Two female militants have been killed in Istanbul after attacking police with gunfire and a grenade, the city’s governor has said.
A statement on a website close to the outlawed Revolutionary People’s Liberation Party-Front (DHKP-C) said it carried out the attack.
The two women died in a shootout with police after hiding in the building in Bayrampasa district, officials said.
Two policemen were hurt in the attack.
Photo Dogan
The activists had earlier opened fire at a riot police station in Bayrampasa, the Hurriyet newspaper reported.
The statement on the website hailed the “brave female liberation fighters”.
The extreme-left DHKP-C has waged a violent campaign for more than three decades.
Turkey says the group has killed dozens of police officers and soldiers along with scores of civilians since it was formed in 1978 with the aim of replacing the Turkish government with a Marxist one.
It also opposes what it calls US imperialism and has several times targeted US military personnel and diplomatic missions.
Istanbul Governor Vasip Sahin said an investigation into today’s attack was under way.
Both Kurdish rebels and far-left militants have attacked police in Istanbul in the past.
Today’s attack comes amid a rise in violence in Turkey since mid-2015.
Mitt Romney has urged the Republican Party to reject Donald Trump, reportedly calling the front-runner a “phony” and “fraud”.
The former Republican presidential candidate accuses Donald Trump of “playing the American public for suckers”, in a planned speech leaked to the media.
Donald Trump has meanwhile mocked Mitt Romney on Twitter as a “failed candidate” who should not advise on getting elected.
Many senior Republicans are alarmed at the prospect of Donald Trump securing the nomination for November’s election.
In the latest attack from top figures in the party, several members of the Republican national security community wrote an open letter describing Donald Trump’s “vision of American influence and power in the world” as “wildly inconsistent and unmoored in principle”.
“He swings from isolationism to military adventurism within the space of one sentence,” the letter said.
Donald Trump has sought to present himself as a “unifier”, after his victories in seven states on so-called Super Tuesday consolidated his position at the front of the race for his party’s nomination.
Mitt Romney, who has been a fierce critic of Donald Trump, is expected to warn in his speech on March 3 that his policies are a threat to the Republican Party and to the country as a whole.
“Here’s what I know: Donald Trump is a phony, a fraud,” Mitt Romney says, according to a leaked transcript of his remarks.
“His promises are as worthless as a degree from Trump University,” he is quoted as saying.
Mitt Romney will also warn that the nomination of Donald Trump would pave the way to the presidency for Democratic rival Hillary Clinton.
Donald Trump meanwhile accused Mitt Romney of having run “one of the worst races in presidential history” and “working with the establishment” to prevent a Republican win.
Mitt Romney lost the 2012 election to President Barack Obama.
Several GOP leaders, including House Speaker Paul Ryan and South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham, have spoken out against Donald Trump’s controversial policies and positions in recent days.
Donald Trump’s latest controversy centers on his failure to disavow David Duke, a leader of the white supremacist Ku Klux Klan, who endorsed him. He later said he had on several occasions in the past disavowed David Duke.
Paul Ryan said on March 1 that nominees “must reject any group or cause that is built on bigotry. This party does not prey on people’s prejudices”.
Donald Trump rival Marco Rubio indicated in his speech on Super Tuesday that the Republican establishment was unlikely to back the former reality TV star.
According to the New York Times, some GOP donors are already trying to raise funds for an anti-Trump effort.
According to new reports, Nicole Scherzinger will star in a TV remake of the 1987 classic movie Dirty Dancing.
Nicole Scherzinger has been cast as Penny, the dance partner of lead character Jonny Castle, the Hollywood Reporter said.
Colt Prattes is to play Jonny Castle, with Oscar-nominee Abigail Breslin playing opposite him as Baby Houseman in the ABC show.
Photo Facebook
Nicole Scherzinger tweeted she was “so excited” to join the cast.
The three-hour remake, which will be directed by The Sapphires director Wayne Blair, has yet to get a transmission date.
Set in the summer of 1963, Dirty Dancing is the song-and-dance love story about 17-year-old Baby, originally played by Jennifer Grey, who falls for her working-class dance instructor, Johnny Castle – played by Patrick Swayze.
The role of Penny was played by Cynthia Rhodes in the 1987 movie.
Eleanor Bergstein, who wrote the screenplay for the original movie and was also behind the successful Dirty Dancing musical, is on board for the small screen adaptation to be produced by Lionsgate TV.
In 2011, Lionsgate had announced plans to remake the movie for the big screen, with Kenny Ortega – who choreographed the original and directed High School Musical – at the helm.
Ex-Chesapeake Energy CEO Aubrey McClendon was killed in a car crash on March 2, one day after he was accused of fixing bids for oil and gas leases.
