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More than one million local government workers in the UK strike over cuts to pension schemes, in an action co–ordinated by eight trade unions. | The Local Government Association (LGA) estimated that around 400,000 council workers in England joined the strike.
The UK-wide strike is over government plans to scrap a rule allowing some people to retire at 60, without suffering a penalty for retiring early.
The government argues the current rule is discriminatory and hopes that an alternative solution can be found. Transport hit
Ministers have called a meeting with employers and unions on Wednesday to try to break the deadlock.
Impact across the UK
Unison, the biggest of the 11 unions involved in Tuesday's action, said there had been "solid" support among members and it could be the biggest stoppage in the UK since the 1926 General Strike.
Workers supporting the strike include leisure centre workers, school staff including caretakers, cooks, cleaners and office workers, refuse collectors, housing officers, nursery nurses, youth and community staff and tourism officials. The strike has also affected traffic wardens, housing associations, the Probation Service, the Meat Hygiene Service, street sweeping, home care, occupational therapy and other social services.
Transport has also been hit as some workers formerly employed by local councils, such as bus and subway drivers, remain members of the pension scheme. All bus and rail services are at a standstill in Northern Ireland, and the Mersey Tunnels in Liverpool, the Metro on Tyneside and Glasgow's subway network have all closed.
Strike action is the only option left to local government workers
Unison general secretary Dave Prentis
What is the strike about? Do you support the strike?
In pictures: Pension strike
Among the unions taking part are the T&G, Amicus and the GMB.
Unison general secretary Dave Prentis said: "Strike action is the only option left to local government workers to demonstrate the burning resentment and anger they feel over the government and employers taking away their pension rights, when those same rights have been given to every other public sector pension scheme.
"They are understandably angry at being treated like second-class citizens."
T&G general secretary Tony Woodley said: "Three-quarters of those workers are women.
"Tony Blair and his colleagues think low-paid women workers are a pushover. Well, he's got that wrong."
Unions have warned of further action in the run-up to the local council elections in May.
An LGA survey of councils in England suggested that though there had been strong support for the strike in London, Liverpool, Nottingham and the North East, in other areas the numbers were far fewer - with 150 staff out of 14,000 on strike at Buckinghamshire County Council.
LGA chairman Sir Sandy Bruce Lockhart said: "Council workers are continuing to do their important jobs well."
Rule 85
At the centre of the dispute is the so-called Rule of 85.
This allows council employees to retire at 60 without suffering a financial penalty for early retirement, provided their age and years of service add up to 85. Ealing Council workers join the protest
The government is planning to scrap the rule for all workers in April, but the unions say it should have been retained for existing workers, and stopped only for new recruits.
Employers say that with increasing life expectancy in the UK, the rule means they could face a rise in pension contributions of £5bn to £6bn in the next 20 years.
On the BBC's World at One, Local Government Minister Phil Woolas said he hoped an alternative solution could be found. "The question is: Is it possible to replace the benefits that members of the scheme receive from rule 85 in a different way?" "If the unions and the local government leaders can find a way of doing that, our role and John Prescott's role as the regulator of the scheme is to put that into place." But the unions insist local government workers should be treated in the same way as uniformed police, NHS workers, civil servants and teachers - who can all retire on a full pension at 60.
Unison says nearly three-quarters of contributors to the local government pension scheme are women, most of whom work part-time and who draw an average of £1,612 (£31 a week) upon retirement. The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister held a three-month consultation on the issue, which finished on 28 February. Talks continued until 14 March when eight trade unions voted for strike action. | Strike | March 2006 | ['(BBC)'] |
NATO foreign ministers agree to launch a Membership Action Plan for Bosnia and Herzegovina. | TALLINN (Reuters) - NATO ministers agreed on Thursday to grant a Membership Action Plan (MAP) for Bosnia that could see it join the alliance in coming years, but attached conditions to its implementation.
“MAP has been granted to Bosnia-Herzegovina today, but with clear conditions attached on implementation,” NATO spokesman James Appathurai told a news briefing after talks among NATO foreign ministers in the Estonian capital Tallinn.
Appathurai said NATO would accept Bosnia’s first annual reform plan under the program, only when defense property, such as bases, was registered as belonging to the state and for use of the defense ministry.
A Membership Action Plan is a multi-stage process of political dialogue and military reform to bring a country in line with NATO standards and to eventual membership. The process can take several years.
Bosnia applied for the membership plan for the 28-nation NATO in October, but the alliance declined this in December on the grounds it still needed to carry out more reforms.
Appathurai said the ministers noted that since December Bosnia had made “significant” progress on reform and they had welcomed its decision to destroy surplus ammunition and arms and to contribute troops to the NATO mission in Afghanistan.
“They remain concerned, however, that the defense property issue is not yet resolved,” he said.
Bosnia agreed this month to send an infantry unit to join the NATO-led mission in Afghanistan -- one of the conditions NATO placed on Bosnia’s application.
Bosnia has united its rival ethnic armies that fought each other during the 1992-95 war and its NATO-sponsored defense overhaul is seen as the most successful reform in the country, which remains ethnically divided 14 years after the war’s end.
But Bosnia has lagged behind neighbors, all former republics of Yugoslavia, in progress toward EU and NATO membership.
Croatia joined NATO along with Albania last year and Montenegro was granted a membership plan in December.
Reporting by David Brunnstrom and Julien Toyer; Editing by Matthew Jones
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
| Government Policy Changes | April 2010 | ['(MAP)', '(BBC)', '(Reuters)'] |
President-elect Donald Trump formally announces ExxonMobil CEO Rex Tillerson as his choice for United States Secretary of State. | President-elect Donald Trump has confirmed the chief executive of Exxon Mobil, Rex Tillerson, as his choice for US secretary of state.
In a statement, Mr Trump praised Mr Tillerson, 64, as among the "most accomplished business leaders and international dealmakers" in the world.
Mr Tillerson is said to have a good relationship with Russian President Vladimir Putin, alarming both Democrats and some Republicans.
The nomination needs Senate approval.
Days ago it emerged that US intelligence agencies believe Russia acted covertly to boost Donald Trump in the election race. The secretary of state is in effect the most senior US diplomat, responsible for enacting the government's foreign policy.
Under a Trump presidency, his in-tray could include everything from handling rows with China to revisiting the nuclear accord with Iran.
Rex Tillerson fits the profile of Donald Trump's emerging cabinet, which includes many rich businesspeople. But the choice of an oil executive for secretary of state is the clearest sign yet that Mr Trump plans to approach foreign policy like a business, sending out his top diplomat to get the best deals for America. Whether that means Mr Tillerson will be prepared to open bedrock agreements to negotiation, as Mr Trump appears ready to do, is another question. He has been backed by stalwarts of the Republican foreign policy establishment who would see that kind of bargaining as dangerous to America's standing and alliances. Neither is it clear what Rex Tillerson's close ties to Moscow might mean for Mr Trump's Russia policy. His contacts within the power structure, developed over two decades as Exxon's main man in Russia, could prove valuable in the State Department. But many lawmakers are already wary about the president-elect's calls for closer ties with the Kremlin, which they view as a global security threat. And Exxon's business interests there could lead to conflicts of interest for the new secretary of state, especially when it comes to his role in maintaining the Western sanctions regime imposed after Moscow's annexation of Crimea. Mr Trump has also selected former Texas Governor Rick Perry as his Energy Secretary, US media reported. Mr Perry famously forgot the name of the energy department during a cringe-inducing gaffe at a 2011 Republican primary debate, when he said it was among the agencies he would eliminate if he was elected president. The 66-year-old has also been a vocal critic of Mr Trump, calling him a "barking carnival act" and a "cancer on conservatism" before he dropped out of his second bid for the White House in 2015. "Rex Tillerson's career is the embodiment of the American dream," Mr Trump said.
"His tenacity, broad experience and deep understanding of geopolitics make him an excellent choice for secretary of state."
Mr Tillerson said he was "honoured" by the nomination, adding that he shared Mr Trump's "vision for restoring the credibility of the United States' foreign relations and advancing our country's national security".
The announcement had been widely expected, with Mr Tillerson favoured over high-profile Republicans, including the party's 2012 presidential nominee, Mitt Romney.
Although he has no formal foreign policy experience, as Exxon chief Mr Tillerson oversees a company with 75,000 employees and business activities in more than 50 countries.
He has warned of the "catastrophic" impact of unchecked climate change, although his company has been accused of deliberately misleading the public about the role of fossil fuels in global warming.
But it is his connections to Russia that have drawn most flak. He has forged multi-billion-dollar deals with Russia's state oil company, Rosneft, spoken out against international sanctions imposed on Moscow and in 2013 was awarded an Order of Friendship by the Kremlin.
As rumours of his nomination gathered pace in recent days, one of Mr Trump's rivals for the Republican nomination, Marco Rubio, said being "'a friend of Vladimir is not an attribute I am hoping for from" the next secretary of state.
Another Republican Senator John McCain expressed concern over Mr Tillerson's links to Mr Putin but promised he would get a "fair hearing" in the Senate.
Reacting to the nomination, Mr Putin's foreign policy adviser, Yury Ushakov, said all Russian officials and not just the president enjoyed "good, businesslike relations" with Mr Tillerson.
A Chinese foreign ministry spokesman said his country was "looking forward" to working with the nominee.
| Government Job change - Appoint_Inauguration | December 2016 | ['(BBC)'] |
Voters in Bulgaria go to the polls for a parliamentary election. | Bulgarians head to the polls on Sunday to elect a new parliament in the first general elections after the country's accession to the European Union.
A total of 6 884 271 eligible voters have been urged to cast a ballot in the poll, which comes amid resentment and disappointment over unfulfilled expectations after a long and hard transition.
The Socialist-led three-way coalition of Prime Minister Sergey Stanishev managed to usher Bulgaria into the European Union in 2007, but has been harshly criticized both at home and abroad for its failure to reform slow and corrupt courts, curb the powerful organized crime and clear up its act in the absorption of EU development funds. Blatant abuse by officials made Brussels suspend or scrap millions of euros in aid planned for agriculture and infrastructure.
The backlash that the ruling coalition, including the Bulgarian Socialist Party, the ethnic Turkish Movement for Rights and Freedoms and the centrist National Movement for Stability and Prosperity, faces has fuelled the popularity of Sofia Mayor Boyko Borisov's GERB party, which is currently not represented in parliament. GERB already won the most votes a month ago in European Parliament elections, defeating the Socialists.
Sunday's elections come amidst concerns over vote-buying on an epidemic scale and have turned into a chance for suspected criminals to escape legal proceedings against them. Bulgarian law grants immunity from prosecution to candidates, and several facing charges of corruption and organised crime have registered to stand.
The elections will be observed by a number of foreign and Bulgarian organizations. The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe is sending 24 observers, and the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe - 19 observers.
14 Iraqi observers accompanied by officials of the National Democratic Institute in the USA are also going to attend the Bulgarian Election Day. The Iraqis are interested in observing the electoral process in Bulgaria in order to learn from the Bulgarian experience.
Nine Bulgarian sociological agencies with 4 971 pollsters are going to monitor the elections at 2 281 polling stations conducting exit poll research. Five Bulgarian civic organizations are also going to be observing the election process.
Under local legislation the Central Electoral Committee has to announce the final results and the distribution of MP seats no later than July 9. The names of the newly elected members of parliament should be known on July 12 at the latest.
Bulgaria's President Georgi Parvanov has announced plans to convene the new parliament as early as on July 14 amidst expectations that the new cabinet will be born in heavy labor.
| Government Job change - Election | July 2009 | ['(Sofia News Agency)', '(BBC)'] |
43 US states report an epidemic of influenza, with 21 confirmed deaths. | Follow NBC News The annual influenza outbreak has reached widespread levels in 43 states - up from 36 states a week ago.
New figures from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention show that six more children have died from flu, including three kids in Tennessee, making for 21 pediatric deaths this flu season.
Flu activity typically waxes and wanes during the coldest months. While the nation reached an epidemic level of flu last week, the portion of weekly flu-and pneumonia-related deaths - 6.8 percent of all deaths - dipped below the epidemic threshold for the first week of January.
Flu generally hits hardest in the very young and the very old. Depending on the season and the strain, it can kill anywhere between 4,000 and 50,000 people each year in the United States.
CDC still says people should get a flu vaccine to guard against infection. Frequent hand washing is also a great defense. Flu is typically spread via close contact with an ill person who is sneezing or coughing, or by touching the expelled droplets, then placing your fingers into your eyes, nose or mouth. | Disease Outbreaks | January 2015 | ['(NBC News)'] |
One person is killed and at least five others injured following an explosion and fire along one of Colonial Pipeline's conduits in rural Alabama , the second incident on this section of the line in less than two months. One pipeline reopened this evening while a second is expected to working by Saturday. | HELENA, Ala. — Alpharetta-based Colonial Pipeline has shut down its main line at a site in Alabama after an explosion.
Investigators say the explosion hit around 3:30 p.m. Monday after machinery hit the pipeline in Shelby County, Alabama.
One person died and at least five others were injured in the blast.
Channel 2's Aaron Diamant is as close to the scene of the blast as authorities will allow. He reports a massive response underway as crew work to put out the fire a day after the explosion.
Channel 2's Jim Strickland obtained internal information from Colonial Pipeline showing one pipeline has resumed operations as of midnight. That pipeline contains diesel, jet fuel and home heating oil.
A second pipeline, which is the main gas line, is projected to resume on Saturday.
#BREAKING: @JStricklandWSB obtains internal info from Colonial Pipeline showing one pipeline has resumed operations. pic.twitter.com/3e2gP60ZbX
Gov. Robert Bentley tweeted that the explosion is about 1 mile away from the same area where the Colonial gas pipeline leak happened this summer.
On Tuesday, Bentley declared a State of Emergency in Alabama due to the explosion and fire.
Seven injured workers were taken to Birmingham hospitals by helicopter and ambulance, Bentley said.
UPDATE:The explosion is Colonial Pipeline & occurred approx one mile west of the previous incident. ADEM & AEMA are on the scene now.
"It appears to have been an accident, and they're allowing fuel to burn," Bentley said.
Video from area media shows a huge plume of flame and smoke rising in what appears to be a wooded area.
Helena police say they're assisting Shelby County authorities with a pipeline fire.
Bentley said his office is receiving updates from state and local authorities.
"Pray for workers, rescue personnel," Bentley said in a statement.
RELATED STORIES:
The explosion happened in a remote area outside the town of Helena, away from residential areas.
In September, the Colonial Pipeline leaked thousands of gallons of gas southwest of Birmingham near Helena and led to dry fuel pumps in several Southern states — for days, in some cases. There was no immediate indication whether Monday's explosion will lead to similar shortages.
Late Monday night, AAA said it was expecting price hikes because of the pipeline incident.
My Office is closely monitoring the explosion in Helena, receiving updates from State & local officials. Pray for workers, rescue personnel.
News of the pipeline explosion caused concern for people across the Atlanta metro after the gas shortage the area experienced a couple of months ago.
>>MAP: Colonial Pipeline network through metro Atlanta<<
Kameron Johnson said she’s rattled because it takes her an hour to get to work every day.
“The prices are going to go up to $3.29 a gallon, people aren’t going to be able to get to work, what are we going to do?” Johnson said.
People told Jaquez they are also upset that this is the second time this has happened on the same pipeline.
“It hasn’t even been a month yet and this is happening again,” Johnson said.
Colonial Pipeline, based in Alpharetta, Georgia, transports more than 100 million gallons of products daily to markets between Houston and New York City, serving more than 50 million people, it says on its website. They include petroleum products such as gasoline, diesel fuel and jet fuel. Authorities have not said which type of fuel was involved in the explosion Monday. | Gas explosion | October 2016 | ['(US)', '(AP/NBC News)', '(WSB–TV)'] |
Italian police announce 67 arrests, €250 million worth of property seizures and the "wipe out" of a local clan. | Italian police have made 67 arrests and seized some 250 million euros ($A364 million) worth of property in an operation against the powerful 'Ndrangheta mafia, a statement said on Wednesday.
The multi-pronged operation "wiped out" a local clan based in the southern Calabrian town of Corigliano Calabro, the statement said.
Police acting on tips from turncoats carried out raids in Calabria, northern Lombardy and other regions, rounding up suspects accused of extortion, usury and drug trafficking.
The investigation unveiled systematic shakedowns of small business owners, the ANSA news agency reported.
The swoop came after Italian police earlier this month dealt another blow to the 'Ndrangheta, arresting the syndicate's top boss along with 300 others and seizing tens of millions of euros in assets.
In recent years the 'Ndrangheta has become the largest and most feared of Italy's four main organised crime syndicates, which include the Sicilian Mafia or Cosa Nostra, the Camorra in the southern Naples area and the smaller Sacra Corona Unita in the southeastern region of Apulia.
The 'Ndrangheta shot to international notoriety in 2007 with the execution-style killings of six clan members in the German city of Duisburg on August 15, 2007.
They are considered the main broker in international cocaine traffic, with a virtual monopoly of cocaine coming from Colombia.
The syndicate reinvests and recycles money from the drug trade into legitimate investments in northern Italy and abroad.
Italy's Eurispes institute estimated its turnover from trafficking in drugs and arms, prostitution and extortion at 44 billion euros ($A64 billion) in 2007. | Famous Person - Commit Crime - Arrest | July 2010 | ['(WAtoday)'] |
Amnesty International accuses Australian border protection officials of illegally paying people smugglers and endangering lives in a bid to prevent boats of asylum seekers from reaching the country via Operation Sovereign Borders. Australia's government rejects Amnesty's report and denies any wrongdoing. | Australian officials working as part of Operation Sovereign Borders -- the country’s controversial military-led border control operation -- paid human traffickers to turn back boats carrying refugees and even threatened asylum-seekers, Amnesty International alleged in a new report released Wednesday. The allegations, outlined in a document titled “By Hook Or By Crook,” are similar to the one leveled against the former prime minister Tony Abbott-led government in June.
“Australia has, for months, denied that it paid for people smuggling, but our report provides detailed evidence pointing to a very different set of events,” Anna Shea, a refugee researcher at Amnesty International, said, in a statement accompanying the report, accusing the Australian government of committing a “transnational crime.”
“People-smuggling is a crime usually associated with private individuals, not governments -- but here we have strong evidence that Australian officials are not just involved, but directing operations,” she added.
According to the report, in May, a boat from Indonesia -- carrying 65 asylum-seekers from Sri Lanka, Myanmar and Bangladesh -- was intercepted by Australian navy and border force ships. The rights group alleged, based on investigations and interviews conducted in August, that the four crew members of the boat were not only paid a total of $32,000 by Australian officials, they were also given verbal instructions on where to land at Rote Island, Indonesia.
Ethnic Rohingya refugees from Myanmar wave as they are transported by a wooden boat to a temporary shelter in Krueng Raya in Aceh Besar April 8, 2013. “According to the crew, they had initially been told … that the asylum-seekers would be taken to Australia and they would be flown back to Indonesia with the money they had been given by the Australians,” Amnesty said, in the report. “They were later told that they had to take the asylum-seekers to Indonesia. The crew told Amnesty International that they did not feel in a position to refuse.”
Amnesty also accused Australia of endangering the life and health of the asylum-seekers by forcing them from a well-equipped boat onto overcrowded boats with inadequate fuel for their journey back to Indonesia.
“It was like a jail, with cells,” an asylum-seeker who was turned back told Amnesty. “When we asked for medicine they told us to just relax ourselves and drink water,” another one added.
The Australian government’s controversial policy of zero tolerance towards migrant and refugee boats approaching its territory has faced widespread criticism, and the United Nations has, in the past, said the policy is a breach of international law.
Under the stringent border controls first implemented by the Abbott-led administration, no asylum-seekers are allowed to reach Australia’s territories by boat. They are instead intercepted at sea and turned back or taken to detention facilities in neighboring Pacific countries.
In this photo taken on Oct. 11, 2015, police officers stand next to a sign at a rally in support of refugees and asylum seekers in Sydney. Amnesty has now called for a government-appointed investigation, known as a Royal Commission, into Operation Sovereign Borders and to look into allegations of abuse and endangerment of the passengers seeking asylum.
The Australian government, however, rejected the accusations and denied all wrongdoing.
“I think in the end you can take the word of the people-smugglers or you can take the word of our staff at Australian Border Force and people will make their own judgments,” Australian Immigration Minister Peter Duttonreportedly said Thursday. “We're not going to be bullied into some watering down of that [Operation Sovereign Borders], because people drown at sea and our detention centers fill.” | Famous Person - Commit Crime - Accuse | October 2015 | ['(Sky News via Fox News)', '(International Business Times)', '(AI)'] |
Iran's Islamic Consultative Assembly formally designates the United States Department of Defense as a "terrorist organization" in response to the assassination of General Qasem Soleimani in a targeted killing in Baghdad, Iraq. Under the newly adopted bill, all United States Armed Forces personnel and Pentagon employees are "considered terrorists." | Iran's parliament passed a bill on Tuesday (Jan 7) designating all US forces "terrorists" over the killing of a top Iranian military commander in a US strike last week.
Qasem Soleimani, the popular head of the Revolutionary Guards' foreign operations arm, was killed in a US drone strike outside Baghdad airport on Friday, ratcheting up tensions between the arch-foes.
Under the newly adopted Bill, all US forces and employees of the Pentagon and affiliated organisations, agents and commanders and those who ordered the "martyrdom" of Soleimani were designated as "terrorists".
"Any aid to these forces, including military, intelligence, financial, technical, service or logistical, will be considered as cooperation in a terrorist act," parliament said.
Lawmakers also voted to bolster by €200 million the coffers of the Quds Force - the foreign operations arm of Iran's Revolutionary Guards that was headed by Soleimani.
The Bill was an amended version of a law adopted in April last year that declared the United States a "state sponsor of terrorism" and its forces in the region "terror groups".
Iran's top security body, the Supreme National Security Council, said that blackisting came after the US designated Iran's Revolutionary Guards a "terrorist organisation". | Government Policy Changes | January 2020 | ['(Xinhua News Agency)', '(CNA)'] |
Former Philippine president Gloria Macapagal Arroyo has been acquitted of plunder. | The Philippine Supreme Court has acquitted former President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo of plunder, and ordered her immediate release.
Ms Arroyo has spent nearly five years in hospital detention accused of misusing 366m pesos ($7.8m; £6m) of lottery funds intended for charities.
Supreme Court spokesman Theodore Te told reporters the case was dismissed "for insufficiency of evidence".
Despite her detention, Ms Arroyo, 69, was re-elected to Congress in May.
Ms Arroyo was initially arrested in late 2011 after nine years as president, on accusations of electoral fraud, but was released on bail.
A few months later she was charged with corruption and arrested again.
She has since been held in a hospital because of a neck and back complaint which requires her to use a wheelchair.
Newly elected President Rodrigo Duterte had said the case against Ms Arroyo was weak and offered her a pardon, which she rejected, saying she preferred to fight the accusation.
Several Arroyo allies have been appointed to Mr Duterte's cabinet, including advisers on national security and on peace talks with rebel groups.
| Famous Person - Commit Crime - Sentence | July 2016 | ['(BBC)'] |
The death toll of the ebola virus outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo that started in August, rises to 200 people. This is the deadliest ebola outbreak in the history of the country. | The latest outbreak of the Ebola virus in the Democratic Republic of Congo is the worst in the country's history, the health ministry says.
Almost 200 people have died since August, officials say, with more than 300 confirmed or probable cases.
A vaccination programme has so far inoculated about 25,000 people. DR Congo has suffered long years of instability and efforts to relieve the disease have been hampered by attacks on medical workers.
"At this point, 319 cases and 198 deaths have been registered," health minister Oly Ilunga said.
"In view of these figures, my thoughts and my prayers go to the hundreds of families grieving, to the hundreds of orphans and the families which have been wiped out."
About half the victims were from Beni, a city of 800,000 in the North Kivu region, the national health authority said.
The current outbreak is the tenth DR Congo has suffered and the worst since the country's first epidemic in 1976, so early in the disease's history it had yet to be named. The outbreak in 1976 of what was then an unknown disease in a remote part of DR Congo sparked terror, but was brought under control by experts quickly identifying the virus' nature and using quarantines. Ebola is spread via small amounts of bodily fluid and infection often proves fatal.
Early symptoms are flu-like, followed by vomiting, diarrhoea, a rash and internal and external bleeding.
| Disease Outbreaks | November 2018 | ['(BBC)'] |
Libyan Islamist militia leader Ahmed Abu Khattala pleads not guilty in a Washington D.C. court to one charge of conspiracy in relation to the 2012 Benghazi attack in which four Americans were killed. | Ahmed Abu Khattala, a suspected ringleader of the 2012 attacks in Benghazi, Libya, that killed a U.S. ambassador and three other Americans, was brought Saturday from a Navy warship to the federal courthouse in the District of Columbia, where he entered a plea of not guilty to a single conspiracy charge. At 3:25 p.m., Abu Khattala walked, unshackled, into a paneled courtroom in downtown Washington, wearing a black, zip-up hooded sweatshirt, black pants and a flowing gray beard. It was his first appearance in public since he was captured in Libya two weeks ago, transported across the Atlantic Ocean in a ship made of steel from the World Trade Center’s rubble, and flown by helicopter into the District on Saturday just after sunrise. As he stood at the end of a long table, wearing a headset and with his right hand raised, Abu Khattala said through an interpreter that he understood the proceedings and would tell the truth.
His public defender, Michelle Peterson, told a federal magistrate judge that her client was not guilty of the charge of “conspiracy to provide material support” on which a federal grand jury in the District had indicted him Thursday.
Ten minutes after the hearing began, it was over. Flanked on each side by guards in suits and ties, Abu Khattala walked less than a dozen steps to a wooden door, which was opened for him. The Libyan suspect was led out of the courthouse to a waiting caravan of black SUVs, which wailed down Third Street NW and took him across the Potomac River to an Alexandria detention center that has held other terrorism suspects since the attacks of Sept.11, 2001.
The rare Saturday hearing, in the federal courthouse within blocks of the U.S. Capitol, was a presentment hearing before U.S. Magistrate Judge John Facciola. The session was the beginning of what are almost certain to be lengthy federal criminal proceedings. Abu Khattala is the first of the alleged perpetrators to be apprehended in the Sept. 11, 2012, attacks on the U.S. mission in Benghazi. He faces criminal charges in the deaths of the U.S. ambassador to Libya, J. Christopher Stevens, and the three other Americans. Stevens was the first U.S. ambassador to be killed in the line of duty in more than three decades.
According to a law enforcement official, Abu Khattala was questioned during the journey from the Mediterranean Sea aboard the USS New York, an amphibious transport dock. “There were conversations,” the official said. The ship’s movements were a well-guarded secret, and all of its outbound communications were blacked out for security. As of a few days after his June 15 capture, Abu Khattala had not been informed of his Miranda rights to remain silent and be represented by an attorney, under a “public safety” exception to those constitutional rights, according to several U.S. officials. But on Saturday, two law enforcement officials said that Abu Khattala had been told of his Miranda rights “days ago” and continued talking with investigators afterward. The officials spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the investigation.
During the brief dawn helicopter ride, he was flown from the ship to a landing area near the Washington Navy Yard. Before the hearing, he was fingerprinted and photographed. Abu Khattala’s is one of the most significant U.S. terrorism cases in recent memory. His capture in Benghazi by U.S. Special Operations forces came 21 months after the attacks on the American diplomatic mission there. It was a breakthrough for the Obama administration in an investigation that had dragged on after President Obama promised that the perpetrators of the attacks would be brought to justice. The slow pace had fueled Republican criticism of the administration’s handling of the case and of the Libyan mission’s vulnerability in the first place.
In a three-count criminal complaint unsealed June 17, Abu Khattala was charged with killing a person during an attack on a federal facility, providing support to terrorists, and a weapons offense.
According to a U.S. official, prosectors empaneled a separate grand jury to indict Abu Khattala on just one charge, which they consider a “place holder,” to avoid revealing publicly too much of the case’s evidence while a search continues for witnesses to the Benghazi attacks. The charge, which carries a maximum penalty of life imprisonment, is conspiracy to provide material support and resources to terrorists resulting in death. Read the indictment
Ahmed Abu Khattala, a suspected Libyan ringleader of the 2012 terrorist embassy attack in Benghazi that killed four Americans, was indicted on one charge of "conspiracy for mutual support" and appeared in a D.C. federal courthouse Saturday. Read the indictment.
In coming weeks, federal officials said, the single charge is likely to be joined by a superseding indictment that could bring additional charges and disclose more evidence in the case. One of the additional charges could carry the death penalty, according to a U.S. official.
“In a courtroom in our nation’s capital, today we took the first step down the road to justice for the four American heroes killed in Benghazi,” said Ronald C. Machen Jr., U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia.
The U.S. attorney’s office has filed more than a dozen criminal complaints arising from the Benghazi attacks, but the charges against Abu Khattala are the only ones that have been made public.
According to a U.S. official who has reviewed the evidence against Abu Khattala, it includes pictures and video from the attacks, testimony from witnesses and evidence of the attacks’ planners boasting of their involvement.
In recent years, major terrorism cases have tended to be handled by federal prosecutors in Alexandria or in New York, so the assignment of Benghazi-related prosecutions to the U.S. attorney in Washington is something of a departure. Officials in that office said the national security team there has, during the past three years, filed more cases against suspected terrorists than any of the 92 other U.S. attorney’s offices across the country, though many of them remain sealed.
In a recent interview, Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. said, “D.C. is, in some ways, a natural place to bring these cases.” And he pointed out that “all cases can be brought in D.C., usually by the statutes or where the person first lands.”
Neil H. MacBride, a former U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia who has prosecuted some of the nation’s most significant terrorism cases, said the Abu Khattala prosecution will be challenging because the case “may not be built with the traditional evidentiary building blocks of fingerprints and shell casings and eyewitnesses who are interviewed by detectives.” MacBride, now a partner with the law firm Davis Polk & Wardwell, noted that the FBI could not gain access to the crime scene for two weeks or more, so “it was a contaminated crime scene out of the box.”
But MacBride said the fact that the government deployed Special Operations forces, such as the Army’s Delta Force, to apprehend Abu Khattala signaled to him the strength of the evidence. “I know that the Special Operations forces don’t deploy their elite teams to the far side of the globe to nab bad guys on behalf of the Department of Justice unless there’s a really strong case.”
| Famous Person - Commit Crime - Accuse | June 2014 | ['(Washington Post)'] |
The Canterbury Crusaders cancel a planned match against the Wellington Hurricanes due to the earthquake with doubts over Christchurch's capacity to host 2011 Rugby World Cup games. | THE Crusaders have cancelled this weekend's Super 15 match as players deal with the tragedy of the Christchurch earthquake, and there are doubts about the city's capacity to host World Cup matches later this year.
NSW are scheduled to play the Crusaders there next week but that game will be moved from AMI Stadium, which was left waterlogged following the quake that has claimed at least 75 lives and left hundreds missing.
The Crusaders will today decide whether to possibly to shift the game to Sydney, or play it somewhere else in New Zealand.
Crusaders players and staff held a sombre meeting last night, during which it was decided to scrap the round two clash against the Hurricanes in Wellington, a fully understandable move given the mass human toll, including one of their own in director Philip McDonald. The players want to remain with their families this weekend.
SANZAR last night announced the match would be declared a draw with the teams would share the points.
Photos emerged of a flooded AMI Stadium last night, and officials will today reveal the extent of the damage to the newly built venue, but it is highly unlikely the field will be fit to host games any time soon, and the Crusaders might need to find a new home ground.
In fact, there are genuine fears that the seven World Cup games scheduled for Christchurch will have to be moved, not only because of the damaged stadium but the many hotels that collapsed in the quake, greatly reducing the city's accommodation.
The Crusaders players unanimously supported the cancellation of Saturday's game, with most - like their countrymen - in no shape to think about rugby. They will personally deal with their grief, and regather as a team on Monday to restart their Super 15 campaign.
The match against the Waratahs was to have been a fund-raising campaign for victims of the Pike River mine disaster in the region last November when 29 miners were killed, but the charity set up for that campaign has stopped taking donations in light of the quake, and urged people to instead give money to the victims of Tuesday's tragedy.
A Waratahs-Crusaders clash in Sydney could be dedicated to victims of the quake, and both the Sydney Football Stadium and ANZ Stadium would be available.
New Zealand Prime Minister John Key said he hoped World Cup matches could remain in Christchurch, where the Wallabies will be based and play two round-robin games.
''If we can host the Rugby World Cup as we intended to in Christchurch, I'd like to do that,'' Key said. ''It's some way into the future. It's a very important city in New Zealand, and it would be a demonstration that Christchurch is back up on its feet.''
Many rugby players used Twitter to send messages of support to the victims, while Hurricanes prop Neemia Tialata personally contacted SANZAR boss Greg Peters on the networking site to ask for a postponement.
''Wat do u think boss? Hurricanes and Crusader teams postpone sat match but instead help out down Christchurch clean up,'' he tweeted.
Peters replied that it was preferable for the match go ahead, prompting Tialata to urge consideration of Crusaders players with young families such as Brad Thorn, Corey Flynn and Andy Ellis.
''Yeah but can you just imagine how guys like thorny, flynny, Andy and others with kids wouldn't want to leave there (sic) families.''
Peters told the Herald later in the day that he would leave the decision up to the Crusaders .
Rugby NZ 2011 chief executive Martin Snedden said regardless of whether Christchurch could host games, no World Cup matches would be moved to Australia. ''There has been speculation that this tragedy puts the entire event in jeopardy or that matches will relocate to Australia. That is not the case,'' he said. | Earthquakes | February 2011 | ['(Sydney Morning Herald)'] |
The Iraqi Special Tribunal holds the first hearing in the trial of Saddam Hussein. | He defended Iraq's invasion of Kuwait in 1990, said he was still president and rejected the court's jurisdiction. He arrived in handcuffs and chains at the court near Baghdad airport to hear charges of war crimes and genocide.
