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Total 100 articles, created at 2016-07-07 18:02 1 Blair defends Iraq war after damning inquiry report

(1.20/2) Former British prime minister Tony Blair on Wednesday defended his case for going to war in Iraq, after a long-awaited report found the 2003 invasion was based on flawed evidence and woefully executed. 2016-07-07 18:01 4KB www.timeslive.co.za 2 FBI director to face Republican fire over Clinton email probe

(1.02/2) Republicans will get their first chance to grill FBI Director James Comey when he appears before Congress on Thursday to explain his decision not to recommend criminal charges against Democrat Hillary Clinton over her use of private email servers. 2016-07-07 18:01 4KB www.timeslive.co.za 3 Speak up on Zimbabwe unrest‚ DA urges ANC government

(1.00/2) The Democratic Alliance has called on President Jacob Zuma and Minister of International Relations and Cooperation Maite Nkoane- Mashabane‚ to break their silence and condemn the atrocities currently being carried out in Zimbabwe. 2016-07-07 18:01 2KB www.timeslive.co.za 4 British military equipment ‘wholly inadequate’ in Iraq, says Chilcot — RT UK (0.08/2) Equipment shortages and logistical failures helped to doom Britain’s war effort in Iraq by leaving troops with “wholly inadequate” kit, the Chilcot Inquiry has found. 2016-07-07 18:01 2KB www.rt.com 5 Blair pledges ‘no excuses’ for Iraq, then spends 2hrs making excuses — RT UK (0.04/2) Tony Blair has taken responsibility for the Iraq War but refused to accept that Britain’s toppling of Saddam Hussein could have anything to do with spreading instability in the region. 2016-07-07 18:01 2KB www.rt.com 6 AKA gushes over Bonang on New York's Sway In The Morning

(0.02/2) Hip-hop sensation AKA gave fans a glimpse into his romantic side when he spilled the beans on his romance with Bonang Matheba during a guest appearance on popular US hip-hop morning show, Sway In The Morning, on Wednesday. 2016-07-07 18:01 2KB www.timeslive.co.za

7 Italy’s wealthiest region urges lifting of sanctions — RT News (0.01/2) The legislative assembly of Italy’s most populated and richest province, Lombardy, has passed a resolution urging the lifting of anti-Russia sanctions and recognition of Crimea’s right to self- determination. 2016-07-07 18:00 4KB www.rt.com 8 Video footage, dispatch tape from Alton Sterling police shooting released (GRAPHIC) — (0.01/2) RT America “Shots fired, shots fired!” one of the Baton Rouge police officers who shot and killed Alton Sterling can be heard telling dispatchers in a recording. Meanwhile, newly released cellphone video shows that Sterling never had a gun in his hand during the fatal encounter. 2016-07-07 18:00 4KB www.rt.com 9 FBI recommends no charges against Clinton, but Snowden & others didn’t get off so (0.01/2) easy — RT America Hillary Clinton was called “extremely careless” in handling classified information by the director of the FBI, who recommended no charges be brought against her – an easy ride compared to what and even David Petraeus faced. 2016-07-07 18:00 5KB www.rt.com 10 Clinton campaigns with official POTUS seal — RT America (0.01/2) The internet has erupted after President Obama provided Hillary Clinton with more than just a warm-up speech at a campaign stop in Charlotte, North Carolina. She was welcomed to use the Seal of the President of the United States, which many found objectionable. 2016-07-07 18:00 1KB www.rt.com 11 Portugal beats 2-0 to reach Euro 2016 final — RT Sport (0.01/2) Portugal defeated Wales 2-0 in their Euro 2016 semi-final in Lyon thanks to second-half goals from Cristiano Ronaldo and Nani, sending the side into the final in Paris on Sunday. The result ends Wales’ fairytale run in the tournament. 2016-07-07 18:00 2KB www.rt.com 12 'Infringement on free speech': KKK Adopt- A-Highway lawsuit goes to trial — RT America The free speech rights of the Ku Klux Klan were violated when the Georgia Department of Transportation denied the white supremacist group's request to participate in a highway cleanup program, the state’s highest court has ruled. 2016-07-07 18:00 2KB www.rt.com 13 Pentagon nurses take ‘zombie pandemic’ course to train for real life outbreaks — RT America The US Department of Defense is using an animated online course about a zombie pandemic to teach active-duty military nurses about population health. There are actual Pentagon guidelines for a zombie outbreak as well. Do they know something we don’t? 2016-07-07 18:00 3KB www.rt.com 14 Background check data confirms typical US response to mass shooting The FBI conducted more than 2.1 million background checks for firearm purchases in June, about a 40 percent increase on the same month last year. If the current pace keeps up, 2016 is set to be a banner year for background checks. 2016-07-07 18:00 4KB www.rt.com 15 Hillary Clinton announces Sanders-like plan for free college education — RT America Hillary Clinton has proposed a plan to eliminate college tuition at public universities for families earning under $125,000 a year. The presidential candidate is taking a cue from rival Bernie Sanders, who made free college a central part of his campaign. 2016-07-07 18:00 2KB www.rt.com 16 FSB searches Russia’s leading opposition radio station over ‘hate speech’ article — RT News A squadron of investigators from Russia’s security agency FSB confiscated disks containing communication between the radio news station Ekho Moskvy, and one of its guest columnists, who has been charged with inciting racial hatred. 2016-07-07 18:00 2KB www.rt.com 17 German activist says she lied to police about sex assault perpetrators to avoid ‘racial hatred' — RT News A German left wing youth movement activist admitted that she lied to police about a sexual assault and concealed the ethnicity of her attackers out of fear of provoking “more hatred” against refugees. 2016-07-07 18:00 4KB www.rt.com

18 ‘Severe and pervasive’: Fox News CEO accused of sexual harassment by ex-host — RT America Former Fox News host Gretchen Carlson has accused the company’s chief executive Roger Ailes of sexual harassment and retaliation, saying she was penalized after refusing to sleep with Ailes and reporting “disparaging treatment in the newsroom.” 2016-07-07 18:00 3KB www.rt.com 19 Freddie Gray case: Highest-ranking officer charged opts for bench trial — RT America Like the two previous Baltimore police officers tried and acquitted before him, Lieutenant Brian Rice has chosen a bench trial rather than a jury trial over charges he faces related to the death of Freddie Gray. 2016-07-07 18:00 4KB www.rt.com 20 Mumford & Sons boycott Swedish festival over sexual assault reports — RT Viral Folk-rock band Mumford & Sons have said they will no longer play at Bravalla music festival in Sweden, after a “disgustingly high” number of sexual assaults were reported at the event. 2016-07-07 18:00 2KB www.rt.com 21 Box of Haribo & sausages spark bomb scare, controlled explosion in City of London — RT UK The City of London was partially sealed off Tuesday, with police carrying out a controlled explosion on a suspicious package, which eventually turned out to be just a box of Haribo sweets, along with some other food. 2016-07-07 18:00 1KB www.rt.com 22 Chicago’s blood-soaked Independence Day: 62 injured, 4 killed — RT America Chicago was the scene of more than 60 shootings on what was an Independence Day of deadly gun violence across the city. 2016-07-07 18:00 2KB www.rt.com 23 New Apple update will push iPhone users to become organ donors — RT America Apple are encouraging US iPhone users to become organ donors with their next software update in an effort to reduce America’s longstanding donor shortage. 2016-07-07 18:00 1KB www.rt.com 24 Leave your laptop in the bag: TSA to use CT scanner for carry-ons — RT America Seeking to speed up security lines at US airports, TSA is turning to automation. Computers are going to scan carry-on luggage at one Arizona airport, while several major airports around the country will be outfitted with “smart” bins, the agency has said. 2016-07-07 18:00 3KB www.rt.com

