Turkish president 'sorry' for shoot-down of Russian military jet

Turkish president 'sorry' for shoot-down of Russian military jet

The Kremlin reported Monday Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan sent a message to Russian President Vladimir Putin saying "I am sorry" for the downing of a Russian jet last November, an incident Putin had called "a stab in the back."

Erdogan expressed his "sympathy and deep condolences" to the family of the killed pilot and "asked to be forgiven," Putin's spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.

The Turkish president also said an investigation was underway against a "Turkish citizen who is associated with the 'death of Russian pilot,'" the Kremlin added.

Syrian Turkmen rebels said they shot and killed the pilot and a Russian marine who tried conducting a rescue. The Russian jet's navigator survived.

Turkey had previously claimed two of its F-16s shot down the Russian jet because it violated Turkish airspace near the Syrian border and failed to heed warnings to turn around. The navigator told Russian media he never received such warnings.

The Russians responded by halting package tours to Turkey and banning most agricultural imports from Turkey.

source: foxnews

Officer critical but stable, 1 in custody in police shooting

Officer critical but stable, 1 in custody in police shooting

Law enforcement gather in the aftermath of a shooting, Folcroft, Friday, June 24, 2016. Authorities are hunting for a suspect after a police officer was shot near Philadelphia.

FOLCROFT, Pa. (AP) — A police officer was shot several times Friday as he approached people suspected of smoking drugs behind an apartment building, prompting a three-hour manhunt near Philadelphia that halted a dozen Amtrak trains, authorities said.
Folcroft Officer Christopher Dorman, 25, sustained injuries that required at least two surgeries, officials said. He was in critical but stable condition Friday afternoon, and police said they had a suspect in custody.

"I was told by the doctors that 'thank God he had his vest on,' so apparently there may have been several shots to his vest," Chief Robert Ruskowski said at a news conference outside the hospital.
The shooting took place about a block from the tracks used by Amtrak and a regional rail line. The lines were shut down at about 10:30 a.m. as police combed the area. About 500 passengers on Amtrak's Acela and Northeast Regional lines were stopped on tracks nearby, spokesman Craig Schulz said.

At least one person was taken into custody sometime after 1 p.m. Officials did not immediately return messaging seeking details on the arrest.

Dorman has been on the force for about a year.


source: timesunion

Amazon jaguar shot dead after Olympic torch ceremony

Amazon jaguar shot dead after Olympic torch ceremony.

Brazilian physiotherapist Igor Simoes Andrade poses for picture next to jaguar Juma as he takes part in the Olympic Flame torch relay in Manaus, Brazil, June 20, 2016. Picture taken June 20, 2016.

A jaguar featured at an Olympic torch ceremony was shot dead by a soldier shortly after the event in the Brazilian Amazon city of Manaus as the animal escaped from its handlers, an army statement said.

The jaguar was killed on Monday at a zoo attached to a military training center when a soldier fired a single pistol shot after the animal, despite being tranquilized, approached the soldier, the army said.

Jaguar Juma is pictured during the Olympic Flame torch relay in Manaus, Brazil, June 20, 2016. Picture taken June 20, 2016.

“We made a mistake in permitting the Olympic torch, a symbol of peace and unity, to be exhibited alongside a chained wild animal. This image goes against our beliefs and our values,” the local organizing committee Rio 2016 said in a statement, adding: "We guarantee that there will be no more such incidents at Rio 2016.”

A smiling yellow jaguar known as Ginga is the mascot of the Brazilian Olympic team.

The shooting caused uproar among animal rights groups, which questioned why the animal was involved in the Olympic event.

"When will people (and institutions) stop with this sick need to show power and control by confining, taming and showcasing wild animals?" the Rio de Janeiro-based animal rights group Animal Freedom Union said on its Facebook page.

The jaguar is a nearly threatened species that has already been wiped out in Uruguay and El Salvador, according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature.

The use of Juma, as the jaguar was known, at the event was illegal, according to Ipaam, the Amazonas state government environmental authority that oversees the use of wild animals.

"No request was made to authorize the participation of the jaguar "Juma" in the event of the Olympic torch," Ipaam said in a statement.

Ipaam said it is investigating the incident.

source: reuters

Collins builds support for gun control compromise

Collins builds support for gun control compromise, but will it be enough?

From left, Sen. Heidi Heitkamp, D-N.D., Sen. Martin Heinrich, D-N.M., and Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, leave a news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, June 21, 2016, to discuss new gun legislation proposal. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

Sen. Susan Collins’s gun control compromise will get a vote in the Senate this month – the only question is whether enough senators will support it.

Collins (R-Maine) and her supporters are selling their measure, which would bar roughly 2,700 Americans suspected of being terrorists from buying a gun, as the only way to break the political logjam surrounding the emotionally charged issue of gun control in the wake of violent shootings, such as the one in Orlando over a week ago.

