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70 protesters, including television actress Piper Perabo, are arrested at the Brett Kavanaugh Supreme Court nomination. | Actress Piper Perabo was one of 70 protesters arrested in Washington, D.C. on Tuesday by Capitol Hill police, she claimed
Actress Piper Perabo was one of 70 protesters arrested in Washington, D.C. on Tuesday by Capitol Hill police, she claims.
The Coyote Ugly and Covert Affairs star, 41, had been protesting the first day of hearings of Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh when she was escorted out by police, according to a video she later tweeted.
“I was just arrested for civil disobedience in the Kavanaugh hearings,” Perabo wrote in her tweet. “Many citizens before me have fought for the equal rights of women. I can’t be silent when someone is nominated to the Supreme Court who would take our equal rights away.”
The clip Perabo tweeted showed her being removed from the hearing room while she and other women interrupted the proceedings to demand senators don’t vote to confirm the Trump-nominated judge.
Capitol Hill police and a rep for the actress did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment.
RELATED: Who Is Brett Kavanaugh? What to Know About Trump’s Supreme Court Nominee
Authorities said in a statement on Tuesday obtained by CNN that they had “responded to numerous incidents of unlawful demonstration activities within the Senate Office Buildings today that were associated with the first day of hearings held by the Senate Judiciary Committee.”
Of the 71 people arrested, 61 people were removed from one Senate office building and charged with disorderly conduct while nine more were pulled from another office building “for unlawful demonstration activities” and charged with “crowding, obstructing or incommoding.”
RELATED: Where Supreme Court Nominee Brett Kavanaugh Stands on Abortion and Other Hot-Button Issues
Perabo, who has been outspoken on Twitter about her disapproval of Kavanaugh’s possible appointment, later tweeted a photo of herself with other women who had been protesting and were also allegedly arrested. She also included some of their handles.
“Proud to stand with them, and stand up for equal rights,” she wrote.
“I love America more than any other country in this world, and, exactly for this reason, I insist on the right to criticize her perpetually,” Perabo wrote on a selfie in front of a D.C. court building, quoting James A. Baldwin.
RELATED VIDEO: PEOPLE Writer Natasha Stoynoff Breaks Silence, Accuses Donald Trump of Sexual Attack
If approved by the Senate, Kavanaugh, 53, who currently serves as a judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, would take the seat of Justice Anthony Kennedy following his retirement from the bench.
The news of Kennedy’s retirement has stoked fears among Democrats, abortion rights activists and everyday citizens that Trump’s nominee could lead to the repeal of the Roe v. Wade decision of 1973, which legalized abortion across the United States. | Famous Person - Commit Crime - Arrest | September 2018 | ['(People)', '(The Hill)'] |
U.S. Attorney General William Barr resumes the federal usage of the death penalty. Five inmates are expected to be executed between December 2019 and January 2020. If carried out, these would be the first federal executions in the United States in sixteen years. | The Trump administration said it would resume executions of federal death row inmates, starting with five men who have been convicted of killing children.
By Nicholas Bogel-Burroughs
No one on federal death row has been executed since 2003, but on Thursday, William P. Barr, the attorney general, announced that the government was resuming executions, starting with five men convicted of killing children.
The men, whose ages range from 37 to 67, have each been convicted of heinous crimes, and together have been involved in the slayings of 13 victims. The cases fell under federal jurisdiction because of how or where they were carried out.
[Mr. Barr’s decision runs counter to a broad national shift away from the death penalty as public support for it has dwindled.]
All five are being held at a high-security federal prison in Terre Haute, Ind., where their executions are set for December and January. More executions will be scheduled, the Justice Department said in a statement. There are 62 people who are facing death sentences, according to the Bureau of Prisons, including the five whose execution dates were announced Thursday.
Here is a look at the five men and the crimes they committed.
Mr. Mitchell was convicted in 2003 of killing a grandmother and her 9-year-old granddaughter within the Navajo Nation in northeastern Arizona.
Major crimes within the Navajo Nation fall under federal jurisdiction when either the perpetrators or victims — or, as in this case, both — are members of the nation. A jury decided that Mr. Mitchell should face the death penalty.
Mr. Mitchell and a friend were hitchhiking near the border with New Mexico when they were picked up by the 63-year-old grandmother, Alyce Slim, who was with her granddaughter, Tiffany Lee, according to The Santa Fe New Mexican. The two men stabbed her to death and then killed her granddaughter after forcing the child to sit near her grandmother’s body while they drove 30 to 40 miles, according to the Justice Department. They later used the grandmother’s truck in a robbery, The New Mexican reported.
The Justice Department has scheduled Mr. Mitchell’s execution for Dec. 11.
Mr. Purkey, of Lansing, Kan., kidnapped a 16-year-old girl, Jennifer Long, in Kansas City, Mo., and brought her to his house, where he raped her repeatedly and, after killing her, dismembered and burned her body. Advertisement
The Kansas City Star reported last year that the girl’s murder in 1998 was nearly forgotten until one of her childhood friends contacted a true crime podcast, which featured her in an episode. Federal prosecutors pursued the case because Mr. Purkey had brought the teenager across state lines, from Missouri to Kansas.
Mr. Purkey was sentenced to death for the crime of kidnapping a child resulting in the child’s death, according to the Justice Department. Months before that murder, Mr. Purkey had used a hammer to kill Mary Bales, an 80-year-old woman who suffered from polio. It was after he was convicted of that slaying in state court that he began talking about killing the teenager, and eventually confessed, although he retracted his admission once prosecutors sought the death penalty, according to The Star.
Rebecca Woodman, a lawyer now representing Mr. Purkey, said her client experienced a horrific childhood and was inadequately represented during his trial. Ms. Woodman said Mr. Purkey has dementia and other mental and physical disabilities.
His execution is scheduled for Dec. 13.
Daniel Lee, a white supremacist who lived in Oklahoma, was convicted in 1999 of murdering an Arkansas gun dealer, William Mueller, as well as his wife, Nancy Mueller, and her 8-year-old daughter, Sarah Powell. Mr. Lee broke into the family’s home in Tilly, Ark., in January 1996 with an accomplice, Chevie Kehoe, and together they suffocated the family before throwing them into the Illinois Bayou, according to the Justice Department. The bodies were not found until June, when a woman who was fishing discovered a shoe and a bone.
Mr. Kehoe had stepped in when Mr. Lee said he could not kill a child, The New York Times reported in an article about the murders in 1999, although Mr. Lee was convicted of three counts of murder.
In a statement on Thursday, Mr. Lee’s lawyer, Morris Moon, said Mr. Kehoe “was alone responsible for the death of the child in this case” and added that he believed that executing his client would be a “grave injustice.”
The case was a federal one because Mr. Lee was accused, and later convicted, of three counts of murder to aid racketeering, a federal crime. Mr. Lee is known as “Cyclops” because he lost an eye in a bar fight, according to the 1999 article. His execution has been scheduled for Dec. 9. Mr. Bourgeois, a trucker from La Place, La., was sentenced to death in 2004 after he was convicted of murdering his 2-year-old daughter at Naval Air Station Corpus Christi, making it a federal crime. At his trial, eight people who knew Mr. Bourgeois, including family members, said they had been threatened or assaulted by him, according to The Plainview Daily Herald in Texas. They said he had tortured and repeatedly beaten his daughter, referred to as “JG” in court documents, in the months before killing her in June 2002. “Bourgeois preyed on an innocent child — one of the most vulnerable among us,” Ryan K. Patrick, the United States attorney for the Southern District of Texas, said in a statement on Thursday. “She should have been protected and loved, but was instead robbed of her young life after being brutalized by her very own.”
Of the five men whom the Justice Department said it wanted to execute, Mr. Bourgeois is the only one who is black, even though the federal death row is composed of a disproportionate number of black men, adding to criticism that jurors disproportionately favor the death penalty for black defendants. The Justice Department is seeking to execute Mr. Bourgeois on Jan. 13.
Mr. Honken, of Mason City, Iowa, killed five people in 1993 with the help of his girlfriend, who was once one of only two women on federal death row.
Described as the kingpin of a methamphetamine operation, Mr. Honken killed two men who were fellow drug dealers, Terry DeGeus and Gregory Nicholson, as well as Mr. Nicholson’s girlfriend, Lori Duncan, and her two daughters, ages 6 and 10.
The Justice Department said the two men had planned to testify against Mr. Honken.
Iowa does not have the death penalty, but Mr. Honken was found guilty of 17 federal crimes — including tampering with witnesses, conspiracy to commit murder, and multiple counts of a federal crime known as the kingpin statute — which meant he could be executed by the federal government. His execution is scheduled for Jan. 15. | Government Policy Changes | July 2019 | ['(CNBC)', '(The New York Times)'] |
Venezuela, facing an economic crisis, raises the price of gasoline for the first time in 20 years. | Venezuela is raising petrol prices for the first time in 20 years, although the president claims it will still be the cheapest in the world.
President Nicolas Maduro said pump prices of premium fuel would rise from the equivalent of $0.01 a litre to about $0.60 (£0.40).
The cost of lower grade petrol would rise to about $0.10 a litre. He unveiled a series measures to help ease Venezuela's economic crisis, including devaluing the currency.
The rise in the heavily-subsidised fuel price will save $800m a year.
"Venezuela has the cheapest gasoline in the world," Mr Maduro said in a televised address. "The cost is almost nothing."
However, other countries, including Saudi Arabia also have extremely cheap, subsidised petrol prices.
He said the price rise was "a necessary measure, a necessary action to balance things, I take responsibility for it."
Food and petrol price increases in 1989 sparked nationwide protests that resulted in scores of deaths, unrest that is considered to have paved the way for the late President Hugo Chavez's rise to power. Venezuela's economy has been pushed to the brink by the collapse in the oil price, which accounts for about 95% of the country's export revenues.
The economy shrank 10% last year, amid rampant inflation and shortages of some basic products,
According to the Bloomberg news agency, the state oil company Petroleos de Venezuela incurred $15.2bn in costs in 2013 to maintain Venezuela's fuel subsidy.
Mr Maduro also announced that the government would "simplify" the complex exchange rate from Thursday, easing the protected official rate for food and medicine imports which will now operate alongside a parallel "floating" rate.
Investors have become increasingly concerned about Venezuela's potential default on its huge debts. | Financial Crisis | February 2016 | ['(BBC)'] |
Chile's government sets aside 4 billion pesos for the purchase of more fuel–efficient trucks for citizens through its “Cambia tu Camión” (“Change your Truck”) program. | The Chilean government will subsidize the purchase of more fuel-efficient trucks for citizens through a program set to start later this year. The program, called “Cambia tu Camión,” or “Change your Truck,” will offer a bonus of 4, 8 or 12 million pesos (7.200, 14.500 or 21.700 US dollars respectively), toward the purchase of a new, more fuel efficient car, with the trade-in of a truck over 25 years old.
The government has set aside 4 billion pesos for the project (7.3 million USD), and anticipates taking 500 trucks off the road: 230 in 2009 and 270 in 2010. The reclaimed trucks will be converted to scrap metal.
“The conversion to scrap, in exchange for subsidies, could cover at least a third of the purchase of a new truck with (more environmentally friendly) technology,” said Marcelo Tokman, minister of energy. The government will be accepting applications between Sept. 7 and Oct. 7 and will list the recipients in early November, when the subsidies will start being paid. The 500 trucks that the program aims to remove constitute 4.5% of the roughly 11,130 pre-1984 trucks in the country, as compared to the 106,350 trucks younger than that. 23 percent of the air pollution generated between April and August came from these trucks, according to El Mercurio. Removing 500 25-year-old trucks, which each emit 240 tons of carbon monoxide every year, would eliminate 120,000 tons of pollution per year, according to the National Commission on the Environment (CONAMA) of the Metropolitan Region. New trucks, such as the Euro III, emit as much as 95% less of certain contaminants, such as nitrous oxide, and 91% less carbon monoxide, than an average 25-year-old truck. The program has won the support of the National Confederation of Truck Owners and the National Automotive Association of Chile. The plan is also very similar to the Car Allowance Rebate System in the United States, nicknamed “Cash For Clunkers,” which compensated the trade-in of older cars with a subsidy toward a new, fuel-efficient model. The US version was an immediate success with the people, to the point that the government burned through 1 billion USD in just a month, prompting Congress to allocate 2 billion more to continue the program. Between July 1 and Aug. 26, the US government spent 2.877 billion on rebates for almost 700,000 cars. The scrappage plans were initially started in Germany and followed in Britain, France and the US among other countries. By Daniel Zarchy (editor@santiagotimes.cl)
| Financial Aid | September 2009 | ['(MercoPress)'] |
Following pressure from the international community, Ethiopia releases three reporters working for the BBC, AFP, and Financial Times, alongside two local news reporters and two translators, without charge. No reason was given for their arrest, and it is still unclear if four other journalists have been released. | Girmay Gebru was taken from a café in the regional capital, Mekelle, on Monday, and detained by the military. A local journalist, Tamirat Yemane, and two translators - Alula Akalu and Fitsum Berhane, who were working for the Financial Times and the AFP news agency - have also been freed. No official reason has been given for their detention.
Girmay, who works for BBC Tigrinya, says he is happy to be home after two days in detention.
It is not clear whether four of Girmay's neighbours detained alongside him on Monday have also been released.
The BBC says it is "pleased and relieved" Girmay has been released.
"We are seeking a full explanation from the authorities as to why he and others were arrested when they had clearly committed no offence," the BBC said.
Ethiopia's government has been fighting regional forces in Tigray since November. After months of an effective media blackout since the start of the conflict in Tigray, the government granted access to some international media organisations last week. Both AFP and the Financial Times had received permission to visit the region.
Despite this, their workers were detained, which led to condemnation from the international community. The US government joined media rights organisations in calling for the media workers' release.
US State Department spokesperson Ned Price said their detention was inconsistent with the Ethiopian government's commitment to allow international media access to Tigray. This is not the first time media workers have been arrested in Ethiopia since the conflict began.
In January police detained a cameraman working for Reuters news agency who was covering the Tigray conflict. Kumerra Gemechu was held for 12 days before being released without charge. Just over two weeks later, Dawit Kebede Araya, a reporter with the state-owned broadcaster Tigray TV was shot dead in Mekelle.
Then in February, the Committee to Protect journalists said that freelance reporter Lucy Kassa's home in Ethiopia's capital Addis Ababa was raided by armed men who threatened to kill her if she kept on investigating stories about the conflict in Tigray. Fighting continues in Tigray despite the government declaring victory over the Tigray People's Liberation Front, which used to be the region's ruling party. Hundreds have been killed and tens of thousands displaced. There is international concern over growing reports of atrocities committed by all sides and the worsening humanitarian crisis.
An official of Ethiopia's ruling party recently warned that measures would be taken against people they said were "misleading international media".
| Famous Person - Commit Crime - Release | March 2021 | ['(BBC)'] |
India's Supreme Court sentences actor and politician Sanjay Dutt to 5 years in prison over illegal arms possession, related to the 1993 Mumbai bombings. The death sentence of Yakub Memon, convicted mastermind of the bombings, has been upheld. | India's Supreme Court has ruled that Bollywood actor Sanjay Dutt must return to prison for his connection with the 1993 Mumbai blasts.
The actor has been on bail since 2007 when he appealed against his original sentence of six years. On Thursday, the Supreme Court reduced it to five years.
Dutt was convicted in 2006 of buying weapons from bombers who attacked Mumbai. He spent 20 months in jail.
The serial bombings killed 257 people and wounded 713 others.
In 2006, a special anti-terror court had convicted 100 people for the blasts - 12 of the convicts were given death penalty and 20 others were given life sentence.
On Thursday, the Supreme Court also upheld the death sentence of Yakub Memon, one of the main convicts, while death sentences of 10 others were commuted to life. Mohammed Iqbal, who was also given death sentence, died while in prison. Dutt, one of Bollywood's most bankable stars, is hugely popular for his role of a loveable gangster in Munnabhai movies.
He has also dabbled in politics. The judges have ordered the actor to surrender in four weeks. "He will have to serve another three-and-a-half year sentence. We had prepared him for the same," Reuters quoted Dutt's lawyer Satish Maneshinde as saying after the Supreme Court verdict.
"We will wait for a copy of the judgement and then decide the further course of action," he said. "He is a strong man and will fight back."
"Whatever is the judgement of the court I will respect it. I want all to pray for me. God is great," NDTV channel quoted the actor as saying after the court order.
Dutt, the most high-profile among the convicts, was originally charged with five offences, including criminal conspiracy and possession of illegal weapons. The trial court had found him guilty of illegally possessing a rifle and a pistol but cleared him of conspiracy. The son of a Hindu father and Muslim mother, Dutt said the weapons were necessary in order to defend his family during the Hindu-Muslim rioting of 1993 which had followed the destruction by Hindu zealots of the Babri mosque in the northern town of Ayodhya. The Mumbai blasts were allegedly carried out by the city's Muslim-dominated underworld in retaliation for the riots, in which most of those killed were Muslims. The man who is believed to have masterminded the plot, underworld leader Dawood Ibrahim, has still not been caught. India says he and another key suspect, Tiger Memon, are hiding in Pakistan - a charge Pakistan denies. | Famous Person - Commit Crime - Sentence | March 2013 | ['(Times of India)', '(BBC)'] |
The Prime Minister of Australia Julia Gillard announces that the next federal election will be held on September 14. | The Prime Minister's decision to announce the election date eight months out has upset some in the Labor caucus but other MPs, from both sides of politics, say it's a masterstroke. Julia Gillard says she hopes her decision to announce the September 14 election date will force debate on policy. Treasurer Wayne Swan hopes it draws attention to the Coalition's lack of policy costings. "They cannot be allowed to get to the election without detailing the costing of their policies," he said. "From the May budget on there is absolutely no excuse for the Opposition to fail to put forward costed policies." Privately some Coalition MPs say the announcement was a savvy political move but Opposition frontbencher Barnaby Joyce says it should not be taken seriously. "It's all so irrelevant, what happens if there's a change of leadership in the Labor Party there will be an election straight away," he said. But at least one supporter of former prime minister Kevin Rudd believes the move will lock in support for Ms Gillard, "virtually ruling out" any chance of a leadership change. Ms Gillard made the election announcement during a speech to the National Press Club. "I do so not to start the nation's longest election campaign - quite the opposite," she told the audience. "It should be clear to all which are the days of governing and which are the days of campaigning. "Announcing the election date now enables individuals and business, investors and consumers to plan their year." Ms Gillard says she will advise Governor-General Quentin Bryce to issue writs on Monday, August 12 to dissolve the House of Representatives. As part of her agreement with independent MPs Rob Oakeshott and Tony Windsor, Ms Gillard had agreed to hold the election in either September or October. Opposition Leader Tony Abbott has welcomed the election date announcement and declared the Coalition ready to lead. Mr Abbott says the Coalition is offering "positive plans for a stronger economy", including scrapping the carbon and mining taxes. "As I've often said, we are a great country and a great people let down by a poor government," he said. Opposition frontbencher Arthur Sinodinos says the coalition will make a series of policy announcements in the coming months, with full costings available before the election. "There'll be a sequence of policy releases over the next few months," he said. "That's been the consistent strategy of the Opposition with full costings available before the election which will take into account the latest official numbers which the government can provide." Look back at the reaction to Ms Gillard's announcement earlier this afternoon (all times AEDT):
5:27pm:
The Australian Electoral Commission is encouraging people to ensure they are enrolled to vote, given the election date has now been announced. People who are 17 but will be 18 on or before September 14, can enrol now. If you have moved and need to update your details, you can go to www.aec.gov.au. The AEC says about 1.5 million people are missing from the electoral roll. ABC Local: Jim Trail
5:20pm:
Labor MP Michael Danby, who is Jewish, says he is aware that the election date coincides with Yom Kippur, the most holy day on the Jewish calendar. "As a matter of personal conscience I will be unable to participate on election day," he said in an email. "It is my practice, with my wife Amanda, to observe Yom Kippur (the Jewish Day of Atonement)." Mr Danby says he's contacted Special Minister of State Gary Gray to help ensure the "fullest participation" of Australia's 120,000 Jews through things like postal voting and pre-polling. Mr Danby ends his email by noting: "Yom Kippur 2013 is the 40th anniversary of the Yom Kippur War, when a tough female PM, after initial setbacks, won a great victory." 4:57pm:
Independent MP Bob Katter, who has started Katter's Australian Party, says he is glad to have extended notification of when the election is. "Our party needs time," he told reporters in Bundaberg. "Every week that goes by we're rolling out an extra five branches. So, the more time we've got, the more happy we are." Mr Katter says he did not have the slightest hint that Ms Gillard would be announcing the election date, despite assuring reporters that he has "very good ears to the ground in Canberra". 4:51pm:
The Opposition's education spokesman, Christopher Pyne, spoke earlier to ABC News 24 political editor Lyndal Curtis. He says a September 14 election date is too early to see the final budget outcome for this financial year. 4:33pm:
One group breathing a sigh of relief with an early election announcement is the Australian Electoral Commission. AEC spokesman Phil Diak spoke to ABC News 24 earlier this afternoon:
4:25pm:
Nationals Leader Warren Truss says the September 14 election will be an opportunity for regional Australia to get its fair share of attention and funding. He has highlighted a number of issues including the need for better telecommunications "at a price people can afford" and better regional health services. "For more than five years now, regional Australia has been treated as the ignored poor cousin of the capital cities," he said. "We know that what is good for regional Australia is good for all of Australia. When the regions are prosperous, so is our nation." 4:18pm:
The ACTU wants the election campaign to focus on job security. "(Ms Gillard) rightly pointed to global pressures that affects Australia," ACTU president Ged Kearney said in a statement. "While we can't control the globe, we can influence the policies and laws that protect and serve the Australian people, the most important of which is fairness in the workplace." The union movement says Mr Abbott now has no excuse for withholding the Coalition's industrial relations policy from the public. 4:15pm:
Here is video of Tony Abbott's press conference:
4:05pm:
Tony Abbott's opening statement - declaring that the election would be about trust - is a clear reference to former prime minister John Howard's statement when announcing the 2004 election. Mr Howard said: Mr Abbott says the Coalition is offering "positive plans for a stronger economy", including scrapping the carbon and mining taxes. He says the Coalition also has "positive plans" for education, communities, a cleaner environment and border protection. "As I've often said, we are a great country and a great people let down by a poor government," he said. Mr Abbott declined to answer media questions, saying he would answer them at the National Press Club tomorrow. 3:59pm:
Bookmakers have been honing their markets following the announcement of the election date. By the looks of it they already consider the result a forgone conclusion. Some betting agencies have the Coalition at the Black Caviar odds of around $1.22. Labor is rated the outsider in the two-horse race at $4.15. 3:52pm:
Opposition Leader Tony Abbott has welcomed the election date announcement and has declared the Coalition ready to lead. He says voters will face a clear choice when they go to the polls. "This election will be about trust," he told reporters in Canberra. "Who do you trust to reduce cost-of-living pressures? Who do you trust to boost small businesses and to boost job security? And who do you trust to secure our borders? "That's what this election will be all about." 3:48pm:
Antony Green says Julia Gillard's early election announcement follows the trend towards certainty seen across Westminster governments and robs political pundits of their chance to speculate. Read his column for The Drum here
3:38pm:
Just to recap on the Prime Minister's speech. Obviously, she announced the election date, but she also foreshadowed some "substantial" cuts to government spending to pay for significant commitments, including the National Disability Insurance Scheme and an overhaul of school funding. Ms Gillard says those cuts will be announced in the lead up to the budget and in the budget itself. 3:34pm:
Here is video of the media conference held by Greens leader Christine Milne earlier this afternoon:
3:29pm:
Since Ms Gillard made the election date announcement just before 1pm (AEDT), the stock market has given up some of the morning's gains. At 3:25pm, the All Ordinaries index was up 0.2 per cent for the day to 4,918.3. 3:20pm:
The election is 226 days away. That's 5,424 hours. Or 325,440 minutes. Click here for some more interesting election facts. 3:09pm:
The Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ACCI) says the real advantage of the early announcement is that the final quarter of the year will not be interrupted by the politics of the campaign. "With the early election announcement, it would be the business community's preference for an early disclosure of the policies, the programs, and the vision of both the Opposition and the Government for Australia's economy to become stronger and more competitive," ACCI's Peter Anderson told reporters in Canberra. "We want a bidding war between Julia Gillard and Tony Abbott and their parties over who can make the economy more prosperous, more competitive and create more jobs by supporting the private sector." 3:05pm:
Opposition Leader Tony Abbott has called a press conference for 3.40pm (AEDT). 2:55pm:
The federal Member for O'Connor, Tony Crook, says while he is surprised by the Government's early announcement of the election date, he thinks it creates certainty. "I think in many respects it's a good thing. It gives us some certainty about where we're heading," the WA Nationals MP said. "People can plan, people can make up their own minds about why it has been done. "For me, it's business as usual." 2:47pm:
Antony Green has listed every electorate on his blog and what the margins are. If you're interested, you can check it out here
2:40pm:
Independent MP Andrew Wilkie says he will recontest his Hobart seat of Denison, which he holds by a 1.2 per cent margin on two-party preferred basis. "My best re-election strategy has always been, and continues to be, to just do my job well." He says setting an election date early will be good for businesses and investors, but it will be wasted if it leads to a very long election campaign. "There's still a significant period of this parliament left to run and that demands the Government stay focused on running the country and the Opposition on holding the Government to account." 2:32pm: Greens leader Christine Milne says the Prime Minister's office gave her a half-hour heads up that Ms Gillard would be announcing the election date in her speech today. Senator Milne says now's a good time to introduce three-year fixed terms, so that future elections will always be held in the second week of September. "Wouldn't that be a great thing for the Australian people, so that we didn't have all the game-playing that has gone on in the past," Senator Milne told reporters in Melbourne. She wants Ms Gillard and Mr Abbott to agree to the change. 2:27pm:
Independent senator Nick Xenophon tells Lyndal Curtis that the PM has "put all of us out of our misery by announcing the election date". "I think it's good for there to be some advanced notice. It's good for independents and minor parties, I guess, but it also gives some certainty rather than having months of speculation as to when the election will be held. "We now know the date and I think that's probably a good thing in the context of the marathon that now awaits us." Senator Xenophon's term expires in 2014 and he says that "I'll announce what I'm doing in the next few weeks." 2:20pm:
Independent Rob Oakeshott plans to announce whether he'll recontest his New South Wales electorate of Lyne in mid-March. He says it would be a "huge battle" to hold on to his seat. "I'm certainly at the centre of this 43rd Parliament and decisions made and I stand by all of them," Mr Oakeshott told ABC News 24. "I fully accept that in some peoples' eyes, I'm hero. In some peoples' eyes, I'm villain. So, it's a very polarised mood that this Parliament has... created, and I accept I'm part of that." 2:13pm: Independent MP Tony Windsor says he intends to contest the election. The Coalition has preselected independent NSW MP Richard Torbay as its candidate for Mr Windsor's seat of New England. Mr Windsor says he's not sure whether he'll win the contest, but adds that "the mood feels pretty good out there". 2:05pm:
Liberal MP Josh Frydenberg, who is Jewish, has criticised the decision to hold the election on September 14 - which is Yom Kippur, the holiest day of the year for Jewish people. "In choosing the 14th of September... she disenfranchises many Jewish Australians, it's incredibly sloppy on her part, it's a knee-jerk reaction to pressure that she's coming under within the Labor party," he told ABC News. "It's going to be very difficult for Jewish Australians to participate in election day activities - they spend most of the day in prayer and also they fast." Ms Gillard says she understands the significance of the day for the Jewish community, but says there are only a limited number of days on which to hold an election because of international commitments and football finals. She says anyone who cannot vote on that day has the option of casting a pre-poll ballot. 1:57pm:
Greens leader Christine Milne has called a media conference for 2:20pm where she will call for fixed-term elections. Ms Gillard expects there'll be some debate about the idea, but says it's not a priority for her. "For me, it's not the upper most policy matter on my mind. I'm very focused on jobs, opportunity, fairness, on getting done the big things that will shape this nation for the future." 1:49pm:
According to the ABC's election analyst Antony Green, the last time a federal election was held in September was in 1946. The most common month for a federal poll is December. Constitutionally speaking, the last date on which this year's election could have been held was November 30. 1:36pm:
The Prime Minister says she announced the election date early so that the nation can focus on "policies, not petty politics". The move will add pressure on the Coalition to release more of its policies early. On Sunday, Opposition Leader Tony Abbott launched a "mini-campaign" and released a 50-page policy document. Shadow treasurer Joe Hockey has said on Twitter: "Election on Sept. 14 is before the final budget outcome is revealed for the current year". | Government Job change - Election | January 2013 | ['(BBC)', '(Reuters)', '(ABC News Australia)'] |
Prime Minister of Peru Cesar Villanueva resigns after falling approval ratings. | LIMA (Reuters) - Peru’s Prime Minister Cesar Villanueva has stepped down, the government said on Friday, amid calls for President Martin Vizcarra to shake up his government and revive falling approval ratings.
Villanueva, the prime minister for the past year, handed in his letter of resignation to Vizcarra, the president’s office said in a statement, confirming media reports earlier on Friday. The statement did not say the resignation was accepted but said Vizcarra thanked Villanueva for his services.
A new prime minister has not yet been chosen but two government sources who asked not to be named told Reuters that Justice Minister Vicente Zeballos was under consideration for the position.
Vizcarra will likely make several cabinet changes to revamp his team and shore up slipping support, the sources said.
A survey by Datum Internacional published in local daily Peru 21 on Thursday found Vizcarra’s approval rating dropped seven percentage points from February to 56 percent.
Presidents in Peru often reshuffle the cabinet when their approval ratings fall, though all recent presidents have ended their terms widely unpopular.
Vizcarra’s approval rating rose to a high of 66 percent in January after he confronted the opposition-ruled Congress and pushed for passage of measures aimed at fighting corruption which had passed easily in a national referendum in December.
In the past week he has faced criticism that he has not done enough to tackle other problems, and for traveling to Spain and Portugal on a state visit instead of visiting regions affected by flooding and landslides.
A former vice president, Vizcarra took office a year ago to replace Pedro Pablo Kuczynski, who resigned after a graft scandal.
Peru is the world’s No.2 copper producer and one of Latin America’s most stable economies.
| Government Job change - Resignation_Dismissal | March 2019 | ['(Al Jazeera)', '(Reuters)'] |
Azeri authorities say 13 civilians were killed and more than 40 others wounded by an Armenian Scud missile attack on Ganja, Azerbaijan. The Armenian Defence Ministry says it is not true while Turkey calls the strike a "war crime". | Baku and Yerevan announce temporary ‘humanitarian ceasefire’, hours after a missile attack that killed civilians in Azerbaijan’s Ganja.
Armenia and Azerbaijan have agreed to a humanitarian ceasefire from midnight, both countries said on Saturday night.
The move came after Azerbaijan said 13 civilians were killed in an Armenian missile attack on its second-biggest city, Ganja. The overnight missile raid also wounded dozens of people in their sleep and destroyed a row of homes.
The Armenian defence ministry denied the claim and accused Baku of continuing to shell populated areas inside Nagorno-Karabakh, including Stepanakert, the region’s biggest city.
Here are the latest updates on the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict:
French President Emmanuel Macron has welcomed Armenia and Azerbaijan’s agreement to a humanitarian ceasefire from midnight and stressed that it should be strictly respected by both parties.
“This ceasefire must be unconditional and strictly observed by both parties. France will be very attentive to this and will remain committed so that hostilities cease permanently and that credible discussions can quickly begin,” the president’s office said in a statement.
Armenia and Azerbaijan have agreed to a humanitarian ceasefire from midnight, the foreign ministries of both countries said in separate statements.
The new agreement was announce following phone calls between Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and his counterparts. Lavrov strongly urged the countries to abide by a Moscow-brokered thatfrayed immediately after it took force.
The two sides trade blame for breaching that deal.
“This decision was taken following the statement of the presidents of the French Republic, the Russian Federation and the United States of America, representing the co-chair countries of the OSCE Minsk Group, of Oct. 1 2020, the Statement by the Co-Chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group of Oct. 5, and in line with the Moscow Statement of Oct. 10,” Armenia’s foreign ministry said in a statement.
#Armenia & #Azerbaijan have agreed to humanitarian truce as of October 18th, 00h00 local time. This decision was taken following Oct1 statement of Presidents of @OSCE MGCC countries #France, #Russia & #USA, Oct5 Statement by MGCC Co-Chairs and in line w/ OCT10 #Moscow Statement.
Anna A. Naghdalyan (@naghdalyan) October 17, 2020
The Turkic Council said on Twitter:“Bombing civilians is against international humanitarian law. The Turkic Council condemns Armenia’s new arbitrary attacks by ballistic missiles on Ganja & civilians.”
They urged Armenian forces to stop attacking civilians and withdraw their occupying forces from Azerbaijani lands.
Omer Kocaman, deputy secretary general of Turkic Council, said these attacks constitute “war crimes.”
A mother and her 16-month-old daughter have been buried in the same grave after a missile attack on the Azerbaijani city of Ganza that killed at least 13 civilians, as fighting intensifies over the disputed of Nagorno-Karabakh region.
Zuleykha Shahnazarova and her daughter Madina Shahnazarli were killed overnight on Saturday, along with the father of the family, Royal Shahnazarov.
The couple’s other daughter, three-year-old Khadija Shahnazarli, survived the attack and was being treated in a hospital in the nearby city of Barda.
Al Jazeera’s Hoda Abdel Hamid, reporting from Baku, said the Azeri officials were saying at least two missiles have hit Ganja overnight.
“One hit the southwest entrance of the city and the other one a bit more towards the city centre where the most number of the civilian casualties happened,” she said.
“The rescue operation is still ongoing as the body of at least one child is still missing.”
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Azerbaijan’s defence ministry has claimed its troops have advanced in various directions across the frontline in the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh.
Video shared by the ministry purported to shows air strikes on positions of Armenian forces.
In a televised address, Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev said the town of Fizuli and several other villages in Azerbaijan have been “liberated”, gaining a “strategic edge.”
Fizuli is one of the seven Azerbaijani regions outside Nagorno-Karabakh that was seized by the Armenian forces during the war in the early 1990s.
Al Jazeera’s Bernard Smith said Armenia is under pressure for losing control of territories it regarded as the buffer zone between Nagorno-Karabakh and Azerbaijan.
“The foreign ministry of Armenia has released a tweet and it says that consistent attempts by Azerbaijan to extend the geography of the conflict, plus irreversibly undermining regional security should be condemned in the strongest terms,” Smith said, speaking from the Armenian town of Vorotan.
“And this is because the leadership of Armenia is under intense pressure. It has lost control of some territory to Azerbaijan, territory that Armenian forces have controlled since the 1994 ceasefire.”