25 Kiev’s new nuclear project puts Europe at risk, Greens warn — RT News The construction of a spent nuclear fuel storage facility in Ukraine poses “significant safety risks for the whole of Europe” because of numerous rule and standards violations, Ukrainian environmentalists warn. 2016-07-07 18:01 3KB www.rt.com 26 Former Army National Guardsman arrested for trying to support Islamic State — RT America A former member of the Army National Guard has been arrested and charged in federal court with offering material support to jihadist group Islamic State. 2016-07-07 18:01 3KB www.rt.com 27 Niiice! Totally Borat moment in Kazakhstan as fiancée proves strength by carrying fridge (VIDEO) — RT Viral 'This is my soon-to-be wife. She's very niiice. So niiice that she carries refrigerator hanging out of car while I driiive it.' 2016-07-07 18:01 1KB www.rt.com 28 Pac-Man for scientists: Micro-organisms unleashed into videogame-style maze (VIDEO) — RT Viral A group of Norwegian scientists have taken inspiration from ’80s cult videogame Pac-Man to create an epic real life version of the computerized maze, involving predatory microorganisms hunting its weaker counterparts. 2016-07-07 18:01 2KB www.rt.com 29 Russia and US agree on closer military cooperation in Syria, after Putin calls Obama — RT News The Kremlin says that both Russia and the US are ready to better coordinate efforts to eliminate radical Islamists in Syria, following a telephone conversation initiated by the Russian leader. 2016-07-07 18:01 2KB www.rt.com 30 Cleveland boys arrested with BB guns ordered to write about slaying of Tamir Rice — RT America Two boys arrested in February for playing with BB guns in a Cleveland, Ohio park were ordered by a judge to write essays on how their case compared to that of Tamir Rice, a 12-year-old fatally shot by police in 2014 while playing with a replica gun. 2016-07-07 18:01 3KB www.rt.com 31 Major difference in cases of Oscar and ‘Jub Jub’ The cases of Paralympian Oscar Pistorius and rapper Molemo “Jub Jub” Maarohanye are only similar in that people died. 2016-07-07 18:01 3KB www.timeslive.co.za 32 Seagal v Lundgren finally happening – tell us your favorite film showdown (POLL) — RT Viral The wishes of film geeks everywhere were answered with the news that Dolph Lundgren and Steven Seagal are set to go head to head in Deadly Arsenal. Will it be terrible? Probably. But that hasn’t stopped us reminiscing about our favorite movie showdowns. 2016-07-07 18:01 1KB www.rt.com 33 Russia reaffirms commitment to cooperate with Dutch MH17 crash investigators — RT News Russia has reaffirmed its commitment to efficient and swift cooperation with the Netherlands in the probe into the MH17 plane crash during a meeting with Dutch investigators in . 2016-07-07 18:01 3KB www.rt.com 34 Protect our schools and universities‚ Nzimande urges youth SACP general secretary has urged the country’s youth not to destroy the country’s institutions of learning. 2016-07-07 18:01 967Bytes www.timeslive.co.za 35 Whistleblower Manning rushed to hospital, reports claim attempted suicide — RT America Imprisoned whistleblower Chelsea Manning was taken to a hospital in Fort Leavenworth, Kansas after reportedly attempting suicide in the maximum-security military penitentiary, where she is serving a 35-year sentence for leaking classified documents. 2016-07-07 18:01 2KB www.rt.com 36 Drone shows terrible impact of Baghdad blast that killed 250 (VIDEO) — RT News Aerial footage has emerged of the site of the deadliest terrorist strike in the Iraqi capital since 2007. The death toll from the Islamic State attack is nearing 250 and anger is growing over the government’s inability to provide security even near its own buildings. 2016-07-07 18:01 2KB www.rt.com

37 ‘Bregret’? Wales changes mind about leaving EU, poll finds — RT UK It’s too little, too late, but Welsh voters now back remaining in the European Union, according to a poll. 2016-07-07 18:01 2KB www.rt.com 38 Corruption under ANC now pervades every level of government: Buthelezi Over the years the ANC had let corruption seep into governance so that it now pervaded every level of government‚ IFP leader said on Sunday. 2016-07-07 18:01 2KB www.timeslive.co.za 39 UK police commit 2,300 data breaches in 4.5yrs Some 800 UK police staff were responsible for more than 2,300 breaches of personal data between 2011 and 2015, a damning report by privacy rights group Big Brother Watch has revealed. 2016-07-07 18:01 2KB www.rt.com 40 British spies gave faulty intelligence on Iraq, then quietly withdrew it The Chilcot report into Britain’s invasion of Iraq is highly critical of the UK intelligence services, saying it provided “flawed” information about Saddam Hussein’s alleged weapons of mass destruction (WMD). 2016-07-07 18:01 3KB www.rt.com 41 Five killed in suspected politically- motivated violence in KZN Five people‚ including an ANC councillor candidate‚ have been killed in suspected politically-motivated violence in Kwazulu-Natal. 2016-07-07 18:01 2KB www.timeslive.co.za 42 Robots to replace soldiers in future, says Russian military’s tech chief — RT News Future warfare will see sophisticated combat robots fighting on land, in the air, at sea and in outer space, the head of Russia’s military hi-tech body has said, adding that the days of conventional soldiers on the battlefield are numbered. 2016-07-07 18:01 2KB www.rt.com 43 Priests to intervene in Mall of Africa taxi war MEC of Transport Ismail Vadi has turned to priests in his bid to bring an end to the taxi war at the Mall of Africa in Midrand. 2016-07-07 18:01 2KB www.timeslive.co.za 44 Polokwane City appoint Belgian Luc Eymael as new head coach Polokwane City have appointed Belgian coach Luc Eymael to lead the team in the 2016/17 season. 2016-07-07 18:01 889Bytes www.timeslive.co.za 45 ANC turns down parliamentary meeting to discuss SABC chaos The ANC has denied a request by the Democratic Alliance for an Unusual Meeting of Parliament’s Portfolio Committee of Communications to discuss the chaos at the SABC‚ the DA said on Sunday. 2016-07-07 18:01 2KB www.timeslive.co.za 46 New Kaizer Chiefs signings nothing like embarrassing duds of previous season Kaizer Chiefs’ eight signings announced so far ahead of the coming season have surpassed the string of embarrassing duds paraded by football manager Bobby Motaung in June last year who failed so miserably in a poor 2015-16 campaign. 2016-07-07 18:01 6KB www.timeslive.co.za 47 US to leave 8,400 troops in Afghanistan into 2017, 35 percent more than expected — RT America The United States will leave more troops in Afghanistan at the end of the year than previously announced, President Barack Obama said. 2016-07-07 18:01 2KB www.rt.com 48 Madrid allows nude bathing in public pools to 'educate & transmit Western values' — RT Viral Madrid authorities have given the green light for a ‘No Swimsuit Day’ in the capital’s municipal pools, at the request of a local nudist organization which claims that going naked in public is a chance to “educate and transmit Western values.” 2016-07-07 18:01 2KB www.rt.com 49 Italian 'zombie' banks put EU financial system at risk — RT Business Experts are warning the banking crisis in Italy may spread to Europe as the rules restricting state aid to major banks need to be reviewed. 2016-07-07 18:01 1KB www.rt.com 50 Moscow mayor orders direct video monitoring of forthcoming Duma elections — RT Russian politics Moscow Mayor Sergey Sobyanin has ordered direct video broadcasts to be organized for all of the city’s polling stations during the September parliamentary elections. 2016-07-07 18:01 2KB www.rt.com 51 Q & A with departing grafter Werner Kruger After 133 and 119 games‚ Bulls tighthead prop Werner “Werries” Kruger will run out of the Loftus Versfeld tunnel for the last time when the home side entertains the Sunwolves on Saturday. 2016-07-07 18:01 5KB www.timeslive.co.za 52 Zuma’s pals can’t stop corruption: Msimanga President Jacob Zuma’s pals can’t stop corruption because the ANC cannot operate without it‚ the Democratic Alliance’s mayoral candidate for Tshwane‚ ‚ charged on Saturday. 2016-07-07 18:01 2KB www.timeslive.co.za 53 Two senior NFP leaders resign President Zanele kaMagwaza-Msibi has accepted the resignation of two senior leaders. 2016-07-07 18:01 1KB www.timeslive.co.za 54 SA A cricket tour goes ahead despite Zimbabwe protests SA A have taken unusual security precautions for their tour to Zimbabwe‚ where protests over unpaid salaries‚ lack of job opportunities and police corruption have burgeoned into a nationwide stay away. 2016-07-07 18:01 2KB www.timeslive.co.za 55 SABC banned coverage of EFF – Jimi Matthews Former South African Broadcasting Corporation acting CEO Jimi Matthews has confirmed that the public broadcaster banned coverage of the Economic Freedom Fighters ahead of the 2014 general elections. 2016-07-07 18:01 1KB www.timeslive.co.za 56 Siv Ngesi: Jub must be praying he was white and disabled Oscar Pistorius' six year prison sentence has sparked widespread debate and outrage on social media with users comparing his sentence to that of Molemo 'Jub Jub' Maarohanye. 2016-07-07 18:01 1KB www.timeslive.co.za