TV pictures of the hearing were released to international broadcasters shortly after the hearing finished. I am Saddam Hussein, President of Iraq
Key excerpts
The images - cleared for broadcast by the US military - were the first of Saddam Hussein since his capture in December. They showed Iraq's former president looking thin, haggard and with a trimmed, grey beard. Saddam Hussein, described by reporters at the hearing as both defiant and downcast, denounced the proceedings as "theatre" and questioned the validity of the law he was to be tried under. "I am Saddam Hussein, President of Iraq," he replied when asked to confirm his identity at the hearing, which took place inside one of his former palaces, now a sprawling US base. PRELIMINARY CHARGES
Anfal campaign against Kurds, late 1980s
Gassing Kurds in Halabja, 1988 Invasion of Kuwait , 1990
Crushing Kurdish and Shia rebellions after 1991 Gulf War Killing political activists over 30 years
Massacring members of Kurdish Barzani tribe in 1980s Killing religious leaders, 1974 Charges facing Saddam
Saddam fights back in court
Arab media urges fair trial
The BBC's Arab affairs analyst, Magdi Abdelhadi, says this is the first time an Arab ruler has appeared before a judge to face charges related to abuse of power and the brutal oppression of his own people. He says it is an historic moment not only for Iraq but for the entire region. Ousted Arab rulers were usually either summarily executed or forced to flee the country, he adds.
Saddam rebuked
Seven preliminary charges were read out to Saddam Hussein, including accusations over the campaign against the Kurds in the 1980s, which included the use of chemical weapons in Halabja, and the suppression of Kurdish and Shia uprisings after the 1991 Gulf War. Iraqis cannot be victims and at the same time juries
John Upindi, Namibia
Your view: A fair trial?
Hearing the charge relating to Halabja, where about 5,000 Kurdish civilians died in a single day, Saddam Hussein said, "Yes, I heard about that."
He became most agitated when he was accused of invading Kuwait in 1990.
"How can you, as an Iraqi, say the 'invasion of Kuwait' when Kuwait is part of Iraq?" he asked the judge, whose face was not shown on the film and whose identity is being kept secret for security reasons. He said he invaded Kuwait "for the Iraqi people" and referred to Kuwaitis as "dogs", for which he was rebuked by the judge.
Saddam Hussein refused at the end to sign legal papers confirming that he had been read his rights and understood the case against him, saying he wanted his lawyer in court. He was then taken back to jail, while the charges were read out one-by-one against the 11 other accused. These include former Deputy Prime Minister Tariq Aziz and Ali Hasan al-Majid, known as "Chemical Ali" for his alleged role in poison gas attacks, who were formally transferred from US to Iraqi custody on Wednesday.
Defence concerns
Saddam Hussein's lawyers have already challenged the court's legitimacy.
One member of his 20-strong defence team, Mohammed Rashdan, told the BBC's Today programme that they had been denied access to their client.
TOP DETAINEES
Tariq Aziz - Deputy PM
Taha Yassin Ramadan - Vice-President
Sultan Hashim Ahmad al-Tal - Defence Minister Abid Hamid al-Tikrit - Presidential secretary
Ali Hasan al-Majid - "Chemical Ali"
Watban Ibrahim Hassan al-Tikriti - Saddam Hussein's half-brother - Intelligence Minister
Top Iraqi detainees: Full list
He also alleged that they had received death threats from the Iraqi government. Iraq's new national security adviser, Mowaffaq al-Rubaie, has insisted the process will not be a show trial. "As an Iraqi interim government, we promise our people and the Arab world and the outside world, we promise that Saddam will stand a fair trial," he said in a BBC interview.
The interim Iraqi government has restored the death penalty, which was suspended by the US-led coalition.
Mr Rubaie said Saddam Hussein could face execution if convicted. The full trials may not get under way until next year as many issues still need to be resolved and could take months or even years.
Witness protection
The BBC's Christian Frasier in Baghdad says there are concerns in Iraq that crucial evidence has still to be gathered. The Coalition Provisional Authority has identified more than 250 mass graves, but as yet there have been no full forensic exhumations and investigations are being hampered by the lack of security on the ground. Our correspondent says without a system in place to gather statements and protect those who come forward there are fears that many valuable witnesses will be lost. But the interim Iraqi government has dismissed such concerns, insisting that the evidence is already overwhelming, as Saddam Hussein's regime was meticulous in recording the most minute details of abuses carried out. | Famous Person - Commit Crime - Sentence | July 2004 | ['(BBC)', '(Guardian)'] |
Iran Air Flight 277 crashes with 100 people on board near Orumiyeh in the northeast of the country; at least 50 survive. | An Iranian passenger plane with more than 100 people on board has crashed in north-western Iran, killing at least 77, state media report.
The IranAir Boeing 727 was flying from Tehran when it came down and broke into pieces near the city of Orumiyeh.
At least 26 people were injured, some critically. Reports said darkness and snow hampered rescue efforts.
Initial reports had said that 50 people survived the crash.
The plane was due to land in Orumiyeh, 700km (430 miles) north-west of Tehran.
It crashed near the city at around 1945 local time (1615 GMT), according to another local official quoted on Iranian state television's website. The official said the plane had taken off an hour later than scheduled, and came down because of bad weather conditions.
A official for the Iranian Red Crescent, Mahmoud Mozaffar, said the plane had broken into several pieces, but there was no explosion or fire.
The head of Iran's emergency services, Gholam Reza Masoumi, told Fars that rescue work was being made more difficult by heavy snow, which was around 70cm (27 inches) deep around the crash site.
There have been a number of accidents involving Iranian planes over the past few years. The last major crash was in July 2009, when a plane caught fire mid-air and crashed in northern Iran, killing 168 people. In 2003 an Iranian troop carrier crashed in the south-east, killing all 276 soldiers and crew on board.
Iran's civil fleet is made up of planes in poor condition due to their old age and lack of maintenance. The country has been under international sanctions for years, preventing it from buying new aircraft or spare parts from the West.
| Air crash | January 2011 | ['(BBC)', '(Press TV)'] |
Craig David is named as a United Nations Goodwill Ambassador. | The award-winning singer Craig David, named today as a United Nations Goodwill Ambassador against tuberculosis, promises to lead the chorus in the fight against the curable disease which claims 1.8 million lives worldwide every year.
Mr. David told the UN News Centre that he hopes to use his audience of millions worldwide to raise awareness of TB and minimize the stigma attached to it that can prevent many from seeking treatment.
“As a role model through my music, people really do listen to what I say,” he said. At the age of 28, he said that he hopes to reach young people and “speak in a way that I think people will actually understand.”
The British artist travelled to South Africa earlier this month to see first-hand how the disease is impacting the country, where there are nearly 500,000 new TB cases annually out of a total population of close to 50 million.
“It’s been an incredible learning curve for me along the way,” he said. “So to be able to give back in something that I feel very passionate about is something that I wanted to do.”
Mr. David, who also addressed a press conference in New York today, said that he seeks to draw attention to the nature of TB, beyond the acronym itself, in the face of ever-increasing awareness of HIV and AIDS. Tuberculosis is the second biggest infectious killer of adults around the world and is also one of the top three killers of women of reproductive age.
It is vital, the singer stressed, to “bridge the gap,” to “not overlook the poor who are suffering from TB, but at the same time in the developed countries,” where instances of the disease are on the upswing.
In South Africa, Mr. David met with researchers who are trying to shorten the course of medication, which can range from six months to up to two years for drug-resistant forms of TB.
He also visited two schools, one in a poor area and one in a richer area, finding the awareness of the disease to be very different.
In the poor school, he said, children were aware of the disease, but scared to come forward given its stigma, while in the school in the wealthier zone, students expressed the sentiment of “it’s in the poorer areas so I’m sure they’ll be able to deal with it.”
As Goodwill Ambassador for the Stop TB Partnership backed by the UN World Health Organization (WHO), Mr. David said he hopes to travel to all areas of the world facing major TB outbreaks to spread awareness.
“My voice is the most important part that I’ve been given,” he said. “So why not use that positively rather than think that it’s just [for] music?”
The announcement of his appointment coincides with World Tuberculosis Day, with Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon calling for momentum to be maintained in the fight against the deadly disease.
“The world is on track to reverse the spread of this airborne killer,” he said in a message for the Day, paying tribute to the many health-care providers and advocates around the world who have helped to treat and cure 36 million people since 1995.
“But progress should never distract us from the challenges,” the Secretary-General underscored in his message. “The numbers are still staggering.” A new WHO report issued last week found that drug-resistant tuberculosis (TB) is now at record levels, with Asia bearing the brunt of the epidemic. The agency is calling for better diagnosis of the disease.
In some parts of the world, one in four people with TB becomes ill with a form of the disease that can no longer be treated with standard drugs, according to WHO’s Multidrug and Extensively Drug-Resistant Tuberculosis: 2010 Global Report on Surveillance and Response.
Nearly one-third of the 440,000 people with a multidrug-resistant form of the disease (MDR-TB) in 2008 died, it said. Almost half of the MDR-TB cases occurred in China, where the first nationwide drug resistance survey was conducted, and India. In Africa, estimates show 69,000 cases emerged, the vast majority of which went undiagnosed.
The United Nations wants to raise big money online for the global fight against HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria by asking for small donations through the MassiveGood Initiative – which kicks off today in the United States – that will allow people to make voluntary contributions when they buy a plane ticket, or reserve a hotel room or car. | Government Job change - Appoint_Inauguration | March 2010 | ['(UN)'] |
Several police have been injured when Loyalist gunmen open fire after the Whiterock Orange Order Parade in Belfast, Northern Ireland. | Northern Ireland police chief Sir Hugh Orde said officers were attacked with explosives and shot at.
He said the Orange Order must bear "substantial responsibility" for the rioting over the Whiterock parade.
The clashes continued into early Sunday morning, and disturbances broke out in several towns in County Antrim.
Police said cars were hijacked and roads blocked in Ballyclare, Glengormley, Rathcoole, Larne and Carrickfergus.
DUP leader Ian Paisley blamed the Parades Commission for not reviewing the route that barred it from a nationalist area.
The parade was re-routed to avoid the mainly nationalist Springfield Road area. After a request by unionists on Friday, the Parades Commission reviewed its ruling on the route, but decided not to change it.
"The commission treated elected representatives with contempt by its refusal to even call us to put our case," said Mr Paisley.
It's seven years since the Good Friday Agreement was signed. Today we had an echo of what Belfast sounded and felt like 30 years ago
BBC Ireland Kevin Connolly
He also urged an end to the violence, which was continuing on Saturday evening in loyalist parts of Belfast and County Antrim with many roads blocked by protesters or burning vehicles. He added: "At this difficult time, I am appealing to all law abiding people to remain calm."
The security forces came under sustained attack by several hundred rioters - some covering their faces with scarves and hoods - in the west and north of the city.
Tension had been building over the march route
Water cannon and plastic bullets were used against petrol bombers who attacked police and soldiers. Blast bombs and pipe bombs were also used, and automatic gunfire could be heard in several parts of the city.
At least six officers have been injured.
Cars were hijacked and set on fire on Ardoyne Road and North Queen Street.
'Shocking and depressing'
Protests also caused severe traffic disruption in the city. Several roads were blocked because, said one DUP councillor, there was a feeling of "disgust" over the parade route.
Almost 100 people blocked off three lanes of traffic behind Belfast City Hall.
Another group of protesters tried to block the Albert Bridge in east Belfast and were attacked by residents in the nationalist Short Strand. Orangemen were infuriated by the decision to re-route the parade
BBC Ireland correspondent Kevin Connolly said while superficially such disputes seemed small they had come to symbolise for the Protestant and unionist community how they felt the peace process worked against them.
But he said people would find the level of violence "shocking and depressing".
"It's seven years since the Good Friday Agreement was signed. Today we had an echo of what Belfast sounded and felt like 30 years ago".
In terms of furthering political negotiation in Northern Ireland, the day's events "could hardly be more unpromising", he added.
'Frustration'
Earlier, a number of children were left badly shocked after a bus they were travelling in was hit with bottles and stones. A window was smashed and one passenger said some people on board panicked and were screaming in terror.
Mr Paisley and UUP counterpart Sir Reg Empey had been expected to address a rally of orangemen and their supporters at Woodvale Park following the parade but it was called off because of the trouble. Orangeman Raymond Speers said: "In the grand scale of things, just to disrupt traffic is not a heinous crime when you look back over the years of history in Northern Ireland," he said.
"It's frustration of Protestant people as to what they can do to have their ordinary voice heard. We just feel so frustrated that there is a cultural veto through the Parades Commission for the republican/nationalist community."
Sinn Fein councillor Fra McCann said the trouble could have been avoided if the Orangemen had talked to Springfield Road residents. | Riot | September 2005 | ['(BBC)'] |
Hundreds of thousands of supporters for a unified Spain gather in Barcelona, the capital and largest city of Catalonia, in one of the biggest shows of force against Catalan independence. | BARCELONA (Reuters) - Hundreds of thousands of supporters of a unified Spain filled Barcelona’s streets on Sunday in one of the biggest shows of force yet by the so-called silent majority that has watched as regional political leaders push for Catalan independence.
Political parties opposing a split by Catalonia from Spain had a small lead in an opinion poll published on Sunday, the first since Madrid called a regional election to try to resolve the country’s worst political crisis in four decades.
Polls and recent elections have shown that about half the electorate in the wealthy northeastern region, which is already autonomous, oppose secession from Spain, but a vocal independence movement has brought the current crisis to a head.
Spain’s central government called an election for Dec. 21 on Friday after sacking Catalonia’s president Carles Puigdemont, dissolving its parliament and dismissing its government. That followed the assembly’s unilateral declaration of independence in a vote boycotted by three national parties.
The regional government claimed it had a mandate to push ahead with independence following an unofficial referendum on Oct. 1 which was ruled illegal under Spanish law and mostly boycotted by unionists.
Waving thousands of Spanish flags and singing “Viva España”, protesters on Sunday turned out in the largest display of support for a united Spain since the beginning of the crisis -- underlining the depth of division in Catalonia itself.
“I’m here to defend Spanish unity and the law,” said Alfonso Machado, 55, a salesman standing with a little girl with Spanish flags in her hair.
“Knowing that in the end there won’t be independence, I feel sorry for all the people tricked into thinking there could be and the divisions they’ve driven through Catalan society.”
The poll of 1,000 people by Sigma Dos for newspaper El Mundo showed unionist parties winning 43.4 percent support and pro-independence parties 42.5 percent.
The survey was taken from Monday to Thursday, just as the central government prepared to take control of Catalonia.
Madrid said on Saturday that secessionist politicians, including Puigdemont, were free to take part in the election. The hardline CUP has been unclear if it would.
The deposed Catalan government will soon have to make difficult decisions, Puigdemont’s former deputy Oriol Junqueras said on Sunday in an editorial in online newspaper El Punt Avui. He stopped short of saying his ERC party would take part in the election.
“We need a shared strategy ... it’s important to weave solid alliances with those who are willing to build a state that serves its citizens,” he said, possibly alluding to a rumored alliance between the ERC and the Catalan arm of the anti-austerity Podemos party.
Such an alliance could put the independence movement in difficult position as it would mean a main secession supporter joining forces with parties that reject Madrid’s hard line but do not support separatism.
With weeks to go before the election, the poll showed the CUP, kingmaker for the pro-secessionists in the dismissed 135-seat parliament, would win seven seats, down from a current 10.
The pro-independence coalition Junts pel Si, which held 62 seats previously, was split into parties PDeCat and ERC for the poll as they are unlikely to run on a single platform. The two would win between 54 and 58 seats in total, the poll showed.
At Sunday’s rally, former European Parliament president Josep Borrell called for unionist voters to turn out in December to ensure independence supporters lose their stranglehold on the regional parliament.
“Maybe we’re here because many of us during elections didn’t go and vote. Now we have a golden opportunity. This time, nobody should stay at home,” Borrell said to cheering crowds.
Puigdemont called on Saturday for peaceful opposition to Madrid’s takeover. But he was vague on precisely what steps the secessionists would take as Spanish authorities move into Barcelona to enforce control.
European countries, the United States and Mexico have also rejected the Catalan declaration of independence and expressed support for Spain’s unity.
But emotions are running high and the next few days will be tricky for Madrid as it embarks on enforcing direct rule and putting officials in administrative roles. National police were accused of heavy-handedness during the Oct. 1 referendum.
Officers of the regional police force, called the Mossos d’Esquadra in Catalan, were stationed in main public and government buildings on Sunday.
But the force is believed to have divided loyalties. The central government has removed the Mossos’ chief, Josep Lluis Trapero, and said units could be replaced if warranted.
In an open letter on Sunday, Interior Minister Juan Ignacio Zoido praised the Mossos for their work and urged them to accept temporary direction from Madrid.
The main secessionist group, the Catalan National Assembly, has urged civil servants not to follow orders from the central government and to mount “peaceful resistance”, while the pro-independence trade union CSC has called a strike.
Puigdemont, Junqueras and their advisors left the Catalan government offices on Friday, newspaper La Vanguardia reported on Sunday, effectively handing the building over to Madrid and making a forced eviction on Monday less likely.
Since the return of democracy in the late 1970s Spain has suffered several traumatic episodes, including an attempted military coup in 1981, a violent Basque separatist conflict, and more recently an economic crisis. The Catalan issue is however the biggest challenge to the territorial integrity of what is now a progressive European Union nation.
The chaos has prompted an exodus of businesses from Catalonia, which contributes about a fifth of Spain’s economy, the fourth-largest in the euro zone. Tourism to Barcelona has been hit and markets have darted up and down on the fast-moving developments.
European leaders have also denounced the push, fearing it could fan separatist sentiment around the continent.
| Protest_Online Condemnation | October 2017 | ['(The Washington Post)', '(Reuters)'] |
Over 42 people are shot dead by suspected Boko Haram gunmen in two attacks on villages in Nigeria's Borno state. | KANO: At least 42 people were shot dead by suspected Boko Haram gunmen in attacks on two villages in Biu and Hawul districts of northeast Nigeria's Borno state, a police officer said Wednesday.
"We received reports of attacks by suspected Boko Haram gunmen on the two villages in which 42 deaths were recorded," the officer said from Biu, 180 kilometres south of Maiduguri, the state capital.
A Biu resident confirmed the attack on the villages.
Militant Islamist group Boko Haram has killed thousands of people in a six-year insurgency in the northeast of Africa’s most populous nation and top oil exporter.
Boko Haram took control of a large swath of northeast Nigeria until a multinational force this year forced them out of towns and villages. Nigeria’s military says the extremists are now mostly confined to the Sambisa Forest.
Last weak, a large sack of home-made bombs discovered at an abandoned Boko Haram camp exploded, killing 63 people, witnesses said. The death toll was many times higher than in any recent attack in northeast Nigeria.
Know more: Bombs found at Boko Haram camp go off, kill 63
At least 97 people have been killed in suicide bombings in northeast Nigeria since May 30, and 113 in the past month. The highest toll from a single bombing was 29 who died in twin suicide bombings on June 4 in the main market at Yola, the capital of northeastern Adamawa state. | Armed Conflict | June 2015 | ['(AFP via Dawn)'] |
Muslim religious scholars in Pakistan announce a fatwa that decrees that heroin use is un–Islamic. The fatwa is pronounced in a seminar in Baluchistan. (Daily Times, Pakistan) | The decree, or fatwa, was issued at a seminar in the western province of Baluchistan, next to Afghanistan.
The seminar brought together Islamic scholars and officers from the military's anti-narcotics force.
Pakistan is gripped by an unprecedented heroin and opium crisis - a product of the poppy boom in Afghanistan.
Resources to tackle the smugglers and rehabilitate the users are thinly stretched.
Baluchistan, with its vast wilderness of unpoliceable mountains and deserts, faces the greatest threat from the smuggling and consumption of opium and heroin from neighbouring Afghanistan.
Poppy 'misapprehension'
The seminar in Quetta saw Pakistan's military Anti-Narcotics Force (ANF) teaming up with some of the country's foremost Islamic scholars and preachers.
The idea behind the seminar was to use their reach and influence to convey the message that the cultivation and use of drugs go against the Koran. Among those attending were 40 mufti - or scholars entitled to issue fatwas - from all districts of Baluchistan.
The seminar followed a statement from a lesser religious leader some time ago that some cultivation of poppy - the base crop for opium and heroin - was permissible for medicinal purposes.
One of Pakistan's leading Islamic scholars, Professor Anis Ahmad, dismissed this as a complete misapprehension.
"The scholars all over the ages are unanimous that things which envelop our reason, which cause illusions and hallucinations, all those drugs and chemicals which lead to a life which is not real, these are prohibited," he said. | Government Policy Changes | March 2005 | ['(BBC)'] |
South Korea reports a new case of highly pathogenic avian influenza H5N8 in wild birds in Buan, North Jeolla Province according to the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs. | SEOUL, Dec. 3 (Yonhap) -- South Korea on Thursday confirmed another case of highly pathogenic avian influenza in wild birds, with local authorities raising their guard against its transmission into poultry farms.
The latest case came from wild birds in Buan, 280 kilometers south of Seoul in North Jeolla Province, raising the total bird flu cases here since October to 13, according to the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs. The country is currently carrying out investigations on droppings of wild birds gathered from Suncheon, 415 km south of Seoul as well. It takes a few days to find out whether they are highly pathogenic.
A quarantine official bans the entry of automobiles into a farm in Sangju, 270 km southeast of Seoul, after it reported a highly pathogenic avian influenza case from chickens.
"The virus can be transmitted through various means, including cars, people and wild birds. Local poultry farms need to carry out thorough preventive measures, including wearing different shoes for each shed," a ministry official said.
Highly pathogenic avian influenza is highly contagious and can cause severe illness and even death in poultry.
South Korea reported its first highly pathogenic AI case in 32 months in late October from Cheonan, 92 km south of Seoul.
Since, the country also saw two cases from local poultry farms. The first case was reported at a duck farm in Jeongeup of North Jeolla Province on Saturday, followed by the second infection from an egg farm in Sangju, 270 km southeast of Seoul on the previous day. | Disease Outbreaks | December 2020 | ['(Yonhap News Agency)'] |
Omar al–Bashir of Sudan and Hu Jintao of the People's Republic of China meet. | Sudan's leader Omar al-Bashir, wanted by the International Criminal Court (ICC) for alleged war crimes, has met Chinese President Hu Jintao.
The two leaders reviewed China's military honour guard at the Great Hall of the People before holding talks.
Beijing is a major economic partner for Sudan; it buys more than half the oil produced by Khartoum. But China is worried about its investments, with South Sudan is set to become independent next month.
Serious clashes in the border areas, which are home to Sudan's oil industry, have sparked fears of a wider conflict.
Beijing has close contacts with both sides and has been pressing them to end the violence.
Mr Bashir greeted Mr Hu as a "friend and brother". The meeting was rescheduled from Monday after Mr Bashir's arrival was delayed by a day without a full explanation.
Mr Hu welcomes the Sudanese leader adding that he hoped talks between the two countries would strengthen their "traditionally friendly relations".
Oil ministers from both countries also held talks, with the head of China's National Petroleum Corp (CNPC) signing an agreement with Sudan's minister of state for oil to "deepen co-operation". No details were given.
China extended the invitation to President Bashir despite an arrest warrant issued by the ICC. Mr Bashir is accused of crimes against humanity, war crimes and genocide over alleged atrocities in the Darfur region. He denies the charges.
China is not a signatory to the ICC treaty and has expressed concerns that the arrest warrant could further destabilise the region.
Human Rights Watch described Mr Bashir's trip as "an affront to victims of heinous crimes committed in Darfur".
Amnesty International said if China did not arrest Mr Bashir, the country would become a "safehaven for alleged perpetrators of genocide".
Since the ICC issued its arrest warrant, Mr Bashir has visited countries including Eritrea, Egypt, Libya and Qatar - none of whom are signed up to the ICC.
He also visited Kenya, which decided not to detain him despite being a signatory. The treaty obliges signatories to detain anyone wanted by the court. | Diplomatic Visit | June 2011 | ['(BBC)'] |
The 92–year–old and first freely–elected President of Tunisia, Beji Caid Essebsi, dies. Tunisian parliament President Mohamed Ennaceur takes the role of interim president. , | U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has described late Tunisian President Beji Caid Essebsi as “a pivotal figure” who “was instrumental in successfully steering the country through its historic and peaceful transition to democracy.”
The United Nations chief said after the death of the North African country’s first democratically elected leader that “President Essebsi was a Tunisian pioneer, an Arab and African trailblazer, and a global leader.”
Guterres said he was “deeply saddened” to learn of the president’s passing at age 92 on Thursday.
He says Essebsi will be remembered for promoting rights of Tunisian women and other citizens.
U.N. General Assembly President María Fernanda Espinosa also praised Essebsi, saying he “played a key role in promoting the consolidation of political institutions and the rule of law in his country.”
She expressed hope “that his legacy will inspire many others and contribute to further strengthen unity and stability in Tunisia.”
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5:15 p.m.
The leader of Tunisia’s parliament has been sworn in as the interim president of the North African country after 92-year-old President Beji Essebsi died in office.
The state news agency TAP reported that Mohamed Ennaceur, president of the Assembly of People’s Representatives, took the oath of office Thursday, hours after Essebsi’s death in the morning.
According to the Tunisian constitution, the parliament chief takes over for a period of 45 to 90 days if the president is incapacitated, until new elections are organized.
Ennaceur appealed for unity in a country still struggling to stabilize its democracy after a 2011 Arab Spring uprising.
A funeral for Essebsi is planned Saturday, and the government declared seven days of mourning.
Condolences came in from other Arab countries, with Jordan and Lebanon also announcing multiple days of mourning.
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2 p.m.
The head of Tunisia’s parliament says he is taking over as the country’s interim president after the death of 92-year-old President Beji Caid Essebsi.
The legislature’s President Mohamed Ennaceur made the announcement on state television Thursday soon after Essebsi’s death, asking Tunisians to unite and praising the former leader’s contributions.
The Tunisian constitution calls for the parliament leader to take over temporarily in case the president is incapacitated.
However the Constitutional Court is first supposed to formally confirm that the presidency is vacant, and the court doesn’t exist yet. So there is some uncertainty over the legitimacy of Ennaceur’s leadership.
The prime minister’s office announced seven days of mourning and canceled festivals and other events until further notice.
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11:25 a.m.
Tunisian President Beji Caid Essebsi, the North African country’s first democratically elected leader, has died. He was 92.
An official in the president’s office told The Associated Press that Essebsi died Thursday morning at the Tunis military hospital, where he was taken the night before.
That was the third time in recent weeks that he had been hospitalized.
Under Tunisia’s constitution, the president of the parliament will assume the presidency for 45 to 90 days while elections are organized.
Essebsi won office in 2014 in the wake of the country’s Arab Spring uprising.
He recently announced he wouldn’t run in the election scheduled for November, saying a younger person should lead the country.
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6:10 a.m.
Tunisian media are reporting the country’s 92-year-old president has been taken to a military hospital for the third time in recent weeks.
Radio station Mosaique and state broadcaster Wataniya have reported Beji Caid Essebsi was hospitalized Wednesday night for unspecified health trouble.
Essebsi’s office did not make an announcement or respond to requests for comment.
He is Tunisia’s first democratically elected president, having won office in 2014 in the wake of the country’s Arab Spring uprising. He recently announced he wouldn’t run in the election scheduled for November, saying a younger person should lead the country.
Essebsi was hospitalized twice in June. His office released a video of the president meeting with the defense minister Monday, and Essebsi was visibly weakened, raising concerns about his fitness for office. | Famous Person - Death | July 2019 | ['(Associated Press)', '(BBC News)'] |
Israeli artillery strikes near a United Nations school in Gaza City, killing at least 40 people. | GAZA CITY (CNN) -- Israeli artillery Tuesday struck near a U.N. school sheltering civilians in Gaza, killing at least 40 people after, according to the Israeli military, Hamas militants fired mortars from the location. A Palestinian man carries a wounded girl into a Gaza City hospital on Tuesday.
Dozens of other people were injured in the strike in the northern Gaza town of Jabalya. "We face a very delicate situation where the Hamas is using the citizens of Gaza as a protective vest," Israel Defense Forces spokesman Brig. General Avi Benayahu said after the incident. The Israeli strike was one of three on U.N. school properties in Gaza since Monday. An Israeli artillery shell struck an empty boys school in Jabalya on Tuesday, and an Israeli airstrike killed three men at an elementary school being used as a shelter in Gaza City on Monday, a U.N. agency said. The United Nations called for an independent investigation into all three strikes.
"We're demanding full accountability in accordance with international law and the duty of care that the parties to the conflict are obliged to adhere to," said John Ging, director of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency. 'No safe haven' in Gaza, U.N. official says
Tuesday's strikes came on the 11th day of an Israeli military offensive in Gaza. Israel says the offensive is aimed at stopping Hamas from firing rockets into southern Israel.
The Israel Defense Forces said a mortar-firing operation and a pair of prominent Hamas operatives -- Imad Abu Askhar and Hassan Abu Askhar -- were at the occupied school hit Tuesday. The two were among the Hamas militants killed in the strike, an IDF statement said.
"This is not the first time that Hamas terrorists have used Palestinian civilians as human shields and has exploited their deaths for the benefit of the international media," an Israeli statement read. "Israel will continue to treat as valuable the lives of all Palestinian civilians and refuses to devalue the lives of Gaza residents in the manner of Hamas." Watch the IDF claim Hamas is using human shields
Three artillery shells struck near the perimeter of the school, according to Ging. On Monday night, an Israeli airstrike hit the U.N.'s Asma Elementary school in Gaza City, killing three Palestinian men, all members of the same family, UNRWA said. Watch what a missile did to one of the schools
According to the agency, 400 Palestinians were staying in Asma Elementary at the time of the airstrike. Ging said all U.N. buildings in Gaza are "clearly marked" with U.N. flags, and UNRWA had given the global-positioning coordinates of all its schools -- which are being used by civilians fleeing the military operation -- to Israeli authorities, Ging said.
Nearly 600 Palestinians have been killed and another 2,750 wounded in Gaza since Israel launched an air offensive December 27, according to Palestinian medical sources. Watch Christiane Amanpour's interview with Mideast envoy Tony Blair
Israel claimed Tuesday to have killed 130 Hamas fighters since beginning a ground offensive at dusk Saturday. The IDF also said seven Israeli soldiers -- including one killed Tuesday morning -- and three civilians have been killed since airstrikes began in December. Learn what's behind the conflict
An Israeli missile struck a Palestinian ambulance on Tuesday, its Red Crescent driver told CNN, but the IDF said it is unaware of such an incident. A spokesman for the Palestine Red Crescent said Israeli forces have hit a total of five ambulances, with six people dying as a result. CNN has so far been unable to verify the allegations. Watch more about the worsening conditions in Gaza
According to the Israeli military, Hamas fired 35 rockets into Israel on Tuesday. One of them hit a house in Gedera, about 25 miles (40 kilometers) north of the Gaza border, causing slight injuries to a 3-month-old baby. Tuesday's incidents came as Israeli ground forces surrounded densely populated Gaza City after at least 50 airstrikes pounded the region overnight. Watch as Israel's forces surround Gaza City
Diplomats were turning up the heat for a cease-fire. Egypt proposed a temporary cease-fire to allow Gaza's borders to be opened for humanitarian relief, according to diplomatic officials. iReport.com: Families walk in charred rubble, broken glass
Egypt also proposed Israeli-Palestinian discussions focused on avoiding escalation and closing tunnels used by Hamas to smuggle weapons into Gaza, Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak said Tuesday. Learn what's behind the conflict
Elements of the plan were circulating through the United Nations late Tuesday. iReport.com: Share reactions to "all-out war" in Gaza
CNN's Talal Abu Rahma in Gaza City, Michal Zippori in Jerusalem and Nic Robertson, Ben Wedeman and Paula Hancocks on the Israel-Gaza border contributed to this report. All About Gaza Israel Hamas | Armed Conflict | January 2009 | ['(CNN)'] |
A bomb squad robot detonates an explosive device at a transit station in Elizabeth, New Jersey. There has been a previous explosion in Seaside Park. No one is hurt. | The desperate search for a 28-year-old man wanted in connection with a series of blasts that terrorized New York and New Jersey over the last three days ended Monday in a gun battle with police officers.
Ahmad Khan Rahami was charged Monday evening with charged with five counts of attempted murder of a law enforcement officer, according to the Union County, N.J., prosecutor.
The prosecutor's office also charged him with second-degree counts of unlawful possession of a weapon and possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose. A state judge set bail at $5.2 million.
Rahami, who could face up to 20 years for each count of attempted murder of a law enforcement officer, was taken into custody after he was shot in the leg during the 10:30 a.m. confrontation in Linden, N.J., law enforcement sources said.
Rahami managed to shoot one police officer in the hand and another in the bulletproof vest before he was apprehended, they said.
The injuries sustained by Rahami, who was being treated at University Hospital in Newark, and by the officers did not appear to be life-threatening, officials said.
"When I was at the scene, initially, he was conscious and awake," Linden police Capt. James Sarnicki said of the suspect.
Rahami was captured after police got a call about a man sleeping in the doorway of a local bar, Sarnicki said.
When police arrived, one of the officers "tried to rouse him," Sarnicki said. "The gentleman on the ground picked up his head, and the officer saw that he had a beard and resembled the wanted person from the poster ... from the bombings."
After the officer ordered the suspect to show his hands, the man "pulled out a handgun and fired one shot at the officer, striking him in the abdomen," Sarnicki said. "Fortunately, the officer had a bulletproof vest on."
The Linden cops returned fire, hitting Rahami several times, Sarnicki said.