“What you see here is an effort not to have a vote that will simply allow each party to use a cudgel to beat the other party with, but rather to have something that would actually pass,” said Sen. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.), a member of the eight-person group that met with Collins over the last week to hash out the proposal.

“It’s very comfortable for us to sit in our respective corners and vote for something that we know isn’t going to change things,” said Sen. Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.), another member of Collins’s group. “It’s time to start putting progress in front of politics.”

Collins’s proposal denies the right to purchase guns to anyone on two subsets of the FBI’s Terrorist Screening Database: The “No Fly List,” which prohibits suspected terrorists from boarding planes heading to or from the United States or crossing U.S. airspace; and the “Selectee List,” which requires extra screening procedures. There are approximately 109,000 people on those lists, including about 2,700 Americans, by the senators’ count.

“Essentially we believe that if you are too dangerous to fly on an airplane, you’re too dangerous to buy a gun,” Collins said Tuesday.

But Democrats have said Republicans need to lure about 20 votes in order to make passing Collins’s proposal “doable” – and that is a bar that no one is yet sure they can clear. “I think we’re getting there, I do,” Flake said.

Senate Democratic Conference Vice Chair Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) said Tuesday that Collins’s proposal is “a step in the right direction” but that it also has “some serious problems.”

He argued that by focusing on the two smaller lists, hundreds of thousands of other suspected terrorists could slip through the cracks. He also said that the expedited appeals process for anyone believing they were mistakenly denied a gun is too fast.

On Monday, Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), who authored one of four bills that failed in the Senate this week, said that Collins’s proposal is “not enough to close the loophole that creates this terror gap.”

Democrats are predicting that they will “do more than our share on the Democratic side of the aisle,” as Heinrich said, to help pass the proposal. But he hinted not all Democrats would be on board.

“There is a ‘let the perfect be the enemy of the good’ that exists on both sides of the aisle,” Heinrich said.

Passing gun control legislation will be an uphill battle in the Senate, and it would face even stauncher resistance in the GOP-controlled House. Four gun control proposals were rejected by the Senate on Monday — two to expand background checks on gun sales and two to restrict suspected terrorists from buying guns.

[Senate votes down gun control proposals in wake of Orlando shooting]

Collins’s proposal includes a five-year “lookback provision” to alert the FBI when someone who used to be on one of those lists purchases a firearm — in a nod to the Omar Mateen, the Orlando shooter who was on on a watch list before being removed by investigators.

In order to address concerns over due process for those mistakenly placed on a watch list, the proposal would allow U.S. citizens and green-card holders to file a legal appeal if they feel they were wrongly denied a firearm. The burden would then be on the government to prove its case, and cover the person’s legal fees if they were found to be erroneously placed on a list of suspected terrorists.

That last provision has given some Republicans pause. The GOP argued passionately against Feinstein’s measure featuring a similar procedure to challenge cases where the government may have mistakenly listed someone as a suspected terrorist.

Republicans argue that measure didn’t sufficiently protect due process, and instead rallied behind an alternative from Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) that would have required the government to prove in three business days there was probable cause for someone to be on a watch list.

Collins said last week that the Cornyn proposal “doesn’t do the job” on closing the terrorist loophole.

And in the last week, she has earned support from a small group of Republicans, including pro-gun senators like Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), who all but dared his fellow GOP members and the National Rifle Association on Tuesday not to back Collins’s measure.

“If you vote against this, and [people on this list] do go out and [get] a gun and kill a bunch of people, you’ve got a lot of explaining to do,” Graham said, saying every constitutional right “has boundaries on it.”

He also called it an “inconvenience” at worst if someone on the list turns out to be mistakenly prevented from getting a gun right away, compared to the potentially catastrophic consequences if a terrorist bent on mass casualties manages to acquire a firearm.

“I own an AR-15 — if you’re on this list it doesn’t bother me one bit that you can’t buy one right away,” Graham said. “Here’s the tiebreaker: We can fix the problem with an innocent person. Once the gun’s gone, we can’t fix that.”

Some Republicans appear inclined to consider the Collins compromise.

“It’s a step in the right direction. I’m not sure if it gets my vote, but we’re going to take a serious look at it,” Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.) said Tuesday.

“The key thing’s obviously the due process, is always the issue,” said Sen. James Lankford (R-Okla.). “If we can figure out a way to make that work, I’m glad to be able to do it.”

Others were more skeptical.

“This is one of those issues that’s pretty cut and dry where people are,” said Sen. Pat Roberts (R-Kan.). “People’s view on this haven’t changed much. It’s just the way it is.”

On Tuesday, Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.), also a member of Collins’ negotiating team, made the case that passing Collins’ proposal only paves the way for more gun control bills – like an expansion of background checks – to follow in the future.

