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President Nicolas Sarkozy defends his plans to sell up to four French warships to Russia, despite concerns raised by his Georgian counterpart Mikheil Saakashvili during talks taking place a few days before a visit to Paris of Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin. | President Nicolas Sarkozy on Tuesday (8 June) defended his plans to sell to Russia up to four French warships, despite concerns raised by his Georgian counterpart Mikheil Saakashvili during talks taking place a few days before a visit to Paris of Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin.
Georgia, along with EU's Baltic states and the US, has criticised what would be the first-ever warship sale from a Nato country to Russia, especially after comments made by a Russian general that Moscow would have won "in 40 minutes" the 2008 war against Georgia if it had a Mistral-class carrier at the time.
Paris announced in March it was in talks with Moscow for the sale of up to four Mistral carriers.
But Mr Sarkozy brushed aside these concerns, saying: "if Russia is expected to behave like a partner in every domain, including in the area of security and defence, then it must be treated like a partner in every domain," according to a presidential aide quoted by AFP.
"It's a political choice France is clearly standing for," Mr Sarkozy told his counterpart. The latter "didn't hide his concerns on this matter but said he could understand the rationale," the source added.
Mr Sarkozy also reassured the Georgian leader that Paris is one of his country's "main supporters" within the EU and that it was pressing to start negotiations on an association and free trade agreement this summer, while noting the progress made in order for Georgians to get EU visas faster and cheaper, AP reports.
France's commercial interest in the "exclusive negotiations" with Moscow is obvious: for sale at €300-400 million a piece, the deal would also boost employment in the dockyards of Toulon, Saint-Nazare and Brest. Paris approved the sale of four such ships capable of carrying 16 helicopters and 750 troops, but meanwhile Moscow has signalled it would rather buy just one and build the other three in its own shipyards.
The issue is likely to come up again on Friday, during the working lunch between Mr Sarkozy and Mr Putin.
Coming out of the talks on Tuesday, Mr Saakashvili said the warship sale was a "bilateral matter between Russia and France." The most important thing, according to the Georgian leader, was France's "unconditional support" for his country.
"Despite the crisis in Europe, despite all the problems in the European Union, France continues to have a very strong presence in our region and plays a decisive role in solving the conflicts, the problems we have," he added.
Mr Saakashvili also stressed the importance of this official visit at the Elysee palace, for the first time after the 2008 war and two days before the Russian Prime Minister Putin is expected in Paris.
"The fact that my visit has been organised two days before Putin's visit sends a very clear message. This buries Russia's efforts to isolate our country," Mr Saakashvili said.
He added that he received full support for his country's territorial integrity - a formula frequently used by EU politicians in reference to the continued presence of Russian troops on Georgian territory.
In August 2008, when France was chairing the rotating EU presidency, Mr Sarkozy personally flew to the region and managed to broker a ceasefire agreement between Moscow and Tbilisi, putting an end to the Russian invasion following the Georgian attack its rebel region South Ossetia.
An EU civilian mission was deployed on the ground within a month to monitor the Russian withdrawal, which is still not fully complying with the ceasefire. Russia claims that those conditions are no longer valid, since both regions – South Ossetia and Abkhazia – have declared their independence and Moscow has recognised them.
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A Brussels court ordered AstraZeneca to deliver 50 million doses of Covid-19 vaccines to EU member states by September in a legal case brought by the European Commission - with both sides claiming victory.
The EU Commission still has to prove they are ready to stand up for the rights of every citizen in the EU. Throwing the towel in would send a terrible signal to European leaders tempted to emulate Hungary and Poland.
Austria has been blocking new EU sanctions on loans to Belarusian banks so that Austrian lenders can keep making money with the oppressive regime there.
The UN refugee agency says the number of people forcibly displaced by end of last year had grown to 82.4 million, "the highest number on record according to available data."
When asked how the EU handled the vaccination strategy among different institutions, respondents in Malta and Portugal tend to be most satisfied, while in France and Germany respondents are the least satisfied with the EU.
"Now I can go to the bank?," asked Portuguese prime minister António Costa to EU Commission president Ursula von der Leyen, as the EU executive approved his country's national Covid-19 recovery plan. | Diplomatic Talks _ Diplomatic_Negotiation_ Summit Meeting | June 2010 | ['(EU Observer)', '(eu–russiacentre)'] |
FIFA investigates allegations that a fake Togo national football team played against Bahrain last week. | Togo's football authorities are investigating allegations that a fake national team played a match against Bahrain earlier this month. Bahrain won the friendly match 3-0, but said they were surprised by the poor quality of the Togolese team. Togo later said it had never sent its national team to play in the game, staged at the national stadium in Riffa on 7 September.
Togo's sports minister said he would ask Fifa to investigate.
But Fifa says it has not yet received any official complaint and so has not launched its own investigation.
The match took place as Bahrain prepares to play in the West Asian Football Championships, which begin on 24 September.
The Bahrain Football Association (BFA) said it had been arranged under all the usual official procedures, and through an agent they had known for several years.
"Everything seemed to be in order until after the game, when we began to hear that some people are wondering about these players and this Togo team. We ourselves were surprised when we heard this," a BFA spokesman told the Gulf Daily News.
He said they had received all the official documentation for the match, including the players' passports.
The spokesman rejected reports that the match was organised by a fake football agent, saying the agent in question had always been "100% alright" and was now co-operating with the investigations.
Togo's Sport Minister Christophe Tchao told the Jeune Afrique magazine nobody in Togo had "ever been informed of such a game". "We will conduct investigations to uncover all those involved in this case," he said.
Bahrain's head coach, Josef Hickersberger, told the Gulf Daily News the match had been a wasted opportunity for the team to practise before the West Asian championships. "They were not fit enough to play 90 minutes - the match was very boring," he said. "Basically it was not good for us because we wanted to get information about the strength of our team, especially playing with many of our professionals." | Famous Person - Commit Crime - Investigate | September 2010 | ['(BBC)', '(AP)'] |
Giovanni Prezioso, the General Counsel of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, announces that he's leaving that post, although he'll remain until early 2006 to aid with the transition. | Washington, D.C., Nov. 30, 2005 — Giovanni Prezioso, General Counsel of the Securities and Exchange Commission, announced today that he will leave the Commission to return to the private sector. Prezioso, 47, was named General Counsel in April 2002. He has not yet accepted another position and will remain at the Commission until early 2006 to assist with transition matters. “On behalf of the Commission, American investors, and myself, I want to recognize Giovanni for his stalwart service,” Chairman Cox said. “The unique role of the General Counsel of the SEC, and the personal respect Giovanni has earned in that post, was demonstrated in abundance at the roundtable for former SEC General Counsels that the Commission held on November 17 of this year, at which his integrity, professionalism, and dedication to the SEC’s mission of investor protection were praised by every participant. Giovanni’s service at the SEC has coincided with the most significant expansion of the agency and the most important enlargement of our authority since the Commission’s earliest years. When the next chapter of the SEC’s history is written, Giovanni Prezioso will rightfully occupy a prominent place. He has earned my gratitude and respect for his immense contributions.”
Prezioso said, “It has been a great privilege to serve under the leadership of three distinguished Commission Chairmen, and to work with a truly exceptional group of colleagues in the General Counsel’s Office and throughout the Commission. Though it had been my hope to return to the private sector earlier this year, it has been a particular honor to work with Chairman Cox as he has assumed his new responsibilities in office, as well as with former Chairmen Donaldson and Pitt. I am proud to have played a part as an advocate for the interests of U.S. investors during this historic period for the Commission and our capital markets.” Prezioso served as the Commission’s chief legal officer during a time of unprecedented enforcement and regulatory activity. During his tenure, the Office of the General Counsel reviewed and provided legal advice to the Commission on over 2000 enforcement actions and over 100 rulemaking proceedings. His Office was responsible for coordinating the Commission’s successful implementation of the extensive rulemaking requirements of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 within the strict timeframes set by Congress. The Office also drafted regulations under the Act that established, for the first time, formal Commission standards of professional conduct for attorneys representing public companies. Prezioso led an initiative to revitalize the Commission’s amicus program, with numerous submissions to the federal courts on critical policy issues, including federal preemption of state law, the requirements of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, and the standards for liability in private actions under the federal securities laws. Important appellate decisions in party and amicus matters included favorable Supreme Court opinions in SEC v. Edwards and in Dura Pharmaceuticals, Inc. v. Broudo. In addition, under Prezioso’s supervision, the General Counsel’s Office eliminated a multi-year backlog of administrative appeals and met substantially accelerated Commission deadlines for the issuance of opinions in adjudicative matters. | Government Job change - Resignation_Dismissal | November 2005 | ['(SEC website)'] |
Finland and Russia agree to impose temporary restrictions at two Arctic border crossing points on the Finnish–Russian border following an increased flow of asylum seekers from Russia to Finland. Under a deal clinched by Russian President Vladimir Putin and Finnish President Sauli Niinistö in Moscow, crossings at two popular entry points, Salla and Raja-Jooseppi, will be reserved only for Finnish, Russian and Belarusian citizens and their family members for a period of 180 days. | Russia and Finland agreed on Tuesday to impose temporary restrictions at two Arctic border crossing points following an increased flow of asylum seekers from Russia to Finland earlier this year.
Under a deal clinched by Presidents Vladimir Putin and Sauli Niinisto in Moscow, crossings at two popular entry points, Salla and Raja-Jooseppi, will be reserved only for Finnish, Russian and Belarusian citizens and their family members for a period of 180 days.
“The aim of this restriction is to prevent organized illegal immigration. According to EU commitments, Finland aims to prevent the emergence of new routes for illegal immigration,” the Finnish president’s office said in a statement.
Finland’s 833-mile (1,340 km) border with Russia marks an external limit of the European Union’s passport-free Schengen area. Helsinki has been worried it could become a more popular route into the EU for migrants as the weather improves and the main Balkan route via Turkey and Greece gets harder to access.
Close to 1,000 asylum seekers entered Finland from Russia in the first two months of 2016, up from about 700 in the whole of 2015, although the flow of migrants has halted this month after an improvement in bilateral border cooperation.
The Finnish government has said many of the migrants in question were Afghans or Indians and were not escaping war or persecution, and some had lived in Russia a long time.
The two countries also signed a memorandum of understanding to increase the sharing of information on immigration.
| Sign Agreement | March 2016 | ['(Reuters)'] |
A worker at the Fukushima power plant dies while working on crisis-fighting operations. | TOKYO (Kyodo) -- A worker at the crippled Fukushima nuclear power plant died Saturday after collapsing while carrying materials as part of crisis-fighting operations, the operator said.
It is the first time a worker has died at the plant operated by Tokyo Electric Power Co. since the March 11 mega earthquake and tsunami triggered a series of radiation leakage accidents there. The cause of his death was not immediately known.
No radioactive substances have been detected on the man, who was in his 60s, and he apparently sustained no injuries, the utility said. The man had started working at the plant on Friday and was wearing protective gear at the time of the accident. He was exposed to radiation totaling 0.17 millisievert.
The man, an employee of a subcontractor, collapsed about one hour after he began working at 6 a.m. Saturday with another worker at a waste disposal processing facility. He was unconscious when he was taken to a medical room inside the plant past 7 a.m. and was confirmed dead at a hospital in Iwaki, Fukushima Prefecture, the utility and other officials said.
The other worker has not complained of health problems, the company added.
The accident occurred as the company continued Saturday work to install a new cooling system at the No. 1 plant, where much of the fuel in the core has melted after being fully exposed.
In other moves, Prime Minister Naoto Kan said the central government will consider special legislation aimed at compensating local residents and businesses that suffered damage from the Fukushima nuclear crisis.
Kan said the government will carry out such compensation "with great responsibility" in a meeting with Fukushima Gov. Yuhei Sato, who asked the prime minister to take legislative steps because the current laws do not take into account damage stemming from misinformation regarding radioactive contamination of food produce.
Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano had earlier told a news conference that special legislation would be possible to create jobs and promote the agricultural and livestock industries in areas severely affected by the nuclear crisis. | Famous Person - Death | May 2011 | ['(Mainichi Shimbun)', '(CNN)'] |
The United Nations Security Council votes to send a peacekeeping force to Mali to replace French and African forces battling Islamist guerrillas. | THE UN Security Council has given unanimous backing for a security mission to take over from French and African forces battling Islamists in Mali.
THE UN Security Council has unanimously backed sending up to 12,600 international troops and police to take over from French and African forces battling Islamist guerrillas in Mali.
The United Nations is aiming for a July 1 start by the new force, but the 15-nation council will decide later whether the conflict has eased enough for the handover.
French troops moved into Mali in January to halt an Islamist advance on the capital Bamako and have since forced the al-Qaeda-linked militants into desert and mountain hideouts.
France is to keep up to 1000 troops in Mali and they will maintain responsibility for military strikes against the Islamists, who are now waging a guerrilla campaign.
UN resolution 2100 authorises France to intervene if the UN troops are "under imminent and serious threat and at the demand" of UN chief Ban Ki-moon.
The resolution authorised the new force to use "all necessary measures" to stabilise major cities, protect civilians and help the government extend its authority over the vast West African nation.
"The adoption of this resolution confirms the unanimous international support for the stabilisation of Mali and France's intervention," said France's UN envoy Gerard Araud.
Mali's Foreign Minister Tieman Hubert Coulibaly called the resolution "an important step in the process to stem the activities of terrorist and rebel groups".
The proposed UN Multidimensional Integrated Stabilisation Mission in Mali, to be known by its French acronym MINUSMA, would have a maximum of 11,200 soldiers and 1440 police.
Mali's army launched a coup in March 2012, which unleashed the chaos that allowed Tuareg rebels and their erstwhile Islamist allies to take over the north of the country and impose a brutal Islamic rule.
Many shrines in Timbuktu and other cities were destroyed, and public executions and amputations staged.
| Diplomatic Talks _ Diplomatic_Negotiation_ Summit Meeting | April 2013 | ['(AAP via News Limited)'] |
American actor Patrick Swayze dies at age 57, after suffering from pancreatic cancer for more than 1 year. | Annett Wolf said that the US actor, who had been battling pancreatic cancer for nearly two years, died with family at his side on Monday. Swayze was diagnosed with advanced stage four pancreatic cancer in January last year. The actor had been starring in US TV show The Beast since being diagnosed with the disease. He had also planned to write a memoir with his wife. "Patrick Swayze passed away peacefully today with family at his side after facing the challenges of his illness for the last 20 months," said a statement by Annett Wolf. Jennifer Grey, who co-starred with Swayze in Dirty Dancing, said in a statement: "Patrick was a rare and beautiful combination of raw masculinity and amazing grace. Gorgeous and strong, he was a real cowboy with a tender heart. "He was fearless and insisted on always doing his own stunts, so it was not surprising to me that the war he waged on his cancer was so courageous and dignified." Please turn on JavaScript. Media requires JavaScript to play. Patrick Swayze speaking in 2006: "I'm torn between guy movies and heart movies"
Rob Lowe, who played in a number of films with Swayze, said: "Patrick lived a thousand lifetimes in one lifetime. He was an expert dancer, he wrote hit songs, he starred in hit movies, he was an amazing horseman. "But the thing I will remember him most for was his amazing love affair with his wife Lisa." Demi Moore has also paid tribute to her co-star in the hit film Ghost, saying: "Patrick you are loved by so many and your light will forever shine in all of our lives." She added: "I love and will miss you Patrick." California governor and former Hollywood actor Arnold Schwarzenegger called Swayze a "talented and passionate artist who struck a memorable chord with audiences throughout the world." "He played a wide range of characters both on stage and in movies and his celebrated performances made the hard work of acting look effortless - which I know from experience is not easy," he said. Swayze's dream
In January, Swayze admitted he might only have two years to live, but denied he was near death. In a US TV interview, he admitted he was "scared" and "going through hell". "Am I dying? Am I giving up? Am I on my death bed? Am I saying goodbye to people? No way," Swayze told TV interviewer Barbara Walters. "I keep dreaming of a future, a future with a long and healthy life, not lived in the shadow of cancer but in the light," he said. The film star's biographer, Wendy Leigh, who wrote the book Patrick Swayze One Last Dance, said he had endured physical pain throughout his life. 'Determined'
"As a high school athlete he injured his knee tremendously badly, yet he still carried on playing football," she said.
Please turn on JavaScript. Media requires JavaScript to play. Stars including Sharon Osbourne, Nick Cannon and David Hasselhoff paid tribute
"As a dancer he had all sorts of injuries and Patrick learnt to live with pain, to fight pain. "When he got diagnosed with this awful, awful disease he was determined to fight it and actually he lived far longer than most people who are diagnosed with stage four pancreatic cancer, which was what Patrick had." Pancreatic cancer is one of the most virulent forms of cancer which medical experts say has a 5% five-year survival rate. | Famous Person - Death | September 2009 | ['(BBC)'] |
Egypt's Court of Cassation rejects appeals by 45 people handed long prison terms over a 2013 Port Said riot that killed 42. The riots broke out in response to death sentences handed out over a previous riot in 2012 that killed 72 football fans. | CAIRO, May 5 (Xinhua) -- An Egyptian top court on Saturday upheld the lengthy jail terms against 45 defendants over a deadly riot in the eastern province of Port Said in 2013, official MENA news agency reported.
The riot left 42 people dead, including two policemen, MENA said.
The Court of Cassation upheld the rulings of a criminal court in late April 2016, which sentenced 20 of them to 25 years in prison and the rest from five to 10 years.
The rulings on Saturday are final, as they were issued in response to an appeal by the defendants against the initial rulings of the criminal court.
In March 2013, a furious mob gathered outside the Port Said police station, in protest of a previous court execution order over a deadly riot in the seaside province following a football match in 2012.
Some 72 fans were killed and hundreds of others wounded in the worst-ever football riot in Egypt that erupted at the end of a match in February
| Riot | May 2018 | ['(Xinhua)'] |
Cameroon launches its first airstrikes against Boko Haram in a successful operation to reclaim several villages and a military base briefly seized by the militant group in the Far North Region. | Cameroon has carried out its first air strikes against militant Islamist group Boko Haram, after it overran a military base and attacked five villages, officials have said.
The military repelled the coordinated attacks and regained control of the base, they added. At least 41 militants and one soldier were killed, the officials said. The Nigeria-based group is increasingly carrying out cross-border raids, threatening Cameroon's security.
The latest fighting was the most intense, lasting for three days along several fronts, reports the BBC's Jean-David Mihamle from Cameroon's capital Yaounde. About 1,000 militants attacked five villages, including Amchide, and seized the nearby Achigachia military base, where they raised their black flag, army spokesman Lt Col Didier Badjeck told the BBC's Focus on Africa programme.
He said President Paul Biya then personally ordered the air force to intervene, forcing the militants out.
"Now the area is totally secured."
Lt Col Badjeck said the air strikes showed that Boko Haram would face a "hard reaction" if it attacked Cameroon again, with the government determined to use all its capability to protect its territory.
Cameroon under pressure from Boko Haram
In a statement, Cameroon's Information Minister Issa Tchiroma Bakary said the multiple attacks showed that Boko Haram had adopted a new strategy aimed at "distracting Cameroonian troops on different fronts, making them more vulnerable in the face of the mobility and unpredictability of their attacks". At least 34 militants were killed after the army raided one of their bases in Cameroon, while another seven were killed in a separate clash which also claimed the life of a soldier, Mr Bakary said, Reuters news agency reports. Last week, Cameroon said it had dismantled a Boko Haram training camp on its territory, and had seized 84 children who were being trained there. More than 40 of its soldiers have been killed in fighting with Boko Haram this year, according to Reuters. Boko Haram launched its insurgency in north-eastern Nigeria in 2009, saying it wanted to overthrow the government and create an Islamic state. It recruits mainly unemployed youth and has seized large swathes of territory in Borno state, raising fears that it could launch an assault on its main city, Maiduguri. At least 2,000 civilians have been killed by the group in Nigeria this year.
The kidnapping of more than 200 schoolgirls by Boko Haram in April from the town of Chibok in Borno state sparked international outrage. | Armed Conflict | December 2014 | ['(BBC)'] |
Three Palestinians are killed and over 300 hurt according to the Hamas-run health ministry as thousands protested. The Israeli army says that hundreds of rioters tried to infiltrate Israel, attempted to start fires in a number of ways, and attacked the security fence with explosive devices, grenades, and rocks. | Hundreds of Palestinians converged on the Gaza Strip’s border fence with Israel on Friday, trying to rip through it before drawing Israeli fire in one of the most violent incidents yet in five weeks of protests.
Three people were killed and over 300 hurt in Friday’s rallies, the Gaza Strip’s Hamas-run health ministry said, as thousands of Palestinians converged on the border with Israel for a fifth round of weekly protests.
In a statement, the Israeli military said it “thwarted” an attempted infiltration by Palestinian protesters.
It said “hundreds of rioters” tried to burn the fence and enter the Israel. It said the crowd threw explosives, firebombs and rocks, and that troops opened fire “in accordance with the rules of engagement” and halted the crowd.
It released a video showing a young Palestinian man placing a burning tire along the fence in an apparent attempt to set it on fire. In another, a small group lobs stones at an Israeli military vehicle on the other side of the fence. | Protest_Online Condemnation | April 2018 | ['(The Times of Israel)'] |
Six people are arrested in Ankara for alleged involvement in the murder of Andrei Karlov, the Russian ambassador to Turkey. | Turkish police have detained six people over the killing of the Russian ambassador, who was shot in the back as he gave a speech in Ankara by an off-duty police officer shouting "Don't forget Aleppo" and "Allahu Akbar".
Russia's ambassador to Turkey, Andrey Karlov, was making a speech at the opening of a photographic exhibition when he was shot and killed by Melvut Mert Aydintas, a 22-year old member of Ankara's riot police squad.
Aydintas was later killed in a shootout with police, while three others were wounded in the attack, authorities said.
The state-run Anadolu media agency said the attacker's mother, father, sister and two other relatives have been held in the western province of Aydin, while his flatmate in Ankara has also been detained.
Police paced up and down behind a cordon on Tuesday morning outside the art gallery where the ambassador was shot. A crime scene investigation van was parked outside the building.
Aydintas was wearing a dark suit and tie and fired at least eight shots, at one point walking around Mr Karlov as he lay motionless and shooting him again at close range.
A video showed the attacker shouting: "Don't forget Aleppo, don't forget Syria!" and "Allahu Akbar" ("God is Greatest") as screams rang out.
"We are the descendants of those who supported the Prophet Muhammad, for jihad," he also yelled in Arabic.
He paced about and shouted as he held the gun in one hand and waved his other hand in the air.
The United States said its three missions in Turkey would be closed for a day after a gun was fired in front of the US embassy in Ankara on Monday night.
The embassy was near the art gallery where Mr Karlov was shot and Turkish police detained a man over the incident, state media reported.
Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said he and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin had agreed in a telephone call that their cooperation in fighting terrorism should be even stronger after the killing.
Mr Putin said it was aimed at derailing Russia's attempts to find, with Iran and Turkey, a solution for the Syria crisis.
The countries' foreign ministers were meeting on Tuesday.
Turkey faces multiple security threats, including from the Islamic State militant group. A spokesman for the hard-line Sunni Muslim group urged sympathisers around the world this month to carry out a fresh wave of attacks, singling out Turkish diplomatic, military and financial interests as preferred targets.
However, a senior Turkish security official said there were "very strong signs" the gunman belonged to the network of the US-based cleric Fethullah Gulen, who Ankara says orchestrated a failed coup in July.
The official also cited the fact the attacker had taken July 15-17 as a holiday. The Government may argue the timing of his holiday demonstrated foreknowledge of the July 15 coup.
Mr Erdogan has denounced Mr Gulen as a terrorist, but the cleric, a former ally, denies the accusation, and has also denied any role in the assassination.
Russia is an ally of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and its air strikes helped Syrian forces end rebel resistance last week in the northern city of Aleppo.
Turkey, which seeks Mr Assad's ouster, has been repairing ties with Moscow after shooting down a Russian warplane over Syria last year.
Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop condemned the "shocking" attack on Twitter and extended her condolences to his family and the Russian people.
Russia's Ambassador to Australia, Grigory Logvinov, worked with Mr Karlov for decades in North Asia and the Russian diplomatic service. He said Mr Karlov's death was a tragedy.
"When a diplomat, especially a top ranked diplomat, an ambassador, is killed it goes beyond all limits and is extraordinary, because the life mission of a diplomat is to prevent war, to prevent fight."
| Famous Person - Commit Crime - Accuse | December 2016 | ['(Reuters via ABC News Australia)'] |
A heavy snowstorm hits the East Coast of the United States causing flight cancellations and school closures. | ALBANY, N.Y. — Another severe storm walloped the East on Friday, delaying flights, closing scores of schools and causing cars to slide off roadways.
The National Weather Service issued winter storm warnings for much of upstate New York. Forecasters said areas outside Albany could get 12 to 16 inches. As much as 8 inches of snow fell in Albany by noon Friday.
Winds gusted to 30 mph in some areas along Lake Erie.
A 30-mile stretch of the New York Thruway was closed by an accident south of Buffalo, and in Maine, dozens of cars were reported off the road.
Maine State Police said the most serious accident was in York, where a man was critically injured when his pickup truck overturned on the Maine Turnpike. The storm will drop between 4 and 14 inches of snow around Maine, with sleet and rain mixing in some coastal areas.
Flights out of New York’s metropolitan-area airports were delayed by the rain and wind. Departures out of Newark Liberty International Airport flight were delayed an average of 3½ hours. LaGuardia Airport had departure delays averaging over 2 hours.
Most flights were canceled Friday morning in Cleveland, though a spokeswoman said Hopkins airport remained open. She said airlines were expected to decide after 1:30 p.m. whether to resume normal operations.
Dayton’s airport shut down for about three hours Friday while slick runways were treated. Flights resumed just before 9:30 a.m.
A winter storm warning stretched across Ohio’s northern third with potential for 8 inches of snow. The Cleveland, Toledo, Akron and Canton school districts called off Friday’s classes. Zoos were closed in Toledo and Akron.
Meanwhile, drenching rain in southern Ohio submerged some roads. The National Weather Service said the region could receive more than 2 inches of rain.
| Hurricanes_Tornado_Storm_Blizzard | February 2011 | ['(AP via Oregon Live)'] |
Billionaire investor Warren Buffett admits he has prostate cancer. | Billionaire investor Warren Buffett has said in a letter to shareholders that he has been diagnosed with stage one prostate cancer.
The Berkshire Hathaway boss said the cancer, detected in a routine test, was "not remotely life threatening". Mr Buffett, 81, said he would begin a two-month course of daily radiation treatment from mid-July.
He was diagnosed on 11 April and has since undergone a CAT scan, bone scan and MRI, he said.
According to the National Cancer Institute
, a federal agency, the five-year survival rate for US prostate cancers found at an early, localised stage is nearly 100%.
It is the most common cancer in men, with more than 241,000 new cases expected in the US this year. In his letter, Mr Buffett said he felt "great - as if I were in my normal excellent health - and my energy level is 100 percent".
"I will let shareholders know immediately should my health situation change," he added. "Eventually, of course, it will. But I believe that day is a long way off."
In February, Mr Buffett told shareholders that Berkshire Hathaway's board had already chosen someone to succeed him as chief executive - but not yet - and that there were two back-up candidates. The tycoon says the unnamed chosen successor and back-ups have not been told they are in line to take over the company.
Mr Buffett has previously said his son Howard, a member of Berkshire's board, would make an ideal chairman. With his personal wealth estimated at $44bn (£27bn), Warren Buffett is listed by Forbes magazine
as the world's third richest person.
His name has been in the headlines this week in Washington, where lawmakers have been considering the Buffett Rule, a proposal by President Barack Obama to increase taxes on the wealthy. It was inspired by Mr Buffett's assertion that his secretary should not be paying a higher rate of tax than he does.
Profile: Warren Buffett
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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. | Famous Person - Sick | April 2012 | ['(BBC)'] |
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi heads to Myanmar for a state visit. | Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrives at Myanmar’s capital Nay Pyi Taw on September 5, 2017 for his first bilateral visit to the country. Photo: @narendramodi Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday arrived in Myanmar’s capital Nay Pyi Taw for his first bilateral visit to Myanmar with an aim of charting a road map for closer cooperation between the two countries in areas like security and counter-terrorism.
Landed in Naypyitaw, marking the start of my Myanmar visit. I will join a wide range of programmes during my visit to Myanmar. pic.twitter.com/xZEhAvKzpv
“I thank the Chinese government and people for their warm hospitality during the BRICS Summit. Leaving for Myanmar for a bilateral visit,” Mr. Modi said in a tweet before leaving for Nay Pyi Taw.
The Prime Minister left for Nay Pyi Taw from the southeastern Chinese city of Xiamen where he attended the annual BRICS summit and held talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping, Russian President Vladimir Putin and other world leaders.
Mr. Modi is scheduled to call on Myanmar President Htin Kyaw who is also hosting a banquet for him later in the day.
The Prime Minister will hold wide-ranging talks with State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi on Wednesday.
Mr. Modi had said India and Myanmar will look at strengthening existing cooperation in areas of security and counter-terrorism, trade and investment, infrastructure and energy, and culture.
He hoped his visit will help in charting a road map for closer cooperation between the two countries.
The Prime Minister said both countries will review developments in bilateral ties with a focus on “extensive” programme of development cooperation and socio-economic assistance India is undertaking in Myanmar.
Mr. Modi said he was looking forward to paying a visit to the famed heritage city of Bagan, where the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) has done a “stellar work” in renovating the Ananda Temple.
The ASI will be undertaking further restoration work on a number of pagodas and murals that were damaged in an earthquake last year, he said.
Mr. Modi had visited Myanmar in 2014 to attend the ASEAN-India Summit.
The Myanmarese President and Ms. Suu Kyi had visited India last year.
Myanmar is one of India’s strategic neighbours and shares a 1,640-km-long border with a number of northeastern states including militancy-hit Nagaland and Manipur. | Diplomatic Visit | September 2017 | ['(The Hindu)'] |
2008 United States presidential election: Mitt Romney wins the Republican Michigan primary with John McCain finishing second. Hillary Clinton wins the Democratic contest but she was the only leading contender in that election. Democratic candidates brace for a competitive primary in Nevada while Republicans contend for the South Carolina primary. | Republican presidential hopeful, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney greets supporters at a campaign rally on primary day in Grand Rapids, Mich., on the day of Michigan's primary election Tuesday, Jan. 15, 2008. (AP Photo/LM Otero)
By LIZ SIDOTI and GLEN JOHNSON – 3 days ago DETROIT (AP) — Mitt Romney scored his first major primary victory Tuesday in his native Michigan, a win he desperately needed to give his weakened candidacy new life and set the stage for a wide-open Republican showdown in South Carolina in just four days.
Romney was the third Republican victor in the first four states to vote in the 2008 primary season, further roiling a volatile nomination fight that lacks a clear favorite.
The former Massachusetts governor defeated John McCain, the Arizona senator who was hoping that independents and Democrats would join Republicans to help him repeat his 2000 triumph here. Mike Huckabee, the former Arkansas governor, trailed in third, and former Tennessee Sen. Fred Thompson was waiting for the top three candidates in South Carolina, already campaigning.
"It's a victory of optimism over Washington-style pessimism," Romney said in an Associated Press interview, echoing his campaign speeches. "Now on to South Carolina, Nevada, Florida."
McCain said he had called Romney to congratulate him "that Michigan welcomed their native son with their support."
"Starting tomorrow, we're going to win South Carolina, and we're going to go on and win the nomination," McCain declared, also in an AP interview.
Romney's ties to Michigan proved beneficial.
Four in 10 voters said his roots factored into their votes, and more than half of that group backed Romney, according to preliminary results from surveys of voters as they left their polling places, taken for The Associated Press and the networks. He also led among voters who said the economy and illegal immigration were their most important issues, and won a majority of Republicans, conservatives, and voters looking for a candidate with experience.
McCain had an edge with those who wanted an authentic president, and he won among moderates, independents and Democrats. But fewer non-Republican voters participated in the GOP primary this year than in 2000 when those voters helped him beat George W. Bush. Independents and Democrats accounted for roughly one-third of the vote, compared with about one half eight years ago.
