|
 A Frenchman detained last month with a cache of weapons had planned attacks during Euro 2016, according to Ukrainian police. The US State Department has issued a related Europe Travel Alert.
|
RELATED ARTICLES | | |
|
 Protestors have called for the disbandment of the national electoral commission over allegations of bias and corruption
|
|
Tuesday will be the last major primary day of this election cycle. Hours before voting contests began in six states, Hillary Clinton was declared the Democrats'' presumptive nominee Monday night by the Associated Press. In response, Clinton said she was 'flattered,' and her campaign called it an 'important milestone.' But the former secretary of state said she first wants to focus on winning the final primaries and caucuses, contests which will leave Bernie Sanders with a choice of whether to remain in the race.
Five states are holding Democratic and Republican primaries—California, Montana, New Jersey, New Mexico and South Dakota. North Dakota will hold its Democratic caucuses. Most polls will close at either 7 or 8 p.m. local time in each state, and then unofficial results will start to appear on the respective secretary of state websites.
Clinton over the weekend won caucuses in the U.S. Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico, which moved her closer to securing the nomination. But recent polls show Sanders has closed the gap with Clinton in California, and the two now are in a virtual tie. In New Jersey, the other top delegate prize of the day, Clinton has a significant lead. Neither contender needs to win outright in either state to claim delegates because they are allocated based on vote share.
Many of Sanders''s loyal supporters continue to say they won''t back down. Some encourage him to fight until the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia next month, when the party officially will declare its presidential nominee. Other Democrats have accused the senator of damaging the party''s unity by remaining in the race. The lingering question is whether his fans ultimately will back Clinton if he ends his presidential campaign soon.
During a news conference Monday, Sanders declined to speculate whether he will endorse Clinton ahead of the July convention. 'Let''s assess where we are after tomorrow before we make statements based on speculation,' he said Monday in Emeryville, California. He plans to return to his home in Burlington, Vermont, after the primaries.
He also encouraged residents to vote in this week''s contests, stressing the importance of the California primary. He said he was confident he could win if voter turnout is high and called on Americans to ensure Trump doesn''t become the next U.S. president.
'It is incomprehensible to me that in the year 2016…given all that we have gone through as a nation for hundreds of years—in trying to end racism, trying to end bigotry, trying to end discrimination—that we have a candidate of a major political party today who is essentially running his campaign on bigotry,' he said.
Sanders has used the results of recent polling to argue he is the superior Democratic candidate who could beat the real estate tycoon in November''s election. In a recent speculative matchup with Trump, Sanders was ahead of the mogul by about 11 points, according to RealClearPolitics.
'It''s absolutely imperative that we beat Donald Trump,' Sanders said. 'I believe I am the stronger candidate.'
Meanwhile in the Republican race, many members of the party are urging unity around Trump in an effort to defeat Clinton later this year. Prominent Republicans, including House Speaker Paul Ryan, have changed their earlier views about Trump and have declared their support for the candidate.
But others remain uneasy about Trump''s most recent controversial remarks, this time against a federal judge. He continues to defend his claims that District Judge Gonzalo Curiel, an American whose parents are from Mexico, has conflict of interests as he cons
|
|
British Prime Minister David Cameron sought to win back the initiative Tuesday after polls showed the 'Remain' side in the U.K.''s EU referendum, which Cameron backs, slipping behind.
In a rare prime ministerial press conference, Cameron said that the 'Brexit' campaign was telling six lies about the EU.
But is that fair? Here''s a fact-check.
Cameron''s claim: The prime minister said that it is untrue to say, as the 'Leave' campaign has done, that the U.K. will be liable for future Eurozone bailouts. We won''t have to pay for such EU endeavors, he said.
Is it true? A 2011 European Council decision on Bailouts for Eurozone countries specified that the U.K. and other non-Euro states would not be liable. A Vote Leave briefing quotes Chancellor George Osborne saying that the EU had acted 'in flagrant breach of the agreement we''d all signed up to' in 2015 in seeking to make Britain pay for Greece''s bailout. He did say this, but he went on to confirm that the attempt had been blocked. Cameron is probably right.
