#Turkey earthquake Syrian earthquake Greece Turkey

[lovelovepoems]

Μια φωτογραφία που σίγουρα αξίζει πολύ περισσότερο από χίλιες λέξεις.Πανάξια η αποστολή της ΕΜΑΚ στην Τουρκία.Κορυφαίος συμβολισμός της Ειρήνης.

[eretzyisrael]

@EinatWilfUnofficial

1 day ago (edited)Despite Israel being a tiny country with limited resources, surrounded by enemies, it absolutely does send aid all over the world including to official enemy states like Syria. Here is a partial list of the countries Israel sent aid to, as mentioned in the summary of IDF humanitarian missions:

1. Greece (1953, 1999): Assisted survivors of an earthquake in the Ionian Islands in 1953 and supported search and rescue efforts after the Athens earthquake in 1999.

2. Cambodia (1975): Provided medical care to refugees from the Cambodian-Vietnamese conflict near the Cambodian-Thai border.

3. Mexico (1985, 2017): Sent rescue teams after the devastating 1985 Mexico City earthquake and supported damage assessments and relief efforts following the 2017 earthquake.

4. Armenia (1988): Deployed rescue workers and medical aid following a massive earthquake in Gyumri.

5. Romania (1989): Delivered medical supplies and assistance during the Romanian revolution.

6. Croatia (1992): Sent humanitarian aid to Zagreb for those affected by the Bosnian civil war.

7. Argentina (1994): Assisted in search and rescue operations after a Hezbollah bombing at the AMIA building in Buenos Aires.

8. Democratic Republic of Congo (1994): Established a field hospital and provided supplies for refugees of the Rwandan Civil War in Goma.

9. Kenya (1998, 2006): Helped after the US embassy bombing in Nairobi in 1998 and a building collapse in 2006.

10. Turkey (1999, 2011, 2023): Conducted rescue operations and medical care after major earthquakes in İzmit (1999), Erciş (2011), and Türkiye (2023).

11. India (2001): Treated thousands and set up a field hospital after the Gujarat earthquake.

12. Egypt (2004): Assisted after the Taba Hilton bombing with medical and rescue teams.

13. Sri Lanka (2004): Provided medical supplies and aid after the devastating tsunami.

14. United States (2005, 2021): Delivered humanitarian supplies after Hurricane Katrina in 2005 and aided search and rescue in Surfside, Miami, in 2021.

15. Japan (2011): Treated patients and established a field clinic after the earthquake and tsunami in Minamisanriku.

16. Bulgaria (2012): Provided medical assistance following a Hezbollah bus bombing in Burgas.

17. Ghana (2012): Rescued survivors after a department store collapse in Accra.

18. Philippines (2013): Conducted extensive medical and rescue operations after Typhoon Haiyan.

19. Nepal (2015): Treated thousands and established a field hospital after a massive earthquake in Kathmandu.

20. Syria (2016–2018): Provided medical and humanitarian aid to Syrian civilians during the civil war via Operation Good Neighbor.

21. Brazil (2019): Assisted in search and rescue operations after the Brumadinho dam collapse.

22. Albania (2019): Helped repair and assess structural damage after a major earthquake.

23. Honduras (2020): Supported recovery efforts following two devastating hurricanes.

24. Equatorial Guinea (2021): Delivered medical aid and conducted rescue operations after a series of explosions in Nkoa Ntoma.

25. Ukraine: Constructed a field hospital to treat civilians following Russia declaring war.

[yakourinka]

for those interested: thank you for thinking of a random blog on tumblr, I am fine. I was back in turkey for a holiday, but wasn't in the earthquake zone. most of my extended family is in one of the heavier hit areas - everyone that I personally know made it out alive, but there are some severely damaged houses. past 3 days I've seen some shit and heard stories that I probably will never forget. I have a long collection of stories that I don't forget. you know how there are some people, you could look into their eyes as you strangle them to death and likely still wouldn't feel a shred of calmness afterwards? probably doesn't make sense to you, but anyway.

greece sent a rescue team and equipment. yesterday I watched them pull a survivor out of the rubble and cry afterwards. much like with everything else the government is doing fuckall of it, so these rescue teams have no interpreters. a polish team - apparently AFAD, the government's disaster response entity, dropped them in the disaster zone and fucked off - was communicating with locals on twitter using google maps and translate. people tell them shit like, "I can still hear my sister under the rubble we're here [google maps link] please help" and then they go there. I heard they saved over 20 people with this method. a youtuber personality is interpreting for the japanese rescue team. azerbaijan sent rescuers. israel and armenia sent help. pakistan and mexico sent tons of food. there's no food, no water, no electricity and no shelter in many of these areas. it's very cold. so food has become a necessity and is appreciated.

if I get into the politics of it I will never stop, so I will try not to. for a 100 buildings demolished by the earthquake, AFAD can respond to maybe 10 at best. for political reasons that I, again, will not get into, there is nearly no military presence and no civil organizations - both of which saved lives in the great earthquake of 1999. the majority of the work I've seen the citizens do it themselves - they source equipment from somewhere, rent heavy machinery. in situations like these it's dangerous to use heavy machinery. you have little survival bubbles under the rubble, probably being held up by an act of god and physics, and any careless movement will cause shit to come down on you. people above probably won't even notice when they pull your corpse out of the rubble that it was them who caused you to suffocate to death under cement dust. but there's nothing you, or they, can do. you've been calling for help for 48 hours, but you're not one of AFAD's lucky 10 and it's very, very cold. I watched them rescue a little syrian kid out of the rubble - lots of syrians in the hatay/antakya area, both refugees and born here - the space he was enclosed in was so very tiny that they couldn't even push a bottle of water through, so they were feeding him via the bottle cap. these people have no idea what they're doing, but there's nothing else that they can do but help themselves. by the time the government gets there, if ever, that kid will have died of hypothermia. I heard there are many who did.

so any help is much appreciated. if your tax money has gone to disaster relief, know that it's being put to good use. pardon for the stock phrase, but it's encouraging to see better parts of humanity come out at times like these.

[mariacallous]

While the EU, US and European countries rush to help Turkey following two major earthquakes registering 7.9 and 7.7 on the Richter scale, northern Syria, which was also badly hit, appears to have been left out in the cold.

More than 16,000 people in Turkey lost their lives in the quakes on Monday and nearly 63,000 were injured. The death toll in neighbouring Syria, stood at least at 3,900 on Thursday.

The European Union’s disaster agency, European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations, announced that 20 EU member states as well as the Balkan countries of Albania, Montenegro and Serbia had offered help to Turkey under the EU Civil Protection Mechanism.

“With 31 search and rescue teams and five medical teams via the EU Civil Protection Mechanism, the teams consist in total of over 1,500 rescuers and 100 search and rescue dogs,” European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations said, announcing an initial 3 million euros in emergency assistance.

Other Balkan countries including Bosnia and Herzegovina, North Macedonia and Kosovo have also joined the help for Turkey, sending rescuers and aid.

But while Syrian authorities on Wednesday asked the EU to activate the EU Civil Protection Mechanism and as the EU announced 3.5 million euros of assistance, it is not clear how and when help will arrive in Syria.

BIRN did not get an answer from the European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations by time of publication.

Bosnia, Montenegro, Croatia, Serbia and Bulgaria as well as several Balkan NGOs have mentioned sending help to Syria but details of the help are not known.

Romanian Foreign Minister Bogdan Aurescu stated that Romania is ready to help Syria with equipment and medicine and is looking for logistical means to transport them to the country.

“We have approached the Syrian authorities to provide us with a list of equipment and concrete needs for humanitarian aid. I have forwarded this list to colleagues at the Ministry of the Interior and the Ministry of Health. Furthermore, in cooperation with our institutional partners, we are trying to identify transport methods for these aids,” Aurescu told a government meeting on Wednesday.

The Polish government and NGOs have mentioned Turkey and Syria at the same time but details of potential help for Syria are not known. A Catholic charity in Poland, Help the Church in Need, is collecting funds specifically for Syria.

Greece, which has sent hundreds of rescuers and firefighters to Turkey, also promises support for Syria. A Greek rescue mission will soon travel to Syria after it activated its request to the European Civil Protection Mechanism.

Athens Macedonia News agency reports that the aid includes tents, medicines and other supplies for people who are homeless and need immediate support.

“This earthquake has not just affected Turkey, it has also affected Syria. There, the situation is even more complicated because essentially there is no official interlocutor. So we have to work through international organizations,” Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said in an interview with CNN.

The first convoy of UN aid for opposition-held north-west Syria has reportedly crossed into the area from Turkey. War between the Syrian government and the opposition forces still continues in the area. Even before the earthquake struck, 4.1 million people in the area – most of them women and children – were relying on humanitarian assistance.

According to media reports, search and rescue missions in the area are very limited and authorities urgently need rescue teams, shelter and medicine.

The only way into the area is via the Bab al-Hawa crossing in Idlib with Turkey, but nearby motorways and airports have been devastated in Turkey making delivery of assistance to Syria even harder.

[wordexpress]

1,200 Dead After Powerful Quake In Turkey, Syria, "State Of Catastrophe"

Turkey's AFAD emergencies service centre put the first quake's magnitude at 7.4, adding that it was followed by more than 40 aftershocks.

Istanbul: The most powerful earthquake in nearly a century struck Turkey and Syria early Monday, killing over 1,200 people in their sleep, levelling buildings and causing tremors felt as far away as Iraq.

The 7.8-magnitude quake wiped out entire sections of major Turkish cities in a restless region filled with millions of people who have fled the civil war in Syria and other conflicts.

The head of Syria's National Earthquake Centre, Raed Ahmed, told pro-government radio that this was "the biggest earthquake recorded in the history of the centre".

At least 326 people died in government-controlled parts of Syria, according to the latest count.

At least 912 people also died in Turkey, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said.

Shocked survivors in Turkey rushed out into the snow-covered streets in their pyjamas, watching rescuers dig through the debris of damaged homes with their hands.

"Seven members of my family are under the debris," Muhittin Orakci, a stunned survivor in Turkey's mostly Kurdish city of Diyarbakir, told AFP.

"My sister and her three children are there. And also her husband, her father-in-law and her mother-in-law."

The rescue was being hampered by a winter blizzard that covered major roads in ice and snow. Officials said the quake made three major airports in the area inoperable, further complicating deliveries of vital aid.

- Election test for Erdogan -

The quake struck at 04:17 am (0117 GMT) at a depth of about 17.9 kilometres (11 miles) near the Turkish city of Gaziantep, which is home to around two million people, the US Geological Survey said.

Turkey's AFAD emergencies service centre put the quake's magnitude at 7.7, updating an initial estimate of 7.4.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who will be under intense pressure to oversee an effective response to the disaster heading to a tightly-contested May 14 election, conveyed his sympathies and urged national unity.

"We hope that we will get through this disaster together as soon as possible and with the least damage," the Turkish leader tweeted.

Washington, the European Union, and Russian all immediately sent condolences and offers of help.

Turkey also received a message of support from its historic rival Greece, whose relations with Ankara have suffered from a spate of border and cultural disputes.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky offered to provide "the necessary assistance" to Turkey, whose combat drones are helping Kyiv fight the Russian invasion.

And Iran, which together with Russia is trying to help Ankara restore its relations with Damascus following its efforts to help oust Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, sent separate messages of condolence to both sides.

- 'People under rubble' -

Images on Turkish television showed rescuers digging through rubble across city centres and residential neighbourhoods of almost all the big cities running along the border with Syria.

Some of the heaviest devastation occurred near the quake's epicentre between Kahramanmaras and Gaziantep, where entire city blocks lay in ruins under the gathering snow.

Kahramanmaras Governor Omer Faruk Coskun said it was too early to estimate the death count because so many buildings were destroyed.

"It is not possible to give the number of dead and injured at the moment because so many buildings have been destroyed," Coskun said. "The damage is serious."

A famous mosque dating back to the 13th century partially collapsed in the province of Maltaya, where a 14-story building with 28 apartments housed 92 people also collapsed.

In other cities, social media posts showed a 2,200-year-old hilltop castle built by Roman armies in Gaziantep lying in ruins, its walls partially turned to rubble.

"We hear voices here -- and over there, too," one rescuer was overheard as saying on NTV television in front of a flattened building in the city of Diyarbakir.

"There may be 200 people under the rubble."

- Power outages -

The Syrian health ministry reported damage across the provinces of Aleppo, Latakia, Hama and Tartus, where Russia is leasing a naval facility.

AFP correspondents in northern Syria said terrified residents ran out of their homes after the ground shook.

Even before the tragedy, buildings in Aleppo, Syria's pre-war commercial hub, often collapsed due to the dilapidated infrastructure, which has suffered from lack of war-time oversight.

