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Mostly peaceful protesters march through Toronto while a small amount of radicals smash shopfronts and burn police cars. | Black-clad anarchists protesting at the G20 summit in Toronto have smashed storefronts and wrecked a police car, while riot police donned gas masks in anticipation of an escalation of violence.
Masked protesters smashed windows of a bank branch and other buildings, including a Starbucks coffee shop, and set a police car ablaze. Two media trucks were also damaged.
An Emergency Services spokeswoman said at least three people had been wounded in the protest, but that paramedics were unable to reach them due to the protest.
By midafternoon, demonstrators numbered in the thousands, while hundreds of police massed and authorities shut down public transit and blocked streets leading into the downtown core of the city.
Most protesters remained peaceful, with many bearing signs and chanting slogans aimed both at the G20 and police tactics.
"Whose streets, our streets," roared the crowd, while TV images focused on "anarchists" who had promised to infiltrate the crowd and face off against police at the three-metre high barrier that encircles the Group of 20 meeting site.
Soon after the demonstrators arrived near the G20 barriers, groups of black-clad protesters appeared to separate themselves from the larger group and confronted the hundreds of police shadowing the march.
TV reports said protesters at the front of the march were hurling objects such as golf balls at police.
A reporter earlier witnessed some demonstrators chipping pieces off concrete planters lining the path of the march before scuffles between the two sides. Police used plastic shields to shove demonstrators back into the crowds.
Canada has budgeted more than $US970 million for security for the two summits.
Police earlier this week arrested a man and a woman a few blocks from the summit site and said they had found incendiary devices.
Overnight, police conducted raids on houses of suspected protest organisers in Toronto and arrested four people on charges of conspiracy to commit mischief, in what police said was a protest-related move.
| Protest_Online Condemnation | June 2010 | ['(Reuters via ABC Australia)'] |
Hurricane warnings are issued for the state of Louisiana and parts of Mississippi as it is expected that Tropical Storm Marco will become a hurricane later today. Meanwhile, Tropical Storm Laura is also advancing toward the United States after leaving torrential rain in parts of Haiti and the Dominican Republic. The Louisiana Governor John Bel Edwards requests a federal emergency declaration; Mississippi Governor Tate Reeves declares a state of emergency. | Residents in low-lying coastal areas of Louisiana and Cuba were evacuating on Sunday, while roads turned to rivers in Haiti’s capital city, as twin hurricanes threatened the Caribbean and US Gulf Coast.
Marco, which strengthened to a hurricane and is forecast to hit Louisiana on Monday, will be followed by Tropical Storm Laura, which was over the Dominican Republic on Sunday and is expected to travel across Hispaniola and Cuba and strengthen to a hurricane before striking the US on Thursday.
At least three people died, including a mother and her seven-year-old son, in the Dominican Republic due to collapsing walls. Laura left more than a million in the country without electricity, forced more than a thousand to evacuate and caused several homes along the Isabela river to collapse, authorities said.
Louisiana governor John Bel Edwards warned residents tropical storm-force winds would arrive by Monday morning and they should be ready to ride out both Marco and Laura.
“Wherever you are at dark tonight is where you need to be prepared to ride out these storms,” he said.
In Port-au-Prince, Haiti, videos on social media showed people wading waist-deep in muddy water in some of the worst flooding seen in years. Haiti is especially vulnerable to intense rains due to poor infrastructure and deforestation which increases the likelihood of landslides.
Authorities called on residents along the Artibonite river to evacuate, as the Peligre Hydroelectric Dam might fail.
Haiti was the first to report a death from Laura: a 10-year-old girl was killed when a tree fell on her home in the southern town of Anse-a-Pitres.
With hopes dashed that the mountains of Hispaniola would weaken the storm, Cuba scrambled to prepare. Evacuations were under way in eastern parts of the island, where the storm was expected to strike on Sunday evening, bringing flooding.
Back-to-back hurricanes arriving at the US coast within days “could result in a prolonged period of hazardous weather”, National Hurricane Center forecaster Stacy Stewart warned.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency sent teams to emergency operations centers in state capitals in Louisiana and Texas, said spokesman Earl Armstrong. Fema is prepared to handle back-to-back storms, he said, pointing to 2004 when four hurricanes hit Florida in six weeks.
Officials in Louisiana’s coastal Lafourche Parish ordered a mandatory evacuation for low-lying areas at noon on Sunday. The US coast guard also raised its warning for the Port of New Orleans, calling for ships to make plans to evacuate some areas.
The potential for flooding and evacuations added to worries about the spread of Covid-19. Tulane University, the largest private employer in New Orleans, said it would close its testing center on Monday due to potential flooding and power outages and called on students to maintain social distancing guidelines.
In Grand Isle, at the state’s southern tip, authorities were placing sandbags to bolster its protective levy while energy companies continued to pull workers from offshore platforms and shut production in Gulf of Mexico wells.
Laura could strengthen and become a category 2 or 3 hurricane and move west, closer to the Houston-Galveston area, bringing flooding rains late on Wednesday or Thursday, said Chris Kerr, a meteorologist and director of offshore forecasting for DTN, an energy, agriculture and weather data provider. | Hurricanes_Tornado_Storm_Blizzard | August 2020 | ['(The Guardian)', '(ABC News)'] |
Royal Dutch Shell purchases rival BG Group for around $70 billion. | Royal Dutch Shell PLC’s $70 billion deal to buy BG Group PLC marks the most aggressive step yet in the competition to be the world’s dominant supplier of liquefied natural gas—a fuel with a fast-growing and increasingly global market. The deal, announced Wednesday, would vault Shell far ahead of rivals like Exxon Mobil Corp and Chevron Corp. in the race to build market share for LNG, a chilled form of natural gas used for electricity generation and home heating.
The tie-up is a bet that countries like China, India and others in the developing world will move toward cleaner burning fuels like natural gas instead of coal amid growing pressure to curb emissions. And it is a gamble that Asian markets will come to rely on U.S. exports of the product, when the first shipments leave the country—expected sometime in late 2015 or early next year.
Exxon Mobil estimates that the global trade in liquefied natural gas will more than triple through 2040, to nearly 100 billion cubic feet a day—roughly 40% higher than current U.S. gas output. The company projects that countries throughout Asia and the Pacific will import half of the gas they consume by 2040, with LNG making up 80% of imports.
Building up its LNG business would also give Shell some insulation from volatile oil prices, which have plummeted since last summer. | Organization Merge | April 2015 | ['(Wall Street Journal)'] |
Prisoners kill at least 56 people in a prison riot in Manaus, Brazil. | BRASILIA (Reuters) - Drug gangs sparked a prison riot that killed 56 people, with decapitated bodies thrown over prison walls in the bloodiest violence in more than two decades in Brazil’s overcrowded penitentiary system, officials said on Monday.
Sergio Fontes, the security chief for Amazonas state, told reporters several decapitated bodies were thrown over the wall of the prison in the Amazon city of Manaus, with most of those killed coming from the Sao Paulo-based First Capital Command (PCC) drug gang.
“This was another chapter in the silent and ruthless war of drug trafficking,” he said.
Justice Minister Alexandre de Moraes traveled to Manaus on Monday to meet Amazonas Governor José Melo Oliveira and other federal security officials about the riot.
Pedro Florencio, the Amazonas state prison secretary, said the massacre was a “revenge killing” in a feud between criminal gangs in Brazil.
The violence began late Sunday and was brought under control by around 7 a.m. AMT (1100 GMT) on Monday, Fontes said.
Just as the riot began in one unit of the Anisio Jobim prison complex, dozens of prisoners in the second unit started a mass escape in what authorities said was a coordinated effort to distract guards.
Overcrowding is extremely common in Brazil’s prisons, which suffer endemic violence and what rights groups call medieval conditions with food scarce and cells so packed that prisoners have no space to lie down.
The Anisio Jobim prison complex currently houses 2,230 inmates despite having a capacity of only 590.
Related Coverage
Hours after the Anisio Jobim prison revolt ended, prisoners at an adjoining detention center began a riot and attempted to escape. Authorities said the situation was quickly brought under control.
Watchdog groups sharply criticize Brazil for its prisons, where deadly riots routinely break out.
“These massacres occur almost daily in Brazil,” said Father Valdir Silveira, director of Pastoral Carceraria, a Catholic center that monitors prison conditions in Brazil. “Our prisons were built to annihilate, torture and kill.”
A total of 184 inmates escaped, with 40 recaptured by Monday afternoon.
The violence was the latest clash between inmates aligned with PCC, Brazil’s most powerful drug gang, and a Manaus criminal group known as the North Family.
The Manaus-based gang is widely believed to be attacking PCC inmates at the behest of the Rio de Janeiro-based Red Command (CV) drug gang, Brazil’s second largest.
Four inmates were later found dead in another prison in the rural area of Manaus, but state representatives were unable to clarify if a riot had occurred.
Security analysts have said that a truce that held for years between the PCC and CV was broken last year, resulting in months of deadly prison battles between the gangs and sparking fears that chaos would spread to other prisons.
In the latest riot, a group of inmates exchanged gunfire with police and held 12 prison guards hostage late on Sunday in the largest prison in Manaus, an industrial city on the banks of the Amazon River, Globo TV reported.
Fontes said 74 prisoners were taken hostage during the riot, with some executed and some released.
A video posted on the website of the Manaus-based newspaper Em Tempo showed dozens of bloodied and mutilated bodies piled on the prison floor as other inmates milled about.
Sunday’s riot was the deadliest in years. A 1992 rebellion at the Carandiru prison in Sao Paulo state saw 111 inmates killed, nearly all of them by police retaking the jail.
Maria Canineu, director of Human Rights Watch for Brazil, said the most recent violence was the result of “no government in 20 years giving much attention to the penitentiary system.”
Canineu said it has been difficult for years for states to receive any funding help from the federal government for prisons.
President Michel Temer announced last week that the federal government would furnish states with 1.2 billion reais ($366 million), mostly to improve infrastructure and security in existing prisons and to build new ones.
| Riot | January 2017 | ['(Reuters)'] |
At least four skiers are killed in an avalanche at the Tignes resort in France. | Reports that five other skiers and boarders were missing near Alpine resort of Tignes are now thought to be incorrect First published on Mon 13 Feb 2017 12.28 GMT
Three members of the same family and their snowboard instructor have died in an avalanche near the busy French Alpine resort of Tignes. The group was swept away at 10.35am local time as they boarded off-piste at an altitude of about 2,100 metres in the Savoie region of the central Alps, near the Italian border.
It was at first believed that five other skiers and boarders were missing, but on Monday, local officials said they did not believe there were other victims.
The 400 metre-wide avalanche, which struck the particularly high and steep Lavachet peak in the Tovière area, was believed to have been set off by a group of skiers higher up the mountain, the ski station said.
The avalanche was the worst to hit the Alps this season. It occurred during the school half-term holidays in France and several other European countries, including Britain, when ski resorts are typically full of children.
Another avalanche at La Clusaz early on Monday afternoon swept away a 30-year-old skier who died in hospital of his injuries.
The victims of the avalanche at Tignes were reported to be a 48-year-old French man, his 15-year-old son and the teenager’s 19-year-old half-brother, according to the emergency services. The fourth, an Ecole du Ski Français snowboard instructor was named as Laurent Ruiz, 59, an experienced mountain professional. Local officials said they were walking through the snow carrying their snowboards to where they planned to set off down the slope when they were struck. All were reportedly equipped with tracking devices enabling them to be detected in case of an avalanche, but were declared dead when found, the Dauphiné Libéré reported.
On Monday afternoon dozens of rescuers scrabbled to find five others believed missing before nightfall, but late afternoon the local prefect told journalists: “We have good reason to believe there are no other victims.”
A fifth snowboarder reported to have been with the group “a few minutes” before the avalanche, but who escaped, was being interviewed on Monday to establish exactly what had happened.
It was later discovered that several others who were due to join the group skiing at Tovière had failed to turn up that morning as arranged, and were not with those hit by the avalanche.
Local officials declared the avalanche risk throughout the region to be high, at a rating of three out of five.
The ski station said it was a “slab” avalanche, caused when dense wind-packed snow breaks off. Before Monday, 13 accidents had been recorded in the Alps and Pyrenees so far this winter, claiming a total of three lives. One of the worst avalanches in France in the past decade took place in the summer of 2012 in the Mont Blanc range. Nine climbers from Britain, Germany, Spain and Switzerland were killed as they tried to scale the north face of Mont Maudit.
Last month 29 people died in Italy after an avalanche buried a hotel in the central town of Rigopiano. The force of the impact has been calculated by police as being equivalent to that of 4,000 fully loaded trucks.
In January last year 11 soldiers were swept away by an avalanche as they skied near Valfréjus in the Savoie. Five were killed and a sixth died in hospital several days later. | Hurricanes_Tornado_Storm_Blizzard | February 2017 | ['(The Guardian)'] |
Former New England Patriots tight end Aaron Hernandez is indicted for the murder of 27yearold Odin Lloyd. | ATTLEBORO, Mass. -- Former New England Patriots tight end Aaron Hernandez was indicted Thursday on first-degree murder and weapons charges in the death of a friend whose bullet-riddled body was found in an industrial park about a mile from the ex-player's home.
The six-count grand jury indictment charges Hernandez with killing 27-year-old Odin Lloyd, a semi-professional football player from Boston who was dating the sister of Hernandez's girlfriend.
Hernandez, 23, pleaded not guilty to murder and weapons charges in June, and he is being held without bail.
He had a brief court appearance in Attleboro on Thursday afternoon. Afterward, his attorney Michael Fee said the defense was pleased to be on a path to a jury trial and was looking forward to testing the prosecution's evidence.
"There has been an incredible rush to judgment in this case," and the state doesn't have enough evidence to prove the charges, he said.
Hernandez last summer signed a contract worth $40 million but was cut by the Patriots within hours of his June 26 arrest, when police led the handcuffed athlete from his home as news cameras rolled. He could face life in prison if convicted.
The Bristol County grand jury also indicted two others in the case: Hernandez associate Ernest Wallace and Hernandez's cousin Tanya Singleton.
Wallace is charged with accessory to murder after the fact. Prosecutors have said he was with Hernandez the night Lloyd died.
Singleton is charged with criminal contempt for refusing to testify before the grand jury, Bristol County District Attorney Samuel Sutter said. She has been jailed since Aug. 1. A recent affidavit said that, after Lloyd's killing, Singleton bought Wallace a bus ticket.
Carlos Ortiz, who faces a weapons charge connected to the case, was not indicted.
Sutter said Hernandez's arraignment in Superior Court, where the case now moves, could come next week.
A jogger found Lloyd's body on June 17 in a North Attleborough industrial park. Lloyd's mother, Ursula Ward, called him a loving son who never hurt anyone.
Prosecutors say Hernandez orchestrated Lloyd's killing because he was upset at him for talking to people Hernandez had problems with at a nightclub days earlier. They say Hernandez, Wallace and Ortiz picked Lloyd up at his home in Boston's Dorchester neighborhood early on June 17 and drove to the industrial park.
Shortly before Lloyd's death, authorities say, he sent his sister text messages asking if she had seen who he was with. "NFL," he wrote. "Just so you know."
Moments later, authorities say, Lloyd was dead after gunshots rang out near a warehouse after he apparently got out of the car for what he thought was a bathroom break.
Authorities have not said who fired the shots, but according to court documents released in Florida, Ortiz told police that Wallace said it was Hernandez.
Wallace earlier pleaded not guilty to a charge of accessory to murder after the fact. Ortiz pleaded not guilty to the firearm charge. A judge ordered Wallace held on $500,000 bail and Ortiz held without bail. Singleton's family hasn't commented.
Authorities have said they haven't found the murder weapon, which they believe was a .45-caliber Glock pistol.
But they said they recovered a magazine for .45-caliber bullets in Hernandez's Hummer and ammunition of the same caliber inside a condo he rented in Franklin.
Prosecutors say they have surveillance video from Hernandez's home showing him before and after Lloyd's killing holding what appears to be a Glock. Authorities say they've also recovered a shell casing that matched those found at the homicide scene after tracking the rental car Hernandez was in the night Lloyd died.
Since then, Boston police have asked police in Hernandez's hometown, Bristol, Conn., for their help with the probe into Lloyd's homicide and a 2012 double homicide near a Boston nightclub. A Connecticut police lieutenant said authorities searched the home of Hernandez's uncle, seizing an SUV sought in the double killing that had been rented in Hernandez's name.
Two men died in the July 2012 shooting in Boston's South End, with witnesses reporting that gunfire came from inside a gray SUV with Rhode Island tags. Boston police haven't reported any arrests in the deaths of Daniel Jorge Correia de Abreu and Safiro Teixeira Furtado and won't comment on whether Hernandez is a suspect.
Hernandez also faces civil litigation after a Connecticut man filed a lawsuit asserting the former player shot him in the face in February after they argued at a Miami strip club. Alexander Bradley, who says he lost an eye, told police at the time he didn't know who shot him.
Also Thursday, Hernandez's attorneys asked an Attleboro judge to order the state to stop "deliberately misleading or making false statements" to potential witnesses. They claim detectives visiting a potential witness at a Connecticut prison to interview him told the man this month they were there "to help Aaron out." | Famous Person - Commit Crime - Accuse | August 2013 | ['(ESPN)'] |
Tens of thousands of people participate in nationwide protests across the United States over the Trump administration's immigration policies. Over 630 events are planned, with protesters calling for migrant families split at the United States–Mexico border to be reunited. | Tens of thousands of people have joined nationwide protests across the US over the Trump administration's hardline immigration policies. More than 630 events were planned, with protesters calling for migrant families split at the US border to be reunited. Some 2,000 children remain separated from their parents, despite President Donald Trump bowing to public outrage and curtailing the policy.
Concerns remain that records were not kept linking parents and children.
Major protests took place in Washington DC, New York, and many other cities, using the hashtag #familiesbelongtogether. Marchers held placards calling for no more family separations and for the controversial immigration agency ICE to be abolished.
Analysis by Tara McKelvey, White House reporter, BBC News
The nation is deeply divided about immigration policy, and the president ignited the debate again with his tweets on Saturday.
From his golf resort at Bedminster, New Jersey, he defended the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) on Twitter, describing it as the "smartest, toughest and most spirited" of law-enforcement groups. Meanwhile the movement to abolish ICE has been "going mainstream", according to some activists, and thousands have taken to the streets to protest the president's policies. More than 100 protesters gathered near the president's resort ("My civility is locked in a cage", said one of their signs). I drove past the protesters on my way to the resort where I spent part of the day. As demonstrations heated up in New Jersey and across the US, the president was doubling down on his effort to promote his hardline policies. "It goes against everything we stand for as a country," one protester, Paula Flores-Marques, 27, told Reuters in front of the White House in Washington DC. President Trump was out of town.
In New York they chanted, "Say it loud, say it clear, refugees are welcome here". In Chicago, protesters marched to the local offices of federal immigration authorities.
The original Trump administration "zero tolerance" policy required authorities to arrest and detain anyone crossing the Mexico-US border illegally. That meant separating children from their parents and holding them separately.
Faced with a massive public outcry after recordings were published of distressed, crying children in detention centres, President Trump promised to "keep families together" in migrant detention centres.
But critics say the order did not address the issue of families already separated, leaving uncertainty over the fate of 2,342 children taken away from their parents between 5 May and 9 June alone. Earlier this week, a judge in California ordered the families to be reunited within 30 days.
It also still requires authorities to detain immigrant families, rather than release them with a court date to return. Organisers said they wanted to send a message to President Trump, prompted by concerns that he would renege on his executive order.
"We cannot slow down now since the court ruling alone isn't enough and could be overturned," said a statement on the movement's website.
As well as the reunification of parents and children, organisers called for an end to immigrant detention - even when families are kept together - and also planned to voice opposition to President Trump's travel ban targeting five majority-Muslim nations, which was upheld by the US Supreme Court earlier this week. Demonstrations were also likely to focus on the shake-up of the Supreme Court after Anthony Kennedy announced his retirement last week, giving President Trump the opportunity to solidify a conservative majority on the country's top court.
Much of the uproar over the separation policy came after news organisations reported on children being held in cells, converted warehouses and desert tents around the country.
President Trump on Saturday defended the agency that played a central role in carrying out the separations - the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). He told its employees: "You are doing a fantastic job of keeping us safe by eradicating the worst criminal elements. So brave!"
Organisers issued instructions for people to dress in white, to represent peace and unity. The main march is taking place in Washington DC, but one of the people behind the movement, Anna Galland, said separate events were planned in 50 states.
There are now hundreds of #FamiliesBelongTogether events in **ALL 50 STATES** and seeing solidarity events pop up around the world. Thousands or tens of thousands of ppl already committed in DC, Minneapolis, Nashville, Austin, Chicago, LA, NYC, MANY more: https://t.co/0KcLXHgAUb
Lead organisers of the march include the American Civil Liberties Union, the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights and the National Domestic Workers Alliance.
A number of celebrities expressed their support, including actresses Julianne Moore, America Ferrara and Natalie Portman, and Lin-Manuel Miranda, creator of the hit musical Hamilton. Cut vacation short so I could march with you all in DC tomorrow and boy am I glad to be back home pic.twitter.com/SJ9MU0X6rK
The protests are not the first against Mr Trump's immigration policy. Nearly 600 women were arrested on Thursday during a sit-in at a US Senate building against the government's migration policy. Actress Susan Sarandon was among those detained.
Many were draped in foil sheets to highlight the flimsy bedding given to migrant children held in border detention facilities.
President Trump's "zero tolerance" policy has strong support among his key Republican support base. He has repeatedly defended the policy, saying it is simply enforcing the law.
Under a crackdown rolled out in May, all border crossers - including first-time offenders - are criminally charged and jailed.
Migrant children are not permitted to be incarcerated with their parents and are kept in separate facilities maintained by the Department of Health and Human Services.
Under previous US administrations, undocumented immigrants caught crossing the border for the first time tended to be issued with court summonses. Susan Sarandon arrested at Trump protest
| Protest_Online Condemnation | June 2018 | ['(BBC)'] |
Four civilians are killed and 22 others injured after a gunman opens fire in six locations in the streets of Vienna, Austria, near the central Schwedenplatz square. The Interior Minister described it as a "terror attack". The attacker was shot dead, and is identified as an Islamic State supporter who tried to join the group in Syria. | Austrian police have urged people to stay indoors as they hunt for suspects after a multiple gun attack in the capital Vienna that killed four people.
A gunman shot dead by police has been identified as a 20-year-old "Islamist terrorist" who was released early from jail in December.
Two men and two women died of their wounds after gunmen opened fire at six locations in the city centre on Monday evening.
Twenty-two people were wounded. Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz said the four who died were an elderly woman, an elderly man, a young male passer-by and a waitress. Witnesses described how the gunmen had opened fire on people outside bars and chased them as they fled inside.
It was clearly an attack driven by "hatred of our way of life, our democracy", the chancellor said. He earlier spoke of a "repulsive terror attack".
The nation was engaged not in a battle between Christians and Muslims, he stressed, but "between civilisation and barbarism".
Interior Minister Karl Nehammer described the dead gunman as an "Islamist terrorist", jailed for 22 months in April 2019 after trying to get to war-torn Syria to join Islamic State (IS) jihadists. The 20-year-old had been released early last December under more lenient terms for young adults.
Mr Nehammer urged Austrians to "please stay at home if possible" during the police operation and "avoid the inner city". Children should stay at home, not go to school on Tuesday, he said.
Austrian daily Der Standard reports that 90% of shops in the city centre are now shut.
The victims were in a city centre area busy with people in bars and restaurants, near Vienna's central synagogue.
Police cordoned off some streets and brought in reinforcements. They are also being helped by the Austrian army.
Addressing a news conference, Mr Nehammer said police had searched the home of the dead gunman and seized video material. He had been wearing a fake explosive belt, police said.
The man was originally from North Macedonia and had a previous conviction for terrorist association, Mr Nehammer said. He had both Austrian and Macedonian citizenship. Several arrests were made during searches of 15 nearby homes. Two suspects were also arrested in St Plten, a town to the west of Vienna.
The Vienna shooting comes after a spate of Islamist militant attacks in France.
Last month French history teacher Samuel Paty was beheaded outside a school in a suburb of Paris. Then, as the government launched new measures to tackle militant Islam, a Tunisian man fatally stabbed three people in a cathedral in Nice.
The worst IS attack in Europe in recent years was in November 2015, when gunmen killed 130 people in Paris.
Mr Nehammer said at least one "heavily armed and dangerous" attacker was believed to be still at large. Officials were quoted as saying there could have been as many as four attackers. The attack came hours before Austria imposed new national restrictions to try to stem rising cases of coronavirus. Many people were enjoying drinks and eating out before a midnight curfew.
Police named six crime scenes in central Vienna: Seitenstettengasse and nearby Morzinplatz, Salzgries, Fleischmarkt, Bauernmarkt and Graben. The suspect was shot dead near St Rupert's Church.
Austria's government announced three days of national mourning, starting immediately. Flags flew at half-mast and a minute's silence was held at midday. Schools are to hold a minute's silence for the victims on Wednesday morning.
Police say the incident began at about 20:00 (19:00 GMT), near the Seitenstettengasse synagogue, when a heavily armed man opened fire on people outside cafes and restaurants.
Vienna Community Rabbi Schlomo Hofmeister said he saw at least two gunmen shoot at least 100 rounds in front of the synagogue compound. "They were attacking the guests of bars and pubs. People were jumping and running, falling over the tables, running inside the bars followed by the gunmen also running inside the bars," he told London radio station LBC.
Members of the special forces quickly arrived at the scene. One policeman was shot and critically wounded before the perpetrator, armed with an automatic rifle, a pistol and a machete, was, in the police chief's words, "neutralised" at 20:09.
Jewish community leader Oskar Deutsch said the synagogue was closed at the time.
Footage posted on social media showed scenes of chaos as people ran through the streets with gunshots ringing out in the background. Witness Chris Zhao, who was in a nearby restaurant, told the BBC: "We heard noises that sounded like firecrackers. We heard about 20 to 30 and we thought that to be actually gunfire. Sadly, we also saw a body lying down the street next to us."
A major anti-terrorist operation swung into action and police set up roadblocks around the city centre. Barbara Lovett, who was in the Vienna State Opera at the time, said that when the evening performance ended the manager had told the audience of the attack and that they could not leave. "The players came back out from the dressing rooms, in their normal clothes, sat down in the orchestra pit and played for another 20 minutes," she told the BBC. "They played the German national anthem, which used to be the Austrian anthem - the Emperor Quartet by Haydn."
Police kept us safe inside the @WrStaatsoper after tonight's performance. While we waited, members of @vienna_phil started to play. No #angriff #terrorwien #viennaattacks #viennashooting will ever stop the music in #Vienna pic.twitter.com/H8wfWjR5lV
Police in the neighbouring Czech Republic said they were carrying out random checks on the border with Austria in case the attackers fled in that direction.
European leaders strongly condemned the shooting. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said he was "deeply shocked by the terrible attacks" while Germany's Angela Merkel said "the fight against Islamist terrorism is our common struggle".
Austria had until now been spared the sort of attacks that have hit other European countries. French President Emmanuel Macron said Europe must not "give up" in the face of attacks. Last week he described the murder of three people in Nice as an "Islamist terrorist attack".
Home Secretary Priti Patel said the UK would "stand ready to support in any way we can".
US President Donald Trump - on the campaign trail ahead of Tuesday's election - described it as "yet another vile act of terrorism in Europe". His Democratic challenger Joe Biden condemned the "horrific terrorist attack", adding: "We must all stand united against hate and violence."
Nov 2020: Two men and two women killed by gunmen in busy streets in central Vienna - police shoot and kill one attacker, previously jailed
Oct 2020: Three people fatally stabbed in cathedral in Nice, France - Tunisian assailant shot and wounded by police
Oct 2020: French teacher Samuel Paty beheaded by a Chechen teenager outside a school in a Paris suburb
Oct 2019: Radicalised police computer operator Mickal Harpon is shot dead after stabbing to death three officers and a civilian worker at Paris police HQ
Mar 2019: Four people killed and two seriously wounded by gunman on a tram in the Dutch city of Utrecht
Aug 2017: A van attack is launched on pedestrians in Barcelona, and another attack in the Catalan coastal town of Cambrils. Sixteen people killed, more than 130 injured May 2017: A bombing at a pop concert in Manchester, England, kills 22. Weeks later, eight people are killed and dozens injured in a van and knife attack in central London Jul 2016: A gunman drives a large lorry into a crowd celebrating Bastille Day in Nice, killing 86 people - attack claimed by IS.
| Armed Conflict | November 2020 | ['(BBC)'] |
The U.S. government announces plans to borrow $3 trillion for the second quarter, five times more than the previous record set during the 2008 financial crisis. | The US has said it wants to borrow a record $3tn (£2.4tn) in the second quarter, as coronavirus-related rescue packages blow up the budget.
The sum is more than five times the previous quarterly record, set at the height of the 2008 financial crisis. In all of 2019, the country borrowed $1.28tn. The US has approved about $3tn in virus-related relief, including health funding and direct payouts. Total US government debt is now near $25tn.
The latest spending packages are estimated to be worth about 14% of the country's economy. The government has also extended the annual 15 April deadline for tax payments, adding to the cash crunch.
The new borrowing estimate is more than $3tn above the government's previous estimate, a sign of the impact of the new programmes.
Discussions are under way over further assistance, though some Republicans have expressed concerns about the impact of more spending on the country's skyrocketing national debt. The US borrows by selling government bonds. It has historically enjoyed relatively low interest rates since its debt is viewed as relatively low-risk by investors around the world.
But even before the coronavirus, the country's debt load had been climbing toward levels many economists consider risky for long-term growth, as the country spent more than it took in.
The US Congressional Budget Office last month predicted the budget deficit would hit $3.7tn this year, while the national debt soared above 100% of GDP.
Last week, the chair of America's central bank, Jerome Powell, said he would have liked to see the US government's books be in better shape before the pandemic. However, he said spending now was essential to cushion the economic blow, as orders to shut businesses to slow the spread of the virus cost at least 30 million people their jobs.
"It may well be that the economy will need more help from all of us if the recovery is to be a robust one," he said. As part of its own relief efforts, the Federal Reserve has bought more than $1tn in treasuries in recent weeks. Investors from foreign countries are also historically significant holders of US debt, with Japan, China and the UK at the top of the pack as of February.
Increased tensions between the US and China in recent years have renewed scrutiny of America's debt position. According to the Washington Post last week, Trump administration officials had discussed cancelling debt obligations to China, but US President Donald Trump reportedly played down the idea, saying "you start playing those games and it's tough".
For now, continued low rates suggest investor appetite for US debt remains, allowing for a borrowing increase, Alan Blinder, a professor of economics and public affairs at Princeton University, told the BBC last month.
"So far, the answer has been everything is fine, as to how much borrowing the United States government can do before investors start to feel satiated with US debt," he said. "But there is a legitimate question."
| Financial Crisis | May 2020 | ['(BBC)'] |
At least nine Shia pilgrims have been killed and several injured after police opened fire on a religious procession by the Islamic Movement in Nigeria in the city of Kano, Nigeria. | At least nine people killed in clashes between members of a Shia group and the police on the outskirts of Kano city.
At least nine people have been killed and several wounded during clashes between Nigerian police and Shia Muslims at a religious procession in the northern state of Kano, according to witnesses and authorities.
The violence broke out on Monday during a march of thousands of members of the Islamic Movement in Nigeria (IMN) from Kano city to Zaria in neighbouring Kaduna state – where they had been banned – for the Ashura religious day of mourning.
It was the latest in a series of incidents involving the group. A judicial inquiry in August reported that 347 IMN members were killed and buried in mass graves after clashes with the army in December 2015.
READ MORE: ‘Nigerian army killed 347 Shia followers of Zakzaky’ Kano state Police Commissioner Rabiu Yusuf told reporters that eight IMN members and a police officer were killed in Monday’s clashes. Several people, including four police officers, were also wounded, Yusuf said.
According to the police, participants in the procession were armed with bows and arrows. Officers opened fire on the IMN crowd after one of them was hurt, police said.
“At first we used tear gas on them. They attacked one of our personnel, who sustained a fatal injury,” he told Reuters news agency.
Yusuf said IMN members used the dead policeman’s weapon to fire at officers, who had “no option” but to use live ammunition in response.
READ MORE: Sheikh el-Zakzaky: Through the eyes of his followers But a spokesman for the IMN, whose 1980s founders were inspired by the Islamic Revolution in Iran, said police had blocked the path of its members before unleashing tear gas and live ammunition on them. He also said the IMN was a peaceful group.
“Throughout the nearly four decades of the existence of the IMN, it has never stockpiled, carried or used weapons,” spokesman Ibrahim Musa told Reuters news agency.
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“The police arrived and started firing tear gas canisters on the procession of Shia to disperse them,” grocer Ilyasu Ammani told AFP news agency.