Cameron''s claim: Cameron said that the U.K.''s 'rebate,' an instant discount on its EU contribution fees, is secure, and that Vote Leave''s claim that the EU could scrap it is untrue. 'The British prime minister has a veto on changes to our rebate. Only a British prime minister could decide to give it up,' he said.
Is it true? Yes. Research from the House of Commons Library concluded that 'unanimity of the member states is required to change' the rebate, while independent fact-checking organization Full Fact said: 'The rebate can''t be changed in future without the UK''s agreement.'
Cameron''s claim: Cameron hit back at Brexiters'' claims that the U.K. had given up its ability to veto EU treaties. 'There''s absolutely nothing in the renegotiation that gives up our veto as a full member of the European Union,' he said.
Is it true? Vote Leave points out that Cameron''s renegotiated EU membership deal does not allow him to veto new legislation aimed at driving integration within the Eurozone. That''s true, but that doesn''t mean he''s given up any veto he previously had on issues directly affecting the U.K.
Cameron''s claim: It''s 'wrong' to say the U.K. can''t stop the EU''s budget going up.
Is it true? The detail of Vote Leave''s response to this focuses on the parlous state of the EU''s finances, backed up with European Parliament research, and argues that the EU is likely to want to increase spending during the current, pre-agreed period to 2020. It''s true that Cameron hasn''t exactly highlighted this risk, but Vote Leave does not argue that he has no veto over any such increase, only that British politicians have ' constantly failed' to use the veto and that our 'political capital' with the EU is currently low.
Cameron''s claim: 'They said we were powerless to stop Britain being forced into an EU army. Again, not true.'
Is it true? There are all sorts of shared defense responsibilities different EU member states might choose to embark upon. But, the fact-checking group Full Fact said an actual EU army and common defense policy 'couldn''t be brought into existence without the agreement of the U.K.'
Cameron''s claim: The U.K. would not save money by leaving the EU.
Is it true? If I could answer that, I''d be doing something more lucrative right now than writing fact-check pieces for you to click on. The Vote Leave campaign said the U.K.''s net contribution to the EU in 2015 was £10.6 billion (
|
|
Banksy, the U.K.-based graffiti artist, has left a surprise mural on the walls of an elementary school in Bristol, England. Bridge Farm Primary, in the artist''s home town, recently named a school house after him.
The painting depicts a stick-figure school girl running, hitting a burning tire with a stick along the 14ft wall. A spokesman for Banksy told BBC News that the mural, which was accompanied by a letter from the artist himself, is genuine.
The handwritten letter read: 'Dear Bridge Farm School, thanks for your letter and naming a house after me. Please have a picture, and if you don't like it, feel free to add stuff. I'm sure the teachers won't mind. Remember, it's always easier to get forgiveness than permission. Much love, Banksy.'
'I think it went up over the weekend, and completed last night, but we're not entirely sure,' headteacher Geoff Mason told The Bristol Post. 'It was done after we ran a competition to change the house names, and we decided to name them after Bristol legends. We had to include Banksy.' Mason added that he has 'no plans to sell it [the mural],' BBC News reports.
|
|
The Turkish President, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, has said a woman's life is 'incomplete' if she does not have children.
|
RELATED ARTICLES | | |
|
When Brock Turner sexually assaulted a woman on the Stanford University Campus, he committed her to a devastating journey, the latest stage of which is seeing him sentenced to what many people think is an unbelievably lenient six months in prison. She describes this journey in heartbreaking detail in a victim statement submitted to the court as part of sentencing.
