Turkey has launched new artillery strikes on ISIS targets at Jarablus, northern Syria, amid reports Syrian rebels are to launch an offensive against the Islamist group.
Some 1,500 Turkish-backed Syrian rebels are thought to be in Gaziantep waiting to attack.
A bomb attack on a Kurdish wedding there killed 54 people on August 20.
Turkey also shelled positions at Manbij held by Kurdish YPG fighters, who have been advancing against ISIS.
According to new reports, the attack in Gaziantep, blamed on ISIS, may have been spurred by reports of the imminent Syrian rebel offensive.
Meanwhile, more victims of the suicide attack are being identified.
On August 23, Turkish artillery fired at least 40 shells at ISIS positions in the Jarablus area after two mortar bombs landed in the Turkish town of Karkamis, just across the border, Turkish media report.
Photo AP
Nobody was hurt in the attack on Karkamis.
Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu has said ISIS should be “completely cleansed” from northern Syria.
On August 22, Turkey also shelled of ISIS positions but equally the bombardment of Kurdish YPG positions in the Manbij area.
A Turkish official quoted by Reuters said artillery had fired on the Kurds 20 times.
The YPG has been at the forefront of the recent advance against ISIS in northern Syria, leading the liberation of Manbij this month and driving the jihadists towards Jarablus.
However, Turkey links them to its own Kurdish insurgents, the PKK, and is determined to keep them away from its border with Syria.
The fighters poised to enter Syria from Gaziantep are believed to be Turkish-backed Syrian rebels.
A senior rebel official quoted by Reuters said they were fighting under the banner of the Free Syrian Army.
It is believed that any such operation would be aimed at frustrating any further advance by the Kurds.
The Kurds themselves have non-Kurdish Syrian allies, fighting alongside the YPG under the banner of the Syrian Democratic Forces.
The identity and motive of the suicide bomber who attacked the wedding party have yet to be revealed.
Soon after the attack, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said ISIS was the likely perpetrator but PM Binali Yildirim said on August 22 that investigators actually did “not have a clue”.
The prime minister downplayed earlier reports that the attacker was a teenager, saying this could not be confirmed.
What is known is that it was a Kurdish wedding and ISIS has targeted Turkish Kurds in the past.
Many of the victims were children as young as 4-year-old.
Sixty-six people are still in hospital, 14 of them in a serious condition, Turkey’s Dogan news agency reported.
According to a recent study, ramen noodles has become the most valuable commodity in US prisons overtaking tobacco.
The shift was a response to a decline in the quantity and quality of food on offer, the study says.
Study author Michael Gibson-Light said: “Because it is cheap, tasty, and rich in calories, ramen has become so valuable that it is used to exchange for other goods.”
According to US prison data, spending has not kept pace with the number of inmates.
Michael Gibson-Light said staff and inmates at the prison he visited said the amount of food being provided had decreased steadily over decades and warned the shift could have serious implications.
Photo Wikipedia
“Prisoners are so unhappy with the quality and quantity of prison food that they receive that they have begun relying on ramen noodles – a cheap, durable food product – as a form of money in the underground economy,” he said.
“The form of money is not something that changes often or easily, even in the prison underground economy; it takes a major issue or shock to initiate such a change,” Michael Gibson-Light added.
The noodles are exchanged for goods including other food items, clothing, hygiene products and even services such as laundry and bunk cleaning, he said.
Other inmates use them as bargaining chips in gambling when playing card games or participating in football pools.
Ramen noodles are also replacing other traditional forms of prison currency, such as stamps and envelopes, the study found.
The shift was taking place across different groups within prisons and was not a response to bans on tobacco products within the prison system, Michael Gibson-Light said.
The researcher called for more research into what the reduction in food could mean for the care of prisoners.
All states spent about $48.5 billion on prisoners in 2010, 5.6% less than in 2009, according to the US Bureau of Prisons.
Speedo, Ralph Lauren and other two sponsors have dropped Olympic swimmer Ryan Lochte following Rio Olympics scandal.
They were followed by announcements from skin care company Syneron-Candela and Japanese mattress maker Airweave.
The move comes after Ryan Lochte, 32, lied about being robbed at gunpoint by a policeman after a night out during the Rio Olympics.
Ryan Lochte, a 12-time Olympic gold medalist, has earned millions of dollars through endorsements.
Speedo, the biggest sponsor of the four, said: “We cannot condone behavior that is counter to the values this brand has long stood for.”
Ryan Lochte said he respected Speedo’s decision, and thanked the company.
Photo Wikipedia
“I am grateful for the opportunities that our partnership has afforded me over the years,” the swimmer said.
Ralph Lauren, which has removed some of Ryan Lochte’s images from its website, said its sponsorship of the swimmer had been only for the Rio Games and would not be renewed.
Airweave and Ralph Lauren both stressed that they would continue their support of the US Olympic and Paralympic teams.
