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Kuwait, Iraq, Afghanistan, Oman and Bahrain confirm their first cases of coronavirus. | Manama: The health ministry has confirmed the first case of the Coronavirus (COVID-19) in Bahrain after a Bahraini citizen arriving from Iran was suspected of having contracted the virus, based on emerging symptoms.
The patient was transferred to the Ebrahim Khalil Kanoo Medical Centre for immediate testing, treatment and isolation under the supervision of a specialised medical team, the ministry said in a statement.
The ministry added it was taking further preventive measures to ensure the virus is contained, including monitoring the health of individuals arriving from infected countries for a period of 14 days, in line with international standards set by the World Health Organization (WHO).
"The ministry undertook further necessary medical measures to monitor all individuals who had been in contact with the patient and referred them to isolation accordingly."
"The Ministry calls upon all citizens and residents who are experiencing symptoms of COVID19, including a fever, coughing and difficulty breathing, or those who have traveled to one of the countries infected with the disease or have interacted with a person traveling from any of those locations, or interacted with an infected patient, to isolate themselves, call ?444, and follow the instructions given by the medical team, and avoid close contact with others," the ministry said in the statement.
Kuwait have also reported three cases on Tuesday morning. According to Kuwait news agency (KUNA) the three just came back from a visit to Iran.
According to Kuwait ministry of health, first person is a Kuwaiti national, 53 years old, while the second is a Saudi national,61 years old, and the third is for a young man from the the stateless community.
In the statment the ministry said that only the young man, 21 years old, has started to show symptoms, while all three of them are under monitoring.
The Kuwait infections were linked to travelers returning from Mashhad, a Muslim pilgrim site. Iran has so far confirmed 43 cases and eight deaths from the new coronavirus disease.
In a statement the Saudi health ministry assured that it is collaborating with Kuwaiti authorities on the situation of the Saudi national. "We are coordinating with the Kuwaiti Ministry of Health to treat the Saudi citizen who will remain in Kuwait until his recovery."
Oman's health ministry reported on Monday the first two cases of coronavirus infections in the Gulf Arab state, Oman TV said.
The two Omani women diagnosed with the disease had visited Iran, it said. They are in stable condition, and under house arrest.
Oman state Tv has announced the halt of all flights from Oman to Iran.
Iraq on Monday confirmed its first novel coronavirus case in an elderly Iranian national living in the southern city of Najaf, according to health officials.
The United Arab Emirates banned its citizens from traveling to Iran and Thailand as a precautionary measure against the coronavirus.
The move follows Iran, which has the highest number of coronavirus cases in the Middle East, raising the number of deaths to 50.
Other countries in the Middle East that have reported coronavirus cases are: 13 cases in United Arab Emirates, one women in Lebanon, one in Egypt and two in??Occupied Palestine.
| Disease Outbreaks | February 2020 | ['(Gulf News)', '(Straits Times)', '(Fox News)'] |
A Palestinian kills three people, including an American student and another Palestinian, and injures four others, after opening fire at Israeli cars and then ramming his vehicle into a group of pedestrians, injuring several more near Alon Shvut in the West Bank. | Three people were killed and four others injured Thursday afternoon in a shooting near the West Bank settlement of Alon Shvut in the Etzion Bloc, the second terrorist attack to hit Israel in a day.
A Jewish American youth and a Palestinian man were declared dead at the scene by Magen David Adom paramedics. An Israeli man in his fifties died in Jerusalem at Hadassah Hospital in Ein Kerem after being evacuated from the scene with injuries to the upper torso and neck.
The police and army confirmed the assailant opened fire with an Uzi submachine gun from inside a vehicle at Israeli vehicles, hitting several people. When he ran out of ammunition, the attacker drove in the direction of the nearby Gush Etzion Junction before ramming the vehicle into a car.
Security personnel shot back at the suspect, disarmed him and arrested him.
The Israeli man killed was identified as Yaakov Don, 51, from Alon Shvut. The US youth was named as Ezra Schwartz, 18, of Sharon, Massachusetts. | Road Crash | November 2015 | ['(The Times of Israel)'] |
The People's Liberation Army Navy commences artillery exercises in the Yellow Sea in response to those being conducted by South Korea and the United States against North Korea. | The Chinese navy has begun artillery exercises in the Yellow Sea, days before the US and South Korea hold similar manoeuvres there. State media called the drills "annual routine training, mainly involving the shooting of shipboard artillery". China opposes the joint US-South Korea exercises, the latest of which begins on 5 September. Those drills are intended as a show of force to North Korea, following the sinking of a South Korean warship. The Cheonan went down on 26 March near the inter-Korean border with the loss of 46 lives. International investigators say a North Korean torpedo sank the ship, but Pyongyang denies any role in the sinking. The Chinese exercises are taking place off the eastern city of Qingdao, Xinhua news agency said, and are due to run until 4 September. China also held air exercises over its east coast in August, in what was seen as a response to the joint US-South Korea drills. Washington and Seoul are engaging in a series of exercises in the wake of the Cheonan incident, some of which are taking place in the Yellow Sea, which lies between the Korean peninsula and China. The latest drill, which will run until 9 September, "will focus on anti-submarine warfare tactics, including detecting and destroying North Korean submarines", an unidentified military official told South Korea's Yonhap news agency. China says the drills could destabilise the region and strongly opposes them. They also come at a time of tension between China and several nations over conflicting territorial claims in regional seas. In July US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton angered Beijing when she said a peaceful resolution of territorial disputes between China and several South East Asian nations in the South China Sea was a "national interest" of the US.
China air force drills under way
| Military Exercise | September 2010 | ['(BBC)'] |
Two former Twitter employees are charged for spying on at least 6,000 users on behalf of Saudi Arabia. | Two former employees of Twitter have been charged in the US with spying for Saudi Arabia.
The charges, unsealed on Wednesday in San Francisco, allege that Saudi agents sought personal information about Twitter users including known critics of the Saudi government.
Court documents named the two as Ahmad Abouammo, a US citizen, and Ali Alzabarah, from Saudi Arabia.
A third person, Saudi citizen Ahmed Almutairi, is also accused of spying.
The New York Times says it is the first time that Saudi citizens have been charged with spying inside the United States.
Ahmad Abouammo appeared in a Seattle court on Wednesday and was remanded in custody pending another hearing due on Friday.
He is also charged with falsifying documents and making false statements to the FBI.
The criminal complaint says he provided the FBI with a falsified, back-dated invoice charging an unnamed Saudi official $100,000 for "consulting services".
Mr Abouammo is said to have left his job as a media partnership manager for Twitter in 2015.
Mr Alzabarah, a former Twitter engineer, is accused of accessing the personal data of more than 6,000 Twitter users in 2015 after being recruited by Saudi agents.
One of the Twitter accounts he allegedly accessed also appeared in a note found in a Saudi official's email account, revealing the level of detail Mr Alzabarah was able to obtain about the user.
According to the complaint, the note read: "This one is a professional. He's a Saudi that uses encryption... We tracked him and found that 12 days ago he signed in once without encryption from IP [redacted] at 18:40 UTC on 05/25/2015. This one does not use a cell phone at all, just a browser. He's online right using Firefox form [sic] a windows machine."
Mr Alzabarah was confronted by his supervisors and placed on administrative leave before fleeing to Saudi Arabia with his wife and daughter, investigators said.
The charges allege the third person - Mr Almutairi - acted as an intermediary between the two Twitter employees and Saudi officials.
Mr Alzabarah and Mr Almutairi are both believed to be in Saudi Arabia.
The Saudi government allegedly paid the men hundreds of thousands of dollars. One man also received a luxury Hublot watch, worth about $20,000 (15,500).
In a statement, Twitter said it recognised "the lengths bad actors will go to" to try to undermine its service.
It added: "We understand the incredible risks faced by many who use Twitter to share their perspectives with the world and to hold those in power accountable. We have tools in place to protect their privacy and their ability to do their vital work."
Saudi Arabia is a key US ally in the Middle East.
President Donald Trump has maintained close ties with the kingdom despite international condemnation following the murder of dissident journalist Jamal Khashoggi last year.
Mr Khashoggi was murdered during a visit to the Saudi consulate in Istanbul.
US Senate votes to block Saudi arms sale
Why do Trump's Saudi job numbers keep growing?
Trump backs Saudi Arabia despite murder
Setback for EU in legal fight with AstraZeneca
But the drug-maker faces hefty fines if it fails to supply doses of Covid-19 vaccine over the summer. | Famous Person - Commit Crime - Accuse | November 2019 | ['(BBC News)'] |
The total tally of cases in Saudi Arabia exceeds 100,000. | DUBAI (Reuters) - The number of coronavirus cases in Saudi Arabia exceeded 100,000 on Sunday following a rise in new infections over the past ten days.
The Saudi Ministry of Health reported 3,045 new cases on Sunday, taking the total to 101,914, with 712 deaths. The number of new daily cases exceeded 3,000 for the first time on Saturday.
The country of 30 million people recorded its first COVID-19 infection on March 2. Health authorities said in April the virus could eventually infect between 10,000 and 200,000 people in Saudi Arabia. The kingdom topped 50,000 cases on May 16.
Saudi Arabias numbers are the highest in the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), which have recorded 272,625 cases and 1,406 deaths.
Coronavirus infections in the energy producing region had initially been linked to travel. But despite taking early measures to combat the virus, Gulf states have seen a spread among low-income migrant workers living in cramped quarters, prompting authorities to ramp up testing.
Writing by Raya Jalabi and Lisa Barrington; Editing by Raissa Kasolowsky
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
| Disease Outbreaks | June 2020 | ['(Reuters)'] |
The official death toll from the Ebola virus outbreak reaches 3,000 with the World Health Organisation warning that the official figures "vastly underestimate the true scale of the epidemic". | The confirmed death toll from the Ebola outbreak has passed 3,000 as the World Health Organisation (WHO) warns that the available figures vastly underestimate the true scale of the epidemic.
In its latest situation report on the virus, the agency said 3,133 deaths had been reported in total, mainly from the worst-hit West African countries of Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone, and cases are growing exponentially.
Ebola is spreading and has also caused several deaths in Nigeria, been reported in Senegal and is edging towards the border of the C?te d'Ivoire.
In the Democratic Republic of the Congo, thousands of miles away from the disease hotspots, there is also a separate, unrelated outbreak of Ebola that has killed more than 40 people.
It is believed to be a different strain of the viral haemorrhagic fever ravaging the other side of the continent.
A spokesperson for WHO warned that the epidemic is showing no sign of slowing, killing an estimated 71 per cent of people infected as the search for a cure continues.
These figures, which are far greater than those from all previous Ebola outbreaks combined, are known by WHO to vastly underestimate the true scale of the epidemic, a spokesperson said.
The Ebola epidemic ravaging parts of West Africa is the most severe acute public health emergency seen in modern times.
Never before in recorded history has a biosafety level four pathogen infected so many people so quickly, over such a broad geographical area, for so long.
More than 200 health workers in the three worst-affected countries have been killed and 375 infected.
Care systems have begun to buckle under the pressure of the Ebola outbreak, with hospitals either overflowing or closed to stop its spread as agencies struggle to staff treatment centres.
A WHO situation report said the number of beds for patients is grossly and visibly inadequate and the deteriorating situation is making good clinical care for any illness increasingly difficult.
The current situation is so dire that, in several areas that include capital cities, many common diseases and health conditions are barely being managed at all, a spokesperson said.
The World Bank has pledged a further $170 million (105 million) to help affected countries contain Ebola, bringing the total funding to $400 million (246 million).
Speaking at the UN General Assembly on Thursday, Barack Obama said not enough was being done to combat the horrific disease.
We need to be honest with ourselves, he said. Its not enough.
Ebola has no known cure and following a conference of 200 experts from around the world earlier this month, convalescent blood and plasma therapies are being tested as possible treatments.
Convalescent therapy was first used for a young woman infected with Ebola in the Democratic Republic of Congo (then Zaire) in 1976 when the virus first emerged.
She was treated with plasma from a person who survived the closely-related Marburg virus but died within days.
During the 1995 Ebola outbreak in Kikwit, Democratic Republic of Congo, blood collected from recovered patients was administered to eight sufferers, of whom seven recovered.
One of the American doctors infected while in Monrovia, Liberia, received blood from a recovered patient and fully recovered, and another US doctor was given a plasma transfusion.
Both have recovered, although it was impossible to tell whether it was due to the convalescent therapy, experimental medicine C one took the drug ZMapp and another TKM-EBV C or supportive care.
| Disease Outbreaks | September 2014 | ['(The Independent)'] |
Villagers in the Nigerian Kala/Balge district of Borno State form a vigilante group and successfully repel an attack from the terrorist Islamist group Boko Haram, seizing three cars and a military vehicle and killing around 200 of the militants. | Residents of three villages in northern Nigeria have repelled an attack by suspected Boko Haram Islamist fighters, an eyewitness has told the BBC.
About 200 of the militants were killed during the fighting in the Kala-Balge district of Borno state, he said.
The witness said the residents had formed a vigilante group.
Meanwhile, disgruntled soldiers opened fire on the convoy of a top military commander in Maiduguri, the main city in Borno, witnesses said. No-one was injured when angry soldiers opened fire as the convoy was entering the Maimalari barracks to protest against poor pay and a lack of equipment to tackle Boko Haram, the sources said. Maj-Gen Chris Olukolade confirmed an incident had taken place in Maiduguri, but said it was an internal matter and there was no reason for public concern. It is exactly a year since President Goodluck Jonathan declared a state of emergency in Borno and its neighbouring states of Adamawa and Yobe in an effort to curb Boko Haram's insurgency.
Analysis: Why Nigeria has not defeated Boko Haram
But according to data collected by the University of Sussex in the UK, the figure of civilian casualties blamed on militant attacks has more than tripled since then.
The area which came under attack by the suspected militants on Tuesday is not far from the site of a market massacre in the town of Gamboru Ngala 10 days when more than 300 people were killed by gunmen.
A security official told the Associated Press news agency that the vigilantes in Kala-Balge, which is near Lake Chad, were ready for a fight after learning of an impending Boko Haram attack. The eyewitness, who spoke to the BBC Hausa Service on condition of anonymity because of security concerns, said the area was littered with bodies after the fighting.
He had seen 50 bodies in one village and 150 in another village, all of which he thought were the corpses of militants.
Residents also seized three cars and a military vehicle from the attackers, he said.
On Tuesday, Nigeria's government said it was ready to negotiate with Boko Haram after it abducted more than 200 girls during a raid on a boarding school in Borno state a month ago.
Their kidnapping has caused international outrage, and foreign teams of experts are in the country to assist the security forces in tracking them down.
On Wednesday, UK Prime Minster David Cameron offered to send a spy plane to Nigeria to help in the hunt.
Boko Haram, whose name means "Western education is forbidden" in the local Hausa language, is notorious for raiding towns and villages, burning homes, looting banks and police stations, and killing people. Africa Today podcasts | Armed Conflict | May 2014 | ['(BBC)', '(CNN)'] |
The world's fifteen leading gas–producing countries sign the charter of the Gas Exporting Countries Forum, making it a formal organization. | The era of cheap gas is coming to an end, Russia's Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has told ministers from the world's major gas-exporting countries.
Mr Putin said the cost of extracting gas was rising sharply, therefore "the era of cheap energy resources, of cheap gas, is of course coming to an end".
The Gas Exporting Countries Forum (GECF) meeting in Moscow has agreed a charter and plans for a permanent base.
Some observers say the GECF may develop into an Opec-style producers' cartel.
This speculation increased with the news that the charter had been adopted and that GECF leaders had agreed to establish permanent offices in Doha, Qatar.
Mr Putin had earlier said Russia was ready to set up the headquarters in St Petersburg and give it full diplomatic status.
"A new organisation has been born today, said Russian Energy Minister Sergei Shmatko.
As the head of the government of the world's biggest gas exporter, Mr Putin's word carries weight both with producers and consumers, the BBC's James Rodgers in Moscow.
But despite Mr Putin's warning, gas prices - which tend to follow oil prices with a delay of a few months - seem likely to fall in the short term, he says.
The EU gets 42% of its gas imports from Russia, mostly via pipelines across Ukraine.
The Moscow meeting comes amid growing concern that a new contract dispute between Russia's gas giant Gazprom and Ukraine could disrupt gas supplies to Europe this winter.
'Not a cartel'
Concerns over energy security mean a formal organisation of gas exporting countries would be deeply unpopular in Europe and the US.
It is feared that such an organisation could hold a monopoly on world supply and set prices to suit its own needs.
The countries attending are Algeria, Bolivia, Brunei, Egypt, Indonesia, Iran, Libya, Malaysia, Nigeria, Qatar, Russia, Trinidad and Tobago, the United Arab Emirates and Venezuela. Equatorial Guinea and Norway are attending as observers.
As well as the possibility of formalising the organisation, issues including possible future cuts in gas production and the effect of lower oil prices are also likely to be on the agenda, our correspondent says.
Industry analysts say technical differences between the oil and gas markets - including longer-term contracts for gas exports - make it unlikely for now that gas exporters will set Opec-style quotas.
Officials at the meeting stressed they were not trying to set up a price-fixing cartel.
Venezuelan Energy Minister Rafael Ramirez said participant countries wanted to build a solid organisation, "which has in its foundation the same principles that gave birth to Opec".
But he added: "It's not a cartel. We are defending the interests of our countries, that's all."
Ukraine row
At the moment Russia remains locked in a dispute with Ukraine over non-payment of debts.
Russia's Gazprom says Ukraine owes it $2bn (£1.4bn) and has warned it may cut off gas supplies next month if the dispute remains unresolved.
On Monday, Gazprom said it had warned European customers about possible disruption linked to the Ukraine dispute.
"It is not ruled out that the current position of the Ukrainian side and some of its actions could lead to disruptions in the stability of gas supplies to Europe," Gazprom Chairman and First Deputy Prime Minister Viktor Zubkov said in a statement.
A similar dispute three years ago saw Russia briefly cutting gas deliveries to its neighbour, action that also affected supplies to several western European countries. | Sign Agreement | December 2008 | ['(Xinhua)', '(BBC)', '(RBC)', '(RFE/RL)'] |
A suicide bomb attack in Fotokol, a town in Cameroon's Far North Region near the Nigerian border kills at least nine people. | By Sam Tonkin For Mailonline Published: 20:00 BST, 21 November 2015 | Updated: 19:48 BST, 5 December 2015 4
At least nine people have been killed and dozens more injured in a suicide bomb attack in northern Cameroon.
Terrorist group Boko Haram, who pledged their allegiance to ISIS in Syria and Iraq earlier this year, are believed to be responsible for the bombing.
It took place in the Nigerian border town of Fotokol - which has been the target of multiple suicide bomb attacks this year.
Boko Haram are believed to be responsible for a suicide bombing in northern Cameroon which left nine dead. It follows a similar attack in Kano, Nigeria, on Wednesday which killed 15 and injured dozens of others (pictured)
Wednesday's scene in Kano, Nigeria after two female suicide bombers blew themselves up, killing 15 people
Earlier this month a teenage girl blew herself up during afternoon prayers at a mosque, killing four people and wounding dozens more.
Governor of Cameroon's Far North region, Midjiyawa Bakary, confirmed that at least nine people had died in the latest attack by suspected African Islamist militants from Boko Haram.
He was unable to provide further details but said a crisis meeting with military officials had been convened.
Cameroon is contributing troops to an 8,700-strong regional force to fight Boko Haram, whose six-year insurgency has left an estimated 20,000 people dead, according to Amnesty International.
The regional forced is expected to be operational by the end of the year, while the United States is sending military supplies and troops to the central African country to aid the fight.
Boko Haram has waged a six-year campaign for an Islamist state in northeastern Nigeria.
On Wednesday, two female suicide bombers, one thought to be as young as 11, blew themselves up at a busy market in the Nigerian city of Kano.
Governor of Cameroon's Far North region, Midjiyawa Bakary, confirmed at least nine people had died in the latest attack by Boko Haram. An injured civilian is pictured following a similar attack in Kano on Wednesday
Neighbouring countries joined an offensive against the group this year and the conflict spilled across their borders, displacing tens of thousands of people.
Boko Haram used Cameroon's impoverished Far North to stockpile supplies and recruits until the government cracked down last year.
Earlier this month a new report on global terrorism by the Institute of Economics and Peace revealed that Boko Haram killed more people last year than ISIS.
Figures show that the former murdered 6,664 people last year in comparison to the latter's 6,073 victims.
A new report on global terrorism by the Institute of Economics and Peace reveals that Boko Haram murdered 6,664 people last year in comparison to ISIS's 6,073 victims. Chadian soldiers are pictured on patrol in Fotokol
Boko Haram militants target the country along with Chad, Niger and Nigeria.
The report also reveals that Boko Haram appear to have changed their targets, with an 11 per cent decrease in the number of deaths of religious figure and a 172 per cent increase in the deaths of private citizens.
Boko Haram, who pledged their allegiance to ISIS in Syria and Iraq earlier this year, have frequently used child suicide bombers and mass kidnappings to stamp their authority in north-eastern Nigeria.
They changed their name to Islamic State in West Africa after declaring their allegiance to ISIS in Syria and Iraq in March 2015.
| Riot | November 2015 | ['(Daily Mail)'] |
Philippine President Gloria Macapagal–Arroyo steps down as head of the ruling Lakas–Kampi–CMD party and endorses her former defense minister Gilberto Teodoro for President. | MANILA - PRESIDENT Gloria Macapagal Arroyo endorsed her former defence chief as her successor on Thursday although major defections hit the Philippines' largest political party ahead of presidential elections next May.
About 48 million Filipinos will vote in May 2010 to choose a president, vice president, nearly 300 lawmakers and more than 17,000 local government officials in national and local elections.
At the gathering of the country's largest political party, Lakas-Kampi (Strength-Ally), Arroyo said she remained confident former defence secretary Gilberto 'Gibo' Teodoro would win the presidency on the strength of the dominant party.
Lakas-Kampi has controlled about 70-75 per cent of all national and local government elective positions for the last 15 years, a majority that helped Mrs Arroyo survive four impeachment motions in Congress from 2005. But, she acknowledged that there was a 'big and arduous task' ahead due to Mr Teodoro's poor ratings in opinion polls.
Mr Teodoro got only 2 per cent support based on the latest Pulse Asia survey in October. 'The easiest way to campaign is to criticise,' he told partymen after he was formally nominated as Lakas-Kampi's standard-bearer, referring to the good showing of opposition candidates. Excellence will be the key to our winning our struggle for economic and social liberties.'
At a sports stadium across the city, Senator Benigno 'Noynoy' Aquino of the opposition Liberal Party was swearing in two mayors from the administration party who defected to his side. About 800 local officials from a province on the southern island of Mindanao have also left Lakas-Kampi and joined Aquino's Liberal Party. A former cabinet member and a popular governor had earlier defected to the Liberals. -- REUTERS | Government Job change - Resignation_Dismissal | November 2009 | ['(Straits Times)', '(BBC)', '(Philippine Star)', '[permanent dead link]'] |
Police in Turkey arrest at least 18 people in connection with an alleged coup plot. | Istanbul, Turkey (CNN) -- Turkish police launched a second wave of raids rounding up military officers tied to the alleged "Sledgehammer" coup plot.
Turkey's semi-official Anatolian Agency reports one retired officer and 17 active duty soldiers were detained in operations conducted on Friday in 13 cities.
Among the suspects is Col. Huseyin Ozcoban, the commander of the paramilitary gendarme force in the central province of Konya. Anatolian reports he was arrested while on holiday in Istanbul on Friday morning.
Scores of military leaders have been imprisoned or charged as part of "Sledgehammer," an alleged plot hatched by the staunchly secular military to plant bombs in mosques to destabilize the country's elected and Islamist-inspired government.
When contacted directly by CNN, Turkish police and prosecutors refused to comment on the investigations and arrests.
An on-duty officer answered the phone when CNN called the gendarme headquarters at Konya provincial headquarters, but then hung up the phone before answering any questions.
An officer at the gendarme headquarters in Istanbul also refused to comment on the latest detentions.
Turkey's president held crisis talks Thursday with the prime minister and top military general and sought to calm tensions following the detention of around 50 high-ranking active duty and retired military commanders in connection to the alleged coup plot.
President Abdullah Gul tried to reassure the population. His office released a short statement urging the public to "be confident that the matters on the agenda are going to be resolved within the constitutional order... and everyone will act responsibly to ensure our institutions will not be hurt."
As the private meeting was underway in the Turkish capital, the retired commanders of Turkey's air force and navy along with the former general in charge of Turkey's 1st Army were taken in for questioning in an Istanbul court.
However, later Thursday, former commander of Air Force, Gen. Halil Ibrahim Firtina, former Commander of Navy, Gen. Ozden Ornek, and former 1st Army Commander Gen. Ergin Saygun were all released.
Assistant Chief Prosecutor Turan Colakkadi said the generals were released after questioning was completed. He added, "the investigation is ongoing, but the generals are released for now." General Ergin Saygun was forbidden to travel abroad.
CNN Turk reported that three high-ranking generals -- Suha Tanyeri, Semih Cetin and Turgay Erdag -- were arrested as part of the investigation.
Turkey's Taraf newspaper first published reports about the "Sledgehammer" last January.
The commander of the armed forces, General Ilker Basbug, angrily denied the accusations in a fist-pounding performance.
"How on earth could the Turkish Armed Forces plan to bomb mosques?" he asked on January 25. "The Turkish Armed Forces has limits to its patience. I denounce these claims. ...We order our soldiers to attack [enemies] exclaiming,
'Allah, Allah!' ...Such claims are unjust."
"It's a first in Turkey's history," said Yasemin Congar, the deputy editor-in-chief of Taraf, in an interview with CNN.
"The high-ranking military officers have almost always been deemed untouchable and now this is changing... it sends them a message that first, intervening in politics will not be tolerated. Coup plans will not be tolerated."
The military has a long history of dominating Turkish politics.
Generals overthrew at least four civilian governments over the course of the last half century.
But the armed forces have seen their influence gradually eclipsed since Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's Justice and Development Party swept to power after winning parliamentary elections in 2002.
Since then, the generals, as well as other elements of Turkey's traditional secular establishment, have periodically clashed with Erdogan, whose party has its roots in political Islam.
But the prime minister repeatedly has outflanked the secularists by continuing to win big in popular elections.
And, more then a year ago, prosecutors began detaining hundreds of suspects, including several retired generals, as part of an investigation into another alleged secular plot against the government.
The credibility of that investigation has been questioned, however, after journalists, academics and civil society leaders have been detained for months at a time. Some appeared to have done little more then criticize Erdogan's government.
"There are some concerns that perhaps some of the allegations may be too far fetched and seem to be getting more dramatic with the passage of time," said Fadi Hakura, a Turkey expert at the British foreign policy institute the Chatham House.
"The emerging pattern seems to be a power struggle between two groups who are trying to control the state," Hakura added. "One is the Islamic-rooted Justice and Development Party and the other is the military establishment. At the present time it is the civilian government that has the upper hand." | Famous Person - Commit Crime - Accuse | February 2010 | ['(CNN)'] |
The United Nations says the shelling of a market by security forces that killed 25 people may constitute a crime against humanity. | The shelling of an Abidjan market by Ivory Coast security forces which killed at least 25 people may be a crime against humanity, the UN says.
Allies of disputed President Laurent Gbagbo have denied UN claims they fired the shells. They landed in the district of Abobo, which is under the control of militias who back his rival, Alassane Ouattara.
Mr Gbagbo refuses to step down although Mr Ouattara is widely recognised as the winner of last year's poll.
A statement from the UN mission in Ivory Coast says that about 100 people were killed or maimed by at least six 81mm mortar shells.
"Such an act, perpetrated against civilians, could constitute a crime against humanity," it says.
But Ahoua Don Mello, a spokesman for Mr Gbagbo's government, told the AFP news agency the accusations against the security forces were part of a "conspiracy" between the UN, Mr Ouattara's supporters and former colonial power France to oust Mr Gbagbo.
Mr Mello later read out a statement on national TV, saying Mr Gbagbo was open to talks as part of an African Union peace plan.
He also accused regional powerhouse Nigeria of transporting 500 mercenaries to pro-Ouattara forces based in the northern town of Bouake.
Pro-Gbagbo forces have been accused of firing at peaceful demonstrators on several occasions recently.
Some 370,000 people have fled recent clashes in Ivory Coast's main city, Abidjan - many from the Abobo district and more were leaving their homes on Friday.
International sanctions have been imposed on Mr Gbagbo and scores of his allies in a bid to force him from power.
France wants the sanctions tightened, reports the Reuters news agency.
"Given what is happening and the rising number of violent acts it is important we send a strong signal to reinforce the sanctions regime in place," a foreign ministry official said.
| Armed Conflict | March 2011 | ['(BBC)'] |
A suicide bomber attacks a church in the Potiskum area of Nigeria's Yobe State, killing five and raising the toll of Boko Haram attacks for the past week to 200. | A suicide bomber has attacked a church in Nigeria, capping a week in which more than 200 people died in Boko Haram violence.
At least five worshippers were killed in Sunday's attack as they were entering the church in Potiskum in the north-east of the country.
The Islamist extremists of Boko Haram have carried out a six-year campaign of violence in Nigeria's northeast. The recent attacks have brought condemnation from Nigeria's president. Muhammadu Buhari, speaking on Friday, described as a "heinous atrocity" the latest wave of violence. The recent attacks include:
Sunday's attack was carried out at the Redeemed Christian Church of God on the outskirts of Potiskum in Yobe state. Witnesses and the police told AFP news agency that the pastor, a woman and her two children were among those killed. Boko Haram took control of a large area of north-eastern Nigeria last year and declared a caliphate (a state governed in accordance with Islamic law). However, Nigeria's military, backed by troops from neighbouring countries, has recaptured most of the territory. In an effort to counter the growing violence, Nigeria is leading a military effort with neighbouring countries. Mr Buhari called for the regional military force to be deployed more rapidly. According to Amnesty International, at least 17,000 people, mostly civilians, have been killed since 2009, when Boko Haram launched its violent uprising to try to impose militant Islamist rule.
Will new military HQ make a difference?
Why Boko Haram remains a threat
The group is still holding many women, girls and children captive, including 219 schoolgirls it kidnapped from a school in Chibok in April last year. | Armed Conflict | July 2015 | ['(BBC)', '(DailyStar via AP)'] |
Rare Buddhist treasures, buried in the 1930s during Mongolia's Communist purge, are unearthed in the Gobi Desert. | Rare Buddhist treasures, not seen for more than 70 years, have been unearthed in the Gobi Desert.
The historic artefacts were buried in the 1930s during Mongolia's Communist purge, when hundreds of monasteries were looted and destroyed. The relics include statues, art work, manuscripts and personal belongings of a famous 19th Century Buddhist master. The leader of the search team, Michael Eisenriegler, described it as an "adventure of a lifetime". A total of 64 crates of treasures were buried in the desert by a monk named Tudev, in an attempt to save them from the ransacking of the Mongolian and Soviet armies. They belonged to Buddhist master Danzan Ravjaa and only Tudev knew where they were hidden. He passed on the secret to his grandson who dug up some of the boxes in the 1990s and opened a museum. The current Austrian-Mongolian treasure hunt team found two more boxes. Mr Eisenriegler told the BBC World Service they were filled with "the most amazing Buddhist art objects". "It is of tremendous value for Mongolian culture because Buddhism was almost extinct in the Communist times, especially in the 1930s. "I'm totally exhausted right now but I'm also totally impressed with what I've seen." The latest finds will be put on show at the Danzan Ravjaa Museum in Sainshand, 400km (250 miles) south of the Mongolian capital, Ulan Bator. About 20 boxes remain hidden in the desert. What are these? | New archeological discoveries | August 2009 | ['(BBC)'] |
American pop star and entertainer Michael Jackson was laid to rest at a private ceremony during a sunset service in a mausoleum at the Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Los Angeles, USA. | LOS ANGELES, California (CNN) -- Seventy days after his sudden death, Michael Jackson will be interred in what may or may not be his final resting place Thursday evening.
A private funeral for Michael Jackson will be held Thursday in Glendale, California, his family says.
Only his family and closest friends will attend the private burial starting at 7 p.m. PT (10 p.m. ET) inside the ornate Great Mausoleum on the grounds of Forest Lawn cemetery in Glendale, California.
They'll then drive to an Italian restaurant eight miles away in Pasadena, California for "a time of celebration," the nine-page engraved invitation said.
The first page inside the invitation holds a quote from "Dancing the Dream," a book of essays and poems published by Jackson in 1992:
"If you enter this world knowing you are loved and you leave this world knowing the same, then everything that happens in between can be dealt with." Gallery: Invitation for Jackson's service »
The news media -- which have closely covered every aspect of Jackson's death -- will be kept at a distance, with their cameras no closer than the cemetery's main gate. The family will provide a limited video feed that will only show mourners arriving.
Little is known about the planned ceremony, though CNN has confirmed that singer Gladys Knight -- a longtime friend to Jackson -- will perform. Her song has not been disclosed.
The massive mausoleum, which is normally open to tourists, was closed Wednesday as preparations were completed for the funeral. A security guard blocking its entrance said it would reopen to the public on Friday.
Fans of Clark Gable, Carole Lombard and dozens of other celebrities buried on the grounds have flocked to Forest Lawn-Glendale for decades, but Jackson may outdraw them all.
It is unclear how close tourists will be allowed to Jackson's resting place. Security guards -- aided by cameras -- keep a constant vigil over the graves and crypts, which are surrounded by a world-class collection of art and architecture.
The Forest Lawn Web site boasts that the mausoleum, which draws its architectural inspiration from the Campo Santo in Italy, "has been called the "New World's Westminster Abbey" by Time Magazine.
Visitors will see "exact replicas of Michelangelo's greatest works such as David, Moses, and La Pieta" and "Leonardo da Vinci's immortal Last Supper re-created in brilliant stained glass; two of the world's largest paintings," the Web site says.
Jackson's burial has been delayed by division among Jackson family members, though it was matriarch Katherine Jackson who would make the final decision, brother Jermaine Jackson recently told CNN.
He preferred to see his youngest brother laid to rest at his former Neverland Ranch home, north of Los Angeles in Santa Barbara County, California.
That idea was complicated by neighbors who vowed to oppose allowing a grave in the rural area -- and by Jackson family members who said the singer would not want to return to the home where he faced child molestation charges, of which he was ultimately acquitted.
The mystery of where Michael Jackson would be buried became a media obsession in the weeks after his death.
After his body was loaded onto a helicopter at UCLA's Ronald Reagan Medical Center hours following his June 25 death, it stayed in the custody of the Los Angeles County coroner for an autopsy.
It was only later disclosed that Jackson's corpse was kept in a refrigerated room at the Hollywood Hills Forest Lawn cemetery until his casket was carried by motorcade to downtown Los Angeles for a public memorial service in the Staples Center arena.
Again, speculation about Jackson's whereabouts grew when the media lost track of his casket after his brothers carried it out of sight inside the arena. Though the family has not publicly confirmed where the body was taken, most reports placed it back at the Hollywood Hills Forest Lawn while awaiting his family's decision.
Though Thursday's interment may settle one Michael Jackson mystery, a more serious one remains. The coroner announced last week that he had ruled Jackson's death a homicide. A summary of the coroner's report said the anesthetic propofol and the sedative lorazepam were the primary drugs responsible for the singer's death.