“I saw 15 bodies sprawled on the ground before the police evacuated them,” said Ammani of the violence in Kwanar Dawaki, an area on the outskirts of Kano.
Witness Kabiru Mudassir said he saw more than “10 bodies being taken away in a police van”.
Mudassir, who was on his way to work when he was caught in the violence, said “more policemen are being deployed and a military jet keeps circling the area”.
The IMN has been in conflict with the Nigerian government over the years.
In October, Kano police banned IMN from conducting street processions ahead of the annual Ashura rites.
Kaduna state governor Nasir El-Rufai banned the group as an “unlawful society”, saying it was a security threat and calling for security forces to “vigorously” arrest its members.
In December last year, the group fought against soldiers for two days in the city of Zaria, resulting in the death of 347 of its members..
Ibrahim el-Zakzaky, the group’s leader, was also left partially paralysed and blind in one eye.
Iranian foreign ministry calls deadly clashes between Nigerian army and Shia Muslim movement “unacceptable”.
At least 21 people die after blast rocks procession of followers marching from Kano to Zaria in northwest Nigeria.
| Protest_Online Condemnation | November 2016 | ['(BBC News)', '(Al–Jazeera)'] |
A train collision in Buenos Aires, Argentina, results in three deaths and at least 150 injured. | Two commuter trains collided near Argentina's capital on Tuesday, killing at least three people and injuring hundreds more.
Rescuers rushed to evacuate people and tend to the wounded, who were lined up on stretchers near the smashed train cars.
At least 315 people were hurt in the accident, which occurred just after 7 a.m. in a western suburb of Buenos Aires, Argentina's state-run Telam news agency reported.
"The lights went out suddenly, and there was an explosion. I was in the last car. The only thing you could hear were screams," passenger German Garay told Telam. "People became desperate to get out. They were stepping on each other."
Argentine President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner expressed solidarity with the train crash victims and their families in a speech at an event in Buenos Aires Thursday night.
"In addition to solidarity and pain, I feel anger and impotence," she said. "Because the truth is, we are putting everything (into the train system), not just economic resources and investment, but also time and human resources. When things like this happen, it hurts all of us."
A preliminary investigation indicates that one train rammed into another train that was stopped between stations, Telam said.
Authorities said they were still looking into what caused the collision, which occurred near the Castelar stop on the Sarmiento line.
"We want to determine if it was foul play or an accident," Transportation Minister Florencio Randazzo told reporters. "If it could have been avoided, it was not accident, and there will be one or more people responsible."
Transportation officials said the trains had been checked by mechanical engineering inspectors in March.
Thursday's crash happened nearly 16 months after a commuter train on the same rail line crashed into a barrier at a station in Buenos Aires, killing 50 people and injuring hundreds.
That crash sparked a criminal investigation. More than two dozen suspects, including former government officials, are awaiting trial, accused of mismanagement and defrauding the public.
Now a government consortium oversees the train line, rather than a private company.
But family members of victims of the 2012 crash said Thursday's collision was a sign that little has changed.
"It is the same and it keeps getting worse. As the days pass, the trains get older," said Maria Lujan Rey, whose son died in the 2012 crash. | Train collisions | June 2013 | ['(CNN)'] |
Ilham Tohti, an Uyghur economist serving a life sentence for his criticisms of China’s policies in Xinjiang, is awarded this year’s Sakharov Prize. | Ilham Tohti was imprisoned on separatism charges, which experts say was part of crackdown on Uighur dissent.
A Uighur economist who is jailed in China received the 2019 Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought in absentia on Wednesday, in Strasbourg, France .
Ilham Tohti, 50, was sentenced to life in prison in 2014 on separatism charges.
The award comes amid the detention of one million ethnic Uighurs in internment camps in the Uighur majority state of Xinjiang, according to estimates by the United Nations.
Nelson Mandela and Malala Yousufzai received the Sakharov Prize in 1988 and 2013 respectively.
Named in honour of Soviet physicist and political dissident Andrei Sakharov, the 50,000-euro ($73,000) award honours individuals and organisations defending human rights and fundamental freedoms.
Tohti was born on October 25, 1959, to a Uighur family in Artux, Xinjiang.
At two, his father died, leaving his mother Nasib to raise four children while working several jobs.
“My grandma had to give away his youngest brother to an old couple, because when my grandfather passed away, he was only a few months old,” said Tohti’s daughter Jewher Ilham, who received the award on his behalf. “It was impossible for her to take care of the baby while also working to feed the other three kids,” she told Al Jazeera.
Growing up, Tohti excelled in school.
His siblings decided to quit their own education to support his academic talents.
At just 15, Tohti did his undergraduate degree at a university in northern China, outside Xinjiang. He then did a master’s degree at Minzu University in Beijing, where he would go on to become a professor in economics and social issues related to Xinjiang and Central Asia.
While his academic work focused on Uighur life in China, he was vocal about Beijing’s policies in Xinjiang which had led to financial and material challenges for the minority.
“He was critiquing the economic basis of the Chinese presence in Xinjiang, pointing out that Han Chinese people were benefitting from the economic activities there disproportionately – and that the Uighurs were excluded the resources extraction and development that was taking place there,” Rian Thum, author of The Sacred Routes of Uyghur History and a professor at Nottingham University, told Al Jazeera.
In 2006, Tohti launched the Uighur Online website, where he and others would write on the struggle of Uighurs.
Despite criticism, Tohti advocated for better understanding between the Han and his own community on political, economic and cultural matters.
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Elliot Sperling, an academic and friend of Tohti’s who passed away in 2017, had described him as someone who was “interested in dialogue”.
Author Thum said Tohti’s work was prescient, referring to a widescale crackdown in Xinjiang that began two years ago. “He is the only Uighur scholar who was living in China in the system, who gave any kind of critical analysis of China’s policies in Xinjiang, and he did so with great insight and rigour,” he said. Over the course of his career, Tohti was harassed and reprimanded several times by Chinese authorities for his criticism of the government in both Xinjiang and Beijing.
From 1999 to 2003, Chinese authorities barred him from teaching. It became near-impossible for him to publish in any reputable academic magazine or journal.
On January 5, 2014, Tohti was arrested and later that year, charged with separatism. Tohti was convicted of inciting “ethnic hatred” and for the heading of an “eight-member separatist criminal organisation”, according to his lawyers. The court that handed down Tohti’s sentence said he had spread separatist beliefs through his website – which has since been removed – and organised students to write and distribute articles seeking Xinjiang’s separation from China. Human Rights Watch (HRW) said there was no available evidence that Tohti engaged in “any form of speech or behaviour that could be construed by any objective standard as inciting violence or unlawful action”.
A petition earlier this year signed by civil rights organisations and scholars, including Amnesty International and Noam Chomsky, cited “significant issues” with his trial.
They demanded the Chinese government release Tohti and “heed calls for the release of an untold number of Uighur scholars currently detained”.
Uighur activist Tahir Imin, part of the Uighur National Network, and who has family members currently held in Xinjiang, told Al Jazeera that Tohti is still a role model for Uighurs around the world.
“His spirit of humanism and love for his nation and sacrifice always teaches us to continue to fight against injustice whatever is the cost,” he said.
Tohti has received several awards since his imprisonment, which his supporters hope boost his international profile and help lead to him being freed.
“One of our top priorities is to make sure no one forgets him,” Sophie Richardson, China director at HRW, told Al Jazeera.
“We need to remind the world that here is a person who spent his entire career, and his platform as a scholar, essentially to talk about inequality between different ethnic groups and how to fix it, and is rotting away.”
Ilham said she is still hopeful of meeting her father again.
“I am a very positive person … my father always taught me to very positive.
“I believe one day he will be released. I will always pray and hope for that.”
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We understand that your online privacy is very important and consenting to our collection of some personal information takes great trust. We ask for this consent because it allows Al Jazeera to provide an experience that truly gives a voice to the voiceless. | Awards ceremony | December 2019 | ['(Al Jazeera)'] |
The Property Law of the People's Republic of China is adopted at the 2007 National People's Congress. | It also approved a bill ending preferential tax treatment for foreign firms, setting a standard rate of 25%.
Premier Wen Jiabao ended the session as he had begun it last week, promising a move to more sustainable growth.
He also raised issues such as corruption, regional ties and international fears over China's military build-up.
China's leaders have been struggling for decades to enact a law to cover private assets - seen an important step away from Communist collective ownership and towards a market economy.
But some legislators feared that while the new property law would undoubtedly increase protection for home owners and prevent land seizures, it would also erode China's socialist principles. Netizens unmoved by NPC
Long road to property bill
In fact, according to Daniel Griffiths, BBC correspondent in Beijing, this has been one of the most contentious pieces of legislation introduced in China in recent times. But despite the concerns, when it came to putting the bill to the vote, 99.1% of the 2,889 legislators attending the NPC backed the property law.
The tax legislation - designed to wean China off an export-driven economy dominated by the manufacture of cheap goods - was passed with only slightly less support. These high percentages are not unusual. The parliament - the National People's Congress (NPC) - meets just once a year and is largely a rubber stamp to endorse the policies of the ruling Communist Party. Corruption crackdown
Legislators also discussed a wide variety of other issues during the two-week NPC meeting - with one key theme being Mr Wen's promise to focus more on sustainable development than rapid economic growth. As he closed the session, Mr Wen fleshed out this theme, saying: "The priorities now are promoting equality in education opportunities, adopting progressive employment policies, narrowing income gaps and building social security networks."
Increasing equality is of vital concern to the Communist Party. Correspondents say that protests over the growing income differentials, exacerbated by rising corruption, are threatening its control over the rural hinterland.
Mr Wen promised more reforms to crack down on corruption, especially that involving high-ranking officials.
He blamed the increase in graft on an "over-concentration of power without effective and proper restraint and oversight", and promised to address the issue as a priority.
In terms of foreign affairs, Mr Wen said he hoped his visit to Japan in April would be an "ice-thawing" trip, following a period of tensions between the two nations over their wartime past. He also said that China's military expansion posed no threat to other countries - despite international concern over its military growth.
"The limited armed forces China has are completely for the purpose of safeguarding the country's security, independence and sovereignty," Mr Wen said.
He added that China was still opposed to the militarization of space, despite its recent test of an anti-satellite weapon. | Government Policy Changes | March 2007 | ['(BBC)'] |
There is a near riot in the Beijing Apple Store as the Apple iPad 2 goes on sale in the People's Republic of China. | BEIJING - FOUR people were taken to hospital and a glass door smashed as a near-riot broke out at Beijing's top Apple store among crowds rushing to snap up the popular iPad 2 tablet computer, state press said on Sunday. Angry consumers began rushing the store on Saturday afternoon after a 'foreign' Apple employee allegedly stepped into the crowd to push and beat people suspected of queue jumping, the Beijing News said. After the employee retreated back into the store, a crowd of consumers smashed the glass front door and shoved security guards as they surged forward in anger over the alleged beatings, the report said. Consumers have lined up for hours at Apple stores in Beijing and Shanghai since the iPad 2, the updated version of the tablet computer, went on sale in the world's biggest Internet market on Friday. The store in Beijing's chic Sanlitun commercial district closed early on Saturday because of the altercation, but according to a voice recording on the store's phone was open for business on Sunday. Apple officials were not immediately available for comment when telephoned by AFP. Police were investigating the incident and have interviewed four people hospitalised with injuries, the Beijing News said. Lines for the popular iPad 2 have grown so long that people have begun selling their places in the queue, while a secondary market has also developed with consumers reselling their tablet computers for profit after leaving the store, the report said. Late on Saturday, the store posted a notice saying that queue jumping and the unauthorised sales of Apple products would not be tolerated, the paper said. -- AFP | Riot | May 2011 | ['(AFP via Straits Times)'] |
Aquino names former Chief Justice Hilario Davide Jr. as head of a truth commission that will put "closure on so many issues". | MANILA, Philippines—(UPDATE) President-elect Benigno "Noynoy" Aquino III named former Supreme Court Chief Justice Hilario Davide Jr. as head of the newly-formed Truth Commission that will put "closure on so many issues."
It was Davide who swore outgoing President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo into office in 2001.
Aquino said the commission will also "prepare and prosecute" cases to make sure that those who committed crimes against the people will be made to pay.
He pointed out that the commission will not only go after all corruption allegations hurled at Arroyo but on "all issues."
"This Truth Commission is the commission I promised the people we will set up to put closure on so many issues," said Aquino.
"They will be collators of data, evidence, the proof as to who committed what and what transgression of our laws was committed," he said.
"In turn with the active assistance of all agencies of the state especially the DOJ (Department of Justice), they will as necessary prepare and prosecute the cases to make sure those who committed crimes against the people will be made to pay," he added.
Davide served for three years as Permanent Representative of the Philippines to the United Nations.
Copyright 2010 INQUIRER.net. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. | Government Job change - Appoint_Inauguration | June 2010 | ['(Philippine Daily Inquirer)'] |
Yemeni police use clubs to beat those protesting against the Saleh regime, leaving Yemen's ally, the United States, in a "delicate position". | Yemeni police with clubs yesterday beat anti-government protesters who were calling for the ouster of Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh, while thousands of Algerians defied an official ban on demonstrations in the capital and gathered in the city center for a pro-reform protest, the day after weeks of mass protests in Egypt succeeded in toppling the president.
The crackdown in Yemen reflected an effort to undercut a protest movement seeking fresh momentum from the developments in Egypt, where an 18-day uprising toppled Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak. The US is in a delicate position because it advocates democratic reform, but wants stability in Yemen because it is seen as a key ally in its fight against Islamic militants.
Hundreds of protesters had tried to reach the Egyptian embassy in Sana’a, Yemen’s capital yesterday, but security forces pushed them back. Buses ferried ruling party members, equipped with tents, food and water, to the city’s main square to help prevent attempts by protesters to gather there.
There were about 5,000 security agents and government supporters in the Sana’a square named Tahrir, or Liberation. Egypt’s protesters built an encampment at a square of the same name in Cairo, and it became a rallying point for their movement.
Witnesses said police, including plainclothes agents, drove several thousand protesters away from Sanaa’s main square on Friday night. The demonstrators tore up pictures of Saleh and shouted slogans demanding his immediate resignation.
Saleh has been in power for three decades and tried to blunt unrest by promising not to run again. His term ends in 2013.
In Algeria, protest organizers estimated that about 10,000 had flooded downtown Algiers, where they skirmished with riot police attempting to block off streets and disperse the crowd. Some arrests were reported.
Protesters chanted slogans including “No to the police state” and “Bouteflika out,” a reference to Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika, who has been in power since 1999.
“It is a state of siege,” said Abdeslam Ali Rachedi, a university lecturer and government opponent.
Under Algeria’s long-standing state of emergency, protests are banned in Algiers, but the government’s repeated warnings for people to stay out of the streets apparently fell on deaf ears.
The success on the “people’s revolution” in Egypt and Tunisia, which pushed Tunisian president Zine El Abidine Ben Ali into exile on Jan. 14, looked bound to fuel the hopes of those seeking change in Algeria, though many in this conflict-scarred country fear any prospect of violence following the brutal insurgency by Islamist extremists in the 1990s that has left an estimated 200,000 dead.
Organized by the Coordination for Democratic Change in Algeria, an umbrella group of human rights activists, unionists, lawyers and others, yesterday’s march was aimed at pressing for reforms to push Algeria toward democracy and didn’t include any specific call by organizers to oust Bouteflika.
A spokesman for the opposition RCD party said police had arrested 1,000 demonstrators. An interior ministry statement said 14 people were detained and immediately released.
| Protest_Online Condemnation | February 2011 | ['(Taipei Times)', '(Radio New Zealand)'] |
Voters in Hungary go to the polls, and Prime Minister Viktor Orbán's Fidesz and their allies the Christian Democrats win re-election easily, with 45% of the vote. | Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has declared victory in Sunday's parliamentary election, winning a second consecutive term.
His centre-right Fidesz has polled 45%, with most of the votes counted.
A centre-left opposition alliance is trailing with 25%, while the far-right Jobbik party is credited with 21%.
The Hungarian left has never fully recovered from its heavy defeat in the 2010 ballot, in which Mr Orban swept to power with a two-thirds majority.
Sunday's election has been mainly fought over the state of the economy, correspondents say.
"No doubt we have won," Mr Orban told supporters gathered in the capital, Budapest, late on Sunday evening.
"This was not just any odd victory. We have scored such a comprehensive victory, the significance of which we cannot yet fully grasp tonight."
He said the election results showed that Hungarians wanted to stay in the European Union, but with a strong national government.
"I'm going to work every day so that Hungary will be a wonderful place," he declared.
Fidesz is predicted to win around 135 of the 199 seats in parliament.
It now also seems likely that Jobbik will become the second-largest party in parliament, the BBC's Nick Thorpe reports from Budapest.
Although the Socialist-led opposition is in second place, the five parties making up the alliance plan to form their own factions after the elections, our correspondent says.
Observers say Jobbik's adoption of a softer image has paid dividends, as a recent opinion poll found leader Gabor Vona to be the most popular opposition politician.
Fidesz supporters say Mr Orban's victory is a tribute to his leadership powers. But opposition parties have accused the prime minister throughout their campaign of undermining Hungarian democracy.
They have also accused Mr Orban of curtailing civil liberties and harming free speech.
Fidesz has insisted that reform was needed to complete the work of eradicating the legacy of Communism from the country, and reduce the budget deficit to below the EU's required 3% of gross domestic product.
Mr Orban's populist and Eurosceptic approach has proven popular with many Hungarians. "The left had eight years to show what they can do, and they showed us all right," he told Hungarian media on Saturday.
"Why on Earth should we believe that the same people and the same parties would not do the same if given another opportunity?"
| Government Job change - Election | April 2014 | ['(BBC)'] |
The U.S. Office of Special Counsel recommends that the Trump administration remove Kellyanne Conway from her office as senior aide to President Trump because of her repeated violations of the Hatch Act of 1939. The Trump administration rejects the OSC's recommendations, saying they "are deeply flawed and violate [Conway's] constitutional rights to free speech and due process." | WASHINGTON – A federal watchdog agency recommended Thursday that Kellyanne Conway, a senior aide to President Donald Trump, be removed from office after repeatedly violating a federal law that prohibits political speech in her official capacity.
Conway, a counselor to the president, is a "repeat offender" of the Hatch Act for disparaging Democratic presidential candidates and for two television interviews in which she spoke for and against Alabama candidates for U.S. Senate in 2017, according to the Office of Special Counsel. The report described her offenses as "egregious, notorious and ongoing."
Special Counsel Henry Kerner said in a letter Thursday to Trump that his office had investigated aides to presidents of both parties and never before found repeated violations by the same person.
"Ms. Conway's disregard for the restrictions the Hatch Act places on executive branch employees is unacceptable," Kerner wrote. "Ms. Conway's actions and statements stand in stark contrast to the culture of compliance promised by your White House counsel and undermine your efforts to create and enforce such a culture."
Counting the violations:All the times Kellyanne Conway ran afoul of a federal watchdog over the Hatch Act
Steven Groves, a White House deputy press secretary, immediately hit back, accusing the agency of "flawed" reasoning. Groves said the law cited by the Office of Special Counsel is unclear and applied unevenly.
“The Office of Special Counsel’s unprecedented actions against Kellyanne Conway are deeply flawed and violate her constitutional rights to free speech and due process," Groves said.
White House counsel Pat Cipollone replied to Kerner with an 11-page letter that said the report “was the product of a fatally flawed process." Cipollone said Conway wasn’t given a reasonable opportunity to respond to complaints, and her proposed removal risked violating Conway’s First Amendment rights and could chill free speech for all federal workers.
“Indeed the report is based on numerous grave legal, factual and procedural errors,” Cipollone said. “OSC’s overreaching recommendation is wholly unsupported by any statute or the Constitution.”
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Cipollone asked for more information by June 26 about how Kerner compiled the report so the White House could provide a formal response.
The report cited Conway's statements beginning in February in which she disparaged Democratic presidential candidates. She called Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., "sexist" and a "tinny" motivational speaker. Conway also said Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., was "lying" about her ethnicity and "appropriating somebody else's heritage." Of former Rep. Beto O'Rourke of Texas, Conway suggested he didn't think "women running are good enough to be president."
In an interview on "Fox and Friends" on Feb. 11, Conway said Trump had the "presidential timber" to be reelected, while Democrats were "a bunch of presidential woodchips." She then described several of the candidates, calling Sen. Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota as "a very nice person, I guess unless you're on her staff" and questioning the credibility of Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand of New York eating chicken "apparently for the first time" in her 50s.
Kerner's office had reported in March 2018 that Conway "impermissibly mixed official government business with political views" when she gave television interviews on CNN and Fox late in 2017, taking sides in Alabama's special election for the Senate.
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The Office of Special Counsel is an independent federal agency that investigates whistle-blower complaints but doesn't prosecute cases itself. The agency is not connected to Robert Mueller, the former Justice Department special counsel who investigated Russian interference in the 2016 election.
Since Conway is a presidential appointee, Trump would have to decide on any discipline.
Rep. Elijah Cummings, a Democrat who chairs the House Oversight and Reform Committee, said in a statement he planned to hold a hearing on June 26 with the Office of Special Counsel on the report about Conway.
Cummings said his committee has had "multiple concerns" of its own about Conway and accused her of "brazenly flouting the Hatch Act."
The agency's investigation of Conway followed two complaints from the advocacy group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington. Executive Director Noah Bookbinder joined Kerner in saying Conway should be removed from office to demonstrate the offenses won't be taken lightly.
“Conway’s repeated violations and publicly expressed disdain for the law show a dangerous disregard for governmental ethics, the rule of law and the long-held understanding that government officials should not use their official positions to advance partisan politics," Bookbinder said.
In an interview May 29, 2019, Conway played down the significance of the law by saying, "If you're trying to silence me through the Hatch Act, it's not going to work."
"Let me know when the jail sentence starts," Conway said at the time.
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But the Office of Special Counsel said her violations, if left unpunished, would send a message to all federal employees that they need not abide by the Hatch Act.
"Her actions thus erode the principal foundation of our democratic system – the rule of law," Kerner said in his letter.
Shortly after the report was released, Conway was in a White House meeting with Trump and a handful of governors. Trump did not respond to reporters' questions about the report. | Government Job change - Resignation_Dismissal | June 2019 | ['(OSC)', '(USA Today)'] |
Citing security concerns because of recent terrorist activity, the American and British governments impose a ban affecting inbound–passengers flying from much of the Middle East and North Africa. The ban includes airplane cabin passenger–accessible items such as laptops, tablets, and other electronic devices which are larger than a smartphone. Larger such electronic devices will still be allowed on board in checked baggage which is thus more closely screened and passenger–inaccessible. , | The US and UK are banning laptops from cabin baggage on flights from certain countries in the Middle East and North Africa, as well as Turkey.
The US ban on electronic devices larger than a smartphone is being imposed as an anti-terrorist precaution. It covers inbound flights on nine airlines operating out of 10 airports. Phones are not affected.
The British ban, announced hours after the American measure, is similar but applies to different airlines.
Downing Street said airline passengers on 14 carriers would not be able to carry laptops in cabin luggage on inbound direct flights from Turkey, Lebanon, Jordan, Egypt, Tunisia and Saudi Arabia. The Turkish government said the US ban was wrong and should be reversed. Large electronic devices will still be allowed on board in checked baggage. Canadian Transport Minister Marc Garneau said his country was also considering restrictions on electronics in the cabins of planes.
British Airways and EasyJet are among the airlines affected by the UK ban.
The nine airlines affected by the US ban are Royal Jordanian, EgyptAir, Turkish Airlines, Saudi Arabian Airlines, Kuwait Airways, Royal Air Maroc, Qatar Airways, Emirates and Etihad Airways.
The 10 airports affected are:
The airlines included in the US decision have been given a deadline of 07:00 GMT on Saturday to impose the ban, officials said, adding that the restriction had no end date. However, an Emirates spokeswoman told Reuters news agency the airline understood that the US directive would come into effect on 25 March and remain valid until 14 October 2017.
The restriction is based, we are told, on "evaluated intelligence", BBC security correspondent Frank Gardner writes.
That means that US intelligence has either intercepted discussion of a possible extremist plot or has been passed word of one by a human informant. The Middle Eastern and North African airports affected are nearly all ones with close, friendly relations with Washington, so this will be seen by some as a drastic and unpopular measure. Wealthy Gulf Arab business leaders flying to the US, for example, will no longer be able to work on their laptops mid-flight. But aviation security experts were alarmed by an incident in Somalia last year when the insurgent group al-Shabaab smuggled an explosive-filled laptop on a flight out of Mogadishu, blowing a hole in the side of the plane. The aircraft was still low enough that the pilot was able to land the plane safely.
In a statement, the DHS cited attacks on planes and airports over the past two years.
Bombs, it said, had been hidden in such items as a soft drink can, in the downing of a Russian airliner over Egypt in October 2015 with the loss of 224 lives, and the laptop used in the unsuccessful Somali attack last year.
"Terrorists have historically tried to hide explosives in shoes in 2001, use liquid explosives in 2006, and conceal explosives in printers in 2010 and suicide devices in underwear in 2009 and 2012," it noted.
"Evaluated intelligence indicates that terrorist groups continue to target commercial aviation, to include smuggling explosive devices in various consumer items," the DHS said.
A British Government spokesperson said: "The additional security measures may cause some disruption for passengers and flights, and we understand the frustration that will cause, but our top priority will always be to maintain the safety of British nationals."
Turkish Transport Minister Ahmet Arslan told reporters the ban was "not a right move". "We particularly emphasise how this will not benefit the passenger and that reverse steps or a softening should be adopted," he added. Philip Baum, editor in chief of Aviation Security magazine, told the BBC: "If we cannot, in 2017, distinguish between a laptop that contains an IED [improvised explosive device] and one that does not, then our screening process is completely flawed. "And encouraging people to check laptops, and other such items, into the luggage hold simply makes the challenge even harder. Cabin baggage can, at least, be inspected piece by piece and the accompanying passenger questioned."
Simon Calder, travel editor of the UK's Independent newspaper, suggested the British ban would affect travellers differently because it included budget flights.
"It's easy for the Americans, they don't have as many flights as us coming in and furthermore they don't have things like low-cost flights where I'm not going to pay to check in a bag," he told the BBC.
"And suddenly I've got my laptop, I'm going to have to put that in a little bag and hand it in. Oh, and by the way, good news for petty thieves all over the airports of the world because lots of rich pickings are going to be around."
Officials quoted by Reuters news agency said the new measure was not connected to US President Donald Trump's efforts to ban travellers from six Muslim-majority states. | Government Policy Changes | March 2017 | ['(CNN)', '(BBC)'] |
A fire at a refugee camp in Tripura, northeastern India, kills at least 14 people. | AGARTALA, India, March 19 (UPI) -- A fast-spreading fire killed at least 14 people at a refugee camp in northeastern India Saturday, regional officials said.
Firefighters described the blaze as an inferno that obliterated every building in a half-mile radius, The Times of India reported. Fire spokesman Amitabha Kar said most of the bodies recovered were children and the death toll in the community of thatched huts would undoubtedly rise.
"The fire went beyond control immediately as the entire area is dry and windy," he said. "Worse, there is no water source near the camp to help the firefighters." | Fire | March 2011 | ['(The Times of India)', '(UPI)'] |
Association footballer Albert Ebossé dies after being struck by a projectile thrown by a fan just hours after a matchup between his home team JS Kabylie and USM Alger. The match ended in a 2–1 defeat and the Cameroonian died of head injury due to the strike. He was aged 24. | Cameroonian striker Albert Ebossé has died after being hit in the head by an object thrown from the stands during an Algerian league game.
The 24-year-old was fatally struck by a projectile at the end of his club JS Kabylie’s meeting with USM Alger in Tizi Ouzou.
Kabylie said in a statement: “The Ministry of Interior and Local Government, through minister Tayeb Belaiz, has given the instruction to open an investigation into the circumstances surrounding the death of Albert Ebossé.
“The JSK player succumbed to a head injury after being hit in the head at the end of the meeting with USM Alger.”
Ebossé had scored Kabylie’s goal in a match that finished as a 2-1 home defeat to USM Alger.
Reacting to the news of Ebossé’s death, USM Alger said in a statement: “JS Kabylie’s Cameroonian striker has lost his life after being hit in the head by something launched from the stands.
“This terrible news is saddening for football in our nation and in Cameroon and arrives like a bombshell just hours after the meeting with USM Alger which was played in Tizi Ouzou.
“In these painful circumstances, USM Alger and its members send their deepest condolences to the family of the deceased and to JS Kabylie. May Albert Ebossé rest in peace.”
Ebossé played for Coton Sport FC, Unisport Bafang and Douala AC in his homeland before moving to the Malaysian club Perak FA in 2012. He signed for JS Kabylie in July 2013. | Famous Person - Death | August 2014 | ['(The Guardian)'] |
Police in Dhaka clash with factory workers protesting the disaster and advocating for capital punishment to be administered to the factory's owner. | Bangladeshi police have used batons to disperse hundreds of garment factory workers calling for the death penalty for the owner of a collapsed building. At least 382 people are known to have died when the Rana Plaza collapsed on the outskirts of the capital, Dhaka, last week. Hundreds more are missing. The building's owner, Mohammed Sohel Rana, is in police custody.
A court earlier confiscated Mr Rana's assets and froze those of the owners of five factories which operated there.
They face allegations of negligence, illegal construction and persuading workers to enter the building in Savar - a day after visible cracks appeared. Two engineers who reportedly approved the safety of the structure have also been detained.
Hundreds of workers held protests in several industrial areas on the outskirts of Dhaka on Tuesday, calling for Mr Rana's execution.
The protests later turned violent and a number of vehicles were damaged. Police used batons to break up the crowds, says the BBC's Anbarasan Ethirajan in Savar.
Fearing further violence, many garment factories in a few industrial suburbs have been shut, our correspondent adds. Rescue workers are continuing to clear a mass of concrete slabs and debris. Hope of finding more people alive is fading, and the operation is now focused on recovering bodies. Survivor Dali Akther told the BBC that the government should have accepted foreign assistance. "If the government had taken help from foreign countries, all the dead bodies could have been retrieved within two days.
"Today is the seventh day and the rescue work is still going on. I am still waiting to hear about my brother and sister-in-law who were working with me in the building," he said. The government has defended its decision. Home Minister Muhiuddin Khan Alamgir told the BBC that the authorities were confident they could deal with the crisis and that the emergency services had done "a good job".
However, this appears to have been contradicted by reports of sometimes poorly-equipped volunteers scrabbling through the rubble and the apparent starting of a fire by people trying to cut their way through the building. Meanwhile, officials say they plan to collect DNA samples from some bodies and body parts recovered from the wreckage, for identification purposes.
Local media reports say more than 100 families are still waiting to learn the fate of relatives who were working in the building last Wednesday. Two companies whose suppliers were based in the building, the UK's Primark and Canada's Loblaw, said on Monday that they would pay compensation and offer emergency food aid to victims employed by them.
Bangladesh has one of the largest garment industries in the world, providing cheap clothing for major Western retailers which benefit from widespread low-cost labour.
But the industry has been widely criticised for the low pay and limited rights given to workers, and for the often dangerous working conditions in factories.
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| Protest_Online Condemnation | April 2013 | ['(BBC)'] |
President of the United States Barack Obama meets with a range of Middle East leaders in pursuit of peace between Israel and Palestine, including Prime Minister of Israel Benjamin Netanyahu, President of the Palestinian Authority Mahmoud Abbas, King of Jordan Abdullah II and President of Egypt Hosni Mubarak. | Ahead of direct talks between Israel and the Palestinians on Thursday, President Barack Obama said Wednesday night that he was "hopeful -- cautiously hopeful" that the talks could achieve a two-state solution to the long running Mideast conflict.
"Though each of us holds a title of honor --- president, prime minister, king --- we are bound by the one title we share,"
Obama said on a stage with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and the leaders of Egypt and Jordan. "We are fathers, blessed with sons and daughters," Obama said. "So we must ask ourselves what kind of world do we want to bequeath to our children and our grandchildren."
The president was speaking at the start of a working White House dinner with Netanyahu, Abbas, Jordan's King Abdullah II and Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak. Each made remarks before the dinner. Also attending the dinner were Secretary of State Hillary Clintonand Middle East Quartet Representative Tony Blair. The Quartet consists of the United States, Russia, the United Nations and the European Union. "We don't seek a brief interlude between two wars, we don't seek a temporary respite between outbursts of terror," Netanyahu said. "We seek a peace that will end the conflict between us once and for all... for our generation, our children's generation and the next."
Netanyahu and Abbas condemned attacks against the Israelis in recent days. "We do not want any blood to be shed -- one drop of blood from the Israelis or the Palestinians," said Abbas. "We want peace between the two countries... let us sign a formal agreement for peace and put an end to this long period of suffering forever."
In earlier remarks from the White House Rose Garden, Obama said that "this moment of opportunity may not soon come again."
