Wednesday 27 May 2015

Dunya TV

Dunya TV

With ruling party under pressure, Erdogan wades into Turkey polls

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ISTANBUL (AFP) - Brushing off complaints he is brazenly violating the constitution, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is playing an increasingly active role in Turkeys legislative election campaign as the ruling party faces its biggest ballot box challenge since it came to power.Latest opinion polls suggest that the ruling Islamic-rooted Justice and Development Party (AKP) could see its vote tumble in the June 7 election from the last polls in 2011 and even lose its parliamentary majority, sparking unusual expressions of alarm in pro-government media.Erdogan, who became president in 2014 after more than a decade as premier, is supposed to be apolitical as head of state but in recent days has been campaigning with relentless vigour.The face of prime minister and AKP leader Ahmet Davutoglu -- a former foreign minister who lacks Erdogans populist charisma -- stares out from election posters but it is Erdogan who has taken hold of the campaign, while insisting he is merely on the side of the people.Erdogan on Tuesday alone gave a morning speech in Istanbul, opened alongside Davutoglu a new airport in Turkeys southeastern Hakkari province with a speech several times longer than that of the premier, before speaking to an evening rally in Ankara.On Saturday, the president will also speak at a major rally in Istanbul with Davutoglu to celebrate the anniversary of the 1453 Ottoman conquest of Istanbul.Such is the controversy over Erdogans behaviour that former president Abdullah Gul -- a co-founder of the AKP -- has declined an invitation to attend the Istanbul rally at the weekend, the Radikal online daily reported.Personally involvedThe AKP prides itself on being one of the greatest election-winning machines in a major democracy, winning every poll since it pushed the ultra-secular military-rooted old order from power in 2002 elections.And it has to be on top form now, with Erdogan calling for the party to win two-thirds of the 550 seats in parliament to change the constitution and create the presidential system that he yearns for.Erdogan is by definition not running in legislative elections, but the June 7 ballot is very much about him, Marc Pierini, visiting scholar at Carnegie Europe told AFP.He is therefore very much involved personally in the campaign.Yet with the economy, for so long the AKPs trump card, showing signs of fragility and Davutoglu unable to match Erdogans rhetorical firepower, opinion polls are indicating its vote could fall sharply from almost 50 percent in 2011 and more than 46 percent in 2007.While polls should be treated with caution in Turkey, two published in the last week made troubling reading for the AKP -- with the Konda group giving it 40.5 percent of the vote and SONAR 41 percent.The polls suggested that far from winning a two-thirds majority, the AKP could even fail to win a simple majority which would force it to form a coalition to stay in power.Before its too lateIn an opinion piece entitled I want to warn you before it is too late which gained huge attention across the political spectrum in Turkey, well-connected pro-AKP political commentator Abdulkadir Selvi said many previous AKP voters were unsure of voting for the party.Turkey might face waking up to a coalition on the morning of June 8, he wrote.We (the AKP) used to be known for modesty. Now we are being remembered for our arrogance, he wrote in the Yeni Safak daily.Critical for the outcome in terms of seats will be whether the pro-Kurdish Peoples Democratic Party (HDP) passes the tough 10 percent threshold needed to have MPs in parliament.If the HDP makes it in the parliament, this will be a game-changer and the executive presidency will be more difficult to reach said Pierini.Coalition politics seems an anathema for the dominant AKP but its most natural partner would be the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) set to come third rather than the second placed Republican Peoples Party (CHP) secular opposition.This is the first election since the AKP first won a single-party majority in 2002 that there is a possibility of a coalition government, Michael Harris of investment bank Renaissance Capital said.

US army says 22 possibly exposed to anthrax at S. Korea base

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SEOUL (AFP) - As many as 22 personnel may have been exposed to anthrax during a laboratory training exercise at a US military base in South Korea, a military statement said Thursday.Stressing that there was no risk to the public, the statement from Osan Air Force Base said an alarm had been sounded after it was discovered that the bacteria being used in the exercise might not have been an inert training sample.Twenty-two personnel may have been exposed during the training event, the statement said, while adding that none had shown any actual exposure symptoms.The sample was being used in a laboratory environment in a self-contained facility on the base.Hazardous material teams immediately cordoned off the facility, decontaminated it ... and destroyed the agent, it said.Osan Air Base, some 105 kilometres (65 miles) south of Seoul, is home to the 51st Fighter Wing and one of a number of facilities housing the 28,500 US military personnel permanently based in South Korea.