A local business owner told NBC News that he heard what he thought at first were fireworks.
"But then we took a peek, and there were cops firing, and the guy went down in front of the building," said the owner, who declined to give his name.
Meanwhile, President Barack Obama reassured a nervous nation that law enforcement was on the case.
"Moments like this, I think, it's important to remember what terrorists and violent extremists are trying to do," Obama said. "They are trying to hurt innocent people and create fear in all of us, to disrupt the way we live."
Obama praised New Yorkers and New Jersey residents after their states were once again targeted.
"Folks around here, they don't get scared," he said. "They're tough. They're resilient. They go about their business every single day."
Later, Obama told reporters that he had spoken with and thanked the wounded Linden officers.
"They are going to be fine, sustained modest injuries, in good spirits," he said. "Just one more reminder of the skill and sacrifice of law enforcement officers."
Rahami was born in Afghanistan, and his family was granted asylum in the United States in 2011, a senior U.S. intelligence official told NBC News. His father, Mohammad, said he had "no idea" that his son was allegedly plotting a bombing campaign.
"I'm not sure what's going on. I'm not sure what's happening exactly," Mohammad Rahami said as he returned to the family's store in Elizabeth, N.J.
Rep. Albio Sires, D-N.J., said Monday on MSNBC's "Meet the Press Daily" that Rahami got in contact with his office in 2014 asking for help because his pregnant wife's Pakistani passport had expired.
"I assumed she did" get the visa, Sires said before adding a personal assessment of Rahami: "He was kind of nasty, too."
Rahami is the man seen in surveillance footage taken Saturday night in Manhattan's Chelsea neighborhood, the site of an explosion that injured 29 people, a senior law enforcement official with direct knowledge of the investigation told NBC News.
The blast was so powerful that it sent a dumpster flying more than 150 feet down the sidewalk and shattered windows more than a block away. Police later found a second bomb that did not detonate a few blocks away on 27th Street.
The FBI said it does not yet know why the Chelsea neighborhood was targeted.
Other physical evidence links Rahami to the pressure cooker bombs that went off or were found in New York and New Jersey, a senior law enforcement official said.
Rahami, who is a U.S. citizen, was identified as a suspect after a fingerprint was found on one of the devices that failed to detonate, a senior law enforcement official told NBC News.
Investigators also found more information that pointed to Rahami on cellphones that were wired to the unexploded bombs, the official said.
"He certainly seemed to do virtually nothing to cover his tracks," the official said.
But the official downplayed any talk of Rahami's being part of a "cell" and said that at this point investigators have no idea whether anyone else was involved. There was no indication that an ISIS cell was operating in New York City, FBI Assistant Director-in-Charge William Sweeney said at an afternoon news conference.
New York Mayor Bill de Blasio said at the same news conference: "There is no other individual we are looking for at this time."
Nonetheless, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said officials could not rule out international terrorism.
"Today's information suggests it may be foreign related, but we'll see where it goes," Cuomo said Monday on MSNBC's "Morning Joe."
Rahami visited Afghanistan as recently as April 2013, a senior U.S. official told NBC News on Monday evening. In the last decade, Rahami has also made several trips to neighboring Pakistan and his older brother Mohammad is believed to still be in Afghanistan, the official said.
Rahami was caught hours after a backpack that appeared to contain pipe bombs exploded in Elizabeth, N.J., as a police robot examined it near a New Jersey train station. That blast, which happened shortly before 1 a.m. ET Monday, was the second in New Jersey since Saturday morning.
Elizabeth Mayor Chris Bollwage told reporters that the robot was "cutting into the device when it exploded."
Multiple senior law enforcement officials told NBC News that the device in Elizabeth appeared similar to the one that exploded Saturday morning in Seaside Park, N.J. The package, a backpack, was found by two men in a garbage can about 300 feet from the front door of a crowded pub in Elizabeth, Bollwage said.
When they saw wires and pipes, they dropped it and immediately went to police headquarters, he said.
"We do not believe those two are involved," the mayor said. "We believe they did the right thing."
Five hours later, FBI agents were spotted at the Rahami family's fried chicken restaurant in Elizabeth.
While investigators prepared to question Rahami, the FBI was still grilling five people who were taken into custody after authorities stopped a "vehicle of interest" in the New York blast at about 8:45 p.m. ET Sunday near the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge in New York City.
The five people were later released without charges, authorities said.
There was a suspicious package with multiple improvised explosive devices this evening at the Elizabeth Train Station in NJ. #Elizabeth
Bomb techs from the FBI, Union County, & the New Jersey State Police have arrived on the scene and are now rendering the area safe
Investigators analyzing possible similarities between the two devices found in Manhattan and the one that detonated in Seaside Park noted that all three apparently contained old-style mobile flip phones, according to officials familiar with the probe.
According to federal investigators, one of the factors linking the New York and New Jersey bombs was the fact that the flip phone from the Seaside Park device, which was bought in February 2015, and the phone attached to the pressure cooker bomb on 27th Street, which was bought in May 2015 were both purchased at the same Family Dollar store in Perth Amboy, N.J.
Tom Winter is a New York-based correspondent covering crime, courts, terrorism and financial fraud on the East Coast for the NBC News Investigative Unit.
| Armed Conflict | September 2016 | ['(NBC News)'] |
Staff workers for the London Underground begin a 27–hour strike after management and labor unions were unable to reach a deal regarding overnight train services. | Tube staff have gone on strike across the entire London Underground network in a row over pay and conditions. The strike, which officially began at 18:30 BST, affects all Tube lines and will finish at 21:30 on Thursday.
It was called after London Underground (LU) and unions failed to agree a deal over pay and new night-time services. The rush hour started in the afternoon as commuters left work early to try to beat the strike. LU has warned there could be no services on Thursday.
Members of the Rail, Maritime and Transport (RMT) union, Transport Salaried Staffs Association (TSSA) and Unite started their 24-hour strike at 18:30. Aslef drivers were due to start their 24-hour action from 21:30.
The typical salary for a Tube driver is £50,000 a year, the RMT said.
In a separate dispute, First Great Western staff also walked out for 48 hours at 18:30, causing disruption to services between London, the west of England and Wales.
A TfL spokesman said: "On the buses everything is doing pretty well, people followed our advice and made their journeys earlier, there was some heavy loading but nothing extreme."
He said there were 100 extra buses on the network and 200 would be laid on for Thursday.
Traffic delays around Euston Road through the evening peak time and a unrelated protest at Parliament Square were causing problems, he said.
Taxi drivers have been busier than normal during the strike.
Bob Oddy, deputy general secretary of the Licensed Taxi Drivers' Association, said: "The public can rest assured they will not be ripped off by the licensed taxi trade who will only charge the normal fare which has been set with TfL."
His comments come after the BBC found that car service app Uber had raised its prices through the day as demand for alternative transport increased. A journey from Oxford Circus to Clapham Junction that cost between £10-£14 at 10:00 was priced at £25-£32 by 17:00 and a journey from Oxford Circus to Paddington that cost between £6-£9 at 10:00 cost £15-£19 by 17:00. The practice, called "surge pricing", is normal among some hotels and airlines and is explained on Uber's website, BBC transport correspondent Tom Edwards said.
People had to beat the crowds by leaving work early and getting the last Tubes out of the city. But with noses pressed against backs and bodies crushed against the walls of shops, the realisation quickly dawned on them that everyone had had the same idea.
The pressure started early. From 4pm, people were sweeping down the street, almost jogging to reach the Tube entrance.
But the crowds grew too quickly and plans had to be changed. Commuters consulted their phones, hoping to find an alternative route. Failing that, when buses were dismissed as too full, the favourite option seemed to be a resigned shrug of the shoulders and a plan to walk - trainers or not. Wimbledon spectators planning to use the Tube were warned to leave "as soon as possible" during Andy Murray's match. Ahead of the walkout, mayor of London Boris Johnson tweeted: "Tube strike politically motivated - union bosses need to explain why they refuse to put new offer to members - disgraceful - call it off!"
But the four unions involved maintain the new plans would be disruptive to their members' lives. This is what you need to know about the Tube strikes
Commuter Billi-Jo Highdale said: "I've got to get to the DLR somehow as I need to go from Greenwich to Mile End, or find a lift from someone. I had plans with a friend for tomorrow but I've had to cancel them.
"My parents are black-cab drivers so they will do well. It's as good as a three-day weekend for them, although it sucks for everyone else."
Camilla Fleury, a fashion retailer, said: "I got out of work fine and I'll probably walk to a DLR line and then use that to get home. It's going to be a very long walk, but I hope I can do it within an hour." Another commuter said: "I have no idea what to do tomorrow. My bosses are being understanding, but we have to show up in the office at some point." The disputed weekend night services are set to begin on 12 September on sections of the Central, Jubilee, Northern, Piccadilly and Victoria lines.
There are concerns some employees will have to work more overnight shifts and could have to work on their own in some stations.
This Tube strike is as much about personalities as it is about the deal they are trying to hammer out.
The team negotiating for LU is new at this. The chief operating officer, Steve Griffiths, joined from Virgin Atlantic earlier this year, and my understanding is that no-one on the management side of the table has experience dealing with rail deals. Not that long ago, bosses on both sides would have got together, informally, maybe over a beer, to see if they could smooth the path for an agreement.
That hasn't happened this time.
So, we've got a group of frustrated unions. A frustrated LU. And four million Tube passengers in the middle.
Both sides think the other is being unreasonable.
Unfortunately, there don't seem to be any of those old, informal lines of communication open right now, which in the past might have just sorted this out.
On Monday, unions rejected LU's latest pay deal, which LU said was an increased but "final" pay offer made "in an attempt to conclude five months of talks".
It included a 2% rise this year and £2,000 for drivers on the weekend night Tube service.
Mr Johnson told the BBC: "What we've done is made an extremely good offer, that I think most Londoners would think was more than handsome." Unions would "not succeed" in their aims, he said, and he urged them to accept the pay offer, which he described as "final".
He said it was "absolutely wrong to hold London to ransom" and apologised for the disruption, which he warned would be "very considerable".
Transport Secretary Patrick McLoughlin said the strike was "unnecessary" and of benefit to no-one. "We stand shoulder to shoulder with workers, families and commuters who want to go about their lives without disruption. I urge the strikers to accept the good offer that employers have made and get back to work," he said.
Aslef organiser Finn Brennan said the responsibility of the strikes "rests squarely with London Underground management" who "squandered the window of opportunity" to resolve it. The TSSA union also rejected the offer and general secretary Manuel Cortes said: "This dispute is not just about pay, but about how to run a safe and secure night Tube which serves the passengers as well as rewarding the staff."
About 20,000 Tube workers are expected to walk out during the course of the strike.
| Strike | July 2015 | ['(BBC)'] |
Silas Rondeau, the Energy Minister of Brazil, resigns over allegations of corruption in a public works project. | Silas Rondeau is the latest public figure in Brazil to come under the spotlight as part of a wide-ranging investigation into corruption.
Senator Roseana Sarney said that Mr Rondeau believed it was "the correct thing to do".
Mr Rondeau, who denies any wrongdoing, is the most prominent figure yet to be connected to the scandal.
The move comes shortly after he held talks about the affair with President Luis Inacio Lula da Silva.
This is the first ministerial resignation since President Lula was re-elected last year, although scandals in his first term cost two key ministers their jobs. 'No proof'
Last week, police arrested almost 50 people, including a senior aide to Mr Rondeau, on suspicion of taking money from government contracts.
Brazilian media reported on Monday that police suspected the minister may have received a payment of over $50,000 (£25,000) from a company that won a contract to provide electricity to rural areas across the country. Surveillance video aired on national TV showed an employee of the company delivering a package which police believe contained money to one of Mr Rondeau's key ministerial aides. In his letter of resignation, the minister said he wanted to reaffirm his complete and absolute innocence and he complained about cruel lies and insinuations that had wounded his honour. The country's justice minister said there was no proof to directly implicate his ministerial colleague. The police investigation, called "Operation Navalha" - or Straight Razor - has focused on claims of fraud involving public works, including the building of bridges in isolated areas that were never completed.
An ex-governor, several mayors and ex-mayors, as well as several high-level state and federal employees, are among those who have been arrested as part of the investigation. This latest controversy has been all the more embarrassing, says the BBC's Gary Duffy in Sao Paulo, as major infrastructure projects are central to the government's development plans for Brazil. A substantial part of those proposals relate to energy and a whiff of corruption will not make it easier to win political support, our correspondent says. This is also the latest in a long line of scandals spread across a number of parties that have undermined public trust in politicians in Brazil. | Government Job change - Resignation_Dismissal | May 2007 | ['(BBC)'] |
The United States Federal Aviation Administration lifts its ban on aircraft travelling to and from Israel imposed due to concerns about Hamas rockets. | Under pressure from Israeli and American officials, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) lifted a temporary ban on flights by American carriers to Tel Aviv’s Ben Gurion Airport late on Wednesday night.
The ban, issued midday Tuesday after a rocket fired from Gaza struck within one mile of the airfield, was rescinded 36 hours later, the FAA said in a statement. The move clears the way for U.S.-based airlines to resume flights to Israel’s main international gateway.
“The FAA has lifted its restrictions on U.S. airline flights into and out of Israel’s Ben Gurion Airport by canceling a Notice to Airmen it renewed earlier today,” the agency said.
“The cancellation is effective at approximately 11:45 p.m. EDT. Before making this decision, the FAA worked with its U.S. government counterparts to assess the security situation in Israel and carefully reviewed both significant new information and measures the Government of Israel is taking to mitigate potential risks to civil aviation.”
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu lobbied Secretary of State John Kerry Tuesday evening to rescind the ban, as Israeli officials argued the American government was giving Hamas a victory. The airport is a mere 50 miles from Gaza, the scene of intense fighting between Hamas fighters and the Israeli military, who are determined to halt the firing of rockets into Israel. Many of the rockets have been intercepted by the U.S.-backed Iron Dome missile shield.
Former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg boarded an El Al flight late Tuesday to protest the FAA’s decision, declaring the airport safer than American counterparts in an interview with CNN Wednesday from Jerusalem. “The fact that one rocket falls far away from this airport, a mile away, doesn’t mean you should shut down air traffic into a country and paralyze the country,” he said.
Kerry, who arrived at the airfield Wednesday aboard a U.S. military plane, was apparently not troubled by the security situation. “He and our whole team were very comfortable landing at Ben Gurion Airport,” State Department deputy press secretary Marie Harf told reporters.
The FAA ban followed days after the shooting down of Malaysian Airlines Flight 17 in eastern Ukrainian airspace that the FAA had not believed to be unsafe for flight — an oversight that has drawn scrutiny after the deaths of the aircraft’s 298 passengers and crew. The FAA said it would continue monitoring the situation for any continuing security issues.
Meanwhile, on Wednesday Texas Sen. Ted Cruz promised to place a procedural hold in the Senate on all Obama administration nominees to the State Department until his questions on the FAA were answered. He accused Obama of using the flight ban to pressure Israel into accepting a ceasefire with Hamas to end the weeks-long conflict.
“The facts suggest that President Obama has just used a federal regulatory agency to launch an economic boycott on Israel, in order to try to force our ally to comply with his foreign-policy demands,” Cruz said in a statement.
The State Department’s Harf rejected Cruz’s assertions as “offensive and ridiculous.” Deputy National Security Advisor for Strategic Communications Ben Rhodes said Tuesday that the White House would not overrule a security decision by the FAA. | Government Policy Changes | July 2014 | ['(Time)'] |
Four United Nations peacekeepers are shot while on patrol in the disputed Abyei district of Sudan. | Unidentified assailants have shot and wounded four United Nations peacekeepers while they were on patrol in the disputed Abyei area of Sudan today.
The four blue helmets, all from Zambia, were shot around 4:40 p.m. as they returned from a regular patrol to the north of the town of Abyei. The peacekeepers were evacuated to Abyei for medical treatment and one of them is reported to be in a serious condition.
Kouider Zerrouk, a spokesperson for the UN Mission in Sudan (UNMIS), said the peacekeepers had been forced by armed men to turn back at the village of Goli earlier in the day, and were returning to the town of Diffra when they came under fire from unknown attackers.
“We condemn this act against peacekeepers who are discharging their duties to try to help maintain peace and security in Abyei,” he said.
UNMIS has started an investigation into the shootings, which occurred on the day that the north and southern sides had agreed to start withdrawing their unauthorized forces from Abyei as part of a pact facilitated by the UN.
That agreement, welcomed by UNMIS, is part of a broader effort aimed at de-escalating tensions in an area where deadly clashes have claimed dozens of lives since the start of the year, when a referendum on Abyei’s status that was supposed to have been held never took place amid disagreement on voter eligibility. Southern Sudan will secede from the rest of the country in July as a result of a separate referendum held in January and both north and south claim Abyei.
The United Nations peacekeeping mission in Sudan (UNMIS) has welcomed the commitment of the northern and southern sides to withdraw their forces from Abyei and to immediately deploy combined teams to the disputed area to provide security. | Armed Conflict | May 2011 | ['(United Nations)'] |
Cuba's National Assembly of People's Power approves a law banning commemorative statues of late President Fidel Castro, and the naming of public places after him, in accordance with the wishes of Castro, who died last month. | HAVANA (Reuters) - Cuba’s National Assembly approved a law on Tuesday that bans commemorative statues of Fidel Castro and naming public places after him, in accordance with the wishes of the revolutionary leader, who died last month.
Castro always said he did not want a cult of personality, although critics point out that the cult was everywhere. His words are posted on billboards nationwide and his name is invoked at every public event.
“His fighting spirit will remain in the conscience of all Cuban revolutionaries, today, tomorrow and always,” President Raul Castro, Fidel’s younger brother, told the Assembly, according to excerpts of his speech published by official media.
The best way to pay homage to “El Comandante” - the commander - is to follow his concept of revolution, the president said.
The new law does not ban artists from using Fidel Castro’s figure in music, literature, dance, cinema or other visual arts, official media specified. Photos of him hanging in offices, places of study or public institutions also may be kept.
Every since his death, a large photo of a young Castro dressed in military fatigues, with a rifle and pack slung over his back, has hung from a building in Havana’s Revolution Square.
Castro, a leading Cold War figure who built a communist state on the doorstep of the United States and defied U.S. attempts to topple him, died on Nov. 25 at the age of 90, eight years after handing the presidency over to Raul.
Cuba commemorated his death with nine official days of mourning and two mass memorial services.
Hundreds of thousands of Cubans also turned out to greet a funeral cortege carrying Castro’s ashes 600 miles (1,000 km) east to Santiago, retracing the route that his rebels took when they overthrew the U.S.-backed Fulgencio Batista in 1959.
| Government Policy Changes | December 2016 | ['(Reuters)'] |
Pro-same-sex marriage candidate Carlos Alvarado of the Citizens' Action Party defeats conservative candidate Fabricio Alvarado of the National Restoration Party in the second round of voting to become the new President of Costa Rica. | Carlos Alvarado, who has won Sunday's presidential election in Costa Rica, has called for unity after a divisive election campaign.
The centre-left candidate won by a surprisingly wide margin over his evangelical rival, Fabricio Alvarado (no relation).
With more than 95% of votes counted, Carlos Alvarado had a 21.5 percentage point lead. He called on other parties to join him in a government of national unity. Polls conducted ahead of the second round of voting on Sunday had put the two candidates neck and neck, and Carlos Alvarado's unassailable lead early on Sunday was unexpected.
In his victory speech, given on Sunday night in front of hundreds of supporters in the city of San Pedro, the ex-government minister said that Costa Ricans could now "go to sleep reassured because there is a result, a decision and now we'll unite to take this country forward".
He also said that he had already received a "brotherly call" from his rival, Fabricio Alvarado, congratulating him.
The battle between Fabricio Alvarado, an evangelical pastor who had won the first round of the election on the back of his opposition to same-sex marriage, and Carlos Alvarado, who backs its legalisation, had been fierce.
The two Alvarados also disagreed on most other topics, with 38-year-old Carlos running on a progressive platform and 43-year-old Fabricio promising to defend "traditional values".
Fears about Costa Rica's national deficit and the unprecedented rise of its murder rate were among the topics voters expressed concerns about. In the end, Carlos Alvarado's experience as a minister for labour and social security minister under President Guillermo Solís appears to have stood him in good stead with voters concerned about rising unemployment. He also enjoyed the backing not only of heavyweights of the governing Citizens' Action Party but also of other smaller parties. Even though Fabricio Alvarado had served one term as a lawmaker, many had questioned whether Fabricio Alvarado had the political experience and connections to govern.
Carlos Alvarado, who worked for three years for US consumer products giant Procter & Gamble, was also seen as a steady hand by Costa Rica's business sector. His vice-president elect, Epsy Campbell, said they would go to work on Monday contacting all the different factions in the country's national assembly to forge a government of national unity. Costa Rica election goes into runoff | Government Job change - Election | April 2018 | ['(BBC)'] |
The leaders of the United Kingdom's three main political parties take part in the first of three televised debates ahead of the 2010 General Election. | Nick Clegg, David Cameron and Gordon Brown clash on live TV over MPs' expenses
Gordon Brown and David Cameron have clashed over spending cuts, tax and political reform in the UK's first prime ministerial TV debate.
The Labour leader went on the attack against Mr Cameron during the historic 90-minute encounter, accusing him of "airbrushing" planned spending cuts. The Tory leader accused Mr Brown of trying to "frighten" voters. Lib Dem leader Nick Clegg said neither of them were being "straight" about the scale of cuts needed. BBC Political Editor Nick Robinson said the biggest impact of the contest will be the insertion of Nick Clegg and the Liberal Democrats into the nation's consciousness but nothing the other leaders said had fundamentally altered the general election debate.
The abiding memory of the contest could be "the other leaders saying 'I agree with Nick," he added. Two opinion polls taken immediately after the debate, by YouGov and Populus respectively, suggested Mr Clegg won. The debate on ITV1 was the first of three over the coming weeks, in the run up to the general election on 6 May.
It was a more measured and detailed contest than when the three men clash in the House of Commons, although there were occasional flashes of anger. The audience, which thanks to rules agreed in advance were banned from clapping, sat in silence as the three men bidding to be the next prime minister addressed questions ranging across the domestic scene, from health and education to tax and spending. On the expenses scandal, Mr Brown said he was "shocked" and "sickened" by the revelations. "Nobody should be standing for election at this election who is guilty of the offences that we have seen," he added. Mr Cameron described the expenses scandal as a "horrendous episode", saying people "don't pay their taxes for MPs to abuse the system". Expenses
He vowed cut the number of MPs by 10%, slash ministerial pay by 5%, reduce the size of Whitehall by a third and bring in a recall system to allow voters to sack their MP. Please turn on JavaScript. Media requires JavaScript to play. Gordon Brown, David Cameron and Nick Clegg debate police funding
But Mr Clegg criticised his counterparts for failing to take action, claiming Liberal Democrat plans for recall powers and reform of party funding had been blocked by the other parties. Addressing his counterparts directly, Mr Clegg said: "You blocked it. You (Mr Brown) wanted to protect your union paymasters and you (Mr Cameron) wanted to protect Lord Ashcroft in Belize." But Mr Cameron accused Mr Clegg of taking a "holier than thou" approach on parliamentary standards, reminding him that the Lib Dems had taken £2.5m from a man who later went on the run from police. Mr Clegg said that was "years ago" and his party had been cleared by the Electoral Commission. On several issues, including immigration and cleaning up politics, Mr Brown appeared to be seeking the approval of the Lib Dem leader, asserting that Mr Clegg agreed with him. 'Double dip'
But Mr Clegg replied that he was "absolutely dismayed" at the Labour leader trying to make a show of unity over voting reform after opposing it during his time in power. Mr Brown and Mr Clegg both spoke out against Mr Cameron's plan for an annual cap on immigration, which Mr Cameron said was "simply too high at the moment". Mr Brown, in his opening and closing statements, stressed the need to avoid a "double dip" recession and vowed to protect the NHS, police and schools from cuts. In some of the liveliest exchanges of the debate, Mr Brown challenged Mr Cameron to match Labour's commitment on police funding, telling him: "It's answer time, David." And he challenged Mr Cameron to "be honest" that his plans would cost "thousands of jobs, including teachers". Mr Cameron insisted it was possible to make savings without cutting frontline services, reeling off examples of public sector waste and extravagance. But in his closing statement he attacked Mr Brown for making "repeated attempts to try and frighten you about the Conservative government" and he urged voters to "choose hope over fear". Mr Clegg said he had tried to show viewers there was an alternative to the two main parties. "I know that many of you think that all politicians are just the same," he said. "I hope I've tried to show you that that just isn't true." 'False choice'
The Scottish National Party and Plaid Cymru are not taking part in the debates, although the BBC is to hold separate leaders debates in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. Plaid Cymru leader Ieuan Wyn Jones said: "In what was a very sterile debate, not once did we hear the word Wales mentioned by any of the leaders. Indeed much of what they said was irrelevant to our communities." He adds: "The people of Wales and Scotland were ignored tonight - but let me assure you that they won't be ignored by Plaid Cymru." SNP Leader Alex Salmond said: "Over half the debate should have been captioned 'Except for viewers in Scotland'. "It was billed as a historic event but we got was three Westminster politicians looking the same, sounding the same and saying nothing of relevance to Scotland." UK Independence Party MEP Nigel Farage, speaking on BBC One's Question Time, said there was not a "single memorable phrase" in the entire 90 minutes, adding "more people will not turn out at the polls as a result of tonight's debate" and the winner would be the "none of the above party". The debates are bound by more than 70 rules agreed after weeks of negotiations between the parties and the broadcasters. The audience were asked to applaud at the start and end of the programmes, but are not allowed to respond to leaders' answers, with questions being put to the leaders by the presenter. Most of the 200-strong audience in each debate will be picked by pollsters ICM from the local area to ensure a balance of gender, age, ethnicity, social class and voting intention. Sky News will be showing the second debate on Thursday, 22 April, which will look at foreign affairs. The final debate on BBC One on Thursday, 29 April will focus on the economy. | Government Job change - Election | April 2010 | ['(BBC)', '(The Guardian)'] |
The death toll of the attack in Mogadishu the previous day rises to 84 with over 25 others remaining missing. | An airplane carrying medical supplies and doctors arrives at Aden Adde International Airport in Mogadishu, capital of Somalia, Dec. 30, 2019. Death toll from a suicide bomb attack at a busy checkpoint west of Somali capital Mogadishu has risen to 84 after five more bodies were found, a government official confirmed on Monday. (Photo by Hassan Bashi/Xinhua)
MOGADISHU, Dec. 30 (Xinhua) -- Death toll from a suicide bomb attack at a busy checkpoint west of Somali capital Mogadishu has risen to 84 after five more bodies were found, a government official confirmed on Monday.
Ismael Mukhtar Omar, government spokesman of Somaia said the National Emergency Management Committee estimated that the number of missing people was 24.
However, Omar said after intensive search efforts of the missing persons, 12 people were found. Five of the 12 persons were found dead, one injured and six others were found alive, bringing the death toll to 84. Some of the missing are believed to be students.
More than 150 others were wounded in the attack at an explosives-laden vehicle exploded in the middle of Ex-Control checkpoint on a road leading to Afgoye district.
Some of the injured people were airlifted on Sunday to Istanbul for specialized treatment.
No group has claimed responsibility for the Saturday's deadly attack although al-Shabab militants have usually staged such attacks in the past. | Armed Conflict | December 2019 | ['(Xinhua)'] |
A local politician is abducted and killed by Al-Shabaab militants in Bal'ad, Middle Shabelle, Somalia. | A regional Somali lawmaker has been abducted and killed by al-Shabab militants near the town of Bal’ad, 30 kilometers north of Mogadishu.
Mohamed Mohamud Siyad was travelling in a vehicle from Jowhar town to the capital Mogadishu when he was abducted on Sunday, a security source told VOA Somali.
The vehicle Siyad was travelling in was stopped near the village of Gololey, north of Bal’ad. The militants drove the vehicle off the road.
Officials say they believe the lawmaker was killed soon after he was removed from the vehicle.
The militant group claimed responsibility for the abduction and killing of the lawmaker.
Al-Shabab has been attacking the road between Jowhar and Mogadishu frequently over the last three years. In September last year, five regional officials including a former trade minister, a finance official and a humanitarian worker were killed in an explosion from an improvised explosive device.
In June of 2018, two regional lawmakers were among 11 people killed in an al-Shabab ambush while traveling on the same road. | Famous Person - Death | July 2020 | ['(Voice of America)'] |
A bill protecting the rights of LGBT in the Philippines is finally up for debate 17 years after being first introduced in the upper legislature with the 2014 killing of a transwoman as the reason for its urgency. | 'HISTORIC.' After nearly 2 decades, a bill prohibiting discrimination against members of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, and Intersex community finally reaches the Senate plenary and is now up for debate
File photo by Rappler
It is the first time an anti-discrimination bill reaches the Senate plenary
Philippines – After nearly 2 decades, the bill seeking to protect the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and intersex (LGBTQI) community from hate crimes and discrimination has finally reached the Senate plenary.
Calling it a "historic first," Senator Risa Hontiveros sponsored the committee report containing Senate Bill 1271 or the Anti-Discrimination Bill, on Wednesday, December 14 – the last session day for 2016.
Citing the case of slain Filipina transgender Jennifer Laude, Hontiveros said the Philippines has the highest rate of murders of transgender people in Southeast Asia and the second in the continent. (READ: Killing of Jennifer Laude a 'hate crime' – police report)
Hontiveros said the bill, if passed into law, would ensure that stigma and hate would not hinder LGBTQIs from accessing education, healthcare, employment, and other basic rights.
"Globally, fundamental victories were accomplished in terms of securing LGBT rights and welfare, more notably an adoption or strengthening of their respective anti-discrimination laws," Hontiveros said in her sponsorship speech. "However, the same thing can't be said for the Philippines. For the last 17 years, Congress has failed to pass the anti-discrimination bill. The LGBT community cannot wait any longer."
Twelve senators signed the committee report. Aside from Hontiveros, others who signed it are: Senate President Pro-Tempore Franklin Drilon, Majority Leader Vicente Sotto III, Minority Leader Ralph Recto, Senators Leila de Lima, Loren Legarda, Juan Edgardo Angara, Grace Poe, Nancy Binay, Cynthia Villar, Paolo Benigno Aquino IV, and Antonio Trillanes IV.
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In 2017, senators are expected to debate on the measure and introduce their own amendments before the committee approves the new version. It would then be up for approval in the 2nd and in the 3rd and final reading.
Recent Senate records show the bill was first filed in 2000 by the late senator Miriam Defensor-Santiago and by former Akbayan Representative Loretta Rosales. Santiago and former senator Ramon Revilla Jr filed similar measures in 2004 but ended up in limbo. They re-filed them in the 14th congress but the bills only reached the committee level. More senators filed similar measures in the 15th and 16th congresses but to no avail.
Similar measures are now pending in the House of Representatives but are still in the committee level. In the previous 16th Congress, the measure hurdled the House committee on women and gender equality after a series of debates and amendments. It, however, failed to get the votes of the plenary. (READ: Emotional Roman urges Congress to pass anti-discrimination bill)
Prohibited acts, penalties
The measure prohibits the following discriminatory practices against LGBTs:
Violators may be fined at least P100,000 to P500,000, depending on the act committed. They may also face imprisonment for at least 1 year to 12 years, depending on the court’s decision.
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Government officials who would refuse to investigate, prosecute, or act on any complaint shall face administrative sanctions. | Government Policy Changes | December 2016 | ['(Rappler)'] |
The Taliban scraps the truce offered in February by the Pakistani government, killing approximately 30 Pakistani soldiers shortly after making the announcement. | ISLAMABAD, Pakistan A powerful Taliban faction in a northwestern tribal region has said it is withdrawing from a peace deal with the government to protest continuing strikes by American drones, confronting the Pakistani military with a possible two-front campaign against militants, according to Pakistani news reports on Tuesday.
The Taliban faction, led by Hafiz Gul Bahadur, operates in the mountainous North Waziristan area along the border with Afghanistan. | Armed Conflict | June 2009 | ['(The New York Times)'] |
Voters in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines head out to elect the members of their House of Assembly. Incumbent prime minister Ralph Gonsalves of the Unity Labour Party is seeking a fifth consecutive term while his main opponent Godwin Friday of the New Democratic Party aims at a change of government. | KINGSTOWN, St Vincent – Voters in this Caribbean Community (CARICOM) country go to the polls on Thursday to elect a new government with Prime Minister Dr Ralph Gonsalves eyeing an unprecedented fifth consecutive term in power and his main rival, Dr Godwin Friday, hoping to reverse the trend.
Gonsalves, 74, who has had the distinction of contesting all general elections in the country since it attained political independence from Britain in 1979, is hoping that his Unity Labour Party (ULP) will have a more comfortable margin of victory than the slender one seat it managed in the last two general elections for control of the 15-member Parliament.
“I put my bucket down among the people in love and caring and my runs are on the tins. Those who want to beat them off have to go to the wicket of leadership, but in these difficult and perilous times, this is not a time for a trainee.
“This is not a time for an apprentice. This is the time for a seasoned warrior and a master builder who has a record of service to the people of St Vincent and the Grenadines,” Gonsalves has said of his thrust towards his much hoped for “Five in a Row” victory.
Friday, 61, the Member of Parliament for the Northern Grenadines since 2001, is leading the main opposition New Democratic Party (NDP) into a general election for the first time, having replaced the economist Arnhim Eustace, the former finance minister, who last served in government when the NDP was booted out of office in a 2001 routing that ended its 17-year stint in office.
“I know that they (ULP) want to get into our head but we have prepared the grounds for winning this election free and fair,” Friday told party supporters
Friday, speaking further at a ceremony where the two main political parties had signed the Code of Conduct, emphasised that it was “important that we understand the gravity of the process of voting.