“If this passes, it will give us more leverage to be able to fix it,” he said.


source: washingtonpost

Doctors Without Borders Says It Won’t Take E.U. Money for Refugees

Doctors Without Borders Says It Won’t Take E.U. Money for Refugees.

A migrant family sat on train tracks outside their tent in a refugee camp in Idomeni, Greece, in March. Tens of thousands of migrants are stranded in such camps in Greece. Credit Eirini Vourloumis for The New York Times

GENEVA — Doctors Without Borders, one of Europe’s biggest charities, said Friday it is turning its back on millions of dollars from the European Union to protest the bloc’s policies on refugees and migrants.

“We will no longer take funds from the E.U. and its member states in protest at their shameful deterrence policies and their intensification of efforts to push people back from European shores,” the charity said in a statement.

It has sharply criticized the agreement between the European Union and Turkey that will provide more than $6 billion to Turkey in return for stopping the flow of refugees to Europe and taking back migrants who cross the Aegean Sea to Greece. That deal, the charity said, made aid to Turkey contingent on tighter border controls, not on the basis of humanitarian need.

“What we are doing here is taking a decision not to take funds from states and institutions that actually jeopardize the very ability to provide one of the main forms of assistance,” Jérôme Oberreit, the secretary general of Doctors Without Borders, said in a telephone interview.

European Union policies are “jeopardizing the very concept of the refugee,” Mr. Oberreit said. “We’re talking about individual human beings here, we can’t accept the collateral damage of broader policies.”

Doctors Without Borders, also known by its French initials M.S.F., received 56 million euros ($63 million) from European Union institutions, member states and Norway, in 2015; Mr. Oberreit said the decision would not affect the charity’s ability to assist refugees and migrants.

Those contributions — including €19 million from the European Commission’s Humanitarian Aid Office — make up less than 8 percent of the charity’s global budget, which comes mostly from private sources. Mr. Oberreit said Doctors Without Borders’ operations would continue, drawing on its reserves and an emergency budget.

The European Union’s chief spokesman, Margaritis Schinas, told reporters in Brussels that the bloc took note of the charity’s decision but insisted that its aid was aimed at addressing the basic needs of refugees in Turkey, including protection, and was focused on the most vulnerable.

The number of refugees crossing the Aegean Sea has fallen since the agreement with Turkey came into effect in March, and European countries’ decisions to close borders along the main routes taken by migrants has left more than 50,000 people stranded in camps in Greece.

Those who still manage to reach the Greek islands from Turkey are held in overcrowded camps in poor conditions, Mr. Oberreit said.

“We will not be instrumentalized into a system that is doing more harm than good through detention,” he said.

He expressed fears that the deal with Turkey could set a dangerous precedent: Kenya had cited that agreement as a reason for closing Dadaab, one of the world’s biggest and oldest refugee camps with 330,000 people, Mr. Oberreit said.

The European Union is now working on agreements similar to its deal with Turkey with 16 other countries in Africa and the Middle East, from which many of the refugees trying to reach Europe have fled.

“Deterrence policies sold to the public as humanitarian solutions have only exacerbated the suffering of people in desperate need,” Mr. Oberreit said in a statement. “There is nothing remotely humanitarian in hiding this despair offshore.”


source: nytimes

Gun Control Measures

Senator’s 15-Hour Filibuster Gains ‘Path Forward’ on Gun Control Measures

WASHINGTON — This is no longer Mr. Smith’s Washington, or even Strom Thurmond’s.

Most filibusters in the United States Senate these days do not involve any talking at all. The upper chamber of Congress is now so partisan that the majority leader, anticipating the inevitable, will move to break a filibuster before it even begins.

And then there are “filibusters” like the 15-hour marathon led by Senator Christopher S. Murphy, Democrat of Connecticut, on gun violence, which involve a whole lot of talking but do not try to block a vote — as the actor Jimmy Stewart did in the movie “Mr. Smith Goes to Washington” — or like Mr. Thurmond, who set a record for the longest filibuster, 24 hours 18 minutes, in a bid to stop the Civil Rights Act of 1957.

In the case of Mr. Murphy, who seized control of the Senate floor for more than 15 hours beginning at 11:21 a.m. on Wednesday, the goal was to force the majority leader, Senator Mitch McConnell, Republican of Kentucky, into doing something that was once a matter of routine: allowing votes on amendments to an annual appropriations bill — in this case on Democrats’ amendments to the annual Commerce, Justice, Science appropriations bill seeking to tighten the nation’s gun laws in the aftermath of the massacre in Orlando, Fla.

Mr. Murphy, whose personal outrage at gun violence was heightened by the murder of schoolchildren at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., in December 2012, claimed victory shortly before 2 a.m. on Thursday when he announced an agreement between Mr. McConnell and the Democratic leader, Senator Harry Reid of Nevada, to hold votes on two gun control amendments.

