Nepal&#39;s president Bidya Devi Bhandari today gave a fresh call to all political parties to form a majority government after the deadline given to them for forging consensus expired without yielding any results. 
 
In a letter sent to the parliament, the president asked the parties to begin the process of electing a new prime minister on a majority basis in accordance with the constitution.&nbsp;Bhandari had on July 25 called on all the political parties to elect a new prime minister within a week based on consensus to end the political instability in the country, a day after KP Oli resigned. 
 
It is learnt that the parliament has started preparation for beginning the procedure of electing the premier on Wednesday. 
 
CPN-maoist president Pushpa Kamal Dahal &#39;Prachanda&#39; is expected to become Nepal&#39;s 39th prime minister with the support of the largest party Nepali Congress, the Madhesis and other fringe parties if there is no dramatic development. 
 
Oli resigned last month ahead of a no-confidence vote, plunging the country into a fresh political turmoil after last year&#39;s crippling Madhesi protests against the new constitution. 
 
Oli, who became prime minister last October heading Nepal&#39;s eighth government in the past 10 years, was facing a no-trust motion after the maoists withdrew support from the coalition government. 
 
Nepal&#39;s maoist party led by Prachanda last week decided to initiate discussions and dialogue with all political parties, including the Madhesis, having representation in the parliament to form a national consensus government.&nbsp; 
 
(PTI)

The previous prime minister KP Oli resigned last month ahead of a no-confidence vote, plunging the country into fresh political turmoil

Nepal's president Bidya Devi Bhandari today gave a fresh call to all political parties to form a majority government after the deadline given to them for forging consensus expired without yielding any results. In a letter sent to the parliament, the president asked the parties to begin the process of electing a new prime minister on a majority basis in accordance with the constitution. Bhandari had on July 25 called on all the political parties to elect a new prime minister within a week based on consensus to end the political instability in the country, a day after KP Oli resigned. It is learnt that the parliament has started preparation for beginning the procedure of electing the premier on Wednesday. CPN-maoist president Pushpa Kamal Dahal 'Prachanda' is expected to become Nepal's 39th prime minister with the support of the largest party Nepali Congress, the Madhesis and other fringe parties if there is no dramatic development. Oli resigned last month ahead of a no-confidence vote, plunging the country into a fresh political turmoil after last year's crippling Madhesi protests against the new constitution. Oli, who became prime minister last October heading Nepal's eighth government in the past 10 years, was facing a no-trust motion after the maoists withdrew support from the coalition government. Nepal's maoist party led by Prachanda last week decided to initiate discussions and dialogue with all political parties, including the Madhesis, having representation in the parliament to form a national consensus government. (PTI)

Nepalese president asks parties to form new government

Mario Dimaculangan shares a toilet with 130 other inmates in one of the Philippines&#39; most overcrowded jails, and conditions are getting worse as police wage an unprecedented war on crime.&nbsp; 
 
Security forces have killed hundreds of people and detained thousands more in just one month as they have followed the orders of President Rodrigo Duterte, who has said the top priority at the start of his six-year term is to eliminate drugs in society.&nbsp; 
 
Those detained appear doomed for lengthy stints in an underfunded and overwhelmed penal system, like in the Quezon City Jail where Dimaculangan&nbsp;(name changed)&nbsp;has wallowed for 14 years while his trial over murder and robbery charges have dragged on.&nbsp; 
 
&quot;Many go crazy. They cannot think straight. It&#39;s so crowded. Just the slightest of movements and you bump into something or someone,&quot; Dimaculangan said in one of the jail&#39;s packed hallways that reeked of sweat.&nbsp; 
 
There are 3,800 inmates at the jail, which was built six decades ago to house 800, and they engage in a relentless contest for space. Men take turns to sleep on the cracked cement floor of an open-air basketball court, the steps of staircases, underneath beds and hammocks made out of old blankets. Even then, bodies are packed like sardines in a can, with inmates unable to fully stretch out. When it rains, the conditions are even worse as inmates cannot sleep on the basketball court, which is surrounded by the cells in decaying concrete buildings up to four storeys high.&nbsp; 
 
The cash-strapped national government has a daily budget of just 50 pesos ($1.10) for food and five pesos (11 cents) for medicine per inmate, although with the bulk buying of supplies, Quezon City Jail detainees have a sustainable diet of soup, vegetables and meat.&nbsp; 
 
Pails of water are used to flush the scarce toilets, with the stench compounded by the rotting garbage in a nearby canal.&nbsp; 
 
Unthinkable conditions&nbsp; 
 
The jail&#39;s management does what it can to make life bearable, such as running dance competitions and other rehabilitation activities. Inmates also say there have been improvements in recent years, particularly with the food and more rehabilitation programmes.&nbsp; 
 
But Raymund Narag, a criminal justice scholar at the Southern Illinois University in the United States, said such conditions were unthinkable in Western nations. &quot;If this happened in America, there would be a riot every day. Courts would declare these jails unfit for human habitation,&quot; Narag said.&nbsp; 
 
The Philippine penal system is the third most congested in the world, according to the University of London&#39;s Institute for Criminal Policy Research. Jails nationwide have nearly five times more inmates than they were built for, according to government data. And the situation is set to get much worse, very quickly.&nbsp; 
 
Under Duterte&#39;s crime war, police have reported arresting more than 4,300 people for drug-related crimes since he took office on June 30. Duterte has repeatedly urged his law enforcers to do more, calling on them to triple their efforts to eradicate the drug menace that he says is threatening to turn the Philippines into a narco-state.&nbsp; 
 
The population of Quezon City Jail, which houses inmates in a northern district of the Philippine capital who are on trial but not yet convicted, has grown by 300 since Duterte won May elections.&nbsp; 
 
Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre said government was preparing locations for new prisons while courts have been ordered to prioritise the expected deluge of drug cases.&nbsp; 
 
But Duterte has said little about far-reaching reforms needed to fix the systemic problem of overcrowding. &quot;If there are no new jails, no budget increases, no additional courts and prosecutors, the system will explode. That will be a humanitarian crisis,&quot; said Narag, the scholar who speaks from harrowing personal experience.&nbsp; 
 
Justice delayed&nbsp; 
 
Narag, 41, was locked up in Quezon City Jail in 1995 as a 20-year-old after being accused of killing a student from a rival college fraternity. It took seven years for a court to acquit him, which is about the average length of a trial in the Philippines and one of the main drivers of the overcrowding problem. Dimaculangan is the longest-serving inmate in Quezon City Jail, after being charged with killing a politician&#39;s relative in 2001.&nbsp; 
 
Dimaculangan insists he has a &quot;clear conscience&quot; but cannot get a chance to prove his innocence in court, averaging just one trial hearing a year in a chaotic judicial system notorious for its lack of judges, publicly funded lawyers and court rooms.&nbsp; 
 
Dimaculangan said his spirits used to rise when he was informed of a date for a court hearing, but he had been disappointed too many times with cancellations or postponements. &quot;Now when they say I have a hearing, I don&#39;t care anymore,&quot; he said.&nbsp; 
 
With no hopes of freedom, Dimaculangan said he had turned to his Catholic faith and values. &quot;My purpose is to help my fellow detainees,&quot; he said.&nbsp; 
 
&quot;God did not send me here because I am a thief. There are many thieves out there but how come they are not in jail?&quot;&nbsp; 
 
(AFP) 
&nbsp;

After President Duterte's crackdown on drugs, security forces have detained thousands in just one month

Mario Dimaculangan shares a toilet with 130 other inmates in one of the Philippines' most overcrowded jails, and conditions are getting worse as police wage an unprecedented war on crime. Security forces have killed hundreds of people and detained thousands more in just one month as they have followed the orders of President Rodrigo Duterte, who has said the top priority at the start of his six-year term is to eliminate drugs in society. Those detained appear doomed for lengthy stints in an underfunded and overwhelmed penal system, like in the Quezon City Jail where Dimaculangan (name changed) has wallowed for 14 years while his trial over murder and robbery charges have dragged on. "Many go crazy. They cannot think straight. It's so crowded. Just the slightest of movements and you bump into something or someone," Dimaculangan said in one of the jail's packed hallways that reeked of sweat. There are 3,800 inmates at the jail, which was built six decades ago to house 800, and they engage in a relentless contest for space. Men take turns to sleep on the cracked cement floor of an open-air basketball court, the steps of staircases, underneath beds and hammocks made out of old blankets. Even then, bodies are packed like sardines in a can, with inmates unable to fully stretch out. When it rains, the conditions are even worse as inmates cannot sleep on the basketball court, which is surrounded by the cells in decaying concrete buildings up to four storeys high. The cash-strapped national government has a daily budget of just 50 pesos ($1.10) for food and five pesos (11 cents) for medicine per inmate, although with the bulk buying of supplies, Quezon City Jail detainees have a sustainable diet of soup, vegetables and meat. Pails of water are used to flush the scarce toilets, with the stench compounded by the rotting garbage in a nearby canal. Unthinkable conditions The jail's management does what it can to make life bearable, such as running dance competitions and other rehabilitation activities. Inmates also say there have been improvements in recent years, particularly with the food and more rehabilitation programmes. But Raymund Narag, a criminal justice scholar at the Southern Illinois University in the United States, said such conditions were unthinkable in Western nations. "If this happened in America, there would be a riot every day. Courts would declare these jails unfit for human habitation," Narag said. The Philippine penal system is the third most congested in the world, according to the University of London's Institute for Criminal Policy Research. Jails nationwide have nearly five times more inmates than they were built for, according to government data. And the situation is set to get much worse, very quickly. Under Duterte's crime war, police have reported arresting more than 4,300 people for drug-related crimes since he took office on June 30. Duterte has repeatedly urged his law enforcers to do more, calling on them to triple their efforts to eradicate the drug menace that he says is threatening to turn the Philippines into a narco-state. The population of Quezon City Jail, which houses inmates in a northern district of the Philippine capital who are on trial but not yet convicted, has grown by 300 since Duterte won May elections. Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre said government was preparing locations for new prisons while courts have been ordered to prioritise the expected deluge of drug cases. But Duterte has said little about far-reaching reforms needed to fix the systemic problem of overcrowding. "If there are no new jails, no budget increases, no additional courts and prosecutors, the system will explode. That will be a humanitarian crisis," said Narag, the scholar who speaks from harrowing personal experience. Justice delayed Narag, 41, was locked up in Quezon City Jail in 1995 as a 20-year-old after being accused of killing a student from a rival college fraternity. It took seven years for a court to acquit him, which is about the average length of a trial in the Philippines and one of the main drivers of the overcrowding problem. Dimaculangan is the longest-serving inmate in Quezon City Jail, after being charged with killing a politician's relative in 2001. Dimaculangan insists he has a "clear conscience" but cannot get a chance to prove his innocence in court, averaging just one trial hearing a year in a chaotic judicial system notorious for its lack of judges, publicly funded lawyers and court rooms. Dimaculangan said his spirits used to rise when he was informed of a date for a court hearing, but he had been disappointed too many times with cancellations or postponements. "Now when they say I have a hearing, I don't care anymore," he said. With no hopes of freedom, Dimaculangan said he had turned to his Catholic faith and values. "My purpose is to help my fellow detainees," he said. "God did not send me here because I am a thief. There are many thieves out there but how come they are not in jail?" (AFP)

1 toilet for 130 inmates: A harrowing tale of Philippine's overcrowded jails

South African President Jacob Zuma on Sunday urged supporters to vote for the ruling African National Congress (ANC) ahead of fiercely competitive municipal polls that could see the party lose control of several major cities. 
 
Zuma&#39;s ANC, which now controls the majority of the country&#39;s 278 municipalities, has been weakened by graft scandals and growing public discontent since it led the fight against white-minority rule. 
 
At a massive final rally, the party made a last push for votes, stressing its anti-apartheid history and past accomplishments. 
 
&quot;Millions of our people must vote ANC and enable their movement to continue improving the lives of our people,&quot; Zuma told a packed Ellis Park Stadium in the Johannesburg city centre. 
 
&quot;Every vote counts.&quot; 
 
An estimated 55,000 supporters decked in the ANC&#39;s green, yellow and black filled the stands for the extravagant rally in a campaign the party said had cost it R1 billion ($72 million). 
 
&quot;We have walked the streets of this country, we have visited every town, every city. We have been to thousands of homes,&quot; said Zuma. 
 
The latest Ipsos opinion polls suggest that the ANC, which has ruled since the end of apartheid in 1994, could be under threat in three major cities -- Pretoria, Johannesburg and Port Elizabeth -- in Wednesday&#39;s election. 
 
The main opposition Democratic Alliance (DA), which rules in Cape Town, is hoping for a breakthrough result, citing the country&#39;s poor economic performance and a series of corruption scandals plaguing Zuma. 
 
Last week, South Africa&#39;s highest court ruled that the president pay back $500,000 of public funds spent upgrading his private Nkandla residence with facilities including a chicken coop and a swimming pool. 
 
&quot;A lot of money was wasted there that should have been spent on the people,&quot; Frieda Motlatla, 24, told AFP at Sunday&#39;s rally. 
 
But with her hair wrapped in an ANC turban, she said Zuma&#39;s troubles would not affect her support: &quot;I don&#39;t vote for a person, I for a party.&quot; 
 
&quot;Nkandla is not our business,&quot; agreed Simon Machaka, 42. &quot;Some people will always be dissatisfied. They don&#39;t focus on the good things.&quot; 
 
The radical leftist Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) party is also seeking to make a major impact in its first municipal elections. 
 
All three main parties held their final rallies this weekend. 
 
Zuma, 74, will have completed two terms in office in 2019 and is not eligible to run for president again, but the ANC could replace him ahead of the next general election if the party scores poorly in the local polls. 
 