Aubrey McClendon, 56, was the only person in the vehicle when it smashed into a concrete pillar in Oklahoma, police reported.
He was charged on March 1 with conspiring with two energy companies to rig the price of oil and gas contracts.
Aubrey McClendon, who stepped down from Chesapeake in 2013, denied the charges.
In a statement on March 1, Aubrey McClendon said: “Anyone who knows me, my business record and the industry in which I have worked for 35 years, knows that I could not be guilty of violating any antitrust laws.”
Police are still investigating the cause of the accident, but said the car was burned so badly it was difficult to tell if Aubrey McClendon was wearing a seatbelt.
A spokesperson for the Oklahoma City police did say he “drove straight into the wall”.
On March 1, the Department of Justice accused Aubrey McClendon of having been involved in an anti-trust scheme between 2007 and 2012.
The scheme involved two companies – which the DoJ did not name – deciding who would have the winning bid for oil and gas lessees ahead of the offer and then splitting the contract after it was awarded.
Aubrey McClendon stepped down as the head of Chesapeake Energy in 2013 amid concerns about his heavy spending and a shakeup in the company’s corporate governance.
He is considered one of the fathers of the US fracking industry.
Aubrey McClendon went on to found American Energy Partners where he served as chairman and chief executive. He was also a partial owner of the basketball team the Oklahoma City Thunder.
Toshiba shares jumped more than 10% on March 3 on reports the company was about to secure substantial new loans for its restructuring efforts.
The Japanese electronics giant is in talks with several local lenders over money it needs to reorganize its business in the wake of a massive accounting scandal.
Toshiba is hoping for loans of up to 250 billion yen ($2.2 billion), said Nikkei daily.
The company confirmed it was in talks but said the details had not been decided.
Sumitomo Mitsui Banking, Mizuho Bank and Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Bank were like to provide the funds as early as this month, Nikkei reports.
The funds are vital for Toshiba’s survival as it streamlines its bloated businesses, whose poor performances had gone unnoticed during almost a decade of false accounting.
The restructuring comes after Toshiba admitted in 2015 it had overstated its profits by $1.3 billion over seven years.
As part of the efforts to balance its books, Toshiba has announced major job cuts and the selling of several plants and units to external investors.
Toshiba currently employs almost 200,000 people.
Its shares have lost about 40% of their value since April 2015, when news of the profit overstatement began to emerge.
In July 2015, Toshiba’s chief executive, president and six other high-level executives resigned from the company.
Toshiba, which is involved in a wide-range of industries from electronics to nuclear energy, was founded in 1875 and launched the world’s first mass-market laptop in 1985.
According to South Korea’s defense ministry, North Korea has fired several short-range projectiles into the sea hours after the UN Security Council unanimously voted to impose some of its strongest ever sanctions against the country.
The projectiles were fired at about 10:00 local time from Wonsan on the east coast, a South Korean spokesman told the Yonhap news agency.
He said they were still trying to determine exactly what was fired.
Yonhap quoted officials as saying all the objects fell into the sea.
The new UN measures are a response to North Korea’s recent nuclear test and satellite launch, both of which violated existing sanctions.
They will result in all cargo going to and from the country being inspected, while 16 new individuals and 12 organizations have been blacklisted.
The US and North Korea’s long-standing ally China spent seven weeks discussing the new sanctions.
President Barack Obama said the international community was “speaking with one voice” to tell the North it “must abandon these dangerous programs and choose a better path for its people”.
South Korean President Park Geun-hye welcomed the sanctions, saying she hoped North Korea “will now abandon its nuclear development program and embark on a path of change”.
North Korea insists its missile program is purely scientific in nature, but the United States, South Korea and even its ally China say such launches like the one which put a satellite in orbit last month are aimed at developing inter-continental ballistic missiles.
Facebook is being investigated in Germany for suspected abuse of its dominant market position.
Germany’s federal cartel office suspects Facebook’s privacy terms violate data protection laws.
The German authorities are looking into whether Facebook’s “dominance” means those terms also constituted an abuse of market power. The formal probe is the first of its kind the social network has faced.
Facebook said it was confident it complied with the law.
“Dominant companies are subject to special obligations,” said Andreas Mundt, the president of the cartel office.
“These include the use of adequate terms of service as far as these are relevant to the market
“For advertising-financed internet services such as Facebook, user data are hugely important.
“For this reason, it is essential to also examine under the aspect of abuse of market power whether the consumers are sufficiently informed about the type and extent of data collected.”
Photo Getty Images
Andreas Mundt’s investigation would focus on Facebook’s US operation, as well as its German and Irish subsidiaries, the cartel office said in a statement released on March 2.
