Greece's debt crisis deepens as IMF deadline passes

Country becomes first developed nation to default on IMF payment after midnight deadline to repay $1.8bn.

Greece slipped deeper into its financial abyss after the bailout programme it has relied on for five years expired at midnight on Tuesday and the country failed to repay a loan due to the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
With its failure to repay the roughly $1.8bn to the IMF, Greece became the first developed country to fall into arrears on payments to the fund. The last country to do so was Zimbabwe in 2001.
After Greece made a last-ditch effort to extend its bailout, eurozone finance ministers decided in a teleconference late on Tuesday that there was no way they could reach a deal before the deadline.
"It would be crazy to extend the programme," said Dutch Finance Minister Jeroen Dijsselbleom, who heads the eurozone finance ministers' body known as the eurogroup. "So that cannot happen and will not happen."
"The programme expires tonight," Dijsselbleom said.
IMF spokesman Gerry Rice confirmed that Athens had missed its payment deadline.
"We have informed our executive board that Greece is now in arrears and can only receive IMF financing once the arrears are cleared," he said.
He said the board would consider a Greek request to extend the loan.
Overall, Greece owes the IMF close to $40bn.

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In Athens on Tuesday, thousands of Greeks rallied in favour of the country remaining with the EU, in contrast to anti-EU protests on Monday.
The European Commission - one of Greece's "troika" of creditors along with the IMF and the eurozone's European Central Bank - wants Athens to raise taxes and cut welfare spending to meet its debt obligations.
Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras has called a referendum on Sunday on whether to reject creditors' reform demands.
Al Jazeera's Barnaby Phillips, reporting from Athens, said many pro-EU protesters put the blame for Greece's predicament on Tsipras.
"They say he's playing a dangerous position and putting his party's interests above his country," our correspondent said.
"There are wildly different predictions on how Greeks will vote in a referendum. All we do know is that the divisions in this society are growing deeper and deeper."

Failure to resolve the debt crisis this week forced the Athens market, like the country's banks, to close, and people have queued at cash machines.

Greece has debt worth nearly 180 percent of its GDP after receiving two bailouts worth $266bn since 2010.
Unemployment has more than doubled since 2009 to 25.6 percent and pensions and benefits have roughly halved between 2010 and 2014.
The European Central Bank's (ECB) governing council will meet on Wednesday to discuss the crisis.

More than 110 killed in Indonesian military plane crash

Reports say all 113 people killed on board air force plane that crashed in Medan, while three others died on the ground.

 

At least 113 people aboard an Indonesian air force C-130 have been killed, when the plane crashed in a residential neighbourhood in the city of Medan on the northern island of Sumatra, according to military officials.
The plane came down on Tuesday hitting empty residential buildings after bursting into flames shortly after takeoff.
There were 12 crew members and 101 passengers on board the plane, the AFP news agency reported, citing officials who spoke to local television.
At least three other people are believed to have been killed on the ground. So far, rescuers have recovered at least 84 bodies, including 39 men and 29 women.
Late on Tuesday, Indonesian President Joko Widodo expressed sorrow at the accident, tweeting in Bahasa, "May the families be given patience and strength... May we remain protected from disaster."
The Hercules transport plane was on its way from an air force base in Medan to Tanjung Pinang in Sumatra.

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Al Jazeera's Stefanie Dekker said the dead included civilian relatives of military personnel.
"This was a C-130 military aircraft on a routine trip, carrying soldiers and their families," she said.
Our correspondent said that two minutes into the flight, the pilot radioed in, saying there was a "technical issue" with the plane.
"He tried to turn back and then the plane went down over Medan. The plane went down in a populated area, hitting two empty buildings. That number could have been much higher."
She said that questions were now raised as to the safety of the plane, which was built in 1964.
One witness Januar, 26, said the aircraft appeared to be in trouble just before the accident.
"I saw the plane from the direction of the airport and it was tilting already, then I saw smoke billowing," he said.
The Indonesian military has now opened an official investigation to try and figure out what went wrong. The government has grounded all C-130 aircraft while the investigation is ongoing.

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Speaking shortly after the crash, Mardiaz Dwihananto, police chief of Medan city, said several bodies had been recovered from the wreckage.
"The bodies were in [the] debris of the plane and buildings... We are taking the bodies one by one by ambulance to Adam Malik hospital. We haven't managed to evacuate all of the bodies," Dwihananto said.
Military spokesman, Fuad Basya, said the plane took off at around midday local time from an air force base carrying military equipment and crashed in the city about two minutes later, about 5km from the base.
It is the second time in 10 years that a plane has crashed into a Medan neighbourhood.
In September 2005, a Mandala Airlines Boeing 737 crashed shortly after takeoff from Medan's Polonia airport, into a crowded residential community, killing 143 people including 30 on the ground.

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Medan, with about 3.4 million people, is the third most populous city in Indonesia after the capital Jakarta and Surabaya.

Egypt's state prosecutor killed in Cairo bomb attack

Egypt names Zakaria Abd El-Aziz Osman as acting prosecutor general following the assassination of Hisham Barakat.

 

Egypt's state prosecutor Hisham Barakat has been killed after his motorcade was hit by a bomb blast in the capital Cairo.
"He has passed away," Justice Minister Ahmed al-Zind told the AFP news agency at the hospital where Barakat had been taken following the bombing on Monday.

Health Minister Adel Adawi told reporters outside al-Nozha hospital where Barakat was admitted that the cause of death was "ruptures in the lung and stomach, and internal bleeding".
On Monday evening, the state newspaper Al-Ahram reported that Zakaria Abd El-Aziz Osman has been appointed as acting prosecutor general in place of Barakat.
Two civilians and two police officers were also reportedly injured in the attack, which took place in the Heliopolis district of Cairo, outside a military college.
Security sources said a bomb in a parked car was remotely detonated as Barakat's motorcade left his home.
Witnesses said the bombing was strong enough to shatter glasses in nearby storefronts and homes. A large plume of black smoke and several smouldering cars were seen near a row of apartment buildings.
No one has claimed responsibility for the attack.
The now outlawed group Muslim Brotherhood has condemned the killing as "unacceptable", adding that the government is "fully responsible" for it.
"The current government which was established on the basis of violence, turned Egypt from a promising democratic country to one of mass killings and violence," Mohammed Montasser, spokesman of the organisation, said.
In an interview with Al Jazeera from London, Maha Azzam, chief of the Egyptian Revolutionary Council, said the assassination is "a serious blow to the security situation in Cairo."
"The message is clear, this regime is a liability" to the security of the country, she said, warning that the government could carry out "further repression" against the opposition.
Condemnation
The US government and UN Secretary General also condemned the attack, and called for the prosecution of those responsible in the attack.  
Barakat was appointed prosecutor-general by Egypt's then interim-President Adly Mansour in July 2013, shortly after the military ousted the country's first freely elected president, Mohamed Morsi.
The new state prosecutor then set about freezing the assets of 15 prominent members of the Muslim Brotherhood, and ordered the arrest of the group's leader, Mohamed Badie, on charges of inciting violence outside the Republican Guard headquarters where 51 people were killed.
The country has since sentenced Morsi, and hundred of his supporters, to death, in mass trials that have been condemned by rights groups.
Barakat also oversaw the acquittal of former Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak.
Judges and other officials have increasingly been targeted by armed groups opposed to President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, and apparently angered by hefty prison sentences imposed on members of Muslim Brotherhood.
There are an estimated 40,000 political prisoners in Egypt.
Last month, Egypt's affilliate of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) group urged followers to attack judges, opening a new front in the world's most populous Arab state.
Earlier in the same month, three judges were shot dead in the northern Sinai city of al-Arish.

Source: Al Jazeera And Agencies

Dozens killed in Tunisia beach resort attack

At least 37 people, including foreigners, killed in hotel attack in coastal resort city of Sousse. 

