European Investment Bank President Werner Hoyer has told the German media that the EU bank could recall loans it gave to VW.
The EIB will examine whether Volkswagen used any loans from the European Union to cheat on emissions tests for diesel vehicles and could demand money back.
In an interview with Sueddeutsche Zeitung, Werner Hoyer said that the EIB gave loans to the German automaker for things like the development of low emissions engines.
He said the loans could be recalled in the wake of VW’s emissions cheating scandal.
The newspaper reported that about €1.8 billion of those loans are still outstanding.
Werner Hoyer is quoted as saying that the EIB had granted loans worth around €4.6 billion to VW since 1990.
Photo EIB
“The EIB could have taken a hit [from the emissions scandal] because we have to fulfill certain climate targets with our loans,” the Sueddeutsche Zeitung quoted Werner Hoyer as saying.
The EIB president was attending the IMF meeting in Lima, Peru.
Werner Hoyer added that the EIB would conduct “very thorough investigations” into what VW used the funds for.
He told reporters that if he found that the loans were used for purposes other than intended, the EIB would have to “ask ourselves whether we have to demand loans back”.
Werner Hoyer also said he was “very disappointed” by Volkswagen, adding the EIB’s relationship with the carmaker would be damaged by the scandal.
VW admitted that about 11 million of its vehicles had been fitted with a “defeat device” – a piece of software that duped tests into showing that VW engines emitted fewer emissions than they really did.
Werner Hoyer’s comments come days after VW USA CEO Michael Horn faced a Congress panel to answer questions about the scandal, which has prompted several countries to launch their own investigations into the automaker.
The Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) is a free-trade deal intending to boost the economies of the EU and the US by removing or reducing barriers to trade and foreign investment.
According to President Barack Obama said, the TTIP would promote “new growth and jobs on both sides of the Atlantic”, he said when the talks were launched. Critics reject that claim.
A study by the Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR) – done for the European Commission – estimated the potential gains for the EU as up to €119 billion ($134 billion) a year and €95 billion ($107 billion) for the US. However, it means that for a family of four that comes to €545 per year in the EU and €655 in the US. Wages would be higher, by 0.5% in the EU and just under 0.4% in the US.
How would TTIP work?
By eliminating almost all tariffs (taxes applied only to imported goods) on trade between the US and the EU.
However, the tariffs imposed by the US and EU are already relatively low for the most part, although there are some exceptions in (e.g. farm produce and textiles).
The bigger gains envisaged would come from reducing what are called non-tariff barriers. In particular the two sides think they can promote trade through what they call regulatory co-operation.
The European Commission says that rules in EU and the US often achieve the same level of consumer safety and product quality, but differ in their technical details and their methods for ensuring that firms have met the rules.
One of the aims of TTIP is to reduce this burden on business. One option is recognizing one another’s standards. That’s under consideration for many types of goods. They also plan to co-operate more closely on new regulation.
That basic idea is that by reducing the cost of exporting, TTIP would encourage more of it.
However, the European Commission says an agreement in the foreign investment area would prohibit discrimination against foreign investors, expropriation, denying access to the courts and arbitrary and abusive treatment.
If a foreign investor felt these rules had been violated, they would have access to a system known as investor state dispute settlement (ISDS). This is a system of tribunals that could award compensation to the investor if they had lost money as a result of a breach of the rules in the agreement.
TTIP controversy:
Regulation
Much of the concern is about the regulatory aspect: that it would lead to lower standards of consumer and environmental protection and safety at work. A group of 170 European civil society organizations said in a statement that regulatory co-operation as envisaged in TTIP would result in “downward harmonization”.
There is also a concern that TTIP could undermine governments’ right to regulate in the public interest. They say it will also give business groups a disproportionate influence over new regulation, and therefore, they argue, it is undemocratic.
Investment
There are also questions about whether a TTIP agreement would really stimulate more investment.
ISDS has generated a lot of heated opposition. One complaint is that it will discourage governments from regulating in the public interest.
ISDS arrangements are common in international investment agreements.
However, a research by the UN Commission on Trade and Development suggests investors have made more use of the tribunal system in recent years.
TTIP timetable
A summit of European leaders in December called for a comprehensive agreement by the end of 2015, though the European Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmström has said that is probably unrealistic.
TTIP would then have to be approved by the European Parliament and European Trade Ministers. The Ministers usually vote on trade by what is called qualified majority though unanimity might be required – that is both a legal question and a matter of political judgement.
Depending on the legal nature of the final agreement it might also need to be approved by all the EU member states, and Commissioner Cecilia Malmström has said that is likely to be necessary.