(AFP)

President Jacob Zuma's ANC controls large parts of the country's municipalities, but graft scandals have made him unpopular

South African President Jacob Zuma on Sunday urged supporters to vote for the ruling African National Congress (ANC) ahead of fiercely competitive municipal polls that could see the party lose control of several major cities. Zuma's ANC, which now controls the majority of the country's 278 municipalities, has been weakened by graft scandals and growing public discontent since it led the fight against white-minority rule. At a massive final rally, the party made a last push for votes, stressing its anti-apartheid history and past accomplishments. "Millions of our people must vote ANC and enable their movement to continue improving the lives of our people," Zuma told a packed Ellis Park Stadium in the Johannesburg city centre. "Every vote counts." An estimated 55,000 supporters decked in the ANC's green, yellow and black filled the stands for the extravagant rally in a campaign the party said had cost it R1 billion ($72 million). "We have walked the streets of this country, we have visited every town, every city. We have been to thousands of homes," said Zuma. The latest Ipsos opinion polls suggest that the ANC, which has ruled since the end of apartheid in 1994, could be under threat in three major cities -- Pretoria, Johannesburg and Port Elizabeth -- in Wednesday's election. The main opposition Democratic Alliance (DA), which rules in Cape Town, is hoping for a breakthrough result, citing the country's poor economic performance and a series of corruption scandals plaguing Zuma. Last week, South Africa's highest court ruled that the president pay back $500,000 of public funds spent upgrading his private Nkandla residence with facilities including a chicken coop and a swimming pool. "A lot of money was wasted there that should have been spent on the people," Frieda Motlatla, 24, told AFP at Sunday's rally. But with her hair wrapped in an ANC turban, she said Zuma's troubles would not affect her support: "I don't vote for a person, I for a party." "Nkandla is not our business," agreed Simon Machaka, 42. "Some people will always be dissatisfied. They don't focus on the good things." The radical leftist Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) party is also seeking to make a major impact in its first municipal elections. All three main parties held their final rallies this weekend. Zuma, 74, will have completed two terms in office in 2019 and is not eligible to run for president again, but the ANC could replace him ahead of the next general election if the party scores poorly in the local polls. (AFP)

South African President urges citizens to vote for African National Congress

Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras yesterday said the constitution should be revised to give Greeks &quot;direct democracy&quot;, a say in electing the president and the right to hold referendums on laws. 
 
&quot;It is time to set aside fear of the people&#39;s judgment even if the people are not infallible,&quot; Tsipras said in a televised speech. 
 
He said people should be allowed to elect the nation&#39;s president - who is currently chosen by parliament - if efforts by lawmakers fail, as they did last year. 
 
The people should also be able to reject laws by referendum - except those on fiscal matters - and propose their own legal initiatives, Tsipras said. 
 
Lawmakers should only be allowed to serve a maximum of two consecutive terms in parliament. 
 
The Greek state should also be &quot;religion-neutral&quot; and officials should take civil oaths, even if Greece&#39;s main religion remains orthodox Christianity, the leftist PM said. 
 
This last proposal is likely to raise eyebrows in Greece, where Tsipras - a self-admitted atheist - became the country&#39;s first-ever prime minister to take a civil oath on his election last year. 
 
And the PM must also sway his own Syriza party, where a sizeable faction sees no need for constitutional revision.&nbsp;He said discussion groups would be formed nationwide and deliver a report by April on public proposals for the constitution. 
 
Most opposition leaders boycotted the ceremony, held mainly before Tsipras allies in front of parliament. 
 
Even if approved, the constitutional changes cannot be set in motion by the present parliament.&nbsp;They can only be enacted by the legislative body that will emerge after the next elections, which are normally due in 2019. 
 
However, Tsipras&#39; coalition government rests on a fragile three-seat majority and it is widely assumed that he will be unable to complete his four-year term. 
 
Tsipras said decisions would be taken in a year&#39;s time and could be supported with a referendum on the issue. 
 
The Greek constitution has been revised three times in the last four decades, with the last changes coming in 2008.&nbsp;Successive parliamentary votes are required to change a constitutional article - one to nominate a specific article to be amended, and another to actually rewrite it. 
 
From the two votes to be held on each article selected for amendment, at least one must be carried by a majority of 180 out of Greece&#39;s 300 lawmakers. 
 
Tsipras can currently rely on at least 153 deputies to approve his proposals, but finding another 180 to confirm the changes, up to three years from now, will not be easy.&nbsp;Tsipras&#39; popularity has waned after he was forced last year to accept an unpopular EU bailout to keep Greece in the eurozone. 
 
Polls show he could actually lose the next election to Kyriakos Mitsotakis, leader of the conservative New Democracy party. 
 
(AFP)

People should be allowed to elect the nations's president and also be able to reject laws by referendum, Alexis Tsipras said

Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras yesterday said the constitution should be revised to give Greeks "direct democracy", a say in electing the president and the right to hold referendums on laws. "It is time to set aside fear of the people's judgment even if the people are not infallible," Tsipras said in a televised speech. He said people should be allowed to elect the nation's president - who is currently chosen by parliament - if efforts by lawmakers fail, as they did last year. The people should also be able to reject laws by referendum - except those on fiscal matters - and propose their own legal initiatives, Tsipras said. Lawmakers should only be allowed to serve a maximum of two consecutive terms in parliament. The Greek state should also be "religion-neutral" and officials should take civil oaths, even if Greece's main religion remains orthodox Christianity, the leftist PM said. This last proposal is likely to raise eyebrows in Greece, where Tsipras - a self-admitted atheist - became the country's first-ever prime minister to take a civil oath on his election last year. And the PM must also sway his own Syriza party, where a sizeable faction sees no need for constitutional revision. He said discussion groups would be formed nationwide and deliver a report by April on public proposals for the constitution. Most opposition leaders boycotted the ceremony, held mainly before Tsipras allies in front of parliament. Even if approved, the constitutional changes cannot be set in motion by the present parliament. They can only be enacted by the legislative body that will emerge after the next elections, which are normally due in 2019. However, Tsipras' coalition government rests on a fragile three-seat majority and it is widely assumed that he will be unable to complete his four-year term. Tsipras said decisions would be taken in a year's time and could be supported with a referendum on the issue. The Greek constitution has been revised three times in the last four decades, with the last changes coming in 2008. Successive parliamentary votes are required to change a constitutional article - one to nominate a specific article to be amended, and another to actually rewrite it. From the two votes to be held on each article selected for amendment, at least one must be carried by a majority of 180 out of Greece's 300 lawmakers. Tsipras can currently rely on at least 153 deputies to approve his proposals, but finding another 180 to confirm the changes, up to three years from now, will not be easy. Tsipras' popularity has waned after he was forced last year to accept an unpopular EU bailout to keep Greece in the eurozone. Polls show he could actually lose the next election to Kyriakos Mitsotakis, leader of the conservative New Democracy party. (AFP)

Greek PM proposes constitutional change for 'direct democracy'

Vice President Hamid Ansari today left for Mongolia leading an Indian delegation to the 11th Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) Summit.&nbsp;The two-day ASEM Summit will be held in Ulaanbaatar, capital of Mongolia from tomorrow. 
 
The theme for the Summit is &quot;20 Years of ASEM: Partnership for the Future through Connectivity&quot;.&nbsp;At the Summit, India&#39;s efforts would be inclined towards more successful outcomes and the building of a resilient and multidimensional web of interconnectivity between the two continents - Asia and Europe, officials said ahead of the meeting. 
 
ASEM comprises of 53 entities - 51 countries from Asia and Europe and two regional bodies - the European Union and the ASEAN Secretariat.&nbsp;It represents around 62.3 per cent of the world&#39;s population, 57.2 per cent of the global GDP and almost 60 per cent of the world&#39;s trade. 
 
ASEM is a unique platform that serves to bridge the two continents of Asia and Europe for constructive partnership and exchange, under the three key pillars of political dialogue, economic collaboration and socio-cultural exchanges, the Ministry of External Affairs said in a statement. 
 
The 11th ASEM Summit assumes special importance in view of the fact, that 2016 marks the 20th anniversary of the dialogue forum, officials said.&nbsp;Since the Summit is the first ever international event of such stature that Mongolia is hosting, the participation of Vice President Ansari signifies the importance India attaches to its strategic partnership with Mongolia, they said. 
 
Ansari will also hold bilateral meetings with a few other participating leaders on the sidelines of the Summit. 
 
(PTI)

India signals the importance it attaches to its partnership with host Mongolia by sending its VP

Vice President Hamid Ansari today left for Mongolia leading an Indian delegation to the 11th Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) Summit. The two-day ASEM Summit will be held in Ulaanbaatar, capital of Mongolia from tomorrow. The theme for the Summit is "20 Years of ASEM: Partnership for the Future through Connectivity". At the Summit, India's efforts would be inclined towards more successful outcomes and the building of a resilient and multidimensional web of interconnectivity between the two continents - Asia and Europe, officials said ahead of the meeting. ASEM comprises of 53 entities - 51 countries from Asia and Europe and two regional bodies - the European Union and the ASEAN Secretariat. It represents around 62.3 per cent of the world's population, 57.2 per cent of the global GDP and almost 60 per cent of the world's trade. ASEM is a unique platform that serves to bridge the two continents of Asia and Europe for constructive partnership and exchange, under the three key pillars of political dialogue, economic collaboration and socio-cultural exchanges, the Ministry of External Affairs said in a statement. The 11th ASEM Summit assumes special importance in view of the fact, that 2016 marks the 20th anniversary of the dialogue forum, officials said. Since the Summit is the first ever international event of such stature that Mongolia is hosting, the participation of Vice President Ansari signifies the importance India attaches to its strategic partnership with Mongolia, they said. Ansari will also hold bilateral meetings with a few other participating leaders on the sidelines of the Summit. (PTI)

Indian Vice President heads to Mongolia for 11th Asia-Europe Meeting Summit

Brazil&#39;s suspended president Dilma Rousseff could still wriggle out of a looming impeachment vote, her ally and predecessor Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said today. 
 
Lula, Brazil&#39;s most prominent leftist leader, told Radio Jornal that Rousseff&#39;s case is not hopeless, despite months of mounting pressure on her to be removed from office. 
 
Previous votes in the lower and upper houses easily passed the simple majorities needed to send her to trial for allegedly breaking budgetary laws - a case she claims is a coup d&#39;etat. 
 
However, when the Senate votes again in a final session on August 25-27, it must reach a two-thirds majority and the result is expected to be far closer. 
 
&quot;To defeat the impeachment is easier than before,&quot; said Lula, who was president from 2003-2010 and founded the Workers&#39; Party, which has been in power for 13 years. 
 
Lula said Rousseff, 68, needs to secure support from a handful of extra senators to swing the vote. &quot;Dilma depends on only six votes,&quot; he told the radio station from northeastern Pernambuco state. 
 
The Senate must vote by 54 votes out of 81 for the impeachment to pass. In that case, Rousseff foe Michel Temer, who is currently serving as interim president, would stay as president until the next scheduled elections in 2018. 
 
If the vote fails, Rousseff would return to office. However, she is seen as badly weakened, with rock bottom popularity in a country that blames her for a deep recession, massive corruption and months of political instability. 
 
Temer and Rousseff are both invited to the opening ceremony of the Olympics, which start in Rio on August 5. 
 
(AFP)

The Senate must pass 54 votes out of 81 for Dilma Rousseff's impeachment to pass. If the vote fails, she could return to office

Brazil's suspended president Dilma Rousseff could still wriggle out of a looming impeachment vote, her ally and predecessor Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said today. Lula, Brazil's most prominent leftist leader, told Radio Jornal that Rousseff's case is not hopeless, despite months of mounting pressure on her to be removed from office. Previous votes in the lower and upper houses easily passed the simple majorities needed to send her to trial for allegedly breaking budgetary laws - a case she claims is a coup d'etat. However, when the Senate votes again in a final session on August 25-27, it must reach a two-thirds majority and the result is expected to be far closer. "To defeat the impeachment is easier than before," said Lula, who was president from 2003-2010 and founded the Workers' Party, which has been in power for 13 years. Lula said Rousseff, 68, needs to secure support from a handful of extra senators to swing the vote. "Dilma depends on only six votes," he told the radio station from northeastern Pernambuco state. The Senate must vote by 54 votes out of 81 for the impeachment to pass. In that case, Rousseff foe Michel Temer, who is currently serving as interim president, would stay as president until the next scheduled elections in 2018. If the vote fails, Rousseff would return to office. However, she is seen as badly weakened, with rock bottom popularity in a country that blames her for a deep recession, massive corruption and months of political instability. Temer and Rousseff are both invited to the opening ceremony of the Olympics, which start in Rio on August 5. (AFP)

Brazil's suspended president tries to slip impeachment

Manila, Phillipines: Nine people were killed overnight in the Philippines, authorities said Saturday, as police and suspected anti-drug gunmen pushed ahead with President Rodrigo Duterte&#39;s controversial war on crime. 
 
Duterte won the May 9 election by landslide largely on a pledge to kill tens of thousands of drug dealers and other criminals, and has urged the police and civilians to help in the killings. 
 
More than 100 suspects have been killed in the seven weeks since Duterte&#39;s election. 
 
One pre-dawn raid in the town of Matalam, about 900 kilometres (600 miles) south of Manila, left eight &quot;drug personalities&quot; dead Saturday, including a woman, regional police spokesman Superintendent Romeo Galgo told reporters. 
 
One other person was arrested on suspicion of drug offences, Galgo said, adding that three pistols and four grenades were found on the dead suspects. 
 
In Manila, police said they found a yet to be identified dead man, his entire head wrapped in tape, on a poorly lit road late Friday. 
 
His torso was covered with a cardboard sign reading: &quot;I Am A Pusher&quot;. 
 
Civil rights campaigners including two legislators called Friday for an enquiry into recent months&#39; police operations amid concerns at least some of the dead suspects could have been summarily executed by the lawmen. 
 
Police have said they had operated within the boundaries of the law in killing 103 suspects between May 10 and July 7. 
 
