White House To Take Cuba Off Terrorism List

Written By Unknown on Rabu, 15 April 2015 | 12.14

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By Sky News US Team

US President Barack Obama will remove Cuba from a list of state sponsors of terrorism, the White House says, as relations between the two countries continue to thaw.

He notified Congress of the long-awaited decision a week after meeting his Cuban counterpart, Raul Castro, on the sidelines of the Summit of the Americas.

The handshake in Panama was the first such formal interaction between the leaders of the former Cold War adversaries in more than a half a century.

Cuba's removal from the list will take effect within 45 days unless US lawmakers raise a joint resolution against the measure, which is deemed unlikely.

While the move will ease some economic sanctions on the communist-run island, the broader US embargo on Cuba will stay in place as only Congress can end that.

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Gallery: A History Of US-Cuba Relations In Pictures

1 January 1959: Fidel Castro's rebels - under the command of Che Guevara (R) - sweep into Havana. Dictator Fulgencio Batista, who had strong relations with the American mafia and large US corporations, flees Cuba. The US soon recognises the new government

June-October 1960: Castro announces the nationalisation of nearly all US businesses - and American-owned oil refineries, after they refuse to process Soviet oil

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October 1960: Washington, under President Dwight Eisenhower, bans exports to Cuba, other than food and medicine. The US embargo begins

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3 January 1961: The US ends relations with Cuba and closes its embassy in Havana

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16 April 1961: Fidel Castro, pictured here with Che Guevara (R), declares Cuba a socialist state

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Josh Earnest, the White House press secretary, said in a statement: "We will continue to have differences with the Cuban government.

"But our concerns over a wide range of Cuba's policies and actions fall outside the criteria that is relevant to whether to rescind Cuba's designation as a State Sponsor of Terrorism."

In his message to Congress, Mr Obama said the government of Cuba "has provided assurances that it will not support acts of international terrorism in the future".

The decision could pave the way towards restoring diplomatic relations between Washington and Havana, potentially reopening embassies that have been shut for 54 years.

Mr Obama ordered a review of Cuba's status on the terrorism list in December, as he and Mr Castro took steps towards rapprochement.

Havana was added to the list of terrorism sponsors in 1982, when it was aiding Marxist insurgencies in Colombia and elsewhere.

Other countries on the list include Iran, Sudan and Syria.

Ties between Washington and Havana deteriorated in 1959 when Fidel Castro and his revolutionaries seized control, forcing US-backed dictator Fulgencio Batista to flee.

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Written By Unknown on Selasa, 14 April 2015 | 12.14

By Sky News US Team

A 73-year-old reserve deputy has been charged with manslaughter for shooting dead a man in an alleged mix-up with his Taser.

Robert Bates shot 44-year-old Eric Harris on 2 April while assisting officers in a pursuit of the convicted felon.

Police said Bates thought he was holding a stun gun, not his handgun, when he fired at Harris while officers attempted to restrain him.

Prosecutors in Oklahoma filed second-degree manslaughter charges against the reserve deputy.

The charge involves "culpable negligence", Tulsa County District Attorney Steve Kunzweiler said in a statement.

Oklahoma law defines culpable negligence as "the omission to do something which a reasonably careful person would do, or the lack of the usual ordinary care and caution in the performance of an act usually and ordinarily exercised by a person under similar circumstances and conditions," Mr Kunzweiler said.

An attorney for Bates did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

At the weekend, the Tulsa County Sheriff's Office released footage of the incident that was captured by an officer's body camera.

In it, Harris can be seen attempting to flee police before he is tackled to the pavement.

As officers attempt to hold him down, a gunshot is heard, followed by a man purported to be Bates saying, "Oh, I shot him. I'm sorry."

The sheriff's office said Bates dropped the weapon as he fired because he was not expecting it to recoil.

The body cam footage showed someone picking the handgun up off the ground seconds after the shot was fired.

Harris, who was wanted by police for allegedly trying to sell illegal guns to undercover officers, later died in hospital.

