title stringlengths 1 7.43k | text stringlengths 111 32.3k | event_type stringlengths 4 57 | date stringlengths 8 14 ⌀ | metadata stringlengths 2 205 ⌀ |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Typhoon Chaba, now a super typhoon with winds of 145 knots , heads for Japan's southern islands with storm warnings of torrential rain followed by mudslides and flooding. , | Authorities have warned of mudslides, flooding and high waves in the southern Japanese islands due to Typhoon Chaba.
Residents on Japan's southern islands are preparing for torrential rain and strong winds as Typhoon Chaba bears down on the region.
Authorities have warned of mudslides, flooding and high waves as the season's 18th typhoon is projected to hit islands in the southern Japanese archipelago on Monday.
All the public schools on Okinawa's main island are closed while dozens of flights in the region have been cancelled.
The typhoon could dump rainfall of up to 80mm an hour in some areas of the island, the Japan Meteorological Agency says.
The eye of the storm was 290km south of Naha city on Okinawa on Monday morning, travelling north-northwest at 25km/h, with maximum sustained winds of 180km/h and gusts of 252km/h, the agency said.
In late August, Typhoon Lionrock pounded northeastern Japan, leaving more than 20 people dead. It was the first typhoon that made landfall on the northeast since records began in 1951.
| Hurricanes_Tornado_Storm_Blizzard | October 2016 | ['(165 mph)', '(AAP via SBS)', '(Weather.com)'] |
Two underground trains collide in Duisburg, Germany, injuring at least 35. | At least 35 people were injured in an underground train collision in the western German town of Duisburg on Tuesday, according to the local fire service.
The incident occured in an underground tunnel in the district of Meiderich, when one train drove into the tail end of another, German news reports said. Two people were reportedly hospitalised following the crash but no one was injured critically.
| Train collisions | April 2018 | ['(Euronews)'] |
Activists affiliated with the Occupy Wall Street movement, which opposes economic inequality and corporate greed, take to the streets in numerous cities worldwide, including Sydney, Rome, Bucharest, Taipei, Tokyo, Toronto, Berlin, and Madrid, in a day of coordinated mass protests. (Maclean's) | Riot police have fought militant protesters in Rome as the biggest of a series of global rallies against banks and politicians tipped into violence.
At least 70 people were injured, three of them seriously, as police fought masked rioters with tear gas, water cannon and batons.
Other protesters tried to stop the rioters as they attacked cars and businesses, marring a peaceful rally. The day saw coordinated protests in cities worldwide, most of them small.
Inspired by the Occupy Wall St movement and Spain's "Indignants", demonstrators turned out from Asia to Europe and back to New York for an event organisers said on their website was aimed at initiating "global change".
"United in one voice, we will let politicians, and the financial elites they serve, know it is up to us, the people, to decide our future," they added.
Tens of thousands of people had turned out to demonstrate peacefully in Rome.
Television pictures from the city showed streets packed with protesters waving banners, close to the Colosseum.
However militants dressed in black infiltrated the crowd and began attacking property. Offices belonging to the Italian defence ministry were set on fire, some cars were burnt including an armoured police vehicle, in addition to attacks on cash dispensers and bank and shop windows. The militants were challenged by other protesters, the BBC's David Willey reports from Rome. "No to violence!" they shouted and tried to restrain them. The injured included at least 30 police officers.
There was a message of support for the global day of protest from the chief of the Bank of Italy, Mario Draghi, who is set to take over as head of the European Central Bank (ECB) next month.
"Young people are right to be indignant," he was quoted by Italian media as saying.
"They're angry against the world of finance. I understand them... We adults are angry about the crisis. Can you imagine people who are in their twenties or thirties?"
Outside the ECB itself in Frankfurt, Germany, thousands of people gathered to protest on Saturday. A 27-year-old schoolteacher who gave his name only as Tobias told AFP news agency: "I see the global capitalist system as a time bomb for humans but also for the planet.
"Our well-being is financed to the detriment of other countries, [and] the ECB represents this unjust and murderous system."
Tens of thousands of people filled central Madrid on Saturday evening, the BBC's Sarah Rainsford reports from the Spanish capital.
People of all ages, from pensioners to children, and many of the young unemployed, gathered on Puerta del Sol Square, where the "Indignant" movement was launched in May. Organisers put the numbers at half a million.
In other developments
Observers say that, while the original protesters in Spain had concrete demands such as seeking a cut in working hours to tackle unemployment, many "Occupy" protesters are vague in their demands.
| Protest_Online Condemnation | October 2011 | ['(BBC)', '(Xinhua)', '(Seattle Times)', '(BusinessWeek)', '(Wall Street Journal)', '(Toronto Sun)', '(Times of India)', '(BusinessWeek)', '(San Diego Union-Tribune)', '(BusinessWeek)', '(HuffingtonPost)'] |
In Ethiopia, police arrest more than 500 students who protest against the parliamentary elections. The ruling EPRDF party claims victory but official results have been delayed until July 8 due to complaints of electoral fraud and opposition protests | Addis Ababa - Police surrounded the country's largest university on Monday and arrested hundreds of students who defied a government ban and protested against the results of Ethiopia's disputed legislative elections. Police charged into crowds at Addis Ababa University to grab protesters and beat others with batons during the first public protest against the May 15 elections. The army's special forces troops stood by, armed with assault rifles and rocket-propelled grenades. Riot police with tear gas and a water cannon also stood by as regular police quelled the demonstration. Demonstrations had been banned since election day, when the capital police were put under the control of Prime Minister Meles Zenawi. Meles's authoritarian regime
Meles's party retained control of parliament according to official election results that had not yet been ratified, but opposition parties alleged there was widespread election fraud. The elections had been seen as a test of Meles's commitment to reform his sometimes authoritarian regime. Before questions surfaced about the count, European Union observers had called the campaign and voting "the most genuinely competitive elections the country has experienced". Police detained an estimated 500 protesters. Minister of Information Bereket Simon said they arrested between 200 and 300 protesters who were barring students from entering the university on Monday.
'Cops fire tear gas at students'
Simon was also a spokesperson for the ruling Ethiopia People's Revolutionary Front. Hundreds of police had sealed main roads leading into the capital's university. Clashes spread to other city campuses later on Monday, and police fired tear gas at students at a teacher's college. The capital's university campuses had about 20 000 students. The ruling party spokesperson said the main opposition, Coalition for Unity and Democracy, was behind the protests. Simon said: "They have been preaching violence and now they are instigating it. The responsibility for what has happened falls on their shoulders", adding that authorities were considering taking legal action against the party. Ruling party 'to use protests'
Berhanu Nega, vice-chairman of the Coalition for Unity and Democracy, denied the charges, saying the party had urged students to hold off protests. Berhanu said: "Our worry is that the ruling party will use these protests as an excuse to crackdown and resort to force." Berhanu said the party was getting reports that protests also happened in Awassa, southern Ethiopia and Gonder, in the north. Bereket said not a single police officer or student had been injured, but pictures taken by an Associated Press photographer and others showed officers hitting students with the butts of assault rifles, and bloodstains on the ground. Electoral chief Kemal Bedri said on Monday, Ethiopia's political parties were challenging the results of 55% of the races. Discussion Forums | | Famous Person - Commit Crime - Arrest | June 2005 | ['(News24)', '(Reuters AlertNet)', '(BBC)'] |
The United States Department of State announces that U.S. Special Representative for Syria Engagement James Jeffrey also assumes the position of Special Presidential Envoy for the Global Coalition to Counter the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, succeeding Brett McGurk. Separately, a State Department official says that there is no timeline for the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Syria. | The fact tha James Jeffrey joined the administration as the special representative for Syria engagement was noteworthy in part because the president had initially blacklisted so-called Never Trumpers.Some had expected James Jeffrey, who landed an administration post last year despite signing a 'Never Trump' letter, to resign over the president's planned Syria pullout. Instead he has taken on a second job. By NAHAL TOOSI
A veteran diplomat who some expected to resign after President Donald Trump announced plans to withdraw U.S. troops from Syria last month will instead take on a broader portfolio, the State Department announced Friday.
James Jeffrey, who oversees America’s engagement with other nations on Syrian issues, will now also serve as Trump’s special envoy to the coalition fighting the Islamic State. He takes on the second role amid widespread confusion about the status of Trump’s plans to withdraw U.S. troops from Syria, where they have been fighting militants of the Islamic State, a terrorist group also known as ISIS.
The last envoy to the anti-ISIS coalition, Brett McGurk, resigned in protest over Trump’s Syria decision last month. His departure, as well as that of Defense Secretary James Mattis, came amid bipartisan backlash to the president’s plan.
In the weeks since Trump’s mid-December announcement, the president has dialed back the idea of an immediate withdrawal. Trump aides now say the drawdown could span four months. On Friday, a senior State Department official added to the confusion by saying there is no timeline.
Sign up for our must-read newsletter on what's driving the afternoon in Washington.
By signing up you agree to receive email newsletters or updates from POLITICO and you agree to our privacy policy and terms of service. You can unsubscribe at any time and you can contact us here. This sign-up form is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.
“With this additional responsibility, Ambassador Jeffrey will lead and coordinate U.S. Department of State relations with the Global Coalition to defeat ISIS and department efforts to implement President Trump’s announcement of a responsible U.S. troop withdrawal from Syria that is coordinated with our global allies and partners consistent with U.S. goals for Syria and Iraq, including the enduring defeat of ISIS,” State Department deputy spokesperson Robert Palladino said in a statement announcing Jeffrey’s new role.
Jeffrey had a long diplomatic career prior to the Trump administration, serving as an ambassador in places such as Iraq and Turkey. He was among national security experts who signed “Never Trump” statements denouncing the then-candidate for the White House.
The fact that Jeffrey joined the administration as the special representative for Syria engagement was noteworthy in part because the president had initially blacklisted so-called Never Trumpers.
Just days before Trump announced his decision to remove troops, Jeffrey had made an appearance at a think tank in which he laid out a Syria strategy that indicated an indefinite U.S. commitment.
Foreign Policy By NAHAL TOOSI
Although some foreign policy insiders thought Jeffrey would quit after Trump’s decision, he has hung on and may prove key to efforts to slow down the withdrawal of troops. He will join national security adviser John Bolton on a trip to Turkey and Israel in the coming days meant in part to explain and manage Trump’s withdrawal plan.
Critics of a troop pullout say it is premature because the Islamic State, though much weakened, has not been vanquished, and that leaving now allows Iranian forces to gain even more influence in war-torn Syria.
"ISIS is on the run, but it is not yet defeated," McGurk wrote in an email to his team announcing his resignation. McGurk had originally been planning to leave at some point in early 2019, but accelerated his departure in protest of Trump’s decision.
Jeffrey takes his second position effective immediately, the State Department said. The coalition to defeat the Islamic State has around 80 members, each contributing different military and other strengths in the effort to eliminate the terrorist group from Iraq and Syria. | Government Job change - Appoint_Inauguration | January 2019 | ['(Reuters)', '(Politico)'] |
In basketball, Kobe Bryant's 2012–13 NBA season ends with an Achilles tendon tear. | LOS ANGELES — In retrospect, it was as if the last six games, in which Kobe Bryant played all but 14 minutes, had been leading to something as inevitable as it was wrenching.
In the 45th minute of the next game, the Los Angeles Lakers’ 118-116 victory over the Golden State Warriors on Friday, Bryant drove to his left against Harrison Barnes and went down in his tracks.
Bryant, 34, had ruptured his left Achilles’ tendon. To that moment, he had scored 10 of his 32 points in the fourth quarter, and he added 2 more on free throws after he was injured. But less than 18 hours after the injury, he had surgery Saturday to repair the tear.
He is expected to miss six to nine months. Lakers General Manager Mitch Kupchak called a return for the opener next season “a reasonable goal.”
“His spirits were good,” said Kupchak, who visited Bryant at the Kerlan-Jobe Orthopaedic Clinic before his surgery. “Certainly markedly different from last night when his eyes were red.”
Kupchak added: “He’s proactive in all ways. You wouldn’t expect him to wait a week or two” to have surgery. “When I got the phone call that he wanted to do it today, I wasn’t a bit surprised,” Kupchak said.
In an already tumultuous transition in which the questions have only mounted for the Lakers — from their late drive toward the No. 8 seed for the playoffs to their hopes of regaining their marquee status — Bryant’s injury brings more uncertainty. Will his injury affect the free-agency decision of Dwight Howard, whose contract expires July 1?
What about Bryant’s career as a Laker, given that his contract expires in 2014?
Howard would not discuss his free agency, same as all season, although he is expected to re-sign with the Lakers. The Lakers can offer him five years at $115 million while other teams are limited to four years at $85 million.
But the more immediate focus on social media was on Coach Mike D’Antoni for letting Bryant play so many minutes. Kupchak said that he tried to slow Bryant, too, with no success.
“His message to me was ‘Mitch, I hear what you’re saying, but we’ve got to get in the playoffs; I’m playing, and there’s nothing you can do about it,’ ” Kupchak said.
As befitting an old-school star determined to stay current, Bryant, who opened Twitter and Facebook accounts this season, used several platforms to provide a minute-by-minute account of what he said was “by far” the lowest moment of his 17-year career.
Perhaps most remarkable was his interview session with the local news media, which Bryant had held at arm’s length going back to his 2003 arrest and his subsequent trial in Eagle, Colo. Bryant was similarly held at arm’s length by Lakers fans, many of whom regarded him with something of the cool admiration they once bestowed on Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.
On Friday night, Bryant not only talked graciously but joked, if darkly.
“Players at this stage of their career pop an Achilles’, and the pundits say they’ll never come back the same,” Bryant said. “So this isn’t your last game?” a reporter asked, on his knees in the group that surrounded Bryant.
“Really? Really? It’s appropriate that you ask that question from down there,” a grinning Bryant said, drawing laughs.
Bryant then bared his soul on Facebook.
“It’s 3:30am, my foot feels like dead weight, my head is spinning from the pain meds and I’m wide awake,” Bryant wrote as part of a longer post. “Forgive my Venting but what’s the purpose of social media if I won’t bring it to you Real No Image?? Feels good to vent, let it out. To feel as if THIS is the WORST thing EVER! Because After ALL the venting, a real perspective sets in.
“There are far greater issues challenges in the world than a torn Achilles. Stop feeling sorry for yourself, find the silver lining and get to work with the same belief, same drive and same conviction as ever.” In his last seven games, Bryant averaged 44.5 minutes, 29.8 points, 7.3 rebounds, 8.4 assists and 2.1 steals, leading the Lakers to six victories.
He remained in character, a high-wire act rather than a model of efficiency, scoring 47 points while taking over so completely in a victory at Portland that his teammate Pau Gasol said it was “bittersweet” because the Lakers had not shared the ball more.
Bryant is likely to play again, so this will probably not be his farewell. If it turns out that it was, few N.B.A. players will have had one like it, an impressive final stretch leading to the night he became vulnerable for all the world to see. | Sports Competition | April 2013 | ['(The New York Times)'] |
The Turkish government unveils a plan to improve rights of the Kurdish minority to end the decades long ethnic conflict in the southeast of the country. (Today's Zaman) | The details, disclosed in a special session of Parliament, envisage more freedom for everyone, Interior Minister Beşir Atalay, the coordinator of the initiative, which was launched in mid-July, informed deputies. The plan drew strong criticism from the main-opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) and the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), whose leaders criticized the government's efforts for peace with harsh remarks yesterday.
According to Atalay, obstacles before using languages other than Turkish in “social and religious” services will be removed, former Kurdish names of settlements and geographical places will be restored and political campaigns in languages other than Turkish will be allowed.
As part of the democratization process, independent bodies will be established to promote and ensure human rights. For example, a law seeking to establish an independent body to work to eliminate discrimination will be brought before Parliament soon.
The structure of the Prime Ministry's Human Rights Directorate will be changed; it will be made independent. As a follow up to the approval of United Nations protocols on the prevention of torture, a national mechanism will be established to implement them. Another independent body will be set up to monitor all complaints about security forces, especially as concerns violations of human rights. The interior minister also added that the government is working to remove checkpoints on roads in southeastern and eastern Anatolia and to ease traveling conditions in the region. “Amendments and mechanisms to be established aim to prevent any infringement on the freedoms of all our citizens, regardless of their ethnic origin, sex or political orientation,” Atalay told deputies. He emphasized that these measures are not everything and that more will follow because the government perceives the initiative as a dynamic process. Atalay also underlined that the Constitution has to be changed as it is out of touch with the people. “Our people do not deserve such a constitution. A new pluralistic constitution must be prepared with the broadest participation,” Atalay stressed.
‘Initiative has two aims’
Atalay underlined that the initiative has two goals -- to end terror and to improve democracy. Both are intertwined, he said.
Atalay further argued that the AK Party government has been working toward democratization due to its respect for humanity since it came to power and will continue to do so. He noted, however, that they will never change the basic principles of the state, which are listed in the first three articles of the Constitution -- namely, that Turkey is a secular, democratic and social state based on the principles of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, the founder of the republic, and that its language is Turkish.
‘Guns could be silenced in three months’
Pro-Kurdish Democratic Society Party (DTP) leader Ahmet Türk urged the government to state its intentions clearly and as soon as possible and explain how it will implement them. He signaled that if the process is approached in a serious manner, guns will fall silent within three months.
Türk, who spoke in Parliament right after Atalay, underlined that Turkey’s Kurdish question should be solved inside Turkey and with its own dynamics. The lack of democracy and the denial of the existence of differences have made the problem open to the exploitation of foreign powers, he said.
He claimed that the country’s non-Kurdish citizens were denied access to accurate information about the pain and suffering of people in predominantly Kurdish regions as part of a campaign of psychological warfare. “This situation has created an enormous difference in perception and sentiment. The only way to fill this gap is to explain the realities of the Kurdish question to the public. Stopping official history is a must,” he said.
Türk said the existence of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), which is listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the EU and the US, is a result of the faulty policies pursued by the state and previous governments.
The DTP leader also asked deputies to empathize. “Think for a moment if people tell you there is no language called Turkish. Try educating your child in Kurdish despite him or her not knowing even one word of it. Will you be able to feel like an equal and respected citizen of the country?” he asked the deputies.
He stressed that even today state officials do not apologize for mistakes of the past. Türk added that the dispute is not between Kurds and Turks and that all Turkish citizens are in desperate need of democracy. “The problem is the official ideology of the state, which prevents its citizens from enjoying democracy and freedom,” he said.
Kurds do not have any problem with the country’s flag and border, he said, adding that there are many common values which keep the society united. “Our common language is Turkish. Even those who will be educated in their mother tongue will use Turkish as a common language of communication.”
He recommended a committee be established in Parliament with representatives from all political parties in order to find a democratic solution to the problem. “If this problem is the problem of all of us, if we have to find a solution, then the government, instead of trying to manage the process behind closed doors, should bring it to Parliament,” Türk suggested.
Bahçeli: This is an initiative for destruction
Devlet Bahçeli, the leader of the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), claimed that terrorism was about to come to an end in 2002, when the ruling AK Party came to power, but after seven years, instead of the elimination of terror, the elimination of the nation-state has come to the agenda.
“Parliament is talking about a plan of destruction today. What we are witnessing is the realization of a desire for terror on the part of politicians. The desire is not for individual rights and democratization but to create a minority,” he said.
Bahçeli claimed that the government is building its efforts around the demands of the PKK and said this attitude is leading to the wrong perception, that is, is to think that the PKK is representative of all Kurds.
“This is a plot against our citizens and a serious threat. This is why the AK Party’s attitude has been wrong from the very beginning,” he said. Bahçeli suggested that the owner of the country is the Turkish nation and that it has unity. “Whatever the language of our mothers, our name is the Turkish nation,” he said. He claimed that for centuries there has been a plan to remove the Turkish nation from those lands and that this can be summarized as the mentality of crusaders; this problem is called the “East question.” “Whatever its name, opportunity or initiative, it is an extension of the East question,” he said. “In our country, who can claim that ethnic origin is an obstacle to entering into trade, bureaucracy or administration? If there is a problem of expression, it is not because of the Constitution but because of the economic structure,” he said.
Baykal: Government negotiating with PKK
Republican People’s Party (CHP) leader Deniz Baykal claimed the government’s initiative is a process of deception and that it is not clear who it has taken on as a partner in this process.
Baykal added that the government is taking Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) leader Abdullah Öcalan, who is serving a life sentence on İmralı Island in the Sea of Marmara, as an interlocutor.
“The government is talking to İmralı in secrecy. There is cooperation going on between the government and the PKK. But even laying down arms was not put forth as a precondition for this cooperation,” he said.
Baykal said the government’s fatal mistake in the process was to negotiate with an armed organization. “You don’t negotiate with terror, you fight with it,” he said. | Government Policy Changes | November 2009 | ['(AFP)', '(Xinhua)'] |
At least six people are arrested for hanging a sign that read "Abolish ICE" from the base below the Statue of Liberty, where no banners are permitted hung under federal law. Another is arrested after scaling the base of the statue, prompting an evacuation of the island on the busy Fourth of July holiday. | Therese Patricia Okoumou, of Staten Island, was arrested after scaling the base of the statue and taking up temporary residence on Lady Liberty's right foot.
Okoumou is expected to appear in Manhattan Federal Court on Thursday and may face misdemeanor charges including trespassing, disorderly conduct and violating national park regulations, police said.
Liberty Island, where the statue is located, was evacuated and all visitors were taken off the island via ferry, a National Parks spokesperson said.
Police were seen on the base of the Statue of Liberty, apparently trying to verbally engage with Okoumou before physically apprehending her. Footage from the scene showed the officers wearing harnesses and using ladders to scale the statue's base.
Footage from helicopters showed her sitting at the base of the statue, occasionally lying on her stomach and kicking her feet up behind her, ABC station WABC reported.
Okoumou was seen holding a t-shirt displaying the words "Rise and Resist" and "Trump Care Makes Us Sick."
She wasn't the only protester arrested at the Statue of Liberty on Wednesday. Earlier that afternoon, seven people were apprehended for holding a banner that read "ABOLISH ICE" off the base below the statue, which is technically called Fort Hood.
Rise and Resist is the name of a protest group that arranged the banner display, and they tweeted that the climber "has no connection to our #abolishice action earlier today."
"Rise and Resist planned a banner drop today at the Statue of Liberty. This action did not include the climber on the statue. Our action was completed earlier. While it was not part of our action, our first priority and concern is for the safety of the climber," they wrote in another tweet. | Famous Person - Commit Crime - Arrest | July 2018 | ['(The Washington Post)', '(ABC News)'] |
A Chinese man is freed from prison after 10 years after the man he had been convicted of killing is found alive. | BEIJING—A Chinese man who spent nearly 10 years in jail for murder has been cleared after the supposed victim reappeared alive and well.
Zhao Zuohai was jailed in 2002 for murdering one of his neighbors in a village in the central province of Henan in October 1997, Xinhua news agency reported late Saturday, quoting a court statement.
The neighbor went missing after the pair had a fight in October 1997, the report said, and Zhao was charged when a headless, decomposed body was found 18 months later.
Zhao was initially sentenced to death, but this was commuted to 29 years' imprisonment, Xinhua said.
The supposed victim, Zhao Zhenshang, returned to the village April 30 and after confirming his identity, the court cleared Zhao Zuohai of murder on Friday, the report said.
Zhao Zhenshang, 56, told Xinhua he and Zhao Zuohai had been good friends, but fell out over a woman and money.
He said he fled the village after hitting Zhao Zuohai, fearing his revenge, Xinhua reported, and stayed away as he had not earned much money and felt ashamed.
A villager said that during Zhai Zuohai's time in prison, his wife had remarried and two of his children had been adopted.
Henan Provincial Higher People's Court has ordered an investigation into the case and said the judges responsible for the original verdict would be punished.
| Famous Person - Commit Crime - Release | May 2010 | ['(BBC)', '(The Daily Telegraph)', '(Philippine Daily Inquirer)'] |
Six peacekeepers from Chad are killed in clashes in the Central African Republic. | Dozens of people have been killed, including six peacekeepers from Chad, in the latest violence in the Central African Republic, officials say.
The peacekeepers were attacked by a Christian militia known as anti-balaka in the capital Bangui on Wednesday.
At least 40 other people have also died since Wednesday, Red Cross officials said.
African Union (AU) and French troops are battling to end a Christian-Muslim conflict that has engulfed CAR.
The AU has nearly 4,000 troops in CAR. France, the former colonial power, has also deployed 1,600 soldiers to help restore order.
Militias from the Christian and Muslim groups have been involved in attacks and counter-attacks since Michel Djotodia installed himself as the country's first Muslim ruler in March, ousting then-President Francois Bozize, who came from the majority Christian population.
Many Christians accuse the Chadian government of being allied to the Seleka rebel group which propelled Mr Djotodia to power, while Muslims allege that French forces are siding with Christian militia.
The circumstances surrounding the death of the Chadians remain unclear.
AU spokesman Eloi Yao said: "Yesterday [Wednesday] the city was in total chaos and this chaos lasted until the end of the night. Today we are trying to understand what happened."
Heavy gunfire in Bangui had caused panic among civilians, who fled to the airport, which is protected by peacekeepers.
"Around 40 bodies have been recovered for the moment, and first aid has been given to around 30 people wounded," Red Cross spokesman David Pierre Marquet said.
As fighting subsided, French troops went out on patrol.
French military spokesman Col Gilles Jaron said tension remained high in Bangui.
Two days of violence earlier this month left about 1,000 people dead, according to Amnesty International.
| Armed Conflict | December 2013 | ['(BBC)'] |
Ecuadorean President Rafael Correa is sworn in for a second term vowing to deepen his socialist “revolution”. | Ecuadorean President Rafael Correa was sworn in for a second term on Monday vowing to deepen his socialist “revolution”. Announcing his vision for a new term, Correa said he sought to fight inequality and invest in projects to help the poor, improve education and improve the lives of long-neglected Andean indigenous groups.
“It's a gigantic struggle ... but we have already started and no one is going to stop us,” said Correa in a speech before a group of Latinamerican leaders, including presidents Hugo Chavez of Venezuela, Evo Morales from Bolivia, Argentina’s Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner and Raul Castro of Cuba.
“During the next four years we're going to continue our campaign ... it's not just about helping the poor, it's about stamping out the structural causes of poverty,” he added. Heavy social spending and his frequent outbursts against Ecuador's business elites have raised Correa's popularity but have rattled investors. “Shrinking the state was one of the most absurd mistakes of the long and sad neo-liberal night, while boosting the state, was one of the worst mistakes of state socialism,” he said. “We need a state that is efficient.” OPEC member Ecuador exported 2.7 billion US dollars of crude oil and refined oil products in the first half of the year, 60% less than in the same period last year. Correa has admitted that export revenues and money sent home by Ecuadoreans working abroad have plummeted. However not much has been said of plans to diversify the economy from its dependence on oil export revenues. Multilateral lenders have offered up to 2.5 billion USD to Ecuador this year, and the country is set to receive a billion USD down payment for a deal to export oil to China. | Government Job change - Appoint_Inauguration | August 2009 | ['(MercoPress)'] |
Members of the Russian Parliament propose new laws that would make it easier for Russia to incorporate parts of Ukraine. | Russian MPs have proposed new laws that would make it easier for Russia to incorporate parts of Ukraine, and allow Russian citizenship to be fast-tracked.
Pro-Kremlin party A Just Russia put forward both bills, and linked them directly to the situation in Ukraine.
Separatist and pro-Russian feelings are strong in Ukraine's Crimea region, which is now the focus of the crisis. Russian MPs say a referendum or a plea from a territory's leaders would be enough to trigger the new provisions. There are already many Russian citizens in Crimea.
In Sevastopol, base of the Russian Black Sea Fleet, a majority hold Russian passports.
Under Russia's existing law, a neighbouring state would have to sign a treaty with Russia to allow part of its territory to become a new "subject" of the Russian Federation. But Mikhail Yemelyanov, deputy leader of A Just Russia, said the law had been drafted for peaceful times, and did not go far enough for situations where a state was falling apart. "In conditions where a neighbouring state is disintegrating I don't think the Russian Federation should be restricted in its ability to accept a territory whose people have expressed a clear will and desire to be in Russia," he said.
Since Russia's war with Georgia in 2008, the breakaway Georgian territories of Abkhazia and South Ossetia have come under Moscow's control. Russia poured troops into both regions to help pro-Russian separatists who did not recognise Georgia's authority. The other bill to be considered by the Duma - Russia's lower house - would speed up the procedures for issuing Russian passports. Passport applicants would not have to pay a state tax, and previous residence in Russia would no longer be required. In addition, they would not have to have sufficient funds to support themselves and would not have to give up their Ukrainian citizenship. The bill's preamble says it is aimed "at supporting the fraternal people of Ukraine, especially the Russian-speaking ones, who are defenceless in the face of the 'brown threat'," a reference to World War Two fascists who wore brown uniforms.
The bill would allow Ukrainians to apply for Russian passports at Russian diplomatic missions before 1 August, and they could become citizens after two months, instead of waiting a year, as is currently the norm.
The plan to have a new fast-track procedure for issuing Russian passports was announced in Sevastopol on Thursday by A Just Russia leader Sergei Mironov. Several Russian MPs have also gone to Crimea, including Russian celebrities - former Olympic ice skating champion Irina Rodnina, former cosmonaut Valentina Tereshkova and heavyweight boxer Nikolai Valuev. | Government Policy Changes | February 2014 | ['(BBC)'] |
The report of the Victorian Bushfires Royal Commission into the Black Saturday bushfires that killed 173 people in Victoria, Australia, is tabled in the Parliament of Victoria. It contains 67 recommendations including changes to evacuation policy and an increase in backburning. | It has been 18 months since the worst bushfire disaster in Australian history swept across Victoria, killing 173 people.
With late, lost and sometimes non-existent warnings, whole towns were wiped out along with whole families. The images of a flattened Marysville are seared into the nation's consciousness.
Today the Royal Commission set up to draw lessons from all the suffering will deliver its final analysis.
Conceived as Victoria was still reeling from the deaths, mostly on Melbourne's doorstep, the Royal Commission was called to get to the bottom of the disaster.
It exposed a system that fell apart under pressure.
No story is more appalling than fire captain David McGahy's, who felt as if the town of Strathewen had fallen into a black hole as far as the authorities were concerned.
"I've got people up there that are dead and dying literally on the side of the road," he said.
"I said, 'I can't... it's a horrendous scene.' I said, 'will you come and help me?' And the chap... the officer on the roadblock said to me, 'I can't do it, I'm under orders'."
At the heart of the commission's painstaking investigations has been the stay or go policy.
Based around the notion that houses save people, it has formed the bedrock of advice given to communities around Australia.
After revelations the vast majority of those killed died in or near houses, the inquiry's legal team urged the commissioners to recommend stay or go be dumped.
Instead they have proposed a combination of refuges and voluntary evacuations.
Joan Davey lost her son Robert and his young family on Bald Spur Road in Kinglake and was the first to directly blame the stay or go policy.
This week she celebrated her son's 38th birthday without him.
"You leave and live or you stay and die," she said.
"It's the first thing that comes to our minds in the morning; it's the last thing ... we say goodnight to our children in heaven.
"You need to think that if I stay here, I could die here."
There will undoubtedly also be solid criticism of the former fire and police chiefs Russell Rees and Christine Nixon, after the commission's lead lawyer Jack Rush QC described the leadership on Black Saturday as passive and lacking initiative.
Almost more important than what is in the report is the question of whether its recommendations will be implemented.
That will be up to Premier John Brumby, who has given no guarantees he will embrace all the recommendations and announced plans to consult with the community before deciding what to do.
It is a move that has irritated people like fire scientist Kevin Tolhurst.
"I think the Government is really looking to use the consultation process as a screen to say 'well, we would have done that except the community tells us we want to go a different direction', which I think's a cop out," he said.
| Fire | July 2010 | ['(ABC Online)'] |
In single–seater auto racing, the Ferrari driver Fernando Alonso wins the 2012 European Grand Prix at the Valencia Street Circuit, becoming the first driver this season to win two races. | Last updated on 24 June 201224 June 2012.From the section Formula 1
Fernando Alonso became the first man to win two races this year with a spectacular victory in the European GP.
The Spaniard won his home race at Valencia after a series of overtakes and Sebastian Vettel's retirement.
Lewis Hamilton was set to finish second after Romain Grosjean's retirement, but crashed out with three laps remaining.
The McLaren driver was pitched into the barriers after a tussle with Williams's Pastor Maldonado, handing second to Lotus's Kimi Raikkonen.
Alonso started 11th and fought his way up to fourth place before a safety car was deployed.
He gained third after a pit-stop problem for Lewis Hamilton, passed Romain Grosjean on the restart and saw leader Vettel retire with alternator failure on lap 35.
Battling fading tyres, Hamilton was passed by Raikkonen before Maldonado crashed into the side of him having rejoined the race track after running wide trying to pass the Briton around the outside.
Grosjean retired from second with 16 laps to go with alternator failure - the same problem that caused Vettel to retire. The frantic action promoted Mercedes's Michael Schumacher to third place - the first podium since his comeback in 2010 - and Red Bull's Mark Webber to fourth from 19th on the grid.