Please choose a reason below:
“Those selected must reflect the will of the people” and “all actions that demean this process do not guarantee that the people are served, and are led by the party and the political leadership of their choice”, he said.
The NDP’s challenge of the defeat in the last general election is still before the courts and Friday has on numerous occasions defended the decision, saying it is important for the population to be fully aware of what had transpired in the December 2015 election.
Barbados-based regional pollster, Peter Wickham, told the Caribbean Media Corporation (CMC) that the swing required for the ULP to lose the election would have to be ”quite significant” and that the swing required by the ruling party to actually gain a seat is “quite small.
“”I think on a balance of probability I am more inclined to think that the Unity Labour Party is in a position to hold on to office and could possibly gain an additional seat or two because two seats are within the swing range,” said Wickham, who has done polling in several regional countries ahead of a general election.
Deputy Supervisor of Elections, Sylvester King said the Special Voters Registration period ended on October 24 and that every person who is 18 years of age or older on or before October 24, was entitled to be registered as a voter, and must ensure that they complete their registration during the Special Registration Period.
The voters list shows that 98 119 people are eligible to vote during the 10 hour period that begins at 7 a.m. local time. (CMC) | Government Job change - Election | November 2020 | ['(NationNews Barbados)'] |
U.S. President Donald Trump designates Office of Management and Budget director Mick Mulvaney acting director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau , replacing Richard Cordray, who promoted chief of staff Leandra English to CFPB deputy director prior to his resignation. | WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump has designated White House Budget Director Mick Mulvaney acting director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau until a permanent director is nominated and confirmed, the White House said on Friday.
The action came hours after Richard Cordray submitted his formal resignation and named a deputy director as his replacement, setting the stage for a political and legal battle over the regulator’s leadership.
“The president looks forward to seeing Director Mulvaney take a common sense approach to leading the CFPB’s dedicated staff, an approach that will empower consumers to make their own financial decisions and facilitate investment in our communities,” the White House said in its statement.
Democratic lawmakers are eager to preserve the regulator for as long as possible while Republicans want to put in place new leadership to chart a drastically different course.
The six-year-old bureau has policed consumer financial markets, drafting aggressive rules curbing products like payday loans, while issuing multimillion dollar fines against large financial institutions like Wells Fargo.
But Republicans have consistently complained the agency is too powerful and lacks oversight from Congress on its operations, and they are eager to take control.
Mulvaney, who has criticized the bureau in the past, said, “I look forward to working with the expert personnel within the agency to identify how the bureau can transition to be more effective in its mission, while becoming more accountable to the taxpayer.”
The succession plan has never been tested, with Cordray as its first and only full-time director.
Cordray had previously announced plans to resign by the end of November. In a statement to staff, he said that Leandra English, the CFPB’s chief of staff, had been named deputy director and would take over as acting director of the agency upon his exit.
However, the White House had already said it planned to name its own interim leadership at the regulator.
Trump has pushed to ease regulations on businesses, including the financial sector, a stance seemingly at odds with Cordray’s more aggressive regulatory approach.
Earlier this month, White House deputy press secretary Raj Shah said that the administration “will announce an acting director and the president’s choice to replace Mr Cordray at the appropriate time.”
There are competing theories in Washington as to who can name Cordray’s replacement. Democrats point to language in the Dodd-Frank law that created the CFPB, stipulating the deputy director replaces the director when he or she leaves.
But others say a separate law governing federal vacancies gives Trump power to name someone elsewhere in the administration to that role temporarily, while the White House identifies a full-time nominee who would be confirmed by the Senate.
Reporting by Pete Schroeder; Additional reporting by Makini Brice; Editing by Rosalba O’Brien and Lisa Shumaker
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
| Government Job change - Appoint_Inauguration | November 2017 | ['(CFPB)', '(Reuters)', '(The Hill)'] |
Coca-Cola FEMSA suspends all production in Venezuela due to a sugar shortage. | Coca-Cola is suspending its production in Venezuela over lack of sugar.
"Right now we are not anticipating the closure of our central office. We are not leaving the country," the company said in a statement Thursday as quoted by the La Patilla tabloid.
According to the company, 90 percent of the products it produces requite sugar.
In April, Polar group, Venezuela's biggest food and beverage company, announced it was stopping its production of beer citing lack of barley.
Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro declared an economic emergency in Venezuela in January. The announcement came two days after Venezuela’s oil price dropped to $24 a barrel, the lowest mark in 12 years. Up to 96 percent of Venezuela’s budget depends on oil revenues. The measure has seen been extended.
Last week, Maduro threatened to seize the country’s factories which are currently not working and put their owners in prison. | Organization Closed | May 2016 | ['(Fortune)', '(Sputnik)'] |
Unidentified gunmen on motorcycles fatally shoot Indian civil rights campaigner and environmentalist Amit Jethwa in Ahmedabad, Gujarat. | Unidentified gunmen in the western Indian state of Gujarat have shot dead a civil rights campaigner and environmentalist, police say. They say two men on a motorcycle attacked Amit Jethwa as he left a building in the city of Ahmedabad on Tuesday evening. Mr Jethwa campaigned against illegal mining, which is a major problem in a number of Indian states. His father said he had received death threats before he was killed. | Famous Person - Death | July 2010 | ['(BBC)'] |
Yoshihide Suga wins a ruling Liberal Democratic Party leadership election, paving the way for him to become Prime Minister in a parliamentary vote this week. | TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan’s Yoshihide Suga, a long-time ally of outgoing Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, won a ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) leadership election on Monday, paving the way for him to become prime minister in a parliamentary vote this week.
Suga, 71, who served in the powerful post of chief cabinet secretary during Abe’s nearly eight-year tenure, has said he will pursue his predecessor’s “Abenomics” recipe of hyper-easy monetary policy, government spending and reform and follow a diplomatic line centred on the U.S.-Japan security alliance.
| Government Job change - Election | September 2020 | ['(Reuters)'] |
ISIL claims that the American female hostage Kayla Jean Mueller has been killed by Jordanian airstrikes at the outskirts of Raqqa, Syria. The White House says that they have no proof of her death. , | Pope's sex abuse point man urges bishop accountability Pope denounces slaying of Egyptian Copts by Islamic State After attacks, Europe fights call for mass migration of Jews Vatican offers free showers and shaves to the homeless Jewish cemetery vandalized in eastern France amid tensions Saudi Arabia condemns "terrorist" killing of US Muslims European group seeks 24/7 protection at Jewish institutions Pope to new cardinals: practice compassion, be open to all Pope to new cardinals: Put aside pride, jealousy and anger Understanding Islam
A look at earlier cases of Islamic terrorism in Denmark Kayla Mueller's boyfriend: 'I came back to save her' Hezbollah leader denounces mass beheading of Copts A look at the Islamic State group's reach into North Africa BEIRUT (AP) -- Islamic State extremists claimed that an American woman held hostage by the group was killed Friday in a Jordanian airstrike in northern Syria, but the government of Jordan dismissed the statement as "criminal propaganda" and the U.S. said it had not seen any evidence to corroborate the report.
The woman was identified as Kayla Jean Mueller, an American who went to Syria to do aid work, but there was no independent verification of the militants' claim. The statement appeared on a militant website commonly used by the group and was also distributed by Islamic State-affiliated Twitter users.
The 26-year-old Mueller, of Prescott, Arizona, is the only known remaining U.S. hostage held by the Islamic State group.
If the death is confirmed, she would be the fourth American to die while being held by Islamic State militants. Three other Americans - journalists James Foley and Steven Sotloff, and aid worker Peter Kassig - were beheaded by the group.
Journalist Austin Tice, of Houston, Texas, disappeared in August 2012 while covering Syria's civil war. It's not clear what entity is holding him, but it is not believed to be the Islamic State group or the Syrian government, his family has said.
The announcement was the second time this week that extremists announced the death of a hostage. They released a video Tuesday showing Jordanian air force Lt. Muath al-Kaseasbeh, also 26, being burned to death in a cage in gruesome images that caused outrage in Jordan and the rest of the region.
Mueller's parents said in a statement addressed to Islamic State group leaders Friday that the claim of their daughter's death concerned them but they were still hopeful she was alive.
"You told us that you treated Kayla as your guest, as your guest her safety and wellbeing remains your responsibility," the statement says.
Al-Kaseasbeh, whose F-16 came down in December while conducting airstrikes as part of a campaign against the militants by a U.S.-led coalition, was believed to have been killed in early January.
Friday's statement said Mueller was killed in the militants' stronghold of Raqqa in northern Syria during Muslim prayers - which usually take place around midday - in airstrikes that targeted "the same location for more than an hour."
It published photos purportedly of the bombed site, showing a severely damaged three-story building, but offered no proof or images of Mueller.
The statement said no Islamic State militants were killed in the airstrikes, raising further questions about the veracity of the claim.
Jordanian government spokesman Mohammed al-Momani said it was investigating.
"But as a first reaction, we think it's illogical and we are highly skeptical about it. How could they identify a Jordanian warplane ... in the sky? What was the American lady doing in a weapons warehouse?" al-Momani said.
"It's part of their criminal propaganda. They have lied that our pilot is alive and tried to negotiate, claiming he is alive while they had killed him weeks before," he added.
American officials said they also were looking into the report.
Bernadette Meehan, the spokeswoman for President Barack Obama's National Security Council, said the White House has "not at this time seen any evidence that corroborates" the claim."
"We are obviously deeply concerned by these reports," she added.
A U.S. official said coalition aircraft did conduct bombing near Raqqa on Friday, but had nothing to confirm the claim that the American captive was killed in the airstrike. He spoke on condition of anonymity because he wasn't authorized to discuss the issue with reporters.
White House spokesman Eric Schultz told reporters the U.S. coordinates with the Jordanian air force as they fly airstrikes. He wouldn't say whether the U.S. was aware of the hostage's location.
Mueller had been working in Turkey assisting Syrian refugees, according to a 2013 article in The Daily Courier, her hometown newspaper. She told the paper that she was drawn to help with the situation in Syria.
"For as long as I live, I will not let this suffering be normal," she said. "It's important to stop and realize what we have, why we have it and how privileged we are. And from that place, start caring and get a lot done."
According to the newspaper, Mueller had been working with the humanitarian aid agency Support to Life, as well as a local organization that helped female Syrian refugees develop skills.
A 2007 article about Mueller from the same newspaper said she was a student at Northern Arizona University and was active in the Save Darfur Coalition. A statement from the office of Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., said Mueller graduated in 2009 and had worked to help people in need in India, Israel, the Palestinian territories and in Arizona.
On Sunday, Obama said the U.S. was "deploying all the assets that we can" to find Mueller.
"We are in very close contact with the family trying to keep them updated," he said in an interview with NBC's "Today" show. "Obviously this is something that is heart-breaking for the family, and we want to make sure we do anything we can to make sure that any American citizen is rescued from this situation."
Mueller's identity had not been disclosed until now out of fears for her safety.
Jordan has stepped up its attacks against the Islamic State group after the extremists announced they had put al-Kasaesbeh to death.
The Syrian government said Thursday that dozens of Jordanian fighter jets had bombed Islamic State training centers and weapons storage sites. It did not say where the attacks occurred.
The Jordanian military said its warplanes carried out a series of attacks Friday and "destroyed the targets and returned safely." It did not elaborate.
Activists who monitor the Syrian conflict from inside the country said coalition planes hit several targets on the edges and outskirts of Raqqa in quick succession.
A Raqqa-based collective of anti-IS activists known as "Raqqa is Being Slaughtered Silently" said the planes targeted multiple IS positions and headquarters in the western and eastern countryside of Raqqa, sending up columns of smoke. Explosions could be heard in the city. The collective said there were no recorded civilian casualties, and did not mention any IS casualties.
The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said dozens of IS members were killed in coalition airstrikes that targeted a tank and vehicle depot in the area of al-Madajen and at least six other IS positions, including a training camp and a prison.
---
Associated Press writers Julie Pace and National Security writer Robert Burns in Washington, and Karin Laub in Amman, Jordan, contributed to this report. | Armed Conflict | February 2015 | ['(AP)', '(AP via Twitter)', '(CNN)', '(BBC)'] |
Wildfires in east and west Attica, Greece, kill at least 76 people, leave another 172 injured, and burn hundreds of houses and vehicles, prompting a state of emergency. The Greek government requests help from European Union countries. | The bodies of 26 people were found huddled together in the coastal village of Mati as officials call fires a "biblical disaster".
Wildfires in Greece have killed at least 60 people and left more than 150 injured, with officials declaring a state of emergency.
The bodies of 26 of the dead - many of them huddled together - were discovered in the coastal village of Mati this morning.
Authorities fear they became "trapped in the flames" as they tried to escape to the sea.
The twin forest fires near Athens have sent hundreds of people, including tourists, racing to beaches to be evacuated by navy vessels, yachts and fishing boats.
More than 700 people have been rescued by the coastguard.
Greece's interior minister, Panos Skourletis, has described the fires as a "national tragedy" and a "biblical disaster with human losses".
Strong winds have fanned the flames, which have spread rapidly into residential areas - preventing people who are in their homes or cars from escaping.
Kostas Laganos, who lives in Mati, said scenes in the town reminded him of the volcanic eruption of Pompeii.
He told Sky News: "Thankfully the sea was there and we went into the sea because the flames were chasing us all the way to the water.
"It burned our backs so we dove into the water.
"It reminded me of the eruption at Pompeii - exactly that - and I said 'my God, we must run to save ourselves and nothing else'. It was terrible."
Here is @CopernicusEU Sentinel-2 satellite image of the deadly fires near Athens that killed dozens. Our thoughts are with victims and families in #Greece ??.
Some 156 adults and 16 children have been taken to hospital with injuries, including 11 adults who are in a serious condition.
More than 600 firefighters are involved in fighting the blazes and Greece has asked for help from European Union countries.
The Spanish government has sent two water-dropping planes, while a military plane carrying 60 firefighters is arriving from Cyprus.
Greece's army has also been brought in to help.
Flights have been diverted because of low visibility and the thick smoke from the fires has led to main motorways being shut down.
One fire is burning northeast of Athens in the Penteli area. The other blaze is raging through pine forests 31 miles (50km) west of Athens after starting in the seaside town of Kineta.
Evangelos Bournous, mayor of the Rafina-Pikermi area, near Penteli, said he saw "at least 100 homes in flames", adding: "I saw it with my eyes - it is a real total catastrophe."
The state of emergency has been declared by regional authorities.
"This is an extreme situation," said senior firefighter Achilleas Tzouvaras.
"People should leave - close up their homes and just leave.
"People cannot tolerate so much smoke for so many hours."
Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras said: "We are doing everything humanly possible to try and tackle these fires."
Having cut short a visit to Bosnia, he added: "What concerns us is that there are fires occurring simultaneously."
The worst fire season in Greece was in 2007, when large sections of forest and farmland were destroyed mainly in the country's south, and more than 60 people were killed. | Fire | July 2018 | ['(Reuters)', '(Sky News)'] |
Germany repeals its 2015 ban on advertisements for professional assisted suicide practices, after finding that its prohibition violated the German Constitution. Passive human euthanasia itself has been legal in the republic since 2014. | A five-year-old law banning professionally assisted suicide has been rejected as unconstitutional by Germany's top court.
The court backed complaints by a group of terminally ill patients and doctors who challenged the law that made "commercial promotion of assisted suicide" a criminal offence.
Assisted dying had been legal.
But the law change prompted terminally ill people to go to Switzerland and the Netherlands to end their lives.
Advice centres that operated until 2015 had to stop working because of the risk of a jail sentence for promoting suicide.
The law was aimed at stopping groups or individuals creating a form of business, by helping people to die in return for money. In practice it meant a ban on providing any type of "recurring" assistance.
Medical ethics expert Gita Neumann, who has provided advice and support for years to people in their 80s said she knew of no doctor in Germany who had helped with assisted suicide in the past five years, because of the new clause in the criminal code.
One of the plaintiffs, Dr Matthias Thöns, said that normal palliative work had become criminalised. However, the head of Germany's palliative medicine society, Heiner Melching, warned that overturning the ban could open a door to "self-styled euthanasia assistants".
The head of Germany's constitutional court, Andreas Vosskuhle, said on Wednesday that while parliament could pass laws on preventing suicide and increasing palliative care, it was not entitled to affect the impunity of assisted suicide.
But there remains no legal entitlement to euthanasia and doctors cannot be required against their will to help provide assisted suicide.
When the law was changed in 2015, lawmakers sought to prevent assisted dying becoming socially acceptable. Euthanasia in Germany remains punishable by up to five years in jail.
The issues surrounding assisted dying and euthanasia are particularly sensitive in Germany because of the Nazi campaign of murder of 300,000 people with mental and physical disabilities. The Nazis referred to the murders as a "euthanasia programme".
What is assisted suicide and euthanasia? | Government Policy Changes | February 2020 | ['(BBC)'] |
A total lunar eclipse is visible from the Midwestern United States to Southeast Asia from 22:44 to 23:58 GMT. | The eclipse began at 2018 GMT, with the Moon totally immersed in the shadow of the Earth between 2244 and 2358 GMT.
During "totality" the Moon took on a reddish hue; the only light reaching its surface by this stage had been filtered through Earth's atmosphere. The eclipse was visible from the whole of Europe, Africa, South America, and eastern parts of the US and Canada.
The copper-red Moon was visible across large areas of the UK thanks to clear skies.
Robin Scagell, from the Society for Popular Astronomy, said that it was "one of the best lunar eclipses from Britain for years".
TOTAL LUNAR ECLIPSE
Occurs when Moon passes into Earth's shadow
Penumbra: Region where Earth blocks some (but not all) Sun rays
Umbra: Zone where Earth blocks all direct sunlight - total eclipse
Your pictures: Lunar eclipse
Your views of the eclipse
"It was fascinating to watch the Moon's graceful movement through the shadow of the Earth and check its coppery glow," he said.
The last total eclipse visible from the UK was back in May 2004, but it was obscured by cloudy skies.
Lunar eclipses occur when the Sun, Earth and Moon are in a near-perfect line in space. The Moon travels through the long cone-shaped shadow that the Earth casts in space. At totality, the only light reaching the Moon's surface has been refracted through the Earth's atmosphere. The appearance of the lunar surface varies according to how much dust is in the Earth's upper atmosphere. For example, following major volcanic eruptions, the Moon appears to be a deep red and almost invisible.
As there have not been any recent sizeable eruptions, astronomers had predicted that the Moon would be bathed in a bright orange light.
In Belgium, about 200 people gathered at the Mira observatory in Grimbergen to witness the eclipse.
KEY TIMES FOR ECLIPSE
Moon enters penumbra: 2018
Moon enters umbra: 2130
Totality begins: 2244
Mid-eclipse: 2321
Totality ends: 2358
Moon leave umbra: 0111
Moon leaves penumbra: 0224
(All times are in GMT)
An astronomer at the observatory, Philippe Mollet, said a thunder storm earlier in the evening had prompted fears they would see nothing.
"We were especially concerned about whether our equipment would make it through this kind of weather," he said.
"But then, after some clouds, it was all perfect throughout the entire eclipse."
In Tehran, the director of Iran's Amateur Astronomy Association, Amir Shirazi, said he and other astronomy fans would be staying up all night to watch.
"This is the last lunar eclipse in the Iranian current year and we are not going to have another beautiful and complete eclipse like this one for five years," he said.
After Saturday's eclipse, the next to be seen over western Europe will take place on 21 February 2008, but in the early hours between 0300 GMT and 0400 GMT.
And though eastern Australia, Alaska and New Zealand missed out on this total lunar eclipse, they will be able to see the next one, due to take place on 28 August. | New wonders in nature | March 2007 | ['(BBC)'] |
Iran releases four Iranian-American prisoners including Washington Post reporter Jason Rezaian and Christian pastor Saeed Abedini. The United States is to release seven Iranian-Americans held in the United States for violating sanctions against Iran. , | VIENNA — The United States and Iran moved into a new era of international relations Saturday, with the implementation of a landmark agreement on Iran’s nuclear program on a drama-filled day that also saw the release of imprisoned Washington Post reporter Jason Rezaian and four other Americans.
U.S. and European officials lifted the harshest economic sanctions against Tehran after the United Nations’ nuclear watchdog certified that the Islamic republic had fully complied with promises to curtail key parts of its nuclear program. Hours before diplomats in the Austrian capital hailed the official activation of the nuclear deal, Iran confirmed the release of Rezaian and the other American detainees, set free in exchange for U.S. clemency offered to seven Iranians charged or imprisoned for sanctions violations and the dismissal of outstanding charges against 14 Iranians outside the United States.
Rezaian and two other released Americans were flown out of Tehran on Sunday, after a delay. They were expected to go to Switzerland, then to a U.S. military facility in Germany to be examined by medical personnel. One of the Americans, Nosratollah Khosravi-Roodsari, did not fly out with the others, U.S. officials said. [A misunderstanding held up the departure of 4 Americans in swap] “We can confirm that our detained U.S. citizens have been released and that those who wished to depart Iran have left,” a senior administration official said. “We have no further information to share at this time and would ask that everyone respect the privacy of these individuals and their families.”
The coordinated moves cemented a major diplomatic victory for the Obama administration, which won significant nuclear concessions from Iran in an effort to defuse an international crisis that threatened to spark a new Middle East war. The agreement also frees Iran from crippling economic sanctions and opens the way for ending decades of diplomatic and economic isolation.
“This evening, we are really reminded once again of diplomacy’s power to tackle significant challenges,” Secretary of State John F. Kerry said after the implementation was announced. “We have approached this challenge with the firm belief that exhausting diplomacy before choosing war is an imperative. And we believe that today marks the benefits of that choice.”
But the agreement also contains significant political risk for a White House that is staking its legacy on Iran’s willingness to comply with unprecedented curbs and extensive monitoring of its nuclear program. The pact — which has been repeatedly condemned by the Israeli government as well as by members of Congress from both parties — drew fresh attacks Saturday from Republican presidential contenders, some of whom blasted the deal as a sellout to Iran’s clerical rulers.
The nuclear pact calls on Iran to dismantle key nuclear equipment in a deal designed to ensure that Iranian officials could never accumulate enough fissile material to build a nuclear bomb. The agreement also requires unprecedented inspections and monitoring covering all aspects of Iran’s nuclear program, from uranium mining to research facilities.
Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif echoed Kerry’s remarks, saying on Twitter that “diplomacy requires patience, but we all know that it sure beats the alternatives.” Implementation of the deal, Zarif said, meant that “it’s now time for all — especially Muslim nations — to join hands and rid the world of violent extremism. Iran is ready.”
The release of prisoners had not been officially part of negotiations between Iran and the six world powers: the United States, Russia, China, Britain, France and Germany. But Kerry frequently raised the plight of imprisoned U.S. citizens during last year’s nuclear talks.
The Obama administration had come under heavy criticism for concluding the nuclear accord without winning the release of American detainees, including Rezaian, 39, whose 544-day detention is the longest ever by a Western journalist in Iran. White House officials confirmed that the swap was clinched during months of secret talks that gained momentum in the days before the nuclear pact was formally implemented.
“Friends and colleagues at The Washington Post are elated by the wonderful news that Jason Rezaian has been released from Evin Prison and has safely left the country with his wife, Yeganeh Salehi,” said Frederick J. Ryan Jr., publisher of The Post. “We are enormously grateful to all who played a role in securing his release. Our deep appreciation also goes to the many government leaders, journalists, human rights advocates and others around the world who have spoken out on Jason’s behalf and against the harsh confinement that was so wrongly imposed upon him,” he said.
“Now a free man, Jason will be reunited with his family, including his brother Ali, his most effective and tireless advocate. We look forward to the joyous occasion of welcoming him back to the Washington Post newsroom,” Ryan said.
Iran’s judiciary announced the release in Tehran as part of an exchange. The United States is releasing seven people charged with violating sanctions against Iran, U.S. and Iranian officials said.
A senior U.S. official said the “Iranians wanted a goodwill gesture” in response to the release of the Americans. A list of Iranians submitted to U.S. authorities was “whittled down” to exclude any crimes related to violence or terrorism, said the official, one of several who spoke on the condition of anonymity under administration ground rules.
Another official said the exchange was a “one-time arrangement because it was an opportunity to bring Americans home” and should not be considered something that would “encourage this behavior in the future” by Iran.
The officials did not tie the release directly to the nuclear talks and said they had not wanted the detained Americans to be “used as leverage” in the negotiations. But, they said, completion of the nuclear deal last July greatly accelerated talks about the prisoners.
In addition to Rezaian, the Americans freed Saturday included Saeed Abedini, 35, of Boise, Idaho; Amir Mirzaei Hekmati, 32, of Flint, Mich.; and Khosravi-Roodsari, U.S. and Iranian officials said.
A fifth American, identified as language student Matt Trevithick, was also released Saturday but was not part of the exchange deal. Trevithick’s parents said in a statement that he had been held for 40 days in Evin Prison. A senior U.S. official said Trevithick, 30, has already left Iran.
Abedini is a Christian pastor who had been imprisoned since July 2012 for organizing home churches. Hekmati is a former Marine who spent more than four years in prison on spying charges following his arrest in August 2011 during a visit to see his grandmother.
The detention of Khosravi-Roodsari had not been previously publicized. Iranian state television identified him as a businessman. Little else was known about him.
A senior administration official said of Trevithick, “We wanted him, obviously, to be a direct part of this, and made clear to Iranians that [his release] would be an appropriate humanitarian gesture.”
The exchange quickly became political fodder in the United States among Republicans vying for the GOP presidential nomination.
Republican front-runner Donald Trump said it was “a total disgrace” that the release of the Americans took so long. “This should have been done three, four years ago, when the [nuclear] deal was struck. Before the deal was made . . . they should have said, ‘We want our prisoners back,’ ” Trump said at a rally in New Hampshire.
New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie said in a television interview Saturday: “We’d be very happy for the families of the Americans who are going to be home and for those Americans, but I’d also want to hear what the other side of the deal is, if this president is releasing more terrorists from Guantanamo to go back and reenter the war on terror. . . . We shouldn’t have to swap prisoners. These folks were taken illegally in violation of international law, and they should have been released without condition.”
Rezaian’s ordeal damaged his health, drew protests from media and human rights groups, and hampered efforts to improve relations between Washington and Tehran. It also exposed fault lines and infighting in Iran’s opaque political system, where Rezaian and other detained Americans appeared to become pawns in a larger internal struggle between hard-liners and reformists seeking to improve ties with the West.
[Post coverage of Americans detained in Iran] Rezaian was tried last year behind closed doors on vague charges of espionage and other alleged offenses and was sentenced to an unspecified prison term.
His 2014 arrest and subsequent trial and conviction in Iran’s secretive Revolutionary Court system — on charges that were never publicly disclosed or substantiated — appeared to reflect a power play by hard-liners fiercely loyal to Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, against more moderate reformist elements under President Hassan Rouhani. The hard-liners control Iran’s security forces, intelligence apparatus, judiciary and most other levers of power, while Rouhani — though answerable to Khamenei — has been given relatively free rein to manage Iran’s foreign affairs and improve its economy.
In recent weeks, Iran took significant steps to meet its obligations under the deal.
Increased U.S.-Iranian cooperation appeared to be on display Wednesday when Iran released 10 U.S. sailors within a day after they were seized by Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps naval forces in the Persian Gulf. The Americans were on two small riverine boats that strayed into Iranian waters.
Against this backdrop, the signs of rapprochement raised hopes for a resolution in Rezaian’s case.
Rezaian was arrested along with his wife when security forces raided their home July 22, 2014. Yeganeh Salehi, 31, a journalist who worked for the Abu Dhabi newspaper the National, was released on bail in October, but Rezaian languished in Evin Prison for months without trial or even specific charges.
Rezaian holds both U.S. and Iranian citizenship. But Iran, which does not recognize dual nationality, barred any U.S. role in the case, including consular visits by Swiss diplomats representing U.S. interests. Diplomatic relations between Washington and Tehran were severed in 1980 during the Iranian hostage crisis.
The last of four Revolutionary Court sessions was held in August, but it was not until October that a court spokesman announced a conviction — without providing any details. In November, the court said Rezaian was sentenced to a prison term, again with no elaboration.
In the meantime, Iranian officials floated the idea of a prisoner swap with the United States. Rouhani even suggested that Tehran could free Rezaian and at least two other Iranian American prisoners if Washington reciprocated by releasing 19 Iranian citizens convicted in the United States of circumventing sanctions.
As if to buttress that proposal, state-run news media in Iran then reported that Rezaian was accused of “spying on Iran’s nuclear programs” and giving the U.S. government information on people and companies evading sanctions.
| Famous Person - Commit Crime - Release | January 2016 | ['(New York Times)', '(IRNA)', '(Reuters)', '(Washington Post)'] |
Archaeologists find evidence showing that the manioc plant was a staple food of the Maya. | Corn was the royalty of Maya food crops, celebrated in religion and cosmology, but archaeologists have long suspected that a different crop, the lowly manioc plant, was the mainstay of Maya life, providing the basic sustenance that allowed their civilization to flourish in densely populated cities.
Now, Colorado researchers have provided the first direct evidence that manioc was indeed intensively cultivated by the Maya -- in quantities that would allow its use for many purposes.
Manioc tubers, also known as cassava, can grow to as much as 3 feet long and as thick as a man’s arm. They produce the highest food energy yield of any cultivated crop, about eight to 10 times as much as corn. They can also be grown in infertile soils and require little or no irrigation.
The newly discovered manioc fields are in the village of Ceren, about 15 miles west of San Salvador. An eruption from a vent of the nearby volcano Loma Caldera in AD 590 buried the village under as much as 17 feet of ash.
The village, which had about 100 to 200 residents, has been called the “Pompeii of the New World” because of the remarkable preservation of artifacts there. So far, archaeologist Payson Sheets of the University of Colorado and his colleagues have excavated 12 buildings, including homes, a sauna and a religious gathering place. All of the inhabitants appear to have escaped, perhaps warned off by an earthquake that preceded the eruption.
In their initial investigations around 1990, the scientists found evidence that the residents ate cacao, fruits, seeds and berries, deer, ducks and snails. Two years ago, in their first excavations outside the village, they found manioc in one pit they had dug.
“The big question then was, was this one small field which we were fortunate to hit?” Sheets said Friday in a telephone interview.
When the team returned to the site in January, they dug 18 large test pits, each about 10 feet by 10 feet.
“We found two boundaries, the east and west, but not the north and south boundaries,” Sheets said. The area of the field exposed so far is about a third the size of a football field and would have produced about 11 tons of manioc a year.
They did not find the manioc, of course. What they found were empty spaces occupied by the plants before they disintegrated. The team injected these holes with dental plaster before excavating carefully around them, revealing a cast of the remains of the crop -- which had just been harvested -- and stalks that had just been planted for the next season’s crop.
The next big question is, what were the villagers going to do with so much manioc? The tubers normally rot in three to four days after harvest. They can, however, be peeled, cut into chunks and dried in the sun for eight days before being ground into a flour, which can be stored for long periods. The flour can be used in soups and stews to increase carbohydrate content and also to make tortillas and tamales.
Manioc can also be fermented into a kind of beer that was used in Maya festivals and celebrations. Sheets said he and his students plan to brew some in pots that he had specially made, then examine the pots to see what kinds of residues are left in the clay. The team will then examine pottery they have found at the site to search for the same residues and compare the results.
“We’ll also see what it tastes like, but I don’t really look forward to that because I don’t think it will be very good,” he said.
--
[email protected] | New archeological discoveries | June 2009 | ['(The Los Angeles Times)'] |
A Palestinian protestor is killed by Israeli forces after hurling stones and incendiary bottles in the West Bank. | The funeral of a Palestinian man shot dead by Israeli soldiers has taken place in the West Bank. Mahmoud Titi, 22, was killed during clashes in a refugee camp near Hebron on Tuesday, after soldiers entered the camp to make arrests.
Palestinian doctors said he was shot in the head with a live round.
Mr Titi's death follows a recent rise in violence across the West Bank, with frequent clashes between Israeli soldiers and Palestinian protesters.
The Israeli military said its soldiers entered the al-Fawwar refugee camp, south of Hebron, after Palestinians threw a petrol bomb onto a road towards Israeli cars. Clashes then broke out, during which Mr Titi was killed, it added.
The military confirmed that live ammunition was used during the operation. Two other Palestinians were injured during the incident.
The BBC's Jon Donnison in Jerusalem says there has been an increase in tension in the West Bank in recent weeks, with frequent clashes between Israeli soldiers and protesters angry at treatment of Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails.
Some prisoners have also been on hunger strike in protest at their treatment.
At the end of 2012 there were more than 4,500 Palestinians being held in Israeli prisons, with 178 placed in administrative detention - a controversial practice whereby people can be held without charge or trial. Israel says many of the prisoners are suspected of being members of militant Palestinian groups.
The United Nations says Mr Titi is the sixth Palestinian to be killed by Israeli army fire since the beginning of the year.
His death comes a week before US President Barack Obama is due to visit Israel and the West Bank, but with little optimism of a resumption of the Middle East peace talks which collapsed in 2010, our correspondent adds. | Armed Conflict | March 2013 | ['(Fox News)', '(BBC)'] |
An Iranian woman is sentenced to 10 years in prison for suspected spying for the United Kingdom. A judiciary spokesman alleged that she was recruited by the British Council's Iran desk. | LONDON (Reuters) - Iran said on Monday it had sentenced an Iranian woman to 10 years prison for spying for Britain, as tension rises between Tehran and some Western countries over its nuclear and missile programs.
“An Iranian who was in charge of Iran desk in the British Council and was cooperating with Britain’s intelligence agency... was sentenced to 10 years in prison after clear confessions,” Gholamhossein Esmaili, a judiciary spokesman, said on the state television.
