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Sebastian Vettel of Red Bull Racing wins the 2010 Brazilian Grand Prix with Red Bull winning the Constructors Championship. | Australian Mark Webber will be right in the thick of the action when the Formula One season reaches a thrilling three-pronged denouement in Abu Dhabi this weekend.
Webber's second-placed finish behind Red Bull team-mate Sebastian Vettel in Sunday's Brazilian GP kept both men alive in the title race, although Ferrari's Spanish ace Fernando Alonso remains in the box seat.
Alonso - who was third in the Brazilian GP - leads the overall standings with 246 points as he chases a third world title.
Webber - who is bidding to become Australia's first F1 champion in three decades - is second on 238 and Vettel is third on 231, having won two of the last three GPs.
The Red Bull duo have had their differences in 2010 with Webber claiming that the team favoured the young German.
Now with Red Bull having wrapped up the constructors championship at the Interlagos circuit in Sao Paulo, Webber will claim the drivers' title if he wins in Abu Dhabi and Alonso finishes no higher than third.
If Alonso is second, he is guaranteed a third world crown.
But if the Spaniard fails to complete the race, Webber will only need to finish fifth to claim enough points for overall victory, provided that Vettel is no higher than third.
For Vettel to claim the world title, he would need to claim the chequered flag in Abu Dhabi and have Alonso finish no higher than fifth.
Red Bull declined to issue team orders to Vettel in Brazil, denying Webber the chance to go past the German and win, which would have trimmed Alonso's overall lead to a single point with one race remaining.
But team boss Christian Horner left open the possibility of a change of heart regarding team orders in Abu Dhabi, if it means a Red Bull pilot winning the drivers' title.
"It would have been wrong, this weekend, to interrupt a driver still with a chance to win the world championship," Horner told German Sky television.
Webber refused to criticise the decision.
"It would have helped but it's not in the team's policy," he said.
"The team have always been on the sporting side, and that's how it is.
"I'm still in with a big chance, so I'll go there (to Abu Dhabi) and do my best."
Webber, who is aiming to become Australia's first F1 world champion since Williams driver Alan Jones in 1980, was realistic about his title hopes but happy that Red Bull had secured the constructors championship in Sao Paulo.
"Most of these races are decided on Saturday or on the opening lap and that's the way it is," he said.
"Seb drove a good race and won it and fair play to him."
Alonso finished a steady third for Ferrari ahead of the 2008 champion Briton Lewis Button while last year's champion and McLaren team-mate Jenson Button was fifth.
"I lost my chance to challenge these guys at the start when it took me some time to catch them and I lost 12 seconds," said Alonso.
"But overall we did what we wanted to do and now we go to Abu Dhabi and see who wins the title."
Hamilton was downcast. Although he has the slimmest of mathematical chances to take the title, he said: "I was nowhere. We had nothing. You can't win if your car isn't fast enough."
German Nico Rosberg was sixth for Mercedes ahead of his team-mate seven-times champion Michael Schumacher and another German Nico Hulkenberg, who had started from his maiden pole position for the Williams team.
Pole Robert Kubica was ninth for Renault and Japanese Kamui Kobayashi 10th for Sauber.
The drivers' championship had been decided at the Brazilian GP in the last five years.
Button won it with Brawn GP in 2009, as did Hamilton with McLaren in 2008 and Kimi Raikkonen with Ferrari in 2007. | Sports Competition | November 2010 | ['(Sydney Morning Herald)'] |
Union Minister of Home Affairs of the Republic of India P. Chidambaram takes "full responsibility" for the killing of 76 paramilitary troops in Tuesday's Maoist ambush in Chhattisgarh — history's deadliest attack on security forces by Maoist insurgents — and offers to resign. | India's Home Minister P Chidambaram has said he takes "full responsibility" for the killing of 76 paramilitary troops in a Maoist ambush on Tuesday.
The attack, in a densely forested part of the central state of Chhattisgarh, is the deadliest assault on security forces by Maoist insurgents to date. Rebels have intensified such attacks in response to a major anti-Maoist offensive by the government. But the opposition says the government has failed to tackle the insurgency. "I have been asked directly and indirectly, where does the buck stop for what happened," said Mr Chidambaram, who was appointed home minister after the 2008 Mumbai attacks to improve homeland security. "I have no hesitation in saying the buck stops at my desk," he said while paying tribute to the dead personnel. The government says it will consider use of the air force to help police in future offensives against the rebels, but has so far ruled out using the army. The Maoist insurgency - which began in the state of West Bengal in 1967 - has now spread to at least 20 of the country's 28 states. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has described the insurgency as India's biggest internal security threat. What are these? | Government Job change - Resignation_Dismissal | April 2010 | ['(BBC)', '(Reuters India)'] |
One Palestinian is killed and three Israeli soldiers injured in two attacks in the West Bank. According to the Israeli army, the Palestinian was shot dead after attempting to stab soldiers at a military checkpoint near the Beit Einun village in Hebron. In a second incident in the same area, a driver rammed and injured three Israeli paramilitary border policemen with his car before fleeing the scene. None of the three were injured seriously. | Israeli security forces shot and killed a Palestinian who ran at them with a knife in the occupied West Bank on Saturday, police said, as a monthlong wave of violence showed no signs of abating.
An Israeli police spokeswoman said that at a checkpoint in the northern West Bank a Palestinian holding a knife ran toward a security officer who called on him to stop.
"When he did not heed those calls, the security man shot toward him in order to neutralize him and as a result the terrorist was killed," spokeswoman Luba Samri said. Palestinian medical officials said he was 18-years-old.
The surge in violence in October is the worst since the 2014 Gaza war, and arose in part from religious and political tensions over the Al-Aqsa mosque compound in Jerusalem's walled Old City that is sacred to both Muslims and Jews.
A growing number of visits by religious Jews to the Al-Aqsa plaza which is Islam's holiest site outside Saudi Arabia and is also revered in Judaism as the location of two destroyed biblical temples have stirred Palestinian allegations that Israel is violating a "status quo" under which non-Muslim prayer there is banned.
Israel says such allegations are false and that recitation of them by Palestinian officials and in Arab social media has been spurring the violence.
According to Reuters, since the latest unrest began on Oct. 1, at least 65 Palestinians have been shot dead by Israelis. Of those, 38 were assailants armed mainly with knives, Israel said, while others were shot during anti-Israel protests. Many were teens.
Eleven Israelis have been killed in stabbings and shootings.
In addition to concerns over the Al-Aqsa site, many Palestinians are frustrated by the failure of numerous rounds of peace talks to secure for them an independent state in the West Bank, East Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip, territories Israel captured in the 1967 Middle East War.
On Friday the Palestinian Health Ministry said an eight-month-old baby had died in the West Bank as result of inhaling tear gas fired by the Israeli military in the area. Hospital officials told Reuters the infant had a prior health condition, and that it was unclear what had caused his death.
An Israeli military spokeswoman said the army was looking into the incident.
Palestinians say Israeli police and soldiers are using excessive force in the current unrest, while Israel says lethal force is justified against deadly threats.
Israeli police said Saturday that they had looked into footage, which surfaced on social media, appearing to show an Israeli officer shooting a wounded Palestinian lying on the ground, after he had carried out a stabbing attack in the West Bank city of Hebron on Thursday. Reuters was unable to independently verify the video.
A police statement said the Palestinian had just stabbed a soldier and that the officer seen in the footage told him not to move. When the Palestinian appeared to be moving toward him, the officer concluded the man could still be a threat, possibly strapping an explosive device or carrying another weapon, and shot him again.
In a separate incident, an Israeli officer was suspended from duty, Israeli authorities said, after he drove through a West Bank refugee camp and over loudspeakers said: "If you keep throwing stones at us we will shoot gas at you until you die."
Over 100 children have been subject to arbitrary detention by Israel in October across the West Bank, rights groups say
We analyze the polarizing coverage of the clashes in occupied East Jerusalem; plus, the false binaries in the media
Israeli prime minister's remarks came as unrest continued throughout the West Bank
| Armed Conflict | November 2015 | ['(The Daily Star)', '(Al Jazeera)'] |
A Fokker 100 plane with 98 people on board crashes while taking off from Almaty International Airport, Kazakhstan, killing 12 and injuring about 60 others. | A passenger jet has crashed in Kazakhstan, killing at least 12 people but leaving dozens of survivors. The Bek Air plane was flying from Almaty - Kazakhstan's largest city - to the capital Nur-Sultan when it smashed into a building just after take-off.
The Fokker 100 aircraft had 93 passengers and five crew members on board. Survivors described walking from the wreckage into the dark and snow.
Dozens are being treated in hospital. The cause of the crash is unclear.
A Reuters news agency reporter close to the scene said there was heavy fog at the time.
The interior ministry initially said 15 people had been killed, but it later revised the number of victims down to 12.
Kazakhstan's aviation committee has suspended all Bek Air flights as well as those involving Fokker 100 aircraft pending the results of the investigation.
The Flightradar24 information website said the flight departed at 07:21 (01:21 GMT), and "the last signal was received in that same minute".
The airport said the plane lost height at 07:22 before striking a concrete barrier and crashing into a two-storey building. There was no fire upon impact.
Deputy Prime Minister Roman Sklyar said the plane's tail had scraped the runway twice during take-off, leaving marks.
One survivor, businessman Aslan Nazaraliyev, told the BBC that the plane had begun vibrating violently. People screamed and the aircraft smashed into the ground.
He said part of the plane was crushed like "an aluminium can". He and others managed to get out and helped fellow passengers to safety.
"It was ugly. It was dark. We were lighting with cell phone lights," Mr Nazaraliyev said.
Another told news website Tengrinews she heard a "terrifying sound" before the plane started losing altitude.
"The plane was flying at a tilt. Everything was like in a movie: screaming, shouting, people crying," she said.
Mr Sklyar said that most of the passengers who died or suffered serious injuries were in the front part of the plane.
Eight people died at the scene, two while being treated at the airport and two in hospital, AFP news agency reports.
Some 67 people were injured in the accident, nine of them children, the health ministry said. Forty-nine were still in hospital on Friday evening, of whom eight people were said to be in a critical condition.
Most of those on board were Kazakh citizens although Chinese, Kyrgyz and Ukrainian nationals were reportedly among the injured.
The captain has been confirmed as one of the fatalities.
The editor of the Informburo.kz website said one of its journalists, 35-year-old Dana Kruglova, was killed while flying to see her parents for New Year.
A special commission will be set up to determine the cause of the crash.
Kazakhstan's President Qasym-Jomart Toqayev has declared a day of national mourning on Friday.
He expressed his "deep condolences" to relatives and said "all those responsible will be severely punished in accordance with the law".
He also ordered an audit of all Kazakh airlines.
Bek Air also expressed its condolences and said it was doing everything it could to clarify what happened.
Almaty's airport said it was operating normally and the flight schedule was unaffected.
Nur-Sultan - a city formerly known as Astana - was renamed after former-President Nursultan Nazarbayev shortly after he stood down in March.
A survey of crashes in the US between 1983 and 2000 found that 95% of aircraft occupants survived accidents, including 55% in the most serious incidents.
A study of crashes worldwide by the European Transport Safety Council has found that 90% are survivable. Flying remains the safest way to travel. Your chances of being in a crash in the first place are vanishingly small. In 2018 - an average year in terms of aircraft accidents - 514 people died worldwide in crashes involving commercial flights, from a total of more than four billion passengers.
It was founded in 1999, initially targeting VIP flight operations, the company's website says. Nowadays, the company describes itself as Kazakhstan's first low-cost airline.
Its fleet is made up of seven Fokker 100 aircraft. The aircraft in this crash received its most recent flight certificate in May.
This is not the first serious plane crash in the city.
On 29 January 2013, a passenger plane travelling from the northern town of Kokshetau came down near Almaty, killing 20 people.
A month earlier, 27 people died when a military plane carrying senior Kazakh security officials crashed in the south of the country.
Kazakhstan profile
Air disasters timeline
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How the Delta variant took hold in the UK. VideoHow the Delta variant took hold in the UK | Air crash | December 2019 | ['(BBC)'] |
An Indian Border Security Force plane headed to Ranchi crashes just outside New Delhi, killing all 10 on board. The Super King Air turboprop aircraft hit an airport wall and landed in a small body of water. | NEW DELHI (Reuters) - An aircraft crashed into a wall and burst into flames in Dwarka area, on the outskirts of New Delhi, on Tuesday, killing all 10 people on board, officials said.
The Super King plane, chartered by the Border Security Force, was heading to Ranchi when it crashed shortly after taking off, a spokesman for the security force said. Most of those on board were technicians.
The cause of the crash was not known, the spokesman said.
Television footage showed fire engines at the scene as smoke poured from burning wreckage. Paramilitary forces and forensic teams also rushed to the site.
| Air crash | December 2015 | ['(Reuters)', '(AP via Fox News)'] |
A gunman opens fire in a nightclub in Istanbul, on the European coast of the Bosphorus, killing at least 39 people with an additional 69 wounded. , , | At least 39 people, including at least 15 foreigners, have been killed in an attack on a nightclub in Istanbul, Turkey's interior minister says.
A gunman opened fire in Reina nightclub at about 01:30 local time (22:30 GMT), as revellers marked the new year.
Suleyman Soylu said efforts were continuing to find the attacker, who was believed to have acted alone. At least 69 people were being treated in hospital, the minister added. Four were said to be in a serious condition. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said the attackers were trying to "create chaos" and pledged to "fight to the end" against terrorism. Addressing reporters early on Sunday, Mr Soylu said: "This was a massacre, a truly inhuman savagery.'' "A manhunt for the terrorist is under way. Police have launched operations. We hope the attacker will be captured soon."
Only 21 of the victims had been identified, he said. Fifteen or 16 were foreigners, he said, and at least three of the Turkish victims may have been employees at the club. Several hours later, Israel confirmed one of its citizens, 19-year-old Leanne Nasser, was among the dead. Turkish state news agency Anadolu also quoted Family Minister Fatma Betul Sayan Kaya as saying most of the dead were foreigners "from different countries - Saudi Arabia, Morocco, Lebanon, Libya". Early media reports suggested the attacker may have been wearing a Santa Claus outfit, but newly-obtained CCTV footage shows the suspected attacker in a black coat outside the club. Mr Soylu said the gunman was wearing a coat and trousers, but "we were informed that he was wearing different clothes inside". Reina nightclub, in the the Ortakoy area of Istanbul, is an upmarket venue on the banks of the Bosphorus.
Istanbul Governor Vasip Sahin said the attacker killed a policeman and a civilian outside the club before entering and opening fire. "Before I could understand what was happening, my husband fell on top me,'' the Associated Press news agency quoted Sinem Uyanik, who was inside the club, as saying. "I had to lift several bodies from (on) top of me before I could get out. It was frightening.''
There were reportedly as many as 700 people in the nightclub at the time of the attack, some of whom jumped into the water to escape. The Turkish authorities have imposed a media blackout on coverage of the attack, citing security and public order concerns, but it does not extend to official statements. Some media reports spoke of more than one attacker and Dogan news agency reported that some witnesses claimed the attackers were "speaking Arabic", but there is no confirmation of this. Despite there being no official statement about who might be behind this brutal attack, the finger of blame is being pointed at the so-called Islamic State. In the last two years of attacks in Turkey, Kurdish militants have mostly targeted military forces and police, while IS is known to target civilians. IS leaders have threatened Turkey and called on their followers to carry out attacks inside the country. Turkey began a ground operation against IS as well as Kurdish groups inside Syria four months ago. In a statement, President Erdogan condemned those trying to "demoralise our people and create chaos with abominable attacks which target civilians". "We will retain our cool-headedness as a nation, standing more closely together, and we will never give ground to such dirty games." US President Barack Obama, who is on holiday in Hawaii, was among the first international leaders to make a statement after being briefed by his team.
"The president expressed condolences for the innocent lives lost, directed his team to offer appropriate assistance to the Turkish authorities, as necessary, and keep him updated as warranted," White House spokesman Eric Schultz said in a statement.
Russian President Vladimir Putin condemned the "cynical" murder of civilians. "Our shared duty is to decisively rebuff terrorist aggression," he said in a telegram quoted on the Kremlin website.
Turkey and Russia are working together on efforts to end the fighting in Syria, though they support different sides in the conflict. Istanbul was already on high alert with some 17,000 police officers on duty in the city, following a string of terror attacks in recent months.
Many were carried out by so-called Islamic State (IS) or Kurdish militants.
Less than a fortnight ago, Russian Ambassador Andrei Karlov was shot dead by off-duty Turkish policeman Mevlut Mert Altintas as he gave a speech in the capital Ankara.
After the shooting, the killer shouted the murder was in revenge for Russian involvement in the conflict in the Syrian city of Aleppo.
| Armed Conflict | January 2017 | ['(BBC)', '(AP via ABC News Australia)', '(Fox News)'] |
Mauritania extradites former Libyan intelligence chief Abdullah Senussi, who was arrested in the capital Nouakchott in March after fleeing Libya during the civil war in 2011. The United States insist on a fair trial for the suspect, a "milestone in (Libya's) democratic transition". | Deposed Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi's intelligence chief is being held in Tripoli after being deported from Mauritania.
Pictures on social media appeared to show Abdullah al-Senussi stepping down from a helicopter in the capital.
Libya has promised a fair trial for Mr Senussi, accused of crimes allegedly committed during Col Gaddafi's rule. He fled Libya after last year's uprising. He is also wanted by France and the International Criminal Court.
"Abdullah al-Senussi will have a fair trial according to international standards for human rights, the rights from which Libyans were deprived," Prime Minister Abdurrahim el-Keib told reporters in Tripoli.
A spokesman for Libya's attorney general said Mr Senussi had undergone a routine medical check-up and was in good health. He added that the prosecutors would begin questioning him as soon as possible.
BBC Middle East editor Jeremy Bowen says a key question is what he might reveal about extraordinary rendition - the process under which jihadist enemies of Col Gaddafi's Libya were sent back to Libya by the US and Britain.
Mr Senussi was arrested on his arrival in Mauritania in March, sparking repeated requests to the west African nation from the Libyan government for his return.
"He was extradited to Libya on the basis of guarantees given by Libyan authorities," a Mauritanian government source told Reuters news agency, without giving details.
According to reports, Mr Senussi was delivered to an official Libyan delegation headed by the minister of justice.
The BBC's Jon Leyne in Cairo says Mr Senussi's extradition to Libya is a blow for the ICC.
Not only has the court been trying to win custody of Mr Senussi, he says, it is also arguing that Col Gaddafi's son Seif al-Islam should also be brought to justice at the court. In March, Mr Senussi was arrested at Nouakchott airport in Mauritania after flying in from Morocco. He was disguised as a Tuareg chieftain and was carrying a fake passport.
He was later charged with illegally entering the country and using forged documents, and transferred to the civilian prison in Nouakchott. However, it is believed he has spent most of his time in Mauritania under house arrest at a private villa.
In June 2011, the ICC issued a warrant for Mr Senussi for crimes against humanity alleged to have been carried out in Benghazi, the main base of the Libyan opposition during the revolt last year.
France has already sentenced Mr Senussi to life imprisonment for his involvement in the bombing of a French airliner over Niger in 1989 in which 170 people were killed.
He has been accused of various human rights abuses including his alleged role in the 1996 massacre of more than 1,000 inmates at the Abu Salim prison in Tripoli. He is alleged to have ordered guards standing on grated ceilings above the inmates to fire down on them, after riots broke out over demands for better food and conditions.
Mr Senussi is also believed to have information about Libyans kidnapped and assassinated abroad during Gaddafi's rule, and the financing of terrorist organisations, especially in Africa.
Investigators in the US and UK believe he may have further knowledge about the 1988 airliner bombing over Lockerbie in Scotland in which 270 people died.
Earlier this year, US House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, who led a delegation to the region, said Washington had a "particular interest" in seeing Mr Senussi arrested "because of his role with the Lockerbie bombing".
| Famous Person - Commit Crime - Accuse | September 2012 | ['(BBC)', '(Xinhua)'] |
NATO aircraft conduct a bombing attack on Muammar Gaddafi's compound in Tripoli. | POWERFUL explosions have again rocked the area around the residence of Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi in Tripoli.
POWERFUL explosions have again rocked the area around the residence of Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi in the centre of Tripoli, only hours after it had been targeted by dozens of similar raids.
Loud blasts were heard today in the district around 1.45am local time (9.45am AEST). A little later the city was shaken by more powerful explosions.
Today, in one of the heaviest bombardments of the air war so far, NATO-led warplanes carried out some 60 strikes on Tripoli, killing 31 people, Libyan government spokesman Mussa Ibrahim said.
A main target was Colonel Gaddafi's compound which has been targeted regularly since the start of the international military intervention on March 19, and most of the buildings in the Bab al-Aziziya complex have been flattened.
Originally published asTripoli pounded, Gaddafi's home rocked
| Armed Conflict | June 2011 | ['(AFP via News Limited)'] |
At least 33 are dead and 23 missing after two passenger boats capsize off Phuket, Thailand. All are Chinese tourists. | HONG KONG — Two boats carrying tourists off the coast of Thailand capsized in 16-foot waves near the resort island of Phuket, killing at least 33 people and leaving more than 20 missing, officials said Friday.
One of the boats, the double-decker cruise ship Phoenix PC Diving, was carrying 105 passengers — including 93 tourists, all from China — when it capsized Thursday after leaving Koh Racha, a popular snorkeling spot.
| Shipwreck | July 2018 | ['(NYT)'] |
Israeli police, at the request of the British Embassy in Tel Aviv, captured a man who broke in to the Embassy and demanded asylum, threatening to kill himself if his demands were not met. | Nadim Injaz, 28, from Ramallah in the West Bank, had threatened to kill himself on live television if he did not get asylum.
Mr Injaz is a Palestinian and is reported to have been an informant.
He was chased down an alleyway by officers, held and taken off the compound, the BBC's Paul Adams said.
Our correspondent said there were no shots fired and no injuries. He said it was believed food given to Mr Injaz may have contained a sedative to slow down his reactions.
Someone should come and help me. No one wants to help me
Nadim Injaz
Mr Injaz was reported to have been armed with a pistol, but this was later found to have been a toy gun, police told Israel's Channel 10 TV, news agency Reuters reported.
The man, who entered the compound several hours earlier, had reportedly told another Israeli broadcaster, Channel 2: "Someone should come and help me. No one wants to help me." Mr Injaz is said to have feared he may have been killed by Palestinian militants, and that Israeli authorities refused to help him.
It is thought he scaled a fence to enter the compound.
The UK Foreign Office said the Israeli police took action after British authorities asked for help dealing with the situation.
Embassy spokeswoman Karen Kaufman said: "As far as the embassy is concerned, the event is over."
BBC Jerusalem correspondent Nick Thorpe says the British embassy is a secure modern building near the seafront in Tel Aviv, with a high metal fence and security barriers. | Famous Person - Commit Crime - Arrest | August 2006 | ['(BBC)', '(BBC)'] |
The Dow Jones Industrial Average and S&P 500 end at record levels. | U.S. stocks closed higher on Monday, with the Dow Jones industrial average and S&P 500 ending at new records, as investors shook off earlier concerns about Greek debt and a renewed rise in bond yields. (Tweet This)
“The decision today by markets is the path of least resistance is up and today’s data didn’t change our view about whether or not we get a (second-quarter economic) bounce,” said John Canally, investment strategist and economist at LPL Financial.
The major indices extended gains in afternoon trade after earlier fluctuating around the flatline. “Some people (were) a little bit on the sidelines and they’re going back into stocks because they don’t want to miss out,” said Robert Pavlik, chief market strategist at Boston Private Wealth.
Read More‘Twilight zone’ market could see big correction: Strategist
The Dow Jones industrial average set a record for the fifth time in 2015, closing above its previous closing and intraday high of 18,288.63. The S&P 500 closed at a record for the third day in a row, its ninth for the year, passing its closing high set on Friday and topping its intraday high of 2,125.92. The Nasdaq Composite ended 20 points within its closing record, outperforming the major indices with the iShares Nasdaq Biotechnology ETF (IBB) gaining 1.3 percent.
“I get a sense that investors want to rotate out of bonds into stocks and having a dovish Fed speaker helps,” said Jack Ablin, chief investment officer at BMO Private Bank. “Having the Fed on the sidelines is probably the biggest thing—a Fed reluctant to tighten is emboldening investors.”
Speaking early Monday at the Swedish capital, Chicago Fed President Charles Evans said the U.S. Federal Reserve could look at a rate hike in June if the economy is strong enough, Reuters said. His speech argued for rates to start rising in early 2016. Evans told reporters if the Federal Open Market Committee had confidence that inflation was going to move up and that first quarter economic softness was temporary, “you could imagine a case being made for a rate increase in June.”
Most of the second-quarter data reports have showed a slower-than-expected rebound from a weak first quarter.
“The focus is back on the macro,” said Art Hogan, chief market strategist at Wunderlich Securities. “All things equal we’re really going to have a focus on the European markets.”
He noted little market-moving news on Monday for U.S. stocks as just a few retail names post earnings and most data reports come later in the week. The only data out Monday was the National Association of Home Builders’ survey, which showed builder confidence slipped two points in May, missing expectations of a slight gain. Housing starts and existing home sales come out later in the week, along with the Federal Open Market Committee’s meeting minutes. Apple closed up more than 1 percent after activist investor Carl Icahn said in an open letter to CEO Tim Cook that the tech company’s shares remain undervalued and are worth almost double the current price.
A U.S. appeals that Apple won in 2012 against Samsung Electronics. In a mixed ruling, the court said the iPhone maker’s trade dress (a trademark on how a product is presented for sale) could not be protected. In Europe, stocks closed higher amid abating fears that Greece is on the verge of bankruptcy. “Regardless of how the Greek impasse resolves itself, the global financial markets’ ability to blissfully ignore Greece suggests that it expects one of two outcomes: (i) that a Greek default/exit is nowhere in the realm of possibility, or that (ii) even if Greece were to exit the Euro, the authorities have appropriately ‘foamed down the runway’ to curtail any contagion and the world will emerge largely unscathed from Grexit,” MatlinPatterson’s chief risk officer Ashwin Bulchandani said in a note. Earlier, U.S. stocks opened mildly lower as European equities dipped on news that a Greece government spokesman said on Monday that authorities will pay public-sector wages and pensions in May, but needs a deal with creditors by the end of the month.
Read MoreWatch out: Greece’s ‘endgame’ is in sight
Greece proposed to its international lenders that Europe’s bailout fund pay back maturing Greek government bonds held by the European Central Bank as a way to overcome a funding crunch, Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis said on Monday in a Reuters report. Athens could then pay the European Stability Mechanism (ESM), at a later date, Varoufakis told the annual assembly of the Greek Industrial Federation. National officials in Athens also sent a letter to the International Monetary Fund that showed Greece came close to defaulting on a 750 million euro ($860 million) repayment last week, local newspaper Kathimerini and the Financial Times reported.
“Some of those markets in Europe have come under some pressure because of concerns about Greece and high flying bond yields,” said Nick Raich, CEO of The Earnings Scout. The DAX reversed losses to close higher, helped by a weaker euro at $1.135, while the ATHEX Composite ended up 1.6 percent after dipping 2 percent. Greek bond yields soared, with the 10-year leaping 7 percent, as a leaked internal memo from the International Monetary Fund said the country had little chance of making the June 5 payment. Spanish and Italian bond yields also briefly jumped more than 7 percent, while the German bund yield gained 3 percent to yield 0.65 percent. U.S. Treasury yields edged higher, with the 10-year note yield briefly topping 2.23 percent and the 30-year climbing as high as 3.03 percent. Most analysts said bond yields remain in a range, as longer-term yields remain below 6-month highs touched last Tuesday. “The rise in yields is not a concern about inflation or about the Fed. It simply reflects that global growth is better,” Canally said.
The U.S. dollar gained more than 1 percent after posting five straight weeks of losses on Friday. Analysts noted that morning losses in U.S. equities remained muted despite the renewed concerns about Greece.
“The market is acting on technical factors and remains strong,” said Peter Cardillo, chief market economist at Rockwell Global Capital. “I think a deal will be reached (on Greece)—probably get down to the wire. Investors will keep an eye on that.”
“We’re probably going to stay range-bound with the S&P 500 trying to reach 2,130 - 2,135,” he said.
Read MoreMarket’s new biggest fear: Economic stall
The S&P 500 eked out a record on Friday for the second day in a row, while the other major indices advanced towards recent highs. Crude oil pared early gains, with the contract for June delivery settling down 26 cents, or 0.44 percent, at $59.43 a barrel, as dollar strength and a bearish analyst outlook weighed on the commodity. Also adding to some volatility, the June contract will expire Tuesday after the close.
Earnings expected after the closing bell on Monday include Urban Outfitters, Agilent and Momo.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed up 26.32 points, or 0.14 percent, at 18,298.88, with Intel leading advancers and Chevron the greatest laggard.
The closed up 6.47 points, or 0.30 percent, at 2,129.20, with financials leading seven sectors higher and materials the greatest laggard.
The Nasdaq closed up 30.15 points, or 0.60 percent, at 5,078.44.
The CBOE Volatility Index (.VIX), considered the best gauge of fear in the market, traded below 13.
Advancers were a step ahead of decliners on the New York Stock Exchange, with an exchange volume of 660 million and a composite volume of nearly 2.9 billion in the close.
Gold futures settled up $2.30 at $1,227.60 an ounce.
Cree jumped nearly 6 percent on the announcement that the LED manufacturer’s wholly owned Power and RF subsidiary submitted a draft registration statement on a confidential basis to the Securities and Exchange Commission for a potential initial public offering of the unit’s Class A common stock.
Skyworks leaped 5.6 percent on news it expanded its product offering for components that could be used in Internet of Things applications related to smart lighting. GoPro gained 2 percent after being upgraded to “perform” from “underperform” by Oppenheimer, which maintains long-term negative biases but does not see notable near-term headwinds. Endo International closed down 5.3 percent after the firm said it will buy Par Pharmaceutical from private equity firm TPG for $8.05 billion in cash and stock. Par was taken private by TPG in 2012 for just under $2 billion.
Ann Inc., the parent of Ann Taylor and Loft, surged nearly 20 percent after news that it will be acquired by ascena retail group for $47 per share in cash and stock. Justice and Lane Bryant are among the brands currently owned by ascena.
Read MoreEarly movers: ENDP, ANN, BABA, INTC, COP, TM & more
Talks of a possible Intel purchase of Altera have resumed, according to the New York Post. The two discussed a deal earlier this year without resolution.
—CNBC’s Peter Schacknow contributed to this report.
On tap this week:
Monday
Earnings: Urban Outfitters, Take Two Interactive
Tuesday
Earnings: Wal-Mart, Home Depot, TJX, Dick’s Sporting Goods, Medtronic, Autodesk, Red Robin Gourmet Burgers, Vodafone, Analog Devices
08:30 a.m.: Housing starts
Wednesday
Earnings: Lowe’s, Target, Staples, Target, Salesforce.com, Synopsys, American Eagle Outfitter, Rexnord, Eaton Vance, Hormel Foods, Burberry, L Brands, Sears Holdings
03:00 a.m.: Chicago Fed’s Evans on economic growth, monetary policy, Munich
02:00 p.m.: FOMC minutes
Thursday
Earnings: Hewlett-Packard, Intuit, Williams-Sonoma, Gap, Trina Solar, Toro, The Buckle, Ross Stores, Aeropostale, Aruba Networks, Brocade
08:30 a.m.: Initial claims
10:00 a.m.: Existing home sales
01:30 p.m. Fed Vice Chairman Stanley Fischer on economic outlook at ECB forum
07:00 p.m.: San Francisco Fed President John Williams on impact of form
Friday
Earnings: Campbell Soup, Deere, Foot Locker, Ann, Mentor Graphics, Krispy Kreme
08:30 a.m.: CPI
09:45 a.m. Manufacturing PMI
01:00 p.m. Fed Chair Janet Yellen at the Greater Providence Chamber of Commerce on economic outlook | Break historical records | May 2015 | ['(CNBC)'] |
Cardinal William Henry Keeler, who was Archbishop of Baltimore from 1989 to 2007, dies at the age of 86. At the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops , he served as the moderator for Catholic–Jewish relations as well as the Chair for the Bishops’ Committee for Ecumenical and Interreligious Affairs between 1984 and 1987. | Cardinal William Henry Keeler, who was Archbishop of Baltimore from 1989 to 2007, has died at the age of 86, archdiocesan officials say.
