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Philippine and U.S. troops resume their annual Balikatan military exercises following last year's cancellation of the event due to the pandemic. | Philippine Defence Secretary Delfin Lorenzana answer questions during a Reuters interview at the military headquarters of Camp Aquinaldo in Quezon city, metro Manila, Philippines February 9, 2017. REUTERS/Romeo Ranoco/
MANILA, April 11 (Reuters) - Philippine and U.S. soldiers will conduct a two-week joint military exercise from Monday, resuming the annual training event after last year's cancellation due to the pandemic, the Philippine military chief said on Sunday.
The announcement came after the two countries' defence secretaries held a phone call to discuss the drills, the situation in the South China Sea, and recent regional security developments.
Unlike previous exercises, however, this year's "Balikatan" (Shoulder-to-Shoulder) drills to test the readiness of their militaries to respond to threats such natural disasters and militant extremist attacks, will be scaled down.
Only 1,700 troops -- 700 from the United States and 1,000 from the Philippines -- will participate, unlike previous exercises which involved as many as 7,600 soldiers, said Lieutenant General Cirilito Sobejana.
"There will be physical contact but it is minimal," he said.
The Philippines has protested against the presence of the Chinese boats inside its 200-mile exclusive economic zone at Whitsun Reef in the strategic waterway, repeatedly asking China to move the vessels away.
Chinese diplomats, however, have said the fishing boats were just sheltering from rough seas and no militia were aboard. read more Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan, China and Vietnam have competing territorial claims in the South China Sea.
In the phone call on Sunday between Philippine Defence Secretary Delfin Lorenzana and U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, Austin also reiterated the importance of the Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA) between the two countries, according to a statement issued by Lorenzana's department.
Lorenzana committed to discussing the matter with President Rodrigo Duterte.
Duterte last year unilaterally cancelled the two-decade-old VFA in an angry response after an ally was denied a U.S. visa. The agreement provides the legal framework under which U.S. troops can operate on a rotational basis in the Philippines. read more The VFA withdrawal period, however, has been twice extended, creating what Philippine officials say is a window for better terms to be agreed.
Relations between Washington and its former Asian colony have been complicated since 2016 when Duterte, who has criticised U.S. foreign policy while befriending China, rose to power.
Duterte has said Washington must pay more if it wants to maintain the VFA.
Lorenzana also sought the assistance of Austin in speeding up the delivery of doses of the COVID-19 vaccine developed by U.S. pharmaceutical and biotechnology company Moderna (MRNA.O) that the Philippines has ordered.
Austin "would look into the issue and bring it to the attention of the office concerned", the statement said.
| Military Exercise | April 2021 | ['(Reuters)'] |
The United States Senate approves a free trade agreement with Peru by a vote of 77 to 18, clearing the way for its implementation. | WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Senate on Tuesday overwhelmingly approved a free trade pact with Peru, handing President George W. Bush his first legislative trade victory since Democrats took control of Congress in January.
“I look forward to signing this legislation into law and urge Congress to promptly consider and approve our other pending free trade agreements, starting with Colombia,” Bush said in a statement after the vote.
The Senate voted 77-18 to pass the agreement, which was revamped earlier this year to include groundbreaking labor and environmental provisions demanded by Democrats.
The agreement rewards a stalwart U.S. ally in a region where Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez frequently chastises the United States for its policies.
“I want to congratulate all of Peru on this excellent news,” Peruvian President Alan Garcia told reporters in Lima. “This means more jobs and more social justice.”
The strong bipartisan vote raised industry hopes that Congress might grant Bush his wish next year and pass trade deals with Colombia, Panama and South Korea -- despite political obstacles facing each of those pacts.
Five senators running for president were absent for the vote.
While Sen. Hillary Clinton, a New York Democrat, and Sen. Barack Obama, an Illinois Democrat, had said they supported the pact, both Sen. Chris Dodd, a Connecticut Democrat, and Sen. Joe Biden, a Delaware Democrat, were opposed.
The fifth absentee, Sen. John McCain, an Arizona Republican, has been a consistent supporter of trade deals.
The House voted 285-132 for the agreement last month.
The deal locks in Peru’s duty-free access to the U.S. market under a longstanding U.S. trade-preference program, creating a more favorable environment for foreign investment the Andean country wants to help create jobs.
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For U.S. business, it immediately eliminates duties on 80 percent of industrial and consumer product exports to Peru and more than two-thirds of farm exports. Most other duties will be phased out over 10 to 15 years.
Supporters expect a big boost to U.S.-Peru trade, which totaled about $8.8 billion last year.
However, international aid organization Oxfam criticized the agreement, which they said would expose Peru’s small farmers to “massive dumping” of subsidized U.S. farm goods.
The American Farm Bureau Federation estimates the pact will boost U.S. farm exports to Peru by more than $700 million annually once it is fully implemented.
Though more than 40 percent of people in the Andean country live in poverty, Peru’s economy has been booming for the last six years, mainly on exports of metals to Asia.
Garcia has said the pact with the United States should add 2 percentage points to annual growth rates in an economy that has been growing at 8 percent a year.
The deal also requires Peru to open its banking, insurance and other services markets to more U.S. companies and strengthen copyright, patent and trademark protections for U.S. products ranging from music to manufactured goods.
As a result of the changes demanded by Democrats, the pact boosts protections for workers in both countries by requiring the two trading partners to adopt, maintain and enforce core international labor standards, such as the right to bargain collectively and go on strike.
The environmental provisions requires the United States and Peru to effectively enforce their domestic environmental laws and to honor international environmental obligations.
For the first time in a U.S. trade agreement, the labor and environmental commitments will be enforceable through the same mechanism as commercial provisions of the pact.
Senate Majority Leader Henry Reid, a Nevada Democrat, said he voted against the agreement in large part because the Bush administration has a poor job of enforcing previous trade deals.
“I recognize that this FTA reflects major improvements from the previous model. But, I still see many holes in U.S. trade policy that need to be filled,” Reid said.
| Government Policy Changes | December 2007 | ['(Reuters)'] |
Three Britons and a South African die when their light aircraft crashes on approach to Dubai International Airport, closing the world's busiest airport for 45 minutes. | The UK-registered aircraft had been involved in upgrading a runway and flights were halted for nearly an hour after the crash.
Friday 17 May 2019 13:09, UK
Three Britons have died after a light aircraft crashed near Dubai International Airport, authorities have said.
A South African person on board was also killed when the small plane came down about three miles south of the busy transport hub.
Flights were halted for 46 minutes on Thursday from 7.36pm to 8.22pm (local time).
The four-seater Diamond DA42, registered in the UK, had been involved in upgrading a runway and was used to "calibrate the approach systems", the airport said.
The plane is registered to Flight Calibrations Service Ltd, based in Shoreham in West Sussex, the AP news agency reported.
One of the victims was an employee of Honeywell, which provides engineering services and aerospace systems.
A spokesman said: " We are deeply saddened by the news that a small, chartered plane crashed in Dubai yesterday evening and our heartfelt condolences are with the victims' families.
"A Honeywell employee was among the four victims. The plane was not owned or operated by Honeywell but by a third party engaged by Honeywell."
A Foreign Office spokeswoman said: "We are working closely with the Emirati authorities following reports of a small aircraft crash in Dubai."
An investigation has begun and air traffic has returned to normal.
Flight Calibrations Service said in November that it had signed a contract to work on the UAE airport's "navaids" - beacons which help pilots to locate runways and to land.
On 16 April, the airport's southern runway was closed so it could be resurfaced and all its lighting and supporting infrastructure replaced. It is set to re-open on 30 May. | Air crash | May 2019 | ['(Sky News)'] |
Archbishop Georg Gänswein who is Pope Benedict XVI's personal secretary since 2003 interviews with EWTN's German television branch on the occasion of the emeritus pope's 90th birthday. | In a lengthy interview with EWTN's German television branch, Benedict XVI's closest aide describes how the retired pontiff is doing as he turns the milestone age of 90, giving a rare look into what life is like for the Pope Emeritus. Archbishop Gänswein has been Benedict's personal secretary since 2003, while the latter was still Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. He has remained close at Benedict's side throughout his papacy, resignation and his life of retirement. In anticipation of Benedict XVI's 90th birthday, which this year falls on Easter Sunday, April 16, Gänswein gave a lengthy interview to EWTN.TV in German, sharing insights into how the Pope Emeritus plans to celebrate his birthday and highlights and personal memories of his pontificate. Among other things, the archbishop recalls how Benedict handled his election, the frequently negative media-firestorm that enveloped much of his pontificate, his hope for what people take from his papacy as well as how he spends his days in retirement. Please read below for the full interview with Archbishop Gänswein, conducted by the head of EWTN.TV Martin Rothweiler, and translated from the original German by EWTN’s Silvia Kritzenberger:
EWTN.TV: The question everyone's interested in is, of course: How is Pope Benedict? The Psalm says: “Our lives last seventy years or, if we are strong, eighty years.” That happens to be psalm 90. And now on the 16th of April, Pope Benedict will celebrate his 90th birthday! How is he? Gänswein: Yes, indeed, on Easter Sunday he will turn 90! Considering his age, he is remarkably well. He is also in good spirits, very clear in his head and still has a good sense of humor. What bothers him are his legs, so he uses a walker for help, and he gets along very well. And this walker guarantees him freedom of movement and autonomy. So, for a 90-year old, he is doing pretty well – even though, from time to time, he complains of this or that minor ailment. EWTN.TV: How will he celebrate his birthday? Advertisement
Gänswein: On Easter Sunday, priority will of course be given to liturgy. On Easter Monday, in the afternoon, we will hold a small celebration. He wanted something not too exhausting, appropriate to his strengths. He didn't want to have a big celebration. That was never an option for him. A small delegation from Bavaria will come, the Mountain troops will come... The Bavarian Prime Minister will come to the monastery, and there we will hold a small birthday party in true Bavarian style! EWTN.TV: Have you any idea if Pope Francis will come to see him? Gänswein: That is quite likely. He will surely do so. EWTN.TV: No one knows Pope Benedict better than you – apart from his brother Georg Ratzinger. How did you get to know Pope Benedict? Gänswein: Actually, through literature. Back in the day, when I was just about to finish gymnasium, my parish priest gave me Ratzinger's Introduction to Christianity, urging me: “You absolutely have to read this! That's the future!” I said: “Okay, but have you read it?” “No,” he replied, “but you have to read it!” And I did. Later, when I started to study theology in Freiburg, and then in Rome, and then again back in Freiburg, I had practically read everything the then-professor and cardinal had written. But it was only 21, or maybe 22 years ago, that I finally met him in person here in Rome, when I was asked to become a collaborator of the Roman Curia … More concretely, I met him in the Teutonic College, that is, in the chapel, where Cardinal Ratzinger used to celebrate Mass for the German pilgrims every Thursday, joining us for breakfast. That was how the first personal contact with Cardinal Ratzinger came about, and since then we never lost that contact. Advertisement
EWTN.TV: At some point, he decided to call you to his side. Why did his choice fall on you? Gänswein: Well, you must know that I didn't come directly to the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith; my first employment was at the Congregation for Divine Worship. But when, in the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, a German priest left after a certain period of time in order to go back to Germany, Ratzinger asked me to come. “I think you are suitable for the post, and I would like you to come,” he said to me. “If you agree, I would like to speak with the respective authorities.” And he did. That was how it came about that, in 1996, I entered the staff of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, a post I held until 2003. Afterwards, he made me his Personal Secretary – which I still am, to this very day. EWTN.TV: What was your first impression of him? What did you think when he called you to work closely with him? Gänswein: My first thought was: Have I done something wrong? Don't I have a clean record? So I examined my conscience, but my conscience was clear. And then he said: “No, it is something that concerns your future. Something I think might be a good task for you. Consider it carefully!” Of course, I was very pleased that he thought I was capable of working in his entourage. It is indeed a very demanding task, one that requires all your strength. EWTN.TV: Which personality traits and characteristics did you discover in him? Gänswein: The same I had already discovered in his writings: a sharp intellect, a clear diction. And then, in his personal relations, a great clemency, quite the contrary of what he has always been associated with and still is, of what has always been said about him, when he was described as a “Panzerkardinal” (army tank Cardinal), someone rough – which he is not. On the contrary, he is very confident when dealing with others, but also when he has to deal with problems, when he has to solve problems, and, above all, in the presentation of the faith, the defense of the faith. But what moved me most, was to see how this man managed to proclaim our faith with simple, but profound words, against all odds and despite all hostilities. EWTN.TV: What were the main issues on his agenda when he was Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith? Gänswein: When I joined the Congregation, he was dealing with the encyclical letter Fides et Ratio, and then with Dominus Jesus, documents which date back to years when I was already part of the Congregation. Later, of course, it was also about religious dialogue – a subject he revisited and deepened also after he'd become Pope. And then the big issue of faith and reason. A whole chain of subjects, so to say, I could witness in person. And it was all highly interesting, and a great challenge, too. EWTN.TV: It was Pope John Paul II who nominated Cardinal Ratzinger Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. What kind of relationship did they have? What kind of relationship did Pope Benedict, then Cardinal Ratzinger, have with the Pope who was, as we now know, a holy man? Gänswein: Cardinal Ratzinger, that is to say, Pope Benedict, had contributed with a relatively long essay to a small, but beautiful little book that was published on the occasion of the canonization of John Paul II. An essay, in which he describes his relationship with the holy Pope John Paul II – after all, they had worked closely together for 23 years – and the great admiration he has for him. He spoke of him very often. It is of course a great gift, an immense grace, to work for so long, and so intensely, side by side with a man like John Paul II, facing also many a storm together! And the then Cardinal Ratzinger had to take many blows for John Paul II, since the Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith clearly cannot be everybody's darling: He has to offer his back, so that he can take the blows that are actually meant for the Pope. EWTN.TV: How strong was his influence on the pontificate of John Paul II?
Gänswein: I am convinced of the fact that the pontificate of John Paul II was strongly influenced and supported not only by the person of the then Prefect of the Congregation of Faith, but also by his thoughts and his actions. EWTN.TV: Pope Benedict once said that he had learned and understood much of John Paul II when he watched him celebrate Mass; when he saw how he prayed, how very united he was with God, far beyond his philosophical and mental capacities. What do you think when you watch Pope Benedict celebrate Mass, when you might be present while he is praying? Gänswein: In fact, that is something I see every day, but especially since the moment I became secretary to Pope Benedict. Before, I was already his secretary, but we didn’t live together. It did happen that we celebrated Mass together, of course. But from the very moment of his election, it was no longer a work communion, but also a communion of life. And the daily Mass has become part of this life, then and today. It is moving to watch Pope Benedict during Mass simply abandon himself to what is happening, even now, in his old days, with all the physical handicaps that come with it; to see how intensely he enters the depths of prayer, but also afterwards, during the thanksgiving in front of the tabernacle, in front of the Most Blessed Sacrament. As far as I am concerned, it makes me enter the depths of prayer. That is highly motivating, and I am very thankful that I was given the chance to have an experience like this. EWTN.TV: 2005 is the year that marked the end of the long and public suffering and death of John Paul II. How does Pope Benedict XVI remember this moment today? After all, with his resignation, he has chosen to let his own pontificate end in a different way...How does he remember the suffering and the death of John Paul II? Gänswein: I remember very clearly what he said to me when he made me his secretary. He said: “We two are interim arrangements. I will soon retire, and you will accompany me until that moment comes.” That was in 2003. Time passed by...and then came 2005. The interim arrangement lasts and lasts. And he was really looking forward to having some time off in order to be able to finish writing his book about Jesus. But then things turned out differently. And, well, I think that after the death of Pope John Paul II he had other plans, hoping that the new Pope would let him take his leave, entering his well-deserved retirement. But once again, things turned out differently: he became Pope himself, and the Lord took him up on his promise once again. He had plans, but there was another who had different plans for him.
Gänswein: He certainly did not expect it – but, at a certain point, he might have feared it. In this context, I always remember his first press conference (as Pope), where he described the 19th of April, the day of his election when, in the late afternoon, the ballot was so clear that it became obvious that he would be elected. Well, the image he used, the one of the guillotine, was a very strong one, and full of tension. And later, in Munich, referring to the image of the bear of St. Corbinian, he said that the bear was actually supposed to accompany the then-bishop Corbinian to Rome, and then return to where he had come from, whereas he, unlike the bear in the legend, couldn't go back, but has remained in Rome to this very day. EWTN.TV: How was your first encounter, after he had become Pope? What did he say to you? Gänswein: We had our first encounter in the Sistine Chapel, right under the Last Judgement. The cardinals had approached him and sworn obedience to him. And since I had been allowed to be present at the Conclave – Ratzinger, being the Deacon of the Cardinals, had the right to take a priest with him, and his choice had fallen on me – I was the last in the queue. There were others before me, I was the last. And in this very moment...I remember it so well…I can still see him, for the first time all dressed in white: white pileolus, white cassock, white hair – and all white in the face! Practically a whole small cloud of white...He sat there, and in this moment I granted the Holy Father my unconditional availability, promising him that I would always gladly do whatever he might ask of me; that he would always be able to count on me, that I would back him, and that I would gladly do so. EWTN.TV: What were the joys of this pontificate? Usually, the burden of the Petrine ministry is what first comes to mind. But are there also moments, events, when you could feel the joy Pope Benedict experienced in carrying out his ministry? Gänswein: There were, without any doubt, moments in which he felt utter joy, and also manifested it. I think, for example, of various encounters, not only during his travels. Encounters with the Successor of Peter are always special encounters; even here, during the General Audiences or the Private Audiences – and, in another, very special way, when he acts as officiant, that is, during the celebration of the Holy Mass or other liturgical celebrations. There were indeed moments full of joy, fulfilled with joy. | Famous Person - Give a speech | April 2017 | ['(Catholic News Agency)'] |
U.S. president Barack Obama gives out the Presidential Medal of Freedom to 13 recipients, including Israeli president Shimon Peres, astronaut John Glenn and musician Bob Dylan, at the White House. | President Barack Obama has bestowed the nation's highest civilian honour on political and cultural figures in a ceremony at the White House.
Musician Bob Dylan, astronaut John Glenn, and Israeli President Shimon Peres were among the Medal of Freedom recipients.
The award is given to people from all walks of life who have made exceptional contributions to society.
It was established by former President John F Kennedy in 1963.
Dylan was born Robert Allen Zimmerman on 24 May 1941 and began his musical career in 1959, playing in Minnesota coffee houses.
He took his stage name from the poet Dylan Thomas and, not coincidentally, paid as much attention to his lyrics as his music.
Much of his best-known work dates from the 1960s, when he became an informal historian of America's troubles.
Songs such as Blowin' In The Wind and The Times They Are a-Changin' became anthems of the anti-war and civil rights movements.
His move away from traditional folk songwriting, paired with a controversial decision to "go electric", proved equally influential - his confessional, introspective lyrics were undoubtedly absorbed by The Beatles in their later work.
He continues to record and tour, expanding his horizons with a US radio show and a recently signed six-book publishing deal.
Another luminary to be awarded the honour, Toni Morrison, is renowned for her portrayal of the African-American experience in novels such as Song Of Solomon, and Beloved, which won the Pulitzer Prize in 1988.
Born Chloe Anthony Wofford in 1931 in Ohio, she went on to become a senior editor at publishers Random House before pursuing her writing career.
Outside of novels, she has written literary criticism and even lyrics for operas, including Honey and Rue, with music by Andre Previn.
Once asked by a student who she wrote for, Morrison replied: "I want to write for people like me, which is to say black people, curious people, demanding people...
"People who can't be faked, people who don't need to be patronised, people who have very, very high criteria."
The 13 people awarded the Medal of Freedom at Tuesday's ceremony in the East Room of the White House
included:
Previous honourees include Mother Teresa, Margaret Thatcher, Stephen Hawking, Walt Disney, Doris Day, Duke Ellington and Aretha Franklin. | Awards ceremony | May 2012 | ['(BBC)'] |
The Saudi Arabia-led airstrikes against the Houthi rebels resume after a five-day ceasefire. | A Saudi-led coalition has resumed air strikes against Houthi rebels in Yemen after a five-day ceasefire ended, Yemeni officials and witnesses say.
Aircraft targeted rebel positions in the southern city of Aden overnight, despite a UN call for the truce to be extended to allow in more aid.
Yemeni parties are in negotiations in Saudi Arabia on how to end the crisis.
But the rebels, who reject the return of exiled President Abdrabbuh Mansour Hadi, are boycotting the talks.
Mr Hadi fled the country at the end of March after rebel forces and allied army units loyal to ousted former president Ali Abdullah Saleh advanced on Aden.
He had taken refuge in the city the previous month after the Houthis consolidated their control of Sanaa and placed him under effective house arrest.
The new UN envoy to Yemen opened talks with the country's various factions in the Saudi capital on Sunday urging all sides to "renew their commitment to this truce for five more days at least".
Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed also said they should "refrain from any action that disturbs the peace of airports, main areas and the infrastructure of transport".
Despite the appeal, coalition air strikes reportedly resumed after the ceasefire expired at 23:00 (20:00 GMT) on Sunday, with warplanes bombing the rebel-held presidential palace in Aden on Monday, as well as the city's international airport.
1,820
people killed since 19 March, a week before start of Saudi-led air campaign against Houthi rebels
7,330
injuries recorded
545,719 people displaced between 26 March and 7 May 273,411 received food aid for a month during first four days of truce 12,000,000 food insecure On Monday morning, Yemen's foreign minister told Reuters news agency that his government would not consider a new ceasefire offer, blaming it on the Houthis who he said had violated the terms of the truce.
"That's what we said before - that if they start again, we will start again," Riad Yassin said.
But, he continued, the air strikes would avoid the main airport in the capital Sanaa and the western Red Sea port of Hudaydah to allow aid to be brought in.
The coalition air campaign, which began on 26 March, has so far failed to achieve its stated aim of restoring President Hadi.
Despite some clashes the five-day ceasefire largely held, allowing aid agencies to deliver desperately-needed food, water, medicine and fuel. However, the agencies said they were only able to reach a small number of those in need. Unicef's representative in Sanaa said on Sunday that while it was able to deliver aid to affected people across the country, "humanitarian assistance cannot replace the needs of 26 million people who have been cut off from a regular supply of commercial imports of food and fuel".
"Hundreds of adults and children have already died during this conflict," Julien Harneis said, "many of whom could have been saved had we got supplies to them on time".
Iran has sent a cargo ship carrying humanitarian aid, due to arrive in Hudaydah on Thursday, state media report.
More than 1,800 people have been killed in air strikes and fighting on the ground since the Saudi-led military intervention began, with up to 545,700 people displaced by the violence, according to the latest UN figures.
| Armed Conflict | May 2015 | ['(BBC)'] |
The Constitutional Court of Turkey annuls key parts of government–backed constitutional reforms designed for possible European Union membership, rejecting opposition calls for the rest to be rejected as well and permitting the rest to be put to a national referendum in September. | The court rejected an opposition appeal to scrap all of the measures, and said the remaining elements would be put to a referendum as planned.
The court annulled changes which would curb the power of the judiciary and the army.
The ruling AKP says the reforms are necessary if Turkey is to join the EU.
It accuses the Constitutional Court of exceeding its authority. But the nationalist opposition and senior judges are against measures they say would threaten the independence of the courts. Turkey's highest courts - which see themselves as guardians of the secular values that were at the core of the political system established by Turkey's founding father, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk - have repeatedly clashed with the AKP over the issue. The latest development is a setback to the government's plans to amend the constitution, says the BBC's Jonathan Head in Istanbul. The current constitution dates back to 1982, and was drafted after a military coup. Among the articles annulled were two relating to how members of the Constitutional Court and another powerful judicial body are chosen. The government had wanted to widen the selection of candidates, and give parliament and the president a bigger say.
The opposition parties, who had brought the challenges to the court, said this would have weakened the checks and balances in the political system. But it could have been worse for the government, our correspondent adds: the Constitutional Court - a staunchly secular body which came close to dissolving the governing party just two years ago over its religious views - decided not to entirely block its proposed measures.
The package of reforms was passed by parliament after a marathon session in May, but not by the two-thirds majority that would have prevented the issue from going to a nationwide referendum.
The remaining reforms, which include stronger civil liberties and increasing civilian oversight of the military, will now be put to national vote in September. The current package leaves a powerful judiciary in place, says our correspondent, and that is likely to remain assertive in its defence of Turkey's secular system against perceived threats from elected politicians.
| Government Policy Changes | July 2010 | ['(BBC)'] |
A TrainOSE passenger train derails near the Greek village of Adendro, leaving at least four people dead and five seriously injured. | The intercity train was travelling from Athens to the northern city of Thessaloniki when it derailed and slammed into a house.
Sunday 14 May 2017 06:00, UK
A passenger train has derailed in northern Greece, leaving four passengers dead and at least five seriously injured, including the driver, the state railway has said.
The intercity train was travelling from Athens to Thessaloniki when it went off the rails near the station at the village of Adendro on Saturday night.
One carriage crashed into the ground floor of a two-storey house while others toppled onto their sides, their windows smashed.
"I was sitting on my porch. I saw a flash and immediately heard a terrible explosion," Giorgos Mylonas, 78, told The Associated Press.
"Then I saw the train enter (a nearby) house and heard the two Albanians who live there scream for help."
A local official said: "The whole house is now leaning on the train, which shows you how severe the crash was."
The Athens News Agency reported about 100 passengers were on board the train and some media reports said five carriages had derailed.
The cause of the accident is not yet known, a police official said.
Twelve fire brigade trucks and dozens of ambulances were at the scene to help in the rescue operation. | Train collisions | May 2017 | ['(Sky News)'] |
Afghan troops repel a Taliban attack on the northern city of Kunduz, killing up to 40 insurgents. | Afghan security forces on Tuesday repelled a fierce Taliban attack on Kunduz, a strategic city in northern Afghanistan that had briefly fallen to the militants twice in the past, officials said. Taliban fighters attacked several government posts on the outskirts of the city at around 1:00 a.m., a Defence Ministry statement said, triggering fierce fighting.
“With the support of air force their attack was repelled,” it said, adding the fighting lasted for several hours. Both sides have clashed repeatedly in rural areas in recent months, but an attempt to enter a city as large as Kunduz is seen as a serious escalation.
The latest violence follows a declaration by President Ashraf Ghani last week to resume offensive strikes against the insurgents, after a string of brutal attacks.
The Taliban responded by vowing to increase assaults against Afghan security forces.
During Tuesday’s fighting, the insurgents managed to briefly capture an Afghan Army post, killing one soldier, but it was quickly retaken by security forces, Hadi Jamal, an Army spokesman in northern Afghanistan told AFP.
The Ministry said 40 Taliban fighters were killed and 50 others wounded in the Kunduz assault. Afghan officials and Taliban frequently exaggerate claims of casualties.
In a separate incident, a bomb placed on a bicycle detonated near a market in the city, killing two civilians and wounding 18, Kunduz police said.
The Taliban briefly captured Kunduz, a strategic city not far from the Tajikistan border, twice before in September 2015 and again a year later. An attempt last year failed.
The latest attack on the city came a day after the Taliban killed at least seven Afghan intelligence personnel with a car bomb in the eastern province of Ghazni.
Last week, gunmen stormed a hospital in Kabul killing 24, including mothers and infants.
That attack, which triggered international outrage, was followed by a suicide bombing at a funeral which killed at least 32 mourners.
The Taliban denied involvement in those attacks, although Ghani blamed the militants and the Islamic State group for the bloodshed.
Officials say the assaults are part of the Taliban’s undeclared spring offensive.
Violence has spiked since the Taliban signed a deal with Washington in February, under which Washington said it would pull its troops out of the country in return for security guarantees from the militants.
Analysts say the Taliban have been emboldened by the deal and government officials have reported more than 3,800 attacks, which killed 420 civilians and wounded 906 since signing the deal.
The Taliban were responsible for 208 civilian casualties last month 25% more than April 2019 the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) said in a statement.
It said civilian casualties attributed to Afghan security forces in April numbered 172, an increase of 38%.
“Parties have committed to finding a peaceful solution and should protect the lives of all Afghans and not jeopardise people’s hope for an end to the war,” said Deborah Lyons, the U.N. Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Afghanistan. | Armed Conflict | May 2020 | ['(The Hindu)'] |
According to results released by the Interior Ministry of Madagascar, a total of 61.45% of the country's registered 7.3 million voters went to the polling stations on December 3 and re–elected Marc Ravalomanana as President with 54.8% of the votes, Jean Lahiniriko and Roland Ratsiraka received 11.68% and 10.1%, respectively. , | The absolute majority won by Mr Ravalomanana, a self-made dairy tycoon, avoided a second round of voting.
The result has to be confirmed by the Constitutional High Court. In the last poll, in 2001, the island nation was pushed to the brink of civil war after then-incumbent Didier Ratsiraka refused to accept defeat.
A former speaker of the national assembly, Jean Lahiniriko, gained 11.68%.
Roland Ratsiraka, the nephew of ex-president Didier Ratsiraka, received 10.9% of votes.
A total of 61.45% of the country's registered 7.3 million voters went to the polling stations, the interior ministry said. | Government Job change - Election | December 2006 | ['(BBC)', '(AP)'] |
The Sudanese army clashes with Sudan Liberation Army rebels in Darfur for the second time in a week, and insurgents said they shot down a helicopter gunship, killing at least three people, a claim denied by the army, which said it had killed 25 rebels. | KHARTOUM (Reuters) - Sudan’s army clashed with Darfur rebels for the second time in a week on Tuesday, peacekeepers said, and insurgents said they shot down a helicopter gunship, killing at least three people.
Fighting has disrupted the remote western territory for almost eight years, in the face of a string of failed ceasefires and internationally backed negotiations.
