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In a protest in Barcelona, an estimated 800,000 people (370,000 in the government claim) demand secession from the Madrid-based Spanish government. | Hundreds of thousands of people rallied across Catalonia on Sunday declaring their support for the autonomous region’s full independence from Madrid, just as Spain faces the possibility of going to the polls yet again.
Flags used by the pro-independence movement were seen flying at events attended by thousands in five Catalan cities, including the capital Barcelona, reports Reuters. The rallies took place on Catalonia’s National Day, or La Diada, which marks the defeat of the Catalan army by Spanish forces in Barcelona during the War of the Spanish Succession.
Turnout was estimated by local police at around 800,000, but the central government insisted that only about 370,000 people attended these demonstrations.
Just how should Madrid respond to the increasing sentiments for secession is, in part, causing the continuing paralysis of the Spanish government, according to Reuters. Despite two successive general elections, politics is still in deadlock, with the possibility of a third election looming large.
The region’s premier said at a press conference on Sunday that early elections next year could be used to gauge the appetite for separation from Spain, unless Madrid would allow a direct referendum on the issue.
In 2014, over 80% of voters in Catalonia said they wanted to break away from Spain in a referendum that was not recognized by Madrid. | Protest_Online Condemnation | September 2016 | ['(Time)'] |
The European Central Bank reinstates the waiver that enables Greek banks to use the country's bonds as collateral for regular loans, for the first time in more than a year. | FRANKFURT (Reuters) - The European Central Bank reinstated Greek banks’ access to its cheap funding operations on Wednesday after more than a year on an emergency lifeline and said it would examine later whether to add Greek debt to its asset purchases.
The restoration is a big step toward normalizing an economy that is still in recession, weighed down by capital controls and adjustments related to Greece’s third bailout since 2010, agreed last year and worth up to 86 billion euros ($97 billion).
The ECB said it “acknowledges the commitment of the Greek government to implementing the European Stability Mechanism macroeconomic adjustment program and, therefore, expects continued compliance with its conditionality”.
Greek banks lost their access to the ECB’s regular funding operations early last year when Athens came close to being ejected from the euro zone.
After bringing his nation back from the brink, Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras has pushed through a slew of painful measures, including a pension reform and the privatization of state assets such as ports and regional airports.
A nearly decade-long economic contraction has wiped out over a quarter of Greek GDP since its peak in 2007 and unemployment stands at around 25 percent.
The country’s debt is rated “junk” by credit rating agencies, but the ECB Governing Council waived its minimum rating requirement to let banks post government-guaranteed debt as collateral in exchange for normal funding.
The move comes shortly after the euro zone’s bailout fund approved the next tranche of aid to Athens and ECB President Mario Draghi praised Greek efforts.
The ECB said its Governing Council will “examine ... at a later stage” possible purchases of Greek government bonds, taking into account the progress made toward debt sustainability and other risk-management considerations.
“The reinstatement of the waiver for Greek assets by the ECB could benefit Greek core banks’ net interest income by as much as around 80 million euros -- after tax at around 60 million euros -- depending on the eligibility of the Greek assets and the level of haircut imposed,” Greek brokerage Euroxx said.
“This, in our view, will be essential for the reduction of Greek banks’ funding costs, which along with the gradual easing of capital controls should also help the all-important return of deposits into the system,” it said.
The ECB’s waiver does not automatically solve Greek bank’s funding problems as they will still have limited eligible collateral, so they can only switch a minor part of their 64.8 billion euros worth of Emergency Liquidity Assistance (ELA) to the ECB’s regular funding operations.
Though the exact details of ELA are not published, the average interest rate charged on it is estimated to be around 1.5 percent, well above the ECB’s main refinancing rate, currently set at 0 percent.
Editing by Catherine Evans
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
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| Government Policy Changes | June 2016 | ['(AP)', '(Reuters)'] |
At least five people have been killed in an attack on the Kenyan coast. | At least five people have been killed in an attack on the Kenyan coast, close to the scene of raids last week in which more than 60 people died.
Officials said an armed gang descended on the village of Witu, about 15km (9 miles) from the town of Mpeketoni.
No group has said it carried out the latest attack.
Somali Islamist group al-Shabab said it was behind the raids on Mpeketoni, near Lamu but President Uhuru Kenyatta has blamed local political groups.
Lamu County Commissioner Stephen Ikua confirmed on Tuesday there had been a new "unfortunate attack" overnight.
An emergency security meeting has been called to assess the situation, Kenya's Daily Nation newspaper reported Mr Ikua as saying. The "attackers used machetes and other crude weapons... the victims have cuts and injuries," local village chief Kaviha Charo Karisa told Reuters news agency.
Al-Shabab said the previous raids were in response to the presence of Kenyan troops in Somalia.
Kenyan fighter jets launched renewed air strikes on the group's bases in Somalia in recent days as part of an offensive by the African Union force.
Officials said the assaults on the villages of Anole and Kuday left more than 80 militants dead, although this could not be independently verified.
Kenya sent troops to Somalia in 2011 to help the weak UN-backed government defeat the militants.
Last week's attacks in Mpeketoni started on the evening of 15 June as locals were watching a football World Cup match on television. Gunmen went on to carry out further assaults in villages nearby the next day.
The Kenyan government has since put out advice urging people to watch World Cup matches at home rather than gathering in bars or others public places.
The Kenyan Red Cross says about 600 households are currently taking refuge in two camps after fleeing the violence around Mpeketoni. | Armed Conflict | June 2014 | ['(BBC)'] |
Three people are killed and seven injured in an attack in Karachi, Pakistan | Karachi: Unknown assailants on motorcycle opened gunfire on Friday in downtown Karachi, killing at least three people, including a woman and injuring seven others, police and rescue workers said. Three of the injured men are in critical condition. The woman died at the hospital.
The attack took place in the Kharadar market area.
The incident led to widespread panic among shopkeepers and residents who opted to stay indoors. Rumours were strife that a battle between two rival gangs was due.
The Kharadar area is part of the old city and adjoins restive Lyari town.
Officials probing the case said they have yet to ascertain the identity of the killers
They added that the main motive seemed to be to scare people before the holy month of Ramadan to easily extort money.
Violent incidents have been on the rise with a recent incident where a car showroom owner was murdered for not giving extortion money. The owner had been receiving death threats for the past several months.
In Korangi area, an extortionist was caught red-handed while trying to escape after throwing a hand grenade.
The residents of the area nabbed the criminal when he fell down from the motorcycle. He was tied up with ropes and beaten badly. Residents resisted to give him to the police. Meanwhile many people chanted slogans against the police for being corrupt and inefficient. The man was eventually handed over to the police when rangers arrived on the scene. The hand grenade attack injured at least 10 people including two children.
| Riot | June 2013 | ['(Gulf News)'] |
Ernesto Fazzalari, Italy's second most-wanted fugitive and member of 'Ndrangheta, is arrested by the Carabinieri near Molochio in Calabria, Southern Italy, after two decades on the run. Interior Minister Angelino Alfano described Fazzalari as "one of the most important fugitives and a leading underworld figure". | Ernesto Fazzalari of Calabrian ’Ndrangheta faces life sentence having been found guilty of murder and drug trafficking
Italy’s second most wanted mafia boss, Ernesto Fazzalari, was arrested on Sunday after almost two decades on the run, apprehended by the paramilitary carabinieri police.
Fazzalari, of the notorious Calabrian ’Ndrangheta, Italy’s richest and most powerful criminal organisation, had been a fugitive since June 1996. He was the country’s second most wanted mafia boss in terms of influence and danger to society behind Matteo Messina Denaro, of the Sicilian Cosa Nostra mafia, a police statement said. Fazzalari, 46, faces a life sentence, having already been tried in absentia and found guilty of murder, mafia crimes, drug trafficking, robbery and illegal possession of weapons. He was found in the early hours of Sunday in a house in a remote and mountainous area of the Calabria region on the southern tip of mainland Italy and did not resist arrest, the police said.
Fazzalari was at the head of one of the many family-based groups that control much of Calabrian society and make vast profits through the import and sale of drugs. Federico Cafiero de Raho, of the DDA national organisation of anti-mafia prosecutors, described the arrest as historic. He said Fazzalari was found close to his last known home, indicating that he relied on an extensive network of local contacts to protect him.
The prime minister, Matteo Renzi, thanked the police and prosecutors involved, tweeting: “Hurrah for Italy. Happy Sunday.” The interior minister, Angelino Alfano, said: “These are the victories that comfort and support us in the difficult path against organised crime ... There is no fleeing from justice.” | Famous Person - Commit Crime - Accuse | June 2016 | ['(The Guardian)'] |
American author Marilynne Robinson wins the Orange Prize for Fiction for her novel Home. | The US author beat five other writers to take the £30,000 prize during a ceremony at London's Royal Festival Hall, on Wednesday. The award, which recognises the work of fiction written by women around the world, was set up in 1996. Author Francesca Kay took the New Writers award for her debut novel, An Equal Stillness. Broadcaster Fi Glover, chair of judges, praised Robinson's "kind, wise, enriching novel" as "exquisitely crafted". She said: "We were unanimously agreed - it is a profound work of art." Robinson is the author of two other novels, Housekeeping (1981), which was chosen as one of the Observer's 100 greatest novels of all time and nominated for the Pulitzer Prize, and Gilead (2004), which won the Pulitzer and the National Book Critics Circle Award. She has also written two works of non-fiction, Mother Country and The Death of Adam, and teaches at the Iowa Writers' Workshop. Lyrical power
Home centres on Jack, the prodigal son of the Boughton family, who returns home looking for refuge and tries to make peace with a past littered with trouble and pain. Jonathan Ruppin, from Foyles bookshop, said: "Robinson is simply one of the outstanding prose stylists of recent years; she will undoubtedly come to be seen as essential as Nabokov or Conrad. "In picking this as this year's winner, the judges have made a real statement about lyrical power of fiction, beyond its basic function to tell stories." Robinson beat fellow US writer Ellen Feldman for her novel Scottsboro, Samantha Harvey for The Wilderness, Samantha Hunt for The Invention of Everything Else, Deirdre Madden for Molly Fox's Birthday and Kamila Shamsie for Burnt Shadows. Previous winners of the main Orange Prize include Zadie Smith's On Beauty, Lionel Shriver for We Need to Talk About Kevin, and Nigerian author Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie's Half of a Yellow Sun. Last year, Rose Tremain scooped the prize for her book The Road Home. What are these? | Awards ceremony | June 2009 | ['(BBC)'] |
German art collector Cornelius Gurlitt dies at the age of 81. More than 1400 works, suspected of being looted by the Nazis around World War II, were found in his possession in 2012, including pieces by Picasso and Matisse. | German art hoarder Cornelius Gurlitt has died aged 81, with no definitive answer on what will happen to his secret collection, which included many Nazi-looted pieces.
More than 1,400 works were found in his Munich apartment, including pieces by Picasso and Matisse. Many were feared lost or destroyed before tax investigators uncovered his priceless collection in 2012. Cornelius Gurlitt was the son of Adolf Hitler's art dealer.
Hildebrand Gurlitt was ordered to deal in works that had been seized from Jews, or which the Nazis considered "degenerate" and had removed from German museums.
Mr Gurlitt, whose death followed ill-health after heart surgery, told Der Spiegel magazine last November that he would never willingly give up the paintings.
"I haven't loved anything more than my pictures in my life," he said.
But he changed his position, agreeing to co-operate with the German authorities on establishing the paintings' provenance, and returning them if they were shown to be stolen.
German Culture Minister Monika Gruetters praised him for that, saying: "He will be rightly recognised and respected for taking this step."
Mr Gurlitt died "in his apartment in Schwabing, in the presence of a doctor," spokesman Stephan Holzinger said in a statement.
Mr Gurlitt did not live an extravagant life but would sell a painting only when he needed money.
His collection only came to light after a routine check found he was carrying wads of cash on a train from Switzerland, triggering a tax inquiry. Investigators found more than 1,400 works in his flat in Munich in February 2012 - though they only revealed the discovery in late 2013 - and a further 60 in his house near Salzburg, Austria, earlier this year.
Among them were works by Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Marc Chagall, Emil Nolde and Max Liebermann.
The collection is estimated to be worth up to a billion euros (£850m; $1.35bn).
Under German law, Cornelius Gurlitt was not compelled to return any paintings to their owners, as he was protected by a statute of limitations, which negates any claim for incidents that happened more than 30 years ago. Even if it was proved the works were looted by the Nazis, Mr Gurlitt could have kept them, the BBC's arts editor Will Gompertz says.
But his death will certainly have ramifications for the case.
Mr Gurlitt's secretive nature means little is known of his private life or any possible heirs. And the Bavarian authorities' slow, bureaucratic response to the discovery thus far would suggest that a rapid resolution of outstanding claims is unlikely, our editor adds. Collector does deal on art hoard
One lonely man and his hoard of Nazi art
In pictures: Long-lost art unveiled in Germany
Nazi trove raises legal questions
BBC History
Lost Art Internet Database - Offizielle deutsche Datenbank zur Dokumentation von Raub- und Beutekunst
| Famous Person - Death | May 2014 | ['(BBC)'] |
Seven people, including the pilot, are killed in a helicopter crash on Fox Glacier in New Zealand. |
Bad weather has halted a recovery operation for the bodies of four tourists remaining on Fox Glacier after a helicopter crash.
All seven people on board were killed when the helicopter crashed on the West Coast glacier just before 11am on Saturday.
A spokesman for the company involved gave a heartfelt message to the victims as police anticipated bad weather would prevent recovery crews from revisiting the treacherous crash site until at least Wednesday.
Alpine Adventures organisational systems manager Barry Whiteland said "I do feel for the families involved. For the community. For everybody, because it's not an easy time for any of us at this stage".
Whiteland read a statement from the company outside the rescue co-ordination centre in Fox Glacier on Sunday afternoon saying "Fox Heli Services' thoughts are now with the family and passengers and of the pilot, of course".
Four of the victims were tourists from the United Kingdom, two were visiting from Australia, and the pilot, Mitchell Gameren, was from Queenstown.
Three bodies have been recovered after a brief break in the weather, but four remain at the scene.
"The pilot was a very valued team member of course with our company," Whiteland said.
"As far as the company is concerned, we are very, very moved by it all.
"We had a meeting with the pilots this morning. A very sombre meeting."
The company planned to return to operations but at this stage it was not clear when that would happen.
Police had postponed the recovery of the bodies for the remaining four victims as weather forecasters expect rain in the area for the rest of the week.
West Coast Inspector John Canning said weather conditions were forecast to deteriorate during Monday and Tuesday, meaning recovery crews would likely be prevented from revisiting the site until at least Wednesday.
"The environment up there is very challenging. It is very dangerous.
"The site is near the top of the glacier, it's all ice, it's not level and there are blocks of ice as big as buildings with crevasses between them."
MetService meteorologist Claire Flynn said a severe weather warning was in place for Fox Glacier and surrounding areas. Heavy falls were expected through Monday and into Tuesday morning.
"Wednesday is still looking fairly miserable, it won't be heavy rain like today and tomorrow. Thursday it's still raining and on Friday it's raining - it's not looking good," she said.
Canning said alpine cliff rescue teams from Mt Cook and Franz Josef were at Fox Glacier, along with disaster victim identification teams.
"It's going to be done. It's going to be done slowly, methodically and safely and that may take a wee bit of time," Canning said.
Transport Accident Investigation Commission (TAIC) general manager Peter Northcote said the advantage of the bad weather was investigators would have time to plan the recovery properly.
The bodies of three people recovered on Sunday were expected to be taken to the Fox Glacier settlement before being transferred to Christchurch or Auckland.
VICTIMS NAMED
The seven people killed in Saturday's crash were: Mitchell Paul Gameren of Queenstown, 28, Andrew Virco of Cambridge in England, 50, Katharine Walker of Cambridge in England, 51, Nigel Edwin Charlton of Hampshire, 66, Cynthia Charlton of Hampshire, 70, Sovannmony Leang of New South Wales, 27, and Josephine Gibson of New South Wales, 29.
Katharine Walker was the head of Radiotherapy at Addenbrooke's Hospital in Cambridge.
According to the hospital's website, Walker had worked there for 23 years.
Recovery teams were winched the site of Fox Glacier helicopter crash earlier on Sunday.
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Northcote said a TAIC crash investigator had flown over the crash site, but was unable to land.
They were trying to find the best process to approach and recover the wreckage, he said.
"We know the scene is a particularly difficult one. It is heavily crevassed. Some of the wreckage is in crevasses.
"There is snow and there is ice and so people on scene need to be appropriately guided and in fact tied, in some places, to alpine cliff rescue team members."
A commercial drone operator had been commissioned by police and the TAIC to gain close and detailed photos which were not possible from a helicopter because of the difficult nature of the environment.
"That work will be weather dependent . . . if the weather is kind to us that could start [Monday].
"It's very much a case of working with the weather and the resources available to approach the task carefully and methodically," Northcote said.
Investigators expected to begin interviews with the operator to find out more details of their operations, the training and experience of the pilot and crew, and the design, manufacturing, maintenance and any issues with the helicopter.
"The commission's job is to try and work out the circumstances and the causes of this accident and to see if anything can be learnt from it that might help prevent a similar accident in the future," Northcote said.
TAIC would work with French and United State agencies, and the manufacturers of the helicopter and its engine.
"If anything comes up in the investigation that suggest that there needs to be some urgent action on the part of the regulator CAA [Civil Aviation Authority], or any other party, then the commission has the ability to make those recommendations," Northcote said.
NO FLY ZONE
Glacier Country Tourism chairman Rob Jewell confirmed the no fly zone around the crash site had been extended and no helicopter companies ran tours on Sunday, giving the recovery helicopters priority.
Visitors who wanted to see the glacier had to take the walking track.
"We're hurting. It's a real tragedy today. We'll just do what we can to make this as easy as we can for everybody, and obviously our thoughts are with those who lost their lives today and their families and friends," Jewell said.
"Here on the West Coast, it's a small village, and everyone knows everybody, so it's a matter of looking after each other."
Alpine Adventures ground crew manager Mike Nolan described the crash as an "absolute tragedy".
"We just can't believe what's going on. We're just feeling for the families at the moment," he said.
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"We don't know a lot about the recovery process just that the weather is hampering search and rescue teams. Mitch was one of our experienced pilots. We're devastated for him and his family. "
Gameren had worked at the company for about six years, mostly during summer as he worked overseas as well, Nolan said.
"He was a very valued member of our team. We just absolutely can't believe what's happened.".
The company would conduct its own investigation as well as supporting police, CAA and TAIC.
Nolan said the company took its safety very seriously and Saturday's crash was the first time a life had been lost in the more than 20 years he had worked with the company.
* Police have amended the name of one of the victims. Sovannmony Leang was incorrectly listed as Leang Sovannmony. In addition, he and Josephine Gibson were residents of New South Wales, Australia, not South Australia. Police regret any distress or confusion the mistake caused. | Air crash | November 2015 | ['(stuff.co.nz)'] |
At least two miners are killed in a mine collapse in Grand Cape Mount County, Liberia. The mayor of the county's administrative centre says scores of others are unaccounted for and feared dead. | MONROVIA (Reuters) - Two people died when an informal gold mine collapsed in western Liberia early on Tuesday, the National Disaster Management Agency said.
The collapse happened in a mining hub in Grand Cape Mount County, said Assistant Mines Minister Emmanuel Swen and other government officials.
“Fourteen persons ranging from ages 20 to 28 visited a mine site overnight to illegally dig gravel believed to contain gold. Four of them were entrapped leaving 2 dead and 2 injured,” said Archievego Doe, a spokesman for the National Disaster Management Agency.
Edwin Koha, the mayor of the county’s administrative centre, earlier told Reuters that around 50 people were missing following the incident. He told state radio that 60 people had been killed.
| Mine Collapses | May 2020 | ['(Reuters)'] |
Christine Lagarde officially starts as managing director of the International Monetary Fund . (RTÉ) | Christine Lagarde, France's ex finance minister, has taken over as head of the International Monetary Fund. The first woman to head the IMF, she was picked by its 24-member board.
The post became vacant after the resignation of Dominique Strauss-Kahn following his arrest in New York in May. He denies sexual assault charges. Ms Lagarde beat Mexico's Agustin Carstens to the job, receiving support from the EU, US and emerging market nations China, India and Brazil.
Announcing its decision last week, the IMF board said it had regarded both candidates as highly suitable for the job, but had decided on Ms Lagarde "by consensus".
Ms Lagarde takes the helm of the IMF at time of heightened global financial nerves, says the BBC's Jonny Dymond in Washington. The fund is up to its elbows in the euro crisis and directly involved in bailing out debt-stricken Greece, while keeping a close eye on other Euro-area countries in difficulties, he says.
Perhaps the first task of her five-year term will be to deal with the efforts of the IMF and European Union to resolve the Greek debt crisis and prevent contagion to other Eurozone economies.
In a television interview after her appointment, Ms Lagarde pressed Greece to move quickly to push through unpopular austerity measures that the IMF and EU had said were a prerequisite for further aid. Greece subsequently approved the measures.
But there are others worries too, adds our correspondent; the global economy seems badly off balance, with high inflation in China, sluggish growth in the US and Europe and a risk of overheating in some developing economies.
Although Ms Lagarde is the first woman to become managing director since the IMF was created in 1944, she maintains the tradition that the post is held by a European.
It has been convention that Europe gets the IMF, while an American gets the top job at the World Bank.
After her appointment, Ms Lagarde said her "overriding goal" would be that the IMF "continues to serve its entire membership".
"As I have had the opportunity to say to the IMF board during the selection process, the IMF must be relevant, responsive, effective and legitimate, to achieve stronger and sustainable growth, macroeconomic stability and a better future for all." She also said she wanted to unify the IMF's staff of 2,500 employees and 800 economists and restore their confidence in the organisation.
Before becoming France's finance minister in June 2007, she was minister for foreign trade for two years.
Prior to moving into politics, Ms Lagarde, a former champion synchronised swimmer, was an anti-trust and employment lawyer in the US.
| Government Job change - Appoint_Inauguration | July 2011 | ['(IMF)', '(The Irish Times)', '(BBC)'] |
U.S. President George W. Bush praises the Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon for his "courageous initiative" to pull all Israeli settlements out of the Gaza Strip, however Bush also told Sharon not to expand other existing settlements. The two leaders met in Texas, United States. | Mr Sharon said Israel would meet its commitments under the international peace plan, known as the roadmap.
The issue overshadowed talks in Texas that were designed to show US support for Mr Sharon's Gaza pullout plan.
Mr Bush praised Mr Sharon's "courageous initiative" to pull all Jewish settlers from the Gaza Strip and parts of the West Bank, but he also raised concerns about Israel's recent decision to expand settlements around Jerusalem.
Expansion
Israel has unveiled plans for 3,500 extra homes on occupied land near Maale Adumim - the largest Israeli settlement in the West Bank - forming a corridor to Jerusalem. Mr Bush said the move was a clear breach of the terms of the roadmap.
As to settlements, Israel will meet all its obligations under the roadmap
Ariel SharonIsraeli Prime Minister
Speaking to reporters after their meeting, Mr Bush said he would continue to work with Israel to remind the Israelis of their obligations.
However, he did not specify what action, if any, might be taken against Israel if it continued to build.
Mr Sharon said Israel would "meet all its obligations under the roadmap", but he said Israel could not move ahead with talks until the Palestinians ensure "a full cessation of terror".
Mr Sharon said Maale Adumim "would be part of Israel" and that there ought to be "contiguity between Maale Adumim and Jerusalem."
The international community considers all settlements in Gaza and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, as illegal under international law, though Israel disputes this.
Deadly violence
The meeting in Crawford, Texas, followed the first deadly incident in Gaza since Mr Sharon and Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas called for an end to violence at a summit in Egypt in February.
Palestinian militants fired dozens of rockets and mortars at settlements, after three youths were killed in disputed circumstances in the southern Gaza town of Rafah on Saturday.
Witnesses say they were killed trying to retrieve a football near a military position on the Egypt border; Israel says they were involved in smuggling weapons.
Correspondents say Mr Sharon's trip to Texas was intended as a reward for Mr Sharon's Gaza plan. Mr Sharon is planning to pull all 8,000 Jewish settlers, and the Israeli troops who protect them, from Gaza this summer. Israel will keep control of the borders, coast and airspace of the occupied territory, which is home to 1.5 million Palestinians. Four isolated settlements in the Israeli-occupied West Bank will also be evacuated. | Diplomatic Talks _ Diplomatic_Negotiation_ Summit Meeting | April 2005 | ['(BBC Video)', '(BBC)', '(CNN)'] |
North Korea and South Korea hold meetings to discuss visitation reunions of families separated by the Korean War. | North and South Korea have agreed to hold reunions for families separated after the Korean War, following calls from Pyongyang to improve ties.
The reunions are scheduled to take place in February. If held, they would be the first reunions since 2010.
In September, the North cancelled a planned reunion, blaming "hostility" from the South.
The move comes ahead of annual US-South Korea military drills later this month, which are expected to anger the North. Pyongyang has asked Seoul to cancel the annual drills - a request that has been refused. North Korea has in the past cancelled or suspended reunion meetings in retaliation for South Korean actions it opposes. Critics have accused the North of using reunions as a bargaining chip.
Millions were separated from their families by the division of the Korean peninsula after the 1950-1953 war.
The reunion events are highly emotional occasions where North and South Koreans meet briefly in the North before heading home again.
Yeo In-chan is on the waiting list to meet his older brother, who would now be 83.
"I'm happy that the reunions may go ahead, but I think the number of people taking part is too limited," he told the BBC. "People who have been selected this time may be excited. But think about the majority of those who will be left behind: they have to watch other families reunite on television, and for them the pain is greater than the joy."
South Korea has used a lottery system in the past to help determine who is to be included.
The process in North Korea, on the other hand, is more opaque, with critics saying Pyongyang plays politics with the families involved.
The reunions are scheduled to be held from 20 February to 25 February, at the Mount Kumgang resort in North Korea.
Before Wednesday's meeting, Lee Duk-haeng, head of South Korea's delegation, said: "We will make all-out efforts to come up with good results such as on a schedule for the family reunion so that we can deliver good news to separated families.
"We will do our best to start the new year off on the right foot for the South-North relationship."
It is estimated that there are about 72,000 South Koreans - nearly half of them aged over 80 - on the waiting list for a chance to join the family reunion events.
However, only a few hundred participants are selected each time. Most do not know whether their relatives are still alive, because the two countries prevent their citizens from exchanging mail, phone calls and emails.
It is a rare glimpse of co-operation on the peninsula, after years of deteriorating ties, the BBC's Lucy Williamson in Seoul reports.
The programme was suspended after the North's shelling of a South Korean border island in November 2010.
In September, Pyongyang cancelled the planned reunions of 100 families, blaming South Korea's "confrontational attitude". Last month, North Korea began urging an end to slander and "hostile acts", but many in the South remain sceptical that warmer ties are so easy to secure, our correspondent adds. Last year, the military exercises, known as "Foal Eagle", led to an unusually sharp and protracted surge in tensions. | Diplomatic Talks _ Diplomatic_Negotiation_ Summit Meeting | February 2014 | ['(BBC)'] |
An American who formerly worked for the Central Intelligence Agency is arrested on charges of selling classified information to Chinese operatives in May 2017. | A former CIA officer sold top secret and other classified documents to Chinese intelligence officials, according to charges filed Thursday in Alexandria federal court.
Kevin Patrick Mallory, 60, of Leesburg, Va., was arrested Thursday and appeared briefly in front of Judge Theresa Buchanan on counts of delivering defense information to aid a foreign government and making false statements. He asked to be represented by a public defender. Mallory had a top secret security clearance until he left the government in 2012, prosecutors say, having worked at various government agencies and defense contractors.
Although the primary government agency in question is not named, two government officials confirm that Mallory worked for the CIA. Prosecutors say Mallory sent three documents containing classified information, one of which was labeled top secret, to a Chinese intelligence operative in May. “Your object is to gain information, and my object is to be paid for it,” Mallory wrote to the Chinese contact at around the same time, according to an affidavit from FBI agent Stephen Green filed in federal court. Mallory allegedly added that he would “bring the remainder of the documents” on a June trip. “My current object is to make sure your security (sic) and try to reimburse you,” the operative allegedly replied. The CIA declined to comment Thursday.
According to the affidavit, Mallory told FBI agents in May that he had been contacted in February on a social media site by a recruiter for a Chinese think tank, the Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences. He spoke on the phone with the recruiter and was then introduced to a potential client, whom he traveled to Shanghai to meet in both March and April. In March, Mallory allegedly reached out to several former CIA coworkers and asked for help getting in touch with a specific department. He told one employee that he believed the people he had met with were working for Chinese intelligence, according to Green. He allegedly also said he had been given a device to communicate securely with the Chinese agent and been taught how to use it. Expecting to meet with the same CIA employee in May, Mallory was instead greeted by FBI agents. He let them search the device given to him by the Chinese operative. But, according to Green’s affidavit, Mallory was surprised that past conversations on the device had not been erased. He was showing the agents how to move a message from normal to secure mode when the secure messages appeared. Mallory allegedly told the Chinese agents he had destroyed his paper records and planned to destroy all electronic records once they were sent. He told the agents the documents on the phone were merely white papers he had written based on his own knowledge. While he told the FBI agents he had been paid $25,000 by the Chinese operatives, the court files show, he said the money was only for his consulting services in the country and expenses. Between 1990 and 2012 Mallory was stationed in Iraq, China and Taiwan; he is fluent in Mandarin Chinese. He founded a consulting company, GlobalEx, in 2010. He attended Brigham Young University and then served in the military. He also served in active army deployments in more recent years. Charlie Sherrod, a friend and former financial advisor, was shocked by the arrest and charges. “I find it very hard to believe that he would do something like that,” he said Thursday. He knew Mallory as “a strong Christian and a family man.” A woman who answered the phone at Mallory’s residence said she was unfamiliar with the charges and wanted to consult a lawyer before commenting. Mallory appeared in court wearing a loose tank top and gym shorts. He faces up to life in prison. He will return to court Friday for a detention and preliminary hearing. “The conduct alleged in this complaint is serious and should send a message to anyone who would consider violating the public’s trust and compromising our national security by disclosing classified information,” said Dana J. Boente, Acting Assistant Attorney General for National Security and the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia. | Famous Person - Commit Crime - Arrest | June 2017 | ['(The Washington Post)'] |
President of Egypt Hosni Mubarak says on national television he will not tolerate the "humiliation" of Egyptian nationals abroad following the riots between Algeria and Egypt over a qualifying match for the 2010 World Cup. | Egypt's President Hosni Mubarak has stepped into a row with Algeria, vowing he will not tolerate the "humiliation" of Egyptian nationals abroad.
The dispute was triggered by violence following football World Cup qualifying matches between the two north African Arab nations. Algeria won the crucial play-off, but each side has accused the other's fans of attacking their supporters. The governing body of world football, Fifa, is investigating the violence. The BBC's Yolande Knell in Cairo says in a country where political demonstrations are usually heavily suppressed this is an unusual sight and a further sign of how strained Egypt's relationship with Algeria has now become. In the televised statement to a joint session of parliament, President Mubarak said his country will not be lax in defending the rights and integrity of its citizens. "Egypt does not tolerate those who hurt the dignity of its sons," he said. Although he did not mention Algeria by name, our correspondent says it was clear he was referring to the row that has occurred following violence that spilled over following the matches on 14 and 18 November. Mr Mubarak said: "We don't want to be drawn into impulsive reactions. I am agitated too, but I restrain myself."
Algeria has demanded that Egypt stop what it describes as "a media campaign" against it following the violence. On Friday, riot police had to quell a violent demonstration near the Algerian embassy in Cairo. Egypt's interior ministry said 35 people were injured. A day earlier, around 1,000 Egyptians burned Algerian flags in a street near the Algerian embassy. Algeria beat Egypt 1-0 in a play-off in Sudan on Wednesday.