57 Three-decade study confirms saturated fats are bad for health Saturated fats in butter, lard and red meat raise the risk of early death, but replacing these with fats like olive oil can offer substantial health benefits, a three-decade study confirmed. 2016-07-07 18:01 3KB www.timeslive.co.za 58 Trump rejects criticism, vents at news media in campaign speech Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump on Wednesday rejected criticism of his campaign tactics, in a wide-ranging speech defending his team's use of a Jewish star and his own praise of the late Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein. 2016-07-07 18:01 2KB www.timeslive.co.za 59 make minimal changes in effort to maintain momentum Stormers coach kept changes in the squad to face in Perth on Saturday to a minimum in an effort to maintain the momentum his side gained with their record win in Melbourne last weekend. 2016-07-07 18:01 2KB www.timeslive.co.za 60 Russia warnings to Turkey & EU on suspected terrorists ignored – Kremlin — RT News Moscow has repeatedly warned Turkey and the EU that suspected terrorists are hiding on their territories, but both Ankara and Brussels largely ignored the calls, the Kremlin said, adding that a recent attack at Istanbul Airport may a cost of their disregard. 2016-07-07 18:01 3KB www.rt.com 61 Pikitup gets acting head as suspended MD Nair faces inquiry After serious allegations that prompted workers to go on an illegal strike‚ leaving an unhealthy stench in many parts of ‚ the Pikitup board has put its managing director MD Amanda Nair on special leave. 2016-07-07 18:01 2KB www.timeslive.co.za 62 This is where police seize the most bank card skimming devices in SA Gauteng is the province where most of the illegal electronic bank card and ATM skimming devices - used to defraud consumers - are being seized by police and banking security officials. 2016-07-07 18:01 3KB www.timeslive.co.za 63 Advert that angered Mandela’s grandson viewed '100,000 times' The Democratic Alliance (DA) on Tuesday boasted that its #VoteForChange election advert “received more than 100 000 views across Facebook and YouTube” in two days. 2016-07-07 18:01 2KB www.timeslive.co.za 64 Spaza owner in court over 'witchcraft' coins Mpumalanga police are investigating a case involving a sangoma who accused a spaza shop owner of refusing to sell her airtime because her money was part of witchcraft. 2016-07-07 18:01 1KB www.timeslive.co.za 65 Germany can draw on rout to offset France home advantage In the history of football there has been no more devastating nullification of supposed home advantage than Germany's 7-1 humbling of Brazil in the 2014 World Cup semi-finals, so playing France in Marseille holds no fears for the world champions. 2016-07-07 18:01 2KB www.timeslive.co.za 66 Militants hit oil facilities in Southern The Niger Delta Avengers militant group on Thursday said it attacked more oil infrastructure in southern Nigeria, ignoring a call for unity from President Muhammadu Buhari. 2016-07-07 18:01 2KB www.timeslive.co.za 67 Italy recovers 217 bodies from hull of 2015 migrant shipwreck Italian emergency workers have recovered 217 bodies from the wreck of a boat that sank in the Mediterranean in April 2015, killing some 500 migrants, the Navy said on Thursday. 2016-07-07 18:01 2KB www.timeslive.co.za 68 Cope slams ANC’s ‘mutists of Parliament’ for silence on SABC censorship The Congress of the People (Cope) labelled ruling party members of Parliament as “mutists” for their “deathly silence…regarding the destructive censorship of the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC)”. 2016-07-07 18:01 2KB www.timeslive.co.za 69 Wendy Williams faces backlash for remarks on black organisations While many people were deeply moved by Jesse Williams' speech at the BET awards late last month, which poignantly addressed police brutality, cultural appropriation, and institutional racism - Wendy Williams wasn't one of them. 2016-07-07 18:01 2KB www.timeslive.co.za

70 India's Modi seeks to drum up business in African tour Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday kicked off a four-nation tour of Africa, as India scrambles to catch up with its Asian rival China's strong presence on the continent. 2016-07-07 18:01 3KB www.timeslive.co.za 71 Expert takes stand as M1 bridge collapse inquiry resumes An expert witness has been called by construction firm Murray & Roberts to explain the material failure that led to the fatal M1 bridge collapse in Sandton last year. 2016-07-07 18:01 2KB www.timeslive.co.za 72 MasterCard faces £19bn lawsuit in UK over claims it ripped off shoppers — RT Business For 16 years the leading global payments company MasterCard has been imposing unlawfully high interchange fees for using its cards in shops, according to UK’s former financial services ombudsman Walter Merricks. 2016-07-07 18:01 2KB www.rt.com 73 Mother of Brit accused of trying to kill Trump fears for son in prison — RT UK The mother of Michael Sandford, who was arrested after reportedly trying to grab a police officer’s gun and shoot Donald Trump at a rally for the Republican presidential nominee, says she fears her son will attempt suicide if he’s sent to prison. 2016-07-07 18:01 2KB www.rt.com 74 Banyana arrive in Chicago for toughest assignment of their lives The toughest assignment in the history of ’s women’s national team lies in wait in Chicago on Saturday (kick off 7pm South African time) in a friendly international against the world champion United States‚ who have long dominated the women’s game. 2016-07-07 18:01 2KB www.timeslive.co.za 75 Britain's FTSE 100 one of world's best performing stock markets since Brexit vote — RT Business Despite the fear campaign surrounding the UK leaving the European Union, London's premier exchange has been the best performer among the world's major stock markets. 2016-07-07 18:01 1KB www.rt.com

76 Merkel says Russia key to European security but defends NATO buildup — RT News European security can only be ensured with, not in defiance of, Russia, the German chancellor told MPs ahead of the NATO summit in Warsaw. Merkel claimed the bloc’s Eastern European build-up near Russian borders was of a "defensive nature. " 2016-07-07 18:01 3KB www.rt.com 77 WATCH: Gigi Lamayne and Moneoa feature in UN global campaign Local musicians Gigi Lamayne and Moneoa have joined female entertainers from across the world in a UN campaign for women's rights. 2016-07-07 18:01 2KB www.timeslive.co.za 78 Somizi humbled by support for reality show Somizi's reality show Living The Dream With Somizi came to an end on Wednesday night after giving a fans a glimpse into his flamboyant life for the past two months. 2016-07-07 18:01 1KB www.timeslive.co.za 79 US House speaker formally requests that Clinton be barred from classified data — RT America Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton must be denied access to classified information during her election campaign, Republican House Speaker Paul Ryan said in a written request to Director of National Intelligence James Clapper. 2016-07-07 18:01 2KB www.rt.com 80 Simba Mhere was still alive after car crash, says pathologist Preshalin Naidoo, the man accused of causing the death of Top Billing presenter Simba Mhere, was travelling at a high speed, the Randburg Magistrate's Court heard on Thursday. 2016-07-07 18:01 928Bytes www.timeslive.co.za 81 Hlaudi Motsoeneng 'is abusing his power’: Vavi South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) chief operating officer Hlaudi Motsoeneng has not been appointed as a mother or father to decide for the public what is true and what is not true for the nation to see. 2016-07-07 18:01 2KB www.timeslive.co.za 82 South Africans aren’t as boozy as Presidency says we are South Africans aren’t as boozy as a Presidency statement would have you believe they are. 2016-07-07 18:01 1KB www.timeslive.co.za

