldiers died of natural causes or accidents while on duty in Afghanistan.
Also Friday, a main political rival accused Afghan President Hamid Karzai of undermining the war against the Taliban by blaming the international community for fraud in last year's election.
"I will never go down the shaft and be a mine worker again for the rest of my life, no matter how much they pay me," said Yong Chang.
| Armed Conflict | April 2010 | ['(China Daily)', '(Newsday)', '(ABC)', '(Breitbart)', '(Wten)'] |
IBM's Watson artificial intelligence program wins on the U.S. quiz show Jeopardy!, defeating Brad Rutter and Ken Jennings, the series' most successful contestants. Watson used Wikipedia, among other sources, as its knowledge base. | There is the Amanda Todd that the world came to know. But there was more to Amanda and now her mother Carol shares the story of her life.
Hundreds of people in more than 40 cities around the world are expected to light candles tonight to remember bullying victim Amanda Todd and to take a quiet stand against the kind of torment that led her to take her own life.
OTTAWA — Forget Ken Jennings and Brad Rutter. Residents of the nation’s capital have a reason to cheer for Watson, the multi-million machine that is attempting to beat two of Jeopardy’s greatest champions and change forever the way people interact with computers.
That’s because key components of Watson’s ‘brain’ were developed here in Ottawa, largely thanks to IBM’s acquisition of Cognos Inc. in 2008.
“I’d say that the neurons on which Watson runs had large contributions from Ottawa,” said Marshall Schor, one of the 25 researchers responsible for Watson. “We had some very nice help from the team there in helping us figure out some performance issues that we came upon. They were very helpful in overcoming those.”
The company’s Ottawa lab, on Riverside Drive, was called upon by IBM to create a better way for the super computer to move information through its internal networks. Watson, named after IBM founder Thomas J. Watson, contains the equivalent of 100 million books worth of information. The machine was fed data from numerous commercial sources, such as the World Book Encyclopedia, Wikipedia, as well as books from the digital library Project Gutenberg. It’s also made up of 90 computer servers, which use 2,880 computer processor cores and 15 Terabytes of RAM or computer memory. It is not connected to the Internet. The computer works by executing multiple computer algorithms at blinding speeds in order to prioritize answers. The answers are prioritized from most likely to least likely, the most likely answer is given by Watson.
To complete the technological beast, IBM had 25 researchers work for more than four years pulling together different technologies from the company’s global base of researchers.
Routing information through Watson’s numerous internal systems takes special knowledge and so IBM’s team of researchers looked North for help.
Employees at IBM’s Ottawa labs, which have a long history of helping businesses sift through reams of data, jumped at the challenge.
“The team here in Ottawa has been developing virtual machine technology for years,” said Rob White, director of the Ottawa software lab site. “It was very natural that the Java Virtual Machine would underpin the Watson project.” The Virtual Machine is a programming language that routes information quickly through a computer network. In effect, the employees at the Ottawa labs provided a central nervous system for Watson allowing it to react quickly much like a person feels a pin prick in the finger the instant it happens thanks to nerves sending a pain signal to the brain.
In Watson’s case, the computer must read a Jeopardy question, interpret its meaning, search through its database and then respond before its two human competitors. The task is made even more difficult because the game’s clues involve analysing subtle meaning, irony, riddles, and other quirky complexities that machines have traditionally had trouble deciphering. The IBM Ottawa virtual machine software is a key component in how Watson accomplishes that task.
On its first day on the game show, Watson tied legendary Jeopary champion Rutter, who has won more than $3.3 million on the show. The two both won $5,000. Jennings, who has won around $3 million on Jeopardy and is best known for his 74-game win streak, finished with $2,000. On Tuesday night’s show, the machine added $35,734 to its total while Jennings netted only $2,400 and Rutter just $5,400.
Watson’s stint on Jeopardy will wrap up tonight. The winner of the three day tournament gets $1 million. Should Watson win, IBM has promised to donate the money to charity.
According to Schor, Watson signals a new era of human and machine interaction. He said the super-computer can do much more than simply spout factoids on a game show. It could be used to monitor groundbreaking new medical techniques, provide businesses with timely information about world markets or be used in ways that no one has even thought of yet.
Schor compared Watson’s future to that of Deep Blue, another IBM supercomputer which defeated world Chess champion Garry Kasparov in 1997.
“After that happened people said, well you built a nice Chess computer. Now what are you going to do?” said Schor. “But, that work morphed into the Blue Gene Project as well as many other areas aside from that.” IBM’s Blue Gene super computers have helped to map the human genome, simulated the human brain, flown aircraft, predicted climate change and even safeguarded nuclear arsenals.
For their part, Ottawa IBM employees will celebrate their accomplishment with a party at Oliver’s Pub at Carleton University Wednesday night. White said the machine signals the importance of IBM’s Ottawa labs in the company’s future. As more information is stored and digitized, more technologies like Watson will be needed to help people find the data they need in a speedy fashion.
“It’s a new chapter in the journey of computing,” said White. “The business potential represented in Watson reinforces the potential for the software technology developed here in Ottawa.”
White also said, having Watson on a popular television show like Jeopardy will help the company to interest future generations of youth to get involved in computer science.
“It also is inspiring for young people. We have run technology camps to try and inspire young people to pursue careers in computer science. I believe the exposure we are getting on Jeopardy will help us with that venture,” he said. “C’mon it’s pretty cool. We are on Jeopardy.” | Sports Competition | February 2011 | ['(PC Mag)', '(The Vancouver Sun)', '(NPR)', '(IBM)'] |
Germany's parliament passes a new law saying that it is rape to have sex with a person who says "No" to the sex. Under the previous law, sex was not considered rape unless the victim fought back. The new law also classifies groping as a sex crime, makes it easier to deport migrants who commit sex offences, and makes it easier to prosecute assaults committed by a large group. | Germany's parliament has passed a new law defining rape, clarifying that "No means No", even if a victim did not fight back.
Critics believe Germany has long lagged behind other developed nations when it comes to its rape laws.
The issue was again brought to the fore after a number of sex attacks on women in Cologne on New Year's Eve.
The vote was passed by a huge majority on Thursday in the Bundestag, where MPs stood and cheered the result.
The new law classifies groping as a sex crime and makes it easier to prosecute assaults committed by large group.
It also makes it easier to deport migrants who commit sex offences.
Under the previous law, defined in Section 177 of the criminal code (in German), victims should have defended themselves for an act to constitute rape. Simply saying "No" was not sufficient to find the defendant guilty, and there was no attempt to define what constituted consent.
The inadequacy of the law meant many perpetrators got away with rape, according to a 2014 study of 107 cases by the German association of women's counselling centres and rape crisis centres (BFF).
The authors said that in every case, sexual assaults had been committed against the victim's unambiguous will, which had been communicated verbally to the perpetrator. However, they said, either charges were not filed or there was no court conviction.
The study went on to note that the law placed too much focus on whether the victim resisted and did not reflect real-life scenarios in which people were raped.
Only one in 10 rapes is reported in Germany currently, according to Germany's n-tv news website. And of those, the conviction rate is only 10%.
"In the past there were cases where women were raped but the perpetrators couldn't be punished,'' Minister for Women Manuela Schwesig said.
"The change in the law will help increase the number of victims who choose to press charges, lower the number of criminal prosecutions that are shelved and ensure sexual assaults are properly punished."
They will take into account both physical and verbal cues from the victim when assessing whether rape took place, meaning, in theory, that saying "No" could prove a lack of consent and, therefore, rape.
Germany has long been backward when it comes to its rape laws, say campaigners - pointing out that marital rape became a criminal offence only in 1997.
A number of prominent cases have pushed the issue into the spotlight.
The wave of attacks on New Year's Eve in Cologne shocked Germans, though prosecutions have been minimal and many were aghast to learn that, once again, assault could only be proven under German law if the victim resisted. On Thursday, a 21-year-old Iraqi and an Algerian of 26 became the first men to be convicted of sexual assault when a Cologne court gave them suspended one-year sentences.
The attacks prompted a campaign for reform under the hashtag "NeinHeisstNein" (No means No).
Cologne sex attacks: MPs debate tougher laws
And, in a case that has sparked an outcry in Germany, two men were acquitted of drugging and raping German model Gina-Lisa Lohfink - despite having uploaded a video of what took place, in which she was reportedly heard saying, "Stop it, stop it" and "No".
Not only were the men cleared of wrongdoing, but Ms Lohfink was fined €24,000 (£21,000; $27,000) for falsely testifying.
She has appealed against the the charges. The case has been compared to the Stanford University sexual assault furore in the United States.
Campaigners say the new law is a good start, but does not go far enough.
They have expressed concern that the law will not give adequate protection to victims who cannot clearly convey their lack of consent - such as those who have been drugged.
There are also plans to tighten the law governing sexual harassment and group assaults.
Activist Kristina Lunz said it was unacceptable that the vast majority of rapes were still going unpunished in Germany.
"Of course it should be 'Yes means Yes'," says Ms Lunz, referring to a 2015 law passed in California that makes the legal standard for sex affirmative verbal consent.
| Government Policy Changes | July 2016 | ['(BBC)'] |
At least ten people die after heavy rains trigger flash floods in Malaga, Almeria and Murcia, southern Spain. | At least 10 people have died after heavy rains triggered flash floods in southern Spain, officials have said.
The strength of the floods overturned cars, closed roads and railway lines, damaged bridges and homes, and forced hundreds to leave their properties.
The hardest hit areas were the provinces of Malaga and Almeria, and the Murcia region.
Further north in the town of Gandia, a tornado struck a temporary fairground, injuring 35 people, 15 seriously.
Across parts of southern Spain, the clean-up has begun. Until now, there had been very little rain this year across Spain, and the south was particularly dry after the summer. So much rain, in such a short space of time led to some of the worst flooding Spain has seen in years, says the BBC's Tom Burridge in Madrid.
At least 600 people had to be evacuated from their homes in the Andalucia region, which contains Malaga and Almeria, officials said.
Some 24.5 cm (9.6 in) of rain fell on Friday morning alone, according to Spain's weather agency.
A regional government spokesperson in Malaga told the AFP news agency the rains were decreasing and seemed to be shifting towards Granada and Almeria.
However, torrential rain and violent thunderstorms are predicted to continue in the south of the country over the weekend.
The deaths of five adults and a child have been confirmed:
A spokeswoman for the regional government of Andalucia told the BBC that a 52-year-old British woman was missing in Vera, Almeria.
"We had reports [on Friday] that a British woman and a Spanish man are missing," she said.
Caroline Zartash-Lloyd, who runs a small hotel in Alora, told BBC News that her neighbours had lost livestock, including pigs, hens, horses and donkeys, which could be seen floating in the flood waters.
Local people would be hit particularly hard, she suggested, because it was a poor part of Spain with unemployment of 30% and few people could afford insurance. "Cars were washed away and we lost a large bridge in Alora and another sizeable bridge in [the village of] El Valle de Abadeljais," she said.
"The farmland was completely washed away, just after the farmers had stopped ploughing. Thankfully they had not started seeding. Many people have been left without electricity or phone lines."
Ms Zartash-Lloyd praised the local authorities for their response to the crisis.
In the town of Gandia, further north along the coastline, a tornado swept through a temporary fairground on Friday evening, bringing down a ferris wheel.
The fairground, in the town's main square, was closed to the public at the time and all of the 35 people hurt were said to be fairground workers.
Several other rides were damaged and electricity was cut.
| Floods | September 2012 | ['(BBC)'] |
The Islamic State group seizes the Al-Qaryatain town in the central province of Homs in a surprise attack against Syrian government forces. | The Islamic State group on Sunday seized a town in central Syria known as a symbol of religious coexistence in a surprise attack against regime forces, a monitor said.
Beirut: The Islamic State group on Sunday seized a town in central Syria known as a symbol of religious coexistence in a surprise attack against regime forces, a monitor said.
Representational image. AP
The jihadists took control of Al-Qaryatain in the central province of Homs early on Sunday, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitor said.
Violent clashes broke out after the jihadists sneaked in, the Britain-based Observatory's Rami Abdel Rahman said.
Government troops had surrounded the town, where several Christian families are believed to be living, he said.
Al-Qaryatain was home to some 30,000 people before Syria's war broke out in 2011, 900 of them Christians.
Regime forces recaptured Al-Qaryatain in April 2016 after eight months of jihadist control.
In early August 2015, the Islamic State (IS) abducted 270 Christians from the town, transporting them around 90 kilometres (55 miles) away deep in the Syria desert and locking them up in an underground dungeon. They were freed 25 days later.
The same month, IS destroyed parts of a monastery in the town and reduced a fifth-century mud brick church to rubble using explosives and bulldozers.
Earlier this week the jihadists launched an assault on government positions in Syria's vast Badiya desert, killing at least 128 regime troops.
Syrian troops pushed through the desert, which separates the main cities of the west from the Euphrates Valley this summer, and broke a years-long IS siege on government enclaves in the eastern city of Deir Ezzor last month.
In addition to the Russian-backed government offensive, a US-backed alliance of Kurdish and Arab fighters is battling the group, which is also under attack in neighbouring Iraq.
| Armed Conflict | October 2017 | ['(First Post)'] |
The Somali interior minister, Abdi Shakur Sheikh Hassan, is killed by a female suicide bomber at his house in the capital Mogadishu. | Somali Interior Minister Abdi Shakur Sheikh Hassan has been killed in a suicide attack at his home in the capital, Mogadishu.
Officials say the bomber was his own teenage niece, who had joined the Islamist militant group al-Shabab.
The group said it carried out the attack and said more would follow.
Meanwhile, two people are said to have been killed in Mogadishu during protests against a deal to extend the terms of the president and parliament.
Under the deal signed in Uganda on Thursday, their mandates have been extended until June 2012 and the prime minister is to be sacked.
Friday saw a second day of demonstrations in support of Prime Minister Mohamed Abdullahi Farmajo.
Witnesses said troops fired on the protesters, who had gathered outside the hotel where MPs have been meeting.
The attack against Sheikh Hassan was the third suicide attack in Mogadishu in three weeks.
His niece had visited his home several times in recent days and the guards did not carry out a security check.
She walked into the home, set off the bomb, and was killed instantly.
The minister died from his injuries as efforts were under way to fly him for treatment in neighbouring Kenya.
In recent months al-Shabab - which has links with al-Qaeda - have lost territory as Somali government troops and African Union soldiers have been on the offensive.
BBC East Africa correspondent Will Ross says that when al-Shabab has appeared to be militarily weak in the past, it has targeted high-profile government officials. The group still controls much of southern and central areas of the country.
Somalia has been torn apart by constant war for more than 20 years. Its last functioning national government was toppled in 1991. | Famous Person - Death | June 2011 | ['(BBC)'] |
OPEC and allies strike a deal to cut oil production by 9.7 million barrels per day, the largest such cut agreed upon, starting May 1. | Opec producers and allies have agreed a record oil deal that will slash global output by about 10% after a slump in demand caused by coronavirus lockdowns.
The deal, agreed on Sunday via video conference, is the largest cut in oil production ever to have been agreed.
Opec+, made up of oil producers and allies including Russia, announced plans for the deal on 9 April, but Mexico resisted the cuts.
Opec has yet to announce the deal, but individual nations have confirmed it.
The only detail to have been confirmed so far is that 9.7 million barrels per day will be cut by Opec oil producers and allies.
On Monday in Asia, oil rose over $1 a barrel in early trading with global benchmark Brent up 3.9% to $32.71 a barrel and US grade West Texas Intermediate up 6.1% to $24.15 a barrel. Shares in Australia jumped 3.46% led by energy exporters, but Japan's Nikkei 225 fell 1.35% on continued concerns of poor global demand because of the spread of the coronavirus.
"This is an unprecedented agreement because it's not just between Opec and Opec+... but also the largest supplier in the world which is the US as well as other G-20 countries which have agreed to support the agreement both in reducing production and also in using up some of the surface supply by putting it into storage," Sandy Fielden, director of Oil Research at research firm Morningstar, told the BBC.
US President Donald Trump and Kuwait's energy minister Dr Khaled Ali Mohammed al-Fadhel tweeted the news, while Saudi Arabia's energy ministry and Russia's state news agency Tass both separately confirmed the deal on Sunday.
The big Oil Deal with OPEC Plus is done. This will save hundreds of thousands of energy jobs in the United States. I would like to thank and congratulate President Putin of Russia and King Salman of Saudi Arabia. I just spoke to them from the Oval Office. Great deal for all!
"By the grace of Allah, then with wise guidance, continuous efforts and continuous talks since the dawn of Friday, we now announce the completion of the historic agreement to reduce production by approximately 10 million barrels of oil per day from members of 'OPEC +' starting from 1 May 2020," wrote Dr al-Fadhel in a tweet.
Global oil demand is estimated to have fallen by a third as more than three billion people are locked down in their homes due to the coronavirus outbreak.
Prior to that, oil prices slumped in March to an 18-year-low after Opec+ failed to agree cuts.
Talks were complicated by disagreements between Russia and Saudi Arabia, but on 2 April oil prices surged after President Trump signalled that he expected the two countries to end their feud.
The initial details of the deal, outlined by Opec+ on Thursday, would have seen the group and its allies cutting 10 million barrels a day or 10% of global supply from 1 May. Another five million barrels were expected to be cut by other nations outside the group such as the US, Canada, Brazil and Norway. It said the cuts would be eased to eight million barrels a day between July and December. Then they would be eased again to six million barrels between January 2021 and April 2022.
Independent oil market analyst Gaurav Sharma told the BBC that the deal agreed on Sunday was "marginally lower", compared to the 10 million barrels per day that was originally announced on Thursday. Mexico had balked at making these production cuts, which delayed the deal being signed off.
Then on Friday, Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said that Mr Trump had offered to make extra US cuts on his behalf, an unusual offer by the US president, who has long railed against Opec.
Mr Trump said Washington would help Mexico by picking up "some of the slack" and being reimbursed later, but he did not detail how the arrangement would work.
"Now a rehashed deal placating Mexico has resurfaced to calm the market, yet, look closer and the doubts surface," Mr Sharma said.
"The bulk of the output cuts are predicated on Russia and Saudi Arabia cutting 2.5 million barrels per day from agreed - and somewhat inflated - levels of 11 million barrels per day. More importantly, for most of 2019, Russia displayed very poor form in complying with previously agreed Opec+ cuts. So the market is unlikely to take the announced cut at face value."
He added that forecasts for a drop in demand in the summer appear to be "dire", with even the most optimistic forecasts pointing to a reduction of 18.5 million barrels per day.
Mr Sharma said: "The announcement can stem the bleeding, but cannot prevent what is likely to be a dire summer for oil producers with the potential to drag oil prices below $20 (£16; €18)."
| Sign Agreement | April 2020 | ['(BBC)'] |
The US and EU join the protests against Faure Gnassingbé of Togo. The Economic Community of West African States imposes sanctions and suspends Togo's membership in the organization and US does not accept his rule as legitimate and ends all military assistance | Lome - Togo's new military-installed leader came under intense pressure to step down Saturday after west African leaders suspended the country from the Ecowas regional bloc and the United States said it did not recognize the regime.
Gnassingbe had hoped to deflect his neighbours' anger over last week's abrupt change of regime by promising to hold presidential elections which would confirm or overturn his rule within 60 days.
But regional leaders were unimpressed and insisted that, by refusing to hand power immediately to the speaker of parliament, the 39-year-old son of the late president Gnassingbe Eyadema was prolonging his unconstitutional "coup d'etat".
" Ecowas chairman President Mamadou Tandja has announced the imposition of sanctions against Togo by the organisation," said a statement released by the 15-nation bloc's Abuja headquarters.
The sanctions include Togo's suspension from the Economic Community of West African States, a regional travel ban on Togolese officials, the recall of west African ambassadors and a complete arms embargo, it said.
US State Department spokesperson Richard Boucher said that Washington supported the Ecowas decision.
"The United States does not accept as legitimate the designation of Gnassingbe as interim president and calls on him to step aside immediately," Boucher said in a statement.
He said the United States had ended all military assistance to Togo and said: "We are reviewing all aspects of our relations with Togo in order to identify further means of supporting the actions of Ecowas."
This slap from the US and from Togo's neighbours and former allies came as 25 000 opposition supporters demonstrated in the Togolose capital Lome against Gnassingbe's rule.
Gnassingbe's father, President Gnassingbe Eyadema, died on February 5 after 38 years of iron-fisted rule over his tiny and poverty-stricken nation.
The military immediately moved to install his son as his successor, brushing aside Togo's 1992 constitution, which was amended in 2002.
On Friday, after a series of meetings with Ecowas officials, Gnassingbe vowed to hold elections.
But he stopped short of handing over power in the run-up to polling day to the speaker of parliament, as demanded by both Ecowas and Togo's constitution.
Nigeria's President Olusegun Obasanjo, the current chair of the African Union, blasted this decision as "unacceptable".
The head of the African Union Commission, Alpha Oumar Konare, also condemned Gnassingbe's decision to cling to power and reiterated calls for a return to "constitutional legality".
Among Africa's main power-brokers, only South African President Thabo Mbeki, who had previously denounced an "unconstitutional charade" in Togo, voiced satisfaction with the election plan.
Opposition supporters said they would organise another march on Wednesday and then continue to do so every Saturday until Gnassingbe steps down. | Protest_Online Condemnation | February 2005 | ['(ECOWAS)', '(Reuters AlertNet)', '(News24)', '(GhanaWeb)', '(BBC)'] |
Spain says Venezuela has said it will assist an investigation into allegations of support for ETA. | Venezuela says it is willing to assist a Spanish investigation into claims that it supported the Basque separatist group Eta, Spain says.
A Spanish judge has accused Venezuela of aiding Eta and Colombian rebel group Farc, which he says plotted together to kill Colombia's President Alvaro Uribe. Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has dismissed the allegations. Spanish Foreign Minister Miguel Angel Moratinos said Mr Chavez had assured him Venezuela would investigate. After speaking to President Chavez and Foreign Minister Nicolas Maduro, Mr Moratinos said: "They committed themselves to co-operate with Spanish authorities to fully clear up this matter." A Spanish foreign ministry official told Associated Press news agency that Spain would now wait for Venezuela to answer a court request for more information. He said allegations of collaboration between Eta and Farc were not new, but the idea that Venezuela's government might be involved was. Mr Chavez dismissed the allegations on television, and suggested they were part of a smear campaign directed by the United States. "I have no doubt this is orchestrated," Mr Chavez said. Common ideology
Both Eta and Farc claim to be rooted in left-wing ideology. Eta has been blamed for more than 820 deaths during its 41-year campaign for an independent Basque homeland in northern Spain. Farc has been fighting even longer, mounting a major insurgency intended to topple the Colombian government and establish a Marxist-style state. There have long been allegations of links between Farc and President Chavez's left-wing government in Venezuela. In 2008 a major diplomatic dispute arose after Colombia accused Venezuela of running arms to Farc. Mr Chavez has strenuously denied any such links. | Famous Person - Commit Crime - Accuse | March 2010 | ['(BBC)'] |
73,000 United Auto Workers union workers go on strike against General Motors, the first general strike against the company in 37 years. Talks between the parties continued. | Follow us: NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- The United Auto Workers union launched a nationwide strike against General Motors on Monday as 73,000 UAW members walked off the job and hit the picket lines at the nation's largest automaker.
UAW President Ron Gettelfinger blasted GM management, saying that the company had not been willing to meet the union part way in negotiations.
"This is nothing we wanted," he said about the strike. "No one benefits in a strike. But there comes a point where someone can push you off a cliff. That's what happened here."
Company officials did not respond to Gettelfinger's comments, other than to say they were disappointed that the first national strike against the company in more than 37 years had been called, and that they hoped that an agreement to end the walkout could be reached soon.
Talks between the two sides resumed Monday afternoon after the union's press conference and continued more than five hours through the afternoon and into the evening before recessing for the night just before 8 p.m. Monday. The same negotiators had been at the table in a marathon session that started early Sunday and went right up to the 11 a.m. ET start of the strike on Monday.
GM spokesman Tom Wickham said talks are expected to resume Tuesday morning, although he did not have any detail on when, and would not comment on progress made in the latest negotiations.
Gettelfinger said at the midday press conference that the union is ready to discuss the company's key bargaining goal of shifting an estimated $51 billion in healthcare expenses for retirees and their family members to union-controlled trust funds. But he said that other issues had derailed hopes of an agreement.
The union president said he was looking for assurances from the company about the job security of UAW members. He said he wanted guarantees about how much GM would invest in U.S. plants and about how many new vehicles would be built in the United States.
The UAW has seen its membership at GM plummet by 70 percent since 1994, as the automaker dumped its parts unit and closed plants to try to align its production more in line with its shrinking U.S. market share.
The strike halted operations at 80 facilities, ranging from assembly lines to parts distribution centers, in 30 states coast-to-coast. It also is likely to soon stop operations at GM plants in Canada and Mexico that depend on production from U.S. facilities, as well as the plants of many GM suppliers.
Still, most GM dealers won't start to see shortages of vehicles for two-to-three weeks, even though the strike will immediately halt production of 12,200 vehicles per day or 760 vehicles per hour, said Michael Robinet, vice president of global vehicle forecasts for CSM Worldwide. GM's inventory is above those of Japanese rivals and U.S. sales have been soft in recent months following the subprime mortgage meltdown, although GM bucked the trend to post a much better than expected sales month in August.
"Even if they have too much inventory, this is not a positive for the company," said Robinet. "I think they would rather take inventory out on their terms, not someone else's terms."
Picket signs went up at plants around the country just after 11 a.m. ET, followed by a stream of union members driving out of the plants' gates. The workers had stayed on the job for nine days past the original expiration of the contract on Sept. 14, while union and management negotiators kept talking. But late Sunday night, the union set the strike deadline for 11 a.m. The company said it was still hopeful it could reach a quick deal with the union, despite the start of the strike.
"We are disappointed in the UAW's decision to call a national strike," said a statement from GM. "The bargaining involved complex, difficult issues that affect the job security of our U.S. work force, and the long-term viability of the company. We are fully committed to working with the UAW to develop solutions together to address the competitive challenges facing General Motors. We will continue focusing our efforts on reaching an agreement as soon as possible."
Since the start of 2005, GM has taken a hit in its core North American auto unit, which posted nearly $13 billion in net losses in 2005 and 2006 combined. Losses continued in the first quarter of 2007 before the unit posted a narrow profit in the second quarter, but it was likely to report continued losses this year even without the costs associated with a strike.
The company has also seen its U.S sales fall along with its financial fortunes. It sold close to 1 in 3 cars purchased in the United States as recently as 1995. In the first eight months of 2007, its market share had fallen to less than 1 in 4 vehicles, or the loss of close to 10 percent of the market.
For his part, union boss Gettelfinger did not dismiss the notion that GM was in trouble. But he said there is only so much the union can do to stem losses at GM facilities.
"Obviously we're very concerned about this company," he said. "I remind everyone we've done a lot of things to help that company. But there comes a point in time we have to draw a line in the sand."
While the strike hit GM plants and facilities, it does not affect the two other automakers whose workers are represented by the UAW, Ford Motor (Charts, Fortune 500) or Chrysler LLC, which between them have more than 100,000 UAW still on the job. Members at those companies have been working under their own contract extensions as the union concentrated on reaching a deal with GM.
A key to the contract talks is GM's goal of shifting an estimated $51 billion in future healthcare costs for retirees and their family members to union-controlled trust funds. GM has more than 340,000 retirees and surviving spouses receiving such benefits today.
Shifting those costs is seen as a key to GM efforts to close its cost gap with nonunion automakers, such as Toyota Motor (Charts) and Honda Motor (Charts). Ford and Chrysler combined are facing nearly $50 billion of retiree healthcare costs as well.
Gettelfinger disclosed that two years ago the union proposed setting up the kinds of trust funds, known by the accounting short-hand of VEBAs, that are now being sought by the company. Instead the company and union negotiated a less dramatic manner to limit the cost of retiree healthcare for the company. He said that if the company had taken the union's proposal at that time, it could have saved $1,000 per vehicle.
"They did raise the VEBA [in current talks] and we were more than eager to discuss it," Gettelfinger said. "Let me be very clear on this point - this strike is not about the VEBA in any way, shape or form."
Shares of Dow component GM (Charts, Fortune 500) closed down just 20 cents Monday, although that's well off of the 2.6 percent gain they were showing before the strike started. Most analysts have said that although a long strike at General Motors would be a crippling blow for the automaker's efforts to return its North American operations to profitability, the automaker is probably in a relatively good position to weather a short strike. David Healy, analyst with Burnham Securities, said he believes GM could take a strike of up to a month without a significant problem.
"It's sort of an odd thing, the first thing that happens with an automaker in case of a strike is their cash increases, as their payroll stops, and they still keep collecting cash for the cars that have been shipped," said Healy.
He believes the two sides are close enough that the strike will be a short one.
"Days, not weeks or months, that would be my guess," he said.
John Casesa, managing partner for New York auto consulting firm the Casesa Shapiro Group, also expects a short strike.
"I don't think the strike is simply for appearances. The UAW doesn't take a strike lightly," he said. "I do think there were stumbling blocks at the last minute. But given [Gettelfinger's comments about a trust fund], that's why I think they will eventually reach an agreement. This has been a topic of discussion around the union and GM for a couple of years."
Casesa said that it's possible that the strike could even make it easier for the union leadership to eventually win rank-and-file approval of any deal that is reached, which is necessary for a contract to be ratified.
"I think a short strike has the effect of sending a message to the more aggressive parts of the union that leadership is fighting for every dollar," said Casesa. "If it takes a couple of days strike to get the landmark agreement the two sides are talking about, that's a pretty small cost to pay."
Standard & Poor's, which has given junk bond status to GM's credit rating for more than two years, said it does not intend to further downgrade the company's debt unless the strike stretches on longer than what it expects to be "a brief and largely symbolic period."
But if the strike is longer than expected and causes more serious problems for GM's finances, it won't be alone in feeling the pain. In that case, the credit agency said that the ratings of certain GM suppliers would also be at risk of a downgrade.
The strike is the nation's largest since 87,000 workers at Verizon Communications (Charts, Fortune 500) walked off the job in August 2000, but that action did not shut down the company.
GM was last hit by a strike at its Flint, Mich., locals in 1998, a work stoppage by only 9,200 workers that was felt across most of GM's North American operations for 54 days since they couldn't get the parts they needed to keep making cars and trucks. The last true national strike against GM came in 1970, which lasted 69 days.
The last strike by more than 70,000 workers that shut down a company's operations was the 1997 strike by 185,000 Teamsters at United Parcel Service. (Charts, Fortune 500)
| Strike | September 2007 | ['(CNN)'] |
British horror writer James Herbert dies at the age of 69 in Sussex, England. | Bestselling novelist James Herbert has died. Herbert, described by his editor Jeremy Trevathan as "one of the giants of popular fiction...
Bestselling novelist James Herbert has died.
Herbert, described by his editor Jeremy Trevathan as "one of the giants of popular fiction in the 20th century", passed away this morning at home in Sussex at the age of 69.
The horror writer, awarded the OBE in 2010, wrote 23 novels and was published in 34 languages, selling more than 54 million copies worldwide, his publisher Pan Macmillan said. The new paperback edition of his 23rd novel, Ash, was published last week and currently sits at number seven in the Nielsen Bookscan mass-market fiction chart.
Trevathan, Macmillan publisher and Herbert's editor for 10 years, said: "Jim Herbert was one of the keystone authors in a genre that had its heyday in the 1970s and 1980s. It's a true testament to his writing and his enduring creativity that his books continued to be huge bestsellers right up until his death. He has the rare distinction that his novels were considered classics of the genre within his lifetime. His death marks the passing of one of the giants of popular fiction in the 20th century."
Herbert's other works included The Rats trilogy as well as later bestsellers such as Portent, Nobody True and The Secret of Crickley Hall.
The Rats, his first published work in 1974, was filmed, as were The Survivor, Fluke and Haunted. The Secret of Crickley Hall was aired as a three-part serial on BBC1 last December.
In 2010 he was also made the Grand Master of Horror by the World Horror Convention.
He is survived by his wife Eileen, whom he married in 1967, and their three daughters, Kerry, Emma and Casey. | Famous Person - Death | March 2013 | ['(BBC)', '(The Bookseller)', '(The Guardian)'] |
At least two people are killed after as many as 17 people are injured during a mass shooting at Club Blu, a nightclub in Fort Myers, Florida, with most of the victims reportedly minors. Two suspects and a person of interest have been detained in connection with the shooting. , | From a crushed can of fruit punch, local leaders could see the bloodstain in the parking lot and the beer advertisements plastered on the windows of a Fort Myers double murder and mass-shooting scene.
At about 12:30 a.m. Monday, 19 people between the ages of 12 and 27 suffered gunshot wounds, two fatally, as they left Club Blu at 3850 Evans Ave., just east of Fowler Street.
In the 45 minutes that ensued, police chased three indviduals in a white Chevrolet Impala and finally stopped the car near Luckett Road and Ortiz Avenue, almost seven miles from the shooting scene. Two tried to escape from the car by foot. The driver was shot in the abdomen by law enforcement as he attempted to run over a deputy, according to a Lee County Sheriff’s Office report.
Family mourns 14-year-old boy killed in Fort Myers club shooting
The FBI and ATF also are assisting the Fort Myers Police Department with the investigation.
A score of TV trucks parked at Club Blu throughout Monday as leaders and onlookers, media and a minister tried to make sense of why and how two teenagers were killed and so many were injured.
Stef’An Strawder, 18 and a standout basketball player at Lehigh Senior High School, and Sean Archilles, 14 and an eighth-grader at Royal Palm Exceptional School, lost their lives not long after they spilled out into the parking lot with other revelers. Some were wearing glow-in-the-dark necklaces, and many of them were dancing to the beat of an up-tempo song just before the chaos began at what was billed on a flyer as a “Glow Party and Birthday Bash.”