Los Angeles police detectives have not concluded their criminal investigation and no one has been charged. | Famous Person - Death | September 2009 | ['(The Syndey Morning Herald)', '(CNN)'] |
At least six people are arrested for hanging a sign that read "Abolish ICE" from the base below the Statue of Liberty, where no banners are permitted hung under federal law. Another is arrested after scaling the base of the statue, prompting an evacuation of the island on the busy Fourth of July holiday. | Therese Patricia Okoumou, of Staten Island, was arrested after scaling the base of the statue and taking up temporary residence on Lady Liberty's right foot.
Okoumou is expected to appear in Manhattan Federal Court on Thursday and may face misdemeanor charges including trespassing, disorderly conduct and violating national park regulations, police said.
Liberty Island, where the statue is located, was evacuated and all visitors were taken off the island via ferry, a National Parks spokesperson said.
Police were seen on the base of the Statue of Liberty, apparently trying to verbally engage with Okoumou before physically apprehending her. Footage from the scene showed the officers wearing harnesses and using ladders to scale the statue's base.
Footage from helicopters showed her sitting at the base of the statue, occasionally lying on her stomach and kicking her feet up behind her, ABC station WABC reported.
Okoumou was seen holding a t-shirt displaying the words "Rise and Resist" and "Trump Care Makes Us Sick."
She wasn't the only protester arrested at the Statue of Liberty on Wednesday. Earlier that afternoon, seven people were apprehended for holding a banner that read "ABOLISH ICE" off the base below the statue, which is technically called Fort Hood.
Rise and Resist is the name of a protest group that arranged the banner display, and they tweeted that the climber "has no connection to our #abolishice action earlier today."
"Rise and Resist planned a banner drop today at the Statue of Liberty. This action did not include the climber on the statue. Our action was completed earlier. While it was not part of our action, our first priority and concern is for the safety of the climber," they wrote in another tweet. | Famous Person - Commit Crime - Accuse | July 2018 | ['(The Washington Post)', '(ABC News)'] |
Voters in Italy go to the polls to select a centre–left candidate for Prime Minister with Pier Luigi Bersani winning. | Pier Luigi Bersani has won the race to be the centre-left candidate for Italian PM in next year's general election, according to partial results.
The veteran Democratic Party leader was in a run-off with Florence Mayor Matteo Renzi, 37, to retain his post.
With the party leading opinion polls, Mr Bersani has a good chance of becoming head of government after polls scheduled for early 2013, analysts say. Those polls will choose successors to the current technocrat administration.
Prime Minister Mario Monti's successor will face the challenge of addressing Italy's deep-rooted economic problems.
Mr Bersani won the first round on 25 November, with 45% of the vote to Mr Renzi's 35.5%. Partial results on Sunday saw him polling more than 60%.
Mr Renzi tweeted that "it was right to try" and later congratulated his rival at a rally in Florence. "They won and we did not," he said.
In his victory speech, Mr Bersani said job creation would be a priority as he put together a programme of policies for the electorate.
He would ensure there was room for younger members of the party to express themselves as they prepared for the challenges ahead, he added.
The BBC's Alan Johnston in Rome says the two men are very different characters, with tieless, youthful Mr Renzi painting himself as the voice of a new generation which wants to sweep away the entire class of older politicians. By contrast, adds our correspondent, 61-year-old Mr Bersani has argued that experience is what the country needs.
Speculation has been mounting as to whether centre-right leader Silvio Berlusconi would run for a fourth term in office next year, with the former prime minister suggesting last week that he was thinking about returning to politics.
The billionaire tycoon's record has been tarnished by sex and political scandals, and he resigned as prime minister in November 2011, after MPs approved an austerity deal to help curb the debt crisis threatening the eurozone. | Government Job change - Election | December 2012 | ['(BBC)', '(Reuters)'] |
In boxing, Manny Pacquiao defeats Keith Thurman via split decision held in MGM Grand Garden Arena, Las Vegas, Nevada. | Posted at Jul 21 2019 02:48 PM | Updated as of Jul 21 2019 04:05 PM
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Keith Thurman landed more punches than Manny Pacquiao, 210-195, and was more efficient at hitting him in their world-title fight in Las Vegas on Sunday (Manila time), fight stats provided by CompuBox showed.
In all, Thurman landed 210 out of 571 punches for 36.8% efficiency, while Pacquiao connected on 195 out 686 punches (28.4%).
"I knew it was too close," Thurman said.
"He got the knockdown, so he had momentum in Round 1. I wish I had a little bit more output to go toe-to-toe. I felt like he was getting a little bit tired, but he did have experience in the ring.
"My conditioning and my output was just behind Manny Pacquiao's. I would love the rematch."
Pacquiao received a pair of 115-112 scores, while he lost 114-113 to one judge.
| Sports Competition | July 2019 | ['(ABS-CBN News)'] |
The cleanup continues in the US after tornadoes that claimed at least 39 lives. | US authorities in several Midwestern states are searching for survivors and clearing damage after a string of powerful storms and tornadoes left at least 37 people dead.
The states of Indiana, Kentucky, Ohio, Georgia and Alabama were all hit by the intense winds which flattened homes, lifted rooftops and downed powerlines.
An unknown number of people are missing after communication lines were damaged.
A total of 90 tornadoes and 700 severe weather events were reported on Friday.
Ohio Governor John Kasich has declared a state of emergency, the Associated Press reports.
President Barack Obama has offered federal government help to the affected states.
Correspondents say it will be impossible to make an immediate assessment of the full extent of the damage.
Tornadoes occur all year round in the US, although the strength of this week's storms was unusual for the time of year - the peak period is March to May in the southern US and later further north.
'Completely gone'
At least 18 people died in Kentucky, reports said, and another 14 in neighbouring Indiana.
The small town of Marysville, Indiana, was almost completely destroyed, with the town's water tower one of the few buildings to remain undamaged, local reports said.
Clark County Sheriff Danny Rodden said that residents had been warned of oncoming storms but added: "This was the worst-case scenario. There's no way you can prepare for something like this."
In the town of Henryville, a roof was ripped from a school and a school bus thrown against a restaurant. No-one was seriously injured in either incident.
"We're not unfamiliar with Mother Nature's wrath out here in Indiana," Governor Mitch Daniels told CNN during a visit to the stricken south-eastern corner of the state on Saturday.
"But this is about as serious as we've seen in the years since I've been in this job," he said as he viewed the damage in Henryville.
Prison damaged
A toddler was in a critical condition in hospital in Kentucky after being found alive and alone in a field near the town of Salem, southern Indiana.
In nearby Chelsea, three members of one family - including a four-year-old child - died in their house when the storm struck.
The child and mother were huddled in a basement when the storm hit and sucked the child from her arms. The mother survived, but her 70-year-old grandparents, who were upstairs, both died.
"She was in the cellar with the boy when the tornado hit. It blew him right out of her hands," Tony Williams, the owner of the town's General Store said.
"They found the bodies in the field outside," he added, referring to the grandparents.
Three people were reported dead in Ohio while in northern Alabama, one person died.
At least 40 homes were destroyed and 150 damaged in the state while the roof of a prison in the path of the storm was damaged, forcing 300 inmates to be moved to another part of the facility.
Earlier this week, 13 people died after twisters swept through Missouri, Kansas, Illinois and Tennessee.
The US National Weather Service had described the situation as particularly dangerous - the mild winter has created conditions where cold fronts collide with warmer air causing the tornados to form.
Last year they killed more than 500 people making it the third deadliest year on record. | Hurricanes_Tornado_Storm_Blizzard | March 2012 | ['(BBC)'] |
Two former associates of New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, former deputy chief of staff Bridget Kelly and ex-Port Authority executive Bill Baroni, are found guilty on all seven counts by a federal jury from their roles in the so-called Bridgegate scandal that created crippling traffic near the George Washington Bridge in September 2013. |
Two former allies of Chris Christie were found guilty of all charges Friday for their roles in the Bridgegate scheme that crippled the New Jersey governor's White House bid.
Former Christie top aide Bridget Anne Kelly and ex-Port Authority executive Bill Baroni face up to 20 years for the most serious charge of wire fraud.
The 12-person jury took five days to convict the Christie cronies on all nine counts.
Kelly, 44, began weeping immediately after the verdict was announced. Baroni, also 44, showed no emotion.
Outside the courthouse, both defense lawyers — as well as Baroni himself — vowed to appeal.
"I am innocent of these charges, and I am very looking forward to this appeal," Baroni said.
Defense lawyers reacted with fury at the close of the trial when U.S. District Judge Susan Wigenton told the jury they didn't need to consider the motive of political payback to convict the pair of conspiracy.
"This case was, and is, a disgrace," Baroni's lawyer Michael Baldassare said.
Kelly's lawyer Michael Critchley portrayed the trial as just the "first step" in his client's quest to clear her name.
"This is not over — I can assure you," Critchley said outside the courthouse, as a teary Kelly stood behind him.
"I felt my client was innocent when I came into this case. As I'm talking right now, I feel my client is innocent."
Christie released a defiant statement after the verdict.
Several witnesses testified that he was aware of the lane closures before and after they were put in motion.
But Christie doubled down on his claim that he knew nothing about the scheme.
"Let me be clear once again. I had no knowledge prior to or during these lane realignments, and had no role in authorizing them," he said.
"No believable evidence was presented to contradict that fact."
Sentencing is scheduled for Feb. 21.
Newark federal prosecutors presented an avalanche of evidence in the six-week trial, including text messages and emails showing that Baroni and Kelly had communicated about the petty political revenge plot before and during its implementation.
The pair, along with former Port Authority official David Wildstein, concocted a scheme to punish Fort Lee Mayor Mark Sokolich after the Democrat had declined to endorse Christie's reelection.
Evidence showed that Wildstein, with Kelly's go-ahead and Baroni's approval, reduced the lanes from Fort Lee to the George Washington Bridge for four days in September 2013 — paralyzing the town.
The defendants' lawyers unsuccessfully argued throughout the trial that their clients were victims of Wildstein, a liar with unbridled ambition, by his own admission.
Wildstein gave eight days of critical testimony, taking the stand under a cooperation agreement with the government. He said he saw Kelly's orders as coming from the governor — including her notorious August 2013 command, "Time for some traffic problems in Fort Lee."
Wildstein said he and Baroni helped create a "cover story" regarding a study of traffic safety patterns on the bridge.
Wildstein, who has pleaded guilty for his role in the plot, has yet to be sentenced.
Kelly and Baroni both said they had been tricked by Wildstein into believing a legitimate traffic study was underway on the GWB — not a petty political revenge scheme.
Kelly and Baroni had a second defense: the wrong people were on trial. Christie's presence was felt throughout the case, though he never was called to the stand.
Kelly testified that she told Christie about the lane closures before and during their implementation. She said she felt as if she were living in an "alternate universe" after questions mounted about the closures and her colleagues in the governor's office began feigning ignorance.
Baroni recalled a conversation with Christie during the closures at an event at the 9/11 memorial. Wildstein had a different version of the same conversation and said Christie "laughed" when informed of the gridlock, which was political in nature.
Wildstein, Kelly and other witnesses gave ample testimony indicating Christie lied when he said in a December press conference that no one in his office was involved in the closures.
Few witnesses had positive things to say about the governor. He was portrayed as a hotheaded bully who used every arm of government for his own political ambition. Under Christie, the Port Authority — a bi-state agency dedicated to maintaining bridges, tunnels and airports in the New York area — became a powerful tool to curry favor and punish Christie's enemies.
In one outrageous case, Wildstein boasted of his idea to have Christie's office send flags flown over the 9/11 memorial to key presidential primary states like Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina.
Kelly said she was "scared" of Christie. In one instance, he became enraged at her management of a press conference, hurled a water bottle at her and barked "What am I, a fu--ing game show host?" she said.
The trial even ensnared Gov. Cuomo. Wildstein, Kelly and former Port Authority Vice Chair Scott Rechler testified that the governor told the head of the PA, Pat Foye, to "lay off" an inquiry into the real reason for the closures and green light a statement saying a traffic study had been conducted.
Cuomo denied he had any involvement in the Bridgegate scandal.
| Famous Person - Commit Crime - Sentence | November 2016 | ['(The New York Times)', '(Bloomberg)', '(New York Daily News)'] |
British police arrest five people in the English town of Luton on suspicion of the commission, preparation or instigation of acts of terrorism. | Five men have been arrested on suspicion of the commission, preparation or instigation of acts of terrorism, Scotland Yard has said.
They were arrested at separate addresses in Luton, Beds, in an "intelligence-led" operation, the Metropolitan Police added.
The men, aged between 21 and 35, are being held at a London police station.
The BBC understands there was no imminent threat to the UK, but the arrests are described as significant. The arrests have been made under the Terrorism Act 2000 by unarmed Metropolitan Police officers assisted by Bedfordshire Police.
A statement from the Bedfordshire force said "there is no danger to the other nearby residents" and the families of those arrested have been advised to find alternative accommodation while the searches continue.
The BBC understands the arrests were made as part of a Met Police anti-terrorism operation codenamed Nimrod.
The operation in Luton is linked to searches at five addresses in the town on 2 September 2011, although they may not be the same five as those where the arrests took place on Tuesday morning.
Two arrests over terror line hack
Terror officers carry out raids
Home - Metropolitan Police Service
Home Page - Welcome to Bedfordshire Police
Setback for EU in legal fight with AstraZeneca
But the drug-maker faces hefty fines if it fails to supply doses of Covid-19 vaccine over the summer. | Famous Person - Commit Crime - Arrest | April 2012 | ['(BBC)'] |
Oakland Raiders cornerback Daryl Worley is sentenced to three days in jail and two years of probation in June after pleading guilty to firearms and resisting arrest charges stemming from an incident in April. | Oakland Raiders cornerback Daryl Worley pleaded guilty in June to three charges, including driving under the influence, stemming from his arrest in April, according to online court records.
The records from the First Judicial District of Pennsylvania show that Worley pleaded guilty on June 18 to misdemeanor charges of DUI, carrying firearms in public in Philadelphia and resisting arrest. Three other charges, including a felony charge of carrying a firearm without a license, were dropped. Worley was sentenced to 72 hours in jail on the DUI charge but was credited with time served. He was sentenced to two years' probation on the other two charges.
Worley will likely be disciplined by the NFL under its personal conduct policy, but he told reporters last week that he hasn't heard from the league yet.
Worley, then with the Philadelphia Eagles, was arrested April 15 near the team facility when he was allegedly found passed out inside a vehicle blocking a highway, according to NFL Network.
"You can't change the past. Just like plays on the field, you can't change what happened," Worley told reporters Thursday. "You just have to move on to the next one. I was thankful when I talked to Coach [Jon] Gruden on the phone. It was a very passionate conversation. He was understanding.
"People make mistakes in life. It's not about the mistake, it's about whether you learn from it and what you do continuing to move forward in the future."
The Eagles, who had acquired Worley in a trade that sent wide receiver Torrey Smith to the Carolina Panthers, waived the cornerback after his arrest. He later signed with the Raiders.
He told reporters Thursday that he was grateful the Raiders gave him another chance.
"It was amazing for me, just to be able to get another opportunity, because many people don't get a second chance. I was blessed to be able to get another chance and make the best of it," he said. | Famous Person - Commit Crime - Sentence | August 2018 | ['(NFL)', '(ABC News)'] |
The State Peace and Development Council military government is officially dissolved in Burma. | Burma's military government has been officially dissolved, state television said, after the new president of a civilian-led parliament was sworn in.
Senior General Than Shwe, who has ruled Burma for the last two decades, has given up his last official role as head of Burma's armed forces.
But critics dismiss the new system as a continuation of the old in a new guise.
It follows November's elections which were widely criticised by the West and Burmese pro-democracy campaigners. The BBC's South East Asia correspondent Rachel Harvey says the key question is what happens to the all-powerful outgoing head of state, Gen Than Shwe. No-one seriously believes he would voluntarily bow out altogether, our correspondent says. Burmese state TV said Gen Than Shwe had "officially dissolved" the military regime's State Peace and Development Council.
"Altogether 58 new cabinet members including the president, two vice-presidents, officials and ministers were sworn in this morning at the Union Parliament" in Naypyidaw, an official was quoted by the AFP news agency as saying.
General Min Aung Hlaing has been named the new head of Burma's armed forces.
He attended the inauguration of former prime minister Thein Sein - a key Than Shwe ally - as president, an MP at the ceremony told BBC Burmese.
The swearing-in of a new parliament completes a transition of power from a military regime to a hybrid administration.
Following Burma's first elections in 20 years, it is the final stage in a long road to what the country's military leaders have called a "disciplined democracy".
However, critics have labelled the new so-called civilian administration a sham, since it is made up of former generals, some serving military officers and a handful of technocrats. The new President, Thein Sein, served as a prime minister in the old military government, but resigned from the army to stand in the election for the military-backed USDP party.
The USDP won 80% of the vote. Under the new constitution, a quarter of seats were also reserved for the military.
Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy - which won the last election in 1990, but was never allowed to take power - is not represented in parliament. The party disbanded ahead of the election because of laws that would have forced it to expel its leaders.
BBC Burmese
| Government Job change - Resignation_Dismissal | March 2011 | ['(BBC)'] |
At least 41 passengers are killed after Sukhoi Superjet 100 , which suffered an inflight fire, is engulfed by fire after an emergency crash landing at Sheremetyevo International Airport, Moscow, Russia. A five-person crew and 73 passengers were on board. | On 5 May, an Aeroflot Sukhoi Superjet 100-95B (RA-89098) departed from Moscow Sheremetyevo Airport for flight SU1492 towards Murmansk. Shortly into the flight, the pilots requested to return to Moscow for an emergency landing as the aircraft was hit by a lightning strike losing all electronics on board. 30 minutes after take-off – during the roll out – the aircraft burst into flames, veered left off the runway and came to a stop on the grass adjacent to the runway, the aircraft completely burned down.
“The aircraft issued a distress signal (squawk 7600 – radio failure -, then escalated to 7700 – emergency -, ed.) after take-off. The pilots tried an emergency landing, did not succeed the first time and, at the second attempt, the landing gear hit the ground, then the nose, and the aircraft ignited,” said a source at the Interfax news agency.
In total, 73 passengers and five crew members were onboard the aircraft. Russian media announced that 41 passengers died in the accident, leaving 37 survivors; at least six injured passengers were hospitalized. Initial reports suggest that the fire originated from electrical equipment on board. News agency TASS is reporting that the crew confirmed that their aircraft was hit by a lightning strike.
The airport authorities closed the particular runway, seriously reducing the airport’s capacity.
In a short statement on their website, Aeroflot confirmed the accident with flight SU1492: “The aircraft headed back to Moscow Sheremetyevo after technical issues and caught fire after landing. The passengers left the aircraft via the emergency slides. Victims have been reported, but the exact number still needs to be specified. Emergency medical care is provided to all those in need.”
The aircraft manufacturer Sukhoi Civil Aircraft also issued a rather strange statement:
“On May 5, 2019, SSJ100 performing its flight Moscow-Murmansk returned to the airport of departure upon receipt of the information about the abnormality aboard. After tough landing, the aircraft was burned down. The investigation is launched. The representatives of the Sukhoi Civil Aircraft Company, the manufacturer of the aircraft, are part of the commission conducting the investigation. The following information is to be provided as long as it will appear.
The aircraft MSN 95135 was produced in August 2017. It was under scheduled maintenance at the beginning of April 2019.”
A commission has been established to investigate the causes and circumstances of the accident. The Aeroflot crisis headquarters was quickly assembled.
| Fire | May 2019 | ['(flight SU1492)', '(Aviation 24)', '(BBC)'] |
Brookfield Asset Management, a Canadian asset manager, agrees to buy the U.S. REIT Rouse Properties for about $2.8 billion. | (Reuters) - U.S. real estate investment trust Rouse Properties Inc RSE.N said Canadian asset manager Brookfield Asset Management Inc BAMa.TOBAM.N agreed to buy the company in a sweetened deal valued at about $2.8 billion, including debt.
Brookfield Asset’s latest cash offer of $18.25 per share represents a premium of 2.82 percent to Rouse’s Wednesday close and values the real estate company at $1.06 billion.
Brookfield, which is already Rouse’s biggest shareholder, had made an all-cash unsolicited offer last month to buy all of the company’s shares it did not already own for $17 each.
The Canadian company, which has about $225 billion in assets under management, owned 33 percent of Rouse as of Jan. 16.
Rouse’s shares were trading at $18.05 ahead of the opening bell on Thursday.
Rouse owns 35 malls and retail centers in 21 U.S. states. The company had $1.64 billion in debt as of Sept. 30, according to Thomson Reuters data.
BofA Merrill Lynch acted as financial adviser to Rouse Properties, and Sidley Austin LLP acted as legal counsel.
Reporting by Ankit Ajmera in Bengaluru; Editing by Saumyadeb Chakrabarty a
| Organization Merge | February 2016 | ['(Reuters)'] |
Roy E. Disney, head of Disney Animation and responsible for guiding the studio through a golden age of animation, dies in a California hospital in the United States. | Los Angeles, California (CNN) -- Roy Edward Disney, the nephew of Walt Disney, died Wednesday after a yearlong battle with stomach cancer, according to a Walt Disney Co. spokesman. Disney "played a key role in the revitalization of the Walt Disney Co. and Disney's animation legacy," the company said.
He died in a Newport Beach, California, hospital at the age of 79.
His father -- Roy O. Disney -- co-founded the Disney entertainment business with Walt Disney in 1923.
Roy E. Disney's 56-year association with the company culminated in 2003 when he stepped down as vice chairman of Disney's board and chairman of the Disney Studio's Animation Department. He kept the title director emeritus and consultant in recent years, the company said.
"As head of Disney Animation, Disney helped to guide the studio to a new golden age of animation with an unprecedented string of artistic and box office successes that included 'The Little Mermaid,' 'Beauty and the Beast,' 'Aladdin' and 'The Lion King,' " the company said.
A private funeral service and cremation are planned, the company said. His ashes will be scattered at sea, it said.
He was born in in Los Angeles seven years after his father and uncle began building the Disney empire.
His entertainment career began in 1952 -- after he attended Harvard University and Pomona College -- with a job as an assistant film editor on the "Dragnet" TV series.
He joined the family business a year later as an assistant film editor at the Walt Disney Studios.
He received two Oscar nominations. One was as a writer and production associate on the 1959 short subject film "Mysteries of the Deep," and the second was for his work in 2003 as executive producer of "Destino," a film based on storyboards and original art by the iconic artist Salvador Dali.
Disney founded Shamrock Holdings, an investment company owned by the Disney family, in 1978.
He also was an avid competitive sailor, the company said. He held several elapsed-time records for offshore races in the Pacific Ocean, including multiple wins in the 2,225-mile Transpac race between Hawaii and California, it said. | Famous Person - Death | December 2009 | ['(CNN)'] |
The ninth congress of the ruling Lao People's Revolutionary Party opens in Vientiane, Laos, where policy is set for the next five years. | VIENTIANE - THE ruling communist party of Laos opened its five-yearly congress on Thursday, an event analysts say will see a power struggle between rival pro-Vietnam and China camps. Red banners are on display throughout the capital Vientiane, where 576 delegates of the Lao People's Revolutionary Party (LPRP) are gathered until March 21 to choose members of the ruling Politburo, according to state media. Representing more than 191,700 party members, delegates are to decide who will take the key post of general secretary, currently occupied by 75-year-old Choummaly Sayasone, who is expected to stay in the job. The congress - described by the Vientiane Times as 'the most significant event in the country's political life' - is the traditional venue for the redistribution of powers. But in a surprise move in December, Prime Minister Bouasone Bouphavanh quit to be replaced by National Assembly president Thongsing Thammavon. Analysts say his appointment points to a realignment of power in favour of the party's pro-Vietnamese factions and those wary of major Chinese investments pouring into the country. -- AFP | Diplomatic Talks _ Diplomatic_Negotiation_ Summit Meeting | March 2011 | ['(The Straits Times)', '(Lao News Agency)'] |
The Israeli settlement freeze ends at 22.00 , should Israel restart construction of buildings on the West Bank the peace talks with Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas are expected to end. | Israel's PM Benjamin Netanyahu has urged the Palestinians to continue peace talks despite an end to Israel's ban on West Bank settlement-building.
In a statement moments after the end of the 10-month partial freeze, he asked Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas to continue seeking a "historic" deal.
A spokesman for Mr Abbas said he would consult other Arab leaders on 4 October before making a decision.
In the West Bank on Monday, bulldozers began work on a handful of settlements.
However, construction work was expected to be slow because of the Jewish holiday of Sukkot.
Israeli media said bulldozers had started levelling ground for 50 homes in the settlement of Ariel in the northern West Bank.
Similar activity was also reported in the settlements of Adam and Oranit.
The Palestinian leader, who was due to meet French President Nicolas Sarkozy on Monday, made no immediate comment on the end of the freeze.
However, his spokesman Nabil Abu Rudeina told reporters that there would be no official answer until he had met Arab leaders in Cairo next week.
"During that day President Abbas will consult with the Arab governments and will come back to the Palestinian leadership to take the right decision and the right answer, with all what we have from the Americans and the Israelis," he said.
On Sunday, Mr Abbas, the Palestinian Authority president, warned that the peace talks renewed earlier this month would be a "waste of time" unless the ban continued.
'Continuous contacts'
As the moratorium came to an end at midnight local time on Sunday (2200 GMT). the Israeli prime minister called on the Palestinians to continue peace talks, which recently resumed after a 20-month pause and have the strong backing of US President Barack Obama.
"Israel is ready to pursue continuous contacts in the coming days to find a way to continue peace talks between Israel and the Palestinian Authority," Mr Netanyahu said in his statement.
It was possible "to achieve a historic framework accord within a year", Mr Netanyahu said.
However, his statement did not directly mention the issue of the settlement freeze.
He had earlier urged settlers "to display restraint and responsibility".
Some Jewish settlers celebrated the end of the construction ban.
At the settlement of Revava, near the Palestinian town of Deir Itsia, they released balloons and broke ground for a new nursery school before the moratorium expired.
Earlier in the evening, a pregnant Israeli woman and her husband were slightly wounded in a gun attack in the West Bank.
Israeli police said Palestinian gunmen opened fire on their car south of the city of Hebron. The woman later gave birth in hospital.
Compromise deal
Meanwhile, the US renewed calls for Israel to maintain the construction freeze, saying its position on the issue remained unchanged and the US state department was staying "in close touch" with all parties.
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton spoke to Mr Netanyahu and also to Tony Blair, the representative of the Middle East Quartet (the EU, Russia, the UN and US), as the end of the construction freeze neared, a spokesman said.
Israel says the settlements are no bar to continuing direct talks on key issues, and US negotiators have been working intensively to secure a deal.
On Saturday, Israeli Defence Minister Ehud Barak told the BBC he would attempt to convince government colleagues of a compromise deal, and said the chances of a deal on the issue were "50/50".
The BBC's Wyre Davies in Jerusalem says Mahmoud Abbas is in a difficult position, with Israel offering few concessions, at least publicly.
If he continues negotiations, he will face accusations from his own side that the Palestinians will have backed down in the face of Israeli intransigence, our correspondent says.
It is estimated that about 2,000 housing units in the West Bank already have approval and settler leaders say they plan to resume construction as soon as possible.
The partial moratorium on new construction was agreed by Israel in November 2009 under pressure from Washington. It banned construction in the West Bank, occupied by Israel since the Middle East war of 1967, but never applied to settlements in East Jerusalem.
US President Barack Obama has urged Israel to extend the moratorium, saying it "made a difference on the ground, and improved the atmosphere for talks".
Nearly half a million Jews live in more than 100 settlements built since Israel's 1967 occupation of the West Bank and East Jerusalem. They are held to be illegal under international law, although Israel disputes this.
Israel seeks talks as freeze ends
What can states do to back Mid-East peace?
Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Palestinian Authority Negotiation Affairs Department
UN calls for end of arms sales to Myanmar
In a rare move, the UN condemns the overthrowing of Aung San Suu Kyi and calls for an arms embargo.
| Diplomatic Talks _ Diplomatic_Negotiation_ Summit Meeting | September 2010 | ['(GMT)', '(BBC)', '(CNN)'] |
A coach with a flat tyre swerves into oncoming traffic and strikes a lorry head–on in Jiangsu, China. The collision kills at least 36 and injures another 36. | State media report that at least 36 died and when a coach carrying 69 people crashed into a truck in Jiangsu province
Last modified on Sun 29 Sep 2019 03.46 BST
At least 36 people died and 36 others were injured in eastern China when a packed coach with a flat tyre collided with a truck, authorities have said.
The bus was carrying 69 people – its maximum capacity – when it crossed into oncoming traffic and hit the freight truck on an expressway in eastern Jiangsu province on Saturday morning, the Yixing public security bureau said.
A preliminary investigation determined that the accident was caused by a flat tyre on the left front wheel of the bus, the bureau said in a statement.
Nine people were seriously injured, 26 were slightly hurt and one was discharged from hospital.
The Changchun-Shenzhen expressway reopened after eight hours of rescue work.
Deadly road accidents are common in China, where traffic regulations are often flouted or go unenforced.
According to authorities 58,000 people were killed in accidents across the country in 2015 alone.
Violations of traffic laws were blamed for nearly 90 percent of accidents that caused deaths or injuries that year. | Road Crash | September 2019 | ['(The Guardian)'] |
Former United States President Gerald Ford is buried in his hometown of Grand Rapids, Michigan. | His successor as president, Jimmy Carter, attended the church service alongside Vice-President Dick Cheney and Donald Rumsfeld.
Thousands of people had greeted the coffin as it arrived from Washington following a state funeral service.
Mr Ford died last week at 93. He was the longest-living US president.
Mr Carter and Mr Rumsfeld, who served as Mr Ford's chief of staff after he stepped in to the White House when Richard Nixon resigned, paid tribute.
The service at the Grace Episcopal Church was attended by some 300 people.
In a private ceremony, the late president was then interred in his presidential museum grounds in Grand Rapids, overlooking the Grand River.
Public grief
About 5,000 people an hour filed past Ford's coffin on Tuesday night, waiting in line for four hours on average, the National Guard told AP news agency. In President Ford, the world saw the best of America... President George Bush
In pictures: Ford funeral
The library stayed open throughout the night for the public to pay their respects.
In tributes at the funeral service in Washington, President Bush said Gerald Ford brought calm and healing to America after President Nixon resigned over the Watergate scandal. "In President Ford, the world saw the best of America and America found a man whose character and leadership would bring calm and healing to one of the most divisive moments in our nation's history," he said in his eulogy.
I thought when he pardoned Nixon he stood up and did what the country needed
John Banks, mourner
Gerald Ford: Obituary
Life in pictures
In quotes: Reaction to death
George Bush Senior - President Bush's father - spoke of a life indelibly marked by honour and integrity
Former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger said Gerald Ford restored confidence in America's institutions.
Mr Ford's coffin was escorted by Mr Dick Cheney, former Defence Secretary Mr Rumsfeld, and Mr Ford's running mate in his failed 1976 presidential campaign, ex-Senator Bob Dole.
Mr Ford served as president from 1974 to 1977. He died on 26 December in California. He was born in Omaha, Nebraska, but grew up in Grand Rapids. | Famous Person - Death | January 2007 | ['(BBC)'] |
The death toll in a fire at the historic Mizpah Hotel in Reno, Nevada rises to nine with not all of the ruins having been searched yet. | The bodies of three more victims of an arson fire at a historic downtown hotel were recovered Saturday, bringing the death toll from the blaze to nine, officials said.
Fire department spokesman Steve Frady said the bodies were pulled out of the north end of the 84-year-old Mizpah Hotel - the heaviest damaged because of roof collapses.
"There's still a potential to find more (bodies) because we haven't completed the search of that north section," Frady said, adding those efforts would continue Sunday.
The victims' names have not been released yet by authorities.
The discovery of the three bodies makes it the deadliest fire in Reno history, state Archivist Guy Rocha said.
The previous deadliest fires - a 1962 blaze at the Golden Hotel and 1879's "Great Fire of Reno" - each claimed six lives, he said.
Nevada's deadliest fire remains the November 1980 blaze that killed 84 people and injured nearly 700 others at the MGM Grand Hotel in Las Vegas.
Frady said crews have begun work to shore up portions of the heavily damaged north section. The roof collapsed onto the third floor during the fire, and a portion of the third floor fell onto the second floor.
Hazardous conditions had prevented a search of the north section, he said.
Some owners with shops in the brick structure were allowed to enter their businesses briefly Saturday under police escort to remove business records and computers with business information, Frady said.
The owners primarily reported smoke and water damage.
Crews found three bodies Friday in an annex on the east side of the hotel, while two others were found in the south portion of the casino-district building late Thursday.
Another body was found earlier in the parking lot. Witness accounts that the victim died as a result of a jump from a second-floor window were untrue, Frady said, adding the victim was pronounced dead in the parking lot after being taken there from a window by firefighters.
At least 30 people were injured, three critically, in the fire. Police said 60 to 80 people had been inside the $150-a-week hotel, which mostly served boarders.
Valerie Moore, a casino cook and paroled murderer who lived at the hotel, was arrested on suspicion of starting the blaze by igniting a mattress.
Moore, 47, was being held without bail on a parole violation while the investigation continues, said Washoe County District Attorney Richard Gammick.
The Mizpah, which was built in 1922 and added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1984, had been renovated recently. | Fire | November 2006 | ['(Las Vegas Sun)'] |
The Federal Electoral Authority, based on preliminary results, reports the People's Party, headed by the prior chancellor Sebastian Kurz, wins the snap election with 38.4 percent of the vote. Second place Social Democratic Party got 21.5%. , , (National Election Authority ), | Austria's conservatives, led by Sebastian Kurz, have won a clear election victory months after a video sting scandal ended the coalition.
With nearly all the votes counted, Mr Kurz's People's Party has about 37% of the vote, up from 31% last time round. His former coalition partners, the far-right Freedom Party, have received about 16% - a sharp fall.
The snap general election was called after secret recordings published in May led to the government's collapse.
The video sting, which became known as "Ibizagate", exposed a conversation in which then-leader of the Freedom Party (FPÖ) Heinz-Christian Strache is heard promising government contracts to a woman posing as the niece of a Russian oligarch at a villa on the Spanish island.
Mr Kurz - in government with the Freedom Party at the time - appears to have emerged largely unscathed from the scandal. About 6.4 million people were eligible to vote in Sunday's election.
The People's Party (ÖVP) triumphed in eight of Austria's nine federal states, losing only Vienna to the Social Democrats (SPÖ), which gained 21.7% of the overall vote.
Despite the People's Party's strong showing, it will not have a majority in parliament and Mr Kurz will need coalition partners.
The 33-year-old could choose to renew his alliance with the Freedom Party - the source of the scandal - but may want to look at other options.
A three-way pact with the Greens, which received 14% of the vote, and the liberal pro-business Neos party (7.8%) is considered far more likely than a grand coalition with the Social Democrats.
But coalition talks are widely expected to be difficult, and may last for weeks.
Green leader Werner Kogler said on Sunday that the government would need to see "radical change" from the right-wing policies pursued by the previous coalition. Appearing at party headquarters to a rapturous welcome from party activists, Mr Kurz said: "I would like to take this opportunity to sincerely thank all of our voters... I promise that we will do our best for our beautiful [Austria]."
