Thursday, August 21, 2014

Six In The Morning Thursday August 21



21 August 2014 Last updated at 04:27

US military tried but failed to free Foley

A US secret military mission had tried but failed to free US reporter James Foley and other American hostages in Syria, US officials have said.
Their comments come after a video of Foley's beheading by Islamic State (IS) militants appeared on Tuesday.
IS said Foley's death was revenge for US air strikes on its fighters in Iraq.
US President Barack Obama condemned the killing as "an act of violence that shocks the conscience of the entire world".
He compared IS militants, who control large parts of Syria and Iraq to a "cancer" and said the group's ideology was "bankrupt".
The UN, UK and others have also expressed abhorrence at the video.


Ebola quarantine in Liberia's capital sparks violence in slum


Soldiers guarding Monrovia's West Point area open fire and use tear gas on crowds, leaving four residents injured


Violence erupted in an Ebola quarantine zone in Liberia's capital when soldiers opened fire and used tear gas on crowds as they evacuated a state official and her family.
Four residents were injured on Wednesday in the clashes in Monrovia's West Point slum, which has been closed off as part of new security measures aimed at containing the deadly virus.
The crackdown in Liberia comes as authorities around the world scramble to stem the worst ever outbreak of Ebola, which has killed more than 1,200 people across west Africa this year.
Liberian president Ellen Johnson Sirleaf quarantined West Point and Dolo Town, to the east of the capital, and imposed a night-time curfew as part of drastic measures to fight the disease.

Israel-Gaza conflict: Three top Hamas military leaders killed in airstrikes

Hamas military spokesperson released the news, confirming the deaths along with three others in an airstrike in Rafah

 
 

Three senior Hamas military leaders have been killed in an Israeli airstrike in Gaza.
Mohammed Abu Shamala, Mohammed Barhoum and Raed al-Attar have died, along with three other people, in an airstrike near the southern town of Rafah.

Gaza police and medical officials said scores more people remained under the rubble of a four-story structure destroyed in the airstrike. 

Hostilities resumed on Tuesday after negotiations broke down with both sides blaming the other for the collapse in peace talks.

The picnic that changed European history



Over a year before euphoric crowds pulled down the Berlin Wall, Hungarian dissidents organized a peace demonstration on the Austro-Hungarian border at Sopron, where the border gate was symbolically - and with far-reaching consequences - opened for several hours.
Today in the hamlet of Sopronpuszta, commemorative plaques, as well as a pavilion and a small bell tower, act as reminders of the field's history. Nothing remains of the original border fortifications. The section of iron fence that still stands was returned to the site after a period of absence in order to at least create some impression amongst visitors that this site was once a border. No one here knows where the historic wooden gate, that was opened for a short time on August 19, 1989, ended up.

Japan deploys troops after Hiroshima landslide

August 21, 2014 - 2:59PM

Isabel Reynolds


Tokyo: Japan dispatched hundreds of troops to the western city of Hiroshima after torrential rain triggered landslides that national broadcaster NHK said killed 39 people and left seven missing.
About 630 Self-Defence Forces personnel have been sent to the area, along with about 90 vehicles and four aircraft, the defence ministry said.
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has cut short his holiday and returned to Tokyo to co-ordinate the government's response to what he said was "unprecedented" rain.
"I offer my condolences for those who lost their lives and my sympathy to those who have suffered," Mr Abe said. "There is damage on a large scale and there may be more rainfall, so I ordered the government to work together on a response."


Malaysian couple charged with alleged theft from MH370 passengers

By Hilary Whiteman, CNN
August 21, 2014 -- Updated 0433 GMT (1233 HKT)
Malaysian police have charged two people over the alleged theft of around $35,000 (110,600 Malaysian ringgits) from the bank accounts of four passengers on missing Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370.
HSBC bank officer Nur Shila Kanan, 33, is facing 12 charges after allegedly transferring money between the passengers' accounts, Assistant Commissioner Izany Abdul Ghany of the Kuala Lumpur Commercial Crime Investigation Department told CNN.
Nur Shila's husband, Basheer Ahmad Maula Sahul Hameed, a 33-year-old mechanic, is facing four counts of allegedly using a debit and other cards belonging to one of the passengers to withdraw money from an ATM.




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