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North Dakota Governor Jack Dalrymple issues an executive order which expels thousands of Native American and environmental protesters who are camped on the federal property that is near the site of the oil pipeline project which they oppose, saying that the "emergency evacuation" is necessary to protect them from harsh winter conditions. | Follow NBC News The estimated 2 to 3,000 protesters camped out in Cannon Ball, North Dakota, to protest the controversial Dakota Access pipeline must immediately evacuate, North Dakota Gov. Jack Dalrymple declared Monday night.
Dalrymple said the camp's semi-permanent shelters were not "suitable for winter habitation" in accordance with state building codes.
The order immediately threw the Standing Rock Sioux's months-long fight to stop the Dakota Access pipeline into possible disarray.
A source close to Standing Rock Sioux Chairman Dave Archambault II told NBC News that they worried the order "could put lives at risk" if protesters and activists — who refer to themselves as "water protectors" — were forced to immediately leave the camp in sub-freezing temperatures.
The camp is located on a slice of land at the confluence of the Cannonball and Missouri Rivers, and is under the jurisdiction of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
In his executive order, Gov. Dalrymple recognized the land was under federal, not state, control but cited his power under the North Dakota Disaster Act of 1985 as the state’s top elected official to protect citizens in “the best interest of public safety.”
The law allows the governor to “direct and compel” evacuations from any area in the event of a natural or man-made disaster.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers did not issue an immediate response to the governor’s order.
The order appeared to be a means to protect the state from liabilities of any kind, said Jennifer Cook, Policy Director for the ACLU in North Dakota.
Cook questioned how effective the order could be, however, given that a spokeswoman for North Dakota's Department of Emergency Services said that the state would not call on law enforcement or the National Guard to enforce the order.
“They are clearly going to deny the protesters the right to emergency treatment so this is a way of protecting the state from any civil liabilities, specifically,” Cook told NBC News. “The other intention of the order is clearly to stifle free speech and the right to peacefully assemble, which we find to be deeply concerning and possible infringements on protesters’ First Amendment rights.” | Government Policy Changes | November 2016 | ['(Reuters)', '(NBC News)'] |
The head of the UN peacekeeping force in Haiti, General Urano Teixeira da Matta Bacellar, is found dead. UN officials believe his death to be suicide. | The body of Gen Urano Teixeira Da Matta Bacellar was discovered early in the morning in the capital, Port-au-Prince, with a bullet wound to the head.
UN officials said Gen Teixeira, who took over as head of the 9,000-strong peacekeeping force last September, appeared to have shot himself.
He will be replaced by Chilean General Eduardo Aldunate Herman.
Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said Gen Teixeira had conducted a difficult task with "excellence and responsibility".
"[The Brazilian government] reaffirms its determination to support the people of Haiti in the construction of peace and political stability," he said.
Haiti continues to be blighted by political and criminal violence and instability, nearly two years after President Jean-Bertrand Aristide was ousted. The peacekeepers have so far had little success in improving security. The mission's mandate, which expires in mid-February, also includes supporting the political process. Election in doubt
Correspondents say the Brazilian general's death casts further doubt over the timing of the country's election, which has already been postponed four times.
The poll has faced repeated delays because of spikes in violence, delays in distributing 3.5 million voter identification cards and problems with polling stations.
On Friday, the UN Security Council urged the country's interim government to hold an election by 7 February. Voting had originally been scheduled for November, then moved to December, and then delayed a third time until 8 January. But last week Haiti's provisional electoral council postponed the election again, without setting a new date. | Famous Person - Death | January 2006 | ['(BBC News)'] |
Georgia Representative John Lewis leads about 40 U.S. House of Representatives Democrats in a sit-in after the U.S. Senate failed to approve any of four gun control measures Monday night. | Georgia congressman John Lewis deployed a strategy from his days as a civil rights activist and coupled it with social media to stage a dramatic sit-in Wednesday on the House floor with his fellow Democrats to force a vote on gun control — and disrupt political business as normal well into the night.
As midnight Thursday rolled in, the sit-in had lasted for over 12 hours.
"Sometimes you have to do something out of the ordinary, sometimes you have to make a way out of no way,” said Lewis, one of the last living icons of the civil rights movement. “There comes a time when you have to say something, when you have to make a little noise, when you have to move your feet. This is the time. Now is the time to get in the way. The time to act is now. We will be silent no more."
As the sit-in stretched into half-a-day long, lasting through votes by GOP that threatened to derail the movement, Lewis thanked supporters and fellow legislators, saying "I'm gratified. It is good to see sitting there on the floor. I felt like I was reliving my life all over again. During the sixties, the sit in started with 3 or 4 people and it spread like wildfire. This was spread."
Lewis and roughly 40 fellow House Democrats began the protest around midday Wednesday by reciting the Pledge of Allegiance as a couple dozen visitors in the gallery looked on and vowing "to occupy the floor of the House until there is action."
Other Democrats began chanting: "I'm sick and tired of being sick and tired!" and "No bill, no break!"
"We will be sitting-in until the House is allowed an opportunity to vote," Democratic Whip Steny Hoyer of Maryland said later in a statement. "This is an issue that ought to transcend party — it's about saving lives and keeping our communities safe."
Rep. Keith Ellison posted on Facebook that he learned about the sit-in when a staffer handed him a note that read: "Your Mom called and wants you on the floor!"
"Couldn't say no," the Minnesota Democrat wrote. "Don't worry, mom. I'm there."
Soon they were joined by Democratic reinforcements from the Senate side, including Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, Bob Menendez of New Jersey, Sherrod Brown of Ohio, Mark Warner of Virginia and Patrick Leahy of Vermont.
Lewis later told NBC News that "sometimes you are moved by history."
Related: Senate Votes Down Four Gun Control Measures After Fiery Debate
It is highly unusual for members to disrupt the functioning of the House this way.
If members do not leave the floor and no compromise is reached, it is largely up to Speaker Paul Ryan to decide whether to use the authority of the House to seek to clear the floor and/or sanction members, or to keep the House in recess and wait out the issue.
The protest was not being televised because the House has not formally gaveled into session.
So Rep. Scott Peters, D-California, has been using the video streaming app, Periscope, to share footage of the sit-in. C-Span has been broadcasting Peters' video feed.
House members also took to social media to lodge their protests using the hashtags #NoBillNoBreak, #NOMORESILENCE and #goodtrouble.
We are one people, one family, one America. We must come together to fight the senseless plague of gun violence. https://t.co/nuK39eqSAG
They can turn off the cameras but they can't keep us quiet. #NoMoreSilence. We want a vote on gun reforms pic.twitter.com/ETZX1WM03b
I'm on the House floor with @repjohnlewis & Dems staging a sit-in to demand action on commonsense gun legislation pic.twitter.com/byIivby5gG
Outside, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi made sure the rest of the country knew about what was going on inside the chamber with a hastily-arranged press conference on the Capitol steps .
“Once again we are fighting an uphill fight to bring legislation to the floor,” Pelosi said. “We truly believe that if there was a vote, we would win the vote.”
The merging of old-school protest tactics and new-school social media strategy helped ensure that the House Democrats' revolution on gun policy reform was indeed televised.
"I did this in the '60s — I never expected to be doing it in my '60s," said Rep. Michael Capuano, D-Mass., just before 9 p.m., as the sit-in was still going strong.
Related: Can They Do That? These Rules Govern Protests on House Floor
The move led by Lewis, who was jailed and repeatedly beaten back in the 1960s when he helped lead the battle for equal rights for African-Americans, took the Republican leadership by surprise.
And it came after Lewis wrote House Speaker Paul Ryan a letter demanding that he keep the House in session instead of going into recess so there could more debate on gun control legislation in the wake of the Orlando massacre.
“As the worst mass shooting in our nation’s history has underscored, our country cannot afford to stand by while this Congress continues to be paralyzed by politics,” Lewis wrote.
Related: Civil Rights Icon Rep. John Lewis No Stranger to Sit-Ins
The House sit-in came on the heels of a showdown over gun policy Monday in the Senate.
Four gun policy measures failed to pass the 60-vote threshold to move forward in the Senate. The votes came in the wake of the deadly shooting spree in a gay nightclub in Orlando — the nation's worst mass shooting in modern history — and a subsequent 15-hour filibuster by Senate Democrats who demanded action on gun control.
The four amendments — two filed by Democratic Sens. Dianne Feinstein of California, and Chris Murphy of Connecticut, and two other, less restrictive measures filed by Sens. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, and John Cornyn, R-Texas — addressed background checks of prospective gun buyers and the sale of guns and explosives to people on terrorist watch lists.
Murphy, who led last week's 15-hour filibuster by Senate Democrats who demanded action on gun control, applauded the House's moves.
Just watched House Republicans shut down House as @HouseDemocrats began to sit down on floor to say #NoBillNoBreak. Amazing.
So did former President Bill Clinton and President Barack Obama who in a Tweet thanked Lewis for "leading on gun violence where we need it most." Vice President Joe Biden called Lewis " the keeper of the nation's conscience at times of challenge and controversy."
This is leadership. https://t.co/8y5fYqRFGU
As the day wore on, the gallery seats began to fill as curious onlookers watched the impassioned speeches. Care packages with snacks and letters from supporters began pouring in for the lawmakers who were determined to stay the night.
GOP leadership gaveled the House back into session sometime around 10:00 p.m., to vote on a veto override of the Fiduciary Rule, which is unrelated to the gun issue. The vote was previously scheduled for Wednesday.
As Speaker Ryan spoke, the gallery and Dems on the floor began loudly chanting "NO BILL, NO BREAK!"
Ryan called the vote to order and walked away from the podium. Democrats began pointing at him and yelling "SHAME! SHAME! SHAME!"
Democrats also sang "We Shall Overcome" and vowed "we shall pass a bill."
A group of 150-300 peaceful protesters holding candles and signs were also gathered outside the Capitol, organized by Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America.
When Lewis was asked around midnight how long the sit-in would last, he responded, "We're going to sit in, sit down, stand up ... we're going to be here for a while tonight."
Retweet if you agree → The sit-in by House Democrats is nothing more than a publicity stunt. #StopTheStunthttps://t.co/YGgl2yLHyB
| Protest_Online Condemnation | June 2016 | ['(NBC News)', '(Politico)'] |
At least 15 people are killed and seven injured in a hostel fire in Molodyozhny, Astrakhan, Russia. | At least 15 people died and seven were injured when a three-storey wooden hostel erupted in flames in southern Russia, local emergency officials say.
"The house has burned out fast, like a box of matches," an official with the emergencies committee of Astrakhan region said.
He said the fire, in a hostel built for local workers but inhabited by nearly 80 squatters, broke out late on Saturday in the town of Molodyozhny.
The cause of the fire was not immediately clear.
Russian media said the hostel was closed after an official commission found its condition dangerous for residents and electricity was switched off, but squatters reconnected it using makeshift wiring.
Fires in old buildings are not unusual in Russia, especially during winter when heaters are being used.
Twenty-three people died on January 31 when fire destroyed a retirement home in the northern region of Komi.
- | Fire | February 2009 | ['(Reuters via ABC News Australia)'] |
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers win the Super Bowl following a 31–9 victory against the Kansas City Chiefs, making them the first wildcard team to win the Super Bowl since the 2010 Green Bay Packers and the first to win it in their home stadium. Quarterback Tom Brady is named Super Bowl MVP. | Last updated on 8 February 20218 February 2021.From the section American Footballcomments1028
Tom Brady steered the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to a comfortable 31-9 victory over the Kansas City Chiefs to extend his record for Super Bowl wins to seven.
In his first season after a glittering 20-year spell with the New England Patriots, the evergreen quarterback helped Tampa Bay become the first team to play a Super Bowl in their own stadium.
And despite facing Kansas City and their dynamic young quarterback Patrick Mahomes, who came in as favourites, Brady threw three touchdown passes to prevent the Chiefs becoming the first back-to-back NFL champions since Brady and the Patriots in the 2004 season.
At 43 years and 188 days, Brady became the oldest player to play in the biggest game in US sport, extending his record for Super Bowl appearances to 10 and joining Peyton Manning as the only quarterbacks to win Super Bowls with two different teams.
Already widely considered the greatest NFL player of all time, Brady decided to leave New England in the off-season for a new challenge and was lured to Tampa Bay, whose only previous Super Bowl win came in the 2002 season.
He reportedly urged the Bucs to bring in former Patriots team-mates Rob Gronkowski and Antonio Brown, as well as Leonard Fournette, and the trio shared Tampa Bay's four touchdowns as they eased home in Super Bowl 55 after leading 21-6 at half-time.
While the Chiefs came into the post-season as the top seed in the AFC Conference, Tampa Bay were the NFC's fifth seed and became the first wildcard team to win a Super Bowl since the Green Bay Packers 10 years ago after a remarkable play-off run.
After losing to the Chiefs in week 12, the Bucs finished the regular season with four wins before beating three division winners - all on the road - to reach the title decider for just the second time.
Remarkably, Brady now has more Super Bowl wins than any single NFL franchise and was named the big game's Most Valuable Player for a record-extending fifth time.
"I'm so proud of all of these guys," he said. "We had a rough November but Bruce Arians (head coach) had all of the confidence in us and we came together at the right time.
"I'm not making any comparisons. Coming down here and playing with this group of guys is amazing."
While at New England, Brady formed the NFL's most successful quarterback-coach partnership with Bill Belichick, and when he left, some felt that Belichick deserved more of the credit, that Brady would get 'found out' without him.
But the Patriots endured their first losing season since 2000 - the year before Brady became their starting QB - while Brady has won another Super Bowl, with a team he joined during a pandemic, after a heavily disrupted off-season with no pre-season games.
It was also a team that, before this season, had not won a play-off game since winning Super Bowl 37. They had not reached the post-season at all since 2007.
But Brady recognised they were gradually building a competitive roster. They had a solid offensive line that would protect him in the pocket and two of the NFL's best receivers in Mike Evans and Chris Godwin.
During Super Bowl week, coach Bruce Arians said Brady was "the missing piece". For good measure, they brought Gronkowski out of retirement, gave Brown another chance and picked up free agent Fournette.
All came to the fore as the Bucs ramped up for an unlikely run at the Super Bowl and after Kansas City opened the scoring with a field goal, Brady found Brown twice on the next drive before sending tight end Gronkowski over with a screen pass.
The pair combined to devastating effect at New England before Gronkowski retired after winning Super Bowl 53 with Brady and the Patriots. The 31-year-old had brief stints in WWE and television during his time out. But after easing back into the rigours of the NFL with seven touchdowns during the regular season, he caught a 17-yard strike by Brady for his second of Super Bowl 55.
The Chiefs finally got some offence going to reply with a field goal, 61 seconds from half-time, and just as they did in the NFC Championship game against the Packers, Tampa Bay claimed a crucial score right before the half as Brady completed a 71-yard drive by finding Brown in the end zone.
Kansas City rallied at the start of the second half and cut the deficit with another field goal, but the Bucs continued to dominate on both sides of the ball, stifling the NFL's best offence.
Brady found Gronkowski for another big play before Fournette burst through for a 27-yard touchdown to seal a victory which many dreamed of in Tampa when Brady came aboard, but few would have thought was possible.
Osi Umenyiora, two-time Super Bowl champion and former New York Giants defensive end:
"Tom Brady should be the first player in history to be in the Hall of Fame while he's still playing. What this man has done this year is almost beyond belief, almost beyond words. I cannot describe the level of difficulty, what it took for this man to do what he's done. "Every single year this guy's been doubted, every single year this man rises to the top like a phoenix. This guy is the greatest professional athlete we have seen in history, and this goes for any sport. And I'm not just saying that to be hyperbolic. What this guy is doing in the quarterback position - the hardest position to play in sports - winning over and over again... my hat's off to this guy."
Jason Bell, former Houston Texans cornerback:
"It's all because of Brady's focus, his attention to detail. He came into the league as an underdog and he's never let it go. It drives him every single day."
On the manner of Kansas City's defeat: "This defeat is humbling for the Chiefs, no doubt. They're going to want to get the taste of this out of their mouth. This was a terrible performance and I didn't like the way they reacted to adversity, the way they were talking to each other when they got down wasn't right. They'll have to bounce back next season."
After leading Kansas City to their first Super Bowl win in 50 years, Mahomes was rewarded with a 10-year contract last July, making him the "first half-billion dollar player in sports history".
He had become the youngest player to win the Super Bowl and the NFL MVP award, and the 25-year-old is the most exciting talent of a new era of athletic quarterbacks.
After steering the Chiefs back to the big game, 'the Kid' now had a chance to take on 'the GOAT' in the NFL showpiece. It was the first to feature the quarterbacks who had won the previous two Super Bowls, and two starting QBs who have both won an NFL MVP and Super Bowl MVP.
But Kansas City erred in all three phases of the game - slicing punts on special teams, dropping catches on offence and showing indiscipline on defence. In the first half alone, they were penalised eight times for 95 yards.
After Gronkowski put the Bucs in front, the Chiefs pulled off what seemed a huge goal-line stop to prevent the hosts extending their lead. Then Tyrann Mathieu claimed an interception on Tampa Bay's next drive, only to see it cancelled out by a defensive holding call. And although they forced the Bucs to settle for a field goal, an offside put the ball back in Brady's hands to pick out Gronkowski for his second touchdown.
Despite cutting the score to 14-6 just before the half, two pass interference calls allowed Tampa Bay to march right back downfield and make it a 14-point game with Brown's touchdown before Fournette's third-quarter score proved the decisive blow.
"They were the better team today, they beat us pretty good," said Mahomes. "We didn't end the season the way we wanted, but we'll learn from what went right and what went wrong."
Mark Savage, BBC music reporter
The Super Bowl Half-time Show is traditionally built on grand gestures and eye-popping spectacle.
Think about Lady Gaga diving off the roof of Houston's NRG stadium, or Katy Perry riding an animatronic lion, or Diana Ross soaring out of Arizona's Sun Devil Stadium, waving to fans through the open door of a helicopter.
This year was a little different. Canadian R&B star The Weeknd was the interval act and, for the first time in the game's 55-year history, he was largely forced to perform from the stands, rather than the pitch, in compliance with strict coronavirus protocols.
And his 12-minute show was "watched" by thousands of cardboard cut-outs, who bulked out the 25,000 socially-distanced fans.
But the 30-year-old made the most of the restrictions with a gimmick-free show that put the emphasis on his songs.
Read more of Mark's review
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Louis Theroux chats to the controversial comedian about his life on and off screen
Stream the chilling drama, starring James Nesbitt, on BBC iPlayer now
Are you an NFL rookie? If so, watch our guide to the key rules, the player positions and the ultimate aim of the game.
How to get into American football – a sport for all shapes and sizes that requires both mental and physical skills. | Sports Competition | February 2021 | ['(BBC)'] |
Russian President Vladimir Putin announces the adoption of a new package of measures to support the economy and citizens in the context of the coronavirus pandemic. This payment does not cancel but supplements the previously introduced support measures. Additionally, Putin proposed to establish a monthly payment of five thousand rubles for families with children under three years of age. | According to Putin, it should allow companies “to preserve employment and salaries” at the maximum rate possible.
The coronavirus crisis may lead to even more substantial losses for businesses, the President suggested, adding: "It is necessary to mitigate the downturn, soften the blow for businesses, whose losses are already rather substantial and may get even worse."
Putin also suggested an annual installment plan of tax payments for companies in respect of taxes deferred because of the pandemic. "We will restructure such debts. They can be repaid smoothly, monthly, in equal installments during the course of at least one year after expiry of the deferral," he said.
He also told the government to make repayment extensions on consumer and mortgage loans available to a larger number of Russians.
"In March, I instructed [the cabinet] to ensure an option of repayment extensions on consumer and mortgage loans for citizens. I am asking the government to consider expanding this support measure so that it becomes available to a larger number of people," he said.
Putin earlier declared the whole of April a non-working month with paid leave. However, this does not apply to essential workers and people who can carry out their tasks from home. | Government Policy Changes | May 2020 | ['(RT)'] |
Nazario Moreno González, the leader of the La Familia Michoacana drug cartel, is killed in a shootout with police in Michoacán, Mexico. | MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Suspected drug lord Nazario Moreno was gunned down late on Thursday by security forces amid an ongoing crackdown in western Mexico, Mexican national security spokesman Alejandro Poire said on Friday.
Moreno, known as “The Craziest One,” was one of the leaders of the cult-like La Familia (The Family) drug cartel dominant in President Felipe Calderon’s home state of Michoacan.
Reporting by Jason Lange; Editing by Will Dunham
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
| Famous Person - Death | December 2010 | ['(Reuters)'] |
U.S. Representative Trey Radel pleads guilty on all charges of cocaine possession following his arrest yesterday and faces 1 year supervised probation. | Late on a Tuesday evening, at a Dupont Circle bistro that serves $11 mojitos, the congressman and the undercover officer talked about cocaine. They talked about how much the congressman would have to pay for it. They talked about the quality of the drug for sale. Finally, they made a deal: $250 for 3.5 grams, an amount generally bought for personal use. Outside, in a car, the drug and money changed hands. And then, suddenly, there were feds outside the vehicle. Before that moment, Rep. Trey Radel (R-Fla.) had built a remarkable double life in Washington — and built it in record time. Wednesday night, less than a month after his arrest, hours after he had pleaded guilty to a drug charge, he announced he is taking a “leave of absence” from Congress. He had been in Congress just 10 months when the arrest came. But he already had made a name in the House as an energetic and media-savvy freshman, willing to battle party elders to cut spending. And, in the same 10 months, he also had become connected to the city’s drug trade: Court documents say he bought cocaine on several occasions. Radel, it turned out, had managed to attract the attention of the Capitol press corps and the Drug Enforcement Administration before Congress even took its Thanksgiving break. With that purchase in Dupont Circle on Oct. 29, Radel could no longer keep his two lives separate. On Wednesday, the 37-year-old lawmaker pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor drug-possession charge in D.C. Superior Court. He was sentenced to one year of probation and will undergo substance abuse treatment in Florida. In the late-night announcement of his planned leave Wednesday night, he seemed determined not to resign. “I’m sorry. I have no excuse for what I’ve done. . . . I’ve let down our constituents, I’ve let down my family,” he said in an emotional 10:30 p.m. news conference from one of his offices in Florida. “I’ve let down my wife, and although he doesn’t know it, I’ve let down our 2-year-old son.”
Prosecutors said Wednesday that Radel did not receive special leniency because of his position. He was charged with a misdemeanor, they said, because D.C. law classifies simple possession of any drug — except PCP — as a misdemeanor. If prosecutors thought that Radel had intended to sell the drug, he would have been charged with a felony. Read the documents
Court documents relating to the Florida congressman's arrest for cocaine possession. Charging documents say that Radel bought cocaine “for his personal use and also, on occasion, [to] share it with others.” William Miller, a spokesman for the U.S. Attorney’s Office, said Radel received the same punishment as many other people facing the same charge. In 2012, he said, nearly 700 people were charged with misdemeanor cocaine possession in the District. “Only a small fraction received any jail time as a result,” Miller wrote in an e-mail. Radel is a former TV anchor and conservative radio host who grew up in Cincinnati as the son of a funeral-home director. He is married to former TV journalist Amy Wegmann Radel. They have a young son. Radel was elected by a wide margin last fall, taking a seat left open when longtime Rep. Connie Mack (R) ran for the Senate. That was the start of his public life in Washington: a hyper, ambitious 10 months in which Radel sought ways to stand out in the crowd on Capitol Hill. He focused on social media, filling his Twitter feed with short video clips, rapid-fire jokes and allusions to old-school hip-hop. No time went to waste. Radel made videos while on the Metro, or walking in the Capitol’s tunnels, focusing the camera on himself as he talked. Even the flights back home to his district — traditionally, the quietest hours in a Congress member’s life — became, for Radel, a branded, shared, media experience. “IMPROMPTU TOWNHALL. Boarding plane. If wifi & battery hold up-twitter townhall,” he wrote via Twitter on Oct. 24. “CAVEAT — let’s NOT talk politics or policy.” What followed was a free-flowing discussion that included his favorite brunch places in Washington (he recommended Afterwords Cafe and Grill in Dupont Circle), his favorite drinks (“Ketel Soda 2 limes or martini up blue chs olives”) and the oddest items in the SkyMall catalogue. In the House, Radel often voted with conservatives: He voted “yes,” for instance, on a broader bill that would allow states to drug-test recipients of food stamps. But the highlight of his career so far was a fight against a silly-sounding federal institution: the National Sheep Industry Improvement Center. The center gives grants to sheep researchers, sheep-rancher associations and young shearers in training. It is a beloved project of lawmakers from sheep-heavy states. But this past summer, Radel stood up before the House to argue that, at a cost of $1 million or more, it was too expensive to keep. “It is for sheep shearing. Sheep shearing. Sheep shearing,” he said. “An industry that basically goes back to the Old Testament. Moses was sheep-shearing.”
It was a small thing to fight about. But a congressman — especially a freshman — is not made for big things. In this case, Radel’s fight against this small program was opposed by longtime members from both parties, who argued that the sheep industry needed the money. The House voted. As the tallies flashed on the electronic scoreboard visible from the floor, it was close: 86 for defunding, 90 against. Then 155 to 136, then 212 to 210. The amendment needed 218 votes to pass. In Radel’s office, his staff took pictures of the television screen with their cellphones, capturing C-SPAN at the moment he secured his 218th vote. The eventual tally was 235 to 192 . “That’s why I love what I do,” Radel said, recalling the experience in a recent interview with The Washington Post. “At some time, we have to start making the adult decisions here.”
He said that on Nov. 13. Two weeks after the bust in Dupont Circle. At that time, he gave no indication — even to his party leaders — that his hidden life in Washington had begun to threaten his public one. The bust came about, federal law enforcement officials said Wednesday, after they stumbled across Radel by accident. As part of a broader investigation, they arrested a drug dealer. The dealer said a congressman was a client. Court papers say Radel had purchased and used cocaine on “several occasions.” So the FBI and the DEA set a trap. On Oct. 29, Radel, an acquaintance and the undercover agent met at a restaurant, which law enforcement officials identified as Circa, at Connecticut Ave. and Q St. NW. (A manager at the restaurant declined to comment Wednesday.) Court documents say Radel first invited the two others to go back to his apartment to share cocaine he already had. But the undercover officer demurred. He didn’t want to use. He wanted to sell. Eventually, Radel agreed to buy. For some reason, he overpaid. Court papers say he handed over $260, which was $10 more than the amount agreed on. After the deal was done, the federal agents approached Radel. Then, the court papers say, he asked the officers to come to his apartment to discuss the incident. They did. Once there, court papers said, Radel handed another vial of cocaine to them. He was not arrested, but he was warned he would probably be charged. “I hit a bottom, and I realize I need help,” Radel said in court Wednesday. In an earlier statement, issued Tuesday, he blamed “the disease of alcoholism” for his poor judgment. After the bust, it appears, Radel still tried to keep the two sides of his Washington life separate. For three weeks, he said nothing to House leaders, according to a senior GOP aide. As recently as Friday, he continued to vote, and to fire off tweets bashing President Obama’s health-care law. On Tuesday, Radel requested a meeting with House Speaker John A. Boehner (R-Ohio), the GOP aide said. But by the time they met in the afternoon, the news media were reporting on Radel’s case. During his late-night news conference Wednesday, Radel mentioned painful events in his past, including his mother’s alcoholism and her death from choking during his wedding reception. He said he is seeking “intensive inpatient” treatment but did not say how long the treatment or his leave of absence would last. During his absence, he said, he plans to donate his congressional salary to charity. Radel spoke lovingly of his wife and son. But even as he focused on his troubles, he never dropped the sweeping language of a congressman. He would begin recovery not just for his family, he said, but for his district. “I hope, like family, southwest Florida can forgive me for this. I’ve let them down,” Radel said. “But I do believe in faith, forgiveness and redemption.”
There is no House rule that says Radel must resign. And his fellow Republicans have not publicly pressured him to go. On Wednesday, they expressed somber puzzlement about the man they have served alongside. If Radel completes probation, he won’t have a conviction on his record, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office. Even if he remains in Congress, there is a chance that his big legislative victory could slip away. The sheep center could survive. Its fate is being decided, in a conference committee drawn from the House and the Senate. Radel had been trying to lobby that committee to keep his amendment and defund the center. Now, he seems less likely to succeed. “Cocaine. Holy mackerel,” said Glen Fisher, the Texas sheep rancher who is the chairman of the federal sheep center’s board. In a telephone call on Tuesday evening, Fisher was learning that the chief advocate for defunding his institution — the energetic, ambitious congressman who wanted to change the way Washington worked — is facing bigger problems. “Well,” Fisher said. “That’s too bad.” Ed O’Keefe, Dana Hedgpeth and Aaron Blake contributed to this report. | Famous Person - Commit Crime - Sentence | November 2013 | ['(R–FL)', '(The Washington Post)'] |
After protesters had resisted the police, opposition and President Viktor Yanukovych hold talks and reach a truce. The toll of riots over the past couple of days is at least 25 dead and 241 injured. , , | KIEV, Ukraine (AP) — Thick, dark smoke rose above the center of the Ukrainian capital amid the boom of police stun grenades Wednesday, as officers in riot gear sought to push demonstrators away from the city's main square following deadly clashes between police and protesters that left at least 25 people dead and hundreds injured and raised fears of a civil war.
After several hours of relative calm, confrontation flared up again Wednesday afternoon, with hundreds of police amassing on the edges of Independence Square, known as the Maidan, throwing stun grenades and using water cannons in a bid to disperse protesters. Thousands of activists armed with fire bombs and rocks held their ground, defending the square which has been a bastion and symbol for the demonstrators.
The violence Tuesday was the worst in nearly three months of anti-government protests that have paralyzed Ukraine's capital in a struggle over the identity of a nation divided in loyalties between Russia and the West. It prompted the European Union to threaten sanctions against Ukrainian officials responsible for the violence and triggered angry rebukes from Moscow, which accused the West of triggering the clashes by backing the opposition.
Sanctions would typically include banning leading officials from traveling to the 28-nation bloc and — crucially — freezing their assets there. Travel bans and assets freezes for the powerful oligarchs who back President Viktor Yanukovych could prompt them to pressure him to change course.
But the bad blood runs so high that it's not clear whether an unstoppable force of conflict has been unleashed: The rising rage on both sides has fueled fears that the 46-million nation in the center of Europe could be sliding deeper into violence that could lead to its breakup. While most people in western regions of Ukraine resent Yanukovych, he still enjoys strong support in the mostly Russian-speaking eastern and southern regions, where many want strong ties with Russia.
Neither side now appears willing to compromise, with the opposition insisting on Yanukovych's resignation and early elections and the president prepared to fight till the end.
Radical protesters willing to confront police with violence were largely shunned at the start of the demonstrations three months ago, but they have become a key force in recent weeks, with moderate demonstrators bringing them food and some even preparing Molotov cocktails for them. Police also have turned increasingly brutal after law enforcement officers were killed.
The protests began in late November after Yanukovych turned away from a long-anticipated deal with the EU in exchange for a $15 billion bailout from Russia. The political maneuvering continued ever since, with both Moscow and the West eager to gain influence over this former Soviet republic.
The Kremlin said it put the next disbursement of its bailout on hold amid uncertainty over Ukraine's future and what it described as a "coup attempt."
Yanukovych on Wednesday blamed the protesters for the violence and said the opposition leaders "crossed a line when they called people to arms."
The European Union appears poised to impose sanctions as it called an extraordinary meeting of the 28-nation bloc's foreign ministers for Thursday.
European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso called for "targeted measures against those responsible for violence and use of excessive force can be agreed ... as a matter of urgency."
"It is the political leadership of the country that has a responsibility to ensure the necessary protection of fundamental rights and freedoms," said Barroso, who heads the EU's executive arm. "It was with shock and utter dismay that we have been watching developments over the last 24 hours in Ukraine."
The latest bout of street violence began Tuesday when protesters attacked police lines and set fires outside parliament, accusing Yanukovych of ignoring their demands to enact constitutional reforms that would limit the president's power — a key opposition demand. Parliament, dominated by his supporters, was stalling on taking up a constitutional reform to limit presidential powers.
Police responded by attacking the protest camp. Armed with water cannons, stun grenades and rubber bullets, police dismantled some barricades and took part of the Maidan. But the protesters held their ground through the night, encircling the camp with new burning barricades of tires, furniture and debris.
On Wednesday morning, the center of Kiev was cordoned off by police, the subway was shut down and most shops on Kiev's main street were closed. But hundreds of Ukrainians still flocked to the opposition camp, some wearing balaclavas and armed with bats, others in everyday clothes and with makeup on, carrying food to protesters.
A group of young men and women poured petrol into plastic bottles, preparing fire bombs, while a volunteer walked past them distributing ham sandwiches from a tray. Another group of activists was busy crushing the pavement into pieces and into bags to fortify barricades.
"The revolution turned into a war with the authorities," said Vasyl Oleksenko, 57, a retired geologist from central Ukraine, who said he fled the night's violence fearing for his life, but returned to the square in the morning, feeling ashamed. "We must fight this bloody, criminal leadership. We must fight for our country, our Ukraine."
Yanukovych was defiant on Wednesday, his tone leaving little hope for a compromise.
"I again call on the leaders of the opposition ... to draw a boundary between themselves and radical forces which are provoking bloodshed and clashes with the security services," the president said in a statement. "If they don't want to leave (the square) — they should acknowledge that they are supporting radicals. Then the conversation with them will already be of a different kind." He also called a day of mourning for the dead on Thursday.
The Health Ministry said 25 people died in the clashes, some from gunshot wounds, and Kiev hospitals were struggling to treat hundreds of injured. Activists also set up a makeshift medical unit inside a landmark Orthodox Church not far from the camp, where volunteer medics were taking care of the wounded.
Meanwhile, in the western Ukrainian city of Lviv, where most residents yearn for stronger ties with the EU and have little sympathy for Yanukovych, protesters seized several government buildings, including the governor's office, police stations, prosecutors and security agency offices and the tax agency headquarters. They also broke into an Interior Ministry unit and set it on fire. The building was still smoldering Wednesday morning and some protesters were driving around town in police cars they had seized during the night.
Tensions continued mounting. The government imposed restrictions for transport moving toward Kiev, apparently to prevent more opposition activists from coming from the Western part of the country, and at least one train from Lviv was held outside Kiev. Several highways into Kiev were also blocked by police.
Acting Defense Minister Pavlo Lebedev told the ITAR-Tass news agency that he has dispatched a paratrooper brigade to Kiev to help protect arsenals. He refused to say if the unit could be used against protesters, the agency said.
Tensions soared after Russia said Monday that it was ready to resume providing the loans that Yanukovych's government needs to keep Ukraine's ailing economy afloat. This raised fears among the opposition that Yanukovych had made a deal with Moscow to stand firm against the protesters and would choose a Russian-leaning loyalist to be his new prime minister.
President Vladimir Putin's spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, said in a statement carried by Russian news agencies that Putin had a phone conversation with Yanukovych overnight. Peskov said that Putin hasn't given Yanukovych any advice how to settle the crisis, adding that it's up to the Ukrainian government.
Peskov also added that the next disbursement of a Russian bailout has remained on hold, saying the priority now is to settle the crisis, which he described as a "coup attempt."
The Russian Foreign Ministry issued a statement, blaming the West for the failure to condemn the opposition for the latest bout of violence.
EU leaders took the opposite stance, with Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt putting the blame on Yanukovych in an unusually tough statement.