Norbert Hofer, leader of the scandal-hit Freedom Party, told reporters he believed the result meant his party would not take part in coalition talks.
"That means we are preparing for opposition," he said.
It began in May when German media outlets published a video involving Mr Strache, who was Austria's vice-chancellor at the time. The sting video had been secretly recorded before the 2017 election. In the footage, Mr Strache can be seen relaxing and drinking at the villa with fellow Freedom Party politician Johann Gudenus, while they meet the supposed Russian oligarch's niece. During a subsequent conversation, Mr Strache appears to propose offering her public contracts if she buys a large stake in the Austrian newspaper Kronen Zeitung - and compels it to support his party.
A Vienna lawyer who says he was involved in the sting described it as a "civil society-driven project in which investigative-journalistic approaches were taken".
The "Ibizagate" scandal forced Mr Strache to step down and led Mr Kurz to end the coalition with the Freedom Party.
The country has been led by a caretaker government since June. The son of a secretary and a teacher, he became active in the People's Party at the age of 16.
As a law student in Vienna he was elected chairman of the party's youth wing. He quit his studies in 2011 to become a junior interior minister, rising to foreign minister in 2013 at the age of 27.
Two years later he presented a plan to improve the integration of immigrants. However, he was also full of praise for Hungary's populist Prime Minister Viktor Orban, and claimed credit for closing the Balkan migrant route in 2016.
Elected chairman in May 2017, he rebranded the party as the Turquoise Movement then served as chancellor from December 2017 to May 2019, when the Ibiza-gate brought down the coalition. | Government Job change - Election | September 2019 | ['(BBC)', '(The New York Times)', '(in German)', '(Reuters)'] |
In ice hockey, Canada wins gold over Russia at the 2015 IIHF World Championship, while the United States wins bronze over the Czech Republic. Canada's Sidney Crosby becomes the newest member of the Triple Gold Club, the group of players and coaches who have won gold medals at both the World Championship and Olympics, plus the Stanley Cup. | Canada’s Sidney Crosby, right, presents his teammates with a trophy after winning the title at the Hockey World Championships in Prague, Czech Republic, Sunday, May 17, 2015. Canada won the gold medal match 6-1 over Russia. (Petr David Josek/AP)
PRAGUE, Czech Republic — Team Canada was perfect in Prague, capping an outstanding run at the world hockey championship with a dominant win over its archrival.
After five straight years of quarter-final defeats, the Canadians are heading home with world championship gold medals for the first time since 2007 after a 6-1 thrashing of defending champion Russia on Sunday at O2 Arena.
Arguably the deepest team in a tournament rich with big-name stars, the Canadians ran the table in 2015 with a perfect 10-0 record.
"Our guys really wanted to win — they really did," said coach Todd McLellan.
"I thought that we got a little extra motivation from the Russian team today," said McLellan. "Their staredown in the warmup was just exactly what our team needed. We talked about which staredown would be more important — the one before the game or the one after. We decided the one after would be more important so we appreciated the motivation."
Sidney Crosby, Tyler Ennis, Cody Eakin and Claude Giroux paced the Canadian attack with a goal and an assist each. Tyler Seguin and Nathan MacKinnon also scored.
Crosby finished the tournament with 11 points and became just the eighth Canadian player to join the Triple Gold Club, adding his world championship win to Olympic gold medals in 2010 and 2014 and his 2009 Stanley Cup.
"It’s a great honour," said Crosby of the achievement. "I’ve been fortunate to play for some great teams. You know sometimes you just need some luck. I feel fortunate to be a part of it and it’s a privilege that we could do this as a group."
Crosby was quick to share the tournament win with his teammates.
"That was really the story for the whole tournament. Everyone contributed, every line, both offensively and defensively," said Crosby. "We had some guys did a great job on the penalty kill. Smitty (Mike Smith) was awesome in net. It was a total team effort."
Evgeni Malkin had the only goal for Russia, and star forward Alex Ovechkin was held off the scoresheet.
All tournament long, Canada relied on a potent and balanced scoring attack. On Sunday, the fourth line set the tone for the win.
When Canada took a 4-0 lead at the 9:02 mark of the second period, the Russians took a time out in an attempt to regroup, still looking for their first shot on goal in the period.
But Canada’s dominance was absolute. Giroux, on the power play, and MacKinnon added insurance goals in the third period to lock down Canada’s first win in history over the Russians in a world championship gold-medal game-and by the biggest margin of victory ever surrendered by the Russians.
Smith’s bid for a third-consecutive shutout was foiled when Malkin scored Russia’s only goal with 7:13 remaining in the third period. Shots on goal were 37-12 for Canada in the game.
Strong at both ends of the ice, Canada’s 66 goals scored set a new Canadian tournament record.
In the bronze-medal game played earlier on Sunday, forward Nick Bonino of the Vancouver Canucks had a goal and an assist as the United States shut out the host team from the Czech Republic by a score of 3-0. The last medal for the United States was also a bronze, in 2013.
| Sports Competition | May 2015 | ['(Sportsnet)'] |
The Northern Mariana Islands election commission sets November 23 as the guberntorial runoff election between Governor Benigno Fitial and challenger Heinz Hofschneider. | The Commonwealth Election Commission certified yesterday the results of Saturday's general election for 40-plus seats in government and set the runoff election for Nov. 23.During the same meeting at 3:30pm, the election board also certified that all four initiatives placed on the ballots failed to get the needed number of votes to pass.These included the Open Government Act of 2007, a popular initiative endorsed by Rep. Tina Sablan that proposes to subject the Legislature to the Act. The measure received only 6,579 affirmative votes, still short by over 300 votes to get the majority of the 13,784 total votes cast during Saturday's general election.House Legislative Initiative 16-11, which prohibits the withdrawal of any funds from the general fund except for appropriations, was also rejected, getting only 5,476 votes.The same fate befell Senate Legislative Initiative 16-11, which pertains to the holding of regular general elections in even-numbered years. The proposed measure got only 5,644 “yes” votes.Voters also thumbed down the amendment proposed by House Legislative Initiative 15-3, which requires a high school student to be a member of the Board of Education. The initiative got only 5,353 affirmative votes.According to CEC executive director Robert Guerrero, all four measures were not ratified because these didn't get the majority of the 13,784 total votes cast in the election.Runoff pollsAfter certifying the election results, the board adopted Nov. 23 as the date for the runoff election between the top two vote-getters for the governor's post. Incumbents Gov. Benigno R. Fitial and Lt. Gov. Eloy Inos of the Covenant Party will face Republican Party standard bearers Heinz Hofschneider and Arnold Palacios in the runoff.Guerrero emphasized that absentee voters will still counted in the runoff election, provided that their absentee ballots are postmarked by the date of the runoff and are received by the commission no later than 14 days after.Guerrero said the commission, according to law, must send the absentee ballots no later than 10 days before the election.“We will be sending the absentee ballots in the next three to four days,” he assured.Guerrero, however, said the commission has no projection as to how many of the absentee voters in Saturday's election will participate in the runoff.“This is a first in CNMI history and we don't know yet what to expect,” he said.There were over 2,000 absentee ballots received and counted during Saturday's election.Election Commission legal counsel Meaghan Hassel Shearer confirmed with Saipan Tribune yesterday the certification of the election results.'Recount for Rebuenog'Saipan Tribune learned that the election board also scheduled a recount of the votes on Friday at 11am for one Northern Islands mayoralty candidate.Ramona Rebuenog, who ran under the Covenant Party, asked the commission yesterday for a recount after she was beaten by independent opponent Tobias Aldan by just one vote-68 versus 67 votes.The commission is expected to issue a certification of the recount if changes are noted in the new tally. | Government Job change - Election | November 2009 | ['(Saipan Tribune)'] |
A powerful tornado hits Jefferson City, Missouri, leaving people trapped or injured and structural damage according to city and state officials. At least three people are killed in southwestern Missouri when a storm system sweeps across the state causing extensive damage. | 'Violent tornado' hits Missouri's capital, Jefferson City, after 3 killed in southwestern part of state Sections
Follow NBC News A deadly storm system swept across Missouri on Wednesday, killing at least three people in the southwestern part of the state and causing extensive damage and injuring multiple people in the capital city.
The capital, Jefferson City, took a direct hit from a tornado shortly before midnight, marking the 7th straight day of tornadoes around the United States.
At least 20 people were injured in Cole County, where the city of 43,000 lies, and there are also reports of people trapped after the twister hit, authorities said at a news conference early Thursday.
"At this time, we are still trying to determine exactly how much damage we have," Jefferson City Police Lt. David Williams said. "We are still working very hard to identify any injured people and any places that we need to put more additional personnel."
Gov. Mike Parson said of the deaths in the southwestern part of the state near Joplin, "We are very thankful we didn't have any more fatalities than we did, but three is too many."
The National Weather Service issued a tornado warning for the Jefferson City area shortly after 11 p.m. and upgraded that to an emergency at 11:43 p.m. The tornado hit shortly after that, said Jim Sieveking, science and operations officer for the weather service’s St. Louis office.
"Violent tornado confirmed — shelter now!" the weather service tweeted.
The twister hit as the capital city area on Wednesday was bracing for a flood, with sections in the north ordered to evacuate.
The Missouri Department of Public Safety tweeted that extensive damage had been reported in some areas of the city, including downed power lines. It said that first responders were going door to door.
Some government buildings were damaged, including the Department of Labor which had roof damage, the Department of Public Safety said.
While there were no initial reports that homes or other buildings had collapsed, trees were down and roofs and other property had been damaged, Williams, the police spokesman, said.
"Materials are all over the roadway" he said. "There are power lines down all over this affected area.”
All firefighters were called in to assist, the Jefferson City Fire Department said on Facebook. "Please Pray for our Citizens," the department wrote.
City officials requested the assistance of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, NBC affiliate KOMU of Columbia reported. It reported that Missouri Task Force 1 had joined search-and-rescue efforts.
"Honestly, I just pray that no one was injured," one woman told KOMU, adding that people lost their homes. "It's devastating," she told the station. "You lose everything you have.”
In Jefferson City, the state capital, there is extensive damage along Ellis Boulevard near Highway 54. Power lines are down. Traffic is being diverted as @MSHPTrooperGHQ & local first responders go door-to-door. Consider all power lines live. Stay out of areas with damage.
Earlier Wednesday night, the three deaths were confirmed after a suspected tornado in Golden City in Barton County, Department of Public Safety spokesperson Mike O'Connell said. Golden City is around 40 miles northeast of Joplin.
Several injuries were also reported in Carl Junction, about 10 miles north of Joplin, he said.
The damage there came after a large and destructive tornado was spotted north of Joplin, which eight years ago Wednesday was devastated by a twister that killed 158 people.
Doug Cramer, NWS meteorologist in Springfield, said that while that tornado was close to the city, "we do not believe there is any tornado damage in Joplin."
The tornadoes in Missouri hit as parts of the Plains have been battered for days by severe weather including flooding and twisters. The storms and their aftermath had previously been blamed in at least two deaths.
In Oklahoma, the entire community of Webbers Falls, population around 600, was asked to evacuate Tuesday over fears that the Arkansas River could flood, and on Wednesday the town sent an urgent message for residents to leave after barges broke loose and threatened to hit a dam.
"Historic and life-threatening flooding is now occurring on the Arkansas River,” an alert on behalf of Muskogee County emergency management Wednesday night read. "Significant flooding in the town of Webbers Falls is imminent."
A woman in Payne County, Oklahoma, died Tuesday after she apparently drove around a high-water sign. Her vehicle was swept off the road and became submerged in around 10 feet of water, the state highway patrol said in an incident report.
In Iowa early Wednesday, one person was killed and another was injured after a tornado touched down in the Adair area, which is west of Des Moines, NBC affiliate WHO-TV of Des Moines reported.
Severe thunderstorms, with the possibility of strong tornadoes and very large hail, were expected to continue across central parts of the U.S. through early Thursday, the weather service said. On Friday, 17 million people from Chicago to Texas are projected to be at risk of strong winds and even more tornadoes. | Hurricanes_Tornado_Storm_Blizzard | May 2019 | ['(CBS News)', '(NBC News)', '(The Kansas City Star)'] |
Knesset Member Omri Sharon, the son of the Prime Minister of Israel Ariel Sharon, struck a deal with prosecutors that would see him plead guilty to a series of charges in connection with illegal fundraising during Ariel Sharon’s 1999 primaries campaign. | MK Omri Sharon, the prime ministers' son, pled guilty to the charges against him at the Tel Aviv Magistrates court, and was convicted.
Sharon pled guilty to charges of keeping false corporate records, providing false testimony, and violating political fundraising laws.
Sharon's defense attorney, Dan Scheinman, said during the court hearing: "In the past months, we have held intensive negotiations in complete discreteness, in a bid to agree on a guilty plea at the opening of the trial. This was not simple."
"It was important for Omri to confess and assume full responsibility for his actions."
However, Scheinmen said that while claiming responsibility is important, the law itself was also at fault.
"The political fundraising law is a law that cannot be abided by. It in fact represents a trap for everyone who wishes to participate in the elections," he said.
Scheinman noted that at the defense's request, a comparative research on primaries funding was conducted by Dr. Menachem Hoffman.
The research indicated that the Knesset has arbitrarily established unrealistic limits to fundraising sums.
"Not only was the law never examined or contemplated, it was also never enforced, and no one has been brought to court on its account. Omri Sharon is the first," Scheinman said.
In response, Judge Edna Bekenstein asked the attorney if he expected her to ammend the law.
Prosecutor Erez Nurieli said after the hearing was adjourned that Sharon's attempt to conceal his actions was what got him involved in the criminal investigation.
Nurieli said he welcomes the guilty plea and stressed that the prosecution insists on a prison sentence for Sharon.
His plea will in effect end his political career, as the conviction would disqualify him from holding public service jobs for years. The sides have not agreed, however, on Sharon’s sentence, with prosecutors insisting on at least some jail time.
Gave up immunity
The decision to indict Sharon junior over illegal fundraising charges was announced at the end of July of this year by Attorney General Menachem Mazuz.
The charges against Omri Sharon go back to Ariel Sharon's fundraising campaign during the 1999 Likud primaries.
The Justice Ministry was forced to wait for 30 days following Mazuz's announcement in order to allow Sharon to ask for Knesset immunity. The 30-day period ends today, and Omri Sharon, as expected, has not asked to exercise his immunity.
In an earlier letter sent to Knesset chairman Reuven Rivlin and Knesset committee chairman Ronny Bar-On, Omri Sharon said that he is giving up his immunity. | Famous Person - Commit Crime - Accuse | November 2005 | ['(Ynetnews)'] |
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un arrives in Beijing for his fourth summit meeting with Chinese leader Xi Jinping. |
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un was spending his birthday in Beijing after arriving in the Chinese capital Tuesday — which was believed to be his 35th birthday — for his fourth summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping as talks on a second meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump gather steam.
“At the invitation of Xi Jinping, general secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and Chinese president, Kim Jong Un, chairman of the Workers’ Party of Korea and chairman of the State Affairs Commission of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, is visiting China,” the official Xinhua News Agency quoted an unidentified spokesperson from the Chinese Communist Party’s Central Committee International Department as saying Tuesday.
Kim was to visit through Thursday, the spokesperson said.
The North’s official Korean Central News Agency also confirmed the visit, saying that Kim had left for China on a private train on Monday afternoon accompanied by his wife, Ri Sol Ju, and other senior North Korean officials, including Kim Yong Chol and Ri Yong Ho.
Media reports said that a long motorcade believed to be carrying Kim and including motorcycle outriders reserved for state leaders left a train station in the Chinese capital shortly after the arrival of an armored train consisting of 20 to 25 cars — most of whose windows were blacked-out — along tracks lined by police and paramilitary troops.
Kim was expected to stay at the Diaoyutai State Guest House in the capital’s west, with meetings held at the Great Hall of the People, the seat of the legislature that sits next to Beijing’s Tiananmen Square.
While there was no official confirmation of Kim’s itinerary, South Korea’s Hankyoreh newspaper, citing an unidentified source with close knowledge of North Korea-China affairs, reported late Monday that Kim would meet with Xi.
After the visit’s announcement, Tokyo voiced hopes of receiving a briefing from Beijing on the trip.
“We’re making efforts to collect and analyze information with strong interest and hoping to have an appropriate briefing from the Chinese side from now on,” Kyodo News quoted Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga as saying at a news conference Tuesday.
Regarding the possible impact of Kim’s visit on the second summit with Trump, Suga said, “I’d like to refrain from prejudging at this point.”
Seoul on Tuesday said it hoped the North Korean leader’s trip to China would act as a “stepping stone” for the second Kim-Trump summit. South Korean presidential spokesman Kim Eui-kyeom made the comments hours after Kim arrived in Beijing, adding that he hoped the Xi-Kim talks would also help contribute to achieving the complete denuclearization and lasting peace on the Korean Peninsula.
Kim, who Seoul says was born on Jan. 8, 1984 — though the North’s government hasn’t officially confirmed the date — met with Xi in China three times last year before and after he held summits with Trump and South Korean President Moon Jae-in.
Beijing is Pyongyang’s sole major ally and its top economic lifeline as it continues to fend off crippling sanctions over its nuclear weapons and missile programs. The visits last year were widely seen as a courtesy to China and an opportunity to coordinate strategy ahead of the summits with the U.S. and South Korean leaders.
Xi is widely expected to visit North Korea at some point soon, possibly even this year — the 70th anniversary of diplomatic ties between the two countries — which would make him the first Chinese leader to do so since 2005.
Trump said Sunday that the sanctions imposed on the nuclear-armed North will remain “in full force and effect” until the United States saw “very positive,” but also said that discussions on the location of the next summit were underway and that further details would be announced soon.
“We are negotiating a location,” he said.
The White House has remained evasive on the exact timing of the summit, though officials have previously said they expected the meeting to happen sometime early this year.
“It will be announced probably in the not too distant future. They do want to meet and we want to meet and we’ll see what happens,” he said, adding the he had “indirectly spoken” with Kim.
On Monday, the South Korean newspaper Munhwa Ilbo reported that U.S. State Department officials recently met multiple times with North Korean counterparts in Hanoi and discussed planning a second summit between Trump and Kim, fueling speculation that Vietnam could host the event.
Trump, who held a landmark summit with Kim in Singapore in June that resulted in a vaguely worded pledge “to work toward the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula,” said last week that he had received a “great letter” from the North Korean leader but declined to reveal its contents.
The latest letter from Kim came as denuclearization talks remain at an impasse and after the North Korean leader warned in a New Year’s speech that Pyongyang may change its approach to the talks if Washington persists with sanctions.
In his address, Kim urged the United States to take reciprocal measures in exchange for denuclearization steps the North Korean dictator has claimed his country has taken since last year.
“If the United States does not keep the promise it made in the eyes of the world, and out of miscalculation of our people’s patience, it attempts to unilaterally enforce something upon us and persists in imposing sanctions and pressure against our Republic, we may be compelled to find a new way for defending the sovereignty of the country and the supreme interests of the state,” Kim said.
Some observers believe that while it is tempting to interpret this “new way” as being a thinly veiled threat of more nuclear or missile tests, it could instead be an implicit warning that the North could further bolster its already improving ties with China if the U.S. fails to ante up.
“Kim’s confidence stems from the expectation of growing and reliable support by China,” Rudiger Frank, a professor of East Asian economy and society at the University of Vienna, wrote on the North Korea-watching 38 North blog on Jan. 2. “The three summits with Xi Jinping in 2018 seem to have made Kim Jong Un very optimistic.”
Frank said the protracted trade war between Beijing and Washington, among other issues, has created the impression among strategists in Pyongyang of a “Cold War 2.0 situation.”
“Like in the decades before the collapse of the Soviet Union, supporting smaller allies could again become a matter of principle for the Big Powers even if these allies step out of line occasionally,” he wrote. “The not unfounded hope of Kim Jong Un is that in such a strategic setting, China would be willing to provide protection and economic support while abstaining from too massive direct interference. Forcing the U.S. out of Korea, and out of East Asia, is more important to Beijing than reigning in on a self-confident or even provocative North Korea.”
Thus, Kim’s threat may not be a hint at more nuclear tests, “but rather as a message to Donald Trump: You are not our only option for security and economic development. If you refuse to be cooperative, we will ignore you and turn to China. Oh, and we will take South Korea along,” he added.
Still, the North Korean leader is already refraining from putting all of his eggs in one basket, saying in his New Year’s address that, despite the stalled talks, he was willing to meet Trump again at any time to produce results “welcomed by the international community.” | Diplomatic Visit | January 2019 | ['(The Japan Times)'] |
Russia's prosecutor general opens a criminal case into the 2009 Nevsky Express bombing which killed at least 26 people yesterday. | Russia's domestic intelligence service says it has found the remains of an improvised explosive device at the site of a train derailment that killed at least 26 and injured nearly 100 people.
More than 90 people were injured when the high-speed train derailed
"We are indeed talking about a terrorist attack," Vladimir Markin, a spokesman for an investigative committee set up by Russia's FSB domestic intelligence service, told the Interfax news agency.
He said the committee had found fragments of a large bomb at the scene of the luxury train's crash. FSB head Alexsander Bortnikov, reporting to Russian President Dmitry Medvedev in a televised meeting, said his investigators estimated the bomb packed the punch of seven kilograms (15 lbs.) of TNT.
The "Nevsky Express" was headed to St. Petersburg from Moscow when the last three cars went off the tracks about 350 kilometers (200 miles) from Moscow at 9:34 pm local time (6:34 pm UTC), on Friday, November 27.
661 passengers were on board at the time of the crash. Health Minister Tatyana Golikova said 96 people were injured and being treated in area hospitals.
A loud bang?
Around 95 survivors of the train wreck have been taken to local hospitals
Interfax news agency quoted an unnamed security official overnight who said that a crater about one meter (three feet) wide had been found near the scene, and that some passengers heard a loud bang before the derailment, prompting speculation about whether the crash was caused by a terrorist act. Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has been kept informed about the derailment, which has delayed some 27,000 people as transport officials have been scambling to divert trains along other, often slower routes.
The same rail line was targeted in August 2007, when a bomb derailed a train, injuring 60 passengers. Russian prosecutors believed that an associate of a Chechen rebel leader was behind that attack.
| Armed Conflict | November 2009 | ['(Deutsche Welle)', '(Russia Today)', '(BBC)'] |
Researchers from four Italian universities identify human remains discovered in a church in Tuscany as "almost certainly" being those of Renaissance artist Caravaggio. | Human remains found in a church in Tuscany almost certainly belong to Renaissance artist Caravaggio, Italian researchers said.
The team said they were 85% sure that the set of bones of a man who died in about 1610, aged between 38 and 40, were that of the painter.
The remains had been kept in an ossuary in a church crypt in Porto Ercole, after reportedly being exhumed in 1956.
Caravaggio was known for his "chiaroscuro" painting technique.
The method, in which light and shadow are sharply contrasted, revolutionised painting.
The researchers, from four Italian universities, said they believed Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio died of sunstroke while weakened by syphilis.
The findings come after a year-long investigation using DNA, carbon dating and other analysis.
The cause of his death had been a mystery, with various theories put forward, including that he was assassinated for religious reasons, and that he collapsed with malaria on a deserted beach.
Some have said he was on his way to Rome to seek a pardon when he died.
Carravagio was famed for his wild lifestyle, including often starting fights and ending up in jail. He even killed a man.
He was born in either 1571 or 1573, according to varying scholars, and spent the last few years of his life fleeing justice in southern Italy.
His works include Bacchus, The Supper at Emmaus and Sacrifice of Isaac.
The remains are believed to have lain originally in an unmarked grave among around 200 others at the church cemetery, until they were exhumed in 1956 and placed in the ossuary. Old Masters to unite in Amsterdam
Caravaggio was early 'photographer'
'Newly found' Caravaggios on show
Rediscovered Caravaggios on show
Delight at Caravaggio discovery
In pictures: | New archeological discoveries | June 2010 | ['(BBC)'] |
Five people are injured on the Gaza Strip in an Israel Air Force raid following Palestinian militants firing a rocket towards Ashkelon. | Five people including four children have been injured in a series of Israeli air raids on the Gaza Strip, Palestinian medics have told the BBC.
The raids took place on Thursday shortly after militants fired five rockets towards Ashkelon in southern Israel, the military said. An army spokesman said the missiles were intercepted. In Gaza, witnesses said planes attacked five different sites and explosions could be heard across the Strip. At least one missile hit a training facility for al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of the Islamist movement, Hamas, which governs Gaza. Another raid was reported to have targeted a rocket launcher cell in an agricultural farm east of Gaza City. Israeli sources say no injuries were caused by Thursday's rocket attacks.
There has been intermittent violence along the border since a ceasefire ended an eight-day conflict between Israel and militants in Gaza in November 2012.
On Monday, the Israel Air Force struck two targets in Gaza in response to rocket fire on southern Israel earlier in the day. Israel withdrew its troops and settlers from the Gaza Strip in 2005 under the orders of late Prime Minister Ariel Sharon.
U | Armed Conflict | January 2014 | ['(BBC)', '(The Times of Israel)'] |
At least 28 Belgians are killed in a bus crash in a motorway tunnel near the town of Sierre in the Swiss canton of Valais. | At least 28 people - including 22 children - have been killed in a coach crash in a tunnel in Switzerland.
Another 24 children were injured in the crash near Sierre, in the canton of Valais, close to the border with Italy.
The coach, carrying 52 people back to the Belgian towns of Lommel and Heverlee following a skiing trip, struck a wall in the tunnel head-on late on Tuesday.
Belgian PM Elio Di Rupo said it was "a tragic day for all of Belgium".
The bus crashed shortly after 21:00 (20:00 GMT) on Tuesday.
In Brussels, the Belgian foreign ministry said most of the children were aged around 12, and the bus was one of three hired by a Christian group. The other two reached Belgium safely.
The children had spent a week skiing in Val d'Anniviers in the Swiss Alps.
Those on board the bus that crashed were from the Stekske primary school in Lommel, close to the Dutch border, and from St Lambertus in Heverlee, near Leuven, with Belgian media saying the numbers were roughly even.
Ten of the children involved are Dutch, the Dutch foreign ministry said, with all but one of them living in Belgium.
Belgian Transport Minister Melchior Wathelet said the company that ran the coach, Toptours, had "an excellent reputation".
He said: "The drivers had arrived the night before and had rested during the day before departure. It seems that the law on driving and rest periods has been respected."
Both the drivers were among the dead.
Distraught relatives have been arriving at the schools in Belgium, with identification of the dead and injured still not complete.
Andre Joseph Leonard, the archbishop of Belgium, who is in Heverlee, told Associated Press: "There is this terrible fear and uncertainty. There are about eight about whom we don't know what happened, leaving their parents in terrible fear."
Swiss prosecutor Olivier Elsig told a news conference the bus was new, or nearly new, and was equipped with safety belts.
In a tunnel where the speed limit is 100km/h (62 mph), Mr Elsig said the bus hit a concrete wall that forms part of an emergency access section head-on. An investigation is under way.
More than 200 people and eight helicopters were involved in the rescue operation.
Valais police chief Christian Varone said it was "a scene like a war".
Some of the injured were flown by helicopters to hospitals in Lausanne, Bern and other Swiss cities.
Swiss journalist Ruth Seeholzer told the BBC that the two-lane tunnel was not busy with traffic when the accident happened and driving conditions were normal.
The Belgian royal family has issued statements expressing deep shock at the tragedy.
Belgian Foreign Minister Didier Reynders said: "It is incomprehensible. There were three buses and only one was in an accident, without any contact with another vehicle."
A helpline for families has been set up, and many relatives are expected to arrive in Switzerland later.
Belgium has made two aircraft available to take them to the country.
Belgium's ambassador to Switzerland, Jan Luykx, has already travelled to the crash site.
He said: "This tragedy will hit the whole of Belgium. The magnitude of the accident is difficult to take in. For the moment I am concentrating on the practical aspects. The emotional side will come when we meet the families."
European Commission president Jose Manuel Barroso sent his "sincere condolences and deepest sympathy" to the victims' relatives.
The European Parliament observed a minute's silence at noon.
The head of the Valais region, Jacques Melly, also expressed his deep sadness at the accident and praised the rescuers for their work in "extremely difficult conditions". | Road Crash | March 2012 | ['(BBC)', '(AFP via Sydney Morning Herald)'] |
Iraqi police and alHashd alShaabi troops raid ISIL locations in Hawija, Kirkuk, and seize tunnels and arms caches. | Iraqi troops raided on Tuesday a number of tunnels and hotbeds that were used for storing Islamic State (IS) arms in oil-rich Kirkuk.
“Iraqi police and the 11th brigade of al-Hashd al-Shaabi (Popular Mobilization Forces) launched a military operation to target Islamic State dens in several villages of Hawija district, southwest of Kikruk,” Alghad Press quoted al-Hashd al-Shaabi as saying in a statement.
“The joint forces managed to seize a number of tunnels and hideouts that were used by IS militants for storing their weapons and ammunition,” the statement read.
“The operation was launched after receiving information about the presence of IS fighters in several villages of Hawija,” concluded the statement.
In October, Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi declared that Iraqi troops recaptured Hawija, a main town held by Islamic State in the country.
The town had fallen to IS in June 2014, when the militant group seized control of much of northern and western Iraq and proclaimed the creation of a self-styled “caliphate”.
There, Islamic State’s reign forced thousands to flee to refugee camps, while hundreds had been executed by the group for attempting to escape the area or contacting security forces.
The offensive on Hawija involved army, police and special forces units, as well as the Shia-led paramilitary | Armed Conflict | May 2018 | ['(Iraqi News)'] |
The missing engine from US Airways Flight 1549 is found at the bottom of the Hudson River. | NEW YORK (CNN) -- Investigators have found a single feather and evidence of "soft-body impact damage" on the US Airways jetliner that was ditched in the Hudson River near Manhattan last week.
A New York Police boat in the Hudson waters Wednesday where divers found one of the plane's engines.
That find reinforces the pilot's report that the plane was downed by a flock of birds.
The feather, found on a flap track on the wing, is being sent to bird identification experts at the Smithsonian, the National Transportation Safety Board said Wednesday. Samples of what appears to be organic material found in the right engine and on the wings and fuselage have been sent to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
Shortly after Flight 1549 took off Thursday, pilot Chesley B. "Sully" Sullenberger, 58, reported his aircraft had struck birds, disabling both engines.
"To this point we have not found anything that has contradicted the pilot's report," NTSB spokesman Peter Knudson said Wednesday.
In a preliminary report, the NTSB said the fan blades of the right jet engine revealed evidence of soft-body impact damage. Some components of the engine were fractured and numerous internal components were either missing or damaged, it said.
The plane's left engine, which detached from the plane, evidently upon impact with the water, was found Wednesday in about 50 feet of water, and recovery is expected sometime Thursday, the NTSB said.
The board also confirmed the right engine experienced a surge during a flight on January 13, and subsequent repairs included the replacement of a temperature probe. Investigators said they are examining applicable maintenance records and procedures.
They are also interviewing passengers to learn more about the events during the flight and their subsequent evacuation and rescue. The divers who found the plane's left engine Wednesday reported the engine is in one piece, said New Jersey State Police Sgt. Stephen Jones. The divers were working from a state police boat.
The engine will be removed "in a matter of days" by the Army Corps of Engineers or a federal contractor, Jones said.
The plane's fuselage was lifted out of the river over the weekend. Authorities said the cockpit and flight data recorders were recovered in excellent condition and information from both recorders was consistent with previous reports of the plane hitting a flock of birds before losing power in both engines.
All 155 people on the plane survived, and Sullenberger has been hailed as a hero.
On Sunday, the National Transportation Safety Board said the plane's cockpit voice recorder captured sounds of loud thumps seconds after the pilot and first officer commented on a nearby flock of birds. The thumps are followed by a "rapid decrease in engine sounds," said NTSB board member Kitty Higgins. She said the flight data recorder indicated "both engines lost power simultaneously" when the plane was at 3,200 feet -- some 90 seconds after takeoff.
On the tape, Sullenberger is heard issuing a "mayday" call and telling air traffic controllers the flight had lost power in both engines, Higgins said.
In addition to Sullenberger, officials, passengers and others have lauded First Officer Jeffrey B. Skiles, 49, as well as rescuers, who acted quickly to minimize passengers' injuries in below-freezing temperature and frigid water. Neither Sullenberger nor Skiles have spoken publicly about the incident.
The Airbus A320 was lifted out of the water and placed on a barge Sunday. After its fuel tanks were drained, the plane was taken by barge across the river to a dock in Jersey City, New Jersey, where investigators planned to begin their work on the aircraft.
Higgins said Sunday the left engine apparently fell off on impact, and divers had been unable to reach it on the river bottom because of icy conditions.
The NTSB at one point said both engines were on the river bottom, but Saturday Higgins said the right engine was still attached to the aircraft. Divers did not see it earlier because of low visibility in the icy water, she said. | Air crash | January 2009 | ['(CNN)'] |
In Sunday's elections, Spain's center-right ruling People's Party wins 123 seats (35.1%), and the center-left Socialist Workers' Party takes 90 (25.7%) of the 350 seats in parliament, thereby ending Spain's two-party system since neither major party won an absolute majority. Turnout was 73 percent. Spain's new political forces, Podemos and Ciudadanos (C's), get 69 and 40 seats, respectively. Smaller parties split the remaining 28 seats, 17 to Catalonia parties which favor secession. It appears that a coalition government will be necessary. PSOE has declined to join the PP, which actually doesn't want that either. King Felipe, who ascended the throne in June 2014, is constitutionally empowered to mediate. | The Spanish parliamentary elections seem poised to shape a fragmented and uncertain future for the country’s government after Sunday voting gave the center-right Popular Party the biggest bloc of influence with just under a third of the votes. That third is the largest segment of the governing body; however, it appears unlikely it will yield a stable majority in the next four years, the Financial Times reported.
With more than 90 percent of the ballots counted, the Popular Party won 28.7 percent of the vote, followed by the Socialists with 22.19 percent. The left-wing Podemos Party placed third, followed by the centrist Ciudadanos Party, seen as the most likely ally to Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy's Popular Party, Agence France-Presse reported.
#BREAKING Spain's Popular Party "has won election," says deputy PM #EleccionesGenerales2015
Whatever government emerges, and the political alliances that may be forged in coming years, it will face some very real challenges. Rocked by a series of corruption scandals in recent years, the country now faces a 22 percent jobless rate and concern that stable, well-paid jobs may be scarce. The country has experienced an economic resurgence recently, and the economy is expected to grow by 3 percent in the coming year.
Spain’s lower house of Parliament has 350 seats in total, and the Popular Party is expected to take somewhere between 114 and 124 of those positions. That relatively weak showing will make it difficult for the ruling party to pass the legislation it would like to see ushered through, the Guardian reported. Analysts said should current polling prove to be accurate, Spain’s government will be predominantly socialist. The so-called losers could, of course, band together to form their own majority ruling bloc, similar to what happened recently in Portugal.
The winning party is short more than 100 votes to wield an absolute majority in Parliament, making it uncertain how exactly the Popular Party will proceed.