A spokesman from the rebel Sudan Liberation Army (SLA) loyal to Abdel Wahed Mohamed al-Nur said its forces and allied insurgents clashed with the army near the North Darfur town of Thabit on Tuesday morning.
A statement from SLA official Adam Salih Abakr said the rebels, fighting alongside another SLA faction and the insurgent Justice and Equality Movement (JEM), killed a large number of government soldiers.
“They shot down a helicopter gunship near El Fasher (North Darfur’s capital),” the statement said, adding that three people in the helicopter were killed and one wounded.
No one was immediately available to comment from the army.
“It is confirmed that there is ongoing fighting,” said Kemal Saiki, spokesman for Darfur’s joint U.N./African Union UNAMID peacekeeping force.
Saiki said clashes between the SLA and the army broke out on Monday near Thabit, 50 km (30 miles) southwest of UNAMID’s headquarters in El Fasher, but he could not confirm that a helicopter had been shot down.
Violence has decreased, compared with the mass killings reported at the beginning of the conflict in 2003 and 2004 when the SLA and JEM launched a united revolt, accusing the Khartoum elite of monopolizing power.
But attacks have been reported regularly, particularly since JEM walked out of peace talks in the Qatari capital last year.
The army said JEM and SLA rebels ambushed its forces on Thursday, leaving 21 dead from both sides.
In another sign of tension, Sudanese police arrested 37 people in El Fasher’s Zamzam refugee camp on Sunday after searching the settlement, saying they were looking for weapons and criminals, UNAMID reported.
Sudanese forces did not tell the peacekeepers about the raid until after it had started, breaking an earlier agreement to give notice of actions in camps, and initially barred a UNAMID patrol from entering the camp, said Saiki.
“It is difficult to know whether it (barring entry) was on purpose or ... just a guy at the gate with an AK-47,” he added.
Sudanese soldiers fired warning shots when they saw a UNAMID patrol on Saturday near the north Darfur settlement of Dar El Salam and stopped it from entering the area, a U.N. source said.
The International Criminal Court has issued arrest warrants for President Omar Hassan al-Bashir, accusing him of ordering genocide during his campaign to crush the uprising. Khartoum dismisses the charges and refuses to recognize the court.
| Armed Conflict | January 2011 | ['(AFP)', '(Reuters)'] |
The United States and China continue the first U.S.–China Strategic and Economic Dialogue. | For many years, U.S. officials traveled to Beijing and lectured the Chinese about the value of their currency and the need for economic and political reforms.
On Monday, about 200 senior Chinese officials traveled to Washington and heard soothing words of reassurance from U.S. officials: The dollar is still sound, your investments are safe and we are working really hard to restructure our economy.
Such is the nature of the U.S.-China relationship today. Behind all the reassuring language is a nervous sense that the fate of the world economy is increasingly dependent on the United States and China working together.
President Obama opened the first meeting of the U.S.-China Strategic and Economic Dialogue on Monday by declaring that the two countries share a responsibility for the 21st century, and should strive to cooperate not only on economic matters but also on key issues such as climate change, nuclear proliferation and transnational threats.
"The pursuit of power among nations must no longer be seen as a zero-sum game," he said at the start of the two-day meeting, held at the Ronald Reagan Building and co-chaired by Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner. "Progress -- including security -- must be shared."
The meetings are intended mostly to allow officials to exchange views on a wide range of issues and to establish contacts in each other's governments. On Monday, Obama gave a gentle prod to China on its human rights record, noting that "all people should be free to speak their minds," but otherwise focused on forming with China a partnership "of opportunity."
The talks are a broader version of the dialogue that was started in 2005 by Robert B. Zoellick, deputy secretary of state under President George W. Bush, and later led, with a more economic tilt, by Henry M. Paulson Jr., Treasury secretary under Bush.
This time around, Clinton, who during the presidential primary campaign declared that the U.S. relationship with China would be the "most bilateral relationship in the world in this century," has sought a prominent role for foreign policy issues. The cast of participants has been broadened; Monday's talks includes Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke, National Economic Council Director Lawrence H. Summers and Peter Orszag, Obama's budget director, as well as other Cabinet members.
The Chinese side is led by State Councilor Dai Bingguo, who oversees foreign policy, and Vice Premier Wang Qishan, who oversees economic policy. Dai, speaking in the morning, noted that the two countries are separated by huge differences in culture, ideology and social systems, but added that the economic crisis demonstrated "we are actually all in the same big boat that has been hit by fierce wind and huge waves."
"The United States will never become China, and China will never become the United States," he added. "But the living fact is that China and the United States' interactions have never been so frequent, our interest has never been interwoven so closely, and the mutually beneficial cooperation between our two countries has never been so broad, and the driving force boosting the China-U.S. relationship has never been so strong."
As China's economy has boomed, so has its international clout. With the revenue generated by huge trade surpluses with the United States -- and policies that keep its currency artificially low -- Beijing is the largest single investor in U.S. Treasury bonds. That $1.5 trillion stake means that China has been critical to Obama's efforts to boost the U.S. economy through deficit spending, although Chinese officials have expressed worry that the value of their holdings will fall if the U.S. deficit is not brought under control.
"China has a huge amount of investment in the U.S., mainly in the form of Treasury bonds," Assistant Finance Minister Zhu Guangyao said in a press briefing with reporters. "We are concerned about the security of our financial assets." He added that China favors a "stable" dollar, which has fallen in value this year against major currencies.
Geithner, addressing the meeting, stressed that the administration is "committed to taking the necessary measures to bring our fiscal deficits down to a more sustainable level once recovery is firmly established." He also praised Chinese leaders for their efforts to boost domestic consumption, which he said "will be a huge contribution to our global challenge in bringing about a more rapid but more balanced and sustainable global recovery."
Both sides acknowledged that they must tread carefully in the coming months, with U.S. officials warning Beijing not to expect that American demand will once again spur China's growth.
"There was a lot of discussion about how both sides are grappling with the timing of the withdrawal of their macroeconomic stimulus," said David Loevinger, the Treasury's senior coordinator for China affairs, told reporters. "There was general agreement that it was very important that this doesn't occur too soon because the recoveries are still very fragile, but also an acknowledgment that they have to take place at the right time, and not let another set of imbalances and bubbles build up in the economy." | Diplomatic Talks _ Diplomatic_Negotiation_ Summit Meeting | July 2009 | ['(The Washington Post)'] |
A girls' boarding school dormitory in KwaZulu–Natal is shut down due to widespread lesbian activity. | South African education officials are investigating reports that a girls' boarding school dormitory was closed because of lesbian relationships.
Two girls who were caught kissing reportedly said that other pupils were involved in same-sex relationships, and 27 pupils were expelled. Rights activists say the high school in KwaZulu-Natal province has overreacted. South Africa is the only African country to guarantee freedom from discrimination to homosexuals. However, activists say that prejudice remains common. The school has not been named. The Star newspaper says some of the pupils who have not been able to return home have been moved to houses near the school on a temporary basis. Education Department spokesman Sihle Mlotshwa is quoted by the Star newspaper as saying that schools do not have the right to remove or expel pupils because of their sexual orientation. | Organization Closed | February 2010 | ['(BBC)'] |
The Senate of France passes the contentious pension reform bills. | The French Senate has passed a controversial pension reform bill, which has caused a series of strikes and protests around France.
The senators approved President Nicolas Sarkozy's plan to raise the retirement age from 60 to 62, and it could become law as early as next week.
Mr Sarkozy says the measure is necessary to reduce the deficit.
But hundreds of thousands have protested against what they see as an attack on their rights.
Senators passed the motion to raise the retirement age by 177 votes to 153, after the government used a special measure known as a guillotine to cut short the debate on the bill.
The changes would raise the minimum retirement age from 60 to 62 and the full state pension age from 65 to 67. The government says the reform is needed to save the indebted pension system from collapse. Unions say retirement at 60 is a hard-earned right and say the reform is unfair to workers. "It is not by hanging on symbols of the past that we will remain a great nation," labour minister Eric Woerth told the Senate shortly before the vote.
The protest movement has been spearheaded by the trade unions, although all sections of society have been represented - including schoolchildren.
The unions have called two further days of protests on top of the rolling strikes, on 28 October and 6 November.
The union representing students, Unef, has called a separate day of protest for Tuesday 26 October, urging students to demonstrate and hold sit-ins.
However, the school half-term holidays begin on Friday night and run until 4 November, raising concerns among union members that the protests could lose momentum.
Most of the rallies have been peaceful, but on Friday clashes broke out at an oil refinery blockaded by workers after Mr Sarkozy ordered riot police to get control of the facility.
Two people were hurt outside the Grandpuits refinery east of Paris, which has been embargoed for the past 10 days.
The unions have been blockading all 12 refineries in France in a bid to change the government's mind.
Police also removed protesters from two fuel depots, in Toulouse and Grand Quevilly. Prime Minister Francois Fillon said it would take several days for fuel supplies to return to normal.
More than 2,000 filling stations around the country have run dry. There are no plans yet for national fuel rationing, said transport minister Jean-Louis Borloo, but state representatives in two northern districts are already limiting how much petrol each motorist may buy.
Opponents of the bill will now have a chance to take their objections to the constitutional court, before the bill becomes law.
| Government Policy Changes | October 2010 | ['(BBC)'] |
Tiger Woods wins the Masters Tournament in Augusta, Georgia, his first major golf win in 11 years and his first win at the Masters since 2005. | AUGUSTA, Ga. — Tiger Woods completed a comeback from personal and professional adversity on Sunday, capturing his fifth Masters title and his 15th major tournament with a victory that snapped a decade-long championship drought and instantly returned him to the top of the sports world.
It was a monumental triumph for Woods, a come-from-behind victory for a player who had had so much go wrong on the course and off after his personal life began to come apart on Thanksgiving night in 2009.
Francesco Molinari entered the final round of the Masters alone in the lead by two strokes at 13 under. He stayed atop the leaderboard by himself until the last group — Molinari, Tiger Woods and Tony Finau — got to the 12th tee. At which point, Molinari proceeded to double bogey the hole and set up a wild finish in which six golfers at one point or another held at least a share of the lead. (Woods, Molinari, Xander Schauffele, Patrick Cantlay, Brooks Koepka, Dustin Johnson). There was briefly a five-way tie for first until Woods took sole possession of the lead for good at the 15th hole, where he birdied and Molinari made another double bogey. | Sports Competition | April 2019 | ['(WGHP)', '(The New York Times)'] |
Hilary Mantel's Wolf Hall wins the 2009 Man Booker Prize. | She was the bookies' favourite, the people's favourite and tonight Hilary Mantel became the judges' favourite as Wolf Hall, her vividly told tale of Tudor intrigue, emerged triumphant at the Man Booker prize.
By the end of their three-hour meeting today the Booker judges were split three-two in favour of Mantel's fly-on-the-wall account of the life of Henry VIII's fixer, Thomas Cromwell.
Although it was not a unanimous decision, Jim Naughtie, the BBC broadcaster who chaired this year's judging panel, said all five were happy to name it the winner. He said: "Our decision was based on the sheer bigness of the book, the boldness of its narrative and scene-setting, the gleam that there is in its detail."
Mantel, after winning the prize, said: "I hesitated for such a long time before beginning to write this book, actually for about 20 years."
Mantel, who said she wanted to capture the imagination of readers generally, thanked the book trade for their support.
She said that if winning the Booker Prize was like being in a train crash "at this moment I am happily flying through the air".
Naughtie praised the scale and ambition of the novel: "We all felt there were paragraphs, passages, pages that we wanted to go back and read again. We have a book which, as a piece of creative fiction, is extraordinary in its technique, its confidence. Once you are in to it, you are in to it – you don't stop."
Wolf Hall had been one of the hottest favourites in years with, according to Ladbrokes, 80% of all bets on the winner. Some thought being so heavily backed might even count against it, as no bookmakers' favourite had won since Yann Martel's The Life of Pi in 2002.
Mantel is one of the most highly regarded and under-rewarded – in terms of prizes – novelists working in Britain today, and it surprised many that this was her first time on the Booker shortlist. She admitted to the Guardian this week that winning "would provide freedom from having to win the Booker".
The novelist was given the trophy at London's Guildhall, along with a £50,000 cheque and a guaranteed leap in worldwide sales. Mantel joked that she would spend it on "sex, drugs and rock and roll. "To be a little less stupid, living, I think. It buys time. That's what an author wants."
She described the award as "earnings", saying it may be a cold way to look at it "but cost out what an author earns per hour, it's far, far less than the minimum wage ... It must pay the mortgage, as authors have to do."
Her victory is all the more impressive because this year's shortlist was widely seen as one of the strongest in years and included former winners JM Coetzee and AS Byatt.
Naughtie said the "ridiculous" odds of 16-1 originally given to Wolf Hall when the longlist was announced probably led to the betting bonanza. After the shortlist was announced the novel became easily the fastest seller, accounting for 45% of all the shortlisted books' sales, according to Amazon, although Sarah Waters's The Little Stranger has sold more overall.
Naughtie said the voting process had been spirited and friendly. "There was no blood on the carpet. We parted good friends. When we gathered this morning none of us knew which book was going to win," he said. "I think we all felt exhausted at the end of the process but there was real feeling that we had found a book that was worthy of the prize."
Mantel said she has started work on the sequel to Wolf Hall, which will be titled The Mirror And The Light. "What I have got at the moment is a huge box of notes," she added.
All the shortlisted authors were at the ceremony apart from Coetzee, who has won two Bookers. If Byatt had won, she would have become only the third double winner, along with Coetzee and Peter Carey.
The other shortlisted novelists were Waters, Simon Mawer for The Glass Room and Adam Foulds for The Quickening Maze. | Awards ceremony | October 2009 | ['(BBC)', '(The Guardian)'] |
A total solar eclipse occurs in Indonesia, and later, east of the international date line, in the northern Pacific Ocean. A partial eclipse occurs in northern Australia, South-East Asia, and the Pacific. | A solar eclipse has enthralled Indonesia but clouds spoiled the view for many sky watchers in the east of the archipelago, the only part of the country that had the opportunity to see it in totality.
In Palembang city on the western island of Sumatra where the total eclipse should have been visible, cloudy skies and smog obscured the view for many of the thousands of people who gathered outside shortly after daybreak.
"It was very annoying that we couldn't see the sun properly," said David Pratama, 18, as jeers of disappointment rose up in the crowd around him as the sun moved behind the moon.
A partial eclipse of the sun was visible to millions in Australia, parts of South-East Asia and the Pacific, but only people in a small band of Indonesia had the opportunity to see the moon perfectly silhouetted by the sun.
People in areas north of Rockhampton in Queensland were able to partially see the eclipse, while it was also visible in areas of the Northern Territory and Western Australia.
In Indonesia's capital, Jakarta, hundreds of residents and school children flocked to the city's planetarium where special viewing glasses were handed out to see the partial eclipse.
"We are very excited because it's our first time seeing something like this," said Santi, who brought along her five-year-old daughter to watch as the eclipse briefly dimmed the skies.
"It was spectacular," said Daniel Orange, a 52-year-old American tourist from California, who was watching the total eclipse on the small western Indonesian island of Belitung.
"It was very beautiful, there are a lot of people here and when the totality hit, everybody cheered. I got goosebumps."
From a festival featuring live bands, to fun runs and traditional dances, events were organised across Indonesia for an estimated 10,000 foreign visitors and 100,000 domestic tourists who witnessed the phenomenon.
Hotels in the best viewing spots filled up weeks ago — in the city of Ternate, in the Maluku Islands, officials have had to find extra space for tourists on boats.
"It's an extraordinary spectacle that only takes place about once a year in one part of the world," said Arnaud Fischer, a 33-year-old French tourist, who has witnessed several eclipses and was set to watch Wednesday's in Ternate.
I Gde Pitana, the Indonesian Government's head of foreign tourism, described the phenomenon as "a tourism attraction created by God".
It was a deeply spiritual experience for many in the world's most populous Muslim-majority country, with the faithful being urged by Islamic authorities to perform special eclipse prayers.
"Our Prophet Mohammed said the prayer signifies the greatness of Allah, who created this wonderful phenomenon," said Ma'ruf Amin, chairman of the Indonesian Ulema Council, the country's top Islamic clerical body.
Some of Indonesia's tribespeople are fearful of the phenomenon, however. Members of the Dayak tribe in one part of Borneo island performed a ritual to ensure that the sun, which they view as the source of life, does not disappear entirely. The total eclipse swept across 12 out of 34 provinces in Indonesia, which stretches about 5,000 kilometres from east to west, before heading across the Pacific Ocean. Before hitting Sumatra, the eclipse swept across Sulawesi and Borneo, then moved over the Malukus and headed out into the ocean.
The last total solar eclipse occurred on March 20, 2015, only visible from the Faroe Islands and Norway's Arctic Svalbard archipelago.
Total eclipses occur when the moon moves between the Earth and the Sun, and the three bodies align precisely.
As seen from Earth, the moon is just broad enough to cover the solar face, creating a breath-taking silver halo in an indigo sky.
AFP
| New wonders in nature | March 2016 | ['(ABC News)'] |
A murder case from Anchorage, Alaska makes national news, after it is revealed that the killer recorded the killing in both video and still photographs on an SD card, which was later found by a local woman on a street and turned over to police. Local police arrested Brian Steven Smith and charged him with the murder, after identifying him from the content of the memory card. | The police in Anchorage, Alaska, say they recognized a man shown beating and strangling a woman at a midtown hotel.
By Aimee Ortiz
Memory cards often hold troves of information. Well-meaning people have used the photos and videos stored on them to return lost cards found to their rightful owners.
But a memory card that someone recently picked up off the ground in Anchorage led to the arrest of a city resident this week on a first-degree murder charge.
| Famous Person - Commit Crime - Accuse | October 2019 | ['(The New York Times)', '(Yahoo News)', '(KTUU-TV)'] |
More than 600 homes are destroyed in the fires. (AFP, AP via Sydney Morning Herald) | More than 600 homes have been destroyed by the wildfires raging across California, officials and local media said today. About 300 homes were razed by fires in Rancho Bernardo, San Diego county, firefighters at the scene said. A further 100 homes were destroyed at Fallbrook, 80 kilometres north of San Diego. State forestry agency Cal Fire said 70 homes had been destroyed in the town of Escondido, 50 in Poway and six in the exclusive enclave of Rancho Sante Fe. A further 128 homes were reported destroyed at the mountain resort town of Lake Arrowhead, KNBC reported. The total number of homes destroyed by the myriad wildfires that are blazing across California is expected to increase significantly. Fire officials said 100 commercial properties had also been destroyed in northern San Diego County. At least one person was killed yesterday as fire swept across Southern California. Seven firefighters and a civilian have also been injured, and 250,000 people have been ordered to evacuate from homes, businesses, schools and hospitals. There is no sign of any break in the hot windy conditions that have fanned the blazes. At least 14 fires are burning in Southern California, said Patti Roberts, spokeswoman for the Governor's Office of Emergency Services. Schwarzenegger orders troops to battle fires California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has ordered the deployment of 1500 troops from the National Guard to help support firefighting efforts across the state, his office said.
A statement released by Schwarzenegger said the troops would be placed at the disposal of the Governor's Office of Emergency Services for deployment to areas where they could have the greatest impact.
"We have the best-trained, the best-equipped and the most experienced firefighters in the world and I am committed to making all of the state's resources available to them to get these fires under control," he said in the statement.
"That is why I have declared a state of emergency and directed the National Guard to support the firefighters in southern California." | Fire | October 2007 | [] |
Michael Palmer resigns as the Speaker of the House in the Parliament of Singapore due to an extra–marital affair. | THE speaker of Singapore's parliament has resigned after admitting to an extramarital affair, adding to a list of scandals that have undermined the city-state's reputation for clean and efficient governance.
Michael Palmer, the speaker and a member of Singapore's ruling People's Action Party, said his conduct was "improper" and a "serious error of judgment," according to reports by the strait-laced island's state media.
The woman Palmer had an affair with was employed by a government statutory board and worked in Palmer's constituency. Palmer said he resigned to avoid further embarrassment to the parliament and the ruling party, which has been in power since 1959.
Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said in a statement that all members of parliament need to uphold the highest standards of personal conduct.
The scandal could result in an election to fill the vacant seat in parliament for Punggol East constituency that Palmer represented, but Lee indicated that he won't be calling a by-election any time soon.
In a statement on his Facebook page, Lee noted that the constitution does not require him to call a by-election within a fixed timeframe. "I will carefully consider whether to call a by-election in Punggol East and, if so, when. I assure Singaporeans that I will make my decision based on what is best for the constituents of Punggol East and the country," he wrote.
A by-election would have been another opportunity for voters to express discontent with the ruling party which has suffered a drop in popularity because of an influx of foreign workers and widening inequality. Palmer won Punggol East with 54.5 per cent of the vote in general elections last year.
The government has been embarrassed by a succession of scandals and mishaps that might hardly raise eyebrows in many neighbouring Southeast Asian countries but have caused outrage in Singapore where the ruling party has cultivated a pristine image.
Last month, immigrant Chinese bus drivers staged Singapore's first strike in 26 years in protest at poor working conditions and low pay. Earlier in the year, the chiefs of Singapore's civil defence force and anti-narcotics unit were sacked and charged with corruption for awarding business contracts in exchange for sexual favours from female company executives.
The government's competence was also questioned after subway breakdowns and flash floods that inundated an upmarket shopping district.
Originally published asSingapore official resigns after affair
| Government Job change - Resignation_Dismissal | December 2012 | ['(AAP via News Limited)'] |
An assailant injures seven people, one severely, in an axe attack at the central railway station in Düsseldorf, Germany. Police have arrested one suspect. | By Steve Almasy and Faith Karimi, CNN
Updated 0754 GMT (1554 HKT) March 10, 2017 (CNN)A man who injured seven people with an ax at a train station in Dusseldorf has been arrested, German police said. CNN's Nadine Schmidt in Berlin and Laura Goehler contributed to this report. | Armed Conflict | March 2017 | ['(CNN)'] |
Cathay Pacific announces the acquisition of low–cost carrier HK Express for US$628 million (HK$4.93 billion). |
Hong Kong Express, which flies to destinations across Asia, will become a wholly-owned subsidiary of Cathay Pacific. Cathay Pacific has been overhauling its business to cut costs, and returned to profit in 2018.
"We intend to continue to operate Hong Kong Express as a stand-alone airline using the low-cost carrier business model," a Cathay Pacific spokesperson said in a statement. Hong Kong Express captures "a unique market segment" the spokesperson said, adding that the deal "represents an attractive and practical way for the Cathay Group to support the long-term development and growth of our aviation business".
The transaction is expected to be completed by the end of the year. Cathay Pacific returned to profit last year after two years of losses, after launching a cost-cutting programme. The airline has been struggling against competition, particularly from low-cost Chinese carriers covering Hong Kong, mainland China and South East Asia.
Last year, it also became subject of a data breach in its IT systems, jeopardising the personal information of up to 9.4 million passengers.
| Organization Merge | March 2019 | ['(BBC)', '(South China Morning Post)'] |
Nur Hassan Hussein, head of the Somali Red Crescent and former policeman, is named the new Prime Minister of Somalia. | The new man is Nur Hassan Hussein, a former policeman, who heads the Somali Red Crescent humanitarian organisation.
Mr Hussein, also known as Nur Adde, said he would do his best in a "difficult" job.
He takes office amid a humanitarian crisis in Somalia, where the UN refugee agency says 1m people are homeless following fighting in Mogadishu.
President Abdulahi Yusuf said he looked to the new premier to get the Somali people out of their current problems. I pledge to do my utmost to perform the difficult obligations in front of me, by respecting the Somali federal charter
Nur AddeNew Somali prime minister
Profile: Nur Adde
BBC East Africa correspondent Adam Mynott says that is a monumental task. Somalia is so unstable that UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon say it is too dangerous to send peace-keeping troops there - even though the Security Council would like to.
Our correspondent says that Mr Nur is not a career politician and that may play to his advantage.
But he says many people see him as a weak Yes-man to the president.
The nomination of this new prime minister will change nothing, as long as foreign troops, particularly Ethiopian troops remain inside Somalia
Mr Nur said: "I pledge to do my utmost to perform the difficult obligations in front of me, by respecting the Somali federal charter."
He is from the Hawiye clan, the largest in Mogadishu, many of whom distrust President Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed, from the rival Darod group.
The previous prime minister, Ali Mohamed Ghedi, resigned amid intense diplomatic pressure to try to bring stability to the western-backed transitional government - and after losing a power struggle with President Yusuf.
Somalia has not had a functioning national government since President Mohamed Siad Barre was overthrown in 1991. | Government Job change - Appoint_Inauguration | November 2007 | ['(BBC)'] |
An eruption at Mount Etna on the Italian island of Sicily injures at least ten people, including several in a BBC News crew. , | ROME (Reuters) - Ten people were injured in an eruption on Mount Etna on Thursday when magma flowing into snow caused a violent explosion that sent stones and rocks flying into the air, emergency services said.
Amongst those hurt near the summit of Etna on the island of Sicily were members of a television crew filming for the BBC.
“Running down a mountain pelted by rocks, dodging burning boulders and boiling steam - not an experience I ever ever want to repeat,” the BBC’s science correspondent Rebecca Morelle wrote on Twitter.
“BBC team all ok - some cuts/ bruises and burns. Very shaken though - it was extremely scary,” she said.
Italian officials said six people had to be taken to hospital, but none were in a serious condition.
Etna is Europe’s most active volcano. After a quiet couple of years it burst into action in February with repeated explosive eruptions that sent orange plumes of lava into the air.
Thursday’s explosion was the result of a so-called phreatomagmatic eruption, caused by magma hitting water -- in this case snow.
Reporting by Crispian Balmer; editing by Richard Lough
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
All quotes delayed a minimum of 15 minutes. See here for a complete list of exchanges and delays. | Volcano Eruption | March 2017 | ['(The Independent)', '(Reuters)'] |
The counting of votes in the Welsh elections continue with the Labour Party to retain control possibly with an absolute majority. | Labour's hopes of taking overall control of the Welsh assembly will be decided in north Wales.
With counting under way in the north, the party's ambitions are on a knife edge after a dramatic night of results.
The first north Wales result in Vale of Clwyd took Labour to 26 seats, with 31 needed for an overall majority.
The Tories enjoyed a solid performance apart from leader Nick Bourne losing his regional seat, but there was disappointment for Plaid and Lib Dems. Labour was tantalisingly short of the numbers it needed by Friday morning, with 12 seats still to declare in north Wales, where counting started at 0900 BST. Aberconwy and Clwyd West are the two target seats Labour will be looking to win from the Conservatives.
But it remains tantalisingly short of that number, with most seats still to declare in north Wales, where counting began at 0900 BST. Conservative sources were already saying Aberconwy, which with Clwyd West is one of Labour's two target seats, was "very close" and difficult to call.
Former Welsh Secretary and Neath MP Peter Hain said whether or not Labour win a majority, they are in a "very strong position to govern in Wales".
"Voters are responding to the leadership of Carwyn Jones and our pledge to stand up for Wales," he added. "And what we're seeing from the results announced so far is people coming home to Labour in Wales, and that's very good news for us."
Overnight results brought relief for Plaid as Rural Affairs Minister Elin Jones held Ceredigion. That came on the back of a painful defeat for deputy leader Helen Mary Jones who lost her seat in Llanelli.
But Ms Jones, who is now out of the assembly for the first time since it was founded in 1999, said: "We have been in this place before in this hall, and had come back. We will again."
In mid Wales, Tory Russell George took Montgomeryshire from the Lib Dems. The seat was won in 2007 by then Lib Dem candidate Mick Bates, who was expelled by the party after being convicted for drunkenly attacking a paramedic.
But Welsh Lib Dem leader Kirsty Williams, who held Brecon and Radnorshire, said: "It's been a tough campaign for the Welsh Liberal Democrats. We've seen some disappointing results tonight.
She added: "There's been a big challenge for us with our colleagues in Westminster in power for the first time. We're constantly being asked about the effects of the coalition impacting on our politics here."
But Tories are hopeful that they could become the second biggest party but have had to deal with the blow of Welsh party leader Nick Bourne losing his seat. Welsh Secretary Cheryl Gillan paid tribute the role he played in "transforming the image and fortunes of the Welsh Conservative Party".
"His leadership, vision and courage have been central to the party's unprecedented levels of success in recent years.
"This result is a great loss to the National Assembly and to me personally."
Meanwhile the Greens and UKIP predict they may win their first seats, and both Plaid Cymru and Liberal Democrats fear they will suffer losses.
The party had been aiming to exceed the 12 seats they won in 2007.
In the last assembly, Labour held 26 seats, Plaid 14, Tories 13, Lib Dems six, and one independent.
Plaid, however, has shed votes and seats. Party sources admitted it was a difficult campaign on the doorstep and they had not been expecting any gains.
Former Plaid Cymru MP and lead candidate on the Mid and West Wales list, Simon Thomas, summed up the night when he tweeted: "Bad night for Plaid Cymru; our highwater mark was winning the referendum, time now to learn and rebuild. We can lead, but not yet, not yet."
Ron Davies, former Labour Welsh Secretary who was in Tony Blair's first cabinet, failed to make a comeback as Plaid Caerphilly candidate.
Before his result was declared, Mr Davies said people wanted to send a message to Tories in Westminster through Labour votes.
"It's very sad, it undermines the whole point of devolution," he said. UKIP, which returned its first Welsh MEP at the last European election, said it was confident it would break new ground by taking one of the four regional seats in South Wales East. Green Party officials said they were "quietly confident" of their first AM, and are targeting 7% of the vote in the South Wales Central region, to elect their Welsh leader Jake Griffiths.