Romney had a slight edge over McCain as the candidate likeliest to bring needed change.
The economy proved the most important issue for Republicans in Michigan, the state with the highest unemployment rate in the nation and an ailing auto industry. Given four choices, half of Michigan Republican primary voters picked the economy as the most important issue, while one in five picked Iraq, one in seven immigration and one in 10 terrorism.
A mere 20 percent of eligible voters were expected to show up at polling stations across frigid and snowy Michigan; turnout was likely to be depressed by a Democratic race of little to no consequence.
Hillary Rodham Clinton was the only top contender on the Democratic ballot.
For Republicans, the stakes varied.
Of the three candidates competing hard here, Romney needed a Michigan victory the most to invigorate a campaign weakened by searing losses in Iowa and New Hampshire. He was the only one watching the voting returns in Michigan; his top Michigan opponents, McCain and Huckabee, campaigned in the state earlier in the day but left by afternoon to plant themselves in South Carolina, which votes Saturday.
Up for grabs in Michigan were 30 Republican delegates.
Romney, who has put at least $20 million of his personal fortune into his bid, campaigned in the state far more than his rivals and spent more than $2 million in TV ads in Michigan, nearly three times what McCain did, according to an analysis of presidential advertising by the nonpartisan Michigan Campaign Finance Network. McCain paid for more than $740,00 in ads and Huckabee spent more than $480,000.
A muddle from the start, the GOP race has grown ever more fluid as the first states voted over the past two weeks.
Huckabee won the Iowa caucuses, McCain prevailed in New Hampshire's primary, and Romney was second to both — but claimed victory in scarcely contested Wyoming. Thompson is camping out in South Carolina looking for his first win. Rudy Giuliani, the former New York mayor, is doing the same in Florida, which votes Jan. 29.
Romney was born and raised in Michigan, and his late father, George, was head of American Motors and a three-term governor in the 1960s. Romney announced his presidential candidacy in Michigan a year ago, campaigned in it far more than his rivals and spent considerably more money on advertising.
McCain had a built-in advantage of his own. He won the state's primary eight years ago on the strength of independent and Democratic-crossover voters, and he still had a network of hard-core backers. This year, McCain didn't have to compete full-bore for non-Republican voters because the Democratic race in Michigan was essentially a beauty contest. Six months after his campaign nearly collapsed, he now leads national polls.
Huckabee, an ordained Southern Baptist minister, hoped to stage a surprise finish with the support of Christian evangelicals who live in the more conservative, western part of the state. With his populist pitch, Huckabee also wanted to do well in Reagan Republican country outside of Detroit. He came from behind to win the Iowa caucuses and sought another surprise finish in Michigan.
The economy dominated the weeklong Michigan campaign. The state has been reeling from the U.S. auto industry's downturn and has the nation's highest unemployment rate at 7.4 percent.
Michigan doesn't typically hold its primary until February but state party officials scheduled it earlier to try to give the state more say in picking a president. The Republican National Committee objected and cut the number of Michigan delegates to the national convention by half as punishment while the Democratic National Committee stripped the state of all 156 delegates to its national convention, including 28 superdelegates who would not have been bound by the outcome of the primary.
Liz Sidoti reported from Washington. Associated Press writers Libby Quaid in Warren, Mich.; David Eggert in Traverse City, Mich., and Sara Kugler in New Smyrna Beach, Fla., contributed to this report. | Government Job change - Election | January 2008 | ['(Canadian Press via Google News)', '(AP via Google News)', '(CNN)', '(MSNBC)'] |
An Israeli military court has ordered the release of the Palestinian Deputy Prime Minister, Nasser Ed-Deen Al Sha'er, who had been captured by the Israel Defense Forces on 19 August, as there was not "enough evidence". Al Sha’er will not be allowed to enter Ramallah, where the Palestinian Government offices are located, and will not be allowed to leave the Palestinian territories until October 15. Another 23 Palestinian legislators had their remand extended. | Al Sha'er is the deputy of Ismail Haniyya, who is not allowed to leave Gaza. He headed back home in Nablus, in the norther part pf the West Bank. The court decided to release Al Sha'er because it did not found “enough evidence” to keep him imprisoned.
On Tuesday, the Salem Israeli Military Court indefinitely extended the remand of 23 Hamas legislators who are currently held prisoners in Israeli prisons.
The Salem court claimed that the detained 21 Hamas legislators are “members of a terrorist organization” and pose a threat to Israel's security. Israeli court orders the release of Palestinian deputy Prime Minister
The Petah Tikva Israeli court ordered on Wednesday the release of the
detained Palestinian Deputy Prime Minister, Nasser Ed-Deen Al Sha'er,
after one month in detention. The court said in its ruling that there
was not enough evidence to keep him imprisoned.
Al Sha'er was taken prisoner by the Israeli forces on August 19 after he was put on Israel's “wanted “ list. Israeli soldiers arrested in late June dozens of Hamas legislators and cabinet ministers. Al Sha'er was not at home when the army abducted the officials, but he was arrested in August 19. Two-third of the Hamas legislators remain in Israeli prisons after they were abducted by the Israeli forces following an attack carried by resistance fighters against a military base across the Gaza border, and abducted an Israeli soldier identified as Gilad Shalit. Currently, 32 Hamas legislators are still illegal imprisoned by Israel. Last Monday, the Ofer Israeli military court in the occupied West Bank, reversed a decision to release 21 of the detained legislators on bail, ordering their continued detention until the end of judicial proceedings against them.
The Israeli military prosecution charged the 21 legislators of “membership of a terrorist group, and posing threat on Israel's security”. | Famous Person - Commit Crime - Arrest | September 2006 | ['(BBC)', '(IMEMC)'] |
Tens of thousands of people march through Moscow, Russia, to commemorate the two–year anniversary of opposition leader Boris Nemtsov's assassination. | Protesters chant anti-Putin and anti-Kadyrov slogans at Moscow procession said to have been attended by 15,200 people
Thousands of protesters marched in Moscow and other Russian cities on Sunday to mark two years since the opposition leader Boris Nemtsov was gunned down near the Kremlin.
Five men including a security services officer who reported to the leader of the Russian republic of Chechnya are on trial for murdering the outspoken Putin critic but many fear whoever ordered the killing will not be brought to justice.
Police said 5,000 people had participated in the demonstration in the capital, but a group counting each person who passed the metal detectors at the beginning of the column said 15,200 had marched. Among them were prominent opposition leaders such as former prime minister Mikhail Kasyanov, who was assaulted before the march began.
“There are two components [of this march], the first is the commemoration of our comrade and my friend Boris Nemtsov, who was cruelly killed outside the Kremlin, and the second is the principles that we defined with Boris and our struggle so that Russia would be a real democratic state,” Kasyanov told the Guardian at the head of the column.
Moments later, an unidentified man threw green ink in Kasyanov’s face, a popular tactic to demean liberal opposition activists. Police quickly detained the assailant and led him away.
Kasyanov had a cake thrown in his face and was pelted with eggs last year after the Chechen leader, Ramzan Kadyrov, posted a video showing the former PM in the crosshairs of a gun.
Police detained an opposition organiser after a verbal row between him and members of the pro-Kremlin National Freedom Movement, reported OVD Info, which monitors detention of activists. Law enforcement officers also confiscated some posters that referred to Putin by name, marchers said.
“This is a commemorative march, but it’s not a funeral march,” said Nemtsov’s fellow activist Ilya Yashin. “We didn’t gather here to cry, we gathered here to make demands, we gathered to demand Nemtsov’s murderers be brought to justice, the trigger men, the organisers and those who ordered the hit.”
Other cities also held Nemtsov marches, with a reported 2,000 people marching in St Petersburg. The events coincided with the release from prison of the opposition activist Ildar Dadin after more than a year, during which time he made serious allegations of torture. He was the first and so far only person convicted under a harsh recent law that criminalises repeated unsanctioned protests.
He was released after several days of delays that former Kremlin insider Gleb Pavlovsky said had intended to prevent him from attending Sunday’s march in Moscow, where people held Russian flags, placards with Nemtsov’s face and quotes from the former deputy PM such as: “Bring back elections, you creeps!” Some carried roses to lay at the spot where Nemtsov was shot, on a bridge next to the Kremlin. A small group of nationalists with black, yellow and white Russian imperial flags also joined in the march.
The front rows of the column chanted: “Our name is Boris Nemtsov!” while carrying a huge banner that read “Heroes don’t die! Russia will be free!” Other chants included “Putin is a thief,” “Putin is war,” and “Kadyrov to prison.”
“The organisers and those who ordered [Nemtsov’s killing] are, I’m deeply convinced, the political leadership and rulers of Chechnya,” said former MP Gennady Gudkov. “Today the federal authorities are covering for them. They are not bringing anyone to responsibility and slowing the investigation.”
Another colleague of Nemtsov, activist Vladimir Kara-Murza, left Russia for further treatment last week after surviving a poisoning attempt. In a Facebook post, he called on people to come to the march on Sunday.
On Monday activists who tend to the makeshift memorial to Nemtsov at the spot where he was shot said municipal workers had taken away all the flowers and pictures in the early hours. By late Monday morning, Nemtsov supporters flocked back to the bridge to bring more flowers. | Protest_Online Condemnation | February 2017 | ['(The Guardian)', '(Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty)'] |
Brazil's antitrust authority ruled in favor of a pending acquisition of the commercial aviation division of Embraer S.A. by Boeing, without restrictions. | BRASILIA (Reuters) - Brazilian antitrust regulator Cade on Monday approved Boeing Co’s purchase of Embraer SA’s commercial aviation division without restrictions, according to a statement on the agency’s website.
Cade’s top administrative council could still call for a reconsideration of the case, putting the matter to a vote.
The companies welcomed the move on Monday, with Boeing saying it remained confident of getting approval from the European Commission, the last hurdle to the transaction.
The European Union has set an April 30 deadline to decide on the deal.
Boeing has offered to pay $4.2 billion for 80% of Embraer’s commercial jet division, which builds passenger jets in the 70- to 150-seat segment.
That puts it in direct competition with next-generation jets designed by Bombardier Inc and acquired by Europe’s Airbus SE, which rebranded them the A220 program.
Reporting by Ricardo Brito; additional reporting by Kanishka Singh; Writing by Jake Spring; Editing by Sandra Maler, Marguerita Choy and Aditya Soni
| Organization Merge | January 2020 | ['(Reuters)'] |
As many as 200,000 people march through Brazil's cities, with protestors having scaled the National Congress in Brasilia. | The way these initial marches were policed - with officers accused of firing rubber bullets and tear gas at peaceful protesters - further incensed Sao Paulo residents and shifted the focus from rising transport costs to wider issues.
As many as 200,000 people have marched through the streets of Brazil's biggest cities, as protests over rising public transport costs and the expense of staging the 2014 World Cup have spread.
The biggest demonstration was in Rio de Janeiro, where 100,000 people joined a mainly peaceful march.
In the capital, Brasilia, people breached security at the National Congress building and scaled its roof.
The protests are the largest seen in Brazil for more than 20 years.
In Brazil's largest city, Sao Paulo, about 65,000 people took to the streets.
The wave of protests kicked off earlier this month when Sao Paulo residents marched against an increase in the price of a single bus fare, from 3 reals ($1.40, £0.90) to 3.20. Authorities said the rise was well below inflation, which since the last price increase in January 2011 has been 15.5%, according to official figures.
The way these initial marches were policed - with officers accused of firing rubber bullets and tear gas at peaceful protesters - further incensed Sao Paulo residents and shifted the focus from rising transport costs to wider issues.
"For many years, the government has been feeding corruption, people are demonstrating against the system," Graciela Cacador told Reuters news agency.
Others complained about vast sums of money spent on hosting the 2014 World Cup and the 2016 Olympics instead of being invested in health and education.
"This is a communal cry saying: 'We're not satisfied!'," Maria Claudia Cardoso told the Associated Press news agency.
"We don't have good schools for our kids. Our hospitals are in awful shape. Corruption is rife. These protests will make history and wake our politicians up to the fact we're not taking it anymore," she said. "We need better education, hospitals and security, not billions spent on the World Cup," said one mother who attended the Sao Paulo march with her daughter. "We're a rich country with a lot of potential but the money doesn't go to those who need it most," 26-year-old photographer Manoela Chiabai told the Associated Press.
Demonstrators chanted slogans, including "The people have awakened", BBC Brasil's Julia Carneiro reports from Sao Paulo.
Police took a hands-off approach at Monday's demonstration following an earlier meeting between protest organisers and security chiefs at which they had agreed that regular police would not carry rubber bullet guns.
Protests were reported in as many as 11 cities on Monday.
In Rio 100,000 people took part in a mainly peaceful march, although a small group threw rocks at police, wounding five officers. They also set fire to a car and vandalised the state assembly building. Police there reportedly used tear gas, pepper spray and rubber bullets to disperse them. More than 40 people were arrested in the southern city of Porto Alegre after a small group peeled away from the main march of about 10,000 demonstrators and set alight bins and shops. They were booed by those participating in the main march, who called for a peaceful protest.
On Tuesday, Porto Alegre Mayor Jose Fortunati said he had sent a bill to the city council proposing that bus companies be exempt from taxes in return for them promising to lower their fares. There were also clashes with police in Belo Horizonte, which was hosting the latest game in the Confederations Cup, the warm-up tournament for the World Cup. An 18-year-old is reportedly in a stable condition in hospital after falling from an overpass in the city.
And in Brasilia, more than 200 protesters managed to get onto the roof of the National Congress building. After negotiations with police, the crowd agreed to leave. Later, youths formed a human chain around the building, the AFP news agency said.
"Peaceful demonstrations are legitimate," President Dilma Rousseff said in a statement. "It is natural for the young to demonstrate."
However, Sports Minister Aldo Rebelo warned protesters that the authorities would not allow them to disrupt the Confederations Cup or next year's World Cup.
"The government assumed the responsibility and the honour to stage these two international events, and will do so, ensuring the security and integrity of the fans and tourists," he said.
The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Navi Pillay, called on both sides to remain calm.
"We urge the Brazilian authorities to exercise restraint in dealing with spreading social protests in the country, and also call on demonstrators not to resort to acts of violence in pursuit of their demands," said a spokesman for the High Commissioner.
"With further protests planned, we are however concerned that the reported excessive use of police force in recent days should not be repeated." Protests challenge Brazil's leaders | Protest_Online Condemnation | June 2013 | ['(BBC)'] |
The Communist Party of Britain announces it will not field any candidates in the upcoming general election for the first time since its formation in 1920, and endorses Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, saying victory for Mr Corbyn at the general election in June would be “the first step towards a formation of left-led government at Westminster”. | Declaring its endorsement of Labour’s leader, the Communist Party of Britain said victory for Mr Corbyn at the general election would be 'the first step towards a formation of left-led government at Westminster'
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Britain’s Communist party will not field any general election candidates for the first time since its formation in 1920 in order to throw its weight behind Jeremy Corbyn’s Labour party.
Declaring its endorsement of Labour’s leader, the Communist Party of Britain said victory for Mr Corbyn at the general election in June would be “the first step towards a formation of left-led government at Westminster”.
The party's general secretary Robert Griffiths added that it was crucial to stop the Labour leader facing a leadership challenge from “right-wing” figures in his own party. He added his party was in “no doubt” that Mr Corbyn’s party “serves the interests of workers and their families”.
It came as the Labour leader made his first visit to Scotland of the election campaign and unapologetically celebrated his party’s relationship with the trade unions. Addressing delegates at the Scottish Trade Union Congress directly, he added: “You are our family”.
Surge in betting on Jeremy Corbyn to become prime ministerCorbyn's bank holiday pledge is a poor attempt to engage with workersJeremy Corbyn responds to Jme tweets encouraging people to voteCorbyn will repeal ‘vicious’ trade union legislationI'm glad Corbyn is trumping Trident for bank holidays In a statement on the Communist Party of Britain’s official website, Mr Griffiths said:"In every general election since the formation of the CP in 1920, we have stood our own candidates, not least in 2015 when we fielded nine. Now, on this occasion, we will not contest any seats, although this does not signal any withdrawal from the electoral arena in the future.
"We call for a Labour vote in every constituency across Britain, despite the reactionary views of numerous Labour Party candidates."
Mr Griffiths added: "The maximum possible Labour vote is necessary not only to secure the election of a Labour government. We also recognise that this election marks a further intensification of the left-right struggle within the labour movement and the Labour Party.
Corbyn will repeal ‘vicious’ trade union legislation
"The higher the Labour vote and the number of Labour MPs elected, the more secure will be the position of Jeremy Corbyn and his left allies in the parliamentary Labour Party.
"Any reverses for Labour will be used as a pretext by the right-wing pro-EU, pro-Nato faction in the parliamentary Labour Party and its trade union allies to launch yet another bid to remove Jeremy Corbyn and take the Labour Party back to the neoliberal and pro-war policies of the past."
But the Conservatives seized on the endorsement. Amanda Milling, a Tory MP who sits on the business, energy and industrial strategy committee in Westminster, said: “Let this sink in: Jeremy Corbyn has been endorsed today by a party who want to close down businesses, leave the protection of NATO and hike up taxes to a level never seen before in this country.
“At this election every vote is going to count. Unless people get out there and vote for Theresa May and their local Conservative candidate, this man will be our Prime Minister in a little over 6 weeks – propped up by the Lib Dems and SNP in a coalition of chaos.”
| Government Job change - Election | April 2017 | ['(The Independent)'] |
Saudi Arabia announces the formation of a 34–member Islamic Military Alliance against terrorism including Egypt, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Turkey, Malaysia and Pakistan with a joint operations centre based in Riyadh. | Saudi Arabia has formed a military coalition of 34 Islamic countries to combat terrorism, the Saudi government announced on early Tuesday morning, but only few details were immediately released (more) The Saudi government said the multi-national coalition includes Turkey, Pakistan, Nigeria, Qatar, Egypt, Morocco, Yemen, and Jordan, but other details were not immediately disclosed. Saudi Defense Minister Mohammad bin Salman Al Saud said the alliance will not just confront the Islamic State (ISIS) group, but "any terrorist group in front of us."
The coalition will operate a joint operations center in the Saudi capital of Riyadh and coordinate with other international bodies to combat terrorism, a statement said. It emphasized human dignity and the rights to life and security, and said the coalition is committed to eliminate terrorism through the use of international legal instruments.
The full list of countries as announced is as follows: Saudi Arabia, Jordan, the United Arab Emirates, Pakistan, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Benin, Turkey, Chad, Togo, Tunisia, Djibouti, Senegal, Sudan, Sierra Leone, Somalia, Gabon, Guinea, Palestine, Comoros, Qatar, Ivory Coast, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, the Maldives, Mali, Malaysia, Egypt, Morocco, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria, and Yemen.
The Saudi government added that more than a dozen other Islamic countries have expressed support for the military alliance, including Indonesia.
The newly-formed coalition is separate from the U.S.-led Combined Joint Task Force, which includes a wide range of countries, including Jordan, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and the United Arab Emirates. The Combined Joint Task Force carries out airstrikes against Islamic State (ISIS) militants in Iraq and Syria, though not all countries participate in the airstrikes in Syria. | Organization Established | December 2015 | ['(SBS)', '(BNO News)'] |
The President of Kazakhstan, Nursultan Nazarbayev, announces his resignation after 29 years in office. | ALMATY (Reuters) - Kazakhstan’s President Nursultan Nazarbayev unexpectedly resigned on Tuesday after three decades in power, in what appeared to be the first step in a choreographed political transition that will see him retain considerable sway.
Known as “Papa” to many Kazakhs, the 78-year-old former steel worker and Communist party apparatchik has ruled the vast oil and gas-rich Central Asian nation since 1989, when it was still part of the Soviet Union.
Bestowed by parliament with the official title of “The Leader of the Nation”, he was the last Soviet-era leader still in office and oversaw extensive market reforms while remaining widely popular in his country of 18 million people.
“I have taken a decision, which was not easy for me, to resign as president,” Nazarbayev said in a nationwide TV address, flanked by his country’s blue and yellow flags, before signing a decree terminating his powers from March 20.
“As the founder of the independent Kazakh state I see my task now in facilitating the rise of a new generation of leaders who will continue the reforms that are underway in the country.”
But Nazarbayev, a close ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin, said he would retain key security council and party leader positions and hand over the presidency to a loyal ally for the rest of his term, which ends in April 2020.
Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, speaker of the upper house of parliament, will take over as Kazakhstan’s acting president for the remainder of his term in line with the constitution, Nazarbayev said.
Nazarbayev has no apparent long-term successor. His decision hit the price of Kazakh bonds, while the London-listed shares of Kazakhstan’s biggest bank, Halyk Bank, tumbled 5 percent. The news also appeared to weigh on the Russian rouble. Moscow is Kazakhstan’s main trade partner.
The Kremlin said Nazarbayev and Putin had spoken by phone on Tuesday, but gave no details of their conversation.
“(Nazarbayev) will continue to some extent to oversee things, so it is not like he has cut the cord totally - he still has his fingers in the pie,” said Theodor Kirschner of Capitulum Asset Management in Berlin.
“That a 78-year-old won’t be sticking around forever shouldn’t be such a surprise to anyone, and this move makes the transition smoother. This doesn’t really give us a headache.”
Nazarbayev, who helped attract tens of billions of dollars from foreign energy companies and more than tripled Kazakh oil output, said he would continue to chair the Security Council and remain leader of the Nur Otan party which dominates parliament.
The new acting president, 65-year-old Tokayev, is a Moscow-educated career diplomat fluent in Kazakh, Russian, English and Chinese who has previously served as Kazakhstan’s foreign minister and prime minister.
While praising Tokayev as “a man who can be trusted to lead Kazakhstan”, Nazarbayev - who has three daughters - stopped short of endorsing him as his preferred heir.
“We expect Tokayev to be an interim figure,” said Camilla Hagelund, an analyst at consulting firm Verisk Maplecroft. “The real question is, who will be Kazakhstan’s third president.”
Kazakhstan is scheduled to hold both presidential and parliamentary elections next year.
Nazarbayev’s eldest daughter, Dariga, the most politically ambitious of his children, is a senator and once led a political party of her own. Another close relative, his nephew Samat Abish, is the No.2 official on the National Security Committee.
The head of state security, 53-year-old Karim Masimov, is also a close Nazarbayev confidant. He has served twice as prime minister and also worked as the president’s chief of staff.
But regardless of who eventually leads Kazakhstan, the transition may slow reforms, including in the key energy sector, according to GlobalData analyst Will Scargill.
“Although Nazarbayev will retain some key roles, his decision to resign will doubtless slow policy-making as political dynamics are restructured,” Scargill said.
Uncertainty could also hurt investor appetite for Kazakhstan’s biggest state-owned companies, which the government planned to list as part of a privatization campaign.
Nazarbayev steered his nation, which is five times the size of France in area, to independence from Moscow in 1991. He has since managed to maintain close ties with Russia, the West, and China, Kazakhstan’s giant eastern neighbor.
Nazarbayev won 97.7 percent of the vote in the last presidential election in 2015. International observers have long judged elections in Kazakhstan to be neither free nor fair.
Nazarbayev tolerated no dissent or opposition and was criticized by rights groups who accused him of locking up his critics and muzzling the media, allegations he denied.
His government recently pushed through a number of popular policies - including raising public-sector salaries and forcing utilities to cut or freeze tariffs - stoking speculation that he was preparing for a re-election bid.
Members of Nazarbayev’s family have stakes in some of Kazakhstan’s most lucrative assets, including Halyk Bank and firms in sectors ranging from telecoms to fuel trading. | Government Job change - Resignation_Dismissal | March 2019 | ['(Reuters)'] |
Afghan officials claim that seven members of the Afghan police were killed by Coalition air forces in a friendly fire incident. | led forces killed seven Afghan policemen, an official said on Tuesday, and three people were shot dead at a NATO checkpoint, raising concern about mistaken fire incidents in Afghanistan.
In a separate incident, gunmen riding on a motorbike opened fire on schoolgirls on their way home, killing two and wounding six, officials said.
Violence has surged in Afghanistan in recent months and with it, civilian casualties and cases of mistaken fire.
Efforts to cut civilian casualties will top the agenda of a meeting of NATO defence ministers in Brussels on Thursday amid growing concern the incidents could undermine public support for the mission both in Afghanistan and in NATO countries.
The policemen were killed in an air strike after the Taliban stormed police posts late on Monday in Khogiani district of the eastern province of Nangarhar, district police chief Adel Balwal told Reuters.
Police sent reinforcements and called for help from U.S. forces, he said. “In the coalition bombing, seven policemen lost their lives.”
A U.S. military spokesman said he was aware of the raid but had no other details.
Thirteen policemen were missing, Balwal said.
If confirmed, the incident would be one of the most serious cases of mistaken fire on Western or Afghan forces by the U.S.-led coalition.
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A Taliban spokesman said by telephone from an undisclosed location the militants had killed 12 policemen.
About 50,000 foreign troops led by the U.S. military and NATO are in Afghanistan, battling a resurgent Taliban and their al Qaeda allies. Last year was the bloodiest since the Taliban were ousted in 2001.
On Monday, more that two dozen insurgents were killed in the southern province of Kandahar in an eight-hour battle that began when the militants ambushed against coalition and Afghan police, the U.S. military said.
The schoolgirls were killed in Logar province, south of the capital Kabul, at the end of the school day. The unidentified attackers fled.
“Those who carried out this cowardly attack are the enemies of the country,” Education Minister Hanif Atmar told reporters.
The government uses the term “enemies of Afghanistan” to refer to the Taliban and their al Qaeda allies.
During their rule, the Taliban barred girls from education and women from most work outside the home.
Afghan police patrol in the Sangin valley in the southern province of Helmand June 8, 2007. REUTERS/Ahmad Masood
In recent years, Taliban insurgents have burned schools and killed teachers in their war against foreign troops and the Afghan government they support. They have also warned people not to send girls to school.
Separately, NATO forces killed three Afghans in the eastern province of Kunar on Monday after a car in which they were traveling failed to stop at a checkpoint, NATO said.
Two Afghans were wounded in the firing and residents of the area later protested.
More than 120 civilians have been killed by foreign forces in recent months, according to government officials and residents.
The International Committee of the Red Cross said on Tuesday violence had significantly intensified and was spreading to the north and west, bringing a “growing number of civilian casualties”.
. | Armed Conflict | June 2007 | ['(Reuters)'] |
A collision between a river cruise ship and a barge on Russia's Volga River kills at least 11 people. | At least 16 people were on the catamaran when it collided with another boat 250 meters from the riverbank in Volgograd. Russia's Investigative Committee has opened an investigation into the cause of the crash.
At least 11 people on a river cruise died after their boat crashed into a barge on the Volga River in the Russian city of Volgograd on Monday.
At least 16 Russians were on the vessel, according to Russia's Investigative Committee, which has opened an investigation into possible breaches of safety regulations.
Emergency services were made aware that the vessels had collided on the Volga River, about 250 meters from the riverbank at around 10 p.m. (1900 GMT).
Five people were rescued and three survivors were in hospital, according to the website of regional governor Andrei Bocharov.
"The rescue operations have just finished. The last body has been recovered and the number of dead is 11," the local emergencies ministry said in a statement quoted by the Ria Novosti news agency.
Russia's Investigative Committee has opened an investigation into the cause of the crash
Potential safety regulation breaches
An unnamed source from the Russian Federal Agency for Maritime and River Transport told Russian news agency TASS that the catamaran was only built to carry 12 people and was unlicensed.
"The catamaran is without documents and without identification lights," the source said.
Another unnamed source from emergency services told TASS that a violation of catamaran manoeuvring rules was being explored as one of main potential causes of the incident.
"According to one of the versions, the master [of the twin-hull ship] could breach maneuvering rules, failed to notice the barge and did not make an attempt to avoid the collision," the source said. He added that other possible causes would be investigated.
| Shipwreck | June 2018 | ['(Deutsche Welle)'] |
Archaeologists announce the discovery of the remains of the 16th–century Curtain Theatre, where some of William Shakespeare's plays were first performed. | Archaeologists have discovered the remains of an Elizabethan theatre where some of William Shakespeare's plays were first performed.
The remains of the Curtain Theatre, which opened in 1577, were found behind a pub in Shoreditch, east London, as part of regeneration works.
The venue was immortalised as "this wooden O" in the prologue to Henry V.
It is hoped the site could be opened to the public, with plays staged there in the future.
Archaeologists from the Museum of London Archaeology (Mola) stumbled across parts of the playhouse's yard and gallery walls after development began on the site last October.
"This is a fantastic site which gives us unique insight into early Shakespearean theatres," lead archaeologist Chris Thomas said.
'Significant discovery'
The Curtain was operated by theatre manager James Burbage and was home to Shakespeare's Company, the Lord Chamberlain's Men, from 1597 until The Globe opened two years later.
The theatre disappeared from historical records in 1622 but could have remained in use until the outbreak of the Civil War, 20 years later.
Plays thought to have premiered there include Henry V, Romeo and Juliet and Ben Jonson's Every Man in His Humour.
"This is one of the most significant Shakespearean discoveries of recent years," a spokesman for Plough Yard Developments, which owns the site, said.
"Although The Curtain was known to have been in the area, its exact location was a mystery.
"The quality of the remains found is remarkable and we are looking forward to working with Mola, [the] local community and Shakespearean experts to develop plans that will give the public access to the theatre remains as part of a new development."
Royal Shakespeare Company artistic director Michael Boyd added: "I look forward to touching the mud and stone, if not wood, and feeling the presence of that space where Shakespeare's early work, including the histories, made such a lasting impact." | New archeological discoveries | June 2012 | ['(BBC)'] |
29–year–old superheavyweight amateur boxer Jerimiah Moen dies in the hospital after his fight during Upper Midwest Golden Gloves tournament in East Grand Forks, Minnesota, United States. | An amateur boxer who collapsed and lost consciousness seconds after the opening round of a bout has died in the first ring death in Minnesota in nearly 20 years and probably the second boxing match fatality in state history.
Jerimiah “J.J.” Moen, a 29-year-old super-heavyweight, died Wednesday at a Grand Forks hospital after his fight Saturday in East Grand Forks against Matt “Bubba” Fowler.
“There was no devastating punch, no knockdown that would alert you, where you’d wince with a blow,” said Eddie Obregon, Moen’s longtime trainer, who saw the round as slightly in Fowler’s favor.
“He was into his jab, moving around” during the first of what was to be a three-round bout, Obregon added. “When the bell rang, he stumbled to his corner and turned to the corner man.”
It was then, the Grand Forks trainer continued, that the corner man said to Moen, “ ‘Are you OK?’ ”
“ ‘I think I’m done,’ ” Obregon said his boxer responded.
While still on his stool, Moen’s legs started to quiver, Obregon said. “I called for the doctor” assigned to the bout, he added, and numerous other medical professionals came to the boxer’s aid as he lay sprawled on the canvas. A call to 911 was made within a minute of the fighter going down.
Moen, who captured the Upper Midwest Golden Gloves title last spring in Walker, Minn., never regained consciousness.
The boxer’s organs await removal for potential transplant before his autopsy Friday, according to the forensics department at the University of North Dakota, where the examination will be conducted and a cause of death determined. Results could take two to four weeks.
Obregon said his fighter was in great shape and having no problems that would have suggested such an outcome Saturday at the American Legion Club.
Moen weighed in at about 205-208 pounds, the trainer said, with Fowler carrying at least another 25 pounds. Obregon said such a spread in that weight class is not uncommon nor anything that would create any danger beyond those inherent in the sport.
As required for amateurs, Moen was wearing his headgear and a mouth guard for protection.
The next step is for Obregon to turn in a report to USA Boxing, the national sanctioning body of amateur boxing. “All the rules were followed,” he said.
The previous ring death in Minnesota occurred in February 1994, when 156-pound amateur Donell Lindsey took several blows to the head and collapsed in the third round of a bout in St. Paul. Like Moen, Lindsey never regained consciousness.
The Ramsey County medical examiner’s office ruled that Lindsey, 28, died from traumatic brain injuries. Boxing officials at the time said it was the first ring death they could remember ever occurring in the state.