83 ‘Zuma must pay R63 million in fringe benefits tax for Nkandla’: DA President Jacob Zuma “must personally pay R 63.9-million in fringe benefits tax” for upgrades to his Nkandla home‚ the Democratic Alliance (DA) said on Thursday. 2016-07-07 18:01 2KB www.timeslive.co.za 84 National Freedom Party out of the elections after losing last gasp bid The National Freedom Party (NFP) will not contest the local government elections in August‚ throwing the party’s survival into doubt. 2016-07-07 18:01 2KB www.timeslive.co.za 85 'I wanted to be like my dad when I grew up' Just like his father‚ Nicholas Olivier‚ 23‚ from Kuils River in ‚ dreamed of becoming a traffic officer. And now he can make his father proud on the beat. 2016-07-07 18:01 2KB www.timeslive.co.za 86 Kerry in Ukraine to reaffirm support in face of Russia threat US Secretary of State John Kerry meets Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko on Thursday to reaffirm support for Kiev's fight against pro-Russian insurgents and its bid to anchor its ties to the West. 2016-07-07 18:01 4KB www.timeslive.co.za 87 Crunch meeting with Orlando Pirates chairman will decide Teboho Moloi's future Orlando Pirates assistant coach Teboho Moloi is still officially on the three months leave he was granted by the club and is due to have a meeting with chairman Irvin Khoza on his return in the next two weeks. 2016-07-07 18:01 2KB www.timeslive.co.za 88 Shock & anger as world reacts to black man's killing by police — RT America A day after #AltonSterling trended on Twitter, another black man shot dead by police has taken his place. 2016-07-07 18:01 1KB www.rt.com 89 Bangladesh reels from new deadly attack at start of Eid Suspected Islamists carried out a new deadly attack Thursday at a huge prayer gathering in northern Bangladesh to celebrate the end of Ramadan, only days after the mass murder of hostages in the capital Dhaka. 2016-07-07 18:01 3KB www.timeslive.co.za

90 Syrian rebels lose ISIS battle after being abandoned by US jets – report — RT News A US-trained Syrian rebel unit was reportedly defeated and forced to flee by Islamic State during a desert battle near the town of Bukamal, after American jets abandoned them at a critical moment to bomb another target in neighboring Iraq. 2016-07-07 18:01 3KB www.rt.com 91 The Valke teenage player dies The Valke under-18 team will only take 22 players to Craven Week in next week after the tragic death of lock Jean-Jireh Yamwimbi on Tuesday. 2016-07-07 18:01 1KB www.timeslive.co.za 92 'We weren't really effective' in , admits ANC's Ehrenreich The leader of the opposition in the Cape Town City Council and the province's Cosatu secretary, Tony Ehrenreich, has conceded that he led an ineffective opposition in the council. 2016-07-07 18:01 2KB www.timeslive.co.za 93 Lack of Parliament antics sees EFF’s media profile dip: survey The African National Congress (ANC) saw an uptick in its media profile‚ but for the wrong reason. 2016-07-07 18:01 2KB www.timeslive.co.za 94 Coup defeated? Labour rebels back down fearing party split as Corbyn refuses to go Labour MPs opposed to Jeremy Corbyn have reportedly conceded the embattled Labour leader cannot be removed after lengthy negotiations between the party’s deputy leader Tom Watson and union officials failed to resolve the conflict. 2016-07-07 18:01 2KB www.rt.com 95 Briton who sought to 'shoot' Trump pleads not guilty A British man pleaded not guilty on Wednesday to charges linked to his arrest at a Donald Trump rally during which he tried to snatch a policeman's gun. 2016-07-07 18:01 2KB www.timeslive.co.za 96 Ukraine extends ban on Russian imports through 2017 — RT Business The Ukrainian government has prolonged the sanctions on Russian imports until December 31, 2017. 2016-07-07 18:01 2KB www.rt.com 97 600 tons of ballot papers to be printed: IEC Approximately 74-million ballot papers will be printed for the upcoming Local Government Elections. 2016-07-07 18:01 1KB www.timeslive.co.za 98 JPMorgan may move staff out of UK after Brexit, warns CEO — RT Business America’s largest bank JPMorgan Chase could move thousands of its staff from Britain if the country leaves the EU, according to Chief Executive Jamie Dimon. 2016-07-07 18:01 2KB www.rt.com 99 have something to talk about after sponsorship renewal The Sharks have endured a tough season both on and off the field‚ but on Wednesday there was a ray of light with the announcement that cellphone giant Cell C have renewed their sponsorship for a further three years. 2016-07-07 18:01 2KB www.timeslive.co.za 100 ‘Don’t infringe upon our sovereignty!’ China warns US ahead of South China Sea ruling — RT News China told the US not to take sides or infringe upon the “sovereignty and security” of Beijing on the eve of The Hague court’s ruling on the disputed islands in the South China Sea. 2016-07-07 18:01 3KB www.rt.com Articles

Total 100 articles, created at 2016-07-07 18:02

1 Blair defends Iraq war after damning inquiry report (1.20/2) The hugely anticipated Chilcot report offered a damning verdict on Britain's role in the US-led war, detailing the flawed intelligence, questionable legal basis and inadequate preparation for the occupation. Britain deployed troops before diplomatic options had been exhausted and at a time when "there was no imminent threat from Saddam Hussein", the Iraqi leader, the report found. It also highlighted how Blair wrote to US president George W. Bush in July 2002, the year before the invasion, saying: "I will be with you, whatever. " Blair mounted a passionate defence of his decisions in a two-hour press conference, telling reporters: "I believe we made the right decision and the world is better and safer". His voice cracking with emotion, Blair said he had "more sorrow, regret and apology than you may ever know or can believe" for mistakes in the planning of a war that deeply divided Britain. Anti-war protesters rallied in London as the report was released, shouting: "Blair lied, thousands died" and "war criminal Tony Blair". Newspaper front pages were scathing, with The Times describing it as "Blair's private war" and the Daily Mail calling the former prime minister: "A monster of delusion". Some 150,000 Iraqi people were killed in the six years after British and American troops invaded, plunging the country into chaos and creating fertile ground for jihadist groups like the Islamic State. In Iraq, still wracked by violence and reeling from a suicide bomb that killed at least 250 people in Baghdad this week, the findings counted for little. "The report... will not change anything -- all this is empty talk," said Zainab Hassan, aged 60. The war was justified at the time by claims that Saddam had weapons of mass destruction, but they were never found and the intelligence was later withdrawn. Inquiry chairman John Chilcot laid the blame for this firmly on spy chiefs, clearing Blair's officials of "improperly" influencing a key intelligence paper published in September 2002. "There were no lies, parliament and cabinet were not misled, there was no secret commitment to war. The intelligence was not falsified and the decision was made in faith," said Blair, who was prime minister for Labour from 1997 to 2007. Bush also defended the invasion in a statement given through his spokesman, saying: "The whole world is better off without Saddam Hussein in power. " Relatives of some of the 179 British soldiers who died in Iraq said they would scrutinise the findings for possible grounds for legal action against Blair and other officials. "The inquiry has confirmed all our fears that these young men and women were deployed on the back of a falsehood," said Roger Bacon, whose son Matthew, 34, died in 2005. A cross-party group of MPs is also looking into the possibility of taking legal action against Blair, including in the International Criminal Court. Judging the legality of the invasion was not in Chilcot's remit, but he said the process of deciding the legal basis for war was "far from satisfactory". "We have concluded that the UK chose to join the invasion of Iraq before the peaceful options for disarmament had been exhausted. Military action at that time was not a last resort," he said. Shortly after Blair spoke, current Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn -- a top figure in the anti-war campaign -- directly contradicted his predecessor Blair. "The invasion and occupation of Iraq was a catastrophe," Corbyn told families of British soldiers who died. "I now apologise sincerely on behalf of my party for the disastrous decision to go to war in Iraq. " The war, which at one point saw 46,000 British troops deployed, still looms large over British politics. Britain's scarring experience in Iraq has made it deeply wary of committing ground troops to international military interventions in countries like Syria and Libya. Retired civil servant Chilcot said his report was "an account of an intervention which went badly wrong, with consequences to this day". In a statement to the House of Commons, Prime Minister David Cameron said: "We cannot turn the clock back but can ensure that lessons are learned and acted on".

