INTERNATIONAL NEWS SERVICE
01- Truck-bus collision kills 10 in S. India
NEW DELHI, July 15 : (Xinhua) --At least 10
people were killed and 23 others injured when a passenger bus collided with a
steel laden truck in southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu, police said
Saturday.The accident took place on an overbridge in Vallam town in Thanjavur
district, 373 km south of Chennai, thecapital city of Tamil Nadu.
"Last evening a truck collied with
passenger bus in Thanjavur killing 10 people and injuring 23 others," a
police official said, "The steel rods pierced some of the bus
passengers." The state-run passenger bus was carrying around 60 local
passengers on an inter-district route.
The deceased include eight passengers and
drivers of the two ill-fated vehicles. "The injured people have been
admitted to Thanjavur medical college hospital," health officials
said.Police said they were ascertaining the cause of the accident.
"We are trying to ascertain the actual
cause of the accident but preliminary investigations point out at over
speeding," police said.
The local government has expressed grief over
the accident and announced a monetary relief for killed and injured in the
mishap.Deadly road accidents are common in India often caused due to
overloading, bad condition of roads and reckless driving.
India's ministry of road transport in 2015 said
146,133 people were killed and 500,279 others injured in 501,423 road accidents
across the country.Global Road Safety Report 2015 released by WHO last year
however said India accounts for more than 200,000 deaths annually due to road
accidents. Enditem
---------
02- Families,
friends bid farewell to Liu Xiaobo
SHENYANG, July 15 : (Xinhua) -- Family members
and friends of Liu Xiaobo on Saturday bid him farewell in northeast China's
Shenyang city, according to a press conference held by the information office
of Shenyang.
Liu, convicted of subversion of state power in
2009, died of multiple organ failure due to liver cancer Thursday after medical
treatment failed, according to the justice bureau of Shenyang city, Liaoning
Province. He was 61.
Liu's body was cremated Saturday morning in
accordance with the will of his family members and local customs. Prior to the
cremation, a simple ceremony was held with the attendance of Liu's wife Liu Xia
and his friends.
---------
03- Turkey
dismisses over 7,000 police, soldiers, ministry officials: report
ISTANBUL, July 15 : (AFP) - Turkey dismissed
more than 7,000 police, soldiers and ministry officials under a new decree
published Friday under a state of emergency imposed after last year's failed
coup, state media reported.
A total of 7,563 people -- including police --
have been dismissed in the latest purge, the Anadolu news agency
reported.Turkish authorities also stripped 342 retired army personnel of their
rank, Anadolu said.
-: 2 :-
Earlier, Hurriyet daily reported that 7,348
people including 2,303 police -- were dismissed in total.The new decree came a
day before Turkey marks the first anniversary of a military-led bid to seize
power from President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
Turkey blamed the failed putsch on US-based
Muslim preacher Fethullah Gulen, who denies the accusations, and vowed to root
out his "virus" from state institutions.Since then some 50,000 people
have been arrested and over 100,000 fired or suspended from their jobs.
-------
04- Leader
of Afghan IS branch killed in US raid: Pentagon
WASHINGTON, July 15 : (AFP) - US forces have
killed the leader of the Islamic State group's Afghanistan branch in a raid in
the northeastern province of Kunar, the Pentagon said Friday.
"US forces killed Abu Sayed, the emir of
Islamic State of Iraq and Syria -- Khorasan Province (ISIS-K) -- in a strike on
the group's headquarters in Kunar Province, Afghanistan, July 11,"
Pentagon spokeswoman Dana White said in a statement."The raid also killed
other ISIS-K members and will significantly disrupt the terror group's plans to
expand its presence in Afghanistan."
--------
05- Gulen
blasts 'despicable' 2016 Turkey coup bid, subsequent 'witch hunt'
WASHINGTON, July 15 : (AFP) - US-based Muslim
cleric Fethullah Gulen, the man blamed by Turkey for a failed coup attempt a
year ago, on Friday again denied any involvement in what he called a
"despicable putsch," and called on Ankara to end its "witch
hunt" of his followers.
"Accusations against me related to the
coup attempt are baseless, politically motivated slanders," Gulen, who
lives at a compound in rural Pennsylvania, said in a statement.
"I reiterate my condemnation of the
despicable putsch and its perpetrators," he said, while decrying a
government "witch hunt to weed out anyone it deems disloyal to President
Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his regime."
Gulen's statement came a day before Turkey
marks the first anniversary of a military-led bid to seize power from
Erdogan.Some 50,000 people have been arrested and over 100,000 fired or
suspended from their jobs as Erdogan seeks to clean house.
--------
06- Chinese
Confucius museum to house over 700,000 relics
JINAN, July 15 : (Xinhua) -- A Confucius museum
under construction in the hometown of the ancient Chinese educator will be home
to more than 700,000 relics, including well-known Confucius family documents,
sources with the museum said Saturday.
A display plan of the museum, which is expected
to open in the second half of 2018, was finalized following a meeting in Qufu
City of Shandong Province earlier this month, following eight years of
discussion.The major museum complex in Qufu consists of a 11,000-square-meter
display area, 7,000 square meters of warehouses and a 1,000-square-meter
cultural heritage restoration center, according to deputy curator Yang Jinquan.
-: 3 :-
The items to be displayed on rotation include
more than 300,000 documents of the Confucius family from the Ming Dynasty
(1368-1644) to 1948, which contain details of the family history during feudal
times.In addition, there will be more than 40,000 books dating back as early as
the Song Dynasty (960-1279) and over 8,000 pieces of clothing and accessories
from the Ming and Qing dynasties.