 

At least 37 people have been killed and 36 others wounded after a hotel in the Tunisian coastal city of Sousse came under attack by unidentified gunmen.
Five British citizens and an Irish woman were confirmed to be among those killed in the mass shooting on Friday at the Mediterranean beach resort packed with holidaymakers.
UK Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond said a "high proportion" of those killed and wounded at the popular resort of Port el Kantaoui were expected to be British.
On his part, Irish Foreign Affairs Minister Charles Flanagan said in a statement: "Sadly, I can confirm that an Irish citizen has been killed in the attack in Sousse.
"In light of this incident we are changing our travel advice for Tunisia to 'exercise extreme caution'."
He told reporters that the victim was a woman, while Irish media reported that she was a nurse in her 50s with a son and a daughter.
One attacker was killed by police and a search operation was ongoing, with reports that another attacker was involved.
The attack was on the Imperial Marhaba hotel, local radio reported. Other reports indicated that two hotels may have been attacked.
Al Jazeera's Nazanine Moshiri, reporting from Tunis, said that local reports indicated that gunmen may have specifically targeted tourists at the resort - but that the reports have not yet been confirmed.
She said that the death toll was expected to rise.
Tunisia has been on high alert since March when gunmen attacked the Bardo museum in Tunis, killing a group of foreign tourists in one of the worst attacks in a decade in the North African country.
Our correspondent said that the new attack would be another blow to the country's economy, which relies heavily on tourism.

The attack was on the Imperial Marhaba hotel, local radio said [File]

France put on high alert after attack on chemical plant

Officials say one person was decapitated and two others injured after attack on chemical depot near Lyon. 

 

The target of the attack is a chemical factory southeast of Lyon [AFP]

France has been placed on high alert for the next three days after a person was found decapitated in what officials are calling a "terrorist" incident at a gas factory in southeastern France.
French President Francois Hollande, speaking in Brussels, said the incident began shortly before 10am local time on Friday after a car crashed the gate and ran into gas canisters, causing an explosion. At least two others were injured in the attack.
A security official said a severed head was found posted on the gate at the entrance to the factory, located in Saint Quentin Fallevier, about 30km southeast of Lyon. According to legal sources, the man decapitated was the boss of the suspect now in police custody.
Two flags, one white and one black, both with Arabic inscriptions, were found nearby, a security official told the AP news agency.
"The attack was of a terrorist nature since a body was discovered, decapitated and with inscriptions. As I speak, there is one fatality and two injured," said President Hollande, speaking in Brussels.
A French prosecutor says four people are in custody and that police were still searching buildings for evidence.
'Salafist links'
French Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve, speaking to reporters near the scene of the attack, said the suspect had links to the Salafist movement and had previously been on an intelligence watch list between 2006 and 2008.
Cazeneuve said the suspect was apprehended by a fireman who had responded to the incident.
Several other people were also arrested at the scene by police, as a precaution, he said.
A full-scale investigation is now under way.

Police sealed off the entrance to the factory in southeastern France [AFP]

Al Jazeera's Paul Brennan, reporting from Saint Quentin Fallevier, said officials have not yet confirmed what the motive for the attack was.
Brennan said that the man who was arrested was aged 30 and was known to police.
The target of the attack is a chemical factory which is reportedly linked to a French company called Air Products that works with Total and specialises in liquid gas.
The company issued a statement following the incident, saying that all of the employees have been accounted for.
"Our priority at this stage is to take care of our employees, who have been evacuated from the site," the company said.
The attack came nearly six months after the attacks in and around Paris that killed 17 people in January that started with a shooting at satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo.

Map Saint-Quentin-Fallavier [Al Jazeera]

ISIL re-enters Syrian Kurdish town Kobane

ISIL fighters attacked the battleground town from three sides [Getty Images]

Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) fighters have launched attacks on two fronts in northern Syria, re-entering the Kurdish town of Kobane and seizing parts of the city of Hasakah.
Dozens of ISIL fighters attacked Kobane on the border with Turkey, where at least 12 people were killed in a car bomb attack at the start of the offensive on Thursday morning.
ISIL fighters were wearing Kurdish and Free Syrian Army uniforms, the sources told Al Jazeera, as they attacked from three sides and took several positions inside the battleground town.
Al Jazeera's Nisreen El Shamayleh, reporting from Amman, said several ISIL fighters "carried out suicide attacks; decimated themselves and caused a lot of casualties" after entering the city.
"There's a lot of fighting going on there, that we understand is ongoing," our correspondent said.
"Dozens of people have been trying to flee."
The Kurdish group YPG asked civilians to stay home as it sent reinforcements to the town.

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The fighting prompted Kurdish activists and Syrian state television to accuse Turkey of allowing ISIL to attack Kobane from its side of the border.
A Turkish foreign ministry spokesman later "strongly denied" that the ISIL fighters crossed into Syria from Turkey.
Kurdish forces in January had reclaimed Kobane from ISIL in a victory touted by Anwar Muslim, the prime minister of the self-declared Kurdish canton of Kobane, as "the beginning of the end for Daesh [ISIL]".
Losing Kobane after more than four months of intense fighting was seen as a significant propaganda blow to ISIL after it had invested extensive military resources to capture the isolated border town.
"Daesh [ISIL] took most of the places it wanted in Syria and Iraq but could not capture Kobane," Muslim told Al Jazeera at the time.

Al Jazeera [Daylife]

ISIL storms Hasakah

Meanwhile, ISIL launched an overnight offensive on the largely Kurdish city of Hasakah in northeast Syria where dozens of Syrian and ISIL fighters were reportedly killed, sources told Al Jazeera.
The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights group estimated that at least 30 Syrian soldiers and 20 ISIL fighters died in the raid.
Dozens of people fled Hasakah towards the northern countryside after the sudden offensive, Al Jazeera's sources reported.
Fighting was ongoing on Thursday morning as ISIL stormed the city from its southern entrance in its attempt to take control of more territories in Hasakah.
A suicide bomber also blew up a car bomb at the city's western entrance.
Fighting in Aleppo and Deraa
Meanwhile, after two years of fighting for Layramoun Square in Aleppo, rebels were saying on Thursday that they had seized the area from government forces.
They also took control of a surrounding government barracks northwest of the city, Al Jazeera's sources said.
Syrian rebels and groups including the al-Qaeda-linked Nusra Front also attacked government-held areas of the southern city of Deraa overnight.
Rebels previously held Deraa's eastern half while the Syrian government held western areas of the city.

Boston bomber formally sentenced to death

Dzhokhar Tsarnaev addresses court and says he is sorry for the "irreparable harm" he has caused.

 

The two pressure-cooker bombs, hidden in backpacks, killed three people and wounded 264 others [File: AP]

Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev has been formally sentenced to death for the 2013 attacks that killed three people and injured more than 260 others.
The 21-year-old addressed the court for the first time on Wednesday, apologising for the irreparable harm and noting the strength, patience and dignity of the survivors who spoke before him.
A jury had already sentenced him to death in May, but the judge was required to formally do the same. An appeal will follow automatically as required by US law.
"I am sorry for the lives that I have taken, for the suffering that I have caused you, for the damage that I have done, irreparable damage," said the ethnic-Chechen college student.
"I pray for your relief, for your healing."
His five-minute speech included religious references and praise to Allah. He paused several times, looking as if he was trying to remain composed.
The apology came after Tsarnaev listened for about three hours as victims and their loved ones criticised him for his "cowardly" and "disgusting" acts.

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Rebekah Gregory, a Texas woman who lost a leg in the bombing, told Tsarnaev: "While your intention was to destroy America, what you have really accomplished is actually quite the opposite - you have unified us."
"As long as your name is mentioned, what will be remembered is the evil you've done," US District Judge George O'Toole told Tsarnaev before sentencing him to death by lethal injection. "What will be remembered is that you murdered and maimed innocent people and that you did it willfully and intentionally. You did it on purpose."
Tsarnaev and his older brother, Tamerlan, carried out the double bombing at the Boston Marathon finish line, one of the deadliest attacks on US soil since the September 11, 2001 attacks.
The two pressure-cooker bombs, hidden in backpacks, killed three people and wounded 264 others, including 17 who lost limbs.
The brothers went on the run and killed a police officer, before Tamerlan was shot dead and Tsarnaev arrested, four days later.
He was found, injured, in a grounded boat on which he had scrawled a bloody message defending the attacks as a means to avenge US wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

WikiLeaks: US spied on three French presidents

Leaked documents purport to show that NSA wiretapped current leader Francois Hollande as well as two former presidents.