Burundi opposition says fair elections 'impossible'

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BUJUMBURA (AFP) - Burundis main opposition parties said Wednesday it was now impossible to hold free and fair elections next week and that the result should not be recognised if they take place.The opposition said the plans for polls to go ahead despite widespread civil unrest in the capital was tantamount to an electoral hold-up by President Pierre Nkurunziza, whose controversial bid for a third consecutive term has plunged the central African nation into a deep political crisis.The statement came as another demonstrator was killed and two wounded in clashes in the south of the country, according to local officials, while activists complained of increasing attacks by ruling party supporters.The country has sunk into a political and security mess which in no way can allow for peaceful, transparent, free or credible elections, Burundis main opposition parties said in a joint statement.Having an election campaign or holding a vote is impossible. We cannot have an electoral hold-up, the statement said, accusing Nkurunziza and the ruling CNDD-FDD party of silencing independent media, detaining opponents and provoking a major refugee crisis.The chair of the 15-member UN Security Council said Wednesday that the predominant opinion among the top UN body was that the elections should be postponed but it was divided over how to address the crisis.The predominant opinion was that elections were not possible to carry out in the present circumstances, Lithuanian Ambassador and current council chairman Raimonda Murmokaite told reporters.Russia disagreed arguing that the elections were an internal matter and that the bloc should support efforts to help Burundians resolve the dispute themselves.Parliamentary elections are due to be held on June 5, with a presidential poll scheduled for June 26. On Tuesday, the government appealed for public donations from patriotic citizens so that it could organise the elections, which have been hit by a funding freeze by the central African nations former colonial power Belgium as well as the European Union.The crisis surrounds a bid by Nkurunziza to stand for a third consecutive term in office, with opposition and rights groups saying the move violates the constitution as well as the terms of a peace deal that ended a 13-year civil war in 2006.Street protests have taken place for the past month, leaving at least 30 dead after a violent crackdown by security forces.The crisis intensified earlier this month when a top general staged a failed coup attempt.The opposition parties said the crisis risked plunging the small, landlocked and impoverished country back into civil war.Endorsing such a process is equivalent to supporting a predictable civil war in Burundi, the statement said, adding that foreign governments should never recognise the election results.Militia on the offensiveThere was no immediate response from the government, although on Tuesday its spokesman Philippe Nzobonariba used state radio to condemn mounting diplomatic pressure and signal that Nkurunziza would not bow to international criticism.In the lakeside capital Bujumbura on Wednesday, police were again out in force in order to halt any renewed anti-Nkurunziza protests, with tear gas used to quickly break up gatherings. Only small groups of demonstrators gathered in the districts of Cibitoke and Buterere, and shots were heard ringing out in the area, AFP correspondents said.Outside the capital in Matana, a town in southern Bururi province, a protestor was killed by police fire, a local official said.On Tuesday evening at least one person was killed in the capital in a raid by the Imbonerakure, the youth wing of the CNDD-FDD that has been branded as a pro-government militia, residents said. A medical source said 32 people were also wounded, many by gunshots, on Tuesday.Leading opposition campaigner Pacifique Nininahazwe said the Imbonerakures activities, including punitive operations against opponents, were being stepped up in the capital.Nkurunziza, a former rebel leader and born-again Christian, argues that his first term did not count as he was elected by parliament, not directly by the people. His bid for re-election also has strong support in rural areas and among sections of the Hutu majority.Asked to rule on the issue of a third term, Burundis constitutional court found in the presidents favour, but not before one of the judges fled the country claiming its members had received death threats.The East African Community (EAC) -- a regional grouping of Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania, Uganda, and also Burundi -- has announced plans to hold a second meeting on the crisis on Sunday in Tanzanias main city of Dar es Salaam.Nkurunziza was at an EAC summit in Dar es Salaam on May 13 when the coup attempt was launched, but an EAC statement said all the blocs leaders would attend the next meeting.