Strawder died from his wounds at Lee Memorial Hospital, and Archilles died at the scene. There were 16 people treated in the trauma unit, and four of them remained hospitalized as of Monday evening.
The shootings led to the arrests of two former Dunbar High School football players. Derrick Church, 19, who had played last fall at Warner University, was identified as the white Impala’s driver. Tajze Battle, who had received a scholarship offer from Alabama A&M but did not play football there, was identified as one of the individuals who fled on foot along with Demetrius O’Neal, 19.
Lehigh basketball star Stef'An Strawder killed in Club Blu shooting
The shootings thrust Fort Myers into the national spotlight, with CNN broadcasting live from the scene. Links to the story appeared front and center across the nation, featured as trending topics on Facebook and Twitter and other social media sites all day.
The deaths brought a litany of leaders who convened for an afternoon news conference at the Florida Department of Law Enforcement offices at Page Field, where Gov. Rick Scott, Attorney General Pam Bondi, Fort Myers Mayor Randy Henderson, interim Fort Myers Police Chief Dennis Eads and Lee County Superintendent Greg Adkins addressed the media with more than 20 cameras capturing them taking turns talking at a podium.
They took few questions and revealed few details.
Eads, set to be replaced soon by former Toledo, Ohio, police chief Derrick Diggs, said he could not reveal much because of the active investigation.
Eads stressed: “This was not an act of terrorism.”
By mid-afternoon, the three individuals were in custody, but Eads added: “We are still looking for others.”
Club Blu co-owner Cheryl Filardi said at least eight armed security guards were at the bar.
“We did everything we could to make sure these kids were safe,” Filardi said. “There was nothing we could do … a car rolled up and just started shooting.”
One of the security guards was shot, she said. So was Terrance Moore, 19 and a former running back at Fort Myers High.
“It was a crazy night,” said Moore, who was shot in the shoulder, treated at the hospital and released. “I don’t even know what happened. I can’t even tell you.”
Tragedy in Fort Myers: Club Blu Mass Shooting
Marshall Bland, 43, of Lehigh Acres, said a bullet grazed his 23-year-old son of the same name’s stomach. He was treated at Lee Memorial Hospital and released.
“I’m just happy my family is spared, but at the same time, my heart cries out for the family that is a part of it,” Bland Sr. said.
Juan Santibanez and his family witnessed the aftermath of the shootings from across the street. They were unloading their car after arriving home from an Orlando vacation when they heard the gunshots.
“As soon as I heard the shooting, my wife and kids were coming out, and we hit the floor,” Santibanez said. “My wife started panicking. I just put them on the floor and got on top of them.
“All you heard was just screaming and crying, just people in pain. It happened right in front of the parents. The parents were picking up their kids.”
Club Blu shooting in Fort Myers: What we know now
Fort Myers city councilwoman Terolyn Watson returned to the crime scene in the afternoon to try and get a sense of what happened. She advised the city’s parents to have some candid, age-appropriate discussions with their children about the shootings and to learn from them. She also said she did not want to get into the blame game.
“It was a teen night,” Watson said. “That’s one of the things we as parents need. We can’t always put the blame here. We’ve got to come together as a community. I’m not going to fault this parent, that parent. I’m not going to fault certain individuals.”
City councilman Forrest Banks and Congressman Curt Clawson accompanied Watson.
“The message is, we have a socioeconomic situation in Fort Myers, just like every city in the state and every city in this country,” Banks said. “We need to all get together. The problem is, too many people, they don’t see the value of a high school education. They get in trouble. They get a record. What do they do? Then you have social media. Social media is going on. When you type something, it’s not like when you’re saying it. People interpret it a certain way. You get a few back and forths, and then somebody is mad. I don’t know if this is the case, but I’ve heard that had something to do with it.”
Lee County Sheriff Mike Scott attended the news conference and told The News-Press afterward during a phone interview one of his main concerns is the glorification of gangster-style behavior.
“Dress like a thug, speak like a thug, act like a thug,” Scott said. “I know we have dismal examples in the hip-hop world. These are people who these young kids in some places look up to. When I was 14-years-old, I wouldn’t be out at a bar at 12 o’clock midnight. You’ve got to look at parenting. You’ve got to look at a lot of different things.”
Scott said he gets asked often about how to avoid mass shootings.
“But apparently, nobody anywhere in the country knows how to stop it,” he said. “It’s going on in inner cities across the country. It’s the leading cause of death for young black men between the ages of 17 and 35.
“It’s terribly sad. It’s terribly upsetting. But the frustration is when it’s almost impossible to stop it. We remain very, very concerned, naturally. I’ve lived here my whole life, and most of our deputies have, too. We went to our schools. We shop in our stores. Of course we want safety. What can be done about it? The reality is, nobody in the country has figured out how to stop this. You pick up any paper in any major city, and you’re going to find the exact same thing.
“There’s no excuse for any of it. It’s unacceptable. The reality is that the crime rate, countywide, is down. But when you have an event like that, it’s like a plane crash. They don’t happen very often, but when they do – it’s a big story.”
Outside of Club Blu, not far from Next Level Church’s prayer tent, stood Fort Myers minister Luther Hubert Jones, reading aloud and alone from a two-page prayer titled “Knowing God’s plan for marriage.”
“Not marriage like between a man and a woman,” Jones said, after he finished reading from it, “but between you and God.
“What we really need is love and understanding. Mothers and fathers. That’s the story. You’ve got to stop breaking families apart. It’s time for families to come together.”
Tragedy in Fort Myers: Club Blu Mass Shooting
The News-Press and Naples Daily news staff writers Melissa Montoya-Ocampo, Ben Brasch, Mike Braun, Kinfay Moroti, Melanie Payne, Maryann Batlle, Dan Deluca, Dave Breitenstein, Cody Dulaney, David Dorsey, Bill Smith, Cory Mull and Joseph Cranney contributed to this report.
The Fort Myers Police Department said it's imperative that all persons who were involved with this incident come forward.
If anyone has any information regarding this case they are requested to contact the Fort Myers Police Department at 239-321-7700. Callers may also call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-780-TIPS or text message C-R-I-M-E-S (274637) Keyword FMPD. Tipsters can remain anonymous. | Riot | July 2016 | ['(BBC)', '(News-Press)'] |
The president of Zimbabwe, Robert Mugabe, is awarded the Confucius Peace Prize, sometimes characterized as a Chinese alternative to the Nobel Peace Prize. | Confucius peace prize chairman defends decision to give award to leader accused of using systematic violence and torture to maintain grip on power
Last modified on Thu 8 Mar 2018 13.48 GMT
The chairman of an award dubbed China’s Nobel peace prize has defended the decision to honour Robert Mugabe, the Zimbabwean president, for supposedly “injecting fresh energy” into the global quest for harmony.
Mugabe, who has been accused of using systematic violence and torture to maintain his 35-year grip on power, recently became the latest recipient of China’s Confucius peace prize.
The Beijing-run Global Times newspaper said 91-year-old Mugabe had beaten off competition from candidates including the Microsoft founder, Bill Gates, and the South Korean president, Park Geun-hye.
“Ever since Robert Mugabe was sworn in as the president of Zimbabwe in the 1980s, he has worked hard to bring political and economic order to the country and to improve the welfare of the Zimbabwean people by overcoming hardship,” the prize committee argued in a statement.
The committee praised Mugabe’s stewardship of the 54-state African Union after he became its chairman earlier this year.
News of Mugabe’s Chinese award sparked fury among opposition groups in Zimbabwe and ridicule among human rights activists.
“The rule of Mugabe is paved with blood, violence, arson and cruelty,” Gorden Moyo, the secretary general of the People’s Democratic party, claimed on the Bulawayo 24 news website.
Moyo said his party was “utterly disgusted” with the Chinese tribute to Zimbabwe’s leader, whom he called “a war-monger ... and a sadist who delights in the misery of the people”.
#China 's "Confucius Prize" awarded to #Zimbabwe dictator & rights abuser Robert Mugabe https://t.co/azumgEBVBP pic.twitter.com/mnKOyHJrbN
The Confucius award was set up in 2010 as a Chinese alternative to the Nobel peace prize after the Norwegian Nobel committee infuriated Beijing by handing its annual peace prize to the jailed dissident writer Liu Xiaobo. Liu remains in prison for co-writing a pro-democracy manifesto called Charter 08.
Previous winners of the Confucius prize include Vladimir Putin and Fidel Castro, who was praised by the committee for “speaking out against nuclear warfare”.
Qiao Damo, the committee’s chairman, told the Guardian he supported the decision to recognise the achievements of Mugabe, who has ruled Zimbabwe since independence from Britain in 1980.
“If Zimbabwe did not have Mugabe as its president, the country would be facing great difficulty – even public security might be in danger,” Qiao said.
He added: “Every country’s economy has its highs and lows. Though its economy is lagging behind, [Zimbabwe is] a very stable country [and] stability is precious in the African continent.”
Liu Zhiqin, one of the committee’s 76 members, admitted the decision had divided the group with only 36 voting for Mugabe. “Frankly speaking, there were internal concerns about awarding Mugabe the peace prize. I myself have reservations,” he said. “Mugabe has been in power for such a long time that he could be easily be labelled a dictator, tyrant or despot.”
The Daily News, an opposition newspaper in Harare, said it was unclear if Mugabe would travel to China to collect his “shadowy prize” in person . The prize comes with an award of 500,000 yuan (£51,000) and a gold trophy of the ancient Chinese philosopher whose name it takes.
Qiao argued that Mugabe had provided his people with a much better standard of living than citizens of Syria, Iraq or Afghanistan. “It’s much better than Libya too,” he added. | Awards ceremony | October 2015 | ['(The Guardian)'] |
The death toll from the blizzard rises to 38. | At least 42 people have died as a result of the mammoth snowstorm that pounded the eastern U.S. The deaths occurred in car accidents, from carbon monoxide poisoning, and from heart attacks while shoveling snow:
WASHINGTON, D.C. - 1
—An 82-year-old man who died after going into cardiac arrest while shoveling snow in front of his home.
———
DELAWARE - 1
— A U.S. Capitol Police officer, 44-year-old Officer Vernon Alston, died of a heart attack after shoveling snow at his Magnolia home.
———
KENTUCKY - 2
— Kentucky transportation worker Christopher Adams died Saturday while plowing snow-covered highways.
— Billy R. Stevens, 59, of Williamsburg, died in southeastern Kentucky when his car collided with a salt truck Thursday.
———
MARYLAND - 2
— A 49-year-old man suffered cardiac arrest while shoveling in Abingdon on Saturday.
— Officials in Prince George's County said a man collapsed and died Saturday while shoveling snow in Fort Washington.
———
NEW JERSEY - 3
— Twenty-three-year-old Sashalynn Rosa, of Passaic, and her year-old son, Messiah Bonilla, died of carbon monoxide poisoning while sitting in a running car that had its tailpipe covered in snow. Rosa's 3-year-old daughter, Saniyah Bonilla, remains hospitalized in critical condition.
— Police said Mary Wall, 64, died while shoveling snow on Saturday, but was not found until Monday afternoon when children returning home from school found her snow-covered body in Mahwah.
———
NEW YORK - 4
— Al Mansoor, 66, was struck and killed by a snow plow clearing his driveway just after 2 p.m. Sunday.
— Three people died while shoveling snow in New York City — one person on Staten Island and two people in Queens. Police announced the deaths but released no further details.
———
NORTH CAROLINA - 6
— Six people have died in car accidents during the storm, authorities have said, including a 4-year-old boy who died Friday afternoon after the pickup truck carrying his family on Interstate 77 near Troutman spun out of control and crashed.
———
OHIO - 1
— A teenager sledding behind an all-terrain vehicle was hit by a truck and killed Friday, the State Highway Patrol said.
———
PENNSYLVANIA - 7
— Authorities in eastern Pennsylvania say David Perrotto, 56, died of carbon monoxide poisoning, apparently after his car was buried in snow by a passing plow.
— A Halifax man suffered a "cardiac event" Sunday while shoveling, Dauphin County coroner Graham Hetrick told WHTM-TV.
— Cesar Bourdon, 54, collapsed while shoveling in Allentown on Saturday night.
— Geneva College soccer player Nate Ferraco was killed in a crash on an icy road near Evans City.
— Richard Lapham, 70, died of cardiac arrest while using a snowblower at his Lancaster home.
— Ronald Bernhard, 74, died of cardiac arrest while driving a tractor with a snowplow at his home in Elizabethtown.
— Briahna Gerloff, 18, who was 8 months pregnant, died after shoveling snow in Pottstown. A family friend said Gerloff previously suffered from a heart ailment.
———
SOUTH CAROLINA - 4
— Ruby Bell, 86, and her husband, 87-year-old Robert Bell, died in Greenville of probable carbon monoxide poisoning because of a generator filled the house with carbon monoxide.
— The South Carolina Highway Patrol says a 44-year-old man was killed after being struck by a vehicle that slid out of control after hitting a patch of ice.
— Jimmy B. Thomas, 61, was driving a car that ran off a road near Jonesville early Saturday afternoon, hitting a ditch and then a tree.
———
TENNESSEE - 2
— A car slid off the roadway due to speed and slick conditions, killing the driver and injuring a passenger, the Knox County sheriff's department said.
— A couple in a vehicle slid off an icy road and plummeted down a 300-foot embankment Wednesday night, killing the woman who was driving, said Carter County Sheriff Dexter Lunceford.
———
VIRGINIA - 9
— A man was killed on Saturday in a single-vehicle crash in Virginia Beach that police blamed on speed and icy road conditions.
— Virginia Tech filmmaker Jerry Scheeler died Friday while shoveling snow outside his new house in Daleville.
— A single-vehicle crash in Chesapeake claimed one life.
— The medical examiner's office has confirmed five hypothermia deaths — in Hampton and Wise, Charles City, Gloucester and Henry Counties.
— A 55-year-old man collapsed and died after walking home in Leesburg Saturday evening in the blizzard. | Hurricanes_Tornado_Storm_Blizzard | January 2016 | ['(AP via ABC News America)'] |
Russian voters go to the polls to decide the country's next president. Dmitry Medvedev of the United Russia wins the election and is expected to succeed Vladimir Putin as the President of Russia. | There's a new doll on the block. The familiar frowning face of Vladimir Putin is no longer the "outside" shell of the matryoshka sets on St Petersburg's souvenir stalls. His usurper is a dark-haired, less well-defined character named Dmitry Medvedev.
The likeness is not perfect – the painters have not yet got the measure of the country's next president. But as Russians go to the polls today, Mr Putin's relegation to second doll is a sign that power is in transition. By this evening, election results will confirm what the painters already know: Mr Medvedev, only 42, a native son of St Petersburg and previously one of two first deputy prime ministers, will be Mr Putin's successor.
Mr Medvedev is officially the nominee of United Russia, otherwise known as Mr Putin's party. His election has been a foregone conclusion ever since the outgoing President gave him his support.
Expected to take between 65 and 70 per cent of the vote – more than 70 per cent is unlikely as that would make him look more popular than Mr Putin – Mr Medvedev takes over in early May.
A lawyer by training, Mr Medvedev is not quite standing unopposed. There is Andrei Bogdanov, head of the Democratic Party, seen as a token candidate put up by the Kremlin to expand the range of choices. The last pre-election polls gave him 1 per cent.
The real opposition, such as it is, is supplied by two old warhorses from left and right. Gennadi Zyuganov, 63, is the Russian Communist Party leader who threatened to topple Boris Yeltsin from the presidency in 1996. He is still in fighting form.
So, too, is the fourth candidate, Vladimir Zhirinovsky, 61, the right-wing populist demonised by the Kremlin through the 1990s.
These experienced operators are tolerated by the Kremlin as safety valves for those at either end of the post-Soviet political spectrum. Estimated to get between 10 and 15 per cent apiece, they present no danger to Mr Medvedev.
But this does not mean they have not scored some points in the past month of campaigning. Confident of defeat, they have put up a spirited fight at what will probably be their last stand in national elections. Mr Zyuganov campaigned on rising prices (inflation is running at 12 per cent), housing and the glaring gap between rich and poor.
Mr Zhirinovsky's campaign was given new impetus by Kosovo's declaration of independence last month. US plans to station anti-missile installations in central Europe, and talk of Ukraine being fast-tracked into Nato, added fuel to his contention that Mr Putin has presided over eight years of Russian humiliation.
The pair reserved their fiercest salvos for the final, live televised "debate" on Thursday night, when they attacked Mr Medvedev's refusal to take part, what they saw as his lack of a common touch, and the way they claimed voters were being pressured into backing Mr Putin's candidate.
When similar accusations are voiced by international human rights organisations, Russians become defensive. And the fact that such claims were made on national television marks a new stage in the long civics lesson to which post-Soviet Russian voters are being exposed.
It is unlikely that in eight years' time, when Dmitry Medvedev reaches his two-term limit, either Mr Zyuganov or Mr Zhirinovsky will be around. That neither party has been able to renew its leadership in almost 20 years, however, and that no other politician has been able to found a durable new party with a mass following reflects poorly on the development of Russian democracy.
| Government Job change - Election | March 2008 | ['(The Independent)'] |
A car bomb explodes outside a police station in Newtownhamilton, County Armagh, Northern Ireland. (People's Daily Online) | Ita Gibney, community centre chairperson: "It's very disappointing"
Two people have been injured in a car bomb explosion outside a police station in Newtownhamilton, County Armagh.
The explosion happened at about 2325 BST. Police were told in a call to a Belfast hospital about an hour earlier that a vehicle had been abandoned. Officers were en route to the station, which is staffed on a part-time basis, when the explosion happened. The two people's injuries are not life-threatening. The bombers had fired shots in the air before driving off. The two people who were treated in hospital - a woman in her 80s who was blown off her feet by the blast and a man who sustained a minor shrapnel injury - are said to have been left "extremely shaken". Structural damage is believed to have been caused to the police station and other homes and businesses were also damaged. The car in which the bomb was placed completely disintegrated. Local people criticised those responsible for leaving the device and the police response which meant that homes were evacuated by the fire service. Last week, the Army defused a car bomb outside the village's police station, one of a number of attacks on police and security bases in Northern Ireland recently, including an explosion at Palace Barracks in Holywood. Presbyterian minister Rev Kerr Graham said local people felt abandoned by the police. "The fact that dissidents can return to this village in just over a week to plant a second bomb says it all really. "The question I would have for the police commander is 'where is the border?' because there are rumours in this area that the police will not come past Markethill," he said. "There's a fear factor that these people are able to come in and out plant their devices and leave. The fact that the fire crews last night had to evacuate the area is appalling." Please turn on JavaScript. Media requires JavaScript to play. Chief Inspector Sam Cordner defended police response times
However, PSNI area commander Chief Inspector Sam Cordner, said officers responding to the bomb warning had to do so with caution. "This was an attack designed to murder police officers and our response needs to be thought through and measured," he said. "These are people who are hell-bent on killing police officers in this area." He praised the work of firefighters who moved people from their homes. "Due to the swift actions of fire service personnel who were on duty in Newtownhamilton at the time loss of life was prevented," he said. The bomb is believed to have been in a white Toyota Corolla and detectives have appealed for anyone who saw it being abandoned at the station, or beforehand, to contact them. 'High threat'
The attack came as security sources told the BBC the threat posed by dissident republicans in Northern Ireland was higher than at any time since the Omagh bomb almost 12 years ago. The explosion was reportedly heard up to 10 miles from the scene. Northern Ireland's first and deputy first ministers have issued a statement condemning the attack. Peter Robinson said it was "cowardly and evil" while Martin McGuinness said those responsible had nothing to offer "but hardship, division and pain". Justice Minister David Ford said the bomb was "not just an attack on the people of Newtownhamilton, but on the wider political process and it will be condemned across the community". "Those who planted this bomb want to drag Northern Ireland back to the dark days of murder and mayhem, they want to undermine the political process, they want politics to fail," he said. Meanwhile, a pipe bomb has exploded behind a house in Chestnut Hill in the Brackaville area of Coalisland, County Tyrone at about 2330 BST on Thursday night. A man and a woman, who were in the house at the time, were uninjured but a number of windows were damaged. | Armed Conflict | April 2010 | ['(BBC)', '(CNN)', '(The Guardian)'] |
At least four people are killed and 17 others are wounded in a car bomb attack at a market in Sadr City, Baghdad. | Iraqi police and medical sources say at least four people killed and 17 others wounded in the blast in the mainly Shia neighbourhood of Baghdad.
At least four people have been killed and 17 others wounded in a car bomb attack in the Sadr City neighbourhood of the Iraqi capital Baghdad, police and medical sources said on Thursday.
The car was parked at a busy second-hand equipment market in the mainly Shia district, police said.
An Iraqi military statement said the blast killed one civilian, wounded 12 others and set several vehicles on fire. Medics in Sadr City put the death toll at four.
Five cars were also destroyed in the blast, the military-linked Security Media Cell reported.
The explosion was caused by an explosive device attached to a parked car at the market, Baghdad police said without providing further details.
Black smoke was rising from the market place and ambulances rushed to save the wounded, Reuters news agency reported, citing witnesses. Police cordoned off the site of the blast shortly afterwards.
Large bomb attacks, once an almost daily occurrence in the Iraqi capital, have halted in recent years since ISIL was defeated in 2017, part of an overall improvement in security that has brought normal life back to Baghdad.
The January blast was the most deadly in three years.
Thursday’s attack comes during an election year, a time when tension between rival Iraqi political groups has often caused violence in the past.
The populist cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, after whom Sadr city is named and who commands a following of millions of Iraqis, counts among his enemies both ISIL and rival Shia parties with militias backed by Iran.
On Wednesday, separate violence linked to regional rivalries saw an explosives-laden drone target US forces at Iraq’s Erbil airport in northern Iraq and a separate rocket attack kill a Turkish soldier at a military base nearby.
Attack targeted military section of the airport where US-led international coalition forces are deployed.
Timing to be established in upcoming technical talks and foreign forces to stay to train Iraqi army, statement says.
Health ministry issues warning saying spike in cases due to laxity among Iraqis who flout preventive measures.
| Armed Conflict | April 2021 | ['(Al Jazeera)'] |
An F-16 fighter jet of the Belgian Air Component strikes a house before crashing into a field near Pluvigner, north-west France. Both pilots eject and escape with minor injuries, but one gets his parachute entangled in high-voltage power lines, requiring two hours to rescue. | A Belgian air force F-16 fighter plane has crashed in north-western France, leaving one pilot caught on a high-voltage electricity line.
Both pilots were lightly injured after they ejected from the plane near Pluvigner in Brittany.
The plane had clipped the roof of at least one house before crashing in a nearby field.
The man was eventually retrieved from the power line after a two-hour rescue operation by French emergency services. The cable was high voltage at 250,000 volts, local media reported. The plane had been flying at 500m (1,500ft), said the commander of the Belgian air force, Frederik Vansina.
The aeroplane was on a practice flight from Florennes in the Belgian province of Namur to a French airbase at Lorient, some 30km (19 miles) from the crash site, according to Belgian reports.
French news outlet Le Télégramme posted a photo from a great distance away which appeared to show a parachute dangling from a power line near a large pylon.
"They needed time to free him. They had to cut the electric current, but I've been on the phone to him and he says he feels fine," said Gen Maj Vansina. Both pilots were only thought to require hospital checks before being released.
Other photos appeared to show black smoke billowing from the nearby area and a damaged roof on one home, which was reportedly only 50m (164ft) from the site of the crash. Resident Patrick Kauffer told Le Télégramme that a wing of the plane had taken out part of the roof of his house, causing serious damage.
The crash also set fire to his shed and nearby trees, he added.
Another resident, Cindy Le Gloanic, described seeing the pilots eject and posted photos of a damaged house.
In one photo, sheets of metal appeared to be on fire in a wooded clearing and another shows a nearby maize field in flames.
The plane was not carrying weapons during its flight, officials said. Built in 1983, the F-16 was apparently in good condition when it took off. The head of the air force said the pilot had told him there had been a problem with the engine during the flight and he had tried to restart it.
| Air crash | September 2019 | ['(BBC)'] |
Al Qaeda claims responsibility for the attempted assassination on Saudi Prince Muhammad bin Nayef. | Al-Qaeda has claimed responsibility for a suicide bombing by a militant who wanted to give himself up to Saudi Arabia's security chief.
An online statement by the al-Qaeda Organisation in the Arabian Peninsula said Abdullah al-Asiri had flown on the prince's plane from Yemen. The prince was slightly injured in the assassination attempt. Saudi Arabia has a policy of allowing wanted militants to return to the kingdom for rehabilitation. In February it issued a list of 83 wanted militants living overseas, calling on them to return to their home country and resume normal life. Last week's attack on the security chief, Prince Mohammed bin Nayef, was the first on a member of the Saudi royal family since al-Qaeda stepped up a campaign of bombings in 2003. The man had said he wanted to personally tell the prince in his Jeddah interior ministry office that he would give himself up. | Armed Conflict | August 2009 | ['(Al Jazeera)', '(BBC)'] |
Brazil beats Cuba 3–0 to win the 2010 FIVB Men's World Championship held in Italy. | ROME, Oct 10 (Reuters) - Brazil hammered Cuba 3-0 to secure their third straight world men’s volleyball championship on Sunday after a highly successful tournament in Italy.
The South Americans, dressed in their traditional yellow and blue and roared on by Brazil and Inter Milan soccer player Lucio in the Rome arena, took the final set 25-22 thanks to a winning shot from the consistently excellent Leandro Vissotto. He fell to the ground in ecstasy after securing victory in a largely one-sided final.
Cuba had beaten Brazil 3-2 in the first round and finished above their rivals in Pool B.
“It was a hard-fought victory,” Brazil coach Bernardinho told Italy’s Rai television.
“Psychologically it was a equal game for both teams because Brazil with the pressure have to win and Cuba have a young team that were in this position for the first time.”
Hosts Italy earlier lost the third/fourth place playoff to Serbia 3-1. The tournament, spread across Italy, has gained high viewing figures with the top matches often sold out. The next world championship takes place in Poland in 2014 but before that the United States, who were rebuilding during the worlds, will try to retain their Olympic gold medal at London 2012. (Writing by Mark Meadows; Editing by Justin Palmer; To query or comment on this story email sportsfeedback@thomsonreuters.com)
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
All quotes delayed a minimum of 15 minutes. See here for a complete list of exchanges and delays. | Sports Competition | October 2010 | ['(AP via USA Today)', '(Reuters)'] |
Chinese President Hu Jintao begins a landmark five–day state visit to Japan. | Chinese President Hu Jintao has begun a five-day state visit to Japan, the first such trip in a decade.
He is expected to discuss trade, security and a dispute over undersea gas fields with Japanese PM Yasuo Fukuda - and play him at ping-pong.
After landing in Tokyo, Mr Hu said he hoped his visit would enhance friendship between the two nations.
Relations between the two countries have been through a difficult period over the past decade.
China suspended high-level contact with Japan from 2001 to 2006 during the premiership of Junichiro Koizumi, who made repeated visits to the Yasukuni war shrine, a place most Chinese believe glorifies militarism.
Mr Fukuda has tried to repair the damage by promising not to visit the shrine while he is in power and by calling for Japan to be humble about its past.
Poisoned dumplings
Mr Hu's visit will be the longest he has made to a single country, which analysts say is a sign of how important improving relations with Japan is to China.
It is also Mr Hu's first overseas trip since unrest broke out in Tibet in March - and several hundred activists protested in Tokyo before his arrival, holding banners calling for a "free Tibet".
"Japan and China are both important countries in Asia and the world," Mr Hu said in a statement issued on arrival. "This will enhance friendship and co-operation in both countries."
Earlier, Mr Hu had said he hoped the visit would herald an "everlasting warm spring of friendship" between the two neighbours.
Mr Hu and Mr Fukuda met for dinner on Tuesday. An official told Japan's Kyodo news agency that the Chinese leader stressed to Mr Fukuda that both countries had the capacity to contribute to peace and stability in Asia and the world.
Another official told Kyodo that Mr Hu had agreed to loan Japan a pair of pandas to help to find a replacement for Ling Ling, a 22-year-old panda who died last week of heart failure at a Tokyo zoo.
Earlier, Mr Fukuda had said: "I heard that the main reason people used to go to Ueno Zoo was the panda. It would be nice if we have a panda there again."
The BBC's Chris Hogg in Tokyo says it is in the interest of each country to get along better with its near neighbour.
China has overtaken the US as Japan's top trading partner, with bilateral trade increasing 12% last year to $236.6bn.
"I hope to have candid talks on how Japan and China can co-operate in a wide range of fields, which are not limited to bilateral relations but also include the peace and security of this region," Mr Fukuda said on Friday.
But there are still problems between the neighbours, our correspondent says, such as wrangles over oil and gas deposits under the East China Sea, over which both claim sovereignty.
There has also been a row over poisoned Chinese dumplings that left Japanese people ill, and Tibet, an issue that officials fear has the potential to cause a problem during the bilateral talks.
"It is inevitable to have some problems and it is normal to have different views during the development of bilateral relations," Mr Hu said before he left Beijing.
"What's more important is that the two sides should handle issues with a candid and sincere attitude, conduct friendly exchanges [and] seek common ground while shelving differences," he said. | Diplomatic Visit | May 2008 | ['(BBC News)'] |
Travelers from Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, and Yemen are blocked from entering the United States as the executive order takes effect. | WASHINGTON — A federal judge in Brooklyn came to the aid of scores of refugees and others who were trapped at airports across the United States on Saturday after an executive order signed by President Trump, which sought to keep many foreigners from entering the country, led to chaotic scenes across the globe.
The judge’s ruling blocked part of the president’s actions, preventing the government from deporting some arrivals who found themselves ensnared by the presidential order. But it stopped short of letting them into the country or issuing a broader ruling on the constitutionality of Mr. Trump’s actions.
A federal judge blocked part of President Trump’s executive order on immigration, ordering that refugees and others trapped at airports across the United States should not be sent back to their home countries.
The A.C.L.U. and other legal organizations filed a lawsuit on Saturday on behalf of individuals subject to President Trump's executive order. The lead plaintiffs were detained by the U.S. government and threatened with deportation.
A federal judge in Virginia issued a temporary stay on part of President Trump's immigration order.
| Government Policy Changes | January 2017 | ['(The New York Times)'] |
United States gospel music singer Albertina Walker, known as the "Queen of Gospel" dies in Chicago. | CHICAGO — Albertina Walker, the Grammy-winning vocalist known around the world as the “Queen of Gospel” who helped launch some of the biggest names in traditional gospel through her vocal ensemble the Caravans, has died. She was 81.
Walker died Friday morning at RML Specialty Hospital Chicago of respiratory complications, said Pam Morris, who coordinated the Chicago Gospel Music Festival for 20 years through 2009. The singer had been hospitalized since Aug. 29, her 81st birthday, having long suffered from emphysema.
Gospel music icons such as Dorothy Norwood, Shirley Caesar, Inez Andrews, Bessie Griffin and James Cleveland established their careers in the Caravans, who achieved wide fame in the late 1950s, headlining at Carnegie Hall and other high-profile venues.
Through the Caravans, Walker popularized the music she heard growing up on the South Side of Chicago; and the celebrated ensemble in turn made her a legend.
“She was the starmaker,” said Norwood, who joined the Caravans in 1954. “She was a great singer — one of the greatest.”
Walker played her last major performance with a reunited version of the Caravans last June at the Chicago Gospel Music Festival.
The youngest of nine children, Walker was born in Chicago and raised in the heart of the city’s Bronzeville community, where generations of African-Americans converged during the Great Migration. This vast demographic wave made the South Side of Chicago an epicenter of jazz, blues and gospel, with Walker — and uncounted others like her — absorbing black cultural traditions through prayer.
“I grew up going to church,” Walker said in 1993. She heard the greatest singer in gospel history, Mahalia Jackson; the founder of modern gospel music, Thomas A. Dorsey; and choirs of such magnificence as to persuade her to pursue the music as her life.
She learned early on that the pay would be slight, or nonexistent. Nevertheless, Walker flourished in Chicago gospel singer Robert Anderson’s group, taking over the ensemble when he retired and christening it the Caravans (because “we had people from Gary, East Chicago, South Side, West Side, all over,” she said in 2003).
By the mid-1950s, the Caravans began to acquire a national following, setting a new standard for female gospel singing. Never before had so many women who towered as soloists met up in a single ensemble.
Yet it was Walker’s decision to yield the spotlight to her charges that propelled these careers.
By the late ’60s Walker was married and retired from touring, but she eventually returned to the road, singing and recording prolifically. She was nominated for multiple Grammy Awards, winning best traditional soul gospel album in 1995 for “Songs of the Church: Live in Memphis.”
“The Lord lets me sing,” she told the Chicago Tribune in 2004. “The only time I’ll stop is when the Lord says.”
Talk to us
A land sale in early June cleared the way. The mayor says dirt could be flying as soon as next week.
Most of their Challenger Elementary students don’t know about the hidden badge of teacher pride.
The City Council has allowed new cellular equipment under an ordinance that regulates conditions.
Detectives have been searching for the vehicle that struck Katherine Mueller, 31, of Snohomish.
Sarah Cooper was the passenger in the car that reportedly crossed into oncoming traffic in Lynnwood.
A state panel proposed a 2.5% hike in each of the next two years to cover the system’s operating costs.
Surrounded by a SWAT team near Everett, the man tried to flee but was subdued with pepper balls.
The nephew, 31, claimed self-defense. It was an argument over a wheelbarrow, a sheriff’s deputy wrote.
Jeff Thoreson will retire this month after molding minds at Riverview Elementary School for 41 years.
Madison King died of sharp-force injuries. Detectives believe she was killed by her husband.
Most of their Challenger Elementary students don’t know about the hidden badge of teacher pride.
Police said Homero Osuna Gonzalez, 25, stole his wife’s phone and pretended to be her as he fled a murder scene.
It could be from a previous season, scientists say, because males don’t typically emerge this early.
A land sale in early June cleared the way. The mayor says dirt could be flying as soon as next week.
