Hillary Clinton''s Birthday Message To Herself
Showing posts with label World News. Show all posts
Showing posts with label World News. Show all posts
Thursday, 27 October 2016
Wednesday, 26 October 2016
Obama: Michelle Would Divorce Me If I Ran For President Again
In an interview on “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” Monday, President Barack Obama spoke candidly about his time in office and jokingly revealed that his wife Michelle once gave him a stern warning against him seeking a third term.He said
“Personally, for me, if I were able to run for a third time, Michelle would divorce me,” Obama joked as the crowd burst into laughter. “So it’s useful that I don’t have that choice to make.”
“[Michelle] is spectacular but [she] was never wild about politics,” Obama said. “Michelle once explained to me: ‘I try to organize my life not to have a lot of mess around and politics is just a big mess.’”
Their daughters Sasha and Malia are also on board with mom.
“All the women in my life are looking forward to being able to live a more normal life,” Obama admitted.
Venezuela MPs Vote To Try President Maduro
Venezuela’s opposition-led parliament has voted to open a trial against President Nicolas Maduro, accusing him of violating the constitution.
The move comes after last week’s suspension of a referendum process seeking to remove Maduro.
The government said the vote was meaningless, referring to an earlier court ruling that had declared parliament illegitimate.
President Maduro later accused MPs of attempting to stage a “coup”.
He said a meeting of the country’s defence council would be held on Wednesday.
The further rise in tensions comes despite the fact that on Monday both the government and the opposition agreed to hold crisis talks.
During Tuesday’s session, MPs also voted for President Maduro to appear before parliament in a week’s time.
“We will show clearly to Venezuela and the world that in this crisis, responsibility for breaking the constitution has clearly been Nicolas Maduro’s,” parliament majority leader Julio Borges said.
Reacting to the vote, Vice-President Aristobulo Isturiz said that “legally, the National Assembly does not exist”.
He was referring to the Supreme Court’s ruling that parliamentary resolutions were null and void until the removal of three MPs linked to vote-buying accusations.
The parliament’s trial of Maduro is unlikely to result in any sort of action against him, the BBC’s Will Grant in Central America reports.
The country’s military top brass also delivered an address on national television supporting the Socialist government. The army said it was watching the political situation carefully.
Maduro, a former bus driver and union leader, is blamed by the opposition for Venezuela’s dire economic situation. The oil-rich country is facing widespread food shortages and spiralling inflation.
The opposition is trying to hold a recall referendum that would allow Maduro to be removed from office – but electoral authorities suspended the process last week.
The official reason was allegations of fraud during the gathering of signatures for the first petition required to enable the referendum.
However, opposition lawmakers have long accused the National Electoral Council of being under the government’s control.
In an emergency parliamentary session on Sunday, MPs approved a resolution accusing Maduro’s government of engaging in “an ongoing coup d’etat”.
The Organisation of American States (OAS) also said it was “profoundly worried” by the electoral authorities’ decision.
Hundreds of students protested on Monday in San Cristobal, a city near the Colombian border. Nationwide protests are planned for Wednesday.
Maduro has accused the opposition of having links to foreign states, the US in particular, and of seeking to overthrow him to “lay their hands on Venezuela’s oil riches”.
N’Korea Denuclearisation A ‘Lost Cause’
James Clapper said the best the US could hope for was a cap on the North’s capabilities, in a speech in New York.
It is a rare admission that Washington’s long-standing goal of denuclearisation may not be achievable.
However, the US State Department said its policy has not changed.
Pyongyang has made seemingly rapid progress in its nuclear and rocket programmes in recent years, observers say, despite international opposition and strict sanctions.
North Korea recently carried out its fifth and largest nuclear test, to worldwide condemnation, with South Korea calling it an act of “self-destruction”
Clapper, President Barack Obama’s advisor on national security, visited Pyongyang in 2014.
Speaking at the Council on Foreign Relations think-tank on Tuesday, the intelligence chief described the regime in Pyongyang as “paranoid”, seeing nuclear weapons as “their ticket to survival”.
“So the notion of giving up their nuclear capability, whatever it is, is a non-starter with them,” he added.
He suggested offering economic inducements to North Korea’s leader Kim Jong-un to limit his nuclear arsenal might be a better policy.