APC over Pak-China Economic Corridor today

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ISLAMABAD (Online) - All Parties Conference (APC) to remove the reservations of political parties on Pak-China Economic Corridor will be held today (Thursday).According to media reports, government has invited the Chief Ministers of all the 4 provinces and heads of different political parties for the Pak-China Economic Corridor.The reservations on the Pak-China economic corridor route would be resolved in the All Parties Conference scheduled to be held at Prime Minister House. Prime Minister Nawaz will preside over the APC on Economic Corridor route and invitation letter has been sent to all the party chiefs.Former President Asif Ali Zardari, NA opposition leader Syed Khurshid Shah will attend the APC, in which PM will settle on the issues related to Pak-China Economic corridor.PM Nawaz Sharif will also cut the anniversary cake of “Youm-e-Takbeer” in presence of party leaders in accordance with nuclear blasts which were tested on 28th May 1998 during the last regime of PML tenure.

Russia's nuclear threats 'deeply troubling': NATO chief

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WASHINGTON (AFP) - Russias provocative rhetoric and its dramatic expansion of flights by nuclear bombers are deeply troubling and dangerous, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said Wednesday.Russias plans to deploy nuclear-capable missiles in Kaliningrad -- near Polands border -- and its threat to move nuclear forces in Crimea would fundamentally change the balance of security in Europe, Stoltenberg warned, in speech during a visit to Washington.In blunt language, the NATO chief delivered a scathing critique of Russias behavior over the past year -- including Moscows armed intervention in Ukraine -- and vowed the transatlantic alliance would redouble its commitment to collective defense.Russias recent use of nuclear rhetoric, exercises and operations are deeply troubling, he told an audience at the Center for Strategic and International Studies think tank.Russian President Vladimir Putins admission that he considered putting Russias nuclear forces on alert while Russia was annexing Crimea is but one example, the former Norwegian prime minister said.The NATO alliance also was concerned about Russias compliance with nuclear arms agreements and stepped up global flights by strategic bombers.Russia has also significantly increased the scale, number and range of pro-active flights by nuclear capable bombers across much of the globe, Stoltenberg said.The Russian bomber flights, he said, spanned from Japan to Gibraltar, from Crete to California, and from the Baltic sea to the Black Sea.Russia was failing to draw on the lessons of the Cold War, including that when it comes to nuclear weapons, caution, predictability and transparency are vital, he said.Russias nuclear saber-rattling is unjustified, destabilizing and dangerous, he said.Aggressive nationalismStoltenberg also criticized Russia for staging large snap military exercises, which he said was a violation of international agreements requiring governments to share information about planned drills in advance and to invite observers.One short-notice exercise was used to move Russian forces to annex Crimea in February 2014 and others were employed to support separatists in eastern Ukraine and to stage a military build-up on Ukraines border.Russia is conducting yet another snap exercise near Ukraine this week that involves 250 aircraft and 700 pieces of heavy equipment, he said.Dating back to Russias intervention in Georgia in 2008, Moscow has sought to settle disputes through military force or the threat of military force, he said.Russia has also started deploying its most modern weapons systems near the borders of NATO members in Eastern Europe, he said.Citing Russias actions in Ukraine and elsewhere, Stoltenberg said Moscow is asserting its military power, stirring up aggressive nationalism, claiming the right to impose its will on its neighbors and grabbing land.NATOs relations with Russia were at their lowest point in decades, he said.We are not back to the Cold War but we are far from a strategic partnership, he said.The alliance needed to adapt to challenges, he said, that may be with us for a long time.NATO will uphold its principles, including respect for the sovereignty of states and transparency in military activities, while also renewing its commitment to collective defense and deterrence, he said.Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia plan to make a formal request to NATO to deploy a force of several thousand troops in their countries as a counter-weight to Russia.But it remains unclear if the alliance will approve the request.The NATO chiefs comments came a day after he held talks with President Barack Obama, who accused Russia of adopting an increasingly aggressive posture.Both Obama and Stoltenberg urged both sides in the Ukraine conflict to respect a shaky ceasefire accord.