“It is our understanding that the Republican leader and the Democratic leader have spoken and that we have been given a commitment on a path forward to get votes on the floor of the Senate,” Mr. Murphy said as he prepared to finally wrap up.

“Now we still have to get from here to there,” he added. “But we did not have that commitment when we started today. And we have that understanding at the end of the day.”

But while Mr. Murphy made a long and often eloquent case for tightening the nation’s gun laws, Democrats almost certainly would have gotten their votes, anyway — without the more than 15 hours of speeches by him and by at least 40 other senators who helped sustain his effort by asking him to yield time for questions.


Indeed, versions of the two amendments favored by the Democrats — one aimed at preventing individuals who have appeared on the government’s terrorism watch list from buying guns and the second aimed at expanding background checks — received votes in the Senate in December after the terrorist shooting in San Bernardino, Calif. Each failed.

Under Senate rules, once a senator is recognized on the floor and gains control of debate, she or he can hold it as long as humanly possible — a part of the Senate’s long tradition of unlimited debate. Refusing to relinquish the floor for any other Senate action, a filibuster, typically requires standing there and speaking. But the rules also allow the senator to yield the floor, without giving up control, for questions or comments from colleagues, a strategy that Mr. Murphy used repeatedly on Wednesday and into Thursday morning.

This allowed fellow Democrats, like his Connecticut counterpart, Senator Richard Blumenthal, to take over for substantial chunks of time, offering lengthy commentaries that made forceful and emotional points about gun violence in America. Mr. Murphy could have taken a quick break, but he never left the floor and did not go to the bathroom throughout the 15 hours, according to a spokeswoman for the senator, Laura Maloney.

(The Democrats continued the tag-team effort, refusing to adjourn the proceedings even as senior officials from the Obama administration gave senators a classified briefing on the Orlando shooting.)

This was another sense in which Mr. Murphy’s effort was not a classic filibuster. Mr. Thurmond was said to have taken onlyone bathroom break during his marathon one-person effort against the Civil Rights Act, similarly thanks to yielding to a colleague for some procedural matters. And the longest one-person filibuster without a break is attributed to Senator Wayne Morse, Democrat of Oregon, who spoke for 22 hours 26 minutes to stop the Tidelands oil legislation in 1953.

To prevent things from getting entirely deadlocked, the Senate has adapted its rules to allow 60 senators to vote to break a filibuster and end debate on any given matter, the so-called cloture motion. Because either party has rarely held 60 seats in the Senate, cloture essentially upholds the Senate’s requirement of at least some bipartisan agreement.

It also allows a majority leader to effectively declare that a filibuster is underway, anticipated really, and that majority does not have the votes to move forward, even before any talking has occurred.

Aides to Mr. McConnell said that his plan all along was to allow votes on the proposals, largely because Republicans want votes on their own amendments to the appropriations measure and not just on the gun issue. The aides said that Mr. Murphy and the Democrats were killing time to score political points.

Democrats would not necessarily disagree. Many of them have been infuriated over the refusal of Congress to tighten gun laws despite a continuing epidemic of mass shootings and smaller scale gun violence that has made the United States an outlier among developed nations for its huge number of shooting deaths.

“When we don’t act there is a quiet signal that is sent to people whose minds are becoming unhinged,” Mr. Murphy said at one point. “Almost every one of us has had a conversation with a family member who lost a son or daughter to gun violence.”

Mr. Murphy added: “Just speaking personally, I need to be able to tell them something. They need to be able to hear something that helps in their healing. The fact of the matter is every single day there are 80 sets of families who begin the process of grief surrounding the taking of a life through a firearm. And their process of healing for many of them is encumbered by the fact that their leaders are not doing anything to stop it.”

Throughout Mr. Murphy’s long effort, Mr. McConnell made no effort to stop him. Mr. McConnell did not file for cloture, nor were Republicans trying to conduct any other floor business. Senator Richard Shelby, Republican of Alabama, who will manage the annual Commerce, Justice appropriations measure, had no real plan to begin floor work on Wednesday.

Asked by reporters if the Democrats’ were delaying anything, he replied nonchalantly, “Tomorrow is another day.”

That was largely because Mr. McConnell and Mr. Reid were still in the process of negotiating how the debate would be carried out, and which amendments would be offered. Because the Republicans do not control the 60 votes needed to defeat a filibuster, Mr. McConnell cannot end debate on the bill and move to a vote on final passage of the legislation without Democrats’ assent.

This is why Mr. Murphy almost certainly would have gotten his votes anyway, as part of a deal to move the entire bill forward.

Given the political tension after the Orlando shooting — and the heightened pressure of a high-stakes presidential election year — Mr. McConnell and the Republicans understood it would be impossible to deny the votes.

When the gun control amendments were voted on in December, they were part of a similar agreement. Also, similarly to December, Republicans know they have the votes to defeat the Democrats’ proposals.