The Manila newspaper Philippine Daily Inquirer&#39;s own &quot;kill list&quot; of suspected criminals showed 119 victims of suspected summary killings up until July 7, including 13 unidentified ones, since the elections. 
 
(AFP)

More than 100 people have been killed in the seven weeks since Rodrigo Duterte was elected President

Manila, Phillipines: Nine people were killed overnight in the Philippines, authorities said Saturday, as police and suspected anti-drug gunmen pushed ahead with President Rodrigo Duterte's controversial war on crime. Duterte won the May 9 election by landslide largely on a pledge to kill tens of thousands of drug dealers and other criminals, and has urged the police and civilians to help in the killings. More than 100 suspects have been killed in the seven weeks since Duterte's election. One pre-dawn raid in the town of Matalam, about 900 kilometres (600 miles) south of Manila, left eight "drug personalities" dead Saturday, including a woman, regional police spokesman Superintendent Romeo Galgo told reporters. One other person was arrested on suspicion of drug offences, Galgo said, adding that three pistols and four grenades were found on the dead suspects. In Manila, police said they found a yet to be identified dead man, his entire head wrapped in tape, on a poorly lit road late Friday. His torso was covered with a cardboard sign reading: "I Am A Pusher". Civil rights campaigners including two legislators called Friday for an enquiry into recent months' police operations amid concerns at least some of the dead suspects could have been summarily executed by the lawmen. Police have said they had operated within the boundaries of the law in killing 103 suspects between May 10 and July 7. The Manila newspaper Philippine Daily Inquirer's own "kill list" of suspected criminals showed 119 victims of suspected summary killings up until July 7, including 13 unidentified ones, since the elections. (AFP)

Nine more killed in controversial Philippines drug war

A US army soldier who participated in a scheme to buy guns and send them to a security detail for the president and vice president of Indonesia plead guilty to several charges in federal court. 
 
Audi Sumilat pleaded guilty Tuesday and will be sentenced in October, the US attorney&#39;s office in New Hampshire said yesterday. 
The 36-year-old faces a maximum sentence of five years in prison and a fine of $250,000. 
 
One of Sumilat&#39;s co-conspirators also has been charged and is scheduled to be tried on July 19.&nbsp;Assistant US Attorney Bill Morse said there have been cases in New Hampshire and other states involving international firearms trafficking to countries including Ghana, Canada and Mexico.&nbsp;&quot;But this is the first case that I&#39;m aware of in which the intended beneficiaries of the trafficking were representatives of a foreign government,&quot; Morse said. 
 
Authorities said Sumilat joined a conspiracy to buy guns in Texas and New Hampshire for members of the Indonesian Presidential Guard, who are tasked with providing security to the president and vice president but could not lawfully buy the weapons themselves. 
Sumilat admitted he and three guard members came up with a plan in 2014, when they were stationed together for training in Fort Benning, Georgia. 
 
Sumilat said he bought guns in Texas and shipped them to a co-conspirator in New Hampshire, who delivered them to guard members on visits to Washington DC, and to the UN General Assembly in New York. The guns were to be smuggled out of the United States. 
Sumilat pleaded guilty to making false statements in records required to be kept by federal firearms dealers for telling gun dealers the weapons were for him and for smuggling firearms from the US. 
 
To have legally exported the guns, Sumilat was required to get an exporter&#39;s license and a license covering the specific guns exported. No licenses were issued. 
 
New Hampshire US Attorney Emily Gray Rice said the consequences of international gun trafficking can be grave.&nbsp;&quot;Firearms exported overseas illegally can easily end up in the wrong hands,&quot; she said in a statement.&nbsp;&quot;International gun trafficking will be prosecuted to the fullest extent possible to protect innocent individuals, both American and foreign, from the criminal use of US weapons abroad.&quot; 
 
(AP)

Sumilat pleaded guilty in federal court, and faces a sentence of five years in jail and a $250,000 fine

A US army soldier who participated in a scheme to buy guns and send them to a security detail for the president and vice president of Indonesia plead guilty to several charges in federal court. Audi Sumilat pleaded guilty Tuesday and will be sentenced in October, the US attorney's office in New Hampshire said yesterday. The 36-year-old faces a maximum sentence of five years in prison and a fine of $250,000. One of Sumilat's co-conspirators also has been charged and is scheduled to be tried on July 19. Assistant US Attorney Bill Morse said there have been cases in New Hampshire and other states involving international firearms trafficking to countries including Ghana, Canada and Mexico. "But this is the first case that I'm aware of in which the intended beneficiaries of the trafficking were representatives of a foreign government," Morse said. Authorities said Sumilat joined a conspiracy to buy guns in Texas and New Hampshire for members of the Indonesian Presidential Guard, who are tasked with providing security to the president and vice president but could not lawfully buy the weapons themselves. Sumilat admitted he and three guard members came up with a plan in 2014, when they were stationed together for training in Fort Benning, Georgia. Sumilat said he bought guns in Texas and shipped them to a co-conspirator in New Hampshire, who delivered them to guard members on visits to Washington DC, and to the UN General Assembly in New York. The guns were to be smuggled out of the United States. Sumilat pleaded guilty to making false statements in records required to be kept by federal firearms dealers for telling gun dealers the weapons were for him and for smuggling firearms from the US. To have legally exported the guns, Sumilat was required to get an exporter's license and a license covering the specific guns exported. No licenses were issued. New Hampshire US Attorney Emily Gray Rice said the consequences of international gun trafficking can be grave. "Firearms exported overseas illegally can easily end up in the wrong hands," she said in a statement. "International gun trafficking will be prosecuted to the fullest extent possible to protect innocent individuals, both American and foreign, from the criminal use of US weapons abroad." (AP)

US soldier smuggles guns for Indonesian President's security detail

Hungary will hold a referendum on October 2 on European Union (EU) &nbsp;plans to relocate migrants among member states, a scheme fiercely opposed by right-wing Prime Minister Viktor Orban, the President said today. 
 
&quot;As president of the republic I decree that the referendum will be held on October 2,&quot; President Janos Ader said in a statement.&nbsp; 
 
Orban`s government voted against the EU plan to relocate 160,000 migrants around the 28-nation bloc via mandatory quotas but the scheme was approved by a majority of member states in September. 
 
Joining Slovakia in filing a legal challenge against the plan, Orban said earlier this year that the government would put the issue to a referendum. 
 
Voters will be asked: &quot;Do you want the EU to prescribe the mandatory relocation of non-Hungarian citizens to Hungary without the approval of the Hungarian parliament?&quot; 
 
Budapest says that the plan which has been extremely slow to get going -violates its national sovereignty and that &quot;terrorists&quot; might enter the country disguised as migrants. 
 
Orban has said that Brussels has no right to &quot;redraw Europe&#39;s cultural and religious identity&quot;. 
 
Around 400,000 migrants and refugees passed through Hungary in 2015 before the government sealed off the southern borders with razor wire and fences in the autumn. 
 
The authorities also brought in tough new laws punishing illegal entry and vandalism of the fences.&nbsp; 
 
(AFP)

Around 400,000 migrants and refugees passed through Hungary in 2015 before the government sealed southern borders with razor wire and fences

Hungary will hold a referendum on October 2 on European Union (EU) plans to relocate migrants among member states, a scheme fiercely opposed by right-wing Prime Minister Viktor Orban, the President said today. "As president of the republic I decree that the referendum will be held on October 2," President Janos Ader said in a statement. Orban`s government voted against the EU plan to relocate 160,000 migrants around the 28-nation bloc via mandatory quotas but the scheme was approved by a majority of member states in September. Joining Slovakia in filing a legal challenge against the plan, Orban said earlier this year that the government would put the issue to a referendum. Voters will be asked: "Do you want the EU to prescribe the mandatory relocation of non-Hungarian citizens to Hungary without the approval of the Hungarian parliament?" Budapest says that the plan which has been extremely slow to get going -violates its national sovereignty and that "terrorists" might enter the country disguised as migrants. Orban has said that Brussels has no right to "redraw Europe's cultural and religious identity". Around 400,000 migrants and refugees passed through Hungary in 2015 before the government sealed off the southern borders with razor wire and fences in the autumn. The authorities also brought in tough new laws punishing illegal entry and vandalism of the fences. (AFP)

Hungary to hold October referendum on EU migrant scheme

US attorney general Loretta Lynch, seeking to tamp down a firestorm over her meeting with former President Bill Clinton, said on Friday she will accept the recommendations of career prosecutors and the FBI director on whether to charge Hillary Clinton for mishandling emails. 
 
The United States&#39; top law enforcement officer, however, stopped short of saying she would recuse herself from the investigation of the Democratic presidential candidate. 
 
&quot;I will be informed of those findings, as opposed to never reading them or never seeing them, but I will be accepting their recommendations and their plan for going forward,&quot; Lynch said. 
 
She was responding to questions from a Washington Post journalist who was introducing a talk by Lynch at the Aspen Ideas Festival, a gathering of government, technology and other business leaders in Aspen, Colorado. 
 
Republicans, including presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump, have said a political appointee like Lynch should not be involved in the email investigation and that the Monday night meeting with Bill Clinton shows Lynch is too close to the Clintons. 
 
With a regretful tone, Lynch said on Friday she would not privately meet with Bill Clinton again and that she understood how the meeting &quot;casts a shadow&quot; over the perception of the Justice Department&#39;s probe into Hillary Clinton&#39;s email use. 
 
The attorney general said she has received many questions about her role in the investigation and &quot;whether someone who was a political appointee would be involved in deciding how to investigate.&quot;&nbsp; 
 
Republican lawmakers have called for an independent investigation of Hillary Clinton&#39;s use of a private email server while secretary of state, saying the Obama administration&#39;s justice department could not be free of bias.&nbsp; 
 
In Washington, White House spokesman Josh Earnest told a daily news briefing that the investigation is being handled independently of the White House and President Barack Obama. 
 
Lynch was appointed by the Democratic president and sworn in on April 1, 2015, well after Hillary Clinton left Obama&#39;s Cabinet in 2013. 
 
Career prosecutors are not appointed by a president and may serve through different administrations. The FBI director is appointed by the president but is not part of his Cabinet and is considered apolitical.&nbsp; 
 
Lynch said on Friday that she had already decided to accept whatever recommendations prosecutors presented her before her meeting with Bill Clinton.&nbsp; 
 
The private meeting with the former president took place on Lynch&#39;s plane after she landed in Phoenix on Monday night. Bill Clinton was leaving the airport after a rally for his wife earlier that day. 
 
Lynch told reporters earlier this week that she did not discuss the email probe or other matters pending before the justice department with Bill Clinton, calling their meeting &quot;primarily social.&quot;&nbsp; 
 
The FBI is investigating Hillary Clinton&#39;s email use and whether laws were broken as a result of a personal email server kept in her Chappaqua, New York, home while she was secretary of state, an issue that has overshadowed her campaign. 
 
She apologized last year for using the server, saying that while she did nothing wrong, she should have used two email accounts: one for state department business and another for personal matters. 
 
Representatives for her campaign could not be reached immediately for comment on Friday.&nbsp; 
 
Trump on Thursday called Lynch&#39;s meeting &quot;a sneak&quot; and questioned the judgement of both Bill Clinton and the attorney general. 
 
In a tweet on Friday, the wealthy businessman said the meeting showed the US political system was &quot;totally rigged&quot; and that Hillary Clinton had bad judgment.&nbsp; 
 
&quot;Bill&#39;s meeting was probably initiated and demanded by Hillary!&quot; Trump said on Twitter. 
 
The justice department, along with the White House, has said the probe should be free of political interference. 
 
(Reuters)

Loretta Lynch has faced questions over her private meeting with former president Bill Clinton which took place in Phoenix on Monday night

US attorney general Loretta Lynch, seeking to tamp down a firestorm over her meeting with former President Bill Clinton, said on Friday she will accept the recommendations of career prosecutors and the FBI director on whether to charge Hillary Clinton for mishandling emails. The United States' top law enforcement officer, however, stopped short of saying she would recuse herself from the investigation of the Democratic presidential candidate. "I will be informed of those findings, as opposed to never reading them or never seeing them, but I will be accepting their recommendations and their plan for going forward," Lynch said. She was responding to questions from a Washington Post journalist who was introducing a talk by Lynch at the Aspen Ideas Festival, a gathering of government, technology and other business leaders in Aspen, Colorado. Republicans, including presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump, have said a political appointee like Lynch should not be involved in the email investigation and that the Monday night meeting with Bill Clinton shows Lynch is too close to the Clintons. With a regretful tone, Lynch said on Friday she would not privately meet with Bill Clinton again and that she understood how the meeting "casts a shadow" over the perception of the Justice Department's probe into Hillary Clinton's email use. The attorney general said she has received many questions about her role in the investigation and "whether someone who was a political appointee would be involved in deciding how to investigate." Republican lawmakers have called for an independent investigation of Hillary Clinton's use of a private email server while secretary of state, saying the Obama administration's justice department could not be free of bias. In Washington, White House spokesman Josh Earnest told a daily news briefing that the investigation is being handled independently of the White House and President Barack Obama. Lynch was appointed by the Democratic president and sworn in on April 1, 2015, well after Hillary Clinton left Obama's Cabinet in 2013. Career prosecutors are not appointed by a president and may serve through different administrations. The FBI director is appointed by the president but is not part of his Cabinet and is considered apolitical. Lynch said on Friday that she had already decided to accept whatever recommendations prosecutors presented her before her meeting with Bill Clinton. The private meeting with the former president took place on Lynch's plane after she landed in Phoenix on Monday night. Bill Clinton was leaving the airport after a rally for his wife earlier that day. Lynch told reporters earlier this week that she did not discuss the email probe or other matters pending before the justice department with Bill Clinton, calling their meeting "primarily social." The FBI is investigating Hillary Clinton's email use and whether laws were broken as a result of a personal email server kept in her Chappaqua, New York, home while she was secretary of state, an issue that has overshadowed her campaign. She apologized last year for using the server, saying that while she did nothing wrong, she should have used two email accounts: one for state department business and another for personal matters. Representatives for her campaign could not be reached immediately for comment on Friday. Trump on Thursday called Lynch's meeting "a sneak" and questioned the judgement of both Bill Clinton and the attorney general. In a tweet on Friday, the wealthy businessman said the meeting showed the US political system was "totally rigged" and that Hillary Clinton had bad judgment. "Bill's meeting was probably initiated and demanded by Hillary!" Trump said on Twitter. The justice department, along with the White House, has said the probe should be free of political interference. (Reuters)

US attorney general to accept FBI findings in Clinton email probe

If US Republican candidate Donald Trump is elected president, it would be have a dangerous outcome and &quot;complicate&quot; relations between Europe and the United States, French President Francois Hollande has warned. 
 