Railway workers remove debris from the wreckage of a train near Atocha train station in Madrid, March 12, 2004, after one of the worst terror attacks by Islamic extremists in European history. Photo: Reuters The expected results from the 2015 parliamentary elections contrast with those four years ago when Rajoy and the Populist Party dominated the elections and won 44 percent of the vote. The country was facing a deep debt challenge at the time in addition to high unemployment and slow national growth. That election put an end to the dominance of the Socialist Party, which had been in charge since 2004 when the nation was rocked by terrorist attacks in Madrid. In those attacks, bombs packed with nails and dynamite were detonated on trains in the city, killing 191 people and injuring 1,800 more. Those attacks were some of the worst terror attacks by Islamic extremists in European history. They also divided the country politically , and three days later the Popular Party lost its place at the head of the government.
Spain’s economic woes have been a persistent concern for creditors, who are worried the country could default on its loans. Spain, alongside countries like Italy and Greece, have been very close to default, and if that scenario became a reality, some analysts say unrest could lead to the collapse of the European Union. | Government Job change - Election | December 2015 | ['(PP)', '(PSOE)', '(Stratfor)', '(Fortune)', '(International Business Times)', '(BBC)'] |
France faces another day of strikes with a quarter of petrol stations not having any fuel. | PARIS (Reuters) - France’s main unions called on Thursday for two further days of strike action against a planned overhaul of the pension system that has triggered the biggest and most sustained anti-austerity protests in Europe.
With a final Senate vote on the bill drawing near, the country’s six main unions signaled their determination to fight on even after the passage of the legislation, calling a seventh and eighth day of protests for October 28 and November 6.
“The government bears full and total responsibility for the further protests in light of its intransigent attitude, failure to listen and repeated provocations,” the unions said in a joint statement, after a day of negotiations in Paris.
Earlier on Thursday, President Nicolas Sarkozy’s government said it would use a special measure to speed the reform bill’s passage through the Senate with a final vote expected on Friday, to howls of foul-play from the opposition benches.
Sarkozy, a conservative who is determined to face down unions and force through an increase in the retirement age, is battling 10-day-old refinery strikes and fuel depot blockades that have dried up nearly a quarter of France’s fuel pumps.
His popularity at an all-time low 18 months before a presidential election, Sarkozy is fighting deep public opposition to a reform he says is the only way to stem a ballooning pension shortfall as the population ages.
“The government remains intransigent. We need to continue with massive action as early as next week,” Bernard Thibault, head of the powerful CGT union, told RMC radio. Union leaders will meet on Thursday evening to agree on fresh action.
“We will ask the unions for strong action that will allow people to stop work and go on to the streets,” Thibault said.
Sarkozy’s handling of the protests is being closely watched by other European governments implementing austerity measures, as well as by markets who see it as a test of whether France can enact other measures to protect its coveted AAA credit rating.
Public anger against austerity measures also flared in Greece, where some 2,000 students chanting “We want jobs not unemployment” marched through central Athens, while others wielding sticks clashed with police outside parliament.
The French president wants the bill to raise the minimum retirement age by two years to 62, and the maximum age for a full pension to 67 from 65, passed by the end of the month.
He ordered police this week to break blockades at fuel depots. On Thursday, authorities in two regions ordered rationing of fuel supplies for trucks and cars as strikers kept up the blockade of the country’s largest oil port.
“We cannot be the only country in the world where, when there is a reform, a minority wants to block everyone else,” Sarkozy said. “By taking hostage the economy, companies and the daily lives of French people, we are going to destroy jobs.”
French media commentators seized on the contrast with Britain, which has seen no comparable mass protests despite unveiling far harsher austerity measures on Wednesday with half a million public sector job cuts and a rise in the retirement age to 66. But French unions are sticking to their guns.
“The French government is following the Anglo-Saxon economic model,” said Jean-Claude Mailly, head of the radical Force Ouvriere union. “It has to be wary of leading us into a wall.”
Students, who fear the reform will worsen youth unemployment by keeping older workers in jobs longer, hit the streets of Paris in the thousands in their first major autumn protests.
In the wealthy city of Lyon, clashes between youths and riot police, which began last week on the fringes of anti-pension protests, continued on Thursday. Sarkozy called the clashes “scandalous” and said rioters would be punished.
Business leaders are voicing concern about the blow to an economy already struggling to rebound from the economic crisis.
An Air France-KLM spokesman said the strikes were costing the airline 5 million euros ($7 million) a day and Maurice Levy, head of the world’s third-biggest advertising agency Publicis, said the conflict was damaging France’s image.
Brewer Brasseries Kronenbourg chief Thomas Amstutz warned beer deliveries could be hit if fuel shortages continue.
The strikes are beginning to hit tourism and cultural events ahead of half-term holidays beginning this weekend, with some travellers reconsidering holidays.
Oscar-winning actor Tim Robbins canceled a debut tour with his band in Paris and pop diva Lady Gaga also postponed gigs.
Trains were returning to normal however, with three out of four intercity TGV services operating, and nearly all international trains and half of domestic ones running normally.
Opposition senators have slowed the bill’s passage by handing in hundreds of amendments and demanding fresh dialogue.
Senators voted late on Wednesday for an amendment leaving the door open to review the pension system after the 2012 presidential election, a move that may appease some unions.
Street protests have largely been peaceful except for sporadic violence in Lyon and in the Paris suburb of Nanterre. The government said 245 people were arrested on Wednesday, taking the nationwide tally to almost 2,000 since October 12.
| Strike | October 2010 | ['(Reuters)'] |
Retired IDF Chief Benny Gantz and Yesh Atid chairman Yair Lapid agree to combine their prime ministerial campaigns in the April 9 Knesset election against incumbent Benjamin Netanyahu. | Two of Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu's strongest challengers in April elections have announced a centrist alliance in a bid to defeat him.
Ex-army chief Benny Gantz and centrist politician Yair Lapid agreed to rotate as prime minister if they win.
Separately, Mr Netanyahu forged an alliance with several far-right parties to try to shore up votes.
His right-wing Likud party leads the polls despite an investigation into corruption allegations against him.
The Israeli attorney general is due to make a decision on whether Mr Netanyahu, who denies the allegations, should be charged in the coming weeks. Mr Gantz, the former head of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), and TV-journalist-turned politician Yair Lapid announced their intention to run on a joint centrist ticket on Wednesday, before the Thursday deadline to submit candidate lists for the 9 April elections. They were also joined by former Defence Minister Moshe Yaalon and ex-military chief of staff Gabi Ashkenazi.
The centre ground agreement is seen as making the race more competitive and a challenge to Mr Netanyahu's decade-long premiership, the BBC's Jerusalem correspondent Tom Bateman says.
Mr Gantz's Resilience party said in a statement that it had "decided to establish a joint list that will comprise the new Israeli ruling party", and vowed to reunite Israeli society. If successful at the polls, Mr Gantz agreed to hold office as prime minister for the first two-and-a-half years, before Mr Lapid takes over.
Opinion polls predict Mr Netanyahu's Likud party will win the most parliamentary seats and be in a position to form another governing coalition of nationalist and religious parties.
All governments in Israel are coalitions because of the country's system of proportional representation, meaning a single party is unlikely to be able to govern alone.
On Wednesday, Mr Netanyahu helped negotiate a merger of the far-right Jewish Home and ultra-right Jewish Power parties, in a bid to boost the total number of seats held by right-wing parties after the polls. As part of an alliance with his Likud party, he agreed to set aside two cabinet posts for the Jewish Home party, as long as it agreed to the merger.
However, his critics decried the move to join forces with Jewish Power, which includes disciples of the late anti-Arab extremist rabbi Meir Kahane. The US-born rabbi led a right-wing fundamentalist group in the 1980s that advocated attacks on Arabs, and was later outlawed under Israeli anti-terrorist legislation.
Mr Netanyahu's campaign has been overshadowed by the possibility of the attorney general accepting police recommendations to indict him on suspicion of committing fraud and bribery in three cases. The prime minister has vowed to remain in office whatever the outcome of the attorney general's decision. If he wins, he will be on course to become Israel's longest serving leader, taking over that title from David Ben-Gurion.
| Government Job change - Election | February 2019 | ['(BBC)'] |
Police raid the offices of prominent pro-democracy activist Jimmy Lai ahead of his scheduled appearance in court where he has been charged with 'unlawful assembly'. Lai is the owner of the publishing company Next Digital and newspaper Apple Daily. | Police have raided the offices of prominent Hong Kong activist and newspaper owner Jimmy Lai ahead of a court appearance, where he will face charges under Hong Kong's controversial national security law. Hong Kong police raided the private offices of pro-democracy media tycoon Jimmy Lai on Thursday, according to Lai and his aide, Mark Simon.
More than a dozen officers carried out the raid and it was unclear what they were looking for, Simon said on Twitter, adding that the police did not leave behind identification or contact information.
"I spoke with police they said they would remain until our lawyer arrived,'' Simon tweeted. "They did not, they took documents and departed before our lawyer arrived.''
Lai is the founder of the publishing company Next Digital, which runs Hong Kong's pro-democracy newspaper Apple Daily. He is an outspoken figure in Hong Kong's pro-democracy movement and regularly criticizes the Hong Kong government and Beijing's authoritarian rule.
The raid comes ahead of Lai's scheduled court appearance Thursday, where he will face charges of "joining an unauthorized assembly" leveled against him for taking part in a candlelight vigil marking the anniversary of the Tiananmen Square massacre on June 4.
"They just wanted to get something to go against me," Lai told reporters before entering the court. "That's not rule of law," Lai said. "They just took everything."
Several other pro-democracy activists including Joshua Wong, Lee Cheuk-yan and Leung Kwok-hung are also due to appear in court.
Lai (l) and fellow activist Leung Kwok-hung before Thursday's hearing
The vigil was retroactively considered illegal under Hong Kong's new national security law, which came into force June 30, and outlaws "subversion, secession, terrorism, and collusion."
Read more:China's security law: The end of Hong Kong's semi-autonomous status?
The law has drawn international condemnation as a tool for Beijing to curb free speech, freedom of assembly and rule of law in semi-autonomous Hong Kong.
Lai was arrested in August on "suspicion of colluding with foreign forces," and the headquarters of Next Digital were raided and its funding frozen. He was released on bail.
Read more:Opinion: China to rule Hong Kong by fear with new national security law
"I'm not worried and I'm not going away. I will stay in Hong Kong and fight until the last day. It doesn’t matter whether I'm one of the prime targets or not," Lai told DW on June 29.
Entrepreneur Jimmy Lai is the highest profile figure to be arrested under Hong Kong's new security law. After leaving detention, Lai was met by dozens of supporters holding copies of his tabloid Apple Daily. | Famous Person - Commit Crime - Accuse | October 2020 | ['(DW)'] |
Manouchehr Mottaki, the Iranian Minister of Foreign Affairs, announces Iran has agreed to a new round of talks about Iraq with the United States. | The talks would be held in the near future, said Iran's Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki. Mr Mottaki said Iran had agreed to the talks as part of a policy of helping the Iraqi people.
The talks have yet to be confirmed by Washington but if they go ahead they will be the fourth round of discussions between the US and Iran over Iraq.
"The Swiss Embassy in Tehran has handed over to Iran a message from the US government for a new round of talks concerning Iraq," Mr Mottaki told reporters on Monday.
Switzerland looks after US interests in Tehran in the absence of a US mission. Mr Mottaki said that a date for the talks, to be held in Iraq, would be announced in the near future.
No agreement
Three rounds of talks between US and Iranian officials have already taken place this year.
US ambassador to Iraq Ryan Crocker and his Iranian counterpart Hassan Kazemi Qomi held landmark face-to-face talks in May and July, the highest level public contacts between the two countries for 27 years.
Senior officials from both countries also met in Baghdad in August. But each round of talks has ended without agreement or any clear signs of progress. The two sides have made mutual accusations over who is responsible for the violence in Iraq. Iran says that the US "occupying forces" are to blame, while the US accuses Iran of backing Shia militias and providing armour-piercing bombs for attacks on US vehicles.
But the release by the US military of several Iranian diplomats who were being held in Iraq seems to have improved the atmosphere between the two sides, says the BBC's John Leyne in Tehran.
And while the discussions are only supposed to be about Iraq, there are officials in both Teheran and Washington who are keen to maintain a dialogue even as relations deteriorate over the issue of Iran's nuclear programme. | Diplomatic Talks _ Diplomatic_Negotiation_ Summit Meeting | November 2007 | ['(BBC)'] |
Two people have been confirmed killed by the Woolsey Fire, which has burned 70,000 acres and hundreds of homes near Los Angeles. | The death toll in the wildfires raging through California has risen to 25, according to officials.
This comes after 14 more bodies were discovered in or near the decimated town of Paradise in the state's north, bringing the number of confirmed dead there to 23.
Two more people were killed in the south, near Malibu. An estimated 250,000 people have been forced to flee their homes to avoid three major blazes in the state.
Meanwhile, President Donald Trump has drawn anger by saying that poor forestry management is to blame for the fires.
The blaze known as the Camp Fire started spreading through Butte County on Thursday, and firefighters were powerless to stop it destroying the town of Paradise.
Another fire swept into the affluent southern beach resort of Malibu on Friday and has now doubled in size.
Known as the Woolsey, it had burned more than 83,000 acres (33,500 hectares) by late Saturday.
Among the towns under evacuation orders is Thousand Oaks, where a gunman killed 12 people in a rampage on Wednesday.
Meteorologists have warned that dangerous conditions may continue well into next week, as hot dry "devil winds" blow through the Los Angeles area.
"This is getting bad," said Marc Chenard of the National Weather Service's Weather Prediction Center. "It's nothing but bad news."
At a news conference on Saturday, Butte County Sheriff Kory Honea said 10 of the additional victims were found in Paradise with four in the nearby Concow area.
Images from Paradise showed the sky filled with acrid smoke, almost blotting out the sun.
By Saturday night, the Camp Fire had burned 100,000 acres (40,500 hectares) and was only 20% contained. Fire chiefs estimate it will take about three weeks to fully control the blaze.
The fire started in the Plumas National Forest, north of Sacramento, on Thursday and quickly engulfed the town of Paradise. Residents fled for their lives as more than 6,700 homes and businesses were destroyed, making the fire the most destructive in the state's history. The flames moved so fast that some had to abandon their cars and escape the town on foot. By the BBC's James Cook, Paradise in California
Paradise is hell. A smouldering, sepia world in ruins. The air is acrid. Burning chemicals leave a bitter taste in your mouth. Walking among the ashes of people's lives is eerie and awful. There is a profound sadness here. We pass a child's charred swing, a swimming pool filled with filth, and worst of all, a pet dog which did not survive.
Such was the intensity of the blaze that much of the debris is hard to recognise. Wafers of ash are drifting down like enormous snowflakes, smothering sound.
But it is not quite silent here. A sooty squirrel scrambles up a blackened tree in a panic. There are booms and creaks from burning trees and telegraph poles. And soon, going from ruin to ruin, there will be the sound of those with the hardest job of all, checking to see if anyone was left behind.
Fire officials have also issued evacuation notices for parts of Chico, a town of 93,000 people north of Sacramento. The blaze started on Thursday near Thousand Oaks, about 40 miles (64km) north-west of central Los Angeles. Another blaze, the Hill Fire, started at about the same time, also near Thousand Oaks.
On Friday, the flames jumped Highway 101 and headed into coastal areas. All residents have been ordered to evacuate. Los Angeles County Sheriff's Chief John Benedict said on Saturday that two people had been found dead but provided no details on the deaths. Malibu and nearby Calabasas are home to many celebrities and some have been forced to flee, including Kim Kardashian West, Caitlyn Jenner, Lady Gaga and Guillermo Del Toro.
The actor Martin Sheen was briefly reported missing but he later said he was on Zuma Beach in Malibu, unharmed.
Martin Sheen found safe by news crew on Malibu beach after fleeing Woolsey Fire https://t.co/RPiR4xxH6b pic.twitter.com/tFFnC5qfNz
The fire has also reportedly destroyed one of the sets for the TV series Westworld and is threatening Malibu's Pepperdine University, a private residential college with more than 7,000 students.
Firefighters have not managed to build containment barriers around the fire.
The president has previously blamed Californian officials for wildfires and threatened to withhold federal funding.
In a tweet on Saturday, he again accused state authorities of "gross mismanagement".
There is no reason for these massive, deadly and costly forest fires in California except that forest management is so poor. Billions of dollars are given each year, with so many lives lost, all because of gross mismanagement of the forests. Remedy now, or no more Fed payments!
Evan Westrub, spokesman for state Governor Jerry Brown, hit back, called Mr Trump's comments "inane and uninformed".
"Our focus is on the Californians impacted by these fires and the first responders and firefighters working around the clock to save lives and property," he said.
Celebrities also criticised Mr Trump's unsympathetic reaction.
California-born singer Katy Perry called it an "absolutely heartless response", while singer-songwriter John Legend said Mr Trump "can't bring himself to show some empathy to Californians dealing with a horrific disaster".
There is a total of 16 fires currently active in California. Officials have put most of Northern California under a Red Flag Warning, which means "extreme fire behaviour" can occur within 24 hours.
The region has grappled with serious wildfires in recent years, including the worst in the state's history - the Mendocino fire in 2018.
Are you in the area or have you been evacuated? If it's safe to share your experiences, then please email [email protected]
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Setback for EU in legal fight with AstraZeneca
But the drug-maker faces hefty fines if it fails to supply doses of Covid-19 vaccine over the summer. | Fire | November 2018 | ['(BBC)'] |
Head of the Revolutionary Guards Hossein Salami delivers a televised speech toward Israel, Saudi Arabia, the United States and those who are protesting against the government in which he says "We will destroy you" if they cross Iran's red line. | Head of the elite Revolutionary Guards Hossein Salami made the statement in a televised speech Monday
Iran will destroy the United States, Israel and Saudi Arabia if they cross Tehran's red lines, the head of the elite Revolutionary Guards Hossein Salami said in a televised speech on Monday.
"We have shown restraint ... we have shown patience towards the hostile moves of America, the Zionist regime (Israel) and Saudi Arabia against the Islamic Republic of Iran ... but we will destroy them if they cross our red lines," said Hossein Salami.
>> U.S. worried Israel will strike Iran. Israel is worried about something else
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned Sunday that Iran was planning "additional attacks" and called on the international community to pressure Iran and to "support Israel when it is acting against this aggression."
Netanyahu also discussed Iran while on a military tour of Israel's north. Israel works to thwart "deadly weapon transfers from Iran to Syria" and "Iran's attempts to turn Iraq and Yemen into bases for launching rockets and missiles at Israel," he said while touring Mt. Avital, accompanied by Defense Minister Naftali Bennett.
"We are implementing all the necessary activities in order to prevent Iran's entrenchment in the area," Netanyahu said
Netanyahu's remarks followed those of U.S. Central Command chief General Kenneth McKenzie over the weekend, who spoke about the probability of a large-scale attack by Iran in the Middle East. “My judgment is that it is very possible they will attack again,” General McKenzie said in an interview ahead of an international security conference on Saturday.
Iranian protests
Thousands of supporters of Iran's clerical establishment rallied in Tehran on Monday, accusing the United States and Israel of instigating the most violent anti-government protests for a over a decade in the Islamic Republic.
Thousands of young and working-class Iranians took to the streets on Nov. 15 after gasoline price hikes of at least 50% were announced, voicing outrage at a further squeeze on living costs compounding hardships imposed by renewed U.S. sanctions.
Protesters quickly expanded their demands to include a removal of leaders seen as unaccountable and corrupt. Violence erupted with at least 100 banks and dozens of buildings torched, the worst disturbances since unrest over alleged election fraud was crushed in 2009, with dozens killed by security forces.
On Monday, state television carried live footage of demonstrators chanting "Death to America," and "Death to Israel", while marching toward Tehran's Revolution Square to hear a speech by a commander of the elite Revolutionary Guards.
State television and the foreign ministry had promoted the government-organised rally since Sunday in response to Western statements of support for the fuel price protests.
"I recommend they (foreign countries) look at the marches today, to see who the real people in Iran are and what they are saying," Foreign Ministry spokesman Abbas Mousavi said.
The Islamic Republic has accused "thugs" linked to exiles and foreign foes - the United States, Israel and Saudi Arabia - of stirring up the street unrest, during which Amnesty International said around 115 protesters were killed.
"Death to the dictator. Time for you to step down!" chanted protesters in social media videos posted by Iranians from inside the country. The images could not be verified by Reuters. | Famous Person - Give a speech | November 2019 | ['(Haaretz)', '(The Washington Post)'] |
Several missiles are launched from the sea at the coastal city of Latakia, some of which are destroyed by air defence systems. It is not immediately clear who was behind the attack. | BEIRUT (Reuters) - Missiles were fired from the sea at several locations in the Syrian coastal city of Latakia on Monday but were intercepted by air defences, Syrian state media said.
The official SANA news agency said the Technical Industry Institution in the state-controlled city had been targeted. SANA added that it was not immediately known who fired the missiles.
“Air defences have confronted enemy missiles coming from the sea in the direction of the Latakia city, and intercepted a number of them,” SANA quoted a military source as saying.
State-run Ikhbariya TV said 10 people were injured in the attack. Eight were discharged shortly after being admitted to a nearby hospital.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a UK-based war monitor, said huge explosions were heard in the city.
The missiles targeted ammunition depots of the Technical Industry Institution in the eastern outskirts of Latakia, the Observatory said. It was not immediately clear what activities the state institution was engaged in.
A witness in Latakia told Reuters that he spotted four missiles downed by Syrian air defences.
One of the missiles fell in an open area to the west of central Homs city causing a fire in an orchard, Ikhbariya TV said.
It said electricity was later fully restored to Latakia province, a stronghold of President Bashar al-Assad, after there was partial blackout due to the attack.
The source of the missiles was not immediately clear. Israel has launched frequent attacks in Syria. On Saturday, Syrian air defences downed several missiles that Israel fired near Damascus airport, state media reported.
When asked for comment about Monday’s attack, an Israeli military spokeswoman said Israel did not comment on foreign reports.
During the Israeli cabinet weekly meeting on Sunday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said his country will “constantly taking action to prevent our enemies from arming themselves with advanced weaponry”.
A U.S. Central Command spokesman said the United States did not carry out strikes in that part of Syria on Monday.
Early in September, missiles targeted several positions in the provinces of Tartous and Hama, SANA said.
During the more than seven-year conflict in neighbouring Syria, Israel has grown deeply alarmed by the expanding clout of its arch enemy Iran - a key ally of Assad.
Israel’s air force has struck scores of targets it describes as Iranian deployments or arms transfers to Lebanon’s Iran-backed Hezbollah movement in the war.
| Armed Conflict | September 2018 | ['(Reuters)'] |
President of the breakaway Georgian republic of Ajaria, Aslan Abashidze is forced to resign by Georgian president Mikhail Saakashvili. | Aslan Abashidze, the authoritarian leader of Adzharia who has been in a standoff with the Georgian president, Mikhail Saakashvili, was reported last night to have fled the country.
"Georgians: Aslan has fled! Adzharia is free!" Mr Saakashvili announced on television.
In an earlier attempt to defuse the first major crisis between Tbilisi and its rebellious regions Mr Saakashvili had offered Mr Abashidze safe passage out of the country if he resigned.
Relations between the leader of Adzharia, a small but relatively rich republic in the west of Georgia, and Mr Saakashvili had deteriorated since the Georgian president was elected in January after peacefully ousting Eduard Shevardnadze in November.
Mr Saakashvili had promised in a radio address: "I'm prepared to guarantee Abashidze and his relatives complete security in Georgia, and allow him to leave for any foreign country, if he resigns voluntarily and without excesses."
He said at that time that he would take direct control of Adzharia until elections could be held.
Earlier in the day Mr Abashidze had denied rumours of his resignation but met the Russian security council chief, Igor Ivanov, who was acting as a mediator. In what amounted to his last appearance on Adzharian television, flanked by armed guards, Mr Abashidze said the most important issue was to avoid regional disorder.
He said: "I am not ready to abandon Adzharia. You'll only see the ceremony of signing resignation in the cinema. You can totally exclude that idea."
Tensions between the two men - one a young, democratically elected, US-trained lawyer, and the other a feudal leader whose family has ruled the region since Tsarist times - boiled over on Tuesday when a pro-Saakashvili protest was violently dispersed by Adzharian police. This brought thousands of Adzharians on to the streets, in violation of a curfew imposed by Mr Abashidze.
By yesterday afternoon the protests had grown. Mr Abashidze no longer appeared to be in control of the Adzharian capital, Batumi, and several MPs in the Adzharian parliament, 175 police and a top security official had reportedly joined the opposition. The 200-strong crowd of militia guarding his residence faded away.
The central government in Tbilisi, which had given Mr Abashidze until May 12 to accept their control or be removed from office had given Mr Abashidze's officials two hours to "obey" Tbilisi and receive immunity from prosecution for doing so.
At 6pm, just after the deadline expired, Zurab Zhvania, the Georgian prime minister, emerged from negotiations and, alongside the Adzharian interior minister, claimed Adzharia had entered into the "constitutional sphere of Georgia". The interior minister added that Mr Abashidze's resignation was not his business.
Tomas Diasamidze, leader of the Our Adzharia opposition party, said: "There are about 35,000 protesters in front of the university and our revolution is coming to an end. Aslan Abashidze, a man of yesterday, and his power will end in a few hours."
He claimed Mr Abashidze's officials had already deserted him and "joined the people" and he was now only surrounded by "bandits".
Elene, a 21-year-old student at Batumi state university, said: "For 12 years we lived under his regime, we had nothing. It has to end." Ana, 39, a teacher, said: "Abashidze and his clan are driving Mercedes. He is giving away guns to his people. He is a tyrant."
His supporters blocked the entry into Adzharia of dozens of pro-Saakashvili protesters yesterday afternoon. Gunfire rang out across Batumi on Tuesday night.
The Russian president, Vladimir Putin, spoke to Mr Saakashvili twice. Georgia had requested that Mr Ivanov, the former foreign secretary who assisted the resignation of Mr Shevardnadze in November, fly in to help negotiate.
A Georgian minister said the Kremlin had offered Mr Abashidze political asylum, something which the Kremlin denied.
Yet the potential for violence remained and Batumi's port terminal was reported to have been set with mines. | Government Job change - Resignation_Dismissal | May 2004 | ['(BBC)', '(Independent)', '(Guardian)', '(Washington Post)'] |
Russia wins the 2008 IIHF World Championship defeating Canada 5–4 in overtime. | QUEBEC CITY, Canada (AFP) — Alexander Semin started it off and Ilya Kovalchuk clinched it in overtime as Russia scored on the first and last shots to capture the gold medal at the World Ice Hockey Championships.
In between, Kovalchuk and Semin scored other goals, Russian netminder Evgeny Nabokov made 25 saves and Canada's Rick Nash took an ill-timed delay of game penalty in overtime that led to Kovalchuk's winner.
It all added up to Russia snapping a 15-year gold-medal drought by rallying to dethrone Canada 5-4 in the championship game in front of a crowd of 13,339 at the Colisee arena.
With the win, Russia ended Canada's 17-game win streak and extended its winning streak at the worlds to nine straight games.
"We have a great team with great players and we believed in each other," defenceman Andrei Markov said.
Finland beat Sweden 4-0 on Saturday to win the bronze medal to go with a silver they captured in 2007.
Canada picked up the silver Sunday and suffered its first loss at the worlds since the bronze medal game in 2006 to Finland.
Kovalchuk scored the winner on the powerplay with 2:42 gone in the overtime, firing a wrist shot from 25 feet that beat Canadian goalie Cam Ward.
Kovalchuk, who just returned from a suspension, also scored the game-tying goal with just over five minutes left in the third to make it 4-4.
Canada's Nash took a delay of game penalty 2:42 into the sudden death overtime and the Russians countered by throwing out four forwards on the powerplay. Nash was penalized for accidently shooting the puck over the glass in his own end.
"It sucks, but you know it was a great hockey game," Canadian forward Ryan Getzlaf said. "It is an unfortunate outcome with the penalty on the puck going over the glass. It hurts even more but they have got a good hockey team over there."
Canada was trying to capture its 25th title become the first country to win on home ice in 22 years since the former Soviet Union did it.
"It is tough, but in sudden death anybody can beat anybody and when you win 17 or 18 games in a row you are bound to lose one," Canadian captain Shane Doan said.
Alexei Tereshchenko also scored for Russia which trailed 4-2 heading into the third before coming back to score the final three goals of the game.
Brent Burns scored twice and Chris Kunitz, Dany Heatley, with his tournament leading 12th goal, scored singles for Canada. Heatley was named tournament MVP.
A Russia-Canada game was a dream final for organizers and the fans as it matched the only two unbeaten teams from the round-robin in the 16-team tournament which was being hosted in Canada for the first time in the 100-year history of the International Ice Hockey Federation.
Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper attended the game, watching from the VIP section directly behind the Team Canada bench.
With the teams tied after regulation the game went into a 20-minute sudden death overtime with four skaters on each side. Russia took the unusual step of putting out four forwards for the powerplay in overtime and it worked.
The Russians were especially effective at controlling the puck in the corners in Canada's end then feeding the open man out front of the net.
"We are going to get drunk. We deserve this. It is great for our country," said Russian forward Alexander Ovechkin.
Canada looked to be heading to victory and their fifth gold in 12 years when Kovalchuk scored to tie the game late in the third.
Kovalchuk took advantage of some sloppy Canadian defence, using Canadian defenceman Jay Bouwmeester as a screen and shooting through his legs past Ward. Bouwmeester was on the ice for all four Russian goals.
Kovalchuck returned to the Russian lineup against Canada after being suspended for the semi-finals.
It was his biggest game in international competition outdoing a four-goal performance against Latvia at the 2006 Turin Olympics.
Canada was guilty of relaxing with the lead late in the game and it cost them against the Russians who had a 25-14 shot advantage over the final two periods of regulation.
"Your main focus is not to sit back, but the more you think about it the more you do it," Getzlaf said.
"Anyone will tell you that's hardest thing in hockey is to keep that pressure on them when you have the lead like that in the third. | Sports Competition | May 2008 | ['(AFP via Google News)'] |
Official campaigning for the 2009 presidential election in Afghanistan begins. | KABUL, June 16 (Reuters) - Opponents facing an uphill battle to unseat Afghan President Hamid Karzai in Aug. 20 elections rallied supporters and sent them out into the streets to put up posters on Tuesday, the official start of campaigning.
Karzai, widely seen as weak and vulnerable earlier this year, has consolidated his authority in recent weeks, persuading some of his leading opponents not to run, winning endorsements from others and leaving the remaining opposition divided.
A newly published opinion survey from last month by a U.S.-based group gave him a wide lead, despite growing public concern about deteriorating security and government corruption.
Forty-one candidates are standing in the second direct vote for a president in Afghan history, seen as crucial in a country which has been at war for decades and faces a spreading Taliban insurgency despite rising numbers of foreign troops.
Candidates include officials and ministers from past and present governments, a former Taliban commander sitting now in the parliament, and two women.
Their supporters began hanging colourful posters on walls and attaching them to vehicle windshields in Kabul and in some provinces on Tuesday as part of the start of the campaign.
Karzai, who has led Afghanistan since the Taliban's ouster in 2001 and won the first presidential poll in 2004, was in Russia attending a summit of regional leaders.
The start of his campaign was announced by Deen Mohammad, a tribal leader from eastern Afghanistan, who resigned as governor of Kabul to oversee Karzai's re-election bid.
Among Karzai's main rivals, supporters of former Foreign Minister Abdullah Abdullah gathered at a Kabul hotel and dispersed with campaign literature.
Another opponent, Ashraf Ghani, a former World Bank expert and finance minister under Karzai, held a rally at his Kabul villa. He told hundreds of supporters Karzai's government was corrupt and promised to restore Afghanistan's "national pride".
The United Nations is helping organise the poll and Western donors, many with troops fighting the Taliban, are paying the $223 million bill, according to election officials.
The survey by the U.S.-based group showed 69 percent of the country had a favourable opinion of Karzai, against 25 percent unfavourable, making him by far the most popular public figure in the country.
He was the most popular choice of voters for president, with 31 percent support, it said. The poll was conducted before the field was set, and his second-place rival with 11 percent support -- a former interior minister -- has since dropped out.
Among candidates registered to stand, Abdullah was second with just 7 percent support, while Ghani had just 3 percent.
The poll of 3,200 adults across Afghanistan also revealed that while most Afghans view the security situation as getting worse they also believe the country is growing more prosperous.
Fifty-two percent said Afghanistan was less stable than a year ago, while just 14 percent said it was more stable. But 53 percent said their family was better off economically than five years ago, compared to just 20 percent who were worse off.
The Taliban, leading the insurgency against some 90,000 Western troops, have called the elections a sham and have vowed to unleash a campaign of violence throughout the next few months.
| Government Job change - Election | June 2009 | ['(Reuters)'] |
Hong Kong anti-extradition bill protesters briefly break into the Legislative Council Complex, which houses the local parliament. | Hundreds of protesters have broken into Hong Kong’s legislature, spraying graffiti on the walls and raising the former colonial flag, which includes the British union jack.
For hours the protesters had been repeatedly striking reinforced glass walls with a metal trolley and poles as hundreds of others watched on. Once inside they threw chairsand tore down and defaced portraits of past lawmakers.
Police who earlier in the day had been standing guard armed with pepper spray and guns marked “less lethal” were nowhere to be seen.
The direct action unfolded after a peaceful march of half a million people made its way through other parts of the city on the anniversary of Hong Kong’s handover to China. For the past month protesters have been demanding the withdrawal of a bill that would allow extraditions to the Chinese mainland.
Before the protesters broke in to the legislative building, at one point about half a dozen pro-democracy and independent lawmakers came between the demonstrators and police and called for calm.
They pushed against the trolley, acting as human shields between it and the building. They were roughly handled by dozens of young protesters, some of whom punched and pulled their arms. They were shouted down and the protesters continued pounding the glass.
“They simply wouldn’t listen to me,” said Lam Cheuk-ting, one of the lawmakers. “The movement at large is peaceful, but some young people are overwhelmed by a strong sense of helplessness and they’re emotionally charged.”
The police had called on the march organisers to consider rescheduling or shortening it, but it left just before 3pm when tens of thousands began snaking their way through the city.
The organisers, the umbrella group the Civil Human Rights Front, did change the end point of the march. Marchers who carried on beyond the approved march route could potentially be charged with illegal assembly under Hong Kong law.
Police issued a statement earlier saying they “absolutely” respected people’s right to “assembly, procession and expression of opinion in a peaceful and orderly manner”, but that there was “a serious safety threat” in the Admiralty and Wan Chai areas of the city. They advised the public to carefully consider whether they should join the public procession.
China reiterated its stance against what it called “foreign interference” in Hong Kong. Speaking in Beijing, the Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said the UK’s rights and obligations under the joint declaration on the 1997 handover of Hong Kong had ended.
“Britain has no so-called responsibility for Hong Kong. Hong Kong matters are purely an internal affair for China. No foreign country has a right to interfere,” Geng told a daily news briefing.
“Recently Britain has continuously gesticulated about Hong Kong, flagrantly interfering. We are extremely dissatisfied with this and resolutely opposed.”
Why are people protesting?
The protests were triggered by a controversial bill that would have allowed extraditions to mainland China, where the Communist party controls the courts, but have since evolved into a broader pro-democracy movement.
Public anger – fuelled by the aggressive tactics used by the police against demonstrators – has collided with years of frustration over worsening inequality and the cost of living in one of the world's most expensive, densely populated cities.