He died early in the morning of March 23 at St. Martin's Home for the Aged in Catonsville, Maryland, a home administered by the Little Sisters of the Poor.
The cardinal's funeral Mass will be held March 28 at Baltimore's Cathedral of Mary Our Queen, after which his body will be interred in the basement crypt at the city's Basilica of the National Shrine of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
Archbishop William E. Lori of Baltimore said in a statement that getting to know Cardinal Keeler was one of “the great blessings in my life.”
Archbishop Lori added that after he was appointed Archbishop of Baltimore in 2012 “I became more aware than ever of his tremendous ministry in the City of Baltimore and in the nine Maryland counties that comprise the Archdiocese.”
Cardinal Daniel N. DiNardo of Galveston-Houston, president of the U.S. bishops' conference, also offered his “prayers of gratitude for Cardinal Keeler’s return to the Lord he so dearly loved,” in a statement.
“As a priest, Bishop of Harrisburg, and Archbishop of Baltimore, the Cardinal worked to bring the hope of Christ to people’s lives. He also built bridges of solidarity to people of other faiths as a leader in ecumenism and interreligious affairs,” Cardinal DiNardo continued.
“Cardinal Keeler was a dear friend. The most fitting tribute we can offer is to carry forward his episcopal motto in our daily lives: ‘Do the work of an evangelist.’”
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Cardinal Keeler was born in San Antonio, Texas March 4, 1931. After growing up and attending Catholic schools in Pennsylvania, he joined the seminary and then attended the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome. He was ordained there as a priest of the Diocese of Harrisburg in 1955, at the age of 24.
During the Second Vatican Council, Fr. Keeler served as secretary to Bishop George R. Leech of Harrisburg. He was appointed Auxiliary Bishop of Harrisburg in 1979, and in 1983 became bishop of the same diocese. In 1989 he was named the 14th Archbishop of Baltimore, the oldest diocese in the United States.
Archbishop Keeler was also elected as president of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops in 1992, where he helped coordinate 1993’s World Youth Day celebrations in Denver, Colorado.
Archbishop Keeler was appointed a cardinal by St. John Paul II in 1994.
He retired in 2007, at the age of 76.
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Cardinal Keeler was very involved in both interreligious and ecumenical activities, as well as the pro-life movement.
At the USCCB, he served as the moderator for Catholic-Jewish relations as well as the Chair for the Bishops’ Committee for Ecumenical and Interreligious Affairs between 1984 and 1987. He served on the International Catholic Orthodox Commission for Theological Dialogue, the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, and the Congregation for the Oriental Churches over the years. He also served twice as the Chair of the U.S. Bishops’ Committee on Pro-Life Activities.
In Baltimore, Cardinal Keeler worked hard to secure funding for at-risk children and youth to attend Catholic schools in the archdiocese. Today, the fund that bears his name has awarded over 16,500 scholarships and has raised more than $70 million dollars in funding.
Other efforts of Cardinal Keeler include his hosting of both Sts. John Paul II and Mother Teresa of Calcutta during their visits to Baltimore, and his efforts to restore the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
Sean Caine, spokesperson for the Archdiocese of Baltimore, told CNA that “the cardinal served the Archdiocese of Baltimore for 18 years,” a feat which made him third longest -serving bishop in the historic see. “He did so with great distinction, great clarity of vision and fidelity to the Church.”
Caine continued to explain the cardinal’s meaning to the city and the deep significance of his leadership over those nearly two decades.
“He was probably best known for his work in interfaith and ecumenical relations, which probably drew him close to Pope St. John Paul II, and that relationship bore particular fruit for the Archdiocese of Baltimore.”
During the Holy Father’s 1995 visit to Baltimore, the Pope “was the first and only sitting Pope to visit the Archdiocese of Baltimore,” Caine explained.
“He was a champion of Catholic education” and helped organize the local Catholic Charities’ comprehensive Catholic social services program, the Our Daily Bread Employment Center, Caine added. “It really is the cornerstone of Catholic Charities here in Baltimore.”
Archbishop Lori expressed that the city will feel the impact of Cardinal Keeler’s loss.
“Cardinal Keeler will be greatly missed,” Archbishop Lori wrote. “I am grateful to the Little Sisters for their devoted care for the Cardinal. May his noble priestly soul rest in peace!”
(Story continues below)
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The Archdiocese of Baltimore asks that, in lieu of flowers, well-wishers make contributions to the Cardinal William H. Keeler Endowment Fund of the Catholic Community Foundation.
Your monthly donation will help our team continue reporting the truth, with fairness, integrity, and fidelity to Jesus Christ and his Church. | Famous Person - Death | March 2017 | ['(USCCB)', '(Catholic News Agency)'] |
The Ghanaian Sports Minister asks FIFA to change its rules after the elimination of their national team, and calls for the African Union to campaign against the "allegedly unfair treatment" of African teams. | Ghana's sports minister says Fifa should change its rules after a handball "robbed" the Black Stars of victory in the World Cup.
Akua Sena Dansua did not say which rules should change but some Ghanaians have said their team should have been awarded a penalty goal.
At the end of last week's quarter-final, Uruguay's Luis Suarez prevented a Ghanaian goal with his hand. He was sent off and Ghana were awarded a penalty, which they missed.
The punishment for deliberate handball was in line with current football regulations.
Uruguay went on to eliminate Ghana via a penalty shoot-out.
In response to Ms Dansua's call, a Fifa spokesman said that any proposed changes to the laws would have to go through the International Football Association Board (IFAB), which next meets in Wales in March 2011.
She also urged the African Union to campaign against what she called the "unfair treatment" received by African teams in international tournaments.
Despite their defeat, Ghana became only the third African team to reach the World Cup quarter-finals and were given a heroes' welcome on their return to Accra.
Ghana's President John Atta Mills has said the players would be given national awards, as well as $20,000 (£13,000) each.
"You did not win the World Cup but, through your performance, you carried high the flags of not only Ghana but Africa," he said.
People from across Africa, especially the hosts South Africa, supported Ghana after the continent's other teams were knocked out of the first World Cup held on African soil.
Former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan, who is from Ghana, also congratulated the team, in particular for accepting their defeat "with dignity".
"While you lost the game, you came out winners," he said.
| Famous Person - Give a speech | July 2010 | ['(BBC News)'] |
Thousands of protesters march in Khabarovsk, Khabarovsk Krai, Russia, against Thursday's arrest of LDPR governor Sergey Furgal for allegedly organizing the murder of entrepreneurs 15 years ago. | MOSCOW (Reuters) - Thousands marched in Russia’s far eastern city of Khabarovsk on Saturday in support of its regional governor, who is being held in pre-trial detention after being charged with organising the murder of several entrepreneurs 15 years ago.
Sergei Furgal, a member of the Liberal Democratic Party, was a popular governor of the Khabarovsk region where he swept to power in 2018 after defeating a rival from the ruling United Russia party that backs President Vladimir Putin.
Furgal was detained on Thursday and taken to Moscow.
He could face up to life in prison if found guilty of the charges that include attempted murder. He denies the charges.
Video footage from news website DVHAB showed people chanting “Furgal is our choice”, “Freedom” and marching with posters “I am/We are Sergei Furgal.”
“Get out of here, Moscow,” an unnamed female resident said in another video from the same website, which claimed the protest was the largest in Khabarovsk’s history.
Reporting by Polina Devitt; Editing by Christina Fincher
| Famous Person - Commit Crime - Accuse | July 2020 | ['(Reuters)'] |
José Inés García Zarate, a suspect in a 2015 shooting in San Francisco, is acquitted of murder charges and found guilty of being a felon in possession of a firearm. | Follow NBC News The homeless Mexican immigrant who was pilloried by then-candidate Donald Trump after he was accused of fatally shooting a woman on a San Francisco pier was found not guilty of murder on Thursday.
Jose Ines Garcia Zarate, 45, was acquitted in a case that galvanized anti-immigration forces and forced San Francisco officials to defend their "sanctuary city" policy.
Kathryn Steinle, 32, died in her father's arms when she was shot on July 1, 2015, while they and a family friend were strolling along Pier 14 in the city's tourist-friendly Embarcadero district.
"We're just shocked — saddened and shocked ... that's about it," Jim Steinle, Kate's father, told the San Francisco Chronicle. "There's no other way you can coin it. Justice was rendered, but it was not served."
Trump seized on the case during the campaign as proof that the United States needs his proposed border wall and weighed in on what he called the "disgraceful verdict" in a tweet.
A disgraceful verdict in the Kate Steinle case! No wonder the people of our Country are so angry with Illegal Immigration.
In other tweets early Friday, Trump said the man who killed Steinle had come "back and back over the weakly protected Obama border, always committing crimes and being violent, and yet this info was not used in court." He added that the jury was not told that Garcia Zarate was a seven-time felon.
And in a statement Friday, the White House called on Congress to secure the border, "provide the resources" for deportations and "finally stop sanctuary city policies that cause needless loss of innocent life."
"Had San Francisco enforced our nation's immigration laws, the Steinle family would be celebrating this holiday with all of their loved ones," the White House said.
The judge in the trial did prohibit discussion of Garcia Zarate's immigration status and the mention that he was deported to Mexico, but returned to the U.S. five times. Instead, jurors were told to focus on the events surrounding Steinle's death.
Defense attorneys maintained that Garcia Zarate’s history of deportations and drug offenses were nonviolent crimes. But in her closing argument, Deputy District Attorney Diana Garcia said the suspect found the gun somewhere and deliberately fired at Steinle in "his own secret version of Russian roulette."
The bullet that felled Steinle ricocheted off the pier's concrete walkway before it struck her.
Garcia Zarate was found guilty of being a felon in possession of a firearm. He could face up to three years in state prison for that charge, although he has already served more than two years behind bars and could get credit for time served.
But U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement said late Thursday that it wants him deported instead.
"Following the conclusion of this case, ICE will work to take custody of Mr. Garcia Zarate and ultimately remove him from the country," said Tom Homan, the agency's deputy director.
A Justice Department official said the federal government is considering bringing charges against Garcia Zarate.
"We're looking at every option and we will prosecute this to the fullest extent of the law because these cases are tragic and entirely preventable," DOJ spokeswoman Sarah Isgur Flores said on "Fox & Friends" on Friday.
Defense attorney Matt Gonzalez told jurors that the shooting was a tragic accident and that prosecutors were pushing a "wild narrative of a desire to hurt someone he does not know."
Gonzalez said that Garcia Zarate found the semi-automatic handgun wrapped in a shirt under a chair on the pier — and that it went off by accident when he picked it up.
The weapon, as it turned out, had been stolen from a federal Bureau of Land Management ranger a week before.
The six-man, six-woman jury was asked to consider first-degree murder, second-degree murder and involuntary manslaughter charges against Garcia Zarate.
After he was elected president, Trump signed an executive order to cut funding from cities that limit cooperation with immigration authorities, a policy that a federal judge in San Francisco permanently blocked last week.
Garcia Zarate, who also used the name Juan Francisco Lopez Sanchez, had been deported five times before the deadly encounter. He had finished a federal prison sentence for illegal re-entry into the United States and was transferred in March 2015 to San Francisco's jail to face a 20-year-old charge for selling marijuana.
But three months before the deadly encounter on the pier, Garcia Zarate was released after the district attorney dropped the marijuana charge — despite a request by federal immigration authorities to detain him for yet another deportation.
Attorney General Jeff Sessions expressed his displeasure over the verdict in a statement that claimed San Francisco's decision to release Garcia Zarate "led to the preventable and heartbreaking death of Kate Steinle."
"The Department of Justice will continue to ensure that all jurisdictions place the safety and security of their communities above the convenience of criminal aliens," Sessions said. "I urge the leaders of the nation's communities to reflect on the outcome of this case and consider carefully the harm they are doing to their citizens by refusing to cooperate with federal law enforcement officers."
Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas was one of the seven Republican senators who in January reintroduced "Kate's Law" — which would create a five-year minimum sentence for those immigrants who illegally re-entered the country — and shared his anger over the verdict on Twitter.
I am disappointed and angry at the not guilty verdict for Jose Ines Garcia Zarate, an illegal alien who had several felony convictions & was deported from the US five times. Justice must be served for Kate Steinle. https://t.co/IxiL9WCU50
Eric Swalwell, the Democratic congressman who represents Steinle's district, also said he was disappointed by the verdict.
"I greatly respect our jury system," Swalwell tweeted," but I could not disagree more with this verdict. I pray for Kate's family."
CORRECTION (Dec. 1, 7:10 a.m.): An earlier version of this article misstated Kathryn Steinle's age. She was 32 when she died, not 33.
Daniel Arkin is a reporter for NBC News who focuses on popular culture and the entertainment industry, particularly film and television. | Famous Person - Commit Crime - Sentence | November 2017 | ['(NBC News)'] |
Residents of Essouassi, Mahdia Governorate, Tunisia, torch the local police station, and a police vehicle, after two young men are killed in a traffic accident with a police vehicle. Personnel evacuate the facility, and no one is hurt. | Residents of the Tunisian town of Souassi torched a police station and police vehicle after two young men were killed by a police car in a road accident, Agence Tunis Afrique Presse reported.
The agency cited a source from the police as saying that the two victims were riding a motorcycle when they were hit and killed by a police vehicle. The accident caused outrage among the men's families, who torched a police station and a police vehicle.
The source added that police personnel evacuated the facility and no one was hurt.
Souassi is located in the Mahdiyya governorate in central-eastern Tunisia.
In December 2010, a Tunisian street vendor who was mistreated by a municipal official set himself on fire, sparking a mass popular uprising that ousted the country's long-serving president and leading to what became known as the Arab Spring movement across the Middle East and North Africa. Egyptian dictator Hosni Mubarak and Libya's General Muammar Gaddafi were both ousted as a result, while Syria witnessed the start of protests which led to a civil war which continues today.
Tunisia: Ennahda leader calls for reconciliation between political parties in Ramadan
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The Tunisian National Office for Civil Protection (ONPC) on Friday recovered the bodies of 21 immigrants whose boat sank off the coast of Sfax while trying to illegally cross to Italy. Director of the ONPC in the governorate, Mourad Al-Mishri, told Anadolu Agency that the bodies of the migrants were…
Police in Tunisia chased and shot dead three suspected militants after they attacked two police officers, killing one of them, in the coastal city of Sousse on Sunday, Reuters reported the authorities as saying today. Five years ago a Daesh militant shot dead 39 foreigners on a beach in Sousse,…
Demonstrations and assaults have continued in several cities in the occupied Palestinian territory for the fourth consecutive day, in condemnation of the occupation’s attack on the Sheikh Jarrah neighbourhood, Jerusalem and the other cities, as well as the continued bombardment of the Gaza Strip. The confrontations took place in Nazareth,… | Armed Conflict | April 2021 | ['(Middle East Monitor)'] |
Human Rights Watch releases a report accusing the FBI of misconduct in the illegal detention and torture of two American citizens. | ISLAMABAD, Pakistan, May 24 - American F.B.I. agents repeatedly interrogated two United States citizens who were illegally detained for eight months and did nothing to stop them from being tortured by Pakistani authorities, a human rights group said Tuesday.
The brothers, Zain and Kashan Afzal, ages 23 and 25, respectively, both Americans of Pakistani descent, were arrested at their Karachi home last August and kept in secret Pakistani detention facilities for eight months until their release on April 22. No charges were ever filed, and for many months their family did not know where they were, according to a report by the group, Human Rights Watch.
| Famous Person - Commit Crime - Accuse | May 2005 | ['(NYTimes)'] |
A shooting occurs at a local train station in the Unterföhring suburb of Munich, Germany. The assailant shot a police officer in the head; she is in critical condition. Backup police engaged in a shootout where the suspect and two bystanders were injured. Police do not believe this is a terrorist attack. | Follow NBC News MAINZ, Germany — A gunfight erupted at a railway station Tuesday after a suspect grabbed a policeman's weapon and shot another officer in the head, German officials said.
Police were called to the station, in the Munich suburb of Unterfoehring, after reports of a fight on a commuter train at around 8:20 a.m. (2:20 a.m. ET).
A suspect involved in the fight began an altercation with two officers on the platform before attempting to push one of them into the path of an oncoming train, Munich police said in a statement.
The 37-year-old German suspect then managed to grab the an officer's gun and used it to shoot the other, a 26-year-old female officer, in the head.
She wasn't killed but suffered life-threatening injuries.
Police backup arrived at the station and a shootout broke out between the officers and the suspect, according to police. Two bystanders were wounded, suffering non-life-threatening injuries, and the suspect was also injured before being arrested, the officials added.
Police believe the suspect acted alone in the shooting and there was no indication of any links with terrorism.
The station was closed and the area around the shooting was cordoned off. Images showed armed police had been deployed, equipped with rifles, body armor and masks.
Germany was one of several European countries to be hit with attacks last year.
In December, 12 people were killed after a driver plowed a truck through a Christmas market in Berlin. The attack was later claimed by ISIS. | Riot | June 2017 | ['(Reuters)', '(NBC News)'] |
Leaders from the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation host a virtual summit in Malaysia to seek ways to revive their economies. U.S. President Donald Trump participates in the event for the first time since 2017. | Leaders from the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum have begun a virtual meeting to seek ways to revive their coronavirus-battered economies, with U.S. President Donald Trump participating for the first time since 2017
President Trump remains defiant over election
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia -- Leaders from the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum began a virtual meeting on Friday to seek ways to revive their coronavirus-battered economies, with U.S. President Donald Trump participating for the first time since 2017.
The leaders' meeting was also the first since 2018 after last year's host, Chile, canceled the annual summit due to violent domestic protests.
Trump's participation came as a surprise as he challenges the outcome of the U.S. presidential election, won by Joe Biden. Last weekend, Trump skipped the East Asia Summits and withdrew from speaking at an APEC CEO meeting earlier Friday.
This year's host, Malaysian Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin, said APEC, whose members account for 60% of global GDP, has a central role in spearheading the post-pandemic economic recovery.
“We need to trade and invest our way out of the current economic downturn. We must come together and work constructively towards navigating the region along a path of robust, inclusive and sustainable economic recovery and growth," he said in his opening remarks.
Muhyiddin urged nations to stay united in combating COVID-19 and ensure that vaccines and health technologies are made affordable and accessible to all.
APEC leaders are expected to discuss new development goals for the next 20 years, replacing what is known as the Bogor goals that were named after the Indonesian town where leaders agreed in 1994 to commit to free and open trade and investment.
Earlier Friday, the leaders of Japan and New Zealand warned countries against the temptation of retreating into trade protectionism.
Speaking by video link from Tokyo to the meeting of APEC CEOs, Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga said a “free and open Indo-Pacific will be the cornerstone for the prosperity of this region."
Japan and 14 other Asian neighbors on Sunday signed the world’s largest free trade agreement, the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership. Suga, who took office in September, said Japan will next push for a wider free trade pact among the 21 members of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation.
“Amidst a risk of inward-looking temptations in the face of the slump of the global economy, making rules for a free and fair global economy is critically important," he said. "While continuing to promote WTO reform, Japan will aspire for the Free Trade Area of the Asia-Pacific.”
New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, who spoke to the CEOs after Suga, voiced hope that APEC leaders will agree on a growth vision that focus on free trade, digital innovation, and sustainability and inclusion.
“As we confront this generation’s biggest economic challenge, we must not repeat the mistakes of history by retreating into protectionism. APEC must continue to commit to keeping markets open and trade flowing," she said.
APEC brings together Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, China, Hong Kong, Indonesia Japan, South Korea, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Peru, Philippines, Russia Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand and the United States. | Diplomatic Talks _ Diplomatic_Negotiation_ Summit Meeting | November 2020 | ['(ABC News)'] |
At least 70 people are killed and more than 150 injured in suicide bombing at Lal Shahbaz Qalandar Shrine in Sehwan, Sindh, Pakistan; 50 of the injured are in critical condition, medical emergency has been declared in the hospitals of Hyderabad, Dadu and Jamshoro. , | At least 70 people were killed and more than 150 injured in a suicide attack on the shrine of Lal Shahbaz Qalandar in Sehwan on Thursday evening. “So far 70 people have been killed and more than 150 have been wounded,” Inspector General Police Sindh A.D. Khawaja said. “Many of the wounded are in critical condition and they will be shifted to Karachi as soon as navy helicopters and the C-130 plane reach the nearest airport."
Medical Superintendant Dr Moinuddin Siddiqui of Sehwan Taluka Hospital confirmed that 61 bodies were received by the hospital.
“Almost all the bodies were brought here. We have handed over 26 bodies to the heirs of the deceased, while those that remain unidentified are at the hospital,” said Siddiqui
Deputy Commissioner Munawar Maheesar confirmed the dead included at least four children and 12 women. The Assistant Superintendent of Police in Sehwan said a suicide bomber entered the shrine through its Golden gate. The attacker blew himself up after throwing a grenade, which failed to explode, he added.
Read: Military on Sehwan attack: 'Pakistan will respond to terrorist attacks from hostile powers'
The explosion took place in the area where the dhamaal (a Sufi ritual) was being performed after evening prayers.
A large number of devotees, from different faiths and from across the country, frequent the shrine on Thursdays a day of spiritual significance in Pakistan's shrine culture. Security for shrines was tightened across the province following the attack.
Chief of Army Staff General Qamar Javed Bajwa, following the attack, directed that immediate assistance be provided to civil authorities. Army contingents were dispatched along with medical personnel. Combined Military Hospital Hyderabad was also alerted to receive casualties. Air evacuation of the injured was started from Nawabshah airport, the armed forces had tasked a C-130 aircraft and helicopters to aid in the effort. The injured were taken to Karachi and Hyderabad, the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said.
The ISPR added that the armed forces had placed all required resources to facilitate the rescue effort. Pakistan Army and Rangers assisted with rescue efforts at the site.
The chief of naval staff placed all navy hospitals in Karachi on high alert. The air force also placed its hospitals on alert to treat the injured. Chief Minister Sindh Syed Murad Ali Shah had directed all rescue teams to reach the spot of the attack.
Also read: Social media erupts at PPP after Sehwan blast; Bakhtawar blames security agencies
“Doctors from Jamshoro, Nawabshah and Hyderabad were sent to Sehwan,” Shah told DawnNews. He also said security has been tightened at all shrines across the province. Sehwan is Shah's constituency.
A mobile forensic van of the Sindh Police was dispatched to the shrine following the attack. Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf Chairman Imran Khan condemned the suicide blast and said he was shocked and saddened on the terrorist attack which targeted innocent people, including women and children.
Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan also strongly condemned the blast at Sehwan. He expressed deep sorrow over the loss of precious lives and sympathised with the bereaved families.
Chairman PPP Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari said the terrorist attack on the shrine in Sehwan was the worst form of terrorism aimed at ripping apart the Sufi fabric of unity and peace.
"This was an attack on our culture, history and civilisation. Every single individual of this land will fight against the terrorists and uproot this menace, said the PPP scion adding that the perpetrators will be brought to justice.
Pakistan seems to be experiencing a fresh resurgence in terror attacks.
Earlier today, an explosive device had targeted an Army convoy in the Awaran area of Balochistan, killing three soldiers.
On Feb 15, a suicide bomber struck in Mohmand, killing three personnel of the Khasadar force and five civilians. The attack was claimed by Tehreek-i-Taliban (TTP)
The same day, a suicide bomber rammed his motorcycle into a vehicle carrying judges in Peshawar's Hayatabad Phase 5 area, killing the driver and injuring its four other occupants. The attack was claimed by the TTP too.
On Feb 13, a suicide bomber had struck a protest on Lahore's Charing Cross interchange, killing 13 and injuring 85. The attack had happened right outside the gates of Punjab's Provincial Assembly.
The attack was claimed by the Jamaat-ul-Ahrar.
On the same day, two personnel of Balochistan's bomb disposal squad were killed as they attempted to defuse an explosive device planted under the Sariab Road bridge in Quetta, the provincial capital.
The last attack on a shrine of a Sufi mystic took place on November 12, 2016, when a suicide bomber struck the shrine of Shah Norani in the Khuzdar district of Balochistan, where at least 52 people were killed and 102 were injured.
The explosion had also taken place at a spot inside the Shah Noorani shrine where the dhamaal was being performed. At the time of the blast, there were at least 500 people gathered at the spot to observe the ritual. | Armed Conflict | February 2017 | ['(Dawn News)', '(The News)'] |
The death toll from yesterday's aftershock from the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami rises to three and 140 wounded. | Tokyo (CNN) -- Authorities on Friday blamed three deaths and more than 140 injuries on a fresh earthquake that struck northern Japan a day earlier, shaking up a region already devastated by March's historic temblor. The dead included an 85-year-old man who collapsed and died while trying to get to a shelter with his family and a 79-year-old man who was reported dead on arrival at the Red Cross hospital in the coastal city of Ishinomaki, doctors there reported. Further inland, in Yamagata Prefecture, a 63-year-old woman died after a power outage caused by the quake stopped her oxygen, the prefecture's government told CNN. Another 132 people were injured, 17 of them seriously, according to Japan's National Police Agency. "It's been a while since the big earthquake so I had started to feel secure again," said Yusuaki Nomura, standing in line outside a supermarket in Kitakami, an inland city in Itake Prefecture. "There will certainly be another big aftershock and I realize I should get ready for the next one and be more prepared."
The Japan Meteorological Agency initially rated the Thursday quake a magnitude 7.4, then lowered its estimate to 7.1 -- the same figure the U.S. Geological Survey recorded. It was considered an aftershock from the magnitude 9 quake and tsunami that struck nearby March 11, leaving more than 12,700 dead and 14,700 missing to date.
The Geological Survey said the quake was centered 66 kilometers (41 miles) from Sendai, one of the areas worst hit by last month's 9.0-magnitude quake, and 333 kilometers (207 miles) from Tokyo. It caused noticeable shaking in the capital for about a minute.
The new quake struck shortly after 11:30 p.m. Thursday (10:30 a.m. ET), closer to the coast than the March 11 disaster. It triggered a tsunami warning for one section of the coast and advisories for others, but the advisories were lifted about 90 minutes later. "I was terrified, then all the lights went off and it was pitch black, which was even more scary," said Chieko Watanabe, a Kitame resident as she stood outside a hardware store which had run out of generators and batteries. Japanese nuclear regulators said no additional damage was reported at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, where workers have been battling to keep overheating reactors under control since the March 11 quake. Workers evacuated the plant when the quake hit, but water continued flowing into the reactors, the Tokyo Electric Power Company told reporters.
But at the Onagawa nuclear plant, about 140 kilometers (88 miles) to the north, the latest rumbles caused several small leaks of radioactive water that totaled about 15 liters (3.9 gallons), the Sendai-based Tohoku Electric Company reported. The leaks came from pools housing spent fuel from the plant's three reactors, which have been shut down since the March 11 earthquake, Tohoku Electric said. Their radioactivity was far below the threshold that posed a threat to human health, according to data released by the company. A handful of roads were damaged as well as a few homes. About 3.9 million homes remained without power, police said, and water and train services were disrupted in some places.
A Japanese researcher said Friday that residents in eastern Japan, including Tokyo, can expect more such aftershocks in the coming months.
"We should not be surprised to have magnitude-7 level aftershocks even a year afterward anywhere as wide as east Japan in the wake of such mega-quake of magnitude 9," said Satoko Oki of the Earthquake Research Institute of Tokyo University. | Earthquakes | April 2011 | ['(CNN)'] |
Swiss citizens vote on four referenda, including one, proposed by the right-wing Swiss People's Party, that would automatically expel foreigners who commit two minor crimes. Current law calls for deportation of non-citizens convicted of murder or sexual violence. | People in Switzerland have rejected a plan to automatically expel foreigners who commit minor crimes, results show.
Some 59% of voters have said "No" to the proposal put forward by the right-wing Swiss People's Party.
The vote happened amid growing unease at rising immigration and the problems which, the party says, come with it.
But opponents said the law would create a two-tier justice system unfairly targeting foreigners, who make up around 25% of Switzerland's population.
Almost two million foreign passport holders live permanently and legally in Switzerland, but as gaining Swiss nationality is a complicated and expensive procedure, and is not conferred automatically at birth, these foreign nationals include many who have never lived outside of Switzerland.
The Swiss government says only two in every 100 foreigners living in Switzerland have been granted Swiss citizenship.
Opinion polls initially suggested the proposal would get support, but the mood among voters shifted in the last weeks of the campaign.
More than five million people were entitled to vote in the referendum; only Swiss nationals get to vote. This result is a major blow for the right wing Swiss People's Party.
The high turnout, over 60%, and the big majority against the deportation proposal show clearly that voters think the party has gone too far. The proposal to automatically deport foreigners, many of whom were born in Switzerland, for minor offences such as speeding, was viewed as highly discriminatory.
The size of the defeat over deportation is likely to force the Swiss People's Party to reconsider similar policies, which it has been planning to put to nationwide votes.
In 2010 the Swiss approved measures to deport foreigners convicted of murder or sexual violence. The proposal rejected on Sunday included automatic deportation with no right of appeal if a foreigner committed two minor offences within 10 years such as speeding or arguing with a police officer. The changes would have created some of the strictest laws on foreigners in Europe. | Government Policy Changes | February 2016 | ['(BBC)', '(AFP via The Guardian)'] |
Leonid Shebarshin, the former head of the KGB's foreign intelligence branch, apparently shoots himself dead. | A former head of the Soviet KGB foreign intelligence branch, Leonid Shebarshin, has apparently shot himself dead aged 77, Russian prosecutors and police say.
Shebarshin was found dead with a gunshot wound at his flat in central Moscow, a ceremonial pistol by his side, police told news agencies.
A suicide note was reportedly also found at the scene.
A veteran of Soviet intelligence in South Asia and Iran, he led the KGB's First Chief Directorate from 1989-91.
In 1991, he replaced coup plotter Vladimir Kryuchkov for two days as overall head of the KGB before he resigned himself, as the new post-Communist authorities set about dismantling the organisation.
As head of KGB operations in post-revolutionary Iran, he was expelled along with fellow officers in 1983.
Previously he had served in India, Pakistan and Afghanistan, Russian media reports say.
Shebarshin celebrated his 77th birthday on 24 March.
The doorkeeper at his apartment block told reporters the former KGB chief had lived alone since the death of his wife a few years ago.
"Shebarshin was friendly and good-natured," he told Itar-Tass news agency.
"He always said hello but you could see his health was failing."
Russian prosecutors said an investigation into a possible suicide was under way.
| Famous Person - Death | March 2012 | ['(BBC)'] |
All 17 members of the President's Committee on the Arts and Humanities, including actor Kal Penn and artist Chuck Close, resign. | Aug. 18 (UPI) -- Members of an Obama-era presidential arts advisory committee resigned their service under President Donald Trump on Friday in response to his comments about racial violence in Charlottesville, Va.
The 17-member Presidential Committee on Arts & Humanities made the unanimous announcement. The group included actor Kal Penn, artist Chuck Close and lawyer Vicki Kennedy, widow of the late Sen. Ted Kennedy, among others.
Penn published a letter on behalf of the panel on his Twitter page Friday.