Responding to Clapper’s comments, the State Department said the US still aims for a resumption of six-nation negotiations that have been stalled since the North pulled out of them in 2009.
The US is due to deploy its Terminal High Altitude Area Defence (THAAD) missile defence system in South Korea soon, despite opposition from China and North Korea.
Washington and Seoul insist it is purely for defending against threats from North Korea, reports the BBC.
Trump: Obama Should Be Investigated Over Clinton Email Server
U.S. Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump said on Tuesday that President Barack Obama should be investigated over a private email server Hillary Clinton used while secretary of state, saying Obama “knew all about” her email arrangements.
“That’s why he stuck up for Hillary, because he didn’t want to be dragged in. Because he knew all about her private server,” Trump said of the Democratic president in an interview with Reuters. “This means that he has to be investigated.”
The White House declined to comment on Trump’s allegations. Spokesman Josh Earnest told reporters earlier on Tuesday that while the president had Clinton’s personal email address, which she used instead of government systems, he did not know where her server was located or other details.
Clinton, Trump’s Democratic rival in the November 8 election, was Obama’s first Secretary of State from 2009 to 2013.
WikiLeaks on Tuesday released a batch of hacked emails from the account of Clinton’s campaign manager, John Podesta, which showed her Democratic presidential campaign reacting after Obama said in a television interview that he learned of the private email server through news reports.
“We need to clean this up – he has emails from her – they do not say state.gov,” Cheryl Mills, a longtime Clinton aide, wrote in an email to Podesta after Obama made the comments in a March 2015 television interview. “State.gov” is the State Department’s internet domain name, and its presence in the sender’s email address would indicate it came from an official account.
The State Department said in January it found 18 instances of messages between Clinton and Obama among the roughly 30,000 work emails Clinton returned to the department in 2014. None have been released because of a law that protects presidential communications from becoming public for several years.
WikiLeaks has been releasing hacked emails in chunks for several weeks, but the Clinton campaign has not officially confirmed their legitimacy.
U.S. officials have said they believe Russia is behind recent hacks of Democratic Party systems, and reports have indicated the theft of Podesta’s emails may be related.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has said his country is not to blame.
Federal Bureau of Investigation Director James Comey in July said Clinton was “extremely careless” with her emails but that no “reasonable” prosecutor would bring charges.
Meanwhile, Colin Powell, who served as secretary of state in Republican President George W. Bush’s administration, said on Tuesday he would vote for Democrat Hillary Clinton in the presidential election, according to Newsday newspaper.
Powell, who made the announcement at an event hosted by a Long Island business group in Woodbury, New York, said Republican Donald Trump was “not qualified” and had sold Americans a “bill of goods” that he could not deliver, Newsday said.
Tuesday, 25 October 2016
Polling Stations Open In Must-Win Florida
Polling stations have opened for early voting in the key battleground state of Florida, where Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump remain in a tight race.
Trump is blitzing the state with five rallies while Mrs Clinton is also swinging through the Sunshine State.
Early voting by mail began in Florida weeks ago, with over a million people having already cast their votes.
Mrs Clinton holds a narrow three-point lead over Mr Trump in Florida, according to a new CBS/YouGov poll.
The former Secretary of State had 46% of the vote compared with Trump’s 43%, the poll found.
Recent polls have put Mrs Clinton well ahead of her Republican rival both nationally and in several battleground states.
A new CNN/ORC national poll put Mrs Clinton six points ahead among likely voters, at 51% to 45% in a head-to-head with Trump.
Polling in Republican strongholds including Arizona, Georgia and Utah have also shown closer-than-expected races.
But speaking at a rally in St Augustine on Monday, Trump, said: “Folks, we’re winning. We’re winning. We’re winning.”
He once again blamed the media, which he described as being composed of “thieves and crooks” and “almost as crooked as Hillary”, and said the system is “corrupt and rigged and broken”.
Pollsters also came under fire, with Trump claiming the hacked emails of John Podesta showed the Clinton campaign chair was “rigging the polls by oversampling Democrats”.
The Republican nominee also hit out at his rival’s use of a personal email server while Secretary of State, saying the FBI and Justice Department had inappropriately let her off the hook, reports the BBC.
