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- Xi Jinping becomes most powerful leader since Mao with China's change to constitution
- Death of Maltese journalist 'linked to fuel smuggling network' says Italian prosecutor
- Kabul welcomes the Afghan warlord who once shelled its citizens
- ‘It's being done to intimidate us’: Israeli anti-occupation groups face crackdown
- US withdraws assistance from Myanmar military amid Rohingya crisis
- New Zealand Labour signs coalition deal and makes Winston Peters deputy PM
- Hong Kong: democracy activists Joshua Wong and Nathan Law granted bail
- Ocean acidification is deadly threat to marine life, finds eight-year study
- Trump bickers with soldier's widow over condolence call
- Syria: shocking images of starving baby reveal impact of food crisis
- Trump sought dissident's expulsion after hand-delivered letter from China – report
- Brazil police shoot dead Spanish tourist in Rio de Janeiro favela
- 'Sweating' blood: mysterious case leaves Canadian experts searching for answers
- Bear in Myanmar has giant tongue removed by team of vets
- ‘Nobody defends us’: Russian journalists respond to knife attack
- Weinstein Company under investigation by New York attorney general
- Nicaragua to join Paris climate accord, leaving US and Syria isolated
- 'The car horn is uncivilised': how Kathmandu's streets went quiet
- Tarragona in the spotlight: Catalonia’s Roman-era gem stays calm amid storm
- Briton who fought Isis killed in Raqqa a week after city liberated
- European council president suggests Brexit could be halted - Politics live
- Estranged husband of Gabrielle Maina arrested over her death in Nairobi
- Canada police make man sweat for 'screaming' Everybody Dance Now in car
- Constitutional reform 'gazumped' by same-sex marriage postal survey, says Noel Pearson
- Rope jumpers attempt to break world record in Brazil – video
- Deathbed confession may crack case of the 'Crazy Brabant Killers'
- China's Communist party enshrines Xi Jinping ideology in constitution – video
- Is Xi or isn't Xi? Quiz: who said it - Jinping or Mao Zedong?
- Singapore: no more cars allowed on the road, government says
- Women fought for abortion rights. Fifty years on, the service is in crisis | Tim Friend
- North Korea: women accused of killing Kim Jong-nam revisit scene of crime
- Tuesday briefing: EU wants UK as close as Canada
- Kim Jong-nam: women accused of murder tour airport where he was killed – video
- Bold vision: giving blind people back their sight in Pakistan – in pictures
- This was not 'just another bomb in Mogadishu’. It will destroy al-Shabaab | Abdirahman Omar Osman 'Engineer Yarisow'
- Widow of fallen US soldier: Trump's call 'hurt me the most' – video
| Xi Jinping becomes most powerful leader since Mao with China's change to constitution Posted: 24 Oct 2017 02:06 AM PDT Rare accolade puts Xi's Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics into Communist charter and sets him on course for indefinite spell in power Is Xi or isn't Xi? Who said it - Jinping or Mao Zedong? Xi Jinping has been consecrated as China's most powerful leader since Mao Zedong after a new body of political thought carrying his name was added to the Communist party's constitution. The symbolic move came on the final day of a week-long political summit in Beijing – the 19th party congress – at which Xi has pledged to lead the world's second largest economy into a "new era" of international power and influence. Continue reading... |
| Death of Maltese journalist 'linked to fuel smuggling network' says Italian prosecutor Posted: 24 Oct 2017 02:19 AM PDT Sicily chief prosecutor says he 'could not exclude' possibility that alleged crime syndicate may be behind murder of Daphne Caruana Galizia There are possible links between the murder of the investigative journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia, who was killed by a car bomb in Malta last week, and an Italian investigation into an illicit fuel-smuggling network, according to a senior Italian prosecutor. Carmelo Zuccaro, a chief prosecutor in Sicily who is leading the fuel-smuggling inquiry, told the Guardian he "could not exclude" the possibility that some of the men targeted in his investigation – which spans Libya, Malta, and Italy, and allegedly involves an organised crime network in Sicily – could be behind Caruana Galizia's murder. Continue reading... |
| Kabul welcomes the Afghan warlord who once shelled its citizens Posted: 23 Oct 2017 08:30 PM PDT Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, a former ally of al-Qaida who has frequently being accused of war crimes, is now in the Afghan capital building a career in politics When Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, a fugitive Afghan warlord and former ally of al-Qaida and the Taliban, returned this year to the city he had once showered with rockets, he was welcomed at the presidential palace. Hekmatyar had been on lists of internationally wanted terrorists for years but, since his return to Kabul in May, he has met scores of high-ranking diplomats, including the US, EU and Nato ambassadors, as part of his assimilation into mainstream politics. Continue reading... |