“Armenia is accusing Azerbaijan of taking this territory militarily rather than the negotiations over which both sides agreed to take part in.”
Armenia is committing a “war crime” and must be held responsible for its “atrocity,” Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu wrote on Twitter.
Armenia still commits war crimes&massacres civilians. Kills innocent people incl. children.Silence against this atrocity equals sharing responsibility of these murders.Those who have no humanity will be held accountable for their crimes.Will always stand by brotherly #Azerbaijan.
Mevlüt avuolu (@MevlutCavusoglu) October 17, 2020
Hikmat Hajiyev, a foreign policy aide to Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, said his country wants a ceasefire.
“We support a humanitarian ceasefire, but Armenia isn’t giving it a chance … they keep targeting residential areas,” Hajiyev said in an online briefing with journalists.
Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev vowed to strike back against Armenia after shelling on his country’s second largest city Ganja.
Aliyev said Azerbaijan’s army would retaliate against Armenia and “take revenge on the battlefield,” in televised remarks hours after the shelling on a residential area in Ganja flattened rows of houses.
Mushfiq Jafarov, a member of parliament from Ganja, told Al Jazeera stringer Seymur Kazimov that the death toll from the attack on Ganja now stands at 13.
“There are only civilians living here,” he said, adding that two little children were among those killed.
“More than 40 are wounded,” he said.
“Fortunately my family and I were not at home,” Sevil Aliyeva told Al Jazeera stringer Seymur Kazimov. “My house is fully destroyed. I do believe the Azerbaijani army will take our revenge from Armenian forces.”
“We were sleeping. The kids were watching TV,” Rubaba Zhafarova, 65, said in front of her destroyed home.
“All the houses around here are destroyed. Many people are under the rubble. Some are dead, some are wounded.”
Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan told Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau during a phone call that Canada’s suspension of the export of some drone technology was not in line with the spirit of alliance, Erdogan’s office said.
Canada suspended the export of some drone technology to Turkey earlier this month as it probes allegations the equipment was used by Azeri forces involved in fighting with Armenia.
Turkey and Canada are both members of NATO.
Following Canada’s announcement, Turkey’s Foreign Ministry had said the suspension showed a double standard.
Turkey’s military exports to its ally Azerbaijan have risen six-fold this year, with sales of drones and other military equipment rising to $77m last month alone before fighting broke out over the Nagorno-Karabakh region, according to exports data.
Ahmad Shahidov, the head of Azerbaijan Institute for Democracy and Human Rights, told Al Jazeera his country was being provoked by Armenia to respond to military attacks.
“Azerbaijan liberated several regions from under Armenian occupation. That’s why the Armenian army moved back to Armenia and fired from its territory to provoke Azerbaijan to destroy these fire points,” he said.
International law demands the withdrawal of the external troops from Nagorno-Karabakh, he added.
“There are four UN security council resolutions that immediately demand the withdrawal of external troops from Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding region.
The overnight attack on Ganja was caused by a Scud missile, said Al Jazeera’s Sinem Koseoglu.
“What we have been hearing from [Azeri] officials is that this is a Scud missile that was fired from Armenian territory,” she said, speaking from the capital Baku.
Koseoglu said the general prosecutor of Azerbaijan and the minister of state of emergency are in the area trying to understand the impact of this explosion, and to hear from the locals who witnessed the attack.
It’s not an earthquake.
It’s #GanjaCity where Armenian army indiscriminately bombing the city.
More than 20 buildings flattened, casualties unknown.#ArmeniaKillsCivilians pic.twitter.com/GDiTOWJWIS
Hakan Copur (@hakancopur1) October 16, 2020
“People say there are still civilians under the rubble, and that the impact of this explosion caused by the Scud missile is large,” she said.
Scud missiles are a series of tactical ballistic missiles developed by the Soviet Union during the Cold War era.
Azerbaijan said 12 civilians were killed and more than 40 were wounded in the city of Ganja due to shelling by Armenia.
The Azeri Prosecutor General’s office said that two shells hit apartment buildings in the country’s second-largest city.
There has been no official reaction from Armenia as yet.
Khadija Shahnazarli’s mother, father and infant sister were buried together.
Ten people were killed in an attack on Azerbaijan’s second city, Ganja, including several members of the same families.
The Take explores the depths of conflict in the Nagorno-Karabakh region.
The main city in the disputed mountain region resembles a ghost town, where people share stories of grief underground.
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We understand that your online privacy is very important and consenting to our collection of some personal information takes great trust. We ask for this consent because it allows Al Jazeera to provide an experience that truly gives a voice to the voiceless. | Armed Conflict | October 2020 | ['(Al Jazeera)'] |
The International Criminal Court announces that it will pave the way for investigations into alleged war crimes in Palestinian territories. Israel and groups like Hamas could be investigated. | Follow NBC News The United States has "serious concerns" about an International Criminal Court ruling which paves the way for a prosecutor to investigate alleged Israeli war crimes in the Palestinian territories, a State Department spokesman said late Friday.
"We do not believe the Palestinians qualify as a sovereign state, and therefore are not qualified to obtain membership as a state or participate as a state in international organizations, entities, or conferences including the ICC," Ned Price said in a statement.
"We have serious concerns about the ICC's attempts to exercise its jurisdiction over Israeli personnel," he added.
In a 60-page ruling published on Friday, the court said its jurisdiction extended to territories occupied by Israel in the 1967 Mideast war, appearing to pave the way for its chief prosecutor Fatou Bensouda to open an investigation into Israel's military actions in Gaza, as well as Israeli settlement activity in the West Bank.
Bensouda said in 2019 there was a "reasonable basis" to open a war crimes probe, but she asked the court to determine whether she had territorial justification before proceeding with the case. She named both the Israel Defense Forces and armed Palestinian groups, such as Hamas, as possible perpetrators.
In a majority ruling published Friday night, the judges said yes.
The Palestinians joined the court in 2015. They asked it to look into Israeli actions during a 2014 war in the Gaza Strip. As well as Israel's construction of settlements in the occupied West Bank and annexed east Jerusalem — the international community widely considers the settlements to be illegal under international law.
However, the court could also potentially investigate crimes committed by Palestinian militants, including the firing of rockets at civilian areas by Hamas, the Islamist group that governs the Gaza Strip and has been designated a terrorist organization by the U.S. and others.
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The decision was denounced in a video statement by Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
"When the ICC investigates Israel for fake war crimes, this is pure antisemitism ... We will fight this perversion of justice with all our might," he said.
The Palestinian Foreign Ministry said in a statement that it was a "historic day for the principle of accountability," while Sami Abu Zuhri, a Hamas official, described the decision as "an important development that contributes in protecting the Palestinian people."
The U.S., like Israel, does not recognize the court's jurisdiction and last year, the Trump administration imposed sanctions against its officials. It also revoked prosecutor Bensouda's visa, in response to the court's attempts to prosecute American troops for actions in Afghanistan.
The Biden administration has said it will review those sanctions.
Israel captured the West Bank, Gaza and east Jerusalem in the 1967 war, territories the Palestinians want for a future state. The judges said the jurisdiction decision does not imply any attempt to determine Palestinian statehood, which is uncertain, or national borders.
While the court would have a difficult time prosecuting Israelis, it could issue arrest warrants that would make it difficult for Israeli officials to travel abroad. A case in the court could also be deeply embarrassing to the Israeli government.
Reuters and The Associated Press contributed to this report. Henry Austin is a London-based editor for NBC News Digital. | Famous Person - Commit Crime - Investigate | February 2021 | ['(NBC News)'] |
The United States Department of Defense says that last month's airstrikes in Kunduz hit three locations, mistakenly including the Médecins Sans Frontières hospital where at least 30 were killed. Afghan commanders, whose forces were actively engaged with the Taliban, requested the attacks. The Washington Post reports a warehouse and a mansion in two densely populated residential areas were "pulverized" without loss of civilian lives. According to residents, earlier their neighborhoods had been conflict zones, but no militants were there the time of the attacks. "Together, the three attacks raise questions about the quality and reliability of the intelligence that Afghan security forces are providing to their American partners, as well as U.S. decisions to act on that intelligence," writes the Post. | KUNDUZ, AFGHANISTAN A deadly U.S. airstrike on a Doctors Without Borders hospital last month has triggered an international outcry and investigations by the Pentagon and NATO. But it was not the only U.S. aerial assault during the battle to cause significant damage in this northern city.
Hours earlier, U.S. warplanes zeroed in on a warehouse and a mansion in two densely populated residential areas, according to witnesses and local officials. No one was killed in those attacks, but the targets were pulverized and the walls and windows of nearby homes were shattered.
All three U.S. strikes on the warehouse, the mansion and the hospital were requested by Afghan commanders, who say they asked for help because their forces were under attack by Taliban fighters. But residents said that while their neighborhoods had been conflict zones earlier, there were no militants at any of the locations at the time of the attacks.
The clinic bombardment, on Oct. 3, killed 30 medical staff members and patients in one of the deadliest civilian casualty incidents stemming from a coalition action in the Afghan conflict.
Together, the three attacks raise questions about the quality and reliability of the intelligence that Afghan security forces are providing to their American partners, as well as U.S. decisions to act on that intelligence. The target of every Afghan request for air support has to be independently verified by American military advisers before it is approved, according to U.S. rules of engagement.
Fourteen years after the U.S. intervention toppled the Taliban regime, intelligence gathering and coordination between U.S. and Afghan forces remain a major challenge. Faulty information and communication have been behind numerous civilian casualty incidents, as well as “friendly fire” attacks. Now, investigators are examining how an American AC-130 gunship could bomb a hospital for more than an hour.
[By evening, a hospital. By morning, a war zone.] “Did U.S. forces fire based solely on intelligence from Afghan troops? Did the U.S. identify and confirm the targets independently?” the watchdog group Human Rights Watch asked as it called for “a credible, independent and transparent investigation that provides genuine accountability.”
The two other airstrikes add grist to the concerns over intelligence. The Oct. 2 attacks on the warehouse and mansion, which housed a local government administrative office, have not been previously disclosed by U.S. authorities.
American forces “conducted three airstrikes in the vicinity of Kunduz city” on Oct. 2 in an effort “to eliminate threats to coalition and Afghan forces,” a U.S. military official acknowledged, speaking on the condition of anonymity because of military protocol. The official said he could not discuss the specific targets of that day or the methods used to select targets.
The head of the Afghan police special forces, who worked with American combat advisers here, said the two targets were struck by American warplanes.
In the case of the mansion, in a densely populated urban area, the strike obliterated a neighboring house and severely damaged others.
“It was a very big mistake,” said Haji Fazhul Rahman, a businessman, as he walked through the charred debris of his four-story home. Taliban fighters had looted the mansion next door, he said, but then left a day before the American airstrike.
With U.S. efforts to rebuild Afghanistan’s air force challenged by a lack of modern aircraft and trained personnel, American warplanes and drones have become the primary way to help this nation’s beleaguered army and police fight an emboldened Taliban. That makes it crucial that legitimate targets are chosen to prevent civilian casualties and a backlash against U.S. forces, particularly as the insurgents are increasingly targeting urban areas.
The number of airstrikes has steadily risen since spring, U.S. military data shows, though it is well below levels before the U.S. combat mission officially ended last December. The deployment of U.S. air power is expected to continue with President Obama’s recent decision to keep 5,500 U.S. troops in the country past next year.
But intelligence gathering, by both Afghans and U.S. forces, has been problematic. Under former president Hamid Karzai, American Special Operation forces were heavily criticized for lack of communication and coordination with Afghan forces. Over the years, hundreds of civilians have been killed in airstrikes.
In July, a U.S. airstrike killed eight Afghan soldiers in Logar province, which the provincial governor and Afghan military commanders described as “a mistake” caused by poor communication and coordination.
In the Kunduz hospital attack, two U.S. military investigations underway will “look at a series of potential human errors, failures of process and technical malfunctions that may have contributed” to the decision to attack, said Brig. Gen. Wilson Shoffner, the top U.S. military spokesman in Afghanistan. Doctors Without Borders has described the attack as a possible war crime and has called for an independent inquiry.
Shoffner, in an interview in the Afghan capital, expressed concern generally over the solidity of Afghan intelligence. “Afghan intel is one of their gaps that we’re going to have to continue to work with them on for years to come,” he said. “It’s critically important.”
[Afghan response to hospital bombing is muted, even sympathetic] Dawlat Waziri, an Afghan Defense Ministry spokesman, said Afghan forces were trying their best to give their U.S. partners “accurate information” when requesting airstrikes. But he added that the U.S. military also bears responsibility because “all this information is being analyzed by the Americans” before launching an attack.
In the case of the hospital attack, he disputed Gen. John F. Campbell, the U.S. military’s top commander, who said the strike was triggered by a request from Afghan forces facing a Taliban attack. Their request, Waziri said, was to strike Taliban fighters who had taken positions around the hospital.
“We never told the Americans to hit the hospital,” Waziri said. “An investigation is underway, and it will reveal the truth.”
Other Afghan officials, however, contend that insurgents were using the trauma facility as a base. “The Taliban was attacking from the hospital,” said Hamdullah Danishi, the provincial governor, claiming there were 300 insurgents inside. “They were opening fire on our soldiers.”
Doctors Without Borders has denied that armed rebels were inside its facility or that fighting was occurring around its compound at the time of the attack.
But a senior Afghan official, speaking on the condition of anonymity to be candid, said he was “glad” that the hospital was bombed, because “they treated hundreds of Taliban there.”
The hospital had been targeted before. In July, Afghan soldiers stormed the facility searching for wounded Taliban fighters and beat up some staff members, the medical aid group said at the time.
The fighting in Kunduz took place in a complex battlefield environment. Afghan security forces, and their American combat advisers, had not fought inside a densely populated area since the Taliban regime collapsed, and they had never had to wrest a city back from the insurgents.
Taliban fighters were moving quickly from building to building. Calling in an airstrike in such a situation was far more risky than in rural areas.
“Even if there is a difference of a millimeter in the coordinates, you get the wrong target,” said Atiqullah Amarkhil, a retired Afghan army general and a military analyst.
Several hours before the hospital attack, an Afghan special forces unit had asked its U.S. Special Operations advisers to launch airstrikes on the warehouse and the mansion, said Lt. Col. Abdullah Guard, the head of the Afghan police special forces in Kunduz, who worked with the American advisers.
The warehouse was used by a company called Alokozay, a distributor of tea and soft drinks. The mansion served as an administrative office to deal with foreign visas and other issues.
“There were huge numbers of Taliban inside the Alokozay warehouse, huge numbers of Taliban inside the MSF hospital, and huge numbers of Taliban inside the foreign office,” Guard said. “We gave all this information to our foreign allies. We were begging them to launch the airstrikes.”
Witnesses, including a guard who was in a corner of the warehouse compound when the attack unfolded, said there were no Taliban fighters inside. There had been clashes between Taliban and Afghan forces in the neighborhood around the time of the attack, with the insurgents firing from the roofs of houses and quickly melting away, witnesses said.
“When the airplane came, it couldn’t distinguish where the Taliban were located,” said Abdul Wali, 30, a guard at a medical clinic behind the warehouse who witnessed the attack. He said he saw five or six Taliban fighters on the street and in nearby buildings. “But there was none firing from the warehouse.” Rahman, the businessman who lived next to the mansion, had fled with his family hours before the attack there destroyed his home. As his son, Elham Rahmani, inspected the ruins, he had mixed emotions about the U.S. military’s actions in Kunduz.
On one hand, he said, the airstrikes demolished his home and the only trauma hospital in the region. On the other hand, the attacks stopped the Taliban from reaching the airport, where Afghan soldiers and police had retreated when the insurgents seized the city.
“Or else,” said Rahmani, “the whole province would have fallen to them.”
| Armed Conflict | November 2015 | ['(Doctors Without Borders)', '(MSF)', '(Washington Post)'] |
Per Section 24 of the Constitution, Thailand formally confirms as the Regent pro tempore Prem Tinsulanonda, the President of the Privy Council and the former confidant of King Bhumibol Adulyadej. , | By Associated Press 17 October 2016 BANGKOK, Thailand — A 96-year-old confidant of late King Bhumibol Adulyadej has been formally confirmed as the regent to manage the throne in the place of the crown prince and heir apparent, but it wasn’t clear how long the caretaker arrangement would last.
In a speech late Saturday, Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha said that Crown Prince Maha Vajiralongkorn invited him and regent Prem Tinsulanonda for an audience to discuss the situation “as his royal highness was deeply concerned for the Thai people during this time of national bereavement.”
Prem heads the Privy Council, a body of advisers to the monarchy, and was the closest adviser of Bhumibol. He is also known to be close to Bhumibol’s highly popular daughter Maha Chakri Sirindhorn. Vajiralongkorn, who should have ascended the throne, has asked for more time to grieve along with the nation before taking over the monarchy. The constitution dictates that the Privy Council head be the regent in such a situation.
“His Highness’s only wish is to not let the people experience confusion or worry about the service of the land or even the ascension to the throne because this issue has the constitution, the royal laws and royal traditions to dictate it,” Prayuth said in his message broadcast on television.
The 64-year-old crown prince implores everyone to help each other get through the grief first before thinking of his ascension to the throne, Prayuth said.
“Once merit-making and the cremation has passed …then it should be the right time to proceed. This procedure should not impact the work plan or any steps,” he said.
No date has been set for the cremation, which in royal families is usually months if not years later. Officials have suggested it would be at least a year. Buddhist funeral ceremonies have already begun at the Grand Palace complex in Bangkok’s historic center where Bhumibol’s body is kept in an ornate hall for the royal family members to pay respects. The hall will be opened to the public on Oct. 28.
Analysts say the question of succession is important because the late king had been the unifying glue that had held Thailand’s often fractious politics together, and diffused tensions during crises when the dominant military was pitted against the civil society. While the institution of monarchy is generally revered and respected in Thailand, it is more so because of Bhumibol’s popularity that no other royal member commands.
“His death means that the Thai political system must find an alternative focal point around which to unite the country’s factionalized population,” said Tom Pepinsky, a Southeast Asia expert at Cornell University.
For ordinary Thais, succession was not particularly top on their minds for now as they were consumed by grief at the loss of a man many saw as their father and a demigod.
Tens of thousands of people are thronging at the palace complex to pay their last respects to a beloved monarch who dominated the memories of generations of Thais. Authorities have allowed people to enter the complex for a limited time, and only to sign condolence books in another hall.
The king of Bhutan is also expected to visit later Sunday.
Bhumibol’s death after 70 years on the throne was a momentous event in Thailand, where the monarch has been glorified as an anchor for a fractious society that for decades has been turned on its head by frequent coups. Over the past 10 years, Thailand has suffered particularly intense political turmoil pitting arch-royalists against those seeking a redistribution of economic and political power, allied with Thaksin Shinawatra, a populist prime minister ousted in a 2006 coup.
But in recent years, Bhumibol had suffered from a variety of illnesses and seemed far removed from the upheavals of Thai politics, including the 2014 coup that brought current prime minister, an army general, to power.
A one-year mourning period for the government has been declared together with a 30-day moratorium on state and official events. But no substantial demands have been made of the private sector.
The government has only urged people to refrain from organizing entertainment events for a month, apparently mindful of the need to ensure that the sputtering economy, which relies heavily on tourism, does not suffer too much. | Government Job change - Appoint_Inauguration | October 2016 | ['(The Bangkok Post)', '(The Irrawaddy)'] |
Romanians go to the polls for the first round of the presidential election and to vote on proposed parliamentary reform. | A run-off vote is expected in Romania after none of the 12 candidates won outright in the first round of Sunday's presidential election.
With three quarters of votes counted, centre-right President Traian Basescu has secured around a third of votes. His main rival, Social Democrat Mircea Geoana, trails him by 3%. Amid political crisis, Romania has been in the hands of a caretaker government since the fall of PM Emil Boc's centre-right government in October. The winning presidential candidate will appoint a new premier and have an influence on long-delayed reforms aimed at bringing the Eastern European country up to EU standards. The IMF has delayed the payment of part of its bail-out loan because of the current lack of effective government in Romania. Analysts say corruption is still widespread, nearly three years after the country joined the EU. 'Fraud'
A run-off vote pitting Mr Basescu against Mr Geoana is expected to be held on 6 December.
Until then, a tough fight can be expected between the two main candidates for the votes which went to other nominees, says the BBC's Nick Thorpe in Bucharest. While casting their votes, the two front-runners said the election was one of the most important the recession-hit country has had to face. On Sunday, a referendum was also held to decide whether to scrap one of the two chambers of parliament and reduce the number of deputies. Results suggested strong backing for the proposal to abolish the Senate. There were reports of potential fraud. More voters than normal appeared to be casting their vote at special centres set up for citizens who were away from their normal residences because they were travelling, the Associated Press news agency reported. More than 305,000 people were expected to vote at these type of locations according to the electoral committee. However, Adriean Videanu, the country's economy minister said election authorities in Moara Vlasie were "overwhelmed" because of "electoral tourism", AP reported. Reforms
This is Romania's first presidential election as a member of the European Union. More than 18 million people were eligible to vote. Mr Basescu, who has been president for five years, wants a mandate to overcome what he says is the blocking of his political reforms by opposition parties. Mr Geoana - a former ambassador to the US and foreign affairs minister - is offering voters an ambitious economic stimulus package. | Government Job change - Election | November 2009 | ['(Agerpres)', '(BBC)'] |
Pakistani, Afghan and Chinese officials hold talks in Kabul aimed at ending the region's conflicts. | The three countries agreed a peaceful end to the war would have economic and trade benefits for the region.
Officials from Afghanistan, Pakistan and China met in the Afghan capital Kabul on Saturday to discuss trade, development and solutions to end the region’s relentless conflicts.
The bitter relationship between Pakistan and Afghanistan dominated the talks, with all three countries agreeing that a peaceful end to the war would have economic and trade benefits for the entire region.
Pakistan and Afghanistan have long accused each other of failing to combat the Taliban and other armed groups that operate along their porous border.
During a news conference after the trilateral talks, Foreign Minister Salahuddin Rabbani said that Kabul had yet to see “tangible progress” from Pakistan “in the fight against terrorism”.
He said Afghanistan wanted to see some “specific measures” from Islamabad to end the violence, without offering details
Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi said Islamabad wanted a fresh start in its relationship with Afghanistan.
“The time has come to move on, to stop pointing fingers, join hands for a future,” Qureshi said. “If you want Pakistan to act for reconciliation then stop pointing fingers at Pakistan.”
China, which has hosted Taliban leaders in an effort to bring the warring sides to the negotiating table, sees an end to the war as critical to its “One Belt, One Road” policy of expanding trade links across Asia.
It is the second such meeting of the three neighbouring countries.
China is investing tens of billions of dollars in Pakistan, and the two have forged close economic ties.
The China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) is a key cog of that policy, under which Beijing has pledged $60bn to build power stations, major highways, new and upgraded railways and higher capacity ports to help turn Pakistan into a major overland route linking western China to the world.
Afghanistan’s Rabbani said his country also wants to participate in the Chinese initiative.
Efforts to end the Afghan conflict have accelerated since the appointment in September of US envoy Zalmay Khalilzad, who has shuttled across the region in an effort to revive Afghan peace talks.
He has reportedly held several meetings with the Taliban at their political office in the Gulf country of Qatar.
The State Department has neither confirmed nor denied the talks.
Afghanistan and the United States also accuse Islamabad of providing support to the Taliban fighting the Afghan government and international forces in the country. Pakistan rejects this accusation.
On Friday, Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan confirmed that Islamabad was facilitating talks between the US and the Taliban.
The talks are scheduled to begin on December 17, the Dawn newspaper reported.
Earlier this month, US President Donald Trump also asked Pakistan to help bring the Taliban to the negotiating table in Afghanistan.
| Diplomatic Talks _ Diplomatic_Negotiation_ Summit Meeting | December 2018 | ['(Al Jazeera)'] |
Prime Minister Novruz Mammadov presents his resignation as President appoints Ali Asadov to the office. | Azerbaijan has appointed a new prime minister, as the leadership continues to promote economists and technocrats in an effort to revive its long-sputtering economy.
The transition took Azerbaijanis by surprise but nevertheless happened quickly and seamlessly: On the morning of October 8 it was announced that the current PM, Novruz Mammadov, would be stepping down and that President Ilham Aliyev had nominated his adviser on economic affairs, Ali Asadov, to replace him. And it was barely past noon in Baku when parliament unanimously confirmed Asadov. The premiership is a largely toothless position in Azerbaijan, and little was heard from Mammadov since he was appointed 18 months ago. An article in the government-friendly news website Haqqin, published immediately after his resignation, argued that Mammadov had failed to make progress jumpstarting the economy.
Mammadov “did not manage the tasks put before him,” wrote Haqqin’s chief editor, Eynula Fatullayev. “The prime minister wasn’t able in a year and a half to reorganize the government’s work and to increase its effectiveness, to turn the cabinet of ministers into a locomotive of the economic reforms initiated by the president. Economic and financial reforms ground to a halt and required the president’s constant personal intervention. Without the president nothing happened. Moreover, Mammadov did not manage to improve macroeconomic indicators, in particular gross domestic product, which the president had repeatedly demanded.”
Asadov is an economist by profession, in contrast to Mammdov, whose experience was more oriented toward foreign policy. “A generational change in the executive power vertical is taking place before our eyes,” Fatullayev continued. “The changes will continue. The president has tied the transformation of the economy to personnel changes, as personnel are not responsible only for the success of reforms, personnel decide everything!”
While Asadov hardly represents a generational change himself – he is 62 – his appointment nevertheless seems to be consistent with a recent trend toward appointing younger, economically and technocratic-minded figures to senior positions. Many of the new appointees also are members of what is known in Azerbaijan as the “Pashayev clan,” connected to the family of Aliyev’s wife and First Vice President Mehriban Aliyeva. While Asadov isn’t a well-known member of that clan, a well-informed source in Baku told Eurasianet that he is connected with the family. In his first address to parliament after being confirmed, Asadov himself put the emphasis on the economy.
“Under the leadership of president Ilham Aliyev, Azerbaijan’s economy has seen titanic developments,” he said. “Global projects have been implemented. The non-oil sector is developing. Azerbaijan entered into the family of space nations.” | Government Job change - Resignation_Dismissal | October 2019 | ['(Al Jazeera)', '(Eurasianet)'] |
The trial of seven former Bosnian Serb officers for alleged involvement in the Srebrenica massacre begins at The Hague war crimes tribunal. Five of the seven standing trial face genocide charges, as well as crimes against humanity. The trial is the largest yet staged at The Hague. | The men are pleading not guilty to a range of charges including murder, persecution and genocide.
The trial, the largest yet staged at The Hague, is one of just a handful dealing with the killing of 8,000 Bosnian Muslims in the UN safe haven.
The massacre is the only event from the Bosnian war classified as genocide.
Five of the seven standing trial at The Hague face genocide charges, as well as crimes against humanity.
The prosecution alleges that some of the defendants were involved in the "systematic" operation to kill thousands of Bosnian Muslims and then conceal them in mass graves.
Objections
The trial opened in confusion when chief prosecutor Carla Del Ponte began to describe a visit to Srebrenica.
DEFENDANTS
Vujadin Popovic: Bosnian Serb commander
Ljubisa Beara: Chief of staff
Drago Nikolic: Security chief
Ljubomir Borovcanin: Special police commander
Radivoje Miletic: Deputy chief of staff
Milan Gvero: Assistant commander
Vinko Pandurevic: Brigade commander
"Earlier this week I was in Potocari [near Srebrenica] to mark the 11th anniversary of the Srebrenica atrocity. I stood with thousands of mourners, mostly women..." she said, before being cut off.
Defence lawyers objected to her statement, complaining that it was "emotive", and judges ruled that Ms Del Ponte would have to wait until official opening statements before she could speak.
Although the defendants have entered their pleas, opening statements in the trial are not due until after the tribunal's summer recess.
The case was adjourned until opening statements on 21 August.
Correspondents say the case is one of the most important yet brought before the tribunal.
Just six men have so far been convicted over the Srebrenica massacre, and only two of those on genocide charges.
The two men accused of masterminding the massacre, former Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic and his military commander Ratko Mladic, remain at large. | Famous Person - Commit Crime - Accuse | July 2006 | ['(BBC)'] |
Police in Brussels, Belgium, forcibly break up an apparent far-right demonstration with water cannons after they joined a crowd of people paying tribute to the victims of the bombings. The demonstrators claim to have marched against terrorism but police intervened when the demonstrators confronted Muslim women and made Nazi salutes. | Belgian police fired water cannon to disperse a large group of demonstrators who stormed a central Brussels square.
They invaded the Place de la Bourse as people paid tribute at a makeshift memorial for victims of last Tuesday's deadly attacks. Riot police intervened to try to restore order after the group confronted Muslim women in the crowds, made Nazi salutes and chanted.
The attacks at Brussels airport and on the metro killed 28 people.
A "march against fear" planned for Sunday was called off after the authorities said it would strain police resources for the investigation. Belgian police also carried out 13 new raids and took more people in for questioning on Sunday as part of investigations into the attacks. A man already in Belgian custody was reported to have been charged in connection with a foiled attack in the Paris region. Separately, Dutch police announced on Sunday evening that they had detained a Frenchman, 32, in Rotterdam at the request of French authorities. He was arrested on suspicion of preparing an attack in France and will be extradited to the country. Three other people were also detained.
The Frenchman is allegedly linked to Reda Kriket, who was arrested in a Paris suburb on Thursday and said to be in the "advanced stage" of plotting an attack, AFP news agency reported citing a police source.
It is the latest in a series of arrests across Europe that police say are linked to planned or actual attacks.
The BBC's Anna Holligan in Brussels says the group involved in the demonstration actually call themselves Casuals against Terrorism - not Fascists against Terrorism as earlier reported. Some of the hundreds-strong group wore balaclavas and anonymous masks. Many wore black clothing. Some reports described them as football hooligans.
One of them, called Andres, told AFP news agency: "We are football hooligans, we don't have anything to do with politics." "We are here for the victims and to pay our respects," he said.
AFP said about 10 people were arrested.
One witness, Adam Liston, told the BBC there had been a "really positive atmosphere" in the square, as people crowded round the floral tributes in solidarity with the victims. "Then a bunch of skinheads just turned up, marched into the square, and started a major confrontation with the peace protesters. They got in the face of the protesters and police. They set off flares and chanted and it was getting quite ugly," he said.
He added that although it had been "pretty non-violent", it looked like it "could have kicked off".
The Belgian prime minister and the city mayor have strongly condemned the behaviour. "I am appalled by what is happening, to learn that such thugs have come to provoke residents at the site of their memorial," said Brussels mayor Yvan Mayeur.
PM Charles Michel said it was "highly inappropriate that protesters have disrupted the peaceful reflection at the Bourse (stock exchange)".
| Riot | March 2016 | ['(Euronews)', '(BBC)'] |
The leaders of the three main UK political parties agree to stage the country's first ever live televised election debates ahead of the 2010 General Election. | The UK looks set to have its first ever televised prime ministerial debates after a deal was struck between the big three parties and broadcasters.
Labour's Gordon Brown, Conservative leader David Cameron and Lib Dem leader Nick Clegg have agreed to go head-to-head in a series of three debates. The first will be on ITV, the second on Sky and the third on the BBC. There will also be separate debates involving the main parties in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. Earlier the SNP and Plaid Cymru said they should be allowed to take part in the main debates. Live presidential debates in the US and other countries have provided many of the key moments of election campaigns and are seen as having raised voters' interest. Themed
But in the UK, despite many calls for such debates to be held, there has never been agreement reached between leaders and with broadcasters.
The programmes will be broadcast in peak time during the General Election campaign and will be between 85 and 90 minutes long in front of a selected audience. ITV's Alastair Stewart will host the first, Sky's Adam Boulton the second and the BBC's David Dimbleby will host the third debate. The format will be the same for each, although about half of each debate will be themed. There will be separate debates held in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland among all the main parties, which will be broadcast on BBC Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland and across the UK on the BBC News Channel. And following the prime ministerial debates, all political parties which have significant levels of support at a national level will be offered opportunities across BBC output to respond to the issues raised in the debate. Prime Minister Gordon Brown told the Daily Mirror: "I relish the opportunity provided by these debates to discuss the big choices the country faces.
"Choices like whether we lock in the recovery or whether we choke it off; whether we protect the NHS, schools and police or whether we put them at risk to pay for tax cuts for the wealthy few." Speaking at a public meeting, Conservative leader David Cameron said: "I have always believed in live television debates. "I think they can help enliven our democracy, I think they will help answer people's questions, I think they will crystallise the debate about the change this country needs." 'Vigorous debate'
Liberal Democrat leader Mr Clegg said he was "delighted". "After a terrible year for politicians because of the expenses scandals, these debates will be an opportunity to start re-engaging people with politics... I hope an open, honest and vigorous debate will encourage more people to have their say at the ballot box." The election is widely expected to be held on Thursday 6 May although there has been speculation that it could be called for 25 March instead.
Cameron 'delighted' about TV debate
Ric Bailey, the BBC's chief adviser on politics, said a lot of work had been done to get agreement and there was still some way to go on the detail. He added: "I think it is quite significant in the sense that it's never happened before and all three of the biggest parties in the UK have agreed to do it." Discussions will resume in the new year to finalise detailed arrangements for the debates. Opposition leaders regularly call for TV debates in the run-up to general elections but while they are commonplace in the US, they have not been held in Britain. Tony Blair refused to take part in one when he was prime minister and Mr Brown has previously argued that the situation is different in the US, where presidents are directly elected. 'Completely undemocratic'
British prime ministers have argued that they are questioned regularly, at prime minister's questions and in statements to the Commons. Critics also say such debates overly personalise a UK election campaign, where people vote for a local MP rather than directly for a leader. There have also been questions about whether the debates should be a head-to-head between the leaders of the two largest parties or whether the Lib Dem leader should also be included. Earlier, before the announcement was made that debates would be made available to other parties, the SNP and Plaid Cymru said they should be allowed to take part in the main debates. Scottish National Party leader Alex Salmond said he would be seeking "guarantees of inclusion from the broadcasters, given their inescapable duty to ensure fairness and impartiality in election-related coverage in Scotland. "It is entirely unacceptable to Scotland as well as to the SNP for the broadcasters to exclude the party that forms the government of Scotland - and indeed is now leading in Westminster election polls," he said. And Plaid Cymru's Westminster leader Elfyn Llwyd said it was "completely undemocratic" as it would give the main parties an unfair advantage. He said he would complain to the Electoral Commission. "Both Plaid Cymru and the SNP are in government in the respective devolved administrations and it is an insult that such important political voices are to be left out of such a historic event," he said. | Government Job change - Election | December 2009 | ['(BBC)', '(Telegraph.co.uk)'] |
Swedish sex club owner Mille Markovic is shot dead in Stockholm. | By Sara Malm Published: 12:48 BST, 24 January 2014 | Updated: 12:49 BST, 24 January 2014 141
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Notorious Serbian-Swedish gangster Milo 'Mille' Markovic has been found dead with four bullet wounds to his head in Stockholm.