&quot;Those who say that Donald Trump could not possibly become the next president of the United States are the same ones who thought that Brexit would never be voted in,&quot; Hollande said, referring to last week&#39;s British referendum which backed withdrawal from the European Union. 
 
Trump has been running on the kind of slogans peddled by the extreme right in France and elsewhere in Europe - fear of the wave of migration, stigmatisation of Islam, questioning representative democracy, denouncing elites - the French leader said in an interview to be published on Thursday in the French financial daily Les Echos. 
 
When asked whether a Trump presidency would be a dangerous thing, he answered &quot;yes&quot;. 
 
Trump&#39;s presence in the White House &quot;would complicate relations between Europe and the United States,&quot; Hollande added. 
 
A new opinion poll in the US showed that the race for the White House is set to be a close call. 
 
Respondents to the latest Quinnipiac University national poll put Democrat candidate Hillary Clinton ahead of Trump by just 42 per cent to 40 per cent, a narrowing from Clinton&#39;s four-point margin in the organisation&#39;s June 1 survey. 
 
Trump, the New York celebrity tycoon, has caused alarm in Europe with his abrasive style and pledges to deport millions of undocumented immigrants and build a wall on the border with Mexico. 
 
His proposal to ban Muslims from entering the United States drew ire of Britain&#39;s Prime Minister David Cameron, who called the idea &quot;stupid, divisive and wrong&quot;. 
 
Trump has criticised the continent&#39;s leaders as &quot;weak&quot; and accused them of taking inadequate measures to combat terrorism, following the Islamist attacks on Brussels in March.&nbsp; 
 
Last month French Prime Minister Manuel Valls accused the presumptive US Republican presidential nominee Trump of being a &quot;bad man&quot;. 
 
(AFP)

The French President denounced US Republican candidate Donald Trump's prejudicial stance against immigration, democracy and Muslims

If US Republican candidate Donald Trump is elected president, it would be have a dangerous outcome and "complicate" relations between Europe and the United States, French President Francois Hollande has warned. "Those who say that Donald Trump could not possibly become the next president of the United States are the same ones who thought that Brexit would never be voted in," Hollande said, referring to last week's British referendum which backed withdrawal from the European Union. Trump has been running on the kind of slogans peddled by the extreme right in France and elsewhere in Europe - fear of the wave of migration, stigmatisation of Islam, questioning representative democracy, denouncing elites - the French leader said in an interview to be published on Thursday in the French financial daily Les Echos. When asked whether a Trump presidency would be a dangerous thing, he answered "yes". Trump's presence in the White House "would complicate relations between Europe and the United States," Hollande added. A new opinion poll in the US showed that the race for the White House is set to be a close call. Respondents to the latest Quinnipiac University national poll put Democrat candidate Hillary Clinton ahead of Trump by just 42 per cent to 40 per cent, a narrowing from Clinton's four-point margin in the organisation's June 1 survey. Trump, the New York celebrity tycoon, has caused alarm in Europe with his abrasive style and pledges to deport millions of undocumented immigrants and build a wall on the border with Mexico. His proposal to ban Muslims from entering the United States drew ire of Britain's Prime Minister David Cameron, who called the idea "stupid, divisive and wrong". Trump has criticised the continent's leaders as "weak" and accused them of taking inadequate measures to combat terrorism, following the Islamist attacks on Brussels in March. Last month French Prime Minister Manuel Valls accused the presumptive US Republican presidential nominee Trump of being a "bad man". (AFP)

A President Trump would 'complicate' US-Europe ties: Hollande

Britain&#39;s vote to leave the European Union raises &quot;longer-term concerns&quot; about global growth at a time of already weak economic output, US President Barack Obama said today. 
 
&quot;I think there are some genuine, longer-term concerns about global growth if, in fact, Brexit goes through and that freezes the possibilities of investment in Great Britain or in Europe as a whole,&quot; Obama said, speaking at a North American leaders summit.&nbsp; 
 
&quot;At a time when global growth rates were weak already, this doesn&#39;t help,&quot; he said. 
 
However, the US President, after meeting his Canadian and Mexican counterparts, expressed confidence in the global financial system&#39;s resilience as markets rebounded on Wednesday from post-Brexit losses following a bruising two-day rout. 
 
&quot;Given the vote of the United Kingdom to leave the European Union, our economic teams are going to continue to work together so that we remain focused on keeping our economies growing and making sure that the global financial system is stable,&quot; Obama said. 
 
Both Obama and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau had made clear their desire to see Britain remain in the 28-member bloc and the fallout from the Brexit was high on their agenda in Ottawa. 
 
(AFP)

Obama pledged to work with other nations to keep the economic system growing and stable

Britain's vote to leave the European Union raises "longer-term concerns" about global growth at a time of already weak economic output, US President Barack Obama said today. "I think there are some genuine, longer-term concerns about global growth if, in fact, Brexit goes through and that freezes the possibilities of investment in Great Britain or in Europe as a whole," Obama said, speaking at a North American leaders summit. "At a time when global growth rates were weak already, this doesn't help," he said. However, the US President, after meeting his Canadian and Mexican counterparts, expressed confidence in the global financial system's resilience as markets rebounded on Wednesday from post-Brexit losses following a bruising two-day rout. "Given the vote of the United Kingdom to leave the European Union, our economic teams are going to continue to work together so that we remain focused on keeping our economies growing and making sure that the global financial system is stable," Obama said. Both Obama and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau had made clear their desire to see Britain remain in the 28-member bloc and the fallout from the Brexit was high on their agenda in Ottawa. (AFP)

Brexit raises 'genuine concerns' for long-term global growth: Obama

President Erdogan issued an official statement on the terror attack that took place at Istanbul&#39;s Atat?rk Airport, which killed at least 41 and injured 230.&nbsp;In it he said: 
 
&ldquo;This attack once again revealed the dark face of terrorist organisations targeting innocent civilians. It is obvious that this attack does not aim to attain any results, but merely aims to produce propaganda material against our country by shedding the blood of and causing pain for innocent civilians. 
 
&ldquo;We urge governments, parliaments, media and civil society organizations around the world, especially in Western countries, to take a firm stand against terrorism.&rdquo; 
 
Erdogan emphasised the international nature of terrorism, saying that it could have happened anywhere. He called on the&nbsp; 
 
&ldquo;However, I would like to remind that today&#39;s attack targeted not only 79 million Turkish citizens, but also 7.5 billion human beings around the world. Due to the treacherous nature of terrorism, the bombs that exploded in Istanbul today could have gone off at any airport in any city around the world. Make no mistake: For terrorist organisations, there is no difference between Istanbul and London, Ankara and Berlin, Izmir and Chicago or Antalya and Rome. Unless all government and the entire mankind join forces in the fight against terrorism, much worse things than what we fear to imagine today will come true.&rdquo; 
 
&ldquo;I hope the Ataturk Airport attack will serve as a turning point in the world, particularly for the Western countries, for a joint struggle against terror organizations.&rdquo; 
 
More updates will follow as reports from Turkey come in. 
 
(Others)

Erdogan calls on the world to band together against terrorism

President Erdogan issued an official statement on the terror attack that took place at Istanbul's Atat?rk Airport, which killed at least 41 and injured 230. In it he said: “This attack once again revealed the dark face of terrorist organisations targeting innocent civilians. It is obvious that this attack does not aim to attain any results, but merely aims to produce propaganda material against our country by shedding the blood of and causing pain for innocent civilians. “We urge governments, parliaments, media and civil society organizations around the world, especially in Western countries, to take a firm stand against terrorism.” Erdogan emphasised the international nature of terrorism, saying that it could have happened anywhere. He called on the “However, I would like to remind that today's attack targeted not only 79 million Turkish citizens, but also 7.5 billion human beings around the world. Due to the treacherous nature of terrorism, the bombs that exploded in Istanbul today could have gone off at any airport in any city around the world. Make no mistake: For terrorist organisations, there is no difference between Istanbul and London, Ankara and Berlin, Izmir and Chicago or Antalya and Rome. Unless all government and the entire mankind join forces in the fight against terrorism, much worse things than what we fear to imagine today will come true.” “I hope the Ataturk Airport attack will serve as a turning point in the world, particularly for the Western countries, for a joint struggle against terror organizations.” More updates will follow as reports from Turkey come in. (Others)

Turkey's President makes official statement after deadly airport attack

NATO today appointed Rose Gottemoeller as deputy head of the US-led alliance, the first woman to hold the post, a statement said. 
 
Gottemoeller is a career US diplomat whose nomination to the NATO post in March by President Barack Obama ran into stiff Republican criticism that she was too soft on Russia. 
 
&quot;I am delighted to announce the appointment of Rose Gottemoeller, who will bring to NATO a wealth of experience in international security policy, and in areas such as arms control and relations with Russia,&quot; alliance head Jens Stoltenberg said in a statement. 
 
Stoltenberg said the appointment of the first woman to the deputy post was a &quot;milestone&quot; for NATO. 
 
The Ukraine crisis and Russia`s 2014 annexation of Crimea have plunged relations into a deep freeze, with NATO responding by launching a major revamp to counter a more assertive Moscow. 
 
Gottemoeller, currently under secretary for arms control and international security, will replace Alexander Vershbow, another career US diplomat, in October. 
 
(AFP)

Rose Gottemoeller, currently under secretary for arms control and international security, will replace Alexander Vershbow

NATO today appointed Rose Gottemoeller as deputy head of the US-led alliance, the first woman to hold the post, a statement said. Gottemoeller is a career US diplomat whose nomination to the NATO post in March by President Barack Obama ran into stiff Republican criticism that she was too soft on Russia. "I am delighted to announce the appointment of Rose Gottemoeller, who will bring to NATO a wealth of experience in international security policy, and in areas such as arms control and relations with Russia," alliance head Jens Stoltenberg said in a statement. Stoltenberg said the appointment of the first woman to the deputy post was a "milestone" for NATO. The Ukraine crisis and Russia`s 2014 annexation of Crimea have plunged relations into a deep freeze, with NATO responding by launching a major revamp to counter a more assertive Moscow. Gottemoeller, currently under secretary for arms control and international security, will replace Alexander Vershbow, another career US diplomat, in October. (AFP)

NATO appoints first woman as deputy head

Iceland is expected to elect a political newcomer as president on Saturday with polls predicting a landslide victory for Gudni Johannesson, a history professor and political commentator who has never held public office. 
 
Johannesson, 47, only decided to run for the post after the &quot;Panama Papers&quot; leak in April detailing offshore accounts implicated several senior Icelandic politicians, including the then-prime minister who was forced to resign. 
 
Johannesson has vowed to restore Icelanders&#39; faith in the system after years of public anger toward politicians for miring the country in scandals and financial woes. 
 
But while outraged Icelanders massed in the streets for days in April calling for the prime minister&#39;s ouster, that anger appeared to dissipate somewhat in the final days of the presidential campaign, overshadowed by euphoria after the Icelandic football squad achieved an historic feat at the Euro 2016. 
 
A North Atlantic island of just 334,000 people, Iceland beat Austria 2-1 on Wednesday to qualify for the last 16 in the country`s Euro debut, facing off against England on Monday. 
 
The news dominated headlines, with only sparse election coverage in the final days of the campaign.Britain&#39;s vote to leave the European Union also dominated the news on the eve of the election in Iceland, a country that itself applied for EU membership in 2009 but abandoned the bid six years later. 
 
Like most of Iceland&#39;s voters, Johannesson is opposed to EU membership. 
 
The president holds a largely ceremonial position, acting as a guarantor of the constitution and national unity. 
 
The constitution does allow the president to dissolve parliament, as well as veto bills in parliament and put them to a referendum, though those powers have rarely been used. 
 
The current president, Olafur Ragnar Grimsson, is stepping down at 73 after five straight terms spanning 20 years. The only president to ever do so, he exercised his veto right three times over two decades. 
 
More important legislative elections are due in the autumn. 
 
In opinion polls, Johannesson has held a commanding lead over the other eight candidates since announcing his candidacy in early May.&nbsp; 
The latest polls credited him with between 45 and 49 &#39;per cent of voter sympathies. 
 
David Oddsson, a 68-year-old former prime minister and central bank chief who has been Johannesson`s closest rival for most of the campaign, garnered around 16 &#39;per cent. 
 
Oddsson, who served as Conservative prime minister from 1991 to 2004 and central bank governor from 2005 to 2009, is a divisive figure in Iceland, inextricably linked to the excesses of the banking boom that led to the country`s devastating 2008 financial crisis.Johannesson meanwhile was until recently known to Icelanders as one of the country`s most prominent political commentators from the University of Iceland. 
 
Contrary to Oddsson, Johannesson is non-partisan, putting &quot;emphasis on presenting himself as a neutral candidate,&quot; Gretar Eythorsson, a political science professor at the University of Akureyri, told AFP. 
 
In a nation basking in a strong economy, low unemployment and robust purchasing power, Johannesson`s views are generally seen as moderate and centrist.&nbsp; 
 
His calm nature, conciliatory tone, and consensus-oriented approach, as well as his stated desire to restore Icelanders` faith in the political system, has appealed to voters. 
 