"Today, President Yanukovich has blood on his hands," Bildt said. | Protest_Online Condemnation | February 2014 | ['(BBC)', '(Yahoo! News)', '(Wires via Chicago Tribune)'] |
Search and rescue aircraft locate wreckage near Ilaga, Indonesia. It is thought to be a missing Twin Otter cargo plane carrying rice and four people, but this remains to be confirmed. | A Carpediem Aviation de Havilland DHC-6-400 Twin Otter, registration PK-CDC performing a freight flight from Timika to Ilaga (Indonesia) with one passenger, three crew and 1700kg of rice, was enroute about 15 minutes prior to estimated landing in Ilaga (estimated at 11:09L/02:09Z) when radio contact with the aircraft was lost at 10:54L (01:54Z). Search flights have been dispatched. On Sep 22nd 2019 a chopper crew spotted a wreckage presumed to be PK-CDC at the slopes of "U Pass" at position S4.124197 E137.488433 at 13543 feet MSL. All on board perished in the crash.The local policestation at Ilaga reported the weather enroute was "good enough" for the flight. The aircraft had departed Timika in clear skies, and the weather at Ilaga was good. The search for the aircraft had to be stopped due to thick fog which always set in around noon.On Sep 19th 2019 the Search and Rescue Team (SAR Team) reported the aircraft has not yet been found. The primary focus was location 30 nautical miles from Timika at heading 055, that area was searched twice without success. The search is now being expanded. The last known radar position of the aircraft was S4.1801 E137.4067 (true track 55 degrees 37.5nm from Timika).On Sep 20th 2019 the SAR team reported, they are now searching for PK-CDC with 7 aircraft (4 from Susi Air, two Carpediem Twin Otters and one CN-235 of Indonesian Air Force). The search is made difficult by poor weather conditions. The search area is currently defined by center position 04°10.65'S 137°24.48'E (precisely 37.5nm from Timika at true track 56) and 5nm around that position. Mountain tops rising up to 14,200 feet are within that area (editorial note: Mode-S data received from the aircraft transponder suggest the aircraft maintained 13,000 feet MSL on QNH). So far no signal has been received from any ELT, hence the SAR still do not rule an emergency landing out, the SAR team still hold hopes for the people on board.On Sep 21st 2019 the SAR team reported search efforts still did not locate the aircraft, the weather still made the search difficult. 4 sorties were flown but could not establish visual contact with the ground due to fog. The SAR team estimates the aircraft may be at a ridge about 15nm from Ilaga and about 42.5nm from Timika. All further search efforts focus on the slopes of that ridge.On Sep 22nd 2019 the SAR team reported that a chopper found a wreckage at a mountain ridge about 10km from Mamontoga Village, an Indonesian Air Force CN-235 also located the wreckage. It is too early to confirm whether the wreckage is PK-CDC.On Sep 24th 2019 the SAR team released a photo of the crash site stating the wreckage is at position S4.124197 E137.488433 at 13543 feet MSL, it hit a wall about 80 to 90 degrees steep. A landing site for helicopters has still not been found. There is hope that the wreckage can be reached within the next 3 days, a weather improvement has been forecast. (Editorial note: the position is on the eastern side of the U Pass, so called for its shape, right at the eastern side of the entry into and above the U pass.On Sep 25th 2019 the SAR team reported a first mission was able to reach the wreckage and evacuated the four bodies taking them to Timika. The next missions are dedicated to find and recover the black boxes.On Sep 27th 2019 climbers managed to reach the tail of the aircraft, which had separated from the rest of the aircraft, and recover both flight data and cockpit voice recorder. The helicopter subsequently carried climbers and black boxes back to Timika, where the black boxes were handed over to Indonesia's accident investigators of the KNKT/NTSC.Flights between Timika and Ilaga usually take between 30 to 40 minutes depending on weather.Initially Authorities had reported the aircraft belonged to Rimbun Air later changing the aircraft belonged to PT Carpediem Aviation Mandiri.The crash site (Photo: SAR Team):Map (Graphics: AVH/Google Earth): | Air crash | September 2019 | ['(The Aviation Herald)'] |
Iraq Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi says U.S.-backed Iraqi forces have launched an operation to regain control of western Mosul from ISIL militants. The United Nations says humanitarian agencies are setting up in these older sections of the city where, already, food and fuel supplies are dwindling, running water is scarce, and electricity in many neighborhoods is unreliable for the estimated 800,000 civilians. | Iraqi government forces have seized several villages as they move towards an assault on the last area held by the so-called Islamic State (IS) in Mosul.
Hundreds of military vehicles, backed by air power, rolled across the desert towards IS positions early on Sunday.
The progress on Sunday in the south of the city, the second biggest in Iraq, takes them within striking distance of Mosul airport.
Fears have been voiced about the safety of many thousands of trapped civilians.
The offensive was formally announced by Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi early on Sunday.
Army Staff Lieutenant General Abdulamir Yarallah said in a statement that elite Rapid Response units captured the villages of Athbah and Al-Lazzagah - two villages south of Mosul airport.
Attack on west Mosul: Day one in pictures
Government forces retook the eastern side of the city, the last major IS stronghold in Iraq, last month. But military officials say the western side, with its narrow, winding streets, may prove a bigger challenge.
For now, there is no advance from eastern Mosul as all bridges from there to the west of the city, across the Tigris river, have been destroyed.
Lieutenant General Stephen Townsend, the commander of the US-led coalition forces, said in a statement on Sunday: "Mosul would be a tough fight for any army in the world."
Special forces units safely detonated a number of IS car bombs as they cleared villages south of Mosul, according to the BBC's Quentin Sommerville, who is embedded with the troops. As well as primed car bombs, the jihadists left behind SIM cards, clothes, instant coffee and weapons as they retreated. The UN has voiced concern about civilians trapped there, amid reports that they could number up to 650,000. Leaflets warning residents of an imminent offensive were earlier dropped over the west of the city.
Charity Save the Children said on Sunday it believed that as many as 350,000 children were trapped.
"This is the grim choice for children in western Mosul right now: bombs, crossfire and hunger if they stay; or execution and snipers if they try to run," said the charity's Iraq country director, Maurizio Crivallero.
The BBC's Quentin Sommerville is embedded with the Emergency Response Division special forces troops near Mosul
The assault began just after dawn, after days of coalition air strikes, with hundreds of armoured vehicles, thousands of men, and support from helicopter gunships. The men of Iraq's Emergency Response Division, police special forces are leading the attack. Their targets are three IS held villages to the south of west Mosul. They are trying to gain the high ground from IS, which will give them sight of the city's airport and its southern edge. The government forces made quick gains but have been slowed as they begin to take villages. There are no signs of any civilians. Heavy machine gunfire, rockets and artillery fire are constant. For the first time in nearly three years, the Iraqi flag is again flying over the south of western Mosul.
Follow Quentin Sommerville on Twitter
Iraqi forces have now all but surrounded the western part of Mosul, while the US-led coalition has been carrying out air strikes on IS targets.
Ahead of the launch of the operation, Mr Abadi said in a televised speech: "We announce the start of a new phase in the operation, we are coming to Nineveh to liberate the western side of Mosul." "Our forces are beginning the liberation of the citizens from the terror of Daesh [IS]," he added, quoted by AFP news agency.
The UN humanitarian co-ordinator for Iraq, Lise Grande, has urged all parties involved to "do absolutely everything they can to ensure that civilians survive the battle, and that they live".
"Absolutely nothing is more important going into the campaign to retake western Mosul," she told the BBC on Saturday.
As the advance got under way, the UN commissioner for human rights called on the Iraqi government to investigate videos shared on social media that appeared to show Iraqi troops brutally abusing and executing IS fighters on the streets of east Mosul late last year.
The videos have not been verified at this stage by any government authority or independent group. The Iraqi prime minister's office said it had launched an investigation.
The offensive on the eastern part of the city was launched on 17 October, more than two years after jihadists overran Mosul before seizing control of much of northern and western Iraq.
Experts warn that western Mosul, although slightly smaller than the east, is more densely populated and includes districts that are seen as pro-IS.
The UN said in late January that almost half of all the casualties in Mosul were civilians. At least 1,096 have been killed and 694 injured across Nineveh province since the start of October.
| Armed Conflict | February 2017 | ['(CNN)', '(BBC)', '(UN-OCHA)'] |
The composer and pianist Elton John postpones three more concerts on The Red Piano Tour, this time in the United States, due to illness. | Sir Elton John has been forced to postpone three concerts in the US this month because of ill-health.
A statement on his official website said the 62-year-old singer had a "serious case" of E.coli bacterial infection and influenza. It added that his doctor had advised him to pull out of the gigs in Seattle and Portland. The move comes after he cancelled several UK dates in October. His spokesman said on Sunday: "He has flu and is absolutely fine." Sir Elton postponed a Dublin concert on Thursday after shelving gigs in London, Liverpool, Sheffield, Newcastle. He is reportedly being treated at a hospital in central London. Promoters say they are hoping to reschedule the European dates - part of his Red Piano tour - for December. Details of plans to reschedule the US concerts, on 4 and 7 November at Seattle's Key Arena and 10 November at Rose Garden Arena, Portland, are yet to be announced. He had been due to perform alongside Billy Joel, whose own sickness forced the pair to cancel several joint performances in the US in July. Joel was told to rest after coming down with "flu-like symptoms" and "extreme fatigue". Sir Elton and Joel had been touring together for two months under the banner Face 2 Face, selling out arenas across the US. What are these? | Famous Person - Sick | November 2009 | ['(BBC)'] |
Hungarian riot police and migrants clash at the now-closed border crossing near Horgos. | Hungarian riot police have fired tear gas and water cannon to force migrants back from the Serbia-Hungary border.
Hundreds of people have massed at a closed crossing point near the Serbian town of Horgos, and are involved in a tense stand-off with police on the other side of the border.
Some migrants threw missiles, including stones and water bottles.
Many of the migrants want to reach Germany, amid divisions within the EU over how to deal with the crisis.
Follow the latest on the border clashes
BBC correspondents covering the migrant crisis
Tens of thousands of people have crossed into Hungary to enter the Europe Union's Schengen zone, which normally allows people to travel between member countries without restrictions.
Hungary closed its entire border with Serbia on Tuesday after making it illegal to enter the country or damage a new razor-wire border fence. The country's courts have started fast-track trials of arrested migrants.
Serbia's foreign ministry has protested over the firing of tear gas and water cannon into its territory.
There were chaotic scenes near Horgos, with fires burning and police vehicles and ambulances arriving on the Serbian side of the border, across from massed ranks of riot police on the Hungarian side.
The Hungarian government says 20 police officers were injured as migrants tried to break through a gate, and a spokesman accused migrants of using children as "human shields".
The firing of tear gas and water cannon created a stampede of migrants away from the border.
Several people received treatment from the Serbian ambulance service, some suffering the effects of tear gas.
Migrant Amir Hassan, from Iraq, said: "We fled wars and violence and did not expect such brutality and inhumane treatment in Europe." United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said he was "shocked" by the "unacceptable" treatment of migrants.
A clash was inevitable. For more than an hour, in the afternoon heat, a group of migrants and refugees stood inches from a line of Hungarian riot police at the border gate. A water cannon stood behind the police.
"Open the gate, open the gate," the group shouted.
They hoped their presence might somehow persuade Hungary to reopen its border. But the Hungarian police did not move. Several people began to throw empty water bottles towards the Hungarian line. Minutes later, riot police fired tear gas canisters in unison. The crowd ran backwards, nearly knocking over tents. I ran back with the crowd, with the sting of tear gas in my eyes. Several refugees pointed me towards a father carrying a baby - both had been caught up in the tear gas. Away from the crowd, the atmosphere was calmer. Families sat on the ground next to their tents. From the back, we watched the Hungarian police fire water cannon - the water flared a rainbow colour in the sun. We also watched young men continue to throw objects towards the Hungarian police lines.
Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto said he considered it "unacceptable that an aggressive group of immigrants took such an action against Hungarian police. The Hungarian police's duty is to protect Hungary from the entry of such violent persons."
Serbian minister Aleksandar Vulin, visiting the scene, said the migrants' frustration was understandable after Hungary closed the border. "Hungary must show it is ready and capable to accept these people," he said.
Serbia has said it will send additional police to its border with Hungary.
"The aim is to prevent further attacks on the Hungarian police from our territory and in a humane and respectful way distance the migrants from the fence and the Hungarian police," said Interior Minister Nebojsa Stefanovic in a statement.
The UN High Commissioner for Refugees, Antonio Guterres, called on the Hungarian authorities to ensure "unimpeded access" for people fleeing wars and persecution.
"UNHCR was especially shocked and saddened to witness Syrian refugees, including families with children who have already suffered so much, being prevented from entering the EU with water cannon and tear gas," a statement said.
Meanwhile, Croatia has said it will allow migrants to travel on to northern Europe, opening up a new route a day after Hungary sealed its border with Serbia.
A steady stream of migrants is crossing into Croatia from Serbia, with some of those stranded on Serbia's border with Hungary now using the same route.
Croatian Prime Minister Zoran Milanovic said: "We are ready to accept and direct those people... to where they apparently wish to go."
| Armed Conflict | September 2015 | ['(BBC)'] |
Chinese police detain a further 319 people over unrest in the Xinjiang region last month. | BEIJING, Aug 2 (Reuters) - Chinese police detained 319 people suspected of involvement in deadly ethnic rioting in northwestern Xinjiang region last month, after a “wanted” list of suspects spurred tip-offs, the official Xinhua agency said on Sunday.
The Public Security Bureau of the regional capital Urumqi on July 30 made public a list of names and photographs of 15 Uighurs it was seeking for their suspected role in the violence.
“When the public security of Urumqi made an announcement... about those suspects who had been detained and those who were still on the ‘wanted’ list, it aroused the feelings of local residents and they had more initiative in exposing those suspects and provided a huge amount of clues,” the Xinhua report said.
The report, which cited local security officials, did not give an overall total for the number of people now being held in connection with the riots.
Officials have previously said over 1,500 had been detained. None has been publicly charged or released.
In Xinjiang’s worst ethnic violence in decades, Uighur rioters attacked majority Han Chinese in Urumqi on July 5 after taking to the streets to protest against attacks on Uighur workers at a factory in south China in June which left two Uighurs dead. Hans in Urumqi sought revenge two days later.
Uighurs, a Turkic people who are largely Muslim and share linguistic and cultural bonds with Central Asia, make up almost half of Xinjiang’s 20 million people.
The violence left 197 people dead, mostly Han Chinese, and wounded more than 1,600, according to official figures.
Xinjiang has long been a tightly controlled hotbed of ethnic tensions, fostered by an economic gap between many Uighurs and Han Chinese, government controls on religion and culture and an influx of Han migrants who now are the majority in Urumqi.
Beijing does not want to lose its grip on a vast territory that borders Russia, Mongolia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Afghanistan, Pakistan and India, has abundant oil reserves and is China’s largest natural gas-producing region.
| Riot | August 2009 | ['(Xinhua)', '(Press TV)', '(Reuters India)'] |
Sir Michael Somare, veteran Prime Minister of Papua New Guinea, resigns due to ill–health according to his family. | The family of Papua New Guinea's prime minister Sir Michael Somare says the veteran leader is retiring because of ill health.
The 75-year-old underwent heart surgery earlier this year in Singapore and remains in hospital.
Sir Michael's son, Arthur Somare, said Sir Michael remained in intensive care and was "not in a good enough condition" to discuss retirement, so the family took the decision on his behalf.
In a statement on Tuesday, Arthur Somare said complications from his father's heart surgery "further delayed the anticipated time in which Sir Michael was expected to recover and return to Papua New Guinea".
"Therefore, on behalf of [his wife] Lady Veronica, I wish to announce that it is our family's collective desire that Sir Michael be allowed to recover at his own pace and therefore retire," he said.
"In our considered decision to do this we believe PNG should have a level of certainty with regard to political stability and leadership well into the future.
"This has not been an easy decision to take without full and proper consultation with Sir Michael.
"However in the greater public interest and collective good of the country we are of the view that this decision is necessary, and we believe it will also be his desire to do so at this time given the circumstances.
"I have released this statement in full cognoscente that I have little authority to retire him myself that the processes of parliament still needs to be complied to, that the processes of cabinet and that the processes of the party still needs to be complied with.
"But it's the family's concerned decision that the prime minister or Sir Michael rather goes into retirement shortly."
Theresia Kumo, the director of the Sir Michael's media unit, told ABC News Online that reports the prime minister had resigned were incorrect.
She said Sir Michael's family was simply stating their position on his future to the public, and added that Sir Michael is still PNG's leader.
Sir Michael began his political career nearly 50 years ago, when he was appointed as Papua New Guinea's first prime minister when the country gained independence from Australia in 1975.
In April, Sir Michael served a two-week suspension from office after he was found guilty of official misconduct.
He vowed to return to the prime minister's office after the suspension, but instead remained in Singapore on medical leave.
Sir Michael's deputy, Sam Abal, has been acting prime minister since Sir Michael flew to Singapore for the heart surgery in April.
Asked whether Mr Abal would assume the prime ministership full-time, Arthur Somare's spokesman said "the political process will take its course".
Prime Minister Julia Gillard has described Sir Michael as a respected regional statesman.
She says Australia's thoughts are with the Somare family and the people of PNG at this difficult time.
The Coaltion's foreign affairs spokeswoman, Julie Bishop, has described Sir Michael as a towering political figure.
Ms Bishop says she hopes PNG makes a sound transition to new leadership.
"He has been a controversial figure at times, his departure will inevitably lead to generational change," she said.
We acknowledge Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as the First Australians and Traditional Custodians of the lands where we live, learn, and work.
| Government Job change - Resignation_Dismissal | June 2011 | ['(The Australian)', '(ABC News Australia)'] |
The bodies of two 17-year-old Palestinians, shot dead by the Israeli military near the Gaza-Israel border yesterday, are retrieved; the military says the army opened fire on two men who were spotted moving suspiciously toward a frontier "no-go" zone, after fierce cross-border exchanges in which militants fired dozens of shells into Israel. | The bodies of two Palestinian men have been found near the Gaza-Israel border, Palestinian medics report. The Israeli military has confirmed firing on Saturday on two men who approached the Israeli-enforced no-go zone near the border. On Saturday, Palestinian militants fired dozens of mortars into southern Israel in what appears to be their heaviest such barrage in two years.
About 50 mortars were fired, injuring two Israelis.
Israeli tanks later shelled targets in the coastal strip, wounding at least five people, Palestinian officials said on Saturday. The Islamist group Hamas, which runs Gaza, said it fired some of the mortars. Three days ago an Israeli air strike killed two of its members.
The BBC's Jon Donnison in Gaza says this seems to be an escalation - both in terms of the number of mortars fired from Gaza and the fact that Hamas said it was responsible.
Hamas's military wing said it launched dozens of the mortars, our correspondent reports. Hamas and Israel have largely halted hostilities since the end of the Gaza war in January 2009, but skirmishes often break out around the border area.
Although members of Hamas's military wing rarely carry out attacks, the Israeli military says it holds the group responsible for all militant activity in the Gaza Strip.
Israel maintains a buffer zone along the border fence, where Gaza militants have planted bombs and explosives targeting Israeli troops in the past.
Israel often opens fire on people who it says go too close to the fence to stop attacks by militants.
Dozens of people have been killed in this way, many civilians.
| Armed Conflict | March 2011 | ['(AFP via Google News)', '(BBC)'] |
Dennis Hastert, former United States Speaker of the House of Representatives , pleaded guilty to a federal financial crime in a hush money case stemming from sexual misconduct allegations. The sentencing hearing is scheduled for February 29, 2016. The crime carries a sentence of up to five years in prison and $250,000 fine. Prosecutors recommend zero to six months imprisonment. | Before he was indicted in May, former House Speaker Dennis Hastert was known primarily for rising from political obscurity in rural Illinois to the nation's third-highest office, which he occupied for eight years. Some key events in Hastert's life and career and the criminal case against him:
———
JAN. 2, 1942: Hastert is born in Aurora, Illinois, to a family that runs a farm-supply business.
1964: Hastert graduates from Wheaton College, a Christian school in the Chicago suburbs.
1965: Hastert begins teaching history at Yorkville High School, west of Chicago, and coaching wrestling.
1973: Hastert marries another Yorkville teacher named Jean. They eventually have two sons.
1976: Hastert is named Illinois Coach of the Year after leading Yorkville to state the wrestling championship.
1980: Hastert comes in third in state House primary, but the GOP chooses him to replace the fatally ill primary winner. Hastert later wins the general election.
1981: Hastert leaves Yorkville High School.
1986: Hastert is nominated to replace a Republican congressman who is battling cancer. He wins a close election.
1998: Hastert tells incumbent House Speaker Newt Gingrich that dissatisfaction in GOP ranks makes it unlikely the Georgia lawmaker will hold onto post. Gingrich resigns the next day.
1998: Hastert backs President Bill Clinton's impeachment in the wake of the Monica Lewinsky scandal.
1999: Hastert is elected House speaker.
2006: Republican Rep. Mark Foley resigns after allegations he sent sexually suggestive electronic messages to former male pages. Hastert denies reports he may have known about the allegations earlier.
2007: Hastert steps down as speaker after becoming longest-serving Republican in the position. The same year, the J. Dennis Hastert Center for Economics, Government and Public Policy is founded at Wheaton College.
2008: Hastert joins the prominent Washington-based lobbying firm of Dickstein Shapiro as senior adviser.
2010: Hastert allegedly agrees to pay a person identified only as "Individual A" $3.5 million to hide misconduct by Hastert against that person.
2010-2012: Hastert allegedly makes 15 withdrawals of $50,000 to pay Individual A $750,000 in total, paying the money in lump sums of $100,000 cash.
2012-2014: When Hastert learns any withdrawals over $10,000 are flagged, he allegedly begins withdrawing cash in increments just under $10,000 and uses the money to pay $952,000 to Individual A.
2013: The FBI and IRS begin investigating Hastert on suspicion of violating banking reporting requirements.
DECEMBER 2014: Agents first question Hastert on Dec. 8 about the huge cash withdrawals. He allegedly says he's taking the cash home because he doesn't trust banks.
MAY 28, 2015: Hastert is indicted on one count of seeking to skirt bank reporting requirements and one count of lying to the FBI about the reason for his cash withdrawals.
MAY 31, 2015: Wheaton College strikes Hastert's name from it public policy center, citing his indictment.
JUNE 9, 2015: Hastert pleads not guilty at his arraignment in federal court in Chicago.
JULY 14, 2015: At a court hearing, defense lawyer Thomas Green blames government leaks for media reports of past sexual misconduct by Hastert. He says the allegations could deprive Hastert of a fair trial.
OCT. 15, 2015: A defense attorney tells a federal judge that Hastert intends to plead guilty.
OCT. 28, 2015: Hastert pleads guilty to evading banking laws and agrees to a deal with federal prosecutors that recommends he serve no more than six months in prison. A judge, however, could go beyond that recommendation and sentence Hastert to as much as five years. Sentencing is set for Feb. 29.
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Source: court documents, Associated Press archives.
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This story has been corrected to show that Hastert pleaded guilty to evading banking laws, not to lying to the FBI. | Famous Person - Commit Crime - Sentence | October 2015 | ['(1999–2007)', '(Reuters)', '(AP via ABC News)'] |
Voters in the Maldives go to the polls for a Presidential election with no candidate achieving an outright majority with a runoff election to be held on September 28. | The presidential elections in the Maldives will go to a second round after frontrunner Mohamed Nasheed failed to win an outright majority.
Mohamed Nasheed obtained 45% but needed more than 50% to avoid a run-off against his rival, Abdulla Yameen, who got 25% of the vote.
After decades of autocratic rule, the Maldives held its first free election in 2008, which was won by Mr Nasheed.
But he was ousted as president 18 months ago in an alleged coup.
Officials said the run-off was due to be held on 28 September.
Mr Nasheed's rival, Abdulla Yameen, is the half-brother of the Maldives' former President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom who led the country for 30 years.
Mr Nasheed resigned in February 2012 when army and police personnel joined opposition-led protests over the arrest of a senior judge.
The judge, Abdulla Mohamed, was detained in January 2012 after ordering the release of an opposition politician. Mr Nasheed said he was stepping down to prevent "bloodshed", but later said he was forced to resign at gunpoint by police and army officers. He was replaced by President Mohamed Waheed Hassan Manik, who had also been running in Saturday's election but polled only 5% of the vote.
Mr Waheed has consistently rejected claims of a coup by Nasheed supporters. The leadership change sparked political unrest, leading to fears that the protests would have an impact on the islands' tourism industry.
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said last week that he hoped the elections would be "credible and peaceful".
Key issues for voters included religion, nationalism, education and the economy.
Thoriq Hamid, a representative of poll monitoring group Transparency Maldives, said that the campaigning had been conducted "smoothly and peacefully".
However, there was still "some apprehension and confidence issues about the security forces", he said.
| Government Job change - Election | September 2013 | ['(BBC)'] |
Door-to-door sales firm Kleeneze, which employs around 5,000 people, collapses into administration after 95 years. | One of Britain's oldest home shopping companies has gone into administration. Kleeneze, best known for selling household and beauty products through its network of door-to-door sellers, said it had ceased trading on Thursday and 140 jobs are at risk. But there is also a question mark over the future of 5,000 independent distributors who sell the products. Administrators FRP Advisory is seeking a buyer in a last ditch attempt to save the 95-year old firm.
Joint administrator David Acland said: "Kleeneze has performed well over the years and has a strong network of independent sales distributors.
"Unfortunately, tough trading conditions have resulted in the business entering administration.
"The business suffered from operational issues after its move to the Heywood distribution site earlier in 2017. "There were logistics challenges and IT issues that took six months to resolve, which resulted in significant lost sales," Mr Acland said.
Kleeneze's self-employed distributors deliver catalogues throughout in the UK and Ireland, earning cash or rewards for every sale they make - either at the doorstep or through their own online shop.
These sellers are a mixture of self-employed sole traders and partnerships, and many work for Kleeneze alongside other jobs. The company employs 69 permanent staff at its head office in Accrington, Lancashire, and a further 71 at its warehouse in Heywood, Greater Manchester.
Usdaw, the trade union for Kleeneze staff, said it was seeking urgent meetings with the administrators in a bid to protect jobs.
Annette Bott, an Usdaw area organiser, said: "This is clearly a difficult and upsetting time for the 140 staff based in Accrington and Heywood. "We are pressing the administrators to find a buyer for the company who will protect jobs and keep the business going. In the meantime, we are providing our members with the support, advice and representation they need."
| Organization Closed | April 2018 | ['(BBC)'] |
Eighty thousand people rally in Hong Kong after last week's fatal tourist coach hijacking hostage crisis in the Philippines. | Thousands of people joined a rally in Hong Kong to express their anger at the Philippines' handling of last week's tourist coach hijacking.
They were demanding an explanation of how eight Hong Kong tourists were killed in the hostage-taking in Manila.
Their coach was hijacked by a disgraced ex-policeman, Rolando Mendoza, who was killed as police attempted to rescue the hostages.
Earlier, about 1,000 people in the Philippines attended his funeral.
Mendoza, 55, seized the bus with an assault rifle in an attempt to get back the job he lost in 2009 for extortion and threat-making.
The rally was organised by both pro-Beijing and pro-democracy political parties - a rare occasion for them to unite, says the BBC's Annemarie Evans in Hong Kong.
"My feelings were, of course, like those of all Hong Kong people," said the president of Hong Kong's Legislative Council, Tsang Yok-sing. "We were shocked, we were very much grieved when finally so many of our Hong Kong citizens were killed and we find the way the Philippine authorities handled the situation very unacceptable," he told Hong Kong radio.
In all, 22 Hong Kong tourists were taken hostage along with three Filipinos - a driver, a guide and a photographer.
Nine people were released in early negotiations but 15 were kept aboard the curtained bus for hours as the hostage drama was played out before live television cameras and broadcast around the world.
"Everyone saw how the Philippine government mishandled the situation before TV cameras and the chaos in the country," Andy Wong, 49, said at Sunday's protest. "As a Chinese person, I need to demand justice," he told the Associated Press news agency. About 200,000 Filipinos work in Hong Kong; some have voiced fears of retribution.
On Sunday night, hundreds of Filipina women employed as domestic helpers held a candlelight vigil on their traditional day off, urging the people of Hong Kong not to take out their anger on them.
"We trust our friends in Hong Kong would not do anything untoward against Filipinos here," the Philippine vice-consul Val Roque said to the AFP news agency. "But we understand the anger must be released. We hope as the days go by that anger will dissipate."
Police in the Philippines said on Sunday that the hostages were killed by Mendoza's gun and not police weapons during their rescue operation.
As the talks failed and Mendoza became increasingly agitated, police made several unsuccessful attempts to board the coach. Shots could be heard fired from inside the curtained bus and no-one knew how many hostages were still alive.
Survivors and experts have criticised the Manila police for being indecisive and slow in their handling of the crisis.
Anger in Hong Kong has been further fuelled by the news that highly-trained army and police teams who specialised in hostage takings were standing by but not used, says our correspondent. | Protest_Online Condemnation | August 2010 | ['(Aljazeera)', '(BBC)', '(Bangkok Post)', '[permanent dead link]', '(The Independent)'] |
China has decided to end its controversial one-child policy after 36 years. It is to be replaced by a new two-child policy. | Couples will now be allowed to have two children, it said, citing a statement from the Communist Party.
The controversial policy was introduced nationally in 1979, to slow the population growth rate. It is estimated to have prevented about 400 million births. However concerns at China's ageing population led to pressure for change. Couples who violated the one-child policy faced a variety of punishments, from fines and the loss of employment to forced abortions.
Over time, the policy has been relaxed in some provinces, as demographers and sociologists raised concerns about rising social costs and falling worker numbers.
The decision to allow families to have two children was designed "to improve the balanced development of population'' and to deal with an aging population, according to the statement from the Community Party's Central Committee carried by the official Xinhua News Agency (in Chinese) on Thursday.
Currently about 30% of China's population is over the age of 50. The total population of the country is around 1.36 billion.
The Communist Party began formally relaxing national rules two years ago, allowing couples in which at least one of the pair is an only child to have a second child.
China's one-child policy
What was China's one-child policy?
Trauma and sympathy shared online
Correspondents say that despite the relaxation of the rules, many couples may opt to only have one child, as one-child families have become the social norm.
Critics say that even a two-child policy will not boost the birth rate enough, the BBC's John Sudworth reports.
And for those women who want more than two children, nor will it end the state's insistence on the right to control their fertility, he adds.
"As long as the quotas and system of surveillance remains, women still do not enjoy reproductive rights," Maya Wang of Human Rights Watch told AFP.
I was born in 1979, the year the one-child policy was implemented. And even then, I wasn't supposed to be born. In my parents' work unit, there were also quotas for babies. By the time my mother announced her pregnancy, the quotas were all used up for the year. But kind-hearted officials decided to look the other way and allowed my birth. My would-be siblings were less lucky. As a result of the policy, my mother had to endure two abortions. Even today, she talks about 'Number Two' and 'Number Three' and what they might have been like.
, says the reform with do little to change China's population and is instead a "pragmatic response to an unpopular policy that made no sense". The announcement in China came on the final day of a summit of the Communist Party's policy-making Central Committee, known as the fifth plenum.
The party also announced growth targets and its next five year plan.
The legacy of China's one child policy
| Government Policy Changes | October 2015 | ['(BBC News)', '(Al Jazeera English)'] |
A shooter kills three people and injures eight more at Naval Air Station Pensacola, Florida, United States, before being shot and killed by police. | UPDATE 1:05 p.m. The suspect who opened fire at NAS Pensacola on Friday morning used a handgun, Escambia County Sheriff David Morgan said during an afternoon press conference.
The sheriff said that four people are confirmed dead, including the shooter, and eight more are injured.
UPDATE 12:50 a.m.The shooting suspect at NAS Pensacola was an aviation student from Saudi Arabia, Governor Ron DeSantis confirmed.
UPDATE 11:10 a.m.A spokesman for NAS Pensacola confirmed that the base is still on lockdown and said the number of injured is expected to rise as the day goes on.
Four people, including the shooter, are still confirmed deceased.
UPDATE 10:45 a.m.:Corry Station, a naval training installation a few miles northwest of NAS Pensacola, has been placed on lockdown as a precaution. Personnel are sheltering in place until the lockdown is lifted.
Corry Station is open for regular traffic.
UPDATE 9:45 a.m.: Sheriff David Morgan has confirmed that four people are dead following a shooting at NAS Pensacola Friday morning, including the shooter.
Total injured, including deceased, are 11, according to Morgan. Seven patients are currently being treated at Baptist Hospital.
Two ECSO deputies are among those injured and are hospitalized. One was shot in the arm and one was shot in the knee. The deputy who was shot in the knee is undergoing surgery.
The shooting happened in a classroom building, with the first report coming to ECSO at 6:51 a.m.
A spokesman for NAS Pensacola confirmed the shooting took place in Building 633, which is the Aviation Pre-Indoctrination Building.
UPDATE 9:40 a.m.Sacred Heart Hospital says they have not received any patients from this morning's active shooter situation and don't anticipate receiving any today.
Baptist Hospital has received eight patients from this morning's shooting. The Navy hospital on base also confirms they have received patients but could not confirm a number.
If you believe you may have a family member at Baptist Hospital, officials are asking you call Baptist at 850-434-4011.
UPDATE 9:25 a.m.: While NAS Pensacola spokesmen have confirmed six injured or dead, Navy Hospital officials reportadditional patients were transported to their hospital. Their extent of their injuries is unknown.
Baptist Hospital also released a statement confirming they have received have eight patients. Staff are working with Navy personnel to communicate with family members.
UPDATE 9:07 a.m.:Maj. Andrew Hobbs with the Escambia County Sheriff's Office said two deputies were shot while confronting the active shooter suspect on Friday morning.
The deputies were transported to local hospitals with non-life threatening injuries.
Additional ECSO deputies engaged the active shooter and shot and killed him, according to Chief Deputy Chip Simmons
UPDATE 9 a.m.: Sailors on base reported that the shooting happened inside building 633, which is the Aviation Pre-Indoctrination Building.
The stretch of Navy Boulevard leading to the main gate entrance of NAS Pensacola remained closed around 8:30 a.m. Friday.
ECSO deputies stood in the middle of Navy Boulevard andGulf Beach Highway, diverting traffic on Gulf Beach Highway but not allowing cars to pass on Navy Boulevard. The parking lot of a CVS pharmacy at the northwest corner of the intersection was filled with cars driven by military members or NAS Pensacola office staff workers who were unable to get to work.
Jennifer Nicholls, a fifth-grade teacher at St. John the Evangelist Catholic Church, was parked in a minivan with five children in its backseats.She, her three children and two carpoolers watched as streams of emergency vehicles roared past them down Navy Boulevard.
“We’ve been waiting here since about 7:20 a.m.,” she said. “The school is one of the last things on the road before you get to the base. We saw the road blocked, and a friend called me and asked if I had heard about what happened on base. I pulled in here. I thought it would be a safe place.”
UPDATE 8:35 a.m. Six total victims have been confirmed following an active shooter incident at Naval Air Station Pensacola on Friday morning.
Two victims, as well as the shooter, have been confirmed dead. Two additional victims have suffered critical injuries. An additional victim has suffered non-critical injuries.
The Navy base will be closed all day Friday.
UPDATE 8:30 a.m.Sacred Heart Hospital says they're expecting three patients, not six, related to the active shooter at NAS Pensacola.
The three patients have not yet arrived at the hospital.
UPDATE 8:20 a.m. Two victims are confirmed dead, in addition to the shooter, after a shooting was reportedabout 6:30 a.m. Friday.
There are three additional injuries, according to Jason Bortz, spokesman for NAS Pensacola.
UPDATE 8:10 a.m.Reports say theshooting took place near Radford Road on base.
UPDATE 8:07 a.m.Escambia County Commissioner Jeff Bergosh, who works at the NAS Pensacola as a civilian contractor, said he was in line to go through the gate when it was shut down.
“There's probably been 100 or so various law enforcement vehicles zooming down the wrong side on Navy Boulevard,” Bergosh said. “There's been ambulances, fire trucks. It's my understanding there's multiple causalities. I haven't heard of any fatalities yet.”
He received a call from his coworkers who reported being on lockdown inside the base. He said he is stuck in traffic gridlock outside the base.
UPDATE 8:03 a.m.Sacred Heart Hospital has confirmed they're expecting six patients from the active shooter situation on NAS Pensacola. Not all of the patients have arrived yet.
Baptist Hospital has received five patients so far.