The 52-year-old was shot dead while sitting in a car outside his home in Ulvsunda, in the western part of the Swedish capital, just after 6pm last night, the engine still running.
Markovic was unofficially credited as one of the sources for the controversial 2010 biography about the King of Sweden in which the monarch was accused of attending strip clubs and having extramarital affairs.
Crime scene: Police and forensic officers investigate the car where gangster Mille Markovic was found shot dead in Stockholm
Gangster: The 52-year-old Serbian-Swede was found dead outside his west Stockholm home, bullet wounds to his head, in his car with the engine still running
'It sounded like fireworks,' a witness told Aftonbladet. 'Then I saw two men in dark clothing from afar.'
'They were standing by a car where the sound of fireworks came from. One of them said "he is dead".'
Markovic gained fame as the owner of 'porn club' Prive and is said to have been one of the main sources for The Reluctant Monarch, a biography of King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden.
The book revealed that the king and his friends had enjoyed the company of 'coffee girls' - women who would 'entertain' the group, consisting of members of the remains of Swedish aristocracy.
It also alleged that the king visited underground strip clubs, and that he had been involved in an extramarital affair with a famous Swedish singer in the 90s.
Reluctant monarch: Markovic claimed to have photographs of King Carl XVI Gustaf with naked strippers, and was one of the sources for a biography which claimed the king visited sex clubs and cheated on Queen Silvia
Following the publication of the book Markovic claimed that he had compromising photographs of the king with naked women, taken at one of his sex clubs in the 1980s.
Markovic had lived under threat for 'a long time' and had been wearing a Kevlar vest as a precaution, a police source told Aftonbladet.
According to the source, the reason why Markovic was shot in the head may have been that his killers knew he was wearing the protective vest.
Today, Swedish tabloid Expressen revealed that Markovic may have caught his own murder on camera as he had at least two CCTV cameras in operation outside his house.
Police are looking for two men said to have left the scene in a white Toyota, but refused to comment on the possible CCTV footage.
In cold blood: Mille Markovic was shot four times in the head while sitting in the front seat of his car, seen here being towed from the scene
Rumours: Stockholm police are still investigating the scene as an inside source told a newspaper that Markovic may have been shot in the head as his killers knew he was wearing a protective vest
Investigation: Police are securing evidence at the scene where witnesses say they saw two men in dark clothes last night following the shots
Markovic, a 70s boxing champion, was born in Serbia but fled to Sweden with his father as a young child, becoming a neutralized citizen in 1982.
The 52-year-old former porn-club owner had a long history of criminal activity, with previous convictions of assault, tax crimes, and preparing to blackmail world-famous tennis ace Bjorn Borg.
Markovic had planned to lure Borg to Club Prive, and there take photographs of him having sex with one of his 'girls'.
Last year he was charged with attempted murder in connection with a shooting at his former club, but the case was dropped after a witness retracted statements during the trial.
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The views expressed in the contents above are those of our users and do not necessarily reflect the views of MailOnline. | Famous Person - Death | January 2014 | ['(Aftonbladet)', '(Daily Mail)'] |
A bus skids off a mountain road into a 700–foot –deep ravine in Uttarakhand, India, killing at least 48 people. | Police say there was a landslide two days before the crash, and that rain may have caused the bus to skid off the mountain road.
Sunday 1 July 2018 13:05, UK
At least 48 people have died following a crash which saw a bus plunge off a Himalayan mountain road and into a 700ft-deep ravine, officials have said.
Police say a rescue operation is ongoing to reach casualties and that others are injured after the accident in the Pauri Garhwal district in Uttarakhand, northern India.
The 28-seater bus, which was travelling from Bhoan to Ramnagar, was carrying around double the amount of passengers, officials said.
At least seven other people are believed to be critically injured.
"People were packed like sardines," said police officer Jagat Ram Joshi.
Trivendra Rawat, the chief minister of Uttarakhand, said the bus skidded and fell into a 700ft (213m) deep gorge.
Senior police official Sanjay Gunjiyal said 20 bodies had so far been pulled out of the wreckage, but that rescue work was being hampered by bad weather.
The cause of the crash is not yet known but Mr Gunjiyal said rain could have caused the bus to skid off the road.
He said: "It is raining (in the area) since morning. Two days back there was a landslide in that area." | Road Crash | July 2018 | ['(210\xa0m)', '(Sky News)'] |
England beats New Zealand in the 2019 Cricket World Cup Final on total boundaries after both regulation play and a super over end in a tie. | Jofra Archer, and England, held their nerve in the World Cup's first Super Over finish to claim the trophy for the first time
Scorer: @Thilak_Rama | Commentator: Karthik Krishnaswamy
8.05pm Finally, England get their hands on the big prize. It could so easily have been New Zealand today, but you can't grudge Eoin Morgan's team. They're truly the best ODI side in the world, and if they had some holes in their combination before the tournament - the bowling attack conceding plenty, a tendency for their batsmen to crumble on bowling-friendly surfaces - those holes seem to have been filled now. They have two superfast wicket-takers for all conditions in Archer and Wood, and their batting looks so much more battle-hardened, as we saw today during that partnership between Ben Stokes and Jos Buttler. And what of New Zealand? They've been through more close games than any other team in this tournament, and until today they'd been finishing on the right end of those results. Against Bangladesh, South Africa, West Indies, India - have I missed any? Today, in the closest finish imaginable - tied match, tied Super Over, losing on boundary count - they've come out on the wrong side. It's going to take a while for them to get this out of their systems. We've had so much going on, so much to wrap up. Here's the final boundary count, the effective victory margin for England: 26-17. Is it the right way to separate tied teams? Who knows. It's the method we've got, and on this day it was England who triumphed. The smallest of margins. Anyway, that is it from all of us for this World Cup. We've had dozens of people bringing you commentary, reports and live reports. We've had a fantastic team of correspondents travelling around England and Wales and bringing you the very best ringside views. There's all the people producing the video content. We have a fantastic desk that puts all this content together. On behalf of all of them, goodbye. We hope you've had as incredible a time as we have. Eoin Morgan: "There wasn't a lot in that game, jeez. I'd like to comisserate with Kane. The fight, the spirit they showed. I thought it was a hard, hard game. This has been a four-year journey, we've developed a lot over those years, particularly the last two. To get over the line today means the world to us. The guys in the middle keep us cool, the way they play, the experience. It's calming at times. Not a lot between the teams. Just delighted we're lifting the trophy today. As long as he wasn't too cooked [sending Stokes back out for the Super Over]. Full credit to those two boys and Jofra. Every time he plays, he improves. The world is really at his feet at the moment." Kane Williamson is the Player of the Tournament. "Look, it certainly wasn't just one extra run," he says. "So many small parts in that match that could have gone either way as we saw. Congratulations to England on a fantastic campaign. It's been challenging, the pitches have been a little different to what we expected. Lots of talk of 300-plus scores, but we haven't seen many of those. I'd like to thank the New Zealand team for the fight they showed to keep us in the tournament, and get us this far. A tie in the final. So many parts to it. The players are shattered at the moment. Obviously it's devastating. They've performed at such a high level through the tournament." He continues, on the match: "We were weighing up the overheads versus the pitch, it was on the drier side. runs on the board, as it proved, was going to be challenging. We would have liked another 20, but in a World Cup final we'll take 240-250. Both sides showed a lot of heart, a lot of fight. For it to go to the last ball, and the last ball of the next match, it was pretty hard. That [the Stokes deflection] was a bit of a shame, wasn't it? You just hope it doesn't happen in moments like that. You can nitpick, but perhaps it just wasn't meant to be for us. It is perhaps tough to review the match, and such small margins." Ben Stokes is the Player of the Match. He gets a handshake from Sachin Tendulkar, who's part of the presentation party. "I'm pretty lost for words," he says. "All the hard words that's gone in over these four years, this is where we aspired to be. To do it with such a game, I don't think there will be another like this in the history of cricket. Jos and I knew if we'd be there close to the end, New Zealand would be under pressure. Not the way I wanted to do it, ball going off my bat like that, I apologised to Kane. We backed the new kid, Jofra Archer, the talent that he's got, he showed the world today. The lads, in this one-day team, the Test team, my family, their support has been massive. Now I'm just looking forward to tonight, mate." 7.50pm: Here's a massive question from Vishal Jain: "What if Santner had stolen a bye in 49.6 ball of New Zealand's batting innings?" -- I'm thinking Buttler would have run the non-striker out, and New Zealand wouldn't have got that run anyway, but then again, what if...
Bhanu: "That deflection...got to be Hand of God, version of cricket." -- Absolutely! Another variant from Raghu: "Hand of God Diego Maradona.. Bat of God Ben Stokes!!" Jonny Bairstow "Massive commiserations to the New Zealand boys. Edges one way, edges another. The way the guys came back in the Super Over was fantastic, and Stokes was huge. To play at Lord's is one thing, to play a World Cup final at Lord's is something else." Jos Buttler "I thought I'd seen everythign in cricket, and that game was just ridiculous. Hard to put it in words. We wanted to take it deep. We didn't feel like the run rate would be an issue if we were both there in the end. A couple of good partnerships, we'll chase this down. Trying to put pressure back on New Zealand. Don't know what happened there in the end. Unbelievable." Joe Root: "It's almost written in the stars for Ben. Everything he's gone through, I can't be more proud and pleased for him." Liam Plunkett: "Hasn't sunk in yet. What a finish that was. Hats off to the Kiwi boys. Over the moon." Ben Stokes: "I'm pretty lost for words. All the hard work over four years to get here, and to be champions of the world is an amazing feeling. Playing against New Zealand is always a great event to be a part of. They're a seriously good team, they're a bunch of good lads. I spoke to Kane, I apologised (for the deflection for overthrows)." Jofra Archer: "Was pretty sure I was going to bowl it. Just had a chat with Morgs (starts chuckling) heart's still racing, sorry. It's probably the only tournament I've ever won in my life. From the beginning, the guys did so well. Would have been disappointed if we didn't win. They've been a really good family to me." 7.40pm England's players troop back through the Long Room and back onto the field. New Zealand's players are slumped on the grass. Rishabh: "England has been on the receiving end of many heartbreaking losses due to overthrows - Natwest Final 2002, that WT20 game against Netherlands in 2009. Both games at Lord's! What an occasion and place to have a chance to redeem their luck! And redeem they did, and how!" -- Can't think any of those were as random and - Bothamesque, who-writes-your-scripts-esque - as this one with the deflection off Stokes. Raj: "If, instead of boundaries, they had counted the total wickets taken then it would have been a celebration for NZ. To be honest, that should have been the actual heuristic so it takes into consideration not just the batting but also the bowling figures"
Guru: "So the trend continues WC HOSTS winning the WC" -- Yup. India, Australia, and England now. 7.35pm What scenes at Lord's. Glorious sunshine at 7.35pm. The 1975 final was similar, extending for hours and hours and ending late in the evening with the ground still bathed in sunshine. This is kind of like that, but better. What a match we've had. Jason Roy was the fielder at deep midwicket, the guy who threw the World Cup-winning throw. What a wonderful, cruel sport this is. I can't imagine how Martin Guptill must be feeling at this moment. Ben Stokes is in tears as he embraces members of his support staff. | Sports Competition | July 2019 | ['(ESPN)'] |
Thailand votes in its 26th general election with results showing the Pheu Thai Party loyal to former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra winning a majority. Yingluck Shinawatra, the opposition party leader, is expected to be the first female Prime Minister of Thailand. | BANGKOK, July 2 - Thailand's 26th general election starts Sunday morning, with eligible voters flocking to polling booths nationwide to choose a new government which will shape the country's future.
A total of 90,854 polling stations nationwide opens at 8 am (0100 GMT) and will close at 3 pm (0800 GMT). 180,000 policemen are manning polling stations to ensure voting proceeds smoothly without any violence.
There are 47 million eligible voters among the country's population of 67 million. Some 2.6 million voters have already cast their ballots in advance voting.
The poll is the first since the March-May unrest last year, in which about 90 people were killed as anti-government Red Shirt protesters tried to force Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva to call early elections. Their claim was that he came to power illegitimately with the covert help of the military.
Many Red Shirts are supporters of former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, who was ousted by a military coup in 2006 and lives abroad in self-exile.
This election will be a two-horse race between Mr Abhisit's Democrat Party, Thailand's oldest political party, and Pheu Thai Party headed by Yingluck Shinawatra, the youngest sister of ousted prime minister Thaksin, and top party list candidate for prime minister.
The Democrat Party, which has not won a general election since 1992, came to power via a parliamentary vote in 2008. The party's traditional strongholds are the capital and the South, while the voter-rich North and Northeastern are political bastions of its main rival Pheu Thai.
A total of 3,735 candidates from 42 parties have registered to run in the election. At stake are 500 seats for four-year term members of parliament, with 375 constituency seats elected in 76 provinces and 125 party list seats.
Unofficial results are expected after 9 pm (1400 GMT), according to Election Commissioner Prapun Naigowit.
The 2007 constitution states that the new parliament must convene within 30 days of the polling date to select a House Speaker. The newly-elected MPs are then tasked with selecting a prime minister within another 30 days.
If no party scores a landslide victory (or clinches an outright majority of more than 250 parliament seats), the party with plurality can form a coalition government with smaller parties. If that party fails to do so, the second-placed party would then have the opportunity. (MCOT online news) | Government Job change - Election | July 2011 | ['(Thai News Agency)', '(BBC)', '(Bangkok Post)', '(Bloomberg)', '(ABC News Australia)', '(Al Jazeera)'] |
Negotiations between General Motors and the United Automobile Workers continue in Detroit, Michigan past the deadline with a strike to start if negotiations fail. | DETROIT, Sept. 15 — Negotiators for the United Automobile Workers union and General Motors took a break from bargaining Saturday night and plan to resume contract talks on Sunday, even though the contract expired at midnight Saturday. When a marathon negotiating session Friday stretched into the early hours of Saturday, G.M.’s 73,000 workers at local unions nationwide were told to wait for updates, rather than strike.
| Diplomatic Talks _ Diplomatic_Negotiation_ Summit Meeting | September 2007 | ['(NYT)'] |
Taliban commander Faqir Mohammed is reportedly killed in a drone strike in Pakistan. | A senior Taliban commander is likely to have been killed by an air strike in Pakistan's north-west, officials say.
The interior minister said he assumed Maulana Faqir Mohammed was dead after helicopters hit a building in Mohmand region, killing at least 16 militants. Faqir Mohammed - one of the Pakistani Taliban's top figures and commander in the Bajaur tribal area - has been the focus of recent Pakistani action. A number of Taliban leaders have been arrested or killed in recent weeks. Washington has been urging Pakistan to act against Afghan Taliban members taking shelter in the tribal areas along the border. The Pakistani military said recently that the Bajaur area, on the border and once a haven for Afghan and Pakistani Taliban, had been cleared of insurgents. Last refuge
Speaking in Islamabad, Interior Minister Rehman Malik said he could not confirm the death of Maulana Faqir Mohammed, but expected he was killed in the strike. "We had real-time intelligence that Faqir Mohammad was in a meeting with another commander, Qari Zia-ur-Rehman, in the basement of this hideout at the time of the attack," Mr Malik said, quoted by Reuters news agency. "I would be surprised if he's alive. I hope we'll have confirmation in a day or so." Mr Malik did confirm the death of one senior Taliban figure in the raid, Fateh Mohammed, a military commander in the Swat valley area. Faqir Mohammed staked a claim to be the overall leader of the Pakistani Taliban after the movement's figurehead, Baitullah Mehsud, was killed in a US drone attack, reports the BBC's Ilyas Khan, in Islamabad, After the fall last week of Damadola, the Taliban's last stronghold in Bajaur, he was reported to have slipped into the Mohmand region along with hundreds of Taliban fighters. Qari Zia-ur-Rehman is said to be the top leader of the Taliban in Kunar and Nuristan provinces in Afghanistan. It is widely believed he has been hiding in Bajaur, and is wanted by Pakistanis and US forces operating in Afghanistan. | Armed Conflict | March 2010 | ['(BBC)'] |
A regional bank for South America, the Bank of the South, with a $20-billion initial capital is then set up under an agreement signed by seven nations—Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Ecuador, Paraguay, Uruguay and Venezuela—on the sidelines of the summit. | The presidents of Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay, Ecuador, Bolivia and Venezuela, signed on Saturday night an agreement establishing the South Bank with an initial capital of 20 billion U.S. dollars.
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez announced the creation of the South Bank during the second Summit of South America-Africa (ASA), which began earlier Saturday on the island of Margarita, northeastern Venezuela.
The new bank will fund programs for economic and social development in the member states. It will also create and promote national financing funds, among other functions.
The document was signed by Luis Inacio Lula da Silva of Brazil, Cristina Fernandez of Argentina, Rafael Correa of Ecuador, Tabare Vasquez of Uruguay, Fernando Lugo of Paraguay, Evo Morales of Bolivia and Hugo Chavez of Venezuela.
It was unclear how much each country would contribute, but under the previous $7 billion figure announced in May, Argentina, Venezuela and Brazil were to have each pledged $2 billion, while Uruguay, Ecuador, Paraguay and Bolivia were to have chipped in smaller amounts.
During the summit, the Venezuelan president also proposed to his African counterparts the creation of a regional bank between South America and Africa.
Only six or seven been pledged, the must rest come from Iran and Libya. What a fine group of friends they are developing.
| Sign Agreement | September 2009 | ['(African Press Agency)', '[permanent dead link]', '(MercoPress)'] |
Over a thousand protestors march in the financial district of Hong Kong to show solidarity with Uyghur Muslims in Xinjiang. A dozen police officers clash with the crowd to disperse them. | HONG KONG (Reuters) - Hong Kong riot police pepper sprayed protesters to disperse crowds in the heart of the city’s financial district on Sunday after a largely peaceful rally in support of China’s ethnic Uighurs turned chaotic.
Dozens of police marched across a public square overlooking Hong Kong’s harbor to face off with protesters who hurled glass bottles and rocks at them.
Earlier in the afternoon more than 1,000 people had rallied calmly, waving Uighur flags and posters, as they took part in the latest demonstration in over six months of unrest.
A mixed crowd of young and elderly people, dressed in black and wearing masks to shield their identities, held up signs reading “Free Uyghur, Free Hong Kong” and “Fake ‘autonomy’ in China results in genocide”.
The protest comes after midfielder Mesut Ozil of English soccer club Arsenal caused a furor in China after he criticized the country’s policies toward the Muslim ethnic minority in the restive northwestern region of Xinjiang.
Ozil, a German Muslim of Turkish origin, tweeted that Uighurs were “warriors who resist persecution” and criticized both China’s strong hand in Xinjiang and the relative silence of Muslims in response.
“I think basic freedom and independence should exist for all people, not just for Hong Kong,” said a 41-year-old woman surnamed Wong who attended the protest with her husband.
United Nations experts and activists say at least 1 million Uighurs and members of other largely Muslim minority groups have been detained in camps in Xinjiang since 2017 under a campaign that has been condemned by the United States and other countries.
Beijing says it is providing vocational training to help stamp out separatism and to teach new skills. It denies any mistreatment of Uighurs.
Protests in Hong Kong are now in their seventh month, albeit in a relative year-end lull. Many residents are angry at what they see as Chinese meddling in the freedoms promised to the former British colony when it returned to Chinese rule in 1997.
China denies interfering and says it is committed to the “one country, two systems” formula put in place at that time and has blamed foreign forces for fomenting unrest.
On Saturday, Hong Kong riot police swept into several shopping malls, chasing off and arresting demonstrators pressing their demands in the peak shopping weekend before Christmas.
The police’s heavy-handed clamp-down on demonstrations and frequent use of tear gas have incensed many protesters, whose demands include full democracy and an independent investigation into perceived police brutality.
The protests, which started in June, have pushed Hong Kong’s economy into recession. Retailers and businesses have been hit hard as tourists stay away amid transport disruptions.
The city’s Financial Secretary Paul Chan, in his blog on Sunday, said there could be a wave of business closures in the new year if market conditions do not improve.
“Many companies are now clenching their teeth and struggling to maintain their businesses,” he said, adding that he hoped the violence would stop.
| Protest_Online Condemnation | December 2019 | ['(Reuters)'] |
Israeli police, at the request of the British Embassy in Tel Aviv, captured a man who broke in to the Embassy and demanded asylum, threatening to kill himself if his demands were not met. | Nadim Injaz, 28, from Ramallah in the West Bank, had threatened to kill himself on live television if he did not get asylum.
Mr Injaz is a Palestinian and is reported to have been an informant.
He was chased down an alleyway by officers, held and taken off the compound, the BBC's Paul Adams said.
Our correspondent said there were no shots fired and no injuries. He said it was believed food given to Mr Injaz may have contained a sedative to slow down his reactions.
Someone should come and help me. No one wants to help me
Nadim Injaz
Mr Injaz was reported to have been armed with a pistol, but this was later found to have been a toy gun, police told Israel's Channel 10 TV, news agency Reuters reported.
The man, who entered the compound several hours earlier, had reportedly told another Israeli broadcaster, Channel 2: "Someone should come and help me. No one wants to help me." Mr Injaz is said to have feared he may have been killed by Palestinian militants, and that Israeli authorities refused to help him.
It is thought he scaled a fence to enter the compound.
The UK Foreign Office said the Israeli police took action after British authorities asked for help dealing with the situation.
Embassy spokeswoman Karen Kaufman said: "As far as the embassy is concerned, the event is over."
BBC Jerusalem correspondent Nick Thorpe says the British embassy is a secure modern building near the seafront in Tel Aviv, with a high metal fence and security barriers. | Famous Person - Commit Crime - Accuse | August 2006 | ['(BBC)', '(BBC)'] |
Three people are dead and 250 others forced to evacuate after wild weather including a tornado hits the city of Auckland in New Zealand. | Three people have been killed as a rare tornado ripped through western suburbs of the New Zealand city of Auckland. The tornado struck Hobsonville and Whenuapai on Thursday afternoon, uprooting trees and taking roofs off houses. Nick Marshall-McCormack reports. Three killed as tornado hits NZ. Three killed as tornado hits NZ
| Hurricanes_Tornado_Storm_Blizzard | December 2012 | ['(Daily Telegraph)', '(AP via The Washington Post)', '(BBC)'] |
A former French Parliamentarian candidate of the La France Insoumise party is arrested for tweeting that the death of Lt-Col Arnaud Beltrame was "great" and "one less vote for Emmanuel Macron." | A former French left-wing parliamentary candidate has been arrested over his tweets about a policeman killed during a jihadist siege in southern France last week. Stéphane Poussier appeared to celebrate the death of Lt-Col Arnaud Beltrame, saying it was great.
He added that the death in the town of Trèbes meant one less voter for President Emmanuel Macron.
French media say he could be charged with apologising for terrorism.
Mr Poussier's Twitter account has since been deleted. It is unclear if this action was taken by him or the platform, after the tweets caused an outcry and were reported by other social media users.
The ex-candidate said the death made him think of a friend, activist Remi Fraisse, who died after police threw a concussion grenade during protests in 2014.
Col Beltrame, 44, died after being shot when a jihadist stormed a supermarket in Trèbes on Friday.
He has been hailed as a national hero after trading places with one of the hostages. He will be honoured in a national memorial in Paris in the coming days.
Friday's attack - which killed four people - was the worst jihadist attack under Emmanuel Macron's presidency.
The maximum penalty for apology for terrorist acts is seven years in prison and a fine of 100,000 (90,000; $120,000), according to Le Monde newspaper. Stéphane Poussier stood as a candidate for La France Insoumise (France Unbowed), the far-left party led by Jean-Luc Mélenchon, during legislative elections in 2017.
The party has expelled Mr Poussier, calling his tweets "shameful and abject". Mr Mélenchon also tweeted to condemn the "disgusting" remarks and to praise Col Beltrame for giving his life for the service of others. | Famous Person - Commit Crime - Accuse | March 2018 | ['(BBC)'] |
About 110,000 people march peacefully through Bilbao, demanding Basque independence and freedom for more than 600 ETA prisoners. | At least 100,000 people have marched through the northern Spanish city of Bilbao after a rally in support of jailed Basque militants was banned.
Permission had been granted only for a silent march but some demonstrators shouted slogans in support of the Basque separatist group Eta.
Victims of Eta violence said the march made a mockery of their suffering. Late last year, Spain's high court ordered the release from prison of several Eta members.
It was acting on a ruling by the European Court of Human Rights, which found Spain had acted illegally when it retroactively applied legislation that stopped them being eligible for early release. Many of the prisoners had been convicted of murder.
Eta declared an end to its armed campaign in 2011 after being blamed for the deaths of more than 800 people over four decades.
However, successive governments in Madrid have refused to negotiate with the group.
Between 100,000 and 110,000 people joined Saturday's march, sources in the city told Spain's Efe news agency.
Billed as a march for "human rights, understanding and peace", it was organised by Basque nationalist and separatist political parties after a judge banned a rally calling for Eta inmates to be moved closer to their families.
A prisoner group had dropped its demand for a general amnesty last month in an apparent bid to engage the governments in Spain and France, which also has a significant Basque region.
One marcher, 52-year-old Itziar Goienetxia, told AFP news agency she lived in the Basque country and had to travel 1,200km (746 miles) to visit her husband in jail in the southern city of Cadiz.
"It's a double sentence," she said.
The victims' association AVT had applied in vain to have the march banned, saying it gave "grave offence to each and every victim of terrorism".
"The only aim of the initiative is to pay homage to prisoners of the terrorist group Eta," it argued.
| Protest_Online Condemnation | January 2014 | ['(BBC News)', '(Reuters)'] |
Hong Kong's richest woman, Nina Wang dies from an unspecified illness. According to Forbes magazine, Wang was Asia's 35th richest person with a fortune of $4.2 billion. | Wang, 69, was thrust into the limelight after being accused of forging her late husband's will in order to inherit his fortune. She later won an eight-year battle to clear her name and give her control of multinational corporation Chinachem. Wang was Asia's 35th richest person, with a fortune of $4.2bn, according to Forbes magazine.
'Little Sweetie'
Wang first became a household name when her businessman husband Teddy was kidnapped 15 years ago. He was never seen again and nine years later he was declared dead. His estate was valued at around $5bn, and his widow and father each presented a very different version of his will. The one Nina Wang had, which was handwritten, left his fortune to her. But the elder Mr Wang insisted his was the authentic will which proved that he was the rightful heir. He began a civil case against his daughter-in-law, accusing her of forgery, but in 2005, after an eight-year court battle, she won the fight to clear her name and keep the money.
Each twist and turn of the high-profile court case dominated Hong Kong's front pages and gossip columns. Wang also attracted attention because of her ponytails and unusual dress sense, and local media nicknamed her "little sweetie".
According to Hong Kong newspapers, she was recently reported to be suffering from cancer, but that was never officially confirmed. | Famous Person - Death | April 2007 | ['(BBC)'] |
The Italian–owned MS Norman Atlantic catches fire on a ferry run from Greece to Italy 44 nautical miles northwest of Corfu, with 222 vehicles, 411 passengers and 5 crew on board. Greek and Italian officials report at least one person is dead. , | Ships and helicopters are taking part in a major rescue operation after an Italian ferry carrying 478 people caught fire north-west of Corfu.
One person has died after jumping from the ship and another has been confirmed injured, officials say. A total of 190 people have been rescued but more than 280 remain on the Norman Atlantic which was travelling from Patras in Greece to Ancona in Italy.
Choppy seas and strong winds are hampering the night-time rescue. Most of those on board were Greek. Others came from Italy, Turkey, Albania, Germany and many other countries, officials said. A passenger manifest said that two Britons were on board, but the BBC understands that there may have been as many as six.
Italian media say the fire broke out on the ferry's car deck before spreading.
Rescued passengers include a seven-month pregnant woman and her two children, who are all being treated for hypothermia, according to Italian media reports.
Two Italian and two Greek helicopters are taking turns to winch passengers from the ship, two at a time, Greek officials say.
"This is a complicated rescue mission... The visibility is poor and the weather conditions are difficult, but we are confident because there are a good number of ships in the area," Greece Merchant Marine Minister Miltiadis Varvitsiotis said.
Mr Varvitsiotis later told reporters the fire had been brought partly under control.
"It will be a very difficult night, a night in which we hope we will be able to rescue all on board," he said.
Nearby merchant vessels aligned themselves in formation to protect the ship from waves and facilitate the rescue.
Italian and Albanian teams are also taking part in the rescue operation - some 19 nautical miles from the Albanian coast.
One of the passengers told Greek TV station Mega: "On the lower deck, where the lifeboats are, our shoes were starting to melt from the heat."
Another passenger told the same station that smoke was engulfing the ship.
"We are outside, we are very cold, the ship is full of smoke, the boat is still burning, the floors are boiling, underneath the cabins it must be burning since 5 o'clock, the boats that came (to rescue us) are gone, and we are here. They cannot take us," they said.
The wife of one of the cooks told journalists she had had a call from her husband saying: "I cannot breathe, we are all going to burn like rats - God save us."
Another passenger said some of those on board were suffering from hypothermia, including young children.
"It's pitch black. It's freezing", they told a friend by telephone.
It is not yet clear what may have caused the fire. The chief executive of the Visentini group that owns the vessel, Carlo Visentini, said the ferry had passed a recent technical inspection despite a "slight malfunction" in one of the fire doors, Italy's Ansa news agency reports.
"The tests confirmed that the boat was in full working order," he said, adding that the fire door had been repaired "to the satisfaction of the inspectors".
Ferries are an important mode of transport between Greece's hundreds of islands as well as neighbouring countries.
Greece country profile
| Shipwreck | December 2014 | ['(The Independent)', '(BBC)'] |
Voters in Nigeria go to the polls for gubernatorial and state Assembly elections. At least nine people are killed in election day violence, most of them in Rivers State. , | Nigerians are going to the polls to vote for state governors in the final round of the election process. Elections for 29 governors and all 36 state assemblies are taking place.
Some of Nigeria's governors control huge budgets and are among the country's most influential politicians. The vote comes two weeks after Muhammadu Buhari defeated incumbent President Goodluck Jonathan to become the country's first opposition candidate to win a presidential poll.
Gen Buhari won by more than 2.5 million votes.
Polling stations opened at 08:00 local time (07:00 GMT).
While presidential polls two weeks ago encountered some problems with the electronic card reader, the process this time appears to be taking place without any hitches, reports BBC Hausa's Mansur Liman.
In many of the states, Saturday's gubernatorial and state assembly elections could prove to be a tight race between Mr Jonathan's People's Democratic Party (PDP) and Gen Buhari's All Progressives Congress (APC). Nigeria's 36 governors enjoy wide powers and some, especially in oil-producing areas, control bigger budgets than those of national governments in some neighbouring West African countries.
The key battlegrounds include commercial hub Lagos, and the oil-rich Rivers state.
Tensions are reported to be especially high in Rivers. The AFP news agency reports that an overnight curfew was imposed on the eve of the election to prevent any violence.
The Independent National Electoral Commission (Inec) spokeswoman for Rivers state, Tonia Nwobi, told AFP that they were working with security agents to ensure a "hitch-free election". Results are not due until Sunday. Biometric voting cards are to be used again, despite some problems with their debut in last month's election. Technical problems slowed down voter registration, even affecting President Jonathan.
But Abubakar Momoh from Inec told Reuters that the new system was crucial. "The card reader is the only way that rigging on a large scale can be stopped in this country," he said. Observers have generally praised the recent presidential election, though there have been allegations of fraud even with the use of biometric voting cards. | Government Job change - Election | April 2015 | ['(BBC)', '(Deutsche Welle)'] |
Detained Burmese National League for Democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi welcomes a new United States policy shift which would engage with the Burmese military government. | The US government is to embark on a major policy shift towards Burma after concluding that its long-term policy of sanctions had failed to sway the junta. The US state department confirmed today that the new strategy, while keeping sanctions in place, will involve high-level engagement with Burmese leaders, in line with Barack Obama's policy of talking with countries it regards as international pariahs.
In contrast with George Bush's administration, Obama has offered to hold direct talks with Iran and North Korea.
The shift was signalled on the sidelines of the UN general assembly in New York last night when the US secretary of state, Hillary Clinton, said America will move "in the direction of both engagement and continued sanctions".
Speaking to foreign ministers at a Friends of Burma meeting, she said: "Engagement versus sanctions is a false choice in our opinion. So we will be employing both of those tools ... to help achieve democratic reform we will be engaging directly with Burmese authorities." The sanctions, imposed by the EU and US, would be eased if the junta moved towards significant reform, she added.
The US is pushing for the introduction of democracy and the release of the opposition leader, Aung San Suu Kyi.
Supporters of the Nobel Peace prize winner gave the policy shift a cautious welcome. Maran Turner, executive director of Freedom Now, which is campaigning for the release of Aung San Suu Kyi, said: "We are glad the Obama administration is turning its attention to Burma. It is time for a multifaceted approach." She questioned the value of engagement if it involved only the US and the junta.
The strategy shift comes at the end of a policy review on Burma ordered by Clinton is February. It coincides with a visit to the UN general assembly by the Burmese leader, Than Shwe, the first senior member of the junta to attend for 14 years. To try to ease criticism of the country's human rights record, the junta last week declared an amnesty for about 7,000 prisoners.
The UN secretary general Ban Ki-moon, said the amnesty fell "short of expectations". Human rights groups estimate Burma has 2,200 political prisoners.
Ban, speaking after the meeting with Clinton, said next year will be critical for Burma, when it is scheduled to hold an election. Opposition groups have already labelled the poll a sham.
A US official familiar with the new policy said that when Clinton ordered the review she said that neither sanctions or the policy of engagement by the regional body the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, of which Burma is a member, had worked. The official said: "Sanctions remain important ... they have not produced the results we would like, but that does not mean they don't have value.
The official was speaking off-the-record because members of Congress had still to be briefed on the change. They were to be given details later.
The official, noting that the junta had been in power for more than four decades, said: "I have to stress we're going into this with eyes wide open. We're not expecting dramatic, immediate results but we think that going forward with a more nuanced approach that focuses on trying to achieve results and that's based on pragmatism, it increases the chances of success over time."
Although the US and Burma have diplomatic relations, the official said the contact would be at a higher level than before, and that Burma and the US would soon appoint figures to act as interlocutors.
The official said the review would have been completed sooner but had been delayed to await the outcome after the arrest of Aung San Suu Kyi in August after an American swam across a lagoon to where she was under house arrest. She was sentenced to three years, later commuted to a further 18 months of house arrest. The policy shift comes after the US senator, Jim Webb, visited Burma last month to meet senior members of the junta and Aung San Suu Kyi, the highest level visit by the US in years.
