United States-Turkish tensions rise after failed coup attempt

LUXEMBOURG: U.S.-Turkish tensions escalated Saturday after a quashed coup in Turkey, as the country’s leader bluntly demanded the extradition of a U.S.-based cleric he accused of orchestrating the violence. Another senior official directly blamed the United States.

After strongly supporting Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan when it seemed his government might topple and then opening the door to sending home the cleric, a stung Obama administration fired back at its NATO ally.

“Public insinuations or claims about any role by the United States in the failed coup attempt are utterly false and harmful to our bilateral relations,” U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry told his Turkish counterpart, according to the State Department’s readout of their telephone call.

The back-and-forth occurred against the backdrop of Turkey closing its airspace, effectively grounding U.S. warplanes that had been targeting Islamic State forces in neighboring Syria and Iraq.

At the center of the controversy stood Fethullah Gulen, who lives in exile in Pennsylvania and promotes a philosophy that blends a mystical form of Islam with staunch advocacy of democracy, education, science and interfaith dialogue.

Gulen quickly condemned Friday night’s coup attempt by military officers that resulted in a night of explosions, air battles and gunfire that left dozens dead. Erdogan’s government said Gulen directed the coup all the same.

In a televised speech Saturday, Erdogan said Turkey had never rejected a U.S. extradition request for “terrorists.” Addressing Washington, he requested the handover of Gulen and said, “If we are strategic partners, then you should bring about our request.”

Although he didn’t outline any threat, Erdogan’s emphasis on U.S.-Turkish counterterrorism cooperation raised the prospect of a prolonged closure of the Incirlik air base in southern Turkey if he didn’t get his way. The Pentagon said it was trying to get permission to resume air operations from the base, while adjusting mission operations in the meantime.

Suleyman Soylu, Turkey’s labor minister, went further than Erdogan, suggesting the U.S. was behind the coup.

Orlando shooting: Gunman's father says son was upset by gay kiss, not motivated by religion

Orlando: A gunman wielding an assault-type rifle and a handgun opened fire inside a crowded Florida nightclub early Sunday, killing at least 50 people in the worst mass shooting in American history before dying in a gunfight with SWAT officers, police said.

Authorities have identified the shooter as 29-year-old Omar Mateen of Fort Pierce, Florida.
The father of the man named as the shooter in a massacre at a gay Florida nightclub says he’s in shock and that he wasn’t aware of anything his son might have been planning.

Seddique Mateen is the father of Omar Mateen. Seddique Mateen told NBC News that his son got angry when he saw two men kissing in Miami a couple of months ago and thinks that may be related to the shooting.

Seddique says: “We are saying we are apologizing for the whole incident. … We are in shock like the whole country.”

The father also says the incident has nothing to do with religion.
Authorities were investigating it as an act of terrorism.
At least 53 other people were hospitalized, most in critical condition, officials said.

“I think we will see the death toll rise,” said Dr. Mike Cheatham a trauma surgeon at Orlando Regional Medical Center.

Mayor Buddy Dyer said all of the dead were killed with the assault rifle.
Officials say the shooter was killed, and that they’re investigating whether the incident was an act of terrorism.

Pro-IS Twitter account warns of attack at US, Britain airports

London: A pro-Islamic State (IS) Twitter account has threatened to attack Los Angeles International, John F Kennedy International and Heathrow airport as the US prepares to celebrate July 4 Independence Day weekend, the media reported on Saturday.

The attacks will be carried out on planes “flying from Heathrow to the US” and warned that “there will be a device placed in either [sic] Heathrow, LAX or JFK airports,” Telegraph reported, citing the Twitter account.

The terror attack warning was revealed by the Site Intelligence Group, an organisation that tracks the online activity of terrorist groups.

“We all need to be vigilant to the global threat of terrorism — in Britain we keep all aspects of aviation security under constant review and work closely with our international partners to mitigate risks,” Transport Minister Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon was quoted as saying.

Security has already been beefed up across the US airports.
The threat comes in the wake of a deadly attack on Istanbul’s Ataturk airport where three Islamic State suicide bombers killed 41 persons injured over 239 others.

At least five persons were killed and 18 rescued as Bangladeshi forces on Saturday started an operation to free up to 40 hostages held by about eight to nine gunmen — claimed to be affiliated to the IS militant group — who attacked a restaurant in the diplomatic quarter of Dhaka late on Friday.

US shooting: My heart with family, says Zuckerberg

New York: Reacting to the fatal shooting of a black man in Minnesota which went viral on social media after it was uploaded on Facebook Live, the social media giant’s CEO Mark Zuckerberg said his heart went out to the family.

The killing of Philando Castile, 32, who was shot by a police officer after a traffic stop on Wednesday, created a furore across the US and on social media.

Castile’s girlfriend Diamond Reynolds went live on Facebook immediately after her fiance was shot by police in his car.

“My heart goes out to the Castile family and all the other families who have experienced this kind of tragedy. My thoughts are also with all members of the Facebook community who are deeply troubled by these events,” Zuckerberg wrote.

Castile later died from his wounds. In the video, Reynolds’ four-year-old daughter is seen watching the incident from the back seat.

According to Reynolds, the police had pulled their car over for a broken tail light in Falcon Heights district.
“The images we’ve seen this week are graphic and heartbreaking, and they shine a light on the fear that millions of members of our community live with every day,” Zuckerberg said.

“While I hope we never have to see another video like Diamond’s, it reminds us why coming together to build a more open and connected world is so important — and how far we still have to go,” he posted.
Reynolds’ video disappeared from Facebook Live after nearly one million views on social media and news websites.

Osama's son vows to avenge father's killing

Washington: Hamza bin Laden, the son of former Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, has threatened to take revenge on the United States for the killing of his father and warned the Americans that they are accountable for the decisions of their leaders.

“Hamza bin Laden Threatens Revenge Against U.S. for Assassinating Father,” tweeted the SITE Intelligence Group.
Hamza, who is in his mid- twenties, is the next expected leader of the militant group.

The speculation gained momentum when an undated audio recording surfaced in May this year in which Hamza calls for unity among jihadi militants in Syria who currently fight under competing banners ranging from ISIS to Al-Qaeda, reported CNN earlier.