| ‘It's being done to intimidate us’: Israeli anti-occupation groups face crackdown Posted: 23 Oct 2017 09:00 PM PDT Proposed measures seem designed to shut down groups such as Breaking the Silence, denounced by rightwingers as traitors Israeli MPs will this week consider two initiatives that critics say are aimed at shutting down one of the country's most high-profile anti-occupation groups, Breaking the Silence, which records the testimonies of Israeli soldiers operating in Palestinian territories. They will examine proposals for a committee of inquiry into groups receiving foreign funding, and a provision in the so-called "NGO law" advanced by Benjamin Netanyahu's rightwing coalition that would allow the state to shut down groups it claims are working to "have [Israeli] soldiers tried under international law". Continue reading... |
| US withdraws assistance from Myanmar military amid Rohingya crisis Posted: 23 Oct 2017 09:33 PM PDT Washington stops aid and puts consideration of travel waivers for senior Myanmar military leaders on hold The United States has announced it is withdrawing military assistance from Myanmar units and officers involved in violence against Rohingya Muslims that has triggered a massive exodus and humanitarian crisis. Related: UN report on Rohingya hunger is shelved at Myanmar's request Continue reading... |
| New Zealand Labour signs coalition deal and makes Winston Peters deputy PM Posted: 23 Oct 2017 09:05 PM PDT Jacinda Ardern's coalition partner and NZ First leader will also serve as foreign minister in government focused on climate, poverty and regional regeneration New Zealand First and the Labour party have formally signed a coalition agreement, introducing a slew of new policies focusing on climate change, regional development and poverty. Related: New Zealand's most shameful secret: 'We have normalised child poverty' Continue reading... |
| Hong Kong: democracy activists Joshua Wong and Nathan Law granted bail Posted: 23 Oct 2017 07:33 PM PDT Leaders of the Chinese-ruled city's democracy movement were jailed in August, dealing a blow to the youth-led push for universal suffrage Hong Kong's highest court has granted bail to two prominent young democracy activists, Joshua Wong and Nathan Law, who were jailed for unlawful assembly linked to the city's large-scale pro-democracy protests in 2014. Related: Prison is an inevitable part of Hong Kong's exhausting path to democracy | Joshua Wong Continue reading... |
| Ocean acidification is deadly threat to marine life, finds eight-year study Posted: 23 Oct 2017 08:02 AM PDT Plastic pollution, overfishing, global warming and increased acidification from burning fossil fuels means oceans are increasingly hostile to marine life If the outlook for marine life was already looking bleak – torrents of plastic that can suffocate and starve fish, overfishing, diverse forms of human pollution that create dead zones, the effects of global warming which is bleaching coral reefs and threatening coldwater species – another threat is quietly adding to the toxic soup. Ocean acidification is progressing rapidly around the world, new research has found, and its combination with the other threats to marine life is proving deadly. Many organisms that could withstand a certain amount of acidification are at risk of losing this adaptive ability owing to pollution from plastics, and the extra stress from global warming. Continue reading... |
| Trump bickers with soldier's widow over condolence call Posted: 24 Oct 2017 12:30 AM PDT
The widow of Sgt La David Johnson, speaking publicly for the first time on Monday about a condolence call from Donald Trump that became a national controversy, said the conversation "made me cry even worse". She also said Trump forgot the name of her husband, one of four US soldiers killed in Niger this month. Trump countered that claim with a tweet, saying he "spoke his name from beginning, without hesitation!" Continue reading... |
| Syria: shocking images of starving baby reveal impact of food crisis Posted: 23 Oct 2017 10:12 AM PDT After death of one-month-old Sahar Dofdaa, aid officials warn of catastrophe and say many more children are at risk The continuing suffering of civilians living under siege in Syria has been brought into sharp focus by new images of a malnourished baby who later died of starvation in a suburb of Damascus controlled by the opposition. "The supplies are very low, and if it continues more kids will die," said one aid official, who requested anonymity. Continue reading... |
| Trump sought dissident's expulsion after hand-delivered letter from China – report Posted: 23 Oct 2017 11:23 AM PDT Wall Street Journal says the US president called for Guo Wengui's deportation after casino owner Steve Wynn brought letter from Beijing government Donald Trump called for the deportation of a Chinese dissident living in the US, after receiving a request from Beijing hand-delivered by a casino owner with business interests in China, according to a US report. The Wall Street Journal described a Chinese government attempt to put pressure on Guo Wengui, a real estate tycoon living in exile in New York, to halt his allegations of corruption in high places in China. Continue reading... |