He has also vowed to modernise political life and give voters more of a voice, by, among other things, introducing citizen-initiated referendums. 
 
The president &quot;is expected to unite the people rather than scatter them,&quot; Johannesson told AFP in an interview. 
Oddsson`s campaign has meanwhile been more combative and &quot;is all about trying to harass Johannesson and find weak spots,&quot; says Eythorsson. 
 
Polling stations open across the country at 0900 GMT and close at 2200 GMT, with the first results expected shortly afterwards. 
 
(AFP) 
&nbsp;

Gudni Johannesson is a history professor, only decided to run after the Panama Papers implicated several senior Icelandic politicians

Iceland is expected to elect a political newcomer as president on Saturday with polls predicting a landslide victory for Gudni Johannesson, a history professor and political commentator who has never held public office. Johannesson, 47, only decided to run for the post after the "Panama Papers" leak in April detailing offshore accounts implicated several senior Icelandic politicians, including the then-prime minister who was forced to resign. Johannesson has vowed to restore Icelanders' faith in the system after years of public anger toward politicians for miring the country in scandals and financial woes. But while outraged Icelanders massed in the streets for days in April calling for the prime minister's ouster, that anger appeared to dissipate somewhat in the final days of the presidential campaign, overshadowed by euphoria after the Icelandic football squad achieved an historic feat at the Euro 2016. A North Atlantic island of just 334,000 people, Iceland beat Austria 2-1 on Wednesday to qualify for the last 16 in the country`s Euro debut, facing off against England on Monday. The news dominated headlines, with only sparse election coverage in the final days of the campaign.Britain's vote to leave the European Union also dominated the news on the eve of the election in Iceland, a country that itself applied for EU membership in 2009 but abandoned the bid six years later. Like most of Iceland's voters, Johannesson is opposed to EU membership. The president holds a largely ceremonial position, acting as a guarantor of the constitution and national unity. The constitution does allow the president to dissolve parliament, as well as veto bills in parliament and put them to a referendum, though those powers have rarely been used. The current president, Olafur Ragnar Grimsson, is stepping down at 73 after five straight terms spanning 20 years. The only president to ever do so, he exercised his veto right three times over two decades. More important legislative elections are due in the autumn. In opinion polls, Johannesson has held a commanding lead over the other eight candidates since announcing his candidacy in early May. The latest polls credited him with between 45 and 49 'per cent of voter sympathies. David Oddsson, a 68-year-old former prime minister and central bank chief who has been Johannesson`s closest rival for most of the campaign, garnered around 16 'per cent. Oddsson, who served as Conservative prime minister from 1991 to 2004 and central bank governor from 2005 to 2009, is a divisive figure in Iceland, inextricably linked to the excesses of the banking boom that led to the country`s devastating 2008 financial crisis.Johannesson meanwhile was until recently known to Icelanders as one of the country`s most prominent political commentators from the University of Iceland. Contrary to Oddsson, Johannesson is non-partisan, putting "emphasis on presenting himself as a neutral candidate," Gretar Eythorsson, a political science professor at the University of Akureyri, told AFP. In a nation basking in a strong economy, low unemployment and robust purchasing power, Johannesson`s views are generally seen as moderate and centrist. His calm nature, conciliatory tone, and consensus-oriented approach, as well as his stated desire to restore Icelanders` faith in the political system, has appealed to voters. He has also vowed to modernise political life and give voters more of a voice, by, among other things, introducing citizen-initiated referendums. The president "is expected to unite the people rather than scatter them," Johannesson told AFP in an interview. Oddsson`s campaign has meanwhile been more combative and "is all about trying to harass Johannesson and find weak spots," says Eythorsson. Polling stations open across the country at 0900 GMT and close at 2200 GMT, with the first results expected shortly afterwards. (AFP)

Iceland elects a new President today, probably a man who has never held public office

The European Union needs a new roadmap that should be devised in consultation with voters and then put to a referendum, France&#39;s Economy Minister Emmanuel Macron said today in comments that may further stir tensions with the ruling Socialist Party. 
 
Macron&#39;s talk of a European-wide referendum goes beyond comments made by President Francois Hollande and Prime Minister Manuel Valls, who both said the EU needed to reinvent itself after Britons voted to leave the bloc but made no reference to a popular vote.&nbsp; 
 
&quot;We would first build this new project with European peoples and then submit this new roadmap, this new project, to a referendum,&quot; he said ahead of a debate on the fallout from the British referendum. 
 
Macron said voters should be consulted through a series of debates that he called &quot;democratic conventions&quot;. 
 
&quot;It must be done in the right framework,&quot; the minister added. 
 
Macron, a former investment banker, is one of the embattled Socialist government`s most popular ministers among the public. But his launch last month of his own &quot;En Marche&quot; party a year ahead of a presidential election has fueled speculation that he could be eying the Elysee palace as the ratings of Hollande stay rock-bottom. He has said he would not run in the election. 
 
Macron said a knee-jerk referendum must be avoided. 
 
&quot;The idea would not be to have 27 separate referendums,&quot; Macron said during the debate. &quot;We&#39;ve never had the courage to organise a true European referendum in its real sense. This next project must give it that strength.&quot;&nbsp; 
 
In 2005, a proposed EU constitution was blocked by a referendum in France, due mostly to public opposition to an enlarged, free-marketeering Europe. Dutch voters also rejected the constitution in a separate referendum. 
 
(Reuters)

France's Economy Minister said voters should be consulted through a series of debates that he called 'democratic convention'

The European Union needs a new roadmap that should be devised in consultation with voters and then put to a referendum, France's Economy Minister Emmanuel Macron said today in comments that may further stir tensions with the ruling Socialist Party. Macron's talk of a European-wide referendum goes beyond comments made by President Francois Hollande and Prime Minister Manuel Valls, who both said the EU needed to reinvent itself after Britons voted to leave the bloc but made no reference to a popular vote. "We would first build this new project with European peoples and then submit this new roadmap, this new project, to a referendum," he said ahead of a debate on the fallout from the British referendum. Macron said voters should be consulted through a series of debates that he called "democratic conventions". "It must be done in the right framework," the minister added. Macron, a former investment banker, is one of the embattled Socialist government`s most popular ministers among the public. But his launch last month of his own "En Marche" party a year ahead of a presidential election has fueled speculation that he could be eying the Elysee palace as the ratings of Hollande stay rock-bottom. He has said he would not run in the election. Macron said a knee-jerk referendum must be avoided. "The idea would not be to have 27 separate referendums," Macron said during the debate. "We've never had the courage to organise a true European referendum in its real sense. This next project must give it that strength." In 2005, a proposed EU constitution was blocked by a referendum in France, due mostly to public opposition to an enlarged, free-marketeering Europe. Dutch voters also rejected the constitution in a separate referendum. (Reuters)

France's Macron wants new European project, and EU-wide referendum

More than two dozen people have signed up to run for Haiti&#39;s presidency, authorities said on Wednesday, including the four leading candidates from an earlier election aborted after a commission found widespread fraud. 
 
Unless registrations rise significantly before a midnight (0400 GMT) deadline, the number of presidential candidates will be about half those who contested the last ballot in Haiti, the hemisphere&#39;s poorest country. 
 
Fewer candidates could make the election due on October 9 easier to organise, with several politicians who ran last time pledging support for Jude Celestin, who came second in the previous ballot. 
 
&quot;This joint effort is a choice for stability and democracy, against corruption and fraudulent election,&quot; Celestin told reporters. 
 
Jovenel Moise, who came first last time, again registered to run, as did Jean-Charles Moise and Maryse Narcisse who came third and fourth last time. 
 
The registration of Moise removes uncertainty over whether his PHTK party would take part in the new election. The party&#39;s position had been that irregularities in the first round were not large enough to alter the outcome and that it would be better to hold a run-off vote between Celestin and Moise, a position supported by Washington and other donors. 
 
&quot;There is no question of abandoning the election process because we believe in democracy, and the only way to access power in a democracy is through election,&quot; &nbsp; said&nbsp;Rudy Heriveaux, a spokesman for Moise&#39;s PHTK party,. 
 
Haiti&#39;s last elected president left office without an elected successor, paving the way for an interim government led by President Jocelerme Privert. He failed to organise elections by May in a timeline set in a multi-party deal, but may end up staying on to organise the next vote. 
 
&quot;We continue to believe that Jocelerme Privert should leave power because his term is over, and he is manipulating the election process in favor of his political family,&quot; Heriveaux said. 
 
&quot;If the election is free, fair and democratic, there is no doubt that Jovenel Moise will win,&quot; he said. 
 
Former presidential candidate, Sauveur Pierre Etienne, who is now supporting Celestin, said he made that choice because he believes Celestin is the best man to lead the country. 
 
&quot;I support Jude Celestin because he showed that he is a man of character,&quot; he said. 
 
(Reuters)

Several politicians who ran last time pledge support for Jude Celestin, who came second in the previous ballot

More than two dozen people have signed up to run for Haiti's presidency, authorities said on Wednesday, including the four leading candidates from an earlier election aborted after a commission found widespread fraud. Unless registrations rise significantly before a midnight (0400 GMT) deadline, the number of presidential candidates will be about half those who contested the last ballot in Haiti, the hemisphere's poorest country. Fewer candidates could make the election due on October 9 easier to organise, with several politicians who ran last time pledging support for Jude Celestin, who came second in the previous ballot. "This joint effort is a choice for stability and democracy, against corruption and fraudulent election," Celestin told reporters. Jovenel Moise, who came first last time, again registered to run, as did Jean-Charles Moise and Maryse Narcisse who came third and fourth last time. The registration of Moise removes uncertainty over whether his PHTK party would take part in the new election. The party's position had been that irregularities in the first round were not large enough to alter the outcome and that it would be better to hold a run-off vote between Celestin and Moise, a position supported by Washington and other donors. "There is no question of abandoning the election process because we believe in democracy, and the only way to access power in a democracy is through election," said Rudy Heriveaux, a spokesman for Moise's PHTK party,. Haiti's last elected president left office without an elected successor, paving the way for an interim government led by President Jocelerme Privert. He failed to organise elections by May in a timeline set in a multi-party deal, but may end up staying on to organise the next vote. "We continue to believe that Jocelerme Privert should leave power because his term is over, and he is manipulating the election process in favor of his political family," Heriveaux said. "If the election is free, fair and democratic, there is no doubt that Jovenel Moise will win," he said. Former presidential candidate, Sauveur Pierre Etienne, who is now supporting Celestin, said he made that choice because he believes Celestin is the best man to lead the country. "I support Jude Celestin because he showed that he is a man of character," he said. (Reuters)

More than two dozen register to run for Haiti presidency

The President of Mexico&#39;s ruling Institutional Revolutionary Party, or PRI, announced his resignation on Monday, two weeks after the party of President Enrique Pena Nieto suffered a humiliating defeat in regional elections. 
 
Manlio Fabio Beltrones, a former governor and veteran federal lawmaker, announced his decision to step down after the PRI won only five of the dozen governors races up for grabs in the June 5 vote. It previously held nine of them. 
 
The results were far worse for the centrist party than most polls had forecast. 
 
The PRI&#39;s losses included two oil-rich strongholds in the Gulf of Mexico, Veracruz and neighboring Tamaulipas, both of which have been plagued by gang violence for years, as well as Quintana Roo, home to Mexico&#39;s top tourist destination Cancun. All three states have been run by the PRI for over eight decades. 
 
&quot;It&#39;s time for a necessary pause,&quot; Beltrones told a news conference at the PRI&#39;s Mexico City headquarters. 
 
&quot;This is a responsible decision that opens space for an internal debate and allows our party to freely decide the best path forward,&quot; he said. 
 
Beltrones, 63, is still seen as a possible presidential contender for the PRI in 2018. Pena Nieto is not allowed by law to seek a second six-year term. 
 
In a poll published Monday by daily newspaper El Financiero, Beltrones was tied for second with 10 per cent among PRI voters, trailing Interior Minister Miguel Angel Osorio Chong, who had 32 per cent support. 
(Reuters)

Manlio Fabio Beltrones announced his decision after the PRI won only five of the dozen governors races up for grabs in the June 5 vote

The President of Mexico's ruling Institutional Revolutionary Party, or PRI, announced his resignation on Monday, two weeks after the party of President Enrique Pena Nieto suffered a humiliating defeat in regional elections. Manlio Fabio Beltrones, a former governor and veteran federal lawmaker, announced his decision to step down after the PRI won only five of the dozen governors races up for grabs in the June 5 vote. It previously held nine of them. The results were far worse for the centrist party than most polls had forecast. The PRI's losses included two oil-rich strongholds in the Gulf of Mexico, Veracruz and neighboring Tamaulipas, both of which have been plagued by gang violence for years, as well as Quintana Roo, home to Mexico's top tourist destination Cancun. All three states have been run by the PRI for over eight decades. "It's time for a necessary pause," Beltrones told a news conference at the PRI's Mexico City headquarters. "This is a responsible decision that opens space for an internal debate and allows our party to freely decide the best path forward," he said. Beltrones, 63, is still seen as a possible presidential contender for the PRI in 2018. Pena Nieto is not allowed by law to seek a second six-year term. In a poll published Monday by daily newspaper El Financiero, Beltrones was tied for second with 10 per cent among PRI voters, trailing Interior Minister Miguel Angel Osorio Chong, who had 32 per cent support. (Reuters)

Head of Mexico's ruling party resigns after electoral drubbing

Craig Reedie, the head of the World Anti-Doping Agency, indicated today that he would be prepared to back a complete ban for the entire Russia team from August&#39;s Olympic Games in Rio. 
 
The founding president of WADA, Dick Pound, told Britain&#39;s Sunday Times newspaper that such a ban was &quot;not impossible&quot;. 
 