The group had not formally met since Trump took office in January, but had continued its advocacy work under his administration.
In the wake of the racially motivated violence in Charlottesville last week, Trump twice stated people on "many sides" were to blame. The remarks prompted an outcry from both Republicans and Democrats who said Trump had likened anti-racist counter protesters, one of whom was killed, with members of the Ku Klux Klan, neo Nazis and other hate groups that descended on Charlottesville for a "Unite the Right" rally.
"The false equivalencies you push cannot stand," the committee members wrote. "We cannot sit idly by, the way that your West Wing advisors have, without speaking out against your words and actions."
The resignations come on the heels of Trump's decision to disband advisory panels of CEOs and other business leaders after members expressed misgivings about the administration's response to the Charlottesville violence.
In response, the White House released a statement saying Trump had already intended to disband the arts committee after its charter expired later this year. The statement said the panel was "not a responsible way to spend American tax dollars." | Government Job change - Resignation_Dismissal | August 2017 | ['(AP via Miami Herald)', '(India-West)', '(UPI)'] |
Dozens of ISIL militants are killed following a militia attack on the eastern city of Derna. ISIL has had a significant presence in Derna since the end of 2014. | Tripoli (AFP) - Dozens of fighters from the Islamic State group were killed in Libya Saturday as militiamen sought to dislodge them from a neighbourhood in the eastern city of Derna, Libyan news agency Lana reported.
For more than a week now, fighters belonging to a group known as the Mujahedeen Council of Derna have been attacking elements of the radical Sunni Muslim group in the city.
"Armed men" were trying Saturday morning to drive IS forces out of Derna's eastern district of Fataeh, Lana said, and "there were dozens of deaths in the IS ranks."
Lana, with links to the militia-backed government in Tripoli that is not recognised by the international community, said Fataeh was "IS's last bastion in Derna," suggesting that the group's fighters had been driven out of the rest of the city.
IS has had a significant presence in Derna since the end of 2014.
Libya descended into chaos after a revolt unseated longtime dictator Moamer Kadhafi in 2011. It now has rival governments and parliaments, as well as powerful militias battling for influence and a share of its oil wealth. | Armed Conflict | June 2015 | ['(Yahoo)'] |
Football team Manchester United lose 1-0 to West Brom, handing rivals Manchester City the Premier League title. | Last updated on 15 April 201815 April 2018.From the section Man Citycomments1450
Manchester City won the Premier League title as Manchester United's shock 1-0 home defeat by West Brom confirmed their rivals as champions.
Second-place United are now 16 points behind Pep Guardiola's side with only five games left to play.
It is City's third title in seven seasons and a fifth top-flight crown - their first under the Spaniard in his second campaign in charge.
They have dominated the title race, scoring 93 goals and losing just twice.
The Premier League title is the 24th trophy of the former Barcelona and Bayern Munich boss' managerial career.
The 47-year-old has previously won league titles in Spain and Germany, as well as two Champions Leagues with Barca.
Since Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan took ownership of the club in 2008, City have won seven trophies, adding an FA Cup, two League Cups and an FA Community Shield to their league titles.
City set a Premier League record of 18 consecutive wins on their way to the title, and have beaten every other side in the division this season at least once.
They were on course to go the whole league season unbeaten before losing 4-3 to Liverpool at Anfield in January.
Their match at Everton saw them retain 82.13% possession, the highest recorded in the Premier League, and they broke passing records, completing over 900 against Chelsea.
They have only failed to score in a league match once this season and lead the stats in terms of possession, touches, passes, shots and goals.
City were knocked out of the Champions League on Tuesday after their quarter-final defeat by Liverpool, and were beaten by League One side Wigan in the fifth round of the FA Cup in February.
However, Guardiola's side did win the Carabao Cup by beating Arsenal at Wembley.
City could have made history and sealed the earliest Premier League title by beating United on 7 April at Etihad Stadium, but let slip a 2-0 lead to lose 3-2.
That defeat came in between two losses to Liverpool in the Champions League, which led to Guardiola claiming the side could still miss out on the title.
However, their 3-1 victory at Tottenham on Saturday put them on the brink of the title, and West Brom striker Jay Rodriguez's header confirmed their status as champions on Sunday.
Guardiola said on Saturday that he would play golf, rather than watch the United game.
City's next match is at home to Swansea on 22 April.
Man City top the charts in a number of key Premier League stats this season:
The anatomy of a Man City goal...
Man City captain Vincent Kompany: "It's the same feeling as the first time and you can't describe it. It's amazing, such a difficult achievement and I'm proud of the team and everyone involved. This one differs in that we were consistent the whole season and we were able to play at the level we're expected to perform at.
"I'm buzzing, over the moon, so happy. I'm proud to be able to share this with all our fans, everybody who's been there to support us."
Chris Sutton, ex-Chelsea striker, on BBC Radio 5 live: "Manchester City have deserved it. Their brand of football this season has been scintillating.
"They've scored more goals and they have a brilliant manager. Their football on the eye has been superb and they've been streets ahead of everyone else.
"Old Trafford was a Theatre of Nightmares this afternoon. You'd think they'd back the derby win up with a strong performance. But they've handed the title to City on a platter."
Ian Wright, former England and Arsenal striker, on Match of the Day: "They have been magnificent. Guardiola has brought the right players. They have been scintillating all season and very much worthy champions. "The goalkeeper was a major acquisition. Kyle Walker has been magnificent too and I'm delighted for him, but the players that were already there have improved too. That's what Guardiola needs to get praise for.
"City are already thinking about making sure they can retain it next season and do better in the Champions League."
Leon Osman, ex-Everton midfielder, on BBC Radio 5 live: "They definitely deserved the title. They've been fantastic this season, right from the start. Their performances out of the blocks in the first 10 games were incredible and they really set the tone for the season. "[Winning at] Chelsea - a massive result away at the champions - early in the season really did put a marker down for everyone else to say we're the team to beat. They looked at one point like they were going to go unbeaten. "I do think they've set a new standard for Premier League performances and what you expect from title winners moving forward."
Shaun Goater, ex-Man City striker, speaking to BBC Sport: "For me, it's by far the best City team I've seen. The way and the style they've gone about it is truly total football.
"City have done it in amazing style. That's what's been so beautiful - the way City have won this league." Man City chief executive officer Ferran Soriano: "Winning the Premier League again is a great honour for Manchester City. We are delighted to have done so providing our supporters with some very exciting and unforgettable moments. "We are committed to playing beautiful football and we are proud to have done it so brilliantly this season. For all Manchester City supporters, at home and globally, it is time to celebrate, acknowledge our friendship and enjoy our passion together."
Martin Keown, former England and Arsenal defender, on Match of the Day: "Last year Antonio Conte was the pragmatic manager but this year Guardiola had the flare. "They have been in the shadow of Manchester United for so many years but they are well and truly out of that shadow now. Look at how much better City's players are now than at the start of the season. They just keep getting better and better.
"Guardiola is a serial winner of trophies so you go up another level. He made the necessary changes - he had the money to spend of course - but he spent it wisely and he set the tone. The players clearly know what they are doing and it's a canvas for success."
Match of the Day commentator Jonathan Pearce described Manchester City as an "irresistible force" and one of "the best the Premier League has ever seen".
Midfielder Kevin de Bruyne heaped praise on his own team, saying: "The way we play is probably one of the best in the world."
Former Arsenal defender Keown described City's players as "artists" who "paint beautiful football for us each and every week".
Chelsea manager Antonio Conte said he admired how they "found the right way to be strong for a long time".
Watford 0-6 Manchester City (16 September 2017)
A statement of intent from Manchester City. They scored six without reply against Watford after putting five goals past Liverpool the previous match. The result sent City to the top of the table, where they have stayed.
Manchester City 2-1 Southampton (29 November 2017)
Just as Southampton looked to have held on for a hard-fought draw, Raheem Sterling curled in a winner in the 96th minute. The win came in a period which saw City also beat Huddersfield and West Ham by the same scoreline through late goals.
Manchester City 3-1 Newcastle United (20 January 2018)
If there were any questions about the response to City's first league defeat of the season at Anfield the previous weekend, they were answered instantly as Sergio Aguero's hat-trick inspired a home win over the Magpies.
Manchester City 2-3 Manchester United (7 April 2018)
City would have sealed the earliest Premier League title with victory on derby day. They were 2-0 up after 30 minutes, but spurned numerous opportunities to increase their advantage - and were punished as United staged a remarkable second-half comeback to win 3-2 at the Etihad.
Tottenham 1-3 Manchester City (14 April 2018)
After three losses in a week - twice to Liverpool and the Manchester derby - Guardiola's side bounced back with an impressive victory over Tottenham at Wembley, putting themselves on the brink of title glory.
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How to get into football - the most popular sport in the world, with clubs and facilities throughout the UK. | Sports Competition | April 2018 | ['(BBC Sport)'] |
An attack on a military camp leaves 11 Indian soldiers and police dead near Uri. Eight militants and two civilians are killed in that and concurrent attacks in the state capital, Srinagar, and a part of southern Kashmir. | URI, India (Reuters) - Militants sneaked into an Indian military camp in Kashmir on Friday, killing 11 soldiers and police, the worst losses for security forces in six years in the Himalayan territory claimed by Pakistan.
The attack was followed by a gun battle in the state capital, Srinagar, and a grenade blast in south Kashmir, prompting a call that Pakistan do more to stop militants from crossing into Indian Kashmir.
Violence has escalated in Kashmir as India holds an election to the state assembly that separatists have shunned and instead urged talks with Pakistan to resolve the 67-year-old row over the Muslim-majority region.
The attack on the camp took place in the Uri sector, near the heavily militarized border with Pakistan.
The militants cut through a fence around the artillery camp and fired rocket-propelled grenades at the security force men in their bunkers, an army officer said.
He said six militants were killed in the gun battle that lasted several hours. Six assault rifles and more than 50 magazines were recovered from the attackers who belonged to a “fedayeen” squad, or fighters ready to sacrifice themselves.
Two militants were killed later in the clash in Srinagar, where Prime Minister Narendra Modi is due next week on a campaign tour. Two civilians were killed in a separate grenade blast.
“These terrorists keep coming from Pakistan,” Home Minister Rajnath Singh told reporters. “Pakistan should make an effort to stop them.”
India has long accused Pakistan of giving material support to the fighters. Pakistan denies that.
India also criticized Pakistan for letting Islamist leader Hafiz Saeed, whom it accuses of masterminding 2008 attacks in Mumbai, hold a rally in Pakistan, saying it was “nothing short of mainstreaming terrorism”.
Tens of thousands of Kashmiris, weary of decades of strife, have voted in the state election that ends this month.
Modi’s Hindu nationalist party is making its most serious bid to win power in the state, banking on votes in the Hindu-majority Jammu region, and Buddhist Ladakh. It is also capitalizing on the rise of independents and splits elsewhere in Kashmir.
Modi is expected to address a rally in Srinagar next week, a rare such appearance for a leader of the Bharatiya Janata Party in the hotbed of a 25-year revolt against Indian rule.
Muslim Pakistan maintains Kashmir should have been included in its territory when British-ruled India was partitioned into independent India and Pakistan in 1947. India rejects that.
Additional reporting by Douglas Busvine; Writing by Sanjeev Miglani; Editing by Robert Birsel | Armed Conflict | December 2014 | ['(Reuters)'] |
The preliminary results are announced for a referendum on the End of Life Choice Act 2019, which legalizes doctor-assisted euthanasia, with voters approving it. Another referendum on the legalization of the sale and use of cannabis was not approved by voters. | New Zealand has voted to legalise euthanasia but could reject recreational cannabis use following two referendums that were part of this month’s general election, the country’s Electoral Commission said on Friday.
New Zealanders were asked whether they agreed with the End of Life Choice Bill, which allows assisted dying for people with terminal illnesses subject to a range of conditions and safeguards.
Issuing preliminary results, the commission said more than 65.2 percent of voters were in favour of the legislation permitting euthanasia.
Nearly half a million votes have yet to be counted and the final results will be released on November 6.
The “yes” vote means New Zealand joins a small group of nations and territories including the Netherlands and Canada that have legalised euthanasia. The government has to ensure the legislation, which applies only to the terminally ill and includes numerous safeguards, is implemented by October 2021.
“It’s much more stringent (than other countries),” Will Trafford, a journalist at the NZ Herald, told Al Jazeera from Auckland. “We have looked internationally. There was a lot of consultation and a few revisions. It is only the terminally-ill patients, they need two doctors to approve and there’s a long checklist.”
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, who was re-elected in a landslide, backed the bill as well as the referendum on the legalisation of cannabis for recreational use.
The Electoral Commission said 53.1 percent of voters opposed that plan, which would make the country only the third Canada and Uruguay to legalise the drug’s use for adults.
| Government Policy Changes | October 2020 | ['(Al Jazeera)', '(BBC)', '(RNZ)'] |
A fire destroys the campaign office of Senator Hillary Clinton in Terre Haute, Indiana. | By TOM MURPHY – 3 days ago TERRE HAUTE, Ind. (AP) — Fire destroyed a campaign office of presidential candidate Hillary Rodham Clinton in western Indiana early Friday.
Two people were inside when the fire broke out but escaped without injuries, said Terre Haute Fire Department spokesman John Gardner.
Gardner said nothing so far had indicated the fire was arson.
"But we're doing a full investigation on it like any other commercial structure fire," he said.
Clinton's campaign had no immediate comment.
A volunteer firefighter driving past the building in a commercial district along U.S. 41 south of the city's downtown spotted flames on the roof shortly after midnight and warned those inside, Gardner said.
The roof of the one-story building partially collapsed and a part of the front wall collapsed on a parked car, which then caught on fire. The adjoining office of a staffing services agency had water and smoke damage, but a fire wall held back the flames, Gardner said.
Clinton is battling Illinois Sen. Barack Obama for the Democratic presidential nomination. Both candidates have set up offices throughout Indiana as they vie for the state's 72 delegates in the May 6 primary.
Former President Clinton spoke Thursday night in nearby Vincennes and had a campaign visit set for Friday in the small city of Clinton about 20 miles north of Terre Haute. Obama was expected in Terre Haute later Friday. | Fire | April 2008 | ['(AP via Google News)'] |
Flooding continues in Italy with seven people having died in the past week and thousands of people ordered to evacuate in Turin as the Po River continues to rise. | The Italian authorities have issued fresh safety warnings as storms and torrential rain continue to cause havoc across the country.
The River Po, Italy's longest river, rose 4m (13 feet) in the city of Turin, as thousands were told to evacuate.
One person has died in the province of Naples, bringing this week's country-wide death toll to at least seven.
Heavy rains have hit the country over the past two weeks, especially in the north-west.
The BBC's David Willey in Rome says millions of Italians, from Milan to Venice, are at risk if the flooding continues.
Thousands of people in low-lying areas near Turin have been told to leave their homes, while the city's schools, as well as those in Milan, were ordered to close on Monday as a precaution.
In Naples, an alert was issued as heavy rain caused widespread flooding on Sunday.
Local football matches were postponed, while a man was killed in Pozzuoli, north of Naples, when a tree fell on his car. The ruins of Pompeii, on the outskirts of the city, were temporarily closed amid flooding fears, but later re-opened, according to the Associated Press news agency.
Geologists accuse the government of failing to provide a national emergency plan when bad weather batters the country.
Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi has admitted that unauthorised building has exacerbated the problem, blaming lax local construction laws.
On Friday six people were killed in Genoa, the largest city on Italy's north-western coast.
Television footage showed cars floating and people wading knee-deep through flooded streets in the city.
Hundreds of shops were flooded and emergency officials urged residents to move to high ground as two rivers burst their banks.
Last week the government declared a state of emergency in the north-western Liguria region and in Tuscany, after storms lashed coastal regions, killing at least 10 people and causing widespread flooding and mudslides.
In pictures: Floods in France and Italy
Several dead in Italian floods | Floods | November 2011 | ['(BBC)'] |
Polls open in the United Kingdom, with Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn and incumbent Theresa May of the Conservatives battling in a tight race, according to final opinion polling, to become prime minister. | NORWICH/LONDON (Reuters) - On the eve of an election Prime Minister Theresa May returned to her core message that only she can deliver a good Brexit deal, moving on from a heated national debate over security after two deadly Islamist attacks.
What are the key issues in the UK general election?
May unexpectedly called the snap vote seven weeks ago, seeking to increase her working parliamentary majority of 17 seats ahead of the start of negotiations on leaving the European Union.
But the campaign has seen unexpected twists - a steep decline in May’s once-commanding poll lead over the opposition Labour Party, and attacks in Manchester and London that killed 30 people.
Pollsters still expect May’s Conservatives to win, although talk of a landslide majority of more than 100 seats has faded. A final flurry of polls put her party’s lead in a range between 1 and 12 percentage points, with most of them suggesting she would increase her majority.
The polls started narrowing after May launched a new policy on care for the elderly that proved unpopular. She backtracked days later, prompting opposition parties to pour scorn on her claim to offer “strong and stable leadership”.
Then came a suicide bombing at a pop concert in Manchester on May 22 that killed 22 children and adults, and a van and knife attack on London Bridge and in nearby Borough Market that killed eight people on June 3, five days before the election.
The attacks threw the campaign spotlight onto security and prompted questions from May’s opponents and media about her record overseeing cuts in police numbers during her years as interior minister from 2010 to 2016.
But the security issue was not seen as helpful to her main rival, Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, who has voted against counter-terrorism legislation and expressed reservations in the past about police shoot-to-kill tactics.
Related Coverage
On Wednesday, the eve of the vote, May tried to bring the campaign back to Brexit.
“When it comes to the election tomorrow, I think the choices and the questions that people need to ask are exactly the same today as they were right at the beginning of the campaign,” she told a campaign rally in Norwich, eastern England.
“And the first is a question of who do you trust to actually have the strong and stable leadership that is going to deliver the best deal for Britain in Europe.”
May has sought to portray Corbyn as the weak leader of a spendthrift party which would crash Britain’s $2.5 trillion economy and lead the country to ruin in chaotic Brexit negotiations.
Corbyn, a veteran left-winger who unexpectedly won the Labour leadership in 2015 after three decades on the party fringe, has hit back that Conservative fiscal austerity has hurt the poor and increased social inequalities.
Labour propose to build a fairer society through policies such as increasing tax for the richest 5 percent, boosting workers’ rights, scrapping university tuition fees and investing 250 billion pounds in infrastructure.
“The choice is quite simple. Five more years of a Tory government, five more years of austerity, five more years of cuts. Or something different,” Corbyn told supporters in Colwyn Bay, north Wales, to cheers and applause.
For May, the challenge is not only to win but to surpass handsomely the 12-seat majority her Conservative predecessor David Cameron won in 2015.
A narrow victory would undermine her authority both inside her party and at talks with the 27 other EU leaders.
Up to five more opinion polls are expected before voting begins at 0600 GMT on Thursday.
Britons have until 2100 GMT to vote, and there will be an exit poll as soon as voting ends. The first handful of seat results are expected to be announced by 2300 GMT, with the vast majority of the 650 constituencies due to announce results between 0200 GMT and 0500 GMT on Friday morning.
London police were still dealing with the fallout from Saturday night’s attack, when three jihadis drove a van into pedestrians on London Bridge before running into narrow streets bustling with nightlife, stabbing and slashing people indiscriminately.
They said they arrested three more people on Wednesday and searched two locations in connection with the attack. They have also made 25 arrests for hate crimes since Saturday and had stepped up their presence in communities to provide reassurance.
With the capital still jittery, police carried out a controlled explosion near the site where a new U.S. embassy is being built in southwest London because of two suspicious vehicles, but later said it had been a false alarm.
Police confirmed on Wednesday the Saturday death toll had risen to eight after they found a body in the River Thames. They also made another arrest in east London in connection with the attack.
The dead include people from France, Australia, Canada, Spain and Britain. The attack left 48 injured, of whom 29 were still in hospital on Wednesday. Health authorities said 10 were in a critical condition.
Security has been increased nationwide and the violence has dominated the final weeks of campaigning.
May responded to the attack with a pledge to crack down on Islamist extremism and strengthen police powers.
“If human rights laws get in the way of doing these things, we will change those laws to make sure we can do them,” she said in an interview with the Sun.
The head of campaign group Amnesty International said the pledge was outrageous and a gift to autocratic leaders around the world.
Two of the three London Bridge attackers, who were all shot dead at the scene by police, had been known to authorities beforehand.
Italy said it had flagged Youssef Zaghba as a potential risk after he moved to England last year, while Khuram Butt was known to British security services.
| Government Job change - Election | June 2017 | ['(Reuters)'] |
The Kremlin arrests four people, Kaspersky Lab's Ruslan Stoyanov, and three officials in the Federal Security Service Center for Information Security, reportedly on treason charges for passing information to America's CIA. , , , | Russian spy officials have been accused of treason because they were cooperating with the CIA, according to a report.
The arrests of Sergei Mikhailov and his deputy Dmitry Dokuchaev, who worked for the KGB successor FSB's Center for Information Security, were first reported by Russian media earlier this month.
Unidentified officials confirmed to Interfax, one of Russia's major news agencies, on Tuesday that the two men were accused of working with the CIA.
It was not immediately clear what the exact alleged conduct was, though U.S. intelligence agencies have accused the FSB of hacking U.S. targets and Russia's other agency, the GRU, of releasing information to help the election of President Trump.
A report from Novaya Gazeta said that Mikhailov is accused of passing on information regarding a breach of election systems in Arizona and Illinois last summer, which is not attributed in the U.S. intelligence hacking explainer released earlier this month.
He was taken out of an FSB meeting in December with a bag over his head and has not been heard from since, the independent newspaper reported.
Beyond Mikhailov and Dokuchaev, private cybersecurity expert Ruslan Stoyanov and one other person have reportedly been arrested, with Interfax saying that up to eight people were being spoken to as possible witnesses.
A source told the agency that some of those people were involved in cyber attacks, and that others were not involved in the hacking but accused of working with foreign powers.
The arrests come amid a flurry of attention to the Russian security services, which beyond hacking were accused in a former British spy's unsubstantiated dossier of holding "kompromat" on Trump.
A former FSB officer and close associate of Russian oil company head Igor Sechin, who was named in the documents, was found dead behind the wheel in late December
Police told Russian media that Oleg Erovinkin, 61, died of a heart attack.
Multiple reports have also cited possible connections between Mikhailov and hacking group Shaltai-Boltai (Humpty Dumpty), which has previously leaked information about Russian government figures and is believed to be linked to a faction of officials inside the government. | Famous Person - Commit Crime - Arrest | January 2017 | ['(FSB previously KGB)', '(New York Daily News)', '(The Washington Times)', '(The New York Times Jan 25)', '(AP)'] |
SpaceX launches BulgariaSat-1, Bulgaria's first ever geostationary communications satellite, from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station on a Falcon 9 Full Thrust rocket, which successfully lands on an autonomous spaceport drone ship in the Atlantic Ocean. | After launching a Bulgarian satellite into space, the company managed to recover its rocket on an Atlantic Ocean drone ship.
The BulgariaSat-1 should be operational within a month.
SpaceX launched a Falcon 9 rocket into space carrying BulgariaSat-1 from Kennedy Space Center on June 23, 2017. (John Raoux / AP) Roughly 9 minutes, 10 seconds after SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket launched at 3:10 p.m. with its payload in tow, video footage at the "Of Course I Still Love You" drone ship showed the launch vehicle had landed.
The launch marks the first of two this weekend for SpaceX, which has another planned for take off from Vendenberg Air Force Base in California on Sunday.
The launch appeared to go smoothly, with the Falcon 9 lifting off from a cloud of smoke and fire on Florida's Space Coast.
SpaceX recovered the rocket, though CEO Elon Musk tried to tamp down expectations earlier Friday, warning on Twitter that there was a "good chance rocket booster doesn't make it back.
The launch of a refurbished rocket, which previously launched in California, also marked a small milestone: One rocket that has now launched from both coasts.
SpaceX's next Florida launch is planned for July 1.
The Bulgaria mission had been delayed multiple times.
BulgariaSat-1 represents the country's first geostationary telecommunications satellite.
SpaceX has three planned launches from Florida in July.
Officials with Bulgaria Sat, the largest provider of pay-TV services in Bulgaria, blamed weather forecasts for the initial June 15 delay.
The Bulgaria Sat launch marks the second time SpaceX relaunches a rocket booster, following the March 30 relaunch of a booster from Florida.
| New achievements in aerospace | June 2017 | ['(Orlando Sentinel)'] |
Midnight's Children by Salman Rushdie is awarded The Best of the Booker, as the best novel to have won a Man Booker Prize in the first 40 years of its existence. | Sir Salman Rushdie's novel Midnight's Children has won the Best of the Booker prize, as voted for by the public.
The 1981 book beat five other former Booker winners shortlisted from the prize's 40-year history. Sir Salman, who was unable to attend the London ceremony as he is currently on tour in the US, sent his thanks via a pre-recorded message. It is the third Booker award for the author, who was also the winner of the Booker of Bookers in 1993.
"Marvellous news - I'm absolutely delighted and would like to thank all those readers around the world who voted for Midnight's Children," the author said.
'Readers have spoken'
His sons, Zafar and Milan, were in attendance at the award ceremony at London's South Bank Centre to receive the custom-made trophy. "It's a wonderful alternative to have my real children accepting the prize on behalf of my imaginary children," Sir Salman said. When voting closed at 1200 BST on 8 July, 7,801 people had voted via online and text, with 36% voting for Midnight's Children. Peter Carey, Pat Barker, JM Coetzee, Nadine Gordimer and JG Farrell were also shortlisted for the prize. The shortlist was chosen by a panel of experts including novelist and critic Victoria Glendinning and broadcaster Mariella Frostrup. "The readers have spoken - in their thousands. And we do believe that they have made the right choice," Glendinning said. She added that Midnight's Children had won by a "quite a large margin". The Booker Prize, which was first awarded in 1969, has spawned 41 winners because it was shared between two authors in 1974 and 1992. | Awards ceremony | July 2008 | ['(BBC News)'] |
At least 38 people are dead after a bus collides with a van carrying flammable liquids in China's Hunan province. | Forty-three people were killed when a van carrying inflammable liquid hit a bus on a highway in central China early Saturday, state media reports.
The collision in Hunan province triggered a fire and explosion which destroyed five vehicles, the Xinhua news agency says.
Six people were injured in the accident, including four with severe burns, according to Xinua.
The crash reportedly occurred at around 3am. The fire was finally put out by about 8am.
The double-decker long-distance bus, with capacity for 53 occupants, was travelling between the eastern coastal province of Fujian and Guizhou in the southwest when the crash occurred.
Senior work safety and transport ministry officials and police were heading to the site to investigate, Xinhua says.
Fatal road accidents are a serious problem in China, where the highway network and number of new drivers are expanding rapidly while traffic laws and safety are widely flouted.
Last week, 11 people were killed, including eight children, when a school bus crashed into a reservoir in Hunan.
At least 42 people were killed when fire engulfed a bus during rush hour in the city of Xiamen, Fujian, in June last year.
In August 2012, at least 36 people died when a double-decker sleeper bus slammed into the rear of a methanol tanker and burst into flames in northern China.
The ministry of transport says the number of road deaths in China fell from 104,000 in 2003 to 60,000 in 2012, or from about 300 fatalities a day to less than 200.
A study published in 2011 by a group of Chinese and US researchers concluded, however, that the number of deadly accidents was two times higher than the police claimed.
| Road Crash | July 2014 | ['(AFP via ABC News Australia)'] |
The Syrian opposition figure Ghassan Hitto task with forming an interim government to administer rebel–held areas has resigned, citing an inability to do so during a meeting in Istanbul. | The Syrian opposition figure tasked with forming an interim government to administer rebel-held areas has resigned, citing an inability to do so.
In a statement, Ghassan Hitto said he would "continue working for the interests of the revolution". His decision follows a leadership overhaul by the National Coalition.
Ahmed Jarba was named leader of the main opposition alliance on Saturday as Saudi-backed candidates defeated those allied with Qatar in several elections.
On Monday, Mr Jarba warned that there was a "real humanitarian disaster" in the central city of Homs and said he was prepared to offer President Bashar al-Assad a truce during the Islamic holy month of Ramadan to stop the fighting there.
As government forces continued an offensive on opposition-held districts of Homs, state media said the army had killed "terrorists" in several areas, including Bab Houd in the Old City and several outlying towns.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported that Bab Houd and al-Safsafa had been hit by heavy artillery and tank fire on Monday.
The UK-based activist group said troops had also captured about a fifth of the besieged northern district of Khalidiya. A government official had earlier claimed that the entire district was under army control. A car bomb also exploded in the predominantly Alawite and Christian area of Akrama, killing at least four people, officials and activists said.
The violence in Homs and elsewhere in Syria has left civilians in rebel-held areas in dire need of humanitarian assistance, opposition and humanitarian activists say.
In March, Mr Hitto was tasked by the National Coalition for Syrian Revolutionary and Opposition Forces with forming an interim government to administer so-called "liberated" zones, co-ordinating the provision basic services and supplies.
However, Mr Hitto was mistrusted by many members of the opposition alliance, who saw him as too close to the Muslim Brotherhood and Qatar, and he has been effectively side-lined since. The National Coalition's former president, Moaz al-Khatib, believed the creation of an interim government was premature and announced his resignation five days after Mr Hitto's appointment.
On Monday, Mr Hitto said he was standing down as prime minister after being unable to form an administration.
"I emphasise I will continue working for the interests of the revolution and towards achieving its objectives," he added.
Mr Jarba, an influential tribal figure with close links to Saudi Arabia, meanwhile said he expected advanced weapons supplied by Saudi Arabia to reach rebel fighters "soon" and that they would change the military balance in Syria. He also said the National Coalition would not attend peace talks in Geneva planned by the US and Russia unless its military position improved. "If we are going to go to Geneva, we have to be strong on the ground, unlike the situation now, which is weak," he told the Reuters news agency.
In a separate development on Monday, Syria's ruling Baath Party announced that it had elected a new regional command, replacing its ageing leadership, including Vice-President Farouq al-Sharaa.
State TV said the 16 members of the top decision-making body were chosen during a meeting of the party's central committee.
"The Baath Party must develop to strengthen a culture of dialogue... and deepen interaction with citizens to overcome the negative effect of the crisis," President Assad was quoted as saying.
Among the new members of the regional command are parliamentary speaker Jihad al-Laham and Prime Minister Wael al-Halqi.
During nearly five decades in power in Syria, the Baath Party has evolved from an Arab nationalist movement into a vast organisation that has infiltrated every aspect of public life.
Although a large number of low-ranking officials have publicly left the party since the start of the uprising in March 2011, its main leadership bodies have remained steadfastly loyal to Mr Assad. | Government Job change - Resignation_Dismissal | July 2013 | ['(BBC)', '(Ya Libnan)'] |
Russian police arrest 290 protesters calling on President Vladimir Putin to resign. , | MOSCOW/ST PETERSBURG (Reuters) - Police detained more than 200 opposition activists on Saturday for taking part in a wave of anti-Kremlin protests across Russia in support of jailed opposition leader Alexei Navalny, ahead of a presidential election in March, a monitoring group reported.
Under grey skies and intermittent rain, over two thousand people gathered in central Moscow’s Pushkin Square and chanted “Russia will be free” and “Russia without Putin” before walking towards the Kremlin and parliament.
Police briefly detained a few people, but did not charge anyone. It was a different story at rallies in other cities however, and the OVD-Info monitoring group, a non-profit organization, said at least 262 people had been detained in 27 towns.
In St Petersburg, Putin’s home town, a Reuters witness saw riot police roughly detain at least 11 people. OVD-Info said at least 66 people had been detained in the city.
Navalny, who is serving a 20-day jail term for violating rules on public meetings, called the rally in Moscow and other cities to coincide with Putin’s 65th birthday.