The protest movement was given fresh impetus on 21 July when gangs of men attacked protesters and commuters at a mass transit station – while authorities seemingly did little to intervene.
Underlying the movement is a push for full democracy in the city, whose leader is chosen by a committee dominated by a pro-Beijing establishment rather than by direct elections.
Protesters have vowed to keep their movement going until their core demands are met, such as the resignation of the city’s leader, Carrie Lam, an independent inquiry into police tactics, an amnesty for those arrested and a permanent withdrawal of the bill.
Lam announced on 4 September that she was withdrawing the bill.
Why were people so angry about the extradition bill?
Beijing’s influence over Hong Kong has grown in recent years, as activists have been jailed and pro-democracy lawmakers disqualified from running or holding office. Independent booksellers have disappeared from the city, before reappearing in mainland China facing charges.
Under the terms of the agreement by which the former British colony was returned to Chinese control in 1997, the semi-autonomous region was meant to maintain a “high degree of autonomy” through an independent judiciary, a free press and an open market economy, a framework known as “one country, two systems”.
The extradition bill was seen as an attempt to undermine this and to give Beijing the ability to try pro-democracy activists under the judicial system of the mainland.
How have the authorities responded?
Beijing has issued increasingly shrill condemnations but has left it to the city's semi-autonomous government to deal with the situation. Meanwhile police have violently clashed directly with protesters, repeatedly firing teargas and rubber bullets.
Beijing has ramped up its accusations that foreign countries are “fanning the fire” of unrest in the city. China’s top diplomat Yang Jiechi has ordered the US to “immediately stop interfering in Hong Kong affairs in any form”.
Lily Kuo and Verna Yu in Hong Kong
Earlier in the day, the chief executive of Hong Kong, Carrie Lam, attempted to calm the mood, as an official ceremony took place at a convention centre in Wan Chai to mark the 22nd anniversary of the handover.
In her speech, Lam referred to the protests, saying they had made her realise “the need to grasp public sentiments accurately”. She said: “I am also fully aware that while we have good intentions, we still need to be open and accommodating.”
The rallies are the latest manifestation of growing fears that China is stamping down on the city’s freedoms and culture with the help of the finance hub’s pro-Beijing leaders.
Although returned to Chinese rule in 1997, Hong Kong is still administered separately under an arrangement known as “one country, two systems”. The city enjoys rights and liberties unseen on the autocratic mainland, but many residents fear Beijing is already reneging on that deal.
Hong Kong’s democratic struggles since 1997
1 July 1997: Hong Kong, previously a British colony, is returned to China under the framework of “one country, two systems”. The “Basic Law” constitution guarantees to protect, for the next 50 years, the democratic institutions that make Hong Kong distinct from Communist-ruled mainland China.
2003: Hong Kong’s leaders introduce legislation that would forbid acts of treason and subversion against the Chinese government. The bill resembles laws used to charge dissidents on the mainland. An estimated half a million people turn out to protest against the bill. As a result of the backlash, further action on the proposal is halted.
2007: The Basic Law stated that the ultimate aim was for Hong Kong’s voters to achieve a complete democracy, but China decides in 2007 that universal suffrage in elections for the chief executive cannot be implemented until 2017. Some lawmakers are chosen by business and trade groups, while others are elected by vote. In a bid to accelerate a decision on universal suffrage, five lawmakers resign. But this act is followed by the adoption of the Beijing-backed electoral changes, which expand the chief executive’s selection committee and add more seats for lawmakers elected by direct vote. The legislation divides Hong Kong's pro-democracy camp, as some support the reforms while others say they will only delay full democracy while reinforcing a structure that favors Beijing.
2014: The Chinese government introduces a bill allowing Hong Kong residents to vote for their leader in 2017, but with one major caveat: the candidates must be approved by Beijing. Pro-democracy lawmakers are incensed by the bill, which they call an example of “fake universal suffrage” and “fake democracy”. The move triggers a massive protest as crowds occupy some of Hong Kong’s most crowded districts for 70 days. In June 2015, Hong Kong legislators formally reject the bill, and electoral reform stalls. The current chief executive, Carrie Lam, widely seen as the Chinese Communist party’s favoured candidate, is hand-picked in 2017 by a 1,200-person committee dominated by pro-Beijing elites.
2019: Lam pushes amendments to extradition laws that would allow people to be sent to mainland China to face charges. The proposed legislation triggers a huge protest, with organisers putting the turnout at 1 million, and a standoff that forces the legislature to postpone debate on the bills. After weeks of protest, often meeting with violent reprisals from the Hong Kong police, Lam announced that she would withdraw the bill.
While the recent protests were initially sparked by Lam’s attempts to pass the proposed extradition legislation, the demonstrations have morphed into a wider movement against her administration and Beijing.
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| Protest_Online Condemnation | July 2019 | ['(The Guardian)'] |
A court in Bulgaria sentences two men, a Lebanese Australian and a Lebanese Canadian, to life in prison in absentia, for their roles in the suicide bombing of a bus in Burgas in 2012 that killed five Israeli tourists, the Bulgarian driver and the bomber. The whereabouts of the men is unknown and they are the subject of an Interpol red notice. | SOFIA, Bulgaria (AP) — A Bulgarian court on Monday sentenced two men to life in prison for their involvement in the 2012 bombing of a tourist bus that killed five Israeli tourists and their Bulgarian bus driver and injured nearly 40 people.
Meliad Farah, a dual Lebanese-Australian national, and Hassan El Hajj Hassan, a dual Lebanese-Canadian national, were sentenced in absentia as their whereabouts are unknown, said prosecutor Evgenia Shtarkelova. They are the subject of an Interpol red notice.
On July 18, 2012, Mohamad Hassan El-Husseini, a French-Lebanese national, blew himself up on a tourist bus at the airport in the Bulgarian Black Sea resort of Burgas.
According to witness reports, the man was trying to put his backpack inside the luggage compartment of the bus along with the Israeli tourists when it exploded.
Prosecutors could not establish whether the explosion was triggered by the bomber himself or remotely detonated by one of two defendants, who were convicted of providing logistical support to the bomber.
An investigation found that the attack was the work of the military wing of Hezbollah, leading the European Union to declare it a terrorist organization.
Bulgaria’s chief prosecutor said recently that Hezbollah was behind the attack “in terms of logistics and financing”. | Famous Person - Commit Crime - Sentence | September 2020 | ['(AP)'] |
Ibrahim al Qosi, a former cook and driver of Osama Bin Laden, is imprisoned for 14 years by a Guantánamo Bay military tribunal. | Osama Bin Laden's former cook and driver has been sentenced to 14 years in prison by a Guantanamo Bay tribunal.
Sudanese-born Ibrahim al-Qosi, 50, had admitted conspiracy and providing support for terrorism.
However, he could serve far less time because of a plea deal which is likely to remain secret for several weeks.
Qosi, who was detained in Afghanistan in 2001, also admitted working as Bin Laden's bodyguard and helping him avoid capture by US forces.
The sentence will now be reviewed by the Pentagon.
Qosi was detained by US forces after fleeing an al-Qaeda hide-out in Afghanistan's Tora Bora mountains.
He has admitted running a kitchen in Bin Laden's compound while being aware that al-Qaeda was a terrorist organisation.
At his sentencing hearing, military prosecutors said Qosi had insulted the tribunal's intelligence by insisting he was a mere cook.
He is only the fourth person held at Guantanamo Bay to be convicted, and the first since President Barack Obama took office in 2009.
The centre has held more than 800 alleged militants of whom about 180 remain in custody.
Mr Obama had pledged to shut the controversial facility by January this year, but a deadlock with Congress over where to house remaining detainees delayed the plan. | Famous Person - Commit Crime - Sentence | August 2010 | ['(BBC)'] |
The Queensland Reds of Australia defeats the Canterbury Crusaders of New Zealand 18–13 to win the Super Rugby championship. | Become a member to join in Australia's biggest sporting debate, submit articles, receive updates straight to your inbox and keep up with your favourite teams and authors.
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featured alongside some of Australia’s most prominent sports journalists.
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Digby Ioane of the Reds and team mates celebrate after scoring a try during the Super Rugby final between the Queensland Reds and the Crusaders at Suncorp Stadium on Saturday, July 9, 2011. (AAP Image/Bradley Kanaris) Super Rugby Final score: Reds 18 defeated Crusaders 13. The Queensland Reds have won the Super Rugby Final, defeating the Crusaders at Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane to win the Super Rugby title for the first time.
Match report: In front of a record crowd of 52,113 at Suncorp Stadium, the opening 30 minutes was scoreless as both sides had few chances with a scrappy breakdown. Referee Bryce Lawrence allowed a messy ruck, and possession changed hands often but the Crusaders had the better of possession in the early stages.
Dan Carter had the first chance to put points on the board, but missed a regulation penalty in the 16th minute.
But it was Quade Cooper who put the first points on the board, kicking a penalty after a Crusaders’ infringement to put the Reds ahead 3-0 after weathering an opening Crusaders storm. After the restart, the Crusaders had a number of phases attacking the Reds’ line, and it was left to the genius Dan Carter to create the first try. Facing a solid defensive line, Carter grubbered for himself out wide to regain and slice through for the first try. Cooper failed to pressure Carter as he crossed the try-line, allowing the ball to be put down under the black-dot. It was the Reds 6 – Crusaders 7 after 34 minutes.
The Reds were awarded a penalty in the 38th min, after Cooper chipped ahead but was tripped by Brad Thorne – deemed accidental by the referee but still enough to concede a penalty. Cooper converted to be just a point behind going into halftime.
The Crusaders started the second half strongly, with Sonny Bill Williams creating a hole for Fruean who put Carter through a gap, but he knocked on a tough grab.
The Crusaders built further pressure on the Reds, and Brad Thorn ignored a five-man overlap on the left to push over the line himself and while he thought he scored, the referee couldn’t see anything and the video replays were inconclusive. The Reds dodged a major bullet.
However, after the restart, the Crusaders won a penalty and Carter kicked a simple goal to put the Crusaders ahead 10-6 in the 48th minute, with the Reds under serious pressure.
In the 51st minute, Digby Ioane split the Crusaders defence after a bomb was collected by Will Genia, who spun it wide to Cooper and then it was quickly on to Ioane, who showed blistering pace to score a crucial try. Ioane jigged a dance to celebrate, with Cooper converting from in-front and the Reds hit the front 13-10.
The Crusaders hit back in the 56th minute after an offside call, and Carter kicked a 40m penalty from in front to square up the game 13-all.
The 68th minute saw a game changing moment. With nothing on, Genia busted through the middle of the ruck to find space. He ran some 60m with the Crusaders holding off and covering runners, but Genia had enough pace to cross the line. Cooper missed the conversion from wide, but the score was 18-13 to the Reds with just ten minutes remaining.
The 75th minute saw another penalty to the Reds, and another tough kick on the left sideline from around 40m out for Cooper. It was an important kick, but Cooper pushed wide again. Had he slotted the kick, it would’ve sealed the game at 21-13; but the score remained 18-13 with five minutes to go.
The Reds fought hard in the final minutes but the Crusaders had the final say with the possession after Samo knocked on with one and a half minutes left on the clock. The Crusaders put together a number of phases after the siren but a knock-on finally finished their attack and the Reds held on for a famous victory.
It marks the end of a massive turnaround for the Reds. Queensland entered the professional Super rugby era with back-to-back Super 10 titles, but finished in the last three sides from 2004-09. | Sports Competition | July 2011 | ['(The Roar)'] |
U.S. President Barack Obama cancels a scheduled meeting with the President of the Philippines, Rodrigo Duterte, after Duterte referred to Obama as a "son of a whore", while adding "I am no American puppet", in response to Obama's recent criticism of his war on drugs. | By Sheena McKenzie and Kevin Liptak, CNN Updated 1608 GMT (0008 HKT) September 6, 2016 Vientiane, Laos (CNN)Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte is expressing regret after his obscenity-laden rant against President Barack Obama prompted the White House to cancel planned bilateral talks between the two leaders.
In his comments, Duterte referred to an infamous US massacre in the southern Philippines.
The US acquired the Philippines from Spain as a result of the 1898 Treaty of Paris, which brought an end to the Spanish-American War.
Filipinos rose up against the US, waging a war that ended in 1902. But some of the Moro population -- a Muslim group in the south of the country -- continued to reject US rule, in what is known as the Moro Rebellion.
In 1906, an infamous battle took place in the volcanic crater of Bud Dajo on the southern island of Jolo.
US forces, equipped with firearms, routed the Moros, who used traditional weapons, leaving hundreds of them dead and only a handful of survivors. The US's military victory proved a public relations disaster when it was revealed that women and children were among those killed. | Diplomatic Talks _ Diplomatic_Negotiation_ Summit Meeting | September 2016 | ['(The Washington Post)', '(CNN)'] |
Gunmen kill one anti-polio worker and wound three others | Pakistani women mourn the death of their family member in Peshawar, Pakistan on Tuesday, May 28, 2013. (AP / Mohammad Sajjad)
PESHAWAR, Pakistan -- Pakistani authorities suspended a four-day polio vaccination program Tuesday after gunmen shot dead a female polio worker and wounded another, officials said, in a blow to the U.N.-backed campaign aimed at eradicating the crippling disease from this violence-torn country.
Such attacks have made it harder for Pakistan to join the vast majority of nations declared polio-free.
The two women were attacked Tuesday in Kaggawala village on the outskirts of the main northwest city of Peshawar, police officer Mushtaq Khan said.
Senior police official Shafiullah Khan said two attackers on foot fired a pistol at the workers. He said police have started a search operation.
Government official Habibullah Arif said the polio vaccination drive in the northwestern city of Peshawar and nearby villages has been suspended.
The four-day campaign was launched Tuesday morning, but it was halted "for security reasons and to express solidarity with the slain and injured female polio workers," he said.
No group has claimed responsibility for the latest killing, but some Pakistani militants have alleged in the past that the polio workers are U.S. spies and that the vaccine makes people sterile.
Reinforcing those suspicions was the disclosure that the CIA used a Pakistani doctor to run a hepatitis vaccination campaign to try to get blood samples from al-Qaida founder Osama bin Laden's family before U.S. commandos killed him there in May 2011.
The World Health Organization, the U.N. agency that oversees much of the polio vaccination work in Pakistan, condemned the attack.
Dr. Nima Saeed Abid, acting WHO country head for Pakistan, said the safety of his polio workers, many of whom are women, was paramount.
"I hope the government will provide them with the requested security for the health workers," he said. "And after careful assessment, they should resume their activities."
Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari blasted what he called a "cowardly" attack, and resolved that "the government will not permit militants to deprive our children of basic health care." He spoke before the decision to suspend the program.
Pakistan is one of only three countries in the world, along with Afghanistan and Nigeria, where polio is still endemic. Health workers have made strides against the disease in recent years, but the violence threatens to reverse that progress.
In December, gunmen killed nine polio workers in different parts of Pakistan. Several more workers have been killed since then, as well as police who were protecting them.
The U.N. said in March that some 240,000 children had missed vaccinations since July in parts of Pakistan's tribal belt, the main sanctuary for Islamic militants, because of security concerns.
Elsewhere in Pakistan's northwest on Tuesday, a roadside bomb killed the son of a member of an anti-Taliban militia and wounded the militia member and five others, police official Gul Afzal Afridi said.
The bomb exploded on the outskirts of Mingora, a main town in the Swat Valley, which was once largely under the control of the Taliban until an army operation in 2009.
The militants have since staged occasional bombings and other attacks in Swat. Anti-Taliban militias -- often referred to as peace committees -- have helped hold the militants back.
Afridi said the apparent target Tuesday was militia member Sher Ali. His son Barkat Ali died.
A bomb planted on a motorcycle went off near a place of worship of Shiite Muslims in the northwestern city of Peshawar on Tuesday, killing two and wounding 10 others, police official Zahid Khan said.
Imran Hassan, a resident, said most of the dead and wounded were Shiites.
No one claimed responsibility, but authorities have blamed Sunni militant groups for previous attacks against minority Shiites.
Also Tuesday, gunmen fired on a vehicle carrying a Shiite Muslim lawyer and two of his sons, killing them, in an apparent sectarian attack in Pakistan's largest city, Karachi, police officer Najam Tareen said.
Karachi, a port city of 18 million, is a hotbed of ethnic, political and sectarian violence, and Shiite professionals are often targeted.
| Armed Conflict | May 2013 | ['(CTV News)'] |
The second tournament of the FIDE Grand Prix 2012–2013 is ended in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, with a 3–way tie for first place between Sergey Karjakin, Wang Hao and Alexander Morozevich. | The 2012 FIDE Tashkent Grand Prix has ended with a 3-way tie for first place between Sergey Karjakin, Wang Hao and Alexander Morozevich on a score of 6½/11.
Alexander Morozevich and Shakhriyar Mamedyarov had led into the final round, but their fortunes didn't follow the same path. Morozevich drew an exciting final game with Peter Svidler, whereas Mamedyarov lost to Wang Hao to slip back from the leaders.
In the last game of the day to finish Sergey Karjakin defeated Ruslan Ponomariov to earn a share of first place, along with Alexander Morozevich and Wang Hao.
The winner's prize-money is shared between Karjakin, Wang Hao and Morozevich with each receiving €22,500. Grand Prix points will also be shared, as shown in the table below. If the tournament had used the common Sonnenborn-Berger tie-break method, then Karjakin would have been first, Wang Hao second, and Morozevich third.
The final standings of the 2012 FIDE Tashkent Grand Prix
.
Alexander Morozevich drew with Peter Svidler in the final round
Wang Hao defeated Shakhriyar Mamedyarov
Sergey Karjakin beat Ruslan Ponomariov to claim a share of first place
Leinier Domiguez beat Gata Kamsky in the battle to avoid last place
Peter Leko and Fabiano Caruana drew their game
Rustam Kasimdzhanov drew with Boris Gelfand
.
The Grand Prix standings after 2 events
.
The overall winner and runner-up of the 2012/13 FIDE Grand Prix will qualify for the March 2014 Candidates Tournament. Before then, the 2013 Candidates take place in March in London, with the winner challenging Vishy Anand for the title in October/November 2013.
The Tashkent Grand Prix was the second tournament of the 2012/13 FIDE Grand Prix series (the first was in London). The third Grand Prix event will be in Lisbon in April/May next year. The remaining venues will be Madrid, Berlin and Paris. Details of dates and participants are here.
Each tournament is a single round-robin featuring 12 out of the 18 players in the Grand Prix, and each player competes in four of the six events. The overall winner and runner-up of the Grand Prix qualify for the March 2014 Candidates Tournament.
The time control used in all events is 40 moves in 2 hours, followed by 20 moves in 1 hour, then 15 minutes plus a 30 second increment after move 60.
Photos by Anastasiya Karlovich and Bakhtiyor Jiyanov at the Tashkent Grand Prix website. Games via TWIC. | Sports Competition | December 2012 | ['(Chess News)'] |
A fire forces the evacuation of more than 22,000 concertgoers at the Tomorrowland music festival at the Parc de Can Zam in Barcelona, Spain. There were no serious injuries. This is the first time the festival has been held in Spain; Belgium had been the home since 2005. | BARCELONA — A huge fire at a music festival in Spain forced the evacuation of more than 20,000 concertgoers and incinerated the event's stage in Barcelona, the regional government said Sunday.
The fire Saturday night consumed the large outdoor stage at Tomorrowland EDM festival held at Parc de Can Zam. Twelve firefighting units needed around an hour to extinguish the flames just before midnight.
Firefighters said they were investigating the cause. Tomorrowland published a statement on Facebook saying the "stage caught fire due to a technical malfunction."
Barcelona firefighters said there were no serious injuries during the evacuation but the event's private security treated 20 people for minor injuries or anxiety.
Video images show the fire starting at the top of a tall temporary structure erected on the stage where a large screen showed a performer singing. The towering flames quickly spread until they engulfed the entire stage.
In a statement, regional authorities said the fire "completely destroyed the stage" and that its charred remains "run the risk of collapsing."
The festival in Barcelona was one of several offshoots of a main Tomorrowland festival in Belgium. Organizers said the Barcelona event was canceled following the fire. | Fire | July 2017 | ['(USA Today)', '(NBC News)'] |
The February 7 Delhi Legislative Assembly election results in the Aam Aadmi Party leading in 63 out of 70 seats. | An anti-corruption party has won a stunning victory in the Delhi state elections in a huge setback for India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The BJP admitted defeat after Arvind Kejriwal's Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) won 67 of the 70 assembly seats.
Mr Modi congratulated the AAP leader, whose career seemed doomed a year ago when he quit as Delhi's chief minister over a crucial anti-corruption bill. It is the BJP's first setback since it triumphed in the 2014 general election.
Correspondents say the win marks a remarkable comeback for Arvind Kejriwal, a former tax inspector.
His party was routed by the BJP in last May's general elections, months after the AAP made a spectacular debut in the 2013 Delhi elections.
Mr Modi has enjoyed huge popularity since taking office last year, winning a string of local elections and wooing international investors and world leaders.
Final results gave Mr Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) just three seats. India's main opposition Congress party failed to win a single constituency.
Mr Kejriwal told cheering party supporters that the "people of Delhi have achieved something spectacular". "With the help of people, we will make Delhi a city which both poor and rich will feel proud of," he said.
As supporters showered him with rose petals, Mr Kejriwal said the huge mandate was "very scary and we should live up to people's expectations".
The BJP's campaign was essentially anti-AAP and the party leaders often criticised Mr Kejriwal at their rallies and road shows.
Mr Kejriwal, meanwhile, conducted an energetic campaign which proved popular with working class and underprivileged voters who make up 60% of Delhi's population. The BJP fielded former policewoman Kiran Bedi as its candidate for chief minister.
"We never expected that the results would be so depressing. We never expected that we would suffer such a setback. It is certainly not our day today," BJP leader Praveen Shankar Kapoor told BBC Hindi.
The atmosphere around the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) is electrifying.
As results showed the anti-corruption party steaming ahead, supporters began discussing the formation of the new government. They say their victory "will be a reinforcement of the common man's choices". "If people feel 2014 was the year of the Modi wave, this will be the year of an AAP sweep," Rajesh Kumar Arya, a supporter, said.
Sweets have begun arriving in homes in the neighbourhood for the celebrations and AAP supporters are setting off fireworks and singing songs. The BJP supporters I spoke to said they felt dejected by a few crucial decisions the party took immediately before the polls, including the announcement of the "outsider" Kiran Bedi as the chief ministerial candidate. Arvind Kejriwal makes an epic comeback
Kejriwal win 'a victory for common man'
Ms Bedi and Mr Kejriwal worked together as anti-corruption campaigners, but the two have since developed an intense rivalry.
During weeks of hectic campaigning, both candidates promised to bring in good governance, end corruption and make Delhi safe for women. In December 2013, the BJP won most seats but fell short of an overall majority in Delhi, leaving the AAP - which came second - to form a coalition with Congress. But Mr Kejriwal resigned after 49 days in office, when opposition politicians blocked a bill that would have created an independent body with the power to investigate politicians and civil servants suspected of corruption.
Since then the state has been governed directly by the federal authorities.
Delhi fresh elections on 7 February | Government Job change - Election | February 2015 | ['(BBC)'] |
Maurice Clemmons, suspect in the 2009 shooting of Lakewood, Washington, police officers, is shot dead by police in Seattle. | Assistant Police Chief Pugel said the officer opened fire as the suspect tried to flee
A policeman investigating a stolen car on a Seattle street shot dead the man accused of gunning down four police officers at the weekend, US police say.
Maurice Clemmons, aged 37, was killed in Seattle early on Tuesday, said Assistant Police Chief Jim Pugel. He said the officer recognised Clemmons and told him to stop, before opening fire after the suspect tried to flee. Four people have been arrested for allegedly helping the suspect elude authorities during the two-day manhunt. The victims - Sgt Mark Renninger and officers Ronald Owens, Tina Griswold and Greg Richards - were singled out as they did paperwork at a cafe in a suburb of Tacoma, near Seattle, on Sunday morning. 'Increasingly erratic'
Assistant Police Chief Pugel told a news conference that Clemmons was found by a patrolman who stopped at about 0245 local time on Tuesday for a routine check on a car reported stolen hours earlier. He said that while the officer was making inquiries about the vehicle, which was unoccupied with the engine running, he noticed a movement behind him. He turned to find a man he believed to be Clemmons. The officer ordered the man to stop and show his hands, but the suspect tried to run away, said Assistant Police Chief Pugel. "He wouldn't stop. The officer fired several rounds," he said, adding that the police officer had not been wounded. Mr Pugel also said that Clemmons was found to be carrying a handgun taken from one of the dead officers. He also had a recent gunshot wound in the abdomen, believed to have been inflicted by one of the dying officers who shot at Clemmons as he fled. Ed Troyer, a spokesman for the Pierce County sheriff, said in addition to the four people arrested on suspicion of helping Clemmons since Sunday, up to seven more could soon be in custody. "Some are friends, some are acquaintances, some are partners in crime, some are relatives. Now they're all partners in crime," he said, according to the AP news agency. Officials are trying to establish what prompted Clemmons to shoot the police officers on Sunday. Clemmons' behaviour had been described as increasingly erratic in the past few months, AP said. Mr Troyer told the Tacoma News-Tribune newspaper that the suspect had indicated on Saturday night "that he was going to shoot police and watch the news". Parole row
A reward of $125,000 (£76,000) had been offered for information leading to his arrest. Police in the US state of Washington had been storming potential hiding places of Clemmons and patrolling streets with dogs. They surrounded a house in a Seattle late on Sunday following a tip that Clemmons was inside. After an all-night siege, a Swat team entered the home and found it empty. But police said Clemmons had been there. The case sparked anger across the US after it emerged that Clemmons had been released from prison despite a history of violent crime. His 95-year sentence in Arkansas was commuted in 2000 by then governor Mike Huckabee. Clemmons quickly reverted to crime. He was back in prison in 2004, but released again later that year. On Monday, Mr Huckabee said he took responsibility for making Clemmons eligible for parole, describing the case as a failure of the justice system. | Famous Person - Death | December 2009 | ['(BBC)'] |
Jonathan Pollard, a convicted spy who spent 30 years in prison in the United States for spying, returns to Israel. |
JERUSALEM — Jonathan Pollard, who spent 30 years in U.S. prison for spying for Israel, arrived in Israel early Wednesday with his wife, triumphantly kissing the ground as he exited the aircraft in the culmination of a decades-long affair that had long strained relations between the two close allies.
“We are ecstatic to be home at last after 35 years,” Pollard said as he was greeted at Israel’s international airport by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The Israeli leader jubilantly presented Pollard and his wife Esther with Israeli ID cards, granting them citizenship.
“You’re home,” Netanyahu said, reciting a Hebrew blessing of thanks. “What a moment. What a moment.”
Pollard arrived on a private plane provided by American casino magnate Sheldon Adelson, a billionaire supporter of both Netanyahu and President Donald Trump.
Pollard, 66, and his wife walked slowly down the steps as they exited the aircraft. Pollard got on his knees and kissed the ground as his wife put her hand on his back with Netanyahu standing by in the darkness. Esther Pollard, who is battling cancer, then kissed the ground and was helped up by her husband.
Pollard thanked Netanyahu and the Jewish people for supporting him. “We hope to become productive citizens as soon and as quickly as possible and to get on with our lives here,” he said.
Pollard, a civilian intelligence analyst for the U.S. Navy, sold military secrets to Israel while working at the Pentagon in the 1980s. He was arrested in 1985 after trying unsuccessfully to gain asylum at the Israeli Embassy in Washington and pleaded guilty. The espionage affair during the Reagan years embarrassed Israel and tarnished its relations with the United States for years.
Pollard was given a life sentence and U.S. defense and intelligence officials consistently argued against his release. But after serving 30 years in federal prison, he was released on Nov. 20, 2015, and placed on a five-year parole period that ended in November. That cleared the way for him to leave the U.S.
Pollard’s arrival was first reported by Israel Hayom, a newspaper owned by Adelson. The newspaper published photos of Pollard and his wife, both wearing masks, on what it said was a private plane that arrived early Wednesday from Newark, New Jersey. It said the private flight was necessary due to the medical needs of Esther Pollard. The newspaper’s editor, Boaz Bismuth, called it “the most exciting day” of his four-decade journalism career.
Photographs of the plane with the Pollards matched the color scheme of aircraft owned by the Las Vegas Sands Corp., the hotel and casino company owned by Adelson. Flight-tracking data showed a Boeing 737 owned by the company, tail number N108MS, left Newark for Ben-Gurion International Airport outside of Tel Aviv.
Effi Lahav, head of an activist group that had campaigned for Pollard’s release from prison, said Pollard had been flown on a “top secret” mission overnight. “The fact that Esther and Jonathan arrived here in Israel excites us very much,” he told the Army Radio station.
The Ynet website said the couple was in quarantine, which is mandatory for all returning Israelis as a measure to guard against the spread of the coronavirus. The country has barred the arrival of all tourists, but appeared to be welcoming the couple as Israelis.
Pollard’s release was the latest in a long line of diplomatic gifts given to Netanyahu by President Donald Trump. His arrival in Israel gives the embattled Netanyahu a welcome boost as he fights for reelection in March 23 parliamentary elections.
Netanyahu has been one of Trump’s closest allies on the international stage. Over the past four years, Trump has recognized contested Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and moved the U.S. Embassy to the holy city. In other departures from traditional U.S. positions, Trump has also recognized Israel’s annexation of the Golan Heights, said that Israeli West Bank settlements are not illegal and brokered a series of diplomatic agreements between Israel and Arab nations.
| Famous Person - Commit Crime - Release | December 2020 | ['(The Times of Israel)', '(Politico)'] |
Fiji declares a 30–day state of natural disaster in areas affected by Cyclone Harold. | Fiji's government has declared a State of Natural Disaster in areas affected by last week's Cyclone Harold.
The Disaster Management Minister, Jone Usamate, made the announcement this afternoon, saying it would enable the government to exercise certain powers to deal with the aftermath of the category four storm which killed at least one person and damaged homes and crops across the country.
Disaster Management Minister, Jone Usamate Photo: Fiji Govt
Mr Usamate said the declaration was for certain parts of the Eastern, Central and Western Divisions of the country.
In the Eastern Division it was for Kadavu and the Southern Lau group, which were particularly hard hit.
In the Central Division the areas included Tailevu North, Korovou, Nausori, Nakasi, Beqa and Yanuca.
For the Western division, the declaration has been made for the districts of Nadarivatu, Vatulele, Mamanuca Group, the Yasawa Group, coastal communities in the Coral Coast and along the Sigatoka River in the Nadroga/Navosa province.
Four government boats were being sent out with assessment teams, aid and food.
Mr Usamate confirmed the distribution of food supplies had begun in the Central Division, and would begin in the Western Division on Tuesday, while personnel were being deployed to the Eastern Division.
He also thanked the governments of New Zealand and Australia for their assistance at this time.
The minister said assessments were still being completed but the Northern Division had been cleared and the priority for that region was now on minimising the spread of Covid-19, of which the country had 16 cases.
Mr Usamate said it was a challenge to deal simultaneously with the cyclone aftermath and the coronavirus.
But he insisted Covid-19 protocols were being adhered to in evacuation centres across the country, of which 66 were still open.
As of this morning 1800 people were still in the centres.
The government said although final assessments were still pending, the cost of the damage to property and crops from the cyclone would run into the millions of dollars. | Hurricanes_Tornado_Storm_Blizzard | April 2020 | ['(RNZ)'] |
The death toll in the Camp Fire rises to 71, with the statewide total at 74. The number of missing and unaccounted-for people rises to more than 1000. | More than 1,000 people are unaccounted as California’s deadliest wildfire enters a second week. The death toll rose to 71 in the Camp Fire that started November 8 in Northern California. The list of people who are unaccounted for grew to 1,011 names, but that number may change once authorities follow up with families to confirm if they’ve heard from missing relatives, Butte County Sheriff and Coroner Kory Honea said Friday. Related Article
Hundreds are still missing after California's Camp Fire. Their families cling to hope
The deadliest and most destructive wildfire in state history, the Camp Fire has destroyed more than 9,800 homes and scorched 149,000 acres since starting November 8. It was 55% contained as of Saturday evening. The Camp Fire – the deadliest and most destructive wildfire in state history – has destroyed about 9,800 homes and scorched 146,000 acres (an increase of 5,000 acres Friday). It is 50% contained.
Hundreds of deputies, National Guard troops, anthropologists and coroners are sifting through leveled homes and mangled cars for remains. Smoke from the large wildfire has prompted several universities to cancel or postpone sporting events. That includes the University of California, Berkeley men’s basketball game Thursday night, which was called off, and its football game, which was rescheduled for December 1.
Honea has said investigators combined all the information they have received from callers since the fire erupted. Some names on the list appear more than once, and it’s unclear whether others are duplicates, too, Honea said.
Related Article
Malibu residents stay up all night to save neighborhood from fires
Even as the list of those missing in the Camp Fire has ballooned, it’s hard to tell exactly how many people truly are lost, officials have said.
“I want you to understand,” Honea said earlier this week, “that there are a lot of people displaced, and we’re finding that a lot of people don’t know that we’re looking for them.” The Butte County Sheriff’s Office published the list on its website. If people find their names on it, Honea said, or names of loved ones they know are safe, they’re asked to call the sheriff’s office. For two days, Paradise police Officer Matthew Gates searched through ash and collapsed buildings for the remains of a woman. Related Article
Here's how you can help those affected by the California wildfires
When the Camp Fire broke out, a man told Gates his mother was likely driving on a jammed roadway that hundreds used to flee the flames. But Gates couldn’t find her. Gates finally came across her at an evacuee shelter.
“She had burns up her arms and I knew it was her,” the officer told CNN affiliate KRCR. “I went and gave her a hug because I’ve been looking for her body.”
Authorities are trying to reach those who called 911 to verify they’ve made contact with their loved ones, said Sgt. Steve Collins of the Butte County Sheriff’s Office.
“We’re asking people to call us if they do come in contact with their loved one so that we don’t spend time looking for somebody that’s already found.” A week after her family narrowly escaped as the Camp Fire closed in on the town of Paradise, Whitney Vaughan said she feels like giving up. Related Article
Camp Fire changed her life forever. Now, she feels like giving up
Everything she and her husband, Grady, own is gone, along with a home they were renting, “a quirky older house with lots of character and lots of room” for their six kids, she said. Thankfully, her two kids and his children are able to stay with the other parents, but Vaughan said she and her husband are essentially homeless. One night they just began driving from town to town in search of a motel.
“So now we are homeless, have no money, are trying to find a place,” Vaughan said. “And if that isn’t bad enough, when I do close my eyes, I see flashbacks of the fire and the people trapped on our streets. The explosions and the screams will never be a sound that I can forget.” Margaret Newsum gathered her medicine and other vital supplies and went outside her home in Magalia as the Camp Fire roared toward her home. Related Article
The Camp Fire burned down his home but left behind the engagement ring he plans to propose with
“There are just too many people in the same situation,” she said. “I don’t know what to do anymore. We have nowhere to turn. “This fire has changed us in ways I can never explain.” The Woolsey Fire burning in Southern California has destroyed 836 structures in Los Angeles and Ventura counties, Cal Fire said.