Protesters were incensed by reports that Egyptian fans at the match had been attacked as they left the stadium. Egypt has threatened to quit international football for two years after complaining to Fifa about Algerian fans' behaviour in Khartoum. If Egypt does not go through with its threat, there is a chance the teams could meet again in less than three months, in the Cup of African Nations, hosted by Angola. The two teams were drawn in different groups at Friday's ceremony but could meet each other in the later stages. Egypt's foreign ministry had summoned the Algerian ambassador to hear complaints about reports of attacks on Egyptian fans in Khartoum and on Egyptian businesses in Algeria. The Egyptian ambassador in Algiers was than recalled "for consultations". Sudan has also summoned the Egyptian envoy in Khartoum, angry at Egyptian media coverage of the game's aftermath. The Egyptian government alleges 21 of its citizens were attacked after the match, but Sudan says far fewer were injured. The teams needed the play-off in a neutral country to decide on qualification after the final group match between them on Saturday saw Egypt win 2-0, meaning the two teams finished tied at the top of the group with equal points and identical goal difference. Fifa has opened disciplinary proceedings against Egypt after the Algerian team bus was pelted with stones before the 14 November match in Cairo. Three Algerian players were injured by rocks thrown as they arrived. | Famous Person - Give a speech | November 2009 | ['(BBC)'] |
North Korea leader Kim Jong-un announces that North Korea will suspend its missile and nuclear tests and has agreed to shut down its nuclear test sites. | North Korean leader Kim Jong Un announced Friday that his country will be suspending missile testing and closing a nuclear test site, several reports said.
"From April 21, North Korea will stop nuclear tests and launches of intercontinental ballistic missiles," the Korean Central News Agency said, according to Yonhap News. "The North will shut down a nuclear test site in the country's northern side to prove the vow to suspend nuclear test."
The announcement comes amid preparations for a meeting later this year between President Trump and the North Korean dictator. During the summit, Trump said he expected to talk with Kim about denuclearizing the hermit kingdom.
“North Korea has agreed to suspend all Nuclear Tests and close up a major test site,” Trump tweeted following the announcement. “This is a very good news for North Korea and the World - big progress! Look forward to our Summit.”
News of the testing suspension follows the revelation earlier this week that Mike Pompeo, the current CIA director and secretary of state nominee, met with Kim in North Korea over Easter weekend to lay the groundwork for the prospective meeting with Trump. The meeting, Trump said, could occur by early June.
Trump said Pompeo's meeting "went very smoothly" and said a "good relationship was formed."
"Denuclearization will be a great thing for World, but also for North Korea," he said.
However, Trump told reporters on Wednesday that he would walk away from talks with Kim if he thought they were "not going to be fruitful."
"I hope to have a very successful meeting," Trump said during a joint news conference alongside Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. "If we don't think it's going to be successful, we won't have it. If I think it's a meeting that is not going to be fruitful, we're not going to go. If the meeting when I'm there is not fruitful, I will respectfully leave the meeting."
North Korea's decision Friday was made in a meeting of the ruling party's Central Committee, during which Kim, according to the Korean Central News Agency, said, "Nuclear development has proceeded scientifically and in due order and the development of the delivery strike means also proceeded scientifically and verified the completion of nuclear weapons.
"We no longer need any nuclear test or test launches of intermediate and intercontinental range ballistics missiles and because of this the northern nuclear test site has finished its mission," he said.
North Korea also vowed to actively engage with regional neighbors and the international community to secure peace in the Korean Peninsula and create an "optimal international environment" to build its economy.
The country's diplomatic outreach in recent months came after a flurry of weapons tests, including the underground detonation of a possible thermonuclear warhead and three launches of developmental intercontinental ballistic missiles designed to strike the U.S. mainland.
Fox News' Christopher Jones, Samuel Chamberlain and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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The Pentagon has spent $15 million in the past five years to treat 1,892 transgender troops, Defense Department data provided... | Famous Person - Give a speech | April 2018 | ['(Military)', '(NBC News)'] |
16 people are killed and around 70 others are trapped after a blast at the San Fernando mine in Amagá, Antioquia, in Colombia. | AMAGA, Colombia - More than 70 miners were trapped and feared dead in an overnight coal mine explosion in Colombia that , authorities said on Thursday.
The gas explosion occurred just after midnight at the San Fernando mine in Amaga town in northwestern Antioquia province, far from the major coal operations run by large companies such as Drummond and Glencore near the Caribbean coast.
Anxious relatives sobbed and hugged each other as they waited for news and asked rescue workers for details as hearses drove past with bodies of miners.
Luz Amanda Pulido, a national disaster official, told local radio there was "practically no" chance of pulling out miners alive from the mine.
Colombia, the world's No 5 coal exporter, has enjoyed a boom in energy and mining investment under Uribe, who sent troops out to drive back left rebels who targeted oil and mining infrastructure for attacks.
Hundreds are killed or injured every year while prospecting for gold or coal in often makeshift mines in Colombia, which is increasingly a target for foreign gold companies attracted by better security under Uribe.
A methane gas explosion in a coal mine killed eight workers last year also in Antioquia province and in 2007, 31 miners were killed in an explosion Norte de Santander in one of the worst disasters of its kind in a decade. | Mine Collapses | June 2010 | ['(BBC)', '(Reuters)', '(France24)', '(China Dialy)'] |
Australian cyclist Simon Gerrans wins the first stage of Tour Down Under in Adelaide, Australia. | Australian cycling star Simon Gerrans is the man to beat in the Tour Down Under after winning stage one.
The Orica-GreenEDGE leader out-sprinted German Andre Greipel (Lotto Belisol) and Australian Steele Von Hoff (Garmin Sharp) in an uphill sprint at the end of stage one.
Earlier this month, Gerrans showed he was in form by winning the Australian road championship.
Greipel has been almost unbeatable in sprint finishes at the Tour, but the uphill finish worked to Gerrans' advantage and he had a perfect lead out from team-mate Daryl Impey.
Gerrans, Greipel and retired Australian Stuart O'Grady are the only riders to have won the Tour twice.
"Looking towards the end of the week, it probably would have been better if Andre had the lead going into tomorrow," Gerrans said.
"But like I said, you have to take every opportunity that comes up and you have to go for these stage wins when you can get them."
Greipel is one of the world's top sprinters, but the uphill finish and the Menglers Hill climb with only 15km left worked to Gerrans' advantage.
Impey's lead out set up Gerrans for the win, with Greipel second and Australian Steele Von Hoff (Garmin Sharp) third.
"Andre is obviously one of the fastest guys going around, so I'm pretty pleased to get him on the line there," Gerrans said.
"But it was a tough final, everyone was pretty tired after Menglers, so it would have taken the sting out of his legs a little bit."
Audience submitted: Helen Bailey
A front group of about 50 riders went clear as the peloton splintered on the Menglers Hill Climb within 15km of the finish.
Australian pre-race favourites Cadel Evans (BMC) and Richie Porte (Sky) were among the leaders.
Australian Adam Hansen (Lotto-Belisol) went clear at the top of Menglers Hill to take the King of the Mountain prize, but he was soon caught.
Rising Australian star Caleb Ewan (UniSA) was among those dropped on the climb.
Europcar team-mates Yukiya Arashiro (Japan) and Bjorn Thurau (Germany) attacked on the descent before the front group caught them with about 1km left.
There was a crash just before 1km to go which appeared to take out several riders.
Australians Neil Van Der Ploeg (UniSA) and Will Clarke (Drapac) attacked within minutes of the start and built a lead of four minutes.
But the peloton always kept the gap in check and they were caught at 119km.
Gerrans gained a one-second time bonus when he finished third on the second intermediate sprint at 71km.
That bonus could be important, given the overall Tour is often decided by less than 10 seconds.
The stage went ahead as planned after concerns over the weekend about a nearby bushfire, which was contained.
AAP
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AEST = Australian Eastern Standard Time which is 10 hours ahead of GMT (Greenwich Mean Time) | Sports Competition | January 2014 | ['(ABC)'] |
Nigerian soldiers open fire on a crowd after curfew in Jos, killing two people, days after Muslim-Christian riots in the area left more than 200 dead including dozens of children |
Soldiers opened fire on a crowd after curfew and killed two people, witnesses said on Wednesday, just days after fighting between Christians and Muslims in the area left more than 200 dead including dozens of children.
Hundreds of people swarmed the streets of Jos on Wednesday morning, where one truck’s windshield was a spider web of bullet holes with the word “rejoice” scrawled on it.
Residents had tried to stop the truck late Tuesday from entering the town after curfew late Tuesday, fearing it was carrying fighters or weapons. They have accused police and military of failing to provide security to the villages that were attacked on Sunday morning.
The military later arrived, asked the youth to leave, and then opened fire on them and the truck. Two were killed and five others were wounded, said Angela Ogobri, a nurse from a local hospital.
An Army colonel prevented AP reporters from seeing the dead. The truck was later found to be carrying only cattle and baskets.
At least 200 people, most of them Christians, were slaughtered on Sunday in several villages near Jos, according to residents, aid groups and journalists. The violence comes after sectarian killings in this region in January left more than 300 dead, most of them Muslims.
Nigeria is almost evenly split between Muslims in the north and the predominantly Christian south. The recent bloodshed has been happening in central Nigeria, in Nigeria’s “middle belt,” where dozens of ethnic groups vie for control of fertile lands.
The killings add to the tally of thousands who already have perished in Africa’s most populous country in the last decade due to religious and political frictions. Rioting in September 2001 killed more than 1,000 people. MuslimChristian battles killed up to 700 people in 2004. More than 300 residents died during a similar uprising in 2008. | Armed Conflict | March 2010 | ['(The Hindu)'] |
A 4.6 magnitude earthquake is felt in central Alberta just before 6 a.m. The epicentre was determined to be just south of Red Deer, and is believed to be the result of tectonic activity east of the Rocky Mountains. No structural damage or injuries are reported, and it is unlikely to cause aftershocks. | A 4.6 magnitude earthquake hit central Alberta near Sylvan Lake and Red Deer just before 6 a.m. on Monday, according to Natural Resources Canada (NRC).
NRC shared details on the quake on its website, saying the quake’s epicentre was just south of Red Deer and had a depth of one kilometre.
Speaking to Global News, earthquake seismologist Taimi Mulder from the Geological Survey of Canada/NRC said the quake was in no way connected to a quake in Salmon Arm, B.C., on Saturday.
“There’s not often earthquakes in Alberta,” she said, adding it “may be due to tectonic activity just east of the Rockies.”
“Earthquakes occur every couple years in the foothills of the Rockies. This one is slightly larger than normal.”
Mulder said they aren’t expecting any aftershocks and don’t expect the quake to have caused any structural damage to area buildings.
“We’ll take a closer look at this earthquake event over the next couple days and weeks and see if it can tell us anything else.”
READ MORE: Fracking and the major role it plays in causing earthquakes in Alberta
A professor of Geophysics at the University of Alberta said this earthquake, with the current data, is one of the largest the region has experienced.
“Magnitude 4s are not very common in Alberta,” Jeff Gu said.
“Although, in the last few years, there have been a few events of that similar size. The largest event I think was in the early 2000s, was on the order of (magnitude) 5 close to Dawson Creek… This would be smaller than that but still quite significant.”
Usually, damage is associated with quakes magnitude 5.5 or above, according to Gu.
Still, he thinks any event over magnitude 4 warrants analysis.
“Anything, whether it’s hydraulic fracturing, a natural event, or possibly related to wastewater injection — which was discovered not too far from this area in the Cordell Field in the past — I think any one of these mechanisms should require us to look deeply into this,” Gu said.
“Any time you feel the event, that’s a large event to monitor.”
WATCH BELOW: Natural Resources Canada says a 4.6 magnitude earthquake shook central Alberta at around 6 a.m. Monday. Kendra Slugoski spoke with people in Sylvan Lake.
Red Deer Mayor Tara Veer said most Red Deerians felt the quake Monday morning, herself included.
“I certainly did… Many Red Deerians woke up saying their house had shaken at about 5:55 this morning. We were certainly to surprised there had been earthquake activity,” Veer said.
“There apparently has been some earthquake activity in Red Deer in the past, but it’s certainly not very common.”
Vesta Energy’s monitoring equipment detected a seismic event about 20 kilometres southwest of Red Deer at 5:56 a.m.
A spokesperson for the oil and gas company said there were reports of power outages in the region.
Vesta shut down its “completions activity” in the area and is working with the Alberta Energy Regulator “to review and investigate the situation.”
Gu says that’s following protocol.
“Alberta Energy Regulator has a specific mandate that if the event happens with a magnitude of 4 or above, hydraulic fracturing activities, should they be responsible, must cease and the data should be handed over to them for analysis.”
It’s possible fracking caused the earthquake Monday, Gu said.
READ MORE: Mystery solved: ice quakes led to ground shifting in Alberta Beach
The Fortis Alberta website showed there were unplanned power outages in the Sylvan Lake area shortly after 6 a.m., and the power company told Global News it was looking into the cause.
Residents living in central Alberta took to social media on Monday to share stories of power outages and houses shaking after concerns over a potential earthquake.
A spokesperson with Altalink told Global News power was restored to the Sylvan Lake area at 7:30 a.m.
WATCH: The epicentre of Monday morning’s earthquake was about four kilometres south of Red Deer, near Sylvan Lake. Albert Delitala has reaction as some question fracking’s role in the 4.6 magnitude quake.
It’s not the first time Alberta has been rocked by seismic activity; in 2018, two seismic events were detected near Alberta Beach, and in 2014 a 4.3 magnitude earthquake hit Rocky Mountain House in August, followed by another small earthquake in Banff in October. PHOTOS: The power outage associated with the earthquake knocked out a Sylvan Lake liquor store’s security system at 5:54 a.m. | Earthquakes | March 2019 | ['(Global News)'] |
Eight people are injured, two seriously, when a car drives into several people in front of the Amsterdam Centraal station in the Netherlands. Police say the driver may have taken ill; they are not treating this as terrorism-related. | Eight people were injured in an incident involving a car in front of Amsterdam’s main railway station on Saturday night but police say they do not think the action was deliberate.
The black Peugot 307 was apparently parked in a spot where waiting is not allowed, local media said. According to the Parool newspaper, police spoke to the driver and asked to see his licence which he showed them. The man then drove off, hitting several people, and ploughed into a low wall next to an entrance to the metro.
A police spokesman said it appeared that the driver may have been taken ill. ‘Of course we are carrying out further inquiries to rule out anything else,’ the spokesman told reporters.
Two people are said to be seriously injured and have been taken to hospital. The others were treated at the scene. Eyewitness John Berg said on Twitter the incident was ‘terrifying’.
The main area in front of the station was sealed off for a time but train services were not affected and passengers were still able to use the side doors, Dutch railway company NS said.
Tram services which terminate at the station’s main entrance were rerouted.
By 11pm, the car had been towed away and the station square re-opened to the public.
Witnessed a car crash into a crowd by Amsterdam central station. Terrifying! | Road Crash | June 2017 | ['(DutchNews.NL)', '(Reuters)'] |
The Australian Government announces that the wreck of the German auxiliary cruiser Kormoran has been found off the coast of Western Australia. The ship sank after a battle in 1941. | SEARCHERS have discovered the wreck of the HSK Kormoran, the disguised World War II German raider that destroyed HMAS Sydney in Australia's greatest naval disaster.
The discovery of the wreck, 2½ kilometres underwater off the Western Australian coast, is a breakthrough in the long-running efforts to find the last resting place of the Sydney and its crew of 645 sailors.
The Sydney was lost with all hands after a fierce battle with the Kormoran on November 19, 1941. The location of the light cruiser and the circumstances of its sinking have been among the biggest mysteries in Australian military history.
The breakthrough came after the Finding Sydney Foundation, backed by $4.2 million in Federal Government funding, began a search earlier this month, towing sonar equipment through 1800 square nautical miles.
The foundation's chairman, Ted Graham, said yesterday the search team had identified the wreckage as the Kormoran on Saturday. It was lying on the seabed about 240 kilometres west of Shark Bay at a depth of 2560 metres.
The search team had also found debris on the sea floor about six kilometres from the Kormoran, which they believed marked the site of the main battle between the two ships.
Armed with the new information about the location of the Kormoran and the main battle, the search zone for the Sydney had now been narrowed down to an area of about 300 square nautical miles.
Mr Graham said finding the Kormoran was very important because its location exactly matched the witness accounts of German survivors and provided a "cornerstone" to guide the search for the Sydney itself.
More than 300 of the Kormoran's 390 sailors were rescued, in contrast to the complete loss of life among the crew of the Australian vessel.
"We have to remain confident [of finding the Sydney] but there can never be a guarantee, " Mr Graham said.
"It's a big ocean out there."
The Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd, said: "This is an important part of resolving a 65-year-old national puzzle as to what finally happened to the Sydney."
The British shipwreck hunter, David Mearns, who is heading the search team, has described the find in a log posted on the foundation's website.
Mr Mearns said sonar images showed four large pieces of the Kormoran's hull on the seabed with the two biggest pieces about 1200 metres from each other.
"The wreckage fits perfectly with what we know and expected to see [of the] Kormoran from testimony of the German survivors," he writes.
"The vessel suffered a catastrophic explosion after its cache of some 320 mines stored in the after cargo holds four, five and six detonated. This section of the vessel's hull has been obliterated."
Mr Mearns said the separate site to the south of the Kormoran wreckage contained debris scattered widely over a distance of 1700 metres. He said this must have come from the Sydney as "she had been gravely damaged by a torpedo hit and was being heavily shelled by Kormoran".
"Confirmation of the Kormoran's sinking position as well as the location of the action between Kormoran and Sydney has allowed me to refine the most probable sinking position of Sydney and outline a new search area for her wreck. I am confident that if the wreck of Sydney lies within our search area we will find her. Should this initial search area prove unsuccessful, the search area will be enlarged until the wreck of Sydney is found."
Mr Rudd said the German Government had been notified about the discovery of the Kormoran. He said the Minister for Heritage, Peter Garrett, would consider what steps needed to be taken to protect the wreck. | New archeological discoveries | March 2008 | ['(Sydney Morning Herald)'] |
Mexico and Belize issue warnings about Tropical Storm Karl which is threatening the Yucatán Peninsula. | Miami, Florida (CNN) -- Tropical Storm Karl picked up speed Tuesday night in the northwest Caribbean Sea, prompting coastal warnings by the Mexican government, the National Hurricane Center said.
At 8 p.m. ET, Karl was 230 miles (370 kilometers) east of Chetumal, Mexico. It had maximum sustained winds of 45 mph (75 kph) and it was traveling west-northwest at 15 mph (24 kph).
The warning was in effect for the east coast of the Yucatan Peninsula from Chetumal to Cabo Catoche. A tropical storm watch was called for northern Belize.
Karl, a small storm, will move over the Yucatan on Wednesday, the hurricane center said, and bring a storm surge and 3-5 inches of rainfall. It should weaken after landfall, forecasters say.
The Atlantic Ocean, meanwhile, gained a second hurricane overnight, as Tropical Storm Julia strengthened into a Category 1 storm, the National Hurricane Center reported.
Julia joins Hurricane Igor, which weakened early Tuesday but showed signs of getting stronger later in the day. Igor still maintained its status as a powerful Category 4 storm as it churned far from land.
At 5 p.m. ET, Igor had top sustained winds of 145 mph (230 kph) and was moving to the west-northwest at 8 mph (13 kph), according to forecasters. The storm's center was about 655 miles (1,055 km) east of the northern Leeward Islands.
Igor, which started as a tropical storm on Saturday, rapidly intensified from a Category 2 to a Category 4 storm Sunday. "Some fluctuations in intensity are possible during the next couple of days, but Igor is expected to remain a dangerous hurricane through Thursday," the center said, and it could have some effect on Bermuda.
Hurricane-force winds extended up to 45 miles (75 km) from Igor's center, and tropical storm-force winds could be felt up to 205 miles (335 km) outward, according to the center.
While the storm is expected to stay north of the Caribbean islands, the islands are expected to experience dangerous surf conditions, along with some wind and rain because of Igor's size, forecasters said.
Meanwhile, in the far eastern Atlantic, Julia kept pace, becoming the fifth hurricane of the Atlantic season. As of 5 p.m. ET, Julia's center was about 405 miles (655 km) west-northwest of the southernmost Cape Verde Islands. The storm's maximum sustained winds increased from 75 mph early Tuesday to 85 mph (140 kph), and it was moving west-northwest at 9 mph (15 kph). Tracking maps show Julia have showing little change in strength into Wednesday, but it is expected to see slow weakening by Thursday. It is not expected to threaten land. | Hurricanes_Tornado_Storm_Blizzard | September 2010 | ['(CNN)'] |
Robert Mugabe, the second president of Zimbabwe, dies at the age of 95. | The former president of Zimbabwe Robert Mugabe has died, according to a tweet by his successor Emmerson Mnangagwa on Friday. He was 95.
“It is with the utmost sadness that I announce the passing on of Zimbabwe’s founding father and former President, Cde Robert Mugabe,” Mnangagwa wrote.
Tweet: Cde Mugabe was an icon of liberation, a pan-Africanist who dedicated his life to the emancipation and empowerment of his people. His contribution to the history of our nation and continent will never be forgotten. May his soul rest in eternal peace
Mugabe died after battling ill health, the BBC reported on Friday, citing his family.
He was the first post-independence leader of Zimbabwe, and took power in 1980 after the white minority rule ended.
Discontent spread toward the end of his rule amid economic turmoil that were worsened by international sanctions. Large street protests for his resignation spread and impeachment procedures by the parliament took place, ending with a coup that saw the military take control of the country after Mugabe was placed under house arrest.
His 37-year rule concluded in 2017 when he was forced to resign. Mugabe was known, both at home and overseas, as a power-hungry autocrat. When he finally resigned, there were wild celebrations in the streets of Harare, Zimbabwe’s capital. Mnangagwa succeeded him in November 2017.
The ailing Mugabe spent his remaining years shuttling between medical facilities in Singapore and his mansion in Harare, Reuters reported, saying the former oppressor died in Singapore. | Famous Person - Death | September 2019 | ['(CNBC)'] |
In association football, Croatian midfielder Luka Modrić wins the Ballon d'Or and becomes the first player other than Lionel Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo to win the award since Kaká in 2007. | PARIS (Reuters) - Real Madrid’s Croatia midfielder Luka Modric was named winner of the 2018 Ballon d’Or on Monday, breaking Cristiano Ronaldo’s and Lionel Messi’s decade-long hold on the prestigious award.
Modric, 33, helped Real Madrid win a third successive Champions League title in May and also captained Croatia to their first World Cup final, being named player of the tournament despite his side losing 4-2 to France.
“It’s a unique feeling. I’m happy proud and honored, I have a lot of emotions right now, it’s hard to describe in words,” said Modric, wearing a tuxedo as he collected the award from presenter and former France forward David Ginola after a glamorous ceremony at the Grand Palais in Paris.
The award, voted for by journalists and organized by French magazine France Football, has been dominated by Barcelona’s Messi and Ronaldo, first when he was at Manchester United and subsequently with Real Madrid, since 2008.
The last player to lift the award apart from the Argentine and Portuguese, who have won it a joint-record five times each, was Kaka in 2007 when the Brazilian played for AC Milan.
Juventus forward and 2017 winner Ronaldo came second, while Atletico Madrid and France striker Antoine Griezmann came third.
Paris St Germain’s France forward Kylian Mbappe, who also collected the Kopa award for the best under-21 player, came fourth, with Barca forward Messi finishing fifth.
Olympique Lyonnais’ Norway forward Ada Hegerberg won the inaugural Ballon d’Or for women’s football, having led her side to the Women’s Champions League title, scoring in extra time in the 4-1 win over Vfl Wolfsburg in the final.
The Ballon d’Or was first awarded in 1956 and was partnered with soccer’s world governing body FIFA under the title ‘The Best’ from 2010 to 2015, until becoming its own entity again.
Reporting by Richard Martin; Editing by Ken Ferris
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Exclusive: Fed’s Neel Kashkari opposes rate hikes at least through 2023 as the central bank becomes more hawkish | Sports Competition | December 2018 | ['(Reuters)'] |
French strikes intensify ahead of Wednesday's Senate vote on pension reform, with a thousand petrol stations running out of fuel, rail strikes intensifying and truck drivers performing go–slows on highways. , | PARIS, Oct 18 (Reuters) - French truck drivers staged go-slow operations on highways, trains were cancelled and petrol stations ran out of fuel on Monday as strikers dug in ahead of a Senate vote this week on an unpopular pension overhaul.
Wider strikes will hit everything from air travel to mail on Tuesday when unions opposed to President Nicolas Sarkozy’s plan to raise the retirement age have called for one more en masse street protest against the unpopular pension bill.
With a final Senate vote on the legislation expected from Wednesday, this could be a make-or-break week for Sarkozy.
The centre-right government, which has stood firm through months of anti-pension reform protests, assured the public infrastructure would not freeze up despite a week-long strike at refineries that has dried up supplies at hundreds of France’s roughly 12,500 petrol stations.
"The situation is critical," a spokeswoman at Exxon Mobil XOM.N said. "Anyone looking for diesel in the Paris and Nantes (Western France) regions will have problems."
Sarkozy, in the northern seaside town of Deauville for talks with the leaders of Germany and Russia, said he would not back down. “The reform is essential and France is committed to it and will go ahead with it just as our German partners did,” he told reporters after meeting German Chancellor Angela Merkel.
Only 13 percent of rail workers kept up a week-long strike on Monday but workers at France’s 12 refineries were in their seventh day of a strike and protesters blocked access at many fuel distribution depots around the country.
The UFIP oil industry lobby has said France could see serious fuel supply problems by mid-week, meaning the government may have to tap emergency reserves. The DGAC aviation authority urged airlines to reduce flights to Paris’s Orly airport by 50 percent and to all other airports by 30 percent on Tuesday.
Tuesday will be the sixth major work stoppage and street demonstration called by labour union confederations since June but the unrest has intensified since last week when unions at railways and refineries began open-ended industrial action, joined now by truck drivers and delivery workers.
Government ministers stressed the country had plenty of fuel and that airports in particular have ample supply.
“The government is in control,” Industry Minister Christian Estrosi said. “There will be no blockade for companies, no blockade for transport and no blockade for road users.”
As many as 1,800 service stations have run short of fuel in recent days. A body representing supermarket fuel stations said 500-1,000 were hit on Monday. Total TOTF.PA said 400 of its stations had been affected and Esso reported a similar toll.
At an empty station on Paris’s Champs Elysees avenue, manager Paula said she spent much of her morning trying to stop drivers unhooking fuel pumps. “It’s madness, we’re submerged,” she said.
The International Energy Agency, which overlooks strategic oil supplies in OECD countries, said that France as of Friday had 98 days of fuel between industry reserves and government reserves and the country had started to tap the industry stocks.
A majority of French people -- 71 percent in one poll -- back protests over the plan to raise the minimum and the full retirement ages by two years to 62 and 67 respectively, a move the government says is vital to stem a soaring pension deficit.
Jerome Sainte-Marie of CSA pollsters said that this showed the price the government would pay if it stayed the course but that presidential and legislative elections were some time off.
“It’s not certain this political cost will last until 2012,” he told Le Parisien daily.
The bill’s main points have passed through both houses of parliament. The Senate will now vote on the entire package, which the lower house has approved. The Senate vote risked slipping by a day or more beyond Wednesday due to slow progress through 1,000 amendments tabled by the opposition.
Analysts anticipate a yes vote in the Senate after which the government hopes a vote by a committee representing both houses of parliament will take place by end-October.
Truck drivers used vans to slow traffic on motorways around Paris and cities like Lille, Rennes and Lyon, but were not using fleets of large trucks to block roads.
Prime Minister Francois Fillon has warned that people blocking fuel depots were breaking the law.
TV stations broadcast footage of workers at the Grandpuits refinery saying they had been “requisitioned” under government orders to go to work or risk jail but that they could not work because co-workers had formed human chains at the site.
The government is not threatening more police action but unions are wary after police intervened last week at some depots.
Riot police used teargas and rubber pellet guns in the Paris suburb of Nanterre to break up a crowd of youths who set fire to cars near an anti-reform protest by secondary school students. They intervened for similar reasons in the city of Lyon.
Sarkozy was greeted by 100 or so supporters as he arrived in the northern seaside town of Deauville for talks with his German and Russian counterparts Angela Merkel and Dmitry Medvedev.
| Strike | October 2010 | ['(Reuters)', '(CNN)'] |
Two passenger trains collide in Zibo in Shandong province in eastern China resulting in the deaths of at least 71 people. | An investigation has blamed speeding for the train crash in eastern China that killed 70 people.
The state Xinhua News Agency said an investigation panel set up by the State Council, or Cabinet, determined that speeding was responsible for Monday's deadly collision in the eastern Chinese province of Shandong.
An additional 416 people were hurt in the crash when one train jumped its tracks and hit another train. Seventy of the injured are in hospital in a critical condition.
The investigation showed a Beijing to Qingdao passenger train was travelling at 81mph before the accident - far over the section's speed limit of 50mph, Xinhua said.
The train jumped its tracks and collided with an oncoming passenger train on another track.
The government has already sacked two railway officials over the accident. Xinhua did not say if the engineers of the trains had survived the crash, or if they were being held as part of the investigation.
Work crews using heavy cranes have already cleared the tracks of damaged rail cars, with the line reopening early today.
Injured survivors included four French nationals, a Chinese sailing team coach and a three-year-old boy.
Trains are the most popular way to travel in China and the country's overloaded rail network carried 1.36 billion passengers last year.
While accidents are rare, the government is trying to extend and upgrade the state-run rail network and introduce more high-speed trains. | Train collisions | April 2008 | ['(UK Press Association via Google News)', '(AFP via Google News)', '(AP via Yahoo! News)'] |
Indian cinema actor, director and producer Dev Anand dies of a heart attack in London. | Legendary Bollywood actor-director Dev Anand has died in London of a heart attack, aged 88, family members say.
Anand, who produced and acted in dozens of films, was unwell and had gone to London for a check-up. He was known as the Adonis of Indian cinema for his good looks and the ease with which he played romantic roles.
His films included Guide, Paying Guest and Jewel Thief. He continued to direct almost until his death, releasing his last film, Chargesheet, in September.
Over the course of his 65-year career, which began in 1946, Anand became one of India's iconic actor-directors. "An era has come to an end. Dev Anand leaves a void never perhaps to be filled again. He never gave up belief, his joy of life," tweeted Bollywood superstar Amitabh Bachchan.
Mr Bachchan wrote that he had met Anand at a film premier recently. "He was weak but full of spirit," he tweeted.
"Grew up watching your films. Sorry to say goodbye," tweeted writer Salman Rushdie. Bollywood director Mahesh Bhatt said: "As the new dawn breaks over Mumbai I salute the memory of this star who has left left us with the glow of his smile."
Dev Anand introduced some of the most fashionable actresses to Bollywood, including Zeenat Aman, with whom he paired in Hare Rama Hare Krishna. He also set up a production company in 1949, Navketan International Films, which produced more than 35 films.
Anand was much feted, winning the Dada Saheb Phalke award, the highest honour in Indian cinema, in 2002, and countless other awards.
One of his most popular films was Guide, based on a novel by celebrated Indian writer RK Narayan.
In his autobiography, Romancing with Life, he said he had been approached by the Nobel prize-winning author Pearl S Buck and director Tad Danielewski to act in an American film, based on an English novel by an Indian writer.
"But I eventually declined the offer. I told them that keeping my star status in India in mind, I would accept a role only if it was really challenging and aroused my interest," he wrote. | Famous Person - Death | December 2011 | ['(BBC)'] |
Former South African President and anti–apartheid leader Nelson Mandela, aged 94, is hospitalized; officials say it is only for a routine checkup. | Former South African President Nelson Mandela, 94, is back home in Johannesburg after spending the night in hospital following a check-up. A statement by the president's office said that he had undergone a successful, scheduled medical examination at a clinic in Pretoria.
"He is well and as before," the office added on its website.
Mr Mandela spent 18 days in hospital in December, undergoing treatment for a lung infection and gallstones. His health has been a cause of concern for many years.
He was admitted for the check-up at a Pretoria hospital on Saturday afternoon.