Meanwhile, BNP officials in Swansea East said they had a "fabulous response" to campaigning, and were "optimistic".
Counting of votes cast in north Wales will not begin until later.
As well as assembly seats, people have also voted on whether to replace the first-past-the-post system for electing Westminster MPs with the alternative vote (AV). Counting will start in the AV referendum at 1600 BST on Friday.
There are indications that turnout may be lower than some had expected - around 41% - but final figures will not be known until later on Friday.
| Government Job change - Election | May 2011 | ['(BBC)'] |
Four foreign aid workers held hostage inside Somalia are rescued by Somali forces after they were kidnapped from a Kenyan refugee camp on June 29. | Four aid workers seized from a refugee camp near Kenya's Somali border have been released and are safe after an operation by Kenyan and Somali forces.
The Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) said it was "relieved" its staff were free. It also paid tribute to a Kenyan driver killed in last week's ambush.
Gunmen in Dadaab attacked the convoy of foreigners from Canada, Norway, Pakistan and the Philippines on Friday.
Many aid groups have left the camp after a recent rise in abductions.
The NRC has named the freed workers as Steven Dennis, Astrid Sehl, Glenn Costes and Qurat-Ul-Ain Sadazai.
"We are thankful that our four colleagues have been found and safely returned to Kenya," an NRC spokesperson said.
"Our thoughts go to the family of the NRC driver, Abdi Ali, who was killed during the attack, and to our two local employees who are currently undergoing treatment in hospital for injuries inflicted in the incident."
The foreigners had been travelling in a convoy when they were ambushed in Dadaab, which houses more than 450,000 Somalis. AFP news agency reported their vehicle was found abandoned a few hours after the attack, amid growing fears the gang had escaped with the hostages through the remote scrubland across the border into Somalia.
Somali and Kenyan forces launched a joint rescue operation after receiving intelligence about the hostages' whereabouts.
Kenyan army spokesman Cyrus Oguna told AFP that one of the kidnappers had been killed during the operation. Three others have been arrested.
Somalia has had no effective central government since 1991, and has been wracked by fighting ever since - a situation that has allowed piracy and lawlessness to flourish.
Gunmen last October seized two Spaniards working for Medecins sans Frontieres (Doctors Without Borders). They are still being held hostage in Somalia.
| Armed Conflict | July 2012 | ['(BBC)', '(Reuters via Yahoo! News)'] |
The Egyptian opposition leader, Ayman Nour, was found guilty of fraud and jailed for five years. | Nour, who came second in a presidential poll in September, was first held in January this year accused of falsifying signatures to register his party, Ghad.
Egypt denies Nour's claim that the charges are politically motivated. And the US has voiced concern at the trial.
Hundreds of Nour's supporters at the court shouted slogans against President Hosni Mubarak as the verdict was given.
"Hosni Mubarak's rule is illegal! The trial is illegal!" they chanted.
According to the BBC's Bethany Bell in Cairo, the streets near the court were full of riot police and Ghad party supporters.
Nour has been in hospital after starting a hunger strike earlier this month in protest at his detention.
US concern
His lawyer, Amir Salim, is quoted by the Associated Press news agency as saying the decision against him will "go into the dustbin of history".
"This is a political verdict that will be annulled by the appeal court," he said.
A co-defendant in the trial, Ayman Ismail, had admitted forging documents for Nour - but later withdrew his testimony, saying the confession was forced out of him with threats against his family. Despite the charges against him, Nour was allowed to compete in presidential polls, where his party finished second to Mr Mubarak's.
He lost his assembly seat to a candidate from the ruling party in November.
The has US earlier said it was watching Nour's trial, which it regards as a test of Cairo's tolerance of dissent.
State department spokesman Adam Ereli said this month that the US was calling on Egypt "to make every effort to ensure that this trial conforms to international standards". | Famous Person - Commit Crime - Sentence | December 2005 | ['(BBC)'] |
The United States arrests Zhenli Ye Gon, a Mexican citizen accused of making large amounts of crystal meth in a laboratory. | MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - The United States arrested on Monday a Mexican laboratory owner accused of helping make huge quantities of crystal meth, four months after police found $206 million cash in his Mexico City mansion.
A picture taken from a video projected on a screen shows Zhenli Ye Gon, during a press conference held by his lawyers in Washington, July 18, 2007. The United States arrested on Monday the Mexican laboratory owner accused of helping make huge quantities of crystal meth, four months after police found $206 million cash in his Mexico City mansion. REUTERS/Jason Reed
Mexico’s attorney general, Eduardo Medina Mora, said U.S. authorities had confirmed the arrest of Chinese-born Zhenli Ye Gon.
“We have received the news informally but confirmed by official sources that the arrest took place,” Medina Mora said on Mexican television network Televisa.
Mexico has requested the extradition of Ye Gon, the attorney general’s office said in a statement. He was arrested in the Washington suburb of Rockville, Maryland.
It was not immediately clear if the arrest was the result of Mexico’s request, although U.S. authorities had previously
said no warrants had been issued for Ye Gon. Mexico now has 60 days to make its case for extradition.
Mexican police in March raided a mansion owned by Ye Gon and found wads of U.S. bank notes in bulging suitcases and overflowing closets.
Seven people were arrested after that raid in the swanky Lomas de Chapultepec neighborhood. It also turned up six Mercedes-Benz vehicles and pistols equipped with silencers, but Ye Gon escaped to the United States.
Ye Gon, a naturalized Mexican, is accused of importing through Mexican ports huge quantities of chemicals used to make the powerful stimulant crystal meth.
Ye Gon says he is an innocent victim of a government plot.
Mexican methamphetamine producers have muscled in on the U.S. market. So-called superlabs that mass produce the drug have sprung up across Mexico, where precursor chemicals like pseudoephedrine are more easily available.
The government recently clamped down sales of cough remedies that contain pseudoephedrine.
Police say a company run by Ye Gon illegally imported chemicals and that he was setting up a lab to make crystal meth, or methamphetamine, a powerful stimulant.
Ye Gon has caused a scandal in Mexico in recent weeks by saying a government minister forced him to hide the cash under threat of death during last year’s election campaign.
President Felipe Calderon has deployed thousands of police and soldiers across Mexico to clamp down on drug cartels since taking office in December. So far, March’s raid of Ye Gon’s house has been the only high-profile bust.
| Famous Person - Commit Crime - Arrest | July 2007 | ['(Reuters)'] |
The first clashes between Mossos d'Esquadra, Boixos Nois and protestors occur outside the stadium, leaving 9 arrested and 70 injured. (El País) | Protesters clashed with police outside a Barcelona and Real Madrid football match at the Nou Camp in Spain.
Thousands of fans inside Barcelona's stadium held banners urging the Spanish government to "sit and talk" with those demanding Catalan independence.
The match had been postponed in October over protests against the jailing of nine Catalan separatist leaders. Many Barcelona fans and other protesters want a legal independence referendum for the region.
Before the game a secretive Catalan protest group, Democratic Tsunami, said on Twitter it would distribute 100,000 banners to fans. It also told them to bring inflatable balls and to write on them a "message for the world".
It later posted footage of fans inside the stadium holding up the banners and chanting "freedom".
The group is classed by Spanish officials as a criminal organisation. In October it organised mass protests at Barcelona's airport in October and blocked a major motorway.
Meanwhile, thousands of protesters gathered outside the stadium, chanting "Independence" and "Free political prisoners". They made makeshift barricades that were later cleared by police.
Police charged masked protesters who set rubbish bins on fire. At least 12 people were reportedly injured in the clashes. The match, known as "El Clásico", was been due to be played two months ago but was postponed due to unrest after Spain's Supreme Court in October sentenced nine Catalan separatist leaders to up to 13 years in prison.
The game ended in a 0-0 draw, leaving Barcelona top of the league ahead of Real Madrid on goal difference.
| Protest_Online Condemnation | December 2019 | ['(Marca)', '(BBC)', '(El Mundo)'] |
Taliban insurgents storm a prison in the central Afghan province of Ghazni killing at least four prison officers and freeing about 350 prisoners. The deputy provincial governor of the Ghazni province says the attackers were well-organised and wearing military uniforms. | Taliban militants have stormed a jail outside the central Afghan city of Ghazni, killing at least four policemen and freeing more than 350 prisoners.
The deputy governor of Ghazni province Mohammad Ali Ahmadi said one militant blew himself up at the prison gates, allowing others to force open cells. The attackers were well-organised and wearing uniforms, he said.
It is the third time since 2008 that hundreds of Taliban inmates have escaped from an Afghan prison.
Both Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid and the deputy governor confirmed that three of the attackers had been killed.
The deputy governor said seven police officers were injured and only 80 prisoners were left inside the prison.
Both Mr Ahmadi and the Taliban said the escapees included a number of local Taliban commanders, as well as many other fighters. Of those freed, the interior ministry said 148 had been jailed for attacks on security forces, while 207 had been convicted for other crimes. Only three prisoners had been recaptured so far.
Mr Ahmadi did not reject the possibility the attackers had had help from inside the jail. He told the BBC's Mahfouz Zubaide in Kabul that one of the attackers who had been killed was a former inmate who had been released.
The massive overnight jailbreak in Afghanistan's volatile Ghazni province is yet another reminder of the many challenges faced by the Afghan government.
Monday's prison break has happened at a sensitive time for the government, which will complete its first year in office in a week's time, amid questions over its ability to improve security and the economy.
The Taliban will use the attack as a way to boost morale for its fighters, who are divided over succession to founder Mullah Mohammad Omar.
It will also add to concerns among ordinary Afghans about the state's hold on security.
Local officials told the BBC that as the attackers had made their way through the jail, the prisoners did not initially realise the attackers were Taliban because of their uniforms. The jail is about 5km (three miles) outside Ghazni city, about 120km from the capital Kabul.
In 2011, nearly 500 prisoners - including many Taliban insurgents - escaped from a jail in Kandahar city, after a tunnel hundreds of metres long was dug from the outside.
.
| Armed Conflict | September 2015 | ['(BBC)'] |
Eighteen people are dead after a bus collides with a truck in the German state of Bavaria. | Eighteen people died when their tour bus collided with a lorry and burst into flames on the A9 motorway in southern Germany, police say.
Another 30 on the bus were hurt and two of them were fighting for their lives.
The bus was carrying a group of German pensioners at the time of the fire near Stammbach in northern Bavaria.
Bavarian Interior Minister Joachim Herrmann said rescuers were delayed by "gawpers" driving slowly and by the intensity of the blaze. The cause of the fire is unknown. Traffic was reportedly moving slowly at the time and the collision between the two vehicles was not described as a major crash.
The lorry's trailer was also incinerated and the burnt-out wreck ended up a short distance ahead of the bus. The German news website Frankenpost reports that it was carrying mattresses and pillows.
The lorry driver was unharmed and told police the bus had gone into the back of his vehicle and burst into flames, it said.
There were 46 passengers and two drivers on the bus. The bus driver was among those killed. The passengers were men and women aged 66 to 81, heading to Lake Garda in Italy for a holiday.
Some of the passengers had got on the bus at Dresden station in the eastern state of Saxony. According to local media in Saxony, the bus had earlier picked up passengers elsewhere in Saxony and also in Brandenburg in the early hours of Monday before going to Dresden and then south-west towards Nuremberg. By mid-afternoon forensic teams had recovered the charred remains of 15 people and police confirmed that 18 had died.
Firefighters reached the scene within 10 minutes of the accident but were driven back by the intensity of the fire. "Only steel parts are recognisable so you can understand what that meant for the people in this bus," said German Transport Minister Alexander Dobrindt.
Motoring safety expert Hans-Ulrich Sander suggested that the fuel line that ran under the bus may have ruptured, prompting the fire to spread fast.
Five rescue helicopters joined emergency workers at the scene. Chancellor Angela Merkel said she was distressed by the accident and expressed sympathy for the injured and bereaved relatives.
She thanked the rescuers for looking after people "in an appalling situation". | Road Crash | July 2017 | ['(BBC)'] |
The International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda passes judgement on six suspects in relation to massacres in the former Butare Province including Pauline Nyiramasuhuko, former Minister for Family and Women Affairs with Nyiramasuhuko receiving a life sentence. | (CNN) -- A former Rwandan minister has been jailed for life for genocide and incitement to rape at the United Nations-backed court for Rwanda.
Pauline Nyiramasuhuko, who is one of the first women to be charged with genocide, was minister for the family and women's affairs in the Rwandan government when some 800,000 people, mainly ethnic Tutsis, were killed in 1994.
She was accused of direct and public incitement to commit genocide and of being responsible for rape "as part of a widespread and systematic attack against a civilian population on political, ethnic and racial grounds," the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda said.
The former minister was arrested in 1997 in Nairobi, Kenya, and taken to the U.N. court in Tanzania to await trial.
Her son, Arsene Shalom Ntahobali, and four local officials were jointly charged with counts of genocide, conspiracy to commit genocide and crimes against humanity. Judgements against them were also expected Friday.
The Rwandan genocide was triggered by the April 6, 1994, shooting down of a plane carrying the nation's Hutu president.
Ethnic violence erupted and Tutsis were killed systematically by Hutus.
The United Nations estimates that some 200,000 people participated in the perpetration of the Rwandan genocide.
In all, 800,000 men, women, and children -- mostly Tutsis but also moderate Hutus -- died. | Famous Person - Commit Crime - Arrest | June 2011 | ['(The New Times)', '(CNN)'] |
Blue Origin's rocket New Shepard has been reflown in Texas. | US entrepreneur Jeff Bezos has reflown his New Shepard rocket, launching once again a capsule briefly into space.
The hardware was exactly the same as that used last November, "demonstrating reuse", the Amazon.com founder wrote on his blog.
The flight took place on Friday from Mr Bezos' Texas test and launch facility.
As has become his practice, he gave no general public notice of the event and released only limited details afterwards, along with a glossy video.
November's outing marked the first time a rocket had launched a space mission vertically from the ground and then brought all elements - booster and capsule - softly and safely back to Earth.
Although all the flights so far undertaken by Mr Bezos have been unmanned, he does eventually plan to fly passengers. "The very same New Shepard booster that flew above the Karman line and then landed vertically at its launch site last November has now flown and landed again, demonstrating reuse," the businessman said. "This time, New Shepard reached an apogee of 333,582ft (101.7km) before both capsule and booster gently returned to Earth for recovery and reuse."
One hundred kilometres is regarded as the official boundary of space. New Shepard does not achieve the velocities that would allow the system to make orbit and stay up, but Mr Bezos says his Blue Origin space company is working on a family of rockets that would make this possible.
He promises to reveal further information on that programme later in the year.
Commentators had realised early in the week that another mission was imminent when the Federal Aviation Authority published a temporary flight restriction for a region of the sky north of Van Horn in Texas - the location of the Blue Origin test site.
From social media postings, it was evident that a launch had taken place early on Friday local time, but it was many hours before Mr Bezos and Blue Origin were prepared to comment. Rocketry is now entering a new era, with designers trying to make reusable the systems that have traditionally been regarded only as disposable.
In December, another entrepreneur, Elon Musk, managed to land the booster stage of his Falcon rocket after launching a batch of satellites.
| New achievements in aerospace | January 2016 | ['(BBC)'] |
In a televised address, Ahmed accuses Tigray's regional leaders of "preparing for war" against the federal government since 2018, saying the group had siphoned federal development funds to buy weapons and train militias. | Heavy casualties have been reported in ongoing clashes between the Ethiopian army and troops loyal to the ruling party of the restive northern province of Tigray.
At least six people were killed and 60 people wounded in one location along the Tigray border alone, Doctors Without Borders said on Saturday, and a medical official said nearly 100 government soldiers had been treated for gunshot wounds at a hospital in the northern Amhara region.
The Ethiopian prime minister and last year’s Nobel peace prize winner, Abiy Ahmed, sent federal troops and aircraft into Tigray on Wednesday in a major escalation of a long-running feud.
The fighting has brought Africa’s second-most populous nation to the brink of what analysts say could be a long and bloody civil war.
Abiy and military leaders have touted Ethiopian soldiers’ successes, but a communications blackout in the region has made their accounts difficult to verify. Both sides have access to heavy weapons, armour and considerable stocks of ammunition.
Abiy also replaced his army chief on Sunday and appointed the deputy chief, Berhanu Jula, to take charge over the Ethiopian National Defence Force. The move was part of a wider reshuffle that appeared to be aimed at bringing the most vocal supporters of the Tigray operation to the forefront.
Ambulances can frequently be seen ferrying wounded combatants to hospital on roads in northern Amhara,, and there have been eyewitness reports of funerals for militia men.
“We have had 98 cases. All of them are soldiers from the national army,” said a doctor in the town of Sanja, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
He said there had been no fatalities at the hospital, but that more serious cases had been transported to larger hospitals in the city of Gondar and elsewhere.
Reports of dead and wounded soldiers have mounted in recent days in Amhara, where a humanitarian aid worker said three had died and 35 had been treated on Saturday. Five were reported killed and 105 injured on Friday.
Countries in the region fear the fighting could spark all-out civil war and destabilise the Horn of Africa, one of the continent’s most fragile regions.
The UN has warned of a major humanitarian crisis if as many as 9 million people flee all-out fighting or Tigray remains largely cut off from the world.
In a televised address on Sunday, Abiy accused Tigray’s regional leaders of preparing for war with the federal government since 2018. The group had siphoned development funds to buy weapons and train militias, he said.
A senior general told a state-owned newspaper that several locations in Tigray are now under the federal army’s control. “The army has destroyed all the heavy weapons controlled by the infidel group. Now it is marching forward,” he said.
The Tigray People’s Liberation Front dominated politics in Ethiopia for nearly three decades before Abiy came to power in 2018 after anti-government protests. It now only controls its home province.
Tigray’s leaders have complained of being unfairly targeted in corruption prosecutions, removed from top positions and scapegoated for the country’s woes under Abiy.
The long-running feud became more intense after Tigray held its own elections in September in defiance of Abiy’s government, which had decided to postpone national polls because of the coronavirus pandemic.
MPs voted on Saturday to suspend Tigray’s leaders and install a caretaker administration in the province.
In the capital, Addis Ababa, the mayor announced on Sunday that 10 high-ranking city officials from Tigray had been arrested, accusing them of “betraying the people” and working “to destabilise the peace in our city and engage in cruel and terroristic motives”.
But in a Twitter post Sunday, Abiy called on Ethiopians to avoid discriminating against Tigrayans, who make up about 6% of the country’s 110 million people. “I would like to reiterate that no Tigrayan brother or sister should be a victim of identity-based illegal acts, and this responsibility lies on all Ethiopians,” he said.
The Ethiopian authorities have not yet formally responded to a request for dialogue from the UN secretary general, António Guterres. | Famous Person - Give a speech | November 2020 | ['(The Guardian)'] |
President of Russia Dmitry Medvedev announced that the operation of Russian forces in South Ossetia is completed. He added that 'The aggressor has been punished, having sustained considerable losses. Its armed forces have been disorganised'. Medvedev also ordered the Russian Ministry of Defence to consider awarding the peacekeepers and military personnel that have 'showed their best' during the operation. | Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has ordered an end to military operations against Georgia, the Kremlin says.
He told officials that the safety of Russian citizens and peacekeepers in South Ossetia had been restored. Russia also backed an EU plan to end the five-day-old conflict. Envoys will now try to get Georgian approval. Each side continues to accuse the other of breaking ceasefire accords, and analysts warn that the two remain far apart on a number of issues. US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said it was vital that all sides cease fire, adding that Russian military operations "really do now need to stop because calm needs to be restored". The conflict began overnight last Thursday, when Russia responded to Georgian military action in South Ossetia. Russia received heavy criticism on Monday after its troops pushed on from the secessionist territories of Abkhazia and South Ossetia towards the town of Gori in central Georgia, and into Senaki in the west. On Tuesday morning there were more reports of fighting near Gori, but witnesses later said that Russian troops appeared to have pulled back from both towns. French President Nicolas Sarkozy, in his current role as EU president, held talks with Mr Medvedev in Moscow for most of the day. In a joint news conference, they said a six-point peace plan had been agreed by Russia and would now be taken to Georgia. The deal included a pledge to pull troops on both sides back to their pre-conflict positions, and a plan to begin international discussions about the future status of South Ossetia and Abkhazia. If Georgia agrees to the plan, Mr Medvedev said the "path to a gradual normalisation" in South Ossetia was open. But during the same press conference, Mr Medvedev called Georgian troops "lunatics" and accused Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili of lying over a previous ceasefire agreement. And just hours earlier, tens of thousands of Georgians gathered in Tbilisi's main square to hear Mr Saakashvili claim that Russia was continuing its "ruthless, heartless destruction" of Georgian citizens. Neither side's claims could be verified, but analysts point out that the inflamed rhetoric signifies how far away from an agreement they are. In other developments: • Nato said Russia's withdrawal announcement was "not enough" and that it deplored the "disproportionate" force used by Moscow. • President Saakashvili said Georgia would leave the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) - a group which includes most of the former Soviet republics. • He also announced that Russian peacekeepers in Georgia's other breakaway region, Abkhazia, would now be regarded as an occupying army - ending an agreement in place since 1994. • Separatist rebels continued to fight against Georgian troops in the Kodori Gorge region of Abkhazia - the only area of Abkhazia still under Georgian military control. • British oil firm BP closed a key pipeline that runs through Georgia. 'Safety restored'
According to a Kremlin statement, Mr Medvedev told his defence minister and chief of staff that "the goal has been attained". "I've decided to finish the operation to force the Georgian authorities to peace. The safety of our peacekeeping forces and civilian population has been restored," he said. But Mr Medvedev warned that Russia would not tolerate any further Georgian military activity in South Ossetia, saying: "Should centres of resistance or other aggressive attempts arise, you must take the decision to destroy them." Georgia also remained sceptical, the country's prime minister telling Reuters that troops would remain "mobilised... ready for anything" until a binding agreement was signed between the two countries. The Russian move followed strong comments from US President George W Bush, in which he spoke directly of concerns that Russia was planning to topple Georgia's pro-Western president. "Russia has invaded a sovereign neighbouring state and threatens a democratic government elected by its people," he said. "Such an action is unacceptable in the 21st Century." Please turn on JavaScript. Media requires JavaScript to play. France's president says the ceasefire is good news
The BBC's diplomatic correspondent Bridget Kendall says Mr Medvedev's announcement must be seen in the light of the US president's words. President Bush's language was unusually blunt, she says, and if Russia cares about its relations with the US and Europe, it might have been given pause for thought. The five-day-old conflict began late on 7 August when Georgian forces bombarded South Ossetia, where a majority of people hold Russian passports. Russia quickly became involved, bombing targets throughout Georgia and sending troops in to recapture South Ossetia. Some 100,000 people are estimated to have been displaced by the conflict. What are these? | Sign Agreement | August 2008 | ['(InterFax)', '(BBC News)'] |
New President of Colombia Juan Manuel Santos and President of Venezuela Hugo Chávez agree to meet for talks on Tuesday, following a recent diplomatic disagreement. | Colombia's new President Juan Manuel Santos and Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez are to meet in Colombia for talks on Tuesday.
The two leaders are to discuss their countries' diplomatic rift, Colombia's foreign ministry said.
After Mr Santos' inauguration on Saturday, Mr Chavez said he would like to meet him "face-to-face".
Earlier, Mr Chavez urged Colombia's largest left-wing rebel group, Farc, to free all its hostages.
Mr Chavez has in the past successfully brokered a deal with the Farc rebels to release some of their hostages.
Last week, Farc said it was willing to search for a political solution to the 46-year-old conflict. And Juan Manuel Santos began his presidency by signalling he would be willing to talk to the rebels if they freed their hostages.
The rebels have been a bone of contention between Venezuela and Colombia for years.
The issue flared up again last month, under Colombia's previous President, Alvaro Uribe, when the country called an extraordinary session of the Organisation of American States to formally complain about the alleged presence of Colombian rebels on Venezuelan territory.
The Colombian ambassador presented videos, photos and maps, which he said proved that there were about 1,500 rebels living and training in camps in Venezuela.
Hugo Chavez immediately denied the accusations and severed diplomatic relations with Colombia. Relations appear to have softened since, with President Chavez sending his Foreign Minister Nicolas Maduro to the inauguration of President Santos on Saturday. Mr Maduro and his Colombian counterpart, Maria Angela Holguin, held talks in Bogota on Sunday, to pave the way for the meeting between President Chavez and President Santos. But while relations between the two neighbours may be about to improve, Mr Chavez signalled no rapprochement with the US was in sight.
On Sunday he rejected US President Barack Obama's appointment for ambassador to Venezuela.
He said he would not accept Larry Palmer as envoy because he had suggested morale was low in the Venezuelan army and raised concerns about Farc rebels finding refuge in Venezuela. Mr Obama's national security adviser, General Jim Jones, was at President Santos' inauguration carrying "a clear message that the United States will continue its close bilateral ties and strong partnership with Colombia", the White House said.
"The general expressed our support for President Santos' interest in improving Colombia's relations with its neighbours through direct dialogue based on mutual respect," a statement from Washington said.
Speaking on his television show, Alo Presidente, Mr Chavez said the Farc guerrillas "should come out in favour of peace". "They have no future by staying armed," he added, and told them to stop their campaign of kidnapping. His message echoed that of Mr Santos, who in his inaugural address on Saturday said the door to dialogue with the Marxist group was open, but only if they freed their hostages first. Colombia's military says rebel groups were still holding 79 people as of February 2010 but some non-governmental groups have put the number of those in captivity much higher. Last week, Farc released a video message saying that it was willing to search for a political solution.
But Farc leader Alfonso Cano made no mention of the hostages. | Diplomatic Talks _ Diplomatic_Negotiation_ Summit Meeting | August 2010 | ['(BBC)', '(Reuters)'] |
Thousands of troops are mobilised in Russia to tackle forest fires spreading in 17 regions, the worst in decades, as the death toll rises to 30. | Tens of thousands of troops have been mobilized in Russia to battle forest fires sweeping across 17 regions. The situation remains difficult in the Moscow and Vladimir regions and in Karelia where dozens of peat bogs are burning. Emergencies Minister Sergei Shoigu has warned that things might get even worse if the heat wave doesn’t abate. In the Nizhny Novgorod region, the blaze spread at a speed of 100 m per minute. Strong wings uprooted trees. | Fire | August 2010 | ['(Voice of Russia)', '(AFP)'] |
Chang'e 4 successfully enters orbit around the Moon ahead of a historic landing on the far side of the Moon in early 2019. | After a voyage of 240,000 miles (385,000km) that lasted 110 hours, the spacecraft fired its retrorockets on 12 December while just 80 miles above the lunar surface. This placed it in a stable elliptical orbit, where it will stay until the landing attempt, which is expected next month.
Chang’e-4 was launched on 7 December atop a Long March-3B rocket from Xichang Satellite Launch Centre in China’s Sichuan province.
It is the second spacecraft in the China National Space Administration’s (CNSA) mission to attempt the first landing on the far side of the moon. The first spacecraft, a communications relay satellite called Queqiao, launched on 20 May and is now stationed in its operational orbit about 40,000 miles beyond the moon. A relay satellite is needed because once the lander is on the far side of the moon, it will not be in sight of Earth.
A date for the landing attempt has not yet been announced but it is likely to take place in early January after mission controllers have tested all systems. The spacecraft carries experiments and instruments from a number of countries including Germany, the Netherlands, Saudi Arabia and Sweden. | New achievements in aerospace | December 2018 | ['(The Guardian)'] |
In Lebanon, almost one million people have flooded a Beirut square, in front of the United Nations building, in a rally showing their support for Syria, dwarfing previous anti–Syria demonstrations. (Daily Star, Lebanon) | BEIRUT, Lebanon (CNN) -- Responding to three weeks of anti-Syria demonstrations, a massive, Hezbollah-organized rally filled a central Beirut square Tuesday to show support for Syria and reject a U.N. resolution that calls for the complete and immediate withdrawal of Syrian troops from Lebanon. Syria's ambassador to the United States said Tuesday that those troops will be withdrawn from Lebanon before the country's May elections, as President Bush called for Tuesday.
But Hezbollah leader Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah demanded the United States quit "meddling with our country.
"I want to tell Americans, do not interfere with our internal affairs," he said. "Let your ambassador relax in his embassy, and leave us alone."
Some news reports estimated Tuesday's crowd at 200,000 demonstrators. CNN's Beirut Bureau Chief Brent Sadler said it was difficult to give a figure but that the attendance was "impressive." Nasrallah emphatically backed Monday's decision by the Syrian and Lebanese presidents to withdraw troops according to the 1989 Taif Accord, not U.N. Resolution 1559.
The Taif withdrawal begins with a pullback to the Bekaa Valley and later, after more discussions, into Syria. Resolution 1559 calls for the complete and immediate withdrawal of Syrian troops.
Hezbollah, the Lebanon-based Shiite Muslim group listed by the United States as a terrorist organization, said about 30 political parties were represented in the demonstration. "We tell the whole world that we refuse the 1559 resolution," Nasrallah said.
Waving his arms in a gesture to the huge crowd, Nasrallah asked, "Isn't this Western democracy? The majority is rejecting Resolution 1559."
Resolution 1559, he said, favors Israel and does not address the larger problem of a comprehensive Mideast peace. The resolution calls for disarmament and disbanding of militias in Lebanon. Hezbollah is the sole remaining militia, left intact by the Taif accord.
That accord ended a long civil war in Lebanon -- in which various factions and even Western armies were involved, finally leaving Syrian troops in the country to help stabilize it. About 14,000 Syrian forces remain after some withdrawals over the years.