St. John's Catholic School, located outside the front of the base, has been closed due to the lockdown.
UPDATE 7:50 a.m. The active shooter at NAS Pensacola has been confirmed dead.
ECSO spokeswoman Amber Southard confirmed the shooter was dead just before 8 a.m. Friday.
Baptist Hospital spokeswoman Kathy Bowers confirmed the hospital has accepted five patients related to the active shooting.
UPDATE 7:30 a.m. A spokesperson for the Escambia County Sheriff's Office confirmed that authorities are working to "take down"an active shooter on base at NAS Pensacola.
Amber Southard, spokeswoman for the ECSO, said little information is available at the moment, but shots have been fired on base and a heavy law enforcement presence is there to eliminate the threat.
Scanner traffic for Escambia County Fire and Rescue indicated 10 patients are being transported to local hospitals.
Three medical helicopters are in route and several military ambulances have also been seen in the area.
ORIGINAL STORY:An active shooter has been reported at Naval Air Station Pensacola.
Jason Bortz, spokesman for NAS Pensacola, confirmed to the News Journal that an active shooter was reportedsometime around 7 a.m. Friday. Both gates are closed and the base is on lockdown.
Navy officials and law enforcement are currently investigating the report and are asking members of the public to stay away from base. | Armed Conflict | December 2019 | ['(Pensacola News Journal)'] |
More than 200 people are wounded in a second day of clashes between Tunisian security forces and thousands of protesters in Siliana, Tunisia. | More than 200 people have been wounded in a second day of clashes in the Tunisian town of Siliana, medical officials have said.
Security forces used tear gas and rubber bullets to disperse protesters demanding jobs, with reports of people also being treated for gunshot wounds.
Trade unions have called for further protests on Thursday.
Tunisia was the birthplace of the Arab Spring, deposing its long-time president in January 2011.
During a brief television appearance on Wednesday evening, Prime Minister Hamadi Jebali rejected protesters' calls for him to step down, saying: "This governor is not quitting."
The BBC's Sihem Hassaini in the capital, Tunis, says the unrest in Siliana is the latest in a series of protests by people disappointed by the lack of progress following the revolution.
Since the uprising which overthrew Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali unemployment has gone up - and according to official figures stands at about 18%.
Siliana residents went on strike on Tuesday, angered that the mayor had failed to create jobs.
All offices and businesses in Siliana, which is about 120km (75 miles) south of Tunis, remained closed on Wednesday, as protests continued.
According to AFP news agency, several armoured vehicles were deployed as demonstrators blocked roads with barricades and set tyres alight on Wednesday.
Trade unions have called for protests to continue on Thursday, it reports.
The protestors threw stones and thick clouds of tear gas could be seen over the town centre, our correspondent says.
Doctors at Siliana Hospital estimated the number of injured had risen to more than 200 by Wednesday evening.
Thirteen serious cases have been transferred to a hospital in Tunis, a medical source told the state-run Tap news agency.
David Thomson, a journalist for France24 news channel, tweeted from Siliana hospital where he was being treated for a shotgun wound. He said other patients had been admitted for more serious injuries.
Our reporter says the MP for Siliana, Iyed Dahmani, has begun a hunger strike, demanding more opportunities for his constituents.
Interior Minister Ali Larayed called for calm during a live television interview broadcast on Wednesday evening. "I ask people in Siliana to calm down, to protest calmly and accept dialogue," he said. Africa Today podcasts | Riot | November 2012 | ['(BBC)', '(Al Arabiya)'] |
Brendan Dassey, the subject of Netflix's hit drama Making a Murderer is found to have been wrongly convicted of murdering the photographer Teresa Halbach. A federal judge orders that he must be released from prison within three months. | The judge's order claims the detectives who were investigating Halbach's murder promised Dassey prosecutorial leniency in exchange for his cooperation during his March 1, 2006, interrogation
Brendan Dassey’s conviction for the 2005 murder of Teresa Halbach was overturned by a federal judge on Friday, meaning Steven Avery’s nephew will be released from prison within the next three months.
Court officials confirmed Friday’s decision to exonerate Dassey, who, along with Avery, served as the subjects of the hit Netflix true crime documentary series, Making a Murderer.
Making a Murderer directors/executive producers Laura Ricciardi and Moira Demos issued the following statement to PEOPLE: “Today there was a major development for the subjects in our story and this recent news shows the criminal justice system at work. As we have done for the past 10 years, we will continue to document the story as it unfolds, and follow it wherever it may lead.”
PEOPLE obtained a copy of Judge William Duffin’s decision, in which he characterized the “misconduct” of Dassey’s first attorney, Len Kachinsky, as “indefensible.”
The judge’s order claims the detectives who were investigating Halbach’s murder promised Dassey prosecutorial leniency in exchange for his cooperation during his March 1, 2006, interrogation.
“The investigators repeatedly claimed to already know what happened on Oct. 31 and assured Dassey that he had nothing to worry about,” the decision reads. “These repeated false promises, when considered in conjunction with all relevant factors, most especially Dassey’s age, intellectual deficits, and the absence of a supportive adult, rendered Dassey’s confession involuntary under the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments.”
The judge’s decision suggests he had “significant doubts” concerning the reliability of Dassey’s confession.
“Crucial details evolved through repeated leading and suggestive questioning and generally stopped changing only after the investigators, in some manner, indicated to Dassey that he finally gave the answer they were looking for,” the ruling reads. “Purportedly corroborative details could have been the product of contamination from other sources, including the investigators’ own statements and questioning, or simply logical guesses, rather than actual knowledge of the crime.”
Kathleen Zellner, Avery’s new attorney, tells PEOPLE “we are thrilled for Brendan Dassey that his conviction has been overturned,” adding “we fully expected this outcome from an unbiased court that carefully examined his confession.”
According to Zellner, she was just visiting with Avery who “is so happy for Brendan. We know when an unbiased court reviews all of the new evidence we have, Steven will have his conviction overturned as well.”
In March 2006, Dassey, then 16, told investigators he had helped his uncle, Steven Avery, rape and murder photographer Teresa Halbach on Oct. 31, 2005. But he later recanted, claiming the confession had been coerced.
Dassey’s confession to law enforcement is perhaps the most debated aspect of the Netflix series.
• Want to keep up with the latest crime coverage? Click here to get breaking crime news, ongoing trial coverage and details of intriguing unsolved cases in the True Crime Newsletter.
On the day of the confession, lead investigators Tom Fassbender and Mark Wiegert pulled Dassey out of school and questioned him alone for hours.
During that questioning, Dassey told investigators he had helped Avery kill Halbach, saying that they shot her in the head and burned her body at a bonfire on the Avery property later that evening.
Calumet County Prosecutor Ken Kratz called a press conference shortly after investigators secured the confession, saying that Dassey described in detail Halbach’s brutal assault and slaying.
However, after seeing portions of the confession on Netflix, many came to believe he was led by Fassbender and Wiegert, who repeatedly question him until the teen gives them a confession.
In a recorded exchange with his mother, Barb Janda, following the confession, Dassey says, “They got in my head.” The teen later denied that he ever saw Halbach and said he had nothing to do with her murder.
A second season of the Netflix show is in production but the streaming service has provided no information on when the new season will debut. | Famous Person - Commit Crime - Release | August 2016 | ['(People)'] |
Kuwait foils an al Qaedalinked plan to bomb a United States army camp and other "important facilities" in the country. | Kuwaiti officials say they have arrested six members of a "terrorist network", linked to al-Qaeda, who were planning to attack a US military base.
An interior ministry statement said that all six Kuwaitis had confessed to the crimes after they were arrested. The statement said they had also planned to bomb the headquarters of Kuwait's internal security agency. It mentioned other "important facilities" in the oil-rich emirate, but gave no further details. Kuwaiti opinions are divided when it comes to their country's close alliance with the US. Older Kuwaitis, especially those who lived through the Iraqi invasion of 1990 and seven-month occupation, remain grateful to the US for saving their country. But some younger Kuwaitis see the US in hostile terms, as invaders and occupiers of Iraq, as a friend of Israel and as an enemy to Muslims. In 2005 Kuwaiti security forces broke up an al-Qaeda-linked cell said to be plotting attacks.
"The state security has uncovered a terrorist network following al-Qaeda, and includes six (Kuwaiti) citizens who have planned to carry out a plan to bomb Arifjan Camp, the state security building and other important facilities," the ministry said. Al-Arabiya television said the group was plotting the attack for the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, which starts on about 20 August. Camp Arifjan, a vast, purpose-built $200m (120m) camp south of Kuwait City, is the main US base in Kuwait. The heavily protected camp houses 15,000 US soldiers and is used as a logistics base for troops serving in Iraq. Previous attacks against Americans in Kuwait include an incident in October 2002, when two Kuwaitis opened fire on US Marines, killing one. The following year, a civil servant killed an American contractor and severely wounded another when he ambushed their car near a US army camp. Six Kuwaitis and stateless Arabs were sentenced to life in prison in 2007 for planning attacks on US troops and Kuwaiti security personnel. | Armed Conflict | August 2009 | ['(The Irish Times)', '(Reuters)', '(BBC)'] |
CISA, a federal agency of the United States, was breached by suspected Russian hackers, but Russia denies the allegation. The perpetrator are still unknown, along with the cause and what was breached. | The U.S. Treasury Department, shown here in 2019, has been hacked along with the U.S. Commerce Department, according to reports. Russia is suspected, but denies involvement. The U.S. government has acknowledged a breach and says it is investigating to make a full assessment.
The U.S. Treasury Department, shown here in 2019, has been hacked along with the U.S. Commerce Department, according to reports. Russia is suspected, but denies involvement. The U.S. government has acknowledged a breach and says it is investigating to make a full assessment.
Updated at 5:00 p.m. ET
Russian hackers working for the Kremlin are believed to be behind breaches of U.S. government computer systems at the departments of Treasury, Commerce and Homeland Security that may have lasted months before they were discovered, according to U.S. officials and media reports.
The hackers reportedly broke into the email systems at the government departments, but the full extent of the breach was not immediately clear as U.S. officials scrambled to make an assessment. There are concerns that hackers may have penetrated other government departments and perhaps many private companies as well.
The Commerce Department, the National Security Council and the Department of Homeland Security all acknowledged the intrusion in brief statements but provided no details.
"We can confirm there has been a breach in one of our bureaus," the Commerce Department said.
"We have been working closely with our agency partners regarding recently discovered activity on government networks," said NSC spokesman John Ullyot.
The U.S. government did not name Russia or any other actor as being responsible.
Reuters first reported the story on Sunday, and subsequent reports identified Russia's foreign intelligence service, the SVR, as the most likely culprit.
Russia's SVR, the rough equivalent to the CIA in the U.S., was blamed for major hacks in 2014-15 that involved unclassified email systems at the White House, State Department and the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
Russia on Monday denied any involvement in the latest reported breach.
Emergency directive
Meanwhile, the U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), which is part of Homeland Security, issued an emergency directive calling on all federal civilian agencies to review their computer networks for signs of the compromise. The statement also said agencies should disconnect from SolarWinds Orion products immediately.
SolarWinds has government contracts, including with the military and intelligence services, and also works with many large private companies. The attackers are believed to have used a "supply chain attack" method that embeds malicious code into legitimate software updates.
"The compromise of SolarWinds' Orion Network Management Products poses unacceptable risks to the security of federal networks," CISA's acting Director Brandon Wales said in a statement. "Tonight's directive is intended to mitigate potential compromises within federal civilian networks, and we urge all our partners in the public and private sectors to assess their exposure to this compromise."
SolarWinds, based in Austin, Texas, put out its own statement saying it was aware that its systems were experiencing a "highly sophisticated, manual supply chain attack" on specific versions of its Orion platform software released between March and June of this year.
"We have been advised this attack was likely conducted by an outside nation-state and intended to be a narrow, extremely targeted, and manually executed attack, as opposed to a broad, system-wide attack," the company said.
Kevin Thompson, SolarWinds' president and CEO, said the company was working with the FBI, the U.S. intelligence community and other law enforcement agencies to investigate.
Tech companies respond
Two other tech companies, Microsoft and FireEye, also weighed in.
Microsoft said in a blog post late Sunday, "We believe this is nation-state activity at significant scale, aimed at both the government and private sector."
The Commerce Department and the Treasury Department use the Microsoft Office 365 platform, Reuters and The New York Times reported Sunday.
FireEye reported last week that hackers, also believed to be Russians, stole the company's key tools used to test vulnerabilities in the computer networks of its customers, which include government agencies.
FireEye said in a blog post late Sunday night that it had identified "a global campaign that introduces a compromise into the networks of public and private organizations through the software supply chain."
Speaking in Moscow last Friday, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov dismissed allegations that Russia was involved in the FireEye hack.
"I want to remind you that it was President (Vladimir) Putin who proposed that the American side agree and conclude agreements (with Russia) on cybersecurity," Peskov said, adding that Washington had ignored the offer.
"If there have been attacks for many months, and the Americans could not do anything about it, it is probably not worth immediately, groundlessly blaming the Russians. We didn't have anything to do with it," he said. | Famous Person - Commit Crime - Accuse | December 2020 | ['(s)', '(NPR)'] |
Voters in Chile go to the polls in presidential and parliamentary elections. | SANTIAGO (Reuters) - A conservative billionaire led Chile’s presidential vote by a wide margin on Sunday, making him the favorite to win a run-off and oust the leftist bloc that has ruled for the two decades since Augusto Pinochet’s dictatorship.
Chile set for presidential elections
01:33
Sebastian Pinera, a Harvard-educated businessman, was winning just over 44 percent of votes against 31 percent for ruling coalition candidate ex-President Eduardo Frei, an official vote count of about 60 percent of polling stations showed.
Pinera and Frei go to a second election on January 17 since no one in the four-way race took more than 50 percent. Analysts say Pinera’s healthy lead in the first round puts him in a strong position to win in January.
A Pinera victory would mark a shift to the right in a region dominated by leftist leaders but he is not expected to overhaul economic policies that have made Chile a model of stability.
“This election pits the past against the future, stagnation against progress, division against unity,” Pinera told reporters on the eve of the vote.
The political right has not won an election for 50 years in Chile, a copper-, fruit- and salmon-exporting country of 16 million that stretches from a mine-rich desert in the north to the icy tip of South America.
Pinochet seized power in a 1973 coup and more than 3,000 people were killed or disappeared during his 17-year rule.
The leftist coalition that has run the country since Pinochet stepped down in 1990 has been credited with developing the region’s highest standard of living but it has been weakened in recent years by infighting and defections.
Many voters believe the left has not done enough to distribute billions of dollars in copper earnings through social programs and improve education and healthcare.
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“After 20 years I have stopped believing in the Concertacion,” 33-year-old software designer Karla Espinoza said, referring to the ruling coalition of center-left parties, as she voted for Pinera at his boyhood school, Verbo Divino, in Santiago. She voted for President Michelle Bachelet, not Pinera, at the last election in 2005.
Pinera, a 60-year-old extreme sports enthusiast who piloted his own helicopter to remote settlements during the campaign, plans to use corporate tax breaks and job subsidies to lure investment if elected.
He has promised to boost average annual economic growth to 6 percent and create 1 million jobs. But his plan relies on foreign investment rebounding and an uninterrupted recovery from the first recession in a decade. Chile’s stock market is seen rallying if he wins.
Pinera’s critics say he wants to run Chile like a money-hungry business boss and that his immense wealth and stakes in businesses such as LAN, one of Latin America’s biggest airlines, raise conflicts of interest.
They also question his ethics. Pinera was fined about $700,000 in 2007, accused of abusing privileged information when he bought LAN shares a day before it published earnings.
Frei, 67, whose 1994-2000 presidency was rocked by a recession amid the Asian financial crisis, has pledged to continue the social programs of Bachelet, who is very popular.
The civil engineer, who jokes he is seen as “very boring,” likely will struggle to unite the left, which has been divided by independent candidate Marco Enriquez-Ominami.
The 36-year-old son of a guerrilla leader slain during Pinochet’s rule split from the ruling coalition and polled third on Sunday with 19 percent, the partial official count showed.
A former film director, Enriquez-Ominami rejected any pact with Frei before Sunday’s vote, and whether or not he backs him could be a big factor in the outcome of the run-off.
Fourth-place candidate Jorge Arrate of a leftist bloc that includes Chile’s Communist Party had nearly 6 percent of the vote and has pledged to back Frei in the second round.
“The big question is: What happens to Marco Enriquez-Ominami’s votes?” said Fabian Pressacco, a political analyst who expects a tight race. “How many of those votes will go to Frei? I think most of them will.”
Bachelet, who could not run for a second consecutive term under Chile’s constitution, has an impressive 77 percent approval rating but Frei has failed to capitalize on that.
Pinera, who came second at the presidential election in 2005, has long sought to distance himself from Pinochet’s legacy, although some of his advisers worked for the dictator.
He is not expected to make major changes to government policies. His proposal to sell up to 20 percent of state copper giant Codelco is seen as a non-starter because of resistance from unions and lawmakers.
The left is expected to retain a small majority in both houses of Congress, meaning Pinera would have to negotiate with rivals to push through legislation.
| Government Job change - Election | December 2009 | ['(Xinhua)', '(Reuters)'] |
Perpetrator Brenton Tarrant begins his sentencing before the High Court in Christchurch, New Zealand. He faces an unprecedented sentence of life imprisonment without the possibility of parole, having been convicted in March for murder involving multiple deaths. | Aug. 24 (UPI) -- The gunman who killed dozens of people in New Zealand's deadliest mass shooting was in court Monday to face victims and relatives in a prelude to his punishment.
Brenton Tarrant appeared in court for a sentencing hearing, during which prosecutors gave a detailed account of the March 2019 shooting in Christchurch that killed 51 people at two mosques.
Tarrant, 29, an Australian citizen and self-professed white supremacist, appeared to show little emotion as authorities described that he'd also planned to set fire to both mosques and attack worshipers at a third location.
Tarrant pleaded guilty in March to 51 counts of murder, 40 counts of attempted murder and one charge of terrorism. The court is trying to determine whether Tarrant will spend the rest of his life in prison.
"Losing my beloved son is like feeling the pain of labor in womb again and again," Maysoon Salama, who lost her son in the attack, told Tarrant directly in court Monday.
"You thought you could break us, but you failed miserably. We became more determined and united than ever. [My son] is gone but he will never be forgotten. We will live his legacy every day.
"You gave yourself the authority to take the souls of 51 innocent people, their only crime -- in your eyes -- being Muslims. You transgress beyond comprehension, I cannot forgive you."
The sentencing phase is expected to last until Thursday.
Other victims told the court the attacks left them in great shock and inflicted significant trauma, as they were either wounded in the shooting or witnessed someone else die.
Saira Bibi Patel said she watched as her husband was shot dead at one of the mosques. They'd recently fulfilled requirements for their residency visas and were planning to retire in New Zealand.
"I am in life imprisonment with my sadness and loneliness," Patel said. "I hate being called a widow, which I do not deserve."
Prosecutors said Tarrant moved from Australia to New Zealand in 2017 and began plans to attack mosques. They said he eyed various mosques in New Zealand and bought multiple guns, thousands of rounds of ammunition, body armor and military-style vests. | Famous Person - Commit Crime - Sentence | August 2020 | ['(AP via The Hindu)', '(UPI)'] |
Al Jazeera America announces that it will close in April due to poor ratings. | The cable news channel Al Jazeera America, which debuted in 2013 to great fanfare when it promised to cover American news soberly and seriously, will be shutting down by the end of April. The move was announced at a companywide meeting on Wednesday.
In a memo to the staff, Al Jazeera America’s chief executive, Al Anstey, said the “decision by Al Jazeera America’s board is driven by the fact that our business model is simply not sustainable in light of the economic challenges in the U.S. media marketplace.”
“I know the closure of AJAM will be a massive disappointment for everyone here who has worked tirelessly for our long-term future,” he continued, using the company acronym. “The decision that has been made is in no way because AJAM has done anything but a great job. Our commitment to great journalism is unrivaled.”
At the companywide meeting, Al Jazeera America staff members, some in tears, were told that the decision to shutter the network had not been unanimous. Some of the channel’s leadership argued that the network provided an important service, and continued to win awards for its coverage. But in the end, the decision was an economic one. The channel, it was felt, had fallen victim to the lack of a business model beyond continuous support from Qatar, the energy-rich country that owns Al Jazeera.
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Some staffers saw that as a tacit admission that falling oil prices were behind the closure, though a spokeswoman for the company denied that on Wednesday. Beyond its oil wealth, Qatar is one of the world’s top exporters of liquefied natural gas, whose price has also tumbled. Mr. Anstey said that once the cable news network shuts down by April 30, Al Jazeera would expand its digital presence in the United States. The expansion “would bring new global content into America.”
Al Jazeera America went on the air in August 2013 after Al Jazeera bought Al Gore’s Current TV for $500 million. It promised to be thoughtful and smart, free of the shouting arguments that have defined cable news in the United States over the last decade. But meaningful viewership never came, with prime-time ratings sometimes struggling to exceed 30,000 viewers.
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To make matters worse, turmoil hit the newsroom last year when staff members complained bitterly of a culture of fear. There was an exodus of top executives, along with a pair of lawsuits from former employees that included complaints about sexism and anti-Semitism at the news channel.
In May, Ehab Al Shihabi, the chief executive of Al Jazeera America, was replaced by Mr. Anstey. Morale improved, but ratings remained low.
The closure, which will cost hundreds of employees their jobs, highlights the difficulties of establishing a robust cable news presence in an increasingly crowded media marketplace, and one that faces ever more competition from the web — the ultimate 24-hour news medium.
Current TV, before being bought by Al Jazeera, had struggled for years to find an audience, and to define its place in the news landscape. Fusion, a cable news network and digital publication aimed at younger audiences, lost the backing of one of its corporate parent companies, Disney, in recent weeks, following reports that it, too, had struggled to find its footing with audiences. Even established players like MSNBC have been forced to revamp in recent years.
Andrew Heyward, a former president of CBS News who is now an adviser to media companies, said in an interview that Al Jazeera America had faced an uphill battle from the beginning.
Cable news “is a very well-served market, not to say saturated, and you have three powerful, well-established players,” he said, referring to Fox News, MSNBC and CNN. “Endemically, it’s not quite clear that the world was waiting for a new 24-hour cable channel in the U.S., and cable operators certainly weren’t waiting for it,” he said, describing the limited distribution the channel received.
“They came kind of swaggering into the arena, saying we’re going to do higher-end stories and represent people who are under-represented,” Mr. Heyward said, a proposition that played better on paper than in practice. And the network brought something of a British sensibility and judgment, he said, which did not translate as well to cable news as it might in other arenas.
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“This is not ‘Downton Abbey,’ ” he said.
All these problems were exacerbated, he said, by the fact that a brand associated with the Arab world was a tougher sell in the United States than it was in Europe.
And Al Jazeera America has not been free of controversy in recent months. In November, the news station’s general counsel, David W. Harleston, was suspended following a report in The New York Times that he did not appear to be licensed to practice law. Among the varied legal work Mr. Harleston had done for Al Jazeera America was his involvement in wrongful termination lawsuits brought by former employees. Legal experts have cautioned that Mr. Harleston’s lack of a law license could potentially leave the network vulnerable in those lawsuits, primarily over issues of confidentiality.
On Dec. 27, Al Jazeera America aired an hourlong documentary that linked some of the biggest stars in Major League Baseball and the National Football League to performance-enhancing drugs. The most prominent athlete mentioned was the Denver Broncos quarterback Peyton Manning, who angrily denied the report, calling it “complete garbage” and “totally made up.” The baseball players Ryan Howard and Ryan Zimmerman have filed defamation suits against the network.
When told Wednesday of Al Jazeera America’s plans to shut down, Mr. Manning deadpanned, “I’m sure it’s going to be just devastating to all their viewers.” | Organization Closed | January 2016 | ['(The New York Times)'] |
Fighting intensifies in the east as Ukraine forces recapture control of the strategic town of Avdiivka from pro-Russian insurgents. | The Ukrainian army says it has seized a key town near the rebel stronghold of Donetsk, as fighting rages in the east.
Pro-Russia separatists were driven out of Avdiivka on Wednesday, the army said. The strategic town is near the airport and train station in Donetsk.
Heavy fighting around Donetsk has again prevented international experts from reaching the crash site of flight MH17.
Meanwhile, Russia said new sanctions were "destructive and short-sighted" and would lead to higher energy prices. Almost two weeks after the Malaysia Airlines jet came down, international monitors were turned back to the city of Donetsk by separatist amid clashes in the area.
Some critics say it is not in the interest of the Ukrainian army for observers to get to the site as it would restrict their offensive, says the BBC's Tom Burridge in Kharkiv.
Regional officials in Donetsk said on Wednesday that 19 people had been killed in fighting in the past 24 hours. Ukraine says its troops have also entered the towns of Shakhtarsk and Torez in Donetsk region, and Lutuhyne in Luhansk region.
On Tuesday, the US announced new economic sanctions against Russia, widening their scope to include three key sectors of the economy - energy, arms and finance.
US nationals and people living in America will no longer be able to bank with three Russian banks - the VTB, the Bank of Moscow and the Russian Agriculture Bank (Rosselkhozbank).
The EU is also expanding its sanctions, targeting the oil sector, defence equipment and sensitive technologies.
Details of new EU sanctions are now due to be revealed on Thursday, a day later than expected.
Sanctions are starting to bite in Russia, with the rouble down and borrowers squeezed by rising interest rates, says the BBC's Daniel Sandford in Moscow.
A senior US state department official told the BBC that Russia's central bank had been forced to spend tens of billions of dollars in order to defend the rouble. "If Russia continues on this current path, the costs on Russia will continue to grow," US President Barack Obama said on Tuesday.
Russia's foreign ministry said the new US sanctions were "destructive and short-sighted" and would aggravate relations between the two countries. It also attacked fresh EU sanctions as "thoughtless and irresponsible" and said they would "inevitably" lead to higher energy prices in Europe. The first sign of retaliation came after Russia announced a ban on most fruit and vegetable imports from Poland. Russia buys more than 2bn euros (1.6bn; $2.7bn) worth of EU fruit and vegetables a year, making it by far the biggest export market for the products. Polish fruit growers said the ban was political but Russia said the move was for sanitary reasons. Meanwhile, Germany's Economy Minister Sigmar Gabriel said the sanctions could hurt the German economy, which has strong trade links with Russia. "Nonetheless at a time of war and peace, economic policy is not the main consideration," he told journalists.
The list of 87 targets of EU sanctions now includes the heads of Russia's intelligence agencies, the president of Chechnya, and two Crimean energy firms.
However, UK company BP, which owns nearly 20% of Russian state oil giant Rosneft, said further sanctions could "adversely impact" its performance.
Russia has come under increased pressure to end its support for the rebels, who Western governments believe were behind the downing of MH17, killing 298 people.
Moscow has also been accused by the US and EU of supplying heavy weapons to the rebels - a charge it denies.
| Armed Conflict | July 2014 | ['(BBC)'] |
The first round of parliamentary elections in Lithuania takes place. Voters are asked to elect the 141 members of the Seimas amidst a rapid increase of COVID-19 cases, causing fears of a low voter turnout. | A recent spike in coronavirus infections and related restrictions may affect voter turnout. Soaring unemployment and a troubled health care system has triggered nationwide frustration at the coalition government.
Lithuanians headed to the polls on Sunday for the first round of parliamentary elections, with the ruling four-party centre-left coalition in a tight race with opposition conservatives.
Voters will choose 141 national lawmakers. Pre-election polls show Prime Minister Saulius Skvernelis' Farmers and Greens Union marginally ahead of the conservative Homeland Union-Lithuanian Christian Democrats, the Social Democrats, the populist Labor party and the center-right Liberal Movement.
Talks on forming a new coalition after the election are expected, with five or six parties expected to cross the 5% threshold to enter the Seimas assembly. None is likely to receive more than 20% support.
If re-elected, Skvernelis vows to set up state-owned pharmacies nationwide and introduce an annual "13th pension" cash bonus for senior citizens. His rival, ex-finance minister Ingrida Simonyte, has accused the prime minister of running a disorderly and populist government.
The opposition are set on bridging the economic and educational divide between the country's rural and urban residents.
All of the major parties back the European Union and NATO and support neighbouring Belarus's democratic opposition.
:Lithuania's independence still rattles Vladimir Putin
A recent rise in COVID-19 cases and new restrictions to combat the spread of the virus, as well as soaring unemployment, has triggered nationwide anger over Lithuania's current coalition government.
The surge in infections may affect turnout among Lithuania's 2.4 million registered voters.
Around 7.3% have already cast their ballots in an early voting, according to the Central Electoral Commission.
Voters are required to adhere to physical distancing rules at polling stations, wear face masks, and have been told to bring their own pens to minimize infection risk.
For the first time ever, the Baltic country has authorized drive-in voting due to the pandemic.
Despite the recent spike in cases, Lithuania's coronavirus related-deaths are well below the EU average and in the second quarter of 2020 its economy decreased 4% year-on-year – the second best result in the EU.
Many Lithuanians, however, think the government's focus on fighting the virus has left thousands of patients without access to proper healthcare.
Others say the government took insufficient action in helping businesses during its coronavirus lockdown. In February, Lithuania's unemployment rate leaped from 9% to more than 14% in October.
Poverty and income inequality levels in Lithuania remain among the highest in the EU.
The first round of the election on Sunday will fill around half the seats in the 141-member parliament using the proportional representation voting system.
The final round of voting in single-member constituencies – where no candidate gets a majority – has been scheduled for October 25.
| Government Job change - Election | October 2020 | ['(DW)'] |
In tennis, Victoria Azarenka wins the women's singles at the 2013 Australian Open after her three–set victory over Li Na in the final. | From the section Tenniscomments148
Victoria Azarenka retained her Australian Open title and kept hold of the world number one spot with victory over Li Na in the Melbourne final.
The Belarusian, 23, came back from a set down to win 4-6 6-4 6-3 on a cool and blustery evening on Rod Laver Arena.
In a scrappy match, Azarenka proved the stronger in the closing stages after Li rolled her ankle twice and hit her head in two heavy falls.
The victory brought Azarenka her second Grand Slam title after last year's win at Melbourne Park, and ensured she will not be overtaken by Serena Williams in the next world rankings.
However, it was the 30-year-old Li who carried most of the support throughout the final, due in part to Azarenka's controversial medical timeout in Azarenka had been accused of gamesmanship, despite Either way, the negative attention she garnered in the build-up only added to the support for the already popular Li.
"Unfortunately, you have to go through some rough patches to achieve great things," said Azarenka. "That's what makes it so special for me. I went through that, and I'm still able to kiss that beautiful trophy."
China's Li, the 2011 French Open champion, had marginally the better of a desperately scrappy first set of 32 errors and 16 winners between the pair.
Li was much the more effective on the return and after recovering from 5-2 down to 5-4, Azarenka double-faulted on set point, summing up her evening to that point.
A few calls from the boisterous Australia Day crowd probably did not help, although at times it appeared that Li was as distracted by her own vociferous supporters.
Azarenka made a strong start to the second set with a double break as Li's famously unreliable radar went haywire, but the sixth seed was battling back at 3-2 down when she suffered a fall.
"Victoria Azarenka is a warrior. It has been very rough for her, but it has been a tremendous effort tonight. It has been very gutsy. It has not been the best quality match, but it was enthralling."
She hobbled back to the chair and took a medical timeout of her own to get her left ankle taped, leaving Azarenka to don her tracksuit top and practise a few serves.
It looked as though the timeout had worked against Azarenka this time when Li came out firing with five points in a row, but the top seed clung on from 0-40 to stay ahead.
Li then offered up four errors in a row to give Azarenka the break at 5-4, and she closed out the set to force a decider.
After breaks were swapped at the start, Li looked to be regaining some sort of control at 2-1 up only to be interrupted for nine minutes by the annual Australia Day fireworks display.
Disaster struck on the resumption, when Li crashed to the ground during the first point and rolled the same ankle, before cracking her head on the court as she fell.
The sixth seed looked dazed, although she did manage a thin smile when her face appeared on the big screen, but she needed another timeout, and again Azarenka went through an unexpected practice routine.
Li resumed firing forehands but Azarenka held on to her serve at 2-2 and then got the decisive break in game five, hanging on to it when Li squandered a break point at 4-3 down.
After struggling to hold on to her serve in the early stages, Azarenka was now attacking her opponent's with similar gusto.
The world number one avoided having to serve out when Li floated a forehand long on championship point, the Belarusian dropping her racquet and burying her face in her hands in celebration.
"I will always keep a very special memory of this court and you will be in my heart forever," Azarenka told the crowd in her post-match on-court interview.
Li admitted the better player had won, but joked:"Without falling down I was feeling pretty good.
"It was a very tough match. She's number one, defending champion. I think today in the important games she was playing better than me, so that's why she can win the title." | Sports Competition | January 2013 | ['(BBC)', '(ESPN)'] |
Taoiseach Brian Cowen tells his government he is to take on the foreign affairs portfolio after his challenger Micheál Martin's resignation yesterday. President Mary McAleese accepts Martin's resignation. | Irish prime minister Brian Cowen has told the government he will be taking on the foreign affairs portfolio.
On Tuesday he won a confidence vote in his leadership of the ruling Fianna Fail party. Mr Cowen's leadership has been opposed by Foreign Minister Micheal Martin, who left the government following the ballot. Mr Cowen said that Irish president Mary McAleese had accepted the resignation of Micheal Martin.
The date of the General Election was discussed on Wednesday at a meeting between Brian Cowen and Green Party leader John Gormley.
The meeting came after the Fianna Fail parliamentary party meeting on Wednesday.
The Irish prime minister had been under pressure because of falling opinion poll ratings in the wake of the EU and IMF bail out. Speaking to RTE after the vote, Mr Cowen said he was very pleased that his desire to continue in his post had been vindicated by the secret ballot.
He has been subject to press scrutiny following revelations about contacts with former head of Anglo Irish Bank Sean Fitzpatrick shortly before he announced a bank guarantee in 2008. Mr Cowen made a statement on the issue to the Dail last week, stressing that he had done nothing wrong. He later pledged to consult with party colleagues about his future for 48 hours.
The process that concluded on Tuesday night after Mr Cowen the confidence vote and said he wished to lead the party into a general election. The voting figures for the ballot have not been released but Mr Cowen needed to secure at least 36 of the 71 votes to win. Ahern backs PM from hospital bed
Lenihan silent on confidence vote
Minister in challenge to Irish PM
Irish PM to stay as party leader
Golfing prime minister bunkered
Labour tables no confidence vote
Calls mount for Ireland election
Profile: Anglo Irish Bank
Hardliner Raisi set to be new Iran president
Cleric Ebrahim Raisi - Iran's top judge - has received most of the votes counted so far.
| Government Job change - Resignation_Dismissal | January 2011 | ['(BBC)'] |
Voters in Kuwait go to the polls for a general election, with Shiite candidates losing half their parliamentary seats. | Voters in Kuwait on Saturday are casting ballots in the country’s second parliamentary election to be held in eight months.
The election, which opposition groups are boycotting, comes after a dull campaign that failed to jolt voters into action.
Most opposition groups are boycotting in protest against an amended electoral law even though the constitutional court upheld it in June, AFP news agency reports.
In previous elections, a Kuwaiti voter was able to vote for a maximum of four candidates for the country’s 50-seat parliament, but under the amended law voters can choose only one.
It is the second time opposition groups are boycotting since the last vote in the December. But they have failed to organize mass rallies as they did ahead of the December polls.
Kuwait bans political parties and opposition politicians said the four-vote system enabled them to form alliances by offering reciprocal backing from their supporters. The government said the voting changes brought Kuwait into line with other countries and would ensure stability.
Saturday's vote will elect a 50-member assembly which can pass legislation and interrogate government ministers.
But the 84-year-old emir, Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad al-Sabah, has the final say in state matters and can dissolve parliament.