Bobby Brunette, who has been in the fight game for decades in Minnesota as a boxer, trainer, referee and official at the professional and amateur levels, said Thurday the he could recall only Lindsey as the lone boxer to have died previously during a bout in the state.
“We know how dangerous contact sports can be,” said Brunette, who oversees all aspects of many bouts in the state, from lining up ringside doctors to the weigh-in to the boxers’ equipment. “It’s a sport we love, and we try to make it safe. We make sure everything is done by the rules. Everything is pretty much set up for the safety of the combatants.”
Moen, who worked on a farm in the Red River Valley and was engaged to be married this spring, had no designs on turning pro.
“He just enjoyed being in shape and working with the younger kids” at Obregon’s Forks Fighters gym.
The mood at the gym Tuesday night among the boxers was somber. No one was in the mood to train. They minds were only on Moen, who lost his mother at age 12 and was taken in along with his sister by an uncle.
“I thought of discontinuing” the business, Obregon said. “We’ll take a week off and remember J.J.”
Paul Walsh is a general assignment reporter at the Star Tribune. He wants your news tips, especially in and near Minnesota.
StarTribune.com welcomes and encourages readers to comment and engage in substantive, mutually respectful exchanges over news topics. Commenters must follow our Terms of Use. | Famous Person - Death | February 2013 | ['(Star Tribune)', '(AP via CBS Sports)'] |
Palestinian factional violence: Clashes between Hamas, Fatah result in abductions from both sides. Four Fatah loyalists and a female bystander are killed in gunbattles. | Wednesday: Infighting in the Palestinian Authority continues as abductions and gun battles run rampant throughout the Gaza Strip.
Five Palestinians were killed in exchanges of fire between Hamas and Fatah this afternoon throughout northern Gaza.
Of those killed four are loyal to Fatah and one is a female bystander who was caught in the crossfire near Jabaliya.
Three of the Fatah members killed were officers in the Palestinian Preventive Security Service (PPSS). Close to a dozen additional people were also reported injured in the clashes, though their conditions remain unclear.
Sources say that in all, 10 Palestinians have been kidnapped by both Hamas and Fatah. Earlier in the day gunmen, apparently belonging to Hamas, sought out and killed a Fatah operative in Beit Lahiya. Hamas gunmen in Gaza (Photo: AFP)
Among the abductees are three 17 year old youths, nephews of a senior PPSS officer loyal to Fatah. According to sources in Gaza the teens were apparently kidnapped by members of Hamas.
On Wednesday evening Palestinian sources in Gaza reported that a senior al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade member has escaped an assassination attempt. According to the sources, gunmen fired an RPG toward Hassan al-Qasas and another senior group member.
Fatah claims that Hamas is responsible for the attack.
Spokesman for Fatah in the Strip, Maher Maqdad, blamed Hamas for killing the officers and said that his movement "will not remain silent in the face of these crimes."
However, Maqdad called on the factions to enforce the agreement of calm reached Tuesday and see to it that Hamas, like Fatah, honor it.
Residents frightened Ahmed Srur, a resident of the town of Beit Lahiya, told Ynet that the situation in the northern Strip was "very frightening." He said that masked men have deployed across all traffic routes and junctions, questioning passersby and conducting searches.
"Wherever you go, you see masked Hamas members. Fatah loyalists cannot be seen on the streets, and Hamas gunmen have taken over things here," he described.
Srur said that the residents were very disgruntled with the situation and the fact that no solution is in sight.
"We elected a government that would lead to a change in the security situation, but the situation has just been deteriorating. There's hardly any movement in the northern Strip and all people want is to stay inside their homes, so as not to get caught in the fire," he added. Following the shooting of the Fatah member earlier Wednesday morning his family members, along with Fatah gunmen, blocked nearby roads and chanted anti-Hamas slogans.
In another incident a Hamas member was injured when a bomb went off in Gaza City. It is estimated that the wounded Palestinian, who serves as Interior Minister Sayeed Siyam’s body guard, sustained the injury while preparing the bomb. A Hamas member was killed Tuesday under similar circumstances. | Armed Conflict | January 2007 | ['(Ynetnews)'] |
The number of confirmed deaths in the ferry collision in Hong Kong rises to 38. | Seven crew members have now been arrested from the two boats that collided in the waters off Hong Kong, leaving 38 people dead.
Those held on suspicion they did not "exercise the care required of them by law" include the captains of the two vessels - a public ferry and a company boat.
Five children are among the dead after the boats collided on Monday evening.
One of the boats half-sank following the accident off Lamma Island.
The accident - the worst maritime accident in Hong Kong for over 40 years - has caused shock in Hong Kong, where thousands of people travel by boat among the territory's islands every day, say correspondents.
Some relatives of those feared lost have gathered at mortuaries to seek news of their loved ones, reported Associated Press news agency.
Dozens of people were thrown into the waters after the pleasure boat Lamma IV, carrying employees of Hong Kong Electric and their family members to watch a firework display, was in collision with the ferry. It partially sank within minutes of impact, while the ferry - operated by the Hong Kong and Kowloon Ferry (HKKF) company - was able to reach Lamma and disembark its passengers although it was taking on water.
Twenty-eight bodies were recovered overnight, eight more people were declared dead at hospitals, and two more bodies were discovered on Tuesday, the government said. More than 100 people were injured. The number of people missing is unknown. At an earlier briefing the head of police, Tsang Wai-hung, said the arrested suspects "responsible for manning the two vessels had not exercised the care required of them by law to ensure the safety of the vessels as well as the people on board". The crash is Hong Kong's worst maritime accident since 1971, when a ferry sank during a typhoon, leaving 88 people dead. It occurred during a busy period for passenger travel, at the end of a long holiday weekend to mark the mid-autumn festival that this year coincided with China's National Day on 1 October.
On Tuesday, some relatives of the dead went to the scene to throw paper money into the waters in tribute to those lost, AP said.
Hong Kong Electric is owned by Li Ka-shing, Asia's richest man. On Tuesday his son, Victor Li, said the company would make a payment of HK$200,000 (£16,000; $25,800) to the family of each person killed.
His father told reporters on his way to visit a hospital on Tuesday that he was "very sorry", but did not want to say too much, reported AP.
Hong Kong Chief Executive CY Leung dismissed concerns that the accident would damage Hong Kong's reputation as a centre of global maritime trade.
"This is definitely an isolated incident. The marine territory of Hong Kong is safe," he said.
He said an independent committee would be set up to look into the causes of the crash, and suggest measures to prevent similar tragedies in future.
He declared three days of mourning starting on Thursday, and expressed his sympathy with the victims' families.
1. Hong Kong Electric boat departs power plant for firework display in Victoria Harbour
2. Ferry departs Hong Kong island on regular route to Lamma Island
3. Collision occurs north of Lamma Island. Damaged ferry continues to port at Yung Shue Wan. Lamma IV sinks. Lamma lies some 3km (two miles) south-west of Hong Kong island, and is popular with tourists and expatriates. Hong Kong is one of the world's busiest shipping channels, but its ferries have a good safety record.
| Shipwreck | October 2012 | ['(BBC)'] |
In boxing, Manny Pacquiao knocks out Lucas Matthysse in the seventh round to win the WBA welterweight championship. | KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) - Manny Pacquiao put on a dominant display to stun defending champion Lucas Matthysse with a seventh-round knockout and claim the WBA welterweight title in Kuala Lumpur on Sunday.
The 39-year-old Filipino legend looked focused and busy from the opening bell and had the 15,000 fans at the Axiata Arena on their feet when he sent his Argentine opponent to the canvas three times in total with an array of clubbing blows.
The southpaw dropped his opponent for the final time with a brutal uppercut and the win, his first inside the distance since 2009, improves the eight-division world champion’s record to 60-7-2.
“I’m surprised. Matthysse is a very tough opponent,” Pacquiao said in a post-fight interview following a performance in which he showed glimpses of the spectacular form that catapulted him to the top of global boxing over a decade ago.
“I knocked him down and that’s a bonus for being patient in the fight, and working hard in training.”
Pacquiao set the pace early, probing for openings and moving menacingly around the ring as he dropped Matthysse for a first time in the third round with an uppercut after a flurry of punches had forced the Argentine onto the defensive.
Unable to gain a foothold against Pacquiao’s swarming attacks, Matthysse (39-5-1) looked to land on the counter but was forced to take a knee towards the end of the fifth round when he was visibly shaken by a right hook to the temple.
Referee Kenny Bayless called off the fight after two minutes and 43 seconds of the seventh round when Matthysse buckled following another stiff uppercut and spat out his mouthguard as he was being counted.
The win, in his first bout since losing the WBO welterweight title to unheralded Australian Jeff Horn in Brisbane a year ago, gives Pacquiao his 11th world title in an incredible career that has made him a national hero in his native Philippines.
Reporting by Joseph Sipalan; Editing by John O’Brien
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
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Exclusive: Fed’s Neel Kashkari opposes rate hikes at least through 2023 as the central bank becomes more hawkish | Sports Competition | July 2018 | ['(Reuters)'] |
Al-Shabaab militants attack a military base outside the Somalian capital Mogadishu, with 15 soldiers reported dead. | MOGADISHU (Reuters) - Al Shabaab fighters killed at least 15 soldiers in an attack on a military base near Somalia’s capital, Mogadishu, the militant group and Somali officials said on Friday.
The militants used guns and car bombs to take control of the base and a nearby town, Barire, 50 km (30 miles) southwest of Mogadishu, in an early-morning attack.
The fighters also took 11 pickup trucks mounted with machine guns, known as “technicals”, said Abdiasis Abu Musab, al Shabaab’s military operation spokesman.
“The other soldiers ran helter-skelter into the woods. We now control the base and the village,” he said.
A Somali military officer put the number of dead at 15; al Shabaab said 21 were killed. The government and al Shabaab often give differing accounts of death tolls.
“There was a battalion of soldiers but it was a fierce fighting; twin suicide car bombs and hand-to-hand fighting,” Captain Osman Ali told Reuters.
“The attacked soldiers were Somali military and the special forces trained by the U.S. called Danab. There were neither AMISOM nor other foreigners there,” Ali added, referring to African Union peacekeeping troops. Reinforcements were being sent, he said.
Al Shabaab aims to topple the government in Mogadishu and impose its own strict interpretation of Islam. Somalia has been at war since 1991, when clan-based warlords overthrew dictator Siad Barre and then turned on each other.
The al Qaeda-linked group was driven out of the capital in 2011, but it still carries out frequent attacks on security and government targets and African Union peacekeeping troops. Civilians sometimes get caught in the crossfire.
Ali Nur, the deputy governor of Lower Shabelle region where Barire is situated, confirmed the fighting. So did local residents.
“First we heard two huge blasts at the base and then heavy exchange of gunfire followed. Now it looks like the fighting died down,” Ali Farah told Reuters from Barire village.
Two weeks ago, al Shabaab attacked an army base at a town near the border with Kenya. Three weeks ago they struck another in the southern port city of Kismayu, killing a total of at least 43 people in the two attacks.
| Armed Conflict | September 2017 | ['(Reuters)'] |
The Turkish Parliament approves two constitutional amendments which expand the powers of the president to appoint new legislation and select the cabinet. | MPs adopted three more items from the 18-article amendment bill during a heated vote on Thursday and early Friday, state-run Anadolu news agency reported. The package of amendments to the country’s constitution is meant to advance President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s desire for ‘strong leadership,’ according to the local media.
Article 8 has been particularly criticized by the opposition, as it empowers Erdogan to represent Turkey as “head of state,” according to NTV broadcaster. With the proposed changes, the president will be able to appoint and dismiss cabinet ministers, public officials, and the president’s staff. He will also have the authority to sponsor new legislation and submit it to the Parliament for review, Hurryiet said.
The Parliament, for its part, will lose a sizeable portion of its powers, according to Hurriyet. According to Article 6, MPs will execute their authority over the government only through written requests for information, parliamentary inquiries, and “general meetings” to discuss issues relating to government’s actions, NTV reported. The parliament will no longer be able to issue motions of no confidence either.
This particular article, which largely strips the Parliament of its oversight authority, was approved by 343 of 550 lawmakers.
MPs have also approved Article 7, which sets out requirements for presidential candidates, stipulating that they must be at least 40 years old, hold a university degree, and be Turkish citizens.
This article cancels the current provision that bans the president from having official connections to a political party, which is meant to promote division of power and maintain checks and balances.
“This is a reduction of the state to a political party. It seems you want a party state,” Deniz Baykal, an MP from the center-left Republican People’s Party (CHP), told Hurriyet.
Erdogan said on Friday that he does not rule out calling early elections if MPs fail to introduce a full presidential system, Reuters reported. The Turkish strongman added that he hopes talks on constitutional reform will be finalized this week.
Adopting the new amendments did not go as smoothly as expected, however. An all-out brawl erupted in the Turkish Parliament on Wednesday when MPs from the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) began to openly cast their votes in what was supposed to be a secret ballot on the third, fourth, and fifth articles of the bill.
Opposition lawmakers argued that the vote was held openly to put pressure on ruling party MPs and prevent them from voting against the changes. Selin Sayek Boke, a spokeswoman for the CHP party, called the proposed changes a slide into a “sultanate.”
When hundreds of people gathered outside the parliament building earlier in January to oppose the amendments, the Parliament’s security detail pushed protesters away from the gates and police then fired tear gas and deployed water cannon to disperse the crowd.
The reforms introduced by the ruling AK Party and the opposition Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) on December 30 bring Turkey closer to an executive presidential system similar to that of France or the United States. Yet, the measures still need to pass through two more rounds of voting before being put to a nationwide referendum. | Government Policy Changes | January 2017 | ['(RT)'] |
Protests by Tibetan students against a new language policy making Chinese the official teaching language spread in China, with a demonstration taking place at the Minzu University of China in Beijing. | Protests by Tibetan students in China over the right to study in their language have spread, according to a rights group and state media.
Thousands marched in Qinghai province on Wednesday, following a peaceful demonstration in Tongren a day earlier.
It follows unconfirmed reports of plans to curb the use of the Tibetan language in classrooms in favour of Chinese.
Qinghai province is home to many ethnic Tibetans and was the scene of anti-Chinese riots in 2008.
Thousands of students, many of them in their early teens, are expressing their desire to continue to study and learn in their native Tibetan, said the London-based Free Tibet.
The campaign group said there were protests in Guolo, Qinghai province on Thursday. However the BBC could not confirm this.
About 2,000 students from four schools demonstrated in Chabcha town in Gonghe on Wednesday, shouting: "We want freedom for Tibetan language", Free Tibet said. It also said middle school pupils protested in Xinghai but gave no details. The Global Times newspaper reported that the protest by "students most wearing school uniforms" in Gonghe was peaceful.
"The social order restored quickly on the same day," an eyewitness was quoted as saying.
The authorities say that promoting Chinese in ethnic regions could help local people better integrate into the mainstream society.
But many Tibetans complain that their culture is being eroded, and say it is part of a campaign by China to increase its control over the remote Himalayan region.
China rules the Tibet Autonomous Region strictly but usually allows more freedom to Tibetan populations elsewhere in China; Tibetan is an official language in Tibet and parts of China such as Qinghai.
The Chinese government says it is bringing development and economic opportunities to areas long subject to official neglect.
. | Protest_Online Condemnation | October 2010 | ['(Los Angeles Times)', '(BBC)', '(Global Times)'] |
A Brazilian federal judge orders Petrobras to suspend the sale to Norway's Statoil of its stake in an offshore prospect, in response to the National Federation of Oil Workers petition there should have been an open bidding process for this transaction. | SAO PAULO (Reuters) - A Brazilian court has ordered state-controlled oil company Petróleo Brasileiro SA PETR4.SA to suspend the sale of its stake in an exploratory block to Norway's Statoil ASA STL.OL after a union argued there should have been an open bidding process.
Petrobras, as the company is known, said in a securities filing on Monday that the deal for its stake in the BM-S-8 region known as the Carcara field was approved by regulators.
Half of the $2.5 billion in proceeds were due when the deal closed in November, and the company said it had used those funds to repay debts. Petrobras said it would take legal measures to defend its interests.
The sale of the 66 percent stake in the offshore prospect was the first major pre-salt asset sold as part of a divestment plan that now aims to raise $21 billion in two years for Petrobras to pay down its debts.
The National Federation of Oil Workers said it had filed the lawsuit because Petrobras, as a state-controlled enterprise, is required to hold an open bid for any asset sale.
A Statoil representative said the Norwegian firm would not comment on the matter because it had not received an official notice of the decision.
| Tear Up Agreement | April 2017 | ['(Reuters)'] |
Envoys from the United States and North Korea meet in Geneva to discuss normalising relations. | US negotiator Christopher Hill said the two sides had reached a degree of understanding on the way forward.
His North Korean counterpart said he expected a fruitful outcome when the talks in Geneva conclude on Sunday.
They follow a deal promising aid and diplomatic benefits if North Korea disables its nuclear programme. It has already shut down a plutonium reactor.
Speaking after the first day of talks, Mr Hill said the two sides had reached a "substantial understanding", although there was still "a long way to go".
Washington is pressing Pyongyang to declare the full range of its nuclear capabilities, under the terms of the agreement reached in February, and to disable the Yongbyon nuclear reactor it shut down in July. FEBRUARY DEAL
N Korea to "shut down and seal" Yongbyon reactor, then disable all nuclear facilities
In return, will be given 1m tons of heavy fuel oil
N Korea to invite IAEA back to monitor deal
Under earlier 2005 deal, N Korea agreed to end nuclear programme and return to non-proliferation treaty
N Korea's demand for light water reactor to be discussed at "appropriate time"
Q&A: N Korea stand-off
Timeline: Nuclear crisis
For his part, North Korean negotiator Kim Kye-gwan said he expected the meeting would "have a fruitful result".
The BBC's Jonathan Beale in Washington says the Geneva meeting is a sign of progress, but it may take years to achieve the goal of normalising relations. Observers suggest Washington seems prepared to remove North Korea from its list of countries backing terrorism, but it has yet to make its conditions clear.
North Korea has already shut down its main nuclear reactor at Yongbyon following the deal in February, but it has still not declared all of its nuclear activities. The Geneva talks this weekend are part of an international talks process involving six nations - the others being Russia, Japan, China and South Korea.
In addition to issues of nuclear disclosure, Japan is refusing to supply energy and aid until a dispute over the abduction of Japanese nationals by North Korean agents during the 1970s and 1980s is resolved. | Diplomatic Talks _ Diplomatic_Negotiation_ Summit Meeting | September 2007 | ['(BBC)'] |
The Sea Shepherd Conservation Society claims that one of its ships has collided with a Japanese whaling vessel in the Ross Sea, leading to the Japanese vessel lodging a distress call. | The crew of a Japanese whaling ship issued a distress call today and labelled activists "eco-terrorists" following collisions in Antarctica's icy waters today.
Japanese authorities have blamed the dramatic incident on activists with the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, but the group has said the whaling vessel, Kaiko Maru, was at fault.
The Rescue Coordination Centre of New Zealand this afternoon said the Kaiko Maru had issued a distress call, saying it had collided with two ships crewed by Sea Shepherd activists.
The centre later said the Kaiko Maru was no longer in distress, did not require any assistance and was able to continue under its own power.
Sea Shepherd leader, Captain Paul Watson, said there was only one collision - involving the group's protest ship, the Robert Hunter - and the Kaiko Maru.
Watson blamed the incident on the whaling vessel, saying it had "backed up and hit" the Robert Hunter, which had earlier tried to force the Japanese ship into part of the sea heavy with ice.
The action was taken after the whaling ship was seen bearing down on a pod of whales, Watson said.
"At one point the Kaiko Maru turned to starboard and struck the Robert Hunter," the Sea Shepherd group said in a statement.
"The Kaiko Maru has issued a distress signal. We have acknowledged this distress signal but they refuse to say what distress they are in."
Watson said the collision had torn a hole about 30cm in diameter in the hull of the Robert Hunter, but it was not large enough to sink it.
In a statement tonight, Japan's Institute of Cetacean Research (ICR) accused Sea Shepherd protesters of using pirate-like tactics.
"Eco-terrorist group Sea Shepherd Conservation Society has rammed and damaged one of the Japanese research fleet," the statement said.
"Afterwards, both the Robert Hunter and the Farley Mowat came to the either side of the Kaiko Maru, stopping her from continuing. This was done in the same manner employed by pirates.
"Its propeller (the Kaiko Maru's) has been damaged by them."
Sea Shepherd activists have been facing off against the whalers north of the Balleny Islands, west of the Ross Sea, trying to stop Japan's controversial annual whale hunt.
Last week, the rival groups called a temporary truce as the whaling ships joined in the search for two protesters who became lost while trying to foul the propeller of one of the Japanese vessels.
The pair, including Australian Karl Neilsen, were found safe about seven hours later, and hostilities quickly resumed.
International director of Sea Shepherd Jonny Vasic was aboard the Robert Hunter when today's collision occurred.
"It was a loud noise - a big bang. I actually shuddered a bit," Vasic said.
"The ships collided two times, once side by side, and once when they rammed into us.
"I haven't inspected it yet, but they did some damage to our hull."
Vasic said the damage would ``absolutely not'' stop protesters' activities.
"We are here to keep those guys out of the whale sanctuary. We are not damaged beyond repair. We are still seaworthy," Vasic said.
Another environment group in the Antarctic waters, Greenpeace, condemned the clash.
Karli Thomas, the expedition leader on Greenpeace vessel, the Esperanza, said the focus should be on saving whales, not damaging ships.
"We completely condemn any violent action by anyone. Potentially endangering lives in the middle of the Southern Ocean is unacceptable," Thomas said.
The Esperanza, which has been searching for the Japanese whaling fleet, is headed directly towards the co-ordinates given in the distress call.
Earlier today captain Watson said today the Farley Mowat was almost out of fuel and he was considering giving the Japanese whaling ship, the Nisshin Maru, a "steel enema" by ramming it.
Watson said his boat was now seen as a pirate vessel, and he would rather lose it in defence of whales than to bureaucrats.
Sea Shepherd and Greenpeace vessels have run campaigns of interference in recent years aimed at frustrating Japan's whale hunt.
Japan continues to claim its hunt is for scientific purposes but admits whale meat from the catch ends up on restaurant tables.
Australia, New Zealand and other countries have lobbied at the International Whaling Commission to end the hunt.
Australia's Environment Minister Malcolm Turnbull tonight said that while Australia remained opposed to whaling, Sea Shepherd activists should refrain from dangerous action.
"We again call on Sea Shepard to conduct their operations in a safe and peaceful manner," he said in a statement.
"The type of action they are now proposing - such as ramming vessels - could result in a tragedy." | Shipwreck | February 2007 | ['(Sydney Morning Herald)'] |
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports at that least 270 pregnant women in the United States are infected with the Zika virus. | Follow NBC News More than 270 pregnant women in the U.S. are infected with the Zika virus and are at risk of their babies being born with birth defects, federal health officials announced Friday.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention updated the way it reports Zika-affected pregnancies. The goal: to get a better grip on the true risk of a woman having a baby with a birth defect after a Zika infection.
The CDC said the new numbers show 279 women tested positive for the virus. This includes 157 women in the 50 states and Washington, D.C., plus 122 in Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands and other U.S. territories.
So far, fewer than a dozen have had an adverse event," such as a miscarriage or evidence that the fetus has a birth defect, CDC officials said.
These new numbers reflect a broader group of pregnant women pregnant women who have any laboratory evidence of possible Zika virus infection, and whether or not they recalled symptoms compared with numbers previously reported, the CDC said in a statement.
The numbers include women who have already given birth, those who have miscarried and those who may have had abortions because of birth defects.
These new numbers reflect a broader group of pregnant women."
The CDC has been recommending for months that any woman whos pregnant who thinks she could have been exposed to the virus get tested. This includes women who have traveled to Zika-affected areas, and women whose sexual partners have.
The virus is transmitted mostly by mosquitoes, but it can be sexually transmitted, also.
There's now no doubt Zika causes severe and devastating birth defects.
What has not been clear is whether the fetus of a woman who is infected but never had any symptoms is likely to have a birth defect. So CDC had only reported some of the cases of pregnant women with Zika.
Related: Brazilian Researchers Find Evidence Zika Got Worse
But some studies have suggested that a fetus can be affected even if the mother never knew she had Zika. The virus often doesnt cause symptoms. The CDC is now counting all women who have tested positive, and is reporting those numbers publicly.
Dr. Margaret Honein, who heads CDC's birth defects branch, said new numbers will be reported every Thursday. The count will include women whose test results are a little confusing. Dengue virus is a close relative of Zika and tests often confuse the two viruses.
"It is critical for pregnant women to have information on whether or not they are likely to be infected."
"Our goal is to track all Zika-affected pregnancies," Honein told reporters during a telephone briefing.
The CDC is encouraging all obstetricians and gynecologists to ask their patients about possible Zika infection and to report it to their state health departments so that CDC can get an accurate picture of just how many pregnant women are affected.
"It is critical for pregnant women to have information on whether or not they are likely to be infected," Honein said.
Related: We're Not Ready for Zika, U.S. Experts Say
Having a complete count of Zika-affected pregnancies will give CDC a critical piece of data so researchers there can calculate the risk from Zika. Right now, no one can say what the odds are that a woman infected with Zika will have a baby with birth defects. This is very difficult to calculate, because Zika doesn't cause symptoms in all people it infects, or even in most people it infects.
"This information will help healthcare providers as they counsel pregnant women affected by Zika and is essential for planning at the federal, state, and local levels for clinical, public health, and other services needed to support pregnant women and families affected by Zika," the CDC said in a statement.
"Mosquitoes don't go through customs."
The federal government is embroiled in a fight with Congress over paying for the increased surveillance and testing, and in preparing for Zika's arrival in the U.S. More than 500 travelers have carried the virus with them from areas where it's circulating. And once mosquito season really heats up, local U.S. outbreaks are likely, health officials say.
The House and Senate have not agreed on funding, and majorities in neither house want to provide the full $1.9 billion President Barack Obama has asked for.
Congress needs to "get moving," Obama said Friday as he was updated by senior health officials on the Zika epidemic.
"This is not something where we can build a wall to prevent. Mosquitoes don't go through customs," Obama said. "Congress needs to get me a bill."
| Disease Outbreaks | May 2016 | ['(NBC News)', '(NPR)'] |
At least 22 people have been killed and 65 injured following a collision of the Bahauddin Zakaria Express with a stationary train at Juma Goth Train station, Karachi, Pakistan. | A passenger train crashed into the back end of another in Pakistan's southern port city of Karachi on Thursday, killing at least 19 people and injuring 50, officials said.
The collision happened in the early morning hours when a train was parked along the rail lines at a small stopover platform on the city's outskirts, said Nasir Nazeer, an official at the Karachi railway.
The driver of the second train, which rammed into the first, likely ignored the rail traffic signal and caused the crash, he said. An investigation was underway, Nazeer added.
Three women and two children were among those killed, said Dr Seemi Jamali at Karachi's Jinnah Hospital, where most of the injured were rushed to. She said that of the injured, five were in critical condition and were undergoing surgery for head injuries.
At the scene of the crash, wreckage of twisted and broken coaches, many turned over on their sides, was spread over a large area, as police and rescue workers were going through the site, searching for more victims of the crash.
Police official Mukhtar Shah said there were fears of a higher casualty toll as bodies still remained trapped in some of the rail cars.
"We're hearing cries, people shouting for help from the wreck," Shah said.
Relatives were frantically searching for their kin at the hospital, many crying. "I can't find my husband," said a woman shown on a local TV's live footage from the hospital.
Pakistan has one of the world's worst rail infrastructures, and has often seen fatal accidents.
Pakistan Railways Minister Saad Rafique ordered an inquiry, and Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif offered condolences for the victims and ordered local authorities to provide their families with all possible assistance. | Train collisions | November 2016 | ['(Geo tv)', '(AP)'] |
Prime Minister David Cameron announces he will step down on Wednesday, July 13. | Theresa May promised to build a "better Britain" and to make the UK's EU exit a "success" after she was announced as the new Tory leader and soon-to-be PM.
Speaking outside Parliament, Mrs May said she was "honoured and humbled" to succeed David Cameron, after her only rival in the race withdrew on Monday.
Mr Cameron will tender his resignation to the Queen after PMQs on Wednesday.
Mr Cameron, who has been UK prime minister since 2010, decided to quit after the UK's Brexit vote.
It follows another day of dramatic developments in the political world, when Andrea Leadsom unexpectedly quit the two-way Conservative leadership contest, saying she did not have the support to build "a strong and stable government".
Her decision left Mrs May - the front runner - as the only candidate to take over leading the party and to therefore become prime minister.
In a speech flanked by dozens of Conservative MPs, Mrs May, the home secretary since 2010, praised Mr Cameron for his stewardship of the Tory party and the country.
And she paid tribute to Mrs Leadsom for her "dignity" in withdrawing her leadership bid, as well as to the three other candidates who ran in the contest.
"I am honoured and humbled to have been chosen by the Conservative Party to become its leader," Mrs May told the gathered media.
She said her leadership bid had been based on the need for "strong, proven leadership", the ability to unite both party and country and a "positive vision" for Britain's future.
"A vision of a country that works not for the privileged few but that works for every one of us because we're going to give people more control over their lives and that's how, together, we will build a better Britain."
And in a message perhaps designed to reassure Brexit-supporting colleagues, Mrs May - who campaigned to stay in the EU, said: "Brexit means Brexit and we're going to make a success of it."
Earlier, in a brief statement outside No 10, Mr Cameron said he was "delighted" that Mrs May was to succeed him in Downing Street.
He said a "prolonged period of transition" was not necessary, and added: "So tomorrow I will chair my last cabinet meeting. On Wednesday I will attend the House of Commons for Prime Minister's Questions.
"After that I expect to go the Palace and offer my resignation."
The prime minister praised Mrs May as "strong" and "competent" and he said she was "more than able to provide the leadership" the UK needs in the coming years.
"She will have my full support," he added.
Announcing her decision to pull out of the contest, Mrs Leadsom - who was a leading light of the Brexit campaign - said a nine-week leadership campaign at such a "critical time" for the UK would be "highly undesirable" - and she gave her backing to Mrs May.
A source close to the energy minister told BBC political editor Laura Kuenssberg "the abuse has been too great" for Mrs Leadsom during the contest.
Mrs Leadsom had apologised to Mrs May on Monday after suggesting in a weekend newspaper interview that being a mother made her a better candidate for the job.
BBC chief political correspondent Vicki Young said Mrs May had begun the day launching her leadership campaign to take to the party membership - and within the space of several hours found out she would be prime minister by Wednesday.
Mrs May would now have to decide the make-up of her new cabinet, she said.
Mr Cameron announced his intention to resign as prime minister on 24 June, after finding himself on the losing side of the EU referendum, with the UK voting by 52% to 48% in favour of leaving.
| Government Job change - Resignation_Dismissal | July 2016 | ['(BBC)'] |
Three policemen and one civilian are killed in Almaty, Kazakhstan, in an attack on a police station by a radical Islamist. One gunman is reportedly still at large. |
The figure was announced by Kazakhstan's Defense Minister Kalmukhanbet Kasymov.
Authorities had reported earlier that three policemen and one civilian had been killed in the attack. The three murdered police officers, who were 24, 28 and 42-year old, were all reportedly married with children.
A source at Almaty hospital told Reuters that six people had been killed in the shootout, while eight people were hospitalized, most of them in serious or critical condition.
What a hell is going on in Almaty can someone explain me?!
It was initially reported that a group of people had attacked a police station in Almaty, triggering a manhunt in the city.
Two suspects have been detained. A weapon stolen from a killed police officer was reportedly found on one of them.
The suspected gunman, 26-year-old Ruslan Kulikbayev, was close to Salafis, an ultra-conservative school of Islam that he joined while in prison, the country’s National Security Committee chief said at a Security Council meeting on Monday. Kulikbayev had served two prison sentences, one for robbery in 2010 and another for illegal arms possession in 2012.
“He became affiliated with Salafis in prison, we are now seeing into the matter,” Zhumakanov said.