Syneron-Candela said: “We hold our employees to high standards, and we expect the same of our business partners.”
Speedo said it would donate a $50,000 portion of Ryan Lochte’s sponsorship fee to the charity Save The Children’s Brazilian operation.
The value of Ryan Lochte’s Speedo sponsorship has not been disclosed. The contract reportedly expires this year after 10 years.
Forbes magazine calculated that in the year of the 2012 London Olympics, Ryan Lochte earned about $2 million in sponsorships from companies such as Gillette, Nissan, AT&T and Gatorade.
Ryan Lochte’s performance at Rio did not reach the heights of his London triumph, but Forbes estimated the athlete’s endorsements would still have been between $1 million-$2 million.
The saga started when Ryan Lochte and three team-mates returned to the Olympic village after a late night out in Rio.
They tried, unsuccessfully, to use the locked toilet at a garage and urinated outside instead.
After first claiming that Ryan Lochte and his three team-mates had been robbed by bogus policemen, Lochte back-tracked and admitted he had, while still drunk, “left details out” and “over-exaggerated some parts of the story”.
Despite the evidence against him, including CCTV footage, he has however denied that he actually lied in his initial account to Brazilian police.
Ryan Lochte’s behavior has been met with disdain in the US and he has been widely pilloried in the US media.
On August 19, the New York Post carried a front-page headline describing him as the “Ugly American”, along with the slogan “Liar, Liar, Speedo on fire”.
Ryan Lochte is one of the most successful swimmers in history, with 12 Olympic medals, and he once had his own reality TV show.
In Rio, Ryan Lochte swam in two events, winning a gold medal in the 4x200m freestyle relay along with team-mate Jack Conger.
Binary options are financial derivatives in which the payoff is either a fixed monetary amount or nothing. Binary options have previously only been available to institutional investors and large corporations and were mainly used for currency hedging purposes. However, binary options have recently also become available for retail investors who are looking to place bets on stocks, bonds, commodities, currencies or indices.
How do binary options work?
Online binary options brokerages, such as Morton Finance, always quote binary options with a two-way price. An example would be 49.50/50.50. If you want to go ‘long’ and buy a binary option on the underlying asset (such as a stock, commodity, currency or index), you buy it at the offer price, which would be 50.50. Should the underlying asset close up within the pre-defined time horizon (say 5 minutes) your profit would be 49.50 times your investment per point (say USD 5). So, if we were to buy USD 5 per point at 50.50 and the underlying asset closes higher after 5 minutes, we would generate a profit of USD 5 * (100-50.50) = USD 247.50. Adversely, if the underlying asset would end up lower after 5mins, then you would make a loss of USD 5 * (0-50.50) = USD 252.50. The value of a binary option at expiry is always either 0 or 100. Therefore, your potential loss is limited, which helps you manage your loss exposure when trading binary options.
Binary options trading strategies
However, as with all financial trading, it is important to have the right strategies in place to ensure the highest chance of consistent profits. Due to the short-term nature of binary options markets, they are best traded when there is a clear short-term trend in asset prices. That way you have a good chance of profitably closing out 5-minute or 10-minute binary options trades.
Trade on the back of company news
Important company announcements, such as better-than-expected or worse-than-expected earnings releases, provide a great opportunity to put on binary options trades as they result in sharp price movements for a short period of time. You can capitalize on such mini-trends by either buying or selling a binary option on the company’s stock depending on whether the company announcement was positive or negative for its stock price. For example, if Goldman Sachs announces worse than expected results, its stock price will drop immediately after the announcement. In this situation, you could sell a binary option on Goldman Sachs stock and will very likely close out a profitable trade.
Trade on the back of economic data announcements
You could apply the same strategy to macroeconomic data and use stock indices as an underlying asset to put on binary options trades post market-moving economic data announcements. For example, if you trade the S&P500 using binary options you can go long after better-than-expected US economic data has been released or go short immediately after worse-than-expected US data has been announced. Hence, if there are better-than-expected US unemployment numbers you can go long the S&P500 using a 5-minute binary option and profit of the immediate jump in US stock prices.
Model Gina-Lisa Lohfink has been convicted of making false rape allegations against two men in a case that has sparked debate across Germany.
Gina-Lisa Lohfink was fined €20,000 ($22,600) by a court in Berlin.
The two men were cleared of rape and Gina-Lisa Lohfink was accused of making false testimony.
Gina-Lisa Lohfink is a former competitor on reality TV show Germany’s Next Top Model, and the high-profile case partly informed a recent change to Germany’s rape laws.
Photo Facebook
A new law was passed in July clarifying that “no means no” even if the victim did not fight back.
After the verdict was read out, Gina-Lisa Lohfink cried: “I don’t need to put myself through this” before storming out of the courtroom.
He defense lawyer described the verdict as “a scandal”.
Burkhard Benecken said he would discuss with her whether she had the strength for an appeal.
She was now concerned for all women who wanted to report a rape, he said.