Esmaili said the woman was in charge of projects for “cultural infiltration” in Iran. He did not identify her, but said she was a student in Britain before being recruited by the British Council.
Esmaili said the woman had been in custody for almost a year. He did not specify whether she held British nationality.
The British Foreign Office did not immediately respond to an email requesting comment. The British Council is Britain’s cultural agency overseas.
The arrest of Iranians accused of espionage has increased since Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said last year there had been “infiltration” of Western agents in the country.
Iran has been increasingly at odds with Western countries since the United States withdrew from a deal Tehran signed with global powers to curb its nuclear program in return for the lifting of sanctions.
Britain is a signatory to the nuclear deal. Like other European signatories, it supports maintaining the deal.
The United States has ratcheted up sanctions against Iran this month, revoking waivers that had permitted some countries to continue buying Iranian oil. Tehran has responded by reducing curbs on its nuclear program, although steps it has taken so far stop short of violating the agreement.
| Famous Person - Commit Crime - Sentence | May 2019 | ['(Reuters)'] |
Buckingham Palace confirms that the President of the United States Barack Obama will make a state visit to the United Kingdom in May. | Buckingham Palace has confirmed US President Barack Obama will come to the UK on a state visit in May.
It is the first state visit by a US president since that of President George W Bush and his wife, Laura, in 2003. President Obama came to the UK for the G20 summit in 2009 but that was not a state visit.
In July last year David Cameron visited Washington and met Mr Obama, who will visit London from 24 to 26 May. The First Lady, Michelle Obama, will accompany the president on the visit but details of his itinerary have not been announced.
The prime minister's official spokesman said on Thursday: "The prime minister is very pleased this visit is taking place. It is a sign of the strong and enduring relationship between our two countries."
Last year's meeting, which was dominated by recriminations after the BP oil crisis in the Gulf of Mexico, ended with President Obama describing the Anglo-American relationship as "truly special".
There are only usually one or two state visits a year to the UK and the last one was in October when the Emir of Qatar came to Britain.
A state visit is a formal affair when a visiting head of state is accorded full ceremonial trappings and is hosted by the Queen. She has met every US president since 1952 with one exception - Lyndon B Johnson.
State visits are formal visits to the UK by foreign heads of state "with the aim of strengthening Britain's relationships with other countries". The Obamas will stay at either Buckingham Palace or Windsor Castle and the official welcome of state visit guests usually takes place on Horse Guards' Parade. The Obamas will also attend a state banquet in their honour.
White House spokesman Jay Carney said: "This will be the president's first European state visit, a sign of the strength of the relationship between our two countries and a sign of his enduring commitment to our European allies."
Obama: UK link is truly special
| Diplomatic Visit | February 2011 | ['(BBC)'] |
Four people are killed and another is wounded during a mass stabbing at a hospital in Potsdam, Brandenburg, Germany. The perpetrator, identified as a female hospital's employee, is arrested. The victims are all patients. | Police officers stand near the Oberlin Clinic, where four people were found dead and another seriously injured, following the arrest of a 51-year-old-woman, in Potsdam, Germany, April 29, 2021. REUTERS/Michele Tantussi
BERLIN, April 28 (Reuters) - Police in Germany detained a 51-year-old hospital employee and opened a murder inquiry after four people were found dead and another seriously injured at a clinic near Berlin.
| Riot | April 2021 | ['(Reuters)'] |
In GuineaBissau, an armed group of men led by former President Kumba Ialá briefly occupies the presidential palace. The ousted president claims that he is still in charge. | The army announced his move on national radio and issued an appeal for calm, before saying Mr Yala had gone home.
Later there were angry protests against Mr Yala in parts of the capital. Ten days ago he declared himself leader again, two years after the coup.
Elections are due in June to replace the transitional administration
It has ruled the country since Mr Yala's removal.
The impoverished West African nation has been plagued by coups and chaos since independence from Portugal in 1974. Tension
An army statement said: "A group of soldiers took former President Kumba Yala very early this morning to the place so that he could occupy the presidential seat."
He spent about four hours there before leaving, the army said.
The streets are reported to be calm.
The army's chief of staff, Tagme Na Wai, called an emergency meeting at army headquarters, according to a military source.
Yala
Mr Yala is believed to have some support in the army, which is dominated by members of his Balanta ethnic group. He was elected in 200, before being overthrown in 2003.
He was chosen last month by the largest opposition group, the Social Renovation party, as its presidential candidate.
The move was approved by the Supreme Court - despite a five year ban on him taking part in politics. Regional leaders visited Guinea-Bissau at the weekend to meet Mr Kumba Yala and other leading politicians and top military leaders, in an attempt to calm tensions.
They urged the army to remain neutral and ensure stability ahead of the elections. They also called on politicians to respect the constitution and the electoral code and warned against acts of violence. | Armed Conflict | May 2005 | ['(BBC)'] |
Guinea's president Alpha Condé announces a postponement of both the general election and referendum slated for March 1. A new date isn't given yet. | Guinea's president has delayed Sunday's controversial referendum on changing the constitution that if passed could allow him to seek a third term.
Alpha Condé, 81, said the "slight postponement" was because the opposition say officials have tampered with the electoral register.
The announcement comes amid mounting international concern about the fairness of the poll.
There have been months of often violent demonstrations against the vote.
At least 30 people have been killed in the protests since October.
The African Union and the regional bloc, Ecowas, said they were not sending election observers to the mineral-rich West African nation.
An estimated 7.7 million registered votes were also due to elect members of parliament on Sunday.
Earlier this week, the International Organisation of La Francophonie (OIF), a grouping of French-speaking nations, said there were problems identifying around 2.5 million names listed on the electoral roll.
According to the president, yes. And a letter sent by Mr Condé to Ecowas about the postponement, seen by the AFP news agency, says it should take place within two weeks.
"This is not a capitulation or a step backwards. The people of Guinea will express their choice freely at the referendum," President Condé told state TV on Friday evening.
An opposition alliance opposed to the new constitution, the FNDC, has called for a boycott, which would make it likely that a "yes" vote would win.
No - a president would still only be able to serve two terms, though the length of a term would be extended from five to six years.
However, the adoption of the new constitution would mean that the time Mr Condé has already served would not count - and his second term comes to an end in December.
No, but his party has not denied that the new constitution would allow him to do so. But it says the constitution is about revamping a document written during a time of military rule between 2008 and 2010.
"His willingness to change the constitution has nothing to do with his plan to look for a third term," Amadou Damaro Camara, parliamentary leader of the governing Rally of the Guinean People, told the BBC.
"The plan is to provide a better constitution for the Republic of Guinea because the one we have is not good enough."
It has many laws aimed at improving gender equality in the mainly Muslim nation: it would ban female genital mutilation (FGM), as well as outlawing underage and forced marriages. It also states that no one gender would make up more than two-thirds of government institutions.
But the FNDC argues all such reforms could be done through parliament.
"The main purpose of President Alpha Condé is to maintain himself illegally in power," Nadia Nahman, a spokesperson for the opposition Union of Democratic Forces of Guinea, told the BBC.
"All the innovation we're talking about can be introduced in the constitution by way of revision - why do we need to have a new constitution?" | Government Job change - Election | February 2020 | ['(BBC)'] |
ABC reports that British government sources believe that suspects arrested last week in the UK may have been plotting to make an improvised chemical weapon using the toxic agent osmium tetroxide. | Used primarily in laboratories for research, osmium tetroxide is known to attack soft human tissue and could blind or kill anyone who breathed its fumes. According to the New Jersey Department of Health, it is a colorless to pale yellow solid with a strong, unpleasant odor. "It's a nasty piece of work," said Dave Siegrist, a bioterrorism expert at the Potomac Institute for Policy Studies in Arlington, Va. "It irritates the eyes, lungs, nose and throat. It leads to an asthma-like death, what we call a 'dry-land drowning.' " Scientists say if, for example, the bomb used in the 1993 World Trade Center attack had produced such fumes, they would have wiped out the first police and rescue workers on the scene.
"They become overwhelmed by fumes," said Jerry Hauer, an expert on biological and chemical terrorism and the former director of public health preparedness at the Department of Health and Human Services, describing what could have happened. "They can go blind. This is not a benign chemical. It is very nasty."
Eight British citizens of Pakistani descent were arrested and taken into custody when 700 police raided 24 locations in and around London on March 30. Investigators say British authorities moved in when they learned from electronic intercepts the dangerous chemical was involved in the plot. They had been the tracking group's activities for several months.
According to sources, there was some indication the group in custody was targeting Gatwick airport, the British public transportation system and enclosed shopping areas. British authorities feared it had the potential to be one of the worst attacks ever against the United Kingdom.
Even though the arrests were made in the United Kingdom, authorities say the operation was being run out of Pakistan by a suspected al Qaeda figure.
"They are creative in their planning," said Hauer. "They continue to work around our systems."
| Famous Person - Commit Crime - Accuse | April 2004 | ['(ABC/US)', '(BBC)'] |
The government of Colombia announces the legalization of undocumented Venezuelan migrants currently in the country, making them eligible to receive 10-year residency permits. | BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) — Colombia said Monday it will register hundreds of thousands of Venezuelan migrants and refugees currently in the country without papers, in a bid to provide them with legal residence permits and facilitate their access to health care and legal employment opportunities. President Ivan Duque said that through a new temporary protection statute, Venezuelan migrants who are in the country illegally will be eligible for 10-year residence permits, while migrants who are currently on temporary residence will be able to extend their stay. The new measure could benefit up to one million Venezuelan citizens who are currently living in Colombia without proper papers, as well as hundreds of thousands who need to extend temporary visas. President Duque announced the protection measure in a stately government palace in Bogota while standing with Filippo Grandi, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. “As we take this historic and transcendental step for Latin America we hope other countries will follow our example,” Duque told a room full of ambassadors and diplomats, who were invited to witness the announcement. Grandi said the new policy would improve the lives of hundreds of thousands of impoverished people and called it an “extraordinary gesture” of humanity, pragmatism and commitment to human rights. Colombia’s government estimates that 1.8 million Venezuelans are currently living in the country, and that 55% of them don’t have proper residence papers. Most have arrived since 2015 to escape hyperinflation, food shortages and an increasingly authoritarian government. Duque said that registering these undocumented immigrants and refugees would benefit Colombia’s security agencies and would also make the provision of social services, including coronavirus vaccines, more efficient. The government said Venezuelans who arrive legally in Colombia within the next two years will also be allowed to apply for temporary protection. The new policy comes after Donald Trump signed an executive order in the last days of his presidency that halted deportations of tens of thousands of Venezuelans living in the United States. Colombia’s new temporary protection statute will be implemented as migrants leaving Venezuela find it harder to settle in other South American countries, due to land border closures and growing anti-immigrant sentiment. In Ecuador, hundreds of Venezuelans are currently stuck along the country’s southern border following Peru’s decision to send tanks and troops to the area to stop illegal border crossings. Other popular destinations for Venezuelan migrants include Panama and Chile, which have imposed visa requirements that make it harder for Venezuelans to move to those countries. According to the United Nations, there are 4.7 million Venezuelan migrants and other refugees in other Latin American countries after fleeing the economic collapse and political divide in their homeland. Colombia is home to more than a third of them. Duque said that while Colombia’s decision will provide some relief, he did not expect it to stop the Venezuelan exodus. “If we want to stop this crisis countries have to reflect about how to end the dictatorship in Venezuela,” he said. “We have to think about how to set up a transitional government and organize free elections.” | Government Policy Changes | February 2021 | ['(AP)'] |
A car bomb in Helmand Province kills up to 13 people, including Afghan Army soldiers and civilians, and wounds 18 others, according to government spokesman Omar Zwak. | KABUL (Reuters) - As many as 13 people, including both Afghan army soldiers and civilians, were killed and 18 wounded by a car bomb in the southern province of Helmand on Sunday, officials said.
Omar Zwak, the Helmand governor’s spokesman who gave the casualty figures, said the attack occurred in a market in Nawa, a district in the center of the province, which has seen heavy fighting in recent weeks as government forces have battled for control with Taliban insurgents.
Afghan forces said they had retaken Nawa district in July but there has been continued fighting in the area since.
There was no claim of responsibility and no immediate comment from the Taliban, which has carried out regular suicide attacks in Helmand, where it controls much of the area outside the provincial capital Lashkar Gah.
The hospital in Lashkar Gah run by the Italian aid group Emergency said it had received 3 dead and 19 wounded while Bost Hospital, another facility, said it had received 10 wounded.
It was unclear whether any of the wounded had died after being taken to the hospitals.
The attack comes just days after a suicide bomber in Lashkar Gah killed at least seven people and wounded 40 as the Taliban continued its push to restore strict Islamic rule to Afghanistan and drive out foreign forces backing the government in Kabul.
U.S. President Donald Trump last week announced a stepped-up military campaign against Taliban insurgents who have gained ground steadily in Afghanistan since a NATO-led coalition ended its main combat mission in 2014.
Reporting by Mohammad Stanekzai and Mirwais Harooni; writing by James Mackenzie, editing by David Evans | Armed Conflict | August 2017 | ['(Reuters)'] |
Australia wins its third consecutive Cricket World Cup with a victory over Sri Lanka in the 2007 ICC Cricket World Cup finals in Barbados. | Last Update: Sunday, April 29, 2007. 8:27am AEST The Australians celebrate with the 2007 World Cup. (Reuters) By Joel Zander
A glorious Adam Gilchrist century propelled Australia to an unprecedented third straight World Cup crown with a crushing victory over Sri Lanka in the final in Barbados this morning.
Australia's vice-captain awoke from his Cup slumber to hammer 149 from 104 balls as the defending champions posted 4 for 281 from 38 overs before restricting Sri Lanka to 8 for 215 from 36 overs.
Rain interruptions caused the reductions in overs but Australia let it bother them little as they continued their path of destruction all the way to the tournament's conclusion.
The end of the match was farcical with Sri Lanka accepting an offer of bad light, prompting wild celebrations from the Australians.
The umpires though were quick to remind Australian captain Ricky Ponting and his men that the match was not yet officially over.
Eventually common sense prevailed and Sri Lankan captain Mahela Jayawardene agreed to send his players out for the remaining three overs, albeit in very poor light.
Australia were eventually declared victors by 53 runs on the Duckworth-Lewis method to extend their record unbeaten run in the tournament to an unbelievable 29 games.
Man-of-the-tournament Glenn McGrath bowed out of international cricket with 1 for 31 to take his Cup record tally to 26 wickets after Gilchrist set about knocking off some records of his own.
He and opening partner Matthew Hayden put on a Cup final record 172 runs for the opening wicket, but Hayden was reduced to a mere bystander as Gilchrist turned on one of his characteristic cavalier displays.
"It was really pleasing to do it on an important day. I've been getting a lot of starts but hadn't converted," man-of-the-match Gilchrist said.
"It's terrific. The guys have worked so hard."
Ponting said Australia were hardly tested in the tournament.
"I'm unbelievably proud of what we've been able to achieve," Ponting said.
"Everything came together really well for us in the final. We played some unbelievable cricket in this World Cup, there's no doubt about that."
McGrath leaves the international stage having won his third World Cup winners medal and having taken 71 Cup wickets.
"I'm pretty happy with the way things have finished," he said.
"I think that with retirement just around the corner I enjoyed things even more. It's been a long career and I have loved every minute of it.
"I'll miss playing and the guys but it will be nice to spend time with my family." The win also allowed retiring Australian coach John Buchanan to bow out with another title under his belt.
"It's like day and night between us and the rest," Buchanan said.
"It's a fairytale to win three World Cups in a row. It really is an unbelievable achievement and it's due to the team and the support team.
"We have great players and when you have great players this is what happens."
Gilchrist has played so many stunning one-day innings for Australia but this was surely one of his best.
After being dropped on 31 he motored to his 15th ODI ton off only 72 balls, the fastest in a World Cup final, and then proceeded to embarrass bowlers of the calibre of Chaminda Vaas (0 for 54 off eight overs) and Muttiah Muralitharan (0 for 44 off seven).
Gilchrist soon knocked off Ricky Ponting's 140 not out, recorded against India in the 2003 final and until then the highest score in a decider.
By the time Gilchrist had finished toying with the Sri Lankan attack he had creamed eight sixes and 13 fours, taking out most of his frustrations for previous tournament failures on Dilhara Fernando (1 for 74 off eight overs).
Only one of the finds of the tournament, Lasith Malinga (2 for 49 off eight overs), could hold his head high.
When Gilchrist was eventually dismissed in the 31st over, caught by Silva off the bowling of the expensive Fernando, he had steered the reigning champions to a mammoth 2 for 224.
Hayden, who finished the tournament with a leading 659 runs including three centuries, was uncharacteristically subdued for once in making 38 off 55 balls.
Ponting scored 32 off 47 deliveries before being run out by a direct hit from Jayawardene, while Shane Watson was bowled by Malinga for just 3 while trying to further up the tempo.
Andrew Symonds (23) and Michael Clarke (8) were the not out batsmen.
Sri Lanka's reply started poorly when Upul Tharanga fell to the bowling of Nathan Bracken for 6.
Veteran opener Sanatha Jayasuriya (63) and wily wicket-keeper Kumar Sangakkara (54) threatened to turn the match Sri Lanka's way with a quick-fire 138-run stand for the second wicket, but when they went their team's hopes were gone as well.
International Cricket Council (ICC) chief executive Malcolm Speed says despite some negatives, the 2007 World Cup was sound, but the tournament will be shortened in the future.
[MP3][RealMedia 28k+][WinMedia 28k+] (30/04/2007)
Jim Maxwell spoke with Shaun Tait and Adam Gilchrist after Australia won their third straight World Cup crown.
[MP3][RealMedia 28k+][WinMedia 28k+] (30/04/2007)
ABC Grandstand's Jim Maxwell wraps all the action from Australia's 2007 World Cup win over Sri Lanka in Barbados. | Sports Competition | April 2007 | ['(ABC)', '(BBC)'] |
The Peter Mullan film Neds wins two major honours at the San Sebastián International Film Festival. | Director Peter Mullan's film Neds, a coming of age drama set in 1970s Glasgow, has taken two top honours at the San Sebastian Film Festival.
Neds - short for non-educated delinquents - follows an intelligent boy struggling with gang warfare, an alcoholic father and class barriers.
Mullan, who also wrote the script and acts in the film, has described it as "personal but not autobiographical".
It picked up the best film award, while Conor McCarron was named best actor.
The Scottish newcomer has won glowing reviews for his performance as troubled teenager John McGill.
The film received its world premiere at the Toronto Film Festival earlier this month, where it was screened with subtitles.
It is the first film to be directed by Mullan, 50, since 2002's The Magdalene Sisters. That film won a Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival.
Mullan, who grew up in Glasgow, also won the best actor award at Cannes in 1998 for My Name is Joe.
He made his name acting in films including Shallow Grave, Trainspotting and Braveheart, and plays John McGill's menacing father in Neds. He will also be seen playing the Death Eater Yaxley in the last two Harry Potter films.
The Spanish film festival gave its best director trophy to Franco-Chilean film-maker Raoul Ruiz for his four-hour epic Misterios de Lisboa.
Spain's Nora Navas was named best actress for her role in Pa Negre, a drama about the country's civil war.
| Awards ceremony | September 2010 | ['(BBC)'] |
Suspicious items, later discovered to be incendiary devices, are found near a police station in Eugene, Oregon. An investigation is ongoing. , | EUGENE, Ore. -- Eugene Police Department reports that maintenance crews located suspicious items near police headquarters on Monday. Members of the Eugene Metro Explosive Disposal Unit responded and found the items to be incendiary devices, according to the report. They were rendered safe, police said.
The investigation is ongoing. "I don't know what kind of damage they could have done," Lt. David Natt said. "This is not a hoax device. These are very serious matters."
Sorry, the video player failed to load.(Error Code: 101102)"I don't know what kind of damage they could have done," Lt. David Natt said. "This is not a hoax device. These are very serious matters." | Famous Person - Commit Crime - Investigate | January 2019 | ['(KVAL)', '(KEZI)'] |
Five members of the Taliban who were freed by the Obama administration from Guantanamo Bay in exchange for former captive Bowe Bergdahl join the insurgent group’s political office in Qatar. , | KABUL, Afghanistan — Five members of the Afghan Taliban who were freed from the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay in exchange for captured American Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl have joined the insurgent group’s political office in Qatar, Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said Tuesday.
They will now be among Taliban representatives negotiating for peace in Afghanistan, a sign some negotiators in Kabul say indicates the Taliban’s desire for a peace pact.
Others fear the five, all of whom were close to the insurgent group's founder and hard-line leader Mullah Mohammed Omar, bring with them the same ultra-conservative interpretation of Islam that characterized the group's five-year rule that ended in 2001 with the U.S.-led invasion.
The five Taliban figures released from the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay in May 2014 in exchange for Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl, who was held hostage by the Taliban for nearly five years:
"The Taliban are bringing back their old generation, which means the Taliban have not changed their thinking or their leadership," said Haroun Mir, political analyst in the Afghan capital. "What we are more worried about is if tomorrow the Taliban say 'we are ready to negotiate,' who will represent Kabul? That is the big challenge because the government is so divided, not just ideologically but on ethnic lines."
Efforts to find a peaceful end to Afghanistan's protracted war have accelerated since Washington appointed Afghan-American Zalmay Khalilzad as envoy to find a peaceful end to America's longest war, which has already cost the U.S. more than $900 billion.
But Mohammed Ismail Qasimyar, a member of a government peace council, warned Washington against negotiating peace terms with the Taliban, saying Khalilzad’s only job is to set the stage for direct talks between the Afghan government and the Taliban, something the insurgents have so far refused, calling the government a U.S. puppet.
Taliban officials reported meeting with Khalilzad in Qatar earlier this month, calling the exchange preliminary but pivotal. Washington neither confirmed nor denied the meeting, but Khalilzad was in Qatar at the time. | Famous Person - Commit Crime - Release | October 2018 | ['(Military Times)', '(The Washington Post)'] |
Japan executes a foreigner for the first time since the disclosure of details of its sentences began in 2007. He was a Chinese man convicted of killing a family of four. | TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan on Thursday executed a 40-year-old Chinese man convicted of murdering a family of four, in the country’s first execution of a foreigner since the disclosure of details on sentences carried out began in 2007, the justice ministry said.
The man, Wei Wei, had committed the murders in mid-2003 with two accomplices who were also Chinese nationals, media reported.
The other two fled to China and were arrested there. One was executed in China in 2005 and the other received a life sentence, media said.
Japan is one of just two Group of Seven advanced nations to retain the death penalty - along with the United States - and an overwhelming majority of the public favors it.
Prisoners are hanged in Japan, and the condemned are not told when it their execution will take place until the morning of the day the sentence is carried out.
Some 120 prisoners are on death row. Last year, 15 were executed - the highest number for a decade - including 13 former members of the Aum Shinrikyo doomsday cult, who had been convicted of carrying out sarin gas attacks on the Tokyo subway.
The execution on Thursday was the 39th since Prime Minister Shinzo Abe returned to power in 2012, according to the justice ministry.
Before 2007, the identity of those executed was not disclosed in data issued on capital punishment.
| Famous Person - Commit Crime - Sentence | December 2019 | ['(Reuters)', '(BBC)'] |
The Dow Jones drops by more than 300 points in early trading, but rebounds a bit to close at a loss of 260.51. | U.S. stocks closed about 1.5 percent lower or more Monday, extending Friday’s post-Brexit sell-off with materials leading decliners. The Dow Jones industrial average and S&P 500 ended at their lowest since mid-March. The major indexes came off session lows as the close neared. Traders said there were more buy orders at the close when some had expected to see selling. They also said the market was lifted by investors buying stock to cover short positions. The Dow and S&P broke below their 200-day moving averages intraday for the first time since mid-March and held below in the close. “I think you’ve got some technical damage here and it’s to be expected. The size of the moves in the currency markets are order-of-magnitude larger than the stock market’s,” said Art Hogan, chief market strategist at Wunderlich Securities. “That’s a hard thing to catch up with, and the knock-on effect that it has.” The euro and pound traded lower, with the U.S. dollar index extending a recent surge to pressure dollar-sensitive assets. U.S. crude oil futures settled down $1.31, or 2.75 percent, at $46.33 a barrel. Materials traded more than 3.5 percent lower to lead decliners in the S&P 500, which traded below the psychologically key 2,000 level. “Materials, they’ve been hurt because of the dollar. The dollar (index) almost got up to 97. Materials are screwed with the dollar above 96. ... As the dollar rips it hurts the companies that make materials,” said Larry McDonald, creator of The Bear Traps Report. The Dow closed about 260 points lower after earlier falling 337 points. Boeing, McDonald’s and IBM had the greatest negative impact as most constituents declined. The Nasdaq composite closed at its lowest since late February. The index underperformed with a decline of more than 2 percent, weighed by Microsoft and Apple. The iShares Nasdaq Biotechnology ETF (IBB) fell 3 percent.
Investors continued to take a defensive stance, with utilities and telecoms the only advancing S&P sectors. Telecom company Verizon and Johnson & Johnson were the only positive Dow components. “I think the market’s trying to adapt to the uncertainty and volatility,” said Marc Chaikin, CEO of Chaikin Analytics. “It’s clearly a shock to the system ... but the ultimate outcome is by no means clear,” he said. In an unprecedented move, Britain surprised markets by voting to leave the European Union late last week. The news raised concerns that other countries might leave the union and that global growth would come under significant pressure, while the actual timeframe of the U.K. departure from the EU remained unclear.
Standard & Poor’s announced Monday that it had lowered the United Kingdom’s sovereign credit rating from “AAA” to “AA,” citing last week’s referendum. The factors behind the decline Monday are “not anything different” from Friday, said Ryan Larson, head of equity trading, U.S., at RBC Global Asset Management (U.S.). “Just a continuation of the concerns regarding the outcome. Unfortunately (it’s) not a one-day event, a two-day event, but presents significant uncertainties not only for the U.K. but how the world will be impacted going forward.” “The market was suggesting broader Europe had more to lose than the U.K.,” he said. “Today it seems more across the board.” European stocks were sharply lower Monday, with the German DAX off about 3 percent and the STOXX Europe 600 about 4 percent lower. Asian stocks closed mostly higher, with the Shanghai composite up nearly 1.5 percent and the Nikkei 225 rising about 2.4 percent. Overnight, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said at an emergency meeting between the government and the Bank of Japan that he has instructed Finance Minister Taro Aso to watch currency markets “ever more closely” and take steps if necessary, following the historic Brexit vote, Reuters said.
The People’s Bank of China set the yuan’s midpoint fix against the dollar at 6.6375, its weakest level since late 2010. The U.S. dollar index rose more than 2 percent Friday for its best day in more than seven years and the index traded more than 1 percent higher Monday to hit its highest in more than three months. The euro was near $1.102 and the yen around 102.05 yen versus the greenback. Pound sterling edged below Friday’s lows to hit $1.3122, its lowest against the dollar since September 1985. Sterling was last near $1.322. “I think we’re looking at a strong dollar world, almost regardless of what the Fed does,” said Thierry Albert Wizman, global interest rates and currencies strategist at Macquarie. In economic news Monday, the Markit flash services PMI for June came in unchanged from the prior month at 51.3.
Treasury yields held lower, with the around 0.61 percent and the 10-year yield near 1.46 percent. The 30-year yield hit 2.272 percent, its lowest level in more than a year. The Dow transports closed 3.1 percent lower, with Avis Budget leading nearly all constituents lower.
“It’s a lot of follow-through from Friday. There’s a lot of uncertainty and panic there. Until the market can get a catalyst to hold onto to get shorts to book gains I expect markets to stay in a downtrend,” said John Caruso, senior market strategist at RJO Futures. Stocks plunged more than 3 percent Friday, with the Dow Jones industrial average and S&P 500 erasing year-to-date gains after the surprise U.K. vote to leave the European Union. Global markets lost a record $2.08 trillion on Friday, according to Howard Silverblatt of S&P Dow Jones Indices. U.S. markets accounted for $830 billion of that loss, he said.
The Dow Jones industrial average closed down 260.51 points, or 1.50 percent, at 17,140.24, with American Express the greatest decliner and Verizon and Johnson & Johnson the only advancers.
The closed down 36.87 points, or 1.81 percent, at 2,000.54 with materials leading eight sectors lower and telecoms and utilities the only advancers.
The Nasdaq composite closed down 113.54 points, or 2.41 percent, at 4,594.44. The CBOE Volatility Index (VIX), widely considered the best gauge of fear in the market, traded lower near 23.2.
About five stocks declined for every advancer on the New York Stock Exchange, with an exchange volume of nearly 1.3 billion and a composite volume of about 5.3 billion in the close.
Gold futures for August delivery settled up $2.30 at $1,324.70 an ounce. | Financial Crisis | June 2016 | ['(CNBC)'] |
The Russian military announces a second test of its most advanced nuclear ICBM, the RS-28 Sarmat, from a base in Plesetsk. President Vladimir Putin claimed in his March 1 state of the nation speech that the new nuclear arsenal will be impossible for U.S.-engineered technology to intercept. | Moscow -- Russia’s military on Friday said it had successfully carried out a second test launch of its most advanced nuclear-capable intercontinental ballistic missile.
The country’s defense ministry released a video showing what it said was the launch of a RS-28 ‘Sarmat’ missile from a base in Plesetsk in northwest Russia, close to the Arctic Circle.
The Sarmat is a heavy ICBM intended to replace Russia’s aging, Soviet-era missiles that form the basis of its nuclear deterrent. The Sarmat, which NATO named “Satan 2,” has been in development since at least 2011 and is believed to be able to carry an increased number of nuclear warheads and has an increased range.
The Sarmat was among the arsenal of new “invincible” nuclear weapons that Russia’s president Vladimir Putin touted in a speech in March and that included a nuclear-powered cruise missile and a hypersonic intercontinental missile.
As with the other weapons he unveiled in his speech, Putin hailed the Sarmat as rendering ineffective even the most advanced missile defense systems that the United States might deploy for the foreseeable future.
“No kind of, not even future missile defense systems will offer any trouble to the Russian rocket complex, Sarmat,” Putin said in his state of the nation speech.
Russia’s military said this was the second time it has successfully test-launched a Sarmat. An article announcing the latest launch in the defense ministry publication, Red Star, said the rocket had been tested in its pre-launch and first stage of flight phases.
A defense source told Russia's state news agency on Thursday that the missile will enter service by 2021, with serial production beginning in 2020.
Experts have said Putin’s claims about the missile were hyperbolic, given that Russia’s current Voyevoda-class ICBMs can already easily overwhelm the U.S.’ missile defenses, as they could have in the Cold War.
The chief innovation of the Sarmat is its ability to carry a large number of guided warheads, meaning that it will be able to rain down individual warheads flying themselves to targets. The massive rocket, which Putin claimed weighs over 200 tons, is believed to be able to fly 16,000 miles and is capable of flying over the South Pole to strike the U.S.
Experts have questioned how complete some of the new weapons vaunted by Putin are in reality, noting that they are long-term hedges against advances in missile defense technology. Putin’s boasts also seemed targeted in large part at a domestic audience, shortly ahead of a presidential election.
Russia has long protested the U.S.’ development of a missile defense shield in Europe, which the U.S. argues is intended to guard against North Korea and Iran, but which the Kremlin says can be directed at Russia.
Putin presented the Sarmat and the other superweapons render missile defense useless and suggested it should prompt the U.S. to abandon the Europe-based shield.
Putin’s saber-rattling with the weapons, which he accompanied in his speech with warnings that the U.S. had failed “to contain Russia,” has prompted fears of a new nuclear arms race, as China also works to develop its own next-generation weapons and President Donald Trump has spoken of massively increasing the U.S. nuclear arsenal.
Putin has since said he does not want an arms race. President Trump last week said that he expected to meet with Putin in the not too distant future to discuss the issue. | Famous Person - Give a speech | March 2018 | ['(ABC News)', '(Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty)'] |
A South African court sentences Oscar Pistorius to five years in prison for killing his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp. , | Follow NBC News PRETORIA, South Africa - Olympic sprinter Oscar Pistorius was loaded into an armored van and taken to prison on Tuesday after a judge sentenced him to five years for the Valentine’s Day killing of his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp.
Judge Thokozile Masipa said the sentence, which followed the athlete's conviction for culpable homicide, was "fair and just both to society and to the accused."
The so-called "Blade Runner" - who also was handed a three-year suspended sentence for a firearms offense - showed little emotion but wiped a tear from his eye after the ruling. He then was led down to a holding cell for the first time, having spent the duration of his trial on bail, and later loaded into an armored police van for the journey to prison.
Steenkamp's parents told reporters outside the court they were happy with the sentence. "I'm just glad it's all over," said her father, Barry. “Justice was served today,” added Dup de Bruyn, the Steenkamp's lawyer.
Defense lawyer Barry Roux said he expects Pistorius to serve one sixth of his sentence in prison - about 10 months - before applying to spend the rest of the sentence under house arrest.
But even if he is released under supervision, Pistorius will be barred from involvement in Paralympic events - including the 2016 games in Rio - until he has completed his sentence, Paralympic officials told NBC Sports.
The maximum prison sentence for culpable homicide in South Africa is 15 years. However, Masipa could have given Pistorius a suspended sentence to be served at home under state supervision - a sort of house arrest.
Pistorius' uncle, Arnold, urged South Africans to accept the ruling and appealed to the media for privacy. "It has been a harrowing 20 months. We are all emotionally drained and exhausted," he said after the sentencing. "I hope Oscar will start his own healing process as he walks down the path of restoration. As a family we are ready to support and guide Oscar as he serves his sentence."
Pistorius' brother, Carl, also posted a picture of the siblings together on Twitter, saying: "Together in Christ we are strong."
In her ruling, Masipa recounted the impact of the shooting on Reeva's family and on the athlete, who has since sold all his property and has no money left.