But after the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri on February 14, a renewed call emerged -- with increased international pressure, particularly from the United States -- for not only the departure of Syria's troops, but also an end to its perceived participation in Lebanese politics.
Imad Moustapha, Syria's ambassador to the United States, told CNN the pullout sets a "good example" for a withdrawal of occupation forces from other regions -- including Israeli forces who occupy Palestinian territories and the Golan Heights, which Israel took from Syria in 1967.
"Let me first thank President Bush for his concern about Lebanon and the fair and free elections that will happen in May," Moustapha said. "Now President Bush can focus his attention on the really terrible occupation of the Palestinian territories and the occupation of Syrian territories and Lebanese territories by Israel."
But Washington called Monday's pullback agreement between Lebanese President Emile Lahoud and Syrian President Bashar Assad "a half measure that does not go far enough," and on Tuesday Bush called for Syria's withdrawal to be complete before Lebanese elections.
"The world community, including Russia and Germany and France and Saudi Arabia and the United States, has presented the Syrian government with one of those choices: to end its nearly 30-year occupation of Lebanon or become even more isolated from the world," he said in a speech at the National Defense University in Washington.
To the Lebanese opposition and its almost daily demonstrations after Hariri's killing, Bush said that "all the world is witnessing your great movement of conscience."
Although the opposition rallies drew tens of thousands of people, Tuesday's Hezbollah-sponsored rally dwarfed them, and Nasrallah rejected Bush's assessment of Lebanon, saying his "calculations are wrong."
"I want to ask our partners in our country -- or who are looking at you from outside -- are all these masses mere puppets?" Nasrallah said. "Are all these masses agents of the Syrian and Lebanese intelligence forces?"
The Hezbollah leader called for immediate parliamentary consultations to choose a prime minister to form a "national unity government" or, barring that, a face-to-face dialogue with opposition leaders that could lead to such a consensus government.
Walid Jumblatt, an opposition leader and Druse member of the Lebanese parliament, said the opposition wants an "independent Lebanon, a democratic Lebanon, with a good relationship with Syria."
"It's necessary to have a dialogue with Hezbollah, and we wish they would join us, our ranks, in building up the independence of Lebanon," he said from Berlin, where he was meeting with German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer. "Today they have a peaceful demonstration under the Lebanese flag, which is good. I hope they will join us for the future of Lebanon, independent Lebanon."
As the demonstration began, reports came from Syrian camps that the pullback had begun, but CNN has not yet confirmed those reports. | Protest_Online Condemnation | March 2005 | ['(CNN)', '(BBC)', '(ABC)', '(Reuters)'] |
At least 39 people are killed in clashes between rival communities in Kenya. | At least 39 people have been killed in fresh clashes between rival communities in the Tana River district of Kenya's Coast province, police say.
The attack by ethnic Pokomo farmers on an Orma village, Kipao, came in the early hours of the morning, they say.
Thirteen children and six women were among those killed.
Police say the latest attack was revenge for the killing of more than 100 villagers earlier this year, but some say the raids are political.
Elections are due in March 2013.
Police say there have been casualties on both sides. Houses were reportedly burnt and villagers cut down with machetes.
Some victims bled to death while waiting to be treated.
"About 150 Pokomo raiders attacked Kipao village, which is inhabited by the Ormas, early on Friday. The Ormas appeared to have been aware and were prepared," Robert Kitur, Coast Region deputy police chief, told reporters.
He said police were pursuing the raiders, who used firearms, spears, machetes and arrows.
Villagers in the area have fled in fear of revenge attacks, aid workers say.
The Red Cross say they know of at least 30 dead and 30 others seriously wounded, including a one-year-old child. More than 40 houses were set ablaze.
President Mwai Kibaki said: "No effort will be spared in ensuring perpetrators of the heinous act are brought to book".
An overnight curfew has been imposed in the area to prevent any revenge attacks.
Police reinforcements and emergency officials are being flown to the scene, while the wounded are being taken to the port city of Mombasa for treatment.
The BBC's Frenny Jowi in Nairobi says the promises to halt the violence and the deployment of extra security forces are unlikely to reassure residents, as similar statements were made after the previous raids.
In August, the two communities clashed after members of the Orma community were accused of grazing their cattle on land that the Pokomo say is theirs.
Settled Pokomo farmers and semi-nomadic Orma pastoralists have clashed intermittently for years over access to grazing, farmland and water in the coastal region.
Tensions between the two communities have risen in recent days, and police have been trying to disarm them.
Our correspondent says many suspect a political motive lies behind the attack.
Following the violence in August and September, an MP from the region, Assistant Livestock Minister, Dhadho Godhana, was arrested for inciting violence. He denies the charges.
The UN says the clashes may be related to the redrawing of political boundaries ahead of next year's general election.
The last election in 2007 was marred by widespread clashes, in which more than 1,300 people were killed.
Four prominent Kenyans have been charged by the International Criminal Court over that violence.
Two of them have formed an alliance to contest the March election - their trial is due to begin a month later in The Hague. | Riot | December 2012 | ['(BBC)', '(Al Jazeera)'] |
Indonesian authorities lose contact with Sriwijaya Air Flight 182 shortly after take-off with 62 people onboard. The passenger plane, a Boeing 737, was en route to Pontianak, taking off from the capital Jakarta. | A Boeing 737 passenger jet with 62 people onboard crashed into the Java Sea on Saturday minutes after taking off from Indonesia's capital Jakarta, officials said.
Sriwijaya Flight 182, en route to Pontianak in West Kalimantan, disappeared from radar screens after taking off just after 2.30pm (6.30pm AEDT) - 30 minutes after the scheduled time because of heavy rain.
Relatives wait at the crisis centre for news about the missing aircraft. Credit: It was carrying 50 passengers, including seven children and three babies, as well as 12 pilots and crew. An official said they were all from Indonesia.
Reliable tracking service Flightradar24 said the Boeing jet disappeared about four minutes after take-off. It climbed to 3322 metres in altitude, and then began a steep descent, plunging to 74 metres about 21 seconds later. At that time, it stopped transmitting data.
A transport ministry spokeswoman said air traffic control at Soekarno-Hatta International Airport had asked the pilot why the plane was heading north-west instead of on its expected flight path just seconds before it disappeared.
There were no immediate clues on what may have caused the sudden descent and safety experts stress most air accidents are caused by a cocktail of factors that can take months to establish.
A search is underway for an Indonesian Boeing plane carrying 63 people after it dropped off the radar. Head of Indonesian search and rescue agency, Soerjanto Tjahjono, said the location of the crashed aircraft had been found.
He said search vessels had reached the area, but darkness had hindered recovery efforts.
"We will talk to fishermen who claimed they saw the plane crash," he said.
Fishermen in the Thousand Islands region found debris and an oil spill in the water, with no confirmation of whether they're from the missing plane, according to video shown by local news channel MetroTV.
A woman whose relative was on the plane breaks down in tears. Credit: Indonesian television channels showed pictures of suspected wreckage.
"We found some cables, a piece of jeans, and pieces of metal on the water," Zulkifli, a security official, told CNNIndonesia.com.
Distraught relatives waited at a crisis centre in Pontianak, about 740 km from Jakarta.
Yaman Zai, whose wife and three children were on the plane, was at the airport in Pontianak waiting for them when he heard the news.
"I will never meet her again," he said, holding up a photo of his oldest daughter.
Indonesia's Navy had pinpointed the site of the missing aircraft and ships had been sent there, a Navy official said. Authorities did not say whether they believed there were survivors.
Indonesian airline Sriwijaya Air's chief executive, Jefferson Irwin Jauwena, told a news conference that the plane had been in good condition before the flight.
The nearly 27-year-old Boeing 737-500 was much older than Boeing's problem-plagued 737 MAX model, one of which crashed off Jakarta in late 2018, killing all 189 people aboard the Lion Air flight. Older 737 models are widely flown and do not have the system implicated in the MAX safety crisis.
A relative waits for news at the crisis centre. Credit: A Boeing spokeswoman said, "We are aware of media reports from Jakarta, and are closely monitoring the situation. We are working to gather more information".
Founded in 2003, Jakarta-based Sriwijaya Air group flies largely within Indonesia. The airline has a solid safety record until now, with no onboard casualties in four incidents recorded on the Aviation Safety Network database.
Indonesia itself has a patchy air safety record.
In 2007, the European Union banned all Indonesian airlines following a series of crashes and reports of deteriorating oversight and maintenance since deregulation in the late 1990s. The restrictions were fully lifted in 2018.
Between 2007 and 2016, the US Federal Aviation Administration lowered its Indonesia safety evaluation to Category 2, meaning its regulatory system was inadequate.
Indonesian officials say they have worked hard to bring safety up to international standards.
The domestic flight was en route to Pontianak in West Kalimantan province on Indonesia’s Borneo island.
At a press conference on Saturday night local time, Bambang Suryo Aji, director for operations at Search and Rescue Agency, said it received an alert at 2.55pm that Sriwijaya Flight 182 had lost contact.
The agency sent a number of search boats to the Thousand Islands area in the Java Sea, which was the plane’s last known location.
"The lost contact position was around Laki and Lancang islands," Aji said.
Relatives wait for news about their loved ones.Credit: "Our plan is to open a command post at the (seaport). We are searching for the plane location tonight. With the hope that we can maximise our searching tomorrow."
Navy spokesperson, Rear Admiral Abdul Rasyid Kacong, said five warships were heading to the suspected location to help in the search.
The depth of waters around the islands is between 20 to 23 metres.
This radar image shows the flight path of Sriwijaya Air Flight 182 before it dropped off radar on Saturday.Credit:Flightradar24.com via AP
Sriwijaya Air was founded in 2003 and is Indonesia's third-largest airline. It carries more than one million passengers each month to mainly Indonesian destinations, but also offers international flights across Asia, including to China, Malaysia and Singapore.
Indonesia, the world’s largest archipelago nation, with more than 260 million people, has been plagued by transportation accidents on land, sea and air because of overcrowding on ferries, ageing infrastructure and poorly enforced safety standards. | Air crash | January 2021 | ['(The Age)'] |
United States President George W. Bush endorses Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's proposed withdrawal from the Gaza Strip and states that Palestinian refugees should return to a new Palestinian state, not to Israel. Bush says it is unrealistic to expect "full and complete return to the armistice lines of 1949." | President Bush, in a significant shift in American policy, told Prime Minister Ariel Sharon today that the United States would not object if Israel retained some West Bank settlements under a future peace accord. Mr. Bush, appearing with Mr. Sharon after a White House meeting, called the prime minister's proposals to withdraw from the Gaza Strip and parts of the West Bank "historic" and courageous, and said Mr. Sharon had created "an opportunity" that would help accelerate moves toward the creation of a Palestinian state. | Famous Person - Give a speech | April 2004 | ['(NYT)'] |
In basketball, the Cleveland Cavaliers win the NBA draft lottery for number one pick in the 2013 NBA draft. | The Cleveland Cavaliers owner's son, who has a nerve disorder, has struck the lottery again. And the Cavaliers will pick first overall in the 2013 NBA draft on June 27 after winning the NBA draft lottery Tuesday in New York. This will be the third time in 11 years the Cavaliers pick first.
"It's huge for us," Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert said immediately after the pick. "For us, it's about the city of Cleveland and giving them more hope as we build the franchise to the level we want to go to."
The Orlando Magic, who had the best shot at landing the selection, came in second in the lottery, which gives every team that did not make the NBA playoffs odds based on regular-season records. The Magic will take the No. 2 pick despite their 25% shot at the first pick, compared to the Cavaliers' 15.6% odds.
The real surprise came when the Washington Wizards were selected third. The Wizards were slotted eighth but leaped five spots because of the lottery. The Wizards also picked third last season, and the player they took was their representative.
"We were projected to be in the eighth spot," Wizards guard Bradley Beal said. "The ball fell in our court and it is great to have the third pick in this draft."
The Cavaliers now have many options. This draft remarkably balanced, with at least four players considered potential top picks. Cleveland has its franchise player in All-Star point guard Kyrie Irving, the top pick in 2011 but could use help at several other positions.
Kentucky center Nerlens Noel and Kansas shooting guard Ben McLemore are considered the favorites for the pick, but Cleveland's biggest weakness last season was at small forward, the position of Georgetown's Otto Porter.
"This isn't a draft where there's a clear-cut obvious no-holds barred No. 1 choice," Dan Gilbert said in a teleconference. "Obviously we're going to have workouts between now and the draft. I don't think there's a direction that franchise is leaning."
Nick Gilbert was the Cavaliers' representative for the lottery for the third consecutive year. And he's 2-for-3 in getting the first overall pick.
Nick Gilbert has the nerve disorder neurofibromatosis, which causes tumors to grow in his body. He has become a rallying point for the draft lottery in recent years.
"The excitement on his face, that was something special," Dan Gilbert said. "That was probably my favorite part of this process."
The Cavaliers previously selected first overall in 2003, when they drafted LeBron James. When he left in 2010 for the Miami Heat, the franchise was devastated. Two top picks in three years since helps.
"It's been a long three years for the franchise, but we've come through it," Gilbert said. "We said all along that we're going to build this primarily through the draft. We wanted to focus on getting a handful of really strong people ... and build the franchise around them." | Sports Competition | May 2013 | ['(USA Today)'] |
An LP gas truck explodes on Federal Highway 15D in Nayarit, Mexico, killing at least 14 people. Most of the victims died inside their vehicles. | A gas explosion along a highway in the Mexican state of Nayarit on Monday left at least 14 dead and several vehicles burned.
The explosion happened outside the city of Jala on a stretch of mountain highway.
A video capturing the event shows a group of motorists running along the highway towards what appears to be a collision when an explosion fills the sky, sending them scrambling back the way they came. One man can be heard in the video commenting on the heat generated by the blast.
The Nayarit National Guard confirmed that at least 14 people died in the explosion and subsequent fires, according to Radio Formula. Several vehicles - including a gas tanker - were burned.
Most of the victims died while still in their cars.
Mexican authorities have yet to determine the cause of the explosion. Initial reports suggested a gas line running alongside the highway burst and destroyed the cars. A Facebook post from the Governor of Nayarit appears to suggest it was the tanker truck that exploded.
"A few minutes ago, the Secretary of Security and Citizen Protection informed me that on the Tepic-Guadalajara highway, at the height of the Jala-Compostela cruise, an explosion of a gas tanker was recorded, which has unfortunately left several people dead until the moment," Antoni Echevarria Garcia, the state's governor, wrote.
The blast ripped through the area shortly before 11am according to the newspaper El Universal.
Nayarit authorities closed off the road to clear debris and remove the dead and injured from the location of the explosion.
The state's National Guard shared a photo of the aftermath on Twitter. The image depicted debris scattered across the highway and a completely burned out van perched up a hill.
| Gas explosion | November 2020 | ['(The Independent)', '(El Universal)'] |
Cuba's Ricardo Alarcón says the island is prepared to release further political prisoners after the 52 it announced earlier this month; he says they are free to remain in Cuba if they so wish. | The president of Cuba's parliament, Ricardo Alarcon, has said the island's government is ready to release more political prisoners after announcing this month it would free 52.
They could remain on the island if they wished, he added.
Cuba has agreed to free the 52 prisoners under a deal reached with the Catholic Church and Spain.
Some 115 political prisoners would remain in Cuba once the 52 are freed, according to figures from dissidents.
"It was very clear from the discussions that the government's wish is to free all the people" on condition they had not been accused of murder, Mr Alarcon said on the sidelines of a conference in Geneva.
Eleven freed Cuban dissidents arrived last week in Spain, and a further nine are expected to join them in the coming days.
Cuba has been under pressure to free dissidents since one prisoner on hunger strike, Orlando Zapata Tamayo, died in February.
| Government Policy Changes | July 2010 | ['(BBC)', '(France24)', '[permanent dead link]'] |
A bushfire on Fraser Island, a UNESCO World Heritage Site off the coast of Queensland, has burned across half the island and may irreversibly damage its unique ecosystem. Extinguishment has been ruled unlikely. | The fire on the world’s largest sand island, also known as K’gari, has been burning for six weeks and is encroaching on areas with 1,000-year-old trees
Last modified on Mon 7 Dec 2020 01.21 GMT
A bushfire has burned across half the World Heritage-listed K’gari/Fraser Island – the world’s biggest sand island, off Australia’s Queensland coast – with potentially catastrophic consequences for its habitats and wildlife.
The blaze, which has been alight for more than six weeks, is threatening major tourism and rainforest areas after burning much of the island’s north. On Tuesday, the fire was burning on two fronts and travelling south towards the Kingfisher bay tourism resort, where 80 staff were told to get ready to evacuate.
Queensland Fire and Emergency Services told the Guardian on Tuesday the fire was encroaching on the island’s famous Valley of the Giants – home to trees more than 1,000 years old.
K’gari is renowned for its stunning 250km (155 miles) of beaches, freshwater lakes, lush rainforests and sand dunes more than 200m high.
The fire started in mid-October after an illegal campfire and has since burned across 81,000 hectares (200,000 acres).
QFES assistant commissioner Gary McCormack said much of the firefighting effort was an “aerial assault” using planes and helicopters to drop saltwater and freshwater onto the blazing canopy.
He said there was no chance to extinguish the fire under current conditions but the focus was on steering the blaze away from tourism areas, ecologically important places and sites important to the Butchulla Aboriginal people who have lived on the island for thousands of years.
There are currently more than 30 crews on K’gari (Fraser Island), made up of QFES, QPWS & Butchulla Aboriginal Corporation personnel. The makeup of the sand island makes our work difficult & we share the communities concerns, but we’ll continue to work to minimise the impact. pic.twitter.com/fDieIDRpKU
Fighting fires on a sand island was challenging, he said, because tracks were too narrow to be used as firebreaks, were only accessible to smaller 4WD firefighting vehicles, and the sandy forest floor meant water dropped from aircraft drained away quickly.
“Unfortunately the current conditions are not conducive to extinguishment,” McCormack said.
“We are working with the fire behaviour modelling to manipulate and push the fire as best as we can away from the community, from infrastructure and away from sensitive cultural and environmental sites.”
He said the fire was encroaching on the Valley of the Giants, but there was hope that trees might survive as the fire was less intense in that area.
He had been advised by the Queensland government’s parks service, which was also helping fight the fire, that tree species in the valley could cope with some fire.
Windy conditions and temperatures above 30C (86F) were making firefighting difficult and the outlook for the next four days was not favourable, with no rain forecast.
Dr Gabriel Conroy, a conservation biologist at the University of the Sunshine Coast whose research has focused on the island, took a student group to K’Gari last week.
“A northerly wind had kicked in and it was other-worldly with ash falling down on the students,” he said. “There’s a sense of panic on the island.
“We went north and walked through areas where the fire had been. Walking through a burned landscape is quite sobering. It’s massive.”
He said 128 years of logging, which ended in 1991, had altered the island’s ecology and the presence of Europeans had suppressed the traditional burning carried out by Butchulla people. All this altered fire behaviour.
Conroy said the island has experienced fire for thousands of years, but those fires would have been less widespread and intense because of the way the Butchulla people lit smaller fires to prevent larger ones.
He said: “This is a very large and very hot fire for this island. It’s a big fire and it’s the wrong kind of fire.
“It’s a catastrophe. Even ecosystems that are meant to burn don’t bounce back from widespread hot fires. It can be beyond their capacity to bounce back.”
He said the island’s wildlife, which includes dingoes, potoroos, wallabies and an array of birds, lived across heathlands, coastal dunes and rainforests and would be suffering.
He said the area in and around the Valley of the Giants was home to some remaining large satinay trees. The island’s satinay trees were used to build the Suez canal and rebuild London’s docks after the second world war.
The island was described as a “paradise” by Prince Harry in October 2018 during a visit with Meaghan, Duchess of Sussex.
Today, The Duke and Duchess of Sussex visited beautiful K'gari - or Fraser Island - as part of the dedication of the site to The Queen's Commonwealth Canopy. #RoyalVisitAustralia pic.twitter.com/P5bzrJUiPW
Prof Patrick Moss, an expert on ancient ecology at the University of Queensland, who has studied the island, said much of the vegetation on the island was “fire adapted” meaning that given time, it could bounce back.
But he said he was concerned for the rainforest areas, where trees such as kauri pines were not well adapted to fire.
“This could have a dramatic impact on the forest and maybe kill off trees. You don’t want these high intensity burns getting in there because that would have a dramatic impact on the landscape.”
He said human-caused climate change, as well as logging and changes to the way fires were managed, were all likely to be playing a role in the fire.
Australia’s weather is currently being influenced by a La Niña climate system driven from the Pacific Ocean, which tends to deliver cooler and wetter conditions.
“I would not expect [fires like this] in a La Niña year,” Moss said.
A 2017 World Heritage report listed changing fire regimes and climate change among the current and future threats to the island’s ecology.
Dr Christine Hosking, a conservation biologist also at UQ, said the fires were “ecologically catastrophic” for the island, particularly because they would affect the smaller animals and bugs. | Fire | December 2020 | ['(The Guardian)'] |
The World Bank pledges to loan an additional $100 million to Pakistan. | WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The World Bank has increased funding to help Pakistan cope with catastrophic flooding by $100 million, to a total of $1 billion, the bank said in a statement on Wednesday.
“The World Bank is committed to helping the people of Pakistan during this time of need and has made US$1 billion available to finance immediate recovery needs and longer-term reconstruction,” the statement quoted World Bank President Robert Zoellick as telling Pakistani Finance Minister Hafeez Shaikh in Washington.
The funds are being diverted to flood use from money already earmarked for Pakistan. They will come from the International Development Association, the bank’s fund for the poorest countries, and are concessional and carry no interest payments, the statement said.
Zoellick also told Shaikh that continued economic, institutional and governance reforms were critical to maintaining donor confidence.
“We need to respond strongly to the crisis at hand, but we need to do it without losing sight of important economic reforms,” he was quoted as saying.
“Renewed commitment to governance and fiscal reforms will be important to mobilize domestic revenues and ensure that funds reach the poor people it is intended for. The response of donors to the floods will also depend on the government’s ability to deliver in this area,” he said.
Shaikh is part of a delegation visiting Washington for discussions with the International Monetary Fund about Pakistan’s $11 billion IMF loan program.
While vowing to remain on track with the 2008 IMF loan program, under which the country pledged to implement tax and energy sector reforms, the minister also said he would seek understanding from the international community about the troubles Pakistan faced from the catastrophic floods.
Pakistani Information Minister Qamar Zaman Kaira said on Wednesday the country would register economic growth of just 2.5 percent in the year to June 2011 because of the impact of flooding, trimming an earlier 4.5 percent target.
Reporting by Paul Eckert; editing by Mohammad Zargham
| Financial Aid | September 2010 | ['(Hindustan Times)', '(Reuters)'] |
Human rights group Free Tibet and Radio Free Asia report that People's Liberation Army troops shot into a crowd in Biru County in the Tibet Autonomous Region injuring 60 people. | At least 60 Tibetans were injured after Chinese police fired into a crowd of protesters, rights group Free Tibet and US-based Radio Free Asia report.
The shooting occurred on Sunday in Biru county, as villagers demanded police free a man who led separate protests in September, the reports said.
There had been clashes in September after Tibetans refused to fly China's flag outside their homes, reports said.
Tibet is governed as an autonomous region in China.
China has been widely accused of repressing political and religious freedoms in Tibet. Beijing rejects this and says economic development has improved Tibetans' lives. A Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman said that she was unaware of the reports, and declined to comment further, Reuters news agency said.
A policeman at the public security bureau in Tibet's Biru county also told AFP news agency that there was "no protest, no one injured".
Foreign media are only allowed to enter Tibet at the invitation of the Chinese government. These visits are rare and tightly controlled, making it almost impossible to independently verify reports. On 6 October, a crowd of protesters gathered outside the local government office appealing for the release of local Dorjee Dagtsel, Radio Free Asia, and UK-based Free Tibet, said.
Security forces opened fire into the crowd, injuring at least 60 and leaving two in a critical condition, they said.
Free Tibet added in the statement that the forces "deployed tear gas" and beat the protesters.
However, the International Campaign for Tibet said it was not clear if the troops fired live rounds or tear gas.
Free Tibet named the two critically injured Tibetans as Tagyal, who had a broken femur, and Tsewang, who was shot in the jaw. It said they had been taken to a hospital in the Tibetan capital, Lhasa.
All the phone lines in the region have been disconnected, exile Tibetan web portal Phayul reported.
The incident appears to be latest sign of the continuing unrest on China's Tibetan plateau, the BBC's Martin Patience in Beijing reports.
Since serious ethnic rioting broke out in 2008, more than 100 Tibetans have set themselves on fire in protest against what they say is Beijing's repressive rule, our correspondent adds.
Beijing claims a centuries-old sovereignty over the Himalayan region, and says Tibet has developed considerably under its rule.
| Armed Conflict | October 2013 | ['(BBC)'] |
Juan Guaidó, accompanied by members of the Venezuelan armed forces, speaks in front of La Carlota Air Base in Caracas, stating that Leopoldo López, a political prisoner since 2014, is freed by defecting soldiers who have renounced their loyalty to Nicolás Maduro, prompting people to take to the streets. | Updated on: April 30, 2019 / 10:43 PM
/ CBS News
Tensions escalated in Venezuela Tuesday after the country's U.S.-backed opposition leader and National Assembly President Juan Guaidó called for the military to topple the leftist government of Nicolás Maduro.
Early in the morning, Guaidó -- standing alongside a group of soldiers and previously jailed fellow opposition leader Leopoldo López -- called on the Venezuelan armed forces to stage an uprising and carry out what he dubbed "Operación Libertad," or operation freedom.
Top U.S. officials, including Vice President Mike Pence and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, were quick to vouch their support for Guaidó's bid to oust Maduro.
Venezuela's socialist government, meanwhile, called the move by the opposition leader a "coup" sponsored by the U.S., with one of its most highest-ranking officials and speaker of the pro-Maduro legislature, Diosdado Cabello, urging supporters to come out and defend the Miraflores presidential palace in Caracas.
Clashes in the capital and other parts of the country ensued between civilians and soldiers supportive of Guaidó and Maduro's security forces and pro-government militias, known as "colectivos." Roberto Ampuero, Chile's Minister of Foreign Affairs, said the Chilean embassy in Caracas was hosting Lopez and his family as "guests."
The bold action by the opposition could allow the international community and people of Venezuela to gauge whether Guaidó can accomplish what has so far proved elusive: mustering enough support among the nation's sprawling military structure to force Maduro to relinquish power.
On Tuesday night, in his first public appearance since Guaidó announced the "final phase" of his bid to take power, Maduro said his government had defeated the "small" uprising, which he denounced as a coup attempt organized by fascists and U.S. lackeys. He said the attorney general had designated three special prosecutors to investigate the uprising and interrogate those involved.
Follow live updates below:
On Tuesday night, in his first public appearance since Guaidó announced the "final phase" of his bid to take power, Maduro said his government had defeated the "small" uprising, which he denounced as a coup attempt organized by Venezuela 's far-right and U.S. lackeys. In a televised speech alongside top government officials and military leaders, Maduro said the attorney general had designated three special prosecutors to investigate the uprising and interrogate those involved, who he accused of wanting to provoke a "massacre" "The traitors will soon see what their fate is," Maduro said.
A Republican lawmaker urged President Trump to be "firm" and take whatever action may be necessary to stop "evil" in Venezuela.
"I obviously urge the administration to continue to be firm and to take whatever further action may be necessary to make sure that, frankly, evil does not prevail in Venezuela and in this hemisphere," Rep. Mario Díaz-Balart of Florida told CBS News Tuesday afternoon.
Díaz-Balart called Maduro's increasingly authoritarian regime, which a coalition of Western countries have urged to hold elections, a "great threat" to American national security, alongside other leftist governments in Latin America.
"What is happening in this hemisphere -- with Venezuela, Cuba and Nicaragua -- is, I think, more dangerous to the national security interest of the United States than a lot of the things that are taking place in the Middle East," he added.
Pompeo said Maduro prepared to flee Venezuela Tuesday morning, but backed off the move because of advise from the Russia government.
"He had an airplane on the tarmac. He was ready to leave this morning, as we understand it. And the Russians indicated he should stay," Pompeo said during an appearance on CNN late Tuesday afternoon.
"He was headed for Havana," the secretary of state added, referring to the Cuban capital.
Pressed for evidence, Pompeo said his claim was based on "conversations."
The director of a medical center in Venezuela's capital said doctors are treating 50 patients injured during street skirmishes.
Thirty of the injured were shot with rubber bullets, according to Salud Chacao director Maggia Santi. Another 16 sustained bodily trauma, while three reported difficulty breathing and one was shot with a firearm.
She said doctors have sufficient supplies to treat the injured, in part due to recent donations by organizations including the Red Cross.
Brazil's vice president said the situation in Venezuela has reached a point of no return. Former Gen. Hamilton Mourão said Tuesday that either opposition leaders Guaidó and Leopoldo López would "be prisoners" or Maduro "would be leaving."
"There is no other way out of this," Mourão said.
Brazil borders Venezuela to the south and recognizes Guaidó as Venezuela's legitimate president.
President Trump's national security adviser John Bolton said Tuesday that Mr. Trump wants to see a peaceful transfer of power in Venezuela -- a possibility he said "still exists."
He also said "all options are on the table."
Speaking to reporters at the White House Tuesday afternoon, Bolton said what is happening in Venezuela "is clearly not a coup."
"We recognize Juan Guaido as the legitimate interim president of Venezuela, and just as it's not a coup when the President of the United States gives an order to the Department of Defense, it's not a coup for Juan Guaido to try and take command of the Venezuelan military," he said.