The investigation found that Facebook was dominant in the social media market and relied on advertising revenues generated on the basis of a “large amount of personal user data”.
Users had to agree to this collection of data as a condition of their being able to use the network.
“It is difficult for users to understand and assess the scope of the agreement accepted by them,” it said.
“There is considerable doubt as to the admissibility of this procedure, in particular under applicable national data protection law.
“If there is a connection between such an infringement and market dominance, this could also constitute an abusive practice under competition law.”
A Facebook representative said: “We are confident that we comply with the law, and we look forward to working with the Federal Cartel Office to answer their questions.”
The German authorities are working in “close contact” with the European Commission, the competition authorities of the other EU member states and data and consumer protection officers.
European Commission spokesman Ricardo Cardoso said the EU executive shared the view of the German cartel office that the mere infringement of data protection rules by a dominant company did not automatically amount to a competition violation.
“However, it cannot be excluded that a behavior that violates data protection rules could also be relevant when investigating a possible violation of EU competition rules,” Ricardo Cardoso added, while declining specific comment on the new case.
Speaking in Germany in January, the European commissioner for competition Margrethe Vestager said her agency was taking a harder look at whether the collection of vast amounts of consumer data by big internet companies violated competition rules.
Shell is being sued in London for the second time in five years over spills in the Niger Delta.
Two communities are claiming compensation and want the oil giant to clean up their land.
Shell said it is at an “early stage” in reviewing the claims and that the case should be heard in Nigeria.
The Ogale community of about 40,000 people in Rivers State, on the coast of Nigeria, who are mainly farmers or fishermen, are some of the claimants.
Spills since 1989 have meant they don’t have clean drinking water, farmland or rivers, their claim says.
It points to a November 2015 report by Amnesty International which says four spill sites Shell says it planned to clean up are still contaminated.
The first court hearing at the Technology and Construction Court, held on March 2, found that the claimants can lodge a case against Shell’s Nigerian business, known as Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria (SPDC). Shell declined to comment on the ruling.
Amnesty International’s findings followed a 2011 report by United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) which found water contaminated with oil by-products including benzene, thought to be a carcinogen. It suggested a cleanup, but said a “sustainable recovery” of the area could take up to 30 years.
Shell says it has agreed a clean-up plan.
“In mid-2015 SPDC JV, along with the government, UNEP and representatives of the Ogoni community, agreed to an 18-month roadmap to fast-track the environmental clean-up and remediation of Ogoniland which includes a governance framework,” the company said in a statement.
The Bille community, who are mainly fishermen and are the other party to sue, claims Shell should be liable for “failing to protect their pipelines from damage caused by third parties”, according to law firm Leigh Day.
Pipelines in the area have been targets for thieves who steal crude oil and try to refine it locally. This has lead to more spills and damage though explosions.
In January 2015, Shell agreed to an $84 million settlement with residents of the Bodo community in the Niger Delta for two oil spills.
The same law firm, Leigh Day, said their 15,600 clients would receive $3,300 each for losses caused by the spills.
The remaining $30 million would be left for the community, which Leigh Day said was “devastated by the two massive oil spills in 2008 and 2009”.
There are more than 700,000 compensation claims filed each year in America. Many people take this course of action to get the money they think they deserve. It can help them to pay for food and keep a roof over their head when they are recovering from the injury they sustained. But which are the most common types of personal injury claims?
Road Accidents
There are many road accidents, and many people get injured in them who have done nothing wrong. Anyone who gets injured on their road through no fault of their own is within their rights to pursue a compensation claim. There are about six million car accidents on US roads every year, and that leads to a lot of compensation claims. As soon as the driver or passenger has recovered from the injuries, they can use those medical reports as proof. That documentation can be very useful when it comes to securing compensation for the accident. It’s a long process, but the success rates are pretty high.
Work Injuries
When someone gets injured at work, they usually look for someone to blame. This is understandable because employers have a duty to look after their employees at work. If their workplaces are not safe, then accidents will happen, and compensation will have to be paid out. Contacting compensation lawyers and pursuing a claim is what the injured person will quickly do. Most workers don’t like their bosses, so they’re not going to shy away from taking their money. The only way to make sure that this doesn’t happen is for employers to make sure that workplaces are safe. Strong health and safety measures are vital to keeping everyone protected from potential harm and hazards.
If a patient can prove that they were injured by the actions of a doctor or medical professionals, they can claim medical malpractice. When this happens, and the evidence all checks out, the money that the victim can claim can be huge. The process isn’t quite as straightforward as that though. An independent medical professional has to look at the case and verify that the original doctor acted incorrectly. If all that goes to plan, the claim should be successful though. Any expert witnesses that were present can help your case if they’re willing to testify for you as well.