She also rejected evidence from defense witnesses about Pistorius' weakness. “There was a feeling of unease on my part as I listened to one witness after another placing what I thought was an overemphasis on the accused’s vulnerability," Masipa said.
"Yes, the accused is vulnerable. But he also has excellent coping skills. Thanks to his mother, he rarely saw himself as disabled and excelled as a top athlete.” Still, she noted that Pistorius had inspired people with disabilities worldwide. "This cannot be ignored," she said.
Oscar led down to the cells - surreal moment in court. #Pistorius
The accused contribution to society has been enormous says Masipa & it cannot be ignored #Pistorius | Famous Person - Commit Crime - Sentence | October 2014 | ['(Mail and Guardian)', '(NBC)'] |
Security forces kill at least 54 anti-coup protesters in several cities, thirty-seven of whom in Yangon. A policeman is also killed. It is the protests' deadliest day. The civilian Vice President, Mahn Win Khaing Than, says that they will pass legislation to "give people the right to defend themselves against the military" and calls for a "revolution" to overthrow the junta. Meanwhile, a junta spokesman labels the protesters as "criminals" but refuses to elaborate. | Myanmar's military has imposed martial law across more districts around the country following the deadliest day of protests since February's coup. About 50 people were reported killed when troops and police opened fire on protesters in various areas on Sunday. Most deaths were in Yangon.
Protesters are demanding the release of ousted civilian leader Aung San Kyi.
She heads the National League for Democracy (NLD) which saw a landslide victory in elections last November. The military detained most of the NLD leadership after the coup, alleging voter fraud. No proof has been provided. Ms Suu Kyi has been held at an unknown location since the 1 February coup. She is due to face a slew of charges her supporters say are fabricated.
On Monday, she was due to appear in court, but the virtual hearing was adjourned due to internet problems. The military initially declared martial law in two districts of Yangon (Rangoon), the country's largest city, on Sunday after Chinese businesses were attacked. Martial law was imposed in several other areas of Yangon and Mandalay on Monday. Protesters there can now be tried in military courts.
Protesters believe China is giving support to the military in Myanmar (also called Burma) but it is unclear who was behind the weekend attacks.
Most of Sunday's casualties were reported in Yangon. In total, more than 120 protesters have been killed during the crackdown, according to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP) monitoring group. On Monday there were fresh protests in Mandalay and a number of other locations. Casualties were reported after security forces opened fire on protesters in the central towns of Myingyan and Aunglan. Analysis by Michael Bristow, BBC World Service East Asia editor
It is not clear who targeted Chinese-funded factories in Myanmar. China says the attacks were well planned, with the vandals arriving on motorbikes with weapons and petrol. Some protesters have denied they were involved. But there is widespread anti-China sentiment in Myanmar because of a belief that Beijing is helping the military government there.
This has been partly fuelled by Beijing's refusal to offer outright condemnation of the coup. Initially, Chinese state-run media described it as a simple "cabinet reshuffle". This taps into a deeper mistrust of China in Myanmar. Some Chinese-funded projects in recent years - including a proposed dam and a copper mine - have been controversial because they appeared to give Beijing unwelcome influence. In the past, China has also seen its image suffer because it has been close to the Burmese army. China presents itself as an honest broker that supports neither side. For the protesters, that is not an acceptable position.
The ousted civilian leader is facing charges including "fear and alarm", illegally possessing radio equipment, and breaking Covid rules.
The charges against Ms Suu Kyi carry sentences of several years in jail and could also lead to her being barred from running in future elections if convicted.
Last week, the military also accused the ousted leader of illegally accepting $600,000 (£430,000) and 11kg of gold - a claim the NLD denies. Some of the ousted MPs have refused to accept last month's coup and have gone into hiding, forming a new group, the CRPH, or Committee for Representing the Union Parliament.
In his first public address, their leader Mahn Win Khaing Than urged protesters over the weekend to defend themselves against the military crackdown during what he called a "revolution".
"This is the darkest moment of the nation and the moment that the dawn is close," he said, adding: "The uprising must win." The military considers the CRPH illegal, warning that anyone co-operating with them will face treason charges.
Independent international observers have disputed the military's claim of the fraudulent election held in November 2020, saying no irregularities were observed.
Since the coup the military has used lethal force to try to quell protests, leaving dozens dead and prompting widespread international condemnation. The US has announced sanctions on coup leaders, while steps are also being taken to block access by the military to $1bn of government funds held in the US.
The military has dismissed criticism of its actions, instead blaming Ms Suu Kyi for the violence.
| Protest_Online Condemnation | March 2021 | ['(BBC)'] |
Voters in Kenya go to the polls for a general election with police issuing reports warning of possible violence. | Long queues are reported nationwide as Kenyans vote in an election that observers describe as the most important in the country's history.
Polls were due to close at 17:00 (14:00 GMT) but officials said those in queues at that time would be allowed to vote.
There has been violence around the port town of Mombasa, with at least five police officers killed in one attack.
Early provisional results suggested the two main presidential candidates were far ahead of the rest of the field.
Partial preliminary results from areas where polling ended on time gave Uhuru Kenyatta a lead over Prime Minister Raila Odinga, although analysts cautioned that these results came from Kenyatta strongholds. The two front-runners were well ahead of the other presidential candidates, Mr Kenyatta is due to face trial at the International Criminal Court (ICC) next month in connection with the widespread bloodshed that followed the disputed 2007 election - he denies organising attacks.
Mr Odinga says he was cheated of victory last time.
Authorities had urged Kenyans to avoid a repeat of the 2007 ethnic and political violence that killed more than 1,000 people amid claims the poll had been rigged.
As thousands continued to queue to cast their ballots, voting was extended by up to seven hours to cope with long queues at polling stations. Kenya's Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) issued a notice via social media saying: "We wish to inform members of the public that all Voters on the queue by 5:00pm will be allowed to vote. "Polling Stations that opened late will also close late to compensate for lost time."
The electoral commission said some delays were caused by a new system intended to reduce fraud, which observers hope will prevent the kind of widespread ethnic violence that followed the last poll in 2007. After he cast his ballot, Mr Odinga said he would accept defeat - but added that he was confident of victory in the first round.
"I will congratulate the winner," he said.
Mr Kenyatta also sounded a conciliatory note, saying the president would represent the whole country and that any disputes should be taken to court. Reports from around the country suggested long queues of voters had formed even before polling stations opened - and some voters, such as those in Eldoret, were waiting up to 10 hours to cast their ballots.
Some technical difficulties were reported with newly instituted biometric voting kits - designed to counter claims of vote-rigging and long delays in announcing poll results that were partly blamed for the violence in 2007.
In places, electoral officials are having to use the manual voter registers, delaying voting. But Lilian Mahiri-Zaja, vice-chair of Kenya's independent electoral commission, said the registers were complete and there was no reason why the election should not be credible.
Five police officers and at least six other people - including several attackers - died in the assault in the early hours in Changamwe, half an hour's drive inland from the centre of Mombasa.
There have been further disturbances in the town of Kilifi, north of Mombasa, where six civilians were killed, but details of the incident remain sketchy.
Police pointed the finger at Kenya's coastal separatist group, the Mombasa Republican Council (MRC), but it denied responsibility, saying the group only sought change through peaceful means.
In other developments:
It was unclear whether the deaths around Mombasa were election-related, but the Kenyan police chief said one of the attacks involved over 200 gang members, and in response he was sending an additional 400 officers to the area.
Some blamed a separatist group, the Mombasa Revolutionary Council (MRC) - which has called for an election boycott - for the incident in Changamwe, but others suggested it was just a convenient scapegoat.
Waiting in line outside polling stations in Nairobi hours before polls opened, the atmosphere was calm and people chanted "peace", reports the BBC's Gabriel Gatehouse.
In Garissa, frustration grew in the long queues as the heat beat down, our correspondent reports. Some used umbrellas to shelter from the sun and others bought water to pour over their heads.
Kenyans are choosing a president, members of parliament and senators, county governors and members of 47 county assemblies. However, our correspondent in the capital says all eyes are on the presidency.
Eight candidates are standing but it is essentially a two-horse race pitting Mr Odinga against Mr Kenyatta, he says.
Some observers say they are particularly concerned about violence erupting should neither of the two frontrunners poll more than 50% - in which case the vote will go to a run-off, probably on 11 April.
Mr Kenyatta, son of Kenya's founding father Jomo Kenyatta, is due to stand trial at the ICC in April for his alleged role in orchestrating the violence five years ago. Mr Kenyatta's running mate, William Ruto, has also been indicted. Both men deny any wrongdoing.
The 2007 violence broke out after Mr Odinga claimed he had been cheated of victory by supporters of President Mwai Kibaki. Supporters of the rival candidates, from different ethnic groups, took up arms against each other. Mr Odinga later joined a government of national unity under a peace deal.
The underlying sources of tension in the 2007-8 election remain, and in some parts have escalated, with the risk of violence "perilously high", warns Human Rights Watch.
It says the "near total impunity" of the perpetrators of violence has left them free to rape and kill again.
Some 99,000 police officers have been deployed around the country.
Presidential candidates must secure support from across the country to be declared the winner, so they cannot just rely on support from their ethnic groups, as has been the case in previous elections. | Government Job change - Election | March 2013 | ['(BBC)', '(AP via Business Week)'] |
George Best, the former Manchester United star from Northern Ireland, has been arrested and bailed on suspicion of indecently assaulting a young girl. | The former Manchester United and Northern Ireland star is alleged to have attacked the girl, aged under 13, last month in Surrey.
His agent Phil Hughes said the claims were outrageous and totally unfounded. Mr Best, 59, was questioned over the indecent assault claim when he was arrested on 9 June in connection with an alleged assault against a woman.
It is alleged that Mr Best punched a 34-year-old woman outside the home of his ex-lover, Gina Devivo, in Ewell, Surrey.
We will defend this vigorously
Phil Hughes
Decline of the golden boy
A spokeswoman for Surrey Police said: "We have received an allegation of indecent assault against a 59-year-old man who was arrested on 9 June."
The spokeswoman added the force was not prepared to discuss any further details of the investigation.
On Tuesday, Mr Hughes said: "George is totally innocent. We will defend this vigorously."
He said: "There have been so many lies printed about George that we have let slip through because you cannot sue everybody.
"But we will certainly be suing the people who made these allegations once we have proven his innocence."
'Hit hard'
He added: "You tell me George Best has done something like this and I would say 'absolutely not'."
Mr Hughes said that the former football star who had a liver transplant after years of alcohol abuse had been hit hard by the claims.
"It does not help him with trying to stay off the drink," he said.
Mr Best was questioned for nine hours at Staines police station before being freed on police bail.
He is due to return to a police station in Surrey for further questioning on 6 July. | Famous Person - Commit Crime - Release | June 2005 | ['(BBC)'] |
President Hu Jintao of China arrives in Ottawa on a three–day state visit to Canada. The two countries sign a tourism agreement. | Visiting Chinese President Hu Jintao(L) shakes hands with Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper as they hold talks in Ottawa,Canada,June 24,2010. Photo:Xinhua
Visiting Chinese President Hu Jintao(R, front)meets with Canadian opposition Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff, in Ottawa, Canada, June 24, 2010.Photo:Xinhua
China and Canada on Thursday pledged joint efforts to advance bilateral cooperation in an all-round manner and further promote their strategic partnership.
Chinese President Hu Jintao met separately with Canadian Governor General Michaelle Jean and Prime Minister Stephen Harper in Ottawa on a state visit and the two sides signed cooperation agreements aimed at bringing ties closer.
Talking with Jean, Hu said China and Canada share a long history of friendly exchanges, have a lot of common interests and enjoy broad prospects of cooperation.
He suggested both sides join hands to explore trade opportunities, expand cooperation in a wide range of areas and strengthen coordination and cooperation on major regional and international issues.
Jean said Canada regards China as a friend and important partner and Hu's visit and her upcoming visit to China show the extent of the enduring friendship between Canada and China.
In talks with Harper, Hu put forward five proposals for further advancing China-Canada relations, including increasing contact at all levels, expanding practical cooperation, stepping up cultural and people-to-people exchanges, enhancing cooperation in global and regional affairs, and respecting each other's core interests and major concerns.
Hu proposed that the two countries strive to raise the volume of two-way trade to 60 billion US dollars by 2015, encourage reciprocal investment, cooperate in opposing protectionism and properly handle trade frictions through dialogues and consultations.
Hu said China is willing to step up coordination and cooperation with Canada on the reform of the United Nations, climate change, nuclear non-proliferation, nuclear disarmament, international peace-keeping and global public health. The two countries should work together to build a harmonious world of lasting peace and common prosperity.
Harper said that Canada-China relations have become one of the most important bilateral relations in the world and bilateral relations have great potential for further growth.
He said Canada is ready to work with China to further advance the strategic partnership between the two countries. He hoped the two countries would maintain high-level contact and further expand practical cooperation and exchanges in various fields, especially in the fields of politics, energy, finance, culture, education and media.
After the talks, the two leaders witnessed the signing of cooperation documents between the two countries, which included the agreement to designate Canada as a destination of overseas travel by Chinese citizens.
At present, China is Canada's second largest trading partner while Canada is China's 13th trading partner. In 2009, two-way trade between the two countries reached 29.7 billion US dollars. | Diplomatic Visit | June 2010 | ['(Global Times)'] |
Ace Magashule, a top official of the African National Congress, is expected to face 21 charges of corruption in Bloemfontein, South Africa. | A top official of South Africa’s ruling party, the African National Congress, has been charged with 21 counts of fraud and corruption, a significant step in President Cyril Ramaphosa’s drive against graft in the country
JOHANNESBURG -- A top official of South Africa's ruling party, the African National Congress, has been charged with 21 counts of fraud and corruption, a significant step in President Cyril Ramaphosa's drive against graft in the country.
ANC secretary-general Ace Magashule was charged and released on bail at court in Bloemfontein. He was cheered by hundreds of supporters who gathered outside the courthouse, showing that many within the ruling party do not support the anti-corruption campaign.
Magashule is the latest high-profile figure to face corruption charges as authorities intensify investigations into wide-ranging graft allegations in the country.
Magashule is accused of involvement in the looting of the equivalent of $13.8 million when he was the premier of the Free State province from 2009 to 2018.
It is alleged that he benefitted from a contract to audit how many houses in the province still had asbestos roofs, which was awarded to his close associates. The contract was awarded for $15 million, but it has since emerged that only $1.2 million was actually spent doing the work.
State prosecutors said that Magashule’s former personal assistant when he was the premier of Free State, Moroadi Cholota, had turned state witness against Magashule. Cholota is currently living in the United States.
Magashule is now the eighth accused in the case, including ANC-linked businessmen and former high-profile government officials.
He told his supporters outside the court that he would not step down from his position as secretary-general despite facing serious charges.
“I was elected by branches of the ANC at a national conference, and I will only step down if they make that decision,” said Magashule.
Scores of ANC supporters, wearing colorful party T-shirts and hats and waving placards bearing messages of support for Magashule, surrounded the Bloemfontein court to show their support for Magashule on Friday. This demonstration was despite the party’s call that people should only support Magashule as individuals, not under the banner of the party.
The demonstration to support Magashule shows that there are many within the ANC who do not support Ramaphosa's anti-corruption drive. At the head of the opposition to Ramaphosa is former presidenti Jacob Zuma, who is also facing corruption charges, in a different case.
Magashule’s case was postponed to February next year, where the prosecution will apply for it to be transferred to the High Court for trial. | Famous Person - Commit Crime - Accuse | November 2020 | ['(ABC News)'] |
Saudi Arabian Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir says the country's recent tensions with Iran will not interfere with Syrian peace talks scheduled to begin in Geneva, Switzerland, later this month. | Saudi Arabia said Tuesday that its feud with Iran would not interfere with Syrian peace talks scheduled to begin later this month, signaling an easing of the tensions that erupted after the kingdom’s execution of a prominent Shiite cleric.
Kuwait meanwhile joined the list of Saudi Arabia’s Sunni-led allies to cut or downgrade ties with Iran, saying that it has recalled its ambassador to Tehran in solidarity with the kingdom after Riyadh’s severance of diplomatic relations with Iran on Sunday.
The rift is the most serious between the region’s rival Sunni and Shiite powers since Saudi Arabia and Iran last cut ties in the 1980s over tensions stemming from the Iran-Iraq war, and it raised the specter of a wider conflict in a region already convulsed by several wars.
[The seven most important moments of the Saudi-Iranian rivalry] Among them is the conflict in Syria, which has raged unchecked for nearly five years and only now has emerged as a key priority for the Obama administration’s foreign policy team. Bringing peace to Syria will be the administration’s “foremost challenge” for the year ahead, Secretary of State John F. Kerry said in an opinion piece marking the new year.
Central to the challenge is the effort to reconvene peace talks in Geneva that failed spectacularly two years ago after less than a month. The new rift between Saudi Arabia and Iran had imperiled those talks, which could not proceed without the support of both countries, as sponsors of rival factions in the war in Syria.
Kerry spent most of the past two days on the telephone with Saudi and Iranian leaders as well as with officials of other coalition countries in the region “to encourage de-escalation,” according to Brett McGurk, President Obama’s special envoy to the coalition against the Islamic State group.
“One of the key things on Kerry’s mind is not letting the Vienna process stall or fall backward,” said State Department spokesman John Kirby, referring to a statement in Vienna last year proposing ways to end the Syrian war that was agreed to by Saudi Arabia and Iran.
After meeting with Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir in Riyadh on Tuesday, the U.N. special envoy for Syria said he had been assured that Saudi Arabia would not allow the latest falling-out with Iran to interfere with the talks.
“There is a clear determination on the Saudi side that the current regional tensions will not have any negative impact on the Vienna momentum and on the continuation of the political process that the U.N, together with the International Syria Support Group, intend to start in Geneva soon,” special envoy Staffan de Mistura said after the meeting, according to a U.N. statement.
Saudi Arabia affirmed those sentiments, with the official Saudi press agency saying that the spat with Iran “would not affect” the peace talks “negatively.”
“We will continue working with you and the international community in order to reach a political solution for the Syrian crisis,” the agency quoted Jubeir as saying.
Jubeir also told de Mistura that Saudi Arabia would continue to provide “military, political and economic support to the Syrian people,” a reference to Saudi Arabia’s backing of the opposition to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s government.
It remains unclear whether Iran will remain committed to the talks in light of the rupture. De Mistura is due to visit Iran for a previously scheduled meeting at the weekend, according to Iranian media reports.
But the State Department welcomed expressions of regret by Iran for the ransacking and burning of the Saudi Embassy contained in a letter to the United Nations from Iranian officials. A senior Obama administration official also noted that while Bahrain and Sudan had followed Saudi Arabia’s lead in severing relations with Iran, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates had only downgraded them.
The official spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the sensitive rift, which has presented the Obama administration with a dilemma: As it is seeking improved relations with Iran, a long-standing U.S. enemy, a major rupture has taken place between Iran and its longtime regional ally Saudi Arabia.
The crisis erupted over the weekend when Saudi Arabia executed a prominent Shiite cleric, Nimr Baqr al-Nimr, triggering angry demonstrations in Tehran during which the Saudi Embassy was ransacked and burned.
[Who is the Saudi cleric whose execution caused the Riyadh-Tehran blowup?] The crisis drew worldwide expressions of alarm and appeals for restraint, amid growing concerns about the potential for conflict in an already volatile region that controls access to a third of the world’s oil supply.
| Diplomatic Talks _ Diplomatic_Negotiation_ Summit Meeting | January 2016 | ['(Reuters)', '(The Washington Post)'] |
This potentially record storm, which is predicted to generate blizzard conditions through a third day on Sunday, has caused at least 10 deaths, knocked out power to hundreds of thousands, led to more than 8,300 canceled flights, stranded many travelers on major highways and, with up to 70 mph winds, produced record-high tides along the Delaware and New Jersey shores. | Follow NBC News A killer snowstorm paralyzed the East Coast on Saturday, effectively shutting down New York City and the nation's capital, while dumping as much as 3 feet of snow in other areas.
At least 19 people died in the mammoth storm, which canceled thousands of flights throughout the weekend.
New York City recorded its second-largest snowfall since 1869, with Central Park receiving 26.8 inches by midnight — 0.1 inch shy of tying the record 26.9 inches set in 2006, the National Weather Service said.
Baltimore got a record 25.5 inches, breaking a daily record set in 1935, and a measurement of 22.3 inches of snow was taken in Washington, D.C. at midnight. New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo closed all roads in New York City and Long Island at 2:30 p.m. Saturday as well as tunnels and bridges going to New Jersey. Above-ground sections of the subway and New York City buses stopped running.
The travel ban will be lifted at 7 a.m. Sunday, Cuomo said Saturday evening. "We have made very good progress in cleaning the roads," Cuomo said in a conference call with reporters.
While unusual, Cuomo said the shutdown was necessary because "the storm was fast and furious, and we believe that safety is paramount."
There were three shoveling-related deaths in New York City, officials said. Two people also died while apparently using snow blowers on Long Island Saturday, police said. New York City Police said they had responded to 312 car accidents and 343 disabled vehicles across the city.
With travel prohibited, major landmarks and attractions quickly closed their doors. All Broadway matinee and evening performances were canceled, and the Metropolitan Museum of Art shuttered early.
Meanwhile, in Washington, D.C., which is bracing for record snowfall, the North Lawn of the White House was bombarded by snowdrifts that were 20.5 inches high. The National Guard deployed 100 personnel in 30 Humvees to support local authorities.
The federal government closed its offices at noon Friday, and public transportation was shut down through Sunday. Monuments, normally teeming with tourists, were largely deserted.
By the time the storm is over Sunday, one in seven Americans from Kentucky to Connecticut could be under at least half a foot of snow, forecasters said.
The biggest snowfall was in rural Glengary, West Virginia, which got a whopping 40 inches as of 2:45 p.m., The Weather Channel said according to unofficial snow totals.
Redhouse, Maryland, was second, with 38 inches by 1:30 p.m. Parts of West Virginia got up to 33 inches, and parts of Virginia got 30 inches by late morning, while Roaring Spring, Pennsylvania, had 30 inches.
In Silver Spring, Maryland, which already had 20 inches of snow by morning, lightning and thundersnow lit up the skies, The Associated Press said.
Parts of Tennessee, South Carolina, West Virginia, and Georgia saw 6 inches and more. Eight inches of snow fell at Nashville International Airport, the most since 1996, when Nashville got 8.7 inches, the AP said.
Follow Live: Blizzard Blog Updates
In Philadelphia, which also shut down public transportation, officials said the city had 22.6 inches of snow just after 3 p.m.
Plows not able to reach Philadelphia residential areas yet, maybe not until tomorrow #blizzard2016 pic.twitter.com/IEUwiQNdI6
The weekend winter wallop has knocked out power to hundreds of thousands, led to nearly 10,000 canceled flights and been blamed for at least 19 deaths, most of which were related to car accidents.
Besides the five New York City deaths, six of the deaths were in North Carolina, two were in Kentucky and two were in Tennessee, and there was one each in Virginia, Arkansas, Pennsylvania, and Maryland.
One of those killed in Kentucky was a state Department of Transportation worker, who was fatally injured in a snow plow crash.
Photo Gallery: Pictures From the Storm
But the worst wasn't over yet. Strong winds that topped 30 mph and gusted to about 50 mph were blowing from Virginia to New York, the National Weather Service reported. In Maryland, all of Interstate 270 heading toward Washington, D.C., and part of I-70 were shut down.
Related: Good Samaritan Shot to Death Helping Stranded Driver in North Carolina
The snow began falling Friday, zeroing in on Kentucky. Drivers were stranded on a long stretch of Interstate 75 south of Lexington because of a string of crashes and blowing snow, state police and witnesses said.
Coastal flooding was also a major concern. From Virginia to New England, high tides produced minor to moderate coastal flooding Saturday morning, with record surges in Delaware and the Jersey Shore.
With the next high tide happening Saturday evening just before 7:30 p.m., officials in Union Beach, New Jersey, issued a voluntary evacuation. A flood warning was in place in Ocean County until noon Sunday.
There were power outages, too. The worst affected area was North Carolina, where more than 148,000 customers were without electricity. More than 90,000 homes and business also lost power in New Jersey.
Elizabeth Chuck is a reporter for NBC News who focuses on health and mental health, particularly issues that affect women and children. | Hurricanes_Tornado_Storm_Blizzard | January 2016 | ['(NBC News)', '(Reuters)', '(ESPN)'] |
In France, police arrest serial impostor Frédéric Bourdin, who had taken a role of a schoolboy | Frederic Bourdin, nicknamed "the Chameleon", attended the Jean Monnet school in Pau posing as "Francisco Hernandez-Fernandez", a Spanish orphan.
A teacher unmasked him last week after having watched a television programme about his exploits.
Bourdin was jailed in the US in 1997 for posing as a couple's long-lost son.
The Texas couple's 14-year-old blue-eyed son had disappeared three years earlier and they travelled to the US embassy in Spain to meet "Nicholas Barclay".
Bourdin convinced them that he was their son, despite his brown eyes and strong French accent.
He lived with them for three months before his deception was exposed by a journalist and confirmed by a DNA test. He was jailed for six years.
Attention-seeking
Commenting on his latest exploit, Bourdin said that in Pau he got what he wanted.
"I loved the kids and the people looking after them, they treated me as one of them," he said.
Quoted by the French news agency AFP, he said he sought "love and affection" by assuming false identities.
The school head was quoted as saying Bourdin "appeared a bit older than his pals - two or three years at most". France's Le Figaro newspaper reports that Bourdin is an excellent actor who dresses as a teenager, uses depilatory face creams and adopts a convincing youthful walk.
He is said to have assumed numerous other identities.
He will appear in court in Pau in September.
As a youth he was placed in a children's home after being raised by his grandparents in a Paris suburb, Le Figaro reports. | Famous Person - Commit Crime - Arrest | June 2005 | ['(BBC)'] |
The Mossos d'Esquadra announces that on September 19, 2018, they arrested a man planning to assassinate the Prime Minister of Spain Pedro Sánchez. | A man has been arrested in north-eastern Spain on suspicion of plotting to assassinate Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez.
The suspect, known as a crack shot, had an arsenal of weapons at his home in Terrassa, Catalonia's Mossos d'Esquadra police force announced.
Local media said the man, 63, wanted to take revenge for Mr Sánchez's plans to exhume the remains of Francisco Franco.
The fascist leader's mausoleum is revered by the Spanish far right.
Sixteen unlicensed firearms, including a pistol, were found in the suspect's home.
Named only as Manuel M, the suspect is said to have told friends on Whatsapp he was going to kill Mr Sánchez, who became prime minister in June.
He is said to be a far-right extremist with a history of mental problems.
| Famous Person - Commit Crime - Arrest | November 2018 | ['(BBC)', '(The New York Times)'] |
An explosion near the Egyptian foreign ministry building in Cairo kills at least two police officers. | A bomb explosion near the Egyptian foreign ministry in Cairo has killed at least two police officers, security officials say. The blast occurred on a crowded street near the River Nile. Witnesses said smoke was seen rising from the area.
No group has so far claimed responsibility for the explosion.
Islamist militants have intensified attacks on the security forces since the army ousted President Mohamed Morsi of the Muslim Brotherhood in 2013.
Sunday's blast occurred in the Bulaq Abu-al-Ila district.
The bomb is believed to have been planted below a tree. Initial reports said at least four people - two policemen and two civilians - were killed.
Security officials later sealed off the area, looking for more bombs, Egypt's Mena news agency reports.
The Islamist violence at first targeted mostly police and the army in the Sinai peninsula, but has recently spread to other regions including the capital. The militants say they are taking revenge for the hundreds of Islamists killed and thousands detained in a crackdown on the Brotherhood.
| Armed Conflict | September 2014 | ['(BBC)'] |
Polish President Andrzej Duda vetoes a bill that would have demoted all communist–era military officers who served between 1944 and 1990 to private. | The law allowed for communist-era generals to be demoted to the rank of privates. Duda said the bill was unfair as it did not provide any legal recourse to the affected officers, many of whom are now dead.
Polish President Andrzej Duda on Friday vetoed a law that allowed for communist-era officers who served in the military between 1944 and 1990 to be stripped of their rank.
Duda, who is an ally of the country's right-wing government, argued that the bill was not fair as it would not have allowed the demoted officers, many of whom are dead, to defend themselves.
"It was certainly a violation of democratic standards of the state," Duda said.
'Surprised and disappointed'
The ruling Law and Justice party (PiS), which critics have said wants to erase the legacy of post-war, Soviet-dominated communist rule, was "surprised and disappointed," the party spokeswoman Beata Mazurek said.
The proposed law would have allowed for communist-era generals and other high-ranking officers to be stripped of their ranks and reduced to the rank of private.
Duda said the law wrongly applied to all former members of the infamous Military Council of National Salvation (WRON), which was responsible for imposing martial law in Poland in 1981, since not everyone played an active role in the council's decisions.
One of them was Gen. Miroslaw Hermaszewski, Poland's only astronaut. Hermaszewski, who is seen as a national hero, was drafted onto the council in 1981 without his knowledge or consent and discharged from it after two weeks.
| Government Policy Changes | March 2018 | ['(Deutsche Welle)'] |
Iran's national security adviser Ali Larijani visits Iraq for talks. | A delegation headed by Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki will attend the conference later this week in the Egyptian resort of Sharm el-Sheikh.
US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, who is also due to attend, hinted that she could meet Mr Mottaki.
But she said any "encounter" would be a chance to discuss Iraq's security situation, and not specific US-Iranian relations.
"This is not a (conference) about the United States and Iran," she told ABC's This Week program. "This is a meeting about Iraq and about what Iraq's neighbours and interested parties can do to help stabilize the situation in Iraq," she said.
On Saturday, a car bomb killed 55 people in Karbala, Iraq, home to two of Shia Islam's holiest shrines.
The blast is the second major attack in Karbala this month. Sunni militants are suspected of carrying out the attacks.
Iran has close ties with Shias in Iraq, and has been accused by the United States of arming and training Shia militants for sectarian conflict with Sunnis.
'No strings'
Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari welcomed the prospect of talks between Iran and the US.
Security efforts are continuing in several areas of Iraq
"I think it's important, it would be a major breakthrough and any reduction in tensions will positively impact the situation in Iraq," he said.
"We don't want Iraq to be a battleground for settling scores on other agendas at our cost. Really, this has been harming us, damaging us a lot."
News that Iran would attend the conference came as Iran's top security envoy Ali Larijani arrived in Baghdad.
The BBC's Frances Harrison, in Tehran, says that Iran had been reluctant to go to the conference because attendance would mean engaging with the United States, which is still holding five Iranians captive in Baghdad.
One Iraqi diplomat described this as a critical time for Iran, a possible turning point in its deteriorating relations with the outside world. Continuing crackdown
The conference would give Iran a chance to show good faith over Iraq, and also offer an opportunity to mend relations with Washington, our correspondent says. It comes as US-led forces continue a security crackdown in Iraq.
Overnight the US carried out what it has called a massive effort to disrupt the networks of al-Qaeda in the country. The US said 72 suspected militants had been detained in raids west and north of Baghdad, in the provinces of Anbar and Salahuddin. In one raid, near the town of Karmah, the Americans said troops had uncovered 20 large barrels of nitric acid and other bomb-making materials. In Baghdad, the US military fired an artillery barrage on Sunday morning targeting what reports say were insurgent positions in the south of the city. The series of loud blasts was heard throughout Baghdad and lasted for about a quarter of an hour. | Diplomatic Talks _ Diplomatic_Negotiation_ Summit Meeting | April 2007 | ['(BBC)'] |
American singer Chris Brown is arrested on suspicion on assault with a deadly weapon following a lengthy stand–off with the Los Angeles Police Department. | Chris Brown was released on $250,000 bail Tuesday night after he was booked on charges of assault with a deadly weapon, following an hours-long standoff earlier that day between the singer and officers at his Los Angeles home, police said.
Brown's attorney Mark Geragos tweeted that the singer was "out and well" and "allegations against him are demonstrably false."
Thanks to everyone for their support and well wishes. Chris is out and well. The allegations against him are demonstrably false #TeamBreezy
— Mark Geragos (@markgeragos) August 31, 2016
News from around the country and around the globe
Brown was released at 11:19 p.m. and is scheduled to be arraigned on Sept. 20 at the Clara Shortridge Foltz Criminal Justice Center, jail records show.
Officers responded to the property in the typically quiet Tarzana neighborhood around 3 a.m. following a 911 call from a woman requesting help.
The woman who made the call told authorities Brown pointed a gun at her, NBC News reported.
Los Angeles police spokesman Lt. Chris Ramirez did not identify the woman, elaborate on the assistance she needed or know if she was injured.
But model Baylee Curran later told the Los Angeles Times that Brown had pointed the gun at her face. She said Brown and another man became angry with her when she admired the man's diamond necklace. Curran said she and her friend ran outside as one of Brown's associates gave chase and hid under a neighbor's SUV.
The model, who hasn't responded to requests for comment from The Associated Press, also told TMZ she's visited Brown's home in the past and never encountered any trouble.
Earlier Tuesday, police said several people were in the home, including Brown, who was posting videos on Instagram in which he described the police response.
"Y'all gonna stop playing with me like I'm the villain out here, like I'm going crazy," he said in one Instagram video, waving a cigarette and looking at the camera. "When you get the warrant or whatever you need to do, you're going to walk right up in here and you're going to see nothing. You idiots."
Geragos did not immediately return a call for comment. The attorney arrived at Brown's mansion early Tuesday afternoon, parking near a fleet of exotic cars that included three Lamborghinis.
Throughout the afternoon, several of Brown's associates descended to the street below Brown's estate. They declined to identify themselves or answer questions from the media about what occurred. In some instances, the men were belligerent, flashing obscene hand gestures and grabbing recording equipment.