Naci Gorur, an earthquake expert with Turkey's Academy of Sciences, urged local officials to immediately check the region's dams for cracks to avert potentially catastrophic flooding.

Officials cut off natural gas and power supplies across the region as a precaution, also closing shools for two weeks.

"The size of the aftershocks, which may continue for days although mostly decreasing in energy, brings a risk of collapse of structures already weakened by the earlier events," David Rothery, an earthquake expert at the Open University in Britain.

"This makes search and rescue efforts dangerous."

Turkey is in one of the world's most active earthquake zones.

The Turkish region of Duzce suffered a 7.4-magnitude earthquake in 1999, when more than 17,000 people died --including about 1,000 in Istanbul.

Experts have long warned a large quake could devastate Istanbul, a megalopolis of 16 million people filled with rickety homes.

The last 7.8-magnitude tremor shook Turkey in 1939, when 33,000 died in the eastern Erzincan provinc

[swldx]

Voice of America 0335 16 Mar 2023

9775Khz 0259 16 MAR 2023 - VOICE OF AMERICA (UNITED STATES OF AMERICA) in ENGLISH from MOPENG HILL. SINPO = 45333. English, s/on @0258z w/Yankee Doodle int fb news anchored by Richard Green @0300z. The Biden administration has threatened to ban TikTok from the United States unless the app's Chinese owners agree to spin off their share of the social media platform, TikTok acknowledged Wednesday evening. The apparent ultimatum by a US multiagency panel known as the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States marks a possible turning point in the long-running negotiations between federal officials concerned about TikTok's links to China and a wildly popular social media company with more than 100 million US users. Credit Suisse announced it will be borrowing up to 50 billion Swiss francs ($53.68 billion) from the Swiss National Bank under a covered loan facility and a short-term liquidity facility. The decision comes shortly after shares of the lender fell sharply Wednesday, hitting an all-time low for a second consecutive day after its top investor Saudi National Bank said it won't be able to provide further assistance. All flights to and from Greece will be cancelled on Thursday due to a nationwide 24-hour strike by various Greek unions. Air traffic controllers are among those going on strike, their union announced on Tuesday. The country's major unions have called for the strike. They demand a full investigation of the serious train accident two weeks ago in central Greece. U.S. officials told Russia's ambassador to the United States that Moscow has to be more careful when flying in international airspace near U.S. assets, National Security Council Spokesman John Kirby said Wednesday in an interview. Malawian President Lazarus Chakwera has assured people displaced by Cyclone Freddy that they will get the assistance they need. Chakwera made the announcement Wednesday during his first visit to evacuation camps in Blantyre since he declared a state of disaster in all the flood-hit areas this week. The president also attended a mass funeral for the storm's victims. The record tropical cyclone has killed more than 200 people in Malawi and scores more in neighboring Mozambique. The earthquakes that destroyed large parts of southern Turkey and northwest Syria in February have affected countless children in both countries. For children in Syria it was especially severe. The country has been in crisis since civil war broke out more than 11 years ago. Aid groups like Save the Children and UNICEF are working to get food, water and shelter to children and families there. Additionally, UNICEF is trying to get Syrian children back into school and learning again. The quakes damaged at least 1,000 schools in the country. Many of the structures are unsafe to enter. @0305z “Daybreak Africa” anchored by male announcer (w/African accent). Backyard fence antenna, Etón e1XM. 100kW, BeamAz 350°, bearing 84°. Received at Plymouth, United States, 14087KM from transmitter at Mopeng Hill. Local time: 2159.

[hostor-infotech]

Facing tragedy, Turkey mends ties with Greece and Armenia | Turkey-Syria Earthquake

In the past few years, Turkey’s foreign policy has been defined by resets. Ankara has buried the hatchet and re-engaged with several countries it has long been at odds with, including the United Arab Emirates, Egypt and Israel. A rapprochement with the government of Syria is also on the table, with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan saying he would consider meeting his Syrian counterpart to “foster…

[argus-news]

Turkey earthquake: Miracle rescue continues as 17-year-old girl pulled out alive after 10 days from rubble

Turkey-Syria earthquake: At least 41,000 people have died across Turkey and neighboring Syria following the powerful 7.8 magnitude quake, according to authorities.

A 17-year-old girl has been safely rescued and pulled alive from the rubble of a devastating earthquake, at least 10 days after it struck parts of Turkey and Syria.

Minor girl Aleyna Ölmez was called the miracle girl when she was pulled alive from the rubble in Turkey on Thursday (February 16), almost 248 hours after the February 6 quake, as rescue efforts shift to recovery operations ten days on from the disaster.

At least 41,000 people have died across Turkey and neighboring Syria following the powerful 7.8 magnitude quake, according to authorities. Efforts to retrieve survivors have been hampered by a cold winter spell across quake-stricken regions, while authorities grapple with the logistical challenges of transporting aid into northwestern Syria amid an acute humanitarian crisis compounded by years of political strife.

US State Secretary Antony Blinken to visit quake-hit Turkey on February 19:

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken will travel to Turkey on Sunday to view relief operations after a massive earthquake.Blinken will visit the Incirlik air base, through which aid is flowing, and then hold talks with senior Turkish officials in the capital Ankara, the US State Department announced. "Secretary Blinken will visit Incirlik Air Base in Turkiye on February 19 to see firsthand US efforts to assist the Turkish authorities responding to the devastation caused by the February 6 earthquakes," read the statement of US State Department spokesperson Ned Price.

He also informed that Blinken will then travel to Ankara, where he will meet with Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu and other senior Turkish officials "to discuss continued US support to Turkiye and the Turkish people after the devastating earthquakes, as well as ways to further strengthen our partnership with Turkiye as a valued NATO Ally."Secretary Blinken will also thank the Government of Turkiye for its support for cross-border aid to affected areas of Syria.Notably, Blinken will travel to Germany, Turkiye, and Greece February 16-22, 2023.

UN appeals for $1 billion to help Turkey quake survivors:

The United Nations launched a $1 billion appeal Thursday to help 5.2 million survivors of the most devastating earthquake in Turkey’s modern history, two days after starting a $397 million appeal to help nearly 5 million Syrians across the border in the rebel-held northwest.

U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric was peppered with questions about why the appeal for Turkey is targeted at only 5.2 million people when according to the U.N. and the government more than 15 million people were affected. He also was asked why the appeal for Turkey is 2½ times larger than the one for Syria to help almost the same number of people. He said the Turkish appeal “was designed in very close cooperation with the government of Turkey, which is leading the relief efforts.”

“This is the number they came up with for the focus on people who need the most humanitarian aid, most quickly, and where the U.N. can be most effective,” Dujarric said. He said Turkey has “a very efficient search and rescue and humanitarian system.”

As for the disparity in the amount of the appeals, he said, part of the reason is that “there is already a well-established humanitarian community which has been working in Syria,” and before the quake there was a $4.8 billion humanitarian appeal for Syria for 2023.

[warningsine]

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan told a news conference that Turkey had at least 912 deaths, with about 5,400 people injured. He said at least 2,800 buildings had collapsed.

"Because the debris removal efforts are continuing in many buildings in the earthquake zone, we do not know how high the number of dead and injured will rise," Erdogan said.

Syrian health officials said at least 371 people were killed in the government-held areas, while rescue workers said at least 221 others died in rebel-controlled areas.

The quake destroyed the historic Gaziantep Castle and many other historic buildings in the area.

In the Turkish city of Mersin, resident Nurhan Kiral told VOA's Turkish service that the earthquake lasted about a minute.

"We woke up with the tremor and got out of the bed. Rubble fell from the chimney. Rubble fell from the empty space between the buildings. It was terrifying," Kiral said.

The Syrian American Medical Society said its hospitals in Syria were "overwhelmed with patients filling the hallways."

"Many hospitals are full, but some critical facilities, including Al Dana Hospital had to evacuate patients after sustaining severe damage from the earthquake," the group said in a statement. "Likewise, the Idleb Maternity Hospital was forced to transfer all newborns to a nearby hospital."

International help

The European Union said it mobilized rescue teams to the region, with crews from Bulgaria, Croatia, the Czech Republic, France, Greece, Hungary, Malta, the Netherlands, Poland and Romania.

"Our thoughts are with all those who have lost loved ones and the brave first responders working to save lives," EU foreign policy chief Joseph Borrell and Commissioner for Crisis Management Janez Lenarčič said in a joint statement.

French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak all said their governments were ready to help those affected by the earthquake.

"Greece is mobilizing its resources and will assist immediately," Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis tweeted.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said search and rescue teams, as well as medical aid, would be going to Turkey in response to a request from the Turkish government.

Russia also said it had rescue teams preparing to go to Turkey to help earthquake victims in both Turkey and Syria.

U.S. national security adviser Jake Sullivan said President Joe Biden directed the U.S. Agency for International Development and other federal partners "to assess U.S. response options to help those most affected."

"The United States is profoundly concerned by the reports of today's destructive earthquake in Türkiye and Syria. We stand ready to provide any and all needed assistance," Sullivan said in a statement.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy offered his government's support as well.

"I am shocked to learn of deaths and injuries of hundreds of people as a result of the earthquake in Turkey," Zelenskyy tweeted. "We send our condolences to the families of the victims and wish the injured a speedy recovery. At this time, we stand by the friendly Turkish people and are ready to provide the necessary assistance."

Turkey is in one of the world's most active earthquake zones.

In 1999, 17,000 people were killed when a 7.4-magnitude earthquake — the worst to hit Turkey in decades — struck near Duzce, in the northwest of the country.

In October 2022, a magnitude-7.0 quake hit the Aegean Sea, killing 116 people and wounding more than 1,000. All but two of the victims were in Izmir, Turkey.

[newstfionline]

Monday, August 23, 2021

22 dead, many missing after 17 inches of rain in Tennessee (AP) At least 22 people were killed and rescue crews searched desperately Sunday amid shattered homes and tangled debris for dozens of people still missing after record-breaking rain sent floodwaters surging through Middle Tennessee. Saturday’s flooding in rural areas took out roads, cellphone towers and telephone lines, leaving families uncertain about whether their loved ones survived the unprecedented deluge. Emergency workers were searching door to door, said Kristi Brown, a coordinator for health and safety supervisor with Humphreys County Schools. Up to 17 inches (43 centimeters) of rain fell in Humphreys County in less than 24 hours Saturday, shattering the Tennessee record for one-day rainfall by more than 3 inches (8 centimeters), the National Weather Service said. Lines of storms moved over the area for hours, wringing out a record amount of moisture. The downpours rapidly turned the creeks that run behind backyards and through downtown Waverly into raging rapids.

Moving inland, storm Henri drenches Northeast US (AP) Storm Henri weakened into tropical depression Sunday night, as it crawled over the Northeast and continued to unleash downpours over a region already saturated by heavy rain and wind that knocked out power to over 100,000 homes and swamped roads, closed bridges and left people stranded in their vehicles. Henri made landfall Sunday on the coast of Rhode Island, and the National Hurricane Center warned that the slow-moving storm would continue dumping heavy rains on wide swaths of the region. The storm was downgraded from a hurricane before reaching New England, leaving many to breathe a sigh of relief. There were few early reports of major damage due to wind or surf. But the storm’s heavy, sustained rains raised concerns about flooding from the storm that threatened to stall over the region before pivoting to the East and moving out to the Atlantic Ocean on Monday night. Some of the highest rain totals were expected inland.

Civilian air fleet activated for just 3rd time in history to aid Afghanistan evacuation (The Week) For just the third time in U.S. history, the Pentagon is activating the country's Civil Reserve Air Fleet, meaning 18 civilian aircraft from airlines such as American, Delta, and United will be utilized to aid the Afghanistan evacuation in the wake of the Taliban takeover. The planes won't fly into and out of Kabul—the CRAF does not enter war zones—but they will head to U.S. military bases in Germany, Qatar, and Bahrain to fly stranded evacuees elsewhere, alleviating some of the pressure on the armed forces trying to get tens of thousands of Americans and Afghan civilians to safety. The civilian planes are also necessary because the military planes used to carry people out of Kabul don't have adequate restroom facilities or the ability to provide food on longer flights across the Atlantic, The Wall Street Journal notes. The CRAF program was created in 1952, a few years after the Berlin Airlift, an early Cold War crisis that saw the Soviet Union block access from the east to other sectors of the divided city that were controlled by Western powers. Since then, it's only been activated twice—during the Gulf War in Kuwait between 1990 and 1991, and at the start of the Iraq War between 2002 and 2003. The Pentagon only wants to use the aircraft for a week or two, which seemingly lines up with its plan to finish the withdrawal by Aug. 31, though the U.S. is facing calls to extend the deadline.