Singapore's foreign minister, George Yeo, said re-engagement "will enable the US and Europe to have more influence in the political evolution of the country". | Government Policy Changes | September 2009 | ['(Al Jazeera)', '(BBC)', '(The Guardian)', '(Bangkok Post)', '[permanent dead link]'] |
An Israeli soldier hits a foreign proPalestinian activist, believed to be a Danish national, with his gun after protesters attack and injure the soldier; the Danish ambassador to Israel demands an explanation from Israel. | An Israeli officer who smacked an activist in the face with a rifle, knocking him off his feet, has reportedly been suspended. The Saturday incident, caught on video, triggered outrage from activists agitating against the occupation of the West Bank as well as from Israeli officials.
In the video above, Lt. Col. Shalom Eisner is seen striking a Danish activist with an M-16. The video was spread on YouTube by pro-Palestinian activists and spurred an Israel Defense Forces investigation.
“Such behavior does not characterize IDF soldiers and officers and has no place in the Israel Defense Forces and in the state of Israel,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told the newspaper Haaretz.
The Associated Press and Haaretz reported that the officer had been suspended.
Eisner told Haaretz that the activists were trying to block the highway, near Jericho, and that the Danish activist had provoked him, breaking two of his fingers. But the activist said he and his companions were peacefully biking through the Jordan Valley.
The Danish man had come to Israel as part of a "fly-in" seeking to draw attention to the Palestinian cause. Dozens of activists were detained at Ben Gurion International Airport on Sunday, stopping them from going to rallies, The Times' Edmund Sanders reported Sunday.
The effort to keep out the activists has been criticized by some Israelis as an overreaction that merely drew more attention to the protests and tarnished the country's image as a democratic state. Israeli officials say the detentions were necessary to prevent violence. | Armed Conflict | April 2012 | ['(Al Jazeera)', '(Los Angeles Times)', '(Toronto Star)', '(Ynet)'] |
A day after a Russian sponsored ceasefire with a rebel group agreed a halt of fighting in the last opposition enclave in the capital, Syrian government airplanes and artillery strike rebel-held eastern Damascus suburbs and Ghouta with barrel bombs, killing at least five civilians in the towns of Hamouriya and Zalamka with several case of suffocation from rockets filled with chlorine that were fired at the front lines of Jobar and Ain Terma. | AMMAN (Reuters) - Syrian jets and artillery struck rebel-held eastern Damascus suburbs on Saturday a day after a Russian sponsored ceasefire with a rebel group agreed a halt of fighting in the last opposition enclave in the capital, rebels and witnesses said.
The Russian defense ministry said on Friday it had reached a ceasefire that took effect at 21.00 hrs Moscow time (1800 GMT) with Failaq al Rahman, the main Free Syrian Army (FSA) group fending off a two-month widescale Syrian army offensive in Jobar district and nearby town of Ain Tarma.
A spokesman for Failaq al Rahman said both Jobar, which lies some 2 km (1.2 miles) east of the Old City wall, and nearby Ain Tarma on the edge of Eastern Ghouta witnessed army strikes and shelling soon after the ceasefire went into effect.
“After the first few hours ... there were many violations midnight they dropped barrel bombs and from the morning there have been strikes across the Ghouta,” Wael Alwan, spokesman for the group, said.
At least five civilians were killed in the towns of Hamouriya and Zalamka and fighters said there were several case of suffocation from rockets filled with chlorine that were fired at the front lines of Jobar and Ain Terma, he added.
The Syrian army elite 4th Division has been trying unsuccessfully to storm Jobar and residents say the army has retaliated for its heavy losses by shelling residential areas, leaving scores killed and wounded since the campaign was launched.
Moscow said on Friday that the ceasefire meant an earlier one announced last month in Eastern Ghouta now included all the moderate opposition groups in the main rebel stronghold that stretches from eastern to northeastern suburbs of Damascus.
The army has not commented on the latest Russian agreement with Failaq al Rahman whom it considers a terrorist group that threatens the capital. It however says it abides by truces Moscow has brokered.
Many fighters welcomed the ceasefire to help alleviate plight of civilians most hurt by aerial strikes but remain deeply skeptical about Russia’s readiness to get the Syrian army to stick to the terms of a cessation of fighting in several de-escalation zones that Russia has already announced
Moscow had already began to deploy military police in several areas across Syria such as in southwestern Syria where “de-escalation” zones had been announced.
“This shows the lack of seriousness by the Russia to put pressure on the regime,” Alwan added.
Failaq al Rahman said the Syrian army bombardment appeared to be an attempt to wreck a ceasefire deal whose main points included deploying Russian military police along the frontline, the release of detainees and allowing humanitarian goods into the besieged Eastern Ghouta.
“It seems the regime wants to take advantage of the opportunity to take revenge for its big losses during their many attempts to storm the Ghouta before the Russian military police enter to disengage the forces,” Alwan told Reuters.
Outnumbered and outgunned, local rebels fortified in elaborate tunnels and deploying ambushes have repelled repeated attempts to storm their stronghold, inflicting dozens of losses on the army since the campaign began.
| Armed Conflict | August 2017 | ['(US News)', '(Reuters)', '(SN4HR)'] |
China lodges a formal protest to North Korea after a North Korean soldier fatally shot three Chinese citizens at their mutual border. | June 09, 2010 00:12 China says it has filed a formal complaint with North Korea about the killing of three Chinese citizens last week by a North Korean border guard.
Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang says a fourth person was wounded when the guard opened fire from his post across the border from China's northeastern town of Dandong last Friday. Qin says the four Chinese citizens were shot by the North Korean guard on suspicion of crossing the border for illegal trade activities. Beijing is a major ally and benefactor of the government in Pyongyang, which has been struggling due to a set of UN sanctions imposed after North Korea conducted a nuclear test last year.
A South Korean female tourist was shot and killed by a North Korean soldier at a North Korean-based resort in 2008. The woman had walked onto a restricted beach area guarded by the North Korean military near the resort.
Tensions have been growing between North and South Korea in recent years, and have worsened since Seoul accused the North of sinking one of its warships in March, killing 46 sailors. | Armed Conflict | June 2010 | ['(AP)', '(Global Times)', '(Chosun Ilbo)', '(Radio Television Hong Kong)'] |
Elliott Broidy resigns as deputy financial chairman of the U.S. Republican National Committee following reports that he negotiated a $1.6 million payoff with a Playboy Playmate over claims he had impregnated her. | GOP fundraiser Elliott Broidy‘s departure follows reports that in 2017 President Donald Trump’s attorney negotiated a $1.6 million payment on Broidy’s behalf to a Playboy Playmate who said that Broidy had impregnated her. | Alex J. Berliner/ABImages via AP
By ALEX ISENSTADT
04/13/2018 02:43 PM EDT
Updated 04/13/2018 03:18 PM EDT
GOP fundraiser Elliott Broidy has stepped down as Republican National Committee deputy finance chair, according to three people familiar with the matter. The departure followed reports on Friday afternoon that in 2017, President Donald Trump’s attorney Michael Cohen had negotiated a $1.6 million payment on Broidy’s behalf to a Playboy Playmate who said that Broidy had impregnated her.
The resignation was first reported by The Wall Street Journal.
He is the second RNC Finance Committee member to step aside in recent months. Earlier this year, Las Vegas casino mogul Steve Wynn resigned amid allegations that he’d sexually harassed women who’d worked for him.
Broidy, a 62-year-old Los Angeles-based investor, is an influential figure in Republican politics who has provided hundreds of thousands of dollars to GOP candidates and committees over the years. He played a key role in helping Trump raise money ahead of the 2016 election. .
He also sits on the board of the influential Republican Jewish Coalition, a group funded in part by billionaire megadonor Sheldon Adelson.
Broidy has come under increasing scrutiny in recent months amid allegations that he tried to negotiate a multimillion-dollar fee to get the U.S. government to cease its investigation into a Malaysian investment fund.
Cohen, whose Manhattan home and office were raided earlier this week by FBI investigators, remains on the RNC finance committee.
This is a modal window.
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End of dialog window. | Government Job change - Resignation_Dismissal | April 2018 | ['(Politico)'] |
U.S. President Donald Trump announces his intentions to ban TikTok from operating in the U.S.. | President TrumpDonald TrumpChinese apps could face subpoenas, bans under Biden executive order: report Kim says North Korea needs to be 'prepared' for 'confrontation' with US Ex-Colorado GOP chair accused of stealing more than 0K from pro-Trump PAC MORE on Friday said he plans to ban the social media platform TikTok from operating in the United States.
“As far as TikTok is concerned, we’re banning them from the United States,” Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One.
The president said he could use emergency economic powers or an executive order as early as Saturday to officially ban the Chinese-owned company from the U.S. He signaled he was not supportive of allowing an American company to acquire TikTok.
A TikTok spokesperson responded to Trump's threat by citing the U.S. investment in and involvement with the app, including roughly 100 million American users and nearly 1,000 people hired to the company's U.S. team this year.
"TikTok US user data is stored in the US, with strict controls on employee access. TikTok's biggest investors come from the US," the spokesperson said in a statement. "We are committed to protecting our users' privacy and safety as we continue working to bring joy to families and meaningful careers to those who create on our platform."
Trump's announcement came hours after reports that Microsoft was in talks to purchase TikTok from Beijing-based company ByteDance. That report emerged around the same time news outlets reported that Trump was considering signing an executive order requiring ByteDance to divest the U.S. portion of TikTok because of concerns that the company may be giving sensitive U.S. data collected through the app to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).
TikTok has become wildly popular with young people and has hundreds of millions of users worldwide. The app often allows users to watch and create short videos featuring audio and other effects. The videos often go viral across other social media platforms.
Trump administration officials have for weeks floated taking action against TikTok because of its connections to China.
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo made similar comments earlier this month, announcing that the Trump administration was considering banning Chinese apps, including TikTok, because of national security concerns.
The Treasury Department’s Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States opened an investigation into ByteDance last year, while the House approved legislation last week banning the use of TikTok on federal devices.
Senators have also asked the Justice Department to open an investigation into TikTok and have separately raised concerns the app could be used by the CCP to interfere in U.S. elections.
TikTok has pushed back against claims that it censors content and shares data with the CCP and attempted to distance itself from China. The company hired former Disney executive Kevin Mayer to serve as CEO earlier this year and relocated American data storage to the United States.
| Government Policy Changes | July 2020 | ['(The Hill)'] |
Thirty world leaders present in Copenhagen for the United Nations Conference on Climate Change agree on a draft accord. (Forbes.com "Silver Lining In Copenhagen 'Fiasco'") (AllAfrica.com "Copenhagen Accord Politically Significant But Not Legally Binding") (Associated Press "China, India, South Africa vital for climate deal") | Leaders and ministers from about 30 countries hammered out an outline climate accord early on Friday morning, hours before some 130 world leaders were to gather in a summit.
The three-hour session ended at about 2.30am, leaving top advisers to work out the final language of the draft agreement on how to tame global warming and help poor countries cope with its impacts.
Advisers resumed work almost immediately to craft a document that could be presented to heads of state and government at 8am.
"We tried to find an umbrella political accord, if you like," said Swedish Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt, who also holds the rotating presidency of the European Union.
"We tried to advance the main points and have asked the 'sherpas' to work on the text through the night so we can discuss them tomorrow morning," he told reporters, speaking in Swedish.
"We've had a very constructive dialogue," said Danish Prime Minister Lars Loekke Rasmussen.
"We're not there yet at all. But in order to achieve as much as possible, I decided ... to invite representatives of the regional groups to a meeting where we discussed how we could make progress," he told reporters.
The declaration will likely call for preventing global temperatures from going up more than 2.0 degrees Celsius compared to pre-industrial times, according to a participant in the meeting.
Small island nations, their very existence threatened by rising seas, have called for a cap of 1.5 degrees.
It will also tally up the pledges from rich nations on cutting greenhouse gases by 2020, and propose a target for all countries by mid-century.
On financing for the poor countries most vulnerable to the ravages of climate change, it crystallised a consensus that has formed in the previous two days of the troubled UN talks.
It would kick off with $US10 billion ($A11.28 billion) a year from 2010 to 2012, climbing to $US50 billion ($A56.39 billion) annually by 2015 and $US100 billion ($A112.78 billion) by 2020.
The text also proposes a range of innovative mechanisms for raising the money, ranging from a tax on air and sea transports fuels to a tax on financial transfers.
On another critical issue, the draft calls for transforming the political accord and relevant UN texts into a binding treaty within six months.
If the declaration is accepted at the summit, negotiators will then transpose its objectives into the texts that have laboriously emerged over two years of negotiations under the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).
Poor nations have complained bitterly over the course of the 12-day talks in Copenhagen, steered by the host country Denmark, about being locked out of key meetings, an objection that could resurface on Friday.
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, French President Nicolas Sarkozy, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and Brazilian President Inacio Lula da Silva all took part in the talks.
Ethiopia's Meles Zenawi, Mexico's Felipe Calderon, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, and the European Commission's Jose Manuel Barroso were also present.
Among industrialised countries, the other participants were Australia, Norway, Russia, Spain, Poland and Japan.
Representing small island states were the Maldives and Grenada, with Sudan, Algeria, Ethiopia, Lesotho and Gabon from Africa.
Sudan is also the leader of the G77 group of 130 developed countries, Algeria heads the Africa Group, and Lesotho leads the bloc of Least Developed Countries.
Other major emerging economies present included China, India and South Africa. Besides Brazil, other countries in which deforestation is a major source of greenhouse gas emissions include Colombia and Indonesia.
Rounding out the negotiating group are South Korea, which is not classified as an industrial country within the Kyoto Protocol; and Saudi Arabia, leading producer within OPEC; and Bangladesh. | Sign Agreement | December 2009 | ['(The Sydney Morning Herald)'] |
Deceased Associate Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg lies in repose in the United States Supreme Court Building. She is both the first woman and the first Jewish American to receive such an honor. | Mourners have been honouring the judge and liberal icon Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg as she lies in repose at the US Supreme Court in Washington.
Ginsburg, an advocate for gender equality and civil rights, died on Friday, aged 87, from cancer. Chief Justice John Roberts delivered remarks on Wednesday as her casket rested just outside the courtroom where she served for nearly three decades.
President Donald Trump will pay his respects at the top court on Thursday.
Since her death, makeshift memorials have been set up outside the Supreme Court. Flowers, photographs, candles and signs have lined the steps.
The second woman to serve as a Supreme Court justice, Ginsburg will on Friday become the first woman to lie in state at the US Capitol. She will be buried next week at Arlington National Cemetery.
Speaking before Ginsburg's flag-draped casket in the Supreme Court's Great Hall earlier, Chief Justice Roberts said her life was "one of the many versions of the American dream".
"Ruth wanted to be an opera virtuoso but became a rock star instead," he said during the private ceremony, noting her battles against gender discrimination throughout her career.
The daughter of Jewish immigrants, Ginsburg struggled against sexism for decades. She graduated top of her class at Columbia Law School but received no job offers. She later remarked: "I struck out on three grounds: I was Jewish, a woman and a mother." The history-making jurist joined the top US court in 1993, where she continued to advocate for equality and was known for delivering scathing dissents. Ginsburg was fond of joking that there would be enough women on the nine-seat Supreme Court "when there are nine".
As family, friends and colleagues memorialised her inside the nation's highest court, outside, crowds awaited their turn. Later on Wednesday, due to Covid-19 concerns, her casket was moved to rest in front of the steps so that people could pay their respects outdoors.
Mr Trump has said he will nominate a new justice this week to take Ginsburg's seat. Democrats have criticised the move, saying the process ought to wait until after the 3 November presidential election. Ginsburg's "most fervent" last wish, according to her granddaughter, was to not be replaced until after the election.
The US top court is often the final word on highly contentious laws, disputes between state and federal governments, and final appeals to stay executions.
In recent years, the Supreme Court has ruled on key issues including marriage equality, abortion access and immigration.
With one vacancy due to Ginsburg's passing, the bench's ideological balance remains tilted to the right, favouring conservatives in a 5-3 split. Ginsburg tributes: 'A warrior for gender equality' | Famous Person - Death | September 2020 | ['(BBC)'] |
A Turkish–Iranian natural gas pipeline explodes in Turkey's northeastern Ağrı Province. Turkish authorities suspect separatist Kurds were behind the incident. (AP Story, no longer on original CNN site) | ANKARA, Turkey (AP) -- An explosion Saturday caused a huge fire on a natural gas pipeline in eastern Turkey, the Energy Ministry said.
The explosion occurred in Turkey's eastern province of Agri, Energy Ministry spokesman Bulent Ismen said.
Earlier, a paramilitary police official in Agri and the private NTV television said that the fire was on the newly inaugurated pipeline carrying oil from the Caspian Sea.
The Anatolia news agency said the pipeline was carrying Iranian natural gas. Ismen said the fire was on a pipeline carrying gas within Turkey.
The cause of the explosion was not immediately known, but Agri's governor, Halil Ibrahim Akpinar, told the Anatolia news agency that sabotage was suspected.
Autonomy-seeking Kurdish rebels are active in the region and have attacked pipelines in the past.
The paramilitary official said the fire was visible from kilometers (miles) away.
Pipeline authorities closed down a nearby pumping station but it was too dangerous for them to reach a main valve, Ismen said.
Gas flow to the nearby province of Erzincan was cut, he said.
Turkey has been importing natural gas from Iran through the 2,577-kilometer (1,598-mile) pipeline since 2001. Turkish and Iranian officials reportedly are discussing expanding the pipeline for exports to Europe. | Gas explosion | August 2006 | ['(Internet Archive)'] |
Russian anticorruption campaigner Alexei Navalny is charged with fraudulent conversion. | Russian anti-corruption campaigner Alexei Navalny has been charged with embezzlement in a case he describes as "strange and absurd".
Federal investigators in Moscow brought charges over a timber deal in the Kirov region in which he was involved as an unofficial adviser three years ago.
The case was previously investigated and dropped by regional prosecutors.
Mr Navalny, who was also ordered not to leave the country, suggested the new charges were aimed at discrediting him.
Supporters of the anti-corruption lawyer, who led mass protests in Moscow against Russian leader Vladimir Putin this winter, demonstrated outside the offices of the Investigative Committee (SK) in Moscow, where he was charged on Tuesday.
Under Article 160 of the Russian criminal code on "misappropriation or embezzlement", Mr Navalny faces between five and 10 years in prison if convicted. Reacting to news of the case, Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt said on Twitter: "We should be concerned with attempts in Russia to silence fierce opposition activist Alexei @navalny."
The original case related to a loss-making contract concluded by a state-owned timber company in Kirov, a region just west of the Ural Mountains, with another company.
The Kirov regional budget for 2009-10 reportedly suffered a loss of 1.3m roubles (26,000; $40,000) and Mr Navalny was investigated as he was acting at the time as an adviser to Kirov's governor, Nikita Belykh. Federal investigators initially sought to charge Mr Navalny with causing "damage to property by means of deceit or abuse of trust" but they proceeded to more serious charges after reviewing the evidence, SK spokesman Vladimir Markin told reporters.
The new charges were posted on the website of the SK, a federal body set up to act as the equivalent of the FBI in Russia.
Mr Navalny is now accused of colluding with the heads of the two companies involved to organise the theft of timber worth 16m roubles (300,000; $500,000). The anti-corruption campaigner pointed out that he had gone to the SK expecting to be charged with the lesser offence, only to find the case had been altered against him into something much more serious.
"This charge is strange and absurd," he said after emerging from the building. "They have completely changed the essence of the charge."
"This is a mega-strange thing," he added. "Even the very figure of 16m roubles has not been explained at all."
This winter saw the biggest anti-government demonstrations in Moscow since the fall of the USSR. Protesters rallied around Mr Navalny, who accused Mr Putin's allies of rigging elections. Since Mr Putin was re-elected president in March, legal action against opposition figures has increased markedly. A tough new law was passed on public order offences and tight curbs were placed on non-governmental organisations. In recent weeks, Mr Navalny, a lawyer by training, turned his fire on the SK's chief, Alexander Bastrykin, reports the BBC's Moscow correspondent, Daniel Sandford.
Mr Bastrykin denied Mr Navalny's allegations that he had undeclared business interests in the Czech Republic.
He admitted once owning a flat there but said he had given it to his first wife. As for commercial activity, he said: "I was never in business. Business in the sense of aiming to make a profit. If they can find a single euro in profit, I'll resign." Mr Navalny vowed on Tuesday to continue his political activities despite the case against him. "I will continue doing what I did before - nothing has changed for me," he was quoted as saying by AFP news agency.
| Famous Person - Commit Crime - Accuse | July 2012 | ['(BBC)'] |
Mexican author Carlos Fuentes, one of the leading authors of the Latin American literary boom, dies in Mexico aged 83. | The Mexican author Carlos Fuentes has died, aged 83. Fuentes was one of the most prolific Latin American writers known equally for his fiction and his essays on politics and culture. His most famous works were The Death of Artemio Cruz and The Old Gringo. He was associated with the Latin American Boom - a literary movement made up of mainly young authors whose politically critical works broke with established traditions. He died in a hospital in Mexico City. Hospital sources did not comment on his cause of death.
Mr Fuentes wrote a wealth of novels, plays and essays and regularly commented on political events in Spanish newspaper El Pais. Born in Panama in 1928, he did not move to Mexico until he was 16. The son of a diplomat, Mr Fuentes spent much of his childhood moving around the Western Hemisphere. He said it was this which allowed him to view Latin America from a distance, giving him a critical edge.
'Universal Mexican'
In many of his works he drew on historical events. His narrative, like that of his contemporaries of the Latin American Boom, was rarely linear, instead relying on flashbacks and changing perspectives.
Among English-language readers he is arguably best known for his novel The Old Gringo, which was made into a film starring Gregory Peck in 1989. The novel was inspired by the real-life disappearance of American journalist Ambrose Bierce during the 1910-1920 Mexican Revolution.
He was also outspoken in his political views, and was a vocal critic of US administrations, including Washington's policies on immigration and the war on terror. Fuentes was also highly critical of Mexican politics, and in a recent interview with the BBC World Service, he called for a different approach to the war on drugs. He also described the three main candidates in the Mexican presidential election as "mediocre". 'Deep imprint'
Cultural and political figures around the world expressed their grief at the news of his death. "I am profoundly sorry for the death of our loved and admired Carlos Fuentes, writer and universal Mexican. Rest in peace," Mexican President Felipe Calderon wrote on Twitter. The front-runner in July's election, Enrique Pena Nieto, said he had not always agreed with Fuentes on political matters but that he recognised his "extraordinary work".
Nobel Prize-winning Peruvian author Mario Vargas Llosa told Spanish daily newspaper El Pais that "with him, we lose a writer whose work and whose presence left a deep imprint". Mexican novelist Jose Agustin told BBC Mundo that Carlos Fuentes "became an essential protagonist in Mexican political and cultural life. He had an immense value, from his first launch in the 1950s he never once backed down for anybody". Chilean-American writer Ariel Dorfman said Fuentes had an amazing generosity of spirit. "He was constantly, constantly championing the younger people. I never heard him say anything nasty about anybody," Dorfman told the BBC. Mr Fuentes had often been mentioned as a candidate for the Nobel Prize but never won. Among the many major literary awards he did win was the Cervantes Prize in 1987.
He continued to write until the end, with an essay on the recent change of power in France published in Mexican newspaper Reforma on Tuesday, the same day the Angeles del Pedregal hospital announced his death. In Pictures: Carlos Fuentes' wake
Poet Parra wins Cervantes Prize
Vargas Llosa | Famous Person - Death | May 2012 | ['(BBC)'] |
France calls for a joint force of United Nations and European Union peacekeepers in parts of Chad and the Central African Republic bordering the Darfur region of Sudan. | NEW YORK (AFP) — France on Wednesday called for a joint force of United Nations and European Union peacekeepers to protect civilians in parts of Chad and the Central African Republic bordering Sudan's war-torn Darfur region.
It tabled a resolution at the UN Security Council for a mixed force in eastern Chad and the northeast of the CAR, where the refugee crisis caused by a brutal civil war in Darfur has spilled over.
The text approves a year-long "multidimensional presence intended to help create the security conditions conducive to a voluntary, secure and sustainable return of refugees and displaced persons."
It would consist of 300 UN police officers tasked with training 850 Chadians to police the displacement camps, and an EU military force of up to 4,000 to protect the areas -- a proposal approved in principle by the Europeans in July.
This European contingent would also back up the 26,000 troops of the joint peace force agreed by the UN and the African Union and due to be fully deployed in Darfur by mid-2008.
The French military would play a major role in the EU force for Chad and the CAR, two of France's former colonies, with the operation headquartered in Paris, according to the text of the resolution.
Chad alone harbors 236,000 refugees from Darfur and 173,000 Chadians internally displaced. The CAR has seen an influx of 10,000 refugees and more than 200,000 of its own people displaced in the north and northeast.
France's ambassador to the UN, Jean-Maurice Ripert, said he hoped the resolution would be adopted by the end of the month. | Famous Person - Give a speech | September 2007 | ['(AFP)'] |
U.S. President Donald Trump announces a 5% import tariff on all products from Mexico, effective June 10 and rising in steps to 25% by October, "until the illegal immigration problem is remedied". | US President Donald Trump has announced tariffs on all goods coming from Mexico, demanding the country curb illegal immigration into the US.
In a tweet, Mr Trump said that from 10 June a 5% tariff would be imposed and would slowly rise "until the illegal immigration problem is remedied".
Jesús Seade, Mexico's top diplomat for North America, said the proposed tariffs would be "disastrous". Mr Trump declared a national emergency at the US-Mexico border in February.
He said it was necessary in order to tackle what he claimed was a crisis at the US southern border.
Border agents say they are overwhelmed, but critics say they are mishandling and mistreating migrants.
On Thursday, US border authorities in El Paso, Texas, said a group of more than 1,000 migrants were detained on Wednesday - the largest single group agents had encountered.
Robert Perez, customs and border protection deputy commissioner, said the apprehension "demonstrates the severity of the border security and humanitarian crisis at our south-west border".
The US president has long accused Mexico of not doing enough to stem the flow of people, and this is his latest attempt to put pressure on the neighbouring state.
Mr Seade said Mexico "must respond vigorously" if the tariffs - a tax on products made abroad - were brought in.
However, Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador responded by saying he did not want "confrontation".
"I propose deepening our dialogue, to look for other alternatives to the migration problem," he wrote in a letter on Thursday.
On June 10th, the United States will impose a 5% Tariff on all goods coming into our Country from Mexico, until such time as illegal migrants coming through Mexico, and into our Country, STOP. The Tariff will gradually increase until the Illegal Immigration problem is remedied,..
During his election campaign and throughout his time in office, President Trump has sought funds to build a wall on the US-Mexico border.
He declared the national emergency at the border in an attempt to divert federal funds for a barrier wall, but a judge blocked his efforts in May. The White House said on Thursday that the president would use the International Emergency Economic Powers Act to implement the new tariffs on Mexico.
The announcement came the same day that the White House told Congress it planned to pursue a new trade deal with Mexico and Canada.
In a White House statement, Mr Trump said the tariffs would rise by five percentage points each month until 1 October, when the rate would reach 25%.
The tariffs would stay at that level "unless and until Mexico substantially stops the illegal inflow of aliens coming through its territory", he said.
"For years, Mexico has not treated us fairly - but we are now asserting our rights as a sovereign nation," the statement said.
The president also took aim at his Democratic opponents, accusing them of a "total dereliction of duty" over border security. The Democratic-controlled House of Representatives is taking legal action to halt the Trump administration's efforts to build a border wall, saying it would be a waste of funds and would not stop illegal immigration.
Amid record numbers of migrants crossing the border, the deaths of six sick children in US custody since September have raised questions about the level of care provided by US authorities. Andrew Walker, BBC economics correspondent
President Trump's latest tariff proposal is driven by a political issue - which is not to say that previous tariff moves did not have any politics behind them. But it is sure to have financial and economic consequences.
Stock markets in many countries have already registered significant falls. Japanese car makers were among those hit - they have operations in Mexico which will be affected if President Trump does go ahead.
Perhaps he hoped that a welcome side effect would be improved competitiveness for American industry.
Well, half the potential impact for the first stage in the proposed tariffs hikes was wiped immediately by a decline in the value of the Mexican peso, which has the effect of making Mexico a little more competitive, at least until the tariffs come into effect. There could also be ramifications for the new trade deal between the US, Mexico and Canada. It will probably make the Mexican Congress a lot more wary about approving the accord. Migrants, most of whom say they are fleeing violence in Central American countries, travel through Mexico on their way to the US, where they hope to claim asylum.
Mr Trump believes they should be stopped long before they reach the border, however.
Police do appear to have been cracking down, with 400 migrants detained in the southern state of Chiapas in April.
President López Obrador used the arrests to emphasise the country was not giving migrants "free passage".
However, he added that it was out of concern for the migrants' safety over anything else.
Mexico was the second largest supplier of goods to the US last year, with imports totalling $352bn (£275bn), according to Goldman Sachs.
It is known for agricultural products like avocados and tequila, but the country is also a major manufacturing hub and home to many US companies. The country produces hundreds of thousands of cars every month, and is also home to technology and aerospace companies. It is one of the G20 economies.
US firms Ford, General Motors, John Deere, IBM and Coca-Cola all operate in Mexico, as well as thousands of other multinationals. The president's statement comes amid a trade war with China. After complaining for years about the US trade deficit with China, Mr Trump imposed tariffs on hundreds of billions of dollars worth of goods coming from the country. US judge blocks funds for Trump border wall plan | Government Policy Changes | May 2019 | ['(BBC News)'] |
The United States Federal Bureau of Investigation announces that it has arrested 13 members of the Mafia in the city of Philadelphia in relation to an illegal gambling operation. | The feds rounded up key members of Philadelphia's alleged mob family -- La Cosa Nostra -- on Monday, putting a dent, they hope in an illegal gambling operation that stretched from the city to the suburbs, according to the indictment.
"The significance of the extensive and long-term investigative effort that has resulted in the unsealing of this indictment and the arrests today is that it represents our continuing commitment to the dismantling of the Philadelphia LCN crime syndicate family,” said FBI Special Agent-in-Charge George Venizelos.
Thirteen members of Philadelphia's mob family are named in the indictment. Ten of them are charged in connection with the illegal gambling operation, which was run over the last ten years out of bars, restaurants, convenience stores, coffee shops and other local businesses, according to the feds.
Alleged mob members used violence and threats like "chop him up," and "put a bullet in your head," to collect money. One of the accused used a bat to beat a victim for not making good on a loan debt, according to the indictment.
The following people are named, nicknamed and labeled in the government indictment:
All but two of the suspects were arrested this morning. Baretta, Ranieri and Lucibello posted bail and have detention hearings on Tuesday.Borgesi and Canalichio are in federal prison serving time on other convictions. | Famous Person - Commit Crime - Arrest | June 2011 | ['(NBC Philadelphia)'] |
The Egyptian parliament approves the transfer of two uninhabited Red Sea islands, Tiran Island and Sanafir Island, to Saudi Arabia. | CAIRO (Reuters) - Egypt’s parliament on Wednesday backed plans to hand over two uninhabited Red Sea islands to Saudi Arabia under an agreement that has attracted widespread public criticism.
House of Representatives Speaker Ali Abdelaal said the required majority of lawmakers had voted for the agreement, which the government signed last year, despite a court striking it down in March.
“I announce the House’s final approval of the maritime demarcation agreement with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia signed on April 8, 2016,” Abdelaal said before adjourning the session.
The treaty must now be ratified by President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, which is a formality.
The vote came very swiftly. The House Committee on Defence and National Security unanimously backed the plan earlier on Wednesday and referred it to the House for a final vote.
A majority approved it less than four hours later. Those opposed to the measure stood up in protest and chanted “Egyptian, Egyptian” in reference to the islands.
“Today is a terrible day for the Egyptian people, one in which the nation has lost part of its land,” said lawmaker Haitham al-Hariri.
Several legislators opposed to the deal threatened to hold an open-ended sit-in. Some said they were considering resigning in protest.
Sisi’s government last year announced the maritime demarcation agreement with Saudi Arabia, which has given billions of dollars of aid to Egypt, ceding control of the islands of Tiran and Sanafir.
The plan triggered street protests last year from many Egyptians, who say their country’s sovereignty over the islands dates back to a treaty from 1906, before Saudi Arabia was founded.
Dozens of protesters gathered in downtown Cairo outside the press union on Tuesday evening. Eight were arrested, including three journalists, and are being held for 24 hours to be questioned on accusations of illegally protesting and insulting the president, according to state news agency MENA.
The Egyptian and Saudi governments say the islands are Saudi but have been subject to Egyptian protection since 1950 at the request of Saudi Arabia.
The treaty has been referred to the courts, irritating Riyadh and raising tensions between two Arab allies.
Egypt’s highest administrative court blocked the deal but parliament insisted the matter was constitutionally within its domain.
Parliamentary leaders and government lawyers say the House of Representatives is the only entity allowed to rule on matters of sovereignty while the Supreme Administrative Court insists it is within its jurisdiction to scrap the deal.
The Supreme Constitutional Court will rule on who has jurisdiction but has not set a date or even started discussing the issue. It was not immediately clear what the legal situation of the treaty was following Wednesday’s vote.
A government report advising parliament on the terms of the agreement said Egypt would keep administrative control over the islands and Egyptians would not need visas to visit them if they were transferred to Saudi Arabia.
Opposition groups accuse Sisi of handing over the islands to please his Saudi backers and in return for continued aid.
Saudi Arabia was Sisi’s biggest international supporter when he led the military in ousting an elected but unpopular Islamist president in 2013 following mass protests.
| Government Policy Changes | June 2017 | ['(Reuters)'] |
Eighteen people are dead and dozens of others are injured, including fifteen seriously, after an Air India Express plane carrying 191 people overruns the runway in Calicut International Airport, Kerala, India. | An Air India Express plane with 190 people on board has crashed at an airport in the southern state of Kerala, killing at least 18 people, officials say.
The Boeing 737, en route from Dubai, skidded off the runway in rain and broke in two after landing at Calicut airport, aviation officials said.
The flight was repatriating Indians stranded by the coronavirus crisis.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi said he was "pained by the plane accident".
The rescue operation at the crash site has now been completed and survivors have been taken to hospitals in Calicut and Malappuram, according to Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan.
Dozens of people were injured, 156of them seriously, officials say.
Air India Express said the two pilots were among the dead.
Flight IX 1134 was carrying 184 passengers, including 10 infants, and six crew. The aircraft crashed at 19:40 local time (14:10 GMT) on Friday, as it attempted to land for a second time at Calicut International Airport. The first attempt was aborted by the pilots because of the heavy monsoon-season rainfall lashing Kerala.