Aerial video showed law enforcement positioned around the sprawling property and several police vehicles at the residence.
The LAPD's robbery-homicide division, which typically handles high-profile cases and those involving celebrities, was assigned to the investigation.
Brown moved into the Tarzana mansion about a year ago. Police have responded to the location before, including for a home invasion robbery and a report that Brown and others were illegally riding ATVs on a neighbor's property.
Brown was the subject of a domestic abuse report involving former girlfriend Rihanna in 2009. He completed five years of felony probation last year after pleading guilty to felony assault in the February 2009 attack.
Earlier this year, authorities in Las Vegas announced Brown would not be charged with a crime after a woman reported a New Year's weekend confrontation in a hotel room. Police said the woman complained that Brown hit her and took her cellphone when she tried to snap his photo during a private party, an account his publicist described as a fabrication. | Famous Person - Commit Crime - Arrest | August 2016 | ['(NBC Los Angeles)'] |
Nigeria charges with murder 49 of the 200 people it has arrested so far following the recent massacre of civilians near Jos. | Nigerian police say 49 people are to be charged with murder after communal violence left scores of villagers dead.
Most of those facing charges are Muslims from the Fulani group, police spokesman Mohammed Lerama told the BBC. The number of those arrested since the killings near the city of Jos has risen to 200, he said. Police say 109 people - thought to be mostly Christians - died in Sunday's bloodshed. Earlier reports put the toll at more than 500. 'Burnt bodies'
The violence followed sectarian killings near Jos in January that left more than 300 dead, most of them believed to be Muslims. Plateau State, in central Nigeria, sits between the mainly Christian south and the predominantly Muslim north. Although the violence takes place largely between Muslims and Christians, analysts say the underlying causes are economic and political. A survivor in the village of Dogo Nahawa, near the city of Jos, told the BBC he heard his neighbours scream as they were attacked. "I went to my neighbour's house. I saw all the wives, they killed them, cut their bodies, put fire on them. And the babies. They killed all the children," Pepi said. Gabriel, the community leader, said his five-year-old granddaughter had been hacked to death with a machete by Fulani-speaking men who had started shooting a heavy machine gun to scare the residents into the open. "The shooting was so heavy that people were afraid. People were running helter skelter because... they had never heard something like this before. [They] ran into them, and they were machete-ed." International pressure
Officials say police and troops are patrolling the area to prevent further trouble. Chief of police for Plateau State Ikechukwu Aduba said on Wednesday he had asked for extra help. Days after the attacks the village is still a scene of devastation. All around me there are houses that have been burned - they are blackened and charred. The village is in shock - there is not a single person in this community who has not been affected. The people are now beginning to take security into their own hands. They are organising groups of young men and saying: "If the authorities cannot protect us, we have to protect ourselves."
The geography of the plateau is flat and open - so access to villages like this is pretty much unimpeded. So unless there is a very strong security presence, people feel very vulnerable.
"Our urgent patrol efforts after the incident... have yielded good results," he said. "We have requested reinforcements, and have been reassured... that reinforcement is on its way." However, international pressure is growing on the Nigerian government to take further action. On Wednesday Pope Benedict XVI denounced the bloodshed as "atrocious". He urged civil and religious leaders "to work towards security and peaceful co-existence". The Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions called on the Nigerian government to "move swiftly" to prevent further attacks. Earlier, the governor of Plateau State, Jonah Jang, said security lapses had worsened the carnage in the three villages targeted. He said he had warned the army about reports of suspicious people with weapons hours before they attacked, but they failed to take action. "Three hours or so later, I was woken by a call that they [armed gangs] have started burning the village and people were being hacked to death," Mr Jang said. "I tried to locate the commanders. I couldn't get any of them on the telephone." Mercenaries
Acting President Goodluck Jonathan has sacked the country's national security adviser, Sarki Mukhtar, in an apparent response to the killings. But the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Navi Pillay, said the villages should have been properly protected after the January killings. The head of the northern area of Nigeria's Christian Association has said he believed mercenaries were involved. Saidu Dogo told the BBC that fighters from neighbouring Chad and Niger took part in the violence. State information commissioner Gregory Yenlong said on Monday that more than 500 people were killed. That figure was also given by religious leaders and rights activists. But state police commissioner Ikechukwu Aduba says 109 people are known to have died. | Armed Conflict | March 2010 | ['(BBC)'] |
The number of worldwide confirmed cases surpasses 60 million. | The global tally of confirmed coronavirus cases has hit 60 million, with the pace of new infections accelerating and the United States reporting record numbers of hospitalisations, according to a Reuters tally.
Photo: 123RF
Officials in the United States, the worst-affected country in the world, urged Americans to stay home for the imminent Thanksgiving holiday as soaring numbers of Covid-19 patients pushed medical professionals to the brink.
The United States has reported 1m new Covid-19 cases in less than a week, taking its total reported infections to over 12.5m and its death toll to 260,000, according to the Reuters data based on official statements.
Globally, infections stood at more than 60m and deaths at 1.4m.
An analysis of the Reuters data showed the rate of new infections picking up globally. It took just 17 days to go from 50m cases to 60m, compared with the 21 days it took to go from 40m to 50m. Around 580,000 cases have been reported each day over the past week and around half of all cases since the start of the pandemic were reported over the past 70 days.
In Europe, 1m new cases were recorded over just five days, for a total of more than 16m cases, including 365,000 deaths.
Governments across Europe are struggling to impose restrictions on public life while allowing families to celebrate Christmas without further fuelling outbreaks.
While a national lockdown in England is due to end next week, Germany, Spain, and Italy have all announced restrictions over the holiday period, including limits on house guests.
The Latin American region has the highest number of reported deaths in the world, representing about 21 percent of all global cases and over 31 percent of all global deaths reported.
Brazil last week joined the United States and India as the only countries to have recorded more than 6m infections. With almost 170,000 confirmed fatalities, Brazil has the world's second-highest death toll.
While India remains the second-worst affected country in the world with almost 9.2m cases, it has continued to report a slowdown in new cases in recent weeks. It has reported an average of around 44,000 cases a day over the past week, well down from a peak of just under 97,900 cases in mid-September.
Asia-Pacific countries such as China, South Korea, Singapore, Australia and New Zealand had shown how rapid, local, and intrusive steps can be effective in extinguishing outbreaks.
France has recorded 60,486 coronavirus cases in one day, its highest one-day total since the pandemic began. | Disease Outbreaks | November 2020 | ['(RNZ)'] |
Voters in Argentina go to the polls for a presidential runoff between Daniel Scioli of the ruling Justicialist Party and Mauricio Macri of the opposition PRO. Mauricio Macri, the mayor of Buenos Aires, was elected with 53% of the vote. . | Centre-right opposition candidate Mauricio Macri is ahead in the presidential election run-off in Argentina, early results suggest.
With almost half the votes counted, Mr Macri has about 54% to his centre-left rival Daniel Scioli's 46%.
Loud cheers erupted at Mr Macri's campaign headquarters after TV exit polls suggested he had won.
A spokesman for Mr Scioli said they would wait for more complete figures to come in before commenting.
Mr Macri, the mayor of Buenos Aires, lost to Mr Scioli, who is the governor of Buenos Aires province, in the first round of voting in October by 36.7% to 34.5%.
But neither candidate managed to win the vote outright, forcing a run-off - the first in the country's history - and Mr Scioli lost ground to his rival in the month since.
If Mr Macri's apparent victory is confirmed, it will be the first time in more than a decade that Argentina's centre-right opposition has wrested the presidency from the centre-left Peronists.
Mr Macri, the leader of the Cambiemos (Let's Change) coalition, went into Sunday's vote with a comfortable lead in opinion polls.
He campaigned on pledges to bring new investment into the ailing economy, tackle crime and fight corruption.
The son of one of Argentina's richest men, he had a long career in business before entering politics.
A close ally of current President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner, Mr Scioli had been expected to win by a greater margin in October.
| Government Job change - Election | November 2015 | ['(AP via the Washington Post)', '(BBC)', '(BBC)'] |
Richard Branson announces that the operations of airlines Virgin Blue, V Australia and Pacific Blue will be merged to form Virgin Australia. | The English entrepreneur and publicity seeker jetted into Sydney this morning aboard an aircraft emblazoned with the new name of Australia’s second-largest airline.
Richard Branson (R) and Virgin Australia CEO, John Borghetti (L) arrive on the new airline's Airbus A330-200 at Sydney Airport.
The renaming of Virgin Blue as Virgin Australia reflects a slightly more conservative approach to the airline’s branding as it attempts to snare a bigger share of the lucrative corporate travel market from Qantas - and restore its flagging fortunes.
Apart from ditching the ‘‘Blue’’, the airline has also decided to drop the bright red body paint from its aircraft in favour of white.
British tycoon Richard Branson (C) and Virgin Australia CEO, John Borghetti (L) at the unveiling of the airline's new brand.
Sir Richard said the Virgin Australia brand represented a new chapter for the airline: ''I'm absolutely thrilled with the new look and feel of Virgin Australia's domestic product and I know it will shake up the Australian travel market on a larger scale than it did 10 years ago.''
The rolling out of Sir Richard, the largest shareholder in the renamed Virgin Australia, comes as the airline confronts some of the toughest market conditions since it was launched in August 2000.
The airline has also successfully negotiated the renaming of its longhaul off-shoots V Australia and Pacific Blue, with both to be rebranded Virgin Australia.
A licensing agreement between Singapore Airlines and Sir Richard – the two shareholders of British long-haul airline Virgin Atlantic – had given them the right of veto over the use of the moniker on airlines which fly internationally.
Sir Richard has previously said it would be ‘‘nice to have a unified brand’’ for the various airlines associated with his aviation interests.
Disaster fallout
The carrier warned about a month ago that its losses will blow out to as much as $150 million in the second half due to the effect of natural disasters on travel demand, high jet fuel prices and weak consumer spending.
Shares in Virgin Blue were unchanged in early trading at 28.5 cents. The stock is down one-third in 2011 compared with a basically flat performance by the overall market.
The chief executive, John Borghetti, has made the strengthening of the airline’s brand one of his key priorities since taking over last year from its co-founder, Brett Godfrey.
It is part of a strategy to extract the airline from the no-man’s land between low-cost carriers such as Jetstar and Tiger Airways and Qantas in the full-service market.
However, airlines are renowned for frequently making changes to their brands. Qantas re-jigged the kangaroo insignia on the tail of its aircraft in 2007, while Air New Zealand’s redesign of staff uniforms more than a year ago was likened to making its flight attendants look like drag queens.
One of the challenges for the company had been to emphasise to consumers that its four brands – Virgin Blue, Polynesian Blue, Pacific Blue and V Australia – were one and the same.
But despite today's renaming of the domestic business, the airline may have to wait some time before it can use the Virgin moniker on its aircraft which fly overseas routes.
The airline will still need to enter negotiations with joint venture partner, the Samoan government, to rename its offshoot Polynesia Blue. | Organization Merge | May 2011 | ['(WA Today)'] |
Health officials in Rockland County, New York, declare a state of emergency due to an ongoing measles outbreak. The county is prohibiting unvaccinated children under the age of 18 from public areas for 30 days. | Plagued by a tenacious outbreak of measles that began last October, New York's Rockland County declared a state of emergency Tuesday and issued a directive barring unvaccinated children from all public spaces.
[W]here more than 10 persons are intended to congregate for purposes such as civic, governmental, social, or religious functions, or for recreation or shopping, or for food or drink consumption, or awaiting transportation, or for daycare or educational purposes, or for medical treatment. A place of public assembly shall also include public transportation vehicles, including but not limited to, publicly or privately owned buses or trains...
The directive follows an order from the county last December that barred unvaccinated children from schools that did not reach a minimum 95-percent vaccination rate. That orderand the directive issued todayare intended to thwart the long-standing outbreak, which has sickened 153 people, mostly children.
"We must not allow this outbreak to continue indefinitely," County Executive Ed Day said in a statement announcing the emergency declaration.
"Every action we have taken since the beginning of this outbreak has been designed to maximize vaccinations and minimize exposures. We are taking the next step in that endeavor today," he explained. "We must do everything in our power to end this outbreak and protect the health of those who cannot be vaccinated for medical reasons and that of children too young to be vaccinated."
The outbreak kicked off when an international traveler sick with the highly contagious viral illness arrived in the county late last September. It has largely spread among the county's insular Orthodox Jewish community. However, other pockets of the county also have low vaccination rates, making them vulnerable.
Earlier this month, anti-vaccine parents appeared in federal court, bringing a lawsuit against the county alleging that banning their unvaccinated children from schools violated their religious freedom. The parents had used religious exemptions to opt their children out of standard vaccinations. The judge in the case denied their request to issue a temporary injunction that would let the children return to school.
But the lawsuit isn't the only opposition the county has faced as it tries to stamp out the infections.
Rockland county is one of six locations nationwide currently experiencing an outbreak of measles. So far this year, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has tallied 314 confirmed cases of the disease from 15 states. The agency recorded 372 cases total for 2018 and just 120 in 2017. | Disease Outbreaks | March 2019 | ['(Ars Technica)'] |
North Korea announces that it has detained a 24yearold US tourist, Miller Matthew Todd, for "rash behavior" during the immigration process. | North Korea has detained a 24-year-old US tourist, reportedly for "rash behaviour" at immigration, the state news agency says.
KCNA news agency said the American, named "Miller Matthew Todd", 24, had been taken into custody on 10 April.
This was due to "his rash behaviour in the course of going through formalities for entry" into North Korea, it added.
The news was released as US President Barack Obama held talks with his South Korean counterpart on his Asia tour.
KCNA said Mr Todd had torn up his tourist visa, shouting that he had "come to the DPRK (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) after choosing it as a shelter".
The agency said such an action constituted a "gross violation" of North Korean law.
No reason was given for the two-week delay in the announcement of his detention. The US has no ties with Pyongyang, with Sweden usually acting on its behalf in cases involving US citizens.
The US state department said it was aware of the report and had been in touch with the Swedish embassy.
North Korea is currently holding US-Korean missionary Kenneth Bae, who was arrested in November 2012. He is serving 15 years of hard labour after being convicted of trying to overthrow the government.
Efforts from Washington to secure Mr Bae's release have so far been unsuccessful.
Merrill Newman, an 85-year-old US national, was briefly held by North Korea last year. He was freed after confessing to committing crimes during the Korean War - a statement he said was given under duress.
US President Obama earlier said America stood "shoulder to shoulder" with South Korea over North Korean provocation. He spoke after holding talks with South Korean leader Park Geun-hye.
| Famous Person - Commit Crime - Accuse | April 2014 | ['(BBC)'] |
The McClatchy company, one of the largest and most respected American news publishers, announces that hedge fund Chatham Asset Management won its bankruptcy sale in a court–supervised auction. Chatham, which owns the National Enquirer, has been an investor in the company since 2009. Court confirmation, likely at a hearing on July 24, is required. McClatchy has been burdened by heavy debt from its large pension obligations and the acquisition of newspaper chain Knight Ridder. | (Reuters) - Hedge fund Chatham Asset Management's bid succeeded in a court-supervised auction for bankrupt news publisher McClatchy Co MNIQQ.PK, the news company said on Sunday.
The Miami Herald publisher said Chatham’s proposed deal, which needs a court confirmation and other regulatory approvals, would help it exit Chapter 11 protection in the third quarter.
McClatchy had filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in February, burdened by heavy debt it took on when it bought newspaper chain Knight Ridder in 2006 and large pension obligations that eat into its profits.
It began soliciting proposals for the company in April and received offers from Chatham and Brigade Capital Management, both holders of the company’s debt.
The Sacramento, California-based publisher said it would contribute about $1.4 billion in pension assets to the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation fund and expects it to assume the company’s qualified pension plan.
Reporting by Ismail Shakil in Bengaluru; Editing by Aurora Ellis
| Organization Merge | July 2020 | ['(Reuters)', '(The New York Times)'] |
At least 35 people are killed and 130 injured after a suicide bombing at Domodedovo International Airport in the Russian capital Moscow. | 117 people have been taken to nearby hospitals, up to ten of them are reported to be in critical condition. There are foreign citizens among the victims, including from the UK, Italy, France, Serbia and Slovakia.Among those injured in Domodedovo were 12 people from European and CIS countries from the UK, Germany, Italy, Slovakia, Serbia, France, Tajikistan, Moldova and Uzbekistan.Out of the 35 people who were killed in the blast, three lost their lives in the hospital and one died in an ambulance. Hotlines are operating to assist those seeking psychological help. Psychologists are also working among passengers at the airport.“The main type of injuries are shrapnel wounds and broken limbs,” said Aleksandr Nikolaev, the chief medical officer of the 1st Gradskaya Hospital, one of the hospitals treating the victims.Wednesday, January 26, has been declared a day of mourning for the victims of the blast, in Moscow and the Moscow Region.Emergency teams have removed the bodies of the dead from the scene, Interfax reports.
“The police are investigating at the scene,” a member of the investigation committee, Vladimir Markin, told RT. “The explosion took place in the international arrival hall. A suicide bomber is suspected of carrying out the attack.”On Monday night, the head of Russia’s Investigative Committee, Aleksandr Bastrykin, was briefed on preliminary results from the investigation.“Earlier at the airport, Aleksandr Bastrykin held a meeting with investigators and members of various task forces,” the Investigative Committee announced on its website. More than 60 investigators and forensic specialists are currently working on the scene.The explosion was definitely a terrorist act, investigators at the airport say. They believe a man wearing an explosive device was in the crowd of people meeting arriving passengers. There are reports that the bomb was packed with shrapnel.Russian President Dmitry Medvedev says the management at Domodedovo Airport is to take responsibility for the deadly suicide blast for not having had effective security measures in place.“What happened at Domodedovo shows that the airport lacks security. It's unbelievable that such a huge amount of explosives was brought into the terminal. Those officials responsible for security in Domodedovo must be punished for their decisions. For this terror attack grief, tragedy,” the Russian President said.According to the Investigative Committee, airport documentation regulating safety is being seized by law enforcement officials.A criminal case has been launched on charges of failure to meet transport security requirements at Domodedovo Airport, the spokesperson for Russia’s Investigative Committee, Vladimir Markin, said on Tuesday.According to security expert Magnus Ranstorp from the Swedish National Defense College, terrorists have attacked a very vulnerable area at the airport, which is typically difficult to protect. “It happened in an area that was not inside the security cordon and therefore, it was relatively easy to go into that but of course there have been reports that the security service has received reports that there was a warning,” he said. “I think it is interesting that there were warnings beforehand and whether they are true or not, we have to see,” Ranstorp added. “On the other hand, it is a very difficult area to secure entirely. Of course, there are possibly some misses by the security service, but it is very difficult to protect.”
The Investigative Committee concluded Tuesday that the attack was carried out by a suicide bomber. His body body parts were found at the scene according to Interfax news agency. Reportedly it is a man of Arab appearance. The authorities are trying to identify him. Several possible accomplices are also being sought three men who may have dropped the suicide bomber off at the airport prior to the explosion. There is no indication yet as to who might be responsible for the deadly attack.A terrorist act in the major international airport of Domodedovo in Moscow claimed 35 lives and left over 150 people injured. These graphic photos taken by eyewitnesses to this horrible tragedy are very explicit. Please, consider thoroughly before looking at the atrocities that terrorism brings.The explosion happened at 4:32 p.m. in the international terminal of the airport. The explosion power was equivalent to 5 kilograms of TNT.
"The explosive device was most likely filled with pieces of metal, based on there being a large number of injured people and the nature of the injuries,"Itar-Tass quoted a source close to the investigation as saying. “The explosion occurred outside the control zone, at the exit from the green channel where no metal detectors are installed,"the official said.A source in Russia’s law enforcement told Interfax news agency that traces of plastic explosives have been found at the site of the blast at Domodedovo.Also, specialists who work at the site say that it is impossible to claim with certainty that the bomb was packed with shrapnel.“There are really metal fragments in the bodies of those killed, but it is possible that those are pieces of metal baggage carts, hand-luggage and other [metal] things that were not far from the explosion epicenter,” one source said.Specialists also do not rule out that the explosive device was detonated by remote control, though they tend to the conclusion that it was a suicide bombing.At the time of the explosion, there were a large number of people at the airport because about 30 flights were due to arrive, including 15 international ones.A criminal case has been opened into the apparent terrorist attack. Police are searching for three suspects in connection with the blast after watching airport security camera footage. Surveillance cameras also caught the moment of the explosion.Three men who have been living in the Russian capital for a certain period of time reportedly took part in organizing the blast, a source told Interfax news agency. He also noted that these three were believed to be Russian North Caucasus militants and might have been somehow connected to two women, one of whom blew herself up at a practice range club in Moscow on December 31 and the other was later arrested in the city of Volgograd.Witness Elena Bakhtina who owns a café at Domodedovo airport says one of her colleagues was taken to hospital."She is in intensive care,” Elena said. “The blast happened in the arrivals area that’s the left wing of the airport. The explosion must have been very strong, because our cafe is somewhat a hundred meters from the arrivals area. And when we heard the blast, plaster started falling from the ceiling".More witness accounts at RT.com
Russia’s Federal Security Bureau had known about a suicide bomber in the city, but their information was incomplete, Rosbalt news agency says. Early on Monday they reportedly searched for the possible bomber, but in Zelenograd, a town in the north of Moscow. The FSB received intelligence late on Sunday, and a large group of police and special forces were moved to Zelenograd for a special operation, but with no result.According to other similar reports that emerged shortly after the incident, security services were aware about the possibility of a terror attack in one of Moscow’s airports but failed to prevent it RIA Novosti quoted an unnamed source in Russia’s law-enforcement services.The agency’s source said that three suspects “made their way on to the territory of the airport unhindered, monitored the explosion that was performed by their accomplice and left the airport.” Most likely, the suicide bomber was brought in a car and dropped off at the parking slot on the left side of the airport, the source added.However, Moscow police information chief Victor Biryukov insisted that the police were not aware of any plans related to the terror attack."We officially declare that Moscow police did not possess any information about preparations for a terror attack,” he said.
Moscow police have been put on alert over possible terror attacks in the capital. They are also on alert at Vnukovo airport and Sheremetyevo international airport in Moscow, and in the metro system. The security measures have been increased in all the major transport hubs, including metro, airport stations and other airports.
RT has explored Moscow's underground network to find out what's being done for protection there.
Russia's Anti-Terrorism Committee says the situation at the airport and across Moscow is under control.“Right after we received information about the explosion, police officers, federal security experts and emergency teams went to the airport,” a member of the committee, Andrey Przhezdomsky, told RT. “We're taking every measure to prevent any such incidents in other public places. In accordance with the presidential order, we've tightened security at all transportation hubs in Moscow.”“We're considering various motives, but the most likely one is an act of terror,” he added. “The National Anti-Terrorism Committee has already asked the public for any information about the incident. The situation at the airport and across the capital is under control. This is, of course, a very grave incident, and it shows that society should mobilize to fight against terrorism.”Starting Tuesday, large-scale checks of anti-terrorist security measures at airports and railway stations have commenced in Russia, the Prosecutor General’s Office spokesperson Marina Gridneva said.The Moscow government is to pay compensation to the families of Muscovites who died in the blast. Burial services will also be paid for from the city budget.
Dmitry Medvedev has held an urgent meeting with the Prosecutor General, the Investigative Committee Chief and the Transportation Minister. He ordered a special regime in all Moscow airports and other transport hubs and also ordered that the Health and Emergency Situations Ministries provide all necessary help to the victimsof the attack.The president has delayed his flight for his trip to the Davos economic forum, scheduled for Tuesday, Medvedev’s press secretary Natalya Timakova says.President Medvedev has also held a meeting with the Federal Security Service officials. He told them that finding those who are responsible for planning the bombing at Domodedovo Airport is now their top priority. And once the culprits are found, they should be brought to court and if any resistance is put up, the “nests” of the perpetrators should be rooted out. As for those who are responsible for the security of passengers in Russia, President Medvedev said they have not followed laws on anti-terrorism properly, and were partly to blame for what happened.
Meanwhile, all airports in Russia are stepping up security, first of all in the Moscow region, Itar-Tass news agency reports. Still, Domodedovo Airport is working without restrictions, both for arriving and departing flights, said the Federal Agency for Air Transportation spokesman (Rosaviatsia) Sergey Izvolsky.
Political analyst Dmitry Babich believes that if the news is confirmed that the blast was caused by a suicide bomber, the situation will be even worse and the investigation will be led up the so-called “Muslim track”.“Usually the Islamist fanatics have this [particular] way of committing terrorist acts. If that was a suicide bomber, the whole idea was to show, that: ‘Not only can we kill a lot of people, but we have people who are ready to sacrifice a life!” he said.RT’s political commentator Peter Lavelle says that all of this is a fundraiser.“These people are not going to win what they are doing, but they have to show their fund providers that they can still pull this off. It’s big and it’s a big message: ‘We can still get under the radar of Russian security services.’ It’s a challenge!” he said.
Journalist and author Phil Rees believes that the finger certainly points at the North Caucasus. “We are still in the arena of speculation, but I think the finger almost certainly points to the Caucasus Emirates, to the Islamist group that is based formerly with Chechnya groups but also now spread to the neighbouring republics there. It was two women in Dagestan, which is to the east of Chechnya, who were responsible for the bombing of the Moscow metro in March of last year. So I think for sure the finger will be pointing towards that group.”
According to political analyst Aleksandr Nagorny, it is unlikely Chechen militants are to blame for the Domodedovo blast.”First of all, I would not say it is Chechen terrorists,” he said. “In Chechnya the local authorities have a very strong grasp on [the] local situation. It is mainly coming from Dagestan and other North Caucasus republics.”
“All indications are that this is part of the insurgency going on in the North Caucasus unless we hear evidence of other suspects,” Dennis Sammut, executive directors of Links, told RT. “I think that it's natural to suspect that it's people involved in the insurgency in the North Caucasus that are behind it. We have to keep in mind that the insurgency in the North Caucasus now has connections with other terrorist groups in the Middle East and other parts of the world. We are probably seeing yet another outrage, another attack against civilians in the same pattern as happened in New York, in London, in Paris, in Madrid and other parts of the world. "
Sergey Strokan, a political analyst and a journalist from the Kommersant newspaper, told RT that it is too premature to lay the blame for the deadly blast with anyone in particular."I've seen on the web that some Western media was quick to say that this might be done by a group or a batallion of the so-called suicide bombers, who are under the control of the ex-Chechen rebel leader Doku Umarov, but let me emphasize once again that it's too early to speak about who specifically was responsible for this," Strokan said."On the other hand, one thing is definitely clear it was done by the so-called 21 century terrorist group," Strokan added. "It by no means can be called an act of individual due to two reasons first, it was definitely a powerful explosive device, which could have been accessed by a certain group and the second is the place of the terrorist act."
Chris Yates, an aviation expert, told RT there are fears that similar attacks could happen anywhere in the world."It's always been a great fear among aviation security professionals around the world that airport terminals themselves could potentially be seen as the target for those who wish to do us harm,” he said. “And that's precisely what occurred today. A public area [offers] reasonably easy access… to anybody who wishes to blow themselves up."
Paul Lashmar, an investigative journalist based in London, agrees. He says not only Domodedovo, but any big transport hub that is vulnerable to such attack.“The awful truth is that there is no way to stop determined terrorists in any capital on a constant basis,” he told RT. “There are certain things you have to do, especially after an attack. You cannot say, ‘Oh, well, it’s over, done with this, not going to be another one.’ We’ve seen before that terrorists are quite good at, sort of, setting one explosion and then one shortly afterwards. Sometimes that’s deliberate, but in the case of London, back in 2005, people who fled from an underground station to a bus that bus was then blown up.”“So, you’ve really got to have very tight security immediately, but ultimately it’s very, very hard to protect all transport hubs in a capital city, I think,” Lashmar concluded.
The last confirmed terror attack in Moscow happened in March 2010, when twin blasts at two Moscow Metro stations killed 40 and injured almost 90 passengers. The attack was carried out by female suicide bombers from the Chechen Republic.Earlier, in August 2006 a blast at Cherkizovo marketplace killed 14 and injured 61 people. The attack carried out by Russian nationalist extremists targeted migrants working there.In August 2004, a suicide bomber set detonated explosives near a Metro station. It is believed her intention was to carry out the attack underground, but her nerve failed when police noticed her strange behaviour and tried to investigate. The blast killed ten and injured 33.In February 2004, a suicide attack in a running Moscow Metro train killed 41 people and injured some 250.In December 2003, a suicide bomber set off an explosion near the National Hotel in central Moscow. It killed six people and injured 14.In June the same year, two suicide bombers killed 16 and wounded some 60 people at the Krylia rock festival at Tushino airport in Moscow.In October 2002, a 40 to 50 strong gang of militants took more than 900 people hostage in a theater in Dubrovka Street in Moscow. They planted explosive devices in the crowd and threatened to set them off if their demands are not met. The four-day stand-off ended in a raid by Russian anti-terror troops, who used poisonous gas to disable all the terrorists. The gas killed about 130 of the hostages.In October 2002, a car bomb parked near a McDonald’s restaurant killed one person and injured eight.In February 2001, an explosive device planted at the Belorusskaya Metro station injured some 20 people. The perpetrators of this attack have never been identified.In August 2000, an improvised explosive device at an underground walkway near Pushkinskaya square killed 13 people and injured 61.In September 1999 there were two bombings, with a six-day delay in between, in the basements of residential buildings in Moscow. The total death toll was more than 225, while some 700 people were injured. It was the worst-ever terror attack in Moscow.In August 1999, a bomb killed one woman and injured 41 people in a trade mall at Manezhnaya square. | Armed Conflict | January 2011 | ['(Russia Today)', '(Reuters)'] |
In Paris, former sports minister Guy Drut withdraws from the Paris' bid to host 2012 Olympic Games because he is charged with involvement with corruption | He says he is innocent of the charges but does not want to harm the capital's chances of hosting the 2012 Games. Paris will find out on 6 July if it has beaten off London, New York, Madrid and Moscow for the right to host the Games.
Mr Drut, who won the high hurdles at the 1976 Olympics, has been a key figure in the Paris bid to stage the 2012 Games.
Allegations
But he says he fears that Paris' rivals could take advantage of the court proceedings and does not want the case against him to harm either the Paris bid or the IOC. Mr Drut is one of 47 defendants, including politicians, party officials and representatives of some of France's biggest building companies, accused of manipulating public works contracts in the Paris region to obtain illegal party funding. Last month, Mr Drut was charged with receiving a 3,000-euro (2,000; $3,600) monthly salary for a job which did not exist within a building company.
The corruption allegations date back to the early 1990s, but he says his conscience is clear. | Famous Person - Commit Crime - Accuse | June 2005 | ['(GamesBids)', '(BBC)'] |
A military judge at Fort Meade in Maryland rejects dropping charges against imprisoned U.S. serviceman Bradley Manning and says his trial would likely be delayed by two months until November. | Bradley Manning has failed to persuade a military judge to throw out half of the counts against him in a pre-trial hearing before his court martial for allegedly leaking hundreds of thousands of state secrets to WikiLeaks.
Colonel Denise Lind, presiding over the proceedings at Fort Meade in Maryland, rejected a defence motion that 10 of the 22 counts against the US soldier should be dismissed. The decision leaves Manning facing a possible sentence of life in military custody for allegedly having been the source of the WikiLeaks publications that included war logs from Afghanistan and Iraq, video footage of a US helicopter attack on civilians and diplomatic cables from around the world.
The ruling came at the end of the third day of hearings at Fort Meade that have been dominated by complaints from Manning's lawyers that he is not being allowed a fair trial. The soldier's lead civilian lawyer, David Coombs, told the court that Manning's military prosecutors had been lapse in their obligation to hand over evidence that could help him defend himself.
As a result of the legal tussles, the judge ordered extra pre-trial hearings to be scheduled and made it clear to the prosecution that they had to step up their efforts to provide full disclosure of materials to the defence that could help Manning prove his innocence or reduce any sentence. As a result, the full court martial will be delayed from September to November or possibly January.
But Lind refused to meet a request on the part of the defence to throw out many of the charges against Manning. Two of the 10 that Coombs had asked to be dismissed related to the soldier's access to closed military computers.Manning was employed as an intelligence analyst at the Forward Operating Base Hammer outside Baghdad between 2009 and 2010. His job was to pore over databases relating to insurgent activity in Iraq and search for patterns of behaviour that would aid his military commanders in the framing of strategy.
In the pursuit of that work, Manning was authorised to enter the closed computer network known as the Secret Internet Protocol Router Network, or SIPRNet. Yet he is charged with having "exceeded authorised access when he accessed those classified government computers for an unauthorized or expressly forbidden purpose."
Manning's defence team objected to that more expansive interpretation of the term "authorised access", arguing that he was clearly permitted to use the computer network and that his purpose for doing so was irrelevant to the charge. The judge agreed with that legal interpretation, but said she did not have sufficient evidence to dismiss the two counts.
Her nuanced ruling, however, puts the onus on the prosecution to up its game in pressing these two counts at trial.
Lind also rejected a defence motion to dismiss a further eight counts. The defence argued that the charges, that all relate to unauthorised possession and disclosure of classified information, were so vaguely worded as to be unconstitutional. In these cases, the judge disagreed and allowed the charges to stand.The delay in the preparation for trial means that by the time Manning does finally face a jury he will have already been in custoy for almost three years. He was arrested on 26 May 2010 and is now being held at Fort Leavenworth in Kansas. | Famous Person - Commit Crime - Sentence | June 2012 | ['(Press TV)', '(The Guardian)', '(Voice of America)'] |
Israeli troops and settlers open fire upon Palestinians in the West Bank while they repaired orchards previously attacked by settlers, injuring 8 Palestinians. | JERUSALEM Israeli soldiers and armed settlers fired at West Bank villagers during a clash yesterday, wounding eight, Israelis and Palestinians said.