The case has been extensively covered throughout the German media.
Bild reported the verdict as “a bitter setback” for Gina-Lisa Lohfink, and said the verdict was greeted with boos from the public gallery.
Die Zeit said that the trial showed “how disrespectfully we treat people, when it comes to the accusation of rape”. The case will stigmatize all parties in the long run, the newspaper said.
Donald Trump may drop his proposal to deport 11 million people who are living illegally in the United States.
Campaign manager Kellyanne Conway said the mass deportation plan, which was a central plank of Donald Trump’s campaign, was yet “to be determined”.
Kellyanne Conway’s comments at the weekend came after the Republican presidential nominee met with a new panel of Hispanic advisers.
Donald Trump told Fox News on August 22 he was not “flip-flopping” but wanted a fair plan.
He is scheduled to deliver a speech on immigration in Colorado on August 25.
Photo AP
Donald Trump has taken a hard-line stance on immigration since the beginning of his campaign, vowing to create a “deportation force” as well as make Mexico pay for the construction of a wall along the US-Mexico border.
While struggling to keep up with Hillary Clinton in the polls, Donald Trump has addressed black and Hispanic voters in recent days with the aim of broadening his support beyond white working-class voters.
“What he supports is to make sure we enforce the law, that we are respectful of those Americans who are looking for jobs, and that we are fair and humane to those who live among us,” Kellyanne Conway told CNN on August 21.
When asked to clarify if Donald Trump would maintain his position on creating a deportation force, Kellyanne Conway responded: “To be determined.”
Donald Trump’s running mate, Mike Pence, insisted that the plan remains unchanged.
“I don’t think the message is changing at all. I think people are just getting to know Donald Trump better,” he said.
Hillary Clinton’s campaign later released a statement saying there would be little revision to his immigration plan despite Kellyanne Conway’s suggestions.
“Donald Trump’s immigration plan remains the same as it’s always been – tear apart families and deport 16 million people from the United States,” said Hillary Clinton’s campaign chair John Podesta.
If the deportation plan is dropped or refashioned, it would not be the first shift in Donald Trump’s immigration policy.
Donald Trump’s controversial plan to issue a “total and complete shutdown” of Muslims entering the country changed to a ban on countries with a history of terrorism against the US. That switch followed questions raised by constitutional experts.
Last week, the Trump campaign faced a dramatic overhaul with the exit of campaign chairman Paul Manafort as well as the hiring of Breitbart News boss Stephen Bannon as CEO and Kellyanne Conway as campaign manager.
In all businesses, wasting time and effort is an easy way to sink the whole business. If you’re worried that your floor isn’t as efficient as you would like it to be, then you need to make changes. This doesn’t just go for manufacturing and production businesses. In any kind of workplace, the speed and quality of the workflow matters. So take a look at the tips below to see what strategies you should consider implementing in your business.
First, look at the physical layout of the workplace itself. Are there large gaps between different stages of the workflow? Are there unnecessary things in the way or just in the wrong place? Go back to the drawing board and try come up with floor plans that make workflow move a lot quicker. Of course, inefficiently reorganising can just as well cost you time. So when it’s time to move things around, look at tips like this industrial ball transfer demo by Hudson Bearings.
If you spend all day doing busywork and pushing paper, then you’re not spending as much time on the processes that actually make you money. So get the tools on hand that can help you reduce the amount of time you have to spend doing it. For example, if your HR workload takes up a lot of your time, look at apps that can automate a lot of those processes.
One of the biggest risks to the efficiency of your workplace is work interruption. In a high skill environment, an absent employee can be the most damaging case of work interruption. Don’t let your workflow come to a standstill. Don’t spend a huge amount of money hiring temps, either. Instead, take the time to help your employees mentor and train one another. Make sure that there’s always someone available to fill in the skills gap that another’s absence might create.
In any workplace, lacking the supplies you need is going to be another real cause for work interruption. Particularly in the world of manufacturing, this can be prevented by using an inventory tracking system. Know what you need well before you need it. Track equipment and keep it maintained on a regular basis. Don’t neglect the tools or materials that keep the whole thing going.
Money is vital to just about every kind of business. Yet, there are many who will lose track of it, only to find that they have no funding left for what they need. Financial advisors are more than just penny counters (though they are helpful in that regard). It’s always a good idea to have someone in the know who can help you spot opportunities to put your cash to better work.
We hope that the tools and tricks mentioned above help you create a much more streamlined business. If you can’t cope with your workflow efficiently, you could stand to lose everything.
Running a business is hard work when you are in the best of health. It can be tough for entrepreneurs to strike that balance between work and a happy private life full of wellness. But let’s face the facts: it is even harder when you are suffering from a chronic illness. You have to look after yourself, first and foremost. This does not mean running a business is impossible, however; far from it, in fact.
One of the keys to success is choosing the right people and products to work with. Building up a network of reliable, trusted service providers can help your business thrive, and take some of the pressure off. Here’s how you go about outsourcing work to others, while retaining full control over your business aims.