The site near Picnic Point recently sold for $24 million after the previous developer filed for bankruptcy. | Famous Person - Death | October 2010 | ['(Chicago Tribune via HeraldNet)'] |
The sole survivor of a mass shooting in Rock Hill, South Carolina, that killed five others three days earlier has died from his gunshot wounds, according to the local coroner. | COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) A sixth person has died following a shooting earlier this week at the hands of a former NFL player who also killed four members of a South Carolina family, local officials said Saturday.
Robert Shook, 38, an air conditioning technician from Cherryville, North Carolina, has died from injuries sustained in the Wednesday shooting while he was working at the home, according to York County Coroner Sabrina Gast.
Authorities say Phillip Adams killed Rock Hill physician Robert Lesslie; his wife, Barbara; two of their grandchildren, 9-year-old Adah Lesslie and 5-year-old Noah Lesslie; and another air conditioning technician, James Lewis, who had been working with Shook at the Lesslie home.
Adams later shot himself to death. His brain is now being examined for possible degenerative disease that has been shown to cause violent mood swings and other cognitive disorders in some athletes and members of the military.
Adams, 32, played in 78 NFL games over six seasons for six teams. He joined the 49ers in 2010 as a seventh-round draft pick out of South Carolina State, and though he rarely started, he went on to play for New England, Seattle, Oakland and the New York Jets before finishing his career with the Atlanta Falcons in 2015.
As a rookie, Adams suffered a severe ankle injury and never played for the 49ers again. Later, with the Raiders, he had two concussions over three games in 2012.
Whether he suffered long-lasting concussion-related injuries wasn’t immediately clear. Adams would not have been eligible for testing as part of a broad settlement between the league and former players over such injuries, because he hadn’t retired by 2014. | Armed Conflict | April 2021 | ['(AP)'] |
Michelle Bachelet is elected the first female President of Chile. | Giving a victory speech to cheering supporters, Ms Bachelet said: "Who would have said, 10, 15 years ago, that a woman would be elected president?"
The election is the fourth since Chile returned to democracy in 1990 after 17 years of military rule.
Outgoing President Ricardo Lagos hailed the election of Chile's first woman leader as a "historic triumph".
Pay homage
Mr Pinera, who had 46.5% of the vote with 97.5% counted, was also quick to congratulate Ms Bachelet.
Winner looks ahead
Press hails Bachelet win
He said he wanted to "pay homage to all those millions and millions of women who with much strength and tenacity have finally achieved the place and the situation they deserve in our society".
Ms Bachelet thanked the thousands of enthusiastic supporters who gathered outside her campaign headquarters in the capital, Santiago.
She called on the whole country to work together to solve its problems and repeated her promise to bring more jobs and social justice to Chile. The BBC's Daniel Schweimler in Santiago says thousands of people have been waving flags, blowing whistles and chanting slogans in the streets, with many more honking their horns as they drive round the city.
It took less than three hours after the polls closed for it to became clear the 54-year-old would be the next president and for the celebrations to begin.
Ms Bachelet has promised continuity, as head of the coalition which has led Chile for the past 16 years, but has also pledged change.
She has said she is keen to bridge the gap between rich and poor and to give a greater voice to women and indigenous people. And, our correspondent says, more women are expected to be appointed to public office.
Unusual choice
The second round of voting was called after no candidate secured the 50% required for outright victory in the first round in December.
Michelle Bachelet - elected Chile's first woman leader, 2006 Janet Jagan - elected Guyana's leader in 1997 after the death of her husband, the previous president
Lidia Gueiler Tejada - served as interim president of Bolivia following a coup, 1979-80
Isabel Martinez de Peron - sworn in as interim president of Argentina in 1974 when husband Juan Peron fell ill and died; kept power until 1976
Rosalia Arteaga - briefly acted as president of Ecuador in 1997
Ms Bachelet, who won 46% of the vote then, went into the run-off ballot leading the opinion polls.
The former defence minister will become the fourth consecutive president from the centre-left coalition known as the Concertacion, which has governed Chile since the end of military rule in 1990.
A doctor and a single mother, Ms Bachelet was seen as an unusual choice for the presidency in a country considered one of the most socially conservative in South America.
Mr Pinera - who polled 25% in December - was given the backing of third-placed candidate, Joaquin Lavin, who received 23% in that vote.
However, the billionaire businessman and former senator appears not to have picked up all the right-wing vote previously given to Mr Lavin. | Government Job change - Election | January 2006 | ['(BBC)'] |
American snowmobiler Caleb Moore dies in Grand Junction, Colorado, United States, from complications of injuries suffered in a crash on January 24 during the Winter X Games in Aspen. He becomes the first X Games participant to die from injuries sustained during the event. | Winter X Games competitor died after sustaining injuries in a crash. Snowmobiler Caleb Moore Dead at 25
Jan. 31, 2013— -- Texas snowmobiler Caleb Moore died today after succumbing to injuries he sustained one week ago at the Winter X Games in Aspen, Colo., when his snowmobile flipped on top of him in a violent crash during competition.
"This morning Caleb Moore passed away," the Moore family said in a statement through family spokeswoman Chelsea Lawson. "He will be truly missed and never forgotten.
"The family wishes to express their deep gratitude for all the prayers and support they have received from all the fans, friends and family around the world that Caleb has inspired."
This is the first death as a result of a competitor's sustaining injuries during competition in the 18-year reign of the X Games, which is produced by ABC's sister network ESPN.
ESPN today released a statement offered condolences to the Moore family and saying it would conduct a "thorough review" into the X Games freestyle snowmobiling event and "adopt appropriate changes" for future X Games.
"For 18 years, we have worked closely on safety issues with athletes, course designers and other experts," network officials said, adding that Moore was hurt performing a move he had done several times before. "Still, when the world's best compete at the highest level in any sport, risks remain."
PHOTOS: Notable Deaths in 2013
Scott Guglielmino, ESPN's senior vice president of programming and global X events, said in an interview today on ESPN's "Outside the Lines" that X Games officials followed all medical protocol in treating Moore on site.
While "trying to mitigate as much risk as possible" is their top concern, Guglielmino said, the "world class" athletes that compete in the event understood the risks. He said competitors also have to provide proof they can perform their tricks before they are allowed to compete at the X Games.
"We are not equally responsible but we are all responsible for [Caleb's accident]," Guglielmino said.
Moore, a 25-year-old former all-terrain vehicle racer and medaled X Game competitor from Krum, Texas, had been in critical condition at St. Mary's Hospital in Grand Junction, Colo., after developing complications in his heart and brain after an accident last Thursday night during the Snowmobile Freestyle finals.
Moore was completing a back-flip when he came up short and the skis on his sled hit the landing, causing the 450-pound machine to flip end-over-end.
Moore went over the handlebars of the snowmobile and it came crashing down on top of him. He tumbled down the slope for several feet before coming to a stop at the bottom, where he lay on the ground for a few minutes.
Moore eventually got up and walked off the course with help, but he was rushed to Aspen Valley Hospital with a concussion, according to an X Games Medical report. While there, doctors discovered bleeding around Moore's heart and he was flown to St. Mary's Hospital.
St. Mary's Hospital declined ABC News' request for comment.
Moore underwent emergency heart surgery last Friday and had since remained in intensive care. But on Sunday, the Moore family released a statement through ESPN saying, "his cardiac injury has led to a secondary complication involving his brain."
Moore's younger brother Colten Moore, 23, also competed in the Snowmobile Freestyle finals and crashed during the X Games competition. He was taken to the hospital with a separated pelvis but was released Friday and "will not require surgery," according to Lawson.
An online fundraiser was set up on behalf of the Moore family on Tuesday to help the family pay for medical bills. As of this writing, the fund had raised over $26,500.
Jackson "Jacko" Strong, Moore's fellow X Games snowmobile competitor, is also auctioning off his 2012 Polaris IQ 600R snowmobile, which he rode in competition at this year's X Games, to help benefit the Moore family.
Strong also crashed during last week's X Games competition. During his Best Trick snowmobile run, the 21-year-old Australian native let go of the handlebars and attempted to grab the back of the sled in a midair stunt, but couldn't get a good grip and flew off of it. The snowmobile landed on its skis and raced into the crowd watching on the sidelines. No one was seriously injured.
Both Moore brothers are decorated Winter X Games veterans, who made their debut in competitive snowmobiling in 2010 in Aspen after years of racing ATVs.
Caleb, who has four Winter X Games medals, took home the bronze medal in Snowmobile Freestyle at last year's games, and stood next to brother Colten on the podium, who had snagged gold. | Famous Person - Death | January 2013 | ['(ESPN)', '(CNN)', '(ABC News)'] |
2010 U.S. Open champion Graeme McDowell of Northern Ireland defeats Hunter Mahan of the United States in the final match to win the 2010 Ryder Cup for Europe by 14½–13½. (RTÉ Sport) | Graeme McDowell held his nerve in the final singles match as Europe clung on to their overnight lead to beat United States 14½-13½ to regain the Ryder Cup.
Trailing 9½-6½ going into the delayed finale, the Americans fought back superbly to take the match to the wire. Rickie Fowler won the last three holes to snatch an unlikely half with Edoardo Molinari, leaving Europe relying on McDowell to beat Hunter Mahan. The Northern Irishman birdied the 16th before sealing victory at the 17th. "Graeme [McDowell] was put there [at the bottom of the order] for a very good reason," said victorious Europe captain Colin Montgomerie. "He is the US Open champion and full of confidence and that birdie on 16 was quite unbelievable."
It capped an extraordinary four days at the Celtic Manor in south Wales, which was bathed in sunshine for the delayed final day after the rain that had deluged the Usk Valley on Friday and Sunday. The US, who took the singles 7-5, prevailed in three of the four sessions overall, but Saturday's third session - which Europe won 5½-½ - proved vital in the final analysis. Ian Poulter, Luke Donald and Miguel Angel Jimenez all delivered victories on Monday for Europe, with Rory McIlroy and Edoardo Molinari contributing half-points. But Steve Stricker, Dustin Johnson, Jeff Overton, Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson and Zach Johnson all won for the US, leaving the outcome in the hands of McDowell and Mahan. McDowell led by three early on but slipped to 1up with three to play after driving into heavy rough left of the green and duffing his chip shot on the 15th. But he recovered brilliantly to hole a nailbiting 15-foot putt to win the 16th, bringing a huge roar from the packed galleries.
Please turn on JavaScript. Media requires JavaScript to play. McDowell admits to Ryder Cup nerves
Mahan could not respond on the 17th, leaving his chip just short of the green and conceding the hole to spark wild celebrations among the majority of the 35,000 fans present. Montgomerie had loaded his line-up with strength at the top, but Lee Westwood, the team's talisman over the first three days, was unable to deliver the start the hosts had hoped for. The Englishman rattled in successive birdies at four, five and six to take the lead but Stricker, one of the United States' strongmen, surpassed him with four in a row from the ninth to level the match on the 12th. Westwood then found the water with his tee shot on 13 to fall behind, and despite salvaging a half on the next with a great bunker shot, a 20-footer from Stricker on the 15th put him two up with three to play and he sealed victory on the 17th.
Please turn on JavaScript. Media requires JavaScript to play. Extra day didn't hamper US - Pavin
Dustin Johnson, pointless after three matches, then swiftly added a second point for the US as he crushed USPGA champion Kaymer 6&4 in the fourth match. Poulter, Europe's rabble rouser-in-chief, had confidently declared beforehand he would deliver a point, and was true to his word against Matt Kuchar, who had previously won two points out of three. The Englishman rattled in a 35-foot putt on the third, chipped in from the fairway on the 11th to go 4up and rattled in another putt from distance on the 13th before delivering the coup de grace on the 14th, by which time he was six under par. That was more than enough to deliver Europe's first point of the day, and his third from four matches to become his team's leading points-scorer. Donald joined him on that tally half an hour later, holding his nerve under great pressure from Jim Furyk to win the match on the 18th. The Englishman was 3up by the sixth and holed a series of superb putts but despite being six under par, found himself only one up with two to play. But Furyk found the bunker with his approach shot on the last and Donald, safely on the green, had the luxury of two putts to seal victory. That was the second match to finish on the 18th, McIlroy having secured a vital half against Stewart Cink in a match the American might easily have won. The Northern Irish tyro made a flying start with birdies on the first two holes, but Cink won the next three before McIlroy levelled, as he did again on the 12th after Cink had regained the lead on the eighth. McIlroy found the water on 13 to fall behind, but Cink missed a three-footer on the 15th to leave it all square again. McIlroy suffered further let-offs at the 17th and the last, when he failed to get out of the greenside bunker with his first attempt.
Please turn on JavaScript. Media requires JavaScript to play. Tearful Mahan breaks down after defeat
Cink had a 12-footer to win the match which slipped narrowly by, leaving McIlroy with a nasty five-footer to halve the match. "I have had three great matches with Stewart this week and a half was probably what we both deserved," he said. "I wouldn't have said this a year ago but this is the best event in golf." After Donald had increased Europe's lead to 12-9, Jimenez extended it with his first Ryder Cup singles victory at the fourth attempt. The veteran Spaniard chipped in from a bunker on the eighth to go ahead and rattled off four birdies in his last seven holes to beat Bubba Watson 4&3. But rookie Overton gave the Americans hope by turning round his match with Ross Fisher, who suffered a disappointing end to his first Ryder Cup. Birdies at the first and third gave the Englishman an ideal start but Overton levelled on the 12th and four bogeys in his last five holes saw Fisher slip to a 3&2 defeat. Woods swiftly wrapped up his match with Francesco Molinari, despite the Italian going 2up after two holes. The world number one, who had struggled with his game in Wales despite earning two points in the company of Stricker, holed a 20-footer on the sixth and had levelled matters by the turn. Woods' putter was running hot and he finished eight under for his last 10 holes, including an eagle on the 12th and a monster 50ft putt on 13 before sealing a 4&3 win. With the score 13-11, Europe were relying on Edoardo Molinari, leading his match with Fowler, and McDowell - up in the final match against Mahan - to get to the 14½ points needed for victory, with Phil Mickelson dispatching Peter Hanson 4&2 and Padraig Harrington struggling against Zach Johnson, eventually losing 3&2. Fowler, three down with three to play, sealed a remarkable comeback with a 20-foot putt on the last to steal a half from the older Molinari. But McDowell, who won his first major at the US Open in June, sealed a superb contest to deliver Europe's fourth victory in the last five Ryder Cups, and sixth in the last eight. Woods holes second shot at 12th | Sports Competition | October 2010 | ['(BBC Sport)', '(The Irish Times)', '(Sky News)'] |
Troops from Thailand and Cambodia exchange gunfire for the sixth straight day as the death toll from the conflict during the period reaches fourteen. | Troops from Thailand and Cambodia have exchanged fire again along their disputed border, as the death toll from six days of conflict rose to 14. The fighting took place near the Ta Moan and Ta Krabey temples, where most of the clashes have taken place. A Thai spokesmen said a Thai villager was killed by rocket fire on Tuesday. Each side has accused the other of starting the conflict. Plans for ministerial-level talks today on the dispute were cancelled by Thailand. "We decided last night to cancel (Defence Minister) Gen Prawit's trip to Phnom Penh today after some Cambodia media reported Thailand agreed to ceasefire talks after it admitted defeat and losses," said army spokesman Col Sunsern Kaewkumnerd.
Parts of the Thai-Cambodian border have never been formally demarcated, causing continuing tensions and firing nationalist sentiment in both countries. There has been sporadic fighting in recent years. Clashes took place three years ago in the run-up to a general election in Cambodia, and this latest outbreak of violence comes with the Thai government due to call an election in coming weeks. The renewed fighting began on Friday, near two disputed temples that lie in a jungle area that both sides claim. On Tuesday clashes were also reported 160km (100 miles) further east at the hill-top temple of Preah Vihear, a flashpoint for the dispute. Cambodian officials said Wednesday's fighting began in the early morning and continued for several hours. Thousands of villagers have been displaced by the fighting, in which eight Cambodian and five Thai soldiers have been killed. Fresh Thai-Cambodia clashes erupt | Armed Conflict | April 2011 | ['(BBC)'] |
A car bombing occurs in a Shiite suburb of Lebanon's capital Beirut killing the bomber and injuring five other people. , | BEIRUT, Lebanon A powerful car bomb explosion rocked a neighborhood south of Lebanon’s capital early Tuesday, wounding several people, a Lebanese security official and witnesses said.
The explosion was just after midnight south of Beirut near a checkpoint and the Abu Assaf cafe, where people had gathered to watch World Cup soccer matches. The official said that the explosion appeared to have been caused by a suicide bomber and that at least five people were wounded. He spoke on the condition of anonymity in line with military regulations.
It was the second blast in a week and comes amid mounting regional tensions over the events in nearby Iraq, where the militant group the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria has seized territory in northern and western Iraq.
Efforts to stem the rise of the Islamic State.
On Friday, a suicide bomber attacked a police checkpoint in eastern Lebanon, killing a police officer and wounding several other people.
The bombings raised fears of renewed violence in a country that has been buffeted by the conflict in neighboring Syria.
Syria’s civil war has spilled into Lebanon on multiple occasions and inflamed sectarian tensions. A series of car bombs have struck Shiite areas across Lebanon, killing dozens of people.
The last explosion to hit Lebanon was on March 29, when a suicide bomber attacked an army checkpoint near the Syrian border, killing three people.
Hard-line Sunni groups have claimed responsibility for the attacks against Shiites, saying they are meant to punish the Lebanese Hezbollah movement for fighting alongside Syrian troops. | Armed Conflict | June 2014 | ['(AFP via Global Post)', '(New York Times)'] |
eBay announced it will buy Skype, the Luxembourg–based web telephone network, in a $2.6 billion deal. | EBay said it would pay half the amount in cash and the other half in stocks to create "an unparalleled e-commerce and communications engine".
Skype's software lets PC users talk to each other for free and make cut-price calls to mobiles and landlines.
Other players in the online phone market include computer giants such as Google, Microsoft, AOL and Yahoo.
Google recently launched its Talk service, while Microsoft purchased leading player Teleo for an undisclosed sum. Technology used by Skype, and rivals such as Vonage, converts phone conversations into packets of data and transmits them down the same wires used to surf the internet. If certain performance targets are met, eBay said it would pay an additional $1.5bn to Skype over the next three years , bringing the total size of the deal to $4bn.
'Powerful environment'
"Communications is at the heart of e-commerce and community," said eBay chief executive Meg Whitman. Portal bid drives eBay Skype deal
"By combining the two leading e-commerce franchises, eBay and PayPal, with the leader in internet voice communications, we will create an extraordinarily powerful environment for business on the net."
The company said the move would "strengthen eBay's global marketplace and payments platform, while opening several new lines of business".
Skype chief executive Niklas Zennstrom, who will join eBay's senior management team, said the deal would help "revolutionise the ease with which people can communicate through the internet".
Using Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) services, computer users can talk to each other via a headset or microphone and speakers.
Cheap calls to landlines and mobile phones are also possible. Some systems allow users to plug their traditional phones into a desktop box that allows them to make VoIP calls. Growth market?
Skype has 53 million registered users and says more than two million people are using its software at any given moment.
Since it was introduced in 2003, the free program has been downloaded more than 151 million times. The company does not release earnings figures. Vonage, the largest internet phone company, has nearly one million subscribers who pay a monthly fee of $25 to use it. EBay has been buying up firms - including payment system PayPal - in an effort to increase the number of services it offers to consumers and keep its profits growing. Media reports have speculated that as well as looking to tap into the growing internet phone market, eBay is also attracted by the idea of letting its buyers and sellers talk to each other via their computers. | Organization Merge | September 2005 | ['(BBC)'] |
Marco Aurélio Mello, a Supreme Federal Court judge orders Brazil's Chamber of Deputies to start impeachment proceedings against Vice President Michel Temer over charges he helped doctor budget accounting as part of President Dilma Rousseff's administration. | BRASILIA (Reuters) - A Supreme Court judge ordered Brazil’s Congress on Tuesday to start impeachment proceedings against Vice President Michel Temer, deepening a political crisis and uncertainty over leadership of Latin America’s largest country.
Justice Marco Aurelio Mello told the lower house to convene an impeachment committee to consider putting Temer on trial on charges he helped manipulate budget accounting as part of President Dilma Rousseff’s administration.
Another committee is already analyzing similar charges against Rousseff, a leftist who is scrambling for support to defeat an impeachment vote in the lower house as early as mid-April.
Mello, who has a record of controversial decisions that later have been overturned by the full court, criticized the shelving of a request to impeach the vice president by lower house Speaker Eduardo Cunha, who in December launched impeachment proceedings against Rousseff on the same grounds.
Cunha said he will appeal against Mello’s unprecedented ruling, which raises questions about the future governance of a country mired in political turmoil, a severe economic recession and an institutional crisis that is increasingly being handled by the judiciary.
Because Temer is next in line for the presidency if Rousseff was impeached, the possibility of his ouster complicates the calculation that lawmakers must make if they vote to oust Rousseff. If one is guilty of the charges, the ruling suggests, the other is guilty too.
“This takes away some of the momentum for her impeachment,” said Sonia Fleury, a political scientist at the Getulio Vargas Foundation, a business school and think tank in Rio de Janeiro. “Her opponents will now have to rethink their strategy.”
Fleury said it is unlikely, however, that the 11-member court will reverse Mello’s decision.
Brazil's currency, the real BRL=, extended losses following the ruling, frustrating investors who hope a Temer administration would be more market-friendly and pull the economy out of what could be its worst recession in a century. Cunha, a party colleague of Temer's and the third in line for succession, is himself embroiled in a corruption scandal related to the kickback probe around state-run oil company Petrobras PETR4.SA and faces ethics committee hearings.
Temer on Tuesday stepped aside as the head of the Brazilian Democratic Movement Party (PMDB), the large, ideologically amorphous party that until last week was the main coalition partner for Rousseff’s Workers’ Party.
By stepping down, analysts said, Temer removed himself from the awkward position in which his party has been questioning the legitimacy of a Rousseff government that he is still part of.
“Temer is trying to distance himself from the PMDB to avoid accusations of influencing political decisions aimed at destroying president Rousseff,” said Augusto de Queiroz, a political scientist with Brazil’s congressional research service.
Temer’s resignation and Mello’s ruling that he should be subject to impeachment proceedings further muddied the waters of Brazil’s crisis and made it harder to predict how and indeed whether Rousseff’s opponents will succeed in unseating her.
Consultancy Eurasia said Rousseff’s impeachment was still likely but cut the odds to 60 percent from a 60-70 percent range. “It is becoming a bit more difficult to anticipate the precise manner in which Rousseff will fall,” Eurasia said on Tuesday in a note to clients.
The impeachment committee will decide on Monday whether Rousseff committed an impeachable crime, and its recommendation is expected to sway lower house lawmakers who are still undecided.
If impeachment fails to get two thirds of the votes in the lower chamber, some of Rousseff’s opponents hope Brazil’s top electoral court will annul her election for allegedly being funded by Petrobras bribe money. That would also oust her ticket partner Temer.
One of Temer’s closest aides, PMDB Senator Valdir Raupp, proposed on Monday that Congress call a snap presidential election in October to end Brazil’s political impasse. Others have echoed the suggestion.
On Tuesday, Rousseff made light of that possibility, suggesting lawmakers themselves agree to end their terms early.
Rousseff has repeatedly denied that she doctored Brazil’s budget to hide a massive deficit before her 2014 re-election and has gained ground politically by repeating in almost every speech that what she says is her groundless impeachment is the equivalent of staging a coup d’etat against a democratic government.
Rousseff, who is negotiating the support of smaller parties in return for government jobs vacated by the PMDB, said she would not announce a new Cabinet until after the impeachment vote expected in about 10 days. | Famous Person - Commit Crime - Accuse | April 2016 | ['(Reuters)'] |
Shia Houthi rebels and suspected al-Qaeda militants clash near the town of Radaa in Al Bayda' Governorate province resulting in at least 10 deaths. | Shia rebels and suspected Sunni al-Qaeda militants have been engaged in heavy fighting in southern Yemen.
Security officials and tribal sources said at least 10 people were killed in clashes around the town of Radaa in Bayda province late on Tuesday.
Al-Qaeda vowed to confront the rebels, known as Houthis, after their takeover in the capital, Sanaa, last month.
They have since sought to expand the territory under their control, and took the Red Sea port of Hodeida on Tuesday.
The move came as President Abdrabbuh Mansour Hadi named a new prime minister after securing the backing of the rebels and their main opponents, Sunni Islamist and tribal fighters loyal to the Islah party.
Under the deal brokered by the United Nations after the Houthis swept through Sanaa, Mr Hadi agreed to reverse the unpopular fuel subsidy cuts he introduced in July, form a new "technocratic national government", and appoint advisers nominated by the rebels.
The clashes around Radaa on Tuesday night erupted after Houthi fighters attempted to take control of areas surrounding the town. Dozens of families were forced to flee the violence. Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) has vowed to fight the Houthis in defence of Sunnis and last week it said it was behind a suicide bomb attack on a rally by Houthi supporters in Sanaa that killed 47 people.
On Wednesday afternoon, the rebels were reported to have sent fighters towards the city of Ibb, a bastion of the jihadist group and its allies 150 km (90 miles) south of the capital. Witnesses told the Reuters news agency that they had seen dozens of cars carrying armed Houthis arriving in Ibb on Wednesday and gathering at its main stadium, where they reportedly met the provincial governor.
Another convoy of several cars carrying Houthis was later seen on the outskirts of Taiz, a city 50km (30 miles) to the south, Reuters reported.
The rebels are also believed to be in control of Dhamar province, just south of Sanaa. The Houthis, who adhere to a branch of Shia Islam known as Zaidism, have staged periodic uprisings since 2004 in an effort to win greater autonomy for their northern heartland of Saada province.
Opponents allege that the rebels ultimately hope to reinstall the Zaidi imamate, which ruled North Yemen for almost 1,000 years until 1962.
In another development on Wednesday, separatists set a deadline of 30 November for the government to withdraw soldiers and civil servants from southern Yemen. Hiraak al-Janoubi (Southern Movement) also asked foreign firms to halt oil and gas exports immediately.
"The state of the South is coming and no power can stop us from achieving this," a statement said.
Separatists in southern Yemen have for years complained of political and economic marginalisation by the central government and want independence for the South, which united with the North in 1990. A revolt in the South in 1994 was crushed by forces led by Mr Hadi. | Armed Conflict | October 2014 | ['(BBC)'] |
The president of the Japanese shipping company offers a different account of the attack than that provided by the United States. Yutaka Katada says the Filipino crew of the Kokuka Courageous oil tanker said their vessel was apparently first hit by an artillery shell rather than a mine. The United States said the tanker was attacked by limpet mines and released a video it says shows Iranian special forces removing an unexploded mine from the oil tanker's side. | The US military has released a video which it says shows Iranian special forces removing an unexploded mine from the side of an oil tanker damaged in an attack in the Gulf of Oman on Thursday.
The US also released images of the Japanese tanker apparently showing the unexploded mine before it was removed.
A Norwegian tanker in the gulf also reported being hit by three blasts.
The US accused Iran of being behind the attacks. Iran said it "categorically" rejected the allegation.
The blasts came a month after four oil tankers were damaged in an attack off the coast of the United Arab Emirates. The US blamed Iran for that attack, but did not produce evidence. Iran also denied those accusations.
Tensions between the US and Iran have escalated significantly since US President Donald Trump took office in 2017. He abandoned a nuclear deal that was brokered by the Obama administration and significantly tightened sanctions on Iran.
On Friday Mr Trump repeated the US assertion that Iran was behind the incident in an interview with Fox News.
He also said it was unlikely that Iran could close the Strait of Hormuz - a vital shipping lane through which a third of the world's seaborne oil passes every year - but if it did, the strait would not remain closed "for long".
Asked how to stop Iran, Mr Trump said: "We'll see."
Oil prices jumped as much as 4% after Thursday's incident. According to the US account of events, US naval forces in the region received distress calls from the Norwegian-owned Front Altair at 06:12 (02:12 GMT) and from the Japanese-owned Kokuka Courageous at 07:00, following explosions, and moved towards the area.
It said the USS Bainbridge observed Iranian naval boats operating in the area in the hours after the explosions, and later removing the unexploded mine from the side of the Kokuka Courageous.
The crews of both vessels were evacuated to other ships nearby. Both Iran and the US later released pictures showing rescued crew members on board their vessels. BSM Ship Management, which manages the Kokuka Courageous, said the ship's crew abandoned ship after observing a fire and an unexploded mine.
Apparently disputing the US version of events, Yutaka Katada, the president of the ship's operator, Kokuka Sangyo, said members of the crew had reported "that the ship was attacked by a flying object".
The Kokuka Courageous was about 30km (20 miles) off the Iranian coast when it sent its emergency call.
The Front Altair was carrying naphtha, a petrol product, from the United Arab Emirates to Taiwan. The Kokuka Courageous was carrying methanol from Saudi Arabia to Singapore. According to global satellite monitoring company Iceye, the damage to the Front Altair caused some oil spill in the waters around the ship.
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said at a news conference in Washington: "It is the assessment of the United States that the Islamic Republic of Iran is responsible for the attacks.
"This assessment is based on intelligence, the weapons used, the level of expertise needed to execute the operation, recent similar Iranian attacks on shipping, and the fact that no proxy group operating in the area has the resources and proficiency to act with such a high degree of sophistication."
UK Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt said: "Our own assessment leads us to conclude that responsibility for the attacks almost certainly lies with Iran." The statement added: "It is almost certain that a branch of the Iranian military - the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps - attacked the two tankers on 13 June. No other state or non-state actor could plausibly have been responsible."
Russia's foreign ministry however warned against drawing "hasty conclusions".
China's foreign ministry said in a statement that all sides should exercise restraint. The UAE described the attacks as a "dangerous escalation".
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani on Friday accused the US of posing "a serious threat to stability in the Middle East", without referring directly to the attacks in the Gulf of Oman.
He reiterated a call for international parties to the 2015 nuclear deal to honour their commitments, following a unilateral withdrawal by the Trump administration.
In a statement released on Friday, the Iranian mission to the United Nations said it rejected what it called "unfounded" and "Iranophobic" allegations by the US. "Iran categorically rejects the US' unfounded claim with regard to 13 June oil tanker incidents and condemns it in the strongest possible terms," the statement said.
Foreign Minister Javad Zarif on Twitter accused the US of making an allegation "without a shred of factual or circumstantial evidence" and attempting to "sabotage diplomacy".
The footage released by the US on Thursday is rather more convincing than the circumstantial evidence it had provided earlier.
The small white patrol craft in the video is typical of the type used by Iran's IRGC (Revolutionary Guards) Navy in the Gulf. In recent years, the IRGC Navy has steadily supplanted Iran's conventional Navy all along Iran's Gulf coast, from its border with Kuwait in the north all the way down to Pakistan and the Arabian Sea. Its forces have built up a formidable flotilla of small, high-speed, hard-to-detect attack craft armed with mines, missiles, torpedoes and drones.
IRGC commandos regularly practise covert operations and simulated attacks. Some of their craft have come in close proximity to US Navy warships in the Gulf in recent years and there remains the risk of a clash at sea. Iran has denied any involvement in Thursday's attacks, saying they were carried out by someone looking to derail Iran's relations with the international community. There will likely be doubts in Tehran as to whether this video is genuine.
In 2018, the US pulled out of the landmark nuclear deal reached in 2015 that was aimed at curbing Iran's nuclear activities. The move was strongly criticised by a number of countries, including the closest allies of the US.
In May, President Trump tightened US sanctions on Iran - mainly targeting its oil sector. Iran then announced it would suspend some commitments under the nuclear deal.
In recent months, the US has strengthened its forces in the Gulf - saying there was a danger of Iranian attacks. It sent an aircraft carrier strike group and B-52 bombers to the region.
In response, Iran accused the US of aggressive behaviour. Those tensions rose markedly after the 12 May limpet mine attacks in the UAE.
The UAE blamed an unnamed "state actor". The US said that actor was Iran, an accusation Tehran denied.
While it is unclear why Iran would carry out a relatively low-level attack on the multinational tankers, observers have speculated that it could have been to send a signal to forces ranged against it that it is capable of disrupting shipping there without triggering a war. | Armed Conflict | June 2019 | ['(The Washington Post)', '(BBC)'] |
Islamic State fighters kill Kurdish commander Brigadier General Shirko Rauf and five other peshmerga soldiers in heavy fighting in Iraq's Kirkuk province. | Islamic State (Isis) fighters have killed a senior Kurdish commander and five other soldiers in a major attack in Kirkuk province, Iraq, an officer and a doctor said.
The Isis assault on areas south and west of the northern city of Kirkuk began at about midnight on Friday, prompting fighting with medium and heavy weapons that was still ongoing in the morning.
Brigadier General Shirko Rauf and five other members of the Kurdish peshmerga forces were killed, while 46 more were wounded, the police officer and a doctor said.
The Kirkuk province security committee announced a curfew on Friday morning, saying it would be in effect until further notice.
Isis has mounted an offensive that has overrun much of Iraq’s Sunni Arab heartland since June, presenting both an opportunity for territorial expansion and a threat to the country’s three-province autonomous Kurdish region.
Several Iraqi divisions collapsed in the early days of the offensive, clearing the way for the Kurds to take control of a swathe of disputed northern territory that they have long wanted to incorporate into their region despite Baghdad’s objections.
But after driving south towards Baghdad, Isis turned its attention to the Kurds, pushing them back towards their regional capital, Irbil, in a move that led to US air strikes against the jihadis.
Backed by the air strikes as well as international advisers and trainers, Kurdish forces have clawed back significant ground from Isis.