In the video, he also calls for jihad against Israel and its American backers to “liberate” Palestine.
The video was seen as an effort by Al-Qaeda to capitalize on the impact of the “bin Laden” name.

Being a young leader in an ageing group, he is now being considered as the young voice that could appeal to the youth, which Al-Qaeda has failed so far unlike the Islamic state.

One of the masterminds of the 9/11 attack, Osama bin Laden was killed on May 2, 2011, by the United States Navy Seal commandos in Abbottabad, Pakistan.

However, it is not clear whether Hamza bin Laden still has an operational role in planning Al-Qaeda attacks.

7.8-magnitude quake hits Indonesia, tsunami alert issued

Jakarta: Indonesia lifted a tsunami warning issued Wednesday after a powerful earthquake off Sumatra sent islanders rushing to high ground.

The U.S. Geological Service said the earthquake had a magnitude of 7.8. It was centered under the ocean at a depth of 24 kilometers (15 miles), it said.

Shallow earthquakes are more likely to cause damage, but the USGS said the quake was located far from land, about 659 kilometers (409 miles) from the town of Muara Siberut.
Disaster Mitigation Agency spokesman Sutopo Purwo Nugroho said no damage or casualties were reported so far, but panicked people in several cities and villages on Sumatra island and in the Mentawai island chain fled to higher elevations.

Indonesia, the world’s largest archipelago, is prone to seismic upheaval because of its location on the Pacific “Ring of Fire,” an arc of volcanoes and fault lines circling the Pacific Basin.
A massive magnitude-9.1 quake off Indonesia in 2004 triggered a tsunami that killed 230,000 people in a dozen countries. Most of the deaths were in Indonesia’s Aceh province on Sumatra.

Marjina, a resident of Sikakap in the Mentawai islands, about 690 kilometers (430 miles) from the epicenter, said the quake was felt only weakly there, but the tsunami warning caused panic among villagers.

Andi Eka Sakya, head of Indonesia’s Meteorology and Geophysics Agency, said on TVOne there was only “very small” potential for a tsunami because the quake didn’t occur along a major fault known as a subduction zone.

Brussels attack: Six people arrested in police operations after attacks, say prosecutors

Brussels: Belgian prosecutors say six people have been detained in raids around Brussels linked to this week’s attacks on the city’s airport and subway system.

Federal prosecutors said in a statement late Thursday that the arrests were made during raids in central Brussels, Jette and the Schaerbeek neighborhood.
Police found a large stash of explosives and other bomb-making material earlier this week in an apartment in Schaerbeek believed used by the suicide bombers.

Schaerbeek residents described hearing detonations during the police raids. It was unclear whether they were explosions or controlled detonations.

The younger brother of suspected Brussels suicide bomber Najim Laachraoui said Thursday evening he is sad and overwhelmed over what his sibling had done.

The 20-year-old Mourad Laachraoui told reporters that “I feel bad, that’s all — scared and saddened.” He said the family had no contact with Najim since he left for Syria in 2013.
Najim Laachraoui is also suspected of having made bombs used in the Nov. 13 attacks that killed 130 people in Paris.

His brother described him as “a nice boy— especially intelligent,” who read a lot and practiced the martial art of taekwondo for a while like he does. He described their family as a practicing Muslim household, but said he couldn’t say what put his brother on the path to violent extremism.
He said that “I’m no psychologist, no idea.”

He said the family informed Belgian police when his brother called them about leaving for Syria. He searched in vain for his brother on Facebook, he said, to try to persuade him to come home.
He said the family has not yet been officially informed of Najim Laachraoui’s death as one of the three suspected suicide bombers who attacked the Brussels airport and subway on Tuesday, killing 31 people and wounding 270.

Planning a trip to UK? Now is the 'right' time

New Delhi: Planning to capture a panoramic view of London in your camera or to take a selfie in front of Big Ben? Then it is the right time to visit. Though the global financial markets went into a tizzy after Brexit, the fall in the pound would make travel to Britain cheaper, feel industry stakeholders.

“Brexit has resulted in a big drop in the value of the pound and if this trend remains then we could see a surge in leisure tourism to Britain, as it will become significantly cheaper,” said Sharat Dhall, President of travel portal Yatra.com.

Britain’s decision to opt out of the European Union (Brexit) made its currency, pound, weaker.
Dhall added that the drop in the pound’s value might result in an increase in students from India choosing Britain as a destination looking at cheaper education facilities.

According to the data available at visitbritain.org, in 2015, the number of visitors to Britain from India were 422,409, who spent around 9.22 million nights and average length of the stay was 21.84 nights. Average spend per visit was around 1,025 pounds.

“The pound has depreciated against the rupee. This would mean that travel to the UK will be cheaper for Indian travelers. This will aid our outbound business for the remainder of the year,” said Anil Khandelwal, Chief Financial Officer, Cox & Kings.

“The development is new and is still to unfold and thus it wouldn’t be ideal to speculate on this right now,” a spokesperson of MakeMyTrip said.

“With the pound dropping, there is a possibility that we will see an increased number of travelers from India to Britain. The long term impact on business travel and trade relations remains to be seen,” he added.

The secret files from the 9/11 investigation

Washington:  White House and intelligence officials are deciding whether to declassify 28 pages of a congressional investigation into the Sept. 11 attacks. The still-secret chapter could answer or raise new questions about possible Saudi links to the attackers.

The documents, kept in a secure room in the basement of the Capitol, contain information about possible sources of foreign support for some of the hijackers while they were in the United States.

Former Sen. Bob Graham, D-Fla., co-chairman of the joint congressional inquiry, has said the pages “point a very strong finger at Saudi Arabia as being the principal financier.”

Saudi officials say there’s nothing to the allegations. Relatives of the 9/11 victims say Saudi Arabia’s relationship to al-Qaida has never been fully investigated by anyone — before or since the attacks.