In Haiti, a brutal reckoning over an all too familiar task: Rebuilding (Washington Post) Hundreds of schools in Haiti were destroyed or badly damaged when the earth shook. The quake damaged power plants, bridges and roads, compromising electric grids and transit. The water supplies for countless communities are contaminated, in some, locals say, because of corpses upstream. Even as Haitians bury their dead, rescue operations continue and bands of desperate victims raid aid trucks. A country of endless crises led by an interim government stepping in for an assassinated president once again faces the arduous task of rebuilding. In the Western Hemisphere’s poorest nation—one worn down by repeated natural and man-made disasters—the list of broken infrastructure and housing is an omen of new hardship ahead. Just as it did in 2010 after a more deadly earthquake—and in 2016, when Hurricane Matthew pummeled the same southern communities stricken by the quake now—Haiti is looking to the international community for help. But that hasn’t worked out well in the past. Last week’s quake reopened old wounds from the 2010 temblor that struck closer to the densely populated capital and killed more than 220,000 people. Over $13 billion in aid was allocated by international agencies to respond to the disaster. But mismanagement, a disconnect with local reality and lack of organization led to mistakes that the Haitian government, international agencies and NGOs say they can’t afford to commit again. To avoid the mistakes of the past, the Haitian government is now requesting that aid flow through it. But on the streets, distrust of local and national officials, who victims insist are corrupt and will spread distribute the aid for personal or political gain, is growing.

British military: 7 Afghans killed in chaos at Kabul airport (AP) A panicked crush of people trying to enter Kabul’s international airport killed seven Afghan civilians in the crowds, the British military said Sunday, showing the danger still posed to those trying to flee the Taliban’s takeover of the country. There have been stampedes and crushing injuries in the crowds, especially as Taliban fighters fire into the air to drive away those desperate to get on any flight out of the country. On Saturday, British and Western troops in full combat gear tried to control the crowds pressing in. They carried away some who were sweating and pale. With temperatures reaching 34 degree Celsius (93 degrees Fahrenheit), the soldiers sprayed water from a hose on those gathered or gave them bottled water to pour over their heads. It wasn’t immediately clear whether those killed had been physically crushed, suffocated or suffered a fatal heart attack in the crowds. Soldiers covered several corpses in white clothes to hide them from view. Other troops stood atop concrete barriers or shipping containers, trying to calm the crowd. Gunshots occasionally rang out.

Europe fears Afghan refugee crisis after Taliban takeover (AP) From above, the new border wall separating Turkey from Iran looks like a white snake winding through the barren hills. So far it only covers a third of the 540-kilometer (335-mile) border, leaving plenty of gaps for migrants to slip across in the dead of night. Traffic on this key migration route from central Asia to Europe has remained relatively stable compared to previous years. But European countries, as well as Turkey, fear the sudden return of Taliban rule in Afghanistan could change that. Haunted by a 2015 migration crisis fueled by the Syrian war, European leaders desperately want to avoid another large-scale influx of refugees and migrants from Afghanistan. Except for those who helped Western forces in the country’s two-decade war, the message to Afghans considering fleeing to Europe is: If you must leave, go to neighboring countries, but don’t come here. Even Germany, which since 2015 has admitted more Syrians than any other Western nation, is sending a different signal today. And French President Emmanuel Macron stressed that “Europe alone cannot shoulder the consequences” of the situation in Afghanistan and “must anticipate and protect ourselves against significant irregular migratory flows.” Greece, whose scenic islands facing the Turkish coast were the European point of entry for hundreds of thousands of Syrians, Iraqis, Afghans and others six years ago, has made clear it doesn’t want to relive that crisis. Turkey is also reinforcing its borders.

Internal displacement crisis looms in Afghanistan in wake of Taliban takeover (Washington Post) As Afghanistan’s neighbors, along with other countries in the region and in the West, brace for the possibility of a large-scale refugee crisis driven by the Taliban’s rapid return to national power, the largest share of the displacement crisis is unfolding within Afghanistan’s borders, aid groups say. As the Taliban took territory in recent weeks, waves of Afghans fled their home provinces on foot and in cars and rickshaws in search of shifting, shrinking government-controlled pockets. In the week before Kabul fell to the Islamist group, tens of thousands of people fled, many of them making their way to the capital, directly or by way of provincial capitals that did not hold out long. Afghanistan already had 3.5 million internally displaced people before the Taliban took over. More than a half-million Afghan civilians have been displaced this year, UNHCR estimates, with about 80 percent being woman and girls. Now that the Taliban has control at the national level, and there are few places to flee its fighters within the country, it remains to be seen what share of people will simply go home.

Israel strikes Gaza after violent protests along border (AP) Israel’s military bombed Palestinian militant weapons sites in the Gaza Strip early Sunday in response to a violent demonstration on the perimeter fence that left an Israeli police officer critically injured, the army said. Saturday’s violence erupted after hundreds of Palestinians took part in a demonstration organized by Gaza’s Hamas rulers to draw attention to the Israeli-Egyptian blockade of the territory. The demonstration grew violent after dozens of people approached the fortified border fence and threw rocks and explosives toward Israeli soldiers from behind a black smoke screen billowing from burning tires. At least 24 Palestinians, including a 13-year-old, were injured by Israeli gunfire, according to the Gaza health ministry. An Israeli Border Police officer was shot and critically injured. The army said in a statement that in response to the violent demonstrations, fighter planes hit “four weapons and storage manufacturing sites” belonging to Gaza’s Hamas rulers, and that the military deployed additional troops to the region near the border with the Palestinian enclave.

[redofthewestcountry]

MARCH: THE GOOD, THE BAD, THE WEIRD AND THE WONDERFUL.

Well, folks we passed level 3 of Jumanji, with just...

March

1st Mar: Former French president Nicolas Sarkozy sentenced to prison for corruption.

1st Mar: Arrests at Camp Nou for financial crimes

1st Mar: Meteor seen over UK

1st Mar: Japan asks China to stop conducting rectal covid tests on Japanese citizens

1st Mar: Perseverance Rover being controlled from flat above hairdressers in London, because Covid forced him to work from home

1st Mar: Zimbabwe Vice President resigns over voice cloning sex scandal

2nd Mar: Former Liverpool player Ian St John passes away aged 82

2nd Mar: Hundreds of kidnapped Nigerian girls released

3rd Mar: 6.2 magnitude Earthquake in Greece

3rd Mar: Thai Navy rescue four cats from burning ship

3rd Mar: Cat rescued from train roof

4th Mar: ICC opens war crimes investigation in Gaza and The West Bank

5th Mar: Illusion of ship floating in mid air photographed of Cornish Coast

5th Mar: Nun stands up against Myanmar military

6th Mar: Pope Francis meets Iraq's top Shia Cleric, in a private meeting in his home - the first between senior Christian and Muslim leaders

7th Mar: Bata, Equatorial Guinea explosions

7th Mar: Yemen migrant detention Centre fire

7th Mar: Myanmar political official dies in custody

7th Mar: Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, Oprah interview

8th Mar: German MP resigns over face mask sale, firm earned €250,000 euros from sales

8th Mar: Switzerland votes to ban religious face coverings in public

8th Mar: Syrian President and wife test positive for covid

8th March: South Africa student protests

9th Mar: Piers Morgan quits Good Morning Britain

9th Mar: UK to return £4.2 million stolen loot to Nigeria

9th Mar: Bangladesh's first transgender news reader makes debut

9th Mar: Trevor Peacock, Vicar of Dibley passes away

9th Mar: Met Police Officer arrested on suspicion of kidnap and murder of Sarah Everard

10th Mar: Tanzanian President in Kenyan hospital with Covid - asking for prayers and herbal infused steam therapy

10th Mar: Myanmar police defecting to India after orders from military to shoot protesters

10th Mar: Second ship floating in mid air illusion photographed off British coast

10th Mar: Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill 2021 - protest powers outlined

11th Mar: 13 killed in Nigerian school attack

11th Mar: Egyptian clothing factory fire

11th Mar: Ivorian Coast PM dies in German hospital

11th Mar: China approves plans to control Hong Kong elections

11th Mar: Lou Ottens, inventor of the cassette tape dies aged 94

11th Mar: EU declared LGBT Freedom Zone

12th Mar: George Floyd family given $27 million settlement prior to murder trial

13th Mar: Met Police officer charged with kidnap and murder of Sarah Everard

13th Mar: Spanish police seize home made submarine in drugs raid

13th Mar: Amazon announces refusal to sell books that frame sexual identity as mental illness

14th Mar: Spanish police arrest biggest cocaine gang in Madrid

14th Mar: Minibus carrying Argentine President attacked by anti open pit mining protests

14th Mar: Women detained at vigil for Sarah Everard

15th Mar: Australian sexual assault protests

15th Mar: Beijing sandstorm

15th Mar: Niger-Mali border attacks

16th Mar: Dinamo Zagreb manager given five year jail sentence for fraud

16th Mar: Bulgarian Police seize millions in counterfeit during operation with US

16th Mar: Rare ancient scroll, circa 2nd century a.d. found in Isreal Cave of Horror

16th Mar: Atalanta massage parlour shootings

17th Mar: Japan finds same sex marriage ban unconstitutional

17th Mar: Sabine Schmidtz passes away aged 51

17th Mar: Iceland records fifty thousand earthquakes in three weeks

17th Mar: Reddit investors adopt 3,500 gorillas in six days

17th Mar: First Sound recording of a Mars rover driving released by Nasa

18th Mar: Man arrested outside Kamala Harris' residence with rifle and ammunition

19th Mar: Salia Suluhu Hassan becomes first female Tanzanian President

19th Mar: 2,500 year old bull figurine found at ancient site of Olympia

19th Mar: Drugs worth over a million euros seized by French police turned out to be ground up strawberry haribo

20th Mar: Turkey withdraws from Istanbul convention to combat violence against women

21st Mar: Australia sees worst flooding in sixty years

21st Mar: 'Kill the Bill' protests turn violent in Bristol

22nd Mar: BBC and Sky announce deal to broadcast live women's football

22nd Mar: Boulder, Colarado ten killed in mass shooting, seventh in seven days in US

22nd Mar: Canada, EU, UK, and US impose sanctions against Chinese officials over Uighur detention camps and human rights abuses

23rd Mar: Container ship runs aground in Suez Canal

24th Mar: Virginia becomes first Southern state to abolish death penalty

24th Mar: Norwegian football team wears human rights t-shirts in protests over Qatar World Cup human rights abuses of migrant workers

25th Mar: Protests outside West Midlands school over Prophet Mohammed cartoon

25th Mar: German team follow Norwegian team in wearing t-shirts to support migrant workers in Qatar

25th Mar: North Korea tests ballistic missiles

25th Mar: Japan begins Olympic torch relay

26th Mar: Egyptian train crash

26th Mar: Dominion voting sues Fox News for $1.6 billion over election fraud claims

26th Mar: Western brands boycott cotton produced in China's Xinziang provence

27th Mar: Walrus spotted in Tenby

27th Mar: World Anti-Doping Agency launches investigation over British cycling allegations

27th Mar: 114 killed by security forces in Myanmar

28th Mar: 6 year old boy finds 488 million year old fossil in garden

28th Mar: Militant attack in Palma, Mozambique

29th Mar: Stern of grounded ship in Suez Canal freed, and position corrected by 80%

29th Mar: Derek Chauvin trial begins for the death of George Floyd

29th Mar: Ever Given freed from Suez Canal and on the move, after six days

29th Mar: Indonesian oil refinery fire

29th Mar: Mafia fugitive captured after posting cooking video to you tube

30th Mar: Rebecca Welch becomes first female ref appointed to English Football League game

30th Mar: Teen who called himself 'Hitler' jailed for terror offences

30th Mar: Japan's cherry blossom earliest peak since 812 ad.

30th Mar: Child tweets gibberish from US nuclear agency account

30th Mar: Police bust World's biggest video game cheat operation, with a revenue of £55 million

31st Mar: Attempted coup foiled in Niger before inauguration

31st Mar: Italian Naval Officer caught selling secrets to Russia

31st Mar: North Macedonia beat Germany in 2022 World Cup qualifier

[maksymilianmikolajczak]

Decade 2010-2019

- 2010 

JAN 1, 2010 Canon announced the largest CMOS image sensor ever made. The new sensor measures 202mm by 205mm. It is about 40 times the size of full-frame image sensor and is capable of capturing images using 1/100 of the light a normal professional DSLR. This means that the new sensor is capable of capturing 60 fps video at the unbelievable light level of 0.3 lux. Canon's new an important milestone in the world of digital photography.

- U.S. President Barack Obama honours Kodak's Steven Sasson, inventor of the digital camera, with the National Medal of Technology at the White House in Washington November 17, 2010. 