“We have to investigate the investigation,” he said.
And he addressed the latest allegation of sexual misconduct from Jessica Drake, a 42-year-old adult film star who said the Republican nominee grabbed her and kissed her without permission 10 years ago.
“And she’s a porn star… Oh, I’m sure she’s never been grabbed before,” he said, adding that he will sue all the “liars” after the election.
Meanwhile Clinton ally Senator Elizabeth Warren lashed out on Monday against Donald Trump at a new Hampshire rally over comments that he has made about women, saying that the candidate “disrespects – aggressively disrespects – more than half the human beings in this country.”
“On November 8th, we nasty women are going to march our nasty feet to cast our nasty votes, to get you out of our lives forever”, Mrs Warren said, referring to a comment made by Trump in the final debate, where he called Mrs Clinton “such a nasty woman”.
She also hit out at Trump over his obscene remarks about women, which emerged in a 2005 videotape.
“He thinks that because he has a mouthful of Tic Tacs he can force himself on any woman within groping distance,” she said. “Well I’ve got news for you Donald Trump. Women have had it with guys like you.”
Calais Camp Demolition Set To Begin
More than 2,300 people were bussed away to reception centres on Monday.
Migrants had queued peacefully to be processed, but there are concerns some will refuse to go because they still want to get to the UK.
Some 7,000-8,000 people have been living there in squalid conditions.
The demolition of the camp is a sign from the French government to the people of Calais that their concerns are being taken seriously, says the BBC’s Jonny Dymond from the area.
It is also a message to remaining residents that the camp will not remain a place of shelter, our correspondent adds.
Christian Salome of the Auberge des Migrants charity said the process was working well so far because those leaving were the ones who wanted to.
But he added: “I’m much more concerned about later in the week when the only ones remaining are those who do not want to leave, who still want to reach England.”
There are warnings that those determined to stay will set up camp in the surrounding countryside while the demolition takes place before returning to the area.
Children are the only group allowed to stay in Calais. They will be housed in the camp’s converted shipping containers while the rest of the Jungle is dismantled.
Almost 200 children from the camp have been brought to the UK, some of them under the “Dubs” amendment to the Immigration Act, according to UK Home Secretary Amber Rudd.
The amendment allows particularly vulnerable children – such as girls and those under 13 – refuge in the UK, even if they do not have family already in the country.
But the process of transferring some of the estimated 1,300 unaccompanied children from the camp was halted on Monday at the request of the French.
The operation to clear the tents and shelters is expected to take three days. More than 1,200 police have been deployed to keep watch.
The French interior ministry said “police might be forced to intervene” if there was unrest during the demolition.
Long queues formed earlier outside reception centres in the camp as the French authorities worked to determine whether individual migrants were with family members or travelling alone, and whether they were deemed to be vulnerable.
After processing, they boarded buses to different parts of France where they will be given the opportunity to claim asylum, or face deportation.
Chinese City Blast Leaves 10 Dead, 150 Injured
The death toll from a powerful explosion that destroyed buildings in the Chinese city of Yulin has risen to at least 10, with more than 150 people injured.
There are reports of a large crater where a two-storey building once stood, and images show widespread damage, with rubble in the streets.
The blast occurred Monday afternoon local time near a hospital.
Reports suggest illegally stored explosives might be to blame.
It appears the hospital was damaged in the explosion, which ripped through a nearby residential building.
State-run news agency Xinhua reported that more than 70 firefighters were sent to Xinmin township in Fugu county, where several people are believed to remain trapped inside collapsed buildings, reports the BBC.
Militants Kill Dozens At Pakistan Police College
At least 58 cadets and guards have been killed after militants attacked a police college in the Pakistani city of Quetta, officials say.
Three militants wearing suicide bomb vests entered the college late on Monday, reportedly taking hostages.
A major security operation lasted for hours and all attackers were killed.
No group has said they carried out the assault, but Quetta has seen similar attacks by separatists and Islamist militants in recent years.
Hundreds of trainees were evacuated from Balochistan Police College as troops arrived to repel the militants. Local media reported at least three explosions at the scene.
“I saw three men in camouflage whose faces were hidden carrying Kalashnikovs,” one cadet said according to AFP news agency. “They started firing and entered the dormitory but I managed to escape over a wall.”