| Brazil police shoot dead Spanish tourist in Rio de Janeiro favela Posted: 23 Oct 2017 09:04 AM PDT
Police in Rio de Janeiro said they shot dead a Spanish tourist after the car she was in failed to stop at a police roadblock in the Rocinha favela, near the city's famous beaches. Local media named the 67-year-old victim as María Esperanza Ruiz Jiménez and said she was with two other Spaniards, an Italian and a guide. She is the third tourist to have been shot dead in Rio favelas in less than a year. Continue reading... |
| 'Sweating' blood: mysterious case leaves Canadian experts searching for answers Posted: 23 Oct 2017 01:04 PM PDT The condition reported by an Italian woman prompted experts to investigate, leading them to about two dozen similar cases worldwide in the past 15 years The case left doctors perplexed: a 21-year-old Italian woman with no gashes or skin lesions arrived at a medical ward, where she described years of sweating blood from her face and the palms of her hands. Continue reading... |
| Bear in Myanmar has giant tongue removed by team of vets Posted: 23 Oct 2017 11:43 AM PDT Three-kilo tongue believed to be a mutation and was so big it dragged on the ground and prevented the bear from eating A bear had emergency surgery to remove its tongue after it became so heavy that it lolled out of his mouth and dragged along the floor. Vets believe that the bizarre swelling, which weighed 3kg (6.5lb), was without precedent. Continue reading... |
| ‘Nobody defends us’: Russian journalists respond to knife attack Posted: 23 Oct 2017 11:24 AM PDT Reporters decry climate of hatred after Tatyana Felgenhauer is stabbed in neck at Ekho Moskvy radio station Russian journalists have said an increasingly polarised and violent political climate in the country may have encouraged a knife attack in which a well-known radio host was stabbed in the neck. Tatyana Felgenhauer, deputy editor of the Ekho Moskvy radio station, was attacked on Monday lunchtime by a man who broke into the station's studios in a central Moscow tower block. The intruder sprayed pepper in the face of a ground-floor security guard, before vaulting the barrier and taking the lift up to the Ekho Moskvy studio on the 14th floor. Continue reading... |
| Weinstein Company under investigation by New York attorney general Posted: 23 Oct 2017 12:26 PM PDT Production firm faces civil rights investigation as state's top prosecutor issues subpoena for records on sexual harassment and discrimination complaints The New York attorney general has opened a civil rights investigation into the Weinstein Company following dozens of sexual misconduct allegations against the Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein. The state's top prosecutor has issued a subpoena for records related to sexual harassment and discrimination complaints at the embattled film company, weeks after the movie mogul was fired from the company he co-founded, in the wake of a slew of sexual assault and harassment accusations. Continue reading... |
| Nicaragua to join Paris climate accord, leaving US and Syria isolated Posted: 23 Oct 2017 04:08 PM PDT Vice-president Rosario Murillo calls global pact 'the only instrument we have' to address climate change as number of outsiders shrinks to two Nicaragua is set to join the Paris climate agreement, according to an official statement and comments from the vice-president, Rosario Murillo, on Monday, in a move that leaves the United States and Syria as the only countries outside the global pact. Nicaragua has already presented the relevant documents at the United Nations, Murillo, who is also first lady, said on local radio on Monday. Continue reading... |
| 'The car horn is uncivilised': how Kathmandu's streets went quiet Posted: 23 Oct 2017 11:30 PM PDT Many predicted the Nepali capital's ban on vehicle horns would be ignored. But six months on, the streets are peaceful – in a city without a single traffic light When the authorities in Kathmandu outlawed the use of vehicle horns in April, the start of the Nepali year, many expected the ban would go the way of most new year's resolutions and be quickly forgotten. But six months later, the streets of the capital remain remarkably quiet. In a city where a horn was widely used as a substitute for a brake, Kathmandu's drivers appear to have kicked their noisy habit for good. Continue reading... |