More than 98,000 acres have been burned since the blaze began November 8, while evacuees remain in shelters, and portions of Malibu and nearby areas must be rebuilt, officials said. More than 3,300 firefighters are making progress against the massive wildfire, which was 67% contained as of Friday. More than 230,000 acres burned in California in the past week – larger than the cities of Chicago and Boston combined. And in 30 days, firefighters have battled more than 500 blazes, Cal Fire said. | Fire | November 2018 | ['(CNN)'] |
Thirteen people are killed, including the shooter, and four are injured in a shooting at a municipal center in Virginia Beach, Virginia. | SATURDAY: 8 a.m: Virginia Beach officials have been released the names of the victims in the mass shooting. 11 p.m. The suspect lived in a condominium off Witchduck Road, which police raided Friday night. He was known as a quiet person who kept to himself. A neighbor of the suspect, Cassetty Howerin, who spoke with WAVY’s Andy Fox and said she never imagined he would do something like that. 10:38 p.m. DeWayne Craddock, 40, has been identified as the suspect in the Municipal Center. Police Chief Jim Cervera says Craddock was a longtime employee with the city. 10:08 p.m. Sentara officials say four injured victims from today’s shooting are still in the hospital. Three patients are at Sentara Virginia Beach General, with two in critical condition and one in fair condition. Another victim who was taken to Norfolk General is still in critical condition. They say another patient checked themselves into Sentara Princess Anne, but was released from the emergency department Friday night. 9:50 p.m. Police Chief Jim Cervera says another victim has been pronounced dead. 12 people, as well as the gunman, have been confirmed deceased in total following today’s mass shooting at the Virginia Beach Municipal Center. Multiple people are still injured and at local hospitals. The suspect, who was a Virginia Beach city employee with access to the building, was reloading his weapon, a .45 caliber handgun with a suppressor and an extended magazine, when he shot following a gun battle with police. Cervera said authorities are in the process of identifying victims so they can make notifications to their families. He said police received the initial call for the shooting shortly after 4 p.m. Cervera says city emergency officials had trained extensively and are “highly qualified” in the event of an active shooter. 9:20 p.m. The mayors of fellow Hampton Roads cities are sending their condolences to their neighbors in Virginia Beach. Norfolk Mayor Kenny Alexander and Chesapeake Mayor Rick West both released statements after the shooting. Today’s heartbreaking tragedy has spread grief throughout the region. On behalf of #NorfolkVA City Council, city workers and residents we offer @CityofVaBeach condolences and unwavering support. pic.twitter.com/sfsWLCmbvd
A message from Chesapeake Mayor Rick West: On behalf of the City of Chesapeake, I want to offer my sincere condolences to the victims of today's horrific event in Virginia Beach, as well as their families. (1/3)
The latest as of 8:46 p.m. Congresswoman Elaine Luria, who represents Virginia Beach, was being briefed on the shooting before a 9:30 p.m. press conference and released a statement:
“This is a day that will change Virginia Beach forever. I grieve for those who lost their lives, their families, and everyone who loved them. I wish a speedy recovery to all who are injured, and I thank the first responders, medical personnel, and law enforcement for their invaluable bravery and service. Now is the time for healing, coming together, and determining ways to prevent this kind of tragedy from happening again.” 8:40 p.m. First responders are using Princess Anne Middle School as a way to reunite survivors with their families and loved ones following Friday’s shooting. 8:33 p.m. The Municipal Center shooting happened just about a month after the Pharrell Williams-led Something in the Water festival, which was seen as a major success for the region, bringing people from all backgrounds together for a weekend of music and culture at the Virginia Beach Oceanfront. Williams, a Virginia Beach native, tweeted about the tragedy on Friday night, saying, “We are resilient. We will not only get through this, but we’ll come out of this stronger than before we always do.” We are praying for our city, the lives that were lost, their families and everyone affected.We are resilient.We will not only get through this but we’ll come out of this stronger than before we always do.#VIRGINIABEACH ?
"This makes a little trash on the beach seem so little now," -said one @CityofVaBeach employee. Gosh…isn't that the truth. @WAVY_News
7:15 p.m. Governor Ralph Northam arrives at the Municipal Center, telling WAVY’s Andy Fox it was “a horrific day for Virginia.” 6:46 p.m. 11 victims have been pronounced dead, as well as the gunman, and another six are injured following Friday’s shooting at the Virginia Beach Municipal Center, Virginia Beach Police Chief Jim Cervera confirmed in a press conference. A Virginia Beach police officer was shot in the incident, but was protected by a bulletproof vest. He’s expected to be OK.
The gunman was a longtime public works city employee.
Virginia Beach Mayor Bobby Dyer said this goes down as the most devastating day in the city’s history.
6:34 p.m. WAVY’s Andy Fox reports that multiple city sources say the suspect, who is now deceased, is a disgruntled former city employee who was fired on Thursday, and multiple people are feared to be dead following the shooting. The latest died at Sentara Norfolk General Hospital, Andy Fox reports. However official number of causalities has not been confirmed at this time, and the situation remains active. 6:29 p.m. Six shooting victims have been taken to area hospitals after an active shooting incident at the Virginia Beach Municipal Center, including one to Sentara Norfolk General Hospital. One suspect was taken into custody, and city sources tell WAVY’s Jason Marks the suspect was pronounced dead. A press conference on the situation was set for 6:15 p.m. but has been delayed. Woman tells @AndyFoxWAVY she is a public utilities employee @CityofVaBeach and supervisor ran in and shouted "this is not a drill." @WAVY_News pic.twitter.com/2IlAKWXsRk
I have been in communication with @CityofVaBeach Mayor Bobby Dyer and @VBPD Chief Jim Cervera. My administration stands ready to assist law enforcement and first responders in any way.
UPDATE: there is still a very heavy police presence surrounding building 2 at the municipal center. Police have blocked off much of the parking lot. @WAVY_News pic.twitter.com/nugA9CJQPE
6:13 p.m. A Nightingale helicopter arrived at Norfolk General Hospital, a Level 1 trauma center, with a patient from the shooting. 6:06 p.m. The shooting suspect is dead, a Virginia Beach police source tells WAVY’s Jason Marks. Multiple victims are also feared dead after the shooting. Police are set to hold a press conference at 6:15 p.m. to provide updates. Thank you to our law enforcement & other first responders in Virginia Beach for your heroic actions regarding today’s Active Shooter Incident. We are closely monitoring the situation and will provide any support you need. We are also praying for the victims and their families. https://t.co/bKpK9ECJQd
5:56 p.m. Sentara has updated the number of patients in connection to the shooting to six. Five are at Sentara Virginia Beach and one patient at Sentara Princess Anne is being picked up by Nightingale for transfer to Sentara Norfolk General Hospital. 5:49 p.m. WAVY’s Andy Fox reports several people are feared dead, according to a City Hall source. There’s been no official word on fatalities from police at this time. 5:46 p.m. Virginia Beach sources tell WAVY’s Jason Marks that a police officer was shot, but is expected to be OK. The public works building (building 2) has been cleared, authorities say. UPDATE: VB sources say police officer was shot but is okay. Building is now clear. I’m hearing several people dead and working to confirm number. @WAVY_News
5:38 p.m. Police are searching the complex building by building, though one suspect has already been taken into custody. Four victims have been confirmed injured and have been taken to the hospital. My heart is with all those injured & affected by today’s shooting at the Virginia Beach Municipal Center. I’m so thankful for first responders & law enforcement for risking their lives to bring a suspect into custody. This is more proof Congress must act to prevent gun violence.
Please keep all of our city employees, their families, and citizens who were at the municipal center this afternoon in your thoughts and prayers as the reports of an active shooter situation there are starting to be released.https://t.co/51stfhTsJB
5:25 p.m. Sentara now says three patients have been taken to Sentara Virginia Beach General Hospital and one person was taken to Sentara Princess Anne.
WAVY’s Jason Marks says city sources told him at least one person is dead and at least six injured in the shooting. Police have yet to officially confirm those numbers. Mayor Bobby Dyer is heading to the area and Virginia Beach Police Chief Jim Cervera is expected to give live updates soon. 5:24 p.m. Governor Ralph Northam says his team is actively monitoring the situation. 5:14 p.m. Sentara officials confirm one patient is at Sentara Princess Anne and another was taken to Virginia Beach General. Nightingale air ambulance is also at the scene. The FBI has joined Virginia Beach authorities to secure the scene. 4:51 p.m. Virginia Beach police say they believe there’s only one shooter, and that person has been taken into custody. They say multiple people have been injured. There’s no word on the extent of the victims’ injuries at this time, but WAVY’s Tamara Scott says crews were treating at least four victims. A Nightingale helicopter was landing at the scene at 5:05 p.m. Public works @CityofVaBeach employee tells they were sitting at their desk on the 3rd floor when all of a sudden gunshots sounded. Said they saw woman in stairwell injured badly. @WAVY_News #757Alert pic.twitter.com/YUFCwf9pHh
Still securing the building floor by floor and office by office. That from city manager Dave Hansen. @WAVY_News
Nearby Sentara Princess Anne Hospital has been placed on lockdown in the meantime. Police are asking the public to avoid the area. Stay with WAVY for updates. Employees coming out of the area of building 2 in droves. Many crying and holding each other @WAVY_News #757Alert pic.twitter.com/Z9bblHvBxc
The latest as of 4:42 P.M. City Manager Dave Hansen confirmed there is an active shooter situation at the Virginia Beach Municipal Center. He says the suspect hasn’t been apprehended, and he’s seen people coming out of the city’s public utilities department in need of medical treatment. As WAVY’s Tamara Scott was reporting live, an injured person was being carried in the back of a car surrounding by police, heading toward an ambulance. Moments later, two other victims were being carried in the back of a pickup truck. I just got off the phone with Virginia beach city manager Dave Hansen. Confirms active shooter. “Not apprehended at this point. We’ve seen some people coming out of the public utilities department with medical treatment.” Hanson does not know how many are injured.”@AndyFoxWAVY | Armed Conflict | May 2019 | ['(WAVY)'] |
European sovereign debt crisis: Eurozone finance ministers agree to give a further €12 billion over the next two weeks to Greece as it fights bankruptcy. | Eurozone finance ministers have approved the latest tranche of emergency help for the Greek economy. They will release 12bn euros (£10.4bn, $17.4bn) in the next two weeks to help Greece meet spending commitments and avoid defaulting on its huge debts. Earlier this week, the Greek parliament passed tough austerity measures demanded by the European Union and International Monetary Fund.
MPs backed the measures despite angry protests on the streets of Athens.
The EU and IMF have already agreed to provide Greece with a total of 110bn euros in emergency loans, with eurozone finance ministers discussing the details of a second bail-out designed to help Greece pay its debts until the end of 2014.
Greek Finance Minister Evangelos Venizelos welcomed the eurozone move, saying it "strengthened the country's international credibility".
He added: "What is crucial now is the timely and effective implementation of the decisions taken in parliament, so we can gradually emerge from the crisis in the interest of national economy and the Greek citizens."
Earlier on Saturday, Polish Finance Minister Jacek Rostowski criticised Europe's handling of the Greek debt crisis.
He suggested that too much emphasis had been put on austerity measures and not enough on growth.
And he accused opposition parties in some unnamed eurozone countries of showing "breathtaking short-sightedness" in their opposition to support for Greece.
. | Financial Crisis | July 2011 | ['(BBC)', '(Al Jazeera)'] |
In horse racing, Palace Malice wins the Belmont Stakes. | ELMONT, N.Y. – The 145th Belmont Stakes was supposed to be about redemption. Specifically, Kentucky Derby winner Orb making amends for a fourth-place finish in the Preakness Stakes.
Well, it was redemption all right. But it was for Dogwood Stable's Palace Malice, who Saturday stalked a stern pace to beat gritty Preakness winner Oxbow by 3-1/4 lengths at Belmont Park. Orb finished another 1-3/4 lengths back in third as the only horse to significantly rally over a surface where speed was doing very well.
Palace Malice, with trainer Todd Pletcher adding blinkers to keep the colt from looking around, unexpectedly bolted to a sizzling pace in the Derby before tiring to 12th, 13 lengths behind Orb. Though there might not have been much he could have done that day, the Belmont proved a do-over for Mike Smith.
The victory was all the more satisfying because the Hall of Fame jockey was second in all three Triple Crown races last year with Bodemeister in the Derby and Preakness and Paynter in the Belmont.
"But today meant a lot to me," said Smith, who won his first Belmont in 2010 with Drosselmeyer. "Mr. (Cot) Campbell, Dogwood and Todd, just for having faith in me, believing in me and keeping me on. They certainly could have changed very easily after that Derby. It wasn't the prettiest of things.
"… Today we were running at a decent clip, but he was so relaxed and in a great rhythm. Down the backside, he'd prick his ears every now and then and just take a deep breath of air. I felt very confident he was going to run well. We just had to be good enough – and he was."
Palace Malice justified the high opinion Pletcher has had of the colt since last summer, when he considered the son of Curlin perhaps his best 2-year-old. Yet coming into the Belmont, Palace Malice had only a maiden victory on his record.
"He'd become a little bit frustrating because we've really felt like there was a big one in him," Pletcher said.
Before a crowd of 47,562, soaked in sunshine after Friday's deluge of rain, Frac Daddy tore to the lead as expected, with Freedom Child in pursuit. They rushed the first quarter-mile in 23.11 seconds and the half-mile in 46.66 before first Frac Daddy and then Freedom Child bowed out.
Gary Stevens had Oxbow in fourth early, but the colt had running on his mind and soon was second.
"I'm so proud of this colt," Stevens said. "I thought I was dead midway down the backside. They were suicidal fractions, and he never really got any break. Mike rode a superb race. I got him settled going into the first turn for about five jumps. I believe it was Mike who came up and put just a tad of pressure on my colt to get him running."
Oxbow took the lead with a half-mile to go. But Smith had Palace Malice moving with him, the two in tandem around the far turn. Palace Malice took command rounding for home, but Oxbow did not capitulate easily.
"The horse has trained really impressively," Pletcher said, "and we felt if we could get in that rhythm and relaxed, it wouldn't necessarily matter if he was on the lead, fourth, fifth, wherever he was – as long as Mike had him in that big gallop he has."
Palace Malice finished 1-1/2 miles in 2:30.70, and was able to prevail with a final quarter-mile in 27.58 and the last half-mile in a staggering 54.23.
Meanwhile, Orb had only Derby runner-up Golden Soul beaten for the first half-mile. He was still ninth with a half-mile to go and fourth at the quarter-pole.
"Turning for home, he got a little tired," said jockey Joel Rosario.
VIDEO:Mike Smith talks about his victory
Said trainer Shug McGaughey: "I'm disappointed in third. He might have gotten a little farther back than I thought he was going to. Maybe the grind of it all kind of made him do that. But he made a good run around the turn, he just didn't sustain it maybe as well as I'd like."
Palace Malice paid $29.60 as the seventh choice in the field of 14. He also was the third choice among Pletcher's record five horses, the others finishing fifth (Revolutionary), sixth (the filly Unlimited Budget), seventh (Overanalyze) and 12th (Midnight Taboo).
The Triple Crown concluded with each winner owned by racing luminaries. The Derby was the Phipps Stable and Stuart Janney III. Oxbow's Preakness honored fabled Calumet Farm. And Dogwood's 85-year-old founder Cot Campbell in the 1970s pioneered racing partnerships.
"It's the mother of all great moments," said Campbell, whose prior Triple Crown victory was the 1990 Preakness with Summer Squall.
Campbell was one of the first to send Pletcher horses when he opened his own stable in late 1995.
"This one is for Mr. Campbell," Pletcher said. "He gave me an opportunity when no one knew who I was."
Campbell said he just wanted "an absence of bad luck" in the Belmont.
In the Louisiana Derby, Palace Malice had nowhere to run, getting clear in midstretch when it was way too late and coming in seventh.
In order to be assured of getting in the Kentucky Derby, Palace Malice ran back two weeks later in Keeneland's Blue Grass, finishing second by a neck after jumping tire tracks. Hence the blinkers in the Derby.
Said Pletcher: "You live and learn, and it paid off today."
Palace Malice, a $200,000 Keeneland 2-year-old purchase last year, now is 2-3-1 in eight starts, earning $871,135 with the $600,000 payday.
The $1 million Triple Crown finale also proved a victory for Curlin, who lost the 2007 Belmont by a head to the Pletcher-trained filly Rags to Riches. Now, in his first crop as a stallion, Curlin has sired a classic winner. | Sports Competition | June 2013 | ['(USA Today)'] |
Six people are killed and two others wounded when a man opens fire on his family members in Rot am See, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. The mass shooter's parents are among the dead. | The suspected gunman's mother and father were among those killed. 6 dead, 2 injured after family shooting in Germany
Six people are dead and two injured after a shooting in the German town of Rot am See on Friday, local police told ABC News.
The gunman opened fire on several members of his family, police said. Three men, aged 36, 65 and 69 were killed, as well as three women, aged 36, 56 and 62.
The suspected gunman's mother and father were among the victims.
Two more people were injured in the shooting, one of whom was described as in a critical condition at a press conference Friday afternoon.
Police were called to the scene of the shooting, in a building near the town's main railway station, shortly after midday Friday. Some victims were shot inside the train station, while others were shot in a nearby house, local police told ABC News.
The alleged gunman, a 26-year-old man who police said had a gun license, was arrested shortly after the shooting.
It is not yet clear whether the alleged gunman's siblings were killed in the shooting, although all six victims were family members.
There's no indication more suspects were involved.
The town of Rot am See lies in southwestern Germany, between the major cities of Frankfurt, Stuttgart and Nuremberg. | Riot | January 2020 | ['(ABC News)'] |
Israeli forces shoot dead four Palestinian militants near the border with Gaza, the Israeli military say. Israel Defense Forces say the men were armed with assault rifles, anti-tank missiles and hand grenades. | For the second time in two days soldiers opened fire on armed militants, defence forces say
First published on Sat 10 Aug 2019 11.12 BST
Israeli soldiers fired at a Palestinian militant on the Gaza border on Sunday, the military said, and a Palestinian medic said the man was killed.
It was the second such incident since Saturday when Israeli troops shot dead four heavily armed Palestinians who attempted to cross the volatile border. “IDF [Israel Defense Forces] troops spotted an armed terrorist approaching the security fence in the northern Gaza Strip. The terrorist opened fire towards the troops,” the military said of the second incident. The soldiers returned fire and an Israeli tank fired at a post belonging to Hamas, the Islamist armed group that rules Gaza. The IDF said no Israelis were hurt.
In a post on Twitter on Saturday, the IDF said the four men were armed with assault rifles, anti-tank missiles and hand grenades, one of which was hurled at their troops. “Once one of the terrorists crossed into Israel, our troops opened fire.”
These are the weapons possessed by the terrorists who attempted to infiltrate into Israel from Gaza last night.Their (unfulfilled) objective: murdering Israelis.
There was no immediate comment from Palestinian officials in Gaza or from militant groups in the territory.
Gaza is ruled by the Islamist group Hamas, which has fought three wars with Israel over the past decade. Israel pulled its troops and settlers from the territory in 2005 but keeps the enclave under a blockade, citing security concerns. Tensions along the border are high with frequent fatalities. | Armed Conflict | August 2019 | ['(The Guardian)'] |
High profile Chinese Communist Party member Sun Zhengcai is sentenced to life in prison for taking bribes totaling 170 million yuan. | A former Chinese Communist Party official once tipped for a top leadership position has been sentenced to life in prison for bribery.
Sun Zhengcai, a former Politburo member, is the latest senior figure to fall in President Xi Jinping's anti-corruption campaign. He was found guilty of taking bribes of more than $26.7m (£19.6m).
The 54-year-old, also the former party chief of Chongqing, pleaded guilty to the charges in April. According to state media outlet Xinhua, Sun's "illegal gains" would be confiscated.
President Xi has made it his personal mission to tackle the widespread corruption in China. More than a million officials have been punished since he became president.
But critics accuse him of using the anti-corruption campaign to silence his political opponents and rein in officials who challenge his position.
| Famous Person - Commit Crime - Sentence | May 2018 | ['(BBC)'] |
President of Mozambique Filipe Nyusi suggests the death toll of Cyclone Idai could reach over one thousand. The current official toll stands at 84. | The death toll in Mozambique from Cyclone Idai could be as high as 1,000, President Filipe Nyusi has said.
Mr Nyusi flew over some of the worst-hit areas on Monday. He described seeing bodies floating in the rivers. The storm made landfall near the port city of Beira on Thursday with winds of up to 177 km/h (106 mph), but aid teams only reached the city on Sunday.
A UN aid worker told the BBC that every building in Beira - home to half a million people - had been damaged. Gerald Bourke, from the UN's World Food Programme, said: "No building is untouched. There is no power. There is no telecommunications. The streets are littered with fallen electricity lines. "The roofs on so many houses have fallen in, likewise the walls. A lot of people in the city have lost their homes."
Rescue crews spent much of the night helping people from trees, Jamie LeSeur, the head of the IFRC assessment team, told the BBC.
The official death toll in Mozambique stands at 84 following flooding and high winds. The cyclone has killed at least 180 people across southern Africa.
The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Society (IFRC) described the damage as "massive and horrifying".
In Zimbabwe, at least 98 people have died and 217 people are missing in the east and south, the government said.
The death toll included two pupils from the St Charles Lwanga boarding school in the district of Chimanimani, who died after their dormitory was hit when rocks swept down a mountain.
Malawi was also badly hit. The flooding there, caused by the rains before the cyclone made landfall, led to at least 122 deaths, Reliefweb reports.
The UK government said it would provide humanitarian aid worth £6m ($8m) to Mozambique and Malawi. It also said it would send tents and thousands of shelter kits to Mozambique.
Most of those known to have died so far were killed around Beira, the country's fourth largest city with a population of about 500,000, authorities there said.
More than 1,500 people were injured by falling trees and debris from buildings including zinc roofing, officials in the capital Maputo told the BBC.
"Almost everything has been affected by the calamity," Alberto Mondlane, the governor of Sofala province, which includes Beira, said on Sunday. "We have people currently suffering, some on top of trees and are badly in need of help."
Local people in Beira have put in an "incredible effort" to reopen roads in the city, Mr LeSeur told the BBC's Newsday programme.
The road linking Beira to the rest of the country was damaged, but air links have now resumed. President Filipe Nyusi cut short a trip to eSwatini, formerly known as Swaziland, to visit the affected areas.
A state of disaster has been declared in Zimbabwe. President Emmerson Mnangagwa has returned home early from a trip to the United Arab Emirates to "make sure he is involved directly with the national response", the authorities say.
The ministry of information has shared pictures of pupils from St Charles Lwanga School, who have now been rescued.
St Charles Lwanga School children are now safely in Chipinge and currently receiving medical attention. pic.twitter.com/Ad9LSC7WhS
Shocked survivors at a hospital in Chimanimani district told how the floods destroyed their homes and swept away their loved ones.
"I still have not found where my daughter is buried in the debris," Jane Chitsuro told the AFP news agency. "There is no furniture, no more clothes, there is only rubble and stones."
Praise Chipore's house was also destroyed. "My daughter who was with me in bed was washed away from me and a bigger flood carried me further away," she said.
Shingai Nyoka, BBC Africa, eastern Zimbabwe
My journey to Chimanimani ended abruptly when we came across a huge crater in the road. The river was raging below and scores of people were standing on either side. This was the main road linking the city of Mutare to the villages of Chimanimani, which have been cut off. Aid teams have been unable to get through.
People who live in this area say they have never seen anything like this. An elderly couple, Edson and Miriam Sunguro, told me that they have been trying to contact relatives in Chimanimani without success.
"There is a risk of more rain over the next few days for the northern half of Mozambique and southern Malawi," BBC Weather's Chris Fawkes said.
There could be thunderstorms, he added, but "the picture is complicated by thick layers of cloud left over from Idai that could prevent some thunderstorms from starting".
| Hurricanes_Tornado_Storm_Blizzard | March 2019 | ['(BBC)'] |
The United States State Department formally denies Calgary-based TransCanada Corporation's request, made Monday, to pause the review of the proposed Keystone XL oil pipeline. Reuters states this is expected to lead to the project's rejection by the Obama administration. | The Obama administration said Wednesday it is continuing a review of the proposed Keystone XL oil pipeline, despite a request by the project's developer to suspend the review.
"The fundamental question remains: Do Americans want to continue to import millions of barrels of oil every day from the Middle East and Venezuela or do they want to get their oil from North Dakota and Canada through Keystone XL?" Cooper said. "We believe the answer is clear and the choice is Keystone XL."
Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders said Wednesday that Obama should reject the Keystone project before heading to Paris next month to finalize a global climate agreement,
Sanders said he had "zero doubt" that if a Republican wins the presidential election, "on Day One the Keystone people will be back pushing for that pipeline. I think their hope is that Republicans win, and when they do the path will be open for that pipeline and other disastrous environmental legislation."
Thousands of jobs and billions of dollars in wages and investment "that could be made building Keystone remain out of reach because this president refuses to make the right decision," said Louis Finkel, the group's executive vice president.
| Government Policy Changes | November 2015 | ['(Reuters)', '(AP via Chicago Tribune)'] |
Climate activists continue Extinction Rebellion protests at the transport ministry in central London after the Metropolitan Police Service yesterday banned Extinction Rebellion protests in London, United Kingdom. Following the ban, police cleared a protester camp occupying Trafalgar Square. Almost 1,500 arrests have been made since last week. | LONDON (Reuters) - Climate change activists, including one of the founders of Extinction Rebellion, defied a police order to end protests on Tuesday after a week of disruption in London, targeting Britain’s transport ministry and security agency MI5.
Gail Bradbrook, one of the founders of the group that is half way through two weeks of actions around the world, climbed onto the top of the entrance of the transport ministry to protest at a high-speed rail project known as HS2.
“This is nature defending herself,” Bradbrook said, as civil servants looked on from a gallery inside the building and police cordoned the street. “I’m doing this for your children.”
Invoking the example of women’s suffrage activist Emmeline Pankhurst, Bradbrook tried to smash one of the ministry’s windows with a hammer and screwdriver before she was brought down by a police climber in a cherry-picker and arrested.
The group, which uses civil disobedience to highlight the risks posed by climate change and the accelerating loss of plant and animal species, has staged a fresh wave of protest actions in cities from Amsterdam to Melbourne since October 7.
In New York, activists glued themselves to a green sailboat parked in Broadway last week to highlight rising sea levels. In Brussels, police used water cannon on Saturday to disperse hundreds of Extinction Rebellion activists gathered in a square.
Police ordered a halt to all of the group’s protests in London on Monday, saying those who did not comply would be arrested. They have already made around 1,500 arrests over the past eight days, including more than 90 at a day of actions in the British capital’s financial district on Monday.
More than 1,400 people have been arrested in 20 cities in other countries, Extinction Rebellion said.
The British government reinforced the police call on it to stop. “While we share people’s concerns about global warming, and respect the right to peaceful protest, it should not disrupt people’s day-to-day lives,” a government spokeswoman said.
The activists oppose plans to run the HS2 rail project through ancient woodlands. The ministry says the rail line will slash journey times between central and northern England and the capital and be much more efficient in carbon terms than driving.
The project is billions of pounds over budget and running late and an independent review is considering whether it should go ahead.
An activist who tried to lock herself to the ministry said the project would be a “scar across the belly of this land” destroying vital habitats for barn owls, bees and birds.
“Everybody who is not paying attention is numb at the moment. We all use tactics to numb ourselves because this is scary,” said the woman, who gave her name as April, before she was taken away in a police van.
Later, police began arresting Extinction Rebellion activists who had assembled to block a road running past the headquarters of the MI5 security service to highlight the risks climate change poses to food security, a Reuters witness said.
“A significant policing operation continues and we will take robust action against anyone engaged in unlawful protests at locations targeted by Extinction Rebellion,” London police’s Deputy Assistant Commissioner Laurence Taylor said.
Extinction Rebellion said HS2 would damage or destroy 108 ancient woodlands in the largest single act of deforestation in Britain since World War One.
The transport ministry said 7 million new trees and shrubs, including over 40 native species specific to each location will be planted as part of the programme.
Supporters say HS2 would give Britain the kind of fast rail services enjoyed by other major countries. Current estimates predict it will cost around 88 billion pounds ($111.5 billion).
| Protest_Online Condemnation | October 2019 | ['(BBC)', '(Reuters)'] |
19-year-old soldier Omri Levy was killed and nearly a dozen injured in a shooting and stabbing attack in the central bus station in the southern city of Beersheba carried out by an Israeli Bedouin Arab, 21-year old Mohind al-Okbi, who was killed after a gun battle. | JERUSALEM It was brutally graphic video that shocked and shamed: An African asylum seeker was shot by an Israeli security guard who mistook him for an assailant in a terrorist attack. Then an enraged mob stomped and cursed him as he lay bleeding on the floor of a bus station.
While images of the growing Arab-Israeli tensions have dominated the news here for weeks showing Palestinian attackers wielding knives, often shot by Israeli forces the video from Sunday’s assault offered a vivid tableau of Israelis’ fear and anger at the spiraling violence.
It also appeared to display hard reactions from Israeli security forces and guards, whose tactics have drawn harsh criticism especially from Palestinians that Israelis are using excessive force instead of trying to apprehend suspects.
Since the start of October, eight Israelis have been killed by Palestinians in nearly 30 attacks that have raised the specter of a wider Palestinian uprising. At least 18 of the assailants were shot and killed on the spot by police, soldiers, security guards or civilians.
The Israeli police launched an investigation into what local media described as a “lynching” Sunday against an innocent man a 29-year-old refugee from Eritrea named Haftom Zarhum who was shot amid the chaos of an attack at a bus station in the southern city of Beersheba that left an Israeli soldier dead. Doctors at Soroka Medical Center said Zarhum died from a combination of the bullet wound and the subsequent beating by the crowd.
In the attack, an Israeli Bedouin Arab man killed a 19-year-old soldier, Omri Levy, whose military rifle was taken and used by the assailant to wound a dozen Israelis. Police said the Eritrean asylum seeker was shot by a security guard who mistakenly thought he was a second attacker.
The video shows a wounded Zarhum curled on the floor as men enter the frame to kick him in the head. A few people drop a line of bus station seats on the man. Another man pins the wounded African on the floor between the legs of a stool as a crowd closes in. The crowd can be heard shouting “Death to Arabs!” and “The people of Israel live!” [Israel expands security, but violence spreads] The attack, which took place in the Negev desert city’s central bus station during the busy rush-hour period, followed more than three weeks of daily attacks by Palestinians against Israelis that have left the country shaken and suspicious.
Israel’s internal security agency identified the Beersheba attacker as Mohind al-Okbi, 21, a resident of a nearby Bedouin village. Some Bedouins in Israel serve as trackers in the Israeli military, but many identify with the Palestinians, sharing their religion, language and other cultural traits.
The mayor of the nearby Bedouin town of Hura, Mohammed al-Nabari, denounced the attack on the Israeli solider. “We utterly and unreservedly condemn this despicable act and reject violence of any sort,” he said. “You cannot be both a terrorist and a citizen of the country the two are inherently contradictory.”
Earlier, the mayor of Jerusalem, Nir Barkat, who was photographed visiting a Palestinian neighborhood with his Glock pistol, urged all Israelis with gun permits to carry their weapons.
Israeli leaders, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, have hailed previous quick actions by police against assailants actions that Netanyahu and most Israelis say have saved Jewish lives.
On Monday, Netanyahu said Israeli civilians should leave the scene of attacks and allow security and rescue forces to work. “We’re a nation of laws,” the prime minister said. “No one may take the law into their hands.” He added that police were examining security tapes in attempts to identify those who assaulted Zarhum as he lay wounded.
[African refugees face tough choices in Israel ] Zarhum was part of a wave of 50,000 economic migrants and asylum seekers, mostly from Sudan and Eritrea, who poured into Israel beginning in 2007 before Israel built a fence along its border with Egypt in 2013. Now Israel is pressing the Eritreans, who have been labeled as “infiltrators,” to accept one-way plane tickets home and $3,500 in cash. Those who refuse can face detention at a holding facility. Many Eritreans say that if they return home, they will be thrown in prison for leaving the country without permission or for fleeing forced military conscription that human rights groups have compared to modern-day slavery.
Sunday’s attack in Beersheba came a day after three Palestinian attackers wielding knives were shot dead by Israelis and two other Palestinian assailants were shot and wounded.
In Madrid, Secretary of State John F. Kerry called on Israeli and Palestinian leaders to end the current “senseless” violence.
Ahead of meetings with Netanyahu and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, Kerry said Monday that he would work with both leaders to try to reduce tensions, though exactly how the American diplomat will do that is unclear. Kerry is expected to meet with Netanyahu in Berlin this week and Abbas in Jordan over the weekend.
According to Israeli security services, most of the attacks on Israelis have been carried out by solo assailants not related to any militant Palestinian factions. Many of the attackers have been teenagers using kitchen knives, and most of the assaults have taken place in Jerusalem.
[ Palestinians don’t hate Abbas, but they’re tired of him ] On Sunday, as part of crackdown measures approved last week by the Israeli security cabinet, Israeli police erected a 10-yard-long concrete wall between the Palestinian neighborhood of Jabel Mukaber and the Jewish neighborhood of Armon Hanatziv in Jerusalem. The move drew sharp criticism and prompted newspaper headlines Monday about a repartitioning of Jerusalem.
The current escalation was sparked, in part, by Palestinian resentment over restricted access to the compound at al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem’s Old City and by visits by Jewish activists and government ministers who arrive at the site accompanied by armed Israeli police.
The site is revered by Muslims, who refer to it as the Noble Sanctuary, and by Jews, who call it the Temple Mount.
Netanyahu has repeatedly said that Israel intends to honor the status quo that reserves the area for Muslim prayer.
Brian Murphy in Washington contributed to this report.
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To pause and restart automatic updates, click "Live" or "Paused". If paused, you'll be notified of the number of additional comments that have come in. | Armed Conflict | October 2015 | ['(Washington Post)', '(NBC News)'] |
Pakistani Taliban gunmen opened fire on a Peshawar school bus that kills 15 people. | Islamist gunmen opened fire on a school bus in north-western Pakistan on Tuesday morning, killing a teacher, three children and the driver in the latest round of a vicious turf war between insurgents and pro-government militias near the region's largest city.
The shooting in Matani, on the outskirts of Peshawar, occurred as a bus carrying boys and girls aged between nine and 14 returned from the Khyber Model school.
The children hailed from a village where men have formed a large lashkar, or tribal militia, to repel Taliban incursions into their area.
The attackers first fired a rocket, which missed the bus, then sprayed the vehicle with gunfire, a senior police officer in Peshawar said. Five people died instantly and at least 17 were wounded.
TV footage showed wounded teenage boys, some writhing in pain, crowded into a Peshawar hospital ward where they were awaiting treatment.
Tribesmen in Adezai, a village in Matani district, formed the lashkar in late 2008 in response to Taliban incursions. Armed volunteers carry out foot patrols, stand guard at fortified battlements and support police operations to secure the area, which includes the gun-producing village of Dara Adam Khel.
There have been bloody exchanges of fire with a pro-Taliban Islamist militia that seeks to dominate the area and lashkar leaders say they have come under attack 40 times in three years, resulting in the death of more than 130 people.
One tribal elder, Ijaz Bacha, was killed along with two police officers in a massive car bomb attack on his home last June.