Among the 300 hopefuls contesting the 50 parliamentary seats, only a handful of opposition members are running, along with eight women, the lowest number of female candidates since women won political rights in 2005, according to AFP. This time, the National Democratic Alliance, a liberal grouping, and most bedouin tribes which boycotted the previous polls are taking part.
Voting will take place at 100 polling stations set up in schools. Around 11,000 police have been mobilized by the interior ministry for the election and the government has allowed international monitors.
But with heavy political disputes since mid-2006, analysts see little hope the election will bring political stability to the Gulf state.
"People are fed up of electing parliaments, especially if the constitutional court upends them," Abdullah al-Shayji, chairman of the political science department at Kuwait University told Reuters news agency. "People are not really in the mood for politics. They are thinking about where they want to spend their holidays after Ramadan [the Muslim holy month of fasting]. Some people are already out of the country." (With AFP and Reuters) | Government Job change - Election | July 2013 | ['(Al–Arabiya)', '(AFP via The Telegraph)'] |
UN-backed talks are underway in Tunis regarding the future of Libya, including discussions on forming a unified army for the Government of National Accord. | The UN is set to host a second day of talks on Libya with the aim of creating a "unified" army in a country wracked by internal divisions and a jihadist threat.
The organisation brokered a power-sharing deal last year to form a Government of National Accord (GNA), but the body is still struggling to assert its authority.
"All Libya's problems today are tied up to the security issue," said Martin Kobler, head of the UN's support mission in the country, after a first day of talks in the Tunisian capital yesterday.
The goal of the discussions was to create "a unified Libyan army under the command of the presidential council," he said, according to an Arabic translation of his remarks.
"Libya cannot be united as long as it has several armies," he said.
The first day's meeting also touched on humanitarian issues.
The GNA faces a fearsome set of military, economic and political challenges in a country where rival militias have vied for power since the overthrow of veteran dictator Muammar Gaddafi in 2011.
Forces loyal to the unity government are fighting to drive the so-called Islamic State group out of the jihadists' coastal stronghold of Sirte.
The two-month battle has killed around 250 pro-GNA fighters and wounded more than 1,400, according to medical sources at the unity forces' command centre.
The GNA arrived in the capital three months ago, but it has not been endorsed by Libya's elected parliament, while a rival political authority based in the country's far east has refused to cede power.
A controversial general, Khalifa Haftar, controls forces loyal to this authority.
"I want to meet General Haftar, to see and understand his position. I contact him every week to arrange a meeting, but so far he has refused," Mr Kobler said.
Libya's UN-backed presidential council would meet tomorrow and Tuesday with "influential security parties" for further talks on a unified army, he said, without specifying who these parties would be. | Diplomatic Talks _ Diplomatic_Negotiation_ Summit Meeting | July 2016 | ['(RTE)'] |
Conflict in Iraq: Five U.S. troops die following three insurgent attacks, two in Ramadi and one in Baghdad. | One soldier died in a roadside bombing north of Baghdad on Tuesday, and four Marines died on Monday in two attacks near Ramadi, west of the capital.
The deaths were announced hours after the US confirmed the death of three military and one diplomatic security agents near Mosul on Monday.
More than 1,900 US servicemen have died since the invasion of Iraq in 2003.
Tuesday's attack happened about 75 miles (120km) north of Baghdad, the US military said, killing a US military policeman.
Regular attacks
The attacks in Ramadi were the latest in a string of strikes against US troops in the western town.
Ramadi, with a population of about 400,000, has long been a focal point for Sunni Muslim insurgents.
US troops and Iraqi military and police forces have regularly come under attack in and around the city.
The attacks near Mosul on Monday came as Arabic media reports said the US consul in Mosul had been holding talks with residents of nearby Talafar. | Armed Conflict | September 2005 | ['(BBC)'] |
A German court in Munich rules that Formula One boss Bernie Ecclestone should face bribery charges. | Formula 1 boss Bernie Ecclestone will be tried on bribery charges, a court in the German city of Munich has ruled.
Mr Ecclestone is accused of giving a $45m (27.5m; 33m euros) bribe to a German banker who is serving a jail sentence for receiving the payment.
The veteran F1 chief has stepped down from the board of the company which runs the sport, Delta Topco, until the case concludes.
He will continue to run the sport on a day-to-day basis.
In a statement, Delta Topco said:
"The Board believes that it is in the best interests of both the F1 business and the sport that Mr Ecclestone should continue to run the business... but subject to increased monitoring and control by the Board.
"Mr Ecclestone has agreed to these arrangements."
Bavarian prosecutors allege that the payment to Gerhard Gribkowsky was to ensure that F1 was sold to a private equity group of Mr Ecclestone's choice.
He admits paying Gribkowsky, but denies bribery, saying he was effectively the victim of blackmail.
Mr Ecclestone has been defending himself in a separate 90m ($147m) civil claim in London's High Court.
That case was brought by a German media company, Constantin Medien, which claims it lost out financially when the share of F1 belonging to German bank Bayern Landesbank was sold in 2006 to private equity group CVC. Mr Ecclestone and Gribkowsky, who was on the board of Bayern Landesbank, were accused in court of conspiring to deliberately undervalue F1 when it was sold, in order that Mr Ecclestone would retain control of the sport.
The 83-year-old F1 boss has said that he made the payment because the banker had been threatening to reveal false details of his tax affairs.
A statement from Bavaria's district court said that a date for the criminal trial had not yet been set, but that proceedings were likely to begin in late April.
Mr Ecclestone is charged with bribery and incitement to breach of trust and will be obliged to appear at his trial.
The court statement says that the payments made to Gribkowsky were dressed up as consultancy contracts, and that both their source and their destination were obscured using corporate structures.
The payments were made between July 2006 and December 2007, it says.
Mr Ecclestone's German lawyer said on Thursday that the alleged bribery never took place.
The chief executive of F1 has ruled the sport for almost four decades. He is the long-time commercial rights holder of F1, but sold off a majority of the ownership in the 1990s.
In an interview with German financial newspaper Handelsblatt (in German), published on Thursday before the confirmation of his upcoming trial, Mr Ecclestone said he wanted to clear his name, which is why he had not reached an out-of-court settlement with either Constantin Medien or Bayern Landesbank.
He said it would have been better not to have made the payment to Gribkowsky, even if the banker had then triggered an investigation by the British tax authorities.
Asked if he would step down if the High Court judgement in the Constantin civil case went against him, he said there was absolutely no need for that.
| Famous Person - Commit Crime - Accuse | January 2014 | ['(BBC)'] |
The High Court rules that Parliament must vote on whether the United Kingdom can start the process of leaving the European Union by triggering Article 50 of the Treaty on European Union. | Parliament must vote on whether the UK can start the process of leaving the EU, the High Court has ruled. This means the government cannot trigger Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty - beginning formal exit negotiations with the EU - on its own.
Theresa May says the referendum - and existing ministerial powers - mean MPs do not need to vote, but campaigners called this unconstitutional.
The government is appealing, with a further hearing expected next month.
The prime minister's spokeswoman said she would be calling President of the EU Commission Jean-Claude Juncker to say she intended to stick to her March 2017 deadline for triggering Article 50.
Amid suggestions that she might try to call an early general election, she added that Mrs May believed "there shouldn't be an election until 2020 and that remains her view".
A statement is to be made to MPs on Monday but the government says it has no intention of letting the judgement "derail Article 50 or the timetable we have set out". Brexit Secretary David Davis said he presumed the court ruling meant an act of Parliament would be required to trigger Article 50 - so would be subject to approval by both MPs and peers.
But the government was going to contest that view in an appeal, and said the referendum was held only following "a six-to-one vote in the Commons to give the decision to the British people".
"The people are the ones Parliament represents - 17.4m of them, the biggest mandate in history, voted for us to leave the European Union. We are going to deliver on that mandate in the best way possible for the British national interest," he told the BBC.
Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn urged the government "to bring its negotiating terms to Parliament without delay", adding that "there must be transparency and accountability to Parliament on the terms of Brexit".
But UKIP leader Nigel Farage said he feared a "betrayal" of the 51.9% of voters who backed leaving the EU in June's referendum and voiced concern at the prospect of a "half Brexit".
BBC assistant political editor Norman Smith said the court ruling could mean potentially "months and months" of parliamentary hurdles but said a majority of MPs would be likely to vote for Article 50 - despite having backed the Remain campaign - as Brexit had been supported in the referendum.
Analysis - BBC political correspondent Eleanor Garnier
It is one of the most important constitutional court cases in generations. And the result creates a nightmare scenario for the government. Theresa May had said she wanted to start Brexit talks before the end of March next year but this ruling has thrown the prime minister's timetable up in the air. Campaigners who brought the case insist it was about "process not politics", but behind the doors of No 10 there will now be serious head-scratching about what the government's next steps should be. This decision has huge implications, not just on the timing of Brexit but on the terms of Brexit. That's because it's given the initiative to those on the Remain side in the House of Commons who, it's now likely, will argue Article 50 can only be triggered when Parliament is ready and that could mean when they're happy with the terms of any future deal. Of course, it will be immensely difficult to satisfy and get agreement from all those MPs who voted to remain. Could an early general election be on the cards after all? Investment manager Gina Miller, who brought the case, said outside the High Court that the government should make the "wise decision of not appealing".
She said: "The result today is about all of us. It's not about me or my team. It's about our United Kingdom and all our futures."
Government lawyers had argued that prerogative powers were a legitimate way to give effect "to the will of the people".
But the Lord Chief Justice, Lord Thomas of Cwmgiedd, declared: "The government does not have power under the Crown's prerogative to give notice pursuant to Article 50 for the UK to withdraw from the European Union."
The three judges looking at the case found there was no constitutional convention of the royal prerogative - powers used by ministers - being used in legislation relating to the EU.
They added that triggering Article 50 would fundamentally change UK people's rights - and that the government cannot change or do away with rights under UK law unless Parliament gives it authority to do so. Calling the case "a pure question of law", Lord Thomas said: "The court is not concerned with and does not express any view about the merits of leaving the European Union: that is a political issue."
Former attorney general Dominic Grieve told the BBC he believed there was time for the government to get legislation through Parliament before the end of March, should they lose the appeal. He added: "It will certainly allow the opportunity to debate the issues surrounding Brexit but it is worth bearing in mind that it's a bit difficult to fetter the government as to what it should do after Article 50 is triggered because actually, what the government can deliver ... is entirely dependent on the negotiating position of the 27 other member states... So you can't really order the government to stay in the single market because that may not be something that the government can deliver." Reacting to the ruling, International Trade Secretary Liam Fox told the House of Commons the government was "disappointed" but remained "determined to respect the result of the referendum".
But UKIP's Mr Farage said: "We are heading for a half Brexit."
He added: "I worry that a betrayal may be near at hand... I now fear that every attempt will be made to block or delay the triggering of Article 50. If this is so, they have no idea of the level of public anger they will provoke."
Labour leader Mr Corbyn said: "This ruling underlines the need for the government to bring its negotiating terms to Parliament without delay. Labour respects the decision of the British people to leave the European Union. But there must be transparency and accountability to Parliament on the terms of Brexit."
But Liberal Democrat leader Tim Farron said: "Ultimately, the British people voted for a departure but not for a destination, which is why what really matters is allowing them to vote again on the final deal, giving them the chance to say no to an irresponsible hard Brexit that risks our economy and our jobs."
Addressing suggestions that Mrs May could call a general election before 2020 - when the next election is scheduled to take place under the Fixed Term Parliaments Act - Scotland's First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said: "If you're asking me do I think today's judgement makes a general election more likely than it was yesterday, I think the answer to that is probably yes."
The UK voted by 52% to 48% to leave the European Union in a referendum on 23 June.
The EU's other 27 member states have said negotiations about the terms of the UK's exit - due to last two years - cannot begin until Article 50 has been invoked.
. | Government Policy Changes | November 2016 | ['(BBC)'] |
Six people are killed and seventeen wounded following an attack on the Parliament of the Russian republic of Chechnya. , | Six people were killed and 17 others injured when a small group of militants stormed parliament in the restive Russian republic of Chechnya.
Shouting Islamist slogans, three fighters launched a bomb and gun attack as deputies arrived for work, killing two guards and an official.
All three attackers were killed, the Chechen and Russian authorities say.
Deputies inside the building managed to escape by moving to an upper floor. The attack was condemned by the EU and US.
They both pledged to work together with Russia to defeat "terrorism". Correspondents say the incident in the capital Grozny is a reminder that the region is far from stable.
Last year Moscow declared victory against Chechen separatists and there has been a relative lull in the violence under Ramzan Kadyrov, Chechnya's Kremlin-backed leader.
But the whole North Caucasus is seeing an insurgency led by Islamist rebels, correspondents say.
Militants struck at about 0845 (0445 GMT), attacking policemen guarding the parliament building, Mr Kadyrov told Russian news agency Interfax.
It is believed they arrived at the parliament by car, tailgating vehicles belonging to deputies. At least one attacker appears to have set off a suicide bomb just before the other two rushed inside, exchanging fire with security guards. They could be heard shouting "Allahu Akbar" - Arabic for "God is great" - as they ran inside, according to Chechen security sources.
Photos of the aftermath of the attack show heavy damage to at least several rooms at the parliament and bloodstains on the street outside.
A spokesman for the Chechen parliament, Zelim Yakhikhanov, said deputies had feared they would be taken hostage when they heard shooting outside the building.
"We managed to take refuge on the third floor where we stayed until the end of the operation," he told AFP news agency.
Mr Kadyrov said the operation to suppress the attack took between 15 and 20 minutes. The official killed was reportedly the parliamentary bursar. Six police officers and 11 civilians were wounded, according to Russian prosecutors. Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said the family of each of the people killed by the attackers would receive compensation of 1m roubles (21,000, $33,000) while those wounded would receive up to 400,000 roubles.
It is unclear how such a small group of armed men could have penetrated the government building, which is usually heavily guarded.
The pro-rebel news website Kavkaz-Tsentr quoted its own unnamed sources in Grozny as saying they had heard a "powerful" explosion, followed by heavy gunfire for more than 30 minutes. The city has been sealed off and armoured vehicles were patrolling the streets, it added.
There has been no confirmation of the identity of the attackers.
Russian Interior Minister Rashid Nurgaliyev, who was visiting Chechnya when the attack happened, held an emergency meeting with Mr Kadyrov.
He commended the Chechen security forces' response to the attack, saying they had acted "professionally and competently", and describing the attack as "untypical". The BBC's Tom Esselmont in the Georgian capital, Tbilisi, says this attack is highly reminiscent of those which peaked in the 1990s and then again some five or six years ago.
It shows the battle is far from over and Chechnya is far from being in the secure situation the Russian government would like to see, our correspondent adds
Alexei Malashenko, an analyst at the Carnegie Centre in Moscow, described the attack as "a slap in the face for Ramzan Kadyrov".
"The war is not finished if you can seize the parliament in the centre of the city - all Ramzan's claims of victory over rebels are worthless," the analyst told AFP. The EU foreign policy chief, Baroness Ashton, was quoted by AFP news agency as saying: "No circumstances can justify the use of terrorist violence and suicide attacks."
US National Security Council spokesman Mike Hammer offered condolences to the families of those who were killed and to those who were wounded. | Armed Conflict | October 2010 | ['(CNN)', '(RIA Novosti)', '(BBC)'] |
Brazil's economy falls into recession. | Economic output, GDP, fell by 0.6% in the three months to June, worse than analysts had predicted, and revised figures for the first quarter of the year also showed a fall of 0.2%.
A recession is usually defined as two consecutive quarters of contraction.
The news will be damaging for the government of President Dilma Rousseff. According to the most recent poll, Ms Rousseff would lose to a rival candidate, environmentalist Marina Silva, if October's election went to a second round. The World Cup, held in June and July, was not regarded as generally good for business, says the BBC's Wyre Davies in Rio de Janeiro. "There were more days off for employees and many traditional tourists stayed away," he says.
"The problem is that, with elections due in early October, the economy is increasingly seen as President Dilma Rousseff's weak point." The data showed that civil construction, manufacturing and investment especially suffered during the second quarter.
"This recession shows the exhaustion of a growth model that has been centred on internal consumption," said Eduardo Velho, chief economist at investment firm INVX Global in Sao Paulo.
"It is a good picture of what the economy is suffering - a slowdown in industry, a fall in investment, rising inventories. The recovery from here will be slight," he continued, saying that deep reforms would be needed whoever wins the next election.
The second quarter figures prompted analysts to revise down expectations for full-year figures.
"With the sharp fall in investment, the potential GDP growth rate shows a significant and worrying slowdown in recent quarters," said Cristiano Oliveira, economist at Banco Fibra in Sao Paulo.
"That said, we now expect no growth in the Brazilian economy in 2014, despite moderate growth in the global economy." A decade ago, Brazil was the darling of emerging economies. The country reaped the benefits of soaring commodity prices and government spending helped millions of poor Brazilians enter the middle class - the future looked bright. But it's a very different picture now. Investor and consumer confidence has fallen, just like industrial output and retail sales are struggling too. The World Cup may have taken people's minds off economic worries temporarily, but the issue is now top of the agenda. There is just over a month to go before the presidential elections and today's figures will be seen as an opportunity for candidates hoping to unseat President Dilma Rousseff.
They'll use the R-word to try to convince voters that their economic policies are a better alternative for the country's future.
| Financial Crisis | August 2014 | ['(BBC)'] |
Shells fired by Yemeni forces across the border from Yemen kill at least three people and wound 28 others in the Jizan region. | Cars drive on the road leading Yemen's southern Marib province after crossing the Al-Wadeia checkpoint near the Yemen-Saudi border on September 11, 2015. (AFP PHOTO / NABIL HASSN)
Riyadh: Shelling from across the border in Yemen killed three people in Saudi Arabia Friday and wounded 28, the civil defense agency said.The agency described the deceased as residents of the Saudi border district of Jazan, while Saudi news channel Al-Ekhbaria said they were foreigners.The civil defense added that four Saudis were among the wounded, without giving the nationalities of the others.Al-Ekhbaria showed pictures of blast-damaged cars and shrapnel-punctured walls.The attack brings to at least 64 the number of people killed in Saudi Arabia from border shelling and skirmishes since a Saudi-led coalition began a campaign against Iran-backed Huthi rebels in Yemen six months ago.Most of the border casualties have been soldiers.The latest shelling came as local anti-rebel fighters backed by Gulf Arab ground troops from the coalition pressed their offensive in Yemen.The want to push the rebels out of Marib province and eventually move on the capital, which the rebels seized last year.Riyadh formed the alliance in March, to support exiled President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi, in response to fears that the Huthis would take over all of Yemen and move it into the orbit of Sunni Saudi Arabia's Shiite regional rival Iran.The United Nations says nearly 4,900 people, including a vast number of civilians, have been killed in Yemen since late March.it/al
Riyadh: Shelling from across the border in Yemen killed three people in Saudi Arabia Friday and wounded 28, the civil defense agency said.
The agency described the deceased as residents of the Saudi border district of Jazan, while Saudi news channel Al-Ekhbaria said they were foreigners.
The civil defense added that four Saudis were among the wounded, without giving the nationalities of the others.
Al-Ekhbaria showed pictures of blast-damaged cars and shrapnel-punctured walls.
The attack brings to at least 64 the number of people killed in Saudi Arabia from border shelling and skirmishes since a Saudi-led coalition began a campaign against Iran-backed Huthi rebels in Yemen six months ago.
Most of the border casualties have been soldiers.
The latest shelling came as local anti-rebel fighters backed by Gulf Arab ground troops from the coalition pressed their offensive in Yemen.
The want to push the rebels out of Marib province and eventually move on the capital, which the rebels seized last year.
Riyadh formed the alliance in March, to support exiled President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi, in response to fears that the Huthis would take over all of Yemen and move it into the orbit of Sunni Saudi Arabia's Shiite regional rival Iran.
The United Nations says nearly 4,900 people, including a vast number of civilians, have been killed in Yemen since late March.
| Armed Conflict | September 2015 | ['(Daily Star)'] |
Police arrest five men, three from the mining company Vale and two engineers from a subsidiary company, in connection with the mine collapse. | Police in Brazil have arrested five people as part of an investigation into Friday's dam collapse in Brumadinho. At least 65 people died when sludge engulfed a company canteen and neighbouring residential buildings. Prosecutors in Brazil say three of those arrested were officials from the mining company Vale, whose responsibilities included dealing with environmental impact licences. Vale said it was co-operating with prosecutors.
The company is the world's biggest producer of iron ore and nickel.
Two engineers working for a subsidiary company were arrested in Sao Paulo. All five can be detained for 30 days and will be questioned by investigators in Belo Horizonte.
Rescuers are continuing to search for survivors in Brumadinho. Nearly 300 people are still missing and there is little hope they will be found alive.
On Monday, protesters gathered outside Vale's corporate headquarters in Rio de Janeiro and daubed slogans including "Murderers!" on its walls. In a statement following the arrests, Vale said: "With regards to the warrants served this morning, Vale informs that it is fully co-operating with the authorities. "Vale will continue to support the investigations in order to determine the facts, in addition to the unconditional support to the families."
Vale's share price plunged by nearly 25% on Monday on the Brazilian stock market. Vale halts bonuses after dam deaths | Famous Person - Commit Crime - Accuse | January 2019 | ['(BBC)'] |
New documents reveal that Jussie Smollett bought drugs from Abimbola 'Abel' and Olabinjo “Ola Osundairo, the two people who accused him of staging an attack on January 29. | New documents released by Chicago police Thursday show Jussie Smollettdiscussingdrugs with the two brothers who accused the "Empire" actor of paying them to stage an attack on him.
The texts were among the 460 pagesreleased by the Cook County State's Attorney's Office and Chicago Police DepartmentThursday after a judge ordered Smollett's case file unsealed last week.
The documents show thatSmollett initially communicated with Abimbola 'Abel' and Olabinjo “Ola Osundairo about buying marijuana, cocaine andecstasy before enlisting them to stage hisalleged attack on Jan. 29. Thebrothers later toldChicago police that Smollett paid them to stage the attack on him.
"It was found during the review of these text records that on various occasionsSmollett would request that (redacted) procure items forSmollett whichSmollett described as weed, molly, or Whitney, which the (case report) was familiar with being slang for cannabis and controlled substances," the documents read. "In particular, weed is slang for cannabis, molly is slang for ecstasy and whitney is slang for cocaine."
More:Chicago detectives knew a Jussie Smollett deal was in the works, new documents show
The report notes thatSmollett used the electronic payment methodsPayPal and Venmo to pay for the transactions, and that on multiple occasions,Smollett appeared to describe his payment to the brothersfor the drugs as payment for "legitimate expenses" like personal training.
“(Expletive), you still got a molly connect?” Smollett texted one of the brothers on Sept. 27, 2018.“Hahahaha… Imma need a good fo pills Haha.”
After completing multiple drug transactions with the brothers, Smollett texted one of them in January,“Might need your help on the low. You around to meet up and talk face to face?”
Following this exchange, the case file alleges that Smollett gave the brothers a check for $3,500, labeled as payment for a “5-week nutrition/workout program," and asked the brothers to pretend to beat him up while callinghim homophobic and racial slurs.
After the brothers told detectives about the alleged conspiracy, Smollett was indicted on 16 counts of disorderly conduct and lying to police, one charge for each time the actor "knowingly" told police that he was the victim of a "battery, a hate crime and an aggravated battery."
After prosecutors suddenly dropped all the charges against him on March 26,Cook County Judge Steve Watkins assented to Smollett's request that his case file be sealed, citing his right to privacy. But media companies,including USA TODAY parent company Gannett, argued thatthat the actor invalidated those concerns by discussing the case on national television. Watkins agreed two months after putting the case file off limits, he ordered its contents be released.
The unsealed documents, which alsoincluded case reports, arrest reports and supplementary files from the investigationrevealed that the detectives investigating Smollett were awarethere was a potential deal in the works between Smollett andtheCook County State's Attorney's Office to drop the charges a month before it was announced.
At the time, then-Mayor Rahm Emanuel and Police Superintendent Eddie Johnson blasted the deal, saying the alleged hoax had unnecessarily tied up police personnel and harmed the city’s reputation.
On Thursday, Chicago police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said the detectives did not pass that information to superiors because theyassumed incorrectly, as it turned out that any deal would include Smollett admitting to wrongdoing.
Instead, after the charges were dropped, Smollett insisted that he had been"truthful and consistent on every single level since Day 1." | Famous Person - Commit Crime - Accuse | May 2019 | ['(USA Today)'] |
Forensic experts in Kharkiv, Ukraine begin identifying the victims of the crash, with only 200 bodies delivered out of the 282 pro-Russian separatists claim to have sent. | The search for victims of the Malaysia Airlines crash in Ukraine must go on as only about 200 bodies appear to have been found so far, Dutch officials say.
Forensics expert Jan Tuinder said his team had begun counting the bodies that earlier arrived in the town of Kharkiv.
The first bodies, which were moved out of territory held by pro-Russian rebels, are due to be flown to the Netherlands on Wednesday. The plane crashed in a rebel-held area on 17 July, killing all 298 on board.
American intelligence officials on Tuesday said evidence suggested the rebels may have shot down the jet "by mistake", and that no direct link to Russia had been found.
However, Russia "created the conditions" for downing flight MH17 by arming the rebels, the officials were quoted as saying by the Associated Press.
Russia has repeatedly said Ukrainian government forces are to blame for the attack, but the US officials said that Russian claims were "not plausible".
Speaking at a news conference in the town of Kharkiv, Mr Tuinder said they would have to go back to the crash site to carry out another search. "We will not leave until [all] remains have left this country so we will have to go on and bargain again with the people over there," he said.
It was widely reported that more than 280 bodies had been on the train, which brought the remains to Kharkiv.
However, Mr Tuinder later clarified that a reliable source who was there during the loading of the bodies on to the train had given a figure of 200.
He said this number could increase as the forensics teams go through the refrigerated wagons.
Meanwhile, in a statement, Interpol said international experts in Kharkiv would carry out preliminary examinations on the bodies before their transport to the Netherlands.
Most of those who died when the Boeing 777 crashed were Dutch, and the first remains are due to be flown from Kharkiv to the Dutch city of Eindhoven on Wednesday.
From there, they will go to a facility in the city of Hilversum for identification - a process which Dutch officials say could take months.
The Dutch government has declared Wednesday a national day of mourning.
Interpol said the remains of victims recovered so far from the crash site had been "labelled and numbered before being transported in refrigerated freight wagons from Donetsk to Kharkiv".
Monitors from the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe examining the wreckage found that major pieces of the plane had been cut into and that large parts now looked different.
Countries directly affected by the disaster, such as the Netherlands, Australia, and the UK, have been concerned that the crash site was not properly sealed off, with the risk that valuable evidence could be put at risk.
The plane's "black box" flight recorders, which were handed over by rebels to Malaysian officials, will be flown to a laboratory in the UK for analysis.
Why are the black boxes being examined in the UK? The British Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AIIB) tell me they are one of only two so-called "replay units" in Europe with the necessary equipment to listen to what has been recorded on the cockpit voice recorder. The other is in France. They have the kit to analyse in minute detail what can be heard in the last few minutes of flight MH17. The information is incredibly sensitive so investigators gather in a sealed room so that only those that should be listening can listen. There are four speakers on the walls creating a surround sound - anything to help the investigators hear exactly what went on. They may even hear any explosion.
The AIIB won't tell me when they expect to get their hands on the black boxes. But investigators are confident that, depending on the extent of the damage, they can retrieve information from the boxes within 24 hours.
European Union foreign ministers have announced they will impose more sanctions against Russia over its alleged backing for the rebels - something Moscow denies.
They said the list of individuals and groups covered by EU sanctions would be broadened and a new list drawn up by EU ambassadors by Thursday at the latest.
"The word is 'cronies': the cronies of [Vladimir] Putin and his clique in the Kremlin are the people who have to bear the pressure," British Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond said after the meeting in Brussels.
Ministers will also ask the European Commission to look at an embargo on new arms sales to Russia and to increase punitive measures against Russia in the financial and energy sectors.
Both the EU and the US imposed sanctions on Russia following its annexation of Crimea in March and the outbreak of hostilities in eastern Ukraine.
Meanwhile, the conflict between Ukrainian government forces and rebels has continued, with reports of fighting round Donetsk and Luhansk.
Ukrainian Interior Minister Arsen Avakov said the army had captured the strategically important town of Severodonetsk, located some 140km (87 miles) from the key rebel stronghold of Donetsk.
Parliament has also approved the call-up of more military reserves and men under 50.
Thirteen Ukrainian soldiers were killed over the past 24 hours, a Ukrainian security official said. Three of them died as a bus packed with explosives blew up at a roadblock.
The fighting in eastern Ukraine erupted in April and is believed to have claimed more than 1,000 lives.
| Air crash | July 2014 | ['(BBC)'] |
Irish mixed–martial artist Conor McGregor is convicted for assaulting a man in a Drimnagh pub in April, and is fined €1,000. | Mixed martial arts fighter Conor McGregor has pleaded guilty to one charge of assault after an altercation in a Dublin pub in April.
Footage of the incident released in August showed McGregor punching Desmond Keogh in the head at the Marble Arch pub in Drimnagh, south of the centre.
On Friday, the 31-year-old was convicted and fined 1,000 euros (£861).
The court heard Mr Keogh did not want to give a victim statement and that he had accepted an apology from McGregor.
McGregor was promoting his own brand of whiskey at the pub when the altercation took place on 6 April.
"It doesn't matter what happened there - I was in the wrong," he told ESPN in August. "That man deserved to enjoy his time in the pub without having it end the way it did."
The Irishman announced his retirement from the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) in March, but has since said he plans to make his return to the sport in January 2020. He has not competed since his loss to Russia's Khabib Nurmagomedov at UFC 229 in October 2018.
This is not the first time McGregor has had trouble with the law. In July 2018 he pleaded guilty to disorderly conduct in a US court after an altercation with other fighters.
The incident in the Dublin pub came a month after the alleged smashing of a fan's phone in Miami.
Florida prosecutors dropped all charges against McGregor.
McGregor announces UFC comeback date
Charges dropped against UFC star McGregor
McGregor 'in the wrong' over altercation | Famous Person - Commit Crime - Sentence | November 2019 | ['(BBC News)'] |
The Australian rules football club Richmond Football Club defeats the Adelaide Football Club in the 2017 AFL Grand Final by 108 points to 60. Dustin Martin won the Norm Smith Medal for best on ground after having won the 2017 Brownlow Medal for the best and fairest player in the competition. , | The Richmond fairytale is finally complete, as the Tigers beat the Adelaide Crows by 48 points at the MCG to break a 37-year premiership drought.
Jack Graham was the surprise X-factor, kicking three goals in only his fifth game of AFL football, as the Tigers powered away from the Crows in the second half to win 16.12 (108) to 8.12 (60).
The Tigers' last grand final appearance had been in a 1982 loss to Carlton, and their last flag win was in 1980 when they crushed Collingwood.
But the party started early at the MCG as the roars of 40-50,000 Tigers fans at the ground lifted several levels, with their team leading by 34 points at three quarter-time on the way to a famous victory.
For Dustin Martin, the week ended on a perfect note, with the Brownlow medallist becoming the first player to add a Norm Smith medal for best-on-ground to the league's best-and-fairest. He had 29 disposals and two goals, marshalling the Yellow and Black to a brilliant flag-winning performance.
There had been a huge roar for the Tigers as the game got under way, but it was the Crows who settled better.
The Tigers brought pressure, trying to stop the Crows moving through the corridor.
But Matt Crouch found Rory Sloane with a chip and Sloane kicked straight for the Crows opener. A minute or so later, Nick Vlaustuin slipped over under pressure and Eddie Betts took care of the rest.
The Richmond spearhead Jack Riewoldt missed a string of chances for goal, and it took until the 16-minute mark for the Tigers to get a major, when Josh Caddy marked in the left forward pocket, ran round and converted.
Martin was under wraps early, but he showed his ability just into time on when he fended off the Adelaide defence, backed off, found Bachar Houli in space, and the midfielder kicked truly to put Richmond in the lead for the first time.
The intensity had not waned, and the Crows were not backing off. Sloane got the ball out of a pack and snapped his second, to regain the lead — then Hugh Greenwood added another snap to put the lead out to 11 points at quarter-time.
It was fierce early in the second, as Riewoldt finally got on the board, but he needed some sloppy defending from Adelaide, letting his kick bounce through with no one on the line. AAP: Julian Smith
It continued to be tight. Martin got clear at one point, and he thrilled the crowd with a trademark burst down the wing. He centred it for Riewoldt, but a step off the mark saw the Tigers blow the chance.
Eventually the Tigers put another one on, as Jacob Townsend was awarded a free in a marking contest just inside 50, and he slotted the set shot to put Richmond within two points.
The Crows had been ahead in intercept marks and contested possessions, but the Tigers kept applying pressure, and Jack Graham swooped on the ball deep in time on to kick Richmond's fifth.
A minute later the Tigers fans were up and about, as a quick foray forward found Martin to outmuscle his Crows opponent and mark and goal.
The Tigers had kicked four in a row, and suddenly Adelaide was in a spot of bother.
With Richmond up by nine at the main break, there were concerns on both sides.
Crows defender Luke Brown was off with hamstring trouble, and it had not been a good half for the captains. Trent Cotchin had just nine touches, while Taylor Walker had been kept well out of the play on just four disposals.
The Crows had dominated the scoring in third quarters all season. But the Tigers had not got the memo. AAP: Julian Smith
Three minutes into the term, a free for a high tackle from Sloane saw Jack Graham kick his side's seventh.
Richmond was hammering inside 50 at every opportunity, and at the eight-minute mark, Shaun Grigg marked and kicked another.
Then 90 seconds later, when Kane Lambert added the Tigers' ninth, the lead was out to 28 points and the wave was threatening to wash the Crows away.
At the 14-minute mark, the Crows finally got clear and found Taylor Walker inside 50. The skipper held his nerve to kick the goal and keep Adelaide in it, but the momentum was lost when Graham booted his third of the game.
It was all heading one way, and in time on, Martin took possession 25m out and fed the ball out to Jason Costagna, who snapped over his shoulder.
On a day when Brandon Flowers had set the benchmark with the pre-match entertainment, it was fitting that a Tiger was there to deliver the killer blow.
The last quarter was like an extended victory lap. The Crows needed a record-breaking comeback to win, and they tried to make a game of it, kicking two goals in 90 seconds through Walker and Brad Crouch.
But the football gods would have none of it, as Townsend kicked his second and then Dan Butler added another to allow Richmond to reach the 100-point mark for the game.
It was fitting that Martin got his name on the scoresheet again in time on, raising a huge roar from the masses of Tigers fans in the stands. By this stage Richmond chief executive Brendon Gale, and former Tigers spearhead (now Channel Seven broadcaster) Matthew Richardson were in tears, as the result began to sink in. Charlie Cameron grabbed a late consolation goal for Adelaide, but as the siren went the MCG began to resound to the strains of "We are from Tigerland", and long-suffering Richmond fans began to live their dream.
AAP: Julian Smith
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AEST = Australian Eastern Standard Time which is 10 hours ahead of GMT (Greenwich Mean Time) | Sports Competition | September 2017 | ['(ABC Australia)', '(ABC Australia)'] |
Manchester City F.C. defeats Stoke City F.C. 1-0 in the 2011 FA Cup Final. | Last updated on 14 May 201114 May 2011.From the section Football
Manchester City ended a barren sequence of 35 years without a major trophy as Yaya Toure's late strike gave them a deserved FA Cup Final victory over Stoke City.
Toure was City's Wembley hero with the semi-final winner against Manchester United - and the giant Ivory Coast midfield man was on target again 16 minutes from time to set the seal on their first top-level success since the 1976 League Cup win against Newcastle United.
Roberto Mancini's side dominated throughout against a disappointing Stoke, who never came close to reproducing the form that swept Bolton Wanderers aside to reach their first FA Cup final.
Manchester City were only kept at bay by an outstanding first-half display from Stoke keeper Thomas Sorensen, as he produced saves from Carlos Tevez and Mario Balotelli while David Silva also squandered a glorious chance.