TTIP will need approval by the US Congress. President Barack Obama is struggling unsuccessfully so far – to get Congress to give him what is called Trade Promotion Authority which would make US ratification less difficult.
In the same time there is a global trade negotiation under way in the World Trade Organization (WTO). It is known as the Doha Round, because that is where it was launched – back in 2001.
Other big trade deal is the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP), which involves 11 countries, including the US and Japan (but not China). TPP is also still under negotiation.
Israel’s jet fighters have hit two Palestinian targets in the Gaza Strip.
The Israeli military said the targets were Hamas weapon manufacturing facilities, adding that the strikes were in response to two rockets fired from Gaza into southern Israel.
A pregnant woman and her young daughter in a nearby house were killed, Palestinian officials said.
In the West Bank, Israeli police say a Palestinian woman set off a car bomb at a checkpoint.
The woman was stopped by police while driving on Sunday morning near the Israeli settlement of Maale Adumim.
She “shouted <<Allahu Akbar>> [God is great] and detonated an explosive device”, a police spokeswoman said, adding that the woman was in critical condition and a policeman was slightly wounded.
Initial reports had said the woman had died in the blast.
“The IDF holds Hamas responsible for any act of aggression from the Gaza Strip,” said Israel Defense Forces’ spokesman Lt Col Peter Lerner in a statement following the airstrikes on October 11.
As well as the two reported deaths, medical staff in the Zeitun sector, south of Gaza City, say three people are trapped in the rubble of the destroyed house.
There have been weeks of tension over access to a site in East Jerusalem sacred to both Jews and Muslims.
Palestinians fear Israel plans to change arrangements at the al-Aqsa mosque/Temple Mount compound, where Jews are allowed to visit but not allowed to pray – something Israel insists it will continue.
Earlier, Secretary of State John Kerry expressed “deep concern” over the situation.
John Kerry made separate phone calls to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas.
In his phone calls earlier John Kerry “stressed the importance of upholding the status quo in word and deed” at the site, the state department said.
He offered his support in efforts to restore calm, but both men blamed the other side for the rising violence.
Benjamin Netanyahu “made it clear that he expects the PA [Palestinian Authority] to stop its wild and mendacious incitement, which is causing the current wave of terrorism”, his Twitter account said.
Mahmoud Abbas told John Kerry that Israel should stop settler “provocations”, which he said were carried out under Israeli army protection, his office said.
A massive protest against the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP), the planned free-trade deal between the EU and US, took place in Berlin on October 10.
Organizers said 250,000 people took part in the rally; police put the figure at around 100,000.
Opponents of the TTIP say it is undemocratic and threatens consumer and worker rights.
However, supporters of the deal, which lowers trade barriers, say it would boost economies and create jobs.
Hundreds of buses shuttled protesters to the demonstration in Berlin.
“We are here because we do not want to leave the future to markets, but on the contrary to save democracy,” Michael Mueller, president of the ecological organization German Friends of Nature, told AFP.
The German government supports the trade pact, with Economy Minister Sigmar Gabriel warning of “scaremongering” in a letter published in several German newspapers.
Talks on the TTIP are due to finish in 2016. If agreed it would be the biggest trade deal of its kind.
Turkey has declared three days of national mourning after two explosions at a peace rally in Ankara killed at least 95 people on October 10, the deadliest ever such attack in the country.
Ankara attack left 245 people injured, with 48 of them in a serious condition.
The government called the two explosions a “terrorist act” and angrily rejected allegations that it was to blame.
PM Ahmet Davutoglu said there was evidence that two suicide bombers had carried out the attack, which comes three weeks before a re-run of June’s inconclusive parliamentary elections.
Photo Getty Iamges
The two explosions took place near Ankara’s central train station as people gathered for a march organized by leftist groups demanding an end to the violence between the Kurdish separatist PKK militants and the Turkish government.
The blasts happened shortly after 10:00 local time as crowds gathered ahead of the rally. Amateur video footage showed a group of young people holding hands and singing, as the first blast hits.
No group has said it carried out the attack, but PM Ahmet Davutoglu suggested that Kurdish rebels or the Islamic State (ISIS) group were to blame.
According to terrorism experts, the attack is similar to one that was carried out in Suruc in southern Turkey by ISIS in July in which 30 people died.
However, the leader of the pro-Kurdish HDP party, whose members was among those attending the rally, has blamed the state and cancelled all election rallies.
The HDP has previously blamed the government for colluding in attacks on Kurdish activists, which the government denies.