The conflict is redrawing some of the de facto internal boundaries of Iraq in favour of broader Kurdish control in the north. | Armed Conflict | January 2015 | ['(AFP via The Guardian)'] |
President of Paraguay Fernando Lugo sacks heads of the country's army, navy and air force plus five more senior officers in a decision aimed at "institutionalizing the structure of the armed forces". | President Fernando Lugo of Paraguay has dismissed the commander of the armed forces, a day after he sacked the heads of the army, navy and air force. It is the fourth time he has replaced the military's top commanders since he took office in 2008. President Lugo said the changes were a "routine leadership renewal". But critics have accused him of promoting younger officers to ensure the armed forces are loyal to him and his programme of political reform. The sacked commanders were only appointed last November after their predecessors were fired amid rumours of a coup plot. The armed forces chief Gen Oscar Velazquez has been replaced by Gen Benicio Melgarejo, who is the head of the president's security cabinet. The changes have provoked some discontent among former officers. The former General Bernadino Soto Estigarribia - now an opposition politician - accused Mr Lugo of "tampering" and "inflicting successive blows on the institutionality of the armed forces".
The BBC's Valeria Smink, reporting from the region, says few observers believe there is a danger of a military coup in Paraguay - partly because the influence of the armed forces is much reduced. Former bishop Fernando Lugo, 58, ended six decades of one-party government in Paraguay when he was elected in 2008 on a promise of reform. From 1954 to 1989 the country was under the military rule of Gen Alfredo Stroessner, whose Colorado party remained in power until Mr Lugo's victory. The president - who is now receiving treatment for cancer - has since seen his popularity slump, reducing his chances of implementing reform in one of South America's poorest and most unequal countries. Paraguay leader sacks army head
Paraguay presidency (in Spanish)
| Government Job change - Resignation_Dismissal | September 2010 | ['(BBC)'] |
In South Africa, former Deputy President Jacob Zuma pleads not guilty of rape as his trial starts. | Hundreds of Mr Zuma's supporters, as well as anti-rape activists, gathered outside court as the trial got under way after a three-week break. Three judges assigned to the case have stood down - one of them because his sister had a child fathered by Mr Zuma.
The alleged victim, who cannot be identified, says she was raped by Mr Zuma while visiting his home in Johannesburg's Forest Town suburb in November last year.
The complainant had a mobile phone and could have left at any time
Jacob Zuma's statement
She said she has known Mr Zuma from the age of five and regarded him as a father figure.
The woman, an Aids activist, told a closed session of the Johannesburg High Court that she was spending the night in the guest room when Mr Zuma entered the room and offered to "tuck her in" and massage her.
The woman said she replied: "I'm already asleep, I'll see you tomorrow."
'Political pressure'
She said Mr Zuma then removed the bed cover from her and began to massage her.
"I said: 'No'. After I said this, he didn't stop massaging me. At that point I opened my eyes and saw that he was naked".
Anti-rape campaigners are backing the alleged victim
She said Mr Zuma went on to rape her.
She also said that she had been "pressured" by various people and had been offered money to drop her accusations.
"One said: 'Do you know what this will do to the ANC?'," she said.
Earlier, Mr Zuma's lawyer, Kemp J Kemp, read out a statement setting out Mr Zuma's version of events: "The complainant visited my home on 2 November of her own volition. We had sexual intercourse for some time - it was consensual.
"Mr Zuma's daughter was in the house at the time. The complainant had a mobile phone and could have left at any time," the statement said.
Outside, the crowd of supporters was smaller than at Mr Zuma's first appearance three weeks ago, and an increased police presence kept the demonstrators at a distance from the Johannesburg High Court.
Before proceedings began, a red minibus with the popular pro-Zuma song, Msholozi, blaring from speakers mounted on the roof got through the police cordon. A tense stand-off followed before police persuaded the driver to leave the restricted area. Support waned
Mr Zuma - a veteran of the ANC struggle to end apartheid and a favourite of the party's left wing - was once thought a likely successor to Thabo Mbeki as South African president.
But the allegations and of rape as well as corruption - for which he will go on trial in July - are thought by many to have ended that prospect.
Mr Zuma remains deputy leader of the ruling ANC although it has been agreed that he should not perform any executive functions.
His support has waned since rape charges were laid, but he remains a popular politician.
Mr Zuma's supporters say the charges against him are the result of a conspiracy.
The court case opened briefly on 13 February, but the case was adjourned the same day, as the judge stepped down at the defence's request.
A second judge withdrew for personal reasons, and a third because of the complication over Mr Zuma's son by the judge's sister. | Famous Person - Commit Crime - Sentence | March 2006 | ['(1999–2005)', '(Iafrica)', '(BBC)'] |
Former Congressman Jesse Jackson Jr. is charged with misusing campaign funds while in office. | Jesse Jackson Jr. and his wife Sandi intend to plead guilty to federal charges alleging the former congressman misused $750,000 in campaign funds while she understated their income on tax returns for six years, their lawyers say.Jackson Jr., 47, a Democrat from Chicago, was charged in a criminal information today with one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, mail fraud and false statements. He faces up to five years in prison, a fine of up to $250,000 and other penalties.
Sandi Jackson was charged with one count of filing false tax returns. She faces up to three years in prison, a fine of up to $250,000 and other penalties.
Jackson Jr. is accused of diverting $750,000 in campaign funds for personal use.
Federal authorities allege that Jackson Jr. used campaign funds to purchase a $43,350 men’s gold-plated Rolex watch, $5,150 worth of fur capes and parkas, and $9,588 in children’s furniture. The purchases were made between 2007 and 2009, according to the criminal information, which authorities noted is not evidence of guilt.
Other expenditures listed by prosecutors include $10,105 on Bruce Lee memorabilia, $11,130 on Martin Luther King memorabilia and $22,700 on Michael Jackson items, including $4,600 for a "Michael Jackson fedora."
The government also alleged that Jackson Jr. made false statements to the House of Representatives because he did not report approximately $28,500 in loans and gifts he received.
"He has accepted responsibility for his actions and I can confirm that he intends to plead guilty to the charge in the information," Jackson Jr.'s attorney Brian Heberlig said.
Sandi Jackson is accused of filing incorrect joint tax returns with her husband for calendar years 2006 through 2011, reporting income “substantially less than the amount of income she and her husband received in each of the calendar years,” with a substantial additional tax due.
Her attorneys released a statement saying she has "reached an agreement with the U.S. attorney’s office to plead guilty to one count of tax fraud."
Jackson Jr. stepped down from the House of Representatives on Nov. 21, citing both his poor health and an ongoing federal probe of his activities. In a statement then, he said he was doing his best to cooperate with federal investigators and to accept responsibility for his “mistakes.”In a statement today, Jackson Jr. said:“Over the course of my life I have come to realize that none of us are immune from our share of shortcomings and human frailties. Still I offer no excuses for my conduct and I fully accept my responsibility for the improper decisions and mistakes I have made. To that end I want to offer my sincerest apologies to my family, my friends and all of my supporters for my errors in judgment and while my journey is not yet complete, it is my hope that I am remembered for the things that I did right.”
Sandi Jackson's attorneys released a statement saying she "has accepted responsibility for her conduct, is deeply sorry for her actions, and looks forward to putting this matter behind her and her family. She is thankful for the support of her family and friends during this very difficult time."
Jackson's father, the Rev. Jesse Jackson Sr., said he wanted to attend President Barack Obama's speech Friday at Hyde Park Academy in Chicago but traveled to Washington, D.C., instead, to be with family members while they waited for the federal charges to come down. "This has been a difficult and painful ordeal for our family," the civil rights leader said. The Rev. Jesse Jackson said he would "leave it up to the courts system" to determine his son's fate."We express our love for him as a family," he said.
Jackson Jr.’s political fortunes sank beginning late in 2008, when he sought unsuccessfully to have Gov. Rod Blagojevich appoint him to the Senate seat that came open with the election of then-Sen. Barack Obama to the White House.Jackson Jr. or an emissary reportedly offered to raise up to $6 million in campaign cash for Blagojevich, who now is in federal prison for crimes including trying to sell the Senate seat. Jackson Jr. was never charged in the case, which became the subject of an ethics probe in the House.Last June, Jackson Jr. began a mysterious leave of absence for what originally was called “exhaustion” but later emerged as bipolar disorder. He spent months in treatment and won re-election Nov. 6 despite never returning to service in the House or staging a single campaign appearance.A campaign to replace him is being conducted now in the 2nd Congressional District, which includes parts of the South Side and south suburbs. Jackson Jr. was first elected to Congress in 1995. Sandi Jackson was a Chicago alderman until she resigned her post last month. They have two children.Sandi Jackson’s firm, J. Donatella & Associates, has been paid at least $452,500 from her husband’s campaign committee since 2002, Federal Election Commission reports show.The former congressman’s campaign committee reported $105,703 in cash on hand on last Nov. 26, FEC reports show. Leading up to the last election, it reported $1 million in contributions and $1.06 million in operating expenditures, reports show.Once considered a potential candidate for mayor of Chicago, Jesse Jackson Jr.’s reputation has taken a hit in recent years because of the Blagojevich scandal and also because of news reports in 2010 that a suburban Chicago businessman told federal investigators he twice paid to fly a woman a hostess from a Washington, D.C. bar to Chicago at Jackson’s request.
In the wake of the reports, Jackson Jr. issued a statement calling the woman a “social acquaintance” and describing the matter as a “private and personal matter between me and my wife that was handled some time ago.” Jackson Jr. subsequently told the Tribune editorial board he had apologized to "my absolute best friend, my wife."Still, he also acknowledged he asked longtime supporter Raghuveer Nayak to pay to fly the woman from Washington to Chicago. House ethics rules prohibit members from soliciting gifts of personal benefit. Jackson said Nayak’s purchase was "a friendly gesture" by "a close and dear friend of mine, one who knows members of my family, has worked with members of my family, has been a friend of our family's for a number of years."The woman's travel was "not a personal benefit to me, I don’t believe, under the House rules. A benefit to the person for whom he bought the ticket. He didn't buy tickets for me. Did I direct him? I did." | Famous Person - Commit Crime - Accuse | February 2013 | ['(USA Today)', '(Chicago Tribune)'] |
The House GOP caucus overwhelmingly re-elects Paul Ryan to another term as House Speaker. | House Republicans overwhelmingly reelected Paul Ryan on Tuesday to another term as speaker of the House. Only one — Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) — voted against him.
It’s the first full term for Ryan, who took the gavel from his predecessor John Boehner in late 2015. And the near-unanimous support of the Republican caucus is a symbolic milestone for a House GOP that has long been bitterly divided along ideological lines. But the election of Donald Trump, who at times has feuded with Ryan, undercut a band of hardline conservatives strategizing to replace him. Ryan will take control of a slightly smaller Republican caucus — Democrats netted six seats in the November elections — but one still firmly in control of the chamber, holding a 241- to 194-seat edge.
Massie, the lone anti-Ryan vote, cast his ballot for Florida Republican Daniel Webster. On the other side of the aisle, House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi saw four defections in her own caucus: Rep. Jim Cooper (D-Tenn.) voted for fellow Ohio Democrat Tim Ryan, and Rep. Ron Kind (D-Wisc.) voted for Cooper. Rep. Kathleen Rice (D-New York) also voted for Tim Ryan, and Rep. Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.) voted for Rep. John Lewis.
Paul Ryan will begin his term helping the incoming Trump administration shepherd through its early priorities. He spent the day ahead of the speakership vote defusing a controversy over a late Monday decision by House Republicans to weaken the Office of Congressional Ethics. Amid pressure from Ryan, Trump and a public backlash, House Republicans agreed to pull their proposal and consider it later in the year. | Government Job change - Election | January 2017 | ['(AP via KYTV)', '(Politico)'] |
Authorities in Mali charge six people, including former prime minister Boubou Cissé, with an "attempted coup". (AFP via Barron's) |
The Malian authorities on Thursday charged six figures, including a former prime minister, with seeking to mount a coup, a move that came after a military putsch in August, their lawyers said.
The public prosecutor's office in the capital Bamako said in a statement that six people were under investigation for "plotting against the government, criminal association, insulting the head of state and complicity".
A group of lawyers defending the six said the individuals, who include Boubou Cisse, the last prime minister before the August putsch, had been charged with an "attempted coup".
Five of the six have been detained in custody, except for Cisse, whose whereabouts are unknown, the public prosecutor said.
Details about the affair are sketchy, but it comes at a time of turbulence in Mali following the ouster of its elected president, Ibrahim Boubacar Keita, by young army officers on August 18.
Threatened by international sanctions, the junta handed power to a caretaker institution which is supposed to last for up to 18 months until elections are held.
But disenchantment at the slow pace of reforms is growing, fuelled by accusations that figures with army links dominate the body.
In its statement, the prosecutor's office did not use the term "attempted coup" as the attorneys did.
It alleged there had been deeds that "harmed domestic security" and serious evidence of a "criminal enterprise" and "actions to sabotage" initiatives taken by the transitionial authorities.
On Monday, security sources said a number of people had been detained on December 21, while the prosecutor's office said a "preliminary inquiry" had been opened "relating to violations of state security".
Those detained, the sources said, included Aguibou Tall, Cisse's half-brother; the secretary of the president's office, Sekou Traore; and Mohamed Youssouf Bathily, a campaigner and radio presenter who is popular among young Malians.
In the runup to their arrest, social media said there had been a scheme to "destabilise" Mali's post-coup transitional institutions. The Malian authorities on Thursday charged six figures, including a former prime minister, with seeking to mount a coup, a move that came after a military putsch in August, their lawyers said. | Famous Person - Commit Crime - Accuse | December 2020 | [] |
Bosnia and Herzegovina formally applies to join the European Union. | Bosnia-Herzegovina has formally applied to join the 28-nation European Union - a milestone in its efforts to overcome political and ethnic divisions.
More tough negotiation and reforms lie ahead if it is ever to join the EU. Its neighbour Croatia joined in 2013. Bosnia's move comes more than two decades after it emerged from a three-year conflict that cost about 100,000 lives, when Yugoslavia fragmented.
The EU foreign policy chief saw the bid as a step towards European unity. "At a time when the union is questioned from within, seeing that with our immediate neighbours there is such an energy and willingness to join and work hard to adapt their countries, society, economy, institutions, systems to the European standards, gives us the sense of responsibility we have also towards our European Union citizenship," Federica Mogherini told journalists. Integration with Europe is seen as a way to help Bosnia's ailing economy and overcome its reputation for corruption that scares off investors. Last March, EU foreign ministers and Bosnia signed a Stabilisation and Association Agreement that had been on hold since 2008, paving the way for the application.
Dragan Covic, the chairman of Bosnia's tripartite presidency, said there would be "years of many challenges ahead", the AFP news agency reports.
He submitted the application to Dutch Foreign Minister Bert Koenders, whose country currently holds the six-month EU rotating presidency.
The EU was happy to see "Bosnia back on the reform path", AFP quoted Mr Koenders as saying.
.
| Join in an Organization | February 2016 | ['(BBC)'] |
Nigeria's acting President Goodluck Jonathan inaugurates a new Cabinet. | A senior executive at the investment bank Goldman Sachs, Olusegun Aganga, has been appointed finance minister. Only 13 of the 38 new cabinet members are from the dissolved government, Reuters reports. The inauguration follows a power vacuum which saw Mr Jonathan assume executive powers after President Umaru Yar'Adua fell ill in November 2009. Mr Jonathan has placed former Mines Minister Deziani Allison-Madueke in charge of the country's oil ministry, a key post in the oil-rich state. Finance Minister Olusegun Aganga is seen as a reformer, expected to back efforts for greater transparency and the fight against corruption, says the BBC's Caroline Duffield in Lagos. New circle
With the new cabinet, Mr Jonathan is getting rid of nearly all of the people that Nigerians call "the cabale", our correspondent says. They were President Yar'Adua's closest friends, who fought a vicious battle to keep him in office even when he was too sick to sign his own name, she adds.
That circle is now being swept away and the acting president is bringing in people loyal to him, our correspondent says. Mr Jonathan has outlined his main priorities as electoral reforms, security in the oil-producing Niger Delta, providing a more reliable power supply and fighting corruption. In March, Mr Jonathan dissolved the entire cabinet and made new nominations, most of which were accepted by Nigeria's senate last week. The new cabinet is expected to remain in place until elections due next year. These are due in April but could be held in January. President Umaru Yar'Adua has not been seen in public since he fell ill in November 2009. | Government Job change - Appoint_Inauguration | April 2010 | ['(NEXT)', '(BBC News)'] |
Actress Zsa Zsa Gabor is permitted to leave hospital and return home, eight days after undergoing the amputation of her right leg. | Actress Zsa Zsa Gabor has been allowed home from hospital, eight days after having her right leg amputated, her spokesman has said. Gabor's release from the Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center in Los Angeles has come more than a week earlier than expected and doctors are pleased with her progress, added John Blanchette.
The 93-year-old star of 1950s films Moulin Rouge and Lili had her leg amputated because gangrene developed after a hip replacement operation in July.
Mr Blanchette said Gabor's husband, Frederic Prinz von Anhalt, had said his wife was now "feisty, yelling at nurses and at him. Everything is back to normal".
Gabor was admitted to hospital on 2 January after attempts to save her leg with antibiotics were unsuccessful.
The star had been admitted to hospital a number of times since breaking her hip in July.
After the hip replacement surgery, she went on to develop swelling in her legs and blood clots throughout her body. She was in a critical condition and had asked for a priest during a trip to the hospital in August, but she recovered and was sent home.
She was readmitted to hospital in the new year because a wound in her right leg had grown and "wasn't healing any more", Mr Blanchette had said. Gabor had reportedly been bedridden for months. The veteran actress was partially paralysed in a car accident in 2002 and suffered a stroke in 2005, after which she used a wheelchair.
Gabor starred in the films Moulin Rouge, Touch of Evil and Queen of Outer Space, among others. | Famous Person - Recovered | January 2011 | ['(BBC)'] |
6 Eritrean migrants attempting to enter Israel are shot dead by smugglers and Egyptian border guards, while several others are injured. | Hardline judge Ebrahim Raisi leads Iran's presidential election, an interior ministry official said on Saturday, a day after millions of Iranians voted in a contest that critics boycotted over economic woes and political restrictions.
| Government Job change - Election | August 2010 | ['(BBC)', '(Reuters Africa)', '(Al–Masry Al–Youm)'] |
Journalists in the Indian state of Manipur refuse to put out newspapers as a protest against threats from rebel groups. | Journalists in India's north-eastern state of Manipur refused to bring out their newspapers on Thursday in protest against threats by rebels.
The protest came after the editor of a local newspaper received a grenade shell in his mail recently.
The shell, contained in a parcel, did not explode.
The parcel was mailed by a faction of the separatist Peoples Revolutionary Army of Kangleipak (Prepak). Kangleipak is the ancient name of Manipur.
"Not one copy of any newspaper, English or in local languages, appeared on the stands today," said local journalist Yumnam Rupachandra. The editor of the English language Sangai Express newspaper, who received the parcel, said it also contained a warning.
"The parcel contained a threat by the rebels warning us of dire consequences if we carried the press statements of a rival faction of the Prepak. How can we function in such an atmosphere?" said Khogendra Khomdram. 'We feel insecure'
Members of the All Manipur Journalist Union and the Manipur Editors Forum staged a sit-in demonstration to protest against the rebel threat.
They said no newspaper would be published in the state until the rebels withdrew their threat to the Sangai Express. "We have met the Manipur chief Minister Okram Ibobi Singh and demanded adequate security for the media fraternity. Otherwise we feel so insecure," said S Hemant, president of the All Manipur Journalist Union. Journalists in Manipur has been working under severe threats and pressure for the last few years.
Last year, separatist rebels shot and seriously injured the bureau chief of a Manipuri daily, Ratan Luwangcha. Later in the year, another rebel group kidnapped six editors of local dailies and released them only after extracting a promise that the rebel statements would be published as it is. Editors stopped publication of newspapers in protest against the abductions and the threats, only to resume printing after the rebels backed off. Local language papers in Manipur have also been under threat and pressure from a revivalist organisation, Meelal, which wants Manipuri papers to print their dailies in the ancient Manipuri script, Mayek, and not in the Bengali script that has been in use in Manipur for several centuries. Manipur is home to a dozen rebel groups - some fighting for the state's independence, others fighting for autonomous tribal homelands. | Protest_Online Condemnation | August 2007 | ['(BBC)'] |
Police in Nigeria arrest 13 people in connection with the lynching of four university students who were accused of stealing laptops and mobile phones in Rivers state. | Thirteen people have been arrested after four Nigerian students accused of stealing were beaten and burnt alive.
A horrific video of the killings was posted on the YouTube video-sharing website.
One of those arrested was a traditional ruler in the Aluu community of Port Harcourt, police said, urging students from the University of Port Harcourt (Uniport) not to seek revenge.
The students had been accused of stealing laptops and mobile phones.
The video shows four men stripped naked, with tyres around their necks, being beaten by a mob with wooden sticks, before being set on fire.
One of their classmates, Paul Irabor, told the BBC that the four had left the university campus in Nigeria's oil capital to collect some money they were owed, when they were mistaken for thieves.
Rivers state police spokesman Ben Ugwuegbulam confirmed the incident to the BBC.
"The Rivers state police command is strongly opposed to such barbaric conduct, and has commenced diligent investigation into the matter," he said.
He added that the video was forming part of the investigation.
The BBC's Bashir Sa'ad Abdullahi says that Nigerians, disillusioned with their police force, sometimes take justice into their own hands and lynch suspected robbers but the brutality - and the fact this incident was filmed and published on the internet - has shocked the country. | Famous Person - Commit Crime - Arrest | October 2012 | ['(BBC)'] |
A remotely operated bomb killed 6 people traveling in southern Afghanistan in Tirin Kot, the capital of Afghanistan's Uruzgan province. | A remotely operated bomb killed six people traveling in southern Afghanistan on Saturday, the Interior Ministry said.
The blast occurred in TirinKot, the capital of Afghanistan's Uruzgan province and is under investigation.
Civilians are often victims of roadside bombs intended to kill Afghan and international troops fighting the insurgency in Afghanistan.
Afganistan needs lots of police or other security stations numbers displayed every where so they can call soon when they see something or someone who is suspicious. All the civilians must join with the government to defeat terrorists activities.
Like I said before,as long as these right-wing sociopaths run Washington,I doubt if there will be any end to this carnage.There's too much money to be made,I guess.And as the right-wing people in the media keep hyping our "glorious" victories,public opposition will remain at a minimum.
| Armed Conflict | March 2010 | ['(CNN)', '(CBS)', '(AP)'] |
Representative Charles Rangel wins the Democratic primary election for New York's 15th congressional district despite facing 13 ethics allegations in the House. | New York (CNN) -- He's served in Congress for almost 40 years, but Tuesday's primary in New York was unlike any other for Democratic Congressman Charles Rangel.
The 80-year-old Rangel, facing five challengers and 13 ethics allegations in the House, came out on top in the Democratic primary for New York's 15th district, CNN has projected.
On the eve of the primary, robocalls using former President Bill Clinton's voice went out telling voters: "We need Charlie to go back to Washington, to work with President Obama to say, 'Yes.' "
Despite the ethics allegations, support still poured in for Rangel because "he's been a great congressman for Harlem," said Democratic strategist and CNN contributor Paul Begala. "Maybe I'm making this up, but I wonder if a little of the support Rangel is getting is not the same sort of anti-establishment thing in his district. The president came out and kind of pushed Charlie out," Begala said. "So maybe there was even a little anti-establishment tension within the Democratic Party, this time directed at the president, who is the ultimate establishment figure now."
In July, Obama called the allegations against Rangel troubling and said in a CBS interview that he hoped the embattled congressman could end his career in dignity.
Of Rangel's five opponents, Adam Clayton Powell IV had the biggest name recognition. He is the son of the late U.S. Rep. Adam Clayton Powell, who served from 1945 to 1971 and was defeated by Rangel after a scandal-plagued career.
Despite Powell's recognition, The New York Times editorial board said the assemblyman has done little in Albany and instead endorsed Joyce Johnson, a former business executive and educator who has run for state offices.
Other contenders included Vince Morgan, a onetime Rangel staffer, and regular campaigners Jonathan Tasini and Ruben Vargas.
As other candidates seized on the ethics cloud hanging over him, Rangel remained defiant, declaring nothing "will stop me from clearing my name from these vile and vicious charges."
Those charges include alleged income tax and financial disclosure violations and using his influence to solicit donations for a college policy center bearing his name from corporate heads and others before the House Ways and Means Committee.
Rangel chaired the committee before being forced to step aside because of the accusations.
As Rangel fights against the allegations, he's counted on support from voters in New York's 15th Congressional District who think he's being unfairly treated.
Tuesday's turnout also indicates Rangel has kept pace with the changing demographics in Harlem, the heart of his district. What's been known as the "capital of black America" is now majority Latino with a growing population of gay white men. | Government Job change - Election | September 2010 | ['(CNN)'] |
The Parliament of Catalonia votes and starts a "constituent" process towards independence from the Kingdom of Spain. The Senate of Spain votes to permit direct rule according to article 155 of the Spanish Constitution. | BARCELONA (Reuters) - Catalonia’s regional parliament declared independence from Spain on Friday in a disputed vote that is now likely to be declared illegal by Spain’s constitutional court.
The independence motion was passed in the 135-strong assembly with 70 votes in favor, 10 against and 2 blank ballots, the assembly’s speaker said.
Lawmakers from the Socialist Party, the People’s Party (PP) and Ciudadanos had left the chamber before the vote in protest.
Reporting by Sam Edwards; Writing by Julien Toyer; Editing by Paul Day
| Withdraw from an Organization | October 2017 | ['(BBC)', '(NPR)', '(Reuters)'] |
A small bomb explodes in the offices of a moderate Islamic group in the Indonesian capital Jakarta, injuring four people. | JAKARTA - A BOMB exploded at the office of a moderate Islamic group in Jakarta, injuring four people including a policeman, a witness told television station MetroTV in the Indonesian capital. 'Our office received a suspicious package containing cables with a strong smell. We called the police,' Fia Anwar told local television station MetroTV. The package was sent to the East Jakarta office of the Liberal Islam Network, a moderate grouping of religious intellectuals, she said. 'As the police were checking the package, it exploded. Four people were injured, including a policeman and our security guards,' she added. -- AFP | Armed Conflict | March 2011 | ['(Straits Times)', '(Jakarta Globe)'] |
The death toll from the airstrikes in the Gaza Strip increases to 113 people, while 600 others are wounded. The city of Rafah is attacked by multiple Israeli raids. Protests continue in the West Bank, resulting in injuries to 35 more Palestinian protesters. The number of children killed also increases to 31. | Death toll in Gaza rises to 113, health authorities say, as Israel boosts troops and tanks near the besieged Palestinian enclave. TIsrael continued on Friday to bombard Gaza Strip with air strikes and artillery shells, ignoring international calls for calm, as it stepped up the deployment of troops and tanks near the besieged Palestinian enclave. Al Jazeera’s Safwat Al Kahlout, reporting from Gaza, said that as of 00:10 GMT on Friday, Israeli troops are massing at the border, but contrary to several news reports, there is no ground offensive taking place. “A ground operation needs a lot of preparation, needs a lot of troops,” he said, noting that it is likely that there is not yet enough number of tanks, artillery and troops to enter Gaza. In a separate statement, the Israeli army also denied that the ground offensive has started. Kahlout also reported that the bodies of a woman and her three sons, who were killed in an Israeli air strike, have been retrieved in the northern part of Gaza. As for Friday morning, the latest death toll has risen to 113, including at least 31 children. At least 600 people have been wounded. Palestinians marked the first day of the Eid al-Fitr religious holiday on Thursday under relentless aerial bombardment. At least six Israelis and one Indian national have also been killed. The Israeli army said hundreds of rockets have been fired from Gaza towards various locations in Israel and they have added reinforcements near the enclave’s eastern lands. There have also been more violent confrontations between Jewish Israelis and Palestinian citizens of Israel in several cities inside Israel. In another potential escalation, at least three rockets were fired from southern Lebanon towards Israel. Here are the latest updates:
Safa Press agency is reporting that one boy was injured on Friday morning following clashes between Palestinians and settlers in the village of Nabi Saleh in the West Bank. The report said that the boy was hit in the thigh with a stray bullet. Clashes have been going on between West Bank residents and Israeli settlers since last night. Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh urged Palestinian citizens across the occupied territories and in Israel to go out and demonstrate on Friday, the second day of Eid al-Fitr. New Press website quoted Haniyeh as calling for the marches in protest of the latest Israeli police crackdown of Muslim worshippers at Al Aqsa Mosque as well as the continuing bombardment of Gaza that left at least 113 people dead. Haniyeh made the call on Friday as Gaza faces the possibility of another Israeli ground invasion similar to 2014. As of Friday morning, Israel has positioned many troops, tanks and artillery at its border near Gaza. Safa Press agency is reporting more Israeli shelling and aerial bombardments in Gaza on Friday morning. In the last few minutes, “violent” artillery shelling hit east of Deir al-Balah governorate just south of Gaza City. Artillery fired also reportedly hit the homes of civilians east of Maghazi, also in Deir al-Balah area. Safa Press agency is reporting a new round of Israeli bombardments in several areas of the Palestinian territory of Gaza on Friday morning. In the last hour, several air raids were launched in the eastern and northern part of Gaza City. Artillery fire and shelling were also reported in the town of al-Fakhari, east of Khan Yunis in Gaza. A video posted on social media by New Press publication showed several alleged Israeli settlers attacking Palestinian homes in the city of Hebron in the West Bank early on Friday. Clashes have erupted in recent days between Israeli settlers and Palestinian citizens both in the West Bank as well as in Israel. pic.twitter.com/cOY444jGLH
Newpress | (@NewpressPs) May 14, 2021
Latest Israeli air strikes hit the northern Gaza district of Zeitoun early on Friday. A video posted on social media by Safa Press agency showed dark smoke rising over Gaza following the reported strike. There were no immediate reports on casualties. ? #__ pic.twitter.com/FCYzXaeMXx
(@SafaPs) May 14, 2021
Safa Press agency is reporting on Friday that clashes have erupted between Palestinians and Israeli security force at the northern entrance of the West Bank city of Al-Bireh, opposite the Jewish settlement of Beit El. There were no immediate reports of casualties. Protests have erupted across West Bank in support of Palestinians, who are facing heavy bombardment in Gaza. Earlier, Safa Press posted a video of protests in the West Bank governorate of Jenin. ? #__ pic.twitter.com/auPsv2scoZ
(@SafaPs) May 14, 2021
A rocket fired from Gaza early on Friday has hit a building in the southern Israeli city of Ashkelon, according to Al Jarmaq news. There was not immediate detail about casualties, but many residents in the area have already been ordered to stay in shelters. The group Hamas, which is based in Gaza, said it has fired at least 250 rockets into Israel in the last few hours in response to the heavy Israel bombardment that killed at least 109 Palestinians. | . pic.twitter.com/1KWqYPIwJE
(@aljarmaqnet) May 14, 2021
Protests have erupted across the West Bank denouncing the latest Israeli operation in Gaza that has so far killed more than 100 people. A video posted by Safa Press agency early on Friday showed protesters taking to the streets in Nablus. Protests were also reported in Jenin, Hebron, Tulkarem, Qalqiliya. ? #__ pic.twitter.com/hsa3ZPtltL
(@SafaPs) May 14, 2021
Al Jazeera correspondent Safwat al-Kahlout, reporting from Gaza, said a woman and her three children are the latest fatalities in the continuing Israeli air strikes on the Palestinian territory. He said the bodies of the four victims have been retrieved by authorities, after an ambulance was initially prevented from reaching the site in northern Gaza due to the intense bombardment. The latest fatalities are in addition to the 109 confirmed deaths including 28 children. Kahlout also said that hospitals in Gaza are appealing for blood donations due to shortage after a “big wave” of injuries. More families are also continuing to evacuate and seeking shelter at UN schools as the heavy Israeli bombardment continues. Imagine having to decide whether to sleep your children in different areas of the house to increase the chance that at least one will survive or to huddle w/ them so you all die together. You cannot run and no place is safe as Israel’s bombs rain down. #Gaza
Huwaida Arraf (@huwaidaarraf) May 14, 2021
Al Jazeera correspondent Safwat al-Kahlout, reporting from Gaza, said Israeli forces have not entered Gaza following a barrage of artillery and air raids in the north of Gaza. “I can confirm that there are no Israeli troops inside Gaza,” al-Kahlout said. “We have been contacting our sources deployed or living near the border. There is no indication of Israeli troops inside Gaza,” he said. Democratic US Representative Rashida Tlaib, the US Congress’s only Palestinian-American member, delivered an emotional speech on the House floor Thursday, slamming President Joe Biden and other top US leaders for offering statements that she says do not acknowledge what Palestinians are currently experiencing amid the Gaza fighting. “To read the statements from President Biden, Secretary Blinken, General Austin and leaders of both parties, you would hardly know Palestinians existed at all,” Tlaib said. “There has been no recognition of the attack on Palestinian families being ripped from their homes right now. No mention of children being detained or murdered. No recognition of a sustained campaign of harassment and terror by Israeli police against worshippers kneeling down and praying and celebrating the holiest days in one of their holiest places, no mention of Al Aqsa being surrounded by violence, tear gas, smoke, while people pray.”