A Palestinian witness said villagers were tending to trees damaged by settlers when settlers attacked them, setting off a rock-throwing clash. The witness, Ibrahim Wadi, 50, said soldiers arrived and fired at them, wounding several.
The confrontation took place near the West Bank city of Nablus.
The Israeli military said that during a clash, Palestinians threw rocks at soldiers, who tried to disperse the gathering and then opened fire at their legs. The military said settlers also fired at the Palestinians, wounding three.
Soldiers fired rubber-coated steel pellets at the Palestinians, the military said. Also, an officer fired live bullets at a Palestinian who came at him with an iron pick and another who tried to drag a settler away.
Raed Odeh, another Palestinian witness, said a settler fired an assault rifle, and soldiers used “live bullets, rubber bullets, and tear gas, everything.’’
Palestinian hospital officials said one of the eight was seriously wounded. Most suffered leg wounds.
Tension runs high between Palestinians, Israeli settlers, and the military. About 300,000 Israeli settlers live in more than 100 West Bank enclaves. Palestinians claim the West Bank for part of their future state.
In a separate development, Britain’s Foreign Secretary William Hague announced the UK will upgrade the status of Palestinian representatives in London, ahead of talks with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.
Hague is to meet with Abbas in London today and said he would also raise his concern over the lack of progress on resuming Middle East peace talks.
He told lawmakers that the Palestinian representation would be recognized as a full diplomatic mission, rather that its previous status as a delegation. | Armed Conflict | March 2011 | ['(Boston Globe)'] |
A judge dismisses the majority of the lawsuit charges against a group of American banks related to the Libor scandal. | NEW YORK (AP) A group of banks including Bank of America and JPMorgan Chase have won dismissal of most of the claims in private lawsuits alleging that they rigged a key interest rate.
U.S. District Judge Naomi Reice Buchwald in New York dismissed antitrust claims brought against the banks by a group of plaintiffs that included the City of Baltimore and some pension funds. The plaintiffs alleged that they had suffered losses because the banks had manipulated the London Interbank Offered Rate, or LIBOR.
LIBOR is the rate banks use to borrow from each other and it indirectly affects the cost of loans that people pay when they take out loans. It provides the basis for trillions of dollars in contracts around the world, including bonds and consumer loans such as when consumers buy a home or car.
Last fall, a U.S. watchdog found that government-controlled mortgage giant Freddie Mac and its larger sibling Fannie Mae together may have lost more than $3 billion on their investments from banks' rate-rigging.
In late March, Freddie Mac sued JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America, Citigroup and 12 other big international banks in federal court in Alexandria, Virginia, claiming the lenders rigged the key interest rate, causing the lender to incur huge losses.
Two big British banks and Switzerland's largest have been fined hundreds of millions of dollars for manipulating LIBOR by U.S. and British regulators. And in the long run, there may be other regulatory consequences. Until now, the setting of LIBOR has been a self-policing system and relies on information global banks submit to a British banking authority.
Judge Buchwald said Friday that while the banks had already paid billions of dollars of penalties to government regulatory agencies, private plaintiffs had to satisfy many requirements which governments didn't.
Cities and municipal agencies in the U.S. have filed a flurry of lawsuits against some of the banks that set the LIBOR. They have sought damages for losses they say they suffered as a result of an artificially low rate, which depressed the value of bonds and other investments pegged to the key interest rate. | Famous Person - Commit Crime - Accuse | March 2013 | ['(AP via USA Today)'] |
Baroness Peta Buscombe announces her intention to step down as Chair of the Press Complaints Commission following criticism about the way she handled the scandal. | The head of the Press Complaints Commission (PCC) has announced she will step down after criticism of its handling of the phone-hacking scandal.
Baroness Peta Buscombe has chaired the watchdog since April 2009 but has faced a backlash over the saga, which led to the closure of the News of the World.
Baroness Buscombe said she would not continue in the role when her three-year term in office ends next year.
She will aid the Leveson phone-hacking inquiry as a media regulation expert.
Baroness Buscombe said in a statement: "I am pleased that the commission want me to continue in post until my successor has been appointed.
"Thereafter, I will be able to be a campaigner for change from outside the organisation.
"I wish to contribute to the Leveson inquiry and participate fully in the overall debate regarding reform, unfettered by my role as chairman of the PCC."
Baroness Buscombe, 57, is a former lawyer and chief executive of the Advertising Association.
She was elevated to the House of Lords in 1998 and has been a Tory frontbench spokeswoman on several subjects.
In November 2009, she withstood calls to resign after she questioned lawyer Mark Lewis's evidence to MPs over phone-hacking allegations at the News of the World (NoW).
Mr Lewis brought a libel action against the PCC and Baroness Buscombe over the comments.
She also came under fire the same month for a report in which the PCC appeared to clear the NoW of phone hacking after after the paper's former royal editor Clive Goodman and investigator Glenn Mulcaire were jailed in 2007.
The PCC was established in 1991 to enforce a code of practice for UK newspaper and magazine publishers and editors.
Earlier this month, Prime Minister David Cameron accused the PCC of being "ineffective and lacking in rigour" and cited the need for a "new system entirely". Labour leader Ed Miliband said the self-regulatory body was a "toothless poodle".
The PCC said in a statement that Baroness Buscombe would leave the watchdog in a "better position to continue its evolution".
Lord Black of Brentwood, chairman of the Press Standards Board of Finance which funds the PCC and will appoint a new chairman, said: "Baroness Buscombe has given the PCC independent and strong leadership during the most turbulent and challenging time in its history.
"She has initiated a series of reviews and reforms which will strengthen the PCC and the services which it provides to the public.
"We thank her for her huge contribution in leading the PCC forward during the past two years and wish her well for the future."
On Twitter, former deputy prime minister John Prescott, wrote:
"I'm glad Buscombe is going but she shouldn't be replaced with another puppet of the papers. We need major reform & a truly independent PCC."
The Media Standards Trust said her decision was "the right one".
"There has clearly been a failure of leadership at a time when the PCC needed firm direction," the charity said.
In other developments, the Commons culture, media and sport committee has voted not to recall News International chairman James Murdoch to give more evidence on phone hacking, after two ex-News of the World employees disputed Mr Murdoch's comments to the committee.
The committee will ask for more details about an email which is said to claim phone hacking was widespread across the now defunct newspaper, and chairman John Whittingdale said it was "very possible" Mr Murdoch would be asked to reappear after that.
Meanwhile BSkyB's board has unanimously agreed to keep James Murdoch as its chairman.
| Government Job change - Resignation_Dismissal | July 2011 | ['(BBC)'] |
Voters head to the polls in a special election to elect a new U.S. House Representative to finish the term for Pennsylvania's 12th congressional district after Republican Tom Marino resigned on January 23, 2019. | Democrat Jim Kenney won the three-way Democratic primary in his bid for re-election, virtually guaranteeing him a second term as mayor of the nation's sixth largest city.
Kenney, 61, beat two longtime city political figures: Alan Butkovitz, the former city controller, and state Sen. Anthony Williams. Republican Billy Ciancaglini ran unopposed in the GOP primary, but has little chance in November's general election in the heavily Democratic city.
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U.S. HOUSE SPECIAL ELECTION
Republican Fred Keller, a state lawmaker from Snyder County, won the special election for Congress in a heavily Republican district that sprawls across central and northern Pennsylvania. Keller, 53, will replace the Republican congressman who resigned in January.
He beat Democrat Marc Friedenberg and ran with the support of President Donald Trump. The 12th District also strongly supported Trump in the 2016 election.
The two-year term runs through 2020. Keller is a fifth-term member of the state House of Representatives, and one of its most conservative members, with a 90% lifetime rating by the American Conservative Union.
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LEGISLATIVE SPECIAL ELECTION
Republicans won special elections for three open seats in the state Legislature in heavily GOP districts in southcentral and western Pennsylvania.
For the 33rd Senate district in southcentral Pennsylvania, Republican Doug Mastriano beat Democrat Sarah Hammond; for the 41st Senate district in western Pennsylvania, Republican Joe Pittman beat Democrat Susan Boser; and for the 11th House district in Butler County, Republican Marci Mustello beat Democrat Sam Doctor.
All three seats were last held by Republicans, and the special elections have no effect on Republican control in both chambers.
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SUPERIOR COURT JUDGES
The endorsed candidates of the Democratic and Republican parties won contested races to run for open seats on a statewide appellate court.
The winners secured spots on the fall ballot in Tuesday's primary election to fill two open seats on the state Superior Court. Each party had a three-way primary race.
The winning Democrats were Amanda Green-Hawkins, a longtime steelworkers' union lawyer from Pittsburgh, and Philadelphia Judge Daniel McCaffery.
The Republican winners were Megan King, a Chester County prosecutor, and Cumberland County Judge Christylee Peck.
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ALLENTOWN MAYOR
Ray O'Connell declared himself the winner in Allentown's mayoral race over challengers Michael Daniels, Cheryl Johnson Watt and Patrick Palmer.
The interim mayor will run against Republican Tim Ramos in November to fill imprisoned former Mayor Ed Pawlowski's term.
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PHILADELPHIA SHERIFF
A woman who leads a city organization of black police officers beat Philadelphia's incumbent sheriff, who is the target of several sexual harassment lawsuits.
Former police officer Rochelle Bilal defeated Sheriff Jewell Williams.
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PITTSBURGH DISTRICT ATTORNEY
Pittsburgh's longtime top prosecutor has fended off a challenge in the Democratic primary, his first in 20 years.
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Allegheny County District Attorney Stephen Zappala on Tuesday defeated Turahn Jenkins, a former public defender who criticized his handling of the case of a white police officer charged in the fatal shooting of a black teenager. | Government Job change - Election | May 2019 | ['(Fox Philadelphia)'] |
One man is killed, two more are seriously injured and partly violent protests erupt after a stabbing attack in Chemnitz, Germany. | The death of a 35-year-old German man drew spontaneous protests, organized by several far-right groups. Police struggled to control the rowdy crowds, some members of which allegedly chased and attacked foreigners.
A street festival in the eastern German city of Chemnitz was canceled on Sunday, hours before it was supposed to conclude, after 800 people took to the streets to protest the death of a 35-year-old man.
The victim, said to be of German origin, was stabbed during an altercation that involved 10 people, several of whom were of "various nationalities," police sources said.
The brawl took place at around 3 a.m. local time (0100 UTC) on Sunday after the street festival closed on Saturday evening, and began with a verbal dispute. Aside from the victim, two men in their 30s were also stabbed and seriously injured, while two others, aged 22 and 23, were taken into custody.
Police had trouble clearing the unruly crowds that gathered Sunday afternoon, which included far-right groups. Authorities said they were generally uncooperative and hurled bottles at the officers. After police were overwhelmed by the spontaneous gathering, reinforcements had to be called from the larger nearby cities of Leipzig and Dresden.
The mobilizations were spontaneous and are said to have originated by calls to demonstrate on social media. Among the groups that urged their supporters to take to the streets were the political party AfD, which is said to have gathered some 100 people on the streets. Bild reported that members of the right-wing "Kaotic Chemnitz" football group also were involved.
Video footage on social media appeared to show protesters assaulting people they thought looked non-German, but that footage has not yet been verified.
DW's Melinda Crane, who has been reporting on the incident for DW-TV, called the protests "absolutely coordinated and incited."
She said reports of the knifing had quickly found their way onto far-right websites that attributed the attack to migrants of what they called "southern origin" and urged people to protest.
Read more: Germany's Angela Merkel confronts far-right critics in AfD country
Chemnitz mayor: 'Horrified' by events
Police sources told German magazine Der Spiegel that several people had filed assault charges, including one German man, a woman of Bulgarian descent and a man of Syrian descent.
Chemnitz Mayor Barbara Ludwig told local media that she was "horrified" after seeing what took place in her city on Sunday.
Authorities have not yet spoken on what caused the deadly overnight altercation, but according to German media, rumors circulated alleging that the dispute began after a woman was reportedly harassed. Police said these reports had no basis and in a tweet called on the public "not to take part in speculations."
The street festival, which ran all weekend, was set to conclude at 8 p.m. local time on Sunday, but was abruptly ended at 4 p.m. due to the confrontation between the police and demonstrators in the afternoon.
The right-wing movement "Pro Chemnitz" has called on Facebook for more demonstrations on Monday, while leftist groups have planned counterprotests. | Riot | August 2018 | ['(Deutsche Welle)'] |
Landon Donovan of the Los Angeles Galaxy breaks the career goal scoring record in US Major League Soccer. | CARSON, California (AP) — Landon Donovan broke the Major League Soccer scoring record Sunday with his 135th and 136th regular-season goals in the Los Angeles Galaxy's 4-1 victory over the Philadelphia Union.
Playing for the first time since being omitted from the U.S. World Cup team, Donovan surpassed the mark he shared with Jeff Cunningham in the 49th minute with his first goal in four games this season to give the Galaxy a 2-0 lead. He then added another goal in the 81st.
The 32-year-old American is also the U.S. scoring leader with 57 international goals.
"It's been a long week," he said. "It's hard not to make it about me, and I don't necessarily want it to be that way. But I've sacrificed a lot to be in the position I'm in and I was very happy for myself because I've dedicated a lot to this. I think I deserved what happened today."
Donovan was trying to make his fourth World Cup squad, but U.S. national coach Jurgen Klinsmann left him off the team heading to Brazil. Klinsmann had previously dropped him from the national team for the first half of 2013 after Donovan took a four-month sabbatical.
Donovan has played in 307 regular-season games in 15 MLS seasons.
The Jamaican-born Cunningham, a former U.S. national team player, played in 365 games over 14 seasons with Columbus, Colorado, Real Salt Lake, Toronto FC and FC Dallas. He last played in MLS in 2011. | Break historical records | May 2014 | ['(USA Today)'] |
Amagasaki rail crash: In Japan, a Fukuchiyama Line train derails and crashes into an apartment building in the city of Amagasaki, near Osaka. At least 55 people are dead and around 400 are injured as a result of the accident, Japan's worst rail crash since 1963. | The commuter train came off the tracks at Amagasaki near Osaka, 410km (255 miles) west of Tokyo, and the front two carriages rammed into a building.
The train company said it was investigating the cause of the crash.
Some passengers said the train appeared to have been travelling too fast and began to shake before it derailed.
"The train overran a stop at the previous station and so it backtracked, so I guess the driver was in a hurry because the train was running late," one survivor told Japanese television.
In pictures: Train crash
Survivors tell of chaos
The train company, West Japan Railway, confirmed that the driver had overshot the stop, and said the accident was under investigation.
"The priority for now is to rescue the passengers," the firm's president, Takeshi Kakiuchi, told reporters.
The crash happened at 0920 (0020 GMT), shortly after the morning rush hour. The train was carrying almost 600 passengers.
"It felt like the train speeded up as it was going around a curve and I thought there were some strange swings, and then the train derailed," passenger Tatsuya Akashi told NHK television.
"No one knew what happened and everyone kept screaming." Improvised stretchers
As evening fell, some passengers were believed to be still trapped in the wreckage.
Rescue crews had to use cutters to open parts of the train and pull out trapped passengers. They used train seats as improvised stretchers.
JAPAN'S RAIL SAFETY RECORD
1963: Freight train crashes into derailed commuter train in Tokyo, 163 people killed
April 1991 - 42 killed when two trains collide near Shigaraki
March 2000 - Tokyo subway train crashes into derailed train, killing five
April 2005 - Crash near Osaka kills at least 50
The emergency services set up large tents to treat the victims. Investigators are focussing on whether excessive speed or the actions of the inexperienced driver may have caused the crash. It happened on a curve after a straight section of track, requiring the driver to slow to a speed of 70km/h (43mph).
The driver, 23, is believed to have survived. He became a train driver less than a year ago.
HAVE YOUR SAY
What started as a day of excitement has ended in terrible tragedy
Michael, Japan Send us your comments
Company officials said he had committed a previous overrun at a station in June 2004.
The BBC's Jonathan Head says Japan's railway system, used by nearly 60 million people every day, is widely considered to be one of the world's safest.
This is the worst rail accident in Japan since a three-train crash killed 161 near Tokyo in 1963. | Train collisions | April 2005 | ['(Japan Today)', '(Reuters)', '(BBC)'] |
Thirteen militants are killed in a drone attack in North Waziristan, Pakistan. | Three separate attacks carried out by a suspected drone have killed at least 13 militants in north-west Pakistan, local officials said.
The missiles struck hours apart in the North Waziristan tribal region. The dead included five foreign nationals. The lawless region, a haven for members of the Taliban and al-Qaeda, has been repeatedly targeted by US drones.
More than 70 drone strikes have killed over 200 people in North and South Waziristan since the start of 2010.
In the first attack, officials say that missiles were fired at a vehicle in the Qutab Khel area of Miran Shah, the region's main town. Reports said the five dead insurgents were from Uzbekistan.
In the second attack, missiles struck a house and a vehicle in Khaso Khel village near Mir Ali, killing four suspected militants. Four missiles fired in the third strike hit a vehicle in Pai Khel village in Datta Khel town killing four militants, officials said.
Pakistan publicly criticises drone attacks, saying they fuel support for militants. But observers say officials privately condone the strikes. The US military and CIA do not routinely confirm that they have launched drone operations, but analysts say only US forces have deployed such aircraft in the region. | Armed Conflict | November 2010 | ['(BBC)'] |
Taliban insurgents assassinate Mohammad Daud Sultanzoy, a district administrator in Afghanistan's eastern Ghazni province. | Taliban insurgents gunned down a district administrator along with a bodyguard in eastern Afghanistan's militant-infested Ghazni province.
Local officials say Jaghatu District chief Mohammad Daud on his way to the provincial capital early Thursday when the militants ambushed his vehicle.
Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid claimed responsibility for the deadly assault.
Ghazni lies on the key Kabul-Kandahar Highway and Taliban militants there have conducted frequent attacks against Afghan security forces in recent days.
Earlier this week, the Taliban killed 22 police officers and captured many others after overrunning Ghormach district in northwestern Faryab province.
Afghan officials have confirmed the district police chief, Abdul Majeed Gilimbafi, was among the hostages, but their fate remains unclear.
Meanwhile, Afghan authorities say troops have pushed the Taliban back from Lashkargah, the capital of southern Helmand province and regained control of the territory near the city after heavy fighting. Clashes are continuing in the area.
The insurgents have long contested several districts in Helmand, one of Afghanistan’s key poppy growing provinces. The Islamist insurgency had briefly overrun the key northern city of Kunduz in late September. | Armed Conflict | October 2015 | ['(Voice of America)'] |
A British Red Arrows pilot dies after being accidentally ejected from his BAE Hawk jet aircraft while on the ground at RAF Scampton in Lincolnshire. | A Red Arrows pilot has died after being accidentally ejected from his plane while it was still on the tarmac during a training session at RAF Scampton, Lincolnshire.
Ambulance crews were called to the scene at RAF Scampton shortly after 11am this morning, after an incident involving one of the squadron's Hawk jets. A Ministry of Defence spokesman said the aircraft was not airborne at the time although reports suggested the accident was “serious”. The pilot was taken to Lincoln County Hospital. An MoD spokesman said: "I can confirm there has been an incident at RAF Scampton. The RAF are investigating and will provide more details when they are available."
He later confirmed that the pilot had died from multiple injuries sustained during the accident, thought to have involved his being ejected from the cockpit while his jet was still on the ground, before his parachute failed to deploy. A jet with a smashed front canopy could be seen on the tarmac outside the RAF hangar at the base, it was claimed. The incident followed the death of Red Arrows pilot Flight Lieutenant Jon Egging, 33, who was killed in an air show crash near Bournemouth Airport in Dorset in August. Flt Lt Egging's wife, Dr Emma Egging, watched her husband perform with the Red Arrows just minutes before the accident. Eyewitnesses described seeing the aircraft flying low before smashing into a field and coming to a standstill with its nose in the River Stour near the village of Throop. The RAF temporarily halted flying of all 126 of its Hawk T1 training jets while preliminary investigations were carried out into the cause of the tragedy. Hundreds of RAF servicemen and women joined Flt Lt Egging's family and friends at a packed memorial service for the popular pilot in Lincoln Cathedral last week. The Red Arrows have used the dual control BAE Systems Hawk T1, which has a top speed of Mach 1.2, since 1979. Hawk T1s are also used for training fast-jet pilots at RAF Valley in Anglesey, North Wales, and RAF Leeming, near Northallerton, North Yorkshire. The Red Arrows completed their final display of the season in September and are currently carrying out their winter training at RAF Scampton, during which each pilot flies three times a day, five days a week, beginning with small formations of three or four aircraft. Every sortie is filmed from the ground and discussed in great detail once the pilots are back on the ground. | Famous Person - Death | November 2011 | ['(The Telegraph)'] |
Voters in Armenia go to the polls for a presidential election with incumbent President Serzh Sargsyan expected to win. Independent observers including the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe have expressed concern about the conduct of the elections. | Armenian President Serge Sarkisian has won a second five-year term in office, according to official results.
With ballots from all precincts now counted, Mr Sarkisian received nearly 59% of the vote.
His closest rival, Raffi Hovannisian, took nearly 37%.
Observers have criticised the election for failing to present voters with any real choice, after several of Mr Sarkisian's most well-known opponents withdrew from the contest.
One of the candidates was shot last month in a suspected assassination attempt.
Paruyr Hayrikyan of the National Self-Determination Union was wounded in the shoulder outside his home near Yerevan. He was readmitted to hospital earlier this week after saying he did not feel well. A fourth candidate, Andrias Ghukasyan, has meanwhile been on hunger strike since the start of the campaign in an effort to persuade the authorities to annul Mr Sarkisian's candidacy and press international observers to boycott the election.
And a fifth, Arman Melikyan, had said he would not vote on Monday because he believed the poll would be rigged in favour of the president.
Last month, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe expressed great concern that "major political parties, which were strongly expected to present presidential candidates, chose not to do so because of their lack of trust in the conduct of the election".
"I voted today for Armenia's future - for the well-being of our citizens and families," Mr Sarkisian said after voting in the capital, Yerevan.
However, Mr Hovannisian said he had won and called on his rival to recognise his victory.
There were no reports of violence.
Observers from the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe are expected to give their verdict on Tuesday.
Mr Sarkisian's victory in the last election in 2008 was followed by deadly clashes between police and opposition supporters, who alleged widespread fraud. The president's supporters said Monday's vote would show the former Soviet republic was now politically stable. Last May's parliamentary elections, won by Mr Sarkisian's Republican Party, took place without any major incidents.
The economy has been the major issue in the build-up to the election.
Although the economy grew about 7% in 2012, unemployment stands at 16% and more than 30% of the population live below the poverty line.
The country has found it difficult to escape from poverty, partly because of a trade blockade imposed by neighbouring Turkey and Azerbaijan since the 1990s war with Azerbaijan over Nagorno-Karabakh.
| Government Job change - Election | February 2013 | ['(BBC)'] |
A fast–moving line of storms knocks out power to nearly four million people in the Mid–Atlantic states of the US and kills one person in Springfield, Virginia. , | A fast-moving line of dangerous storms knocked out power to more than 1.5 million customers in the D.C. area Friday night.
A day of record-shattering heat ended with severe thunderstorms that rushed through the metro area with strong winds and an impressive lightning display.
The storms produced hurricane-force winds in excess of 80 mph. Gusts of 82 mph were reported in the Reston area.
On Saturday morning, the Virginia Department of Emergency Management confirmed that four people had died due to the storm in the Commonwealth.
The National Weather Service reported a tree fell on a car in the area of Old Keene Mill Road and Bauer Drive in Springfield, Va. shortly before 11 p.m., killing 27-year-old Khiet Nguyen of Burke.
One person also died as a result of a tree that fell into a house in the 8100 block of Carr Place in Springfield. The cause of the other two fatalities are unknown at this time.
Fairfax County medics managed to revive a man who was either struck by lightning or came into contact with a live wire. Fairfax County officials said more than 100 homes were damaged by fallen trees.
Extensive power outages have been reported. To view the latest power outage numbers, click here.
Pepco and Dominion said some customers could be without power for multiple days, which could be very dangerous for some as the heat wave continues through the weekend.
The entire town of La Plata, Md. was reported to be without power. That is expected to be the case for several hours today.
All the campuses of Northern Virginia Community College are closed for Saturday, as is Montgomery College in Maryland.
The Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission (WSSC) has issued mandatory water restrictions for both Montgomery and Prince George's Counties in Maryland due to a power failure at WSSC's two water filtration plants. Customers have been asked to stop all outdoor water use and use water indoors only as necessary.
Congressional Country Club in Bethesda was scheduled to host the third round of the PGA Tour AT&T National Saturday. However, on Saturday morning, the tournament announced that the course would be closed to all tournament spectators and volunteers.
Tournament officials said that tickets for Saturday's round would be honored Sunday. It is not clear if play will take place today.
Amtrak service between Washington and Philadelphia was halted until 9 a.m. Saturday while crews repaired damage to the tracks.
West Virginia Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin declared a state of emergency after more than 500,000 customers in 27 counties were left without electricity.
There are several reports of trees and power lines down and roads blocked in the area.
In the 2700 block of 31st Street NW, two were hospitalized -- one in critical condition -- after a tree fell on a car. A firefighter told News4's Shomari Stone that the roof was blown off the top of a building in the 1900 block of U Street NW. That building was evacuated.
Metro reported a downed tree caused single-tracking between Dunn Loring and West Falls Church.
Metro also reported suspended rail service between Grosvenor and Shady Grove due to a power outage and delays on all lines because of the weather. Blue Line service between Largo Town Center and Addison Road was restored when a power outage was resolved about midnight.
Metrobuses also are delayed, as they are stuck in the same traffic as other motorists dealing with downed trees.
Stone reported portable toilets were blown on to Independence Avenue near the Washington Monument, blocking the roadway.
The Heat Before The Storms:
The high temperature was 104 degrees at Reagan National Airport Friday afternoon, setting a record not only for the day, but for the entire month of June. Last year we set a record with a 102-degree day in June.
The previous June 29 record of 101 degrees was set in 1874 and tied in 1934. In the past 142 years, D.C. has seen the temperature reach 104 degrees only 10 times.
A record was set at Dulles International Airport, too. It's reached 102 degrees there. The previous record was 95. The high reached 102 at Baltimore-Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport, but that was 3 degrees shy of the record set in 1934.
The storms aren't likely to offer the mercury much of a break. We could be in the record heat business again Saturday, and all the rain will make it feel even muggier.
The heat index -- which factors in humidity -- reached 112 degrees for Washington and got up to 117 in Leesburg, Va.; 112 in Fredericksburg, Culpeper and Manassas in Virginia; 114 in LaPlata, Md.; and 112 in Frederick, Md., according to Storm4 meteorologist Doug Kammerer.
On the Billy Goat Trail, a hiker was overcome by the heat and had to be rescued by boat.
Nine Girl Scouts at an event in Benedict, Md., were taken to hospitals because of heat exhaustion. Several others were taken to the Benedict Fire Department to cool off.
At the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial, seven children were taken to a local hospital with heat exhaustion. They are expected to be OK.
There's a chance for more storms Saturday and Sunday. The storms are not expected to be as severe as Friday's, but Kammerer is not ruling it out because of the heat, which gave Friday's storms their energy.
There's also a chance to tie a record high at Reagan National and Dulles on Saturday, said Storm 4 meteorologist Kim Martucci. The high of 100 was set in 1959, and it is possible we could reach triple digits on Saturday. The all-time high at Dulles on Saturday is 98, and once again that record could be broken.
An excessive heat watch will be in effect from Saturday morning through Saturday evening.
Because of the advisory, Ride On will provide extra bus service for spectators going to the AT&T National at Congressional Country Club in Bethesda.
Temperatures will slowly -- and we mean slowly -- decrease after Saturday.
Sunday's high could reach 99, but Monday's high may only(!) hit 94, followed by 94 Tuesday, 93 on the Fourth of July and 90 on Thursday. | Hurricanes_Tornado_Storm_Blizzard | June 2012 | ['(NBC Washington)', '(AP via WVEC)'] |
The New York Senate votes to legalise same–sex marriage in New York, assuring passage of the legislation and making New York the largest state to approve such legislation since California reversed its legalization in 2008. | New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo signed a bill to legalize same-sex marriage late Friday, shortly after the state Senate voted on the measure, delivering a significant victory to the gay rights movement and making New York the largest state to permit such unions.
Given the state’s population, the vote essentially doubles the number of Americans who can gain access to same-sex marriage licenses, which previously have been available in five states and the District of Columbia.
The measure, a priority of Cuomo (D), had passed the Democratic-controlled State Assembly last week but stalled in the Republican-controlled Senate.
The 33 to 29 vote came after days of tense negotiations, extending the state’s legislative session about a week after its scheduled end and drawing crowds of protesters on both sides of the issue into the Capitol daily. Each morning brought rumors that the issue would finally come up for a vote; each night, the Senate adjourned without a resolution on the issue.
Without a clear indication of how the vote would go, senators finally gathered late Friday after party leaders reached agreement on language that strengthened legal protections for religious institutions that oppose same-sex marriage.
Cuomo signed the bill shortly before midnight Friday, and gay couples will be able to wed within 30 days.
“New York has finally torn down the barrier that has prevented same-sex couples from exercising the freedom to marry and from receiving the fundamental protections that so many couples and families take for granted,” Cuomo said in a statement. “With the world watching, the Legislature, by a bipartisan vote, has said that all New Yorkers are equal under the law.”
The decision was welcomed by gay rights groups, who had been hungry for a win after similar measures failed this year in Maryland and Rhode Island.
The bill’s passage also was viewed as a milestone nationally because it was the first time a GOP-controlled chamber has approved gay marriage.
Several wealthy Republicans backed the effort, and it was ultimately Republican senators who cast the tiebreaking votes. Four Republicans joined with the vast majority of the Senate’s Democrats to pass the bill. The Republicans hold a one-member majority in the chamber.
“With the freedom to marry in New York, the nationwide majority for marriage will swell, as even more people get to see why marriage matters to same-sex couples, that gay couples, like non-gay, treasure the chance to affirm and strengthen their commitment, and that ending marriage discrimination helps families and hurts no one,” said Evan Wolfson, executive director of the pro-gay marriage group Freedom to Marry, in a statement.
Opponents had poured millions of dollars into the fight and said there would be swift and direct retribution against the lawmakers who voted for this bill. They pledged $1 million toward defeating Republicans who voted for it and backing Democrats who voted against it.
“Marriage loses 33-29 in New York. Sad day for the state and the country. But the fight has just begun,” came a tweet from the National Organization for Marriage, a group that opposes same-sex marriage.
The decision came a day after President Obama appeared at a Manhattan fundraiser before an audience of gay donors. Obama campaigned as an opponent of gay marriage but more recently has said his views on the issue are “evolving.”
The president did not indicate any change of heart, despite the calls of “Marriage!” and “Do you support it?” from the audience. All week, activists have been calling on Obama to “evolve already,” noting that his position puts him to the right of the Republicans who supported same-sex marriage in New York.
At the event, he listed his accomplishments on gay rights and said, “I believe that gay couples deserve the same legal rights as every other couple in this country.”
The vote caps a mixed year for gay marriage in state legislatures. New York was the only state to approve same-sex marriages. Three states — Delaware, Hawaii and Illinois — voted to allow gay couples to enter into civil unions, which afford many of the same benefits as marriage. Although gay groups consider civil unions a positive step, they say it falls short of the true legal and symbolic equality that the term “marriage” carries with it.
In Minnesota, lawmakers decided to place a measure on the 2012 ballot asking voters to define marriage as exclusively between a man and a woman. Voters have supported such language in all 31 states that have put that question on the ballot. However, with public opinion shifting, according to several recent polls, and with Minnesota’s liberal tilt, advocates hope it will be their first opportunity to defeat such a ballot initiative.
A similar initiative passed in California in 2008. However, in a major victory for the pro-gay-marriage movement, a federal judge last year overturned that law and called into question the constitutionality of such ballot measures. The issue is widely expected to be settled by the U.S. Supreme Court.
A Washington Post poll in March showed that a slim majority of Americans support gay marriage, a dramatic rise from just five years ago.
In New York, a series of actors, singers, professional athletes and politicians, including New York City Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg (I) and former president Bill Clinton had urged the legislature to pass the bill.
More than 50,000 viewers tuned in to watch the Senate debate late Friday, which was streamed live online. Because the bill appeared to be a single vote short of passage in the Republican-led chamber earlier in the day, speculation was rampant about the bill’s chances until the last minute.
As the discussion opened up, a formerly undecided Republican — Sen. Stephen Saland of Poughkeepsie — stood first to announce that after an “intellectual and emotional journey” he had decided to back the legislation, ensuring the bill’s passage. He was joined a short while later by GOP Sen. Mark Grisanti. And it was a Democrat, Sen. Ruben Diaz Jr., who spoke most passionately against same-sex marriage. Diaz noted that the same bill failed two years ago when both chambers were controlled by Democrats.
“Listen very carefully and know the following: The New York gay community and their supporters are not only getting their marriage bill approved, but most importantly they are making the Republican Party do what the democrats failed to do when they were in the majority,” said Diaz, the lone Democratic senator who voted no.
Foes of same-sex marriage — including several religious groups and New York Archbishop Timothy Dolan — had hoped for an outcome similar to the one in Maryland , where lawmakers decided not to bring the measure up for a vote after a Democratic legislator who was lobbied by African American churches announced at the 11th hour that she would not back the bill.
New York and Maryland highlight recent fissures that have emerged in the debate over gay marriage. As more and more Republicans warm up to the idea, it has been Democrats — most visibly, those who hail from black and Latino Christian communities — who have stood in the way.
| Government Policy Changes | June 2011 | ['(Washington Post)'] |
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