Russia has intensified airstrikes against Islamic State (ISIS) in Syria, its defense ministry has announced.
The ministry said on October 10 that it had hit 55 ISIS targets in Syria in the last 24 hours.
Later, US defense officials said progress had been made during talks with their Russian counterparts on avoiding accidents over Syria.
Syrian rebels and Western governments say Russia has mainly been hitting non-ISIS targets.
The US has accused Russia of running a “fundamentally flawed” campaign in Syria that risks further escalating the conflict there.
On October 10, the Russian military said that the most recent airstrikes – carried out in the provinces of Damascus, Aleppo, Hama, Raqqa and Idlib – destroyed 29 “terrorist” training camps as well as 23 defensive positions, two command centers and an ammunition depot.
To explain the intensified strikes it cited “a significant increase in the number of ground targets” located by air-based and space-based reconnaissance teams across Syria.
While Raqqa in eastern Syria is an ISIS stronghold, the militants are not known to be strong in the other provinces.
“In the initial stage of our operation, our aircraft destroyed the principal and largest logistical hubs of the ISIS terrorist group,” the Russian defense ministry statement said.
“This has led to a significant reduction in the fighting potential of armed groups, and a reduction in their mobility and their capacity to launch offensives.”
Russia maintains that rebel fighters are running short of arms, ammunition and fuel, leading many rebels to abandon their combat positions and head for the country’s east and north-east.
There have been concerns that there could be an accidental clash as the two countries pursue separate bombing campaigns over Syria.
The US and its NATO allies have expressed alarm at violations of Turkish air space by Russian jets last weekend.
On October 10, officials at the Department of Defense said they had held a conference call of around 90 minutes on air safety during Syria bombing campaigns.
“The discussions were professional and focused narrowly on the implementation of specific safety procedures,” a spokeswoman said, adding that another discussion would take place in the near future.
Guinea is voting to elect a new president amid violent clashes between opposition and pro-government supporters.
Seven candidates are competing against President Alpha Conde, who is hoping to win a second term.
Alpha Conde’s main challenger, Cellou Dalein Diallo, has urged his supporters to vote despite Guinea’s top court rejecting his plea for a delay.
The 2010 election saw a transition from military to civilian rule.
Since then Guinea has been badly hit by an Ebola outbreak and seen prices of key export bauxite – the raw material in aluminum – slump.
Opposition parties had wanted the vote postponed due to alleged anomalies in Guinea’s electoral roll, but this has been rejected by the election commission.
At least three people have been killed in pre-election violence.
Alpha Conde is favorite to win the election but a second round of voting is likely.
The US will pay compensation for those killed and injured in an air strike on Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) hospital in Kunduz, northern Afghanistan, the Pentagon says.
At least 22 hospital staff and patients were killed in the bombing in the city of Kunduz last week.
The US has said the strike was a mistake and that it was trying to target Taliban insurgents.
MSF has called the attack a war crime and called for an international committee to investigate.
Those injured in the strike and the families of those killed are eligible for “condolence payments” from the US.
“The Department of Defense believes it is important to address the consequences of the tragic incident at the MSF hospital,” a Pentagon spokesman said.
Funds will also be made available to repair the hospital, the Pentagon added.
President Barack Obama has apologized to the MSF president and the Afghan leader for the incident.
MSF is still trying to trace more than 30 staff and patients who remain unaccounted for.
Legendary Indian actress Gopishantha, better-known by her stage name Manorama, has died of a heart attack in the city of Chennai, her family members say.
Manorama was 78 and had been ill for some time.
A comedian, singer and a stage performer, Manorama, also called Aachi, was a quintessential artist.
Although she mainly appeared in Tamil films, Manorama also acted in other South Indian language movies and in Hindi.
Tamil media reports say Manorama appeared in more than 1,000 films in a career spanning nearly six decades.
While she became famous for her comedy roles in films, Manorama was a character artist in the later part of her career.
“The most difficult thing is to make people laugh. It is easy to make them cry,” she said in an interview.
Manorama started acting in plays at the age of 12 and had appeared in more than 1,000 plays.
Her first break in movies came in 1958 when she acted in the Tamil movie Maalaiyitta Mangai.
After that she worked with some of the leading actors and playwrights of her day – five of whom went on to become chief ministers of Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh states.
Very few women actresses have managed to continue their career in the Tamil film industry over so many years.
She was hugely popular in the southern state of Tamil Nadu and widely regarded as a cultural icon.
Manorama had won several awards including India’s National Award for Best Supporting Actor in 1989.