The shooting drew comparisons to other police-involved shootings that have sparked national debate of police tactics.

A former police officer in South Carolina is charged with murder for shooting dead a man as he attempted to flee arrest.

12.14 | 0 komentar | Read More

Robot Reveals Inside Of Wrecked Nuclear Plant

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A specially-designed robot has become stranded after capturing the first grainy images from inside one of the melted reactors at Japan's doomed Fukushima nuclear plant.

It withstood the deadly radioactive environment but then became stuck two-thirds of the way through its mission and had to be abandoned.

Pictures lit by a lamp on the robot showed steam wafting around the chamber and debris that looked like small rocks and metal parts.

The video also showed numerous white spots believed to be caused by gamma rays.

Despite the glitch, officials said the images were a success and showed it was possible to send in more sophisticated robots as they embark on a 40-year mission to make the plant safe.

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Gallery: Archive: Timeline Of Events

March 11. Cooling problems at the nuclear plant emerged. The government declared state of emergency

March 12. Plant owners TEPCO said pressure was rising in some of the reactors and could not be controlled

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Radiation Leak. TEPCO released pressure from No. 1 reactor. 20,000 residents in the area were evacuated

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First Explosion. Authorities prepared to distribute iodine to locals. TEPCO asked people to remain calm

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March 13. Radiation levels declared unsafe. TEPCO injected seawater into reactors 1 and 3 to cool them

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The robot also picked up lower than expected radiation readings, according to Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO), possibly paving the way for wireless devices to explore the site.

However, radiation levels inside the plant are still far too dangerous for humans.

The 60cm Hitachi robot entered the disaster zone through a pipe and then morphed into a crawler device, collecting radiation and temperature data as it crept along.

TEPCO spokesman Teruaki Kobayashi said its journey had been halted possibly after one of its tyres got stuck in a grating.

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Gallery: Images Of A Nuclear No-Go Zone

A boat lies stranded on the ground after the powerful tsunami two years ago.

One of the Google Street View camera cars drives through the deserted Namie streets.

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A different amphibious robot is set to enter the site next year for more tests.

Large volumes of cooling water continue to leak from the damaged reactors, causing contamination and hampering the cleanup process.

A £1.8bn ice wall extending down 1,500 metres is hoping to freeze the earth around the wrecked plant and stop contaminated water leaching into the sea.

The nuclear meltdown in March 2011 was the worst since Chernobyl and happened after a magnitude 9 earthquake hit the area and triggered a deadly tsunami.

Three reactors at the plant went into meltdown and hundreds of thousands had to be evacuated.

So far, more than 1,600 people have died from health complications brought on by the disaster.

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Written By Unknown on Senin, 13 April 2015 | 12.14

The ancient city of Nimrud is just the latest piece of history to be wiped from the map as Islamic State fighters continue their trail of destruction through Syria and Iraq.

The Sunni extremist group has released a video appearing to show black-clad militants smashing up artefacts before razing the 3,000-year-old Assyrian site in a mushroom cloud of dust and destroyed treasures.

Their mission is made clear with one fighter saying: "God has honoured us to remove all of these idols and statues."

IS, which holds a third of Iraq and Syria, has been destroying Christian, Jewish and Islamic shrines in its self-declared caliphate because it says they promote idolatry and violate its interpretation of Islamic law.

But with these acts of cultural cleansing, apparently in the name of religion, IS is accused of hypocrisy with authorities claiming its fighters are looting archaeological sites to fund their atrocities.

:: Nimrud

Many relics from Nimrud, which was founded in the 13th century BC and was one of Iraq's most famous archaeological sites, are in foreign museums.

But a number of giant statues, depicting winged beasts with human heads, and stones friezes have now seemingly been turned into fragments by IS explosives.

The militants are believed to hold around 15% of the 12,000 registered archaeological sites in Iraq - a country dubbed the "cradle of civilisation" for its ancient historical importance.