Tuesday's bloodshed marked the first deliberate attack on children but was not the first violence targeting civilians.
Militants have repeatedly attacked ordinary villagers in an effort to break their support for the lashkar.
One such attack was a suicide bombing on mourners at a funeral last March in which 43 people died and more than 50 were wounded.
Lashkar leaders complain of insufficient official back-up, particularly a lack of ammunition, and have threatened to withdraw their support of the government.
Police officials say they fear the lashkar could spin out of their control if it is armed too heavily.
Separately, the bodies of two men were found in Lakki Marwat at the southern end of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province on Tuesday. A note said they had been executed for spying on a commander of the Pakistani Taliban. | Armed Conflict | September 2011 | ['(The Guardian)'] |
A mine explosion in Shuangbai County, Yunnan causes more deaths to add to those from a similar incident in Jiexiu, Shanxi yesterday, bringing the total deaths for the two incidents to 17, with six other people still trapped. | BEIJING - SEVENTEEN coal miners have been killed and six others trapped in two gas explosions in China, state media said Monday, in the latest accidents to strike the country's notoriously dangerous mining sector. A dozen workers were killed in a blast late Sunday at the Donggou coal mine in the city of Jiexiu in northern Shanxi province, China's coal-producing heartland, Xinhua news agency quoted local authorities as saying. The accident happened after the workers 'violated a safety rule' by demolishing a wall between the shaft and a disused area of the mine where gas had accumulated, a spokesman for the local work safety administration said. Police have so far detained five mine executives over the incident, Xinhua said. Four people were hospitalised for injuries suffered in the blast, but their condition was unknown, the report said. . China's coal mines are among the most dangerous in the world, with safety often ignored in the quest for profits and a drive to meet surging demand for coal, the source of about 70 per cent of the country's energy. Thousands of miners are reportedly killed in accidents every year. Last month, 108 miners were killed in a gas explosion at a coal mine in Heilongjiang province in northeastern China. | Mine Collapses | December 2009 | ['(The Straits Times)'] |
Hockey India investigates after M. K. Kaushik, 1980 Olympic gold medalist and coach of the women's team, allegedly sexually harasses a squad member; he denies the allegation but temporarily resigns pending the outcome of the investigation. | Reeling under allegations of sexual harassment by one of the players, the Indian women's hockey team chief coach M. K. Kaushik relinquished his post on Wednesday. The player, Th. Ranjitha Devi, in an email to Hockey India (HI) on July 20, said that she was subjected to ‘sexual harassment' and eventually not considered for inclusion in the team when she did not accede to the coach's “demands.”
On a day of dramatic developments, Ranjitha was flown in to attend the enquiry meeting conducted by a five-member committee appointed by Hockey India, comprising Rajeev Mehta (Chairman), Olympians Ajit Pal Singh and Zafar Iqbal, Hockey Delhi member Sudarshan Pathak and HI media manager Anupam Ghulati.
“The committee will make a recommendation to the Sports Authority of India (SAI) by Friday,” HI Secretary-General Narinder Batra told mediapersons. He said SAI would take the final decision since Kaushik was on a deputation from that department.
Sources indicated that the report of the committee was likely to be inconclusive. Zafar defended his former colleague. The two were members of the team that won the gold at the Moscow Olympics. “It is not a strong case. It could have been resolved much earlier. The complaint looks dicey,” said Zafar. He was particularly disturbed with the timing of the complaint. “Why did she not come up with her protest earlier even though the alleged harassment had been going on for six months.”
During the enquiry, Zafar reportedly asked the player to be specific with her allegations but she could not produce a convincing explanation, according to the Olympian.
“He has never touched that lady,” Zafar said. Assessing Kaushik as a player, coach and a person, Zafar said he personally would not doubt his credentials. “He has never faced such an allegation before. Kaushik has been attached with the team as National coach since 1999. We have played together but I have not heard anything against him,” the former India captain said.
Zafar and Batra disclosed that 30 other probables of the team had expressed their support to Ranjitha and signed the letter forwarded by her to HI. “But when I asked some other players whether such things have happened with any of them, they said no,” said Batra.
Many in hockey circles believe the controversy to be connected with the HI elections slated for July 28. While Zafar said the controversy could be an off-shoot of the coming HI elections, Batra denied any such possibility.
Kaushik, on his part, said this was a conspiracy against him and he was ready to face any inquiry. “I know the decision would come in my favour, but I would not continue,” he said.
Would he not like to return as coach even if proved innocent? “No. It would be difficult for me to continue if the team has even one player who has doubted my character. It is the work of some disgruntled elements and some girls have been misled into doing this. I would say they are immature.”
Kaushik was convinced that the players had been “pressurised” to sign the letter supporting Ranjitha.
Earlier in the day, Batra had said that on July 16 and 17 HI received anonymous emails (in the name of ‘hockey sudhar singh'), accusing the women's hockey team's videographer Vasavraj, a SAI employee, of immoral conduct. On July 19, HI suspended the videographer.
On Tuesday, HI received the email from Ranjitha with allegations against Kaushik and the committee, headed by Mehta, had been enquiring the matter. Batra said HI would support the player if she sought legal help.
Meanwhile, the women's team left for Korea to take part in the Asian Champions Trophy. Vasu Thapliyal and Mohd. Khalid Modi will be the coaches.
Chaos reigned outside the Organising Committee office as a large number of mediapersons gathered on the pavement to keep track of the developments. News filtered in from different sources in the absence of any official guidance. Despite repeated requests, the OC was not able to provide a decent platform for holding the press conference, which was addressed on the road by Batra and Zafar. | Government Job change - Resignation_Dismissal | July 2010 | ['(BBC News)', '(The Hindu)', '(The Daily Telegraph)', '(The Sydney Morning Herald)', '(NDTV)'] |
Thomas Kinkade, one of the most popular painters in the United States, dies in Los Gatos, California. | Thomas Kinkade, the “Painter of Light” and one of the most popular artists in America, died suddenly Friday at his Monte Sereno home. He was 54.
His family said in a statement that his death appeared to be from natural causes.
“Thom provided a wonderful life for his family,” his wife, Nanette, said in a statement. “We are shocked and saddened by his death.”
His paintings are hanging in an estimated one of every 20 homes in the United States. Fans cite the warm, familiar feeling of his mass-produced . | Famous Person - Death | April 2012 | ['(San Jose Mercury)'] |
An Indian court acquits 32 people, including former Deputy Prime Minister L. K. Advani and former leader of the ruling BJP Uma Bharti, of their role in the demolition of the former Babri Masjid. | A court in India has acquitted top leaders of the governing BJP of any wrongdoing in the destruction by Hindu mobs of a historic mosque in 1992. Former Deputy Prime Minister LK Advani, and BJP leaders MM Joshi and Uma Bharti, had denied charges of inciting extremists to demolish the 16th Century Babri mosque in the town of Ayodhya. The demolition sparked violence that killed some 2,000 people. It was also a pivotal moment in the political rise of the Hindu right-wing. Wednesday's verdict acquitted 32 of the 49 people charged - 17 had died while the case was under way. The court said there was insufficient evidence to prove the demolition had been planned. Hindus believe the mosque was built over the birthplace of their deity Lord Ram.
The controversial verdict comes nearly a year after another historic judgment over the site of the mosque. Last year, the Supreme Court gave the land to Hindus, ending a decades-long legal battle. It gave Muslims another plot of land in Ayodhya on which to construct a mosque.
In August, Prime Minister Narendra Modi laid the foundation stone for a Hindu temple at the site - a core promise made by his BJP and a hugely symbolic moment for its strident Hindu nationalist base.
Muslim groups and opposition parties criticised the acquittals. The influential All India Muslim Personal Law Board, which represents Muslim social and political groups in India, said it would appeal against the ruling in the high court. "There were police officers, government officials and senior journalists who appeared as witnesses. What about their testimony? The court should have said whether these eyewitnesses were lying," the board's lawyer, Zafaryab Jilani, told the BBC. Many political observers believe the verdict is likely to add to the feeling of discontent and marginalisation among India's 200-million Muslim minority. Opposition leaders and some political commentators decried the ruling.
Congress party's Randeep Surjewala called it an "egregious violation of the law" that ran counter to "the constitutional spirit", and Sitaram Yehchury, from the Communist Party of India (Marxist), said it was "a complete travesty of Justice". MP Asaduddin Owaisi told BBC Telugu he was "pained" at the verdict and called it "a black day for [the] judiciary". "Was it some magic that the masjid [mosque] got demolished? It seems violent acts pay politically." Mr Advani, now 92, said he "wholeheartedly welcomed" the verdict. Mr Joshi, now 86, said it was "a historic decision" that proved that "no conspiracy was hatched" to bring down the mosque. Neither they nor Ms Bharti, 61, attended court - they watched the verdict by video.
Iqbal Ansari, the petitioner in the case over the ownership of the disputed site, said: "It's good that this is now over." "Let's all live in peace. Let there be no fresh trouble of this nature. Hindu and Muslim have always lived in peace in Ayodhya." | Famous Person - Commit Crime - Release | September 2020 | ['(BBC)'] |
A wave of bombings in Baghdad kills at least 37 people. | BAGHDAD, Feb 24 (Reuters) - A wave of bomb attacks around Baghdad killed 37 people and wounded dozens more on Tuesday, as at least seven explosions struck in or near the Iraqi capital, police and medical sources said.
In the deadliest incidents, 24 people were killed in two blasts in Jisr Diyala district, southeast of the city.
The sources said the first bomb went off in a commercial area near restaurants, shops and street stalls. Police tried to prevent people gathering at the scene, but shortly afterwards a car bomb was detonated in the same area. Three of the people killed in the second blast were police, they said.
Earlier, five other explosions hit northern and southern neighbourhoods, the sources said.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attacks, which come as Iraqi security forces battle Islamic State militants who control large areas of north and west Iraq, and who have claimed many recent bombings in Baghdad.
In the western province of Anbar, Iraqi troops backed by Shi'ite militia and tribal fighters are trying to drive Islamic State fighters out of al-Baghdadi on the Euphrates River.
The town is just five km (three miles) east of the Ain al-Asad airbase where U.S. Marines are training Iraqi forces for a larger offensive against Islamic State.
A U.S. official said last week that an assault to recapture the northern city of Mosul, the largest city under Islamic State control, would probably be launched in April or May.
Iraqi military officials have declined to confirm such a timetable. Iraqi troops and militia forces have been gathering for an expected offensive against the militants further south in Salahuddin province, between Baghdad and Mosul.
| Armed Conflict | February 2015 | ['(Thomson Reuters Foundation)'] |
The United States government arrests ten people, including former Laotian Army general Vang Pao, on charges of organizing a plot to overthrow the Laotian government. | (CNN) -- Ten people, including a former general in the Laotian army, were arrested and charged in the United States with an alleged plot to overthrow the Laotian government.
More than 200 federal and local enforcement agents were involved in the raid, which involved six Californian cities, early Monday. Prosecutors described the alleged plan as "audacious" and said it was aimed at obtaining guns, missiles, rockets and explosives. The suspects include Vang Pao, 77, who emigrated to the United States in 1975 after serving as a general in Laos, and Harrison Jack, 60, a West-Point educated former U.S. military officer, according to the prosecutor's office.
If convicted, the 10 suspects face possible life prison sentences.
"The United States cannot provide a safe harbor to those plotting to overthrow a government with whom we are at peace," said U.S. Attorney McGregor Scott in a statement. "These defendants flagrantly violated numerous federal laws, including the Neutrality Act, in planning to topple the government of Laos."
Most of the alleged conspirators were Hmong, an ethnic minority group in Laos that helped U.S. operatives fight communist insurgents during the Vietnam War. Vang led CIA-backed Hmong forces as a general in the Royal Army of Laos, while Jack was involved in covert operations during the Vietnam War, according to The Associated Press.
After Laos fell to the communists in 1975, Hmong people began emigrating to the United States, and more than 500,000 now live in the country, according to the State Department.
The six cities where the arrest and search warrants were executed were: Los Angeles, Sacramento, Fresno, Chico, Stockton and Woodland. One suspect, Lo Cha Thao, discussed an operation to send special operations mercenaries into the Laotian capital, Vientiane, to blow up government buildings, according to prosecutors.
The work of an undercover agent of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms foiled the plot, leading suspects to believe he could supply them with the weapons they wanted, prosecutors said. Those included the powerful C-4 explosive, AK-47 automatic rifles and missiles, rockets and mines.
Laos, like neighboring Vietnam, remains a communist country, but the government has liberalized the economy in recent years, allowing more private enterprise. The United States normalized trade relations with Laos in 2005. | Famous Person - Commit Crime - Accuse | June 2007 | ['(CNN)'] |
The United States Senate passes the financial reform package, aimed at curbing misconduct on Wall Street, with a 60–39 vote. | Congress gave final approval Thursday to the most ambitious overhaul of financial regulation in generations, ending more than a year of wrangling over the shape of the new rules and shifting the government's focus to the monumental task of implementing them.
The final Senate vote, which came almost two years after the nation's financial system nearly collapsed, was a significant legislative victory for President Obama, who had pledged to rein in the reckless Wall Street behavior behind the crisis and to right the government regulation that failed to prevent it.
The massive bill establishes an independent consumer bureau within the Federal Reserve to protect borrowers against abuses in mortgage, credit card and some other types of lending. The legislation also gives the government new power to seize and shut down large, troubled financial companies -- like the failed investment bank Lehman Brothers -- and sets up a council of federal regulators to watch for threats to the financial system.
Under the new rules, the vast market for derivatives, complex financial instruments that helped fuel the crisis, will be subject to government oversight. Shareholders, meanwhile, will gain more say on how corporate executives are paid.
Obama, who is scheduled to sign the legislation next week, said Thursday that the bill will "protect consumers and lay the foundation for a stronger and safer financial system, one that is innovative, creative, competitive, and far less prone to panic and collapse."
The legislation places much faith -- and much authority -- in regulators to spot brewing problems in the financial system and to prevent another crisis.
Sen. Christopher J. Dodd (D-Conn.), who shepherded the bill through the Senate, said the legislation will help restore Americans' confidence in the badly battered financial system. "More than anything else, my goal was, from the very beginning, to create a structure and an architecture reflective of the 21st century in which we live, but also one that would rebuild that trust and confidence."
The Dodd-Frank bill -- named after Dodd and Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.), who ushered it through the House -- passed by a vote of 60 to 39. Three Republican senators -- Scott Brown of Massachusetts and Olympia J. Snowe and Susan Collins of Maine -- joined 57 members of the Democratic caucus in support. Sen. Russell Feingold of Wisconsin was the lone Democratic opponent, saying the measure didn't go far enough.
Some liberals have criticized the bill for failing to more aggressively alter the structure of Wall Street and for leaving so many critical decisions to federal regulators, who missed many of the warning signs before the crisis.
"It's the dumbest argument I've ever heard," Dodd countered. "What do they expect me to write, a 100,000-page bill? This is far beyond the capacity, the expertise, the knowledge of a Congress" to detail every new regulation, he said.
Meanwhile, most Republicans continued to argue that the bill creates bigger, more intrusive government and fails to prevent future bailouts of financial companies using taxpayers' money. These critics joined with leaders in the banking and business communities in insisting that the new regulations will undermine the competitiveness of the U.S. economy, stifle growth and kill jobs at a time when unemployment is high.
"The White House will call this a victory," said Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.). "But as credit tightens, regulations multiply and job creation slows even further as a result of this bill, they'll have a hard time convincing the American people that this is a victory for them." | Government Policy Changes | July 2010 | ['(The Washington Post)', '(Aljazeera)'] |
Six auxiliaries of the Burkina Faso Armed Forces are killed in an ambush during an operation in Dablo, Sanmatenga. (Barron's) |
Six civilian members of an auxiliary force in Burkina Faso's anti-jihadist campaign were killed in an ambush late Thursday in the north of the country, local and security sources told AFP.
"Six were killed and another was wounded" in the attack at Dablo, an official with the Volunteers for the Defence of the Motherland (VDP) said Friday.
The group was ambushed as it was looking for a colleague who had gone missing in the village of Dou, the official said.
The death toll was confirmed by a security official, who said the security forces had launched operations to track down the assailants.
Burkina Faso, a poor, landlocked country in the heart of the Sahel, has been fighting a ruthless jihadist insurgency that swept in from neighbouring Mali in 2015.
More than 1,200 people have been killed and more than a million have fled their homes.
The VDP was set up in December 2019 to shoulder some basic security tasks from Burkina's beleaguered police and army.
Civilian volunteers are given two weeks' military training, and then work alongside the security forces, typically carrying out surveillance, information-gathering or escort duties.
But the fledgling force has suffered heavy losses.
The latest fatalities bring its death toll to 15 since the start of the year, according to an AFP toll.
| Armed Conflict | April 2021 | [] |
The Obama administration chooses retired United States Air Force Brigadier General Gregory Touhill the first federal CISO chief, who reports to the CIO of the U.S. Tony Scott. | WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The White House on Thursday named a retired U.S. Air Force brigadier general as the government’s first federal cyber security chief, a position announced eight months ago that is intended to improve defenses against hackers.
Gregory Touhill’s job will be to protect government networks and critical infrastructure from cyber threats as federal chief information security officer, according to a statement.
The administration of President Barack Obama has made bolstering federal cyber security a top priority in his last year in office. The issue has gained more attention because of high-profile breaches in recent years of government and private sector computers.
U.S. intelligence officials suspect Russia was responsible for breaches of Democratic political organizations and state election systems to exert influence on the Nov. 8 presidential election. Russia has dismissed the allegations as absurd.
Obama announced the new position in February alongside a budget proposal to Congress asking for $19 billion for cyber security across the U.S. government. The job is a political appointment, meaning Obama’s successor can choose to replace Touhill after being sworn in next January.
Touhill is currently a deputy assistant secretary for cyber security and communications at the Department of Homeland Security.
He will begin his new role later this month, a source familiar with the matter said. Touhill’s responsibilities will include creating and implementing policy for best security practices across federal agencies and conducting periodic audits to test for weaknesses, according to the announcement.
Grant Schneider, who is the director of cyber security policy at the White House’s National Security Council, will be acting deputy to Touhill, according to the announcement.
Reporting by Dustin Volz; editing by Cynthia Osterman and Grant McCool
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
All quotes delayed a minimum of 15 minutes. See here for a complete list of exchanges and delays. | Government Job change - Appoint_Inauguration | September 2016 | ['(Reuters)', '(White House)', '(Fortune)'] |
Israel charges former energy minister Gonen Segev with spying for Iran. Segev is in custody; he was extradited from Equatorial Guinea. | Israel has charged a former cabinet minister with spying for Iran, the Shin Bet internal security service says.
Gonen Segev, a medical doctor who served as energy minister in the 1990s, was allegedly recruited by Iranian intelligence while living in Nigeria.
He was detained during a visit to Equatorial Guinea in May and extradited following a request by Israeli police.
The 62-year-old was jailed for five years in 2005 for smuggling drugs and forging a diplomatic passport.
He also had his medical licence revoked, but he was allowed to work as a physician in Nigeria when he moved there after his release from prison in 2007.
A statement issued by Shin Bet on Monday said Segev was detained immediately upon his arrival in Israel last month.
He was questioned about information which indicated he might have been in contact with Iranian intelligence agents and assisting their activities against Israel.
Investigators discovered during the interrogation that Segev had made contact with officials in the Iranian embassy in Nigeria in 2012 and that he visited Iran twice to meet his handlers, Shin Bet said.
Segev, it added, had also met his handlers in other countries and was given a classified communications system to send them coded messages.
Shin Bet alleged that he had given the handlers information relating to Israel's energy sector, security sites in Israel, and officials in political and security institutions, and also put the handlers in contact with some Israelis involved in the security sector by introducing them as businessmen.
On Friday, Segev was indicted in a Jerusalem court on charges of "assisting an enemy during a time of war and espionage against the State of Israel", as well as multiple offences of "handing over information to the enemy".
A gag order on the case was lifted on Monday, but some details remain sealed.
Segev's lawyers stressed that the full indictment painted a "different picture than the Shin Bet statement", Israeli media reported.
Ever since the Islamic Revolution in 1979, when religious hardliners came to power, Iran's leaders have called for Israel's elimination. Iran rejects Israel's right to exist, considering it an illegitimate occupier of Muslim land.
Israel sees Iran as a threat to its existence and has always said Iran must not get a nuclear weapon. Its leaders are worried by Iran's expansion in the Middle East.
Iran screens jailed doctor's 'confession'
Israeli jailed for Iran spying offer
Iran hangs 'Israel killer spy'
One Covid vaccine dose cuts hospital risk by 75%
| Famous Person - Commit Crime - Accuse | June 2018 | ['(BBC)'] |
The Federal Constitutional Court in Karlsruhe rules that Germany's participation in the European Stability Mechanism is, conditionally, within the German Constitution's limits, allowing President Gauck to approve the Bundestag's previous agreement with the mechanism. | Germany's top court has rejected calls to block the permanent eurozone rescue fund - the European Stability Mechanism (ESM) - and the European fiscal treaty.
Leader Angela Merkel called it "a good day", while markets rallied in relief.
But the Constitutional Court imposed conditions including a cap on Germany's contribution, which it said could only be overruled by the German parliament.
Critics had argued that the ESM commits Germany to potentially unlimited funding of debt-ridden eurozone states.
Some 37,000 people had signed a petition to the court asking it to block the ESM, and make it subject to a referendum.
Since Germany is due to contribute 27% of the fund, it cannot proceed without German ratification.
But, after weeks of deliberation, the court's Chief Justice Andreas Vosskuhle said it "rejected the injunctions", since there was a "high probability" that the ESM did not violate the constitution. However, he said ratification of the treaty could only be allowed under certain conditions.
He continued: "No rule of the treaty must be interpreted in a way which would result in higher payment obligations by Germany, without the consent of the German representative."
Correspondents said that meant that any future increase in the size of the 500bn-euro (£400bn) fund, or of Germany's contribution, could only be permitted with the express agreement of Germany's parliament.
When added to the money already committed to the existing temporary fund, Germany is liable for about 190bn euros.
The decision clears the way for Germany's President, Joachim Gauck, to sign the ESM and the fiscal pact - which is meant to enforce budget discipline - into law.
Correspondents said there would be huge relief in Brussels and European capitals at the verdict.
"Today, Germany is once again sending a strong signal to Europe and beyond: Germany is assuming with determination its responsibility as the biggest economy and as a reliable partner in Europe," Chancellor Merkel told parliament in Berlin hours after the ruling. "This is a good day for Germany and it is a good day for Europe," she said.
Spanish, Italian and German share indexes all rose after the ruling, while the euro continued its recent gains to post a hit a new four-month high against the dollar, at $1.29. The borrowing costs on Spanish and Italian 10-year bonds fell.
Analysts suggested that, combined with European Central Bank plans to buy the government bonds of struggling countries, Europe now had the tools it needed to combat its financial crisis.
"Within less than a week, the eurozone has finally received its long sought-after impressive bazooka," said Carsten Brzeski, an economist with Dutch bank ING.
"As a result, eurozone governments have now received more time to do their homework, implement reforms and austerity measures," he said.
'Phew!' German relief at ruling
EU's Barroso seeks 'federation'
Q&A: German court ruling
Euro bailout faces German court
ESM in the dock: Germany's fears
Soros: Germany must lead or leave
ECB bond plan strengthens euro
German Constitutional Court
German parliament
German government
Setback for EU in legal fight with AstraZeneca
But the drug-maker faces hefty fines if it fails to supply doses of Covid-19 vaccine over the summer. | Sign Agreement | September 2012 | ['(ESM)', '(BBC)'] |
A fire at a retirement home in Nigel, Gauteng, South Africa, kills 18 people. | A fire at a retirement home in South Africa has left 18 people dead, emergency officials say.
Several more were injured in the blaze, which broke out at around 2100 (1900 GMT) on Sunday, 50km (30 miles) south-east of Johannesburg.
The cause of the fire, which gutted the Pieter Wessels retirement home in Nigel, is not yet known. Some 84 residents were safely evacuated to a church, local media said, and several received medical treatment.
The fire was reported by security guards who saw flames billowing from the building.
"The building was engulfed in flames and emergency personnel leaped into action to rescue the aged from the burning building," emergency services spokesman Chris Botha said.
Emergency workers searched the home after the fire was extinguished and found the remains of 17 victims inside. An 18th resident died of a suspected heart attack shortly after having been evacuated from the building, reports said.
One man, who reportedly suffered 40% burns in the fire, was airlifted to a hospital in Johannesburg.
Two others with serious injuries were taken to local hospitals, with paramedics treating the rest for smoke inhalation at the church. A security guard told reporters of his efforts to rescue elderly residents from the burning building.
"Maybe I saved eight or nine people but some of them were too big and I could not carry them," the guard told the news agency Agence France Presse.
| Fire | August 2010 | ['(BBC)', '(Times Live South Africa)'] |
Pharmaceutical companies Genzyme and Sanofi–Aventis are reported to have reached an "agreement in principle" on a deal in which Sanofi, a French company, will acquire Cambridge–based Genzyme for an undetermined amount of money. | I can confirm that Genzyme, one of the world's largest biotechnology companies, and Sanofi-Aventis, a very large French pharmaceutical company, have reached a so called “agreement in principle” for a deal in which Sanofi will acquire Genzyme. The deal will include a contingent value right (CVR)—a type of right given to shareholders of an acquired company that ensures they receive additional benefit if a specific event occurs—and will include more cash than the current $69 a share that Sanofi is offering, according to sources close to the deal. How much cash the deal will include could not be determined. Sanofi has begun due diligence on Genzyme , a process that could take a couple of weeks and is often not begun until some sort of deal structure has been hammered out. In addition, work on the CVR is said to be complex, given the nature of that security. | Sign Agreement | January 2011 | ['(CNBC)'] |
The death toll from Saturday night's earthquake in Ecuador rises to 262 with more than 2,500 people injured. (AP² via Miami Herald) | Ecuador's president says the earthquake death toll in country has risen to at least 272 and is sure to go much higher. After visiting areas hard hit by the quake, Rafael Correa gave the new count to reporters early Monday and said it would "surely rise, and in a considerable way." Correa says Ecuador will overcome the tragedy. He said: "The Ecuadorean spirit knows how to move forward, and will know how to overcome these very difficult moments." ---
10:50 p.m.
Ecuadorean President Rafael Correa is back in his home country and is making his first public comments about the strongest earthquake to hit Ecuador in decades. He says the priority remains finding survivors. Correa cut short a trip to the Vatican and flew directly to one of the hardest-hit area along Ecuador's Pacific coast to oversee relief operations. In an address from the tragedy-stricken city of Portoviejo, he says the death toll will probably rise considerably from the current 262 in the coming days. But he stresses that there's evidence some people remain alive underneath rubble. He says the powerful 7.8-magnitude earthquake is the worst natural disaster to befall Ecuador since a 1949 earthquake in Ambato that killed thousands. In Correa's words: "The pain is very large, the tragedy is very large, but we'll find the way to move forward. If our pain is immense, still larger is the spirt of our people." ---
9 p.m. The death toll from the powerful earthquake that shook coastal Ecuador has risen to 262. Vice Minister Diego Fuentes gave the latest number to reporters Sunday night as search teams continued to pick at rubble looking for survivors and victims. Earlier, Vice President Jorge Glas said more than 2,500 people were injured in Saturday night's earthquake. Glas says there is a long list of missing people that authorities are looking for but he has declined to disclose the number. He says only that the number of casualties is expected to go up more. ---
6:55 p.m.
Ecuadorean President Rafael Correa has rushed back from an overseas trip and is getting briefed on relief efforts after a powerful earthquake rocked a coastal area of the South American nation. Correa was in Rome when the 7.8-magnitude quake struck Saturday night, causing heavy damage and killing at least 246 people. He had attended a conference at the Vatican a day earlier. The presidential office released photos showing he flew in Ecuador's presidential plane directly to the city of Manta on the coast. He is being briefed at the airport and is expected to make his first statements on Ecuadorean soil soon. ---
5:40 p.m. The death toll from Ecuador's powerful 7.8-magnitude earthquake continues to rise, with 246 people now confirmed dead. Vice President Jorge Glas further says that more than 2,500 are injured. Glas says there is a long list of missing people that authorities are looking for but he has declined to disclose the number. He says only that the number of casualties is expected to go up more. ---
4:25 p.m. The prospect of a second night on the streets without electricity has gotten more worrisome for people living near the epicenter of the earthquake that rocked parts of Ecuador's coast. Authorities in Manabi province have announced that 180 prisoners being held at El Rodeo jail near the city of Portoviejo escaped amid the tumult after the quake hit Saturday night. Twenty of the prisoners have been reported recaptured and others have returned voluntarily, but most of them remain on the loose. In addition, looting has been reported in several cities affected by the quake. In the absence of shelters, some men are taking turns watching over loved ones as they rest in the open. ---
1:30 p.m.
Ecuadorian officials say the death toll from a powerful earthquake has risen to 238. The government reported the new figures in a press release Sunday afternoon. Earlier, Vice President Jorge Glas reported 235 dead and more than 1,500 injured after an earthquake leveled parts of the South American country Saturday night. The government is also reporting hundreds of buildings destroyed. Major roads remain closed in the areas hardest hit by the quake
---
12:40 p.m. The Canadian government says two of its citizens are among those who died in the massive Ecuador earthquake. Global Affairs Canada has issued a statement saying it's "deeply saddened by tragic loss of life" caused by the magnitude-7.8 quake that hit late Saturday. Foreign Affairs Minister Stephane Dion, says two Canadians are among those reported dead and he extended condolences to their families. The names of the Canadian victims were not released. ---
12:00 p.m.
Ecuador's Vice President Jorge Glas says the death toll from the magnitude-7.8 earthquake has risen slightly to 235. But he says another 1,557 people are injured. Glas tells a news conference that there's no risk of a tsunami — an attempt to knock down rumors in the jittery nation that has been shaken by scores of aftershocks. ---
11:40 a.m. The magnitude-7.8 earthquake has flattened much of the Ecuadoran provincial capital of Portoviejo, leaving rescuers scrambling through the ruins, digging with their hands to find survivors. President Rafael Correa says at least 233 people have died nationally as a result of the Saturday evening quake. El Diario newspaper editor Jaime Ugalde says it seems like nothing has been left standing. Among the collapsed structures are a hotel, the local social security headquarters and a telecommunications building. At a pharmacy, Andres Vera pleaded for help finding his younger brother, his brother's wife and the couple's 2 year-old son. The family had been trying to buy medicine when the shaking started, and the four-story building above the shop collapsed. ---
10:10 a.m.
Ecuador's President Rafael Correa says the death toll from a magnitude-7.8 earthquake has risen to 233. Correa sent the new figure on his official Twitter account while flying home from Rome to deal with the emergency. ---
7:45 a.m. Authorities in Ecuador are mobilizing resources and help is getting to the ground after a long night of fear and uncertainty caused by a magnitude-7.8 earthquake that killed at least 77 people. Vice President Jorge Glas is overseeing efforts until President Rafael Correa makes an emergency return from a visit to Rome. Glas arrived Sunday morning in Manta along the coast along with dozens of rescuers. The city's airport is badly damaged, but is receiving relief flights. National airline TAME has already organized two humanitarian airlifts with members of the Red Cross and police reinforcements. More than a dozen roads have been closed due to damage from the earthquake, making it harder for rescuers to reach where they are needed most. The Transportation Ministry says that the hardest hit was Manabi province, near the epicenter. Eight major roads there were either closed or partially collapsed from landslides or strong movements of the earth. ---
7:25 a.m.
Ecuador's seismological institute is reporting more than 135 aftershocks following Saturday's magnitude-7.8 quake that ravaged the country's coastline. The strongest occurred overnight around 2 a.m. local time about 50 miles (80 kilometers) from the main quake's epicenter and was felt in cities hundreds of miles kilometers away. The U.S. Geological Survey said that quake had a magnitude of 5.6. Authorities are warning that more aftershocks are in store in the coming hours and days. ---
5:55 a.m.
Pope Francis has offered prayers for the people of Ecuador affected by the violent earthquake overnight "that caused numerous victims and great damage." Francis asked the faithful in St. Peter's Square on Sunday to pray for those suffering in the aftermath of the magnitude-7.8 earthquake, as well as those hit by a separate magnitude-7.0 tremor in Japan early Saturday. He says "may the help of God and of neighbors give them strength and support." Authorities say the magnitude-7.8 earthquake that hit Ecuador's sparsely populated coast Saturday night has killed 77 people and injured over 570 others. Two powerful earthquakes in Japan last week killed 41 people. (This item corrects earlier reference to Japan quake magnitude 7.0 instead of 7.3 and local time Saturday, not Friday). ---
5:20 a.m.
Ecuador's earthquake is about six times stronger and has released more energy than the one in Japan a day before. David Rothery, a professor of planetary geosciences at The Open University, northeast of London, says the total energy released by the magnitude-7.8 quake Saturday in Ecuador was "probably about 20 times greater" than the magnitude-7.0 quake in Japan early Saturday. Rothery told The Associated Press on Sunday that bigger quakes last longer, so both the strength of the shaking and the duration contribute to the total energy. Rothery says the quake in Ecuador began deeper underground than the recent Japan quakes, which would have lessened the shaking on the ground. But the greater loss of life and greater damage in Ecuador can be attributed to the country's less stringent construction codes. The scientist also says "there is no causal relationship between the earthquakes in Ecuador and Japan." (This item corrects earlier report and headline to show the 2nd Japan quake hit early Saturday local time, not Friday). ---
4:35 a.m. Authorities in Ecuador say landslides are making it difficult for emergency workers to reach the towns hardest hit by a magnitude-7.8 earthquake. The quake was centered on a sparsely populated coastal area 170 kilometers (105 miles) northwest of Quito, the capital. Ecuador's Public Works and Transport Ministry says 12 main roads have been closed. A landslide has shut down one road in Cotopaxi and a landslide warning has been issued for a road in Zamora Chinchipe. The Home Ministry says five helicopters and over 80 buses are ferrying 4,000 police to the quake zone. Vice President Jorge Glas also says electricity has been restored to four towns in the Manabi province and to parts of the cities of Portoviejo and Montecristi. He says the quake has killed 77 people and injured over 570. ---
4:05 a.m. The strong earthquake in Ecuador also was a topic at a major meeting of oil-producing countries in Qatar. Kabalan Abisaab, Ecuador's ambassador to Qatar, spoke to journalists on the sidelines of the meeting in Doha He says "it's a big disaster. We are very worried about the situation." The ambassador stressed his country was prepared for such disasters, though they still can cause massive destruction. He said Ecuadorean officials are working to help those affected. The Foreign Affairs ministry has opened a hotline for people living abroad seeking information on family members in the country. Officials say the magnitude-7.8 quake, which struck Saturday night, has killed at least 77 people and injured over 570. ---
3:40 a.m.
Ecuador's Risk Management agency says residents who evacuated coastal towns because of the risk of a tsunami after a magnitude-7.8 earthquake can return home now. The quake was centered on a sparsely populated area of fishing ports and tourist beaches, 170 kilometers (105 miles) northwest of Quito, the capital. The country's vice president says at least 77 people have been reported killed by the quake, and over 570 injured. Some 10,000 armed forces and hundreds of emergency workers and firefighters have been sent to the region after the quake flattened buildings and buckled highways. Several major highways have been closed. ---
3:25 a.m.