A look at the varying viewpoints about possible Saudi links to 9/11 and the missing 28 pages:

Saudi cops arrest 19 individuals over suicide blasts

Riyadh: Saudi Arabian authorities have confirmed the arrest of 19 individuals, including seven Saudis and 12 Pakistanis, in connection to Medina and Qatif suicide blasts earlier this week.
A suicide bomber detonated himself on Monday in a hospital parking lot in Jeddah as security personnel approached him. The bomber died instantly, and two security personnel were slightly wounded, as reported.
Also on Monday, a suicide bomber caused a blast near Prophet Mohammed’s mosque in the city of Medina killing four police officials.
Meanwhile, in Qatif, an eastern city that is home to many members of the Shia minority, two explosions struck near a Shia mosque. The bomber was the only casualty in the attack.
The Saudi interior ministry said the suicide bomber of the blast in Medina was a 26-year-old Saudi man, who was arrested before in connection to a drug case.

South China Sea ruling deepens tensions between US, China

WASHINGTON: A landmark international tribunal ruling on the South China Sea threatens to sharpen the differences between the United States and China, highlighting a growing gulf between the world powers.

“It will certainly intensify conflict and even confrontation,” China’s ambassador to the U.S., Cui Tiankai, said hours after the Hague-based tribunal issued its decision. “In the end it will undermine the authority and effectiveness of international law.”

In contrast, U.S. officials expressed hope that Tuesday’s ruling, which rejected the legal basis of China’s expansive territorial claims in the South China Sea, could provide an impetus to diplomacy.

The ruling in a case brought by the Philippines was “an important contribution to the shared goal of a peaceful resolution to disputes in the South China Sea,” said Daniel Kritenbrink, the White House policy director for Asia.

Both he and Cui spoke at Washington’s Center for Strategic and International Studies think tank, and their comments reflected how the South China Sea is increasingly the spoiler in relations between the U.S. and China.

President Barack Obama and Chinese President Xi Jinping have managed to cooperate on global issues such as climate change, but tensions have grown over China’s land reclamation in the South China Sea.

China has created artificial islands with military facilities, viewed by the U.S. as an attempt to gain effective control of the area. The U.S. has responded with more military patrols, which China views as provocative.

If first reactions to the ruling are anything to go by, the differences are set to deepen — although both sides say they don’t want this issue to dominate the relationship.

No one more qualified than Hillary to lead United States: Barack Obama

PHILADELPHIA: “There has never been a man or a woman, not me, not Bill (Clinton), more qualified to be president”, declared US President Barack Obama while endorsing Hillary Clinton for the Democratic Party’s presidential nomination on Wednesday night.

Making a surprise appearance at the ongoing Democratic National Convention here, Obama praised his one-time rival, Clinton, whom he defeated eight years ago, as the candidate who could accomplish all that needs yet to be done.

IS attack on Afghan protest kills at least 80, wounds 231

Kabul: At least 80 people were killed and another 231 wounded in the Afghan capital on Saturday, when a suicide bomber detonated his explosives-packed clothing among a large crowd of demonstrators, officials and witnesses said.

In a statement issued by its news agency, Aamaq, the Islamic State group claimed responsibility for the attack on a protest march by Afghanistan’s ethnic Hazaras. The marchers were demanding that a major regional electric power line be routed through their impoverished home province. Most Hazaras are Shiite Muslims, while most Afghans are Sunni.

The attack is one of the deadliest in Afghanistan since the Taliban launched a violent insurgency in 2001.
If the IS claim is correct, the bombing would mark the first time the group has launched an attack in the Afghan capital. IS has been building a presence along Afghanistan’s eastern border with Pakistan, mostly in Nangarhar province, for the past year.

President Ashraf Ghani, speaking live on television, said that Sunday would be a national day of mourning.
Earlier, Waheed Majroeh, the head of international relations for the Ministry of Public Health, said the death toll was likely to rise “as the condition of many of the injured is very serious.”

Footage on Afghan television and photographs posted on social media showed a scene of horror and carnage, with numerous bodies and body parts spread across the square.

Other witnesses said that after the blast, security personnel shot their weapons in the air to disperse the crowd. Secondary attacks have been known to target people who come to the aid of those wounded in a first explosion.

Road blocks that had been set up overnight to prevent the marchers accessing the center of the city or the presidential palace hampered efforts to transfer some of the wounded to hospital, witnesses said. People took to social media to call for blood donations.

Angry demonstrations sealed some of the area around the square, and prevented police and other security forces from entering. Some threw stones at security forces.
The government had received intelligence that an attack on the march could take place, and had warned the organizers, a spokesman for Afghan President Ashraf Ghani told The Associated Press.

“We had intelligence over recent days and it was shared with the demonstration organizers, we shared our concerns because we knew that terrorists wanted to bring sectarianism to our community,” presidential spokesman Haroon Chakhansuri said.

Two suicide bombers had attempted to target the demonstrators, who were gathering in Kabul’s Demazang Square as their four-hour protest march wound down, Haroon Chakhansuri said. One of the suicide bombers was shot by the police, he told AP. He said that three city district police chiefs on duty at the square were injured and another three security personnel were killed.

He said Ghani planned to meet with the organizers later on Saturday. None of the organizers could be immediately reached for comment.
Ghani released a statement condemning the blast. “Peaceful demonstrations are the right of every citizen of Afghanistan and the government will do everything it can to provide them with security,” Ghani said, blaming the blasts on what he called “terrorists.”

The commander of U.S. and NATO forces in Afghanistan, U.S. Army Gen. John Nicholson condemned the attack. He said in a statement that “our condolences go out to those who are affected by today’s attack. We strongly condemn the actions of Afghanistan’s enemies of peace and remain firmly committed to supporting our Afghan partners and the National Unity Government.” The U.S embassy in Kabul also issued a condemnation.

Truck attack in Nice,80 people killed

New Delhi: A truck has ploughed into a crowd in the French resort of Nice, leaving at least 80 dead and scores injured in an attack after a Bastille Day fireworks display, officials have said.

The driver of the truck was shot dead after barrelling two kilometres (1.3 miles) through the crowd on the palm-lined Promenade des Anglais on Thursday, sending hundreds fleeing in terror and leaving the area strewn with bodies.

“An individual drove a truck into the crowd. He was killed by police,” said interior ministry spokesman Pierre-Henry Brandet.

A photograph showed the front of the truck riddled with bullet holes and badly damaged, with burst tyres.
US President Barack Obama condemned “what appears to be a horrific terrorist attack”, although no group had claimed responsibility for the incident.