Accidents Caused by Negligence
There are millions of accidents every year in which people fall over or slip on a floor. These kinds of accidents often get attributed to someone’s negligence. If someone has cleaned a floor in a public place and failed to put up a sign making that fact clear, they could be negligent. This kind of thing happens each and every day. So, it’s not a surprise that this is one of the most common forms of personal injury claim in the US at the moment. Sometimes, the person who got injured is persuaded to sign a waiver or settle the issue out of court before they can take it further.
Western Indonesia has been hit by a 7.8 magnitude earthquake, the US Geological Survey (USGS) reports.
There have been no immediate reports of damage.
According to the USGS, the earthquake struck at 19:49 local time. It said the epicenter was 500 miles south-west of the city of Padang, and 15 miles deep.
Indonesian officials issued a tsunami warning for the regions of West Sumatra, North Sumatra and Aceh.
Australia also issued a tsunami warning for Cocos Island and Christmas Island in the Pacific. It also issued a tsunami watch for Western Australia but this was later lifted.
Australia’s Bureau of Meteorology said evacuations were not required on the islands but advised people to “get out of the water and move away from the immediate water’s edge”, because of the risk of dangerous waves and currents.
Authorities in India said their initial assessment was that there was no tsunami threat. Sri Lankan media also reported the country’s disaster management centre as saying there was no threat.
The earthquake was felt strongly in Padang for a few seconds, AFP reports, with people running out of their homes to higher ground.
Traffic ground to a halt and there was a sense of panic on the streets.
In 2004, an 8.9 magnitude earthquake triggered the world’s deadliest ever tsunami, killing more than 200,000 people.
Gabriela Zapata, a woman who had a son with Bolivian President Evo Morales, says she will present her child to the media “at a convenient time” to prove he is alive.
President Evo Morales, 56, says he had a two-year relationship with Gabriela Zapata, now 28, from 2005.
He has acknowledged that Gabriela Zapata gave birth to his son in 2007 but alleges she told him the child died shortly after being born.
Gabriela Zapata’s aunt said on February 27 that the boy was alive and in Bolivia.
News of the relationship between Gabriela Zapata and Evo Morales first emerged on February 3 as part of a journalist’s investigation into alleged influence peddling.
Speaking on Bolivian television, journalist Carlos Valverde disclosed that a Chinese engineering company, CAMC, had been given lucrative state contracts.
Gabriela Zapata until recently was a senior manager at the Chinese company.
Carlos Valverde also broke the news of the previously undisclosed relationship between Gabriela Zapata and Evo Morales.
He said the two had had a child together.
Two days later, Evo Morales spoke in public for the first time about the relationship.
“I met Gabriela Zapata Montano in 2005. It is true that she was my partner,” he said.
“In 2007 we had a child, but unfortunately, he died. We had some problems and then we grew distant,” the president added.
Prosecutors opened an investigation into the allegations of influence peddling and on February 26 ordered the arrest of Gabriela Zapata.
She has been charged with money laundering, embezzlement and abuse of influence.
Gabriela Zapata’s aunt, Pilar Guzman, who visited her in detention on February 27 was the first to allege publicly that Evo Morales’s and Gabriela Zapata’s son was still alive.
“The child lives. I held him in my arms when he was four months old,” Gabriela Zapata told reporters on live television.
“The child is called Ernesto Fidel. He’s here [in La Paz] and is between eight and nine years old now,” she said.
A lawyer for Gabriela Zapata later also said that the child was alive and well.
Evo Morales seems to have been taken by surprise by the news.
At first he said that if his son was alive he would like to meet him and “bring him up”.
He also asked a court to order Gabriela Zapata’s family to let him see the child “in private” within five days.
On March 1, senior government ministers said they were “absolutely convinced that sadly, the boy has passed away”.
They did not say what they based their information on.
Pilar Guzman insisted on March 1 that the boy was alive and that her niece would “introduce him before the international media at a convenient time”.
She said Gabriela Zapata insisted on the presence of the media “for security reasons”, although she did not explain what threats she feared.
“At that time, the boy will talk, he is not a small child who doesn’t understand, he is old enough and knows what is happening,” she said.
Evo Morales, who has never married, has two children from previous relationships. He has acknowledged both.
Moody’s has cut China’s outlook from “stable” to “negative”.
While reaffirming its current debt rating, the US ratings agency warned that reforms were needed to avoid a downgrade.
Moody’s said the change in outlook was based on expectations that Beijing’s fiscal strength would continue to decline.
The negative outlook comes on the heels of fresh data suggesting China’s economy is continuing to lose steam.
