July 11, 2015: Two police cars on fire are seen at the site of unrest in Mukhachevo, Western Ukraine. (AP Photo)
MOSCOW – At least two people were
killed Saturday in a gun and grenade attack in a western Ukraine city
involving the country's notorious nationalist militia Right Sector.
Police had surrounded some gunmen in a wooded area of the city of
Mukachevo and were trying to negotiate their peaceful surrender, a
statement from the regional prosecutor's office said. But details of the
violence remained confused.
The prosecutor's statement said about 20 armed people bearing Right
Sector insignia surfaced in the early afternoon and called for a meeting
with local residents at a cafe. They then began shooting, the statement
said.
Ukrainian news reports earlier said that the violence broke out at a
sports facility reportedly controlled by a national parliament member
from a faction opposed to Right Sector. It wasn't clear whether the cafe
referred to by the prosecutor statement was part of that facility.
The sports complex is connected to a national parliament member from a
faction strongly opposed to Right Sector, said Anton Gerashchenko, an
adviser to the Interior Ministry.
A Right Sector statement reported by Ukrainian news media said two of
the militia's members had been killed. But Gerashchenko said three were
killed and that three policemen and four civilians were wounded. He
also said the attackers destroyed two police cars with grenade
launchers.
The Right Sector statement said its members were attacked by
"bandits" connected to Mikhail Lano, who reportedly controlled the
sports facility, which local media said includes a gym and swimming
pool.
Right Sector was one of the most militant factions in the massive
protests in Ukraine's capital that led to pro-Russia President Viktor
Yanukovych fleeing the country in February 2014. After war broke out in
eastern Ukraine between government forces and pro-Russia separatists
several months later, Right Sector has fought on the government side and
Amnesty International has accused the group of holding civilians as
prisoners and torturing them.
Right Sector leader Dmytro Yarosh holds a seat in parliament, but the
group has little formal involvement in conventional politics. Russia
has been harshly critical of Ukrainian leaders for not taking a firm
stand against Right Sector, saying Kiev's apparent tolerance of the
group suggests the government harbors fascist leanings.
The Russian foreign ministry's envoy for human rights, Konstantin Dolgov, seized on Saturday's events to renew the criticism.
"Right Sector has again shown its bandit face in Mukachevo. In Kiev,
they don't want to break with neo-Nazis," he wrote on Twitter.
A member of Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko's bloc, Irina Friz,
meanwhile said on Facebook that "I don't exclude the presence of Russian
traces in the incident ... as this region is in the zone of interest
for Russian special services."
Mukachevo is in far western Ukraine, near the borders of Poland, Hungary and Slovakia.
June
6, 2015: Photo shows a tar ball, less than two inches in diameter,
found on the sand at Hermosa Beach, Calif., adjacent to Redondo Beach on
the coast southwest of downtown Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Reed Saxon)
SANTA BARBARA, Calif. – The
effort to track the impact of a crude oil spill on the Santa Barbara
coast in May hit beaches this week as far south as Orange County,
officials said Saturday.
Tar ball samples were taken Thursday and Friday from Gaviota to
Newport Beach, about 170 miles away, for a better reference point of
where oil is washing up and to improve reporting, according to a press
release from officials overseeing the cleanup.
The cleanup continues after an underground pipe owned by Texas-based
Plains All American Pipeline ruptured on May 19 and spilled up to
101,000 gallons of crude oil.
About of a fifth of the oil flowed into the ocean, killing hundreds
of birds and marine mammals, mostly sea lions, and closing state
beaches.
Tar balls traced to the pipeline have been found in neighboring
Ventura County and more than 100 miles south on Redondo Beach in Los
Angeles County.
Because tar balls routinely wash ashore in Southern California from
natural seepage from the ocean floor, "fingerprint" testing can
determine the source.
Most of the spilled oil has been cleaned up, according to officials,
though crews are still scraping oil off rocks at Refugio State Beach.
The beach and campground is scheduled to re-open Friday.
The murder of a prostitute in a Massachusetts hotel last week
has prompted new calls for online classified portal Backpage.com to drop
its lucrative and explicit sex ads -- which critics say have been
linked to a wide range of crimes around the country.
"As we have seen through our office's work, Backpage.com and the
Internet have become increasingly popular vehicles for commercial sexual
exploitation," Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey said in a
statement Tuesday.
"In fact, most of the human trafficking cases that our office has
prosecuted specifically involve advertisements on Backpage," Healey
said. "It is clear that Backpage must do more to end the kind of
exploitation that is advertised every day on its site."