The attacker shot at the policemen in revenge for the time he spent in prison, the defense minister told reporters.
“During his time spent in prison he nursed a grudge against police officers and decided to take revenge upon them,” the minister said, adding that the information was obtained during the interrogation of the suspected gunman.
The second suspect detained by police turned out to be a taxi driver who drove Kulikbayev around the city, the defense minister said at the same meeting. The driver was forced to help the gunman and ran away at the earliest opportunity, he added.
“We detained him later,” the minister said.
As the events began to develop, witnesses reported on social networks that “an unknown person wearing black was shooting with assault rifle at police, trying to stop [their] car, and then ran in the eastern direction.”
“At first there were three or four single shots fired, and then there was a round. The unknown attacker ran away with an assault rifle (Kalashnikov), and the policemen ran after him,” employees at nearby offices told Bestnews.kz media outlet.
Gunfire was heard in three districts of Almaty, security sources said, as cited by TASS new agency.
The areas near police headquarters, as well as near the Department of the National Security Committee have been blocked off by police, and the railway station was briefly closed.
A red level anti-terror alert was announced for the city, meaning the level of danger was critical. It is enacted only when authorities know that a terrorist act has been committed, and that there is still a possibility that more may take place.
An anti-terror operation was being conducted in Almaty, the local interior ministry said, while asking residents not to leave their apartments and avoid public places. Locals were also asked to inform police of any suspicious people, and treat the situation with understanding.The operation is now over, and red level alert has been lifted.
. | Riot | July 2016 | ['(RT)'] |
The Oberoi Trident and Taj Mahal Palace & Tower hotels in Mumbai reopen less than a month after the November terrorist attacks. | Two luxury hotels in Mumbai are re-opening, less than a month after they were heavily damaged in attacks on the city that killed at least 170 people.
The Trident-Oberoi and Taj Mahal Palace hotels were among prominent locations in the Indian city struck by 10 gunmen.
Both hotels were the scene of fierce battles between police and the gunmen that lasted for several days.
Armed guards and sniffer dogs have been stationed at both hotels and X-ray machines are to screen guests' bags.
About 80 guests and staff at the hotels were killed as the gunmen went on a shooting spree through the buildings.
Nine gunmen were killed and one is in police custody.
'Deep pride'
Less-heavily damaged sections of the two hotels are being re-opened in the run-up to Christmas.
More than 1,000 guests have been invited to a re-opening party at the Taj on Sunday, where 268 rooms are available, hotel officials said.
Rattan Keswani, president of Trident Hotels which owns part of the Oberoi, said he felt "deep pride" for the work his staff had done both during the 26-29 November attacks, and since.
"There is definitely a huge amount of sadness in everybody's mind," he said, but added that he was proud of his staff for being "100%" committed to re-opening the hotel.
A hundred of the 550 guest rooms of the Trident section of the Oberoi hotel would be occupied on Sunday night, he said.
He said the hotel would be fitted with surveillance systems, baggage scanners and strict security.
While the modern Tower wing of the Taj is re-opening, the 105-year-old main section of the hotel is still closed, requiring extensive renovations to its ornate wood and marble interiors. | Armed Conflict | December 2008 | ['(BBC)'] |
A 7.1 magnitude earthquake occurs off the north east coast of North Island, New Zealand. A tsunami warning was issued after the earthquake, and waves of 0.3m have been reported near Gisborne. | Residents of a small community on the east coast of New Zealand's North Island have been told they can return to their homes, after a severe earthquake at sea sparked a tsunami warning.
The 7.1 quake struck 169km (105 miles) north-east of Gisborne on Friday morning local time.
Authorities asked people in the Tolaga Bay area to leave their homes.
Some damage to property has been reported, but no injuries. The quake caused a tsunami but it has had no noticeable impact, an emergency worker told New Zealand radio. The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center in Hawaii tweeted that only a 21cm (8in) wave had been measured.
Local civil defence officials said it was now safe for Gisborne residents to return, but advised them to stay away from beaches, streams and estuaries, saying the tsunami threat had not entirely lifted. Residents were told to head for high ground or far inland if they felt another strong quake.
The quake occurred at 04:37 local time (16:37 GMT) at a depth of 19km (12 miles), US monitors say, and was followed by a series of large aftershocks. Residents across North Island said they felt shaking and rattling as the quake struck but there were no immediate reports of serious damage.
In 2011, the city of Christchurch on South Island was devastated by a magnitude 6.3 earthquake that left 185 people dead.
Each year more than 15,000 earthquakes are recorded in New Zealand, but only about 150 are large enough to be felt.
. | Earthquakes | September 2016 | ['(BBC)', '(The Independent)'] |
21 people are killed in a clash between the Sudanese army and two rebel factions in Darfur. | KHARTOUM (Reuters) - Sudan’s army on Friday said it clashed with fighters from two rebel factions in Darfur in a four-hour fight that left 21 people dead.
A string of failed ceasefires and accords has failed to stop the fighting in the remote western territory where mostly non- Arab rebels took up arms against the government in 2003.
The military said forces from the rebel Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) and the Sudan Liberation Army (SLA) loyal to Minni Minnawi ambushed its men on a road between the capital of South Darfur state Nyala and the capital of North Darfur state El Fasher on Thursday evening.
“We killed 13 JEM and SLA ... and also we lost eight men from the Sudanese army,” Sudanese army spokesman Al-Sawarmi Khaled told Reuters on Friday, adding his men routed the insurgents.
Al-Tahir al-Feki, a senior JEM official based in Britain, said he was aware of the fighting but was still waiting for a detailed report from commanders on the ground.
Khaled said he thought the rebels were reacting to a recent statement from the country’s minister of defense that a large part of the region was now clear of rebels. “This was their reply,” the spokesman said.
The fighting took place between the villages of Menawashi and Kidnir in South Darfur he said.
The violence in Darfur has died down from the mass killings reported in the early days of the conflict. But there have been sporadic clashes between the army and rebel forces, particularly since JEM walked out of floundering peace talks last year.
JEM and the SLA accused Sudan’s government of neglecting the development of the region when they first launched their revolt. Khartoum set out to crush the uprising with its own troops and allied mostly Arab militias.
The International Criminal Court has issued arrest warrants for Sudan’s president Omar Hassan al-Bashir, accusing him of masterminding genocide during the counter-insurgency campaign.
Separately UNAMID reported it had helped move two aid workers for the U.S.-based Catholic Relief Services (CRS) from a remote location in West Darfur after the government reported unspecified “threats” had been made against them.
Armed men abducted three Bulgarian helicopter crew working for the U.N. World Food ProgramProgrammedme in West Darfur last week, the latest in a series of kidnappings targeting humanitarian staff.
| Armed Conflict | January 2011 | ['(Reuters)'] |
Egypt's prosecution service declares that nobody was at the controls of one of the trains that collided last month, in an accident that killed 20 people and injured around 200. | Neither the driver nor the assistant of an Egyptian train that crashed at speed into another last month were at the controls during the deadly accident, the prosecution service said Sunday.
The prosecutor also alleged that the assistant of the stationary train and a track signalman were under the influence of the powerful painkiller tramadol, while the former had also used cannabis.
At least 20 people died and 199 were injured in the March 26 crash near Sohag in southern Egypt, according to the authorities' latest count.
According to an investigative report cited by the prosecutor on Sunday, the driver and his assistant "were not in the driver's cabin" at the time of the crash, "contrary to their claims".
Video images caught on a surveillance camera show the moving train hitting a stationary train at speed, sending one carriage high into the air, in an immense cloud of dust.
Egypt has suffered several deadly train accidents in recent years.
Egypt's Transport Minister Kamel el-Wazir - a former general named to the post after a deadly 2019 collision - had already blamed last month's crash on "human" error.
He has pledged to put in place an automated network by 2024.
President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi has vowed to hold to account those responsible for the crash.
At least eight people, including the driver and his assistant, were arrested shortly after the crash that happened in the village of Samaa Gharb, 460 kilometres south of Cairo. | Train collisions | April 2021 | ['(The New Arab)'] |
In ladies' Gaelic football, the Rebelettes crush Kerry by a scoreline of 0–16 to 0–7 at Croke Park to win the All–Ireland Senior Ladies' Football Championship. (RTÉ Sport) | Cork were crowned TG4 All-Ireland Ladies Senior football champions for the seventh time in eight seasons with a 0-16 to 0-07 win over Kerry at Croke Park.
A dominant display from the Rebelettes crushed Munster rivals Kerry in the showpiece decider at GAA Headquarters.
16,998 spectators watched Cork collect the Brendan Martin Cup for the second successive year and since 2005, Eamonn Ryan’s all-conquering players have lost just one championship match, against Tyrone in 2010.
That Banagher defeat was described by Ryan as a “pebble in the shoe” and it’s ensured that the Leesiders have bounced back to claim back-to-back All-Ireland titles.
Kerry, contesting a first All-Ireland senior decider since 1993, suffered a first-ever defeat in the showpiece fixture, as Cork maintained their unbeaten record in senior finals.
Kerry set out to contain Cork as boss William O’Sullivan made a number of positional switches. The Kingdom packed their defence and as a result they struggled desperately for scores at the other end.
Sarah Houlihan carried the fight to Cork in attack and goalkeeper Edel Murphy kept a clean sheet but, overall, this was a chastening experience for Kerry.
Lorraine Scanlon, named at midfield but deployed at full-forward, enjoyed some good moments but Cork generally dealt well with the aerial bombardment.
For Cork, wing-backs Briege Corkery and Geraldine O’Flynn were in magnificent form, surging forward from defence and putting their opponents on the back foot.
Three of Cork’s six starting forwards failed to register a point from play, but the scoreboard kept ticking over with regularity nonetheless.
Doireann O’Sullivan was a revelation at centre-forward, notching four points from play, while Valerie Mulcahy collected six of her seven points from placed balls.
The free count heavily favoured Cork – 32 to 11 – and O’Sullivan admitted his displeasure with some decisions against Kerry after the game.
But O’Sullivan acknowledged that Kerry, who lost the Munster final by six points to Cork, could have no complaints with this latest defeat.
They went 14 minutes without a score in the first half and trailed at half-time by 0-03 to 0-10.
Cork stormed into an early 0-03 to 0-00 lead before Kerry scored their opening point in the tenth minute, courtesy of Houlihan. To their credit, Kerry denied Cork any real goalscoring opportunities but the champions were happy to take their points when the chances presented themselves.
On the stroke of half-time, Orlagh Farmer kicked a majestic point and the half-time hooter sounded as the ball sailed over the bar.
Kerry did land two successive points for the first and only time early in the second half, but they never looked like launching a revival.
And their misery was complete in the final minute when star forward Louise Ní Mhuircheartaigh went to the sin bin after picking up a yellow card.
It later emerged that Kingdom skipper Bernie Breen sustained a serious shoulder injury early in the game, but the Laune Rangers star played the entire hour nonetheless.
This latest success for Cork means that 11 of their starting line-up have now collected seven All-Ireland medals, while sub Angela Walsh has also featured in each of those All-Ireland successes since 2005.
Scorers for Cork: V Mulcahy 0-07 (6f), D O’Sullivan 0-04, G O’Flynn 0-02, B Corkery, O Farmer & N Cleary (f) 0-01 each.
Scorers for Kerry: S Houlihan 0-03 (2f), L Scanlon 0-02, L Ní Mhuircheartaigh (f) & P Dennehy 0-01 each.
Cork: E Harte; AM Walsh, B Stack, D O’Reilly; B Corkery, R Buckley, G O’Flynn; J Murphy, N Kelly; O Farmer, D O’Sullivan, C O’Sullivan; N Cleary, V Mulcahy, R Ní Bhuachalla.
Subs: Angela Walsh for AM Walsh (38 mins), O Finn for Ní Bhuachalla (38), L McMahon for Farmer (46), A Hutchings for Kelly (53), Annie Walsh for C O’Sullivan (57).
Kerry: E Murphy; C Lynch, A Desmond, A Lyons; J Brosnan, A Leonard, L Galvin; E Sherwood, B Breen; C Kelly, D Corridan, S Houlihan; M O’Connell, L Scanlon, L Ní Mhuircheartaigh.
Subs: P Dennehy for Corridan (24 mins), M Fitzgerald for Galvin (44), D Corridan for O’Connell (58), SJ Joy for Sherwood (58). | Sports Competition | October 2012 | ['(Examiner Sport)'] |
Chinese archaeologists have found a hidden underground chamber within the tomb of Qin Shi Huang. | Historical records describing the tomb of Qin Shihuang, the first emperor of China's Qin dynasty, do not mention the room which is 30 metres (98 feet) deep.
The unopened chamber was found at the site near the old imperial capital of Xian using remote sensing technology.
One expert says it may have been built for the soul of the emperor.
More than 2,000 years old, the chamber is buried inside a pyramidal earth mound 51m (170 feet) high on top of Qin's tomb.
It is situated near the life-size terracotta warriors and has four stair-like walls, says Duan Qingbo, a researcher with the Shaanxi Institute of Archaeology.
The Chinese authorities have not given permission to excavate the site.
It is believed that they wish to perfect archaeological techniques before probing any further, and archaeologists have had to use the sensing technology at the site since 2002.
Despite his brutal methods, Emperor Qin is remembered as a hero in China for forging a unified state. | New archeological discoveries | July 2007 | ['(BBC)'] |
The Israeli military launches airstrikes on dozens of Quds Force targets in Damascus and surrounding towns in response to a missile intercepted the previous day over the Golan Heights. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reports 23 are killed, including several Iranian fighters. | JERUSALEM (AP) — Israel said it struck dozens of Iranian targets in Syria on Wednesday in a “wide-scale” operation in response to rocket fire on the Israeli-controlled Golan Heights the day before.
A Britain-based war monitoring group said the strikes killed at least 23 people, including 15 non-Syrians, some of them Iranians. Syrian state media only reported that two civilians were killed.
The exchange of fire along the increasingly tense frontier comes as Iran and its allies face blowback across the region, with mass protests against Tehran-aligned governments in Lebanon and Iraq, as well as demonstrations in Iran itself over a recent hike in fuel prices.
Israel has repeatedly struck Iran-linked targets in Syria in recent years and has warned against any permanent Iranian presence on the frontier. Last week, Israel killed a senior commander of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, an Iran-backed group in the Gaza Strip, setting off two days of heavy fighting. A separate airstrike targeted but failed to kill an Islamic Jihad leader in Damascus, underscoring the risk of escalation at various pressure points across the volatile region.
In the latest incident, the Israeli military said fighter jets hit multiple targets belonging to Iran’s elite Quds force, including surface-to-air missiles, weapons warehouses and military bases. It said a number of Syrian aerial defense batteries were also destroyed after an air defense missile was fired.
The death toll was reported by Rami Abdurrahman, who heads the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, an opposition activist group with a network of contacts across Syria. He said the dead included five Syrian troops, 16 Iranian and Iran-backed fighters, and two Syrian civilians.
The Observatory said the airstrikes targeted Quds Force arms depots in the Damascus suburbs of Kisweh and Qudsaya. Abdurrahman said several other areas were targeted in Wednesday’s strikes, including the Mazzeh air base in Damascus, where air defense units are stationed.
Syria’s state-run SANA news agency said the two civilians were killed by shrapnel when an Israeli missile hit a house in the town of Saasaa, southwest of Damascus. It said several others were wounded, including a girl in a residential building in Qudsaya, also west of the Syrian capital.
It claimed that Syrian air defenses destroyed most of the Israeli missiles before they reached their targets.
Wednesday’s strikes on Syria were the most intense since Jan. 21, when Israel claimed responsibility for a series of airstrikes on Iranian military targets in the Arab country, including munition storage facilities, an intelligence site and a military training camp, in response to an Iranian missile attack the previous day.
Israel had said the missile, fired by Iranian forces in Syria, was intercepted over a ski resort on the Golan Heights and that there were no injuries. That Iranian launch followed a rare Israeli daylight air raid near the Damascus International Airport.
On Tuesday, the Israeli military said it intercepted four incoming rockets from Syria. It said the attack “threatens Israeli security, regional stability and the Syrian regime,” and vowed to “continue operating firmly and resolutely” against Iran in Syria.
Lt. Col. Jonathan Conricus, a military spokesman, said the significance of the retaliatory operation was the “multitude of targets” hit.
The targets included what he described as the Iranian headquarters at Damascus airport, where senior Iranian officials are based and which is used to coordinate shipments from Iran to its allies in Syria and beyond. He added that Israel also holds Syria responsible for hosting the Iranians.
Tuesday’s rocket fire on the Golan was the sixth attempt by Iran to attack Israeli targets since February 2018, and all have been thwarted, Conricus said.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has issued a series of warnings about Iranian actions throughout the Middle East and has vowed to respond firmly.
“I made it clear: whoever harms us, we will harm them. That’s what we did tonight,” he said early Wednesday. “We will continue to aggressively protect Israel’s security.”
Israel’s new hard-line defense minister, Naftali Bennett, issued an equally firm statement.
“The rules have changed: whoever fires on Israel during the day will not sleep at night,” he said. “Our message to the leaders of Iran is simple: you are no longer immune. Any place you dispatch your tentacles, we will chop them off.”
Last week’s airstrike targeting the Islamic Jihad commander in Syria marked a rare assassination attempt against a Palestinian militant in the Syrian capital. The militant, Akram al-Ajouri, survived the attack but his son and granddaughter were killed.
It came the same day as an Israeli airstrike killed a senior Islamic Jihad commander in Gaza, Bahaa Abu el-Atta, settling off the fiercest round of fighting there in years. The fighting killed at least 34 Palestinians and saw more than 450 rockets fired into Israel.
Iran has forces based in Syria, Israel’s northern neighbor, and supports Hezbollah militants in Lebanon. In Gaza, it supplies Islamic Jihad with cash, weapons and training, and also supports Hamas, the Islamic militant group that rules the coastal territory.
Netanyahu claims Iran is using Iraq and far-off Yemen, where Tehran supports Shiite Houthi rebels at war with a Saudi-led coalition backing the government, to plan attacks against Israel.
___
Mroue reported from Beirut. Associated Press writers Aron Heller in Jerusalem and Albert Aji in Damascus, Syria, contributed to this report. | Famous Person - Death | November 2019 | ['(Associated Press)'] |
Spanish archaeologists in Luxor announce the discovery of an approximately 3000 year old mummy in "near perfect" condition. | Spanish archaeologists have discovered a millennia-old mummy in "very good condition" near the southern Egyptian town of Luxor, the antiquities ministry said.
The find was in a tomb probably dating from between 1075-664 BC on the west bank of the Nile river, 700km south of Cairo, a statement said on Sunday.
The mummy had been bound with linen stuck together with plaster.
It was in a brightly coloured wooden sarcophagus and had been buried near a temple from the era of fourth-millennium warrior king Thutmose III.
The tomb was likely to have belonged to a nobleman, Amenrenef, who was "a servant of the royal household", the antiquities ministry said.
The archaeological team's head, Myriam Seco Alvarez, said the mummy was decorated with "many colourful decorations recalling religious symbols from ancient Egypt, such as the goddesses Isis and Nephtys displaying their wings, and the four sons of Horus".
The earliest evidence of mummification in Egypt suggests the practice of wrapping bodies to preserve them after death dates back as far as 4500 BC.
Luxor, a city of half a million people on the banks of the Nile, abounds with temples and tombs built by Egypt's pharaohs.
It is a key site for Egypt's tourist industry, which has been battered by political instability and violence since the 2011 revolution that toppled then-president Hosni Mubarak. | New archeological discoveries | November 2016 | ['(MSN)'] |
The United States military files new charges against Private Bradley Manning in relation to the leak of the WikiLeaks cables. | The US military has brought 22 new charges against the junior soldier accused of leaking hundreds of thousands of sensitive US government documents that were published by WikiLeaks.
Bradley Manning, a former intelligence analyst suspected of disclosing the documents, is being held at a Marine base in Virginia as US officials investigate last year's publication of state department cables and military documents related to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
The new charges include the capital offence of "aiding the enemy" but prosecutors said they would not seek the death penalty in the case.
Instead, the 23-year-old soldier could possibly face life in prison, the army said in a statement.
The charges, following a seven-month investigation, include "wrongfully causing intelligence to be published on the internet knowing that it will be accessed by the enemy," theft of public records, transmitting defence information and fraud related to computers, the army statement said.
"The new charges more accurately reflect the broad scope of the crimes" that Manning is accused of committing, said captain John Haberland, spokesman for the military district of Washington.
The US military had already announced 12 charges against Manning in July.
The Pentagon has yet to explicitly link him to the WikiLeaks website, but the grave charge of "aiding the enemy" raised the possibility WikiLeaks itself could be defined as the enemy.
US and Western officials have condemned WikiLeaks for publishing hundreds of thousands of sensitive military documents and diplomatic cables over the past several months.
The WikiLeaks website has yet to disclose its source for the massive trove of secret documents, but suspicion has focused on Manning, who worked as a low-ranking army intelligence analyst in Iraq.
A trial date has yet to be set and the army says proceedings have been delayed since July 12, 2010, pending the outcome of an inquiry into the soldier's "mental capacity" requested by defence lawyers.
| Famous Person - Commit Crime - Accuse | March 2011 | ['(ABC News Australia)'] |
Mark Funkhouser is defeated in a bid to be reelected as the mayor of Kansas City with Mike Burke and Sly James contesting a runoff on March 22. | It had been almost 90 years since a Kansas City, Missouri, mayoral incumbant lost a re-election bid. But that streak came to a halt on Tuesday as Mayor Mark Funkhouser conceded defeat in his bid for a second term in office.With all precincts reporting, challenger Mike Burke is leading the candidates with 27 percent of the vote, with Sly James following closely with 26 percent. Funkhouser is currently in third place with 21 percent of the vote.Burke and James, who are both attorneys, will face off in the March 22 general election.At his election campaign party in Westport, Funkhouser said that he called Burke and James to congratulate them on their apparent victory in the primary.Funkhouser thanked his controversial wife, Gloria Squitiro, his daughter and his campaign staff for their work.
Funkhouser's term as mayor was marked with controversy from the beginning, including several lawsuits regarding Squitiro's role in the Mayor's office.According to the Midwest Democracy Project, the last incumbant Kansas City mayor to lose was in the 1920's.The other candidates in the race are City Councilwoman Deb Hermann, former councilman Jim Rowland and businessman Henry Kline.
Meanwhile, voters also decided City Council races across the city. Click here for complete election results from FOX4KC.com.
In the most controversial City Council race, a Jackson County judge on Monday ruled that challenger Michael Fletcher did not meet the city's residency requirements to run for office, having claimed a residence in California as his primary home for the past few years.
Incumbent councilwoman Sharon Sanders-Brooks filed the lawsuit challenging Fletcher's residency. Now, her campaign says it will ask the court to prevent votes for Fletcher from being posted or reported to the public.
With 100 percent of precincts reporting, Brooks is leading with 38 percent of the vote, with Fletcher coming in second with 34 percent and Jermain Reed third with 28 percent.
Lawyer Clinton Adams says votes for unqualified candidates are counted but not reported under Missouri law.Since Fletcher has been disqualified, he says any vote he receives should be treated the same as if a voter wrote in "Mickey Mouse."There is some concern that a disqualified Fletcher could receive more votes than the two other candidates on the ballot, Sanders-Brooks and Jermaine Reed."We're not asking anybody to destroy any votes, or to seal any records, or anything like that," Adams said. "I just don't think they should be reported. Improper votes aren't reported. We don't think improper votes should be reported in this instance."Sanders-Brooks called on Fletcher to respect the court's decision and bow out of the race gracefully.If Fletcher were to win the election, his place would be declared vacant, unless the disqualification ruling is overturned by the Missouri Supreme Court or full Court of Appeals.
Election officials described voter turnout as light across the city, expecting a turnout of around 18 percent. | Government Job change - Election | February 2011 | ['(Fox Kansas City)'] |
Pervez Musharraf is sworn in as the President of Pakistan for a second term, this time as a civilian. | Pakistan president Pervez Musharraf has been sworn in as a civilian leader, ending eight years of military rule.
Mr Musharraf stepped down as head of the armed forces yesterday.
This is Mr Musharraf's second successive term as president but will be his first as a civilian, and a test of his ability to survive without full control over the army.
The oath of office was given by a Supreme Court chief justice personally selected by Mr Musharraf.
The sacked former chief justice remains under house arrest.
Mr Musharraf is under strong international pressure to take further measures to restore genuine civilian rule, including lifting the state of emergency imposed earlier this month.
Opposition leader Benazir Bhutto welcomed Mr Musharraf's decision to quit his army post but said her party was "in no hurry" to accept him as a civilian president.
We acknowledge Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as the First Australians and Traditional Custodians of the lands where we live, learn, and work.
| Government Job change - Appoint_Inauguration | November 2007 | ['(ABC News Australia)'] |
The United Nations states that at least 65 people are dead after a boat sinks off the coast of Tunisia while carrying migrants from Libya to Europe. | The UN says at least 65 migrants died after their boat capsized in the Mediterranean off the coast of Tunisia as they travelled from Libya to Europe.
The state-run Tunis Afrique Presse agency gave a death toll of at least 70 people. It was one the deadliest shipwrecks involving migrants trying to reach Europe this year.
In the first four months of 2019, 164 people were known to have died on the route, a smaller number but higher death rate than in previous years, with one dying for every three who reach European shores, UNHCR said.
"This is a tragic and terrible reminder of the risks still faced by those who attempt to cross the Mediterranean," said Vincent Cochetel, UNHCR Special Envoy for the Mediterranean.
UNHCR said the sunken boat had taken to the sea on Thursday from neighbouring Libya, where renewed warfare between rival factions has gripped the capital Tripoli in the past five weeks.
The Tunisian navy brought 16 survivors to the coast at Zarzis, where one was immediately taken to hospital and the others awaited permission to disembark, UNHCR said.
The Tunisian agency said the boat had sunk 40 miles off the coast of Sfax, south of the capital Tunis, and that fishing boats had rescued the survivors.
Tunisia's defence ministry said the boat had left from the Libyan port of Zouara aiming to reach Italy. Navy units have recovered only three bodies so far, it said in a statement.
Libya's west coast is a main departure point for African migrants hoping to reach Europe by paying human traffickers, though numbers have dropped due to an Italian-led effort to disrupt smuggling networks and support the Libyan coast guard.
Earlier on Friday, UNHCR spokesman Babar Baloch said the United Nations had repeatedly voiced its concerns about the lack of boats to pick up migrants and refugees fleeing from "the horrendous and horrible situation" in Libya. It called on governments to step in.
Although the fighting in Libya has made the situation more difficult for people-trafficking rackets, international aid officials have warned that it could also prompt more Libyans to flee their country.
It was not immediately known from which countries the migrants involved in Friday's tragedy were from.
According to UN agency the International Organisation for Migration (IOM), 2,297 migrants died or went missing in the Mediterranean last year out of a total of 116,959 people who reached Europe by sea.
Some 117 migrants who left Libya in a rubber dinghy in January went missing and most remain unaccounted for, according to the IOM.
| Shipwreck | May 2019 | ['(Reuters/ABC News Australia)'] |
12 Kenyan police officers are killed when their vehicle hits a roadside bomb in east Wajir County, near the Somali border. No one has claimed responsibility, though the police had been pursuing suspected alShabab militants fighting Somalia's government and its backers. | At least 12 Kenyan police officers were reportedly killed after their vehicle struck an improvised explosive device (IED) near the Somali border on Friday, 15th June 2019.
Kenya officials said those killed on Saturday 15th June 2019 in Wajir County along the border with Somalia, were among 13 police officers who were pursuing extremists who had kidnappedpolicereservists. 12 of them were killed in a suspected extremist attack, while another is reported to have escaped with serious injuries.
The incident took place between Riba and Konton villages in Wajir east. A senior Wajir police officer who declined to be identified confirmed the incident by suspected al-Shabab militants believed to have crossed over from neighboring Somalia.
“A team of 13 administration police officers were attacked with IED between Riba and Konton and only one survived with serious injuries subject to confirmation of the number of death toll,” said the police officer.
The security officer issued that the killed police officers were allegedly conducting security surveillance along Kenya-Somalia border when the incident happened as militants stormed a local center and abducted three police reservists in the same location two days before the incident.
Witnesses said the police officers were killed when their vehicle ran over the landmine and those who survived were pursued and shot dead.
“A police chopper has been sent to pick the only survivor,” he added.
Somali al Shabaab insurgents claimed responsibility on Friday for kidnapping three Kenyan police reservists from Wajir, in northeast Kenya near the Somali border.
Al Shabaab said that it also took hostage of several Kenyan police officers and confiscated two motorbikes as well as military equipment.
“Last night, we captured a village called Konton in Wajir County. We left the village and took three Kenyan policemen with us,” Abdiasis Abu Musab, al Shabaab’s spokesman for military operations, told Reuters by phone, according to France 24.
Kenyan military forces have occupied part of southern Somalia along the two countries’ shared border since 2011.
Kenya: EAC SG's Condolence message on the death through a terrorist Attack of 11 Police OfficersOctober 15, 2019In "News"
Two Kenyan police officers sentenced to death over murder.November 14, 2018In "africa"
Muramvya: 12 killed in a roadside ambush, what we know so farMay 11, 2021In "Briefing"
RegionWeek is a Burundi-based media for a new generation of achievers in Africa, a platform devoted to chronicling the journey to Freedom and Empowerment. | Armed Conflict | June 2019 | ['(BBC)', '(Region week)'] |
The soldiers who ousted Keïta promise fresh elections within a "reasonable" time. A spokesman for the mutineers says they acted "to prevent further chaos in Mali" while Colonel Ismaël Wagué invited civil society and political parties to join a peaceful transition. | BAMAKO (Reuters) - One of Mali’s most influential power brokers, Mahmoud Dicko, will withdraw from politics, his spokesman said, after a meeting on Wednesday with leaders of a military coup who have promised to oversee elections within a “reasonable” time.
President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita resigned and dissolved parliament on Tuesday after the mutineers detained him at gunpoint, further rocking a country that is in the grip of a jihadist insurgency and civil unrest.
Fearing Keita’s fall after nearly seven years in power could destabilise the Sahel region, the African Union and Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) both suspended Mali.
The mood in the capital Bamako was calm throughout the day and junta leaders urged people and officials to return to life as normal. But the economic fallout from the coup started to appear as investors ditched shares in Mali-based gold mining companies and Ivory Coast halted financial flows.
The mutineers met Dicko, a Salafist preacher who electrified protesters during anti-Keita demonstrations in recent weeks that drew tens of thousands of people.
After the meeting, a spokesman for Dicko said he had decided to withdraw from politics.
Although no further details were shared, the move suggests at least part of the opposition movement is satisfied with the coup orchestrators’ promise to return to democratic practices.
A spokesman for the mutineers, who call themselves the National Committee for the Salvation of the People (NCSP), earlier said they were not seeking power.
“We are keen on the stability of the country, which will allow us to organise general elections ... within a reasonable time limit,” Colonel Ismael Wague said on state television.
In response, the M5-RFP opposition coalition said in a statement it had taken note of NCSP’s commitment to the transferral of power via the ballot box and would work with the group to achieve this.
The mutineers have denied reports of casualties from Tuesday’s unrest, but human rights group Amnesty International said it had documented the death of four people, while 15 more were wounded by bullets.
A Malian security source identified three of the other junta leaders who appeared alongside Wague as Colonels Sadio Camara, Malick Diaw and Modibo Kone.
Wague described neighbouring armies, France’s anti-jihadist Barkhane force and a U.N. peacekeeping mission as “partners for stability and restoring security”.
On Wednesday, the United Nations Security Council condemned the mutiny and urged the soldiers to release all government officials and return to their barracks.
The 15-member council had earlier been briefed by U.N. peacekeeping chief Jean-Pierre Lacroix, who told them the U.N.’s Mali mission “remains committed to playing its mandated role ... but the country must swiftly regain a measure of institutional stability and Constitutional order.”
Michael Shurkin, a former CIA officer now with the Rand Corporation, said the upheaval risked distracting Malian forces from their fight against jihadists linked to al Qaeda and Islamic State.