 

The spying spanned 2006 to 2012, French newspaper Liberation and the Mediapart website said [EPA]

The United States wiretapped France's former presidents Jacques Chirac and Nicolas Sarkozy, as well as current leader Francois Hollande, according to documents released by WikiLeaks.
The spying spanned 2006 to 2012, French newspaper Liberation and the Mediapart website, said on Tuesday, quoting documents classed as "Top Secret" which include five reports from the US National Security Agency based on intercepted communications.
The most recent document is dated May 22, 2012, just days before Hollande took office, and reveals that the French leader "approved holding secret meetings in Paris to discuss the eurozone crisis, particularly the consequences of a Greek exit from the eurozone".
Another document dated 2008 was titled "Sarkozy sees himself as only one who can resolve world financial crisis".
Hollande called a meeting of his defence council to discuss the reports on Wednesday.
Ever since documents leaked by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden showed in 2013 that the NSA had been eavesdropping on the mobile phone of German Chancellor Angela Merkel, it had been understood that the US had been using the digital spying agency to intercept the conversations of allied politicians.
Still, the new revelations are bound to cause diplomatic embarrassment for the Americans, even though allies have been spying on allies for thousands of years.

Hollande said last year that he discussed his concerns about NSA surveillance with President Barack Obama during a visit to the US, and they patched up their differences.
Spy scheme reviewed

After the Merkel disclosures, Obama ordered a review of NSA spying on allies, after officials suggested that senor White House officials had not approved many operations that were largely on auto-pilot. After the review, American officials said Obama had ordered a halt to spying on the leaders of allied countries, if not their aides.
Neither Hollande's office nor Washington would comment on the new leaks. Contacted Tuesday by AFP, Hollande's aide said: "We will see what it is about."
US State Department spokesman John Kirby meanwhile said: "We do not comment on the veracity or content of leaked documents".
WikiLeaks spokesman Kristinn Hrafnsson said he was confident the documents were authentic, noting that WikiLeaks previous mass disclosures have proven to be accurate.

Kurdish forces capture ISIL base near Syria's Raqqa

Key military base was ISIL's first line of defence north of its Raqqa stronghold in northern Syria.

 

Kurdish fighters and their allies have captured a military base controlled by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) considered the first defence line north of ISIL's de facto capital of Raqqa in northern Syria.
The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights and Kurdish activist Mustafa Bali said that Kurdish fighters from the People's Protection Units (YPG) had captured the base known as Brigade 93 near the town of Ayn Issa on Monday night.

Explained: Kurdish gains in ISIL-controlled Syria

ISIL fighters had taken control of the base in August 2014.
YPG fighters on Tuesday also secured Ayn Issa, forcing ISIL to completely withdraw from the town, situated about 50km north of Raqqa.
Charlie Winter, of the Quilliam Foundation, told Al Jazeera that the base was important because it linked Raqqa to other ISIL outposts to the east and west.
The YPG fighters were supported by US-led air strikes.
Monday's development was the second major setback for ISIL in northern Syria in the past two weeks, after YPG fighters and allied rebel factions last week captured the nearby town of Tal Abyad on the Turkish border.
Significant blow for ISIL
Since Tal Abyad was liberated last week, a steady stream of people have been returning, and sources have told Al Jazeera that ample quantities of bread and other food supplies are already available in the town.
Andrew Tabler, an expert on Syria at the Washington Institute for Near East policy, described the capturing of Tal Abyad as "a significant blow for ISIL" because it cuts off one of its main transit routes used to smuggle supplies, weapons, and fighters.

"For the Kurds, it's significant because it means they can consolidate their territory by connecting Kurdish enclaves in Kobane to the west and Hasakah to the east," Tabler said last week.
Kurdish fighters and Syrian rebels began their main advance on the town on June 11, backed by air strikes from the US-led coalition.
Syria's conflict entered its fifth year in May, with the government emboldened by shifting international attention and a growing humanitarian crisis exacerbated by the rise of ISIL.
More than 220,000 people have been killed and half of the country's population of 22 million has been displaced in a war the  UN refugee agency UNHCR has described as "the biggest humanitarian emergency of our era".

Charleston church shooting suspect charged

Dylann Roof ordered to remain in custody on nine murder charges following an emotional bond hearing.

 

Charleston church shooting suspect Dylann Roof was ordered to remain in custody on nine murder charges on Friday, at an emotional bond hearing during which relatives of the victims expressed their grief.
Roof's attorney, public defender Ashley Pennington, said his 21-year-old client was prepared to "accept the no bond arrangement." Judge James Gosnell set the next court hearing in the case for October 23.

Notes from the field: Al Jazeera's Andy Gallacher in Charleston

The couple who embraced outside the Emanuel AME church in Charleston did not know each other, they simply felt a deep loss and needed to reach out to someone close by. It was not an unusual sight for a city that is going through such emotional turmoil except for one thing. One mourner was white, the other African-American. That has been the spirit here ever since the horrific events of Wednesday night when nine black church goers were gunned down in what is being investigated as a hate crime.  This is a community and a city that is coming together with no regard of racial background but never the less the issue of race is one that cannot be ignored. Confederate flags, long considered a symbol of racial oppression, fly proudly throughout America's deep south and for many that represents much deeper problems. As for its own history, the 'Emanuel Mother' church, as it is affectionately known here, stands as a symbol of black freedom. Established by slaves fighting for their liberty it was destroyed by an earthquake in 1886 only to rise from the rubble and continue to serve at the heart of this community. Long after the camera crews have left it will carry on in that role, now perhaps more than ever, but it will also be remembered for something sinister and inherently evil.

Bond was set at $1m on a weapons charge, but Roof will nevertheless remain in custody because no bond was set on the murder charges.
Relatives of the nine victims were invited to speak at Friday's hearing. Several broke down in tears as they spoke of their loss, but also said they forgave Roof.
"Every fiber in my body hurts, and I'll never be the same. Tywanza Sanders was my son. But he was my hero," said Felicia Sanders.
Early on Friday, Roof was charged with nine counts of murder and one count of possession of a firearm.
The charges came hours after he confessed to carrying out the attack.
US officials are investigating the attack, in which four ministers were killed including a Democratic state senator, as a hate crime.
It comes in a year of turmoil in the United States, where police killings of several unarmed black men has provoked angry national debates about race relations, policing and the criminal justice system.
Roof had intended to set off new racial confrontations with his attack, CNN reported, citing a law enforcement source. The report could not be immediately confirmed.
Calling for death penatly
Meanwhile, South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley told NBC's "Today" show on Friday that she would prefer to see Roof tried on state charges and that she believed state prosecutors should pursue a death sentence.
"We will absolutely want him to have the death penalty," she told NBC.
Dylann Roof had complained that "blacks were taking over the world," an acquaintance of the 21-year-old said.
Joey Meek, a former friend who reconnected with Roof a few weeks ago, said that while they got drunk on vodka, Roof declared that "someone needed to do something about it for the white race."
President Barack Obama has called the tragedy yet another example of damage caused by guns in America.
Charleston officials announced a prayer vigil for Friday evening. The city's mayor described the shooting at the church as an act of "pure, pure concentrated evil."

US church shooting suspect Dylann Roof arrested

White gunman who allegedly killed nine people at African-American church in city of Charleston captured, police say.

 

Police in the US say a 21-year-old white gunman suspected of killing nine people inside a historic African-American church in the US city of Charleston has been captured after an all-night manhunt.
Dylann Roof spent nearly an hour inside the church on Wednesday night before killing six women and three men, including the pastor, Charleston Police Chief Greg Mullen said on Thursday.