Robert Holloway, an AFP reporter who witnessed the white truck driving at speed onto the seaside road, described scenes of “absolute chaos”.

“We saw people hit and bits of debris flying around. I had to protect my face from flying debris,” he said.
A lawmaker for the Alpes-Maritime region, Eric Ciotti, said at least 75 people had been killed and another 15 were in a “critical” condition.

Hours after the attack, dozens of bodies lay on the ground covered in white sheets. Prosecutors said the probe would be handled by anti-terrorist investigators.

“Investigations are currently underway to establish if the individual acted alone or if he had accomplices who might have fled,” the interior ministry spokesman said, but he denied reports that a hostage-taking incident had taken place.

President Francois Hollande’s office said he would preside over a meeting of the country’s defence and security chiefs today.

The bloodshed comes eight months after Islamic State jihadist attacks on Paris nightspots left 130 people dead, dealing a hard blow to tourism in one of the world’s top destinations.

Islamic State has repeatedly singled out France as a prime target, and the country has been under a state of emergency ever since the November 13 Paris attacks.

The Mediterranean city of Nice, with its pebble beaches and clear blue water, has been a magnet for sun-seekers and the jetset since the 19th century.

Turkey coup attempt: Emergency declared in Istanbul

Ankara: Emergency has been declared in Istanbul after the failed coup and orders passed to immediately gun down any chopper seen in nearby areas.

Turkey’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Sunday that the failed military coup has left at least 290 people killed. The death toll includes at least 190 civilians and 100 coup plotters, more than 1,400 were wounded in the coup attempt that swept the country on Friday night and wrapped up by Saturday morning.
More than 6,000 have been detained so far due to their involvement in the failed coup. Officials  said it was the Islamic cleric Fethullah Gulen that staged this coup attempt.

The statement said, “Our government has been constantly exposing the real motives of this terrorist group and its leader, Fethullah Gulen, to all allies and partners. The failed coup is the latest criminal act revealing the danger posed by Fethullah Gulen Terrorist Organisation,” it said.

42 killed as new, powerful quake hits Nepal

Kathmandu: A new 7.3-magnitude earthquake and several powerful aftershocks shook Nepal on Tuesday killing at least 42 people and triggering panic in the Himalayan nation already devastated by a massive temblor less than three weeks back that had claimed over 8,000 lives.

Nepal’s Home Ministry while putting the death toll at 42 said another 1,117 people had been injured in the latest quake that hit hardest in remote mountain districts northeast of the country’s capital Kathmandu.
The earthquake struck at 12:35 PM, some 83 km east of Kathmandu near Mount Everest at a shallow depth of 15 km, the US Geological Survey(USGS) said.

The agency had earlier measured the quake at 7.4 on the Richter Scale but later revised the intensity to 7.3.
The quake hit Dolakha and Sindhupalchowk districts – the worst-affected areas in the last month’s temblor. At least 19 people were killed in Dolakha, police said.

A second tremor of 6.3-magnitude struck about 30 minutes after the 7.3-magnitude quake that sent terrifed residents running into the streets of the traumatised capital.
The USGS said there were five more aftershocks measuring over 5 on the Richter Scale after the second tremor that kept people on the edge.

Police said half-a-dozen buildings were destroyed in Kathmandu.
The fresh quake triggered massive panic among the people, who have been staying in the open since the 7.9-magnitude temblor struck on April 25, killing over 8,000 people and flattening thousands of buildings besides destroying whole villages.

“All available helicopters along with Medical Team; SSR Team going to be mobilised to Dolakha and Sindhupalchowk soon,” said Nepal’s National Emergency Operation Centre.
The Indian Air Force (IAF) has stationed eight helicopters in Nepal and one of them conducted an aerial survey soon after today’s quake.

Nepal’s only international airport, the Tribhuvan International Airport, was briefly closed by authorities and flights to Kathmandu were diverted.
Authorities have also ordered all schools to be closed for the next two weeks.

Strong tremors were felt in Kathmandu where people ran out of their houses in panic and some even started crying. Authorities appealed to people to stay in open field.
The temblor triggered landslides and toppled buildings in Nepal that recently witnessed its worst quake in over 80 years and over 160 aftershocks.

At the main hospital in Kathmandu, patients hurt in last month’s quake were brought out in wheelchairs to avoid further injury.

Today’s quake had its impact in several cities in Bihar, West Bengal and UP and tremors were felt across vast stretches of east and northeast India, where the death toll has reached 17 so far.
The tremors were also felt in China, where one woman was killed in Tibet.

US Amtrak train derails in Philadelphia, five killed

Philadelphia: An Amtrak passenger train headed to New York City derailed and tipped over in Philadelphia on Tuesday night, tearing the cars apart and killing at least five people. Dozens of passengers were injured, and some climbed out of windows to get away.

 Mayor Michael Nutter, who confirmed the deaths, said the scene was horrific.

“It is an absolute disastrous mess,” he said. “I’ve never seen anything like this in my life.”

He said there were train cars that were “completely overturned, on their side, ripped apart.”

“It is a devastating scene down there,” he said. “We walked the entire length of the train area, and the engine completely separated from the rest of the train, and one of the cars is perpendicular to the rest of the cars. It’s unbelievable.”

Firefighters said dozens of people were hospitalized and six were critically injured.
Train 188, a Northeast Regional, had left Washington, D.C. The front of the train was going into a turn when it started to shake before coming to a sudden stop.

An Associated Press manager, Paul Cheung, was on the train and said he was watching Netflix when “the train started to decelerate, like someone had slammed the brake.”

“Then suddenly you could see everything starting to shake,” he said. “You could see people’s stuff flying over me.”
Cheung said another passenger urged him to escape from the back of his car, which he did. He said he saw passengers trying to escape through the windows of cars tipped on their side.

“The front of the train is really mangled,” he said. “It’s a complete wreck. The whole thing is like a pile of metal.”

The cause of the derailment was unknown, but Amtrak said it was investigating. The area where the derailment occurred is known as Frankford Junction and has a big curve.