The Dane was powerless, however, in the moment that finally ended the long wait for Manchester City as Toure pounced on a loose ball 10 yards out to thrash his finish past Sorensen in front of the delirious hordes of sky blue supporters.
It capped a momentous day for Manchester as City claimed the FA Cup just hours after United secured a record 19th league title with a point at Blackburn Rovers to set up a meeting between the clubs at Wembley in the Community Shield.
It was also a day of triumph for boss Mancini, whose long-term future at Eastlands has been questioned. He has now brought silverware back to the club and taken Manchester City into the Champions League - a more than acceptable return on lavish investment at the conclusion of his first full season in charge.
He threw his arms into the air in joy at the final whistle and his name rang around Wembley as captain Carlos Tevez ascended the steps to the Royal Box to lift the FA Cup.
Stoke's consolation is a place in next season's Europa League but boss Tony Pulis will be disappointed that his side, so dangerous and effective in recent weeks, failed to get to grips with the Wembley occasion and rarely threatened.
They were given a mighty ovation by their fans, superb throughout, as they collected their losers' medals - but the reality was they had not done themselves justice and could have no complaints at the outcome.
Kenwyne Jones had their best opportunity just after the hour, but it was the only moment of serious alarm for Manchester City keeper Joe Hart.
Mancini will now look to use Manchester City's Abu Dhabi riches to build even further on these foundations to make a serious challenge for the Premier League title next season and to have an impact in the Champions League.
Tevez's impressive cameo in the win against Spurs that secured City's top-four place was enough to convince Mancini of his fitness after a month out with a hamstring injury, and he played his full part in a dominant display.
Matthew Etherington also won his fitness battle after a hamstring problem, along with defender Robert Huth, but he looked off the pace and struggled to make any serious impact before being substituted.
City's early superiority should have brought a goal but they found Stoke keeper Sorensen in superb form as he formed a one-man barrier of defiance.
Sorensen set the tone with a fine diving save from Tevez's deflected shot and produced even better to turn away Balotelli's curling right-foot effort that looked destined for the top corner until his late intervention.
Silva should have given City a deserved lead after 34 minutes, but if there is a weakness in the gifted Spaniard's game it is an occasional failure to produce the cutting edge to go with his creativity. He was perfectly placed to score after Sorensen could only block Balotelli but hit his shot into the ground and over the top from only eight yards.
Huth was fortunate referee Martin Atkinson did not see him catch Balotelli with an elbow early on, but there was no escape six minutes before the interval when he mistimed a challenge on Micah Richards horribly and was booked.
Stoke's support had been as passionate as ever despite their team's surprisingly timid approach. It was a display reflected in boss Pulis's animated behaviour in the technical area and only brought one half-chance in the opening period, which Jones failed to profit from.
Pulis clearly got his message across to Stoke at the break but it was Silva who was again guilty of over-elaboration as Manchester City wasted another chance after 55 minutes. Tevez found Silva unopposed in the area, only for him to inexplicably hesitate and allow Stoke's defence to regroup.
Stoke had started to show a lot more intent and should have taken the lead just after the hour when Jones latched onto a ball over the top and brushed aside Joleon Lescott with ease, but Hart raced off his line to make a crucial block.
Etherington's selection was clearly a gamble and it was no surprise when he was replaced by Dean Whitehead after 62 minutes. He had looked a shadow of the player who has been such a strong influence on Stoke's season.
The goal City had merited arrived on 74 minutes. Silva released Balotelli in the area and when his shot was deflected invitingly into the path of Toure he gave Sorensen no chance with a thunderous finish.
Stoke were unable to gather any serious momentum and even the sight of Sorensen venturing forward for corners failed to unsettle Manchester City before referee Atkinson blew the final whistle to end the years of suffering in the shadow of their illustrious neighbours. | Sports Competition | May 2011 | ['(The Daily Telegraph)', '(BBC Sport)'] |
A Sudanese official denies that 100 people were killed by a paramilitary unit during protests, saying that the number was at most 46. | A Sudanese official has denied that at least 100 people were killed by a paramilitary unit during protests, saying that the number was at most 46. Doctors linked to the opposition on Wednesday said at least 100 people had been killed in the capital, Khartoum, amid pro-democracy protests.
They said 40 bodies were pulled from the River Nile in Khartoum on Tuesday.
Authorities had initially stayed quiet, but a health ministry official put the number at 46 early on Thursday.
Sudanese opposition activists have rejected an offer of talks from the country's military council, saying it cannot be trusted amid a violent crackdown on protesters.
Residents told the BBC they were living in fear in the capital.
The deputy head of the military council defended the violent suppression, claiming that the protesters had been infiltrated by rogue elements and drug dealers.
"We will not allow chaos and we will not go back on our convictions. There is no way back. We must impose the respect of the country by law," said Mohammed Hamadan - also known as Hemeti - on Wednesday.
Numerous reports from Khartoum said the paramilitary unit, the feared Rapid Support Forces (RSF), was roaming the city's nearly deserted streets, targeting civilians.
Formerly known as the Janjaweed militia, the RSF gained notoriety for brutal atrocities in the Darfur conflict in western Sudan in 2003.
Reports continue to come in of these militia going into neighbourhoods and killing people. Their leader claims it is impostors behind the violence. | Protest_Online Condemnation | June 2019 | ['(BBC)'] |
Tony Abbott is sworn in as the 28th Prime Minister of Australia together with his Ministry. | Tony Abbott has been sworn in as Australia's prime minister, days after his Liberal-National coalition ended six years of Labor government. Mr Abbott, 55, took the oath at Government House in Canberra in front of Governor-General Quentin Bryce. His conservative coalition won a comfortable lower house majority in the 7 September polls. It plans to scrap a tax on carbon emissions introduced by Labor and further toughen asylum policy. Ahead of Wednesday's ceremony, Mr Abbott said his government would get to work immediately. "Today is not just a ceremonial day, it's an action day," he said. "The Australian people expect us to get straight down to business and that's exactly what this government will do."
The new ministers were also being sworn in during the day. His 19-member cabinet line-up has caused debate because it contains only one woman, new Foreign Minister Julie Bishop.
Mr Abbott, however, says his cabinet is "one of the most experienced incoming ministries in our history". The new prime minister said on Tuesday that the carbon tax would be his first task. "As soon as I return to Parliament House from the swearing-in ceremony, I will instruct the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet to prepare the carbon tax repeal legislation," he said in a statement. He says the carbon tax - which makes Australia's biggest polluters pay for emissions over a certain amount - cost jobs and forced energy prices up. Instead of the tax, he plans to introduce a "direct action" plan under which subsidies will be given to farmers and businesses to reduce their emissions. The position of science minister and a fund providing loans for green technologies are to be scrapped. Two official bodies related to climate change are also expected to be closed, local reports say. The moves that has prompted criticism from Australia's chief scientist, Professor Ian Chubb. "These sorts of issues are not going away just because we ignore them," he told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.
The new prime minister also says tough new policies to end the flow of asylum-seekers arriving in Australia via Indonesia will come into effect today. Under a Labor policy, all asylum-seekers arriving by boat are being sent to Papua New Guinea for processing and resettlement if found to be refugees. Mr Abbott is maintaining this policy and has promised to "stop the boats" - turning them back to Indonesia where safe to do so, a policy over which Indonesia has voiced concern. He is expected to place the deputy chief of the army in charge of combating people smugglers, and his government will also restrict refugees already in Australia to temporary protection visas which must be regularly renewed. Rights groups have criticised both the previous and incoming governments' policies on asylum. But - with some votes still to be counted from the 7 September election - it appears that the coalition will not control the Senate, meaning it may struggle to pass key legislation. It is expected that the new government will have to work with several minor parties to get bills passed in the upper house. The Labor Party, meanwhile, is in the process of choosing a new leader, with both former deputy prime minister Anthony Albanese and powerbroker Bill Shorten vying to replace Kevin Rudd, who is stepping down.
s
| Government Job change - Appoint_Inauguration | September 2013 | ['(BBC)'] |
Leader of the Labour Party Jeremy Corbyn announces he will step down as party leader following the party's defeat in the general election. | Jeremy Corbyn will not lead Labour into another election campaign as he faced mounting calls to step aside immediately. The Labour leader last night called for a “process of reflection” following the crushing defeat, which is now expected to be the worst since Michael Foot led the party to disaster in 1983. But in a move that is likely to provoke fury among Labour MPs, Mr Corbyn indicated that he could cling on during that period until the party was ready to “move on”. It came as Tony Blair’s former seat of Sedgefield fell to the Conservatives shortly after 2am, whilst Ed Miliband, the former Labour leader, managed to cling on in Doncaster North after losing 22 percent of his vote from 2017. West Bromwich East, a former safe seat held by Labour’s deputy leader Tom Watson, was also lost following a major swing to the Conservatives. Across the Midlands and North of England, Labour’s “red wall” continued to crumble, with the Conservatives gaining working-class seats such as Great Grimsby, Don Valley and Blyth Valley, a former mining constituency that Labour had held since its creation in 1950. Speaking at his count in Islington North as the latest forecasts predicted Labour losing 61 seats, Mr Corbyn said: “I want to make it clear that I will not lead the party in any future general election campaign. "I will discuss with our party to ensure there is a process now of reflection on this result and on the policies that the party will take going forward. "And I will lead the party during that period to ensure that discussion takes place and we move on into the future." However, his chances of remaining in place looked to be fading fast last night, as dozens of MPs lined up to condemn his handling of the party and his failure to take a stance on Brexit. They included Jess Phillips, the prominent backbench MP now touted as a “wild card” by senior Labour figures, who indicated that she could now run to replace him. The MP for Birmingham Yardley, who is a longstanding critic of Mr Corbyn, described the results as “totally devastating”, adding that if “people trust me then yes I will take a role in rebuilding [Labour].”
“What I do know is that if we just think this is just some personality contest at the top of the party, that that's going to be the answer to rescue the single greatest vehicle for social change, then we will inevitably end up in a poor situation,” she told ITV. "So I'm not going to sit here and start some sort of election race or even demand that Jeremy Corbyn goes because the Labour Party was never just about Jeremy Corbyn, it never was, regardless of the song. "It was always about much much more, and we've got to do much much more to find out where we've been going wrong." Meanwhile, Emily Thornberry, the shadow foreign secretary, signalled she could also mount her own leadership bid, as she issued a rallying call to activists in her seat of Islington South and Finsbury Park. “We may be hurting tonight, but we are not beaten,” she continued. “We will tell Johnson No. Our fight is not over our fight is just starting and we will show the same spirit that we showed throughout the election campaign.”
In Wigan, Lisa Nandy, another backbench critic of Mr Corbyn, told supporters that Labour’s downfall had been a “long time coming”, pointing to the growing disillusionment among the party’s Leave voters. In another apparent leadership pitch, she added: “I will make it my mission from this day forward, to bring Labour home to you.”
Indicating that he and Mr Corbyn would be forced to step aside, John McDonnell said “appropriate decisions” will be taken on the leadership once the full results are known. The shadow chancellor also ruled out replacing Mr Corbyn as Labour leader, but refused to accept that the heavy defeat was the result of Labour’s radical policy agenda. “This was the Brexit election,” he told the BBC. “We hoped a wider range of issues would cut through and we’d have a debate, but that hasn’t happened.”
Asked about Mr Corbyn’s political future, Mr McDonnell said: “We’ll always make the decisions in the best interests of our party.”
But Phil Wilson, the ex-Labour MP for Sedgefield dismissed the leadership’s Brexit excuses as “mendacious nonsense” adding: “Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership was a bigger problem. To say otherwise is delusional.”
Mr Wilson added: “The party’s leadership went down like a lead balloon on the doorstep. Labour’s leadership needs to take responsibility.”
Ian Murray, candidate for Edinburgh South, said: “Every door I knocked on – and my team and I spoke to 11,000 people – mentioned Corbyn. Not Brexit, but Corbyn.” He added: “The outcome is that we’ve let the country down, and we must change course – and fast.”
Last night former London mayor Ken Livingstone said: “It looks like the end for Jeremy. I’m sure he’ll have to resign tomorrow.” He added: “The Jewish vote wasn’t very helpful.”
In his speech, Mr Corbyn also attacked the press intrusion into his life, saying the pressure "on those surrounding politicians is often very, very high indeed and the media intrusion in people's lives is very high indeed". He thanked his wife, Laura Alvarez, "for all she puts up with because of the way the media behaves". Odds from William Hill
That's how Telegraph readers reacted to the Tories' stunning victory. Read their thoughts and have your say here. Even if Jeremy Corbyn hands over the keys this morning, it's a long road to a new permanent leader. Any MP hoping to throw their hat into the ring requires the support of 10 per cent of the party’s MPs and MEPs in order to get on the ballot of members. Labour leaders are elected using a “one member one vote” (OMOV) system, where all Labour members, affiliated supporters and registered supporters have one vote of equal value. Voting operates under an alternative vote (AV) system. Postal votes are sent to voters, who rank candidates in order of preference. If there are more than two candidates, the candidate who is first to secure more than 50 per cent of the vote wins. If nobody does so in the first round of counting, the candidate with the fewest first preference votes is knocked out, and their votes reallocated based on the second preferences and so on until a winner emerges. Could the shadow EU Exit Minister be the new Labour leader? Born: 2 September 1962 (age 57)
Constituency: Labour MP for Holborn & St Pancras since 2015
Education: Bachelor of Laws (LLB) at the University of Leeds, then Bachelor of Civil Law (BCL) at St Edmund Hall, Oxford
Early career: Barrister since 1987, Queen’s Counsel (2002), head of chambers, Director of Public Prosecutions (2008–2013)
Political interests: Human rights, criminal law, refugee crisis
Career: Starting his career as a barrister in 1987, Starmer was promoted to Queen’s Counsel in 2002, and was joint head of his chambers, Doughty Street Chambers. Starmer was awarded a knighthood in 2014 for “services to law and criminal justice” and is therefore entitled to be addressed as “Sir Keir Starmer”, although he does not use the title. Speaking to a local newspaper, he admitted: “I’ve never liked titles”. Quote: “Standing on the sidelines looking for the purest ideology is a dereliction of the duty for any Labour member.” (July 2016)
Sir Keir Starmer, another potential Labour leader, has held on to his Holborn and St Pancras constituency. His majority fell by about 3,000 but is still a meaty 30,509. He said: "There is no hiding from the overall result. It is devastating - it will hurt the millions of people who so desperately need a Labour government. We must now reflect; but we must also rebuild." Lord Falconer, the former Labour Lord High Chancellor and close friend of Tony Blair, said the party needs a new leader "as soon as we reasonably can". He told the BBC: "I want Jeremy Corbyn to go in such time that it takes to have a reasonable leadership election and I have in mind by March, April of next year." "This is not a normal election for a whole myriad of reasons. One of them is we're in the middle of the European exit process. "We're definitely leaving the European Union now because of this election, but immediately afterwards we're going to be debating what is our relationship with Europe." He added: "We've got to have a leadership election and have it as soon as we reasonably can." Corbyn and Co might not fancy reading this, but this is Camilla Tominey's brilliant take on how Johnson's victory unfolded. The Telegraph's Joe Shute says Dennis Skinner, renowned for his "ever-present red tie, green shirt, sports blazer and waspish attacks" is leaving the Westminster scene. "Now the man who once famously nicknamed Margaret Thatcher “Madame Ceaucescu” (after the Romanian dictator) and David Cameron “Dodgy Dave”, has finally taken his eye off the ball - displaced by the very party he so loved to loathe." Read Joe Shute's piece on Skinner
Yvette Cooper, the former shadow home secretary, held her seat in Normanton, Pontefract and Castleford, but her majority fell from from 14,499 to 1,276. She cautioned that Labour must not let its support disappear in towns. "I think there is a really serious growing gap between cities and towns in this country, and Labour is increasingly becoming a party of the cities," Cooper said. "That’s more than the Brexit debate - we’re no longer being seen as a party that stands up for towns, even though towns have been harder hit by austerity and changing economic patterns that the Conservatives haven’t dealt with." The Conservatives have taken the ultra-marginal set of Dudley North from Labour, Patrick Sawer writes. The Tory candidate Marco Longhi captured the seat with a 11,533 majority, overturning and surpassing the previous Labour majority of just 22 votes achieved by its former MP Ian Austin, who quit the party to become an Independent in disgust at anti-Semitism in its ranks and the leadership of Jeremy Corbyn. It's the end of a Parliamentary era: Dennis Skinner has lost his seat. The "Beast of Bolsover", a left-wing backbencher and a thorn in the side of the Blair and Brown governments, he held they seat since 1970. Tonight, he lost to the Tories, shedding his 5,000-vote majority with a 11.5 per cent swing away from Labour. There were scenes of jubilation in Bishop Auckland as Conservative Dehenna Davison snatched the seat with 24,067 of the vote, compared to Labour’s Helen Goodman, who received 16,105 votes, Jessica Carpani writes. Helen Goodman, who has been the Labour MP for Bishop Auckland since 2005, lashed out at the Tory campaign. “This is the fifth general election I’ve performed and I’ve never known such a mendacious and deceitful Tory campaign.” Ms Goodman was booed by Conservative activists and Tory members who defended the Prime Minister. She also used the platform to criticise Corbyn: “The Labour party is not going to win until it has a leader who can command the trust and confidence of the British people. However good its manifesto, however strong its principles.”
John McDonnell, asked what he and Jeremy Corbyn could have done differently for the campaign, told PA: "I'm not sure, because if we'd have either been a Leave party we'd have alienated our Remain supporters - they are a majority within our party - and if we'd been a Remain party we'd have alienated the Leave." "We were caught on the horns of that dilemma and as a principled position we thought we may be able to bring the country together. We failed." The Red Wall came down: read the maps and charts that show how Boris Johnson won his majority. The shadow foreign secretary is another Labour frontbencher who is being tipped for the top job. Born: 27 July 1960 (age 59)
Constituency: Labour MP for Islington South and Finsbury since 2005
Education: Law at University of Kent in Canterbury
Early career: Human rights barrister
Political interests: Health, housing, environment, equality
Married to: High Court judge Sir Christopher George Nugee
Previous roles:
Controversy: She was was forced to step down from the shadow cabinet in 2014 over accusations of “snobbery” after tweeting a picture of a house in Rochester decked out in England flags with a white van on the driveway, captioned “Image from Rochester”. She returned to the front benches in 2016. Could she be the next Labour leader? MP for Salford and Eccles
Born: 22 September 1979
From: Grew up in Old Trafford, Manchester
In her own words: Describes herself as a “wife, mother, socialist and occasional tweety ranter” on her Twitter profile
Early career: Worked in a pawn shop, call centre, furniture factory, and as a postwoman before studying to become a solicitor. Spent many years working in the NHS on a range of governance and contractual issues
Politics:
Ruth Smeeth has lost her seat in Stoke-on-Trent North after a 10.6 per cent swing from Labour to the Tories. Ali Milani, Labour's defeated candidate in Boris Johnson's Uxbridge and South Ruislip constituency, tweeted: "I'm sorry we couldn't give you the result you deserved. "To each and everyone of the activist who joined us on this journey: thank you so much. We are building a new world. It may not have come today, but it is coming. Don't lose hope." Margaret Hodge, the Labour MP who has been a fierce critic of Jeremy Corbyn, particularly over the party's handling of its anti-Semitism crisis, said: "Corbyn talking about a period of 'reflection'. I've reflected. You failed. Please stand down." She was re-elected as MP for Barking and Dagenham. Laura Pidcock, one of Corbyn's closest allies, has lost her seat in North West Durham to the Tories. Pidcock, who once said she had "absolutely no intention of being friends with any Tories", saw her vote share collapse by 13 per cent. Rebecca Long-Bailey, a close ally of Jeremy Corbyn and widely seen as a contender to be the next leader of the Labour Party, was re-elected as MP for Salford and Eccles. She said: "I think we'll have to analyse in a lot of detail what happened." "Certainly in Salford and across the north west Brexit consistently came up on the doorstep and we were a party that tried to bring together those who voted Leave and those who voted Remain and perhaps that wasn't a position that satisfied many of our constituents and voters across the North particularly but that's something we will look at in greater detail." Asked if she wanted to be leader of the party, the shadow secretary of state for business, energy and industry said: "It's not something that I'm thinking about, I think we need to get through tonight, see where the chips fall and then we will re-group as a party, assess what's happened and what the next steps need to be." David Miliband, the former Labour foreign secretary and leadership candidate has attacked Corbyn's leadership on Twitter, calling it "in-credible" and "sectarian". After being re-elected in Leeds Central with a reduced majority, Hilary Benn, the Labour MP told the BBC: "I thought that was a very dignified speech from Jeremy and he's announced that he won't be leading us into a future general election. "Look let's not beat about the bush - this is a very bad night for the Labour Party. "It has come as a great disappointment to all of the thousands of members and supporters who have campaigned so hard." "But we didn't win, we lost, we are going to have to reflect on that defeat but I'm sure we are going to return at some point in the future because Boris Johnson is going to have a very difficult time as Prime Minister." Jeremy Corbyn: "I want to make it clear that I will not lead the party in any future general election campaign. "I will discuss with our party to ensure there is a process now of reflection on this result and on the policies that the party will take going forward. "And I will lead the party during that period to ensure that discussion takes place and we move on into the future." It's a bad night for leaders. Jo Swinson has lost her seat in East Dunbartonshire. Follow live updates on that here. Emily Thornberry, the shadow foreign secretary, said she feels a "bitter disappointment" but said Labour is "not broken". Speaking from the election count in north London, where she held her Islington South and Finsbury seat with a reduced majority, Ms Thornberry said: "I feel distraught, that we've lost so many great comrades in Parliament and I feel so disappointed." A scuffle broke out in the crowd as shadow chancellor John McDonnell made a speech after winning his seat of Hayes and Harlington before a police officer stepped in. Mr McDonnell was heckled throughout his speech by a man shouting "terrorist". Labour’s red wall suffered another humiliating breach in the West Midlands when it lost West Bromwich East to the Conservatives for the first time, Patrick Sawer writes. Nicola Richards took the seat previously held by Labour’s former deputy leader Tom Watson, overturning a majority of 7,713 and replacing it with a Tory majority of 1,593. There was shock and jubilation in the hall when the result for a seat held by Labour since it was created in 1974 was announced, with bellows of delight from Tory supporters. The Red Wall might be coming down but Red Ed has held on to his seat -- just. The former Labour leader's majority has been cut to 2,370 from 14,024. The Conservatives have scored a significant success in capturing the Labour seat of West Bromwich West, Patrick Sawer writes. Tory candidate Shaun Bailey overturned a Labour majority of 4,460 and turned it into a Conservative majority of 3,799 on a night the West Midlands ‘red wall’ turned blue. Taking to the stage at Tipton Academy for his acceptance speech Mr Bailey, a Birmingham based commercial lawyer, said: “Wow! It’s been an interesting day.” To cheers of elation and some surprise from his supporters he added: “The election is over and I will be working for all the community because for a long time we’ve been ignored.”
Richard Burgon, Labour's shadow justice secretary, has told the BBC that Corbyn's likely defeat is due to the "right-wing newspapers" who have done "a very good job of making people think Jeremy Corbyn, a very decent man, is a threat to security". Recent elections have seen party leaders step down when their party is defeated. However, this is not a formal requirement. 2017: Hung Parliament Tim Farron (LD) stood down after the election
2015: Conservative win Ed Milliband (L) and Nick Clegg (LD) both stood down on the morning after the election
2010: Conservative win Gordon Brown (L) resigned four days after the result
2005: Labour win Michael Howard (C) announced that he would resign, but in practice remained leader for another six months, extensively reshuffling the party’s front bench. | Government Job change - Resignation_Dismissal | December 2019 | ['(The Telegraph)'] |
A man was revealed to have been arrested the previous day for attempting to blow up a car in The Pentagon parking lot. | An Arkansas man was charged Tuesday with trying to blow up an SUV in a Pentagon parking lot, federal prosecutors in Virginia said.
A Pentagon police officer was on patrol just before 11 a.m. Monday when he saw Matthew Dmitri Richardson, 19, of Fayetteville, attempting to light on fire a piece of fabric that had been inserted into the gas tank of a 2016 Land Rover, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office in Eastern Virginia.
When the officer confronted Richardson, he said he was going to "blow this vehicle up" and "himself,” court documents say.
Richardson sprinted away from the officer, but was caught a short time later, according to the court documents.
Federal prosecutors said the owner of the vehicle is an active duty servicemember who doesn’t know Richardson.
The suspect was charged with maliciously attempting to damage and destroy a vehicle by means of fire. If convicted, he faces a mandatory minimum of five years in prison.
Richardson's initial court appearance was slated for Tuesday afternoon, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Alexandria. Court records did not list his attorney.
Tom Winter is a New York-based correspondent covering crime, courts, terrorism and financial fraud on the East Coast for the NBC News Investigative Unit. | Famous Person - Commit Crime - Arrest | February 2020 | ['(NBC)'] |
A Filipino lawmaker proposes a bill banning Republican U.S. presidential candidate Donald Trump from entering the Philippines after Trump compared Filipino legal immigrants to terrorists. , | A lawmaker in the Philippines is calling for Donald Trump to be banned from the country after the U.S. presidential candidate suggested that Philippine immigrants posed a threat to the United States.
"There is no feasible basis or reasonable justification to the wholesale labeling of Filipinos as coming from a 'terrorist state' or that they will be a Trojan horse,” Joey Salceda said in a bill filed in Manila's House of Representatives, according to the Philippine Star.
At a rally in Portland, Maine, on Thursday afternoon, Trump included the Philippines on a list of countries he said had sent immigrants who had plotted to kill Americans, sometimes successfully. "We're letting people come in from terrorist nations that shouldn't be allowed because you can't vet them," he said. "There's no way of vetting them. You have no idea who they are. This could be the great Trojan horse of all time."
In his proposed legislation to ban Trump, Salceda cited a 2001 memorandum issued by the Philippine immigration agency. It says foreign nationals who disrespect the authority of the Philippines can be blacklisted in the interest of public safety.
Salceda, citing data from the U.S. State Department, said that about 4 million people of Philippine descent live in the United States, making them the second-largest Asian American group in the country. The lawmaker, who represents a district in Albay province, said Trump's “remarks have had widespread dissemination, thus aggravating the shame it has already put [on] Filipinos and Filipino Muslims, including Filipino migrants and overseas Filipino workers who this House and our society have recognized as modern heroes of our country.”
Trump, whose provocative views on immigration have upset even members of his own Republican Party, last year proposed a ban on Muslims entering the United States, citing fears of terrorism. That proposal prompted Britain's Parliament to call a debate in January on whether to ban Trump. The debate was noteworthy for its colorful language — one lawmaker called Trump "the orange prince of American self-publicity" — but the move to ban him was unsuccessful. He visited Scotland for the opening of a golf course in June.
Trump has since revised his proposal on a Muslim ban several times. Despite some indications that he was backing down from the controversial proposal, however, he said last month that his position on banning Muslims has "gotten bigger."
Trump does not have major business interests in the Philippines, though he has licensed his name to the Trump Tower Manila, a large residential tower scheduled to open in the Philippine capital this year. In response to his comments in Maine, Philippine Presidential Communications Office Secretary Martin Andanar released a statement saying that Trump had "professed his love for the Philippines" during the launch event for the Trump Tower Manila, calling it a "special place."
According to GMA News, Salceda said the “ugliness of utterances, largely unprompted and undeserved,” by Trump last week stood in contrast to the warm welcome he had received from the Philippines when launching the Trump Tower Manila.
Ironically, the Philippines' recently elected president, Rodrigo Duterte, has been called the "Trump of the East" for his controversial statements about drug dealers and rape. Trump adviser Paul Manafort also worked with Philippine dictator Ferdinand Marcos in the 1980s.
| Government Policy Changes | August 2016 | ['(The Washington Post)', '(Rappler)'] |
Two radio journalists are shot dead and a co–worker injured in San Pedro de Macorís, Dominican Republic, while presenting the show "Milenio Caliente" on Facebook Live. Three people were arrested. | Three men have been arrested after two journalists were killed during a live radio broadcast in the Dominican Republic. One of the journalists was filming his show on Facebook Live when he was shot. The footage showed his broadcast interrupted by gunfire and a panicked woman shouting "Shots! Shots! Shots!". Police said the shooting happened on Tuesday in San Pedro de Macoris, east of the capital Santo Domingo. The two journalists killed were presenter Luis Manuel Medina and radio producer Leo Martinez.
A woman was also injured and is undergoing surgery, said local authorities. The arrested men have not been charged and police say they do not know the motive.
"The investigations have begun and we will try, with all the means in our powers, to reach the truth," Attorney General Jean Rodriguez told the local press. In August 2015, two US journalists were shot dead during a live TV report in Virginia.
| Famous Person - Death | February 2017 | ['(BBC)', '(CNN)'] |
French forces have clashed with rebels in the Central African Republic during a government offensive to regain control of the northern town of Birao. | French forces have clashed with rebels in the Central African Republic (CAR) during a government offensive to regain control of the northern town of Birao.
A French army spokesman said troops had reacted in self defence when they came under rebel fire near Birao's airport.
Earlier this month, France promised to provide logistics and intelligence to CAR in their struggle against rebels who have recently seized several towns.
The UN says thousands of people have fled fighting in the region.
The CAR government says it has retaken Birao, 800km (500 miles) north-east of the capital, Bangui, but fighting is reported to be continuing. Birao is near eastern Chad and Sudan's western Darfur region and has been plagued by violence and insecurity in recent years.
The government says the Union of Democratic Forces for Unity (UFDR) rebels are operating from Darfur with the support of the Sudanese authorities. Denial
French armed forces spokesman Christophe Prazuck said a French military transport plane flew CAR troops to Birao to retake the airport on Monday.
The UN says thousands of people have fled the fighting in the north
"During this operation, the troops were attacked and retaliated. So French troops shot in self defence at rebels who were attacking them," Reuters news agency reports him as saying.
Rebel spokesman Diego Albator Yao has denied that rebels had lost control of the town and said French soldiers were occupying Birao airport.
"Our men are still there, but we don't need to attack the French because they are not interfering in our domestic problem," he told the BBC's Joseph Benamse by phone.
He claimed the rebels had captured another town, Ndele, and were heading for the capital.
Our Bangui correspondent says France recently added 100 troops to its 200 soldiers stationed in CAR.
Under bilateral accords, France's military provides logistical and intelligence support to some of its former colonies in Africa.
The UFDR rebels say they are fighting against corruption and mismanagement under President Francois Bozize, who seized power in a 2003 coup. The United Nations says 46,000 people have crossed over to neighbouring Chad because of the unrest and another 90,000 are internally displaced within eastern CAR. | Armed Conflict | November 2006 | ['(BBC)'] |
Archaeologists in Egypt display items, including figurines, masks and a mummy, from one of two previously unexplored tombs, Kampp 150 and Kampp 161, in the ancient Nile city of Luxor. | Archaeologists in Egypt have displayed items, including a mummy, from one of two previously unexplored tombs in the ancient Nile city of Luxor.
The mummy is believed to be that of a senior official from Egypt's "New Kingdom", about 3,500 years ago.
Other items included figurines, wooden masks and richly coloured wall paintings.
The tombs lie in the Draa Abul Naga necropolis, an area famed for its temples and burial grounds.
It is close to the Valley of the Kings where many of ancient Egypt's pharaohs were buried.
Egypt's antiquities ministry said that the tombs had been discovered by a German archaeologist in the 1990s, but were kept sealed until recently.
The identity of the mummified body is not known but the ministry says there are two possibilities.
It could be a person named Djehuty Mes, whose name is engraved on one of the walls, or it could be a scribe called Maati whose name - and the name of his wife, Mehi - are written on funerary cones, officials said.
The other tomb was only recently "uncovered" and has not yet been fully excavated, the ministry said.
In September, archaeologists discovered the tomb of a royal goldsmith near Luxor.
The tomb, which also dated back to the New Kingdom, contained a statue of the goldsmith Amenemhat, sitting beside his wife. Mummies discovered in new Egypt tomb | New archeological discoveries | December 2017 | ['(BBC)', '(National Geographic)'] |
A Somali committee determined that the death toll of the twin bombing in Mogadishu last October is way higher than expected, rising up to 512. This makes the attack the third-deadliest terrorist attack worldwide. | MOGADISHU (Reuters) - More than 500 people were killed in twin bomb blasts in Mogadishu in October, a Somali committee looking into the attack said on Thursday, raising the death toll from at least 358.
In the incidents on Oct. 14, a truck bomb exploded outside a busy hotel at the K5 intersection lined with government offices, restaurants and kiosks. A second blast struck Medina district two hours later.
The impact of the truck bomb was worsened by it exploding next to a fuel tanker that increased its intensity and left many bodies being burnt or mutilated beyond recognition.
By Oct. 20, the government said the toll had reached 358.
It set up a committee, known as the Zobe Rescue Committee, to establish a more accurate death toll by talking to relatives of those who may have been at the site of the blasts.
“So far we have confirmed 512 people died in last month’s explosion ... (Some) 316 others were also injured in that blast,” Abdullahi Mohamed Shirwac, the committee’s chairman, told Reuters on Thursday.
There was no immediate comment from the government on the latest toll.
The bomb attacks were the deadliest since Islamist militant group al Shabaab began an insurgency in 2007. Al Shabaab has not claimed responsibility, but the method and type of attack - a large truck bomb - is increasingly used by the al Qaeda-linked organization.
Al Shabaab stages regular attacks in the capital and other parts of the country. Although the group says it targets the government and security forces, it has detonated large bombs in crowded public areas before.
It has sometimes not claimed responsibility for bombings that provoked a big public backlash, such as the 2009 suicide bombing of a graduation ceremony for medical students.
Reporting by Abdi Sheikh; Editing by George Obulutsa
| Armed Conflict | November 2017 | ['(Reuters)'] |
Britain's Shadow Chancellor Alan Johnson resigns from the Labour Party's frontbench team for "personal" reasons. | Alan Johnson resigned as shadow chancellor this evening for "personal reasons" after a difficult debut in which he struggled to master basic details of economic policy.
In a statement issued at 5pm, the former home secretary said that he needed to resign to concentrate on his family.
Ed Miliband, the Labour leader who said he accepted Johnson's resignation "with great regret", conducted a swift reshuffle in which:
Ed Balls, who was passed over for the shadow chancellorship after a disagreement with Miliband over tacking the fiscal deficit, was immediately replaced to succeed Johnson.
Yvette Cooper moves from her post as shadow foreign secretary to succeed her husband, Ed Balls, as shadow home secretary.
Douglas Alexander moves from his post as shadow work and pensions secretary to succeed Cooper as shadow foreign secretary.
Liam Byrne moves from his post as shadow cabinet office minister to succeed Alexander as shadow work and pensions secretary.
Tessa Jowell keeps her post as shadow Olympics minister but also succeeds Byrne in the shadow cabinet office role.
In his statement, Johnson said: "I have decided to resign from the shadow cabinet for personal reasons to do with my family. I have found it difficult to cope with these personal issues in my private life while carrying out an important frontbench role. I am grateful to Ed Miliband for giving me the opportunity to serve as shadow chancellor of the exchequer. He is proving to be a formidable leader of the Labour party and has shown me nothing but support and kindness. My time in parliament will now be dedicated to serving my constituents and supporting the Labour party. I will make no further comment about this matter."
Johnson's resignation follows a difficult debut in which he was mocked for failing to know the national insurance rate. He had joked on his appointment that he would have to use an economics primer.
The appointment of Balls will mark a sharper Labour position on tackling the fiscal deficit. Balls was passed over the post in October because he believed that Miliband's position on deficit – to endorse Alistair Darling's plan to halve it over four years – was too fast. In a speech at Bloomberg in August, during the Labour leadership contest, Balls called for a slower deficit reduction plan to protect the recovery and promote growth.
Miliband said: "It is with great regret that I have accepted the resignation of Alan Johnson. As shadow chancellor and a politician who held five cabinet positions, Alan showed real leadership on issues that mattered to families across our country, warning of the dangers posed by the government's gamble on growth and jobs, promoting educational opportunity and delivering neighbourhood policing.