And historians fear none of them are safe, and similar destruction may be taking place in IS-controlled areas of neighbouring Syria.

:: Hatra

A week ago, IS released another video apparently showing the bulldozing of 2,000-year old Hatra, some 70 miles southwest of Mosul, in northern Iraq.

Hatra like Nimrud, 20 miles away, is a UNESCO world heritage site, and their destruction was condemned as a "war crime" by UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon.

The footage shows jihadists apparently destroying artefacts with sledgehammers and rifles at the fortress city, dating back to the Seleucid empire, which controlled a large part of the world conquered by Alexander the Great.

:: Khorsabad

Last month, IS reportedly pillaged the ancient archaeological site of Khorsabad, some 10 miles northeast of Mosul.

Khorsabad was built as a new capital of Assyria by King Sargon II shortly after he came to power in 721 BC and abandoned after his death in 705 BC.

With an 80ft-thick wall and seven gates, it was renowned for shedding light on Assyrian art and architecture.

:: Mosul

In February, IS released a video of fighters smashing statues in Mosul's city museum.

It also shows a man in black drilling through a winged bull, an Assyrian protective deity dating back to the 7th century BC, at a nearby archaeological site.

A caption says the artefacts did not exist in the time of the Prophet Mohammed, and were put on display by "devil worshippers" - a term used by IS to describe the Yazidi minority in Iraq.

The same month, IS reportedly destroyed more Iraqi history by torching thousands of books and rare manuscripts in the Mosul Library.

UNESCO said burning the tomes, which included 18th-century manuscripts and Ottoman-era books, could be "one of the most devastating acts of destruction of library collections in human history".

Officials fear more than 112,000 manuscripts and books, some of which were registered on a UNESCO rarities list, may have been lost.

In July last year, IS apparently razed a Muslim shrine in Mosul, said to be the burial place of the prophet Jonah, who in the Bible and Koran is swallowed by a whale.

Residents said militants ordered everyone out of the Mosque of the Prophet Younis, or Jonah, then blew it up.

12.14 | 0 komentar | Read More

IS Blows Up Ancient City As 'Propaganda Tool'

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Islamic State militants have continued their "cultural cleansing" of Iraq and Syria - this time blowing up the ancient city of Nimrud.

A video posted online appears to show the terror group's fighters smashing artefacts at the 3,000-year-old site near Mosul in northern Iraq.

Militants are seen with large barrels of powder in a room lined with gypsum slabs, beautifully carved with representations of Assyrian figures.

The explosion sends a huge mushroom cloud into the sky and turns yet another important part of history to dust and fragments.

Fighters hack away at statues with sledgehammers and carve them up with angle grinders, claiming God had "honoured" them by "removing and destroying everything that was held to be equal to him and worshipped without him".

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Gallery: Images Of The 3,000-Year-Old Assyrian Site

The 3,000-year-old site on the banks of the Tigris river was once the capital of the world's most powerful empire, the Assyrians. European archeologists first excavated the site in the 1840s

Statues, sections of palaces and gold items were unearthed at the site. Some of its best-known monuments include these winged bulls with human faces, known as lamassus

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Many of its artefacts were on display in the Baghdad Museum, but disappeared during the Gulf War in the 1990s. It was presumed they had been looted

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However, after the 2003 Iraq invasion by allied forces, the items were found safe. They had been locked away in a secret vault in the city, submerged in sewage water

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The collection includes hundreds of gold and gem-studded jewellery items

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A militant speaking at the end of the destruction says: "Whenever we are able in a piece of land to remove the signs of idolatry and spread monotheism, we will do it."

:: Islamic State's Trail Of Historical Oblivion

Nimrud was founded in the 13th century BC and contains one of the most famous archaeological sites in a country dubbed the cradle of civilisation.

It was such an important city that it was on UNESCO's tentative list of world heritage sites.

The attacks, which follow similar destruction of archaeological sites in Iraq and Syria earlier this year and in 2014, have been widely criticised.