Now is the time for mourning and for healing, but let's be clear: at some point we as a country will have to reckon with the fact that this type of mass violence does not happen in other advanced countries Barack Obama, US president

"I do believe that this is a hate crime," Mullen told reporters.
Roof was detained during a traffic stop some three hours drive in North Carolina. He waived extradition from North Carolina on Thursday and was taken to a waiting police car wearing a bulletproof vest, with shackles on his feet and his hands cuffed behind his back.
President Barack Obama said he and his wife, Michelle, knew 41-year-old Reverend Clementa Pinckney, the pastor who was killed along with eight others on Wednesday night.
Pinckney, a father of two, was also a Democrat State Senator. He had been an influential campaigner for civil rights and against police violence.
"To say our thoughts and prayers are with them and their families and their community doesn't say enough to convey the heartache and the sadness and the anger that we feel," Obama said
Mass violence 
Obama, appearing somber as well as frustrated, said he has had to make statements like the one he made on Thursday too many times.
"Now is the time for mourning and for healing, but let's be clear: at some point we as a country will have to reckon with the fact that this type of mass violence does not happen in other advanced countries," Obama said.
"It doesn't happen in other places with this kind of frequency. And it is in our power to do something about it." Obama said.
Charleston Mayor Joseph P Riley Jr called it "pure, pure concentrated evil."
Charleston County Coroner Rae Wooten said autopsies would be conducted over the next several days and did not have specific information on how many times the victims were shot or the locations of their injuries.
The other victims have been identified as Cynthia Hurd, 54; Tywanza Sanders, 26; the Rev. Sharonda Singleton, 45; Myra Thompson, 59; Ethel Lance, 70; Susie Jackson, 87; the Rev. Daniel Simmons Sr., 74; and DePayne Doctor, 49.
Earlier, Charleston Police Department spokesman Charles Francis said the shooting occurred at the Emanuel AME Church around 01:00 GMT.

Police have released photos of the suspect of the shooting [The Associated Press]

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In a Facebook profile apparently belonging to Roof, a portrait showed him wearing a jacket emblazoned with the flags of apartheid-era South Africa and of the former Rhodesia, now Zimbabwe, both formerly ruled by white minorities.
Roof had been to jail and court records show a pending felony drug case and a past misdemeanor trespassing charge, Associated Press reported.
This shooting "should be a warning to us all that we do have a problem in our society," said state Rep. Wendell Gilliard, a Democrat whose district includes the church.
"There's a race problem in our country. There's a gun problem in our country. We need to act on them quickly."
The attack came two months after the fatal shooting of an unarmed black man, Walter Scott, by a white police officer in neighbouring North Charleston, which increased racial tensions. The officer awaits trial for murder, and the shooting prompted South Carolina to pass a law, co-sponsored by Pinckney, to equip police statewide with body cameras.
The website for the church said it has one of the largest and oldest African-American congregations in the region. It was built in 1891 and is considered a historically significant building, according to the National Park Service.

Worshippers embrace after a group prayer across the street from the scene of a shooting in Charleston [AP]

'Elephant rockets' kill dozens in Damascus suburb

Activists say improvised bombs dropped on rebel stronghold of Douma leave at least 27 people dead.

 

The Syrian regime has used so-called elephant rockets in an attack on the Damascus suburb of Douma, killing at least 27 people, according to activists.
The rockets, named after the distinctive noise they make when they are launched, are improvised weapons made by attaching rocket motors to much larger bombs.
This greatly increases their destructive effect, while accuracy is lost and range limited.
In video posted online of Tuesday's attack, residents were seen scrambling to rescue a brother and sister trapped after a building was destroyed.
There were shouts of joy as the girl was pulled alive from the rubble while her brother could still be heard calling for help.
More than 60 people, including many children, were injured in the bombardment, activists said.
Improvised arsenal
The rebel stronghold of Douma has been under attack by forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad for the last three years.
Elephant rockets are part of an improvised arsenal used by government forces, who have already been condemned for using barrel bombs and chemical weapons on civilians.
Speaking in the US on Tuesday, John Kerry, secretary of state, said he was confident Assad's government was responsible for a "preponderance" of chemical attacks against his own people.

Men search for survivors at a site hit by what activists said was heavy shelling by the Syrian government on Douma [Reuters]

"I think everybody's patience is wearing thin with respect to the extraordinary depravity of the weaponry and mechanisms for delivery which Assad has used against his own people," he said,

Kerry said he had discussed Syria's use of chemical weapons with Sergei Lavrov, Russian foreign minister, by phone and was confident Lavrov would raise it with Assad, who agreed in 2013 under a US-Russia brokered deal to dismantle the country's chemical weapons arsenal.

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He said chemical weapons were dropped from aircraft and the US was putting together data to support its claims that Assad's government was responsible for the attacks.
The UN Security Council is currently debating a draft resolution that will help determine who is responsible for using chlorine as a chemical weapon. Russia questions whether a resolution, being drafted by the US, is needed.

Kerry said it was possible that Syria's opposition may also have had access to chemical weapons "at one point in time or another", although he emphasised that rebel forces did not have access to aircraft or helicopters.

Rescuers managed to pull several people alive from the rubble in Douma [Reuters]

Although chlorine is not a prohibited substance, its use as a chemical weapon is prohibited under a 1977 Chemical Weapons Convention, which Syria joined in 2013.

Members of the Syrian Medical Society are expected to give evidence to the US foreign affairs committee on Wednesday that shows Assad is using chlorine on civilians.
The latest developments come as the UN envoy to Syria, Staffan de Mistura is in Damascus pushing for a political solution to end the conflict.
The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, with a network of sources on the ground, says it has documented 230,000 deaths in Syria's war, almost 70,000 of them civilians.

Source: Al Jazeera and agencies

Erdogan condemns Egypt's death sentence for Morsi

Turkish president says Egypt's upholding of death sentence against deposed president is "massacre of basic rights".

 

Former president Mohamed Morsi appeared inside a cage in the courtroom where he stood trial in Cairo [EPA]

Turkish President Recept Tayyip Erdogan has condemned death sentences upheld by an Egyptian court against deposed president Mohamed Morsi and leaders of the Muslim Brotherhood, describing the verdicts as "a massacre of law and basic rights".
Erdogan released a statement after Morsi's death sentence for plotting jailbreaks and attacks on police during the 2011 uprising was upheld on Tuesday, and asked the international community to force Egypt to withdraw the sentences.
"We call on the international community to act to withdraw these death sentences, given under the instructions of the coup regime, and to put an end to this path which could seriously endanger the peace of Egyptian society," Erdogan said.
The court had initially sentenced Morsi and more than 100 other defendants to death last month.
Tuesday's ruling comes after the court consulted Egypt's grand mufti, the government interpreter of Islamic law who plays an advisory role.
Earlier on Tuesday, the same court sentenced Morsi, the country's first democratically elected president, to life in prison on charges of spying for the Palestinian Hamas movement, Lebanon's Shia Hezbollah, and Iran.
Tuesday's verdicts can be appealed.
Then army chief and now President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi ousted Morsi on July 3, 2013, and since then has overseen a sweeping crackdown against his supporters.
The crackdown has left hundreds of Muslim Brotherhood supporters dead and thousands jailed.
Hundreds have been sentenced to death after speedy mass trials described by the United Nations as "unprecedented in recent history".
In the jailbreak trial, exiled Egyptian-born cleric Yusuf al-Qaradawi was also condemned to death in absentia from his base in Qatar.
Muslim Brotherhood Freedom and Justice Party spokesman Nader Oman told Al Jazeera from his base in Istanbul that his organisation was surprised by Tuesday's verdict.
"I'm surprised because the charges are groundless and there is no chance for any of the defendants to defend themselves," Oman said.
"The Muslim Brotherhood is an organisation that has gone on for more than 80 years. Imprisoning our leaders will not stop us from fighting."

ISIL claims deadly suicide attacks in Iraq

Saturday's suicide bombing was carried out in black 4WD vehicles resembling an official convoy [AFP]

At least 11 Iraqi security personnel have been killed in a quadruple suicide car bombing near Beiji that was claimed by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant group.
ISIL, which controls large parts of northern Iraq, said four of its foreign fighters carried out Saturday's bombings, which targeted Iraqi army and allied units' positions in the town of Hajjaj, on the road between Tikrit and Beiji.
Seven soldiers were killed as well as four members of the Popular Mobilisation force, an umbrella of mostly Shia units and volunteers that have been heavily involved in the fight against ISIL in Iraq.

At least 27 people were also wounded in the coordinated attack, which saw one of the four car bombs neutralised before it could reach its target, a police colonel said.
An army officer said the vehicles used were identical, brand new four 4WD vehicles that looked like an official convoy, the AFP news agency reported.
Social media accounts sympathetic to ISIL released images purporting to show the suicide bombers preparing for the attacks, and posing with vehicles, which matched the description given by the Iraqi officer.
The pictures identify the bombers as Abu Hafs "the Kuwaiti", Abu Ibrahim "the German", Abu Abdul Aziz "the Palestinian" and Abu Yusuf "the Briton".
The images were posted with the logo of ISIL's self-declared Salahuddin governorate.