Regardless of your illness, you have to know yourself before outsourcing any projects. It is vital that you understand your strengths and weaknesses. Not in a physical sense, of course – I mean where your business knowledge and abilities lie. These skills will be the drivers of your business, and it’s vital to use them in the most efficient way. That means spending as much time as possible on things you do well and contribute to earning while identifying areas that you don’t do so well. This will give you the opportunity to pass on those time-consuming tasks that end up costing you money.
Learn the basics
A little knowledge can take you a long way when it comes to selecting perfect partners. You don’t need to be an expert by any means, but it’s worth taking a little time to learn about specific areas. For example, you don’t need to learn code to hire a website designer. But it will be handy if you understand some of the basic principles of web design, so you hire the right people. However, you might find that expensive hires aren’t always necessary. Let’s say you want more website traffic, for example. You can put your new knowledge to good use with a white label SEO product instead of hiring an expensive consultant.
Once you know where you need help, it’s time to start the interview process. Never hire anyone without speaking to them first, in person. There are a lot of risks here, and it is essential to understand if you can both work together. Ask for recent examples of their work – and to speak to former clients. Don’t feel under pressure to hire anyone unless you are happy to do so.
Forming an agreement
If you are happy to work with a particular firm, make sure you have an agreement in place. They will provide some degree of service to you, but, like everything in life, it will cost you money. You need to outline everyone’s expectations right from the start of your relationship so that you can get a get a good return on that investment. Make sure they are clear about what they are doing before signing any contracts. Don’t forget; outsourcing is about making your life easier. Constant questions and requests for help are not going to help you achieve that goal, and can add a lot of stress.
I hope this brief guide has helped you form an idea of how outsourcing can help – and hinder – you. Let me know if you have any more questions!
Controversial Malaysian rapper Namewee has been arrested after complaints that his most recent music video “insulted Islam”.
Namewee, whose real name is Wee Meng Chee, was detained on August 21. He is known for his profanity-laced music.
The offending video, for his song Oh My God, was first released in July and features him rapping in front of places of worship around Malaysia.
Namewee, 33, insists that his song was intended to promote religious harmony.
Photo Facebook
On August 22, Malaysian police remanded Namewee in custody for four days to investigate him for “defiling a place of worship with intention to insult religion”. The charge carries a jail term of up to two years.
About two thirds of Malaysians are Muslim, though the country also has significant Buddhist, Christian and Hindu populations. But there have been a number of instances in recent years of blogs and certain representations of Islam stoking controversy in Malaysia.
Namewee makes several religious references, using terms such as “Allah” and “Hallelujah”.
The singer and three others also appear to sing and dance in front of Buddhist and Taoist temples, inside a church and outside a mosque.
The latest version of the video uploaded to YouTube on 20 August, however, does not appear to include a sequence in front of a mosque.
Representatives from 20 local NGOs lodged some 10 reports against the singer.
Namewee was arrested on August 21 at Kuala Lumpur International Airport after returning from an overseas trip.
On August 22, Namewee posted a statement on his Facebook page where he says the intention of the Oh My God video was only to promote religious harmony.
The singer responded to people asking why he had returned to Malaysia when he could have evaded arrest by staying abroad by saying that he had done nothing wrong.
“If I’ve not done any wrong, why should I run and hide? [Malaysia] is my home, my land.”
Singing in Mandarin Chinese, Namewee is also hugely popular in Taiwan and China. But this is not his first brush with controversy.
In one of his previous videos Namewee questions Malaysia’s national energy provider over a blackout and another video featured a parody of the national anthem, which almost landed him in jail.
The Rio Olympics closed with a spectacular carnival-inspired ceremony, and the official handover to 2020 hosts Tokyo.
The Maracana stadium was turned into a street carnival as the ceremony celebrated Brazil’s art, music and dance.
The colorful ceremony lasted almost three hours.
The highlights included human formations of iconic Rio landmarks Christ the Redeemer and Sugarloaf Mountain.
The Olympic flame was extinguished by a rain shower, which then gave life to a large tree sculpture to symbolize rebirth.
The ceremony featured the symbolic handover of the Olympic flag. Rio mayor Eduardo Paes returned it to IOC President Thomas Bach, before it was passed to Tokyo governor Yuriko Koike.
IOC President Thomas Bach officially closed the Games of the 31st Olympiad after 16 days of competition, featuring 11,303 athletes from 206 nations and a refugee team.
One of the biggest cheers of the night came when Japan’s PM Shinzo Abe appeared dressed as computer game character Super Mario, rising out of a huge green pipe in the stadium.
The closing ceremony, watched by billions around the world, featured the parade of athletes and concluded with a confetti and firework show.
Drugs found in Prince’s home were falsely labeled as fentanyl, according to reports.