- 2011 

2011 – Lytro releases the first pocket-sized consumer light-field camera, capable of refocusing images after they are taken.                                         A light field camera, also known as plenoptic camera, captures information about the light field emanating from a scene; that is, the intensity of light in a scene, and also the direction that the light rays are traveling in space. This contrasts with a conventional camera, which records only light intensity.

One type of light field camera uses an array of micro-lenses placed in front of an otherwise conventional image sensor to sense intensity, color, and directional information. Multi-camera arrays are another type of light field camera. Holograms are a type of film-based light field image.

- 2012

JAN 1, 2012 Panasonic LUMIX G Lens for Micro Four Thirds                            This Technique has micro four third mount, 2 aspheric lens elements and minimum focus distance. In addition, it is awesome little lens, perfect prime, fast, sharp, and so on. Also, this lens is lightweight and fast/accurate image. To many photographers, it is an essential lens. It is recommended to used in the conditions like low light, night, landscape/scenery, weddings.

-2013

JAN 1, 2013 Sony’s ‘Smart Skin’ Camera Can See Zits Before They Appear. SSKEP (Smart Skin Evaluation Program), is a highly accurate, high speed technology for analyzing various elements of the skin, including texture, pores, brightness and coloring. Furthermore, pigmentation on and beneath the surface of the skin can be viewed by conducting pixel-by-pixel analysis of melanin in the skin, thus enabling information to be obtained about non-visible skin. 

-2014  

MAR 9, 2014Kodak Color Negative Film                                                    Kodak introduced Kodacolor, the first color reversal (negative) film, enabling color prints to be made.

-2015 

A nocturnal image showing a man passing a baby through a barbed wire fence on the Serbia-Hungary border, namely between Horgoš (Serbia) and Röszke (Hungary).

-2016

The winning photo of 2016 Description: The photo shows police officer Mevlüt Mert Altıntaş standing next to Andrei Karlov, the Russian Ambassador to Turkey, moments after he shot him in the back. Altıntaş shot Karlov to protest Russia's involvement in the Syrian Civil War.

-2017

The winning photo of 2017 Description: José Salazar, 28, catches fire amid violent clashes with riot police during a protest against president Nicolás Maduro, in Caracas, Venezuela. Salazar was set alight when the gas tank of a motorbike exploded. He survived the incident with first and second-degree burns. President Maduro had announced plans to revise Venezuela’s democratic system by forming a constituent assembly to replace the opposition-led National Assembly.

-2018 

2018 – Kodak resumes the production of Ektachrome film.

What else Happened ? 

2010

Haiti is struck by a devastating earthquake | The longest solar eclipse of the 3rd millennium occurs | Apple debuts the iPad | The Constellation Program is essentially cancelled | The worst marine environmental disaster in US history | Scientists create synthetic life | One-fifth of Pakistan is flooded | Solar power is plunging in cost

2011

Japan is devastated by a 9.0 magnitude earthquake and tsunami | The death of Osama bin Laden | Worsening economic crisis in Greece | The world's first synthetic organ transplant | South Sudan becomes an independent nation | The Space Shuttle fleet is retired | Global population reaches 7bn | USB 3.0 is widely available | 22 nanometre chips enter mass production

2012

The Diamond Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II | Euro 2012 is held in Poland and Ukraine | London hosts the Olympic Games | Mars Science Laboratory explores the Red Planet | Voyager I crosses the heliopause | Windows 8 is released | Quad-core smartphones and tablets | Nintendo launches the Wii U | The Abraj Al-Bait Towers are completed in Mecca

2013

North Korea conducts its third nuclear test | A meteor explodes over the Russian city of Chelyabinsk | The first creation of human embryonic stem cells by cloning| The NSA documents are leaked | Birth of a royal baby | China overtakes the USA in scientific research | The Lunar Atmosphere and Dust Environment Explorer (LADEE) is launched by NASA | The first gene therapy in the Western world

2014

Latvia joins the eurozone | The first gay marriages are held in England and Wales | Google Glass is launched to the public | Brazil hosts the FIFA World Cup | The 100th anniversary of World War I | 14 nanometre chips are released | Scotland votes "no" to independence | The MAVEN probe arrives at Mars | India's first Mars mission | The global average Internet connection is broadband | A comet passes extremely close to Mars.

2015

Lithuania joins the Eurozone | The Eurasian Union is formed | Expo 2015 is held in Milan, Italy | The Large Hadron Collider reaches its maximum operating power| The first self-regulating artificial heart | A new generation of hi-tech supercarriers | Queen Elizabeth II is the longest reigning monarch in British history | Personal biometric scanners for online banking

2016

Completion of the Panama Canal expansion project | Microchipping of all dogs in England | Euro 2016 is held in France | Rio de Janeiro hosts the Olympic Games | Supercomputers reach 100 petaflops | The Juno probe arrives at Jupiter | The world's largest single-aperture telescope is completed in China | The mining industry is highly automated | Agricultural robots are increasingly common on farms

2017

Total solar eclipse in the US | The JFK files are released | Sales of electric and hybrid trucks reach 100,000 annually | 10 nanometre chips enter mass production | Web-connected video devices exceed the global population | Electronic paper is seeing widespread use | Wireless, implantable devices that monitor health conditions in real time | A new treatment for prostate cancer

2018

South Korean city Pyeongchang hosts the Winter Olympics | Launch of the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) | Russia hosts the FIFA World Cup | East Africa's largest ever infrastructure project | The Japanese Hayabusa-2 probe arrives at 1999 JU3 | The Transbay Transit Center is opened in San Francisco | The NHS begins high-energy proton therapy in England

2019

The New Horizons probe arrives at Kuiper Belt Object 2014 MU69 | US copyright begins to expire, starting with all works from 1923 | Jair Bolsonaro becomes President of Brazil | The first soft landing on the far side of the Moon | The Emperor of Japan abdicates | Europe's Galileo satellite navigation system is fully operational | Connected vehicle technology is being deployed in a number of countries

https://www.timetoast.com/timelines/history-of-photography--81

https://www.businessinsider.com/digital-photography-revolution-2015-4?r=US&IR=T

https://www.futuretimeline.net/21stcentury/2010-2019.htm

[armeniangenocidehistory]

For more than a century, Turkey has denied any role in organizing the killing of Armenians in what historians have long accepted as a genocide that started in 1915, as World War I spread across continents. The Turkish narrative of denial has hinged on the argument that the original documents from postwar military tribunals that convicted the genocide’s planners were nowhere to be found.

Now, Taner Akcam, a Turkish historian at Clark University in Worcester, Mass., who has studied the genocide for decades by piecing together documents from around the world to establish state complicity in the killings, says he has unearthed an original telegram from the trials, in an archive held by the Armenian Patriarchate of Jerusalem.

“Until recently, the smoking gun was missing,” Mr. Akcam said. “This is the smoking gun.” He called his find “an earthquake in our field,” and said he hoped it would remove “the last brick in the denialist wall.”

The story begins in 1915 in an office in the Turkish city of Erzurum, when a high-level official of the Ottoman Empire punched out a telegram in secret code to a colleague in the field, asking for details about the deportations and killings of Armenians in eastern Anatolia, the easternmost part of contemporary Turkey.

Later, a deciphered copy of the telegram helped convict the official, Behaeddin Shakir, for planning what scholars have long acknowledged and Turkey has long denied: the organized killing of up to 1.5 million Armenians by the leaders of the collapsing Ottoman Empire, an atrocity widely recognized as the 20th century’s first genocide.

And then, just like that, most of the original documents and sworn testimony from the trials vanished, leaving researchers to rely mostly on summaries from the official Ottoman newspaper.

Mr. Akcam said he had little hope that his new finding would immediately change things, given Turkey’s ossified policy of denial and especially at a time of political turmoil when its president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, has turned more nationalist.

But Mr. Akcam’s life’s work has been to puncture, fact by fact, document by document, the denials of Turkey.

“My firm belief as a Turk is that democracy and human rights in Turkey can only be established by facing history and acknowledging historic wrongdoings,” he said.

He broadened his point to argue that much of the chaos gripping the Middle East today was a result of mistrust between communities over historical wrongdoings that no one is willing to confront.

“The past is not the past in the Middle East,” he said. “This is the biggest obstacle to peace and stability in the Middle East.”

Eric D. Weitz, a history professor at the City College of New York and an expert on the Armenian genocide, called Mr. Akcam “the Sherlock Holmes of Armenian genocide.”

“He has piled clue upon clue upon clue,” Professor Weitz added.

Exactly where the telegram was all these years, and how Mr. Akcam found it, is a story in itself. With Turkish nationalists about to seize the country in 1922, the Armenian leadership in Istanbul shipped 24 boxes of court records to England for safekeeping.

The records were kept there by a bishop, then taken to France and, later, to Jerusalem. They have remained there since the 1930s, part of a huge archive that has mostly been inaccessible to scholars, for reasons that are not entirely clear. Mr. Akcam said he had tried for years to gain access to the archive, with no luck.

Instead, he found a photographic record of the Jerusalem archive in New York, held by the nephew of a Armenian monk, now dead, who was a survivor of the genocide.

While researching the genocide in Cairo in the 1940s, the monk, Krikor Guerguerian, met a former Ottoman judge who had presided over the postwar trials. The judge told him that many of the boxes of case files had wound up in Jerusalem, so Mr. Guerguerian went there and took pictures of everything.

The telegram was written under Ottoman letterhead and coded in Arabic lettering; four-digit numbers denoted words. When Mr. Akcam compared it with the known Ottoman Interior Ministry codes from the time, found in an official archive in Istanbul, he found a match, raising the likelihood that many other telegrams used in the postwar trials could one day be verified in the same way.

For historians, the court cases were one piece of a mountain of evidence that emerged over the years — including reports in several languages from diplomats, missionaries and journalists who witnessed the events as they happened — that established the historical fact of the killings and qualified them as a genocide.

Turkey has long resisted the word genocide, saying that the suffering of the Armenians had occurred during the chaos of a world war in which Turkish Muslims faced hardship, too.

Turkey also claimed that the Armenians were traitors, and had been planning to join with Russia, then an enemy of the Ottoman Empire.

That position is deeply entwined in Turkish culture — it is standard in school curriculums — and polling has shown that a majority of Turks share the government’s position.

“My approach is that as much proof as you put in front of denialists, denialists will remain denialists,” said Bedross Der Matossian, a historian at the University of Nebraska and the author of “Shattered Dreams of Revolution: From Liberty to Violence in the Late Ottoman Empire.”

The genocide is commemorated each year on April 24, the day in 1915 that a group of Armenian notables from Istanbul were rounded up and deported.

It was the start of the enormous killing operation, which involved forced marches into the Syrian desert, summary executions and rapes.

Two years ago, Pope Francis referred to the killings as a genocide and faced a storm of criticism from within Turkey. Many countries, including France, Germany and Greece, have recognized the genocide, each time provoking diplomatic showdowns with Turkey.

The United States has not referred to the episode as genocide, out of concerns for alienating Turkey, a NATO ally and a partner in fighting terrorism in the Middle East. Barack Obama used the term when he was a candidate for president, but he refrained from doing so while in office.

This year, dozens of congressional leaders have signed a letter urging President Trump to recognize the genocide.

But that is unlikely, especially after Mr. Trump recently congratulated Mr. Erdogan for winning expanded powers in a referendum that critics say was marred by fraud.

Mr. Shakir, the Ottoman official who wrote the incriminating telegram discovered by Mr. Akcam, had fled the country by the time the military tribunal convicted him and sentenced him to death in absentia.

A few years later, he was gunned down in the streets of Berlin by two Armenian assassins described in an article by The New York Times as “slim, undersized, swarthy men lurking in a doorway.”

[leftpress]

2017: UPHEAVAL AND FIGHTBACK WILL CONTINUE WORLDWIDE

January 5, 2017 | Peter Taaffe

Everything to Play For in 2017

2016 was the year when the pent-up anger of the masses worldwide finally spilled over in a series of political earthquakes – a delayed reaction to the devastating world economic crisis of 2007-08. And tremors are still being felt, with serious aftershocks – if not new earthquakes – expected in 2017.

The changed situation was dramatically illustrated by Brexit, with repercussions not just in Europe but worldwide. At bottom, this reflected a working class revolt against the austerity programme both of the British Tory government and the predatory capitalist EU.

The Socialist Party has consistently opposed the capitalist, imperialist EU from its origins and therefore called for a Leave vote in the referendum, along with the transport workers’ union the RMT and many others.

Moreover, it was striking that those who had suffered under the iron heel of the EU – the Greek, Spanish, Portuguese and Italian workers – hailed Brexit, which they saw as striking a decisive blow against their mortal enemies, the gang of EU robber capitalists.