“The U.N., EUTM (European Union Training Mission) and French have spent billions. What now? Is the answer just to walk away?” he asked.
Mali has struggled to regain stability since a Tuareg uprising in 2012 that was hijacked by Islamist militants.
Keita, 75, was elected in 2013 following a coup the previous year, promising to bring peace and stability and fight corruption. He won a second five-year term in 2018.
Following months of protests over corruption allegations, at least 14 people were killed in July in demonstrations called by the M5-RFP.
ECOWAS, which had sought to mediate between Keita and his opponents, said it planned to deploy a fresh mission to Mali to ensure a return to democracy and scheduled an extraordinary virtual session of heads of state for Thursday.
On Wednesday, the finance ministry of Ivory Coast - French-speaking West Africa’s largest economy - ordered the suspension of all financial relations with Mali, in line with an ECOWAS decision in response to Tuesday’s mutiny.
‘HIS OWN FAULT’
Anti-government protesters had poured into Bamako late on Tuesday to cheer the mutineers.
“I am against coups, but they become necessary if leaders are inflexible. What happened to IBK (Keita) was his own fault,” said 43-year-old motorcycle mechanic Namory Konate.
People and traffic circulated as normal on Wednesday, although many shops, banks and public buildings remained closed following looting.
Videos on social media had shown Malians running unchecked through luxury compounds in the city, including properties belonging to the justice minister and Keita’s son.
Gold mining firms, including Mali's largest miner Barrick Gold ABX.TO, said they were operating as usual and staff were safe, but traders sold shares because of the increased political risk.
| Government Job change - Election | August 2020 | ['(Reuters)'] |
Turkish Interior Minister Süleyman Soylu accuses the United States of being behind the coup d'état attempt in 2016, which killed more than 250 people. The U.S. State Department says the accusation was "wholly false", and "inconsistent with Turkey's status as a NATO ally". | ANKARA (Reuters) - Turkey’s interior minister accused the United States on Thursday of being behind a 2016 failed coup that Ankara has blamed on a U.S.-based Muslim preacher, the Hurriyet daily reported, at a time when Turkey is seeking improved ties with its NATO ally.
The U.S. State Department said the accusation was “wholly false.”
More than 250 people were killed in the attempt to overthrow President Tayyip Erdogan and his government on July 15, 2016, when rogue soldiers commandeered warplanes, helicopters and tanks to seize state institutions.
Ankara has long blamed preacher Fethullah Gulen, a former ally of Erdogan who lives in Pennsylvania, and launched a widespread crackdown on his network, which Ankara refers to by the acronym ‘FETO’. Gulen denies any involvement.
Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu told Hurriyet the United States had managed the coup attempt while Gulen’s network carried it out, adding “Europe was enthusiastic about it,” reaffirming a view he said he had been expressing since the putsch.
“It is blatantly clear the United States is behind July 15. It was FETO who carried it out upon their orders,” he said.
The U.S. State Department said in a statement: “The United States had no involvement in the 2016 attempted coup in Turkey and promptly condemned it. Recent assertions to the contrary made by senior Turkish officials are wholly false.”
It said “unfounded and irresponsible claims of U.S. responsibility for events in Turkey are inconsistent with Turkey’s status as a NATO Ally and strategic partner of the United States.”
Washington has repeatedly rejected Turkish demands for Gulen’s extradition, citing a lack of credible evidence from Ankara.
Ankara is seeking to repair strained ties with Washington, which last year imposed sanctions on Turkey over its purchase of Russian air defence systems, and with the European Union. The EU has threatened measures against Ankara over a dispute with Greece in the east Mediterranean.
Turkey has said in recent weeks that it achieved a “positive agenda” with the EU, and that it wants to improve relations with the United States under President Joe Biden. He is expected to be tougher on Ankara over its record on human rights, which has worried Turkey’s Western allies.
Since the failed coup, Turkey has detained some 292,000 people over suspected links to Gulen and has suspended or sacked more than 150,000 civil servants. Hundreds of media outlets have been shut and dozens of opposition lawmakers have been jailed.
The government’s response to month-long protests at one of the country’s top universities has also alarmed Washington and the United Nations, with both condemning “homophobic” rhetoric by officials.
Soylu has referred to some protesters as “LGBT deviants” and Erdogan said on Wednesday there was “no such thing” as LGBT, which stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender.
| Famous Person - Commit Crime - Accuse | February 2021 | ['(Reuters)'] |
A snowstorm hits the Southeastern United States and Tennessee Valley with warnings in place across ten states. | iReport. Atlanta (CNN) -- A winter storm spread snow across the Southeast and the Tennessee Valley for the second time in two weeks early Thursday, dumping more than 6 inches in parts of the region.
The National Weather Service had warned that snow accumulation in some areas, combined with freezing temperatures, could lead to hazardous driving conditions. The system was dropping sleet and rain in addition to snow.
By late Thursday morning, winter storm warnings and winter weather advisories that had been in effect in 10 states had largely expired, remaining in effect only in eastern North Carolina. Hard freeze warnings had stretched from Texas' border with Mexico into Louisiana, Arkansas, Oklahoma and Mississippi.
Even as those alerts expired, the Weather Service put new hard freeze warnings in place for Friday morning in central Mississippi, southeast Louisiana and southern Texas.
The agency had warned that snow accumulation in some areas, combined with freezing temperatures, could lead to hazardous driving conditions late Wednesday and into Thursday morning. The system was dropping sleet and rain in addition to snow.
"I've been here a long time and I've never seen anything like it," said Sharon Hickman, who manages Back Yard Burgers in Tupelo, Mississippi.
Nearly a half foot of snow fell in Tupelo. Freezing temperatures Thursday morning made Hickman's commute to work "scary."
"There was a lot of slipping and sliding and cars in ditches," said Mischel Wright, who manages Log Cabin Family Restaurant in Rogers, Arkansas. "My grandchildren love it. Me, there's nothing I can do about it. It's all God. You just have to deal with it."
In Atlanta, however, drivers were relieved to find the metropolitan area received only a dusting of snow and the roads were mostly clear Thursday morning as the temperature hovered around freezing. About a half-inch had fallen in the city, with up to an inch elsewhere and up to 2 inches in the northern part of the state. Accumulation was mainly restricted to grassy areas. Nearly the entire northern half of Alabama had received snow by 11 p.m. Wednesday, according to CNN affiliate WBRC. Snowfalls of at least an inch were reported, with the heaviest snowfall in west Alabama. Many offices and schools across the South delayed opening or were to remain closed Thursday.
The weather system dumped significant levels of snow and ice on Missouri and Oklahoma, along with parts of Kentucky, Arkansas and the panhandle of Texas on Wednesday.
In Arkansas, youngsters got a chance to work on their sledding skills Wednesday, because schools were closed in advance of the approaching system. The snow fell for nine hours in Hot Springs, according to CNN affiliate KATV. Some sections of the state got up to 2 feet of snow, the Weather Service said.
Wright and her husband checked into a motel in Rogers before the storm so she could make it to work at the Log Cabin Family Restaurant. "We can't go home because we can't navigate the hills," Wright said Thursday morning.
Neither could those customers who live too far away from the restaurant to walk.
"Yesterday afternoon we did have two or three families with kids that were going nuts," Wright said. "I don't know what today's going to be like."
In parts of Kansas and Kentucky, road crews hustled to clear snow from interstates and highways Wednesday. Snow fell furiously; wind pushed it sideways and at times the sky took on the look of a white-out. This forced travelers to slow their pace to a crawl. Dangerous conditions near Newton, Kentucky, prevented vehicles from getting traction on hills and sent some sliding off roads and into gullies and ravines.
Snow closed schools in parts of Missouri as well. About 2 inches of snow fell in Kansas City, Missouri, but it was enough to cause several accidents and cover roads in the southeast part of the state.
Parts of Oklahoma received up to 12 inches of snow, according to the state Department of Emergency Management. The National Weather Service reported up to 2 feet of snow in remote areas.
O.D. Powell, owner of OD's Fastop in Claremont, Oklahoma, said Thursday the beer delivery truck is now 10 days behind schedule.
"I have a grocery delivery that comes out of Texas," Powell said. "The driver called yesterday from Oklahoma City and said he couldn't make it
As the snow fell in the heartland Wednesday, wind chills were 10 to 30 degrees below zero in some areas, and authorities urged people to stay off the roads. Not all travelers were able to heed that warning, and traffic inched slowly along icy interstates. The Oklahoma Highway Patrol worked in conjunction with the National Guard to rescue stranded motorists using heavy Humvees, according to CNN affiliate KOCO.
Wind chills across the northern and central Plains were well below freezing early Thursday.
At least two people were killed near Miami, Oklahoma, which is close to Oklahoma City. A truck plunged 80 feet off a bridge along Interstate 44. Police told KOCO that the driver lost control on an icy bridge, flipped over the railing and landed upright on the riverbed below. At least five survivors were able to climb out of the sun roof and wait for rescue on top of the vehicle.
Earlier, the Oklahoma State Department of Health said 80 people in Oklahoma had been injured as a result of the storm. That total included 63 falls, one carbon monoxide poisoning, 14 injuries in traffic accidents and two "cut/pierce injuries."
Dallas-area volunteers for Meals on Wheels, an aid organization that delivers prepared food to housebound people, worked nonstop to get extra meals ready before snow and icy conditions closed roads, according to CNN affiliate KTVT. The weather system that closed Dallas last week left the group unable to reach its customers for four days. Tom Hauser, with the Collin County Committee on Aging, which runs the Meals on Wheels program, told KTVT Wednesday. "We've already delivered over 2,500 meals in the last two days that are nutritious meals."
The latest storm came barely a week after another record-setting weather system pummeled the Plains and Midwest.
Last week's historic storm left its mark on at least 30 states, dumping about 2 feet of snow on the Chicago area and prompting Oklahoma's governor to declare a state of emergency.
Another winter system at the end of the week left central and southern Texas a mess. Hundreds of flights were canceled as the winter weather threatened the plans of Super Bowl enthusiasts headed for the game last Sunday in Arlington, Texas, a suburb of Dallas. | Hurricanes_Tornado_Storm_Blizzard | February 2011 | ['(CNN)'] |
Bulgarian European Commission nominee Rumiana Jeleva steps down as candidate and minister. | Rumiana Jeleva evidence session: From BBC Democracy Live
Bulgaria's nominee to the new European Commission has resigned - a move that could delay confirmation of the new 27-strong team.
Rumiana Jeleva's move followed tough questioning from Euro MPs about her financial interests. Last week doubts were expressed about her competence for the role of EU commissioner for humanitarian aid. Kristalina Georgieva, vice-president of the World Bank, has been put forward as the new Bulgarian candidate. Ms Jeleva's resignation came in a letter to Bulgarian Prime Minister Boiko Borisov, Reuters news agency reports. She had also been serving as Bulgaria's foreign minister. MEPs can veto the whole Commission if they oppose one of its members. Transparency issue
The row over her candidacy centred on her past management of a consultancy firm. She denied any wrongdoing.
A Bulgarian liberal MEP, Antonyia Parvanova, disputed Ms Jeleva's declaration that she had ended her involvement with the Bulgarian firm Global Consult in 2007. Ms Parvanova claims she was still managing the company until 2009. Any undeclared financial interest would put Ms Jeleva in breach of European Union rules. The European Parliament's legal service cleared her of wrongdoing, but MEPs also doubted her competence. Her resignation sparked an angry reaction from her centre-right political allies in the parliament, the BBC's Dominic Hughes reports from Strasbourg. The head of the European People's Party (EPP), Joseph Daul, said she was "the victim of a contemptible political squabble". The EPP is the biggest grouping in the parliament. But the leader of the UK Labour MEPs, Glenis Willmott, said "common sense has prevailed". "The issue was her competence. She did not give a good account of herself at the hearing." It is still possible that other would-be commissioners could get caught up in the parliament's political in-fighting, our correspondent says. MEPs are expected to vote on 26 January on the new Commission line-up - but that might now be put back. The commissioners, who have a five-year mandate, cannot take office without the MEPs' approval. The new Bulgarian nominee, Ms Georgieva, has been World Bank vice president since March 2008. She joined the bank in 1993 and specialised in environmental issues. She was the bank's director for environment in 2000-2004, and in 2004-2007 she oversaw the bank's projects in Russia. | Government Job change - Resignation_Dismissal | January 2010 | ['(BBC)'] |
Voters in Egypt go to the polls for the first round of voting in long delayed parliamentary elections. | People have been voting in Egypt in the first round of long-delayed elections to choose a new parliament.
They are the first such elections since the previous chamber was dissolved by a court ruling in 2012.
The authorities say the poll is the final step in a transition to democracy.
However, critics say most candidates are supporters of President Abdul Fattah al-Sisi and the new parliament is likely to strengthen his control.
President Sisi is a former general who led the 2013 military overthrow of Islamist President Mohammed Morsi, following months of unrest.
Mr Morsi's party, the Muslim Brotherhood, won about half the seats in the last parliament but is now banned and its leaders are in jail - some facing death sentences.
By contrast, many figures from the regime of deposed autocrat Hosni Mubarak are on the ballot paper, says the BBC's Orla Guerin in Cairo.
Will Egypt's democracy be restored?
Voting continues on Monday in this first round of the elections, with a second round due in November. Results are not expected to be known until early December.
Voters are choosing 596 MPs for the lower house, the House of Representatives.
Security has been tightened across the country with at least 185,000 troops supporting police, Egyptian news agency Mena reported.
On Saturday, President Sisi made a televised appeal for Egyptians to vote. With indications that turnout may have been low on Sunday, it was announced that public sector employees would have half a day's holiday on Monday to encourage them to take part.
"Line up in front of polling stations and plant with your votes the hope for a bright tomorrow for our new Egypt," he said.
While the new parliament appears to have broad powers, it is not expected to challenge the president, our correspondent says.
Analysts say turnout is expected to be low, with many Egyptians disillusioned with the democratic process.
Apathy is particularly high among young people, with many angry at the government and its policies.
| Government Job change - Election | October 2015 | ['(BBC)'] |
Islamist terrorist group AlShabaab seizes Hudur, Somalia. | A Somali Islamist group with links to al-Qaeda has captured another town, the latest in a string of gains by the movement known as al-Shabab.
The rebels - who are opposed to UN-sponsored reconciliation efforts in Somalia - overpowered pro-government forces in Hudur early on Wednesday.
Four civilians in Mogadishu were killed bringing the death toll to about 50 and 120 injured from two days of fighting.
It comes days after the new president returned to the Somali capital.
Correspondents say it is the fiercest fighting since President Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed, a moderate Islamist, was elected by MPs in January under a UN-brokered peace deal.
The first bunch of nearly 100 lawmakers and ministers arrived in Mogadishu from Djibouti on Wednesday to help the president in his efforts to set up a new unity government.
The failed Horn of Africa state has not had a functioning national government since 1991.
Exodus
BBC Africa analyst Martin Plaut says the spreading influence of Islamic fundamentalists allied to al-Qaeda will be viewed with considerable alarm by Somalia's neighbours - Kenya and Ethiopia - as well as by the United States.
The BBC's Mohammed Olad Hassan in Mogadishu says another 11 people died as al-Shabab fighters seized Hudur, 300km (180 miles) north-west of Mogadishu on Wednesday morning.
Most government officials fled to Hudur after Somalia's temporary seat of government, Baidoa, fell to al-Shabab last month.
In the last six months al-Shabab has captured swathes of southern and central Somalia, including the ports of Kismayo and Merca and the towns of Buloburte and Elbur.
But the movement was also forced out of the towns of Guriel and Dusamareb in the last month after clashes with rival militias and former warlords.
Back in Mogadishu, thousands of residents have been fleeing a second day of fighting in the south of the city near the presidential palace, as rebels took on African Union and pro-government troops.
Among at least four civilians killed was a child who died when a shell hit a school.
Mo'alim Mohamed Aden Yusuf, a teacher, told AP news agency by telephone: "The shell landed on the school as the students were busy studying. Blood was everywhere."
Foreign fighters
At the weekend, al-Shabab claimed a suicide attack which left 11 Burundian peacekeepers dead at a Mogadishu barracks.
Al-Shabab counts foreigners in its ranks and deputy al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri regularly issues statements in the group's support.
The movement is loosely allied with another recently formed grouping - the Islamic Party - whose forces now control parts of Mogadishu.
The fragile transitional government has been left with little more than sections of the capital under its control.
Ethiopian troops, which had been in the country since 2006 to support that government, pulled out at the end of January.
Some three million people - half the population - need food aid after years of fighting. | Armed Conflict | February 2009 | ['(BBC)'] |
Gunmen kill 36 people, wound several others, and burn down houses when they attack two villages in Kaduna and Katsina States, Nigeria. Several attackers are also killed during an air operation by security forces. | Gunmen killed 36 people in two attacks in northern Nigeria on Wednesday, a day after fighters fired rocket-propelled grenades amid worsening security in Africa’s most populous nation, officials and residents said.
The series of attacks by armed bandits occurred over the past 48 hours with 18 people killed each in villages of Kaduna and Katsina states and several others injured.
The assailants burned down houses, displacing the villagers.
In a statement quoted by the Daily Post website, the Kaduna State Commissioner for Internal Security and Home Affairs Samuel Aruwan said the attacks in that state followed an air operation by security forces in which “several armed bandits” were killed.
Hundreds of people have been killed in northern Nigeria by criminal gangs carrying out robberies and kidnappings.
The attacks have added to security challenges in Nigeria, which is struggling to contain insurgencies in the northeast and communal violence over grazing rights in central states.
The latest attack comes less than a month after President Muhammadu Buhari replaced his longstanding military chiefs amid the worsening violence, with the armed forces fighting to reclaim other northeastern towns overrun by fighters.
Last week, unidentified gunmen killed a student in an attack on a boarding school in Nigeria’s north-central Niger state and kidnapped 42 people, including 27 students. | Armed Conflict | February 2021 | ['(Al Jazeera)'] |
Nearly 700 people from a small town within Lagos, Nigeria, are relocated following heavy flooding. | (CNN) -- Nearly 700 people in a small town within Lagos, Nigeria, will be moved to a relief camp due to heavy flooding that has plagued the region since September, according to a state governor.
Babatunde Raji Fashola made the announcement Monday while on a tour of flood-impacted areas.
In all, 681 people from the town of Ajegunle will be relocated to camps specially built for relief efforts, he said.
The flooding began last month when the Ogun River rose above its banks after the opening of a dam. No casualties have been reported.
While speaking to affected residents, Fashola emphasized that the area is in a flood plain and that people must be ready to move.
He said that the government alone can't solve the problem and they need help from everyone in the area to get through the flooding and limit the damage, asking residents to refrain from using flood-stricken roads.
"We have to wait for this water to subside," Fashola said. "Nature will take its course, but what we can do as a people is work together to mitigate the advanced consequences."
The commissioners for Special Duties, Health and Environment will work together with emergency management officials to relocate the displaced residents, Fashola said. | Floods | October 2010 | ['(CNN)'] |
The AFC Asian Cup holds the opening ceremony, followed by the first game in Group A between Australia and Kuwait in Melbourne Rectangular Stadium. Australia wins the match 4–1. | The Socceroos have overcome a nervy start to lay down an impressive marker for their Asian Cup campaign, winning their opening match against Kuwait 4-1 in Melbourne.
Goals to Tim Cahill, Massimo Luongo, Mile Jedinak and James Troisi cancelled out Ali Hussein Fadhel's early strike as a raucous crowd found full voice on a rainy night at Melbourne Rectangular Stadium.
Expectation circled the Socceroos before kick-off, with a good result seen as essential to get off to a positive start after a poor run of results since the 2014 World Cup.
But the opening of the match hardly went to plan for the Socceroos. Appearing more than a little nervous on such a big occasion, Kuwait took its opportunity to steal ahead from a smart set piece in the eighth minute.
As a number of Kuwaiti players peeled off to the back post, causing their Socceroos markers to follow them, Fadhel held his position at the front post and dived ahead of Cahill to nod home.
Look back on how the Socceroos' 4-1 win over Kuwait unfolded in Grandstand's live blog.
It was a cleverly created and smartly taken goal, and succeeded in rocking both the home crowd and players as the tempo dropped and Australia looked the weaker team.
In time, though, the Socceroos found their groove, making a number of confident surges into the penalty area and winning fouls in dangerous areas, only for the chances on goal to dissapate.
But if anybody was going to make the difference for Australia, it was going to be Cahill.
The veteran was the beneficiary of some outstanding work by Luongo in the 33rd minute, who skipped past a handful of defenders to get the byline and square up towards Cahill who was, of course, perfectly placed.
The finish was as unerring as expected, the New York man slamming home with his right boot to set off the trademark celebration and settle Australia's nerves.
The Socceroos stayed on the front foot for the rest of the half, and were rewarded again just before the whistle when Luongo met Ivan Franjic's expertly weighted cross in Cahill-esque fashion to take the lead in the 44th minute.
Any thoughts the break came at a bad time for Australia were quickly dispelled as the Socceroos started the second half as it finished the first, immediately going on the attack and closing in on a crucial third goal.
Mathew Leckie hit the bar, and a few other chances fizzled out, but when Robbie Kruse was clipped in the area in the 62nd minute and the referee awarded the penalty, Jedinak was unerring with the finish.
Kuwait came back into the game as Australia made changes from the bench, with keeper Mat Ryan called on to make one stunning save to keep the two goal buffer, but the hosts always looked likely to find another goal.
Recalled Nathan Burns hit the bar with a stunning header, Tomi Juric fired shots straight at the keeper but Troisi found a way through in the final moments, belting one inside the near post from a tight angle after Leckie's tricky build up play in the 91st minute.
While it was far from a perfect Socceroos performance, Kuwait was left wanting at crucial times thanks to the home side's power of will and pace on the counter, and next opponent Oman will have its hands full to stop the momentum.
We acknowledge Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as the First Australians and Traditional Custodians of the lands where we live, learn, and work.
This service may include material from Agence France-Presse (AFP), APTN, Reuters, AAP, CNN and the BBC World Service which is copyright and cannot be reproduced.
AEST = Australian Eastern Standard Time which is 10 hours ahead of GMT (Greenwich Mean Time) | Sports Competition | January 2015 | ['(ABC)'] |
Dr Mohamed Haneef is granted bail by a Queensland magistrate on charges of supporting a terrorist organisation in relation to the 2007 Glasgow International Airport attack and the 2007 London car bombs. The Australian government later revokes his visa. | The Gold Coast doctor charged with recklessly lending a SIM card to terrorists has had his 457 visa revoked and will be detained in an immigration detention centre.
Mohamed Haneef was released on $10,000 bail this morning butImmigration Minister Kevin Andrews saidthe doctor had been taken into detention in Brisbane and would be transferred to the Villawood detention centre.
Haneef is still innocent in the eyes of the law but Mr Andrews said he was satisfied the Indian-born doctor had failed the "character test".
"These are two separate matters," he said. "The courts have their duties and obligations. I have to look at whether Dr Haneef passes the character test."
He said that, after conversations with the Australian Federal Police, he was satisfiedHaneef had an association with persons involved with criminal conduct.
In an often heated exchange, Mr Andrews fieldedquestions from reporters.
"Doesn't this go against the legal rule that we've established over a thousand years? That someone is innocent until proven guilty. You're pre-empting a judgment on his innocence," asked one reporter.
Mr Andrews: This is unrelated to ...
Reporter: How is this unrelated, minister ...
Mr Andrews: Do you want to hear the answer?
Reporter: Yes.
Mr Andrews: This is unrelated to the question of proceedings in the criminal court in Brisbane. This is a direct responsibility set out in the Migration Act, this is not the first person, indeed, whose visa has been cancelled.
Mr Andrews responded with the same answer to numerous questions, all probing the legality of his actions, given that Haneef is facing a criminal charge.
Catch-22
"What chances does this fellow have of gaining justice in this country when he faces criminal charges in one court, and in another place, in a sort of a Catch-22, a minister of the Crown declares that he's a terrorist?" asked one reporter.
"What sort of chances does he have after these comments by you?" asked another.
Mr Andrews said he was not commenting on the legal charge, nor attempting to interfere in it, he was simply exercising his duties under the Migration Act.
"The magistrate in Brisbane has a set of responsibilities which she has carried out and I'm making no comment whatsoever on the magistrate or any decision made by the magistrate in Queensland.
"I have parallel to that a set of responsibility and that's what I've acted on."
Mr Andrews said Dr Haneef had legal recourse and had seven days to appeal to the Federal Court against the decision.
He will remain in immigration detention until his trial in Brisbane is over. If found innocent, he will be deported.
Solicitor's surprise
Haneef's solicitor, Peter Russo, was walking into the entrance of the Brisbane watchhouse to talkto his client about what he thought would be Haneef's imminent release on bail when Mr Andrews called his news conference in Canberra.
Details of the minister's announcement came as a surprise.
"That is what they have been doing since day one," he said. "They don't tell you anything, and they just think that's the way they want to run the justice system in this country."
He said: "It is very frustrating, but if that's the way they want to play it, bring it on.
"Arrangements had been made for his accommodation and possiblereturn to work."
Mr Russo challenged Mr Andrews's claim that Haneef had terrorism links.
"I have tried to stay out of the political side this," he said. "But if that is what he thinks then he doesn't understand the presumption of innocence. The evidence hasn't yet come before a court."
'He can't do that'
Stephen Estcourt, president of the Australian Bar Association,could not believe the minister's action.
"He can't do that," saidMr Estcourt, whospent four years ruling on immigration detention cases on the Administrative Appeals Tribunal.
He saidthe minister was "usurping the role of the court" to take action now.
"Usually this sort of visa cancellation takes place after charges have been laid against someone and they`ve run their course and they've resulted in a penalty being imposed ... I have not heard of this power being used pre-emptively in this way.
"It has got to be seen as a threat to the rule of law if a ministerial discretion is used to effectively reverse, or to reverse for practical purposes a decision of the court. And it's sophistry to say that one's got nothing to do with the other." Barrister attacks open-ended law
Haneef's barrister also launched an attack on the open-ended nature of Australia's tough anti-terrorism laws.
"When you pass legislation that gives a police service in any part of the world powers, it just becomes part of the toolkit," said Stephen Keim, SC, who was not permitted to discuss the case under Queensland law until today.
"Then those police officers who are required to use it, without being wicked or vindictive in any way, they simply say: 'Well this is a power we have been given. Our job is to catch crooks and we will use this power, we will keep on making applications.' "
Haneef sat quietly staring ahead, barefoot and handcuffed as the magistrate Janet Payne handed down her decision and set the committal hearing for August 31.
Mr Keim is representing Haneef pro bono against charges of recklessly giving hisBritish mobile phone SIM card to a relative who was allegedly involved in failed attacks in Britain.
Based on conversations he had with federal police, Mr Keim said Haneef would have been detained for another 14 days without charges - on top of the 14 he already endured at the Brisbane watchhouse - and might have been held for up to six weeks under the current laws, if federal police had not charged him on Saturday.
Mockery made of safeguards
He also said that the closed process of applying for extensions, in which Haneef's lawyers were left out of some proceedings, made a mockery of the so-called safeguards in the laws.
Only a free, dedicated and independent legal profession and press had managed to open up "a secret process that was unsatisfactory", he said.
Ms Payne said she had to consider the concept of "acceptable risk" that was part of every bail decision and the stipulation in the criminal code that a person charged under the terrorism laws should be granted bail only in "exceptional circumstances".
She drew on several High Court cases to find that the "cumulative effect" of a number of factors meant Haneef's circumstances were exceptional enough to release him into the community.
These included that he was not alleged to have been directly involved with a terrorist group behind last month's failed extremist attacks in London and Glasgow; that the mobile phone SIM card he gave to his second cousin was not alleged to have been used as part of an attack; that he left it with his family member when leaving Britain; that he was a doctor studying with the Australian College of Physicians; that he had no criminal history and a good employment history; that his passport had been taken and that he was likely to be placed under surveillance if released.
Bail terms
Under the terms of his bail, Haneef must report three times a week to Southport police - on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays between 6am and 10pm.
He must notify the Commonwealth DPP of his residential address within 24 hours and cannot apply for another passport.
He was also banned from going to international departure points, such as airports.
Prior to the minister's announcement, it was unclear where Haneef would live while his case proceeded. During their investigation police allegedly trashed his Southport flat in their search for evidence.
Mr Russo said alternative accommodation was being sought.
The Democrats senator Andrew Bartlett, whose party opposed the anti-terrorism laws, was in the court. He said whether Haneef was able to live a normal life after being released was "a test for Australia". | Famous Person - Commit Crime - Accuse | July 2007 | ['(The CourierMail)', '(Sydney Morning Herald)'] |
The planned 48 hour strike at the BBC in Britain is called off, unions announce, following talks. | The two parties held talks through the night at conciliation service Acas to avert Tuesday and Wednesday's strike.
The BBC say they have made "fresh commitments" that include a one-year moratorium on compulsory redundancies.
The corporation also promised to review cuts in its content divisions, a move that could "mitigate" total job losses.
"This offer moves significantly to address the issues and concerns which the unions have raised with us," said director general Mark Thompson in a letter to BBC staff.
However, he said the BBC had told the unions "we have no further movement to make, no matter how long the dispute continues".
Mr Thompson said he welcomed the decision to suspend the strike and that the corporation was having a "productive relationship" with unions.
'Significant concessions'
The unions said the BBC had made significant concessions over privatisation but had not yet addressed fears over job losses.
The key points of the BBC's offer are:
The unions will meet on Tuesday to discuss their next step.
Goodwill
The announcement that the strike had been suspended came after 20 hours of talks at Acas, and a face-to-face meeting between the director general and representatives of the unions.
The BBC has published plans that could see the loss of nearly 4,000 jobs, which resulted in a 24-hour strike by staff on Monday.
A joint statement from Bectu, the National Union of Journalists (NUJ) and Amicus said the unions had agreed to put the corporation's latest proposal to a meeting of representatives on Tuesday. "The unions are not recommending acceptance of this proposal," said the statement.
"However, in order to allow for proper consideration and as a gesture of goodwill, the planned strikes on 31 May and 1 June have been suspended."
BBC director general Mark Thompson met with the unions
They said they reserved the right to call further strike action should the BBC's proposals be turned down by members.
Stephen Dando, the director of BBC People - the corporation's human resources division - said: "The BBC believes an opportunity to resolve this dispute is now in sight. "We welcome the union's decision to suspend next week's industrial action whilst they consult their members. "The BBC has tried to be flexible in meeting the unions' concerns and we very much hope that is the first step in what will be a productive relationship with the unions in the coming months."
It said it would not comment further until the unions had consulted their members and formally responded on Tuesday. | Strike | May 2005 | ['(BBC)', '(ThisIsLondon)', '[permanent dead link]'] |
The United States Navy relieves vice admiral Joseph Aucoin as commander of the United States Seventh Fleet following four collisions in Asia this year that claimed the lives of 17 sailors. | WASHINGTON — Two days after ordering a rare suspension of ship operations worldwide, the Navy relieved the commander of the fleet that had sustained four accidents in Asia and the deaths of more than a dozen sailors this year.
Vice Adm. Joseph P. Aucoin, the head of the Seventh Fleet, the Navy’s largest overseas, was removed Wednesday in connection with the four accidents since January, including two fatal collisions in the past two months, according to a statement by the Navy. | Government Job change - Resignation_Dismissal | August 2017 | ['(New York Times)', '(Wall Street Journal)'] |
Mortars are fired at the diplomatic quarter of Kabul during a speech by President Ashraf Ghani. After several hours of fighting, including a helicopter attack on a building behind the Id Gah Mosque, police say the attackers are dead and four people are wounded. | Militants have fired mortars at the diplomatic quarter of the Afghan capital Kabul during a speech by the president to mark a Muslim holiday.
President Ashraf Ghani was speaking live on television to celebrate Eid al-Adha when explosions were heard near the presidential palace.
A combat helicopter later fired on a building where militants were believed to have taken up position.
Mr Ghani's call for an Eid ceasefire was rejected by the Taliban on Monday.
As troops secured the area targeted, it was still not clear who had fired the mortars or how many attackers were involved. After several hours officials said all the attackers had been killed. Four other people were wounded, two of them security personnel.