Nebraska becomes 19th US state to halt death penalty

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WASHINGTON (AFP) - Nebraska lawmakers voted to overturn their governors veto and abolish the death penalty Wednesday, becoming the nineteenth US state to do so.The bill was carried by 30 votes to 19, a large enough majority to override the objections of Nebraskas Republican governor, Peter Ricketts, and pass into law.Nebraskas legislature had previously voted to repeal capital punishment in the state on April 17 and May 20, but Ricketts had vetoed the legislation.The governor had argued on Tuesday that repealing the death penalty sends the wrong message to the overwhelming number of Nebraskans who want to see it remain the law of the state.The 10 people who remained on death row in the state will have their sentences reduced to life in prison. An eleventh person who was sentenced to be executed died of cancer on Tuesday after 30 years in prison.The state has not executed a death row convict since 1997.Nebraska is the first conservative state in four decades to abolish the death penalty.Executions have continued to decline in the United States with several states having abandoned the use of the death penalty without legally doing away with the punishment.Last year, 80 percent of executions in the United States were concentrated in Texas, Missouri and Florida.

Chief of Al-Qaeda's Syria affiliate pledges no attacks on the West

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BEIRUT (AFP) - Al-Qaedas Syria affiliate would not use Syria as a launching pad for attacks on the West, its chief said in a wide-randing televised interview late Wednesday.Without showing his face, Abu Mohamed al-Jolani said his group, Al-Nusra Front, would protect Syrian minorities that renounced the regime.The interview was Jolanis second with Qatari-owned Al-Jazeera TV since a similar appearance in 2013. The interviewer, Ahmad Mansur, said it was broadcast from liberated lands in Syria.All that could be seen of Jolani was a black shawl, a plaid shirt, and gesturing hands.The instructions that we have are not to use al-Sham as a base to launch attacks on the West or Europe, so as not to muddy the current war, Jolani said.Our mission in Syria is the downfall of the regime, its symbols, and its allies, like Hezbollah, Jolani said, referring to the powerful Shiite movement fighting alongside the Bashar al-Assad regime.But if the United States kept attacking them, he said, all options are open. Anyone has the right to self-defence.Jolani also denied the existence of the Khorasan group, which the US had said was an offshoot of Al-Qaeda that was plotting attacks against the US.Nevertheless, he lambasted the US for its air raids against Al-Nusra in Syria and accused it of coordinating with the Assad regime on the use of air space.America is propping up the regime, Jolani charged, leaning forward in an ornate golden-crusted chair.We will protect themAl-Nusra and its extremist rival the Islamic State group have been designated as terrorist organisations by the US since the end of 2012.Since September, a US-led international coalition has been raiding terrorist positions in Syria, although most strikes have targeted IS.In recent months, Al-Nusra has led a rebel coalition in a series of key victories in Syrias northwest Idlib, including the provincial capital and a large military base.The gains have opened the road for a potential advance on Latakia and Tartus, coastal provinces that are home to Syrian minorities including Christians and Alawites.Extremist groups in Syria, including Al-Nusra and IS, have been accused of targeting these minority communities.But Al-Nusras chief seemed to try to play down those fears, saying his group only fights those who fight us.If the Alawites leave their religion and leave Bashar al-Assad, we will protect them, Jolani said.He said Christians living under the rule of Al-Nusra were living in peace, and that in a future state ruled by Islamic law, the financially capable would pay jizya, or tax reserved for non-Muslims.Gateway to DamascusJolani promised defeat for Lebanese movement Hezbollah, which has significantly bolstered the Assad regime, in the mountainous border region between Syria and Lebanon.Hezbollah knew the ugliness of the Syrian regime. It knew its fate was directly linked to Bashars fate, Jolani warned.Qalamun will be an important gateway for Damascus when the battle for the capital begins, he added.As soon as Bashar is defeated, it will be the end for Hezbollah.Much like his interview in 2013, the Nusra chief said the end of the Assad regime was near.I assure you, the fall of Bashar is not far away, he said. I do not want to project much optimism, but there are very positive signs.He rejected a political end to the conflict, saying that any political agreement reached in the halls of Washington... would cost the blood of the Syrian people.Jolani also firmly denied receiving any state funding, saying that Nusra was financed by its own businesses activities and contributions from individual donors.Wednesdays interview was the first in a two-part series, to be continued next week.