Speaking to the Minneapolis Star Tribune, officials investigating Prince’s death said the pills were labeled as hydrocodone, a weaker type of opioid.
Autopsy results released in June revealed Prince died of an accidental fentanyl overdose.
Officials told the Associated Press Prince, 57, had no prescriptions for controlled substances at the time.
Photo Getty Images
The artist was found dead in an elevator inside his Paisley Park home in April.
According to the Star Tribune report, Prince weighed just 110lbs at the time of his death and had significantly more than a fatal dose of fentanyl in his system.
Fentanyl has been linked to a surge in overdoses in parts of the US after being incorporated into counterfeit pills.
The counterfeit pills found in Paisley Park contained a variety of drugs, according to the Associated Press, including fentanyl, lidocaine and U-4770, a synthetic drug eight times more powerful than morphine.
Tests on the musician prior to his death did not show fentanyl in his system, AP said, citing an official involved with the investigation, indicating the singer was not a long-term user of the drug.
The official said Prince had many of these pills with him a week before his death when his airplane made an emergency stop in Illinois after he fell ill.
Prince reportedly received two doses of Narcan, an antidote used to reverse suspected opioid overdoses.
The suicide bombing which killed 51 people at a Kurdish wedding party in Gaziantep, Turkey, was carried out by a 12 to 14-year-old, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said.
President Erdogan said ISIS was behind the attack. Gaziantep, near the Syrian border, is known to have several ISIS cells.
The bomb wounded 69 people, Recep Tayyip Erdogan added, 17 of them seriously.
The bomber targeted the wedding guests as they danced in the street.
Photo euronews
A suicide bomber believed to have links to ISIS killed two policemen in Gaziantep in May.
In a written statement published by local media, President Erdogan argued there was “no difference” between ISIS, the Kurdish militants of the PKK, and followers of US-based cleric Fethullah Gulen, whom he blames for the coup attempt last month.
The bomb went off in a part of town popular with students and which has a large Kurdish community.
According to a report by Turkey’s Dogan news agency, the couple had moved to Gaziantep from the Kurdish town of Siirt further east to escape fighting between Kurdish rebels and security forces.
The United States condemned the attack, calling it “barbaric act”.
The Tragically Hip, whose frontman Gord Downie was diagnosed with terminal brain cancer, have performed their last concert at the end of an emotional farewell tour.
The Canadian blues and rock band drew a sell-out crowd to the last show in Kingston, Ontario, on August 20, broadcast live across the country.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who was at the live show, said The Tragically Hip had “been writing Canada’s soundtrack for over 30 years”.
Gord Downie, 52, announced his illness in May.
The news of his illness caused shock across Canada.
Photo Facebook
The CBC called Gord Downie Canada’s “unofficial poet laureate”.
The 15-stop Man Machine Poem tour “left a trail of heartbreak but also celebration across the nation”, the Globe and Mail reported.
Justin Trudeau tweeted after the concert that The Tragically Hip would be “forever in our hearts and playlists”.
The prime minister also tweeted a picture of himself writing on a wall of messages to what he dubbed “Canada’s band”.
Formed in the 1980s, the band penned lyrics which explicitly referenced Canadian life, with a small-town charm that won the country over.
The Tragically Hip started as a college band working the local circuit and then took off, but their success across 14 albums was mostly confined to within Canada.
Known simply as The Hip to many Canadians, their songs became part of a national identity.
Kingston designated on August 20 as The Tragically Hip Day in honor of its local heroes.
The Kingston concert was broadcast on Canadian TV and was shown at hundreds of public screenings across the country in bars and outdoor venues.
The final concert, at the Rogers K-Rock Center, sold out in minutes.
Topics to do with The Hip concert trended on Canadian social media on August 20.
At least 30 people have been killed and other 94 injured in a bomb attack at an outdoor wedding party in the south Turkish city of Gaziantep, the authorities say.
Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said ISIS was likely to have carried it out amid reports of a suicide bomber targeting the party.
The bomb attack, in an area popular with university students, could be heard across the city.
Photo AP
Gaziantep, near the Syrian border, is known to have several ISIS cells.
A suicide bomber believed to have links to ISIS killed two policemen in Gaziantep in May.
According to a report by AFP news agency, the bomb went off in a part of town with a large Kurdish community and there seem to have been many Kurds at the wedding.
In a written statement published by local media, President Erdogan argued there was “no difference” between ISIS, the Kurdish militants of the PKK, and followers of US-based cleric Fethullah Gulen, whom he blames for the coup attempt last month.
“Our country and our nation have again only one message to those who attack us – you will not succeed!” the president said.
On August 20, Turkey’s government said the country would take a more active role in efforts to end the war in Syria.
PM Binali Yildirim said a future political settlement for Syria must not include President Bashar al-Assad, ISIS or Turkey’s own Kurdish separatist rebels, the PKK.
Ryan Lochte has said sorry to Brazilians after “over-exaggerating” claims he was robbed at gunpoint while at the Rio Olympics.