Friday saw the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) uphold an international ban on Russia&#39;s track and field competitors first imposed in November after a WADA team led by veteran Canadian sports administrator Pound revealed state-sponsored doping and mass corruption in Russian athletics.&nbsp; 
 
The Russia team is now ruled out of all events in athletics in Rio, although Russian athletes training outside the country can apply to compete as neutrals at the August 5-21 event in Brazil. 
 
The IAAF&#39;s decision was endorsed by the International Olympic Committee on Saturday. 
 
But there are fears that the scale of Russia&#39;s breaking of doping rules extend beyond just track and field. 
 
In May, WADA set up a new investigation under Professor Richard McLaren, a Canadian law professor and longstanding member of the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), into allegations of state-backed doping at the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics in Russia. 
 
Grigory Rodchenkov, the former head of the Russian lab now living in Los Angeles, also gave an interview to the New York Times last month in which he said he switched tainted urine samples for clean ones at the doping lab used for the Sochi Games, with help from people he believed to be officers of the Russian security services. 
 
McLaren, who is due to deliver his full report by July 15, said in a preliminary statement on Friday he had evidence that Russia&#39;s Ministry of Sport was involved in instructing a Moscow laboratory to &quot;not report positive sample results over the period before, during and after&quot; the 2013 World Athletics Championships. 
 
&quot;In the coming weeks, we will learn the outcome of our independent McLaren investigation,&quot; Reedie, speaking at the WADA symposium at London`s Lord&#39;s Cricket Ground, said Monday. 
 
&quot;If his report indicates transgressions of any kind, then there will be a precedent-setting opportunity to demonstrate our collective commitment to cleaning up sport,&quot; added the veteran British sports administrator, who reiterated WADA&#39;s support for the IAAF ban on Russia. 
 
&quot;The world will be watching.&quot; 
 
Reedie said the fact anti-doping laboratories in Beijing, Bloemfontein, Lisbon, Madrid and Moscow had all had their WADA accreditation suspended was proof that the organisation had taken &quot;decisive action&quot; by hearing the &quot;strength of the athlete&#39;s voice&quot; in insisting labs maintain the &quot;highest standards&quot;. 
 
This, said Reedie, was all part of &quot;levelling the playing field for each and every athlete competing in Rio&quot;.&nbsp; 
 
Meanwhile Reedie repeated his calls for increased WADA funding from national governments and also suggested that, for the first time, broadcasters and media rights-holders might want to contribute to the budget. 
 
Reedie said WADA was &quot;punching above its weight&quot; on a budget of less than $30 million a year, which he noted was less than the annual income of Russian tennis star Maria Sharapova, recently banned for a doping violation. 
 
Reedie added that 0.5 per cent of the worldwide sports television rights market would produce a WADA budget of $175 million and that it was in the rights-holders&#39; interest to promote clean sport. 
 
Russian President Vladmir Putin&nbsp;has labelled the IAAF&#39;s ban on his country&#39;s athletes as &quot;unjust and unfair&quot;. 
 
But IAAF president Sebastian Coe, who won Olympic 1500 metres gold and 800m silver for Great Britain at the 1980 Moscow Games, wrote in Britain&#39;s Sunday Telegraph: &quot;We have not prevented clean athletes from Russia from competing, rather the Russian system has cataclysmically failed their clean athletes.&quot; 
(AFP)

Russian athletes training outside the country can apply to compete as neutrals at the August event in Brazil

Craig Reedie, the head of the World Anti-Doping Agency, indicated today that he would be prepared to back a complete ban for the entire Russia team from August's Olympic Games in Rio. The founding president of WADA, Dick Pound, told Britain's Sunday Times newspaper that such a ban was "not impossible". Friday saw the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) uphold an international ban on Russia's track and field competitors first imposed in November after a WADA team led by veteran Canadian sports administrator Pound revealed state-sponsored doping and mass corruption in Russian athletics. The Russia team is now ruled out of all events in athletics in Rio, although Russian athletes training outside the country can apply to compete as neutrals at the August 5-21 event in Brazil. The IAAF's decision was endorsed by the International Olympic Committee on Saturday. But there are fears that the scale of Russia's breaking of doping rules extend beyond just track and field. In May, WADA set up a new investigation under Professor Richard McLaren, a Canadian law professor and longstanding member of the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), into allegations of state-backed doping at the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics in Russia. Grigory Rodchenkov, the former head of the Russian lab now living in Los Angeles, also gave an interview to the New York Times last month in which he said he switched tainted urine samples for clean ones at the doping lab used for the Sochi Games, with help from people he believed to be officers of the Russian security services. McLaren, who is due to deliver his full report by July 15, said in a preliminary statement on Friday he had evidence that Russia's Ministry of Sport was involved in instructing a Moscow laboratory to "not report positive sample results over the period before, during and after" the 2013 World Athletics Championships. "In the coming weeks, we will learn the outcome of our independent McLaren investigation," Reedie, speaking at the WADA symposium at London`s Lord's Cricket Ground, said Monday. "If his report indicates transgressions of any kind, then there will be a precedent-setting opportunity to demonstrate our collective commitment to cleaning up sport," added the veteran British sports administrator, who reiterated WADA's support for the IAAF ban on Russia. "The world will be watching." Reedie said the fact anti-doping laboratories in Beijing, Bloemfontein, Lisbon, Madrid and Moscow had all had their WADA accreditation suspended was proof that the organisation had taken "decisive action" by hearing the "strength of the athlete's voice" in insisting labs maintain the "highest standards". This, said Reedie, was all part of "levelling the playing field for each and every athlete competing in Rio". Meanwhile Reedie repeated his calls for increased WADA funding from national governments and also suggested that, for the first time, broadcasters and media rights-holders might want to contribute to the budget. Reedie said WADA was "punching above its weight" on a budget of less than $30 million a year, which he noted was less than the annual income of Russian tennis star Maria Sharapova, recently banned for a doping violation. Reedie added that 0.5 per cent of the worldwide sports television rights market would produce a WADA budget of $175 million and that it was in the rights-holders' interest to promote clean sport. Russian President Vladmir Putin has labelled the IAAF's ban on his country's athletes as "unjust and unfair". But IAAF president Sebastian Coe, who won Olympic 1500 metres gold and 800m silver for Great Britain at the 1980 Moscow Games, wrote in Britain's Sunday Telegraph: "We have not prevented clean athletes from Russia from competing, rather the Russian system has cataclysmically failed their clean athletes." (AFP)

World Anti-Doping Agency prepared to ban entire Russian team from Rio Olympics

Almost 22 months ago, Maldivian journalist, Ahmed Rilwan, 28, disappeared in Mal?. He was last seen&nbsp;on a closed-circuit television camera while trying to buy a ferryboat ticket on his way home. His family still believes he will return one day, but his colleagues have a far more grim take on this. They believe Ahmed has been murdered.&nbsp; 
 
A police chief inspector recently confirmed that he was in fact abducted on the same night from his apartment. &nbsp; 
 
&quot;The situation is very bad. The media is under attack from all fronts,&quot; said Zaheena Rasheed, editor of the online newspaper, The Maldives Independent, where Rilwan worked as a reporter. 
 
For most travellers, Mal?, the capital city of the Maldives, is just a quick stopover on their way to dreamlike beaches and crystal blue waters. However, the dreamy landscape has a much more sinister side to it and Zaheena has good reason to be worried. &nbsp; 
 
&quot;I am very afraid. I myself have received death threats. I could disappear or I could be killed. My office has already been attacked. Other media offices have been burned to the ground,&quot; he fears are not unfounded. 
 
The streets of Mal? are home to criminal gangs involved in drug dealing, robberies and violence on commission. A survey by the Asia Foundation, based on interactions with 130 gang affiliates, reports that there are &quot;between 20 and 30 different gangs operating in Mal?, with 50 to 400 members in each group.&quot; This means that more than a thousand individuals are involved in such criminal activities in a city of 150,000. &nbsp; &nbsp; 
 
These gangs often carry out violence on behalf of political groups. The report reads: &quot;Politicians and businessmen often offer drugs and alcohol when they (the gang members) complete an illegal task (commissioned by them). Hence, there is a reciprocal relationship between gang members and politicians and businessmen.&quot; They often act in an atmosphere of impunity.&nbsp; 
 
Gang members are most likely to get away with it given the protection offered by the rich and influential. Even if some are caught they are able to get out of police stations without their crimes being brought to book. Escaping a gang is nearly impossible for a designated victim. Mal? is a small town on an island. Hiding is not really a viable option.&nbsp; 
 
It is not only about the fear of gangs. The Maldivian media is facing an increasingly difficult situation. In April, a group of journalists was arrested for a day. They were part of a protest against a draft law aiming to reintroduce defamation as a crime that was abolished seven years ago. Just a month before, the Civil Court had halted the printing of Haveeru, the oldest and most widely-circulated Maldivian newspaper. An order issued against a three-decade old ownership dispute. &nbsp;&nbsp; 
 
The turbulent situation took off in 2008, a turning point in the history of the archipelago. The human rights activist and environmentalist Mohamed Nasheed became the first democratically elected president of the country. His victory ended three decades of autocratic rule by Maumoon Abdul Gayoom who was the longest-serving politician in South Asia. Gayoom granted economic growth to the archipelago, but democracy paid a high price. One-party elections, politicians appointed only by the president, heavy restrictions on freedom of press, religion and dissent were the norm. 
 
Nasheed&#39;s liberal agenda came as a break with the past. After decriminalising defamation, his government passed a bill to establish a Media Council &quot;to preserve the freedom of media&quot;. He allowed foreign journalists to travel freely to the country and granted greater access to the local press. Minivan News, then the only local English online newspaper, could start working in the Maldives rather than in exile in Sri Lanka. &nbsp; 
 
Young democracies, however, are often fragile, and so was Nasheed`s presidency. After less than three years, a police mutiny and weeks of protest staged by his opponents, he decided to resign &ndash; or was forced to do so &quot;at &nbsp;gunpoint&quot;. &nbsp; &nbsp; 
 
In a contested run-off, Abdulla Yameen Abdul Gayoom, half-brother of the man who ruled for 30 years, became the new Maldivian President. &nbsp; &nbsp; 
 
In 2015, events abruptly turned and Nasheed&#39;s situation plummeted. Following a trial that Amnesty International called &quot;deeply flawed and politically motivated&quot;, the former president was sentenced to 13 years for terrorism. He was accused of arbitrarily removing the criminal court chief judge during his presidency. &nbsp;&nbsp; 
 
Some Maldivians did not accept the verdict in silence and took to the streets in Mal?. The police arrested many protesters, including three reporters, who were covering the protest. &nbsp;&nbsp; 
 
&quot;There is a big crackdown on media freedom. It is very difficult for a person who is critical of the government to find any kind of work in the country,&quot; said Azra Naseem, a Maldivian research fellow at the Institute for International Conflict Resolution and Reconstruction in Dublin City University. &quot;If you are not with the government there is no space for you in the Maldives.&quot; 
 
Former president Nasheed is currently in London. 
 
He was authorised to leave his prison cell for a delicate surgery on the condition that he would return to jail once the treatment was done. However, that may not happen now. The British government has granted former president Nasheed political refugee status. A news welcomed by the media community and sections of Maldivian citizens who are not keen to toe the totalitarian line. 
 
&quot;Maldivians want to see better days. I am not alone and this is my home. I grew up in a dictatorship and I don&#39;t want to see my country regress into fear. I want to see a freer and more equal Maldives,&quot; Zaheena Rasheed said.

Journalists arrested, a former president on the run, criminal gangs, political unrest, radical Islamists and more...

Almost 22 months ago, Maldivian journalist, Ahmed Rilwan, 28, disappeared in Mal?. He was last seen on a closed-circuit television camera while trying to buy a ferryboat ticket on his way home. His family still believes he will return one day, but his colleagues have a far more grim take on this. They believe Ahmed has been murdered. A police chief inspector recently confirmed that he was in fact abducted on the same night from his apartment. "The situation is very bad. The media is under attack from all fronts," said Zaheena Rasheed, editor of the online newspaper, The Maldives Independent, where Rilwan worked as a reporter. For most travellers, Mal?, the capital city of the Maldives, is just a quick stopover on their way to dreamlike beaches and crystal blue waters. However, the dreamy landscape has a much more sinister side to it and Zaheena has good reason to be worried. "I am very afraid. I myself have received death threats. I could disappear or I could be killed. My office has already been attacked. Other media offices have been burned to the ground," he fears are not unfounded. The streets of Mal? are home to criminal gangs involved in drug dealing, robberies and violence on commission. A survey by the Asia Foundation, based on interactions with 130 gang affiliates, reports that there are "between 20 and 30 different gangs operating in Mal?, with 50 to 400 members in each group." This means that more than a thousand individuals are involved in such criminal activities in a city of 150,000. These gangs often carry out violence on behalf of political groups. The report reads: "Politicians and businessmen often offer drugs and alcohol when they (the gang members) complete an illegal task (commissioned by them). Hence, there is a reciprocal relationship between gang members and politicians and businessmen." They often act in an atmosphere of impunity. Gang members are most likely to get away with it given the protection offered by the rich and influential. Even if some are caught they are able to get out of police stations without their crimes being brought to book. Escaping a gang is nearly impossible for a designated victim. Mal? is a small town on an island. Hiding is not really a viable option. It is not only about the fear of gangs. The Maldivian media is facing an increasingly difficult situation. In April, a group of journalists was arrested for a day. They were part of a protest against a draft law aiming to reintroduce defamation as a crime that was abolished seven years ago. Just a month before, the Civil Court had halted the printing of Haveeru, the oldest and most widely-circulated Maldivian newspaper. An order issued against a three-decade old ownership dispute. The turbulent situation took off in 2008, a turning point in the history of the archipelago. The human rights activist and environmentalist Mohamed Nasheed became the first democratically elected president of the country. His victory ended three decades of autocratic rule by Maumoon Abdul Gayoom who was the longest-serving politician in South Asia. Gayoom granted economic growth to the archipelago, but democracy paid a high price. One-party elections, politicians appointed only by the president, heavy restrictions on freedom of press, religion and dissent were the norm. Nasheed's liberal agenda came as a break with the past. After decriminalising defamation, his government passed a bill to establish a Media Council "to preserve the freedom of media". He allowed foreign journalists to travel freely to the country and granted greater access to the local press. Minivan News, then the only local English online newspaper, could start working in the Maldives rather than in exile in Sri Lanka. Young democracies, however, are often fragile, and so was Nasheed`s presidency. After less than three years, a police mutiny and weeks of protest staged by his opponents, he decided to resign – or was forced to do so "at gunpoint". In a contested run-off, Abdulla Yameen Abdul Gayoom, half-brother of the man who ruled for 30 years, became the new Maldivian President. In 2015, events abruptly turned and Nasheed's situation plummeted. Following a trial that Amnesty International called "deeply flawed and politically motivated", the former president was sentenced to 13 years for terrorism. He was accused of arbitrarily removing the criminal court chief judge during his presidency. Some Maldivians did not accept the verdict in silence and took to the streets in Mal?. The police arrested many protesters, including three reporters, who were covering the protest. "There is a big crackdown on media freedom. It is very difficult for a person who is critical of the government to find any kind of work in the country," said Azra Naseem, a Maldivian research fellow at the Institute for International Conflict Resolution and Reconstruction in Dublin City University. "If you are not with the government there is no space for you in the Maldives." Former president Nasheed is currently in London. He was authorised to leave his prison cell for a delicate surgery on the condition that he would return to jail once the treatment was done. However, that may not happen now. The British government has granted former president Nasheed political refugee status. A news welcomed by the media community and sections of Maldivian citizens who are not keen to toe the totalitarian line. "Maldivians want to see better days. I am not alone and this is my home. I grew up in a dictatorship and I don't want to see my country regress into fear. I want to see a freer and more equal Maldives," Zaheena Rasheed said.