Despite the crushing despair knowing that death is raining down once again on the people of Gaza, Rep. Rashida Tlaib should give us all hope. She is exactly where she was meant to be, saying exactly what must be said: Palestinian rights are human rights pic.twitter.com/NGHyGH5vFM
francesca fiorentini (@franifio) May 14, 2021
United States Ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield said the UN Security Council would meet on May 16 to discuss the situation in Israel and the Palestinian territories. The UN Security Council will meet to discuss the situation in Israel and Gaza on Sunday. The U.S. will continue to actively engage in diplomacy at the highest levels to try to de-escalate tensions. Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield (@USAmbUN) May 13, 2021
The US, a permanent member of the 15-nation Security Council, had objected to a public discussion on Friday. The council held two private meetings on the escalating fighting between Israel and Palestinian factions in Gaza this week. Palestinian diplomat Husam Zomlot tweeted an image of flames and smoke in northern Gaza following an artillery bombardment from Israel. Gaza now. What I hear from our people in Gaza is horrific. Israel’s aggression is beyond barbaric and must stop immediately!#ApartheidIsrael #EidWithPalestine #SavePalestine pic.twitter.com/wyYibCPHjf
Husam Zomlot (@hzomlot) May 13, 2021
Zumlot is the Palestinian ambassador to the United Kingdom and an adviser to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. Al Jazeera correspondent Safwatal-Kahlout, reporting from Gaza, described a sudden and huge wave of Israeli attacks from the air, artillery and tanks concentrated in the north of the Gaza Strip. “We could hear lots of explosions,” al-Kahlout said. Following the Israeli attacks, there were calls for ambulances for people who were injured. Ambulance services had difficulty reaching the area because roads linking to the north were damaged by the Israeli bombardment, al-Kahlout said. Hundreds of families were driven from their homes and forced to take shelter from the bombing, he said. In a statement on Twitter, the Israeli military said its forces are attacking Gaza. IDF air and ground troops are currently attacking in the Gaza Strip. Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) May 13, 2021
Al Jazeera’s Harry Fawcett, reporting from southern Israel, described sounds of artillery being fired into Gaza and machine-gun fire from a helicopter as a column of Israeli armoured vehicles headed towards the border. Fawcett saw “the first sort of major movement of heavy armour that we had seen so far. Tanks, tracked vehicles, heading in a line south towards Gaza at the same time as there was this extremely intensive artillery barrage lasting about an hour.”
It was unclear whether it was the start of a ground invasion, or the “warning of a potential” invasion, he said. Reporting from southern Israel, Al Jazeera’s Harry Fawcett said that operations on both sides were still going on, but there has been a bit of a lull in terms of the most recent rocket fire out of Gaza. “However, we are still hearing regularly artillery heading into Gaza from locations around here,” said Fawcett. “Also in the last 10 minutes, the sound of machine-gun fire apparently coming from nearby. Helicopter[s] as well, and so the situation remains that this is a continuing military attack that the Israelis seem intent on continuing. “What we saw earlier was the first of a major movement of heavy armour that we’ve seen so far, tanks, tracked vehicles, heading in a line south towards Gaza, at the same time there was this extremely intensive artillery barrage lasting about an hour, then there was a pause, and then another big artillery barrage coming later. “It’s not yet clear whether this is a ground invasion, or whether it is a kind of a warning of the potential of a ground invasion. Either way, it is already having a devastating impact it seems in northern Gaza,” he added. The death toll in Gaza has climbed above 100 as Israel pounded the enclave with more air raids and artillery shells, while Hamas sent a heavy barrage of rockets deep into Israel, even as Egyptian negotiators held in-person mediation talks with the two sides. The four days of cross-border violence showed no sign of abating as Palestinians marked the first day of theEid al-Fitrreligious holiday on Thursday, and the violence has also spread to mixed communities of Jews and Arabs in Israel, a new front in the long conflict. Read more here. Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan has spoken by telephone with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas about the deteriorating situation between Israel and Palestinians. The Pakistani foreign ministry said that Khan reaffirmed Pakistan’s support for the rights of Palestinian people. The ministry said Khan strongly condemned the attacks on worshippers in the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem, as well as deadly air strikes by Israel in Gaza. Al Jazeera’s Safwat Al Kahlout, reporting from Gaza City, said that in a new development Israel has begun firing barrages of artillery shells into the north of the Gaza Strip. “Hundreds of families are now evacuating their homes in the north of Gaza because of the heavy artillery shells landing. The ambulance services told us that some of the artillery shells had directly hit some houses in the so-called Bedouin village which is very close to the border,” he said. “It’s the same scenario of the war of 2014 when hundreds of families also evacuated their homes because of the random shooting.”
Al Kahlout said the Gaza ambulance service told Al Jazeera it has also received appeals for assistance from citizens in the south of the Gaza Strip, mainly in Rafah, as Israeli jets had destroyed houses in air raids without warning. “They believe that there are lots of people under the rubble. So far, the ambulance services say they have managed to retrieve five bodies including children and women from one of the destroyed houses.”
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken reiterated that rocket attacks by Palestinian armed groups against Israel must cease, and also said the United States had been clear that Israel has the right to defend itself. Blinken made the comments at a joint briefing with Australia’s foreign minister. More than 100 Palestinians in the Gaza Strip have been killed over the past four days of military conflict with Israel, officials in the blockaded coastal enclave. According to the health ministry in Gaza, 103 people were killed, including 27 children and 11 women, while 580 people have wounded since Monday. Lebanese security forces say that at least three rockets have been fired from south Lebanon towards Israel. The Israeli military said the rockets landed in the Mediterranean sea, causing no damage or casualties. It added that rockets were launched from the Qlayleh area north of Naqoura, near the border with Israel. It was unclear who was responsible for the attack or where the rockets landed, according to the officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity in line with regulations. Israeli media reported that the rockets were apparently fired by one of the Palestinian factions in Lebanon and that it is not the start of Hezbollah getting involved in the conflict. No air raid sirens were activated in northern Israel, which the military said was in accordance with “protocol”. Israel has begun firing artillery and tank shells into Gaza, and scores of families are fleeing their homes, Palestinian witnesses in the Gaza Strip said. The use of artillery fire marks an escalation in Israel’s four-day-old offensive in Gaza and raises the likelihood of civilian casualties. The attacks occurred in northern communities near the Israeli frontier and in eastern Gaza City. Resident Ibrahim Jamal said about 200 people have sought shelter in a United Nations school. United States President Joe Biden called for a de-escalation of violence in the Middle East as the conflict in Gaza intensified, saying he wants to see a significant reduction in rocket attacks. Biden, speaking to reporters at the White House, also said he expects to have more talks with leaders in the region. He added that he has not seen “a significant overreaction” by Israel to rocket attacks by Hamas from Gaza. “The question is … how they get to a point where there is a significant reduction in the attacks, particularly the rocket attacks, that are indiscriminately fired into population centres,” Biden said. Biden spoke on Wednesday with Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and said conversations were continuing between US diplomats, military and intelligence officers with counterparts in Israel, Egypt and Saudi Arabia and others about a de-escalation of violence. Israel’s defence minister has approved the mobilisation of 9,000 more reservist troops amid fighting with Hamas, and Israel’s military spokesman says forces are massing on the border with the Gaza Strip. The defence ministry said that the latest mobilisation approved by Defence Minister Benny Gantz was an “exceptional call-up”. | Armed Conflict | May 2021 | ['(Al Jazeera)'] |
International Criminal Court Chief Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda announces that an inquiry into British war crimes in Iraq has been formally abandoned. In a final report, Bensouda says her office "found a reasonable basis to believe" that British troops committed war crimes in 2003, murdering at least seven Iraqi detainees, however she accepted the UK has taken "genuine action" to investigate itself. | AMSTERDAM (Reuters) - The prosecutor of the International Criminal Court on Wednesday said she was dropping a preliminary probe into alleged war crimes by British troops in Iraq, even though she found a reasonable basis to believe they committed atrocities.
The probe never rose to the level of a full investigation and Fatou Bensouda’s office concluded that British authorities had examined the allegations.
The ICC only intervenes when it finds that a state is unable or unwilling to take action against alleged atrocities.
In a final report, Bensouda wrote that her office had found a reasonable basis to believe that in 2003 British soldiers in Iraq carried out the war crime of willful killing or murder against at least seven Iraqi detainees. They also believed there were credible allegations of torture and rape.
“The preliminary examination has found that there is a reasonable basis to believe that various forms of abuse were committed by members of UK armed forces against Iraqi civilians in detention,” it said.
However, the United Kingdom had taken genuine action to investigate the crimes itself, prosecutors found.
In June, British independent investigators looking into allegations of war crimes committed in Iraq told the BBC that of the thousands of complaints they had investigated all but one had been dismissed.
Despite this outcome, which Bensouda said deprived the victims of justice, the ICC prosecutor concluded that British authorities had not been unwilling to carry out investigations or prosecutions and closed the ICC probe.
The ICC has been under fire by Washington for opening a full-fledged investigation into war crimes allegedly committed by U.S. troops on the territory of ICC member Afghanistan. The government of President Donald Trump this year imposed sanctions on Bensouda because of the probe.
Last month, a report by Australian authorities said the country’s special forces allegedly killed 39 unarmed prisoners and civilians in Afghanistan between 2005 and 2016, leading other countries to re-examine the conduct of their troops.
Australia said 19 current and former soldiers would be referred for potential criminal prosecution.
Reporting by Anthony Deutsch and Stephanie van den Berg; Editing by Alex Richardson and Tom Brown
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
More From Reuters
All quotes delayed a minimum of 15 minutes. See here for a complete list of exchanges and delays. | Famous Person - Commit Crime - Investigate | December 2020 | ['(Reuters)'] |
US President George W. Bush will urge Russia to honor its commitment to fully withdraw troops from Georgia during his speech at the United Nations General Assembly next week, a top White House official said Friday. | WASHINGTON (AFP) — US President George W. Bush will urge Russia to honor its commitment to fully withdraw troops from Georgia during his UN General Assembly speech next week, a top White House official said Friday.
Bush will mention US diplomatic, humanitarian, and reconstruction support for Georgia and "will call on other countries to similarly support Georgia," said national security council adviser Stephen Hadley.
"He will emphasize, I'm sure, the importance that Russia abide by the undertakings that its leaders have made on its behalf," Hadley said, including its commitment to return to the status quo before Russian troops entered Georgia in early August.
"It will be very important to reassure all the countries in the world who are watching this that invasion of a neighboring state is not a part of the rules of the world for the 21st century," Hadley said.
Bush is to address the General Assembly at UN headquarters in New York on Tuesday.
Hadley also told reporters that the coming weeks will tell if tensions between the US and Russia will complicate international efforts to settle the Iranian and North Korean nuclear crises.
Washington and Moscow have indicated they are willing to keep working together on a number of issues, "and Iran is such an issue," he said.
"We have some opportunities in meetings coming up over the next several weeks that will indicate whether Russia is prepared to cooperate in these areas."
Russia earlier lashed out at a speech this week by US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on the Georgia conflict, saying she had "grossly distorted" the truth to advance US designs in Russia's backyard.
"This is not the first time that representatives of the US government have grossly distorted the events caused by Georgian aggression against South Ossetia," Russia's foreign ministry said in a statement, referring to Rice's speech Thursday.
In a sharply worded statement the ministry said Moscow was surprised neither by the tone nor the content of Rice's address, which it attributed to Washington's support for a "bankrupt" regime in Georgia.
Russia and Georgia fought a five-day war in August when Russian troops poured into South Ossetia to repel an attack by Tbilisi's forces.
Russia routed the Georgian troops and set up positions deep inside Georgian territory, subsequently announcing it would withdraw troops to the breakaway provinces of South Ossetia and Abkhazia, which it has recognized as independent.
Moscow has said it will keep 7,600 troops in the two regions to ensure security.
Georgia and its Western allies have criticized the Russian deployment, saying it amounts to annexation of its sovereign territory.
Bush earlier this month announced a one billion dollar aid package for Georgia, amid a crisis that has brought relations between Russia and the West to their lowest point since the Cold War. | Famous Person - Give a speech | September 2008 | ['(AFP via Google News)'] |
The BBC obtains a photograph showing Yusuf Mohamed, leader of the Boko Haram sect, was alive when captured by the Nigerian army. | The BBC has obtained a photograph which shows that Mohammed Yusuf, the leader of the Boko Haram sect in Nigeria, was alive when captured by the army.
They handed him over to the police. A few hours later, journalists were shown his bullet-ridden body. The police said he had been fatally wounded while trying to evade capture. Mr Yusuf's Islamic sect is blamed for days of violent clashes with security forces across northern Nigeria, which killed hundreds of people. Human Rights Watch in Nigeria have called for an immediate investigation into the killing of Mr Yusuf, 39, which they called "extrajudicial" and "illegal". On Friday, the army commander of the operation against the Boko Haram group, Col Ben Ahanoto, said he had personally captured Mr Yusuf and handed him over to the chief of police in Maiduguri, the capital of Borno state. He said Mr Yusuf had a wound in his arm - which is clearly shown in the photograph - which had already been treated. The police, however, insisted he had been fatally wounded in combat. The police commissioner of Borno state, Christopher Dega, said Mr Yusuf "was in a hideout, and the forces went there and there was an exchange of fire". "In the course of that confrontation, he sustained his own injury. He was picked up and he later couldn't make it." Earlier, police sources had offered a different version of events, saying Mr Yusuf was killed while trying to escape from custody. Meanwhile, another group of women and children, abducted by the Boko Haram sect, has been rescued from a locked house in Maiduguri. Officials said the latest group of 140 was in a deplorable condition, suffering from pneumonia, fever and rashes. Last week, the police rescued about 100 young women and children from a house on the edge of the city. Many said they were the wives of sect members, and had been forced to travel to Maiduguri from Bauchi state. The BBC reporter in Maiduguri says the Boko Haram sect believed that their families should accompany them to the battlefield. Hundreds of people were killed in Maiduguri alone during violent clashes between police and the Islamic sect. Col Ben Ahanotu, head of security in Maiduguri, said that mass burials had begun there. The Boko Haram compound, he said, was being used as one of the burial sites because bodies were decomposing in the heat. Life in the affected areas is now beginning to return to normal with banks and markets reopening. Maiduguri is the capital of Borno state but the fighting spread to cities across the north of the country and the total number of dead is unknown. A military spokesman said two of those killed were soldiers and 13 were police officers. The number of injured, meanwhile, is still being counted. The Red Cross had earlier said about 3,500 people fled the fighting. The violence ended on Thursday with the death of Mr Yusuf. | Armed Conflict | August 2009 | ['(BBC)'] |
Police in Italy detain two more suspected mafia bosses, one day after the seizure of their brother in a raid near Naples. | Italian police say they have arrested two more suspected mafia bosses, a day after seizing their brother in a raid near the southern city of Naples.
They say Pasquale and Carmine Russo were detained in Sperone, some 30km (20 miles) east of Naples. Salvatore Russo, the head of a Camorra clan that bears his name, was held in a raid on a chicken farm on Saturday. Interior Minister Roberto Maroni described his arrest as "a heavy blow for the Camorra". Salvatore Russo, 51, is one of Italy's most wanted mafia fugitives, officials say. He had been on the run since being sentenced in 1995 to life in jail for murder and links to organised crime. 'Closing the net'
Pasquale Russo, 62, and his brother Carmine, 47, were arrested on Sunday morning at a farmhouse in Sperone, police say. Pasquale Russo is on the list of Italy's 30 most dangerous fugitives. He had been on the run since 1995 and is accused of murder and the disposal of bodies. His brother Carmine had been in hiding since 2007. On Saturday, Mr Maroni said police were "closing the net on the super-fugitives". The Russo clan, based in the town of Nola, had an iron grip on criminal activity in some 40 towns in the Naples areas, officials say. The Camorra operates in the Naples area and is believed to have about 5,000 members. | Famous Person - Commit Crime - Arrest | November 2009 | ['(BBC)', '(France 24)'] |
Two guards and an Afghan police officer are killed in coordinated suicide bombing attacks in Jalalabad and Logar Province in eastern Afghanistan, while a third such attack on the National Directorate of Security in Kabul is foiled. | KABUL, Afghanistan -- Afghan security forces foiled an apparent suicide bomber in central Kabul on Sunday morning but attackers struck police and intelligence offices in two other eastern cities, killing three people, officials said. Officers with the National Directorate of Security shot and killed a suicide bomber who was driving a sport-utility vehicle packed with explosives on a road leading to one of the intelligence agency’s offices in Kabul’s Wazir Akbar Khan neighborhood, officials said. The area also houses several diplomatic missions.
Mohammad Ayoob Salangi, Kabul’s police chief, said security forces later defused the car bomb and that no officers or civilians were killed in the incident. Afghan news agencies reported that the intelligence office was the target.
The incidents appeared to be coordinated and broke a monthlong spell of calm in Kabul, the capital. No group immediately claimed responsibility for the attempted attack in Kabul but the Taliban, through a spokesman, said they were behind the two other bombings.
Earlier Sunday morning, a suicide car bomber ran his vehicle into an entrance gate at an NDS compound in the eastern city of Jalalabad, killing two guards and wounding three more, said the provincial police chief, Abdullah Stanikzai.
In the eastern province of Logar, a minivan packed with explosives detonated near a police headquarters in the Pul-e-Alam district, killing one Afghan police officer and wounding two more, said Din Mohammad Darwish, a spokesman for the provincial governor. The minivan was detonated by remote control, Darwish said. | Armed Conflict | February 2013 | ['(Los Angeles Times)'] |
Lawyers of former Chadian President Hissène Habré, who was convicted of crimes against humanity last May and sentenced to life in prison, appeal the verdict, claiming there were irregularities in the trial and question the credibility of some witnesses. | Lawyers for the former Chad president Hissène Habré have launched an appeal against his conviction last year for war crimes and crimes against humanity.
Habré created a police state that terrorised civilians in the 1980s. A special court set up by the African Union and Senegal to try him convicted him last May of summary execution, torture and rape.
He did not make an appearance at the start of his appeal on Monday, but his lawyers said there had been irregularities in his trial and questioned the credibility of some witnesses.
The conviction was the culmination of a three-decade battle for justice led by Habré’s victims, including Souleymane Guengueng, who almost died several times in one of the president’s notorious jails and vowed that when he got out he would right the wrongs he and his fellow inmates had suffered. Guengueng spent years collecting victims’ testimonies, which proved invaluable during the trial.
One of the witnesses whose credibility was brought into dispute was Khadidja Zidane, who testified that Habré had raped her four times and who later told the Guardian she still feared for her safety 25 years after the former president had left the country, because his supporters regularly insulted and attacked her.
She did not, however, regret testifying. “The whole thing is because I went and told the truth,” she said. “Why shouldn’t I tell the truth? I have every right. “An injustice has been done to me. I was not alone. Hissène Habré destroyed all of us. I don’t have anything to lose. I have to speak. I don’t care.”
Habré’s lawyers argued that his trial had been politically motivated and unfair, but focused more on his life sentence than on the conviction.
Reed Brody, a campaigner and lawyer known as the dictator hunter, who has fought alongside the victims since 1999 and who discovered a tranche of documents key to Habré’s conviction, said the latest developments were not surprising.
“This is not a retrial, and the conviction was based on very solid evidence – on documents from the secret police, documents he wrote with his own hand, the testimony of a woman he personally raped and people he personally threw in prison,” he said.
Brody was more concerned with how Habré’s victims would be compensated for their suffering. Habré was ordered to pay millions of dollars in reparations to Zidane and many other victims, but none has yet received a penny. Habré emptied the national treasury before fleeing Chad in 1990, but when he was arrested the Senegalese government seized only two small bank accounts and a house, together worth less than $1m.
Brody’s other concern was that the Senegalese government might issue Habré a pardon, something the country’s justice minister mentioned was a possibility immediately after his conviction. | Famous Person - Commit Crime - Sentence | January 2017 | ['(The Guardian)'] |
Former French Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin announces he is backing Emmanuel Macron in the election. | PARIS (Reuters) - Former Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin, a conservative Gaullist who won global celebrity by opposing U.S. plans for war in Iraq, said on Thursday he would back centrist candidate Emmanuel Macron in Sunday’s presidential election.
“There is a new path, which Emmanuel Macron wants to open, and that is to unite,” Villepin told Le Parisien newspaper.
He said in the face of the traditional left-right party system that was imprisoned by its own divisions and extremes that were determined to flip the table over the choice of Macron was obvious.
Villepin, prime minister between 2005-2007 under then president Jacques Chirac, is best known internationally for announcing Chirac’s refusal to join a war against Saddam Hussein’s Iraq in an impassioned speech at the United Nations in 2003 when he was foreign minister.
| Government Job change - Election | April 2017 | ['(Reuters)'] |
Ephraim Mirvis is announced as the next Chief Rabbi of the United Kingdom, replacing Dr. Jonathan Sacks who will step down from the role in 2013. | Ephraim Mirvis is to become the next chief rabbi of the UK and Commonwealth, the Office of the Chief Rabbi has said.
The 55-year-old, a former chief rabbi of Ireland, will succeed Lord Jonathan Sacks when he steps down next year.
Lord Sacks, 64, has held the post of chief rabbi since 1991.
The role is traditionally seen as the figurehead of British Jews, although it is only officially representative of the United Synagogue, the biggest wing of orthodox Judaism in the UK. The chief rabbi does not officially represent other branches of Judaism. The Chief Rabbinate Trust said in a statement: "The Chief Rabbinate Trust can this evening confirm that the consultative group has endorsed a recommendation by the working group to appoint Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis as the 11th chief rabbi of the United Hebrew Congregations of the Commonwealth, subject to appropriate contractual agreement." Rabbi Mirvis, who was born in South Africa and is married with four sons, is currently rabbi at Finchley Synagogue in north London.
He was a rabbi in Dublin before becoming Ireland's chief rabbi in 1985, a post he held until 1992.
He said of his new role: "I will seek to bring an ethical voice to the national debate in these changing and challenging times. "A sense of religious identity has never been more relevant, nor more necessary in our fast-changing world and these difficult economic times."
BBC religious affairs correspondent Robert Pigott says the traditional role of chief rabbi as the figurehead for all British Jewry is being increasingly challenged by resurgent liberal and reform movements, which take a more progressive stance on issues such as gender and sexuality, and by a rapidly growing ultra-orthodox community. The new chief rabbi faces numerous problems, including declining levels of observance and synagogue attendance, and a large proportion of young Jews marrying outside the community, our correspondent says.
Rabbi Mirvis, the son and grandson of rabbis, has been described by supporters as a good manager and great pastor, but critics claim he might struggle to match Lord Sacks's eloquence or intellectual performance in public life, our correspondent adds.
Office of the Chief Rabbi
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. | Government Job change - Appoint_Inauguration | December 2012 | ['(BBC)'] |
Three people who previously demonstrated against the regime are jailed for 5, 10 and 15 years respectively. | Dubai: A Bahrain court on Monday jailed three protesters for up to 15 years on charges including attempting to kill a policeman and taking part in anti-government demonstrations, a lawyer said.
The main defendant was given 15 years for trying to kill the officer, as well as joining protests and taking part in violence in June 2012 in a village near the capital Manama, the lawyer said.
The second got 10 years, also for attempted murder and participating in protests and violence, while the third was jailed for five years, the lawyer said, requesting anonymity.
At least 80 people have been killed in Bahrain since February 2011, according to the International Federation for Human Rights, when opposition protests rocked the streets of Manama.
Despite a crackdown in March 2011, backed by Gulf troops, demonstrators were soon back on the street.
| Famous Person - Commit Crime - Sentence | June 2013 | ['(RT)', '(Gulf News)'] |
Voters in France go to the polls to elect a new president; Marine Le Pen and Emmanuel Macron qualify for the second round. | PARIS — French voters on Sunday rejected the two political parties that dominated France’s post-World War II political life, pitting an anti-immigrant firebrand against an unconventional centrist in a presidential election that could determine the future of the European Union and France’s place in the world.
By picking the pro-E.U. former economy minister Emmanuel Macron and National Front leader Marine Le Pen to advance to the decisive May 7 runoff, French citizens set up a stark choice. Now there will be a battle between a contender who wants to seal France tight against the tides of globalization and another who seeks to strip away even more barriers with the rest of the world.
The victor could determine whether the international alliances that formed the backbone of the West after World War II will strengthen or be shattered by the force of nationalism. Le Pen has said she will seek to pull France out of the European Union, a move many leaders on the continent think would doom the 28-nation bloc; she also said she would rekindle relations with Russian President Vladimir Putin after years of strife between Russia and the West. Macron has called for a more muscular European Union in which Europe’s richest nations would do more to prop up their poorer neighbors. If Le Pen wins, she will continue a global string of ballot-box revolutions that began last year with the British decision to leave the European Union and continued with the election of Donald Trump as U.S. president. With her fierce anti-immigration agenda and her vow to keep France for the French, she could be a Gallic counterpart to President Trump. But if Macron triumphs — and polls suggest he will, by a 24 percentage point margin — it would be a further barrier to transatlantic disruptions, at least for now, after Dutch voters rejected a far-right leader in March elections.
At the jubilant Macron rally in Paris, the centrist candidate who was Socialist President François Hollande’s economy minister told his supporters France would prosper in a revitalized European Union.
“I’ve heard the anger, the fears of the French people, their fear of change,” the 39-year-old Macron said, winking at his cheering audience. “I want to be the president of all patriots against the nationalist threat.” At Le Pen’s rally in Henin-Beaumont, a northern French town hit hard by factory closures, the modest assortment of soft drinks and snacks gave it more the feeling of a country fair than the celebration of an ascendant presidential campaign — exactly the everyman image Le Pen has sought to project.
“What is at stake in this election is a referendum for or against lawless globalization,” Le Pen told the cheering crowd. “Either you choose in favor of a total lack of rules, without borders, with unlawful competition, the free circulation of terrorists, or you make the choice of a France that protects.
“This is truly what is at stake. It is the survival of France,” she said.
The vote came after a turbulent campaign in which longtime pillars of France’s political establishment were either rejected by voters or discredited by scandal. Hollande, the most unpopular of all postwar French presidents, said he would not seek reelection. His most prominent Socialist successor lost to a primary challenger. So did the former center-right president, Nicolas Sarkozy. The early front-runner in the race, François Fillon, a right-wing challenger who sought a Margaret Thatcher-style overhaul of France’s economy, fell prey to a nepotism scandal.
With 97 percent of the vote counted, Macron led the field with 23.9 percent of the vote. Le Pen followed with 21.5 percent.
Many voters said they were opting for the least bad of an unpalatable slate of options.
“I want nobody, and it’s very complicated. I just don’t want to see the extremes,” said Emma Lacour, 42, who voted Sunday in the upscale Saint-Cloud suburb of Paris, where conservatives usually dominate. “I decided two minutes ago, and I’m not very happy,” said Lacour, who was too dispirited to say whom she picked as she walked out of the ornate 19th-century city hall that held the voting station.
Thursday’s attack on police officers patrolling Paris’s glittering Champs-Elysees boulevard was the final, bloody exclamation point in a campaign that often revolved around fears of terrorism and immigrants. One officer died and two were wounded by a gunman who pledged loyalty to the Islamic State. Filled with fresh worries about security, voters may have been drawn by Le Pen’s growling message about refugees and terror suspects. Macron, a newcomer who is far more conversant with boardrooms than he is with situation rooms, has sought to boost his security bona fides.
A former investment banker and a product of France’s elite educational institutions, he has described himself as a candidate of neither the left nor the right, and he has never held an elected office. His agenda marries social liberalism with proposals that would dilute France’s traditionally robust protections for workers. And — despite prevailing winds that make pro-E.U. sentiment an unlikely campaign strategy — he has embraced the union and said he wants to make it stronger.
“I’m hoping for the renewal of the French political scene,” said Catherine Grevelink, 56, who oversees legal issues at a bank and voted for Macron in Saint-Cloud. “He’s very intelligent. Now we have to see how this comes out as he governs, if he is president.” Either of the winning candidates would face questions about governing, since neither has a party structure in France’s Parliament. Macron’s movement is too new to have any lawmakers, and Le Pen would face steep challenges in capturing a majority of the National Assembly in elections scheduled for June 11.
That could potentially be a brake to her more ambitious plans, such as taking France out of the European Union. E.U. membership is enshrined in the constitution, and any change would require approval in both houses of Parliament.
Sunday’s result is a vindication of Le Pen’s years-long strategy to destigmatize her party after decades in which it lurked on France’s far-right fringe. Her father notoriously described the Nazi gas chambers as “a detail” of World War II. But Le Pen, 48, sought to make inroads among France’s large Jewish community and also depicted herself as the single true defender of French workers.
“The laws are there already, but no one applies them, as the attack in Paris showed,” said Martine Le Roy, 62, a retired insurance worker from Henin-Beaumont. She said she was supporting the anti-immigrant, hard-line Le Pen because she was worried about security.
Even as Macron and Le Pen advanced to the next round, the sheer uncertainty in the lead-up to Sunday’s vote was a measure of the unmooring of French political life.
“We’ve had two consecutive presidents, Nicolas Sarkozy and François Hollande, very different orientations, very different policies, but still we have the same economic problems,” said Bruno Cautrès, who studies voting behavior at the Center for Political Research at Sciences Po in Paris. “It has been one of the best arguments of Marine Le Pen: ‘Why not me?’ ”
Although most opinion polls suggest that Macron would win at least 60 percent of a head-to-head vote against Le Pen, an unforeseeable event — such as a large-scale terrorist attack — could shift votes in Le Pen’s direction. And the far-left candidate, Jean-Luc Mélenchon, who electrified crowds of young voters with his soak-the-rich message, notably held back Sunday from asking his supporters to vote for Macron in the runoff, raising the prospect that some of his boosters — 19.6 percent of Sunday’s voters — could stay home or even vote for Le Pen. Backers of other candidates could also swing to Le Pen.
If Le Pen ultimately falls to Macron, she will still have taken the far-right further than any prior candidate in one of Europe’s pillar nations. If her rival is elected but fails to live up to expectations, she could seize the presidency in the next election in five years, analysts said. “If she does well, she could be even stronger in 2022,” said Jean-Yves Camus, an expert on the French far right at the French Institute for International and Strategic Affairs.
| Government Job change - Election | April 2017 | ['(The Wire)', '(The Washington Post)'] |
Russian airstrikes hit residential buildings in the ISIS-held village of Al-Shafah in Deir Ezzor province, killing at least 53 civilians, including 21 children. |
Kochi C The prefectural government of Kochi said Wednesday that an outbreak of bird flu believed to be highly pathogenic has been confirmed at a chicken farm in the city of Sukumo.
All chickens at the farm, totaling some 32,000, will be killed to prevent the spread of the bird flu virus.
It is the first time that a bird flu outbreak has been confirmed at a poultry farm in Kochi Prefecture. This winter, avian flu infections have also been found at farms in 10 other prefectures Kagawa, Fukuoka, Hyogo, Miyazaki, Nara, Hiroshima, Oita, Wakayama, Okayama and Shiga.
The Sukumo farm reported to the Kochi Prefectural Government on Tuesday morning that 40 of its chickens had died, and positive results were confirmed in a simple test conducted later in the day. A genetic test found early Wednesday that the virus is likely to be highly pathogenic. The prefecture has called on farms within a 10-kilometer radius of the affected farm not to move their chickens or eggs.
Also on Wednesday, the prefectural government of Kagawa said that bird flu believed to be highly pathogenic has been found at a chicken farm in the city of Mitoyo, marking the 12th outbreak in the western prefecture this winter. A total of 29,000 chickens at the farm and a related facility will be culled.
| Disease Outbreaks | November 2017 | ['(Japan Times)'] |
At least 45 people are killed and 56 injured following a suicide bomber attack on the Akrameh al-Makhzumi school in Homs. | At least 30 Syrian children have been killed in a double bombing by a lone assailant at a school in the government-controlled city of Homs, a monitor has said.
They were among 39 people who died in the attack in the Akrameh neighbourhood, according to a new toll from the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
"At least 30 children were among 39 people killed in the double bombing at the Akrameh al-Makhzumi school in Homs today," said Observatory director Rami Abdel Rahman.
One suicide attacker carried out both of the bombings.
"He planted a bomb at one location at the school, and then blew himself up at another spot nearby," Abdel Rahman said.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack.
But Al-Qaeda's branch in Syria, Al-Nusra Front, said it was behind a similar twin bombing in the central city that killed at least 12 people in May.
Homs governor Talal al-Barazi had also reported the deadly attacks, giving a toll of 31 killed and 74 wounded.
The children were between six and nine years old, he added.
The toll is among the highest for children in suicide attacks across Syria since the conflict erupted in the country three years ago.
In August 2013, a chemical attack on rebel areas in the outskirts of Damascus killed dozens of children, and the year before 49 children were killed in the Houla "massacre" in Homs province.
Homs' Akrameh neighbourhood is home to a majority of Alawites, members of the same offshoot of Shiite Islam to which President Bashar al-Assad belongs.
The district has been targeted more than once before, including on 19 June, when at least six people were killed in a car bomb attack.
Homs was once dubbed "the capital of the revolution" against Mr Assad. Most of the city, except the battered district of Waar, has returned to regime control after two years of bombardment and siege. | Armed Conflict | October 2014 | ['(including 41 children)', '(RTE)', '(Al Jazeera)'] |
In horse racing, Golden Horn wins the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe. Two–time winner Treve finishes fourth. | Last updated on 4 October 20154 October 2015.From the section Horse Racing
Epsom Derby winner Golden Horn, ridden by Frankie Dettori, denied French mare Treve an historic third Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe with victory at Longchamp.
Dettori, winning the race for the fourth time, pulled Golden Horn wide early in the race before slotting in behind the leader.
They were well positioned before moving clear of Flintshire and New Bay, who finished second and third respectively.
Treve finished fast but had to be content with fourth. "I really believed in the horse," said Dettori. "I was going so fast in the last 300 metres I knew no other horse would pass me.
"I had the best horse and I wanted to show how good he is. His record is unbelievable and he is probably the best horse I have ridden."
Golden Horn had already enjoyed a superb season with wins in the Derby, Dante Stakes and Coral-Eclipse - and bounced back from a shock defeat in the Juddmonte International to claim the Irish Champion Stakes.
The money earned for those victories meant the 120,000 euros (£88,600) owner Anthony Oppenheimer spent to add the John Gosden-trained horse to the field for the world's richest turf race was a relatively small price to pay.
The winning horse will head for stallion duties next season but could have one more run at the Breeders' Cup in Keeneland, Kentucky at the end of the month.
"The owner is quite keen on the Breeders' Cup. It gives us one day short of a month, he's got a great constitution and he travels well," said Gosden.
"If he's in good order next week, there's no reason why he can't go there.