Healey's call for action comes days after Sanisha Johnson, 34, of
Bronx, N.Y., was shot to death Thursday inside the Extended Stay Hotel
in Burlington by two suspects whom authorities believe preyed on
"escorts" listed on Backpage.
Epshod Jeune, 24, of Burlington, and Derrell Fisher, 21, of Boston,
were ordered held without bail Monday in the murder, which prosecutors
said was part of a scheme to "rob escorts at gunpoint." The pair
allegedly used Backpage to rob another prostitute at a separate motel in
the area earlier that night.
Witnesses at the Burlington hotel reported hearing screams and a
gunshot shortly after midnight Thursday. When authorities entered Room
118, they found Johnson, who was shot once in the chest at close range.
"...Most of the human trafficking cases that our office has prosecuted specifically involve advertisements on Backpage."
- Maura Healey, Massachusetts Attorney General
Like Craigslist, the Dutch-owned Backpage -- which is headquartered
in Texas -- has many legitimate advertisements, from apartment rentals
to car sales to pet adoptions and job opportunities. But a sizeable
portion of advertisements listed within seven categories of the "Adult"
section offer money for sex. And many of the listings -- from New York
to Texas to California -- are hardly discreet.
"Hey looking for cute petite gal for bj only,"writes a 33-year-old male user from Manhattan.
"Looking for a white/asian gal in need of assistance or fun for a discreet intimate encounter," writes another. "Hopefully you're on birth control."
Related Image
Under pressure from law enforcement agencies around the country --
including the sheriff of the second-largest county in the U.S. -- Visa
announced last month it will no longer process transactions from
Backpage.
The decision came shortly after MasterCard ended business with the
site in response to pleas from Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart, whose
county includes Chicago.
Authorities with the Cook County Sheriff's Police Department claim to
have made hundreds of arrests since 2009 in connection with adult
services on Backpage -- from sex trafficking to promoting prostitution.
"(I)nstitutions such as yours have the moral, social and legal right
to step up on this pervasive problem and make a fundamental and
everlasting difference," Dart wrote in a letter to MasterCard's CEO and
board of directors.
According to a 2012 estimate by media research and consulting company
AIM Group, Backpage earns more than $22 million each year from
prostitution ads. Phone calls and emails to Backpage owner James Larkin
were not returned Tuesday.
"We shouldn't have to wait until law enforcement comes to people's
doors," said Eugene O'Donnell, associate professor of crime at John Jay
College of Criminal Justice in New York. "It takes a tragedy."
O'Donnell told FoxNews.com the use of credit cards on the site
creates "an aura of legitimacy" and called Backpage a "highway to evil
in many respects."
"I think it's clear that women underestimate the risks that are
involved," he said. "There’s a dark corner of the web that really has
some very dangerous people on there."
Related Image
Photo from a Backpage ad by a 23-year-old "All-American Student Seeking Help."
O'Donnell said the anonymity of Backpage "multiplies the pool of
potential offenders," though he noted electronic transactions create an
investigative trail if a crime is later committed.
Such was not the case, however, in 2010 when authorities discovered
the bodies of four young women along a stretch of Ocean Parkway on New
York's Long Island -- all escorts in their 20's who advertised their
services on Craigslist.
Authorities believe the women -- all found wrapped in burlap bags 500
feet apart from each other -- were strangled by the same person or
persons. Despite the use of the web in connecting the victims to their
killer, the murders remain unsolved. Craigslist since dropped the
"escort" service section from its website, which caused prostitutes and
pimps to increasingly turn to the pages of Backpage, according to
authorities.
A federal law enforcement source told FoxNews.com the Long Island
killer was familiar with law enforcement tactics and "went to great
lengths to cover up the murders."
"He left no electronic trail," the source said.
Caitlyn Jenner stepped out with his daughter, 19 year old Kendall for
the first time since he transitioned into a woman. They had lunch at a
restaurant with Kendall's model friend Gigi Hadid. More photos after the
cut..
Capo a rapper associated with Chief Keef's Glo Gang was shot dead today in the South Side of Chicago.
Police said the shooting took place around 2 PM yesterday and Capo was
hit in the back and hip. The 22-year-old was rushed to a local hospital
where he later died. TMZ reports that when the suspects were fled, they
hit a baby stroller with their vehicle and also killed a 13-month-old
boy.
A disturbing video is floating around online showing Capo in a pool of blood on the sidewalk just minutes after the shooting.
The police currently have two suspects in custody.
Republican
presidential candidate Donald Trump finishes up speaking before a crowd
of 3,500 Saturday, July 11, 2015, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Ross D.