IS 'executes' 20 in Palmyra Roman theatre

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BAGHDAD (AFP) - The Islamic State group executed 20 men in front of a crowd in the UNESCO-listed Roman theatre of Syrias ancient city of Palmyra on Wednesday, a monitor said.Across the border the jihadists claimed to have abolished when they proclaimed their caliphate last year, thousands of Iraqi security forces and paramilitaries deployed across Anbar province.Nearly a week after seizing strategic Palmyra, IS gathered 20 men they accused of fighting for the regime in the ruins of the theatre and shot them dead, Rami Abdel Rahman, head of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, told AFP.IS gathered a lot of people there on purpose, to show their force on the ground, he said.Syrias antiquities director said he feared the killings were a harbinger of the much-dreaded destruction of the ancient site, considered one of the worlds greatest heritage jewels.The jihadist group has damaged priceless historical sites across the region but mainly used its sledgehammers and dynamite on statues and places of worship it considers idolatrous.IS seized Palmyra on May 21, a move analysts warned positioned the group to launch more ambitious attacks on Damascus and third city Homs.According to the Observatory, it has over the past week executed at least 217 people, including 67 civilians, in and around the city.In neighbouring Iraq, the governments efforts to pressure IS in its Anbar stronghold gathered pace, with thousands of fighters deployed across the province from different directions.Their immediate goal was to cut off the jihadist groups supply lines, but some forces inched towards provincial capital Ramadi which IS captured on May 17.The fall of the city, 100 kilometres (60 miles) west of Baghdad, was a huge blow to the government and its policy of building up a local Sunni force to expel IS from its bastions.Nonetheless, 1,000 members of a newly formed Sunni unit graduated and received weapons at an event in Anbars Habbaniyah base that had been delayed by the fall of Ramadi.Iraqi forces moved into Ramadis Taesh and Humeyrah districts and also entered the neighbouring Anbar university compound, an army colonel on the ground told AFP.Iraqi security and Hashed forces took control of both neighbourhoods. They also managed to enter the university but have yet to liberate it, he said.Hashed al-Shaabi is an umbrella group for mostly Shiite militias and volunteers that the government called in after Ramadi fell to IS.Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi originally opposed sending them to Anbar, but the performance of the regular forces in the Ramadi debacle two weeks ago left him with few options.It was feared that the mass deployment of groups with a record of abuses against Sunnis risked raising sectarian tensions.In what some saw as a provocation that justified those fears, the Hashed on Tuesday named an operation aimed at isolating IS in Anbar after one of Shiite Islams most revered imams.The operation was dubbed Labaik, ya Hussein, which roughly translates as We are at your service, Hussein.The Pentagon criticised the choice of codename as unhelpful, and even one of Iraqs most influential Shiite clerics argued the name was poorly chosen.This name is going to be misunderstood, theres no doubt, Moqtada Sadr said.Hussein is a national symbol and a prince of jihad... but we dont want him to be used by the other side to claim this is a sectarian war, said Sadr, himself a militia leader.After a string of setbacks in Iraq, ISs twin offensives in Ramadi and Palmyra suggested that some had written off the jihadist group too soon.Washington has insisted that the momentum had not swung, however, and that its daily air strikes were paying off.In northeastern Syria, the Observatorys Abdel Rahman said Kurdish forces retook Assyrian Christian villages the jihadists had seized earlier this year.Following a 10-day offensive, Kurdish fighters took control early this week of 14 Assyrian villages that IS had controlled since February, he said.An Assyrian rights activist said the counteroffensive in the northeastern province of Hasakeh was made possible by an intensive campaign of air strikes by the US-led coalition.