For all the theater, Mr. Murphy’s main achievement beyond delivering the Democrats’ message on C-Span — and creating a sensation on social media — was to force at least one Republican to remain in the chair as presiding officer, as well as to keep all of the essential Senate clerks and other floor staff members at work for a long night.

Once Mr. McConnell and Mr. Reid assured Mr. Murphy of a tentative deal, all of those people got to go home.



source: nytimes

Father of Paris attacks victim sues social media companies

Father of Paris attacks victim sues social media companies

NEW YORK — The father of a young woman killed in the Paris massacre last November is suing Google, Facebook and Twitter, claiming that the companies provided "material support" to extremists in violation of the law.

Reynaldo Gonzalez, whose daughter Nohemi was among 130 people killed in the Paris attacks, filed the suit on Tuesday in the U.S. District Court in the Northern District of California. The suit claims the companies "knowingly permitted" the Islamic State group, referred to in the complaint as "ISIS," to recruit members, raise money and spread "extremist propaganda" via their social-media services.

In statements, Facebook and Twitter said the lawsuit is without merit, and all three companies cited their policies against extremist material. Twitter, for instance, said that it has "teams around the world actively investigating reports of rule violations, identifying violating conduct, and working with law enforcement entities when appropriate."

Facebook's statement read, in part, that if the company sees "evidence of a threat of imminent harm or a terror attack, we reach out to law enforcement."

Google, meanwhile, said it won't comment on pending litigation, but noted that that it has "clear policies prohibiting terrorist recruitment and content intending to incite violence and quickly remove videos violating these policies when flagged by our users."
Under U.S. law, internet companies are generally exempt from liability for the material users post on their networks. Section 230 of the 1996 Communications Decency Act provides a legal "safe harbor" for companies like Twitter and Facebook; it states that "no provider or user of an interactive computer service shall be treated as the publisher or speaker of any information provided by another information content provider."

But it isn't clear if that legal defense will suffice in this case. Ari Kresch, a lawyer with 1-800-LAW-FIRM who is part of the Gonzalez legal team, said in an email that the lawsuit targets social media companies because of the behavior they enabled, not what they published.

"This complaint is not about what ISIS's messages say," he wrote. "It is about Google, Twitter, and Facebook allowing ISIS to use their social media networks for recruitment and operations." The complaint also alleges that Google's YouTube shared revenue with IS from ads that ran with its videos.

Benjamin Wittes, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, agrees that the legal "safe harbor" might not shelter social-media companies in such cases. Twitter may not succeed in quashing a similar lawsuit — filed in January by the widow of a U.S. man killed in an attack in Jordan — on those grounds, Wittes argues. But he said Twitter could still prevail because the causal link between its alleged support for extremists and the attack is very weak.


source: ajc

Disney gator attack

Disney gator attack: 2-year-old boy found dead

Lake Buena Vista, Florida (CNN)The 2-year-old boy who witnesses said was pulled by an alligator into a lagoon near a Walt Disney World hotel has been found dead by the Orange County dive team, Sheriff Jerry Demings said at a Wednesday news conference.

The body of the boy, Lane Graves, was found intact about 1:45 p.m., not far from where the boy was grabbed Tuesday night, Demings said. His body had only a few puncture wounds, according to a source familiar with the investigation.
He likely drowned, Demings said.
"Of course, the autopsy has to confirm that, but there is likely no question in my mind that the child was drowned by the alligator," Demings said.
Demings said the body was found in 6 feet of murky water perhaps 10 to 15 yards from where the boy was attacked.
The boy's parents, who are from Elkhorn, Nebraska, were identified as Matt and Melissa Graves.
Matt Graves is the chief data officer at Omaha Infogroup, a company that provides technology solutions, CNN affiliate KETV reported.
Demings said the Graves were distraught yet relieved that this was not a protracted search.
He said he brought a priest with him when breaking the news to the parents, who are Catholic.
Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission Executive Director Nick Wiley said the alligator may have already been caught, but that has not yet been confirmed.
"We're going to make certain that we have the alligator that was involved, and that we remove it from the lake," he said.
Forensics teams will try to determine whether one of the alligators already taken from the lake is the one that dragged off the boy. If not, the search for alligators in the lake will continue.
The boy's family was at a movie night outdoors at the Grand Floridian resort when around 9 p.m. the boy waded into about a foot of water in a lagoon, authorities have said. Witnesses, including the boy's horrified parents, tried to save him. His father jumped in and tried to pry the gator's mouth open. His mother jumped in, too.
But it was too late. The child was dragged underwater in the Seven Seas Lagoon, witnesses told authorities. The lagoon is connected to a series of canals that feed into large bodies of water, Wiley said earlier.
The Reedy Creek emergency services call center first received a report about the attack at 9:16 p.m.

Pray for Orlando Victims

Pray for Orlando Victims.