India's Civil Aviation Minister, Hardeep Singh Puri, tweeted that the aircraft "overshot the runway in rainy conditions", then plunged down a 35ft (10.6m) slope, before breaking in two. He said a formal inquiry would be carried out by India's Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB).
The director general of India's National Disaster Response Force, S N Pradhan, said Calicut airport had a "table-top runway" and that the aircraft fell into "a ditch" after skidding across it.
He said the impact with the bottom of the ditch caused the fuselage to break in two, and that the front half was "very badly mangled and damaged".
Mr Puri told broadcaster DD News that first responders were able to rescue the passengers because the plane did not catch fire. Several people had to be cut free.
At the time of the plane's descent, Kerala was being battered by heavy rains, which are usual in India at this time of year, due to the seasonal monsoon.
Earlier on Friday, dozens of people were feared dead in Kerala's Idukki district after monsoon-season floods triggered a landslide.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi tweeted to express his sympathy for "those who lost their loved ones" in the crash.
Pained by the plane accident in Kozhikode. My thoughts are with those who lost their loved ones. May the injured recover at the earliest. Spoke to Kerala CM @vijayanpinarayi Ji regarding the situation. Authorities are at the spot, providing all assistance to the affected.
Kerala Governor Arif Mohammed Khan said: "Very sad to know of this mishap. All our feelings are with the passengers and their families."
Rahul Gandhi, who is an MP for a district in Kerala, said he was "shocked at the devastating news of the plane mishap in Kozhikode". Bollywood actors Amitabh Bachchan and Shah Rukh Khan also expressed their condolences, as did India's cricket captain, Virat Kohli.
My heart goes out to the passengers and crew members onboard the #AirIndia flight. Deepest condolences to the bereaved families who lost their loved ones. | Air crash | August 2020 | ['(BBC)'] |
James Murdoch resigns from News International to focus on running News Limited's television business with the News International phone hacking scandal as a factor in the decision. | James Murdoch has resigned as chairman of News International a day after its parent company revealed it may sell off its publishing business.
Murdoch, 39, has relinquished his newspaper position to focus on expanding the company’s international television business, News Corporation, NI’s parent company, said in a statement. It comes after News Corp's Chief Operating Officer, Chase Carey, revealed he had held a number of talks with the company's executives about selling or separating the publishing unit from the company. “There certainly is an awareness” that New York-based News Corp. would trade at higher multiples if it didn’t own newspapers, Carey said at the Deutsche Bank (DBK) media conference in Palm Beach, Florida. <noframe>Twitter: Dan Sabbagh - &ldquo;There certainly is an awareness&rdquo; that News Corp. would trade at higher multiples if it didn&rsquo;t own newspapers, Chase Carey said yesterday</noframe>
During his five-year term, James Murdoch oversaw the closure of the News of the World, News International’s biggest selling newspaper. He also faced fierce criticism of his handling of the hacking scandal and was accused of misleading parliament over his knowledge of phone hacking at the newspaper. And he oversaw the decision to put The Times’ website behind an online paywall. Following the announcement the News Corp chairman Rupert Murdoch, James’s father, praised his son’s leadership, saying: “We are all grateful for James' leadership at News International…where he has made lasting contributions to the group's strategy in paid digital content and its efforts to improve and enhance governance programs. “He has demonstrated leadership and continues to create great value at Star TV, Sky Deutschland, Sky Italia, and BSkyB. “Now that he has moved to New York, James will continue to assume a variety of essential corporate leadership mandates, with particular focus on important pay-TV businesses and broader international operations.”
His decision to step down comes less than a week after the launch of the Sun on Sunday, which Rupert Murdoch oversaw in London. <noframe>Twitter: Robert Peston - News Corp source: J Murdoch went because "you only need one Murdoch running the newspapers" - ie Rupert is back to stay. See my blog soon</noframe>
James Murdoch added: “I deeply appreciate the dedication of my many talented colleagues at News International who work tirelessly to inform the public and am confident about the tremendous momentum we have achieved under the leadership of my father and Tom Mockridge,” “With the successful launch of The Sun on Sunday and new business practices in place across all titles, News International is now in a strong position to build on its successes in the future.”
News Corp., based in New York, owns the Wall Street Journal and the New York Post in the U.S., as well as the Times, Sun, and just-introduced Sun on Sunday in the U.K. The company derives more than 70 percent of its operating income from its television businesses that includes Fox Broadcast and the FX cable channel. Publishing accounts for less than a fifth of annual operating income and is “significantly down year-on-year on profitability,” according to Carey. News Corp. rose 1.6 percent to $19.81 at the close in New York on Tuesday. The shares have gained 11 percent this year. For the moment, the company is focusing on increasing profit margins at the publishing businesses, Carey said. He left open the possibility the board could consider a spin off. “As a board, we will and have and will continue to discuss everything that we think that makes sense,” Carey said. | Government Job change - Resignation_Dismissal | February 2012 | ['(The Telegraph)', '(Sydney Morning Herald)'] |
Sudanese President Omar al–Bashir and the main Darfur rebel group, the Justice and Equality Movement, sign a ceasefire deal. | Sudan on Tuesday signed a framework peace accord with rebels from the nation's volatile Darfur region, state media reported.
The framework agreement is considered the first step towards the achievement of a lasting peace accord in Darfur.
The signing of the cease-fire agreement with the rebel Justice and Equality Movement coincided with a four-way summit in Doha, Qatar, the state-run SUNA news agency said.
Participants at the summit include the emir of Qatar, Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al-Thani; Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir; the president of Chad, Idris Deby; and Eritrean President Assais Afwerki, SUNA reported.
The participants are expected to discuss means of achieving peace in the region, welcoming the steps for realizing peace in Darfur, progress of the relations between Qatar, Sudan, Chad and Eritrea and other issues of mutual concern, SUNA said.
Tahir al-Fati, chairman of the Justice and Equality Movement's legislative assembly, told CNN on Saturday that a preliminary document for the framework agreement was signed Saturday in Chad between representatives of the two sides.
A permanent cease-fire -- which, according to this preliminary accord, is to be signed before March 15 -- will be a final step, al-Fati said.
Last year, Sudan's government and the JEM rebels signed a confidence-building agreement in Qatar, a step toward ending the six-year conflict that has killed hundreds of thousands.
Qatar has been mediating talks between the two sides in the Darfur conflict, which erupted in 2003 after rebels began an uprising against the Khartoum government.
The government launched a brutal counterinsurgency campaign, aided by government-backed Arab militias that went from village to village in Darfur, killing, torturing and raping residents, according to the United Nations, Western governments and human rights organizations.
Al-Bashir is under pressure to end the fighting, particularly after the International Criminal Court charged him with genocide last year in connection with the government's campaign of violence in Darfur.
In the past seven years, more than 300,000 people have been killed through direct combat, disease or malnutrition, the United Nations says. An additional 2.7 million people fled their homes because of fighting among rebels, government forces and allied militias. | Sign Agreement | February 2010 | ['(CNN)', '(Xinhua)', '(BBC)'] |
At least nine people are killed and several inhale fumes after a fire at a retirement home in Melle, Belgium. | Nine people have been killed in a fire at a retirement home in the northern Belgian town of Melle, officials say.
The fire broke out around 2000 (1800 GMT) at the Kanunnik Triest home, which houses about 90 residents, sending thick smoke throughout the facility. Three more residents are in a critical condition. Four rescue workers were taken to hospital after inhaling fumes. A nurse told the newspaper, De Standaard, that the fire was caused by an overheating fan on the first floor. "A piece of equipment overheated or imploded and very quickly there was dense smoke everywhere," local councillor Frederik De Buck later told the Associated Press. Mr De Buck said most of the people living in the wing where the fire broke out had been asleep at the time. It appeared that only those who had still been awake were able to escape in time, he added. "It was especially the smoke that did it," Mr De Buck said. "A lot of doors were left open because of the hot weather outside." By the time the emergency services arrived at the scene, flames were leaping out of the windows and it was impossible to reach some of the victims, witnesses said. Firefighters have said the fire is now under control. Occupants of the home who were unaffected have been moved to a nearby facility. Melle is some 10km (six miles) from the centre of Ghent and has a population of about 10,000. Aftermath of the fire at the Kanunnik Triest home in Melle | Fire | August 2009 | ['(BBC)'] |
Writer Iain Banks announces he is terminally ill with gallbladder cancer at the age of 59 and has months to live. The publication of his final novel is to be brought forward by several months in the hope of allowing him to see it in print. | Iain Banks, whose darkly humorous presence has enlivened Scottish literature for 30 years, has announced he is "officially very poorly" with gall bladder cancer and may have only months to live.
Banks, 59, is recovering from jaundice caused by a blocked bile duct. "But that – it turns out – is the least of my problems," he said on his website.
The author's trademark deadpan humour was to the fore as he broke the news: "I've withdrawn from all planned public engagements and I've asked my partner Adele if she will do me the honour of becoming my widow (sorry – but we find ghoulish humour helps)," he wrote.
His website soon broke under pressure from wellwishers who wanted to read the news and leave tributes.
Banks has delighted fans with his prolific output under two names, and outraged literary puritans with his blithe assertion that he aimed to devote no more than three months a year to writing, because there were so many more interesting things to do – like driving fast cars and playing with fancy technology.
So it must have seemed a very black joke indeed when he discovered a back problem he had ascribed "to the fact I'd started writing at the beginning of [January] and so was crouched over a keyboard all day" was something much more serious.
"When it hadn't gone away by mid-February, I went to my GP, who spotted that I had jaundice. Blood tests, an ultrasound scan and then a CT scan revealed the full extent of the grisly truth by the start of March," he wrote.
"I have cancer. It started in my gall bladder, has infected both lobes of my liver and probably also my pancreas and some lymph nodes, plus one tumour is massed around a group of major blood vessels in the same volume, effectively ruling out any chance of surgery to remove the tumours either in the short or long term."
He said he and his new wife intend "to spend however much quality time I have left seeing friends and relations and visiting places that have meant a lot to us".
His publishers, meanwhile, are doing all they can to bring forward the publication date of his new novel, The Quarry, "by as much as four months, to give me a better chance of being around when it hits the shelves".
Banks, who made his literary debut in 1984 with The Wasp Factory, is really two authors: he writes bestselling, mainstream, literary fiction as Iain Banks, and award-winning science fiction as Iain M Banks, about the Culture universe.
Last summer he described his development as a writer in a typically jocular column for the Guardian Review book club, which featured the first of his Culture novels, Use of Weapons. "The original draft … dates from 1974 and was packed with purple prose of the look-I've-got-a-thesaurus-and-I'm-going-to-use-it/never-use-one-adjective-when-six-will-do school. (Oh, I should add that, having written three unpublished novels by this time, one of them immensely long, and a 30,000-word novella, I must have decided that writing one book at a time was somehow too easy, so when I started writing UoW I started another novel at the same time.)"
His happy-go-lucky front conceals a stubborn streak, which he also revealed in the column, recalling how he had initially ignored the advice of two mentors – science fiction writer Ken MacLeod and publisher James Hale – as to how to liberate the novel from its "manically complicated structure that was really only comprehensible with a diagram". Having initially told both men "they were mad", he eventually realised they might have a point. "As a result, what may still be my best SF novel is largely the work of others."
MacLeod, the award-winning Scottish science fiction author, who is a friend of Banks from high school days, said the support went both ways. "It's very hard to take. Iain has been a tremendous support and encouragement over the years. You couldn't ask for a better friend, and I'm just holding out for a statistically improbable recovery."
Banks said he was still deciding whether to undergo chemotherapy "to extend the amount of time available". He told friends and colleagues about his cancer diagnosis a few weeks ago
"The way Iain has reacted to his situation is not really with a sense of unfairness but more that it's just the way the universe works, the way matter works, that there's nobody out to get us, nobody to blame for it all," said MacLeod. "It's a very courageous and stoical attitude in his situation. There's no doubting the style of the man. What you see is what you get, and the Iain who comes across in his books is very much how he is."
MacLeod said Banks thought of himself as principally a science fiction writer who happened to have published a literary novel first. "He wrote several of the Culture novels in first drafts before The Wasp Factory and he got many rejections. He was almost embarrassed when he wrote a mainstream novel in The Wasp Factory and wondered if his friends would think he was selling out."
Banks's friend Ian Rankin, creator of the archetypal Scottish detective Inspector Rebus, said he preferred the literary novels to what Banks called his "skiffy" [sci-fi] books. "The exciting thing about reading Iain Banks is that you never know what kind of book it's going to be.
"It could be weird, it could be other-worldly, it could be literary fiction, a family saga, about a disc jockey – you don't know what you're going to get, so every time a new book comes out there was that excitement."
Rankin said he and Banks were part of a group of writers who would get together "fairly regularly, either for a few beers in Edinburgh, or a curry."
"He has this huge belly laugh with his head thrown back … He's a really interesting guy to spend time with – a mind fizzing with energy and ideas, with a childlike wonder at the world. He's also quite engaged with politics – I remember him destroying his passport in protest at what he saw as Tony Blair's warmongering, and then suddenly realising he needed it for a tour to Australia. He wears his politics and his passion on his sleeve, and he's full of quirks – really engaging quirks. He was attempting at one point to drive along every single road in Scotland, for example, keeping very detailed road maps."
Rankin said Banks's comment about asking Adele if she would do him the honour of "becoming my widow" was typical of the author.
"That combination of the macabre with the comedic is something he pulled off time and again in his fiction," said Rankin. "He's taken it with good grace and humour and stoicism. I hope I have the chance to have that drink with him in Edinburgh."
Banks wrote an exploration of the history of malt whisky, Raw Spirit, which gave him an excuse to expound his political beliefs. He began his journey, shortly after Iraq had been invaded, in a car festooned with anti-war posters. Given its timing, he wrote, the book "can't help being about the war", but then whisky had always been "up to its pretty bottle neck" in politics.
These days, Banks flaunts his political views with a FTT (Fuck the Tories ) T-shirt. But a courteous side was shown in his statement that the treatment he had received from the NHS in Scotland had been "exemplary, and the standard of care deeply impressive. We're all just sorry the outcome hasn't been more cheerful."
"It's very moving indeed how many people are very sad," said MacLeod. "Everybody who knows him is just devastated by this."
Banks's statement was reposted on a new website called Banksophilia: Friends of Iain Banks, which has been set up for friends, family and fans to leave messages and check his progress. | Famous Person - Sick | April 2013 | ['(The Guardian)', '(The Irish Times)', '(AFP via The Times of India)'] |
Clashes near the village of Toumour in Niger's southeast Diffa Region kill at least 30 Boko Haram militants and five Niger Armed Forces soldiers. | NIAMEY (Reuters) - Thirty members of Boko Haram and five Nigerien soldiers have been killed in fighting in the southeastern Diffa region of Niger, the defense ministry said in a statement late on Tuesday.
The clash took place Monday near the village of Toumour, near Lake Chad and the Nigerian border, an area that has plagued by violence from the Islamist militant group and is under an extended state of emergency.
Boko Haram took the nearby town of Bosso in early June, in an attack that killed 32 soldiers and was the deadliest Boko Haram assault in Niger since April 2015. Since then, Chad has sent troops to help Niger wage a counterattack.
Fighting began on Monday morning when the army fell into an ambush, the statement said, adding that six soldiers were also injured and two militants were captured.
“The Boko Haram fighters were trying to prevent people from praying to mark the feast of sacrifice,” said Laouan Boukar, a resident of Toumour, referring to the important Muslim holiday Eid al-Adha that was on Monday.
Boko Haram has been trying to establish an Islamic state adhering to strict Sharia law in northeastern Nigeria since 2009. About 2.1 million people have been displaced and thousands have been killed during the insurgency.
| Riot | September 2016 | ['(Reuters)'] |
The death toll in clashes between antigovernment protesters and Thai troops in the capital Bangkok rises to at least 20 people. |
BANGKOK, April 11 (TNA) The death toll in Saturday’s clashes between
government troops and anti-government protesters officially reached 19 on
Sunday, with some 825 persons listed as injured, according to the Bangkok
Emergency Medical Service (the Erawan Centre).
The 19 deaths include 14 civilians, four soldiers and one unidentified
victim.
Among the dead is Hiroyuki Muramoto, a Japanese cameraman working for
Thomson Reuters news agency.
Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva expressed deep sorrow to the families
of victims of the clashes Saturday night, saying autopsies and
investigations will be conducted to confirm the causes of death.
In an address to the nation broadcast live on a national television
shortly before midnight, the prime minister vowed to stay on to restore
order.
“The government and I are still responsible for easing the situation and
trying to bring peace and order to the country,'' Mr Abhisit affirmed.
Many losses of life occurred at Khok Wua intersection on Ratchadamnoen
Avenue, site of the nation's Democracy Monument, and some soldiers were
killed as M-79 grenades were used during the clash, he said.
The United States expressed deep regret over the violence on the streets of
Bangkok and the loss of life in the political protests, the State Department
said.
“We call on the United Front for Democracy Against Dictatorship (UDD) and
the Thai security forces to show restraint going forward," spokesman P.J.
Crowley was quoted as saying by the Agence France Presse news agency.
As the Red Shirt protests continue at the capital’s commercial heart at
Ratchaprasong adjacent to the Erawan Shrine, Red Shirt leaders told the
protesters to prepare anti-tear gas equipment, charging that security
forces may try to disperse them.
The city’s MRT subway system was operating as usual on Sunday, but Silom
station was closed due to increasing number of Red Shirt protesters at the
King Rama VI monument in Lumpini Park, not far from Ratchaprasong
intersection.
Meanwhile, the BTS Skytrain elevated train service resumed Sunday except for
Chidlom station near the Ratchaprasong protest site.
Not far from the Ratchadamnoen Road Khok Wua intersection, Surat
Wongcharnsil, chairman of the Khao San Road trade association announced
cancellation of the Thai traditional New Year, the Songkran water splashing
festival in the backpacker area in an historic quarter of the capital
after Saturday night's casualties, and losses including smashed
shops.
The atmosphere on Khao San road is sluggish Sunday as many tourists have
checked out and shops are closed.
He estimated losses at least Bt 500 million during this Songkran period, as
Khao San Road is normally crowded with locals and tourists. (TNA)
| Armed Conflict | April 2010 | ['(BBC)', '(Thai News Agency)'] |
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission charges Neil Cole, former CEO of Iconix Brand Group, with accounting fraud. | Dec 5 (Reuters) - Iconix Brand founder and former Chief Executive Officer Neil Cole has been charged with accounting fraud, along with former Chief Operating Officer Seth Horowitz, according to a court filing on Thursday.
According to a complaint filed by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, the former executives manipulated revenue and earnings figures at the apparel licensing company by convincing a joint venture to artificially hike the price it would pay Iconix for intellectual property assets with promise of paying back later.
The joint venture overpaid $5 million in the second quarter of 2014 and $6 million in the following quarter that enabled Iconix to top Wall Street estimates for revenue and a key earnings per share metric, according to the complaint.
While Horowitz, 43, was involved only in one transaction, Cole, 62, who was the CEO at the time, negotiated key aspects of both deals, according to the complaint.
Cole stepped down from the top job in August 2015, after about 10 years at the helm. | Famous Person - Commit Crime - Accuse | December 2019 | ['(Reuters)'] |
Japan extends sanctions against North Korea, citing a lack of progress in a dispute about the abduction of Japanese nationals. | The measures - which ban imports from North Korea and visits by its ships - will continue for another six months.
A top official said Japan was seeking advances on both the abduction and nuclear issues. The move comes exactly a year after North Korea carried out its first nuclear test, on 9 October 2006.
Since then, Pyongyang has agreed to end its nuclear programme in return for millions of dollars worth of aid. It has closed its main Yongbyon reactor and last week committed to a timetable for disclosing and dismantling all its nuclear facilities by the end of the year. Later this week, a US-led team of experts are due to visit North Korea, where they will begin supervising the process of dismantling its nuclear installations.
'No progress'
But a major sticking point in the bilateral relationship has been the issue of Japanese citizens abducted by Pyongyang in the late 1970s and early 1980s to train spies. "We saw the need to extend the sanctions because there has been no progress over the abduction issue," Chief Cabinet Secretary Nobutaka Machimura told journalists after the move was agreed at a Cabinet meeting. North Korea admitted in 2002 that it had kidnapped 13 Japanese nationals. It has returned five of them and says the remaining eight are dead. It says the issue has now been resolved.
But Japan wants concrete proof of the deaths and believes that several more of its citizens were taken. There is huge public concern over the issue in Japan. Talks in Mongolia last month aimed at resolving the dispute came to nothing. The abduction row was not the only factor behind the decision, Mr Machimura said. "We also took into comprehensive consideration the overall situation involving North Korea, including the nuclear issue," he said. A foreign ministry official told the Associated Press news agency that Japan wanted to see concrete steps from Pyongyang towards disabling its nuclear programme. The sanctions - imposed last October after North Korea's nuclear test - prevent visits by the Mangyongbong-92 ferry, the only direct link between the two countries, and ban imports from the impoverished nation.
They have now been extended until 13 April, officials said. The decision needs the endorsement of parliament, but the opposition have already agreed to the step. What are these? | Famous Person - Give a speech | October 2007 | ['(BBC)'] |
Protesters and police clash after a crackdown ordered by Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra with one policeman shot dead and dozens wounded. , | Bangkok: Thailand’s anti-corruption commission announced it will charge Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra with neglect of duty as riot police and anti-government protesters clashed in Bangkok on Tuesday, leaving a policeman and three others dead and dozens injured.
The commission will summon Ms Yingluck to appear before it next week over her role in a controversial rice farm subsidy scheme that has cost Thailand billions of dollars.
If found guilty Ms Yingluck, Thailand’s first woman prime minister, could be removed from office.
Government officials say the commission’s action is part of what they see as a judicial coup orchestrated by powerful figures in Bangkok.
Riot police fire rubber bullets into the crowds of anti-government protesters during a clash in Bangkok, Thailand on Tuesday.Credit:AP
Ms Yingluck, who chaired a body that oversaw the scheme that has left Thailand with huge stockpiles of unsold rice, denies any wrongdoing and says the scheme was established to benefit farmers.
The commission’s announcement came as new violence erupted when protesters resisted the most forceful effort yet to reclaim protest sites across the capital.
Gunshots and explosions rang out after police attempted to remove barricades that protesters had erected near a bridge near key government offices.
The government said that a grenade was used against the police and that tear gas was fired by protesters – not the police.
A Thai policeman reacts after an explosion during clashes with anti-government protesters near Government House in Bangkok.Credit:Reuters
Police said 24 of its officers were among those hurt.
"I can guarantee that teargas was not used by security forces. The forces did not take teargas with them," said National Security Council chief Paradorn Pattanathabutr.
Anti-government protesters mix concrete in an attempt to build a wall in front of the gate of the Government House in Bangkok on February 17, 2014.Credit:AFP
One of the dead protesters was shot in the head.
Some protesters claimed that police snipers were deployed in locations hours before the violence broke out.
At least four of the injured were police.
After intermittent gunfire police withdrew from the area.
Dozens of protesters then overturned and smashed police vehicles.
One abandoned vehicle with weapons inside was lifted away by protesters using a fork lift.
“Police are killers,” a young man yelled as he attacked a vehicle.
Uthi Bencharit, a factory worker, said the shooting started “all of a sudden from the police side” but there were also what seemed to be firecrackers from the protesters. “I think the police wanted to flex their muscles,” he said.
Asked whether he believes the unrest will get worse, he said: “I hope not. I think the military will eventually step in. I don’t think they can let things go on like this.”
Protest leaders accused police of using weapons against their movement they claim is peaceful.
“We insist that we will remain in the seized areas because we don’t want the cabinet and prime minister to return and use their barbaric powers,” said Ekanant Prompan, a spokesman for the protesters.
Earlier Tuesday about 100 protesters were arrested during a police operation to reclaim the Energy Ministry.
Security officials said 15,000 police had been mobilised to clear protest sites in an operation they called “Peace for Bangkok Mission.”
The operation came after talks between senior police and protest leaders had collapsed amid renewed acrimony in a conflict that in broad terms pits one elite group of Thais backed by Bangkok’s middle class with another group backed by exiled former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, who is Ms Yingluck’s sister.
The protesters have been rallying since November in a campaign to force the powerful Shinawatra family from politics and set-up an unelected body to run the country for up to two years.
The violence brought to 13 the number of people killed since the protests began after the government attempted to pass an amnesty bill that would have allowed Mr Thaksin to return from exile without having to serve jail time for corruption.
Labor minister Chalerm Yoobamrung said on Monday that if protesters did not leave protest sites at key government buildings police would move to reclaim them this week. | Protest_Online Condemnation | February 2014 | ['(BBC)', '(Sydney Morning Herald)'] |
Saudi Arabia arrests Samar Badawi, a human rights activist who received the International Women of Courage Award from the United States in 2012. Badawi is to appear in court on Wednesday, according to Amnesty International. Both her brother, Raif Badawi, publisher of the "Free Saudi Liberals" blog, and former husband, Waleed Sami Abulkhair, are currently imprisoned. | The arrest of Samar Badawi, a prominent human rights defender, as well as the sister of imprisoned blogger Raif Badawi and the former spouse of imprisoned human rights lawyer Waleed Abu al-Khair, is the latest example of Saudi Arabia’s utter contempt for its human rights obligations and provides further damning proof of the authorities’ intent to suppress all signs of peaceful dissent, said Amnesty International.
According to local activists, Samar Badawi was arrested in the morning on January 12 in Jeddah and transferred along with her two-year-old daughter Joud to a police station. After four hours of questioning, she was transferred to Dhaban prison and is due to appear before a prosecutor tomorrow. She is believed to have been arrested at least partly in connection with her alleged role in managing a Twitter account campaigning for the release of her former husband.
“Samar Badawi’s arrest today is yet another alarming setback for human rights in Saudi Arabia and demonstrates the extreme lengths to which the authorities are prepared to go in their relentless campaign to harass and intimidate human rights defenders into silent submission,” said Philip Luther, Director of the Middle East and North Africa Program.
“Just weeks after Saudi Arabia shocked the world by executing 47 people in a single day, including the Shi’a Muslim cleric Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr, it has once again demonstrated its utter disregard for human rights. Samar Badawi has been arrested purely for peacefully exercising her right to freedom of expression, she must be immediately and unconditionally released.”
In December 2014 the Ministry of Interior issued a travel ban on Samar Badawi to prevent her from travelling to Brussels for a human rights event.
Samar Badawi’s former husband, Waleed Abu al-Khair, is serving a 15-year prison sentence also in connection with his work protecting and defending human rights in Saudi Arabia. Hundreds of thousands of Amnesty International’s supporters campaigned for his release during its December 2015 Write for Rights Campaign.
Her brother Raif was sentenced to 10 years in prison and 1,000 lashes for setting up a website for public debate. He received the first 50 lashes just over a year ago. They are both prisoners of conscience who must be immediately and unconditionally released. | Famous Person - Commit Crime - Arrest | January 2016 | ['(CNN)', '(Amnesty International)', '(The Guardian)'] |
Despite ending their 22–match unbeaten streak after losing to South Africa, New Zealand win the 2014 Rugby Championship in rugby union. Also on the final day of the tournament, Argentina defeat Australia for their first win in the competition since joining it in 2012. (BBC, South Africa–New Zealand) (BBC, Argentina–Australia) | Last updated on 4 October 20144 October 2014.From the section Rugby Union
South Africa ended world champions New Zealand's 22-match unbeaten run with a thrilling victory in Johannesburg. Patrick Lambie landed a 55m penalty with two minutes remaining to clinch a gripping Rugby Championship Test match.
The Springboks led by 11 points just after half-time but Dane Coles' 71st-minute try put the visitors ahead, only for Lambie to snatch the win.
The defeat was the first for the All Blacks in 23 matches since they lost to England at Twickenham in December 2012.
New Zealand have lost just twice in 38 matches since winning the World Cup in 2011, while South Africa went into the match at Ellis Park with only one win in their last 10 meetings with the All Blacks.
Handre Pollard scored 19 points for the hosts, converting both of his two first-half tries as well as Francois Hougaard's opener.
Malaki Fekitoa went over for the first All Blacks try, but the home side led 21-13 at the break. Pollard kicked a penalty after half-time to put South Africa 24-13 ahead, but this served as a prelude to a stirring comeback from New Zealand.
A try from winger Ben Smith was converted by Beauden Barrett to reduce the gap to four points, and this year's Rugby Championship winners were ahead when Coles crashed over in the corner.
But Barrett missed the conversion, which meant that Lambie had a chance to retake the lead when Liam Messam's challenge on Schalke Burger resulted in a penalty on 78 minutes.
The substitute fly-half nervelessly slotted the kick over from just inside his own half, giving his side a lead they held to deny All Black captain Richie McCaw a win on his record-breaking 134th international appearance for his country.
The result was the first defeat for McCaw's side in 18 matches since the start of the four-team Rugby Championship in 2012.
South Africa coach Heyneke Meyer: "All credit to Pat, it was an unbelievable kick under huge pressure. "I have been involved in rugby for 30 years and always wondered what it felt like to beat the All Blacks."
New Zealand coach Steve Hansen: "I have no problem with (referee Wayne) Barnes giving the penalty, I don't think there was intention to hit him high, but he did.
"It was a great game of rugby and could have gone either way, but my heart tells me the Boks deserved it today."
South Africa: Le Roux, Hendricks, Serfontein, De Villiers (capt), Habana, Pollard, Hougaard; J du Plessis, B du Plessis, Mtawarira, Matfield, Etzebeth, Vermeulen, Mohoje, Coetzee.
Replacements: Burger for Mohoje (49), Strauss for B Du Plessis (52), Pietersen for Hendricks (57), Lambie for Pollard (62), Botha for Etzebeth (62), Van der Merwe for J Du Plessis (62), Reinach for Hougaard (66), Nyakane for Mtawarira (72).
New Zealand: Dagg; B Smith, C Smith, Fekitoa, Savea; Barrett, A Smith; O Franks, Mealamu, Moody, Whitelock, Thrush, Reid, McCaw (capt), Kaino. Replacements: Messam for Thrush (48), Coles for Mealamu (48), Franks for Moody (h-t), Faumina for O Franks (57), Luatua for Kaino (60), Kerr-Barlow for A Smith (65), Crotty for C Smith (73), Slade for Kerr-Barlow (74). | Sports Competition | October 2014 | [] |
Ten years after the collapse of Belgian financial group Fortis in the financial crisis of 2007–2008, the prosecutor in Brussels decides to drop the case against seven former directors. The prosecution argues that it found insufficient evidence that they knowingly misled shareholders with over–optimistic company information. | BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Belgian prosecutors have dropped their case against former directors of Fortis, 10 years after the Belgian-Dutch bank’s collapse during the global financial crisis.
Brussels prosecutors said that they had decided not to pursue charges against seven ex-directors because it had not found sufficient proof that they had wilfully given over-optimistic information to shareholders.
“If we want to prove fraud then we need to show they knowingly attached too low a risk to the sub-primes, in other words were too positive... It is difficult to say that they should have known better,” said prosecutor Ine Van Wymersch.
She noted that Belgian insurer Ageas AGES.BR, the legal successor to Fortis, was set to pay shareholders 1.3 billion euros by way of compensation.
Part of the reason for the pursuit of the ex-directors was to secure damages for Fortis shareholders who had lost their money.
Seven ex-directors, including former chairman Maurice Lippens and former CEO Jean-Paul Votron, were accused in 2013 of misleading investors during Fortis’s purchase of part of Dutch lender ABN AMRO and before its 2008 collapse.
Allegations by the prosecutors revolved around whether communications to investors about Fortis’s exposure to U.S. sub-prime assets were insufficient or too late, such as at the time of a capital increase when Fortis bought part of ABN AMRO.
The seven would have been the first in Belgium to face trial over banking failures during the crisis, which also forced bailouts for Franco-Belgian group Dexia DEXI.BR and Belgian company KBC KBC.BR.
Fortis, once one of Europe’s largest banks, got into trouble after paying a top-of-the-market 24 billion euros ($27.4 billion) to buy the Dutch operations of ABN AMRO just before the credit crunch struck.
Shareholder groups have complained that Lippens and Votron repeatedly assured markets that Fortis’s balance sheet was strong and that it would not be changing its dividend policy.
In June, 2008, Fortis scrapped its interim dividend and sold new shares to prop itself up before it collapsed and was broken up in October 2008.
Reporting by Philip Blenkinsop
.
| Organization Closed | December 2018 | ['(Reuters)'] |
18–year–old Ebrahim Hamidi is sentenced to death for sodomy in Iran, without legal representation after human rights lawyer Mohammad Mostafaei flees in the wake of the Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani case. | An 18-year-old Iranian is facing imminent execution on charges of homosexuality, even though he has no legal representation. Ebrahim Hamidi, who is not gay, was sentenced to death for lavat, or sodomy, on the basis of "judge's knowledge", a legal loophole that allows for subjective judicial rulings where there is no conclusive evidence.
Hamidi had been represented by human rights lawyer Mohammad Mostafaei, who has since been forced to flee Iran after bringing to international attention the case of another of his clients, Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani, a 43-year-old Iranian mother of two who has been sentenced to death by stoning for adultery. Mostafaei was due to arrive in Norway yesterday to begin a life in exile while continuing his campaigns on behalf of his clients, including Hamidi.
At the same time, human rights activist Peter Tatchell has written to the foreign secretary, William Hague, urging him to contact the chief justice of Iran and ask that the execution be halted.
"Ebrahim's case is evidence that innocent heterosexual people can be sentenced to death on false charges of homosexuality [in Iran]," said Tatchell, co-founder of the London-based gay rights group OutRage.
Hamidi was arrested two years ago in the suburbs of the western city of Tabriz in the East Azerbaijan province after a fight with members of another family. Three of his friends were also involved in the incident and were subsequently arrested. Later, the four were accused of homosexual assault on a man and of attempting to abuse him sexually.
A person convicted of homosexuality in Iran can be lashed, hanged or stoned to death. The law includes a variety of penalties for different acts: 99 lashes if two unrelated males sleep "unnecessarily" under the same blanket – even without any sexual contact. A boy raped by an adult man would also be lashed if the court decided that he had "enjoyed" the experience.
After three days in detention, Hamidi confessed to the crime, allegedly under torture. The other three were cleared of all charges when promised by officials that they would be freed if they testified against Hamidi.
However, last month Hamidi's alleged victim admitted that he had been under pressure from his parents to make false accusations. Nevertheless the local judiciary has insisted that Hamidi should be executed.
Mostafaei initially wrote an open letter about Hamidi's case to highlight the execution of juvenile offenders. But two weeks ago Mostafaei's wife, Fereshteh Halimi, was arrested and had been kept in solitary confinement in Tehran's notorious Evin prison without charge until late last night, when the Observer understood that she was released.