Cameroonians donate 3 mn euros to help army fight Boko Haram

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YAOUNDE (AFP) - A fundraising campaign to help Cameroons army battle Nigerias feared Boko Haram fighters has brought in more than three million euros and hundreds of tonnes of food, local media said Wednesday.2.1 billion CFA francs (3.2 million euros) already collected to help troops fighting the terrorist group on Cameroons northern border with Nigeria, said the national CRTV radio and TV network.But with corruption rife across Cameroon, the government has set up an inter-ministerial committee to ensure transparent management of the funds offered up by citizens of the struggling African nation, the broadcaster said.Hundreds of tonnes of food aid have also been donated to help the army since the fundraising began several weeks back, it added.Addressing fears the funds could go missing, the government said a special account has been opened for the cash. But local media said President Paul Biya recently fired two army officers for embezzling food aid for the troops.Cameroonians still remember how the countrys famed football team, The Indomitable Lions, never saw a cent of the funds collected nationwide in 1994 for their World Cup bid. The suitcase of money is somewhere between Paris (its last trace) and New York, Cameroonians still say today.Cameroon decided last August to fight Boko Haram after a series of incursions by the terrorists in the far north of the country. Two soldiers were killed in a Boko Haram attack there earlier this month.Nigerias military has claimed a series of victories over the group across the northeast since an offensive launched in February with support from Cameroon, Chad and Niger.

$40,000 in envelopes, alleged bribes for 2011 FIFA vote

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NEW YORK (AFP) - US court papers alleged Wednesday that soccer executives were handed $40,000 cash bribes stuffed into envelopes at an upmarket Caribbean hotel ahead of the 2011 FIFA presidential election.The payments were allegedly arranged by a high-ranking official at FIFA and the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) who was a candidate in the election but who was not named in the US indictment.Mohamed Bin Hammam, then head of the Asian Football Confederation, was suspended by FIFA in May 2011 when evidence first emerged that the bribes had been paid to support his candidacy.Former FIFA vice-president Jack Warner also resigned in 2011 after the scandal emerged. At the time FIFA said it had dropped investigations and that the presumption of innocence is maintained.Warner, 72, from Trinidad and Tobago, is named throughout the US indictment. He has maintained his innocence on Facebook.According to court papers, $363,537.98 was wired from an account controlled by the AFC official to an account controlled by Warner in Trinidad and Tobago, through New York in late April.The AFC official subsequently met Caribbean Football Union (CFU) members at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Trinidad and Tobago on May 10, 2011 -- just weeks before the scheduled election.The AFC official addressed the meeting on his candidacy and Warner afterward told delegates they could pick up a gift that afternoon at a conference room in the hotel, the indictment claimed.They were allegedly instructed to enter the room one at a time, where each was handed an envelope containing $40,000 in US currency by CFU staff.The following day, Warner allegedly said the money had come from the AFC official but expressed anger that a representative had informed CONCACAF in New York of the payments.There are some people here who think they are more pious than thou. If youre pious, open a church, friends. Our business is our business, the indictment quoted Warner as saying.The purpose of the $40,000 payments was to induce officials of the CFU member associations... to vote for co-conspirator number seven in the June 1, 2011 FIFA presidential election, it said.In July, after the scheme was uncovered and Warner had resigned, the co-conspirator wired $1.2 million from an account in Qatar for credit to an account in Warners name, the indictment said.