Franklin)
PHOENIX – Republican presidential
hopeful Donald Trump criticized U.S. immigration and trade policies on
Saturday in speeches that veered from accusing Mexico of deliberately
sending criminals across the border to professing respect for the
Mexican government and love for its people.
Speaking to a gathering of Libertarians in Las Vegas before
headlining an event in Phoenix, Trump repeated his charge that Mexico
was sending violent offenders to the U.S. to harm Americans and that
U.S. officials were being "dumb" in dealing with immigrants in the
country illegally.
"These people wreak havoc on our population," he told a few thousand
people attending the Libertarian gathering FreedomFest inside a Planet
Hollywood ballroom on the Las Vegas Strip.
In the 4,200-capacity Phoenix convention center packed with
flag-waving supporters, Trump took a different view -- for a moment --
and said: "I love the Mexican people. I love `em. Many, many people from
Mexico are legal. They came in the old-fashioned way. Legally."
He quickly returned to the sharp tone that has brought him scorn as
well as praise. "I respect Mexico greatly as a country. But the problem
we have is their leaders are much sharper than ours, and they're killing
us at the border and they're killing us on trade."
His speeches in both venues were long on insults aimed at critics and
short on solutions to the problems he cited. When he called for a wall
along the U.S.-Mexico border, the audience in Las Vegas groaned.
In a break from the immigration rhetoric that has garnered him
condemnation and praise, Trump asserted that he would have more positive
results in dealing with China and Russia if he were president and said
he could be pals with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Asked by an audience member in Las Vegas about U.S.-Russia relations,
Trump said the problem is that Putin doesn't respect Obama.
"I think we would get along very, very well," he said.
Trump has turned to victims of crime to bolster his argument that
immigrants in the U.S. illegally have killed and raped. In Las Vegas and
Phoenix, he brought on stage Jamiel Shaw Sr., a Southern California man
whose 17-year-old son was shot and killed in 2008 by a man in the
country illegally. Shaw vividly described how his son was shot -- in the
head, stomach and hands while trying to block his face -- and how he
heard the gunshots as he talked to his son on the phone.
Shaw said he trusted Trump, and encouraged the crowds in both cities to do the same.
Trump's speeches were filled with tangents and insults leveled at
business partners such as Univision and NBC that have dropped him in the
wake of his comments that Mexican immigrants bring drugs and crime to
the U.S. and are rapists. He also directed familiar barbs at other
presidential contenders, including Democrat Hillary Rodham Clinton ("the
worst secretary of state in the history of the country"), news media
figures ("lyin' Brian Williams") and President Barack Obama ("such a
divisive person"). He called journalists "terrible people."
As Trump lambasted Univision for cancelling its broadcast of the Miss
USA pageant, one of his many business enterprises, a group of young
Latinos unfurled a banner pointed toward the stage and began chanting
insults. They were quickly drowned out by the crowd, and nearby Trump
supporters began to grab at them, tearing at the banner and pulling and
pushing at the protesters. Security staff managed to get to the group
and escorted them out as Trump resumed speaking.
"I wonder if the Mexican government sent them over here," he said. "I think so."
Arizona's tough-on-immigration Sheriff Joe Arpaio introduced Trump in
Phoenix after outlining the things he and the candidate have in common,
including skepticism that Obama was born in the United States. He went
on to criticize the federal government for what he called a revolving
door for immigrants, saying many of them end up in his jails.
"He's been getting a lot of heat, but you know, there's a silent
majority out here," Arpaio said, borrowing from a phrase Richard Nixon
popularized during his presidency in a speech about the Vietnam War.
A single protester standing outside the room where Trump spoke in Las
Vegas was more concerned about the businessman being tied to the
Libertarian Party.
"I've been a Libertarian for 43 years and Trump ain't no
Libertarian," said Linda Rawles, who asserted that including Trump in
FreedomFest set back the party's movement.
Fresh from landing Matteo Darmain and agreeing a deal for Bastian Schweinsteiger on Friday, Manchester United are set to push the boat out on further signings to mould a title-challenging side.
A report from Cadena COPE's El Partido de las 12suggests that United are now serious about landing Real Madrid's Gareth Bale, but have seen a world-record €140 million (£100 million) bid rejected.
Although Real fans were critical of Bale last season, Rafa Benitez reportedly wants Wales' talisman to play a more prominent role at the Bernabeu, dashing United's hopes of landing the 26-year-old.
The Daily Star reports that the next target on Louis van Gaal's list is Valencia centre-backNicolas Otamendi, with Jorge Mendes brought in to broker a move for the 27-year-old.