Middle East expert Professor Fawaz Gerges, from the London School of Economics, described IS as a "social epidemic" that is "culturally cleansing" an area the size of the UK.

He told Sky News that militants had caused "catastrophic" damage to Iraq's - and the world's - cultural heritage.

"(They have) been systematically destroying ancient relics and cultural artefacts both in Iraq and Syria," he said. "The United Nations has called what IS are trying to do 'war crimes'.

"They have a puritanical sense of an ideology that believes in cultural cleansing - not just people, but even art and culture. They want to purify the land - to establish a totalitarian ideology."

He said the jihadists are using the video as a "powerful propaganda tool" to counter set-backs on the battlefield.

"They believe that ancient relics, museums, are basically idols. Idols that basically substitute idols for God," he said.

"These particular videos are designed for the hardcore, for the ... jihadists who believe in this particular ideology ... It's part of a propaganda, part of their ideological nightmare, it's part of a puritanical, severe interpretation of Islam."

Abdulamir Hamdani, an archaeologist from Stony Brook University in New York, said of Nimrud: "It's really a very important site in the history of Mesopotamia.

"Many of Assyria's greatest artistic treasures came from this site."

Nimrud is the later Arab name given to a settlement originally called Kalhu, and was plundered by Western explorers.

It was also looted and damaged during the 2003 US invasion.

Most of Nimrud's most valuable artefacts were moved long ago to museums in Mosul, Baghdad, Paris and London.

But giant "lamassu" statues - winged bulls with human heads - and sculptures were still on site.

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Written By Unknown on Minggu, 12 April 2015 | 12.14

A man has shot himself dead near the US Capitol, sparking a two-hour lockdown.

The lockdown, which ended just before 4pm local time in Washington DC, was a precaution, according to Capitol Police spokesman Kimberly Schneider.

Confirming what had happened, she said: "Confirmed: self-inflicted gunshot by neutralised subject."

Later, Capitol Police chief Kim Dine revealed the man was wearing a backpack, carrying a rolling suitcase and a sign to the site.

The sign had a "social justice" message but he did not immediately provide more details and did not release the man's name.

Police had also been investigating a suspicious package on the lower terrace of the Capitol building and, although the all-clear has now been given, nearby streets are still closed while the scene is examined.

A US official was quoted on NBC News as saying there were "no indication at this point of terrorism" and several media reports said the package was luggage belonging to the man who had shot himself.

Robert Bishop, a real estate developer from Annapolis, Maryland, who was visiting Washington and was at the scene of the shooting, said the man who killed himself had a sign that he thought said: "Tax the 1 percent".

The deadline for Americans to submit their tax returns is Wednesday.

Congress has been on a spring break for two weeks, with lawmakers set to return to work on Monday, but the lockdown did disrupt one of the busiest tourist days in the city - the popular annual Cherry Blossom Festival.

12.14 | 0 komentar | Read More

Obama And Castro In Historic Meeting

The leaders of the US and Cuba have held their first formal meeting in more than half a century - clearing the way for a thawing of relations that seemed unthinkable to citizens of both countries only a few years ago.

US President Barack Obama and Cuban President Raul Castro met in a small conference room in Panama, where they sat side by side.

Mr Obama said the event was "obviously a historic meeting", adding that his country was ready to "turn the page" with Cuba on the past.

He said: "It was my belief it was time to try something new, that it was important for us to engage with Cuban government. And, more importantly, with Cuban people."

He thanked Mr Castro for his "spirit of openness" but warned that significant differences still remain.

Mr Castro said he was ready to discuss issues such as human rights and press freedom, saying: "Everything can be on the table."

But he warned that the two countries may "agreed to disagree" at times, adding that both sides must be "very patient".

The meeting was held on the sideline of the Summit of the Americas, which this year included Cuba for the first time.

It was not publicly announced in advance but White House officials had suggested the two leaders were hoping for an opportunity to meet while in Panama.

The meeting came just hours after the two shared a handshake as the summit opened.