John Bolton: "The sooner Maduro is gone, the sooner is the possibility of justice and real economic growth for the Venezuelan people" https://t.co/jSCry4ykWC pic.twitter.com/qrcgniUtRl
Bolton also said the U.S. believes Cuba has played "a very significant role in propping Maduro up today, possibly with help from the Russians. That's the speculation, certainly in Caracas."
"The sooner Maduro is gone, the sooner is the possibility of justice and real economic growth for the Venezuelan people," he said.
On Tuesday, Mr. Trump tweeted, "The United States stands with the People of Venezuela and their Freedom!"
The U.N. says Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is urging all sides in Venezuela to exercise "maximum restraint," avoid any violence and take immediate steps to restore calm. Guterres' "message publicly and privately has been to push for dialogue in order to resolve this peacefully," U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric told reporters Tuesday.
Dujarric said the U.N. is "reaching out to both sides." He noted that Guterres met Venezuela's Foreign Minister Jorge Arreaza last week and met Monday with the Lima group of countries supporting Guaidó. Dujarric also said the U.N. is taking measures to ensure the safety of its staff in the country.
Anti-government demonstrators clashed with troops loyal to Maduro at an air base in Caracas, the country's capital, hours after Guaidó's attempt to lead a military uprising.
Video showed unrest, including clashes, as well as an armored military vehicle ramming into pro-Guaidó protesters in the city.
WATCH: Venezuela military armored truck rams into pro-Guaidó protesters in Caracas https://t.co/1olDY3QTaT pic.twitter.com/DvwPQD0l1h
Venezuela's state run internet provider has been restricting access to YouTube and Google services following the opposition leader's call for the military to revolt against Maduro, a group that monitors internet censorship said.
The non-governmental NetBlocks group said access to the services remains intermittently available since the restrictions don't appear to be completely effective. It said Twitter, Facebook and several other services were briefly restricted earlier, although core internet connectivity remains unaffected.
The group said past incidents of network filtering in Venezuela have lasted from 12 minutes to over 20 hours.
Google did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The events appear not to have triggered a broader military revolt. Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino on Twitter rejected what he called an attempt by a "subversive movement" to generate "panic and terror."
The ruling socialist party chief, Diosdado Cabello, said most of Caracas was calm and called on government supporters to amass at the presidential palace to defend Maduro from what he said was a U.S.-backed coup attempt. About a dozen government supporters, some of them brandishing firearms, gathered at the presidential palace, answered the call.
"It's time to defend the revolution with arms," Valentin Santana, head of a militant group, said in a video posted on social media as he brandished an automatic rifle.
Meanwhile, Guaidó said he would release a list of top commanders supporting the uprising in the coming hours.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has discussed the ongoing uprising in Venezuela with his top security body. Putin raised the current developments in Venezuela during his scheduled meeting with the Security Council, Russian news agencies quoted Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov as saying.
Peskov said that the meeting "paid significant attention to the news reports about a coup attempt in that country." He did not elaborate further.
U.S. Vice President Mike Pence tweeted "We are with you!" Tuesday to the Venezuelans taking to the streets after Guaidó's call for an uprising.
"America will stand with you until freedom & democracy are restored," he added.
The U.S. and dozens of other countries have recognized Guaidó as Venezuela's rightful leader, arguing that Maduro's re-election was invalid.
To @jguaido, the National Assembly and all the freedom-loving people of Venezuela who are taking to the streets today in #operacionlibertad-Estamos con ustedes! We are with you! America will stand with you until freedom & democracy are restored. Vayan con dios! #FreeVenezuela
The White House later said it is "watching and waiting" on the situation in Venezuela and hoping the result is democracy.
It was unclear how much advance knowledge the Trump administration had of Guaido's plans for Tuesday, but President Trump's national security adviser John Bolton was first to tweet his support.
"The United States stands with the people of Venezuela," Bolton tweeted.
| Famous Person - Give a speech | April 2019 | ['(The Guardian)', '(CNN)', '(CBS News)'] |
Public transport workers in France and London go on strike over French and UK government austerity measures. The French actions are part of a general strike. , | More than one million French workers have taken to the streets to protest against austerity measures planned by President Nicolas Sarkozy's government.
The rallies came as a 24-hour national strike disrupted flight and rail services, and closed schools. Activists are angry at government plans to overhaul pensions and raise the retirement age from 60 to 62. Union leaders say more strikes and protests are possible if the government fails to give an adequate response.
"If they don't respond and they don't pay heed, there'll be a follow up, and nothing is ruled out at this stage," Bernard Thibault, leader of the large CGT union, told a rally in Paris.
France's retirement age is lower than many countries in Europe, but analysts say the issue is polarising politics in the country.
Labour Minister Eric Woerth introduced the pensions bill to the National Assembly, warning of dire consequences if it did not pass.
"If we don't modify our pension plan, then tomorrow there will be no money left to pay the French pensions," he told parliamentarians.
Under current rules, both men and women in France can retire at 60, providing they have paid social security contributions for 40.5 years - although they are not entitled to a full pension until they are 65.
The government says it will save 70bn euros (£58bn) by raising the retirement age to 62 by 2018, the qualification to 41.5 years, and the pension age to 67.
President Nicolas Sarkozy says reforms are needed to cope with an ageing population and the country's budget deficit.
The government is also looking to find 100bn euros of savings in three years, and is planning cuts in the civil sector.
Some secondary-school teachers went on strike on Monday, protesting against plans to cut 7,000 jobs in education.
State railway operator SNCF said fewer than half of its TGV high-speed services were running, and there was a greatly reduced service on many other lines.
Eurostar said its trains between France and London would operate normally. Some air-traffic controllers walked out, forcing the cancellation or delay of about a quarter of flights from Paris airports.
Air France said it was operating all of its long-haul flights as planned, but short and medium-haul flights had been affected. Amid the disruption caused by strikes, the Interior Ministry said 1.1 million people had joined Tuesday's protests but unions claimed the figure was more than double official estimates.
The figures make Tuesday's protest bigger than a previous one in June, where more than 800,000 people took part.
Huge crowds braved stormy weather across southern parts of France, while demonstrators in Paris and the north enjoyed autumn sunshine.
In Paris, protesters shouted through loud-hailers: "Slave-driving? No, no, no. Working more? No, no, no. Fair reforms? Yes, yes, yes."
Protester Michel Prouvier told AFP news agency: "We're going to have old people living in the street."
Activists were also keen to maker a wider point, angry at the recent deportation of about 1,000 Roma (Gypsies) and a host of proposed laws which they say unfairly target immigrants and minorities.
"Pensions are a pretext for protesting against the Sarkozy system," said Adji Ahoudian, a Socialist Party activist.
Among those concerns is a proposal banning the full face veil worn by Muslim women, which was passed by the lower house in July but is now up for debate in the Senate. Senators are also expected to debate a controversial new security law which would see recent immigrants stripped of French citizenship if they committed serious crimes such as killing a police officer. The law would also allow electronic tagging for foreign criminals facing deportation. Strikes over pensions hit France
| Strike | September 2010 | ['(AP via ABC News America)', '(BBC)'] |
Turkish security forces backed up by tanks and combat helicopters launch a large-scale operation against PKK militants in the mainly Kurdish town of Silvan, which has been under a punishing curfew for nine days. At least five people are killed in the fighting, including a Turkish soldier. | Diyarbakir (Turkey) (AFP) - Fighting raged Wednesday in a flashpoint town in southeastern Turkey as the death toll mounted from attacks blamed on Kurdish rebels and local lawmakers warned of a humanitarian crisis.
Turkish security forces backed up by tanks and combat helicopters launched a large-scale operation against the militants in the battered town of Silvan, which has been under a punishing curfew for nine days.
Local MPs have warned that the mainly Kurdish town of 90,000 people is facing dire shortages of water, food and electricity and one accused Ankara of trying to "massacre" the population.
One soldier and one police officer were killed in clashes Wednesday with members of the youth wing of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), security sources and the provincial governor's office said.
At least four other soldiers and a policeman were injured in the unrest, according to the same sources.
Five rebels were also killed in the Turkish operation, the Diyarbakir governor's office said in a statement.
"The operations against the terrorists will continue with determination," it said.
Also Wednesday, Kurdish militants detonated a car bomb on a road in the neighbouring province of Mardin as a police convoy was passing, killing a municipal worker and wounding a police officer, Dogan news agency said.
Three police officers were killed and another was wounded late Tuesday when they came under a hail of rockets and automatic weapons fire while patrolling the town of Silopi, about 100 miles (160 kilometres) southeast of Silvan, security sources told AFP.
- 'People fear for their lives' -
Feleknas Uca, a lawmaker with the pro-Kurdish Peoples' Democracy Party (HDP), voiced concern that contact had been lost with people in Silvan.
"They are faced with a big massacre. People fear for their lives. This operation should immediately be ended," she told Dogan.
The hashtag "#There is a massacre in Silvan" is a world trending topic on Twitter.
But the Diyarbakir governor's office dismissed the protests about the Turkish government's actions.
"Claims in some media outlets such as 'civilians are being targeted in the operation, a five-year-old child was killed by bombs, helicopters are throwing bombs with the aim of bringing the people of Silvan on their knees,' are baseless."
However, in the three neighbourhoods of Silvan where the round-the-clock curfew has been enforced, scars of street battles are evident in bullet-riddled buildings and streets strewn with rubble and rubbish.
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu attended a funeral ceremony for a slain soldier in Ankara -- a common sight since Turkey launched its "anti-terrorism war" against the rebels.
Southeast Turkey has been rocked by a new wave of unrest that has left several hundred people dead since a two-year-old truce between Ankara and the PKK fell apart in July.
Last Thursday, the PKK ended a unilateral truce it had declared before the November 1 election, which saw Erdogan's Justice and Development Party (AKP) win back a parliamentary majority.
Erdogan subsequently vowed to press on with the fight against the PKK until all its fighters are "wiped out".
And just a day after the vote, Turkish war planes unleashed several rounds of air strikes on PKK targets in the country's southeast and in northern Iraq.
Tens of thousands of people have been killed since the PKK took up arms in 1984 demanding an independent state for Kurds. Since then the group has narrowed its demands to greater autonomy and cultural rights.
| Armed Conflict | November 2015 | ['(AFP via Yahoo)'] |
Subsequently, the Department for Exiting the European Union and the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union cabinet position are abolished with immediate effect upon leaving the EU. | Brexit Secretary Steve Barclay has tended his resignation, one minute after the UK’s formal exit from the EU.
Mr Barclay was the third person to hold the office of Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, after David Davis and Dominic Raab took on the challenge under Theresa May – before both ultimately quitting over policy disagreements.
The role was officially abolished alongside the Department for Exiting the European Union (DExEU) at 11:01pm on Friday evening, with Prime Minister Boris Johnson opting to centralise power in Downing Street and the Cabinet Office ahead of the start of negotiations for a post-Brexit trade deal.
Mr Barclay already had a significantly reduced role compared to his predecessors, with Mr Johnson taking control of negotiations with the EU in order to hash out his revised Brexit withdrawal agreement.
Mr Barclay will now return to the back benches for the first time since 2016 – though an anticipated post-Brexit reshuffle could see him land a new role in Government.
In a letter to the Prime Minister, Mr Barclay said: “With the purpose of the department now complete, and our departure secure, I write to resign formally at 11.01 pm.”
He added: “We will also have delivered on the mandate of the British people, as expressed in the referendum in 2016 and the general election last month.
“I am most grateful to you for the opportunity to serve in this role at such an historic time.”
Mr Johnson replied: “You can take particular pride that we are delivering on our promise to the British people to get Brexit done.
“You have worked tirelessly to ensure that we can seize the opportunities that lie ahead and make this a decade of renewal for our whole country.”
Junior Brexit ministers James Duddridge and Lord Callanan also lost their Government jobs as DExEU closed, with Mr Johnson thanking each minister for their service.
The DExEU Twitter account confirmed: “This department has now closed. | Government Job change - Resignation_Dismissal | January 2020 | ['(Inews)'] |
Leading Congolese rights activist Floribert Chebeya is found dead in his car after having been summoned to a meeting with the police chief. | A leading rights activist in the Democratic Republic of Congo has been found dead in the capital, Kinshasa. Floribert Chebeya's body was discovered, partially clothed, on the back seat of his own car. A BBC reporter says Mr Chebeya had received regular threats from police in the past, and had been ordered to meet the national police chief on Tuesday. Rights group Amnesty International says oppression of activists in DR Congo is growing.
The BBC's Thomas Fessy in Kinshasa says condoms and traces of female hair were found in the car, and that Mr Chebeya's driver had gone missing.
It is unclear whether or not the meeting between the head of the national police force, John Numbi, and Mr Chebeya went ahead.
Mr Chebeya sent a text message to his wife saying that he was at the police headquarters for the meeting, but no more was heard from him after that, our reporter says.
Mr Chebeya was head of the rights group Voice of the Voiceless and had been campaigning in defence of democracy and human rights in DR Congo since the early 1990s.
"We are stunned and appalled by the suspicious death of such a prominent and respected human rights defender," Veronique Aubert, Amnesty's deputy Africa director, said in a statement.
The London-based rights group has called for an investigation into his death.
UN to reduce DR Congo peace force
Country profile: Democratic Republic of Congo
BBC Afrique
World Service Africa
Amnesty International
One Covid vaccine dose cuts hospital risk by 75%
But the number of Delta variant cases recorded in the UK has risen by 79% in a week, figures show. | Famous Person - Death | June 2010 | ['(BBC)', '(IOL)', '(news24.com)', '(Reuters)', '(The Washington Post)'] |
The U.S. House of Representatives passes the Equality Act, which prohibits discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity. | WASHINGTON — The United States House of Representatives on Friday passed substantial reforms to the Civil Rights Act to include protections for LGBTQ Americans.
The bill, called the Equality Act, would protect LGBTQ Americans from discrimination in applying for credit, housing, employment, and more. But Republican critics of the legislation say it would harm religious freedoms, making it unlikely the GOP-led Senate will take up the bill.
If a Democrat beats Trump in 2020, they might still have to face the toughest obstacle in politics — Mitch McConnell
The bill passed 236-173, with unanimous support from the Democratic caucus. In total, eight Republicans crossed the aisle to support the legislation.
"This is not only important to the LGBTQ community, it's important for America, ending discrimination," House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said in a Thursday press conference. "Our history has always been one of expanding freedom and reducing discrimination."
Other Democratic leaders praised the bill, saying it would boost civil-rights protections across the board.
"Much of the history of the United States has been about expanding the definition of who is understood to be included when the Declaration of Independence says 'All men are created equal,'" Rep. Jerry Nadler, the House Judiciary Committee chairman, said in a Friday floor speech. "When these words were first written, that phrase did not include black and Latino men. It did not include Native Americans. It did not include women. And it certainly did not include LGBTQ individuals."
He added: "At this moment, we have an opportunity to continue our march toward justice — to enshrine in our nation's laws protections for marginalized communities to ensure that everyone can fully participate in key areas of life and to provide them recourse in the face of discrimination."
The bill was also endorsed by the New Democrat Coalition, a large group of moderate lawmakers in the House.
Progressives like Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez may be the 'rock stars' of the Democratic House majority — but another group of freshman Democrats is reshaping Congress
But Republicans vehemently opposed the legislation, saying it would roll back religious freedoms and laws in place to protect Americans who oppose abortion rights.
They said that because of language in the bill about discrimination against pregnant people and people who've given birth, it would prevent doctors from objecting to performing abortions for moral reasons.
"The Democrats' latest piece of legislation is another mirage, packaged with a deceiving title, that ultimately chips away at our religious freedoms, would jeopardize Title IX sports programs, and puts our children at risk by eliminating parental consent in life-altering medical procedures," House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy said in a statement to The Daily Signal, the media arm of the conservative Heritage Foundation.
Critics also said this would undermine Hyde Amendment protections that ensure that federal taxpayer dollars are not used to fund abortions.
As a result, the Republican-led Senate is not likely to consider the Equality Act. In addition, a senior White House official told the Washington Blade that President Donald Trump would not sign the bill in its current form. | Government Policy Changes | May 2019 | ['(Business Insider)'] |
The Mid-American Conference announces that its 12 members will not play this fall season, including in football. While many other NCAA Division I leagues have already called off fall sports, the MAC becomes the first Division I FBS league to scrap the 2020 football season. | MAC commissioner Dr. Jon Steinbrecher discusses what went into the conference's decision to postpone all fall sports, with the intention of playing in the spring. (1:52)
The Mid-American Conference has postponed its entire fall sports season, becoming the first FBS conference to make the drastic decision because of ongoing concerns surrounding the coronavirus pandemic.
League presidents met Saturday morning and voted unanimously for the postponement. The MAC is the first FBS conference to opt not to play this fall. Earlier this week, FBS independent UConn became the first FBS program to cancel its season.
MAC commissioner Jon Steinbrecher said the decision "was not made lightly nor without significant contemplation and conversation over the past weeks."
"Clearly we are charting a conservative path -- and it is one that has been recommended by our medical advisory group," Steinbrecher told reporters on a video conference. "There are simply too many unknowns for us to put our student-athletes in situations that are not clearly understood. We have traditionally been a leader on student-athlete well-being issues. This has not been an easy decision. For the Mid-American Conference, it is the right decision."
The MAC said it has started formalizing plans to move all affected sports -- football, men's and women's cross country, men's and women's soccer, field hockey and women's volleyball -- to spring 2021, if possible.
No decision had been made regarding winter sports, including men's and women's basketball.
Steinbrecher talked about his struggle during the pandemic to let his "emotional wall down." On Saturday, he had to pause once to collect himself as he spoke with reporters about the gravity of what he called "simply a miserable decision."
"When I had to shut down our basketball tournament in March, I was asked how I felt and I gave a very stiff answer, saying I didn't feel -- I just worked the issue," Steinbrecher said. "I said that because I was unsure if I let my emotional wall down, I would not stay composed. Today I am in the same place.
"I'm crushed by this decision. I am so disappointed. It's just crushing that we can't facilitate the opportunities this fall because of circumstances around us. I'm heartbroken on that. The flip side is I take comfort, and I would say our presidents take comfort, and I assume all others that we're making decisions for the right reasons."
Northern Illinois athletic director Sean Frazier on Saturday said the idea of putting college football players in an NBA-style "bubble" wasn't a reality and that the MAC made the right decision.
"The realist in me just said, 'Wow, this is not going to happen,'" said Frazier, whose wife suffers from asthma and knows others who have had COVID-19. "We need more time for data collection. We need more time to see how this all pans out. I cannot put my kids in harm's way. If I wouldn't have my own kid play this sport, or if I have a doctor tell me that he wouldn't have his kid, play, how I can put someone else's kid out there?"
"... We've got to go to class. We've got to interact with other people. All that boiled into a blender of saying, 'We're not going to be able to do this.' For me to push to do this without having the proper safeguards would be irresponsible. A lot of leagues will come to their decision-making, and I'm quite sure they'll do the right thing for themselves. I wish them luck in the process. I certainly don't wish any ill will. But what we did in the MAC was the right decision for us. I'm going to sleep a lot better knowing I didn't put someone else's kid or loved one in harm's way."
Central Michigan football coach Jim McElwain said on Twitter that the decision not to play was a "disappointment" but that "we respect the decision made by the MAC today."
While we are disappointed to not be playing this fall, we respect the decision made by the MAC today. Our main priority is ensuring the safety of our players, staff, their families and loved ones. This is a difficult time, but we will get through it, and we'll do it together.
Steinbrecher said he hopes the coaches, athletes and players can have some assurance that the conference will "make every effort to provide competitive opportunities in the spring."
He said the MAC will have a series of working groups and that administrators, doctors, coaches and players will play a significant role in helping develop a new 12-month program for 2021.
"This fall our presidents will get updates on a monthly report," Steinbrecher said. "By mid-fall, hopefully we'll have plans in place that will have been approved. And then, somewhere later this fall, whether that's November or December, I think the virus will have a big determination on our ability to ultimately say it's a go or a no-go. At some point, we'll make that determination that we can move forward with these plans."
Steinbrecher said he sent an email to the other nine FBS conference commissioners in advance of Saturday morning's news but said it was still too early to gauge any reaction as to whether the MAC decision might trigger other conferences to do the same.
Big Ten presidents also met Saturday, and the Pac-12 CEO group is expected to meet early next week.
"I won't try to judge what other folks are doing," Steinbrecher said. "I know we're all in the same place. They all have their advisers. They're going to make judgments based on the information they are receiving."
Steinbrecher said the MAC presidents started their meeting Thursday, when they were presented with a handful of scheduling models to consider, but they were unable to finish the meeting. When they reconvened Saturday, he said the group was in unanimous agreement about postponing everything.
"I had no certainty of how that would play out," Steinbrecher said. "It could have gone several different ways. ... This was a hard decision but a thoughtful decision."
Akron defensive back Kavari Adams posted a statement from the #MACUnited group, saying players in the conference are disappointed but "we applaud our leaders for prioritizing our health and safety."
The statement also said that players hope the MAC's decision "does not equate to the loss of eligibility for our athletes."
Nine of 13 conferences at the Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) -- Division I's second tier -- already announced postponement of their fall football seasons with an eye toward making them up in the spring.
But in the FBS, conferences have been putting in place plans -- however tentative -- for the coming season. The Power 5 went first, and then the so-called Group of 5, with the American Athletic, Sun Belt, Mountain West and Conference USA all completing schedule models this week. | Sports Competition | August 2020 | ['(Mid-American Conference)', '(ESPN)'] |
Suspected Boko Haram militants have killed at least 50 people on an island on Lake Chad, bordering Cameroon and Chad. | Suspected Boko Haram militants have killed at least 50 people on an island on Lake Chad, bordering Cameroon and Chad, a local official told the BBC.
The militants, disguised as traders, attacked fishermen, local mayor Ali Ramat said, quoting a survivor.
The attack happened on 22 December, but news from the remote area is only just beginning to come out.
Boko Haram, formed in Nigeria in 2009, has since spread its activities to neighbouring Chad, Cameroon and Niger. Mr Ramat, the mayor of Darak in Cameroon's Far North Region, told the BBC that among those killed were at least 20 Cameroonians. An unknown number of people are still unaccounted for, he said.
The dead are believed to be a mixture of nationalities, some of whom had been fishing on the lake. In late December, local community members sent a search party to the area of the attack and found dead bodies floating in the water, the BBC's Killian Chimtom in Cameroon reports.
Regional Governor Midjiyawa Bakary confirmed that the attack had happened.
Mayor Ramat said the area had become a hotspot for Boko Haram attacks since Chadian soldiers stopped patrolling it.
He told the BBC that the Multi-National Joint Task Force - a five-nation regional military force from the countries of the Lake Chad Basin - was ill equipped to patrol the area.
| Armed Conflict | December 2019 | ['(BBC)'] |
The bodies of two Australian soldiers killed in a bomb blast in Afghanistan begin their journey home. | CANBERRA, June 9 (Xinhua) -- The bodies of two Australian soldiers killed in a bomb blast in Afghanistan will begin their journey home on Wednesday, Australian Defense Force announced.
According to Australian Associated Press, the two men will be farewelled at a ramp ceremony in Tarin Kowt on Wednesday, and Defense Minister John Faulkner will attend a second ceremony to be held at the Al Minhad Air Base.
The solders' bodies will then come home, defense said.
Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd said the deaths have been a sobering reminder that Afghanistan is a very tough military campaign.
"We are up against a determined and dangerous enemy. However, under no circumstances can Australians afford to allow Afghanistan to become a free, operating, training base for terrorist organizations in the future," Rudd said on Tuesday.
Senator Faulkner has warned of a "particularly violent period ahead" in war-torn Afghanistan and said more soldiers may die.
"I can only say to you that Australian troops, like other ( international) forces, are at great risk," Faulkner told ABC Radio on Tuesday.
In what has been described as the deadliest day for coalition forces this year, Taliban insurgents ramped up bombings and attacks on North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) forces on Monday.
Two Australian soldiers, Brisbane-based soldiers Darren Smith and Jacob Moerland have been killed in the incident. NATO announced that ten soldiers, seven of them American, had been killed in a string of attacks. | Famous Person - Death | June 2010 | ['(People.cn)', '(Chinamil)', '(thisislondon)', '(Sky News)'] |
Members of the United Automobile Workers Union walk off their jobs at General Motors plants across the United States as union and company officials fail to reach agreement on a new contract. | DETROIT, Sept. 24 — Members of the United Automobile Workers union walked off the job today at General Motors plants across the country after union leaders and company officials failed to reach an agreement in contentious talks on a new contract.
It is the first national strike by the union against G.M. since 1970. That strike lasted for two months. The U.A.W. last struck G.M. at two plants in Flint, Mich., in 1998, in a strike that went on for seven weeks. | Strike | September 2007 | ['(NYT)'] |
A Carolinian Amtrak passenger train (running north from Charlotte, North Carolina, to New York City) hits a tractor–trailer in Halifax, North Carolina resulting in two cars of the train derailing with several people receiving minor injuries. | RALEIGH, N.C. — Transportation officials say 40 passengers were injured when an Amtrak train collided with a tractor-trailer that was stuck on the tracks in North Carolina.
DOT officials said 25 people were taken to Halifax Regional Medical Center by bus and 15 by ambulance after the collision, which happened about noon Monday.
They said none of the injuries appeared to be life-threatening. A bus will take another 173 passengers who weren't injured to Richmond, Virginia.
Halifax County law-enforcement officials say the collision toppled the engine onto its side. They say the first two cars of the train toppled after the crash.
State transportation officials say the second car that derailed was a baggage car.
An eyewitness says the tractor-trailer driver was trying to make a difficult right-hand turn. She says the driver jumped out of the truck before the crash. | Train collisions | March 2015 | ['(AP via MSN)'] |
In the United States, the Tennessee state Senate will vote on a bill, which narrowly passed the House last year, to declare the Holy Bible the official book of Tennessee. Governor Bill Haslam was among those who opposed the bill in 2015. | NASHVILLE -- A new chapter opens today on a controversial bill that designates the Bible as Tennessee's official state book.
Sen. Steve Southerland, R-Morristown, said Monday he plans to renew his push on the legislation today before the Senate Judiciary Committee.
"Vanderbilt did the poll and 60 percent of the people said they want it," Southerland said, alluding to a Vanderbilt University poll last spring that showed high bipartisan support for the measure and even higher Republican and tea party backing.
Asked whether he can get the bill through the Judiciary Committee, Southerland said, "we'll find out."
Southerland and House Rep. Jerry Sexton, R-Bean Station, cite the Bible's prominence in Tennessee history for the designation as the state's official book.
The bill passed the House last year. But it ran into problems in the Senate with state Attorney General Herbert Slatery issuing a legal opinion saying that making the religious document state government's official book runs afoul of both the state and U.S. constitutions.
It was driven from the Senate floor in 2015 amid opposition from top GOP leaders as well as Republican Gov. Bill Haslam. Ramsey warned making the move risked litigation and also demeaned a book many consider holy by placing it in Tennessee's official state Blue Book alongside other symbols like reptiles and a murder ballad.
"I am a Christian, but I am also a constitutionalist and a conservative," Ramsey said in a statement at the time. "It would be fiscally irresponsible to put the state in a position to have to spend tax dollars defending a largely symbolic piece of legislation. We don't need to put the Bible beside salamanders, tulip poplars and 'Rocky Top' to appreciate its importance to our state."
Majority Leader Mark Norris, R-Collierville, said last year "all I know is that I hear Satan snickering. He loves this kind of mischief. You just dumb the good book down far enough to make it whatever it takes to make it a state symbol, and you're on your way to where he wants you."
The bill was re- referred last year from the Senate floor back to the State and Local Government Committee.
But for unknown reasons, it now has been assigned to the Senate Judiciary Committee, according to the legislative website. Some Republican senators believe the bill has a good chance of passing.
| Government Policy Changes | March 2016 | ['(R)', '(AP)', '(Chattanooga Times Free Press)'] |
The authorities arrested dozens of protesters in Minneapolis as they demanded answers into the fatal police shooting of 23-year-old Dolal Bayle Idd on December 30. The protests came after the body camera footage from a deadly traffic stop was released. At least 15 people were detained for allegedly rioting and 21 people were cited and released. | Updated: January 01, 2021 06:08 PM
Created: January 01, 2021 07:32 AM
Dozens of protesters were arrested overnight in Minneapolis as they called for police and prison reform.
The protests and arrests, which were seen by a 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS crew, were not related to the fatal shooting of 23-year-old Dolal Bayle Idd by police on Wednesday in south Minneapolis. The protest had been scheduled for several weeks.
The arrests happened in downtown Minneapolis.
According to officials with the city, 15 people were booked for probable cause riot and 21 people were cited and released.
Police said several dispersal orders were given but those who were arrested refused to vacate the area. | Protest_Online Condemnation | December 2020 | ['(KSTP-TV)'] |
Acid attacks around a mall and tube station in Stratford, East London, leaves 6 injured. A 15-year-old has been arrested. | Six people have been injured in multipleacid attacks at a busy London shopping centre as police launch a manhunt to find the culprits.
Officers were called just before 8pmon Saturday to Stratford, eastLondon,near to the Olympic Park, to reports of multiple victims having being sprayed with acid at locations around the station and busy shopping centre.
A spokesperson for Scotland Yard said: "We were called to the area around Westfield Stratford Shopping Centre to reports of a group of males spraying what is believed to be a noxious substance.
"A number of people have been reported injured at different locations - believed to be six people. We await further details. "
The attack focused around the 1970s shopping mall, the Stratford Centre,which is next to the bus station and a walk through to the Tube station.
Witnesses at the scene said an argument broke out among a group of people.