Iraq veterans call for Blair’s indictment after Chilcot report — RT UK rt.com

Legal basis for Iraq War was flawed Chilcot Inquiry finds — RT UK rt.com 5 revelations from Chilcot’s damning report into the Iraq war — RT UK rt.com

Intelligence reports confirm Iraq war created ISIS — RT UK rt.com 2016-07-07 18:01 Alice RITCHIE www.timeslive.co.za

2 FBI director to face Republican fire over Clinton email probe (1.02/2) The hearing at 10 a.m. (1400 GMT) will be the first time Comey has taken questions publicly since his announcement on Tuesday that the FBI found nothing in its investigation of Clinton's mishandling of classified emails while she was secretary of state that should lead to criminal prosecution. U. S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch said on Wednesday she accepted the Federal Bureau of Investigation's recommendation and had closed the case. But the issue has cast a cloud over Clinton's Democratic presidential campaign for the Nov. 8 election and raised questions among voters about her honesty and trustworthiness. Republican House of Representatives Speaker Paul Ryan said lawmakers would be investigating whether they could take action over Clinton's email practices. Comey will testify before the House Oversight Committee. Lynch will appear at a separate hearing next Tuesday. Comey said on Tuesday that 110 classified emails passed through Clinton's servers, which were not kept on a secure government server. He rebuked the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee for "extremely careless" handling of classified information but said no reasonable prosecutor would charge her or her staff criminally. The Clinton campaign said it was pleased at the FBI's announcement and called the Republican-led call for Comey's hearing a "taxpayer-funded sham of an inquiry" intended to hurt Clinton politically. The Oversight Committee is chaired by Republican U. S. Representative Jason Chaffetz, known for his persistent questioning of Obama administration officials. Comey, a Republican who was appointed by Democratic President Barack Obama and also served in the administration of former Republican President George W. Bush, has built a reputation as a straight shooter who does not bend to pressure from either party. He has differed sharply with the Obama administration, most recently over gun control and whether high-profile police brutality cases had inhibited law enforcement from stopping crime. Questions over the propriety of Clinton's use of unauthorized email servers in her Chappaqua, New York, home during her time as secretary of state have raised questions about her judgment from all sides of the political spectrum. Despite clinching the Democratic presidential nomination, Clinton can expect a further onslaught of attacks from presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump, who has accused her of playing by a different set of rules from the American public. "Hillary Clinton can't keep her emails safe, and you know what, folks, she sure as hell can't keep our country safe," Trump told a recent rally in Raleigh, North Carolina, charging that the investigation was "rigged" in Clinton's favor. Comey left the door open for other actions in the case, including downgrading security clearances for anyone who mishandles classified information as Clinton and her staff did. Ryan said Congress would decide whether it could impose such penalties. "I think it's the least we can do, given how she was so reckless in handling classified material and sending classified information on insecure servers," Ryan told reporters on Wednesday. White House spokesman Josh Earnest told reporters he had faith that Comey would protect the independence of the FBI's investigation even as he was probed by Congress, noting Obama administration officials had kept their cool even during "the most unfair congressional inquiries. "

Social media reacts to Clinton email investigation — RT America rt.com 2016-07-07 18:01 REUTERS www.timeslive.co.za

3 Speak up on Zimbabwe unrest‚ DA urges ANC government (1.00/2) DA spokesperson on international relations and cooperation said on Wednesday the ANC government’s silence on the civil unrest ensuing in Zimbabwe could not be ignored. “President Jacob Zuma and his DIRCO Minister cannot remain silent if we are to do our part to mitigate the escalating unrest in our neighbouring country. The ‘quiet diplomacy’ of the past cannot be allowed to repeat itself and‚ as history has shown‚ has the potential to allow for human rights violations to persist‚” Mokgalapa stated. He added that the situation in Zimbabwe appeared to be the result of a shortage of resources – food and cash – as well as dissatisfaction with the administration of President Robert Mugabe. “We call on President Zuma – as a leader in the Southern African Development Community (SADC) region – and the Minister of International Relations and Cooperation‚ Maite Nkoane-Mashabane‚ to break their silence and condemn the atrocities currently being carried out in Zimbabwe. “President Zuma must give effect to South Africa’s human rights-based foreign policy to ensure that no more human rights abuses occur on our watch. Our government’s silence in this regard will make us complicit in the escalation of the use of force against civilians‚” Mokgalapa said.

DA slams 'ignorant Brexit ramblings of SA's diplomat-in-chief' timeslive.co.za 2016-07-07 18:01 TMG Digital www.timeslive.co.za

4 British military equipment ‘wholly inadequate’ in Iraq, says Chilcot — RT UK (0.08/2) The details are likely to distress the families of those killed in Iraq due to faulty or inadequate equipment. For years there were complaints over a lack of body armor and poor vehicles, among other flaws. Equally damning is the claim the Ministry of Defence (MoD) did not appear to do anything about the complaints, with the report accusing it of allowing kit delays which “ should not have been tolerated. ” Chilcot’s findings are damning. Equipment was found in 2001 – two years before the war – to “ not work well in hot and dusty conditions. ” This was identified as a major issue given the UK was engaged in expeditionary warfare in arid regions. The report also notes “ asset tracking ” was flawed, which eventually came to have a serious effect on operations. Many soldiers also ended up deploying in clothing meant for temperate climates because “ the MoD had insufficient desert combat suits and desert boots for all personnel. “ As a result, desert-specific clothing was issued only to personnel who would be in theatre for an extended period. Standard issue boots were unsuitable for the task; 4 Armoured Brigade’s post-exercise report cited melting boots and foot rot as ‘a major issue. ’” Personal testimony by Iraq veterans on shortages is equally chilling. On Wednesday former soldiers Iain McMenemy and Damien Hern told the BBC their body armour was taken away because of a deficit. “ First week into the combat campaign itself we were asked to give them up ... There were other troops that would be fighting perhaps on foot and the ones that were fighting on foot should have those ceramic plates because they may have more need for it, ” they said. The pair explained that at the time they were “ manning vehicle checkpoints on foot so we were very much at that point in the firing line so we felt we shouldn’t be asked to give up the ceramic plates which were the difference between stopping a bullet and not. ” Concerns were also raised about the British military being overstretched from 2006 onwards because it was engaged in parallel wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. In his defence on Wednesday, former Prime Minister Tony Blair said he did not accept there were inadequate resources for the two wars, citing a Cabinet meeting where the issue was discussed. Legal basis for Iraq War was flawed Chilcot Inquiry finds — RT UK rt.com