The police academy is home to about 600 students and many of the cadets who died were killed in the blasts, said Major General Sher Afgan of the Frontier Corps.
The exact sequence of events is unclear but there was intermittent exchange of fire between the attackers and security forces for several hours, according to Dawn newspaper. There were also reports of a hostage situation.
More than 100 people, mostly trainees, were injured.
Pakistan’s army and the paramilitary Frontier Corps took part in the military counter-operation, which Balochistan provincial home minister Mir Sarfaraz Ahmed Bugti said was now over.
Two of the militants died after detonating their bomb vests and one was killed by security forces, reports the BBC.
Officials blamed a faction of the Lashker-e-Jhangvi militant group and said the attackers “were in communication with operatives in Afghanistan”.
Quetta is the capital of Balochistan province, which is battling an insurgency as well as Islamist militants, with violent attacks common.
Earlier in the day, two customs officers were shot dead and another critically wounded in Surab, south of Quetta.
In August, 88 people were killed in separate bomb attacks targeting a hospital and lawyers in Quetta.
The Pakistani military has been conducting military operations against militants in volatile tribal areas near the Afghan border.
Meet The World's Sexiest Chef Franco Noriega Who Cooks In His Underwear
A model dubbed 'The Naked Chef' has sent hearts racing as he cooks up tasty food in his underwear has become a viral success online.
The latest video by Peruvian Franco Noriega, 27, racked up millions of hits worldwide as he told his fans how to cook a trendy chia seed pudding.
Franco, who has been voted the world's sexiest chef, moved to New York in 2007 hoping to become an actor.
But he was signed up as a model after being spotted by the famous photographer Mario Testino.
The latest video by Peruvian Franco Noriega, 27, racked up millions of hits worldwide as he told his fans how to cook a trendy chia seed pudding.
Franco, who has been voted the world's sexiest chef, moved to New York in 2007 hoping to become an actor.
But he was signed up as a model after being spotted by the famous photographer Mario Testino.
Franco has become an Internet star with more than 164,000 followers on social media where he usually posts his risque cooking tips.His latest video showing him almost naked and with only boxer shorts on has gone viral .
Most of those commenting on the clip seem to be focused on his looks rather than his cooking skills.
Saturday, 10 September 2016
Earthquake Hits Tanzania, Kills 11 And Injures 192 (Photos)
A 5.7-magnitude earthquake shook the Lake Victoria region of East Africa on Saturday, killing at least 11 people in Tanzania.
The quake was felt as far away as western Kenya and parts of Uganda, which share the waters of Lake Victoria. Tremors were also felt in Kigali, Rwanda.
The 11 who died in Tanzania were in brick structures in the town of Bukoba, said Augustine Olomi, regional police commander for the Kagera region,AP reports.
A statement from the Tanzanian president’s office said that he was
“shocked by reports of the earthquake that caused the death of many people, injury to others and destruction of property.”The statement didn’t provide specific figures on casualties.
Saturday’s quake was shallow, occurring at a depth of 10 kilometers (six miles). Shallow quakes generally tend to be more damaging than deeper quakes. Seismic waves from deep quakes have to travel farther to the surface, losing energy along the way, while the shaking from shallow quakes is more intense.
Recent earthquakes in the area have caused secondary hazards such as landslides. The last notable quake in the region was in 2004 and measured 4.7.
Images-New China
US, Russia Agree Peace Moves
Russia and the US have announced an agreement on Syria starting with a “cessation of hostilities” from sunset on Monday.
Under the plan, the Syrian government will end combat missions in specified areas held by the opposition.
Russia and the US will establish a joint centre to combat so-called Islamic State and al-Nusra fighters.
The announcement follows talks between US Secretary of State John Kerry and his Russian counterpart, Sergei Lavrov.
The plan would need both the regime and opposition “to meet their obligations”, Kerry said in Geneva.
The opposition had indicated it was prepared to comply with the plan, he said, provided the Syrian government “shows it is serious”.
Lavrov said Russia had informed the Syrian government about the arrangements and the Syrian government was “ready to fulfil them”.
The accord also provides for humanitarian access.
“The cessation of hostilities requires access to all besieged and hard-to-reach areas, including Aleppo”, Kerry said.