Carlos Sainz has announced he wants to race in Sunday’s Russian Grand Prix after he was released from hospital following a heavy crash during final practice.
The 21-year-old Toro Rosso driver was taken to hospital in Sochi after smashing into barriers at Turn 13, approached at 200mph.
Carlos Sainz said: “My back and neck are just a bit sore but I’m totally ready. Hopefully on Sunday I will wake up in good shape and I can try to race.”
Race stewards have given Carlos Sainz permission to do so pending final medical checks.
Photo Twitter
The stewards needed to rule because Carlos Sainz did not set a qualifying time following his crash in final practice.
Nico Rosberg claimed pole position for the race ahead of team-mate Lewis Hamilton and Williams’ Valtteri Bottas.
Carlos Sainz said he was conscious throughout the incident, in which the circuit’s impact-absorbing barriers ended up on top of him after his car came to rest.
However, the driver added: “Obviously we need to be cautious.”
Russian Grand Prix race starts at 14:00 local tine on Sunday, October 11, in front of a sell-out crowd in the venue that hosted the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics.
FIFA Vice-president Michel Platini is appealing after the soccer’s world governing body banned him for 90 days while corruption claims are investigated.
Michel Platini, 60, has been suspended along with FIFA President Sepp Blatter and Secretary General Jerome Valcke. They all deny wrongdoing.
The former soccer star is the French Football Association’s preference to succeed Sepp Blatter at FIFA presidency.
The French FA wants the Court of Arbitration for Sport to intervene to ensure Michel Platini can stand for election.
FIFA’s ethics committee began its investigation after the Swiss attorney general opened criminal proceedings against Sepp Blatter in September.
Sepp Blatter is accused of signing a contract “unfavorable” to FIFA and making a “disloyal payment” to Michel Platini.
Photo Getty Images
The ethics committee also opened an inquiry into Michel Platini over the 2 million euros payment, which was made nine years after the Frenchman carried out consultation work for Sepp Blatter.
FIFA will hold an emergency meeting on October 20 in Zurich to discuss February’s presidential election, at which a successor to Sepp Blatter will be chosen.
Michel Platini, UEFA’s president since 2007, has been backed by South America’s soccer confederation (CONMEBOL) following his suspension.
CONMEBOL said Michel Platini should be regarded as innocent until proven guilty.
The French Football Federation (FFF) is expecting a decision from FIFA’s appeal committee within eight days.
“The FFF has adopted the principle of an appeal if the decision of the FIFA appeal committee does not go Michel Platini’s way,” said a FFF spokesman.
Swiss Sepp Blatter, 79, won a fifth consecutive presidential election in May but announced he would be stepping down just days later following the launch of two investigations into FIFA by US and Swiss authorities.
Michel Platini is one of the favorites to replace Sepp Blatter and still plans to stand. He has the full backing of UEFA, which is holding an emergency meeting next week.
Shia LaBeouf has been arrested and charged with public intoxication in Austin, Texas police say.
Police arrested the star on Friday night on Sixth Street in Austin’s entertainment district.
Shia LaBeouf has had numerous brushes with the law throughout his career.
Witnesses said Shia LaBeouf initially caused a disturbance on October 9 after being refused a drink at a bar, and later jaywalked in front of police.
Officers are reported to have subdued Shia LaBeouf and put him in handcuffs before arresting him, TMZ reported.
Photo City of Austin
Jail records quoted by the AP say that Shia LaBeouf spent Friday night in the Travis County Jail and has now been released.
In September 2014, Shia LaBeouf pleaded guilty to a charge of disorderly conduct over his disruption of a Broadway performance of Cabaret.
The actor was also arrested after a fight in a bar in Los Angeles in 2011, although he was later released without charge.
Shortly before that arrest, a publicist for Shia LaBeouf said that he was receiving treatment for alcoholism.
There have also been a series of instances where Shia LaBeouf is said to have behaved erratically in public – on one occasion appearing on the red carpet with a paper bag on his head, on which was written: “I am not famous anymore.”
The actor found fame at age 14 as the star of the Disney series Even Stevens and has also starred in three Transformers movies.
Shia LaBeouf’s movies include Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull and Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps.
At least 86 people have been killed and other 186 injured after two explosions hit Turkey’s capital Ankara during a peace rally, according to officials.
TV footage showed scenes of panic and people lying on the ground covered in blood, amid protest banners.
The twin blasts took place near Ankara’s central train station as people gathered for a march organized by leftist groups.
The attack is the deadliest of its kind in modern Turkish history.