"Ed Balls is an outstanding economist and is hugely qualified to take our economic message to the country. In Yvette, Douglas, Liam and Tessa, we have a team which combines extensive experience in government and determination in opposition.
"I am proud that Labour has a strong, confident shadow cabinet that will expose the mistakes of this Conservative-led government. Together we will put the economy at the forefront of our argument as we work hard to regain the trust of the British people."
Balls said: "It is a great honour to be appointed to this post, and to succeed my friend and colleague Alan Johnson whose commitment to social justice and service to the Labour party is second to none.
"Over the past few months, Alan and Ed have set out a clear direction on economic policy and challenged the Conservative-led government's false claim that our investment in schools, hospitals and police, rather than the global financial crisis, caused the deficit.
"Our task ahead is to take on George Osborne and David Cameron's decision to cut too far and too fast, recklessly putting jobs and growth at risk. We will hold them to account for the decisions they have taken, from raising VAT to scrapping the Future Jobs Fund and Education Maintenance Allowances.
"We will set out to the public that there is an alternative: a fair economy which puts jobs and growth first. I look forward to taking on and winning this argument." | Government Job change - Resignation_Dismissal | January 2011 | ['(BBC)', '(The Guardian)'] |
Former Croatian prime minister Ivo Sanader is sentenced to 10 years in prison in a first–degree verdict. He is the highest official in Croatia to be convicted of corruption. | A court in Croatia has sentenced former Prime Minister Ivo Sanader to 10 years in prison for taking bribes, in a case closely watched by the EU.
Sanader, in office from 2003 to 2009, was convicted of taking millions of dollars in bribes from a Hungarian energy company and an Austrian bank. The former prime minister denied wrongdoing at his trial.
Croatia, which hopes to join the EU in July of next year, is under pressure to tackle widespread corruption.
Correspondents say the EU is taking a harder line with the Balkan state than with Romania and Bulgaria, which were allowed to join the bloc despite struggling to address their problems with corruption.
Sanader, 59, is the most senior official to have been convicted of corruption in Croatia.
He was found guilty of accepting a bribe of $12.8m (£8m; 10m euros) from the Hungarian oil company MOL in return for securing it controlling rights in Croatia's state oil company Ina.
Unless Tuesday's verdict is overturned on appeal, Croatia may review MOL's shareholder agreement with Ina, Reuters news agency says.
In 1995, when Sanader was a deputy foreign minister, he received $695,000 in bribes for a credit deal with the Hypo Alpe Adria Group, which gave the Austrian bank a leading position in Croatia. At the time, Croatia was still fighting its war of independence from Yugoslavia, meaning it had trouble accessing the international markets.
Prosecutors described Sanader's action as "war profiteering". Sanader argued that the case against him was politically motivated.
He is also on trial, separately, for allegedly creating slush funds for his political party, the conservative Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ), by skimming off profits from state companies and manipulating public tenders.
The HDZ ruled the country for eight years until its defeat in elections in December 2011. | Famous Person - Commit Crime - Sentence | November 2012 | ['(BBC)'] |
Lee Murray, the mastermind of the Securitas depot robbery in Kent, England, is jailed for 10 years in Morocco BBC | A cage-fighter has been jailed in Morocco for his part in the UK's biggest cash raid at a Securitas depot.
Lee Murray, 30, originally from south London, was named during the trial of other gang members as the "mastermind" of the £53m raid in Kent in 2006.
Kent Police said Murray must serve 10 years in jail in Morocco for his involvement.
A spokesman for the force said Murray was deemed to be Moroccan and could not be extradited to the UK.
Det Supt Mick Judge said the Kent force had worked with the Moroccan authorities to ensure Murray was prosecuted.
He said: "I'm pleased Murray will now begin serving a significant prison sentence for his part in the Tonbridge robbery."
More than 13 people were charged with offences in connection with the robbery. Six people were convicted.
Depot manager Colin Dixon and family were kidnapped at gunpoint by men posing as police officers to allow the gang to gain entry. Det Supt Judge added: "We must not forget the traumatic experience the Dixons and the Securitas employees went through that night in 2006 - held at gunpoint and fearing for their lives."
He said Murray played a key role in the conspiracy to kidnap the Dixons and rob the depot.
Lee Murray's solicitor Abdellah Benlanhidi said the verdict was too harsh and they would appeal against it. He said Murray had been in jail for four years, which meant he had another six years to serve.
Last June, the Moroccan authorities refused to extradite Murray after establishing his Moroccan nationality.
Earlier trials in the UK had heard how Murray began plotting Britain's biggest robbery in the summer of 2005. It is thought that Murray, wearing a prosthetic disguise, was one of the fake police officers who ambushed depot manager Colin Dixon and abducted his wife and child. Murray is also believed to have been the robber dubbed "Stopwatch" by detectives because he was seen on the CCTV tape bossing the gang around and timing their every move.
He organised the raid with military precision and ensured the gang left the depot after being on site for less than an hour. Four days after the robbery in February 2006, Murray fled to Morocco. Murray inadvertently provided key evidence for police when he crashed his car shortly before the robbery, and fled the scene leaving his mobile phone in the vehicle.
He had accidentally pressed the record button on the handset during a conversation about the robbery with fellow plotter Lea Rusha, which was later recovered and used by prosecutors.
On the night of the raid, 14 Securitas staff members were terrorised and tied up at gunpoint as the robbers loaded cash on to a lorry.
Police have recovered £21m and have still to uncover the rest.
Prosecutors have said they are determined to track down the money and recent inquiries have been focused on the Middle East. | Famous Person - Commit Crime - Sentence | June 2010 | [] |
Hundreds of people are rescued and a further 88 are missing after a ferry sank off the coast of the southern Philippines. | MANILA, Sept 6 (Reuters) - Nine hundred passengers were plucked from a sinking ferry off the Philippines on Sunday, officials said, but at least five people were killed and rescuers were scouring the waters for 63 more who were still missing.
The rescued passengers were brought ashore by other ships, and the Philippine authorities said they hoped some of those still missing had been rescued by a fleet of fishing vessels and small boats that also came to the stricken ferry's aid.
"The search and rescue is still continuing, coastguard vessels are still there scouring the area," Commander Armand Balilo, Coastguard spokesman, told local radio.
The "SuperFerry 9" vessel was carrying more than 960 passengers and crew when it set off from General Santos City, on the southern island of Mindanao, for the central city of Iloilo.
It began listing early on Sunday morning, prompting authorities to sound a general alert and rush rescue vessels to the area, coastguard commander Admiral Wilfredo Tamayo told reporters.
The weather was clear at the time, but the crew had reported problems with the generator, Tamayo said.
Officials said they would investigate what caused the ferry's sinking, but a situation report from the government's disaster coordinating council said the incident may have been caused by a hole in the ferry's hull.
"We got a report to that effect but until the Board of Marine Inquiry have been constituted and they finally establish what really happened, we cannot say so," Glenn Rabonza, head of the disaster agency, said in the report.
The ferry was carrying 200,000 litres of industrial fuel oil, 80,000 litres of automotive diesel oil, and 10,000 litres of lube oil when it departed Manila for Iloilo and General Santos City.
It was on its return voyage from General Santos to Iloilo and Manila when it encountered problems, the coastguard report said.
"No dangerous or hazardous cargo was declared to be onboard MV SuperFerry 9," it said.
Ferries are an important mode of transport in the Philippines, an archipelago of more than 7,000 islands. But accidents are common, because of overcrowding, poor maintenance or tropical storms.
| Shipwreck | September 2009 | ['(Philippine Inquirer)', '(Reuters)', '(Xinhua)', '(BBC)'] |
Pope Francis begins a week–long official visit to Brazil, his first foreign trip since assuming the pontificate. | Pope Francis has left Rome for Brazil for his first foreign trip, which will be taking place amid high security.
The pontiff will be greeted by some two million young people from all over the world at the Roman Catholic World Youth Day festival in Rio de Janeiro.
The first Latin American Pope will also celebrate Mass on the famous Copacabana beach and visit shanty towns.
Some 22,000 security staff will be on duty during the visit of the Pope, who is not using his armoured Popemobile.
On his way to Brazil, Pope Francis said the global crisis risked creating a lost generation of jobless youth.
"We run the risk of having a generation that hasn't worked," even though work confers dignity, he told journalists on the plane.
He also criticised what he said was a "culture" of socially rejecting the elderly who were "thrown away" as if they had nothing to offer.
Ahead of his week-long trip, the 76-year-old Pope from Argentina called on his followers to join him spiritually on his journey through prayer.
The pontiff is due to arrive in Brazil - the world's most populous Catholic country - later on Monday, and huge crowds are expected to greet him at Rio airport.
The Vatican says it has full confidence in the ability of Brazilian security forces to protect the pontiff during his visit.
However, Pope Francis's direct style of communication, his desire for close proximity with his flock and his frequent rejection of protocol are creating some worry among the organisers of the visit, the BBC's David Willey in Rome reports. In Rio, the security forces have set up several monitoring centres to keep a close eye on the Pope's every step.
The pontiff will also be using army helicopters to avoid Rio's heavy traffic jams.
The Brazilian authorities earlier banned masks at Pope Francis's opening Mass at the World Youth Day. They are worried that the visit could spark a repeat of June's unrest, when many wore masks in the crowds.
There were widespread anti-government protests last month during the football Confederations Cup. Many of the protesters were wearing Guy Fawkes masks, which have become a feature of demonstrations around the world. The demonstrators have taken to the streets to complain about the state of public services such as transport, health and education and about what they perceive as the inefficiency of their politicians.
Pope's residence
Basilica
Varginha slum
Copacabana beach
World Youth Day Galeao Airport When Pope Francis arrives in Rio, he will attend a welcome ceremony in Guanabara Palace. Guests will include Brazillian President Dilma Rousseff.
The catholic education institution will be the Pope's residence during his stay in Rio.
The Pope travels to the National Shrine of Our Lady of Aparecida in the city of Aparecida do Norte, the largest Marian pilgrimage centre in the world. He will celebrate a mass there and return to Rio on the same day.
As soon as he returns from Aparecida do Norte, the pontiff will inaugurate a special ward for the treatment of drug addicts, built with donations from the Vatican.
The Pope will be handed the keys to the city from mayor Eduardo Paes. Later, he will bless the Olympic flags for Rio 2016.
Pope Francis visits the community living in the Varginha slum and will make a speech in a local football field.
The Pope will greet the participants of the Church's World Youth Day on 25 July. The next day, they will join him in a Way of the Cross procession at the beach.
The Pope receives the confession of five youngsters in a house that was used by Brazil's royal family members.
The pontiff will meet young prisoners. After that, he will deliver the Angelus prayer and blessing from the palace balcony and meet youngsters from the organising committee of World Youth Day for lunch.
Pope Francis meets politicians and local dignitaries.
The Pope will hold a vigil with the participants of World Youth Day on Saturday evening. On Sunday morning, Pope Francis will celebrate the final mass of the WYD 2013 and deliver the Angelus prayer and blessing once again.
On his way to the airport, the pontiff stops in Riocentro, the largest convention centre in Latin America, to meet the WYD volunteers.
In his last engagement in Brazil, the pope will make a speech in a farewell ceremony at the airport.
I | Diplomatic Visit | July 2013 | ['(BBC)'] |
A new parliament opens in Burma. | Beneath the tiered roofs of Burma's ornate new parliament building in its remote capital, Naypyidaw, lawmakers will gather today for their first taste of "disciplined democracy" as prescribed by the country's military rulers.
Burma's first parliamentary session in 22 years follows a general election in November which the junta's proxy, the Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP), won by a landslide thanks to rampant vote-rigging and intimidation. The party of the democracy campaigner Aung San Suu Kyi boycotted the vote and smaller opposition groups secured just a fraction of seats.
Amid pomp and ritual, the convening of the two-chamber parliament, with its 659 legislators, this morning will mark the penultimate step in the dictator General Than Shwe's seven-point plan for "disciplined democracy", to appease Asian trading neighbours and their appeals for democratic reform.
Those who hoped that this flawed process could at least nurture the beginnings of a political debate after half a century of military oppression in Burma will be disappointed.
For example, MPs cannot simply stand up and ask a question, they must submit it in writing to the leader of the house, 10 days in advance.
Then, like every newspaper article, broadcast, book or song, it will be examined to ensure that it does not undermine the national cause, before being accepted or rejected. It is thought that Than Shwe is likely to be elected President.
| Diplomatic Talks _ Diplomatic_Negotiation_ Summit Meeting | January 2011 | ['(BBC)', '(The Independent)', '(Bangkok Post)', '[permanent dead link]'] |
At least 136 people are dead and more than 100 others are missing after a ferry capsizes in Lake Victoria, Tanzania. | At least 136 people have died after a ferry carrying hundreds of people capsized on Lake Victoria, Tanzania, officials say.
Many are missing and it is feared that more than 200 people in total may have drowned. Rescue efforts resumed on Friday after being halted overnight.
The MV Nyerere ferry overturned near Ukara island on its way from Bugorora.
It is thought the overloaded vessel tipped over when crowds on board moved to one side as it docked.
Rescue operations on Africa's biggest lake have involved police and army divers, as well as small private boats and local fishermen.
The BBC's Aboubakar Famau in Tanzania says fear has gripped residents of the Mwanza region as they wait to hear the fate of relatives who travelled on the MV Nyerere on Thursday.
"I received a call telling me that I have lost my aunt, father and my younger brother," says Editha Josephat Magesa, a local resident. "We are really saddened and urge the government to provide a new ferry because the old one was small and the population is big."
Our reporter says the ferry's engines were recently replaced after local MP Joseph Mkundi complained about the previous ones.
Local media say the ferry's official capacity was 100 people, but officials say the vessel was carrying more than 400 passengers when it capsized.
It operates on a busy route, crossing eight times a day between the islands of Ukara and Ukwerewe, which are close to Tanzania's second-largest city of Mwanza.
The ferry was said to have been particularly busy because it was market day in Bugorora, on Ukerewe island. The vessel was also carrying cargo, including bags of cement and maize, when it capsized around 50 metres from the shore.
It is thought that many of the passengers would not have been able to swim.
An official investigation will take place once rescue efforts to find survivors have ended. Tanzania's police chief Simon Sirro Mwanza, who has travelled to the area, confirmed the new death toll.
So far, 40 people have been rescued and are in critical condition, according to Mwanza Regional Commissioner John Mongella. Local officials initially reported on Thursday that 100 people had been rescued.
Exact figures, though, are yet to be confirmed - Reuters said the person who dispensed tickets for the journey also died, with the machine recording the data lost.
Tanzania has seen a number of nautical disasters, with overcrowding often playing a role.
| Shipwreck | September 2018 | ['(BBC)'] |
Pope Francis sends a video message to the Philippines to mark the 500–year anniversary of the first Mass on Philippine soil on Easter Sunday. | Pope Francis has sent a video message to the Philippines to mark the 500 year anniversary of the first Mass on Philippine soil on Easter Sunday.
“Give thanks for the gift of faith. Thank God for the people who have given you faith and for the people to whom you will transmit the faith, renewing the desire to evangelize, to reach others and bring them the hope and joy of the Gospel,” the pope said in the video sent on April 4.
Fr. Pedro de Valderrama offered the first Catholic Mass in the Philippines on Easter Sunday in 1521 on the island of Limasawa.
The Spanish priest had been a part of Ferdinand Magellan’s expedition which first made contact with the Filipino natives on March 28, 1521. Fr. Valderrama also celebrated the first baptism in the Philippines on the island of Cebu on April 14 of the same year.
Today, the Philippines has the third largest number of Catholics in the world. An estimated 86% of the 108 million population of the Philippines is Catholic.
Pope Francis said in his video message that he has fond memories of his visit to the Philippines in January 2015. The final Mass during the pope’s apostolic trip had the largest crowd for a papal visit in history.
“Dear friends, I remember my visit to your country with great affection. I have not forgotten that final meeting with nearly seven million people. You are generous. You are abundant. You know how to celebrate the faith,” he said.
“The pilgrim people of God in the Philippines” also know what it means to accompany Jesus along the way of the cross, the pope said.
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He pointed to the many challenges that people in the Philippines have faced in recent years with earthquakes, typhoons, volcanic eruptions, and the Covid-19 pandemic.
“But, despite the pain and devastation, you were able to carry the cross and continue walking. You have suffered a lot, but you have also got up again, every time. Keep working, rebuilding, helping each other like good Cyrenians. Thank you also for the witness of strength and trust in God, who never abandons you,” Francis said.
“Do not be afraid, in this mission you are not alone. Two great saints of your lands accompany you: Saint Peter Calungsod and Saint Lorenzo Ruiz. Two holy catechists, who knew how to give freely what they had received freely: life and faith in Jesus,” he said.
Pope Francis offered Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica on March 14 to mark 500 years of the Catholic faith in the Philippines. Filipino Catholics living in Rome attended the Mass at the Vatican, which was also live-streamed for people to watch around the world.
The papal Mass began with a procession of eight representatives of the Filipino community dancing and carrying the cross of Magellan and the Holy Child of Cebu.
In his video message, the pope recalled that the Holy Child of Cebu is a symbol of the arrival of Christianity in the Philippines and a reminder of “the hidden life of the Holy Family in Nazareth.”
“Mary and Joseph raised the Child Jesus with love. You too, opening the doors of your families to the Holy Child, will be able to transmit to their children the faith they have received from their parents. Thank you for that deep sense of family, community, fraternity, and unity that keeps them firm in faith, joyful in hope, and solicitous in charity,” he said.
| Famous Person - Give a speech | April 2021 | ['(Catholic News Agency)'] |
The corpse of 31–year–old former Great Britain rugby league hooker Terry Newton is located hanging dead at a house in England. | The former Great Britain hooker, Terry Newton, has been found dead at his home at the age of 31.
Mr Newton, who was found hanged at his house in Orrell yesterday morning, was serving a two-year ban from the game after becoming the first professional sportsman in the world to test positive for human growth hormone.
He began his career at Leeds, before a transfer to his home-town club, Wigan. He later moved to Bradford, but was released at the end of his contract in 2009.
He then joined Wakefield, but had played only two games for them when it was revealed that he had failed a blood-test the previous November. Mr Newton admitted to taking the drug and described himself as a "cheat", but insisted that others were doing the same thing and getting away with it.
He took over a pub in Wigan and, while admitting that his Super League days were over, hoped to play at a lower level when he had served his suspension. He expressed a willingness to co-operate with the drugs authorities in the hope that he might be allowed to return to the game before his two-year ban expired.
Mr Newton, who leaves a wife and two children, played 15 times for Great Britain.
The RFL's chairman, Richard Lewis, said: "We are deeply shocked and saddened by the news of Terry's untimely death. This is a personal tragedy and our thoughts are with Terry's partner, his children and his family at this terrible time."
A spokesman for Greater Manchester Police said: "Police were called to a house in Orrell, Wigan, following a report of concern for welfare. Officers went to the address and found the body of a 31-year-old man.
"Inquiries have been launched, but there are not believed to be any suspicious circumstances surrounding his death."
Mr Newton won a Challenge Cup winners' medal with Leeds in 1999, before his dream move to Wigan Warriors, where he produced his best rugby. He was named in the 2003 Super League Dream Team with the Lancashire club. Gary Hetherington, Leeds chief executive, and a former president of the Rugby Football League, said last night: "It's a sad loss. Gary was a very talented player but was clearly a troubled man."
Mr Newton made a reluctant move to Bradford in 2006 and joined Wakefield 12 months ago after being offered a two-year contract.
Bradford chairman, Peter Hood, said: "We are all deeply saddened and shocked by this tragic news.
"Terry was the ultimate professional during his time at the club and it was a privilege to have known him as a friend and colleague.
"We send our deepest sympathy to Stacey and his two children at what is a very, very sad time for everyone who knew him."
Mr Newton had hoped to resurrect his career under Wildcats coach John Kear and, in his autobiography Coming Clean, he said he turned to human growth hormone in a bid to refresh his ageing body.
Further tributes were pouring in last night on Facebook pages dedicated to the player.
Commenting as Amy Thornhill, one fan wrote: "RIP to a true great in rugby league, you will be sadly missed."
| Famous Person - Death | September 2010 | ['(The Guardian)', '(BBC News)', '(The Independent)', '(The Daily Telegraph)'] |
In association football, 2014–15 domestic competitions for England and Scotland start today. | Last updated on 8 August 20148 August 2014.From the section Football
The domestic football season begins in England and Scotland this weekend, with Blackburn and Cardiff kicking off the 2014-15 campaign with a 1-1 draw.
The match was the first of 1,671 to be played across the Football League's three 24-team divisions, culminating with the play-offs in May. In total 15.7 million people attended Football League games last season. The Scottish leagues start on Saturday but champions Celtic do not play until Wednesday, when they face St Johnstone.
The Championship was the fourth-highest attended league in Europe during the 2013-14 campaign.
The three clubs relegated from the Premier League - Cardiff City, Fulham and Norwich - are among the favourites to be promoted from that division to the top flight.
Blackpool, who had eight players and no goalkeeper as recently as July, take on Nottingham Forest in Reds boss Stuart Pearce's first match in charge, one of 10 games being played at 15:00 BST on Saturday.
Elsewhere, Dave Hockaday starts his reign as Leeds head coach with a trip to Millwall, while promoted Wolves face Norwich in Sunday's only Championship match.
In League One, last season's League Two champions Chesterfield travel to play-off finalists Leyton Orient on Saturday, and in League Two relegated Carlisle take on Conference Premier champions Luton. The BBC Sport website will have live text commentaries covering all the action on Saturday and Sunday, while you can also follow the games across BBC local radio, BBC Radio 5 live and BBC television, with the Football League Show returning on Saturday.
In the Championship, Fulham were Europa League finalists as recently as 2010 and, along with fellow relegated sides Cardiff and Norwich, will be aiming to bounce back to the Premier League at the first attempt. Losing play-off finalists Derby are many bookmakers' favourites for the title, while Wolves will aim to recapture their League One title-winning form of last season.
In League One, last year's FA cup semi-finalists Sheffield United, under the leadership of Nigel Clough, are considered favourites and Steve Cotterill's Bristol City are expected to improve after finishing 12th last season.
The three losing play-off teams, Peterborough, Preston and Leyton Orient, are all likely to challenge again this time around.
In League Two, Portsmouth - who were playing Premier League football in 2010 - and Bury are expected to improve on last year's mid-table finishes.
Conference Premier champions Luton will be hoping to challenge for back-to-back promotions, while relegated Shrewsbury and play-off finalists Burton are also seen as contenders. The 2014-15 season sees eight new managers take the helm in the Football League while, of the 72 in charge before the first game of the 2013-14 season, 42 remain for the start of this campaign. The new men include former England Under-21 boss Pearce, who begins his reign at Nottingham Forest, where he spent 12 years as a player, after being appointed in April.
Hockaday was a surprise appointment as head coach of Leeds after previously being in charge of Conference side Forest Green Rovers. And former Liverpool defender Sami Hyypia is the new manager of Brighton after being sacked by Bundesliga side Bayer Leverkusen in April.
The summer transfer window has been busy in the Football League, with millions spent on strengthening squads across the three divisions.
Ross McCormack's switch from Leeds to Fulham for a reported £11m has been the most expensive Football League move of the summer so far, while Nottingham Forest this week broke their transfer record to sign Peterborough's Britt Assombalonga for £5.5m.
League One team Crawley Town have been the busiest club in the transfer market so far with 17 new signings, one more than League Two's Shrewsbury Town. Players such as Ryan Lowe of Bury, Matej Vydra of Watford and Andy Drury of Luton have all returned for a second spell at their respective clubs having been successful first time around.
The 2013-14 season saw Derby, Wolves and Chesterfield as the top-scoring teams in the Championship, League One and League Two respectively.
McCormack topped the Football League's goal charts last season with 28, and was one of 13 players - including Watford's Troy Deeney, with 24 Championship goals, and Kieran Agard, of Rotherham, who hit 21 in League One - to break the 20-goal mark across the three divisions.
The joint top scorers in last season's Conference - FC Halifax's Lee Gregory and Luton's Andre Gray - have been signed by Millwall and Brentford respectively.
League Two's 23-goal top scorer from last season, Scunthorpe's Sam Winnall, will be playing in League One this season with relegated Barnsley. Compiled by BBC Kick-Off reporter Joshua Hall. | Sports Competition | August 2014 | ['(BBC)'] |
In Nuevo Laredo, Mexico, Horacio Garza, a federal congressman for the PRI, is seriously wounded by gunmen, and his driver killed. | Horacio Garza, from the opposition Institutional Revolutionary Party, was hit in the neck, leg and arm. Nuevo Laredo, on the US border, is one of Mexico's most lawless cities. At the weekend, the Mexican government announced it was sending thousands of extra troops to the region to step up the fight against organised crime.
Mr Garza, a federal congressman, was on the road to Nuevo Laredo's airport when gunmen surrounded his vehicle and opened fire, Mexican media reported.
He is said to be in a stable condition at a local hospital, where he is being treated for several bullet wounds.
The shooting comes just days after President Felipe Calderon's government announced that it was stepping up security in the state of Tamaulipas, where Nuevo Laredo is located, and Nuevo Leon state. The deployment is the latest by President Calderon who, since taking office last December, has sent more than 20,000 troops and federal police around the country to tackle the drugs gangs.
On Monday, Mr Calderon announced that he was giving soldiers a wage rise of some 45%.
"[Mexico] needs soldiers today, to guarantee the interior and exterior security of the nation," Mr Calderon said.
Last year, more than 2,000 people died in cartel-related violence - some of the victims were tortured or beheaded. 17,029 pages were read in the last minute. | Famous Person - Sick | February 2007 | ['(BBC)'] |
At least 88 children are killed and several others injured when a kitchen fire engulfs a thatched–roof school in the Kumbakonam district of Tamil Nadu, India. Five are arrested so far. | The school head teacher was arrested after the tragedy, which correspondents said again raised questions of school safety in India.
Small, charred corpses were piled on each other in a school room. "You will lose your mind if you see the bodies," said a local woman.
There were reported to be 200 children in the primary section of the Lord Krishna school in Kumbakonam, 300km (185 miles) south-west of state capital Madras, when the blaze broke out.
Stampede
Some reports said the fire started in a kitchen at about 1100 local time (0530 GMT) and quickly spread to the thatched roof of the school's classrooms.
The roof collapsed onto children who were struggling to escape the school's narrow corridors.
Reports said some children died in the stampede.
Many of the bodies are burned beyond recognition
Dr P Kumar
Chaos and grief
Have Your Say
Most of the victims were said to be girls, although some bodies were unidentifiable. There were some reports that some teachers may have been among the dead.
District administrator J Radhakrishnan said the fire was put out within two hours.
The scene was one of devastation.
The everyday items of school life were strewn around in the panic, with rubber shoes lying among lunch boxes, schoolbags and toppled chairs.
Kumbakonam's state-run hospital was overwhelmed.
"There is absolute chaos in the hospital. Parents are rushing in, trying to locate their children," Dr P Kumar told BBC News Online from the casualty ward.
"Many of them are breaking down and wailing especially as many of the bodies are burned beyond recognition."
Others collapsed as they heard the names of the dead read out over the hospital microphone.
Officials were reported to be discussing sending some survivors to Madras for treatment, as the local facilities could not cope with so many burns victims.
In the hours after the tragedy, police arrested the head of the school, Pulavar Palanichamy.
As the cause of the fire was being investigated, correspondents recalled the desperately poor state of some Indian schools.
Many are said to lack even basic firefighting equipment.
Desperate efforts
As the blaze took hold, some rescuers tried frantically to reach the top floor. Others used hoses to tackle the flames but their efforts were hampered as the water supply ran dry.
A senior fire department official told the AP news agency that local people "saved at least 80 children from the third floor before the roof came down".
Some of the rescuers tried to smash holes in the school's walls to get to the children. | Fire | July 2004 | ['(BBC)', '(Rediff News)', '(Times of India)', '(CNN)'] |
Yellow fever kills 32 people and sickens at least 50 more in the Darfur region of Sudan. | Khartoum Sudan's Federal Health Ministry described the unknown fever which is spreading rapidly across Central Darfur as a hemorrhagic fever caused by the yellow fever virus, Radio Dabanga learned on Wednesday October 31.
Dr. Ahmed Hamid, spokesman on behalf of the Federal Health Minister's office, announced in an interview with Radio Dabanga that the number of confirmed cases has reached 84. Of those cases, 29 were found in Zalingei, 13 in Wadi Saleh, 25 in Nertety, nine in Kass and one case in Nyala and one in Mershing and Wadi Azoom.
...
| Disease Outbreaks | November 2012 | ['(All Africa)', '[permanent dead link]', '(AFP)'] |
Officials say at least 86 people have died in recent days due to consuming toxic illegally-made alcohol in Punjab, India. Police are carrying out raids in the state, confiscating supplies of the suspected alcohol and have made 25 arrests. | At least 86 people have died in recent days as a result of drinking illegally-made alcohol, officials in the northern Indian state of Punjab say. On Saturday, police carried out more than 100 raids, confiscating supplies of the suspected liquor and making 25 arrests. The number of dead has steadily risen in the last few days. Hundreds of people die in India each year after drinking bootleg alcohol from backstreet distilleries.
On Friday, Punjab's Chief Minister Amarinder Singh ordered an inquiry into the deaths. Reports suggest the illegal liquor may have been produced in bulk, sold to roadside cafe owners and then distributed to local communities. The case follows reports on Friday of the deaths of 10 people - said to have alcohol addictions - who drank hand sanitiser in the southern state of Andhra Pradesh.
Deaths from illegally produced alcohol, which is much cheaper than branded spirits, are common in parts of rural India. Bootleggers often add methanol - a highly toxic form of alcohol sometimes used as an anti-freeze - to their mixture to increase its strength.
If ingested in even small quantities, methanol can cause blindness, liver damage and death.
| Mass Poisoning | August 2020 | ['(BBC)'] |
Russian warships in the Mediterranean Sea fire cruise missiles at sites near Aleppo. The Russian Defense Ministry claims the strikes targeted the Islamist militant group Jabhat Fateh al-Sham. | Russian warships the Serpukhov and the Zeleny Dol of the Black Sea Fleet launched "Caliber" cruise missiles from the Mediterranean Sea to strike terrorist targets in Syria. Earlier, it was reported that Russia had requested the overflight of cruise missiles above the territories of Iraq and Iran.
The small missile ships launched the missiles to destroy targets of Jabhat en-Nusra terrorist organization (banned in Russia), TASS reports.
As a result of the attack, a command post and a terrorist base in the area of Dar Taaza were destroyed. The missile attack also destroyed a plant for the production of mortar ammunition and a large warehouse of weapons in Aleppo.
According to the Russian Ministry for Defense, the missile flight corridor had been planned over unpopulated areas.
In October of 2015, warships of the Russian Navy attacked targets in Syria from the Caspian Sea, when 26 cruise missiles were launched in total. In November 2015, the Caspian flotilla ships struck another blow on terrorist targets in Syria, when 18 cruise missiles were launched to strike targets in the provinces of Raqqa, Idlib, Aleppo and Deir ez-Zor.
Three Russian soldiers have been reportedly injured in the Al-Darbasia region of the Syrian province of Hasakah, Kurdish news service ANHA said on Twitter.
Jen Psaki may have errors in her statements not because of her level of education or bad memory.
| Armed Conflict | August 2016 | ['(Pravda)', '(Reuters)'] |
A cargo plane crashes near Khartoum, Sudan, killing seven people. | Six Ukrainians and one Sudanese died in the crash in the desert at about 0800 local time (0600 GMT).
The cause of the accident, which happened as the cargo plane was coming in to land, is still unclear. It was reportedly carry aid to Darfur.
As the plane was losing altitude, the pilot steered it away from nearby houses, an aviation official said.
"This was a courageous move," Abou Bakr Jaafar, told the AP news agency. The plane was travelling from Sharjah in the United Arab Emirates. AP reports that more than two hours after the crash, an aircraft engine was smouldering and the site was littered with the plane's cargo - cardboard boxes, clothes, blankets and radio cassettes. | Air crash | February 2005 | ['(Reuters)', '(IOL)', '(BBC)'] |
George Zimmerman is involved in a shooting incident in Lake Mary, Florida, and suffers a minor gunshot wound. | George Zimmerman suffered minor injuries in a shooting incident in Lake Mary on Monday afternoon, according to Lake Mary police.
Update: Will charges be filed in Zimmerman shooting?
The shooting involving Zimmerman and a man identified as Matthew Apperson, of Seminole County, occurred on Lake Mary Boulevard about 12:45 p.m., police said.
Raw video: Matthew Apperson blows cigarette smoke in camera
Zimmerman flagged down an officer shortly after the incident, police said.
“At this time, the investigation has proven that George Zimmerman was not the shooter,” Lake Mary Police Department spokeswoman Bianca Gillette said.
Zimmerman was hit in the face with glass and debris and has since been released from Central Florida Regional Hospital, according to police.
Raw video: Bullet hole in window of Zimmerman's vehicle
“He walked normally into the ambulance, so he wasn’t being helped or nothing,” said witness Ricardo Berrare. "They actually backed up the ambulance next to his driver side so he could walk into the door."
Chopper 2 video showed a bullet hole in the passenger window of the vehicle Zimmerman was in.
Witness video: George Zimmerman gets into ambulance
"The officer was talking to him through the back window because the other one had a hole in it. It was all shattered," Berrare said.
Also see: Many looks of George Zimmerman
Kenneth Cornell, who works at the nearby Cyrus Diagnostic Imaging, said Apperson ran up to him about 1 p.m. saying he had just shot George Zimmerman.
Cornell said he called 911 and handed the phone over to Apperson.
“He said it was a road rage incident, that they were driving down the street and George pulled a gun on him,” Cornell said.
Witness: Man said 'I just shot George Zimmerman'
Lake Mary police said Zimmerman and Apperson have an ongoing dispute and were involved in an altercation in September, when Apperson accused Zimmerman of trying to kill him while on the road.
"Law enforcement will do their job. They'll decide what charges to file. I'm confident George will not be charged. It doesn't surprise me this fellow would say (that) George waived a gun or did something. He's in a lot of trouble. That's a very serious crime,” said Don West, Zimmerman’s attorney. "You know, the circumstances would suggest that if he didn't want to kill him, he certainly didn't care if he did."
West said Zimmerman had recently moved out of Florida was in town for Mother's Day. He was on his way to a doctor's appointment before the alleged shooting.
“George was driving down the road on Lake Mary Boulevard. This guy was sort of following him and flashing lights and such. (Zimmerman) decided to get away from him, decided to make a U-turn. And this guy made a U-turn right behind him and then pulled up alongside him and shot at him,” West said.
Apperson has not been arrested or charged with the shooting.
“I am extremely confident that this will show (Apperson) acted in self-defense” said Mark NeJame, Apperson's attorney.
Apperson's family also spoke out about the incident.
“I just trust that the justice system is going to work in this case. Matt is a good man and I’m sorry this is happening to him,” said Apperson’s mother, Janet White.
“I know that the truth will prevail,” said Apperson’s wife, Lisa Apperson.
Several of Apperson's neighbors said he is a good guy, but one woman, who asked not to be identified, called him unpredictable and strange.
Raw video: Matthew Apperson outside Lake Mary PD
"I don't know what the future holds for anybody. I just know over the last two months he's changed a lot. And even though I don't speak to them, I can tell in his actions," a neighbor said.
Police plan to release Apperson’s 911 call Tuesday, but they do not plan to release body camera footage from responding officers at this time, Gillette said.
No other injuries were reported.
In January, Zimmerman was accused of assault by his girlfriend, but no charges were filed after she recanted her allegation.
He was also arrested in November 2013 on domestic violence allegations after his girlfriend called police. His girlfriend later recanted her story, and charges were never filed.
Zimmerman was acquitted in the shooting death of Trayvon Martin in 2013.