The 12-page statement has been published in full and has gone viral, with more than four million views since the weekend. And it is a harrowing read. From waking up alone and confused on a hospital gurney; enduring invasive, repeated examinations; discovering she''s been sexually assaulted and how she''d been found, alone, naked, on the ground among the rubbish. We find out how she pieces the events of the night back together in her mind. How she struggles to tell her family and keep body and soul together, pretending she''s fine. She talks about preparing for the ordeal of the trial, trying to second guess the prosecutor''s questions and make sure she''s 'believable.' Then she describes the trial itself, having to listen to her attacker''s defence. We are left knowing that this is an event that she may never fully walk away from; it has changed her life.
Brock Turner''s father also made a statement. His was submitted to the court in mitigation for his son''s crime in the hope of persuading the judge to be lenient in sentencing. In his statement he dismisses the rape, by his son, of an unconscious woman as '20 minutes of action.' He views the assault as a lesson in the 'dangers of alcohol consumption and sexual promiscuity,' concerned about the impact on his son''s future, and not about the impact on the woman he attacked. As much as the victim''s statement gives an insight into the impact sexual violence has on a victim, Turner''s statement tells us much about the culture Brock was brought up in. It echoes the response to high profile cases up and down the U.K. where victims are blamed and we''re asked to spare a thought for the reputation of the man who is accused. It suggests that Brock''s athletic achievements somehow trump the violent sexual assault of a woman.
This case joins a growing list of high profile cases involving assaults on female students in colleges in the U.S. and U.K. There is increasing concern about the safety of female students and whether authorities are taking appropriate action to address this. We don''t go to university to simply get a degree—it is where young people develop their independent characters, socialise and explore adult sex and relationships. This places huge responsibility on the institutions where young people congregate to ensure women are safe and able to participate fully in university life.
NUS research shows us that women in full-time education are more likely to experience sexual violence than others. One in seven women had experienced a serious physical or sexual assault during their time as a student in the UK and over two thirds experience verbal or non-verbal harassment, including groping, flashing and unwanted sexual comments.
In the U.S. this has led to the White House setting up a Sexual Violence Taskforce to ra
|
|
The second Palestinian that the Israeli military killed after a stabbing attack against soldiers in March was 'executed' while prone, an Israeli rights group said on Monday.
The left-leaning B''Tselem group, which documents Israeli violations in the West Bank, said in a statement that an Israeli soldier shot Palestinian attacker Ramzi al-Qasrawi in the head while he lay on the ground with injuries from a prior gunshot, according to two Palestinian eyewitnesses, Nur Abu ‘Eishah and Amani Abu ‘Eishah.
Another Israeli soldier, Sgt. Elor Azaria, is on trial for the alleged killing of Qasrawi''s fellow attacker, Abdel Fatal al-Sharif, after footage showed him cocking his gun and shooting Sharif in the head while he laid prone on the floor following the attack in the West Bank city of Hebron.
The incident divided the Israeli public and the country''s political elite, with ultranationalist and far-right Israelis protesting against the government and military''s decision to allow Azaria to be prosecuted, alleging that the soldier was doing his duty.
The Israeli military denied B''Tselem''s claims and the accounts of the two eyewitnesses, saying that the soldier fired the fatal shots as Qasrawi carried out his attack.
'The claims by the B''Tselem organization are inconsistent with the findings of the operational investigation and conflict with the information the IDF has about this incident,' the army said in a statement.
'The shots fired at the terrorist were carried out in order to eliminate the threat while he was attacking the soldiers with a knife.'
The new allegation comes after the Israeli military lifted travel restrictions on the Tel Rumeida neighborhood of Hebron, allowing them to take testimonies from eyewitnesses.
Sarit Michaeli, spokesperson for B''Tselem, told Newsweek that the two eyewitnesses are volunteers for the group and had filmed 'sections' of the incident involving Qasrawi, but had not captured the moment an Israeli soldier killed him.
She says that the Israeli military police 'contacted one of them at least' and will meet with at least one of the eyewitnesses to have their version of events checked by the authorities. The eyewitnesses are adamant about what happened and are willing to continue with their testimonies despite the threat of prosecution if they are caught lying, Michaeli adds.