On this very difficult day, we offer heartfelt condolences to today’s victims and their families. Our City is working tirelessly to get as much information out to the families so they can begin the grieving process. Please keep the following individuals in your thoughts and prayers. #PrayforOrlando

Victims’ Names

The below list of individuals includes victims who have lost their lives during the early morning incident, and next of kin have been contacted.

Edward Sotomayor Jr., 34 years old

Stanley Almodovar III, 23 years old

Luis Omar Ocasio-Capo, 20 years old

Juan Ramon Guerrero, 22 years old

Eric Ivan Ortiz-Rivera, 36 years old

Peter O. Gonzalez-Cruz, 22 years old

Luis S. Vielma, 22 years old

Kimberly Morris, 37 years old

Eddie Jamoldroy Justice, 30 years old

Darryl Roman Burt II, 29 years old

Deonka Deidra Drayton, 32 years old

Alejandro Barrios Martinez, 21 years old

Anthony Luis Laureanodisla, 25 years old

Jean Carlos Mendez Perez, 35 years old

Franky Jimmy Dejesus Velazquez, 50 years old

Amanda Alvear, 25 years old

Martin Benitez Torres, 33 years old

Luis Daniel Wilson-Leon, 37 years old

Mercedez Marisol Flores, 26 years old

Xavier Emmanuel Serrano Rosado, 35 years old

Gilberto Ramon Silva Menendez, 25 years old

Simon Adrian Carrillo Fernandez, 31 years old

Oscar A Aracena-Montero, 26 years old

Enrique L. Rios, Jr., 25 years old

Miguel Angel Honorato, 30 years old

Javier Jorge-Reyes, 40 years old

Joel Rayon Paniagua, 32 years old

Jason Benjamin Josaphat, 19 years old

Cory James Connell, 21 years old

Juan P. Rivera Velazquez, 37 years old

Luis Daniel Conde, 39 years old

Shane Evan Tomlinson, 33 years old

Juan Chevez-Martinez, 25 years old

Jerald Arthur Wright, 31 years old

Leroy Valentin Fernandez, 25 years old

Tevin Eugene Crosby, 25 years old

Jonathan Antonio Camuy Vega, 24 years old

Jean C. Nives Rodriguez, 27 years old

Rodolfo Ayala-Ayala, 33 years old

Brenda Lee Marquez McCool, 49 years old

Yilmary Rodriguez Sulivan, 24 years old

Christopher Andrew Leinonen, 32 years old

Angel L. Candelario-Padro, 28 years old

Frank Hernandez, 27 years old

Paul Terrell Henry, 41 years old

Antonio Davon Brown, 29 years old

Christopher Joseph Sanfeliz 24 years old



source: cityoforlando

LGBT community grieves, pulls together in wake of Orlando slaughter

LGBT community grieves, pulls together in wake of Orlando slaughter

They called him Top Hat Eddie.

Eric Ivan Ortiz-Rivera

Eddie Sotomayor was witty, sarcastic, loyal to a fault, and he loved his top hat. On Saturday night, he posted a video to Facebook of a friend who had stolen his signature accessory while partying at the nightclub, Pulse.

“He said, ‘He’s trying to steal my top hat!’ And I just lay in bed and I laughed because he was so happy and he was so funny,” said Ryan Macauley, 27, who was scrolling through his Facebook feed before turning in for the night.

The next morning, Macauley’s phone woke him up when breaking news alerts went off -- a mass shooting at Pulse. He jumped with shock and fell out of bed. He called Sotomayor a dozen times, but each call went to voicemail. No one else knew what had happened to him.

That same morning, Jeff Prystajko, director of marketing and communications at Come Out With Pride Orlando, and his husband woke up to “a huge amount of texts and phone calls” from friends across the country asking if they were OK. That’s when they saw the news that a gunman had entered the nightclub, one they had been to before, and opened fire on the crowd.

Over the course of the day, LGBT groups triaged the situation, sharing information and encouraging the public to donate blood. Ironically, gay men are barred by the Food & Drug Administration from donating blood unless they have not had sexual contact with another man in the last 12 months. As people waited hours in the Central Florida sun to donate blood and plasma, rumors circulated that the ban had been temporarily lifted.

“I had a friend who really wished he could donate today and couldn't,” Prystajko said. “On the positive side, pretty much every blood bank and donation point … was at capacity today.”

Throughout the day, more information came out, with the death toll rising from 20 to 49 people and another 53 injured. Finally, on Sunday evening, the city released the names of the dead.

The first was Edward Sotomayor, Jr. He was 34.

“In the back of my mind I just prayed that maybe his phone died, he didn’t have a phone charger with him, that he was sleeping,” Macauley said. “As soon as that page loaded and I saw his name first, I had to walk out of work because I was just so devastated.”