Iraq veterans call for Blair’s indictment after Chilcot report — RT UK rt.com

British govt urged to come clean on ‘links to torture’ after Iraq invasion — RT UK rt.com 2016-07-07 18:01 www.rt.com

5 Blair pledges ‘no excuses’ for Iraq, then spends 2hrs making excuses — RT UK (0.04/2) In a nearly two hour-long news conference, the former prime minister said he still believes he acted in “good faith” and that the decision was the “hardest, most momentous, most agonizing” one he ever took. The Chilcot report, however, suggests the legal base for the move was “far from satisfactory” and attributes the PM’s decisions to stubbornness. In his response to the publication of the inquiry into the Iraq War, Blair argued he had to be a “decision maker” as the country’s leader and that in his judgment the world is today “a better place without Saddam Hussein.” He went as far as to regret that current MPs did not support intervention in Syria in 2013, saying the decision “really dealt a blow” to Britain’s relationship with the US. But while Tony Blair argued the war was “the right thing to do,” Sir John’s report shows the call for intervention was based on “Mr. Blair’s determination to stand alongside the US.” And while Blair insists Chilcot proves there was “no secret commitment to war” made during his meeting with George W. Bush in April 2002 in Crawford Texas, the report does show evidence of his continued support for the US president’s own resolutions. In a 2002 private memo between the two leaders declassified on Wednesday along the Chilcot report, Blair wrote to the US president: “I will be with you, whatever.” The UN weapons inspectors were at that point still working in Iraq, having failed to find weapons of mass destruction. Commenting on words exchanged between Blair and Bush at Camp David, US later that year, the Chilcot report adds: “Although at that stage no decision had been taken on which military package might be offered to the US for planning purposes, Mr. Blair also told President Bush that, if it came to war, the UK would take a significant military role.” According to the document, it was also Blair’s idea to link the Afghanistan and Iraq military interventions as part of a wider campaign to prevent terrorism, “although there was no evidence of links between Iraq and Al Qaeda.” Families of soldiers killed in the Iraq War are planning to pursue legal action against the former prime minister. US State Department spokesman John Kirby declined to comment when asked about Chilcot report by the Sputnik news agency. “The Chilcot Committee was an independent body appointed by the Government of the UK. Questions about the inquiry or those who participated should be directed to the Committee,” Kirby said.

Iraq veterans call for Blair’s indictment after Chilcot report — RT UK rt.com 2016-07-07 18:01 www.rt.com

6 AKA gushes over Bonang on New York's Sway In The Morning (0.02/2) Although shy at first to talk about his romance with Bonang, AKA eventually poured his heart out about the way B treats him and where their whirlwind romance began. When asked by Sway if he was seeing someone, AKA didn't hesitate to say that he's taken by someone he adores. "I have someone in my life that treats me very well and who I adore," he said. It was then that someone in the studio got their hands on a picture of Bonang, to which AKA replied she's "hotizz. " The Baddest star wasted no time in telling Sway that Bonang is a star in her own right. Even though AKA admitted that he's not into this "mushy stuff" he undoubtedly had every girl envious of the way he opened up about their romance. "Basically, we had known each other for a couple of years and I was in a relationship, some things happened, and now we are together. She had always known that I kind of dug her," he explained. He went on to explain that their romance caused quite a stir but that he had to take a chance on love. "I liked her and she liked me and there was a lot of controversy back home with both of us being public figures and me being in a relationship at the time but you know what, I have apologised for my mistakes. " AKA also revealed that if you love someone then you should give it a shot. "You only have one life to live and if you love someone and you feel it and you really want to give it a go, you should take a shot man. If you got a shot, you gotta shoot it. At the end of the day, it's your life. People get hurt in love but I'm not the first man to do this," he said.

Bonang responds to AKA’s Sway shout-out with intimate pic timeslive.co.za AKA debates the k-word on Sway In The Morning timeslive.co.za 2016-07-07 18:01 Kyle Zeeman www.timeslive.co.za

7 Italy’s wealthiest region urges lifting of Russia sanctions — RT News (0.01/2) The vote on the resolution, prepared by the Lega Nord (Northern League) political party, took place on Tuesday, with the initiative supported by 43 out of 87 council members, with 15 others abstaining. The non-binding document authorized the chairman of Lombardy's Regional Council and regional head to work with Italy’s government and parliament as well as with the European Union to reconsider relations with Moscow. It also called for the establishment of a special committee to gather signatures to lift sanctions against Russia. The council members also demanded that the Italian government condemn “the EU’s international policy towards Crimea,” which reunited with Russia in 2014 after having been part of Ukraine, and recognize the results of the referendum which led to the reunion. The regional government of Lombardy, headed by Roberto Maroni, supported the council’s resolution, Tass reported. Resolutions similar to the one in Lombardy were previously adopted in Italy’s Veneto and Liguria provinces. READ MORE: Italian senate refuses to back automatic renewal of anti- Russian sanctions The Regional Council of Tuscany is to discuss a resolution calling for the lifting of anti-Russia sanctions on Wednesday. In 2014, relations between Russia and the European Union deteriorated over the crisis in Ukraine. Brussels followed the US’ lead and introduced several rounds of sanctions against Moscow over the reunion with Crimea and for Moscow’s alleged meddling in the Ukrainian conflict. READ MORE: French Senate supports resolution to lift EU sanctions against Russia Russia has repeatedly denied the allegations and it introduced its own restrictions against the West, including a ban on food imports from the EU. Lega Nord’s representative in the Veneto region, Stefano Valdegamberi, told RT that Lombardy’s vote is “very important because this is the main production region in Italy. It represents around 10 million people.” “The decision of the regional parliament gave more importance to the decision of Veneto and Liguria too,” he added. The resolutions adopted across the country represent “the will of all Italian people that want to leave the sanctions against Russia and recognize the right to self-determination of Crimea,” Valdegamberi stressed. Paolo Tosato, Italian senator and Lega Nord member, blamed the EU of “short-sighted vision” due to their policies towards Russia. “It is an old vision, made of separate blocks, meaning Eastern and Western blocks, which is a real madness. Our interest, European interest is to dialogue with the Russian Federation and have commercial relations with it and all other countries in the world,” he said. Tosato stressed that Italians and people in other countries express their view in territorial votes, like in Lombardy, because there’s “ an absolute blindness and a deaf attitude towards the public call” in the EU. “Let’s hope that once the will of changing the international politics of the EU will be expressed at a territorial level, national governments take this into consideration,” he told RT. Paolo Grimoldi, leader of the Lega Nord party, said Lombardy supports the anti-sanctions resolution not only out of economic but also out of political reasons stressing that the region fully recognizes the referendum in Crimea. READ MORE: Sarkozy: All sanctions should be lifted, but Moscow needs to reach out first “It’s not just for economic reasons that we don’t want any sanctions to Russia but [also] for political reasons, because we think that in Crimea [the people participated in] the referendum exactly like in Kosovo. And so we just recognized the desire of Crimean people to be a part of Russia,” Grimoldi told RT. He expressed confidence that the approved resolution in Lombardy will force the national government to take action and “take a clear position” on the issue.