PM Ahmet Davutoglu has announced three days of national mourning, and said there was evidence that two suicide bombers had carried out the attacks.
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said the attack, which comes weeks before an election, was an act of terrorism and was “loathsome”.
The rally was demanding an end to the violence between the Kurdish separatist PKK militants and the Turkish government, and had been due to start at 12:00 local time.
The pro-Kurdish HDP party was among those attending, and it said in a statement that it believes its members were the main target of the bombings.
The leader of the HDP has blamed the state for the attack, which he called “a huge massacre”, and cancelled all election rallies.
The party has previously blamed the government for colluding in attacks on Kurdish activists, which the government denies.
The two explosions happened shortly after 10:00 local time as crowds gathered ahead of the rally. Amateur video footage showed a group of young people holding hands and singing, before the first blast.
Meanwhile, the PKK called on its fighters to halt its guerrilla activities in Turkey unless attacked first. A statement from an umbrella group that includes the PKK said its forces would “make no attempts to hinder or harm the exercise of a fair and equal election”.
Carlos Sainz has escaped unhurt from a heavy crash at the Russian Grand Prix final practice.
The Toro Rosso driver was taken to hospital in Sochi after smashing into barriers at Turn 13, approached at 200mph.
Carlos Sainz, 21, tweeted from hospital: “All OK. Nothing to worry about. Already thinking about how to convince the drivers to be on the grid tomorrow.”
Photo Getty Images
There was no immediate information on what had caused him to lose control on one of the fastest parts of the track.
Carlos Sainz’s team said that they did not yet know what had caused the accident, but initial indications were that it was not a car failure.
The driver lost control and glanced the outside concrete barrier as he braked through the difficult kink before Turn 13, which is approached at more than 200mph.
Carlos Sainz’s car glanced along the wall, leaving a series of tire marks, before spearing straight across the run-off area and into the barriers.
Amazon.com has launched Handmade at Amazon service, a new online store for handicraft goods.
Handmade at Amazon is currently invitation-only, with an initial 5,000 sellers on the site.
Goods must be “factory-free”, with items such as wooden cufflinks and handstitched baby bibs already on sale from around the world.
Handmade at Amazon’s competitor, artisan website Etsy, was valued at $1.8 billion when it launched on the stock market in April.
“We had thousands of searches every day from customers looking for handmade or handcrafted items,” said Peter Faricy, vice-president for Amazon Marketplace.
“Knowing an item has a unique story behind it creates a personal experience that customers have told us makes owning handmade items special.”
Amazon will initially take a 12% sales fee from its handmade retailers with no other charges.
Etsy, which was founded 10 years ago, takes a 3.5% sales fee from its 1.5 million sellers and also charges a listing fee of $0.20 per item.
The company’s CEO, Chad Dickerson, told the Associated Press that almost half of the site’s sellers already used other retail outlets in addition to Etsy but that the site was still “usually” their main source of income.
“We believe that Etsy is the best platform for the creative entrepreneur,” he said.
“Etsy has a decade of experience understanding the needs of artists and sellers and supporting them in ways that no other marketplace can.”
Glencore is slashing its annual zinc production by more than a third in reaction to a 30% plummet in the price in the past few months.
The mining giant is cutting 500,000 tonnes of zinc production, 4% of the world’s total supply.
Zinc prices have been at five-year lows, but news of Glencore’s actions sent its price up 6%.
Most of the cutbacks will be in Australia where more than 500 jobs will be lost.
Other centers of output that will be trimmed are in South America and Kazakhstan.
The company said in a statement: “Glencore remains positive about the medium and long term outlook for zinc, lead and silver, however we are taking a proactive approach to manage our production in response to current prices.”
Photo Getty Images
Glencore is in the throes of trying to reduce $30 billion of debt, created by its ambitious 2013 takeover of Xstrata. That deal added dozens of mines in numerous countries to the commodity trader’s business leaving it as one of the world’s biggest miners and traders of the products of those mines.
It has so far cut copper production, suspended dividend payments to shareholders and is issuing new shares to raise money.
Shares in Glencore rose 6.5% to 128.50p in early trade in London.
Glencore’s shares are listed in London and Hong Kong, although its headquarters are in Switzerland.
Last week, its share price fell by one third in one day to a record low after analysts at Investec warned that Glencore’s high debts together with low metals prices “could see almost all equity value eliminated”.
However, Glencore responded by saying it was “operationally and financially robust”.
On October 5, Glencore’s shares jumped 17% on reports that it was in talks to sell a stake in its agricultural business.