Mr Mandela served as South Africa's first black president from 1994 to 1999 and is widely regarded as the father of the nation for leading the struggle against apartheid and for democracy. He first contracted tuberculosis in the 1980s while detained in Robben Island prison. He has been admitted to hospital on three occasions in the past two years. In January 2011, he was treated for a chest infection in Johannesburg.
During his December stay in hospital, President Zuma at one point described his condition as "serious", but added that he was responding to treatment.
The former president has been rarely seen in public since retiring from public life in 2004.
Mandela's life and times
Audio slideshow: Long walk to freedom
The battle for Nelson Mandela's legacy
| Famous Person - Sick | March 2013 | ['(BBC)', '(NBC)'] |
Hong Kong activist Joshua Wong is sentenced to a further 10 months imprisonment for participating in an unauthorized assembly on June 4, 2020 to commemorate the crackdown on the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests. | HONG KONG, May 6 (Reuters) - Hong Kong democracy activist Joshua Wong will face an additional 10 months in jail for participating in an unauthorised assembly on June 4 last year to commemorate the 1989 crackdown on protesters in and around Beijing's Tiananmen Square.
| Famous Person - Commit Crime - Sentence | May 2021 | ['(Reuters)'] |
The Boy Scouts of America file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection as the result of multiple sex abuse lawsuits. | IRVING, TX – February 18, 2020 – The Boy Scouts of America (BSA) today announced that the national organization has filed for bankruptcy under Chapter 11 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code to achieve two key objectives: equitably compensate victims who were harmed during their time in Scouting and continue carrying out its mission for years to come. The BSA intends to use the Chapter 11 process to create a Victims Compensation Trust that would provide equitable compensation to victims.
Scouting programs, including unit meetings and activities, council events, other Scouting adventures and countless service projects, will continue throughout this process and for many years to come. The BSA fully intends to maintain its commitments to its members, families, volunteer leaders, employees, retirees, donors and alumni to the fullest extent permitted by bankruptcy laws. The organization also will pay its vendors and partners for all goods and services delivered from today forward.
Local councils, which provide programming, financial, facility and administrative support to Scouting units in their communities, have not filed for bankruptcy. They are legally separate, distinct and financially independent from the national organization.
“The BSA cares deeply about all victims of abuse and sincerely apologizes to anyone who was harmed during their time in Scouting. We are outraged that there have been times when individuals took advantage of our programs to harm innocent children,” said Roger Mosby, President and Chief Executive Officer. “While we know nothing can undo the tragic abuse that victims suffered, we believe the Chapter 11 process – with the proposed Trust structure – will provide equitable compensation to all victims while maintaining the BSA’s important mission.”
Establishment of the Victims Compensation Trust and Support for Victims of Abuse
The BSA has an important duty to keep children safe, supported and protected while preparing them for their futures, and the organization has every intention of continuing to fulfill these important responsibilities.
Tragically, there have been times when individuals took advantage of the BSA’s programs to harm children. The BSA firmly believes that a proposed Victims Compensation Trust structure is the best means of compensating victims in a way that is equitable and protects their identities. The BSA encourages victims to come forward to file a claim as the bankruptcy process moves forward and will provide clear and comprehensive notices about how to do so.
The BSA has, for years, funded in-person counseling for any current or former Scout who was a victim of abuse as well as victims’ family members, by a provider of their choice. As an extension of this commitment to supporting victims, the BSA recently announced a partnership with 1in6, a trusted national resource for male survivors, to expand their services so that victims of abuse are able to anonymously access vital support from trained advocates when and how they need it. Victims can access 1in6 services at www.1in6.org/BSA. This is a multiyear commitment, which the BSA feels is an important component of its ongoing efforts to support victims.
Maintaining Programming and Upholding Commitments to All Stakeholders
Scouting will continue to provide unparalleled programs to young people – keeping them safe, supported and protected as it prepares them for their futures. The BSA today has some of the strongest, expert-informed youth protection policies found in any youth-serving organization, including mandatory youth protection training and background checks for all volunteers and staff, as well as policies that prohibit one-on-one interaction between youth and adults and require all volunteers and staff to report any suspected abuse to law enforcement.
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| Organization Closed | February 2020 | ['(The Wall Street Journal)', '(Scouting Newsroom)'] |
The search continues for survivors in central Italy with the death toll now 241. An aftershock of 4.7 MMS hits further east in the province near Norcia. | AMATRICE, Italy — Work crews digging through rubble in quake-ravaged mountainous towns in central Italy found more bodies Thursday, bringing the death toll to at least 267. But they also found rare moments of joy when their frenzied, round-the-clock excavation freed survivors still trapped for more than a day beneath tons of rock and metal.
“We just pulled a woman from the rubble," said Claudio Catanese, 32, a fireman and volunteer rescuer working in the hard hit town of Amatrice. "She was in good health, feeling fine, and just thirsty and hungry after 36 hours under rocks and dust. The first thing she did was ask for a glass of water."
He said the work, nonstop, is hard, but critical. "You don’t sleep and your muscles hurt," Catanese said. "But when you save someone’s life, it fills you with new energy. There’s a great satisfaction in that."
In Pescara del Tronto, firefighters plucked an 10-year-old girl named Giorgia from the rubble where she had been trapped for 16 hours. Rescuers said they were able to locate the area of Giorgia's room and started digging until they reached her. They also found the body of her sister, who was lying next to her, Italian news agency ANSA reported.
Italy’s civil protection agency said early Thursday that at least 250 people were killed and at least 365 others hospitalized. A Spaniard and five Romanians were among the dead, according to their governments. If the death toll tops 300 it will be the deadliest earthquake in modern Italian history, surpassing the total from the 2009 quake in L’Aquilla.
Most of the victims — 184 — were found in Amatrice, a picturesque medieval town of around 3,000 people.
The 6.2-magnitude quake struck at 3:30 a.m. Wednesday, sending tons of stone walls on many victims while they were sleeping. But rescue workers and civil protection officials said the death toll would have been worse if it hit during the day when many of the public buildings destroyed were occupied.
In Amatrice, some people whose houses were built on a slant were especially lucky. They awoke from their sleep unscathed to find the outside wall of their building collapsed outward.
"They've told us for years we should make our houses anti-seismic," said Gloria Nardo, 69, of Amatrice. "But how do you retrofit a brick house built in 1750? It's almost all gone now."
The search efforts are focused around the isolated hilltop communities of Amatrice, Accumoli and Pescara del Tronto where sniffer dogs, firefighters and paramedics were desperately searching for signs of life amid huge chunks of rock, cement and metal from collapsed homes and buildings.
Thousands of rescuers are using heavy lifting equipment to sift through the rubble but many are also using their bare hands.
At least one major bridge leading to Amatrice was compromised by the temblor and unable to support the weight of the heavy equipment needed to move big pieces of rock or walls. But volunteers were able to reinforce the bridge enough for the equipment to move within about 12 hours of the quake.
One rescue operation was mounted at the Hotel Roma in Amatrice, where an annual spaghetti festival was scheduled this weekend to honor the town's signature bacon and tomato pasta sauce.
Amatrice’s mayor initially said 70 guests were in the collapsed hotel, but rescue workers later cut the estimate in half after the owner said most guests had managed to escape.
Firefighters’ spokesman Luca Cari said one body had been pulled out of the hotel just before dawn after five others were extracted earlier but searches continued there and elsewhere.
Meanwhile, a prosecutor in Rieti opened an investigation into possible culpable negligence over the collapse of two recently restored structures — a school in Amatrice and a bell tower in Accumoli, RAI-TV reported.
Italy's Prime Minister Matteo Renzi visited the quake-affected area Wednesday. He vowed to rebuild “and guarantee a reconstruction that will allow residents to live in these communities, to relaunch these beautiful towns that have a wonderful past that will never end.”
Italy's civil protection agency said the first estimate for damage is about $11 billion. The nation’s culture ministry decreed that proceeds from public museums across Italy on Sunday will be dedicated to helping restore damaged buildings in the quake zone, the Associated Press reported. Several churches and other medieval-era buildings were damaged or destroyed.
In a statement Thursday, Culture Minister Dario Franceschini urged Italians to go out in force Sunday to visit museums and Italy’s numerous archaeological sites “in a concrete sign of solidarity” with quake victims. | Earthquakes | August 2016 | ['(AFP via ABC News Australia)', '(USA Today)', '(USGS)', '(Financial Times)'] |
Indonesia's anti-corruption agency arrests South Sulawesi Governor Nurdin Abdullah and several other people for alleged corruption in Makassar. Abdullah's arrest came as a surprise to many with his track record as an anti-corruption champion. | The anti-corruption agency has arrested South Sulawesi Governor Nurdin Abdullah and several others foralleged corruptionin Makassar on Friday.
The Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) arrested Nurdin while sleeping at the governor's residencein the South Sulawesi capital and flew him overnight to Jakarta.
"I was sleeping, [when they came] to pick me up," Nurdin told reporters when he arrived at KPK headquarters in Jakarta on Saturday.
Ali Fikri, KPK's spokesman, said the agency arrested five others in Friday's operation, including South Sulawesi senior officials and business people.
Ali refused to reveal more details about the cases, saying the investigators are still working to gather more evidence.
Nurdin's arrest came as a surprise to many with his track record as an anti-corruption champion. The 57 years old governor won the prestigious Bung Hatta Anti-Corruption Award in 2017 when he was still a district head in Bantaeng, South Sulawesi.
The previous winner of this award include President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo, former Jakarta governor Basuki Tjahaja Purnama, Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati and Social Affairs Minister Tri Rismaharini, who was a former Surabaya mayor.
The Bung Hatta Anticorruption Award jurorsat the time were impressed byNurdin's initiatives to revamp the district budget management and transparency by involving the police and the state prosecutor's office for its supervision. The jurors also said that Nurdin managed to strengthen the district's inspectorate department, closing manycorruption opportunities.
Bivitri Susanti, one of the 2017 award jurors, said at the time, the award went to public officials who "created ananti-corruption system," and they extend their leadership's impact to their constituents.
"We feel disappointed overthe arrest of the South Sulawesi governor," Bavitri said on Saturday.
"The election process [for theBung Hatta Anti-Corruption Award] wasvery rigorous. In addition toinput from the public, [his] track records are also verified directly in the field," Bivitri said.
She said the jurorshoped at that time that Nurdin, as well as other award recipients, could be a driving force and inspiration for anti-corruption attitudes for other government officials.
"The hope is that at that time, the recipients of the award from the government will be an encouragement and inspiration for anti-corruption in the government. But the development after the award cannot be controlled, even though they signed an integrity pact when they received the award," he said.
Under two periods of Nurdin's leadership, Bantaeng's regional per capita income grew almost six timesto Rp 41.6million ($2,910)in 2018 from Rp 7.1 million in 2008,the Central Statistics Agency (BPS) data showed.
The share of poor households dropped to 9.2 percent of the total households in the district from 40 percent over the period, according to the Jakarta Globe's calculation based on the agency data.
Nurdin then runs for the South Sulawesi governor seat in 2018, pairing withAndi Sudirman Sulaiman,the younger brother of the former agriculture minister Amran Sulaiman, as his deputy.
The Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), the National Mandate Party (PAN), and the Social Justice Party (PKS) backed Nurdin in the election, which he won by a landslide victory against three other candidates. | Famous Person - Commit Crime - Accuse | February 2021 | ['(Jakarta Globe)'] |
The ruling Democratic Party and its affiliate Together Citizens' Party are projected to win 180 seats, a record high for any political parties in South Korean history. | SEOUL, April 16 (Yonhap) -- The ruling Democratic Party (DP) clinched a landslide victory in parliamentary elections, according to preliminary election results released on Thursday, as voters apparently supported the government's efforts to overcome the new coronavirus crisis.
South Korea held the quadrennial elections on Wednesday to fill the 300-member unicameral National Assembly -- with 253 directly contested seats and 47 proportional representation (PR) slots -- in the midst of the country's battle against the COVID-19 pandemic.
The ruling DP and its satellite Platform Party targeting the PR slots are forecast to secure 180 seats, three-fifths of the total. The main opposition United Future Party (UFP) and its sister party are likely to win 103 posts.
The ruling party succeeded in winning a majority of parliamentary seats for the first time in 16 years.
With 99.3 percent of the votes for the directly contested seats counted, the National Election Commission (NEC) said the DP took the lead in 163 constituencies across the nation, followed by the conservative UFP, with 84 districts.
With 92.7 percent of the votes for PR seats counted, the Korea Future Party, the UFP's satellite party targeting the slots earned 19 seats, followed by the DP's Platform Party with 17 seats. The final results were anticipated later in the day.
South Korea's elections have been closely watched from overseas as the country became the first major country to hold nationwide polls since the COVID-19 crisis began sweeping the globe.
Lee Nak-yon (L), the ruling Democratic Party's parliamentary candidate for Seoul's Jongno constituency, raises up bouquets of flowers in his election office with his wife to celebrate his election win on April 15, 2020. (Yonhap)
The elections were widely seen as a referendum on President Moon Jae-in, who is now in his third year in office after being elected in May 2017.
Moon's approval rate fell to the 30 percent level at one point last year, hit by a prolonged economic slowdown and a political scandal involving former Justice Minister Cho Kuk.
But the government's handling of the coronavirus crisis has changed public sentiment, illustrated in recent polls in which Moon's approval rating shot up to over 50 percent.
South Korea has reported a caseload of nearly 10,600 since its first infection on Jan. 20. It recorded fewer than 30 new virus cases for the third straight day on Wednesday.
The DP's victory will enable Moon to manage state affairs stably during the rest of his single, five-year term. It will prop up Moon's reform initiatives, including the reform of prosecutors.
The ruling party pledged to focus on tackling the virus outbreak and minimize its fallout on the economy.
"We will do our best to overcome war against the coronavirus and the economic crisis so as to reward people's support for us," DP chairman Lee Hae-chan said.
When the ruling bloc controls at least 180 seats, it is able to pass most bills despite objections from the UFP.
The sprawling ruling bloc could pass almost all legislation, except for a motion to revise the Constitution, which requires the approval of 200 lawmakers.
In the foreseeable future, the DP will be able to swiftly pass a proposed extra budget to finance the government's emergency relief funds over the coronavirus.
Former Prime Minister Lee Nak-yon of the DP won against Hwang Kyo-ahn, chief of the UFP, in the Jongno district in central Seoul, a symbolic constituency in Korean politics.
Their race drew intense public attention as they are widely viewed as potential presidential candidates.
Meanwhile, the UFP suffered its third straight defeat in elections, including in the 2018 local polls, since the 2017 ouster of former President Park Geun-hye over a corruption scandal.
The conservative party failed to win over voters, though it highlighted the government's failure to prop up the economy and stressed the need to keep the DP in check.
Hwang resigned from the party chairmanship to take responsibility for his party's defeat.
Voter turnout in the elections tentatively came in at 66.2 percent, the highest in 28 years, according to the NEC. Turnout in early voting also hit a record 26.69 percent.
The election watchdog prioritized bolstering voter safety to prevent people's potential exposure to the risk of infection.
Voters wearing face masks had their temperatures checked at the entrance. They disinfected their hands with sanitizers and put on plastic gloves before casting ballots. To keep social distancing rules, voters were advised to stand at least 1 meter apart from others.
The general elections were conducted under the new electoral reform bill that was passed in December. The new rules called for adopting a mixed-member PR scheme and lowering the voting age to 18.
The new PR system could have worked favorably for minor parties, as the method of distributing PR seats was supposed to better reflect cast for parties.
But smaller parties' aspiration to clinch more parliamentary seats fell through as the two largest parties' creation of satellite parties targeting PR seats undermined the intent of the scheme.
The longest-ever ballots of 48.1 centimeters were used for PR voting, as the number of parties targeting the slots reached a record 35. The ballots were counted manually for the first time in 18 years. | Government Job change - Election | April 2020 | ['(Yonhap News Agency)'] |
Former British radio DJ Ray Teret is jailed for 25 years for a series of sexual assaults on 11 girls in the 1960s and 1970s conducted in association with Jimmy Saville. | © 2021 Billboard Media, LLC. All rights reserved. BILLBOARD is a registered trademark of Billboard IP Holdings, LLC
Ray Teret outside Manchester Crown Court on Nov. 25, 2-14.
Former radio DJ Ray Teret has been jailed for 25 years following his conviction for a series of rapes and indecent assaults on "star-struck" young girls in the 1960s and 1970s.
Teret was found guilty of seven counts of rape and 11 charges of indecent assault carried out on 11 girls aged between 12 and 15, last week at Manchester Minshull Street Crown Court. All the offenses took place between 1963 and 1979 when Teret was judged to have exploited his celebrity status as a popular DJ to lure his young victims.
The 73-year-old former DJ for British pop station Radio Caroline was a close friend of the former BBC Radio 1 DJ and serial sex abuser Jimmy Savile and was described during his trial as "following him around like a shadow."
A year after Savile's death in 2011, a formal criminal investigation was held looking into historic allegations of child abuse by Savile and a number of other British TV and radio personalities. Savile, who received a knighthood in 1990, was subsequently judged by the NSPCC to have abused at least 500 people, the youngest of whom was just two years old.
Sentencing Teret, whose nickname was Ugly Ray, Mr Justice Baker said: "It is clear that you exploited your celebrity status to sexually abuse young girls. Those who were raped had little or no understanding what was happening to them and felt they could do little to prevent the abuse taking place."
The judge told Teret that the 25-year sentence means that he is likely to spend the rest of his life in jail. Several of his victims were in the court room to hear the sentence read out and are reported to have cheered and clapped as Teret was taken down into the cells.
Following the hearing, Detective Chief Inspector Graham Brock said Teret's crimes had "cast a dark shadow" over his victim's lives.
"After decades of hiding behind the veneer of being a distinguished radio presenter, Ray Teret has finally been exposed as the manipulative and dangerous sexual predator that he is," Brock told reporters.
Following Teret's trail, four further women have come forward to say that they were also abused by the former DJ. Greater Manchester Police has said that it is investigating the new allegations. | Famous Person - Commit Crime - Sentence | December 2014 | ['(Billboard)'] |
Pope Benedict XVI announces a BBC Radio 4 Christmas Eve message, the first such message for one of the countries he visited last year. | Pope Benedict has recorded a Christmas message especially for the UK, to be broadcast by the BBC on Christmas Eve.
It will go out as the Thought For The Day on the Today programme on Radio 4.
It is the first time that Pope Benedict has addressed a Christmas message especially for one of the countries he has visited during the year.
The BBC's David Willey says it is the Pope's way of saying thank you for what he regarded as a hugely successful trip to England and Scotland in September.
He speaks of his great fondness for Britain and asks listeners to step back for a moment to consider the meaning of the birth of Jesus Christ, our Vatican correspondent says.
The Pope does not like to perform in front of teleprompters, and he chose to read his radio message in a room next to the cavernous audience hall in the Vatican, where earlier on Wednesday he had welcomed several thousand pilgrims from around the world, he adds.
Negotiations between the BBC and the Vatican went on for many months to enable the recording to take place.
Thought For The Day is broadcast within the Today programme at 0745 from Monday to Saturday. Since 1970, it has offered approximately three minutes of personal reflection from faith leaders and believers of a variety of religious denominations.
Gwyneth Williams, the controller of BBC Radio 4, said: "I'm delighted Pope Benedict is sharing his Christmas message with the Radio 4 audience." "It's significant that the Pope has chosen Thought For The Day to give his first personally scripted broadcast - and what better time to do so than on the eve of one of the biggest celebrations on the Christian calendar."
Austen Ivereigh, co-ordinator of the group Catholic Voices, welcomed the announcement, saying it was "another milestone" in the papacy's relations with the media.
"Just weeks after the publication of the first ever sit-down interview with a Pope comes the first ever papal Thought For The Day," he said.
"Benedict XVI is turning out to be highly communicative, adept at the kind of crisp, startling phrases which you need to use nowadays to break through the noise and willing to try non-traditional platforms to speak to contemporary society."
However, the decision was criticised by the UK's National Secular Society (NSS).
"The BBC is giving the Pope an unquestioned slot to continue whitewashing his Church's disgraceful record on covering up child abuse by its priests," NSS president Terry Sanderson said in a statement.
"Why isn't the Pope being subjected the same rigorous questioning that other heads of state would get?
"After the overkill from the BBC during the Pope's visit, this indicates the corporation's obsession with religion, whereas the nation is largely indifferent to it," he added.
Highlights of the Pope's visit to UK
What has the Pope's UK visit achieved?
| Famous Person - Give a speech | December 2010 | ['(BBC)'] |
Floods caused by torrential rain result in 32 deaths in southern Morocco. |
Floods triggered by torrential rain have killed at least 32 people in southern Morocco.
Most victims were swept away by swollen rivers which also submerged cars, buildings and roads.
Flooding is not uncommon in the mostly arid, desert region at this time of year but the storms of recent days have been described as the worst in decades.
Efforts to escape the floodwaters have been hindered by damage to roads, at least 100 of which are said to have been cut off. Dozens of traditional mud-brick homes in the south have been destroyed.
Authorities say that more than 200 people have been rescued. At least six remain missing.
Tourists have been caught up in the disaster with the region of Marrakesh one of the zones affected. | Floods | November 2014 | ['(Euronews)'] |
Eight people are killed and 14 others injured after gunmen open fire on a group of people gathered to mourn the death of a youth who was killed in a motorcycle accident in Cuernavaca, Morelos, Mexico. | Two more people have died after a gun attack on mourners at a wake in the Mexican city of Cuernavaca.
The number shot dead when gunmen opened fire on people mourning the death of a youth who was killed in a motorcycle accident has risen to eight.
Police said the guns appeared to have been used in previous crimes which, they say, suggests the perpetrators have links to organised crime.
It is the latest in a series of mass shootings in the city this year.
It came just hours after Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador said in his state of the nation address that murders and extortion by organised crime gangs had increased since he came to power.
A police search for those behind Tuesday's shooting has so far not led to any arrests. Four youths aged between 16 and 18 died at the scene of the shooting while four other victims, aged 15, 21, 25 and 31 died later of their injuries.
Fourteen people were injured in the attack, which occurred at around 22:35 local time (03:35 GMT) on Tuesday.
Among those injured are two children.
Ballistic experts have linked the guns used in the shooting to other crimes committed in the area. Last month, six people were shot dead when gunmen opened fire on a group who had gathered to have a drink in a street in Cuernavaca. The motive of that attack is not clear either.
Earlier this year, the bishop of Morelos, Ramón Castro Castro, said that the state had been "overrun" by crime.
Crime figures for the state shot up last year - a 35% rise in murders, a 68% increase in kidnappings and 363% more extortions compared to 2018, official figures suggest. Security analysts say the spike in violence is to blame on a battle for control of the state between five warring crime gangs. President López Obrador said that his government was combating the causes of crime by "providing work, education and welfare for people who are at risk of being recruited by criminal groups, especially the young".
But official figures suggest that across Mexico murders have been on the rise again this year after reaching a record high in 2019. There were 20,494 registered murders in the first seven months of 2020, compared with 19,357 in the same period of 2018.
| Riot | September 2020 | ['(BBC)'] |
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu faces a pretrial hearing regarding the charges against him in Case 4000, one of the three corruption cases in which the Israeli Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit decided to indict him, pending a hearing. | Defence lawyers representing Benjamin Netanyahu have presented their arguments against looming bribery, fraud and breach of trust indictments as a long-awaited pre-trial hearing begins.
Wednesday’s closed-door hearing, the culmination of three years of investigations, arrives at an especially fraught time for Israel’s longest-serving leader. Netanyahu is also fighting for his political life after failing to secure a clear win in two elections this year.
Clinching the premiership for a historic fifth term is seen as a way to protect himself if indicted, as Israeli prime ministers are not required under law to step down unless they are ultimately convicted. That process could take months or even years.
Political survival for Netanyahu is also potentially tied to his personal freedom as some of his parliamentary allies have suggested they would back laws to grant him immunity if he remains prime minister.
Netanyahu has denied all allegations as a politically orchestrated “witch-hunt” to oust him from office.
However, both the attorney general, Avichai Mandelblit, and the police have already suggested indictments are likely in three cases, including multiple fraud and breach of trust charges, and a bribery charge.
He could face up to 10 years in prison if convicted of bribery and a maximum three-year term for fraud and breach of trust.
A team of Netanyahu’s lawyers arrived at the Justice Ministry to argue that all charges should be dropped. One member, Amit Haddad, said they would present new evidence to help his client, without specifying.
“We are sure that once we present our findings there will be no choice but to close the case,” Haddad said before entering the hearing. “We believe and know that at the end of the day all the three cases must be closed.”
The first case, known as Case 1,000, involves allegations of receiving gifts, including cigars, champagne and jewellery, from billionaires, among them the Australian casino operator James Packer, allegedly in exchange for favours. In Case 2,000, Netanyahu is accused of colluding with the country’s top-selling newspaper, Yedioth Ahronoth, to hurt its competition in exchange for favourable coverage.
In the third and most damning, Case 4,000, Netanyahu is accused of offering incentives to the Israeli telecoms provider Bezeq in exchange for positive stories on an online news website it owns.
The pre-trial hearing is not a court appearance, and Netanyahu is not expected to be present. Instead, it grants his legal team a last-ditch chance to convince the attorney general to either scrap or reduce the charges.
Hearings are scheduled for Wednesday, Thursday, Sunday and Monday, but Mandelblit could delay his decision until December or even later. Even then, it could take months before his trial begins.
Also on Wednesday, Netanyahu was hoping to meet his political rival Benny Gantz in an attempt to forge a unity deal between the two parties after a deadlocked 17 September election.
However, Gantz’s Blue and White party released a statement on Tuesday evening saying he would not attend any meeting after negotiations between the two parties stalled.
Netanyahu may be preparing to inform President Reuven Rivlin that he was unable to form a government. If he hands back the mandate, the president could ask Gantz to try, although he also does not command a majority in the Israeli parliament.
With no apparent route out of the crisis, there is the possibility of a third national election. | Famous Person - Commit Crime - Accuse | October 2019 | ['(The Guardian)'] |
In Malawi, parliament speaker Rodwell Munyenyembe dies, four days after he collapsed during a heated parliamentary debate. | Speaker Rodwell Munyenyembe was flown to a South African hospital after a severe stroke and then had a cardiac arrest, the health minister said.
He collapsed last Thursday during angry exchanges in parliament after he ruled a motion to impeach Malawian President Bingu wa Mutharika should not be heard.
As the 69-year-old rose to bang his gavel he lost balance and fell down.
Also on Monday, hundreds of students and civil rights activists took to the streets of the country's major cities and towns to protest at parliament's moves to start impeachment proceedings against President Mutharika.
Parliament went into indefinite recess after Mr Munyenyembe's collapse, delaying a crucial budget vote which would allow aid money to flow.
An impeachment motion was lodged by the United Democratic Party (UDF), which has accused the president of violating the constitution and misusing government funds. After taking office last year under the banner of the UDF, he then left it and formed a new political party, but correspondents say he failed to gain support within opposition ranks. | Famous Person - Death | June 2005 | ['(News24)', '(Reuters AlertNet)', '(BBC)'] |
Voters in Mali go to the polls for a presidential election. | People across Mali have voted in a presidential election aimed at reuniting the country after months of political turmoil.
Many areas are still recovering after a northern rebellion and coup that led to foreign military intervention - but no major incidents were reported.
There are 27 candidates and if no outright winner emerges, the voting goes to a second round on 11 August.
However, some analysts have questioned whether Mali is ready for the election.
Some 6.8 million people were eligible to vote at 21,000 polling stations across the country.
But hundreds of thousands of Malians in the north were displaced by fighting. The majority of them were not able to vote.
Islamist militants in the north also warned people not to take part and have threatened to attack polling stations.
There have also been concerns about the fairness of the process in the northern town of Kidal, which is still occupied by Tuareg rebels.
Tuareg gunmen were suspected of abducting electoral officials in the northern Tessalit area last week as they handed out voter identification cards. The officials were later released.
French troops are still deployed in the area with Chadian forces as part of the UN stabilisation force, Minusma.
Ahead of the poll Louis Michel, who leads the EU's election observer mission, said that despite the problems he was "positively surprised" by preparations and that the conditions were acceptable.
The US ambassador to Mali, Mary Beth Leonard, said: "A month ago, there were a lot of doubts (over the election). But it has come together."
Candidates include three former prime ministers, a former finance minister and one woman.
The frontrunners include Ibrahim Boubacar Keita, prime minister from 1994 to 2000, who founded his own party, the Rally for Mali (RPM), in 2001.
His biggest rival is seen as Soumaila Cisse, who founded the Union for the Republic and Democracy (URD) in 2003.
Mr Cisse has called for the junta that seized power in 2012 to be cleared from the political scene.
Observers say Soumana Sacko, another former prime minister, can expect a good showing if there is no clear winner. | Government Job change - Election | July 2013 | ['(BBC)'] |
Former New York congressman Anthony Weiner is released from a halfway house in the Bronx, completing his 21–month federal prison sentence for illicit online contact with a 15–year–old girl. | Submit May 14, 2019 | 6:34am | Updated May 14, 2019 | 9:51am
Anthony Weiner wrapped up the last leg of his prison sentence for sexting an underage girl on Tuesday morning, walking out of a Bronx halfway house a free man.
“It’s good to be out,” the disgraced former congressman said. “I hope to be able to live a life of integrity and service. I’m glad this chapter of my life is behind me.”
Weiner, who will still be registered as a Level 1 sex offender, had called the halfway house on Creston Avenue home for three months following his transfer from a Massachusetts lockup as part of a federal re-entry program.
He walked out shortly after 6 a.m. wearing khaki pants, red Nike running shoes and a sweater. His release came early after getting three months shaved off for good behavior.
The Post revealed last month how he is now hoping to land a book deal.
After sinking his political career in a series of salacious sexting scandals with adult women, the married ex-pol was busted in 2017 for sending obscene messages to a 15-year-old North Carolina high schooler.
Weiner wept and called himself a “very sick man” at his sentencing, where he was ordered to serve 21 months behind bars, pay a $10,000 fine and to register as a sex offender upon his release.
He started his time in November 2017 in the Federal Medical Center in Devens, Mass., a former Army base about 40 miles northwest of Boston and just one of two sites that offer residential treatment for sex offenders.
He was transferred in mid-February to the Bronx — where The Post caught him ordering a hearty pasta take-out. | Famous Person - Commit Crime - Sentence | May 2019 | ['(Los Angeles Times)', '(New York Post)'] |
Kivu conflict: Rebels in the Democratic Republic of the Congo loyal to General Laurent Nkunda call for peace talks with the government to resolve the crisis. | The rebels have pushed back army forces, regaining the territory lost in last week's government offensive.
Up to now President Joseph Kabila has ruled out negotiations with Gen Nkunda.
Meanwhile, UN chief Ban Ki-moon has called on the rebels to lay down their weapons and for both sides to protect the civilians caught up in fighting.
Gen Nkunda claims to defend DR Congo's Tutsi population against Rwandan Hutu rebels - both Interahamwe militia and former Rwandan armed forces - who have lived in eastern DR Congo since the Rwandan genocide in 1994. The government had repeatedly warned him to stop his rebellion and integrate his men into the army. The army has deployed more than 20,000 soldiers in the region to try to defeat the rebel force which is thought to number 6,000-8,000 men.
'Political solution'
Rebel spokesman Rene Abandi said they were calling for negotiations because they had the upper hand and wanted the government to listen to its solution to the problems of eastern DR Congo.
Behind Congo's war gamesProfile: Renegade generalUN: Stuck in the middle
"We are calling for a political solution - to end discrimination against some communities to solve the problem of the Interahamwe and to organise a modern army," he told the BBC's Network Africa programme.
"We are asking for negotiations because they thought at the beginning that we were not strong, but now that we have won we can explain our vision to solve political problems."
"We believe that the solution to the problem is political and not military, even though the situation on the ground is currently in our favour."
Mr Abandi denied accusations that the rebels are forcibly recruiting child soldiers. Some 400,000 people have been displaced in fighting over the last few months.