Police swarming around the crash site, in Port Richmond, a working-class area, told people to get back, away from the train. They pleaded with curious onlookers: “Do NOT go to scene of derailment. Please allow 1st responders room to work.”

Roads all around the crash site were blocked off. Waves of firefighters headed toward the train cars, taking people out.

Several injured people, including one man complaining of neck pain, were rolled away on stretchers. Others wobbled while walking away or were put on city buses. An elderly woman was given oxygen.

Former U.S. Rep. Patrick Murphy was on the train and said he helped people. He tweeted photos of firefighters helping other people in the wreckage.
“Pray for those injured,” he said.

Amtrak said the train was carrying 238 passengers and five crew members. It said rail service on the busy Northeast Corridor between New York and Philadelphia was stopped.

The National Transportation Safety Board said it was gathering information about the derailment. It said it was launching an investigative team, which would arrive at site on Wednesday morning.

Another Amtrak train crashed on Sunday. That train, bound for New Orleans, struck a flatbed truck at a railway crossing in Amite, Louisiana, killing the truck’s driver and injuring two people on the train.

In March, at least 55 people were injured when an Amtrak train collided with a tractor-trailer that was stuck on the tracks in North Carolina.

Port Richmond, the site of Tuesday’s crash, is one of five neighborhoods in what’s known as Philadelphia’s River Wards, dense rowhouse neighborhoods located off the Delaware River.

Nepali woman names her newborn 'Bharti'

Kathmandu: While Nepal is coping with the devastation caused by two major earthquakes and a series of aftershocks, a woman who delivered a baby girl at an Indian Army run field hospital here on Thursday has chosen to name her “Bharti”. 

Bhawana Sapkota Pudasaini named her “Bharti” for her love and respect for India, the army officials said.
Just as Pudasaini delivered the baby, the entire field hospital celebrated the moment, officials said.

Pudasaini was shifted to Sinamangal Indian Army Field Hospital from Kathmandu Medical college after fresh quakes hit Nepal on May 12.

141 dead in a plane crash in Indonesia

Medan: The death toll from the crash of an air force transport plane in the Indonesian city of Medan jumped to more than 140 on Wednesday, indicating a growing list of victims from the neighborhood where the plane went down.

 North Sumatra police major A. Tarigan told TVOne that 141 bodies have been recovered from the rubble of a residential area where the C-130 Hercules crashed shortly after takeoff on Tuesday.

The air force says there were 122 people on the plane including military personnel and their families.
The crash of the aircraft, which had been in service since 1964, occurred only two minutes after it took off from Soewondo air force base in Medan. It plowed into a building that local media said contained shops and homes.

Witnesses said it was shooting flames and smoke before crashing. Air force chief Air Marshal Agus Supriatna has said the pilot told the control tower that he needed to turn back because of engine trouble and the plane crashed while turning right to return to the airport.

Many passengers were relatives of military personnel. Hitching rides on military planes to reach remote destinations is common in Indonesia, a sprawling archipelago that spans three time zones.

Indonesia has a patchy civil aviation safety record and its cash-strapped air force has also suffered a series of accidents. Between 2007 and 2009, the European Union barred Indonesian airlines from flying to Europe because of safety concerns.

The country’s most recent civilian airline disaster was in December, when an AirAsia jet with 162 people on board crashed into the Java Sea en route from Surabaya to Singapore. There have been five fatal crashes involving air force planes since 2008, according to the Aviation Safety Network, which tracks aviation disasters.

Kabul car bomb kills 12 including NATO contractors

Kabul: At least 12 people including three NATO contractors were killed today when a suicide car bomber struck a foreign forces convoy, officials said, underlining the precarious security situation in the Afghan capital.

 No group immediately claimed responsibility for the blast, which struck outside a civilian hospital in Kabul following a wave of fatal bombings earlier this month that rattled the city.

The piercing explosion in a residential Kabul neighbourhood reverberated around the city and left a trail of devastation, with an AFP photographer seeing the mangled wreckage of a burning vehicle at the scene of the attack.

A foreigner was among 12 people killed in the blast, with 66 others — including women and children — wounded, health ministry spokesman Wahidullah Mayar said on Twitter. He did not give the nationality of the foreigner.

Senior health official Sayed Kabir Amiri confirmed that toll from the attack, which comes as Taliban insurgents escalate their annual summer offensive against the US-backed Afghan government.

 “One Resolute Support (NATO) contracted civilian was killed in the attack and two others died of wounds as a result of the attack,” NATO said in a statement, without specifying their nationalities.

Fraidoon Obaidi, the head of Kabul’s Criminal Investigation Department, said officials were investigating the bombing.

The loud explosion prompted the heavily-fortified US embassy, located a few kilometres away in the centre of Kabul, to sound its emergency sirens and a “duck and cover” alarm warning.

US-led NATO forces ended their combat mission in Afghanistan in December last year, although a 13,000-strong residual force remains for training and counter-terrorism operations.

Today’s blast comes amid heightened security in Kabul after a wave of bombings earlier this month that killed more than 50 people and wounded hundreds, prompting fury from President Ashraf Ghani who blamed Pakistan for failing to rein in Taliban insurgents.

The Taliban are stepping up their summer offensive, launched in late April, amid a bitter leadership dispute following the announcement of the death of longtime leader Mullah Omar.

As Nepal adopts constitution, India concerned over border unrest

Kathmandu: As Nepal on Sunday adopted a new constitution, India said it has always supported a federal, democratic, republican and inclusive constitution in the Himalayan nation, but voiced concern over the unrest in parts of the neighbouring country bordering India.

 In a statement, India extended good wishes to the people of Nepal on the promulgation of the much-awaited constitution, and urged that Nepal should resolve through dialogue the issues on which differences remain.
The statement said Indian envoy Ranjit Rae spoke to Nepalese Prime Minister Sushil Koirala about India’s concerns regarding the unrest in the border areas.

“Throughout the process of constitution-making in Nepal, India has supported a federal, democratic, republican and inclusive constitution. We note the promulgation in Nepal today of a constitution.

“We are concerned that the situation in several parts of the country bordering India continues to be violent. Our ambassador in Kathmandu has spoken to the prime minister of Nepal in this regard.