With the U.S. war in Iraq drawing to a close, the Middle East moved front and center for administration officials Wednesday as Obama held a series of high-stakes meetings with Israeli and Arab leaders.
Obama huddled behind closed doors at the White House with the Israeli and Arab leaders.
On Wednesday night, Obama called the talks "very productive."
But he also pointed to challenges ahead. "We are under no illusions," he said. "Passions run deep... there's a reason that the two-state solution has eluded previous generations --- this is extraordinarily complex and extraordinarily difficult."
"But," he continued, "we know that the status quo is unsustainable."
Obama and Netanyahu met first on Wednesday, briefly addressing reporters to condemn, in Obama's words, the "senseless slaughter" of two men and two women Tuesday near the West Bank city of Hebron.
"Terrorists ... are purposely trying to undermine these talks," Obama said. "The message should go out (that this attack) is not going to stop" the United States from backing Israel and the peace process.
Later, after meeting with Abbas, he said that "we are making progress" in negotiations. During his meetings with Abbas and King Abdullah, according to the White House, Obama was joined by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel, National Security Advisor Gen. James Jones, and former Sen. George Mitchell, among others. Mitchell is Obama's special envoy for Middle East peace.
At stake is a unique "window of opportunity" for a breakthrough in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict within the next year, according Mitchell. Talks have been stalled for a year and a half.
The hurdles, however, remain steep. One immediate threat is the looming September 26 expiration of Israel's 10-month freeze on settlement construction in the West Bank. Chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erakat indicated to CNN this week that if Israel does not extend the freeze, direct talks may quickly fall apart.
Netanyahu will have "closed the door in my face" if settlement construction resumes, Erakat said. Pressed on whether the Palestinian delegation would walk out of talks at that point, Erakat said that "we will not be able to go."
Netanyahu can have settlements or peace, but he can't have both, Erakat said.
Another roadblock to any comprehensive deal is the Palestinian view that any two-state solution must include a handover of all the land Israel captured in the 1967 war, along with East Jerusalem as the Palestinian capital. While Netanyahu has expressed openness about a Palestinian state, he has expressed strong opposition to a Palestinian takeover of East Jerusalem.
The issue of Hamas control of Gaza, Erakat noted, also remains a "major problem." While Gaza is generally considered to be part of any future Palestinian state, Hamas has refused to recognize Israel's right to exist and is not a part of the talks. Hamas leaders are frequently in conflict with the more moderate Abbas and his Fatah organization, which has the upper hand in the West Bank.
Mitchell, however, told reporters Tuesday that both Netanyahu and Abbas are noting polls showing fear of intensified conflict if negotiations fall apart.
This is "a moment in time within which there remains the possibility of achieving the two-state solution," Mitchell asserted. "The alternatives ... pose far greater difficulties and far greater problems in the future."
Several top officials close to the negotiations conceded to CNN that it is hard to be optimistic about a peace deal at the moment. They downplayed expectations, saying that nobody directly involved in the talks expects a deal to be reached this week. But simply resuming talks was a critical step, and a comprehensive Middle East peace deal has been one of Obama's top foreign policy goals, they said.
"The biggest breakthrough would be an agenda [emerging Thursday] for a second round of meetings soon to move forward," one top official actively engaged in the talks said.
Clinton is set to play the main role in the talks on Thursday, hosting a meeting at the State Department with Netanyahu and Abbas. | Diplomatic Talks _ Diplomatic_Negotiation_ Summit Meeting | September 2010 | ['(CNN)', '(Aljazeera)'] |
A United States Marine Corps Lockheed C-130 Hercules military transport aircraft carrying sixteen people has crashed near the American town of Greenwood, Mississippi. All sixteen bodies have been recovered. | Corrections & Clarifications: A previous version of this story misattributed a quote. Sheriff Ricky Banks said: "Most of them are gonna be Marines."
JACKSON, Miss. — A military refueling aircraft crashed Monday afternoon in a soybean field in Leflore County, killing at least 16 and leaving a debris field five miles in radius, officials said.
Mississippi Emergency Management Agency Director Lee Smithson said the plane crashed on the Sunflower-Leflore county line.
Leflore County EMA Director Frank Randle confirmed that 16 are dead in the crash.
"Most of them are gonna be Marines," said Sheriff Ricky Banks. He could not confirm whether there were any civilians on the plane.
The U.S. Marine Corps Twitter account posted that "A USMC KC-130 mishap occurred the evening of July 10. Further information will be released as available."
Marine Corps spokeswoman Lt. Kristine Rascicot confirmed that the plane that crashes was a USMC KC-130, but said she was not able to release any more details.
Capt. Sarah Burns said in a statement that a Marine C-130 "experienced a mishap" Monday evening, echoing almost the exact language of the tweet.
A KC-130 aircraft is an extended-range tanker version of the Lockheed C-130 Hercules that has been modified for aerial refueling.The C-130 Hercules is a four-engine turboprop aircraft used primarily for military transportation. It's known as a workhorse used in refueling, humanitarian missions, firefighting, search and rescue, and combat missions, according to the Lockheed Martin website.
It wasn't clear Monday evening where the flight originated or where it was headed.
Leflore County deputy coroner Will Gnemi confirmed that his office was called to the accident scene. He said investigators were looking for other victims at the rural crash site, searching in a soybean field with tall vegetation.
Greenwood Fire Chief Marcus Banks told the Greenwood Commonwealth's Tim Kalich that the debris field was about five miles in radius.
Banks told the Commonwealth that the call came in around 4 p.m. An aircraft crash truck rushed to the scene, and 4,000 gallons of foam were used in an effort to put out the fire, he said.
Firefighters were driven away by several "high-intensity explosions," Banks told the Commonwealth, adding that they thought it was possibly some ammunition igniting.
The Commonwealth reported that the flight last contacted air traffic controllers at an elevation of about 20,000 feet.
"Please join Deborah and me in praying for those hurting after this tragedy," Mississippi Gov. Phil Bryant said in a statement on Facebook. "Our men and women in uniform risk themselves every day to secure our freedom."
National Transportation Safety Board spokesman Peter Knudson said the NTSB was not involved in the investigation because the plane was a military aircraft. | Air crash | July 2017 | ['(USA Today)', '(Reuters via Yahoo! News)'] |
The Justice and Equality Movement rebel group in Sudan's Darfur region signs a framework ceasefire agreement with the Sudanese government in N'Djamena. | The government of Sudan has signed a ceasefire agreement with one of the main rebel factions in Darfur.
The deal with the Justice and Equality Movement (Jem) includes a framework for further talks, and the cancellation of death sentences for 100 fighters. It is being seen as an important step towards peace, though the other main rebel group has refused to enter talks. The seven-year war between forces loyal to the government and rebels in Darfur has lost intensity in recent years. But the UN estimates 300,000 died in the worst years of the conflict. Some 2.5 million people are still displaced. 'Heal the war'
The agreement reached on Saturday in the Chadian capital N'Djamena, according to a Jem spokesman and an aid to Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir, starts with an immediate ceasefire, but is not a permanent peace accord. Two years ago they shocked Sudan by attacking Omdurman, across the Nile from the capital Khartoum. Jem has not looked like matching that feat since, but the ceasefire between it and the government can only help improve stability in Darfur.
The framework agreement, which lays out the issues for talks, is also welcome in its detail. It is clearly a consequence of the rapprochement between Chad and Sudan.
Chadian President Idriss Deby is widely believed to have supported Jem, perhaps in part because Jem's fighters are from his Zaghawa ethnic group. Last month President Deby visited Khartoum, and both sides agreed to stop supporting each other's rebels.
But no peace agreement can be conclusive without the Sudan Liberation Army-AbdulWahid faction. At the moment this other strong rebel group is refusing to talk with the government.
It includes a framework for further talks, during which issues such as the sharing of power and wealth, and the return of internally displaced people and refugees will be discussed, possibly this week. Mr Bashir said he would cancel death sentences handed out to Jem prisoners and free 30% of those he had pardoned immediately. More than 100 men were sentenced to death by hanging after being found guilty of taking part in a Jem attack on Omdurman in May 2008, in which the government said more than 200 people were killed. "Today, we signed an agreement between the government and Jem in N'Djamena, and in N'Djamena we heal the war in Darfur," the president said in a speech broadcast on state television. Jem spokesman Ahmed Hussein said the deal would be formally signed in Qatar's capital, Doha, on Tuesday. "It's a significant step for peace in Darfur," he told the Associated Press. "It is a considerable achievement for both parties." The BBC's James Copnall in Khartoum says the Jem is the most significant of the many rebel groups taking part in peace talks in Qatar, which aim to reach a final agreement by 15 March. The Sudanese official in charge of the Darfur peace process, Ghazi Saleh al-Din, said other groups could also be included. "It does not exclude other movements," he said. "I think we can try to emulate the agreement which we signed with Jem and try to speed up the process so that we can try to a final agreement as soon as possible." When conflict broke out in Darfur early in 2003, there were just two major rebel groups - the Jem and the Sudan Liberation Army (SLA). The insurgents later splintered into an array of competing factions. The Jem has been the most significant fighting force in Darfur, armed with weapons that Sudan says come from neighbouring Chad. | Sign Agreement | February 2010 | ['(BBC)'] |
U.S. President Barack Obama calls for the resumption of the Middle East peace process in meetings with the Prime Minister of Israel Benjamin Netanyahu and the President of the Palestinian Authority Mahmoud Abbas. | Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (L)watches as US President Barack Obama(C)shakes hands with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in New York, 22 Sep 2009President Obama says despite years of obstacles and mistrust, the Israeli and Palestinian leaders must find a way to move the stalled peace process forward. "Permanent status negotiations must begin and, begin soon," he said. "And more importantly, we must give those negotiations the opportunity to succeed."Mr. Obama spoke after separate meetings with the Israeli and Palestinian leaders, which he called "frank and productive." The president said both leaders will need to end delays and make sacrifices to revive the peace talks that broke off in 2008."Simply put, it is past time to talk about starting negotiations. It is time to move forward," he said. "It is time to show the flexibility and common sense and sense of compromise that are necessary to achieve our goals."No breakthroughs took place as the three leaders met on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly session in New York. But U.S. Middle East envoy George Mitchell says there are reasons for optimism."Both parties share the goal of a two-state solution and of comprehensive peace. And both parties seek the re-launch of negotiations as soon as possible, although there are differences between them on how to proceed," said Mitchell.Mr. Obama says he is giving Mitchell and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton orders to take steps to advance the peace efforts."Senator Mitchell will meet with the Israeli and Palestinian negotiators next week. I have asked the prime minister and the president to continue these intensive discussions by sending their teams back to Washington next week," said Mr. Obama. "And I have asked the secretary of state to report to me on the status of these negotiations in mid-October."President Obama acknowledged that progress has been made toward re-starting negotiations, but he said much more is needed."Palestinians have strengthened their efforts on security, but they need to do more to stop incitement and to move forward with negotiations," he continued. "Israelis have facilitated greater freedom of movement for the Palestinians, and have discussed important steps to restrain settlement activity. But they need to translate these discussions into real action, on this and other issues."While in New York, Mr. Obama also addressed a high-level summit on climate change, called by U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. | Diplomatic Talks _ Diplomatic_Negotiation_ Summit Meeting | September 2009 | ['(Voice of America)'] |
The Syrian city of Homs is subjected to a sustained bombing campaign, the worst it has seen in five months. | Syria's city of Homs has been subjected to its most severe bombardment in five months, activists say.
Aircraft and artillery targeted the neighbourhood of Khaldiya, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.
Activists also reported fierce clashes in the second city Aleppo, and government shelling in the capital Damascus, Hama and Idlib.
Turkey has meanwhile reinforced its border following a deadly Syrian mortar strike on a Turkish town.
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan warned Syria at a large rally in Istanbul on Friday that Turkey would defend its sovereignty.
"We are not interested in war, but we're not far from it either," he said.
Syrian government forces had subjected Homs to months of intense bombardment until April, after which the focus of the violence shifted to other cities. But on Friday activists reported military strikes on Khaldiya, and also on the districts of Old Homs, Qusour and Jourat al-Shayah.
The head of the UK-based activist group the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, Rami Abdel Rahman, told AFP news agency: "It seems like the regime has a limited window to use its warplanes, because it is throwing everything it can at the rebels in Homs."
One Homs-based activist, Abu Rami, told Associated Press: "Around dawn, the regime went crazy and started shelling hysterically. An average of five rockets a minute are falling."
The Observatory also said there had been renewed shelling of rebel positions in the neighbourhood of Sakhour in Aleppo, which state TV described as a "cleansing of terrorists and mercenaries". The Local Co-ordination Committees, an opposition activist network, reported anti-government demonstrations on Friday in a number of towns and cities, including Damascus and Aleppo.
Meanwhile, rebel fighters said they had captured an air base with a stock of missiles outside the capital, Damascus.
Rebels released video showing smoke rising from the installation in the eastern Ghouta area, along with captured missiles, but the footage has not been independently verified. The rebels have increasingly targeted air bases as government forces have stepped up the use of air strikes.
Later, activists posted videos online which they said showed a military aircraft being shot down by rebel fighters as it bombarded towns in eastern Ghouta. It was unclear if it was a helicopter or fighter jet.
According to activists, more than 30,000 people have been killed since the uprising against President Bashar al-Assad began in March last year. The UN estimates that at least 20,000 have died.
The Observatory put Thursday's death toll from fighting in Syria at 180.
The group is one of the most prominent organisations documenting and reporting incidents and casualties in the Syrian conflict. The group says its reports are impartial, though its information cannot be independently verified."
On Thursday, the UN Security Council said the Syrian mortar strike on the Turkish border town of Akcakale - which is believed to have been an accident - underscored the grave impact the Syrian crisis was having on "regional peace and stability". Two women and three children were killed.
Turkey responded by shelling Syrian army positions.
On Friday the Security Council also condemned what it called "terrorist attacks" in Aleppo on Wednesday that killed dozens of Syrian civilians. The council said the al-Nusra Front, affiliated with al-Qaeda, had said it carried out the attacks.
Following the Akcakale deaths, Turkey's parliament authorised troops to launch cross-border operations against Syria for a period of one year.
On Friday, Turkey moved tanks and anti-aircraft missiles into Akcakale, although Mr Erdogan has said his country does not intend to start a war with Syria.
At the Istanbul rally he warned: "Those who attempt to test Turkey's deterrence, its decisiveness, its capacity, I say here they are making a fatal mistake."
A Turkish foreign ministry official told AP Syria had pulled tanks and other materiel away from the border.
There were no reports of fresh cross-border clashes, although the situation remains tense.
One resident of Oncul, close to Akcakale, told AP: "Our store owners, our citizens and our children are all very concerned. We did not sleep until morning."
| Armed Conflict | October 2012 | ['(BBC)'] |
In Germany, 378 people are arrested after a violent confrontation between England supporters and Germany supporters in Stuttgart. Approximately 60,000 England supporters are present in Stuttgart for Sunday's World Cup second round game with Ecuador. | The supporters, part of a group of 500 detained over the weekend in Stuttgart, will not be able to travel to Gelsenkirchen for the match.
More than 100 supporters held by German police since being arrested on Friday night are expected to return home. England beat Ecuador 1-0 in their second round knockout match on Sunday.
Troublemakers arrested
The 117 supporters, held at different locations in and around Stuttgart were released on Monday morning.
Some 375 arrested on Saturday night were freed after England beat Ecuador but were banned from Stuttgart city centre.
There were only a few arrests after the game in Stuttgart, where England fans celebrated in torrential rain.
BBC correspondent Jane Peel, in Stuttgart, said hundreds of England supporters stayed on the streets celebrating despite the rain and a vicious storm.
UK police in Germany for the tournament said those arrested after the match included two people identified as known troublemakers. Joy for England
Those already released and about to be released were held at various locations in the city and have not been charged with any criminal offences.
They were arrested under German police powers to prevent trouble after minor outbreaks of disorder.
Of the 378 supporters arrested on Saturday, three were expected to remain in custody under investigation for criminal offences.
Sports Minister Richard Caborn said some fans' conduct had been "unfortunate" - but was not as bad as the "thuggery" of the past.
"I think we just keep it in proportion. It's not going back to the dark days of a decade or more ago when we had some real thuggery around," he told the BBC.
Chairs thrown
Some 60,000 England fans are thought to have been in Stuttgart for the game, where England beat the South American team 1-0 to make their way to the quarter finals.
They drink continually throughout the day. They stay in the same spots. As the day goes on their behaviour degenerates
ACC Stephen Thomas
Standoff in the square
England v Ecuador
Can the Cup be violence free?
German police said tables, chairs and bottles were thrown as England supporters came into contact with German fans after the host nation beat Sweden 2-0 on Saturday. Five people and four police officers were said to have suffered minor injuries in the clash in Stuttgart's central square where the Fan Fest big screen viewing area is located.
The trouble followed a separate incident in the same square on Friday evening in which more than 100 England fans were arrested. 'Behaviour degenerates'
Assistant Chief Constable Stephen Thomas, who heads the UK police operation for the World Cup in Germany, said the "preventative" arrests had come after a group had been drinking throughout the day.
Chairs were thrown by rival fans in the Schlossplatz
Scenes in Germany
"I don't consider these people to be England football supporters because they damage the reputation of the real England supporters who will be here later," he said.
"Instead the focus has been on perhaps as many as 500 individuals who start drinking, some of them, at 8.30 in the morning. "They drink continually throughout the day. They stay in the same spots. As the day goes on their behaviour degenerates."
Mr Thomas said UK police officers deployed as spotters had been filming the crowd and would be reviewing the evidence with the aim of obtaining banning orders on some of fans when they returned home.
Between five and 10 Germans were arrested on Saturday, police said.
The arrests in Stuttgart have more than doubled the number of UK citizens held so far during the World Cup. | Famous Person - Commit Crime - Arrest | June 2006 | ['(including 122 England fans)', '(BBC)'] |
Striking Verizon Communications workers will return to work from a strike on the night of Monday, August 22, 2011, even without a formal contract. |
Thousands of striking Verizon workers will return to work starting Monday night, though their contract dispute with the telecom company isn’t over yet.
Both the company and the union say they have agreed to narrow the issues in dispute and have set up a process to negotiate a new contract. But the talks are likely to be contentious. The two sides still disagree on touchy subjects such as health care benefits, pensions, and work rules.
About 45,000 employees went on strike on Aug. 7, after their previous contract expired. They work in the company’s landline division in nine states from Massachusetts to Virginia.
Verizon says that it needs to cut costs in the traditional landline phone business, which is in decline as more Americans switch to mobile phones. The company has proposed freezing its pension plan and switching union workers to its non-union health plan, which has higher costs for employees.
The unions counter that the landline business supports the growing wireless business and that Verizon, which earned about $3 billion in the first half of the year, can afford to maintain the benefits in the contract that expired on Aug. 6. They also say Verizon put too many proposals on the table.
Of the 45,000 striking workers, 35,000 are covered by the Communications Workers of America, while 10,000 are covered by the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers.
Jim Spellane, a spokesman for the IBEW, said the strike occurred because Verizon “came in with an extreme set of proposals and never really moved off of them.”
But after the 14-day strike, “I think they realized the unions are serious,” he said. “It’s in everybody’s best interest to get back to work.”
Verizon spokesman Richard Young said that many of the benefits and work rules were put in place when Verizon faced much less competition in its landline business. “The contracts are not reflective of today’s marketplace,” he said.
Spellane said that much of the traditional phone network helps support the faster-growing wireless business. And many of the technicians that went on strike install and maintain the company’s new fiber optic network, FiOS, which provides Internet, video and phone services.
Verizon has 196,000 workers, with 135,000 of those non-union. The wireless division, which wasn’t affected by the strike, is mostly non-union.
Nearly 30 percent of U.S. homes have dropped landline phone service and rely on mobile phones only, according to the National Center for Health Statistics.
Verizon Wireless added 1.3 million wireless customers in the April-June quarter, for a total of 89.7 million. That growth has been helped by the addition of Apple Inc.’s iPhone in February. The company owns 55 percent of Verizon Wireless, with Britain’s Vodafone owning the rest.
Meanwhile, total voice connections, which measures FiOS digital voice connections in addition to traditional landlines, declined 7.9 percent to 25 million. But the company has seen increases of more than 20 percent in customers subscribing to both FiOS Internet and TV services over the past 12 months.
Candice Johnson, spokeswoman for the CWA, said Verizon is asking $20,000 per worker in annual concessions. The company has disputed that but hasn’t offered its own figure.
Johnson said earlier this month that the union’s best-paid Verizon workers get about $77,000 a year in New York. The company puts the figure at $91,000 and said benefits average $50,000.
“These are very important issues” being negotiated, she said. “They are issues that help families ensure a middle-class life.”
While union workers walked the picket lines, managers and non-union employees performed their duties.
Verizon’s Young said the company began training managers and non-union workers at the beginning of the year to prepare for the strike. Thousands of employees were brought in from as far away as Texas, California, and Colorado, he said. They have worked 12 hours a day, six days a week, he said.
The company also used newer technologies to resolve 50,000 problems a day remotely, Young said, such as resetting set-top boxes and routers and testing lines.
Peter Thonis, Verizon’s chief communications officer, acknowledged there was “a little bit of a slowdown” in installing new services like FiOS, but said replacement workers largely kept up on repair work.
The company said in its statement that it will “quickly address any backlog in repairs and unfulfilled requests for service.”
While customers who will now get their FiOS services installed on time may be winners, Verizon’s Thonis said neither the company nor the workers could claim a victory. | Strike | August 2011 | ['(Journal Star of Peoria)'] |
Prime Minister of Japan Shinzo Abe announces that all junior and high schools will be asked to close from March 2 until their upcoming spring break to help fight the coronavirus pandemic. | TOKYO (Reuters) - Japans entire school system, from elementary to high schools, will be asked to close from Monday until spring break late in March to help contain the coronavirus outbreak, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said on Thursday.
The dramatic escalation of Japans fight against the virus follows rising criticism of what has been seen as a lukewarm government response.
This coming week or two are an extremely important period, Abe told a coronavirus task force.
Prioritizing childrens health and safety above everything else, we will ask all the elementary, junior high and high schools across Japan to temporarily close from March 2 to spring break.
The Japanese school year ends in March, with spring vacation usually starting the last week of the month.
A woman working as a tour bus guide was reinfected with the coronavirus, testing positive after having recovered from an earlier infection, Osakas prefectural government said. Her case, the first known of in Japan, highlighted how much is still unknown about the virus even as concerns grow about its global spread.
The number of cases in Japan rose on Thursday to more than 200, up from the official tally of 186 late on Wednesday. On the main northern island of Hokkaido, 15 new cases, including two children under the age of 10, were confirmed.
The government has urged that big gatherings and sports events be scrapped or curtailed for two weeks to contain the virus while pledging that the 2020 Summer Olympics will go ahead in Tokyo. But its handling of the virus has drawn increasing criticism, including from opposition politicians.
Abe got support from the International Olympic Committee as its head, Thomas Bach, told Japanese media the IOC is fully committed to holding the Games on schedule. Bach told a conference call the committee is fully committed to a successful Olympic Games in Tokyo starting July 24, Kyodo News reported.
Abes sudden announcement about schools set off a flurry of worries on social media among parents now scrambling to arrange childcare.
My honest feeling - all schools on break? Its important to protect children, but what happens if they have working parents? wrote @Kogoro1982.
The cases reported in Japan do not include 705 reported from an outbreak on the Diamond Princess cruise liner that was quarantined off Tokyo earlier this month.
A man in his 80s died in Hokkaido after contracting the coronavirus, the prefectural government said, bringing the total number of people who have died in Japan to eight, including four from the ship.
The woman who tested positive twice, a resident of Osaka, in western Japan, tested positive on Wednesday after developing a sore throat and chest pains, the prefectural government said in a statement. The woman in her 40s first tested positive in late January and was discharged from hospital on Feb. 1 after recovering, according to the statement.
Though a first known case for Japan, second positive tests have been reported in China - one on Feb. 21 - where the disease originated late last year.
The outbreak has spread rapidly and widely, infecting about 80,000 people globally and killing nearly 2,800, the vast majority in mainland China.
Health Minister Katsunobu Kato said in parliament the government would need to keep tabs on the condition of those previously discharged, as health experts analyzed the implications of testing positive for the virus after an initial recovery.
Once you have the infection, it could remain dormant and with minimal symptoms, and then you can get an exacerbation if it finds its way into the lungs, said Philip Tierno Jr., Professor of Microbiology and Pathology at NYU School of Medicine.
Tierno said much remains unknown about the virus. Im not certain that this is not bi-phasic, like anthrax, he said, meaning the disease appears to go away before recurring.
Asked to comment on prospects for the Olympic Games going ahead this summer, Tierno said, The Olympics should be postponed if this continues ... There are many people who dont understand how easy it is to spread this infection from one person to another.
The health ministry said on Thursday that with the Diamond Princess still located south of Tokyo, about 240 foreign and Japanese crew members who have tested negative for the virus would disembark from the ship over the next few days.
Those with no symptoms would remain at a facility near Tokyo for further monitoring, the ministry said in a statement. An official could not immediately confirm the total number of crew on board the ship, which was carrying around 3,700 people when it first docked on Feb. 3.
Japans biggest trading group, Mitsubishi Corp, said it was telling all of its 3,800 staff in the country to work from home for two weeks starting Friday.
Reporting by Daniel Leussink, Chang-Ran Kim, Rocky Swift, Kaori Kaneko, Elaine Lies, Ju-min Park and Kiyoshi Takenaka; Editing by Kenneth Maxwell, Kevin Liffey and Frances Kerry
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: Feds Neel Kashkari opposes rate hikes at least through 2023 as the central bank becomes more hawkish | Disease Outbreaks | February 2020 | ['(Reuters)'] |
A New Zealand court orders Pike River Coal to pay $3 million in compensation for the 29 victims of the Pike River Mine disaster. | A New Zealand court has ordered Pike River Coal Limited to pay nearly $3 million in compensation for the 2010 mine disaster which killed 29 men.
In the Greymouth District Court today, an emotional Judge Jane Farish awarded reparations of $94,000 to each of the families of those killed in the disaster and the two survivors. She also fined the company $600,000.
Pike River Coal Limited is in receivership, and it was revealed yesterday that it had only $130,000 remaining from a $1.7 million insurance payout.
But Judge Farish said she believed the company’s biggest secured shareholder, New Zealand Oil and Gas, was in a position to pay reparations.
Yesterday she said it seemed unjust that the company could shut up shop and walk away from the mine within a month of the explosion without providing anything for the families of the victims.
She said she hoped the fine would provide a strong deterrent.
A lawyer for the bereaved families says they will seek compensation from the government.
Relatives of those killed applauded the judge's decision and said they hoped today's sentencing will act as a deterrent to other companies.
Bernie Monk, whose son Michael died in the underground explosions, said he was impressed. "Judge Farish put the stake in the ground for any further companies to do what the company's done to our families," he said. Neville Rockhouse, whose son Ben died while his other son Daniel survived, said the compensation would help. "My son, Daniel, he has to pay for counselling and he can't really afford that so it's something," he said. Pike River Coal was found guilty in April on nine charges relating to its failure to properly manage methane levels and ventilation in the mine and failing to mitigate the risk of an explosion.
A series of blasts rocked the South Island coal mine in November 2010.
Australians Joshua Ufer and Willie Joynson were among those who died.
Last year, Australian-based mining supply company VLI Drilling was fined $40,000 after pleading guilty to three health and safety charges.
The chief executive of Pike River Coal at the time of the disaster, Peter Whittall, is facing 12 charges.
An independent inquiry has found there were systemic failures by the departments responsible for granting Pike River Coal a mining permit and then overseeing its operations.
The inquiry, which examined problems identified by the Pike River Royal Commission, found the actions and inaction of government officials may have contributed to the tragedy.
But it said there was no evidence of carelessness, incompetence or breach of policy by managers, so it recommended no action be taken against government staff.
| Organization Fine | July 2013 | ['(ABC News Australian)'] |
Greek investigative journalist, blogger and broadcaster Sokratis Giolias is killed after being shot more than 15 times outside his home in Ilioupoli, Athens ahead of the publication of his report into corruption. | A Greek investigative journalist has been shot dead outside his home in Athens in an attack linked by police to leftist militants. Sokratis Giolias, 37, was shot more than 15 times in the Athens neighbourhood of Ilioupoli.
According to colleagues, he had been about to publish the results of an investigation into corruption.
Police said ballistics tests tied the killers' guns to previous attacks by the Sect of Revolutionaries. They had initially discounted the idea that leftist militants might have killed Mr Giolias. The Sect of Revolutionaries (SR) has threatened members of the media in the past. Last year they attacked the headquarters of private broadcaster Alter TV, without causing any injuries.
No group has yet said it was behind the killing of Mr Giolias.
Mr Giolias was head of news at private Athens radio station Thema FM, and wrote on a popular news blog, called Troktiko.
"Somebody wanted to silence a very good investigative reporter who had stepped on a lot of toes with his stories," said Panos Sobolos, president of the Athens journalists' union.
Greece's parliamentary speaker Philippos Petsalnikos expressed "outrage and grief at this heinous and murderous act".
The BBC's Malcolm Brabant in Athens says while gangland murders are frequent occurrences in Greece, attacks on journalists are rare.
The last such murder was in the mid-1980s, when the guerrilla group November 17 killed a conservative newspaper publisher.
Mr Giolias was apparently killed by a professional hit team, our correspondent says. Police are looking for two or three gunmen who, masquerading as security personnel, and wearing bullet-proof vests, called at the journalist's apartment and summoned him into the street on Monday morning, he says.
Their getaway car was later found abandoned and burned.
"The ballistic investigation showed that the guns used in the assassination today... have been used in attacks claimed by the Sect of Revolutionaries," police said in a statement.
Emerging after the riots which raged in Greece in December 2008, the group said it had killed an anti-terrorist police officer who was shot dead in June 2009.
After the gun and bomb attack on Alter TV, the group accused the media of manufacturing news and attempting to ensure the public remained obedient to the state.
"Journalists, this time we came to your door, but next time you will find us in your homes," SR said. | Famous Person - Death | July 2010 | ['(BBC)', '(Aljazeera)', '(Reuters)', '(The Washington Post)'] |
Demonstrators across the Arab and Muslim worlds take to the streets on Friday, holy day, expressing solidarity with the Palestinians and outrage at the U.S. move. | JERUSALEM/GAZA (Reuters) - At least two people were killed in clashes with Israeli troops on Friday when thousands of Palestinians demonstrated against U.S. President Donald Trump’s recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and the Palestinian president said Washington could no longer be a peace broker.
Across the Arab and Muslim worlds, thousands more protesters took to the streets on the Muslim holy day to express solidarity with the Palestinians and outrage at Trump’s reversal of decades of U.S. policy.
Israeli soldiers shot dead a Palestinian man near the Gaza border, the first confirmed death in two days of unrest. Scores of people were wounded on the “Day of Rage”. A second person later died of their wounds, a Gaza hospital official said.
The Israeli army said hundreds of Palestinians were rolling burning tyres and throwing rocks at soldiers across the border.
“During the riots IDF soldiers fired selectively towards two main instigators and hits were confirmed,” it said.
More than 80 Palestinians were wounded in the occupied West Bank and Gaza by Israeli live fire and rubber bullets, according to the Palestinian Red Crescent ambulance service. Dozens more suffered from tear gas inhalation. Thirty-one were wounded on Thursday.
As Friday prayers ended at the Al Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem, worshippers made their way toward the walled Old City gates, chanting “Jerusalem is ours, Jerusalem is our capital” and “We don’t need empty words, we need stones and Kalashnikovs”. Scuffles broke out between protesters and police.
In Hebron, Bethlehem and Nablus, dozens of Palestinians threw stones at Israeli soldiers who fired back with tear gas.
In Gaza, controlled by the Islamist group Hamas, calls for worshippers to protest sounded over mosque loudspeakers. Hamas has called for a new Palestinian uprising like the “intifadas” of 1987-1993 and 2000-2005, which together saw thousands of Palestinians and more than 1,000 Israelis killed.
“Whoever moves his embassy to occupied Jerusalem will become an enemy of the Palestinians and a target of Palestinian factions,” said Hamas leader Fathy Hammad as protesters in Gaza burned posters of Trump.
“We declare an intifada until the liberation of Jerusalem and all of Palestine.”
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Protests largely died down as night fell. Rocket sirens sounded in southern Israeli towns near the Gaza border, and the Israeli military said it had intercepted one of at least two projectiles fired from Gaza. No casualties were reported.
Al Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigade, a militant group linked to Abbas’s Fatah party, claimed responsibility for firing one of the rockets, and said it was in protest against Trump’s decision.
The military said another rocket hit the Israeli town of Sderot. No casualties were reported.
Israel’s military said that in response to the rocket fire, its aircraft bombed militant targets in Gaza and the Palestinian Health Ministry said at least 25 people were wounded in the strikes, including six children.