Four months ago Mr Castro and Mr Obama simultaneously announced an ending of hostilities.

President Obama said starkly: "Fifty years of isolation hasn't worked."

It is expected that the US will soon agree to remove Cuba's name from its list of state sponsors of terrorism, something that would also open the door to loans and aid for the South American nation after decades of suffering under the trade embargo.

Fidel Castro came to power in 1959 after overthrowing the US-backed dictator Fulgencio Batista.

For half a century, the leader of the first communist country in the western hemisphere was a thorn in America's side.

In 2006, after abdominal surgery, he started the transfer of power to his brother Raul, who took the landmark step in 2014 of appearing with the US President.

12.14 | 0 komentar | Read More

Pakistan Frees Mumbai Attack Mastermind Suspect

Written By Unknown on Sabtu, 11 April 2015 | 12.15

Pakistan Frees Mumbai Attack Mastermind Suspect

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The man accused of being the mastermind of the 2008 attacks on Mumbai has been released on bail by a Pakistan court.

The assault on India's financial capital resulted in the deaths of 166 people and seriously increased tensions between the two nuclear powers.

The lawyer for Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi revealed the Lahore High Court move, saying: "Lakhvi has been released and he is out of the jail now. I don't know where he will go now."

Lakhvi's release comes despite furious earlier protests from New Delhi which complained bitterly when a judge first granted him bail in December.

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Gallery: 2008: Mumbai Terror Attacks

From 2008: Scores of people have died and hundreds more have been injured in a series of terror attacks in the Indian city of Mumbai. Guests had to be rescued from the Taj Mahal Palace Hotel after teams of heavily armed gunmen stormed the building.

Another guest is helped down from the fourth floor.

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An Indian National security guard runs for cover opposite the hotel.

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People duck as gunshots are fired from inside the building.

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A fireman speaks with foreign tourists who were rescued from the Taj.

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The Pakistan government subsequently issued a series of detention orders which judges then cancelled.

The latest bail order is conditional on a $20,000 (£14,000) bond.

India has called the decision to release him "an insult".

"This is a very disappointing announcement. An insult to the victims of 26/11 Mumbai attack.

"The global community should take serious note of Pakistan's double-speak on terrorism," said a government official.

India blames the Pakistan-based militant group Lashkar-e-Taiba for the Mumbai attack in which 10 gunmen crept into the city by boat and took part in a terror and killing spree over a three-day period.

India says Lakhvi - who was arrested in 2009 over the tragedy - was the organisation's boss and has accused Pakistan of prevaricating over trials in connection with Lakhvi and six other suspects.

The suspects were charged in Pakistan but no-one has been brought to trial in more than five years.

India, which has urged Pakistan to either hand the suspects over or put them on trial, accuses its neighbour of playing a "double game" over terrorism, suggesting the country is supporting groups that may be useful for its own political gains.

Relations between the two countries - which have had three wars over a bitter dispute over Kashmir since independence in 1947 - are at an all-time low.

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Written By Unknown on Jumat, 10 April 2015 | 12.14

A man has been arrested after a judge and lawyer were among three people shot dead in a court in Milan, the Italian Interior Minister has confirmed.

The man was found by police in the town of Vimercate, 25km (15 miles) from Milan, after fleeing on a motorbike and is being held in a military police barracks, Angelino Alfano said.

He was named in reports as Claudio Giardiello, a defendant in a bankruptcy case at the Palace of Justice, which is in the historic centre of the city, a few streets from its cathedral and main shops.

The gunman shot dead his lawyer and one of his co-defendants first, before walking through the building, going down one floor and killing the judge, prosecutor Edmondo Bruti Liberati said.

The president of Milan's appeals court, Giovanni Canzio, named bankruptcy judge Fernando Ciampi as the one who had been killed.

The ANSA news agency identified the lawyer as Lorenzo Alberto Claris Appiani.

A second co-defendant was seriously injured, Mr Bruti Liberati said.

A fourth person was found dead in the court buildings with no apparent sign of injury, emergency services said.