Pro-ISIL Twitter accounts showed the suicide bombers preparing for the attack

Gunmen abduct Tunisian consulate staff in Libya

Group kidnaps 10 diplomatic staff at Tunisian consulate in Tripoli, which is controlled by government not recognised UN.

 

Tunisia is one of the few countries which still has a mission in Tripoli, which is ruled by the Libya Dawn alliance [Getty]

Armed gunmen have kidnapped ten members of staff at the Tunisian consulate in Libya's capital Tripoli, the Tunisian Foreign Ministry said.
A ministry statement said Friday's incident was a "blatant attack on Tunisian national sovereignty and a flagrant violation of international laws and diplomatic norms."
The statement said Tunisia's government was monitoring the situation and working to secure the release of the employees.
"All government services are following developments with interest in coordination with Libyan, regional and international parties, to liberate without delay the Tunisian mission team and guarantee its safety," the ministry statement read.
Al Jazeera's Nazanine Moshiri said Tunisian officials were holding a crisis meeting but were being reticent about who was behind the kidnapping.
"Some people are saying that all of this connected to a man named Walid Kalib, a member of Libya Dawn, which took control of Tripoli and forced the government to move to Tobruk in the east," Moshiri said.
"Walid Kalib was arrested here in Tunisia in May, he's facing charges of kidnapping.
"In May, more than 250 ordinary Tunisian were detained but then released."
Tunisia is one of the few countries which still has a mission in Tripoli, which is controlled by a government not recognised by the UN.
Anti-ISIL protests
Meanwhile, seven people were shot dead in the eastern city of Derna while marching against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) group.
The protesters were marching against the group's main base in Derna after Friday prayers when gunmen shot at the crowd, killing several people, and wounding about 30.
The demonstrators were angered at the amount of foreigners coming to join the armed group, residents told the Reuters news agency.
Nine suspected ISIL members were killed during separate clashes on Friday with other armed groups in Derna, a source in one of those movements said.
A war plane taking off from a base in the eastern city of Benghazi held by the official government later attacked Derna port, a military spokesman said. The attack came after ISIL had tried to ship out wounded in boats, a resident said.
The fighting in Derna, a long-time gathering point for hardliners, first erupted on Tuesday after a leader in the Majlis al-Shura group was killed.
Majlis al-Shura, which enjoys local support going back to the revolution, responded by declaring holy war against Islamic State.
ISIL has seized territory in the eastern Libyan cities of Derna and Sirte as the country's security situation descends in to chaos.
The armed group is at war with both the Tripoli-based, and Tobruk-based governments of Libya.

US to send hundreds of extra troops to train Iraqi army

Obama commits up to 450 more military advisers in response to Iraqi PM's request and Pentagon's advise.

 

There are nearly 3,100 US troops in Iraq involved in training, advising, security and other support roles [AFP]

US President Barack Obama has ordered the deployment of up to 450 more US troops to Iraq to advise and assist local forces in an effort to reverse the recent gains of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL).
Under the plan, the United States will open a fifth training site in Iraq, with the goal of integrating Iraqi Security Forces and Sunni fighters. The immediate objective is to retake the city of Ramadi, seized by ISIL last month.
Obama made the decision at the request of Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi and based on advice from Pentagon leaders, the White House said. The US troops will not be used in a combat role.
"These new advisers will work to build capacity of Iraqi forces, including local tribal fighters, to improve their ability to plan, lead, and conduct operations against ISIL in eastern Anbar under the command of the prime minister," Josh Earnest, a White House spokesman, said.
The plan is not a change in US strategy, the administration says, but addresses a need to get Sunnis more involved in the fight, a much-cited weakness in the current mission.
"Washington keeps pressuring Baghdad to be more inclusive in its policies, but the reality is that it takes time to bridge the sectarian differences that were aggravated during the Maliki years," says Al Jazeera's Rosiland Jordan, reporting from Washington DC, referring to the former Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki.
Questions remain about the Shia-led Iraqi government's commitment to recruit fighters, especially among Sunni tribesmen, to oust ISIL from Ramadi and Fallujah, a nearby city the rebels have held for more than a year.
Up to now, Iraqi officials have chosen to deploy most US-trained Iraqi troops in defensive formations around Baghdad, the capital.
The new training site will be at al-Taqqadum, a desert air base that was a US military hub during the 2003-2011 war. The additional troops will include advisers, trainers, logisticians and security personnel.
There now are nearly 3,100 US troops in Iraq involved in training, advising, security and other support roles. The US also is flying bombing missions as well as aerial reconnaissance and intelligence-gathering missions against ISIL forces, while counting on Iraqi ground troops to retake lost territory.
The expanded effort will also include delivering US equipment and arms directly to al-Taqqadum, not unilaterally but under the authority of the government in Baghdad. Thus it will not represent a change in the US policy of providing arms only through the central government.
The US already is training Iraqi troops at four sites - two in the vicinity of Baghdad, one at al-Asad air base in Anbar province and one near Erbil in northern Iraq. There is another training centre for special operations forces near Baghdad.

Scores killed in clashes between Hezbollah and ISIL

Hezbollah's chief vows to erase ISIL from Lebanon border as clashes in border villages leave deaths on both sides.

 

Hezbollah is deeply involved in Syria's civil war, fighting alongside President Bashar Assad's forces [AP]

Dozens of fighters from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant group and at least nine fighters belonging to the Lebanese armed group Hezbollah have been killed as the two sides clashed along the Lebanese border with Syria.
Hassan Nasrallah, Hezbollah’s secretary general, announced on Wednesday that the battle against ISIL has begun, stating the militant group started the fight but Hezbollah will continue it until the end.
"The fight with ISIL in Qalamoun has begun. They started by attacking us, but we are determined to put an end to this terrorist threat on our border," Nasrallah said in a televised speech during Imam al Khamanei conference.
"We renew our determination that we will no longer accept the continued presence and the threat of takfiris on our border and on our villages, and we are working calmly to achieve this goal."
The speech comes a day after clashes between the two groups began in earnest, with Hezbollah affiliated TV station al Manar reporting that ISIL had targeted several Hezbollah positions along the outskirts of the northeastern Lebanese border villages of Al Qaa and Ras Baalbak, but were repelled by the Lebanese group.
Al Manar aired footage of ISIL bases and dead fighters, stating that around 50 ISIL fighters were killed, and another 80 were injured.
The ensuing battle left scores of ISIL casualties, including the group's leader in the Qalamoun border region identified as Saudi national Walid Abdel Mohsen al-Omari, the channel said.
In his speech, Nasrallah said, "Great achievements were made in Qalamoun, especially the achievements made this morning,” adding that the party had achieved huge victories in the area and that now "all the high mountain tops are now under the control of the Syrian Arab Army and Hezbollah".
'Decisive battle'
According to Hisham Jaber, a retired Lebanese army general, the battle in Qalamoun is "a decisive battle for Hezbollah, and they will not stop until they have managed to remove the threat."
ISIL launched their attack because they wanted to catch Hezbollah off guard, "but they were unsuccessful because Hezbollah was prepared," said Jaber, adding that the ISIL fighters are in a weak position “because their supplies have been reduced significantly, and they can’t survive like this."
Hezbollah has been on the offensive in Syria's Qalamoun mountains for weeks and has recaptured territory that had been under the control of Al Qaeda’s Syria branch, Al Nusra Front, one of the more powerful armed groups currently fighting on the ground in Syria.
With the Nusra Front almost defeated in the area, a major battle was expected between Hezbollah and ISIL, who is positioned in the northern section of the Qalamoun mountain range. The total area of the Qalamoun mountains that is being contested is about 1,000 square kilometres - of which 340 square kilometres lie in Lebanon and are under the control of ISIL fighters and the Nusra Front.
Nasrallah has stated several times in recent speeches that the party will not accept the presence of these armed groups along the Lebanese border as they pose a direct threat on Lebanese towns and villages, and if the government fails to accept the responsibility of protecting the country, Hezbollah will take on the role.
"A lot of this is a media propaganda war, which Hezbollah is pushing in order to make up for the losses they, along with the Syrian army, are facing in Syria," Mario Abou Zeid, a political and military analyst from Carnegie Middle East Center, told Al Jazeera.
"The threat from ISIL is exaggerated; they do not have the capability nor the support to expand into Lebanon. The real threat is from Al Nusra Front, but right now they are focused on Damascus, so infiltrating Lebanon is not a priority at the present time.”
"[Al Nusra Front leader Abu Mohammad] Al Joulani made it very clear that Hezbollah is their next target, so Nusra is definitely the most eminent threat to the country, because of Hezbollah."
On Tuesday, local media reports stated that Hezbollah and the Syrian army were able to regain control over half the area, making steady advances against the fighters who have been holed up in the mountains for the last year and a half.