It was by far the most exciting race the Valencia street circuit has ever produced and it was won by a top-drawer performance from Alonso.
BBC F1 co-commentator David Coulthard said: "A truly world class drive - and bitter disappointment for Lewis Hamilton after a tap by Maldonado, who T-boned him after running wide."
Few would have predicted the result in the early stages as Vettel, who started from pole position, streaked away from the field at the front and pulled out more than five seconds in the first three laps.
1. Fernando Alonso 1:44:16.649 2. Kimi Raikkonen +00:06.421 3. Michael Schumacher +00:12.639 4. Mark Webber +00:13.628 5. Nico Hulkenberg +00:19.993 6. Nico Rosberg +00:21.176 7. Paul Di Resta +00:22.866 8. Jenson Button +00:24.653 9. Sergio Perez +00:27.777 10. Pastor Maldonado +00:34.630 Vettel controlled the race, building a lead of 20 seconds over Grosjean, before the safety car was deployed on lap 30, with 26 to go, because of debris on the track following a collision between Caterham's Heikki Kovalainen and Toro Rosso's Jean-Eric Vergne.
Meanwhile, Alonso was driving one of the best races of his illustrious career, moving up to eighth on the first lap and taking seventh from Force India's Nico Hulkenberg on lap 12.
Two quick laps before his own pitstop while the leaders in front of him made theirs promoted him to a de facto fourth behind Vettel, Grosjean and Hamilton.
All the leaders pitted for a second time when the safety car came out, and Alonso - who had been closing on Hamilton at approaching half a second a lap - gained another place following the latest in a series of pit-stop problems for Hamilton after his front jack failed.
He then passed Grosjean around the outside of Turn 1 on the restart - a move he had used to pass Mark Webber's Red Bull earlier in the race - and then took the lead when Vettel's engine stopped further around the same lap.
"To be honest we don't know yet [what happened]," Vettel said. "I lost drive on the straight down to Turn 17 and I had to give way to the other people. The engine stalled and switched off."
Hamilton's engineers urged him on, believing Alonso's tyres would wear out faster than theirs, but the double world champion was always in control.
The 29th victory of Alonso's career and extraordinary result moves the 30-year-old back into the championship lead, 20 points ahead of Webber. Hamilton is third, 23 points adrift and Vettel fourth, now 26 points - more than a win - behind Alonso.
It was a gripping battle as the combination of the fast-wearing Pirelli tyres and a perfectly judged DRS overtaking zone finally cracked the problem of overtaking at Valencia.
There were fights up and down the field, positions changing and collisions.
"One of the things that makes Alonso so good is that if he gets an opportunity to win, he will take it. That is exactly what happened in Valencia."
Read more from Gary Anderson
Paul di Resta went into the final four laps in sixth place, but his valiant attempt to make only one pit stop left him vulnerable in the closing laps and he lost places to Schumacher, Webber and Mercedes' Nico Rosberg.
Di Resta finished seventh, ahead of Hamilton's McLaren team-mate Jenson Button, Sauber's Sergio Perez and Maldonado, who may well face a stewards' inquiry for the incident with Hamilton.
Sauber's Kamui Kobayashi has been given a five-place penalty for the British Grand Prix following his collision with Felipe Massa, while Vergne has been given a 10-place penalty and £20,000 fine after crashing into Kovalainen. | Sports Competition | June 2012 | ['(BBC)', '(Al Jazeera)'] |
North Korea accuses South Korea of kidnapping its citizens and demands their immediate return after Seoul's Ministry of Unification said 13 of them had defected to South Korea from China, where they worked in a Pyongyang-operated restaurant. China says that the 13 people, a male manager and 12 young female employees, had legitimate passports and had freely exited China. | SEOUL (AFP) - North Korea accused South Korea on Tuesday (April 12) of kidnapping its citizens after Seoul said 13 of them had defected to the South from China, where they worked in a Pyongyang-operated restaurant.
In its first reaction since Seoul announced the defections, the North's Red Cross spokesman accused the South of committing a crime on an "unparalelled" scale by "kidnapping" them.
The spokesman called for the South to apologise and return them immediately or face "unimaginable consequences and strong countermeasures".
"We know in detail how they were abducted to the South under connivance from the country concerned and how they passed through a certain country in South-eastern Asia," the spokesman was quoted as saying on the North's propaganda website Uriminzokkiri.
China said on Monday that the 13 people - a male manager and 12 young female employees - had legitimate passports and had freely exited China.
The defectors arrived in the South last Thursday, the unification ministry said.
The North operates such restaurants overseas to earn much-needed hard currency.
There have been defections by individual restaurant workers in the past, but this is the first time so many staff from one establishment have defected en masse.
Seoul Monday also announced that a North Korean colonel involved in espionage operations and a diplomat in Africa had fled to the South last year.
The defections come at a time of elevated military tensions on the divided Korean peninsula.
North Korea has condemned Seoul and Washington for spearheading a sanctions drive at the UN to punish it for a nuclear test and a long-range rocket launch this year.
It has also threatened military retaliation for annual large-scale military exercises which South Korea and the United States began last month. | Famous Person - Commit Crime - Accuse | April 2016 | ['(The Straits Times)'] |
The U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration says warm ocean waters could fuel an above-normal Atlantic hurricane season. The forecast calls for 11 to 17 named storms with five to nine hurricanes, warmer-than-average waters across the tropical Atlantic Ocean and Caribbean Sea, and a weak or nonexistent El Niño. | Updated on: May 25, 2017 / 4:27 PM
MIAMI -- Warm ocean waters could fuel an above-normal Atlantic hurricane season, while storm-suppressing El Nino conditions are expected to be scarce, U.S. government forecasters said Thursday.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration forecast calls for 11 to 17 named storms, with five to nine hurricanes. Two to four hurricanes are expected to be "major" with sustained winds of at least 111 mph.
Forecasters expect warmer-than-average waters across the tropical Atlantic Ocean and Caribbean Sea, weaker-than-average wind shear and a weak or nonexistent El Nino, said Ben Friedman, acting NOAA administrator.
El Nino is the natural warming of parts of the Pacific Ocean that changes weather worldwide and tends to reduce hurricane activity in the Atlantic. Warm waters feed a hurricane's strength, while strong wind shear can starve it and pull a storm apart.
While climate models show considerable uncertainty, "there's a potential for a lot of Atlantic storm activity this year," Friedman said.
The long-term season averages are 12 named storms, with six hurricanes and three major ones. Tropical storms have sustained winds of at least 39 mph, and hurricanes have winds of at least 74 mph.
A new weather satellite will help forecasters see developing storms in greater detail, especially when it moves later this year into a permanent position over the East Coast with a view over the continental U.S. and tropical waters where hurricanes form, Freidman said.
"Its 'lightning mapper' allows us to see lightning in the clouds like we've never seen before," he said.
High-resolution hurricane model upgrades also are expected to provide "much improved" forecast guidance this year, said Mary Erickson, deputy director of the National Weather Service.
Officials urged coastal residents to make evacuation plans and stock up on emergency supplies long before any tropical weather advisory is posted.
The National Hurricane Center in Miami is adding advisories highlighting specific storm hazards: Storm surge watches and warnings will be issued when U.S. communities are at risk for life-threatening flooding. The "uncertainty cone" showing a storm's projected path will be updated to show how far damaging winds can reach. An experimental "time of arrival" graphic will show people when tropical storm-force winds are expected to start hitting their areas.
"Key data will be available earlier than ever to make informed decisions," said Robert Fenton, acting administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
The six-month Atlantic storm season officially starts June 1.
A rare April tropical storm formed this year over the open ocean: Arlene, which was no threat to land. The next tropical storm will be named Bret.
The 2016 hurricane season also started early with a January hurricane. It was the first above-normal season since 2012, with 15 named storms, seven hurricanes and four major hurricanes.
Five storms made landfall in the U.S. last year, including hurricanes Hermine and Matthew.
| Hurricanes_Tornado_Storm_Blizzard | May 2017 | ['(CBS News)'] |
Thousands of mourners gather in Kabul for the funeral of former President of Afghanistan Burhanuddin Rabbani, who was killed by a suicide bomber earlier in the week. | The funeral of Afghanistan's peace talks chief Burhanuddin Rabbani, killed by a suicide bomber, has taken place in Kabul amid tight security.
President Hamid Karzai joined mourners for the state funeral at the presidential palace.
Rabbani's body was then buried amid emotional scenes on a Kabul hilltop.
Rabbani, the chairman of the High Peace Council, was killed on Tuesday by a bomb hidden in a turban worn by a man claiming to be a Taliban envoy.
Mr Karzai told the mourners he would continue with the peace process.
"The blood of the martyred and other martyrs of freedom requires us to continue our efforts until we reach peace and stability," he said.
"It is our responsibility to act against those who are enemies of peace."
Mr Karzai accused Rabbani's killers of using "trick and deception", abusing Afghan and Islamic customs.
Servicemen with caps and white gloves had carried the coffin, draped in the national flag, to a dais state outside the presidential palace.
Officials then lined up to pay individual tribute to Rabbani, bowing at the coffin.
Rabbani's son, Salahuddin, told mourners: "Today we are witnessing one of the biggest and saddest events of this important political time in the history of the world."
There were emotional scenes as Rabbani's body arrived later at the hilltop overlooking his Kabul home for the burial service.
Gunfire was heard but police said they were firing shots into the air to disperse some in the crowd who had thrown stones at the cars of government officials.
Some chanted: "Death to America, death to Pakistan, death to Karzai."
One mourner, Enayatullah, told AFP: "We are all grieving, people here have lost a great leader."
He said those who organised the meeting with the alleged Taliban envoys should be put on trial.
The capital's diplomatic zone was in security lockdown, amid fears insurgents could try to disrupt proceedings.
Cars were banned from the area and residents and mourners were searched.
The head of Kabul's criminal investigations unit, Mohammad Zahir, told Agence France-Presse news agency: "We have taken extra measures by deploying thousands of policemen."
The BBC's David Loyn, in Kabul, says Pakistan sent two ministers to the funeral, but not its prime minister, and there is growing anger in Afghanistan at Pakistan's influence over militants.
He says tension has been heightened by the comments of the outgoing chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, Mike Mullen, blaming Pakistan's spy agency for backing recent militant attacks in Afghanistan.
No group has said it carried out Rabbani's killing but Afghan intelligence officials say they believe it must have taken months to plan. The peace council had been in touch with a man purporting to represent the Taliban high command based in the Pakistani city of Quetta, and who said he would send a messenger to Kabul.
The peace council believed it was on the verge of a major breakthrough in peace talks with the Taliban, officials said, and Rabbani cut short a visit to Dubai to meet the envoys.
On Wednesday, the Taliban issued their first public statement on the killing, saying they did not want to comment.
Rabbani was instrumental in the establishment of the Afghan mujahideen who took on the Soviet invaders in the 1980s.
He later became president but was ousted by the Taliban in 1996. After that he became the nominal head of the Northern Alliance.
When they swept back into Kabul, backed by US forces, and toppled the Taliban in 2001, he was still recognised by the UN as the official president of Afghanistan. | Famous Person - Death | September 2011 | ['(BBC)'] |
Lasantha Wickrematunge is assassinated in Sri Lanka | A motorcycle gunman has shot and killed the editor of a Sri Lankan newspaper that has been highly critical of the country's government.
Lasantha Wickramatunga, whose Sunday Leader newspaper has accused Sri Lankan president Mahinda Rajapaksa's government of corruption, was killed as he drove to work today in rush-hour traffic outside the capital, Colombo.
Associated Press reported that Wickramatunga was rushed to a nearby hospital for emergency surgery that lasted nearly three hours, but he died later of head wounds.
Police spokesman Ranjith Gunasekara said two gunmen rode up and opened fire on Wickramatunga. He added that an investigation had been opened but no one had been arrested.
Wickramatunga's brother Lal told Reuters that the gunman had smashed the window of his vehicle and shot at him. Footage of the crime scene broadcast on Sri Lankan TV showed bullet holes in the windshield and blood splattered over the seat of Wickramatunga's car.
The Sunday Leader is locked in a legal battle with the president's brother, Sri Lankan defence secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa, who is suing the newspaper for defamation over stories it published alleging corruption, Reuters reported. Rajapaksa has denied any wrongdoing.
This is the second major attack on the Sri Lankan media this week, following an assault by more than a dozen gunmen on the studios of the country's biggest commercial broadcaster on Tuesday morning.
According to AP, the Sri Lankan government has denied it is behind the attacks and has appointed a committee to investigate.
In November, Amnesty International said Sri Lankan journalists face detentions and attacks, with at least 10 media employees killed since 2006.
To contact the MediaGuardian news desk email editor@mediatheguardian.com or phone 020 3353 3857. For all other inquiries please call the main Guardian switchboard on 020 3353 2000. | Famous Person - Death | January 2009 | ['(Guardian)'] |
Raymond Aubrac, one of the heroes of the French Resistance during World War II, dies at the age of 97. | One of the leading figures of the French resistance against the Nazis, Raymond Aubrac, has died aged 97, his family says.
His daughter said he had died at Val de Grace military hospital in Paris on Tuesday evening. Raymond Aubrac and his late wife Lucie became important members of Jean Moulin's underground Resistance movement in 1942.
Aubrac was arrested in June 1943 with Moulin, who died after torture.
In a recent BBC interview, he described how their arrests by the Gestapo at a doctor's surgery in the suburb of Caluire in Lyon had come as "a shock but not a surprise".
Jean Moulin, who had been sent by Gen Charles de Gaulle to organise the underground resistance to Nazi occupation, was tortured, taken to Paris and later died on a train to Berlin.
But Raymond Aubrac escaped when a group of fighters including his wife attacked a lorry moving him and other members of the Resistance from jail in Lyon. Born as Raymond Samuel in 1914, Aubrac was Jewish. He studied engineering and married Lucie Bernard after war broke out. After his escape from jail, the couple reached London in February 1944. Their story and their Resistance work with Jean Moulin became legendary in France and the couple gave a number of talks to schools and colleges about their experience.
After France was liberated, Aubrac was given the task of supervising reconstruction efforts in the port city of Marseille. From 1964-75 he served as a director at the UN's Food and Agriculture Organization in Rome.
He twice gave evidence after the war against Rene Hardy, a fellow Resistance member who was accused of betraying his colleagues but was later acquitted.
In 2010, he travelled to London with President Nicolas Sarkozy to commemorate the 70th anniversary of Gen de Gaulle's appeal to the French people after the country had fallen to the Nazis.
Raymond Aubrac remained politically active until he died and gave his backing to Socialist presidential candidate Francois Hollande.
In tribute, President Sarkozy described him as an "heroic figure" whose "escape, thanks to the courage of his wife Lucie Aubrac, has entered into the legend of Resistance history".
Centrist presidential candidate Francois Bayrou praised him as a "major emblematic figure".
| Famous Person - Death | April 2012 | ['(BBC)'] |
The former Israeli prime minister Ehud Olmert is charged with taking bribes in a property scandal. | The former Israeli prime minister, Ehud Olmert, has been charged with taking bribes in a property scandal.
The allegations relate to Mr Olmert's time as Jerusalem mayor in the 1990s.
Mr Olmert, who resigned as prime minister in 2009, has already been charged in three unrelated corruption cases. He denies any wrongdoing.
The latest charges concern the construction of a luxury residential complex in Jerusalem called Holyland which is built on a prominent hilltop.
Prosecutors claim that millions of dollars changed hands illegally to facilitate a series of property deals.
Jerusalem's planning laws were altered to enable the complex to be built. The project's developers have also been charged in the case.
Haaretz newspaper describes the case as one of the largest corruption scandals in Israel's history.
The former prime minister denies any wrongdoing and has called the investigation a "witch hunt".
Mr Olmert was mayor of Jerusalem from 1993 - 2003, then became a minister in the Israeli cabinet. He took over as prime minister in 2006 after Ariel Sharon suffered a stroke.
His three-year premiership was dogged by corruption allegations, and he eventually agreed to stand down.
Mr Olmert has pleaded not guilty in the separate proceedings against him, in which he is accused of taking cash for favours and double-billing for overseas trips. | Famous Person - Commit Crime - Accuse | January 2012 | ['(BBC)', '(Reuters)'] |
Voters in Zimbabwe go to the polls for a general election. | HARARE (July 31, 2013): Fears that President Robert Mugabe (pix) allies will rig Zimbabwe's election on Wednesday have prompted a citizen army of blogging, tweeting poll monitors.
Pressure groups and a cult 'mole' blogging from inside Mugabe's ZANU-PF party have promised to report and collate any accounts of abuses and voting irregularities across the country.
Already a popular Facebook blogger, Baba Jukwa -- or Jukwa's father -- is promising to release election results before the official announcement.
The anonymous blogger has received a cult following for exposing Mugabe government secrets, at times giving out mobile telephone numbers of prominent people asking ordinary people to call them to tell them they know what's going on.
The law states election results must only be announced by the chairperson of the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC).
Mugabe has gone as far as to threaten his rival Morgan Tsvangirai with arrest if he declares the results before the ZEC.
But with rumours rife that the military will get a sneak peak at the results before they are released to the world, Baba Jukwa's tally could be explosive.
Already Baba Jukwa has attracted over 300,000 Facebook followers since he started exposing what he calls "evil deeds" of Mugabe's ZANU-PF party and their purported plans to rig polls.
"Zimbabwe I would like to announce to you that I will be official, giving you results and outcome of the election," Baba Jukwa posted on his page on Monday.
"I will as well announce the winner without fear or favour despite the unfair and not free environment."
Meanwhile non-governmental organisations such as Sokwanele and the Election Resource Centre (ERC) are planning to update people on what will be happening during the voting day through their websites, twitter and Facebook.
"We are engaging the people through social media so that we tap what will be happening from the good, bad and ugly things on this election," said Tawanda Chimhini, the director of the Election Resource Centre (ERC).
"We will be using social media from Facebook, WhatsApp and email to expand the power of the people."
"This is our small way of engaging the people to expand the power of the vote and that people will not merely be voting only but they also interrogate what will be happening."
He said information that will be shared include results that will be posted outside polling stations.
"It is legal, nothing stops us from doing that," Chimhini said.
The ERC has deployed 210 mobile observers in all of the country's constituencies to monitor the elections.
Although only a fraction of Zimbabwe's population have access to Internet or data services, the opposition has accused Mugabe's government of trying to prevent the spread of information.
"They have started interfering with mobile Internet so that there will be no movement of information," said Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) spokesperson Douglas Mwonzora.
"They have also started interfering with Whatsapp as well as bulk sms. This is meant to slow down information during and after the voting process," he added.
"It is certainly the state security agency, the CIO (Central Intelligence Organisation). We know these are people who want to rig elections." | Government Job change - Election | July 2013 | ['(Sun Daily)'] |
Thousands of people throughout Spain protest the court's verdict. | Protests are being held across Spain after five men accused of the gang rape of a teenager during the running of the bulls festival in Pamplona were found guilty of the lesser offence of sexual abuse.
The attack two years ago prompted a national outcry, as did the subsequent trial, which was widely criticised as a cross-examination of the 18-year-old woman rather than the men who attacked her.
The verdicts were delivered at a court in Pamplona, the capital of the Navarre region of northern Spain. José Ángel Prenda, Alfonso Cabezuelo, Antonio Manuel Guerrero, Jesús Escudero and Ángel Boza were sentenced to nine years’ imprisonment, five years’ probation and ordered to pay €10,000 each to the woman. Guerrero, a Guardia Civil police officer, was also fined €900 for stealing her phone after the attack.
Protesters in Pamplona shouted “This justice is bullshit!”, “It’s not abuse, it’s rape!” and “If they touch one of us, they touch all of us!” after the verdict was read out. On Thursday evening thousands more demonstrators gathered outside the justice ministry in Madrid, the Plaça Sant Jaume in Barcelona and in cities across the country.
The men were found guilty of the “continuous sexual abuse” of the woman in the lobby of a building in the early hours of 7 July 2016, but not of rape.
Under Spanish law, the lesser offence of sexual abuse differs from rape in that it does not involve violence or intimidation. One of the judges argued that the men should have been cleared of all charges except the phone theft. The men, who called themselves la manada or “the wolf pack” in their WhatsApp group, had offered to walk the woman to her car but instead took her into the hall of a building, attacked her and filmed the assault on their phones.
The victim was later found crying on a bench. She described her attackers to police, who arrested the five men the following day.
Their defence lawyers claimed the woman had consented and had let one of the men kiss her. They also argued that 96 seconds of video footage from the men’s phones – showing the woman immobile and with her eyes shut during the attack – was proof of consent.
The prosecution, however, said the victim had been too terrified to move. “The defendants want us to believe that on that night they met an 18-year-old girl, living a normal life, who, after 20 minutes of conversation with people she didn’t know, agreed to group sex involving every type of penetration, sometimes simultaneously, without using a condom,” the prosecutor Elena Sarasate said.
If the sex was consensual why had they taken her phone, Sarasate asked. “The obvious thing would be to exchange phone numbers, not steal her phone.”
The proceedings were also criticised after the judges accepted into evidence a report compiled by a private detective hired by some of the defendants. The detective had followed the woman over several days and produced photographs of her smiling with friends.
This was presented as evidence that she had not suffered any lasting trauma, prompting hundreds of women to demonstrate outside court holding signs reading: “We believe you, sister.”
Thursday’s verdict came after five months of deliberation by judges. Prosecutors had sought jail terms of 22 years each.
The woman’s lawyer said she was disappointed with the sentence and would appeal against it. A spokeswoman for the Navarre regional government said it did not agree with the verdict and would also appeal. A lawyer for four of the men said they planned to appeal against their sentences, saying the court “can’t just come up with the offence of sexual abuse when it never formed the basis of the accusation and wasn’t something the defence could prepare for”.
The verdicts were quickly and fiercely criticised by many senior politicians and human rights groups. Susana Díaz, the president of the regional government of Andalusia, tweeted: “I always respect judicial sentences but this is one I neither understand nor agree with. We must have zero tolerance for sexual violence throughout society.”
Her colleague, Pedro Sánchez, the leader of Spain’s socialist party, wrote: “She said NO. We believe you and we’ll keep believing you. If what the ‘wolfpack’ did wasn’t group violence against a defenceless woman, then what do we understand by rape?”
As demonstrations were announced across Spain, Amnesty International said: “The lack of legal recognition that sexual relations without consent constitute rape gives rise to the idea that it’s down to us as women to protect ourselves from rape.
Meanwhile the international human rights group Women’s Link said the case had offered judges a “unique opportunity” to set a precedent that would help protect victims of sexual assaults. But “the court didn’t take it. Once again. Once again, what a disappointment.”
Spain’s deputy prime minister, Soraya Sáenz de Santamaría, said while the judge’s sentences ought to be respected, the authorities now needed to analyse what had happened “to avoid such behaviour happening again in this country”.
In a tweet posted shortly after the verdicts were read out, Spain’s national police force wrote “No means no” 12 times, along with their emergency phone number and the message: “We’re with you.”
| Protest_Online Condemnation | April 2018 | ['(The Guardian)'] |
Widespread flooding is reported in East Africa especially Kenya, Somalia and Ethiopia, with at least five reported dead in Mogadishu where the Shabelle and Juba rivers have burst their banks and more than 70,000 people reported displaced in total. | Much of East Africa is currently experiencing heavy rains and the hardest hit areas are Somalia, the Somali region of Ethiopia and northern Kenya. In the vicinity of the town of Gode in Ethiopia where an SOS Children's Village is located, the Shabelle River burst its banks, leaving many dead and many more without homes. The SOS Children's Village, which also encompasses a mother and child hospital, an SOS Nursery School and an SOS Primary School was not affected. Even though the Shabelle runs right past the compound, the village is built on high ground and the river is low at that point.
In Somalia thousands of people have left their homes because of the floods that have hit the northern, southern and central parts of the country. According to Ahmed Ibrahim, the national director of SOS Children Somalia, at least five people, including three children, died in Mogadishu as a result of flooding. Heavy rainfall is to blame for the rising water levels in the Shabelle and Juba rivers, which have burst their banks, destroying farmlands in southern Somalia. Many of those affected are among 250,000 internally displaced people who fled their home villages in southern Somalia due to the on going conflicts and long term drought.
The floods have also affected the SOS Children's Village Mogadishu destroying about 80 m of the compound wall but no-one was injured.
In Kenya, those most seriously affected by the heavy rain are in the coastal and north eastern provinces where emergency relief is underway. It is reported that more than 70,000 people have been affected by floods at the Kenyan coast. Ironically a climate conference discussing global warming, with participation by world environment ministers and up to 6,000 other delegates, is currently taking place at the UNEP headquarters in Nairobi.
Relevant Countries: Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia.
Contact us | info@soschildren.org | 01223 365589 | Privacy Policy
"SOS Children" refers to SOS Kinderdorf worldwide. SOS Children is a working name for SOS Children's Villages UK. | Floods | November 2006 | ['(SOS)'] |
Formula One champion Lewis Hamilton is knighted by Queen Elizabeth II. | Alonso and Ocon relieved Alpine are back to ‘more normal’ pace with top-five showings in France practice
Video
Discover more news In a year of historic milestones and major accolades, Lewis Hamilton has landed another, with the news that he is to receive a knighthood – one of the highest honours bestowed in his homeland of the United Kingdom.
The award, which dates back to medieval times and carries the title ‘Sir’, is given to a select few for an exceptional achievement in any given activity, with previous F1 recipients including Sir Jackie Stewart, Sir Stirling Moss, Sir Frank Williams, Sir Patrick Head and Sir Jack Brabham.
The award comes at the end of an exceptional year for Hamilton in which he won a record-equalling seventh world title, while helping Mercedes to a seventh straight constructors’ crown. The 35-year-old Briton also matched and then surpassed Michael Schumacher’s all-time record of 91 wins, taking the tally up to 95.
Away from the track he set up the Hamilton Commission to improve diversity in motorsport, and was also named Laureus World Sportsman Of The Year, BBC sports personality of the year, GQ’s Game Changer Of The Year and was named in Time Magazine 100 most influential people.
Commenting on Hamilton being knighted, Stefano Domenicali, Formula 1’s incoming CEO, said: “Lewis is a true giant of our sport and his influence is huge both in and out of a car. What he has achieved is phenomenal with still more to come. All of us at Formula 1 congratulate him on this well deserved recognition of his achievements and look forward to seeing more of his brilliance in 2021.”
| Government Job change - Appoint_Inauguration | December 2020 | ['(Formula One)'] |
18 children – 15 girls and 3 boys – are killed when lightning strikes a primary school in Masindi in the Western Region of Uganda. | At least 21 people perished on Tuesday evening when lightning struck three locations in different parts of Uganda, leaving a devastating trail. By 10:00pm on Tuesday night, 17 pupils and one student teacher had been pronounced dead by medics at Kiryandongo hospital, some 210km north of Kampala. They had succumbed to severe burns suffered from the ferocious crash of thunder. The rise of death toll to 21, up from the 18 reported earlier was confirmed Wednesday morning. Dr. Jimmy Eyiiga, the Kiryandongo medical superintendent confirmed this morning that 18 pupils and one teacher from Runyanya Primary School, in Kiryandongo district are now dead. He added that other pupils who were not yet out of danger have been referred to Mulago National Referral hospital, for more specialized medical attention. Dr. Eyiiga however could not readily offer particulars of the referred victims. Two other deaths have been reported in Eastern Uganda. Daily Monitor’s David Mafabi reports that lightning struck a village in in Sironko district killing a 58 year old man identified as Hassan Wandulu. Mr Wandulu who had gone to visit a friend, Mr Aramanzan Dongo in Mpogo in Sironko was struck at about 3.00pm during a heavy down pour accompanied by hail stones on Tuesday evening, barely an hour before the Kiryandongo tragedy. Related Stories
Death to due lightning strikes then spread to Karamoja region, tucked away in north eastern Uganda, striking a school in Kotido district, killing another pupil instantly. Daily Monitor’s Steven Ariong reports that one pupil died on the spot while another one was left in unconscious during Tuesday lightning that struck some parts of Kotido district at around 4.30pm. The police spokesperson in Karamoja, Mr George Obia identified the victim as Raffle Lotyang who was a primary three pupil at Kotido Army Primary School. The devastation, which is by far the biggest since unseasonal heavy rainstorms descended on the country, formed the highlight of debate on the floor of Parliament yesterday as lawmakers put the government to task to explain what is going on. In the last one week, there have been several incidents of lightning strikes, which have left several people dead and untold damage, across the country.) | Hurricanes_Tornado_Storm_Blizzard | June 2011 | ['(BBC)', '(Uganda Monitor)'] |
At least 35 people are killed in an expressway accident in the north Chinese port city of Tianjin, while another 10 are killed in a 24–car pileup in the Lianyungang–Khorgas Expressway's Anhui section. | HUAIBEI - Ten people were killed in a 24-car pileup that occurred Friday morning in East China's Anhui province, according to chinanews.com.
The accident occurred around 7 am on a section of the Lianhuo Expressway in Xiaoxian county. The exact number of injured is still under investigation, officials said.
The accident halted traffic on the expressway for four hours. The injured have been taken to a local hospital for treatment and the cause of the accident is under investigation. | Road Crash | October 2011 | ['(Xinhua)', '(China Daily)'] |
Officials from a UN–backed genocide tribunal detain Nuon Chea, the most senior surviving member of the Khmer Rouge regime. | Nuon Chea, now 82, was flown from his jungle home to the capital, Phnom Penh - and was later charged with war crimes and crimes against humanity
He will face Cambodian and foreign judges at a special genocide tribunal.
He was second-in-command to Khmer Rouge leader Pol Pot from 1975-79, when some 1m people are thought to have died.
Nuon Chea, who was also known as "Brother Number Two", has spent the past few decades living freely in Pailin, the movement's former jungle headquarters.
Police and court officials went to his home near the Thai border early on Wednesday to question him, and issue him with an arrest warrant on charges of crimes against humanity.
"He was shaking. His legs looked like they would collapse," neighbour Sok Sothera told the French news agency AFP.
Nuon Chea was then taken under police escort to a helicopter for the flight to Phnom Penh.
"An initial appearance will be held today, during which he will be informed of the charges which have been brought against him," the UN-backed tribunal said in a statement.
Five suspects
Because he was second only to Pol Pot - the regime's "Brother Number One", who died in 1998 - Nuon Chea will be the most senior defendant to be tried by the tribunal.
WHO WERE THE KHMER ROUGE?
Maoist regime that ruled Cambodia from 1975-1979
Founded and led by Pol Pot, who died in 1998 Abolished religion, schools and currency in a bid to create agrarian utopia
Brutal regime that did not tolerate dissent
More than a million people thought to have died from starvation, overwork or execution
Brutal Khmer Rouge regime
A Thai-trained lawyer, Nuon Chea rose quickly through the ranks of the Khmer Rouge, as it grew from a small Maoist rebel group to a force capable of taking over the country.
Analysts say he had an important decision-making role in the regime, which instituted radical policies aimed at creating an agrarian utopia, but in reality caused the deaths of more than a million people through hunger, illness, overwork and execution.
Nuon Chea himself has consistently denied any responsibility for the deaths, but earlier this year he indicated he was ready to face the tribunal.
After many long delays, the UN-backed trials are finally expected to begin next year. KHMER ROUGE TRIBUNAL
Will try cases of genocide and crimes against humanity
Five judges (three Cambodian) sit in trial court
Cases decided by majority
Maximum penalty is life imprisonment
Budget of $56.3m
Key figures facing trial
Only one other suspect, Kang Kek Ieu - also known as Duch - has so far been detained.
Duch, who was arrested in July, was in charge of the notorious S21 jail in Phnom Penh, where more than 17,000 men, women and children are thought to have been imprisoned and brutally tortured. Four other people are said to be under investigation. Their names have not been revealed, but are thought to include former president Khieu Samphan - who has been living next door to Nong Chea in Pailin - and Khmer Rouge foreign minister Ieng Sary. Survivors have welcomed the charges against Nong Chea and Duch, but they have also expressed doubts about whether these elderly leaders will ever be brought to account for their deeds during the Khmer Rouge years. It is already too late to try Pol Pot, and the regime's military commander and one of Pol Pot's most ruthless henchmen, Ta Mok, died last year. | Famous Person - Commit Crime - Arrest | September 2007 | ['(BBC)'] |
At least 14 people are killed as Tropical Storm Tomas passes over Saint Lucia. | At least 14 people are now known to have died on the Caribbean island of St Lucia after Hurricane Tomas triggered landslides, officials say.
Tourism minister Allan Chastanet told local radio that the southern town of Soufriere had been worst hit and resembled "a war zone".
The storm, which struck at the weekend, also battered the island of St Vincent.
Tomas, now a tropical storm, is veering towards Haiti where thousands are still homeless after January's earthquake.
In St Lucia, Prime Minister Stephenson King declared a state of emergency and appealed for international assistance, local media reported.