"I keep saying he's a better horse coming from off the pace and he was today." | Sports Competition | October 2015 | ['(BBC)'] |
Wang Meng wins her third gold medal in the 1,000 meters short track at Vancouver to become China's first winter Olympian to win three gold medals at one Games and give China all the women's titles. | VANCOUVER - China's Wang Meng powered into victory in the women's 1,000m short track speed skating race after 500m and 3,000m relay triumph at the Vancouver Olympics on Friday, becoming China's first winter Olympian to win three gold medals at one single Games.
Wang's teammate, 1,500m champion Zhou Yang, finished last in the four-woman race after failing to cut in during final laps.
World number one Wang Meng survived a near collision with South Korea's Park Seung-hi and American Katherine Reutter while cornering a bend with three laps to go but kept her nose in front to cross the line first.
Reutter took the silver, with Park, who was a member of the Korean relay team that was disqualified despite crossing the line first earlier this week, picked up the bronze.
Wang's victory meant China had had a clean sweep of the women's events in Vancouver after Zhou Yang's triumph in the 1500 and Wang's victory over 500 meter earlier in the competition. They also claimed the 3,000 relay title.
A recent move to turn a building at the historic Whampoa Military Academy, the cradle of China's modern revolutions and military reforms, into a nightclub has sparked public outrage.
"Only a 1.5% increase? Shouldn't it be 15%?" Zhang asked in disbelief when he read the news property prices in 70 major cities rose 1.5%.
Former Miss World Zhang Zilin appears on the cover of the latest issue of COSMO Bride China.
Hot or not? Who is your favorite? Check out the celeb styles in this week.
My choice is Church Marriage and Naked Marriage. I choose church but I’m not a bit religious. I’m also not that kind of guy who worships foreign things. | Sports Competition | February 2010 | ['(Shanghai Daily)', '(China Daily)'] |
Italian eyewear maker Luxottica and French corrective eyewear manufacturer Essilor agree to a €50 billion merger. | The deal will make Luxottica's founder, Leonardo Del Vecchio, the largest single shareholder in the combined company with about a 30% stake. He will also serve as Executive Chairman and CEO of the new company, which will be called EssilorLuxottica
Post-merger, the company will have a turnover of €15 billion, more than 140,000 staff, and sales in over 150 countries, Esslior says in a statement announcing the deal. The deal is expected to "generate significant synergies" — business-speak for cost savings — of up to €600 million.
The company says the deal will allow both businesses to "better seize growth opportunities resulting from strong demand in the eyewear market."
Luxottica, founded by Del Vecchio in 1961, owns iconic sunglasses brands such as Ray-Ban and Oakley and also has the license for brands such as Burberry and Ralph Lauren. It owns the retail chain Sunglass Hut.
Essilor, meanwhile, makes corrective glasses and lenses for people will eyesight problems.
Leonardo Del Vecchio says in a statement: "The marriage between two key companies in their sectors will bring great benefits to the market, for employees and mainly for all our consumers. Finally, after fifty years, two products which are naturally complementary, namely frames and lenses, will be designed, manufactured and distributed under the same roof."
Essilor CEO and chairman Hubert Sagnières says in a statement: "Our project has one simple motivation: to better respond to the needs of an immense global population in vision correction and vision protection by bringing together two great companies, one dedicated to lenses and the other to frames.
"By joining forces today, these two international players can now accelerate their global expansion to the benefit of customers, employees and shareholders as well as the industry as a whole."
UBS analyst Fred Spiers says in a note sent to clients on Monday: "The new group would be a clear leader on the optical industry with a strong brand portfolio, global distribution capabilities and complementary expertise in ophthalmic lenses, prescription frames and sunglasses." | Organization Merge | January 2017 | ['(Reuters via Business Insider)'] |
At least eight Paraguayan Army soldiers are killed in an ambush by suspected Paraguayan People's Army insurgents, near the village of Arroyito, in northern Paraguay. | An ambush on a military patrol in Paraguay has left at least eight soldiers dead. The country's interior minister said the soldiers had been on a routine mission when they were attacked with explosives and gunfire.
Francisco de Vargas said it was likely the gunmen were part of the Paraguayan People's Army (EPP).
The attack took place near the village of Arroyito, some 500km (300 miles) north of the capital, Asuncion.
Mr de Vargas said the gunmen had placed explosives in the road routinely used by the soldiers. The EPP is estimated to number between 50 and 150 people.
The group is a Marxist-inspired rebel group which has been active in the impoverished northern region since 2008. It is thought to have killed about 50 people but says it only targets the country's oligarchy. | Armed Conflict | August 2016 | ['(EPP)', '(BBC)'] |
Police in India break up a demonstration of pro–Tibet protestors outside the Chinese embassy in New Delhi. | Indian police broke up a demonstration by about 100 Tibetan exiles outside the Chinese embassy in New Delhi on Wednesday on the eve of the anniversary of the Tibetan uprising in 1959.
Indian police break up 'Free Tibet' demo
Police bundled protesters wearing yellow "Free Tibet" t-shirts into buses in the diplomatic quarter of the Indian capital, an AFP reporter witnessed.
In Nepal, police have also warned Tibetan exiles not to organise demonstrations to coincide with the anniversary of the failed uprising against Chinese rule in Tibet.
"We can not tolerate any activities against our northern neighbour. Nepal police will stand by the state policy not to allow anti-China activities on its soil," Kathmandu police chief Pushkar Karki told AFP.
New Delhi is sensitive to anti-China demonstrations from the Tibetan community in exile, many of whom have lived in India since the country offered refuge to spiritual leader the Dalai Lama in 1959.
The Dalai Lama fled over the Himalayas into India amid a brutal Chinese crackdown on protests against rule from Beijing.
The 75-year-old Tibetan spiritual leader is to deliver a speech on Thursday at the Tsuglakhang Temple in Dharamshala, the Indian hill town that is his base and the seat of the Tibetan government in exile.
In March 2008, violent protests against Chinese rule erupted in Tibet's capital Lhasa and then spread to neighbouring areas.
Many Tibetans complain about the increasing domination of China's majority Han population in Tibet and accuse the government of trying to dilute their culture.
Chinese authorities have closed the troubled region to foreign tourists ahead of the third anniversary of the anti-government riots.
| Protest_Online Condemnation | March 2011 | ['(MSN Philippines)', '(Sify India)'] |
In the United Kingdom, Chancellor George Osborne presents the coalition government's emergency budget statement to the House of Commons. | The Chancellor, George Osborne, has outlined the government's plans to "balance the books" by 2016. Mr Osborne said the government planned to cut the structural budget deficit to zero in the next six years. The structural deficit represents the hole in the public finances that is not expected to be repaired by economic recovery. The chancellor also said he expected the UK's total debt levels to have started falling by 2016. But he added that the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) was forecasting that the government would meet these targets a year early, by 2015.
The OBR, headed by economist Sir Alan Budd, was set up to provide an independent assessment of the state of the UK's public finances and the UK economy.
Total borrowing is expected to fall to 2.1% of GDP by 2015, the OBR said, and reach 1.1% by 2016. Current borrowing stands at £155bn - 11% of GDP. The UK's total debt, which currently stands at more than 62% of GDP, is forecast to peak at 70% of GDP in 2013-14, before falling to 67% by 2015-16. Announcing the plan, Mr Osborne said the Budget "deals decisively with this country's record debts". Although confirming that the government's target for deficit reduction was achievable, the OBR warned that the economy would suffer as a result.
It is now forecasting that the UK economy will grow by 1.2% this year and 2.3% in 2011, lower than the previous government's forecasts. Unemployment is forecast to rise to a peak rate of 8.1% this year, while inflation is also expected to peak at 2.7% by the end of the year before falling back towards the 2% target. Mr Osborne said investors' fears over sovereign debt were now "the greatest risk" to the economy, and denied that he was choosing between cutting the deficit and securing economic recovery, calling it a "false choice".
Labour has argued that cutting the deficit too quickly could risk pushing the UK back into recession. But worries over the high public debts in Greece and Spain have caused widespread concern in financial markets in recent weeks, with investors questioning the sustainability of Europe's public finances. "I do not want these questions ever asked of the UK," the chancellor said.
The secretary general of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), Angel Gurria, welcomed the Budget, calling it "far-reaching" and "courageous". "It provides the necessary degree of fiscal consolidation over the coming years to restore public finances to a sustainable path, while still supporting the recovery," he said.
Fitch Ratings, one of the three major rating agencies, also welcomed the Budget, saying it a "represented a material strengthening of the commitment to fiscal consolidation and the long-run sustainability of UK public finances". But other economists were less impressed, warning that the forecasts for economic growth were too optimistic given the drastic cuts outlined by the chancellor. "The boost to growth in later years from lower borrowing does not look unreasonable, but the short-term effects are staggeringly small," warned Peter Spencer, chief economic adviser to the Ernst & Young Item Club. "In particular, the OBR appears to have assumed that consumers will react to having lower incomes by simply saving less, rather than making any significant adjustments to their spending, an assumption which looks highly questionable."
HM Treasury | Government Policy Changes | June 2010 | ['(BBC)'] |
About 300 demonstrators attempt to storm the Oregon State Capitol during a special legislative session closed to the public, but they are warded off by the Oregon State Police. The group, which called for reopening Oregon in the wake of COVID-19 mitigation measures, included members of groups such as Proud Boys and Patriot Prayer. | The crowd was a loose collection of members of the Proud Boys, Patriot Prayer and others far-right groups, many of them are armed with pistols and rifles. It got ugly fast.
National Reporter
SALEM, Or.—A group of about 300 demonstrators attempted to force their way into two separate entrances of the Oregon State Capitol on Monday, outraged that lawmakers were holding a special session closed to the public.
The crowd was a loose collection of members of the Proud Boys, Patriot Prayer and other far-right groups, many of them are armed with pistols and rifles. At one point during the demonstration, which began around 9 a.m., a woman tried to climb in a window on the west side of the government building. Oregon State Troopers, however, repelled her—before two more troopers showed up to insist that she get off the ledge.
Those troopers were quickly chased off by screaming protesters, many of them toting long black rifles. Minutes later, the crowd moved to the building’s north entrance and attempted to push their way in. A dozen more troopers arrived at the door, declared it an unlawful assembly, and pushed the crowd back, using some kind of deterrent in a series of “pop” sounds, at which point the protesters swarmed back out again, their eyes watering and coughing.
How it started
Some 100 protesters soon entered the lobby anyway, and state troopers again attempted to compel them to leave. The Salem Police Department told The Daily Beast that the streets surrounding the Capitol building had been closed and residents were being asked to avoid the area if possible due to the ongoing protest.
“I’m here to support the constitutional rights of people and of Oregon business [owners.] These people are unemployed and their lives are being ruined by this situation and most importantly by a government that seems to have taken totalitarian views,” one protester who would identify himself only by his first name, Duane, told The Daily Beast.
Around 10 a.m., troopers from inside the building began to push protesters toward the north door. More than a dozen officers were also outside, fanning out protesters who tried to push back.
“You are traitors to the American people,” one demonstrator shouted at the troopers inside the building.
Protesters, however, quickly changed course. Three men with long guns moved to the west side of the building and encouraged everyone to open a door there. Once successfully opened, the protesters demanded to be let inside, but troopers forced everyone to remain outdoors. Outside, a standoff between troopers in riot gear and the protesters began, as some people chanted “shame” while dozens sang the National Anthem. One woman was also seen holding a pitchfork with an American flag attached. Troopers eventually responded with pepper spray and blue gas—which dispersed some of the crowd. By 10:30 p.m., the protest consisted of about 50 people. “We are now declaring this area a patriot autonomous zone. If Antifa can do it so can we,” one protester said over a bullhorn, before calling for help pulling down fences and tarps. Despite the chaotic protest, some protesters managed to continue selling pro-Trump merchandise at a tent set up outside the Capitol—including “Stop The Steal” sweaters. The tent, surrounded by Trump 2020 flags, also offered USA and Trump hats. The state government’s agenda dealt with pandemic relief and whether to allow restaurants and bars to serve cocktails to go, both touchy subjects for a crowd that calls restrictions enacted by local lawmakers and Gov. Kate Brown “tyranny.” The special session, which is the third to take place since March, would provide $800 million in relief to Oregon residents.
During the session, Brown was also expected to ask lawmakers to continue several protections for residents amid the ongoing pandemic, including relief for landlords and tenants, and a bill to protect schools from some lawsuits.
“We’re not gonna give up this easily, everybody come in!” said one protester with a knife on his belt and a bulletproof vest as he entered the lobby. “This is our state. This is our building.” Tensions also ran high during the legislative session. According to OPB, Republican state Sen. Dallas Heard objected to a state-wide mask requirement—and accused his colleagues of being involved in a “campaign against the people and the children of God.” The stunning accusation came after Heard spoke to protesters outside the Capitol, where he also expressed his frustration with the mask mandate and insisted he is for the “people.” The lawmaker asked residents to vote out his Democratic colleagues.
“If you had not done such great evil to my people and had simply asked me to wear my mask, I would have,” Heard said during the session, after ripping off his face mask. “But you commanded it, and therefore I declare my right to protest against your false authority and remove my mask.”
To date, 1,341 people have died and about 103,000 more have been infected with the coronavirus in Oregon. | Riot | December 2020 | ['(The Daily Beast)', '(Statesman Journal)'] |
GCHQ director Iain Lobban gives a rare public speech in which he speaks of the "enduring lessons" to be drawn from the work of Alan Turing, who reportedly committed suicide. | GCHQ director Iain Lobban has said there were "enduring lessons" to be drawn from the work of Alan Turing.
In a rare public speech the intelligence agency chief said there were "many parallels between the way we work now and the way we worked then".
Based at Bletchley Park, the mathematician was part of the team that cracked the Nazi Enigma code - a vital part of the allied war effort.
He is now widely recognised as a computing pioneer.
However, at the time of the death - which an inquest recorded as suicide - he was virtually unknown to the public. His work at Bletchley was kept secret until 1974.
Mr Lobban said at an event in Leeds that Turing had a played a key part in the "irrevocable change" that eventually led to the development of the "highly technological intelligence organisation that GCHQ is today".
Describing Turing as one of the "great minds of the twentieth century" he said that staff at the organisation had demanded that he make "a big public deal" of Turing's legacy as part of celebrations marking the centenary of the codebreaker's birth.
However, Mr Lobban said he didn't want anyone to think GCHQ was "trying to claim that Turing is ours and nobody else's".
The codebreaking work at Bletchley marked a shift - Mr Lobban argued - to a mindset that "started to see technology as something that could be pitted against technology".
He said the consensus among his staff was that today Turing would be employed in "Cyber".
"Then, the challenge was to secure allied codes and ciphers" he said. "Today, securing cyberspace... requires the collaboration of experts as diverse both personally and intellectually as any we saw at Bletchley Park."
Mr Lobban also praised the technological achievements of Turing's colleagues - including Tommy Flowers, a post office engineer who designed and constructed the Colossus codebreaking digital computer.
Mr Lobban said technology "lies at the very heart of our mission".
"Engineers and technologists are an essential part of our success."
But, he added, that meant there was a need to develop key skills. "We must inspire school children to study maths and science - we must find tomorrow's Turings," he said.
Mr Lobban addressed another well known aspect of Turing's life - his homosexuality.
"The fact that Turing was unashamedly gay was widely known to his immediate colleagues at Bletchley Park: it wasn't an issue," he said.
"I don't want to pretend that GCHQ was an organisation with twenty-first century values in the twentieth century, but it was at the most tolerant end of the cultural spectrum."
Later in his life Turing was convicted of gross indecency after an affair with another man. He was subsequently obliged to take injections of female hormones in an effort to dull his sex drive.
After his arrest he was no longer given an opportunity to carry out work for GCHQ. Mr Lobban said "we should remember that the cost of intolerance towards Alan Turing was his loss to the nation".
He added that today it remained vital that the agency recruited the best people and did "not allow preconceptions and stereotypes to stifle innovation and agility". "I want to apply and exploit their talent: in return, I think it's fair that I don't need to tell them how to live their lives," he said.
| Famous Person - Give a speech | October 2012 | ['(BBC)'] |
President of South Sudan Salva Kiir and leader of SPLM-IO Riek Machar reach a peace agreement. Other rebel factions are also expected to join a reformed government. | Ululations, song and dance erupted in a packed hall in Ethiopia's capital, Addis Ababa, as South Sudan's President Salva Kirr and rebel leader Riek Machar signed what they called the "final final" peace deal. The two hugged and smiled as they exchanged the signed documents at an extraordinary summit of regional leaders, who have been pushing for the former enemies to end a brutal five-year civil war that has killed tens of thousands of people and forced four million people from their homes.
It has taken 15 long months of shuttling between the region's capitals to negotiate this latest attempt to bring peace to the world's youngest nation.
"As we witness this historic milestone, we remember and grieve for the victims of the violence and hope this agreement closes that dark chapter in South Sudan," Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed said after the signing.
And it has been a dark and shameful period for the country - with both sides accused of horrendous atrocities. The UN has documented horrific accounts of gang rape, throats being slit and mass shootings.
Amid hyperinflation, aid agencies have warned again that the humanitarian situation in the oil-rich country continues to worsen, with millions facing starvation. Speaking to the BBC after the ceremony, negotiators from both sides said they realised the task ahead in bring lasting peace for their people. "Our people are right to doubt us, because we have let them down so many times," opposition negotiator Stephen Par Kuol said.
"But this time around, we are telling the people of South Sudan to count on us to implement this agreement fully."
Martin Lomuro, South Sudan's cabinet affairs minister, agreed that the "severity of the war" had dented confidence.
"But this is much more of an agreement that is designed to lay a foundation for a new country and this is why I feel so good about it because before we haven't had a chance to build a proper nation," he said.
Realistically both sides have reached a stalemate - and run out of money. Plus pressure from South Sudan's neighbours, who are hosting many of those who have fled, has led to a more sober reconciliation.
Despite the optimism, diplomats at the ceremony - many of whom witnessed a similar scene three years ago - expressed concerns about the ability of each side to honour their commitments. After all, the 2015 power-sharing deal collapsed spectacularly in July 2016, forcing Mr Machar, the rebel leader who had recently been re-appointed vice-president, to flee for his life on foot to the Democratic Republic of Congo. He has not been back to the capital, Juba, since then. Sources: Igad, UN, Sudan Tribune, Economist, Reuters
"The greatest challenges are yet to come - and the key ingredient still lacking is trust," said David Shearer, head of the UN Mission in South Sudan.
"The personalities signing the agreement have in the past been former friends and foes and from my discussions with all parties, suspicions still remains widespread," he said.
Similar concerns were made by the UK, US and Norway, which have all been instrumental in funding the peace process and the failed transitional government. UK envoy Chris Trott said a significant change in approach was needed.
"This must include, but not be limited to, an end to violence and full humanitarian access and a real commitment to effective and accountable implementation, demonstrated by robust and enforcement mechanisms."
Not really. It is all about power sharing between the two main rivals in a transitional government to be established in the next eight months. It will then last for three years, after which general elections will be held.
The expanded government will have Mr Kiir remaining as president while Mr Machar will take up one of the five new posts of vice-president. Other armed groups, political parties and interested entities like civil society groups and religious leaders will also have a place in the expanded government and the reconstituted parliament.
Unlike the previous deal, the country will have a unified army with the president as the commander-in-chief.
The last one fell apart when the two rival armies fought in Juba. This agreement sets out a timeframe for demobilisation and eventual reintegration.
The next few days and weeks will be crucial for the warring parties as they need to cease all fighting in line with the preliminary agreements reached over the last few months.
Reports of fighting came within hours of Mr Kiir and Mr Machar signing one such deal in August.
How fast Mr Machar returns to Juba will also be key - he has been in exile for two years.
His team says he will go back as soon as he is assured of his safety on the ground - and that is not at all clear.
A 4,000-strong Regional Protection Force (RPF) was promised two years ago - with a boosted mandate to guarantee security in the capital. According to the UN, 60% of these troops have been deployed to help the nearly 8,000 UN soldiers already in South Sudan.
However, Mr Shearer warns that there's no further funding for the remaining troops and so it is highly unlikely that there will be more boots on the ground in coming weeks and months. But the negotiators say the leaders will be able to overcome their mistrust of each other once they actually start the task of rebuilding the crippled nation together. "Confidence comes with working together and interacting together and reconciling - and even giving up something," says Mr Lomuro.
"So whatever grievances you have if we discuss things in an honest manner, we will develop that confidence." | Sign Agreement | September 2018 | ['(BBC)'] |
Two Kenyan ministers – Roads Minister Kipkalya Kones and Assistant Home Affairs Minister Lorna Laboso – die in a plane crash near Narok in western Kenya while traveling to campaign in by–elections. | Kenya is holding by-elections in five constituencies, less then six months after the country was gripped by violence following disputed polls.
Two of the seats in question were held by MPs killed after December's polls. But the voting will be overshadowed by the deaths of two government ministers in a plane crash on Tuesday. Roads Minister Kipkalya Kones and Assistant Home Affairs Minister Lorna Laboso were on their way to assist with the by-elections. A pilot and a security guard were also killed when the Cessna plane the ministers were flying in crashed near the western town of Narok, Kenyan police told the BBC. Balance of power
The BBC's Kevin Mwachiro in Embakasi says there was a low turn-out in the morning, although by-elections typically do not attract high numbers of voters.
He says Electoral Commission of Kenya officials were hopeful that turn-out would improve later.
There are fears that the underlying tensions that sparked clashes after the polls have still not been resolved and could resurface, the BBC's Karen Allen in Nairobi says. Kenya's grand coalition government - which has set up a number of commissions to investigate the violence - has been looking decidedly fragile, our correspondent says. The results could also upset the delicate balance of power in parliament.
Should the Orange Democratic Movement lose its majority in parliament, party leader Raila Odinga's position as prime minister in the coalition government could be uncertain.
The ODM will hope to retain the seats of Embakasi in Nairobi, as well as Ainamoi and Emuhaya in the Rift Valley, scene of the worst violence earlier this year.
But President Mwai Kibaki's Party of National Unity is putting up a spirited fight. "The numbers are very tight in terms of who controls parliament. With the death of the minister and the assistant minister now the ODM has 100 MPs and the PNU coalition has 102 MPs," says analyst Kwamchetsi Makokha.
There have also been reports of hate leaflets being circulated in the Kilgoris constituency, raising the spectre of ethnic violence which was blamed for some of the post-poll violence. Supporters of President Kibaki and Mr Odinga have locked horns over several key areas, including whether those held after the elections should be given amnesty or be subject to the full force of the law. More than 1,000 people were killed and some 300,000 displaced after the polls. | Famous Person - Death | June 2008 | ['(BBC News)'] |
Livedoor founder Takafumi Horie is sentenced to two and a half years for his role in securities fraud at the company. | The former boss of the once high-flying internet firm, Livedoor, was found guilty of falsifying the company's accounts and misleading investors.
Horie, 34, was sentenced to two years and six months in prison. His lawyers say he will appeal.
The disgraced entrepreneur had pleaded not guilty, saying he was framed.
But Chief Judge Toshiyuki Kosaka said Horie had overseen a network of decoy investment funds, "established for the purpose of evading the law" and to "manipulate Livedoor's accounting".
Unconventional
Unlike many previous corporate scandals where businessmen have confessed their guilt in return for more lenient sentences, Mr Horie maintained he was innocent. I cannot understand why there is a prison sentence - my disillusionment with the Japanese criminal justice system has only gotten worse
Yasuyuki TakaiTakafumi Horie's chief lawyer
Takafumi Horie profile
The tycoon accused the prosecution of targeting him for standing out too much with his brash, unconventional entrepreneurship.
Prosecutors had demanded a four-year prison term. Speaking at a news conference following the ruling, Horie's chief lawyer, Yasuyuki Takai, said his client would make an appeal by the end of the day.
"I cannot understand why there is a prison sentence. Regrettably, my disillusionment with the Japanese criminal justice system has only gotten worse," he said.
He said the case was based on ambiguous evidence and the testimony of two former Livedoor executives who have already pleaded guilty to similar charges.
Horie was extremely popular with a new breed of investors for his informality of style and business ambition, which saw Livedoor expand rapidly in a short space of time through a series of daring takeovers.
TV stations in Japan broadcast live coverage of the verdict
But Horie's high public profile, which saw him stand for parliament and date a number of leading actresses, put him at odds with Japan's conservative business establishment.
Livedoor was raided by prosecutors at the start of 2006 after allegations of financial impropriety surfaced and Mr Horie was subsequently arrested.
He was accused of falsely reporting a pre-tax profit of some 5bn yen ($43m) for the year to September 2004 to hide actual losses of 310m yen.
The Tokyo stock market was forced to close briefly when news of the investigation triggered a massive share sell-off.
Four senior Livedoor executives admitted their guilt, with former chief financial officer Ryoji Miyauchi acting as a leading prosecution witness.
The case centred around how much Mr Horie knew about the state of Livedoor's finances and whether he conspired with other executives to inflate profits.
Critics of Horie's actions have described Livedoor's fall from grace as a "Japanese version of Enron". | Famous Person - Commit Crime - Sentence | March 2007 | ['(BBC)'] |
Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce narrowly defeats Dafne Schippers in the Women's 100 metres finals in Beijing. | Last updated on 24 August 201524 August 2015.From the section Athletics
Double-Olympic champion Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce continued the Jamaican sprint dominance of the Bird's Nest as she retained her world 100m title in blistering fashion at the World Championships.
Twenty-four hours on from Usain Bolt's triumph in the men's 100m, Fraser-Pryce repeated her Olympic victory in this same stadium seven years ago as she held off the fast-finishing Dafne Schippers in 10.76 seconds.
For Schippers - the former heptathlete who only decided to switch full-time to sprinting in June this year - her silver in a huge personal best of 10.81 brought both vindication and wild celebration. USA's Tori Bowie took bronze in 10.86, but as in 2008 this was the Fraser-Pryce show.
Just as her compatriot Bolt is the undisputed greatest sprinter the world has seen, so the 28-year-old can lay claim to the same title: twice Olympic champion over 100m, world champion three times over that distance and both world and Olympic titles over 200m too.
With her long plaits dyed green and a headband of daisies around her forehead [she owns a beauty parlour in her country's capital, Kingston] Fraser-Pryce did not get her trademark explosive start.
Schippers was out faster, but by 50m the Jamaican had opened up a two-metre lead over the tall Dutch athlete, and although Schippers was closing at the death, she had enough to hold her lead through the line.
"I'm getting tired of 10.7s. I just want to put a good race together and hopefully in the next race I get the time I'm working for," Fraser-Pryce told BBC Sport.
"I definitely think a 10.6 is there. Hopefully I will get it together."
| Sports Competition | August 2015 | ['(BBC)'] |
The European Court of Human Rights, deciding about the so–called McLibel case, rules in favour of environmental campaigners Helen Steel and David Morris and their claim that their trial was unfair. The pair said their human rights were violated when their criticism of McDonald's was ruled libel. The case has taken 15 years. | BRUSSELS, Belgium -- The British government violated the rights of two vegetarian activists convicted of libeling the U.S. fast food chain McDonald's, the European Court of Human Rights has ruled.
The court ruled Tuesday that "McLibel" environmental campaigners David Morris and Helen Steel should have been given legal aid by the British government.
The British legal system breached the right to a fair trial and freedom of expression, the European judges said. Morris and Steel had been found guilty of libeling McDonald's in 1997 and had been ordered to pay damages for handing out leaflets attacking the company's working practices and policies. But on Tuesday, the Strasbourg-based court ordered Britain to pay Morris and Steel a total of 35,000 euros ($45,400, £24,000) and offer them a retrial, it said. London has three months to appeal the decision. In its ruling, the court said the denial of state legal aid to the defendants, a part-time barmaid and an unemployed single father, had skewed the case from the start.
"The denial of legal aid to the applicants had deprived them of the opportunity to present their case effectively before the court and contributed to an unacceptable inequality of arms with McDonald's," it wrote.
The ruling also argued there was "a strong public interest in enabling such groups and individuals outside the mainstream to contribute to the public debate."
Tuesday's verdict is the end of a courtroom fight in which the pair accused the British government of breaching their human rights because British law denies libel defendants legal aid, and because the libel laws obliged them to justify every word of anti-McDonald's allegations contained in the leaflets they distributed.
Speaking outside the court, Mark Stephens, the lawyer for the pair, said: "The European Court of Human Rights found there were violations of their human rights perpetrated on them -- that there was procedural unfairness in the case and that the procedures adopted were not fair."
McDonald's launched the libel action after Morris and Steel took part in a leafleting campaign against the company. They had been handing out leaflets called "What's Wrong with McDonald's," accusing the company of paying low wages, cruelty to animals used in its products and dozens of other malpractices. McDonald's won and Britain's High Court ordered Morris and Steel to pay £76,000 ($135,000) in damages. The so-called "McLibel 2" refused to pay at the end of the 314-day libel trial -- the longest civil or criminal action in English legal history. Instead they went to the Strasbourg court, claiming the UK libel laws operated heavily in favor of companies like McDonald's. They said the system breached their human rights because they were denied legal aid and because they were obliged to justify every word of the allegations against McDonald's. The court agreed, saying the lack of legal aid effectively denied the pair the right to a fair trial as guaranteed by the Human Rights Convention, to which the UK is a signatory. It also breached their right to freedom of expression. In a statement, Morris and Steel said: "Having largely beaten McDonald's and won some damning judgments against them in our trial, we have now exposed the notoriously oppressive and unfair UK laws. As a result of the European court ruling today, the government may be forced to amend or scrap some of the existing UK laws. "We hope that this will result in greater public scrutiny and criticism of powerful organizations whose practices have a detrimental effect on society and the environment. "The McLibel campaign has already proved that determined and widespread grass roots protest and defiance can undermine those who try to silence their critics, and also render oppressive laws unworkable. "The continually growing opposition for McDonald's and all it stands for is a vindication of all the efforts of those around the world who have been exposing and challenging the corporation's business practice."
McDonald's UK press office issued the following statement: "The case taken to the European Court of Human Rights relates to a claim made against the UK government in respect of the legal framework of England and Wales. As McDonald's was not a party to this case, it is inappropriate for us to comment on the case or its outcome. "It is important to note, although the so-called 'McLibel' case came to court in 1994, the allegations related to practices in the '80s. The world has moved on since then and so has McDonald's." | Famous Person - Commit Crime - Sentence | February 2005 | ['(BBC)', '(Scotsman)', '(CNN)'] |
Two members of the Proud Boys are charged with conspiracy to breach the United States Capitol, including one of the members seen smashing a window with a police shield. | The conspiracy charges were the first to emerge against members of the extremist group in connection with the assault on Congress.
By Alan Feuer
Federal prosecutors investigating the violent riot at the Capitol this month announced their first conspiracy charges against the Proud Boys on Friday night, accusing two members of the far-right nationalist group of working together to obstruct and interfere with law enforcement officers protecting Congress during the final certification of the presidential election.
In an indictment filed in federal court in Washington, prosecutors charged the two Proud Boys, Dominic Pezzola, of Rochester, N.Y., and William Pepe, of Beacon, N.Y., with 11 counts, including conspiracy, assaulting an officer and civil disorder. Both Mr. Pezzola, a former boxer and Marine, and Mr. Pepe, an employee of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, were already facing lesser charges connected to the Capitol attack, which followed a Jan. 6 rally in support of President Donald J. Trump.
While more than 170 people have been charged in the deadly assault on the Capitol, most have been accused of relatively minor crimes like disorderly conduct and unlawful entry. The only other serious conspiracy charges in the inquiry have been brought against three members of the militia group the Oath Keepers, who are accused of organizing since a week after the November election to stop the certification of the vote.
But unlike the Oath Keepers indictment, the one brought against Mr. Pezzola, 43, and Mr. Pepe, 31, describes only a two-person conspiracy that lasted only through the day of the rally when, it notes, a large group of Proud Boys traveled to Washington and gathered near the Capitol grounds.
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A Proud Boys “organizer” led the group with Mr. Pezzola and Mr. Pepe among them in a series of chants, including “We love Trump,” before moving on to the Capitol, the indictment says.
Earlier this month, prosecutors described a virtually identical scene in court papers charging Joseph Biggs, a high-ranking leader of the Proud Boys, with steering a crew of about 100 Proud Boys toward the Capitol. Another organizer, Ethan Nordean, helped Mr. Biggs lead the crowd, the court papers said, but has not been charged.
The Proud Boys, a self-described “western chauvinist” group that has a long history of bloody street fights with the left-wing activists known as antifa, have drawn the attention of investigators because they are one of the extremist outfits that had a large presence on Capitol Hill during the assault. The F.B.I. has started executing search warrants against the group, including one from last week that permitted the collection of numerous electronic devices from a Proud Boy member who took extensive videos of Mr. Biggs and his crew.
The organization, which has maintained links with both overt white supremacists and more mainstream Republicans, has been a vocal and often violent advocate for Mr. Trump. During one of the presidential debates, Mr. Trump seemed to signal his support by telling its members to “stand back and stand by.”
Investigators have made a priority of exploring whether the attack was planned in advance by groups like the Proud Boys. Earlier this week, Michael Sherwin, the U.S. attorney in Washington, said that prosecutors were focused on bringing “more complicated conspiracy cases related to possible coordination among militia groups” and “individuals from different states that had a plan to travel” to Washington before Jan. 6.
The new Proud Boys indictment offers no evidence that members of the group worked in advance to plot the Capitol assault and describes only vague links between its two defendants, Mr. Pezzola and Mr. Pepe. Still, the indictment notes that the men worked with other individuals both “known and unknown” leaving open the possibility that further charges could be filed.
Mr. Pezzola, who works as a laborer laying tile, has been a focus of the sprawling investigation into the Capitol attack almost from the moment it began.
Court papers released on Friday morning said that he was in the first wave of rioters to enter the building, shattering a window with a plastic police shield. After climbing through the window, prosecutors said, Mr. Pezzola joined a mob that confronted a Capitol Police officer, Eugene Goodman, in a stairwell near the Senate floor. According to court papers, someone in the mob called out, “Where they meeting at? Where they counting the votes?”