Mostafaei fled to Turkey, where he was promptly arrested for entering the country illegally. On Friday, however, the Turkish authorities released him after EU diplomats intervened on his behalf. As he left, Mostafaei had repeated his fears for his wife's safety. "They've taken her in as a hostage; it's kidnapping," he told the Observer. "Just look at what is happening to my wife and realise the flaws and failings of the Iranian legal system, especially towards Ebrahim Hamidi and Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani, who are awaiting execution on basis of false accusations," he added.
Mostafaei, whose office in Tehran is now sealed off, is credited with saving at least 50 people from execution during his career, among them many juvenile offenders. A recent client, Ali Mahin-Torabi, 21, was released in July after Mostafaei's efforts commuted his death sentence. With Mostafaei exiled, activists are worried for Hamidi. "It's shocking that although Hamidi's accuser admitted in a recorded testimony that he had lied, he is still facing execution," Mostafaei said.
An online petition calling for the execution order to be rescinded was launched on 8 August. | Famous Person - Commit Crime - Sentence | August 2010 | ['(The Observer)'] |
An appeals court in Ukraine confirms the guilty ruling of Artem Sytnyk, head of the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine, for corruption. Sytnyk was accused of having expensive vacations paid by businessman Mykola Nadeyko. | Today, on December 13, the Rivne Court of Appeals upheld the decision of the court of first instance in National Anti-corruption Bureau (NABU) Head Artem Sytnyk's elite vacation case.
Thus, now, according to the law on NABU, Sytnyk should be fired from the NABU director's post, as he falls into the corrupt officials register.
Earlier, Artem Sytnyk admitted he had had four or five vacations at the farm and had normal relations with businessman Mykola Nadeyko. The prosecution in the NABU head case noted that there was evidence of the vacations paid for by Mykola Nadeyko.
Sytnyk believed there was no corpus delicti in the case, and it should be closed. But the court rejected his appeal, having thus backed the ruling of the court of first instance, which found Sytnyk guilty of committing an act ofcorruption and imposed a fine worth UAH 3,400 (or US$144 at the current forex rate) on him.
It should be mentioned that in May this year, the State Bureau of Investigation (SBI) opened criminal proceedings against NABU chief Artem Sytnyk. He was accused of having a free vacation in the elite hunting grounds of the Polisske-Sarny farm in Rivne region, and his friend, businessman Mykola Nadeyko, paid the bills. Nadeyko paid not only for hotel accommodation, but also for food and expensive entertainment. | Famous Person - Commit Crime - Accuse | December 2019 | ['(UNIAN)'] |
Officials say eight inmates were killed and 52 others injured after guards opened fire during a prison riot on Sunday in Mahara, Sri Lanka. The unrest was sparked by a surge of COVID-19 infections in Sri Lankan prisons. | COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AP) — Eight inmates were killed and 59 others were injured when guards opened fire to control a riot at a prison on the outskirts of Sri Lanka’s capital, officials said Monday. Two guards were critically injured, they said.
Pandemic-related unrest has been growing in Sri Lanka’s overcrowded prisons. Inmates have staged protests in recent weeks at several prisons as the number of coronavirus cases surges in the facilities. Police spokesman Ajith Rohana said inmates created “unrest” Sunday at Mahara prison, about 15 kilometers (10 miles) north of Colombo, and officials attempted to control the situation.
But “the unrest situation turned into a prison riot,” he said, adding that prisoners tried to take control of the prison and hundreds attempted to escape.
The inmates “reportedly destroyed most of the property including offices inside the prison,” Rohana said.
The guards opened fire, and the clash left eight inmates dead and 59 injured, he said. Two prison officers were critically injured.
He said hundreds of additional police were deployed to help the guards and strengthen security around the prison. An inmate was killed in similar unrest at another prison last week. Another died in March.
More than a thousand inmates in five prisons have tested positive for the coronavirus and at least two have died. About 50 prison guards have also tested positive.
Senaka Perera, a lawyer with the Committee for Protecting Rights of Prisoners, said the inmates at Mahara prison had been frustrated because their pleas for coronavirus testing and separation of infected prisoners had been ignored by officials for more than a month.
On Monday, about 500 relatives of inmates gathered in front of the prison and urged the authorities to provide information about the prisoners and ensure their safety.
Sujeewa Silva said her son has been detained at the facility for seven months after being arrested on drug charges. “I want to know whether he is safe. I asked the officers, please tell me the condition of my son,” she said.
Sri Lankan prisons are highly congested with more than 26,000 inmates crowded into facilities with a capacity of 10,000.
Sri Lanka has experienced an upsurge in the coronavirus since last month when two clusters — one centered at a garment factory and other at a fish market — emerged in Colombo and its suburbs.
Confirmed cases from the two clusters have reached 19,449. Sri Lanka has reported a total number of 22,988 coronavirus cases, including 109 fatalities. | Riot | November 2020 | ['(AP)'] |
The Credit CARD Act of 2009 was signed into U.S. law by the President, Barack Obama. | Follow NBC News President Barack Obama warned overeager shoppers and greedy credit card companies alike on Friday to act responsibly as he signed into law a bill designed to protect debt-ridden consumers from surprise charges.
The White House staged a signing ceremony in the Rose Garden, an indication of the legislation’s importance to Obama. Though opposed by many financial companies, the bill cleared Congress with broad support.
Obama made clear that he didn’t champion the changes with the intention of helping those who buy more than they can afford through “reckless spending or wishful thinking.”
“Some get in over their heads by not using their heads,” the president said. “I want to be clear: We do not excuse or condone folks who’ve acted irresponsibly.”
And yet, he said, for many of the millions of Americans, trying to get out of debt has been made difficult and bewildering by their credit card companies.
Nearly 80 percent of Americans have credit cards and half of those carry a balance, according to the White House. The Federal Reserve estimates the nation is some $2.5 trillion in debt, a figure that does not include home mortgages.
Obama said many people have gotten “trapped” because of the downturn in the economy that has turned family budgets on their heads. But, he said, “part of it is the practices of the credit card companies.”
He criticized policies that allowed for confusing fine print; the sudden appearance of unexplained fees on bills; unannounced shifts in payment deadlines, interest charges or rate increases even when payments aren’t late; and payments directed to balances with the lowest interest rates rather than the highest.
“We’re here to put a change to all that,” Obama said.
One part of the bill Obama did not publicly celebrate at the signing, a gun amendment. The measure by Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla., allows people to bring loaded guns into national parks and wildlife refuges.
The addition of the amendment to the bill — and Obama’s acceptance of it — was viewed as a bitter disappointment for gun-control advocates.
They watched gun-rights supporters gain a victory from a Democratic-controlled Congress and a Democratic president that they couldn’t achieve under a Republican Congress and president. Many blamed the National Rifle Association, which pushed hard for the gun law.
Democrats lawmakers and aides said they didn’t have enough time to send the bill to the House-Senate conference committee — where the gun provision could have been removed without a vote — and still get the bill to Obama by the Memorial Day weekend as he requested.
The new credit card rules, which go into effect in nine months, prohibit companies from giving cards to people under 21 unless they can prove they have the means to pay the debt or a parent or guardian co-signs. A customer also will have to be more than 60 days behind on a payment before seeing a rate increase on an existing balance. Even then, the lender will be required to restore the previous, lower rate if the cardholder pays the minimum balance on time for six months.
And consumers also will have to receive 45 days’ notice and an explanation before their interest rates increase.
Despite being touted as a victory for consumers, financial experts said the bill could have unintended consequences as credit card companies look for ways to make up for potential lost revenue. Those measures could include more cards with annual fees and the loss of a grace period before interest accrues, which would affect even those consumers who pay off their balance each month.
Last year, the Nilson Report estimated that more than 700 million credit cards were in circulation in the United States. That’s more than two cards for every man, woman and child.
The president noted that nearly half of all Americans carry a balance on their credit cards, and that their average balance is more than $7,000.
Obama decried the “uneasy, unstable dependence” that a minority of card users have on credit.
“So we’re not going to give people a free pass, and we expect consumers to live within their means and pay what they owe,” Obama said. “But we also expect financial institutions to act with the same sense of responsibility that the American people aspire to in their own lives. | Government Policy Changes | May 2009 | ['(NBC)'] |
American conservative Christian lobby group One Million Moms launches a campaign against the decision of DC and Marvel Comics to include openly gay characters in their comics. | Fresh from failing to prevent an Archie comic featuring a gay marriage from being sold in America, conservative American mothers' group One Million Moms has launched a new attempt to stamp out homosexuality from the world of graphic novels.
The American Family Association-run conservative Christian organisation has taken issue with the news that DC Comics is planning to reveal that one of its established characters is gay – speculation is centring around Batman, Green Lantern and Wonder Woman – and that Marvel's new issue of Astonishing X-Men will feature Northstar's marriage to his boyfriend. "Here are two people, trying to live their lives – mutant and gay, black and gay – empowered in their own ways, but also fringe-dwellers," author Marjorie Liu told Rolling Stone earlier this month. "And they're making it happen. They're living life on their own terms. It doesn't matter that it's a superhero comic, the message is: You can do the same thing."
This is not, something One Million Moms approves of. "Children desire to be just like superheroes. Children mimic superhero actions and even dress up in costumes to resemble these characters as much as possible. Can you imagine little boys saying, 'I want a boyfriend or husband like X-Men?'" says the organisation. "This is ridiculous! Why do adult gay men need comic superheroes as role models? They want to indoctrinate impressionable young minds by placing these gay characters on pedestals in a positive light. These companies are heavily influencing our youth by using children's superheroes to desensitise and brainwash them into thinking that a gay lifestyle choice is normal and desirable. As Christians, we know that homosexuality is a sin."
Members are writing to DC Comics and Marvel to ask them "to change and cancel all plans of homosexual superhero characters immediately". Whether the move will have the effect that the mothers desire remains to be seen: following One Million Moms' campaign to stop Toys R Us selling the Archie comic, which featured the marriage of Kevin Keller, the series' first gay character, the issue sold out.
Comic writers were unimpressed by the campaign. "Dear @1milmoms, thank you for the boycotts. They increase sales as people buy extra copies to spite you. PLEASE boycott my book too. :-)" tweeted Spider-Man author Dan Slott. "One Million Moms: There aren't a million of them and their board is mostly men. If they lie about who they are, they'll lie about anything," said comics author Kurt Busiek.
Marvel Comics editor-in-chief Axel Alonso said in a statement to Newsarama: "For over 70 years, Marvel's comics have reflected the world outside your window and Astonishing X-Men #50 carries on that tradition. We're proud to create stories that are not only relevant to the issues facing a modern audience but that also explore these nuanced subjects in a compelling manner. We've planned the release of this comic for over a year but the recent discussion of gay marriage, spurred by the comments of President Obama, makes the release of Astonishing X-Men #50 even more timely. The passionate discourse between our fans on both sides of this matter shows that we've struck a chord with our millions of fans around the world." | Protest_Online Condemnation | May 2012 | ['(The Guardian)'] |
G20 finance ministers said they will present an action plan to address the debt vulnerabilities, as well as delivering financial aid to emerging economies. | RIYADH/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Group of 20 major economies said on Tuesday that they would present a coronavirus action plan in two weeks to address the debt vulnerabilities of the poorest countries and deliver financial aid to emerging economies.
G20 finance ministers and central bank governors discussed in a videoconference how the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank could ease a lack of liquidity in emerging markets, which have seen an outflow of $83 billion in capital.
In addition, the G20 countries will work with the group’s Financial Stability Board, set up after the 2008 financial crisis, to coordinate regulatory and supervisory measures taken in response to the coronavirus.
Working groups are due to flesh out details of the plan before the group’s next meeting on April 15. That will come during the virtual Spring Meetings of the IMF and World Bank, whose leaders also participate in the regular G20 calls.
The G20 has been accused of being slow to respond to the outbreak, which is expected to trigger a global recession as governments impose curfews and shut shops, travel comes to a halt and manufacturing supply lines are disrupted.
Last week, leaders of G20 countries pledged to spend over $5 trillion to limit job and income losses from the outbreak, while working to ease supply disruptions caused by border closures.
The IMF and the World Bank have jointly called for urgent action by official bilateral creditors to suspend debt service payments for the most vulnerable countries, some of whom have also been hit hard by a plunge in oil prices.
IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva on Tuesday welcomed steps already taken by G20 countries, but said she remained “very concerned about the negative outlook for global growth in 2020 and in particular about the strain a downturn would have on emerging markets and low-income countries”.
“Our forecast of a recovery next year hinges on how we manage to contain the virus and reduce the level of uncertainty,” she told the meeting.
Georgieva last week said the global economy was already in recession and called for “very massive” spending to avoid a cascade of bankruptcies and emerging market debt defaults. She said emerging economies would need at least $2.5 trillion.
Georgieva said the IMF had adjusted its rules to allow its poorest members to invest in crisis response rather than repay the IMF’s Catastrophe Containment and Relief Trust, and urged other countries to expand that facility to $1 billion.
“I count on the G20 to help build consensus on a way forward for our poorest members,” she said.
The G20 leaders pledged last week to fund all necessary measures to stop the spread of the virus, which by Tuesday had infected around 800,000 people and killed around 39,000.
The also expressed concern about the risks to fragile countries, notably in Africa, and acknowledged a need to bolster financial safety nets.
On Monday, G20 trade ministers agreed to keep their markets open and ensure the continued flow of vital medical supplies, equipment and other essential goods.
The G20 comprises Australia, Canada, Saudi Arabia, the United States, India, Russia, South Africa, Turkey, Argentina, Brazil, Mexico, France, Germany, Italy, Britain, the European Union, China, Indonesia, Japan and South Korea.
Reporting by Stephen Kalin in Riyadh and Andrea Shalal in Washington; Additional reporting by David Lawder in Washington; Editing by Kevin Liffey and Jon Boyle
| Financial Aid | March 2020 | ['(Reuters)'] |
Three civilians die during combat between Islamist insurgents and the African Union Mission in Mogadishu, Somalia. | At least three civilians, including a child of six, have been killed during fierce overnight fighting in the Somali capital, Mogadishu, residents say.
A BBC correspondent in the city said the sound of the exchange of heavy weapons could be heard across southern Mogadishu for two hours. African Union (AU) peacekeepers say they responded after being attacked. Many mortars fell in residential areas. Islamist insurgents have recently been gaining ground from the government. An AU spokesman in the city initially denied that the peacekeepers had been targeted but others now admit they came under fire from mortars and heavy artillery. Local resident Farhiyo Sharif Awale said that the child was among those killed in their sleep when a shell hit their home near the AU base. At least eight civilians have been taken to hospital, medical sources told the BBC's Mohammed Olad Hassan in Mogadishu. The attack came ahead of a meeting by the East African region grouping, Igad, which is due to discuss the Somali crisis. The weak, Western-backed government only controls part of Mogadishu and a few other pockets of territory. Some 4,000 AU peacekeepers are in the city, backing up the administration of moderate Islamist President Sheikh Sherif Sheikh Ahmed. A recent upsurge in fighting has forced some 43,000 people to flee their homes in less than two weeks, the UN says. Islamist fighters on Sunday seized the strategic town of Jowhar. On Tuesday, eyewitnesses told the BBC that Ethiopian troops had returned to Somalia, four months after leaving. They had helped government forces oust Islamists from Mogadishu in 2006 but withdrew in January under a UN-brokered peace deal. Somalia has not had a functioning national government since 1991 and years of fighting have left some three million people - a third of the population - needing food aid. | Armed Conflict | May 2009 | ['(BBC)'] |
Separatists in Catalonia launch a general strike in protest of the trial of Catalonia independence leaders, with major participation of the educational community. Demonstrators block major roads, highways, train tracks and the entrance to the port of Tarragona. | Strikers advocating for Catalonia's secession from Spain are blocking major highways, train lines and roads across the northeastern region
MADRID -- Strikers advocating for Catalonia to secede from Spain are blocking major highways, train tracks and roads across the northeastern region.
Thursday's general strike has been organized bynions of pro-independence workers and students. On paper, they are demanding improved social policies including a 35-hour work week and a higher minimum wage but the protests are being fueled by outrage at Spain for putting on trial a dozen separatists who pushed for Catalan independence in 2017.
Catalonia's transit authorities say the disruptions are affecting main thoroughfares in Barcelona and half a dozen major highways and railway tracks elsewhere in Catalonia. Protesters burned tires at one of the highways.
In Barcelona, students and the pro-secession group ANC are holding separate marches later Thursday. ANC's protest slogan is "self-determination is not a crime." | Strike | February 2019 | ['(Time)', '(ABC News)', '(Cope)'] |
A Boeing 737 MAX 8, en route from Jakarta to Pangkal Pinang, crashes into the ocean near Karawang, Indonesia, killing all one hundred eighty-one passengers and eight crew. | Read 3 articles daily and stand to win ST rewards, including the ST News Tablet worth $398.
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JAKARTA - Search and rescue efforts are underway in waters off Karawang, West Java, to locate survivors of Lion Air flight JT610, which crashed early Monday morning (Oct 29) minutes after taking off from Soekarno-Hatta Airport.
Tugboats and other vessels from state-owned oil company Pertamina, which were near the crash site and first at the scene, found aircraft debris in the water, but no survivors yet.
There were 189 people on board the plane.
Local authorities confirmed that flight JT610 departed the airport near the capital Jakarta on schedule at 6.20am local time, but lost contact with air traffic controllers about 13 minutes later.
The Boeing 737 MAX, one of the latest variants of the American-built aircraft, was originally scheduled to arrive at Pangkal Pinang, in Bangka Belitung Islands province, at 7.20am.
Indonesia’s national search and rescue agency Basarnas chief Muhammad Syaugi said his agency was alerted to the incident at about 6.50am and immediately dispatched resources to the possible crash site.
“When we arrived at the location, we found aircraft debris, a buoy, cellphones and several objects,” said Air Marshal Syaugi at a joint press conference on Monday morning with Indonesia's national transportation safety committee KNKT. Aircraft seats were also sighted among the debris.
He added that the location of the crash site is about two nautical miles from where it lost contact with air traffic control and that the aircraft is likely to have sunk to a depth of about 30m to 35m underwater.
“We are there already, our vessels, our helicopter is hovering above the waters, to assist,” said AIr Marshal Syaugi.
“We are still trying to dive to search for the plane,” he said.
Indonesia's President Joko Widodo said the authorities would do their best to find and rescue the victims of Monday's air crash.
"I will continue to pray that victims can be found immediately. I'm deeply concerned for the families of the victims, but we hope the victims' families will stay calm while waiting for the SAR (search and rescue) teams which are currently working hard at the scene. I also ordered the KNKT (national transportation safety committee) to immediately investigate this incident and submit the results of the investigation as quickly as possible," said Mr Joko.
6.20am local time: Lion Air flight JT 610 takes off from Soekarno-Hatta airport with 189 on-board and is scheduled to arrive in Pangkal Pinang, the capital of Bangka Belitung Islands province, from Jakarta at 0720 hrs
6.22am: Captain Bhavye Suneja, who is from India, contacts air traffic control (ATC) in Jakarta to report a problem with his flight control when flying at an altitude of 1,700ft. He requests for permission to climb to 5,000 ft. Jakarta ATC gives Captain Bhavye the green light.
6.32am: Jakarta ATC loses contact with flight JT 610.
6.50am: National search and rescue agency Basarnas alerted to the incident and immediately mobilises its personnel to the possible crash site.
8am: National transportation safety committee KNKT set-ups a command centre to coordinate with Lion Air, Basarnas, AirNav Indonesia, and other relevant agencies to respond to the incident.
10am: Basarnas and KNKT confirms that flight JT 610 has crashed in the waters of Karawang regency in West Java province.
Source: KNKT deputy chief Haryo Satmiko
According to the Ministry of Transportation’s directorate-general for air travel, flight JT610 had requested to return to Soekarno-Hatta Airport before it disappeared from the radar.
When asked on the cause of the crash, KNKT chief Soerjanto Tjahjono said: "We can't presume anything before finding the black box and also the recording from the (air traffic control) tower."
Lion Air chief executive Edward Sirait also told reporters that he is still waiting for updates on status of the 189 people on board.
He also confirmed that according to the pilot's records, the aircraft had underwent proper maintenance and was released for flight by engineers accordingly.
He said the plane reported a technical problem during its previous flight from Denpasar to Jakarta on Sunday night, but the problem was resolved before it took off on Monday morning.
"The weather was also good, everything was clear before the incident," he added.
On a request by the pilot to return to base shortly after take-off, Mr Sirait would only say that Lion Air is still trying to verify the information.
He said that Lion Air has opened up crisis centres for family members of victims at the Soekarno-Hatta Airport and at the Halim Perdanakusuma Airport.
According to Jakarta-based Elshinta radio, a tugboat had notified the Tanjung Priok Port that it spotted a plane crashing into the water on Monday morning.
The 189 people on board the aircraft comprised the two pilots, six flight attendants and 181 passengers, including a child and two infants. Around 20 staff from Indonesia’s Ministry of Finance were also on the flight.
Lion Air has set up a crisis centre at Soekarno-Hatta Airport’s Terminal 1 to assist the family members of passengers.
A spokesman from the airline said the Boeing 737 MAX plane was manufactured this year and has been operated by Lion Air since Aug 15.
The aircraft was commanded by Captain Bhavye Suneja, with co-pilot Harvino, who like many Indonesians go by just one name. The spokesman added that Capt Bhavya has clocked more than 6,000 flight hours, while his co-pilot has more than 5,000 flight hours.
Lion Air is Indonesia’s largest low-cost carrier, dominating more than 40 per cent of the market. It has been on an aggressive expansion plan in recent years, including putting in an order for 50 of the Boeing 737 MAX single-aisle planes.
In total, the airline has almost 300 aircraft, more than half of which are from Boeing. Last year, it served nearly 51 million passengers, six million more than in 2016.
But Lion Air also has a history of accidents dating back to 2002, less than three years after it was founded by Indonesian brothers Rusdi and Kusnan Kirana.
In January 2002, a Boeing 737-200 it operated crashed on take-off at Sultan Syarif Kasim II International Airport in Pekanbaru, in Riau province.
The passengers on that flight survived, but a crash in Solo two years later, in 2004, claimed the lives of 25 people. That was the airline’s only incident with fatalities in the last 14 years.
There were also other accidents involving its aircraft, include an incident in August 2013, when a Lion Air Boeing 737-800 from Makassar to Gorontalo with 117 passengers and crew on board hit a cow while landing at Jalaluddin Airport and veered off the runway.
That same year, one of its aircraft also crash-landed in the water after it overran the runway at the Ngurah Rai Airport in Bali.
Incidentally, Lion Air was removed from the European Union’s air safety blacklist in June 2016.
The latest crash comes after the tragic December 2014 crash of AirAsia Indonesia flight QZ8501 into the Java Sea after taking off from Surabaya. The flight to Singapore was carrying 162 people. | Air crash | October 2018 | ['(The Straits Times)'] |
Two passenger trains collide head-on in Kasba, Bangladesh, killing at least 16 people and injuring over 100. | DHAKA, Bangladesh (AP) — Two trains collided in eastern Bangladesh on Tuesday, killing at least 16 people and injuring scores, officials said.
Local police chief Shayamal Kanti Das said the collision took place when the Udayan Express and Turna Nishita trains approached each other on the same track from opposite directions in Brahmanbaria district. The area is 82 kilometers (51 miles) east of the capital, Dhaka.
Local government administrator Hayat Ud Dowlah Khan said 16 people died and at least 40 others were being treated at hospitals for injuries. The United News of Bangladesh news agency said more than 100 were injured.
TV footage showed fire service rescuers pulling bodies from the twisted coaches and using body bags to send the bodies to hospital morgues.
Authorities were investigating the accident, but officials said they found the driver of the Turna Nishita train responsible because he ignored a signal. That driver and two others have been suspended.
Train accidents are common in Bangladesh, blamed mainly on unsupervised railway crossings, poor signaling and bad track conditions.
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A Nigerian court throws out corruption charges against the former governor of the country's Delta State, James Ibori, saying there was no clear evidence. | Former governor of Delta State, James Ibori.
A Federal High Court sitting in Asaba, Delta
State, Thursday discharged and acquitted the former Delta State governor James
Ibori of all 170 charges of corruption brought against him by the Economic and
Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC). The case, which had dragged on for two years with the judgement
date postponed no less than three times, has been finally rested by the trial
judge, Marcel Awokulehin. The judge threw out all the charges against Mr. Ibori on the
ground that there was no clear evidence against the former governor. Mr. Awokulehin said trying to prove the crime of money
laundering, from the transfer of money alone, is "unnecessary and
inappropriate." He said those who drafted the EFCC act could have criminalised
every money transfer, if they wanted all transfers to be criminal acts. Also, on the charge that money was paid into Mr. Ibori's
personal account at Guarantee Trust Bank, the judge noted that since no Delta
State official or any bank official was quizzed over this, no crime was shown
to have been committed. The prosecutors, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission
(EFCC) said it was appealing the judgement. Rape of justice
The EFCC spokesperson, Femi Babafemi described the decision of
the court as "hazy". "We are convinced that this judgement cannot stand, especially
at this critical time in our nation's history when the judiciary is being
hailed for rising to the challenge of delivering fearless judgements against
the corrupt in our society," he said. Mr. Babafemi said the anti-graft agency has instructed its
lawyers to immediately initiate an appeal against yesterday's judgement. "This kind of judgement, if not challenged, is capable of
deepening the menace of corruption in our country rather than contributing in
any way to the cause of justice.'' A human rights group, the Coalition Against Corrupt Leaders
(CACOL), which has been in the forefront of the campaign to see that justice
was done in the Ibori case, has also reacted to the ruling of the court. Debo Adeniran, the group's Executive Chairman, said the ruling
did not come as a surprise. According to Mr. Adeniran, "the signs that justice
will be raped in the case include the moving of the case from the Federal High
Court in Kaduna to Asaba; the diplomatic move to rid Mr. Ibori of the money
laundering case against him in England; and the acceptance of buildings to
house the Asaba Division of the Federal High Court and its judges from those he
termed "accomplices" of Mr. Ibori. Ibori is thankful However, reacting to the court's decision in his favour, Mr.
Ibori said he was thankful to God. He also expressed his gratitude to the
Judiciary, saying: "I am indeed very pleased that justice has been done, and
that justice, that very foundation of our democracy, is there for everyone and
not only for the poor." With the judgement, all eyes would now be on the
money laundering case brought against Mr. Ibori and some of his associates by
the Metropolitan Police that is being heard at the Southwark County Court,
London. and now to plan B...ibori wants to be your president....
we see money for him hand una say e no tiff am, ok na from where e get am? Oga justice, you go fit look mirror so? The Law suffers a very bad image with the likes of AGF Kasse 'Doaka peddling Musa's 'good health' propaganda; Peter's wife acting as moderator to 'electoral injustices'; Marcel wilfully prolonging hearing on James' graft trials; and Code of Conduct Tribunal just recently admitting that Nuhu had indeed submitted his 'Asset Declaration' documents 2003 - 2008....contrary to all claims from EFCC et al that he didn't. I'd have loved to pick Fela's brains on lyrics and verses for a new or revised national anthem…..ah ah ah, and just today Supreme Court is saying that Soludo is good to go, and Marcel has (finally) cleared James of any wrong doing…..My God, Rotimi do something quickly, the Law is falling apart….what a Nation
Delta Justice! How does one get an acquittal from a 170 count charge?? This is a sad day for Nigeria. What a country!LOL! yes this is it, it has happened for ibori my friend welldone and enjoy your life. it is well as the born again people would say. wonder shall never end like they used to say, out of over hundred charges on ibori, non of it is guilty of, now tell me where is the fight against corruption comes in our own democracy. What else do you expect from the judiciary these days. Many citizens are beginning to loose hope in the judiciary. James Ibori that defrauded Delta State with such a whopping sum of money has been set free. I wonder what kind of judiciary that are being seen these days. which means, everybody will be free and EFCC will be discouraged. God forbid
I am sorry for this country. How true can it be that a man charged to court on a 170-count charge is not guilty on any of the counts, this is serious. It think some people are just meant to serve as scape goat to others, Bode George have a fun filed christmas and New year. To the likes of Soludo and Ibori, enjoy while it last. Every day is for the thief, one day is for the owner. It may take a while but you will all answer for you actions. To the judges well done but remember that you have three accounts to give before God. You will surely give an account of how you miss led Nigerians. I think the EFCC bungled up this case. If they really had a good case, then there should be no reason not to make a good showing that would tarnish the reputation of a Judge that would dismiss the case (bribe or no bribe). However, I think they did not have good evidence period. With solid evidences, Judges seldom acquit. The undoubtedly is a saint to be innocent of 170 count charge
Nigeria is a country run by gangstas. Hummmgnnnnnn....! Lets tell ourselves the truth, people like Marcel Awokulehin make people like Ibori exist. Marcel Awokulehin, a cursed generation!!! Can anyone argue that Nigeria is not doomed? Where robbers are set free, there's no future. Predictable...but the final result was never in doubt was it? Isn't Nigeria doomed? Where robbers are set free, there is no hope! You may excape d wrath of man but U will never never Xcape dt of our Heavenly father(GOD) Cause monkey no go dey work wey baboo go dey chop. It is impossicant. 'Arrangee' judgment ... ...
Shame. Wonders shall never end! How would the whole world see Nigeria, the political class and the judicial system? It's rather unfortunate that Ibori, a pathological liar could be discharged and acquitted just like that. I am sorry for Delta States, i am sorry for other sates because this is a bad precedence and i am sorry for myself. It has shown clearly that our great country has gone beyond the use of political will to correct things, this cankerworm has eaten so deep into the system that it will have to be done by force. The stable must be cleaned, it must and those that remain at the end of it all will be a pride to themselves, to our nation and the black race. Then we will be able to sit amongst the committee of nations and raise our heads high. This has gone beyond Ibori's case, it only shows the rot in the system and where we are at the down bottom. We need an urgent solution to all these mess, we really need it. God help us all. O Nigeria! A man who own planes and plush houses in the most prestigious part of the world while a governor of a Nigeria State. How much does a state governor get paid? Nigeria is a failed state. Corruption is going to cripple this country into extinction. He funded Yar-adua's campaign and is anyone really surprise by this judgement. Once again another corrupt Yoruba judge,who is about to retire is delivering a flawed judgement. When will these older generation stop basterdising this country because of cheap gains?? Judge Marcel Awokulehin i hope you can sleep with all the stolen loot. You are joking! please give us a picture of this judge, were we can find him and his phone number. This verdict did not surprise anyone. It was expected. have we forgotten that we are dealing with Nigerian justice? This is the country where if a poor man steals maggi cube out of necessity he goes to jail after spending five years awaiting trial. But if the big man is caught steraling millions of dollars he is acquitted. Long live Nigerian justice. One thing is clear: we shall all appear before God some day. In God's court there will be no bribery and corruption. now we know why the presido is being held prisoner in saudi arabia....
this is a big shame to our judiciary system. this outcome shows the level of corruption even in the judiciary arm of our Government. 'Oju ole ree'! Judgement, not reward, is now in heaven. Today, justice, is proven to be the only victim in ANY case involving the 'untouchables' in Nigeria. When is Bode George going home? If he is not released immediateloy in the manner Soludo & Ibori cases have been discharged, it means that he and his gangs are being truly witch-hunted. Justice Marcel Awokulehin is truely not intimidated, as he said a few weeks back. He is a very courageous judge, indeed. Behold the next V/President. R.I.P. Nigeria, October 1, 1960 - December 17, 2009. Sad...so sad...there goes what was left of my faith in Nigeria. The trial judge should be investigated.It just a sad commentary of what Nigeria has turned into, the personal possession of a few. Nigeria we hail thee! No surprises, these are the innocent Nigerians! No wonder we are were we are today. Next: Ibori for president O jare!! Another foregone conclusion. But do these people realise the irreparable damage they are doing to the image of this country and the minds of our young pople? In my experience, you trust any member of the 419 generation (those Nigerians reared during the regime of Babangida and Abacha) at your own peril. Thief James Onanoji(THIS ONE NA THIEF) Ibori- The Odidigborigbo of Africa has done it. Ibori for President 2009.
if this guy is set free,then the country is going to be in dark for atleast the next 20 years still... shame on us!! dis ibori guy na wa o.......anyway as its often proven his waterloo shall cometh at the right time. money speaking. God will catch up with u soonest if the corrupt Judges refused to. I expected nothing less from that RUBBER STAMP court anyway!! One thing is certain, they have merely succeeded in a game of musical chairs, and in fooling themselves..Ibori can only postpone his evil day, he can not,and will CERTAINLY NOT, escape it. Let him pop the champagne now carefully,because he is going to pop it in his own face..I say no more!!!! It's just a pity for Nigerians. To me, the series of shifting of this case was enough to suspect perhaps corruption. But it could still be possible that they lawyers handling the case created a lacuna for the judge to hide and acquit him. I now the uk court will go by what is evidence before her and not a judgement by another court. Long live Nigeria. | Famous Person - Commit Crime - Accuse | December 2009 | ['(NEXT)', '(AFP)', '(BBC)'] |
Archaeologists discover a smaller prehistoric site near Stonehenge, dubbed as "Bluehenge", named after the hue of the 27 stones that formed it. | "Bluehenge", named after the hue of the 27 stones from Wales which once formed it, has been described by researchers as a "very important" find. All that now exists of the 5,000-year-old site is a series of holes where the dolerite monoliths once stood. Bluehenge lies at the end of the "Avenue" - a pathway connecting the larger Stonehenge to the River Avon. The remains of the monument were unearthed over the summer by researchers from Sheffield University. It is thought it was erected around the same time as its neighbour Stonehenge. The circle was made using the Preseli spotted dolerite stone. It is a chemically altered igneous rock - harder than granite - which was mined in the Preseli Mountains in Pembrokeshire and dragged 200 miles to the site on the banks of the river. Full details of the Bluehenge discovery will be published in February. | New archeological discoveries | October 2009 | ['(BBC)', '(Associated Press)'] |
A suicide bomber attacks an Afghan National Army air force bus in Kabul killing at least five people. | A suicide bomber has killed at least eight military officers in an attack on an Air Force bus in the Afghan capital Kabul, officials say.
Another 13 people, including civilians, were wounded in the attack near Kabul university in the west of the city.
The bomber detonated explosives after approaching the bus on foot. The Taliban said they carried out the attack, which comes two weeks after a run-off vote to find a successor to President Hamid Karzai. "As a result of a suicide attack this morning on an ANA [Afghan National Army] air force bus in Kabul, eight army officers were martyred and 13 wounded," defence ministry spokesman General Zahir Azimi said in a statement.
Eyewitness Abdul Kabir told Reuters news agency: "I heard a huge explosion, after that I saw smoke and dust covering the area."