Seven days after the start of the cessation of hostilities, Russia and the US will establish a “joint implementation centre” to fight the Islamic State group and al-Qaeda-allied Nusra fighters.
Lavrov said the joint implementation centre would allow Russian and US forces to “separate the terrorists from the moderate opposition.”
He said there would be co-ordinated strikes against the terrorists by the Russian and US air forces, and that in some areas, that excluded action by the Syrian air force, reports the BBC.
“We have agreed on the areas where such co-ordinated strikes would be taking place, and in those areas, on neutral agreement shared by the Syrian government as well, only the Russian and US air force will be functional,” he said.
But Lavrov added that “the Syrian air force will be functional in other areas, outside those that we have singled out for Russian-American military co-operation.”
Lavrov and Kerry stressed that the plan could pave the way for a political transition.
“The plan is more prescriptive and far reaching than any proposal to date and if implemented by all sides could allow political negotiations to take place on Syria’s future,” Kerry said.
The United Nations envoy to Syria, Staffan de Mistura, welcomed the agreement and said the UN would exert all efforts to deliver humanitarian aid.
Fighting has recently escalated between Syria’s army and rebels in eastern Aleppo, where 250,000 people live.
On Sunday, Syrian government forces were reported to have recaptured parts of Aleppo which were lost to rebels last month, placing rebel-held districts in the city’s east once again under siege.
Staffan de Mistura warned earlier on Friday that food and water shortages made the situation in Aleppo even more serious than previously, and that fuel supplies could run out within days.
UN humanitarian chief Stephen O’Brien told the BBC conditions in Aleppo had become appalling: “Eastern Aleppo is at the apex of horror, where anyone of us if we were there would find life barely possible, let alone tolerable.”
The US and Russia support opposite sides in the conflict that began in 2011: Washington backs a coalition of rebel groups it describes as moderate, while Moscow is seen as a key ally of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
7-Year-Old Girl Made Goddess Because She Has 'Eyelashes Like A Cow And Voice Of A Duck'
A seven-year-old girl in Nepal has been declared a goddess because she has “eyelashes like a cow” and a “voice as clear as a duck”.
Now the youngster’s parents have had to leave their jobs because under Hindu tradition she is not allowed to leave her home except for special occasions – and her feet can’t touch the floor.
Nepalese prime minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal even had to bow before the ‘Kumari’ girl, who is called Yunika, as he paid respect to her along with thousands of others at the religion’s annual festival of rain.
The child is thought to bring good luck to those who look at her after being declared by royal priests and officials as a living incarnation of the goddess Durga in an ancient Hindu custom.
Now the youngster’s parents have had to leave their jobs because under Hindu tradition she is not allowed to leave her home except for special occasions – and her feet can’t touch the floor.
Nepalese prime minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal even had to bow before the ‘Kumari’ girl, who is called Yunika, as he paid respect to her along with thousands of others at the religion’s annual festival of rain.
The child is thought to bring good luck to those who look at her after being declared by royal priests and officials as a living incarnation of the goddess Durga in an ancient Hindu custom.
But when Yunika hits puberty, she will revert back to being a normal member of society.
Her dad Ramesh Bajracharya said:
“When my daughter was selected as a Kumari, I felt very happy.
“It's because Kumari is hugely regarded and respected living goddess in Nepal.”
The criteria is extreme – with children needing “eyelashes like a cow”, “thighs like a deer” and a “voice as clear as a duck”.
“When my daughter was selected as a Kumari, I felt very happy.
“It's because Kumari is hugely regarded and respected living goddess in Nepal.”
The criteria is extreme – with children needing “eyelashes like a cow”, “thighs like a deer” and a “voice as clear as a duck”.
Daily Mirror
Friday, 9 September 2016
N’Korea Claims Fifth Nuclear Test Success
North Korea says it has successfully carried out its fifth test of a nuclear device.
The announcement on state media came hours after a huge seismic event was detected near its nuclear test site.
South Korea believes it is the North’s biggest ever test, raising fears the state has made real nuclear advances.
South Korean President Park Geun-hye called it an act of “self-destruction” which showed the “maniacal recklessness” of leader Kim Jong-un.