Bridges were destroyed, and some of the worst-hit communities in the south could only be reached by boat. "Recovery efforts are very slow. Our efforts to get help to the ravished community have been weakened as a string of fires in homes brings us to our knees," a firefighter in the capital Castries told the BBC.
He said the water mains were empty and that trying to get water to the fires "was an exercise in near futility" due to the mountainous landscape.
Tomas, downgraded from a hurricane on Sunday evening, lashed islands in the eastern Caribbean with sustained winds of 75mph (120km/h).
On Tuesday it was about 355 miles (570km) south of the Haitian capital Port-au-Prince and moving west at 12mph (19km/h) with sustained winds of 50mph (85km/h).
Forecasters have warned that Tomas could strengthen again to a hurricane and that parts of Haiti are in its projected path for later in the week.
"Right now they just need to stay tuned - this is the stage to be aware," said John Cangialosi at the US Hurricane Center in Miami.
UN humanitarian co-ordinator Nigel Fisher said relief workers in Haiti were trying to gather emergency shelter, water and sanitation supplies.
"We need as much of it as possible in place before Tomas hits," he said.
Imogen Wall, of the UN Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs, said warehouses in Haiti were being emptied of rope and tarpaulins to protect those in the camps.
The US Navy ship Iwo Jima is steaming toward Haiti to be on hand if emergency relief is needed, US officials said. | Hurricanes_Tornado_Storm_Blizzard | November 2010 | ['(BBC)', '(Jamaica Observer)'] |
Hilton Botha, the former lead detective in the murder case involving Paralympian Oscar Pistorius, has resigned from the South African Police Service. | Johannesburg - Hilton Botha, the former lead detective in the murder case involving Paralympian Oscar Pistorius, has resigned from the SA Police Service, police confirmed on Thursday.
"He gave notice with immediate effect yesterday [Wednesday]," Brigadier Neville Malila said.
"The reasons given are between himself and the organisation. It is a personal decision ultimately."
Malila said Botha had been an investigator for many years and a member of the police for more than 22 years.
"It is a lot of experience that we are losing, but it is his personal decision."
Botha's removal from the Pistorius case followed reports in February that he was charged with attempted murder.
Police later confirmed that he had seven attempted murder pending. In 2011 Botha allegedly fired shots at a minibus while trying to stop the vehicle. Seven people were in the taxi at the time.
The Weekly
Newsletter editor Alet Law guides you through our most interesting and insightful stories to give you a well-rounded view of the week that was. | Government Job change - Resignation_Dismissal | March 2013 | ['(SAPA via News24)'] |
Six Pakistani men are found guilty of abusing and raping teenage girls between 1998 and 2002 in Rotherham, England. The National Crime Agency believes as many as 1,510 teenagers were sexually exploited in the town during the same period. | Six men have been found guilty of a string of sex offences relating to the sexual exploitation of teenage girls in Rotherham more than a decade ago.
Sheffield Crown Court heard the men abused their victims between 1998 and 2002.
Abid Saddiq, 38, was convicted of two counts of rape, five of indecent assault, and two of child abduction.
Sharaz Hussain, 35, Masaued Malik, 35, and Aftab Hussain, 40, were convicted of indecent assault.
Two other defendants who cannot be named for legal reasons were convicted of rape and indecent assault.
During the five-week trial, the jury heard how the girls were targeted due to their vulnerability and were given alcohol and drugs before some were raped by multiple men.
Violence was sometimes used to ensure they complied, the court heard.
Jurors also heard Saddiq raped a girl in an alleyway when she was aged 14 or 15, then taunted her mother.
The father-of-four admitted having sex with some of the complainants, but claimed they were over age at the time and consented.
The convictions are the latest to arise from a major National Crime Agency (NCA) investigation, Operation Stovewood.
It looked into sexual abuse and exploitation in Rotherham covering the years 1997 to 2013.
The agency has said it believes 1,510 teenagers were exploited in the town during the period.
Senior investigating officer Philip Marshall said the men had exploited vulnerable girls for their own sexual gratification.
Kate Hurst, from the Crown Prosecution Service, added: "Each of these men knew the girls were either vulnerable and underage. They were reckless and did not care if they were children or not."
The six men were all remanded and are due to be sentenced on Friday.
.
| Famous Person - Commit Crime - Sentence | August 2019 | ['(BBC)'] |
SpaceX Falcon 1 makes orbit, becoming the first privately developed liquid–fueled space launch vehicle to do so. | LOS ANGELES (AP) — An Internet entrepreneur's latest effort to make space launch more affordable paid off Sunday when his commercial rocket, carrying a dummy payload, was lofted into orbit from the South Pacific.
It was the fourth attempt by Space Exploration Technologies, or SpaceX, to launch its two-stage Falcon 1 rocket into orbit.
"Fourth time's a charm," said Elon Musk, the multimillionaire who started up SpaceX after making his fortune as the co-founder of PayPal Inc., the electronic payment system.
The rocket carried a 364-pound dummy payload designed and built by SpaceX for the launch.
"This really means a lot," Musk told a crowd of whooping employees. "There's only a handful of countries on Earth that have done this. It's usually a country thing, not a company thing. We did it."
Musk pledged to continue getting rockets into orbit, saying the company has resolved design issues that plagued previous attempts.
Last month, SpaceX lost three government satellites and human ashes including the remains of astronaut Gordon Cooper and "Star Trek" actor James Doohan after its third rocket was lost en route to space. The company blamed a timing error for the failure that caused the rocket's first stage to bump into the second stage after separation.
SpaceX's maiden launch in 2006 failed because of a fuel line leak. Last year, another rocket reached about 180 miles above Earth, but its second stage prematurely shut off.
Falcon 1, a 70-foot-long rocket powered by liquid oxygen and kerosene, is the first in a family of low-cost launch vehicles priced at $7.9 million each.
Besides the Falcon 1, SpaceX is developing for NASA a larger launch vehicle, Falcon 9, capable of flying to the international space station when the current space shuttle fleet retires in 2010. | New achievements in aerospace | September 2008 | ['(AP via Google News)'] |
A wave of small-scale terrorist attacks, including tire burning and the bombing of the electric grid, hits the Thai provinces of Yala, Pattani, Narathiwat, and Songkhla in response to the new Constitution of Thailand. | BANGKOK (Reuters) - Bomb blasts were among 23 coordinated attacks that rocked Muslim-majority southern Thailand early on Friday, a security officer said, just hours after King Maha Vajiralongkorn signed a new constitution as a step towards ending military rule.
Police reported no casualties in the region, site of a recent upsurge in a decades-old Muslim separatist insurgency that had voted the most strongly against the new constitution at a referendum last year.
“The incidents are aimed to create disturbances,” Pramote Prom-in, a spokesman for regional security forces, told Reuters. “They want to destroy the government’s credibility and create fear among people.”
There was no immediate claim of responsibility and security forces said they could not yet identify which insurgent group was to blame.
The attacks were scattered across 19 districts in the southern region, grouping the provinces of Yala, Pattani and Narathiwat, and the nearby province of Songkhla, he said.
A large number of co-ordinated attacks in the region is unusual. Complete details were not immediately available, but they ranged from bomb explosions at 52 electricity poles, triggering widespread regional power cuts, to several tire-burning incidents, Pramote added.
On Thursday, Thailand’s king signed into law a military-backed constitution, an essential step towards an election the ruling junta has promised will restore democracy after the 12th successful coup in little over 80 years.
The new constitution is the Southeast Asian country’s 20th since the end of absolute monarchy in 1932, and critics say it will still give the generals a powerful say over Thai politics for years, if not decades.
Voters in the most heavily Muslim parts of Thailand were among the few to reject the draft constitution in last year’s referendum.
The timing of the attacks just hours after the constitution was proclaimed was curious, said Defence Minister Prawit Wongsuwan, but there was no conclusive evidence it was a motive.
A Malay Muslim separatist insurgency in the three southern provinces has killed more than 6,500 since it escalated in 2004, independent monitoring group Deep South Watch says.
On Monday, police reported what they called the biggest insurgent attack in the south in years, when about 30 people fired more than 500 shots into a police booth.
In February, the government of the Buddhist-majority country struck a deal with MARA Patani, an umbrella group that says it speaks for the insurgents, but other separatists rejected it.
| Armed Conflict | April 2017 | ['(Reuters)'] |
The Supreme Court of Costa Rica rules that a ban on same–sex marriage is illegal, and states that legislators must change the law accordingly within eighteen months. | Costa Rica's Supreme Court has ruled that the country's same-sex marriage ban is unconstitutional and discriminatory.
The court ruling gives the country's legislators a time limit of 18 months to change the current law.
The president welcomed the ruling, saying he wants to guarantee "no person will face discrimination for their sexual orientation".
However many lawmakers are evangelicals who strongly oppose gay marriage.
A Supreme Court judge, Fernando Castillo, told a press conference on Wednesday that the ban will automatically cease to legally exist in 18 months, even if no action is taken by the legislature. The legislative chamber has 57 seats - 14 of which are held by evangelical members.
Late Wednesday's ruling complies with a judgement issued in January by the Inter-American Human Rights Court that said same-sex marriage should be recognised by all of its signatory members. Enrique Sanchez, the country's first openly gay legislator, told AFP that he did not believe the assembly would work out a law change between themselves.
He is a member of the Citizen Action Party, led by President Carlos Alvarado who came to power on a pro-LGBT platform.
President Alvarado is a former rock singer and novelist, who won the presidential run-off in April following a campaign where LGBT rights became a key issue. He beat evangelical pastor opponent Fabricio Alvarado, who vowed to defy the Human Rights Court's rulings on same-sex rights.
| Government Policy Changes | August 2018 | ['(BBC)'] |
Sir Paul Stephenson is appointed Commissioner of London's Metropolitan Police Service. | Sir Paul Stephenson has been named as Metropolitan Police Commissioner, the top job in British policing.
Sir Paul, 55, who was deputy to previous chief Sir Ian Blair, said he was "enormously proud" and was looking forward to the challenges ahead.
He said his priorities would include cutting crime, and convincing all the communities of London that the Met was on their side.
The home secretary said Sir Paul had stood out in an extremely strong field.
He was chosen for the £253,000-a-year post ahead of Sir Hugh Orde, the Chief Constable in Northern Ireland.
Home Secretary Jacqui Smith made the decision, but conducted interviews jointly with London Mayor Boris Johnson, whose backing the new chief requires.
Mr Johnson described Sir Paul as an outstanding candidate and said his appointment had "cross-party consensus".
Sir Ian quit in October, saying he did not have the mayor's support.
His tenure, which began in February 2005, had seen a number of controversies, including the fatal shooting of Jean Charles de Menezes, who was mistaken for a suicide bomber.
Media spotlight
Standing outside Scotland Yard's headquarters and flanked by the home secretary and London mayor, Sir Paul said:
"I'm such a hugely proud policeman to be asked to lead the Met in bringing safety to millions of Londoners, millions of visitors and leading the Met's national efforts," he said.
He said the job of the Met was simply to deal with crime and make the streets of London safer.
"We have to be intolerant of violence, no matter where that violence comes from," he said.
"We've got to make sure we are delivering. That's our job, it's my job to lead that delivery."
Sir Paul, who had been deputy for four years, took over as acting commissioner when his former boss stepped down in December.
Days later, he faced tough questions after the arrest of Tory frontbencher Damian Green by officers investigating leaks from the Home Office.
The resulting furore put Sir Paul into the media spotlight and left politicians outraged at the search of the MP's Commons office.
But BBC home affairs correspondent Danny Shaw said it is understood his handling of the arrest worked in his favour during the selection process.
He said the episode showed Sir Paul was prepared to stand up for officers who took a difficult decision, rather than pass the buck.
Our correspondent added: "Sir Paul is described as a gritty, no-nonsense copper, who likes an argument."
Leading a staff of more than 50,000 and overseeing a £3.5bn budget, he will be expected to continue the fight against terrorism and make the 2012 Olympic Games secure.
The Met takes the national lead in all aspects of counter-terrorism, including intelligence, investigations and prevention.
Distinguished careers
The two final candidates for the vacated position had been seen as evenly matched.
Both men have distinguished careers spanning more than 30 years, counter-terrorism experience, and perform well in the spotlight.
. Sir Paul Stephenson started out with Lancashire Constabulary in 1975 and, after becoming a superintendent, spent time with the Royal Ulster Constabulary.
In 1994 he was appointed assistant chief constable of Merseyside before moving to Lancashire, where he became chief constable in 2002.
In February 2005, he moved to the Met, to fill Sir Ian Blair's previous role when he stepped up to the top job.
So far his role has included the oversight of strategy, modernisation and performance.
Sir Paul was awarded the Queen's Policing Medal for services to policing in May 2000 and received a knighthood in the Queen's Birthday Honours List last June.
Sir Hugh Orde began his career with the Met in 1977 and was deputy assistant commissioner when he left in 2002 to take on the leadership of the Police Service of Northern Ireland.
Two other contenders, chief constables Sir Paul Scott-Lee, of the West Midlands force, and Bernard Hogan-Howe, from Merseyside, had earlier been eliminated from the running. | Government Job change - Appoint_Inauguration | January 2009 | ['(BBC)'] |
A car bomb explodes at a market in the eastern Afghanistan province of Paktika, killing at least 89 people and injuring scores more in one of the deadliest attacks of the war. | At least 42 people have been killed and dozens injured in a suicide attack at a busy market in eastern Afghanistan's Paktika province, local officials say. They say the attacker drove a 4x4 vehicle into the market in Orgun district and detonated the explosives.
The market was full of people doing their shopping for the Muslim festival Ramadan at the time of the attack.
No group has claimed the attack, but Taliban insurgents said they had not carried it out. "We clearly announce that it was not done by the Mujahedeen of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan," Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid was quoted as saying by Reuters news agency.
Eyewitnesses and medical staff said local hospitals were overrun with casualties after one of the deadliest attacks in months in Afghanistan.
The eastern province of Paktika shares a border with Pakistan's restive and volatile tribal areas.
Orgun is one of Paktika's safest areas, though members of the Haqqani militant network are thought to have a presence there. Tuesday's attack is not a surprise for security forces in the border district with Pakistan's Waziristan region. The Pakistan-based Haqqani network is active in the area. Last week, suicide attackers tried to assassinate local police commander Azizullah - who is widely credited with bringing security to the province, and what officials call breaking the backbone of the Haqqani network in the province. Many car and truck bombs have been used by the Haqqani network in the province, where they have tried to target officials. But in recent years, most of the truck bombs were either defused, seized or could not reach their targets. For the Afghan civilians, Tuesday's attack once again brings to light how daily life is fraught with many dangers in Afghanistan. The Orgun district bazaar once a bustling town of shops and restaurants now lies in ruin, and covered in blood. The attack will continue to undermine people's confidence in the Afghan government and the day-to-day security. A spokesman for Afghanistan's defence ministry told the BBC that most of the bodies recovered from the rubble were women and children.
"ANA [Afghan National Army] soldiers are continuing their work of clearing rubble to look for possible survivors and victims," Gen Zahir Azimi said.
Some 42 injured people have been taken to hospital, he added. The district governor of Orgun District, Mohammad Raza Kharoti, earlier told the BBC that most of those killed were shopkeepers and people doing their Ramadan shopping. One man who witnessed the attack said the blast was huge and destroyed dozens of cars and shops.
"There is no room in the hospitals for the victims, people are treating the wounded people on the streets," he told AFP. Eyewitnesses say police and security forces pursued the attacker before he entered the market.
One doctor at Orgun hospital, said it had become overcrowded with casualties. "We have got children, men and women injured and dead," he said.
The attack occurred hours after two men working for the media team of outgoing President Hamid Karzai were killed by a roadside bomb in Kabul.
The Taliban said it had carried out the attack, which targeted a vehicle carrying employees of the presidential palace to work.
It comes days after Afghanistan's two presidential candidates reached a deal to resolve a dispute over the results of last month's presidential election.
The contenders, Abdullah Abdullah and Ashraf Ghani, agreed to accept the outcome of a vote audit after earlier allegations of voter fraud.
The dispute had revived fears for Afghanistan's stability after the withdrawal of US-led forces later this year.
Update 16 July 2014: The original figure in this report of 89 dead has been revised down in the light of new information from the Afghan defence ministry. | Armed Conflict | July 2014 | ['(BBC)', '(Reuters)'] |
Google's offices in central Paris are raided by French finance officials as part of a tax fraud investigation. Google is accused of owing €1.6bn ($1.8bn; £1.3bn) in unpaid taxes. | French finance officials have raided the Paris offices of US internet giant Google as part of a tax fraud investigation. Reports say about 100 tax officials entered Google's offices in central Paris early in the morning. Police sources confirmed the raid. Google said: "We comply with French law and are co-operating fully with the authorities to answer their questions."
Google is accused of owing €1.6bn ($1.8bn; £1.3bn) in unpaid taxes.
The tax arrangements of international companies have come under close scrutiny recently.
Several have been accused of using legal methods to minimise their tax bills.
In Google's case, its tax structure allows it to pay tax in the Republic of Ireland, even when sales appear to relate to the UK.
In January, it struck a deal with UK tax authorities to pay an extra £130m in tax for the period from 2005, but that deal was heavily criticised.
The UK Public Accounts Committee (PAC) said the £130m settlement "seems disproportionately small", compared with the size of its UK business.
Europe's competition authorities have been examining whether some deals struck by big companies with national tax authorities amount to illegal state aid.
In April, the EU unveiled plans to force large companies to disclose more about their tax affairs.
They will have to declare publicly how much tax they pay in each EU country as well as any activities carried out in specific tax havens.
The rules on "country-by-country reporting" would affect multinational firms with more than €750m in sales.
One Covid vaccine dose cuts hospital risk by 75%
But the number of Delta variant cases recorded in the UK has risen by 79% in a week, figures show. | Organization Fine | May 2016 | ['(BBC)'] |
Sooronbay Jeenbekov is elected President of Kyrgyzstan in the first peaceful transfer of power after a full term in the country's history. | Sooronbay Jeenbekov, a former prime minister backed by incumbent Almazbek Atambayev, won outright, confounding predictions of a tight race.
His main rival Omurbek Babanov got just over a third of the vote.
The former Soviet republic, a close ally of Russia, is now on track for its first peaceful power transfer between elected presidents since independence in 1991. The first two presidents were ousted by riots.
Unlike other Central Asian states, which have been run by authoritarian leaders, Kyrgyzstan is a democracy.
Presidents are restricted to a single six-year term under a constitution that has been in force since 2010.
Election officials said Mr Jeenbekov had secured well over 50% of the vote in Sunday's first round, against about 33% for Mr Babanov, an oil tycoon.
The election has been overshadowed by a row over allegations of interference from neighbouring Kazakhstan.
Current Kyrgyz President Almazbek Atambayev angered the Kazakh authorities by saying Mr Babanov, who made his money there, was their choice for president. He has denied that he was backed by them.
In response Kazakhstan tightened customs checks at the border, leading to long queues.
| Government Job change - Election | October 2017 | ['(BBC)'] |
The Foreign Minister of China, Li Zhaoxing, is visiting Japan hoping to improve bilateral relations between the nations. The Chinese Prime Minister Wen Jiabao will visit Japan in April. | Japan's relations with China have been badly strained in recent years, but since Shinzo Abe took over as Japan's PM, both sides have tried to mend ties.
This week's breakthrough deal on North Korea's nuclear programme, agreed during six-party talks in Beijing, is also likely to be on Mr Li's agenda.
Laying the groundwork
Mr Li is due to spend three days in Japan, and he is scheduled to meet both his Japanese counterpart Taro Aso and Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.
"The prime purpose is to lay the groundwork for a visit by Prime Minister Wen," said Japan's Chief Cabinet Secretary Yasuhisa Shiozaki.
ONGOING SPATS
Yasukuni Shrine Japan PM visits shrine which honours war criminals among others
Textbooks Japanese schools have adopted text books which China says whitewash atrocities
Gas fields The countries argue over gas exploration rights in the East China Sea
Disputed islands Both countries claim ownership of Senkaku/Diaoyu islands
Japan & China: rival giants
"We would like to do the work in a frank atmosphere so that we can build reciprocal, strategic relations," he said.
Ties between Beijing and Tokyo have been tense in the past few years, mainly over former Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's annual visits to the Yasukuni war shrine.
Chinese leaders condemned the shrine visits as an attempt to glorify Japan's militaristic past.
Other disagreements made matters worse, including rival claims to disputed gas fields and Japanese text books which China says whitewash historical atrocities. But relations between the two countries have slowly been improving since Shinzo Abe took power in late September.
Soon after becoming prime minister, Mr Abe travelled to Beijing in an effort to improve relations.
And despite his reputation for being a hardliner, Mr Abe has so far refrained from saying if he will visit the Yasukuni shrine during his tenure. But there are many differences that still need to be resolved. In the recently agreed deal on North Korean disarmament, Japan has often taken a harder line than China, and has already refused to fund aid to Pyongyang due to a row about abductions of Japanese citizens.
Earlier this month, Japan protested that a Chinese ship was carrying out surveillance in a disputed area of water. The most read story in Africa is: Saudi 'reprieve' in sorcery case | Diplomatic Visit | February 2007 | ['(BBC)'] |
Sinn Féin's Francie Molloy wins the Mid Ulster by–election, holding onto the seat vacated by Martin McGuinness at the end of 2012. | Sinn Fein have held on to the Mid Ulster seat at Westminster left vacant by Martin McGuinness when he stepped down as MP at the end of last year.
Francie Molloy won the seat after polling 17,462 votes (46.93%). However, Sinn Fein's majority fell by more than 10,000 votes from their 2010 general election victory.
Joint unionist candidate Nigel Lutton was second on 12,781 votes. The SDLP's Patsy McGlone polled 6,478, with the Alliance Party's Eric Bullick on 487.
The overall voter turnout in the by-election was 55%, down from 63% in the last general election.
Before the poll was called, Mr Molloy had been deputy speaker at the Northern Ireland Assembly.
Sinn Fein MPs have a long-standing abstentionist policy from Westminster, with its other four current MPs opting not to sit in the House of Commons, but continuing to represent their constituents by lobbying the government.
After being elected, Mr Molloy said: "I would like to thank my colleague and comrade Martin McGuinness for the work that he has done over the last 15 years in moving Mid Ulster forward.
"Martin will be a hard act to follow, I understand that. But we will try our best to do that, we will continue to build the process within it and work with everyone," he said.
"I want to represent all the people of Mid Ulster, not just those who actually voted for me, not just the Sinn Fein support within the area, but all the people of Mid Ulster." The election pitted the agreed unionist candidate, Mr Lutton - whose father was killed by the IRA - against Mr Molloy.
The Sinn Fein candidate had previously been accused of being a suspect in the murder, by the DUP MP David Simpson, who used parliamentary privilege to make the allegation.
Mr Molloy vehemently denied the claims, challenging Mr Simpson to repeat them without the legal protection afforded by Parliament.
After the result was announced, Mr Lutton did not shake hands with the new MP, but BBC political correspondent, Gareth Gordon, said the pair had "exchanged brief pleasantries" in the counting hall.
Mr Lutton, who works as an undertaker, was announced as the only unionist candidate after the DUP, UUP and TUV agreed to stand aside in an attempt to consolidate the unionist vote.
On the night he polled 599 fewer votes than the combined total of the three unionist candidates in the 2010 general election. However he achieved 34% of the vote, an increase of 2% on the previous unionist share of the vote in the constituency.
The DUP and UUP both hailed his performance as a success.
Mr Lutton said he was "relieved and humbled by the result". "As a nobody coming in, I wasn't expecting to increase the unionist vote," he said.
He told journalists that someone in the counting hall had made him laugh by describing him as the "undertaker who resurrected unionism".
Mr Lutton's candidacy caused controversy within the UUP, resulting in the lost of two of its high profile MLAs. Basil McCrea and John McCallister both resigned from the UUP last month, objected to their party's electoral pact with the DUP.
UUP leader Mike Nesbitt said Mr Lutton was an "agreed" unionist candidate but said the move should not be described as "unionist unity".
"I always looked at this as an experiment. We'll go away and look at the result in much more detail and then we'll think about the implications going forward," he said.
"We're a long way from the next scheduled election which is Europe and I can think of ways in which we could clearly cooperate. "We have Jim Nicholson already standing. I would be more than happy to recommend every Ulster Unionist voter to give a second preference to the DUP and we'd hope the same thing would come back the other way. I think that's a very sensible next step in cooperation, Mr Nesbitt added.
The DUP's Arlene Foster hailed the increase in unionism's share of the vote in Mid Ulster.
"As unionism in the west is growing again, thanks to this man [Nigel Lutton], and the cooperation that has happened in this election, I think we should send out a very confident message to unionism that we can go forward from this and I'm hoping that's exactly what we will do," Mrs Foster said.
Despite a reduced overall turnout, the SDLP's Patsy McGlone increased the SDLP's vote by about 650.
The Alliance candidate, teacher Eric Bullick, said he had increased his party's share of the vote by 23% since the last general election, polling 487 votes - up from 398 votes three years ago.
The by-election was the first time Alliance has faced the electorate since Belfast City Council took a controversial decision to restrict the flying of the union flag at the city hall last December.
Mr McGuinness claimed media coverage of the by-election had played a part in the drop in Sinn Fein's majority.
"I would have preferred if the media had said 'this is going to be a close contest', but the media didn't say that," the deputy first minister said.
"The media said 'Francie Molloy is home in a boat, Nigel Lutton has no prospect whatsoever of winning the election'. And I think a certain amount of complacency sets in, but for us it was a tremendous result."
Mr McGuinness added that his successor would make a "fine MP".
Mid-Ulster by-election candidate | Government Job change - Election | March 2013 | ['(BBC)'] |
The death toll of the bird flu in Vietnam rises to 18. China informs the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization that it has sealed off the Qinghai province to stop the spread of bird flu and vaccinated farmbirds. (People's Daily). | The United Nations Food and Agricultural Organization has received a report from the Chinese government on current bird flu outbreak in Qinghai Province, an official with the Chinese Representative Office of the FAO said on Monday in Beijing.
The official said that they have reported back to the FAO headquarters.
The Ministry?of?Agriculture has also reported the case to the World Organization for Animal Health.
The ministry said last Saturday that the national bird flu reference laboratory confirmed that the latest death of migratory birds in Niannaisuoma village, Gangcha County of west China's Qinghai Province, was caused by the deadly H5N1 strain of the bird flu virus.
The Chinese government has immediately allocated 3 million doses of avian flu vaccine to inoculate the domestic birds in the province. Qinghai has also taken emergency measures by closing off spots to prevent people and fowl from contacting wild birds. Quarantine and vaccination measures have also been adopted. The Ministry of Agriculture has sent a group of experts to the area to guide the work.
Dang Chenyan, director of local animal epidemic prevention headquarters, said that vaccine inoculation work has been finished in the bird flu affected area Saturday afternoon. Inoculation in other areas of the province is still going on.
Dang said that the province now has roughly 3 million home-bred poultry, mostly in Haidong district and Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture. The dosage of vaccine could meet the demand.
This is the first report of H5N1 virus detected in China since the country successfully brought 50 cases of bird flu under control last year. The virus in Qinghai hadn't spread to people or poultry so far, said the government. Source: Xinhua | Disease Outbreaks | May 2005 | ['(Reuters AlertNet)'] |
Mounir El Motassadeq is sentenced by a court in Hamburg, Germany to 15 years in jail for his role in the planning of the September 11, 2001 attacks. | He had acknowledged that he was close to the 9/11 hijackers but insisted he knew nothing of their plans.
But last year Germany's top appeals court found him guilty of abetting the murder of 246 people on the four planes that crashed on 11 September 2001.
The ruling superseded a seven-year sentence handed to Motassadek in 2005 for being a member of a terror group.
Motassadek was originally jailed for 15 years in 2003, convicted of helping the 11 September plotters, who were based in Hamburg, with logistical support and other aid.
That verdict was overturned by Germany's Supreme Court in 2004 and a retrial ordered.
The court ruled last August there was no proof that Motassadek knew about the 11 September plot and jailed him instead for membership of a terrorist organisation. He again appealed, and was found guilty of being an accessory to murder in the attacks. | Famous Person - Commit Crime - Sentence | January 2007 | ['(BBC)'] |
Chicago Police arrest four African-American suspects after they stream a video on Facebook showing themselves torturing and scalping a bound and gagged, kidnapped, white man with a mental disorder. The four suspects will face elevated hate crime charges. , | Chicago police are investigating a video appearing to show a man tied up and assaulted while attackers shout ‘fuck Donald Trump’ and ‘fuck white people’ First published on Thu 5 Jan 2017 03.39 GMT
Chicago police have arrested four suspects after a Facebook Live broadcast appeared to show a man bound, gagged and brutally attacked amid shouts of “fuck Donald Trump”.
The footage, which was live-streamed on Facebook, showed several people taunting and assaulting the man while he was sitting in the corner of a room, restrained and with his mouth taped closed.
Police superintendent Eddie Johnson told reporters late Wednesday that the suspects, who are likely to be charged in the next 24 hours, would face “the full weight of the Chicago police department”.
“Video of a brutal act towards an adult male with mental health challenges made its way onto social media,” Johnson said. “The images in the video put on display the brazenness of the offenders who assaulted the victim and then broadcast it for the entire world to see.”
Police said all four suspects, two men and two women, all of whom they said were “young adults”, were in custody and being questioned. Asked about the shouts of “fuck Trump” and “fuck white people” heard in the video, police commander Kevin Duffin said they would form part of their investigation into whether the attack constituted a hate crime. He added that investigators were attempting to determine “whether or not this is sincere or just stupid ranting and raving”.
The individuals captured on video tormenting the victim are black. The victim, who at one point appears to be forced to shout the words “fuck Trump”, is white.
Duffin added the victim, who is from the suburbs of Chicago, was a school acquaintance of one of the four suspects. “It’s quite a possibility it is a kidnapping,” Duffin said, noting that the suspects stole a van in the suburbs and “brought him out to Chicago”.
He said the victim had been reported missing and spent at least 24 hours and possibly up to 48 hours with the suspects.
“He’s traumatized by the incident and it’s very tough to communicate with him at this point,” he said. “It took most of the night for him to calm down enough to be able to talk to us.”
Police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi told the Guardian that the department was considering a range of possible hate crime charges but did not believe the suspects attacked the victim due to his race.
“This group of individuals was not traveling around looking to apprehend a white man,” he said. “He was not targeted because he was white.”
The disturbing footage, which gained a wider audience when it was shared on Wednesday via YouTube, lasts around 30 minutes and, at one point, appeared to have 16,000 Facebook views. Large parts consist of a woman, who police confirmed is among the suspects, smoking and talking animatedly into the camera. She appears to respond to real-time comments from other Facebook users. “My sister said it’s not funny,” the woman said. A male voice interjects: “Tell Donald Trump that’s not funny.”
The references to the president-elect are peppered throughout the video.
CPD press conference regarding disturbing live social media video depicting a battery ; victim was tied up https://t.co/jDrjfz4sJV
At another point, a male suspect appears to take a knife to the top of the victim’s head. Subsequent footage appears to show the victim bleeding.
“Look at him, tied up,” one man can be heard saying, laughing and threatening to put the victim “in a trunk”. A suspect appears to grab the victim by his neck and tighten the ties around him.
“I’ll torture the fuck out of you,” a man later said in the video, looking at the camera. Another male voice can be heard: “There’s going to be a murder here.”
Police said the victim was discovered by patrol officers on Tuesday, disoriented and confused and transported to hospital for treatment. Officers later responded to a battery at a residence nearby where “they discovered signs of a struggle and damage to the property” and linked the case to the hospitalized man, police said.
A Facebook spokesperson said in a statement: “We do not allow people to celebrate or glorify crimes on Facebook and have removed the original video for this reason. In many instances, though, when people share this type of content, they are doing so to condemn violence or raise awareness about it. In that case, the video would be allowed.” | Famous Person - Commit Crime - Accuse | January 2017 | ['(The Guardian)', '(AP)'] |
The United States government fines General Motors $35 million for their delays in recalling small cars with faulty ignition switches. | US car manufacturer General Motors has been fined $35m(£20.8m) for delays in recalling small cars with faulty ignition switches.
The fine is the maximum allowed by US law. GM said it had already begun reviewing its processes and policies to avoid future delays to recalls of this nature.
To date, the firm has recalled 2.6 million cars with the defective switch, which has been linked to 13 deaths.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration Board (NHTSA) said it was the single highest civil penalty ever levied as a result of a recall investigation.
"Safety is our top priority, and today's announcement puts all manufacturers on notice that they will be held accountable if they fail to quickly report and address safety-related defects," said US Transportation Secretary Fox in a statement announcing the fine.
As a result of the settlement, GM has also agreed to provide NHTSA with access to the results of its internal investigation as well as to speed up its process for determining when to recall vehicles. "We have learned a great deal from this recall [and] we will emerge from this situation a stronger company" said GM chief executive Mary Barra in a statement.
GM was fined for not reporting a problem with ignition switches in its Chevrolet Cobalt and other models.
The faulty switches prevented the airbags from working and have been linked to at least 13 deaths in the US.