Separately, officials said the Taliban had released more than 160 bus passengers kidnapped a day earlier in the north. At least 20 soldiers and policemen were still being held.
Militants from both the Taliban and Islamic State group have carried out attacks in Afghanistan this month that left hundreds of people reported dead.
A Kabul police chief told the BBC that three attackers armed with a heavy machine gun and a mortar had broken into a building behind Kabul's Eid Gah Mosque. According to the police chief, the attackers first used the mortar against the presidential palace. At least 10 explosions were heard in the background as President Ghani was delivering his Eid message. Television images showed dark smoke rising into the sky.
Security forces then exchanged fire with militants in the building.
The Taliban have launched several attacks in recent weeks.
The largest was an assault on the city of Ghazni, east of Kabul, which sparked a five-day battle with government forces that left hundreds dead or wounded. The UN has warned that up to 150 civilians may have been killed.
The attacks come as pressure continues on the Taliban to enter peace talks with the Afghan government.
Secret talks were recently held in Qatar between Taliban and US officials after an unprecedented three-day ceasefire during Eid al-Fitr celebrations in June that was largely respected by both sides.
| Famous Person - Give a speech | August 2018 | ['(BBC)'] |
In Azerbaijan, president Ilham Aliyev announces pardons for 114 people, including 7 opposition leaders and total of 50 political prisoners | ANNOUNCEMENT OF THE PRESS SERVICE OF THE PRESIDENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF AZERBAIJAN [March 20, 2005, 16:48:07]
Continuing to pursue the policy based on the principles of humanism and justice, demonstrating respect for human rights and freedoms, having considered appeals for pardon for a number of prisoners, addressed to the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan by their family members, NGOs, Commissioner for Human Rights and the Press Council, taking into account the prisoners’ personalities, health and family situations, and behavior during the served term, as well as wishing them to join free society, President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Mr. Ilham Aliyev has signed a Decree on Pardoning 115 convicts, March 20. According to the Decree, 114 persons are discharged from serving the remaining term of sentence, and one person’s unserved term is halved. Fifty-three of them are those who had been sentenced for their activities against independence and statehood of the Azerbaijan Republic, committing other grave crimes, and included in the Council of Europe’s list of prisoners. Part of them, members of the illegal armed groups, were involved in the coup d'etat attempt taken place in October 1994 in the city of Ganja, and others, the officers of the former Special Police Troop of the Interior Ministry as well as those joined them, participated in the March 1995 actions against the people of Azerbaijani and the country’s Constitutional bodies, organized in Baku, and Gazakh and Agstafa regions with the aim to seize power by force. Besides, the Decree discharges from imprisonment the organizers and participators of the mass riots taken place in Baku on 15-16 October 2003. Demonstrating once again our country’s devotion to the principles of democracy, and taking another step towards civil reconciliation and mutual understanding, the President of Azerbaijan has pardoned even those who had organized and been involved in the mass riots initiated by some forces who were not able to put up with free and independent choice of the Azerbaijani people. Believing in correctional significance of the act of pardoning, the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan expresses confidence that drawing a proper conclusion from this humane action, the pardoned persons will obey implicitly the laws of the Azerbaijan Republic in the future. | Famous Person - Commit Crime - Release | March 2005 | ['(Azertag)', '(CASCFEN)', '(BBC)'] |
Brazilian police arrest EBX Group CEO Eike Batista for allegedly bribing officials in Rio de Janeiro, including former Governor of Rio de Janeiro Sérgio Cabral Filho. | Former Brazilian oil and mining tycoon Eike Batista has been transferred to a high security prison in Rio de Janeiro after being arrested on arrival from New York. Once Brazil's richest man, he has been accused of paying millions of dollars in bribes to secure contracts with Rio's state government.
Mr Batista has denied any wrongdoing.
He has promised to help the authorities in their efforts to tackle corruption which he says is widespread in Brazil. Before boarding the plane and turning himself in to police, Mr Batista said he was returning to Brazil to clear his name.
"I'm at the disposal of the courts," he told O Globo newspaper in New York. "As a Brazilian, I am doing my duty."
Under Brazilian law, Mr Batista would have been sent to a special prison wing if he had a university degree. But as he dropped out before finishing his engineering degree in Germany, he will be serving time in an ordinary cell with six other inmates at the Bangu penitentiary.
Many Brazilian jails are overcrowded and controlled by criminal gangs. The authorities in Rio say, however, that is not the case at Bangu.
Mr Batista was met by police as he landed in Rio on Monday morning. He was escorted off the plane and initially taken to the Ary Franco prison in Rio.
After undergoing medical exams and having his hair cut short, he was transferred to the high security prison in the outskirts of the city.
Mr Batista was declared a fugitive by Brazilian officials after police raided his estate in Rio de Janeiro last week and found he had left for New York just hours earlier. BBC South America business correspondent Daniel Gallas says there was much speculation on whether Mr Batista would return to Brazil or use his German passport to flee to Europe.
But Mr Batista said the trip to New York was not an attempt on his part to flee justice.
He is now due to be questioned about his alleged involvement in a corruption ring involving powerful business people and influential politicians in Rio de Janeiro state.
Investigators accuse Mr Batista of paying the then-governor of the state, Sergio Cabral, $16.5m (£13.2m) in bribes to win government contracts. Mr Cabral was arrested in November as part of a larger corruption investigation dubbed Operation Car Wash. As a result of Operation Car Wash, more than 100 people, including Brazil's most powerful building tycoon, Marcelo Odebrecht, have been convicted of crimes such as bribery, racketeering and money-laundering.
Brazilian tycoon sought by police
Brazil firm fined $2.6bn for bribery
Rio state ex-Governor Cabral arrested
UN calls for end of arms sales to Myanmar
In a rare move, the UN condemns the overthrowing of Aung San Suu Kyi and calls for an arms embargo.
The ethnic armies training Myanmar's protesters. VideoThe ethnic armies training Myanmar's protesters
Tokyo Olympics: No fans is 'least risky' option
Asia's Covid stars struggle with exit strategies
Why residents of these paradise islands are furious
The Gurkha veterans fighting for Covid care. VideoThe Gurkha veterans fighting for Covid care
Troubled US teens left traumatised by tough love camps
Why doesn't North Korea have enough food?
Le Pen set for regional power with eye on presidency
How the Delta variant took hold in the UK. VideoHow the Delta variant took hold in the UK | Famous Person - Commit Crime - Arrest | January 2017 | ['(BBC)'] |
An estimated two million people across the world participate in strikes to encourage action on climate change, with a total of 6 million during the week, including up to 500,000 protesters in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. | Six million people have taken to the streets over the past week, uniting across timezones, cultures and generations to demand urgent action on the escalating ecological emergency.
A fresh wave of climate strikes swept around the globe on Friday with an estimated 2 million people walking out of schools and workplaces.
Organisers say that during the week of protests – that began with a global climate strike last week – a total of 6 million people, from trade unionists to schoolchildren, have taken part in thousands of towns and cities.
“This week was a demonstration of the power of our movement,” said a spokesperson for the FridaysForFuture group which has helped coordinate the demonstrations. “People power is more powerful than the people in power. It was the biggest ever climate mobilisation, and it’s only the beginning. The momentum is on our side and we are not going anywhere.”
On Friday there were huge protests in Italy – where more than 1 million people were reported to have taken part – Spain, the Netherlands and New Zealand, where more than 3.5% of the country’s population joined the demonstrations.
Organisers said they were expecting more people to join as the day progressed. High turnouts were expected in Canada, where Greta Thunberg – who kickstarted the school strike movement with a solo protest in Sweden 12 months ago – was due to join demonstrators in Montreal.
May Boeve from 350.org, which has helped organise the demonstrations, said: “We will keep fighting until the politicians stop ignoring the science, and the fossil fuel companies are held responsible for their crimes against our future, as they should have been decades ago.”
The day of protests began in New Zealand, where an open letter was delivered to parliament on Friday morning calling on the government to declare a climate emergency – following the lead of numerous councils around the country.
“Our representatives need to show us meaningful and immediate action that safeguards our futures on this planet,” Raven Maeder, the School Strike 4 Climate national coordinator, said. “Nothing else will matter if we cannot look after the Earth for current and future generations. This is our home.”
Strikes and demonstrations followed in scores of other countries from Ghana to Samoa, the Philippines to Indonesia, South Korea to Taiwan.
In some countries, protesters have had to go to extraordinary lengths to express their message to resistant authorities or an indifferent public.
Makichyan Arshak has been staging a solo school strike in Pushkin Square, Moscow, for 29 weeks.
“In Moscow it is almost impossible to get permission for a mass demonstration so we protest in a queue. One person holds a poster for five minutes, then hands over to the next person who is waiting nearby. That way, we don’t have any problems because it is a series of solo strikes rather than a group gathering,” said the 25-year-old violinist, a graduate of the Moscow Conservatory.
Demonstrations also took place across South America, from Mexico City’s vast Zócalo square to the Plaza de Mayo in Buenos Aires.
On Bogotá’s high Andean plain, the environmental movement has faced a severe crackdown. In July, protesters across Colombia pleaded for an end to the violence that has resulted in numerous activists being killed, with the peace and development thinktank Indepaz putting the figure at 734 deaths in the first seven months of 2019.
“We want to keep fracking out of our country and demand an immediate change towards decarbonisation,” said the activist Susana Muhamad, who was planning to march past the offices of the country’s largest petroleum company, Ecopetrol.
In Brazil, organisers said there were climate protests in São Paulo and at least nine other cities. In Rio de Janeiro, a group of university students rallied in the city centre bearing banners urging: “System change not climate change” and chanted: “What do we want? Climate justice. When do we want it? Now!”
Nayara Almeida, a 21-year-old student at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, said the group’s demands to the government included greater protection of the Amazon rainforest. “Our future is threatened and they are insensitive to that. We need politicians to make this a priority.”
The global climate strikers say their action is a sign of the growing awareness and anger of the severity and scale of the climate crisis among people around the world.
This week Thunberg excoriated world leaders at the UN for their “betrayal” of young people after the New York summit failed to deliver ambitious new commitments to address dangerous global heating.
The climate activist told governments: “You are still not mature enough to tell it like it is. You are failing us. But the young people are starting to understand your betrayal.” | Strike | September 2019 | ['(The Guardian)', '(CBC)'] |
Cyclone Evan heads towards Fiji after causing at least three deaths and widespread damage in Samoa. | .
More than 2000 people are sheltering in evacuation centres in Fiji as Cyclone Evan lashes the country's northern islands. Fiji's Meteorological Office says storm force winds could be felt on the main island of Viti Levu by midday.But it says the Yasawa and Mamanuca will feel the worst of the cyclone, with a hurricane warning in force for both island groups.At 0300 local time (1400 GMT) Cyclone Evan was to the north of Vanua Levu, tracking south-westwards.Strong wind warnings are in force for the whole country and an alert for destructive seas has also been issued.Evan is 480 kilometres wide and packing winds of 230 kilometres per hour, making it the strongest cyclone to threaten the country in 20 years.Forecaster Terry Atalifo from Fiji's Meteorological Office, says the main island of Viti Levu will start feeling the worst effects of the category four system on Monday."There's a possibility that they could feel storm-force winds as this cyclone tracks south-westwards." he said.Authorities are trying to evacuate tourists and residents in low-lying areas.The international airport at Nadi is packed with people who have been evacuated from luxury resorts on outlying islands.But Fijian officials say with most flights already booked or rescheduled, holidaymakers have little chance of getting out before the storm arrives.Resort manager Gordon Leewar says his guests have decided to stay put and wait for the cyclone to pass."We have five couples on our property at the moment and they're really happy to stay, we've asked them whether they want to be evacuated but they've said 'no, we want to stay and we hope for the best'".The Australian and New Zealand Governments say they are closely monitoring the movement of Cyclone Evan.Both countries say that their concern is for the safety of its citizens in Fiji, as well as the welfare of all Fijians.Canberra and Wellington say they are prepared to assist Fiji in all areas and remain on standby.Emergency services in Fiji are preparing for the worst, while Fiji's Navy has urged sea farers not to travel out to sea during disasters.Fijians living in low-lying areas have been urged to move to evacuation centres on higher ground.Fiji's Meteorological Office expects the cyclone to intensify briefly as it moves across the country, before weakening as it leaves Fiji."Within the next 24 hours we will see some slight intensification but [after that] we expect the system to weaken as it moves further south into cooler waters." Mr Atalifo said.On high alertThere are fears the category four cyclone could strengthen and generate winds of up to 300 kilometres an hour.A gale warning has been issued for Cikobia, Taveuni, Vanua Levu and nearby smaller islands and northern Lau group.A tropical cyclone alert remains in force for Viti Levu, Lomaiviti, Yasawa and Mamanuca group. A strong wind warning remains in force for rest of Fiji.Cyclone Evan is forecast to bring heavy rain, thunderstorms and flooding of low-lying coastal areas.People on the island of Vanua Levu, and the smaller island groups being urged to head to emergency and evacuation centres.Disaster managementFiji's interim Prime Minister Frank Bainimarama has met with officials in Suva to discuss all aspects of disaster management before and after the cyclone.Mr Bainimarama has urged public servants in the northern and western division to remain at home and wait further instructions."Because this is the festive season, I ask you to consider cancelling social events and to act responsibly, all of us need a clear mind for what is bearing down on us."Only those working in essential services should be at work and they should liaise closely with their departments on this."Mr Bainimarama says the goverment is coordinating the provision of emergency supplies, including food and water to areas that are likely to be affected.Serious threatToday's briefing also saw the Fijian prime minister repeat his earlier , stressing the severity of the storm and the threat it posed to the country of 900,000 people."It has winds up to 180 kilometres an hour which may intensify, and if the weather forecasters are correct it will affect Fiji in a very damaging way, bringing about destructive winds and flooding," he said."I cannot stress how serious this is, every Fijian will be affected."Fiji's Permanent Secretary for Information, Sharon Smith-Johns, says many people have heeded the message and fled to higher ground."There are people that have already taken precautions. They know that they live in flood prone areas and they're moving to higher ground or moving in with relatives, so there is quite a lot of movement around Suva...and in the rural areas."EvacuationsMore than 20 evacuation centres have been set up in northern areas of Fiji, with centres also set up in the country's western division."We are advising people to move to high ground, those who are living in lower-lying areas," Asesela Biuviti of the national disaster management office said.People on the island of Vanua Levu, and the smaller island groups are already heading to emergency centresThe government says troops in all parts of the country are ready to help with recovery assistance and search and rescue operations.Ms Sharon Smith-Johns says the government feared Evan could be as devastating as Cyclone Kina which killed 23 people and left thousands homeless in 1993."This is going to be an extremely bad cyclone to hit us and probably the worse that we've seen since Cyclone Kina."It will be quite destructive. We've seen what's happened in Samoa and all we can do is be prepared here lucky we've had a week's notice of this," she said."All the agencies have been deployed, emergency services on standby, evacuation centres are open, rations have gone out."Now it's just a matter of continuing to clean up our own backyards and putting cyclone shutters up and waiting."Ms Smith-Johns has reiterated government's call for the public to refrain from unnecessary travel."Put your safety and your families' safety first and keep listening to the radio before attempting to move around." The cyclone appears to have bypassed northern Tonga, where it was expected to bring gale force winds and heavy rain to the country's northern islands.Destruction in Samoa Fiji's Prime Minister Frank Bainimarama has sent a message of sympathy to his Samoan counterpart, Tuilaepa Sailele.The confirmed death toll in Samoa from the cyclone has risen to four, with another eight people missing and feared dead after being swept away when Apia's main river burst its banks."We send our special prayers and condolences to those who have lost loved ones in the disaster," said Mr Bainimarama."Every Fijian has been shocked and saddened by the destruction caused by the cyclone to the homes and lives of ordinary people and Samoa's infrastructure."Mr Bainimarama says Fiji is on standby for any assistance. - ABC | Hurricanes_Tornado_Storm_Blizzard | December 2012 | ['(ABC Australia via Weatherzone)', '(TVNZ)'] |
Voters in the United States go to the polls for a range of federal, state and local elections, including the highly publicized presidential election between major party nominees Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump. | The US election is going down the wire, with Donald Trump favoured to win as the final states are called.
You can make sure you're the first to know the winner by signing up to our US election alerts on Facebook Messenger or via the ABC app.
Otherwise, here are the key times you need to know and the states you need to watch as we await a winner:
At midnight local time, eight ballots were cast in Dixville Notch, New Hampshire.
The results were: four votes for Hillary Clinton, two for Donald Trump, one for Libertarian candidate Gary Johnson, and one for 2012 Republican candidate Mitt Romney (via a write-in).
Depending on the state, polling booths opened between 6am and 7am local time and closed between 7pm and 8pm. (If you were in line when polls closed, you still got to vote.)
Fun fact: there are six different time zones across the United States, but just to make things nice and complex there are 13 states operating with split time zones.
The point is, most of the voting took place overnight Tuesday, Australian time.
Hillary Clinton cast her vote near her home in Chappaqua in New York with her husband Bill.
Donald Trump and his wife Melania, daughter Ivanka, and son-in-law Jared voted at a public school on Manhattan's East Side.
Polling stations closed in eastern states.
Once the polls have closed, there will be a projection for each state based on opinion polls taken throughout the day. They are a good indication of the results but not always correct.
The key results to watch out for at this time are from swing states Florida, New Hampshire and Virginia.
Polls have closed in the battleground state of Ohio. Mr Trump's best chance at victory is seen as more or less requiring a win from either Ohio or Florida, if not both.
Voting was been extended in some precincts in another key state, North Carolina, after computer issues.
Polls have closed in 18 states, the most important being Pennsylvania.
This is also when the final polls close in Florida (it's one of the states with a split time zone).
Polls have closed in 10 states, including Wisconsin and swing state Colorado. While Mrs Clinton is considered the favourite to win Wisconsin, a Trump upset there would point to a tight race across the board.
The final polls close at this time in Texas which has been solidly Republican, but which Democrats were hoping an increased migrant turnout might turn in their favour. If that happens, it would be a huge result.
Voting has ended in swing states Nevada and Iowa and three others seen as safe Republican territory.
Voting has closed in states on the west coast, including California, which is very much safe ground for Mrs Clinton. Polls close in Alaska at 5pm AEDT, but it is a small state so it is unlikely to affect the outcome.
The close of the polls on the west coast (i.e. 3pm AEDT) will be the first opportunity for the election to be "called". The US television networks and cable channels nowadays generally agree to wait until this time to declare a winner so as not to affect voting turnout in those states. | Government Job change - Election | November 2016 | ['(ABC)'] |
Palestinian factional violence: Hamas and its rival Fatah renew their truce when violence broke off again after the initial ceasefire. | The deal came after fighting in the Gaza Strip left 20 people dead and at least 100 wounded in the past 24 hours.
In Washington, the Quartet of Middle East mediators - the EU, the UN, the US and Russia - voiced its "deep concern" about the levels of violence.
The Quartet also supported a US push to revive the stalled peace process between the Palestinians and Israel.
In Gaza, the BBC's Alan Johnston says Hamas and Fatah leaders promised to withdraw their fighters and remove their checkpoints. I call upon everyone, regardless of their affiliation, to stop this bloodletting
Mahmoud AbbasPalestinian Authority President
Gaza viewpoint
Factions locked in struggle
But even while the factions were spelling out the new deal, clashes continued and the Fatah delegation to the talks came under fire as it left the meeting, with two bodyguards injured, he says.
The recent battles were among the bloodiest since Hamas won elections a year ago. Reports say Palestinian Authority President and Fatah chief Mahmoud Abbas and Hamas political chief Khaled Meshaal will meet in Saudi Arabia next Tuesday to try to end the fighting.
Hamas and Fatah have been trying to form a unity government for months.
They are deadlocked over Hamas' rejection of international calls that it recognises Israel.
Western donors have been withholding aid, resulting in a deep economic crisis in the Palestinian territories. Quartet talks
In Washington, the Quartet of Middle East mediators "called for Palestinian unity in support of a government committed to non-violence, the recognition of Israel and acceptance of previous agreements," UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said on behalf of the group.
The Quartet re-affirmed that a year-long aid embargo against the Hamas government would remain in place until it agrees to recognise the Jewish state and renounces violence. But Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov expressed Moscow's strong scepticism over the boycott, describing it as "counterproductive". He also spoke in favour of bringing Syria into the Middle East peace dialogue - a suggestion that was ruled out by US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. The Quartet also backed US efforts to jump-start the so-called "roadmap" for a peaceful settlement between the Palestinians and Israel. Ms Rice said tough topics had to be addressed to move the process forward. "There's simply no reason to avoid the subject of how we get to a Palestinian state," Ms Rice said.
Three-way talks between Ms Rice, Mr Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert are expected to be held later this month. | Armed Conflict | February 2007 | ['(BBC)', '(CNN)', '(Reuters)'] |
One person is killed and four wounded in a knife attack in Paris, France. The attacker is killed by police. | A knifeman has killed one person and wounded four in a suspected terror attack in central Paris, French officials say.
The attacker was then shot dead by police in the Opéra district. Witnesses say they heard him shout "Allah Akbar".
So-called Islamic State (IS) later said one of its "soldiers" had carried out the attack on Saturday evening.
Judicial sources told French media the attacker was a man born in 1997 in the southern Russian republic of Chechnya.
The sources said his parents had been held for questioning.
Interior Minister Gérard Collomb said the victim of the attack was a 29-year-old man, but gave no further details.
French President Emmanuel Macron tweeted (in French): "France has once again paid in blood, but will not give an inch to the enemies of freedom."
The attacker began stabbing passers-by at about 21:00 local time (19:00 GMT) on the rue Monsigny.
Eyewitnesses described him as a young man with brown hair and a beard, dressed in black tracksuit trousers.
The man tried to enter several bars and restaurants but was blocked by people inside. Police arrived at the scene within minutes.
They first tried to stop the assailant with a stun-gun before shooting him dead.
An eyewitness, named as Gloria, told AFP news agency: "We didn't know what was going on, we were quickly moved inside the bar, I went outside and I saw a man lying on the floor."
Jonathan, a waiter at a local restaurant, told AFP: "I saw him with a knife in his hand. He looked crazy."
He said a woman the attacker had stabbed ran into into the restaurant bleeding. The assailant tried to follow her inside, but was fended off and finally fled. Two of the wounded in the attack are in a serious condition but do not have life-threatening injuries.
Later in the evening the IS group said it was behind the attack, in a brief statement posted on its news outlet.
The anti-terrorism unit of the Paris prosecutor's office has launched an investigation.
Prime Minister Edouard Philippe said police were on the scene five minutes after an emergency call and the attacker was killed "less than nine minutes later".
Mr Collomb praised police for their "cool response". He said his first thoughts were "with the victims of this heinous act".
Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo tweeted (in French): "Tonight, our city was bruised."
"I want to tell them that all Parisians are on their side," she added.
France has been on high alert following a series of attacks. More than 230 people have been killed by IS-inspired jihadists in the past three years.
The deadliest violence occurred on 13 November 2015, when gunmen and suicide bombers struck various venues in Paris almost simultaneously - killing a total 130 people.
After winning last year's elections, President Macron pledged that fighting Islamist terrorism would be his top foreign policy priority. Defeating IS in Iraq and Syria must go hand-in-hand with anti-terror measures in Africa, he said.
| Armed Conflict | May 2018 | ['(BBC)', '(CNN)'] |
Los Angeles, California, police arrest a 21yearold homeless man after five bodies of apparent transients are found in the wreckage of a vacant former medical building that burned down Monday night. Firefighters had been able to rescue three people. | LOS ANGELES, June 14 (UPI) -- Police arrested a homeless man Tuesday after five bodies were found in the wreckage of a Los Angeles building that burned down the night before.
Police believe Johnny Sanchez, 21, intentionally started the fire in a dispute with others who also living in the building, Los Angeles police Capt. Billy Hayes told reporters. Sanchez, who police said has a record for domestic violence and drugs, is being held in lieu of $1 million bail.
Three people were rescued from second-story windows of a vacant former medical building, Los Angeles Fire Department spokesman Peter Sanders said in a statement. A "person of interest" was detained as a possible arson suspect. He was hospitalized and then, according to police, arrested.
A body was found in the remains of the structure Monday, with the bodies of two men and two women, found Tuesday. All appeared to have been homeless, officials said.
Nearly 150 firefighters needed more than two hours to put out the blaze, authorities said.
It was the third fire in the building, which has been vacant since last year, witnesses told the Los Angeles Times. | Famous Person - Commit Crime - Accuse | June 2016 | ['(Los Angeles Times)', '(LA Weekly)', '(UPI)'] |
Voters in Georgia head to the polls to elect the members of the country's parliament. | Georgia's elections see a billionaire-backed incumbent face an alliance of opposition parties led by an ex-president living in exile. Both main parties in the former Soviet republic favor closer ties to the West.
Georgia's tightly contested election Saturday pits opposition parties fronted by exiled former-President Mikhail Saakashvili against the ruling Georgia Dream party, chaired by billionaire former-Prime Minister Bidzina Ivanishvili.
In power since 2012, Georgia Dream's popularity has fallen due to economic stagnation and claims of perceived backsliding on democracy.
In Georgia, thousands call for government to step down
Incumbent Prime Minister Giorgi Gakharia earlier this week said he aimed to bring the ex-Soviet republic closer to the European Union and NATO.
"This will be another step forward for Georgian democracy," Gakharia said.
Pro-Western Saakashvili, who has lived in exile in Ukraine since 2013 to avoid Georgian prosecution, fronts an opposition coalition comprising his United National Movement (UNM) and some 30 smaller parties.
Read more: Georgia launches joint military drills with NATO countries
Both Georgian Dream and United National Movement are pro-Western, with goals of establishing better relations and possible eventual membership of NATO and the European Union.
Due to Georgia's complex electoral rules, analysts said the parliament's final make-up might only become clear by late November.
Long lines were reported at some voting places in Georgia
Preliminary results were expected Saturday night. Constitutional amendments made in early 2020 require the winner to secure more than 40.54% of the vote.
As polling opened in autumn sunshine in the capital, Tbilisi, plumber Lasha Guruli told the AFP news agency he was "very optimistic" of an opposition win. Surveys suggested a tight race in the country of 4 million people.
Saakashvili, who served as president from 2004 to 2013 and who is still wanted by Georgian prosecutors on abuse-of-office charges that he rejects, had told supporters in Tbilisi via video link on Thursday: "Our victory is approaching."
Georgia was ready, he said, "to choose freedom over oppression, prosperity over poverty, progress over backwardness."
Critics accuse Ivanishvili — who is widely seen to be calling the shots in Georgia — of persecuting political opponents, creating a corrupt system and amassing wealth while pursuing pro-Russian policies.
"State institutions, law-enforcement bodies, the prosecutor's office, the courts — nothing works properly," 67-year-old historian Murtaz Beridze told AFP.
Georgian parliament speaker Archil Talakvadze said Saturday's vote should help support efforts to integrate Georgia into the West and attract more investment.
During Saakashvili’s past nine-year presidency, Russia and Georgia fought a war in 2008 that ended in Tbilisi losing control of two Russian-friendly separatist regions.
Georgia's top court has slapped a prison term of over three years on one of the country's leading opposition figures, Gigi Ugulava. The ex-mayor of Tbilisi claims the ruling is the work of oligarch Bidzina Ivanishvili. | Government Job change - Election | October 2020 | ['(DW)'] |
Following an outbreak of bird flu in Israel, Europe bans imports of Israeli chicken; Ministry of Agriculture halts exports of unprocessed birds; Kibbutzim in the south, heart of Israel put under closure; four people hospitalized in the south are found not to be infected with the disease. | VIDEO - Bird flu spreading in Israel: The Ministry of Agriculture has placed severe restrictions on the areas of Kibbutz Ein Hashlosha, Nirim, Kissufim, and Holit in the south, following the outbreak of the bird flu virus.
Three residents of the southern kibbutzim of Ein Hashlosha and Holit and a man from the Sde Moshe community near Kiryat Gat were evacuated to Soroka Hospital in Be'er Sheva and Barzilai Hospital in Ashkelon Friday for fear they contracted the bird flu virus, which was discovered in poultry in the area Thursday. ? However, the four people hospitalized do not have the disease, tests revealed. ?
Noam Tamir, a chicken farm owner in Sde Moshe, told Ynet that the outbreak began three days ago, adding that hundreds of chickens have died.
The Ministry of Agriculture's veterinary services have halted exports of unprocessed chicken products from Israel to countries abroad, due to the outbreak of the bird flu virus, and in accordance with international agreements over the issue.
The European commissioner has banned imports of live birds and meat from Israel, following the outbreak of the lethal strain of bird flu.
'Prepared for outbreak'
Director general of the Soroka Hospital, Dr. Eitan Hai-Am, said that the Health Ministry has prepared in advance for the possibility of a bird flu virus outbreak.
"It needs to be stressed that there have been only a few cases of people contracting bird flu the world over, and that the chances of contracting the virus are slim. However, we must treat anyone suspect of having got the disease. Therefore, anyone who comes here with fear of bird flu is isolated upon entering the emergency room and treated accordingly," he explained. ?
Hundreds of thousands of poultry in Ein Hashlosha and three neighboring kibbutzim C Nirim, Kissufim and Holit, as well as in kibbutz Nachshon in the heart of Israel, will be exterminated in the next two days. Meanwhile, the Ministry of Agriculture turned to Holland and asked that 4 million bird vaccines will be flown to Israel.
Video: Reuters
Officials in the Agriculture Ministry are becoming increasingly concerned the bird flu virus detected in Ein Hashlosha and the community of Holit is of the lethal H5N1 type. Closure has been imposed Friday on Ein Hashlosha, Holit, Nirim and Kissufim. ?
The process of exterminating the poultry has already begun at the southern kibbutzim and is scheduled to last between 36 to 48 hours. The birds will be killed using poison that will be inserted to their water supply. Overall, some 200,000 birds will be eliminated in kibbutz Kissufim, 40,000 in Nirim and 36,000 in Ein Hashlosha.
Soroka Hospital prepares for bird flu (Photo: Amir Cohen)
Louis Rothman, a poultry farmer from Ein Hashlosha told Ynet: "For me it's a hard blow. These birds are my life, I never killed birds like this."
Palestinians updated
The Ministry of Agriculture held a press conference Friday noon in which it reported the virus has yet to be positively identified. Shimon Pokemonski, chief veterinarian for poultry diseases at the veterinary services, said that while the virus has not been isolated so far, tests indicate it is highly likely it is of the H5N1 type.
Pokemonski said that conclusive results will be available in the next few days.
Agriculture Ministry Officials also reported that they have contacted the Palestinian Authority in order to update counterparts on the matter, as kibbutz Ein Hashlosha is located only several kilometers away from Gaza.
The Ministry has also contacted the police, in case further quarantines will have to be imposed.
According to the Ministry, Israelis can continue to consume eggs and poultry as normal, as long as these were purchased in orderly places and cooked properly.
The veterinary services have already updated all relevant factors in Israel and abroad on the issue.
| Disease Outbreaks | March 2006 | ['(Ynetnews)'] |
United Kingdom Home Secretary Jacqui Smith announces her resignation. | Jacqui Smith is to stand down as home secretary in the cabinet reshuffle, sources close to her have told the BBC.