The California Coastal Commission has approved a $100 million killer whale habitat expansion at SeaWorld in San Diego, but banned breeding of the captive orcas that would live in the new tanks.
The ruling came after a request by the San Diego aquarium to build new tanks for its orcas.
In a statement SeaWorld said it was “disappointed” with October 8 ruling.
SeaWorld plans to build two additional tanks for viewing and research.
“Breeding is a natural, fundamental and important part of an animal’s life and depriving a social animal of the right to reproduce is inhumane,” said SeaWorld San Diego Park President John Reilly.
The building project was approved “under a condition that would prohibit captive breeding, artificial insemination, and the sale, trade or transfer of any animal in captivity.”
The commission received more than 120,000 emails from people about the proposed expansion, mostly from those opposing the project, said commission spokeswoman Noaki Schwartz.
The ruling affects SeaWorld’s San Diego business, but not its locations in Florida or Texas.
The People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) praised the ruling, saying this would effectively end the orca whale exhibit.
In a statement they said that it “ensures that no more orcas will be condemned to a nonlife of loneliness, deprivation and misery.”
SeaWorld has come under heavy criticism in recently years, particularly after the 2013 release of the documentary Blackfish which specifically criticized the company’s orca program.
Blackfish claims that whales in captivity become bored in their sterile environment which makes them aggressive towards their human trainers.
SeaWorld has called the film “false and misleading”.
Numerous celebrities have condemned SeaWorld’s treatment of its captive animals in the past years.
In August 2015, SeaWorld Entertainment reported an 84% drop in earnings in Q2 of 2015, compared to the same period in 2014, and a 2% drop in visitor numbers.
Russia and the US have agreed to resume talks on air safety during Syria bombing campaigns, the Pentagon has announced.
The talks “are likely to take place as soon as this weekend,” said press secretary Peter Cook.
There have been concerns that there could be an accidental clash as Russia and the US pursue separate bombing campaigns over Syria.
The US and its NATO allies have also been alarmed at violations of Turkish air space by Russian jets.
US and Russian officials conducted talks on air safety via video conference on October 1, but the US had complained that they had heard nothing from Moscow since then.
Earlier this week, Pentagon officials said they had had to carry out at least one “safe separation” maneuver to avoid a US jet coming too close to a Russian aircraft over Syria.
They said this happened after October 1, without giving a specific date.
Talks are likely to deal with how much separation there should between US and Russian aircraft and which language and radio frequencies crews should use for communications.
Russia has said it is targeting positions of so-called Islamic State (ISIS) but there are concerns that it is bombing other rebels opposed to President Bashar al-Assad.
Reports on October 9 said IS had seized several villages near the northern city of Aleppo from rival insurgents.
Defense Secretary Ashton Carter on the same day accused Russia of running “fundamentally flawed” operations in Syria which would “inflame the civil war and therefore extremism”.
But Moscow has dismissed claims that its week of strikes has mainly hit non-ISIS targets.
Russia has also launched cruise missiles against targets in Syria from warships in the Caspian Sea, about 930 miles away.
Ashton Carter said there were indications that four missiles that crashed in Iran before reaching their targets in Syria had malfunctioned.
Russia has denied that any of its missiles crashed, saying all 26 hit their targets.
A peace rally in the Turkish capital Ankara has been hit by two explosions, causing multiple casualties, reports say.
At least 20 people have been killed, Turkish news agency Dogan said. TV footage shows scenes of panic and people lying on the ground covered in blood, amid protest banners.
The blasts took place near the city’s central train station.
The target appears to have been a march calling for an end to the violence with the Kurdish separatist group, the PKK.
Photo YouTube
PM Ahmet Davutoglu is being briefed by the interior and health ministers, state news agency Anadolu says.
The blasts were a terrorist attack and are investigating reports that a suicide bomber was behind at least one of the explosions, government officials say.
The leader of the pro-Kurdish HDP party has blamed the state for the attack, and canceled all election rallies.
The HDP was among those calling for Saturday’s rally for “peace and democracy”, which was due to start at 12:00 local time.
The party tweeted that there were “numerous dead and injured”, and that police “attacked” people carrying the injured away.
An HDP rally in the city of Diyarbakir was bombed in June, ahead of general elections.
North Korea is marking the 70th anniversary of the ruling Workers’ Party with huge parades in capital Pyongyang.
It is expected to be one of North Korea’s biggest celebrations ever.
A cavalcade of armored vehicles and ballistic missiles rumbled through Pyongyang, accompanied by marching troops.