A man who gave his name as Hossen, 28, a Burger King assistant manager, said he saw a victim and his friend, a known local homeless man, run into the fast food outlet bathroom "to wash acid off his face".
He said: "There were cuts around his eyes and he was trying to chuck water into them."
Paul Gibson, assistant director of operations at London Ambulance Service, said: "We have sent a number of resources to the scene including paramedics in cars, ambulance crews, an incident response officer and our Hazardous Area Response Team.
"So far, we have treated at least five patients at the scene and taken three patients to hospital. We remain on scene."
Police have arrested one man onsuspicion of grievous bodily harm and are searching for others.
A spokesman for the Metropolitan Police said the attack was not being treated as terror related.
Adding that the "injuries werenot life threatening or life changing".
Inside the Burger King toilets, water could be seen all over the floor, along with toilet tissue and medical gloves.
Outside, people gathered at police cordons while victims were being treated behind a blue screen.
Many of those at the scene, kept inside the cordon by police, were visibly upset by the incident.
One said: "I can't speak now, my mate's been hurt."
Really sad to hear what happened in Stratford, these acid attacks need to stop!!
| Armed Conflict | September 2017 | ['(Telegraph)'] |
Colombia says it would consider quitting UNASUR if the bloc does not agree to debate issues related to drug trafficking, terrorism and arms purchases. | Colombia could consider quitting the South American Nations Union, Unasur, if the block does not agree to debate issues related to drug trafficking, terrorism and arms purchases. There is a lack of “sensitivity” from other members to consider these issues.
“If there is no sense of urgency on these issues as they are for Colombia, we will be mere spectators. In that case we will have to evaluate the possibility of pulling out”, said Colombian Defence Minister Gabriel Silva at the end of the regional summit of Foreign and Defence ministers in Ecuador.
Minister Silva admitted the Unasur meeting in Quito had been “very strained and difficult because some countries allied against Colombia to question a military cooperation agreement with the United States and ignored other sensitive issues for regional security. Venezuela said that the seven Colombian bases where US forces are to be deployed could be used “to gather intelligence, counterintelligence and conspire against us” and added the Venezuelans should get prepared for a possible armed conflict with US and Colombia. Unasur Foreign and Defence ministers concluded the meeting in Quito without having reached a definitive agreement on transparency regarding security policies. Colombia came under intense criticism for denying revealing the security cooperation agreements signed with Washington. The official position from the Colombian government is that it is willing to reveal details of agreements with the US as long as the rest of the members of Unasur comply with the same commitment. Defence minister Silva told his peers Colombia would not be involved in an arms race, as in neighbouring countries and that the purchase of military hardware is geared to combat drugs trafficking and terrorism. “We are not going to let ourselves be tempted by threatening games from neighbours”, underlined Silva. Russia this week was granted a 2.2 billion US dollars loan for the purchase of tanks and missiles systems. This comes on top of previous purchases of fighter-bombers, helicopters, submarines and infantry weapons. Brazil, Chile, Ecuador and even landlocked Bolivia are involved in significant military hardware purchases, totalling over 25 billion US dollars. Silva makes an interesting suggestion -- let's see what all the nations of South America have in the way of military agreements with the US.
no need military agreements with US to defend South America against Penguens and Whales !!
“Brazil, Chile, Ecuador and even landlocked Bolivia are involved in significant military hardware purchases, totaling over 25 billion US dollars.”
The US military budget for 2009 is $651.2 billion (Wikipedia)- 26 times the purchases of these 4 countries. Wouldn't you be scared is a country with such astronomical arms spending opened up a number of new bases in your back yard? Colombia is turning itself into the Israel of South America.
| Withdraw from an Organization | September 2009 | ['(MercoPress)'] |
In Senegal, former prime minister Idrissa Seck is arrested for "endangering national security" | Dakar Former prime minister Idrissa Seck, an emerging political rival to
President Abdoulaye Wade, has been charged with endangering national
security and remanded in custody until his trial.
Seck, who served as Wade's prime minister from November 2002 until April
2004, was formally charged on Saturday after spending a week in police
detention.
During that time, Seck was questioned about allegations of massive
overspending on public works in the city of Thies, where he serves as
mayor.
The government has not spelled out publicly how Seck is supposed to have
endangered national security or whether the charges against him are
connected to allegations that he squandered 46 billion CFA francs (US $84
million) on public works projects in Thies that were only budgeted at 25
billion CFA (US $45 million).
Supporters of the 46-year-old politician have accused Wade of simply
bringing the charges in order to silence a political rival.
Seck, who has made clear his ambition to become president, was taken
into police custody on 15 July. He was transferred to the main prison in
Dakar at the weekend after formal charges were laid against him.
Seck has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing and his defence team told IRIN
that the charges against him were politically motivated.
"No specific fact was brought against him and no proof was submitted
against him," said Boucounta Diallo, the coordinator of his team of
Senegalese and French defence lawyers.
"Mr. Seck is completely innocent of everything he has been accused of,"
he added.
Ousmane Seye, a government lawyer, said Seck had refused to answer any
police questions about municipal spending on public works in Thies,
Senegal's second largest city, which lies 70 km east of the capital
Dakar.
Widely regarded as a rival and potential successor to 78-year-old Wade
within the ruling Democratic Party of Senegal (PDS), Seck has never denied
that he has presidential ambitions.
However, he has consistently said that he would not stand against Wade
if the aging president chose to seek re-election in 2007.
As the number two figure in the PDS, Seck played a key role in securing
Wade's election as president and in constructing political alliances with
minority parties that gave Wade's supporters 89 of the 120 seats in
parliament in the 2001 general election.
He was made chief of staff of the president's office immediately after
Wade's election and occupied the post for two years until he was made prime
minister.
But the two men fell out last year and Seck was sacked as a result.
Wade's present drive to prosecute his former ally for "endangering state
security and national defence" may prove difficult, since the constitution
accords Seck certain privileges as a former prime minister.
Parliament must first approve the government's move to bring charges
against Seck by a 60 percent majority.
If the legislature gives its consent, Seck will then be brought before a
special court to be judged by a committee of eight senior judges and eight
members of parliament.
Senegal has until recently had a reputation for democracy and tolerance
in West Africa, a region plagued by military coups and civil wars.
The country has enjoyed uninterrupted civilian rule since independence
from France in 1960 and Wade peacefully ended four decades of rule by the
Socialist Party when he came to power in the 2000 elections.
But five years into his seven-year presidential term, Wade is facing
increasing criticism for his increasingly authoritarian style.
In May, Abdourahim Agne, the vocal leader of the small centre-left
Reform Party (PR), was arrested and charged with threatening the state after
he urged people to take to the streets to demand Wade's resignation.
Shortly aftwards dissent broke out within the PDS's own ranks when 12
members of parliament close to Seck briefly defected from the ruling
coalition.
Following their walkout, Seck's home was attacked and a pro-PDS student
leader was knifed.
Such incidents of political violence are relatively rare in Senegal, but
they have become more common in recent years.
Diallo, Seck's chief defence lawyer, pointed out that ironically the
president was bringing charges against Seck under four articles of the legal
code which he had earlier vowed to abolish.
This special "High Court of Justice" was last convened in 1962 to hear
charges that Mamadou Dia, the then prime minister had been plotting a coup
against Senegal's first president, Leopold Senghor. He was found guilty and
sentenced to life imprisonment.
Sidiki Kaba, the chairman of the Paris-based International Federation of
Human Rights (FIDH), who is another lawyer in the defence team has no doubt
why Seck is in prison.
"He is a political prisoner and we are defending him," Kaba said of
Seck.
| Famous Person - Commit Crime - Accuse | July 2005 | ['(AllAfrica)', '(Reuters AlertNet)', '(BBC)'] |
More than 50 people are arrested in the Russian capital Moscow after holding an "unsanctioned" human rights rally. | MOSCOW, Oct 31 (Reuters) - Russian police said they detained at least 50 people on Saturday at an unsanctioned human rights protest in central Moscow, but protesters put the number higher.
Police dragged off dozens of people to waiting buses and jostled scores of reporters towards metal barriers while protesters continued to chant "Freedom!" and "Respect the constitution!".
"I want Russia to be free, not to rot in a policeman's nightmare," said a protester in a black mask who refused to give his name for fear of reprisals.
Moscow police spokesman Viktor Biryukov said about 50 people had been detained at the protest which he said was attended by about 100 people and 100 reporters.
Opposition activists said about 70 people had been detained and that 500 people had showed up.
Hundreds of police and interior ministry troops encircled the "march of the discontented" on Triumfalnaya Square, just a few km (miles) north of the Kremlin. Unlike previous protests, riot police were not used to make arrests.
Human rights groups say the Kremlin has muzzled the media and rolled back freedoms since Vladimir Putin was first elected president in 2000 and the situation has not improved under his protege, President Dmitry Medvedev.
Putin is believed by many diplomats and Russian citizens to be the real ruler in Russia despite stepping down as Kremlin chief to become prime minister in May 2008.
Lyudmila Alexeyeva, a Soviet dissident and one of Russia's best known human rights campaigners, attended the protest with a police colonel, an escort she said was needed to ensure she was not crushed by the crowds.
"I came here to defend the constitution," Alexeyeva, 82, told Reuters as she was pushed towards metal barriers by a crowd of police, reporters and protesters.
| Armed Conflict | October 2009 | ['(RIA Novosti)', '(Reuters)', '(Press TV)'] |
Greek and Turkish local leaders of Cyprus resume talks to end the division of the island before a high level multilateral conference takes place in Geneva this week in the latest effort to reunify the island. | Turkish and Greek Cypriot officials say first direct negotiations since 1974 are ‘best and last chance’ for resolution
First published on Mon 9 Jan 2017 06.00 GMT
A historic effort to end the division of Cyprus has begun in earnest as Greek and Turkish community leaders resumed reunification talks before a high stakes multilateral conference, the first since the island’s partition 43 years ago.
After 18 months of intensive negotiations to settle inter-ethnic divisions, Nicos Anastasiades and Mustafa Akıncı will attempt to finesse the details of a peace deal in Geneva this week by poring over maps and discussing territorial trade-offs before tackling the potentially explosive issue of security.
Asked if he was optimistic as he arrived at the UN’s European headquarters on Monday morning, Anastasiades, the Greek Cypriot leader, said: “Ask me when we are finished.”
For an island the finer skills of peacemakers has long eluded, the talks are seen as a defining moment in the arduous process of resolving what has long been regarded as the Rubik’s cube of diplomacy.
On Sunday, the new UN secretary general, António Guterres, described the talks as a historic opportunity. In Nicosia officials on both sides of the buffer zone spoke of “the best and last chance” for a settlement. Other experts described the talks as the endgame. “This is the final phase of the final phase,” said Hubert Faustmann, a professor of history and political science at the University of Nicosia. “It will be the first time since 1974 that Turkey and the Greek Cypriots will hold direct talks at the negotiating table.”
A week of fierce horse-trading lies ahead before Greece, Turkey and former colonial power Britain – the island’s three guarantors under its post-independence constitution – convene on 12 January to address the issues of troop presence and security in an envisioned federation. Both are seen as crucial to ensuring 1974 is never repeated.
“It is a classical final stage of negotiation,” said Faustmann. “Issues that neither side could agree on and have been kept pending will now be interlinked.”
The commitment to a settlement shown by Anastasiades and Akıncı has helped to raise hopes. The two men have shown a rare moderation, with some tracing their desire for a solution to their shared heritage as sons of the southern city of Limassol. Like Akıncı, Anastasiades – who heads Cyprus’s internationally recognised south – has memories of coexistence and believes time will only work against reunification.
At a time of unprecedented uncertainty in Europe and growing global volatility, the need for a good news story has also added impetus. From Washington to Ankara there is recognition that a deal would bring stability to the wider region. The prospect of Greeks and Turks, Christians and Muslims cooperating in the continent’s eastern corner would, say officials, send a powerful message and be a beacon of hope.
Acknowledging a settlement will help set the tone for 2017, Turkey and Britain agreed at the weekend that a solution would be a game-changer. In statements made after the British prime minister, Theresa May, spoke by telephone to her Turkish counterpart, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Downing Street said both leaders saw the talks as offering “a real opportunity to secure a better future for Cyprus and to guarantee stability in the wider region”.
The discovery of oil and natural gas deposits in the eastern Mediterranean and the spectre of Cyprus becoming an energy hub through which the reserves could be pumped to Europe has also helped drive the process.
Because peace talks have floundered so many times, however, there is consensus that if they do so again reunification efforts could collapse once and for all. Analysts have expressed fears that in event of failure Turkey could move to annex the north, where it continues to station more than 40,000 troops since invading in response to an Athens-inspired coup aimed at uniting the island with Greece. Guarantor powers have the right of military intervention, a right that Ankara is determined to maintain.
With both sides working on the premise that nothing is agreed until everything is agreed, officials are electing to voice cautious optimism.
“The last mile is always the most difficult,” a senior official in Ankara said.
Any agreement will be put to twin referendums, which also raises the stakes. The last time a reunification deal was put to public vote in 2004, the minority Turks supported it but it was rejected by the Greek majority.
Persuading the Turks to surrender enough territory to allow at least 90,000 Greek Cypriots displaced by the invasion to return to their homes is now pivotal to any deal.
Turkish Cypriots, citing the inter-ethnic violence that erupted after independence, in turn insist that mainland troops must remain to protect them in the event of renewed conflict. The EU, which is likely to be represented by the European commission president, Jean-Claude Juncker, counters that Cyprus’s membership of the bloc is security enough. Greek Cypriots worry that without a withdrawal of troops their own security will never be guaranteed. In talks so far, progress has been made on issues of governance, political power-sharing, the economy and the EU. Insiders liken the week ahead to a game of poker, in which concession and compromise will ultimately prevail, and there is thriller-like suspense over whether a comprehensive accord can finally be achieved. Heading to Geneva, Akıncı said it would be impossible to cover everything by the end of the week. The Greek foreign minister, Nikos Kotzias, echoed that sentiment, saying the talks were part of an open-ended process that should not be considered abortive if they were not conclusive. Much will depend on Erdoğan, who has shown more flexibility on Cyprus than other Turkish leaders but is famously unpredictable. The president, who has not clarified whether he will attend the talks, could exploit a Cyprus solution to improve ties with Europe that have become increasingly strained over migration. “It is he, and he alone, who will decide whether Turkey makes the concessions to solve the Cyprus problem,” Faustmann said. “But which way he will go, nobody knows.” | Diplomatic Talks _ Diplomatic_Negotiation_ Summit Meeting | January 2017 | ['(The Guardian)'] |
Voters in Burkina Faso go to the polls, with incumbent President Blaise Compaoré claiming victory with 75 per cent of the votes. | Blaise Compaore was among 12 candidates standing in the presidential elections in the west African state this weekend.
Salif Diallo estimates Mr Compaore took some 75% of the vote. Official results are not expected for another few days.
Several opposition candidates have criticised the huge amount of money Mr Compaore spent on his campaign.
They also feared the vote would be rigged. About 1,000 foreign observers were at the polls.
One major opposition politician, Herman Yameogo, withdrew from the election because he was convinced they would not be fair.
Burkina Faso is one of the poorest and least developed countries in the world.
Mr Diallo told the BBC Mr Compaore had won a massive victory, calling it an "electoral spanking".
He claimed turnout was between 60% and 70%, although several international observers believe the figure is lower.
'Civic duty'
Queues formed peacefully as 12,000 polling stations opened for the four million registered voters on Sunday.
The winner will be elected for five years. If no candidate gains an outright majority, the top two must fight a second round.
Two recent opinion polls suggested 60% of voters intended to back Mr Compaore.
Voter-education campaigns urged everyone to vote, calling it a civic duty.
Mr Compaore was the only candidate in the 1991 elections and most of the major opposition figures did not run in 1998. The Constitutional Court allowed the president to run for office again, even though an amendment to the constitution made in 2000 limits each head of state to two terms of office.
The opposition candidates have attacked Burkina Faso's alleged involvement in several wars in the region, and say they will cut down on corruption. | Government Job change - Election | November 2010 | ['(BBC News)'] |
Brazilian Senator Cid Gomes is shot during a clash with striking military police officers in Sobral, Ceará. | RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — A Brazilian senator was shot Wednesday as he tried to intervene in a strike by military police demanding higher salaries in the northeastern state of Ceara, prompting authorities to deploy federal forces.
Sen. Cid Gomes, a former governor of the state, received a shot in the chest and was taken to a nearby hospital. A statement from the hospital released in the evening said the senator was in stable condition and breathing without medical help.
A video circulating on television showed Gomes trying to drive a backhoe through the gate of a police barrack, behind which balaclava-clad police officers were protesting. It also shows the moment when the vehicle's windows were being shot out. It wasn't immediately clear where the gunfire came from.
Shortly before heading to the protest, Gomes had posted a video on Twitter sharing his anger and calling for people to help him end the strike.
At the protest, Gomes was seen with a bullhorn. “You have five minutes to leave. Not one more,” he warned from behind the metal gate that separated his group from the masked officers.
One man standing amid the protesters could be heard yelling at him: “You don't have the authority to do this!” before a brief physical altercation.
Minutes later, Gomes attempted to ram the backhoe through the barricade and was hit at least one bullet.
An unknown number of officers began a strike Tuesday, dissatisfied with the negotiations with the state to raise their pay. In Brazil, the military police are in charge of patrolling the streets, among other duties, and it is illegal for them to strike.
Throughout the day, small acts of vandalism have occurred across the state. Masked men invaded several police barracks, smashing police window-shields and puncturing tires. In one instance, men drove off with patrol cars and parked them in line blocking nearby streets.
In the city of Sobral, where the 56-year-old former governor was injured, men wearing balaclavas on-board police vehicles forced businesses to shut their doors for the day, online news portal G1 reported.
The Public Security Secretary said in a press conference around mid-day, hours before Sen. Gomes was shot, that authorities would not tolerate the illegal strike. The state secretary said some 260 officers were already under investigation, and that any striking policeman would be banned from receiving its salary and possibly fired.
Justice and Public Minister Sergio Moro said in a statement Wednesday night it would deploy federal forces to help maintain order. The federal police and federal highway police have also been sent to Sobral to ensure the security of Gomes.
The Brazil Forum of Public Security, an independent organization that tracks national crime statistics, condemned the violence. “However legitimate the public security officers' salary demands are, it is unacceptable that bad policemen spread fear and panic among the population,” a statement read.
In 2017, hundreds of police went on strike in Brazil's Espirito Santo state and were indicted. The standoff produced a wave of violence, looting and burning of buses. Schools were closed, and medical services and public transportation interrupted. To stem the tumult, the federal government deployed more than 3,000 troops from the military and the national guard.
In 2011, during the last Ceara police protests, many were also arrested. “If they show their faces, they're fired or arrested,” said Manuela Barroso, a spokesperson for a military police association.
“Today the situation is different,” Barroso said, voicing fears that the strike could lead to looting and clashes in an already violent state. “Back then, the city was not as dangerous as it is today.”
| Riot | February 2020 | ['(AP via Yahoo News)'] |
The President of Italy Giorgio Napolitano nominates Mario Monti to be the new Prime Minister. | Mario Monti, an economist and former European Union commissioner, was tapped to lead much needed reforms as Prime Minister.
ROME (CNN) -- Economist Mario Monti was nominated Sunday to replace Silvio Berlusconi as Italy's prime minister, said Donato Marra, the general secretary of the presidency of the republic said Sunday.
Berlusconi resigned amid a financial crisis Saturday.
In announcing his nomination, Italian President Giorgio Napolitano said Monti, a former European Union commissioner, is "gifted, competent, experienced" and well-respected in Europe and internationally.
"This is the moment of his test," Napolitano said.
For his part, Monti in brief remarks to reporters thanked Napolitano "for his trust in me" and pledged to do his best to serve Italy during the economic crisis, speaking of the importance of providing a better future for Italy's children. He said he will work with urgency, but also with scruples.
Monti ultimately will face approval by the Italian Parliament.
Napolitano met the heads of the Senate and the lower house of parliament Sunday, among other politicians, during the course of a full day of consultations, his office said.
Berlusconi's resignation was greeted with cheers and dancing in the streets, as people waved the Italian flag and sang the nation's anthem.
He is the second prime minister to resign this month over the debt crisis sweeping across Europe. Greece's George Papandreou was replaced Wednesday by Lucas Papademos, a former European Central Bank official.
Support appeared to be growing this week for Monti to take the helm of a technocratic administration. Other names also floated include former Justice Minister Angelino Alfano and Gianni Letta, Berlusconi's chief of staff.
The Berlusconi government will back Monti, with conditions, Alfano, a spokesman for Berlusconi's People of Freedom party, told reporters on Sunday. Those conditions would be that the new government is comprised of technocrats, and that it concentrate on economic reforms, he said. The duration of the new government must be connected to how long those reforms take, according to Alfano.
Left-wing opposition leader Pier Luigi Bersani told reporters after meeting with Napolitano that his party supports the new government. "A new and technocrat government is needed ... because the crisis is serious," he said.
Bersani said his party expressed support for the upcoming government to carry out reforms in the electoral law and in the government, and thanked Napolitano for his handling of a "very grave crisis" in which "there was no time to lose."
Berlusconi has said he does not intend to stand again if new elections are called.
But in a letter to the head of a far-right party, Berlusconi suggested he did want to return to power.
"I hope to be able to undertake with you the path of government," he said in a letter to Francesco Storace, the head of the right-wing La Desta party.
"I'm proud of what we've managed to achieve in these three and half years, which were marked by an unprecedented international crisis," Berlusconi said in the letter which was posted on his Facebook page. It was dated before his resignation.
The 75-year-old business magnate stepped down just hours after the lower house of parliament approved austerity measures aimed at restoring confidence in Italy's economy.
Since entering politics nearly two decades ago, Berlusconi has been one of his country's great survivors, hanging on despite facing numerous trials, on charges ranging from corruption to having sex with an underage prostitute, none of which has resulted in a jail term.
The billionaire was elected for the third time in 2008, under the banner of the newly created People of Freedom party.
In the three and a half years since, his colorful personal life has claimed ever more headlines, as his second wife filed for divorce, he was charged with having sex with an underage nightclub dancer and abusing power, and the so-called "bunga-bunga" parties held at his home gained international notoriety.
On Tuesday, he failed to win a parliamentary majority on a budget vote that should have been routine, and had to face the inevitable: his days at the helm were numbered. In the end, it was his perceived failure to tackle Italy's debt crisis rather than any private scandal which had brought him down.
On Saturday, the Italian lower house of parliament approved a series of austerity measures demanded by Europe to shore up confidence in the country's economy. It passed by a vote of 380 for to 26 against.
The package, which includes spending cuts and proposals to boost growth, was approved by the Senate Friday, resulting in a market surge.
The measures include pension reform, with plans to raise the retirement age from 65 to 67, the privatization of state-owned companies and sale of state-owned properties, the liberalization of certain professions, and investment in infrastructure.
Italy is the the third-largest economy using the euro, and a meltdown would have a massive impact on global markets.
Berlusconi had pledged to step down once the austerity measures passed both houses of parliament after losing his majority.
The structural reforms demanded by the European Central Bank and the European Commission must be brought in without delay, said Emma Marcegaglia, head of the Italian employers' association, Confindustria.
"These reforms are the only thing that can take us out of the current situation," she said. "We have no choice. We cannot wait for three months for the next elections, this would mean the destruction of Italy. "
She said a rapid solution to the political uncertainty in Italy was essential to put it "firmly back on the road to credibility."
She added: "We are not Greece, we are a strong economy, we are the world's eighth largest economy. We have many state assets and have lots of potential. But we have to survive this very difficult situation."
Italian borrowing costs continued to ease Friday, after spiking above 6.75% Wednesday, giving investors hope that Italy is finally starting to make some progress toward addressing its massive debt problems.
Yields on Italian 10-year bonds were trading at 6.5% Friday after dipping as low as 6.43%. While that's still stubbornly above 6%, it's finally moving in the right direction.
It is imperative to keep Italy's 10-year bond yields well below 7% because that was the level that eventually led to bailouts for Ireland, Portugal and Greece.
Currently, Italy -- the biggest bond issuer in Europe -- possesses a massive gross debt of roughly €1.9 trillion and a debt-to-GDP ratio of 120%. The country is widely considered to be too big to fail. But it may also be too big to bail. CNN's Laura Smith-Spark contributed to this report
| Government Job change - Appoint_Inauguration | November 2011 | ['(CNN Money)'] |
Governor Kate Brown orders mass evacuations across the state after reporting that a series of wildfires have "substantially destroyed" the cities and towns of Blue River, Detroit, Phoenix, Talent, and Vida. Brown also enacts an emergency fire act to grant "immediate powers" to the state's fire officials. | Hundreds of homes have been lost to massive and unprecedented Oregon wildfires with a potentially historic number of fatalities feared in the northwestern US state, governor Kate Brown said Wednesday.
More than 300,000 acres are burning across Oregon including 35 major wildfires, with at least five towns "substantially destroyed" and mass evacuations taking place.
"This could be the greatest loss of human lives and property due to wildfire in our state's history," Brown told a press conference.
Along with neighbouring California and Washington states, Oregon has been scrambling to contain rapidly spreading wildfires since the weekend due to unprecedented heatwaves followed by intense, dry winds.
"I want to be upfront in saying that we expect to see a great deal of loss, both in structures and in human lives," said Brown.
Also read: Extreme heat from wildfires turns California into a furnace
Early reports said towns and cities including Detroit, Blue River, Vida, Phoenix and Talent had been "substantially destroyed," she added.
"Hundreds of homes have been lost. And we continue to carry out mass evacuations across the entire state."
Weather conditions had not improved Wednesday, threatening more towns and cities and helping to ignite new fires.
Dry vegetation has increased the risk of further "unprecedented" spread, with "significant damage and devastating consequences across the entire state" already suffered in the past 24 hours.
Brown said she had enacted an emergency fire act for the entire state, granting immediate powers and resources to fire officials, and requested federal assistance.
Neighboring California has already seen 2.5 million acres burn -- an annual record, with almost four months of the year remaining -- and at least eight deaths reported. | Fire | September 2020 | ['(AFP via Deccan Herald)'] |
Rioters rampage through central Athens after a Greek law enforcement officer shoots dead a teenager. | ATHENS Youths angry over the killing of a teenager by the police took to the streets in Athens and other Greek cities for a second day on Sunday, burning shops, cars and businesses in the worst rioting in recent years. The violence continued despite swift action by the government, which charged a police officer with premeditated manslaughter in the shooting death of the 15-year-old on Saturday night. The country’s prime minister whose government is already unpopular because of a series of corruption scandals also wrote a letter of apology to the boy’s parents.
The riots began hours after the boy was shot during a confrontation between the police and youths in the Exarchia neighborhood of central Athens, a district of bars, bookshops and restaurants where young leftists live and socialize. The youths regularly clash with the police, whom they view as symbols of the establishment. In most cases, the confrontations are relatively contained and end at the gates of universities with the young people holding off the police with gasoline bombs, rocks and slingshots. Advertisement
But the speed with which the riots spread over the weekend and the ferocity of the protests seemed to take the government by surprise. The police nationwide were not put on alert until Sunday night only after fires had destroyed dozens of businesses, including a high-end department store in central Athens.
Throughout the clashes, rioters used texting and Web sites to organize and communicate their responses against the police and other security forces. Nationwide, at least one bystander was hurt, as were six protesters and 16 police officers, according to the semi-official Athens News Agency. The details of the clash that led to the death of the 15-year-old, whose name was not released by the police, remained unclear.
According to the police, two police officers had been patrolling Exarchia when their car was stopped by some 30 young men, many of them hurling stones, around 9 p.m. on Saturday. The officers left their car to confront the mob, “firing three shots that resulted in the death of the minor,” according to a police statement. Police officials interviewed on television said the shot that killed the boy could have been a warning shot gone awry.
But Greek television featured witnesses who said one of the policemen had aimed at the teenager, who died while being transferred to a local hospital. Those accounts were also posted on www.indymedia.org, a Web site popular with leftist youth. One officer, Epaminondas Korkoneas, was charged with premeditated manslaughter. The other, Vassilis Saraliotis, was charged as an accomplice. As news of the death spread, hundreds of protesters began rampaging in the streets, first in Athens and then in other cities, including the country’s second-largest city, Salonika. Many lobbed fire bombs and stones at the riot police, who countered with tear gas. At least six people were arrested in Athens on Sunday, accused of looting from the destroyed department store and burned-out boutiques in the city’s commercial district, near Exarchia.
Stylianos Volirakos, an Athens police spokesman, said dozens of officers had been injured while trying to seal off streets around Athens Polytechnic University, in the Exarchia neighborhood, where rioters retreated. The protesters, hiding behind blazing trash bins and the university’s gates, continued to pelt the police with stones and fire bombs. It remained unclear on Sunday night whether the authorities would try to get permission to storm the state university. Greek police and the military have been banned from college campuses since military tanks in 1973 rammed the gates of the school to quash a student uprising against the military junta at the time. At least 22 civilians died in that attack, which is marked every year by youth-led marches that occasionally turn violent. | Riot | December 2008 | ['(New York Times)'] |
Rep. Ron Paul announces that he will again be seeking the Republican nomination for President of the United States. | Rep. Ron Paul's long-held advocacy of smaller government and less taxes has made him a tea party hero.
Rep. Ron Paul, R-Texas, whose outspoken libertarian views and folksy style made him a cult hero during two previous presidential campaigns, will announce on Tuesday that he's going to try a third time.
Sources close to Paul, who is in his 12th term in the House, said he will unveil an exploratory presidential committee, a key step in gearing up for a White House race. He will also unveil the campaign’s leadership team in Iowa, where the first votes of the presidential election will be cast in caucuses next year.