Mr Ban Ki-moon expressed his "deep concern" for the displaced civilians.
The UN Secretary-General's press secretary said Mr Ban was "particularly troubled by reports of massive displacement and mistreatment of the population."
The UN High Commissioner for Refugees, Antonio Guterres, has begun a five-day visit to the region to assess the situation.
The rebels have continued to advance on the town of Sake, some 30km north-west of Goma, pushing back the government forces.
The BBC's Arnaud Zajtman who is not far from the frontline says UN peacekeepers have set up positions in the surrounding hills. | Diplomatic Talks _ Diplomatic_Negotiation_ Summit Meeting | December 2007 | ['(BBC News)'] |
At least 17 people die in Sri Lanka as a bus collides with a truck 80 km south of Colombo. | Police said the two vehicles caught fire after the collision. They said most of the victims were on the bus.
Sri Lanka has close to 25,000 buses being operated by private companies and the state transport department and bus accidents are a major problem.
News agency Reuters quoted Jayantha Gamage, deputy inspector general for Sri Lanka's southern province, as saying: "There was an accident between a passenger bus and a lorry transporting beer." "It was a head-on crash in a bend. Both vehicles caught fire," he said.
The accident happened about 80km (50 miles) south of the capital, Colombo.
"Fifty-seven people with injuries were brought in for treatment," Jayampathy Senanayake, head of the area's main hospital, told the AFP news agency.
"A few people are in a critical condition." Correspondents say that most of the corpses were badly charred, and officials were trying to identify the victims through clothing or personal effects.
Two years ago, Sri Lanka's government pledged to crack down on the private bus sector after a crash at a rail level crossing killed 35 people. President Mahinda Rajapakse vowed an overhaul of bus services and tough penalties for offending drivers. | Road Crash | April 2007 | ['(BBC)'] |
France defeats Wales 9–8 in the 2011 Rugby World Cup semi–final at Eden Park in Auckland, New Zealand. | Read a full match report of the World Cup semi-final between France and Wales at Eden Park, Auckland, on Saturday Oct 15 2011.
How rotten. How unfair. Who could possibly raise a glass to salute France for reaching their third Rugby World Cup final? Even the players’ mothers must have thought twice about it.... | Sports Competition | October 2011 | ['(The Telegraph)'] |
Invoking the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, U.S. President Donald Trump issues several executive orders barring firms and American citizens from trading and doing financial transactions with Chinese technology companies ByteDance and Tencent, effectively banning their respective apps TikTok and WeChat within the United States. The orders are set to go into effect in 45 days. | WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump has unveiled sweeping bans on U.S. transactions with the Chinese owners of messaging app WeChat and video-sharing app TikTok, escalating a high-stakes confrontation with Beijing over the future of the global tech industry.
The executive orders announced Thursday and effective in 45 days come after the Trump administration this week flagged increased effort to purge "untrusted" Chinese apps from U.S. digital networks, calling Tencent Holdings Ltd's 0700.HK WeChat and Bytedance's popular TikTok "significant threats."
China said on Friday the companies comply with U.S. laws and regulations and warned that the United States would have to “bear the consequences” of its action.
“The U.S. is using national security as an excuse and using state power to oppress non-American businesses. That’s just a hegemonic practice,” foreign ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin told a media briefing.
TikTok has come under fire from U.S. lawmakers over national security concerns surrounding data collection as distrust between Washington and Beijing grows. Reuters on Sunday reported that Trump has given Microsoft Corp MSFT.O 45 days to complete the purchase of TikTok's U.S. operations.
“We are shocked by the recent Executive Order, which was issued without any due process,” TikTok said in a statement on Friday, adding that it would “pursue all remedies available to us in order to ensure that the rule of law is not discarded”.
The ban on U.S. transactions with Tencent, one of the world’s biggest internet companies, portends further fracturing of the global internet and severing of long-standing ties between the tech industries in the United States and China.
“This is the rupture in the digital world between the U.S. and China,” said James Lewis, a technology expert with Washington-based think-tank Center for Strategic and International Studies.
“Absolutely, China will retaliate.”
On Wednesday, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo expanded a program dubbed “Clean Network” to prevent various Chinese apps and telecoms firms from accessing sensitive information on U.S. citizens and businesses.
Trump’s new orders appeared coordinated with Pompeo’s announcement, Lewis said.
“We are reviewing the executive order to get a full understanding,” a Tencent spokesperson said.
ByteDance declined to comment.
WeChat has been downloaded a relatively small 19 million times in the United States, showed data from Sensor Tower. In China, however, the app is ubiquitous as a medium for services as varied as games and payment. It is also a common platform to communicate with individuals and businesses outside China.
U.S. social media and messaging services such Facebook Inc's FB.O WhatsApp and Messenger are blocked in China, where a "great firewall" prevents citizens from freely accessing the worldwide web, and where online communication is routinely monitored and censored.
U.S. concerns about China’s tech industry had until recently focused on telecom equipment vendor Huawei Technologies Co Ltd [HWT.UL]. As relations soured over a host of economic and human rights issues, it has sanctioned numerous other Chinese tech firms.
Tencent is the biggest target yet. It is Asia's second most-valuable company after Alibaba Group Holding Ltd BABA.N with a market capitalization of $686 billion, and is among the world's largest social media and video game companies. It opened a California gaming studio this summer and owns minority stakes in numerous gaming and internet firms around the world, including U.S. messaging app operator Snap Inc SNAP.N.
Trump’s order sent Asian stock markets lower on Friday, with Tencent shares falling as far as 10.1% before recouping some of its losses in afternoon trade.
The yuan CNH=, a barometer of Sino-U.S. relations, posted its steepest drop since the United States expelled China from its Houston consulate a little over two weeks ago. Trump issued the orders under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, a law that grants the administration sweeping power to bar U.S. firms or citizens from trading or conducting financial transactions with sanctioned parties.
Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross will identify transactions covered after the orders take effect in mid-September.
Tension has been simmering between the two powers for months, with the United States taking issue with China’s handling of the novel coronavirus outbreak and moves to curb freedoms in Hong Kong. The increasingly aggressive posture towards China comes as Trump bids for re-election in November.
Trump said this week he would support Microsoft’s efforts to buy TikTok’s U.S. operations if the U.S. government got a “substantial portion” of the proceeds. He nevertheless said he will ban the popular app on Sept. 15, though some Republicans have raised concerns about potential political fallout.
The app may be used for disinformation campaigns that benefit the Chinese Communist Party, and the United States “must take aggressive action against the owners of TikTok to protect our national security,” Trump said in one order.
In the other, Trump said WeChat “automatically captures vast swaths of information from its users. This data collection threatens to allow the Chinese Communist Party access to Americans’ personal and proprietary information.”
The United States is not alone in its concern about Chinese internet apps: WeChat and TikTok were among 59 mostly Chinese apps that India outlawed in June for threatening its “sovereignty and integrity”.
The WeChat order would effectively ban the app in the United States by barring “to the extent permitted under applicable law, any transaction that is related to WeChat by any person, or with respect to any property, subject to the jurisdiction of the United States, with Tencent Holdings Ltd.”
It was not clear whether the sanction would effect Tencent’s other holdings in the country.
Meanwhile, WeChat users in the United States were quickly evaluating alternatives.
“Banning WeChat is against America’s liberal principles,” Jeason Ma, a 33-year-old in Los Angeles who obtained U.S. citizenship in November, told Reuters. “Most of our family and friends are in China. This will cause significant inconvenience to our lives.”
Ma has been sharing his account information for WhatsApp and messaging rival Line Corp 3938.T with friends and family, fearing he could lose access to WeChat.
The order “calls TikTok a national security threat,” said Derek Scissors, an expert on Sino-U.S. economic relations at the American Enterprise Institute think-tank. “Either we’ve missed the threat for three years or it just became one and yet we are waiting 45 days. | Government Policy Changes | August 2020 | ['(Reuters)'] |
The California Senate passes a bill that would keep Donald Trump out of the 2020 presidential primaries until he releases his tax returns. | The California state Senate on Thursday approved a bill to require candidates appearing on the presidential primary ballot — including President Trumpto release five years' worth of income tax returns.
The measure was approved in a 27-10 vote, according to The Associated Press. California, for the first time, will be one of the first states to hold its presidential primary in the 2020 cycle.
The bill is a response to Trump's insistence that he will not release his tax returns as presidential candidates traditionally have done, claiming he is under audit. If the bill becomes law and Trump does not release his returns, he may not appear on the California primary ballot.
"We believe that President Trump, if he truly doesn’t have anything to hide, should step up and release his tax returns,” said state Sen. Mike McGuire (D) who co-authored the bill, according to the AP.
All 10 Republicans in the state Senate voted against the bill's passage.
“I get that playing the resistance card may be good politics for the majority party, but I would submit that it’s bad policy for Californians,” Sen. Brian Jones (R) told the wire service.
The state's legislature passed a similar bill in 2017, but then-Gov. Jerry Brown (D), who did not release his own tax returns, vetoed the bill. A spokesman for Gov. Gavin NewsomGavin Newsom'Aggressive individual' arrested after interaction with Newsom California grid operator calls on residents to conserve electricity amid heat wave California hydroelectric plant expected to shut down for the first time in 50 years MORE (D) told the AP that if the bill was sent to Newsom's desk, "it would be evaluated on its own merits.”
Other presidential candidates would also be subject to the bill, but several 2020 Democrats have already released their tax returns.
Trump is facing one primary challenger, former Massachusetts Gov. Bill WeldWilliam (Bill) WeldThe Memo: What now for anti-Trump Republicans? | Government Policy Changes | May 2019 | ['(The Hill)', '(Associated Press)'] |
United States v. Libby: Former Bush administration aide Lewis Libby is found guilty of perjury and obstruction of justice. | WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Democratic leaders urged President Bush not to pardon former vice presidential chief of staff I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby, who was convicted on federal charges Tuesday.
Libby's attorneys, meanwhile, vowed to seek a new trial, or, failing that, to appeal the jury's verdict.
Libby was convicted of lying and obstructing an investigation into the Bush administration's actions leading into the Iraq war. (Watch Democrats use verdict to pressure president )
He resigned after being indicted in October 2005.
Vice President Dick Cheney, in a written statement, said he was "disappointed with the verdict."
"I am saddened for Scooter and his family," Cheney said. "As I have said before, Scooter has served our nation tirelessly and with great distinction through many years of public service."
Federal officials began an investigation in December 2003 into how the identity of covert CIA operative Valerie Plame was divulged to reporters in the weeks before Robert Novak named her in a July 14, 2003, column. Libby was not charged with the actual leak.
Novak attributed his information to "two senior administration officials" -- later identified as President Bush's political adviser, Karl Rove, and Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage. Neither testified in Libby's trial.
Plame's husband, former Ambassador Joseph Wilson, had openly questioned part of Bush's basis for invading Iraq. He wrote a controversial New York Times op-ed piece that was published July 6, 2003.
Prosecutors argued Libby lied about how he learned of Plame's CIA role to protect his job. Her role, they said, was deliberately released in retribution for her husband's report. (Watch how the conviction played out )
"It's about time someone in the Bush administration has been held accountable for the campaign to manipulate intelligence and discredit war critics," said Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid. "Lewis Libby has been convicted of perjury, but his trial revealed deeper truths about Vice President Cheney's role in this sordid affair. Now President Bush must pledge not to pardon Libby for his criminal conduct."
Added House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, "This trial provided a troubling picture of the inner workings of the Bush administration. The testimony unmistakably revealed -- at the highest levels of the Bush administration -- a callous disregard in handling sensitive national security information and a disposition to smear critics of the war in Iraq."
Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean said the investigation should go deeper.
"There's a lot more going on here than just this," Dean said on CNN's "The Situation Room."
"We know that the president was not truthful with the American people when he sent us to war," he said. "We don't know if the president committed a crime or not; it would be interesting to find that out." (Watch Dean tar Bush and Cheney )
However, Dean did not recommend appointing a special prosecutor to investigate Bush.
The leading Democratic presidential hopefuls, Sen. Hillary Clinton of New York and Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois, weighed in as well. "While justice has been served in the Libby case, the real lesson to come from it is that we must be vigilant in ensuring that the intelligence on burgeoning threats to our nation is beyond reproach," read a statement on Clinton's Web site.
Obama said in a statement that Libby's conviction "underscores what happens when our foreign and national security policies are subverted by politics and ideology."
During 14 days of evidence and testimony, Libby's lawyers argued that Libby's heavy workload caused memory lapses when he spoke with investigators.
Jurors who found Libby guilty also found him worthy of sympathy, one juror said. (Full story) "We're not saying we didn't think Mr. Libby was guilty of the things we found him guilty of, but it seemed like ... he was the fall guy," Denis Collins said. (Watch a juror explain how there was sympathy for 'fall guy' Libby )
Wilson and Plame have filed a lawsuit against Libby, Cheney, Bush political adviser Karl Rove and Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage. Wilson told reporters in a teleconference call that the verdict won't stop that legal action.
"The vice president was quoted as saying he was sorry for Mr. Libby and his family," Wilson said. (Watch Wilson's reaction to verdict )
"I wish that he would express his sorrow for what has happened to my wife, whose career was destroyed as a result of this, and to the [military] service people for a war that was justified by lies and disinformation."
As the verdicts were read, Libby blinked and "it seemed as if he was somewhat surprised," CNN's Brianna Keilar reported. (Watch Keilar describe Libby's wife weeping )
Libby was fingerprinted and released on his own recognizance.
"We are very disappointed in the verdict of the jurors," lead defense attorney Ted Wells said. "Despite our disappointment in the jurors' verdict, we believe in the American justice system, and we believe in the jury system. "We intend to file a motion for a new trial and, if that is denied, we will appeal the conviction, and we have every confidence that ultimately Mr. Libby will be vindicated."
He took no questions.
"The jury worked very long and hard and deliberated at length," said Patrick Fitzgerald, the special prosecutor who led the leak probe. "The jury was obviously convinced beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant had lied and obstructed justice in a serious manner."
"I do not expect to file any further charges," Fitzgerald said. "We're all going back to our day jobs." Libby, 56, faces a maximum sentence of 25 years in prison and a fine of $1 million. A hearing on a presentencing report is scheduled for June 5. CNN legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin said, "He is virtually certain to go to prison if this conviction is upheld." (Watch Toobin assess Libby's chances of being pardoned )
Libby initially told investigators he learned about Plame from NBC's Tim Russert. He later said he got the information from Cheney a month before the telephone conversation with Russert, but forgot about it.
Russert testified that there was no discussion of Plame in that conversation.
CNN's Kevin Bohn and Paul Courson contributed to this report.
CNN.com gives you the latest stories and video from the around the world, with in-depth coverage of U.S. news, politics, entertainment, health, crime, tech and more.
I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby, center, leaves the courthouse in Washington on Tuesday after being convicted in the CIA leak case.
The jury's verdicts in the case against I. Lewis "Scooter " Libby: Guilty: Obstruction of justice for intentionally deceiving a grand jury investigating the exposure of Valerie Plame as a CIA operative. Guilty: Making a false statement for lying to FBI agents about a conversation with NBC newsman Tim Russert. Guilty: Perjury for lying in court about his conversation with Russert. Guilty: Perjury for lying in court about conversations with other reporters. Not guilty: Making a false statement regarding a conversation he had with former Time magazine writer Matt Cooper. | Famous Person - Commit Crime - Sentence | March 2007 | ['(CNN)'] |
A meningitis outbreak has been reported in the greater Los Angeles area, with incidents related to sexual intercourse. | LOS ANGELES (AP) ?Thursday's confirmation came a day after the Department of Public Health urged gay men who had HIV or multiple partners to be vaccinated against invasive meningococcal disease.
However, the department said the three men who died didn't have any direct contact with each other. The disease still is considered rare and sporadic and the department is shying away from declaring any outbreak in the gay community, authorities said.
Four of the eight people who came down with the illness had sex with other men and three were HIV positive. The three who died in February and March were 27 or 28 years old and two were HIV positive, according to the department.
Of the other five people who fell ill, four are out of the hospital and one is hospitalized but recovering.
The agency was "insensitive" for failing to announce the deaths earlier, Michael Weinstein, executive director for the AIDS Healthcare Foundation, told the Los Angeles Daily News (http://bit.ly/1kwlf53 ).
"We're the largest HIV/AIDS medical care provider in the nation, and they didn't tell us," said Weinstein, a critic who has called the health department a "bloated bureaucracy."
About a third of the 32 bacterial meningitis cases reported in the county since October 2012 involved men who had sex with men, the Daily News reported.
That population is most at risk right now, said Dr. Robert Bolan, medical director for the Los Angeles Gay and Lesbian Center.
However, the county health department is "paying attention" and acting "in a timely manner" by urging vaccinations for members of the gay community, he told the newspaper.
Bacterial meningitis infected 22 gay men, killing seven, in New York City between 2010 and last year. However, Los Angeles County health officials have said the local cases aren't related.
Invasive meningococcal disease is relatively uncommon and is less contagious than the flu.
However, it can be spread through close contact with saliva or mucus - such as sneezing, coughing, kissing or sharing drinks or cigarettes.
The disease can be treated with antibiotics if caught early but if the infection spreads it can lead to brain damage, hearing loss or death.
The health department is offering free vaccinations are being offered to those without health insurance.
| Disease Outbreaks | April 2014 | ['(MSN)'] |
The International Monetary Fund loans US$114 million to Haiti following the recent earthquake devastation, with the full amount due to be transferred by the end of the week. | WASHINGTON - THE International Monetary Fund said on Wednesday it was rushing US$114 million (S$160 million) in emergency aid to Haiti this week to help it cope with the aftermath of a devastating earthquake. The IMF executive board approved on Wednesday an increase of US$102 million to Haiti's Extended Credit Facility, the Washington-based institution said in a statement. The additional money 'will help Haiti cope with the aftermath of the massive and disastrous earthquake that struck the country on Jan 12', it said. 'With the approval of this additional financing, a total of US$114 million will be disbursed by the end of this week, constituting the largest amount made available so far to the Haitian authorities after the earthquake.' -- AFP | Financial Aid | January 2010 | ['(The Straits Times)', '(The Hindu)'] |
The Nobel Prize committee awards American Richard Thaler the Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel "for his contributions to behavioral economics." His work focuses on the psychology of the human conflict of what we plan for the financial present versus what we plan for the future. , | US economist Richard Thaler, one of the founding fathers of behavioural economics, has won this year's Nobel Prize for Economics.
Prof Thaler, of Chicago Booth business school, co-wrote the global best seller Nudge, which looked at how people make bad or irrational choices.
Judges said he had demonstrated how "nudging" - a term he coined - may help people to exercise better self-control.
He will receive 9 million Swedish krona (£850,000) from the committee.
"I will try to spend it as irrationally as possible!" the 72 year-old economist said.
Prof Thaler's work led to the UK setting up a "nudge unit" under former prime minister David Cameron. It was launched in 2010 to find innovative ways of changing public behaviour and has offices in the UK, New York, Singapore and Sydney.
One of the Nobel prize judges, Per Stroemberg, said Prof Thaler's work had explored how human psychology shaped economic decisions. "Richard Thaler's findings have inspired many other researchers coming in his footsteps and it has paved the way for a new field in economics which we call behavioural economics," Mr Stroemberg said.
The panel said Prof Thaler's insights helped people to recognise marketing tricks and avoid bad economic decisions.
In particular, his work looked at how to "nudge" people into doing more long-term planning, such as saving for a pension.
Prof Thaler also made a cameo appearance in the Hollywood film, The Big Short, explaining the complex financial instruments that led to the financial crisis of 2007 and 2008.
It is the final Nobel to be announced this year, after prizes for medicine, physics, chemistry, literature and peace were awarded last week.
The economics prize is the only Nobel not created by Alfred Nobel, and was instead launched in 1968, long after the philanthropist's death.
To date the US has dominated the prize, with American economists accounting for roughly half of laureates since it started. Between 2000 and 2013, US academics won or shared the prize every year.
Last year, UK-born Oliver Hart and Bengt Holmstrom of Finland won the award - officially called the Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel - for their work on contract theory.
Prof Thaler's central insight is that we are not the rational beings beloved of more traditional economic theory.
Given two options, we are likely to pick the wrong one even if that means making ourselves less well off.
Lack of thinking time, habit and poor decision making mean that even when presented with a factual analysis (for example on healthy eating) we are still likely to pick burger and chips.
We're hungry, we're in a hurry and burger and chips is what we always buy. Nudge theory takes account of this, based as it is on the simple premise that people will often choose what is easiest over what is wisest.
Tests have shown that putting healthier foods on a higher shelf increases sales. The food is more likely to be in someone's eye line and therefore "nudge" that person towards the purchase - whether they had any idea about the obesity argument or not.
| Awards ceremony | October 2017 | ['(Nobel Prize.org)', '(BBC)'] |
A magnitude 7.3 earthquake strikes off the coast of Venezuela, prompting building evacuations in Caracas. Buildings shake across Caribbean and South America's North coast. Several buildings are destroyed. | UPDATE: 6:55 p.m. EDT—Nestor Luis Reverol, Venezuela's interior minister, wrote on Twitter that first responders were ready to "address any emergency" following Tuesday's earthquake.
It was not immediately clear whether there were any significant damage or fatalities.
UPDATE: 6:36 p.m. EDT—The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center revised its forecast following an earthquake north of Venezuela on Tuesday, saying there was no tsunami threat from the quake.
"Minor sea level fluctuations up to 30 cm above and below the normal tide may occur in coastal areas near the earthquake over the next few hours and continuing for up to several hours," the PTWC said.
The center previously said some waves were possible.
UPDATE: 6:18 p.m. EDT—The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said based on preliminary information about the earthquake, "hazardous tsunami waves are possible for coasts located within 300 km of the earthquake epicenter."
The PTWC said waves were possible along the coasts of Grenada, Trinidad and Tobago and Venezuela. The center urged people located in threatened coastal areas to watch for information from national and local authorities.
UPDATE: 5:56 p.m. EDT—The USGS revised the strength of Tuesday's earthquake from a 7.0 magnitude to a 7.3 magnitude. Buildings were evacuated in Caracas, the Associated Press reported.
Original story: A 7.0 magnitude earthquake hit near Venezuela early Tuesday evening, the United States Geological Survey confirmed. The quake hit about 30 miles from Guiria, Sucre, Venezuela, at 5:31 EDT.
People reported feeling shaking in Grenada as well as Trinidad and Tobago and other places.
It was unclear whether there was any significant damage or injuries as a result of Tuesday's quake.
| Earthquakes | August 2018 | ['(The Guardian)', '(Newsweek)'] |
The United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit rules that U.S. Representative Jim McDermott must pay damages for leaking a copy of a tape of an illegally intercepted telephone call. | A federal appeals court in Washington ruled Tuesday that Representative Jim McDermott, Democrat of Washington, must pay damages to another congressman for giving reporters a tape of an illegally intercepted telephone call. The case was brought by Representative John A. Boehner of Ohio, now the House Republican leader. It arose from a conference call in 1996 in which Newt Gingrich, who was then speaker of the House, discussed how to deal with a finding against him by the House ethics committee. Mr. Boehner participated by cellphone. Advertisement
Subscribe to The Times to read as many articles as you like.nytimes.com/subscription | Famous Person - Commit Crime - Sentence | May 2007 | ['(New York Times)'] |
Thai redshirts spill blood at the gates of the government in their third day of protests. | It certainly looks spectacular, but what does it mean? According to the Bangkok Post, today's blood protest by Thai "Red Shirts" loyal to their country's multi- millionaire deposed prime minister, Thaksin Shinawatra, saw "12 five-litre bottles, two large buckets and 50 syringes of blood" ceremonially splashed on the four gates of Government House and over the headquarters of the ruling Democrat party in a "ritual aimed at bringing down the government".
The blood had been collected from several thousand supporters by the opposition United Front for Democracy against Dictatorship. Red Cross officials objected, arguing that throwing 300 litres of human blood on assorted public buildings might not be the best possible use of such a valuable resource, and that in a country with a relatively high rate of HIV infection, its collection and disposal raised potential public health issues.
Again according to the Bangkok Post, three demonstrators, including a Hindu brahman and a man carrying a statue of Buddha, "walked to the first gate of Government House, where a religious rite was performed. The brahman cited spells and incantations, and poured an amount of blood in front of the gate." Next, "the brahman took some of the blood from the ground to write letters on the concrete posts of the gate." Other Red tactics aimed at removing the present premier, Abhisit Vejjajiva, who they claim came to power illegitimately following the coup that ousted Thaksin for alleged corruption and abuse of power in 2006, have included burning coffins, breaking a pot in front of the statue of King Taksin, and throwing plastic bags full of rotten fish.
Blood, a symbol of life (and death), features in religious and other rituals around the world. Australian Aboriginals exchanged blood and rubbed it over their bodies in secret ceremonies; the spilling of human sacrificial blood was an important part of Aztec and other Mesoamerican cultures; ancient Germanic tribes sprinkled blood on walls and on the statues of their gods (the process of smearing blood was known in Old English as bleodsian, a term apparently at the root of the Catholic term blessing). Catholics, obviously, believe consecrated wine becomes the blood of Jesus.
There appear, however, to be relatively few examples of blood being poured as a form of modern political protest. That's what it plainly is, though, for those leading Thailand's pro-Thaksin demonstrations – even if they're not entirely certain why. Nattawut Saikur, one Red leader, said the blood showed the movement's "commitment in calling for democracy", and was an "important curse ritual". If Abhisit refuses to step down, Saikur added, "even though he does not have blood on his hands, his feet will be bloodied with our curses".Another Red leader, Veera Musikapong, said the gesture was "a sacrificial offering . . . to show our love for the nation, to show our sincerity". A third, Somsak Janprasert, told AFP: "This is a very symbolic way to express that our blood, the people's blood, is power."
Experts on Thai culture and beliefs appear no less nonplussed: as SP Somtow, a Thai author and composer, relates on his entertaining and informative blog (somtow.org) that a recent televised debate between an authoritative panel of "Thailand's leading astrologers and magicians" failed completely to arrive at any meaningful conclusion as to the efficacy – or, indeed, the meaning – of the blood-spattering ceremonies, beyond observing that many Red supporters come from "the superstitious north".
Possible theories, Somtow says, include the Cambodian "which states that pouring blood on the headquarters of the government is a Cambodian plot to ensure the return of Thaksin"; the Astrologers, propounded by the chairperson of the Thai astrology society, which holds that blood-spilling is "simple sympathetic magic in order to gain victory, and the sort of thing anyone would do under the circumstances"; and the Historical, which seems based on the legend that the 16th-century Thai king Naresuan once ordered his army to capture and behead the Khmer king Satha so he could "use his victim's blood to wash his feet in".
So will the gory ritual work? Nothing, says Somtow, is less certain. According to the TV experts, "using your enemies' blood to ensure victory might be a logical example of sympathetic magic, but spilling your own could have the opposite effect." The Cambodian theory, too, could well backfire, "because you need to be 'pure of heart' to perform that rite . . . Without such doctrinal protection the magic would reverse itself, and the intended consequences would occur to the curser, not the cursee." And in any case, everyone agreed that "the entire ceremony can easily be negated by sprinkling some holy water from the Emerald Buddha Temple over the blood".
Magic spells, voodoo rituals, blood-spilling and fish-throwing, Somtow concludes, are unlikely to solve Thailand's immediate problems. But hey, if what you're after is the dissolution of the lower house of parliament, "when you have the all the resources of witchcraft and the supernatural at your disposal, why stoop to such mundane devices as, for instance, lobbying one of the smaller parties to switch sides so as to shift the balance of power?" | Protest_Online Condemnation | March 2010 | ['(BBC)', '(The Times)', '(The Guardian)'] |
Prince Sattam bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, a member of the House of Saud and the governor of the Riyadh Province, dies at the age of 72 in Riyadh. | Saudi Prince Sattam bin Abdul Aziz, the governor of Riyadh, and King Abdullah's half brother died on Tuesday at the age of 72, according to a statement by the Royal Court. The Saudi Press Agency quoted a Royal Court statement saying that Prince Sattam will be buried Wednesday.
He began his early study in the princes school in Riyadh and then he joined Al Anjaal institute. He studied in England and the United States, where he earned a bachelor degree in Business Administration from San Diego University in 1965. He then became deputy governor of Riyadh from 1979 to 2011 and in Nov. 5, 2011 he was appointed by King Abdullah as the governor of Riyadh. Prince Sattam headed many charity commissions was said to have good relations with international diplomatic missions in the kingdom.In March last year, he decided to allow single men in Riyadh to visit shopping malls during peak hours, easing restrictions aimed at stopping harassment of women.Prince Sattam became the first Saudi royal who decided to donate his organs after he died. The prince signed the donor card a few years ago according to Al Riyadh newspaper. The card says: “ I, the person signed below, admit that I told my relatives that I want to donate my organs after I die, for the purpose of transplanting them to our sick brothers who are in need.” | Famous Person - Death | February 2013 | ['(Al Arabiya)'] |
In horse racing, Auroras Encore springs a 66/1 surprise to win the 2013 Grand National by nine lengths at Aintree Racecourse in Liverpool, United Kingdom. | Last updated on 6 April 20136 April 2013.From the section Horse Racingcomments250
Auroras Encore sprang a 66-1 surprise to win the 166th Grand National by nine lengths at Aintree.
The 11-year-old, trained by Sue Smith and ridden by Ryan Mania, jumped superbly as 17 of the 40 runners finished the race.
Cappa Bleu (12-1) was second, Teaforthree (10-1) third and 2011 runner-up Oscar Time (66-1) fourth, ahead of Rare Bob (16-1).
Seabass was sent off the 11-2 favourite, as jockey Katie Walsh sought to become the first female rider to win the famous steeplechase.
1. Auroras Encore (Ryan Mania) 66-1
2. Cappa Bleu (Paul Moloney) 12-1
3. Teaforthree (Nick Scholfield) 10-1
4. Oscar Time (Sam Waley-Cohen) 66-1
5. Rare Bob (Bryan Cooper) 16-1
6. Swing Bill (Conor O'Farrell) 80-1
But her mount faded, eventually finishing 13th.
However, it was Walsh's fellow amateur Sam Waley-Cohen who played a leading role as he sent 2011 runner-up Oscar Time towards the front in the latter stages.
Welsh National runner-up Teaforthree mounted a challenge before Scottish jockey Mania - in his first Grand National ride - appeared at the vanguard with his mount travelling strongly.
They made no mistake at the last and raced away up the run-in for a comprehensive win.
"There are no words to describe it," said the 23-year-old Scot. "I got a dream ride round. I couldn't believe my luck. "I couldn't fault the horse. I had a choice of two but I thought I better stay loyal to him. He loved every second of it. He was just class."
Mania gave up riding for six months in 2011 when trainer Howard Johnson lost his licence, before deciding to come back to the sport with the encouragement of Sue Smith and her former showjumper husband Harvey.
Auroras Encore went largely ignored by punters after a disappointing sequence of unplaced runs following a fine second, beaten a neck by Merigo, in the Scottish National at Ayr a year ago.
But the drying ground may well have been the key to the gelding's improvement as Smith became the third female trainer to win the race after Jenny Pitman (Corbiere and Royal Athlete) and Venetia Williams (Mon Mome).
The Bingley-based handler said afterwards: "It's unbelievable. He gave him such a good ride.
"I knew the ground was right for him and hoped everything else was. He stayed down the middle and had a bit of luck in running. He didn't have a lot of weight and that helped, too.
"He's such a grand little horse, you can ride him any way you like."
The winner is now owned by Douglas Pryde, Jim Beaumont and David van der Hoeven.
Edinburgh-based Beaumont, 78, was born in Liverpool and worked as a bell boy at the city's Adelphi Hotel at the age of 14 before going on to carve out a career in the catering and hotels business.