The NHTSA received reports in 2007 and in 2010 about the problems with the switches, but each time it "determined it lacked the data necessary to open a formal investigation".
Both GM and the agency have been criticised by customers for their slow response to investigating safety concerns.
US car manufacturers are required to report safety defects within five days of discovering them.
In April, Ms Barra testified in front of Congress and said she was "deeply sorry" over the company's handling of the defect.
Last month, the company revealed it had taken a $1.3bn hit to cover the cost of the recall.
However, it has asked a judge to ban cases "alleging purely economic damages" due to the recall, and has argued it is not responsible for problems with cars manufactured before 2009, when it was bailed out by the US government.
Problems with GM's vehicles date back to at least 2004. | Organization Fine | May 2014 | ['(BBC)'] |
Phil Walsh, the coach of the Adelaide Football Club in the Australian Football League, is stabbed to death in his home with his son charged with murder. | Updated 3 Jul 2015, 3:44pmFri 3 Jul 2015, 3:44pm
Adelaide Crows coach Phil Walsh has been stabbed to death and police have charged his son with murder. Police and ambulance crews were called to Walsh's house in Bungey Avenue at Somerton Park in the early hours because of reports of a domestic dispute. Paramedics treated Walsh, 55, at the house but he died at the scene from multiple stab wounds. Walsh's wife Meredith was taken to hospital to be treated for a leg injury. Officers searched the area for their son Cy Walsh, 26, and detained him a short time later in First Avenue at Glenelg East. Cy Walsh was taken to Flinders Medical Centre for a psychological assessment and his lawyer Rebecca Gristwood made no application for bail during a bedside court hearing this afternoon. SA Police Superintendent Des Bray said police found a knife at the scene. "It's just absolutely terrible when families are torn apart in such tragic circumstances. I mean this for any family, regardless of who it is," he said. "It's one of the worst things that you can imagine that could happen to you. "The only thing that is different with this is that he has a high profile. The pain and suffering of the family is no different." Police issued an appeal for anyone who saw Cy Walsh in Brighton Road in the early hours to contact them urgently. They said he was believed to have walked north along Brighton Road toward First Avenue at Glenelg East between 1:45am and 2:30am. Police described him as about 185cm tall and of thin build with spiky blonde hair. He was in a dark top and dark pants, with grey and brown Converse shoes. Crows players gathered at the club's headquarters at West Lakes and fans left flowers at the entrance to the building. The club issued a statement: "The Adelaide Football Club is devastated at the sudden passing of senior coach Phil Walsh in the early hours of this morning. "We ask if you could please respect the privacy of his family, as well as our players, coaches and staff at this extremely difficult time." The AFL said Sunday's scheduled game involving the Crows would not proceed, but the rest of the round would go ahead. The Crows and Geelong will get two premiership points each. A tribute to Adelaide Crows coach Phil Walsh at the SANFL match between Glenelg and Sturt. (ABC News: Mike Sexton)
Flowers, scarves and other items continue to be laid at Adelaide Oval in tribute to Crows coach Phil Walsh. (ABC 891: Spence Denny)
Scarves with messages paying tribute to Adelaide Crows coach Phil Walsh are placed outside Adelaide Oval. (891: Spence Denny)
An Adelaide Crows guernsey and bouquets of flowers left in tribute to Phil Walsh outside his house at Somerton Park. (ABC News: Angelique Donnellan)
Fans continue to put scarves out for Adelaide Crows coach Phil Walsh. (ABC News: Tom Fedorowytsch)
Flags are lowered to half-mast at AFL House in Melbourne after Phil Walsh's death. (ABC News: Patrick Rocca)
Tribute to Phil Walsh on the screens outside Adelaide Oval. July 3 2015. (ABC News: Simon Christie)
Adelaide Crows comfort each other at the team's clubrooms after hearing news of Phil Walsh's death on July 3, 2015. (ABC News: Nicola Gage)
Adelaide Crows players (pictured L-R) Sam Jacobs, Richard Douglas and Eddie Betts leave the football club's headquarters in Adelaide where a memorial for their coach Phil Walsh has been placed. (AAP: James Elsby)
Phil Walsh and his wife Meredith. (AAP Image/Facebook)
Flowers left in the street near the Walsh home and a nearby police car in view, July 3 2015. (ABC News: Angelique Donnellan)
Flowers are left outside the home of Phil Walsh at Somerton Park, Adelaide. (ABC News: Candice Marcus)
Phil Walsh speaks to the team at quarter-time during a match. (Getty Images: Morne de Klerk)
Phil Walsh smiles while speaking to the media during the press conference when he was announced as Crows coach. (Getty Images: David Mariuz)
LtoR Adelaide Crows CEO Andrew Fagen with Phil Walsh walk together after Walsh was announced as Crows coach. (Getty Images: David Mariuz)
Phil Walsh addresses his players at three-quarter time during a match. (AAP: Julian Smith)
Phil Walsh and Patrick Dangerfield watch a training session. (Getty Images: Daniel Kalisz)
Phil Walsh turns away from a huddle during a match. (Getty Images: Morne de Klerk, File Photo)
Phil Walsh listens to a player during a match. (AAP: David Mariuz)
Phil Walsh talks to a spectator in the crowd during a match at the MCG. (Getty Images: Quinn Rooney)
AFL chief executive Gillon McLachlan said "our game is in mourning". "The sorrow and distress felt today touches many in our industry, because Phil Walsh gave such a lot to our game," he said. "He was a man of boundless energy, enthusiasm and great intelligence. He was part of the AFL family for 32 years. "And there are not many words of comfort today for those who feel this terrible loss in these most difficult of circumstances." Crows chairman Rob Chapman has thanked the public for their messages of support. "Look today, frankly has been all about, and is going to be all about, wrapping our arms around the Adelaide Football Club community, in particular Meredith, Phil's wife, and his family," he said. He said he had met with players and staff this morning. "I got a phone call at 3:30am from the police to say that a tragedy had unfolded and that it involved Phil Walsh, our coach. That's a phone call no-one ever wants to get." Port Adelaide Football Club's chief executive, Keith Thomas, said his team's players are receiving support to deal with the death of Walsh, who was an assistant coach at the Power before joining the Crows. He said the club had also "offered our full support" to its local rivals. "We'll do whatever we can to help them through it," he said. The SANFL has postponed two matches scheduled tomorrow at the request of both of Adelaide's AFL clubs. Games between Adelaide's SANFL side and South Adelaide, and Port Adelaide and North Adelaide, will instead be played in Round 17 which is a split round. Players in the remaining three matches will wear black armbands in honour of Walsh and observe a minute's silence before their games. ABC sports commentator Gerard Whateley said Crows players and the entire community would be in shock over Walsh's sudden death. "It's hard to imagine how his players feel this morning, just knowing what a shock it is from the outside," he told ABC News Breakfast. "He's been in football a long time, played at three clubs and [had] a fearsome reputation as one of the most innovative minds in the game through his time at Geelong and then Port Adelaide [and] West Coast, where John Worsford hasn't held back any praise on Phil Walsh for the mastery of what he was able to build in their midfield. "Then [he moved] back to Port Adelaide with more success, and across to Adelaide [Crows]." Whateley said Walsh was a wonderful man and masterful tactician. "He had such a lovely way about him. He would talk about [football] as war, in the formations that he would bring to the game," he said. "He privately took himself overseas and did a course in management because he thought that was his great failing. "He was a demanding man but what he didn't have had been how to manage Generation Y. And I know he's formed a very close connection to his players in a very short period of time." Whateley said the Crows players would have anything but football on their minds at the moment. "These are young men, 18-32 years of age, and he's been their mentor and across the past eight months their father figure guiding them. "I don't think it's reasonable to ask them, from learning this news on Friday morning through to Sunday, to even think about football." Gold Coast Suns coach Rodney Eade played football with Walsh at the Brisbane Bears. "I was quite stunned," he told a media conference on Friday morning on learning of Walsh's death. "He won the best and fairest in the first year. I came here in the second year so was involved with him for three years. He was very passionate about his footy, had strong opinions about the game. "He was very professional, the way he went about preparing himself. "We've all got issues in our lives, whether it be relationships or money or employment, but it puts in perspective when things like this happen. My thoughts and feelings go to the family and Meredith. It's tragic." Former Adelaide Crows coach Graham Cornes said Walsh's untimely death was hard to comprehend. "I mean, it's really hit everybody hard this morning when they woke up to it," he said. "Not only the circumstances, but who it is and how many people it will impact and it's not just the footy club, it's the whole state," he said. AFL Players' Association released a statement expressing its sympathy to those close to Walsh. "On behalf of all members, the AFL Players' Association offers its most deepest sympathies to the family, friends and colleagues of Adelaide coach Phil Walsh," it said. "Our focus from here is the wellbeing of the playing groups and staff of the Adelaide, Port Adelaide and West Coast football clubs. "We will provide all the necessary support through the services we currently have in place." Adelaide fans have been stunned by the tragedy, said Crows supporters' group member Carol Shillabeer, adding the death was affecting many people. "I think we're probably the same as everybody — you just feel as though you need to do something," she said. "We didn't know him on a personal level, but as part of a family group it affects everybody." Some Crows fans have taken to Facebook to urge people to tie a club scarf outside their home for Walshy. Crows club member Aaron was one of the first people to lay flowers at the doors of the club's West Lakes headquarters. "They're my club. I love my club — you cut me and I bleed these colours, you know. [Laying flowers was] something I just had to do [to] show my respect for Walshy," he said. "Today is not just a sad day for the Adelaide Football Club, it's a sad day for AFL, for all sports in general." Brian Guy, who played junior football with Walsh at Saint Marys Football Club at Hamilton in Victoria, told 891 ABC Adelaide he was in shock after hearing of his mate's death. "I'm not sure what else I can do actually except say a prayer for his family and friends," he said. Mr Guy said he was on his way to the local newspaper office to lodge a tribute notice. He described Walsh as a larrikin and an extremely talented sportsman. "Phil was very gifted — not only football, he was also very good at basketball and athletics and tennis. I remember we won a double tennis championship once as juniors too," he said. "Everyone seemed to love Phil because he was so easygoing and relaxed." Tragedy also struck for the Crows early last year when assistant coach Dean Bailey died after a battle with cancer. South Australian Premier Jay Weatherill offered his condolences in an official statement. "My thoughts are currently with Phil's family, friends, as well as the players, officials and supporters of the Adelaide Football Club," Mr Weatherill said. "These thoughts extend to everyone who has associated with Phil throughout his career, including his time at the Port Adelaide Football Club." Walsh played 122 VFL games for Collingwood, Richmond and the Brisbane Bears between 1983 and 1990. He started out as a strength and conditioning coach at Geelong in his post-playing career before becoming assistant coach at Port Adelaide in 1999, where he helped the Power to a 2004 premiership. He moved to the West Coast Eagles as assistant coach in 2009 before returning to the Power in early 2014. He was appointed Crows coach in the 2014 off-season, replacing the sacked Brenton Sanderson. At the time, the club said Walsh was one of the game's most respected tacticians. "Phil is a respected figure in the AFL and the right man to lead our club down a path of sustained success," chief executive Andrew Fagan said. "Our search was thorough and intensive and he emerged as the standout candidate, possessing an astute football mind and team-first approach." Walsh coached the Crows for 12 games, winning seven and losing five. Topics:
homicide,
crime,
law-crime-and-justice,
sport,
somerton-park-5044,
adelaide-5000,
sa
First posted 3 Jul 2015, 5:15amFri 3 Jul 2015, 5:15am
More
stories from South Australia
If you have inside knowledge of a topic in the news, contact the ABC. ABC teams share the story behind the story and insights into the making of digital, TV and radio content. Read about our editorial guiding principles and the standards ABC journalists and content makers follow. Learn more
By Ahmed Yussuf
Her first fight was at age 13, facing an opponent over a decade her senior — an early indication that Caitlin Parker was to become no ordinary boxer. Now, she's a chance of making boxing history. | Famous Person - Death | July 2015 | ['(ABC News Australia)'] |
U.S. President Donald Trump states there is a "very substantial chance" that the summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un next month may not occur. | US President Donald Trump has said there is a "very substantial chance" a historic summit with North Korea's Kim Jong-un next month may not happen.
He said the North must meet conditions for the summit to go ahead though if it did not, it might happen "later".
Mr Trump was speaking as he received South Korea's President Moon Jae-in at the White House.
The North has said it may cancel the summit if the US insists on it giving up nuclear weapons unilaterally.
Mr Trump did not say what conditions the US had set for the summit but, asked by a reporter about the North's arsenal, he said "denuclearisation must take place".
The 12 June summit is due to take place in Singapore. It follows a historic meeting between the two Korean leaders in April.
Meanwhile, North Korea has agreed to let in journalists from the South to watch the dismantling of its nuclear test site. The group, who had earlier been denied visas, will join a team of international media who are in the country to visit Punggye-ri over the next few days.
The demolition of the site has been billed as a goodwill gesture but may be delayed by bad weather.
Mr Trump told reporters: "We'll see what happens.
"There are certain conditions that we want and I think we'll get those conditions and if we don't we don't have the meeting.
"You go into deals that are 100% certain - it doesn't happen. You go into deals that have no chance and it happens and, sometimes, happens easily."
He also said Kim Jong-un's attitude had changed after his second visit to China, earlier this month.
Later in the day, during a news conference, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo adopted a more positive position, saying the US was still working towards the 12 June date. He commended China for offering "historic assistance" in putting pressure on North Korea. Analysis by the BBC's Barbara Plett Usher in Washington
The optimistic build-up to the summit gave way to a reality check that was bound to happen sooner or later. With Kim Jong-un tapping the brakes and refusing to accept "unilateral demands" to disarm, President Trump also took a step back. He set his own conditions, although he didn't say what they were. He did stress that it would be worth it for the North Korean leader to risk denuclearisation, throwing the ball back into Mr Kim's court. The build-up to the summit has been shaped by an unusual degree of public showmanship by both leaders, a diplomatic version of their hostile exchanges last year. But while the threats and insults worked at the rhetorical level, this is about substantive issues where the detail matters. President Moon Jae-in also has his spin. He really wants to seize this opportunity for South Korea's sake and continues to be determined in his optimism, leaving some here wondering whether he's been overstating Kim Jong-un's willingness to deal.
North Korea cancelled high-level talks with South Korea, saying the South's joint military exercises with the US - which it had previously said it would tolerate - were a "provocation".
Pyongyang then accused US national security adviser John Bolton of making "reckless statements" for his suggestion that the North could follow a "Libya model" of denuclearisation.
That was a reference to Libya's former leader, Muammar Gaddafi, who agreed to give up nuclear weapons in 2003 and was later killed by Western-backed rebels.
Mr Trump later denied the US would follow the "Libyan model" if an agreement was reached with North Korea.
"That model would take place if we don't make a deal, most likely. But if we make a deal, I think Kim Jong-un is going to be very, very happy."
It would be historic as no sitting US president has ever met a North Korean leader.
Mr Trump accepted North Korea's invitation for direct talks after more than a year of heated rhetoric and with global concern that hostilities might escalate into military confrontation.
The New York Times reported on Sunday that Mr Trump was asking aides and advisers whether the meeting should go ahead.
North Korea conducted several nuclear tests over the past few years and developed long-distance missiles which, it says, can carry nuclear bombs as far as the US mainland.
Many observers had argued before Mr Trump met Mr Moon that there was too much at stake for Washington and Pyongyang not to proceed with the Singapore summit.
However, Pyongyang's professed commitment to "denuclearisation" is likely to differ from Washington's demand for "comprehensive, verifiable and irreversible" nuclear disarmament.
A group of Western, Russian and Chinese journalists have been invited by the North to its remote Punggye-ri nuclear test site ahead of its demolition.
They were flown into the North Korean port city of Wonsan but their onward journey was postponed by bad weather, Tom Cheshire from the UK's Sky News tweets.
The site, in the mountainous north-east, is thought to be the North's main nuclear facility and the only active nuclear testing site in the world. | Diplomatic Talks _ Diplomatic_Negotiation_ Summit Meeting | May 2018 | ['(BBC News)'] |
Albert Haynesworth of the Washington Redskins is charged with assault in Reston, Virginia, following an alleged road rage incident. | Redskins defensive lineman Albert Haynesworth has been charged with simple assault for an alleged road rage incident with another motorist on the Fairfax County Parkway in Reston, Fairfax police said. Haynesworth, 29, has not been arrested but is planning to turn himself in next week, Officer Shelley Broderick said. Haynesworth did not return text and phone messages left by Redskins beat reporter Jason Reid. But Haynesworth's agent told Reid there was no assault and the allegations were "ridiculous." A Redskins executive said the team was unaware of the incident or the charge. "This is the first I'm hearing about this," Tony Wyllie, Redskins senior vice president, told Reid. "At this time, we need to gather information." Wyllie and team owner Daniel M. Snyder are at the Super Bowl in Dallas. The episode occurred Wednesday morning, and involved a 38-year-old man driving a 1994 Honda Civic and another driver, allegedly Haynesworth, both driving south on the Fairfax County Parkway, Broderick said. The driver of the Civic reportedly felt that a pickup truck following behind him was tailgating, and issued a "non-verbal hand gesture" to the pickup driver, Broderick said.
About 9:16 a.m., at the intersection with New Dominion Parkway, near the entrance to Reston Hospital Center, the two vehicles came to a stoplight. Broderick said the driver of the pickup truck emerged from his vehicle, had a brief exchange of words, and then struck the Civic driver. She declined to be more specific about the circumstances of the assault. ESPN.com identified the Civic driver as Joel Velazques, 38, of Leesburg. Velazques told ESPN that after their vehicles jockeyed for road space, a person he recognized as Haynesworth got out of a Ford truck with Tennessee license plates. Velazques said Haynesworth came to the driver-side window of his car, and after Velazques rolled down his window, Haynesworth said to him twice, "You're not so tough now," and then punched him in the side of his nose, ESPN reported. Velazques said he followed Haynesworth but lost him along the way. He told ESPN he called 911 and gave a statement to a Fairfax officer. Fairfax Chief Deputy Commonwealth's Attorney Ian M. Rodway said an officer assigned to the incident compiled a photo lineup and showed it to the man, who identified Haynesworth as his assailant. Velazques said he was treated at a local hospital, where it was determined he suffered a contusion to his nose but it was not broken. Police could not obtain a misdemeanor warrant because an officer did not witness the incident. So on Thursday night, the Civic driver and the Fairfax officer went to a magistrate and obtained a warrant for simple assault, with the driver as the complainant. The warrant was not immediately available, and typically is not made public until the warrant is served, so the driver's name was not public record. Broderick said police had been in contact with Haynesworth's lawyer, that Haynesworth was out of town and was making arrangements to surrender next week. Rodway said the charge was the equivalent of a traffic ticket, and that Haynesworth must merely sign a summons acknowledging he has received the charge, a court date will be set and he will not be booked into the county jail. Simple assault in Virginia is a Class 1 misdemeanor, punishable by up to 12 months in a county jail and a $2,500 fine, though a maximum sentence is rarely imposed for altercations such as this unless the defendant has a lengthy prior record. Haynesworth's agent, Chad Speck, said that "Albert has yet to speak to the authorities at all on this matter. So only one side of this story has been told at this point in time. If contacted by the authorities, Albertwill certainly cooperate in any way. This man, who actually provoked the situation himself,recognized Albert and is now simply trying to turn it into his 15 minutes of fame and get, we can only assume, some money. Albert did not assault this man and looksforward to hisday in court to refute these ridiculous allegations." Haynesworth, who was suspended by the team for the final four games of the season for insubordination, has had previous troubles on the road. In December 2008, he pleaded guilty to driving 103 mph in a 70-mph zone on Interstate 65 south of Nashville and was placed on 30 days probation. Four days after that plea, he was speeding on the same stretch of Interstate 65, in a 2008 black Ferrari, when he allegedly swerved across two lanes and slammed into another car, driving it into the concrete median. The driver of the other car, Corey Edmondson, was seriously injured and needed a hip replacement. He has filed a civil suit against Haynesworth, which is pending. In July 2009, shortly after he had signed a $100 million contract with the Redskins making him one of the highest-paid defensive players in NFL history, Haynesworth pleaded no contest in Brentwood City Circuit Court to a reckless driving charge. He was placed on three months probation, ordered to perform 25 hours of community service, attend an eight-hour driving school and make a $5,000 contribution to an organization that provides counseling to emergency responders. And in 2006, while a member of the Tennessee Titans, Haynesworth was charged and later cleared in a road rage incident that occurred near Interstate 40 in Cookeville, Tenn. A woman and her son-in-law claimed that Haynesworth, in a Ford F-650 pickup truck, tried to run them off the road as their vehicles crossed paths, and the pair traveled to two counties to take out warrants against Haynesworth. Haynesworth said he was the victim of the road rage, that he had tried to let the two cars pass him but they kept following him. Prosecutors in both counties investigated and dismissed all charges. Haynesworth's temper also gained him notoriety on the football field in 2006. During a game against the Dallas Cowboys, an opposing lineman's helmet came off while he was on the ground, and Haynesworth stomped on the opponent's head twice with his cleats, opening up a wound which required 30 stitches. Haynesworth was ejected from the game and suspended without pay for five games, then the longest suspension in league history for an on-field incident. Haynesworth also picked up a speeding ticket in Reston last month, court records show. He allegedly was driving a sport-utility vehicle, with Florida tags, 64 mph in a 45 mph zone on Baron Cameron Parkway at Lake Fairfax Drive in Reston on Jan. 4. The ticket was issued at 10:41 a.m., and has not been paid, with a court date set for next month. This item has been updated to include reaction from Haynesworth's agent and Haynesworth's prior traffic charges.
| Famous Person - Commit Crime - Accuse | February 2011 | ['(Washington Post)'] |
Four Filipino UN peacekeepers that had been taken captive by Syrian rebels on May 7 are released. | BEIRUT--Syrian rebels released four U.N. peacekeepers Sunday, five days after the Filipino troops were seized in the increasingly volatile buffer zone between Syria and the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights. A rebel group reportedly said the four peacekeepers had been freed at the Israeli border. There was no immediate word from officials in Israel, which captured the strategic plateau from Syria in 1967.
The four were released unharmed, according to statements by military authorities in Manila, the Filipino capital.
A Syrian rebel group, the Yarmouk Martyrs Brigade, said the four had been held for their own safety amid shelling and clashes in the area between Syrian troops and rebels fighting to oust the government of President Bashar Assad.
The United Nations demanded the immediate release of its personnel.
It was the second time in recent months that Filipino peacekeepers had been seized by rebels in the Golan. In March, 21 Filipino peacekeepers were carjacked and abducted for three days before being turned over to Jordanian authorities at the Jordanian border. The March abduction involved the same rebel group.
The seizures have alarmed Philippines officials. Authorities in Manila say they are considering withdrawing their U.N. contingent in the Golan.
Currently, some 1,100 peacekeepers from the Philippines, Austria and India monitor the cease-fire line. Losing the Philippine contingent in the Golan would be a blow for the U.N. force.
Lightly armed U.N. troops have monitored the Syrian-Israeli cease-fire in the area since 1974. The zone had been relatively calm for decades until the civil strife now engulfing Syria sparked fighting in the area between rebels and the Syrian military. The U.N. has cut back on some patrols and reduced other activities in response to the deteriorating security environment in the area.
| Famous Person - Commit Crime - Release | May 2013 | ['(Los Angeles Times)'] |
Unrest in Uzbekistan: Various governments, including that of the United States, demand further investigation into the events. Uzbek government troops report that they have retaken the town of Qorasuv. President Islom Karimov rejects calls for international inquiry. Oppositions group fear that state will begin active oppression against them | A number of explosions and some gunfire was heard, but the takeover seems to have been largely peaceful with no reports of loss of life. The uprising's leader, Bakhtior Rakhimov, who said he intended to build an Islamic state, has been arrested. The uprising in Korasuv followed a bloody crackdown in nearby Andijan.
Uzbek officials say 169 people died, but an army source told the BBC 500 were killed when troops opened fire on protesters last Friday.
Most populous central Asian former Soviet republic, home to 26m people
Ruled since 1991 independence by autocrat Islam Karimov
Accused by human rights groups of serious abuses, including torture
Rocked by violence in capital Tashkent in 2004
Government says radical Islamic groups behind violence
Hundreds of government forces are said to have arrived in Korasuv overnight.
According to residents, they arrested Mr Rakhimov, a farmer, and several of his employees.
One employee told the BBC there were signs of shooting during the arrest, with a bullet hole in a television.
"People here aren't happy with what's happened. Everyone is sorry that Bakhtior has been arrested and that they won't let people hold meetings. What can people do?" the employee said. In Korasuv, local people are being allowed to cross the newly constructed bridge to Kyrgyzstan. But journalists are no longer being allowed to cross, according to the BBC's Ian MacWilliam, who is on the Kyrgyz side.
The residents of Korasuv - which has a population of about 20,000 - drove out police and officials last Saturday, and were reportedly in control of the town until troops took it back on Wednesday night.
Mr Rakhimov told our correspondent on Wednesday that the people in the region had put up with President Islam Karimov for 16 years, and could no longer tolerate him.
Residents said the main cause of resentment was the lack of work combined with the regime's tough curbs on private trade. He said that the townspeople wanted to establish an Islamic administration in the area, but he did not elaborate on the aspiration, or whether the town had any connections to the wider Islamic separatist movement thought to operate in the area.
'Address causes'
The local takeover of Korasuv on Saturday was triggered by the bloody crackdown of protesters in the town of Andijan the day before.
Because the media is fully controlled by the government we see only Karimov on our TVs, read only his words in newspapers/magazines, listen to only him on the radio
Shuhrat, Namangan, Uzbekistan
More of your comments
The unrest began when a group of men stormed the town's prison and freed 23 businessmen accused of being Islamic extremists.
These men joined a large protest, which correspondents say was also fuelled by long-term frustration over poverty and unemployment.
Locals say troops then fired indiscriminately into the crowd.
The authorities say no civilians were killed, only Islamic militants who had organised the protest.
President Karimov's repressive regime has come under increasing international pressure in the wake of the incident.
On Wednesday night, US Presidential spokesman Scott McClellan re-iterated American calls for "a more open and responsive government".
Both United Nations Human Rights Commissioner Louise Arbour and the British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw also called for an inquiry into the incident.
But Mr Karimov does not liked to be pushed around and according to the BBC's Ian MacWilliam, the takeover of Korasuv could well be his response to his foreign detractors. | Riot | May 2005 | ['(Reuters Alertnet)', '(Mosnews)', '(ReliefWeb)', '(Reuters)', '(BBC)', '(Moscow Times)', '(CNN)', '(BBC)'] |
The United States embassy in Beirut seeks assistance in finding two US journalists missing in Lebanon. | (CNN) -- The U.S. Embassy in Beirut is asking for assistance in locating two missing American journalists who were on vacation in Lebanon and have not been heard from since they left the Lebanese capital last week.
Holli Chmela, 27, was last heard from when she and a fellow journalist left Beirut, Lebanon, on October 1.
Holli Chmela, 27, and her male companion, Taylor Luck, 23, arrived in Lebanon on September 29 from Amman, Jordan, the embassy said. They left Beirut on October 1, telling friends they were headed for the northern Lebanese cities of Byblos and Tripoli that day.
No one has reported any contact with them since then, the embassy said.
"They were then to cross by land to Syria before returning to Jordan," the embassy said. "Chmela and Luck were due to report to work in Jordan on October 4."
Luck is an editor with The Jordan Times in Amman, and Chmela had been working as a freelancer for the newspaper, said Sameer Barhoum, the paper's editor.
After flying into Beirut last week, the two planned to travel by land to the northern Syrian city of Aleppo before returning to Jordan -- also by land -- by Saturday, Barhoum said.
Luck's mother called Barhoum on Sunday after not hearing from her son in three days, he said. She also said the last time Luck used his credit card was October 1 in Lebanon.
"We are hoping that both are safe and looking forward to see them with us soon," Barhoum said.
Abdul Wahab Zugaylat, the head of Jordan's press association, said, "We are waiting to hear officially from the U.S. Embassy that they did not depart the Lebanese borders."
The U.S. Embassy said it is working with the Lebanese Internal Security Force to investigate the whereabouts of the pair.
"In addition, the U.S. Embassy in Beirut is coordinating efforts with the U.S. embassies in Amman and Damascus [Syria] as well as with the Department of State in Washington," the embassy said.
In Washington, State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said he had no details about the missing Americans. CNN's Caroline Faraj in Dubai contributed to this report. All About Lebanon U.S. Department of State Beirut Amman (Jordan) | Armed Conflict | October 2008 | ['(CNN)'] |
Clashes intensify in the Syrian capital Damascus. | Damascus, July 19 (Xinhua-ANI): The clashes in and around Syria's capital Damascus intensified Thursday, a day after the Syrian opposition managed to stage a blast that killed top Syrian officials.
The thundering sound of gunshots and mortar shells echoed in several neighborhoods overnight and through Thursday amid media reports claiming that hundreds of armed men have been killed over the past 24 hours.
The state-run SANA news agency said dozens of armed men have surrendered themselves and laid down their weapons in a number of neighborhoods.
The capital has been witnessing since Sunday a surge in clashes between the government troops and armed rebels, who are expressing unwavering support to bring down the capital.
The intensity of clashes ramped up Wednesday after a blast tore through a security compound hosting a meeting of top officials and cronies to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
Syrian Defense Minister Dawood Rajha and his deputy Assef Shawkat were killed in the bombing, and Assistant Vice President Hassan Turkmani died later of wounds sustained in the blast. Shawkat is also the president's brother-in-law.
The broad-based rebel leadership has claimed responsibility for the attack and pledged more to come.
The attack dealt a strong blow to the Syrian leadership, which pledged to retaliate hard.
The streets of Damascus is deserted of passersby and shops are also closed, as people are now cowering in their homes, fearing the consequences of what the rebels have named as "the great battle of Damascus."
The opposition group, Local Coordination Committees, reported the Syrian troops' shelling on a number of Syrian areas, adding that more than 13 people have been killed so far Thursday.
They also posted online videos picturing the victims of clashes, some of whom were children.
Head of the UN Supervision Mission in Syria (UNSMIS) Maj.-Gen. Robert Mood said Thursday that Syria is not on track of peace given the intensity of violence over the past days.
He also said that there is no hope of military showdown, saying that without dialogue and concessions from both the government and the opposition, the coming days will bring more sufferings. | Armed Conflict | July 2012 | ['(Newstrack India)'] |
Russia lists transsexual and transgender individuals among those with "personality and behavioural disorders" who will be banned from obtaining driving licenses. | Russia has listed transsexual and transgender people among those who will no longer qualify for driving licences. Fetishism, exhibitionism and voyeurism are also included as "mental disorders" now barring people from driving. The government says it is tightening medical controls for drivers because Russia has too many road accidents.
"Pathological" gambling and compulsive stealing are also on the list. Russian psychiatrists and human rights lawyers have condemned the move.
The announcement follows international complaints about Russian harassment of gay-rights activists. In 2013 Russia made "promoting non-traditional lifestyles" illegal. Valery Evtushenko at the Russian Psychiatric Association voiced concern about the driving restrictions, speaking to the BBC Russian Service. He said some people would avoid seeking psychiatric help, fearing a driving ban. The Association of Russian Lawyers for Human Rights called the new law "discriminatory". It said it would demand clarifications from the Russian Constitutional Court and seek support from international human rights organisations. But the Professional Drivers Union supported the move. "We have too many deaths on the road, and I believe toughening medical requirements for applicants is fully justified," said the union's head Alexander Kotov.
However, he said the requirements should not be so strict for non-professional drivers.
Mikhail Strakhov, a Russian psychiatric expert, told BBC Russian that the definition of "personality disorders" was too vague and some disorders would not affect a person's ability to drive a car safely.
| Government Policy Changes | January 2015 | ['(BBC)', '(The Moscow Times)'] |
United States Army soldier James P. Barker pleads guilty to raping and murdering a girl in Iraq thus avoiding a possible death sentence. | James Barker agreed to the plea deal at the start of his court-martial in the US to avoid the death penalty, his civilian lawyer said.
A criminal investigation began in June into the killing of the family of four in their home in Mahmudiya, south of Baghdad, in March 2006. Specialist Barker is one of four US soldiers charged with murder.
They are alleged to have helped a former private - who has since been discharged from the army - to plan, carry out and cover up the attack. Two of the soldiers could face the death penalty if found guilty.
All four soldiers belong to the 2nd Brigade of the elite 101st Airborne Division.
Separate trial
Specialist Barker had agreed to co-operate with prosecutors and will testify against the others, his civilian lawyer, David Sheldon, said.
US troops have been accused of several abuses in Iraq
The others charged with rape and murder were Pte Jesse Spielman, Sgt Paul Cortez, and Pte Bryan Howard. In addition, former soldier Steven Green has been charged in a civilian court and is awaiting trial in a Kentucky jail. He was discharged from the army for a personality disorder earlier this year, and in July pleaded not guilty to charges of murder and sexual assault. | Famous Person - Commit Crime - Sentence | November 2006 | ['(BBC News)'] |
Coca-Cola FEMSA suspends all production in Venezuela due to a sugar shortage. | Coca-Cola FEMSA has suspended all production in Venezuela because of a sugar shortage, the Mexican beverage multinational said in a statement.