The Israeli military said it had carried out the strikes on a militant training camp and on a weapons depot. Witnesses said most of the wounded were residents of a building near the camp.
At the United Nations, U.S. ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley said Washington still had credibility as a mediator.
“The United States has credibility with both sides. Israel will never be, and should never be, bullied into an agreement by the United Nations, or by any collection of countries that have proven their disregard for Israel’s security,” Haley told the U.N. Security Council.
But Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas appeared defiant.
“We reject the American decision over Jerusalem. With this position the United States has become no longer qualified to sponsor the peace process,” Abbas said in a statement. He did not elaborate further.
France, Italy, Germany, Britain and Sweden called on the United States to “bring forward detailed proposals for an Israeli-Palestinian settlement”.
Trump’s announcement on Wednesday has infuriated the Arab world and upset Western allies. The status of Jerusalem has been one of the biggest obstacles to a peace agreement between Israel and the Palestinians for generations.
Israel considers all of Jerusalem to be its capital. Palestinians want the eastern part of the city as the capital of a future independent state of their own.
Most countries consider East Jerusalem, which Israel annexed after capturing it in the 1967 Middle East War, to be occupied territory. It includes the Old City, home to sites considered holy to Muslims, Jews and Christians alike.
For decades, Washington, like most of the rest of the international community, held back from recognizing Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, saying its status should be determined as part of the Palestinian-Israeli peace process. No other country has an embassy there.
The Trump administration argues that the peace process has become moribund, and outdated policies need to be jettisoned for the sides in the conflict to make progress.
Trump has also noted that Barack Obama, George W. Bush and Bill Clinton all promised as candidates to recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital. “I fulfilled my campaign promise - others didn’t!” Trump tweeted on Friday with a video montage of campaign speeches on the issue by his three predecessors.
U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said on Friday it would still be up to the Israelis and Palestinians to hammer out all other issues surrounding the city in future talks.
“With respect to the rest of Jerusalem, the president ... did not indicate any final status for Jerusalem. He was very clear that the final status, including the borders, would be left to the two parties to negotiate and decide.”
Still, some Muslim countries view the Trump administration’s motives with particular suspicion. As a candidate he proposed banning all Muslims from entering the United States, and in office he has tried to block entry by citizens of several Muslim-majority states.
In Ramallah, the seat of Abbas’s Palestinian Authority, the leader’s religious affairs adviser said Trump’s stance was an affront to Islam and Christianity alike.
“America has chosen to elect a president who has put it in enmity with all Muslims and Christians,” said Mahmoud al-Habbash.
In Iran, which has never recognized Israel and supports anti-Israel militants, demonstrators burned pictures of Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu while chanting “Death to the Devil”.
In Cairo, capital of Egypt, a U.S. ally which has a peace treaty with Israel, hundreds of protesters who had gathered in Al-Azhar mosque and outside in its courtyard chanted “Jerusalem is Arab! O Trump, you madman, the Arab people are everywhere!”
Al Azhar’s Imam, Sheikh Ahmed al-Tayeb, rejected an invitation to meet U.S. Vice President Mike Pence.
Large demonstrations also took place in Jordan, Tunisia, Somalia, Yemen, Malaysia and Indonesia, and hundreds protested outside the U.S. embassy in Berlin.
France said the United States had sidelined itself in the Middle East. “The reality is they are alone and isolated on this issue,” Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said.
| Protest_Online Condemnation | December 2017 | ['(Reuters)'] |
Mumtaz Qadri is charged with murdering the Governor of Punjab Salmaan Taseer in a Pakistan court. | A police bodyguard who admitted assassinating Punjab Governor Salman Taseer last month has been charged with murder in a Pakistani court. Qadri appeared at an anti-terrorism court in a Rawalpindi city jail where supporters brought Valentine's Day cards and gifts. He said he killed Mr Taseer because the governor backed liberal reforms to controversial blasphemy laws. The assassination has divided Pakistan, with many hailing Qadri as a hero.
Qadri was part of Mr Taseer's protection team but opened fire on the governor as he was about to get into his car on 4 January.
'Apostasy killing'
Qadri's lawyers told the BBC that although he admitted killing the governor, he argued that it was not unlawful because "he killed an apostate who insulted the prophet." Qadri told the court: "I haven't killed anyone unlawfully. I have taught a lesson to apostate Salman Taseer in the light of the teachings of the Koran and the Tradition of the Prophet." A senior member of his defence team said that as a result, "Qadri has neither pleaded guilty, nor not guilty."
But analysts say that despite his justification, his confession is likely to be taken as a guilty plea by the court.
Qadri is next due in court on 26 February, when witnesses and evidence will be presented. The prosecution has lined up about 40 witnesses, including Mr Taseer's son and other policemen on duty at the time of the murder. Outside the court, activists carried banners praising Qadri and demanded his immediate release. Some gave police flowers and a Valentine's Day card they wanted delivered to him. Pakistan's controversial blasphemy law has been in the spotlight since a Christian mother-of-five, Asia Bibi, was sentenced to death in November for insulting the Prophet Muhammad.
Asia Bibi denies the charge. Critics of the law say it has been used to persecute minority faiths in Pakistan, and is sometimes exploited for grudges. | Famous Person - Commit Crime - Accuse | February 2011 | ['(BBC)'] |
Patriarch Filaret, former honorary Patriarch of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine, founder and current Patriarch of once again the second non-canonical Ukrainian Orthodox Church – Kiev Patriarchate, was confirmed to be a positive case of COVID-19. He becomes the first independent and non-canonical autocephalous leader or patriarch in the Eastern Orthodox faith to contract the disease. Months earlier, he had stated that the pandemic was God's punishment for same-sex marriage, which is currently not legally-recognized in Ukraine. Activists say homophobia is still widespread in the national culture. | Follow NBC News A prominent religious leader in Ukraine who earlier this year blamed the coronavirus pandemic on same-sex marriage has tested positive for the virus, his church announced.
Patriarch Filaret, 91, who leads the large Ukrainian Orthodox Church - Kyiv Patriarchate, contracted COVID-19 and was subsequently hospitalized, the church confirmed Friday in a statement shared on its website and on Facebook. In a follow-up statement shared Tuesday, the church said its leader’s health is “stable” as “treatment continues.”
"We ask you to continue to pray for His Holiness Patriarch Filaret, so that the All-Merciful and Almighty Lord God will heal the Patriarch," the statement continued.
This is not the first time Filaret has made headlines involving the global coronavirus pandemic, which has killed nearly 3,000 people and infected over 140,000 in Ukraine. In a March interview with a local Ukrainian TV station, he reportedly called the crisis “God’s punishment for the sins of men and sinfulness of humanity.”
“First of all, I mean same-sex marriage,” he added. “This is the cause of the coronavirus."
Following Filaret’s controversial comments, the Ukrainian LGBTQ rights group Insight filed a lawsuit against him in April.
“Our aim is to show people that there is no longer place for such statements from church leaders in Ukraine,” Insight’s leader, Olena Shevchenko, told Thomson Reuters Foundation at the time.
According to the foundation, the suit sought an apology from Filaret for disseminating false information and a correction from the TV station that aired his controversial remarks.
Maria Guryeva, a spokeswoman for Amnesty International Ukraine, told Thomson Reuters Foundation at the time that Filaret’s statements “are very harmful because they could lead to increased attacks, aggression, discrimination and acceptance of violence against certain groups.”
In response to Insight's lawsuit against Filaret, the Orthodox Church of the Kyiv Patriarchate issued a statement in April saying, “As the head of the church and as a man, the Patriarch has the freedom to express his views, which are based on morality."
While Europe has a reputation for being relatively progressive when it comes to LGBTQ issues, Ukraine is not among the continent’s most gay-friendly countries. In its annual ranking of Europe’s most queer-friendly nations, the European LGBTQ rights group ILGA-Europe has listed Ukraine at 35 among 49 countries. | Famous Person - Sick | September 2020 | ['(Metro)', '(NBC news)'] |
The Chinese Supreme Court warns people caught fishing in Chinese waters could be jailed for up to a year. | BEIJING (Reuters) - China’s Supreme Court said on Tuesday people caught illegally fishing in Chinese waters could be jailed for up to a year, issuing a judicial interpretation defining those waters as including China’s exclusive economic zones.
An arbitration court in the Hague ruled last month that China had no historic title over the waters of the South China Sea and that it had breached the Philippines’ sovereign rights with various actions in the sea, infuriating Beijing, which dismissed the case.
None of China’s reefs and holdings in the Spratly Islands entitled it to a 200-mile exclusive economic zone, the court decided.
China’s Supreme Court made no direct mention of the South China Sea or the Hague ruling, but said its judicial interpretation was made in accordance with both Chinese law and the U.N. Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), under which the Philippines had brought its case.
“Judicial power is an important component of national sovereignty,” the Supreme Court said.
“People’s courts will actively exercise jurisdiction over China’s territorial waters, support administrative departments to legally perform maritime management duties ... and safeguard Chinese territorial sovereignty and maritime interests.”
Jurisdictional seas covered by the interpretation include contiguous zones, exclusive economic zones and continental shelves, it said.
People who illegally entered Chinese territorial waters and refused to leave after being driven out, or who re-entered after being driven away or being fined in the past year, would be considered to have committed “serious” criminal acts and could get up to a year in jail, the Supreme Court said.
“The explanation offers legal guarantees for marine fishing law enforcement,” it added.
China’s defense minister Chang Wanquan warned of offshore security threats, especially threats from the sea, and said China should prepare for a “people’s war at sea” to safeguard national sovereignty, the official Xinhua news agency reported.
China claims most of the South China Sea, through which more than $5 trillion of trade moves annually. Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam have rival claims.
China periodically detains fishermen, especially from the Philippines and Vietnam, and Chinese fishermen also occasionally get detained by other claimants in the South China Sea.
Separately, China’s military has inaugurated a memorial to servicemen who died in 1974 clashes with South Vietnamese forces that resulted in China cementing its rule over the Paracel Islands, the People’s Liberation Army Daily said.
The memorial, on Duncan Island, commemorates the 18 Chinese who died, the paper added.
. | Famous Person - Commit Crime - Sentence | August 2016 | ['(Reuters)'] |
At least 50 people have been killed and more than two million affected by heavy monsoon flooding in Assam, India. | At least 50 people have been killed and more than two million affected by heavy monsoon flooding in the north-eastern Indian state of Assam, officials say.
A video of a minister wading into muddy waters to rescue people has highlighted the plight of those hit by the floods. Heavy rain has submerged thousands of villages. Hundreds of relief camps have been set up to shelter those displaced.
A heavy monsoon in the region is common, but this year comes as India battles rising Covid-19 infections. The minister, Mrinal Saikal, is seen in footage helping two children and a woman out of their flooded home and onto a boat. "Flood is creating havoc in my constituency," he wrote on Twitter. "We have been rescuing stranded people from interior places."
Flood is creating havoc in my constituency..we have been rescuing stranded people from interior places.In another video he posted on Sunday, he is seen saving goats.
Livestocks are very important for village I m happy to save hundreds of stranded goats from many places. pic.twitter.com/dUIaafGypx
On Tuesday, officials said that swathes of the Kaziranga National Park in the state, a Unesco World Heritage site, had been submerged and that at least 51 wild animals had died. Officials rescued 102 animals, they said, adding that some tigers and rhinos strayed into nearby villages to avoid flooding. Kaziranga is home to two-thirds of the world's population of the one-horned rhinoceros.
Officials deployed nearly 100 boats across the state in the past few days, according to local media reports. Authorities have also set up 480 relief camps across 20 districts, providing temporary shelter for more than 60,000 people. Roads, homes and buildings have been inundated by flood waters in parts of the state. A heavy monsoon is a yearly occurrence in Assam, resulting in flooding and landslides which force residents to flee their homes, often leaving behind their belongings. In fact, when a controversial citizenship act last year required residents to prove their Indian citizenship via documentation, many feared they wouldn't be able to do so due to the rains either destroying documents or families being displaced. Around the same time in 2019, millions were stranded or displaced as devastating floods ravaged large parts of India, Nepal and Bangladesh.
Assam and Bihar were the two Indian states that bore the brunt, with officials saying that nearly 100 people were killed.
Forgotten floods: Why India can't afford to ignore Assam
Floods kill dozens and displace millions in India
Floods force tired tiger into resident's bed
| Floods | July 2020 | ['(BBC)'] |
A joint NATO and Afghan military operation is succeeding in pushing Taliban fighters from their strongholds in Helmand province. | A joint Nato and Afghan military operation is succeeding in pushing Taliban fighters from their strongholds in Helmand province, officials say.
On day three of Operation Moshtarak, senior Afghan officers said areas around Marjah and Nad Ali were being cleared of insurgents. However, US troops in Marjah were being slowed down by snipers and home-made bombs, a BBC correspondent says. The campaign aims to bring the areas back under Afghan government control. However, the operation suffered a setback on Sunday when rockets fired by coalition troops killed 12 civilians. Nato commander Gen Stanley McChrystal said that he "deeply regretted this tragic loss of life". In another blow to the coalition, Nato announced on Monday that five more civilians had been killed in an air strike outside of the operation - in Kandahar province. 'Low resistance'
On Monday, Afghan Brig Gen Sher Mohammad Zazai said coalition troops had largely contained the insurgents. He said local residents were helping troops to locate explosives left by the Taliban. "Today there is no major movement of the enemy," he said. "South of Marjah they are very weak. There has been low resistance. Soon we will have Marjah cleared of enemies." Gen Aminullah Patiani told AFP news agency "all of the areas of Marjah and Nad Ali have been taken by combined forces. They are under our control". It's day three of the joint Nato-Afghan military operation and forces have experienced both successes and setbacks.
After inserting thousands of troops by helicopter into Taliban-held territory, Nato commanders say they are so far achieving their military objectives.
Meanwhile US, British and Afghan forces are having to cope with an unexpectedly high number of improvised explosive devices (IEDs).
For all the hi-tech aerial surveillance, infrared cameras and sophisticated eavesdropping at Nato's disposal, its forces appear to have underestimated the scale of the problem of these roadside bombs.
He added: "The Taliban have left the areas, but the threat from IEDs [improvised explosive devices] remains." Marjah resident Haji Mohammed Jan told the BBC the Taliban had tried to stop people leaving, but he and others had managed to escape. "All we had we have left behind. We don't like fighting. We are tired of it." Dawud Ahmadi, a spokesman for Helmand's governor, said nearly 1,000 displaced families had arrived in the provincial capital, Lashkar Gah. Afghan MP Fauzia Koffi told the BBC that residents were confused about the operation, because the military offensive was very different from the suggestion at a recent conference in London that elements of the Taliban should be engaged in talks. She also said that the Taliban had not allowed civilians to leave Marjah and if civilian casualties increased it would adversely affect the opinion of the Afghan people. 'Exceptionally proud'
The BBC's Frank Gardner, at Kandahar air base, says a clear difference is emerging between Nad Ali - where British troops are operating, and Marjah to the south where US troops are focused. General Stanley McChrystal on ''protecting the people of Afghanistan''
While British forces have been able to move quickly to their objectives, US Marines are advancing slowly and painstakingly, being held back by snipers and more home-made bombs than they had expected, he said. The BBC's Ian Pannell, embedded with British forces in Nad Ali, says troops have been spreading out to try to reassure locals, listen to their complaints and assuage their fears. He says the locals appeared happy to see the Afghan army but did not want the arrival of police, who they see as corrupt, partisan and inept. Military intelligence experts believe most Taliban who have chosen to stay and fight are concentrated around Marjah. In northern Marjah on Monday, an armoured column came under fire from at least three sniper teams, AP news agency reported. Reuters quoted US Marines as saying they had twice unsuccessfully tried to clear one bazaar area in Marjah of enemy positions. Despite the setbacks, Nato and Afghan commanders insist they now have enough troops to hold the ground taken and will soon be bringing in hundreds of newly trained police to re-establish Afghan government control. Operation Moshtarak, meaning "together" in the Dari language, is the biggest coalition attack since the Taliban fell in 2001. The operation is also considered the first big test of US President Barack Obama's new "surge" strategy for Afghanistan. Nato has stressed that the safety of civilians in the areas targeted is their highest priority. However, on Sunday two rockets fired from the High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (Himars) in the Marjah area hit a building and killed 12 Afghan civilians. In the second incident on Monday, Nato said the five Afghan civilians killed were mistakenly believed to be insurgents planting explosives on a road in the Zhari district of Kandahar province. Gen McChrystal immediately suspended all use of the Himars rocket system and Afghan President Hamid Karzai ordered an investigation. However, on Monday a senior Nato official told the BBC the rockets were not off target as initially reported. The building was targeted as coalition forces were receiving fire from it, the official said, but they did not realise there were civilians inside. Two insurgents along with the 12 civilians were killed, the official said. At a news conference on Monday, Gen McChrystal said that before the operation had begun, President Karzai had stressed the importance of protecting Afghan civilians. "This operation has been done with that in mind," he said, adding he was "exceptionally proud" of how coalition forces were performing. Speaking at the same conference, Afghan interior minister Mohammad Hanif Atmar urged Taliban fighters to lay down their arms and take up the government's offer of reconciliation. "There is no way you can win there, the Afghan people are determined to win," he said.
The 15,000-strong coalition force includes 4,000 US Marines, a similar number of British troops plus a large Afghan contingent. Soldiers from Canada, Denmark and Estonia are also involved. Two Nato deaths related to Operation Moshtarak have so far been confirmed. On Saturday, a British soldier, Lance Sergeant David Greenhalgh of 1st Battalion Grenadier Guards, died in an improvised explosive device (IED) attack, while a US soldier was killed by gunfire in Marjah. Another British casualty was announced on Monday, although not connected to Operation Moshtarak. UK officials said the soldier from 2nd Battalion, The Duke of Lancaster's Regiment died during an night-time patrol near Musa Qaleh in Helmand on Sunday. At least 20 Taliban fighters were killed and another 11 detained on Saturday, the Afghan army said. | Armed Conflict | February 2010 | ['(BBC)'] |
The First Lady of the United States, Michelle Obama, makes an unannounced visit to Haiti. It is her first official trip overseas without US President Barack Obama since he took office last year. | The visit is intended to underscore US commitment to rebuilding Haiti
The First Lady of the United States, Michelle Obama, has made an unannounced visit to Haiti.
It was her first official trip overseas without US President Barack Obama since he took office last year. She spent several hours in the Haitian capital Port-au-Prince, visiting projects set up in the wake of the devastating earthquake in January. Mrs Obama then flew on to Mexico for a previously announced visit due to last three days. Mrs Obama flew over Port au Prince by helicopter, and was greeted by the Haitian president and his wife by the ruins of the presidential palace.
She described the destruction she witnessed as "powerful". Next stop was a school where the First Lady clapped along as the children sang and danced to greet her. "Let's hold hands like good friends," they sang.
In one of the buses serving as a classroom, Mrs Obama sat at a small table and painted colourful pictures with the children. Mrs Obama then toured a partly ruined college. One woman looking on told me she hoped the visit would focus attention on the plight of Haitians.
As the US winds down its military presence, Mrs Obama's visit is meant to underscore the United States long-term commitment to helping the people of Haiti.
The trip was kept a secret for security reasons. The White House said the aim of the visit was to "underscore to the Haitian people and the Haitian government the enduring US commitment to help Haiti recover and rebuild". The BBC's Laura Trevelyan, who is travelling with Mrs Obama, says US troops who have been helping with the aid effort are leaving and Haitians are wondering what comes next. President Obama has previously stated that America will be a reliable partner and will continue to help reconstruction efforts, even though US troops are leaving the area. About 230,000 people are believed to have died in the quake. More than a million people lost their homes and many are now living in makeshift camps. Thousands are being moved to higher ground as the forthcoming rainy season increases the risk of landslides. | Diplomatic Visit | April 2010 | ['(BBC News)'] |
Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon announces that her party will draft legislation for a new referendum on Scottish independence from the United Kingdom before Scotland's parliament election next year. | LONDON (Reuters) - Scotland’s First Minister Nicola Sturgeon on Tuesday pledged to publish draft legislation for a new Scottish independence referendum, including the question and timing of the vote, before the country’s parliamentary election next year.
Sturgeon, who heads Edinburgh’s pro-independence devolved government, put on hold plans for a second referendum in March to concentrate on the coronavirus crisis. However, the most sustained support for Scottish independence in the modern era has prompted nationalists to renew their push for another vote.
In a 2014 referendum on independence, Scots voted 55%-45% to stay in the United Kingdom.
“Before the end of this parliament, we will publish a draft bill setting out the proposed terms and timing of an independence referendum as well as the proposed question that people will be asked in that referendum,” Sturgeon said.
Perceptions that British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has responded slowly to the COVID-19 pandemic and Scots’ anger over the UK’s decision to leave the European Union has led for the first time to sustained support of over 50% for independence. Scottish voters opposed leaving the EU in a 2016 referendum.
If Scotland voted for independence it would mean the United Kingdom would lose about a third of its landmass, almost a tenth of its population, a core ingredient of its identity, and rip apart the world’s sixth-biggest economy.
Next year’s election to the devolved parliament is expected to provide a fresh platform for the Scottish National Party to press for a new referendum. The nationalists are expected to win a majority and aim to use that mandate to push Johnson to grant a fresh vote on the issue.
However, it is ultimately up to the British parliament to decide whether Scotland can hold another referendum, and Johnson’s Conservative government in London has repeatedly said it will reject any demand for a fresh vote.
Instead, Johnson’s government is reemphasising the economic advantages to Scotland of remaining in the United Kingdom with England, Wales and Northern Ireland.
Reporting by Andrew MacAskill; Editing by Gareth Jones
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
| Government Policy Changes | September 2020 | ['(Reuters)'] |
The trial of the President of Zambia Frederick Chiluba for stealing public money resumes today. | LUSAKA, Zambia (Reuters) -- The trial of former Zambian President Frederick Chiluba, accused of stealing public money, resumed on Wednesday after being suspended for more than a year.
Chiluba, who faces charges of theft of $488,000 in Treasury funds, briefly appeared in court on Tuesday but the proceedings only started on Wednesday, with the cross-examination of a witness, a spokesman for Chiluba said.
There were intermittent breaks during the trial to allow Chiluba, who suffers from heart problems, "to refresh himself", spokesman Emmanuel Mwamba said.
The trial was suspended in May last year when the former leader fell ill.
Chiluba, who ruled the southern African country of Zambia from 1991 to 2001, has denied any wrong-doing and accuses his successor Levy Mwanawasa of a political witch-hunt.
Chiluba on Tuesday rejected a proposal by the court and state prosecutors to follow the trial by a video link between his home and the court. | Famous Person - Commit Crime - Sentence | August 2007 | ['(Reuters via CNN)'] |
Voters in Zimbabwe go to the polls to elect a new president and members for both houses of the Parliament, the first election to not involve longtime former president Robert Mugabe. | Counting has begun in Zimbabwe’s first election since the removal of Robert Mugabe, with the result determining the former British colony’s future for decades.
Millions of people voted peacefully across the county on Monday and turnout appeared extremely high, with long lines of voters forming outside polling stations across the country when they opened at 7am (0600 BST).
By early afternoon, polling officials in the capital, Harare, and surrounding towns were reporting that between 75% and 85% of registered voters had cast their ballots. Full results are not due until much later in the week, and possibly as late as the weekend.
Speaking as he queued at a primary school on the outskirts of Harare – an opposition stronghold – Tinashe Musuwo, 20, said: “I am very optimistic this morning. Things will get better now.”
The two main candidates could not be more different: the president, Emmerson Mnangagwa, 75, was a longtime Mugabe aide and is head of the ruling Zanu-PF party.
Nelson Chamisa, 40, who leads the main opposition party, the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), is a lawyer and pastor whose only experience of power was a stint as a minister in a coalition government several years ago.
The two represent dramatically different ideologies and political styles, as well as generations. Mnangagwa offers continuity; Chamisa a radical rupture.
Chamisa said on Tuesday that he was “winning resoundingly” in the election count and that his MDC party had results from 10,000 polling stations.
“Winning resoundingly... We’ve done exceedingly well,” he said on Twitter, adding “We are ready to form the next (government).”
On Monday, the MDC leader claimed there was an attempt to “suppress and frustrate” the vote in urban areas where he has strong support through “unnecessary delays”.
International observers offered varying impressions of the election, but they all noted it had been peaceful. Elmar Brok, the EU’s chief observer, said the voting had been “very smooth” in some cases and “totally disorganised” in others. Other observer missions said they had seen “nothing abnormal and nothing to question the poll’s credibility”.
Nyari Musabeyana, 30, a hairdresser in Kuwadzana, near Harare, said she had got up early to vote for change. “We wish things to be OK in our village. We have no jobs, no cash, no economy. It is the fault of the past government,” Musabeyana said.
Almost four decades of rule by Mugabe has left Zimbabwe with a shattered economy, soaring unemployment and crumbling infrastructure.
Polls give Mnangagwa, a dour former spy chief known as “the Crocodile” for his reputation for ruthless cunning, a slim lead over Chamisa, a brilliant if sometimes wayward orator.
Support for Zanu-PF has historically been strongest in rural areas, particularly its Mashonaland heartland, where more than two-thirds of Zimbabwe’s 17 million people live. Daniel Chiwesengwa, 74, a retired municipal officer who voted at a remote polling station, said: “The story of our country is the story of this party. They have always done a lot for the people. Chamisa is a young guy. This country needs someone mature.”
If no candidate wins more than half the votes, there will be a runoff in five weeks, though analysts believe this scenario is unlikely. Another possibility is negotiations to form some kind of coalition government if the result is very close.
Although the campaign has been free of the systematic violence that marred previous polls, the MDC has repeatedly claimed it has been hindered by a flawed electoral roll, ballot paper malpractice, voter intimidation, bias in the Zimbabwe electoral commission and handouts to voters from the ruling party.
Diplomats in Harare say the “playing field has not been level”.
There are also widespread fears among opposition activists and supporters that the government or the powerful military will refuse to cede power if defeated. This would provoke massive protests, MDC loyalists said. “If we are robbed, we will go to the streets,” one MDC supporter said.
Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, the former Liberian president and a leader of one of the observer missions accredited for the first time in Zimbabwe, spoke of “a critical moment in Zimbabwe’s democratic journey”.
“The elections today provide an opportunity to break with the past,” Sirleaf said at a polling station in a school in Harare. “The lines and voter enthusiasm we are seeing … must be matched by an accurate count and their choice must be honoured.”
Zimbabwe’s rulers know that a fraudulent election would block the country’s reintegration into the international community and deny it the huge bailout package needed to avoid economic meltdown.
Mnangagwa has stressed foreign investment and “unity” during campaigning.
On Monday, he urged Zimbabweans to be peaceful, tweeting: “We are one people, with one dream and one destiny. We will sink or swim together.” For the first time since Zimbabwe gained independence in 1980 after a brutal guerrilla war against a white supremacist regime, Mugabe is not on the ballot paper. In an astonishing intervention on Sunday, the former president said he would not vote for his former party, Zanu-PF, or the current president, and endorsed Chamisa.
“I cannot vote for the party or those in power who caused me to be in this condition,” he said.
Almost all voters who spoke to the Guardian in recent days said they were happy with a “free and fair” campaign.
Masiwa Nachipo, 45, an unemployed teacher from Norton, 25 miles from Harare, said: “I am very happy. It is a very important election for me, my kids and the future of generations. We need a big change. We want a fresh start.” | Government Job change - Election | July 2018 | ['(The Guardian)'] |
The European Union calls an emergency two-day meeting about the planned EU-Canada free trade agreement, approved by all 28 EU member governments but held up by the "non" vote in Walloonia, one of Belgium's five sub-federal administrations. , , | BRUSSELS — It has come to this for the European Union: Its trade policy was being held hostage on Thursday by the Walloons.
Facing a set of debilitating crises, the bloc’s leaders assembled on Thursday for a two-day summit meeting that only underscored how the fractious domestic politics of its 28 member countries are undercutting its ability to confront mounting challenges and restore a sense of common purpose | Diplomatic Talks _ Diplomatic_Negotiation_ Summit Meeting | October 2016 | ['(NASDAQ)', '(Reuters)', '(The New York Times)'] |
A fire breaks out on an Indonesian ferry, the Levina 1, carrying 350 passengers shortly after it leaves Jakarta. | The Levina I, with more than 200 people on board, was 80km (50 miles) from shore en route to Bangka island when the fire broke out.
Five navy ships and two aircraft were despatched to evacuate survivors.
The accident is the latest in a string of deadly incidents that have cast doubt over Indonesia's safety record.
TV pictures taken from the air showed thick black smoke billowing from the ship. Transport Minister Hatta Rajasa told el-Shinta radio that 15 bodies had been recovered and that at least 275 people had been rescued. Other officials said passengers and crew were taken off the burning vessel by another ferry, while others were pulled out of the water.
One survivor, Ebun, told the AP news agency that he had managed to get hold of a lifejacket. "The fire started on the lowest level and got bigger and bigger," he said. "Many people, including me, jumped into the water. Someone came and pulled me onto another ship."
RECENT INDONESIAN DISASTERS
Ferry fire 22 Feb 2007: At least seven die as Bangka ferry catches fire
Train crash 16 Jan 2007: At least five die as train falls from bridge in Java
Landslide 12 Jan 2007: Landslide kills at least 16 on island of Sangihe
Plane crash 1 Jan 2007: Passenger plane carrying 102 people crashes in sea west of Sulawesi island
Ferry sinks 30 Dec 2006: More than 350 lost as ferry sinks between Borneo and Java
Stampede 20 Dec 2006: 10 killed, dozens injured in a stampede at Java pop concert
Earthquake 18 Dec 2006: Seven killed, about 100 injured in a quake in Sumatra
Indonesia's public perils
Yas Rijal, 33, was with his wife and son on the upper deck when the fire broke out.
"Suddenly flames burst from the lower deck. The crew ordered us to put on yellow life vests and we jumped," he told AP. Survivors were taken to port, where they were either ferried to hospital or treated by emergency teams on the quayside. It was not clear how many others were still unaccounted for, in part because there were conflicting reports about the numbers of people who had been on the ferry.
"We are still looking for (anyone unaccounted for) by combing through the waters. They may have jumped into the sea because the ferry was hot due to the fire," Lieutenant-Colonel Hendra Pakan of Indonesia's navy told Reuters news agency.
The accident was the most deadly since a passenger ferry carrying around 600 people capsized in late December off Java island, leaving more than half the passengers feared dead.
Indonesia, an archipelago of thousands of islands, relies on ferries to provide a cheap and extensive passenger network. But many vessels are badly maintained, and there have been a number of recent accidents. | Fire | February 2007 | ['(BBC)'] |
In ice hockey, the Pittsburgh Penguins win the 2017 Stanley Cup Finals defeating the Nashville Predators in six games. It is the Penguins' fifth overall and second successive Stanley Cup title. | For the second year in a row, the Pittsburgh Penguins are Stanley Cup champions. They defeated the Nashville Predators 2-0 in Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Final on Sunday night in Bridgestone Arena.
It's the fifth Stanley Cup overall for the Penguins, tying them with the Edmonton Oilers for the sixth-most in NHL history. TSN's Pierre LeBrun noted why this year's triumph is so impressive:
Patric Hornqvist delivered the decisive blow with 1:35 left in the third period. A shot from Justin Schultz bounced off the boards behind the goal, and Hornqvist pounced on the rebound, knocking the puck in off Nashville goaltender Pekka Rinne.
NHL on NBC provided a replay of the goal:
The fact Hornqvist, who played for the Predators during his first six years in the NHL, scored the go-ahead goal was a cruel twist of fate for Nashville.
The biggest talking point—at least among Predators fans—will be a decision by the officiating crew earlier in the game.
Controversy reigned with a little over a minute gone in the second period. Referees waved off a goal by Colton Sissons after losing sight of the puck and blowing the whistle to stop play. NHL on NBC shared a replay of the sequence in which a whistle is audible before Sissons' shot goes in:
The social media reaction to the call was overwhelmingly negative:
In the NFL, you can legally recover a fumble after a whistle. In the NHL, you can't score a goal after a whistle. Please hate my sport.
The performances of the respective goaltenders increased the magnitude of the officiating mistake. Rinne and Matt Murray ensured goals would come at a premium. Both goalies have experienced low moments throughout the postseason, but they more than lived up to the occasion Sunday night.
As the end of regulation loomed, USA Today's Dan Wolken couldn't help but think back to Sissons' disallowed goal:
Shortly thereafter, Hornqvist sealed the win for Pittsburgh, and Carl Hagelin scored an empty-netter for good measure
Nashville fans will feel justifiably disappointed the referee error played such an outsized role in Game 6, but it's far from the sole reason the Predators lost the game and the series.
Ultimately, the Preds weren't good enough away from home, losing all three games in Pittsburgh by a combined score of 15-4. That gave them little margin for error inside Bridgestone Arena, and one bad break, which occurred Sunday, had the potential to be catastrophic.