After two fatalities in each of the two previous runnings, all 40 horses and jockeys returned safely. Only two horses fell with six jockeys unseated, while it was the first time in the race's history that the entire field were still in contention up to Canal Turn, the eighth fence. | Sports Competition | April 2013 | ['(BBC)'] |
Iceland qualifies for the 2018 FIFA World Cup after defeating Kosovo 2–0 to win UEFA Group I, becoming the smallest nation by population to qualify for a FIFA World Cup. | Win over Kosovo secures place at World Cup 2018 in Russia Serbia seal qualification, Croatia confirm play-off place
Last modified on Wed 6 Jun 2018 10.33 BST
Iceland sealed a place in Russia with a 2-0 victory against Kosovo in Reykjavik, becoming the smallest nation ever to qualify for a World Cup finals.
Heimir Hallgrimsson’s team knew a win against Group I’s bottom side would guarantee top spot and an automatic qualifying place, and Everton’s Gylfi Sigurdsson settled their nerves with a superbly taken goal five minutes before half-time.
Sigurdsson also set up the second for Johann Berg Gudmundsson midway through the second half as Iceland completed the campaign by winning their final three games, proving their run to the quarter-finals of Euro 2016 was no fluke.
An emphatic 3-0 win in Turkey on Friday had sent Iceland top of the group before the final match, but they struggled to impose themselves against the group’s bottom side. Jon Bodvarsson’s far-post header was easily saved by Samir Ujkani, before Milot Rashica gave Iceland a fright with a long-range shot which flew past Hannes Halldorsson’s post.
With their next attack, Iceland went ahead. Sigurdsson collected the ball on the edge of the area, wriggled his way past Amir Rrahmani and fired beyond Ujkani for his fourth goal of the qualifiers. The hosts were happy to sit back on their lead until Sigurdsson again got past Rrahmani and crossed for Gudmundsson to make sure of victory in the 68th minute.
Hallgrimsson, a part-time dentist who became sole manager after Euro 2016, when Lars Lagerback left to take the Norway manager’s job, was lost for words at the final whistle.
Trinidad & Tobago (1.37 million) - The Soca Warriors made their sole finals appearance in 2006 in Germany, where they featured in the same group as Sven-Goran Eriksson's England. The team featured a number of players familiar to Premier League fans, including Shaka Hislop, Dwight Yorke and Stern John.
Northern Ireland (1.85 million)
- Michael O'Neill's side are on course to qualify for the first time since 1986. They also featured in Spain in 1982, having made their debut at the 1958 finals in Sweden.
Slovenia (2.08 million)
- Have featured twice at the finals - in 2002 and 2010. They failed to take a point from three group games in their maiden tournament, but came within a whisker of the last 16 in 2010, when a late defeat to England and a victory for the United States over Algeria eliminated them.
Jamaica (2.89 million)
- The Reggae Boyz were surprise qualifiers for France 98 and after being beaten by Croatia and Argentina in their first two matches, went home on a high with a 2-1 win over Japan.
Wales (3.1 million)
- The Principality made their only previous finals appearance in 1958, when they were beaten by eventual winners Brazil in the quarter-finals.
“This is really odd, I don’t know what to say. I mean ... Pelé, Maradona, Aron Einar Gunnarsson,” Hallgrimsson said, referencing the Cardiff midfielder at the heart of his side.
Qualification for their first World Cup is a remarkable achievement for Iceland, a country with a population of approximately 335,000. The previous smallest country to have reached the finals was Trinidad & Tobago in 2006 (1.3 million people) followed by Northern Ireland (1.85 million), Slovenia (2.08 million), Jamaica (2.89 million) and Wales (3.1 million).
Serbia’s substitute Aleksandar Prijovic struck in the 74th minute to ease nerves in Belgrade, securing a 1-0 win against Georgia that confirmed their first participation in a major tournament since 2010.
The Republic of Ireland’s win in Wales meant that even a goalless draw would have seen Serbia through, but Prijovic’s fine finish from Aleksandar Mitrovic’s cross made certain of qualification, allowing home fans to celebrate in Red Star’s Rajko Mitic Stadium.
Croatia defeated Ukraine 2-0 in Kyiv to secure second place in Group I and a play‑off place. Andrej Kramaric’s second‑half double earned the victory after the hosts had looked the better side in the first half. Kramaric’s header from Luka Modric’s cross from the right broke the deadlock in the 62nd minute, before the Hoffenheim striker converted Ivan Rakitic’s through ball at the far post eight minutes later.
Asier Illarramendi scored a long-range winner for Spain in Israel, ensuring the Group G winners finished their campaign with nine wins from 10 games. Italy, already assured of a play‑off place, won 1-0 in Albania through Antonio Candreva’s second-half goal.
In matches between already eliminated sides, Macedonia beat Liechtenstein 4-0, Finland drew 2-2 with Turkey and Austria won 1-0 in Moldova. | Sports Competition | October 2017 | ['(The Guardian)'] |
Thirteen are killed and 34 others injured after a bus carrying Erasmus exchange students returning from the renowned Falles fireworks festival in Valencia, crashes near Freginals, Spain. The regional government of Catalonia said in a statement that, "... according to the latest data, the ill-fated bus had students from Hungary, Germany, Sweden, Norway, Switzerland, Czech Republic, United Kingdom, Italy, Peru, Bulgaria, Poland, Ireland, Japan, Ukraine, Holland, Belgium, France, Palestine, Turkey, Greece." |
It has emerged that all 13 people killed in Sunday morning’s coach crash in northern Spain were young foreign women.
The bus was carrying Erasmus students from several countries home from the Fallas Festival in Valencia when it collided with a car on a motorway.
All the others, more than 40, were taken to various hospitals. By mid-afternoon nearly 30 were still being treated, nine in a serious condition.
The coach had travelled overnight, taking students back to Barcelona when it crashed near Tarragona in Catalonia at around six o’clock on Sunday morning. 13 killed as bus carrying foreign exchange students crashes in Spain The number of dead was revised downwards from an earlier estimate of 14. The passengers came from well over a dozen countries all over the world. According to the Catalan government they came from Peru, Bulgaria, Poland, Ireland, the Palestinian territories, Japan, Ukraine, the Czech Republic, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, Italy, Hungary, Germany, Sweden, Norway and Switzerland.
The Catalan government said the victims studied at various universities including the University of Barcelona and the Autonomous University of Barcelona.
Reports say the bus driver lost control of the vehicle, causing it to cross the central barrier and collide with a car. Its occupants were apparently unhurt. The driver was interviewed by police.
“It is important to mention that the coach driver tested negative for drugs and alcohol. The crash appeared to be due to human error,” said Spain’s acting Interior Minister, Jorge Fernández Díaz.
Identifying the victims has proved difficult as many had no documents. By late afternoon post mortem operations had been carried out on nine of the 13 people who died.
The crash is one of Spain’s most serious accidents for years. Catalonian President Carles Puigdemont said five minutes of silence would be held for the 13 victims on Monday at midday.
President KRLS</a> Puigdemont: "I am declaring two days of national mourning and the suspension of my official trip to Paris."h 2016
Condolences to the families and friends of the students who tragically lost their lives in the bus accident in #Freginals in Spain
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| Road Crash | March 2016 | ['(and)', '(The Independent)', '(Euronews)', '(AP via Bloomberg)'] |
Suicide bombers target Kurdish political protesters in Kirkuk and Shiite pilgrims in Baghdad killing at least 48 people and wounding 249. | BAGHDAD Three women wrapped in explosives killed dozens in Iraq on Monday, shaking the country as chaos and ethnic violence erupted in the volatile northern city of Kirkuk, where tensions had already run high between majority Kurds and ethnic Turkmens. All told, at least 61 people were killed and 238 wounded, nearly all of them Kurdish political protesters in Kirkuk and Shiite pilgrims in Baghdad. It was one of the bloodiest days in a year in which violence has dropped strikingly.
| Armed Conflict | July 2008 | ['(The New York Times)'] |
The first discovery of the perfectly preserved remains of a cave bear, believed to be 22,000 to 39,500 years old , is made in Lyakhovsky Islands, Siberia in the thawing permafrost. | Reindeer herders in a Russian Arctic archipelago have found an immaculately preserved carcass of an Ice Age cave bear, researchers said Monday.
The find, revealed by the melting permafrost, was discovered on the Lyakhovsky Islands with its teeth and even its nose intact. Previously scientists only had been able to discover the bones of cave bears that became extinct 15,000 years ago.
Scientists of the North-Eastern Federal University in Yakutsk, the premier center for research into woolly mammoths and other prehistoric species, hailed the find as groundbreaking.
In a statement issued by the university, researcher Lena Grigorieva emphasized that “this is the first and only find of its kind — a whole bear carcass with soft tissues.”
“It is completely preserved, with all internal organs in place, including even its nose,” Grigorieva said. “This find is of great importance for the whole world.”
A preliminary analysis indicated that the adult bear lived 22,000 to 39,500 years ago.
“It is necessary to carry out radiocarbon analysis to determine the precise age of the bear,” the university quoted researcher Maxim Cheprasov as saying.
The bear carcass was found by reindeer herders on Bolshoy Lyakhovsky Island. It is the largest of the Lyakhovsky Islands, which are part of the New Siberian Islands archipelago that lies between the Laptev Sea and the East Siberian Sea.
At about the same time, a well-preserved carcass of a cave bear cub has also been found in another area in Yakutia’s mainland, the university said. It didn’t describe its condition in detail but noted that scientists are hopeful of obtaining its DNA.
Recent years have seen major discoveries of mammoths, woolly rhinos, Ice Age foal, several puppies and cave lion cubs as the permafrost melts across vast areas in Russia’s region of Siberia. | New archeological discoveries | September 2020 | ['(Late Pleistocene)', '(AP)'] |
A police officer storms the police headquarters in the city of Ponce, Puerto Rico, and shoots dead three fellow officers, including a commanding officer. Authorities say Guarionex Candelario, 50, was arrested for the killings shortly afterwards and taken to hospital for minor injuries. | Three police officers, including a commanding officer, were shot and killed by a fellow cop Monday inside the police headquarters of the city of Ponce, Puerto Rico, according to reports.
"There are no words to describe this tragedy where three colleagues have lost their lives," Puerto Rico Police Deputy Superintendent Col. Juan Rodriguez Davila wrote on twitter.
"No hay palabras para describir esta tragedia donde 3 compaeros han perdido la vida. Nuestras condolencias para las familias", Súper Asoc.
Guarionex Candelario, 50, was arrested for the killing of his supervisor Lt. Luz M. Soto Segarra, 49, Cmdr. Frank Román, 49, and policewoman Rosario Hernández de Hoyos, 42, authorities told the Daily News.
Candelario had been previously stripped of his weapon but had it returned following a psychological evaluation almost two years ago, police said.
Candelario allegedly held his coworkers hostage in an office following an argument, auhtorities said.
Police were about to start negotiations with him when he started shooting, killing the three hostages.
Candelario was injured when police stormed the room and was taken to the hospital with non life-threatening injuries, according to police.
An explosives division of the Ponce police department found a "suspicious" package in Candelario's car and evacuated police headquarters, according to authorities.
"Officers and civilians are crying and giving each other comfort," reporter Michelle Estrada tweeted from outside the Ponce police headquarters. | Famous Person - Commit Crime - Accuse | December 2015 | ['(NY Daily News)'] |
Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu announces his resignation effective May 22 amid conflict with President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan over Turkey's increasingly authoritarian rule. Davutoğlu said he would step down following an extraordinary meeting of AKP party leaders scheduled for May 22. | ISTANBUL — The Turkish prime minister, Ahmet Davutoglu, a close ally of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, will soon leave office, a government official said. His departure is occurring amid a disagreement between the two men over Mr. Erdogan’s drive for more power.
The two leaders met on Wednesday night, according to the Turkish official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss a decision that had not been announced publicly. “It’s unlikely that Davutoglu will run for leadership again,” he said.
The prime minister is expected to hold a news conference on Thursday after a meeting with officials of the governing Justice and Development Party, or A.K.P., according to Turkish news reports, which also said that Mr. Davutoglu was likely to step aside after a coming special party congress.
The leadership change atop the Islamist party comes as the country is facing multiple challenges, including a war with Kurdish militants, terrorist attacks by Islamic State fighters, and the arrival of millions of Syrian refugees. The shuffle clears the way for Mr. Erdogan, who critics say has become increasingly authoritarian, to consolidate even more authority.
Under Turkey’s Constitution, the prime minister is the most powerful official, and the president, although he has some genuine powers, is a largely ceremonial figure. But Mr. Erdogan has not been like previous Turkish presidents, and there has been little doubt that he is the country’s pre-eminent political figure.
Mr. Davutoglu, who became prime minister in 2014, after Mr. Erdogan was elected president, had long been seen as subservient to Mr. Erdogan.
But simmering tensions between them boiled over this week, leading to speculation in the Turkish news media about a rift. The tensions apparently reached a breaking point last week, after party officials stripped Mr. Davutoglu of his power to choose provincial party leaders.
“Even with a person as compliant as Davutoglu, the relationship didn’t work,” said Sinan Ulgen, a former Turkish diplomat and the chairman of the Center for Economics and Foreign Policy Studies, a research organization here.
In public, Mr. Davutoglu has sought mostly to play the role of party loyalist and devotee to Mr. Erdogan, but analysts say the two men have privately differed on several issues.
Mr. Davutoglu was said to be resistant to Mr. Erdogan’s long-held ambition to rewrite Turkey’s Constitution and establish an executive presidency.
Recently, Mr. Davutoglu had suggested he was willing to return to peace negotiations to end a long war — which resumed in earnest last year — with the Kurdistan Worker’s Party, or P.K.K., while Mr. Erdogan has appeared more hawkish.
The two leaders also seemed to differ on monetary policy, with Mr. Davutoglu supporting the independence of the central bank, and Mr. Erdogan seeking to intervene for lower interest rates.
In choosing to step down as the leader of the A.K.P., Mr. Davutoglu will clear the way for Mr. Erdogan to pick a new party boss who will then become prime minister.
“The new elected prime minister’s main mission will be to drive forward the presidential agenda,” Mr. Ulgen said.
But even with a new prime minister, it will not be so easy for Mr. Erdogan to alter the Constitution as he wants. The A.K.P., which has been in power for more than a decade, with Mr. Erdogan the prime minister for much of that time, does not have enough seats in Parliament to approve the changes on its own or call a national referendum on a new constitution. Most opinion polls show the Turkish public opposes Mr. Erdogan’s proposed presidential system.
Mr. Erdogan rose to power in 2003, and the A.K.P. won several national elections. But last June, the party lost its parliamentary majority and the Kurdish political party won seats in Parliament for the first time.
That is when war resumed between the Turkish state and the Kurdish P.K.K., which seemed eager to return to arms. Critics of Mr. Erdogan said he sought to use the conflict as a political strategy to regain nationalist votes.
Indeed, after failed coalition talks with opposition parties last summer, Mr. Erdogan called for new elections, and the party regained its majority in November.
With Mr. Erdogan’s not having enough support to amend the Constitution, analysts have predicted that with a new prime minister, he could move to hold early elections in a bid to amass more seats in Parliament. | Government Job change - Resignation_Dismissal | May 2016 | ['(The New York Times)', '(The Guardian)'] |
An administrative court in Berlin overturns the city government's ban on protests and demonstrations, citing "no indication" that the government's rationale for the ban of protesters breaching social distancing measures would occur. | writer: AFP BERLIN - Thousands of coronavirus sceptics are set to descend on Berlin on Saturday for a mass protest against pandemic restrictions that was allowed to go ahead after a bitter legal battle.
Police said they will turn out in force and strictly monitor compliance with mask-wearing and social distancing, with Berlin police chief Barbara Slowik warning that if the demonstrators do not adhere to virus safety rules, police will clear the area "very quickly".
"We will not be able or willing to watch tens of thousands assemble and create infection risks," she added.
Berlin city authorities had previously decided not to allow the Saturday demonstration to go ahead, fearing that the estimated 22,000 protesters would not keep a distance of 1.5 metres apart or comply with face mask requirements.
The ban sparked outrage from organisers and their supporters who flooded social media with angry messages vowing to protest anyway, with some even calling for violence.
But on the eve of the demo, Berlin's administrative court sided with the demonstrators, saying there was no indication that organisers would "deliberately ignore" social distancing rules and endanger public health.
Around 3,000 police officers, including 1,000 federal police, will be deployed for the demonstration, alongside specialist equipment including water cannon, Slowik said. The rally comes as coronavirus cases continue to rise in Germany, with daily new infection numbers reaching highs not seen since April.
At a press conference on Friday, Chancellor Angel Merkel said confronting the virus will become more challenging in the coming autumn and winter months.
Merkel and the leaders of Germany's 16 federal states on Thursday introduced tougher coronavirus restrictions to curb the pandemic, including a minimum 50 euro ($59) fine for people caught not wearing face masks where one is compulsory. "We will have to live with this virus for a long time to come. It is still serious. Please continue to take it seriously," Merkel warned.
- Counter demos -
The court decision to allow the protest shines a light on the battle lines being drawn up between those who are content to follow government-mandated protection measures and those who believe that governments shouldn't be able to dictate how people live. At the start of August, a similar "anti-corona" march in Berlin took place with 20,000 protesters, a mixture of the hard left and right, anti-vaccination campaigners, conspiracy theorists and self-described "free thinkers".
Police broke up the protest early after participants repeatedly flouted Covid-19 safety regulations.
The far-right welcomed Friday's court ruling allowing the latest demo to go ahead, with Leif-Erik Holm, a lawmaker for the anti-migrant AfD party, calling it "a victory for freedom".
But several groups intend to stage counter-demonstrations to the main protest.
Anne Helm from the left-wing party Die Linke and an MP in Berlin's parliament, said: "There must be no tolerance towards racists, anti-Semites, right-wing extremists and Nazis. That is why I call on all Berliners to take part in the counter-events."
Meanwhile, the German Hotel and Restaurant Association reported that hotels in the capital recorded noticeably more bookings for the weekend. "We assume that the rooms were booked in connection with the demonstration," Thomas Lengfelder, the association's local leader, told the Augsburger Allgemeine newspaper.
Several countries around the world have seen protests against coronavirus restrictions and lockdown measures in recent months.
Thailand needs to accelerate digitalisation among its state agencies to facilitate ease of doing business, while workers need better technical skills to improve the country's competitiveness on the global stage, according to the state planning unit chief.
Chulalongkorn Memorial Hospital is trumpeting the work being done at its new Gender Health Clinic (GHC), one of the first to focus specifically on catering to the needs of the transgender community.
| Protest_Online Condemnation | August 2020 | ['(AFP via Bangkok Post)'] |
Pakistan's minister for defence production Abdul Qayum Jatoi resigns after criticising the military for allegedly carrying out political assassinations. | Abdul Qayum Jatoi had told journalists on Saturday that the Pakistani army was provided with funds to defend the country, not to get involved in political assassinations. His comments were played repeatedly on Pakistani television channels. Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani summoned him to explain his remarks and a short time later, Mr Jatoi resigned.
"We provided the army with uniforms and boots not so that they kill their own fellow countrymen, kill Nawab Sahib [Bugti] and Benazir Bhutto," he told a news conference in the city of Quetta.
Former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto was assassinated in December 2007 as she was campaigning in Pakistan's presidential elections.
Nawab Akbar Bugti was a tribal leader in the province of Baluchistan who was killed in a battle between government forces and tribal militants in August 2006. Pakistan's military has carried out coups against the civilian government on three occasions - in 1958, 1977 and 1999 - and has governed the country for much of its 63-year history.
There has been speculation in the media that the Pakistani military would move against the civilian government, which was widely criticised for its handling of the recent floods. However, most analysts believe a coup is unlikely at the moment. During the same news conference, Mr Jatoi suggested that the benefits of corruption should be equally available to all.
"All groups — Sindhi, Pakhtun, Baloch, Seraiki and Punjabi - should get an equal share in corruption," he said.
| Government Job change - Resignation_Dismissal | September 2010 | ['(BBC)'] |
Brazilian prosecutor Rodrigo Janot files charges in the Supreme Court against officials in President Michel Temer's Brazilian Democratic Movement Party accusing them of forming a criminal organization. Earlier the Court said, next week, it will consider Temer's request to block Janot from issuing further charges. | BRASILIA (Reuters) - Brazil’s top prosecutor on Friday charged six lawmakers from President Michel Temer’s Brazilian Democracy Movement Party (PMDB) with forming a criminal organization, the latest in a barrage of charges in the country’s sprawling corruption scandal.
Those accused by prosecutor Rodrigo Janot in a filing with the Supreme Court include former senator and president Jose Sarney, the government’s leader in the Senate Romero Juca and four other current senators.
A corruption scandal involving cartels of companies bribing officials for public contracts has enveloped most of Brazil’s political elite with Janot expected to issue another charge against Temer in coming weeks.
Temer defeated a first corruption charge from Janot, when the lower house of Congress voted not to allow it to proceed to trial.
Separately on Friday, the Supreme Court said it would consider next week requests from Temer that would block Janot from issuing further charges.
In the charges against the senators, Janot alleges the group unduly received 864 million reais ($279.84 million) and generated related losses of 5.5 billion reais for state-controlled oil firm Petrobras and 113 million reais for its subsidiary Transpetro.
Transpetro’s former president, Sergio Machado, was also charged.
The PMDB said in a statement that the prosecutor lacked evidence and that it trusted the Supreme Court would set the charges aside.
Juca said in a statement he believes the Supreme Court will seriously analyze the charges and he hopes for a speedy investigation.
A representative for Machado said he continues to collaborate with authorities, providing evidence of crimes involving politicians and Transpetro suppliers that resulted in several cases being filed.
Janot’s latest charges echo those against former presidents Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, Dilma Rousseff and six other members of the Workers Party for criminal organization earlier this week. Lula and Rousseff deny the charges.
($1 = 3.0875 reais)
| Famous Person - Commit Crime - Accuse | September 2017 | ['(Reuters)'] |
Choi Soon-sil, the woman at the centre of a South Korean political scandal involving her friend President of Korea Park Geun-hye, is detained for questioning. | The woman at the centre of a political scandal that has cast the South Korean presidency into crisis has been detained, as locals continue to express their anger over the affair.
Prosecutors are investigating allegations that Choi Soon-sil used her friendship with President Park Geun-hye to influence state affairs by gaining access to classified documents, and benefited personally through non-profit foundations.
Worried that Ms Choi may be a flight risk and could destroy evidence, prosecutors placed her under emergency detention without a warrant, South Korea's Yonhap News Agency reported.
A prosecution official confirmed that she had been arrested and taken to a Seoul detention facility, declining to provide further details.
On Tuesday morning, Ms Choi arrived by prison bus at the prosecutors' office escorted by correctional officers, according to a live broadcast by Yonhap News TV.
AP: Lee Jin-man
Under South Korean law, a suspect can be held under emergency arrest without a warrant for up to 48 hours — a longer detention requires an arrest warrant issued by a court.
In an interview with South Korea's Segye Ilbo newspaper last week, Ms Choi said she received drafts of Ms Park's speeches after her election victory but denied she had access to other official material, or that she influenced state affairs or benefited financially.
Ms Park said last week she had given Ms Choi access to speech drafts early in her term and apologised for causing concern among the public.
Meanwhile, South Korean police detained a man who rammed a large excavator into a gate near the office where prosecutors questioned Ms Choi.
Ms Choi had earlier told media that she "committed a sin that deserves death" — a common expression of deep repentance — and the detained man said he "came here to help her die", according to police.
The attack with heavy construction equipment on a Government building is part of a frenzy of emotion in South Korea over the scandal.
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Ms Choi, a cult leader's daughter with a decades-long connection to Ms Park, was nearly knocked off her feet several times yesterday as a crowd of protesters and reporters closed in on her.
Protesters screamed for her arrest and Ms Park's resignation, one angry person reportedly tried to enter the building with a bucket full of animal faeces, and Ms Choi lost her shoe in the scrum.
Social media is now awash with images of the discarded black footwear and the word "Soonderella", a combination of parts of Ms Choi's name and the fairy tale character Cinderella, who leaves behind a glass slipper at a ball.
The man detained for the excavator incident was identified as a 45-year-old with the surname Jeong.
It was not known if Ms Choi was at the Seoul office at the time of the ramming, which injured a security guard and damaged the gate and other facilities.
| Famous Person - Commit Crime - Arrest | November 2016 | ['(ABC)'] |
Tropical Cyclone Dylan forms off the North Queensland coast and is expected to make landfall between Lucinda and Proserpine. | .
Cyclone Dylan is continuing to gather strength as it approaches the North Queensland coast and is set to be upgraded to a category two storm later tonight. Authorities are on cyclone alert across the region. The system began as a tropical low in the Coral Sea several days ago but officially became a category one cyclone this afternoon. Andrew Bufalino from the weather bureau says Dylan is still intensifying."Currently we have it as a category one, but we are forecasting it to upgrade into a category two by 10pm this evening," he said. Dylan is expected to cross the coast between Townsville and Bowen early tomorrow with wind gusts of 150 kilometres per hour near its centre. Mr Bufalino says the cyclone will dump heavy rain from Cardwell to St Lawrence. "We are expecting widespread daily rainfall totals of around 100 to 300 millimetres," he said."The areas that pick up the 300 mills will be quite isolated at this stage, but as it pushes further inland we are expecting some rainfall totals up to 100 mills, even possibly higher."Gale warnings were issued for the Townsville, Mackay and Capricornia coast. A storm tide is expected between Cardwell and Lucinda, and large waves may cause minor flooding along the foreshore.Premier Campbell Newman, who has travelled to Townsville, says despite extensive preparations there is no room for complacency. "The big threat is going to be from flooding, and my single most important message today is that people who need to travel need to do it now and try to get it out of the way as soon as possible," he said. "If it's flooded, forget it."Townsville and Yeppoon on the Capricorn Coast are among the centres being inundated, and Townsville Council has set up an evacuation centre at Cungulla.Senior weather forecaster Matt Bass said the storm was tracking further south than first thought."At this stage the most likely crossing location is near Ayr, but anywhere between Lucinda and Proserpine could see the cyclone near them," he said.Bowen motel operator Anita Rogan says the strong winds have forced some boats onto the shore."Down near the skateboard park on Front Beach, there is quite a large trawler that's been blown up and quite a few smaller boats, yachts and the like have broken their moorings and have been blown up onto the beach there, but nothing really major," she said."I know that everybody's just knuckling down and making things safe."The tide at Cairns Harbour reached 3.83 metres, exceeding this year's predicted record by nearly 40 centimetres."It's certainly put the water levels at a level that's been beyond anything we've ever noted before," John Lucas from the Hilton Hotel on the Esplanade said."Our restaurant which sits on the waterfront has certainly had a good few inches go through the bottom of it. Little bit of minor damage to some timberwork and the like but nothing that we can't fix fairly readily."Fire and Rescue Service spokesman Wayne Preedy says people still have time to prepare for further flooding."The cut-off we always work off is once the winds get to 100 kilometres an hour, there's no more outside work," he said."The bureau plays a key role in this today and leading into tonight as to when those winds are expected."He says emergency crews will be keeping an eye on the tides throughout today. Residents of low-lying areas told to get sandbags readyMackay Mayor Deirdre Comerford says residents in low-lying areas should be prepared."You need to have sandbags on hand, because you know if you've experienced water inundation normally, you can expect that again," she said.Additional swift water rescue crews have been sent from Rockhampton to Mackay as a precaution with extra resources also in the Whitsundays.There was very little rain overnight in the Mackay Whitsunday region, but winds have picked up.Wind gusts of up 104 kilometres an hour were recorded at Hamilton Island overnight, but just 5 millimetres of rain fell.Ferry services out of Airlie Beach were suspended last night and all boats have been moored at Shute Harbour and Abel Point.Mayor predicts cyclone's centre will miss Cassowary CoastThe Cassowary Coast Regional Council, which covers the towns of Innisfail, Cardwell and Tully, is urging residents in the shire to go about business as usual, while remaining alert.Mayor Bill Shannon says residents should follow the lead of the State Government."If the schools are open, then we expect kids to be going to school," he said."We expect people to be going to work and therefore going about their normal lives, but keeping a watch and that's the situation we've got at the present time."I'm quietly confident that given that most of the action is to the south of the centre of the cyclone and the centre is going to be beyond Cardwell, further to the south of Cardwell, that there shouldn't be too much problem in that part of the world."Here's a selection of weather photos in North Queensland from social media: - ABC | Hurricanes_Tornado_Storm_Blizzard | January 2014 | ['(ABC Australia via Weatherzone)'] |
India arrests 75 Kashmiri political leaders and activists for "preventive custody" due to recent violence following local elections. | The arrests came after an anti-Modi alliance won majority of seats in local elections last week.
The Indian government has arrested at least 75 Kashmiri political leaders and activists to forestall political unrest after an alliance of Kashmir’s regional political parties won local elections, leaders and a police official said on Saturday.
The District Development Council elections, concluded early this week, were the first local polls since Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government revoked the special status of the Muslim-majority region last year.
New Delhi then cracked down on the opposition and rounded up hundreds of people to preempt protests and violence.
The latest detentions, which include separatist leaders and members of the banned Jamat-e-Islami group, were for preventive custody, said a senior police official, who asked not to be identified.
But Imran Nabi Dar, spokesman for the National Conference, a regional party and a key member of the alliance, said the detentions undermine the verdict of the people.
Omar Abdullah, a former chief minister and head of the National Conference, said the alliance’s victory shows that Kashmiris have not accepted Modi’s decision to end Kashmir’s special status.
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The People’s Alliance for Gupkar Declaration (PAGD), which is pro-India but favours self-governance in Kashmir, won 112 of a total of 280 seats in the local elections, which were held in a staggered eight-phase process from November 28 through December 19.
Prime Minister Modi’s Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) won 74 seats with just three of those in the Kashmir Valley.
Indian authorities have kept a tight grip on Kashmir since revoking its autonomy in August 2019 and have arrested most separatist leaders, who in the past have called for a boycott of elections.
New Delhi has annulled Kashmir’s constitution, split the area into two federal territories – Ladakh, and Jammu and Kashmir – and removed inherited protections on land and jobs.
The Kashmir-based politicians said the election results made it clear that Kashmiri people have rejected last year’s decision.
Kashmir is divided between India and Pakistan with both claiming the region in its entirety.
Rebels have been fighting against Indian rule since 1989.
New Delhi accuses Pakistan of sponsoring Kashmiri separatist fighters, a charge Pakistan denies. Tens of thousands of civilians, fighters and government forces have been killed in the conflict.
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A year after Kashmir was stripped of its limited autonomy, Muslim Bakarwal, Gujjars face eviction from forest dwellings.
Kashmiri Shia youth are negotiating their own space within the Kashmiri struggle.
Babar Qadri was shot on Thursday evening at his home in Srinagar by unidentified gunmen posing as clients, police said.
| Famous Person - Commit Crime - Arrest | December 2020 | ['(Al Jazeera)'] |
The Turkish parliament approves a motion authorizing cross-border military operations against Syria after Syrian forces shelled the Turkish border town of Akakale on October 3, killing five people. | Turkey's parliament has authorised troops to launch cross-border action against Syria, following Syria's deadly shelling of a Turkish town.
The bill, passed by 320 to 129, also permits strikes against Syrian targets. But Deputy Prime Minister Besir Atalay insisted this was a deterrent and not a mandate for war.
Turkey has been firing at targets inside Syria since Wednesday's shelling of the town of Akcakale, which killed two women and three children.
Ankara's military response marks the first time it has fired into Syria during the 18-month-long unrest there.
Syria's UN envoy said two Syrian army officials were injured in the retaliatory shelling.
The Turkish parliament passed the bill in a closed-doors emergency session.
It permits military action, if required by the government, for the period of one year.
However, Mr Atalay insisted the priority was to act in co-ordination with international bodies.
He told Turkish television: "This mandate is not a war mandate but it is in our hands to be used when need be in order to protect Turkey's own interests."
He said Syria had accepted responsibility for the deaths.
"The Syrian side has admitted what it did and apologised," Mr Atalay said.
Zeliha Timucin, her three daughters and her sister died in Akcakale when a shell fell in their courtyard as they prepared the evening meal.
They were buried in a local cemetery on Thursday.
Turkey had called for the UN Security Council to meet and take "necessary action" to stop Syrian "aggression".