Prosecutors said that Mr. Pezzola later posted a video of himself online, smoking a cigar inside the Capitol. In the video, court papers say, he refers to the cigar as a “victory smoke,” adding that he knew the mob would be able to take over the building if the rioters “tried hard enough.”
When F.B.I. agents searched Mr. Pezzola’s home near Rochester after the riot, prosecutors said, they found a thumb drive with several PDF files, some suggesting he had been studying bomb-making techniques. The computer files, court papers said, had titles like “Advanced Improvised Explosives,” “Explosive Dusts” and “Ragnar’s Big Book of Homemade Weapons.”
Michael Scibetta, Mr. Pezzola’s lawyer, said late Friday that the authorities were not letting him see his client, who is now in custody in Washington.
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“The matter is evolving,” Mr. Scibetta said, adding that prosecutors were depriving Mr. Pezzola of “his constitutionally guaranteed right of assistance of counsel.”
Mr. Pepe’s lawyer, Susanne Brody, did not respond to an email seeking comment.
The prior charges against Mr. Pepe, a 31-year-old Metro-North Railroad worker, were only scantly described. In a criminal complaint issued on Jan. 11, prosecutors said that he had used a day of sick leave to attend a “Stop the Steal” protest in Washington and was subsequently photographed inside the Capitol. At a hearing earlier this week, prosecutors made a cryptic reference to an ongoing investigation involving Mr. Pepe, but never fully explained what it was at the time.
At least four other members of the Proud Boys have been charged in connection with the Capitol attack, including Mr. Biggs, a U.S. Army veteran. | Famous Person - Commit Crime - Accuse | January 2021 | ['(New York Times)'] |
Queen Elizabeth II commences her 16th visit to Australia in the capital Canberra. | The Queen will arrive in Canberra this evening for what may be her last official tour of Australia.
Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip will be in Australia to attend the Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting in Perth later in the month.
It is the Queen's 16th visit to Australia and she is set to be welcomed after her 6:00pm touchdown at Fairbairn Airport by the official party and Canberra school children.
But the 85-year-old monarch is taking the time for some official engagements in Canberra, where she will spend the bulk of the visit.
That includes audiences with Prime Minister Julia Gillard, Governor General Quentin Bryce, and Opposition leader Tony Abbott.
But there will also be time for public engagements including a visit to the Australian war memorial, a visit to the Floriade Flower Festival, and a cruise on Lake Burley Griffin.
The Royal couple will also make a trip to Brisbane for a reception with people affected by the summer floods and cyclone, before visiting Melbourne
Prince Phillip will attend some events of his own, including a Duke of Edinburgh award reception.
We acknowledge Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as the First Australians and Traditional Custodians of the lands where we live, learn, and work.
| Diplomatic Visit | October 2011 | ['(ABC News Australia)'] |
Californian professor Vanessa Tyson accuses Lieutenant Governor of Virginia Justin Fairfax of having sexually assaulted her in 2004. | The woman who has accused Virginia Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax of sexually assaulting her in 2004 on Wednesday released a lengthy statement including details of that alleged attack at the Democratic National Convention.
Vanessa Tyson, a politics professor at Scripps College in California, said Fairfax forced her to engage in oral sex with him after they first engaged in "consensual kissing" in his hotel room in Boston.
Fairfax has adamantly denied Tyson's claims. Her accusation came to light after widespread calls for the resignation of Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam on the heels of news that his 1984 medical school yearbook page featured a photo of a man in blackface and another man in Ku Klux Klan garb.
Fairfax would become governor if Northam resigns. If both Fairfax and Northam were to quit, Attorney General Mark Herring would become governor. But Herring's political survival was immediately cast into doubt earlier Wednesday when he revealed he had worn blackface at a college party in 1980.
Fairfax has said his sexual encounter with Tyson nearly 15 years ago, when they both were working at the Democratic convention, was "100 percent consensual."
But Tyson said it was not that at all.
"As I cried and gagged, Mr. Fairfax forced me to perform oral sex on him," Tyson wrote in her statement, issued by a law firm now representing her.
"I cannot believe, given my obvious distress, that Mr. Fairfax thought this forced sexual act was consensual. To be very clear, I did not want to engage in oral sex with Mr. Fairfax and I never gave any form of consent. Quite the opposite. I consciously avoided Mr. Fairfax for the remainder of the Convention and I never spoke to him again."
Tyson also accused Fairfax of engaging in a "smear campaign" against her by his pointing reporters to a 2007 video in which she discussed being a victim of incest but did not mention an attack by Fairfax.
"In that video I did not talk about being assaulted by Mr. Fairfax. This, of course, is not proof that he did not assault me," Tyson said. "His reliance on this video to say the opposite is despicable and an offense to sexual assault survivors everywhere."
"Since October 2017 when I first began telling friends about the assault, I have never wavered in my account because I am telling the truth. I have no political motive. I am a proud Democrat," Tyson said.
"My only motive in speaking now is to refute Mr. Fairfax's falsehoods and aspersions of my character, and to provide what I believe is important information for Virginians to have as they make critical decisions that involve Mr. Fairfax."
Tyson's attorneys at the law firm of Katz, Marshall & Banks earlier represented Christine Blasey Ford, the woman who testified that Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh sexually assaulted her at a high school get-together in the early 1980s in Washington, D.C. Kavanaugh has denied Ford's allegations, which were aired in a dramatic Senate confirmation hearing last year.
Fairfax has hired the law firm of Wilkinson Walsh & Eskovitz the same firm that represented Kavanaugh during his Senate confirmation hearings, attorney Rakesh Kilaru confirmed to CNBC on Wednesday. Kilaru said Fairfax had initially retained the firm in January 2018 when The Washington Post was conducting an inquiry into Tyson's allegations and has now retained the firm again.
Responding to Tyson's statement, Fairfax said in his own statement Wednesday:
Reading Dr. Tyson's account is painful. I have never done anything like what she suggests.
As I said in my statement this morning, I have nothing to hide.
Any review of the circumstances would support my account, because it is the truth. I take this situation very seriously and continue to believe Dr. Tyson should be treated with respect. But, I cannot agree to a description of events that simply is not true.
I support the aims of the MeToo movement and I believe that people should always be heard and the truth should be sought. I wish Dr. Tyson the best as I do our Commonwealth.
Also Wednesday, Democratic Congresswoman Jennifer Wexton of Virginia tweeted: "I believe Dr. Vanessa Tyson."
Rep. Wexton tweet
Tyson is currently on leave from Scripps College and is a visiting fellow at the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences at Stanford University.
Her biography page at Stanford says, "Tyson will use her fellowship year to research the politics and policies surrounding sexual violence against women and children in the United States."
"More specifically, she will explore political discourse surrounding sexual assault, corresponding policies, and the unique identities of sexual assault survivors," the page says.
Herring, the Virginia attorney general, revealed hours before on Wednesday that he and friends wore blackface at a college party in 1980 to dress up "like rappers we listened to at the time, like Kurtis Blow, and perform a song."
Herring, who had called for Northam's resignation, did not say whether he will resign.
Northam has denied being either the man in blackface or the man dressed like a Ku Klux Klan member in the photo on his yearbook page. But he has said he wore blackface to impersonate Michael Jackson in a dance contest in the 1980s.
If Northam, Fairfax and Herring who are all Democrats resign, the state's Republican speaker of the House of Delegates, Kirk Cox, would become governor.
Read Vanessa Tyson's statement in full below:
On the night of Friday, February 1, 2019, I read multiple news accounts indicating that Virginia Lt. Governor Justin Fairfax would likely be elevated to Governor as an immediate result of a scandal involving Governor Ralph Northam. This news flooded me with painful memories, bringing back feelings of grief, shame, and anger that stemmed from an incident with Mr. Fairfax that occurred in July 2004 during the Democratic National Convention in Boston.
I met Mr. Fairfax on July 26, 2004, when he and I were working at the Convention. We struck up a conversation on the first day of the Convention and soon realized we had a mutual friend. We crossed paths occasionally during the first two days and our interactions were cordial, but not flirtatious. We commiserated about our long work hours, and on the afternoon of the third day of the Convention, July 28, 2004, Mr. Fairfax suggested that I get some fresh air by accompanying him on a quick errand to retrieve documents from his room in a nearby hotel. Given our interactions up to that time, I had no reason to feel threatened and agreed to walk with him to his hotel. I stood in the entryway of the room and after he located the documents, he walked over and kissed me. Although surprised by his advance, it was not unwelcome and I kissed him back. He then took my hand and pulled me towards the bed. I was fully clothed in a pantsuit and had no intention of taking my clothes off or engaging in sexual activity. In the back of my mind, I also knew I needed to return to Convention headquarters.
What began as consensual kissing quickly turned into a sexual assault. Mr. Fairfax put his hand behind my neck and forcefully pushed my head towards his crotch. Only then did I realize that he had unbuckled his belt, unzipped his pants, and taken out his penis. He then forced his penis into my mouth. Utterly shocked and terrified, I tried to move my head away, but could not because his hand was holding down my neck and he was much stronger than me. As I cried and gagged, Mr. Fairfax forced me to perform oral sex on him. I cannot believe, given my obvious distress, that Mr. Fairfax thought this forced sexual act was consensual. To be very clear, I did not want to engage in oral sex with Mr. Fairfax and I never gave any form of consent. Quite the opposite. I consciously avoided Mr. Fairfax for the remainder of the Convention and I never spoke to him again.
After the assault, I suffered from both deep humiliation and shame. I did not speak about it for years, and I (like most survivors) suppressed those memories and emotions as a necessary means to continue my studies, and to pursue my goal of building a successful career as an academic. At the time, I found this horrific incident especially degrading given my regular volunteer work at a local rape crisis center. Over the next decade or so, I would go on to earn my PhD from the University of Chicago and become a tenured professor at Scripps College, a prestigious women's college in Claremont, California. Years later, in October of 2017, I saw a picture of Mr. Fairfax accompanying an article in The Root about his campaign for Lt. Governor in Virginia. The image hit me like a ton of bricks, triggering buried traumatic memories and the feelings of humiliation I'd felt so intensely back in 2004. Prior to reading the article, I had not followed Mr. Fairfax's career and did not know that he was seeking public office. Unsure of what to do, I felt it was crucial to tell close friends of mine in Virginia, who were voters, about the assault.
That October, as the #MeToo movement intensified, women throughout the world began forcefully speaking out about the sexual violence they had experienced and the impact of those experiences on their lives. The courage of so many women coming forward to confront powerful men and systems that allow such abuse to occur are part of what inspired me to action. I felt a responsibility to myself, the beloved students I teach, and the brave women I've tried to help overcome their own trauma. The passion and resolve of so many survivors, coupled with the job security that tenure afforded me, gave me the strength I simply did not have in 2004. By December 2017, I not only told many friends that Mr. Fairfax had sexually assaulted me but I also reached out to a personal friend at The Washington Post and spoke to his colleague about the assault.
After The Washington Post decided in March 2018 not to run my story, I felt powerless, frustrated, and completely drained. Again I tried to bury memories of this painful incident and focus on my work and my students.
On Friday, February 1, 2019, as stories appeared in the media suggesting that Governor Northam would have to resign and that Mr. Fairfax would be sworn in as Governor, I felt a jarring sense of both outrage and despair. That night I vented my frustration on Facebook in a message that I wrote as a private post. I did not identify' Lt. Governor Fairfax by name but stated that it seemed inevitable that the campaign staffer who assaulted me during the Democratic Convention in 2004 was about to get a big promotion. It was not my intention in that moment to inject myself into what has become a much larger political battle.
The following morning, I was inundated with messages of care and concern from friends including many I had told about the sexual assault and numerous inquiries from journalists who had become aware of my post. Over the weekend, I was undecided about whether to speak out publicly. I knew that if I did so, I would immediately face accusations about my motives and be branded a liar, as is routinely the case when women come forward with allegations of sexual misconduct against prominent men.
On Sunday night, before I had time to decide on a course of action, an online publication published a screenshot of my Facebook post, identified me by name, and posted pictures of me. In response, at 2:55 a.m. on February 4, 2019, Mr. Fairfax issued a statement further escalating this matter by calling me a liar and falsely characterizing the reasons The Washington Post decided not to run a story about my allegations. The Post was forced to repudiate Mr. Fairfax's statement that there were "significant red flags and inconsistencies within the allegations" which led it to decide not to publish a story about my account. Rather, as is often the case in situations where sexual assault by an acquaintance occurs behind closed doors years earlier, it is difficult to corroborate either the victim's allegations or the accused's denials. .
Mr. Fairfax's suggestion that The Washington Post found me not to be credible was deceitful, offensive, and profoundly upsetting. He has continued a smear campaign by pointing reporters to a 2007 educational video in which I talked about being the victim of incest and molestation. In that video I did not talk about being assaulted by Mr. Fairfax. This, of course, is not proof that he did not assault me. His reliance on this video to say the opposite is despicable and an offense to sexual assault survivors everywhere.
Since October 2017 when I first began telling friends about the assault, I have never wavered in my account because I am telling the truth. I have no political motive. I am a proud Democrat. My only motive in speaking now is to refute Mr. Fairfax's falsehoods and aspersions of my character, and to provide what I believe is important information for Virginians to have as they make critical decisions that involve Mr. Fairfax.
With tremendous anguish, I am now sharing this information about my experience and setting the record straight. It has been extremely difficult to relive that traumatic experience from 2004. Mr. Fairfax has tried to brand me as a liar to a national audience, in service to his political ambitions, and has threatened litigation. Given his false assertions, I'm compelled to make clear what happened. I very much wish to resume my life as an academic and professor. I do not want to get further embroiled in this highly charged political environment. This is the only statement I and my legal team will be making. | Famous Person - Commit Crime - Accuse | February 2019 | ['(CNBC)'] |
Brazil re-opens its northern border with Venezuela which was briefly closed in response to refugees from Venezuela. | Brazil has re-opened its northern border with Venezuela to those fleeing economic and political turmoil there, after briefly closing it.
The Supreme Court overturned an earlier order to shut the frontier until Brazil could put in place the right conditions to receive the huge influx of people. Authorities in the state of Roraima in Brazil's Amazon region say some 500 Venezuelans cross the border every day.
The border was re-opened to Venezuelan migrants after a few hours on Monday.
"It is not justified to take the easy path to 'close the doors' because of difficulties in hosting refugees," Supreme Court justice Rosa Weber said in her ruling issued shortly before midnight.
The temporary order by a lower court judge stated that the border would remain open to Brazilians and other non-Venezuelans.
It was also to be open for Venezuelans returning north out of Brazil. Sea and air borders were unaffected by the ruling.
Many thousands of Venezuelans have fled into neighbouring countries, mainly Colombia and Brazil, in search of better economic conditions over the past three years.
An apparent assassination attempt on Venezuela's President Nicolás Maduro at the weekend has raised tensions in the country even further. Most who have crossed the border to Brazil in recent months are living in appalling conditions on the streets of the Boa Vista, the impoverished state capital of Roraima, in the heart of the Amazon region.
For months, authorities in Roraima have been calling for the border to be shut. They say that public services have collapsed and that migration has brought about a sharp rise in crime.
Brazil's central government had opposed any border closure, saying that ordinary Venezuelans were suffering the consequences of a humanitarian crisis and that Brazil must continue to help.
| Government Policy Changes | August 2018 | ['(BBC)'] |
1998 Nobel Laureate José Saramago from Portugal dies at the age of 87. | José Saramago, who has died aged 87, won the Nobel prize for literature in 1998 and was Portugal's most prolific and best-known 20th-century writer. More widely read in Europe and Australia than in North America, and with print runs of 150,000 in Portugal and Brazil, these supposedly difficult and unarguably heavyweight works, on ponderous themes, have become major sellers.
Saramago once said that: "If I had died when I was 60, I would have written nothing." While this effectively glosses over his first major success in fiction (with the novel Manual de Pintura e Caligrafia – A Manual of Painting and Calligraphy – in 1977) and a number of volumes of poetry, plays and essays, there was little in Saramago's background, or even his early career, to suggest a flowering of success at the age when many are contemplating retirement.
He was born into a humble rural household in the small village of Azinhaga. The family moved to Lisbon when he was two, and Saramago left school early to contribute to the household bills by working as a mechanic. Gradually, he progressed through numerous jobs towards his central literary interest. He worked as a draughtsman, publisher's reader and freelance translator, and in the editorial and production departments of a publishing house. He also worked on several newspapers, including a stint as a literary reviewer for Serra Nova and, after the death of the dictator António Salazar in 1970, as political commentator on the Diário de Lisboa.
Political wranglings, and Saramago's own uncompromised and uncompromising communism, were at least partly responsible for his being fired in 1975. The following year, he devoted himself exclusively to his books. "Being fired was the best luck of my life," he said. "It made me stop and reflect. It was the birth of my life as a writer."
He had, of course, been writing since his youth, but literature had seemed a pretentious option for a child from an illiterate background. His first book, Terra do Pecado (Land of Sin), had been published in 1947, before he was 25, but it was not a success, and has long been out of print ("to my relief," he once commented). It took 20 years for him to venture into print again, not only for aesthetic reasons, but because his political sympathies naturally clashed with Salazar's nationalistic views on culture.
Journalism was to remain a lifelong outlet for Saramago's radical take on current events. He participated in campaigns and published his views on human rights abuses around the world. Meanwhile, his more personal writing underwent various sea-changes. Between 1966 and 1976, he published all three volumes of his poetry. In the five years from 1971, Saramago also produced four volumes of essays on a wide variety of topics. His earliest novels, appearing from the late 1970s, suffered (especially in the case of Levantado do Chão – Rising from the Ground, 1980) from his desire to cram in as much politico-historical material as possible, in the manner of the "social conscience" novels of Émile Zola and Honoré de Balzac.
Gradually, he came to recognise that, for him, the genesis of his novels occurred best with the flash of an idea and then (oddly, perhaps) a name, and a literary category. Thus The Manual of Painting and Calligraphy: A Novel and his original title Ensaio Sobre a Cegueira (Essay On Blindness, 1995) which, to his extreme annoyance, was rendered in the 1997 English edition simply as Blindness. (Its sequel, Ensaio Sobre a Lucidez – Seeing – was published in 2004.)
The writers he found himself most frequently compared with were Jorge Luis Borges, Franz Kafka and his compatriot Fernando Pessoa (although Saramago was resistant to this type of pigeonholing). His first bestseller, O Ano da Morte de Ricardo Reis (The Year of the Death of Ricardo Reis, 1984), was inspired by Ricardo Reis, one of the "heteronyms" whose identity Pessoa adopted as one of his half-dozen authorial identities.
Neither the then Portuguese minister of culture, who in 1992 opposed Saramago's nomination for the European literary prize, nor the Vatican, which opposed his Nobel prize, condemning him (accurately) as "an unreconstructed communist", appreciated Saramago's concern with what they, too, should have been most concerned with: the problem of evil and the ecological and social imbalances wrought by human greed.
Blindness, which was filmed by Fernando Meirelles in 2008 was, Saramago said, a metaphor for the way in which the richer nations pursue ever greater wealth to the continuing impoverishment of the already poor. The whole intricate parable, he suggested, could be summarised in the question: "Is a world in which the richest 300 people own as much as the poorest 40% combined a great achievement?"
The magnitude of his themes never deterred Saramago. Many of his works start from a "What if... ?" reflex, leading from an apparently realistic premise to spectacular flights of imagination. Memorial do Convento (Baltasar and Blimunda, 1982), his first international bestseller, which was latterly transformed into the libretto for Azio Corghi's opera Blimunda, opens under the Inquisition in 18th-century Portugal, but stars a woman endowed with witch-like clairvoyance and a priest who envisages the first successful flying machine. A Jangada de Pedra (The Stone Raft, 1986) questions what would happen if Iberia detached from the Pyrenees and floated off across the Atlantic, shuddering to a halt somewhere between the former Portuguese colonies of Brazil and Angola.
The themes were philosophical and, increasingly, millennial. Todos os Nomes (All the Names, 1997) and La Caverna (The Cave, 2002) both dealt with the increasing loss of individuality brought about by bureaucracy.
Saramago recently wrote a charming memoir, As Pequenas Memórias (Small Memories, 2006). I translated a couple of his works of non-fiction – he was always courteous and generous to his translators, saying: "Lamentably, I can only write Portuguese. It is my translators who render my work universal." One, A Voyage to Portugal (2000), described his rediscovery of his homeland after decades of exile, exploring every region away from the tourist track and close to his heart. The other, The Notebook (2010), was a series of blogs, more often in fact essays, articles and a few rants – against Israel, fundamentalism, George Bush and Silvio Berlusconi – covering the year from September 2008 to August 2009. In English, there are still two more treats to come: the phenomenal part-historical, part-folkloric Elephant's Journey will be out this August, and Cain next year.
Though he had a daughter, Violante, from his first marriage, to Ilda Reis, Saramago regarded his books as his offspring. He defended them vigorously and received his increasing avalanche of doctorates and prizes as their due.
Divorced from Ilda, in 1988 he married the Spanish journalist Pilar del Río. In 1992, after the furore that greeted O Evangelho Segundo Jesus Cristo (The Gospel According to Jesus Christ, 1991), they moved to Lanzarote, in the Canary Islands.
Given his late start as a novelist, it is perhaps not surprising that one of the wishes Saramago's last expressed wishes was to pause the world for 50 years. Not, he hastened to add, to win another innings for himself, but for us, collectively, to "find the courage to say that the stage of development we have reached is good enough ... [and to] devote all our energies for half a century to helping the millions of people who have been left behind to catch up." | Famous Person - Death | June 2010 | ['(The Guardian)', '(BBC News)', '(Deutsche Welle)', '(CNN)'] |
Japan's government approves a compensation plan to assist with the tens of billions of dollars for those affected by the malfunctions of the country's tsunami–crippled nuclear plant, fearing that Tokyo Electric Power Company could go bankrupt without the money. | Japan's government has approved a plan to help Tokyo Electric Power (Tepco) compensate victims of the crisis at its tsunami-crippled nuclear plant.
Payouts are expected to run into the tens of billions of dollars over the Fukushima nuclear plant breakdown.
The assistance could help Tepco avoid bankruptcy, but the government insisted it was not meant as a bail-out.
Meanwhile, this summer the firm also plans to restart thermal power plants shut since the March earthquake.
The move is to help it avoid possible power shortages during the peak season for demand. Tepco plans to restart the 600 megawatt No 2 unit and 1,000 megawatt No 4 unit, both oil-fired, at its Hirono thermal plant, about 20 km (12 miles) south of the Fukushima plant.
A 1,000 MW coal-fired unit at Hitachinaka in Ibaraki, north of Tokyo, will also come into operation.
The crisis has brought Tepco, Asia's biggest power firm, to the brink of ruin and there has been concern about how the company would pay a massive compensation bill.
Now Japan's government has agreed to use taxpayer's money to help - reports say more than $60bn.
Under the plan a state-backed institution will be created from which Tepco can draw money to pay out claims.
In return the company will fall under close government supervision. It will remain listed on the stock exchange but will use profits to pay back the money over a period of years.
Tepco - which serves an area that accounts for 33% of Japan's economy - had earlier agreed to drastic restructuring in return for government help. The conditions agreed by the company include massive cost-cutting, no upper limit for compensation payouts and accepting an investigation of its management.
Other electricity companies with nuclear power stations will also be expected to contribute, says the BBC's Roland Buerk in Tokyo.
The government is expected to provide as much support as needed to prevent companies from going into the red, and is expected to fund the scheme by issuing special-purpose bonds.
The scheme eases fears that Tepco's problems could destabilise Japan's financial markets.
But it may face opposition in parliament if it is seen as too lenient on shareholders and management, our correspondent says.
Japanese media have reported that Tepco may have to raise electricity prices in order to help pay for payments.
Tepco's shares dropped on Friday and were trading about 6% lower at 452 yen.
Banking stocks also fell, on fears they may have to rework their loan agreements with Tepco.
Meanwhile, the operators of Japan's ageing Hamaoka nuclear plant south-west of Tokyo say they have begun shutting down one of its last two functioning reactors. The plant is located in the Tokai region near a tectonic faultline just 200km from Tokyo. Seismologists have long warned that a major earthquake is overdue in the region. Last week Prime Minister Naoto Kan called for the plant's closure in the light of the catastrophic events at the Fukushima plant.
On Thursday, Tepco said that damage to a reactor at the Fukushima plant was worse than originally thought. Water is leaking from the pressure vessel surrounding reactor 1 - probably because of damage caused by exposed fuel rods melting, according to a spokesman.
Cooling systems to the reactors were knocked out by the tsunami, causing fuel rods to overheat. There were subsequently explosions in the buildings housing four reactors, three of which had been operating at the time of the earthquake. Engineers are pumping water into the reactors to cool them as they work to restore the damaged cooling systems.
Tepco has said that it may take up to nine months to achieve a cold shut-down at the plant. | Financial Aid | May 2011 | ['(Tepco)', '(BBC)'] |
Muqtada al-Sadr is accused of confiscating the "khums" of worshipers to mosques and shrines in southern Iraq. | Al-Sadr's arrest warrant was apparently issued last August Shia leader Muqtada al-Sadr is wanted not only for the killing of a rival last year, but also for questioning in another murder case, a legal adviser to the US-led occupation has said. Al-Sadr is wanted for the 10 April 2003 assassination of rival cleric Abd al-Majid al-Khoei, a charge he denies, who was stabbed to death in the central Shia city of Najaf, along with two other people. He is also wanted for questioning over the deaths four months agoof three people, including a pregnant woman, the source said. In a third case, al-Sadr is accused of confiscating the "khums", or donations from worshippers to mosques and shrines in the south, worth a few hundred dollars. The official said an arrest warrant was signed and delivered by an Iraqi judge in August.US Brigadier General Mark Kimmitt told reporters: "We believe it is an internal matter.
"This was a warrant issued by an Iraqi judge. It will be carried out by Iraqi police forces, he will be detained in an Iraqi jail and he will be prosecuted by an Iraqi judge," he said. The occupation, he said: "Will be coming to help, if and when specific requests for assistance are made".Logistics help
The legal adviser also said the occupation authorities would "provide logistic and security help if the Iraqi authorities request it." Al-Sadr is wanted for the murder of Abd al-Majid al-Khoei (R) He said Iraqi judges were in possession of evidence to support their claims. Al-Sadr is wanted for the murder of Abd al-Majid al-Khoei (R) "Everything is ready for al-Sadr's accusation," he said. But he declined to say when and how the warrant would be served. "Obviously he has to be arrested and it could take a number of weeks, but the warrant will be executed," he said. He said the announcement about the warrant, while al-Sadr'ssupporters are rising up against the US-led occupation forces, was not a coincidence."The events of the past week have made it necessary to announce it. It has been announced now so that all the people of Iraq understand that Muqtada al-Sadr is not a hero, a great religious leader or a man of peace, but a criminal and a thief."A message to the Kuwaitis
OnWednesday, al-Sadrcalled on the Kuwaitis to expel the US military base from their land.
"I call on our neighbour Kuwait to ask that American and other bases be removed so that this state may stand hand in hand with us to remove the big nightmare and great Satan from Iraq, whose people are suffering from the occupation," Sadr said in a statement made available to Aljazeera.
"You cannot keep silent about these crimes and you must help your brothers by removing terrorism from your land," said the statement written in Arabic. It said Kuwait, which borders Iraq to the south, no longer needed US troops now that Saddam Hussein had been ousted. Around 25,000 US troops are stationed in Kuwait, a key US ally, but their number can fluctuate with rotation of troops from Iraq. Kuwait also hosts other occupation forcesinvolved inIraq. | Famous Person - Commit Crime - Accuse | April 2004 | ['(or donations)', '(Al Jazeera)'] |
The U.S. chief weapons inspector, Charles Duelfer states that search of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq has "gone as far as feasible". | U.S. investigators hunting for weapons of mass destruction in Iraq have found no evidence that such material was moved to Syria for safekeeping before the war, according to a final report of the investigation released yesterday.
Although Syria helped Iraq evade U.N.-imposed sanctions by shipping military and other products across its borders, the investigators "found no senior policy, program, or intelligence officials who admitted any direct knowledge of such movement of WMD." Because of the insular nature of Saddam Hussein's government, however, the investigators were "unable to rule out unofficial movement of limited WMD-related materials."
The Iraq Survey Group's main findings -- that Hussein's Iraq did not possess chemical and biological weapons and had only aspirations for a nuclear program -- were made public in October in an interim report covering nearly 1,000 pages. Yesterday's final report, published on the Government Printing Office's Web site ( http://www.gpo.gov/ ), incorporated those pages with minor editing and included 92 pages of addenda that tied up loose ends on Syria and other topics.
U.S. officials have held out the possibility that Syria worked in tandem with Hussein's government to hide weapons before the U.S.-led invasion. The survey group said it followed up on reports that a Syrian security officer had discussed collaboration with Iraq on weapons, but it was unable to complete that investigation. But Iraqi officials whom the group was able to interview "uniformly denied any knowledge of residual WMD that could have been secreted to Syria," the report said.
The report, which refuted many of the administration's principal arguments for going to war in Iraq, marked the official end of a two-year weapons hunt led most recently by former U.N. weapons inspector Charles A. Duelfer. The team found that the 1991 Persian Gulf War and subsequent U.N. sanctions had destroyed Iraq's illicit weapons capabilities and that, for the most part, Hussein had not tried to rebuild them. Iraq's ability to produce nuclear arms, which the administration asserted was a grave and gathering threat that required an immediate military response, had "progressively decayed" since 1991. Investigators found no evidence of "concerted efforts to restart the program."
Administration officials have emphasized that, while the survey group uncovered no banned arms, it concluded that Hussein had not given up the goal of someday acquiring them.
Hussein "retained the intent and capability and he intended to resume full-scale WMD efforts once the U.N. sanctions were lifted," Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman said yesterday. "Duelfer provides plenty of rationale for why this country went to war in Iraq."
In one of the addenda released yesterday, investigators addressed the risk that Iraqi scientists will share their knowledge or material with other countries, particularly Syria and Iran, given previous contacts, financial inducements and professional opportunities. The report concluded that the risk exists but said "there is only very limited reporting suggesting that this is actually taking place and no reports that indicate scientists were recruited to work in a WMD program."
As for the possibility that insurgents in Iraq will draw on the expertise of Iraqi scientists to develop unconventional weapons for use against the United States and its coalition forces, the report describes these efforts so far as being "limited and contained by coalition action." The survey group was aware of only one scientist assisting terrorists or insurgents. He helped them fashion chemical mortar munitions.
The report found that missing equipment, however, "could contribute to insurgent or terrorist production of chemical or biological agents."
In most cases the equipment appeared to have been randomly looted, but in selected cases it appeared "to be taken away carefully," Duelfer said in an interview yesterday. Overall, though, "it's like going to a demolition derby for car parts," said Duelfer. The right equipment "is hard to get."
Four military personnel assigned to the survey group's mission perished in the violence that engulfed Iraq, and five others were seriously wounded, in a mission that cost hundreds of millions of dollars.
No further work is planned, although teams are on hand to be dispatched when credible reports of weapons material are received in Iraq. The report says, however, that continued reports of banned arms in Iraq "are usually scams or misidentification of materials or activities." It predicts that such reports will continue.
Although new information may be forthcoming, Duelfer said in an accompanying letter that he has "confidence in the picture of events and programs covered by this report."
"If there were to be a surprise in the future," he added, "it most likely would be in the biological weapons area" because the size of those facilities can be so small.
Duelfer also recommended that the United States release some of the scientists and technocrats who are still being held captive in Iraq strictly because of their work on Iraq's weapons programs dating back to the Gulf War. "Many have been very cooperative and provided great assistance in understanding the WMD programs" and Iraq's intentions, and have exhausted their knowledge of these subjects, he wrote. "In my view, certain detainees are overdue for release."
Of 300 individuals on a "blacklist" developed by U.S. military and intelligence officials before the war, 105 have been detained. But the list, said the report, was flawed. "Some very despicable individuals who should have been listed were not, while many technocrats and even opponents of the Saddam regime made the list and hence found themselves either in jail or on the run."
The Pentagon's Whitman said that he was unaware of any scientists who had been released recently because of Duelfer's appeal and that the Defense Department routinely reviews detainees' status to see "whether or not they are a threat to the coalition and Iraqi security forces and whether or not they continue to have intelligence value." | Armed Conflict | April 2005 | ['(Washington Post)', '(Reuters AlertNet)', '(BBC)'] |
Mexico's government declares a state of emergency to combat the outbreak of swine influenza. | MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Mexican President Felipe Calderon issued an emergency decree on Saturday giving the government special powers to run tests on sick people and order them isolated to fight the deadly flu crisis.
Mexico City has already shut schools and museums and canceled sporting and cultural events as an outbreak of a new type of swine flu killed up to 68 people in the country and spread north to infect some people in the United States.
Saturdays decree, published in Mexicos official journal, gives the government power to isolate sick people, enter homes or workplaces and regulate air, sea and land transportation to try to stop further infection.
The flu has rattled residents of Mexicos overcrowded capital of some 20 million people.
Calderon tried to calm Mexicans earlier on Saturday, saying the flue was curable. He said health authorities easily had enough antiviral medicine for the 1,000 or so people suspected to be infected with the swine flu and that his government was monitoring the situation minute by minute.
Tests on Saturday showed eight New York City schoolchildren had a type A influenza virus likely to be the same type as the Mexican flu, adding to nine people in California and Texas who tested positive for it, although they later recovered. Two swine flu cases were also confirmed in Kansas.
The World Health Organization declared the outbreaks a public health event of international concern and urged all countries to boost their surveillance for any unusual outbreaks of influenza-like illness and severe pneumonia.
The agency stopped short of raising the threat level to a pandemic -- a global epidemic of a serious disease.
Mexico City residents mainly hunkered down at home on Saturday, as childrens parties were canceled and bars were closed and many of those on the street wore surgical masks.