Brazil protesters demand Rousseff impeachment

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BRASILIA (AFP) - Several hundred protesters gathered Wednesday in Brasilia to demand the impeachment of President Dilma Rousseff after they completed a 1,000-kilometer (650-mile) march on the capital.Some two dozen marchers from the Free Brazil Movement (MBL), a growing conservative force in Brazil, marched on Congress, where they were received by opposition lawmakers and also the president of the Chamber of lawmakers, Eduardo Cunha.We have brought to Brasilia, the seat of power, the demands of the street. And the main demand is the dismissal, the departure of Dilma Rousseff, said MBL co-founder Renan Santos.This (demand) will have to be taken seriously... there must be a vote, he added, speaking to a crowd that police estimated at around 300.Center-right Congressman Carlos Sampaio hailed the MBL, and said he supported the groups fight against corruption.This is a very important day as Congress has received protesters bearing the indignation of a whole country against a government of lies and corruption, said Sampaio, of the opposition Brazilian Social Democracy Party.The MBL was one of the forces behind a series of protests earlier this year, some of which saw as many as three million people on the streets.The movement is a focal point for mainly middle class anti-Rousseff demonstrators hoping to piggyback on 2013 protests against corruption and the costs of hosting the 2014 World Cup and next years Rio Olympics.Rousseff was re-elected last year to a second term as the head of the Workers Party, which has ruled Brazil for 12 years.Under her rule, Brazil has also seen the eruption of the biggest graft scandal in the countrys history.An investigation has tainted dozens of business leaders and politicians accused of taking kickbacks on contracts involving oil giant Petrobras.

German city evacuates 20,000 people to defuse WWII bomb

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BERLIN (AFP) - German authorities evacuated around 20,000 people from their homes in the western city of Cologne Wednesday before defusing a World War II bomb unearthed during construction work.Residents living within a kilometre (about half a mile) of the site were told to leave their homes, among them around 1,100 people from a large old peoples and care home, city officials said.Schools in the area as well as Cologne Zoo, also within the danger zone, were closed for the day.The unexploded US-made device, which lay five metres (16 feet) underground, was discovered on Friday on the left bank of the Rhine river near Muelheim bridge, city officials said.Hundreds of police, firefighters and other helpers were involved in clearing the area for the citys largest evacuation since the end of the war.River traffic had to be halted during the afternoon operation to de-activate the one-tonne bomb, while the airspace above the zone was also closed.Everything went well, Cologne city hall said in a statement afterwards, adding that the bomb was successfully defused.Residents began returning to their homes in the early evening.Seventy years after the end of fighting, parts of Germany remain riddled with unexploded bombs from the Allied campaigns, and construction workers regularly stumble upon them.

Conservative firebrand Santorum in White House re-launch

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WASHINGTON (AFP) - Rick Santorum, the dark-horse 2012 US presidential contender whose deeply conservative, often-gruff campaign put nominee Mitt Romney to the test, announced Wednesday he is launching a second run for the White House.He made it official at an appearance near his childhood home in Cabot, Pennsylvania, where he told a crowd that we must take back America, and pledged to be the candidate of working-class citizens.Working families dont need another president tied to big government or big money. And today is the day we are going to begin to fight back, Santorum said.It will be a more difficult proposition for him this time around.With 15 or more prominent Republican presidential contenders as his 2016 rivals, Santorum, 57, is even more the White House underdog than he was four years ago.While he has years of new material from which to frame a counterpoint to likely Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton, Santorum has slipped from national prominence, and his appearances draw smaller crowds than the previous cycle.His opposition to gay marriage -- he said in April he would not attend a loved ones same-sex wedding -- remains unshakable, even though legal gay marriage has expanded to 37 states and the capital Washington.He is staunchly anti-abortion, telling the crowd that as president I will stand for the principle that every life matters: the poor, the disabled and the unborn.Santorum has also blasted President Barack Obamas Middle East strategy for lack of leadership, saying the US military must take a dramatically tougher approach to the Islamic State group.If these folks want to bring back a seventh century version of Islam, then my recommendation is, lets load our bombers up and bomb them back to the seventh century, Santorum said in a May 9 speech.The former two-term US senator stunned the political establishment four years ago, emerging from virtual obscurity to narrowly winning the Iowa caucuses, the first state-wide vote in the primary nomination process.He turned his support for blue-collar Americans and conservative Christian values into a surprisingly strong challenge to frontrunner Romney.Last person standingHis underfunded campaign, prone to Santorums contrarian outbursts -- he said president John F. Kennedys speech on church-state separation made him want to throw up -- eventually failed, but he lasted longer than anyone expected.I ended up competing in 30 states and winning in 11. I was the last person standing, Santorum told a Tea Party gathering in South Carolina in January.He insists that such a track record gives him the advantage of battle-tested experience. But while the 2012 Republican field was seen as particularly weak, the 2016 crop is anything but.Santorums competition includes rock-star senators Ted Cruz, Rand Paul and Marco Rubio, fresh faces who insist they can expand the appeal of the Republican Party beyond its traditional white male blueprint.Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker, popular in the partys conservative wing, may run.Mike Huckabee, a 2008 candidate and popular Fox television show host returning for another campaign, is drawing on his preacher past to lock in core Christian voters.There is also Jeb Bush, whose fundraising prowess and name recognition put him in the top tier of candidates, where Santorum is unlikely to land.With such a deep field, Santorum faces the prospect of not qualifying for the first Republican debate, on August 6, when organizers will accept only the top 10 candidates in recent national polling.Santorum is on the bubble, according to a RealClearPolitics poll average, which puts him in 10th place with 2.3 percent support.