'We are convinced that they have it because we know that virtually every meter of Hebron city center is covered with military security cameras,' she says. 'The question is whether they will release it.'
Israeli authorities have released many clips of attacks by Palestinians against Israeli authorities but in some cases they have withheld the footage. She says that the Israeli authorities have the ability to confirm or deny the eyewitness accounts with the CCTV footage as both men 'are describing a particular sequence.'
According to Michaeli, the eyewitnesses allege that the sequence proceeded as follows: two Palestinians attack a soldier; a soldier shoots Qasrawi; Sharif runs away; an Israeli soldier runs after Sharif and shoots him before coming back to shoot the first assailant Qasrawi while he lay on the floor.
The Israeli military has an open-fire policy that allows soldiers to fire on assailants if they pose mortal danger. Michaeli says that B''Tselem''s interpretation is that 'if [an attacker] is on the floor, that does not mean you are entitled to continue shooting to kill.'
As the trial of Azaria continues, more details have started to emerge about the incident. The IDF''s main investigator charged last week that an ambulance driver who had arrived at
|
|
Russia''s air force reports it has hit four oil production sites in Syria linked with militant group Islamic State (ISIS), the Ministry of Defense announced on Monday.
'Aircraft from Russia''s Aerospace Forces destroyed four illegal oil supply facilities situated in the provinces of Raqqa and Homs, under the control of ISIS fighters,' the ministry''s daily news bulletin read.
The government also blamed militant group the al-Nusra front of opening fire in three different provinces of Syria, though no casualties were reported.
A UN-brokered ceasefire between the Syrian government, opposition forces and international allies of either is currently in place in Syria, however ISIS are not part of the signatories and combat with ISIS militants has continued.
What is more, independent observers have reported airstrikes have once again continued across several regions of Syria Idlib suffering the worst hit since the start of the ceasefire last week.
The targets of Russia''s airstrikes in Syria have been repeatedly contested as the Kremlin has simply said it is targeting ISIS and 'a list' of other groups; however, opposition groups fighting the Moscow-backed Syrian government as well as ISIS have repeatedly complained of sustaining hits from Russia.
|
|
There's been an outcry over the sentence given to a Stanford university student who was convicted of sexually assaulting an unconscious woman. Many argue the punishment is way too lenient.
|
|
This is a poignant way to honor the legacy of “The Greatest.”
After legendary boxing champion Muhammad Ali died Friday night, CrowdRise launched a fundraiser in his name. All donations will support the Muhammad Ali Center, a museum dedicated to maintaining the boxer's legacy by promoting community service and social justice.
Ali is not just celebrated for his achievements in sports: He's known for his radical political stances, his fierce defense of racial justice, as well as his humanitarianism.
In 1998, the three-time World Heavyweight Champion was named a U.N. Messenger of Peace in recognition of his humanitarian efforts, including bringing food and medical supplies to hospitals and orphanages in Africa and Asia, according to the UN.
In 2005, he was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, with then-President George W. Bush calling him “a fighter and a man of peace.” He opened the Muhammad Ali Center that same year with some inspiring words
“I am an ordinary man who worked hard to develop the talent I was given...I believed in myself and I believe in the goodness of others.' Ali said, according to the Austin Times. 'Many fans wanted to build a museum to acknowledge my achievements. I wanted more than a building to house my memorabilia. I wanted a place that would inspire people to be the best that they could be at whatever they chose to do, and to encourage them to be respectful of one another.”
It seems that he achieved his vision:
The Center hosts educational programs, like the Youth Collaborative, which has students explore issues of poverty and how to tackle them with business ideas.
It houses cultural events, like the Black Film Festival in February, which screens iconic movies from Black cinema, followed by conversations on social justice.
Finally, the Center gives out an annual
|
RELATED ARTICLES | | |
|
A Frenchman detained with a large cache of arms was planning mass attacks during the Euro 2016 tournament in France, Ukraine's security agency says.
|
|
Wellesley College on Monday released audio and photos from Hillary Clinton's (then Hillary Rodham) 1969 commencement address, which thrust her into the national spotlight for the first time, but certainly not the last.