Putin, who has dominated Russia’s political landscape for almost 18 years, is widely expected to run for what would be his fourth term.
Navalny hopes to run too, despite the central election commission declaring him ineligible due to a suspended prison sentence he says was politically-motivated.
Related Coverage
One of the Moscow protesters held a homemade poster of Putin sitting on a mountain of banknotes, wearing a crown with the legend: “Happy Birthday you little thief!”
Others carried posters citing their right to protest, some waved Russian flags, and a few carried inflatable yellow ducks, a jokey reference to Navalny accusing Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev of owning a lavish estate with a duck house.
Medvedev called the claims politically-motivated nonsense.
In St Petersburg, some 1,500 activists waving red and white banners gathered in a square before heading for the city’s main street shouting “Putin is a thief” and “Free Navalny”.
The size of Saturday’s Moscow rally and others across Russia looked far more modest than Navalny-backed mass protests in March and June, which were widely recognized to be some of the biggest since 2012.
Many of the Moscow protesters were teenagers or in their twenties.
Carrying a yellow duck, Ulugbek Apsapayev, 17, said he had turned up because he wanted a better future for Russia.
“The duck is a sign that we support Alexei Navalny who also wants only good things for the country. But unfortunately we only have Vladimir Putin and his gang in power.”
Putin is popular across the country however, especially outside major cities where his strong leadership style and tough foreign policy stance go down well. He is expected to confirm later this year that he will run for another six-year term.
Opinion polls show he would comfortably beat Navalny if the opposition leader was allowed to run. Navalny says such polls are meaningless because there is no fair political competition.
Putin spent his birthday taking congratulatory calls from other world leaders, and chaired a security council meeting.
Authorities had refused to approve most of Saturday’s rallies, but Navalny says Russians’ right to protest is enshrined in the constitution.
A Reuters reporter at a rally in the Urals city of Yekaterinburg saw police detain at least eight people among a crowd of over 1,000 protesters.
Additional reporting by Gabrielle Tetrault-Farber in Moscow and Natalya Shurmina in Ekaterinburg; Writing by Andrew Osborn; Editing by Andrew Bolton
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
All quotes delayed a minimum of 15 minutes. See here for a complete list of exchanges and delays.
Exclusive: Fed’s Neel Kashkari opposes rate hikes at least through 2023 as the central bank becomes more hawkish | Famous Person - Commit Crime - Accuse | October 2017 | ['(Reuters)', '(CNN)'] |
Several people have died from hypothermia after heavy snowfall and high winds combined to bring historic blizzards over higher ground of mainland Spain. Local meteorologists have described Gloria as the worst storm to impact the region in 38 years. | A storm surge on the east coast of Spain has swept 3km (two miles) inland, devastating rice paddies in the Ebro river delta south of Barcelona.
Storm Gloria began wreaking havoc on Monday and five people have died. The storm has wrecked beach facilities, blocked roads and caused power cuts. Seawater has caused major damage to beaches around Barcelona, Valencia and on the Balearic Islands. The Ebro, lying between Barcelona and Valencia, is Spain's longest river. The mayor of the delta region, Lluís Soler, said "we've never had anything like this before". Seawater has flooded about 30sq km (12sq miles) of rice plants. The beach resorts of Lloret de Mar and Tossa de Mar, just north of Barcelona, are also witnessing extraordinary scenes. A carpet of foam engulfed streets in Tossa de Mar.
The Barcelona port authorities say it is too dangerous for boats to venture out to sea. The waves there have reached as high as 7m (23ft), crashing over a dyke protecting boats moored in the Port Olímpic marina. One anchored boat there has sunk.
Residents have been told to avoid the beachfront areas in Catalonia.
Meanwhile, there has been heavy snow in Ávila, northwest of Madrid, and Alicante, just south of Valencia. The snow forced the closure of Alicante airport on Monday.
A 63-year-old man in Ávila province was killed by flying roof tiles in the storm. The freezing cold was also blamed for the death of a 54-year-old homeless woman near Valencia. The storm is now moving across the Pyrenees, bringing heavy snow to the mountains.
Storm Gloria has arrived in Pyrénées-Orientales, France's southernmost Mediterranean department, which has been placed on high alert.
Dozens of extra police and firefighters have been deployed in the region.
The A9 motorway on the French side of the border was closed as a precautionary measure.
Gloria was the worst storm to have hit the region in the winter period since January 1982, Météo France forecaster Olivier Proust told Franceinfo. | Hurricanes_Tornado_Storm_Blizzard | January 2020 | ['(BBC News)'] |
Haim Yavin, one of Israel's most respected television news presenters has condemned the Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territories, calling it "brutal", the first time he has spoken publicly on the subject. , , , | Haim Yavin, known in Israel as Mr TV, has for decades avoided personal comment on the issue.
His documentary Diary of a Journey recounts Palestinian suffering at the hands of Israeli soldiers and settlers.
Settlers leaders have called for the 72-year-old broadcaster to be dismissed from state-owned Israel Television.
Mr Yavin is a founder of the state television channel and is revered in Israel.
He has spent over two years making the film during visits to the West Bank and Gaza.
He is the voice of Israel... and if he comes out with this, it means that apparently a lot of people feel the same
Tom Segev
One scene records Palestinian farmers being chased from olive groves by Jewish settlers, who accuse the Palestinians of planning violent attacks.
Commenting on long queues of Palestinians waiting at an Israeli army checkpoint, Mr Yavin says: "I cannot really do anything to relieve this misery other than document it."
Tom Segev, an Israeli author and social commentator, said Mr Yavin's reputation as a trustworthy broadcaster could influence some Israelis. "He is Mr Israel, the voice of Israel, the soul of Israel, and if he comes out with this, it means that apparently a lot of people feel the same."
'Unacceptable'
Settlers leaders have been outraged by the broadcast. Settlers Council representative Bentsi Lieberman has complained to the Israeli Broadcasting Authority.
"It is unacceptable that Haim Yavin will continue to anchor the news of the national station that professes to be objective."
The presenter is taking a stand at time when the Israeli government is preparing to implement its controversial plan to withdraw from Gaza.
Israel is planning to evacuate all its 21 settlements in the Gaza Strip and the troops who protect them as part of a unilateral disengagement plan. It will maintain full control of the borders, airspace and coastline of Gaza, which is home to about 1.5m Palestinians. | Famous Person - Give a speech | June 2005 | ['(BBC)', '(Boston Globe)', '[permanent dead link]', '(CBS)', '(The Guardian)'] |
British retail tycoon Philip Green's Arcadia Group collapses into administration, putting over 13,000 jobs at risk and becoming the United Kingdom's biggest corporate casualty of the COVID-19 pandemic so far. Arcadia CEO Ian Grabiner blames the pandemic for the company's demise, saying "the obstacles we encountered were far too severe". | LONDON (Reuters) - British tycoon Philip Green’s Arcadia fashion group has collapsed into administration, putting over 13,000 jobs at risk and becoming the country’s biggest corporate casualty of the COVID-19 pandemic so far.
Arcadia retail group collapses into administration
01:21
Deloitte said late on Monday it had been appointed Arcadia’s administrator and would seek buyers for the group’s brands: Topshop, Topman, Dorothy Perkins, Wallis, Miss Selfridge, Evans, Burton and Outfit.
The group trades from 444 leased sites in the United Kingdom and 22 overseas.
Deloitte said Arcadia’s stores would continue to trade, its online platforms would remain operational and supplies to concession partners would continue.
It said no redundancies were being immediately announced.
“We will be rapidly seeking expressions of interest and expect to identify one or more buyers to ensure the future success of the businesses,” said Matt Smith, Deloitte’s joint administrator.
Green, who was pictured over the weekend in Monaco where his 100 million pound ($133.26 million) super yacht Lionheart is docked, acquired Arcadia for 850 million pounds in 2002.
He had no immediate comment but his CEO laid the blame for Arcadia’s demise firmly on the pandemic.
“In the face of the most difficult trading conditions we have ever experienced, the obstacles we encountered were far too severe,” said Ian Grabiner.
Britain’s Business minister, Alok Sharma, said the administration was “incredibly sad news” and the UK government would support those affected.
While COVID-19 lockdowns pushed Arcadia over the edge, it has struggled in recent years, underinvesting and failing to keep pace with competitors in an increasingly online retail sector.
Its brands were squeezed between the likes of Inditex’s Zara, H&M, and Primark and online-only players ASOS and Boohoo.
A restructuring deal was approved by creditors last year, cutting rents and closing stores, but proved only a temporary respite.
Mike Ashley’s Frasers Group said on Monday it was interested in participating in any Arcadia sale process.
Topshop, once the go-to destination for teenagers and fashion lovers, is regarded by analysts as Arcadia’s most attractive asset.
Media reports have also identified Marks & Spencer, Next and Boohoo, as well as private equity players, as potential bidders for individual brands. All three companies declined to comment.
Arcadia’s collapse could have a knock-on impact on the future of department store chain Debenhams, which is already in administration and employs 12,000.
Arcadia is one of Debenhams’ biggest concession holders.
Shares in JD Sports Fashion, which has been linked with a takeover of Debenhams, closed up 5.9%, indicating it was losing interest. Shares in Frasers closed down 5.7%.
Arcadia’s workforce also faces uncertainty over a deficit in the company’s pension fund, estimated by analysts at about 350 million pounds.
As part of last year’s restructuring Arcadia agreed to provide 210 million pounds of security over property assets to the pension schemes, while Tina Green, Philip’s wife and the ultimate owner of Arcadia, agreed to contribute 100 million pounds to the schemes over three years.
“Philip Green should do the right thing and fill the Arcadia pension deficit,” said opposition Labour Party leader Keir Starmer.
If he does not pay up, Arcadia’s 10,000 pension scheme members should still receive the bulk of their entitlement through the government’s lifeboat scheme, the Pension Protection Fund.
Sharma said the administrators had three months to file a report on the conduct of Arcadia’s directors with The Insolvency Service which will determine whether a full investigation is required.
“I will be keeping a very close eye on this process,” he said.
Even before the pandemic, bricks-and-mortar clothing retailers in Britain were facing a major structural challenge with the economics of operating stores on traditional leases proving increasingly difficult as more trade migrates online.
Already this year Oasis, Warehouse, Laura Ashley, Peacocks and Jaeger have fallen into administration.
| Organization Closed | November 2020 | ['(Reuters)'] |
A cargo aircraft crashes upon takeoff from Juba International Airport in Juba, South Sudan, en route to the cities of Aweil and Wau, killing at least 17 people. | JUBA, Aug. 22 (Xinhua) -- At least 17 people were killed and one survived after a cargo plane crashed after takeoff from Juba airport in South Sudan on Saturday morning, witnesses said.
Joseph Mayom, assistant professor at Upper Nile University told Xinhua by phone that a passenger who survived the incident was rushed to hospital in critical condition.
"According to what I have witnessed, one person was rescued after screaming in pain and was immediately taken to the hospital. We have counted 15 people and two crew members, bringing the total to 17," Mayom told Xinhua.
He said the cargo plane belonging to South West Aviation crashed after takeoff near Hai Referendum residential area in Juba, noting that the plane was still burning as the crowd scrambled over scattered cash.
Kur Kuol, director of Juba International Airport, confirmed the 9.00 am plane crash, noting that the plane was en route to Aweil and Wau to deliver staff salaries for an organization.
"There are no more details I can give you right now but what I know is that it was a cargo plane carrying motorbikes, spare parts, food items, and NGOs staff salaries but there were no more people onboard," Kuol told Xinhua.
He said the aviation authorities will investigate the cause of the accident.
"The cargo manifest is in front of me now and the items listed in its indicated salaries, motorbikes, tyres, batteries, fruits, spare parts and food items. The names and number of the crew members were excluded," he added.
Kuol said the airport authorities don't have the exact number of people who have died nor the survivors, adding that they will be able to provide details once the officials establish clear information.
In 2018, a plane belonging to South West Company crashed in eastern Lakes Regions in South Sudan, killing 17 people on board.
Following the incident, South Sudanese President Salva Kiir in April 2019 banned planes spanning 20 years of service from transporting people, limiting them to cargo in a bid to curtail air accidents. | Air crash | August 2020 | ['(Xinhua)'] |
Gunmen kidnap students from the Federal University of Agriculture in Makurdi, Benue State, Nigeria. | Gunmen have abducted an unconfirmed number of students from the Federal University of Agriculture, Makurdi on Monday.
The university confirmed the abduction of the students.
“The University has reported the incident to the police and all relevant security agencies,” the university’s spokesperson Rosemary Waku said in a statement.
“The University has not heard anything from the students or their captors since the unfortunate incidence took place.”
The Benue abduction comes barely a week after about 20 students were abducted from Greenfield University in Kaduna.
Three of the Greenfield University students were found dead on Friday, Kaduna State Government confirmed.
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| Armed Conflict | April 2021 | ['(The Guardian)'] |
At least 47 people drown after a ferry capsizes in Kishoreganj District, Bangladesh. | A river ferry has capsized and sunk in Bangladesh, killing at least 46 people - the second such incident in a week.
Half of the victims of the latest accident were children, and most of the rest were women. The boat they were travelling on collided with another vessel on the Daira river, about 100km (62 miles) north of the capital Dhaka. According to police, the boats struck each other on a bend in the river in foggy conditions. As many as 100 people were travelling on the vessel which sank and it is feared the number of dead will rise. Rescue operations are continuing. The BBC correspondent in Dhaka says ferry accidents are fairly common on Bangladesh's vast river network. Last week more than 80 people drowned when an overcrowded ferry capsized. | Shipwreck | December 2009 | ['(The Daily Star)', '(AFP)', '(BBC)'] |
Lewis Hamilton wins the 2007 Japanese Grand Prix to take a 12 point lead in the 2007 Formula One season World Championship with 2 races remaining. | Lewis Hamilton took a huge stride towards becoming the first man to win the title in his first season with victory in the Japanese Grand Prix.
The Englishman drove a masterful race in treacherous, wet conditions as his chief rival and McLaren team-mate Fernando Alonso crashed out.
Hamilton leads the Spaniard by 12 points with 20 available in the two remaining races in China and Brazil.
Heikki Kovalainen's Renault was second ahead of the Ferrari of Kimi Raikkonen.
Hamilton's performance, his first wet Grand Prix win, was as controlled and impressive as any he has produced in a scintillating season.
And it means he will win the championship in China next weekend if he beats Alonso, or loses no more than a point to him.
"It was awful conditions and, in the end, I was fortunate I was able to finish the race after my collision (on lap 34) with Robert Kubica," said the Briton.
"When you're behind, and especially in those conditions, it is the responsibility of the car behind to be extra careful and I felt that it was a risk Robert needn't have taken.
"Still, I got through it and was able to see it home. It felt like the longest race of my life, what with the safety car coming on twice and the conditions being so difficult, but I'm ecstatic to get the victory."
The pouring rain at one point put the entire event in doubt, with conditions so poor that the race was started under the safety car.
And there was immediate controversy when Ferrari started their cars on intermediate tyres rather than the "extreme" wets that had been demanded by race director Charlie Whiting.
Ferrari said they did not know of Whiting's instructions. They claimed they did not receive Whiting's e-mail until after the start of the race, but, as all the other teams received it, it seems more likely that they either did not notice it until then or ignored it.
The team were given the choice to call the cars in to change tyres or be shown the black-and-orange flag that would force them in, and they chose the first option.
It meant the Ferraris were forced to pit with barely two laps gone, a decision Raikkonen said was "unfair".
In the end, the safety car stayed out for 19 laps before Whiting decided the track was safe enough to race on.
Alonso, usually outstanding in the wet, came in first, on lap 27, and rejoined in traffic down in seventh place. Hamilton stopped a lap later and came out third.
"It was an unlucky moment," Alonso said. "When I pitted I was behind four cars; when he pitted, he was in front of them."
On new tyres and a heavier fuel load, the two silver cars began to struggle a little, and Hamilton dropped as low as sixth, with Alonso down to 10th, behind rivals who had yet to stop.
Alonso's rear bodywork was damaged when he was hit by Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel and tipped into a spin on his first lap out of the pits.
That will have reduced his car's grip, and the 26-year-old lost control coming out of the tricky and fast Turn Five and smashed into the wall on the entry to Turn Six.
But he refused to blame the damage for the crash: "I aquaplaned and all of a sudden the car was in the wall. I think the aerodynamics were not an important factor."
But Vettel smashed into the back of Webber while the field was still being controlled, leaving the Australian furious.
Webber was suffering from food poisoning and vomited in his helmet during the first safety-car period, and could not hide his dismay at a potential podium finish being snatched from his grasp.
He swore live on television when first asked about the incident, and later said: "Vettel was a bit wild behind me during the first safety car period and then did a very good job of hitting me very hard under the second safety car.
"I think today he will have learnt a very valuable lesson."
The incident promoted the impressive Kovalainen into second, ahead of Massa, the second Red Bull of David Coulthard and Raikkonen.
Raikkonen passed Coulthard around the outside of Turn Five with 11 laps to go, and that put him just a place behind Massa, who was mathematically out of the title race.
Massa came in for a tyre stop on the next lap, promoting Raikkonen into third place, and ensuring he gained an extra point.
The Finn tried hard to pass countryman Kovalainen in the closing laps.
Raikkonen actually passed the Renault on the final lap, but Kovalainen re-passed him immediately and held on to the flag.
"It was a good fight with Kimi," said Kovalainen. "He was probably quicker than me at everything in the final stages and I knew he was really close.
"But I really wanted second so, even though I was aquaplaning at times, I was willing to take a few risks and it meant I could hold on right until the last."
The result leaves Raikkonen 17 points adrift of Hamilton in the championship - still technically within reach, but effectively out of contention unless Hamilton has problems in both remaining races.
Coulthard was fourth, ahead of the Renault of Giancarlo Fisichella, and Massa, who won a no-holds-barred battle with Kubica on the final lap.
Spyker gained their first-ever world championship point after stewards decided that Toro Rosso's Vitantonio Liuzzi had overtaken Adrian Sutil under a yellow flag on lap 55 of Sunday's race.
Liuzzi was handed a 25-second penalty, promoting Sutil to eighth overall and denying Toro Rosso their first point of the season.
Englishman Jenson Button's hopes of a strong race after qualifying in a season-best sixth place were dashed when his front wing was broken in a collision at the start of the race.
He rejoined, but was never in the running for points and retired on the last lap with broken suspension following a collision with Super Aguri's Takuma Sato. | Sports Competition | September 2007 | ['(BBC)'] |
Floods in Istanbul, the worst in 80 years, kill around 20 people and injure a further 20. (Today's Zaman) | ISTANBUL (Reuters) - Flash floods killed 31 people in northwest Turkey, sweeping through the city of Istanbul, swamping houses, turning highways into fast-flowing rivers and drowning seven women in a minibus that was taking them to work.
Twenty-six died in Istanbul, Turkey’s largest city with 14 million inhabitants, Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan said late on Wednesday, after two days of the heaviest rain in 80 years produced sudden flood waters which engulfed low-lying areas.
Another five died in Saray, west of Istanbul, reportedly all from the same family. Nine more were missing, Erdogan said.
In Istanbul rescue workers, some on boats, put out planks and ladders to help drivers, stranded in fast-flowing waters, reach the safety of bridges and high land. Military helicopters also assisted bringing stranded people to safety.
The worst flooding occurred in areas in the west of the city, on the European side, where drainage is often poor.
The waters began to recede late Wednesday revealing wrecked buildings and debris scattered across the streets, as distressed residents and workers started the clean-up.
Interior Minister Besir Atalay said the death toll could rise as waters continued to recede.
Witnesses said waves of muddy waters pulling cars, trees and debris crashed into homes and buildings early Wednesday as people were getting up to break their fasting during the holy month of Ramadan.
“We heard a crashing sound and then saw the waters coming down carrying cars and debris,” said Nuri Bitken, a 42-year-old night guard at a truck garage.
“We tried to wake up those who were still asleep in the trucks but some didn’t make it. The dead had to be retrieved by boats,” Bitken told Reuters.
CNN Turk television showed scenes of white blankets covering the bodies of people found in the western Halkali neighborhood near Ataturk International airport. Airport officials said there was no disruption to flights.
“My friend got stuck in the truck after the water rose all at once. The vehicle stopped working after filling with water. We rescued him with a winch,” Kamil Coskun told Reuters TV in Ikitelli district.
Istanbul’s ancient district of Sultanahmet, with its famous mosques, the palaces of the waterfront and Beyoglu’s area of narrow streets were largely unaffected.
In the Ikitelli commercial district, residents scrambled for office equipment amid debris. In other parts of the city, people waded chest-high through swamped highways.
Insurance company Axa Sigorta Deputy General Manager Ali Erlat said damage from the floods could total $70 million-$80 million, the state-run Anatolian news agency reported.
Public Works Minister Mustafa Demir, who toured the worst hit areas, said there was “huge damage to infrastructure.”
Ali Erdem, chief analyst at the Istanbul Meteorology Department, told Reuters Tuesday’s rainfall was the heaviest recorded in the last 80 years.
The bodies of seven women were discovered in Bagcilar, a working-class suburb of Istanbul, Wednesday. They had drowned in a minibus that was taking them to jobs at a textile factory, Anatolian said.
Istanbul is situated on the steep banks of the Bosphorus strait, which divides Europe from Asia and is one of the world’s busiest waterways -- a major conduit for cargo ships and oil tankers passing between the Black Sea and the Mediterranean.
Elsewhere in northwest Turkey, two bridges were demolished by floodwaters on the Bahcekoy-Saray highway.
Istanbul authorities have been more occupied in their disaster planning with making provisions for earthquakes in a city crossed by a major faultline. A quake killed 18,000 people in northwest Turkey in 1999.
Additional reporting by Can Sezer, Selcuk Gokoluk in Ankara and Alexandra Hudson in Istanbul; writing by Ibon Villelabeitia; Editing by Charles Dick
| Floods | September 2009 | ['(Reuters)'] |
At least 40 people are killed and many injured after a tour bus plunges into a ravine near Cuzco, Peru. | (CNN) -- At least 40 people died and 20 were injured early Thursday morning when a bus plunged into a ravine in a mountainous region near Cuzco, Peru, authorities said.
The bus crashed about 5:30 a.m. near the town of Espinar, Peru, Lt. Edilberto Tunquipa of the Espinar fire department said.
Interviews with survivors pointed to driver fatigue as one of the possible causes of the crash, Tunquipa said. The bus had left the city of Arequipa about seven hours earlier, heading to the town of Santo Tomas in the mountains, he said.
The poor conditions of the road were another possible factor, he added.
No international tourists were believed to be on the bus, though authorities could not confirm that, Tunquipa said.
The 20 people injured were in hospitals, their injuries ranging from severe head and back injuries to minor scrapes, he said. Most of the victims were believed to be locals who work in Arequipa and were returning home to their small towns for Christmas, he said.
The exact number of people on the bus remained unknown. The bus holds 52 people, Tunquipa said, but it was overcrowded, with people standing in the aisle. | Road Crash | December 2009 | ['(CNN)', '(UPI)', '(Xinhua)'] |
Seven Chinese fisherman kidnapped off Cameroon's disputed Bakassi peninsula are released. | The Chinese Embassy in Cameroon has confirmed that the seven Chinese nationals kidnapped in the African country have been released. The released hostages arrived in Cameroon's port city, Limbe, late on Wednesday, and the seven are all in good condition. The seven individuals working for a private fishing company were kidnapped off the Bakassi Peninsula in southwest Cameroon on Friday. A group calling itself the "Africa Marine Commandos" claimed responsibility for the kidnapping.
| Famous Person - Commit Crime - Release | March 2010 | ['(CCTV)', '(BBC)'] |
A Taliban attack on a prison in Kandahar, Afghanistan allows almost all of the 1150 inmates to escape, including 390 Taliban inmates. | A vehicle lays over turned at the entrance gate of a prison, right, after Taliban militants launched an attack in Kandahar south of Kabul, Afghanistan, Saturday, June 14, 2008. More than 600 prisoners escaped during a brazen Taliban bomb and rocket attack on the main prison in southern Afghanistan that knocked down the front gate and demolished a prison floor, officials said Saturday. At least nine police were killed. (AP Photo/Allauddin Khan)
By NOOR KHAN and JASON STRAZIUSO 2 days ago KANDAHAR, Afghanistan (AP) About 870 prisoners escaped during a Taliban bomb and rocket attack on the main prison in southern Afghanistan that knocked down the front gate and demolished a prison floor, Afghan officials said Saturday. | Armed Conflict | June 2008 | ['(AP via Google News)', '(Reuters)'] |
In an incident similar to the one that occurred on July 2, a Palestinian man drives a backhoe into two vehicles in Jerusalem, injuring 16, before being shot dead. | A Palestinian man rammed a mechanical digger into several cars and a bus in the centre of Jerusalem today in the second such attack this month, injuring 16 people before he was shot dead at the wheel.
The incident, which was strikingly similar to a bulldozer attack in the city three weeks ago, happened just metres from the King David Hotel where the US Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama was due to spend last night at the beginning of a closely watched visit to Israel and the West Bank.
One of the injured suffered a serious leg wound that needed surgery. The others had less serious injuries.
The driver, a Palestinian from East Jerusalem who had been working on a nearby construction site, was shot first by an armed Israeli civilian and then moments later by an Israeli border policeman. There were at least a dozen bullet holes in the door of the digger.
The Palestinian was named as Ghassan Abu Teir and was a relative of a prominent Hamas politician, Mohammad Abu Teir, who is elected to the Palestinian parliament. However, it was not clear if he was acting alone or as part of an organised attack.
Avi Levi was driving the bus that was rammed by the digger. "I was driving on the main road when it hit me in the rear, on the right hand side," he said. "After I passed him he turned round, made a U-turn and rammed the windows twice with the shovel. The third time he aimed for my head, he came up to my window and I swerved to the right, otherwise I would have gone to meet my maker," he told the Associated Press.
Another witness, Moshe Shimshi, was riding a motorcycle and stopped when he saw the digger colliding with the traffic. "He didn't yell anything, he just kept ramming into cars," he said. The digger then headed for a queue of cars waiting at traffic lights "and rammed into them with all his might," he said.
Shimshi said he saw a civilian man firing a pistol into the driver's cabin as he continued to ram into the cars. "After a few shots, I saw the driver shake and fall, and then he didn't move any more," he said.
Reports in Israel said the civilian who shot the driver was a Jewish settler named Yaacov Asael, 53, who lives in the occupied West Bank near Hebron and served as a company commander in the Israeli military reserves.
Israeli officials said the attack was an act of terrorism. "This was another attempt to murder innocent people in a senseless act of terrorism," said Mark Regev, the spokesman for the Israeli prime minister, Ehud Olmert. "All people who believe in peace and reconciliation must unequivocally condemn this attack. Unfortunately it is clear that we as a society will have to remain vigilant against terrorism."
Three weeks ago another Palestinian construction worker, also from East Jerusalem, killed three people and injured 44 others when he seized control of a larger bulldozer and drove it into oncoming traffic along another major street in Jerusalem.
There have now been three attacks in the city this year by Palestinians living in East Jerusalem and already there have been calls from some in the Israeli government to take tough action, including demolishing the houses of the attackers.
Yesterday, Avi Dichter, the public security minister, raised the issue again when he said that the family house of the latest attacker should be destroyed. A few hours before the attack, Yuval Diskin, the head of the Israeli security agency, the Shin Bet, told a parliamentary committee there was a "power vacuum" in East Jerusalem and called for the demolition of the homes of people involved in terrorist attacks.
There are around 200,000 Palestinians living in East Jerusalem - all holders of Israeli identity cards or, more rarely, Israeli passports. Many work in construction projects: hundreds of Palestinians are employed on a new light railway project.
The attack came as the Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas, held a rare meeting in the office of the Israeli president, Shimon Peres, just a few minutes' drive from the scene. Abbas said he "condemned and rejected" the attack. | Armed Conflict | July 2008 | ['(The Guardian)'] |
Former Argentine military ruler Jorge Rafael Videla goes on trial. | Former Argentine military ruler Jorge Videla has gone on trial for the murders of more than 30 political prisoners in 1976. The 84-year-old, who is already serving a life sentence for abuses committed during military rule, is one of more than 20 defendants. A presidential pardon given to him in 1990 was recently overturned by the supreme court. Up to 30,000 people were tortured and murdered between 1976 and 1983. As the head of the military junta until 1981, Videla is considered to have been the main architect of what became known as the "Dirty War".
The case now being heard relates to the killing of a group of left-wing activists who were taken from their jail cells in the central city of Cordoba and shot dead shortly after the military took power. The army said at the time that they were killed while trying to escape. Now 84 and with prostate cancer, Videla was sentenced to life in prison for torture, murder and other crimes in 1985 when many of Argentina's military leaders were tried for human rights abuses. He was pardoned in 1990 under an amnesty given by the president at the time, Carlos Menem. In April the supreme court upheld a 2007 federal court move to overturn his pardon, restoring Videla's convictions and clearing the way for other new cases against him. Since he is already serving a life sentence, any new conviction will not mean more years of prison, the BBC's Candace Piette reports from Buenos Aires.
But the prosecution hopes the trial in Cordoba will bring some relief to the families of the dead, our correspondent says.
The families of the victims are being represented by Miguel Ceballos, a lawyer whose father was among those killed. "When they came looking for my father at the prison, he knew he would be killed," he said.
"He said goodbye to his friends and left a photo of his family so they could tell us what happened."
During his five-year administration, Videla organised the 1978 World Cup in Argentina. Argentina's victory was used to try to clean the international reputation of the military government at a time when reports of massive human rights violations had been seeping out, our correspondent says.
Videla also faces charges in Italy, Spain France and Germany for the murder of some of their citizens in Argentina.
| Famous Person - Commit Crime - Sentence | July 2010 | ['(BBC)'] |
At least two people are dead from windstorms in Northern California, U.S. | Robert Kennedy of the Oakland Public Works Dept., Parks Division, cordons off a large eucalyptus tree near Lake Merritt that fell down during a windstorm on Nov. 22, 2013 in Oakland, Calif. The tree, estimated to be around 70 years old, was one of over 120 trees that were downed by the storm. The tree did not damage the nearby Lake Chalet restaurant or cause any injuries.
A large tree was downed by a wind storm in front of the Lake Chalet restaurant in Oakland near Lake Merritt.
Two people were killed and thousands of homes and businesses lost power when high winds ripped through the Bay Area overnight, authorities said Friday.
The winds were particularly strong in the East Bay and North Bay, where numerous trees were knocked down. The National Weather Service reported a gust of 65 mph just north of Piedmont and said sustained winds topping 40 mph were common.
A man was killed in Oakland when a falling tree struck him on Austin Street near Fruitvale Avenue shortly after 8 p.m. Thursday, police said. About a half hour later, a motorist who appeared to be trying to avoid downed debris crashed on Skyline Boulevard in Oakland, police said. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
Neither man's name has been released.
Pacific Gas and Electric Co. crews worked overnight to repair fallen power lines. At one point, 67,000 customers - 43,000 in the East Bay - were without electricity, said PG&E spokeswoman Jana Morris.
r
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. | Hurricanes_Tornado_Storm_Blizzard | November 2013 | ['(San Francisco Chronicle)'] |
At least eight people are reported dead and many sent to hospitals after a bus crash on a New Mexico highway. | Eight people have been killed and dozens injured as a lorry crashed head-on into a Greyhound bus in the US.
Forty-nine people were on the bus at the time of the collision on Thursday afternoon on a highway near the town of Thoreau, New Mexico. New Mexico State Police said a tyre on the lorry apparently blew out, making it swerve into oncoming traffic. The tragedy came as millions of Americans prepare to celebrate the three-day holiday weekend of Labor Day.
Rachel Cunningham told CBS News she was asleep on the Greyhound at the moment of impact.