Syrian rebels seize major army base in Deraa

Opposition fighters take control of a key base that was used by the regime to shell all eastern areas of the province.

 

The majority of Deraa province is controlled by opposition fighters [Getty]

An umbrella group of opposition fighters have seized one of the largest army bases in the southern province of Deraa - the birthplace of Syria's four-year uprising - after 24 hours of fighting, a rebel spokesman and monitoring group have said.
Essam al-Rayes, a spokesman for the Southern Front rebel alliance operating in the province, told the AFP news agency on Tuesday that the "fully liberated" base "was one of the main lines of defence for regime forces".
"It was a nightmare, because they used it to shell all the areas to the east of the province," he added.
He said at least 2,000 rebel forces overran the base, which lies near a major highway running from Damascus to Syria's southern border with Jordan, in a "short and quick" assault.
Diaa al-Hariri, a spokesman for Faylaq al-Awwal, one of the armed groups in the Southern Front coalition, also confirmed the significance of the base.
"The base is also an important infantry base, from which the regime attacked towns and villages in the south," he said.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a UK-based monitoring group that relies on a network of activists on the ground, reported that opposition groups had taken the 52nd Brigade base after clashes and intense shelling that left 14 rebel fighters and 20 government forces dead.
Observatory chief Rami Abdel Rahman said regime troops withdrew to the nearby village of al-Dara. Rebel groups control a majority of Daraa province and its capital, according to Abdel Rahman.
Syria's official news agency SANA did not mention the capture of the base. But earlier, citing a military source, it said the air force had struck the area, killing at least 40 "terrorists".
String of regime losses
Regime forces have suffered several defeats over the last three months at the hands of opposition fighters.
One of the most recent major losses was Idlib province, which rebels claimed full control over since Saturday.
The Observatory also said on Tuesday that it has documented the deaths of 230,000 people since the Syrian conflict began in March 2011.
The dead include 69,494 civilians, among them 11,493 children. The conflict has also claimed the lives of 49,106 troops, 32,533 pro-government fighters and 38,592 rebels, it said.
Abdurrahman said the real death toll could be above 300,000, since there are tens of thousands of people who are missing or were buried without being counted.
Syria's conflict began with peaceful Arab Spring-inspired demonstrations demanding political reform, but eventually escalated into a civil war after the government responded with a violent crackdown on dissent.
Today the country is split among forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad, opposition factions, and the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant group.

Infographic: Syria map update [Al Jazeera]

Source: Agencies

Kurds celebrate gains amid blow to Turkey's AK party

Kurdish HDP passes electoral threshold for first time as AK party loses majority after years of single-party governance.

 

Supporters of the pro-Kurdish People's Democratic party (HDP) were celebrating the group's gains in Turkey's parliamentary election, amid a blow to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's Justice and Development Party (AK party), which lost its majority.
The HDP picked up about 13 percent of the vote and 79 seats, breaking the 10 percent threshold required for a party to take up its seats, sparking celebrations early Monday morning in the largely ethnic Kurdish city of Diyarbakir.
The ruling AK party fell short of the needed 276 seats to get an absolute majority, attaining just 258 deputies, after polling 41 percent of votes casts, according to preliminary data published by the state-owned Anadolu news agency.
The opposition CHP and MHP are projected to secure 132 and 81 seats respectively.

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The result from Sunday's election meant the HDP pass the electoral threshold the first time, raising hopes in the country that it will be able to advance a peace process between the Turkish state and Kurdish armed group PKK, which has been battling the country's armed forces for decades.
Al Jazeera's Bernard Smith, reporting from HDP headquarters in Ankara, said the HDP had managed to make gains by broadening its appeal to beyond the country's Kurdish minority.

Erdogan, elections and the future of Turkish journalism - The Listening Post

"What the HDP has done, is that it's played down its association with the PKK and played up its commitments to peace and its representation of working class minority groups," Smith said amid scenes of jubilation outside the building.
Gonul Tul, the director of the Centre for Turkish Studies at the Middle East Institute, told Al Jazeera that the AK party's loss of the Kurdish vote had played a big role in their poor showing.
"The AK party formed a wide coalition when it came to power ... but it lost the support of conservative Kurds," Tul said.
"In the Kurdish region the two most important political actors have been the AK party and the pro-Kurdish HDP, but after President Erdogan's indifference to the suffering of Kurds in Kobane, the AK party lost the support of conservative Kurds, and the HDP secured those votes.
"At the same time, the ruling party lost the support of nationalists because they opened the Kurdish peace talks."
Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu, however, remained defiant about his party's position after the results, which meant it would have to form a coalition to rule after 13 years of single-party governance.
"The AK party is the winner and finished first in this election ... nobody should make a victory out of an election loss," Davutoglu told a rally of his supporters.
The prospect of finding a partner could prove difficult, a fear reflected in the country's main stock index, which fell 8 percent after trading began on Monday.

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The AK party and Erdogan have been criticised by opponents for eroding political freedoms in more recent years of their rule. Davutoglu said those criticisms were baseless given the result.
The election occurred amid fears among the Turkish opposition that the AK party would use a majority to force through reforms that would increase Erdogan's powers and turn Turkey into a presidential republic.
Deniz Ulke Aribogan, a professor of political science at Istanbul Bilgi University, told Al Jazeera that the outcome showed most Turks did not want that to happen.
"The results show that Turkish citizens want Erdogan to act in line with his position as a neutral president. They don't want to see him rallying as if he is the leader of the AK party."

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Voting ends in Turkish parliamentary elections

Economics, alleged corruption and Kurdish issue considered by voters in poll that can lead to more powers for president.

 

Voting has ended in the Turkish parliamentary elections as economic promises, alleged state corruption and the Kurdish situation have emerged as the leading issues considered by Turkish citizens while casting their votes.

The outcome of the polls could determine whether ruling party politicians can rewrite the constitution to bolster the powers of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
The ballot boxes opened at 8am local time (0500GMT) and closed at 5pm (1400GMT), with non-official results expected by the end of the day. Some 54 million citizens were eligible to vote in the polls.
Public surveys prior to the election indicated the conservative Justice and Development Party (AK party) was in the lead.
The AK party, the ruling party for the past 13 years, is seeking to secure two-thirds of the 550 seats in the parliament in order to change the constitution to replace Turkey's 92-year-old parliamentary system for a presidential system.
However, the majority of surveys suggest that a victory with such a large margin is unlikely for the party.

All the other three main parties likely to pass Turkey's 10 percent threshold for entry to the parliament - the centre-left Republican People's Party (CHP), the Nationalist Action Party (MHP) and the left-wing pro-Kurdish People's Democracy Party (HDP) - are against such a change.
Galip Dalay, a senior fellow with the Al Jazeera Center for Studies on Turkey and Kurdish affairs, said the election has been reduced to a referendum on whether Turkey should change its political system or not.

"The whole battle falls around if Turkey should have a parliamentary system or a presidential one. Unfortunately, all other items on the agenda have taken a back seat to this dominant election issue," he told Al Jazeera from Istanbul.

However, Turkish voters acoss the nation told Al Jazeera that corruption, economic promises and the Kurdish issue were also important to their voting decisions.
Kurdish dispute
The run-up to the elections has seen discussions on the Kurdish dispute in the context of ongoing peace talks with the outlawed armed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK).
In addition to the AK party, which is the architect of the initiative, the peace process is supported by the HDP and the centre-left Republican People's Party. Only the Nationalist Action Party, Turkey's third largest party, opposes the talks.
The election campaign has been marred by several bomb attacks on HDP offices. On Friday, an attack on a rally in the predominantly Kurdish city of Diyarbakir killed two people. Protests followed the attack and minor clashes with security forces followed.
Salih Sonmez, 42, a Kurdish cook from Mersin, said his entire family had voted for the AK party in the last few elections but was not getting his vote this time.
"The AK party promised us hope, but they made Turkey worse. There is so much corruption, waste and nepotism. Turks and Kurds should be united. However, this tense atmosphere is not helping," Sonmez said.
Economic issues
In the sphere of economy, three opposition parties have made big economic promises to the public, including substantial rises in the minimum wage.
These promises were dismissed as unrealistic by AK party officials and Erdogan, who criticised the opposition for starting "a tender for the minimum wage" that would "increase unemployment".