Tuscany becomes 4th Italian region to urge lifting of anti-Russian sanctions — RT News rt.com 2016-07-07 18:00 www.rt.com

8 Video footage, dispatch tape from Alton Sterling police shooting released (GRAPHIC) — RT America (0.01/2) The dispatch tape, published Wednesday, is just 26 seconds long, but it includes audio from both the initial report of a man with a gun selling CDs, to which Officer Blane Salamoni and Officer Howie Lake II responded, as well as the immediate aftermath of the deadly police shooting on Tuesday night in front of the Triple S Food Mart in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. “Copy suspicious Code 2,” a female dispatcher is heard saying at the beginning of the recording obtained by WAFB. Code 2 reportedly warrants an urgent response. “Selling CDs on the corner. Gun in his pocket. He pulled a gun on a complainant and told him he couldn't be around there,” the dispatcher continues. The next bit of audio directly follows the shooting that left Sterling dead. “Shots fired, shots fired!” an officer is heard yelling, to which the dispatcher responds, “Copy, shots fired. North Foster. 2100 North Foster,” referencing the convenience store’s vicinity. “Both officers OK. Suspect down,” the officer follows up, before putting in an urgent request for emergency medical services. “I need EMS Code 3.” Even more illuminating is the graphic cellphone video captured by the owner of Triple S Food Mart, Abdullah Muflahi. The footage, given to the Daily Beast, appears to show Officer Lake near the head and chest of Sterling and Officer Salamoni pinning him down near the legs and waist. “He’s got a gun! Gun!” an officer, presumed to be Salamoni, shouts at the beginning of the video, prompting his partner to pull out his service pistol. “Hey bro, you f***ing move, I swear to God,” the other officer says, now pointing his gun down at Sterling. One second later, two shots are fired. Then, before at least two more shots are fired, an officer is heard yelling, “Get on the ground!” despite Sterling already being down. Several seconds later, the officer who appears to be Salamoni calls the dispatcher, with the “Shots fired!” call, which is heard in the released dispatch tapes. Sterling died from gunshots to the back and the chest, according to the East Baton Rouge Parish Sheriff's Office’s autopsy. Muflahi’s video shows that Sterling never had a gun in his hand, but Muflahi has told multiple media outlets that Sterling was armed and that police took his gun from his pocket. The video does show police removing an object from Sterling’s pocket just as he reaches out with his left arm to his chest as he lay dying. Police are not confirming whether or not Sterling had a gun on him or if any was recovered from the scene. While the initial report alleged that Sterling threatened a person with his gun, Muflahi told the Daily Beast that Sterling was not the one causing trouble and that he had been a welcome presence at the store’s parking lot for years. In another interview with the Advocate, Muflahi said Sterling had started carrying a gun “a couple days ago” after other people he knew selling CDs on the street had been robbed. In a press conference Wednesday, State Rep. Denise Marcelle (D-Baton Rouge) said that Baton Rouge Police Chief Carl Dabadie told her that both of the officers’ body cameras were knocked off during the struggle with Sterling, but that dashcam footage and the store’s surveillance video are being processed. Following the shooting Tuesday night, protesters arrived to the scene of the shooting, and according to WAFB, not all was peaceful. The station’s crew left after a reporter’s iPad was stolen. Police ultimately arrested a suspect in the matter. A vigil at the convenience store is scheduled for Wednesday night at 6:00pm.

Officers involved in Alton Sterling shooting suspended, names released — RT America rt.com 2016-07-07 18:00 www.rt.com

9 FBI recommends no charges against Clinton, but Snowden & others didn’t get off so easy — RT America (0.01/2) FBI Director James Comey, a Republican, announced on Tuesday morning the agency’s recommendation to bring no charges against Hillary Clinton for her improper use of a private email server for sensitive communications, adding that “no reasonable prosecutor” would file such a case against her. READ MORE: Clinton hid thousands of emails, put classified data on her server, but shouldn't be charged - FBI However, Comey went on to say that the FBI found that Clinton and her colleagues were “extremely careless” in their handling of classified information – and “gross negligence” with such information is considered to be a felony under the Espionage Act. “For example, seven e-mail chains concern matters that were classified at the Top Secret/Special Access Program level when they were sent and received.” Comey said in a statement. “These chains involved Secretary Clinton both sending e-mails about those matters and receiving e-mails from others about the same matters is evidence to support a conclusion that any reasonable person in Secretary Clinton’s position, or in the position of those government employees with whom she was corresponding about these matters, should have known that an unclassified system was no place for that conversation.” Hillary is not the first government official to have “carelessly” handled secret information, but others have not had the same the special treatment. Donald Trump, who is expected to be the Republican nominee for the 2016 race, used the FBI’s move as another example that the American political system is “rigged” to favor politically connected establishment figures. Though he was a well-respected four-star general who was rumored to be eyeing a presidential bid, Petraeus’ career came to an abrupt end with his 2012 resignation after it was made clear that he passed sensitive information to Paula Broadwell, his mistress and biographer. Petraeus lied during the investigation, which itself is a felony, but the Department of Justice accepted his plea of the lesser charge of mishandling classified information. He was sentenced to probation and was fined $100,000. Another Director of the CIA, John M. Deutch, found himself in a similar debacle less than two decades earlier. Deutch, who had been appointed by President Bill Clinton in 1995, resigned from his high post in 1996 after it was discovered that he stored classified documents on his personal computer. Deutch agreed to plead guilty to misdemeanor mishandling of classified information and pay $5,000 dollars, but he was saved by a pardon by President Clinton in January 2001, during the president’s last day in office. But perhaps the strongest parallels can be seen with someone lower on the government totem pole. Bryan H. Nishimura, was sentenced to two years’ probation and $7,500 fine last year for holding classified materials on personal devices – without malicious intent, just like Hillary Clinton. “He carried such classified materials on his unauthorized media when he traveled off-base in Afghanistan and, ultimately, carried those materials back to the United States at the end of his deployment,” the FBI’s website says . “In the United States, Nishimura continued to maintain the information on unclassified systems in unauthorized locations, and copied the materials onto at least one additional unauthorized and unclassified system.” The similarity of such case to the Clinton controversy doesn’t seem to be lost on Comey. The FBI chief strongly stated that others who behaved as Clinton did wouldn’t necessarily get off the hook like the former secretary did. “To be clear, this is not to suggest that in similar circumstances, a person who engaged in this activity would face no consequences," Comey's statement said. "To the contrary, those individuals are often subject to security or administrative sanctions. But that is not what we are deciding now.” The decision differs drastically from that on Edward Snowden, the whistleblower who revealed the NSA’s secretive mass surveillance in 2013, didn’t get the same lenient treatment from government agencies. Despite an outcry from the public and the success of legislation that seeks to reign in government spying, Snowden was still censured by top government officials and charged with violating the Espionage Act. After Snowden fled the country to avoid decades in prison, Clinton herself referred to him as a traitor who has “blood on his hands” for his leak of classified documents. DoJ will not bring any charges against Clinton over email use – AG Lynch — RT America rt.com 2016-07-07 18:00 www.rt.com

10 Clinton campaigns with official POTUS seal — RT America (0.01/2) Clinton also was treated to a ride on Air Force One on Tuesday, as she and President Barack Obama made their way to their first 2016 campaign appearance together. Mere hours earlier, FBI Director James Comey announced that no recommendation for an indictment would be made against the former Secretary of State, following an investigation into her use of private email servers during her tenure at the State Department. READ MORE: WikiLeaks rolls out archive of over 1,200 ‘Clinton Iraq War’ emails On a day of such political contrast, with Comey saying Clinton acted in an “extremely careless” manner, while the sitting president saw his party’s nominee speak in front of his seal-emblazoned lectern, the reactions on Twitter were mixed. Social media reacts to Clinton email investigation — RT America rt.com 2016-07-07 18:00 www.rt.com

11 Portugal beats Wales 2-0 to reach Euro 2016 final — RT Sport (0.01/2) A tight first half saw the sides go in 0-0 at the break, but Portugal scored twice within the space of three second- half minutes to end Wales’ chances of reaching a major final for the first time. For Portugal, it offers Cristiano Ronaldo and his team the chance to win a major tournament for the first time when they appear in the final on Sunday – when they will face the winners of Thursday’s semi-final between host-nation France and world champions Germany. After a first half of few chances, the game burst into life in the second half when Ronaldo rose highest to power in a header from a corner on 50 minutes. Nani doubled the lead for Portugal on 53 minutes when he poked in a Ronaldo shot, leaving Wales with a deficit they were unable to overturn. Wales worked hard and pressed towards the end, but ultimately lacked the quality to break down the Portuguese defense. The game had been billed as a clash between two Real Madrid teammates – Ronaldo of Portugal and Gareth Bale of Wales – but it was the Portugal captain who came out on top as he scored the opening goal and saw his shot turned in by Nani for the second. Bale for the most part was restricted to long-range efforts that rarely troubled Portugal goalkeeper Rui Patricio. Welsh fans continued to back their team till the end, and will be proud of the players' efforts in reaching a stage of the tournament few had expected. Portugal have in many respects come in under the radar, with many writing them off before the tournament. However, they will now fancy their chances at the Stade de France on Sunday, especially with exciting young talent Renato Sanches looking sharp and Ronaldo looking more like his old self.