The company, the largest Coke (KO) bottler in the world, told workers sugar supplies were too low and that the problem could persist for months, according to several media reports. Coca-Cola FEMSA, which operates across Latin American, said 90% of its products require sugar. At the same time, the company said that while it was closing its central office in Venezuela, it was not exiting the country.
Last month, Polar Group, Venezuela’s largest food and beverage company and biggest private company overall, said it would suspend production of beer and other malt beverages because of a lack of barley.
The suspension comes as Venezuela’s economy appears to be teetering on the brink of collapse. Earlier this week, President Nicolas Maduro repeated his threat to seize closed factories and nationalize them. And Reuters reported water levels have dropped close to a critical low in Venezuela’s main dam and hydroelectric plant, which provides the majority of the country’s electricity, leading the government to ration water. The oil-producing country’s economy is struggling to contend with low energy prices.
But currency controls and often erratic behavior by the Venezuelan government have long been an impediment to many Western consumer and packaged goods companies operating in the nation, which was once one of the richest countries in Latin America. Two years ago, Clorox (CLX) exited the market, while Avon Products (AV) scaled back operations. | Organization Closed | May 2016 | ['(Fortune)', '(Sputnik)'] |
U.S. President Donald Trump announces that he intends to renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement, softening earlier claims that he would terminate the trade bloc. | - President Donald Trump told Reuters on Thursday that he was “psyched” to terminate the NAFTA trade deal with Canada and Mexico, but changed his mind after their leaders asked for it to be renegotiated instead.
Trump open to renegotiating NAFTA
01:51
Trump said in an interview with Reuters that he will not hesitate to change course again and pull the plug on the North American Free Trade Agreement if the negotiations become “unserious.”
His comments came at the end of a long 24 hours during which Ottawa and Mexico City were whipsawed over the Trump administration’s intentions over the 23-year-old trade pact.
“You know I was really ready and psyched to terminate NAFTA,” Trump said.
He decided that it would be better to terminate the trade deal after hearing about Wisconsin farmers’ struggles with new Canadian dairy rules that were shutting out their milk protein exports.
“You saw that, you wrote about it,” Trump said. “And I said I’ve had it. I’ve had it.”
But after administration officials said a withdrawal order was being prepared, Trump said he received phone calls from Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau asking to renegotiate the pact.
Related Coverage
“I’m not looking to hurt Canada and I’m not looking to hurt Mexico. They’re two countries I really like,” Trump said. “So they asked to renegotiate, and I said yes.”
News of the possible U.S. pullout from NAFTA rattled financial markets on Wednesday. Relative calm returned on Thursday after Trump’s comments, and the Mexican peso strengthened 0.86 percent against the U.S. dollar, while the Canadian dollar was flat versus the greenback.
Mexico, Canada and the United States form one of the world’s biggest trading blocs, and trade disruptions among them could adversely affect farm, automotive, energy and other sectors in all three countries. NAFTA removed most trade and tariff barriers between the neighbors, but Trump and other critics have blamed it for deep U.S. job cuts.
Trump campaigned for president last year on a pledge to pull out of NAFTA if he could not renegotiate better terms. The United States went from running a small goods trade surplus with Mexico in the early 1990s to a $63-billion deficit in 2016.
Asked by Reuters what would make NAFTA a fair deal, Trump said: “Open markets. Open borders for trade” and “Fairness, no government subsidies so that it makes it impossible for our people to compete.”
He added that if the NAFTA negotiations “become unserious, I will terminate.”
As Trump spoke, a new trade irritant between the United States and Canada emerged, as Boeing Co asked the U.S. Commerce Department to investigate alleged price dumping and unfair Canadian government subsidies for Bombardier Inc’s new Canadian-made CSeries jetliners.
‘GET TO WORK’
Trudeau told a news conference in Saskatchewan he had urged Trump not to withdraw from the trade pact and warned that doing so “would cause a lot of short- and medium-term pain.”
“That’s not something that either one of us would want, so we agreed that we could sit down and get to work on looking at ways to improve NAFTA,” Trudeau said.
Canada sends 75 percent of its exports to the United States. On Tuesday, Trump said he did not fear a trade war with Canada, a day after his administration moved to impose tariffs on Canadian lumber.
In Mexico City, Mexican Foreign Minister Luis Videgaray said Pena Nieto had called Trump on Wednesday and spoken with him for about 20 minutes in a conversation focused exclusively on the looming talks over NAFTA’s “renegotiation and modernization.”
Trump has accused Mexico of luring away American factories and jobs with cheap labor and other advantages enabled by NAFTA. During the presidential campaign he accused Mexico of sending rapists and criminals into the United States, and as president plans a U.S.-Mexico border wall.
One of Trump’s first major acts after becoming president in January was to pull out of the 12-nation Trans-Pacific Partnership, negotiated by his Democratic predecessor Barack Obama.
Several agriculture lobby groups in Washington were told U.S Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue, confirmed by the Senate on Monday, met with Trump on Wednesday evening to dissuade him from withdrawing from NAFTA.
American Soybean Association President Ron Moore said, “When you’re talking about $3 billion in soybean exports a year, any threats to withdraw from agreements and walk away from markets makes farmers extremely nervous.”
Formal NAFTA talks likely will not get started until August. The U.S. Trade Representative’s office must first send Congress a notice that starts a 90-day consultation period preceding any negotiations.
A USTR spokeswoman said the notice would not be sent until the Senate confirmed Trump’s nominee for trade representative, Robert Lighthizer. | Diplomatic Talks _ Diplomatic_Negotiation_ Summit Meeting | April 2017 | ['(Reuters)'] |
Myanmar's State Administration Council pardons and releases more than 23,000 prisoners to mark the Burmese New Year. Those released include an Australian businessman sentenced to 13 years in prison for drug possession, and three members of the Generation Wave pro–democracy movement. | It is not known if those freed to mark new year holiday include activists seized since military coup
Last modified on Sat 17 Apr 2021 13.36 BST
Myanmar’s junta has pardoned and released more than 23,000 prisoners to mark the traditional Thingyan new year holiday, but it is not known if they include pro-democracy activists detained after the military seized power in February.
The releases were announced on the state broadcaster, MRTV, which said the junta chief, Min Aung Hlaing, had pardoned 23,047 prisoners, including 137 foreigners who will be deported. He also reduced sentences for others.
It comes as daily protests against the 1 February ousting of the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi continue, as does the use of deadly force against them.
According to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners, which monitors casualties and arrests, government forces have killed at least 728 protesters and bystanders since the takeover. The group says 3,141 people, including Aung San Suu Kyi, are in detention.
Unconfirmed but credible accounts with photos on social media claimed three people were killed on Saturday by security forces in a violent crackdown in the central city of Mogok, in Myanmar’s gem-mining region.
Detainees released on Saturday from Insein prison in Yangon included at least three political prisoners jailed in 2019, said witnesses and local reports.
The three are members of the Peacock Generation performance troupe who were arrested during that year’s new year celebrations for skits that poked fun at military representatives in parliament and military involvement in business.
Their traditional style of acting is called Thangyat, a mashup of poetry, comedy and music with a sharp undertone of satire. Several members of the troupe were convicted under a law banning circulation of information that could endanger or demoralise members of the military. The actors may have particularly angered the military because they performed in army uniforms.
Several members were also found guilty of online defamation for livestreaming their performances. It could not be ascertained if all imprisoned members of the troupe were released.
Another freed prisoner was Ross Dunkley, an Australian newspaper entrepreneur sentenced in 2019 to 13 years in prison for drug possession. His release was confirmed by his ex-wife, Cynda Johnston, reported the Sydney Morning Herald newspaper.
Dunkley co-founded the Myanmar Times, an English-language daily, but was forced to give up his share in it. He became well-known for co-founding or acquiring English-language publications in formerly socialist states that were seeking foreign investment as they liberalised their economies, but was sometimes criticised for doing business with authoritarian regimes.
Early prisoner releases are customary during major holidays in Myanmar and this is the second batch the ruling junta has announced since taking power.
After the release of more than 23,000 convicts to mark Union Day on 12 February, there were reports on social media that some were recruited by the authorities to carry out violence at night in residential areas to spread panic, especially by setting fires. Some areas responded by setting up their own neighbourhood watch groups.
In March, more than 600 people who were imprisoned for protesting against the February coup were released from Insein prison, a rare conciliatory gesture by the military that appeared aimed at placating the protest movement.
Those freed were mostly young people caught up in sweeps of street demonstrations, while those considered protest leaders were kept locked up.
Neither the military government nor those opposed to it show any signs of backing off from their struggle for power. Western nations have tried to pressure the military through diplomatic and economic sanctions with little effect.
Myanmar’s south-east Asian neighbours, concerned about regional instability, are trying to get the junta on the path to restoring democracy, or at least end its violent repression.
A spokesperson for Thailand’s foreign ministry said Min Aung Hlaing had confirmed he would attend a summit meeting of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations on 24 April.
Tanee Sangrat said in a text message to journalists that Brunei, the current chair of the 10-nation body, confirmed it had proposed the date for a meeting at the group’s secretariat in the Indonesian capital, Jakarta. Indonesia has taken the lead in calling for the special meeting to discuss the Myanmar crisis. | Famous Person - Commit Crime - Release | April 2021 | ['(The Guardian)'] |
A suicide bomb reportedly explodes at the shrine of former Grand Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini. | TEHRAN, June 20 (Reuters) - A suicide bomber was killed and two people were wounded in Tehran on Saturday, near the shrine of Iran's revolutionary founder, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, Iran's semi-official Fars news agency reported.
"A suicide bomber was killed at the northern wing of Imam Khomeini's shrine. Two people were injured," Fars said.
It did not explain the exact circumstances.
Iranian riot police used teargas elsewhere in Tehran to disperse demonstrators protesting against a disputed presidential election, a witness said.
| Armed Conflict | June 2009 | ['(CTV)', '(Reuters)', '(Press TV)'] |
As many as 1,000,000 people march on the presidential Blue House in Seoul, South Korea, calling for the resignation of President Park Geun-hye amid an ongoing corruption scandal. It is the largest protest in South Korea since the protests against U.S. beef imports in 2008. | Hundreds of thousands of protesters have gathered in the South Korean capital, Seoul, to demand the resignation of President Park Geun-hye. Large numbers of police officers are being deployed to prevent demonstrators reaching the presidential palace.
Ms Park is accused of allowing her friend, Choi Soon-sil, to access government documents without clearance.
The president, whose approval ratings have plummeted over the scandal, has said she is "heartbroken".
Organisers said one million had turned out to protest on Saturday, while police put the number at 260,000.
It is the latest in a series of mass rallies against her over the issue.
A friendship too far in Seoul?
Ms Choi is accused of trying to extort huge sums of money from South Korean companies and is under arrest on charges of fraud and abuse of power.
She was detained last week on suspicion of using her friendship with Ms Park to solicit business donations for a non-profit fund she controlled. The protesters are more raucous than they were last week - still peaceful but there's more chanting than there was then. The focus of the protest is President Park Geun-hye, whose presidential compound (known as the Blue House because of its blue roof) is a short distance from the march and the main stage of the rally. If she is at home there, the noise will be inescapable.
Between 20,000 and 30,000 officers are on stand-by around the perimeter of the Blue House. Many are in riot gear. Huge barricades have been erected, with water cannon in position.
At the moment, President Park does not face any criminal charges, but people close to her are being investigated for corruption. Her close friend of 40 years' standing has been charged with setting up two foundations and soliciting millions of dollars from big companies, including Samsung, on the strength of her closeness to the president.
Perhaps worrying for President Park is the fact that two officials from her office are also being investigated. She remains untouched but with the investigators circling. So are the crowds.
Ms Park has apologised following the revelations, saying she "put too much faith in a personal relationship and didn't look carefully at what was happening".
"Sad thoughts trouble my sleep at night. I realise that whatever I do, it will be difficult to mend the hearts of the people, and then I feel a sense of shame.'"
She said anyone found to have done wrong would be punished, and that she was prepared to be investigated by prosecutors.
Prosecutors have also said they are expanding their official investigation.
| Protest_Online Condemnation | November 2016 | ['(The Washington Post)', '(BBC)', '(Newsis)'] |
The confirmed death toll from an earthquake and tsunami in Indonesia has risen to 1,571. | Indonesia had been reluctant to accept outside help at first but as the scale of the disaster became clear the government agreed to allow in foreign aid.
Palu: Rescuers picking through the grim aftermath of Indonesia's quake-tsunami issued a fresh public health warning on Saturday as more decaying corpses were unearthed from beneath the ruined city of Palu.
More than a thousand people may still be missing in the seaside city on Sulawesi island, officials said, after the region was hit by a powerful quake and a wall of water, with the official death toll now at 1,571. Hopes of finding anyone alive a full eight days since the disaster have all but faded, though Indonesian authorities have not officially called off the search for survivors.
Rescuers recover bodies after Indonesia's earthquake and tsunami. Reuters
There are fears that vast numbers of decomposing bodies could be buried beneath Petobo and Balaroa — two areas virtually wiped off the map — and authorities have warned survivors to steer clear as they brace for more macabre discoveries. "Most of the bodies we have found are not intact, and that poses a danger for the rescuers. We have to be very careful to avoid contamination," Yusuf Latif, a spokesman for Indonesia's search and rescue effort, told AFP from Palu.
"We have vaccinated our teams, but we need to be extra cautious as they are exposed to health hazards. This is also a health concern for the public. It is very hard to control the crowd... People might be exposed to danger."
At a massive government housing complex at Balaroa, where the sheer force of the quake turned the earth temporarily to mush, soldiers in face masks clambered over the giant mounds of mud, brick and cement. The troops peeking under collapsed walls and peeling back corrugated sheets do not have to look hard.
Sergeant Syafaruddin, from an army unit in Makassar south of Palu, asks for a body bag to be brought across to a spot near where the remnants of an Islamic school now stands. Two of his soldiers emerge from the ditch with the body bag sagging in the middle but looking too light to be a corpse — they say they found the heads of two adults and one child. "There are no survivors here. We just find bodies, every day," says Syafaruddin, who like many Indonesians goes by one name.
At another spot, a digger is called to turn over the devastated remains of a home. With almost no effort he unearths the body of a long haired lady buried in mud. At the flattened Hotel Roa-Roa— where early optimism that survivors might be found faded as the days wore on and tropical heat intensified — search teams also prepared body bags.
Rescuers reviewed CCTV footage on Saturday to get a sense of where the doomed guests could be buried beneath the impenetrable mountain of twisted rubble
Survivors have ransacked shops and supply trucks in the hunt for basic necessities, prompting security forces to round up dozens of suspected looters and warn that they will open fire on thieves. Hundreds of people on Saturday rushed a truck carrying gas cylinders for cooking, with long and desperate queues quickly forming. One supermarket that opened its doors refused to allow people inside, instead passing goods through the door as armed troops stood watch.
"We have not raised prices at all. However, we are not letting customers inside for safety reasons. The building survived the earthquake, but we don't know how safe it is," said Satria Hamid, a spokesman for the Transmart Carrefour supermarket.
Thousands of survivors continued to stream out of Palu to nearby cities in the aftermath of the disaster. Hospitals remain overstretched and short on staff and supplies. Project HOPE, a medical NGO, said only two of its 82 staff in Palu had reported for duty since the quake.
"We still don't know the fate of the clinic doctors, nurses and technicians who usually staff the clinic," the organisation said in a statement. A floating hospital run by the Indonesian navy and docked in Palu port has already assisted with the delivery of a baby, local media reported.
The United Nations (UN) said on Friday that it was seeking $50.5 million "for immediate relief" to help victims of the devastating quake and tsunami in Indonesia. After days of delays, international aid is slowly making its way to the disaster zone, where the UN says almost 200,000 people need humanitarian assistance.
Indonesia had been reluctant to accept outside help at first but as the scale of the disaster became clear the government agreed to allow in foreign aid. Getting vital supplies to the affected areas has proved hugely challenging, with the number of flights able to land at Palu's small airport still limited, leaving aid workers facing gruelling overland journeys.
Oxfam had sent water treatment units and purification kits to Palu and Swiss aid teams on the ground were providing drinking water and emergency shelter, both said in statements Saturday. Indonesia sits along the Pacific "Ring of Fire", the world's most tectonically active region, and its 260 million people are vulnerable to earthquakes, tsunamis and volcanic eruptions.
| Earthquakes | October 2018 | ['(First Post)'] |
American swimmer Katie Ledecky breaks her own world record for the 400 metres freestyle. | (Reuters) - American teenager Katie Ledecky broke her own world record for the women's 400 meters freestyle at the Pan Pacific championships on Saturday. The 17-year-old won the final at Australia's Gold Coast in three minutes, 58.37 seconds, slashing almost half a second off the previous world record she set in California earlier this month. "It's a good feeling," Ledecky said in a poolside interview. "I was just racing my best time and trying to swim faster." Ledecky also holds the women's world record for 800m and 1,500m freestyle. (This story corrects age to 17 in second paragraph) (Reporting by Julian Linden in Singapore; Editing by John O'Brien)
The forces that saw the Liberal Democrats rout the Conservatives in Chesham and Amersham on Thursday could be replicated across other Blue Wall seats in the South of England, Telegraph analysis shows. Boris Johnson on Friday rejected the “bizarre” idea that the result was a bellwether for the fate of the Tories in their traditional strongholds and accused critics of “misunderstanding” unpopular plans to build more homes under the Government’s planning reforms.
Juneteenth, an annual holiday celebrated on June 19 to commemorate the Emancipation Proclamation, will be celebrated in person this year.
Doctors suggest riding electric scooters with the same approach as when driving a car.
Prosecutors on Wednesday urged a judge to impose a “very substantial” prison sentence on Michael Avenatti for trying to extort millions of dollars from Nike.
A shooting on Interstate 75 in Detroit late Thursday night killed a 2-year-old boy and injured a 9-year-old boy who is in serious condition.
Islandton, home of the Murdaugh family, isn’t the SC beach oasis it sounds like.
Justin Haley will compete full-time for the NASCAR team in the Cup Series next season and has signed a multiyear deal.
Police originally thought the man had been shot, but an examination by the medical examiner showed otherwise.
A man accused in a fatal crash that claimed the life of a Lawrence woman in April has been arrested, police said Thursday.
The Miami Marlins are getting another key player back as they attempt to end their elongated road woes.
NC educators hope people will recognize holiday’s significance and that it won’t become just another day off or an excuse for a sale.
Ever seen a scared cottonmouth?
An upcoming book from Wall Street Journal reporter Mike Bender alleges former President Donald Trump blamed his son-in-law for the civil unrest that erupted in the country following the death of George Floyd. The book titled “Frankly, We Did Win This Election: The Inside Story of How Trump Lost,” includes firsthand accounts from some of Trump’s closest advisers, “who spoke to me on the condition of deep background, an agreement that meant I could share their stories without direct attribution,” Bender wrote for Politico. In the book, Bender describes how Trump privately told advisers that he didn’t push back hard enough against protesters in the wake of Floyd’s killing by Minneapolis police in May 2020.
Photos Bernalillo County Jail/FacebookThe husband of a Colorado Springs woman who has been missing for more than two years was arrested for her murder on Wednesday.Dane Kallungi, 38, was arrested and charged with first-degree murder in the death of Jepsy Amaga Kallungi, 26, who has been missing since April 2019. Kallungi was found trying to get onto an Air Force base in Albuquerque, New Mexico, according to KKTV.To our community—Yesterday, Dane Kallungi was taken into custody in New Mexico for t
The system is expected to produce up to 12 inches of rain through the weekend throughout Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida.
The latest CDC data show that two-thirds of Americans 18 and older have received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine.
Officials ‘deeply saddened by the mistake that was made’ after Morgyn Arnold, 14, not included in Shoreline yearbook picture The cheer team with Morgyn Arnold in the front row. The school said: ‘We will continue to look at our processes to ensure this does not happen again.’ Photograph: Shoreline junior high/Twitter A Utah junior high school that took two official photos of its cheerleading squad did not include the 14-year-old team member with Down syndrome in one of these pictures – and chose
As Russia mounted 100,000 troops on the Ukrainian border in March, the White House and the Department of Defense readied a $100 million military assistance package that was frozen once President Joe Biden announced a summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin, according to reports.
The 28-year-old was attempting to jump 351 feet during a performance at the Moses Lake Air Show when he crashed.
What to watch Thursday, June 17: 'Clarice' on CBS; 'Walker' on The CW; 'iCarly Reunion' on Nickelodeon; 'Queer Eye for the Straight Guy: Reunion' on E! | Break historical records | August 2014 | ['(Reuters via Yahoo! News)'] |
The UK Home Secretary Sajid Javid announces that medicinal cannabis products are to be legalized by the end of this year, allowing cannabis treatments to be legally prescribed by specialist doctors following several high profile cases. | Specialist doctors in the UK will be able to legally prescribe cannabis-derived medicinal products by autumn, the home secretary has announced.
Those that meet safety and quality standards are to be made legal for patients with an "exceptional clinical need", Sajid Javid said.
As it is a devolved matter, it will require legislative change before it is enforced in Northern Ireland.
Legalisation follows high-profile cases involving severely epileptic children.
Many had previously been denied access to cannabis oil.
Others forms of cannabis will remain illegal.
Mr Javid's decision was made after the chief medical officer for England, Prof Dame Sally Davies, and the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs said patients with certain medical conditions should be given access to the treatments.
Their advice was part of a review into medicinal cannabis launched by the home secretary following an outcry over Billy Caldwell and Alfie Dingley being denied access to cannabis oil.
The parents of the boys, who have rare forms of epilepsy, say it controls their seizures. The Home Office recently granted them licences to access the treatments. Mr Javid said: "Recent cases involving sick children made it clear to me that our position on cannabis-related medicinal products was not satisfactory. "That is why we launched a review and set up an expert panel to advise on licence applications in exceptional circumstances.
"This will help patients with an exceptional clinical need but is in no way a first step to the legalisation of cannabis for recreational use."
Billy Caldwell's mother, Charlotte, said Mr Javid's announcement had been made on her son's 13th birthday.
"For the first time in months I'm almost lost for words, other than 'thank you Sajid Javid'," she said. "Never has Billy received a better birthday present, and never from somebody so unexpected...
"But, crucially, my little boy Billy can now live a normal life with his mummy because of the simple ability to now administer a couple of drops a day of a long-maligned but entirely effective natural medication."
A Department of Health spokesperson said: "The rescheduling of cannabis-derived medicinal products is a devolved matter and requires legislative change.
"The Department of Health notes the advice provided by experts during the two-part review commissioned by the Home Secretary. "Consideration will be given to rescheduling cannabis-derived medicinal products in Northern Ireland in line with the rest of the UK "In the interim, clinicians may still apply to the Home Office Expert Panel should they wish to use a cannabis-based medicine in the treatment of a patient." Cannabis is classed as a Schedule 1 drug, meaning it is judged to have no therapeutic value but can be used for the purposes of research with a Home Office licence.
The decision by the Home Office will put certain cannabis-derived products into Schedule 2 - those that have a potential medical use - and will place them in the same category as cocaine and heroin, among other drugs. The Department for Health and Social Care and the Medicines and Health products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) will now develop a clear definition of what constitutes a cannabis-derived medicinal product so they can be rescheduled and prescribed, the Home Office said. In the meantime, clinicians will still be able to apply to an independent expert panel on behalf of patients wishing to access these products. The home secretary said licence fees for applications made to the panel will be waived, and those already granted will not be charged.
The home secretary's decision was welcomed by campaigners and health experts.
Donna Kinnair, from the Royal College of Nursing, said the decision was "very welcome".
Dr Tom Freeman, senior academic fellow at King's College London, said Mr Javid's decision would have a "substantial impact on research by facilitating the development of safer and more effective medicines".
Former justice minister Sir Mike Penning, who was among those appealing for Alfie Dingley to be given a special licence for medicinal cannabis, welcomed the announcement but said there were still unanswered questions about which treatments would be rescheduled.
"Any move to restrict medical cannabis in the UK to a very narrow range of derived products, each requiring full pharmaceutical trials, thereby blocking out the many products available overseas, will lead to great disappointment and be a missed opportunity." Medicinal cannabis 'should be prescribed'
| Government Policy Changes | July 2018 | ['(BBC)', '(Reuters)'] |
In response to militants firing rockets into southern Israel, the Israel Air Force launches two raids on the southern Gaza Strip; one Palestinian is wounded. | AFP - Israeli warplanes launched two raids on the southern Gaza Strip on Saturday, Palestinians said, wounding one person hours after militants in the enclave fired a rocket into southern Israel.
Officials of the Islamist Hamas movement in Gaza and witnesses said one air raid was on the Khan Yunis area and the second targeted tunnels at Rafah used by smugglers under the territory's border with Egypt.
One Palestinian was wounded in his home by shards of broken glass from a blast in the second raid, the sources said.
The air strikes came after Gaza-based militants fired a rocket into southern Israel earlier on Saturday, without causing either casualties or damage.
The projectile exploded in an open field near the Gaza border, an Israeli military spokeswoman said.
An Israeli army spokeswoman told AFP that the two attacks had been launched in response to the rocket fire.
Around 180 rockets and mortar shells had been fired from the Gaza Strip towards Israel since the beginning of the year, she said. | Armed Conflict | November 2010 | ['(France24)', '(Ynet)'] |
Russia and Georgia continue to fight in South Ossetia and Georgia. The search for the dead and injured continues after at least 2,000 civilians were killed after two days Georgian offensive. Russia reported 12 peacekeepers killed and 30 wounded in the previous day during the Georgian tank and missile bombardment of Tskhinvali. | Footage reportedly shows Russian tanks entering South Ossetia
Russian forces are locked in fierce clashes with Georgia inside its breakaway South Ossetia region, reports say, amid fears of all-out war.
Moscow sent armoured units across the border after Georgia moved against Russian-backed separatists.
Russia says 12 of its soldiers are dead, and separatists estimate that 1,400 civilians have died. Georgia accuses Russia of waging war, and says it has suffered heavy losses in bombing raids, which Russia denies.
Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili says he is willing to agree an immediate ceasefire
Russian tanks have reportedly reached the northern suburbs of the regional capital, Tskhinvali, and there were conflicting claims about who was in control of the city.
"Now our peacekeepers are waging a fierce battle with regular forces from the Georgian army in the southern region of Tskhinvali," a Russian military official was quoted as saying by Moscow-based news agency, Interfax.
After days of exchanging heavy fire with the separatists, Georgian forces moved on Thursday night to regain control of the region, which has had de facto independence since a war against Georgia that ended in 1992.
Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili said Russia was at war with his country.
He told the BBC: "Our troops are attacked by thousands of troops coming in from Russia."
Mr Saakashvili said Georgia had shot down several Russian planes and accused Moscow of bombing Georgian air bases and towns, resulting in the death of 30 military personnel and civilians. Late on Friday, the Georgian national security council said Mr Saakashvili was poised to declare a state of emergency.
Despite denials from Moscow, the Russian air force has been carrying out air raids in South Ossetia and Georgia itself, says the BBC's Richard Galpin, in Gori, eastern Georgia.
'Ethnic cleansing'
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said he had to act to defend South Ossetia's civilians, most of whom have been given Russian citizenship. He also voiced anger over the reported fatalities of Russian servicemen in the breakaway province. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov
"We will not allow their deaths to go unpunished," he said. "Those responsible will receive a deserved punishment."
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Moscow had received reports that villages in South Ossetia were being ethnically cleansed.
The BBC's Matthew Collin in Tbilisi says battles continue around Tskhinvali with the sound of explosions, rocket fire and military planes flying overhead. The regional capital, where inhabitants are said to be sheltering in basements without electricity or phone lines, is reported to be devastated.
Fleeing resident Lyudmila Ostayeva, 50, told AP news agency: "I saw bodies lying on the streets, around ruined buildings, in cars. It's impossible to count them now. There is hardly a single building left undamaged."
International Red Cross spokeswoman Anna Nelson said it had received reports that hospitals in Tskhinvali were "overflowing" with casualties. | Armed Conflict | August 2008 | ['(BBC News)', '(AP via Yahoo! News)', '(BBC News)', '(RIAN)'] |
A strong 7.9 earthquake strikes between the Nepalese capital Kathmandu and the regional headquarter city of Pokhara. The Government of Nepal declares a state of emergency with 1500 dead. A number of UNESCO World Heritage Sites are destroyed, including the historic Dharahara tower. Deaths are also recorded in India, Bangladesh and the Chinese province of Tibet. , , , | Nearly 1,000 are known to have died in a powerful earthquake in Nepal, with many more feared trapped under rubble, officials say.
The 7.8 magnitude quake struck an area between the capital, Kathmandu, and the city of Pokhara, the US Geological Survey said.
Tremors were felt across the region, with further loss of life in India, Bangladesh, Tibet and on Mount Everest.
The government has declared a state of emergency in the affected areas.
A national police spokesman told the BBC that 970 people had died in the quake, and that more than 1,700 had been injured. At least 539 people were killed in the Kathmandu valley, he added.
Nepali Information Minister Minendra Rijal said there had been "massive damage" at the epicentre, from where little information is emerging.
Get the latest updates on the Nepalese earthquake
"We need support from the various international agencies which are more knowledgeable and equipped to handle the kind of emergency we face now," he said.
The US is sending a disaster response team to Nepal and has released an initial $1m (£0.7m) to address immediate needs, the US aid agency USAid has said.
Rescuers are digging through the rubble of collapsed buildings in the capital trying to reach survivors, as thousands prepare to spend the night outside as darkness fell.
A number of historic buildings have been destroyed.
Among those wrecked was the landmark Dharahara tower, with many feared trapped in its ruins.
After the earthquake struck, frightened residents came out into the streets. Mobile phones and other communications have been disrupted.
Major historic monuments in the Nepalese capital have been destroyed in the powerful earthquake, eyewitnesses and officials have said.
These include a nine-storey tower, temples and some parts of what was once a royal palace, all listed as Unesco world heritage sites.
Pictures posted on social media show some of the monuments have been reduced to rubble.
Eyewitnesses say several others now have cracks and could collapse. Officials have said some temples and monuments at other world heritage sites near Kathmandu have also been damaged.
These sites are Nepal's major tourist attractions.
Nepal had lost several such monuments during a major earthquake in 1934. Quake levels Nepal landmarks
There are also reports of damage to Kathmandu airport which could hamper relief operations.
With little known about the extent of the damage around the earthquake's epicentre, there are fears the death toll could rise.
Aftershocks continued to ripple through the region hours later.
The quake triggered an avalanche on Mount Everest, killing at least eight people, and another five in Tibet, officials and reports say.
"Running for life from my tent. Unhurt. Many many people up the mountain," tweeted mountaineer Alex Gavan.
At least 35 people have been killed in India, Indian officials say, with one death also reported in Bangladesh.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has met his ministers to review the situation. Pakistan's Prime Minister, Nawaz Sharif, has pledged help for the Nepalese authorities.
It is the worst earthquake to strike Nepal since one in 1934 all but destroyed Kathmandu.
| Earthquakes | April 2015 | ['(AP)', '[permanent dead link]', '(Reuters via ABC News Australia)', '(BBC)', '(CNN)'] |
A convoy accident involving British Prime Minister Theresa May and Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel interrupts an Armistice Day trip after two police motorbikes were knocked over. | The prime minister was leaving a wreath-laying ceremony when two police motorbikes were knocked over near NATO headquarters.
By Aubrey Allegretti, political reporter Friday 9 November 2018 16:19, UK
Theresa May's trip to Belgium to mark the centenary of Armistice Day was interrupted when two police motorbikes in the convoy she was travelling in were knocked over.
The prime minister was leaving a wreath-laying ceremony with Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel when a traffic collision happened near NATO's headquarters in Mons.
A Belgian government source told Sky News the leaders were travelling in separate armoured Mercedes.
Another car entered the convoy around them without instructions, causing the motorbikes to manoeuvre and crash into each other.
Mr Michel, who is a motorcyclist himself, got out of his car and knelt on the road to check the police officers' condition.
The two motorcyclists were taken to hospital but no-one else was injured.
Earlier, Mrs May had been in Saint-Symphorien to visit the graves of the first and last British soldiers to be killed in World War One.
John Parr of the Middlesex Regiment died on 21 August 1914, while Private George Ellison of the Royal Irish Lancers was killed on the Western Front on 11 November 1918 - 90 minutes before the armistice came into effect.
In the note left by the resting place of Private Parr, Mrs May quoted a line of wartime poetry The Soldier, written by Rupert Brooke.
She wrote: "There is in that rich earth a richer dust concealed."
At the grave of Private Ellison, also in blue pen on a headed Downing Street card attached to the garland of poppies, Mrs May wrote: "They were staunch to the end against odds uncounted ... We will remember them."