However, Mr Atalay said that UN and Syrian representatives had spoken on Wednesday evening.
He said: "Syria... said nothing like this will happen again. That's good. The UN mediated and spoke to Syria."
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon was "alarmed by escalating tensions along the Syrian-Turkish border", according to his spokesman, Martin Nesirky, and has called for "maximum restraint".
"As the situation inside Syria deteriorates yet further... the risks of regional conflict and the threat to international peace and security are also increasing," Mr Nesirky said.
The UN Security Council drafted a resolution on Thursday condemning the Syrian shelling "in the strongest terms", calling it a "violation of international law".
However, Russia, Syria's main ally, has blocked the text and instead proposed one that does not refer to international law, and which calls on all parties to "exercise restraint".
Syria's UN envoy, Bashar Ja'afari, said his country had offered deepest condolences over the deaths, but not an apology, because an investigation into the incident had not been completed.
Nato has held an urgent meeting to support Turkey, demanding "the immediate cessation of such aggressive acts against an ally".
The US, the UK, France and the European Union have already condemned Syria's actions.
The BBC's Jim Muir in Beirut says neither Turkey nor Syria wants this to develop into a war. He says there is no appetite in Nato or the West for military conflict and that it is noticeable how conciliatory Syria has been since the news of the shelling broke.
Many social media users in Turkey have been reacting strongly against the possibility of war with Syria.
Hashtags such as #notowar drew a lot of attention.
One user, coymak, tweeted: "There is no victory in war, only victory is the happiness in the eye of the children when it is ended!"
There were many tweets referring to the call for an anti-war rally in central Istanbul on Thursday evening.
Reports later said many hundreds of people had gathered in the city's Taksim Square.
In Syria itself as many as 21 members of Syria's elite Republican Guards have been killed in an explosion and firefight in the Qudsaya district of Damascus, the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) told the BBC.
The SOHR is one of the most prominent organisations documenting and reporting incidents and casualties in the Syrian conflict. The group says its reports are impartial, though its information cannot be independently verified.
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How the Delta variant took hold in the UK. VideoHow the Delta variant took hold in the UK | Armed Conflict | October 2012 | ['(BBC)'] |
Emirates Flight 203 from Dubai is quarantined briefly after landing at John F. Kennedy International Airport when 19 passengers were deemed sick and others complained of symptoms. | An Emirates airline Airbus A380 superjumbo jet was briefly quarantined at New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport after numerous passengers fell ill on a flight arriving from Dubai early Wednesday.
As many as 100 passengers, including some crew members, "complained of illness, including cough and some with fever," according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Emirates confirmed an incident of illness on board Flight 203, which landed in New York around 9:15 a.m. EDT and was sent to a staging area to be inspected by Port Authority and CDC officials. Many passengers had been sent on their ways by 10:45 a.m. EDT, though it took until around noon until all had been evaluated.
USA TODAY TRAVEL: Emirates Airline: What happens next after passengers fell ill on Dubai-New York flight
USA TODAY TRAVEL: 'I knew something was wrong': Emirates passenger shares experience on flight with sick passengers
"On arrival, as a precaution, they were attended to by local health authorities. All others will disembark shortly. The safety & care of our customers is our first priority," the carrier said in a statement.
Ultimately, 19 people were deemed "sick," according to Eric Phillips, spokesman for New York City Mayor Bill De Blasio.
Phillips tweeted at 12:34 p.m. EDT that "all the passengers are off and have been evaluated." Of those who were ill, 10 were hospitalized, and nine "refused medical attention."
"Health officials are processing tests now to determine the cause," Phillips wrote. "Symptoms still pointing to the flu."
"CDC public health officers are working with port authority, EMS and CBP officials to evaluate passengers, including taking temperatures and making arrangements for transport to local hospitals for those that need care," the CDC said in its statement. "Passengers who are not ill will be allowed to continue with their travel plans, and if necessary will be followed up with by health officials."
One person took to Twitter with a description from the plane.
“All we have been told is that some passengers have fallen ill and we should remain in our seats,” said Twitter user Larry Coben.
Coben posted an image of a “row of ambulances” that met the jet at JFK. He followed with another tweet showing flight crew deplaning and walking across the tarmac toward the lineup of emergency vehicles.
Coben said passengers on the jet were asked to fill out a form from the CDC that was titled "Passenger Locator Information Page."
By 10:45 a.m. EDT, Coben wrote via Twitter that he was making his way toward passport control. At 11:03 a.m., he said, "Happy to report that I am through customs and on my way home. Others as well."
The Airbus A380 is the world’s largest commercial passenger aircraft.
Emirates is by far the top operator of the model, with more than 100 in its fleet. The seating capacity on the jets vary, but Emirates has three configurations that seat 489, 517 or 615 passengers. The models Emirates flies to New York typically seat either 489 or 517. | Famous Person - Sick | September 2018 | ['(USA Today)'] |
An earthquake of magnitude 5.9 strikes 35 kilometres west of Murghob, Tajikistan. The tremors are felt as far away as northern India and Pakistan. | NEW DELHI (REUTERS) - A strong earthquake struck Tajikistan on Friday (Feb 12) and the tremors were felt as far away as north India and Pakistan, witnesses said.
Many residents ran out of their homes, but no major damage was reported.
The US Geological Survey put the quake’s magnitude at 5.9 and centred 35km west of Murghob in Tajikistan, central Asia.
The Tajikistan Emergency Situations Ministry said the epicentre was 420km east of the Tajik capital Dushanbe near the border with China.
The seismic service of the country’s Academy of Sciences told Russia’s RIA Novosti that the quake’s intensity was measured at 6.1. The news agency said there were no casualties or damage, citing the Committee on Emergency Situations.
Monitoring agencies in the region pegged the quake as being a bit more severe. India’s National Centre for Seismology said its magnitude was 6.3, while the National Seismic Monitoring Centre in Pakistan measured it at 6.4.
Tremors were felt in Dushanbe but the epicentre was in a sparsely populated area.
Cracks were reported in some homes in northern Kashmir, the Indian Meteorological Department said. A witness also reported a wall collapse near the northern Indian city of Amritsar, but there were no reports of casualties.
A resident in Indian Kashmir’s Baramulla district said it felt like a strong wind had lashed his house.
“My whole house shook and cracks appeared in a corner of one of the rooms,” Firdous Ahmad Khan said.
Tremors were felt across Pakistan including the capital, Islamabad, and northwestern Peshawar, and even as far as the eastern city of Lahore, which borders India.
In Muzaffarabad, the capital of Pakistani Kashmir, where a 2005 earthquake wreaked serious destruction, there was panic, according to witnesses, and many people rushed out of their homes in fear.
“I thought it’s the same like what had hit us in 2005. My children started crying,” said Asif Maqbool, a resident in Madina Market, a neighbourhood of Muzaffarabad that was almost flattened in the 2005 quake.
Saima Khalid, a resident of the Khawaja Muhalla district of Muzaffarabad, said everyone in the neighbourhood came out onto the streets.
“They were crying, reciting verses from the Holy Koran,” she said.
The quake was also felt in northern Afghanistan but there were no reports of casualties or damage. | Earthquakes | February 2021 | ['(The Straits Times)'] |
Thousands of people protest in Cairo over the outcome of the recent Egyptian parliamentary elections. | There have been large protests in Cairo over Egypt's parliamentary election, which human rights groups say was rigged.
The ruling National Democratic Party is expected to take 97 per cent of seats in parliament after minor parties decided to boycott the second round of voting.
In front of the Supreme Court, protesters railed against an election that they say was rigged from the start.
Riot police outnumbered the protesters by 10 to one - the usual ratio in Egypt where protests are tightly controlled.
A week after the second round of voting closed in the parliamentary election, the anger in the country still has not gone away.
Human rights groups there and abroad have alleged widespread fraud, from ballot box stuffing to removing candidates' names from the list, intimidation and outright violence by party thugs and security forces.
After the first round of voting, the main opposition party, Muslim Brotherhood, saw its share of seats drop from 20 per cent to zero.
Other opposition parties fared almost as badly and a second round of voting was announced, with most opposition groups announcing they would boycott it.
As a result, president Hosni Mubarak's ruling National Democratic Party now appears set to take more than 95 per cent of seats in Egypt's parliament.
Mustafa Al Gendi from opposition party Al Wafd says in the last election he won his seat by a record margin.
But this time around the numbers mysteriously reversed and he is out.
"We know, and everybody knows, there was fraud," he said.
No-one ever thought Egyptian elections were totally free and fair, but Mr Gendi says the ruling party has badly overreached this time.
"I think the people who were responsible [for] these elections wanted to give a beautiful wrapped present to the president as an election that we won," he said.
"Actually it was not a present, it was a bomb, because instead of giving him 75 per cent of the parliament they give him almost 100 per cent."
But Mr Mubarak, who himself faces re-election next year, says this was a fair vote.
"This election was largely lawful, despite a few irregularities, and it was conducted in the majority of polling stations with accordance to the law," he said.
The United States has publicly expressed its concern over the fairness of this election, but Australia has not, even though Foreign Minister Kevin Rudd met with the Egyptian president on Saturday.
This service may include material from Agence France-Presse (AFP), APTN, Reuters, AAP, CNN and the BBC World Service which is copyright and cannot be reproduced.
AEST = Australian Eastern Standard Time which is 10 hours ahead of GMT (Greenwich Mean Time) | Government Job change - Election | December 2010 | ['(ABC News)'] |
Voters in Fiji go to the polls for the first election since a coup in 2006 with coup leader Voreqe Bainimarama's Fiji First Party achieving 60 per cent of the vote. , | Voting in Fiji's first election since the 2006 military coup has drawn to a close, with counting due to begin at 5pm AEST (7pm Suva time).
People started lining up outside polling booths an hour before they were due to open. In some places queues were several hundred metres long.
People said they were happy to be exercising their right to vote and choosing their own government after nearly eight years of military rule.
It is the first time polling has been conducted across the country in a single day, but the process in Suva appeared to be proceeding smoothly.
Many people were dressed in their Sunday best for the occasion, which local man Irivi Draundalo said represented a return to democracy that should usher in a new era of stability.
"I'm optimistic," he said as he waited with hundreds of other voters outside the Vatuwaqa Public School just outside Suva. "After eight years, I'm looking forward to it [voting]. There's been too many coups. Fiji needs a new government with real democracy."
Fiji's president, Ratu Epeli Nailatikau, called for a violence-free election ahead of today's poll.
He said all parties should accept the result of a ballot he described as "the first free and fair elections" in Fiji's history.
Fiji's military said the lead-up to the election had been violence-free, but there have been reports of voter intimidation. Speaking to the Fiji Broadcasting Corporation, Brigadier General Tikoitoga did not release details of the alleged threats.
"The very same people who didn't want the military to provide the security ... are now creating an atmosphere of intimidation against the people or parties that want to cast their vote in a free and fair environment," he said.
Brigadier General Tikoitoga said the army is on standby.
There are a number of parties fielding candidates including the mainly indigenous i-Taukei Social Democratic Liberal Party, the Fiji Labour Party and the United Front for a Democratic Fiji.
Twitter: IBIupdate
Interim prime minister Frank Bainimarama, a former military commander, is favourite to win the election.
The question appears to be not whether his Fiji First party will receive the most votes, but whether it will gain an outright majority of Parliament's 50 seats under Fiji's new proportional system.
He told reporters gathered at the Vatuwaqa Public School where he voted that he expected to win the election, and he praised election organisers for the smooth conduct of the poll.
"I've received excellent reports about the voting that's been carried out in Fiji for the last three weeks or so and that is really what we want. We want transparent, fair election process because we've come through a lot in the past eight years," he said.
"Today is very important for Fiji. This is the first time ever we are voting without any discrimination. We're just the one vote on the one day. Today is about being a democracy."
When asked if it would be a democracy that sticks, after a history of coups in Fiji, Mr Bainimarama said it would.
"We have a wonderful constitution to work with and it will stick," he said.
Multinational Observer Group
The European Union is part of the multinational observer group monitoring the elections.
European Commission spokeswoman Maja Kocijancic said credible elections would allow the EU to resume full development cooperation with Fiji.
"Fiji's return to democracy is crucial for the country but also for the wider Pacific region," she said. "We as the European Union are providing support for the democratic process and will continue to accompany Fiji on this journey."
Former Australian defence minister Peter Reith is co-leading the 14-member observer group.
Vote counting is due to begin as soon as the polls close at 4pm AEST (6pm Suva time).
Although full results will not be available for some time, the winner is expected to be known within 24 hours.
| Government Job change - Election | September 2014 | ['(ABC News Australia)', '(SBS)'] |
Four German Islamists are imprisoned after being convicted of planning "a second 11 September 2001". | Prosecutors said the four men had a 'profound hatred of US citizens'
Four Islamists have been convicted by a court in Germany of plotting to attack US facilities in the country.
The men, two of whom were German-born converts to Islam, were given prison sentences of between five and 12 years. The judge said they had dreamed of "mounting a second September 11 2001" by killing US civilians and soldiers by bombing targets like Ramstein Air Base. They were accused of operating as a German cell of the radical al-Qaeda-linked group, the Islamic Jihad Union. According to the US state department, the Islamic Jihad Union was responsible for co-ordinated bombings outside the US and Israeli embassies in July 2004 in the Uzbek capital, Tashkent. 'Mistake'
The two German converts to Islam - Fritz Gelowicz, 30, and 24-year-old Daniel Schneider - were sentenced to 12 years in jail. Adem Yilmaz, 31, a Turkish citizen, was given 11 years, while Atilla Selek, a 25-year-old German of Turkish origin, was sentenced to five years. During the 10-month trial, all four admitted to belonging to a terrorist organisation, plotting murder and preparing explosive devices. Schneider also admitted to attempted murder for grabbing a handgun from a police officer while attempting to evade capture and firing a shot. No-one was wounded in the incident. He, Gelowicz and Selek renounced extremism and described their actions as a "mistake". Announcing the verdict, Judge Ottmar Breidling said the men had dreamed of "mounting a second 11 September 2001". "If the accused had managed to do what they planned, it would have led to a monstrous bloodbath, primarily among US army personnel and also civilians," he added. The judge added that there were now "many impressionable young men and men who have already been led astray, ready to kill for notions of jihad". "Violent Islamism has penetrated our society and turned young men against it." 'Profound hatred'
Known as the "Sauerland group", after the area of western Germany where three of them were arrested in 2007, the men had trained at camps in Pakistan and procured some 700kg (1,500lbs) of chemicals to produce 410kg (900lbs) of explosives, prosecutors said. Such a quantity would have been 100 times the amount used in the 2005 London bombings, which killed more than 50 people. They had allegedly planned to use vehicles loaded with the explosives to kill or injure large numbers of people at locations visited by Americans, the US military base in Ramstein and Frankfurt airport. But the security services uncovered the plot in December 2006 and conducted one of the biggest surveillance operations in post-war German history. The men's movements were monitored around the clock for nine months, until it became clear that they were planning to move their huge stores of hydrogen peroxide and an attack was imminent. Gelowicz, Schneider and Yilmaz were arrested at a rented cottage in Sauerland on 4 September 2007, while Selek was detained in Turkey in November 2007 and later extradited to Germany. At the time, they were described as "very dangerous terrorists" with a "profound hatred of US citizens", acting on the orders of an "international network". The BBC's Steve Rosenberg in Berlin says the participation of Gelowicz and Schneider in the plot has shocked Germans and raised concern that militant groups abroad are actively seeking out and signing up Muslim converts to attack the West. Germany, which has soldiers in Afghanistan as part of Nato but did not send troops to Iraq, has been largely spared militant attacks. But nine years ago, it emerged that an al-Qaeda cell had used the city of Hamburg as a base for planning the 11 September attacks. | Famous Person - Commit Crime - Arrest | March 2010 | ['(BBC)'] |
Chinese leader Xi Jinping and President of the United States Barack Obama reach a deal to limit greenhouse gases. | Chinese leader Xi Jinping and President Obama struck a deal Wednesday to limit greenhouse gases, with China committing for the first time to cap carbon emissions and Obama unveiling a plan for deeper U.S. emissions reductions through 2025.
China, the world’s biggest emitter of greenhouse gases, pledged in the far-reaching agreement to cap its rapidly growing carbon emissions by 2030, or earlier if possible. It also set a daunting goal of increasing the share of non-fossil fuels to 20 percent of the country’s energy mix by 2030.
Obama announced a target to cut U.S. emissions 26 to 28 percent below 2005 levels by 2025, the first time the president has set a goal beyond the existing 17 percent target by 2020.
The announcement capped a trip that also resulted in steps to cut tariffs on technology products, adopt warning measures to reduce the chance of accidental military conflict, and ease visas.
The two countries together account for about 45 percent of the world’s greenhouse-gas emissions, and their commitments are likely to energize talks underway to set new post-2020 targets when climate negotiators meet in Paris in December of next year. “The announcement provides a real shot of momentum for international climate negotiations,” one administration official said before the Obama-Xi announcement.
“We have a special responsibility to lead the global effort against climate change,” Obama said of the two nations at a joint news conference. “Today, I am proud we can announce a historic agreement.” Meeting the goals will be difficult for both countries.
China completes a new coal plant every eight to 10 days, and while its economic growth has slowed, it is still expanding at a brisk rate of over 7 percent.
The scale of construction for China to meet its goals is huge even by Chinese standards. It must add 800 to 1,000 gigawatts of nuclear, wind, solar and other zero-emission generating capacity by 2030 — more than all the coal-fired power plants that exist in China today and close to the total electricity generating capacity of the United States.
In the United States, Obama faces stiff opposition on climate issues from Republicans, who want to use their control of Congress to curb the power of the Environmental Protection Agency to limit carbon emissions from power plants, a key part of Obama’s “climate action plan.”
And to meet its target, the United States will need to double the pace of carbon pollution reduction from 1.2 percent per year on average from 2005 to 2020 to 2.3 to 2.8 percent per year between 2020 and 2025.
But Xi and Obama have both made climate measures a priority.
China’s announcement is the culmination of years of change in attitudes among Chinese now fed up with dire levels of pollution that a study in the British medical journal the Lancet blamed for 1.2 million premature deaths in 2010 alone. China has cap-and-trade pilot programs in five provinces and eight cities. It is also the world’s largest investor in solar and wind energy.
Moreover, it has barred coal-plant construction in some regions. Such construction has dropped from more than 90 gigawatts in 2006 to 36.5 gigawatts in 2013, according to the World Resources Institute.
The joint climate announcement could undercut U.S. critics who have said that limiting greenhouse gases is pointless while China refuses to join such efforts. And it could quiet those in China who have argued that carbon emissions should be measured on a per capita basis or by improvements in energy intensity.
“It is imperative that these two countries — the world’s largest emitters of greenhouse gases — show real leadership. This is an important start,” said Phil Sharp, president of Resources for the Future. “Agreements like this are more important than they might appear at first glance, because in both countries there are political factions that justify inaction by pointing at the failures of the other country.”
Obama administration officials called the climate agreement a “historic step” that came together after months of negotiations, beginning when Secretary of State John F. Kerry raised the subject on a trip to Beijing in February. Obama followed up with a letter to Xi in the spring and met with Vice Premier Zhang Gaoli during the U.N. General Assembly in September. Chinese officials expressed interest in pursuing a deal that could be completed ahead of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation meetings here this week, administration aides told reporters in a background briefing Wednesday.
Whether Obama’s target can be set now and achieved technologically — or enforced years after he leaves office — remains unknown.
U.S. officials said they were confident the president possesses the authority to set the new climate targets without additional authorization from Congress. But Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell (Ky.) said “this unrealistic plan, that the president would dump on his successor, would ensure higher utility rates and far fewer jobs.” Other Republicans joined McConnell in criticizing the deal. Sen. James M. Inhofe (R-Okla.), who is widely expected to assume the chairmanship of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee in January, called the pledges by Obama and Xi “hollow and not believable,” and he suggested that the agreement was tilted in China’s interest.
“The United States will be required to more steeply reduce our carbon emissions while China won’t have to reduce anything,” Inhofe said.
Around the globe, the pact was widely praised. Leaders of the European Union, which last month pledged a 40 percent reduction in emissions by 2030, said the new commitments by China and the United States provided an important boost to negotiations on a global climate treaty in late 2015.
“These two crucial countries have today announced important pathways towards a better and more secure future for humankind,” said Christiana Figueres, the European Union’s top official on climate change.
A second Obama administration official said that it is uncertain whether other countries will seek to join the United States and China in pursuing new standards.
“Climate negotiations have been fraught for 20 years,” this official said. “There are 190-plus countries in these tough negotiations, and it’s not like they will all fall into place in five minutes. But this a really important step.”
Earlier, the United States and China reached agreements designed to defuse tensions over international trade and military maneuvers, even as both leaders courted other Asian nations attending the APEC forum in Beijing to join separate trade pacts.
Chinese and American trade negotiators agreed Tuesday to eliminate tariffs on $1 trillion a year of global sales of information and communications technology, including dozens of high-tech products such as GPS devices, medical equipment and game consoles. U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman called the deal a “breakthrough” that could boost trade and create jobs.
The agreement now goes to the World Trade Organization, where 52 nations must approve. If they do, it would be the first major WTO agreement since 1996.
The deal would benefit U.S. companies seeking greater access to China as well as U.S. and Chinese companies with plants in China aimed at making products for the American market.
| Sign Agreement | November 2014 | ['(Washington Post)'] |
Two bombs at the Roman Catholic Our Lady of Mount Carmel Cathedral in Jolo, Philippines, kill 20 people, fifteen civilians and five soldiers, and injure 81 others. Abu Sayyaf is suspected to be behind the attack. | The first blast targets a Sunday mass and the second government forces responding to the devastating attack.
Sunday 27 January 2019 19:39, UK
At least 20 people have been killed and 81 injured after two bombs exploded at a Catholic cathedral in the Philippines.
The first bomb went off in or near the church in Jolo during Sunday mass.
This was followed by a second blast outside the building as government forces responded to the attack.
The explosions tore away the entrance to the cathedral and ripped through the main hall, shredding pews.
Images from the scene showed debris and bodies lying on the street outside the Cathedral of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, which has been targeted by bombs in the past.
Troops in armoured vehicles sealed off the main road leading to the church, as the wounded were evacuated.
Some of those injured were airlifted to nearby Zamboanga city.
The dead included 15 civilians and five soldiers, according to the authorities, while among the wounded there were 14 soldiers, two police and 61 civilians.
The number of those killed is lower than reported earlier after police issued a correction due to double counting.
Islamic State claimed responsibility.
Defence secretary Delfin Lorenzana said: "I have directed our troops to heighten their alert level, secure all places of worships and public places at once, and initiate pro-active security measures to thwart hostile plans.
"We will use the full force of the law to bring to justice the perpetrators behind this incident."
The office of President Rodrigo Duterte in Manila said in a statement: "We will pursue to the ends of the earth the ruthless perpetrators behind this dastardly crime until every killer is brought to justice and put behind bars. The law will give them no mercy."
Jolo island, in the south of the Philippines, has long been troubled by Abu Sayyaf militants, who are blacklisted by the US and the Philippines as a terrorist group due to years of bombings, kidnappings and beheadings.
A Catholic bishop, Benjamin de Jesus, was gunned down by suspected militants outside the cathedral in 1997.
Regional military spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Gerry Besana said: "The motive is surely... terrorism. These are people who do not want peace."
The attack came nearly a week after a referendum in which voters backed a new Muslim-majority autonomous region in the south of the largely Roman Catholic nation, where the island of Jolo is located.
The move is aimed at ending nearly five decades of a separatist insurgency, which has left 150,000 people dead.
While most Muslim areas supported the deal, voters in Sulu province, where Jolo is located, rejected it.
As well as the Abu Sayyaf group, which is not part of any peace process, the province is home to a rival rebel faction that is opposed to the autonomy move. | Armed Conflict | January 2019 | ['(Sky News)'] |
Fighting breaks out between Somali protesters and Ethiopian troops in the town of Beledweyne after an official is arrested for refusing to hand over a member of the ousted Islamic Courts Union. Three people are reportedly injured. | He was arrested by Ethiopian troops in the town of Beledweyne after refusing to hand over a leading member of the ousted Union of Islamic Courts.
There are reports of gunfire and casualties from the town.
Ethiopian forces backing the Somali interim government have driven Islamist forces out of large areas of Somalia.
A nurse in Beledweyne, some 300km (188 miles) north of the capital Mogadishu, said three people had been brought to the town's hospital with bullet wounds.
"I think there will be more casualties because the demonstration is continuing and there is heavy fire in the town," Hassan Ali Der was quoted as saying by AFP news agency.
Clashes in capital
In Mogadishu, militiamen loyal to the Somali transitional government have been patrolling the streets.
Thousands of Ethiopian troops - who clashed with local residents on Saturday - are camped just outside the city.
The interim President of Somalia, Abdullahi Yusuf, has returned to the government headquarters town of Baidoa after talks in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa with Ethiopia's Prime Minister, Meles Zenawi. | Armed Conflict | January 2007 | ['(BBC)'] |
The Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra is awarded the $1 million Birgit Nilsson Prize in a ceremony in Stockholm. | The Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra was awarded the $1 million Birgit Nilsson prize Wednesday in a ceremony attended by Sweden's king and queen. The ensemble said the money — nearly 800,000 euros — would go toward expanding its archives and making them more open to the public.
The Philharmonic was picked earlier this year, becoming the first orchestra chosen for the prize — endowed by Nilsson, the late Swedish soprano — since it was launched in 2009.
Earlier winners have been opera star Placido Domingo and conductor Riccardo Muti.
Wednesday evening's ceremony, which was attended by King Carl XVI Gustav and Queen Silvia of Sweden, included performances of works by Franz Liszt and Richard Wagner by the orchestra, under Muti's direction.
A multiple Grammy winner and nominee, the Vienna Philharmonic was chosen as Europe's finest orchestra by a panel of experts in 2006. Gramophone Magazine listed it third in the world in 2008.
The orchestra has tried to right some past wrongs from the Nazi era.
Last year, it stripped six former senior Nazi officials of honors awarded them — a late act of contrition for the Philharmonic's embrace of Hitler's rule, including the purging of Jewish members from its ranks.
Under the Nazis, 13 musicians with Jewish roots or relatives were fired by the orchestra and five died in concentration camps. By the end of World War II, about half the Philharmonic's members had joined the Nazi party.
After refusing to accept women to permanent membership for more than 150 years, the orchestra gave in to protests from women's groups and opened its ranks to them in 1997. | Awards ceremony | October 2014 | ['(ABC News)'] |
A fragment of pelvis bone unearthed in Winchester in 1999 may belong to King Alfred the Great or his son Edward the Elder. | A fragment of pelvis bone unearthed in Winchester in 1999 may belong to King Alfred the Great or his son Edward the Elder, academics have said.
It was found at a previous dig at Hyde Abbey and has been dated to 895-1017 - the era the king died.
Experts were originally testing remains exhumed last year from an unmarked grave at St Bartholomew's Church, where it was thought he was buried.
But they were found to be from the 1300s, not 899, when the king died.
The fragment of pelvis had been among remains stored in two boxes at Winchester's City Museum and was tested by academics at Winchester University after their study into the exhumed remains proved fruitless.
The university and the community group behind the search, Hyde900, are now calling for further excavations at Hyde Abbey Gardens in the hunt for more remains.
Experts said the bone, recovered from the site of the abbey, came from a man who was aged between 26 and 45-plus at the time of his death, leading them to believe it could be either Alfred or his son Edward.
Dr Katie Tucker, whose examination of the bones will feature in a BBC documentary, said: "These are the bones that were found closest to the site of the high altar.
"As far as we know, from the chronicles and the records, the only individuals close to the site of the high altar who are the right age when they died and the right date when they died would either be Alfred or Edward."
The remains at St Bartholomew's Church, which carbon dating showed to be from the wrong era, were exhumed last year amid security fears after publicity surrounding the discovery of Richard III's remains under a Leicester car park.
Dr Tucker said she was later made aware of the remains found at Hyde Abbey.
No analysis of that find was conducted due to a lack of funding and because a bone discovered next to it was found to be from the 17th or 18th century, and it was not thought to be of any interest.
Dr Tucker then arranged for tests to be carried out on the pelvic bone.
She said: "The simplest explanation, given there was no Anglo-Saxon cemetery at Hyde Abbey, is that this bone comes from one of the members of the West Saxon royal family brought to the site.
"Given the age at death of the individual and the probable male identity, the plausible candidates are King Alfred, King Edward the Elder, or the brother of King Edward, Aethelweard."
Richard Buckley, co-director of the University of Leicester's archaeology services, led the search for Richard III.
He said it would be "very hard to prove" the bone belongs to King Alfred.
"With Richard III we had to build a case with lots of different threads, we knew historic accounts... including trauma on the skeleton, we knew he died a violent death," he said.
"We got to the point with the balance of probability that it was him, with the DNA it meant we could say it was beyond reasonable doubt.
"The difficulty with this bone is that it is only one bone, you're having to rely on historical accounts of only two males being brought and reburied there - Alfred and his son - it depends if any males may have been buried without documentation.
"If they could find an articulated skeleton there could be other clues."
The King Alfred team said it may be possible to extract DNA from the pelvic bone but the problem would be finding another DNA source to check it with.
Dr Tucker said they tried to get a sample from Alfred's granddaughter, who is buried in Germany, but efforts failed as her grave was not well preserved.
The investigation is the subject of a BBC2 documentary due to be broadcast on Tuesday 21 January at 21:00 GMT.
Is Alfred find like Richard III?
The story of the King Alfred 'bone' find
'King Alfred' remains to be examined
Bid to examine 'King Alfred' remains
'Alfred the Great church' exhumation
Grave search for Alfred the Great
Car park skeleton is Richard III
Tough history of regal remains
University of Winchester
Diocese of Winchester
Hyde900
Report reveals the true impact of Covid on city's vulnerable children
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Gang explodes ATM near Farnham
WATCH: The moment an ATM near Farnham is blown up by masked men with crowbars
Information about BBC links to other news sites
UN calls for end of arms sales to Myanmar
In a rare move, the UN condemns the overthrowing of Aung San Suu Kyi and calls for an arms embargo.
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Le Pen set for regional power with eye on presidency
How the Delta variant took hold in the UK. VideoHow the Delta variant took hold in the UK | New archeological discoveries | January 2014 | ['(BBC)'] |
Four people are killed in twin bombings in Sylhet, Bangladesh. | Six people - two police officers and four civilians - have been killed in twin bombings in north-eastern Bangladesh, officials say.
The blasts in Sylhet occurred near an apartment building where commandoes have been trying to flush out a group of suspected Islamist militants.
Earlier many civilians were evacuated from the block of flats. The suspects have refused to surrender.
Dozens of people were injured in the twin explosions on Saturday. Army units continue to surround the building.
The blasts hit a large crowd which had gathered nearby as troops continued to exchange gunfire with the militants.
The first explosive device was brought by two men on a motorbike and the second was left in a bag of vegetables, police say.
So-called Islamic State (IS) claimed on messaging app Telegram that it was behind one of the blasts. The suspected extremists are hiding out in a five-storey building, from which 78 civilians have been evacuated. They keep detonating explosives strewn all around the building, the army says.
Police began their siege on Friday morning, the same day that an apparent suicide attack took place near the main airport in Dhaka, the capital.
Only the bomber died, and IS said it was behind the attack. There was another suspected suicide bombing in the Dhaka area on 17 March, which targeted the barracks of an elite police force, injuring two personnel.
A day later, a man was shot dead at a checkpoint of the same force, and police said bombs were found on him. The escalation in violence comes at a time when many in Bangladesh thought security forces had managed to curb Islamist militancy, following the deadly siege on a café in Dhaka last year. Since then security personnel have carried out a number of raids, arresting and sometimes killing dozens of suspected Islamists across the country.