The North said the test had been of a “newly developed nuclear warhead” and that it was now capable of mounting a nuclear device on ballistic rockets.
South Korea’s military has suggested that the explosive yield of this blast could be almost twice that of the previous nuclear test. Analysts have expressed fears this could mean the North is a step closer to having a useable nuclear weapon.
Ms Park, who is cutting short an overseas visit, said the test was a “grave challenge” to the international community which would “only earn more sanctions and isolation” for North Korea.
“Such provocation will further accelerate its path to self-destruction,” she said.
Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said his country “absolutely cannot condone” any such test and would “protest adamantly” to Pyongyang.
“North Korea’s nuclear development is becoming a graver threat to Japan’s safety and severely undermines the peace and safety of the region and the international community,” he said.
The test was first detected as a 5.3 magnitude earthquake on Friday morning in north-east North Korea, close to its Punggye-ri underground nuclear test site.
As with previous nuclear tests, the waveform generated indicated it had not been naturally occurring, reports the BBC.
South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff later said the detonation had a yield of about 10 kilotonnes, making it the North’s “strongest nuclear test ever”.
That is almost twice the power of its last test in January, which Pyongyang said at the time had been a hydrogen bomb. Many analysts cast doubt on that claim. The bomb dropped by the US on Hiroshima in 1945 had a yield of about 15 kilotonnes.
A fifth test has long been expected. In recent weeks, satellite imagery has shown increased activity at Punggye-ri.
The North also often uses nationally important dates as an opportunity for a show of military strength. Friday is its National Day, celebrating the founding of the current regime.
It is likely to be some time before the scale and manner of the test are independently confirmed.
Japan has despatched military aircraft to collect air samples to monitor for radiation, while China said it was monitoring radiation levels close to its borders with the North.
North Korea is banned by UN sanctions from any tests of nuclear or missile technology.
But in recent months it has conducted a series of ballistic missile launches – some of which reached Japanese waters – and has unleashed a rising tide of aggressive rhetoric, threatening nuclear attacks on its enemies.
The North has also been angered by a US and South Korean plan to install an anti-missile defence system in the South and by the allies’ massive annual joint military exercises, which are still taking place.
International sanctions were considerably toughened in response to its previous nuclear and missile tests, but had little impact on Pyongyang’s determination to be a nuclear-armed state.
French Alps Cable Cars Rescue Resumes
An operation to rescue people trapped overnight in a series of cable cars in the French Alps has resumed.
Forty-five tourists spent a cold Thursday night suspended above the glaciers of Mont Blanc at an altitude of about 3,800m (12,468ft).
They were among 110 people initially trapped when the cable cars ground to a halt on Thursday afternoon.
It is believed that the cars stopped after cables became tangled in high winds.
Sixty-five people were evacuated by helicopter late on Thursday but the rescue operation had to be suspended when night fell and clouds hampered visibility.
“We were forced to suspend operations for safety reasons,” said Georges Francois Leclerc, prefect of the Haute-Savoie department.
“We hope to get everyone on Friday morning,” he said, adding that it was “a very complex operation”.
The stranded tourists have been given survival blankets, energy bars and bottles of water.
Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve said first aid workers had spent the night in the cable cars with those trapped.
Local officials said the operation would resume at 06:30 local time (04:30 GMT).
Mathieu Dechavanne, the head of the cable car company, said it appeared that cables had crossed over “for unexplained reasons” but probably due to strong gusts of wind.
French, Italian and Swiss teams are taking part in rescue efforts and they have three helicopters at their disposal, reports the BBC.
The cable cars connect the Aiguille de Midi peak in France, at 3,842m (12,605ft), to Pointe Helbronner in Italy, at 3,462m (11,358ft) and offer a panoramic view of Mont Blanc.
Syrian Militant Rebel Leader ‘Killed’
A senior commander of the Syrian militant group formerly known as al-Nusra Front has been killed near Aleppo, rebel sources say.
The group Jabhat Fateh al-Sham said on its Twitter account that commander Abu Omar Sarakeb died in an air strike in Aleppo province.
It did not say which country’s forces had carried out the air strike.
Al-Nusra Front changed its name at the end of July, reportedly cutting ties with al-Qaeda at the same time.
The Syrian government, Russia and a US-led coalition have all been carrying out air strikes against militant groups in Syria, reports the BBC.