The area around the court was cordoned off after the shooting and people were initially told to remain inside.

Court employees barricaded themselves inside their offices and took cover under their desks while police searched for the gunman.

A person speaking from inside the president's office at the court told Sky News shortly after the shooting that they had been locked in a room and instructed not to leave.

Women were later seen leaving the building first followed by men, after having their identification checked.

The gunman fired "at least three or four shots", according to lawyer Marcello Ilia.

"We tried to find out what was going on. There were suddenly lots of police officers who told us not to leave the room, they shut us in," he said.

"After a few minutes we came out. They told us someone in a suit and tie was armed and at large in the court."

It was unclear how an armed man gained access to the building as visitors must pass through metal detectors.

12.14 | 0 komentar | Read More

'Voice Of Cricket' Richie Benaud Dies

Tributes have poured in for former Australian cricketer and commentator Richie Benaud who has died in a Sydney hospice, aged 84.

Benaud, widely regarded as one of the most influential people in the game's history, had been receiving radiation treatment for skin cancer since November.

Channel Nine, the Australian network where he took the lead commentator's position in 1977, said he had died in his sleep on Thursday night local time.

Nine's head of sport, Steve Crawley said: "You didn't have to know Richie to love him - everything about him.

"Best in the business bar none.

"We will miss him the way you miss loved ones. And at the same time we will thank our lucky stars he came our way at all."

Nine Entertainment Co's chief executive David Gyngell said Benaud's death had "robbed" the world of "not only a national treasure but a lovely man".

Australia's prime minister Tony Abbott, who has offered Benaud's family a state funeral, tweeted: "A sad day for Australia. We have lost a cricketing champion and Australian icon. What an innings. RIP Richie Benaud."

Hollywood actor Russell Crowe tweeted: "RIP Richie Benaud. My deep gratitude for all you gave to the sport of cricket as a player and as a broadcaster. Sad, sad day."

And Piers Morgan wrote: "RIP Richie Benaud. The greatest cricket commentator of them all & a wonderful man. Mourning Everyone."

Benaud played 64 test matches as an all-rounder between 1952 and 1964, taking 945 wickets in 259 first-class matches and making 11,719 first-class runs, scoring 23 centuries at an average of 36.50.

He was the first man to achieve 2,000 runs and 200 wickets at test level.

Benaud will be remembered by millions for his measured, laconic brand of commentary and he was as popular in England, where he worked on television from 1963 to 2005, as he was in his homeland.

Speaking about his commentary work, he once said: "My mantra is: put your brain into gear and if you can add to what's on the screen then do it, otherwise shut up.

"What I want most from being a television commentator is to be able to feel that, when I say something, I am talking to friends."

The news arm of Cricket Australia, www.cricket.com.au, described him as "an Australian test great who nurtured a generation's love for the game with his commentary".

They added: "After Don Bradman, there has been no Australian player more famous than Richie Benaud."

He became one of the greatest commentators in world cricket before a car crash outside his Coogee home in 2013 left him with two fractured vertebrae.

The injuries and cancer combined to keep him away from the job he loved in his final years, but he made occasional pre-recorded appearances on Channel Nine and he rallied to record a moving tribute to Phillip Hughes when the Australia batsman died last year after being struck by a bouncer.

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US Soldier Killed In Afghan Insider Attack

Written By Unknown on Kamis, 09 April 2015 | 12.14

An Afghan soldier was shot dead after opening fire on American troops - killing one and wounding several other people.

The attack was believed to be an attempt to assassinate a senior US diplomat, sources told Sky News.

The Afghan soldier opened fire after a meeting between Afghan provincial leaders and Donald Yamamoto, a former ambassador to Ethiopia, Eritrea and Djibouti, in the compound of the provincial governor in Jalalabad.

According to sources, a convoy was leaving the compound when the Afghan soldier shot at the last car using a vehicle-mounted machine gun.