The Penguins, meanwhile, accomplished something fans likely never thought they'd see again—at least under the league's salary-cap rules. And Pittsburgh won a title despite missing its best defenseman, Kris Letang, for the duration of the postseason.
Sidney Crosby added to his already impressive legacy as well, capturing his second straight Conn Smythe Trophy. Still only 29, Crosby is undoubtedly the best player in the world, and the question is how much more he can achieve over the rest of his career.
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Panthers captain wins first career award for NHL's best defensive forward
Talks between rookie sensation and the Wild 'have gone cold' and Kirill has interest from Russian league (NHL Network)
Enjoy our content? Join our newsletter to get the latest in sports news delivered straight to your inbox! | Sports Competition | June 2017 | ['(Bleacher Report)'] |
An explosion at Russian military base at Kurchaloi in Chechnya kills at least 12 soldiers. The cause is unknown; however, a separatist attack has been officially ruled out. | The death toll from an explosion at a Russian military base in Chechnya has risen to 12 with 28 people wounded.
The explosion on Tuesday night at the Defence Ministry base in the Kurchaloi settlement, about 100km from Chechnya's capital, Grozny,destroyed a two-storey building that housed the unit. Russia's Vostok battalion is stationed at the base.
Military and local emergency ministry officials said on Wednesday that the reason for the blast remained unknown.
A criminal investigation has been launched as rescuers continue to search for more people in the ruins.
Earlier, officials said it was a gas explosion, but no remains of gas containers or explosives have been found.
According to an interior ministry source quoted by RIA-Novosti up to 43 people could have been in the building at the time.
Russian troops in Chechnya are regularly attacked by separatists trying to overthrow Moscow's rule. But there were no immediate reports of any attack in the area. | Armed Conflict | February 2006 | ['(Al Jazeera)', '(Mail and Guardian)'] |
Israel kills a member of the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigade following a raid into the Palestinian town of Nablus. Palestinians maintain that a special unit disguised as Arabs carried out the act. Israeli Defence Forces say the man was a "ticking bomb" and that soldier shot only after he opened fire on them. Witnesses from the Balata camp, however, say the Israelis opened fire without warning and then took the body away. | Ibrahim Smeri, 23, was killed by members of a special unit disguised as Arabs, Palestinian sources said.
The circumstances of the shooting are unclear. The army said its troops were returning fire and one soldier's flak jacket was struck by a bullet. Residents in Balata camp said the Israelis opened fire without warning and then took the body away.
Palestinian sources identified Smeri as a member of the al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, a violent group linked to Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas's Fatah faction.
The group's leader in Balata camp said the shooting violated an informal ceasefire between Israel and Palestinians.
"This assassination is a clear violation of the Israeli ceasefire," Ala Sanekri is quoted as saying by AFP news agency. "We are now discussing in the al-Aqsa Brigades whether to continue with the ceasefire and we will make a decision in the coming hours."
It was the first killing of a militant by Israel for more than a month.
Last week Israeli troops killed three Palestinian youths near the border between Gaza and Egypt, sparking a barrage of mortar fire aimed at Jewish settlements. | Armed Conflict | April 2005 | ['(BBC)', '(Haaretz)', '(NY Times)'] |
Eddie Ray Routh is found guilty of the 2013 murder of United States Navy SEALs' sniper Chris Kyle and Kyle's friend Chad Littlefield in Texas. Routh is automatically sentenced to life imprisonment without parole. , | A Texas jury has found Eddie Ray Routh guilty of the murder of US Navy Seal Chris Kyle, who wrote American Sniper, and his friend Chad Littlefield.
The judge sentenced Routh to life in prison without parole; prosecutors had not sought the death penalty.
Defence lawyers for Routh said the 27-year-old was psychotic at the time of the shootings two years ago.
But prosecutors said Routh was aware of what he was doing when he gunned the pair down at a Texas gun range in 2013.
The film based on Kyle's memoir of his four tours of duty in Iraq was nominated for best film at the Oscars this year.
The former Navy Seal, who has the most recorded kills of any US sniper, was shot and killed along with Littlefield at a rural shooting range south-west of Fort Worth.
Having retired from the military, Kyle had been helping other veterans deal with combat-related stress and mental health issues.
On the day of the killings, Kyle and Littlefield took Routh with them to go shooting after the defendant's mother asked for help in dealing with her troubled son.
Routh, who suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder, was under extreme mental distress and was convinced the two men would turn on him on the day of the killing, his lawyers argued.
The court also heard that Routh was under the influence of marijuana and alcohol at the time of the shooting.
In addition, he had been prescribed anti-psychotic medication often used for schizophrenia, reported the Associated Press news agency.
Defence lawyers said Routh had been mentally affected by the time he spent helping earthquake relief efforts in Haiti with the Marines in 2010. He had pleaded not guilty to the charge of murder on grounds of insanity.
However a psychologist testified for prosecutors that Routh was not legally insane, but instead had a paranoid disorder made worse by his drink and cannabis abuse, according to the Associated Press.
As prosecutors had not sought the death penalty, the sentence of life imprisonment without parole was imposed automatically by the judge. | Famous Person - Commit Crime - Sentence | February 2015 | ['(BBC)', '(AP)'] |
Loyalists of exiled President Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi capture Aden International Airport after four months of being under Houthi control. | Hadi loyalists seize more ground in Yemen’s Aden Loyalists of Yemen’s exiled president captured Aden’s main port and a neighboring district on Wednesday, a big prize in their battle to drive Iran-backed Houthi militia group from the southern city, residents and fighters said. Coming a day after the fighters wrested the city’s airport and another district from the Houthis, the advance has dealt the biggest setback yet to the Iran-allied Houthis in more than three months of war. Houthi forces withdrew from the port and Mualla district into Tawahi and were slowing the militiamen’s advance in another area called Crater, using intense sniper fire from volcanic crags which overlook the seaside metropolis. Medics said dozens of combatants and civilians had been killed in the last two days of fighting and the main hospital made an urgent appeal for blood donations. Saudi Arabia and other Arab states have been bombing the Houthis and their allies from the air since March 26 in the hope of reinstating Yemen’s President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi, an ally of Saudi Arabia who fled into exile in Riyadh. The Houthis say their takeover of the capital Sanaa in September and armed push into Yemen’s south and east in March and April are part of a revolution against a corrupt government and hardline Sunni Muslim militants. Residents said scores of southern fighters were in the streets of Aden fighting on Wednesday as part of the offensive dubbed “Operation Golden Arrow.” A Reuters witness saw about 40 armored vehicles, which the militiamen said were provided by the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and were vital for their battle to win back control of the airport. Residents said scores of fighters amassed at the entrance of Mualla in the morning and heavy exchanges of gunfire erupted with Houthi forces, who were pushed over the course of several hours into Tawahi district.
A struggle for power in Yemen exploded into an international crisis in late March when the Houthis entered Aden - the country’s main port and second city - and a Saudi-led coalition began its air campaign. Pitting mostly Sunni Muslim fighters in Yemen’s south against the Shiite Houthis, the war is tinged with some of the sectarian and regional rivalries defining other wars in the region. The combat looks set to simmer despite a deal reached by world powers and Iran over its disputed nuclear program on Tuesday. Riyadh, waging a regional struggle for influence with Iran, reacted warily to the deal, saying it would make the Middle East more dangerous if it conceded too much to Tehran. Ali al-Ahmedi, spokesman for anti-Houthi forces in the city, said earlier on Wednesday that they would build on their capture on Tuesday of Khormaksar - an area that acts as a bridge between the mainland and a peninsula where much of the city lies. “The southern resistance in coordination with reconstituted army units and coalition aircraft are moving into position to lift the siege on the area of Crater, Mualla and Tawahi and to storm and seize them back,” al-Ahmedi said. “The clearing of these areas is a matter of hours,” he said. Pro-Houthi media said the air campaign continued unabated on Wednesday, killing 13 people in bombings throughout the country. Following Tuesday’s advance, residents of cities across Yemen’s south set off fireworks, honked horns and chanted slogans promising a swift victory over the Houthis. The country’s proximity to Saudi Arabia, the world’s top oil exporter, makes the instability a cause for international concern. Yemen has also been in the frontline of the United States’ global war against Islamist militants but American personnel pulled out of the country as the internal conflict worsened. The fighting in Aden has taken a dreadful humanitarian toll, with flood, medicine and other necessities in short supply. A U.N.-brokered ceasefire to allow delivery of aid collapsed within days. More than 3,000 people have been killed and more than one million displaced since the conflict broke out.
Loyalists of Yemen’s exiled president captured Aden’s main port and a neighboring district on Wednesday, a big prize in their battle to drive Iran-backed Houthi militia group from the southern city, residents and fighters said. Coming a day after the fighters wrested the city’s airport and another district from the Houthis, the advance has dealt the biggest setback yet to the Iran-allied Houthis in more than three months of war. Houthi forces withdrew from the port and Mualla district into Tawahi and were slowing the militiamen’s advance in another area called Crater, using intense sniper fire from volcanic crags which overlook the seaside metropolis. Medics said dozens of combatants and civilians had been killed in the last two days of fighting and the main hospital made an urgent appeal for blood donations. Saudi Arabia and other Arab states have been bombing the Houthis and their allies from the air since March 26 in the hope of reinstating Yemen’s President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi, an ally of Saudi Arabia who fled into exile in Riyadh. The Houthis say their takeover of the capital Sanaa in September and armed push into Yemen’s south and east in March and April are part of a revolution against a corrupt government and hardline Sunni Muslim militants. Residents said scores of southern fighters were in the streets of Aden fighting on Wednesday as part of the offensive dubbed “Operation Golden Arrow.” A Reuters witness saw about 40 armored vehicles, which the militiamen said were provided by the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and were vital for their battle to win back control of the airport. Residents said scores of fighters amassed at the entrance of Mualla in the morning and heavy exchanges of gunfire erupted with Houthi forces, who were pushed over the course of several hours into Tawahi district. | Armed Conflict | July 2015 | ['(Al-Arabiyah)'] |
Mali's government says jihadist militant attacks on military posts in Mondoro and Boulkessi, in the central Mopti Region, killed 41 troops and left 60 others missing, possibly captured, while also inflicting heavy equipment losses. | At least 40 people have been killed and 60 more are missing following an attack by extremists on two military camps in Mali, the country's government said. An al-Qaida-linked group is accused of being behind it.
The Mali government saidon Tuesday that al-Qaida-affiliatedgroups attacked military bases in central Mali. At least 40people have been killed in the attacks, with another 60 people missing. The government reported that 25 soldiers and 15 extremists werekilled in the fighting.
The attacks took place at similar times at themilitary bases in Boulikessi andMondoro on Monday.
At theBoulikessi camp, insurgents with links to al-Qaidaattacked the regional G5 Sahel Force. The group used heavy weaponry in the attack andcaused "heavy equipment losses and major damage," Malian government spokesman Yaya Sangare said in a statement.
After exchange of gunfire the Mali military managed to retake control of the camp. It claims to have killed 15 insurgents and five of their vehicles.
G5 Sahel Force commander Gen.Oumarou Namatou Gazamablamed a group called Ansarul Islam for the attack at theBoulikessi camp, calling them a "terrorist group."
A joint forcewith soldiers from neighboring Burkina Faso was pursuing the extremists behind the attacks, the government said in a statement. The soldiers will be supported by French troops stationed in the region.
Violence spreadingto Burkina Faso
Violence from extremist insurgents in Mali has spread into neighboring Burkina Faso
The G5 Sahel Force is made up of soldiers fromBurkina Faso, Niger, Chad, Mali and Mauritania. It was established in 2017 to combat extremistfighters in the Sahel region.
But the scale facing the G5 group is huge.In July, the UN said Islamist attacks were spreading so fast in West Africa that the region should consider bolstering its response beyond current military efforts.Fighting between armed groups has spilled over the border into Burkina Faso to the south of Mali.
Nearly 30 people have beenkilled in Burkina Faso'sBam province the past two weeks, including 17 over the weekend, according to the provincial high commissioner, Ambrose Ouedraogo.
The violence in the municipalities of Zimtenga and Bourzanga in Burkina Faso has displaced nearly 19,000 people in the past three days, he said.
There is also an ongoing international effortandGermany, as of July 2019, has 372 troopscontributing to the UN peacekeeping mission in Mali, named MINUSMA.
At a recent September summit in Burkina FasoWest African leaders pledged$1 billion to combat the violence.
A deadly ambush in a northern province on the border to Mali has prompted Burkina Faso's president to declare a state of emergency. Burkina Faso is battling increased attacks by Islamist militants in the Sahel region. (31.12.2018) | Armed Conflict | October 2019 | ['(FAMA)', '(Reuters)', '(Deutsche Welle)', '(Bloomberg)'] |
Protestors riot in Lesbos, Greece in demonstrations against a European Union migration policy. Police fire tear gas. | Greek riot police have fired teargas to try to disperse angry protesters on Lesbos who tried to turn over a police bus during a demonstration against an EU migration policy.
The protesters were among 2,500 demonstrators who gathered at the island’s main port as the Greek prime minister, Alexis Tsipras, arrived to speak at a conference. A large contingent of riot police formed a cordon to stop the protesters from advancing further. Scores of them then tried to push over a police bus.
Officers fired teargas and earlier had discharged a flash grenade. No arrests or injuries were reported.
A general strike on Thursday virtually shut down Lesbos to enable the protest against a 2016 deal between the EU and Turkey that has left thousands of asylum seekers stranded on the island. Under the deal, those arriving on Greek islands from Turkey are held and face deportation to the country unless they successfully apply for asylum in Greece. The deal has created a massive backlog, angering people on Lesbos and other Greek islands.
Most businesses, shops, cafes and local government offices were closed in the main town of Mytilene on Thursday. Stores were also closed in protest on the nearby island of Chios.
More than 15,000 migrants and refugees remain stuck on Lesbos, Chios, and three other islands, most staying in severely overcrowded camps.
Médecins Sans Frontières said: “Thousands of people are still living in appalling conditions with limited access to medical facilities.”
It added that conditions at the largest refugee camp “were putting the health and lives of people stranded on the island at risk”.
Additional police officers, including members of anti-riot units, were sent to Lesbos and took up positions around Mytilene. Supporters and opponents of the government used vans fitted with loudspeakers to promote the protest.
Tension on the islands has been building as the number of refugees and migrants arriving from Turkey has risen sharply in recent weeks.
“The situation on the island is exceptionally difficult. We are feeling the effects of a long-term financial crisis and the way the refugee crisis has been handled,” the mayor of Lesbos, Spyros Galinos, said.
“For there to be any talk of growth or recovery, we must first be lifted out of this emergency situation.”
The government has promised to move thousands of asylum seekers to the mainland but says the process will take several months to implement and will require additional staff and more sites around Greece.
The number of daily arrivals continues to rise on Lesbos and at Greece’s land border with Turkey.
Authorities said 53 people – including 23 children – believed to be from Iraq and Syria were picked up on Thursday after a yacht used to smuggle them into the Greece ran aground on a remote mainland beach in the north-east of the country.
The 12-metre (40ft) Turkish-flagged yacht ran aground on Molyvos beach in the north-east of the island, far from any of the usual routes used to ferry migrants and refugees from Turkey to Greece. | Riot | May 2018 | ['(The Guardian)'] |
José Sócrates, the caretaker Prime Minister of Portugal asks the European Union for financial assistance. | Portugal's caretaker Prime Minister Jose Socrates has said that he has asked the European Union for financial assistance.
Mr Socrates said the country was "at too much risk that it shouldn't be exposed to".
The government has long resisted asking for aid but last week admitted that it had missed its 2010 budget deficit target.
Portugal follows Greece and the Irish Republic in seeking a bail-out.
"I always said asking for foreign aid would be the final way to go but we have reached the moment," Mr Socrates said.
"Above all, it's in the national interest."
European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso said in a statement that Portugal's request would be processed "in the swiftest possible manner, according to the rules applicable".
He also reaffirmed his "confidence in Portugal's capacity to overcome the present difficulties, with the solidarity of its partners".
Mr Socrates did not say how much aid Portugal would ask for. Negotiations will now be underway and the BBC's business editor Robert Peston said rescue loans could amount to as much as 80bn euros ($115bn; £70bn).
Mr Socrates was speaking after Finance Minister Fernando Teixeira dos Santos said it was necessary to resort to financial aid from the EU.
Earlier, the government raised about 1bn euros after tapping the financial markets in order to repay loans, but will have to pay a higher interest rate to lenders.
Portugal's cost of borrowing has risen sharply since the minority Socialist government resigned last month after its proposed tougher austerity measures were defeated in parliament.
Since then several rating agencies have downgraded the country's debt.
An informal meeting of European finance ministers had already been scheduled for Thursday in Budapest. Portugal was not originally on the agenda but is expected to be discussed.
The UK Treasury Minister Mark Hoban will attend. A source at the Treasury said that the bilateral loan the UK offered to the Irish Republic was "very much a special case" and a similar offer is "not on the table" for Portugal. Jan Randolph, head of sovereign risk at IHS Global Insight, told the BBC that Portugal might organise "some sort of bridging loan" in the short term.
But he added: "The real big loan over several years will require a medium-term plan and I don't think that can be agreed until the new government comes into place."
| Financial Aid | April 2011 | ['(BBC)'] |
Citizens of Croatia cast their votes in the latest presidential election. | The conservative incumbent came second to her leftist rival in Sunday's vote, squeezing out Miroslav Skoro, who came third. The two leading candidates will now face each other in a final vote at the beginning of 2020.
Near-complete results from Croatia's presidential election on Sunday suggested that Social Democrat Zoran Milanovic and President Kolinda Grabar Kitarovic will go head to head in a final vote to decide the country's next leader.
With almost 98% of the ballots counted, state election authorities reported Milanovic led the first round of voting with nearly 30% support. President Kolinda Grabar Kitarovic had almost 27%, eliminating Miroslav Skoro from the race, who came in third with a share of around 24%.
Milanovic, a former prime minister, and Grabar Kitarovic, who is seeking a second term, will now face each other in a final runoff on January 5.
Tight race
Croatians cast their votes earlier on Sunday, and given the closeness of the contest, it was unsurprising that a higher turnout occurred than in the country's last election, with some 100,000 more citizens casting their ballot this time around in comparison with 2014.
Grabar Kitarovic, who assumed office in February the following year, is backed by the country's governing conservative Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ). The center-right party has led the country for most of the time since independence from the former Yugoslavia in 1991. Furthermore, the HDZ is hoping to stay in power as Croatia assumes the Council of the European Union's (EU) presidency for the first time for the first six months of 2020.
The presidential post is primarily ceremonial. Nevertheless, the new president is expected to represent Croatia abroad and command its army. Presidential candidate and former prime minister Zoran Milanovic casts his vote at a polling station in Zagreb
Read more: Nigerian students experience a nightmare in Croatia
Nationalism
Both Grabar Kitarovic and Skoro had dedicated parts of their campaigns to Croatian nationalism to appeal to conservative voters.
Matija Horvat, a 27-year-old economist preparing to vote in Zagreb, told French news agency AFP that he was disappointed with a campaign that concentrated on the past instead of the future.
"They stole the space for issues of vital importance for most people's lives, including the young who are leaving in increasing numbers," he said.
As the European Union's newest member state, Croatia has been struggling with an emigration exodus as large numbers of Croatians leave for neighboring countries in search of better employment opportunities.
Folk singer turned presidential candidate, Miroslav Skoro, cast his ballot at a polling station in Zagreb earlier on Sunday
Read more: Croatian court allows gay couple to become foster parents
The candidates
Grabar Kitarovic had started off stronger than the other 10 candidates, but her popularity dropped after a number of gaffes during her presidential campaign.
The 51-year-old is struggling to maintain her grip on hard-liners shifting their support to Skoro. In her reelection bid, Grabar Kitarovic played on an emotive symbol of the 1990s independence war.
She staged her final campaign rally on Friday in the eastern town of Vukovar, a town that had witnessed bloody conflict with Serbian forces and became emblematic of Croatian suffering during the Yugoslav Wars.
Grabar Kitarovic told crowds those who fought and died in the war "don't regret being killed since Croatia is (now) here."
Meanwhile, 57-year-old Skoro appealed to nationalist voters by vowing to deploy troops at the country's borders to prevent migrants entering as well as to pardon a convicted war criminal.
Social Democrat Milanovic, who was prime minister from 2011 to 2016, pledged to make Croatia a "normal" country with an independent judiciary and tolerance and respect for minorities.
Croatia remains one of the poorest economies in the EU, and corruption is believed to be widespread. The government has been criticized for setting the voting date in the lead-up to Christmas, a time when many people in the country travel abroad. | Government Job change - Election | December 2019 | ['(DW)'] |
President Robert Mugabe says Zimbabwe's first high–level talks with top EU officials in seven years went well. | President Robert Mugabe says Zimbabwe's first high-level talks with top EU officials in seven years went well.
After the talks, in Harare, he again called for international sanctions imposed since disputed presidential election in 2002 to be lifted. The EU team also praised the meeting but indicated it was not appropriate yet for sanctions to end and complained about the slow pace of reforms. The EU team later met PM Morgan Tsvangirai. 'Good rapport'
Before going into the talks with the EU team, Mr Mugabe said: "We welcome you with open arms. We hope our talks will be fruitful with a positive outcome." A smiling President Mugabe welcomed the European Union delegation with "open arms", he said, and "with great expectations". But there has been no obvious breakthrough. The EU team said they had complained to the president about the slow pace of political reform and about human rights violations and the rule of law.
After the meeting Mr Mugabe told journalists at State House that he had honoured the terms of Zimbabwe's power sharing deal and it was time sanctions were lifted.
I asked him if he had any plans to step down. He laughed and said he was "still young" he said targeted foreign sanctions against him and his allies were entirely responsible for the country's economic collapse and he insisted he bore no responsibility for any of Zimbabwe's problems.
When he reappeared after they ended, he told the BBC the talks had gone well. He said: "We established a good rapport, it was a friendly meeting. Obviously they thought the Global Political Agreement was not working well." The Global Political Agreement is the power-sharing deal that was sealed a year ago, most importantly with Mr Tsvangirai. Mr Mugabe said that "everything we were asked to do under GPA we have done". The EU team, led by Development Commissioner Karel De Gucht, expressed satisfaction with the talks, saying there had been "progress" in a "very open atmosphere". But the BBC's Andrew Harding, in Harare, says the EU team also pointed out the problems it had with the current situation. The team, which has described the visit as an attempt to reopen political dialogue with Zimbabwe, said it was not appropriate to lift sanctions at the moment or for major aid to start. Mr de Gucht said he hoped the president realised the need for "more understanding between the three principals - himself, the prime minister and the vice-prime minister". Our correspondent says that one year on from the announcement of power-sharing, there remain serious doubts about human rights, the stalling of political reform and the good faith of President Mugabe and his supporters. In a speech a day before meeting the delegation, Mr Mugabe had lashed out at the Western sanctions, accusing whites of wanting to "poke their nose into own our own affairs". "We have stood firm and we have refused to let go. Zimbabwe - sanctions or no sanctions, Zimbabwe remains ours," he told a meeting of his Zanu-PF youth wing in Harare. Conditional removal
Last week, African leaders had called for sanctions against the country to be lifted but Mr de Gucht said the measures had "no impact on the common population". Sweden's Development Minister Gunilla Carlsson and Mr de Gucht will be in the country until Sunday. Swedish Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt, whose country currently holds the EU presidency, said last week that the EU was not considering lifting sanctions. Long-time opposition leader Mr Tsvangirai wants a removal of sanctions to be conditional on how well the power-sharing deal signed a year ago has been implemented. But last week the leaders of the Southern African Development Community (Sadc) rejected that proposal. South African President Jacob Zuma, who has criticised Mr Mugabe in the past and was expected to side with Mr Tsvangirai, said there should be no conditions placed on the removal of sanctions. | Diplomatic Talks _ Diplomatic_Negotiation_ Summit Meeting | September 2009 | ['(BBC)'] |
Sri Lankan cricketer Mahela Jayawardene plays his final test innings for Sri Lanka, scoring 54. Upon retirement, he has a total of 11814 test runs, and is 6th on the all time run–scorer's list. | Last updated on 17 August 201417 August 2014.From the section Cricket
Sri Lanka batsman Mahela Jayawardene's final Test innings saw him reach his 50th half century.
Jayawardene reached 54 in the second innings of the second Test in the two-match home series against Pakistan before getting out.
The 37-year-old will retire from the longer format of the game after the series, which Sri Lanka lead 1-0.
Sri Lanka look set to make it 2-0 as they have Pakistan, who need 271 to win, at 127-7 at the close on day four.
Jayawardene, who ends his Test career as the seventh highest run scorer in the five-day format, reached his 50 when he swept a four to fine leg off the bowling of Saeed Ajmal.
However, he followed Kumar Sangakkara (59) to the pavilion in the first 30 minutes of play after he tried to hit Ajmal over mid-wicket but was caught by Ahmed Shehzad.
The former Sri Lanka captain received a standing ovation from the crowd all the way back to the pavilion.
His batting career in Test cricket ended with Jayawardene scoring 11,814 runs from 149 Tests at an average of 49.84.
Jayawardene needed to score 90 in his final innings to average 50 in Test cricket and bows out as the only player in the all-time top-10 list of Test run scorersexternal-link not to do so. | Sports Competition | August 2014 | ['(BBC)'] |
Egypt's Justice Minister Ahmed Mekki resigns in protest of perceived attacks on judiciary by the nation's leadership. | Egypt's justice minister has resigned, following demands from Islamist supporters of President Mohammed Morsi for the "cleansing" of the judiciary.
Ahmed Mekky was seen as a supporter of judicial independence during former President Hosni Mubarak's rule.
He threatened to quit last year after the president adopted broader powers.
Thousands of pro-Morsi supporters demonstrated on Friday, calling for those linked to the former regime to be removed from judicial posts.
The protests turned violent as the demonstrators clashed with opponents. In his resignation letter, Mr Mekky stated that the rallies earlier this week had led to his decision, Associated Press news agency reports. The presidency has so far not commented on the announcement.
Mr Mekky was also said to have voiced his concern about attempts to pass a new bill which critics argue would give the Muslim Brotherhood-dominated government greater control over the judiciary. The bill envisages the lowering of the retirement age of judges - a measure that would mean the forced retirement of some 3,000 judges. The offer of resignation comes a day after President Morsi announced his plans to reshuffle the cabinet. Mr Morsi has faced a range of problems since he took office in June 2012 after Egypt's first post-Mubarak presidential election.
As well as a simmering feud with the judiciary, pro-reform protests in Cairo have continued, with deaths during anti-Morsi protests marking two years since the fall of Mubarak. The president has also been accused of failing to hold officials accountable for alleged crimes carried out during the Mubarak years.
There was a wave of unrest in January after the imposition of death sentences on 21 people over football violence.
Political progress has been slow in Egypt, with parliamentary elections scheduled for this spring now postponed with no new date set. Kim ready for 'dialogue and confrontation' with US | Government Job change - Resignation_Dismissal | April 2013 | ['(BBC)'] |
Mikhail Gorbachev founds a new political party in Russia, called Union of Social–Democrats. | Mr Gorbachev told the founding congress of the Union of Social-Democrats that its mission was to fight against "negative tendencies" and corruption. He said it supported President Vladimir Putin's efforts to reform Russia.
The new movement will not take part in general elections in December, which are expected to be won by the United Russia party, backed by Mr Putin.
"We are fighting for power, but only for power over people's minds," Mr Gorbachev told the 200 delegates gathered in Moscow.
Among the issues the movement would focus on, he said, were lack of real political debate, pressure being put on non-governmental groups and high levels of corruption.
A statement said that "the potential for free democratic choice and political competition is being limited... This is why social-democrats are uniting to fight for the values of freedom and fairness."
The congress elected the 76-year-old as the movement's leader unopposed. Mr Gorbachev's far-reaching reforms of the Soviet system accelerated the collapse of communism in the 1980s. | Organization Established | October 2007 | ['(BBC)'] |
The Mexican Congress passes legislation outlawing revenge porn. It is sent to President Andrés Manuel López Obrador for his signature. | MEXICO CITY, April 30 (Reuters) - Mexico's Congress approved legislation on Thursday to combat the publication of private sexual videos, images or audios without the consent of those depicted, with punishment of up to six years in prison for the crime.
| Government Policy Changes | April 2021 | ['(Reuters)'] |
The Pakistani Army kills 55 Taliban militants in Swat, Pakistan. | KOTA, Pakistan/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Pakistan has been roused to fight the “existential threat” of a growing Islamist insurgency, the top U.S. commander for the Afghan-Pakistan war theater said on Sunday, as Islamabad intensified an offensive against Taliban militants.
Army General David Petraeus, head of U.S. Central Command, said Pakistan’s fierce campaign against the Taliban in the Swat valley was a sign its political leaders, people and military were united against the Islamist fighters.
“The actions of the Pakistani Taliban ... seem to have galvanized all of Pakistan,” he told the “Fox News Sunday” program.
“Certainly the next few weeks will be very important in this effort to roll back, if you will, this existential threat -- a true threat to Pakistan’s very existence that has been posed by the Pakistani Taliban.”
Nuclear-armed Pakistan hopes to stop a Taliban insurgency with its offensive in Swat, a former tourist enclave about 130 km (80 miles) from Islamabad, after U.S. criticism that the government was failing to act against the militants.
Pakistan’s military ordered people out of parts of the valley on Sunday, temporarily relaxing a curfew to allow civilians to flee fighting.
Up to 200 militants had been killed in Swat and the neighboring Shangla district in the past 24 hours, the military said. The figure could not be independently confirmed.
About 200,000 people have left Swat in recent days and, in all, about 500,000 are expected to flee. They join 555,000 people displaced earlier from Swat and other areas because of fighting since August.
“Everybody wants to get out of this hell,” Zubair Khan, a resident of Mingora, the valley’s main town, said by telephone. “Some are driving out while many are just on foot. They don’t know where they’re heading but staying here just means death.”
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The army went on a full-scale offensive on Thursday after the government ordered troops to flush out militants from the Taliban stronghold.
The offensive was launched while President Asif Ali Zardari, the widower of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, was in Washington assuring a nervous United States that his government was committed to fighting militancy.
‘A KIND OF CANCER’
Zardari told NBC’s “Meet the Press” program Pakistan was fighting a “war of our existence” against an Islamist movement that grew from the 1980s anti-Soviet war in Afghanistan.
He described the Taliban as “a kind of a cancer, created by both of us, Pakistan and America” but disputed assertions his country faced collapse.
“We need to find a strategy where the world gets together against this threat because it’s not Pakistan-specific. It’s not Afghanistan-specific,” said Zardari.
Afghan President Hamid Karzai, who also was in Washington, told NBC that talks with Zardari made him “a lot more confident and a lot more hopeful” Pakistan was on the same page as Afghanistan and the United States in fighting the Taliban.
Most Pakistani political parties and many members of the public support the offensive, although that could change if the displaced are seen to be suffering unduly or if many civilians are killed.
Fighting had intensified two days before the offensive was launched, triggering a civilian exodus as a February peace pact collapsed. But concern has been growing for those trapped and unable to move because of the curfew.
Helicopters and warplanes targeted militant hideouts in Mingora and other areas in Swat and Shangla on Sunday, the military said. Two soldiers had died, it said.
“It’s a tough battle,” said military spokesman Nasir Khan. “They’re operating in small groups. They don’t fight a pitched battle but we’re closing in on them, squeezing them, and have cut their supply lines.”
The Taliban had also planted bombs along roads and in Mingora to inflict civilian casualties and then put the blame on security forces, the military said.
Taliban spokesmen were not available for comment.
The army ordered civilians out of four districts to clear the way for attacks on militants and lifted a curfew for nine hours. Residents said transport was scarce because the military was not letting vehicles into the valley for fear the militants might try to send in reinforcements.
Vehicle operators were demanding ever higher fares.
“How can I take my kids, wife and old mother to a safer place? Nobody thinks of humanity, money is their religion,” said teacher Mohammad Shahnawaz.
For those displaced, the World Vision aid group said high temperatures, insufficient toilets and a lack of electricity made conditions in camps “intolerable” despite the efforts of the authorities and aid agencies.
“We may not be able to meet the most basic needs of the refugees as quickly as they are arriving in the camps if it continues at this pace,” Jeff Hall, a deputy director for World Vision, said in a statement.
The exodus puts an extra burden on an economy propped up by a $7.6 billion International Monetary Fund loan, while the fighting has unnerved investors in Pakistani stocks.
But the chairman of the government disaster authority, Farooq Ahmed Khan, said facilities would be provided quickly.
Khan said 185,000 displaced people from the Swat area had been registered, with 37,000 in camps and the rest staying with relatives, friends or in rented accommodation.
“Overall, the government of Pakistan is geared up to meet this challenge,” Khan told Dawn TV. “We have met challenges far more serious than this.”