A source quoted by Reuters said that Abu Omar Sarakeb and others had been targeted in a hideout in the village of Kafr Naha.
Unconfirmed reports said several other senior figures in the group were killed or injured, Reuters reported.
Obama Slams ‘Wacky’ Trump Jibes
Barack Obama has chided Donald Trump as “wacky” and “uninformed” after the Republican candidate said Russia’s President Putin was a better leader.
Speaking in Laos, Obama said that every time Trump spoke it became clearer that the Republican contender was not qualified to be president.
In a televised forum on Wednesday, Trump had praised Putin’s “great control” and 82% approval rating.
Trump and rival Hillary Clinton had taken questions from military veterans.
Obama said: “I don’t think the guy’s qualified to be president of the United States and every time he speaks, that opinion is confirmed.”
The president pointed to the diplomatic work he had faced at both the Asean summit in Laos and the earlier G20 meeting in China, reports the BBC.
He said: “I can tell you from the interactions I have had over the last eight or nine days with foreign leaders that this is serious business.
“You actually have to know what you are talking about and you actually have to have done your homework. When you speak, it should actually reflect thought-out-policy you can implement.”
Mrs Clinton, meanwhile, pilloried Trump for having suggested US military leaders had been “reduced to rubble”, accusing him of having “trash-talked American generals”.
In a rare press conference, she said on Thursday morning: “That’s how he talks about distinguished men and women who’ve spent their lives serving our country, sacrificing for us.”
Trump had told the forum in New York that the Russian president had “been a leader far more than our president has been”.
Quizzed by ‘NBC’ host Matt Lauer on his previous complimentary remarks about Putin, Trump responded: “He does have an 82% approval rating.”
“I think when he calls me ‘brilliant’, I’ll take the compliment, OK?” said the businessman, adding that Putin had “great control over his country”.
Trump also said that, as a result of the confidential intelligence briefings he has been entitled to as an election candidate, he had been “shocked” at how the president, Mrs Clinton and current Secretary of State John Kerry had done “exactly the opposite” of what intelligence experts had told them.
In the forum, Trump also said: “I was totally against the war in Iraq.”
This appeared to contradict a statement in a 2002 interview with radio host Howard Stern and the forum’s moderator, Matt Lauer, came in for intense criticism after the event for not pressing Trump on the statement.
Obama said in Laos: “The most important thing for the public and the press is to just listen to what he says and follow up and ask questions to what appear to be either contradictory or uninformed or outright wacky ideas”.
Mrs Clinton had found herself once again on the defensive during the forum over her private email server.
The forum offered a preview of the questions they will face in their three forthcoming presidential debates, the first at Hofstra University near New York on 26 September.
Thursday, 8 September 2016
Meet The World's Tiniest Surviving Baby
The world's smallest baby Emilia Grabarczyk's entire foot was the size of a fingernail when she was born .Nine months later,she has defied expectations and continues to survive.
Born in west Germany, weighing a mere eight ounces, it was feared she would not survive.But the girl, labelled 'the little fighter' by doctors treating her, astonished everyone and is thriving.According to Mailonline,she now weighs in at 7lb 2oz - a healthy weight for a newborn.
Local reports say it makes her the lightest premature baby in the world to survive.
'Even children with a birth weight of 14 ounces rarely survive. We have to thank Emilia as well for her own survival,' 'She is a little fighter.'For more than six months, it was unclear whether she would survive. Only in recent weeks she is getting more robust.' The previous record is thought to be held by Rumaisa Rahman, who was born in the Loyola University Medical Centre in of Chicago when her mother was 25 weeks pregnant. At birth, she was eight inches tall and weighed 8.6 ounces
Denmark To Buy Panama Papers Data
Denmark will buy data leaked from the law firm at the heart of the Panama Papers scandal, Taxation Minister Karsten Lauritzen has announced.
An anonymous offer to sell data involving up to 600 Danish citizens was made to the tax authorities over the summer, he said in a statement.
“We owe it to all Danish taxpayers who faithfully pay their taxes,” he said.
The decision was attacked as “deeply reprehensible” by a spokesman for one of the opposition parties.