Tennis: Nadal, Djokovic, Serena eye Paris last-32

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PARIS (AFP) - Nine-time champion Rafael Nadal and top seeds Novak Djokovic and Serena Williams target places in the French Open third round on Thursday.Nadal faces Nicolas Almagro boasting a 12-1 career advantage over his fellow Spaniard but wary of the danger posed by a man who beat him on clay in Barcelona only last year.World number one Djokovic tackles Luxembourgs 55th-ranked Gilles Muller who he defeated in their only previous meeting at the Australian Open in January this year as the Serb went on to claim a fifth title in Melboune.Djokovic is seeking a first French Open title which would make him just the eighth man to complete the career Grand Slam.Britains third seed Andy Murray, twice a semi-finalist in Paris, faces Portugals Joao Sousa defending a 5-0 career record.However, all of those meetings came on hard courts.Womens top seed Serena Williams, a two-time champion, should have few problems against Anna-Lena Friedsam, the world number 105 player from Germany.The two women have never met before.

US affirms 'ironclad' promise to defend Philippines

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WASHINGTON (AFP) - US Defense Secretary Ashton Carter told his Philippine counterpart on Wednesday that Washingtons pledge to defend the Pacific nation remains ironclad and called for an end to land reclamation in the South China Sea, officials said.In talks in Hawaii with Voltaire Gazmin, Philippine secretary of national defense, the Pentagon chief reaffirmed the strong ties between the two countries and discussed territorial disputes in the contested waters of the South China Sea, where Beijing has been at loggerheads with the Philippines and other states in the region.Citing Washingtons mutual defense treaty with Manila, Carter stressed that the US commitment to defend the Philippines is ironclad, the Pentagon said in a statement.The meeting came as Carter embarks on a tour of Asia and amid rising tensions over Beijings massive effort to build artificial islands in the South China Sea.Carter and Gazmin agreed that all parties involved in the South China Sea should seek a peaceful resolution of disputes, immediately halt land reclamation, and stop further militarization of disputed features, the statement said.Manila has said it will keep flying over disputed areas in the South China Sea despite Beijings warnings. And this month, the Philippines took part in a groundbreaking naval exercise with Japan, in a move aimed at countering a rising China.Beijing has expanded its land reclamation work in the South China Sea at a dramatic pace in recent months, constructing man-made islands on top of reefs across a wide area to back up its territorial claims.China insists it has a right to control nearly all of the South China Sea, including waters near the coasts of the Philippines, Vietnam and other Asian neighbors.The Chinese military last week ordered a US Navy P-8 Poseidon surveillance plane to leave an area above the disputed Spratly islands in the South China Sea. But the American aircraft ignored the demand and said it was flying in what US officials consider international airspace.After his stop in Hawaii, Carter is due to visit Singapore, Vietnam and India in his second tour of the region since taking over at the Pentagon in February.Over the next 10 days, Carter will reaffirm the US rebalance to the Asia-Pacific, Pentagon spokesman Colonel Steven Warren said.Washington has deployed more ships and aircraft to the Asia-Pacific region in the past two years and tried to strengthen its ties to partners in the area as part of its rebalance to Asia, which comes as a response to Chinas growing military might.
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