But the recent suicide attacks on security camps and checkpoints have surprised many. Despite claims by the Islamic State group and al-Qaeda, Bangladeshi police maintain that an offshoot of the banned Islamist outfit Jamiatul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) is responsible for many of these attacks. The challenge for the security forces is to find out how many more followers or hard line jihadist sympathisers are still in hiding. If it is proved that Islamist extremists are behind the recent handful of suicide bombings, then it marks a new phase in Bangladesh's fight against militancy. The rise in violence may also trigger concerns among secular activists, religious minorities, academics and bloggers who bore the brunt of the jihadist violence in the past few years. Death sentences for Bangladesh killing | Armed Conflict | March 2017 | ['(BBC)'] |
Russia summons the German ambassador to Moscow over statements by the German government concerning Russian opposition politician Alexei Navalny. Foreign ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova accused Germany of "bluffing". | Russia’s foreign ministry said on Tuesday it had summoned the German ambassador to Moscow over statements made by Berlin on the situation concerning Russian opposition politician Alexei Navalny.
Navalny, 44, a prominent critic of President Vladimir Putin, was airlifted to Germany last month after collapsing on a flight from the Siberian city of Tomsk to Moscow. Germany has concluded he was poisoned with the nerve agent Novichok.
Foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova accused Germany of “bluffing” in a statement on her Facebook page.
| Diplomatic Talks _ Diplomatic_Negotiation_ Summit Meeting | September 2020 | ['(Reuters)'] |
14 people die as a bomb explodes near a shrine in Islamabad, Pakistan. | Hundreds of Shias had gathered at the Bari Imam shrine on the outskirts of the capital, Islamabad, to celebrate the end of a religious festival.
More than 50 people were hurt in the blast. Correspondents said the scene was one of utter carnage, with bodies and body parts strewn around the area.
Pakistan has a history of conflict between Sunni and Shia extremists.
Information Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed said it was too early to say who was to blame for the attack. No group has said it carried it out.
'Suicide attack'
Ambulance crews have been ferrying survivors to hospital following Friday's blast, which occurred at about 1120 (0620 GMT). It was like hell. I fell down... when I woke up I saw dead bodies around me
Syed Muktar Hussain Shah In pictures: Shrine bombing
Survivors recall blast horror
They said they had recovered nearly 20 bodies but survivors said the figure was much higher. Many of the injured are said to be in a serious condition.
The shrine is near Pakistan's main government buildings and Islamabad's diplomatic quarter, where many countries have their embassies. Police swiftly cordoned off the blast site. Sectarian attacks
March 2005: 43 Shias killed in a bomb blast in Fatehpur, Baluchistan
Oct 2004: Car bomb in Multan kills 40 Sunnis
Oct 2004: 30 killed in a suicide attack on a Sialkot Shia mosque
May 2004: 20 killed in bombing of Shia mosque in Karachi
May 2004: 15 die in Karachi Shia mosque attack "Our initial information suggests it was a suicide attack," said Islamabad police chief Talat Mehmood Tariq.
Survivors said the bomber, who joined a congregation of about 1,000 people attending a sermon, triggered explosive devices strapped to his waist.
"We were listening to a sermon when there was a huge blast," one survivor, Munazar Abbasi, is quoted as saying by Reuters.
"Everything went blank and I couldn't hear anything."
Many of those who survived were shocked and angry, some calling the attack an act of terrorism by members of the Sunni majority.
Amongst the crowds gathered, many men pounded their chests in grief as blood-stained bodies covered with religious banners were taken away.
President Pervez Musharraf expressed shock and grief at the loss of life, the official APP news agency reported. Popular shrine
The BBC's Zaffar Abbas at the scene in Islamabad says it is the first time the Bari Imam shrine has been targeted.
PAKISTAN'S SECTARIAN DIVIDE
Shias revere Ali, son-in-law of the Prophet Mohammed
Pakistan is 20% Shia, 70% Sunni
Violence between Sunni and Shia factions began in early 1980s
More than 150 people have died in the past year alone
About 4,000 people have been killed in total
Most violence takes place in Sindh, Balochistan and Punjab
Pakistan's schisms
Scholars condemn suicide bombings Our correspondent says the Bara Imam shrine honoured a popular Sufi saint and was visited by many Sunnis as well as minority Shias.
He says it was seen as a symbol of harmony between the two communities.
The shrine was the scene of violence in February of this year, when its custodian Raja Akram and his bodyguard were killed in an ambush which police described as family rivalry.
One of the attackers was also killed when Raja Akram's bodyguard returned fire, police said.
Pakistan has a long history of sectarian violence between Sunnis and Shias. More than 40 people were killed and many injured in a bomb blast at a Muslim shrine in the south of the country in March. | Armed Conflict | May 2005 | ['(AlJazeera)', '(BBC)', '(Bloomberg)'] |
At least 100 pro–democracy protestors enter the main government compound in Hong Kong. | At least 100 pro-democracy protesters have pushed through a police cordon to break into the main government compound in Hong Kong.
The break-in occurred just before 22:30 local time (15:30 BST), as protesters scaled security fences to get inside.
Police used pepper spray to disperse the crowd and six people were detained.
Students and activists have been protesting against a decision by Beijing to rule out fully democratic elections in Hong Kong in 2017.
The attempt to storm the government building came towards the end of a week of demonstrations that has seen thousands of college and university students boycott their classes.
The protesters smashed barriers and scaled fences to occupy a forecourt outside government headquarters.
Hundreds had also gathered outside the compound chanting "shame on the police", the South China Morning Post newspaper reports.
But police managed to restore a cordon around the building's forecourt by late on Friday night.
Some of the protesters were later allowed to leave after their personal details were recorded, local media reported.
Police accused the protesters of endangering public safety, saying they had "posed a danger to themselves and other people". A statement said five men and one woman were arrested. One police officer suffered a shoulder injury.
"Members of the public should comply with the laws of Hong Kong and maintain social order when expressing their views," the statement said.
The South China Morning Post paper describes the forecourt as a popular protest spot, to which access has been restricted since July.
Earlier on Friday, hundreds of secondary school students joined the protest, many of them defying their parents.
On Thursday, about 2,000 university students held a night-time protest at the house of the Hong Kong leader, Chief Executive CY Leung.
The students' boycott is seen as a prelude to a larger demonstration planned for 1 October, organised by pro-democracy group Occupy Central, which has vowed to block the financial district.
Hong Kong operates under a "one country, two systems" arrangement with Beijing, which means citizens are allowed the right to protest.
In August, Beijing decided that candidates for the 2017 chief executive election would first have to be approved by a nominating committee. Activists have argued that this does not amount to true democracy.
| Protest_Online Condemnation | September 2014 | ['(BBC)'] |
Viva Leroy Nash, the oldest death row inmate in the United States, dies of natural causes at the age of 94. | The Arizona Department of Corrections said Viva Leroy Nash died late on Friday at the state prison in Florence. Nash had a criminal record dating back to the 1930s, and was deaf, mostly blind, mentally ill and had dementia, his lawyer said. He was sentenced to death in 1983, for shooting a salesman after escaping from jail. But he managed to stave off his execution with a series of appeals. At the time of his death, state prosecutors were appealing to the Supreme Court against a federal appeals court ruling that Nash might not be mentally competent to assist in his defence. Nash's lawyer, Thomas Phalen, told the Associated Press his client was born in 1915 and had grown up in southern Utah. He was first imprisoned for armed robbery at the age of 15 in Kansas, he said. He spent 25 years in prison for shooting a Connecticut police officer in 1947. Then in 1977, Nash was sentenced to two consecutive life sentences for robbery and murder in Salt Lake City, but escaped from a prison work crew in 1982. That November, he went into a coin shop in Phoenix and shot an employee. He was arrested as he fled the scene, and was later sentenced to death for first-degree murder. | Famous Person - Death | February 2010 | ['(BBC)', '(The New Zealand Herald)', '(Taipei News)'] |
SEBIN agents detain Juan Guaidó's deputy Edgar Zambrano, the Vice President of the opposition-held National Assembly, and are reported to have taken him to El Helicoide prison. He is the most high profile opposition politician arrested since the presidential crisis began in January. | The vice president of Venezuela's National Assembly, Edgar Zambrano, has been detained and towed to prison in his car. He was apprehended for alleged support of an uprising arranged by opposition leader Juan Guaido.
Venezuelan intelligence agents on Wednesday detained Edgar Zambrano, the deputy leader of the opposition-dominated National Assembly, for supporting an attempted uprising on April 30.
Zambrano, opposition leader and self-declared President Juan Guaido's deputy as National Assembly speaker, was detained by agents in Caracas for backing the failed April 30 military uprising against President Nicolas Maduro, which was orchestrated by Guaido.
"We warn the people of Venezuela and the international community: the regime has kidnapped the first vice president" of the National Assembly, Guaido wrote in a Twitter post. "They are trying to destroy the power representing all Venezuelans, but they will not achieve it."
The Constituent Assembly has said it would suspend the immunity of any lawmakers who backed the uprising, which sparked two days of clashes between security forces and protesters.
Attorney General Tarek William Saab says the clashes left six people dead. Dozens more were injured and more than 233 were arrested.
Read more: Venezuela: Coup or uprising? It depends on who you support
Towed to prison
Party head Carlos Prosperi said security forces towed Zambrano's car away while the lawmaker still inside.
Zambrano's exact whereabouts were unknown, but he tweeted that at 6:35 p.m. (2235 UTC) he left his party's headquarters and his car was surrounded by intelligence officers.
He wrote that he refused to leave the vehicle, which was subsequently towed with him inside it to the Helicoide, a government building in Caracas used for holding prisoners.
Opposition lawmakers under investigation
In a separate case, Venezuela's Supreme Court indicted three more lawmakers for supporting Guaido's uprising.
The three lawmakers — named as Freddy Superlano, Sergio Vergara and Juan Andres Mejia — have been accused of high treason and conspiracy.
Their arrests come after a court announced the indictment of seven others on Tuesday.
Guaido, who is recognized as Venezuela's interim president by more than 50 countries, was also stripped of his immunity on April 2.
In response to the first indictments on Tuesday, Guaido said in a speech that the government's "only response ... is to persecute, because they no longer govern, because they no longer have command." | Famous Person - Commit Crime - Arrest | May 2019 | ['(BBC)', '(Deutsche Welle)'] |
Serbia suspends 11 Belgrade corrections officers for aiding the escape of assassin Milorad Ulemek. | Serbian authorities have suspended 11 guards at a Belgrade prison, amid reports that one of its most high-profile killers was planning to escape.
A replica gun was recently found in the cell of Milorad Ulemek at the central prison in the Serbian capital.
He is serving 40 years for the murder of Serb prime minister Zoran Djindjic and former president Ivan Stambolic.
Prison official Milan Obradovic said CCTV footage had failed to reveal who had given Ulemek the fake gun and when.
Officials believe the former policeman was planning to use it to escape during a transfer to a military hospital.
Replica pistol
Mr Obradovic, speaking at a news conference, confirmed that 11 guards at the central prison had been suspended, but did not give any further details.
Journalists were shown the replica of a Colt pistol, which Mr Obradovic said could be bought at any bargain store.
Ulemek, an ex-French Foreign Legionnaire, was one of eight people convicted in 2005 for the murder in 2000 of Mr Stambolic.
In 2007 he was one of 12 people found guilty of the murder of Mr Djindjic in 2003. | Government Job change - Resignation_Dismissal | February 2009 | ['(BBC)'] |
U.S. President Obama signs the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 in Denver, Colorado. | NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- President Obama on Tuesday signed the $787 billion American Recovery and Reinvestment Act into law. But he's far from being able to declare "mission accomplished."
"Today does not mark the end of our economic troubles," Obama said before signing the bill at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science. "But it does mark the beginning of the end - the beginning of what we need to do to create jobs for Americans scrambling in the wake of layoffs; to provide relief for families worried they won't be able to pay next month's bills; and to set our economy on a firmer foundation."
Indeed, even though debate over the legislation was fraught with partisan fighting and what some characterize as strategic missteps by the nascent administration, getting the law passed was the easy part.
Far more difficult will be gauging whether the legislation's trademark initiatives - which include improving physical infrastructure, investing in energy projects and providing financial relief for families by way of tax cuts and increased government benefits -- are really doing the trick.
The first step is to stem the recession in the near term. In the longer term it will be to put the economy on a path to sustained growth and greater efficiencies in energy production, health care and other areas.
So how will we know if it's working? What will be the signs? The president and economists say the biggest marker will be an improvement in the jobs picture.
"That's bottom-line number one, because if people are working, then they've got enough confidence to make purchases, to make investments," Obama said last week before the bill's passage. "Businesses start seeing that consumers are out there with a little more confidence, and they start making investments, which means they start hiring workers. So step number one, job creation."
The official benchmark estimates from the White House: 3.5 million jobs will be created or saved over the next two years, and over 90% of them will be in the private sector. (See the White House's state-by-state estimates of how many jobs could be created or saved in the map at right.)
But measuring the numbers of jobs saved as a result of the economic recovery package promises to be an elusive task.
"It will be difficult to gauge the economic benefit of stimulus since we won't know ... how the economy would have performed without stimulus. Indeed I expect the economy to lose another 3 million jobs with stimulus but over 4 million without it," said Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody's Economy.com, whose research was relied upon by lawmakers to make the case for the economic recovery package.
As for gauging how many jobs are created, economists say they will keep an eye on a number of measures.
Lakshman Achuthan, managing director the Economic Cycle Research Institute, said starting later this year he will look to what his group calls its Leading Employment Index as one gauge of stimulus effectiveness. The index is a composite of factors, including the number of initial jobless claims and hours in the average work week, as well as how many industries are adding jobs. As of January, the index was still falling, Achuthan said.
Another question Zandi said he will look at is to see whether job losses have begun to lessen by October or November. "A key benchmark will be this fall. If stimulus is working as expected then monthly job losses should be closer to 250,000 per month, down from over 500,000 currently," Zandi said.
The ability to create or save jobs will depend in great part on business confidence. That's why, in addition to employment measures, Rich Yamarone, director of economic research at Argus Research, will keep an eye on small business confidence measures such as those put out by the National Federation of Independent Business.
Another sign of whether the rescue is working: Discretionary spending for activities like casino gambling and dining out, Yamarone said.
"When consumers start to feel better about their personal situation and employment prospects, they pick up the pace of spending - that usually extends to the discretionary items as well," Yamarone said.
Ultimately, even if every indicator of success for stimulus was tangible and could be measured with flawless precision, it will still be hard to issue a final verdict on whether the package has worked because its success is dependent on the success of other recovery efforts, such as the program for stemming foreclosures that Obama is expected to lay out on Wednesday.
"Stimulus by itself will not work well," Zandi said. "A financial stability plan and a foreclosure mitigation plan must also be implemented."
| Government Policy Changes | February 2009 | ['(CNN)'] |
Twenty insurgents loyal to Moqtada al-Sadr are killed by Coalition forces during a raid on the Selah mosque compound in Kufa, Iraq. Twelve insurgents are killed in other fighting in Kufa. | US soldiers clash with militia in holy cities (file photo). (ABC TV) Coalition troops killed 32 insurgents in fierce fighting on Sunday against Shiite militiamen in the central Iraqi city of Kufa, including 20 in a mosque compound. A United States military spokesman said all those slain in the mosque were militiamen loyal to Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, whose fighters have been locked in a deadly uprising against foreign occupation troops for more than a month. A later statement said the US Army's 1st Armoured Division (AD) and Iraqi security forces (ISF) had come under fire from the insurgents in several locations. "The task force and ISF returned fire, killing 32 attackers," it said. "An estimated 20 Moqtada militia were killed when coalition soldiers returned fire after being attacked with rocket propelled grenade and small arms fire during a raid on the Selah mosque in Kufa," a military spokesman said. Hussein Yasser, 32, who lives near the Selah mosque where the fighting took place, said: "Tanks crashed through the gates of the mosque compound during the night and soldiers entered while helicopters hovered overhead," The heavy clashes lasted for about one hour, he said. Bloodstains were seen on the ground of the mosque compound, along with spent cartridges and the prints of tank tracks.
The walls were riddled with bullet strikes, witnesses said. The US military insisted its troops did not enter the mosque itself, but that an Iraqi counter-terrorism unit had raided the building, confiscating a cache of weapons. "We have no intention of entering the shrines," said Major General Martin Dempsey, who commands the 1st AD.
But he stressed Iraqi forces would enter holy places, often requisitioned by militiamen as fighting strongholds, if necessary. Earlier, doctors said 54 wounded people had been taken to two hospitals in the city.
But the US military said there were no reports of coalition casualties. Ten of the dead and 11 wounded were taken to the Furat al-Awsat Hospital in Kufa, said official Mohammed Abdel Kazem. At the Hakim Hospital, an official said 10 dead had been taken to the morgue and 43 were wounded. About a dozen houses close to the mosque were damaged. Coalition spokesman Dan Senor has insisted the only deal that could be cut with Sadr was one that involved his surrender and the disbanding of his forces. "But in the interim, we will continue to use our own methods for getting Moqtada's militia off the streets," US Brigadier General Mark Kimmitt, deputy director of military operations, added just hours before the Kufa clashes. Sadr is holed up in Najaf, not far from Kufa, to escape arrest on charges related to the slaying of a rival cleric. But he has still managed to preach in Kufa every Friday in a large mosque not far from the scene of the battle. In his sermon two days ago, Sadr urged his followers to continue to fight coalition forces regardless of whether he is killed or captured. --AFP
| Armed Conflict | May 2004 | ['(ABC AU)'] |
In a surprise result, former Prime Minister Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed is chosen as President. | Somalia's MPs have elected a Somali-US national as the country's new president in a vote held in an aircraft hangar. Ex-Prime Minister Mohamed Abdullahi "Farmajo" Mohamed beat President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud in a surprise result. The vote was held at the heavily guarded airport complex in the capital, Mogadishu, as the rest of the country is too dangerous.
Traffic was banned and a no-fly zone imposed over the city to prevent attacks by militant Islamists. Despite this, suspected militants fired mortar rounds close to the venue on Tuesday night.
Somalia has not had a one-person one-vote democratic election since 1969.
That vote was followed by a coup, dictatorship and conflict involving clan militias and Islamist extremists.
Mr Mohamed's election is part of a lengthy and complex process to help the East African state rebuild its democracy and achieve stability. More than 20,000 African Union (AU) troops are stationed in Somalia to prevent militant Islamist group al-Shabab from overthrowing the weak government. The new president is popularly known as "Farmajo", from the Italian for cheese, because of his love for the dairy product. Much of Somalia was a former Italian colony. Thousands of Somalis quickly took to the streets to celebrate Mr Mohamed victory and cheering soldiers from the Somali army fired into the air, the Associated Press news agency reports. Mr Mohamed is seen as a Somali nationalist, and his chances of winning increased after Somalia's arch-rival, Ethiopia, was seen to be backing the defeated president. Mr Mohamed obtained 184 votes, compared with 97 for the outgoing president, who accepted defeat, avoiding a third and final vote. "History was made, we have taken this path to democracy, and now I want to congratulate Mohamed Abdullahi Farmajo," Mr Mohamud said in his concession speech. Yes. The election hall, a converted aircraft hangar packed with MPs, was at the Mogadishu international airport complex. It is viewed as the most secure site in Somalia, as the main AU base is there. The vote was moved to the airport complex from a police academy because of growing fears that al-Shabab could strike.
The 2012 presidential vote was held at the academy, and the 2007 and 2004 vote in neighbouring Kenya and Djibouti respectively. Yes. A woman, Fadumo Dayib, had said she would stand but pulled out saying it was marred by corruption. However she has welcomed Mr Mohamed's victory.
More than 20 entered the race on Wednesday, but the number was reduced to two after two rounds of voting. At least 16 of the original candidates have dual citizenship - nine hold US passports, four UK passports and three Canadian passports, according to a leading Somali private radio station. Many Somalis obtained dual nationality after fleeing the decades-long conflict. The US, UK, Kenya and South Africa are among countries where many Somalis have settled. The militants are suspected to have been behind a series of attacks on the eve of the vote, with two mortar rounds fired close to the voting venue. Residents in Arbacow village outside Mogadishu say militants also attacked an AU base there.
Al-Shabab has a presence in much of the southern third of the country and has previously attacked the Somali parliament, presidential palace, courts, hotels and the fortified airport zone.
At least 19 politicians, as well as many civilians and soldiers, have been killed in its assaults. Wednesday's security measures include a ban on flights to and from Mogadishu airport.
Who are al-Shabab?
Apart from achieving stability in a country that has not had an functioning government since the fall of the Siad Barre regime in 1991, he has to tackle corruption. Unconfirmed reports said votes were being sold for up to $30,000 (£24,000) in a country heavily funded by foreign donors, and where most people are poor. "This is probably the most expensive election, per vote, in history,'' Mogadishu-based anti-corruption group Marqaati said on Tuesday, the Associated Press news agency reports. Ahead of the vote, the United Nations' envoy to Somalia, Michael Keating, told the BBC the new president would have to tackle corruption. "It sets the stage for the next president to do something about it. In fact the credibility of the next president will revolve around whether he takes decisive action," he said. Analysts say holding the election at the airport complex is also aimed at reducing the possibility of vote buying or other corruption during the election process. Yes. The UN and AU see the vote as a building block in efforts to create a stable democracy in the hope that the next president will be chosen in a one-person one-vote election. They cannot ignore Somalia. It is strategically important for international trade, as it lies along the Red Sea and the Indian Ocean. Foreign navies, including those of the US and China, have a strong presence in the region. They have succeeded in reducing piracy, which was a very big problem until a few years ago. The US also has a huge military base in neighbouring Djibouti, using it to carry out air strikes on militants in Somalia.
Some analysts also fear that the conflict across the sea in Yemen could spill over into Somalia. There have been reports that some groups are smuggling weapons into Yemen via the Eastern African state, increasing pressure on foreign powers to improve security in the region. Africa Today podcasts | Government Job change - Appoint_Inauguration | February 2017 | ['(BBC)'] |
The wildfire burning in San Bernardino County, California has burned over 3,500 acres, and destroyed 16 homes and other buildings. The fire has also burned over 60 passenger vehicles and tractor-trailers. | BALDY MESA (CBSLA.com) — Crews Saturday morning continued to battle a wildfire that left motorists panicked and stranded along the 15 Freeway Friday.
The North Fire started arout 2:30 p.m. near Interstate 15 north of Highway 138, according to a joint statement from San Bernardino County Fire, CALFIRE and the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department.
By 6 a.m. Saturday, fire officials say it had grown to approximately 3,500 acres and was five percent contained.
Fire officials say three homes, eight outbuildings and 30 vehicles have been destroyed or damaged in the community of Baldy Mesa.
The fire sparked panic along the 15 Freeway Friday when multiple vehicles caught fire as flames crossed southbound lanes.
Twenty vehicles, including two semis, were destroyed. An additional 10 vehicles were damaged.
A video posted on Instagram showed horses running alongside cars on the freeway to escape the fire.
Authorities say two people suffered minor injuries.
Mandatory evacuations remained in place for the following areas: An evacuation center is established for residents at the Serrano High School, located at 9292 Sheep Creek Road, in Phelan.
Large and small animals can be taken to the Victor Valley Fairgrounds, located at 14800 7th Street in Victorville.
Southbound Highway 15 had three lanes reopened Saturday morning. All northbound lanes of Highway 15 had been reopened.
Approximately 1,000 firefighters and nearly a dozen aircraft were assigned to the blaze.
Officials say an unmanned aircraft system, or drone, halted tanker operations for about 25 minutes but operations soon resumed.
Fire Managers urge individuals and organizations that fly drones to avoid the wildfire areas to ensure the safety of firefighters and the effectiveness of wildfire suppression operations. | Fire | July 2015 | ['(CBS-Los Angeles)'] |
Chilean President Ricardo Lagos signs legislation legalizing divorce. | The law, approved by Congress in March, will take effect in six months. Until now, Chilean couples could only have a marriage annulled by a civil registrar - but this did not give them the rights of a legal divorce.
Chile has long been one of only three countries in the world where divorce is banned by law.
Mr Lagos received a standing ovation after signing the law at a ceremony in the presidential palace, the BBC's Clinton Porteous in Santiago reports. One of those in the audience was 58-year-old Maria Eugenia, who had been separated for seven years. "I think it is a law we have been waiting for a long time," she told our correspondent. "In my case I think I have all the proofs to show that I've been separated for the past seven years so I don't think it will take too long. It is a fantastic day for women in Chile," she added.
Avalanche of divorces expected
The Roman Catholic church has attacked the new legislation, saying it would threaten the family and undermine the sanctity of marriage.
Under the new law that overruns the 1884 marriage code, a couple may divorce a year after separating if both partners agree to split up. If one partner disagrees, a divorce is allowed after three years.
Tens of thousands of separated Chileans are expected to file divorce applications once the new legislation comes into effect.
Malta and the Philippines are the only other countries that currently do not have a divorce law. | Government Policy Changes | May 2004 | ['(BBC)'] |
Chile is extending its offer of "democratic responsibility" visas, allowing Venezuelans to live in the country for up to two years, so that they may be applied for from any Chilean embassy or consulate in the world instead of just in Venezuela. However, Chile border control now also demands visas upon entry for Venezuelans, a tightening of the previous 90-day free period. The move should aid Venezuelans trying to travel through other Latin American nations that have changing restrictions. | SANTIAGO (Reuters) - Venezuelans seeking refuge in Chile can request a “democratic responsibility visa” at any Chilean consulate in the world, and not just in their homeland where the visa has been available until now, Chile’s foreign ministry said on Saturday.
The visa can be requested as of Monday. It will allow Venezuelans fleeing their crisis-hit country to stay in Chile for one year, and can be extended for an additional 12 months, a statement posted on the ministry’s website said.
“We have instructed that all Chilean consulates in the world also begin to be able to offer visas of democratic responsibility,” Chilean Foreign Minister Teodoro Ribera was quoted as saying in local press reports on Saturday.
The minister added that for Chile the “real solution” would be for “the rule of law be restored” in Venezuela. Chile is part of the 12-nation Lima Group of Western states pushing for the resignation of Venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro. Opponents accuse Maduro, a socialist, of being a dictator.
In another policy change, the interior ministry announced that Chile will immediately start requiring tourist visas for Venezuelan visitors who plan to stay in the country for short periods. Previously, Venezuelans could arrive without tourist visas and stay for 90 days.
Venezuela’s economic collapse has unleashed the biggest migratory crisis in recent South American history.
This week about 200 migrants, the vast majority Venezuelans, were stranded on the border between Peru and Chile trying to enter Chilean territory after a change of regulations in Peru slowed their movement.
Reporting by Natalia Ramos; Writing by Hugh Bronstein; Editing by Tom Brown and Daniel Wallis
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles. | Government Policy Changes | June 2019 | ['(Reuters)'] |
Google reaches a deal with DoubleClick to buy the company for US$3.1 billion. | Google reached an agreement today to acquire DoubleClick, the online advertising company, from two private equity firms for $3.1 billion in cash, the companies announced, an amount that was almost double the $1.65 billion in stock that Google paid for YouTube late last year.
The sale offers Google access to DoubleClick’s advertisement software and, more importantly, its relationships with Web publishers, advertisers and advertising agencies. For months, Google has been trying to expand its foothold in online advertising into display ads, the area where DoubleClick is strongest. Google made its name and still generates most of its revenue from search and contextual text ads. DoubleClick, which was founded in 1996, provides display ads on Web sites like MySpace, The Wall Street Journal and America Online as well as software to help those sites maximize ad revenue. The company also helps ad buyers — advertisers and ad agencies — manage and measure the effectiveness of their rich media, search and other online ads. Advertisement
DoubleClick has also recently introduced a Nasdaq-like exchange for online ads that analysts say could be lucrative for Google. “Google really wants to get into the display advertising business in a big way, and they don’t have the relationships they need to make it happen,” said Dave Morgan, the chairman of Tacoda, an online advertising network. “But DoubleClick does. It gives them immediate access to those relationships.” The sale brings to an end weeks of a bidding battle between Microsoft and Google. Microsoft has been trying to catch Google in the online advertising business, and the loss of DoubleClick would be a a major setback.
“Keeping Microsoft away from DoubleClick is worth billions to Google,” an analyst with RBC Capital Markets, Jordan Rohan, said. Acquiring DoubleClick expands Google’s business far beyond algorithm-driven ad auctions into a relationship-based business with Web publishers and advertisers. Google has been expanding its AdSense network into video and display ads online and is selling ads to a limited degree on television, newspapers and radio. Advertisement
The sale also raises questions about how Google will manage its existing business and that of the new DoubleClick unit while avoiding conflicts of interest. If DoubleClick’s existing clients start to feel that Google is using DoubleClick’s relationships to further its own ad network, some Web publishers or advertisers might jump ship.
A highflying stock in the late 1990s, DoubleClick was an early pioneer in online advertising and was one of the few online ad companies to survive the burst of the dot.com bubble. In 2005, DoubleClick was taken private by two private equity firms, Hellman & Friedman and JMI Equity, in a deal valued at $1.1 billion. Since then, the company has sold two data and e-mail advertising businesses and acquired Klipmart, which specializes in online video.
The company generated about $300 million in revenue last year, mostly from providings ads on Web sites. DoubleClick’s chief executive, David Rosenblatt, said a few weeks ago that a new system it had developed for the buying and selling of online ads would probably become the chief money maker within five years. The system, a Nasdaq-like exchange for online ads, brings Web publishers and advertising buyers together on a Web site where they can participate in auctions for ad space.
DoubleClick’s exchange is different from the ad auctions that Google uses on its networks because the exchange is open to any Web publisher or ad network — not just the sites in Google’s network. Offline ad sales have been handled through negotiation, but the efficiency of online auction systems has caused some advertising executives to consider using auctions for offline ads in places like television and newspapers. DoubleClick’s new exchange could function as a hub for online and offline ad sales. | Organization Merge | April 2007 | ['(New York Times)'] |
In cycling, Germany's Jens Voigt sets a new hour record, covering 51.115 kilometers at the Velodrome Suisse in Grenchen, Switzerland. It is the first hour record attempt since the UCI established new unified rules for such attempts. | Voigt’s new record of 51.115km in 60 minutes has breathed new life into one of sport’s greatest challenges. If Sir Bradley Wiggins takes on the Hour, he will be competing against many of the greats in one of cycling’s simplest and most brutal contests
Last modified on Wed 21 Feb 2018 17.53 GMT
51.115km. There’s a perfect symmetry to the number that represents the new Hour record. It is as memorable as the rider who set it. Jens Voigt cycled around the Velodrome Suisse in Grenchen, Switzerland on a Trek Speed Concept time-trial bike that was modified for the track, with its clock-face disc wheels as nice a touch as the hardman jokes – “Jens Voigt doesn’t normally ride in velodromes, because he doesn’t like to lap himself” – inscribed on his frame. Fabian Cancellara and Tony Martin are expected to throw their aero helmets into the ring sometime soon and Sir Bradley Wiggins has already announced his intention to rejuvenate the event. The Hour, it seems, is having a moment. It’s partially down to a rule change by the UCI that unifies the “athlete’s hour” and “best human performance” records and standardises rules on legitimate equipment for the attempt – a rule change that seemingly scuppered Cancellara’s much mooted attempt on the Eddy Merckx inspired “athlete’s hour” – and partially because, as ex-holder Graeme Obree puts it, the record is “low-hanging fruit” for any fast man on a fast bike. And, for a rider such as Wiggins, who is looking to move back to the track after his successful adventures on the road, it’s perhaps the ideal stepping stone to one last gold medal in Rio. Once the record for the great road champions – Eddy Merckx, Fausto Coppi, Jacques Anquetil, Miguel Indurain and Francesco Moser have all engraved the Hour on their palmares – it hasn’t always been at the forefront of cycling’s consciousness, experiencing peaks and troughs even as the Grand Tours and the Classics have grown in reputation and interest. The first official Hour recordholder was Henri Desgrange, the father of the Tour de France and a lifelong opponent of technical innovation, who reached 35.325km at the Buffalo velodrome in Paris in 1893. In the same year, Hélène Dutrieu – the “Girl Hawk” who left home at 14 to become a professional cyclist for the British Simpson Lever Chain team, and later became Belgium’s first female pilot and the first woman to fly a seaplane – took the women’s paced Hour record over the magic 40km mark. But interest in the record wasn’t piqued again until 1912, when Oscar Egg, the great Swiss pistard, took the record from Marcel Berthet and sparked a two-year rivalry that saw the Hour trade hands between the two riders five times. Between them they pushed the mark by 2,727m in a fascinating contest of style and attitude. Berthet was all about precision, preparation and planning; while Egg was youthful – at 22 he was three years younger than the Frenchman – and relied on his huge gears and audacity. The exchange might have gone on until either man was physically incapable of pushing the barrier any further, but 10 days after Egg had set a mark of 44.247km, the first world war was declared and the record was shelved indefinitely. At 8.5kg, Egg’s record-breaking bike was 10kg lighter than the machine Fausto Coppi rode in 1942 when setting his Hour mark of 45.871km. Coppi took the record from Maurice Archambaud on one of the most iconic tracks in the world, the Vigorelli in Milan. Opened in 1935 with Giuseppi Olmo’s Hour attempt – where he broke the 45km barrier for the first time – it saw an unmatched run of 10 successive Hour records. But none of them was finer than Coppi’s. With virtually no training, clad in a heavy woolen jersey and battered leather skullcap, Coppi clawed his way to a new mark that would stand for 14 years until a young French hotshot called Jacques Anquetil broke it on the same track. More than 150 records, both men’s and women’s were set on the pista magica, which was renowned for its smoothness and sheer speed. But in 1942, when Coppi set his mark, it was being used as a clearing house for the Italian Army and Il Campianissimo had to snatch his practice time when he could – the track was constantly buzzing with the nervous energy of new recruits undergoing their army induction. Throughout 1942 the Allies ramped up their bombing raids on Milan, droning flights of Lancasters destroying the Bianchi bike and Caproni aircraft factories and killing 171 people. The night before Coppi’s attempt, the Vigorelli was caught in yet another raid. Shaken to its foundations, the huge amphitheatre – which was capable of seating 9,000 spectators – survived to see Coppi fly to the record. Unlike Anquetil in 1956, who rode a custom-built Masi bike after his own proved unsuitable for handling the particular banking of the Vigorelli, Coppi took the Hour to 45.871km on a heavy and cumbersome scratch bike. But Coppi had class and, in the words of Prime Bergomi, who set his own records at the track: “If you don’t have class, the Vigorelli is like pedalling in a vacuum.”