Ecuador's Risk Management agency says 10,000 armed forces have now been deployed to help people in the coastal area stuck by a magnitude-7.8 earthquake. The quake was centered on a sparsely populated area of fishing ports and tourist beaches, 170 kilometers (105 miles) northwest of Quito, the capital. In addition, the agency says Sunday that 3,500 national police have been sent to the towns of Manabí, Esmeraldas and Guayas y Santa Elena, and 500 firefighters have been sent to Manabi and Pedernales. Five shelters have been set up for those evacuated from their homes. Officials say the quake, which struck Saturday night, has killed at least 77 people and injured over 570. ---
2:45 a.m.
Top officials say Ecuador is in a state of emergency and hundreds of rescue workers are rushing in after a magnitude-7.8 earthquake struck near its Pacific coast. The Security Ministry says on its Twitter account that "every emergency protocol has been activated" and President Rafael Correa says special quake rescue teams are coming in from Colombia and Mexico. The Red Cross Ecuador says more than 1,200 volunteers are already working in rescue, evacuation and first aid operations. Vice President Jorge Glas says mobile phone operators are allowing free text services in the hard-hit Manabi and Esmeraldas provinces, allowing people to better reach their loved ones or report emergency situations. He says the Saturday quake has already killed 77 people and injured at least 578. ---
2:20 a.m.
Ecuador's vice president says the toll in the country's devastating earthquake has risen to 77 dead and 578 injured. Vice President Jorge Glas made the announcement early Sunday on the Security Ministry's Twitter account. Glas and emergency rescue workers are pressing to reach the sparsely populated area of fishing ports and tourist beaches along the country's Pacific coast where the magnitude-7.8 quake struck after nightfall on Saturday. President Rafael Correa has signed a decree declaring a national emergency and is rushing home from Rome. ---
1:30 a.m. The strongest earthquake to hit Ecuador in decades has flattened buildings and buckled highways along the country's Pacific coast, killing at least 41 people and causing damage in the capital and other major cities that were hundreds of miles (kilometers) away from the epicenter. The death toll is expected to rise Sunday as rescuers reached the sparsely populated area of fishing ports and tourist beaches where the magnitude-7.8 quake was centered. "We're trying to do the most we can but there's almost nothing we can do," said Gabriel Alcivar, mayor of Pedernales, a town of 40,000 near the quake's epicenter. | Earthquakes | April 2016 | ['(AP via Fox News)', '(BBC)', '(AFP/Reuters via ABC News Australia)'] |
Ebru Umar, a Dutch journalist of Turkish descent, is arrested in Kuadas, Turkey, for tweets deemed critical of President Recep Tayyip Erdoan. This comes as a political storm erupted this week over reports that the Turkish consulate asked Turkish organizations in the Netherlands to forward emails and social media posts which insult Erdoan or Turkey. | A Dutch journalist was blocked from leaving Turkey on Sunday following her arrest on Saturday night for tweets deemed critical of the Turkish president, Recep Tayyip Erdoan.
“Police at the door. No joke,” wrote Ebru Umar on her Twitter account.
Umar, a well-known atheist and feminist journalist of Turkish origin, recently wrote a piece criticising Erdoan for the Dutch daily Metro, extracts of which she then tweeted, leading to her arrest. After her arrest in the resort town of Kusadasi in western Turkey, where she was on holiday, Dutch officials said, she was brought before a judge.
She later said she was “free but forbidden to leave the country”.
Dutch blog Geenstijl said it received a message from Umar saying that she had been arrested after someone reported her tweets on a hotline set up by Turkish officials.
A political storm erupted this week over reports that the Turkish consulate asked Turkish organisations in the Netherlands to forward emails and social media posts that insult Erdoan or Turkey.
The Dutch prime minister, Mark Rutte, said he would ask Ankara to clarify the call, saying it was not clear what the Turkish government aimed to achieve. The Turkish consulate said the note was sent by a consular official who used an “unfortunate choice of words” that was misinterpreted.
Umar had written about the row in her article. She compared the consulate’s call to “NSB practices”, a reference to the Dutch branch of the Nazi party before and during the second world war.
Umar’s Twitter feed showed she had recently engaged in spirited exchanges with her critics and reposted a tweet from someone claiming to have reported her to the police. Insulting the president is a crime in Turkey punishable by up to four years in jail, but the law has rarely been invoked. Since Erdoan became president in 2014, prosecutors have opened more than 1,800 cases against people for insulting him, the justice minister said last month. Rutte said in a tweet that he “had had contact with @umarebru last night. Our embassy is in close contact with her for assistance.”
The Dutch education minister, Jet Bussemaker, told Dutch WNL television: “It is absurd that you can be arrested for a tweet.”
Born in The Hague to Turkish parents, Umar has been an outspoken critic of militant Islam, first in columns for the website of Theo van Gogh, who was murdered by a radical Islamist in 2004 after making films critical of the religion. Her case follows outrage in Germany after the government there gave a green light for authorities to begin criminal proceedings against popular comic Jan Bhmermann for performing a satirical poem about Erdoan.
Last year, Turkey deported another Dutch journalist after she was arrested on suspicion of aiding Kurdish militants. Frederike Geerdink was detained in September 2015 during clashes between PKK rebels and Turkish security forces.
It was the second time she had been taken into custody: in April, Geerdink had been put on trial on charges of spreading “terrorist propaganda” for the PKK but was then acquitted.
“Thinking of dutch columnist @umarebru, now locked up in a kusadasi police station. Utter disgrace,” she tweeted.
Earlier this week, a German reporter was detained at an Istanbul airport and sent back to Cairo where he is based. A day later, authorities denied entry into Turkey for Russian news agency Sputnik’s Istanbul-based general manager. | Famous Person - Commit Crime - Accuse | April 2016 | ['(The Guardian)'] |
Various local safety officials report a total of at least 31 people have been killed by the 17 fires, while 400 people are reported as missing. | Fire crews began to make slow progress against wildfires that have killed at least 31 people in Northern California’s wine country as officials continued the grim search for more bodies amid the ashes. In Santa Rosa, the hardest hit by the fires, officials said they were stunned by the scale of the destruction. An estimated 2,834 homes were destroyed in the city of Santa Rosa alone, along with about 400,000 square feet of commercial space, Santa Rosa Mayor Chris Coursey said in a news conference Thursday afternoon. Flames left entire neighborhoods and commercial districts in ruins and even destroyed the city’s newest fire station, on Fountaingrove Parkway. Sonoma County Sheriff Robert Giordano told reporters that another person was found dead in his county as search crews and cadaver dogs began sifting through debris for the first time Thursday. Later Thursday, officials confirmed the discovery of several more bodies. Of the 31 deaths, 17 were in Sonoma County, eight were in Mendocino County, four were in Yuba County and two were in Napa County, according to Sonoma County, Cal Fire and Yuba County officials. Taken together, the death toll from the wildfires in the wine country has now exceeded that of the 1991 Oakland Hills fire, which totaled 25. The Cedar fire, which swept through San Diego County in 2003, killed 15 people and destroyed more than 2,800 structures. Late Thursday, the Sonoma County Sheriff’s Office identified 10 people who died in that county. They were:
Some of the bodies were recovered intact, while others had been reduced to ashes and bones. In two cases, the remains were identified through the serial number on medical devices, such as a metal hip replacement. Two were identified by dental records, another through distinct tattoos. Authorities used fingerprints and family members to identify the rest. The average age of the 10 who were named was 75, highlighting the risk among elderly and people with disabilities who live in rural regions where cellphones may not work. As of late Thursday, about 400 people were still missing. The searches can take hours, and identification will be difficult, Giordano said. “We will do everything in our power to locate all the missing persons, and I promise you we will handle the remains with care and get them returned to their loved ones,” Giordano said. It could be weeks or even months before all the bodies are identified, he said. Asked whether he expected the death toll to rise, Giordano said, “I’d be unrealistic if I didn’t.”
State and local officials expressed optimism that milder-than-expected winds and additional firefighting crews from across California were allowing them to make progress against the worst of the fires. But forecasters say winds and hot conditions will return Friday and Saturday. An inmate firefighter monitors flames as a house burns in the Napa wine region. Flames ravage a home in the Napa wine region in California. A firefighter walks near a pool as a neighboring home burns in the Napa wine region. Firefighters douse flames as a home burns in the Napa wine region, as multiple wind-driven fires whip through the region. A Cazadero firefighter struggles to protect a home from catching fire in Coffey Park in Santa Rosa, Calif. Louis Reavis views the burned remains of his classic Oldsmobile at his home in Napa. A tent structure built for the 2017 Safeway Open burns in Napa on Monday. The Estancia Apartment Homes on Old Redwood Hwy. were completely destroyed in Santa Rosa. A resident rushes to save his home as a wildfire moves through Glen Ellen, Calif. Tens of thousands of acres and dozens of homes and businesses have burned in wildfires in Napa and Sonoma counties. A Fountaingrove Village man surveys the rubble of his home in Santa Rosa. Downed power poles and lines block a street in Hidden Valley. A fcar burns in the driveway of a destroyed home in Fountaingrove Village. A wheelchair left abandoned at the evacuated Villa Capri assisted living facility on Fountaingrove Parkway in Santa Rosa. A resident rushes to save his home as fire moves through the area in Glen Ellen, California. A San Jose firefighter keep flames down at a home in Hidden Valley. A Fountaingrove Village couple takes in the ruins of their home after fire ripped through the neighborhood. A home destroyed in the fast moving wildfire that ripped through Glen Ellen. A swimming pool reflects the damage caused by the wildfires that moved through neighborhoods near Glen Ellen. Benicia Police Officer Alejandro Maravilla, left, offers resident Gwen Adkins, 84, a soda while patrolling in the Coffey Park neighborhood of Santa Rosa. An aerial view of Journey End’s Mobile home park, along the 101 freeway, destroyed by wildfire in Santa Rosa. Spencer Blackwell, left, and Danielle Tate find Tate’s father’s gun collection, melted and burned, inside a gun safe at her father’s home in the Coffey Park neighborhood of Santa Rosa. An American flag is draped on a burned pickup truck on Camino del Prado in the Coffey Park neighborhood in Santa Rosa. Scorched wine barrels at the Paradise Ridge Winery in Santa Rosa after the wildfire burned through. Fire lights up the night sky framed by a vineyard near Kenwood. Chloe Hoskins, 7, wearing a bandanna to protect herself from the smoke and ash, checks on a neighbor’s burned-out property with her father in the Coffey Park neighborhood in Santa Rosa. Oakland police officers knock on doors as residents of the Rancho de Calistoga mobile home park are told to evacuate in Calistoga. An aerial view of the Coffey Park neighborhood detroyed by wildfire in Santa Rosa. Contra Costa paramedics help Bill Parras, 96, evacuate his home in Calistoga. CHP officers study neighborhood maps before going door to door to tell Sonoma residents to voluntarily evacuate ahead of the wildfire. A home perched on top of a hill sits in the foreground of a fire moving up on Shiloh Ridge near Santa Rosa. Scorched grapes and vines along the edge of Storybook Mountain Vineyards in Calistoga. John and Jan Pascoe survived the firestorm by running out of their home and into their neighbors’ swimming pool in Santa Rosa. Hundreds of burned wine bottles at the destroyed Helena View Johnston Vineyards near Calistoga. A Contra Costa County firefighter breaks a wall with an ax as his crew battles flames inside a home along Highway 29 north of Calistoga on Oct. 12. Atascadero Firefighters try to control flames burning inside a home along Highway 29 in Calistoga on Oct. 12. Contra Costa firefighters work to put out flames burning inside a home along Highway 29 north of Calistoga on Oct. 12. Search teams sift through the debris of mobile homes at the Journey’s End Mobile Home Park in Santa Rosa. A worker pulls out a firearm from the burned wreckage as search team members look through the debris at the Journey’s End Mobile Home Park in Santa Rosa. Search team members sift through debris at the Journey’s End Mobile Home Park in Santa Rosa. Santa Rosa Mayor Chris Coursey surveys the damage to the Coffey Park neighborhood. Melted metal is seen on a car in the shadow of a destroyed home in Napa. Lola Cornish, 50, and her daughter Kat Corazza, 18, look over recovered family jewels that survived the fire at Cornish’s grandfather’s home in Napa. Some residents were allowed to return to their properties Friday in a neighborhood in Napa that was ravaged by the Atlas fire. A helicopter prepares to drop water on a fire that threatens the Oakmont community along Highway 12 in Santa Rosa. A helicopter drops water on a fire that threatens the Ledson Winery and Historic Castle Vineyards in Kenwood on Friday. Manuel Mendoza sorts through donated clothing at the Bridge Church in Santa Rosa on Sunday. Jean Schettler hugs Father Moses Brown after Mass at St. Rose Church on Sunday. Schettler’s daughter, son-in-law and grandchildren, after losing their house in the fires, have moved into the Santa Rosa home of Jean and Jim Schettler. Gianna Gathman, 18, hugs her grandfather Jim Schettler during Mass at St. Rose Church in Santa Rosa on Sunday. Gathman’s family lost their home in the Fountaingrove neighborhood to the fire. They are now living with the Schettlers. Kimberly Flinn holds onto the only item that wasn’t lost in a fire that destroyed her home in the Mark West Springs area in Santa Rosa. Flynn recovered a ceramic white butterfly that she had made in memory of a boy she used to babysit and was killed in a hit and run accident. Gerry Miller, 81, tells San Francisco Police Department Officer Gary Loo how grateful she is to find her home still standing. Residents were allowed to return to their homes in the Mark West Springs area in Santa Rosa Sunday night. Denise Finitz, 61, thanks Torrance Fire Department firefighters Keith Picket, right, and Capt. Mike Salcido on Oct. 16 after they helped her find her mother’s wedding ring in the ashes of her home, destroyed by wildfires on Carriage Lane in Wikiup. A search and rescue crew member gives a cadaver dog some water during the hunt for a possible fire victim in the Mark West Springs area of Santa Rosa on Oct. 15. Burned cars like this vintage Volkswagen litter the landscape in Coffey Park. The neighborhood was completely destroyed by the Tubbs fire 11 days ago, with many residents fleeing in haste as their homes were enveloped in flames. A giraffe framed in the smoke filled air at the Safari West preserve. A Watusi bull looks out through the haze of the recent Tubbs fire at the Safari West preserve. Peter Lang, 77, owner of the Safari West preserve, stands between a pair of white rhinos against a backdrop of charred hillside in Santa Rosa. Mark Sharp, a resident of Coffey Park, sifts through the remains of his charred home in search of his wife’s wedding band. Flowers were left on the mailbox of Roy Howard Bowman, 87, and his wife, Irma Elsie Bowman, 88 who died at their Fisher Lake Drive home from the Redwood Valley fire. Dee Pallesen, left, and her daughter Emily Learn console each as they look over Pallesen’s home, destroyed by the Redwood Valley fire. Jason Miller plants an American flag on the charred remains of his house as residents of Coffey Park return home. Burned vehicles litter the landscape in Coffey Park. The neighborhood was completely destroyed by the Tubbs fire 11 days ago, with many residents fleeing in haste as their homes were enveloped in flames. A pickup truck rests beside a row of charred trees in the Coffey Park neighborhood of Santa Rosa. “We need to hit this thing hard and get it done,” Santa Rosa Fire Chief Tom Gossner told hundreds of firefighters battling the devastating Tubbs fire in Santa Rosa. “It’s time to finish this thing.”
Fire authorities had feared that 40-mph winds predicted for early Thursday morning would further stoke flames and carry embers to residential areas that so far had escaped fire. But those winds never materialized in the vicinity of Calistoga, where mandatory evacuation orders had forced 5,000 residents from their homes the previous afternoon. Cal Fire spokesman Richard Cordova said the lull allowed crews to establish a 10% containment around the 34,200-acre Tubbs fire. On Thursday morning, Calistoga was still a ghost town, apart from a few dozen residents who stayed behind and a Cal Fire incident command center at the town’s Old Faithful geyser. Motorcycle officers wearing masks were circling the deserted streets. Everything was closed in the downtown area — the art galleries, wine tasting rooms, cafes. Thick smoke hung like fog. Roads leading into town were closed. There is still concern for Calistoga and elsewhere, as officials expect winds between 10 mph and 20 mph Thursday night, and stronger seasonal winds over the weekend, Cal Fire spokeswoman Heather Williams said. Firefighters were battling the Tubbs fire around Mt. St. Helena on Thursday morning, but they started pulling back before noon. The fire had hopped Highway 29, which runs adjacent to the mountain north of evacuated Calistoga. “It’s so thick [with vegetation], it’s so steep. The fire is unpredictable,” said Amy Head, a Cal Fire spokeswoman on the scene. “We don’t want to get trapped on this mountain.”
Firefighters had been setting backfires to try to ward off further damage, and contractors were trucking up tanks of water to resupply them. At noon Thursday, the air was thick with smoke. Those who return “are on your own,” said Calistoga Mayor Chris Canning, warning residents not to expect personal fire protection. “If you are trying to visit Calistoga, you are not welcome,” Canning said. “To the Calistogans out there, stay strong.”
About 10 miles away from the city at Napa Valley College, a Red Cross shelter swelled with hundreds of evacuees. Crews also managed to start a containment line for the 43,000-acre Atlas fire — good news for Napa residents who were warned Wednesday afternoon that they might have to evacuate eastern sections of town closest to the fire. The Atlas fire, which began in Napa and moved into Solano County, has put the Green Valley area in danger, Williams said. That area had mandatory evacuations earlier in the week. “Additional resources are starting to give us the upper hand,” said Cal Fire deputy incident commander Barry Biermann in Napa. Firefighters in Napa and Solano counties were warned Thursday morning that critical “red flag” conditions remain, with strong winds, low humidity and “extremely receptive fuels,” according to Thursday morning’s Cal Fire incident management plan for the Atlas and neighboring fires. Despite continuing red flag conditions, forecasts called for cooler daytime temperatures and relatively light winds Thursday. Fire authorities were predicting a generally productive day. By Thursday evening, mandatory evacuations were lifted in the areas of Silverado Country Club, Monticello Park and the Avenues, along with areas west of Silverado Trail, between Hardman Avenue and California 128. While that forecast may give firefighters hope, tens of thousands of residents throughout the region were still reeling from the devastation. | Fire | October 2017 | ['(Los Angeles Times)'] |
Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd and Leader of the Opposition Tony Abbott participate in the first of three televised leaders debates ahead of September's federal election. | Australia's Labor Prime Minister Kevin Rudd and opposition leader Tony Abbott have sparred over the economy and immigration in the first televised debate of the election campaign.
The candidates faced an hour of questioning from a panel of journalists in the capital, Canberra.
Current opinion polls put Mr Abbott's Liberal-National coalition in the lead for the 7 September election.
But Labor has narrowed its lead since Mr Rudd returned to office in June.
And while his party lags behind, Mr Rudd is seen by polls as Australians' preferred choice as prime minister.
Sunday's debate was the first of three such possible meetings before polling day. Analysts had been predicting a fiery exchange between the two men, but Australian media said the tone of the debate had been far more cordial than expected.
In his opening comments, Mr Rudd said the election was "a clear choice on the economy, on jobs, on how we support families under pressure and how we support education and health".
He said he offered a "new way to take Australia forward" as the country's economic mining boom begins to decline.
Mr Abbott, meanwhile, told viewers the election was not about personalities, but about deciding "who can make your future more secure".
"Mr Rudd talks about a new way. Well, if you want a new way you've got to choose a new government," he said.
The opposition leader immediately addressed the key election issue of immigration control, criticising the government's policies and saying his coalition would put an end to large numbers of people arriving in Australia by boat. "No self-respecting country can hand over part of its immigration control programme to people smugglers," he said.
When challenged on his economic plans - which Mr Rudd says contain a A$70bn ($65bn: £42bn) gap - Mr Abbott said voters would "see in good time before polling day exactly how much we're going to spend".
Mr Rudd responded by saying: "Surely four weeks before an election he can stop being evasive" about how the shortfall will be made up.
The debate briefly touched on whether the leaders would take steps towards legalising gay marriage. Mr Abbot said there had been a "fairly decisive" parliamentary vote against this a year ago, and it would not be a priority for his government.
But Mr Rudd said if re-elected, he would bring in a bill within his first 100 days to legalise marriage equality. The two leaders have been touring the country since campaigning began on 5 August.
They also discussed climate concerns, with Mr Rudd saying Australia's leader "will be doing a disservice to our kids and grandkids if we do not act".
Mr Abbott said his coalition was committed to delivering the 5% reduction in carbon emissions it has already announced. Mr Rudd called the election on 4 August, earlier than he needed to, which correspondents said was a sign he was trying to make the most of the momentum after he defeated former prime minister Julia Gillard in a party vote.
The two leaders have been touring the country since campaigning began on 5 August.
Labor has already announced an A$200m package to assist the car industry.
Mr Abbott, meanwhile, pledged to repeal Australia's carbon tax at his first campaign event in Brisbane.
Labor has been hit by the loss of two candidates in the past week. Mr Rudd demanded that Geoff Lake, candidate for the safe seat of Hotham in Victoria, withdraw after it emerged he had abused a woman with a disability during a council meeting a decade ago.
Meanwhile the Labor candidate for the Queensland seat of Kennedy, Ken Robertson, stood down from the race after calling Mr Abbott a racist and "very bigoted" in an interview.
He said he was withdrawing "in the interests of ensuring that this matter does not distract from Labor's campaign for a fairer Australia". | Government Job change - Election | August 2013 | ['(BBC)'] |
Washington governor Jay Inslee drops out of the presidential primaries to focus on his re-election bid. | He ran on a message of fighting climate change, but failed to find much support in the polls. Now he intends to seek another term as governor of Washington.
Gov. Jay Inslee of Washington, who mounted a dogged presidential candidacy raising the alarm about climate change, dropped out of the 2020 race on Wednesday after struggling to earn a place in the next Democratic primary debate.
Mr. Inslee plans to compete for a different office instead — the one he already holds. “I want to continue to stand with you in opposing Donald Trump and rejecting his hurtful and divisive agenda, while strengthening and enhancing Washington State’s role as a progressive beacon for the nation,” he said in an email to supporters on Thursday announcing his plan to run for a third term in 2020.
| Government Job change - Election | August 2019 | ['(The New York Times)'] |
Ronda Rousey defeats Miesha Tate by submission to win the UFC Women's Bantamweight Championship. | Living up to her reputation as the world's nastiest arm collector, Ronda Rousey again stopped Miesha Tate with an armbar to retain her UFC women's bantamweight title – though Tate became the first woman to make it out of the first round against the champ.
The stoppage for Rousey came 58 seconds into the third round.
Rousey (8-0 MMA, 2-0 UFC) and Tate (13-5 MMA, 0-2 UFC) have displayed arguably as much disdain for each other as any pair in MMA history, let alone women's MMA history. On this past Season 18 of The Ultimate Fighter, they coached opposite each other – and there were run-ins aplenty.
But after all the bad blood, Rousey still did just what she said she would do, even if Tate gave her her biggest challenge yet. Before Saturday, all of Rousey's professional wins, as well as her amateur bouts, came by first-round armbar finish.
Referee Mario Yamasaki told the pair to touch gloves before the fight, but there was no chance of that – which would be a sign of things to come about 12 minutes later. The two came out swinging early, but just 10 seconds in, Rousey dragged Tate to the canvas looking for that signature finish. But Tate got back to her feet, where Rousey tied her up and landed knees to her thigh.
Throughout the first two rounds, it was largely back-and-forth as Rousey, an Olympic medal winner in judo, landed takedown after takedown. But each time Rousey went after an armbar, Tate managed to wriggle her way free in the first 10 minutes.
Surviving the first round was a moral victory of sorts, since no one had done it before. Surviving the second was another feather in Tate's cap, as the crowd chanted her name – fairly clearly wanting to see an upset from the heavy underdog.
But Rousey swarmed in the third, pushing Tate to the fence to work body shots in the clinch. After a ground scramble, Rousey had Tate right where she wanted her – again. And this time, it was too much. With Tate's right arm tied up, Rousey forced the challenger to tap to the armbar.
After the finish, Tate extended a hand in Rousey's direction – perhaps hoping to settle the long-standing feud. But Rousey turned and walked away – as the crowd booed emphatically.
"I want to congratulate Miesha," Rousey said afterward. "She's an amazing fighter. She really is. But for me, family comes before everything – even the boos and cheers of the crowd. I felt like it would disrespect my family if I shook her hand. I said she's an amazing fighter, but I can't shake the hand of someone who spits on my back."
Tate, who lost her Strikeforce title to Rousey in March 2012, said she believes Rousey has improved since their first fight.
"She worked on her right hand a little bit," Tate said. "That was surprising. But I have nothing bad to say. She showed up tonight, and I didn't. She was the better fighter tonight. The game plan was to stay away and punch her as much as I could." | Sports Competition | December 2013 | ['(USA Today)'] |
Shia insurgency in Yemen: More than 80 people are killed in an air raid on a camp for displaced people in northern Yemen. | More than 80 people have been killed in an air raid on a camp for displaced people in northern Yemen, reports say.
According to witnesses, many of those killed in the raid - which took place near the border with Saudi Arabia - were women, children and old people. Government forces have been trying to contain a growing insurgency in the area by rebels known as Houthis. Fighting has intensified since the Yemeni army launched an operation targeting the rebels in mid-August. The UN estimates that this latest wave of fighting has added up to 50,000 people to the existing 100,000 made homeless by earlier rounds of fighting. Local people said a large group of refugees who had gathered on the hillside attracted the attention of more than one government plane. One witness told AFP news agency that the attack happened as displaced families gathered beneath trees at Adi in the Harf Sufyan area, in Amran province. Another witness who did not want to be named said: "The camp was taken by surprise by the air force bombing them. When one plane starting firing some people ran towards the water canal, but they were killed when the plane fired at them again." Local leader Sheik Mohammed Hassan, attending a mass funeral for the victims, said the situation was "horrendous". "Whoever did this must be held accountable," he said. The UN's refugee agency, UNHCR, said in a statement it was "alarmed" by reports of the attack, which it said underlined the need to create humanitarian corridors in northern Yemen to allow aid to reach displaced people. Fleeing fighting
Yemeni officials deny that there was a refugee camp in the area and claim that the army had only struck rebels and their supply lines. An official said that the rebels had been shooting from the area ahead of the attack, which reports say happened on Wednesday. "The jet fighter targeted rebels who were firing while hiding among the displaced people," said the official, who spoke to the AFP news agency on condition of anonymity. The al-Haq Shia opposition party condemned the attack, describing it as part of "recurring massacres against the people of Saada and Harf Sufyan" and demanded an investigation into the air raid. The New York-based group, Human Rights Watch, has called on the Yemeni government to investigate the reported attack on displaced people. Houthi rebels say they want greater autonomy and a greater role for their version of Shia Islam. They complain that their community is discriminated against and that the most recent attack is only one example of heavy civilian casualties from aerial bombing. The government accuses them of seeking to overthrow it to impose Shia religious law and of having links to Iran. The BBC's Bob Trevelyan says that both sides see unwelcome influences from abroad, with government accused of being influenced by Sunni-dominated Saudi Arabia. The rebel fighters - drawn from the country's Zaidi Shia minority - are followers of Shia cleric, Hussein al-Houthi, who was killed in 2004. Tens of thousands of Yemenis have fled the fighting in the north, cramming into makeshift camps, schools and barns, as aid groups struggle to get supplies to them. The UN said that the plight of civilians has reached "alarming levels" and that there has so far been no response to its appeal to raise US $23.5m to help the displaced. The Yemeni government is also battling secessionists in the south and has been criticised by the US for its failure to tackle al-Qaeda militants in the east and pirates off the coast. The United States has signed a new aid deal, promising the Yemeni government a further US $120m. | Armed Conflict | September 2009 | ['(BBC)'] |
American porn star Ron Jeremy is charged with the rape of three women and sexual assault of another. | The adult film star Ron Jeremy was charged with raping three women and sexually assaulting a fourth, Los Angeles county prosecutors said Tuesday.
Jeremy, 67, whose real name is Ron Jeremy Hyatt, was charged with three counts each of forcible rape and forcible penetration by a foreign object and one count each of forcible oral copulation and sexual battery.
If Jeremy is convicted, the charges could lead to a sentence of 90 years in prison.
He is scheduled to be arraigned later Tuesday. Prosecutors say they will ask for bail of $6.6m. Emails seeking comment from Jeremy sent to several of his representatives were not immediately returned.
Prosecutors allege Jeremy raped a 25-year-old woman at a West Hollywood home in May 2014, sexually assaulted a 33-year-old woman and a 46-year-old woman in separate incidents at a West Hollywood bar in 2017, and raped a 30-year-old woman at the same bar in July of last year.
Another allegation from 2016, was declined by prosecutors because of insufficient evidence.
Jeremy, nicknamed “the Hedgehog”, is among the best known and most prolific actors in the industry’s history, with thousands of credits to his name.
In recent years he has made a career of appearing in more mainstream entertainment, including music videos and reality television shows such as The Surreal Life.
The counts make Jeremy the third man to be charged, along with Harvey Weinstein and producer David Guillod, by a task force formed by the Los Angeles district attorney, Jackie Lacey, in 2017 to investigate sexual misconduct in the entertainment industry in the wake of #MeToo.
The task force has investigated more than 20 men.
Prosecutors have begun efforts to bring Weinstein to California to face charges of rape and sexual assault. He is being held in a New York prison after being convicted of similar charges earlier this year. He has denied engaging in any non-consensual sex.
On Monday, Guillod, a producer on the 2017 film Atomic Blonde and the 2020 Netflix movie Extraction, was arrested in Santa Barbara county, California, and charged with 11 felonies, most of them rape counts.
Guillod’s attorney Philip K Cohen said in a statement that “for the past eight years, Mr Guillod has denied these allegations” and an “overwhelming amount of evidence has been collected over the course of this investigation disputing these charges”.
Los Angeles prosecutors have also charged That ‘70s Show actor Danny Masterson last week with the rapes of three women, though that investigation preceded the formation of the Hollywood task force. Masterson denied the charges and his attorney said he will be vindicated. | Famous Person - Commit Crime - Accuse | June 2020 | ['(The Guardian)'] |
Former President of the United Nations General Assembly and President of Malta Guido de Marco, who led his country into the European Union, dies suddenly after having apparently recovered from surgery, shocking the nation of Malta. | Malta is in shock at the news yesterday that former President Guido de Marco has died aged 79.
Government has declared three days of national mourning, while a State Funeral will be held on Monday afternoon in Valletta.
President Emeritus Guido de Marco will lie in State at the Palace in Valletta between tomorrow Saturday and Monday morning.
A funeral cortege will leave for St. John's Co-Cathederal in Valletta at 3.30 pm where mass will be celebrated by Archbishop Paul Cremona and other Bishops.
From Valletta, the funeral will continue in private form.
The 79 year-old former Head of State died at Mater Dei Hospital at 4.18 of yesterday, soon after being rushed back in a critical condition after falling ill at his home in Sliema.
Two days earlier he was discharged from hospital after recovering from serious complications before an angioplasty procedure. He was critical for two days but recovered quickly and was removed from life-support, only to comment with the media that he felt he was "born again."
His death has shocked a nation, with many expressing incredulity at the news of his demise.
Condolences poured in from all political parties. The Nationalist Party said De Marco had united the population as president and was a unique personality and politician who served his country with loyalty, duty and love.
The President of the Republic George Abela who rushed to Mater Dei hospital soon after he heard the news, described Guido de Marco as a "statesman, gentleman" and added that "few were the men like Guido de Marco who made a good name for Malta overseas and saluted the man as "the one who worked so hard to lead Malta into joining the European Union."
Tributes have flowed from all of de Marco's former colleagues with Eddie Fenech Adami describing his loss as '"one of his saddest moments," while Acting Prime Minister Tonio Borg defined de Marco as "a true patriot'.
Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi who is cutting short a private holiday in Germany has paid tribute to Guido de Marco describing him as an "intelligent, open hearted and a visionary."
Gonzi added that "Malta has lost one of its most respected sons."
Labour leader Joseph Muscat said De Marco was a "formidable politician who great oratory and struck people with his humanity." He said just hours before being discharged from hospital on Tuesday, De Marco had called Muscat to thank him for the interest he had taken in his health, and had asked about his own unfortunate accident earlier this week. "It was a gesture that I truly appreciated," Muscat said.
Michael Briguglio, AD Chairperson said: "Malta has lost a true gentleman, a true visionary and an exemplary statesman who never shied away from speaking for peace, justice, respect and democracy. Our condolences go to the de Marco family in this difficult moment."
Further tributes were made by Alternattiva Demokratika, trade unions and constituted bodies who all had praise for Guido de Marco.
Prof. Guido de Marco was born in Valletta, Malta on July 22, 1931, and was educated at St. Aloysius' College and the University of Malta. He graduated as a Bachelor of Arts in 1952, in Philosophy, Economics and Italian and in 1955 as a Doctor of Laws.
He was married to Violet (née Saliba), and had three children: Mario, who is parliamentary secretary for tourism, and two daughters, Gianella and Fiorella, all members of the legal profession.
He first contested the 1962 elections with the Partit Demokratiku Nazzjonalista and then joined the Nationalist Party, winning election to Parliament in 1966 and was returned to Parliament at every General Election until 1998.
He held the post of secretary-general of the PN between 1972 and 1977, when he was elected PN deputy leader. When the Nationalist Party was returned to office in 1987, de Marco was appointed Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of the Interior and Justice.
Under his ministerial stewardship, he integrated the European Convention of Human Rights into Maltese law, modernised the police force, and as foreign minister he submitted Malta's application for membership of the European Communities in Brussels in 1990.
Representing the United Nations General Assembly, as its President, de Marco undertook a number of diplomatic initiatives leading to his visit to the refugee camps in the Occupied Territories and Jordan, to Ethiopia and Albania. As President of the United Nations General Assembly he also visited the North Korea and South Korea in May 1991, leading to the admission of these two countries to the United Nations, as well as Chernobyl and Czechoslovakia.
In January 1992, at the CSCE Council in Prague, Malta launched Prof. de Marco's initiative to declare the CSCE a regional arrangement in terms of Chapter VIII of the United Nations Charter, a proposal which was later approved by the Heads of State and Government at the Helsinki Summit.
He was re-appointed Deputy Prime Minister of Malta and Minister of Foreign Affairs on September 8, 1998, following the Nationalist Party's victory at the 1998 General Elections, a capacity which he held until his nomination to the Presidency of Malta. On the September 11, 1998, he presented Malta's request for the reactivation of its application for membership to the European Union.
On 4 April 1999, he was appointed President of Malta.
Readers Comments
2comments
Submitted by KZD on Fri, 08/13/2010 - 09:51.
For me the title is awful. One should not write 'dead at 79' ...but passed away or something a bit more decent and less harsh. Surely the person who wrote the article seems not to be emotional about this.
Secondly the person named 'is sewwa jirbah...' is just a sick person. How dare you say such things towards such a noble person and to a family undergoing such grief?!
Surely with your attitude noone will be crying your loss one day!
Condolences to the De Marco family. He was a great man.
Submitted by is sewwa jirbah | Famous Person - Death | August 2010 | ['(Malta Today)', '(TVNZ)', '(AP via Google News)', '(The Voice of Russia)', '(The Times of Malta)'] |
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