"It was horrifying," she said. "Like, I've never actually seen in my life a bus look like a ripped-open sardine can."
The truck driver sustained non-life-threatening injuries, according to local media. The Greyhound bus had departed from St Louis bound for Los Angeles, via Phoenix, Arizona.
It had stopped in Albuquerque just before the collision, the company said.
"Our first priority is taking care of our passengers and their families as this incident has deeply impacted all involved," the company said. "Our thoughts and prayers are with everyone as we continue to give our support to all affected."
Passing motorists on Interstate 40 described coming upon the harrowing scene, with victims struggling to pull themselves from the mangled bus.
The lorry was overturned with debris scattered across the grassy median.
Rescuers and witnesses used ladders to get passengers out of broken windows. Nearly every person on board was transported to hospital, CBS reported.
Eric Huff was driving to the Grand Canyon with his girlfriend when he came upon the crash.
He said the truck was "shredded to pieces".
"It was an awe-inspiring, terrible scene," he said.
Chris Jones - a Navy veteran and volunteer firefighter - described coming across the wreckage seconds after the crash.
"It was a lot of screaming and yelling and a lot of people in need," he told CBS from his home in southern California.
"There was people stuck inside the bus, screams from in there wanting to get out.
"It was non-stop, there wasn't enough ambulances there to get everybody out. It was just a struggle."
Greyhound's intercity buses have provided budget travellers an affordable way to see America for nearly a century.
The American Automobile Association (AAA) estimates up to 35 million Americans will travel this holiday weekend, which traditionally marks the end of summer.
| Road Crash | August 2018 | ['(BBC)'] |
Four state Democratic Parties sue the Donald Trump presidential campaign, the state Republican Parties, and "Stop the Steal" group founder Roger Stone for voter intimidation in the states of Ohio, Pennsylvania, Nevada, and Arizona. | WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Democratic Party officials sued Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump in four battleground states on Monday, seeking to shut down a poll-watching effort they said was designed to harass minority voters in the Nov. 8 election.
Dems in 4 states sue Trump for voter surveillance
01:45
In lawsuits filed in federal courts in Pennsylvania, Nevada, Arizona and Ohio, Democrats argued that Trump and Republican Party officials were mounting a “campaign of vigilante voter intimidation” that violated the 1965 Voting Rights Act and an 1871 law aimed at the Ku Klux Klan.
“Trump has sought to advance his campaign’s goal of ‘voter suppression’ by using the loudest microphone in the nation to implore his supporters to engage in unlawful intimidation,” the Ohio Democratic Party wrote in a legal filing. Similar language was used in the other lawsuits.
The Trump campaign did not respond to a request for comment.
Since August, Trump has urged his supporters to monitor polling locations on Election Day for signs of possible voting fraud, often urging them to keep a close eye on cities like Philadelphia and St. Louis that have high minority populations.
Campaigning in Ohio, Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton said Trump was hoping to discourage people from participating in the election.
“His whole strategy is to suppress the vote. Lots of noise. Lots of distractions,” Clinton said in Cleveland.
Democrats are also trying to stop the Republican National Committee from working with the Trump campaign or state parties on poll monitoring, arguing in a separate case that a long-standing court order prevents the national party organization from engaging in “ballot security” measures.
In a motion filed on Monday in that case, the RNC said it was not involved in poll watching but was working to support Trump in other areas. “That is evidence of politics, not wrongdoing,” the RNC said.
Many states allow campaigns and political parties to monitor balloting, although they often face restrictions. In Pennsylvania, for example, poll watchers must be formally certified by the local election board and must be registered voters in the county where they are working. The state Republican party has sued to remove those restrictions.
With early voting under way, civil rights groups have said they have heard isolated reports of self-described poll monitors photographing voters and engaging in other intimidating behavior.
Democrats also sued Republican operative Roger Stone, a longtime Trump ally who is organizing an exit-polling effort. Democrats said the true purpose of the project, called Stop the Steal, was to intimidate minority and urban voters.
Stone told Reuters that his project was designed to ensure that electronic voting machines were working properly.
On Stop the Steal’s website, Stone says Clinton’s Democrats “intend to flood the polls with illegals. Liberal enclaves already let illegals vote in their local and state elections and now they want them to vote in the Presidential election.”
Stone said the 1,400 people across the United States who volunteered for the project had been instructed to use neutral language and only approach people after they had voted.
“Since we are only talking to voters after they have voted, how can we be intimidating them?” Stone said. | Famous Person - Commit Crime - Accuse | November 2016 | ['(AP via CBS News)', '(Reuters)'] |
American author Harper Lee files a lawsuit claiming that a literary agent tricked her into relinquishing the copyright on her book, To Kill a Mockingbird. | Harper Lee, the reclusive author of To Kill A Mockingbird, has sued a literary agent, claiming that he tricked the ageing writer into assigning him copyright on the classic book.
The move marks a rare step into the spotlight for Lee, who is known for keeping a low profile for such a household name, living quietly in a tiny town in the deep south of America and eschewing almost all media requests.
However, in a shock move, 87-year-old Lee has now filed a lawsuit in a Manhattan court alleging that Samuel Pinkus, the son-in-law of Lee's long-time agent, Eugene Winick, tricked Lee into signing over the copyright on the book.
The case claims that Pinkus "engaged in a scheme to dupe" Lee into assigning the copyright without any payment. The ploy is alleged to have taken place in 2007, five years after Winick became ill and Pinkus started diverting some of his clients into his own company. Lee's lawsuit says Pinkus engineered the transfer of Lee's rights to secure himself "irrevocable" interest in the income derived from To Kill A Mockingbird. It adds that he also avoided paying legal obligations that he owed to his father-in-law's company for royalties that Pinkus had allegedly misappropriated.
Lee has been suffering declining health for some years and has trouble with her eyesight and hearing. The case reveals that when she signed the document she was living in an assisted-living facility after suffering a stroke. It says she argues that she has no memory of agreeing to relinquish her rights to the book and signing an agreement that memorialises the purported transfer of income.
"Pinkus knew that Harper Lee was an elderly woman with physical infirmities that made it difficult for her to read and see," Gloria Phares, Lee's lawyer, said in the complaint. The suit also reveals that the copyright was reassigned to Lee last year after she took legal action. Though Pinkus then ceased to be Lee's agent, he was still getting royalties this year, according to the file. So far Pinkus has made no comment on the allegations.
Lee is one of the most renowned names in modern fiction. To Kill A Mockingbird is an esteemed part of the American canon, with its tale of racial injustice in the deep south. Framed around a young girl called Scout, it also features her father, heroic lawyer Atticus Finch, as he seeks to prevent an innocent black man from being convicted of rape.
The book was published in 1960 to wide acclaim. It won a Pulitzer prize and is a mainstay of literature studies in high schools and universities across America. It has sold more than 30m copies worldwide and was also made into a classic 1962 film starring Gregory Peck in the role of Finch.
However, the book remains Lee's only published novel, though it is far from the only reason that she became a major literary figure. Lee had an intensely close relationship with Truman Capote, who was a childhood friend. She helped Capote on projects such as his famous real-life crime exploration In Cold Blood and acted as a sort of muse, researcher and confidante for him.
But, unlike the gregarious and attention-hungry Capote, Lee has always preferred to remain in the shadows of public life. She has spent most of her life living quietly with her older sister in the small town of Monroeville, Alabama. She has rejected almost all interview requests for the past half-century and, despite keeping an apartment in New York City, has not been a presence on America's literary circuit.
An exception has been an obscure essay contest at the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa. In 2006 the New York Times wrote a story describing how Lee had agreed to become a judge for the contest, which featured work from young schoolchildren. In one of the only interviews Lee has ever given, the writer told the newspaper about how she was always pleased with the way young people took to her book. "They always see new things in it. And the way they relate it to their lives now is really quite incredible," she said. | Famous Person - Commit Crime - Accuse | May 2013 | ['(The Guardian)'] |
Residents of Pahoa, Hawaii, begin evacuating ahead of an impending lava flow from the Kīlauea volcano. | Residents of a Hawaiian village threatened by the Kilauea volcano have been evacuated from their homes as lava has hit the first houses in its way.
The slow moving, red hot lava spilling from the volcano is hot enough to incinerate homes and cannot be stopped by firefighters. It has been flowing towards the village of Pahoa for weeks, destroying everything in its path, officials say.
Experts say the molten lava is hotter than 900C (1,600F).
"People have their life savings in their properties here. They face losing it all," businessman Mike Metcalf told the Reuters news agency.
Denise Lagrimas is packing up her family's home in preparation for the oncoming lava flow.
"I don't want to stick around and just wait for it to come and take it," she said. "You just never know."
Though it remains unclear if the home will be in the lava's path, the Lagrimas family decided to move to a nearby town.
They have also expressed concern the lava will block roads and prevent them from reaching their jobs in a coastal town to the north.
"We didn't want to go anywhere where it's close enough where we would have to evacuate again," Ms Lagrimas said.
Kilauea on the Big Island has been erupting since 1983, but lava has recently burst forth from a new vent.
Two roads to Pahoa have been closed and a cemetery has already been overtaken by the lava.
The town's residents will be allowed to watch the destruction of their homes "as a means of closure", officials said.
And they will be allowed to take photos and video for insurance purposes.
"You can only imagine the frustration as well as... despair they're going through," said Hawaii County Civil Defense Director Darryl Oliveira.
Can you stop lava?
At temperatures of about 1,000C, lava destroys whatever it touches. Its path is notoriously hard to predict.
The ability to impede or redirect lava largely depends on location, resources and luck.
Decades ago in Hawaii, the US attempted to bomb a lava flow, only to see the bomb craters refill. In Iceland, crews made use of billions of gallons of cold water around a nearby harbour to cool the lava in place. And barriers along Mount Etna in Italy redirected a flow away from a tourist area. But these attempts have been helped by a natural slowing or halting of lava eruptions.
"You have to be in a wealthy country with a lot at stake to even consider" lava diversion, Dr Shannon Nawotniak told the BBC, particularly given the volume of volcanic eruptions and the potential costs.
"You might buy yourself some time until the volcano stops itself."
Read more
The flow, now 55m wide, advanced about 275m between Sunday morning and Monday morning.
It has been moving at an average of five to 10m an hour, but has done so fitfully, sometimes slowing down to two yards or speeding up to 20, depending on topography, said Janet Babb, a spokeswoman for the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory.
Decomposed vegetation in the lava's path has also produced methane explosions at the front of the flow, Ms Babb said.
"It's not a massive explosion," she said. "But it can dislodge rocks."
After the new vent opened in July, lava threatened a separate community before coming to a standstill in September. | Volcano Eruption | October 2014 | ['(BBC News)'] |
Francis Ona, the leader of the former Bougainville Revolutionary Army, has died in village on Bougainville following a short illness. Ona led the bloody 10–year secessionist war against Papua New Guinea that ended in 1997. | Francis Ona (C in blue shirt) has died. The reclusive Bougainville rebel leader appeared in public for the first time in 16 years in March to demand independence from Papua New Guinea for the province at this rally. (AFP/The National) Papua New Guinea's autonomous province of Bougainville has declared a week of mourning to honour former secessionist leader Francis Ona.
Mr Ona died after a short illness at his Guava village on Sunday.
President Joseph Kabui says a state funeral is also being planned but will depend on whether Mr Ona's family will allow his body to be flown to the provincial capital Buka for public viewing.
"We have declared today till Sunday as a mourning period," he said.
"Flags should be flying at half mast all through out Bougainville and give him a respect that he deserves, because in our traditional culture, when a big men dies as a mark of respect no one goes to the garden''.
Mr Kabui says he hopes the death of Mr Ona, will serve as a uniting factor for Bougainville. The rebel leader who has been vocal in calling for Australian Federal Police to stay out of Papua New Guinea, Francis Ona, has died of malaria.
| Famous Person - Death | July 2005 | ['(ABC News)', '(ABC News)'] |
British Conservative Party MP Patrick Mercer resigns his party whip over allegations he broke the rules on lobbying. | MP Patrick Mercer has resigned the Tory whip to "save my party embarrassment" after claims by the BBC's Panorama that he broke Parliament's lobbying rules.
It is alleged he accepted £4,000 to lobby for business interests in Fiji.
Mr Mercer said he was taking legal advice and had referred himself to Parliament's standards commissioner.
The Newark MP said he took the money for consultancy work outside parliament. He added he would not be standing at the next general election.
Panorama said Mr Mercer had been approached by a fake company set up by the programme, in conjunction with the Daily Telegraph. The fake company, Alistair Andrews Communications, had claimed to lobby on behalf of Fijian business interests for Fiji to be re-admitted to the Commonwealth. The country's membership was suspended in 2009 amid criticism of its human rights' record and lack of democracy.
A clip of Mr Mercer being filmed undercover has been released by Panorama. It shows the MP meeting with an undercover reporter, who was posing as a representative of the fake company.
Mr Mercer can be heard saying: "I do not charge a great deal of money for these things. I would normally come out at £500 per half day, so £1,000 a day."
The undercover reporter replies: "Ok fine."
Panorama said it had paid Mr Mercer £4,000 for working two days a month at a rate of £2,000 per month, but that the money had yet to be declared to the parliamentary authorities.
In a statement the programme said: "Patrick Mercer MP said he agreed to be a consultant for work he said was outside parliament. "But he submitted five parliamentary questions, which were all answered, as well as an early day motion - all in relation to Fiji."
Under parliamentary rules, politicians are required to declare publicly money that they receive beyond their parliamentary salary, but some paid work should not be undertaken at all.
For example, MPs should not be paid "to ask a parliamentary question, table a motion, introduce a bill, table an amendment to a motion or a bill, or urge colleagues or ministers to do so".
In a statement, Mr Mercer said: "Panorama are planning to broadcast a programme alleging that I have broken parliamentary rules. "I am taking legal advice about these allegations - and I have referred myself to the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards.
"In the meantime, to save my party embarrassment, I have resigned the Conservative whip and have so informed [Conservative Chief Whip] Sir George Young. "I have also decided not to stand at the next general election." MPs who resign the whip can continue to sit in the Commons as independents but are no longer members of the parliamentary party.
Conservative MP Zac Goldsmith said it highlighted the need for voters to get powers to force by-elections: "If it's bad enough for you to resign from your party, how can it be OK to continue representing constituents at all? Where's that recall?!" he wrote on the Twitter website. Colonel Bob Stewart, a fellow Tory MP and friend of Mr Mercer's, said he was "surprised" by the allegations, but added that if Mr Mercer had done something wrong he would act "totally honourably".
A Conservative spokesman said the prime minister was aware of the allegations and thought Mr Mercer had "done the right thing in referring himself to the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards and resigning the whip".
"It's important that the due processes take their course," the spokesman said. Parliamentary records show that in March, Mr Mercer put down an early day motion - used by MPs to draw attention to issues - saying Fiji was making efforts to restore democracy and there was no justification for its continued suspension from the Commonwealth. He also asked five questions in Parliament about Fiji's human rights record, UK investment in its public transport and the effects of its suspension from, and government policy on, its readmission to the Commonwealth.
All the questions were answered by Foreign Office Minister Hugo Swire.
Mr Mercer, a former army officer, was sacked as shadow homeland security minister by David Cameron in 2007 after a row over alleged racist comments.
The coalition government is committed to setting up a statutory register of lobbyists - companies that seek to influence government policy, often by paying former MPs for advice and guidance.
Before the 2010 election, Mr Cameron predicted that it would be the next big scandal to hit British politics, but the policy, which is in the coalition agreement, has yet to make it into the government's legislative programme.
The government held a consultation on a statutory register of lobbyists, which concluded in April 2012. The Cabinet Office said it was "still considering" the "many different views" articulated by those who contributed to that consultation.
| Government Job change - Resignation_Dismissal | May 2013 | ['(BBC)'] |
In an unprecedented move, Kenya's presidential aspirant, Raila Odinga, pulls out of a repeat presidential election just 15 days before the election. This action comes after the supreme court nullified the elections run on August 8 as being unconstitutional. | Nasa flag-bearer Raila Odinga has withdrawn his candidature in the October 26 repeat presidential elections.
National Super Alliance flag-bearer Raila Odinga has withdrawn from the October 26 repeat presidential election.
Mr Odinga on Tuesday announced that his running mate Kalonzo Musyoka will also not take part in the repeat election.
“After deliberating on our position in respect of the upcoming election, considering the interests of the people of Kenya, the region and the world at large, we believe that all will be best served by Nasa vacating its presidential candidature in the election scheduled for 26 October 2017," said Mr Odinga.
Fair election
Mr Odinga said Nasa has been calling for a free and fair election held in conformity with the Constitution.
“We have come to the conclusion that there is no intention from IEBC to make sure that the irregularities and illegalities witnessed before do not happen again,” he said.
He accused the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) of “stonewalling” deliberations to have a credible repeat elections.
“We have come to the conclusion that there is no intention on the part of the IEBC to undertake any changes to its operations and personnel to ensure that the “illegalities and irregularities” that led to the invalidation of the 8th August, 2008 do not happen again. Worse
“All indications are that the election scheduled for 26 October will be worse than the previous one,” he said.
He took a swipe at President Uhuru Kenyatta-led Jubilee Party for pushing for election laws changes saying the move shows that it had no intention of competition on a level playing field. “The only election Jubilee administration is interested in is one that it must win, even unlawfully,” he said. He accused President Kenyatta and his Deputy William Ruto of boasting of having majority in the National Assembly and Senate, saying the two leaders “intend to overthrow our new constitutional order and re-install the old order.” | Government Job change - Election | October 2017 | ['(Business Daily Africa)'] |
An Israeli psychiatrist and reserve officer is charged with giving classified information to Iran, Russia and Hamas. | David Shamir, a psychiatrist, is accused of offering information on command centres and civilian evacuation plans in exchange for payment.
Court documents indicate Mr Shamir's repeated alleged attempts to offer his services were unsuccessful. Mr Shamir has not formally responded to the charges yet.
Police say he has cited greed as a motive.
Mr Shamir, 45, e-mailed Iran's foreign ministry in April to offer his services, according to the court indictment released on Friday.
The indictment suggests the ministry refused his offer.
He is then accused of faxing the Iranian consulates in London and Istanbul with a similar offer.
Earlier this month, Mr Shamir is alleged to have e-mailed a university in the Gaza Strip known to be a stronghold of the governing militant group Hamas - offering to "join the struggle" in exchange for money.
Mr Shamir also allegedly contacted the Russian intelligence service FSB, inquiring about the recruitment process for spies. He is also being charged with contact with a foreign agent and obstruction of justice. Classified documents were found at his house, as well as records of his attempts to contact hostile sources, reported Israel's Haaretz newspaper. He was also reported to be in possession of marijuana. | Famous Person - Commit Crime - Accuse | November 2007 | ['(BBC)'] |
The UK's Terrorism Act 2006 comes into force, making illegal the act of glorifying terrorism. | The Terrorism Act 2006 allows groups or organisations to be banned for those offences and covers anyone who gives or receives training.
The act designates nuclear sites as areas where trespass can become a terrorist offence.
Human rights campaigners argue the law is drawn far too widely and it faced stiff opposition in the House of Lords.
Peers were worried it would curb free speech and rejected the plans five times before voting them through in March.
Liberal Democrat and Conservative MPs voted against the Terrorism Bill, saying existing legislation already covered the glorification offence.
Suspect detention
The bill was introduced after 7 July bomb attacks in London, and Prime Minister Tony Blair said the new law would allow action to be taken against people glorifying those attacks.
Anyone supporting violence to remove a regime anywhere in the world now or in the past would theoretically get caught up
Doug JewellLiberty
People had held placards praising the 7 July bombers during protests in London against cartoons satirising the Prophet Muhammad. The act also creates new offences of undertaking terrorism training, preparation or planning of a terrorist act and disseminating terrorist publications.
Plans to double the amount of time suspects can be held without charge to 28 days will come into force later after consultation with police chiefs.
The government wanted police to be allowed to hold suspects for up to 90 days, although MPs rejected this proposal.
'Too broad'
Shadow Home Secretary David Davis said the Tories welcomed the much of the new act, but said there were "concerns" over the rules on glorification.
"During the passage of the bill we secured an assurance from the government that this would be revisited," he said.
Doug Jewell, of the human rights group Liberty, told the BBC the rules on glorification were "too broad".
He said: "Anyone supporting violence to remove a regime anywhere in the world now or in the past would theoretically get caught up." | Government Policy Changes | April 2006 | ['(BBC)'] |
The Progressive Conservative Party of Prince Edward Island wins its first minority government since the Island's 1890 general election; while the Green Party of Prince Edward Island has beaten the Prince Edward Island Liberal Party by taking most of all their seats and becoming the province's new Official Opposition party, a first for any Green Party in North America. Voters also reject adopting mixed-member proportional representation as the province's election system in a referendum held simultaneously with the election. | CHARLOTTETOWN—Voters in P.E.I. have shed their century-old embrace of the Island’s two-party system, electing a Tory minority government and handing the upstart Green party official Opposition status for the first time.
With all polls reporting Tuesday, the Tories had won 12 seats, the Greens held eight, and the incumbent Liberals, led by Premier Wade MacLauchlan, had won six.
“Welcome to a new day in Prince Edward Island!” Tory Leader Dennis King told supporters, who immediately roared their approval. “Welcome to a new era of Island politics. Welcome to the tremendous honour and the tremendous responsibility of governing.”
Remarking on the strong showing by the Greens, King said it showed that Island voters want their political parties to work together.
“It shows that Prince Edward Island wants the parties to put partisanship behind them … to do what’s best for Prince Edward Island,” he told the crowd.
Afterwards, King, who won his riding of Brackley-Hunter River, admitted he was overwhelmed by his party’s victory.
“I’m equal parts excited and terrified,” he said. “This is a very surreal experience for me. I’ve come a long way, and the party has come a long way.”
The Tories finished with 37 per cent of the popular vote, followed by the Greens at 31 and the Liberals at 29. The NDP received just three per cent. Voter turnout was 77 per cent, a five-point drop from the 2015 election.
The tight three-way race produced the province’s first minority government since 1890.
The Greens had led in opinion polls since August, prompting speculation they could be poised to form Canada’s first Green government.
Still, their strong showing on election night was a major breakthrough for a party that did not hold a seat in the legislature until 2015. That’s when party Leader Peter Bevan-Baker won a seat in a general election—after nine unsuccessful runs for office on the Island and in Ontario.
“Islanders responded (to us) by granting us a record number of seats—by far the most seats ever by a Green party in Canada,” he told a boisterous crowd at the PEI Brewing Company in Charlottetown.
“I’m a strong believer in the capacity of minority government to create a collaborative environment.”
King, a 47-year-old former journalist and consultant, was elected to lead his party only two months ago. The Tories enjoyed a boost in the polls last month, leaving them in a virtual dead heat with the Greens and Liberals as the campaign began.
The Tory victory on the Island represents the latest in a series of gains for right-leaning parties, including wins in Alberta, Quebec, New Brunswick and Ontario—all within the last year.
Earlier this year, the Island’s Progressive Conservatives were largely regarded as a dysfunctional organization, having churned through no less than six leaders in the past eight years.
Despite past infighting within Tory ranks, King was lauded for running a solid campaign, mainly by reinforcing a relentlessly positive message—a tried-and-true tactic among Island politicians.
A former communications director for former Tory premier Pat Binns, King performed well on the hustings and in a series of decidedly polite leaders debates.
Among other things, King promised to expand beer and wine sales to convenience stores.
Access to family doctors emerged as a key issue in the campaign. All four parties talked about recruiting more physicians. According to Health PEI, there are 13,083 Islanders on the waiting list for a family doctor
The Greens’ rise in popularity generated a national buzz during an otherwise lacklustre campaign.
During the race, Bevan-Baker—a Scottish-born dentist—tried to persuade Islanders that the Greens care about more than just the environment, offering a platform that focused on a range of social issues, including a pledge to raise social assistance rates.
The 56-year-old Green leader won his riding of New Haven-Rocky Point.
The Liberals were seeking a fourth term in office, having repeatedly reminded Islanders that the province’s economy remains the strongest in the country.
MacLauchlan, 64, failed to win his seat.
“It’s simple: the tide turned. We’ve had four years of good government, responsible government and exceptionally good management of the province’s finances,” he told reporters.
“We left no stone unturned. We presented good policy. We presented a good team and we went and did the work that candidates do.”
It wouldn’t be a stretch to say P.E.I. is on a tear, posting impressive numbers for higher wages, employment, immigration, housing starts, exports, retail sales and tourism.
However, voters appeared reluctant to give MacLauchlan credit for boosting the economy, a sentiment that was reflected in his relatively low personal popularity ratings.
The Island’s New Democrats, led by 57-year-old Joe Byrne, were not in contention in any ridings.
When the legislature was dissolved, the Liberals held 16 seats in the 27-seat legislature, the Tories had eight and Greens had two seats. There was one Independent.
A total of 14 seats are needed for a majority, but only 26 of the 27 seats were contested Tuesday.
On Saturday, Elections P.E.I. postponed the vote in the district of Charlottetown-Hillsborough Park following the deaths of Green party candidate Josh Underhay and his young son in a boating mishap on the Hillsborough River.
Bevan-Baker began his address to supporters with an emotional tribute to Underhay. “I don’t think I’ve ever felt so overwhelmed by joy and grief simultaneously,” he said.
A byelection will be held in the riding within the next three months.
Aside from the election outcome, voters cast ballots in a referendum on electoral reform. Preliminary results suggested they had declined to endorse the switch to proportional representation, though the results were close. | Government Job change - Election | April 2019 | ['(The Epoch Times)', '(The Guardian)', '(The Guardian)'] |
Thirty–three people are killed when a bus plunges down a ravine near Huautla de Jiménez in the north of the Mexican state of Oaxaca. | A BUS fell down a ravine in southern Mexico today, killing at least 29 people and injuring 25.
The bus, carrying more than the 40 passengers it was built for, was on its way to Mexico City from the town of Huautla de Jimenez in Oaxaca state when the driver lost control.
It careened off the road and down a ravine dozens of metres deep, said local transport chief Ruben Castillo. It was the second serious bus crash this month in the largely indigenous state of Oaxaca. | Road Crash | January 2007 | ['(The Australian)', '(El Universal)'] |
New Zealand raises its minimum wage to $20 per hour, increasing the average income of 175,500 citizens by $44 per week, while income tax on those earning over $180,000 rises to 39 percent. Welfare spending, student allowances, and support for first time home buyers are also increased. | Taxes on the riches New Zealanders are being raised
Changes to minimum wage and tax policy came into force in New Zealand today.
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern’s had promised to raise the minimum wage to $20 per hour (£10.15) and to raise taxes on the wealthiest Kiwis.
The rise in wages means that the income of 175,500 New Zealanders will be increased by $44 (£22.30) each week.
“Today’s rise to $20 per hour is estimated to boost wages across the economy by $216 million, giving New Zealanders more money to spend at local businesses,” Minister for Workplace Relations and Safety Michael Wood said.
“There are many Kiwis who earn the minimum wage who have gone above and beyond in our fight against COVID. I think everyone agrees those who served us so well during lockdown – including supermarket workers, cleaners, and security guards – deserve a pay rise,” the minister added.
The new changes also impact the top two percent of earners in New Zealand, those on salaries of over $180,000 (£91,238.87), who will now be taxed by 39 per cent.
Previously, everyone who earnt over $70,000 (£35,476.70) paid a tax rate 33%.
This new tax increase is predicted to bring in NZ$550m to the economy in 2021.
Benefit rates have also been rised by 3.1 per cent, student allowances have been upped, and the necessary deposit for first time home buyers has reduced from 20 percent of the total cost of the property to just 5 percent.
Prime Minister Ardern took a 20 per cent pay reduction In April of 2020 in solidarity with those who would be struggling financially as a result of the economic effects of the pandemic.
| Government Policy Changes | April 2021 | ['(The Independent)'] |
Police in the Indonesian provinces of Papua and West Papua arrest scores of protesters as planned demonstrations to mark the anniversary of the incorporation of the region with Indonesia were to take place today. | Indonesian police have made widespread arrests in Papua region as West Papuans prepare to hold demonstrations.
Indonesian police deployed to control a Jayapura demonstration last month. Photo: Tabloid Jubi
Protests were planned for today in most of the region's urban centres as West Papuans mark the anniversary of transferral of administration in the former Dutch New Guinea to Indonesia in 1963.
Dozens of West Papuans were arrested in Papuan cities such as Jayapura and Merauke for organising the demonstrations expected to take place later today.
West Papua Media Alerts reported that 178 arrests had been made in Jayapura alone.
The arrests follow a series of marches on 13 April, when thousands of West Papuans demonstrated in support of the United Liberation Movement for West Papua.
Forty-four demonstrators were arrested during those peaceful protests.
One of the movement's key groups, the West Papua National Committee (KNPB), said it would persevere with its plans to hold public events despite them being disallowed by security forces.
However, Papua Police Chief Paulus Waterpauw said the KNPB's request for permission to march was rejected because it did not complete requirements under the law.
Copyright © 2016, Radio New Zealand
Crowds have reportedly gathered in the Papuan town of Timika to protest the police shooting of two high school students.
There are reports in the West Papuan media that 29 members of the separatist West Papua National Committee, or KNPB, have been arrested by Indonesian government officials. | Famous Person - Commit Crime - Arrest | May 2016 | ['(Radio New Zealand)'] |
At least 36 people are trapped underground in a coal mine in China's Shandong Province after a fire breaks out. | BEIJING - AT LEAST 36 people are trapped underground at a coal mine in eastern China after a fire broke out, state media reported on Thursday. The fire started in an air compression device 225m under ground at the mine in Shandong province on Wednesday evening, the state-run Xinhua news agency said, citing the State Administration of Work Safety. Rescuers rushed to the scene and an operation was under way to reach the trapped miners, the report said. The mine passed safety checks in October 2010 after expanding its production capacity to 150,000 tonnes a year, Xinhua reported. China's coal mines have a notoriously poor safety record, which the government has repeatedly pledged to address. In its latest campaign, the government issued a policy last year that required six kinds of safety systems, including rescue facilities, to be installed in all coal mines within three years. In 2010, 2,433 people died in coal mine accidents in China, according to official statistics - a rate of more than six workers per day. Labour rights groups, however, say the actual death toll is likely much higher, partly due to under-reporting of accidents as mine bosses seek to limit their economic losses and avoid punishment. | Mine Collapses | July 2011 | ['(AFP via Straits Times)'] |
One or more unnamed authors at the European Commission, in their internal discussion, regards the United Kingdom as having lost direction in its Brexit policy and planning and thinks the UK will eventually 'plead' for a deal. | Britain has become “completely lost” post Brexit and can eventually be expected to “plead” for a deal when it realises the weakness of its position at the negotiating table, senior European Commission officials now believe.
While officially pressing for Britain to invoke Article 50 and begin divorce talks, officials in Brussels are taking growing satisfaction in what they believe is paralysis and disarray in Theresa May’s new government, according to internal discussions seen by The Telegraph.
The spectacle of Mrs May rebuking David Davis, the Brexit minister, at Prime Minister's Questions for prematurely revealing the government’s hand was taken as further evidence in Brussels that Downing Street does not have a coherent strategy for Brexit, according to one Commission insider.
Officials are also jubilant that the United States, Japan and India all gave the UK what one EU diplomat described as “the cold shoulder” at the recent G20 Summit in Hangzhou, heeding the demand by Brussels that Britain cannot begin independent trade negotiations before Brexit.
The revelations come as Europe attempts to stage a post-Brexit display of unity this week, when Jean-Claude Juncker, the European Commission president, delivers his "State of the Union" address on Wednesday followed by a meeting of all 27 EU leaders in Bratislava on Friday.