“We urge that issues on which there are differences should be resolved through dialogue in an atmosphere free from violence and intimidation, and institutionalised in a manner that would enable broad-based ownership and acceptance.

“This would lay the foundation of harmony, progress and development in Nepal. We extend our best wishes to the people of Nepal,” the statement said.

In Nepal, President Ram Baran Yadav promulgated the constitution, endorsed by most members of the Constituent Assembly, at a function in the assembly building in Kathmandu. Nepalese people lit lamps in their homes to celebrate the occasion.

The occasion also saw violence, as one man was killed and many other people were injured in clashes between police and protestors, mainly comprising the Madhesi minority, in the south Nepal town of Birgunj.
Under the constitution, 14 districts in the southern plains would be joined with provinces dominated by hill dwellers.

The plains-based political parties boycotted voting on the new constitution as they fear they will be under-represented.

6 killed, dozens injured as 15 letter bombs explode in South China

Beijing: Six people were killed and dozens injured in 15 letter bombs which caused extensive damage in south China’s Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region on Wednesday.

Five victims died on the spot while one died in hospital.
State-run Xinhua news agency said the multiple explosions were caused by 15 letter bombs.

The blasts were reported in several locations, including at a shopping mall, prison, a county government office, supermarket, transport station, hospital, animal husbandry, vegetable market and diseases control centre, Hong Kong-based South China Morning Post said quoting reports from the social media site Weibo.
The blasts occurred at the seat of Liucheng county and the surrounding areas, with the first heard at about 15:50.

Pictures online showed a building half-collapsed in Dapu Township. Witnesses also saw vehicles damaged on the road. Rescuers have rushed to the scene.

Initial investigation showed that explosives could have been inside express delivery packages, Xinhua report said.

Obama feels Modi has a clear vision for India: White House

US President Barack Obama who has held meetings with Prime Minister Narendra Modi at several occasions, has found in him a politician who is honest and has a clear vision for India, the White House has said.

“President Obama has found Prime Minister Modi to be somebody who is honest and direct, somebody who has good command of the facts, somebody who has a clear understanding of the issues that confront his country and our relationship,” White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest told reporters at his daily news conference yesterday.

On Monday Obama met Modi in Paris on the sidelines of the United Nation’s Climate Change Summit. This was the sixth meeting between the two leaders since the met first at the White House last September.

“He (Modi) also is somebody that has a clear vision for where he wants to take his country, and it makes him not just an effective politician, but an effective Prime Minister,” Earnest said.

“Obama certainly does respect Prime Minister Modi and has appreciation for his skills and abilities as a politician. He also is somebody who is given a very difficult challenge of sitting atop the world’s largest democracy,” he said.

“That’s not easy to work and it’s not easy work and the president of the US has special insight into how difficult it is,” he added.

Referring to the frequent meetings between the two leaders, Earnest said Obama had the opportunity to consult with Modi on a number of occasions.

“I think that isn’t just a testament to their good working relationship, it actually is a testament to the important issues that are at stake between our two countries and the ability of the leaders of our two countries to work through those issues and to advance our shared interests is a good thing,” Earnest said.

“It’s a good thing for the world, it’s also a good thing for the citizens of our two countries,” he said.
Responding to another question, the White House press secretary said he is not aware of any immediate visit of the Prime Minister to the White House, but did not rule it before the end of next year.

“I’m not aware of any meetings that are on the agenda at this point, but I certainly wouldn’t rule out another visit by Prime Minister Modi before the end of next year,: Earnest said.

'Full of joy with little Max': Mark Zuckerberg

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg has released a new photo of his newborn daughter and captioned it “Full of joy with little Max”.

Zuckerberg posted a lovable picture of himself holding two-week-old baby Maxima (Max for short). The smile on his face is as endearing as Max, who lies by his side.

With more than 3 million likes and 33,000 shares, this baby photo is taking social media by storm already and is making everyone who reads it go warm and fuzzy from within.

The Silicon Valley internet entrepreneur and wife Priscilla Chan announced daughter Maxima’s birth on Facebook on December 1.

18 quake survivors die of cold in Nepal

Kathmandu: At least 22 earthquake survivors have died in Nepal and thousands other have fallen sick in various districts of the Himalayan nation due to the harsh winter chill.

Quake survivors have blamed the government for not providing adequate food, medicine, permanent shelter and immediate relief.

Reports from several quake-hit districts show that at least 13 people have died in Dolakha district alone, according to the district police office.

Hundreds of quake survivors are forced to live in thin tents in this chilly winter in minimum facilities in the hilly region of the country that has witnessed severe cold in the last one month.

At least five earthquake survivors succumbed to chilling cold in various villages of Dolakha district this week and with eight such cases reported just a few days ago, the number of people who have succumbed to cold at temporary post-quake camps has reached 13.

Police said these people have succumbed to cold while living under unsecured tents after their houses collapsed in the deadly quakes in April this year.

Confirming the death of elderly quake survivors, police officer Bel Bahadur Pandey, said it was yet to be verified if all of them died of cold.

District health official Madhav Lamsal said there might have been other causes including asthma and kidney problems behind the death cases. “Many of them were suffering from chronic diseases,” he added.
A 7.8 richter quake rattled central and western regions of Nepal on April 25 this year killing over 9,000 people and injuring more than 23,000. Hundreds of thousands of people were rendered homeless with entire villages flattened across many districts of the country.

Video: Shocking close call that will make your heart skip a beat

New Delhi: Ever had a close brush with death? Thses people did, and were lucky enough to survive. This nerve-wrecking, heart pounding clip shows how these people escaped death by mere inches.

This clip will leave you sweaty palms and silent relief that you are only watching it from the comfort of your mobile device or computer.

Life is a precious thing and when a person experiences a close call, they suddenly realise that nothing in life is more important than being alive.

This is one of the luckiest close calls you will ever see which will make you realise that nothing in life is more important than being alive.

4 magnitude aftershock strikes in Nepal

Kathmandu: Fresh tremors measuring 4.0 on the Richter scale joltedNepal’s Sindhupalchowkdistrict on Sunday morning.

No casualties have been reported so far.

According to the National Seismological Centre, the epicenter of the aftershock was near Lankuridanda, Kathmandu Post reports.