The Olympic swimmer had claimed that he and a group of three other US swimmers had been robbed at a gas station.
However, CCTV footage contradicted Ryan Lochte’s story, showing the men had vandalized the gas station.
Ryan Lochte told Globo TV, Brazil’s largest broadcaster, that he had not lied over what happened.
“I wasn’t lying to a certain extent,” he said.
Photo Globo TV
“I over-exaggerated what was happening to me.”
He added that he was sorry, saying: “Brazil doesn’t deserve that.”
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has set up a disciplinary commission to investigate the incident and the four swimmers’ behavior.
News of the alleged robbery emerged through Ryan Lochte’s mother on August 14.
Ryan Lochte then gave an account of the events, saying he and the other swimmers were returning by cab from a club in the early hours of the morning when they were robbed at gunpoint by men who forced the vehicle to pull over.
However, Brazilian police said a day later that there were inconsistencies in the men’s accounts.
On August 17, two of the swimmers, Gunnar Bentz and Jack Conger, were taken off a US-bound plane at Rio de Janeiro airport and questioned by police.
Gunnar Bentz and Jack Conger were eventually allowed to leave Brazil. Another swimmer, Jimmy Feigen agreed to pay $11,000 to a Brazilian charity after the incident.
On August 19, Jack Conger said in a statement that Ryan Lochte had pulled a metal advertisement in a frame to the ground, but Conger said he was “unsure why”.
Jack Conger also said Ryan Lochte began yelling at guards for an unknown reason. The men then agreed to pay the guards for the damage.
Rio de Janeiro’s mayor Eduardo Paes had told media he felt nothing but “shame and contempt” towards the athletes for their portrayal of what happened.
In a separate interview with NBC, part of which also aired on August 20, Ryan Lochte said he felt “hurt” watching footage of his team-mates being taken off their plane.
Ryan Lochte had already returned to the US from Brazil.
“I mean, I let my team down and you know, I don’t want them to think I left them out to dry,” he said.
However, Ryan Lochte maintained the men were threatened and made to pay: “Whether you call it a robbery or whether you call it extortion or us just paying for the damages, we don’t know. All we know is that there was a gun pointed in our direction and we were demanded to give money.”
The killing of Turkish transgender activist Hande Kader has caused an outcry in Istanbul.
Turkey remains conservative on LGBTI issues, but on August 21 activists will stage a rare protest in Istanbul.
Hande Kander’s body was found in a forest in Istanbul last week.
The 23-year-old transgender woman, who earned her living as a prostitute, was last seen entering a client’s car one night.
Photo Twitter
LGBTI activists protest against violence towards trans people, but the rest of Turkish society rarely reacts.
Under the state of emergency, declared after the failed coup attempt of July 15, restrictions on demonstrations are in place.
However, for the first time, famous figures in Turkey have joined the calls to raise awareness of Hande Kader’s murder and to take part in a demonstration scheduled for August 21 in Istanbul.
According to data from the rights group Transgender Europe, Turkey has the highest number of trans murders in Europe.
Hande Kader tried to call attention to trans murders in Turkey and the lack of justice. She was usually in the front at demonstrations.
In 2015, police had banned the annual LGBTI Pride march in Taksim Square in Istanbul. They tried to disperse the crowds, using water cannon, rubber bullets and pepper spray.
World’s highest and longest glass-bottomed bridge has opened to visitors in Zhangjiajie, central China.
The glass bridge connects two mountain cliffs in what are known as the Avatar mountains (Avatar movie was shot here) in Hunan province.
Photo YouTube
Completed in December, the 1411ft-long bridge cost $3.4 million to build and stands 984ft above ground, state news agency Xinhua reported.
The bridge has been paved with 99 panes of three-layered transparent glass.
According to officials, the 20ft-wide bridge – designed by Israeli architect Haim Dotan – has already set world records for its architecture and construction.
Park officials have said a maximum of 8,000 visitors will be allowed on the bridge each day.
Those wanting to add another thrill to their bucket list are strongly encouraged to book their slots in advance.
Donald Trump has made a direct appeal to black voters, saying: “What do you have to lose?”.
The Republican nominee told a nearly all-white audience in Michigan that African-American voters “are living in poverty” and their “schools are no good”.
Donald Trump promised to “produce” for African-Americans where Democrats had failed.
“If you keep voting for the same people, you will keep getting exactly the same result,” he said.
Donald Trump said Hillary Clinton “would rather provide a job to a refugee” than to unemployed black youths, “who have become refugees in their own country”.
Photo AP
Hillary Clinton called Donald Trump’s remarks “so ignorant it’s staggering”.
The New York billionaire also predicted he would receive 95% of the African-American vote if he went to on to run for a second term in 2020.
President Barack Obama, historically the most popular president among African-Americans in US history, received 93% of the black vote in 2012.
Donald Trump has suffered from dismal support among African-Americans.