.
| Armed Conflict | May 2009 | ['(Reuters)'] |
In Yemen, 8–13 people die during demonstrations against oil price increases | SANAA, Yemen, July 20 (UPI) -- Riots and demonstrations broke out Wednesday in several parts of Yemen in protest against drastic increases in the prices of fuel and other oil derivatives.
Thousands of protesters took to the streets in the capital Sanaa and other major cities including Aden and Zammar. They cut off roads with burning barricades and pelted security forces and riot police with stones and sharp objects.
Unofficial reports said two people were killed and three others wounded in the riots in Sanaa. The demonstrators cut off the main southern entrance to the capital as they smashed the windows of shops and apartments in the posh Hasba neighborhood where the houses of senior government officials and foreign embassies are located.
Riot police fired tear gas at the protesters and live ammunition in the air in an attempt to disperse the angry crowd.
The riots erupted several hours after the Yemeni government announced late Tuesday night that it was canceling subsidies for oil derivatives, including fuel, diesel, kerosene and cooking gas, sending their prices skyrocketing by more than 100 percent. | Protest_Online Condemnation | July 2005 | ['(Al–Jazeera)', '(MENAFN)', '(Reuters AlertNet)'] |
A German pornographer is sentenced to four years imprisonment in Somaliland. | A German man has been jailed for four years for making pornographic films in the breakaway Somaliland republic.
A judge said Gunter Bischoss, 72, was guilty of unIslamic behaviour and also fined him $10,000 (£6,300).
"The evidence in this case has been exaggerated and I will appeal the verdict to the Supreme Court," AFP news agency quoted Mr Bischoss as saying.
A Somali woman who appeared in some of the home videos was also given a one-year jail term and a $900 fine.
The BBC's Ahmed Said Egeh in the Somaliland capital, Hargeisa, says the trial was held outside the city in the prison of Mandhera for security reasons.
"After serving his prison term, he will be deported from Somaliland and never allowed back again," the judge said.
Somaliland has been relatively stable since it declared independence from Somalia in 1991 after the overthrown of Somali President Siad Barre.
Although the region is not recognised internationally, it has its own working political system, government institutions, currency, police force and judiciary.
Much of the rest of Somalia, which has suffered two decades of fighting and clan warfare, is now controlled by Islamist groups which have imposed strict Sharia law in recent years.
Regions and territories: Somaliland
| Famous Person - Commit Crime - Sentence | January 2011 | ['(BBC)'] |
A 6.9 magnitude earthquake hits Tokyo and eastern Japan. | TOKYO (Reuters) - A strong earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 6.9 jolted central Japan on Sunday, halting some train services briefly but there were no immediate reports of damage.
The lengthy quake, felt across the capital just before 8 p.m. (7 a.m. EDT), prompted railway services to halt some high-speed services briefly while tracks were checked, national broadcaster NHK said, but there were no immediate reports of damage.
The tremor was centred 340 km (210 miles) deep under the sea south of Tokyo but, based on a Japanese scale of ground shaking from the Japan Meteorological Agency, it was unlikely there was much damage.
Earthquakes are common in Japan, one of the world’s most seismically active areas. The country accounts for about 20 percent of the world’s earthquakes of magnitude 6 or greater.
In October 2004, an earthquake with a magnitude of 6.8 struck the Niigata region in northern Japan, killing 65 people and injuring more than 3,000.
That was the deadliest quake since a magnitude 7.3 tremor hit the city of Kobe in 1995, killing more than 6,400.
Reporting by Rodney Joyce and Yoko Nishikawa; Editing by Sanjeev Miglani
| Earthquakes | August 2009 | ['(Nikkei)', '[permanent dead link]', '(Press Association)', '(Reuters)'] |
Voters in Senegal go to the polls to elect their next president, with incumbent Abdoulaye Wade facing a range of challengers including two former Prime Ministers: Moustapha Niasse and Idrissa Seck. | But it is still too early to say if Mr Wade will reach the 50% needed to win in the first round of voting. Mr Wade, who is seeking a second term, has come under pressure in recent months over high rural unemployment. Turnout was high and some polling stations stayed open an extra four hours to cope with the queues.
Mr Wade sounded confident after he cast his vote and as the counting progressed he was quick to claim victory.
But as the results trickle in, President Wade, who came from behind to win in the last election, will be well aware of the danger of a second round, says the BBC's Will Ross in Dakar. Presidential contenders
Q&A: Senegal polls
Since that election, which saw a rare transfer of power in Africa by the ballot from one leader to a rival, President Wade has fallen out with several of his allies, some of whom were on the ballot papers.
Two of them were Moustapha Niasse and the youthful Idrissa Seck, who have both served as prime minister in Mr Wade's administration.
Ousmane Tanor Dieng, who served under the previous president, Abdou Diouf, was also seen as a strong contender. New system
Senegal, a predominately Muslim nation, is seen as a rare model of stable democracy in Africa. It is the only West African nation not to have experienced a coup since independence, and polls in 2000 passed off peacefully. President Abdoulaye Wade is seeking a second term in office
This time some five million people are eligible to vote. Our correspondent says that after voting began at 0800GMT on Sunday, lengthy queues formed at more than 11,000 polling stations across the country. Some voters said they would again be backing Mr Wade, pointing that he had started a number of large-scale projects to transform the country. Others say the construction projects are doing nothing to address the real needs of poor Senegalese. The number of voters has almost doubled since the last election and there have been no independent opinion polls. And with so many candidates, it may be extremely hard for any of them to get the 50% of votes needed to win outright in a first round, our correspondent says. | Government Job change - Election | February 2007 | ['(BBC)'] |
A number of wildfires destroy properties in Los Angeles and San Diego. | UPDATE - as of Thursday, 7 a.m.: The Poinsettia Fire burned homes and an apartment complex in Carlsbad as it spread Wednesday to more than 400 acres, prompting the evacuation of thousands of residents north of San Diego.
City officials said Wednesday evening that eight structures, an 18-unit apartment complex and two commercial buildings were destroyed in the Poinsettia Fire, which sparked early Wednesday. So far, the blaze is responsible for an estimated $22.5 million in damage.
As of 12:30 a.m., the fire was 50 percent contained. The flames were still making a determined -- albeit slower-- march west as winds died down.
“I question whether or not six fires haven’t been set by somebody. That’s just my thought,” said County Supervisor Bill Horn. “But I’ve never seen anything like this in 20 years.”
Map of Wildfire Activity and Open Shelters
Complete List of School Closures | List of Areas Under Evacuation
Mandatory evacuations were ordered for homes from west of El Fuerte Road, south of Palomar Airport Road, north of Aviara Parkway and west to the coast. AlertSanDiego reports it has notified 15,000 homes, businesses and cell phones to evacuate in the city of Carlsbad.
But as of 10:15 p.m., residents in the area east of El Camino Real and south of Alga Road were allowed to go back home.
At 10:45 p.m., evacuations were lifted along Aviara Parkway from Poinsettia to Ambrosia.
People can also return in the area south of Aviara Parkway and the following streets north of Aviara Parkway: Blackrail, Nightshade, Tohee, Cormorant and Baccharis.
All hotels on Palomar Airport Road near the airport have reopened.
Governor Jerry Brown has issued a state of emergency declaration due to at least eight wildland fires burning, including those in Carlsbad, San Marcos Fallbrook and Camp Pendleton.
An NBC 7 News crew captured video of two homes along Black Rail Road near Sapphire that burned to the ground.
Adam Gilmore was sad to find out his house was "chosen" by the fire but he was also glad that other homes on the street were spared.
“It’s one of those weird things where you see it on the news. You see it on TV and movies and it’s weird to look at your own house be like ‘That’s no longer my home,’” Gilmore said.
“That kind of brings this weird feeling. It’s not sadness, it’s not depression but it’s just this weird feeling that this is the end,” he said.
On Skimmer Court in the Aviara area, NBC 7 caught up with a homeowner who was watching fire crews hose down what was left of his 1960s Weir Brothers custom-built adobe home.
Greg Skaska lived in the home for more than 30 years and said when he realized the fire was threatening the house, he had no time to grab any personal things.
“No time. We had to leave. But it’s OK. I'm alive," he said.
Another home at 1570 Martingale Court off Sapphire Drive caught fire while homes on the right and left of the house went untouched.
“I couldn’t believe my eyes,” a neighbor, Kevin, told NBC 7. “I feel so terrible for these homeowners.”
Carlsbad Fire Chief Michael Davis said 23,000 phone calls had gone out to warn residents about the fire, a combination of mandatory evacuation orders, information and other calls.
Cal Fire Battalion Chief Nick Schuler said the fire is not something crews normally see in June, July, in August, not in May.
“Not only were firefighters trying to engage the fire but doing their best to get people out of their homes effectively and safely,” Schuler said.
The Windsor at Aviara Apartments, located near Ambrosia and Poinsettia lanes, caught fire later in the afternoon.
NBC 7 News crews arrived on scene just as Sound-Elkin -- a veterinary ultrasound practice -- erupted in flames. Helicopters had to do water drops on the structure because firefighters were having a hard time attacking the fire from the ground.
Carlsbad police officers said the Poinsettia Fire sparked around 10:40 a.m. at Alicante and Poinsettia Lane and moved quickly.
Within an hour a line of flames was burning toward El Camino Real near Poinsettia Lane and Jasper Way.
Residents from the Cassia Heights apartments were evacuated. Other homeowners stopped to talk with NBC 7 News crews, describing how they had time to grab just a few things – documents, photos and pets – before fleeing the area.
Two men who identified themselves as Ryan and Adam were going door to door in the area east of Blackrail Road to knock on doors and help people evacuate.
One homeowner was panicked as the palm trees in her backyard were engulfed in flames, they said.
“I ran back inside and went back up to her and said ‘We need to leave right now,’” Adam said. “We were able to get her daughters and dogs out in time.”
Calavera Hills Community Center, at 2997 Glasgow, was opened as a shelter location. Pets are welcome.
Poinsettia Elementary was evacuated to Carrillo Elementary School at 2875 Poinsettia Lane, San Marcos. Aviara Oaks Elementary and Middle schools were evacuated to the Sunrise Retirement Community on Manzanita Street, Carlsbad.
Carlsbad schools superintendent Suzanne Lovely said police and firefighters have helped move students to safety.
“We were able to safely evacuate three of our schools that were in the path of the fire,” Lovely said.
All schools will be closed Thursday and Friday and will resume on Monday, school officials said. According to the city, all Carlsbad Parks and Recreation facilities -- except the Carlsbad Senior Center -- will also be closed Thursday.
All flights in and out of Palomar Airport have also been canceled, and the FAA has issued a temporary flight restriction in that air space overnight.
Westfield Plaza Camino Real was serving as a temporary evacuation point for people and animals, but it was closed around 10:15 p.m.
Instead, evacuees are being moved to Calavera Hills Community Center at 2997 Glasgow Dr. and La Costa Canyon High School at 1 Maverick Way.
Animals like dogs, cats and rabbits will be accepted only at the Calavera Hills Community Center.
Park Hyatt Aviara, located just a few miles from where the fire sparked, was under mandatory evacuated. Guests and staff were under mandatory evacuations, a staff member told NBC 7.
Earlier in the day, La Costa Resort said its number one priority is keep guests calm.
LEGOLAND California posted a message to its Facebook page saying the park had to evacuate rides because of power outages caused by fires.
Callaway Golf and Titlelist Golf were evacuated as well, according to employees who spoke with an NBC 7 crew.
The Carlsbad Premium Outlets also closed.
Interstate 5 southbound and northbound offramps were closed at Palomar Airport Road.
Diane Wood, a Carlsbad resident, said she is about two to three miles from the fire.
“It’s rather threatening. Everyone is coming out of their businesses and looking as the smoke is approaching their area,” she said. “It’s pretty scary."
San Diego Gas & Electric said it has shut off power to some customers in San Diego County for public safety purposes.
About 3,000 SDG&E customers were out of service due to the fire. Crews are working to restore power as soon as it is safe to do so, the utility said in a statement.
For the latest information on where outages are occurring, visit SDG&E’s outage map.
Due to the fast-burning fire burning in the Carlsbad, several transmission lines tripped offline.
| Fire | May 2014 | ['(NBC)'] |
A gang of racist youths are sent to jail for a string of attacks on foreigners in Moscow, Russia, in 2008. | A gang of 10 racist youths has been sent to jail for a string of brutal attacks on foreigners in the Russian capital, Moscow, in 2008.
Terms of between eight and 10 years were handed down to the teenage ringleaders, including a 17-year-old girl, Yevgenia Zhikhareva. Several younger members of the gang got lighter sentences because of their age. The gang was accused of attacking foreigners at random on the streets of Moscow. One was killed. The victims were from China, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan. They were attacked in February and March 2008. The gang members were accused of four attempted murders and one actual murder. The dead man was an 18-year-old from Kyrgyzstan. He was stabbed eight times by Ilya Shutko, 19, who was jailed for 10 years. Human rights groups have documented increasing numbers of attacks on foreigners in Russia, especially in and around Moscow. A group of skinheads was jailed for up to 20 years last year after killing 18 foreigners in Moscow in little more than a year. | Armed Conflict | September 2009 | ['(BBC)'] |
The Prime Minister of Australia Julia Gillard announces that the next federal election will be held on September 14. | Ms Gillard said that she would ask Governor-General Quentin Bryce to order that parliament be dissolved on 12 August.
She said the announcement, eight months in advance, was "not to start the nation's longest election campaign" but to give "shape and order" to the year. Ms Gillard leads a minority government that relies on independents. In a lunchtime speech before the National Press Club in Canberra, the prime minister said the rare long run-up to the election would allow individuals, businesses and investors to plan ahead. "It gives shape and order to the year, and enables it to be one not of fevered campaigning, but of cool and reasoned deliberation," she said.
"I can create an environment in which the nation's eyes are more easily focused on the policies, not the petty politics. I can act so Australia's parliament and government serves their full three-year-term."
The deadline for the election to be held was 30 November. In determining which Saturday to choose in September, Ms Gillard also admitted that avoiding a clash with the Aussie rules grand final in Melbourne, one of the biggest sporting events of the year, was a major consideration, reports the BBC's Nick Bryant in Sydney. The date clashes, though, with Yom Kippur, the holiest day in the Jewish calendar.
The previous election was held in August 2010, two months after Ms Gillard ousted Prime Minister Kevin Rudd in a leadership challenge, becoming Australia's first female leader. The election left both main parties short of a parliamentary majority. Ms Gillard, who leads the Labor Party, formed a government with the support of the Greens and independent legislators. But she has struggled to win public support from an electorate with whom Kevin Rudd remains popular. When he launched a leadership challenge early in 2012, however, she secured a convincing win. Opinion polls suggest that the opposition, led by Liberal Party leader Tony Abbott, would win an election if the polls were held now.
Ms Gillard said that with the poll date fixed, the opposition would be able to release full costings of its campaign pledges. Mr Abbott, meanwhile, said the election | Government Job change - Election | January 2013 | ['(BBC)', '(Reuters)', '(ABC News Australia)'] |
Six members of the Kuratong baleleng Philippines crime gang, as well as a police officer are killed in a shootout with police officers in Manila. | MANILA (AFP) A Philippines policeman and five other suspected members of a criminal gang have been killed in a firefight with police in Manila, an official said Monday.
All six fatalities were suspected members of the Kuratong Baleleng, a gang believed to have engaged in kidnappings and bank robberies in the past, said Superintendent Magtanggol Gatdula.
The slain suspects included an active-duty Manila policeman who had recently been reinstated in the service after being implicated in organised crime, district police chief Gatdula said.
Six other policemen were wounded in the shootout in the northern Manila district of Quezon late Sunday, he said.
The suspects used an assault rifle, a machine pistol, a carbine and a grenade to fight off the police officers sent to arrest them, Gatdula said.
Four of the six slain suspects have not been identified and police are checking the serial numbers of their weapons to determine whether any were police or military-issue guns, he added. | Armed Conflict | June 2008 | ['(AFP via Google News)'] |
At least seven people are killed and 21 others wounded in a mass shooting in West Texas, between the cities of Midland and Odessa. The shooter is shot and killed in Odessa. Police continue to investigate for other possible suspects. | The death toll in Saturday's mass shooting in Texas has risen to seven, police in the US state say.
The shooting, Texas' second in August, began when police stopped a car between the cities of Midland and Odessa.
The gunman wounded at least 20 people, including a 17-month-old girl. At one point, he abandoned his car and stole a US postal vehicle.
Police later shot dead the gunman near a cinema. Officials say they believe he had no connection to terrorism.
The motive of the gunman, who was white and in his mid-30s, remains unclear.
The shooting occurred exactly four weeks after 22 people were killed by another gunman in the Texan city of El Paso. On Sunday, Odessa Police Chief Michael Gerke said that those killed on Saturday were aged 15 to 57. He did not name them.
The gunman was shooting at random, targeting motorists and passers-by, he said. Mr Gerke also said he would not name the killer to avoid giving him "any notoriety for what he did", but added that this would be done later.
Later, Odessa police named the gunman as Seth Aaron Ator, aged 36, from Odessa.
Among the injured on Saturday was Anderson Davis, a girl aged 17 months, who was hit in the face by a bullet fragment and airlifted to hospital.
"She has a hole in her bottom lip, a hole in her tongue, and her top and bottom teeth were knocked out," Haylee Wilkerson, a family friend, told BuzzFeed News.
"Her mom said she's up playing and running around like nothing ever happened. She's a strong little girl, added Ms Wilkerson.
The toddler was expected to have surgery on Sunday.
At least three of those injured were police officers - although the police say not all of them were shot. Some were cut by glass when their car windows were hit by bullets and shattered. Saturday's incident began just after 15:00 (20:00 GMT) after two Texas Department of Public Safety officers pulled over a vehicle on a Midland highway, police said.
The driver then opened fire on the officers before driving away and shooting at other people in several other locations.
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton said he was "horrified to see such a senseless act". Texas Governor Greg Abbott said: "We will not allow the Lone Star State to be overrun by hatred and violence. We will unite, as Texans always do, to respond to this tragedy."
In a tweet, US President Donald Trump said he was being kept informed about the shootings.
Later, Vice-President Mike Pence said he and the Trump administration remained "absolutely determined to work with leaders in both parties in Congress to take steps that we can address and confront this scourge of mass atrocity in our country".
Amid a clamour in the aftermath of the Texas and Ohio shootings earlier this month for increased background checks on firearm purchases, Mr Trump had said he was "looking to do background checks". But he appeared to reverse that position after a phone call with the chief executive of the National Rifle Association), Wayne LaPierre, saying: "I'm also very, very concerned with the Second Amendment, more so than most presidents would be. People don't realise we have very strong background checks right now."
| Armed Conflict | August 2019 | ['(BBC)', '(CNN)', '(Reuters)', '(MST)'] |
The Awam Express train collides with a freight train near the Pakistani city of Multan killing at least six people and injuring another 150. | Thursday Sep 15, 2016 MULTAN: At least six people were killed and over 150 injured after Karachi-bound Awam Express collided with a freight train near Multan early on Thursday, officials and railways sources said.
The incident took place near Bucch railway station in Sher Shah area, some 25 kilometers from here.
The accident occurred when a man was reportedly overrun by a freight train and the freight train driver stopped the train to take out the body, said DCO Nadir Chattha. 15 minutes later Awam Express heading on the same line collided with the stationary goods train.
The driver of Awam Express has been declared responsible for the accident, which left at least six people dead and wounded over 150, out of which 10 were said to be in precarious condition. Three people trapped inside damaged carriages were also saved, said rescue workers.
250 rescue workers provided medical aid to 50 injured passengers on the spot before transferring them to the hospital. All the injured have been taken out of the train. The rescue work lasted four hours.
The collision wrecked the engine and power van, and overturned four bogies of Awam Express.
CEO Railways Javaid Anwar told Geo News the accident was a result of the Awam Express driver's negligence as he ignored the signal and did not stop the train in time. The CEO added that an initial report on the accident has been sent to the government.
The train's driver and foreman jumped out of the train and escaped, initial investigation revealed.
All the injured and dead were taken to Nishtar Hospital in Multan, he said. He also announced that one lakh rupees will be given to each injured.
A delay was initially observed in response by rescue services due to Eid holidays, according to sources. Relief works were also affected as darkness prevailed in the vicinity.
The passenger train was en route to Karachi from Peshawar.
Meanwhile, authorities imposed emergency at Multan's Nishtar Medical Hospital and Shahbaz Sharif Hospital. Medical Superintendent (MS) Dr. Ashiq appealed to citizens to donate blood for the wounded.
Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif offered condolences to the victims of the accident and instructed that the injured be provided the best treatment available. He also offered prayer of forgiveness for the dead. | Road Crash | September 2016 | ['(Geo TV)'] |
Voters in the United States city of Chicago go to the polls for the Chicago mayoral election with former White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel winning. , | CHICAGO Rahm Emanuel, a former congressman who worked for two presidents, was elected mayor of Chicago on Tuesday, marking a new path for a city that has, for 22 years, been led by a singular, powerful force, Richard M. Daley.
Mr. Emanuel, who will take office in May, won 55 percent of the vote against five other candidates. That allowed him to avoid a one-on-one runoff election in April that had been seen by some opponents as their best chance to defeat Mr. Emanuel. With 95 percent of precincts reporting, his closest competitor, Gery J. Chico, a former chief of staff to Mr. Daley, got 24 percent of the vote. “Tonight we are moving forward the only way we truly can together as one city with one future,” Mr. Emanuel told a crowd at a union hall west of downtown.
Mr. Emanuel, 51, is known to nearly everyone here less, perhaps, for his years as a congressman from the North Side than for his ties to President Obama, a fellow Chicagoan whom he served as White House chief of staff. Mr. Obama congratulated Mr. Emanuel on Tuesday evening, saying, “As a Chicagoan and a friend, I couldn’t be prouder.”
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Some voters here have viewed the connection as both an affirmation to support Mr. Emanuel and as a potential advantage for Chicago in its future dealings with Washington. As the next mayor of this city, the nation’s third largest, Mr. Emanuel faces significant obstacles. He must cope with staggering unfunded pension liabilities, as well as a budget deficit around $600 million, by some estimates. Easy fixes like the proceeds of privatization deals of the city’s parking meters have already been used. Meanwhile, the city’s population of 2.69 million is smaller than it was a decade ago, unhappy news for a new mayor who would wish to see a growing tax base.
“There are no more rabbits to pull out of the hat,” said Joe Moore, an alderman from the North Side for the last 20 years, referring to the city’s budget of about $6 billion. “What is left for the next mayor and the next City Council is a series of bad choices cutting services, perhaps raising taxes and fees.”
A Daley (the current mayor or his father, Richard J., who operated with a similarly tight control) has run this city for 42 of the past 55 years, and Mr. Emanuel, the city’s first Jewish mayor, is likely to be compared with that family’s legacy at every turn.
Among the questions certain to arise: How does he now handle the city’s 50 aldermen, some of whose political careers were owed to the current mayor and others who pressed for Mr. Emanuel’s opponents? How may he push to change city workers’ pensions, a system he has described as unsustainable? And how does he soothe differences that arose during a tense campaign differences with public-sector unions that endorsed Mr. Chico and with African-American leaders who backed Carol Moseley Braun, the first black woman in the United States Senate? Advertisement
City voting officials said the election had drawn a smaller turnout than they had anticipated. Along with Mr. Chico and Ms. Braun, who was winning 8.8 percent of the vote Tuesday night, Mr. Emanuel defeated Miguel del Valle, the city clerk, who got 9.4 percent; Patricia Van Pelt-Watkins, 1.6 percent; and William Walls, 0.9 percent. Mr. Emanuel who has spent plenty of time working behind the scenes for other politicians, including Mayor Daley and President Bill Clinton has long been known for his tough-guy methods of negotiating, his harsh, blunt retorts, and his use of four-letter words. But over the last five months, in his own campaign, Mr. Emanuel showed a far more reserved side. That left some here wondering which Mr. Emanuel fierce or muted may next appear, with the campaign over and the governing ahead.
Mr. Emanuel had long suggested that he would love to be the mayor of Chicago, his birthplace. But his immediate road to City Hall began last September, when Mayor Daley stunned this city and announced he would not seek a seventh term. That meant the first mayoral election in 64 years without a sitting mayor on the ballot, and a huge crop of would-be candidates emerged from seemingly every political rank. In October, Mr. Emanuel left his post as White House chief of staff to return to Chicago for a run, and the number of candidates quickly began shrinking. In the months that followed, he would raise some $13 million and campaign at more than 100 neighborhood L stations, 229 neighborhood stops and 20 schools.
In the end, the effort far more elaborate and expensive than his five opponents’ spared him from a runoff in April. Some opponents had viewed that second race a head-to-head race with only one candidate as the only chance of defeating Mr. Emanuel. After Mr. Chico spoke on the telephone to Mr. Emanuel on Tuesday evening, Mr. Chico told his supporters that he had pledged his support, from here on out, to Mr. Emanuel’s efforts for Chicago. “Let’s all work together to get behind the new mayor,” Mr. Chico told a subdued group during his brief concession speech, “and make this the best city on the face of the earth.” Advertisement
At points in the campaign, Mr. Emanuel’s inevitability faltered over a seemingly simple question: Was he really a resident of Chicago? Critics challenged him, saying his time at the White House meant he failed to meet a requirement that candidates live in Chicago for the year immediately before Election Day. The Illinois Supreme Court found that he was allowed to run he had never lost legal residency at his North Side home, the justices found but not before the issue became a major drama here, with election workers, at one point, urgently halting the printing of ballots.
If the residency battle ultimately drew sympathy to Mr. Emanuel, it also raised a question that his opponents had quietly pressed on all along: Was he a true, die-hard Chicagoan the way Mr. Daley an avid White Sox fan and a constant, if gruff cheerleader for his city was a Chicagoan? Mr. Emanuel spent part of his youth in the northern suburbs, in addition to his working time in Washington details regularly noted by his critics.
But voters who chose him on Tuesday seemed to dismiss the question. “Who cares if he lived on the North Shore?” said Ben Fogel, a social worker who said he was voting for Mr. Emanuel. “I have family there, and it is close enough.” The distinction was silly now, his supporters said, a nonissue in a post-Daley world. | Government Job change - Election | February 2011 | ['(ABC News)', '[permanent dead link]', '(CNN)', '(New York Times)'] |
The Turkish government lifts the ban prohibiting female army officers from wearing a Hijab. The military is the last Turkish institution to end the ban. | A ban on female army officers in Turkey wearing the Muslim headscarf has been lifted by the government.
The military is the last Turkish institution to see the ban removed. It has long been seen as the guardian of Turkey's secular constitution.
Wearing headscarves in public institutions was banned in the 1980s.
But Turkey's Islamist-leaning President, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, argues that the ban is an illiberal vestige of the past. The issue has been controversial in Turkey for many years. Secularists regard the headscarf as a symbol of religious conservatism and have accused President Erdogan of pushing an Islamist agenda, converting many public schools into religious ones as part of his pledge to raise "a pious generation".
Over the past decade the ban has been removed for schools, universities, the civil service and in August for the police.
The BBC's Mark Lowen, in Istanbul, says the secular side of Turkey now feels largely ostracised, accusing Mr Erdogan of governing just for his conservative, religious support base. The conservatives respond that they were long seen as second-class citizens and the headscarf is an expression of individual liberties. Our correspondent says that Turkey's religious-secular divide is as old as the republic itself, but is now arguably deeper than ever.
Witness: Turkey's headscarf row
Watch: Indonesian women talk about fashion and the hijab
The new rules apply to regular women military officers, non-commissioned officers and female cadets. They will be allowed to wear a headscarf under their caps or berets as long as they are the same colour as their uniforms and are not patterned, Hurriyet Daily News reported.
The military's opposition to the government's move has been weakened after President Erdogan's supporters increased their authority over the armed forces following the failed 15 July coup last year.
The changes will come into effect once they are published in the official gazette. Turkey has had a secular constitution with no state religion since 1920.
Most people in Turkey are Sunni Muslims.
Pious vs secular in modern Turkey
Turkey lifts police headscarf ban
Turkey's women struggle for equality
Is Turkey increasingly misogynistic?
Quiet end to Turkey's college headscarf ban
| Government Policy Changes | February 2017 | ['(BBC)'] |
Unrest in Kosovo: After two Albanian children are found drowned in the Ibar river in Kosovo, with a third still missing, riots erupt in the town of Kosovska Mitrovica and later spread to the entire province. Mitrovica Serbs are blamed by Albanian media for forcing the children into the river, but this is later denied by United Nations officials. At least 22 people are killed by the end of the day with hundreds injured in clashes between Serbs and Albanians; enclaves of Kosovo Serbs elsewhere in the province experience attacks by Kosovo Albanians as well as offices of UN officials which were abandoned. In reaction to the violence in Kosovo, demonstrators in Serbia march in Belgrade and set ablaze mosques in Belgrade and Nish. (RTS, in Serbian) | PRISTINA, Kosovo, March 17 — At least eight people were killed and hundreds were injured in armed clashes between ethnic Albanians and Serbs across Kosovo today, in what United Nations officials described as the worst violence in the province since the world body took over its administration almost five years ago. The most serious incidents took place in the ethnically divided city of Mitrovica, where rival groups exchanged gunfire and threw grenades. Thirteen soldiers, twelve French and one Danish, and seven United Nations policemen were injured as they struggled to keep the two sides apart, according to a United Nations police spokesman. | Riot | March 2004 | ['(B92)', '(B92)', '(SwissInfo)', '(NYT)', '(BBC)', '(CNN)', '(B92)', '[permanent dead link]'] |
The Prime Minister of Italy, Silvio Berlusconi, survives his fifty–third no–confidence vote in the Parliament of Italy by 316 votes to 301. | ROME — In his narrowest escape yet, Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi barely survived a confidence vote on Friday, saving his government from collapse but leaving it all but incapable of legislating effectively.
With 316 votes for and 301 votes against, Mr. Berlusconi’s center-right coalition won the vote. But it failed to secure a solid majority, making it increasingly difficult for him to pass legislation aimed at protecting Italy from Europe’s sovereign debt crisis. Had he lost, Mr. Berlusconi would have had to resign, marking the end of an 18-year political era in which the billionaire businessman shaped Italian politics in his own image, entwining the country’s fate with his own.
| Government Job change - Election | October 2011 | ['(New York Times)', '(International Business Times)'] |
American author Harper Lee dies at the age of 89. | Harper Lee, the author of To Kill a Mockingbird, has died at the age of 89.
The book remains a towering presence in American literature, telling the tale of a white lawyer defending a black man accused of rape in the Deep South. It sold more than 40 million copies worldwide and 55 years after it was published, in 2015, she released the sequel, Go Set a Watchman.
Tributes have been paid to the Alabama-born writer, who rarely gave interviews despite her fame.
Former US President George W Bush, who awarded her the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2007, said she was "a legendary novelist and lovely lady".
Obituary: Harper Lee
Tributes paid to Harper Lee
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Lee was born 1926 in Monroeville, Alabama. She was the youngest of four children of lawyer Amasa Coleman Lee and Frances Cunningham Finch Lee.
She was a guardedly private person, respected and protected by residents of her town, rarely giving interviews. Lee's literary agent Andrew Nurnberg said: "Knowing Nelle these past few years has been not just an utter delight but an extraordinary privilege. "When I saw her just six weeks ago, she was full of life, her mind and mischievous wit as sharp as ever. She was quoting Thomas More and setting me straight on Tudor history. We have lost a great writer, a great friend and a beacon of integrity."
Spencer Madrie, owner of Ol' Curiosities and Book Shoppe, a small, independent book store in Lee's hometown that focuses largely on Lee's works, said: "The world has lost a brilliant mind and a great writer."
"We will remember Harper Lee for her candour, her talent, and the truths she gave the world, perhaps before the world was ready. We are grateful to have had a connection to an author who offered so much. "There will always be something missing from Monroeville and the world at large in the absence of Harper Lee."
I think she stands, particularly among American readers, as someone who shone a light into a very dark place. She was writing at a time when people were beginning to lift the lid on everything that had been going on in the South which they'd chosen not to understand. That all changed in the 1960s. So I think her status for writing that book in its extraordinarily direct way will remain. There's no question that Go Set A Watchman didn't read terribly well, Atticus Finch comes out as a rather less likeable figure than he is in To Kill A Mockingbird. But she remains an extraordinary figure. She wrote one extremely powerful, accessible and successful book, that will be revered by people for a very long time.
The author Malorie Blackman posted "Harper Lee R.I.P." on her Twitter account.
Erica Wagner, former literary editor of The Times said: "Harper Lee changed how much of America - and the world - saw the South.
"Few writers are privileged to create characters which truly seem to leap off the page and live: Lee will always be remembered as one of those."
Apple CEO Tim Cook tweeted: "Rest in peace, Harper Lee. The one thing that doesn't abide by majority rule is a person's conscience."