. | Disease Outbreaks | April 2009 | ['(Reuters)'] |
Leaked communications between two U.S. military prosecutors reveal internal doubts about the military commission system established to try Guantanamo Bay detainees. In separate emails, the prosecutors allege that the commission system is rigged in favour of the prosecution and that the cases being pursued are "marginal". In Australia, the Australian Government came under renewed pressure to withdraw its support for the commissions, under which Australian citizen David Hicks would be tried. | David Hicks has been held at Guantanamo Bay for more than three years (Reuters) A lawyer for Australian Guantanamo Bay detainee David Hicks says new revelations from two former US military prosecutors prove that the process being used to try his client is biased.
In separate leaked emails, the two men allege that the military commission system is rigged in favour of the prosecution and the cases it is pursuing are "marginal". The Pentagon has dismissed the claims.
Hicks's Australian lawyer David McLeod says the revelations prove the commission will not give his client a fair trial.
"Here we have revelations from the very heart of the commission's structure itself indicating that the commission is corrupt and that there's been an attempt to pervert the course of justice by ensuring that the commissions would be set up to achieve convictions," he said.
"We're not saying 'don't try David Hicks', we're simply saying, 'put him before a body that is independent and impartial'. "And these revelations reveal that the commission process is neither."
Mr McLeod has urged the Federal Government to reconsider its support for the commissions in the light of the new allegations.
"I'm sure that if the Australian Government had known about these allegations back in March last year, when they were receiving assurances by the US authorities that the process would be fair in all respects, they would have second thoughts about agreeing to the process."
Foreign Minister Alexander Downer says he has not seen or been told of the emails and says the government is satisfied that the commissions are fair.
"Whatever these emails might say, we as of now are satisfied with the way the military commissions have now been set up," he said.
But the Federal Opposition has pounced on the latest developments, with foreign affairs spokesman Kevin Rudd urging the Government to rethink its support for the military trials.
"We now have the American military themselves saying that these American military tribunals are fraudulent and rigged, and Mr Downer and Mr Ruddock and Mr Howard saying that they're just fine and dandy," he said.
"I mean, who are we to believe?"
Meanwhile an international legal body says the emails highlight a dangerous culture of prosecution and conviction.
The president of the International Commission of Jurists' Australian section, John Dowd, backed calls for the military commissions to be scrapped and replaced by an independent court.
"It just underlines the fact that this is a very high political priority for the US Government and this shows why an independent court should deal with allegations such as this," he said.
Justice Dowd argues that US and Australian governments are now obliged to prove that the proceedings are lawful.
Law Council of Australia president John North says he will raise the issue with Attorney-General Philip Ruddock next week.
The ABC has obtained e-mails, written by two former prosecutors with the military commissions set up to determine the guilt or innocence of the Guantanamo inmates.
The Australian government has long maintained that it is satisfied with the legal process put in place by the Bush adminsitration to try David Hicks, but the Federal Attorney-General is now promising to investigate the allegations about the prosecution.
The federal Labor Party says the concerns raised by the prosecutors are alarming and it is questioning on what basis Mr Ruddock has been able to assure the Australian public so far that the process would be fair.
© 2005 ABC | Privacy Policy
This service may include material from Agence France-Presse (AFP), APTN, Reuters, CNN andthe BBC World Service which is copyright and cannot be reproduced.
AEDT = Australian Eastern Daylight Time which is 11 hours ahead of UTC (Greenwich Mean Time) | Famous Person - Commit Crime - Investigate | August 2005 | ['(Wikinews)', '(ABC)'] |
Into the Silence by Wade Davis, a biography of George Mallory wins the 2012 Samuel Johnson Prize for Non Fiction. | A book about explorer George Mallory's attempt to conquer Everest has been named winner of this year's Samuel Johnson Prize for Non-Fiction. Wade Davis's book Into the Silence: The Great War, Mallory and the Conquest of Everest will receive the £20,000 prize. Judges said the "momentous" book, the result of 10 years' research and writing, "shed new light on events and stories we thought we already knew". Davis is also the National Geographic Society explorer-in-residence. The adventurer gives a detailed insight into the explorers' world, focusing on Mallory's expeditions and the impact of the Great War. Chair of the judges, David Willetts MP, said it was a "fascinating historical narrative of a great adventure".
"It's an exciting story of human endeavour imbued with deep historical significance," he continued. "Wade's scrupulous use of sources and attention to detail, combined with his storytelling skills and ability to enter into the minds of the people he is writing about, make this a thoroughly enlightening and enjoyable book."
Canadian Wade has written 15 books and produced the Geographic Channel's documentary series Light at the Edge of the World. He flew into London from New York for the announcement of the prize at the Royal Institute of British Architects. Willetts said that this year's shortlist was "very strong", which made Wade's win "all the more significant". The rest of the judging panel was made up by writer and biographer Patrick French, The Guardian's non-fiction books editor Paul Laity, editor of Prospect magazine Bronwen Maddox, and philosopher, poet, physician and cultural critic Professor Raymond Tallis.
The prize is open to all non-fiction books published in English, by writers of any nationality, in the areas of current affairs, history, politics, science, sport, travel, biography, autobiography and the arts. Previous winners include 1599: A Year in the Life of William Shakespeare by James Shapiro and The Suspicions of Mr Whicher by Kate Summerscale. | Awards ceremony | November 2012 | ['(BBC)'] |
The World Health Organization reports a record one-day increase in global cases, with a total of 338,779 cases reported in the last 24 hours led by a surge of infections in Europe, where cases rise by 96,996. | (Reuters) - The World Health Organization reported a record one-day increase in global coronavirus cases on Thursday, with the total rising by 338,779 in 24 hours led by a surge of infections in Europe.
Europe reported 96,996 new cases, the highest total for the region ever recorded by the WHO.
Global deaths rose by 5,514 to a total of 1.05 million.
The previous WHO record for new cases was 330,340 on Oct. 2. The agency reported a record 12,393 deaths on April 17.
As a region, Europe is now reporting more cases than India, Brazil or the United States.
India reported 78,524 new cases, followed by Brazil at 41,906 and the United States with 38,904 new infections, according to the WHO, whose data lags the daily reports by each country.
According to a Reuters analysis of more recent country data, COVID-19 infections are rising in 54 countries, including surges in Argentina, Canada and much of Europe. (Graphic: tmsnrt.rs/34CabCf)
Infections in the United Kingdom have reached record levels with over 17,000 new cases reported on Thursday.
We are seeing a definite and sustained increase in cases and admissions to hospital. The trend is clear, and it is very concerning, said Dr Yvonne Doyle, medical director for Public Health England.
Frances new daily COVID-19 infections remained above the record 18,000 threshold for the second day on Thursday with new measures to curb the outbreak expected.
The average number of new infections reported in Belgium has been increasing for seven days straight and Germany reported its biggest daily increase in new cases since April on Thursday.
While India still leads in the globe in most new cases reported per day, new infections are down 20% from its peak.
In the United States, which has the largest total number of cases and deaths in the world, new infections are edging higher along with the most hospitalized COVID-19 patients since early September.
| Disease Outbreaks | October 2020 | ['(Reuters)'] |
2011 Spanish protests: More than 100,000 people, the "indignant", march on Madrid and other Spanish cities to protest government cuts, unemployment and the policies of the European Commission. | More than 100,000 protesters took to the streets in Spain on Sunday blaming bankers and politicians for causing a financial crisis that forced the country to adopt painful spending cuts.
Demonstrators of all ages linked to a movement called the "indignants" also protested against crippling unemployment and a failure to take on government corruption.
The El Mundo newspaper, quoting police sources, said as many 40,000 protesters flooded streets in Madrid.
In Barcelona, the nation's second-largest city, police said 50,000 people turned out, while groups of several thousand demonstrators rallied in other cities.
Protesters assembled in several neighbourhoods on the outskirts of Madrid early on Sunday, then formed six columns and converged on the city centre.
They tried to gather at parliament but were stopped by police, who had set up barricades and used 12 vans to block several major roads.
When it called for nationwide protests, the "indignants" movement insisted workers and the unemployed needed to make clear that they would not passively accept spending cuts to help ease Spain's economic crisis.
"The banks and the governments that caused this situation must know that we do not agree with the measures and the budget cuts, that we intend to be heard," the group said.
In one procession on the main Castellana Avenue that runs through Madrid, thousands marched towards parliament, including young people, pensioners, the unemployed and parents pushing babies in their strollers.
"They call this democracy, but it's not," shouted the crowd gathered in the city centre, watched closely by police.
"We are not property in the hands of politicians and bankers," read a banner written in bold red letters.
One orator speaking through a microphone pledged to organise a general strike.
"We are going to paralyse this country," he said.
Yolanda Garcia, a 36-year-old woman who said she has to work several low-paying jobs to get by, said that politicians "do nothing" to help people like her.
"I think that the (protest) movement could change things if it continues," she said.
In Barcelona, protesters moving through two main squares in the city centre blamed the government and powerful business interests for the crisis.
"The street is ours!" they shouted. "We are not going to pay for their crisis."
Police and media said that in Valencia, Granada, Malaga and roughly 100 other cities and towns, demonstrators voiced outrage over welfare cuts, corruption and a current jobless rate of 21 per cent, the highest in the industrialised world.
The protest movement started in Madrid on May 15 and fanned out nationwide as word spread by Twitter and Facebook.
The demonstrations peaked ahead of May 22 local elections, when tens of thousands of people packed into squares in several towns and cities.
The protesters had also set up a camp in Madrid's Puerta del Sol Square, which was dismantled on June 12 although the group said that did not signal the end of their movement.
The "indignants" have inspired similar offshoot movements in other European countries, notably Greece, where the government is also trying to implement a strict austerity program to avoid defaulting on its loans.
The Spanish central bank said last weak the recovery in Spain's beleaguered economy would likely remain slow, and that unemployment could remain high for the foreseeable future. | Protest_Online Condemnation | June 2011 | ['(The Age)', '(The Financial Times)', '(Press TV)', '(Reuters Africa)', '(BBC)'] |
The Donald J. Trump Foundation agrees to dissolve under judicial supervision while a lawsuit in the state of New York is ongoing. | New York Attorney General announced on Tuesday that the foundation will cease to exist after an alleged pattern of using its ‘charity’ for campaign purposes.
Political Reporter
The Donald J. Trump Foundation agreed to be dissolved on Tuesday after it was accused of acting “in a persistently illegal manner” by the New York Attorney General’s Office. The foundation is accused by the attorney general in a lawsuit—and in multiple news stories—of using charity funds to settle private business matters, coordinating between the foundation and Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign, and making an illegal and undisclosed contribution to a political action committee. “Our petition detailed a shocking pattern of illegality involving the Trump Foundation – including unlawful coordination with the Trump presidential campaign, repeated and willful self-dealing, and much more. This amounted to the Trump Foundation functioning as little more than a checkbook to serve Mr. Trump’s business and political interests,” Attorney General Barbara Underwood said in a statement. “This is an important victory for the rule of law, making clear that there is one set of rules for everyone.”
In a stipulation signed by foundation attorney Alan Futerfas, the foundation agreed to dissolve and within 30 days submit to the court a list of not-for-profit organizations to receive its remaining assets. The stipulation follows a decision last month to allow for Underwood’s suit against the Trump Foundation to proceed. The lawsuit seeks $2.8 million in restitution plus penalties, as well as a ban on Trump from future service as a director of a New York not-for-profit for ten years. It also seeks the same ban for a year for Trump’s children, Donald Jr., Ivanka, and Eric, who all are foundation board members. The lawsuit filed in June alleged that the foundation had illegally intervened “in Mr. Trump's campaign for president in 2016 by, among other things, making expenditures during the first five months of 2016 that were intended to influence his election for president.”
The A.G.’s office documented coordination between the campaign and the foundation, including an instance in which then-Trump campaign manager Corey Lewandowski requested that an official with the foundation give out grant money in Iowa in order to help the campaign win the state’s caucus. Additionally, the lawsuit discusses a widely publicized veterans fundraiser in Des Moines held by the Trump Foundation, but allegedly staffed by the campaign, which “planned, organized, financed, and directed" it. “The Fundraiser, which solicited donations from members of the public, including New York residents, reaped approximately $5.6 million in tax free donations,” the suit reads. “Of that total, $2.823 million was contributed to the Foundation.”
The complaint also said that in 2013, the Trump Foundation illegally donated $25,000 to a political action committee supporting the campaign of Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi. In its tax filing, it left out the contribution and instead listed a fictitious contribution to a similarly named non-profit outfit in Kansas. The suit followed reporting throughout 2016 by the Washington Post and other outlets detailing how the foundation was used as Trump’s personal piggybank. Political Reporter | Organization Closed | December 2018 | ['(CNN)', '(The Daily Beast)'] |
According to multiple sources, North Korea has fired its top three military officials and replaced them with younger loyalists. One of the three new appointees, general Ri Yong-gil, was inaccurately "reported" in 2016 as having been executed. | North Korea's top three military officials have been replaced ahead of an historic summit between leader Kim Jong Un ...
North Korea's top three military officials have been replaced ahead of an historic summit between leader Kim Jong Un and US President Donald Trump, according to multiple reports.
All three appear to have been replaced by younger Kim loyalists, part of an ongoing transformation of the country's political and military establishment since the young leader took power in 2011.
US intelligence officials and country experts say they move seems to have been driven more by concerns about potential corruption, and Kim's desire to maintain tight internal control, than any wariness about a coup attempt.
South Korea's Yonhap news agency, citing an unnamed intelligence official, reported that defense chief Pak Yong Sik had been replaced by No Kwang Chol, while Ri Myong Su, chief of the Korean People's Army (KPA) general staff, had been replaced by his deputy, Ri Yong Gil.
Army general Kim Su Gil's replacement of Kim Jong Gak as director of the KPA's general political bureau was previously referenced in North Korean state media, and confirmed Monday by South Korea's Unification Ministry, which deals with North Korean affairs.
"All these (promoted) guys are top Kim Jong Un guys," said Michael Madden, author of the highly respected North Korea Leadership Watch blog. "All three of them have held very sensitive and high level positions under Kim Jong Un, they're very loyal (to him), and all have experience interacting with foreign delegations."
The three men replaced, Pak, Ri and Kim, are 68, 81 and 77 years old respectively.
US officials believe Kim Jong Un's decision to replace the three officials may have been driven by his concerns the three were in positions to corruptly take advantage of outside investment coming into North Korea.
Two US officials who monitor North Korea developments closely tell CNN that Kim is concerned that he could risk his own ability to control and oversee outside involvement if North Korea opens to foreign investment. Kim, officials say, is determined to ensure any economic advantage comes to him and his immediate family and loyalists.
Madden said the reshuffling at the top of the North Korean military was likely done for a number of reasons, among them preparation for the Kim-Trump talks and future South Korean negotiations and exchanges.
But he also emphasized the economic aspects of Kim's move. In particular, the military's General Political Bureau (GPB) is responsible for auditing and overseeing the financial operations of the KPA, which controls a large number of trading corporations and other businesses which could be highly involved in any future inter-Korean trade or infrastructure projects.
Political commissars under the bureau are stationed throughout the KPA and can influence the army's activity at all levels.
"(Kim) is not going to want these military commissars helping themselves to any of this assistance coming to the North," Madden said. "That was a problem during the sunshine period, a lot of misappropriation and malfeasance."
He added that the size and breadth of the GPB responsibilities is such that, more than any other North Korean organization, it presents the most realistic potential threat to Kim's own power.
"From about June 2017 to earlier this year, the KPA general political bureau was under investigation by the (ruling Worker's Party), the first time in 20 years that the GPB was under investigation," Madden said.
By bringing the GPB firmly under the Party's and his own control, Kim is likely looking to avoid a repeat of the extreme action he had to take against his uncle, Jang Song Thaek, early into his rule.
Jang, previously one of the most powerful men in North Korea, was purged and executed in 2013 after he reportedly built up an alternate power base to his nephew.
Korea experts said Kim's ouster of the three military officials likely wasn't driven by fears they would topple him.
"I'd be cautious about saying the leadership shuffle is a sign of Kim's weakness," Jung Pak, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution and a former deputy national intelligence officer in the Office of the Director of National Intelligence.
"It's a sign he's comfortable shuffling people around," she said, adding that it's also a way to consolidate influence and avoid the formation of other power centers.
"When you do lop off some senior officials ... you create a whole different cohort of people who are loyal to you," Pak said.
Both Pak and Bruce Klingner, senior research fellow for Northeast Asia at The Heritage Foundation's Asian Studies Center, speaking at an event organized by the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, said that North Korea's overlapping system of informants gives Kim an added element of safety.
A coup attempt "hasn't happened because there are competing security services that report not only on citizens, but on each other," said Klingner, a former CIA deputy division chief for Korea. "I think he's pretty firmly in control" and the military purge "shows how confident he is."
Preparations are still underway for Kim and Trump's summit in Singapore, the first time a sitting US President will meet the leader of North Korea.
Trump met with former North Korean spy chief Kim Yong Chol for about 90 minutes Friday -- the highest-level North Korean official to visit the US in 18 years.
He stressed that the Singapore meeting is part of a "process" that will go on for some time: "I told them today, 'Take your time. We can go fast. We can go slowly.'"
This is something of a change from Trump's previous statements, which seemed to indicate he expected a deal to be signed in Singapore on denuclearization and other issues, and raised the possibility it may be more of a meet and greet between the two leaders.
South Korea's Blue House on Monday quashed suggestions a formal end to the Korean War could be announced at the Trump-Kim summit.
Kim is unlikely to spend much time in Singapore. Sanctions make it very difficult for senior North Korean officials to travel overseas, and Madden said Kim will also not wish to impose too much of a burden on the Singapore government, which will have to deal with onerous security arrangements caused by both leaders' presence in the city.
There has also been speculation Kim does not wish to leave North Korea for an extended period of time as this may encourage any remaining opponents to his rule to seize the opportunity to stage a coup.
In 1971, Idi Amin famously seized power in Uganda while President Milton Obote was in Singapore for a meeting of Commonwealth leaders.
Madden said any similar attempt to wrest power during the North Korean leader's absence was unlikely, pointing to Kim's previous trips to Beijing and Dalian in China, which went off without a hitch. | Government Job change - Resignation_Dismissal | June 2018 | ['(WTVA)', '(BBC)'] |
A shooting into a car in San Francisco, California, U.S., leaves four men dead. | (Reuters) - Four men were shot dead in a car in a trendy neighborhood in San Francisco, California late on Friday evening, local media reported. Gunfire erupted at about 10 p.m. local time in the Hayes Valley neighborhood, said the San Francisco Chronicle newspaper, citing police. It said no arrests had been made so far. "We've got four victims in a car here," the newspaper quoted a police officer at the scene as saying over police radio. "We've got multiple gunshot wounds here," another said. Residents reported hearing more than a dozen gunshots. Police alerted the California Highway Patrol of a vehicle possibly connected to the killings that could be headed toward Highway 101, the newspaper said. The once-seedy Hayes Valley neighborhood, bordered by the Van Ness performing-arts district, has improved much over the years and now is home to boutiques, art galleries, and posh eateries, the newspaper said. | Armed Conflict | January 2015 | ['(AP)'] |
Prime Minister of Iraq Adel Abdul Mahdi announces plans to offer his resignation to the country's parliament as a reaction to the ongoing protest movement. | Iraqi Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi said Friday he would submit his resignation to parliament, just hours after the country's top Shiite cleric put pressure on the government. Iraqi Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi said Friday he would submit his resignation to parliament after the government faced nearly two months of deadly protests against the political elite.
The announcement, broadcast on state television, came as Iraq's top Shiite cleric, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, said in his Friday sermon that parliament, which put Abdul Mahdi in power, should "reconsider its options.''
"In response to this call, and in order to facilitate it as quickly as possible, I will present to parliament a demand [to accept] my resignation from the leadership of the current government," said the statement, signed by Abdul Mahdi.
Al-Sistani, the 88-year-old spiritual leader of Iraqi Shiites, warned in his sermon of civil war after a deadly day of violence, in which security forces shot dead 40 people in the capital and southern provinces.
The latest deaths brought the number killed since October 1 to more than 400 people, while thousands more have been wounded.
In his sermon, al-Sistani said that parliament should act in Iraq's interest and "avoid seeing the country slip into a vortex of violence, chaos and havoc."
Al-Sistani calls for peaceful protest
Al-Sistani, who outside of times of crisis maintains distance from politics and is considered a proponent of an independent Iraq, has repeatedly called on protesters to remain peaceful and security forces to refrain from violence.
His past calls on the government to meet protesters' demands have been met with promises and little more.
Read more: Iraq's top cleric urges government to meet protesters' demands
The grassroots protests against the entire political class and rampant corruption represent the biggest challenge to the Shiite ruling class since the US-led invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein in 2003.
Protesters are mostly unemployed and disenfranchised Shiite youth seeking the departure of those claiming to represent them.
What could be next for Iraq?
Iraqi historian and political expert Hisham al-Hashimi told DW that Abdul Mahdi's resignation will not mean an immediate end to the unrest in Iraq, but it could calm the protests somewhat.
"The situation will ultimately be resolved only if the main demands of the protesters are met," said Hashimi.
Hashimi said these demands include a transitional government, early elections on the basis of an amended election law and the creation of a new election commission.
Role of Iran
Iran's influence in Iraq has drawn the ire of protesters across sectarian lines, who have attacked symbols of Iran's clerical leadership and Iran's consulate in Karbala and Najaf.
| Government Job change - Resignation_Dismissal | November 2019 | ['(DW)'] |
German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s government loses its majority in the upper house of parliament in a state election marked by voter anger over the bailout to avoid the Greek debt crisis. | Chancellor Angela Merkel suffered a significant political defeat Sunday when voters in Germany’s most populous state turned their backs on her ruling center-right coalition, ending the alliance’s control of the country’s upper house of Parliament.
The loss of a majority in the Bundesrat will make it difficult for Merkel to push through important legislation on matters such as tax cuts, healthcare changes and a decision to prolong the life of the country’s nuclear power stations.
Final results from North Rhine-Westphalia, home to one in five Germans, gave Merkel’s Christian Democratic Union party 34.6% of the vote and its coalition partner, the Free Democratic Party, 6.7%, the Associated Press reported. The opposition Social Democratic Party also won just over 34% of the vote, with much of the rest going to smaller opposition parties.
“This election result is personally a very bitter one for both me and the CDU,” said Juergen Ruettgers, the current chief of North Rhine-Westphalia and a member of Merkel’s CDU.
Political negotiations will determine who will next rule North Rhine-Westphalia state, which has been controlled by the ruling coalition since 2005. Loss of full control in the state will cost Merkel’s bloc its slim majority in the 69-seat Bundesrat, the upper house that represents Germany’s 16 states and plays a central role in the passage of major legislation.
The national government will find itself beholden to opposition parties as it tries to push through its program.
The voting in Germany’s industrial heartland, the first significant electoral test since Merkel began her second term in October, was overshadowed by debate over Europe’s recent economic bailout of the Greek government.
Critics accused Merkel of initially delaying a decision on Germany’s contribution to the $146-billion international rescue package in order not to upset the 13.3 million voters in North Rhine-Westphalia. The bailout was widely unpopular among Germans, who contended that Greece had gotten deeply in debt through its profligate spending.
Parliament approved Germany’s $28.2-billion portion of the bailout two days before Sunday’s election.
| Government Job change - Election | May 2010 | ['(The Australian)', '(Los Angeles Times)'] |
Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi appoints the Minister of Water Resources and Irrigation, Hisham Qandil, to the position of Prime Minister and asks him to form the new government. | Egyptian President Mohammed Mursi has appointed Water Minister Hisham Qandil as prime minister and asked him to form a new government, state TV says.
There has been much speculation over how Mr Mursi will allot cabinet posts. The army officially transferred power to President Mursi on 30 June, but retains some significant prerogatives. On 10 July, the Supreme Constitutional Court (SCC) suspended a decision by Mr Mursi to reinstate the Islamist-dominated lower house of parliament. Its decision last month to nullify parliamentary elections held earlier this year because of flaws in the law setting it up had led to political deadlock. Mr Qandil was a member of the outgoing caretaker government of Kamal al-Ganzouri, who was appointed prime minister by the military last year.
"This appointment of a patriotic and independent figure comes after much study and discussion to choose a person able to manage the current scenario," said Mr Mursi's spokesman, adding Mr Qandil had no affiliation to any political party "before or after the revolution".
Mr Qandil is little known outside Egypt, spending most of his career as a technocrat in public sector posts in water and engineering.
At 50, he is Egypt's youngest prime minister, reports say.
Mr Mursi is from the Muslim Brotherhood, but has promised a government that will be inclusive, with women and Christians represented.
| Government Job change - Appoint_Inauguration | July 2012 | ['(BBC)'] |
Prince Charles becomes the first member of the British Royal Family to meet with Gerry Adams, the President of Sinn Féin, during a two–day visit to Ireland. | Prince Charles has become the first British royal to meet Irish republican leader Gerry Adams during a visit that will take him to the scene of his great-uncle's murder by the IRA.
The prince, heir to the British throne, shook hands with Mr Adams, the veteran president of Sinn Fein, the political wing of the now-defunct Irish Republican Army paramilitary group.
Prince Charles, 66, met Mr Adams at the National University of Ireland's campus in Galway on the west coast shortly after starting a two-day visit to the republic.
Mr Adams leaned forward several times as they spoke for less than a minute before introducing Prince Charles to other guests.
Speaking before the visit, Mr Adams referred to Prince Charles by his title as colonel-in-chief of the British army's Parachute Regiment.
Soldiers from the regiment were found responsible for several killings during the 1972 Bloody Sunday massacre — one of the worst atrocities in the Northern Ireland conflict, known as the Troubles.
"But he [Charles] also has been bereaved by the actions of republicans," Mr Adams said.
"Thankfully the conflict is over. But there remains unresolved injustices. These must be rectified and a healing process developed."
Mr Adams has always rejected allegations that he was a key figure in the IRA, which killed Prince Charles's beloved great-uncle and mentor Earl Mountbatten in 1979.
The IRA blew up a boat carrying Mountbatten off the west coast of Ireland in one of the most high-profile assassinations during three decades of sectarian unrest that killed 3,500 people.
The 79-year-old, who was the last viceroy of India and a father figure to Prince Charles, was killed along with two relatives and Paul Maxwell, a 14-year-old local boy who worked on the fishing boat.
Prince Charles was expected to travel on Wednesday to the rugged stretch of coastline near where the killing took place in Mullaghmore, becoming the first royal to do so on a visit that palace aides have said was aimed at promoting "peace and reconciliation".
The visit is to include a religious service in a nearby church.
Mr Adams and other senior Sinn Fein members boycotted Queen Elizabeth II's groundbreaking visit to Ireland in 2011, the first by a British monarch since the future Republic of Ireland gained independence from Britain in 1922.
But Northern Ireland's deputy first minister Martin McGuinness, a member of Sinn Fein who was an IRA commander in the 1970s, later shook hands with the Queen during her visit to Belfast in 2012 — a historic meeting.
Speaking at the university, Prince Charles began the trip by praising the "wonderful spirit" of the Irish and the "fun of being in Ireland".
"There is a magic, a unique magic about Ireland which is totally irresistible," he said.
"So wherever I go in the world and meet Irish people, I promise you, it always makes me feel better."
A major security operation was in place for the Prince's visit, days after Irish police found guns and explosive materials in a series of raids and quizzed a number of men, including a top dissident republican.
Prince Charles and his wife Camilla will travel to Northern Ireland, part of the United Kingdom, for further engagements on Thursday and Friday.
This is Prince Charles's third visit to the Republic of Ireland.
In 1995, he became the first member of the royal family to visit the country since independence. He also visited in 2002.
| Diplomatic Visit | May 2015 | ['(AFP via ABC News)'] |
Tom Meighan, former lead vocalist of the band Kasabian, pleads guilty to assaulting his former partner. | Tom Meighan’s former bandmates also condemn assault of ex-fiancee as ‘totally unacceptable’
Domestic abuse charities have criticised as inappropriate the sentence of community service given to the former Kasabian frontman Tom Meighan for assaulting his former fiancee.
On Tuesday evening Meighan’s former bandmates condemned his “totally unacceptable” behaviour, saying it had left them with no choice but to ask him to leave the group. Meighan, 39, appeared at Leicester magistrates court on Tuesday, where he was ordered to carry out 200 hours’ unpaid work for attacking Vikki Ager.
The court heard that Ager was hit in the face, shoved up against a hamster cage, pushed over repeatedly, held by the throat and threatened with a wooden pallet during the assault on 9 April. Footage of the incident showed a drunken Meighan striking Ager and dragging her by the ankles into the back garden of their home, causing her multiple injuries.
The district judge, Nick Watson, told the singer: “I could have sent you to prison” for the incident, which he described as a “sustained attack” that was a “violation of the trust and security that should exist between partners”.
Watson said Ager had not made a statement to police and “does not appear to support this prosecution” but added that police had been called to the address before and there was “evidence of previous abusive behaviour”.
However, Meighen was sentenced to community service because of his previous good history and charity work. The judge added: “I need to take account of the fact that not only did you hurt Ms Ager, you also let down many people band members and those who love your music.
“They will be shocked about what you did that night. I have been told that you have recognised that you have a problem with alcohol.”
The prosecutor, Naeem Valli, said the attack was witnessed by a child, who called 999, sounding “panicked and afraid”, while Ager could be heard saying, “Get off me, get off me” in the background.
Meighan, whose departure from Kasabian was announced on Monday, “smelled heavily of intoxicants” during the assault and was “uncooperative and aggressive” towards officers when they arrived, Valli added.
The frontman initially denied the assault but, after being shown the video footage, told officers he could not watch it any further because it was “horrible”.
Meighan, who is known for his swaggering onstage persona, wiped his eyes and held his head in his hands as CCTV footage of the incident was played to the court on Tuesday.
Ager suffered bruising to her knees, left elbow, outer ankle and big toe as well as a reddening around the neck, which she confirmed to police was as a result of the assault.
The singer’s barrister, Michelle Heeley QC, told the court he “offers his sincere apologies to the people he has let down and he has sought to address his offending behaviour”.
Nicki Norman, the acting chief executive of Women’s Aid, said appropriate sentencing was essential for recognising the severity of domestic abuse offences and sending a message to the perpetrators. Referring to Meighan’s case, she said: “This was not appropriate sentencing.”
She added: “Robust sentencing is important for ensuring abusers are brought to justice and for improving survivors’ confidence in the criminal justice system which far too often they tell us fails to protect them.”
While not commenting specifically on the Meighan case, the domestic abuse charity Refuge said it was concerned that survivors may not have confidence in the criminal justice system to treat the issue as the serious crime that it is.
It said the criminal justice system must “keep pace with the scale and severity of domestic abuse in this country and ensure that perpetrators everywhere face the full force of the law”.
Meighan’s court appearance came a day after Kasabian band announced he was “stepping down from the band by mutual consent”. A statement published on the band’s Twitter account on Tuesday evening said: “We’re completely heartbroken. But we were left with no choice but to ask Tom to leave the band. There is absolutely no way we can condone his assault conviction. Domestic violence and abuse of any kind is totally unacceptable.
“As soon as we found out about the charges made against Tom, we as a band made the decision that we could no longer work with him. Unfortunately we had to hold back this information until he was found guilty in court.”
Meighan’s departure from Kasabian leaves guitarist Serge Pizzorno and bassist Chris Edwards as the only remaining founding members. Drummer Ian Matthews joined the group in 2004. | Famous Person - Commit Crime - Accuse | July 2020 | ['(The Guardian)'] |
In association football, Cristiano Ronaldo of Real Madrid wins the UEFA Best Player in Europe Award ahead of Manuel Neuer and Arjen Robben of Bayern Munich. | By Luke Augustus for MailOnline Published: 18:23 BST, 28 August 2014 | Updated: 22:47 BST, 28 August 2014 56
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Cristiano Ronaldo has won the UEFA's Best Player in Europe Award ahead of Manuel Neuer and Arjen Robben.
The accolade for Europe's top player in the 2013-14 season was handed out during the draw for the Champions League group stage.
Ronaldo had a stellar season at Real Madrid last season - proving the catalyst as the club won a record 10th European Cup.
| Awards ceremony | August 2014 | ['(Daily Mail)'] |
Syrian uprising: A roadside bomb explodes near a United Nations convoy in the Syrian capital of Damascus, in the district of Douma. | Shelling by Syrian forces has killed 34 people according to the British-based group the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. The organisation says there are children among the dead in the town of Souran in the central province of Hama. It cited residents saying: "The army shelled the town and then stormed it," according to Reuters. In a separate incident there was an explosion near a convoy carrying the head of the UN mission in Syria.
There are no reports of casualties in that case and it is not clear if it was a bomb or a rocket-propelled grenade. Maj Gen Robert Mood's vehicle was at an army checkpoint in the Douma district of Damascus when the blast happened. Journalists who were in Gen Mood's convoy say the front of a nearby Toyota pick-up vehicle was blown off in Sunday's incident. There is so far no comment from the mission itself.
Violence between armed rebels and the Syrian army has been escalating despite a truce negotiated by UN-Arab League envoy Kofi Annan.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights called the deaths in Hama a "massacre" and urged the UN mission to deploy observers to the area immediately.
Clashes had been reported in Douma earlier in the day. Reuters news agency says gunmen wounded 29 members of the security forces. The BBC is unable to confirm reports due to tight restrictions on the movements of journalists in Syria. Douma, on the outskirts of the capital Damascus, was one of the first areas to join the uprising against President Bashar al-Assad last year.
Earlier this month Gen Mood, a Norwegian officer, was in another convoy which avoided an explosion near the city of Deraa. In that case a Syrian military truck which was escorting the vehicles was hit just seconds after UN staff had passed by. There are 257 unarmed UN observers in Syria and that number is expected to increase to 300 by the end of May. | Armed Conflict | May 2012 | ['(BBC)'] |
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