Mr Yamamoto, who was recently appointed as special advisor to Afghanistan, had already left the compound by this stage and was unharmed.

The American soldier, who has not been named, was part of a unit training and advising Afghan forces

General Fazel Ahmad Sherzad, police chief for eastern Nangarhar province, said American troops immediately returned fire, killing the Afghan soldier.

An Afghan interpreter working with the US troops had previously said no American soldiers had died in the incident.

It is the second insider attack in the country this year, after an Afghan soldier killed three American contractors on 29 January.

The Western-backed Afghan government's 13-year war against the insurgents has intensified as both sides seek to strengthen their positions ahead of possible peace talks.

However, the Taliban did not immediately claim responsibility for the latest attack and many such attacks are believed to stem from personal grudges and cultural misunderstandings.

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EU Was 'Looking Into German Air Safety Issues'

European Union authorities began looking into German airline safety procedures regarding "a number of issues" long before the Germanwings crash, it has been reported.

An EU official, who asked not be named, said the issues included health checks on pilots, although he did not elaborate further.

It has emerged Germanwings co-pilot Andreas Lubitz, who deliberately flew his Airbus A320 into the French Alps, killing all 150 people on board, had suffered depression.

Investigators have also said they found a sick note for the day of the crash at Lubitz's home, but it was never given to the airline.

He was reportedly being treated by psychologists and neurologists, buy authorities believe he was trying to hid this from his employers.

Doctors working for the German aviation industry have suggested that pilots should undergo more extensive medical checks after the tragedy.

"We are calling for more frequent and comprehensive laboratory tests for pilots," Hans-Werner Teichmueller of the German Pilots' Doctors Association told Welt newspaper.

"We need to see results that can also show traces of psychotropic drugs and narcotics."

The annual physical taken by pilots only includes tests of urine, haemoglobin levels and in some cases blood sugar.

The EU official told the Associated Press that the examination of German procedures followed a routine inspection by the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA).

He said that last November EU authorities "had asked for clarification to make sure all airlines actively observe rules".

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Gallery: Tributes Laid Near Crash Site

A memorial, carved in French, German, Spanish and English, in memory of the victims of the Germanwings Airbus A320 crash, in the small village of Le Vernet, French Alps

The chapel prepared for the families of the victims and the medico-legal tents for investigators at Seyne les Alpes near the crash site

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Iraqi Forensic Teams Exhume Mass Graves

Written By Unknown on Rabu, 08 April 2015 | 12.14

A survivor of a massacre of some 1,700 troops by IS forces in Tikrit last June has been talking of his escape as forensic teams begin exhuming the graves.

Iraqi soldier Ali explained how IS lulled him and fellow troops into believing they would be well treated.

"They told us they had no problem with us and promised us we would be sent to our families, they brought us cars and even gave us water to make us feel secure," he said.

"Once they put us in large cars, they managed to control us and brought us here and tied us up, and I still have a mark from my cuffs here."

He went on: "The fourth bullet was meant to kill me, but I was not hit.

"The fifth bullet was fired, killing the one who was next to me. Playing dead, I fell to the ground. I was covered by the blood of my colleagues and I rolled down into the valley."

Up to 12 suspected mass graves are now being exhumed.

"We dug up the first mass grave site today," said an Iraqi health official working with a forensic team sent in to Tikrit, outside the former US base camp of Camp Speicher.

"Until now we found at least 20 bodies. Initial indications show indisputably that they were from the Speicher victims.

"It was a heartbreaking scene. We couldn't prevent ourselves from breaking down in tears. What savage barbarian could kill 1,700 persons in cold blood?" he asked.

The mass killing of the Shi'ite troops took place as the fighters fought their way across northern Iraq.

Their deaths came to symbolise early on the brutality of IS, as well as the group's hatred of the country's Shi'ite majority.

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Gallery: Iraq's Battle For Tikrit

Smoke billows during Iraqi military operation to retake Tikrit from Islamic State militants

Iraqi flags fly on outskirts of Tikrit as government forces move into the city

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