Mrs May has pledged not to trigger Article 50 until at least 2017, but is likely to face rising pressure from European capitals if she does not act soon after the new year.
The Prime Minister stuck to her guns this week during a visit to London by Donald Tusk, the European Council president, who hinted at rising impatience in EU capitals, saying that Britain should trigger talks “as soon as possible”.
UK officials concede privately that the Whitehall bureaucracy is still “miles and miles” from being ready to conduct detailed negotiations as it comes to terms with a new departmental structure created by Mrs May, however officials contend that Europe is equally in disarray.
British negotiators are determined that the European Commission, with its more “theological” approach to issues like Free Movement, must not be allowed to dominate the Brexit negotiations but wants them controlled by EU leaders who, Britain feels, may take a more pragmatic approach.
However the Commission hopes that divisions among the remaining 27 member states will enable the Brussels bureaucracy, with its mastery of the legal details, to insert itself more forcefully into the coming talks – a strategy that some analysts warned could backfire.
“Member states aren't on the same page following Brexit, and the Commission clearly sees this space and wants to exploit it for its own ends, to push its agenda,” said Mujtaba Rahman, managing director for Europe at the Eurasia Group risk consultancy. “It's a high risk strategy, and is likely to fail, further alienating Juncker from the member states.”
| Diplomatic Talks _ Diplomatic_Negotiation_ Summit Meeting | September 2016 | ['(The Telegraph)'] |
A Boeing 747 crashes near an American military base in Bagram, Afghanistan, killing all seven American crew members onboard. | This is the terrifying moment a civilian cargo plane in Afghanistan spun out of control and crashed, killing everyone on board, writes Claire Cromie
The Boeing 747 had just taken off on Monday when it plummeted to the ground, hitting Bagram airbase.
All seven American crew members on board died. The jet was on its way to Dubai.
The video footage was captured on what appears to be the dashboard camera of a vehicle that was driving near the site when the incident happened.
The Taliban claimed responsibility for "shooting down" the jet - owned by National Airlines, a Florida-based subsidiary of National Air Cargo - but a Nato spokesman later denied the Taliban was involved.
The aircraft had reached an altitude of 1,300ft before "falling out of the sky", according to witness reports. | Air crash | April 2013 | ['(AP via Belfast Telegraph UK)'] |
At least 142 people are killed and over 200 injured as the Indore–Patna Express derails near Pukhrayan in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. | At least 119 people were killed and more than 150 injured when an Indian express train derailed near Kanpur in Uttar Pradesh on Sunday, with the toll set to rise amid a scramble to locate survivors.
Police officials said people were still missing as authorities tried to determine what caused 14 carriages of the train travelling between Patna and Indore to suddenly roll off the tracks in Pukhrayan, 65 km south of Kanpur city.
Authorities said they were checking the condition of the tracks but would need to look further before concluding the cause of the derailment, India’s deadliest rail tragedy since more than 140 died in a 2010 collision in West Bengal.
Desperate survivors searched for family members and some tried to enter the damaged carriages to rescue relatives and collect belongings, said senior railway official Pratap Rai.
“We are using every tactic to save lives but it’s very difficult to cut the metal carriages,” he said from the accident site.
Kanpur district magistrate Kaushal Raj Sharma told Reuters that 119 people were confirmed dead, while 78 of the injured remained in hospital, four of them in a critical condition.
With rescue teams still looking for victims amid the wreckage, the toll from the derailment could rise to become India’s worst rail tragedy in this century.
In what was probably India’s worst rail disaster, a train plunged off a bridge and into a river in 1981 in Bihar state, killing an estimated 500 to 800 people.
India’s creaking railway system is the world’s fourth largest. It runs 11,000 trains a day, including 7,000 passenger trains carrying more than 20 million people. But it has a poor safety record, with thousands of people dying in accidents every year, including in train derailments and collisions.
Suresh Prabhu, India’s railways minister, said in a tweet that the government would investigate the causes of the derailment and promised accountability with the “strictest possible action”, as well as compensation for the affected passengers.
The Kremlin said Russian President Vladimir Putin had contacted Prime Minister Narendra Modi and “passed on words of sympathy and support to the relatives and loved ones of the dead and wished a fast recovery of the injured.”
The packed train, operated by the government, derailed in the early hours of Sunday when more than 500 passengers were sleeping, survivors said.
TV footage showed mangled blue carriages, with crowds of people and police on top of the wreckage searching for survivors. One carriage was almost lying on its side and appeared to have been completely torn apart.
Rescue officials with yellow helmets worked their way through the crowds, carrying victims from the wreckage as teams struggled to remove the derailed wagons from the tracks, one of the main transportation routes for goods and passengers in northern India.
“Suddenly I could feel that the carriage was overturning. I immediately held the metal rod near the bathroom door,” said Faizal Khan, who was travelling with his wife and two children, all of whom survived the accident.
Another survivor, Rajdeep Tanwar, said. “I can see bodies lying near the tracks, everyone is in a state of shock. There is no water or food for us.”
Buses were being pressed into service to help passengers complete their journey, said police additional director general Daljeet Singh Choudhary.
Rescue teams said they would conclude the search operation before night fall and resume it on Monday. Nearby villagers set up temporary kitchens and erected tents for survivors and officials.
Modi, who started out selling tea outside a train station, has promised to modernise India’s railways and build high-speed lines befitting Asia’s third-largest economy.
His government has pledged to replace old tracks and upgrade security infrastructure but little progress has been made so far. More than 90 percent of the railways’ revenues are spent on operational costs, leaving next to nothing for modernisation.
By some analyst estimates, the railways need 20 trillion rupees ($293.34 billion) of investment by 2020, and India is turning to partnerships with private companies and seeking loans from other countries to upgrade its network.
Last year, Japan agreed to provide $12 billion in soft loans to build India’s first bullet train.
On Sunday, Modi took to Twitter to express his condolences.
“Anguished beyond words on the loss of lives due to the derailing of the Patna-Indore express. My thoughts are with the bereaved families,” Modi said.
| Train collisions | November 2016 | ['(The New York Times)', '(Indian Express)', '(Fox News)', '(The Telegraph)', '(Reuters)'] |
Turkish police arrest 191 people, including a mayor, accused of links with the Gülen movement (named by Turkey as FET, a terrorist group) and of using ByLock, an encrypted messaging application. | Authorities arrested 191 people on Monday and Tuesday in nationwide operations against suspected members of the Gülenist Terror Group (FET). FET is under intensified scrutiny following its 2016 coup attempt.
The most high-profile name to be arrested was brahim Burak Ouz, mayor of Urla, a town in the western province of zmir. Ouz, who was elected as mayor from the Republican People’s Party (CHP) in the March 31 elections, was arrested for his close ties to the terrorist group. Prosecutors accuse him of contacts with senior figures in FET. Ouz was a board member of a business association in zmir which was closed down for its links to the terrorist group. Ouz is also accused of spreading the terrorist group’s propaganda as a “sohbet” leader. Sohbet, meaning conversation in Turkish, is a term used to describe meetings of the terrorist group where one high-ranking member speaks on religious matters and on the planning of secret activities. The suspect was also in contact with the group’s handlers for infiltrators in law enforcement, the judiciary, bureaucracy, military, etc. In his first testimony to police, Ouz rejected the accusations and claimed he might have contacted FET members due to his previous profession as a financial adviser.
FET is known for planting its members in political parties. So far, authorities have accused four advisers of CHP Chairman Kemal Kldarolu of having links to FET. One of them, Ahmet Caner Yenidünya, who was also nominated for a parliamentary seat for the CHP in 2015, was dismissed from his post at a university in Istanbul for his links to the terrorist group. Fatih Gürsul, another adviser, was convicted of FET membership and sentenced to 10 years in prison.
The biggest operation was in the capital Ankara on Tuesday. The chief prosecutor’s office in the capital issued arrest warrants for 260 suspects and 171 of them were detained while the manhunt is underway to capture the others. They were arrested as part of an investigation into encrypted messaging app Bylock and all are accused of using Bylock. Bylock is an app developed and exclusively used by FET members for secret communication. It was discovered during criminal inquiries into the terrorist group, whose criminal activities have been under the spotlight since its two coup attempts in 2013. The National Intelligence Organization (MT) uncovered the messaging app apparently programmed or modified for the exclusive use of the group's by someone linked to FET. According to media reports, police intelligence staff linked to the terrorist group were behind the app. The FET-linked staff working in a powerful intelligence department of the Turkish National Police were the "architects" of the modified app to serve the purposes of the group. A group of intelligence officers is accused of controlling the private app used to deliver FET leader Fetullah Gülen's messages to his followers, as well as to instruct the group's members on how to carry out plots against “foes” of the group.
Millions of Bylock messages exchanged between FET members have been uncovered, while investigations continue to reveal more messages.
Among those arrested in Tuesday’s operations was the daughter of a former member of the Supreme Court of Appeals who upheld a controversial case later revealed to be a sham trial orchestrated by FET, and the wife of another former member of the same court. Media outlets reported the suspects were employees of private and public sector companies.
Also in Ankara, prosecutors ordered the arrest of 18 suspects in an investigation into FET’s infiltration into the Health Ministry and public hospitals. Five suspects were still on active duty while the rest were already dismissed from their jobs on suspicion of having links with the terrorist group. Ten suspects in the case were arrested in operations in Ankara and four other cities.
In the southern province of Gaziantep, prosecutors ordered the arrest of nine FET members who infiltrated the judiciary. The suspects, including court clerks and prison guards, were captured in operations in Gaziantep, Diyarbakr, Adyaman and Kilis.
| Famous Person - Commit Crime - Accuse | December 2019 | ['(Daily Sabah)'] |
American singer Andy Williams dies at the age of 84 at his home in Branson, Missouri. | Singer Andy Williams, 84, has died at his home in Branson, Missouri, a year after being diagnosed with bladder cancer.
He was best known for his version of the song Moon River, originally written for the film Breakfast at Tiffany's. In 1962, he started The Andy Williams Show, which was broadcast around the world and went on to win three Emmys.
Since the 1990s, he had run the Andy Williams Moon River Theater in his home town.
The singer was one of the most enduring stars of the 1960s and '70s, whose easy style and mellow voice led President Ronald Reagan to call him "a national treasure". A new generation discovered Williams' music when Music to Watch Girls Go By made the Top 10 in 1999 after being used in an advert.
He described Moon River as his "signature song" which had a "wonderful" melody and "timeless" lyrics.
"I never tried to sing like anybody else, fortunately I didn't sound like anybody else. It just happened," said Williams. "I was very lucky that I had a voice that sounded different to almost anybody else's and it's recognisable."
Fellow crooner Tony Christie, who achieved chart success with Is This The Way To Amarillo, described Williams as "a very charming man" who had "perfect pitch".
The singer was "one of the old school," he added, "and there aren't many left". Williams died on Tuesday night and is survived by his wife, Debbie, and his three children, Robert, Noelle and Christian.
Howard Andrew Williams was born in Iowa and started singing professionally with his three brothers as the Williams Brothers Quartet.
They worked in night clubs and on radio and backed Bing Crosby on his number one record Swinging on a Star in 1944.
Williams' TV show made him an international star and launched a recording career that spawned such hits as Butterfly, Love Story, Can't Get Used to Losing You and Almost There.
The weekly show lasted nine years and will be remembered by many for introducing the Osmond family to the world.
In a statement, Donny Osmond described Williams as inspiring in music and in life, and said the "warmth and grace of his singing" had shaped his own love of music.
Donny later joined his brothers to tour with Williams as his opening act and as back-up singers. "He truly was a great singer and I will ever be indebted to Andy for giving me the opportunity to fulfil my dreams and the opportunity to be personally inspired by such a generous talent," he said.
Williams became a major star in 1956, the same year that Elvis Presley shot to fame, and was well loved in the 1960s.
"The old cliche says that if you can remember the 1960s, you weren't there," said the singer. "Well, I was there all right, but my memory of them is blurred - not by any drugs I took but by the relentless pace of the schedule I set myself."
In 1962 he married Claudine Longet, a French actress and singer, with whom he had three children before their divorce in 1975. Williams continued to play live into his 80s. During a 2007 tour of the UK, he said that performing kept him vital. "Perhaps that two hours out onstage is the medicine that everybody should have," he told a reporter.
In November 2011, he revealed he had been diagnosed with bladder cancer but said he planned to continue performing at his own theatre.
He said at the time that bladder cancer was "no longer a death sentence" and that "people with cancer are getting through this thing".
"They're kicking it, and they're winning more and more every year. And I'm going to be one of them," he went on.
Williams left hospital in July to spend his final days at home with his family.
In lieu of flowers, his family has asked that donations be made to the Bladder Cancer Advocacy Network.
Obituary: Andy Williams
Andy Williams: Stars pay tribute
Andy Williams' greatest hits
Andy Williams - BBC artist page
Andy Williams
Andy Williams Moon River Theatre
Setback for EU in legal fight with AstraZeneca
But the drug-maker faces hefty fines if it fails to supply doses of Covid-19 vaccine over the summer. | Famous Person - Death | September 2012 | ['(BBC)'] |
At least 88 children are killed and several others injured when a kitchen fire engulfs a thatched–roof school in the Kumbakonam district of Tamil Nadu, India. Five are arrested so far. | From Satinder BindraCNN New Delhi Bureau Chief Friday, July 16, 2004 Posted: 1701 GMT (0101 HKT)
NEW DELHI, India (CNN) -- At least 90 children have been killed in a massive fire at a school in southern India, officials said.
The dead included 44 girls and 46 boys, most under the age of 10, officials said.
Forty others were hospitalized, and 30 of those were in critical condition, said officials at Government Hospital in the town of Kumbakonam, where the school was located.
One official said the 900 students attending the school in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu may have had difficulty exiting during the fire. The roof collapsed on an unknown number of children during the blaze.
Hospital officials said 70 of the children have been identified so far.
Preliminary reports indicate the fire started around 11 a.m. (1:30 a.m. ET) and may have been the result of an electrical short in the kitchen. The flames then quickly spread to the thatched roof, which was largely made of leaves and other vegetation. Heavy winds fanned the fire.
The school is a girls' school, but such schools in India often admit boys in the lower grades. | Fire | July 2004 | ['(BBC)', '(Rediff News)', '(Times of India)', '(CNN)'] |
Voters in Burma go to the polls for the Burmese general election, the first national election in twenty years, with widespread allegations of intimidation and fraud. | Polling stations have closed in Myanmar's first election in 20 years, amid a barrage of criticism that the balloting was rigged in favour of the ruling military.The junta-backed Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) has not said when the results will be announced, saying only that they could come "in time".
It was almost certain, however, that through pre-election engineering the USDP will emerge victorious despite widespread popular opposition to 48 years of military rule.Sunday's election was held amid tight security, but few expect it to bring any real change in power, with the military and its proxies likely to dominate parliament and senior positions.
In the commercial hub of Yangon on Sunday, armed riot police stood guard at near-empty polling booths or patrolled streets in convoys of military lorries, part of a clampdown that includes bans on foreign media and on outside election monitors.
The carefully choreographed end of direct army rule, marred by complex rules that stifled major pro-democracy forces, enters its final stage in a race largely between two powerful military-backed parties running virtually unopposed.
Democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi remains locked up and two pro-military parties are together fielding about two-thirds of the total candidates, leaving the splintered opposition with little chance of success.
The Nobel Peace Prize winner swept her party to power in 1990 but the result was never recognised by the ruling generals. She has been detained for most of the past 20 years and is supporting a boycott of Sunday's election.
The USDP is the military's political party, fielding 27 incumbent ministers, top-heavy with recently retired generals.
The USDP dominated the campaign, contesting all 1,158 seats up for grabs. Its only real rival is the National Unity Party (NUP), another vehicle for the military, running in 980 seats.
Fraud charges
At least six parties have lodged complaints with the election commission, claiming hundreds of state workers were forced to vote for the pro-military USDP in advance balloting.
On Saturday, the All Mon Region Democracy Party and the Rakhine National Development Party (RNDP) accused the military-backed USDP of "cheating" and "threatening" voters.
They said they plan to contest the election results if their complaints are not investigated.
"There has been widespread fraud and malpractice committed by the USDP in advance voting across the country," Khin Maung Swe, a spokesman for the pro-democracy National Democratic Force, the largest opposition party, told Al Jazeera.
"We democratic parties will have to take appropriate action after the elections," he added.
Twenty-five per cent of seats in all chambers are reserved for serving generals. That means an army-backed party needs to win only 26 per cent of the remaining seats for the junta's allies to control the country's national legislature.
But Khin Maung Swe underlined the importance of participating in the election.
"If one or two persons can get into the parliament, then we make a voice for the people," he said.
"We know that after so many years of resistance, it does not work and we need to work from the inside. This can only be achieved inside the parliament and not on the streets."
Low turnout
Nearly 40 parties are contesting the elections for a bicameral national parliament and 14 regional assemblies. Except the USDP and NUP, none have enough candidates to earn any real stake due to a host of restrictions such as high fees for each candidate.
Still, some analysts say the elections will create a framework for a democratic system that might yield changes in years ahead in a country bestowed with rich natural resources and located strategically between rising powers China and India.
Some 29 million people were registered to vote.
But Western governments say the elections are flawed, designed to perpetuate the rule by the military junta. Some have described the process as a "sham".
Speaking to Al Jazeera, Zaw Oo, a Myanmar analyst at Chang Mai University, indicated voters did not seem greatly enthusiastic over the vote.
"The low voter turnout is a reality that opposition parties are facing but we have to wait and see the election results," he said.
"We hope that these will be out soon."
The vote will not bring an end to Western sanctions but could reduce Myanmar's isolation in Asia at a time when neighbouring China has dramatically increased investments in natural gas and other resources in the former British colony also known as Burma.
"You look at Burma holding flawed elections today that once again expose the abuses of the military junta," Hillary Clinton, US secretary of state, said in a speech in Melbourne, Australia. | Government Job change - Election | November 2010 | ['(Al Jazeera)', '(BBC)', '(ABC)'] |
South Korean construction workers join truck drivers in going on strike seeking higher pay and lower fuel costs. | SEOUL (Reuters) - South Korean construction workers joined striking truckers on Monday in the latest blow to new President Lee Myung-bak, whose repeated policy stumbles have seen his popularity plunge after less than four months in office.
Adding to pressure on Lee was the lack of progress in talks overnight Sunday in Washington, although U.S. trade officials said negotiators were set to resume work on Monday. South Korean officials were trying to revise an April agreement on importing U.S. beef that triggered a wave of street protests against Lee’s government.
Criticism of the beef deal, stemming from mad cow disease fears, has mushroomed into a wider attack against pro-business policies that helped give the conservative leader his landslide victory in December’s presidential election and ended a decade of left-of-centre rule in Asia’s fourth-largest economy.
The striking construction workers are pressing for cheaper fuel and higher pay.
The militant Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU) said it would announce on Tuesday the result of a vote by its more than 600,000 members on strike action over Lee’s privatization and pension reform plans.
Unionized workers at Hyundai Motor Co, South Korea’s top auto maker, voted by a relatively narrow margin to join the KCTU if it does decide on a walkout.
Lee’s multiple missteps since his election win, such as having to withdraw his nominations for some top posts and the beef import debacle, have unleashed a torrent of criticism which has caught the government off-guard. Lee took office in February.
Lee is expected to ditch a number of top aides and ministers soon and may even face the humiliating prospect of inviting his chief conservative rival to become prime minister to help raise his popularity, which has tumbled to under 20 percent.
The protests have come as a global economic softening and surging inflation have combined to dash Lee’s hopes for six percent economic growth this year, part of his campaign vow to bring South Koreans greater wealth.
Most economists say he will be lucky to even match last year’s five percent rise.
Speaking to Asian and European finance ministers on the resort island of Jeju, Lee warned that the world was facing its biggest economic crisis in 30 years.
“It’s no overstatement to say that the world is faced with the gravest crisis since the oil shock in the 1970s, with oil, food and raw materials prices skyrocketing,” he said.
On Sunday, Finance Minister Kang Man-soo said the government was reviewing its policies in the face of mounting public anger.
But he did not say how far the government might be prepared to water down the sweeping reforms it said it would enact to boost local and foreign investment and make the country of 50 million people better able to compete with neighboring giants Japan and China.
So far, local financial markets have weathered the political storm.
“(The truckers) strike is having little impact on the stock market today. But if it drags on longer -- say two weeks or more -- it will certainly affect sectors that rely heavily on road transport,” said Juhn Chong-kyu, a market analyst at Samsung Securities.
Seoul shares closed higher on Monday with the Korea Composite Stock Price Index up 0.77 percent at 1,760.82 points.
The won also ended higher against the dollar with the government reported to have been selling dollars to prop up the currency and to curb inflation.
The latest round of beef talks between South Korean and U.S. officials ended without agreement but the two sides have said they want more talks.
The negotiations are addressing South Korea’s request to block shipments of U.S. beef from cattle older than 30 months, which are believed to carry a higher risk of mad-cow disease.
“The two sides agreed to cooperate in seeking a mutually satisfactory solution...and noted that more time was needed to come up with practical steps,” South Korea’s trade ministry said in a statement.
. | Strike | June 2008 | ['(Reuters)'] |
British MP Ian Austin quits Labour over a "culture of extremism, anti-semitism and intolerance" within the party under Jeremy Corbyn, becoming the ninth Labour MP to quit this week. However, unlike the others, he will not be joining The Independent Group. | Ninth MP to leave the party this week says he has no plans to join the Independent Group
First published on Fri 22 Feb 2019 09.10 GMT
Ian Austin has become the ninth MP to quit the Labour party this week, although he told his local newspaper he had no plans to join the Independent Group (TIG), founded earlier this week by some former colleagues and Tory defectors.
The MP for Dudley North in the West Midlands has been disaffected with the party leadership for a couple of years and told the Express & Star newspaper there was a “culture of extremism, antisemitism and intolerance” in Labour.
He criticised Jeremy Corbyn and said he did not want the Labour leader to enter Downing Street, saying: “I always tell them the truth and I could never ask local people to make Jeremy Corbyn prime minister.”
Austin, considered to be on the right of the party, holds his seat with a tiny majority of 22 over the Conservatives and has been the MP since 2005. Earlier this month he was included on a list of 30 pro-Brexit MPs said to be facing the threat of deselection. On Friday he said he did not intend to trigger a byelection.
He has had a series of run-ins with the leadership, most recently on antisemitism, which he said was one of the principal reasons for his resignation.
In 2016 he told Corbyn to “sit down and shut up” and shouted “you’re a disgrace” as the Labour leader criticised the Iraq war in the House of Commons.
Last year Austin was placed under investigation by the party after he became embroiled in a row with the party chairman, Ian Lavery, over the handling of the antisemitism issue in the summer. The investigation was dropped in November, and Austin hit out at the “appalling” handling of the case.
On Friday he said: “I am appalled at the offence and distress Jeremy Corbyn and the Labour party have caused to Jewish people. It is terrible that a culture of extremism, antisemitism and intolerance is driving out good MPs and decent people who have committed their life to mainstream politics.
“The hard truth is that the party is tougher on the people complaining about antisemitism than it is on the antisemites.”
On Friday lunchtime, John McDonnell signalled that he agreed with some of Austin’s concerns. Labour’s shadow chancellor said that he believed that the party was was not tackling antisemitism with enough vigour, a sign that renewed concern about the handling of the issue has reached senior levels.
“We’ve got to be quicker, and we’ve got to be fiercer,” he said. “I think there’s been a lot of listening but not enough action. That’s the problem.”
His resignation follows those of eight other MPs, including Luciana Berger and Chuka Umunna, who quit Labour and formed TIG. They were joined by three Conservatives earlier this week.
But Austin told his local newspaper he had not spoken to TIG. “I think the Labour party is broken and clearly things have to change but that’s not what today is about, and I’ve not talked to them about that,” he said.
Unlike them, Austin has been supportive of Brexit and was one of three Labour MPs who voted with Theresa May’s government in support of her deal, which was nevertheless emphatically rejected by 230 votes. Voters in his constituency backed Brexit by 71% in the 2016 referendum.
But Austin did appear to indicate he could work with TIG in the future. He told BBC West Midlands radio: “That’s not what it is about today; I agree with them that the Labour party is broken.”
TIG MPs were quick to react to Austin’s announcement. Berger said: “I fully understand why Ian Austin has come to this difficult and painful decision.” Another, Chris Leslie, said he had “full respect” for Austin.
Austin told the Express & Star that, under Corbyn, Labour had altered. “I think Jeremy Corbyn has completely changed what was a mainstream party into a completely different party with very different values.
“The hard left is now in charge of the party; they’re going to get rid of lots of decent mainstream MPs and I just can’t see how it can return to the mainstream party that won elections and changed the country for the better.”
Party insiders have thought for several days that Austin was the most likely to quit of Labour’s remaining disaffected MPs, although the party leadership will not welcome another day of intense focus on internal divisions.
A party spokesperson said: “We regret that Ian Austin has left the Labour party. He was elected as a Labour MP and so the democratic thing is to resign his seat and let the people of Dudley decide who should represent them.”
Labour’s deputy leader, Tom Watson, tweeted: “Very sad to lose another colleague from the Labour team. It’s also personally hard to see a close friend take a decision of this magnitude.”
Khalid Mahmood, the Labour MP for Birmingham Perry Barr, said Austin’s decision to quit the party was “very sad”. “I have known Ian a long time, before we were MPs and he has been a good friend,” he said. “It’s regrettable that he’s done this.”
But the leftwing backbencher Chris Williamson said Austin was “certainly no loss” and that his “frequent ill-tempered outbursts were an embarrassment to the Labour party”. He added: “The truth is he fought the last election under false pretences, using the Labour brand to get re-elected.”
Austin told the BBC he was not calling a byelection because his job wasto be the local MP for Dudley, and said: “I don’t think what people want is another election. I think local people will understand this decision.” | Government Job change - Resignation_Dismissal | February 2019 | ['(The Guardian)'] |
An airstrike kills nine al Qaida fighters in southern Yemen as the Yemeni military maintain pressure on the group a day after government troops backed by armed tribesmen recaptured two militant strongholds. | Airstrikes and clashes intensified in southern Yemen on Wednesday as army troops followed major victories with more pressure on al-Qaida militants holding small towns, according to tribal and military officials.
At least 17 al-Qaida militants were killed in the latest phase of Yemen's offensive, they said.
The attacks came a day after Yemeni forces regained control of two major al-Qaida strongholds, Jaar and Zinjibar, which were in the hands of the militants for more than a year.
A monthlong Yemeni government push in the south, aided by U.S. military advisers and bankrolled by neighboring Saudi Arabia, succeeded in driving the militants from two towns.
The U.S. considers al-Qaida's Yemen branch to be the terror network's most dangerous offshoot.
The group took advantage of a security vacuum last year during a popular uprising against Yemen's longtime leader, Ali Abdullah Saleh, to seize swaths of territory in the strategic south. That raised fears it could use the area as a foothold to launch more attacks on U.S. targets.
Yemen's al-Qaida offshoot, known as the al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula, has been blamed for directing a string of unsuccessful bomb plots on U.S. soil from its hideouts. It also emerged last month that the CIA thwarted a plot to down a U.S.-bound airliner using a new, sophisticated explosive to be hidden in the bomber's underwear. The planned bomber was actually a double agent who turned the device over to the U.S. government.
The U.S. is helping the Yemenis from a command center manned by dozens of U.S. troops in the al-Annad air base in the southern desert, not far from the main battle zones, Yemeni military officials have said.
The Americans are coordinating assaults and airstrikes and providing information to Yemeni forces, while Saudi Arabia has come forth with cash, especially for armed civilians who back up the Yemeni army in its battles against al-Qaida, Yemeni military officials have said.
In the early hours of Wednesday, airstrikes destroyed a car parked near a house in the town of Azzan, an al-Qaida stronghold in the province of Shabwa, leaving nine al-Qaida militants dead, military officials said. They said the missile was believed to have been fired by a drone. The officials said some militants who fled Jaar have taken refuge in Azzan.
Al-Qaida's propaganda arm claimed in an email message that the attack was launched by a U.S. drone. The Internet-based agency is known to be close to al-Qaida's Yemen branch. There was no U.S. comment.
In separate but coordinated attacks, Yemeni army troops backed by warplanes hit al-Qaida positions north of the town of Shaqra, the last al-Qaida held town in Abyan province. Eight al-Qaida militants and three armed tribesmen backing the army were also killed, officials said.
The army advanced to a hilltop overlooking Shaqra and several other mountain positions after fierce daylong clashes, officials said.
The officials spoke on condition of anonymity in line with army regulations.
After Tuesday's military defeat, al-Qaida remains in control of a handful of towns, and hundreds of its members are scattered in the mountains, valleys and vast desert of the Arab world's most impoverished country. | Armed Conflict | June 2012 | ['(AP via ABC News)'] |
The European Space Agency's ADM-Aeolus global wind mapping satellite is successfully launched via a Vega rocket from Guiana Space Centre. | A British-assembled satellite has been launched into space to make the first truly global maps of wind behaviour.
The Aeolus spacecraft will get its data by firing a powerful laser down into the atmosphere to trace the movement of air particles. Meteorologists are hopeful the mission will have a big impact on the quality of medium-range weather forecasts. Aeolus launched on a Vega rocket from French Guiana at 18:20 local time (22:20 BST).
The rocket was due to lift off on Tuesday, but the launch was postponed - ironically - due to high altitude winds.
The satellite should begin a programme of testing once it is safely at an altitude of 320km. Team members hope that routine forecasting should be incorporating the laser's information within the year. Currently, there are multiple ways to measure the wind, from whirling anemometers and weather balloons to the satellites that infer wind behaviour by tracking clouds in the sky. But these are all limited indications that tell us what is happening in particular places or at particular heights. Aeolus on the other hand will gather wind data across the entire Earth, from the ground to the stratosphere (30km). The biggest benefits should come to forecasts that look a few days ahead. Bad storms in Europe, for example, will sometimes have their origin in the tropics, and when meteorologists fail to anticipate their severity it's often because the initial-state conditions given to computer models contained inaccurate wind information.
The tropics are the key region where the Sun dumps its energy into the Earth system. It is this solar input that triggers the large-scale patterns of circulation in the atmosphere.
"These patterns then propagate both north and south and influence the variability at the mid-latitudes, and, in particular for medium-range forecasts, this influence is very important," explained Erland Källén, a former director of research at the European Centre for Medium Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF). Mr Källén, who is now director of the Centre for Climate Research in Singapore, said: "If we don't get the tropics right in the initial state for the forecasting, we can't then get the mid-latitudes right in the medium range."
Simulations of the forthcoming data suggest Aeolus's impact will be like doubling the number of weather balloons available to meteorologists. Forecast quality is anticipated to increase by 2-4% outside of the tropics and by up to 15% in the tropics themselves. Technical problems mean Aeolus is more than a decade late. The European Space Agency, whose project this is, first approved the mission in 1999, with the intention of launching the satellite in 2007. But engineers struggled to get the ultraviolet laser to work in the conditions it would experience in orbit. The British arm of Airbus, which led the assembly of Aeolus, essentially had to mothball the chassis, or bus, of the spacecraft for several years while new designs for the laser were sought. Aeolus is arguably the most difficult mission ever implemented by Esa. Many thought it might never fly. Anders Elfving is the agency's Aeolus project manager. He told BBC News: "Really what has fundamentally helped us - has motivated us - is the user community, because nobody else serves them with wind information globally. "We will really still be, after sixteen years, the only supplier of it. And very soon we can give meteorologists our data pipeline and they can tell us: 'yes, you have the breakthrough we wanted'."