5,000
copies in initial print run
$20,000
value of a signed first-edition copy
Over 40m global sales 40 languages into which it has been translated 8 Oscar nominations for 1962 film version 3 Oscar wins The manuscript for the sequel to To Kill a Mockingbird, Go Set A Watchman was discovered and published in 2015.
Many bookshops remained open all night to cope with demand on the day of the novel's release last July.
The book is set 20 years after the events of To Kill a Mockingbird - although Lee actually wrote Go Set a Watchman first.
Watchman contains some of the same characters as Mockingbird, including Scout and her father Atticus Finch.
The publication proved controversial as early reviewers noted that Atticus expresses racist views in the story.
In the small fictional town of Maycomb in the depression-ravaged American South, a black man named Tom Robinson is falsely accused of raping a white woman.
A lawyer named Atticus Finch defends Robinson in court. The frenzy stirred up by the case and her father's quest for justice are seen through the eyes of Finch's six-year-old daughter Scout.
The book explores issues of race, class and the loss of innocence. "You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view… until you climb into his skin and walk around in it." - Atticus Finch to Scout.
"It was times like these when I thought my father, who hated guns and had never been to any wars, was the bravest man who ever lived." - Scout Finch.
In 1962, it was made into a film starring Gregory Peck as Atticus Finch and Mary Badham as Scout. The novel is currently being adapted for the stage.
Why is To Kill a Mockingbird so popular?
US author Harper Lee dies aged 89
Entertainment Live: Harper Lee tributes and other news
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Hardliner Raisi set to be new Iran president
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How the Delta variant took hold in the UK. VideoHow the Delta variant took hold in the UK | Famous Person - Death | February 2016 | ['(BBC)'] |
A former CIA officer, Kevin Patrick Mallory, is sentenced to 20 years in prison by a federal judge in Virginia for spying for China. | A former CIA officer has been jailed for 20 years for disclosing military secrets to a Chinese agent, the US justice department says.
Kevin Mallory, 62, was found guilty of several spying offences following a two-week trial last June.
The fluent Mandarin speaker from Leesburg, Virginia, held top-level security clearance and had access to sensitive documents.
He was convicted of selling secrets to China for $25,000 (£19,600).
Evidence at his trial included a surveillance video which showed him scanning classified documents onto a digital memory card at a post office.
He also travelled to Shanghai to meet with a Chinese agent in March and April 2017, the justice department said.
"Mallory not only put our country at great risk, but he endangered the lives of [people] who put their own safety at risk for our national defence," US attorney Zachary Terwilliger said in a statement.
"This case should send a message to anyone considering violating the public's trust and compromising our national security," he added. "We will remain steadfast and dogged in pursuit of these challenging but critical national security cases."
The Justice Department said Mallory held a number of sensitive jobs with government agencies. He had worked as a covert case officer for the CIA and as an intelligence officer for the Defense intelligence Agency (DIA). "This case is one in an alarming trend of former US intelligence officers being targeted by China and betraying their country and colleagues," Assistant Attorney General John Demers said following the sentencing.
Earlier this month, ex-CIA agent Jerry Chun Shing Lee pleaded guilty to spying for China. Prosecutors said the naturalised US citizen was paid to divulge information on US covert assets. And last June, former US intelligence officer Ron Rockwell Hansen was also charged with attempting to spy for China.
| Famous Person - Commit Crime - Sentence | May 2019 | ['(The New York Times)', '(BBC)'] |
Belarusian authorities charge opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya with terrorism for allegedly attempting to stage false flag bombings in the capital Minsk and Barysaw. |
Belarus authorities on Monday announced a criminal probe against the nation's top opposition figure on charges of terrorism, a move that follows a sweeping police crackdown on protesters demanding the resignation of the country's authoritarian leader.
Belarus' Prosecutor General Andrei Shved said his office has launched a criminal investigation against Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, the top opposition candidate who challenged President Alexander Lukashenko in a presidential vote in August.
Shved said in a statement that Tsikhanouskaya and several other unidentified people are suspected of attempting to stage explosions and arson attacks in the Belarusian capital of Minsk and other cities several days ago.
A spokeswoman for Tsikhanouskaya, who was forced to leave the country for neighboring Lithuania after the election, dismissed the accusations as “absurd.”
The opening of the probe came after officials arrested a suspect accused of attempting to stage explosions in Minsk and the nearby city of Barysau.
Belarus has been engulfed by protests ever since official results from the August vote gave Lukashenko a sixth term in office by a landslide. The opposition and some poll workers have said the election was rigged.
The massive demonstrations sparked by the vote were the largest and most persistent show of opposition the former Soviet republic has ever seen, with some of them attracting as many as 200,000 people.
More than 33,000 people were arrested during the protests, and many of them were beaten by police.
Last week, Tsikhanouskaya called for a new wave of anti-Lukashenko rallies to revive the pressure on the government after the winter break. Police flooded Minsk and cracked down on opposition supporters who tried to launch rallies on Thursday and Saturday, arresting hundreds.
Tsikhanouskaya's spokeswoman, Anna Krasulina, dismissed the new probe as baseless, noting that it comes amid a renewed crackdown. “We need an immediate response from the international community to the continuing violence," she said.
Belarusian authorities have previously accused Tsikhanouskaya of plotting violent riots accusations rejected by her team, which emphasized that she has always supported only peaceful protests.
Earlier this month, Lithuania dismissed Belarus's demand to extradite Tsikhanouskaya, with the Baltic nation’s foreign minister saying that “hell will freeze over first.” | Famous Person - Commit Crime - Accuse | March 2021 | ['(Euronews)'] |
A suicide bomber strikes outside the Danish embassy in the Pakistani capital Islamabad with at least eight people dead. | ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (CNN) -- A massive blast targeting the Danish Embassy in Pakistan Monday killed at least six people and wounded as many as 18, authorities said.
The scene of devastation in Islamabad Monday after a suicide car bomb attack near the Danish Embassy.
The blast left a four-foot deep crater in the road.
Confusion lingered about the attack in the capital city of Islamabad and the number of casualties.
Police at the scene said a suicide car bomber pulled up next to the embassy at about 1 p.m. and detonated explosives. But Senior Superintendent of Police Ahmad Latif told CNN that authorities could not immediately label it a suicide attack.
Likewise, a medical worker told CNN the explosion killed eight people, including a young child and at least one foreign national.
But Latif put the number of fatalities at six and said none of the dead were foreigners. Among the wounded, he said, was a Brazilian citizen of Pakistani descent. Watch Pakistan's foreign minister respond
Authorities differed on the number of wounded as well, with figures ranging from five to 18. No embassy official was seriously hurt, Latif said.
It is not uncommon for preliminary casualty figures to vary: police cautioned that the numbers could rise.
Danish Foreign Minister Per Stig Moeller condemned the act.
"My immediate reaction is that you can only condemn this," said Stig Moeller. "It is terrible that terrorists do this. The embassy is there to have a cooperation between the Pakistani population and Denmark, and that means they are destroying that. They're destroying the Pakistanis' ability to connect with Denmark. It is completely unacceptable." Watch the aftermath of the deadly attack
The blast, heard more than two miles away, sheared off the embassy's front wall and kicked in its metal front gate. The impact blew out the building's windows and also damaged the offices of a non-profit organization. The Danish and the EU flag, knocked off their staff, hung limply from a spot on the embassy balcony.
Pakistan Foreign Secretary Salman Bashir told reporters at the scene that police are beefing up security at embassies and foreign missions throughout the city.
"I just want to assure everybody that the government will do everything to protect the diplomatic missions and also the security and safety of the citizens of Pakistan," he said.
The explosion was the first deadly attack in Islamabad since a bomb was hurled over a wall surrounding an Italian restaurant on March 15. That explosion killed a Turkish woman and wounded 12 people, including four U.S. FBI agents.
After Monday's attack, dozens of cars -- blanketed with dirt kicked up by the blast -- littered the street, their windows knocked out.
Rescue workers carried away a bloodied person, covering his body with a blanket. Pieces of shoes and tattered clothing lay amid the rubble.
Police said the attack targeted the embassy.
Danish embassies in predominantly Muslim countries, such as Pakistan, have been the scene of protests since Danish newspapers reprinted cartoons that Muslims say insult their prophet.
In February, several newspapers in Denmark reprinted the controversial cartoons of Islam's prophet, Muhammad, after Danish authorities arrested several people who allegedly were plotting a "terror-related assassination" of the cartoonist, Kurt Westergaard.
Westergaard's cartoon depicted the prophet wearing a bomb as a turban with a lit fuse. He said he wanted his drawing to say that some people exploited the prophet to legitimize terror. However, many in the Muslim world interpreted the drawing as depicting their prophet as a terrorist.
Islam generally forbids any depiction of the prophet -- even favorable ones -- fearing that it may lead to idolatry.
Two years ago, demonstrations erupted across the world after some newspapers printed the same cartoons. Some protests turned deadly.
The protests prompted Danish officials to temporarily close the embassy in Islamabad.
There were no immediate claims of responsibility for Monday's blast. In the past, authorities have blamed Islamic militants for carrying out attacks inside Pakistani cities.
The country experienced a month-long lull in attacks after a new government took office in March and set on a course to negotiate with militants. But since then, attacks have picked up again. | Armed Conflict | June 2008 | ['(CNN)'] |
The state of Washington, joined by the states of California, Maryland, Massachusetts, New York, and Oregon, asks a federal judge to stop, on constitutional grounds, the revised federal immigration/refugee rules from taking effect on Thursday, March 16. The state of Hawaii has filed a separate, similar request. | (Reuters) - A group of states renewed their effort on Monday to block President Donald Trump’s revised temporary ban on refugees and travelers from several Muslim-majority countries, arguing that his executive order is the same as the first one that was halted by federal courts.
Court papers filed by the state of Washington and joined by California, Maryland, Massachusetts, New York and Oregon asked a judge to stop the March 6 order from taking effect on Thursday.
An amended complaint said the order was similar to the original Jan. 27 directive because it “will cause severe and immediate harms to the States, including our residents, our colleges and universities, our healthcare providers, and our businesses.”
A Department of Justice spokeswoman said it was reviewing the complaint and would respond to the court.
A more sweeping ban implemented hastily in January caused chaos and protests at airports. The March order by contrast gave 10 days’ notice to travelers and immigration officials.
Last month, U.S. District Judge James Robart in Seattle halted the first travel ban after Washington state sued, claiming the order was discriminatory and violated the U.S. Constitution. Robart’s order was upheld by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.
Trump revised his order to overcome some of the legal hurdles by including exemptions for legal permanent residents and existing visa holders and taking Iraq off the list of countries covered. The new order still halts citizens of Iran, Libya, Syria, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen from entering the United States for 90 days but has explicit waivers for various categories of immigrants with ties to the country.
Refugees are still barred for 120 days, but the new order removed an indefinite ban on all refugees from Syria.
Washington state has now gone back to Robart to ask him to apply his emergency halt to the new ban.
Robart said in a court order Monday that the government has until Tuesday to respond to the states’ motions. He said he would not hold a hearing before Wednesday and did not commit to a specific date to hear arguments from both sides.
Separately, Hawaii has also sued over the new ban. The island state, which is heavily dependent on tourism, said the executive order has had a “chilling effect” on travel revenues.
In response to Hawaii’s lawsuit, the Department of Justice in court papers filed on Monday said the president has broad authority to “restrict or suspend entry of any class of aliens when in the national interest.” The department said the temporary suspensions will allow a review of the current screening process in an effort to protect against terrorist attacks.
There is a hearing in the Hawaii case set for Wednesday, the day before the new ban is set to go into effect.
The first hurdle for the lawsuits will be proving “standing,” which means finding someone who has been harmed by the policy. With so many exemptions, legal experts have said it might be hard to find individuals who would have a right to sue, in the eyes of a court.
To overcome this challenge, the states filed more than 70 declarations of people affected by the order including tech businesses Amazon and Expedia, which said that restricting travel hurts their revenues and their ability to recruit employees.
Universities and medical centers that rely on foreign doctors also weighed in, as did religious organizations and individual residents, including U.S. citizens, with stories about separated families.
But the Trump administration in its filings in the Hawaii case on Monday said the carve-outs in the new order undercut the state’s standing claims.
“The Order applies only to individuals outside the country who do not have a current visa, and even as to them, it sets forth robust waiver provisions,” the Department of Justice’s motion said.
The government cited Supreme Court precedent in arguing that people outside the United States and seeking admission for the first time have “no constitutional rights” regarding their applications.
If the courts do end up ruling the states have standing to sue, the next step will be to argue that both versions of the executive order discriminate against Muslims.
“The Trump Administration may have changed the text of the now-discredited Muslim travel ban, but they didn’t change its unconstitutional intent and effect,” California Attorney General Xavier Becerra said in a statement on Monday.
While the text of the order does not mention Islam, the states claim that the motivation behind the policy is Trump’s campaign promise of “a total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States.” He later toned down that language and said he would implement a policy of “extreme vetting” of foreigners coming to the United States.
The government said the courts should only look at the text of the order and not at outside comments by Trump or his aides.
| Government Policy Changes | March 2017 | ['(Reuters)'] |
The Russian foreign ministry announces the expulsion of a senior diplomat at the Norwegian embassy in Moscow and declared him persona non grata as a "retaliatory measure" after the Norwegian foreign ministry had expelled the deputy trade representative of the Russian embassy in Oslo on August 19 for alleged espionage. | The Russian Foreign Ministry on Friday said it had expelled a senior Norwegian diplomat in retaliation after Oslo expelled a Russian diplomat following the arrest of a suspected spy.
The Russian ministry said that "as a retaliatory measure" a senior diplomat at the Norwegian embassy was declared persona non grata and must leave within three days.
Russia accused Norway of taking a "destructive course" that would "inevitably negatively affect the atmosphere of bilateral relations."
Norwegian foreign ministry spokeswoman Guri Solberg called the diplomat's expulsion "totally without foundation" in a statement sent to AFP. Norway named the diplomat as Jan Flaete.
It came after Norway announced the expulsion of a Russian diplomat on Aug. 19, days after arresting a Norwegian man suspected of passing sensitive information to Moscow.
Oslo accused the Russian diplomat, who worked in the trade section, of acts "not compatible with his status as a diplomat."
The diplomat was with the Norwegian man at the time of his arrest at an Oslo restaurant.
The Norwegian, identified by court documents as Harsharn Singh Tathgar, risks up to 15 years in prison if found guilty of espionage.
He worked for DNV GL, a company that provides certification for oil and gas industries.
The 50-year-old man told investigators he had handed over information in exchange for "not insignificant sums in cash," but insisted the information was not harmful to Norway's interests.
In recent decades several spy cases have marred ties between NATO member Norway and Russia, which share a border in the Arctic Circle. | Government Policy Changes | August 2020 | ['(AFP via The Moscow Times)'] |
A search and rescue operation gets underway after a Roll–on/roll–off ferry carrying about 60 people capsizes off the island of Burias in the Philippines Masbate province. So far 34 people have been rescued and at least one death confirmed. , | A major rescue operation is underway off the Philippines coast after a roll-on, roll-off ferry capsized with more than 50 people on board.
At least two people have died and 13 are still missing.
A further 42 people have been rescued. The Coast Guard, the Philippines Navy and local fishermen are continuing a rescue operation for the remaining passengers and crew.
Philippines coast guard spokesman, Armand Balilo, told Radio Australia the ship sent a distress signal three hours after it sailed from the central province of Albay, en route to nearby Masbate province.
The vessel was reportedly carrying 57 passengers and crew, as well as two trucks and two buses on board. The Coast Guard says it will look into possible overloading as a reason for the capsizing of the vessel. Regional civil defence chief, Raffy Alejandro, says one of the bodies found was of a 58-year-old woman.
The ferry, MV Our Lady of Carmel, was travelling between Pio Duran in Albay enroute to Aroroy, Masbate.
Mr Alejandro says the cause of the sinking has not yet been determined.
However, the ship's captain, who was among those rescued, has said the vessel may have been unbalanced by the passenger buses and trucks it was carrying.
"He said it happened so quickly. It just went down in the darkness," Mr Alejandro said.
He said the waters and weather were calm.
The vessel was a roll-on, roll-off ferry commonly used in the Philippines to transport people, vehicles and cargo throughout the archipelago of more than 7,100 islands.
Sea accidents are common in the Philippines due to poor safety standards and overloading.
The world's deadliest peacetime maritime disaster occurred near Manila in 1987 when a ferry laden with Christmas holidaymakers collided with a small oil tanker, killing more than 4,000 people.
In 2008, a huge ferry capsized during a typhoon off the central island of Sibuyan, leaving almost 800 dead.
Mr Alejandro said he was hopeful Friday's death toll would not rise drastically, partly because the captain said most passengers were wearing life jackets.
"We expect many more will be rescued. We were able to respond quickly," he said.
ABC/AFP
We acknowledge Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as the First Australians and Traditional Custodians of the lands where we live, learn, and work. | Shipwreck | June 2013 | ['(ABC Online)', '(BBC)'] |
In French Polynesia, people vote for a new local assembly for the two main islands. The poll is contested between the pro–independence party of Oscar Temaru and the party of pro–Paris conservative leader Gaston Flosse. The results of the last year's general election were cancelled and a new poll ordered to settle the dispute. | Counting is under way in the French Polynesian election and supporters of pro-Independence leader Oscar Temaru believe it could be a landslide.
Only a handful of votes have so far been counted, but Tahiti Radio is reporting a big swing to Mr Temaru.
Supporters of Mr Temaru and Conservative leader Gaston Flosse are out on the streets in huge numbers waving political flags. There has been a high turnout for this poll which Mr Temaru believes signals a desire for change.
| Government Job change - Election | February 2005 | ['(ABC)', '(BBC)'] |
French presidential election: Nicolas Sarkozy resigns as Interior Minister to concentrate on his presidential candidacy. | Mr Sarkozy, who is running for the ruling UMP conservative party, was replaced by Francois Baroin, previously minister for overseas territories.
Recent polls show Mr Sarkozy, 52, with a narrow lead over Socialist Segolene Royal and centrist candidate Francois Bayrou in the presidential race. Twelve candidates are standing in the first round on 22 April.
French President Jacques Chirac, who is stepping down after 12 years in office, last week gave his support to Mr Sarkozy's candidacy. He said Mr Sarkozy's bid had received the full backing of the UMP party so it was "totally natural that I give him my vote and my support". Mr Sarkozy has long been a leading member of Mr Chirac's government as finance and later interior minister but has often sought to distance himself from his former mentor.
Opinion polls in the last few days have suggested a 5% gap between the three leading candidates in the first round. An opinion poll released by the Ipsos agency for Le Point news weekly on Sunday suggested Mr Sarkozy could take 30% of the vote on 22 April.
It put Ms Royal on 25.5% and Mr Bayrou on 19%.
The election is expected to go to a second round runoff between two candidates on 6 May. | Government Job change - Resignation_Dismissal | March 2007 | ['(BBC)'] |
Poland protests: Thousands march against the Law and Justice party in Warsaw, with an estimated 50,000, and other cities protesting President Andrzej Duda and the country's new conservative government appointing new Constitutional Tribunal judges who are loyal to the PiS. | Tens of thousands of people marched in the Polish capital Warsaw, accusing the new government of trying to manipulate state institutions.
The Committee for the Defence of Democracy, which organised the protest, says President Andrzej Duda is breaking the law in his appointment of judges.
Mr Duda is an ally of the Law and Justice party, which won elections in October.
MPs have accused the party of carrying out a "creeping coup d'etat".
The protests are centred on a dispute about the powers of Poland's Constitutional Court, which can block legislation. The government says the court is biased because it is run mainly by judges appointed by the previous government. The government ignored two of the court's rulings in December.
Around 50,000 people marched through the streets of Warsaw, with some chanting "Duda must go", according to AP.
Others carried banners calling on Jaroslaw Kaczynski - leader of the Law and Justice party - to leave Poland alone.
"Together we will stand as a non-partisan front to protect democracy and show our discontent regarding what is being done to institutions in a democratic state," the founder of the KOD movement, Mateusz Kijowski, told Radio Poland. Opposition parties, including the Civic Platform and the Modern party, have also criticised the government, according to local media. Poland conservatives win election | Protest_Online Condemnation | December 2015 | ['(PiS)', '(BBC)', '(AP via Yahoo)'] |
New Zealand police introduce a curfew in central Christchurch as six people are arrested for looting. | Six people have been arrested for looting in Christchurch, as police set up a curfew in the devastated central city.
Superintendent Dave Cliff said there would be a 6.30pm curfew inside the central business district, allowing access only to those involved in the rescue effort, NZPA reported.
"That's also about keeping out the criminal element, who we know will try and take advantage," he said.
"We have made about six arrests today for theft and burglary around the central city."
Australian police officers will be on hand to help stop looters.
"They will be there to provide support in general law and order, to ensure that general safety is being attended to and also to assist in tragedies like this," NSW Police Commissioner Andrew Scipione said.
"Unfortunately we see the best of human nature but we also see the worst.
"We see potential looters; we need to make sure that we are helping our colleagues in New Zealand to prevent that as often as we possibly can."
Cordons, manned by police and army officers, are in place around the city and entry into those restricted areas is forbidden, with the exception of residents and workers, who must present ID.
Anyone entering without permission will be removed and those found inside the cordoned off areas with no excuse may be arrested, New Zealand police said in a statement.
| Famous Person - Commit Crime - Arrest | February 2011 | ['(Sydney Morning Herald)'] |
Three alleged organisers of Moscow suicide bombings in March 2010 are killed after apparently resisting arrest. | Three alleged organisers of the March suicide bombings on the Moscow metro have been killed after resisting arrest, Russian officials say.
It was not immediately clear when or where the killings happened. All those involved in the bombings have now been identified, officials said. Russian leaders previously warned that the masterminds of the attacks, which killed 40 people, would be "destroyed". Two young women from Dagestan were identified as carrying out the attacks. The 29 March bombings targeted two of the Moscow metro's commuter trains. The three alleged planners died during "an attempt to detain three members of an illegal group", said the head of the Federal Security Service (FSB), Alexander Bortnikov. "To our great regret, we were unable to detain them alive because they put up fierce armed resistance and were killed." 'Matter of honour'
Mr Bortnikov said the suspects included a man who had escorted the suicide bombers to Moscow and another who had accompanied one bomber to the station. Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said there had been no option but to kill the "terrorists". "Those who put up resistance have to be eliminated - you cannot show pity," the Russian leader was reported as saying at a meeting with Mr Bortnikov. The FSB head said that efforts to find other identified planners of the attacks were continuing. The suicide bombers were identified as a 17-year-old thought to be the widow of a Caucasus militants, and the 28-year-old wife of an Islamist rebel commander. A Chechen militant leader, Doku Umarov, said he ordered the bombings. Shortly after the attacks, Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said that Russian investigators should view catching the organisers of the bombings as a "matter of honour". He said the security services, who had been widely criticised in the media, should drag them "from the bottom of the sewers". | Armed Conflict | May 2010 | ['(BBC)', '(Al Jazeera)'] |
A collision between a commuter train and a passenger vehicle kills six in Valhalla, New York. , | VALHALLA, N.Y. (AP) — Federal investigators looking into a fiery commuter train wreck that killed six people zeroed in Wednesday on what they called the big question on everyone's mind: Why was the driver of an SUV stopped on the tracks, between the lowered crossing gates?
A team from the National Transportation Safety Board arrived to examine the blackened and mangled wreckage and the Metro-North train's data recorders the morning after the rush-hour collision with the sport utility vehicle about 20 miles north of New York City.
The Tuesday evening crash was the deadliest accident in the 32-year history of one of the nation's busiest commuter railroads — one that has come under a harsh spotlight over a series of accidents in recent years. The SUV driver and five men on the train were killed, burned so badly that authorities were using dental records to identify them.
"The big question everyone wants to know is: Why was this vehicle in the crossing?" said Robert Sumwalt, NTSB vice chairman.
© AP Photo/Mark Lennihan
A police officer looks at an SUV that was crushed at the front of a Metro-North Railroad train on Wednesday in Valhalla, N.Y.
The wreck happened after dark in backed-up traffic in an area where the tracks are straight but driving can be tricky. Motorists exiting or entering the adjacent Taconic Parkway have to turn and cross the tracks near a wooded area and a cemetery.
The driver — whom family friends identified as 49-year-old Ellen Brody, a jewelry store employee — had calmly gotten out of her Mercedes SUV momentarily after the crossing gates came down around her and hit her car, according to the motorist behind her, Rick Hope.
"She wasn't in a hurry at all, but she had to have known that a train was coming," Hope told the Journal News. He said he motioned to her to come back and gave her room to reverse. But instead, she got back in her car and went forward on the tracks, he said.
"It looks like she stopped where she stopped because she didn't want to go on the tracks," Hope he told WNYW-TV. "It was dark, so maybe she didn't know she was in front of the gate."
Traffic was moving slowly at the time, choked with drivers seeking to avoid the Taconic Parkway because of an accident, he noted.
© AP Photo/Seth Wenig
A man wearing a Federal Railroad Administration vest looks over the wreckage of a a Metro-North Railroad train and an SUV in Valhalla, N.Y., on Wednesday.
As of Wednesday evening, investigators had no evidence the crossing gates weren't working properly, but their examination was just beginning, Sumwalt said.
Among other things, investigators also planned to examine the tracks, interview the crew and find out whether the SUV had a data recorder of its own.
Brody was a mother of three grown daughters and an active, outgoing member of her synagogue. And she was "not risky when it came to her safety or others," said family friend Paul Feiner, the town supervisor in Greenburgh.
Railroad grade crossings typically have gate arms designed to lift automatically if they hit a car or other object on the way down, railroad safety consultant Grady Cothen said. The wooden arms are designed to be easily broken if a car trapped between them moves forward or backward, he said.
Acknowledging that collisions between trains and cars rarely cause rider deaths, Sumwalt said the NTSB would also examine the adequacy of the train's exits and the intensity of the fire, which investigators believe was sparked by the SUV's gas tank.
Sen. Charles Schumer said early indications are that the train was going 58 mph, or within the 60-to-70-mph speed limit in that area. The NTSB said it wanted to confirm speed and other data extracted from the recorder before releasing it.
It was not the first deadly crash at the site: A Metro-North train hit a truck, killing its driver, at the same Commerce Street crossing in 1984, according to Federal Railroad Administration records.
Rep. Patrick Maloney, D-N.Y., said Tuesday's accident underscores the need for positive train control, a technology that uses WiFi and GPS to monitor trains' exact position and automatically applies the brakes to prevent collisions or lessen their severity. While not specifically designed to address grade-crossing accidents, the technology can be expanded for such purposes, he said.
Congress passed a 2008 law that requires all railroads to install positive train control by the end of 2015, but it's clear most of them will not meet the deadline.
The crash was so powerful that the electrified third rail came up and pierced the train and the SUV, and the SUV was pushed about 1,000 feet, Sumwalt said. The blaze consumed the SUV and the train's first car.
Elizabeth Bordiga was commuting home from her New York City nursing job when she suddenly felt the train jerk a few times. She and other passengers in the middle part of the train started calmly walking to the back. But then they started smelling gasoline, and somebody said there was a fire.
But they couldn't open the emergency window or figure out how to escape until a firefighter got a door open, she said. Commuters lifted each other down from the train to the ground about 7 feet below, said Bordiga, who uses a cane.
"When I was on the ground, I looked to the right and saw flames. I couldn't believe it," she said.
In the first car, a man whose own hands were burned elbowed open the emergency exit latch, allowing some of the train's roughly 700 passengers to escape, passenger Christopher Gross said on ABC's "Good Morning America."
The train's engineer tried to rescue people until the smoke and flames got so severe that he had to escape, Westchester County Executive Rob Astorino said
While officials did not immediately release any victims' names, employers confirmed that the dead included Walter Liedtke, a curator of European paintings at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and Eric Vandercar, 53, a senior managing director at Mesirow Financial.
Every day, trains travel across more than 212,000 highway-grade rail crossings in the U.S. There are an average of 230 to 250 deaths a year at such crossings, down over 50 percent from two decades ago, FRA figures show.
Risky driver behavior or poor judgment accounts for 94 percent of grade crossing accidents, according to a 2004 government report.
Metro-North is the nation's second-busiest commuter railroad, after the Long Island Rail Road, serving about 280,000 riders a day.
Late last year, the NTSB issued rulings on five Metro-North accidents in New York and Connecticut in 2013 and 2014, repeatedly finding fault with the railroad.
Among the accidents was a 2013 derailment in the Bronx that killed four people, the railroad's first passenger fatalities, The NTSB said the engineer had fallen asleep at the controls because of a severe, undiagnosed case of sleep apnea.
___
Associated Press writers Jennifer Peltz, Ula Ilnytzky and Meghan Barr in New York; Joan Lowy in Washington; and Michael Kunzelman in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, contributed to this report. | Road Crash | February 2015 | ['(AP via MSN)', '(CBS Local)'] |
Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Liu Zhenmin says the United States was making political provocations with its patrols in the disputed South China Sea. He also says China is building military facilities on islands and reefs in the South China Sea as part of its national defense policy. Yesterday, U.S. President Barack Obama said, for the sake of regional stability, countries should stop building artificial islands and militarizing their claims in this sea. | He then urged his fellow ASEAN leaders to develop a post-2015 ASEAN Connectivity Agenda “that articulates both our aspirations and the complexities we have to contend with”.
Meeting Chinese Premier Li Keqiang on the sidelines of the Summit, Modi said the two countries should raise their strategic coordination to tackle the threat of terror.
The two leaders shook hands and smiled broadly Saturday as their delegations watched on.
Obama described them as outstanding and courageous people.
“The United States is working…to uphold the freedom of navigation and ensure disputes in the region are resolved peacefully”, he said.
The Prime Minister acknowledged the Japanese Prime Minister’s vision for the bilateral relationship, and said he looks forward to the visit of Mr. Shinzo Abe to India.
Noting that science, technology and innovation constituted a vital pillar of cooperation and supported economic partnership, Modi said India would enlarge the ASEAN-India Science and Technology Development Fund from the current Dollars one million to USD 5 million.
Earlier, wooing foreign investors, Prime Minister Modi today promised reforms “with speed and boldness” along with a transparent and predictable tax regime and protection of intellectual property rights. ASEAN’s economy continues to forge ahead with dynamism and energy. Now, it is India’s turn. And we know that our time has come. We are at a take-off stage. “That is why I am here to invite you”.
After his speech, Obama visited a school where numerous children are Rohingya Muslim refugees from Myanmar.
“They are terrorists and should be confronted as such, with the full force of the law”.
Mr. Abe said that Japan was partnering India in a number of initiatives such as the Delhi Mumbai Industrial Corridor (DMIC), which had transformative potential. Modi will address the East Asia Summit tomorrow.
He added: “We do not impose our culture on others… we think together and move together with the local people”.
“You can set an example”, Obama said.
This story corrects Japan’s financial pledge. “The answer is to do trade the right way – and that’s what TPP does”, he said.
Obama has tried to keep the focus on promoting what he says are his successful efforts to expand US ties to Asia, specifically the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade pact.
Bilateral trade between China and ASEAN countries reached 397.2 billion USA dollars in the first 10 months of 2015, while 14.3 percent of China’s overseas investment went to ASEAN countries by the end of 2014, making China-ASEAN economic and trade cooperation the most substantial and fruitful in East Asia, said Gao. “They are terrorists.”US President Barack Obama condemned the violence typified by the “appalling” jihadist hostage siege in Mali that left at least 21 dead, including an American citizen”.
‘This barbarity only stiffens our resolve to meet this challenge, ‘ he said in Kuala Lumpur. This came a week after Islamic State militants killed 129 people in coordinated attacks in Paris.
He suggested evolving specific plans for cooperation with the 10-member grouping in key areas of maritime security, counter-piracy and humanitarian and disaster relief.
He spoke in Malaysia during a regional summit.
Malaysia’s prime minister has used his opening speech at the 27th ASEAN Summit to lash out at those who commit extremism and terrorism, saying that Malaysia was ready to provide any help towards eliminating a “new evil that blasphemed Islam”.
The attacks included the bombings and assaults in Paris and Beirut, the bombing of a Russian airliner in Egypt, and the taking of captives in Bamako, Mali, on Friday. | Government Policy Changes | November 2015 | ['(The Nation Multimedia)', '(Reuters)', '(Oracle Herald)'] |
New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft is charged with two counts of firstdegree solicitation in Florida. |
New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft faces misdemeanor charges over two visits to a Jupiter, Fla., day spa, where police allege that he paid for sex acts.
Updated at 5:46 p.m. ET
The Florida state attorney's office in Palm Beach says New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft has been charged with two counts of soliciting prostitution, days after police alleged surveillance video had caught Kraft during two visits to the Orchids of Asia Day Spa in Jupiter, Fla.