Moody’s said it was concerned over China’s incomplete implementation of much needed reforms.
“Without credible and efficient reforms, China’s GDP growth would slow more markedly as a high debt burden dampens business investment and demographics turn increasingly unfavorable,” the agency said in a note.
“Government debt would increase more sharply than we currently expect.”
Moody’s did confirm China’s current Aa3 rating, saying that there was still time to address the current economic imbalances and implement reforms.
Just one week ago, China sought to assure the global economic community over the strength of its economy.
At the G20 meeting in Shanghai, China’s finance minister Lou Jiwei insisted Beijing could tackle the pressures it is currently facing.
China’s economy, the second-biggest in the world, is growing at the slowest rate in 25 years as it attempts to move from an export-led nation to one led by consumption and services.
The slowdown in China’s economy has created considerable uncertainty in financial markets and has led to sharp falls in commodity prices.
North Korea has announced it will no longer take part in UN Human Rights Council session examining its rights record.
Foreign Minister Ri Su-yong accused the council of “politicization, selectivity and double standards” and of “singling out” North Korea for criticism.
The UN council has repeatedly criticized North Korea over its treatment of its citizens.
The move is likely to further isolate North Korea, which is due to face new sanctions.
The UN Security Council is set to vote on March 2 on the new measures, in response to North Korea’s fourth test of a nuclear weapon and its launching of a satellite.
Both moves contravened existing sanctions.
In his statement to the Council, Ri Su-yong also accused the US and others of paying “so-called North Korean defectors” for their testimony.
He said North Korea would “never, ever be bound” by any resolution adopted by the Council.
A UN report in 2014 accused North Korea of “systematic, widespread and grave violations of human rights”, including disappearances, forced labor, torture, rape and infanticide.
Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump have each won the most states on Super Tuesday.
The count is still on but Donald Trump has so far won seven states, compared with only two taken by his closest rival, Ted Cruz, and one by Marco Rubio.
Speaking in his home state of Texas, Ted Cruz urged other Republicans to quit the race and join him against Donald Trump.
Democrat Bernie Sanders has won in four states.
Super Tuesday saw 11 states voting, from Massachusetts in the east to Alaska in the north-west. A 12th state, Colorado, held a caucus – won by Bernie Sanders – but does not actually select its delegates until April.
Super Tuesday allocates nearly a quarter of Republican delegates, and about a fifth of Democratic delegates, who will elect their respective presidential candidates at party conventions in July. No candidate has yet won enough delegates to secure their party’s nomination.
Democrat Hillary Clinton, a former secretary of state, and Republican Donald Trump, a property tycoon, entered Super Tuesday as favorites to win the vast majority of states for their respective parties.
In a victory speech, Hillary Clinton appeared to already be looking towards a potential presidential race against Donald Trump, saying: “The stakes in this election have never been higher and the rhetoric we’re hearing on the other side has never been lower.”
Donald Trump insisted that he was a “unifier” who could put internal fighting in the Republican Party behind him.
“Once we get all this finished, I’m going after one person – Hillary Clinton,” he told reporters in Florida, where he has been campaigning ahead of the state’s vote later this month.
Donald Trump insisted he had “expanded the Republican party”, referring to higher turnout from a broad demographic in states that have already voted.
Texas Senator Ted Cruz desperately needed to win in his home state to have any chance of staying in the race.
Pointing to his three primary wins against Donald Trump to date in the season, he told Republicans: “I ask you to prayerfully consider our coming together, united.”
Donald Trump has stunned the Republican establishment to become the party’s front-runner.
He has faced heavy criticism this week over his failure to disavow David Duke, a leader of the white supremacist Ku Klux Klan, who endorsed him.
Donald Trump later said he had on several occasions in the past disavowed David Duke.
Hillary Clinton had already secured three wins in the first four early voting states, polling significantly among blocs of black voters.
Bernie Sanders, who describes himself as a democratic socialist, has put up an unexpectedly strong challenge against her since his sweeping victory in New Hampshire last month.
Addressing cheering supporters at his victory speech in Vermont, Bernie Sanders aimed a jibe at the Republican front-runner saying: “We are not going to let the Donald Trumps of the world divide us.”
The proportion of votes won equates to the number of delegates who will then go on to the Democratic and Republican parties’ national conventions in July to officially choose the nominees for the presidency.
The election itself, on November 8, will see America vote for a successor to Barack Obama.
The Rolling Stones will give a free concert in Cuba later this month.
According to the band’s spokesman, the show in the capital Havana on March 25 was “the first open air concert in Cuba by a British rock band”.
The Rolling Stones are currently on a Latin American tour due to end on March 17 in Mexico City.