Last month, presidential candidate Abdullah Abdullah survived a suicide bomb attack on his convoy in the capital. Six people were killed.
Afghanistan is still awaiting results from the election.
On Tuesday, the Independent Election Commission said provisional results would be delayed for a week amid allegations of voter fraud. Officials said thousands of polling stations were holding re-counts in provinces where irregularities had been reported. Both Mr Abdullah, a former foreign minister, and his rival former Finance Minister Ashraf Ghani have made allegations of fraud.
The vote comes during a critical year for Afghanistan. Most foreign troops are due to withdraw from Afghanistan by the end of 2014. | Armed Conflict | July 2014 | ['(BBC)'] |
British MP Keith Vaz quits the Home Affairs Select Committee following allegations that he had engaged in sexual activity with male prostitutes. | He said: "It is in the best interest of the Home Affairs Select Committee that its important work can be conducted without any distractions whatsoever. "I am genuinely sorry that recent events make it impossible for this to happen if I remain chair. "
At the weekend, the Sunday Mirror published pictures it said showed Mr Vaz with male sex workers in a flat in north London that he owns. Illegal drugs were mentioned during a secretly recorded conversation.
Another Labour MP will now be elected to replace him, with Conservative MP Tim Loughton taking over as interim chairman.
Speaking after Mr Vaz had informed committee colleagues of his intention to resign, Mr Loughton said a new chairman should be in place in October.
He said Mr Vaz had given a "very frank account of what had happened" and that the committee had accepted his resignation "with sadness".
Conservative MP Andrew Bridgen has said he would refer the matter to the Commons Standards commissioner and may also report Mr Vaz to police.
Married father-of-two Mr Vaz said he was referring the paper's allegations to his solicitor.
Keith Vaz - the 'Teflon politician'
In his statement announcing his resignation from the chairman role he has held for nine years, Mr Vaz said: "The integrity of the select committee system matters to me. Those who hold others to account, must themselves be accountable.
"I am immeasurably proud of the work the Committee has undertaken over the last nine years, and I am privileged to have been the longest serving Chair of this Committee.
"This work has included the publication of 120 reports, hearing evidence from Ministers 113 times, and hearing from a total of 1379 witnesses. I am very pleased that so many Members of the Committee have gone onto high office and Ministerial positions.
"This is my decision, and mine alone, and my first consideration has been the effect of recent events on my family."
He added: "I would like to thank my fellow members of the Committee, past and present, for their tremendous support. I would also like to thank the Clerks of the House for the amazing work they have done to strengthen the Select Committee system, we are not quite on par with the United States, but we are getting there."
Labour MP Chuka Umunna, who sits on the Home Affairs committee, said Mr Vaz had done a "fine job" as chairman, but said he had made the right decision in stepping down.
Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn said Mr Vaz's future on the party's ruling National Executive would be discussed when it meets.
He said: "He's made his decision because he felt that to carry on in the circumstances that he is now involved in would detract from the work of the Home Affairs committee and so he has made that decision for himself."
| Government Job change - Resignation_Dismissal | September 2016 | ['(BBC)'] |
Fiji's former prime minister, Mahendra Chaudhry, is arrested for allegedly breaching the military government's emergency regulations. | POLICE continued to detain former Prime Minister Mahendra Chaudhry at the Rakiraki Police Station when this edition went to press last night.
Rakiraki police confirmed the detention but did not release further details.
Mr Chaudhry and five others were taken in for alleged breaches of the Public Emergency Regulations, police spokesman Inspector Atunaisa Sokomuri told the media.
When contacted yesterday, Mr Chaudhry confirmed he was still in police custody.
He said he was in the area to assess the impact of the drought on sugar cane fields in Rakiraki.
Mr Chaudhry said he had just sat down to have grog with his driver and some of his National Farmers Union Rakiraki branch officials at a house when they were taken in about 11am Friday.
"There was no public meeting," he said.
Mr Chaudhry said he was told he had "information" when taken in.
He confirmed being taken to the hospital on Friday afternoon due to muscular pains and was given pain killers. | Famous Person - Commit Crime - Arrest | October 2010 | ['(Al Jazeera)', '(BBC)', '(Fiji Times)', '(Sify India)'] |
Paleoanthropologists announce, through the Nature journal, that a human skull discovered inside a cave in Greece, is dated to 210,000 years ago, making it the oldest known Homo sapiens individual found outside of Africa. | Two fossilized human crania (Apidima 1 and Apidima 2) from Apidima Cave, southern Greece, were discovered in the late 1970s but have remained enigmatic owing to their incomplete nature, taphonomic distortion and lack of archaeological context and chronology. Here we virtually reconstruct both crania, provide detailed comparative descriptions and analyses, and date them using U-series radiometric methods. Apidima 2 dates to more than 170 thousand years ago and has a Neanderthal-like morphological pattern. By contrast, Apidima 1 dates to more than 210 thousand years ago and presents a mixture of modern human and primitive features. These results suggest that two late Middle Pleistocene human groups were present at this site—an early Homo sapiens population, followed by a Neanderthal population. Our findings support multiple dispersals of early modern humans out of Africa, and highlight the complex demographic processes that characterized Pleistocene human evolution and modern human presence in southeast Europe. . | New archeological discoveries | July 2019 | ['(Apidima 1)', '(BBC)', '(Nature)'] |
In the aftermath of the killing of George Floyd last month, U.S. President Donald Trump signs an executive order limiting the use of police chokeholds, except in cases where “deadly force is allowed by law”. | With protesters around the country pressing their fight against police brutality and racism, President Donald Trump on Tuesday signed an executive order aimed at tracking misconduct by law enforcers and creating incentives for departments to improve their practices.
The president, during a speech in the White House Rose Garden that heaped praise on the police and took time to attack his political opponents, said that “law and order must be further restored nationwide, and your federal government is ready, willing, and able to help.”
The action from Trump, who has focused on the violence seen at some demonstrations and aggressively demanded “law and order” from state leaders, comes as lawmakers of both parties pursue proposals to reform law enforcement in the wake of George Floyd’s death in police custody.
Trump lauded police officers at the event, saying that “the least we can do, because they deserve it so much, they have to get our gratitude and we have to give them great respect for what they do.”
“In many cases local law enforcement is underfunded, understaffed and under [supported],” he added.
Democrats were quick to criticize the order as insufficient.
“While the president has finally acknowledged the need for policing reform, one modest executive order will not make up for his years of inflammatory rhetoric and policies designed to roll back the progress made in previous years,” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said in a statement.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said the order “falls sadly and seriously short” and “lacks meaningful, mandatory accountability measures to end misconduct.”
Trump said he held a meeting shortly before the news conference with a number of families of people who have died in altercations with the police. “Your loved ones will not have died in vain,” he said. “We are one nation, we grieve together and we heal together.”
The Trump administration’s order rejects calls to “defund the police” that have gained traction from within the nationwide protest movement.
“I strongly oppose the radical and dangerous efforts to defund, dismantle and dissolve our police departments,” Trump said in the Rose Garden. “Americans know the truth: Without police there is chaos, without law there is anarchy, and without safety there is catastrophe.”
But he added, “Though we may all come from different places and different backgrounds, we’re united by our desire to ensure peace and dignity and equality or all Americans.”
Trump said before signing the order that it will ban the use of police chokeholds “except if the officer’s life is at risk.” But the text of the order is less specific: The standards for certification, it says, require state and local policing outfits to ban the use of chokeholds “except in those situations where the use of deadly force is allowed by law.”
Broadly speaking, the order aims to incentivize police departments to update their standards on training and credentialing by rewarding them with federal grant money opportunities.
It also requires the attorney general to create a database to track individual cops on metrics such as excessive use-of-force complaints. That information would be shared between departments and would “regularly and periodically” be made publicly available, the order says.
The order would also give departments incentives to involve trained professionals, such as social workers, to respond to calls for certain nonviolent issues — including mental health, drug addiction and homelessness — rather than police alone.
Here’s what else is in the order:
The administration’s goal is to “bring police closer together with the communities,” a senior administration official said while describing the executive order in a press call Monday evening. “We’re not looking to defund the police; we’re looking to invest more and incentivize best practices.”
The administration worked with numerous police groups, religious leaders and family organizations in crafting the order, according to senior administration officials.
The president has not delivered a formal address on the protests or the issues of widespread police misconduct and structural racism alleged by activists. On social media, however, he has taken a bellicose stance against the rioting and looting that occurred at some protests following Floyd’s death on Memorial Day, pressuring governors and mayors to call in the National Guard to quell the unrest.
Floyd, an unarmed Black man, died after a white officer in Minneapolis knelt on his neck for more than eight minutes. Floyd was suspected of passing a counterfeit $20 bill. The confrontation was captured on video.
Trump’s popularity has fallen, polls show, amid criticism over his response to the demonstrations and his handling of the coronavirus pandemic. He faces reelection in November against presumptive Democratic nominee Joe Biden, who has widened his lead over Trump in most recent national polls.
Trump said Monday that the fatal police shooting on Friday of another Black man — Rayshard Brooks in Atlanta – “was a terrible situation.”
On Tuesday, Trump slammed Biden and former President Barack Obama over their records on police reform. They “never even tried to fix this,” Trump said, “because they had no idea how to do it.”
In fact, an Obama administration task force issued dozens of recommendations for better policing after the 2014 shooting of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri.
Lawmakers of both parties are currently working on passing their own legislative proposals to reform the police.
Democrats unveiled a sweeping bill last week that would change “qualified immunity” rules for officers, making it easier for people whose constitutional rights were violated to recover damages.
The White House has said that ending qualified immunity is a “non starter.” A senior administration official told reporters Monday evening that “I don’t see anything that has that in there passing Congress any time soon.”
Republicans picked Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C., one of three Black members of the Senate, to lead a working group to develop reform measures of their own. Scott said on NBC’s “Meet the Press” on Sunday that he believes both parties will be able to find a path forward to pass a bill into law. | Government Policy Changes | June 2020 | ['(CNBC)'] |
The German Bundestag passes a resolution classifying the Ottoman Empire's killing of Armenians in 1915 as genocide, provoking a furious reaction in Turkey. | The German parliament has approved a resolution declaring that the mass killing of Armenians by Ottoman Turks during World War One was a "genocide".
Armenians say up to 1.5 million of their people died in the atrocities of 1915. Turkey says the toll was much lower and rejects the term "genocide".
The vote heightened German-Turkish tensions at a time when Turkey's help is needed to stem the flow of migrants.
Turkey has recalled its ambassador and its leader threatened further action.
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said the recall was a first step and that the government would consider further action it might take in response to the vote. "We will do whatever is necessary to resolve this issue," he said.
In the latest response:
Armenian 'genocide' vote ignites press
More than 20 nations, including France and Russia, as well as Pope Francis, have recognised the 1915 killings as genocide.
Turkey denies that there was a systematic campaign to slaughter Armenians as an ethnic group during World War One. It also points out that many Turkish civilians died in the turmoil during the collapse of the Ottoman Empire.
Mrs Merkel was not in the Bundestag (lower house) for the vote. Her Christian Democrats (CDU), their coalition partners the Social Democrats (SPD) and the Greens all supported the resolution, and the vote in favour was overwhelming. German MPs came under pressure from Turks in the run-up to the vote, receiving threatening and abusive e-mails, German ARD news reports.
The resolution uses the word "genocide" in the headline and text. It also says Germany - at the time an ally of the Ottomans - bears some guilt for doing nothing to stop the killings. The reactions from Ankara are every bit as strong as feared. Turkey's foreign minister even accused Berlin of trying to deflect from the dark episodes of its own history, a clear reference to Germany's Nazi past.
But for many German politicians this vote was about exactly the opposite: it was about dealing with not just Turkey's difficult 20th century history, but also Germany's.
Many of the speeches in parliament focused on German responsibility in the 1915 killings. At the time, the German empire was a military ally of the Ottomans, and is accused of knowing about the massacres and not doing anything to prevent them. So for many Germans this resolution is about facing up to German historical guilt - something modern Germany is founded upon. But the big question is what this all means for Europe's attempts to solve the migrant crisis. Diplomatic relations may be strained. But the hope in Berlin is that tensions don't scupper the EU's new refugee deal with Turkey.
Under a deal struck in March, Turkey agreed to take back migrants - including Syrians - arriving on Greek islands, in return for EU aid and a pledge to give Turks visa-free travel to most of Europe. Germany accepted 1.1 million migrants last year - by far the highest influx in the EU.
German-Turkish relations were also strained this year by the case of comedian Jan Boehmermann, whose obscene poem about Mr Erdogan prompted a criminal complaint from the Turkish leader.
Last month a court in Hamburg ruled that Boehmermann's poem was satire, but banned him from repeating the sexual references in it, deeming them unacceptable. Germany plans to repeal a clause in the constitution prohibiting insults that target foreign leaders - the clause invoked by Turkey in the complaint.
| Government Policy Changes | June 2016 | ['(BBC)'] |
Laurentino Cortizo of the center-left Democratic Revolutionary Party defeats Rómulo Roux of the center-right Democratic Change party in a narrow election to become the next president of Panama. Cortizo receives 33% of the vote to Roux's 31%, marking the return of the Democratic Revolutionary Party after 10 years out of the presidency. | In an unexpectedly close race, Mr Cortizo finished two percentage points ahead of his centre-right rival, Rómulo Roux.
Mr Roux has yet to concede, citing reports of voting irregularities. The elections have been dominated by pledges to fight corruption and to tackle Panama's image as a money-laundering country.
The country's electoral tribunal says 95% of ballots have been counted, with Mr Cortizo winning 33% of votes, followed by Mr Roux with 33%.
Official results are expected to be announced on Thursday, though the tribunal said the result was "irreversible" despite a close margin of fewer than 40,000 votes. "I owe it to you, to all Panamanians," Mr Cortizo told reporters.
"I will work hard, fight and I will serve my country with humility, dignity and honesty".
The presidential race is Panama's sixth since a US invasion ousted Manuel Noriega in 1989.
Laurentino "Nito" Cortizo, 66, is the candidate for Panama's Democratic Revolutionary Party (PRD).
His party, founded by military ruler Omar Torrijos in 1979, has been out of power since 2009.
Mr Cortizo was educated in the US and has previously served as minister of agriculture.
He has also held roles at the regional Organisation of American States, and worked in the construction and livestock sectors.
Corruption has been at the forefront of the presidential race, spurred by scandals surrounding Odebrecht. The Brazilian construction firm was found guilty of giving illegal payments to 17 Panamanian officials. Mr Cortizo has vowed to fight corruption by reforming laws that govern how public contracts are awarded.
Other major issues have included rising unemployment, Panama's education system, and the state of water utilities and rubbish collection in the capital, Panama City.
Mr Cortizo has also expressed a desire to strengthen the country's ties with America.
"The United States is our strategic partner, our main strategic partner," Mr Cortizo told news agency Reuters. "This relationship has to improve."
| Government Job change - Election | May 2019 | ['(BBC)'] |
President Ashraf Ghani signs an amendment allowing mother's names to appear on their child's birth certificate, after discussion on the law was delayed by the National Assembly last week. The move is seen as a "significant milestone" for women's rights, following Afghan tradition stating that using a woman's name in public brings shame on their family. | Afghan President Ashraf Ghani has signed an amendment allowing mothers' names to be included on their children's birth certificates, after a three-year campaign by women's rights activists.
Using the hashtag #WhereIsMyName, campaigners pushed for the right of women to be named on official documents including children's birth certificates, which previously named only the father.
The President signed the amendment after Parliament had delayed passing the changes, which were scheduled for discussion last week.
"I feel like a bird in a cage whose door has just been opened, achieving the dream of flying in the sky," said activist Sonia Ahmadi, who joined the campaign when it began in 2017.
"My feeling of happiness may seem ridiculous for women in other countries, but when we live in a society where women are physically and spiritually excluded, achieving such basic rights is a big and difficult task."
Supplied: Sonia Ahmadi
#WhereIsMyName campaigners are fighting an ingrained Afghan tradition that states using a woman's name in public brings shame on the family.
Instead, women are publicly referred to by the name of their closest male relatives.
Their own names are generally not present on documents, on their wedding invitations or even on their own gravestones.
A group of brave young Afghan women are using social media to fight an ingrained tradition that robs their identity.
"In a society where everything is against women and they work to keep women down, this is a big step forward," Ms Ahmadi said.
"It gives me an extraordinary feeling of happiness."
The Afghan cabinet's legal affairs committee said the move was a significant achievement.
"The decision to include the mother's name in the ID card is a big step towards gender equality and the realisation of women's rights," the committee said in a statement.
The movement, which began in the city of Herat but has since expanded worldwide, has faced opposition in the conservative and patriarchal Muslim country.
During a joint press conference with local authorities and the founders of the movement, Herat Governor Wahid Qattali said he feared there would be resistance to the change. | Government Policy Changes | September 2020 | ['(ABC Australia)'] |
Saudi Arabia Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman will address an international audience for the first time since the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul. | Updated on: October 24, 2018 / 11:23 AM
/ CBS News
ISTANBUL -- As the White House takes its first steps to punish those involved in the murder of Washington Post contributor Jamal Khashoggi, the senior Saudi royal who many people believe is directly linked to the killing, was due to give his first public remarks on Wednesday since the incident.
President Trump, who accepted the Saudi royal family's original denials of responsibility, said on Tuesday that Khashoggi's killing involved "the worst cover-up in history." Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said the State Department would revoke visas for 21 Saudis the U.S. has identified as being part of the operation that saw Khashoggi killed at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul.
As CBS News correspondent Holly Williams reports, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman was expected to speak on Wednesday at an investment conference in Riyadh, the Saudi capital. It would be his first public remarks since the killing of Khashoggi on Oct. 2. Prince Salman joined several other dignitaries on the stage at the Saudi Future Investment Initiative summit on Wednesday. The third question from the moderator to the panel was for the crown prince, asking him to address the Khashoggi scandal.
The heir-in-waiting said the "crime was really painful to all Saudis, and I believe it is really painful to every human in the world."
He called the killing a "heinous crime that cannot be justified," but accused unidentified entities of attempting to, "use this painful thing to drive a wedge between Saudi Arabia and Turkey. I want to send them a message; they will not be able to do that."
The crown prince said Saudi Arabia was "carrying out all legal measures" in cooperation with Turkish authorities to "present the perpetrators to the court" in the case. The prince spoke moments after Turkey confirmed that he had spoken on Wednesday on the phone with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, at the Saudi royal's request, and that the who men had agreed to work together to find those guilty in Khashoggi's death.
After he gave his remarks on the Khashoggi case case Wednesday, the following questions put to the crown prince were all on investment.
Prince Salman appeared calm and confident on stage, but as Williams reports, Saudi Arabia has been scrambling to carry out damage control. Extraordinary pictures published on Tuesday by the ultra-conservative Islamic kingdom's state-controlled media showed King Salman and the crown prince delivering personal condolences to Jamal Khashoggi's grieving brother and son.
As Williams reports, it is hard to imagine what was going through Salah and Sahl Khashoggi's minds during the meeting, given that Turkish officials and some senior U.S. lawmakers believe the crown prince was somehow involved in Khashoggi's killing.
President Trump again stressed the importance of the U.S.-Saudi relationship on Tuesday, but he also sharply criticized the killing -- and the Saudi deception that followed.
"The cover-up was horrible," Mr. Trump told reporters at the White House. "The execution was horrible, but there should never have been and execution or a cover-up because it should never have happened." When Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman made his first appearance at the investment conference on Tuesday, he was greeted with applause.
The crown prince has portrayed himself as a modernizer, and the conference in Riyadh is supposed to showcase his reforms. But at least two dozen business and political leaders have pulled out, in protest over Khashoggi's slaying. There's still no confirmation as to what the Saudis did with Khashoggi's body. Saudi officials have said the men who killed him -- whom they insist were acting outside of their mandate -- wrapped his body in a rug and then handed it over to an unidentified "local collaborator" for disposal. On Tuesday, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, accusing the Saudis of a premeditated "political murder," challenged the Saudis to identify the "collaborator" or lead investigators to Khashoggi's body.
Turkish police searched a car registered to the Saudi consulate on Tuesday after it was found in an underground parking lot in Istanbul. Turkish media were still reporting on Wednesday that police had found no significant evidence linking the vehicle to the Khashoggi case. | Famous Person - Give a speech | October 2018 | ['(CBS News)'] |
The Turkish army says 69 Kurdish insurgents and two Turkish soldiers were killed in four days of fighting in Cizre and Silopi, near the Syrian and Iraqi borders, in southeast Turkey. | DIYARBAKIR, Turkey (Reuters) - Sixty-nine Kurdish insurgents and two Turkish soldiers have been killed in four days of fighting across southeast Turkey as security forces ramp up operations against the militant Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), security sources and the military said on Saturday.
Turkish PM vows he will not back down
01:43
The military said Turkish warplanes taking off from their southeastern base in Diyarbakir had also bombarded PKK camps in northern Iraq on Friday, destroying shelters and weapon posts.
A two-year ceasefire between Turkey and the PKK fell apart in July, shattering peace talks and reviving a conflict that has afflicted the mainly Kurdish southeast for three decades, killing more than 40,000 people.
“The operations in the region...will continue with determination until public order is restored,” the army said in a statement carried by the semi-state Anadolu news agency. “The priority during the operations is the safety of our security forces and the civilians living in the region.”
One Turkish soldier was killed and another was lightly wounded on Saturday in clashes in Sur district, which has remained under a police curfew for the past two weeks, in the predominantly Kurdish Diyarbakir province. Two special forces officers were also wounded as clashes continued in the district.
In the border town of Nusaybin, where a police curfew was in place in four districts, three police officers were wounded when PKK militants launched a rocket attack on an armoured police vehicle, security sources said.
The military said the number of Kurdish militants killed in four days of operations in Cizre and Silopi, near the Syrian and Iraqi borders, had risen to 69. The towns, both under curfew, are central targets in Turkey’s latest anti-PKK offensive, in which media reports say 10,000 police and troops, backed by tanks, are taking part.
One of two government soldiers wounded in Cizre on Friday had succumbed to his injuries, the military said.
The head of the armed forces, General Hulusi Akar, and other senior commanders visited troops in the region on Saturday and were briefed on the operations.
Although traditionally rooted in the countryside, the PKK has shifted its focus in recent years to towns and cities in the southeast, setting up barricades and digging trenches to keep security forces away.
Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said this week that Kurdish militants would be “annihilated” in their trenches and houses and that the operations would continue until the area was “cleansed” of the militants and their barricades destroyed.
Peace talks between jailed PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan and the state ground to a halt early this year. The PKK is designated as a terrorist group by Turkey, the United States and the European Union.
| Armed Conflict | December 2015 | ['(Reuters)'] |
Fugitive alleged Boston crime boss James J. Bulger is arrested in the US city of Santa Monica, California. | Legendary Boston crime boss James "Whitey" Bulger, who has been on the run for more than a decade, was arrested Wednesday in Santa Monica, multiple law enforcement sources told The Times.
Bulger, 81, has been the subject of several books and was the inspiration for "The Departed," a 2006 Martin Scorsese film starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Matt Damon and Jack Nicholson.
Bulger fled Boston in late 1994 as federal agents were about to arrest him in connection with 21 killings, racketeering and other crimes that spanned the early 1970s to the mid-1980s.
Photos: The hunt for James "Whitey" Bulger
He was arrested by the FBI inside a building without incident, according to the sources, who asked not to be named because they were not authorized to speak on the matter. The details surrounding his arrest were unclear Wednesday night.
The FBI in Los Angeles declined to comment.
The arrest came as the FBI launched a media campaign in 14 cities to help determine Bulger's whereabouts.
The last credible sighting of Bulger was in London in 2002, the FBI said.
| Famous Person - Commit Crime - Arrest | June 2011 | ['(Los Angeles Times)'] |
A series of bombings take place against two government buildings in the city of Fuzhou, Jiangxi, China; at least two people are killed. | Three explosions have struck government buildings in eastern China's Jiangxi province, state media say. Two people were killed and at least six injured in the blasts, in the city of Fuzhou.
The first blast came outside the offices of the state prosecutor and the other explosions hit the city's food and drug agency and a district administration office.
Officials say the cause of the blasts is being investigated.
One body was found in the district government building and another person died later in hospital, a local government official was quoted as saying. The near-simultaneous blasts went off shortly after 0900 (0100 GMT), reports say.
One eyewitness told Xinhua news agency that most of the windows had been blown out at the eight-storey local prosecutor's office.
Other eyewitnesses said ambulances had arrived at the scene to take several injured people from the local government office to hospital.
At least 10 cars were said to have been destroyed in the explosions. Earlier unconfirmed reports said two of the blasts were caused by car bombs.
Xinhua and several other news agencies said a local peasant unhappy about the handling of a legal dispute was thought to be responsible for the attacks, but such reports were later withdrawn by most state media. Local government officials were scheduled to hold a news conference but this was cancelled at the last-minute. Multiple bomb attacks in China are extremely rare, especially against government targets.
Analysts say the government will be alarmed by such an apparently well co-ordinated attack as it struggles with large numbers of disputes over land and living standards. Earlier this month, more than 40 people were injured in a petrol bomb attack on a bank, carried out by a disgruntled former employee, in north-west Gansu province.
He had just been sacked for stealing money. With few avenues of redress for real and supposed wrongs some Chinese people occasionally take out their frustration in attacks like this, says the BBC's Michael Bristow in Beijing.
Petrol bomb attack on China bank
Deadly blast hits Xinjiang city
China country profile
Xinhua news agency | Riot | May 2011 | ['(AFP via Google News)', '(BBC)'] |
Amnesty International reports Nigerian security forces have killed more 150 proBiafra demonstrators since August 2015. | Nigeria's security forces have killed more than 150 peaceful protesters since August 2015, a human rights group has claimed.
Amnesty International said the military used live ammunition and deadly force against pro-Biafra protesters who were campaigning for an independent state in the south-east.
Nigeria's police denies allegations that it used unnecessary force.
The country's army said Amnesty was trying to tarnish its reputation.
Amnesty's report is based on interviews with almost 200 people, alongside more than 100 photographs and 87 videos.
Among the allegations contained in the report are what Amnesty called "extrajudicial executions", when 60 people were shot and killed in south-eastern Onitsha city, in the two days surrounding Biafra Remembrance Day in May 2016.
"This reckless and trigger-happy approach to crowd control has caused at least 150 deaths, and we fear the actual total might be far higher" said Makmid Kamara, Amnesty's interim director for Nigeria.
Other victims detailed in the report include a 26-year-old man who was shot in Nkpor, but hid in a gutter, still alive. He said when soldiers found him, they poured acid over him, and told him he would die slowly. Another woman said she had been speaking to her husband on a mobile phone when he told her he had been shot in the abdomen. He was calling from a military vehicle, she said, and she heard gunshots. She later found his body in a morgue with two more wounds in his chest, leading her to believe he had been executed after the call.
The human rights organisation said pro-Biafra protests had been "largely peaceful" despite occasional incidents of protesters throwing stones and burning tyres - and one occasion when someone shot at police.
"Regardless, these acts of violence and disorder did not justify the level of force used against the whole assembly."
But army spokesman Sani Usman that "the military and other security agencies exercised maximum restraints despite the flurry of provocative and unjustifiable violence".
The two main secessionist groups in the south-east, the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) and the Movement for the Actualisation of the Sovereign State of Biafra, had committed "unimaginable atrocities", he said. This included burning and killing people from other parts of Nigeria and forcing them to flee, Col Usman added.
In the past year there has been a series of protests to demand the creation of the state of Biafra in the south-east, home to the Igbo people.
Prominent IPOB leader Nnamdi Kanu has been detained without trial since October 2015, with the government defying a court order to release him. Analysis: Martin Patience, BBC News, Lagos
The mention of Biafra continues to trigger powerful emotions in Nigeria - and memories of the country's darkest chapter.
In 1967, nationalists attempted to create the independent state of Biafra in the south-east. It was to be a homeland for the Igbo people, one of the country's largest ethnic groups. But the bid for independence plunged the nation into a three-year civil war that killed at least a million people.
Almost 50 years on and the bitterness of that period still lingers. Many Igbos claim they are still being punished for the conflict.
In the past year that anger has manifested itself in a younger generation who have staged a wave of protests, fuelled, in part, by high unemployment and anger about official corruption - issues that are hardly unique to the Igbos.
But IPOB appears to have gained momentum after the Nigerian authorities detained Mr Kanu, accusing him of treason. | Armed Conflict | November 2016 | ['(BBC)', '(Amnesty)'] |
Rescuers in China's Gansu province continue to search for 1,100 missing people in a recent landslide, as the death toll rises to 702. | More than 700 people are now known to have died in a massive landslide in north-west China - making it one of the deadliest incidents so far in the country's worst flooding in a decade.
A frantic search is continuing for the more than 1,000 people still missing. Buildings were hit by a wall of mud so mighty that buildings seven storeys high crumpled like paper, says the BBC's Chris Hogg, in Gansu province.
He says rescuers are searching by hand in the remote, mountainous region.
A 52-year-old man was pulled alive from the rubble more than 50 hours after the disaster, and other rescue teams say they have heard "very faint" signs of life elsewhere, state media reported.
Chinese premier Wen Jiabao has urged rescuers to keep looking until they find every last survivor.
But as the hours pass, hopes of finding survivors diminish.
"Around me are relatives of missing people sitting dazed, shocked. Each of them has stories," our correspondent says.
One woman has lost her husband and three teenage children. Until she saw their bodies with her own eyes she did not want to believe it, he adds.
The death toll was revised upwards on Tuesday from 337, and officials say that figure is expected to rise.
The weather forecast for the coming days is for heavy rain, which could hamper humanitarian work, and there is also the possibility of further landslides, says the BBC's Michael Bristow in Beijing. The landslides in remote Zhouqu county, Gansu, were triggered by torrential rains that hit the area late on Saturday.
The thick layer of mud levelled an area 5km (3 miles) by 500m, Xinhua said.
Landslide debris blocked a river which then burst its banks, sending water, rocks and mud down several hillsides and on to homes.
Soldiers have blasted through the blockage on the Bailong river, lowering the water level of an unstable lake created by the landslide. Thousands of people have been evacuated from downstream villages that could be engulfed if the natural dam bursts. The landslides came as China was struggling with its worst flooding in a decade, with more than 2,100 people reported dead or missing and millions more displaced nationwide.
President Hu Jintao led a meeting of senior ministers on Tuesday on plans to handle the crisis, Xinhua news agency said.
More than 7,000 soldiers, firefighters and medical staff are now at the scene of the landslide.
The Chinese premier has visited Zhouqu, urging rescue workers on in their efforts and comforting those affected.
Authorities have sent tents, food and water, but some supplies were reported to be running low because roads and bridges into the area have been destroyed.
| Mudslides | August 2010 | ['(BBC)', '(China Daily)'] |
Iranian Kurdish shopkeepers begin a region-wide strike against the executions of Kurdish activists and the bombing of opposition parties in Koya in the neighboring Iraqi Kurdistan Region. | ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – Iranian Kurdish shopkeepers on Wednesday began Rojhilat-wide (Iranian Kurdistan) strike against the executions of Kurdish activists and the bombing of opposition parties in Koya in the neighboring Kurdistan Region.
Over the weekend six Kurdish political prisoners were executed, and, in a missile attack on the Kurdistan Democratic Party of Iran (KDP-I) and the Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan (PDK-I), at least 15 were killed and 42 injured.
Kurdish parties and Kurdish activists in Iran called for shop owners to strike in protest of the Iranian government’s actions. Protests are also expected to take place in Europe.
“People in Kurdistan will stage a peaceful general strike to show the brutal Islamist regime in Iran that we will not accept more military attacks against our political parties and executions of our political activist,” Loghman H. Ahmedi, a senior member of the PDKI’s leadership, told Kurdistan 24.
“This regime is on its last leg. With a combination of peaceful demonstrations and general strikes, together with the resistance of the Peshmerga Forces, the Kurdish people will be at the forefront to bring about change in Iran. The only factor that is missing is international support to end the rule of this brutal theocratic regime,” he added.
According to the Kurdish Hengaw Organization for Human Rights, there were strikes in Kurdish cities, including Sanandaj, Mariwan, Saqez, Bane, Mahabad, and Piranshah.
“The sources in these cities have reported a massive strike,” and people are rarely leaving their homes, Hengaw stated.
The organization also claimed that the internet was cut or restricted in most Kurdish cities.
The atmosphere in Iranian Kurdistan is also completely militarized, and many Kurdish activists are being summoned, interrogated, and even threatened by security agencies, Hengaw claimed.
Its not the first time Kurdish shopkeepers strike against Iranian government policies.
In April, merchants and shopkeepers across several towns in Rojhilat held a weeks-long strike after the Iranian government launched a crackdown on Kurdish border couriers (Kolbar).
Residents in Kurdish-populated cities of Iran rely on imported products and trade to make a living.
Editing by Nadia Riva
Iran opens presidential vote with ultraconservative tipped to win Publisher works to bring Kurdish literature to the world stage Iraqi, Peshmerga officials meet to enhance security in disputed territories, along borders Companies operating in Kurdistan will soon use streamlined internet registry | Strike | September 2018 | ['(Kurdistan24)'] |
U.S. Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul announces that he will not stand again for his Texas district in 2012. | Ron Paul, saying he has more support than in his previous two bids for the White House, says he won't run for reelection to Congress so he can focus all his energy on his run for president.
July 12, 2011
Rep. Ron Paul (R) of Texas says he will not run for reelection to Congress so he can concentrate on his third, and presumably final, run for president.
Congressman Paul telegraphed the announcement on his Facebook page on Tuesday and gave an exclusive interview with additional quotes to his local paper, The Facts.
“Big news! I have decided not to seek reelection for my House seat in 2012 and will focus all of my energy winning the presidency,” Paul said.
The 75-year-old Paul said his current bid for the White House is his strongest. “We have a lot more support right now,” he told The Facts. The outspoken former obstetrician is making his third run for the presidency. He ran as the Libertarian candidate in 1988 and battled John McCain for the GOP nomination in 2008.
Paul said he already had spent twice the amount of time this year in the key Republican primary states of Iowa and New Hampshire than he did in 2008. And he has been a relatively strong fundraiser this year, having netted $4.5 million in the second quarter. That put his fundraising totals above other candidates like Tim Pawlenty and Newt Gingrich but well behind front-runner Mitt Romney.
The rise of the tea party gives a clear impetus to Paul’s candidacy. His themes of cutting the size of government, concern about the national debt, a non-interventionist foreign policy, and distrust of the Republican establishment in Washington all are shared by supporters of the tea party movement.
“Time has come around to where the people are agreeing with much of what I’ve been saying for 30 years,” Mr. Paul said on ABC’s Good Morning America when he announced his current run for the White House. “The time is right.”