Mal?: Political hit jobs, drugs, robberies - the grime under the sun and sand

Egypt&#39;s ousted Islamist President Mohamad Morsi was today sentenced to life imprisonment by a Cairo court in an espionage trial in which six co-defendants were handed death penalties for leaking state secrets on military intelligence to Qatar and a Doha-based TV network. 
 
The Cairo Criminal Court upheld the death sentences of the six Muslim Brotherhood members and awarded life imprisonment to two others. 
 
Life in prison in Egypt is 25 years. But Morsi, who received life in prison for leading an unlawful group, was given an additional 15 years for stealing documents related to national security, increasing his jail term to 40 years. 
 
The six co-defendants were Ahmed Abdo Ali Afifi, a documentary film producer (who is in jail), Asmaa el-Khateeb, a reporter with Rasd News Network which is widely suspected of links to Morsi&#39;s Muslim Brotherhood (sentenced in absentia). 
 
Two more included Al-Jazeera employees - news producer Alaa Omar Mohammed and news editor Ibrahim Mohammed Hilal (both sentenced in absentia). 
 
Qatar, a wealthy Gulf state, was the main backer of Morsi and his Muslim Brotherhood during his term in power between 2012 and July 2013, when the military overthrew and detained him.&nbsp;Today&#39;s verdicts are not final and can be appealed. 
 
Last month, the court ordered that case documents of the six defendants, excluding Morsi, be referred to the Grand Mufti, who according to Egyptian law must review all death sentences. His decision, however, is not binding. 
 
The co-defendents have been convicted for leaking classified documents to Qatar and selling them to Doha-based Al-Jazeera channel. The documents allegedly include information on general and military intelligence, the armed forces, its armaments and state policy secrets. 
 
Other charges include leading and joining the outlawed Brotherhood, that aims at changing Egypt&#39;s regime by force, and attacking army and police posts and public properties. 
 
Muslim Brotherhood&#39;s Supreme Guide Mohamed Badie and 35 other members of the proscribed Islamist group were last month sentenced to life for committing violent acts after the ouster of country&#39;s first democratically-elected President in 2013. 
 
Badie and Morsi were also sentenced to life in prison in the espionage case. Their sentences are currently in appeal. 
 
Morsi, Badie and 100 other leaders were sentenced to death in June last year for escaping from prison in 2011. 
 
However, an Egyptian court later quashed the death sentence against Badie. Hundreds of other Muslim Brotherhood members were also sentenced for life in various cases. 
 
The Egyptian government has been cracking down on the Muslim Brotherhood and its supporters since Morsi&#39;s ouster. The Muslim Brotherhood was designated as a terrorist group in November 2013 by the government. 
(PTI)

Six other co-defendants, including three journalists, were handed death penalties for leaking military secrets to Qatar

Egypt's ousted Islamist President Mohamad Morsi was today sentenced to life imprisonment by a Cairo court in an espionage trial in which six co-defendants were handed death penalties for leaking state secrets on military intelligence to Qatar and a Doha-based TV network. The Cairo Criminal Court upheld the death sentences of the six Muslim Brotherhood members and awarded life imprisonment to two others. Life in prison in Egypt is 25 years. But Morsi, who received life in prison for leading an unlawful group, was given an additional 15 years for stealing documents related to national security, increasing his jail term to 40 years. The six co-defendants were Ahmed Abdo Ali Afifi, a documentary film producer (who is in jail), Asmaa el-Khateeb, a reporter with Rasd News Network which is widely suspected of links to Morsi's Muslim Brotherhood (sentenced in absentia). Two more included Al-Jazeera employees - news producer Alaa Omar Mohammed and news editor Ibrahim Mohammed Hilal (both sentenced in absentia). Qatar, a wealthy Gulf state, was the main backer of Morsi and his Muslim Brotherhood during his term in power between 2012 and July 2013, when the military overthrew and detained him. Today's verdicts are not final and can be appealed. Last month, the court ordered that case documents of the six defendants, excluding Morsi, be referred to the Grand Mufti, who according to Egyptian law must review all death sentences. His decision, however, is not binding. The co-defendents have been convicted for leaking classified documents to Qatar and selling them to Doha-based Al-Jazeera channel. The documents allegedly include information on general and military intelligence, the armed forces, its armaments and state policy secrets. Other charges include leading and joining the outlawed Brotherhood, that aims at changing Egypt's regime by force, and attacking army and police posts and public properties. Muslim Brotherhood's Supreme Guide Mohamed Badie and 35 other members of the proscribed Islamist group were last month sentenced to life for committing violent acts after the ouster of country's first democratically-elected President in 2013. Badie and Morsi were also sentenced to life in prison in the espionage case. Their sentences are currently in appeal. Morsi, Badie and 100 other leaders were sentenced to death in June last year for escaping from prison in 2011. However, an Egyptian court later quashed the death sentence against Badie. Hundreds of other Muslim Brotherhood members were also sentenced for life in various cases. The Egyptian government has been cracking down on the Muslim Brotherhood and its supporters since Morsi's ouster. The Muslim Brotherhood was designated as a terrorist group in November 2013 by the government. (PTI)

Egypt's ousted Islamist President Morsi sentenced to life in jail, plus 15 years

Furniture, artwork, jewelry and collectible objects that once graced the Los Angeles home of President Ronald Reagan and his wife, Nancy, are headed for the auction block, Christie&#39;s said on Thursday. 
 
The landmark sale, a series of live and online auctions scheduled for September, also encompasses decorative pieces of art, books, ephemera, sculpture, drawings and prints from the Reagans&#39; home in the affluent Bel Air neighborhood of Los Angeles. 
 
Christie&#39;s said it expects the sale of some 700 lots to take in more than $2 million. But estimates are based on the items&#39; market value, and the possessions of celebrated figures offered at auction typically have soared to many times their estimates. 
 
Proceeds will benefit the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation and Institute, in line with the Reagans&#39; wishes. 
 
&quot;This prestigious collection offers unprecedented insight into the private lives of President and Mrs. Ronald Reagan,&quot; said Brook Hazelton, president of Christie&rsquo;s Americas. &quot;Each object offers a &#39;through-the-keyhole&#39; experience revealing as-yet-untold stories of two of the 20th century&rsquo;s most celebrated public figures.&quot; 
 
Reagan, a former Hollywood actor and California governor, was elected the 40th US President in 1980. He died in 2004. Nancy Reagan died earlier this year at age 94. 
 
The couple presided over a glamorous White House, where bold-faced names from the Reagans&#39; years before the cameras as actors injected a glitzy element into Washington&#39;s traditionally staid social scene. 
 
Details on the auction items will be announced in coming weeks. Christie&#39;s said the collection includes American, English and Chinese furnishings, many evoking the &quot;Hollywood Regency&quot; style, and many personal objects. 
 
Estimates on individual items range from $1,000 to $50,000. 
 
The auction house said the collection was noteworthy for reflecting the simple and elegant private life the Reagans enjoyed together in Bel Air, where they often entertained. 
 
Nancy Reagan, whose family and estate trustees are holding the sale, once reflected, &quot;So much of your life is on display that to be alone and relaxed was a luxury we looked forward to.&quot; 
 
The sale&#39;s proceeds &quot;will ensure that the foundation, and the presidential library it supports, will be equipped to pursue its mission,&quot; John Heubusch, the foundation&#39;s executive director, said in a statement.

Proceeds will go to the non-profit Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation which promotes global democracy and individual liberty

Furniture, artwork, jewelry and collectible objects that once graced the Los Angeles home of President Ronald Reagan and his wife, Nancy, are headed for the auction block, Christie's said on Thursday. The landmark sale, a series of live and online auctions scheduled for September, also encompasses decorative pieces of art, books, ephemera, sculpture, drawings and prints from the Reagans' home in the affluent Bel Air neighborhood of Los Angeles. Christie's said it expects the sale of some 700 lots to take in more than $2 million. But estimates are based on the items' market value, and the possessions of celebrated figures offered at auction typically have soared to many times their estimates. Proceeds will benefit the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation and Institute, in line with the Reagans' wishes. "This prestigious collection offers unprecedented insight into the private lives of President and Mrs. Ronald Reagan," said Brook Hazelton, president of Christie’s Americas. "Each object offers a 'through-the-keyhole' experience revealing as-yet-untold stories of two of the 20th century’s most celebrated public figures." Reagan, a former Hollywood actor and California governor, was elected the 40th US President in 1980. He died in 2004. Nancy Reagan died earlier this year at age 94. The couple presided over a glamorous White House, where bold-faced names from the Reagans' years before the cameras as actors injected a glitzy element into Washington's traditionally staid social scene. Details on the auction items will be announced in coming weeks. Christie's said the collection includes American, English and Chinese furnishings, many evoking the "Hollywood Regency" style, and many personal objects. Estimates on individual items range from $1,000 to $50,000. The auction house said the collection was noteworthy for reflecting the simple and elegant private life the Reagans enjoyed together in Bel Air, where they often entertained. Nancy Reagan, whose family and estate trustees are holding the sale, once reflected, "So much of your life is on display that to be alone and relaxed was a luxury we looked forward to." The sale's proceeds "will ensure that the foundation, and the presidential library it supports, will be equipped to pursue its mission," John Heubusch, the foundation's executive director, said in a statement.

Art, furniture, and more from the Reagans' home to be auctioned

Turkey&#39;s president warned Germany on Tuesday that its plans to declare the 1915 mass killing of Armenians a genocide would damage bilateral ties, raising new concerns about an EU-Turkey migrant deal championed by Chancellor Angela Merkel.

German lawmakers are expected to approve a symbolic resolution on Thursday that labels the killings of up to 1.5 million Armenians by Ottoman forces &quot;genocide&quot;, a description that Turkey strongly rejects.

The vote had been scheduled to take place over a year ago, on the 100th anniversary of the massacre, but Merkel&#39;s allies in parliament pushed it back repeatedly out of concern that it could hurt relations with Ankara.

Now they have run out of time and may be wishing they had let the vote take place sooner.

The opposition Greens have pushed the resolution onto the agenda at an extremely awkward time for Merkel, the driving force behind an agreement between the EU and Ankara that has helped slash the number of illegal migrants entering Europe.

The deal has eased political pressure on Merkel at home. But it has been under a cloud since its strongest proponent in the Turkish government, Ahmet Davutoglu, was pushed out as prime minister this month. Since then, President Tayyip Erdogan has questioned aspects of the agreement and some of his allies have even threatened to unleash a new wave of refugees on Europe.

In comments to reporters before he left for an official visit to&nbsp;Africa, Erdogan lashed out at those who he said were trying to &quot;deceive&quot; Germany over the 1915 events, without accusing anyone in particular.

&quot;If Germany is to be deceived by this, then bilateral diplomatic, economic, trade, political, and military ties - we are both NATO countries - will be damaged,&quot; he said.

The comments came after he spoke to Merkel by telephone to express his concern about the resolution. Sources in both capitals said Erdogan had initiated the call.

&nbsp;

GERMAN HISTORY

The resolution, which is formally supported by Merkel&#39;s conservative bloc, the centre-left Social Democrats and the Greens, uses the word &quot;genocide&quot; in the headline and text.

&quot;The fate of the Armenians is exemplary in the history of mass exterminations, ethnic cleansing, deportations and yes, genocide, which marked the 20th century in such a terrible way,&quot; it reads.

The resolution also touches on the &quot;inglorious&quot; role of the German Empire, a military ally of the Ottomans, because it did nothing to stop the massacre.

Turkey argues that the there was no organised campaign to wipe out the Armenians, who are Christian, and no evidence of any such orders from the Ottoman authorities.

Cem Oezdemir, a leader of the Greens with Turkish roots, told Reuters he had experienced weeks of personal attacks from Turkish nationalists on social media and via email because of his role in championing the resolution.

&quot;It wasn&#39;t our goal to hold this vote now,&quot; Oezdemir said. &quot;But the timing is not that important. The Bundestag is doing this because this is also a part of German history. The Ottoman and German empires were essentially brothers in arms.&quot;

The vote coincides with deepening public scepticism in Germany towards Turkey and Erdogan in particular. Critics accuse Merkel of going soft on Ankara over human rights because of her desire to stem the flow of migrants.

