Six In The Morning Sunday July 19

Explosions hit cars of Hamas officials in Gaza City

Palestinian security sources say two people injured in blasts targeting officials of Hamas and Islamic Jihad.

19 Jul 2015 08:36 GMT | Middle East, Palestine, Gaza: After the war, Gaza

Two people have been injured in multiple car explosions in northern Gaza City, Palestinian security sources said.

The sources said six explosions took place at same time on Sunday morning in the Sheikh Radwan neighbourhood.

The cars belonged to officials of Islamic Jihad, Hamas and its armed wing, the Qassam Brigades. 

Al Jazeera's Tamer Almisshal, reporting from Gaza, said that both of those wounded were civilians living in a house near one of the blast sites.

Interior ministry spokesman Iyad al-Buzom released a brief statement in which he accused "vandals" seeking to destabilise Gaza of carrying out the explosions.

Taiwan poised to elect female president in historic first

Hung Hsiu-chu of ruling Nationalists will run against Hung Hsiu-chu of the Democratic Progressive party in January 2016 elections

Associated Press

Sunday 19 July 2015 09.15 BST

The top two political parties in Taiwan have each nominated a woman for president elections in 2016, a historic first signalling acceptance of female leadership and kicking off a campaign highlighted so far by clashing views on ties with China.

Taiwan’s ruling Nationalist party on Sunday picked Hung Hsiu-chu, a former teacher and current deputy legislative speaker, to run in the election. The candidate, who is supportive of friendly relations with China, will run against Tsai Ing-wen, the opposition Democratic Progressive party chairwoman and an advocate of more cautious relations with Beijing. Tsai leads in opinion polls ahead of the January 2016 election.

Ties with Beijing, long icy but cordial since 2008, have shaped up as an early campaign issue.

RUPERT CORNWELL

Saturday 18 July 2015

US prisons: President Obama's lasting legacy will be penal reform

 

Out of America: Expectations were low for the President's final term, but his overhauling of the failing justice system is a landmark achievement

Did anyone say “lame duck”? This was supposed to be when Barack Obama hit rock bottom, in the final stages of his second term, with the Republicans in complete control of Congress, attention switching to the next battle for the White House in 2016, and a President reduced to virtual irrelevancy. The perfect season, in short, for limping waterfowl.

Instead, the past couple of months have been among his best in office. Congress granted him sweeping powers to negotiate trade deals with Europe and Asia. The Supreme Court saved his healthcare reforms, the signature achievement of his first term, and for good measure made same-sex marriage the law of the land, a step supported by the administration. As for the Republicans in Congress, they’re all over the shop, split between pragmatists who want to get things done and Tea Party zealots.

Al Qaeda affiliate claims deadly attack on Algerian soldiers

Latest update : 2015-07-19

Al-Qaeda's North African branch on Saturday said it killed 14 Algerian soldiers in an ambush southwest of the Algerian capital, in what would be the deadliest attack on the army in over a year.

The El Khaber newspaper, citing security sources, reported earlier in the day that troops were killed by a terrorist group on the road to Tifran, a wooded area in the south of Ain Defla province, 140 kilometres (85 miles) from the capital.

The ambush took place on Friday night at the start of the Eid al-Fitr holiday marking the end of the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan.

Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) claimed the attack in an unverified statement posted online late on Saturday night.

Path of Hope in heavy use again as EU migrant crisis deepens

July 19, 2015 - 12:15AM

Nick Miller

Europe Correspondent

Grimaldi, Italy: I ask an old man in Grimaldi's little village square where I can find the Path of Hope, the Cammino della Speranza.

They asked me about documents – I don't have documents. 

Sudanese refugee Ahmed, 23, in Grimaldi.

"No, no," he says, in pieces of Italian, French and English: "Non, non. Il Passo della Morte. The Pass of Death. Not possible." He mimes with his hands a steep drop, as if falling over a cliff.

Whsssshhh," he says, to clear up any possible misunderstanding.

There is a trail with a storied history that runs over the Alps where they stoop to the sea and divide France from Italy.

It was recently dubbed The Path of Hope. But its other, older name is the Pass of Death.

Bleaching Poses a Threat to Hawaii's Coral Reefs, Scientists Say

by DAVID MONTALVO

Coral reefs, already under threat around the globe, may be in particularly acute danger in the waters of Hawaii because of a phenomenon known as bleaching.

Coral makes up less than 1 percent of the underwater ecosystem yet helps to protect 25 percent of marine species, generates tourism revenue and boosts fishing, according to data from The Nature Conservatory.

Many scientists say coral bleaching, which causes a change in color and can result in the eventual death of algae, is but one of the effects of warmer ocean temperatures.

The warning came from a report this month by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, which finds that a global coral bleaching event that began last year in the Pacific Ocean may be spreading to the western Atlantic Ocean—and to Hawaii.