North Korea’s supreme leader Kim Jong-un presided over the ceremony, but no world leaders attended.
Kim Jong-un said that North Korea was ready to fight any war waged by the US.
“The party’s revolutionary armament means we are ready to fight any kind of war waged by the US imperialists,” he said at Pyongyang’s main Kim Il-sung Square.
The celebrations featured thousands of soldiers – many carrying red party flags or banners – in tight square formations goose-stepping to martial music.
Tanks rolled past the podium where Kim Jong-un spoke, with an aircraft flypast forming the number 70.
When it announced plans for the anniversary earlier this year, the government spoke of “cutting-edge” weaponry suitable for modern warfare, and the day’s event will be closely watched for any new military hardware indicating North Korea’s military development.
China, North Korea’s closest ally, sent a senior Communist Party official to the anniversary.
Kim Jong-un began the day by paying respects to his late father and grandfather at the Kumsusan Palace of the Sun in Pyongyang, official media reported.
Officials did not divulge details of the day’s celebrations, although thousands of Pyongyang citizens have been seen in public squares across the city practicing for a torchlight parade to be held in the evening.
A stage has also been set up on a river for a late-night concert featuring the all-female Moranbong Band – North Korea’s most popular musical group.
The Public Interest Research Group (PIRG), which is backed by 28 other bodies, has called for a Federal investigation into Experian, following a major hack at the credit database company.
Experian claims personal data on 15 million T-Mobile customers was stolen in the breach.
However, the PIRG fears the hack may have extended to the rest of Experian’s credit database.
This holds personal information about some 200 million Americans, it said.
“A data security breach that affected Experian’s credit report files would be a terrifying and unmitigated disaster,” it added.
The Experian breach occurred at Decisioning Solutions, a subsidiary of the credit agency which T-Mobile uses to process information on subscribers.
Names, birth dates and social security numbers were among data stolen, but not financial details, the firms said.
Experian has said the business was “completely separate” from its main credit bureau business, which was “not affected”.
However, in a statement, PIRG’s consumer program director, Ed Mierzwinski, urged both the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and the Federal Trade Agency to investigate whether other Experian databases had been breached.
He said: “If the server holding the T-Mobile files was subject to fewer security protections than the full Experian credit reporting database, why?
“If it was subject to the same protections as the credit reporting server, doesn’t this raise the troubling possibility that the server holding highly sensitive credit and personal information of over 200 million Americans is vulnerable to a data hack by identity thieves?”
Prominent cybercrime journalist Brian Krebs has also raised concerns about Experian’s internal data protection policies.
In a blog, published on October 8, Brian Krebs claimed to have interviewed “half a dozen security experts” who recently left Experian frustrated with its approach.
“Nearly all described Experian as a company fixated on acquiring companies in the data broker and analytics technology space, even as it has stymied efforts to improve security and accountability at the firm,” he said.
Experian data has been breached before – such as in 2012, when an attack on an Experian subsidiary exposed social security numbers of 200 million Americans.
This prompted an investigation by at least four states, including Connecticut.
Commenting on PIRG’s campaign, an Experian spokesman said: “Experian understands the concerns raised and we are prepared to respond promptly to requests from regulatory agencies for more details about the incident.”
He added: “Security is a top priority for the company, and Experian is committed to continuous investments in upgrading talent, processes, and technologies needed to protect our systems.”
He also said the Experian had invested of “tens of millions of dollars” in the last three years to strengthen its security.
A number of lawsuits seeking class action status are under way against T-Mobile and Experian, on behalf of victims affected by the breach.
Hillary Clinton has unveiled her plan to curb Wall Street abuses.
The Democratic presidential front-runner’s proposals include harsher penalties for executives, including forcing them to share fines imposed against their institutions.
Hillary Clinton said there was still too much risk in the financial system:“<<Too big to fail>> is still too big a problem.”
The plan focuses on reining in Wall Street and holding individuals more accountable. If a bank engaged in trading that risked its financial stability, senior managers would not be eligible for bonuses.
Hillary Clinton’s plan included imposing a “risk fee” on big financial institutions to discourage short-term borrowing and encourage them to hold more cash.
She would also impose new taxes on high frequency trading, which has been blamed for market disruptions.
The proposals also strengthen the Volcker rule, which prevents banks from using their own money in certain trades.
Senator Barney Frank helped the Clinton camp draft the proposal. He was the co-author of the Dodd-Frank Act, the most significant Wall Street regulation to emerge since the financial crisis.