Key West, where Macauley now lives for work, hosted its annual pride festival over the weekend. Almost every float, car, and flag paid tribute to the tragedy in Orlando. Later, hundreds walked from the end of the parade route to the beach to release a wreath of white roses into the ocean.

“A lot of friends say, ‘If you need me, I’m there,’ but he practiced what he preached. The amount of love that he just spread is unfathomable and I can’t even seem to put words together because it’s truly remarkable,” Macauley said of Sotomayor. “Eddie was always the one who would remember the date that my mom died and would always go out of his way to make sure on that day we went out, we had drinks, we made it a happy day.”

One of those celebrations was at Pulse a few years ago.

The nightclub has been open for nearly 15 years and known throughout the community as a fun, safe place to let loose and dance.

“From the beginning, Pulse has served as a place of love and acceptance for the LGBTQ community. I want to express my profound sadness and condolences to all who have lost loved ones. Please know that my grief and heart are with you,” owner Barbara Poma wrote on the club’s website.

On Saturday night, Omar Mateen, 29, drove up from Port St. Lucie to commit the crime -- he allegedly was angered by the sight of a gay couple kissing a few months earlier in Miami.

On Facebook, Pulse staff wrote an eerie post at 2:09 a.m., “Everyo

Across social media, people changed profile photos, shared condolences, and posted #IAmPulse. In honor of Sotomayor, friends changed their profile picture to a photo of a top hat.

Equality Florida launched a GoFundMe page to raise money for the shooting victims and their families -- in 24 hours, more than 37,000 people raised more than $1.4 million.

While small vigils popped up around the Orlando area Sunday night, Prystajko said area LGBT organizations are waiting to host a formal, large vigil at Lake Eola. Police requested that they host the vigil later, as they were still clearing the scene on Sunday and interviewing witnesses.

“It has been incredible and emotional seeing that kind of support flow in from organizations, friends, allies, and people we don’t know,” Prystajko said. “This was the support of the community and our allies coming together to help when we were in need.”

source: foxnews

Powerful Explosion Rocks Lebanon's Capital

Powerful Explosion Rocks Lebanon's Capital, No Casualties

BEIRUT — A powerful bomb exploded in Beirut on Sunday, destroying several cars and severely damaging one of Lebanon's biggest banks, but causing no casualties, officials said.

The state-run National News Agency said the bomb was placed under a car. Lebanese Interior Minister Nohad Machnouk, speaking to Lebanon's private LBC station, confirmed the report but did not say whether anyone was targeted by the blast, which shook nearby buildings.

The explosion occurred as residents sat down for iftar, the meal that breaks the daylong fast for observing Muslims during the holy month of Ramadan. Lebanese authorities have been on high alert, tightening security in recent days.

Lebanon has in recent years faced deadly spillovers from the Syrian civil war next door.
Sunday's explosion was the first to hit Lebanon since November, when twin suicide blasts struck a southern Beirut suburb that is a stronghold of the Shiite Hezbollah group, killing at least 43 people. That attack was claimed by the Islamic State group.

source: nytimes

50 killed in Florida nightclub terror attack

50 killed in Florida nightclub terror attack

50 killed at Orlando gay nightclub marks deadliest mass shooting in U.S. history

Orlando, Florida (CNN)A gay nightclub here was the scene early Sunday of the worst terror attack in U.S. history since 9/11.

* 50 people were killed inside the Pulse club and at least 53 people were injured, police say.
* The gunman was Omar Mateen of Ft. Pierce, Florida, a law enforcement source told CNN.
* Orlando police shot and killed Mateen.
* Mateen called 911 around the time of the attack to pledge allegiance to ISIS and mention the Boston bombers, according to a U.S. official.
"It appears he was organized and well-prepared," Orlando Police Chief John Mina said early Sunday. The shooter had an assault-type weapon, a handgun and "some type of (other) device on him."
There has been no claim of responsibility for the attack on jihadi forums, but ISIS sympathizers have reacted by praising the attack on pro-Islamic State forums.
Officials, aided by the FBI, warned that a lengthy investigation was ahead given the number of victims and the scope of the violence.

Our hearts break for the victims and families of this horrific act of violence. We stand in solidarity with the LGBTQ community in #Orlando.

— GLAAD (@glaad) June 12, 2016

"There's blood everywhere," U.S. Rep. Alan Grayson told reporters. "There's an enormous amount of evidence to be collected."
It's just shocking," said Christopher Hansen, who was inside Pulse when he heard gunshots, "just one after another after another."
"It could have lasted a whole song," he said.
Hansen was getting a drink at the bar about 2 a.m. when he "just saw bodies going down."
Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer said he had declared a state of emergency for the city. Florida Governor Rick Scott declared a state of emergency for Orange County, where the attack occurred.
Before Sunday, the deadliest shootings in U.S. history were at Virginia Tech in 2007 and Sandy Hook Elementary School in 2012, with 32 and 27 killed.