See photos from Lake Mary shooting scene involving George Zimmerman
Hearst Television participates in various affiliate marketing programs, which means we may get paid commissions on purchases made through our links to retailer sites. | Armed Conflict | May 2015 | ['(WESH)'] |
Voters in Ethiopia go to the polls for a general election with the ruling Ethiopian Peoples' Revolutionary Democratic Front facing no viable opposition. | The international community must challenge Ethiopia’s oppressive regime by funding local human rights and democracy groups
Last modified on Thu 15 Oct 2020 14.33 BST
On Sunday, millions of Ethiopians will line up at polling stations to participate in Africa’s largest exercise of political theatre. A decade-long campaign by Ethiopia’s government to silence dissent forcibly has left the country without a viable political opposition, without independent media, and without public challenges to the ruling party’s ideology.
For most Ethiopians, these elections are a non-event.
The one potential dividend of these sham polls, however, is the international attention they will garner for the government’s growing political repression. The blatant disregard for internationally recognised standards for free and fair elections just might convince Ethiopia’s largest donors that it is time to rethink their relationship with an increasingly authoritarian government. As long as democratic governance and respect for human rights are pushed aside by donors in favour of economic development and security cooperation, Ethiopia’s long-term stability is at serious risk. Since 2005, the ruling Ethiopian Peoples’ Revolutionary Democratic Front’s (EPRDF) has cracked down on independent media and human rights groups.
In 2009, parliament passed the charities and societies proclamation, which placed restrictive regulations on non-government organisations, including limitations on foreign funding. Today,only a handful of these groups exist, and most are struggling to survive. The preferred government strategy for eliminating independent media is to file criminal charges against publishers, and to impose hefty fines and prison terms. When lawsuits do not succeed, the government simply arrests journalists, as occurred last year when bloggers and journalists affiliated with the Zone 9 blogging collective were apprehended. The group remains imprisoned and charged as terrorists. Post-election, the EPRDF, secure in its hold on power, might be willing to allow a small degree of dissent: Ethiopian officials are increasingly wary of reactions by the international community to the crackdown on critics and in 2013 published a national human rights action plan. The US, UK and European Union – Ethiopia’s largest donors – need to increase their support for democracy and human rights because much can be done right now. Despite years of political repression, a new generation of human rights defenders is slowly emerging. The Zone 9 bloggers represented this new generation, using new technologies to educate fellow Ethiopians on exercising and defending their rights. The human rights and democracy groups that remain are finding creative ways to conduct their work. This includes working with traditional development organisations, which the government generally tolerates, or focusing on seemingly apolitical issues, such as government accountability and corruption, that are important in strengthening Ethiopia’s democracy.
Donor countries fall short in their support for these groups. In the US, President Barack Obama’s latest budget request includes some $400m (£257m) in assistance to Ethiopia – but only $2m of it is for democracy and human rights programming. The UK is equally parsimonious in democracy support. One reason is that the EPRDF makes it difficult for domestic groups to accept outside aid. Donors could take concrete action right now. First, supporting off-shore programming allows activists to travel outside Ethiopia to get technical and strategic advice. Second, donors’ strategies for Ethiopia should include funds specifically dedicated to strengthening independent media outlets and journalists; the EU intends to take this step after the election. Also, donors can find ways around foreign funding restrictions by pushing for the creation of funding pools considered local under Ethiopian law. The EU did this in 2011, when it created the Civil Society Fund, providing assistance to local human rights and democracy groups. The US should use its economic and diplomatic leverage to do likewise, a move that would provide a much-needed lifeline for these groups.
Greater funding for human rights will be vital for Ethiopian activists, whose reach has been limited by the charities and societies proclamation. Before that came into being six years ago, the country’s leading human rights organisation, the Ethiopian Human Rights Council (EHRCO), operated with a budget of $400,000 and 60 employees.
Today, its budget is less than half that figure, and staffing is down 80%. The only thing keeping EHRCO alive is financial aid from the EU Civil Society Fund. Ethiopia receives nearly $4bn in official development assistance. This is more than any other country in Africa and makes up a significant portion of the government’s annual budget. If the US, UK, EU and Canada coordinated policies, Ethiopia would have to respond to their human rights and democracy concerns.
Ethiopia’s election should be a wake-up call for the international community. With each successive election that does not allow genuine choice, both apathy and resentment grow, and Ethiopia risks falling prey to the same instability that has plagued its neighbours. | Government Job change - Election | May 2015 | ['(The Guardian)'] |
Multiple suicide bombings, including one at a hospital, kill at least 33 and wound more than 50 people in Baqouba, Iraq. | A police spokesman in Iraq’s volatile Diyala province says three suicide bombings have killed at least 29 and wounded more than 40 people in the city of Baqouba.
Capt. Ghalib al-Karkhi says the bombings in the mixed Shiite-Sunni city, which is the province’s capital, targeted a local government housing office next to an Iraqi Army facility, the headquarters of the provincial council and the city’s emergency hospital.
The blasts came in quick succession on Wednesday morning as Iraq was on high alert ahead of elections this Sunday.
U.S. and Iraqi officials have warned repeatedly that insurgents were expected to launch attacks in an attempt to disrupt the crucial vote. | Armed Conflict | March 2010 | ['(CNN)', '(The Hindu)', '(Al Jazeera)'] |
The Russian–flagged fishing trawler Onega capsizes near the Novaya Zemlya archipelago in the Barents Sea. 17 fishermen are missing and presumed dead, while two have been rescued. Search and rescue operations in the area have been suspended due to strong winds and low temperatures. | Seventeen fishermen were missing and feared dead on Monday after a Russian trawler capsized during a storm and sank in the freezing waters of the Barents Sea.
Officials said that two people had been rescued by a passing vessel, but hopes were quickly fading that more survivors could be found during a snowstorm over the Arctic waters.
Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday expressed "deep condolences" to the families of the victims and offered "words of support" for the survivors.
"It is with sorrow that I learnt of the tragedy," Putin said in a statement released by the Kremlin.
Speaking at a government meeting earlier in the day, Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin tasked officials with providing relatives of the victims with necessary help.
"A tragedy struck today in the Barents Sea," Mishustin said. "People died," he added, without providing further details.
Officials said that a search-and-rescue operation was underway but that poor weather conditions had complicated the task.
"There is a heavy snowstorm, waves are up to four meters high and temperatures are at around 20-25 degrees Celsius below zero," Alexei Barinov, spokesman for the emergencies ministry in the northwestern region of Murmansk, told AFP.
"We are hoping for a New Year's miracle," he added.
However a source familiar with the details of the search efforts told AFP that there was little hope of finding survivors.
"A person cannot last for more than 15 minutes in these conditions," the source said.
The privately-owned boat sank near the Novaya Zemlya archipelago in the Barents Sea at around 6:20 a.m., said Ruslan Nazarov, head of the emergencies ministry's Murmansk branch.
Ten minutes later a passing vessel rescued two fishermen, Nazarov told reporters.
Officials believe the Russian-flagged vessel, which had been operating since 1979, capsized after ice buildup caused it to tilt over.
The disaster struck when the crew was hauling out a net with the catch, said the spokesman for the maritime and river transport agency Rosmorrechflot, Alexei Kravchenko.
"The vessel lost its balance and instantly capsized," he told AFP.
Three vessels and an Il-38 maritime patrol plane were dispatched to the scene, officials said.
Kravchenko said that not a single body had so far been found even though the two survivors had seen a crew member die in front of them.
Maritime accidents are fairly common in Russia.
In April 2015, a Russian trawler sank in the Okhotsk Sea off Kamchatka. Of the 132 people on board the Dalniy Vostok, just 63 were rescued.
In December 2011, a drilling rig capsized and sank off Sakhalin Island during a storm. More than 50 people were killed or went missing. | Shipwreck | December 2020 | ['(AFP via The Moscow Times)'] |
Iran's Revolutionary Guards test fire several short–range missiles – the Fateh–110 and Tondar–69. | The Iranian military staged missile exercises today in a move that is sure to further inflame an international row over the country's nuclear capability.
The tests involved short-range missiles fired during drills by the regime's Revolutionary Guards, according to Iranian state television.
David Miliband warned that the Middle Eastern regime must take "concrete steps" to allay fears that it is building a nuclear arsenal.
The Foreign Secretary insisted that the focus remained on a diplomatic solution after revelations that Iran is building another nuclear facility.
But he repeatedly declined invitations to describe military intervention as "inconceivable".
Iranian leader Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is under pressure after the existence of the covert site, buried in a mountainside near the holy city of Qom, was revealed.
Mark Fitzpatrick from the International Institute for Strategic Studies said Tehran could have nuclear weapons in as little as a year.
He said: "If they decided today to go for a nuclear weapon and they didn't care about anybody knowing about it, it's possible they could do it in a year. Probably longer, but if all the steps went like clockwork then maybe a year.
"It's likely that they have some secret facilities and how far along they are in those facilities is a guess.
"If they were to develop a nuclear weapon they would probably do it at a clandestine facility so that they wouldn't trigger the obvious trip wire."
Iranian officials will meet representatives of the E3+3 group of Britain, France, Germany, the US, Russia and China, in Geneva next Thursday.
Questioned about the likelihood of military force against Iran, Mr Miliband said: "No sane person looks at the military question of engagement with Iran with anything other than real concern.
"That's why we always say we are 100% committed to the diplomatic track."
But, questioned on BBC Radio 4's Today programme yesterday, Mr Miliband declined to describe military action as "inconceivable" - the word used by Jack Straw when he was foreign secretary.
"I always say to people look at what I do say, not at what I don't say and what I do say is that we are 100% focused on a diplomatic resolution of this question," Mr Miliband said.
"It's vital that we remain so, it's vital that in the very short term in a meeting next Thursday that the Iranians take practical and concrete steps to address the outstanding questions."
Mr Ahmadinejad said that the new facility would not be operational for 18 months so he had not violated any requirements.
He maintained that Iran opposes nuclear weapons as "inhumane".
| Military Exercise | September 2009 | ['(Press TV)', '(Chosun Ilbo)', '(The Independent)', '(Xinhua)'] |
Over 50,000 people protest in Okinawa capital Naha against U.S. military presence on the Japanese island, spurred on by last month's arrest of an U.S. Marine veteran, civilian contractor for the rape and killing of a 20-year-old local woman. | NAHA, Japan (Reuters) - Tens of thousands of people gathered in sweltering heat on Japan’s Okinawa island on Sunday in one of the biggest demonstrations in two decades against U.S. military bases, following the arrest of an American suspected of murdering a local woman.
The protest marked a new low for the United States and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in their relations with the island and threatens plans to move the U.S. Marines Futenma air station to a less populous part of the island.
Organizers said 65,000 people attended the rally at a park in central Naha.
“Japan is part of Japan and when you hurt your little finger the whole body feels pain. I want Abe to feel Okinawa’s pain,” said Shigenori Tsuhako, 70, who came to the event because his grand daughter is the same age as the 20-year-old murdered woman, Rina Shimabukuro.
The United States and Japan agreed in 1996 to close Futenma, located in a residential area, after the rape of a 12-year-old Japanese schoolgirl by three U.S. military personnel spurred mass demonstrations.
That plan has been on hold because residents near the proposed relocation site oppose the move, worrying about noise, pollution and crime.
Okinawa assembly members against the move won a majority in the prefectural assembly election this month, providing support for Okinawa Governor Takeshi Onaga’s plan to have the base move elsewhere.
Speaking to the crowd in Naha, he said he would fight to have those U.S. Marines moved off the island.
Okinawa hosts 50,000 U.S. nationals, including 30,000 military personnel and civilian contractors.
The site of some of the bloodiest fighting between the U.S. and Japan in World War Two, Okinawa remained under American occupation until 1972 and around a fifth of it is still under U.S. military control.
Lieutenant General Lawrence D. Nicholson, commander of the U.S. Marines there, told Reuters on Saturday that Washington may be able to return a 10,000 acre (40.5 square km) tract of jungle early next year, which would be the biggest hand back since 1972.
Yet, with the United States and Japan looking to contain China’s growing might in the East China Sea, the Okinawan island chain, stretching close to Taiwan, is becoming strategically more valuable to military planners.
Japan’s Self Defence Force, which is pivoting away from defending its northern borders, is fortifying the region with radar bases and anti-ship missile batteries.
Last month’s arrest of the U.S. civilian worker prompted the U.S. military to announce a 30-day period of mourning for the victim and restrict off-base drinking in a bid to assuage local anger.
But relations frayed further with the subsequent arrest of a U.S. sailor on Okinawa on suspicion of drunk driving following a car crash.
“All U.S. bases in Japan should close. I want Abe to listen to what the people in Okinawa are saying,” said Ryoko Shimabukuro, a 28-year-old government worker at the protest.
Additional reporting by Teppei Kasai; Editing by Linda Sieg and Kim Coghill
| Famous Person - Commit Crime - Accuse | June 2016 | ['(Reuters)', '(AP)', '(The Washington Post)'] |
More than half of Malta's traffic police officers, including its chief, are arrested for overtime fraud and misuse of public resources. | VALLETTA (Reuters) - Well over half of Malta’s traffic police force, including its chief, have been arrested for suspected overtime fraud, after an anonymous tip off from a whistleblower.
Officials said 37 of the country’s 50 traffic cops had been detained on suspicion they had filed for hundreds of hours of non-existent overtime over at least a three-year period.
The small Mediterranean island has been struggling with an image problem in recent years, following allegations of widespread corruption, cronyism and financial wrongdoing amongst the political and business elite.
The head of the traffic police force, Walter Spiteri, is suspected of himself claiming for motorcycle-related allowances even though he used a chauffeur-driven car.
“The superintendent in charge of the traffic section submitted his resignation yesterday, and it has been accepted,” the police said in a statement on Wednesday. Spiteri was not immediately available for comment.
Some of the traffic police also face accusations they misappropriated fuel and used it for their own private vehicles.
Motorists said there were noticeably fewer police directing traffic on Wednesday, even though former traffic police have been asked to return to their old duties, according to police sources.
Prime Minister Robert Abela said it was good that the police were investigating their own people.
“This confirms that we have a functioning police force. If these investigations lead to people being taken to court or to disciplinary action being taken, then that is what will happen,” he told reporters.
The opposition Nationalist Party said the police had been undermined by the same “culture of corruption and impunity” evident in many walks of life.
Abela was sworn in as prime minister last month after his predecessor resigned over his handling of investigations into the murder of anti-corruption journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia.
The traffic police investigation was opened following a whistleblower’s letter to the police commissioner detailing how officers were cashing in on duties they never performed. The Times of Malta broke news of the case on Tuesday.
Reporting by Chris Scicluna; Editing by Crispian Balmer, Angus MacSwan and Alexandra Hudson
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
| Famous Person - Commit Crime - Arrest | February 2020 | ['(Reuters)'] |
Israeli police fatally shoot a Palestinian driver who was attempting to run them down; the two policeman and three civilians are injured in the incident. | JERUSALEM Israeli border police officers fatally shot a Palestinian man in the contested East Jerusalem area on Friday after he hit them with his car, the Israeli police said, although the exact circumstances remained unclear. A police spokesman, Micky Rosenfeld, said that two border police officers were lightly injured after being hit by the car in the predominantly Palestinian neighborhood of Wadi Joz and that the police were studying whether the driver had hit them deliberately. The driver was shot after he fled the car on foot and ignored calls by the police to stop.
| Armed Conflict | June 2010 | ['(Jerusalem Post)', '(The New York Times)'] |
In American football, Hall of Fame member Jack Butler dies at the age of 85. | Jack Butler, who was ignored in the National Football League draft but became a Hall of Fame defensive back with the Pittsburgh Steelers and was chosen for the league’s all-decade team of the 1950s, died on Saturday in Pittsburgh. He was 85. The cause was complications of a staph infection that had lingered from the knee injury that ended his career in 1959, his son Mike said.
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This is an offer for a Basic Digital Access Subscription. The Basic Digital Access Subscription does not include e-reader editions (Kindle, Nook, etc.), NYT Games (the Crossword) or NYT Cooking. Mobile apps are not supported on all devices. These offers are not available for current subscribers. Other restrictions and taxes may apply. Offers and pricing are subject to change without notice. | Famous Person - Death | May 2013 | ['(The New York Times)'] |
Dutch MP Geert Wilders is put on trial in Amsterdam on charges of inciting hatred against Muslims in his 17–minute film Fitna. Anti–Wilders protests occur outside court. | The Dutch anti-Islam MP Geert Wilders has gone on trial in Amsterdam accused of inciting hatred against Muslims. Mr Wilders, whose statements have included comparing the Koran with Hitler's Mein Kampf, told the court freedom of expression was on trial.
If found guilty, he faces a maximum sentence of a year in jail.
Mr Wilders' Freedom Party is the third biggest in the Netherlands after June's elections, and is expected to play a key role in the next parliament.
Prosecutors have brought five charges of inciting hatred and discrimination, and the trial will scrutinise statements he made between 2006 and 2008.
In one such statement, in an opinion piece for the De Volkskrant newspaper, he wrote: "I've had enough of Islam in the Netherlands; let not one more Muslim immigrate.
"I've had enough of the Koran in the Netherlands: Forbid that fascist book."
In 2008, he released a short film called Fitna which infuriated Muslims by juxtaposing images of suicide bombings with verses from the Koran.
Mr Wilders, in a bright blue tie and with his trademark shock of blond hair, waved to supporters as he entered the court complex in Amsterdam. A small group of protesters had gathered outside court and riot police were on duty nearby.
In an opening statement, he told the court that he was being persecuted for "stating my opinion in the context of public debate", adding: "I can assure you, I will continue proclaiming it."
His lawyer, Bram Moszkowicz, then told the presiding judge that Mr Wilders would thereafter exercise his right to silence and not answer questions during the trial.
When presiding judge Jan Moors said it appeared Mr Wilders was "avoiding discussion" Mr Moszkowicz accused him of bias and moved to have him substituted.
The trial was adjourned and a separate hearing arranged to decide whether Judge Moors could continue on the trial. The panel is expected to decide on the issue on Tuesday.
Earlier, Mr Wilders gave his views via his Twitter account, calling it a "terrible day".
"The freedom of expression of at least 1.5 million people is standing trial together with me," he wrote, in what seemed to be a reference to the number of voters who backed the Freedom Party in June.
The coalition deal that emerged last week joins two centre-right parties in a minority government, which will seek the backing of parliament this week.
But, holding only 52 of the 150 seats in parliament, they will depend on the support of 24 Freedom Party MPs to pass legislation.
In return for that support, he has already extracted policy concessions. The new government has said it will try to ban the Islamic face veil, and curb immigration.
It is not clear whether a conviction for Mr Wilders would affect the government's willingness to deal with him.
Mr Wilders has infuriated opponents not just with his opinions, but with language they see as inflammatory, such as stating that Muslim headscarves, which he referred to as "head rags", ought to be taxed for "polluting" the Dutch landscape.
Mr Wilders was briefly refused entry to Britain last year, after being invited to show his film in the House of Lords. Having received numerous death threats, he is usually surrounded by bodyguards.
A verdict in the trial is expected on 4 November. Profile: Geert Wilders
In quotes: Geert Wilders
Dutch coalition with Wilders near
Dutch veil ban in coalition deal
UN calls for end of arms sales to Myanmar
In a rare move, the UN condemns the overthrowing of Aung San Suu Kyi and calls for an arms embargo.
The ethnic armies training Myanmar's protesters. VideoThe ethnic armies training Myanmar's protesters
Tokyo Olympics: No fans is 'least risky' option
Asia's Covid stars struggle with exit strategies
Why residents of these paradise islands are furious
The Gurkha veterans fighting for Covid care. VideoThe Gurkha veterans fighting for Covid care
Troubled US teens left traumatised by tough love camps
Why doesn't North Korea have enough food?
Le Pen set for regional power with eye on presidency
How the Delta variant took hold in the UK. VideoHow the Delta variant took hold in the UK | Famous Person - Commit Crime - Investigate | October 2010 | ['(BBC)', '(Al Jazeera)', '(AFP via iAfrica)'] |
The 92–year–old and first freely–elected President of Tunisia, Beji Caid Essebsi, dies. Tunisian parliament President Mohamed Ennaceur takes the role of interim president. , | Tunisia's first freely elected President, Beji Caid Essebsi, has died aged 92, the country's presidency says.
He was the world's oldest sitting president. He was admitted to hospital on Wednesday but officials did not say why he was receiving treatment.
Essebsi won Tunisia's first free elections in 2014 following Arab uprisings across the region.
He was admitted to hospital last month after suffering what officials said was a severe health crisis.
They gave no further details at the time. But Prime Minister Youssef Chahed, who visited him in hospital, urged people to stop spreading "fake news" about his condition.
Seven days of national mourning have been declared following his death. The speaker of parliament, Mohamed Ennaceur, is to take over as interim president.
Earlier this year, MEssebsi announced that he would not stand in elections expected in November.
He told a meeting of his ruling Nidaa Tounes party that someone younger should take charge. He said it was time to "open the door to the youth".
The elections will now be held before the scheduled date on 17 November, according to the country's electoral commission.
Essebsi was a former lawyer who studied and trained in the French capital Paris. During his long political career he also served as interior minister and speaker of parliament.
He rose to prominence after former Tunisian President Zine el-Abedine Ben Ali was ousted in 2011 after 23 years in office.
As president, Essebsi largely maintained stability in Tunisia. But critics said his government was too authoritarian in its response to security challenges.
Tunisia has won praise as the only democracy to emerge from the revolutions of the so-called Arab spring.
But in recent years the country has suffered attacks by Islamists and economic problems, with unemployment a persistent issue.
The world's oldest sitting president
Tunisian president seriously ill in hospital
Tunisia leader, 92, won't seek re-election
Essebsi wins Tunisia president vote
| Famous Person - Death | July 2019 | ['(Associated Press)', '(BBC News)'] |
Japanese voters go to the polls for elections for half of the House of Councillors. The ruling coalition of the Liberal Democratic Party and New Komeito Party lost seats with the opposition Democratic Party of Japan becoming the largest party in the chamber. | TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan’s conservative ruling camp braced for an expected election defeat on Sunday that could put pressure on hawkish Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to resign and usher in a period of policy paralysis and political confusion.
Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe speaks to voters on the last day of a stumping tour before the Sunday's upper house election in Tokyo July 28, 2007. Japan's conservative ruling camp braced for an expected election defeat on Sunday that could put pressure on hawkish Abe to resign and usher in a period of policy paralysis and political confusion. REUTERS/Kiyoshi Ota
Polling stations across Japan opened at 7 am local time, on a cool morning after temperatures reached a record high in several places on Saturday. Temperatures were expected to rise again on Sunday, with a few showers later in the day.
The sweltering heat could hit voter participation as many Japanese are escaping the cities to spend the weekend at resorts in the mountains or by the sea.
The election for half the seats in parliament’s 242-member upper house comes just 10 months after Abe, 52, took over and pledged to bolster Japan’s global security profile, rewrite its pacifist U.S.-drafted constitution, and nurture economic growth.
“This is the first national election since Abe became premier, so in that sense, it will be a verdict on his administration,” said Jun Iio, a professor at the National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies.
The LDP and its junior partner, the Buddhist-backed New Komeito, need to win 64 seats to keep their majority in the upper house. The New Komeito is aiming for 13 seats.
The ruling camp will not be ousted from government if it loses in the upper house, since it has a huge majority in the more powerful lower chamber, which elects the premier.
But laws will be hard to enact, threatening policy deadlock.
Abe’s allies have said he need not step down even if the coalition loses and many analysts agree he might be able to hang on temporarily -- especially if the LDP wins at least 40 seats -- partly because of the lack of a convincing successor.
Still, pressure for him to resign is expected to grow if the coalition suffers a crushing defeat.
“Abe should quit if they lose, because it will be a vote of no-confidence,” said Hiro Takahashi, 48, who works at a financial institution and said he wanted the opposition to win.
Despite tough talk toward China before taking office, Abe won early praise for improving ties with Beijing and Seoul, chilled during the five-year reign of his predecessor, Junichiro Koizumi.
But doubts about his leadership abilities were fanned by a series of gaffes and scandals that led two cabinet members to resign and one to commit suicide, as well as revelations that the government had lost track of millions of premium payments.
Only two years ago, Koizumi led the LDP to a huge victory in a lower house election that the charismatic maverick made a referendum on his pet project of privatizing the postal system.
The soft-spoken Abe, analysts say, was always at risk of suffering by comparison with the sound-bite savvy Koizumi.
“Koizumi was dynamic and we got used to that image,” said 37-year-old printing company employee Kazutomo Nishiwaki, who added that he wanted to see the ruling camp lose.
Critics also say Abe, whose top priorities are revising the constitution and reforming education to nurture patriotism, was out of touch with voters’ worries about bread-and-butter issues such as the economy, pensions and health care.
“Basically, I’m an LDP supporter, but this time I think their policies are a bit off the mark,” said Manabu Matsuo, a 52-year-old employee of a precision instrument manufacturer.
“I voted ahead of time and this time, to send them a message, I didn’t vote for the LDP,” Matsuo added. He said he nonetheless didn’t want to see the party -- which has ruled for most of the past five decades -- lose its grip on government.
Hoping to woo those hit by Koizumi’s market-friendly reforms, opposition Democratic Party leader Ichiro Ozawa -- a pugnacious veteran who bolted the LDP 14 years ago -- has pledged to shrink income gaps and ensure the weak are not neglected.
Ozawa, 65, has said he will step down as party leader and not run for parliament again if the opposition fails to win this time.
Some analysts and politicians say a deadlock could spark an early election for the lower house, but with a massive majority in the chamber, the ruling camp would be wary of taking that risk. No general election need be held until 2009.
| Government Job change - Election | July 2007 | ['(Reuters)', '(Reuters via CNN)'] |
A landslide during floods at a tea plantation in Kerala, India, leaves at least 49 people dead. It is feared that many more people are buried under debris. | Authorities did not know about the landslide until the morning after as it destroyed telephone lines and an entry road in Kerala.
India reporter and producer
@nevilleskynews
Monday 10 August 2020 13:08, UK
Forty-nine people have died after a landslide at a tea plantation in India - with fears at least 20 more are buried under debris.
Incessant rain caused a hillock at the tea plantation in Idukki district in Kerala, southern India, to come crashing down on a row of workers' living quarters on Friday night.
At the time of the landslide, 78 people were living in about 30 rooms.
Most of the families were asleep when the landslide hit the plantation at Rajmala, in Munnar, overnight.
It was not until Saturday morning that authorities were made aware of the incident as communication lines were down due to heavy downpours, while a rescue operation was further delayed as the main bridge and road leading to the plantation had been swept away.
Sniffer dogs are being used to determine if there are any signs of life beneath the rubble as rescue efforts were hampered by further showers.
Heavy rainfall in Kerala has caused havoc across the state, with a red rain alert for Sunday and Monday issued by the Indian meteorological department.
It said the rain may reduce from Tuesday as rivers and streams in central parts of the state overflowed.
The local government has had to open the Pamba dam after water levels rose, threatening to damage the dam.
However, this has caused flooding of some low-lying regions, including people's homes in Kottayam and Alappuzha where thousands of people have been moved to relief camps set up by the government.
Kerala was already reeling from the Air India Express crash on Friday evening which killed 18 people, including the pilot and co-pilot.
Initial reports suggest severe weather conditions could have been one of the main causes for the aircraft to skid off the runway and fall 35 feet into a gorge, splitting the plane in two.
Investigators have retrieved the digital flight data recorder and the cockpit voice recorder.
In 2018, Kerala experienced one of its worst floods after a dam was opened when heavy rain lashed the state for days, devastating cities, towns and villages.
Reservoirs were overflowing, forcing the local government to release the waters over fears the dams might give way.
All districts in Kerala were affected, with 683 people dying, a million people evacuated and the damage estimated at almost £4.5 billion. | Floods | August 2020 | ['(Sky News)'] |
Islamic militants kill two Thai security guards in the south of the country. | YALA, Thailand - SUSPECTED Muslim separatists detonated a bomb that killed two security officers in Thailand's restive south and shot another in a separate attack, police said, in the latest escalation of violence in the region.
The killings follow a bloody raid on an army camp, a massive roadside bombing, the execution-style shooting of a Buddhist family and several drive-by attacks in the past two weeks, which analysts believe was a political statement by Malay Muslim rebels seeking autonomy from predominantly Buddhist Thailand.
The intensification of violence comes after the government hailed the success of security operations and public relations campaigns in reducing the number of attacks.
Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva has said the government was considering lifting the emergency decree in the region over time despite opposition from the army.
The latest victims were government paramilitary rangers who were patrolling in Yala province on Friday when a roadside bomb went off, police said. A drive-by shooting killed another paramilitary ranger in neighbouring Pattani province late on Thursday. Yala and Pattani are two of three Muslim-dominated provinces bordering Malaysia where more than 4,300 people, both Muslims and Buddhists, have been killed in a low-level insurgency since 2004. Analysts believe the unrest, for which no group has claimed responsibility, is an ethno-nationalist struggle by Malay Muslims who say their identity, language and culture is neither respected nor fully understood by the Thai state. -- REUTERS | Armed Conflict | February 2011 | ['(Straits Times)'] |
A shooting at the University of Alabama in Huntsville, United States, leaves at least three persons dead. | Three faculty members were killed and three other school employees were wounded Friday in a shooting at the University of Alabama in Huntsville, a school spokesman said.
A female shooting suspect was in custody and a second person was detained, "not arrested," spokesman Ray Garner told reporters.
Huntsville Police Chief Henry Reyes left open the possibility that more than one person had been detained. "We have a suspect and possible persons of interest," he said late Friday. "Until we go through everything, we're not going to say exactly how many or who we have."
He said police were questioning the suspect, whom he would not identify.
Of the wounded, two were faculty members and the third was a staff member, he said.
Garner said the incident occurred shortly before 4 p.m. in Shelby Hall. Police arrived at 4:01 p.m.; residence halls were locked down at 4:10 p.m.; the building was secured by 5:45 p.m., he said.
The suspect was taken into custody outside the building, said Reyes. No weapon has been recovered, he said.
The 6-year-old, $60 million facility houses the chemistry department and is named for U.S. Sen. Richard Shelby of Alabama and his wife, Annette Shelby.
Garner identified the dead as Gopi Podila, chairman of the biological sciences department; Maria Davis, associate professor of biology; and Adriel Johnson, associate professor of biology.
He identified the injured as Joseph Leahy, associate professor of biology, in critical condition; Luis Cruz-Vera, assistant professor of biology, in stable condition; and Stephanie Monticello, staff assistant, also in stable condition. The wounded were taken to Huntsville Hospital.
Classes and athletic events are to be canceled February 15-19, he said.
Asked why students had not been alerted for more than an hour after the shootings, Reyes said, "I can't comment on that part." | Armed Conflict | February 2010 | ['(CNN)'] |
Results show that four women win seats in the parliament and that most ministers of the current government keep their seats, including President Taneti Mamau. However, it is too early to say whether he would be his party's nomination for President again. | Over a dozen new MPs have been elected in Kiribati after the final round votes were tallied up and the battle for leadership and party support is now beginning.
The Kiribati Parliament
The second of two rounds of voting took place this week.
Four women have also made Kiribati history by winning seats, the highest number of women in parliament so far.
Most of the ministers in the current caretaker government have kept their seats, including President Taneti Maamau, however it was too early to say whether he would be his party's nomination for President again.
His TKP party led as far as numbers of seats, but cross-party alliances and new members meant there was no clear winner, with the May 22 parliamentary session expected to reveal more. | Government Job change - Election | April 2020 | ['(RNZ)'] |
City Football Group owner Khaldoon Al Mubarak, who is also chairman of Premier League club Manchester City F.C., the fifth most valuable association football club in the world, agrees to sell a $500 million stake to American private equity firm Silver Lake Partners, making CFG the most valuable association football group in the world. | LONDON/PARIS (Reuters) - Manchester City’s Abu Dhabi-controlled owner has agreed to sell a $500 million stake to U.S. private equity firm Silver Lake, making it the world’s most valuable soccer group with a $4.8 billion (£3.7 billion) price tag.
Tech-focused Silver Lake will buy just over 10% of City Football Group (CFG), which owns reigning English Premier League champions Manchester City and teams in the United States, Australia and China, the companies said on Wednesday.
The investment crowns a rags to riches story for Manchester City, which spent much of the 1990s in the doldrums but broke into the big league of world soccer with the help of Middle Eastern cash.
Europe’s top soccer clubs have drawn in big money from some of the world’s richest investors over the last decade, as the game attracts more fans in lucrative markets such as Asia, the United States and the Middle East.
Chinese investors paid $400 million for a 13% stake in CFG four years ago, valuing the group at $3 billion at that time.
Man City's big domestic rival Manchester United MANU.N are majority owned by the American Glazer family and are valued at $2.8 billion MANU.N.
Chelsea are owned by Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich, while America’s Fenway Sports Group controls current European champions Liverpool and French champions Paris Saint Germain are owned by Qatar Sports Investments.
“We and Silver Lake share the strong belief in the opportunities being presented by the convergence of entertainment, sports and technology and the resulting ability for CFG to generate long-term growth and new revenue streams globally,” CFG Chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak said.
CFG, which also owns or part owns New York City FC, Melbourne City FC, Yokohama F. Marinos in Japan, Club Atletico Torque in Uruguay, Girona FC in Spain and Sichuan Jiuniu FC in China, said none of its shareholders were selling stakes.
Abu Dhabi United Group, the investment vehicle owned by Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, will remain the majority CFG shareholder with a stake of around 77% after the deal.
It is relatively rare for private equity firms to buy into soccer because they want a relatively quick return and while clubs make their money from lucrative broadcasting rights, their fortunes still depend on their success on the field.
Silver Lake Managing Director Egon Durban, who will join CFG’s board, said the California-based firm’s investment would “help drive the next phase of CFG’s growth in the fast-growing premium sports and entertainment content market”.
Silver Lake owns stakes in entertainment and sport talent agencies group Endeavour and global sports agency IMG.
(Graphic: City Football Group ownership link: ).
Although City were champions of England in 1968, the club were heavily overshadowed by local rivals Manchester United and fell into the third tier of English football in 1998.
The team were a mid-table Premier League side when they were purchased by the Abu Dhabi Group in 2008.
Within four years, City won the Premier League, their first top-flight title in 44 years, and Spaniard Pep Guardiola, appointed manager in 2016, guided the club to a second straight title and a domestic treble of trophies last season.
But City have yet to achieve their goal of winning Europe’s most prestigious prize, the Champions League.
And an investigation by European football’s governing body UEFA into alleged breaches of Financial Fair Play rules could potentially see the team barred from the competition.
Aside from Man City, CFG’s most notable investment was to create New York City FC, a Major League Soccer franchise which plays at Yankee Stadium, home of the New York Yankees baseball team.
Man City, whose squad includes England’s Raheem Sterling, Belgium’s Kevin De Bruyne and Argentina’s Sergio Aguero, reported record 2018-19 revenue of 535.2 million pounds in a fifth consecutive year of profitability.
Reporting by Sudip Kar-Gupta, Paul Sandle, James Davey and Simon Evans; editing by Peter Rutherford/Jason Neely/Guy Faulconbridge/Alexander Smith
| Organization Merge | November 2019 | ['(CFG)', '(Reuters)', '(BBC)'] |
Craig Whyte, the Scottish businessman, completes his takeover of Glasgow Rangers, succeeding Sir David Murray, who was owner of the club for 23 years. |
Craig Whyte has completed his takeover of Rangers for £1 but amid continuing concerns by board members about his ability to invest sufficient funds.
The venture capitalist acquired Sir David Murray's 85.3% shareholding in the Scottish champions, replacing the 59-year-old as majority shareholder.
Approval by the Takeover Panel ended negotiations that began in November.
As Rangers issued a statement voicing their own doubts, Whyte expressed delight at a deal valued at £52.5m.
"As a keen Rangers supporter, I now look forward to helping the club secure its future as a leading force in Scottish and European football," said the 40-year-old Motherwell-born businessman.