Prime Minister Gordon Brown is set to shake up his cabinet after Thursday's European and English local elections. The source said she was stepping down for her family, who had been "at the forefront" of a row over her expenses. Ms Smith, who wants to remain an MP, was criticised for listing her sister's London house as her main home - and her husband's claim for an adult movie. It is understood Ms Smith, the first woman home secretary, intends to defend her Redditch seat at the next election. It comes as Labour backbencher Ian Gibson is told he cannot stand again for the party over his expenses claims and three other MPs announce their intention to stand down at the next general election. Cabinet Office minister Tom Watson, a close ally of Mr Brown, is also expected to stand down from the government in the reshuffle - expected in the next week. Mr Brown confirmed to the BBC he is planning a reshuffle but refused to be drawn on individual ministers' roles, amid speculation that Chancellor Alistair Darling, whose expenses have also been questioned, may also be moved. The BBC understands that Ms Smith, 46, told Mr Brown during the Easter recess that she wanted to step down as home secretary. A source close to Ms Smith said she was quitting her cabinet job because it was the "right thing for her family". The source told the BBC that the row had put pressure on her children and her parents and while she regretted wrongly submitting a claim for the adult movie, she felt "vindicated" in her overall approach to claims, now those of other MPs had been published. She made no mention of her plans while moving the Borders, Citizenship and Immigration Bill in the Commons on Tuesday afternoon but received several "hear hears" as she stood up. Expenses row
But her opposite number Chris Grayling suggested it was her "final appearance" as home secretary and said she had "pre-announced the reshuffle". She was promoted to the job when Mr Brown became prime minister in 2007 and initially won plaudits for her handling of the car bomb attack on Glasgow Airport. But she has since come under pressure over issues - including attempts to extend pre-charge detention limits for terrorist suspects and the Home Office leaks inquiry that led to the arrest of Tory MP Damian Green. Weeks before the Daily Telegraph began its revelations about MPs' expenses, Ms Smith's own claims came under question. She had designated her sister's home, where she stays when she is in London, as her main home - rather than her constituency home where her family live. Later she agreed to pay back allowances claimed for pay-per-view television services, which included two adult films apparently watched by her husband. Labour's deputy leader Harriet Harman, interviewed on BBC Radio 4's World at One, said she could not confirm the "speculation" about Ms Smith. But she added: "I think she is an outstanding home secretary. And yes there has been controversy around her expenses and she's not alone in that. "On any side of the House there's been controversy but I don't think she's ever wavered from her commitment to her job as home secretary." Chris Huhne, the Liberal Democrats' home affairs spokesman, said it was "extraordinary" that leaks suggested Alistair Darling was also "on the way out". He said: "For a government to lose both the chancellor of the exchequer and the home secretary, two of the top four people, in one reshuffle does suggest that the real problem isn't the top four, it's the person right at the top, it's the prime minister." Hewitt and Hughes
Mr Darling and Transport Secretary Geoff Hoon have also found their expenses claims questioned and have paid back some money claimed on their second homes. Earlier BBC's political editor Nick Robinson asked the prime minister if both should remain in the cabinet. Mr Brown said so far people only had "the newspapers' version" of much of what had been claimed. "We're doing a far more extensive examination of what's happened with expenses and everything else. If there's a reshuffle, that's a matter for me about people's competences, ministers as well," he said. "If any mistakes have been made and if they were exposed - then people will have to accept the consequences". Communities Secretary Hazel Blears has also faced widespread speculation that she will be axed as a result of controversy over her second home claims. Bury North Labour MP David Chaytor, who is accused of claiming for a mortgage that was already paid off, said that he would not stand at the next election. Also on Tuesday, former Health Secretary Patricia Hewitt and children's minister Beverley Hughes announced they would stand down at the next election, but said it had nothing to do with the expenses furore. Ms Harman said Ms Hughes and Ms Hewitt were going due to family reasons and rejected suggestions that the "wheels are falling off" the government. What are these? | Government Job change - Resignation_Dismissal | June 2009 | ['(BBC)'] |
The U.S. Senate confirms former U.S. labor secretary and deputy transportation secretary Elaine Chao as Secretary of Transportation. Chao is married to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell. | Republican leaders made their hopes clear last month. Sitting at a long Senate dais, Sen. Roy Blunt (Mo.) held up four fingers, noting that Elaine Chao had made her way through the confirmation process multiple times over the years “without a dissenting vote on the Senate floor.” On Tuesday, Chao was confirmed as transportation secretary, bringing extensive government experience to a Trump administration seeking to spur a major infrastructure effort and shake up Washington’s ways. It was a big step for a familiar Washington figure with friends on both sides of the aisle. But unanimity was not to... | Government Job change - Appoint_Inauguration | January 2017 | ['(The Washington Post)'] |
Comair Flight 5191 crashes in Lexington, Kentucky. Only one person, out of three crew and 47 passengers, survived. | LEXINGTON, Kentucky (CNN) -- Why would an experienced pilot take off on a runway too short to accommodate his commercial jet -- rather than the longer one he told air traffic controllers he planned to use?
That's one of the questions federal investigators are trying to answer Monday as they dig into the data on Comair Flight 5191, which crashed Sunday morning about half a mile past the end of a runway at the Lexington airport, killing 49 of the 50 people onboard. The Delta Air Lines commuter flight to Atlanta, Georgia, had been cleared to take off from the 7,000-foot Runway 22 at Lexington's Blue Grass Airport, said Debbie Hersman, a member of the National Transportation Safety Board. (Watch the NTSB describe the evidence found -- 1:27)
Based on the cockpit voice recorder and tapes from the control tower, "there were planning discussions, both by the air traffic controllers and the crew, conversations with each other, about using Runway 22 for departure," Hersman told CNN on Monday. "We do know from the information that we have obtained on scene, gathered evidence, documentation and from the flight data recorder, that the runway that the crew used was Runway 26," which is about half as long as Runway 22.
Hersman would not say whether the Canadian-built Bombardier CRJ-100 would have been able to take off successfully from a 3,500-foot runway. (Watch the results of an early NTSB review -- 3:27)
But former NTSB Vice Chairman Bob Francis said that the twin-engine jet would have needed about 5,000 feet of runway for a successful takeoff.
"It sounds like it got barely airborne and came back down, but there isn't really enough evidence yet to draw that conclusion," Francis said. "I can speculate; they cannot."
The Associated Press reported that the short runway had less lighting than the one the plane should have used, and severely cracked concrete -- not the type of surface typically found on runways for commercial routes. Hersman said the NTSB probe will look at recent construction work at the Lexington airport, the lighting and the markings on the taxiways and runways. Investigators also will study what went on in the tower, how many controllers were on duty and whether they saw Flight 5191 head down the wrong runway.
It's rare for a plane to get on the wrong runway, but "sometimes with the intersecting runways, pilots go down the wrong one," St. Louis University aerospace professor emeritus Paul Czysz told the AP. The sole survivor of the crash, first officer James Polehinke, was in critical condition at a Lexington hospital, and was not able to be interviewed at this point, Hersman said.
The plane was carrying 47 passengers and three crew members. One of the passengers was an off-duty crew member sitting in the plane's jump seat, Blue Grass Airport Director Michael Gobb said. (Honeymooners among victims)
Only the identities of the crew -- pilot Capt. Jeffrey Clay, co-pilot Polehinke and flight attendant Kelly Heyer -- had been released by Sunday evening. Fayette County Coroner Gary Ginn asked relatives of the passengers to provide dental records to help identify the bodies of those killed. Clay began work with Comair in 1999 and was promoted two years ago to captain, said Don Bornhorst, the airline's president. Polehinke has worked for Comair since 2002, and Heyer had been employed with the carrier since 2004, Bornhorst said.
Comair purchased the jet in January 2001, and its maintenance was up to date, he said. Bornhorst added that the flight crew had been "on a legal rest period far beyond what is required," but the specifics of the crew's schedule will be part of the NTSB investigation. (Watch the airline exec describe the deadly crash -- 7:30)
Hersman said investigators are combing through 32 minutes of cockpit voice recordings and "several hundred" readings from the plane's flight data recorder as they search for the cause of the crash.
NTSB investigators could take up to a year before formally ruling on the cause of the crash.
Sunday's crash is the worst U.S. aviation accident since November 2001, when American Airlines Flight 587 crashed shortly after takeoff from John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York.
All 260 onboard Flight 587 were killed, along with five people on the ground, making it the second-deadliest air crash in U.S. history. | Air crash | August 2006 | ['(CNN.com)'] |
On the night of January 7 and morning of January 8, assailants throw grenades and fire guns at three mosques throughout France. |
The United States continues to have the highest recorded death rate at 28,586. On Wednesday, it registered its highest daily death toll, beating out the record set the previous day, as almost 2,500 deaths were reported.
Per capita, Europe has suffered the highest death rate with countries such as Spain, Italy, France and the United Kingdom all experiencing a higher proportion of deaths than the United States. However, the number of new cases per day is falling in Spain and Italy, whereas the trend remains flat in France, the United Kingdom, and the United States, where new cases have not yet fallen.
As the public health situation deteriorates so does the economic one, and pressure is building to reopen economies shut down by the pandemic. Robert Redfield, the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said that a number of U.S. states may reopen on May 1. There are a number of counties within this country that have not experienced really any coronavirus despite testing,?Redfield told ABC. There are a number of states19, 20 statesthat really have had limited impact from it. So I think we will see some states that are, the governors feel that theyre ready, were poised to assist them with that reopening.
Will the global economy ever recover? Foreign Policy asked nine leading global thinkers, including two Nobel-Prize-winning economists, to weigh in with their predictions for the future economic and financial order once the coronavirus pandemic subsides. Laura DAndrea Tyson warns that those on the bottom rungs may suffer the most immediate effects, Many low-wage, low-skill, in-person service jobs, especially those provided by small firms, will not return with the eventual recovery, she writes.
Can we trust the coronavirus numbers? Experts have warned repeatedly that recorded numbers, whether coronavirus cases or deaths, are likely undercounted due to testing shortages and prioritizing the living over the dead when it comes to testing. However, a report by ProPublica looking at deaths in major U.S. metropolitan areas shows just how far off the count may be. In New York, 200 deaths were recorded per day outside of hospitals or nursing homes in the past week, the usual average is 35 per day.
What Were Following Today
Israeli leaders fail to reach deal. Benjamin Netanyahu and Benny Gantz failed to agree to a unity deal before a midnight deadline last night, opening the door to a possible fourth election in just over one year. The failed talks mean that the Israeli Knesset now has three weeks to choose another candidate who could then attempt to form a government by gaining the support of 61 legislators; if that candidate cant reach a majority then a snap election would automatically be triggered. Netanyahu and Gantz are continuing to negotiate for the next 21 days, meaning that a unity deal between them remains a possibility.
The ongoing impasse is something of a boost for Netanyahu, whose corruption trial is due to begin next month. The prime minister coaxed his rival Benny Gantz into abandoning a promise not to enter government with Netanyahus Likud party, shattering Gantzs Blue and White coalition and sending his poll numbers plummeting. Meanwhile, a recent poll showed that 64 percent of Israelis are satisfied with Netanyahus handling of the coronavirus pandemic.
Moon Jae-ins party wins big in Korean elections. South Koreas Democratic Party won a historic landslide victory in parliamentary elections, providing a resounding vote of approval for President Moon Jae-in as the country slowly emerges from the worst of the coronavirus pandemic with its reputation enhanced. The Democratic Party and its affiliate party won three-fifths of the 300 seats in South Koreas national assembly. Its the first time in 16 years that a left-aligned party has won a parliamentary majority in the country.
U.S. Navy complains of harassment in Persian Gulf. The U.S. Navy said Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps vessels conducted dangerous and provocative approaches to U.S. Navy vessels in the Persian Gulf in a statement on Wednesday. The U.S. Fifth Fleet said it was in international waters and carrying out exercises when the boats approached. Iran has yet to respond to the U.S. statement.
Jobless claims released today. The U.S. Department of Labor will release its weekly unemployment claims today at 8:30 a.m. in Washington. Results from recent weeks have shattered previous records and todays numbers will provide an insight into how deep the U.S. unemployment crisis may be. Yesterday, the U.S. released more grim economic figures for the month of March: industrial output suffered its biggest drop since 1946 and headline retail sales have fallen by 8.7 percent.
Keep an Eye On
U.S. alleges China breaking nuclear test treaty. The United States has alleged that China may be flouting a nuclear testing ban in a new State Department report. The report highlights concerns that China may be out of compliance with the 1996 Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty due to activities that suggest zero-yield?testsexplosions without a nuclear chain reactionat the Lop Nur test site.
Chinas possible preparation to operate its Lop Nur test site year-round, its use of explosive containment chambers, extensive excavation activities at Lop Nur and a lack of transparency on its nuclear testing activities raise concerns regarding its adherence to the zero yield standard, the report said. U.S.-Chinese relations have soured recently over the coronavirus pandemic, with the United States accusing China of covering up the extent of the outbreak at its outset. In December, the White House formally invited China to begin arms control talks.
EU and U.K. agree to Brexit negotiating dates. The European Union and United Kingdom have agreed dates for the next three rounds of Brexit negotiations following a period of limbo brought on by the coronavirus pandemic. The top negotiators for both sides, the EUs Michel Barnier and Britains David Frost met via videoconference to prepare the meetings in a conversation they described as constructive. The negotiations will now take place during the weeks of April 20, May 11, and June 1. Despite the coronavirus pandemic derailing politics and public life as usual, the British government is not planning to extend the transition period beyond December 31.
Germany to ease lockdown. Germany is following the lead of its southern neighbor Austria by preparing to ease its lockdown measures. Starting May 4, Germany will begin reopening smaller shops and allowing schools to reopen, with priority given to final-year students. Hairdressers will also be allowed to open, but larger gathering points like bars, restaurants, and cinemas would still be banned. German Chancellor Angela Merkel played down talk of larger scale reopening, saying Germany had achieved merely a fragile intermediate success in its battle against the coronavirus.
IMF warns of social unrest. The International Monetary Fund has warned of social unrest developing in countries where coronavirus prevention measures are seen as insufficient or unfair to poorer workers. The IMF said that although governments have taken swift action to inject stimulus funds into their economies, even more money would be needed once the crisis subsides. The organization expects global public debt to rise by 13 percent in 2020 to almost 96 percent of global gross domestic product.
Odds and Ends
If lockdown doesnt have you feeling enough claustrophobia you can now truly test yourself with a visit to the depths of a 5,000 year-old Egyptian tomb. Luckily you wont have to deal with travel restrictions, as the Egyptian Tourist Board is promoting the site as a three-demensional experience online, hoping to entice travellers once normal flight service resumes. Viewers can explore Queen Meresankh IIIs tomb, as well as the Coptic Red monastery and the Ben Ezra synagogue in 3-D thanks to modeling by Harvard University.
| Disease Outbreaks | January 2015 | ['(ForeignPolicy.com)'] |
In South Carolina, the death toll rises to nine people in weather-related incidents with millions remaining homebound. Rain is forecast to continue with parts of the state dealing with flooding for some time. , | Updated on: October 5, 2015 / 4:26 PM
/ CBS/AP
COLUMBIA, S.C. -- Authorities say a 56-year-old man who tried to drive his sedan through floodwaters in South Carolina has died, the ninth fatality since a slow-moving rainstorm began several days ago.
Kershaw County Coroner David West said McArthur Woods drowned after driving around a barricade Sunday night into standing water on a road in Lugoff, a community northeast of Columbia.
Someone called 911 around 10 p.m. after hearing a passenger in the car screaming. The 28-year-old woman managed to climb out through a window and get on top of the car. A firefighter with a tether waded into several feet of water and rescued her.
Woods wasn't able to make it out of the car, which was already submerged when the woman was saved.
West said the woman was taken to the hospital and doesn't appear to have life-threatening injuries.
Days of torrential rains kept much of South Carolina and its capital gripped by floodwaters Monday as emergency responders promised renewed door-to-door searches for anyone still trapped after a weekend deluge and hundreds of rescues.
Crews rescued hundreds of people from fast moving flood waters, reports CBS News correspondent David Begnaud.
One pickup truck driver tried to drive through a flooded street but his car was quickly overtaken. A man swam in to try to rescue him, but moments later he, too, found himself trapped in the high waters. Both men were rescued by emergency crews in a scene that's been playing out across the state.
Heavy rain kept falling into the early hours Monday around the Carolinas from the storm that began swamping the Southeast late last week, part of an unprecedented low pressure system that dumped more than a foot of rain across South Carolina and drenched several other states.
Sunday was the wettest day in the history of South Carolina's capital city Columbia, according to the National Weather Service. The rainfall total at the Columbia Metropolitan Airport was 6.87 inches, the most rain that's ever fallen there in one day. One weather station near downtown recorded 17 inches in as many hours on Sunday.
"The flooding is unprecedented and historical," said Dr. Marshall Shepherd, a meteorologist and director of the atmospheric sciences program at the University of Georgia, in an email to The Associated Press.
He said the unique double punch of the upper level low - aided by a "river" of tropical moisture in the atmosphere from Hurricane Joaquin spinning far out in the Atlantic - gave the monster rainstorm its punch.
"We haven't had this level of rain in the low-country in a thousand years--that's how big this is," said South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley.
On Monday, she said 381 roads and 127 bridges were closed across the state, and 1,000 law enforcement officers and 1,000 transportation department personnel were working to make them safe. All roads and bridges will have to be checked for structural integrity, which could take weeks or longer.
The governor said most people are heeding her plea to stay off the roads.
"I think they get it. All you have to do is look out the window and see the flooding. It doesn't take long for you to get in your car and realize you've got to turn back around," Haley said in an interview on NBC's "Today" show.
More than two dozen shelters were open, Haley said. Utility crews, meanwhile, were working to restore power to 30,000 customers, she said.
The deluge made for otherworldly scenes in Columbia as floodwaters nearly touched the stoplights Sunday at one downtown intersection. Rainwater cascaded like a waterfall over jagged asphalt where a road sheered apart, and many cars were submerged under flooded streets.
The flooding forced hundreds of weekend rescues and threatened the drinking water supply for Columbia, with officials warning some could be without potable water for days because of water main breaks. The capital city told all 375,000 of its water customers to boil water before drinking.
Elsewhere, nearly 75 miles of Interstate 95 - the main link from the Southeast U.S. to the Northeast - was closed.
Among those rescued were a woman and baby lifted to safety by helicopter, but efforts were far from over.
Columbia Police Chief William Holbrook issued a statement Monday saying search teams would check for any people still needing evacuation, and crews will mark the front doors of homes checked with a fluorescent orange X once searched.
Those in distress should call 911 and they will be taken out on military vehicles and bused to shelters, he said.
Many schools and colleges, including the University of South Carolina, canceled classes Monday and some businesses planned to stay shuttered. State climatologists have said the sun could peek out Tuesday.
One of the hardest hit areas in Columbia was near Gills Creek, where a weather station recorded more than 20 inches of rain -- or nearly half the city's average yearly rainfall -- from Friday through Sunday. Shaw Air Force Base, east of Columbia, has seen more than 19 inches of rain over the last few days.
CBS affiliate WLTX reports forced evacuations have been ordered because the Gills Creek is rising again. The Richland County Sheriff's Department announced the evacuations Monday afternoon after a dam in that area broke.
Rescue crews used boats on Sunday to evacuate the family of Jeff Whalen, whose house backs up on Gills Creek.
"I got up around 6:15 and a neighbor called to tell us we should get out as soon as we can," Whalen said. "About that point it was about a foot below the door and when we left it was a foot in the house. It came quickly obviously."
At least eight weather-related deaths have been reported since rains began spreading over the Eastern Seaboard, which appeared to dodge the full fury of Hurricane Joaquin which was rapidly weakening as it veered farther out into the Atlantic.
Among the most recent deaths reported was a South Carolina Department of Transportation worker who died in flood waters Sunday while overseeing work near downtown Columbia.
Another death Sunday occurred when a woman in an SUV was swept into flood waters in Columbia. Richland County Coroner Gary Watts said the woman's body was found Sunday afternoon, about 12 hours after she disappeared in flood waters near downtown Columbia.
At least six other deaths were reported in South Carolina and North Carolina in previous days.
The flooding also prompted acts of kindness in Columbia.
Rawlings LaMotte, 38, a residential real estate broker, said he and a friend got into a small motorboat and ended up ferrying several people to safety, including a man who had been out of town and found roads to his home blocked.
"Until you've experienced something like this, you have no idea how bad it really is," LaMotte said.
Julie Beitz, president of the Forest Acres neighborhood association, said she paid for a stranger to stay at Extended Stay after her car was submerged on a nearby flooded road.
"You do anything you can to help people," Beitz said.
First published on October 5, 2015 / 11:29 AM
© 2015 CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report. | Floods | October 2015 | ['(CNN)', '(AP via ACBS News)'] |
British bullfighter Frank Evans, known as El Inglés, is about to retire after 40 years. , | One of the Britain's least known but most enduring sporting heroes will bring down the curtain on a 40-year career of sun, sand and swords later this year.
Frank Evans, Britain's leading bullfighter, was told by doctors in Valencia this week that a persistent injury means this season will be his last.
"I need a new knee," he told the Guardian yesterday.
"And you're not allowed to fight bulls with an artificial joint."
The Spanish public were initially sceptical about a foreigner's involvement in the sport which they consider an art form.
And while the son of a Manchester butcher was never a great artist in the ring, the fans learned to recognise a fundamental quality that is the same all over the world: Frank Evans has got balls.
Evans saw his first corrida in Granada in 1964. He was hooked straight away.
But Salford in the 60s offered few opportunities to a prospective matador.
The following summer Evans set off for Majorca to track down his illustrious predecessor, Vincent Charles Hitchcock, the first English matador. Hitchcock set Evans off on a trail round Spain picking up tips, going to bullfighting schools and washing a lot of dishes.
In 1966, at the age of 18, he landed his first fight in Barcelona. "Looking back it was bloody ridiculous. It was the first time I'd faced an actual animal and I got thrown all over the place. But in the end I popped the sword in him so I just about got away with it."
Evans wasn't actually supposed to get the fight. When the promoters asked for 'El Inglés' they were talking about another English prospect managed by Brian Epstein, the Beatles manager. They were surprised to discover that there was more than one Englishman on the scene. But by then the contracts were signed.
Evans took a break from the bulls during most of the 70s while he returned to the UK, married and started a family.
He returned in 1978 after the death of his father. "He was only 59 when he died," he said. "It seemed so quick and short, and I could feel my own life slipping away." Since then he has fought virtually every season.
Now Evans hopes he will be able to manage one last fight before he bows out.
"If I strap the knee up and have a cortisone injection I might be able to get through," he said. "It would be good to finish on my own terms rather than being forced out." | Government Job change - Resignation_Dismissal | March 2005 | ['(Guardian)', '(BBC)'] |
Leonid Tyagachyov, head of Russia's Olympic Committee, resigns after the nation's worst performance in the history of the Winter Olympic Games at the 2010 event in Vancouver. | There are reports that the head of Russia's Olympic Committee has stepped down after the nation recorded its worst performance at the Winter Games.
A committee spokesman said Leonid Tyagachyov hade decided to resign after Russia finished with just three golds in its 15-medal haul from Vancouver. Mr Tyagachyov's own spokesman, however, said such reports were premature. Russian President Dmitry Medvedev had on Monday called on Russia's senior sports officials to resign. He likened sports bureaucrats to "fat cats". The 2014 Winter Olympics are to be held in Russia's Black Sea resort of Sochi. The Itar-Tass news agency quoted a spokesman for the Olympic Committee as saying Mr Tyagachyov had submitted a letter of resignation. However, a spokesman for Mr Tyagachyov said the press attache of the Russian Olympic Committee "was hasty in dismissing his manager". In his statement on Monday, Mr Medvedev had warned that if sports officials were reluctant to step down, "we will help them". A former sports minister, Mr Tyagachyov , 63, had been appointed in 2001 and was seen as influential in helping Russia win the 2014 Winter Olympics. | Government Job change - Resignation_Dismissal | March 2010 | ['(BBC)', '(The Washington Post)', '(Bangkok Post)', '(The New York Times)'] |
The United States signs the Treaty of Amity and Cooperation in Southeast Asia. | Unnamed officials told reporters that efforts to improve ties depended partly on the outcome of democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi's trial. The US also pressed Burma to enforce a United Nations resolution imposing an arms embargo on North Korea. The US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has been on the diplomatic offensive ahead of a regional meeting now under way in Thailand. Earlier in her trip to Thailand, she issued warnings about how a nuclear North Korea was unacceptable to the United States, and expressed concerns about the possible transfer of nuclear technology from North Korea to Burma. The wrong road
Mrs Clinton called for the release of Ms Suu Kyi from many years of detention. "If she were released, that would open up opportunities... for my country to expand our relationship with Burma, including investments in Burma," Mrs Clinton said. This point was reinforced in the face-to-face meeting between US and Burmese officials on Wednesday night, US officials said. They said they had told Burma that "the outcome of the trial of Aung San Suu Kyi would affect our willingness and ability to take positive steps in our bilateral relationship". Mrs Clinton was not present at the meeting with Burmese officials, and said she did not intend to appear at a possible meeting with North Korean officials either. She told reporters that the US is convinced that Burma is taking the wrong road by associating with North Korea. Mrs Clinton also told reporters that North Korea must completely and irreversibly end its nuclear weapons program or face further isolation and "the unrelenting pressure" of international sanctions. She said there were more positive ways ahead if the North chooses, and she is expected to announce conditions in which the North will be welcomed back into international discussions later on Thursday. Symbols matter
Meanwhile, Mrs Clinton signed a symbolically important treaty with members of Asean. The Treaty of Amity and Co-operation binds the US more closely into the regional security architecture - something previous US administrations had fought shy of. "I want to send a very clear message that the United States is back, that we are fully engaged and committed to our relationships in South East Asia," she said before the signing the treaty in the resort of Phuket. Mrs Clinton's predecessor Condoleezza Rice skipped two Asean forums, leading analysts to remark on how China was gaining friends and influencing people in the perceived US absence. Mrs Clinton also said the Obama administration would soon appoint a permanent ambassador to Asean headquarters in Jakarta. Asean comprises Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Burma, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. | Sign Agreement | July 2009 | ['(BBC)'] |
Premier League club Stoke City unexpectedly sack manager Tony Pulis after seven years in charge. Pulis led the side to the Premier League, then the 2011 FA Cup Final and the 2011–12 UEFA Europa League. | Stoke City have started their search for a new manager after Tony Pulis's second spell in charge at the Britannia Stadium came to a sour end when he was sacked on Tuesday afternoon. Pulis met with Peter Coates at the Stoke owner's offices and was told that the Premier League club want to move in a new direction.
Later in the day Stoke issued a short statement claiming that they had reached a mutual agreement with the manager that he would leave his post with immediate effect. However, it is understood that Pulis, who had a 12-month rolling contract, was pushed.
Pulis's future has been a matter of debate for some time. Coates's decision to appoint Mark Cartwright in the newly created role of technical director in December – a clear sign that the chairman felt player recruitment needed to be managed more carefully – went down badly with Pulis and there were doubts as to whether the 55-year-old would buy into the restructuring going on at the club, who are moving towards a more continental model.
Those changes in the set-up will strongly influence Stoke's choice of manager. Rafael Benítez is the early favourite with the bookmakers although there are doubts as to whether the Spaniard would buy into a long-term project where the chances of winning trophies are slim.
Roberto Di Matteo, another former Chelsea manager out of work, is likely to be under consideration, as well as Steve Bould, an erstwhile Stoke player now working as Arsène Wenger's assistant at Arsenal. Phil Neville has been linked with a coaching position, and Gus Poyet's name is also in the frame. Pulis's position had started to come under increased scrutiny following a poor run of results at the turn of the year, which saw Stoke flirt with relegation after winning only one of 14 league matches.
They eventually pulled clear and finished in 13th place but some supporters had lost faith with the direct style of play and lack of goals, which were a common thread during the club's time in the Premier League under Pulis.
Coates was aware that there was an "anti-Pulis element" from the moment that he brought the Welshman back to the club in 2006, but he refused to be swayed by fan opinion and his faith was rewarded.
Stoke won promotion by finishing second in the Championship in 2008 and went on to retain their Premier League status in five successive seasons, finishing no lower than 14th. They also reached the FA Cup final in 2011, losing 1-0 to Manchester City, which secured a place in the Europa League, where they progressed to the knockout stage.
Along the way Pulis was backed heavily in the transfer market. Stoke's net spend over the past five years was close to £80m, which puts them behind only Manchester City and Chelsea during that period.
Although Pulis, who first managed Stoke from 2002-05, regularly made a point of praising Coates for his financial support, the chairman questioned the merits of some of the deals, in particular the £10m club record fee that Stoke paid Tottenham Hotspur in 2011 to sign Peter Crouch on a four-year contract along with his Spurs team-mate Wilson Palacios for £6m. Coates was concerned that Crouch, aged 30 at the time, would have no sell-on value and he later admitted that it was a transfer he reluctantly approved.
Things were also unravelling behind the scenes. Pulis's power base was diluted by the decision to appoint Cartwright while the manager's relationship with Tony Scholes, the chief executive, deteriorated over time. The fact that Stoke finished the season with only 42 points – their lowest Premier League total – and won only four out of 23 league matches since 1 December appears to have reinforced the belief among the board that it was a time for change.
Matthew Etherington, the Stoke winger, said: "I think the manager did a great job at the club. I know the fans were grumbling and saying they wanted a change and it looks like they have been granted their wish. I also think people have to be careful what they wish for.
"Look at Charlton with [Alan] Curbishley and look where they are now. Hopefully we won't go that way and we will get someone in that will take us forward and have us pushing for the top 10." | Government Job change - Resignation_Dismissal | May 2013 | ['(The Guardian)'] |
1998 Nobel Laureate José Saramago from Portugal dies at the age of 87. | (CNN) -- Jose Saramago, the outspoken Portuguese author who won the Nobel Prize for literature in 1998, died Friday at his home on the Spanish island of Lanzarote, his foundation said.
Saramago, 87, suffered from a prolonged illness that caused multiple organ failure. He was surrounded by family, the statement on his foundation's website said.
In awarding literature's highest prize, the Nobel committee recognized Saramago as one "who with parables sustained by imagination, compassion and irony continually enables us once again to apprehend an elusory reality."
Portugal's first Nobel laureate in literature was perhaps best known around the world for his allegorical novel "Blindness," a tale of a nameless nation that loses its sight.
Reviewers debated Saramago's intention with the oddly punctuated book, but one insight came from the sole character in the book who is spared the "white blindness" affliction: ''Why did we become blind, I don't know, perhaps one day we'll find out, Do you want me to tell you what I think, Yes, do, I don't think we did go blind, I think we are blind, Blind but seeing, Blind people who can see, but do not see.''
The words came from a man born into peasantry who survived political turmoil.
"The wisest man I ever knew in my whole life could not read or write," Saramago said in his Nobel acceptance speech. "At four o'clock in the morning, when the promise of a new day still lingered over French lands, he got up from his pallet and left for the fields, taking to pasture the half-dozen pigs whose fertility nourished him and his wife. My mother's parents lived on this scarcity, on the small breeding of pigs that after weaning were sold to the neighbors in our village of Azinhaga in the province of Ribatejo."
Saramago's parents were farmers, but he was sent to school in Lisbon. He later worked as a draftsman, a publisher's reader, an editor, a translator and a political commentator for the newspaper Diario de Lisboa.
But when Portugal's fledgling Communist revolution was overthrown in 1975, Saramago, like other prominent leftists, lost his job. The card-carrying Communist traded politics for the pen, devoting himself to writing novels. Many, including "Baltasar and Blimunda," became best-sellers and hailed by critics as literary masterpieces. His books were translated into more than 25 languages.
Saramago credited the characters in his books for the man he had become.
"In one sense, it could even be said that letter by letter, word by word, page by page, book after book, I have been successively implanting in the man I was the characters I created," he said in his Nobel speech.
"I believe that without them ... maybe my life wouldn't have succeeded in becoming more than an inexact sketch, a promise that like so many others remained only a promise, the existence of someone who maybe might have been, but in the end could not manage to be."
He left his native Portugal in the early 1990s after the conservative government barred his novel "The Gospel According to Jesus Christ" from a European literary prize. The book, a heretical retelling of the New Testament, had drawn the ire of Catholic readers.
Saramago used his Nobel stature to comment on a variety of topics, thrusting himself into controversy and headlines around the world. The nonconformist writer was never one to mince words.
In 2002, for instance, he compared Israel's treatment of the Palestinians to the Nazi death camp at Auschwitz.
He recognized that his bluntness could sometimes offend. "I am skeptical, reserved, I don't gush, I don't go around smiling, hugging people and trying to make friends," he said.
Saramago, a tall, austere man, made a rare jest in a 2008 interview with the Guardian newspaper after he was rushed to a hospital with a respiratory illness.
"They were reluctant to take me because I was in such a serious condition," he said, adding, "they didn't want to be the hospital where Jose Saramago died."