Aeolus is just a one-off demonstration mission, which raises the question of what happens when it inevitably reaches the end of its working life. If it delivers on its promise, forecasters will be loath to lose the advantage. But it would not be Esa's role to produce a second spacecraft. The agency is in the business of R&D, of trialling new concepts. It would be down to others to fund follow-on missions. In Europe, this would fall either to Eumetsat, the intergovernmental organisation that runs Europe's operational weather satellites, or the European Commission through its own Earth observation programme, known as Copernicus. It is conceivable also that international partners, such as the US and China, would be interested in lofting a constellation of satellites.
Jonathan.Amos-INTERNET@bbc.co.uk and follow me on Twitter: @BBCAmos
UN calls for end of arms sales to Myanmar
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How the Delta variant took hold in the UK. VideoHow the Delta variant took hold in the UK | New achievements in aerospace | August 2018 | ['(BBC)'] |
Samoan police arrest Edwin Tamasese, an anti-vaccination campaigner, for incitement against a government order. | Samoan authorities have charged an alleged anti-vaxxer with incitement against the government, as the Pacific nation remains in a national shut-down over a measles outbreak which has killed more than 60 people. The shut-down is facilitating a mobile vaccination service, where citizens have been asked to place a red flag at the front of their homes to signal to roving vaccinators that someone requires immunisation. This has emptied the nation's streets, as businesses and schools have been shut to prevent contagion. People have also been told not to drive. In a statement released yesterday, the Samoan Government said an "alleged anti-vaxxer individual" was charged with incitement. Last month, the Samoan Cabinet declared a state of emergency which made vaccinations compulsory, while it also made it illegal to discourage people from getting immunised.
The government alleged that the unnamed suspect who local media have identified as Edwin Tamasese a local businessman with no medical training made the following public statement in reference to the immunisation efforts: "I'll be here to mop up your mess. Enjoy your killing spree". He previously made incorrect suggestions claiming that Vitamin A or D could be used as alternatives to the measles vaccine. TV1 Samoa
The suspect has not been allowed to apply for bail, whose statement was reported to Samoa's Attorney General from a member of the public which was then reported to the police. The AG's office also confirmed that the suspect had previously been warned by police about anti-vaccination claims. | Famous Person - Commit Crime - Accuse | December 2019 | ['(ABC Australia)'] |
The American Civil Liberties Union and the Center for Constitutional Rights both sue the United States after it bans lawyers from a case taken by the father of Muslim cleric Anwar alAwlaki against the Central Intelligence Agency , which has labelled him a "specially designated global terrorist". | WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Two human rights groups on Tuesday accused the Obama administration of trying block their efforts to serve as lawyers for the father of a U.S.-born Muslim cleric who wants to challenge a U.S. order to capture or kill his son.
The Center for Constitutional Rights and the American Civil Liberties Union said they agreed to pursue the case in July at the request of the father of Anwar al-Awlaki, a cleric born in New Mexico.
U.S. authorities have tied Nasser al-Awlaki’s son to the failed bombing attempt of a U.S. commercial jet on Christmas Day in 2009 and also to an Army major who went on a shooting spree that killed 13 people last year at Fort Hood in Texas.
The U.S. Treasury Department last month blacklisted Anwar al-Awlaki as a “specially designated global terrorist,” saying he is a leader of al Qaeda hiding in Yemen. The administration in April authorized operations to capture or kill him.
The ACLU and CCR said that as a result of the Treasury’s designation, they can no longer provide legal services to the father without permission because it would benefit his son. Despite requesting authorization, the Treasury Department has not responded, they said.
The two groups sued in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia challenging the restriction on legal services. If they win, they plan to file suit on behalf of al-Awlaki’s father challenging the order to capture or kill the cleric.
“We don’t believe we should have to play ‘mother may I’ with the government when we want to challenge the government’s efforts to kill an American citizen outside the theater of war and without due process,” said ACLU Executive Director Anthony Romero.
The Treasury Department had no immediate comment.
In its lawsuit, the groups asked for the court to block the restriction on legal services or order the Treasury Department to issue permission so they can pursue a challenge against the authorization to capture or kill him.
Without the Treasury Department’s authorization, the two groups said they could face legal repercussions and prosecution if they represented the father, even if they do so for free.
While U.S. authorities have tied al-Awlaki to the Christmas bombing attempt and the Fort Hood shooting spree, no charges have been publicly filed against him.
White House spokesman Robert Gibbs deflected questions about what legal process was used to issue the order against the cleric. “There’s a process in place that I’m not at liberty to discuss,” he said.
“Let’s not take a tourist who might visit Italy overseas and equate him with somebody who has on countless times in video pledged to uphold and support the violent and murderous theories of al Qaeda,” Gibbs said.
A U.S. Treasury official said last month that al-Awlaki is the fourth person with a U.S. passport or Social Security number to receive such a terrorist designation since the executive order was put in place during the George W. Bush administration in 2001, shortly after the September 11 attacks.
Additional reporting by Matt Spetalnick; editing by David Alexander and Bill Trott
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
All quotes delayed a minimum of 15 minutes. See here for a complete list of exchanges and delays.
Exclusive: Fed’s Neel Kashkari opposes rate hikes at least through 2023 as the central bank becomes more hawkish | Famous Person - Commit Crime - Accuse | August 2010 | ['(ACLU)', '(CCR)', '(US)', '(CIA)', '(BBC)', '(Reuters)'] |
19 firefighters die controlling a wildfire in Yarnell, Arizona. | YARNELL, Ariz. -- Trapped by a wildfire that exploded tenfold in a matter of hours, a crack team of firefighting "Hotshots" broke out their portable emergency shelters and rushed to climb into the foil-lined, heat-resistant bags before the flames swept over them.
By the time the blaze had passed, 19 men lay dead in the nation's biggest loss of firefighters in a wildfire in 80 years.
The tragedy Sunday evening all but wiped out the 20-member Granite Mountain Hotshots, a unit based at Prescott, authorities said Monday as the last of the bodies were retrieved from the mountain in the town of Yarnell. Only one member survived, and that was because he was moving the unit's truck at the time.
The deaths plunged the two small towns into mourning as the wildfire continued to threaten one of them, Yarnell. Arizona's governor called it "as dark a day as I can remember" and ordered flags flown at half-staff. In a heartbreaking sight, a line of white vans carried the bodies to Phoenix for autopsies.
"I know that it is unbearable for many of you, but it also is unbearable for me. I know the pain that everyone is trying to overcome and deal with today," said Gov. Jan Brewer, her voice catching several times as she addressed reporters and residents at Prescott High School in the town of 40,000.
The lightning-sparked fire - which spread to 13 square miles by Monday morning - destroyed about 50 homes and threatened 250 others in and around Yarnell, a town of 700 people in the mountains about 85 miles northwest of Phoenix, the Yavapai County Sheriff's Department said.
About 200 more firefighters joined the battle Monday, bringing the total to 400. Among them were several other Hotshot teams, elite groups of firefighters sent in from around the country to battle the nation's fiercest wildfires.
Residents huddled in shelters and restaurants, watching their homes burn on TV as flames lit up the night sky in the forest above the town.
It was unclear exactly how the firefighters became trapped, and state officials were investigating.
Brewer said the blaze "exploded into a firestorm" that overran the crew.
Brian Klimowski, a National Weather Service meteorologist in Flagstaff, said there was a sudden increase and shift in wind around the time of the tragedy. The blaze grew from 200 acres to about 2,000 in a matter of hours.
Southwest incident team leader Clay Templin said the crew and its commanders were following safety protocols, and it appears the fire's erratic nature simply overwhelmed them.
The Hotshot team had spent recent weeks fighting fires in New Mexico and Prescott before being called to Yarnell, entering the smoky wilderness over the weekend with backpacks, chainsaws and other heavy gear to remove brush and trees as a heat wave across the Southwest sent temperatures into the triple digits.
Arizona Forestry Division spokesman Mike Reichling said all 19 victims had deployed their emergency shelters as they were trained to do. When there is no way out, firefighters are supposed to step into them, lie face down on the ground and pull the fire-resistant fabric completely over themselves.
"It'll protect you, but only for a short amount of time. If the fire quickly burns over you, you'll probably survive that," said Prescott Fire Capt. Jeff Knotek. But "if it burns intensely for any amount of time while you're in that thing, there's nothing that's going to save you from that."
Autopsies were scheduled to determine exactly how the firefighters died.
President Barack Obama offered his administration's help in investigating the tragedy and predicted it will force government leaders to answer broader questions about how they handle increasingly destructive and deadly wildfires.
"We are heartbroken about what happened," he said while on a visit to Africa.
The U.S. has 110 Hotshot crews, according to the U.S. Forest Service website. They typically have about 20 members each and go through specialized training.
Many of those killed were graduates of Prescott High, including Clayton Whitted, who would work out as firefighter on the same campus where he played football for the Prescott Badgers from 2000 to 2004.
The school's football coach, Lou Beneitone, said Whitted was the type of athlete who "worked his fanny off."
"He wasn't a big kid, and many times in the game, he was overpowered by big men, and he still got after it. He knew, 'This man in front of me is a lot bigger and stronger than me,' but he'd try it and he'd smile trying it," Beneitone said.
He and Whitted had talked a few months ago about how this year's fire season could be a "rough one."
"I shook his hand, gave him a hug, and said, 'Be safe out there,'" Beneitone recalled. "He said, 'I will, Coach.'" Hundreds of people were evacuated from the Yarnell area. In addition to the flames, downed power lines and exploding propane tanks continued to threaten what was left of the town, said fire information officer Steve Skurja.
"It's a very hazardous situation right now," Skurja said.
Arizona is in the midst of a historic drought that has left large parts of the state highly flammable.
"Until we get a significant showing of the monsoons, it's showtime, and it's dangerous, really dangerous," incident commander Roy Hall said.
The National Fire Protection Association website lists the last wildfire to kill more firefighters as the 1933 Griffith Park blaze in Los Angeles, which killed 29. The biggest loss of firefighters in U.S. history was 343, killed in the 9/11 attack on New York.
In 1994, the Storm King Fire near Glenwood Springs, Colo., killed 14 firefighters who were overtaken by an explosion of flames.
A makeshift memorial of flower bouquets and American flags formed at the Prescott fire station where the crew was based.
Prescott resident Keith Gustafson showed up and placed 19 water bottles in the shape of a heart.
"When I heard about this, it just hit me hard," he said. "It hit me like a ton of bricks."
Associated Press writers Bob Christie in Phoenix, Brian Skoloff in Yarnell, Tami Abdollah in Prescott, and Martin Di Caro in Washington contributed to this report. | Fire | June 2013 | ['(Associated Press via ABC)', '(KSAZ)'] |
One man is killed and five others are injured after a sailboat breaks up and sinks off of San Clemente, California, United States. | Craig Thomas Williams, 36, of San Diego, was killed in the crash of a 32-foot sailboat onto the rocky shoreline of San Clemente Island, the San Diego County medical examiner said Saturday.
Williams was found unresponsive in the water by Coast Guard rescue personnel. "He was recovered from the water and death was confirmed without medical intervention," the medical examiner said.
Four other crew members were rescued. Their boat, the Uncontrollable Urge, was taking part in the Islands Race hosted by the Newport Harbor Yacht Club and San Diego Yacht Club.
The sailboat had issued a mayday call about 9:30 p.m. Friday as the boat's rudder failed and the craft began drifting toward the rocky shore of the island. Initially the sailors declined assistance from the Coast Guard and other boaters.
But about 11 p.m., as the sailors attempted to anchor the vessel, its anchor would not catch, and the vessel drifted even closer to shore. The Coast Guard dispatched a helicopter from San Diego and the cutter Edisto was diverted to the scene.
Finally, the sailboat entered the surf line and was broken apart by waves, forcing the crew to abandon the vessel. Six sailors were hoisted into the MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter and taken to a hospital, where one man was pronounced dead, the Coast Guard said. | Shipwreck | March 2013 | ['(Los Angeles Times)'] |
Catholics in Portugal converge in a shrine in Fatima for a visit by Pope Francis. | Pope Francis has greeted pilgrims at the Fatima shrine complex in Portugal, where he plans to make two shepherd children saints on Saturday.
It is 100 years since the two - and a third child - reported seeing the Virgin Mary while tending sheep. The third is also on the way to sainthood.
The Pope arrived at a military airbase north of Lisbon. More than a million pilgrims are expected at Fatima.
Portugal has boosted security and reimposed border controls temporarily. Roman Catholic pilgrims have converged on the Fatima Sanctuary from countries as far away as China, Venezuela and East Timor.
There will be a torch-lit procession on Friday and a Mass on Saturday. The Pope will leave Fatima soon after, ending a 24-hour trip.
Two of the children - Jacinta and Francisco Marto - are to be canonised on Saturday for the miracles attributed to them. They died in the 1918-1919 European influenza pandemic.
The so-called three secrets of Fatima were written down by their cousin, Lucia dos Santos, who died in 2005 aged 97. The beatification process for her began in 2008.
The Church attaches great value to their visions, as Mary is believed to have revealed truths to help mankind. The Church says the first vision came on 13 May 1917. In a video message to the people of Portugal, the Pope said he was going to present himself to Mary "and I need to feel you close, physically and spiritually, so that we are one heart and one mind".
They are prophecies written down by Lucia, years after the apparitions that the three said they had witnessed. She spent her adult life as a nun at a convent in Coimbra.
The first two secrets in Lucia's account were revealed in 1942. According to Pope Francis's predecessor, Benedict XVI, the visions described in the three secrets are "meant to mobilise the forces of change in the right direction".
They are not like the Bible - a text he describes as a "public revelation". The Fatima visions are "private revelations", he writes. Their purpose is "to help live more fully" in accordance with Christ's teaching.
The late Pope John Paul II was shot by a Turkish gunman on 13 May 1981. He believed that his survival was due to Mary's divine intervention, and that the third secret had predicted the attack on him.
John Paul donated the bullet to Fatima, and it was inserted into the crown adorning a statue of Mary there.
He follows John Paul II and Benedict XVI, who also made pilgrimages to the Fatima Sanctuary. Portugal is deploying 6,000 police and emergency workers at the site daily. Concrete blocks have been placed on approach roads, to stop any terrorist "ramming" attack with a vehicle.
Only nine border crossings are open, with systematic checks, as Portugal has suspended the Schengen open borders pact. A Portuguese man called Carlos Gil is known as "rent-a-pilgrim", AFP news agency reports. He charges €2,500 (£2,110; $2,717) to walk to Fatima and worship there on behalf of a Catholic who cannot make the trip.
Local accommodation is far more expensive than usual, as hotels and residents cash in on the papal visit.
| Diplomatic Visit | May 2017 | ['(BBC)'] |
A bomb targeting the office of Jamiat UlemaeIslam in Chaman, Balochistan, Pakistan, kills three people, including leader Maulana Mohammad Hanif, with nine more people injured. | QUETTA: Pakistani police say a bomb has killed three people and wounded nine others in the southwestern town of Chaman near the Afghan border.
Officer Mohammad Iqbal says the bomb Saturday was planted in a motorcycle parked outside the office of a religious party.
He said the bomb detonated remotely when Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam party’s leader Maulana Mohammad Hanif was exiting the building, killing Hanif and two other men.
The blast took place amid heightened security in the town due to a presidential vote being held across the border in Afghanistan.
No group immediately claimed responsibility for the blast.
Chaman is in the province of Baluchistan, where there is a yearslong low-level insurgency by Baluch separatists. Extremist militants also operate there.
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| Armed Conflict | September 2019 | ['(Arab News)'] |
The Australian Women's 4 x 100 metre swimming relay team of Emily Seebohm, Leisel Jones, Jessicah Schipper and Libby Trickett wins the gold medal in world record time. | BEIJING (Reuters) - Australia destroyed their own world record to win the 4x100 meters medley relay at the Beijing Olympics on Sunday and confirmed their status as the top nation in women’s swimming.
Backstroker Emily Seebohm, breaststroker Leisel Jones, butterflyer Jessicah Schipper and freestyler Libby Trickett to win the gold in a combined time of three minutes, 52.69 seconds.
They carved more than three seconds off the time the same lineup set at last year’s world championships and finished the swimming events with six golds, four more than traditional rivals the United States.
Jones was a part of the Australian team that won the same event in Athens four years ago and now has three career gold medals after winning her first individual gold medal in Beijing in the 100 breaststroke.
“It’s not hard to swim fast when you have such an amazing team behind you,” she said. “We knew we had a tough race on our hands and every individual swim had to be the best possible.”
Trickett collected her second gold in Beijing after winning the 100 butterfly final to complete a mixed week in which she finished second in the 100 freestyle and out of the medals in the 50 freestyle despite holding the world records for both events.
“It’s been full of highs and lows, it’s been a great rollercoaster,” she said.
“We have a great history in this event since Athens but this is the first time I’ve been a part and to be anchor was such an honor.”
The United States finished second in 3:53.30, also under the old world record, to give Natalie Coughlin her sixth medal of the Games, including one gold, and 41-year-old Dara Torres her third silver of the Games. China finished third in 3:56.11.
(Additional reporting by Martin Petty)
Editing by Greg Stutchbury
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
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Exclusive: Fed’s Neel Kashkari opposes rate hikes at least through 2023 as the central bank becomes more hawkish | Break historical records | August 2008 | ['(Reuters)'] |
Iraqi doctor Bilal Abdullah is charged for his alleged involvement in the 2007 Glasgow International Airport attack. | Dr Abdullah, 27, an Iraqi doctor, will appear before Westminster magistrates on Saturday following the alleged terror plots in London and Glasgow.
The decision comes as dramatic new film of the alleged Glasgow car bomb attack has been obtained by the BBC.
The footage shows a burning jeep crashing into the terminal building.
The Crown Prosecution Service said Dr Abdullah was being charged under the 1883 Explosive Substances Act.
The charge, which covers a period from January 1 to July 1 this year, alleges that he "unlawfully and maliciously conspired with others to cause explosions of a nature likely to endanger life or cause serious injury to property in the United Kingdom".
It carries a maximum sentence of life.
Susan Hemming, head of the CPS Counter Terrorism Division said: "I have now made the decision that there is sufficient evidence and authorised the charging of Bilal Abdullah with conspiracy to cause explosions following incidents in London and Glasgow on 29 June 2007 and 30 June 2007.
"Other individuals arrested by the police in connection with the bomb attacks remain in custody pending a charging decision."
Scorched
In the newly released footage, passengers are heard expressing their shock as police drag Kafeel Ahmed, his clothes burnt off and hair scorched, away from the wrecked Jeep.
Australian police have been given more time to quiz a relative of Mr Ahmed.
The newly-released footage, shot by a Hungarian bystander, was obtained by the BBC from a Hungarian television station.
As the film was shot, an alarm sounds continually and passengers talk about the unfolding scene. They sound alarmed and concerned rather than panicky.
Police have been given more time to question Dr Haneef
The most dramatic images are those of Kafeel Ahmed, 27, from Bangalore, India. He is still in a critical condition in a specialist burns unit at Glasgow Royal Infirmary after suffering 90% burns.
There are gasps and profanities from the passengers as the camera focuses on him as he is dragged along the ground by the police, his hands behind his back in cuffs.
His clothes are all but burnt off, his skin and hair is scorched.
Dr Abdullah, from Iraq, is seen being led away by police after he was doused with CS gas.
'Security menace'
Although the UK has lowered its terror threat level from "critical" to "severe", police are on high alert ahead of the second anniversary on Saturday of the suicide bombings which killed 52 people on London's transport network.
Security is also tight this weekend for the start of the Tour de France cycle race in London and the finals of the Wimbledon tennis championship. Prime Minister Gordon Brown spoke to his Australian counterpart John Howard about the suspected terror plot after police in Australia were given more time to question Mohammed Haneef. Dr Haneef was held at Brisbane airport as he tried to leave for India on Monday.
He is a relative of Kafeel Ahmed and his brother Sabeel, who was arrested in Liverpool.
Police in Australia have also seized computers and other material as well as interviewing and subsequently releasing four doctors. A fifth doctor was also being questioned.
It emerged that contrary to earlier reports, Mr Ahmed was not a medic but an engineer with a PhD in design and technology. | Famous Person - Commit Crime - Accuse | July 2007 | ['(BBC)'] |
China announces its decision to join the United Nations Arms Trade Treaty. | Your browser is out of date, and may not be compatible with our website. A list of the most popular web browsers can be found below.
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China will join a global pact to regulate arms sales that has been rejected by the United States, with Beijing saying Monday it is committed to efforts to "enhance peace and stability" in the world.
The Communist Party leadership's top legislative body voted Saturday to adopt a decision on joining the UN Arms Trade Treaty that is designed to control the flow of weapons into conflict zones.
It comes after US President Donald Trump announced plans last year to pull the United States out of the agreement -- which entered into force in 2014.
Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian told reporters that joining the treaty was "another important measure for China to support multilateralism".
He added that the country would make a "continuous effort to maintain and enhance peace and stability in the world and region", and that China has "always strictly controlled the export of military products".
China only exports such products to sovereign countries and not to non-state actors, Zhao said at a regular briefing.
The US Senate never ratified the 2013 Arms Trade Treaty after former president Barack Obama endorsed it, and Trump has said he would revoke his predecessor's signature.
It is among a number of international agreements reached under the Obama administration that Trump has moved to pull out of.
The treaty requires member countries to keep records of international transfers of weapons and to prohibit cross-border shipments that could be used in human rights violations or attacks on civilians.
A study in January by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute said China is now the second largest arms producer in the world, behind the US. | Join in an Organization | June 2020 | ['(AFP via The Jakarta Post)'] |
An Israeli Air-Strike in the Gaza Strip leaves four Palestinians dead. Israel claims that all four were militants and were about to launch a rocket attack into Israel. | Israel said it targeted a car carrying four militants who were on their way to launch a strike on Israeli targets.
The car was travelling near the Karni crossing, the main cargo passage between the Gaza Strip and Israel.
Just hours later, a second Israeli air strike wounded Islamic Jihad leader Khader Habib as he travelled in a car in Gaza City, witnesses said.
Israel has stepped up targeted strikes on members of Palestinian militant groups following a suicide bombing in the town of Netanya earlier this month.
Islamic Jihad - a Palestinian militant group - claimed responsibility for the attack, in which five Israelis were killed.
Revenge threat
An unmanned Israeli drone fired two missiles at the car near the Karni crossing, ripping it apart, witnesses said.
Israel said the car had been carrying four members of the Popular Resistance Committees, a coalition of militants, who were "on the way to carrying out an attack against an Israeli target".
A military spokeswoman said that the size of the blast "shows that explosives were being transported in the vehicle".
Abu Abir of the Popular Resistance Committees was quoted by Reuters news agency as urging Israelis in a town near Gaza "to flee their homes because soon our rockets will target them." | Armed Conflict | December 2005 | ['(BBC)', '(Haaretz)'] |
The President of the People's Republic of China Hu Jintao and Prime Minister of Australia John Howard agree to six deals including an agreement whereby the PRC will purchase A$35 billion worth of liquefied natural gas from Woodside Petroleum. | Australia and China have signed a series of new agreements for closer ties between the two nations, including a $35 billion deal with Woodside to buy liquefied natural gas (LNG).
Prime Minister John Howard and Chinese President Hu Jintao held official talks this morning before the two countries signed six deals, including prisoner transfer and extradition treaties, private energy and resource agreements and arrangements for joint giant panda research.
Mr Hu had lunch with Mr Howard and later today the Chinese President will have a meeting with US President George Bush.
It will be one of the key bilateral meetings of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit.
Mr Howard says the gas deal underscores the relationship between the two countries.
"China's growth is not only good for China, but it is good for the whole world," he said.
"The growth in economic ties between Australia and China over the last 10 years has been nothing short of stunning."
| Sign Agreement | September 2007 | ['(ABC News Australia)'] |
ABC reports that British government sources believe that suspects arrested last week in the UK may have been plotting to make an improvised chemical weapon using the toxic agent osmium tetroxide. | Used primarily in laboratories for research, osmium tetroxide is known to attack soft human tissue and could blind or kill anyone who breathed its fumes. According to the New Jersey Department of Health, it is a colorless to pale yellow solid with a strong, unpleasant odor. "It's a nasty piece of work," said Dave Siegrist, a bioterrorism expert at the Potomac Institute for Policy Studies in Arlington, Va. "It irritates the eyes, lungs, nose and throat. It leads to an asthma-like death, what we call a 'dry-land drowning.' " Scientists say if, for example, the bomb used in the 1993 World Trade Center attack had produced such fumes, they would have wiped out the first police and rescue workers on the scene.
"They become overwhelmed by fumes," said Jerry Hauer, an expert on biological and chemical terrorism and the former director of public health preparedness at the Department of Health and Human Services, describing what could have happened. "They can go blind. This is not a benign chemical. It is very nasty."
Eight British citizens of Pakistani descent were arrested and taken into custody when 700 police raided 24 locations in and around London on March 30. Investigators say British authorities moved in when they learned from electronic intercepts the dangerous chemical was involved in the plot. They had been the tracking group's activities for several months.
According to sources, there was some indication the group in custody was targeting Gatwick airport, the British public transportation system and enclosed shopping areas. British authorities feared it had the potential to be one of the worst attacks ever against the United Kingdom.
Even though the arrests were made in the United Kingdom, authorities say the operation was being run out of Pakistan by a suspected al Qaeda figure.
"They are creative in their planning," said Hauer. "They continue to work around our systems."
| | Famous Person - Commit Crime - Arrest | April 2004 | ['(ABC/US)', '(BBC)'] |
Heavy fighting between the Ukrainian military and pro-Russian militants takes place in and around the rebel-held eastern city of Sloviansk. | Heavy fighting is taking place in and around the rebel-held city of Sloviansk in eastern Ukraine, Ukrainian and Russian media report.
Ukrainian troops shelled the city in the morning, Russia's Itar-Tass said, with warplanes flying overhead.
One member of the security services was reported by local media to have been killed and 13 injured when separatists attacked posts near Sloviansk.
The interior ministry said separatist roadblocks had been destroyed.
For weeks, eastern Ukraine has been the scene of deadly clashes between government troops and pro-Russian insurgents who have taken over key buildings across the region.
On Tuesday, Ukrainian Interior Minister Arsen Avakov urged residents of Sloviansk and also nearby Kramatorsk and Krasnyi Lyman to stay indoors while the "the active phase" against pro-Russian militants was in progress.
He said on his Facebook page that separatist checkpoints near Semenivka had been destroyed.
Separatists in the area claimed to have destroyed a Ukrainian warplane, a helicopter and several tanks - but these claims could not be independently confirmed. Itar-Tass said there had also been fierce clashes throughout Monday night in Kramatorsk, about 10km (6 miles) from Sloviansk. It said explosions and artillery fire were heard at the local airfield and three separatists were killed elsewhere in the area. On Monday, hundreds of separatists assaulted a border command centre near the city of Luhansk, which remains surrounded by the gunmen.
Five militants were reported to have been killed and eight wounded when the centre came under sustained attack. Seven border guards were said to have been wounded.
As many as 500 pro-Russian gunmen are believed to have been involved in the assault.
Also on Monday, there was an explosion in Luhansk's main regional building, which was seized by the separatists several weeks ago. Media reports suggested there were casualties. Pro-Russian groups accused Ukraine's military of carrying out an air strike. Kiev denied the claim, suggesting that separatists in the building could have mishandled a portable anti-aircraft missile system.
On Tuesday, the OSCE's monitoring mission to Ukraine said the building was hit by rockets. It added that - based on the mission's limited observation - "these strikes were the result of non-guided rockets shot from an aircraft".
Correspondents say the separatists have become more and more aggressive in their assaults on government-held positions as they try to obtain weapons and ammunition from Ukrainian forces. Ukrainian President-elect Petro Poroshenko has said that his priority is to bring fighting in the east of the country to an end.
| Armed Conflict | June 2014 | ['(BBC)'] |
North Korea leader Kim Jong-un announces that North Korea will suspend its missile and nuclear tests and has agreed to shut down its nuclear test sites. | Follow NBC News North Korean leader Kim Jong Un announced Friday evening that the country has suspended nuclear and long-range missile tests, claiming further tests are unnecessary.
Kim also announced his regime will shut down a nuclear test ground in the northern part of the country.
North Korea has "reached the target stage, where the nation and people's safety is reliably secured," Kim said. The next stage, he said, is building on efforts to denuclearize, "which is the peace-loving platform of our party."
The announcement, made by the state-run Korean Central News Agency around dawn Saturday local time, comes ahead of a planned meeting between Kim and President Donald Trump as well as a summit with South Korean President Moon Jae-in next Friday.
Trump responded to the announcement on Twitter, saying, "This is very good news for North Korea and the World — big progress! Look forward to our Summit."
A message from Kim Jong Un: “North Korea will stop nuclear tests and launches of intercontinental ballistic missiles.”Also will “Shut down a nuclear test site in the country’s Northern Side to prove the vow to suspend nuclear tests.” Progress being made for all!
North Korea has conducted six nuclear tests, the most recent in September. The tests have sparked international condemnation, and late last year the United Nations imposed punishing sanctions on the isolated country.
In the KCNA statement, Kim said, "Every process involved with nuclear development” has been carried out, and "the means of delivery also has been conducted scientifically, resulting in the completion of nuclear weaponization," according to an NBC translation.
Kim also said the country would halt nuclear tests, and stop test-firing midrange and intercontinental ballistic missiles. "Accordingly, the northern nuclear test ground has ended its mission," he said.
Kim said, according to KCNA, that "no nuclear test and intermediate-range and inter-continental ballistic rocket test-fire are necessary for the DPRK now, given that the work for mounting nuclear warheads on ballistic rockets was finished," referring to the country's official name of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.
The development could be seen as a concession from North Korea ahead of the planned meeting between Kim and Trump, which officials said might take place in June. Details are still being discussed.
Trump and Kim traded fiery rhetoric last year and in January over North Korea’s nuclear weapons program. Kim said in a New Year’s Day address that "the entire United States is within range of our nuclear weapons, a nuclear button is always on my desk. This is reality, not a threat."
Trump responded on Twitter, saying: “Will someone from his depleted and food starved regime please inform him that I too have a Nuclear Button, but it is a much bigger & more powerful one than his, and my Button works!”
Trump said this week that he was looking forward to the proposed North Korea meeting, but also warned that he could cancel the visit, or leave while it was in progress, if he thought the meeting would not be fruitful.
When North Korea tested a rocket in November thought by Western officials to have been an intercontinental ballistic missile, an expert told NBC News, “A viable ICBM capable of reaching the West Coast of the U.S. mainland is still a year away, though North Korea continues to progress."
Amid ramped-up tensions, Hawaii in January tested its emergency alert system, which resulted in a false alert about a ballistic missile heading toward the islands.
South Korea’s government praised the North’s announcement. "North Korea's decision is significant progress towards denuclearization on the Korean peninsula, which is the world's desire," said Yoon Young-chan, a presidential spokesman.
China, North Korea’s main ally, also welcomed the decision.
The official Xinhua News Agency quoted Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang as saying Beijing wishes for North Korea to continue to achieve results in the development of its economy and improving the living standards of its people.
He says China will support North Korea through dialogue and consultations with “relevant parties” to resolve their concerns and improve relations.
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said that "North Korea's announcement is forward motion that I'd like to welcome," according to Reuters, but he said the results matter.
"But what's important is that this motion leads to complete, verifiable and irreversible dismantlement of [North Korea's] nuclear and missile programs," Abe said. "I want to take a close look at it."
Wendy Sherman, former U.S. undersecretary of state for political affairs and an MSNBC global affairs contributor, said on the network Friday night that "I think Kim Jong Un is playing his hand extremely well."
"He's starting out this negotiation by saying, 'I've made a concession, I've done an incredible thing. I have stopped testing of my weapons — because I don't need to anymore, by the way,'" she said.