The line was from a poem written by Laurence Binyon and published in September 1914, which is often quoted in Remembrance Sunday services.
Mrs May later travelled to Albert, the town at the heart of the French Somme region, where she was seen smiling and waving with President Emmanuel Macron.
More than 50,000 people have signed Sky News' petition backing televised leaders debates for elections - have you?
The leaders held a private meeting and working lunch, before they are due to depart for a wreath-laying ceremony at the nearby Thiepval Memorial.
The site bears the names of more than 72,000 members of the armed forces who died in battle and holds an annual commemoration for the Missing of the Somme. | Road Crash | November 2018 | ['(Sky News)', '(Reuters)'] |
A Chicago police officer, Jason Van Dyke, is convicted of second degree murder in a historic jury verdict. | Chicago police Officer Jason Van Dyke was tried and convicted in 2018 in the 2014 shooting death of 17-year-old Laquan McDonald. Chicago police Officer Jason Van Dyke was convicted Friday of second-degree murder in the death of 17-year-old Laquan McDonald, marking a stunning end to a racially tinged case that roiled the city when now-infamous police dashboard camera video of the shooting was released three years ago by court order. Van Dyke is the first Chicago police officer in half a century to be found guilty of murder for an on-duty shooting. He faces a minimum of 6 years in prison when he’s sentenced by Judge Vincent Gaughan. . Across Chicago, demonstrators watched silently, riveted to hand-held screens, as the verdict was read. They pressed their ears to cellphone speakers, straining to hear. When the jury forewoman finished reading the verdicts, some crowds erupted in cheers. READ MORE ABOUT HOW CHICAGOANS REACTED HERE. The Tribune had reporters at the Leighton Criminal Courthouse, at McDonald’s great uncle’s church and elsewhere throughout the city as news that the jury had reached a verdict spread. Here’s what our reporters saw and heard:
Almost a dozen Christian pastors gathered in the square beneath the Chicago Water Tower a few hours after the verdicts were announced. The religious leaders applauded the jury’s decision and vowed to work more to reform the Police Department, which the Rev. Marshall Hatch said was stuck in the ways of the 1960s. “This jury really almost represents a 21st-century Chicago,” the pastor from New Mount Church said. The Rev. Carey Casey, a pastor at Lawndale Christian Community Church, invoked the teachings of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. as he echoed calls for an overhaul of the city’s police department. “We’re moving forward,” he said. “It’s like an idea whose time has come.”The group paused and bowed their heads together in prayer amid the buzz of Friday evening traffic. “Lord,” Carey said, “we thank you for justice.”
-- Katie Galioto
Laquan McDonald’s great uncle, the Rev. Marvin Hunter, praised the verdicts as a watershed moment in the country’s civil rights history hours after he walked out of the courthouse to cheers on Friday evening. During a 20-minute address from the sanctuary of Grace Memorial Baptist Church on the West Side, Hunter said the family will be better able to forgive Van Dyke when the convicted officer asks for forgiveness. “I want the world to know that you just can’t go around forgiving people who, number one, didn’t think they’ve done anything wrong. And, number two, never asked for forgiveness. Jason Van Dyke has never asked this family for forgiveness, period, at all. And I’m not in the business of forgiving people that don’t think they need forgiving. But at the end of the day, I can say that I did feel compassion for that family.”
“This family has never once asked for revenge,” Hunter said. “This family wanted justice, because revenge belongs to God and it is God’s alone. We don’t get to share in that.”
Hunter instead urged supporters to direct their anger to voting booths during upcoming City Council races, and at a police contract he repeatedly denounced as a “law” that limits the power of police officials to fire bad cops. “I’m saying to you, Chicago and America, let us begin healing. But let us not heal and become docile. Let us heal and become motivated and activated,” Hunter said. “This is America,” Hunter said later. “Every man should have his day in court. Unfortunately Jason Van Dyke did not give Laquan McDonald his day in court. He chose to be judge, jury and executioner. Now his fate has been sealed, and so we pray that God will have mercy on him and that God will have mercy on his family. And we pray that as this city and this county heals, that we can learn how to disagree without being violently disagreeable.”
-- Juan Perez Jr.
A march and demonstration that began with people gathering at City Hall when it was announced the jury had reached a verdict ended about 5:30 p.m. after demonstrators blocked Mag Mile traffic for about an hour. Chicago Heights resident Bryant Williams said he’s been involved in protests since the video of Laquan McDonald’s shooting was released. He was a part of crowds that shut down Mag Mile stores on Black Friday 2015. He joined demonstrations on Christmas Eve. And he took part in a rally held at the site where Laquan was shot. Williams, 32, said the case resonated with him after he said an officer drew a gun on him during a routine traffic stop in Englewood, his former neighborhood. “I feel like that could’ve been me,” Williams said about watching the dash cam footage. “Luckily I was a little bit older and was able to talk with the police officer. But if I was a hot-head and had no people skills, I think the police would’ve took me out. I really believe that.”
For that reason, Williams said he needed to be downtown for the protest, which also ended on the Magnificent Mile. Wearing a T-shirt with red, bloody lettering saying “16 shots,” he had mixed feeling when he heard the verdict delivered in his car. “If you shoot a deer outside of hunting season, they are doing more time than that,” Williams said about the second-degree conviction.“I just don’t think that justice prevailed. A lot of people may not agree with me, but I think the system really failed us, again.”
-- Tony Briscoe, Ese Olumhense
Michigan Avenue was shut down northbound at Ontario Street a little after 5 p.m., with the group "holding the intersection" at Ontario. Buses and taxis were stopped. Demontrators locked arms at Michigan and Ontario as people in cabs and buses took videos. None of the onlookers looked upset or honked a horn in protest. -- Ese Olumhense
READ MORE: Cheers, tears and relief: Demonstrators react to Jason Van Dyke conviction Despite a verdict that demonstrators largely seemed satisfied with, there was still a great deal of anger and frustration expressed toward police officers handling crowd control. Demonstrators heckled police officers, calling out “Guilty!”
At several points, bike cops formed a blockade refusing to let demonstrators pass. Marchers shouted, “Let us through!”
In one such instance, at Michigan Avenue and Monroe Street, protesters raised their arms and taunted police, “Hands up — they still shoot!”
For the most part, the demonstrations seemed celebratory and onlookers showed their support. Drivers stopped in traffic, sounding their horns in approval. Restaurant workers flashed smiles as they gathered by windows to watch. A woman operating a CTA Brown Line train passing over the protest opened her window, waved and sounded the electronic horn as the crowd cheered. -- Tony Briscoe
Jamie Kalven, the first journalist to report on McDonald’s fatal shooting, said it was “quite amazing” to hear 16 separate counts of guilty for each shot fired by Van Dyke. “This case was really about a very narrow question: Did Officer Van Dyke murder Laquan McDonald?,” he said. “I think having resolved that question definitively with this jury verdict, it’s now possible to go forward and address the larger systemic issues, the underlining institutional conditions that for so long allowed for police abuse and then shielded it when it occurs.”
“One of the things I felt sitting in the courtroom today was also how extraordinary it is that this decision has been rendered by 12 of our fellow citizens,” Kalven continued. “This in some ways is the ultimate in community participation when it comes to police accountability. We have a great deal of work to do in this city.”
Second-degree murder versus first-degree murder, explained Visitors at the Bean saw a different slice of the city from what many probably anticipated Friday, when demonstrators rolled by the famed landmark. As the hundreds of demonstrators passed, Millennium Park security shut off entrance to the park at Washington Boulevard. Demonstrators and Chicagoans react Oct. 5, 2018, after Chicago police Officer Jason Van Dyke is found guilty of second-degree murder and 16 counts of aggravated battery for the shooting death of 17-year-old Laquan McDonald in 2014. Spectators were sympathetic, even though some did not know what had led to Friday's march. "I don't even know what this is about, I just know we can't get into the park," said Nancy Turner, who was visiting Chicago from Eastview, Kentucky. "At least it's peaceful," said Turner, who was in town for only one day. -- Ese Olumhense
Demonstrators who gathered at City Hall began marching around the Loop, eventually making their way to Michigan Avenue and marching north from Monroe Street. They started on sidewalks, but took to the streets after a while. Earlier, at Monroe and Wabash Avenue, the shutdown in the streets got emotional. One driver, incensed, got out of her car and began yelling at protesters. She needed to pick up her kids, she said, the exchange getting heated as protesters and the police began responding. At one point, the woman threatened to drive straight through the intersection — regardless of who was in her car's path. Others had similar concerns, but allowed the group to pass. "They're doing what they gotta do, it's OK," said Renetta Hunt, also stopped at the intersection. Hunt, who lives in Washburn, opted to wait the group out. While demonstrators were stopped at Wabash, a CTA “L” train went overhead, and the train operator waved at the crowd. Earlier in the day, many offices closed early and many schools canceled after-school functions. -- Ese Olumhense
Special prosecutor Joseph McMahon called the verdict “gratifying” and justice for Laquan McDonald and his family. “This verdict holds Jason Van Dyke accountable for his actions,” McMahon said. He said it also provides “validation” for residents of Chicago. “The end of this trial offers an opportunity for this city to come together,” McMahon said. He said one of the prosecution team’s goals was to “show our criminal justice system treats people equally, particularly those in ‘society’s margins,’ without regard to someone’s status.”
“Laquan McDonald was not a throwaway young man,” McMahon said. “He had his challenges as many people do, and he should have been arrested that night. But that’s where this story should have ended.”
McMahon said he was "not at all" disappointed that the jury did not convict Van Dyke of first-degree murder. "I respect the jury's verdict,” he said. “They were thoughtful. ...It is crystal clear that they took their oath and responsibility very seriously." McMahon said he spoke with McDonald’s mother, Tina Hunter, after the verdict but would not detail the conversation. “This is a difficult day for Tina Hunter,” he said. “She has to continue to relive the worst moment of her life over and over. She’s had to relive that moment with national attention. …I don’t think Tina will ever heal from this wound.”
'This kid had an impact on people': The troubled life and fleeting potential of Laquan McDonald Kevin Graham, president of the Chicago Fraternal Order of Police, called the verdict “unfortunate” but said he was “certainly not blaming the jury.” He said the FOP disagreed with “how some evidence didn’t get into the case.”
“We do think Jason has a tough road to go right now, but he is not standing alone,” Graham said following the verdict. “The Fraternal Order of Police is standing with the officer who legally acted as a police officer and did the best he could that night. It’s a shame the equipment and manpower were not there when he needed it. But yet the city has made sure there’s plenty of Tasers now, and they have hired more people.”
Graham said he blamed some politicians for using this case “to really kick around the Chicago Police Department.”
“The men and women of the Chicago Police Department are some of finest police officers in this country,” he said. “They take seriously what they do and they try to provide the best protection they can for the citizens of Chicago and they do it putting their own lives in peril every single day and night.”
One juror, a white woman who served as the foreperson, said the decision to convict on second-degree murder rather than first-degree murder came down to the consideration of what was going through Van Dyke’s mind at the time of the shooting. “We considered the mitigating factor of how he perceived his actions of the event, the escalating risk and why he took that action,” she said. “We felt that taking that action was unreasonable, but we took into account what he thought.”
She said the jury watched the video “many, many, many times” in the jury room and the part that stuck out was how Van Dyke “stepped forward instead of retreating” before opening fire. “I think we all pretty much thought he could have avoided it if he had retreated,” she said. She said when they first started deliberating they took a straw poll “just to see where we all were.” The first vote was seven guilty, two not guilty and three undecided, she said. “So we had a baseline for discussion and then we went on from there,” she said. READ MORE: How the paths of Laquan McDonald and Jason Van Dyke crossed that fateful night Jurors in the Jason Van Dyke case thought the Chicago police officer was guilty when they entered deliberations, but they were initially split over whether to convict him on first- or second-degree murder. In the end, they settled on second-degree murder, finding that Van Dyke was frightened when he fired his gun but his fear was unreasonable. An officer with Van Dyke’s experience should have known better, they said. “He should have thought more about the situation,” said one female juror, the lone African-American on the panel. Describing their service as a privilege, jurors said they made no final decisions on Thursday, but they were able to reach a unanimous consensus Friday morning. “We thought he should have looked at other options,” one male juror said. The jurors said they were unimpressed with Van Dyke’s testimony, believing his memory lapses were convenient. “He seemed rehearsed,” the male juror said. READ MORE: Some Chicago workers sent home, games postponed in anticipation of Van Dyke verdict
A corner in the South Shore neighborhood erupted in celebration following the verdict. Two dozen members of the Revolutionary Communist Party led a vociferous demonstration at 71st and South Jeffery Boulevard, repeatedly chanting “Van Dyke? Guilty! CPD? Guilty! System? Guilty!”
Cars driving past the group on Jeffery leaned on their horns in celebration, while drivers and passengers raised clutched fists out open windows to show their support.Noting Van Dyke’s conviction for second-degree murder charge, one of the demonstrators yelled into a megaphone, “This is a victory, if only a partial victory.”
It should have been first-degree murder!” he said. “The only mitigating factor I can think of is that Jason Van Dyke was born into 250 years of white supremacy.”
Ricky Kelsey, a South Shore resident, said he watched live coverage of the verdict at home while talking to a friend on the phone. | Famous Person - Commit Crime - Sentence | October 2018 | ['(Chicago Tribune)'] |
United Nations member states elect António Vitorino as the director general of the International Organization for Migration, becoming the first non–American to hold this position since the 1960s. | United Nations member states have emphatically rejected the US candidate to lead the organisation’s migration agency, despite the risk of financial reprisals from the Trump administration.
Ken Isaacs finished a distant third in the last round of voting for the position of director general of the International Organization for Migration (IOM), a position that has been held by an American since the 1960s. The decisive vote appeared to be a response to Donald Trump’s policies on migration as well as the rejection of a candidate who had tweeted Islamophobic comments and cast doubt on climate change science.
António Vitorino, a Portuguese Socialist party member who is close to the UN secretary general, António Guterres, was elected despite a determined and well-resourced campaign by the US mission to the UN.
Welcoming Vitorino to the job, the UK’s ambassador to the UN, Karen Pierce, noted in a tweet: “This is one of the most important jobs for the UN and the world today.”
The loss of such an important UN post reflects the latest in a long series of steps – some unintentional but most deliberate – by which the Trump administration is peeling away from multilateral institutions, agreements and diplomacy. In recent days it has emerged that Donald Trump severely disparaged Nato and the European Union, and reportedly told aides he wants to withdraw from the World Trade Organisation.
The Trump administration could well retaliate by cutting funding for the IOM, for which the US is the biggest donor. Earlier this month it pulled out of the UN human rights council, which it said had ignored its calls for reform. In January, the US cut its funding for the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, by more than half, as a punitive measure aimed at the Palestinian political leadership. According to Mark Goldberg, editor of the UN Dispatch website, Isaacs’ campaign was probably lost before it began because of Trump’s policies, but the candidate’s views contributed to the scale of the defeat. “I would say the biggest blow came before Isaacs entered the race, when the Trump administration said it would leave negotiations on the Global Compact on Migration, which the head of the IOM would be expected to implement,” Goldberg said. “And there is the Trump position on migration, with the separation of children from their parents, which Isaacs hasn’t repudiated in any public way.”
After he was nominated in February, past tweets came back to haunt Isaacs, who works for a Christian charity, Samaritan’s Purse. “Islam is not peaceful,” he wrote in one, and called on Austria and Switzerland to build a wall in the Alps “to control their borders from refugees”. He also shared online conspiracy theories and claimed that climate change was a “hoax”.
Isaacs has apologised for the anti-Islam tweet and insisted he believes in climate change.
Jeremy Konyndyk, a former head of US foreign disaster assistance, said: “The defeat of the United States’ candidate, Ken Isaacs, is a sad statement on US global credibility.”
Konyndyk, now senior policy fellow at the Center for Global Development, added: “Isaacs was a capable relief expert, but carried significant baggage due to offensive prior statements about refugees and migrants, and apparent climate denialism. “Putting forward a candidate with this profile was an unwise move by the Trump administration.” | Government Job change - Election | June 2018 | ['(The Guardian)'] |
Garry Kasparov, Russian chess champion and opposition activist, is arrested with over 100 others while attempting to hold a protest march in Moscow. | MOSCOW, April 14, 2007 (RFE/RL) -- Russian police detained more than 100 anti-Kremlin activists today in a bid to stop an unauthorized opposition rally in Moscow, RFE/RL's Russian Service reported.
Among those detained was Garry Kasparov, the former world chess champion and a leader of Other Russia. The opposition political bloc, which is critical of the government of Russian President Vladimir Putin, says it is using peaceful pressure in an attempt to persuade the authorities to hold free and fair elections next year. Police and OMON special forces moved to break up the unauthorized rally before it began, but their detention of Kasparov looks certain to provide publicity for Russian opposition efforts. Police Pull No Punches
Many of those detained went quietly, but others struggled and were forced into police vehicles by officers holding truncheons around the detainees' necks.
Witnesses say Kasparov, who heads the United Civic Front opposition group, was hauled away to a police van, from which the chess whiz was seen waving and smiling to journalists near Pushkin Square in central Moscow.
In Moscow, Dima Tarasenkov of RFE/RL’s Russian Service said police also detained other leaders of the opposition umbrella group Other Russia. "In Moscow's Pushkin Square, the leader of the youth group of the Yabloko opposition party, Ilya Yashin, was detained, along with another youth leader Maria Gaidar, and several Yabloko activists," he said.
Former Prime Minister Mikhail Kasyanov, another key opposition leader, was blocked by police from entering Pushkin Square. Police also prevented other key opposition leaders from getting to the square, according to Tarasenkov. "Nikita Belykh, the leader of the Union of Rightist Forces, as well as State Duma Deputy Vladimir Ryzkov tried to reach Pushkin Square but couldn't get there because the police had blocked it off," he said.
Protestors Regroup
Still, around 1,000 protesters went on to rally about 2 kilometers away in the city's Turgenev Square, where authorities had authorized their gathering.
Other Russia has also called for a protest march in St. Petersburg on April 15. In recent months, three previous demonstrations -- all called March of Dissent rallies -- were either broken up harshly or smothered by police in Moscow, St. Petersburg, and Nizhny Novgorod. The rallies come after Boris Berezovsky, a Russian multimillionaire now living in London, said in an interview published on April 14 that he was fomenting a revolution to topple Putin.
Other Russia has disassociated itself from Berezovsky's remarks, but they appeared to have raised the political temperature in Moscow.
Also today in the Russian capital, several other rallies took place with the approval of the authorities. The largest was a pro-government demonstration near Moscow State University organized by the youth wing of the pro-Kremlin Unified Russia party. Organizers said some 15,000 people attended.
(with material from AP, dpa, Reuters)
Demonstrators in Moscow carry a coffin with a television in it to protest government control over broadcasting (TASS file photo)
DO RUSSIANS LIKE THEIR GOVERNMENT? During a briefing at RFE/RL's Washington office on November 15, Richard Rose, director of the Center for the Study of Public Policy at the University of Aberdeen, discussed the results of 14 surveys he has conducted since 1992 on Russian public opinion about democracy and the country's development. He discussed the implications of these opinions for relations with the West and for Russia's 2008 presidential election.
| Famous Person - Commit Crime - Accuse | April 2007 | ['(RFE/RL)'] |
Democrat Scott Murphy wins New York's 20th congressional district special election. | A 39-year-old Democrat in his first run for office emerged Friday as the winner of a hotly contested Congressional race in upstate New York, dashing Republican hopes for the start of a comeback after the party’s disastrous November losses.
The Democrat, Scott Murphy, a venture capitalist who echoed President Obama’s promises of bipartisanship, expanded health care and an economic turnaround, said his victory after a drawn-out vote count showed that voters had no patience for partisan bickering and wanted their leaders to work together like grown-ups. | Government Job change - Election | April 2009 | ['(New York Times)'] |
The Labor Party wins the state election in Western Australia, in one of the biggest landslide victories in the country's history. | Labor has won the West Australian state election with Mark McGowan returned as Premier for a second term, in what has been described as a "disaster" for the WA Liberal Party.
In a devastating night for the Liberals, leader Zak Kirkup became the first WA major party leader to lose their own seat in 88 years, losing his own seat of Dawesville while declaring he took full responsibility for the party's election wipe-out.
At this stage, the WA Nationals will hold more seats in the next State Parliament than the Liberal Party.
The Nationals will hold at least four seats in Parliament, while the Liberals cannot exceed that number after losing a swathe of seats in metropolitan Perth.
Labor scored a fast and overwhelming election victory as early figures showed massive swings towards Labor across the state.
Speaking less than 45 minutes after polls closed, the ABC's chief election analyst Antony Green said given the Opposition would require a swing in its favour to win, it would not be able to win enough seats to form government.
It is too early to project a result in the state's Upper House.
Premier Mark McGowan declared victory and thanked Mr Kirkup for his contribution to the WA Parliament.
"To have the support and faith of so many Western Australians in one of the most important elections, is a great honour," Mr McGowan said.
"Can I also thank the people who voted Labor for the first time in their lives.
I promise to work for everyone over the next four years.
"The magnitude of what happened today is not lost on me. With it comes great responsibility.
"We must govern for all people in Western Australia.
"We will now implement our positive plans for the future – bringing back manufacturing, keeping TAFE and training affordable, building the new women's and babies hospital.
"To my opponent Zak Kirkup and to the Liberal party – Opposition leader is a very difficult and thankless job that I know well.
"I thank you for your contribution to the state and the Parliament of Western Australia."
Speaking to party faithful in his electorate of Dawesville, Mr Kirkup said the Liberals must rebuild.
"Earlier this evening I spoke to the Premier and wished him well, and wished him all the best for his premiership over the next four years," he said.
"The people of Western Australia have had their say and we must respect their choice.
"This is a historic election and one like no other. It is a loss that will be difficult to bear."
Mr Kirkup said he would not continue in politics.
"What has happened with respect to Dawesville is devastating," he said.
"I will no longer seek office for the Liberal Party. We must do all we can to help rebuild this party.
"It is a result that guts me."
Mr Kirkup took on the Liberal leadership just 16 weeks ago.
As a teenager, he gave then-prime minister John Howard a business card that stated "Zak Kirkup – future Prime Minister".
"This is a very difficult loss. It is one that I take full responsibility for," he said during his concession speech.
"When I took on the leadership 16 weeks ago I did so knowing the risks.
"Over the next four years, with a very small number of members, we must do all that we can to hold Labor to account.
"The next four years will be the most difficult for the Liberal Party than we have ever experienced. It is a task that will be difficult, but not impossible.
"My message to all Liberals across the state is to please do all that you can to work with us now to make sure our party is as strong as it can be for the future of our state."
Mr Kirkup wished the new Labor member for Dawesville Lisa Munday well.
Former Liberal leader Mike Nahan said Mark McGowan had done "a remarkable job".
"This is a remarkable victory," the retiring MP told the ABC.
"I would just say to my colleagues, learn from him."
Dr Nahan described this election as a "disaster" for the Liberals.
"It's a disaster for the Liberal Party — I can't describe it any other way," he said.
"I have been critical of the polls, but it looks like the polls have been right."
Mr Kirkup held Dawesville by a wafer-thin margin of just 0.8 per cent.
In the lead-up to the election, he said he would give up politics if he lost Dawesville.
The Liberals have held Dawesville ever since its creation in 1996.
Liberal Churchlands MP Sean L'Estrange — whose seat is on a knife-edge, but the ABC predicts will fall to Labor — said the party needed to stay united.
"This is ground zero for the Liberal Party. The nuclear bomb has gone off," he said.
"The day of reckoning has come."
"There is still a pulse in the Liberal Party. We need to stay united."
The immediate-past Liberal leader, Liza Harvey, said the result reflected what voters had been telling her throughout the campaign.
"There certainly was a sentiment of people wanting to reward the Premier for how he has handled the pandemic," Ms Harvey said.
"People were just picking up how-to-vote cards because they had his face on it.
"The reality is there was a groundswell of support for the Premier and that has been played out at the ballot box."
Ms Harvey said she was disappointed and sad to lose her coastal seat of Scarborough.
"I've got the majority of my booth results back and it's pretty clear I've lost the majority of my booths, so I've not been successful in contesting for the seat of Scarborough this time," the former Liberal leader said.
"To my constituency, it's been an absolute honour and a privilege to serve them for the last 12 years. | Government Job change - Election | March 2021 | ['(ABC Australia)'] |
Pro-Hadi forces capture the Al Bareh Triangle and seize Houthi arms. | Al Mukalla: Yemeni military units, led by Brigadier General Tareq Mohammad Abdullah Saleh, pushed the Iran-backed Al Houthis out of a new area in the southern province of Taiz. Media outlets affiliated with the General People’s Congress, the party of Yemen’s ousted president Ali Abdullah Saleh, said Tareq-led forces seized control of Al Bareh Triangle, north of government-controlled Mokha town, after heavy clashes with Al Houthis who fled the battlefield, leaving behind arms and ammunition. Tareq’s forces recently announced the killing of Abu Abdu Al Quoad, Al Houthi field commander on the western coast battlefield, and a number of his associates in clashes in Taiz. Last month, Tareq led thousands of soldiers who defected from Al Houthis in a new offensive aimed at expelling Al Houthis from plain and mountainous areas north of Mokha town and secure the eastern sides for government troops that would push into the city of Hodeida along the Red Sea coastline. The soldiers, mainly from elite Republican Guards and Special Forces brigades, fled battlefields and Al Houthi-held areas and regrouped in military camps in the southern city of Aden, where they received modern arms and equipment from the Saudi-led coalition.
The western city of Hodeida is the last major coastal city under Al Houthi control, and the target of a major military offensive that started early last year.
Meanwhile, in Al Houthi-held Sana’a, the militia mourned the death of an army general who was killed either in clashes with government forces or in an air strike by Saudi-led coalition fighter jets in the central province of Baydha. Hundreds of Al Houthis attended the funeral of Major General Mahmoud Mohammad Hadi Al Naqeb, the chief of staff of the 7th Military Region, and three of his associates in Sana’a. Precise air strikes by the coalition’s fighter jets and drones have managed to kill dozens of senior Al Houthi military commanders, including Saleh Al Sammad, the president of Al Houthi Supreme Political Council. Military experts believe Al Houthis usually keep deaths of commanders under wraps in order not to undermine the militiamen’s morale. In the northern province of Saada, Al Houthis’ main bastion, government forces have liberated several locations as they advance deeper into Aleb region, north of Saada, Yemen’s Defence Ministry said. Military forces from 5th Border Guard Brigade pushed Al Houthis from Al Maysra, Sayla Mougaira and other locations in Aleb and killed a number of militants.
Yemen’s army and allied resistance fighters have gained the upper hand in the war against Al Houthis thanks to massive air support and military logistics from the Saudi-led coalition.
| Armed Conflict | May 2018 | ['(Gulf News)'] |
In boxing, American Floyd Mayweather retains his WBC Welterweight title by defeating Robert Guerrero in a unanimous decision. | LAS VEGAS — Floyd Mayweather Jr.’s latest boxing triumph followed a familiar pattern. For weeks, he toyed with Robert Guerrero, made him angry, made him jumpy, drew him right into the usual vortex of opponent overconfidence.
Guerrero insisted, over and over, that Mayweather would not get to him.
By then, he already had.
That is part of Mayweather’s ring brilliance, the mental part. He wants his opponents riled up, overaggressive, and then he turns their aggression into weakness. That is the other part, the physical part, the feet that dance and the hands that flash and the dazzling precision.
| Sports Competition | May 2013 | ['(The New York Times)'] |
The Israeli Air Force carries out an air strike seriously injuring one Palestinian Islamic Jihad operative in the Gaza Strip and wounding two others. |
JERUSALEM (JTA) Israel’s Air Force fired on and seriously injured a Palestinian Islamic Jihad operative in the Gaza Strip.
The Israel Defense Forces Spokesman’s Office said that an Israeli aircraft launched a targeted attack Sunday morning on a motorcycle carrying Ahmad Sa’ad, 22, who the IDF said is a specialist in rocket launching and is “personally responsible” for five rockets fired at Ashkelon last week, which were intercepted by the Iron Dome missile defense system. The IDF has also identified him as the person in charge of numerous launches at southern Israel, including during Operation Pillar of Defense in November 2012 and in March 2012.
Sa’ad was seriously injured, according to the Palestinian Ma’an news agency, and a 12-year-old bystander was injured by shrapnel.
“Gaza terrorists must know that there is a personal price to pay when planning and executing terror attacks against Israel,” said IDF Spokesman Lt-Col. Peter Lerner in a statement. “There is no immunity for those that partake in projectile terrorism. The IDF targeted an integral component of the Gaza terrorist mechanism in order to diminish terrorist capabilities and send a clear message of intolerance to the aggression from the Hamas territory.”
Hours earlier, on Saturday night, the IDF fired on what it identified as two “terror activity sites” in the southern and in the central Gaza Strip. The attack on the Gaza Strip was in retaliation for a rocket fired on Saturday night at about 11:30 p.m., which struck the in Sha’ar Hanegev regional council in southern Israel.
Also on Saturday night, a Palestinian gunman opened fire on the West Bank settlement of Migdal Oz, located in the Gush Etzion bloc.
The gunman fired on a security officer on guard duty at the entrance to the settlement.
He was captured by security forces and taken in for questioning | Armed Conflict | January 2014 | ['(Jewish Telegraphic Agency)'] |
The trial of Japanese singer and actress Noriko Sakai begins in Tokyo. | More than 6,000 people have queued for the 20 seats in a Tokyo courtroom's public gallery to see a famous Japanese singer and actress go on trial.
Noriko Sakai, 38, has pleaded guilty to using and possessing illegal drugs. The case has gripped Japan since August when her husband was arrested and she went on the run for a week before turning herself in to the police. Prosecutors say she took amphetamines in July and that police found a small amount of the drug in her Tokyo home. In Monday's hearing, she pleaded guilty to possessing 0.008 of a gram of a stimulant drug and of using drugs too. Police say that after she went on the run, more drugs were found in her apartment. Prosecutors said they wanted an 18-month prison term for Ms Sakai. 'Miserable'
She told the court that using drugs had been her own decision, Kyodo News agency reported. "It was a very thoughtless act," she added. She said she wants to divorce her husband and make a fresh start in nursing care for the elderly. "I must correct myself. I feel miserable," she said. Her husband is being tried separately on similar charges. Ms Sakai rose to fame in 1987 after releasing a single, Otoko no Ko ni Naritai, a few days before her 16th birthday. Known as Nori-P during her early career, she began to use her real name after turning to acting in the 1990s. One of her most acclaimed roles came in the TV melodrama Hitotsu Yane no Shita. | Famous Person - Commit Crime - Sentence | October 2009 | ['(Xinhua)', '(BBC)', '(Japan Today)'] |
Three people are killed and two are injured after a lorry crashes into a minibus in Thatcham, England. | The driver of an autism school minibus involved in a motorway crash with a lorry has died.
Police said a third person died in hospital on Friday after two people died at the scene of the collision on the M4 on Thursday.
The victims, who were all in the minibus, were staff members at Prior's Court School in Thatcham, Berkshire.
Prior's Court chief executive Mike Robinson said the school "will never quite be the same again". He added: "The staff at Prior's Court are remarkable people and they are doing extraordinary things to transform the lives of those young people who are most challenged by autism.
"We are absolutely devastated that three of our colleagues have lost their lives."
Mr Robinson said the school would "honour the memory of those who we have lost by making sure that they carry on the great work that those people have started".
Two other minibus passengers, who suffered life-threatening injuries, remain in a "critical condition" in hospital, Mr Robinson said.
He added the school was "unbelievably blessed" that three young adults suffered less serious injuries, with two being discharged from hospital.
One young adult from the school remains in hospital to recover from an operation.
Prior's Court Foundation is a charity providing schooling and provision for people aged between five and 25 who have severe autism and complex learning difficulties.
Insp Andy Storey said the lorry driver, who suffered minor injuries, had also been discharged.
Thames Valley Police said there have been no arrests over the crash.
Insp Storey added: "The ongoing investigation will seek to establish what happened in this tragic incident.
"Specially trained family liaison officers are providing support to the families and we are in regular contact with the school."
The crash happened at about 12:20 BST on the eastbound carriageway of the M4 between junction 14 at Hungerford and junction 13 at Newbury of the M4.
The westbound carriageway was initially closed to allow three air ambulances to land and the eastbound side remained closed for about nine hours.
Thames Valley Police has appealed for anyone who saw what happened or has dashcam footage to contact them.
Minibus crash victims from autism school
Two dead in minibus and lorry crash
| Road Crash | October 2018 | ['(BBC)'] |
Leader of the Opposition Shehbaz Sharif is arrested amid a corruption scandal. | Opposition PML-N leader Shehbaz Sharif is the latest high-profile figure to be arrested as part of PM Khan’s anti-corruption drive.
Islamabad, Pakistan – Pakistani authorities have arrested Shehbaz Sharif, leader of the opposition and president of the country’s main opposition party, on corruption charges, the latest high-profile arrest of an opposition figure by Prime Minister Imran Khan’s government.
