Thursday, July 13, 2017

Six In The Morning Thursday July 13

Trump arrives in Paris on second Europe trip in a week

Updated 0706 GMT (1506 HKT) July 13, 2017



US President Donald Trump has arrived in Europe for the second time in a week, a trip meant as a pomp-filled celebration of transatlantic ties at a time of anxiety on both continents.
Air Force One landed at Paris Orly airport, south of the city center, early Thursday morning. From there, Trump's due to take meetings at the American ambassador's residence before being greeted in a formal welcoming ceremony by his host, French President Emmanuel Macron.
    The trip may provide Trump at least a short interlude from the political crisis swirling back home around a meeting between his son, Donald Trump Jr., and a Russian lawyer during last year's presidential campaign.



    Hunt for Isis fighters goes on despite declaration of victory in Mosul

    Emaciated figures limp out of tunnels and basements in the shattered Iraqi city, including some who were loyal to caliphate

    Days after Iraq’s prime minister, Haider al-Abadi, declared victory over Islamic State forces in Mosul, emaciated figures were still emerging from tunnels and basements in the shattered city on Wednesday: old men carried on the backs of their sons and women wearing dusty, tattered abayas, dragging behind them their parched and thirsty children.
    In the shadow of what had once been the city’s 12th century al-Nuri mosque, blown up by Isis fighters last month in the final, desperate days of battle, a special forces officer pointed at the families who were limping out of the ruins without a male relative.
    “Those are all Daesh,” he said. “The old city is where the fighters brought the loyalist families, but what can we do?”


    Banning child marriage, Honduras leads Americas and EU

    Lawmakers in Honduras have banned child marriage under the age of 18. Often caused by poverty, such arrangements usually involve older men taking teenage wives, risking girls' health and depriving them of education.
    In a special session late Wednesday, the parliament in Honduras raised the minimum age of marriage to 18, overturning a previous law that had allowed minors to marry beginning at age 16 so long as they had their parents' approval. The bill was passed unanimously by 128 legislators from seven parties.
    Belinda Portillo, of the children's charity Plan International, said Honduras had made history by passing the law in a country where one in four people marry before the age of 18. "The fight against child marriage is a strategic way of promoting the rights and empowerment of women in various areas, such as health, education, work, freedom from violence," Portillo, Plan's Honduras country director, said in a statement released late Wednesday.

    13 July 2017 - 09H40

    Daimler manipulated emissions in one million cars: report


    FRANKFURT AM MAIN (AFP) - 
    German luxury automaker Daimler manipulated the engines of around one million diesel vehicles to make them appear less polluting, local media reported Thursday, raising echoes of competitor Volkswagen's 'dieselgate' scandal.
    "The Stuttgart-based firm sold vehicles with higher levels of damaging emissions than allowed for almost a whole decade between 2008 and 2016," daily Sueddeutsche Zeitung said.
    Along with regional broadcasters NDR and WDR, the newspaper had access to a search warrant from a Stuttgart court allowing prosecutors to raid 11 sites belonging to the Mercedes-Benz and Smart maker in late May.


    NHK apologizes for Hitler-‘No War’ T-shirt worn by Takafumi Horie on air

    AP, KYODO

    Public broadcaster NHK apologized Wednesday over a cartoon drawing of Adolf Hitler’s face that was printed on a T-shirt worn by a talk show guest.
    The black T-shirt worn by entrepreneur Takafumi Horie also carried a “NO WAR” message on one side and a peace symbol on the cartoon Hitler’s chest. Horie was a guest on NHK’s “Afternoon Live” daily talk show the same day.
    The T-shirt prompted complaints from viewers.
    During the program, the NHK announcer, who is also the show’s co-host, apologized. Responding to a tweet asking about the Hitler cartoon, Horie said it was meant to be an anti-war message.

    Afghan girls robotics team given US visa after outrage



    Girls whose visa applications were twice rejected finally given green light to travel to international robotics contest.


    US officials have decided to allow a group of Afghan girls - whose visa applications had been twice rejected - to travel to the country and participate in an international robotics competition, ending a saga that had sparked international backlash.
    Homeland Security Department spokesman David Lapan said the US Citizenship and Immigration Services approved a State Department request for six girls from the war-torn country to be allowed in, along with their chaperone, so they can participate in the competition.
    The non-profit organising the competition celebrated the reversal in a statement on Wednesday.









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