Anquetil would ride the Hour at the Vigorelli again, after his compatriot Roger Rivière set back-to-back records in 1957 and 1958. Rivière would not make it back to the track of dreams again. In the 1960 Tour de France, while wearing the leader’s Yellow Jersey, he crashed into a ravine and was paralysed. He had been trying to follow Gaston Nencini, Italy’s demon descender, down the Col de Perjuret when he braked too hard, hit a low stone wall and was catapulted headfirst into a ravine. The leaves that broke his fall saved his life. His team manager Raphael Geminiani had it right when he said: “The only reason to follow Nencini downhill would be if you had a death wish.” There were painkillers in his jersey pocket and he admitted to taking amphetamines to set the Hour record. He never rode again and was dead at 40, from throat cancer. Anquetil’s attempt at the Vigorelli in 1967 was never ratified as he had skipped the newly mandatory doping control. When the roof of the Vigorelli caved in after heavy snowfall in January 1985, it was the beginning of the end for the track they dubbed the “La Scala of cycling’. The last Hour at the pista magica does not belong to Francesco Moser’s attempt on the sea level record in 1986 but to Jeannie Longo, who pushed her own record to 43.587km. But the boards have not echoed to the slap of rubber since 1999. The famous velodrome in Milan was not only a place for men to set records. Though Alfonsina Strada had set an unofficial Hour mark in 1911, the earliest official records tumbled at the Vigorelli when France’s Renée Vissac (1957), Britain’s Millie Robinson (1958) and Luxemburg’s Elsy Jacobs (1958) pushed the record beyond the unofficial mark of 39.735km set by Jeanine Lamaire in 1955. Vissac would go on to a string of national pursuit podiums and titles. Robinson had won the first Grande Boucle Feminine in 1955; in a race dominated by British riders she took a thrilling solo victory on stage four and then wrapped up a decisive victory with a win in the time trial. Jacobs came into her attempt as the first ever women’s world champion and set a mark that wouldn’t be broken for 14 years. But the Hour moved inexorably onwards, and upwards, to the thin air of Mexico City’s Olympic velodrome, where, two days before the 1968 Games opened, Denmark’s Ole Ritter pushed the mark towards the 49km barrier that Merckx would smash through four years later. Merckx had wanted to ride in the Vigorelli, to compare himself directly to the greats who had gone before, but the old lady was showing her age and the track was flooded. Besides, Ritter had shown that humans were capable of extraordinary things at altitude; instead of comparing yourself to your peers, why not establish your legend beyond doubt? The Cannibal took the record in 1972, claiming to have been untroubled during his ride. But Ernesto Colnago, the mastermind behind the bike Merckx rode, knew the truth. He heard Merckx’s hoarse whisper: “Basta... that’s the last time I’ll ever do the hour record. The pain was incredible...” Merckx rode himself to the very limit of his endurance, his face darkening with effort. He called that hour in the Mexico City velodrome “the longest of my career”. But the record was his: 49.431km. It would stand for the next 12 years. Or 26 years. Because this is where time divides. Where the Merckx Hour stands as the pinnacle of human achievement, a moment caught in the pale grey light of a Mexican morning. This is the moment when the UCI pins the “athlete’s hour” like a butterfly in a specimen cabinet. The moment when all possible futures of the sport diverge through the prism of technology. Because the Hour record is beaten, in 1984, by Francesco Moser. And it is beaten not by human effort alone but by technology. Moser used disc wheels, a specially designed aerodynamic bike with low profile frame. He used every marginal gain possible – there were tales that the track was specially varnished, that the rear wheel was weighted to produce a flywheel effect and increase momentum. And where Merckx had collapsed into the arms of Colnago, Moser broke the 50km barrier and then broke it again four days later, extending the record to 51.151km. Though his second attempt was hardly an easy ride – Moser’s 5km speed dipped and rose dizzyingly – it put the record far beyond reach. It was the last men’s record set in Mexico City. Jeannie Longo had followed the men to altitude and improved her own record of 44.933km, set in Colorado, by a huge 1,419m in 1989. This was the era of the “best performance” Hour record, where riders used any technological advantage at their disposal to push the limits of what was possible in a hour. Longo was formally cleared of involvement in EPO trafficking in 2011 but the pall has been cast forever over her phenomenal career. Moser admitted to using blood transfusions, which were perfectly legal at the time, in setting his “best performance” record. His support team, under professor Francesco Conconi of the University of Ferrara, included a young Italian sports physician called Michele Ferrari. Though Conconi revolutionised commonly accepted approaches to training – introducing heart-rate monitors and interval training – he was also an advocate of blood doping. In his pomp, Lance Armstrong often flirted with the idea of the Hour record, going so far as to claim that it was the reason for his collaboration with Ferrari. He never attempted the record and Ferrari is now banned from life from the sport. The “best performance” had truly outstripped the realms of the purely physiologically possible. And then the scene shifts again, from the thin blue skies above Mexico’s open velodrome and back down to sea level, to the Velodrome Bordeaux Lac in one of France’s greatest cities. Not only did the Hour come back to earth but it also went undercover. The vagaries of wind, rain and air pollution that had made Mexico City untenable were now nullified, and conditions were always perfect for an attempt at the record. The place was also hugely underutilised, its owners preferring to funnel more glamorous events to their other venue at Paris Bercy. But, starting with the attempt of a British pursuiter who had taken gold in extraordinary fashion at the 1992 Olympics on a remarkable monocoque machine fashioned from featherlight carbon fibre, the Bordeuax Velodrome saw a series of Hour records that would ignite the imagination in a way that hadn’t happened since the glory days of the Vigorelli. It started in Norway. On 17 July 1993 a little-known Scottish cyclist did the unthinkable. On the Hamar track – fashioned after a Viking ship and designed by the renowned German company Schurmann – Graeme Obree, climbed aboard his homemade bike, dubbed “Old Faithful” by the media, tucked into the egg position and simply willed himself past Moser’s mythical mark. Floating over the pale Norway spruce of the Vikingskipet track, he did it with 30 seconds to spare and L’Équipe went crazy, declaring that there were “no phrases capable of capturing that hour in time; no clichéd superlatives worthy of this man’s fight against all odds. Obree, we wanted you to carry on riding, always, forever, until an indelible furrow had been ploughed into that wooden track in the Hamar velodrome.” The product of a deeply unhappy childhood and prone to fits of the blackest, deepest depression, Obree knew how to suffer. The Hour is all about pain and the ability to endure that pain, to ride the stations of the cross as the endless repetitions slowly crucify the body. Obree bore the pain and conquered it. The Hour was his. But not for long. Boardman set the new benchmark of 52.270km just six days later, and then, in eight glorious months in 1994, the Hour record fell four times. First Obree, the newly minted world pursuit champion who had beaten Boardman to the title, reclaimed the crown from his arch rival by 443m. Then the smooth and polished doussie boards saw Miguel Indurain – whose performance in the 60km time-trial from Perigeux to Bergerac had netted him a fourth consecutive Tour de France that July – push the record beyond 53km. Indurain’s ability to generate enormous power from a less than optimal aero position – he carried his head and shoulders much higher than Obree and Boardman – was tailor-made for a successful attempt. And finally came Tony Rominger, who had conquered that year’s Vuelta a España for a record third time. The Swiss smashed through 55km in a way that would have had Oscar Egg on his feet and cheering. It was a far cry from the Rominger who had slid so ungracefully down the banking on his first moments on the piste, unable to keep himself upright through sheer lack of momentum. But with the aid of Ernesto Campagnolo’s wizadry and a pair of aerobars conceived by Ferrari, the ugly duckling was soon swanning round the velodrome and setting a mark that would surely not be bettered. Bordeaux had seen its last – and perhaps most extraordinary – Hour. Obree would never hold the Hour record again; the UCI decided to ban his riding position and his bike in a shortsighted attempt to curtail the pace of inevitable change. The balance between the humanly achievable and the technological innovation had tipped too far off-kilter. He found another position – the “Superman”, in which his arms were fully extended in front of his body – and he took another world pursuit championships, but the UCI banned that position too, in 1996. Then UCI president Hein Verbruggen declared: “We want riders to win because they are the best, rather than because they have the best equipment.” Verbruggen had clearly never attempted to hold one of Obree’s super aerodynamic positions for an hour – had he done so he might have come to a different conclusion. Obree had a short-lived professional career, curtailed by his stubborn refusal to dope, and he disappeared from view. The appetite among the professionals had been sated by that summer and autumn in Bordeaux. But there was one man standing, and that man was Chris Boardman. Boardman would set his final Hour marks in his home velodrome in Manchester. But this time the women would get there first. On 17 June 1995 the slight figure of Yvonne McGregor, a one-time international runner and triathlete, spun through a 15-minute warm-up on the 333m track, then settled into the position she would hold for the next hour pushing a 54x14. The 34-year-old held the black line as if it were magnetic, only an occasional movement of the head betraying the intense effort involved in challenging the Hour. After 30 minutes she was down on her target of 47.750km but, crucially, nearly two laps ahead of the record set by Catherine Marsal in Bordeaux that April. But that target started to drop. Through the second half of her ride, she stopped gaining on the record. But like the Duracell bunny, she pushed on and through, breaking Marsal’s record with a lap to spare. The new Hour record stood at 47.411km, beating the Frenchwoman’s record by 299m. A thousand revolutions of the pedals. But on such fine margins is the Hour record balanced. Among the crowds that day was another woman from Yorkshire, arguably the greatest female cyclist ever. Despite never holding the Hour record, Beryl Burton was the first woman to ride 40km in less than an hour on the road. But her two attempts on the track ended in failure, a word that didn’t often feature in the Burton vocabulary. There were suggestions that she was underprepared, mentally more than physically. Perhaps she simply preferred the rigours and challenges of the road to the track – the changing tarmac under her wheels rather than the endless smooth perfection of a wooden track. | Break historical records | September 2014 | ['(The Guardian)'] |
Indonesia announces a two–year moratorium on rainforest logging in return for up to $1bn in aid from Norway, which will help preserve forests. , | Norway and Indonesia have agreed to enter into a partnership to support Indonesia’s efforts to reduce emissions from deforestation and degradation of forests and peat lands. Norway will support the efforts with one billion USD over the next few years.
Indonesia will take immediate and decisive action to reduce its forest and peat related greenhouse gas emissions.
“Indonesia is a key country in terms of reducing deforestation, therefore this agreement and Indonesias commitment is a great step forward in achieving large scale reductions in greenhouse gas emissions,” said Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg. “I look forward to cooperating with President Yudhoyono and Indonesia on this important issue.”
The announcement was made at a joint press conference held by the President of the Republic of Indonesia, Dr Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, and the Prime Minister of Norway, Jens Stoltenberg. Their announcements coincide with the upcoming Oslo Climate and Forest Conference, where a global climate and forest partnership will be established.
Funds will initially be devoted to finalizing Indonesia’s climate and forest strategy, building and institutionalizing capacity to monitor, report and verify reduced emissions, and puting in place enabling policies and institutional reforms. A two-year suspension on new concessions on conversion of natural forests and peat lands into plantations will be implemented.
”To succeed in the global battle against climate change, we need robust, action-oriented partnerships between developing and developed countries. President Yudhoyono of Indonesia and Prime Minister Stoltenberg of Norway are both global leaders on climate change. That they have now come together in an ambitious partnership to reduce emissions from deforestation, forest degradation and peatland destruction in Indonesia is good news for the world. I encourage others to join their efforts, and to create their own partnerships to help put the world on the path to sustainable, climate-resilient growth,” comments secretary-general Ban Ki-Moon of the United Nations.
| Financial Aid | May 2010 | ['(Al Jazeera)', '(The New York Times)', '(ABC)', '(The Norway Post)', '(The Jakarta Post)'] |
US Defense Secretary Robert Gates reviews allegations of misconduct in Afghanistan by the private military company formerly known as Blackwater, Xe Services LLC. | US Defence Secretary Robert Gates is to review allegations of misconduct in Afghanistan by the security company formerly known as Blackwater.
The review comes a day after a leading Democrat said the Pentagon should consider barring it from applying for a contract to train Afghan police. The Pentagon said it could not bar the company from applying for the billion-dollar police training contract. A spokesman for company, now called Xe, said it welcomed the review. A spokesman for the company, Mark Corallo, said Xe has an excellent record of training security personnel in Afghanistan. However, in a letter to Mr Gates at the end of February, Senate Armed Services Committee chairman Carl Levin cited allegations of misconduct against the firm made before the committee. He said there was evidence of misconduct in a previous subcontract awarded to a Blackwater affiliate to conduct weapons training for the Afghan National Army. Pentagon spokesman Geoff Morrell said of Mr Gates' response: "He is looking into it and he takes it seriously. He shares [Mr Levin's] concerns." But he said it was not possible to bar the company without following strict regulations. Technical expertise
"You can't willy-nilly choose not to do business with a company," he said. "There are strict criteria for pursuing debarment. They are afforded due process. They are afforded legal standards." Mr Morrell also said that Blackwater has the necessary technical expertise. "And they have a willingness to work in places that very few companies are willing to work. So they provide a much-needed service and the ability to do it well." The Blackwater company began its work protecting US government personnel in Iraq following the invasion in 2003. Anti-American sentiment in Iraq was stoked in December after a US judge threw out manslaughter charges against five Blackwater guards over the 2007 killing of 17 Iraqis in Baghdad. The activities of foreign security firms in Iraq have been curbed since then. About a month ago, Iraq ordered 250 former and current staff of Blackwater to leave within a week. In January 2010, Xe finalised the settlement - for an undisclosed amount - of a number of lawsuits over the killings of Iraqi civilians. The civil suits accused Blackwater's founder, Erik Prince, of cultivating a climate of recklessness. The lawsuits sought compensation for deaths and injuries incurred in incidents including the 2007 killings. | Famous Person - Commit Crime - Accuse | March 2010 | ['(BBC)'] |
Voters in Nepal go to the polls for the second round of a historic legislative election. The turnout is 67%, up from 65% in the first round. | When Nepalis head to the polls today for the final round of parliamentary elections, the country’s first since 1999, it will be hailed as a historic step forward—the start of a new democratic era for a country that has suffered from years of violence, instability, and government ineptitude. That step is worth celebrating, since there is reason to hope that better governance will come. But hope for the future should not obscure the challenging legacies of the past. The wounds of Nepal’s long civil war are not yet healed, and if the new political leadership does not do more to deliver justice for the war’s victims, new friction is likely to emerge.
Addressing the legacies of Nepal’s past won’t be easy with the massive challenges that lie ahead: deep-seated political rivalries; ethnic, class, and regional divisions; and a lack of justice for victims of war crimes. But attempting to simply move forward won’t make them go away; it will ensure that they bring greater problems down the road.
Since the end of its decadelong civil war in 2006, the country’s main political parties have let Nepalis down | Government Job change - Election | December 2017 | ['(Foreign Affairs)', '(Economic Times)'] |
At least 11 people are killed in an attack on a church by the Séléka militia group in the city of Bangui in the Central African Republic. | At least 11 people have been killed in an attack on a church in the Central African Republic.
Eyewitnesses said members of the Seleka militia group threw grenades before shooting indiscriminately at the Church of Fatima in the capital Bangui.
The mostly Muslim Seleka rebels have been involved in heavy fighting with mainly Christian fighters in the anti-balaka militia since March 2013. The conflict has displaced about 25% of CAR's 4.6 million population.
The attack on the church followed hours of fighting in the PK5 neighborhood of Bangui.
Eyewitnesses said those inside the Catholic church were seeking shelter from the clashes.
Rev Freddy Mboula told the Associated Press (AP) that he was in the church when shooting was heard outside.
"There were screams and after 30 minutes of gunfire there were bodies everywhere" he said.
The priest of the church, Jonas Bekas, told Reuters that the death toll would probably rise because there were so many wounded.
"It would have been much worse if the anti-balaka militia had not come to defend us" he said.
AP reported that Christian militia fighters had begun putting up road blockades around Bangui in the hours after the attack.
It is the worst attack on Christians in the country since the Seleka rebels were ousted from power in January 2014. Seleka Prime Minister Michel Djotodia was forced to resign as president after failing to stop anti-Christian attacks.
Since then, there have been widespread reprisals against Muslim civilians, who were almost completely driven out of Bangui in what the UN said amounted to ethnic cleansing.
Lat week the Seleka group announced that it had put in place a new chain of command to "rein in" its fighters.
The group still controls large parts of the country's north.
The African Union, France and the European Union have about 7,000 troops battling to end the conflict.
The UN has also pledged to send some 12,000 peacekeepers amid fears of a genocide, but no date has yet been set for the deployment. Africa Today podcasts | Armed Conflict | May 2014 | ['(BBC)'] |
Eleven Nigerian Army troops, including an officer, are killed in an ambush while on patrol in Benue State. It is unclear who carried out the attack. | One army officer was among the 11 armed forces personnel killed in an attack in Nigeria that was termed as unprovoked by a spokesperson on Thursday. The attack took place in Nigeria's Benue state.
The army said in a statement that it would "fish out and deal decisively with these bad elements."
Army spokesman Mohammed Yerima said the troops were initially declared missing while on a routine operational task, but a search-and-rescue team later found the bodies.
"Efforts are ongoing to track down the perpetrators of this heinous crime with a view to bringing them to justice," Yerima said in a statement.
Yerima did not immediately reply to further queries about the attack.
Reuters said that civilians were fleeing the Konshiba local government in fear soldiers looking to root out the perpetrators. A local leader's house had been burnt to ground.
The violence in the restive Middle Belt region marked the latest bout of instability in Nigeria, Africa's most-populous nation.
On Monday, heavily armed gunman freed more than 1,800 prisoners in the southeast, while armed gangs have kidnapped hundreds of school children in the northwest in recent months and Islamist militants in the northeast have waged a decade-long insurgency.
Troops patrol in the Middle Belt due in part to clashes between farmers and nomadic cattle herders that have killed thousands and displaced half a million over the past decade, according to estimates from French medical charity Medecins Sans Frontieres.
(With Reuters inputs)
With the security forces continuing to have an upper hand in Jammu & Kashmir and the state appearing to reap a “safety” dividend, Prime Minister Narendra Modi is likely to hold a meeting of all political parties in the state on June 24. The meeting will be seen as a bid to move the political process in the UT after a gradual easing of restrictions on internet and detention of political leaders.
NEW DELHI: A 'judicially orphaned' two-and-a-half-year-old girl child, who was ordered to be kept in a childcare home in Maharashtra since she was five months old, found a home on Friday as the Supreme Court allowed the adoptive parents to take interim custody.Showing unusual openness to admonish the judicial system for causing the tragedy by going...
The development comes as the Sri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust, which oversees the construction of the Ram temple in Ayodhya, is facing widespread allegations of corruption
On June 16, Mitra had urged Pradhan to intervene and stop SAIL from dismantling the RMD. I once again urge you to stop the dismantling of the RMD and keep its headquarters in Kolkata, the minister wrote on Friday.
As part of a data-correction exercise, state governments have detected lakhs of Covid-19 beneficiaries who are fully inoculated but are still being shown on the CoWin app as due for the second shot. While the Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu governments have each detected one lakh duplicate entries in their respective states, the West Bengal government h...
In its latest bulletin, the weather department issued an orange alert for Darjeeling, Kalimpong and Alipurduar districts where heavy to very heavy (07-20 cm) rainfall is predicted.
The new policy is being introduced to ensure that students have easy access to schools, and to bring down the drop-out rate. Chief Minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy, who held a review meeting, said the policy changes are also in tune with the National Education Plan.
A division bench of the High Court issued the order this week after the BJP-led state government informed the court of an April 26 Cabinet decision to sell 3,667 acres of land to JSW Steel but the decision was not confirmed in a subsequent Cabinet meeting on May 27.
Some people used Twitter as a platform to spread animosity and hatred among people. Twitter did not take cognizance of such messages that sought to spread enmity and affect harmony among communities in the country/ states," states the notice.
In November 2000, the Supreme Court had upheld a Karnataka High Court order which struck down the Centre s revisional powers in respect of films that are already certified by the Board .
In the past 24 hours, the state recorded 2,788 new cases and 58 deaths due to Covid-19.
B S Yediyurappa-led government ended on Friday with the CM seeming to gain an upper hand against purported efforts by a section of leaders to use Singh s visit to build a case for a change of leadership in the state.
Wife Kruthika, arrested 2 days ago, and Madan face nearly 200 complaints of doing obscene chats.
On Wednesday Sunderbani became the first of the 19 blocks in the border district to record 100 per cent vaccination in the 45-plus age group after a medical team, accompanied by police personnel, trekked to the village on a now-or-never mission and returned with success.
Referring to data from Christian Medical College, Vellore 8,991 vaccinated healthcare workers, including those who received only one dose Dr V K Paul underlined that the role of vaccines in preventing ICU admission was as high as 94 per cent
In an interview to The Indian Express, Birla, who is completing two years in office on Saturday, said, In fact, there was no consensus over conducting the Standing Committees online... Of the 16 committees, 14 did not want to have virtual meetings... Anyway, I have never given any instructions not to hold Standing Committee meetings.
Milkha Singh took his last breath at the age of 91 on Friday. The former athlete passed away after a month-long battle with Coronavirus. Last week, his wife 85-year-old Nirmal Kaur, the Indian Nation Women’s Volleyball team captain, succumbed to complications related to Covid 19 at a hospital in Mohali. Several celebrities took to their social media handles to mourn his loss with heartfelt messages and photos of the late athlete. India’s Prime...
40 members of IMA Chandigarh protest outside IMA house in Sector 35; 1,300 PGIMER doctors wear black badges in solidarity with medics
With the imposition of the rule, three office bearers of the party s youth wing in Rajkot city and Navsari district, who are aged above 35, have willingly tendered their resignations from the posts.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has filed an election petition in the Calcutta High Court challenging the Assembly election result of Nandigram constituency, where she had contested and lost. | Armed Conflict | April 2021 | ['(MSN)'] |
The Toronto Police declares a machete attack that occurred at an erotic massage parlor in February to be an act of terrorism driven by incel ideology. The attack left one woman dead and another injured. | A deadly attack at a Toronto erotic massage parlour three months ago is now being treated as an act of terrorism after police allegedly uncovered evidence it was inspired by misogynist incel ideology.
Charges against the suspect accused of carrying out the Feb. 24 stabbing attack, which killed a woman and injured another, were updated in court on Tuesday to “murder — terrorist activity.”
The suspect, who cannot be named because he is a minor, was also charged with terrorism for the alleged attempted murder of the woman who survived.
He was already facing first-degree and attempted murder charges, but the development means police believe the incident was terrorism-related.
In a joint statement, the RCMP and Toronto Police Service said their investigation had determined the attack “was inspired by the Ideologically Motivated Violent Extremist (IMVE) movement commonly known as INCEL.”
“As a result, federal and provincial Attorney Generals have consented to commence terrorism proceedings, alleging that the murder was terrorist activity … and the attempted murder was terrorist activity.”
Experts said it was the first time a terrorism charge had been laid over violence tied to incels, a term that refers to self-described “involuntary celibates.”
It is also believed to be the first time Canada’s anti-terrorism laws have been used to prosecute an act of violence by a suspect who was not an Islamist extremist.
A police source told Global News the suspect had said he wanted to kill as many women as possible.
The woman who survived the attack said in an interview she was pleased with the terrorism charges and that Canadians should be more informed about incels.
“I’m overjoyed at the news that they’ve decided to charge him with the terrorism stuff. I hope it sticks,” said the woman, who asked not to be named.
The incident points to the evolving threat posed by the incel movement, which a recent paper said was “flourishing, ideologically evolving, and continuing to threaten more … attacks.”
Almost 50 deaths in Canada and the United States have been linked to incels, leading to calls to treat their actions as a form of domestic terrorism.
Canadian authorities had been reluctant to make use of federal anti-terrorism laws following incidents such as the 2018 Toronto van attack, preferring to charge suspects with non-terrorism offences.
Although the van attack suspect Alek Minassian allegedly told police after ramming pedestrians on Toronto’s busy Yonge Street that he was part of an “incel rebellion,” he was not charged with terrorism.
Nor were Quebec mosque gunman Alexandre Bissonnette or Abdulahi Sharif, who targeted pedestrians and police with a van in Edmonton in 2017. Instead, they were charged with murder or attempted murder.
But the decision to prosecute the massage parlour attack as terrorism may signal a new approach by the authorities, a willingness to bring terrorism charges when warranted, and an acknowledgement that a broader range of groups are active in extremist violence.
The incident took place at the Crown Spa, which offers “sensual body rub” and “an exotic massage that will leave you feeling completely relaxed and spoiled senseless,” according to its website.
At around noon on Monday, Feb. 24, the owner said she heard screams coming from a back room. When she went to see what was happening, a man stabbed her with a machete.
She said she was able to wrestle the weapon from him and stab him in the back. Witnesses saw a bloodied woman and man emerge from the front door. The body of Ashley Noell Arzaga, 24, was found inside.
An injured teenager was arrested at the scene.
No motive was disclosed at the time but a source said the 17-year-old suspect indicated he was familiar with both the Toronto van attacker and the author of the incel “manifesto,” Elliot Rodger.
When Toronto police came across evidence the crime might be terrorism-related, they called in the RCMP-led Integrated National Security Enforcement Team (INSET).
The additional charges that resulted from the Toronto INSET investigation apply to cases where a murder has occurred during an act of terrorism, and a crime was committed “with the intention of intimidating the public, or a segment of the public, with regard to its security … or compelling a person, a government or a domestic or an international organization to do or to refrain from doing any act.”
“I think it’s a move in the right direction,” Prof. Colin Clarke, a senior research fellow at the U.S. terrorism think tank the Soufan Centre, said of the terrorism charge.
Incels have become a growing security concern.
Since the Toronto van killings two years ago, a handful of additional incel attacks have occurred, including at a Florida yoga studio in November 2018 and in Texas in June 2019.
Social media companies have responded by taking down online forums used by incels, while police have made arrests and paid closer attention to the misogynist extremist movement.
“What begins as a personal grievance due to perceived rejection by women may morph into allegiance to, and attempts to further, an incel rebellion,” a Texas Department of Public Safety report said in January.
“The result has thrust the incel movement into the realm of domestic terrorism.”
A California man described as an online incel promoter was arrested last month over an alleged harassment campaign against two teenage girls who had rejected his sexual advances.
“Incel ideology ranges from sad and self-loathing to the absolute hatred of women,” FBI special agent Marcus McCain wrote in an affidavit following the arrest of Carl Bennington, 33, adding some incels advocated for the legalization of rape and violence against women.
While Bennington was charged with cyberstalking, Clarke and other experts have been making the case that incel violence meets the definition of terrorism and should be treated accordingly.
“Some dispute that incel attacks qualify as terrorism because there is no realistic policy change that the movement is advocating, since their frustrations are merely a result of failed interpersonal relationships,” Clarke and Lilianna Turner wrote in Insights
“However, they do justify violence to assuage their grievances, their violence is ideological in nature, and they have attacked civilians in order to have a psychological impact on society, all classic hallmarks of terrorism.”
Incel violence is “indisputably terroristic in that it seeks to repress and subjugate women as part of the incels’ vision of a paternalistic, genderized society,” according to Bruce Hoffman and Jacob Ware of the Council on Foreign Relations.
“By advocating bloodshed as a means of broader societal intimidation, incel ideology conforms to the core definition of terrorism as violence designed to have far-reaching psychological effects,” they wrote.
As with some far-right and Islamist extremists, incels are challenging for police because they tend to act alone, lack ties to an organization and use readily-accessible weapons such as vehicles and knives.
But experts said action was needed.
“The violent manifestations of the ideology pose a new terrorism threat, which should not be dismissed or ignored by domestic law enforcement agencies,” according to a Studies in Conflict & Terrorism paper.
[email protected] | Riot | May 2020 | ['(Global News)'] |
The people of Venezuela vote in Parliamentary Elections. | None of the five main opposition parties took part, accusing the electoral body of bias. Only about 25% of registered voters cast a ballot.
A two-thirds majority in parliament will allow Mr Chavez to remove the current constitutional limit of two presidential terms in office.
But the opposition says the low turnout deprives the election of legitimacy.
Everyone in Venezuela needs to take part of the blame for the current state of affairs
Guillemro Power, Bournemouth, UK
"Venezuela is speaking with its silence," said Julio Borges, a prominent opposition member.
BBC Latin America analyst James Painter says the election was essentially about the democratic legitimacy of Mr Chavez, as both sides can claim a victory of sorts. Attention will now focus on the international observers who are due to pronounce on the fairness of the vote, he adds.
The Fifth Republic Movement, Mr Chavez's party, won 114 seats in the 167 single-chamber National Assembly, according to senior party member, William Lara. Polling stations in some urban areas were almost empty.
He said the remainder of seats had been won by allies of the president.
Previously, Mr Chavez's supporters had only held 89 seats. About 14.5 million Venezuelans were eligible to vote.
The BBC's Greg Morsbach in Caracas says people queued to vote in deprived parts of the city, where support for the president is usually strong. Polling stations in middle class urban areas were almost empty, our correspondent says.
The National Electoral Council said 556 out of 5,500 candidates had pulled out of the congressional vote. Opposition leaders accused the electoral authorities of favouring pro-government candidates.
Mr Chavez condemned the boycott as a Washington-backed plot to destabilise his government - a charge the US rejected. "These old parties, they are already dead, but they are still hanging on, resisting death," Mr Chavez told reporters after voting.
"Now they've accelerated their own demise."
The government deployed thousands of soldiers nationwide to maintain order during the vote.
Hours before voting began, an oil pipeline in the west of the country was damaged in a blast which officials claimed was a sabotage attack.
The poll is being monitored by observers from the European Union and the Organisation of American States. However, the opposition group Sumate alleged widespread irregularities. | Government Job change - Election | December 2005 | ['(BBC)'] |
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