Current polls show about 2% of black voters say they will vote for Donald Trump.
The Trump campaign relationship with the black voters thus far can be described as rocky at best.
He has seen strong support among white supremacist groups.
Donald Trump came under heavy criticism after he took days to distance himself from a former leader of the Ku Klux Klan who endorsed him.
On several occasions, African-American protesters have been assaulted by Donald Trump supporters at rallies. A New York Times investigation found supporters frequently use racist language at rallies.
Yesterday speech was the third time this week that Donald Trump sought to appeal to African-American voters.
Some analysts say Donald Trump, trailing badly in national polls for weeks, desperately needs to broaden his appeal beyond his base of white working-class voters.
However, many commentators on Twitter were perplexed by Donald Trump’s approach in courting these voters.
Earlier in the day, Donald Trump announced that Paul Manafort, a seasoned political operative who led his campaign for the past three months, had stepped down.
On August 16, Donald Trump promoted pollster Kellyanne Conway to campaign manager and hired conservative media executive Stephen Bannon as his campaign’s CEO.
The moves effectively demoted Paul Manafort, whose links to the pro-Russian former Ukrainian government of Viktor Yanukovych have drawn scrutiny in recent days.
Donald Trump’s campaign chairman Paul Manafort has resigned just two months after taking the helm.
Paul Manafort has come under fire for his ties to Russian interests and former Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych.
He has denied any wrongdoing and it is not yet clear why he left.
Donald Trump’s campaign team was overhauled earlier this week with the addition of a new campaign chief executive and a new campaign manager.
The Republican presidential nominee, who arrived in Louisiana on August 19 to meet flood victims, has come under pressure in recent weeks after a series of controversial remarks and falling poll numbers.
Photo Getty Images
Donald Trump said in a statement: “This morning Paul Manafort offered, and I accepted, his resignation from the campaign.
“I am very appreciative for his great work in helping to get us where we are today, and in particular his work guiding us through the delegate and convention process.”
Paul Manafort has faced public scrutiny in recent weeks after the New York Times reported that the Ukrainian government had uncovered ledgers pledging more than $12 million in undisclosed cash payments for his work with Viktor Yanukovych, who fled after an uprising in November 2013.
Ukraine’s Anti-Corruption Bureau is also investigating business deals worth millions of dollar that are linked to Paul Manafort.
Paul Manafort has vehemently dismissed the claims and denied any wrongdoing.
Hillary Clinton’s spokesman Robbie Mook said Paul Manafort was another example of Donald Trump’s ties to Russian President Vladimir Putin.
“You can get rid of Manafort, but that doesn’t end the odd bromance Trump has with Putin,” he said.
“Trump still has to answer serious questions hovering over his campaign given his propensity to parrot Putin’s talking points.”
Paul Manafort, a former adviser to George H.W. Bush and Bob Dole, only joined the Trump campaign in March, to help the billionaire secure the party’s nomination. He was promoted to campaign manager in June.
The announcement of new campaign chief, Kellyanne Conway, and campaign CEO, Stephen Bannon, earlier this week raised questions about whether it would diminish Paul Manafort’s role.
Paul Manafort was considered a guiding hand in steering Donald Trump toward a more conventional campaign as opposed to the anti-establishment brand of politics that made his primary campaign successful.
A hotel developer with no previous experience of politics, Donald Trump stunned the political world by beating far more experienced figures in the Republican Party.
Donald Trump faces Hillary Clinton, who has come under intense criticism over her email arrangements while secretary of state, in November’s election.
Amber Heard has announced she will donate her $7 million divorce settlement from Johnny Depp to two charities that work with abused women and ill children.
The actress will give half to the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) to prevent violence against women, and half to the Children’s Hospital of Los Angeles.
Amber Heard said she hoped to “help those less able to defend themselves”.
She earlier accused Johnny Depp of striking her and throwing a mobile phone during a fight. He denied the allegations.
Johnny Depp’s lawyer claimed Amber Heard had made the accusations in order to obtain a more favorable settlement.
Announcing their divorce settlement on August 16, Amber Heard and Johnny Depp said their relationship was “intensely passionate and at times volatile, but always bound by love”.
In a statement, Amber Heard, 30, said: “Money played no role for me personally and never has, except to the extent that I could donate it to charity and, in doing so, hopefully help those less able to defend themselves.
“As reported in the media, the amount received in the divorce was $7 million and $7 million is being donated. This is over and above any funds that I have given away in the past and will continue to give away in the future.”
She said the money donated to the ACLU would have a “particular focus to stop violence against women”.
The actress added: “I know these organizations will put the funds to good use and look forward to continuing to support them in the future. Hopefully, this experience results in a positive change in the lives of people who need it the most.”
Amber Heard married Johnny Depp, 53, in February 2015 and they announced their split in May 2016.
She then took out a temporary restraining order against Johnny Depp obliging him not to get in contact and stay 100 yards away from her.