10 injured in Paris gas explosion

Paris: At least 10 people were injured, one critically, on Friday when a gas unit exploded in a building in the heart of Paris, the authorities said.

Six of the injured were firefighters, Xinhua reported.

The building is on the Rue d’Uzes, close to the Paris Stock Exchange building and the headquarters of the AFP news agency.

Around 140 firefighters rescued people from the building, which contains offices for various businesses.

According to the French media, the explosion was caused when someone tried to light gas in an apartment.

Ecuador Earthquake: Death toll rises to 262, over 2500 injured

Quito: The death toll from the powerful earthquake that shook coastal Ecuador has risen to 262.
Vice Minister Diego Fuentes gave the latest number to reporters Sunday night as search teams continued to pick at rubble looking for survivors and victims.


Earlier, Vice President Jorge Glas said more than 2,500 people were injured in Saturday night’s earthquake.
Glas says there is a long list of missing people that authorities are looking for but he has declined to disclose the number. He says only that the number of casualties is expected to go up more.

President Correa declared a state of emergency and called on his country to be “calm and united”.
Vice President Jorge Glas said: “These are very difficult moments.

“We have information that there are injured people who are trapped (under rubble) in different districts and we are getting ready to rescue them,” BBC quoted him as saying.

Saturday’s quake was reported to be Ecuador’s biggest since 1979. More than 130 aftershocks have followed.

The US Geological Survey said the quake struck at a fairly shallow depth of 19.2 km, about 27 km from Muisne in a sparsely populated area.

The quake was also felt in Colombia, where patients in a clinic in Cali city were evacuated from the building.
In Ecuador, helicopters and buses ferrying troops have been hampered by landslides.

People were using their bare hands to try to dig out survivors in some areas.
Food and other essential items were handed out, with aid also coming from Venezuela and Mexico.
Widespread damage has been reported, with a bridge destroyed in Guayaquil about 300 km away, BBC said.

Gabriel Alcivar, the mayor of Pedernales, which is close to the epicentre, said the “entire town” was flattened.

“We are trying to do the most we can but there is almost nothing we can do,” he said, adding that incidents of looting have been reported.

In Manta, one of the badly hit areas, a woman survivor said: “The third floor collapsed on top of us. They are all there, my family, my sister, my children. They are all there, there are a lot of people. My god, may help arrive.”

Cristian Ibarra Santillan was in capital Quito when the quake struck.
“There had been some small tremors going on for about two or three months and I thought it was one of those but after about 20-30 seconds it started to get really strong,” he told BBC.

“And I grabbed my dog and I hid under the table. But then I realised that it wasn’t going away so I just ran with him outside.”

CIA chief warns of Istanbul-type Attack in the US

Washington: The Islamic State terror group may carry out large-scale attacks in the US similar to the one in Istanbul, CIA Director John Brennan has warned.

The despicable attack at Istanbul’s Ataturk International Airport that killed dozens and injured several certainly bears the “hallmarks” of the Islamic State’s depravity, Brennan said here yesterday.

“We’ve seen ISIL (Islamic State) carry out and incite an array of terrorist attacks in the region, directly, indirectly and I would be surprised that ISIL is not considering carrying out these attacks in the near abroad as well as the far abroad,” he said.

“And the United States, as we well know, is leading the coalition to try to destroy as much of this poison, inside of Syria and Iraq, as possible. So it would be surprising to me that ISIL is not trying to hit us, both in the region as well as in our homeland,” Brennan said while to replying to a question at the Council on Foreign Relations, a top American think-tank.

“I think what you see in the propagation of their material, they have a magazine, Dabiq, that goes out that says exactly that. It exhorts individuals to do it.”

“So if anybody here believes that, you know, the US homeland is hermetically sealed and that Daesh or ISIL would not consider that, I think I would guard against that,” he added.

Brennan said global instability is one of the defining issues of the time, and its implications are hard to overstate.

“As instability spreads, extremists and terrorists are finding sanctuary in ungoverned spaces. Energy supplies are being disrupted. Political reform is suffering as too many governments opt for authoritarian measures at the expense of democratic principles and respect for human rights,” the CIA official said.

As many as 42 people were killed and hundreds wounded yesterday after suicide attackers armed with guns and bombs attacked Istanbul’s busy Ataturk Airport, apparently targeting Turkey’s crucial tourism industry. The government blamed the attack on Islamic State extremists but there was no immediate confirmation from the group.

83 people killed in 2 bombings in Baghdad; ISIS claims responsibility

BAGHDAD: At least 83 people have been killed and 176 wounded in two separate bomb attacks in the Iraqi capital Sunday morning, Iraqi officials said.

In the deadliest attack, a car bomb hit Karada, a busy shopping district in the center of Baghdad, killing 78 people and wounding 160, according to police and hospital officials. It struck as families and young people were out on the streets after breaking their daylight fast for the holy month of Ramadan.

The Islamic State group claimed responsibility for the bombing in a statement posted online, saying they had deliberately targeted Shiite Muslims. The statement could not be independently verified.

At dawn Sunday, fire fighters were still working to extinguish the blazes and bodies were still being recovered from charred buildings. Many of the dead were children, according to Associated Press reporters at the scene. Ambulances could be heard rushing to the site for hours after the blast. An eyewitness said the explosion caused fires at nearby clothing and cellphone shops.

Hours after the bombing, Iraq’s prime minister visited the blast site. Video footage uploaded to social media showed an angry crowd, with people calling Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi a “thief” and shouting at his convoy.

In the second attack, an improvised explosive device went off in eastern Baghdad, killing 5 people and wounding 16. No group claimed responsibility for the attack.

The casualty figures were confirmed by police and hospital officials, who spoke anonymously because they were not authorized to release information to the press.

The Baghdad attacks come just over a week after Iraqi forces declared the city of Fallujah “fully liberated” from IS. Over the past year, Iraqi forces have racked up territorial gains against IS, retaking the city of Ramadi and the towns of Hit and Rutba, all in Iraq’s vast Anbar province west of Baghdad.
Despite the government’s battlefield victories, IS has repeatedly shown it remains capable of launching attacks far from the front-lines.