America's deadliest mass shootings

President Barack Obama was scheduled to make a statement about the attacks at 1:30 pm ET.

Helmet saves officer

Law enforcement sources had told CNN that the suspect had possible explosive devices strapped to his body and in his vehicle, but a U.S. official said later that no explosives were found.
Mina said authorities were called to the club. After a shootout with the gunman around 2 a.m. ET, the shooter ran back inside the club and took people hostage.

Worst mass shooting in U.S.

People inside the club were communicating on their phones with law enforcement between that time and around 5 a.m., when authorities used an armored vehicle to break down the door of the building. The club is a vast, open space that was hosting more than 300 patrons late Saturday and into Sunday morning.
One officer suffered an eye injury when a bullet struck his Kevlar helmet, said Danny Banks, special agent in charge of the Florida Department of Law Enforcement's Orlando bureau. The helmet saved the officer's life, Banks said.

Orlando nightclub shooting

The shooter, Omar Saddiqui Mateen, is 29 and from Fort Pierce, about 120 miles southeast of Orlando, two law enforcement officials told CNN. He had been trained as a security guard, CNN has learned.
Two officials tell CNN that the FBI had investigated Mateen at some point for possibly having ties to or sympathizing with Islamic extremism. A law enforcement official said there were two cases opened involving Mateen but the probes didn't result in enough evidence to charge him with anything.
In the past two weeks Mateen legally purchased a Glock pistol, found at the shooting scene, from a St. Lucie County area gun store, a law enforcement official said.
Investigators have talked to Mateen's family, who indicated he had expressed anti-gay feelings.
Orlando authorities said they consider the violence an act of domestic terror. The FBI is involved. While investigators are exploring all angles, they "have suggestions the individual has leanings towards (Islamic terrorism), but right now we can't say definitely," said Ron Hopper, assistant special agent in charge of the FBI's Orlando bureau.
Obama briefed on Orlando shooting
Authorities are also looking into the possibility the attack was a hate crime, a law enforcement source told CNN.

Source: CNN.

Uefa Euro 2016

All you need to know about group stage and knock-out format for 24-team tournament

Uefa Euro 2016

When the now impeached Uefa President Michel Platini devised the 24-team European Championships for 2016 – the largest in the competition's 56-year history – few could comprehend the point in tinkering with a successful format, or understand how it would work in practice. Several years on and just hours before the big kick-off in France, it's impossible not to reach the same conclusion.

The tournament follows on from a surprisingly entertaining qualifying campaign, which while it was dogged by flag-carrying drones, on-field swastikas and alleged off-the-field blackmail, also produced several shocks. Though the top two from every qualifying group, and four teams via the resulting play-offs, were assured a place, there is no sign of 1988 winners Netherlands or Greece, who prevailed in 2004.

Instead, we have a flurry of debutants in the form of Albania, Iceland, Northern Ireland, Slovakia and Wales, and though without them we would have a streamlined and shorter tournament, the quintet each bring a freshness that is badly needed on the international stage. Nevertheless, it ensures the group stage and potential line-up for the last 16 is unconventional and can only be the brainchild of the corruptible Platini, such is its lunacy.

Fortunately, ahead of the next five-a-and-half weeks IBTimes UK is on hand to guide you through every stage of the competition, starting with the complicated group phase where 24 teams become 16.

The group stage, how complicated can that be?

The expanded format gives a chance for Gareth Bale's Wales to reach the knock-out phase.

A fair amount actually. As with most major international competitions that follow a degree of logic, the top two teams from each group qualify for the knock-out stage. Normally, this would be where we end – but not at Euro 2016. Accompanying first and second from each of the six groups will be the four best third-placed teams. So teams who failed to win a single group game could slalom their way into the knock-out stage without having contributed. Seems fair, doesn't it?

The tiebreakers to help separate teams who will inevitably finish on the same number of points start with results between the nations involved, and then by their overall group record. Uefa may then use disciplinary record and then coefficient ranking to help split teams, two scenarios that could yet come into play when determining the four best third-placed teams. It's hardly the most accessible tournament in international history, with 36 games required to eliminate just eight teams

There will be no repeat of the drama of Oliver Bierhoff's golden goal winner from 1996.

The knock-out stage, that sounds easier

The last 16 and beyond is relatively conventional, despite Uefa's best efforts. The six-group format does however means that teams who finish second in groups D and E – likely to be Turkey and Sweden – will face group winners rather than each other or sides that finish third. The other nations that qualify second from the remaining four groups face each other. Only the winners of groups A-D will play teams who finish third.

Teams locked in a stalemate after 90 minutes will face an extra time period of 30 minutes – without the dreaded golden or silver goal – after which a penalty shoot-out competition will follow to decide the winner. Mercilessly, there is no third/fourth place play-off with the final being played at the Stade de France on 10 July. Until then, have your abacus within a five-meter radius.

source: ibtimes