However, Hilary Clinton stopped short of calling for the reinstatement of the Glass Steagall Act – a law that separated high street banks from investment banks – saying she prefers “a different way”. Glass Steagall was repealed by former President Bill Clinton during his Presidency.
One Delta Chi fraternity member was killed and three others injured in a shooting at Northern Arizona University’s Flagstaff campus, university police confirmed.
Police were called at 01:20 local time after gunfire was heard in a car park outside a dormitory on the campus in Flagstaff.
Another shooting took place at a student complex near Texas Southern University, which left one person dead.
President Barack Obama is due in Oregon on October 9 to meet victims of another deadly college shooting.
Last week a gunman killed nine people at Umpqua Community College before taking his own life in a shootout with police.
Photo Washington Post
That tragedy has renewed the debate about the nation’s gun laws, an issue that sharply divides the country.
The suspected gunman in the latest incident in Flagstaff is 18-year-old student Steven Jones, who surrendered to police.
The university has identified the student who died as Colin Brough and it said the three students wounded are being treated at Flagstaff Medical Center.
“This is not going to be a normal day at NAU,” said the school’s president, Rita Cheng.
“Our hearts are heavy.”
Representatives from the Delta Chi fraternity’s national organization said its members were involved in the confrontation but did not have information about the victims.
The second shooting in Texas happened later on Friday morning at the University Courtyard Apartments on the edge of the Houston campus.
Police said one person was killed and another arrested.
FIFA’s suspended president Sepp Blatter is appealing against his 90-day ban from soccer’s world governing body.
Sepp Blatter, 79, has been suspended from all duties while FIFA’s ethics committee investigates corruption claims against its leader.
The Swiss was suspended on October 8 along with secretary general Jerome Valcke and Vice-president Michel Platini.
Michel Platini will contest the ban “in the appropriate manner at the appropriate time”. All three deny any wrongdoing.
David Gill, a FIFA vice-president and the vice-chairman of the FA, has written to Markus Kattner, FIFA’s acting secretary general, to request an emergency meeting of the governing body’s executive committee.
FIFA’s ethics committee began its investigation into Sepp Blatter after the Swiss attorney general opened criminal proceedings against him in September.
Photo Getty Images
Sepp Blatter is accused of signing a contract “unfavorable” to FIFA and making a “disloyal payment” to Michel Platini.
The ethics committee also opened an inquiry into Michel Platini over the 2 million euros payment, which was made nine years after the 60-year-old Frenchman carried out consultation work for Sepp Blatter.
Jerome Valcke was already on gardening leave from his FIFA position following newspaper allegations last month which implicated the 55-year-old in a scheme to profit from the sale of World Cup tickets.
His lawyer said that his client was “confident” he will be fully cleared of the “false allegations” when “all the facts come out”.
Sepp Blatter won a fifth consecutive presidential election in May, but he announced he would be stepping down just days later following the launch of two investigations into FIFA by US and Swiss authorities.
He is due to finish his term on February 26, when a new president will be elected.
Michel Platini, who also heads European soccer body UEFA, is one of the favorites to replace Sepp Blatter and still plans to stand.
Caleb Logan Bratayley unexpectedly died on October 1 from “natural causes” at the age of 13, his family announced on an Instagram post.
The YouTube star’s family wrote an updated Instagram post on October 5: “Tests have confirmed today that Caleb passed away from an undetected medical condition. We’ll have more definitive answers in the coming weeks but ask that you help us celebrate his life instead of focus on his death.”
Caleb Logan Bratayley’s cousin, David Cooper, hanged himself at the age of 10, People magazine reported, but Caleb’s death was not a suicide. Drugs also were not involved in his death, TMZ reported.
His family was in shock after their loss.
“Words cannot describe how much we will miss him. His incredibly funny, loving and wonderful spirit made us all fall in love with him as a YouTuber, friend, brother and son,” Caleb Logan Bratayley’s mother wrote on October 2.
Photo YouTube
Foul play is not suspected in the death of Caleb Logan Bratayley, the Anne Arundel County Police Department in northern Maryland said via People magazine.
However, the cause of death remains a mystery.
In 2013, Caleb’s cousin David Cooper unexpectedly died at age 10. The medical examiner determined David’s cause of death was suicide by hanging, People magazine reported.
The YouTube channel that made the Bratayley family famous has over 1.6 million subscribers and more than 1.26 billion views.
The channel also stars Caleb Logan Bratayley’s sisters: Annie, 10, and Hayley, 7.
The Bratayleys said they were going to take a break from making videos to mourn Caleb.