Last month she drew fire for allowing German prosecutors to look into charges against a comedian who mocked Erdogan in a crude poem. The comedian, Jan Boehmermann, has accused Merkel of serving him &quot;up for tea to a highly strung despot&quot;.

Merkel and other top ministers are expected to vote for the resolution, although some, including Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier, have questioned the wisdom of it in public.

Some officials fear it could stir tensions with the roughly 3 million people of Turkish origin who live in Germany.

Last year, German President Joachim Gauck condemned the killings of Armenians as &quot;genocide&quot; in a speech to mark the 100th anniversary of the massacres. Germany had previously avoided using the term in connection with the massacre.

Turkey's president warned Germany on Tuesday that its plans to declare the 1915 mass killing of Armenians a genocide would damage bilateral ties, raising new concerns about an EU-Turkey migrant deal championed by Chancellor Angela Merkel

Turkey's president warned Germany on Tuesday that its plans to declare the 1915 mass killing of Armenians a genocide would damage bilateral ties, raising new concerns about an EU-Turkey migrant deal championed by Chancellor Angela Merkel. German lawmakers are expected to approve a symbolic resolution on Thursday that labels the killings of up to 1.5 million Armenians by Ottoman forces "genocide", a description that Turkey strongly rejects. The vote had been scheduled to take place over a year ago, on the 100th anniversary of the massacre, but Merkel's allies in parliament pushed it back repeatedly out of concern that it could hurt relations with Ankara. Now they have run out of time and may be wishing they had let the vote take place sooner. The opposition Greens have pushed the resolution onto the agenda at an extremely awkward time for Merkel, the driving force behind an agreement between the EU and Ankara that has helped slash the number of illegal migrants entering Europe. The deal has eased political pressure on Merkel at home. But it has been under a cloud since its strongest proponent in the Turkish government, Ahmet Davutoglu, was pushed out as prime minister this month. Since then, President Tayyip Erdogan has questioned aspects of the agreement and some of his allies have even threatened to unleash a new wave of refugees on Europe. In comments to reporters before he left for an official visit to Africa, Erdogan lashed out at those who he said were trying to "deceive" Germany over the 1915 events, without accusing anyone in particular. "If Germany is to be deceived by this, then bilateral diplomatic, economic, trade, political, and military ties - we are both NATO countries - will be damaged," he said. The comments came after he spoke to Merkel by telephone to express his concern about the resolution. Sources in both capitals said Erdogan had initiated the call. GERMAN HISTORY The resolution, which is formally supported by Merkel's conservative bloc, the centre-left Social Democrats and the Greens, uses the word "genocide" in the headline and text. "The fate of the Armenians is exemplary in the history of mass exterminations, ethnic cleansing, deportations and yes, genocide, which marked the 20th century in such a terrible way," it reads. The resolution also touches on the "inglorious" role of the German Empire, a military ally of the Ottomans, because it did nothing to stop the massacre. Turkey argues that the there was no organised campaign to wipe out the Armenians, who are Christian, and no evidence of any such orders from the Ottoman authorities. Cem Oezdemir, a leader of the Greens with Turkish roots, told Reuters he had experienced weeks of personal attacks from Turkish nationalists on social media and via email because of his role in championing the resolution. "It wasn't our goal to hold this vote now," Oezdemir said. "But the timing is not that important. The Bundestag is doing this because this is also a part of German history. The Ottoman and German empires were essentially brothers in arms." The vote coincides with deepening public scepticism in Germany towards Turkey and Erdogan in particular. Critics accuse Merkel of going soft on Ankara over human rights because of her desire to stem the flow of migrants. Last month she drew fire for allowing German prosecutors to look into charges against a comedian who mocked Erdogan in a crude poem. The comedian, Jan Boehmermann, has accused Merkel of serving him "up for tea to a highly strung despot". Merkel and other top ministers are expected to vote for the resolution, although some, including Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier, have questioned the wisdom of it in public. Some officials fear it could stir tensions with the roughly 3 million people of Turkish origin who live in Germany. Last year, German President Joachim Gauck condemned the killings of Armenians as "genocide" in a speech to mark the 100th anniversary of the massacres. Germany had previously avoided using the term in connection with the massacre.

Erdogan warns Germany ahead of Armenian genocide vote

British singer Elton John told a concert in Moscow he still wanted to meet President Vladimir Putin to discuss his concerns about gay rights and AIDS in Russia, despite the Kremlin leader not having time to meet him this time round.

John, performing at a luxury shopping and&nbsp;entertainment&nbsp;centre in the Russian capital on Monday night as part of a world tour, sounded disappointed about not getting to meet Putin, but said he would return to try to see him.

&quot;As some of you may know I hoped to meet with President Putin on this trip,&quot; said John, whose music has been popular in Russia since the Soviet era, told the audience.

&quot;Although it wasn&#39;t possible, I&#39;m deeply grateful to him for inviting me to discuss some serious issues in Russia including LGBT, HIV and AIDS, and I very much hope we will find time in future to meet.&quot;

Putin&#39;s spokesman said last week that the Russian leader&#39;s schedule did not match up with John&#39;s, but that a meeting might take place &quot;next time.&quot; Putin had to fly to Kazakhstan on Tuesday morning for a meeting.

In September Putin phoned the singer, who has used his status as one of the world&#39;s most famous gay celebrities to push for equal rights for homosexuals around the world, to say he would be willing to meet up after John, 69, requested a meeting.

Western governments and human rights activists have criticised the Russian authorities for their treatment of gay people, and John has previously spoken out against a 2013 law banning the dissemination of &quot;gay propaganda&quot; among young Russians.

Putin has said he is not prejudiced against gay people.

John has also expressed alarm about the scale of Russia&#39;s AIDS epidemic.

The number of people registered HIV-positive passed the 1 million mark earlier this year and the country&#39;s top AIDS specialist warned the rate of infection had reached record levels.

British singer Elton John told a concert in Moscow he still wanted to meet President Vladimir Putin to discuss his concerns about gay rights and AIDS in Russia, but the Kremlin leader didn't have time

British singer Elton John told a concert in Moscow he still wanted to meet President Vladimir Putin to discuss his concerns about gay rights and AIDS in Russia, despite the Kremlin leader not having time to meet him this time round. John, performing at a luxury shopping and entertainment centre in the Russian capital on Monday night as part of a world tour, sounded disappointed about not getting to meet Putin, but said he would return to try to see him. "As some of you may know I hoped to meet with President Putin on this trip," said John, whose music has been popular in Russia since the Soviet era, told the audience. "Although it wasn't possible, I'm deeply grateful to him for inviting me to discuss some serious issues in Russia including LGBT, HIV and AIDS, and I very much hope we will find time in future to meet." Putin's spokesman said last week that the Russian leader's schedule did not match up with John's, but that a meeting might take place "next time." Putin had to fly to Kazakhstan on Tuesday morning for a meeting. In September Putin phoned the singer, who has used his status as one of the world's most famous gay celebrities to push for equal rights for homosexuals around the world, to say he would be willing to meet up after John, 69, requested a meeting. Western governments and human rights activists have criticised the Russian authorities for their treatment of gay people, and John has previously spoken out against a 2013 law banning the dissemination of "gay propaganda" among young Russians. Putin has said he is not prejudiced against gay people. John has also expressed alarm about the scale of Russia's AIDS epidemic. The number of people registered HIV-positive passed the 1 million mark earlier this year and the country's top AIDS specialist warned the rate of infection had reached record levels.

Elton John tells Russians he still wants to meet Putin to discuss gay rights

&nbsp;China hopes to get relations with the Philippines back on track, President Xi Jinping has told new Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte, after ties were affected by an increasingly bitter spat over territorial claims in the South China Sea.

Xi sent a message to Duterte late on Monday congratulating him on his formal election victory, and said the two countries had a long history of friendly exchanges and a deep traditional friendship, China&#39;s Foreign Ministry said.

&quot;The friendly, stable and healthy development of Sino-Philippine relations accords with the basic interests of both countries and both peoples,&quot; Xi was quoted as saying in the ministry statement.

Both countries had the responsibility to deepen cooperation, he said.

&quot;(I) hope both sides can work hard to push Sino-Philippine relations back onto a healthy development track,&quot; Xi said.

China and the Philippines are locked in a territorial dispute in the South China Sea, a strategic waterway through which $5 trillion worth of ship-borne trade passes every year. Brunei, Malaysia, Taiwan and Vietnam also have claims.

Tension between the Philippines and China has risen as an international tribunal in the Hague prepares to deliver a ruling in the next few months in a case lodged by Manila in 2013.

The Philippines is seeking a clarification of United Nations maritime laws that could undermine China&#39;s claims to 90 percent of the South China Sea. China has rejected the court&#39;s authority.

President Xi Jinping hopes to get relations with Philippines back on track.

China hopes to get relations with the Philippines back on track, President Xi Jinping has told new Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte, after ties were affected by an increasingly bitter spat over territorial claims in the South China Sea. Xi sent a message to Duterte late on Monday congratulating him on his formal election victory, and said the two countries had a long history of friendly exchanges and a deep traditional friendship, China's Foreign Ministry said. "The friendly, stable and healthy development of Sino-Philippine relations accords with the basic interests of both countries and both peoples," Xi was quoted as saying in the ministry statement. Both countries had the responsibility to deepen cooperation, he said. "(I) hope both sides can work hard to push Sino-Philippine relations back onto a healthy development track," Xi said. China and the Philippines are locked in a territorial dispute in the South China Sea, a strategic waterway through which $5 trillion worth of ship-borne trade passes every year. Brunei, Malaysia, Taiwan and Vietnam also have claims. Tension between the Philippines and China has risen as an international tribunal in the Hague prepares to deliver a ruling in the next few months in a case lodged by Manila in 2013. The Philippines is seeking a clarification of United Nations maritime laws that could undermine China's claims to 90 percent of the South China Sea. China has rejected the court's authority.

China's President hopes to get Philippines ties back on track

Afghan President Ashraf Ghani on Monday launched restoration work at Kabul`s historic Darul Aman Palace, whose bombed out ruins have long symbolised the suffering caused by decades of conflict.&nbsp; 
 
The once-grand hilltop palace at the edge of Kabul was also the venue of Ghani`s cabinet meeting on Monday, the first such official gathering there in nearly a century. 
 
The building`s lion-headed buttresses are broken, its colonnades pockmarked by bullets, the metal sheets of its roof crumpled.&nbsp; 
Up to $20 million will be spent on restoring the former glory of the palace, built by Afghan King Amanullah Khan in the 1920s, Ghani`s office said, calling the project a symbol of national pride. 
 
&quot;Today we are returning to our past... to set the foundation for our future,&quot; Ghani said at the inauguration of the project.&nbsp; 
 
&quot;We are determined to reconstruct the historical structure from the budget of the Afghan government.&quot; 
 
The palace fell victim to the carnage of the early 1990s as rival mujahideen groups fought for power following the fall of a Soviet-backed regime after Moscow withdrew its troops from Afghanistan.&nbsp; 
 
Despite Ghani`s rhetoric, some in Kabul were against the restoration, however -- albeit for different reasons. 
&quot;I think it is a waste of money,&quot; Daud Hotak, a Kabul shopkeeper, told AFP. 
&quot;It comes at a time when the economy is in free fall and security is deteriorating. That money could have been spent to create jobs as thousands of people flee the country.&quot; 
 
Omaid Sharifi, a civil society activist, also pleaded against the restoration, though from a different perspective.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en">
President <a href="https://twitter.com/ashrafghani">@ashrafghani</a> keep <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/DarulamanPalace?src=hash">#DarulamanPalace</a> like this, let&#39;s remind our younger generation the brutality of war <a href="https://t.co/EzzYglMbhZ">pic.twitter.com/EzzYglMbhZ</a>
&mdash; Omaid Sharifi (@OmaidSharifi) <a href="https://twitter.com/OmaidSharifi/status/737168607227088896">May 30, 2016</a></blockquote>
<script async src="~/platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8" type="text/javascript"></script>

Afghan President Ashraf Ghani on Monday launched restoration work at Kabul`s historic Darul Aman Palace, whose bombed out ruins have long symbolised the suffering caused by decades of conflict.

Afghan President Ashraf Ghani on Monday launched restoration work at Kabul`s historic Darul Aman Palace, whose bombed out ruins have long symbolised the suffering caused by decades of conflict. The once-grand hilltop palace at the edge of Kabul was also the venue of Ghani`s cabinet meeting on Monday, the first such official gathering there in nearly a century. The building`s lion-headed buttresses are broken, its colonnades pockmarked by bullets, the metal sheets of its roof crumpled. Up to $20 million will be spent on restoring the former glory of the palace, built by Afghan King Amanullah Khan in the 1920s, Ghani`s office said, calling the project a symbol of national pride. "Today we are returning to our past... to set the foundation for our future," Ghani said at the inauguration of the project. "We are determined to reconstruct the historical structure from the budget of the Afghan government." The palace fell victim to the carnage of the early 1990s as rival mujahideen groups fought for power following the fall of a Soviet-backed regime after Moscow withdrew its troops from Afghanistan. Despite Ghani`s rhetoric, some in Kabul were against the restoration, however -- albeit for different reasons. "I think it is a waste of money," Daud Hotak, a Kabul shopkeeper, told AFP. "It comes at a time when the economy is in free fall and security is deteriorating. That money could have been spent to create jobs as thousands of people flee the country." Omaid Sharifi, a civil society activist, also pleaded against the restoration, though from a different perspective. President @ashrafghani keep #DarulamanPalace like this, let's remind our younger generation the brutality of war pic.twitter.com/EzzYglMbhZ — Omaid Sharifi (@OmaidSharifi) May 30, 2016

Restoration starts at Kabul`s war-battered palace

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