Germany, France and the UK are all believed to have paid for data on bank customers in the past but this may be the first time a government has agreed to pay for data leaked from the law firm involved in the Panama Papers, Mossack Fonseca.
Some 11.5m documents previously leaked from the firm to international media revealed huge offshore tax evasion.
Lauritzen did not reveal the exact sum to be paid but it is believed to be at most 9m kroner (£1m; $1.4m; 1.2m euros).
“Everything suggests that it is useful information,” the Danish tax minister said.
“We must take the necessary measures in order to catch tax evaders who hide fortunes in, for instance, Panama. Therefore we agreed that it is wise to buy the material.”
At the same time, he accepted that “there may be fundamental problems associated with buying leaked information” and said tax authorities “should be cautious”.
The proposal by the centre-right Venstre party – which rules as a minority government – is said by Danish media to have the support of the other two main parties in parliament, the centre-left Social Democrats and anti-immigration Danish People’s Party.
But the Liberal Alliance, Venstre’s former coalition partner, sharply criticised the idea. Tax spokesman Joachim Olsen said it might encourage the theft of private information to sell it on to the Danish authorities.
The Panama Papers, first detailed in April, revealed the hidden assets of hundreds of politicians, officials, current and former national leaders, celebrities and sports stars, reports the BBC.
They listed more than 200,000 shell companies, foundations and trusts set up in tax havens around the world.
Mossack Fonseca said it had been hacked by servers based abroad and filed a complaint with the Panamanian attorney general’s office. It said it did not act illegally and that information was being misrepresented.
Putin A Better Leader Than Obama – Trump
Donald Trump has showered Vladimir Putin with praise as he and rival Hillary Clinton took pointed questions from military veterans.
The Republican presidential nominee told the forum the Russian president “has been a leader far more than our president [Obama] has been”.
It came on the same day the chief of the Pentagon accused Russia of sowing the seeds of global instability.
Mrs Clinton, meanwhile, defended her judgment despite her email scandal.
The White House candidates appeared back to back on stage in half-hour segments in New York on Wednesday night.
Quizzed by ‘NBC’ host Matt Lauer on his previous complimentary remarks about Putin, Trump responded: “He does have an 82% approval rating.”
“I think when he calls me brilliant I’ll take the compliment, ok?” added the businessman.
He said Putin had “great control over his country”.
Trump also predicted that if elected in November, “I think that I’ll be able to get along with him.”
The property magnate recently drew sharp criticism when he urged Russia to dig up the emails that Mrs Clinton deleted from her email server.
It is not the first time Trump has made admiring comments about the Russian leader.
Last December he said it was “a great honour” when Putin called him “a talented person”.
Trump’s latest remarks came hours after US Defence Secretary Ash Carter said Russia “has clear ambition to erode the principled international order”.
In a speech at Oxford University, Carter also appeared to allude to suspected Russian involvement in hacking of Democratic National Committee computers in the US.
“We will not ignore attempts to interfere with our democratic processes,” he said.
On Tuesday night, Trump also courted controversy over sex abuse in the military, reports the BBC.
He stood by a comment he made three years ago when he appeared to blame such assaults on the decision to allow women in the forces.
“It is a correct tweet,” Trump said of the 2013 Twitter post in which he remarked: “What did these geniuses expect when they put men & women together?”
Mrs Clinton, who appeared first on stage by virtue of a coin toss, found herself once again on the defensive over her private email server.
A US naval flight officer told the former secretary of state he would have been jailed if he had handled classified information as she had done.
The Democratic nominee replied: “I did exactly what I should have done and I take it very seriously. Always have, always will.”
Mrs Clinton also said her 2002 Senate vote in favour of the Iraq War was “a mistake”.
Both candidates talked about the ongoing conflict in Syria
But she said it meant she was in “the best possible position” to ensure it never happened again.
Mrs Clinton also pointed out that Trump had once supported the invasion.
The former secretary of state vowed to defeat the Islamic State group, though she emphasised: “We are not putting ground troops into Iraq ever again.”
Unusually for a US presidential candidate, Trump made unflattering remarks about America’s military leaders.
He said the generals had been “reduced to rubble” during President Barack Obama’s administration.
Trump and Mrs Clinton’s forum offered a preview of the questions they will face in their three forthcoming presidential debates.