Their settlement came a day before a court hearing into the restraining order was due to take place. The order was then withdrawn.
Amber Heard and Johnny Depp released a joint statement on August 16 saying: “Neither party has made false accusations for financial gain. There was never any intent of physical or emotional harm.”
The world’s highest and longest glass-bottomed bridge will open to visitors in central China this weekend.
The bridge connects two mountain cliffs in what are known as the Avatar mountains (the movie was shot here) in Zhangjiajie, Hunan province.
Completed in December, the 1411ft-long bridge cost $3.4 million to build and stands 985ft above ground, state news agency Xinhua reported.
The glass-bottomed bridge has been paved with 99 panes of three-layered transparent glass.
Photo YouTube
According to officials, the 19.5ft-wide bridge, designed by Israeli architect Haim Dotan – has already set world records for its architecture and construction.
Glass bridges in China have been a popular craze for the daring photo opportunities they provide. Events like mass yoga displays and even weddings have been staged on several such bridges.
One couple celebrated their special day by dangling in mid-air from a bridge in Pingjiang, also located in Hunan province.
Officials have staged high-profile events to try and reassure the public of the bridge’s safety.
They sent in sledgehammers and even drove a car, filled with passengers, across the bridge earlier this year.
Park officials have said a maximum of 8,000 visitors will be allowed on the bridge each day.
Those wanting to add another thrill to their bucket list are strongly encouraged to book their slots in advance.
The UN has admitted it played a role in an outbreak of cholera in Haiti in 2010 that has since killed about 10,000 people in the country.
According to scientific studies, Nepalese UN troops were the source of the disease – but the UN repeatedly denied responsibility until now.
An internal report seen by the New York Times is said to have led to the shift.
However, the UN still says it is protected by diplomatic immunity from claims for compensation from victims’ families.
On August 18, Farhan Haq, a spokesman for UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, said that “over the past year the UN has become convinced it needs to do much more regarding its own involvement in the initial outbreak and the suffering of those affected by cholera”.
Photo Wikipedia
However, Farhan Haq reiterated that the UN’s legal position in on diplomatic immunity and possible compensation “has not changed”.
His comments came after the confidential internal report stated that the epidemic “would not have broken out but for the actions of the United Nations,” according to the New York Times.
The New York Times says the report was sent to UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon last week by long-time UN adviser Philip Alston, a New York University law professor who consults the world body on human rights issues.
The cholera outbreak has been blamed on leaking sewage pipes at a UN base.
The US courts have rejected claims for compensation filed by victims’ families.
No cases of the bacterial infection, which causes diarrhea, nausea, vomiting and muscle cramps, had been recorded in Haiti for a century until the outbreak in late 2010.
Cholera is spread through infected faeces. Once it enters the water supply it is difficult to stop – especially in a country like Haiti which has almost no effective sewage disposal systems.
The US Olympic Committee (USOC) has issued an apology for what it called the unacceptable behavior of four swimmers who falsely said they had been robbed at gunpoint in Rio de Janeiro.
Brazilian police questioned three of the gold medal winners and say “they were not victims of the crimes they claimed”.
Two of the four – Gunnar Bentz and Jack Conger – were allowed to fly out of Rio on August 18.
Ryan Lochte had already left, and James Feigen remains in Brazil.
Gunnar Bentz and Jack Conger had been taken off a plane at Rio airport on August 17 and taken for questioning.
Ryan Lochte had initially said the four were robbed at gunpoint when they were returning by cab from a club.
However, Rio’s civil police head Fernando Veloso said the four Olympic gold medalists had not been robbed.
“No robbery was committed against these athletes. They were not victims of the crimes they claimed,” he said.
Photo Wikipedia
Fernando Velosi told reporters that one or more of the swimmers had instead vandalized a toilet in a petrol station and then offered to pay for the damage.
The athletes paid and left after armed security guards intervened, he said.
One guard had justifiably drawn his gun after one of the Americans began behaving erratically, Fernando Veloso added.
He warned that the medalists, who had repeatedly changed their accounts of what happened, could “in theory” face charges of giving false testimony and vandalism.
However, on August 18, the swimmers’ lawyer Sergio Riera said Gunnar Bentz and Jack Conger had been allowed to leave Brazil by a special Olympic court.
“They are on their way to the airport,” Sergio Riera said.
However, James Feigen remains in Brazil.
James Feigen “provided a revised statement this evening [August 18] with the hope of securing the release of his passport as soon as possible,” said the USOC.
The USOC statement confirmed the version of events given by Fernando Veloso, and added that “the behavior of these athletes is not acceptable, nor does it represent the values of Team USA”.
Earlier, Rio 2016 spokesman Mario Andrada had tried to make light of the case saying: “These kids tried to have fun, they tried to represent their country to the best of their abilities.
“They competed under gigantic pressure. Let’s give these kids a break. Sometime you take actions that you later regret.
“They had fun, they made a mistake, life goes on.”