But Mendes wouldn't be a "super agent" without knowing when and where to sniff out the best deal, and he will reportedly sound out Manchester City and Chelsea to find the right price for the Argentina international.
Making way for Otamendi will be Jonny Evans, with the Mirror stating that Arsenal are surprise contenders for the centre-back's signature along with West Brom -- no prizes for guessing who will win that battle if it comes down to personal terms.
Gifted flutist and gospel contemporary musician 'Ebele the Flutist' releases new photos as she celebrates her birthday today. More photos after the cut...
Make-up by Bella da vicci Photograph by Patrick Edwards
Real Madrid have waved an emotional goodbye to one of the most decorated players in the club's history, at the same time bringing a sad but much-needed conclusion to an unwanted and complicated drama.
Long-serving and hugely decorated goalkeeper Iker Casillas has somewhat begrudgingly brought his 25-year relationship with his boyhood club to an end and will now move across the border to Porto. After rumours of moves to Arsenal and Roma among other clubs, this time it's happening.
His departure comes during a summer in which tears were shed in Barcelona over Xavi's departure for Qatar and in Liverpool, where Steven Gerrard moved to LA Galaxy. On paper, Casillas should receive a similarly compelling farewell from the Bernabeu and there will be tears, and plenty of them, but the reality is it won't be quite like the flood at the Camp Nou or Anfield.
The goalkeeper, born in Mostoles, a suburb in the southwest of Madrid, has won it all as a player. With his hometown club he has won the Champions League three times, La Liga five times, the Copa del Rey twice, the Spanish Super Cup four times, the European Super Cup twice, the Club World Cup once and the Intercontinental Cup once. Internationally, he has won the World Cup and the European Championships twice. He has won the majority of these while captaining his team.
On top of the accolades, he is Spain's most-capped player, he should surpass Xavi as the player with most Champions League appearances and he is only the third player, as a captain of his team, to win the holy treble of the Champions League, European Championships and World Cup. The other two? Didier Deschamps with Juventus and France and Franz Beckenbauer with Bayern Munich and West Germany.
With that kind of trophy cabinet, and 725 appearances for Madrid, he will go down in the history books as one of the greatest players to have played the beautiful game, but his farewell at Madrid, the club where he achieved it all, will not be as beautiful as it should be. The majority will bid the player a fond and sad farewell, but there will be others who will be glad to see him go. That some reports suggest he has been advised not to bid one last farewell to the Bernabeu speaks volumes.
After 25 years, Iker Casillas' time at Real Madrid has come to a close.
It wasn't meant to end this way. Casillas is a "Madridista," a guy who would be sat in the Bernabeu stands had he not had the privilege of wearing the famous badge on his chest. He is a player who rose through the youth ranks at the club and made it, the kind of player who should be penned in as a club legend even if he didn't have the accolades to rubber-stamp his status.
He joined the youth ranks 25 years ago and was included in the first-team squad for the first time in the Champions League on Nov. 27, 1997, at the age of 16 in Rosenborg, a full year before now-former Madrid teammate Martin Odegaard was even born. He was the youngest goalkeeper, at 19 years and four days, to play in a Champions League final when he helped Madrid to their eighth European crown with a 2-1 win against Valencia in 2000. His career took off and the trophies followed. If Madrid are synonymous with the Champions League, Casillas is too in the modern day having lifted three of them aloft.
Fast-forward 16 years and a treasure trove of trophies later, and Casillas is no longer Madrid's golden boy. Few are exempt from the infamous Bernabeu whistles, with idols such as Zinedine Zidane and Raul having the demanding Madrid fans on their backs, but with Casillas it has been different. It has been constant over the last few years, and it has come at a time when he has given his all and won it all for Madrid.
From a confident untouchable just two years ago, the goalkeeper will leave a shell of his former self and with some of the shine taken off his legend status. The whistles have been deafening on occasion, and the chants of "topo" (mole) have come not only from the away fans, but the home fans too.
The crux of the matter dates back to his battle with Jose Mourinho at the back end of 2012. Dropped for "purely technical" reasons for a game at Malaga in December, one Madrid lost 3-2, the Spanish press went into frenzy and most backed their country's star man. A seemingly fateful red card for Antonio Adan, his successor, in the following match had Casillas back in the starting 11, but a hand injury resulted in Diego Lopez being signed to take the starting mantle on a weekly basis.
Casillas kept a brave and gentlemanly face on while he sat on the bench, but rumours surfaced that he was leaking stories surrounding Mourinho to the press. Reports suggested he and Sergio Ramos went to president Florentino Perez to demand Mourinho's departure or they would that summer. Ironically, it looks like both could be on their way out this summer, but back then it started a battle between those supporting Mourinho and those backing Casillas.