| Tarragona in the spotlight: Catalonia’s Roman-era gem stays calm amid storm Posted: 23 Oct 2017 03:45 AM PDT Long overshadowed by Barcelona and 'booze tourism' in Salou, this relic-strewn beach town continues its ascent against a backdrop of independence controversy Tarragona, a coastal city that was once an important Roman capital, is used to all the attention falling on Barcelona. But Catalonia's quieter southern sister is suddenly in the public eye due to the independence vote, raising its voice despite never being known for a strong nationalist identity. According to the Catalan government, only 21% of Tarragona's electorate took part in the referendum for independence that was held on 1 October, with a majority voting Yes. Local pro-independence politician Jordi Martí has argued that, were Barcelona to become a potential new state capital, it shouldn't act as imperiously as Madrid has: "Decentralisation must also happen at a smaller level." For now, as in the rest of the region, there remain a lot more questions than answers. Continue reading... |
| Briton who fought Isis killed in Raqqa a week after city liberated Posted: 24 Oct 2017 02:18 AM PDT Mother of Jac Holmes, 24, who left Bournemouth IT job to volunteer with Kurdish fighters in Syria, says he died on Monday A British former IT worker who went to Syria to fight Islamic State has been killed in Raqqa, a week after the militants' de facto capital was liberated, his mother has said. Jac Holmes, 24, from Bournemouth, was one of the longest-serving volunteers with Syria's Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG), having travelled to northern Syria three times since 2015 and featured regularly in the international media. Continue reading... |
| European council president suggests Brexit could be halted - Politics live Posted: 24 Oct 2017 02:20 AM PDT Rolling coverage of the day's political developments as they happen
Yesterday the German journalist Thomas Gutschker stirred things up admirably when he published an article in Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung (FAZ) with a vivid, "insider" account of Theresa May's dinner last week with Jean-Claude Juncker. As this passage (from Nina Schick's translation) shows, it did not reflect well on May. Theresa May seemed anxious to the president of the commission, despondent and discouraged. A woman who hardly dares trust anybody, but is not ready for an act of liberation either. May's facial expressions and appearance spoke volumes — that's how Juncker later described it to his colleagues. Everyone can see it: the prime minister is drawn from the struggle within her own party. She has deep circles under her eyes. She looks like someone who does not sleep for nights on end. She rarely laughs, though clearly, she has to for the photographers. But it looks forced. Previously, May could literally pour out laughter — her whole body shaking. Now she has to use her utmost strength to avoid losing her composure. Those who have seen Mrs May privately in recent weeks describe her as stricken and stunned. On one occasion she sat in silence for almost ten minutes while the visitor she had invited to see her waited for her to lead the conversation. He left the meeting deciding she no longer wanted to be prime minister. The internal contradiction of her position must be taking an emotional as well as a political toll.
As my colleague Jessica Elgot reports, Angela Rayner, the shadow education secretary, has defended Jared O'Mara, the Labour MP who apologised for posting derogatory and homophobic comments on a forum 15 years ago. Rayner told the Today programme: Yes, I am happy to sit alongside [O'Mara]. I've met many people in my life who have had homophobic, misogynistic and even racist views; I've knocked on doors where that has been the case. Jared changed his views, that's what's important, he recognised they were abhorrent and wrong and he changed. Fifteen years on, he is not the Jared that made those comments. Related: Labour MP who posted offensive comments 'deserves second chance' Continue reading... |
| Estranged husband of Gabrielle Maina arrested over her death in Nairobi Posted: 24 Oct 2017 02:27 AM PDT Cyrus Bernard Maina Njuguna and John Njuguna Waithira have been arrested over the shooting of the Australian teacher earlier this week The estranged husband of Australian teacher Gabrielle Maina has been arrested after the mother-of-two was shot and killed in Nairobi last week, according to media reports. Maina's husband, Cyrus Bernard Maina Njuguna, and another man, John Njuguna Waithira, were arrested over Thursday's shooting in the exclusive suburb of Karen, the ABC reports. Continue reading... |
| Canada police make man sweat for 'screaming' Everybody Dance Now in car Posted: 23 Oct 2017 02:23 PM PDT Montreal police fined Taoufik Moalla for screaming in public after he was singing the C+C Music Factory hit loudly in his car: 'I don't know if my voice was very bad' Taoufik Moalla was in his car, belting out his favourite song – a 1990s dance hit – when he suddenly found himself surrounded by four Montreal police officers. The issue, it seemed, wasn't his driving. Instead it was his passionate rendition of C+C Music Factory's smash hit Gonna Make You Sweat (Everybody Dance Now). Continue reading... |