Saramago's wife, journalist Pilar del Rio, helped launch the Jose Saramago Foundation, and in the last years of his life, the complex writer even tried his hand at blogging.
A posting Friday on his website cited a 2008 interview with Portugal's Revista do Expresso: "We lack reflection, thinking, we need the labor of thinking," Saramago said, "and it seems to me that, out of ideas, we are not going anywhere." | Famous Person - Death | June 2010 | ['(The Guardian)', '(BBC News)', '(Deutsche Welle)', '(CNN)'] |
An early morning fire in the Chinese city of Changshu in Jiangsu province kills 22 people and injures three. | A pre-dawn fire in a two-storey house in eastern China killed 22 people and injured three on Sunday.
The city of Changshu in Jiangsu province, about 80 km northwest of Shanghai, said on Sunday in a brief social media post that the fire broke out around 4.30 am. The post said authorities have put out the fire and finished cleaning the scene.
Twenty two people died in a house #fire in East China's Jiangsu province early Sunday morning.
The cause remains under investigation. It is not clear how many residents survived.
Citing unnamed sources, an earlier report by the official Xinhua news agency said more than 20 people lived in the house. | Fire | July 2017 | ['(Hindustan Times)'] |
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy calls on NATO to hasten the country's accession to the military alliance in response to a growing build-up of Russian troops and military hardware on its borders, and to help bring an end to the ongoing conflict in the Donbas with pro-Russian separatists. | President calls for his country to be put on pathway to membership of western military alliance
Last modified on Wed 7 Apr 2021 10.05 BST
Ukraine’s president has called on Nato and key member states to hasten his country’s membership of the western military alliance in response to a growing buildup of Russian forces on his country’s borders.
Volodymyr Zelenskiy spoke to Nato’s secretary general, Jens Stoltenberg, on Tuesday, and urged for Ukraine to be put on a pathway to future membership to halt the long-running conflict in the eastern Donbas region.
A statement released by the Ukraine presidency following the call said that “the most urgent issue” in relation to Nato was “the possibility of obtaining the Nato membership action plan”, seen as a pathway to future membership.
The Ukrainian president has been engaged in a frantic round of diplomatic activity in the past few days as Russia has markedly increased the number of troops deployed to the north and east of Ukraine and in occupied Crimea.
Russia’s purpose in the military buildup is unclear, but many western analysts are concerned about the scale of the posturing at a time of increased tensions between Moscow and Washington, after Joe Biden told reporters he thought his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, was “a killer”.
Similar requests for a pathway to Nato membership were made by Zelenskiy in calls with Boris Johnson, the UK prime minister, on Monday and again on Tuesday with Justin Trudeau, Canada’s PM. Following the call with the UK, Ukraine called on the country, along with allies, to “strengthen its presence” in the region.
“Nato is the only way to end the war in Donbas. Ukraine’s MAP [membership action plan] will be a real signal for Russia,” Zelenskiy told Stoltenberg, according to Kyiv’s readout of their conversation.
Stoltenberg tweeted that he had spoken to Ukraine’s leader “to express serious concern about Russia’s military activities in and around Ukraine” and said the alliance “firmly supports Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity”.
Nato sources said alliance members discussed the Russian buildup last Thursday and continued to monitor the situation closely. But officials also said that Ukraine would have to “focus on domestic reforms” and “develop its defence capabilities in accordance with Nato standards” in order to be considered for membership.
Russia has not denied the troop movements but insisted it was “not threatening anyone”. Dmitry Peskov, the Kremlin’s spokesperson, told reporters on Tuesday that Nato membership for Ukraine would do no good in resolving the conflict.
“We very much doubt that this will help Ukraine settle its domestic problem,” Peskov said.
“From our point of view, it will only worsen the situation. If you ask the opinion of several million people living in the self-declared republics [in the east of the country] you will see that for them Nato membership is deeply unacceptable.”
Renewed clashes have been taking place in the east of Ukraine, in a simmering conflict that dates back to 2014. Kyiv said two soldiers were killed on Monday and Tuesday on the frontline, battling separatists who are widely believed to have Russian backing, something which Moscow denies.
Dr Nigel Gould-Davies, a senior analyst with the International Institute for Strategic Studies, said: “We are seeing more and more commentators and analysts saying this is more serious than just a show of strength. I don’t think we can rule out anything at this point.” | Join in an Organization | April 2021 | ['(The Guardian)'] |
New protests erupt in Russia, after last week's election of Vladimir Putin as President for a third term. | Protests have been held in Russia over Vladimir Putin's presidential election victory but turnout in Moscow was sharply down on earlier rallies.
Between 10,000 and 20,000 people lined an avenue near the Kremlin, compared to crowds of 100,000 in December.
Demonstrators heard calls not to recognise Mr Putin's re-election because of alleged widespread fraud.
Foreign states have accepted Mr Putin's election but observers said the poll had been skewed in his favour.
The BBC's Richard Galpin in Moscow says some opposition leaders had played down expectations of the turnout on Saturday, partly because their movement had failed to stop Mr Putin securing a third term in office.
Police in riot gear made a number of arrests in Moscow, detaining veteran left-wing activist Sergei Udaltsov among others.
The Moscow protest took place on Novy Arbat, a wide avenue in the city centre lined by 1960s skyscrapers.
Dozens of police and military vehicles were stationed on nearby streets.
The city authorities had given permission for a rally of up to 50,000 people but actual turnout was as low as 10,000, according to police, while the opposition gave much higher figures.
"My estimate - after seeing our high shot - is that between 10 and 20 thousand people were at today's Moscow protest - big numbers have gone," the BBC's Moscow correspondent, Daniel Sandford said in a message on Twitter.
On a cold but sunny Moscow day, demonstrators waved banners and wore white ribbons - the symbol of the protest movement.
One of the protest's organisers, Vladimir Ryzhkov, told the crowd: "These authorities are illegitimate. The same people are in power, the same people who took away our right to choose, the same people who destroyed freedom of speech and political competition.
"We will continue to demand deep political reforms and new elections."
Mr Udaltsov called for a million-strong march to take place in Moscow in May, a week before Mr Putin's inauguration.
The man seen by many as the driving force behind the protests, anti-corruption blogger Alexei Navalny, attended the rally as a spectator, not a speaker as on previous occasions.
Other, smaller protest rallies took place in St Petersburg and Yekaterinburg.
Mr Putin was re-elected for six years, having served two previous terms as president between 2000 and 2008.
On Friday, US President Barack Obama called Mr Putin from Air Force One "to congratulate him on his recent victory", a White House statement said.
Mr Obama said he looked forward to hosting Mr Putin at the G8 Summit in May at Camp David. | Protest_Online Condemnation | March 2012 | ['(BBC)'] |
A car crash in Austria leads to the death of Christian Kandlbauer, thought to be the first man to drive using a mind–controlled robotic arm. | An Austrian man who was the first European to use a mind-controlled bionic arm to help him drive has died after a fiery crash. His other arm was also artificial.
Christian Kandlbauer, 22, was taken off life support Thursday night, two days after a trucker pulled him from the burning wreckage of his his specially modified Subaru, which hit a tree, the Austrian Independent first reported. Police say they don't know what role, if any, his artificial arms may have played in the accident, which remains under investigation.
Kandlbauer lost both arms five years ago from a 20,000-volt jolt he got while climbing a power tower. Doctors harvested nerves from the arms, attached them to his chest muscles and then connected them to a robotic left arm he controlled through his thoughts. After rehabilitation, the one-time mechanic worked as a clerk at his old garage. In 2006, he passed his driving test.
Earlier this year Kandlbauer spoke to the BBC. "I feel very happy," he said. "It is like my earlier arm — I feel that my arm is a part of my body."
Otto Bock Group, which provided the robotic arm, posted a tribute to Kandlebauer, saying the firm's employees were "deeply shaken and are mourning for a man who had become their friend over the years of their partnership."
We admired and supported Christian Kandlbauer. He accepted his fate in a manner that commanded great respect from all of us. The courage to face life and the firm belief in living as part of society were his constant companions. Christian Kandlbauer has a firm place in the future as the pioneer of a technology that will permit many people to resume their everyday lives.
(Posted by Michael Winter)
Doug is an unrepentant news junkie who loves breaking news and has been known to watch C-SPAN even on vacation. He has covered a wide range of domestic and international news stories, from prison riots in Oklahoma to the Moscow coup against Mikhail Gorbachev. Doug previously served as foreign editor at USA TODAY. More about Doug
Michael Winter has been a daily contributor to On Deadline since its debut in January 2006. His journalism career began in the prehistoric Ink Era, and he was an early adapter at the dawn of the Digital Age. His varied experience includes editing at the San Jose Mercury News and The Philadelphia Inquirer. | Famous Person - Death | October 2010 | ['(BBC)', '(Ap via The Guardian)', '(USA Today)'] |
Two Spanish journalists and an Irish campaigner are killed after their convoy is attacked in eastern Burkina Faso. Two Burkinabe soldiers are wounded. | Burkina government confirms deaths of three foreigners killed in attack on anti-poaching patrol in country’s east.
Two Spanish journalists and the Irish director of a wildlife foundation were killed in an ambush in eastern Burkina Faso, the Spanish government and Burkinabe officials have said.
Burkina Faso’s government confirmed late on Tuesday that three foreigners were killed in the attack on an anti-poaching patrol the previous day.
“The worst of news is confirmed,” Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez had said on his Twitter account earlier on Tuesday, sending his condolences to the two men’s families. He named them as David Beriain and Roberto Fraile.
Translation: The worst news is confirmed. All the affection for the relatives and friends of David Beriain and Roberto Fraile, murdered in Burkina Faso. And our recognition to those who, like them, carry out courageous and essential journalism from conflict zones on a daily basis.
The Spanish nationals were working on a documentary on how Burkina Faso’s authorities were tackling poaching and on the communities of people living in the park, Spanish Foreign Minister Arancha Gonzalez Laya told reporters. They were traveling at the time of the attack in a group with about 40 people, she said.
“It is a dangerous area where terrorists, bandits, jihadists usually operate.”
The film project also focusing on the communities of people living in the park, according to media content producer Movistar Plus. The company identified the Irish victim as Rory Young, director of the Chengeta Wildlife Foundation.
The Irish government had earlier said it was “aware of the reports and is liaising closely with international partners regarding the situation on the ground”.
Christophe Deloire, secretary general of Reporters Without Borders, said on Twitter the press watchdog had learned from official sources in Burkina Faso that three journalists, including two Spanish reporters, who were investigating poaching “were killed in an attack in the east of the country”.
Burkina Faso has in recent years been gripped by escalating violence that has spread across the Sahel region to several countries including Niger and Mali.
No one has claimed responsibility for the attack on a road leading to the vast forested reserve of Pama.
The unit that was ambushed was part of a new joint army, police and forestry unit that had just gone through six months of training and was starting operations in conservation areas near the border with Benin and Togo.
Two soldiers wounded in the attack and evacuated to a military hospital in the capital, Ouagadougou, told The Associated Press news agency they were attacked by an armed group who outnumbered their 15-person patrol.
One soldier was shot in the leg and the other in his arm, causing it to be amputated.
When the fighters attacked, the soldiers tried to form a protective shield around the foreigners, but once the shooting stopped they realised they had disappeared, one of the soldiers said.
“We were discouraged. It’s like you leave your house with 10 people, you go to work and then you come back with eight people. What do you say to those two people’s families?” said one of the soldiers.
The foreigners had been traveling with the rangers for approximately one week. Two of them were journalists and one was a trainer, said the soldiers.
Attacks by al-Qaeda and ISIL-affiliated groups since 2015 have killed almost 1,100 people and displaced more than a million across Burkina Faso. Numerous other foreign workers have been kidnapped.
In January this year, a priest went missing in the country’s southeast, sparking fears he had been kidnapped.
Last August, the grand imam of the northern town of Djibo was found dead three days after gunmen stopped the car he was travelling in and kidnapped him.
In March 2019, a priest in Djibo was kidnapped, and in February 2018, a Catholic missionary, Cesar Fernandez, was murdered in the centre of the country.
| Armed Conflict | April 2021 | ['(Al Jazeera)'] |
Violent protests occur in Rome following the vote. | Italian PM Silvio Berlusconi has narrowly won a vote of confidence in the lower house of parliament by 314 to 311, prompting street protests.
In Rome, violent clashes have left 50 police officers and at least 40 protesters injured. The marchers set fire to cars, threw stones and overturned bins in Italy's worst street violence in recent years. Mr Berlusconi's critics say he is too deeply mired in scandal and corruption allegations to remain in office.
The Italian prime minister, 74, is halfway through a five-year term but his position has been weakened by a series of scandals, largely involving his relationships with women.
He has also lost the support of his closest political ally, Gianfranco Fini, along with dozens of his supporters, depriving him of his automatic majority in the lower house.
Thousands of people gathered in Rome and Italy's other major cities to demand a change in government.
Police fired tear gas on the protesters in Rome and several explosions - thought to be fireworks - were heard. Demonstrators threw eggs, paint and stones at parliament buildings. Inside, two opposition deputies switched sides for the final vote, giving Mr Berlusconi a narrow victory. Scuffles broke out in the lower house after opposition MP Katia Polidori voted in favour of Mr Berlusconi, and voting was briefly suspended.
Speaking in parliament, former anti-corruption judge Antonio Di Pietro - who now leads the opposition Italy of Values party - told Mr Berlusconi he was finished.
"Whatever the result of the vote you have bought, one thing is clear. You do not have a political majority that would allow you to govern," he said.
"Whether you like it or not, you have reached the end of the line for your political experience."
Last week, Mr Pietro made a formal complaint alleging that Mr Berlusconi was trying to buy votes. Rome magistrates have now begun an investigation.
There were also protests elsewhere.
In the Sicilian regional capital, Palermo, 500 students occupied the main airport runway. In Turin in the north, students occupied the railway station, while in Venice they held a demonstration on the famous Rialto Bridge. The demonstrations follow weeks of bitter protests against the government, which has announced austerity measures, including cuts in education spending. The BBC's Duncan Kennedy in Rome says although Mr Berlusconi's lobbying has paid off for now, he will still face considerable opposition to his leadership.
Mr Berlusconi has become notorious for his gaffes. At a dinner with his MPs the night before the vote, the newspaper Corriere della Sera quoted him as saying: "I am unable to say 'No', I have never been able to, I've been lucky that no gay person has ever come to proposition me."
| Protest_Online Condemnation | December 2010 | ['(BBC)'] |
Ali al–Haj, secretary of the Islamist Popular Congress Party, is arrested after Sudanese authorities summon him for questioning over his role in the coup d’état that put former President Omar al–Bashir in power. | KHARTOUM (Reuters) - Sudan’s most prominent Islamist politician was arrested on Wednesday after being summoned for questioning over former leader Omar al-Bashir’s rise to power in a 1989 coup, a senior official from his party said.
The investigation into Ali al-Haj, secretary general of the Islamist Popular Congress Party (PCP), is a significant step against the Islamist political networks that supported Bashir, who was overthrown in April.
The official, who declined to be named, told Reuters Haj reported to investigators on Wednesday evening after the public prosecution summoned him and was then arrested and transferred to Khartoum’s Kobar prison, where Bashir is also being held.
Authorities went to Ali al-Haj’s home on Wednesday to inform him he was being summoned for questioning by the public prosecution, Idris Suleiman, the party’s political secretary, told Reuters. There has been no official comment.
“Ali al-Haj is a political leader and not a military man to be charged over the 1989 coup and he was abroad when that coup happened,” Suleiman said.
Haj has not been questioned yet, the senior official said. It is unclear when he will be.
Some of Bashir’s aides were arrested after his overthrow.
PCP was founded by the late Islamist leader Hassan al-Turabi, who was one of Sudan’s most influential political figures, after a dispute with the former ruling National Congress Party (NCP) led by Bashir. The party later became an ally of the NCP.
The Islamist party has complained of being sidelined in Sudan’s transitional political process following Bashir’s departure.
The current transitional government was formed in September after a power-sharing deal between anti-Bashir groups and the Transitional Military Council that ruled the country after Bashir’s overthrow.
(This story corrects to say Haj (not Bashir) has not been questioned in paragraph 6.)
Reporting by Khalid Abdelaziz; Writing by Yousef Saba and Mahmoud Mourad; Editing by Timothy Heritage and Philippa Fletcher
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.
Exclusive: Fed’s Neel Kashkari opposes rate hikes at least through 2023 as the central bank becomes more hawkish | Famous Person - Commit Crime - Arrest | November 2019 | ['(Reuters)'] |
Clashes at a government protest in Kailali kill eight people in Nepal, including seven police officers. | Violent clashes at a protest in western Nepal have killed at least seven police officers and a child.
The ethnic Tharu protesters were at a rally in Kailali district in the Far Western region, demanding greater rights under a new constitution.
Nepal's Home Minister Bamdev Gautam said protesters had encircled police, attacking them with spears and axes and burning one man alive.
The army would be sent in to secure the area, he added.
It is not clear if any protesters died in the clashes.
Nepal has seen several protests in recent weeks against a new draft constitution being discussed by parliament.
Minority ethnic groups argue that the new constitution, which would divide the country into seven federal states, would discriminate against them and give them insufficient autonomy.
| Protest_Online Condemnation | August 2015 | ['(BBC)'] |
A United Kingdom Channel 4 news team is arrested with a Bahraini driver reported as having been assaulted. | Channel 4 News Foreign Affairs Correspondent Jonathan Miller and his team have been arrested while reporting from Bahrain.
Channel 4 News has been in contact with the team and is concerned about the welfare of the local driver who was arrested and assaulted before being separated from them. When last seen he appeared to be bleeding from slashes to his arms.
In common with other foreign media, Channel 4 News was denied journalist visas and worked without accreditation during the grand prix.
Tonight, speaking to the programme after his arrest, whilst being driven to Budiya Police Station, Jonathan Miller said: “Right now we’re concerned for our driver…things are rather worse for Bahrainis in police custody.”
He explained the circumstances leading up to the arrest.
“I’m in the back of a police vehicle in Bahrain, completely surrounded by riot police, and I’m being taken to Budiya police station in Bahrain City,” he said.
“We are operating without accreditation, so when we were caught filming a planned demonstration in one of the Shia villages they have not been particularly pleasant. They’ve been very aggressive towards me, my crew and driver and Dr Al Shihabi, a prominent human rights activist.”
“We were actually heading back to where we were staying to edit the piece we’d compiled for tonight we’d met villagers in a Shia suburb off the main city, who were demonstrating night after night after night.”
A Channel 4 News spokeperson said:”We can confirm that our foreign affairs correspondent Jonathan Miller and his team have been arrested whilst reporting for the programme from a village in Bahrain. Our primary concern is for the safety of the team, and we are working with the appropriate authorities to secure a swift release. We are also working hard to establish the whereabouts of the driver they were with as we believe he has been separated from the group.” | Armed Conflict | April 2012 | ['(Channel 4)'] |
The United States House of Representatives approves legislation expanding the United States Government's ability to conduct surveillance without a court order on foreign terrorism suspects. | WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Congress yielded to President George W. Bush on Saturday and approved legislation to temporarily expand the government’s power to conduct electronic surveillance without a court order in tracking foreign suspects.
President Bush speaks to the news media in the Rose Garden of the White House, August 2, 2007. Bush pushed for final congressional approval on Saturday of a bill to revamp his spying program that would temporarily grant the government expanded power to conduct electronic surveillance without a court order. REUTERS/Jason Reed
Civil liberties groups charged the measure would create a broad net that would sweep up law-abiding U.S. citizens. But the House of Representatives gave its concurrence to the bill, 227-183, a day after it won Senate approval, 60-28.
“After months of prodding by House Republicans, Congress has finally closed the terrorist loophole in our surveillance law -- and America will be the safer for it,” declared House Minority Leader John Boehner, an Ohio Republican.
“We think it is not the bill that ought to pass,” said House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer. But Hoyer conceded he and fellow Democrats were unable to stop the measure after a showdown with the White House amid warnings of possible attacks on the United States.
With lawmakers set to begin a month-long recess this weekend, Bush had called on them to stay until they passed the legislation.
“Protecting America is our most solemn obligation,” Bush said earlier in the day in urging Congress to send him the bill so he could sign it into law.
The measure would authorize the National Security Agency to intercept without a court order communications between people in the United States and foreign targets overseas.
The administration would have to submit to a secret court a description of the procedures they used to determine that warrantless surveillance only targeted people outside the United States.
The court, created by the 1978 Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), would review the procedures and order changes, if needed. The administration could appeal.
FISA now requires the government to obtain orders from its court to conduct surveillance of suspected terrorists in the United States.
But after the September 11 attacks, Bush authorized warrantless interception of communications between people in the United States and others overseas if one had suspected terrorist ties. Critics charged that program violated the law, but Bush argued he had wartime powers to do so.
In January, Bush put the program under the supervision of the FISA court, but the terms have not been made public. Congress has subpoenaed documents in an effort to determine Bush’s legal justification for the warrantless surveillance.
The new bill was needed in part, aides said, because of restrictions recently imposed by the secret court on the ability of spy agencies to intercept communications.
Final passage of the bill came a day after Republicans rejected Democratic alternatives that would have provided greater court supervision.
The measure is to expire in six months. Lawmakers are to come up with permanent legislation in the meantime.
Director of National Intelligence Mike McConnell said he needed the measure “in order to protect the nation from attacks that are being planned today to inflict mass casualties on the United States.”
Rep. Jerrold Nadler, a New York Democrat, opposed the bill, saying, “Sadly, Congress has been stampeded by fear-mongering and deception into signing away our rights.”
“With the President set to sign this bill into law, I do not believe we will soon be able to undo this damage,” Nadler said. “Rights given away are not easily regained.”
Sen. Dianne Feinstein of California, who broke ranks with many fellow Democrats to vote for the measure, said: “We are living in a period of heightened vulnerability and must give the intelligence community the tools they need.”
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
| Government Policy Changes | August 2007 | ['(Reuters)'] |
The Myanmar Assembly of the Union, or parliament, selects Htin Kyaw as the new President. Kyaw, a confidant of Aung San Suu Kyi, will be the first civilian president in decades. Suu Kyi, a Nobel Peace Prize recipient, is constitutionally barred from the office. | Myanmar’s parliament votes Tuesday to pick the country’s next president from a group of three final candidates, including a front runner who is a longtime confidant of Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi.
Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy party won overwhelming majorities in both houses of parliament in a November 8 general election and its lawmakers are expected to confirm party nominee Htin Kyaw as the country’s next leader.
The new president is to take office on April 1.
Myanmar’s electoral system requires that the president be chosen from candidates put forward by each of the two houses of parliament, and a third nominee from the military, which retains a quarter of the legislative seats.
The other candidates are a second NLD nominee, Henry Van Tio, and the military’s candidate, Myint Swe, a retired lieutenant general.
Parliament speaker Mann Win Khaing Than announced Monday that the vote would take place Tuesday, after lawmakers confirmed that all three candidates were eligible.
The NLD’s huge victory reflected the widespread public support for Suu Kyi, who fought for decades to end dictatorship in Myanmar and remains her party’s unquestioned leader. She was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize while under house arrest in 1991.
Suu Kyi was detained for more than 15 years, mostly under house arrest, by a military junta that feared her political popularity.
Myanmar’s constitution, written under the former junta’s direction, blocks Suu Kyi from becoming president because of a clause that excludes anyone with a foreign spouse or children. Suu Kyi’s two sons are British, as was her late husband. The clause is widely seen as having been written by the military with Suu Kyi in mind.
Suu Kyi has said she will be “above” the president and rule from behind the scenes, meaning that any NLD candidate would effectively be her proxy.
The new government will be Myanmar’s first to be democratically elected in more than half a century. | Government Job change - Election | March 2016 | ['(Indian Express)', '(ABC News Australia)'] |
A second wave of pollutants from last year's toxic chemical spill in Jilin City, China, trapped in the frozen Amur and Songhua Rivers during the winter, is now being released by the spring thaw, affecting Khabarovsk and other settlements in the Russian Far East. , , | They say chemicals trapped in a frozen river during the winter are now being released by the spring thaw.
People in the city of Khabarovsk and other settlements along the River Amur have noticed strong chemical smells.
Russian officials said higher than permissible levels of chemicals have been detected in the river.
People have been advised to stop using tap water for drinking or cooking.
The original spill occurred in November, when large amounts of benzene, phenol and other toxic substances were found in China's Songhua river.
The spillage followed an explosion at a chemical factory.
The incident strained relations with Russia and focused attention on pollution problems in China's rivers.
The Songhua feeds into the Amur on the Russian border, affecting water supplies for more than 500,000 people in Khabarovsk. | Environment Pollution | May 2006 | ['(BBC)', '(Guardian)', '(CNN)'] |
South Korea claims that North Korea has fired more than 100 rounds of artillery into the Sea of Japan near the border highlighting the increase of tensions on the Korean Peninsula. | In a pointed example of escalating tensions between two Asian nations, North Korea on Monday fired more than 100 rounds of artillery into the waters off its west coast, according to South Korea’s Defense Ministry.
The move came one day after the North seized a South Korean fishing boat and its seven-man crew, claiming it had violated North Korea’s exclusive economic zone.
In recent days, North Korea had vowed “strong physical retaliation” in response to South Korea’s launching last week of five days of naval training exercises near the disputed sea border between the two countries. The exercises ended Monday.
Seoul had also participated last month in a series of joint naval exercises with U.S. forces. Pyongyang has routinely said that it considers such operations to be preparations for an invasion.
Analysts said it was still too early to categorize the boat seizure and the shell firings as any comprehensive North Korean response.
“That’s what they said they were going to do — come back with some physical response — but if that’s what they had in mind, it’s too hard to tell at this point,” said Daniel Pinkston, an expert in North-South relations for the International Crisis Group think tank. He said it was important to know where the fishing boat had been taken into custody.
Contrary to earlier reports, some of the artillery shells fired Monday fell on the southern side of the line, officials said.
The incident is expected to stir up even more anxiety on the Korean peninsula. Tensions have remained high since late March, when a South Korean military ship was apparently torpedoed while on patrol near the naval border, killing 46 crewmen. Although a South Korean-led investigation of the incident has pinpointed North Korea as responsible for the sinking, Pyongyang has denied involvement.
During a briefing late Monday, the South Korean Defense Ministry confirmed that the North had fired shells into the Yellow Sea and that authorities had evacuated fishing boats in the area, according to a source who asked not to be identified.
North Korea first fired about 10 shots around 5:30 p.m., then 120 shots between 5:52 and 6:14 p.m., South Korean officials said. The South’s navy raised its alert status and sent warning broadcasts to the North at 5:49 p.m. officials said.
Earlier Monday, South Korea had demanded the release of both the 41-ton fishing boat and its crew — four South Korean and three Chinese men. The crew had been briefly questioned at sea Sunday before being taken to North Korea’s eastern port of Kimchaek, according to the South Korean coast guard.
South Korean officials said Monday that they were trying to check whether the boat had entered North Korean waters. The area is also where the navies of the Koreas fought three gun battles in recent years.
South Korean Unification Ministry spokesman Chun Hae-sung said Pyongyang had yet to provide any information on the fishermen.
“The government yesterday urged North Korea to take swift action [on the men] in line with an international law and practice, and I’m reiterating that,” he said Monday.
Chinese officials expressed concern over the seizure, adding that diplomats in North Korea are verifying the report with local authorities, the New China News Agency said.
In 2009, four South Korean fishermen were detained for a month after allegedly entering North Korean waters.
[email protected]
Times staff writer Glionna reported from Yichang and Times Seoul Bureau news assistant Kim from Seoul.
| Military Exercise | August 2010 | ['(Los Angeles Times)', '(China Daily)'] |
Protesters from the Palestine Solidarity Campaign disrupt a concert given by the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra for the BBC Proms at London's Royal Albert Hall. | Several demonstrators in the hall shouted as Zubin Mehta stood to conduct Bruch's violin concerto. Many other audience members booed in response.
BBC Radio 3 said it had to interrupt its live broadcast twice "as a result of sustained audience disturbance".
The Palestine Solidarity Campaign had earlier called on people to boycott the concert and urged the BBC to cancel it.
In a statement published on its website ahead of the Proms, the pro-Palestinian group claimed the IPO showed "complicity in whitewashing Israel's persistent violations of international law and human rights".
The BBC Proms Team tweeted: "We're sorry that the concert was taken off air following hall disturbance. Glad both pieces were heard by the audience in the RAH."
It later added: "We regret that as a result of sustained audience disturbance tonight's concert was taken off BBC Radio 3."
The performance, which consisted of four parts, was interrupted at about 19:45 BST and coverage was cut off again an hour later after more protests.
A spokeswoman for BBC Proms said it appeared each piece had been targeted by different protesters seated around the hall. She said the broadcaster was "disappointed" the coverage had been taken off air but said the performance had continued in the hall. About 30 people were removed by security but there were no arrests and no violence, she said.
The BBC's Tom Symonds said: "As Zubin Mehta stood up and began each piece a small group of protesters each time tried to stop the music.
"They sang, they shouted, they were met by boos by the audience and they had to be removed by the security staff."
Outside the concert hall a group of about 20 campaigners waved banners and sang songs in protest against the appearance of the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra (IPO).
Several pro-Israeli groups met them with their own protest outside, our correspondent said.
He said it had been a "pretty disruptive" but the orchestra was said to have "taken it all in their stride and had smiles on their faces". Regular Proms-goer Chris Keating said there were six or seven disturbances during the performance.
"The first was in a quiet passage of the first piece," he said. "About a dozen protesters in the choir seats stood up with a banner saying Free Palestine and started chanting and singing to the tune of Beethoven's Ode to Joy. "They were drowned out by the orchestra as the passage of music got louder and were ushered out."
Theartsdesk.com music reviewer Igor Toronyi-Lalic, who was at the show, said: "The whole hall was groaning and trying to slow clap them out.
"It had the atmosphere of a riot."
There had been increased security measures for the concert, including bag searches and a heightened police presence.
Police confirmed there had been no arrests but there were heated exchanges between not only supporters of both political sides but also concert-goers angry at the disruption to their evening.
Anti-Israel protesters have targeted classical music performances before.
In August 2008, five members of the Scottish Palestine Solidarity Campaign disrupted a concert by the Jerusalem String Quartet at Edinburgh's Queen's Hall. The BBC said it would broadcast part of the concert on 7 September at 14:30 BST. Israel protest 'was not racist' | Protest_Online Condemnation | September 2011 | ['(BBC)'] |
The army in Mauritania destroy a car packed with explosives outside the capital Nouakchott, killing three people suspected of being members of Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb. | Mauritanian soldiers have fired on a car packed with explosives outside the capital killing three suspected members of al-Qaeda's North African branch.
The army said several soldiers were also injured in the operation in the early hours of Wednesday morning.
It believes the three men were about to mount an attack in Nouakchott.
An army spokesman said the car was one of three all-terrain vehicles tracked by the security forces since crossing from Mali.
"The car was transporting three terrorists trying to infiltrate the capital by launching a kamikaze attack," Col Mohamed Ould Ahmed told the Associated Press news agency.
The occupant of a second vehicle was detained, but those travelling in the third vehicle are still being sought.
Correspondents say the explosion - which took place some 12km (eight miles) south of Nouakchott - woke up city residents in some southern suburbs in the early hours of the morning.
Earlier last year, four Sahara states - Mauritania, Mali, Niger and Algeria - set up a joint military headquarters in the south of Algeria to improve co-ordination in combating al-Qaeda in the Islamic Mahgreb (AQIM).
The group emerged in 2007 from an Algerian militant group, the Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat (GSPC), and aligned itself with Osama Bin Laden's international network.
It has carried out suicide attacks and ambushes in Algeria and in recent years has become more active in the Sahara, where governments struggle to impose their authority.
AQIM also carries out kidnappings for ransom or to demand the release of prisoners.
Last month, it claimed responsibility for the kidnapping of two Frenchmen in Niger who were later found dead after a failed attempt to rescue them on the Niger-Mali border.
| Armed Conflict | February 2011 | ['(BBC)', '(AFP via Google News)'] |