The Havana concert will come three days after an historic visit to Cuba by President Barack Obama.
In a statement, The Stones said: “We have performed in many special places during our long career, but this show in Havana is going to be a landmark event for us, and, we hope, for all our friends in Cuba too.”
Rock music was marginalized in Cuba for political reasons after the Cuban revolution in the 1950s which saw Fidel Castro come to power.
In 2001, Manic Street Preachers became the biggest British rock band to play in Cuba, putting on a show at Havana’s Karl Marx Theatre which was attended by the Cuban president.
The Rolling Stones’ America Latina Ole tour also includes shows in Brazil, Peru and Colombia.
Facebook’s Latin America Vice President Diego Dzodan has been arrested in Brazil for refusing to share WhatsApp data.
Diego Dzodan, an Argentine national, has repeatedly refused to comply with court orders to hand over data for use in a criminal investigation into drugs trafficking, police said.
His arrest relates to the messaging service WhatsApp, owned by Facebook.
In a statement, Facebook called Diego Dzodan’s arrest an “extreme and disproportionate measure”.
Diego Dzodan’s arrest was ordered by a judge in the north-eastern state of Sergipe.
He was held as he left his house in an exclusive area of Sao Paulo on March 1.
Judge Marcel Maia Montalvao had in two previous instances issued fines against Facebook for refusing to release WhatsApp data.
The information was needed as part “secrete judicial investigations involving organized crime and drug trafficking,” he said.
In a statement, Facebook said it was “disappointed with the extreme and disproportionate measure”.
“Facebook has always been and will be available to address any questions Brazilian authorities may have,” the company said.
In December a judge in Brazil suspended WhatsApp for 48 hours.
The Sao Paulo state judge said at the time that WhatsApp failed to comply with court orders to share information in a criminal case.
The will of Osama Bin Laden has revealed he left a personal fortune of around $29 million after his death in a raid in 2011.
It is among a trove of documents released to US media on March 1.
The will was seized in the US assault in Abbotabad, Pakistan.
Osama Bin Laden urged his family to “obey my will” and to spend his inheritance on “jihad, for the sake of Allah”.
In another letter, Osama Bin Laden urged his father to take care of his wife and children in the event of his death.
That message made it clear that the risk of being killed was present in his mind.
“If I am to be killed, pray for me a lot and give continuous charities in my name, as I will be in great need for support to reach the permanent home,” he wrote.
Although Osama Bin Laden referred to the money as being in Sudan, it is not clear whether it was in the form of cash or assets, or whether any of it made its way to his heirs.
Osama Bin Laden lived in Sudan for five years in the 1990s as a guest of the Sudanese government.
In other letters, he gave his assessment of the progress of the West’s “war on terror” and the US military campaign in Afghanistan.
“They thought that the war would be easy and that they would accomplish their objectives in a few days or a few weeks,” Osama Bin Laden wrote.
“We need to be patient a bit longer. With patience, there is victory!”
Osama Bin Laden was killed by US Special Forces in May 2011 in a raid on his compound in Abbotabad, Pakistan.
Al-Qaeda has since been led by the former second-in-command, Ayman al-Zawahiri.
Nepal has decided to extend the free permits for foreigners prevented from climbing Mount Everest by last year’s earthquakes.
More than 800 foreign climbers had paid up to $11,000 for permits for expeditions canceled after quakes in April and May 2015.
Climbers who missed out will be able to use the same permit for 2016 and 2017.
At least 19 people were killed on Everest in avalanches triggered by April’s quake.
Nearly 9,000 people died across the country in the two quakes.
“The government has decided to extend permits for two years in order to compensate those climbers who could not continue their expeditions due to the earthquake,” tourism department chief Gobinda Bahadur Karki was quoted as saying by AFP news agency.
Nepal is eager to boost its flagging tourism industry ahead of the climbing season which starts later this month.
Hiking officials say foreign bookings have sharply declined.
Nepal’s infrastructure was badly hit by the quakes, while a protracted transport blockade along the border with India has further hit supplies of fuel and equipment.
US presidential candidates face their biggest test yet in the so-called Super Tuesday primaries.
Twelve states cast votes for candidates from either the Republican or Democratic parties or both in a contest seen as make-or-break for the hopefuls.
Contests stretch from Vermont in the east to Texas and Georgia in the south.
After earlier votes in four states, Donald Trump leads the Republican field and Hillary Clinton the Democratic.
The first polls opened in Virginia at 06:00 local time.
Senator Ted Cruz cannot afford to lose to Donald Trump in Texas, his home state, while a reverse for Trump in Massachusetts, with its moderate voters, could break the property tycoon’s nationwide momentum.
Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton is hoping to build on her weekend victory in South Carolina, where she polled heavily among African-Americans, to restore her political fortunes after a bruising defeat in New Hampshire to Bernie Sanders, her self-styled democratic socialist rival.
On November 8, America is due to elect a successor to Barack Obama, a Democratic president standing down after two terms in office which have seen the Republicans take control of both houses of Congress.
Eurozone unemployment rate fell for a third consecutive month in January, dropping to its lowest rate since August 2011.
The jobless rate in the 19-country eurozone declined to 10.3% in January from 10.4% in December, according to Eurostat’s latest figures.
The number of people unemployed in the eurozone fell by 105,000 to 16.65 million.
The eurozone’s jobless rate hit a high of 12.1% during the first half of 2013.
In the 28 member European Union the unemployment rate fell to 8.9%. That was down from 9% in December and the lowest rate recorded since May 2009.
The lowest unemployment rate in the eurozone was in Germany at 4.3%, while the highest rates were in Spain, at 20.5%, and Greece, at 24.6%.
On February 29, separate figures showed that the eurozone fell back into deflation in February.
The latest inflation figures from the EU’s statistical agency estimated that consumer prices across the region were 0.2% lower last month than a year earlier.
The return of deflation is seen as increasing the likelihood that the European Central Bank (ECB) will announce more stimulus measures at its meeting next month.
Bolivia’s President Evo Morales has announced he wants to meet a son he was told had died nine years ago.
It is the latest twist in a scandal involving Evo Morales’ former girlfriend and the boy’s mother, Gabriela Zapata.
Gabriela Zapata has been arrested as part of a corruption investigation.
A relative of Gabriela Zapata has now revealed that the boy is alive and living in an undisclosed location in Bolivia.
“It may be true, or it may be unfortunate but it is worrying that an alleged aunt claimed that the child is alive,” said President Evo Morales in a statement.
“Nevertheless, now that they say the child is alive, I want to tell you that if he is alive, well firstly it is a great joy for me, it is like a blessing in the end, if he is alive.”
Gabriela Zapata gave birth in 2007 to a child sired by 56-year-old Evo Morales the year after he took office.
Evo Morales said he could not believe that the truth had been hidden from him for so long.
“I ask myself why since 2007 did they hide him from me? For what reasons did they distance me? “
Gabriela Zapata told him at the time that their baby had fallen ill soon after birth and had died.
The opposition has accused Evo Morales of using his influence to grant lucrative government contracts to the Chinese building firm where Gabriela Zapata works.
Evo Morales rejected the accusations and said they were part of a strategy from right-wing forces to undermine his credibility ahead of a referendum last week.
He said a dirty war had been waged against him.
Evo Morales was seeking to change the constitution to allow him to run for a fourth successive term, but the referendum was rejected by 51.3% of voters.
He has been in power since 2006 and his current term runs out in 2020.
Gabriela Zapata has not as yet made any comments on the corruption allegations.
A bachelor, Evo Morales has two children with two other women and has generally succeeded in keeping his private life out of the headlines.
Chris Rock has been widely criticized for a joke he made while hosting this year’s Oscars ceremony, at the expense of Asian-Americans.
Activists accused the comedian of perpetuating racial stereotypes when he introduced a group of accountants, who turned out to be three Asian children in suits.
Chris Rock has been generally praised for the way he dealt with the absence of black artists among Oscar nominees.
The 88th Annual Academy Awards ceremony had been boycotted by some Hollywood figures.
All 20 nominees in the best acting or supporting acting categories were white.
Chris Rock had addressed the controversy during his hosting of February 28 Academy Awards ceremony, commenting that he had “counted at least 15 black people” in the montage that opened the ceremony, before welcoming people to the “white People’s Choice awards”.
The skit involving the three children was an apparent reference to Asians being good at maths. One of the children was also given a Jewish surname.
Chris Rock then said: “If anybody is upset about that joke, just tweet about it on your phone, which was also made by these kids.”
Critics say the punch line was another stereotype, about child labor in Asia.
Chris Rock’s publicist Leslie Sloane said on February 29 that the star was unavailable for comment.
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences also did not comment.
Eurozone’s economy is back into deflation after the consumer prices fell sharply in February to minus 0.2%, putting more pressure on the European Central Bank (ECB).
The slide into deflation is a sharp reversal from the revised 0.3% increase recorded in January.
According to Eurostat, it is the first fall in inflation since September when it shrank by 0.1%.
Energy drove the decline, with prices down 8% in February compared to a 5.4% slide in January.
The dismal figures have dashed hopes that ECB efforts to boost prices were working. That raises the chance of the bank announcing further stimulus measures next month.