| Constitutional reform 'gazumped' by same-sex marriage postal survey, says Noel Pearson Posted: 24 Oct 2017 02:05 AM PDT Aboriginal leader says federal government action on referendum council recommendations should have already happened Constitutional reform to recognise Indigenous people and establish a voice to parliament has been "gazumped" by the same-sex marriage survey, Noel Pearson has said. Federal government action on recommendations by the referendum council should have already happened but a lack of political leadership and the voluntary postal survey on marriage equality had gotten in the way, he said. Continue reading... |
| Rope jumpers attempt to break world record in Brazil – video Posted: 24 Oct 2017 02:25 AM PDT A group of 245 jumpers attempted to set a new world record on Sunday by leaping from a nine-metre (30ft) bridge in Hortolandia just outside Sāo Paulo. The jump was kept secret from the local authorities so they were unable to prevent the stunt from going ahead. Rope jumping differs from bungee jumping in that the rope is not elasticated Continue reading... |
| Deathbed confession may crack case of the 'Crazy Brabant Killers' Posted: 24 Oct 2017 02:09 AM PDT Ex-policeman allegedly admitted before he died that he was ringleader of Belgian gang that killed 28 people in the early 1980s A murder mystery that has gripped Belgium for 30 years may be on the verge of being solved after a former policeman apparently confessed on his deathbed to being one of the "Crazy Brabant Killers" – a group that killed 28 people in a string of robberies in the early 1980s. During a three-year spree, the Brabant Killers staged more than a dozen raids on supermarkets, hostels and a gunsmiths, during which they shot customers, staff and even children. Then they suddenly ceased their activities and disappeared in 1985. Continue reading... |
| China's Communist party enshrines Xi Jinping ideology in constitution – video Posted: 24 Oct 2017 01:45 AM PDT Xi Jinping speaks after China's ruling party moved on Tuesday to confirm his status as the country's most powerful leader in decades by adding his name and ideology to its constitution. Xi's concept of 'socialism with Chinese characteristics for a new era' was added to the party constitution at the close of a twice-a-decade major congress Xi Jinping becomes most powerful leader since Mao after change to China's constitution Continue reading... |
| Is Xi or isn't Xi? Quiz: who said it - Jinping or Mao Zedong? Posted: 24 Oct 2017 01:21 AM PDT Xi Jinping Thought has been added to the Communist party's constitution as a guide to action, putting the Chinese leader in the same league as Chairman Mao. So how do their thoughts compare, and can you distinguish between them? Select Xi's quotes in the quiz below "Both China and the world are in the midst of profound and complex changes … All comrades must aim high and look far, be alert to dangers even in times of calm" "The Chinese Communist Party is the core of leadership of the whole Chinese people. Without this core, the cause of socialism cannot be victorious" "The international scene is troubled with much disorder … The world is not at peace" "The era is the mother of thought. Practice is the fount of theory" "China is a socialist country of people's democratic dictatorship under the leadership of the working class based on an alliance of workers and farmers. It is a country where all power of the state belongs to the people" "Comrades, you should analyse your responsibility. Your stomachs will feel much more comfortable if you move your bowels and break wind" "The greater an official becomes, the worse his temperament gets" "We will continue to carry out criticism and self-criticism in keeping with the principle of learning from mistakes to prevent recurrence and treating the illness to save the patient" "We should follow the principle of letting a hundred flowers bloom and a hundred schools of thought contend" "You should not rely on your secretaries to do everything. You should mainly do things yourselves. Reliance on your secretaries for everything is a manifestation of your degeneration in revolutionary will" "We must guard against and oppose self-centered behaviour, decentralism, behaviour in disregard of the rules, a silo mentality, unprincinpled nice-guyism and sectarianism, factionalism and patronage" "The theory of Marx, Engels, Lenin and Stalin is universally applicable. We should regard it not as a dogma, but as a guide to action" "We cannot just follow the beaten track traversed by other countries" "In the scientific truth of Marxism-Leninism, Chinese progressives saw a solution to China's problems" "Realising our great dream demands a great struggle" "As long as we persist in the people's democratic dictatorship and unite with our foreign friends, we shall always be victorious" "Comrades, the Chinese nation is a great nation; it has been through hardships and adversity but remains indomitable" "The domestic situation is very good and the future looks bright" Continue reading... |