Clinton's speech made news in part because she chided Senator Edward Brooke, who was sharing the dais with her. A liberal Republican, Brooke was the first popularly elected black senator and enjoyed wide popularity with Democrats and Republicans alike in Massachusetts, where Wellesley is located. He gave the keynote speech moments before Clinton spoke.
But Brooke was a supporter of President Richard Nixon's policies in Vietnam, and Clinton took advantage of the high-profile occasion to offer a gentle rebuke.
'I find myself reacting just briefly to some of the things that Senator Brooke said. This has to be quick because I do have a little speech to give. Part of the problem with just empathy with professed goals is that empathy doesn't do us anything,' Clinton said. 'We've had lots of empathy; we've had lots of sympathy, but we feel that for too long our leaders have viewed politics as the art of the possible. And the challenge now is to practice politics as the art of making what appears to be impossible possible.'
The speech became part of a Life magazine cover story on 'The Class of '69,' which included other prominent campus speakers, including Ira Magaziner from Brown University, who went on to become a top Clinton adviser.
On the campaign trail, Clinton has had to grapple with the insurgent, idealistic campaign of Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders, who has accused Clinton of thinking only within the realm of possibility.
The release comes as Clinton and Sanders head into the last big primary day of the election cycle. On June 7, six states, including delegate-rich California and New Jersey, will vote. If Clinton manages to increase her delegate lead, which she's done in every primary so far, she stands a good chance of clinching the nomination before the party's convention.
Clinton attended Wellesley from 1965 to 1969. She was the first student to give a commencement speech at Wellesley, chosen unanimously by her classmates. One of the classmates she thanked personally was Eleanor Acheson, who remains a close friend of Clinton's and the granddaughter of one of Clinton's predecessors, the late Secretary of State Dean Acheson.
The newly discovered audio recording and photos were discovered at Wellesley College.
|
|
Even though the office is largely ceremonial, the announcement could create more problems for Chancellor Angela Merkel.
|
|
Bishops found to be 'negligent' when dealing with cases of sexual abuse will be investigated and could be removed from office, a papal decree said on Saturday.
Pope Francis has pledged zero tolerance for anyone in the church who abuses children and likened such abuse to a 'satanic mass.' In 2014 he established a Vatican commission intended to set best practices to root out abuse in parishes.
With the decree, he puts into action what he promised last year when he approved a Vatican tribunal to judge bishops accused of covering up or failing to prevent abuse of minors.
Victims' groups have repeatedly demanded that the Catholic Church do more to make bishops accountable for abuse in their dioceses, even if they were not directly responsible for it.
David Clohessy, director of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, remained skeptical about the Church's response.
'Instead of just sacking bad bishops, or turning over abuse records to law enforcement, the Vatican is setting up yet another untested, internal church 'process' to purportedly deal with bishops who ignore or conceal child sex crimes,' he said in a statement. 'A 'process' is helpful only if it's used often enough to deter wrongdoing. We doubt this one will be.'
The Roman Catholic Church has been rocked over the past 15 years by scandals over priests who sexually abused children and were transferred from parish to parish instead of being turned over to authorities and being defrocked.
In some developed countries, particularly in the United States, the Church has paid tens of millions of dollars in settlements.
While a bishop can already lose his job under the existing canonical code for any 'grave reasons', the Pope said he wanted to specify with the decree that such reasons included instances where bishops fail to tackle abuse cases adequately.
Bishops 'must be particularly diligent in protecting those who are the weakest among the people entrusted to them,' the Pope said in the decree.
He said a bishop can be removed from office if he has 'through negligence, executed or omitted acts that caused serious harm to others,' be it physical, moral, spiritual or financial.