The AK party took over an economy reeling from high levels of inflation and unemployment, and is credited with restoring stability by pushing growth through trade and foreign investment.
Emel Huba, 55, a pensioner from Istanbul, said she would vote for the CHP "to get rid of this corrupt government".
"The president stays in his presidential palace that is worth billions of dollars, but the government does not want to spare a small raise to pensioners," Huba said.
"This is wasteful and unfair. Many people regret voting for the AK Party."
Gokalp Ali Baz, 28, a financial adviser in Ankara, said he would vote for the MHP "because I don't believe my vote is going to change much in Turkey or rather, the country is going to change much following the elections".
"The country is not going well and it is going to be even worse. I am not hopeful."
Mehmet Kin, 31, a shop owner in Istanbul, said he would vote for the Communist party as he feared that "a worse Turkey awaits us after the elections".
"In Turkey, the elections are never fair, even in cases where there is no systematic corruption in elections," Kin said.
"People counting the votes can act in a subjective way and call some of the votes invalid in line with their political views. I have seen this as I was on duty at a polling station."
But others said they would vote for the AK party again as they wanted Turkey to remain stable.
"I do not want a coalition government," Omar Harman, 19,  a waiter in Istanbul, said.
"Promises by other parties, such as large increases of the minimum wage, are not realistic."
Munevver Karaca, 52, a housewife from Sivas, was also going to vote with the AK party "because of its services to this nation in many ways".
"I think Turkey is having the best times in its history," Karaca said.

ISIL losing ground in parts of Iraq and Syria

Syrian army claims retaking Hasakah city from ISIL fighters as Iraqi forces advance in Beiji.

 

ISIL has been driven out of some areas north of Baghdad, but still holds much of western Iraq [File: EPA]

The fighters of Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) group have been partly driven out of Syria's north-eastern city of Hasakah, the Syrian army has said.
Sunday's development came days after ISIL, approaching from their stronghold of Shaded city, made lightening advances after conducting about a dozen suicide attacks at army checkpoints in the city.
Syrian state television, quoting an army source, said in a newsflash on Sunday that the military had taken back an electricity station, a juvenile prison and two villages almost two Kilometres south of the city that had been occupied by ISIL.
The army announced later that the Syrian air force had also bombed ISIL posts in a string of villages south of Hasaka, including Tel Beiji, Beiji, Makhroum, Tel Baroud and Um Madfaa, which it said had killed "tens of terrorists and destroyed their vehicles".
Meanwhile, in Iraq, the government forces advanced against ISIL in Beiji on Sunday as they battled to retake the strategic town for the second time, officers said.
"Our security forces arrived to the centre of the town of Baiji about 10:30am local time and raised the Iraqi flag," an army major general told the AFP news agency.
The officer said that Iraqi forces were shelling "terrorists hideouts" in the town with mortar rounds.
A police colonel confirmed that Iraqi forces were making progress, saying they were in control of the city centre and were "advancing toward the northern neighbourhoods of the town".
Security forces are also fighting to push ISIL out of the nearby Baiji refinery, a vast complex, which once produced 300,000 barrels per day of refined products meeting half of the country's needs.
ISIL spearheaded a sweeping offensive last June that overran Iraq's second city Mosul in less than 24 hours and then seized much of the country's Sunni Arab heartland.
ISIL has been driven out of some areas north of Baghdad, but still holds much of western Iraq.

Fierce fighting rages near airbase in Iraq's Anbar

Security forces and allied Shia units suffer casualties as Al Habbaniyah airbase comes under fire from ISIL fighters.

 

Iraqi government forces backed by Shia armed units have repelled two attacks by the Islamic State of Iraq and Levant (ISIL) group in Anbar province, authorities say.
Military sources have told Al Jazeera that the fighters used anti-tank missiles on Saturday to destroy at least four explosives-rigged vehicles driven by would-be suicide bombers during clashes between the two sides.
The sources also said that 22 Iraqi soldiers and allied Shia fighters were killed after ISIL attacked the Al Habbaniyah airbase.
ISIL fighters also reportedly attacked the government-held town of Husseiba with heavy mortarfire on the same day, but the attackers were forced to retreat after an hours-long battle.

Iraqi forces took Husseiba, near the ISIL-held provincial capital of Ramadi, from ISIL last month.
Iraqi forces have also launched an offensive in an attempt to push back ISIL fighters in the town of Samarra, north of Baghdad, the sources said.
They said the troops killed at least 55 fighters in the battle.
Meanwhile, at least 14 people have been killed after a car bomb exploded near a market in the Shia town of Balad Ruz, northeast of Baghdad, Iraqi officials said.
No one has yet claimed responsibility for the attack.
Iraqi forces, backed by Shia units, have been struggling to recapture areas lost to ISIL in the country's west and north.
Last month ISIL scored a major victory, seizing Ramadi and capturing large amounts of ammunition and armoured vehicles from fleeing government troops.
In the aftermath of the Ramadi defeat, Iraqi officials have stepped up calls for more weapons and more direct support from the US and the international community.
During an international conference in Paris this week on the fight against ISIL, a senior US official pledged to make it easier to get weapons, including US anti-tank rockets, to the Iraqi soldiers that need them.
Al Jazeera's Imran Khan, reporting from Baghdad on Saturday, said government forces have taken over towns and villages in Anbar to cut off ISIL's supply lines, but need more help from the US.
"In particular, anti-tank weapons are what the Iraqi forces are desperate for. They are the only real way to stop suicide car bombings," he said.

Saudi Arabia says Houthi border offensive foiled

Dozens of Houthi-allied fighters and one Saudi army officer killed in failed assault on Jizan province, state media say.

 

Rebel-aligned TV station Al Masirah broadcasted video of fighters firing rockets at Saudi positions [YouTube/Al Masirah]

Saudi Arabia has prevented an offensive by fighters allied to the Houthis on Jizan province bordering Yemen, according to state media.
Dozens of armed men, believed to belong to Republican Guard units loyal to former president Ali Abdullah Saleh, died in Friday's failed assault, which the Saudi security sources said was the biggest since the conflict in neighbouring Yemen began.
The Saudi armed forces said one of their officer had died of injuries sustained during the attack.
A spokesperson for the Saudi National Guards said Captain Nasser bin Khaled al-Atawi died in Najran, without mentioning the cause.
The incident is believed to have started when Houthi forces and units of soldiers loyal to Saleh tried to infiltrate the border at Al Khouba.
The fighters launched a number of rockets at Saudi military positions, before the Saudi army retaliated with artillery shelling and air support from Apache helicopter gunships.
Houthi reinforcements on the Yemeni side of the border were also targeted during the retaliation.
The rebel-alligned Al Masirah TV aired video purporting to show fighters moving towards Saudi watchtowers and firing rockets.

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Friday's developments came a day after the Iran-allied Houthis agreed to join UN-backed peace talks in Geneva planned for June 14.
A coalition of Arab states has been bombing Houthi forces for more than two months in an attempt to restore President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi, who has fled to Saudi Arabia.
About 2,000 people have been killed and half a million displaced by the fighting.
Coalition bombings killed about 58 people across Yemen on Wednesday and Thursday, according to the Houthi-controlled state news agency Saba.
Among them, 48 people, most of them women and children, were reportedly killed in air strikes on their houses in the Houthi heartland in the rural far north adjoining Saudi Arabia.
The reports could not be independently verified.

Four million US government workers hit by cyber breach

FBI investigating cyberattack that is believed to have compromised data of current and former federal employees.

 

Since the intrusion, OPM said it had implemented additional security precautions for its networks [Reuters]

The US government agency that collects personnel information for federal employees has said that a cybersecurity breach had compromised the data of up to four million people.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation said on Thursday that it has launched a probe and would hold the culprits accountable, Reuters reported.