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Fight the Right

We also fought against the corrosive nationalism of Ukip and other reactionary forces who attempted to seize hold of Brexit as a means of dividing workers against one another. We will stay implacably opposed to the neoliberal EU while at the same time proposing a class and socialist alternative: no to the EU, yes to a socialist confederation of Europe.

It is no exaggeration to say that the leave vote resounded throughout the world. How dare the ignorant untutored masses defy their rulers, reasoned an army of capitalist comentators!

The leave vote upended the Tory cabinet and Cameron was soon consigned to history. Absolute turmoil has ensued, which continues into 2017, plunging the Tory party under Theresa May into an endemic crisis. The capitalist media constantly harps on the split within Labour but from the medium and long-term perspectives, the divisions within the Tory party are much more serious.

A schism within the Tory party, like that over the Corn Laws in the first half of the nineteenth century, is entirely possible. This saw the Tory party out of power for generations.

In Italy, Renzi has followed Cameron, after a stunning 60% to 40% rejection of his own undemocratic referendum, which sought to consolidate his austerity regime.

But the far right in Europe is still on the march, having been given a lift by the victory of Trump in the U.S. presidential elections. Although the Austrian far right failed to win the re-run presidential election.

It is not even excluded that at a certain stage some countries – Austria, France, the Netherlands and possibly also Italy – could repeat the successes of the far right in Eastern Europe, participating in right-wing coalition governments.

Failure

It is the transparent failure of right-wing social democracy in Spain, Greece, Portugal and Britain – trapped within the framework of diseased capitalism and consequently presiding over savage cuts, eye watering poverty, mass unemployment etc – which has provided this opportunity for the right to emerge and threaten past conquests of the working class.

They believe that they have been given a huge comfort blanket by the victory of Donald Trump in the U.S. elections. There are even some on the left who believe that a ‘festival of reaction’ will follow.

Nothing of the kind is likely or possible. Without in any way minimising the threat from the right – which should be fought – the relationship of class forces is still decisively in favour of the working class and its organisations, although weakened. The fascists could not successfully use today the methods of Hitler or Mussolini, the mobilisation of mass middle class forces to terrorise and atomise the working class.

Coming to power – even partially sharing power in a right-wing, conservative government – would act like a crack of thunder to awaken the working class and particularly the youth into ferocious resistance to such governments and the measures that they would undertake.

Witness the marvellous resistance of Polish women to the attempt to restrict abortion rights. Other powerful mass women’s movements have developed in Ireland against strict abortion laws, in Argentina against vile attacks on women, and in Turkey against attempts to legitimise rape.

Look also at the mass resistance that erupted against Trump’s fraudulent victory in cities in the U.S., in some cases led by our co-thinkers in Socialist Alternative. It is expected that mass demonstrations in the U.S. and worldwide will take place on January 20 at Trump’s inauguration. This is just a little payment on account for the mass working class resistance he is likely to encounter in the next years.

Moreover, such right-wing governments with far-right participation would pave the way for a massive swing towards the left among the working class, which would be reflected in the labour movement. This will act to further discredit the right-wing social democrats, who through their failure have paved the way for the right’s re-emergence.

The truth is class radicalisation overwhelmingly predominates worldwide. This was shown in the 180 million Indian workers who demonstrated their power in a mighty general strike against the right-wing Modi regime in September 2016.

Unprecedented mass movements have also a broken out in South Korea, which are likely to force the president out on corruption charges.

Middle East

Of course, this has to be balanced against the horrific intractable crisis in the Middle East with its countless victims – a monument to the endless horrors to which humankind will suffer on the basis of outmoded capitalism.

The war in Syria has lasted longer than World War One, and moreover there is an element of that situation in the present conflict with its mutual slaughter. Leon Trotsky remarked in relation to the pre-1914 Balkan war: “Our descendants… will spread their hands in horror when they learn from history books about the methods by which capitalist peoples settled their disputes.”

If nothing else, the Syrian war has demonstrated beyond all doubt that none of the capitalist powers – the U.S., Russia, the European Union – can provide a solution to the myriad national conflicts within the region.

Indeed, imperialism in all its guises – British, French, U.S. – is the author of the present divisive patchwork divide-and-rule tactics on a massive scale, undemocratically stitched together when these imperialist powers were forced to retreat from direct domination of the region in the post-1945 situation.

A representative of the British spy agency MI6 recently appeared on British television and had the effrontery to quote from the Roman historian Tacitus – “You create a desolation and call it peace” – while attacking Putin’s Russia! If so, then Putin learnt well in the school of the British ruling class and MI6. They were the first to pursue a bloody divide-and-rule policy, to carve out their empire upon which the “sun would never set.”

Only the decisive intervention of the working class and poor in the Middle East region through a program of class unity and socialism on the basis of a democratic confederation can put an end to this horror once and for all. The first step towards this would be the development of an independent political voice for the masses.

But in the meantime the catastrophic situation which has beset all countries in the Middle East will continue. The alleged coup in Turkey has led to an even bigger and more effective right-wing counter-coup led by Turkish President ErdoÄŸan himself. Over 100,000 public sector workers have been dismissed; there has been a clampdown on the media and suppression of democratic rights. Only by determined struggle, and a vision of a new humane, socialist society, will the forces of the right be pushed back.

Donald Trump

Nowhere is that more necessary than in the U.S. following the victory of the right-wing demagogic populist Donald Trump, who lied and cheated his way to power by pretending to champion the “working class.” Nothing could be further from the truth.

He lacks any real “legitimacy” for his right-wing program. While he won the Electoral College, he was decisively beaten in the “popular vote” by 2.6 million, receiving fewer votes even than the last defeated Republican presidential candidates Romney and McCain, and George W Bush when he won.

Within a matter of weeks – and without being installed yet as president – he has shredded most of his promises. His proposed government, true to form, is stuffed with billionaires, representative not of ‘Main Street’ but of Wall Street, which he denounced during the election campaign.

He is recruiting heavily from Goldman Sachs, which after the crash of 2007-08 was described by Rolling Stone magazine as “a great vampire squid wrapped around the face of humanity.” Its tentacles are poised to try and further strangle working people in the cause of Trump’s pro-big business agenda.

The trade unions face a massive challenge as he seeks to emulate Ronald Reagan in rolling out so-called “right to work” legislation to weaken them. He will seek to reward Wall Street sharks who supported him by ruthless measures like privatization and sackings, particularly of public sector workers.

Infrastructure and Jobs

He hopes to soften the blatant pro-billionaire agenda by borrowing from capitalist economist Keynes with a promise to increase government spending of at least $1 trillion on the U.S.’s collapsing infrastructure.

However, as welcome as any new jobs would be in restoring the confidence of the U.S. working class to fight back against the bosses and providing the unemployed with work, nevertheless these would not replace the high paid secure jobs which have been lost in the massive deindustrialization of the U.S.

An estimated 70,000 factories in the U.S. disappeared during this process, never to return on the basis of capitalism. Since 2010 something like 15 million new jobs were generated in the US but these have been overwhelmingly low paid and insecure, many the equivalent of the hated zero-hour contracts in Britain.

Moreover, the U.S. is already saddled with colossal debt – government, corporate and personal – which is the main reason why enfeebled U.S. and world capitalism has been able to still stagger on.

But will even a Republican congress ratify big increases in public spending, without any overall economic growth and ratcheting up even more debt? Top U.S. tax expert and Congressman Ken Brady has declared: “The greatest threat to our prosperity long term is our growing national debt.”

On the basis of capitalism, particularly the parasitic kind which Trump represents, a return to a ‘golden age’ when today appeared to be better than yesterday, and tomorrow would certainly be better, is over. The 60% of the US population who now consider themselves worse off than before signifies this.

Bernie Sanders

Hence the explosive developments in the U.S. with the rise of the Bernie Sanders movement. Sanders’ call for a political revolution drew mass support from discontented workers and young people and in turn terrified the pro-capitalist Democratic Party establishment.

When he was denied victory in the primaries by the manoeuvres of the pro-Clinton Democratic establishment, Bernie made a big mistake in not taking to the open road and establishing a new party. He had successfully appealed to the same impoverished and discontented layers of workers and young people to whom Trump was also pitching his message.

If he had stood for the presidency, then if not beating Trump, he would have at least attracted sufficient support to have allowed for the possibility of Hillary Clinton coming to power. This would have been the ideal scenario for the prospects of the further political awakening of the American working class and the youth.

A Clinton Democrat administration, which would have been tested to destruction – much as the Liberal Party in Britain was at the turn of the 20th century – could have created the base for the emergence of a new mass workers’ party. Given the economic catastrophe of US capitalism and the desperation of the masses for an alternative, a new mass movement for socialism would have taken shape.

The election of Trump – the whip of counter-revolution – will not halt but ultimately spur on this process. There are features present in the current situation reminiscent of the explosive years in the 1960s and 70s. Socialism is an idea which has already captured the imagination of the new generation of workers and young people.

Socialism in the U.S.

“Trotsky in New York 1917” – part of the avalanche of new books in preparation for the hundredth anniversary of the Russian Revolution this year – while inaccurate about Trotsky’s real political views, nevertheless provides valuable insights about the powerful attraction for the American masses of socialism and its leading international figures then.

We are informed that “at least six New York newspapers with more than half a million readers would announce Trotsky’s arrival in the city. Three put the story on the front page.” There was a vibrant socialist movement and Eugene Debs had stood as a Socialist Party candidate in every presidential election since 1900, receiving over one million votes in 1912, the equivalent of six million today.

Those traditions will be revived, alongside those of the monumental class battles of the 1930s. American capitalism’s colossal wealth and power allowed it to soften class relations in the post-1945 situation. Its relative economic decline has now sharpened these divisions, which will be further deepened by Trump.

And this will develop with American speed and elan. The success of our U.S. co-thinkers, with the spectacular growth of Socialist Alternative and the election of the first socialist councillor in 100 years in Seattle – Kshama Sawant – is a measure of the changes wrought in the heartland of world capitalism.

As is the success of the school student union in Spain, which chalked up a big national victory against the PP government – the first in five years – when it successfully mobilised two million school students in a national strike which compelled the government to withdraw its attacks on education.

The political force behind this victory, the Spanish Marxist organisation Izquierda Revolucionaria, is in the process of linking up with the Committee for a Workers’ International (CWI), which represents a great strengthening of the genuine forces of Marxism internationally. This will undoubtedly act as a magnet for other Marxist forces to come together with us to confront capitalism and its agents within the workers’ movement.

Warnings

Never has this been more necessary. Even the representatives of the capitalist system, like Mark Carney, governor of the Bank of England, have warned the class they represent of the inherent dangers arising from the current crisis. Carney warned of the worst crisis for over 100 years with the UK “suffering its first lost decade since the 1860s”, when Karl Marx was alive.

He repeatedly referred to the sense of insecurity and frustrations with global trade and technology, which has favored “the superstar and the lucky… But what of the frustrated and frightened?” He denounced “inequality” as well as the banks who had been, according to him working in a “heads I win, tails you lose bubble.”

Its intent was to warn the bosses who Carney represents of the incendiary economic and social situation in Britain which threatens to blow the system apart. And the examples which he uses are damning indictments of British capitalism, as well as an indication of further seismic events to come.

More than a fifth of the UK’s population – almost 14 million people – is below the official yardstick for calculating poverty, according to the Joseph Rowntree Foundation. That includes 4.8 million adults and 2.6 million children in poverty despite living in a working family. The numbers in this category grew by over a million in the last decade, symbolising the inexorable impoverishment of broad swathes of the British people.

Stories now creep into the press of how those who come from the middle class can now rapidly sink into a desperate situation. From having a job, to no job, therefore no income, then being incapable of paying the rent and ultimately ending up on the streets. The wheel of progress has gone into rapid reverse towards barbarism, with some homeless people now found to be living in caves in Wales!

Jeremy Corbyn and Labour

It was these conditions – arising from the complete failure of traditional ‘social democracy’ trapped within the framework of outmoded capitalism to provide an answer – which lit the flame of populist revolt symbolized in Britain through the mass movement gathered around Jeremy Corbyn. And yet 18 months after this – and with the crushing defeat of two right-wing Blairite coups – his campaign has now stalled. Jeremy himself seems to be missing in action. Why?

Because a policy of ‘peaceful coexistence’ during a civil war, which has existed in the Labour Party and the labour movement from the very first day that Jeremy was elected, has been adopted by his closest supporters in the leadership of Momentum. It is potentially fatal for his leadership prospects and the mass anti-austerity movement around him. This has been successfully urged on him by his closest advisers in Momentum.