The decree requires the Vatican to launch an investigation if 'serious evidence' of negligence is found. The bishop will be given the opportunity to defend himself. Ultimately, the Vatican can issue a decree to remove him or ask him to resign within 15 days.
Any removal decision has to be approved by the Pope, who will be assisted by a group of legal advisers.
-- This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website.
|
|
The speech reveals some of Clinton's early thoughts on politics and the political process as she attempts find a a balance between idealism and practicality.
|
|
The memory of NPR photojournalist David Gilkey, who was killed on assignment in Afghanistan on Sunday, lives on through his most stirring works.
Gilkey, 50, died alongside NPR's Afghan interpreter Zabihullah Tamanna, 38, when the Afghan army unit they were traveling with came under attack.
The celebrated journalist put a human face on some of the world's greatest devastations and conflicts, from famine in Somalia to apartheid atrocities in South Africa.
'It's not just reporting. It's not just taking pictures,' Gilkey told NPR after covering the 2010 earthquake in Haiti. 'It's, 'Do those visuals, do the stories, do they change somebody's mind enough to take action?''
Scroll down to take a look at some of Gilkey's most evocative photos:
-- This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website.
|
RELATED ARTICLES | | |
|
Ukrainian authorities claim to have prevented 15 planned attacks that would have targeted the Euro 2016 football tournament in France.
Vasily Gritsak, head of Ukraine's state security service (SBU), said a French citizen detained last month at the border between Ukraine and Poland had been planning a string of attacks aimed at the championship.
The Frenchman was arrested after allegedly making contact with illegal armed groups to buy guns and explosives, Sky News reported.
'The Frenchman spoke negatively about his government's actions, mass immigration, the spread of Islam and globalization, and also talked about plans to carry out several terrorist attacks,' Gritsak told journalists, saying that alleged planned targets included Jewish and Muslim places of worship, Euronews reported.
'The SBU was able to prevent a series of 15 acts of terror [planned] for the eve and during the Euro soccer championship,' he said.
France has faced no shortage of problems in the run-up to the competition. Beyond security fears—tensions remain high in Paris following two large-scale attacks on the capital in November 2015—floods have swept parts of the country, and widespread strikes have threatened power and transport links.
|
|
A judge sentenced Brock Turner, who was a top swimmer at the university, to six months in jail, despite prosecutors' recommendation of six years in prison. An online petition seeks the judge's recall.
|
|
Just weeks after releasing the details of 3,000 Brooklynites, a hacker collective aligned to the Islamic State militant group (ISIS) has disseminated another hit list among its supporters on the privacy app Telegram.
The 800 names did not originate from a prime U.S. metropolitan hub though, but the rural southeastern state of Arkansas. The target? The Arkansas Library Association.
ISIS released the identities of 800 library workers from backwater towns in Arkansas last month, as well as their addresses, email addresses and telephone numbers. A small prize for a radical Islamist group that has plotted large-scale attacks in capital cities to further its aim of striking fear into the heart of Western 'crusaders,' the association is as obscure as it is an obvious choice for ISIS to target.
The group's cyber-wing has initiated a trend of hacking low-level sites and databases, releasing civilian details in longer lists with increasing frequency. It had previously released the details of military, governmental or diplomatic personnel. It is a key tenet of the group's amateurish cyber strategy of damaging Western interests and affecting civilians in areas of the Western world that the group is unable to reach.
ISIS publishes the lists and calls upon its supporters, more lone wolves than organized cells, to target those named in the list's home country. In the instance of the New York hit list, the NYPD or the FBI visited members to notify them and offer security advice.
But this latest hit list has left security services and members of this particular database breach unmoved. The group's limited success on the battlefield in its self-proclaimed caliphate in Iraq and Syria is being reflected in cyberspace. The Arkansas State Police is not working on the case and is leaving the follow-up to the Arkansas Library Association.
Bill Sadler, spokesperson for the Arkansas State Police, tells Newsweek : 'All I can tell you is that the Arkansas State Police is aware of the breach of the server. The Arkansas police does not have an open investigation and, as far as any notifications, that would be within the purview of the agency who lost the data.'