Confucius (551-479 BC), an educator and
philosopher, founded Confucianism, a school of thought that deeply influenced
later Chinese generations. He was also the first Chinese person to set up
private schools and enroll students from all walks of life. Enditem
--------
07- Iraq celebrates victory over IS militants with
military parade in Baghdad
BAGHDAD,
July 15 : (Xinhua) -- Iraq's military on Saturday paraded in Baghdad Green Zone
to celebrate the landmark victory over the Islamic State (IS) group in Mosul,
the Iraqi government said.
The parade was held in early morning at the
Celebrations Square in the heavily fortified Green Zone, which houses the main
government offices and foreign embassies, a brief statement by the office of
Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi said on its website.
The parade was attended by Abadi, who is the
Commander-in-Chief of Iraqi forces, and top officers from the ministries of
defense and interior, as well as leaders of the government-backed paramilitary
Hashd Shaabi units, the statement said.
According to a security source, the parade was
held in the morning hours to avoid the scorching weather of Iraq's summer as
temperatures could reach to 50 degrees Celsius at midday.
Most of the local and international media were
not invited to cover the parade for security reasons, the source anonymously
told Xinhua.This came after Abadi on July 10 formally declared Mosul liberated
from IS after nearly nine months of fierce fighting to dislodge the extremist
militants from their last major stronghold in Iraq. Enditem
-------
08- Libya's
oil revenues unable to cover salaries for 2017: central bank
TRIPOLI, July 15 : (Xinhua) -- Libya's central
bank predicted Thursday that this year's oil and gas revenues will not cover
the salaries of government employees.
"The total income expected from oil and
gas exports in 2017 is 16.6 billion dinars (11.9 billion USD). However, this
sum does not cover the salaries for the year 2017, estimated at 21 billion
dinars (15.1 billion USD)," the bank stated.
The bank says it is cooperating with a number
of government bodies and experts "to develop a comprehensive economic
reform program for financial, trade and monetary policies," according to
the statement.Libya has been suffering a financial and economic crisis for years
due to a reduction of oil revenues since the closure of major oil ports by
armed militias.
-: 4 :-
The militias have now been expelled and current
oil production has been increased to one million barrels per day since military
commander Khalifa Haftar's forces took over the oil ports last year. Enditem
---------
09- Families,
friends bid farewell to Liu Xiaobo
SHENYANG, July 15 : (Xinhua) -- Family members
and friends of Liu Xiaobo on Saturday bid him farewell in northeast China's
Shenyang city, according to a press conference held by the information office
of Shenyang.
Liu, convicted of subversion of state power in
2009, died of multiple organ failure due to liver cancer Thursday after medical
treatment failed, according to the justice bureau of Shenyang city, Liaoning
Province. He was 61. Liu's body was cremated Saturday morning in accordance
with the will of his family members and local customs. Prior to the cremation,
a simple ceremony was held with the attendance of Liu's wife Liu Xia and his
friends. Enditem
--------
10- Turkey
dismisses over 7,000 police, soldiers, ministry officials: report
ISTANBUL, July 15 : (AFP) - Turkey dismissed
more than 7,000 police, soldiers and ministry officials under a new decree
published Friday under a state of emergency imposed after last year's failed
coup, state media reported.A total of 7,563 people -- including police -- have
been dismissed in the latest purge, the Anadolu news agency reported.
Turkish authorities also stripped 342 retired
army personnel of their rank, Anadolu said. Earlier, Hurriyet daily reported
that 7,348 people including 2,303 police -- were dismissed in total.The new
decree came a day before Turkey marks the first anniversary of a military-led
bid to seize power from President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
Turkey blamed the failed putsch on US-based
Muslim preacher Fethullah Gulen, who denies the accusations, and vowed to root
out his "virus" from state institutions.Since then some 50,000 people
have been arrested and over 100,000 fired or suspended from their jobs.
---------
11- Leader
of Afghan IS branch killed in US raid: Pentagon
WASHINGTON, July 15 : (AFP) - US forces have
killed the leader of the Islamic State group's Afghanistan branch in a raid in
the northeastern province of Kunar, the Pentagon said Friday.
"US forces killed Abu Sayed, the emir of
Islamic State of Iraq and Syria -- Khorasan Province (ISIS-K) -- in a strike on
the group's headquarters in Kunar Province, Afghanistan, July 11,"
Pentagon spokeswoman Dana White said in a statement."The raid also killed
other ISIS-K members and will significantly disrupt the terror group's plans to
expand its presence in Afghanistan."
--------
12- Gulen
blasts 'despicable' 2016 Turkey coup bid, subsequent 'witch hunt'
WASHINGTON, July 15 : (AFP) - US-based Muslim
cleric Fethullah Gulen, the man blamed by Turkey for a failed coup attempt a
year ago, on Friday again denied any involvement in what he called a
"despicable putsch," and called on Ankara to end its "witch
hunt" of his followers.
-: 5 :-
"Accusations against me related to the
coup attempt are baseless, politically motivated slanders," Gulen, who
lives at a compound in rural Pennsylvania, said in a statement.
"I reiterate my condemnation of the
despicable putsch and its perpetrators," he said, while decrying a
government "witch hunt to weed out anyone it deems disloyal to President
Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his regime."
Gulen's
statement came a day before Turkey marks the first anniversary of a
military-led bid to seize power from Erdogan.Some 50,000 people have been
arrested and over 100,000 fired or suspended from their jobs as Erdogan seeks
to clean house.
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