Sherman also noted that the test site believed to have been used in the latest nuclear test is thought to have begun to collapse "and probably might not have been functional in the future anyway." But she also said "I think it is a good thing that dialogue is taking place." | Famous Person - Give a speech | April 2018 | ['(Military)', '(NBC News)'] |
At least 20 people die as a bus in Pakistani–controlled Kashmir skids from the road, tumbles down a hill and lands in the river Jhelum. | Another 25 were injured in the incident near Chinari, about 50km (30 miles) south-east of Muzaffarabad.
Police said the bus fell about 80m (250 feet) down a hill into the river Jhelum. Some passengers are badly hurt.
Several of the injured have been taken to field hospitals set up to treat survivors of the 8 October earthquake, in which about 75,000 people died.
We fear at least three to four people also drowned
Deputy police chief Tahir Qureshi
The Jhelum valley road was badly damaged in the earthquake, with parts swept away by landslides.
Many sections are still dangerous, even though the army has cut new stretches out of the cliffs to allow relief and rescue teams access. Bodies The bus was travelling from Kathai, a small town in the Jhelum valley, to Muzaffarabad, the capital of Pakistan-administered Kashmir. Police say the vehicle skidded off the road as it was going round a corner not far from the town of Chinari.
Muzaffarabad deputy police chief Tahir Qureshi told Reuters news agency earlier in the day that 20 bodies had been recovered.
"We fear at least three to four people also drowned," he said.
The injured include three women and a 10-year-old girl. Some of those hurt are in a critical condition and the number of dead may rise, say police.
There have been several other road accidents in the area since the quake, leaving about 50 people dead and dozens injured. | Road Crash | December 2005 | ['(BBC)'] |
A car bomb explodes in a Shi'ite neighbourhood in Baghdad, killing at least 48 people. ISIL claimed responsibility for the bombing. | At least 48 people have been killed in Baghdad in the third blast in the Iraqi capital in three days, security and medical sources say. A car packed with explosives blew up near car dealerships in the Shia area of Bayaa in the south of the city. More than 50 people were injured. The Islamic State (IS) group claimed the attack, saying it targeted "a gathering of Shias".
At least 24 people were killed in other attacks on Tuesday and Wednesday.
Baghdad saw a wave of deadly suicide attacks by IS in the first few days of 2017, but the number had dropped until recently.
An AFP reporter at the scene of Thursday's bomb reported seeing numerous burnt-out vehicles, and blood on the ground.
Security sources said the bomb was detonated in a busy street and was the deadliest attack in Baghdad for several months. A plume of smoke from the blast could be seen above the Bayaa neighbourhood for much of the day.
Medics have warned the number of fatalities and injuries could rise as they struggle to cope with scores of people wounded in the attack.
It is thought that car dealerships may present convenient targets for the militants because it is easy for them to leave vehicles laden with explosives alongside lots of other vehicles that are also parked in the same area. As the clear-up operation gets underway, distressed relatives are reported to be at the scene desperate to find news of their loved ones.
The IS group has stepped up its attacks since the Iraqi army, aided by US-led coalition strikes, launched its campaign to dislodge the Sunni militant group from its stronghold of Mosul in the north four months ago.
The militants now control the west of the city, while the eastern part is held by Iraqi forces and their allies.
On Wednesday, an attack on used-car dealers in the Habibya area of Sadr City, a suburb in the north of the Iraqi capital, left 18 dead. On Tuesday, a car bomb in the south of Baghdad killed four people.
On 2 January, at least 35 people were killed in a bomb blast in Sadr City, in an attack claimed by IS. | Armed Conflict | February 2017 | ['(BBC)'] |
Former Russian Press Minister Mikhail Lesin was found by an American investigation to have died of blunt force injuries in Washington, D.C. in November last year. | WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Former Russian Press Minister Mikhail Lesin, who was found dead in a Washington hotel room last year, died of blunt force injuries to the head, U.S. authorities said on Thursday.
Lesin who once headed the state-controlled Gazprom-Media, also had blunt force injuries to the neck, torso, arms and legs, the U.S. capital’s Office of the Chief Medical Examiner and the Metropolitan Police Department said in a brief statement.
According to a police incident report, Lesin, who was President Vladimir Putin’s press minister from 1999 to 2004, was found unconscious on Nov. 5 on the floor of his room in the Doyle Washington Hotel. The hotel is also known as the Dupont Circle Hotel.
An ambulance was called and he was pronounced dead at the scene.
Russia’s RT television quoted family members at the time as saying he had died of a heart attack.
A U.S. law enforcement source said on Thursday the investigation into Lesin’s death was being led by Washington, D.C. police.
The investigation was focused on Lesin’s death, but that did not rule out a possible change to a murder probe, said the source, who declined to be identified when discussing the matter.
The source said when police first investigated the hotel room where Lesin’s body was found, they did not find any damage or evidence indicating foul play.
A spokesman for the Russian Embassy in the United States said their officials for the past several months have requested through diplomatic channels information regarding the progress of the investigation.
“No substantial information has been provided. With regard to the document that has been released to the public today, we expect the American side to provide us with relevant official explanation,” press secretary Yury Melnik said in an email.
ABC News has said Lesin had been accused of censoring Russia’s independent media. He became head of Gazprom-Media Holding in 2013 but resigned the following year.
Reporting by Ian Simpson; Additional reporting by Mark Hosenball; Editing by Peter Cooney
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
| Famous Person - Death | March 2016 | ['(Reuters)'] |
In an interview for German TV, Syrian President Bashar Assad states that the US is trying to destabilise Syria by providing political protection for "gangs", and that Saudi Arabia and Qatar were arming "terrorists" in Syria. | Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has said the US is trying to destabilise Syria by providing political protection for "gangs" operating in the country.
In an interview for German TV, Mr Assad also said Saudi Arabia and Qatar were arming "terrorists" in Syria.
He also accused Turkey of giving the "terrorists" logistical support.
Meanwhile, Syria's armed forces have been conducting "large-scale" manoeuvres to test their "combat readiness", Syrian state media report.
On being asked whether the US was partially responsible for the deaths of innocent Syrian civilians, Mr Assad replied: "Yes, of course."
"As long as [the US] offers support to terrorists in some way, they will be their partner," he added.
Mr Assad said the authorities in Syria had arrested "dozens" of al-Qaeda fighters from Tunisia and Libya.
He also said that he believed that the majority of Syrians supported him.
"The US are against me, the West is against me, numerous regional powers and countries are against me, if the people were also against me, then how could I still be in my position?" he asked.
When asked whether the government would negotiate with armed rebels if they would lay down their weapons, Mr Assad said: "Clearly: Yes. We have already done this and offered them an amnesty. Some of them are now living totally normal lives, with no problem whatsoever."
The remarks were provided by German broadcaster ARD ahead of the transmission of the interview later on Sunday.
The exercises showed Syria was able "to defend [its] shores against any possible aggression", according to state-run news agency Sana.
Tensions along the border with Turkey have been raised after Syria shot down a Turkish fighter jet last month.
Syrian Defence Minister Gen Dawoud Rajha was one of several high-ranking officers attending the manoeuvres, according to a report on Syrian TV. "Our Navy forces started to conduct an operational tactical manoeuvre with live ammunition, during which naval and coastal rockets were fired," the report added.
The exercises were part of a training plan which involves manoeuvres "carried out over several days", Sana said. Some in the Syrian opposition have called for foreign military intervention to unseat Mr Assad's government.
Last week Turkey scrambled six F-16 fighter jets near its border with Syria after Syrian helicopters came close to the border.
Also last week, Turkey said it had begun deploying rocket launchers and anti-aircraft guns along the border in response to the downing of its F-4 Phantom jet on 22 June.
Syria said the Turkish F-4 was shot down by air defence fire inside its airspace.
Meanwhile, violence continued in Syria on Sunday with 11 people reported dead, according to the Local Co-ordination Committees (LCC), a network of activists inside Syria.
Three of the dead were soldiers who had defected, the LCC said.
Over 15,000 people are thought to have been killed since the start of the anti-government uprising more than a year ago.
UN-Arab League envoy Kofi Annan has arrived in Damascus.
Mr Annan will hold talks with President Bashar al-Assad, his office said.
On Saturday Mr Annan said his six-point peace plan for Syria had so far "failed", in comments to French newspaper Le Monde.
Recent diplomatic moves by world powers to try and reach agreement on Syria have also not resulted in fresh action.
Earlier this week, a group of more than 100 countries known as the Friends of Syria called on the UN Security Council to adopt Mr Annan's six point plan under Chapter 7 of the UN Charter, which would allow for further sanctions.
However, Russia and China, both of whom hold vetoes at the Council, were not at the meeting and have refused to call for Mr Assad's departure - a key demand of many in the Syrian opposition.
| Armed Conflict | July 2012 | ['(BBC)'] |
The Government of Iraq claims that Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant second–in–command Abdul Rahman Mustafa Mohammed has been killed in an airstrike in northern Iraq. | The second-in-command of Islamic State (IS) has been killed in a US-led coalition air strike in northern Iraq, the Iraqi ministry of defence says.
Abdul Rahman Mustafa Mohammed, also known as Abu Alaa al-Afari, was at a mosque near Tal Afar that was targeted, spokesman Brig-Gen Tahsin Ibrahim said.
However, the US military later denied coalition planes had attacked a mosque.
In recent weeks, there were unconfirmed reports that Afari had taken temporary charge of IS operations.
Iraqi sources claimed IS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi had been incapacitated as a result of an air strike in Iraq in March.
Gen Ibrahim told the BBC that Afari was killed alongside dozens of militants who he had been meeting at the al-Shuhada (Martyrs) mosque in the village of al-Iyadhiya, near Tal Afar, where he was reportedly a well-known preacher.
Tal Afar, in the northern province of Nineveh, was seized by IS in June 2014.
The general did not specify which country had carried out the air strike, but the US has been responsible for the vast majority since the coalition campaign began last August.
The ministry of defence separately published video purportedly showing the strike. It did not say when it took place, but one official told the Associated Press it was on Tuesday.
The Governor of Nineveh, Atheel al-Nujaifi, told the BBC in Washington that his contacts had confirmed Afari's death.
The US-led coalition said on Wednesday it had carried out a strike in the Tal Afar area against "an Isil (IS) fighting position and an Isil heavy machine gun", adding: "We can confirm that coalition aircraft did not strike a mosque."
Adding to the confusion, the Iraqi interior ministry was quoted as saying that although Afari was present at the scene of the air strike, it wasn't clear what had happened to him.
The Iraqi government has previously announced the deaths of IS leaders only for them to resurface alive.
But the BBC's Ahmed Maher in Baghdad says that if Afari's death is confirmed, it would represent another blow to IS, which has suffered a series of losses on the battlefield in recent months.
The man known as Abu Alaa al-Afari is believed to rank number two to IS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, and commensurately has the highest US bounty on his head ($7m) apart from Baghdadi himself ($10m).
The Iraqi authorities continue to insist that Baghdadi himself was incapacitated and had handed operational control to Afari after being badly wounded in an earlier strike - something the Pentagon has denied. There have been many previous announcements from Baghdad during its long struggle against the Islamist militants which have not been subsequently borne out. So many observers will be sceptical of this latest claim until it is bolstered by independent confirmation.
Last week, the US state department offered a reward of $7m (£4.5m) for information on a "senior IS official" called Abdul Rahman Mustafa al-Qaduli, whom Iraqi security sources identified as Afari.
Born in 1957 or 1959 in Iraq's second city of Mosul, Qaduli joined IS forces in Syria after his release from an Iraqi prison in 2012, it said. He had previously served as the leader of al-Qaeda in Iraq (AQI) - a precursor of IS - in Mosul.
The US added Qaduli to its list of specially designated global terrorists in 2014.
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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 | May 2015 | ['(BBC)'] |
Catalonia holds a snap election following a demonstration for independence with the governing Convergence and Union party led by Artur Mas returning with a reduced number of seats. | Catalans have set their region on the road to independence, voting in pro-separatist parties that will push for a referendum on breaking away from Spain.
The incumbent regional president Artur Mas secured a second term and with it a mandate to seek secession from Spain in defiance of Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy.
But his centre right Convergence and Union (CIU) party fell short of the absolute majority they hoped for, winning only 50 of the 62 seats they secured in the 135 seat assembly at the last election two years ago.
The separatist left wing ERC party, which also strongly supports self-rule, doubled its share of the vote, securing 21 seats, however.
Acknowledging that his support fell in favour of leftist parties, Mr Mas said alliances would have to be sought. ”From this result we note that we are clearly the only force that can lead this government, but we cannot lead it alone. We need shared responsibility,” the 56-year leader told supporters in Barcelona. ”There must be a period of reflection in Catalonia over the coming days. The presidency must be taken up, but we will also have to reflect along with other (political) forces,” he said.
Overall, with 97 per cent of the vote counted Sunday, pro-independence parties secured 74 seats, making it likely that a Scottish style referendum would be held within four years.
The election results set the stage for a showdown with Madrid, threatening Spain’s conservative Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy with the biggest political crisis since the nation’s transition to democracy.
Mr Mas called the snap elections two years early, centring his campaign on the promise of a referendum on independence for Spain’s wealthy northeastern region.
Polls show up to 57 per cent of Catalans would vote yes to independence, a figure that has nearly doubled since the start of Spain’s economic crisis in 2008.
Anger over “unfair” tax demands from Madrid have fueled separatist sentiment in the industrious and economically important region, as Spain suffers deep economic crisis and unpopular austerity measures.
Many voters believe the region, which boasts a strong cultural identity and its own language and contributes 20 per cent of Spain’s economic output, would fare better economically as an individual state within the European Union. But the drive for independence risks Catalonia being blocked out of the European Union, threatening devastating consequences for Catalan trade.
There is widespread perception that Catalonia’s resources have been drained by Madrid with the region of 7.5 million residents paying about 15 billion euros more than it gets back from the national treasury every year. Mr Mas was forced to go cap in hand to Madrid earlier this year to ask for a 5 billion euro lifeline to help meet operating costs in a region with a debt of 48 billion euros. He has blamed tax transfers to Madrid as the root of the region’s woes and tried to negotiate a new fiscal treaty, a move that was rejected by Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy. The regional election threatens to set Catalonia further on a collision course with Madrid with the central government warning it will fight any moves that could lead to the break-up of the eurozone’s fourth largest economy.
Mr Rajoy, already battling to avoid an international bail-out for Spain and growing social unrest within a nation suffering 25 per cent unemployment, faces a looming constitutional crisis as his conservative government seeks to use all “available measures” to block such a referendum, which is banned under Spain’s constitution.
There are fears that any move to independence by Catalonia could be swiftly followed by the Basque Country and force a renegotiation of terms across Spain’s 17-semi autonomous regions.
But one of the biggest hurdles ahead is whether a newly independent Catalonia could remain within the European Union and the euro currency. Brussels has indicated that membership would not be automatic and it would have to join the queue. The admission process would likely be blocked by a vengeful Spain.
During weeks of campaigning the region has filled with Catalan national flags in a wave of separatist sentiment. By 6pm, some 56 per cent of the 5.2 million eligible voters had visited the ballot box, some 8 points higher than in the last regional election two years ago.
”This is an historic moment,” said Jordi Casas, 24, as he cast his vote at a polling booth in Barcelona. “The time has come to say 'enough’. Madrid doesn’t represent our interests and now we want the chance to decide our own future.”
Others have said the campaigning has focused too heavily on independence, while issues of the economy were set aside.
”I think these elections are a disgrace because countries are there to unite, not divide,” said 65-year-old pensioner Josep. | Government Job change - Election | November 2012 | ['(CNN)', '(The Telegraph)'] |
The media reports that President Mubarak's son Gamal resigns as head of the National Democratic Party bureau. Secretary Safwat el-Sharif and the six-member Steering Committee of the General Secretariat also resign. , | Update at 7:43 p.m. ET: The leadership council of Egypt's ruling party resigned Saturday, including the president's son, but supporters of President Hosni Mubarak expressed optimism that he will survive the chaotic effort to oust him.
Those who resigned included some of the country's most powerful political figures — who were also some of the most unpopular among many Egyptians. But state TV, announcing the resignations, still identified Mubarak as president of the party in a sign he would remain in authority.
Earlier posting: State TV also announced that the ruling party's six-member Steering Committee of the General Secretariat stepped down and was replaced, CBS and the Associated Press report.
The council is the NDP's highest decision-making body. The outgoing secretary-general, Safwat el-Sharif, and the other resigning members were some of the most powerful political figures in the regime.
Hosni Mubarak has resigned as head of the ruling National Democratic Party, but remains as president of the country, CBS and the Associated Press report.
The resignation was announced on Egypt state TV.
The entire politburo of the NDP resigned. In addition, two key Mubarak allies, including his son, Gamal, were stripped of their posts, the BBC reports.
The leadership post was taken by Hossam Badrawi, a reformer and prominent physician.
In the square, a crowd shouted down an Army general who addressed the protesters and tried to persuade them to end their demonstration.
General Abdel Meneem Khalil, head of the army's central command, urged demonstrators to leave the square. They chanted back, "We are not leaving. He [Mubarak] is leaving," the AP reports.
Doug is an unrepentant news junkie who loves breaking news and has been known to watch C-SPAN even on vacation. He has covered a wide range of domestic and international news stories, from prison riots in Oklahoma to the Moscow coup against Mikhail Gorbachev. Doug previously served as foreign editor at USA TODAY. More about Doug
Michael Winter has been a daily contributor to On Deadline since its debut in January 2006. His journalism career began in the prehistoric Ink Era, and he was an early adapter at the dawn of the Digital Age. His varied experience includes editing at the San Jose Mercury News and The Philadelphia Inquirer. | Government Job change - Resignation_Dismissal | February 2011 | ['(USA Today)', '(The New York Times)', '(Sky News)'] |
France formally confirms death of Islamist commander Abdelhamid Abou Zeid, a senior al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb in February, after DNA tests. | Islamist commander Abdelhamid Abou Zeid has been killed in fighting in Mali, the French presidency has confirmed.
Abou Zeid was a senior figure in al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM).
Earlier, the French newspaper Le Monde said DNA samples had made it possible to formally identify Abou Zeid.
The Chadian army fighting alongside French forces claimed earlier this month it had killed Abou Zeid and fellow militant Mokhtar Belmokhtar in fighting in February.
"The president of the French Republic confirms with certainty the death of Abdelhamid Abou Zeid after an offensive by the French army in the Adrar des Ifoghas (mountains) in the North of Mali, at the end of February," the Elysee presidential palace said.
The statement said the death of "one of the main leaders of AQIM marks an important stage in the fight against terrorism in the Sahel (region)".
The fate of Mokhtar Belmokhtar has yet to be confirmed.
Islamist rebels seized the vast north of Mali a year ago after a military coup in the capital Bamako.
France intervened militarily in January amid fears that the militants were preparing to advance on Bamako. It currently has about 4,000 troops in Mali. Analysts say Algerian-born Abou Zeid became one of AQIM's top three military commanders in 2012 and led jihadist forces into the north Malian city of Timbuktu.
Once there they swiftly imposed a harsh regime of Sharia law and organised the destruction of Muslim holy sites they considered idolatrous.
Mali's army and troops from several African countries, including 2,000 from Chad, have also been involved in the fighting.
Since the intervention began, major cities including Gao, Kidal and Timbuktu have been recaptured but fighting is still continuing in desert mountains.
France plans to withdraw its troops from Mali next month, with West African countries expected to take over in the run-up to elections due in July.
Correspondents say Abou Zeid, an Algerian, was believed to be behind several kidnappings of Westerners.
He was also suspected of executing a British hostage, Edwin Dyer, in 2009 and French national Michel Germaneau a year later. On Wednesday, AQIM said it had killed French hostage Philippe Verdon who was taken prisoner in Mali in 2011.
It said his death - which France has not yet confirmed - was in retaliation for France's intervention in Mali.
As well as Mr Verdon, a total of 14 French nationals are still being held by Islamist groups in Africa. | Famous Person - Death | March 2013 | ['(BBC)'] |
In an act of cooperation that is rare in recent years, Iran releases Princeton PhD candidate Wang Xiyue while the United States releases stem cell researcher Massoud Soleimani in a prisoner exchange. Both U.S. President Donald Trump and Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif thank the Swiss government for facilitating the swap. | DUBAI/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States and Iran each freed a prisoner on Saturday in a rare act of cooperation between two longtime foes whose ties have worsened since President Donald Trump took office.
U.S., Iran prisoner swap detained academics
01:04
Iran released Xiyue Wang, a U.S. citizen who had been held for three years on spying charges, while the United States freed Iranian Massoud Soleimani. He had been facing charges of violating U.S. sanctions against Tehran.
A senior U.S. official said Washington was hopeful that Wang’s release would lead to the freeing of other Americans held in Iran and that it was a sign Tehran was willing to discuss other issues.
Wang appeared to be in good health and humor, he said.
Switzerland facilitated the swap. Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif met Soleimani in Zurich, state news agency IRNA said. Soleimani, who then flew to Iran, was accompanied to Switzerland by Brian Hook, the U.S. special representative for Iran, according to a U.S. official.
Trump thanked Iran on Twitter for what he called a “very fair negotiation” that led to the exchange. He said the swap showed the United States and Iran “can make a deal together”.
In an earlier statement, Trump thanked the Swiss government for its help in negotiating Wang’s release.
“Freeing Americans held captive is of vital importance to my administration, and we will continue to work hard to bring home all our citizens wrongfully held captive overseas,” Trump said.
Arriving in Tehran, Soleimani, a stem cell expert, told reporters the Americans who had held him were “petty.”
“I told them that I had patients that needed my help. And they said who cares. Let them die,” he said. “It shows that American officials have issues with Iranians.”
IRNA reported that Wang was released based on “Islamic clemency”.
Related Coverage
The releases were the result of three or four weeks of intensive negotiations, the senior U.S. official said.
“We’re hopeful this will lead us to further success with Iran,” he told reporters in a conference call.
Switzerland represents U.S. diplomatic interests in Iran, since Washington and Tehran cut diplomatic ties shortly after the 1979 Islamic Revolution.
Wang, a Princeton University graduate student, was convicted on espionage charges and sentenced to 10 years in prison in 2017. His family and the university have always said he was in Iran for research into a history degree and denied spying.
According to Princeton, he was born in Beijing in 1980, emigrated to the United States in 2001 and became a naturalized U.S. citizen in 2009. His wife and child are Chinese citizens. China, which normally requires its citizens to give up their nationality when they become citizens of another country, has not commented publicly on the case.
Soleimani was arrested at Chicago airport in October 2018 over U.S. allegations he tried to export biological materials to Iran in violation of sanctions imposed by Washington because of its nuclear program.
Tensions have risen between Iran and the United States since Trump last year pulled Washington out of a 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and six major powers and reimposed sanctions that have crippled Tehran’s economy. Iran has responded by gradually removing its commitments under the agreement.
Soleimani had been due to appear in court on Dec. 11 but the charges against him were dropped, the senior official said.
He said no ransom was paid or any other sort of concession made by the United States. He referred questions on the status of Soleimani’s legal case to the Department of Justice.
“But what I can tell you in light of the status of Mr. Soleimani’s case, this was an extraordinarily good outcome for the United States of America,” the official said.
Asked about the status of Soleimani’s case, a senior Department of Justice official sent Reuters an Atlanta court order showing the criminal indictment was dismissed on Saturday.
“The President made a decision in this matter based on foreign policy considerations. The Administration has effectuated this decision,” the official said in an email.
‘THREE LONG YEARS’
The second U.S. official said Wang would be examined by doctors in Germany, where he was expected to stay for several days.
U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo wrote on Twitter he was “pleased that the Iranian government has been constructive in this matter.”
Hua Qu, Wang’s wife, told Reuters she was “happy.”
“Our family is complete once again,” she said in a separate statement. “Our son Shaofan and I have waited three long years for this day, and it’s hard to express in words how excited we are to be reunited with Xiyue.”
“We are thankful to everyone who helped make this happen.”
Nizar Zakka, a Lebanese businessman resident in the United States who was freed in June after four years in prison in Iran, told Reuters he was the first to know of the release and had told Wang’s mother and wife.
“Wang’s wife has got a visa to travel to Germany. Wang is expected to come to Washington, D.C., on Monday,” said Zakka.
Washington has demanded that Iran release all the Americans it is holding, including father and son Baquer and Siamak Namazi; Michael R. White, a Navy veteran imprisoned last year, and Robert Levinson, a former FBI agent missing since 2007.
“I hope, pray, and expect that this is not a one-time trade but the beginning of an expedited process that will bring my family home soon,” Babak Namazi, Siamak’s brother, said in a statement.
Several dozen Iranians are being held in U.S. prisons, many of them for breaking sanctions.
Reporting by Parisa Hafezi and David Brunnstrom; Additional reporting by Tim Ahmann in Washington and Joseph Ax in New York; Writing by Frances Kerry, Peter Graff; editing by Sonya Hepinstall, Grant McCool and Jonathan Oatis
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles. | Famous Person - Commit Crime - Release | December 2019 | ['(Reuters)'] |
The Los Angeles Dodgers win the World Series after a Game 6 victory over the Tampa Bay Rays. It was their first World Series win in 32 years. | ARLINGTON, Texas -- The Kirk Gibson home run had endured, but it had also run its course. The clip remained a constant presence around the Los Angeles Dodgers, consuming their broadcasts and playing on a near-constant loop at their stadium. It stood as the seminal moment from a bygone era, from a championship captured more than three decades earlier. A new memory had long since been desired.
"We've heard it a lot, and we've seen a lot of highlights, and it's fantastic," said Dave Roberts, the Dodgers' fifth-year manager. "But we wanna make our own mark on Dodgers history."
On Tuesday, in a neutral stadium 1,400 miles from L.A., at the conclusion of a bizarre season played amid a global health crisis, these Dodgers finally made their mark. Their 3-1 victory over the Tampa Bay Rays in Game 6 of the 2020 World Series won them their first championship since Gibson famously hobbled to the batter's box in 1988. It was a fitting coronation for a dominant franchise.
Tony Gonsolin, counted on to function as a traditional starter, recorded only five outs. But four relievers -- Dylan Floro, Alex Wood, Pedro Baez and Victor Gonzalez -- retired 13 of the next 14 batters, keeping the game within reach long enough for the Dodgers to get past an electric Blake Snell and tap into the Rays' bullpen.
After Rays manager Kevin Cash turned to Nick Anderson with one on, one out and the top of the order due up for a third time in the sixth, the Dodgers' offense finally came alive. Mookie Betts doubled, Austin Barnes scored on a wild pitch, and Betts slid home safely on a grounder to the right side. Betts, the offseason acquisition who has somehow exceeded expectations, tacked on an important insurance run with a solo homer in the eighth, and young lefty Julio Urias cruised past the finish line, leading the Dodgers to the title 16 days after the Los Angeles Lakers completed their championship journey.
Now Roberts, second-guessed for a litany of his October decisions in recent years, is a champion. Justin Turner, a lifelong Dodgers fan who identifies Gibson's homer as his first baseball memory, is a champion. Clayton Kershaw, ridiculed for his postseason shortcomings, is a champion. Kenley Jansen, stripped of his title as the team's closer, is a champion.
The Dodgers, kings of the National League West for eight straight years, are finally champions again.
After years of October frustration, Clayton Kershaw got to walk off the field with an ovation and with a lead. Jeff Passan »
• Inside Kershaw's championship night »
"That's things you think about when you're a kid," said Dodgers shortstop Corey Seager, the World Series MVP after posting a 1.256 OPS. "You wonder what it's like, you strive to hear that and do it with this team and this group, and it couldn't be any more special."
Their journey began with the most aggressive move of the Andrew Friedman era, finalized on Feb. 10, when a substantial chunk of a promising future was sent to the Boston Red Sox for one season of Betts. The spring training that followed filled Friedman with a level of optimism he rarely allows. The older players looked sharp, the younger players had come into their own, and Betts was striking an important tone about commitment.
Then the coronavirus pandemic swept through the United States, canceling what remained of spring training and shutting down the sport for more than three months.
"The most difficult thing professionally during the quarantine period was the periods of time when I felt like we would never get a chance to watch this team play," Friedman said. "That was extremely difficult."
When Major League Baseball resumed in July, the Dodgers proved to be one of the greatest teams in baseball history.
L.A. knew it was getting an MVP. But some of what Mookie does best goes well beyond what shows up on the back of his baseball card. Alden Gonzalez »
Why Boston traded Mookie »
They won 43 of their 60 games and finished with the fourth-highest per-game run differential in the modern era. Cody Bellinger, Max Muncy and Joc Pederson struggled through a shortened, fan-less season with no access to in-game video, but the Dodgers' offense still led the majors in runs. Their starting rotation lost the likes of Hyun-Jin Ryu, Rich Hill, Kenta Maeda and David Price, the latter of whom opted out, yet it boasted the sport's second-lowest ERA. Betts, signed to a record extension before Opening Day, played like an MVP. Seager returned to being one of the game's best shortstops. Dustin May and Gonsolin each made his case for Rookie of the Year honors. Will Smith emerged as a premier catcher. Kershaw tapped back into the stuff of his prime.
The Dodgers swept through the first two rounds of an expanded postseason, and it wasn't until they faced the upstart Atlanta Braves in the National League Championship Series that they felt challenged.
"We showed up and out-talented everybody every day, and it was easy," Wood said. "We never had much of a challenge in the regular season or the first two rounds, and then you get punched in the face, go down 2-0, and it's like, 'Whoa, what just happened?' We had just been out-talenting everyone the whole, entire season, and we didn't really know what we were made of, who we were, truly, as a team."
The Dodgers split the next two games to fall behind 3-1 and were eager to find out. The extensive text chain involving every member of the team -- including Price, who made his presence felt despite his absence -- began to develop a theme built around the possibility of accomplishing something special. What followed were three consecutive wins -- all of them tight, all of them involving a game-changing defensive play from Betts -- and a feeling of invincibility.
• Oddest World Series ends with most 2020 moment
• Kershaw a world champ in his hometown »
• Why the Rays pulled Blake Snell »• Kershaw repairs his playoff legacy »• Passan: Game 4 out of a sandlot dream » Playoff bracket, schedule and more »
The World Series functioned as a coronation. Dodgers fans traveled en masse, making a neutral-site, quarter-capacity stadium feel like an enduring home venue. The Dodgers' offense -- led by Seager, Turner and Muncy in the Nos. 2-4 spots -- set new benchmarks for home run variance and two-out production. Kershaw won two games in the same postseason series for the first time in his career. Walker Buehler proved himself, once again, as a bona fide ace.
The Dodgers stomached a heart-wrenching, walk-off loss in Game 4, committing a comedy of errors to let two runs score in the bottom of the ninth, but they came right back to win Game 5. In Game 6, the Dodgers did what they do best: keep the game close, wait out a dominant starting pitcher and pull away late.
"There's been a lot of times where we've sat as a group, we've sat in front of you guys [the media], and we've talked internally and to you guys about, 'Oh, this is the best team we've ever played on,'" Dodgers infielder Enrique Hernandez said. "This season, I think, we can all agree that this is the best team we've seen since we've been here."
The 2020 campaign was unlike any other, with protocols that often sapped joy from the players. The shortest, most unconventional regular season was followed by the longest, most volatile postseason. It was the Dodgers, trapped inside a Dallas bubble for most of October, who conquered it. When it began, they were asked whether winning a championship this year would still be thrilling.
By the end of it, many had come around to the thought that it might be even more special.
"This year has been crazy, obviously, but no matter what, we'll look back on this, and we're World Series champs," Kershaw said. "And to get to say that and be a part of it, it's so special, no matter what. You know, the only thing that maybe would've made it better is if we were at Dodger Stadium tonight to get to do it, which is a bummer to not, but there were so many Dodgers fans at this place tonight. This place was all Dodger fans the whole time." | Sports Competition | October 2020 | ['(ESPN)'] |
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