State Attorney Dave Aronberg said at a news conference Monday that Kraft, a resident of Massachusetts who also has a home in Palm Beach, is among 25 people facing first-degree misdemeanor charges of soliciting another to commit prostitution. As for potential penalties, Aronberg said the charge potentially carries a prison sentence of up to one year, along with "mandatory 100 hours of community service, a mandatory $5,000 fine, and a mandatory class on the dangers of prostitution and human trafficking."
The police investigation into the spa was aimed at stopping human trafficking, which Aronberg equated to "modern day slavery" and called an "evil in our midst."
Officials will send Kraft a summons about the charge, the state attorney said. He also said all of the cases will be handled in the same way.
"No one gets any special justice in Palm Beach County," Aronberg said. He later added that none of the alleged "johns" were targeted, saying they come from "all walks of life there's rich [and] poor, there's young and old."
The women who worked at the spa were victims of a criminal enterprise who deserve the government's help, Aronberg said. While he didn't provide new details about how the women who worked at the Jupiter spa arrived in the U.S., the state attorney described how human traffickers often lure women to come to the U.S. for the promise of a better life, but instead force them into becoming sex workers. Kraft and the other men, including former Citigroup President and COO John Havens, and Wall Street financier John Childs, were snared in a sting operation that targeted the strip-mall massage parlor and spa part of a broader investigation into what officials allege is a system of human trafficking and money-laundering.
Martin County Sheriff William Snyder, whose office opened the investigation that led to more than 300 arrest warrants across Florida counties, told NPR's All Things Considered the sting was launched after receiving a tip about one of the illicit businesses. A health care worker visiting one of the day spas noticed suitcases in one of the massage parlors and other indicators that some of the women might be living in the storefront business, Snyder said. Eventually, officials discovered that six to eight women were living in the small commercial space at any given time. "They were staying inside the massage parlor for 24 hours a day, seven days a week," Snyder explained, adding that the women, most of whom do not speak English, "were working seven days a week."
He said the women cooked food on hot plates and slept on the same massage tables where they were forced to provide sexual services for eight to 15 men per day. A Chinese woman currently in protective custody has provided grim details about how some of the women ended up working there.
She told investigators she was offered a job "making a lot of money" in an American nail salon, Snyder said. "And before she knew it she came here and found herself in the sex trafficking industry in massage parlors."
She did not speak out because she feared her family in China would be put at risk if she cooperated with law enforcement. In other cases, he said, women are trafficked into the country with their children and forced into making a horrible bargain with their captors: Engage in sex work in exchange for the well-being of their children.
"There are coercion points that keep them in bondage and the person with the key is not the trafficker. It's the men who go into these parlors and avail themselves of this human misery," Snyder told NPR. "I think they are monsters."
The Martin County probe quickly led to a multi-jurisdictional investigation in Indian River County where billionaire Childs and three law enforcement officers were snagged and Palm Beach County, where Kraft and Havens were charged. Jupiter Police Chief Daniel Kerr said in a press conference on Friday that there is video evidence of the criminal acts "for all of the individuals being charged," including Kraft. "We categorically deny that Mr. Kraft engaged in any illegal activity," a spokesman for The Kraft Group told NPR Friday in a statement about the case. "Because it is a judicial matter, we will not be commenting further."
Jupiter police raided the Orchids of Asia spa early last week, Kerr said at a news conference Friday. In addition to Jupiter, the coordinated police operation targeted businesses in Martin County and Indian River County. The Jupiter raid came after police collected video evidence from cameras hidden inside the facility.
"We're as equally stunned as everybody else," Kerr said of the high-profile suspects who now faced solicitation charges.
Kraft's is not the only boldface name among the spa's alleged clients. Also on the list is Citigroup's former president and chief operation officer John Havens. The spa charges $59 for a half-hour treatment and $79 for a full hour, Detective Andrew Sharp said on Friday. When Sharp was asked if there is video evidence of Kraft in the massage parlor room receiving alleged sex acts, he replied, "The answer to that is yes."
In addition to seeking charges against men who visited the spa, Jupiter police also arrested its owner, Hua Zhang, and its manager, Lei Wang.
Kraft, 77, has a net worth that's estimated at some $6.6 billion. He was recently ranked No. 79 on Forbes magazine's list of the wealthiest people in the U.S. Most famously, Kraft has turned the Patriots into a dynasty, winning multiple Super Bowl titles since its first championship in 2002. He acquired the franchise in 1994. Childs, founder of private equity firm J.W. Childs Associates, was among 165 people charged by the Vero Beach Police Department and whose photo was released on the police website. "I have received no contact by the police department about this charge," he told Bloomberg on Friday. "The accusation of solicitation of prostitution is totally false. I have retained a lawyer." A man who answered the listed phone number for Havens told the news outlet: "I have no idea what you are talking about," when asked about the charges. In addition to the criminal charge in Florida, Kraft also faces the possibility that the NFL could take action against him. League spokesman Brian McCarthy said on Friday that the NFL is "aware" of the allegations and is monitoring the case. The NFL's personal conduct policy explicitly prohibits sex offenses and the rules apply to everyone in the league, McCarthy said. The policy also seeks to impose a higher order of responsibility for one's actions than simply avoiding being found guilty by the justice system.
On Monday, the NFL issued an updated statement saying that it is "seeking a full understanding of the facts," and pledging to "take appropriate action as warranted based on the facts." | Famous Person - Commit Crime - Accuse | February 2019 | ['(ESPN)', '(NPR)', '(Fox News)'] |
Japanese jets scramble to react to Chinese military aircraft which flew close to the disputed Senkaku Islands. | Japan says it scrambled jets after two Chinese military aircraft flew close to disputed islands in the East China Sea. Government spokesman Yukio Edano said the Chinese planes came within 55km (34 miles) of islands known as Senkaku in Japan and Diaoyu in China. He said that the planes did not enter Japanese airspace and withdrew when confronted. But he voiced concern over China's growing military power and said Japan would monitor the situation. Last year a row over the islands - which are controlled by Japan - severely strained ties between the two nations. "It is correct that yesterday Japanese jet planes were scrambled as two Chinese military aircraft were flying over the East China Sea," Mr Edano told journalists. "On the other hand, the two planes were flying outside Japanese airspace and there were no breaches of international law or safety issues, so we are not in a position to lodge a complaint. However we are keeping an eye on them."
China's military modernisation and increased activity was "along with insufficient transparency, a matter of concern", he added. It was the first time Chinese military planes had come so close to the islands, Japan's Kyodo news agency reported, citing a military body. The incident comes just days after the two nations held their first "strategic dialogue" since June 2009 and agreed to work to repair ties damaged by the territorial dispute. A major diplomatic row erupted between China and Japan in September last year after the arrest of a Chinese ship captain accused of ramming two Japanese patrol boats near the islands. Japan later dropped charges against the captain. The island chain is made up of eight uninhabited small islands and rocky outcrops. They matter because they are close to strategically important shipping lanes, offer rich fishing grounds and are thought to contain oil deposits. How uninhabited islands soured China-Japan ties | Armed Conflict | March 2011 | ['(BBC)'] |
An attempted terrorist attack occurs when a homemade pipe bomb worn by a man exploded near New York City's Port Authority Bus Terminal. Three people, as well as the attacker, are injured. The suspect, identified as Akayed Ullah, is in custody. | Footage of ‘Attempted Terrorist Attack’ at New York Transit Hub By Sarah Maslin Nir and William K. Rashbaum
A would-be suicide attacker detonated a pipe bomb strapped to his body in the heart of Manhattan’s busiest subway corridor on Monday, sending thousands of terrified commuters fleeing the smoke-choked passageways, and bringing the heart of Midtown to a standstill as hundreds of police officers converged on Times Square and the surrounding streets.
But the makeshift weapon failed to fully detonate, and the attacker himself was the only one seriously injured in the blast, which unfolded just before 7:20 a.m.
The explosion occurred in the underground passageway connecting the Times Square and Port Authority subway stations in Manhattan.
| Armed Conflict | December 2017 | ['(The New York Times)', '(CNN)'] |
Barack Obama presents the Presidential Medal of Freedom to 17 people including Willie Mays, Barbra Streisand, Itzhak Perlman, James Taylor, Gloria Estefan and Emilio Estefan, Stephen Sondheim and Steven Spielberg. | WASHINGTON — President Obama awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom on Tuesday to an eclectic mix of Americans from the sciences, arts, sports, politics and human rights, some of them household names and others who he indicated should be.
Among those honored were such iconic figures as Willie Mays, Barbra Streisand, Itzhak Perlman, James Taylor, Gloria and Emilio Estefan, Stephen Sondheim and Steven Spielberg. There was also the widow of a general who helped other survivors, and a space scientist who was a pioneer in diversity as well as the cosmos.
| Awards ceremony | November 2015 | ['(New York Times)'] |
The Pakistan Television Corporation goes off air after protesters storm its headquarters. | Pakistan's national television channel is back on air after security forces removed anti-government protesters from its headquarters in Islamabad.
Troops were sent in to regain control from demonstrators who had forced their way into the PTV offices.
Earlier, fresh clashes erupted between protesters and police in the capital.
Protesters loyal to opposition leader Imran Khan and cleric Tahirul Qadri want PM Nawaz Sharif to resign. He denies corruption and electoral fraud.
Both Mr Khan and Mr Qadri have called for calm and asked their supporters to co-operate with the army.
Mr Sharif, who insists he will not quit, has met the country's powerful army chief, Gen Raheel Sharif, for talks on the crisis. The president has called a joint session of parliament for Tuesday. Analysis: M Ilyas Khan, BBC News, Islamabad
The brief but alarming occupation of Pakistan Television underlines a deepening political crisis. The fact that anti-government activists got into a building that troops were apparently guarding has also prompted some to question the army's role.
Troops did move in swiftly to eject the protesters, illustrating they can control the violence. And overnight, the army cleared demonstrators from Parliament House after they used trucks to smash through its outer fence. But the army has made no arrests and a form of anarchy reigns on Islamabad's high-security Constitution Avenue, where crowds have been gathered for nearly three weeks. A popularly elected government, which now also has the support of almost all opposition forces, is being cornered by a minority political group and the followers of a cleric who runs a charity network.
The government says its restrained response to rioters is meant to avoid bloodshed. But for many, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif is on the back foot and short of options. A number of policemen are reported to have been injured in Monday's violence.
Thousands of demonstrators - some wielding batons and throwing stones - moved on the main building housing Pakistan's federal bureaucracy and Prime Minister's House. Riot police were forced to retreat from the main road in front of parliament, Constitution Avenue. Protesters attacked vehicles and set fire to shipping containers placed on the street as roadblocks. Crowds of angry young protesters, many wielding batons, met little resistance as they stormed the PTV building. Private news channels showed live pictures of protesters shouting slogans and barging into recording studios and smashing equipment. Shortly afterwards troops arrived and peacefully escorted the demonstrators out of the building before transmissions resumed.
On Sunday night protesters used trucks to smash through the outer fence of the parliament building, even though the building was guarded by troops, the BBC's M Ilyas Khan in Islamabad reports.
Demonstrators have been taking part in a sit-in in the centre of the capital for two weeks.
Protests had been peaceful until Saturday, when violence broke out. Three people died and hundreds were injured.
Last year's elections marked Pakistan's first civilian transfer of power. Mr Sharif won by a landslide and BBC correspondents say the vote was deemed to have been generally fair.
| Protest_Online Condemnation | September 2014 | ['(BBC)'] |
A 41-year old man sets fire to the main offices of Kyoto Animation, an animation studio based in Kyoto, Japan. At least 34 people are confirmed dead and 35 injured. Many of the victims are in their 20s and 30s. | An arson attack on an anime studio in Japan has left at least 33 people dead and dozens injured in Japan’s worst mass murder in nearly two decades.
The perpetrator, who was also injured and has been taken into police custody, walked into the 1st Studio building of Kyoto Animation in Fushimi ward, Kyoto, at about 10.30am. He poured what is suspected to be petrol in multiple areas of the building before igniting it.
The prime minister, Shinzo Abe, called the attack “too appalling for words” and offered condolences.
There were more than 70 people in the building, which is Kyoto Animation’s main studio.
About 30 fire engines and ambulances went to the three-storey building after an explosion. Victims were taken to various hospitals in Kyoto.
The suspect, identified only as a 41-year-old male, was reportedly taken to hospital before being arrested by police, who said he had admitted starting the fire.
No motive for the arson attack has been reported, but Japan’s public broadcaster said he had shouted “drop dead” as he set the petrol alight.
Preliminary investigations by the police have uncovered no links between the subject, who has yet to be named, and the animation studio.
“A man threw liquid and set fire to it,” said a Kyoto prefectural police spokesman.
Emergency calls to the city fire department reported there had been an explosion on the ground floor, while later calls included people shouting: “Help us, the fire is climbing.”
Images shot from a helicopter for NHK showed smoke billowing from the top floor and fire crews still battling the blaze of the badly damaged building hours after it had started. Fire crews said there might be more people left in the building.
The fire department said the three floors of the building covered a total of 700 sq metres and that every storey had been damaged by the fire.
Professor Yuji Hasemi, an expert in fire safety and materials at Tokyo’s Waseda University, told NHK that a combination of poor ventilation, an abundance of paper used by artists and the large amount of petrol likely caused the fire to spread too quickly for people to escape. No fire escape stairs were visible in images of the building.
Violent crime is rare in Japan, though it is not unknown. In July 2016, a mass stabbing at a care home by a former employee killed 16 and injured more. In September 2001, a fire at a building in the Kabukicho entertainment district of central Tokyo killed 44. Arson was suspected, but nobody was ever charged, meaning the Kyoto Animation attack is the worst confirmed mass murder in Japan’s post-war history.
I’m heartbroken seeing what happened to Kyoto Animation. I don’t know what that sick person must have had against that studio to set it on fire, but my condolences to all the hard working employees. I wish you all a safe recovery...
Kyoto Animation, known as KyoAni, was founded in 1981 by Yoko Hatta, an anime producer. Her husband, Hideaki, serves as the company’s president. KyoAni has produced popular anime TV series and feature films, as well as publishing illustrated novels and manga. It is well known among anime aficionados around the world for its dedication to high-quality production techniques, with a catalogue that includes A Silent Voice: The Movie, K-On!, The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya and Lucky Star. Its company headquarters are in Uji city.
Kyoto Animation has a reputation for treating its employees well in an industry infamous for harsh working conditions, long hours and, for junior animators, very low pay. The growth of the genre’s popularity worldwide and increased demand for content from streaming platforms such as Netflix has put even more pressure on the studios at a time when Japan is experiencing a severe labour shortage. Most studios are booked out with projects up to two years ahead.
Many anime artists are paid on a per-frame basis and tight deadlines make the work gruelling and long hours inevitable. Kyoto Animation bucks the trend by making its animators full-time employees. This allows them to spend more time on each image and create high-quality anime.
One of its best-known franchises is K-On!, a comedy about a band formed by high-school girls. It started life as a manga comic book, before Kyoto Animation created two TV anime series that aired between 2009 and 2010. It was also broadcast overseas and released on DVD in the UK. Kyoto also produced a film directed by Naoko Yamada – which followed the girls’ graduation trip to London – that was released at the end of 2011 and grossed ¥1.64bn (£12.2m) in Japan. The film featured a cafe based on the Troubadour in Earl’s Court, south-west London, which has become a popular destination for fans.
A Silent Voice, also by Yamada, which dealt with childhood suicide, was hailed by critics and fans when it was released in 2016. Although overshadowed at the time by Your Name, whose director Makoto Shinkai lavished praise on it, it still took £29.4m ($33m) globally.
This article was amended on 23 July 2019 to correct the location of the fire. It was at the company’s studio in Kyoto’s Fushimi ward, not at the headquarters in Uji as an earlier version said. A misspelling of Fushimi ward has also been corrected. | Fire | July 2019 | ['(The Guardian)'] |
A lone gunman enters a Walmart store in Grand Forks, North Dakota, United States, and opens fire, killing one employee before turning the gun on himself. | An airman from the Grand Forks Air Force Base entered a Wal-Mart in town early Tuesday, shot and killed one employee and wounded another before fatally shooting himself, authorities said.
The bloodshed occurred shortly after 1 a.m. at the supercenter just east of Interstate 29 and about 20 miles east of the base, according to police.
The airman was identified by police as Marcell Willis, 21. Police Lt. Derik Zimmel said authorities “don’t know an apparent motive that jumps out at this time.”
Police said there did not appear to be a link between Willis and the victims or the store. Willis’ Facebook page said he was from Springfield, just north of Nashville, Tenn., and studied at Emory University in Atlanta.
His girlfriend, Amy Mehs, of Grand Forks, said Tuesday that Willis “was a wonderful person” but declined to say anything further. Air base officials declined to reveal Willis’ rank or anything more about his military background.
Identities of the victims were expected to be released Wednesday once family members are notified. The surviving shooting victim was in satisfactory condition at Altru Hospital in Grand Forks. Willis entered the store and shot two employees, one fatally, according to police. He went farther into the store and shot at another employee but missed. Still farther inside, Willis shot himself, police said.
The gunfire sent some of the customers and employees fleeing from the store. Others took shelter inside.
Officers arrived in minutes. A gun was found next to Willis. Willis was taken by ambulance to Altru, where he died.
The Grand Forks Police Department is encouraging people with information on the shooting to contact investigators at 701-787-8000, by e-mail at investigate@grandforksgov.com or by texting the word “tipster” to 847411.
Paul Walsh is a general assignment reporter at the Star Tribune. He wants your news tips, especially in and near Minnesota. | Armed Conflict | May 2015 | ['(Minneapolis Star Tribune)'] |
The Typhoon Jebi in Taiwan killed six people while another was declared missing. | TAIPEI (Taiwan News) -- Rogue waves have claimed six lives over the course of two days on the beaches of northeastern Taiwan's Yilan County as Typhoon Jebi, the strongest storm observed the planet so far this year, churns in the western Pacific Ocean.
At total of eight people were swept away and six have lost their lives after a series of rogue waves struck on Sunday and Monday at Mystery Beach and Lover's Bay, also known as Neipi Bay.
Three separate deadly incidents involving rogue waves were reported in Yilan County's Mystery Beach in Nan'ao and Neipei Beach on Sunday.
On Nan'ao's Mystery Beach in Yilan County, a 52-year-old man surnamed Chou and his wife surnamed Liu, 50, were riding an ATV along with the 52-year-old ATV rental owner surnamed Ho, who was riding another ATV. Suddenly, they along with their vehicles were washed out to sea by a rogue wave that was estimated to be over 3 meters in height at 3:06 p.m., reported TVBS.
Rescuers said a Coast Guard Administration boat carried a male body to Nansing Inspection Office in Nan'ao at 6:36 p.m., and the body was confirmed to be Chou by his family, the report said. However, Ho is still missing, according to the report.
Later that day, also on Mystery Beach, a 40-year-old woman surnamed Wei (魏) and her 10-year-old son surnamed Lee (李) were riding on all-terrain vehicle (ATV) with friends when a massive rogue wave suddenly crashed into them and sucked them into the ocean, never to be seen again alive.
At 5:41 a.m. yesterday (Sept. 3), search and rescue personnel found the body of Wei about 1.6 nautical miles from Nan'ao's Mystery Beach. Four hours later, not far from the beach, the body of Lee was recovered as well.
On Neipi beach in Su'ao, an eight-year-old girl, who was enjoying the beach with her family and friends, was suddenly swept out to sea by a rogue wave and a male passerby surnamed Wu (吳) jumped in the water to try to save her. The girl was washed ashore and survived, however, the man drowned, and paramedics were unable to revive him.
Monday
Another victim lost their life on the county's shores yesterday. The Yilan County Fire Department received a report on Monday morning around 11:15 a.m. that a middle-aged woman, had been walking along the shore of Yilan’s Suao (蘇澳) township along the Neipi Beach (內埤海灘) and was swept away by a wave.
A search and rescue unit responded immediately, however the woman showed no signs of life when brought ashore. According to reports, the search and rescue operation was completed by noon, and the woman was rushed to the nearby Suao Branch of the Taipei Veteran’s Hospital, reports CNA.
Apple Daily reports that the woman was pronounced dead at 12:51 by doctors at the hospital.
Chia Hsin-hsing (賈新興), a supervisor of Weather Risk, said on his Facebook page that there are four types of situations when rogue waves are likely in the area, including: in the winter when the northeast monsoon is strong, in the summer when the southwest monsoon is strong, when typhoons are churning in the outer ocean, and at high tide during the lunar new year festival period, especially if there are monsoons or typhoons. | Hurricanes_Tornado_Storm_Blizzard | September 2018 | ['(Taiwan News)'] |
Lin-Manuel Miranda wins the Pulitzer Prize for Drama for the musical Hamilton based on the life of American founding father Alexander Hamilton. | Cementing his place in American theater history, Lin-Manuel Miranda on Monday won the 2016 Pulitzer Prize for Drama for his smash hit musical Hamilton.
The decision was announced by Mike Pride, administrator of the Pulitzer Prizes, at a ceremony in New York City's Columbia University.
"I think that we had a very good field in drama this year," Pride told reporters, "and there was just one play that really stood out to our board, and that was Hamilton."
The 2016 Pulitzer Prize for Drama goes to... @Lin_Manuel #Pulitzer100
Miranda, 36, joins a list of celebrated American playwrights to have won the prestigious award that includes Tennessee Williams, Eugene O'Neill, Thornton Wilder, Tony Kushner, and Sam Shepard.
PULITZER?!
Grateful grateful grateful grateful grateful grateful grateful grateful grateful grateful grateful grateful grateful grateful great full
Fanatically beloved by both critics and audiences, Miranda's hip hop-based musical about the life of Alexander Hamilton, the first U.S. treasury secretary, is enjoying a sell-out run on Broadway. The New York Times reported last week the show earns more than $500,000 in profit every week.
The Pulitzer Prize committee described the show as "a landmark American musical about the gifted and self-destructive founding father whose story becomes both contemporary and irresistible."
Pride said he wouldn't have been surprised if some plays were not submitted to the Pultizer committee for consideration this year because people may have predicted Hamilton would win the top prize.
Miranda, who also wrote the Tony Award-winning musical In The Heights, came up with the idea for Hamilton in 2008 after reading Ron Chernow’s biography of the Founding Father.
The musical began showing off-Broadway in January 2015 at New York's Public Theater, before moving to its current home at the Richard Rogers Theatre near Times Square.
In addition to writing the music and lyrics for the musical, Miranda also performs the title role in the show, which features a cast comprised mostly of actors from minority backgrounds.
Described as a "cultural landmark" by President Obama, Miranda and his cast were invited to perform songs from the show at the White House in March.
Hamilton has already been honored with a Grammy and multiple Drama Desk awards. It's also a favorite to take home a number of prizes at this year's Tony Awards.
The runners-up for the Pulitzer were Gloria, by Branden Jacobs-Jenkins, and The Humans, by Stephen Karam.
| Awards ceremony | April 2016 | ['(Buzzfeed)'] |
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 eight Kenyan police officers have died after their car hit a roadside bomb near the Somali border.
Eleven people were in the car when it hit the device in east Wajir county. The fate of the others is unclear.
No-one has admitted planting the explosives.
Unnamed officials told AFP news agency that the police had been pursuing suspected al-Shabab Islamist militants fighting Somalia's government and its backers, including Kenya.
The al-Qaeda-linked group has been trying to overthrow the Somali government for years. The insurgents have lost many of their strongholds, including areas of the Somali capital, Mogadishu.
However they control large rural swathes of Somalia and continue to wage guerrilla war against local authorities.
Al-Shabab has also carried out several attacks and kidnappings in Kenya, vowing retribution for the country's involvement with Anisom - a 20,000-strong African Union force helping to support the government in Somalia.
In a separate incident, at least eight people were killed by a bomb which exploded at a checkpoint near Somalia's parliament in Mogadishu.
Al-Shabab said it carried out the attack and another one on a road leading to the city's airport, in which nobody died. | Armed Conflict | June 2019 | ['(BBC)', '(Region week)'] |
Tunisian authorities ban protests planned for Friday. | Authorities in Tunisia have banned protests planned by rival Islamist groups for Friday, in order to control some of the worst violence seen since last year's revolution.
Since Monday hard-line protesters have clashed with police. A young man was shot and killed in the disturbances, and police stations were set ablaze in the unrest, that has seen about 100 people injured.
The authorities have imposed a curfew in affected areas, including Tunis.
The Ministry of Interior announced the ban in a statement, and a government spokesman told AFP news agency: "The law will be applied against all acts of violence... some calls for violence are circulating on Facebook." Since the overthrow of Mr Ben Ali's secular rule, Islamist parties have experienced a resurgence. The moderate Ennahda Party, which was banned under Mr Ben Ali, now dominates the political system.
Hard-line groups, including those that follow Salafist Islam, have staged a number of demonstrations over the past year, demanding the introduction of Sharia law in Tunisia.
Followers of Salafist Islam believe in a very literal and strict adherence to Islam, as it was first practised 1,400 years ago.
This week's protest was against an art exhibition that included a portrayal of a nude woman. Artists staged their own protest in response.
The Ennahda party also called for its own "peaceful" rally on Friday.
On Wednesday Ben Ali, who has been living in exile in Saudi Arabia since he was ousted, was convicted in absentia and sentenced to life in jail for killing demonstrators in last year's uprising. | Protest_Online Condemnation | June 2012 | ['(BBC)'] |
The Supreme Court of the United States hears arguments on a case regarding whether the citizenship claim of a child is different if there is an unmarried father versus an unmarried mother who is a U.S. citizen. | Only hours after Donald Trump was declared the winner in last night’s presidential election, it was business as usual in at least one Washington institution: the Supreme Court of the United States. With the seat left open by the death of Justice Antonin Scalia still vacant, presumably to be filled with the president-elect’s nominee, the eight justices heard oral arguments in a case that touches, at least indirectly, on one of Trump’s signature issues, immigration.
The issue before the justices was a U.S. citizenship law that imposes more stringent requirements on a child who is born outside the United States to an unmarried father who is a U.S. citizen than it does on an otherwise identically-situated child whose unmarried mother is a U.S. citizen. Luis Ramon Morales-Santana, a longtime resident of the U.S. whose father was a U.S. citizen, argues that this different treatment violates the Constitution’s guarantee of equal protection under the law. After nearly an hour of oral argument, the justices seemed ready to agree with Morales-Santana, even if they could not necessarily reach a consensus on how to remedy the constitutional violation.
As I explained in my preview of the case, Morales-Santana’s parents were not married when he was born in the Dominican Republic in 1962: His father was a U.S. citizen, but his mother was not. Under the law in effect when Morales-Santana was born, he could be a U.S. citizen only if his father had lived in the United States for at least ten years before Morales-Santana’s birth, with five of those years coming after the age of 14 – criteria that he could not meet. However, Morales-Santana would have been a citizen if his mother, rather than his father, had been the U.S. citizen; all that would be required was for his mother to have spent at least one continuous year in the United States.
Morales-Santana’s challenge to the law came when the federal government initiated proceedings to deport him from the United States. The lower court agreed with him that the law governing citizenship for the children of unmarried parents violated the constitutional right of a U.S.-citizen father to be treated the same as a U.S.-citizen mother, and the Supreme Court agreed to review the question earlier this year.
Arguing on behalf of the United States, Deputy Solicitor General Edwin Kneedler emphasized that the different treatment of unmarried mothers and fathers served two important interests: ensuring that U.S. citizens have sufficient ties to the United States and avoiding a scenario in which the children of U.S.-citizen mothers are born “stateless” – that is, with no citizenship at all.
Deputy Solicitor General Edwin S. Kneedler (Art Lien)
But the justices appeared skeptical of both these rationales. Justice Sonia Sotomayor pressed Kneedler to explain why exactly unmarried U.S.-citizen fathers would have less of a connection to the United States than unmarried mothers.
Justice Elena Kagan quickly followed up, asking Kneedler why the government couldn’t achieve the same objectives using “entirely gender-neutral language” that would apply to both unmarried fathers and unmarried mothers.
Justice Stephen Breyer chimed in as well, first asking Kneedler to provide a rationale for the discrimination created by the statute and then pointing out that “friend of the court” briefs filed in support of Morales-Santana dispute the government’s contention that statelessness is more of a problem for the children of unmarried U.S.-citizen mothers than fathers.
But the government’s strongest opposition came from Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. She observed that, although the government may be providing a “sophisticated rationale” for the disparate treatment of mothers and fathers, the law at issue dates back to the early 20th century – a time when myriad laws assumed that unmarried mothers and their children should be placed together, and separated unmarried fathers from their children. No one believed that these schemes were a problem, she noted, until the 1970s, when a “whole series of cases” “recognized that, indeed, there was a violation of equal protection.” (Although Ginsburg did not say so, many in the courtroom were aware that Ginsburg herself was the mastermind behind the equal protection strategy to which she referred.)
This is not the first time the court has taken on the question presented by this case. Six years ago tomorrow, the court heard oral argument in a case that featured the same issue, but with Kagan recused. The justices deadlocked 4-4, which likely means that one of the court’s more conservative justices joined Ginsburg, Breyer and Sotomayor in voting to strike down the law. If so, there seems to be a very good possibility that there will be at least four votes (from Ginsburg, Breyer, Sotomayor and Kagan) to uphold the lower court’s decision against the government, and perhaps five for an outright victory for Morales-Santana on the question whether the law’s different treatment of unmarried mothers and fathers violates the Constitution.
Reflecting this possibility, much of the argument focused on a second question: If the statute does violate the Constitution, what – if anything – should the court do about it? The lower court declared Morales-Santana to be a citizen of the United States, but the justices clearly regarded the question as more difficult.
Justice Anthony Kennedy summarized the court’s dilemma succinctly. He observed that, if the court were to rule that the statute’s lower residency requirement for unmarried mothers also applied to unmarried fathers, it would make it easier for children born to both sets of parents to qualify for citizenship. But if the court were instead to rule, as the government urged, that the more stringent residency requirement for unmarried fathers also applies to unmarried mothers, it would make it harder for those children.
Kagan was clearly troubled by the prospect of applying the more stringent residency requirement to both sets of parents. That would mean, she pointed out, that Morales-Santana would not have any remedy at all, notwithstanding the court’s ruling in his case that the statute violated the Constitution.
Justice Samuel Alito, though, saw a problem with applying the less stringent requirement to both sets of unmarried parents: It would result in more favorable treatment for parents who are not married than for a married couple with only one U.S.-citizen parent, who must meet residency requirements similar to those for unmarried U.S.-citizen fathers. Ginsburg quickly countered that Morales-Santana’s challenge centers on gender discrimination – an allegation that the law provides better treatment to unmarried mothers than unmarried fathers – rather than a bias based on someone’s marital status. Applying the lower bar would just mean that married parents of both genders would be treated poorly, she concluded.
Stephen A. Broome for respondent (Art Lien)
Other justices expressed worries about the broader impact of applying the lower bar to both unmarried mothers and unmarried fathers. Suppose there were evidence, Kennedy asked Stephen Broome, who argued on behalf of Morales-Santana, that 100,000 additional people would qualify for citizenship under Morales-Santana’s proposed rule? Broome maintained that it would not matter, but Kennedy pressed him: What about 200,000 more citizens? To Kennedy, at least, it might matter.
Still other justices debated the question of congressional intent. Specifically, although there seemed to be a consensus that the court should try to determine what Congress would have wanted to do if it had known that the law was unconstitutional, the justices could not seem to agree on which Congress’ intent was relevant – the one that enacted the law or the current one?
For Chief Justice John Roberts, the answer was clearly the Congress that enacted the statute in the early 20th century. When Ginsburg posited that such an answer would be “strange,” given that the Congress which enacted the law “took gender-based norms for granted,” Roberts admonished Ginsburg and Broome: “Don’t pretend that you are implementing Congress’s intent when you look at what … a Congress 60 years later would do.”
Kagan, as is so often the case, proposed a solution to the dilemma facing the court. She noted that, in an earlier case in which the court was “concerned about whether Congress would prefer a different remedy,” the justices had issued their ruling but stayed their judgment to give Congress an opportunity “essentially to do it a different way if it wanted to.” Broome was unenthusiastic, arguing that the court must take action to address a constitutional violation, but Kagan’s middle ground may find a warmer reception among her colleagues. | Government Policy Changes | November 2016 | ['(Scotus blog)'] |
An explosion in Kabul leads to several casualties. Afghan police report that the attack was aimed at a member of the National Assembly, Fakori Behishti. | KABUL (Reuters) - A bomb attack targeted a member of Afghanistan’s parliament in the capital, Kabul, on Wednesday, wounding him and several other people, officials said.
Fakori Behishti, a member of parliament from Bamyan province, and his son were wounded in the blast, an official with the parliament’s security department said.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack, which destroyed the vehicle in which Behishti was traveling, badly damaged other vehicles and shattered the windows of nearby shops.
Last week, another member of parliament was targeted by a suicide bomber who killed seven people. The member of parliament survived.
| Armed Conflict | December 2016 | ['(Reuters)'] |
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