| Singapore: no more cars allowed on the road, government says Posted: 23 Oct 2017 11:39 PM PDT The number of buses and goods vehicles will be allowed to continue growing but the growth cap for private cars will be cut to zero in 2018 Singapore, one of the most expensive places in the world to buy a vehicle, has announced it will freeze the number of private cars on its roads from next year but vowed to expand public transport. The growth cap for all passenger cars and motorcycles will be cut from 0.25% a year to zero with effect from February, the Land Transport Authority (LTA) said. Continue reading... |
| Women fought for abortion rights. Fifty years on, the service is in crisis | Tim Friend Posted: 23 Oct 2017 11:30 PM PDT The NHS has been outsourcing the procedure and failing to train specialist staff. Now hundreds of women can't get an abortion, putting their lives at risk Half a century after abortion was made legal in England, Scotland and Wales, outsourcing of NHS services and a subsequent lack of specialist doctors mean that hundreds of women each year are prevented from having an abortion, sometimes seriously threatening their health, according to leading medics. "The system is broken. It's in crisis. Not fit for purpose," says professor Lesley Regan, the president of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (RCOG). Continue reading... |
| North Korea: women accused of killing Kim Jong-nam revisit scene of crime Posted: 23 Oct 2017 11:21 PM PDT Suspects Siti Aisyah and Doan Thi Huong take part in reconstruction at Malaysia's Kuala Lumpur airport, watched by judge and lawyers The two women accused of killing the North Korean leader's half brother have toured the Malaysian airport where the crime took place. Related: What is the VX nerve agent that killed North Korean Kim Jong-nam? Continue reading... |
| Tuesday briefing: EU wants UK as close as Canada Posted: 23 Oct 2017 10:33 PM PDT Barnier puts distance in post-Brexit trade ties ... statins aren't going to right people ... competitors for 'idiots of the century' Hello and good morning to you. Graham Russell here with what's happening today. Continue reading... |
| Kim Jong-nam: women accused of murder tour airport where he was killed – video Posted: 23 Oct 2017 10:02 PM PDT The two women accused of killing the North Korean leader's half brother Kim Jong-nam have visited the crime scene at Kuala Lumpur International Airport as part of a re-enactment of the attack. Continue reading... |
| Bold vision: giving blind people back their sight in Pakistan – in pictures Posted: 23 Oct 2017 11:00 PM PDT An estimated 36 million people are blind worldwide and 253 million more are visually impaired, but these numbers could triple by 2050 due to the world's growing and ageing population. Yet with sufficient investment, 75% of blindness and visual impairment could be cured or prevented. The main uncorrected causes are refractive errors, which affect at least 123 million people, and cataracts, which affect 65 million. The world's poorest countries in Asia and sub-Saharan Africa are particularly badly hit. In Africa, almost half of pupils in schools for blind people merely need a pair of spectacles, according to the International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness. An outdoor exhibition of photographs is on show in London as part of the Million Miracles appeal, which aims to restore the sight of a million people across Africa and Asia. Photographer Andrew McConnell documents the successes of a scheme in Pakistan All photographs by Andrew McConnell/Sightsavers Continue reading... |
| Posted: 23 Oct 2017 04:58 AM PDT With more than 350 people killed in this deadly attack, it is time for we Somalis to unite against violent extremism, says the country's minister of information At 3.20 on the afternoon of Saturday 14 October, al-Shabaab detonated a massive truck bomb at a busy junction on the road into Mogadishu, known as KM5. The truck, which had been driven in from the outskirts of the city that day, was packed with 400kg of mixed explosives, including military-grade but also the homemade-from-fertiliser type. The truck had been spotted by security forces at a checkpoint but had crashed through the barrier and sped along the road to KM5. The area is always busy, jammed with hotels and shops, but at that time it was genuinely bustling; school had finished and it was just before afternoon prayers. The truck bomb went off beside a fuel tanker and the resultant carnage flattened the area for hundreds of metres around. But you wouldn't know it now, as the reconstruction effort has moved apace to erase signs of the atrocity. Continue reading... |
| Widow of fallen US soldier: Trump's call 'hurt me the most' – video Posted: 23 Oct 2017 06:59 PM PDT In an interview with ABC's Good Morning America, Myeshia Johnson, widow of Sergeant La David T. Johnson, says President Donald Trump 'made me cry even worse' in a condolence telephone call when he said that her husband 'knew what he signed up for.' She says the president couldn't remember her husband's name. 'I heard him stumbling over my husband's name.' |
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