Meet the GOP's Potential Candidates Paul, 75, ran as the Libertarian Party candidate in 1988, finishing with less than one half a percent of the vote. After more than a decade as a Republican congressman, Paul gave it another shot in the 2008 presidential election, gaining attention for being the only Republican candidate calling for the end to the war in Iraq and for his “money bomb” fundraising strategy, which brought in millions of dollars from online donors in single-day pushes.
Paul took 10 percent of the vote in the Iowa caucuses and 8 percent in New Hampshire’s primary. He finished second, with 14 percent of the vote, in the Nevada caucuses, and eventually finished fourth in the Republican nominating process with 5.6 percent of the total vote. Paul’s campaign book, The Revolution: A Manifesto also reached No. 1 on The New York Times best-seller list in 2008.
This would seem to be an ideal year for Paul: Since the last election, the Republican Party has moved much closer to his view on deficit reduction, which made him an early tea party favorite. All of the party's top-tier presidential hopefuls are focusing on lowering debt, government spending, and tax rates, issues Paul has long advocated. | Government Job change - Election | April 2011 | ['(National Journal)'] |
The meeting is considered an international "public relations battle" to be "waged on the high seas". | The stage was set for a high-seas confrontation last night as a Palestinian support flotilla motored towards a wall of Israeli naval steel - the commanders of which have been ordered to prevent the activists' boats reaching Gaza City.
After sessions to train about 40 activists in non-violent resistance in Crete this week, the chairwoman of the Free Gaza Movement, Huwaida Arraf, 34, a Palestinian lawyer, said the plan was for the flotilla to stick together: if the freighters were seized, passenger vessels were to stay with them.
The flotilla could be another public relations nightmare for Israel. Sooling a navy fleet along with dogs and special commando units on to a band of volunteers trying to deliver emergency supplies to an impoverished people never looks good. Authorities also reportedly plan to activate an ''electronic shield'' to jam all satellite communications to block live news broadcasts by onboard media if ships are boarded.
Denouncing the exercise as provocation in the guise of a humanitarian act, unnamed military officers warned in the Israeli press that the flotilla could be used to smuggle terrorists and weapons into Gaza. Anticipating such a claim, organisers said they had live-streamed video of the loading of all cargo - and had requested close customs observation in all ports of origin.
If Israeli forces detain all on board the ships, their haul will include about 30 members of parliaments from around the world, including Israel's.
With six other boats already motoring from ports in Ireland, Turkey and elsewhere in Greece towards an undisclosed assembly point south of Cyprus, there was much excitement on the renamed MV Amal and MV Samoud - ''hope'' and ''steadfast'' in Arabic - as activists boarded the two 25-metre cruisers in the Cretan port of Agios Nikolaos.
"Let's go to Gaza," declared Ann Wright, a feisty retired US Army colonel as her name was called to board, the culmination of a 10-month, multimillion-dollar challenge for the volunteer coalition behind the flotilla. As 20 or so ''affinity'' groups on each boat leaving Crete got to know each other there was anticipation on the faces of two Gazans who were among the four Palestinians ''going home'' with the group.
If the boats made it to Gaza City port, one planned a dash to his ailing mother's hospital bedside - after an absence of 18 years. But yesterday morning, he crumpled as he read a text message from his family: his mother had died.
Gaza has been under an Israeli-Egyptian blockade since the Islamic nationalist Hamas movement took control of the strip in 2007, after the collapse of a US-backed move by forces loyal to the secular Fatah movement of Mahmoud Abbas to take control. The two factions had failed to agree on governing the occupied territories after the 2006 election, which Hamas won. The US and European Union designate Hamas a terrorist group.
The flotilla's cargo includes medicine and medical equipment; cement and building materials; 100 prefabricated houses for Gazans whose homes were destroyed during the Israeli incursion into the enclave that began in Christmas week in 2008; and wheelchairs.
On board MV Amal, Arraf argued that it fell to activist groups to expose Israeli policy because the world ''has turned its back on modern-day crimes against humanity'' in the Israeli-occupied Palestinian territories.
"To break [the siege] we need to see boats going back and forth regularly," she said. "This time, we decided that instead of a single boat, we needed to send a fleet."
Rejecting Israeli claims that the flotilla was unnecessary because it allowed supplies into Gaza, she parried: "It's not about letting in more rice than Israel will permit on a particular day - our mission is to challenge the Israeli policies that leave Palestinians in need.
"The blockade on Gaza is not about security … it's about Israel's political goal of collectively punishing a people to make them act in a particular way." A United Nations Development Program report this week said as much as three-quarters of the damage caused by the Israeli offensive has not yet been repaired and the blockade was "suffocating" farming and that more than 60 per cent of Gazan families had insufficient food.
The boats' departure from Crete was a moment of extremes - at the marina at Agios Nikolaos stood an emotional Renee Jaouadi, a former teacher in Newcastle, NSW, who is a pioneer of the boats-for-Gaza movement; beyond the horizon lay deliberate uncertainty about their reception.
Standing with her Palestinian husband, Jaouadi's reasons for not being aboard were apparent - her nine-month-old firstborn was on her hip and she is six months pregnant with the next.
Israel, it seemed, was deliberately mixing the signals it sent to the boats' captains, the Free Gaza Movement and the hundreds of activists riding on the flotilla: one day, a report that all were to be arrested and processed at a detention centre before being deported; the next, that perhaps their passage would be interrupted only for as long as it took for white-uniformed women of the security forces to hand them letters addressed to the Hamas-captured Israeli soldier Sergeant Gilad Shalit.
Motoring into the Mediterranean darkness last night, the flotilla could bank on nothing, save an expectation that today or perhaps early tomorrow their radios would come alive with Israeli calls to back off. | Diplomatic Talks _ Diplomatic_Negotiation_ Summit Meeting | May 2010 | ['(The Australian)', '(The Sydney Morning Herald)', '(The Hindu)', '(CNN)'] |
United Nations Secretary–General Ban Ki–moon arrives in Cyprus to begin talks aimed at reuniting the country. | Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon – who as a citizen of the Republic of Korea says he understands the “emptiness” of a country divided into north and south – today stressed that a solution to Cyprus’ long-running problems is “within reach,” calling for the leaders of the two communities on the Mediterranean island to step up their efforts to reach agreement.
“No one is under the illusion that any of this is easy. Peace negotiations never are,” Mr. Ban told reporters after meeting in Nicosia with Greek Cypriot leader Demetris Christofias and Turkish Cypriot leader Mehmet Ali Talat.
“But the time is ripe to push ahead. I am convinced these two leaders can achieve a mutually beneficial solution.”
The Secretary-General said that he is in Cyprus on his first-ever visit to the nation to show his support for the “Cypriot-led and Cypriot-owned process” to reunify the island.
In May 2008, Mr. Christofias and Mr. Talat committed themselves to working towards “a bicommunal, bizonal federation with political equality, as defined by relevant Security Council resolutions.”
The partnership will comprise a Federal Government with a single international personality, along with a Turkish Cypriot Constituent State and a Greek Cypriot Constituent State, which will be of equal status.
“For decades, the world has heard about the Cyprus problem. Now is the time for the Cyprus solution,” said Mr. Ban, who arrived in the country yesterday, pledging the United Nations’ ongoing support in the process.
Following their meeting with the Secretary-General, the Cypriot leaders voiced “confidence that with goodwill and determination, we can achieve a solution in the shortest possible time.”
In a statement read out by Mr. Ban, they said that the Cyprus problem has remained unresolved for too long.
Although “time is not on the side of settlement,” they underscored that there is now a window of opportunity to find a solution “which would take into full consideration the legitimate rights and concerns of both Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots.”
Earlier today in the capital, Nicosia, the Secretary-General welcomed the start of the second phase of stabilization work at Ledra Street/Locmaki crossing, which he said has become “the symbol of the two leaders to heal divisions and to work together towards a common future.”
The crossing was opened in April 2008 following an agreement by Mr. Christofias and Mr. Talat, which Mr. Ban hailed at the time as “positive step forward.”
From his own experience as a citizen of the Republic of Korea, “I have seen for myself the very sad reality, the emptiness and destruction and such very painful feelings I share with the people of Cyprus,” he said today.
During his three-day visit to Cyprus, Mr. Ban is slated to hold discussions with Alexander Downer, his Special Adviser for Cyprus, as well as with Mr. Christofias and Mr. Talat.
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today praised the Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot leaders for the significant progress made under United Nations-backed talks on reunifying Cyprus, as he arrived on the Mediterranean island for the first time. | Diplomatic Talks _ Diplomatic_Negotiation_ Summit Meeting | February 2010 | ['(The Hindu)', '(Deutsche Welle)', '(UN News Centre)'] |
The South African Geographical Names Council unanimously approves a recommendation to change the name of the country's executive capital Pretoria to Tshwane. | The Geographic Names Council took four hours to back the change. Tshwane is the name of a pre-colonial local chief and means "we are the same". Supporters of the change say the switch will underscore South Africa's break with apartheid in 1994. The city was named after Boer settler and Afrikaner hero Andries Pretorius.
At the weekend, hundreds of predominantly white South Africans staged a demonstration against the name change, saying they were disregarding the cultural traditions of the Afrikaner community.
Opponents of the change say they feel marginalised
But the national agency responsible for name changes in South Africa, the Geographical Names Council, said there was no evidence that anyone would be affected by the renaming. The city council approved the switch to Tshwane in March as part of moves to make place names more African. | Government Policy Changes | May 2005 | ['(BBC)'] |
Dr Conrad Murray is ordered to face a trial for the manslaughter of Michael Jackson in California. | In his closing statement, Deputy District Attorney David Walgren told the judge, "It was not Michael Jackson's time to go. Michael Jackson is not here today because of the negligence and reckless acts of Dr. Murray."
Walgren said Murray cared more about covering up evidence than helping MJ.
Judge Pastor's ruling follows a 6-day preliminary hearing in which more than 20 witnesses were called.
If convicted Murray faces a maximum of 4 years in prison.
| Famous Person - Commit Crime - Sentence | January 2011 | ['(TMZ)'] |
National "Stay Away" protests, organized over the Internet via the WhatsApp social messaging platform, take place in Zimbabwe, following fears of an economic collapse amid calls for President Robert Mugabe's resignation. | The streets of Zimbabwe's main cities are deserted during a nationwide stay away to protest at the lack of jobs and unpaid wages.
The protests were organised through the messaging site WhatsApp but it is not clear which group is behind it.
The internet was often unavailable on Wednesday morning but the government has denied blocking it.
The BBC's Brian Hungwe in the capital Harare says it is one of the biggest protests in many years.
Protesters also set up burning barricades in Harare.
Africa Live: More on this and other news stories
Zimbabwe's flag fury
Some of the messages calling for a stay away also urged President Robert Mugabe to step down.
The 92 year old has governed the country since independence in 1980.
On Twitter, activists have been using the hashtag #ShutDownZimbabwe2016 to mobilise support.
Many civil servants have not been paid in more than a month - they went on strike on Tuesday.
On Monday, taxi drivers complaining about police extortion clashed with the security forces in parts of Harare.
The economy has also been hit by currency shortages and a severe drought.
"I can't go to work when the rest of the country is not going to work," Sybert Marumo, who works for an electrical shop, told the AFP news agency.
"Life is tough and we need to show the government that we have been stretched to the limit."
| Protest_Online Condemnation | July 2016 | ['(BBC News)'] |
Special services are held in Brazil in memory of the 237 people killed in last week's Kiss nightclub fire in Santa Maria. | Special services are being held in Brazil in memory of the 237 people who died in a nightclub fire in the city of Santa Maria a week ago.
More than 4,000 people attended a service in Santa Maria itself on Saturday night, and a silent vigil was held in front of the nightclub, Kiss.
Santa Maria's mayor says he plans to turn the building into a memorial site.
The death toll rose to 237 on Sunday after a 22-year-old man died of injuries sustained in the fire.
More than 100 people remain in hospital. Medical kits have been flown in from the US to treat survivors who were exposed to the dangerous fumes.
Two owners of the nightclub and two band members have been arrested.
Special services were held in cities across Brazil's southern-most state, Rio Grande do Sul, where Santa Maria is located.
In Santa Maria itself, people dressed in white and placed flowers and posters in memory of those who had lost their lives.
A service in their honour was also held at the foot of the Christ the Redeemer statue in Rio de Janeiro, the AFP news agency reports.
The fire is believed to have broken out after the band playing in the nightclub last Sunday set off cheap fireworks meant for outdoor use.
The flames spread quickly over the ceiling which was covered with foam for soundproofing, the BBC's Julia Carneiro reports from Rio de Janeiro.
The venue had only one exit and is believed to have been filled way over capacity, so panic ensued as people failed to find a way out, she adds.
Investigators say many lives could have been saved if regulations had been properly observed.
A safety inspection of nightclubs, restaurants and bars across Brazil has led to more than 150 temporary closures in the past week.
Brazil's Congress is set to revise legislation in an attempt to strengthen safety regulations and allay concerns ahead of the 2014 World Cup and 2016 Olympics. | Fire | February 2013 | ['(BBC)'] |
Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette files criminal charges against six state employees in connection with the Flint water crisis. | DETROIT (Reuters) - Six Michigan state employees were charged on Friday in an investigation into dangerous lead levels in the city of Flint’s drinking water.
The criminal charges were filed by Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette against three employees apiece from the state’s health and environmental departments.
Schuette did not elaborate on possible charges for other local and state officials but said prosecutors “were going where the truth” takes them.
Some critics have called for high-ranking state officials, including Michigan Governor Rick Snyder, to be charged. Snyder said in April he believed he had not done anything criminally wrong.
Flint, with a population of about 100,000, was under control of a state-appointed emergency manager in 2014 when it switched its water source from Detroit’s municipal system to the Flint River to save money. The city switched back last October.
The river water was more corrosive than the Detroit system’s, and caused more lead to leach from its aging pipes. Lead can be toxic, and children are especially vulnerable. The crisis has prompted lawsuits by parents who say their children have shown dangerously high levels of lead in their blood.
The accusations mark the third round of charges related to the investigation into the Flint water crisis.
“In essence, these individuals concealed the truth. They were criminally wrong to do so,” Schuette told reporters. “And the victims, these are real people, families that have been lied to by government officials and treated as expendable.”
Those charged on Friday were identified as Department of Health and Human Services workers Nancy Peeler, Corinne Miller and Robert Scott, and Department of Environmental Quality employees Liane Shekter-Smith, Adam Rosenthal and Patrick Cook.
Five of the six people charged could not be reached immediately for comment.
Brian Morley, an attorney for Shekter-Smith, said the charges were a surprise, but knows his client was not criminally liable.
Three state and local officials were criminally charged in April in connection with the investigation.
Flint utilities administrator Michael Glasgow subsequently agreed to cooperate with investigators as part of a deal.
Department of Environmental Quality officials Stephen Busch and Michael Prysby were charged with five and six counts, respectively, including misconduct in office, tampering with evidence and violation of the Michigan Safe Drinking Water Act. Both pleaded not guilty.
Schuette last month sued French water company Veolia Environnement SA and Houston-based engineering services firm Lockwood, Andrews & Newnam for “botching” their roles in the crisis.
| Famous Person - Commit Crime - Accuse | July 2016 | ['(Detroit Free Press)', '(Reuters)'] |
The United Nations Security Council, headed by world leaders, unanimously approve Resolution 1887 to prevent the proliferation of nuclear weapons. | US President Barack Obama issues nuclear disarmament call
The UN Security Council has unanimously adopted a resolution calling for nuclear disarmament, in a session chaired by US President Barack Obama.
The resolution calls for further efforts to stop the spread of nuclear arms, to boost disarmament and to lower the risk of "nuclear terrorism". It was the first time a US president had chaired a Security Council summit. The resolution comes amid growing concerns among Western powers over Iran's nuclear ambitions. "The historic resolution we just adopted enshrines our shared commitment to the goal of a world without nuclear weapons," Mr Obama told the Security Council after the resolution was adopted. He said the next year would be "absolutely critical in determining whether this resolution and our overall efforts to stop the spread and use of nuclear weapons are successful". UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon called the resolution "a fresh start toward a new future". 'Proliferation risk'
The resolution does not specifically mention countries by name, such as North Korea and Iran, but reaffirms previous Security Council resolutions relating to their nuclear plans.
The unanimous backing for the US-drafted resolution is a measure of the growing sense of urgency.
There is a growing fear amongst disarmament experts both inside and outside government that the whole machinery intended to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons - whose cornerstone is the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty or NPT - is looking increasingly fragile.
The NPT agreement is up for revision in May and the new consensus at the UN Security Council sends a powerful signal that this key agreement must be bolstered.
Iran's nuclear programme has been criticised by the US and five nations who are set to hold talks next week. Iran says its nuclear ambitions are for peaceful energy purposes, but others fear it is developing weapons. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reflected those fears in his speech to the UN General Assembly on Thursday, saying that stopping Iran acquiring nuclear weapons was the world's most urgent task. After the resolution was passed, Iran rejected allegations about its nuclear programme as "totally untrue" and reiterated its "readiness to engage in serious and constructive negotiations with interested parties". The resolution commits member nations to work toward a world without nuclear weapons, and endorses a broad framework of actions to reduce global nuclear risks. It also urges states to: Mr Obama stressed that the US would play its part, seeking a new strategic arms reduction treaty with Russia and moving ahead with ratification of the test ban treaty. "Although we averted a nuclear nightmare during the Cold War, we now face proliferation of a scope and complexity that demands new strategies and new approaches," Mr Obama said. "Just one nuclear weapon exploded in a city, be it New York or Moscow, Tokyo or Beijing, London or Paris, could kill hundreds of thousands of people." 'Preposterous' allegations
Also on Thursday, a UN ministerial conference adopted a declaration urging compliance with the CTBT, which has been signed or ratified by 100 countries since 1996.
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton presence at the meeting marked the first US participation at the biannual conference since 1999, when the US Senate refused to ratify the treaty. On Wednesday, the first day of the UN General Assembly, Iran's plans came under fire from several world leaders, including French President Nicolas Sarkozy and UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown. Russia signalled that it might be prepared to soften its opposition to sanctions against Iran over its nuclear plans, though China, another Security Council member, said increasing pressure on Iran would not be effective. But in a statement circulated outside the Security Council on Thursday, Iran said France and the UK had not complied with their own nuclear disarmament obligations, and were therefore not in a position to judge others. It accused Mr Sarkozy of making "preposterous" claims, and said the UK "deliberately and cynically [had] ignored its legal commitments" to the NPT. "Our commitment to non-proliferation remains intact," the statement said. | Government Policy Changes | September 2009 | ['(BBC)', '(China Daily)', '(New York Times)', '(Associated Press)', '(Hindustan Times)'] |
Spain issues an arrest warrant against former Catalonian president Carles Puigdemont. | A Spanish judge has issued European Arrest Warrants (EAW) for sacked Catalan leader Carles Puigdemont and four of his allies who went to Belgium.
The five failed to attend a high court hearing in Madrid on Thursday when nine other ex-members of the regional government were taken into custody.
One of those detained has been freed on bail of 50,000 (44,000; $58,000). They all face charges of rebellion, sedition and misuse of public funds for pursuing Catalan independence.
Mr Puigdemont has said he will not return to Spain unless he receives guarantees of a fair trial. Belgium will "study" the warrant, a spokesman for the state prosecutor told AFP news agency.
The regional parliament in Catalonia voted to proclaim an independent republic a week ago, following an illegal referendum on independence organised by the Catalan government on 1 October
No other country recognised the move and the Spanish central government moved swiftly to impose control, using emergency powers under the constitution.
Mr Puigdemont was the president of the autonomous region of Catalonia until the proclamation of independence and continues to regard himself as the president of the newly proclaimed "Republic of Catalonia".
Mr Puigdemont and his colleagues travelled to Belgium to raise their case for statehood at the EU institutions and he insists he is not trying to evade "real justice".
He said in a Belgian TV interview aired earlier on Friday that he would co-operate with Belgian judicial authorities.
He also said that he was ready to run in snap regional elections in Catalonia next month. The other four warrants are for: The warrants were sent to Belgian prosecutors, who have 24 hours to decide whether the paperwork is correct. If they do, they will forward them on to a judge who will decide whether Mr Puigdemont and the four others should be arrested.
Belgium has a maximum of 60 days to return the suspects to Spain after arrest. But if the suspects do not raise legal objections, a transfer could happen much sooner. A country can reject an EU arrest warrant if it fears that extradition would violate the suspect's human rights. Discrimination based on politics, religion or race is grounds for refusal. So are fears that the suspect would not get a fair trial.
There is an agreed EU list of 32 offences - in Article Two of the EAW law - for which there is no requirement for the offence to be a crime in both countries. In other words, any of those offences can be a justification for extradition, provided the penalty is at least three years in jail.
However, neither "sedition" nor "rebellion" - two of the Spanish accusations against the Catalan leaders - are on that list.
Thousands of protesters have gathered in Barcelona and other Catalan cities for the second night running to call for the release of the former officials detained on Thursday.
Santi Vila, the Catalan former business minister, was granted bail at the request of prosecutors after spending a night in prison.
"My colleagues and I are fine, we are calm," he said upon leaving jail in Madrid, but called the detentions "disproportionate", Spain's El País newspaper reports.
He had resigned from the cabinet before the Catalan parliament voted for independence.
Those who remain in custody are:
Protesters are also calling for the release of two grassroots separatist leaders, Jordi Sánchez and Jordi Cuixart, who were taken into custody last month. They lost an appeal for release on Friday.
Five senior members of the Catalan parliament, as well as Speaker Carme Forcadell, are facing the same charges but, because of their parliamentary immunity, their cases are being handled by the Supreme Court. Their hearings have been postponed until 9 November.
| Famous Person - Commit Crime - Accuse | November 2017 | ['(BBC)'] |
Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos signs a decree fully legalizing medical marijuana. Growers must apply to the National Narcotics Council for a license. Earlier, Colombia decriminalized personal possession of up to 20 grams. | Colombia's president has signed a decree fully legalising medical marijuana in a shift away from preventing drug crop production.
Juan Manuel Santos said the move put Colombia "in the group of countries that are at the forefront...in the use of natural resources to fight disease".
But, he said, the country would still fight illegal drug production.
Up until now, marijuana production in Colombia had fallen into a legal grey area.
While a 1986 law allowed for the manufacture, export, sale and medical and scientific use of marijuana, the practice was, until Tuesday, never formally regulated.
Anyone wishing to grow marijuana must now apply to the National Narcotics Council for a licence. Medical marijuana is used for medical ailments such as Crohn's disease, seizures, HIV and nausea.
Last year, Mr Santos, who has admitted smoking cannabis while a student in Kansas in the 1970s, said legalisation would take drug production out of the hands of drug traffickers.
A number of countries in Latin America have decriminalised or legalised marijuana use in recent years, as have US states such as Colorado, Oregon and Washington. Uruguay fully legalised the production, sale and recreational use of marijuana in 2013.
Colombia has been plagued by decades of drug-related violence, and is better known as the world's biggest producer of cocaine, along with Peru.
| Government Policy Changes | December 2015 | ['(BBC)', '(VICE News)'] |
A study concludes that continuous standing and walking reduces the risk of type II diabetes better than either sitting/lying or exercise. | People at high risk of developing type 2 diabetes can reduce the risk by sitting less and moving around more frequently, rather than exercising regularly.
The finding came from a study at the University of Leicester which indicates that decreasing sitting time by 90 minutes in total each day may result in critical health advantages.
Patients at risk for type 2 diabetes are currently told to do moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) every week for at least 150 minutes.
However, the new research, published in Diabetologia demonstrates that individuals should actually be told to decrease their sedentary time. This means that they need to reduce the time they spend moving very little or not all, such as when they are lying down or sitting.
The investigation was led by Joseph Henson and a team from the Diabetes Research Unit, University of Leicester and National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Leicester Loughborough Diet, Lifestyle and Physical Activity Biomedical Research Unit (BRU), UK.
The researchers examined patients from 2 reports:
The degree to which MVPA, total physical activity, sedentary time, and breaks in sedentary time were independently linked to cardiometabolic risk factors were observed in people with recognized risk factors for diabetes type 2.
In order to evaluate MVPA, total physical activity and sedentary time, the experts used accelerometers. Breaks in sedentary time were considered a change from a sedentary to an active state.
According to the results, patients with known risk factors for type 2 diabetes recruited from primary care, sedentary time was harmfully linked to 2 h glucose, HDL-cholesterol, and triacylglycerol, independent of confounders that were evaluated.
After controlling for MVPA and adiposity, the results were still significant.
The results were constant across different age groups, demonstrating that the adverse outcomes of surplus sedentary time prevail among young and old adults.
Henson explained:
“These studies provide preliminary evidence that sedentary behavior may be a more effective way to target the prevention of type 2 diabetes, rather than just solely focusing on MVPA. Moreover, sedentary time occupies large portions of the day, unlike MVPA.”
When dealing with diabetes, it can be hard to filter out the noise and navigate your inbox. Healthline gives you actionable advice from doctors that's inclusive and rooted in medical expertise.
The authors added that sedentary time had a more powerful link to many critical cardiometabolic markers, such as HDL-cholesterol, triacylglycerol, and 2 h glucose, as opposed to total physical activity and MVPA, after controlling for each other and other crucial hidden variables.
The novel findings raise concerns about the potential prescription of optimal daily movement for well-being.
Henson concluded:
“Diabetes and cardiovascular prevention programs concentrating solely on MVPA may overlook an area that is of fundamental importance to cardiometabolic health. Along with messages related to accumulating at least 150 min/week of MVPA, which form the cornerstone of diabetes prevention programs, such interventions may be more effective still if individuals are further encouraged to simply sit less and move more, regardless of the intensity level.
This approach requires a paradigm shift, so that individuals at high risk of developing type 2 diabetes think about the balance of sedentary behavior and physical activity throughout the day.”
The results coincide with a different study also published this week which showed that sitting for long hours is linked to an elevated risk of developing chronic diseases, such as diabetes, cancer, and heart disease.
Written by Sarah Glynn
Walking is a low-impact exercise with many benefits. Going for a walk after eating can help regulate blood sugar and improve sleep, among other things.
| New wonders in nature | March 2013 | ['(Medical News Today)'] |
Somalia War: Heavy fighting breaks out on at least two fronts near the Somali interim government's base in Baidoa. Somalia's interim government and the Islamic Courts Union pledge to begin peace negotiations. | A deadline from Islamists for Ethiopia to withdraw troops from Somalia or face "major attacks" expired on Tuesday.
Residents say pro-government forces and the Islamic militia exchanged mortar fire at Daynunay, 20km from Baidoa.
Both sides promised a visiting European Union envoy they would resume talks, but there are fears the conflict will plunge the entire region into crisis.
On a last ditch peace mission, the EU's development commissioner, Louis Michel, met government officals in Baidoa before travelling on to the capital, Mogadishu, and holding talks with Union of Islamic Court (UIC) leaders.
He told the BBC that they were faced with a very serious problem.
"Everybody knows that we are not very far from an open, violent conflict with... war," he said. Both sides blamed each other for the fighting. Clashes
Islamic commander Sheikh Mohamed Ibrahim Bilal told AFP news agency: "I can confirm to you that heavy fighting has already started around several front line areas." Government commander Ibrahim Batari accused the Islamists of mounting the attack. "There is shelling everywhere... our forces are facing Islamists, hell is going on," he said.
Islamic militias have attacked us and the fighting is continuing
Salad Ali JelleDeputy defence minister
Q&A: Islamist advance
Peacekeeping conundrum
"I can hear sounds of bullets, rockets from the side where the defence lines of the Islamic courts and the government are," a resident in the government's military base in Daynunay, southeast of Baidoa, told Reuters news agency.
Islamist spokesman Abdirahin Ali Mudey says the base is now in UIC hands, which residents talking to the BBC confirm.
Meanwhile, clashes have broken out in Moode Moode - a village off the Daynunay-Burhakaba road.
"Islamic militias have attacked us and the fighting is continuing," the government's deputy defence minister, Salad Ali Jelle, told Associated Press news agency about the Moode Moode fighting.
There is also heavy fighting and at least one death being reported near Idale, some 60km (37 miles) south Baidoa, after skirmishes on Tuesday evening.
"Last evening, a reconnaissance team from the government and the Islamic courts clashed [in Idale]," Mr Jelle told Reuters on Wednesday.
"But this morning, ground troops from both sides exchanged mortars from a distance." 'Nervous troops'
In Baidoa, Mr Michel spoke to senior government figures pressing the need for negotiations to start between the two sides. We don't have troops in Somalia, but as we have said so many times, we have a limited number of military advisers
Birhan HailuEthiopia's information minister
The Islamists have refused to negotiate with the transitional government until Ethiopian troops leave Somalia. Ethiopian Information Minister Birhan Hailu told the BBC on Tuesday that his country was always ready for dialogue, but said the Islamists were not willing to talk with the transitional government. "We don't have troops in Somalia, but as we have said so many times, we have a limited number of military advisers to support the Transitional Federal Government of Somalia. Louis Michel is pressing both sides to negotiate
But the BBC's Adam Mynott says that as he drove to the airport in Baidoa, he was stopped by a huge convoy of Ethiopian military armour.
There were about 10 large artillery cannons, several vehicles - clearly marked with Ethiopian insignia - loaded with ammunition and many hundreds of soldiers.