Sharif was arrested from the premises of the high court in the eastern Pakistani city of Lahore on Monday, shortly after the court rejected his application for bail in a money laundering case.
A large number of supporters of Sharif and his Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) political party had thronged the court for the hearing, and they raised chants and slogans against the government and the National Accountability Bureau (NAB), the country’s anti-corruption watchdog, as Sharif was led away by officials.
Sharif has denied all charges, contending that the assets that NAB is probing are in his relatives’ names and that he has no connection to them or how they were acquired.
“Shehbaz Sharif will face all of these false allegations,” said Marriyum Aurangzeb, the PML-N’s spokesperson. “He has spent 70 days in NAB’s custody before … Imran Khan should not believe that we are afraid of these tactics.”
Aurangzeb said Sharif would contest the charges through the courts, and accused the government of arresting Sharif, whose elder brother Nawaz has been elected prime minister three times, each time being removed by either the country’s powerful military or on corruption charges.
“Shehbaz Sharif’s arrest is clearly a way to combat the all-parties conference and it is a reaction to the plans [of the opposition],” she told reporters in Lahore.
Shehbaz Sharif will face all of these false allegations
Marriyum Aurangzeb, the PML-N's spokesperson
Speaking to the media, Information Minister Shibli Faraz denied that the verdict was “politically motivated”.
Khan has made an anti-corruption drive the centrepiece of his rule, with his government pursuing cases against many longtime political leaders, including the Sharifs, former President Asif Ali Zardari, the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (JUI-F) group led by Fazl-ur-Rehman, and several members of each of their families.
Critics, including the opposition, say the anti-corruption drive has been one-sided, mainly targeting Khan’s political opponents while leaving members of his ruling party or their allies largely untouched.
“The [anti-corruption watchdog] seems reluctant in proceeding against people on one side of the political divide […] while those on the other side are being arrested and incarcerated for months and years without providing any sufficient cause,” read a Supreme Court verdict in a corruption case in July.
The PTI’s rule has also been marked by narrowing media freedoms, with coverage of opposition figures or criticism of the military restricted.
In October 2018, Shehbaz Sharif had been arrested in a separate corruption case related to the award of contracts while he was chief minister of Punjab province, the country’s most populous region, between 2013 and 2018.
He was released on bail four months later but continues to face multiple inquiries.
This month, an Islamabad court cancelled bail for his elder brother Nawaz Sharif, who left the country on medical bail last November and has not returned since. | Famous Person - Commit Crime - Arrest | September 2020 | ['(Al Jazeera)'] |
The Bharatiya Janata Party, led by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, is declared the clear victor of the latest Indian general election. | NEW DELHI/AYODHYA (Reuters) - Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi scored a dramatic election victory on Thursday, putting his Hindu nationalist party on course to increase its majority on a mandate of business-friendly policies and a tough stand on national security.
India's Modi dedicates win to the people
01:21
His re-election reinforces a global trend of right-wing populists sweeping to victory, from the United States to Brazil and Italy, often after adopting harsh positions on protectionism, immigration and defense.
Official data from the Election Commission showed Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party ahead in 302 of the 542 seats up for grabs, up from the 282 it won in 2014 and more than the 272 seats needed for a majority in the lower house of parliament.
That would give his party the first back-to-back majority for a single party since 1984. Votes will be fully counted by Friday morning.
Modi was showered with rose petals by some of the thousands of cheering supporters who waited for hours in a thunderstorm for his arrival at party headquarters on Thursday evening.
“Whatever happened in these elections is in the past, we have to look ahead. We have to take everyone forward, including our staunchest opponents,” he said in a televised address.
He was critical of the many people that doubted the BJP could increase its majority.
“The political pundits of India have to leave behind their ideas of the past,” he added.
Modi has slashed red tape in the world’s fifth-largest economy, though some overseas firms, including Amazon, Walmart and Mastercard, have complained about policies they say are designed to benefit domestic rivals.
He will face demands to provide jobs for the tens of millions of young people coming on to the market in the next few years and to boost depressed farm incomes.
“The immediate challenges are to address employment, the issue of agricultural income and revive the banking sector,” said Madan Sabnavis, chief economist at Care Ratings in Mumbai.
But making good on his promise of unity will be difficult as the BJP campaign was often divisive, and India’s Muslim minority has expressed fears that policies aimed at pleasing the Hindu majority could imperil their livelihoods.
Modi’s pledge of a strong stand against a separatist movement in Muslim-majority Kashmir has fueled tension with nuclear-armed rival Pakistan, although its prime minister, Imran Khan, congratulated Modi on his win.
“Look forward to working with him for peace, progress and prosperity in South Asia,” Khan added on Twitter.
Besides a harder line on national security, BJP members will look to Modi for progress on a project to building a Hindu temple on the site of a mosque demolished by Hindu zealots in the northern holy town of Ayodhya in 1992.
“I want Modi to finish terrorism from Kashmir (and) make Pakistan bite the dust again and again,” said Shekhar Chahal, a BJP worker from the capital, New Delhi.
“I am confident that Modi will also make the temple in Ayodhya.”
The NDA’s predicted margin of victory, at 351 seats versus 93 for the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance, according to broadcaster NDTV, far exceeds survey forecasts in the run-up to the vote.
Among the winners for the BJP was a Hindu ascetic accused of plotting a bomb attack on Muslims.
Most polls indicated a victory for Modi’s alliance but expected it to fall short of an overall majority.
Modi was under pressure when he began campaigning, losing three state elections in December amid rising anger over farm prices and unemployment.
However, campaigning shifted toward India’s relationship with Pakistan after a suicide bomber killed 40 Indian police in February in the Himalayan region of Kashmir claimed by both countries.
Modi ordered an air strike on what India said was a militant training camp on the Pakistani side of the border, a tough response that benefited the right-wing BJP, analysts said.
While Pakistan has signaled a willingness to open talks with India, it also displayed its military might, with the test of a surface-to-surface ballistic missile with a range of up to 1,500 miles (2,400 km).
The BJP has also capitalized the star power of Modi, a frenetic campaigner, as well as its superior financial resources.
It outspent Congress by six times on Facebook and Google advertising, data showed, and by as much as 20 times overall, sources told Reuters this month.
The main opposition Congress party was ahead in just 52 seats, but its leader Rahul Gandhi, twice defeated in general elections by Modi, refused to rule out resigning as party chief in a brief televised news conference.
Gandhi, whose father, grandmother and great-grandfather all served as prime minister, lost to the BJP candidate in the northern constituency of Amethi the family has held almost continuously for the last four decades.
But he was leading in the southern constituency from which he is also running for parliament.
“The Congress party has not been able to improve at all,” said Rahul Verma, a fellow at the center for Policy Research in New Delhi.
“One big story is the emerging challenge for the Congress to remain a national alternative to the BJP. That now is under question.”
In the populous northern state of Uttar Pradesh, which sends the largest number of lawmakers to parliament, the BJP was leading in 60 of the 80 seats in the fray, out in front of a powerful alliance of caste-based parties campaigning to improve rural conditions.
“After the air strike on Pakistan, almost all these important issues started fading and farmers decided to cast their ballot for the BJP,” said Raghubar Das, 55, who grows rice and wheat on the outskirts of Ayodhya, which many devout Hindus believe to be the birthplace of the God-king Rama.
“Mind you, they didn’t vote for the BJP, they voted for Modi. Everyone loves a strong a leader.”
The party also won seats in several states where it has long struggled, including West Bengal, where it took on the Trinamool Congress, a powerful regional party. Data showed it leading in 19 of 42 seats, surpassing the two it won in 2014, data showed.
Investors welcomed Modi’s victory, hoping his government will push through reforms.
Indian stocks surged more than 5 percent this week to hit record highs on Thursday, but the euphoria fizzled quickly, with stocks and the rupee ending the day weaker, as the focus returned to a faltering economy.
| Government Job change - Election | May 2019 | ['(Reuters)'] |
Police issued a warning and evacuation orders after a unknown chemical "haze" leaves over 200 people on Britain's south coast, between the towns of Eastbourne and Birling Gap, suffering irritation to their eyes and throats. | About 150 people have been treated in hospital and hundreds more affected by an unknown gas which hit the East Sussex coast.
Birling Gap beach was evacuated on Sunday after people reported breathing difficulties, stinging eyes and vomiting when a "mist" appeared.
Sussex Police said on Monday morning the gas cloud appeared to have cleared.
Agencies are investigating the cause and have not ruled out either on-shore or off-shore locations.
In the past, chemicals have drifted across from European industrial units, but Sussex Police said: "Weather models suggest that an onshore source in northern France is very unlikely."
The Coastguard said it was working with its French counterparts and looking into vessels that were in the area at the time.
East Sussex Fire and Rescue Service said it was "extremely unlikely" the substance involved was chlorine.
Beaches in the area were open as normal on Monday and thousands were expected to flock to the coast as temperatures reach up to 25C (75F).
Jonathan Hill, 28, who lives close to Birling Gap beach, said people had begun arriving at the beach on Monday although "it's maybe a bit less busy than usual".
He said he returned from holiday with his girlfriend at about 16:30 BST on Sunday and immediately began to suffer.
He said: "We got home, threw open the windows to air the house and quickly developed stingy eyes. At one point I couldn't see for about five minutes."
Bob Jefferey, of the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) Eastbourne Division said: "Whatever it was, it smelled like burnt plastic.
"It hung about and didn't move yesterday because there was no wind."
The first reports on Sunday came in from Birling Gap, between Eastbourne and Seaford, just before 17:00 BST where people reported having irritated eyes.
The plume of gas moved eastwards along the coast as far as Bexhill, police said.
Coastguard rescue teams from Birling Gap, Eastbourne, Bexhill and Newhaven raced to help clear the busy beaches as visitors feared they had been struck by a chlorine leak.
Roy Page, from East Peckham, Kent, was on the beach at the time when what appeared to be a sea mist rolled in from the west.
He described it as a colourless, odourless, mist that was "seriously painful on the eyes".
Kyle Crickmore, who was at the Birling Gap beach with his family, said it emptied within 10 minutes after people began to feel unwell.
"It was definitely out of the ordinary considering it was a nice, clear, sunny day 10 minutes beforehand," he added.
"It was stupidly busy and it was a boiling hot day. "It emptied in about 10 minutes, which was quite staggering considering the amount of people who were there."
Long queues built up at Eastbourne General District Hospital well into the evening, with approximately 150 people being treated, East Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust said.
"Initially, patients were dealt with as a precaution with a full decontamination treatment, but it became clear that this was not necessary, following clinical advice," a spokesman said.
Members of the public alerted emergency services, which triggered callouts to the UK Coastguard, Sussex Police, South Eastern Ambulance Service and East Sussex Fire and Rescue Service, who said they were treating it as a "chemical incident". Affected people took to Twitter to report their experiences: @BBC_HaveYourSay in Eastbourne town, eyes feel like I've just got out of a swimming pool, and my asthmatic brother struggling to breath.
Nice day at Birling Gap beach turned into a nightmare.. some sort of chlorine gas leak has made my eyes red raw :(
Thought it was hay fever to start with until we were told to close all windows and doors just now! #BeachyHead and #birlinggap evacuated!
Dan Sankey wrote on Twitter: "Beautiful afternoon at Birling Gap cut short by some weird mist, burning everyone's eyes which led to the beach and cliff being evacuated."
People were advised to wash their eyes if they were irritated and to wash all over with plenty of soap and water to decontaminate their bodies.
East Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust added: "If you were affected and after taking the precautions recommended you still feel ill, contact 111 for advice and only visit your local A&E if you are still suffering significant effects."
Police said it was believed that this was an "isolated incident and is not expected to recur". Eastbourne councillor Kathy Ballard said: "We need to find out the cause, where did this come from, and to make sure that steps are taken so that it does not happen again.
"I have not heard of it happening before in this area."
Chemical 'mist' sees beach evacuated
| Disease Outbreaks | August 2017 | ['(Reuters)', '(BBC)'] |
U.S. Federal Judge Richard J. Leon orders the release of 21–year–old Guantánamo Bay detainee Muhammad Hamid Al Qarani, who was imprisoned in 2002. | A federal judge ordered the release yesterday of a detainee at the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, ruling that the government's evidence is too weak to justify the man's continued confinement.
It is the second time that U.S. District Judge Richard J. Leon has ordered the release of a detainee after examining government evidence, most of it classified. Leon said that the Justice Department failed to prove that Mohammed El Gharani, 21, is an enemy combatant because it relied heavily on statements made by two other detainees whose credibility is questionable.
"A mosaic of tiles this murky reveals nothing about this petitioner with sufficient clarity" to justify his detention, Leon ruled.
Gharani, a citizen of Chad, was picked up in Pakistan and turned over to the United States in 2002. Since then, he has been held at Guantanamo Bay.
The government alleged that Gharani traveled to Afghanistan and trained at an al-Qaeda-affiliated military camp, fought in the battle of Tora Bora and was a courier for high-level al-Qaeda members.
The government also accused Gharani of belonging to a London-based al-Qaeda cell in 1998, an accusation that Leon questioned. Gharani was 11 at the time, living with immigrant parents in Saudi Arabia, his attorneys said.
"Putting aside the obvious and unanswered questions as to how a Saudi minor from a very poor family could have even become a member of a London-based cell, the government simply advances no corroborating evidence for these statements it believes to be reliable from a fellow detainee, the basis of whose knowledge is -- at best -- unknown," the judge said.
Leon said the government describes the credibility of that informant as "undetermined." Government personnel have "directly called into question" the reliability of the other informant in Gharani's case, he said.
Gharani's attorneys said the detainee, then 14, left Saudi Arabia for Pakistan in 2001 to learn English and develop computer skills.
"Judge Leon did justice today," said attorney Zachary Katznelson. "This is an innocent kid when he was seized illegally in Pakistan and should never have been in prison in the first place."
Justice Department attorneys declined to comment.
Leon's order comes in one of scores of lawsuits challenging detainee confinement under the legal doctrine of habeas corpus. In November, he ordered the release of five Algerian detainees who were living in Bosnia when arrested. | Famous Person - Commit Crime - Release | January 2009 | ['(Washington Post)'] |
The Republic of Korea Navy fires shots at a patrol boat from North Korea during a skirmish. | South Korea's navy has fired warning shots at a patrol boat from the North, the most serious skirmish since a Southern ship was sunk on 26 March.
Two vessels had violated a disputed border known as the Northern Limit Line, South Korea's military said. "Two patrol boats crossed on two separate occasions and warning shots were fired," an official said. Tensions have been high since a South Korean warship mysteriously sank on March 26, killing 46 sailors. A North Korean patrol boat sailed 2.8km (1.6 miles) into South-controlled waters on Saturday, said Seoul's Joint Chiefs of Staff. It retreated after a South Korean ship broadcast a warning, reports say. Less than an hour later, another North Korean patrol boat violated the border, but returned to its waters after another warning was broadcast. Two shots were fired from the South Korean vessel, a Joint Chiefs of Staff official said. There were no injuries, he said. The border skirmish took place close to where the Cheonan, a Southern warship, sank in March, apparently struck by a torpedo. That incident left 46 sailors dead. South Korea has not officially blamed the North, but Pyongyang has come under suspicion over the suspected attack. An international team of investigators is expected to release its findings this week. The area was also the scene of fatal naval clashes in 1999 and 2002, and a North Korean patrol boat was set ablaze in a firefight last November. | Armed Conflict | May 2010 | ['(Yonhap)', '(BBC)'] |
Ukraine commemorates the 25th anniversary of the Chernobyl disaster. | Ukraine is marking the 25th anniversary of the world's worst nuclear accident - at the Chernobyl power plant.
An explosion at one of the plant's reactors sent a plume of radiation across Europe in 1986, harming or killing possibly thousands of people.
Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych and his Russian counterpart, Dmitry Medvedev, are visiting the site for a memorial ceremony.
The anniversary comes amid renewed global protest over nuclear power.
The debate has been reinvigorated by the threat of radiation from Japan's crippled Fukushima plant in the aftermath of a devastating earthquake and tsunami.
Early on Tuesday, Mr Yanukovych attended a candle-lighting service led by Russian Orthodox Patriarch Kirill in the Ukrainian capital, Kiev.
"The world had not known a catastrophe in peaceful times that could compare to what happened in Chernobyl," Patriarch Kirill said.
A bell sounded at 0123 (2223 GMT Monday), the time of the blast, and tolled 25 times.
It was on 26 April 1986 that Number Four reactor at Chernobyl, which was then in the Soviet Union, exploded.
The accident forced the evacuation of hundreds of thousands of people from their homes in Ukraine, western Russia and Belarus. Soviet officials held off reporting the accident for several days.
There is still a 30km (19-mile) exclusion zone around the plant.
Soviet engineers encased the damaged reactor in a temporary concrete casing to limit the radiation but a new shield is needed.
A donors conference in Kiev, Ukraine, last week raised 550m euros (£486m; $798m) of the 740m euros needed to build a new shelter and a storage facility for spent fuel.
The Chernobyl anniversary comes less than two months after the Fukushima nuclear plant in Japan was badly damaged by an earthquake and tsunami, renewing concerns about the safety of nuclear power generation. The operators of the Fukushima plant, Tokyo Electric Power Co, have also come under fire for not quickly disclosing information on radiation leaks from the plant.
Mr Medvedev said there must be greater transparency in nuclear emergencies.
"I think that our modern states must see the main lesson of what happened at Chernobyl and the most recent Japanese tragedy as the necessity to tell people the truth," he told survivors of the clean-up effort at a meeting in the Kremlin.
On Monday, thousands of people in France and Germany staged protests calling for an end to nuclear power.
Marches were held on several river bridges between France and Germany over the Rhine while there were further protests at German nuclear plants.
Meanwhile in India, security has been tightened around Jaitapur, where protesters are planning to march on the site of a planned six-reactor nuclear power plant. | Environment Pollution | April 2011 | ['(AP via Houston Chronicle)', '(BBC)', '(Al Jazeera)'] |
Former Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf launches a new political party – the All Pakistan Muslim League – in London. | Former Pakistan military ruler Pervez Musharraf has apologised for "negative" actions he took while in power, as he launched his new political party, the All Pakistan Muslim League, in London.
Mr Musharraf said: "I... sincerely apologise to the whole nation" for the "negative repercussions".
But he vowed to galvanise Pakistanis and fight a "jihad against poverty, hunger, illiteracy and backwardness".
Correspondents say there is no real likelihood of him returning soon.
Mr Musharraf also appears to lack the kind of political organisation that could win him an election in Pakistan, they say.
Mr Musharraf unveiled the All Pakistan Muslim League at a gentlemen's club in Whitehall.
He apologised for some of the actions he took when in power.
"I am aware of the fact that there were some decisions which I took which resulted in negative political repercussions, repercussions which had adverse effects on nation building and national political events, and my popularity also, may I say, plummeted in that last year. I take this opportunity to sincerely apologise to the whole nation. Ladies and gentlemen, only God is infallible."
Mr Musharraf said he had learned his lessons and vowed not to repeat them.
The BBC's Caroline Hawley says the launch, in a room of the National Liberal Club lined with leather-bound books, came with security befitting a president - journalists were asked to arrive two hours before Mr Musharraf spoke.
She says the president spoke in front of his supporters, some former generals in smart business suits, and was interrupted several times with chants of "Pervez Musharraf, step forward, we are with you".
Mr Musharraf attacked the "total despondency and demoralisation and hopelessness which prevails in society today".
He added: "The time has come to redeem our pledge... to ensure the fruits of freedom are shared by all. The time has come for a new social contract to keep the dream of our forefathers alive... to make Pakistan into a progressive Islamic state for others in the third world to emulate."
Mr Musharraf said he wanted a party of national salvation that would "galvanise all Pakistanis regardless of religion, caste or creed".
He added: "It is time to unfurl a Muslim league umbrella for all - this umbrella for all shall be the All Pakistan Muslim League."
Mr Musharraf also said: "I will go back to Pakistan before the next election whatever the dangers."
The former army chief, who now lives in London, earlier told the BBC: "When there is a dysfunctional government and the nation is going down, its economy is going down, there is a clamour, there is a pressure on the military by the people."
He said he was launching the party in London because he risked assassination if he returned to Pakistan. He has survived a number of plots in the past.
Last month, Mr Musharraf told the BBC he would be standing for a seat in the 2013 parliamentary elections. From there he said he hoped to become either prime minister or president.
He made London his base, as a number of Pakistani politicians have done over the years, after his allies lost elections and he was ousted as president in 2008.
If he does go home, he faces legal cases, which he says are politically motivated.
Mr Musharraf seized power in 1999 when, as chief of Pakistan's army, he ousted elected Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif in a coup. Musharraf sets party launch date
| Organization Established | October 2010 | ['(Dawn)', '(Al Jazeera)', '(BBC)'] |
Turnout is at 66.2 percent, the highest in a legislative election since 1992. | SEOUL, April 15 (UPI) -- Fear of the coronavirus pandemic did not keep large numbers of South Koreans from heading to the polls to vote Wednesday in national parliamentary elections.
Voter turnout reached 66.2 percent of the country's 44 million eligible voters, the National Election Commission said, the highest turnout of any national election since 1992.
An exit poll by broadcaster KBS found that the ruling Democratic Party and an affiliated party are expected to gain enough seats to form a majority in the National Assembly, the country's 300-seat legislative body.
National Assembly elections are held every four years, with 253 seats elected directly and another 47 filled by proportional representation.
Amid warm spring weather Wednesday, voters began lining up early at 14,330 polling stations nationwide, where extensive coronavirus safety measures were in effect.
At one station located on a badminton court in northwestern Seoul's Seodaemun district, one poll worker took the temperature of each person lining up to vote while another administered hand sanitizer. A third passed out disposable plastic gloves.
As voters lined up, markings on the floor indicated proper spacing and voting booths were spread out at a distance inside the station.
The precautionary measures seemed to put most voters at ease.
"I felt very safe," said Ahn Jeong-suk, 70. "Wearing gloves to vote was something new but it made me feel more secure."
Any voters found to have a temperature above 99.5 degrees Fahrenheit or displaying symptoms of respiratory difficulties would be escorted to a separate area to cast a provisional ballot, the NEC said.
Hospitalized patients were eligible to vote by mail, while booths were also established at special quarantine facilities, where patients with mild cases could cast ballots.
The high turnout serves as testament to South Korea's strong response to the coronavirus pandemic, as early and aggressive testing, contact tracing and rapid treatment have allowed the country to flatten the curve of new infections.
On Wednesday, the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported 27 new cases of COVID-19, the sixth day in a row that the figure has hovered around 30 new patients.
Other countries, such as Britain and France, have postponed local elections while some U.S. states have either delayed presidential primaries or changed to mail voting only.
"The situation in South Korea was very difficult, but it has gotten much better," said voter Park Cheol-woo, 25. "I felt at ease coming to vote. They took my temperature and inside all the officials were wearing gloves and masks, so that helped me relax more."
The government's handling of the coronavirus outbreak also figures to reflect in election results, with the ruling Democratic Party poised to increase its share of seats in the National Assembly.
President Moon Jae-in has seen his approval ratings rise steadily since early March on the back of his administration's COVID-19 response. Earlier this week, his favorability rating hit 54.4 percent in a survey by pollster Realmeter, his highest level since November 2018.
The president's popularity had dipped to 48.7 percent at the beginning of March as South Korea scrambled to contain a rapidly expanding coronavirus outbreak centered around the southeastern city of Daegu. Moon was criticized for failing to completely ban travelers from China, and a petition calling for his impeachment over the handling of the escalating crisis gained nearly 1.5 million signatures.
His liberal Democratic Party also faced criticism from the opposition United Future Party over a sluggish economy, a corruption scandal that forced the resignation of former Justice Minister Cho Kuk in October and a faltering diplomatic process with North Korea.
However, the coronavirus outbreak appears to have been the dominant issue on most voters' minds on this election day. Final results are expected to be announced Thursday. | Government Job change - Election | April 2020 | ['(United Press International)'] |
A Zimbabwe court frees human rights activist Farai Maguwu on bail after five weeks in detention, accused of providing false information about the diamond trade, charges he denies. (Mail & Guardian) | A judge in Zimbabwe has freed on bail a human rights activist jailed for more than five weeks on allegations of passing false information on diamond-mining violations to the international diamond control body.
Judge Mawadze Gurainesu on Monday dismissed claims by state prosecutors that activist Farai Maguwu could interfere with witnesses called in police investigations into his conduct.
Bail had been rejected at several previous hearings after prosecutors alleged he gave out false information on rights violations and killings by police and troops in the eastern diamond district.
Human rights groups protested Maguwu’s continued detention since June 3 and said he was denied medical attention and mistreated in jail.
Gurainesu said police did not say when they would finish their investigation. But he said police reported long delays in gathering evidence from officials of the Kimberley Process control body outside Zimbabwe.
He said the slow progress of the investigations prejudiced Maguwu.
‘Flimsy reasons’ “His liberty should not be trampled upon on flimsy reasons,” the judge said.
Maguwu was freed on $1 500 bail on condition that he surrender his passport, report daily to police and remain within 40km of his home in the eastern city of Mutare.
He denied charges of possessing false information on killings, torture and the names of perpetrators along with stolen state security documents, offences carrying a penalty of up to 20 years in jail.
Zimbabwe’s diamond mining industry, which top politicians and military chiefs have also alleged to be corrupt, is scheduled to again come under review Wednesday at a meeting of the World Diamond Council in St Petersburg, Russia.
Maguwu’s detention contributed to a deadlock over whether to allow Zimbabwe to sell its diamonds on the world market at a meeting of the Kimberley Process control body in Israel last month.
The oversight body’s regional monitor Abbey Chikane had recommended that Zimbabwe’s diamonds be certified for world sales, as Zimbabwe had met the body’s minimum standards for diamond mining.
Documents allegedly produced by Maguwu and his Centre for Research and Development purported to contain hospital records, mortuary reports and burial orders of victims and interviews with survivors who identified “at least eight perpetrators of atrocities”, mostly senior police officers, in the Chiadzwa diamond district.
The documents, which prosecutors said contained false information, also reported on victims who testified to abuse by police and soldiers and sightings of dead bodies in the diamond fields.
At a previous bail hearing, a different High Court judge said prosecutors alleged Maguwu made a living from publishing false information detrimental to his country.
Human rights organisations have harshly opposed international sales of alleged “blood diamonds” from Zimbabwe. The mines ministry, controlled by President Robert Mugabe’s party in a fragile coalition with Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai, the former opposition leader, denies wrongdoing and accuses human rights groups of “peddling falsehoods” over rights violations. | Famous Person - Commit Crime - Release | July 2010 | ['(BBC)', '(IOL)', '[permanent dead link]', '(The Irish Times)', '(South Africa Mercury)'] |
Vajiralongkorn, King of Thailand since 2016, is officially crowned sovereign. His wife Suthida Tidjai, who he had married only three days prior, is declared Queen consort. | As part of his three-day coronation, Thai King Maha Vajiralongkorn was carried through Bangkok in a royal procession on Sunday.
The 66-year-old king was carried by 16 men. He wore gold-embroidered clothes and the same hat that his father wore when he was sworn in about seven decades ago, according to Reuters.
His father, King Bhumibol Adulyadej, died in 2016; Vajiralongkorn’s coronation was originally held off because of the official mourning period, though no reason was given for the extended delay.
The 16 men carrying the king swapped out along the way during Sunday’s procession, which involved more than 1,300 personnel.
Vajiralongkorn’s four-mile procession was intended to pay homage at three Buddhist temples and gave him an opportunity see his subjects, who came out in yellow, the color associated with the king.
The government said 200,000 people were expected to have lined the procession route. The weekend’s ceremonies and festivities, which cost $31.4 million, began Saturday, when the king put the 16-pound Great Crown of Victory on his head and declared he would reign with righteousness.
The new king, who is now Rama X, the 10th king of the Chakri dynasty, was educated in Britain and Australia. He became the official heir to the throne in 1972 — and the world’s richest monarch in 2018 when he signed the family’s $30 billion fortune over to himself.
On Sunday, the king bestowed new ranks and titles to some members of the royal family.
He was joined by Queen Suthida, a former flight attendant whom Vajiralongkorn brought on as his bodyguard and made a full general. The king announced just days ahead of the coronation that he had married Suthida and made her queen. It was not known, at the time, whether she would play a role in the coronation.
It is the fourth marriage for the king, who has had three divorces. He has a daughter from his first marriage, five from his second (four of whom aren’t recognized by the palace, the marriage having ended acrimoniously) and one from his third marriage, which ended in 2014. Various relatives of his third ex-wife were charged under Thailand’s harsh lèse-majesté laws, which make it illegal to insult the king, even if he is a former in-law.
The coronation comes at a confused time in Thai politics. Elections were held in March for the first time since the military took power in 2014, but the country still doesn’t have a government, leading some to wonder whether the military’s promise to return the country to democratic rule was a hollow one.
The most important news stories of the day, curated by Post editors and delivered every morning. | Government Job change - Appoint_Inauguration | May 2019 | ['(Washington Post)'] |
Rescue efforts are disrupted by severe rain after last week's deadly landslide in Zhugqu County, Gansu. | Overnight thunderstorms have brought new misery to a remote area of northwestern China as the death toll from weekend flooding and massive landslides rose to 1117.
The rains on Thursday triggered new mudslides, leaving five more missing, and another swollen river threatened to overflow.
The National Weather Centre forecast heavy rains in the coming days - up to nine centimetres of precipitation was expected in the already saturated region on Friday - and said the threat of additional landslides along the Bailong River was "relatively large".
An overnight deluge triggered more mudslides that swept away six houses in Xizangba village, blocked a river near Libazi village, and obstructed a key road used to ferry relief goods, the official Xinhua News Agency said, citing local authorities in Gansu province.
Another mudslide in nearby Tianshui city buried seven people, though two were quickly rescued, Xinhua said. In another part of Gansu, 250,000 residents of Chengxian county faced the threat of flooding as waters rose in the Donghe River, local officials said.
Tents set up as emergency shelters were flooded, and traumatised victims said the storms were a frightening reminder of the deluge that brought on Sunday's disaster in which three villages in Gansu's Zhouqu district were swallowed in waves of mud and rubble-strewn water. Hundreds of homes were completely buried.
Xinhua reported that 630 people were missing, with hopes for their rescue fading fast. However, two survivors were found on Wednesday, including a 50-year-old man pulled from knee-deep mud on the second floor of a hotel, Xinhua said. No details were given on the second survivor.
Local residents said they could still hear cries for help coming from collapsed buildings overnight and some 40 soldiers were sent to search the area, army officer Zhang Guiquan told Xinhua. "We will seize every chance to find survivors, but it is also important to ensure the safety of rescuers," he said.
Zhang Weixing, a Ministry of Civil Affairs official, said the scale of the disaster made counting the dead all the more difficult.
"In some households, all the people have died," Zhang told a news conference on Wednesday.
Bodies were wrapped in blankets and tied to sticks or placed on planks and left on the debris-strewn streets for pickup.
Crews had been using hand tools to pull out survivors but roads reopened on Wednesday, allowing in heavy earth-moving equipment and supplies.
Clean drinking water was a primary concern, with most local sources knocked out or too polluted to use. State media reported numerous cases of dysentery, but there were no reports of an epidemic outbreak.
At least 45,000 people have evacuated their homes, and the Ministry of Civil Affairs reported the delivery of 30,000 tents to the area, with thousands more on the way. Zhouqu has a population of 134,000, but it wasn't clear how many needed emergency shelter.
The Gansu provincial government announced subsidies for families whose homes were destroyed and promised to help rebuild all houses by next June.
Flooding in China has killed more than 2,000 people this year and caused tens of billions of dollars in damage across 28 provinces and regions. | Mudslides | August 2010 | ['(BBC)', '(AFP via France24)', '(The Sydney Morning Herald)'] |
12 boats capsize during a junior regatta in Dún Laoghaire, Ireland, on the Irish Sea, with 120 children swept out to sea. All have been rescued, according to the Irish Coast Guard, although 15 have been brought to hospital. (RTÉ) | 14 children and one adult have been taken to hospital after around 12 vessels capsized in high winds near Dún Laoghaire Harbour. Up to 100 children had to be rescued when the boats overturned near the West Pier during a children's regatta.
More than 80 people were assessed at the scene. A spokesman for Dún Laoghaire Life Boat said it appeared they were mostly suffering from shock and exposure. No one was seriously injured.
All of the children were wearing life jackets and all have since been accounted for.
A spokesperson for Dún Laoghaire Harbour Company said that there were 28 knot winds at the time of the incident, which occurred at around 2pm.
The large scale rescue operation involved garda air support, the Fire Brigade and a number of ambulances.
The LE Aoife is also at the scene.
Children from four yacht clubs in Dún Laoghaire and children from other visiting yacht clubs were involved in today's incident.
Following the incident, Harbour Road in Dún Laoghaire was closed.