Before the launch of the operation to retake Fallujah, Iraq’s prime minister was facing growing social unrest and anti-government protests in Baghdad sparked in part by popular anger at the lack of security in the capital. In one month, Baghdad’s highly-fortified Green Zone — which houses government buildings and diplomatic missions — was stormed twice by anti-government protesters.

IS still controls Iraq’s second largest city of Mosul as well as significant patches of territory in the country’s north and west.

At the height of the extremist group’s power in 2014, IS rendered nearly a third of the country out of government control. Now, the militants are estimated to control only 14 percent of Iraqi territory, according to the office of Iraq’s prime minister.

US shows concern over Kashmir killings, calls it India's affair

Washington: The US has voiced concern over the ongoing violence in the Kashmir Valley that has claimed 30 lives, but has made it clear that it is India’s affair.

“Obviously, we’re concerned about the violence,” US State Department spokesperson John Kirby said in his daily press briefing on Monday.

“We encourage all sides to make efforts towards finding a peaceful resolution,” he said.
“This is really a matter for the Government of India to speak to specifically, and I’d refer you to them for more comment,” he added.

Since violence started on Saturday following the death of top Hizbul Mujahideen commander, Burhan Wani, 22, who got killed in a gunfight on Friday along with two of his associates, 30 people including 29 civilian protesters and a policeman have died.

Multiple dead expected in Munich mall shooting

Berlin: Police said they expect there will be multiple people dead in a shooting at a shopping mall in Munich, the German news agency dpa reported Friday.

The Bavarian Interior Ministry confirmed at least one dead and multiple people hurt at Olympia Einkaufszentrum mall.

Munich police spokesman Thomas Baumann told dpa the attack started at a fast food restaurant in the mall shortly before 6 p.m. local time. He said police didn’t know whether they were dealing with one or multiple shooters.

Police responded in large numbers to the mall in the northern part of Munich, not far from the city’s Olympic Stadium in the Moosach district of the Bavarian capital.

Munich police urged people to avoid public places. “The situation is still unclear,” they said on Twitter.
It’s the second attack in Germany in less than a week. On Monday, a 17-year-old Afghan wounded four people in an ax-and-knife attack on a regional train near the Bavarian city of Wuerzburg, and another woman outside as he fled. All survived, although one man from the train remains in life-threatening condition. The attacker was shot and killed by police.

The Islamic State group claimed responsibility for the train attack, but authorities have said the teen likely acted alone.

Afghan refugee goes on a rampage with an axe in German train, Shot Dead

 

Berlin: German police have shot dead a 17-year-old Afghan refugee after he attacked train passengers with an axe and a knife, seriously wounding three people in what one official said was a “probable” Islamist attack.

Several other people were also injured in the assault on a regional train near the southern city of Wuerzburg, police said, adding that the teenager was killed as he tried to flee.

Joachim Herrmann, the interior minister of Bavaria State said, the assailant had arrived as an unaccompanied minor in Germany and was living nearby Ochsenfurt.

Joachim Herrmann, the interior minister of Bavaria State said, the assailant had arrived as an unaccompanied minor in Germany and was living nearby Ochsenfurt.

The attack happened around 9:15 pm (1915 GMT) last night on the train, which runs between Treuchlingen and Wuerzburg in Bavaria.

“Shortly after arriving at Wuerzburg, a man attacked passengers with an axe and a knife,” a police spokesman said.

“Three people have been seriously injured and several others lightly injured.” Fourteen people were treated for shock.

Germany had thus far escaped the kind of large-scale jihadist attacks seen in the southern French city of Nice last week, in which 31-year-old Mohamed Lahouaiej Bouhlel used a truck to mow down people leaving a Bastille Day fireworks display, killing 84 people in an attack claimed by Islamic State. 

Pakistan misusing US fund to promote terrorism, reveals ex-Afghan spy

Kabul: A former Afghanistan spy has disclosed classified documents, which reveal that the money provided by the United States Government to the Pakistan military for fighting terrorism is being spent by the country’s intelligence agency, ISI, for promoting and supporting terrorism.

According to documents released by Rahmatullah Nabil, former chief of Afghan Spy Agency, the National Directorate of Security (NDS), Islamabad ‘strikes only those insurgents who threatens its interests’.

According to Tolonews, Nabil has claimed that the ISI systematically supports terrorist groups, while pointing out that Pakistan has for long been funding terrorist organisations, particularly the Haqqani network.

According to one of the documents leaked by Nabil, an ‘official letter dated July 2014 from the central office of the ISI in Islamabad was sent to MI-422 office in Swaba and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, in which it directed the office to thank that the people that succeeded in plotting the attack on Kabul Airport (now Hamid Karzai International Airport) and gave 2.5 million Pakistani rupees to every one of the following: Haji Khalil Haqqani, Haji Hakim Woluswal, Qari Zahir Shah and Mawlawi Hakim. Moreover, the office was directed to donate 1.5 million Pakistani rupees to the families of those that were involved in the attack.’

Reportedly, insurgents had attacked the Kabul International Airport a day before this letter was issued.

According to another document, the ISI 945 office in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in an official note dated April 6, 2015 to the central office in Islamabad wrote, “Officials of 945 office, in a meeting with Toryalai, the head of the network and his co-fighters on April 5, 2015, were tasked to kidnapped and kill Afghanistan’s Shia leaders in Herat, Kabul and Farah. In addition, they gave 2 million Pakistani rupees to the participant in that meeting.”

In the note, it was mentioned that 23 people from Toryalai’s group, who were busy with military training in Cherat, had completed their training.

According to another document from regional office in Peshawar to central command center in Rawalpindi, a Pakistani colonel wrote, “I want to inform you that a meeting was held between Hafiz Gul Bahaduri of Hafiz Gul Bahadur Group with the commander of Afghan Taliban Maulavi Hamdullah. The main purpose of the meeting was to provide rented houses to leaders of Afghan Taliban in Hayat Abad and Tahkal of Peshawar who have been deployed from remote regions of Miran Shah. In addition, armored vehicles and guards should be provided to secure their lives and activities.”

According to Nabil, thousands of Madrasas in Pakistan are only involved in brain-washing, terrorism and extremism.