There is an element of dual power in the Labour Party at the moment. The right controls the Parliamentary Labour Party – mainly the unreconstructed Labour right, who display their opposition and contempt for Corbyn and his allies on a daily basis.

These “Labour” MPs are unmistakably in the camp of the bosses. This was illustrated by Chris Evans, MP for Islwyn – one of the poorest constituencies in South Wales – seeing himself as the “voice” of the parasitic hedge funds rather than the working class, and proposing a parliamentary liaison committee with these City of London creatures.

This right-wing MP is prepared to get into bed with the financial spivs, who create nothing and who treat factories and workplaces as ‘assets’ that can be gambled away on the stock exchange. They are the sworn enemy of working people and yet this alleged representative of the workers of South Wales seeks the participation of corrupt, parasitic swindlers who are shunned by even “respectable” capitalists.

This shows just how politically corrupt large swathes of the Parliamentary Labour Party are – the sooner they are driven out the better. The Labour right have played for time, while the left has dithered and refused to conduct a real struggle, therefore playing into the hands of the right.

This is particularly the role of the leaders of Momentum. They refused to consistently support the one measure that would have mobilised hundreds of thousands of left-leaning workers and youth who joined the Labour Party in great enthusiasm to complete the Corbyn revolution: namely, subjecting right-wing MPs to reselection.

The Socialist Party has offered to further this process, to join the Labour Party on the basis of a political and organisational reconfiguration, leading to a federal form of party. Jon Lansman, the leader of Momentum, unceremoniously refused to support this, while showing touching sensitivity to the right. His tactics have blown up in his face, with Momentum torn apart over forms of organisation.

There have been no systematic protests at the arbitrary and bureaucratic denial of access to its ranks or that of the Labour Party.

Our request for readmission of 75 supporters of the Socialist Party previously expelled has met a brick wall. This while the right have ruthlessly used their position on the National Executive Committee (NEC) of the Labour Party to consolidate their grip.

Unresolved Civil War

The right have a clear plan to expel and marginalize all those on the left who pose a threat to their continued rule. The left under the baton of Momentum’s leadership – organizationally and politically inept – have allowed the right to make a comeback.

All of this could have been avoided if clear direction had been given from the beginning to the hundreds of thousands who rallied enthusiastically to Corbyn’s anti-austerity program and clearly demonstrated the desire to drive the Blairite right out of the Labour Party. The response of Momentum’s leadership was to rule out any such political “confrontation” with the right.

The Labour Party is still composed of two incompatible parties in one. The right from the beginning showed they were absolutely unreconciled to Corbyn’s leadership and would overthrow him at the first opportunity. That still remains their goal.

The civil war which has existed from the beginning of Corbyn’s accession to the leadership remains unresolved. The right, having failed to remove him in an open coup and afraid of leaving the Labour Party in the hands of the left, have fallen back on a “creeping coup.” The tactics consist of a war of attrition, constantly seeking to discredit Jeremy and John McDonnell, and marginalizing and excluding their supporters.

Blind Alley

There is nevertheless everything to play for in 2017. Capitalism is a blind alley, incapable of taking society substantially forward. All of those parties who accept the system will ultimately fall under the wheels of history.

The movement around Jeremy represents a determined attempt to throw off the outmoded shell of Blairite pro-market, pro-capitalist forces and take to a more radical, socialist road.

The Socialist Party, together with the CWI, will do everything in its power to assist workers and young people to attain the goal of a mass, socialist party fighting for a socialist society in Britain and the world.

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[brookstonalmanac]

Events 2.23

303 – Roman emperor Diocletian orders the destruction of the Christian church in Nicomedia, beginning eight years of Diocletianic Persecution. 532 – Byzantine emperor Justinian I orders the building of a new Orthodox Christian basilica in Constantinople – the Hagia Sophia. 1455 – Traditional date for the publication of the Gutenberg Bible, the first Western book printed with movable type. 1554 – Mapuche forces, under the leadership of Lautaro, score a victory over the Spanish at the Battle of Marihueñu in Chile. 1739 – At York Castle, the outlaw Dick Turpin is identified by his former schoolteacher. Turpin had been using the name Richard Palmer. 1778 – American Revolutionary War: Baron von Steuben arrives at Valley Forge, Pennsylvania to help to train the Continental Army. 1820 – Cato Street Conspiracy: A plot to murder all the British cabinet ministers is exposed. 1836 – Texas Revolution: The Siege of the Alamo (prelude to the Battle of the Alamo) begins in San Antonio, Texas. 1847 – Mexican–American War: Battle of Buena Vista: In Mexico, American troops under future president General Zachary Taylor defeat Mexican General Antonio López de Santa Anna. 1854 – The official independence of the Orange Free State is declared. 1861 – President-elect Abraham Lincoln arrives secretly in Washington, D.C., after the thwarting of an alleged assassination plot in Baltimore, Maryland. 1870 – Reconstruction Era: Post-U.S. Civil War military control of Mississippi ends and it is readmitted to the Union. 1883 – Alabama becomes the first U.S. state to enact an anti-trust law. 1885 – Sino-French War: French Army gains an important victory in the Battle of Đồng Đăng in the Tonkin region of Vietnam. 1886 – Charles Martin Hall produced the first samples of aluminium from the electrolysis of aluminium oxide, after several years of intensive work. He was assisted in this project by his older sister, Julia Brainerd Hall. 1887 – The French Riviera is hit by a large earthquake, killing around 2,000. 1898 – Émile Zola is imprisoned in France after writing J'Accuse…!, a letter accusing the French government of antisemitism and wrongfully imprisoning Captain Alfred Dreyfus. 1900 – Second Boer War: During the Battle of the Tugela Heights, the first British attempt to take Hart's Hill fails. 1903 – Cuba leases Guantánamo Bay to the United States "in perpetuity". 1905 – Chicago attorney Paul Harris and three other businessmen meet for lunch to form the Rotary Club, the world's first service club. 1909 – The AEA Silver Dart makes the first powered flight in Canada and the British Empire. 1917 – First demonstrations in Saint Petersburg, Russia. The beginning of the February Revolution (March 8 in the Gregorian calendar). 1927 – U.S. President Calvin Coolidge signs a bill by Congress establishing the Federal Radio Commission (later replaced by the Federal Communications Commission) which was to regulate the use of radio frequencies in the United States. 1927 – German theoretical physicist Werner Heisenberg writes a letter to fellow physicist Wolfgang Pauli, in which he describes his uncertainty principle for the first time. 1934 – Leopold III becomes King of Belgium. 1941 – Plutonium is first produced and isolated by Dr. Glenn T. Seaborg. 1942 – World War II: Japanese submarines fire artillery shells at the coastline near Santa Barbara, California. 1943 – The Cavan Orphanage fire kills thirty-five girls and an elderly cook. 1943 – Greek Resistance: The United Panhellenic Organization of Youth is founded in Greece. 1944 – The Soviet Union begins the forced deportation of the Chechen and Ingush people from the North Caucasus to Central Asia. 1945 – World War II: During the Battle of Iwo Jima, a group of United States Marines reach the top of Mount Suribachi on the island and are photographed raising the American flag. 1945 – World War II: The 11th Airborne Division, with Filipino guerrillas, free all 2,147 captives of the Los Baños internment camp, in what General Colin Powell later would refer to as "the textbook airborne operation for all ages and all armies." 1945 – World War II: The capital of the Philippines, Manila, is liberated by combined Filipino and American forces. 1945 – World War II: Capitulation of German garrison in Poznań. The city is liberated by Soviet and Polish forces. 1945 – World War II: The German town of Pforzheim is annihilated in a raid by 379 British bombers. 1947 – International Organization for Standardization is founded. 1954 – The first mass inoculation of children against polio with the Salk vaccine begins in Pittsburgh. 1966 – In Syria, Ba'ath Party member Salah Jadid leads an intra-party military coup that replaces the previous government of General Amin al-Hafiz, also a Baathist. 1971 – Operation Lam Son 719: South Vietnamese General Do Cao Tri was killed in a helicopter crash en route to taking control of the faltering campaign. 1974 – The Symbionese Liberation Army demands $4 million more to release kidnap victim Patty Hearst. 1980 – Iran hostage crisis: Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini states that Iran's parliament will decide the fate of the American embassy hostages. 1981 – In Spain, Antonio Tejero attempts a coup d'état by capturing the Spanish Congress of Deputies. 1983 – The United States Environmental Protection Agency announces its intent to buy out and evacuate the dioxin-contaminated community of Times Beach, Missouri. 1987 – Supernova 1987a is seen in the Large Magellanic Cloud. 1988 – Saddam Hussein begins the Anfal genocide against Kurds and Assyrians in northern Iraq. 1991 – In Thailand, General Sunthorn Kongsompong leads a bloodless coup d'état, deposing Prime Minister Chatichai Choonhavan. 1998 – In the United States, tornadoes in central Florida destroy or damage 2,600 structures and kill 42 people. 1999 – Kurdish rebel leader Abdullah Öcalan is charged with treason in Ankara, Turkey. 2007 – A train derails on an evening express service near Grayrigg, Cumbria, England, killing one person and injuring 88. This results in hundreds of points being checked over the UK after a few similar accidents. 2008 – A United States Air Force B-2 Spirit bomber crashes on Guam, marking the first operational loss of a B-2. 2010 – Unknown criminals pour more than 2​1⁄2 million liters of diesel oil and other hydrocarbons into the river Lambro, in northern Italy, sparking an environmental disaster. 2012 – A series of attacks across Iraq leave at least 83 killed and more than 250 injured. 2017 – The Turkish-backed Free Syrian Army captures Al-Bab from ISIL. 2019 – Atlas Air Flight 3591, a Boeing 767 freighter, crashes into Trinity Bay near Anahuac, Texas, killing all three people on board.

[sportsleague365]