We take all potential threats to public and private sector systems seriously, and will continue to investigate and hold accountable those who pose a threat in cyberspace Federal Bureau of Investigation

"The FBI is working with our interagency partners to investigate this matter," the bureau said in a statement.

The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) detected new malicious activity affecting its information systems in April and the Department of Homeland Security said it concluded at the beginning of May that the agency's data had been compromised. The office handles employee records and security clearances.
"This would likely be the largest theft of US government data in the history of the United States," Patty Culhane, Al Jazeera's White House correspondent reporting from Washington, said.
"Basically, OPM is like the human resources department of the entire federal government. They also get security background checks for people who want to get security clearances," she said.
"The big question remains exactly what information was stolen? Was it social security number, your federal ID or was it salary information. Right now OPM is not saying."
A US law enforcement source told Reuters a "foreign entity or government" was believed to be behind the cyberattack. Authorities were looking into a possible Chinese connection, a source close to the matter said.
A Chinese embassy spokesman in Washington said hypothetical accusations were irresponsible and counterproductive.
"Jumping to conclusions and making [a] hypothetical accusation is not responsible," and is "counterproductive", Chinese embassy spokesman Zhu Haiquan said in emailed comments.
Security precautions
The OPM had previously been the victim of a cyberattack, as have various federal government computer systems at the state department, the US Postal Service and the White House.
Since the intrusion, OPM said it had implemented additional security precautions for its networks. It said it would notify the 4 million people affected and offer credit monitoring and identity theft services to the people affected.
"The last few months have seen a series of massive data breaches that have affected millions of Americans," US Representative Adam Schiff, the ranking Democrat on the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, said in a statement.
But he called the latest intrusion "among the most shocking because Americans may expect that federal computer networks are maintained with state of the art defences".
It is thought that the ramifications of the data breach could potentially affect every federal agency.

Sunni sheiks pledge allegiance to ISIL in Iraq's Anbar

Several sheiks and tribal heads say the only way to achieve peace in province is to join ISIL after meeting in Fallujah.

 

A number of Sunni tribal sheiks and tribes in Iraq's Anbar province have pledged allegiance to the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) group.
The sheiks and tribal leaders made the pledge in a statement read out by influential Sheik Ahmed Dara al-Jumaili, after meeting in Fallujah on Wednesday.
Al Jazeera's Imran Khan, reporting from Baghdad, said it was not yet clear if the tribes had been forced to pledge allegiance by ISIL fighters, who control Fallujah and most of Anbar province.

"If this is a willing move then that is very worrying for the Iraqi government," said Khan.
"The statement they issued was very strong - it condemned the government.
"It said the only way that peace would come to Anbar province is if the tribes joined ISIL."
Influential tribe 
Khan said the inclusion of the al-Jumaili tribe in the pledge was of particular concern for Iraqi authorities, given the tribe's influence in Anbar province.
"The al-Jumailis command a number of fighters and they have a large amount of influence over other tribes [in Anbar]," he said.
The pledge comes after a number of Sunni leaders in Anbar province publicly criticised the involvement of Shia militias in the fight to retake areas of the province from ISIL, including the provincial capital Ramadi which fell last month.
While a number of Sunni tribes have joined with government forces and Shia militias, Khan reported that a number of tribal leaders have asked for government support to fight the armed group.
"They said 'if you arm us, if you allow us to fight as Sunnis, we will be able to get rid of ISIL quite quickly'," he said
"The fact that a number of these tribes have come together ... and pledged allegiance to ISIL shows the level of anger the Sunni tribes feel towards the government in Baghdad."

US politicians call for release of secret 9/11 report

White House urged to release 28-pages of classified information alleging Saudi Arabia officials helped organise attacks.

 

Several members of the US Congress have joined calls for the release of classified pages from an intelligence report into the September 11, 2001 attacks on the US.
The politicians argue that the 28 pages of classified text refers to allegations that Saudi Arabian officials were involved in helping to organise the attacks.
Former Florida Senator Bob Graham, who co-chaired the 2002 House-Senate Joint Inquiry, the first official investigation into 9/11, joined current congressional members on Tuesday as they publicly called for the release of the classified material.
Graham told Al Jazeera that the US public would be "outraged" if they knew the truth.
"If the American people knew the full truth, I believe there would be an outrage that a country which alleges to be such an ally of ours has engaged in so many actions that have been so extremely negative towards the United States," Graham said, referring to Saudi Arabia.

Interpol issues six wanted person alerts over FIFA case

Two former FIFA officials, including Jack Warner, and four corporate executives wanted over racketeering and corruption.

 

Warner is among nine FIFA officials and five corporate executives charged by the US Department of Justice [File pic - Reuters]

Interpol has placed six people, including two former FIFA officials and four corporate executives, on its most wanted list on racketeering and corruption charges at the request of US authorities.
The former FIFA officials are ex-vice president Jack Warner and former FIFA executive committee member, Nicolás Leoz.
The Red Notices issued by Interpol are not international arrest warrants.
However, they are used by the organisation to inform its member countries that an arrest warrant has been issued for an individual by a judicial authority and who seeks the location and arrest of wanted persons with a view to extradition or similar lawful action.
Warner is among nine FIFA officials and five corporate executives charged by the US Department of Justice with running a criminal enterprise that involved more than $150m in bribes.
Meanwhile, FIFA President Sepp Blatter is being investigated by US authorities as part of their corruption inquiry into football's governing body, the New York Times (NYT) has reported.
Blatter, who announced on Tuesday that he will be resigning from his position, has not been directly implicated in the parallel US and Swiss criminal investigations into FIFA, which were announced last week.
Unidentified US law enforcement officials, however, told the NYT that "they were hoping to win the cooperation of some of the FIFA officials now under indictment and work their way up the organisation" in a bid to build a case against Blatter.

Nine FIFA officials and five business executives were indicted by the US last Wednesday on corruption charges, with seven arrested in Zurich ahead of FIFA's annual congress on Friday.
Blatter announced his decision to resign on Tuesday, just four days after the congress that saw him win a fifth term as the body's president.
"I cherish FIFA more than anything and I want to do only what is best for FIFA and for football," Blatter said at a news conference in Zurich on Tuesday.
"FIFA needs a profound overhaul. I have decided to lay down my mandate at an extraordinary elective Congress.
"I will continue to exercise my functions as FIFA president until that election."
Domenico Scala, head of FIFA's independent audit and compliance committee, said there would need to be four months' notice for any new presidential election.
At the FIFA meeting in Zurich last Friday, Blatter, 79, had been re-elected when his only rival, Jordan's Prince Ali bin Al Hussein, withdrew after gaining 73 votes to Blatter's 133 in the first round of voting.
A day later, Blatter came out fighting, implying that the US timed the announcement of a major corruption probe to try to scupper his re-election bid.
Meanwhile, Switzerland's Office of Attorney General (OAG) has confirmed that it is not investigating Blatter.
Swiss authorities have launched a separate criminal investigation into the bidding process for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups that are set to be held in Russia and Qatar.

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No sooner had Blatter announced his decision to resign than English Football Association chairman Greg Dyke raised the possibility that the controversial vote that awarded Qatar the tournament could be rerun.
"If I was the Qatari organisers I wouldn't sleep very well tonight," the former TV executive told British media.

Who are Blatter's most likely successors?

In response, Qatar Football Association's president, Sheikh Hamad Bin Khalifa Bin Ahmed Al Thani, said in a statement that Qatar had been cleared of any wrongdoing in the FIFA-commissioned Garcia report on corruption.
"Having already cooperated fully with Mr Garcia's investigation - and been subsequently cleared of any wrongdoing - we welcome the Office of the Swiss Attorney General conducting its own work into the bidding process for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups," the statement said.
"We would urge Mr Dyke to let the legal process take its course and concentrate on delivering his promise to build an England team capable of winning the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar."
Former US Attorney Michael Garcia was appointed by FIFA in 2012 with the priority of probing the controversial 2018 and 2022 World Cup bidding contests.
He resigned in 2014 after a FIFA judge cleared the World Cup bids, based on his findings - which were never fully released.
At the time, he claimed the judge's decision contained "numerous materially incomplete and erroneous representations" of his investigation.