Things were never the same for Casillas at the Bernabeu after Jose Mourinho dropped him to the bench in December 2012.
Things didn't end well for Mourinho, but nor did they for Casillas, who remained on the bench, playing only as cup goalkeeper when Carlo Ancelotti took charge. His error in the Champions League final during the Italian's first year in charge was largely overlooked thanks to Madrid clinching La Decima, but his disastrous performance for Spain at the World Cup just weeks later was not.
Surprisingly, a return to the first team was forthcoming last season, but while he started the campaign well, errors and some sub-standard performances crept in which saw the whistles rear their ugly heads again. There was no escape and little backing, and not only did the whistles impact the performance of Casillas -- they impacted those around him. It was a vicious circle.
With news of his departure for the Estadio do Dragao came an outpouring of emotion from Madrid fans. The majority will be sad to see a player who has come to represent the 10-time European champions leave for pastures new, but some will say it is better late than never. For some, his legacy is tainted, and reports suggesting he has been trying to squeeze every last penny from "his" club before he leaves have not helped. Perhaps some of the hate directed his way over the last two years will subside on his departure and he will be welcomed back to the Bernabeu as the legend he should be in the future. Time is a healer, and the hope is that these wounds, however small, will heal.
The 34-year-old will leave after spending two thirds of his life representing the club he adores, but perhaps his departure has come a year too late. The stigma he accumulated this season is in contrast to the one he finished his penultimate campaign with. His third Champions League triumph masked the error that he committed in letting Diego Godin in for the opener before Ramos saved the day; it should have been a warning sign.
Xavi left on the back of a historic Treble with Barcelona, and Peter Schmeichel, the man Casillas looked up to as a blossoming goalkeeper, played his last game for Manchester United in the famous Champions League victory over Bayern Munich in 1999 -- a year before Casillas helped Madrid to glory in Paris against Valencia. Had the Spain international left last season, things may have been different.
Iker Casillas collected three Champions League titles in his time at Real Madrid.
His character has been wrongly pulled apart by a section of the Madrid support, but that is not to say the timing is not right to move on. Casillas needs a new club on a personal level, and he needs a new club to help Madrid let go and move on. The stigma surrounding him has not helped matters on or off the pitch, and a wiping clean of the slate will help Madrid progress. The sooner they can tie David De Gea down the better, but in the meantime, Keylor Navas may get his time on a temporary basis next season.
Casillas says he does not want to face Madrid if he moves on, but there is a good chance Porto could lock horns with Madrid in next season's Champions League. It remains to be seen how the Madridistas will treat the Mostoles man on his return. The expectation is that any return will be one full of emotional applause, but some may still hold a grudge.
For his errors over the last two years, Porto should still be getting themselves a quality goalkeeper. Question marks remain over his abilities from set pieces and his concentration, but Casillas has been playing under a kind of pressure he has not been used to in recent seasons. Within the goldfish bowl that is life at Madrid, he has made some important saves and will be playing with a greater freedom in Portugal, one that should help and not hinder him.
His bio on the official club website reads: "Iker Casillas and Real Madrid are one and the same thing." As a player, he should be remembered as a Madrid legend alongside the club's other greats. The arguments, right or wrong, for any disruption on and off the pitch over the last two-and-a-half years should be put aside for the 23 years that came before. Casillas has been part of Madrid's unrivalled history, and Madridistas should be thankful for that. His departure marks the end of an era that still has another chapter to run in Portugal.
In-coming Super Eagles coach, Sunday Oliseh has said he is comfortable to be paid the same salary N5million (more than $21,000) a month his predecessor Stephen Keshi earned.
Oliseh
Oliseh is due to fly into Abuja on Tuesday evening and hours later meet with the NFF technical committee headed by Felix Anyansi-Agwu.
“Oliseh is ready to earn the same pay Keshi was on. This again shows he is ready to serve his fatherland and money is not what is driving him.
This is another good sign with the decision to give him the job without much fanfare,” a top official said.
The NFF have confirmed Oliseh, 40, will replace Keshi and he will be handed a five-year contract.
Chics with substance are going to come back in style soon. We aren't out of style, just currently outnumbered...#thecomeback. "Style with Maureen" is here to make that happen. It's a YouTube channel to help you to be more stylish & creative with some of the piece you have in your wardrobe. Style is never right or wrong. It's a matter of being yourself "on purpose".
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There will always be a post for everyone irrespective of the age, status, profession etc...something new, fun & exciting to learn everyweek.
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