Lawyers representing the woman who has accused Cristiano Ronaldo of raping her have said she has been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress and depression because of the alleged 2009 attack in Las Vegas. Kathryn Mayorga’s lawyer, Leslie Stovall, told reporters on Wednesday that a psychiatrist’s medical opinion is that Ms Mayorga’s psychological injuries made her “incompetent” to legally reach a non-disclosure settlement with the footballer’s representatives in 2010. Ms Mayorga filed a lawsuit last week seeking to void the agreement she claims to have signed while accepting $375,000 to keep quiet about the alleged encounter. Watch moreRonaldo has denied the accusations of rape against him, saying on Twitter that he had a “clear conscience”. Las Vegas police say they’ve reopened their investigation of a sexual assault complaint filed nine years ago. Ms Mayorga Lawyers, who sued Ronaldo in a district court in Clark County, Nevada on Thursday, said the soccer star has 20 days from the filing of the lawsuit to respond. She has left Las Vegas to escape the attention on her case, her lawyers said at a news conference, in which Ms Mayorga was not present. leftCreated with Sketch. rightCreated with Sketch. 1/50 3 October 2018Quake survivors make their way past a washed out passenger ferry in Wani, Indonesia’s Central Sulawesi, after an earthquake and tsunami hit the area on September 28. Nearly 1,400 people are now known to have died as UN officials warned the “needs remain vast” for both desperate survivors and rescue teams still searching for victims AFP/Getty 2/50 2 October 2018US first lady Melania Trump holds a baby during a visit to a hospital in Accra, Ghana. The first lady is visiting Africa on her first big solo international trip, aiming to make child well-being the focus of a five-day, four-country tour Reuters 3/50 1 October 2018Indian school children dressed like Mahatma Gandhi perform yoga during a event at a school in Chennai ahead of his birth anniversary. Indians all over the country celebrate Gandhi’s birthday on October 2 AFP/Getty 4/50 30 September 2018An Albanian man casts his vote at a polling station in the village of Zajas on September 30, 2018, for a referendum to re-name the country. – Macedonians cast ballots on September 30 on whether to re-name their country North Macedonia, a bid to settle a long-running row with Greece and unlock a path to NATO and EU membership AFP/Getty 5/50 29 September 2018Residents trying to salvage belongings from their homes which collapsed after an earthquake and tsunami hit Palu on Sulawesi island on September 29, 2018. – Nearly 400 people were killed when a powerful quake sent a tsunami barrelling into the Indonesian island of Sulawesi, officials said on September 29, as hospitals struggled to cope with hundreds of injured and rescuers scrambled to reach the stricken region. AFP/Getty 6/50 28 September 2018Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and German Chancellor Angela Merkel during a press conference in Berlin. Erdogan’s official state visit has been met with protests EPA 7/50 27 September 2018Equatorial Guinea’s President Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo addresses the 73rd session of the United Nations General Assembly, at U.N. headquarters AP 8/50 26 September 2018Members of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) search for victims after a building collapsed in New Delhi killing five people, the latest incident highlighting India’s poor urban planning and construction AFP/Getty 9/50 25 September 2018US golfer Tiger Woods tees off during a practice session ahead of the 42nd Ryder Cup at Le Golf National Course at Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines, south-west of Paris AFP/Getty 10/50 24 September 2018President Donald Trump and US ambassador to the United Nations, Nikki Haley, talk with UN secretary general Antonio Guterres during the General Assembly at UN Headquarters AP 11/50 23 September 2018Iranian President Hassan Rouhani has claimed that his country is “ready to confront America”, following an attack on a military parade in Ahvaz in which 25 people were killed. The attack has been blamed by Iranian government and military officials on gulf states that are allied with the US AP 12/50 22 September 2018Pakistan has invited Saudi Arabia to become a partner in the Beijing funded Belt and Road scheme that will improve and expand Pakistan’s infrastructure. The invite comes at the end of Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan’s two day trip to the Middle Eastern country, where he met with Saudi King Salman EPA 13/50 21 September 2018A boat has capsized killing at 136 people in Lake Victoria, Tanzania. Rescue operations are ongoing AFP/Getty 14/50 20 September 2018Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe celebrates after the ruling liberal Democratic Party (LDP) leadership election at the party’s headquarters in Tokyo on September 20, 2018. – Prime Minister Shinzo Abe won re-election as leader of his ruling party on September 20, setting him on course to become Japan’s longest-serving premier and realise his dream of reforming the constitution. AFP/Getty 15/50 19 September 2018Los Angeles has moved to ban the sale of fur within its city limits. Speaking at a news conference today, councillor Bob Blumenfield said “this is something that is not just a good legislative win, it’s a moral win”. LA will be the biggest city in the US to ban the sale of fur, as it follows San Francisco, Berkley and others AP 16/50 18 September 2018South Korean President Moon Jae-in and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un wave during a car parade in Pyongyang, North Korea, Reuters 17/50 17 September 2018Australia has launched a nationwide investigation into needles being hidden in strawberries. Sewing needles have reportedly been found in strawberries in all 6 Australian states and the market is suffering from the resultant fear EPA 18/50 16 September 2018Typhoon Mangkhut has made landfall in China, bringing winds of 100mph to coastal areas and storm surges of 10 feet in Hong Kong. Pictured here are the smashed windows of an office tower in Hong Kong. Reuters 19/50 15 September 2018German Police have begun evicting activists from the Hambacher Forest where a protest to protect the remaining section of the ancient forest has been ongoing for the past 6 years. Dozens of activists have been living in treehouses, but are now being forced out after tensions rose between them and energy company RWE, which plans to expand its coal mine further into the remaining woodland AFP/Getty 20/50 14 September 2018Speaking in Malmo today, the Dalai Lama stated “I think Europe belongs to Europeans” and suggested that refugees should focus on returning home and developing their home countries Reuters 21/50 13 September 2018Preparations for Hurricane Florence, expected to make land on Friday, continue in North and South Carolina and Viriginia. Over 1 million people have been evacuated leading up to the arrival of the category 4 storm Getty 22/50 12 September 2018Um Majid, left, tries an improvised gas mask on family members in her home in Binnish in Syria’s rebel-held northern Idlib province as part of preparations for any upcoming raids. Fearing government forces and their allies military advance to retake Idlib province, the mother of three learnt from YouTube videos how to make gas masks from charcoal, wood, paper cups, cotton, nylon plastic bags and tapes. According to her, she could manufacture more masks but the material she needs are not always available. She also dug a cave under her home AFP/Getty 23/50 11 September 2018People waving pro-independence Catalan flags ‘Esteladas’ while holding letters reading “independence” during a pro-independence demonstration in Barcelona to mark the National Day of Catalonia, the “Diada”. Catalan separatists put on a show of strength and unity at celebrations of the region’s national day, nearly a year after a failed attempt to break away from Spain. Catalonia’s national day, the ‘Diada’ commemorates the fall of Barcelona in the War of the Spanish Succession in 1714 and the region’s subsequent loss of institutions and freedoms AFP/Getty 24/50 10 September 2018An Indian man makes his way through floodwaters from the overflowing Panchanai River in Siliguri. Continuous rainfall has caused flooding and landslides in parts of Siliguri and surrounding areas, affecting road travel and daily life AFP/Getty 25/50 9 September 2018Participants wave flowers as they march past a balcony from where North Korea’s leader Kim Jong Un was watching, during a mass rally on Kim Il Sung square in Pyongyang. The military parade was held to mark the nations 70th birthday, but refrained from showing off the intercontinental ballistic missiles that have seen it hit with multiple international sanctions AFP/Getty 26/50 8 September 2018350.Org march for Climate Justice at the Quezon Memorial Circle in Quezon City, Philippines. Rise for Climate protests took places across the world to demand action Leo Sabangan/350.org (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0) 27/50 7 September 2018Displaced Syrians take part in a protest against the regime and its ally Russia at a camp for displaced people in Kafr Lusin near the Bab al-Hawa border crossing with Turkey in Syria’s northern Idlib province AFP/Getty 28/50 6 September 2018An aerial view of houses damaged by a landslide in Atsuma town, Hokkaido prefecture, after an earthquake hit the northern Japanese island. Rescuers scrabbled through mud for survivors after the powerful earthquake sent hillsides crashing down onto homes, killing at least nine people and leaving dozens of people missing AFP/Getty 29/50 5 September 2018US Capitol Police arrest a protestor as Judge Brett Kavanaugh testifies during the second day of his US Senate Judiciary Committee confirmation hearing to be an Associate Justice on the US Supreme Court. President Donald Trump’s newest Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh is expected to face punishing questioning from Democrats this week over his endorsement of presidential immunity and his opposition to abortion AFP/Getty 30/50 4 September 2018Damaged traffic boards and telecommunication relay poles after they were brought down by strong winds caused by typhoon Jebi in Osaka. The strongest typhoon to hit Japan in 25 years made landfall on September 4, the country’s weather agency said, bringing violent winds and heavy rainfall that prompted evacuation warnings AFP/Getty 31/50 3 September 2018Myanmar journalist Kyaw Soe Oo is escorted by police after being sentenced by a court to jail in Yangon. Two Reuters journalists were jailed for seven years for breaching Myanmar’s official secrets act during their reporting of the Rohingya crisis, a judge said, a case that has drawn outrage as an attack on media freedom AFP/Getty 32/50 2 September 2018A Somali soldier walks near the wreckage of vehicles at the scene of a blast outside the compound of a district headquarters in the capital Mogadishu. A Somali police officer says a number of people were wounded after a suicide bomber detonated an explosives-laden vehicle at a checkpoint outside the headquarters after being stopped by security forces AP 33/50 1 September 2018A Utair-operated Boeing 737-800 which skidded off the runway and caught fire during landing, at Sochi international airport, in the Russian Black Sea resort. Russia’s transportation minister says a supervisor at the airport died during the emergency response after a landing airliner careered off the end of the runway, into a riverbed and caught fire. There were no deaths reported among the 164 passengers and six crew members aboard the Utair Boeing 737, but the Russian health ministry said 18 people were injured. The fire was extinguished within eight minutes AP 34/50 31 August 2018Mourners attend Aretha Franklin’s funeral at Greater Grace Temple in Detroit AFP/Getty 35/50 30 August 2018Firefighters watch on as flames leap from a giant factory fire in the inner Melbourne suburb of West Footscray – More than 120 firefighters are fighting the fire, with 30 trucks and cherry picker aerial appliances on the scene which is sending large plumes of smoke across the city. AFP/Getty 36/50 29 August 2018People are evacuated after flooding in Swar township, Myanmar Reuters 37/50 28 August 2018President Hassan Rouhani speaks at the Iranian Parliament in the capital Tehran. It was the first time Rouhani had been summoned by parliament in his five years in power, with MPs demanding answers on unemployment, rising prices and the collapsing value of the rial, which has lost more than half its value since April AFP/Getty 38/50 27 August 2018A police officer walks by the front of a Chicago Pizza and GLHF Game Bar at the scene of fatal shooting at The Jacksonville Landing. A gunman opened fire at a video game tournament killing multiple people and then fatally shooting himself in a rampage that wounded several others AP 39/50 26 August 2018Migrants disembark from the Italian Coast Guard ship ‘Diciotti’ in the port of Catania, Italy. The vessel arrived with 177 migrants on board, but the Italian Interior Ministry denied them to disembark, calling EU member states to find a solution on how to distribute them. On 22 August, 27 unaccompanied minors were let off from the ship, assisted by Red Cross, UNHCR and Save the Children EPA 40/50 25 August 2018Rohingya refugees during a protest march after attending a ceremony to remember the first anniversary of a military crackdown that prompted a massive exodus of people from Myanmar to Bangladesh, at the Kutupalong refugee camp in Ukhia AFP/Getty 41/50 24 August 2018US President Donald Trump sits with children during a tour of Nationwide Children’s Hospital in Columbus, Ohio AFP/Getty 42/50 23 August 2018Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull speaks to the media during a press conference at Parliament House in Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, Australia EPA 43/50 22 August 2018High waves hit Jeju Island, South Korea, as powerful Typhoon Soulik gradually approaches the Korean Peninsula EPA 44/50 21 August 2018A Palestinian man throws his child in the air following morning prayers marking the first day of Eid al-Adha celebrations on the compound known to Muslims as al-Haram al-Sharif in Jerusalem’s Old City. Eid al-Adha is the holiest of the two Muslims holidays celebrated each year, it marks the yearly Muslim pilgrimage (Hajj) to visit Mecca, the holiest place in Islam. Muslims slaughter a sacrificial animal and split the meat into three parts, one for the family, one for friends and relatives, and one for the poor and needy Reuters 45/50 20 August 2018South Korean Lee Keum-seom, 92, meets with her North Korean son Ri Sung Chol, 71, during a separated family reunion meeting at the Mount Kumgang resort on the North’s southeastern coast. Dozens of elderly and frail South Koreans met their Northern relatives for the first time since the peninsula and their families were divided by war nearly seven decades ago AFP/Getty 46/50 19 August 2018The flag of the United Nations flying at half-mast to mark the death of former United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan, at the European headquarters in Geneva. Kofi Annan died on 18 August, aged 80 EPA 47/50 18 August 2018Newly appointed Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan inspects the guard of honor on his arrival in the Prime Minister House during a ceremony in Islamabad. Imran Khan was sworn in at a ceremony in Islamabad, ushering in a new political era as the World Cup cricket hero officially took the reins of power in the nuclear-armed country PID/AFP/Getty 48/50 17 August 2018Muslim pilgrims walk out after the Friday prayer at the Grand mosque ahead of annual Haj pilgrimage in the holy city of Mecca, Saudi Arabia Reuters 49/50 16 August 2018A man wades through flooded water in Kochi, Kerala state, India. According to reports, the region is on a high alert with schools and offices been closed due to the rising water levels of Periyar river after the gates of the Idukki reservoir were opened. The area has been hit by heavy rains that caused floods and reportedly killed at least 65 people EPA 50/50 15 August 2018Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi greets schoolchildren after his speech as part of India’s 72nd Independence Day celebrations which marks the 71st anniversary of the end of British colonial rule, at the Red Fort in New Delhi AFP/Getty 1/50 3 October 2018Quake survivors