Patrick Blaney, the principle race officer at today’s mini-regatta, has said that the event will resume tomorrow. He congratulated emergency services for their rapid response today. | Shipwreck | July 2007 | [] |
Ellen Pao resigns as the interim CEO of Internet site Reddit following a user backlash over the deletion of some subreddits for harassment and sacking of a popular admin. Site co–founder Steve Huffman will take her place. | Reddit, one of the most highly trafficked websites in the world, is replacing its interim chief executive, Ellen Pao, ending an eight-month tenure that was enmeshed in controversy.
Ms. Pao is resigning and being replaced by co-founder and former chief, Steve Huffman, the company said. He will rejoin Reddit’s other co-founder, Alexis Ohanian, who has returned to the company’s San Francisco headquarters full-time.
The move comes just days after Ms. Pao apologized to users for mishandling last week’s firing of Victoria Taylor, Reddit’s director of talent. Ms. Taylor was a key contact for the site’s moderators, mostly volunteers who manage nearly 10,000 discussion boards, or subreddits.
Ms. Taylor’s dismissal provoked a user revolt, as moderators shut down hundreds of subreddits. A petition on the social-causes website Change.org calling for Ms. Pao to step down gained steam over the weekend and now has more than 200,000 signatures.
The moderators, who are considered crucial to the site’s success, were upset that the dismissal of a community liaison they relied upon left them unprepared to host already scheduled events. Ms. Pao apologized to users, posting Monday, "We screwed up." | Government Job change - Resignation_Dismissal | July 2015 | ['(WSJ)'] |
Omri Sharon, son of the Prime Minister of Israel, Ariel Sharon, has been formally indicted on charges of corruption following allegations concerning Ariel Sharon's bid to become leader of the Likud party in 1999. | The indictment of Omri Sharon, announced last month, follows an investigation into corruption in the funding of his father's party.
The charges relate to Ariel Sharon's 1999 bid to lead the Likud Party and to be its candidate for prime minister.
Attention will be focused on how the charges affect the prime minister, who has consistently denied involvement.
If found guilty, Omri Sharon faces up to five years in prison over charges of violating campaign finance laws.
Immunity waived
Omri Sharon, who ran his father's election campaign, has told the Jerusalem Post newspaper that the strict limits on funding in place were unreasonable.
He says he is the first person to be tried for breaking the Political Parties law and has already waived his parliamentary immunity to face the charges.
Ariel Sharon had always denied knowledge of the financing of his campaign, saying it was run exclusively by his son. Attorney General Menachem Mazuz announced his decision to press the charges in July but he had to wait until a bill limiting MP's immunity against prosecution was passed. | Famous Person - Commit Crime - Accuse | August 2005 | ['(BBC)'] |
The British ambassador to Yemen, Timothy Torlot, survives an attempted suicide bombing. | NAIROBI -- The British ambassador to Yemen narrowly escaped an assassination attempt by a suicide bomber on Monday, an assault that Yemeni officials said had the hallmarks of an attack by al-Qaeda.
A convoy carrying Ambassador Timothy Torlot was headed to Britain's embassy in Sanaa, Yemen's capital, on Monday morning when the assailant detonated his explosives-laden vest. The assailant died, but no one else was killed in the attack. Torlot was not harmed.
There was no assertion of responsibility, but the involvement of al-Qaeda would indicate that the group has retained the ability to carry out high-impact assaults on Western targets, despite attempts by American and Yemeni counterterrorism officials to ratchet up pressure on extremists in Yemen.
U.S. and Yemeni officials have increased their cooperation since al-Qaeda's Yemen branch, al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, asserted responsibility for the failed bombing attempt on a Detroit-bound airliner on Christmas Day.
According to 26Sep.net, a Web site linked to Yemen's military and security service, the suicide bomber in Monday's attack was identified as Othman Ali al-Selwi, a 22-year-old student from the southern city of Taiz.
The British Embassy closed Monday, and both British and U.S. citizens were urged to remain vigilant and keep a low profile. It was unclear whether the British Embassy would reopen Tuesday, said Chantel Mortimer, an embassy spokeswoman.
A statement by the Yemeni Embassy in Washington suggested that the attack may have been in retaliation for a Yemeni operation that killed two suspected al-Qaeda operatives in the western city of Hodeida on April 18.
Since the Christmas Day incident, the United States has bolstered its counterterrorism operations in Yemen. In February, U.S. security-related funding for Yemen was increased to $150 million, up from $67 million last year; last week, Pentagon officials said they planned to boost U.S. military aid to bolster Yemeni special operations units.
The Obama administration has also approved the killing or capture of Anwar al-Aulaqi, the Yemeni American cleric linked to the Army psychiatrist charged with fatally shooting 13 people at Fort Hood, Tex., last year. Aulaqi is believed to be hiding in southeastern Yemen; U.S. and Yemeni officials say he has become a senior figure in al-Qaeda's Yemen branch.
Westerners have been repeatedly targeted in Yemen. Seventeen American sailors were killed in al-Qaeda's 2000 bombing of the USS Cole. In 2008, al-Qaeda militants attacked the U.S. Embassy, killing 16 people, including one American.
Mortimer, the British Embassy spokeswoman, said Monday's assault would probably hurt Yemen's already struggling economy, the poorest in the Middle East. | Armed Conflict | April 2010 | ['(Washington Post)'] |
Mohamoud Mohamed Gacmodhere, who was appointed Prime Minister of Somalia by President Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed last week, resigns. | A Somali official named prime minister by President Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed last week has quit, saying his appointment was destabilising the government.
Mohamed Mahamud Guled said he had chosen to resign "so that I am not seen as a stumbling block to the peace process which is going well now".
Not long after the announcement, Mr Yusuf said he too intended to resign.
Mr Guled was appointed in defiance of Somali MPs, who said the dismissal of Nur Hassan Hussein had been illegal.
The president had clashed in recent months with Mr Nur over attempts to negotiate a peace deal with the Islamist-led armed opposition.
Earlier this week, East African leaders imposed sanctions on President Yusuf.
At a meeting in Addis Ababa, the Inter-governmental Authority on Development (Igad) said it would not recognise the unconstitutional appointment of Mr Guled, and gave its backing to Mr Nur.
The grouping also called on other countries to take similar measures.
The BBC's East Africa correspondent Karen Allen says it is a sign of just how exasperated the international community has become with a country which has been in the grips of a power struggle for the past 17 years.
'Consultations'
President Yusuf told members of parliament who are loyal to him that he intended to hand in his resignation on Saturday.
Splits have paralysed his Western-backed administration at a time when Islamist insurgents appear to be growing stronger by the day.
Earlier, speaking to reporters in the town of Baidoa, Mr Guled said that "after evaluating the current situation", he had decided to resign as prime minister.
"I stood down so that I am not seen as a stumbling block to the peace process which is going on well now," he added.
"I want the government to remain in power and differences among its leaders to be sorted out."
Responding to a question on whether he initiated any projects during his short tenure, Mr Guled said that he had done nothing apart from engaging in "consultations that led to my resignation".
The former interior minister said he hoped the president would accept his decision, and that he would remain a member of parliament.
When Mr Yusuf sacked Mr Nur, he said it was because his government had been "paralysed by corruption, inefficiency and treason" and had failed to bring peace.
However, Somalia's parliament declared the sacking illegal and passed a vote of confidence in Mr Nur by a huge majority the following day.
Mr Nur was appointed prime minister in November 2007 to replace Ali Mohamed Ghedi, who had clashed with the president after refusing to negotiate with armed Islamists and other opposition groups.
He was previously chairman of Somalia's Red Crescent Society.
The African Union and the UN secretary-general have both described the political in-fighting as disruptive to the peace process, currently under way in neighbouring Djibouti.
Somalia has not had a functioning national government since President Mohamed Siad Barre was overthrown in 1991.
Ethiopian troops intervened two years ago to oust Islamists from Mogadishu, and install the transitional government.
But it is now in disarray and only controls parts of the capital and the town of Baidoa after recent advances by different Islamist groups.
The "irrevocable" departure of the Ethiopian troops from the country over the coming weeks has added to fears of further instability.
On Monday, the African Union agreed to keep its small peacekeeping force in place for a further two months, but did not say how it would cover for the imminent Ethiopian withdrawal. | Government Job change - Resignation_Dismissal | December 2008 | ['(BBC)'] |
A journalist for the British newspaper Financial Times is killed by a crocodile in Sri Lanka. | Paul McClean, a 24-year-old British journalist for the Financial Times, died following a crocodile attack Thursday afternoon while he was vacationing with friends in Sri Lanka, according to local authorities.
McClean, along with a group of seven friends, had been surfing Thursday on a beach known as Elephant Rock, a popular tourist destination between Arugam Bay and the city of Panama in southeast Sri Lanka. Afterward, McClean needed to use a restroom and ventured alone into a nearby area, overgrown with vegetation, to relieve himself, according to Fawas Lafeer, the owner of Safa Surf School, which is located about a mile up the coast.
McClean then dipped his hands into a nearby lagoon to wash up, Lafeer told The Washington Post, citing local witnesses.
Lafeer, who was about 10 feet away at the time, suddenly heard a fisherman screaming. He ran to the muddy lagoon, where a fisherman told him a crocodile had dragged a tourist - McClean - underwater. For a fleeting moment, Lafeer saw an arm reaching out of the water, he told The Post.
"At the last minute, we saw the fingers," he said. "We tried to find the body, we couldn't."
After Lafeer and the fisherman failed to rescue McClean, they called local authorities. Arugam Bay Police requested the help of the Sri Lankan Navy, which immediately rushed to the scene. But by the time the Navy reached the lagoon, it was past 5 p.m., and too dark to search the waters, Cmdr. Lankanatha Dissanayake, a spokesman for the Navy, told The Post.
On Friday morning, the Navy found a body in the lagoon, about 50 feet from the shore, and identified it as McClean's. It was intact, with wounds on his right leg below and above the knee, Dissanayake told The Post.
The body has been transported for an autopsy, according to Satya Rodrigo, a spokesman for Sri Lanka's Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The United Kingdom's Foreign and Commonwealth Office confirmed Friday morning that it was "assisting the family of a British man who has been reported missing in Sri Lanka," but provided no further details.
McClean's relatives were unable to be reached Friday morning by The Washington Post. But in a letter sent to the staff of the Financial Times, James Lamont, a managing editor for the newspaper, said, "it is with great sadness that I have to tell you that Paul McClean has gone missing while on holiday in Sri Lanka."
The letter said few details were known about the circumstances, but that the newspaper was working closely with McClean's family and with the United Kingdom's Foreign and Commonwealth Office.
"Paul is known to many of you as a talented, energetic and dedicated young journalist with a great career ahead of him at the FT," Lamont wrote. "He is a member of the fastFT team in London and joined the FT two years ago as a graduate trainee."
In a story published Friday in the Financial Times, McClean was described as "one hell of a reporter" who was "tireless when mastering a new beat." McClean, who grew up outside of London, was an avid squash player and soccer fan.
McClean graduated with honors from Oxford University in 2015 with a degree in French, according to his LinkedIn account. He previously covered Brexit and the European Union for the Financial Times in Brussels.
"Paul was an inspiration to us all in the Brussels bureau, turning out some of the most original, insightful and deeply researched journalism on Brexit since the referendum," Brussels bureau chief Alex Barker told the Financial Times. "He had a rare gift: an eye for hidden stories, writing flair and the charm to make people tell him anything and everything."
Katie Martin, head of the Financial Times' fastFT team, described McClean as "a warm, funny person and a talented young journalist with a curious mind . . . a joy to be around, truly, with an impish sense of humour."
McClean's brother, Neil, 22, was diagnosed with leukemia in 2014. In an online blog, Neil McClean documented his battle with the disease, including his frequent hospital stays and efforts to find a donor for a bone-marrow transplant. He studied at the University of Glasgow.
According to the British newspaper the Telegraph, McClean's father, Peter, is director of a management consultancy firm and lives with their mother, Irene, in Surrey.
McClean was just one month shy of his 25th birthday when he died, according to the Financial Times.
McClean had been vacationing in Sri Lanka along with a group of two female friends and five male friends, the Navy spokesman said. They were staying at Green Beach Hotel, which offers cabanas and rooms about a 12 minute walk from the beach in Arugam Bay. A desk receptionist said McClean's friends were all out at the lagoon Friday morning as the Navy searched for his remains.
Elephant Rock is a popular beach among beginner's surfers because of its sandy bar and safe, shallow waters. The lagoon where McClean was attacked is located about a half mile from the beach. On a daily basis, fishermen can be seen along a nearby river, lined with mangroves and vegetation.
But, the Navy spokesman said, "the villagers, they don't use that lagoon because they know there are crocodiles." McClean, as a tourist, must not have known, he said.
Lafeer, of the nearby surf club, said three fishermen have been attacked by crocodiles in recent memory, but they have only been injured. | Famous Person - Death | September 2017 | ['(The Chicago Tribune)'] |
The Presidents of Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda, Joseph Kabila and Paul Kagame, pledge to boost economic and security ties after a rare meeting. | Sebastian Usher reports on relations between Rwanda and DR Congo
The leaders of Rwanda and Democratic Republic of Congo have pledged to boost economic and security ties, hailing an "all new era" after a rare meeting.
The talks took place 13 years after the neighbours broke diplomatic relations. "It is the first giant step forward," Congo's President Joseph Kabila told reporters after the meeting near Goma. Rwandan President Paul Kagame told his Congolese counterpart that Rwanda would never be a base for militias that could destabilise Congo. They also agreed to develop projects to exploit natural gas reserves in Lake Kivu, which lies between the two countries, and to revive joint commissions that have lain dormant for years. The meeting comes a month after both sides appointed ambassadors to their respective capitals and has been seen as a further sign of improving relations between the countries. Military co-operation
In January, the two countries agreed to take joint action against the Hutu FDLR rebels in Congo. Some of the FDLR leaders are accused of taking part in the 1994 Rwandan genocide, before they fled to DR Congo. The Rwandan forces have also arrested Congolese Tutsi rebel leader Laurent Nkunda, who is wanted in Congo, but has so far refused to extradite him over fears he may be executed. But Mr Kagame sought to allay Congolese fears at the talks. "I can give a very firm assurance that neither Laurent Nkunda nor [his group] the CNDP can base in Rwanda to cause any discomfort... or affect the stability created in DRC or between DRC and Rwanda," he said. The two leaders are due to meet again in Kinshasa in October or November. | Diplomatic Talks _ Diplomatic_Negotiation_ Summit Meeting | August 2009 | ['(BBC)'] |
Two former presidents, Andry Rajoelina and Marc Ravalomanana, advance to the second round, due to be held on December 19. Incumbent president Hery Rajaonarimampianina is eliminated. | ANTANANARIVO (Reuters) - An ex-president of Madagascar and the man who overthrew him in a 2009 coup will compete to become the island state’s next leader in a run-off election in December after the two came top in a first-round vote that eliminated the incumbent.
Former president Marc Ravalomanana garnered 35.35 percent of the vote in the first round on Nov. 7, behind his successor, Andry Rajoelina, who got 39.23 percent, the High Constitutional Court ruled on Wednesday.
Incumbent President Hery Rajaonarimampianina drew just 8.82 percent, the court said, and will not take part in the second round, due on Dec. 19. The court rejected his request for the vote to be canceled and Rajoelina’s votes invalidated, saying there was insufficient evidence of widespread irregularities.
Rajoelina told reporters after the court’s announcement of results: “I appeal to all citizens, to those who did not vote, it is not too late. The time to save Madagascar has come. Vote in the next election. I reach out to those who are not yet convinced. Take my hand.”
Madagascar is hoping for its second peaceful election since the upheaval of 2009 when Ravalomanana was toppled by protests led by Rajoelina in what the African Union and other international organizations said was a coup.
Rajoelina’s takeover prompted an exodus of foreign investors from Madagascar, which is one of the world’s poorest countries despite reserves of nickel, cobalt, gold, uranium and other minerals. It is also the world’s biggest producer of vanilla.
Madagascar, a sprawling island off the coast of southeastern Africa, held its last elections in 2013.
The constitutional court also reported a turnout of 53.95 percent among registered voters.
“I appeal to those who did not come to vote. You have an electoral card, come and vote. The country’s future for the next five years is at stake,” said Hanitra Razafimanantsoa, vice-president of the National Assembly and a member of Ravalomanana’s TIM party.
Though relative political stability since the 2013 election has enabled the economy to rebound, about 80 percent of the population of 25 million lives on less than $2 per day.
Madagascar was rocked by a fresh crisis in April sparked by a legal amendment by Rajaonarimampianina’s government that would have prevented Ravalomanana from standing for office. Rajaonarimampianina later removed that provision. | Government Job change - Election | November 2018 | ['(Reuters)'] |
One of the two attackers, Elton Simpson, had linked himself to ISIL on Twitter before his attack on the exhibition of drawings of the prophet Mohammed at the Curtis Culwell Center in Garland, Texas. He had been a member of a since-closed Phoenix mosque; he and his partner, 34-year-old Nadir Hamid Soofi, who had gone to college in Utah, had been known to and were investigated by law enforcement, but nevertheless, officers did not know that they were planning an imminent attack of this type, and they were not thought to be an imminent threat, despite having admired the late Anwar al-Awlaki, and swearing loyalty to Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, prominent figures in al-Qaeda in Iraq and in ISIL, respectively. | Updated 0255 GMT (1055 HKT) May 5, 2015 (CNN)They wore body armor. They carried assault rifles. And one had declared loyalty to ISIS.
Shots fired at Pamela Geller event. The community stayed away from event. Seems like a lone wolf type of attack. Just what we didn't want.
CNN's Saeed Ahmed, Kevin Conlon, Kristina Sgueglia, Vivian Kuo, Janet DiGiacomo, Chris Lett, Holly Yan, Pamela Brown, Jim Sciutto, John Couwels, Wolf Blitzer, Kyung Lah, Sonia Moghe and Sophia Saifi contributed to this report. | Armed Conflict | May 2015 | ['(CNN)'] |
At least 50 people are killed by an explosion at a mosque in northern Pakistan. | LAHORE, Pakistan (CNN) -- Police raided an Islamic school and arrested seven students hours after a blast in a mosque in northern Pakistan left at least 50 dead and dozens injured, according to an Associated Press report.
A man, right, mourns the death of his two sons in a suicide attack near Peshawar that killed at least 50.
A bomb, packed with ball-bearings and nails, tore through Eid prayers at a mosque packed with hundreds of worshippers northeast of Peshawar on Friday, targeting Aftab Ahmad Khan Sherpao, former Pakistani interior minister, local police told CNN.
The blast left blood-stained clothes, hats and shoes as well as body parts and pieces of flesh scattered across the mosque, according to reports.
The attack is the most recent in a series of attacks in Pakistan's North West Frontier Province and occurred near Sherpao's residence in Charsadda -- an area approximately 28 miles (45 kilometers) northeast of the city of Peshawar. Watch what's known about the blast
Police investigators say Taliban or al Qaeda elements could have been involved and they believe the former minister was targeted over his supervision of operations against militants in Pakistan's tribal areas including the restive NWFP.
This attack is the deadliest in Pakistan since 136 people were killed in the southern port city of Karachi on October 18 in a suicide bombing targeting the convoy of Benazir Bhutto, Pakistan's former prime minister. See photos from the blast's aftermath
Bhutto returned to the country after eight years in self-imposed exile ahead of January parliamentary elections.
The attack comes in the midst of continued operations by the Pakistani army to rout out militants in the swat valley in the north of the country, an area the government considers a front-line in the so-called global war on terror.
A former tourist destination about 100 miles (160 kilometers) from Islamabad, The Swat Valley has been plagued by violence and has become a hotbed for militants. Earlier this month, the army said it has retaken towns seized by militants over the summer, killing 290 and capturing 140.
The attack also comes less than a week after President Pervez Musharraf lifted a six-week-old state of emergency he said was necessary to ensure the country's stability but that critics said was a move to stifle the country's judiciary, curb the media and secure more power.
While Musharraf has promised free and fair parliamentary elections, continued instability in the tribal areas and the threat of attack on large crowds has kept people from attending political rallies and dampened the country's political process. Campaigners from various political parties say fewer people are coming out to show their support.
The president -- who survived two assassination attempts in December 2003 -- denounced Friday's attack, speaking out against what he said was a small number of Muslim extremists who would carry out such an act, according to a report from the state-run Associated Press of Pakistan. He ordered security and intelligence agencies to find those responsible.
A spokesperson for the U.N. said Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon condemns the attack and he "urges all political forces in Pakistan to unite against the scourge of terrorism and to act together to create a peaceful environment ahead of the Parliamentary elections." This is the second attempt on Sherpao's life since April, when a suicide bomber blew himself up just a few feet from Sherpao during a political rally, injuring him and killing at least 28 people.
The APP reported that the blast was caused by a suicide bomber inside the mosque, as people were gathering for religious observances of Eid al-Adha, the Muslim celebration of the Hajj pilgrimage to Mecca in Saudi Arabia.
"We were saying prayers when this huge explosion occurred," said Shaukat Ali, a 26-year-old survivor of the blast whose white cloak and pants were torn and spattered with blood, an AP report said.
Despite security measures at the mosque, the bomber was praying in a row of worshippers when he detonated the explosive, provincial police chief Sharif Virk said, the report added.
A Peshawar hospital was wracked with chaos as the injured arrived in pickup trucks, ambulance sirens wailed and the wounded screamed for help, the report said. The bomb contained between 13-17 pounds of explosives and was filled with nails and ball bearings to maximize casualties, said the head of the bomb unit at the scene, who declined to give his name. Sherpao and his two sons were in the first row of the mosque, the APP report said. Mustafa Khan Sherpao had leg injuries while Sikandar Hayat Khan Sherpao "escaped unhurt."
Sherpao was Pakistan's interior minister -- the country's top civilian security official -- before Musharraf announced a caretaker government in November ahead of elections. He heads the breakaway political group Pakistan People's Party-Sherpao, is a vocal critic of religious extremism, pro-Musharraf and a candidate in upcoming elections.
| Armed Conflict | December 2007 | ['(CNN)'] |
An aircraft crashes at Domodedovo airport in Moscow after undergoing multiple engine failure, with at least 2 deaths and 80 injuries. | Two people were killed and dozens injured when a Russian airliner rolled off the runway during an emergency landing at a Moscow airport on Saturday.
A Tu-154 plane with 160 passengers and eight crew members onboard had all the three engines cut out one after another shortly after taking off from Moscow's Vnukovo airport on a domestic flight and made an emergency landing at Domodedovo airport about 70 km away. Early reports said the plane “partially disintegrated” as it skidded off the runway and hit a concrete fence, but had not caught fire.
Three months ago another Russian Tu-154 airliner with 81 people on board made a safe landing at an abandoned airfield in the Siberian taiga after all its systems failed in mid-flight. There were no casualties and the pilots were conferred Russia's top Hero award for their feat.
The Tu-154 was the workforce of the Soviet civil aviation for the past three decades. It is being phased out and replaced with more modern aircraft. | Air crash | December 2010 | ['(RIA Novosti)', '(The Guardian)', '(The Hindu)', '(Xinhua)', '(AFP via The Sydney Morning Herald)'] |
Judge Ghassan Ouiedat, a Lebanese prosecutor, imposes a travel ban on former Chairman of Nissan Carlos Ghosn after he was summoned over an Interpol warrant issued by Japan seeking his arrest on financial misconduct charges. | BEIRUT/TOKYO (Reuters) - Carlos Ghosn’s lawyer said he was “very comfortable” with legal proceedings in Lebanon on Thursday, after the fugitive ex-Nissan boss was questioned over an extradition request from Japan where he faces financial misappropriation charges.
Ghosn fled Japan to Lebanon, his childhood home, last month as he awaited trial on charges of under-reporting earnings, breach of trust and misappropriation of company funds, all of which he denies.
His dramatic escape has raised tension between Tokyo and Beirut at a time when Lebanon is seeking an international bailout to help it tackle a deep financial crisis.
Ghosn slammed the Japanese justice system at a two-hour news conference on Wednesday, prompting Japan’s Justice Minister to launch a rare and forceful public response.
After questioning in Beirut about Japan’s Interpol warrant, two judicial sources said the prosecutor had imposed a travel ban, a step Carlos Abou Jaoude, a Beirut-based lawyer for Ghosn, described as procedural to broadcaster Al Jadeed.
Lebanon has no extradition agreement with Japan.
“He (Ghosn) is very comfortable with the path,” Jaoude told another broadcaster, MTV, adding that Ghosn was also comfortable in himself “especially after what he went through”.
One of the judicial sources said authorities had asked Japan for its file on Ghosn, including the charges against him, and would not question him again until the information is received. Ghosn would surrender his French passport on Thursday, he said.
Ghosn said later he was more comfortable with the Lebanese judiciary than that of Japan. “I will fully cooperate,” he told broadcaster LBCI.
Japan’s Justice Minister Masako Mori said Ghosn’s allegations that he had had “zero chance” of a fair trial in Japan were unfounded.
“Defendant Ghosn was looking to justify his unlawful exit from Japan by propagating a false recognition of our justice system,” she said at the second of two news conferences, the first of which was held shortly after midnight.
“I felt that we needed to respond immediately to broadcast a correct understanding to people around the world.”
Ghosn told LBCI her comments were “ridiculous”.
“Today my concern is clearing my name and reputation because all the accusations against me are fabricated,” he told Al Jadeed.
Ghosn’s arrest after his private jet touched down in Tokyo in November 2018 shook the global auto industry and jeopardized the Renault-Nissan alliance of which he was the mastermind.
The Brazilian-born executive said on Wednesday he was prepared to stand trial anywhere he could get a fair hearing but also that he was ready to stay for a long time in Lebanon.
A source close to the 65-year-old has said his legal team is pushing for him to be tried in the country.
Ghosn said, however, that he did not want to put pressure on Japan-Lebanon bilateral ties, two days after Japan’s ambassador to Lebanon requested greater cooperation from President Michel Aoun in dealing with the case.
The decision by Lebanon’s prosecutor, Judge Ghassan Ouiedat, after Ghosn’s questioning at Beirut’s Justice Palace requires Ghosn to keep the authorities informed of his place of residence, the judicial sources said.
Ghosn was given the same instruction after accompanying questioning over a formal legal complaint filed by a group of Lebanese lawyers who accuse him of “normalisation” with Israel over a visit he made there in 2008.
Ghosn said on Wednesday he had made the trip as a French citizen and an executive of Renault to sign a contract with a state-backed Israeli firm to sell electric vehicles, and had been obliged to go because the board had requested it.
He said he had apologized for the trip and had not meant to hurt the people of Lebanon, which deems Israel an enemy state.
During the visit, Ghosn met Ehud Olmert, who was Israel’s prime minister at the time of the 2006 war between Israel and the Iranian-backed Lebanese group Hezbollah.
Nearly 1,200 Lebanese, mostly civilians, died in the 2006 war and 158 people died in Israel, mostly soldiers.
Additional reporting by Nadine Awadalla, Tom Perry and Eric Knecht; writing by Tom Perry; editing by Philippa Fletcher
| Famous Person - Commit Crime - Accuse | January 2020 | ['(Reuters)'] |
Former New South Wales Opposition Leader, John Brogden, is hospitalized after apparent suicide attempt after resigning as party leader. | John Brogden was rushed to hospital last night after an apparent suicide attempt, one day after he resigned in disgrace as the NSW Opposition Leader.
He was found at his Pittwater electorate office some time before 11pm with self-inflicted stab wounds. He is believed to have been in a drug-and alcohol-induced stupor, and was taken by ambulance to Royal North Shore Hospital.
News of Mr Brogden's collapse swept quickly around Macquarie Street, where his colleagues had been involved in a late-night numbers battle to decide who will replace the 36-year-old, who resigned on Monday after admitting to propositioning female journalists and referring to Helena Carr, wife of the former premier, as a mail-order bride.
Mr Brogden's deputy, Barry O'Farrell, immediately put off his push for the leadership in a ballot scheduled for today and rushed to the hospital to support Mr Brogden and his wife, Lucy.
The Herald had called Mr O'Farrell about 11pm to ask him about the numbers, but he replied: "Excuse me if I say I don't care about the leadership at the moment, but I am following an ambulance with John Brogden inside. He has attempted self-harm. It sort of puts things in perspective, doesn't it?"
Mr Brogden's injuries were described as not life-threatening. They required no surgery last night. He was said to be lucid when taken to hospital.
The Herald understands Mr Brogden may have been aware that The Daily Telegraph was to publish allegations today that he was involved in another sexual advance to two female reporters. It led early editions of the paper with the headline: "Brogden's sordid past".
Mr Brogden's collapse could mean that this morning's planned leadership ballot will not go ahead.
Mr O'Farrell and his fellow Liberal MPs Peta Seaton and Andrew Tink left the hospital at 12.10am, but did not elaborate on Mr Brogden's condition.
Earlier yesterday Mr Brogden had returned to work as the member for Pittwater, pledging his commitment to local causes and getting warm support from his party and constituents.
He spent the day in the electorate office at Mona Vale, where some locals were disappointed by his behaviour but fully supported his decision to remain their MP.
"I would have liked him to stay on as leader of the party, but realistically he probably can't," said Lyndee Cook, 50, of Mona Vale. "He has been the member for here a long time and I'm glad he is staying on. Most people here quite like him."
Mr Brogden has been the MP in the blue-ribbon Liberal seat since a 1996 byelection and has improved his winning margin in the past two elections. He has fought hard to try to save Mona Vale Hospital and reserved his only interview after resigning for The Manly Daily, promising to devote his "complete commitment to serve and fight the issues".
"Now I have got the chance to come back [as an MP] and recommit myself to the role."
The president of the Pittwater branch, Ross Barlow, said local party members were disappointed by his actions but wanted him to remain their MP.
"Local members were disappointed but they are giving their support back to him," Mr Barlow said. "John is a good operator and a good person in Pittwater. He has done a good job here."
Erin Ricketts, 20, a student from Scotland Island, was glad Mr Brogden remained in Parliament and hoped he would "do good things" for the northern beaches. "If he pinched some girl's arse and said the wrong thing it shouldn't reflect what he does politically," she said. | Government Job change - Resignation_Dismissal | August 2005 | ['(Sydney Morning Herald via SMH.com.au)'] |
The United States Green Party, in a rebuff to Ralph Nader, nominates Texas lawyer David Cobb as their candidate for President of the United States. This means that Nader will need to attain ballot access on his own in over 23 states, instead of being able to be placed on the ballots automatically as the Green Party candidate. Nader has announced that he may attempt to gain access as the Reform Party candidate. | Votes from the Texas delegation, from Mr. Cobb's native state, gave him a total of 408 during the second round of voting, topping the 385 necessary to win the party's nomination. Over 750 official delegates from 47 states participated in the vote. The contest that emerged in the final months of the campaign for Green support pitted a nomination for Mr. Cobb against endorsement of independent candidate Ralph Nader and his running mate, activist Peter Camejo.
"I look forward to doing for the next four months what I've been doing for the past 8 months -- working to build and grow the Green Party, supporting local candidates and registering more Green voters," said David Cobb.
Pat LaMarche, noting that the Cobb-LaMarche ticket features two candidates registered in the Green Party -- unlike the 2000 campaign -- said, "I'm proud that we have a Green Party ticket with Green candidates advancing a Green agenda."
"The six-month Green primary has produced a truly Green ticket," said Ben Manski, co-chair of the Green Party of the United States. "While a year ago, few predicted that a grassroots Green would emerge from the ranks of the party, David Cobb has proven that the party has developed a high level of political maturity and self-confidence. We look forward to working with the Cobb-LaMarche ticket in challenging voters to cast their votes for a better America." | Government Job change - Election | June 2004 | ['(The Progress Report)'] |
The United States Department of Justice charges WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange with 17 counts of violating the Espionage Act, including provisions that prohibit a conspiracy to obtain, receive and disclose national defense information, attempting to crack computer passwords, and unlawful receipt of sensitive information such as State Department communications and Defense Department logs. |
WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange is taken from court, where he appeared on charges of jumping British bail seven years ago, in London on May 1.
Updated at 5:54 p.m. ET
Prosecutors are bringing a slate of new charges against Julian Assange, including alleged violations of the Espionage Act, raising the stakes for his prospective extradition from the United Kingdom.
A grand jury in Northern Virginia has returned a superseding indictment with 17 more charges against the WikiLeaks founder. It follows an earlier case brought against Assange in connection with the alleged help he gave to then-Army intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning to compromise U.S. government computer networks.
Assange is being charged for what officials call his "alleged complicity in illegal acts" involving Manning and "for agreeing and attempting to obtain" information that compromised national security. Manning provided Assange with war logs, State Department cables, assessments of Guantanamo detainees and other materials.
Said U.S. Attorney Zach Terwilliger: "The United States has only charged Assange with publishing a narrow set of classified documents" that included the names of innocent people, such as dissidents and human rights activists.
"Assange is not charged simply because he is a publisher," Terwilliger said.
The charges announced on Thursday all relate to chapters in the history of WikiLeaks before its involvement in Russia's interference in the 2016 presidential election. | Famous Person - Commit Crime - Accuse | May 2019 | ['(NPR)'] |
Subsets and Splits
No community queries yet
The top public SQL queries from the community will appear here once available.