He was detained for about an hour by Ethiopian soldiers who appeared on edge and very nervous. Mr Michel's car was not stopped. The UIC has introduced law and order to the capital and much of southern Somalia for the first time in 15 years and denies links to al-Qaeda. The most read story in the UK is: Government wins Commons VAT votes | Armed Conflict | December 2006 | ['(BBC)', '(Reuters)'] |
At least four are killed and 90 injured among protesters who stormed the Green Zone in Baghdad. | BAGHDAD (Reuters) - At least four anti-government protesters were killed and 90 injured when security forces ejected them from Baghdad’s heavily fortified Green Zone, hospital sources said on Saturday.
Iraqi security forces used live ammunition, rubber bullets, water cannons and tear gas on Friday to dislodge the demonstrators from the central district which houses government buildings, parliament and many foreign embassies.
The toll, compiled from four hospitals where casualties were taken and Baghdad’s central morgue, accounts only for gunshot wounds and does not include cases of suffocation caused by tear gas.
Civilians have breached the Green Zone twice in three weeks, raising questions about the government’s ability to secure the capital which has also seen a spike in bombings this month claimed by Islamic State.
Protesters on Friday included supporters of powerful Shi’ite Muslim cleric Moqtada al-Sadr and people from other groups upset with the government’s failure to approve anti-corruption reforms and maintain security in the city.
Related Coverage
Jaafar al-Moussawi, deputy leader of Sadr’s political movement, condemned the government for using what he called “excessive force”.
“Using live bullets against peaceful protesters is completely unjustified and stark evidence that a supposedly legitimate government has turned into an oppressive government,” he said in a statement on Saturday.
Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi has condemned the Green Zone breach and warned against chaos and strife as government forces seek to keep up momentum against Islamist militants.
The United Nations expressed “deep concern” on Saturday about the incident and warned it could hamper efforts to defeat Islamic State, the ultra-hardline Sunni group that controls large swathes of territory in northern and western provinces.
“Only the enemies of Iraq, Daesh at the forefront, benefit from chaos,” U.N. Special Representative for Iraq, Jan Kubis, said in a statement, using an Arabic acronym for Islamic State.
| Protest_Online Condemnation | May 2016 | ['(Reuters)'] |
The German government moves to back troubled Hypo Real Estate with a 50 billion euro rescue plan. | LONDON (MarketWatch) -- The German government moved to back Hypo Real Estate with a 50 billion euro rescue plan Sunday evening according to published reports. The move came a day after the embattled lender said an earlier 35 billion euro rescue had fallen through. German Chancellor Angela Merkel Sunday also moved to guarantee deposits held in German banks. Tom Bemis is an assistant managing editor based in San Francisco. His focus is on markets tools and blogging. He has worked for MarketWatch since December 1997, following stints at Bloomberg News in San Francisco and at Bay City News. | Financial Aid | October 2008 | ['(MarketWatch)'] |
Ken Starr, the president of Baylor University, is stripped of his title after an investigation revealed the university mishandled accusations of sexual assault against its football players. The university's football coach, Art Briles, is also fired. | Kenneth W. Starr, the former independent counsel who delivered a report that served as the basis for President Bill Clinton’s impeachment in 1998, was removed as president of Baylor University on Thursday after an investigation found the university mishandled accusations of sexual assault against football players.
The university also fired the football coach, Art Briles, whose ascendant program brought in millions of dollars in revenue but was dogged by accusations of sexual assault committed by its players — an increasingly familiar combination in big-time college sports.
An investigation found “fundamental failure” by the university in its handling of sexual assault accusations against football players. | Government Job change - Resignation_Dismissal | May 2016 | ['(The New York Times)'] |
A gunman involved in the shootings of at least one of the two mosques is identified as Brenton Tarrant, a 28-year-old Australian man. | SYDNEY (AP) — The gunman behind at least one of the mosque shootings in New Zealand that left 49 people dead on Friday tried to make a few things clear in the manifesto he left behind: He is a 28-year-old Australian white nationalist who hates immigrants. He was angry about attacks in Europe that were perpetrated by Muslims. He wanted revenge, and he wanted to create fear.
He also, quite clearly, wanted attention.
Though he claimed not to covet fame, the gunman — who authorities identified as Brenton Harrison Tarrant — left behind a 74-page document posted on social media under his name in which he said he hoped to survive the attack to better spread his views in the media.
He also livestreamed to the world in graphic detail his assault on the worshippers at Christchurch’s Al Noor Mosque.
That rampage killed at least 41 people, while an attack on a second mosque in the city not long after killed several more. Police did not say whether the same person was responsible for both shootings. Tarrant appeared briefly in court on Saturday morning amid tight security and showed no emotion as the judge read the charge against him.
While his manifesto and video were an obvious and contemptuous ploy for infamy, they do contain important clues for a public trying to understand why anyone would target dozens of innocent people who were simply spending an afternoon engaged in prayer.
There could be no more perplexing a setting for a mass slaughter than New Zealand, a nation so placid and so isolated from the mass shootings that plague the U.S. that police officers rarely carry guns.
Yet the gunman himself highlighted New Zealand’s remoteness as a reason he chose it. He wrote that an attack in New Zealand would show that no place on earth was safe and that even a country as far away as New Zealand is subject to mass immigration.
He said he grew up in a working-class Australian family, had a typical childhood and was a poor student. Tarrant’s relatives in the Australian town of Grafton contacted police after learning of the shooting and were helping with the investigation, local authorities said. Tarrant has spent little time in Australia in the past four years and only had minor traffic infractions on his record.
A woman who said she was a colleague of his when he worked as a personal trainer in Grafton said she was shocked by the allegations against him.
“I can’t ... believe that somebody I’ve probably had daily dealings with and had shared conversations and interacted with would be able of something to this extreme,” Tracey Gray told the Australian Broadcasting Corp.
The rambling manifesto is filled with confusing and seemingly contradictory assertions about his beliefs.
Beyond his white nationalistic views, he claimed to be an environmentalist and said he is a fascist who believes China is the nation that most aligns with his political and social values. He said he has contempt for the wealthiest 1 percent. And he singled out American conservative commentator Candace Owens as the person who had influenced him the most, while saying “the extreme actions she calls for are too much, even for my tastes.”
In a tweet, Owens responded by saying that if the media portrayed her as the inspiration for the attack, it had better hire lawyers.
The manifesto also included a single reference to President Donald Trump in which the author asked and answered the question of whether he was a Trump supporter: “As a symbol of renewed white identity and common purpose? Sure. As a policy maker and leader? Dear god no.”
Throughout the manifesto, the theme he returns to most often is conflict between people of European descent and Muslims, often framing it in terms of the Crusades.
Among his hate-filled statements is a claim that he was motivated toward violence by an episode that occurred in 2017 while he was touring through Western Europe. That was when an Uzbek man drove a truck into a crowd of people in Stockholm, killing five.
He said his desire for violence grew when he arrived in France, where he said he was offended by the sight of immigrants in the cities and towns he visited.
Three months ago, he said, he started planning to target Christchurch. He said he has donated to many nationalist groups, but claimed not to be a direct member of any organization. However, he admitted contacts with an anti-immigration group called the reborn Knights Templar and said he got the approval of Anders Breivik for the attack, a claim that has not been verified.
Breivik is a right-wing Norwegian extremist who killed 77 people in Oslo and a nearby island in 2011. Breivik’s lawyer Oeystein Storrvik told Norway’s VG newspaper that his client, who is in prison, has “very limited contacts with the surrounding world, so it seems very unlikely that he has had contact” with the New Zealand gunman.
The gunman rambled on about the supposed aims for the attack, which included reducing immigration by intimidating immigrants and driving a wedge between NATO and the Turkish people. He also said he hoped to further polarize and destabilize the West, and spark a civil war in the United States that would ultimately result in a separation of races. The attack has had the opposite impact, with condemnation of the bloodshed pouring in from all quarters of the globe, and calls for unity against hatred and violence.
The gunman used various hate symbols associated with the Nazis and white supremacy. For instance, the number 14 is seen on his rifle, a possible reference to the “14 Words,” a white supremacist slogan attributed in part to Adolf Hitler’s “Mein Kampf,” according to the Southern Poverty Law Center. He also used the symbol of the Schwarze Sonne, or black sun, which “has become synonymous with myriad far-right groups who traffic in neo-Nazi,” according to the center.
His victims, he wrote, were chosen because he saw them as invaders who would replace the white race. He predicted he would feel no remorse for their deaths. And in the video he livestreamed of his shooting, no remorse can be seen or heard as he sprays terrified worshippers with bullets again and again, sometimes firing at people he has already cut down.
The gunman — a licensed gun owner who bought the five guns used in the shootings legally — left a scene of carnage that shocked the nation, and the world. It was, in the words of New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern “one of New Zealand’s darkest days.” | Riot | March 2019 | ['(Associated Press)'] |
In Niger, 2,000 people march in the capital Niamey and demand the release of anti–slavery campaigners Ilguilas Weila and Alassane Biga. | They deny charges of attempted fraud, by allegedly trying to falsely elicit money from foreign donors. The charges relate to a ceremony to free 7,000 slaves, cancelled at the last minute in March by the government, which maintains slavery does not exist.
Petition
The protest passed off peacefully but was closely monitored by the police.
They marched from outside parliament to Place Toumou in central Niamey.
They were not allowed to hand in a petition to the president, demanding the pair's immediate release.
Instead, the letter was read out loud.
London-based Anti-Slavery International has urged the authorities to immediately release Mr Weila and Mr Biga, who both work for the anti-slave organisation, Timidria.
"We are very concerned for their welfare and categorically refute the charges against them," said Anti-Slavery International Africa Programme Officer Romana Cacchioli.
"The government's actions appear to be a concerted campaign not only to discredit their reputation and the work of Timidria, but also to silence efforts to end slavery in the country."
Embarrassed
At least 43,000 people are thought to live in subjugation across Niger, which officially banned slavery in May 2003.
The government says there is a caste system in Niger and members of lower castes have been mistaken for slaves.
The ceremony in March was due to be attended by representatives of the slaves, the government and human rights campaigners at In Ates, near the border with Mali. A local chief had agreed to the release of the slaves, but authorities now say his letter to Timidria, Mr Weila's anti-slavery organisation, asking for financial aid to rehabilitate slaves was a forgery.
According to Timidria, males slaves are forced to work in farms and tender cattle, while women are confined to domestic duties.
The slave masters take the children from their mothers at two years old - to break the family bond as soon as the child is weaned. And so slavery is perpetuated from one generation to the next. Anti-Slavery International says President Mamadou Tandja is embarrassed by any talk of slavery at a time when he is head of the West African regional organisation - Ecowas Acting under pressure, Niger's parliament made slavery punishable by up to 30 years in prison in 2003. | Protest_Online Condemnation | May 2005 | ['(BBC)'] |
Tsunami warnings are issued for the Pacific region, including Indonesia and the Solomon Islands, following a 7.9 magnitude earthquake east of Papua New Guinea. The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center later reports the threat has largely passed. | SYDNEY (Reuters) - People living along Papua New Guinea’s coastline fled to higher ground on Saturday after a 7.9 magnitude earthquake struck east of the Pacific nation, triggering a tsunami warning for parts of its archipelago.
A couple of hours after the quake, the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center (PTWC) said the threat had largely passed, although it said government agencies should continue to monitor coastal tides.
“Based on all available data ... the tsunami threat from this earthquake has now passed,” the PTWC said in an updated and final alert after the quake, which struck 157 km (98 miles) east of Rabaul.
The major tremor initially triggered a more widespread tsunami warning for the Pacific region, including Indonesia and the Solomon Islands, but that was pulled back after the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) downgraded the magnitude slightly from 8. It also revised the depth of the tremor to 103.2 km from its original estimate of 73 kms.
Many residents in the northern parts of the autonomous region of Bougainville sought higher ground amid warnings that tsunami waves were possible.
“The town residents have vacated the whole place; those in the villages live higher up, so they’re ok, it’s just those near the coast,” local resident Christabel Biasu told Reuters by phone.
Related Coverage
Quakes are common in Papua New Guinea, which sits on the Pacific’s “Ring of Fire”, a hotspot for seismic activity due to friction between tectonic plates. There were no immediate reports of damage or casualties after Saturday’s major tremor.
A nurse at Buka General Hospital in Bougainville said the quake was so strong it felt like the building she was sleeping in would topple. She said patients were being moved a few kilometers to higher ground.
“We have about 16 beds,” she told Reuters by phone, declining to give her name. “Most of them are already a suburb up.”
The small Pacific nation of Nauru, where one of Australia’s offshore immigration detention centers is located, had a tsunami warning in place, according to the official government Twitter account.
Residents in other parts of Papua New Guinea, including the capital of Port Moresby and Kavieng in the northern tip of New Ireland island, said they had not felt the quake, and no evacuation plans were in place.
New Zealand also canceled an earlier tsunami warning.
Writing by Jane Wardell; Editing by Ian Geoghegan
| Tsunamis | December 2016 | ['(Reuters)', '(Television New Zealand)'] |
Datu Saudi-Ampatuan mayor Samsudin Dimaukom, publicly accused by Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte of involvement in the illegal drug trade, is killed, along with nine others, by Philippine police at a highway checkpoint in what police describe as an anti-drug operation. | MANILA After President Rodrigo Duterte publicly named him as a drug suspect last summer, the mayor of a small Philippine town said he was not worried.
“If you are not guilty, why should you be afraid?” the mayor, Samsudin Dimaukom, told The New York Times in August.
| Famous Person - Commit Crime - Accuse | October 2016 | ['(The New York Times)', '(The Philippine Star)'] |
Andorra becomes the 190th member of the International Monetary Fund. | WASHINGTON, Oct 16 (Reuters) - Europe’s tiny Andorra formally joined the International Monetary Fund on Friday, becoming the crisis lender’s 190th member state as the tourism and trade-dependent principality struggles with the coronavirus pandemic.
The IMF said in a statement that Andorra’s initial quota - the capital subscription that determines its voting power and access to financing - is 82.5 million Special Drawing Rights, or about $116.4 million.
“Andorra faces both short-term and long-term challenges common to European and other IMF member countries which have been aggravated by the (coronavirus) pandemic,” IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva said in a statement after a signing ceremony with Elisenda Vives Balmana, Andorra’s ambassador to the United States, Canada and Mexico and the United Nations.
“The IMF stands ready to work closely with the authorities and people of Andorra in achieving their post-pandemic growth and development objectives in cooperation with other partners in the international community,” she added.
Fitch Ratings said in July that Andorra would experience a deep recession in 2020, forecasting GDP to contract by 11.4%, with a 50% drop in tourist entries. Nonetheless, Fitch affirmed Andorra’s BBB+ investment-grade sovereign debt rating, forecasting a return to 4.3% growth in 2021.
As an IMF member, the principality’s government will get an annual review of its economic prospects and policies by Fund staff, technical policy advice and full participation in IMF and World Bank spring and annual meetings.
According to World Bank data, Andorra had a 2019 population of 77,142 and GDP output of $3.15 billion, qualifying it as a “high-income” country. While it uses the euro currency, it is not a part of the eurozone or the European Union and does not have its own central bank.
The IMF said trade and tourism comprise close to 40% of Andorra’s economic output, with almost 8 million visitors to its ski slopes and mountain trails in 2019. Financial services account for another 20% of its GDP. | Join in an Organization | October 2020 | ['(Reuters)'] |
A bus collides with a train near Armyansk, Crimea, killing five people and injuring four others. | MOSCOW, April 8 (Xinhua) -- At least five people were killed and four others were injured after a minibus collided with a train in the northern part of the Crimea Peninsula on Sunday, local police said.
The bus operating the route between Sevastopol in the southwest and Armyansk in the north crashed with the train running from Kerch in the east to Armyansk at a railway crossing in the suburb of Armyansk, said Olga Kondrashova, spokesperson for the Interior Ministry's Crimean branch.
The bus was carrying 13 people when the accident happened. No children were among the casualties.
Crimea was incorporated into Russia in March 2014 following a local referendum. Ukraine says the peninsula was annexed. | Road Crash | April 2018 | ['(Xinhua)'] |
Millions of United States residents and visitors are able to witness a total solar eclipse that crosses through North America. It is the first total solar eclipse visible across the entire contiguous United States since the solar eclipse of June 8, 1918. | Updated on: August 20, 2017 / 7:06 PM
/ CBS/AP
Millions of Americans converged on a narrow corridor stretching from Oregon to South Carolina to watch the moon blot out the midday sun Monday for a wondrous couple of minutes in the first total solar eclipse to sweep coast to coast in 99 years. Veteran eclipse watchers warned the uninitiated to get ready to be blown away. Planetariums and museums posted "Sold out of eclipse glasses" on their front doors. Signs along highways reminded motorists of "Solar Eclipse Monday," while cars bore the message "Eclipse or bust." With 200 million people within a day's drive of the path of totality, towns and parks braced for monumental crowds. It's expected to be the most observed, most studied and most photographed eclipse ever. Not to mention the most festive, what with all the parties. In Salem, Oregon, a field outside the state fairgrounds was transformed into a campground in advance of an eclipse-watching party for 8,500. "It's one of those 'check the box' kind of things in life," said Hilary O'Hollaren, who drove 30 miles from Portland with her two teenagers and a tent, plus a couple friends. Astronomers consider a full solar eclipse the grandest of cosmic spectacles. The Earth, moon and sun line up perfectly every one to three years, briefly turning day into night for a sliver of the planet. But these sights normally are in no man's land, like the vast Pacific or the poles. This will be the first eclipse of the social media era to pass through such a heavily populated area. The moon hasn't thrown this much shade at the U.S. since 1918. That was the country's last coast-to-coast total eclipse. In fact, the U.S. mainland hasn't seen a total solar eclipse since 1979 -- and even then, only five states in the Northwest experienced total darkness before the eclipse veered in Canada. Monday's total eclipse will cast a shadow that will race through 14 states, entering near Lincoln City, Oregon, at 1:16 p.m. ET, moving diagonally across the heartland and then exiting near Charleston, South Carolina, at 2:47 p.m. ET.
The path will cut 2,600 miles across the land and will be just 60 to 70 miles wide. Mostly clear skies beckoned along much of the route, according to the National Weather Service. Shawnee National Forest in southern Illinois will see the longest stretch of darkness: 2 minutes and 44 seconds. All of North America will get at least a partial eclipse. Central America and the top of South America will also see the moon cover part of the sun. NASA and other scientists will be watching and analyzing from telescopes the ground and in orbit, the International Space Station, airplanes and scores of high-altitude balloons, which will beam back live video. Citizen scientists will monitor animal and plant behavior as daylight turns into twilight and the temperature drops. NASA's associate administrator for science missions, Thomas Zurbuchen, took to the skies for a dry run Sunday. He will usher in the eclipse over the Pacific Coast from a NASA plane. "Can't wait for the cosmic moment Mon morning," he tweeted. Near Victoria, British Columbia, where 91 percent of the sun will be eclipsed, science and math teacher Clayton Uyeda is planning to watch from a ferry along with his wife. He said he is "expecting to have a real sense of connection with the heavens." He has similarly lofty hopes for his students if they can bring themselves to look up at the sky instead of down at their electronic devices. Scientists everywhere agree with Uyeda: Put the phones and cameras down and enjoy the greatest natural show on Earth with your own (protected) eyes. The only time it's safe to look directly without protective eyewear is during totality, when the sun is 100 percent covered. Otherwise, keep the solar specs on or use pinhole projectors that can cast an image of the eclipse into a box. The next total solar eclipse in the U.S. will be in 2024. The next coast-to-coast one will not be until 2045. | New wonders in nature | August 2017 | ['(CBS)'] |
French forces engage in heavy fighting with Taliban insurgents 50 kilometres east of Kabul, Afghanistan with 10 French soldiers dead. | KABUL (AFP) French NATO troops were involved in heavy fighting with insurgents about 50 kilometres (30 miles) east of the Afghan capital Kabul on Tuesday, the alliance force and military officials said.
The clash started with an attack on an International Security Assistance Force patrol Monday in Sarobi district, the ISAF media office said.
"We had a fight through the night and it is ongoing," an ISAF officer told AFP on condition of anonymity.
A ISAF statement said soldiers were involved in a "significant incident with insurgents" but added that it could not yet release details.
It did not give the nationalities of the ISAF soldiers but a Western military source said on condition of anonymity that French troops were involved.
A French military official in Paris told AFP late Monday that French troops were engaged in an operation in Afghanistan but did not give the location.
"An operation is ongoing which started Monday with French soldiers in Afghanistan," he said on condition of anonymity.
Most of the 3,000 French troops in the 40-nation ISAF are in Kabul province, which includes Sarobi, and Kapisa, northeast of the capital.
The French military in Afghanistan would not comment.
The insurgent Taliban movement claimed meanwhile that it had attacked ISAF troops in Sarobi and blown up several vehicles. "We have inflicted heavy casualties," Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahed told AFP.
The military had responded with air strikes that killed five Taliban and several civilians, he claimed. Taliban statements are not always accurate and the information could not be independently verified.
The governor of Sarobi district, Sayed Slaiman, also said there had been fighting but had few details. "We know that the enemy had casualties and they have left their dead bodies behind," he said, without being able to elaborate. | Armed Conflict | August 2008 | ['(AFP via Google News)', '(BBC News)'] |
13 people are killed in a suicide bombing in Balad Ruz, near Baqubah. | The bombing comes as security forces and tribesmen battled Al-Qaeda-linked militants who took control of parts of two cities in Anbar province, west of the capital.
Violence in Iraq has reached a level not seen since 2008, when the country was just emerging from a brutal period of sectarian killings.
Experts say widespread discontent among Iraq's Sunni Arab minority, who say they are marginalised by the Shiite-lead government and unfairly targeted by security forces, has fuelled the increase in violence.
But while the government has made some concessions aimed at placating Sunnis, including freeing prisoners and raising the salaries of anti-Qaeda militiamen, underlying issues remain unaddressed.
The civil war in neighbouring Syria, which has bolstered militant groups, has also played a role in the heightened unrest. | Armed Conflict | January 2014 | ['(Abram Online)'] |
The tenth night of the 2005 French riots is reported as being the most intense yet, and the riots are now the subject of crisis meetings in the French government. President Jacques Chirac has called for the arrest, trial and punishment of the rioters. | Mr Chirac spoke after chairing crisis talks following the 10th - and worst - night of violence, arson and looting.
He said it was an "absolute priority" to re-establish order. But soon after, fresh unrest erupted in several cities.
In Grigny, south of Paris, rioters fired shots at police, injuring 10 police officers, two of them seriously.
Violent attacks were also reported in Orleans, Rennes and Nantes. Rioters burnt nearly 1,300 cars and more than 300 arrests were made on Saturday night from the cities of Nice to Strasbourg.
'Determined'
"The law must have the last word," Mr Chirac told reporters in his first public address on the violence.
Mr Chirac's comments were his first public address on the unrest
"The Republic is quite determined... to be stronger than those who want to sow violence or fear." Mr Chirac promised arrest, trials and punishment for perpetrators.
But he also noted that "respect for all, justice and equal opportunity," were needed to end the unrest.
Mr Chirac has faced criticism from opposition politicians for not speaking publicly about the unrest since it began on 27 October. His only previous comments came through a spokesman.
Sunday's remarks came after talks with key ministers including Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin and Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy, at the presidential palace in Paris.
Correspondents say such security meetings are not usually made public, and its announcement is indicative of the gravity of the situation. Mr de Villepin promised extra security where it was needed.
"We cannot accept any 'no-go' areas", he said.
Unrest began after the deaths of two youths in the rundown Paris suburb of Clichy-sous-Bois, who were accidentally electrocuted at an electricity sub-station after reportedly fleeing police.
Nursery gutted
The northern town of Evreux in Normandy saw some of the worst unrest on Saturday night with at least 30 cars burned along with three shops, the local authorities said.
A school was also petrol-bombed in the town while four police officers were injured in clashes with youths, some of them reportedly wielding baseball bats.
In other incidents:
Clichy-sous-Bois: Two teenagers die in electricity sub-station on 27 October. Successive nights of rioting follow rumours they were fleeing police. A number of people arrested or injured. Aulnay-sous-Bois: A flashpoint after violence spread from Clichy. Shots fired at police and cars and shops set ablaze. Further trouble in nearby suburbs, with more shots fired at police.
Elsewhere in France: From 3 November, violence spreads to other major cities including Dijon, Marseille, Nice and Strasbourg. | Riot | November 2005 | ['(BBC)'] |
A 6.8 magnitude earthquake hits central Myanmar, 25km west of the town of Chauk, and was also felt in Thailand, Bangladesh and India, according to reports. At least three people are killed. | A 6.8 magnitude earthquake has hit central Myanmar, damaging pagodas in the ancient city of Bagan and killing at least one person.
The quake struck 25km (15.5 miles) west of Chauk, at a depth of 84km, the US Geological Survey said.
Tremors were felt as far away as Thailand, Bangladesh and India, sending fearful residents into the streets.
At least 66 stupas in Bagan have been damaged, a spokesman from the department of archaeology told the BBC.
A 22-year-old man was killed in the town of Pakokku due to a building collapse.
Videos posted on social media from Bagan show clouds of dust and the tops of some pagodas crumbling as the quake struck.
The ancient capital is a major tourist site, home to thousands of Buddhist monuments.
Earthquakes occur regularly in central Myanmar and the temples have been damaged and reconstructed before, the BBC's Myanmar correspondent Jonah Fisher says.
There are numerous reports of buildings being damaged elsewhere in the country, including the parliament building in Naypyidaw.
Tall buildings shook in Yangon, Myanmar's largest city, the Thai capital Bangkok and Kolkata in India, where underground railway services were temporarily suspended.
At least 20 people were injured in the Bangladeshi capital, Dhaka, as they fled a building, local media report. | Earthquakes | August 2016 | ['(BBC)'] |
Voters in Portugal take part in a presidential election with current President Anibal Cavaco Silva being reelected. , | With 98% of the votes counted, Mr Cavaco Silva had won 53%, according to official results. His nearest rival, Manuel Alegre, won some 20%.
The election took place amid a mounting debt crisis in Portugal.
Mr Cavaco Silva, who has the power to dissolve parliament, has backed the austerity plan put forward by the Socialist government.
The plan aims to cut Portugal's deficit and avoid it having to take a bailout like Ireland and Greece.
Portugal's president is a mainly ceremonial figure but has one key power: to dissolve parliament without having to justify the decision.
The BBC's Alison Roberts reports from Lisbon that many on the left fear that, with a renewed mandate, a conservative president might be tempted before long to take such action in the hope of seeing the party he once led, the centre-right Social Democrats, return to government.
But after voting in Lisbon, Mr Cavaco Silva, a former economics professor and prime minister, said he was "in favour of stability".
"I consider that it is very important for Portugal to have political stability to solve its problems," he said.
The government of Socialist Prime Minister Jose Socrates is next due to face an election in 2013.
Estimated turnout in Sunday's vote fell to a record low, at about 50%.
Election officials admitted matters were not helped by problems with the new electronic citizen's card that has replaced the old voter registration card and other forms of identification, our correspondent says.
Opposition parties said hundred or even thousands of people were not able to cast a vote.
The tone of the campaign sharpened in the last few days of campaigning, in part because of fears many voters might abstain.
In his last campaign rally on Friday, Mr Cavaco Silva repeated an appeal for voters to turn out, citing the grave financial crisis Portugal was facing.
He had said that "serious damage" would result if no candidate cleared the 50% hurdle on Sunday, triggering a second round of voting.
The uncertainty would push up interest rates and thus also mortgage payments, he said.
His main rival in the polls, veteran Socialist Manuel Alegre, accused him of blackmailing voters and undermining democracy. | Government Job change - Election | January 2011 | ['(BBC)', '(AFP via Google News)', '(CNN)'] |
Judges across Italy stage a walk out over Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's proposed judicial reforms. | ROME (Reuters) - Magistrates walked out of courts across Italy on Saturday in protest against Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi’s judicial reforms and what they see as aggressive language used against them.
Italian magistrates walk out
01:39
“An execution squad, sewer, cancer, metastasis -- these are some of the words that the prime minister and his deputies have used to describe us,” said Gioacchino Natoli of the National Magistrates Association union, which organized the protest.
“We don’t want to be subject to this continued aggression.”
Berlusconi has been on the warpath against the magistrates -- whom he accuses of being “communists” out to destroy him -- for months and has vowed to overhaul the judiciary with reforms that critics say are tailor-made to shield him from prosecution.
In appeals court ceremonies from Sicily to Milan to mark the start of the judicial year, magistrates walked out with copies of the constitution in hand when government representatives began their speeches.
Magistrates have been particularly incensed by a draft bill that would drastically cut the maximum duration of Italy’s slow-moving trials, which would terminate two corruption and tax fraud trials against Berlusconi.
The billionaire prime minister denies all charges and says he is the victim of magistrates who hound him.
Many magistrates agree reforms are needed -- the chief justice of the Supreme Court on Friday attacked Italian trials of moving “slower than those in Gabon” -- but argue that an artificial time limit is counterproductive and may boost crime.
Government officials described the protest as lacking in credibility and urged magistrates to engage in dialogue instead.
“When criticism is blind and refuses to acknowledge anything, it is less credible,” Justice Minister Angelino Alfano said during a ceremony in L’Aquila, attacking the protest.
Berlusconi lost his immunity from prosecution in October when Italy’s top court ruled that legislation passed by his government to shield him from trials while in office violated the constitutional principle that all are equal before the law.
That ruling allowed two court cases against him to resume.
Since then, the 73-year-old conservative leader has pledged far-reaching legal reforms. He says that over the past 15 years he has been saddled with 109 trials and 200 million euros ($280.8 million) in legal fees, and was never convicted.
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| Strike | January 2010 | ['(Reuters)', '(euronews)', '(BBC)'] |
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