Instead of visits or direct contact to those on the list, the FBI chose to inform the Arkansas Library Association who would then contact those named. State and federal authorities essentially left the association to its own devices to inform the 800 people of the database hack, according to an email sent to members and obtained by Newsweek. No security advice was offered to the members of the association by the FBI nor the association itself.
|
|
 The NPR photojournalist and his Afghan colleague killed in Afghanistan on Sunday died on the first day of an embed with local troops, highlighting the risks for reporters in a country where increasing amounts of territory are off-limits.
Photographer David Gilkey and Zabihullah Tamanna, an Afghan journalist working as a translator, were killed in a Taliban ambush shortly after joining Afghan troops in Helmand province, one of the most volatile areas in the country.
The NPR team, including Pentagon correspondent Tom Bowman and producer Monika Evstatieva, had just spent several days with coalition troops, including U.S. special forces, before they went over to an Afghan unit, said Colonel Michael Lawhorn, a spokesman for the NATO-led military coalition.
The team spent Sunday morning in the provincial capital of Lashkar Gah interviewing local officials, according to Shakil Ahmad Tasal, a public affairs officer for the 205th Corps who accompanied the NPR team during the drive.
NPR photojournalist David Gilkey is pictured at Kandahar Airfield, Afghanistan, in a May 29 handout photo.
Michael M. Phillips/Wall Street Journal/Reuters
The team carried a letter from the Afghan Ministry of Defence, directing the soldiers to escort them to the town of Marjah, roughly 30 km (18 miles) away, he said.
While Lashkar Gah has remained in government control, some surrounding areas of Helmand have been under serious pressure from Islamist militants from the Taliban insurgency.
Earlier this year in Marjah, U.S. forces conducted several air strikes to help beleaguered Afghan troops, and a U.S. Special Forces soldier was killed and two others were wounded during a Taliban attack.
On Sunday afternoon, a convoy of six lightly armoured Humvees, which also carried an Afghan general, was nearing Marjah when Taliban gunmen opened fire, pelting the vehicles with small arms and rocket fire.
'We were taking very heavy fire,' Tasal told Reuters.
The Humvee carrying Tamanna and Gilkey was hit by a shell and caught fire, killing the journalists and the soldier driving the vehicle, according to witnesses and NPR.
DOZENS FORM GUARD OF HONOR
A gunfight raged for at least 30 minutes before coalition and Afgh
|
|
The president-elect of the Philippines, Rodrigo Duterte, has called on the country''s citizens who own guns to shoot and kill drug dealers, promising to award them with medals.
Addressing a large crowd in the southern city of Davao, where he is the mayor, Duterte on Saturday spoke about his war on crime and said that the government will need help from society, not just from his security forces.
'Please feel free to call us, the police, or do it yourself if you have the gun, you have my support,' he said. 'Shoot him and I''ll give you a medal.'
He said that if a drug dealer resisted arrest or refused to be detained or questioned and threatened citizens, then 'you can kill him.'
The future Filipino leader said that police were themselves implicated in the illegal drugs trade in the country. He said authorities became embroiled because of 'extreme greed or extreme need.'
He said he would help some officers who had become tempted because of family reasons such as the death of a loved one, but criminals 'will also be dealt with by me,' he added. 'I''ll have you killed.'
Duterte has made a series of controversial statements in his presidential campaign, joking that 'the mayor should have been first' when talking about a 36-year-old Australian woman who was raped and shot dead in 1989.
He has called himself a 'womanizer,' claiming to have three girlfriends and said that journalists 'won''t be killed if you don''t do anything wrong,' suggesting that some journalists deserved to be assassinated.
Of one of his journalist critics, Jun Pala, who was killed in 2003, Duterte said that 'he was a rotten son of a bitch. He deserved it.'
Duterte essentially secured the presidency in a landslide victory last month and he will be sworn into office on June 30.
|
|