It has already announced a cut to its bank deposit rate, which remains in negative territory.
ECB chief Mario Draghi insisted earlier this month the policies were working.
Economic sentiment across the eurozone deteriorated more than expected in February, according to research by the European Commission.
The finance ministers from G20 and central bankers agreed on February 27 to use “all policy tools, monetary, fiscal and structural – individually and collectively” to renew growth.
Have you ever wondered what is there in your medicine box? If you’re following the herd of majority of Americans, it is most likely to have at least a kind of over-the-counter painkiller like acetaminophen, aspirin or ibuprofen. In fact, according to a research, in the United States of America, more than $2.5 billion are spent every year on buying non-prescription drugs. You might not ever give a second thought before taking them during a back pain or a headache, but you should realize the simple fact that there are always certain risks associated with pain relieving medicines, especially when you take them too often.
President of Pain Specialists of Greater Chicago, Scott E. Glaser says that some of the most commonly used kinds of OTC painkillers are the anti-inflammatory, non-steroidal medicines like ibuprofen, naproxen and acetaminophen which are sold under different brand names. There are some situations when you put yourself at risk when you take such drugs in a not-so-proper manner. Check out the health impacts.
Acetaminophen and the possibilities of damaging your liver
One of the most common risks of painkillers is damaging your liver due to the component called acetaminophen. Although it is true that acetaminophen has been used for many years now and overall the component is pretty safe, yet liver toxicity might occur when you use more than 4000 miligrams in a single day. That would mean 500 mg pill taken 8 times in a day. Liver damage might even occur at low ranges for all those who have a habit of drinking alcohol and for those who already have some pre-existing liver problem like hepatitis C.
NSAIDs and the possibilities of ulcers
If you take naproxen or ibuprofen, that won’t pose a huge risk to the functioning of your liver as with the case of acetaminophen but it might cause some damage to the lining of the stomach which can cause blood loss, stomach pains and also ulcers of different kinds. Such is also the case with aspirin, which is associated to NSAIDs and has some similar properties. If you use aspirin with naproxen and ibuprofen, your stomach will be at a huge risk. Unfortunately, such effects might increase the risk of gastritis too.
NSAIDs and the improper functioning of kidneys
Although this is rare, there are some people who could run the risk of suffering from kidney issues from taking ibuprofen or naproxen. A severe complication yet less common complication which is associated with such medications is failure of kidneys which occur more commonly among patients who suffer from high blood pressure and diabetes.
NSAIDs and the higher possibilities of a miscarriage
As per a research done by Canadian Medical Association, it was found out that the women who took NSAIDs during the initial 20 weeks of pregnancy are more vulnerable to miscarriages. The researchers are of the opinion that such drugs might have an impact of the levels of prostaglandins and hormones which might be vital in inducing labor. In case you’re pregnant or you’re planning to conceive, you should avoid such medications or have a good consultation with your doctor.
Hence before you take such drugs like ibuprofen, acetaminophen, prescription codeine UK, you should always speak to your doctor so that you don’t suffer from their serious side-effects and spoil the condition of your health.
China stock market resumed its downward trend as the yuan weakened further.
The Shanghai Composite index shed 2.7% to 2,687.9 points, dashing hopes that February 26 brief recovery could be sustained.
The index was down as much as 4.4% in the morning, hitting a 15-month low.
The losses came despite the G20 meeting in Shanghai over the weekend pledging to work towards boosting growth both in China and globally.
The yuan edged lower against the dollar as the central bank set a softer midpoint of 6.5452 per dollar – the lowest in almost one month.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng also lost ground, but fared better than the mainland, closing down 1.3% at 19,111.9 points.
Japanese shares also failed to extend their gains from February 26, trading flat as the government released mixed economic data.
The latest figures showed industrial output rose by 3.7% in January, the first increase in three months.
However, retail sales disappointed, falling by 0.1% in January, compared to forecasts for a 0.5% rise.
The Nikkei 225 index closed 1% lower at 16,026.7 points.
Gaming giant Nintendo’s shares finished the day 0.5% down after dropping sharply by 5% at one point in early trade.
The drop came after February 26 announcement that its full-year profit would be half of its original forecast.
Due to a stronger yen and disappointing sales of its handheld gaming consoles and software, the company slashed its full-year profit outlook to 17 billion yen, down from the previously expected 35 billion yen.
In Sydney, the ASX 200 closed flat at 4,880.9 points.
In South Korea, the benchmark Kospi index also finished the day flat at 1,916.6 points.
Samsung shares rose by 1.3% following February 26 decision by a US appeals court to overturn a verdict against the company in a longstanding patent dispute with Apple.