At the South Carolina GOP debate in May, Paul claimed credit for helping launch the tea party movement when supporters of his last presidential bid raised more than $6 million on the Dec. 17 anniversary of the Boston Tea Party.
Paul was first elected to the House in 1976 and served four terms before leaving Congress. He ran again in 1996 and has held his seat since then. So his total time on the Hill is almost 24 years. “I felt it was better that I concentrate on one election,” Paul told his hometown paper. “It is about that time when I should change tactics.”
He left little doubt that his limited government message would not be changing. “I have been talking about this for years,” he told The Fact. “I will always be doing that. But not in the US Congress.”
| Government Job change - Election | July 2011 | ['(The Wall Street Journal)', '(Christian Science Monitor)'] |
The Africa Carbon Exchange, Africa's first carbon exchange which will trade in carbon credits a form of carbon pricing, opens in Kenya. | NAIROBI, Kenya, Nov. 12 (UPI) -- Kenya says it is launching Africa's first carbon exchange to facilitate the trading of carbon credits and help tackle climate change.
The market will enable all African countries to sell and trade their carbon credits, the BBC reported Friday.
Carbon dioxide is one of the main gases causing climate change, scientists say, and such exchanges, where polluting industries in rich countries pay for clean development projects in poor countries, are one way to offset carbon emissions.
Experts say Africa will be badly affected by climate change even though most of the greenhouse gases that cause it are produced in the West and Asia.
Kenya officials say they hope the trade in carbon credits will open up investment in the generation of renewable energy and forestry projects.
They estimate the country's largest forest, the Mau, has the potential to earn the country close to $2 billion a year over the next 15 years. | Organization Established | March 2011 | ['(Reuters)', '(UPI)'] |
Economic leaders assemble on Russky Island, off the coast of Vladivostok, Russia, for the forum's 24th summit on September 8th and 9th. | Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper boards his plane at the airport in Ottawa, Thursday September 6, 2012. Harper is heading to Vancouver before flying to APEC meetings in Russia.
Prime Minister Stephen Harper has arrived in Vladivostok, Russia for the 21-nation Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation leaders' summit on the weekend.
Before heading overseas, Mr. Harper told a business audience in Vancouver Thursday that the onus is on China to show its state-run enterprises can be trusted to play by the same rules as Canada.
Mr. Harper will meet with Chinese President Hu Jintao at the summit.
Appearing at Bloomberg's Canada-Asia Dialogue conference, Mr. Harper was grilled on how his government wants to deepen trade with a country that sparks suspicion because it might not play by the same rules as Canada.
Mr. Harper said it's "incumbent upon the Chinese to indicate, as the relationship goes forward, their willingness to play by the same rules."
Mr. Harper said he wants to deepen economic relations with China but that relationship must be a two-way street, or "win-win to use the Chinese expression."
He said Canada can conduct its relations respectfully, "but (is) not afraid to further our own interests and to raise our own concerns on things like human rights." He added that Canada has "important things that the Chinese want."
Mr. Harper was referring to China's voracious need for energy and natural resources to power its economic growth.
China has already invested heavily in Canada's natural resources sector, but that has sparked concern because its players are state-owned entities, not private companies.
| Diplomatic Talks _ Diplomatic_Negotiation_ Summit Meeting | September 2012 | ['(The Globe and Mail)', '(Cri.cn)', '(Building program)', '(apec2012.ru)'] |
The number of farmers who died during the protests, which began in August 2020, increases to 248. | As protest against farm laws enters its 100th day, at least 248 farmers have died on New Delhi’s borders, organisers say.
Karnal, Haryana – For nearly two months, Prem Singh, 65, followed a ritual he had unwittingly slipped into.
He left his village in northern India’s Haryana state on December 1, 2020, to join tens of thousands of Indian farmers staging sit-ins along the borders of the national capital to demand the repeal of agricultural laws passed in September last year.
While camping at the protest site in Singhu – located along the Delhi-Haryana border – Prem ensured he called his son Sandeep, 34, back in the village every morning.
“He did not have a phone of his own,” Sandeep says, sitting in his dimly-lit room in the village of Manpura in Haryana’s Karnal district, 260km (161 miles) away from Singhu.
“But he would use somebody else’s mobile to check on us. I expected his call at a certain time every day. It had almost become a ritual.”
That ritual came to an abrupt end on January 26.
Crammed on a tractor at Singhu with several others, Prem, at around six in the evening, collapsed off the vehicle. He never made it back.
“I was with him at that time,” says Joginder Singh, 36, a resident of Manpura.
“We paid our respects to him at the protest site and took his body to the village for the funeral. He became one of the many martyrs that have laid their lives for the cause of the farmers.”
Since November 26, tens of thousands of farmers have camped at three different locations around the capital, demanding the government withdraw the laws they say put them at the mercy of private companies and destroy their livelihoods.
As the protest enters its 100th day on Friday, at least 248 farmers have died at the borders outside New Delhi, according to the data collected by Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM), or United Farmers’ Front.
Some died of health issues, others by suicide, said the SKM, which on Saturday plans to stop all traffic on the six-lane Western Peripheral Expressway that forms a ring outside New Delhi for up to five hours to continue their protest.
Despite mounting deaths, the farmers say their commitment towards the protest remains unshaken. But their active involvement has run into impediments.
In the month since Prem’s death, Sandeep has been home to welcome visitors who have come to offer condolences.
“My mother is also not back to normal,” he says.
“She is not speaking to anyone. I need to be at home to look after her. But I plan to take my father’s place at Singhu once everything settles down. We have lost the main member of our family. We also have to worry about our income.”
With only an acre of farmland, Sandeep says the family’s major income comes through labour work.
“I work as a driver, my elder brother works as a labourer here and there,” says Sandeep.
“After my father’s death, there is one less earning member in the family. I need to balance my work and my time at Singhu. I can’t stop earning, but I can’t abandon the protests either.”
For Sandeep Kaur, 34, the issue is not as complicated. She has two children – aged two and five – and even though she supports the agitation, there is little she can actively do about it.
Her husband, Manpreet, 42, had been camping at Singhu from the day the protest began.
“After almost a month of being at the border, he came home to see us,” she told Al Jazeera during a telephone call.
“The next day, he felt uneasy. The day after that, he died sitting in his chair. The doctor said he suffered a silent heart attack.”
With very little farmland in the small town of Bhawanigarh in Punjab’s Sangrur district, Kaur can no longer afford to participate in the protests.
“I have to take care of my little kids,” she says. “I do not get along with my in-laws. My father passed away three years ago. I am a small farmer and I have very little support system. We have not received any help from the government, either.”
Like Kaur, Sandeep Singh is also a small farmer, who cultivates rice and wheat largely for self-consumption. The new farm laws do not affect him directly, he says.
“But they will devastate livelihoods of farmers with larger landholdings that are dependent on the government-decided minimum support price,” he says.
“If they lose their income, they can’t employ people like us to work in their farmlands.”
Roshni Singh, 60, and her husband Shishpal, 72, looked after two acres of their farm in the village of Gagsina, 20km (12 miles) from Manpura. Shishpal’s brother Kripal, 62, nurtured another two acres.
“We had divided the work on four acres between the two families,” says Roshni, covering her head with a scarf.
When the farmers’ agitation began around New Delhi, Shishpal had his task cut out. “He had been at the protest site at Singhu from the first day,” says Roshni.
While he was away, Kripal doubled up to look after his brother’s farmland. Roshni managed the household and started spending more time in the field than she usually did.
“That way, we could participate in the protests and also maintain the farms,” she says. “It was an arrangement that seemed to be working for us.”
But on January 4, Kripal received a call from a farmer at Singhu. Shishpal had suffered a heart attack and was admitted to a hospital in Sonipat city in Haryana.
“He was shifted to another hospital a day or two later,” says Kripal. “Five days after the attack, he died. We had to borrow about 300,000 rupees ($4,100) for his treatment.”
Shishpal is survived by two children – Sandip, 25, and Manju, 27.
“Manju is married,” says Roshni. “Sandip is in the army. My son is standing on the borders of the country. My husband stood on the borders of the capital. I am proud of both of them.”
The night before he suffered a heart attack, Shishpal had come home for a day. “He was absolutely fine and upbeat,” Roshni says, with a wistful smile that deepens her wrinkles.
“He mobilised more farmers in the village to join the protests, erected a union flag on a tractor, and chanted slogans. He deeply cared about the protests and was determined to see the withdrawal of the farm laws.”
Kripal says his brother would often worry about the state-regulated markets, called mandis, once the private players step in.
“The mandis will become redundant,” Kripal recalls his brother saying.
“The corporations would dictate prices, and they would have a monopoly over us. The corporate power over agriculture would make us slaves on our own lands.”
These words, reverberating in Kripal’s ears, have made him more determined to see the protests through.
“That is what Shishpal would have wanted,” he says. “I have been to Singhu a couple of times since he passed away. I am juggling between the protests and the farmland.”
Every morning, Kripal wakes up, and walks over to his farm to water the wheat crop that is currently being cultivated. He sprays fertilisers and pesticides if he has to.
He then walks over to Shishpal’s land and repeats the process. What started as a temporary arrangement for Kripal has now become a ritual for him.
US-based research institute voices fear the world’s largest democracy is descending into authoritarianism under Modi.
As farmers camp out for months against new farm laws, mainstream and social media come under unprecedented attacks.
Why are hundreds of thousands of farmers in India protesting against new laws the government says will help them?
A wave of global support for the months-long protests has complicated matters further for the Modi government. | Protest_Online Condemnation | March 2021 | ['(Al Jazeera)'] |
Saif al-Islam Gaddafi, son of late Muammar Gaddafi, is released in Zintan after requests from the eastern Libya-based government. He is sought by the International Criminal Court and was condemned to the death penalty by the Tripoli-based government. His whereabouts are now unknown. | BENGHAZI, Libya (Reuters) - Saif al-Islam Gaddafi has been freed by an armed group in western Libya where he had been held since shortly after the 2011 revolt against his late father, Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, one of his lawyers and the brigade involved said.
He was released in the town of Zintan under an amnesty law passed by a parliament based in eastern Libya, lawyer Khaled al-Zaidi said on Sunday, adding that Saif was headed to another Libyan city that he could not name for security reasons.
Saif, 44, is the most prominent of the late leader’s children, and was touted by some as a reformist successor before the uprising six years ago in which Muammar Gaddafi was toppled and killed.
It is unclear what, if any, role the younger Gaddafi could play in Libya, where a complex array of armed groups and competing governments are vying for control.
But Gaddafi loyalists outside Libya as well as some in the east of the country, where military commander Khalifa Haftar has been building power, have been pressing for Saif’s release amid a push from former regime figures to reassert influence.
Saif’s lawyer Zaidi said Saif could play an important part in national reconciliation efforts because he was popular in Libya: “He will play a pivotal and detailed role in this stage.”
Zaidi told Reuters in an interview in Cairo that Saif would make a statement at some point and would not be turning himself in to the International Criminal Court, which is seeking his arrest.
Earlier reports that Saif had been freed from Zintan turned out to be false and there have long been conflicting rumors about his status. No physical evidence of his whereabouts has been offered. Saif was last seen by an independent international observer in June 2014.
Zintan’s Abubaker Sadiq brigade, which was responsible for guarding Saif, said it had chosen to release him following requests from the justice ministry of a government based in eastern Libya that is a rival to the U.N.-backed one in the capital, Tripoli.
“We decided to release Saif al-Islam Muammar Gaddafi, who is free, and we confirm that he left Zintan on the date of his release on the 14th of Ramadan (Friday),” the brigade said.
A Tripoli court sentenced Saif to death in absentia in 2015 for war crimes, including killing protesters during the revolution. A statement posted by the attorney general’s office in Tripoli on Sunday said he was still wanted under that conviction and that an investigation had been launched into his reported release.
Libya slid into turmoil after Muammar Gaddafi’s overthrow, with rival governments and armed alliances competing for power. A U.N.-backed government in Tripoli has struggled to impose its authority and has been rejected by factions in the east.
Zintan, which gained military importance through its role in the 2011 uprising and has been at odds with authorities in Tripoli, had refused to hand Saif over. He is also sought by the International Criminal Court, which says his trial in Libya did not meet international standards.
It was unclear what terms Saif’s captors might have set for his release, and why they would have freed a prisoner seen as a major bargaining chip.
Zintan, about 145 km (90 miles) southwest of Tripoli, has its own divisions, but has been broadly aligned with the government and armed forces based in eastern Libya.
However, a statement from Zintan’s military and municipal councils strongly condemned the Abubaker Sadiq brigade’s decision to release Saif.
It said the move had “nothing to do with legal procedures, but is collusion and betrayal of the blood of the martyrs and the military institution that they claim to belong to”.
The defense and security committee of the eastern parliament criticized the move as well, showing that opinion among officials in the east is also split.
| Famous Person - Commit Crime - Release | June 2017 | ['(Reuters)'] |
Ethan Couch, the so–called "affluenza" teen who violated probation for killing four people when driving while intoxicated when he disappeared from Tarrant County, Texas, is taken into custody in Mexico. Mexican officials will remand Couch and his mother, with whom he fled, to the U.S. Marshals Service. | FORT WORTH, Texas/PUERTO VALLARTA, Mexico (Reuters) - A rich Texas teenager who fled with his mother to Mexico to avoid possible jail time for violating his probation in a drunken-driving crash that left four people dead planned the flight and even held a farewell party, U.S. authorities said on Tuesday.
Officials working to get ‘affluenza’ teen back on U.S. soil
01:15
Ethan Couch, 18, became known as the “affluenza” teen during his trial in juvenile court over the 2013 crash. He and his mother were captured by Mexican authorities on Monday in the Pacific Coast beach city of Puerto Vallarta. They were likely to be returned to the United States on Wednesday.
During Couch’s trial, a psychologist sparked outrage by saying in his defense that Couch was so wealthy and spoiled he could not tell the difference between right and wrong. He was sentenced to 10 years drug-and-alcohol-free probation for intoxication manslaughter, a punishment condemned by critics as privilege rewarded with leniency.
Couch and his mother, Tonya Couch, fled the country after a video surfaced online apparently showing Couch at a party where beer was being consumed. Authorities had been investigating that video as a potential parole violation.
Couch had missed a mandatory meeting with his probation officer, prompting officials in Tarrant County, Texas, to issue a warrant for his arrest earlier this month.
Couch and his 48-year-old mother were tracked down and captured near Puerto Vallarta’s seafront promenade. Mexican authorities said they had been working with the U.S. Marshals Service since Dec. 24 to locate the pair.
The mother and son apparently entered Mexico by land, said Ricardo Vera, a local official for Mexico’s National Migration Institute. He said the two did not register when entering Mexico and it was not clear where they came in. Vera said owing to a shortage of seats on Tuesday flights to Houston, the two were now more likely to return to Texas on Wednesday from Jalisco’s state capital, Guadalajara.
“They had planned to disappear,” Tarrant County Sheriff Dee Anderson told a news conference in Fort Worth, Texas. “They even had something that was almost akin to a going-away party before they left town.”
When they arrived back in the United States, Couch would appear in juvenile court and his mother would be arrested for hindering an apprehension, Anderson said.
Related Coverage
Ethan Couch’s attorney, Reagan Wynn, declined to comment, saying in a statement he had not had the chance yet to speak with his client.
In Puerto Vallarta, eyewitness Cristina Barraza said she saw Tonya Couch’s arrest. She was led with hands behind her head by a man in plainclothes to a white pickup truck in front of a modest four-story building where the pair were reportedly staying.
Afterwards, the vehicle sped off, said Barraza, saying she did not see Ethan Couch during the arrest.
She also recalled an exchange with the mother last week as she sat outside her home on the sidewalk across the street. “She came along here and greeted me in Spanish. She was nice.”
Jalisco’s Attorney General Eduardo Almaguer told reporters the pair had first stayed in a bungalow close to the beach, then moved to a “more discreet” apartment further into town. They were detained while arriving back at the apartment on Monday evening and put up no resistance, he said.
A police booking picture from Mexico showed the previously blond Ethan Couch with dark hair, which the sheriff said suggested Couch was trying to change his appearance.
Tarrant County District Attorney Sharen Wilson said that she expected the judge to hold Couch after his juvenile hearing, and that she hoped it would be in an adult jail.
At a previously scheduled Jan. 19 court hearing, Wilson had planned to ask a judge to transfer Couch’s case into the adult court system from the juvenile system, putting Couch under stricter supervision and leaving him open to harsher punishment if he violated probation.
If he were in the adult system, Couch could face 120 days in jail for not meeting with his probation officer as required, and he could face up to 40 years in prison if he violated probation again after that, Wilson said.
U.S. Marshal Rick Taylor and Anderson declined to say how authorities tracked Couch down, but CNN said the marshals used Couch’s mobile phone to locate him.
‘HANDS-OFF’ PARENTING
In the fatal accident, Couch, then 16, was speeding and had a blood-alcohol level of nearly three times the legal limit when he lost control of his pickup truck and fatally struck a stranded motorist on the side of the road and three people who had stopped to help.
Susan Cloud, a friend of Brian Jennings, one of those killed, said she felt conflicted about what should happen to Couch, but wished he had not thrown away his second chance under his probation.
“I feel more negatively toward his mother than I do him,” Cloud said. “The parents seem to have a completely hands-off approach.”
Sheriff Anderson said last week that the passports for Couch and his mother had been reported missing by the teen’s father, who has cooperated with investigators. Fred Couch is divorced from the mother and owns a successful sheet metal business near Fort Worth.
The “affluenza” term was apparently used for the first time explicitly in defense during Couch’s trial, but has been a theory in sociological and psychological circles since the late 1990s to explain the impact of indulgent parenting, said Daniel Medwed, a criminal law professor at Northeastern University in Boston.
The notion of rich kids getting leniency based on their advantages sparked a public backlash against the theory, Medwed said, adding, “My hunch is this latest parole incident will mark the end of its use.”
| Famous Person - Commit Crime - Arrest | December 2015 | ['(Reuters)'] |
Belgian authorities arrest 14 people the government calls Islamic extremists, who they say were plotting to free an al–Qaeda member from prison. | BRUSSELS The Belgian authorities detained 14 people they described as Islamic extremists on Friday, saying they planned to use explosives to free a Qaeda sympathizer jailed for plotting an attack on an American air base. They said raids in 15 locations, mostly in Brussels, had turned up explosives and arms. In a speech, Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt warned, “Other acts of violence cannot be ruled out,” and security was stepped up in airports, rail stations and other public places. The United States Embassy in Belgium said in a statement that there was “a heightened risk of terrorist attack in Brussels,” but that it had no information on any specific targets. Europe in general is on alert for possible terrorist attacks during the holiday season. The recent bombing in Algiers has raised further concerns, particularly in Belgium and France, which have large north African populations. Terrorist cells linked to Al Qaeda are believed to have used Belgium as a recruiting ground and a source of fake passports and other documents. Experts have said that because if its sizable immigrant population and because it lies within a short drive of four other countries, it can be difficult for security services to track suspects. Advertisement
Under Belgian law, the authorities have five days to formally arrest the 14. According to the Belgian Interior Ministry, they intended to try to free Nizar Trabelsi, a former professional soccer player from Tunis who was arrested in Belgium shortly after the Sept. 11 attacks in the United States in 2001. Mr. Trabelsi was tried and convicted of planning an attack on the Kleine Brogel, a Belgian air base where about 100 American military personnel are stationed. He was sentenced in 2003 to 10 years. At his trial, Mr. Trabelsi claimed he had met Osama bin Laden in Afghanistan and said he intended to kill American soldiers. Didier de Quévy, a lawyer who represented Mr. Trabelsi at his trial, said he no longer acted for him and had not spoken to him for about nine months. Mr. Trabelsi’s location was not made public, but an Interior Ministry spokesman, Peter Mertens, said he was “moved regularly.” Advertisement
Jail breaks are not unknown in Belgium. In October 2007, Nordin Benallal, a man convicted of several violent crimes, escaped from a high security prison in Ittre, some 20 miles south of Brussels, after a stolen helicopter crash landed inside the jail. In April 2007, two men posing as tourists hijacked a helicopter and flew into the yard of a prison near Liège, in the east of the country, to pick up an inmate. And in 1998, Marc Dutroux, who became infamous in 1996 when he was arrested and accused of abducting six young girls and killing four, escaped briefly from custody while being taken to court. A review of his handling revealed weaknesses in coordination between different arms of the police, and reforms were instituted. | Famous Person - Commit Crime - Arrest | December 2007 | ['(The New York Times)'] |
North Korea returns what it says are the remains of 55 U.S. servicemen killed during the Korean War on the 65th anniversary of the signing of the Korean Armistice Agreement. The repatriation was agreed at the June summit between U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in a bid to improve relations. | North Korea returned the purported remains of 55 American troops who served in the Korean War — exactly 65 years since the conflict’s de facto end.
According to United Nations Command, one of the military organizations charged with keeping peace on the peninsula, a C-17 plane picked up the cases of the remains in Wonson, North Korea, and flew them to Osan Air Base in South Korea.
An honor guard met the cases when they landed, and each was wrapped in the UN’s flag, the flag under which US troops fought during the war. The boxes were individually placed in six vans.
“It was a successful mission following extensive coordination,” Army Gen. Vincent Brooks, who leads US and UN troops in South Korea, said in a statement. “Now, we will prepare to honor our fallen before they continue on their journey home.”
The US military still has to run an extensive DNA verification process on the remains to ensure they correspond with missing Americans. The cases will fly to Hawaii to undergo processing by the Pentagon agency charged with accounting for prisoners of war and troops missing in action.
North Korea has handed over what are believed to be the remains of US troops killed during the Korean War. The 55 boxes are being removed from a US military jet at Osan Air Base in South Korea: https://t.co/jmsl76h9rC pic.twitter.com/1O9B9f7P0E
There could be complications: US officials continually warn that remains from one US service member could be mixed with another. There’s also a risk that the remains belong to non-US troops. It’s unclear when the forensic work will end.
Still, this is a big deal. Around 36,500 US service members died during the Korean War, but America has yet to account for around 7,700 of them, with around 5,300 lost in North Korea. They include, as CNN reported in June, shot-down pilots, prisoners of war, or ground troops. The returned 55 sets of remains may not do much to bring down the total number, but it will serve as a relief to the families of the fallen soldiers.
It was also a symbolic day to do it: 65 years ago, the Korean War ended in an armistice, not a peace treaty. That means the war technically continues and partially explains why all the remains have yet to be returned.
It’s also the first time since 2007 that North Korea has returned military remains to the US. Former UN Ambassador Bill Richardson, who secured six sets of remains from North Korea in 2007, told me in May that this is a huge issue for families who don’t know what happened to their lost family members. Pyongyang’s gesture was widely expected and fulfills one of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un’s promises to US President Donald Trump at their Singapore summit last month. The fourth point of the US-North Korea agreement signed in June specifically mentioned the return of American remains. “The United States and the DPRK commit to recovering POW/MIA remains, including the immediate repatriation of those already identified,” read the joint statement, using acronyms for the official name of North Korea and prisoners of war.
UNC hosted an arrival ceremony for 55 cases of remains today from the Democratic People's Republic of Korea at Osan Air Base in South Korea.
That agreement was meant to set the guidelines for the eventual end of North Korea’s nuclear program. If Pyongyang starts returning the remains of US troops held for decades in North Korea, it’s possible that the country is serious about curbing its nuclear capabilities.
Some experts, however, don’t buy it. “That the regime could return 55 remains so quickly confirms that it has been holding them to serve as negotiating bargaining chips. Some reports suggest North Korea has held hundreds of remains for decades,” says Bruce Klingner, a former top CIA official in the Koreas and now an expert at the conservative Heritage Foundation. “North Korea has not, however, taken any steps to begin denuclearization as it promised to do.”
That will likely mean little to the relatives of the fallen now, who may finally, hopefully, find peace.
“After so many years, this will be a great moment for so many families. Thank you to Kim Jong Un,” Trump tweeted on Thursday night. | Diplomatic Talks _ Diplomatic_Negotiation_ Summit Meeting | July 2018 | ['(Sky News)', '(Vox)'] |
The season's first hurricane, Hurricane Danny, is upgraded to Category 3, as its winds strengthened to 115 mph. On its current track, the hurricane will move across the Leeward Islands by Monday but may weaken when it reaches Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands. , | Danny's winds strengthened to 115 mph, making it a Category 3 hurricane as it spins toward the Caribbean, the National Hurricane Center said Friday.
The storm is "likely at is peak intensity" now, as it's expected to weaken over the next couple of days.
The hurricane is a "major" hurricane, which is defined as any storm of Category 3, 4 or 5 strength. A crew aboard a "hurricane hunter" aircraft, which flew into the storm, confirmed the hurricane's strength Friday afternoon.
As of 5 p.m. ET, Danny was located 860 miles east of the Caribbean's Leeward Islands and was slowly moving to the west-northwest at 10 mph. On its current track, the storm will move across islands such as Guadeloupe, Montserrat, and Antigua and Barbuda by Monday.
Danny should "weaken below hurricane strength as it approaches the Caribbean islands," the hurricane center said. The storm could actually deliver needed rain to many of the parched Caribbean islands, including Puerto Rico, much of which is in a drought.
Despite its wind speeds, "Danny is a tiny hurricane," the hurricane center said. "Hurricane force winds extend outward up to 15 miles from the center and tropical storm force winds extend outward up to 60 miles."
Meanwhile, in the central Pacific Ocean, Tropical Storm Kilo formed Friday morning. Kilo has maximum winds of 40 mph and is about 720 miles southeast of Honolulu. It's forecast to strengthen into a hurricane and potentially threaten parts of Hawaii by early next week, according to the Central Pacific Hurricane Center. | Hurricanes_Tornado_Storm_Blizzard | August 2015 | ['(USA Today)', '(Weather Channel updated)'] |
U.S. President Barack Obama visits Afghanistan on an unannounced visit coinciding with the first anniversary of Osama Bin Laden's assassination by the U.S. Special Forces in Pakistan, signing an agreement with Afghan President Hamid Karzai outlining a continuing U.S. role in Afghanistan after 2014. | US President Barack Obama has signed a strategic agreement with Afghan leader Hamid Karzai on a previously unannounced visit to Afghanistan.
The 10-year accord outlines military and civil ties between the countries after the end of Nato's mission in Afghanistan in 2014. Mr Obama is also due to give a TV address to Americans back home. The visit coincides with the first anniversary of Osama Bin Laden's killing in Pakistan.
It was a year ago that US special forces carried out a raid on Bin Laden's compound in Abbottabad and killed the leader of the al-Qaeda network.
After Mr Obama's arrival, Mr Karzai said a post-war agreement would seal an "equal partnership" between Afghanistan and the United States, reports say.
Mr Obama added the cost of war had been great for both nations, adding he looked forward to "a future of peace".
He acknowledged there would be difficult days ahead for Afghanistan, but said the Afghan people were taking control of their own future. Later, Mr Obama thanked US troops in Afghanistan, saying Osama Bin Laden got justice a year ago. He warned US troops of further hardship ahead in Afghanistan, but told them "there is a light on the horizon" after more than a decade of war. The president called the agreement he signed with Mr Karzai "a responsible transition to Afghans taking control of their own country". He said the change would not happen overnight because the US would not risk the gains so many had sacrificed to achieve.
"The reason America is safe is because of you," he added.
The US is to designate Afghanistan as a major non-Nato ally, US officials are quoted as saying by Reuters news agency. Mr Obama will not make specific decisions on further reductions of US forces in Afghanistan until the autumn of 2012, the officials added.
Mr Obama is due to make his TV address from Bagram air base at 23:30 GMT.
The agreement is a first, symbolic step towards setting out a long-term relationship, says the BBC's Paul Adams in Washington. It is designed to reassure the people of Afghanistan that they are not about to be abandoned when Nato ends its operations there in 18 months. It is also meant to send a signal to the Taliban that it cannot simply expect to take over again when the Americans leave, our correspondent adds. This is President Obama's third trip to Afghanistan since taking office.
| Diplomatic Visit | May 2012 | ['(BBC)'] |
A Russian Sukhoi Superjet 100 passenger jet disappears after taking off from Halim Perdanakusuma Airport in Jakarta, Indonesia, with 44 people on board. | A new Russian passenger jet carrying 50 people has gone missing on a demonstration flight in Indonesia, after taking off from Jakarta.
The Sukhoi Superjet 100 disappeared from radar screens 50 minutes into what was meant to be a brief flight.
An eyewitness reported seeing a low-flying plane flying towards a mountain but did not hear any explosion.
Aerial searches for the plane have been hampered by darkness and strong winds. But rescuers have continued looking for the plane on the ground. "We suspect the plane crashed, but we're not yet certain," rescue chief Marsdya Daryatmo told reporters several hours after the disappearance.
Most of those aboard are believed to be Indonesian airline representatives but it has been confirmed that there are also eight Russians, including pilots and technicians, and a French citizen.
According to a manifest published by Russian news agency Ria-Novosti, which has not been confirmed, two Italians and a US citizen are also aboard the plane. The jet vanished from radar near the city of Bogor in West Java province and may have come down in mountainous terrain around Mt Salak. Relatives of Indonesians aboard the plane have gathered at the airport to wait for news, some of them weeping uncontrollably, AFP news agency reports.
The plane took off from east Jakarta's Halim Perdanakusuma airport at 14:00 (07:00 GMT), on its second flight of the day, the Indonesian search and rescue agency said.
At 14:50, it was recorded as dropping from 10,000ft [3,000m] to 6,000ft near Salak, a peak measuring 7,200ft (2,200m).
Juanda, a villager who lives near the mountain, told local TV: "I saw a big plane passing just over my house."
"It was veering a bit to one side, the engine roaring. It seemed to be heading toward Salak, but I didn't hear an explosion or anything."
Jocean Bowler, an American running an organic farm on the slopes of the mountain, which is a popular tourist destination, said: "Salak's a big mountain, I didn't hear anything." Some 200 police, military and rescue workers have been sent to Mt Salak, Marsdya Daryatmo said.
Russian blogger Sergey Dolya, who was accompanying the Sukhoi delegation and broke news of the plane's disappearance, has been filing updates on Twitter, from the emergency operation centre in Jakarta. "The ground [search] operation will continue all night," he wrote. "They will try to climb to the highest point. In the morning, they will continue with five helicopters."
Tweeting after midnight (local time), Dolya added: "We keep phoning our guys. Sometimes calls go through, sometimes they break off. But nobody picks up. The locals are unable to determine the location." Sukhoi officials have been on an Asia-wide tour in recent months to show off their aircraft to airline firms. The Superjet, a mid-range airliner that can carry up to 100 people, is military plane-maker Sukhoi's first commercial aviation plane. It was created by a joint venture, majority-owned by Sukhoi, with Italy's Finmeccanica and a number of other foreign and Russian firms also involved.
Sukhoi aimed to sell 42 of its planes to Indonesia, which has witnessed a fast-expanding aviation market to cater for a growing middle class in the world's fourth most populous nation, Reuters adds.
Russian planemakers eye global markets
Air disasters timeline
Indonesia country profile
Sergey Dolya's blog (in Russian)
Sukhoi
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 | Air crash | May 2012 | ['(BBC)', '(CNN)'] |
21st Century Fox share holders approve a $71.3 billion merger with The Walt Disney Company. | Shareholders of 21st Century Fox and Disney have voted to approve Disney’s $71.3 billion buyout of major Fox assets.
Shareholders gathered Friday morning at the New York Hilton for separate meetings to vote on the historic transaction that the companies first set back in December. Both meetings were brief, lasting less than 15 minutes.
Gerson Zweifach, general counsel of 21st Century Fox, told Fox shareholders the merger is expected to be completed in the first half of 2019. He hailed the deal as a transformative transaction that will enable us to unlock significant value for our stockholders.”
The Disney gathering was short and perfunctory. Led by Disney general counsel Alan Braverman and CFO Christine McCarthy, the vote took less than 10 minutes and received near unanimous approval from Disney shareholders.
During the discussion preceding the vote, only one shareholder — who identified himself as an economics professor at Duquesne University — protested, simply saying “I think we are overpaying for Fox.” Another asked if Disney had plans to move its headquarters outside of Burbank, Calif.
At the Fox meeting, a male shareholder came to the microphone to pay tribute to Fox’s Rupert Murdoch and his legacy in the media biz. “Nobody does it like Rupert Murdoch,” he said. “I love Rupert Murdoch.”
Fox’s meeting was held in a small room with about 50 people in attendance, reflecting the large ownership stakes held by the Murdoch family and fewer individual investors. Disney, meanwhile, held its meeting in one of the hotel’s ballrooms, reflecting the broader interest in the company among the general public.
The shareholder vote seals the deal for Disney after it prevailed in a tussle with Comcast over bids for the 21st Century Fox assets, which include the 20th Century Fox studio, FX Networks, National Geographic Partners, and other entertainment assets. After the sale, Rupert Murdoch and Lachlan Murdoch will head the company now dubbed New Fox, which will comprise Fox Broadcasting Co. and Fox’s TV station group, Fox Sports and Fox News.
Disney and Fox first reached a buyout agreement for $52.4 billion in December. Comcast had been in the running last fall but the Fox board opted for Disney as the better fit for most of Murdoch’s Hollywood empire. The shareholder vote was originally set for July 10 but had to be postponed after Comcast unveiled its $65 billion all-cash offer on June 13. Disney responded a week later with a sweetened offer featuring a mix of cash and stock.
Neither Disney chairman-CEO Bob Iger or Murdoch attended the meeting. Zweifach told Fox shareholders that the date change for the meeting created scheduling conflicts for numerous Fox board members.
Disney has already received the greenlight from the Justice Department for the purchase, on the condition that it sell off Fox’s 22 regional sports networks within 90 days of closing. Disney still needs to secure a handful of approvals from foreign governments.
“Combining the 21CF businesses with Disney and establishing new ‘Fox’ will unlock significant value for our shareholders,” said Murdoch in a statement. “We are grateful to our shareholders for approving this transaction. I want to thank all of our executives and colleagues for their enormous contributions in building 21st Century Fox over the past decades. With their help, we expect the enlarged Disney and new ‘Fox’ companies will be pre-eminent in the entertainment and media industries.” Iger echoed Murdoch’s sentiment in a statement.
“We’re incredibly pleased that shareholders of both companies have granted approval for us to move forward, and are confident in our ability to create significant long-term value through this acquisition of Fox’s premier assets,” said Iger said. “We remain grateful to Rupert Murdoch and to the rest of the 21st Century Fox board for entrusting us with the future of these extraordinary businesses, and look forward to welcoming 21st Century Fox’s stellar talent to Disney and ultimately integrating our businesses to provide consumers around the world with more appealing content and entertainment options.” | Organization Merge | July 2018 | ['(Variety)'] |
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