make their way past a washed out passenger ferry in Wani, Indonesia’s Central Sulawesi, after an earthquake and tsunami hit the area on September 28. Nearly 1,400 people are now known to have died as UN officials warned the “needs remain vast” for both desperate survivors and rescue teams still searching for victims AFP/Getty 2/50 2 October 2018US first lady Melania Trump holds a baby during a visit to a hospital in Accra, Ghana. The first lady is visiting Africa on her first big solo international trip, aiming to make child well-being the focus of a five-day, four-country tour Reuters 3/50 1 October 2018Indian school children dressed like Mahatma Gandhi perform yoga during a event at a school in Chennai ahead of his birth anniversary. Indians all over the country celebrate Gandhi’s birthday on October 2 AFP/Getty 4/50 30 September 2018An Albanian man casts his vote at a polling station in the village of Zajas on September 30, 2018, for a referendum to re-name the country. – Macedonians cast ballots on September 30 on whether to re-name their country North Macedonia, a bid to settle a long-running row with Greece and unlock a path to NATO and EU membership AFP/Getty 5/50 29 September 2018Residents trying to salvage belongings from their homes which collapsed after an earthquake and tsunami hit Palu on Sulawesi island on September 29, 2018. – Nearly 400 people were killed when a powerful quake sent a tsunami barrelling into the Indonesian island of Sulawesi, officials said on September 29, as hospitals struggled to cope with hundreds of injured and rescuers scrambled to reach the stricken region. AFP/Getty 6/50 28 September 2018Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and German Chancellor Angela Merkel during a press conference in Berlin. Erdogan’s official state visit has been met with protests EPA 7/50 27 September 2018Equatorial Guinea’s President Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo addresses the 73rd session of the United Nations General Assembly, at U.N. headquarters AP 8/50 26 September 2018Members of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) search for victims after a building collapsed in New Delhi killing five people, the latest incident highlighting India’s poor urban planning and construction AFP/Getty 9/50 25 September 2018US golfer Tiger Woods tees off during a practice session ahead of the 42nd Ryder Cup at Le Golf National Course at Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines, south-west of Paris AFP/Getty 10/50 24 September 2018President Donald Trump and US ambassador to the United Nations, Nikki Haley, talk with UN secretary general Antonio Guterres during the General Assembly at UN Headquarters AP 11/50 23 September 2018Iranian President Hassan Rouhani has claimed that his country is “ready to confront America”, following an attack on a military parade in Ahvaz in which 25 people were killed. The attack has been blamed by Iranian government and military officials on gulf states that are allied with the US AP 12/50 22 September 2018Pakistan has invited Saudi Arabia to become a partner in the Beijing funded Belt and Road scheme that will improve and expand Pakistan’s infrastructure. The invite comes at the end of Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan’s two day trip to the Middle Eastern country, where he met with Saudi King Salman EPA 13/50 21 September 2018A boat has capsized killing at 136 people in Lake Victoria, Tanzania. Rescue operations are ongoing AFP/Getty 14/50 20 September 2018Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe celebrates after the ruling liberal Democratic Party (LDP) leadership election at the party’s headquarters in Tokyo on September 20, 2018. – Prime Minister Shinzo Abe won re-election as leader of his ruling party on September 20, setting him on course to become Japan’s longest-serving premier and realise his dream of reforming the constitution. AFP/Getty 15/50 19 September 2018Los Angeles has moved to ban the sale of fur within its city limits. Speaking at a news conference today, councillor Bob Blumenfield said “this is something that is not just a good legislative win, it’s a moral win”. LA will be the biggest city in the US to ban the sale of fur, as it follows San Francisco, Berkley and others AP 16/50 18 September 2018South Korean President Moon Jae-in and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un wave during a car parade in Pyongyang, North Korea, Reuters 17/50 17 September 2018Australia has launched a nationwide investigation into needles being hidden in strawberries. Sewing needles have reportedly been found in strawberries in all 6 Australian states and the market is suffering from the resultant fear EPA 18/50 16 September 2018Typhoon Mangkhut has made landfall in China, bringing winds of 100mph to coastal areas and storm surges of 10 feet in Hong Kong. Pictured here are the smashed windows of an office tower in Hong Kong. Reuters 19/50 15 September 2018German Police have begun evicting activists from the Hambacher Forest where a protest to protect the remaining section of the ancient forest has been ongoing for the past 6 years. Dozens of activists have been living in treehouses, but are now being forced out after tensions rose between them and energy company RWE, which plans to expand its coal mine further into the remaining woodland AFP/Getty 20/50 14 September 2018Speaking in Malmo today, the Dalai Lama stated “I think Europe belongs to Europeans” and suggested that refugees should focus on returning home and developing their home countries Reuters 21/50 13 September 2018Preparations for Hurricane Florence, expected to make land on Friday, continue in North and South Carolina and Viriginia. Over 1 million people have been evacuated leading up to the arrival of the category 4 storm Getty 22/50 12 September 2018Um Majid, left, tries an improvised gas mask on family members in her home in Binnish in Syria’s rebel-held northern Idlib province as part of preparations for any upcoming raids. Fearing government forces and their allies military advance to retake Idlib province, the mother of three learnt from YouTube videos how to make gas masks from charcoal, wood, paper cups, cotton, nylon plastic bags and tapes. According to her, she could manufacture more masks but the material she needs are not always available. She also dug a cave under her home AFP/Getty 23/50 11 September 2018People waving pro-independence Catalan flags ‘Esteladas’ while holding letters reading “independence” during a pro-independence demonstration in Barcelona to mark the National Day of Catalonia, the “Diada”. Catalan separatists put on a show of strength and unity at celebrations of the region’s national day, nearly a year after a failed attempt to break away from Spain. Catalonia’s national day, the ‘Diada’ commemorates the fall of Barcelona in the War of the Spanish Succession in 1714 and the region’s subsequent loss of institutions and freedoms AFP/Getty 24/50 10 September 2018An Indian man makes his way through floodwaters from the overflowing Panchanai River in Siliguri. Continuous rainfall has caused flooding and landslides in parts of Siliguri and surrounding areas, affecting road travel and daily life AFP/Getty 25/50 9 September 2018Participants wave flowers as they march past a balcony from where North Korea’s leader Kim Jong Un was watching, during a mass rally on Kim Il Sung square in Pyongyang. The military parade was held to mark the nations 70th birthday, but refrained from showing off the intercontinental ballistic missiles that have seen it hit with multiple international sanctions AFP/Getty 26/50 8 September 2018350.Org march for Climate Justice at the Quezon Memorial Circle in Quezon City, Philippines. Rise for Climate protests took places across the world to demand action Leo Sabangan/350.org (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0) 27/50 7 September 2018Displaced Syrians take part in a protest against the regime and its ally Russia at a camp for displaced people in Kafr Lusin near the Bab al-Hawa border crossing with Turkey in Syria’s northern Idlib province AFP/Getty 28/50 6 September 2018An aerial view of houses damaged by a landslide in Atsuma town, Hokkaido prefecture, after an earthquake hit the northern Japanese island. Rescuers scrabbled through mud for survivors after the powerful earthquake sent hillsides crashing down onto homes, killing at least nine people and leaving dozens of people missing AFP/Getty 29/50 5 September 2018US Capitol Police arrest a protestor as Judge Brett Kavanaugh testifies during the second day of his US Senate Judiciary Committee confirmation hearing to be an Associate Justice on the US Supreme Court. President Donald Trump’s newest Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh is expected to face punishing questioning from Democrats this week over his endorsement of presidential immunity and his opposition to abortion AFP/Getty 30/50 4 September 2018Damaged traffic boards and telecommunication relay poles after they were brought down by strong winds caused by typhoon Jebi in Osaka. The strongest typhoon to hit Japan in 25 years made landfall on September 4, the country’s weather agency said, bringing violent winds and heavy rainfall that prompted evacuation warnings AFP/Getty 31/50 3 September 2018Myanmar journalist Kyaw Soe Oo is escorted by police after being sentenced by a court to jail in Yangon. Two Reuters journalists were jailed for seven years for breaching Myanmar’s official secrets act during their reporting of the Rohingya crisis, a judge said, a case that has drawn outrage as an attack on media freedom AFP/Getty 32/50 2 September 2018A Somali soldier walks near the wreckage of vehicles at the scene of a blast outside the compound of a district headquarters in the capital Mogadishu. A Somali police officer says a number of people were wounded after a suicide bomber detonated an explosives-laden vehicle at a checkpoint outside the headquarters after being stopped by security forces AP 33/50 1 September 2018A Utair-operated Boeing 737-800 which skidded off the runway and caught fire during landing, at Sochi international airport, in the Russian Black Sea resort. Russia’s transportation minister says a supervisor at the airport died during the emergency response after a landing airliner careered off the end of the runway, into a riverbed and caught fire. There were no deaths reported among the 164 passengers and six crew members aboard the Utair Boeing 737, but the Russian health ministry said 18 people were injured. The fire was extinguished within eight minutes AP 34/50 31 August 2018Mourners attend Aretha Franklin’s funeral at Greater Grace Temple in Detroit AFP/Getty 35/50 30 August 2018Firefighters watch on as flames leap from a giant factory fire in the inner Melbourne suburb of West Footscray – More than 120 firefighters are fighting the fire, with 30 trucks and cherry picker aerial appliances on the scene which is sending large plumes of smoke across the city. AFP/Getty 36/50 29 August 2018People are evacuated after flooding in Swar township, Myanmar Reuters 37/50 28 August 2018President Hassan Rouhani speaks at the Iranian Parliament in the capital Tehran. It was the first time Rouhani had been summoned by parliament in his five years in power, with MPs demanding answers on unemployment, rising prices and the collapsing value of the rial, which has lost more than half its value since April AFP/Getty 38/50 27 August 2018A police officer walks by the front of a Chicago Pizza and GLHF Game Bar at the scene of fatal shooting at The Jacksonville Landing. A gunman opened fire at a video game tournament killing multiple people and then fatally shooting himself in a rampage that wounded several others AP 39/50 26 August 2018Migrants disembark from the Italian Coast Guard ship ‘Diciotti’ in the port of Catania, Italy. The vessel arrived with 177 migrants on board, but the Italian Interior Ministry denied them to disembark, calling EU member states to find a solution on how to distribute them. On 22 August, 27 unaccompanied minors were let off from the ship, assisted by Red Cross, UNHCR and Save the Children EPA 40/50 25 August 2018Rohingya refugees during a protest march after attending a ceremony to remember the first anniversary of a military crackdown that prompted a massive exodus of people from Myanmar to Bangladesh, at the Kutupalong refugee camp in Ukhia AFP/Getty 41/50 24 August 2018US President Donald Trump sits with children during a tour of Nationwide Children’s Hospital in Columbus, Ohio AFP/Getty 42/50 23 August 2018Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull speaks to the media during a press conference at Parliament House in Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, Australia EPA 43/50 22 August 2018High waves hit Jeju Island, South Korea, as powerful Typhoon Soulik gradually approaches the Korean Peninsula EPA 44/50 21 August 2018A Palestinian man throws his child in the air following morning prayers marking the first day of Eid al-Adha celebrations on the compound known to Muslims as al-Haram al-Sharif in Jerusalem’s Old City. Eid al-Adha is the holiest of the two Muslims holidays celebrated each year, it marks the yearly Muslim pilgrimage (Hajj) to visit Mecca, the holiest place in Islam. Muslims slaughter a sacrificial animal and split the meat into three parts, one for the family, one for friends and relatives, and one for the poor and needy Reuters 45/50 20 August 2018South Korean Lee Keum-seom, 92, meets with her North Korean son Ri Sung Chol, 71, during a separated family reunion meeting at the Mount Kumgang resort on the North’s southeastern coast. Dozens of elderly and frail South Koreans met their Northern relatives for the first time since the peninsula and their families were divided by war nearly seven decades ago AFP/Getty 46/50 19 August 2018The flag of the United Nations flying at half-mast to mark the death of former United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan, at the European headquarters in Geneva. Kofi Annan died on 18 August, aged 80 EPA 47/50 18 August 2018Newly appointed Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan inspects the guard of honor on his arrival in the Prime Minister House during a ceremony in Islamabad. Imran Khan was sworn in at a ceremony in Islamabad, ushering in a new political era as the World Cup cricket hero officially took the reins of power in the nuclear-armed country PID/AFP/Getty 48/50 17 August 2018Muslim pilgrims walk out after the Friday prayer at the Grand mosque ahead of annual Haj pilgrimage in the holy city of Mecca, Saudi Arabia Reuters 49/50 16 August 2018A man wades through flooded water in Kochi, Kerala state, India. According to reports, the region is on a high alert with schools and offices been closed due to the rising water levels of Periyar river after the gates of the Idukki reservoir were opened. The area has been hit by heavy rains that caused floods and reportedly killed at least 65 people EPA 50/50 15 August 2018Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi greets schoolchildren after his speech as part of India’s 72nd Independence Day celebrations which marks the 71st anniversary of the end of British colonial rule, at the Red Fort in New Delhi AFP/Getty “She has decided not to make herself available to the media and stay out of the public because of her emotional state,” lawyer Leslie Stovall told the news conference. “It is not pleasant for her.” Her lawyers said they are considering whether to release documents related to the case including police reports, medical records, and an out-of-court settlement that included a non-disclosure agreement about the incident. The lawsuit, which seeks more than $200,000 in damages, names as defendants Ronaldo and an unnamed team of fixers described as “personal reputation protection specialists” hired to make the situation go away. Lawyers for Ronaldo on Friday threatened to sue German magazine Der Spiegel that published “blatantly illegal” accusations by Ms Mayorga. Der Spiegel’s deputy editor-in-chief, Alfred Weinzierl, told Reuters on Sunday that the magazine had worked professionally, laid out the evidence and stood by its story, which it said was allowed under Germany’s press law. Agencies contributed to this report Follow the Independent Sport on Instagram here, for all of the best images, videos and stories from around the sporting world. Source link The post Ronaldo rape accuser suffering from post-traumatic stress, lawyers say appeared first on 10z Soccer. #WorldCup #KathrynMayorga #KafrLusin