"I know the club has gone through some difficult spells in recent times, but it is my commitment to the manager, his backroom team, the players and, most importantly, the loyal supporters that I will do all I can to ensure further success in the weeks, months and years to come."
Whyte arrived in Edinburgh on Thursday morning hoping to conclude the purchase of the shares from Murray, who paid £6m to take over the Glasgow club in 1988.
Now ownership has been transferred to Whyte via Wavetower, a newly-incorporated company formed for the purpose of acquiring the club from Murray International Holdings and which is 100% owned by Liberty Capital - itself ultimately owned by the London-based businessman. MIH stresses that it was only willing to sell having gained assurances from Whyte about investment, including an immediate £5m injection for Ally McCoist, who will take over as manager and begin his team building in the summer, plus money to improve the state of Ibrox Stadium.
A further £20m had been promised over four years as well as a guarantee to settle the club's debt with Lloyds Banking Group in a deal Murray thinks is good for the club.
At the outset of talks, it appeared that the former chairman would recoup around £4.5m from the takeover.
However, when a £2.8m tax bill was made public in Rangers' half-yearly accounts, the deal was renegotiated and he agreed that it would come from his share.
Murray waived the remainder of the sum due, with Whyte agreeing to invest that sum into the club.
"The guiding principle from the outset has been to get the right deal for Rangers," said Whyte.
"I know the time this has taken has created a lot of frustration, but it was vital we secured a deal that meant we could maximise investment in the team and that is what has been achieved.
"I would like to personally thank Sir David Murray for the way in which he has conducted his side of this difficult and complex negotiation as well for the devoted service he has given to Rangers over many years. "His is a great legacy of which he can be proud."
In a statement to the Stock Exchange, Wavetower had pointed out that, by buying the controlling interest for £1, the Takeover Panel had given it dispensation from making a cash offer to all other shareholders of the club.
"Wavetower intends to post a circular to the club's shareholders by 16 May 2011 containing background information on Wavetower and other relevant information," it said.
However, the independent board committee - set up to examine the bid and consisting of chairman Alastair Johnston, chief executive Martin Bain, former chairman John McClelland, John Greig and Donald McIntyre - issued its own statement voicing concerns. In particular, they are yet to be convinced about Whyte's ability to meet any financial sanctions imposed by HM Revenue and Customs over an outstanding tax investigation.
"In agreeing that no offer should be made to all shareholders, the IBC has insisted that the acquirer issues a document to all shareholders setting out the full terms of the transaction, comprehensive details on the acquirer and the sources of its funding and giving firm commitments to agreed future investment in the club," said the committee.
"In recent weeks, the IBC has been engaged with the acquirer and has secured an enhanced financial commitment from Wavetower for future investment into the club.
"The decision on the sale and purchase of the majority shareholding in the club firmly and ultimately rests between Murray MHL Limited and Lloyds Banking Group.
"Although the IBC has no power to block the transaction, following its enquiries, the IBC and Wavetower have differing views on the future revenue generation and cash requirements of the club and the IBC is concerned about a lack of clarity on how future cash requirements would be met, particularly any liability arising from the outstanding HMRC case."
Johnston had confirmed earlier this week that he will stand down as chairman on 16 May, while Michael McGill and Donald Muir have resigned immediately from the board.
Whyte has announced his first appointment to the board as Phil Betts, a 48-year-old businessman with expertise in refinancing and restructuring companies. | Organization Merge | May 2011 | ['(BBC Sport)'] |
A 6.0 magnitude earthquake strikes Napa, California, in the northern San Francisco Bay area of the United States. It is the largest earthquake to strike Northern California in 25 years since the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake. | A shallow magnitude 6.0 earthquake was reported Sunday morning three miles from American Canyon, Calif., according to the U.S. Geological Survey. The temblor occurred at 3:20 a.m. Pacific time at a depth of 4.3 miles.
According to the USGS, the epicenter was six miles from Napa, eight miles from Sonoma and 51 miles from Sacramento.
In the last 10 days, there have been no earthquakes of magnitude 3.0 or greater centered nearby.
This information comes from the USGS Earthquake Notification Service and this post was created by an algorithm written by the author. | Earthquakes | August 2014 | ['(Los Angeles Times)', '(MSN)', '[permanent dead link]'] |
Harvey Weinstein is indicted for rape charges by a New York City grand jury. | A New York City grand jury indicted Harvey Weinstein on rape charges, the Manhattan District Attorney said on Wednesday. Weinstein turned himself in to New York police last week and was released on bail.
"This indictment brings the defendant another step closer to accountability for the crimes of violence with which he is now charged," Manhattan DA Cy Vance said in a statement. "Our office will try this case not in the press, but in the courtroom where it belongs. The defendant's recent assault on the integrity of the survivors and the legal process is predictable. We are confident that when the jury hears the evidence, it will reject these attacks out of hand."
Weinstein has been charged with rape in the first and third degrees, and criminal sexual act in the first degree. He has previously denied any nonconsensual sexual encounters.
The announcement came hours after Weinstein's lawyers said he'd decline to testify before the grand jury because there wasn't enough time to prepare him and "political pressure" made an indictment unavoidable.
A statement issued through a Weinstein spokesman said the 66-year-old film producer, who has denied the allegations, learned of the specific charges and the accusers' identities only after turning himself in Friday. With a deadline set for Wednesday afternoon to testify or not, his request for more time was denied, the statement said.
"Finally, Mr. Weinstein's attorneys noted that regardless of how compelling Mr. Weinstein's personal testimony might be, an indictment was inevitable due to the unfair political pressure being placed on Cy Vance to secure a conviction of Mr. Weinstein," the statement said, referring to Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus R. Vance Jr.
Weinstein's lawyer, Ben Brafman, issued a statement to CBS News saying the indictment is a "merely a formal accusation." Brafman said Weinstein will enter a plea of not guilty and will "vigorously defend against these unsupported allegations that he strongly denies."
Vance said in a statement that the Weinstein camp's "recent assault on the integrity of the survivors and the legal process is predictable."
"We are confident that when the jury hears the evidence, it will reject these attacks out of hand," Vance said.
Weinstein was charged Friday with rape and criminal sex act charges involving two women in New York, as a grand jury continued hearing evidence in the case; the panel has been at work for weeks. Defendants have the right to testify in a grand jury's secret proceedings but often don't, for various reasons.
Weinstein faces rape and criminal sex act charges involving two women in New York. Dozens more women have accused him of sexual misconduct ranging from harassment to assault in various locales.
He has denied all allegations of nonconsensual sex, and Brafman, said earlier Tuesday that Weinstein was "confident he's going to clear his name" in the New York prosecution.
Brafman called the rape allegation "absurd," saying that the accuser and Weinstein had a decade-long, consensual sexual relationship that continued after the alleged 2013 attack.
The woman, who hasn't been identified publicly, told investigators Weinstein confined her in a hotel room and raped her.
The other accuser in the case, former actress Lucia Evans, has gone public with her account of Weinstein forcing her to perform oral sex at his office in 2004. The Associated Press does not identify alleged victims of sexual assaults unless they come forward publicly.
Vance, a Democrat, came under public pressure from women's groups to prosecute Weinstein after declining to do so in 2015, when an Italian model went to police to say Weinstein had groped her during a meeting.
Police set up a sting in which the woman recorded herself confronting Weinstein and him apologizing for his conduct. But Vance decided there wasn't enough evidence to bring charges.
Gov. Andrew Cuomo, also a Democrat, ordered the state attorney general to investigate how Vance handled that matter.
Since last fall, more than 80 women have come forward to accuse the disgraced Hollywood mogul of sexual harassment, assault and rape. The allegations triggered the#MeToo movement, inspiring women around the world to publicly speak out about their mistreatment by powerful men.
One of Weinstein's accusers, Lucia Evans, said in a statement "what Mr. Weinstein's attorneys call casting couch behavior we know is actually a sex crime. A 'movement' doesn't indict. A grand jury does."
| Famous Person - Commit Crime - Accuse | May 2018 | ['(CBS)'] |
A 7.0 magnitude earthquake strikes Lombok, Indonesia. A tsunami warning is issued. At least 131 people are killed and more than 238 are injured. | About 20,000 people have lost their homes and many moved to unaffected areas of the Indonesian island of Lombok after a powerful 6.9 magnitude earthquake left nearly 100 people dead.
Boats were sent to evacuate about 2,000 tourists from the nearby Gili islands.
Witnesses spoke of chaos and terror during Sunday's quake, with thousands of buildings damaged, and power and communication lines cut.
Aid agencies said the priority was to provide shelter for residents.
Many are said to be too scared to return to their homes.
The agencies said the impact was far bigger than another quake that hit Lombok last week, killing 16 people.
President Joko Widodo urged the speedy evacuation of casualties, calling for more flights to be sent to the affected areas.
Sutopo Purwo Nugroho, a spokesman for the Indonesian Disaster Management Agency, said that the northern area of Lombok had suffered massive damage.
Three C-130 Hercules transporter aircraft and two helicopters have been deployed to deliver tents and medical aid, but the earthquake has brought down roads and bridges, making areas difficult to reach.
Electricity supply in the worst-affected areas has been cut off and telecommunication networks are not working.
The death toll stands at 98, all Indonesians, but Mr Sutopo said that number would "definitely increase". At least another 230 people have been injured.
He pointed to the situation at a collapsed mosque in the village of Lading-Lading in north Lombok, where a lack of heavy lifting equipment had made it difficult to locate victims.
One official said 80% of north Lombok had suffered damage.
The main city of Mataram was also badly affected, with medical staff struggling to cope with the injured at the damaged hospitals.
Situated off the north-west of Lombok and popular with backpackers and divers, they were badly hit, with a number of hotels damaged.
Video and still images showed hundreds of tourists flocking to the beach to be evacuated.
There have been reports of deaths on the islands but these have not been confirmed.
British tourist Mike Bennett told the BBC that thousands of tourists had been taken off by boat, but not everyone had been evacuated by the time night fell on Monday. "We're here with maybe about 100 people, it's getting dark now. There's no power, there's no water," he said. "We're just going to hold out and see what happens tomorrow."
"We cannot evacuate all of them all at once because we don't have enough capacity on the boats," Muhammad Faozal, of West Nusa Tenggara's tourism agency, told AFP.
"It's understandable they want to leave the Gilis, they are panicking."
The UK Foreign Office said it was working with Indonesian authorities to help British people affected, and that extra flights were being added for people who wished to leave Lombok.
Helen Milne told the BBC that her daughter, Laura, from Oxfordshire in the UK, was on the island of Gili Trawangan.
She said: "They are stuck on the island and are reporting rioting, fighting, and people can't get on boats. There's no water, no food, the shops have been ransacked. It's a rapidly deteriorating situation out there for them."
Another Briton on Gili Trawangan, James Kelsall, told the Press Association the subsequent tsunami warning was the most terrifying part.
"All the locals were frantically running and screaming, putting on life jackets. We followed them up to higher ground, which was a steep, uneven climb to the top of a hill in darkness."
The tsunami warning was lifted after a few hours.
Wisatawan asing dsn domestik menunggu evakuasi dari Gili Trawangan, Gilingan Air dan Gili Meno Lombok Utara. Terbatasnya kapal menyebabkan evakuasi bertahap. Tim SAR akan menambah kapal. pic.twitter.com/EZKqwLnQjQ
Margret Helgadottir, from Iceland, told Agence France-Presse people screamed as the roof of her hotel on Gili Air collapsed.
"We just froze, thankfully we were outside. Everything went black, it was terrible."
Phillipa Hodge told the BBC she was eating at the Katamaran Hotel Sengiggi just north of Mataram, with friends.
"The lights went out... that's when it became chaotic. People were falling over each other trying to get out, and glass was shattering. We felt debris fall on to us.
"I couldn't see my partner and I was shouting his name. Finally we found each other and he had blood all over his face and shirt."
Dini Widiastuti, executive director of Plan International Indonesia, told the BBC that the top priority was to provide shelter.
"Thousands of people, including children, are still just out in the fields, not properly protected. The impact is very widespread in Lombok and actually this is bigger than the first earthquake last week, so it is difficult."
Meili Narti, from Oxfam, said the government was trying to set up centres to which people could safely evacuate, but colleagues were saying some people did not have sufficient food, water or shelter.
At least one death has been reported unofficially but it has not been confirmed.
The airport has suffered some damage but is operating.
The quake was felt for several seconds. One worker in Denpasar described the scene to the BBC.
"They were initially just little shocks but then they started to get bigger and bigger and people started to shout 'earthquake', then all the staff panicked and rushed out of the building," he said.
Model and presenter Chrissy Teigen, who is on holiday in Bali, described 15 seconds of a tremor, followed by "so many aftershocks".
Gary Barlow, best known as lead singer of Take That, said he had been in seven quakes and this was the worst:
This morning I bumped into so many British families leaving Bali. How lucky we are to have that choice. I’ve had the misfortune of being in 7 earthquakes but none have felt more deep and raw as last nights. Followed by numerous after shocks. Praying for everyone affected
The earthquake was of magnitude 6.9, according to the US Geological Survey.
It struck at 19:46 local time (11:46 GMT) on Sunday at a fairly shallow depth of 31km (19 miles).
There have been more than 130 aftershocks since the quake hit.
Lombok is a roughly 4,500 sq km (1,700 sq miles) island east of the slightly larger island of Bali.
Indonesia is prone to earthquakes because it lies on the Ring of Fire - the line of frequent quakes and volcanic eruptions that circles virtually the entire Pacific rim.
More than half of the world's active volcanoes above sea level are part of the ring. | Earthquakes | August 2018 | ['(BBC)'] |
The Specialist Prosecutor's Office announces that it has submitted for court approval an indictment against President Hashim Thai and nine other former Kosovo Liberation Army fighters alleging that they committed war crimes and crimes against humanity during the Kosovo War. Following the announcement, President Thai cancels his upcoming trip to the United States. | Pristina: Kosovo President Hashim Thaci and nine other former separatist fighters have been indicted on a range of crimes against humanity and war crimes, including murder, by an international court investigating their actions against ethnic Serbs and others during and after Kosovo's 1998-99 independence war with Serbia.
Because of the indictment, Thaci has postponed his trip to the White House in Washington, where he was to meet for talks with Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic on Saturday.
Kosovo's President Hashim Thaci has been indicted on war crimes.
"The President of Kosovo has just informed us that he has cancelled his trip to Washington, DC, following the announcement made by the Special Prosecutors Office. I respect his decision not to attend the discussions until the legal issues of those allegations are settled," tweeted Richard Grenell, the US envoy for the Kosovo talks.
The talks will still go ahead, with Vucic and Kosovo Prime Minister Avdullah Hoti, he added.
A statement from a prosecutor of the Kosovo Specialist Chambers said Thaci and the nine others "are criminally responsible for nearly 100 murders" involving hundreds of Serb and Roma victims, as well as Kosovo Albanian political opponents. Other charges include enforced disappearance, persecution and torture, he said.
Thaci was a commander of the so-called Kosovo Liberation army, or KLA, that fought for independence from Serbia. The war left more than 10,000 dead most of them ethnic Albanians and 1641 are still unaccounted for. It ended after a 78-day NATO air campaign against Serbian troops.
The former ethnic Albanian-dominated province declared independence from Serbia in 2008, which Serbia did not recognise.
The indicted group includes Kadri Veseli, former parliament speaker and leader of the opposition Democratic Party of Kosovo.
"The court is trying to stain our liberating war, our aspiration for freedom and independence and legalise the [Serb] crimes in Kosovo,"said Bardhyl Mahmuti, a former KLA political representative, to the public television station, RTK.
The indictment was the first by the special tribunal for Kosovo based in The Hague. The court has been operating since 2015 and has questioned hundreds of witnesses. Kosovo's prime minister resigned last year before he was questioned.
The indictment is being reviewed by a pre-trial judge who will decide whether to confirm the charges, according to the statement.
The prosecutor filed the indictment following a lengthy investigation and it reflects his "determination that it can prove all of the charges beyond a reasonable doubt," the statement said.
The prosecutor also accused Thaci and Veseli of repeated efforts "to obstruct and undermine the work" of the tribunal.
"Thaci and Veseli are believed to have carried out a secret campaign to overturn the law creating the Court and otherwise obstruct the work of the Court in an attempt to ensure that they do not face justice," the statement said.
"By taking these actions, Mr Thaci and Mr Veseli have put their personal interests ahead of the victims of their crimes, the rule of law, and all people of Kosovo," it added.
Kosovo politicians resisted and resented the scrutiny of the war crimes court, repeatedly noting that Serb troops committed massacres and other atrocities during the war that went unpunished.
Tensions between the two countries remain high. European Union-facilitated negotiations to normalise their relations started in March 2011 and has produced some 30 agreements, most of which were not observed.
The Washington meeting was set to be the first talks between the two sides in 19 months. | Famous Person - Commit Crime - Accuse | June 2020 | ['(Sydney Morning Herald)'] |
Pakistan frees Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, a cofounder of the Taliban in Afghanistan. | Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, co-founder of the Afghan Taliban, has been freed from jail in Pakistan.
The Afghan government welcomed the move, as it sees him as one of the few senior Taliban figures willing to negotiate a peace deal to end unrest.
Mullah Baradar is one of the four men who founded the Taliban movement in Afghanistan in 1994.
He became a linchpin of the insurgency after the Taliban was toppled by the US-led invasion in 2001.
He was captured in the Pakistani city of Karachi in 2010.
Mullah Baradar held several senior positions in the Taliban government before its fall in 2001. He then fled to Pakistan and for some years was the Taliban's military commander as they regrouped to fight a guerrilla war.
He was reportedly arrested in a secret raid by CIA and Pakistani agents.
The BBC's Aleem Maqbool in Islamabad says releasing one of the founders of the Taliban and a mastermind of the Afghan insurgency would seem a counter-productive step for the Kabul government and the US-led coalition.
But Mullah Baradar has been seen as one of the few senior Taliban figures who has shown a willingness to negotiate, our correspondent says.
The government in Kabul has been pressing for him to be free.
Afghan diplomats had suggested Pakistan was trying to hinder the reconciliation process by backing more hardline elements within the Taliban. The Taliban opened a political office in Doha in June, but it was quickly closed after President Karzai complained that they had flown a flag and put up a plaque as if they were a government in exile. Since then the US, UK, and Turkey have all attempted to mediate to reopen talks. President Karzai has appealed to the Taliban leadership to return home and negotiate openly, but has not offered guarantees of security. Even if a political settlement is agreed, which will be hard, it may be difficult to deliver it, says the BBC's David Loyn.
The Taliban is no longer the monolithic structure it once was, and a new younger generation of insurgents - particularly those fighting in the allied Haqqani network - may not be willing to stop the war. Some members of the former leadership, such as Mullah Zaeef, who had been living openly in Kabul, have faced harassment and raids on their homes. There are also concerns among women's rights activists that the fragile gains made since 2001 could be jeopardised for a peace deal with the Taliban. A prominent MP, Shukria Barakzai, told the BBC that the government's priority is to do a deal, "whatever the price." She is among those fighting in parliament to defend laws that protect women from violence, and believes that the government does not see this as a priority. Mrs Barakzai said a deal with the Taliban would make victims of "the people of Afghanistan, and in particular the women of Afghanistan."
.
| Famous Person - Commit Crime - Release | September 2013 | ['(BBC)'] |
Mongolian president Tsakhiagiin Elbegdorj visits North Korea and becomes the first head of state to meet with Kim Jong–un since Kim's taking office as Supreme Leader. | The relationship between North Korea and Mongolia does not usually make headlines, but Mongolian President Tsakhia Elbegdorj’s visit to the reclusive state this visit this week has brought this oft-overlooked East Asian bilateral relationship to the forefront. The visit also marks the very first meeting between a foreign head of state and Kim Jong-Un since his rise to power in 2011.
Elbegdorj’s objectives during the visit are slightly unusual. The Wall Street Journal reports that the president "will present his country’s history as an example of how to achieve sovereignty and economic development without relying on the use of force.” According to the Mongolian Foreign Ministry, Elbegdorj has considered the possibility of acting as a neutral mediator between the North and the outside world. Nevertheless, his visit demonstrates a closeness to North Korea that could be an asset for Mongolia’s relations with other states.
According to certain experts, Mongolia presents a compelling economic model for North Korea. It thrust itself out of communism and integrated into the global economy via an economic boom propelled largely by mining its wealth of natural resources, including rare-earth metals. North Korea is similarly endowed and could emulate the Mongolian example. According to The Wall Street Journal, "Mongolia’s fledgling resource industry is by far its largest driver of growth, accounting for 85% of investments into Mongolia and 40% of state revenue. Foreign direct investment in this sector propelled Mongolia in 2011 to become the world’s fastest-growing economy, according to World Bank data.”
Although Mongolia has been fairly transparent in its reasons for engaging North Korea, there is considerable disagreement among experts on what the true long-term objective is for the opaque Kim regime. One expert, Andrei Lankov, has suggested that the economic model incentive is “completely unattractive” to the North given that in the Mongolian case it necessitated a democratic revolution and the end of the communist regime. Elbegdorj himself was a visible leader in the pro-democracy movement in the 1990s.
The agenda for this visit will include the issue of North Korean laborers in Mongolia. A previous bilateral agreement allows 5,000 North Korean workers to live and work in Mongolia on a temporary basis. On strategic issues, the two sides may come together to discuss what Charles Armstrong an expert of politics on the Korean peninsula, has termed "a common concern about domination by larger countries, namely Russia and China, and retaining political independence.”
Mongolia fell into the DPRK’s good graces early on when it became the second country to recognize its sovereignty, after only the Soviet Union. It offered the North material support in the form of livestock during the Korean War. Kim Il-Sung visited Mongolia in 1956 to express his appreciation for Mongolia’s wartime support. He visited again in 1988. The two states signed a friendship and cooperation treaty in 1986.
After the fall of the Soviet Union, Mongolia transitioned into a market economy while North Korea continued to persist as a reclusive communist state. Mongolia’s transition did not estrange it from the North, but the two encountered a decade of slightly strained relations. During Mongolia’s transition to a market economy, it swung strategically towards South Korea; in the 1990s, its trade with the South rose as its trade with the North dropped significantly.
In 2002, North Korean Foreign Minister Park Nam-Sun made the first high-level visit to Mongolia in 14 years. Kim Yong-Nam, Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme People’s Assembly in North Korea, made another visit in 2007. Kim was also the one to receive Mongolian President Elbegdorj upon his arrival to North Korea this week.
.
| Diplomatic Visit | October 2013 | ['(The Diplomat)'] |
Voters in Montana pick between Republican Greg Gianforte and Democrat Rob Quist in the special congressional election to replace Ryan Zinke, who is now President Trump's Secretary of the Interior. | Republican Greg Gianforte (right) welcomes Donald Trump Jr., the president's son, onto the stage at a rally in East Helena, Mont., on May 11. Gianforte, a businessman, is embracing his party's president in his race for the state's open congressional seat.
The Montana special congressional race was roiled on the eve of Thursday's vote after GOP nominee Greg Gianforte allegedly "body slammed" a reporter and was subsequently cited by local authorities.
The Gallatin County Sheriff's Office announced it was charging Gianforte with misdemeanor assault after "multiple interviews and an investigation." The candidate was given a citation, the office said, and would appear in county court sometime before June 7.
The chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee called the incident "out of character" for Gianforte. Steve Stivers' statement added, "We all make mistakes" and the election is "bigger than any one person."
House Speaker Paul Ryan said in his weekly news conference, "There's never a call for physical altercations. ... So that is wrong and it should not have happened."
He added that if Gianforte wins, "he has been chosen ... by the people of Montana who their congressman is going to be. I'm going to let the people of Montana decide who they want as their representative."
According to audio posted by Ben Jacobs, a political reporter with The Guardian, he was attempting to ask Gianforte a question, ahead of a campaign event in Bozeman, about the Congressional Budget Office's scoring of the Republican health care bill, which showed that 23 million more people would be uninsured in 2026 if the bill were enacted.
In the recording, Jacobs can be heard asking Gianforte about the CBO score. Gianforte says he doesn't have time and directs Jacobs to talk to his spokesman; then there is a scuffle and a crash.
"I'm sick and tired of you guys!" Gianforte can be heard yelling. "The last guy did the same damn thing. Get the hell out of here."
Gianforte's campaign spokesman said in a statement that Jacobs interrupted an interview "without permission, aggressively shoved a recorder in Greg's face, and began asking badgering questions." "After asking Jacobs to lower the recorder, Jacobs declined. Greg then attempted to grab the phone that was pushed in his face. Jacobs grabbed Greg's wrist, and spun away from Greg, pushing them both to the ground," Gianforte spokesman Shane Scanlon said. "It's unfortunate that this aggressive behavior from a liberal journalist created this scene at our campaign volunteer BBQ."
That account from the campaign, however, appears to be contradicted by three Fox News journalists who had been in the room setting up for an interview with Gianforte:
"At that point, Gianforte grabbed Jacobs by the neck with both hands and slammed him into the ground behind him. Faith, Keith and I watched in disbelief as Gianforte then began punching the man, as he moved on top the reporter and began yelling something to the effect of 'I'm sick and tired of this!'
"Jacobs scrambled to his knees and said something about his glasses being broken. He asked Faith, Keith and myself for our names. In shock, we did not answer. He then said he wanted the police called and went to leave. Gianforte looked at the three of us and repeatedly apologized. At that point, I told him and Scanlon, who was now present, that we needed a moment. The men then left.
"To be clear, at no point did any of us who witnessed this assault see Jacobs show any form of physical aggression toward Gianforte, who left the area after giving statements to local sheriff's deputies."
Democratic congressional candidate Rob Quist attends a gathering with supporters in Great Falls, Mont., on Monday. Quist is campaigning throughout Montana ahead of the special election to fill the state's single U.S. House seat.
Democratic congressional candidate Rob Quist attends a gathering with supporters in Great Falls, Mont., on Monday. Quist is campaigning throughout Montana ahead of the special election to fill the state's single U.S. House seat.
Jacobs tells Gianforte he broke his glasses and that he is going to report the incident to the police. He later called in to MSNBC and said that he was getting his elbow — which may have been injured during the altercation — X-rayed at a nearby hospital.
In his statement on Gianforte's misdemeanor assault citation, Gallatin County Sheriff Brian Gootkin, who has previously donated $250 to Gianforte's congressional campaign, said that his "contribution has nothing to do with our investigation which is now complete."
Shortly after the assault charges against Gianforte were announced, both the Billings Gazette and the Missoulian newspaper rescinded their endorsement of Gianforte Wednesday evening.
The incident comes less than 24 hours before voters in Montana were set to head to the polls in a race that is seen as a potential bellwether for the 2018 congressional midterm elections.
The race between Gianforte and Democratic nominee Rob Quist had already tightened in a state that President Trump won by 20 points last November. It is unclear what effect the altercation might have on the contest, but at least one-third of voters have likely already cast their ballots early. The contest is to replace former GOP Rep. Ryan Zinke, whom Trump named his interior secretary earlier this year.
Spending looks likely to reach $18 million in the fast moving, 85-day shootout, a record for the seat and double what was spent in the 2016 race. The candidates have each raised about $5 million, with more than $7 million being spent by outside groups.
Montana's contest pits a wealthy businessman — Gianforte, who narrowly lost the race for governor last year — against Quist, a locally famous singer-songwriter and political neophyte.
Democrats were already hopeful that negative headlines from Washington, D.C., would give the Stetson-wearing crooner Quist the momentum he needs to score an upset — and that was before the altercation between Gianforte and the reporter on Wednesday evening.
But Republicans have held Montana's House seat since 1996. The GOP is confident that Treasure State voters will stick with the party of Trump.
Quist was slow out of the gate, taking a month to get a campaign ad on TV, and he didn't get financial backing from the national Democratic Party until halfway into the 12-week race.
By contrast, Gianforte quickly won millions of dollars in support from the Republican Congressional Leadership Fund, the NRA and allied national groups. Gianforte had campaign ads on TV days before he even secured his party's nomination.
Gianforte has paired himself with aspects of the president's agenda in this race — promising "to fight back against Washington, D.C.'s war on the West" — after distancing himself from then-candidate Trump last fall. Gianforte was the only Republican statewide candidate in Montana to lose in November, receiving the fewest votes of any GOP candidate in what was otherwise a party sweep.
In that campaign, Democrats successfully painted Gianforte as a "New Jersey millionaire" trying to buy the governorship.
Gianforte moved to Montana 24 years ago from Pennsylvania, starting a software company that Oracle purchased in 2011 for $1.5 billion. Gianforte spent $6 million of his own money running for governor and has lent his House campaign $1.5 million this time around.
(His former employee Steve Daines, also a Republican, won Montana's U.S. House race in 2012 and was elected to the U.S. Senate in 2014.)
Quist has attempted to demonize Gianforte for his wealth and out-of-state origins. In early ads, Quist defended himself against NRA attacks by polishing a vintage Winchester rifle, which he says he has owned since "long before Greg Gianforte showed up from New Jersey."
Late in the race, Quist pivoted to emphasizing Gianforte's support for the House health care bill. On the day it passed, the Republican told reporters he would have voted against it. But on the same day, in a recorded phone call to party backers that was leaked to the New York Times, Gianforte said he was "thankful" that it passed.
Republicans attack Quist for a history of personal financial troubles. But the Democrat has attempted to turn that sow's ear into a silk purse by saying his money problems are related to a botched surgery that rendered him indebted and uninsurable. Quist's final TV ads say that he, like half of all Montanans, could lose health coverage because of pre-existing medical conditions if the Affordable Care Act is repealed.
There's no reliable public polling, but this week Gianforte is telling his backers, "this race is closer than it should be." Both his and Quist's volunteers have fanned out across the state in advance of an unusual election day that falls on the Thursday before the Memorial Day holiday weekend.
Montana's Democratic Gov. Steve Bullock picked the election date, the earliest allowed by law.
"The biggest hurdle for us has been trying to combat voter confusion," said Rebecca Connors, clerk of Missoula County, the state's second most populous, on Monday.
Just weeks before absentee voting began May 1, a bipartisan bill to conduct the election solely by mail-in ballot failed in the Republican-controlled state Legislature.
"I feel like a lot of voters never found any resolution of how that outcome came, so we're getting lots of calls," said Connors.
Connors also notes that many traditional polling places won't be open; they're either already booked for school graduations or too expensive to staff for county governments that struggled to meet 2016 election expenses.
Prior to Wednesday's altercation, University of Montana political science professor Rob Saldin said Quist's best shot hinges on a big Democratic turnout combined with low enthusiasm from Republican voters. But given the GOP's superior numbers in Montana, "Gianforte has a much bigger margin of error," Saldin said. | Government Job change - Election | May 2017 | ['(NPR)'] |
Dozens of prisoners escape/are wounded after an explosion occurs at a prison in Daleh. | ADEN, Yemen (Reuters) - A bomb exploded in a prison in the southern Yemeni province of Dalea on Thursday, injuring four inmates and allowing around 40 prisoners to escape, a government official said.
Witnesses and southern media said all those who fled the police jail belonged to Yemen’s southern secessionist movement, which opposes the rule of President Ali Abdullah Saleh.
Recent months have seen increasingly violent clashes between separatists and security forces, and analysts say impoverished Yemen could face a sustained insurgency from southerners unless the government seriously addresses their grievances.
North and South Yemen united in 1990, but many in the south -- home to most of Yemen’s oil industry -- complain northerners have seized resources and discriminate against them.
Elsewhere in Yemen’s south, an activist was shot dead and three others were injured when security forces dispersed a protest in the city of Radfan in Lahej province.
Western countries and neighbouring Saudi Arabia, the world’s biggest oil exporter, fear al Qaeda is exploiting instability in Yemen to launch attacks in the region and beyond.
| Armed Conflict | April 2010 | ['(BBC)', '(Philippine Daily Inquirer)', '(The Daily Telegraph)', '(Reuters)'] |
A United States Air Force E-11A aircraft crashes and catches fire in Ghazni Province, eastern Afghanistan. All five people on board are killed. | ISLAMABAD/PENTAGON — A United States military plane used to help troops communicate and share intelligence on the battlefield has crashed in a Taliban-controlled region of Afghanistan, U.S. military officials confirmed Monday.
U.S. Air Force Chief of Staff, General Dave Goldfein said the plane was an E-11A equipped with the Battlefield Airborne Communications Node (BACN). Goldfein, speaking at an event in Washington, said he was unable to provide additional details. A spokesman for the U.S. military in Afghanistan later tweeted that there were no indications the plane went down because of enemy fire.
U.S. Defense Secretary Mark Esper said he is also monitoring developments.
"I’m aware of the situation,” he told reporters during a news conference at the Pentagon Monday with French Minister of Armed Forces Florence Parly.
First word of the crash came on social media in Afghanistan, with reports from locals in Ghazni province. Hours later, the Taliban said in a statement that the plane went down at noon local time, and there were no survivors.
"Enemy intelligence aircraft crashed in Sado Khelo area of Deh Yak district #Ghazni noon hours today resulting in all crew & high-ranking CIA members killed. Wreckage & dead bodies laying [sic] at crash site,” Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid tweeted in English.
The Taliban are known to inflate casualty numbers and Mujahid offered no evidence for his claims.
Sayed Abdul Wajeed Sadat, the Ghazni provincial head for the Red Cross and Red Crescent Society told VOA five people had likely been killed in the crash. The humanitarian assistance organization is one of the few that sometimes gets access to Taliban-controlled areas.
The Red Cross official did not share further details of the crash or whether any of his teams had reached the site.
A local provincial official told VOA’s TV-Ashna other forces have also reached the crash site.
"After an hour, some foreign military helicopters landed to the site inspected the ruined plane and left,” said Abdul Jami Jami, a provincial council member in Ghazni province.
"Afghan security forces also arrived and controlled the site after about four hours the incident,” he added. | Air crash | January 2020 | ['(BBC)', '(Voice of America)'] |
Sixty–nine Chinese coal miners are rescued from the Zhijian Mine in Henan province. | Authorities in China say rescuers have pulled out 69 coal miners alive, ending a terrifying three-day ordeal in which the trapped men survived on milk and pumped-in oxygen.
The miners had been trapped since Sunday morning (local time) after a flash flood surged through an old shaft about 200 kilometres west of Zhengzhou, the capital of Henan province.
Dramatic footage broadcast on state-run television showed the filthy miners stumbling as they emerged from the mine wearing blindfolds to give their eyes time to adjust to daylight.
A crowd waiting at the entrance of the Zhijian mine cheered while eager officials rushed to shake the hands of the dazed men, some of whom were so weakened by their experience that they had to be carried away on stretchers.
"Through our hard efforts over the last 70-odd hours we have saved 69 lives and I'm really very moved," said Li Yizhong, the head of China's work safety bureau who had travelled to the mine to oversee rescue efforts.
"We faced a lot of difficulties that we were able to overcome."
The first of the miners was rescued on Wednesday morning (local time), with the final man emerging this afternoon (AEST) - just over 76 hours after floodwaters submerged the pit.
There were 102 workers underground when the pit flooded. Thirty-three miners escaped immediately but the other 69 were trapped in a section of 600 metres of tunnels that were submerged.
Rescuers, including a special unit of 300 soldiers, had to race against the clock and fight terrible weather conditions to pump the water from the flooded tunnel to reach the miners via an elevator shaft.
To buy more time, rescuers pumped oxygen and poured 549 litres of milk - the miners' only source of food - through an 800-metre ventilation pipe.
Bad weather had badly hindered rescuers on Monday as they struggled to place water pumps outside the pit's entrance. Muddy conditions, pelting rain and fog had slowed the arrival of supplies.
However, rescuers had been able to maintain contact with the trapped miners for most of their ordeal through a fixed telephone line in the pit.
The exact condition of the rescued miners was not immediately clear. They were taken to a nearby hospital for health checks, where a doctor was quoted on state television as saying they were "weak."
If the miners had not survived, the accident would have been one of the deadliest this year in China's coal mining industry, widely regarded as the most dangerous in the world.
-AFP
| Mine Collapses | August 2007 | ['(AFP via ABC News Australia)'] |
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