Euro 2016 semi-final: Portugal 2-0 Wales — RT Sport rt.com 2016-07-07 18:00 www.rt.com

12 'Infringement on free speech': KKK Adopt-A- Highway lawsuit goes to trial — RT America “A denial of an application to the [Adopt-A-Highway program] for public concern related to a group’s history of civil disturbance represents an unconstitutional infringement on an applicant’s right to free speech,” the court ruled Tuesday. The verdict follows a legal battle that began in 2012 in Union County when two members of the International Keystone Knights of the Ku Klux Klan applied to take part in the county-administered Adopt-A-Highway program. Reviewing their applications, Union County informed the applicants that their candidacies to remove trash along Georgia 515 highway should be handled directly by the Georgia Department of Transportation (DOT). The DOT, however, denied their application, citing the organization’s “potential for social unrest,” stemming from the group's “ long-rooted history of civil disturbance.” Upon receiving DOT rejection, the American Civil Liberties Union Foundation sued the DOT on the KKK’s behalf, arguing that denying the permit violated the group’s constitutional right to free speech. In their defense, the Department of Transportation argued that the Klan cannot bring the issue to court because of “sovereign immunity,” which protects the state agencies from being sued. The Fulton County Superior Court ruled in the KKK's favor in November 2014, rejecting the DOT argument of the doctrine of sovereign immunity, finding that the supremacists' case to be different because of the state’s "alleged constitutional wrong. " DOT then filed an appeal to the Georgia Court of Appeals, which later ruled that it lacks jurisdiction in cases involving the construction of the state. The case was then transferred to the Georgia Supreme Court. On Tuesday, in a unanimous opinion, the state high court ruled against the Department of Transportation’s argument, saying the DOT failed to follow correct procedure in filing its appeal. The case will now go to trial at Fulton County Supreme Court. Georgia’s Adopt-A-Highway program enlists volunteers to help remove litter from roadsides of the state highways. Volunteers accepted into the program agree to clean one-mile stretch of the highway at least four times a year over a two-year period. In return, the state agrees to put up a sign bearing the party’s name on the highway.

2016-07-07 18:00 www.rt.com

13 Pentagon nurses take ‘zombie pandemic’ course to train for real life outbreaks — RT America Military nurses studying for their doctorate at the Uniformed Services University of the Healthcare Sciences (USU) have to take a course on population health. Because many of the students are deployed around the world, the course has to be available online. It is not all PowerPoints and reading, however: the course features an animated storyline revolving around a zombie pandemic in Washington, DC. The course was developed by Dr. Catherine Ling, assistant professor and family nurse practitioner at USU’s Daniel K. Inouye Graduate School of Nursing, earning her the prestigious Teaching with Sakai Innovation Award in 2015. “We use the narrative device of a zombie pandemic in animations and assignment to help engage students in content,” Ling explained in a USU release about the course. Students have to apply the theories and models of public health that they learned in the course to the case of the zombie apocalypse. The zombie story “keeps the material interesting,” and the theme helps the lessons be more cohesive, Ling said. That narrative cohesion makes it easier to remember the material, and later apply it in a real-life health emergency such as outbreaks of Ebola, Zika or swine flu. Students are assigned to a fictional – at least one hopes so – division of the Defense Department, called HHIT, and have to deal with the zombie apocalypse by enacting quarantines, administering vaccines, and obtaining international resources while adhering to actual Pentagon guidelines, Ling explained. A training document imagining the military’s response to a zombie apocalypse was actually released by the Pentagon in May 2014. Title CONOP 8888 , the scenario was used by US Strategic Command as a teaching tool, with STRATCOM explaining that it “elected to use a completely impossible scenario that could never be mistaken as a real plan.” While the USU only made a screenshot from one of the animations available – depicting a zombie inside the National Museum of Natural History – the release says the course includes video clips featuring the president making a “State of the Zombie Pandemic” address, and the consequences of the zombie virus, including “anti-zombie posters strewn all over cities.” Students who have taken the course seem to like it, USU said, citing one Air Force officer who happens to be a big fan of the zombie TV show The Walking Dead . “I thought it was a wonderful, fun twist to this course,” Air Force Captain Marcie Hart is quoted as saying. “The videos are very tastefully done,” Hart added, noting that “the ‘infected’ can be cured later in the scenario, so the characters are not using deadly force, and it is not overtly violent.” Previously abbreviated as USUHS, the USU was established in 1972 and graduated its first class in 1980. The school’s campus is located in Bethesda, Maryland, just outside of Washington, with a total budget of $146.3 million in 2015.

2016-07-07 18:00 www.rt.com

14 Background check data confirms typical US response to mass shooting It’s a trend repeated over and over after each major mass shooting in the US that brings about cries for more gun control: Americans go out and buy more weapons. This June, in the wake of the Orlando massacre, was no exception. In the early morning hours of June 12, Omar Mateen opened fire at Pulse, a gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida. At the end of a three-hour standoff with police, there were 49 dead ‒ not including the shooter ‒ and 53 injured. The massacre, which has been deemed both a hate crime and a terror attack , led to the biggest push for gun control measures in Congress since the Sandy Hook shooting in Newtown, Connecticut in December 2012. It also led to Americans purchasing firearms in record numbers, according to the latest FBI data on background checks. In June, the FBI conducted more than 2.1 million checks through the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS), an increase of about 40 percent over the same month in 2015. It’s also the most background checks conducted in the month of June ‒ traditionally when the fewest number of checks are conducted ‒ since the NICS was launched in 1998. It was also the 14th month in a row to see increase in background checks. “As I have been predicting for months we are going to keep on breaking records through the November election,” said Alan Gottlieb of the Second Amendment Foundation, according to the Washington Free Beacon. “[President Barack] Obama, [presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Hillary] Clinton, and [former New York City Mayor Michael] Bloomberg’s anti-rights rhetoric is driving more and more people to gun stores.” So far this year, the FBI has conducted 13.8 million background checks, compared to just under 10.5 million in 2015. Last year was a record year, with 23.1 million background checks conducted ‒ and 2016 is on pace to break that record. Every month so far in 2016 has outpaced the same month in 2015 by an average of more than half a million (560,541) background checks. “Yes, we have seen a dramatic spike in sales volume (around five times normal levels) especially in the .223/5.56 caliber and to a lesser extent 9mm, .45 ACP, and .308 but the increase is definitely across the board,” Scott Blick, managing partner at Ammunition Depot, told the Washington Free Beacon in June. The most background checks ever conducted in a month was in December, when more than 3.3 million were done after the San Bernardino, California terror attack. It’s reasonable to assume that some of the bump in purchases in the first quarter of 2016 can be attributed to that mass shooting, just as the first quarter of 2013 ‒ after Sandy Hook ‒ saw a significantly higher number of checks compared to the same quarter in 2012. 2013 was also the same year that background checks reached the 20 million milestone, at 21.1 million. 2006 was first year to cross the 10 million barrier. The FBI is quick to note, however, that there is not an exact correlation between background checks and gun sales. “Based on varying state laws and purchase scenarios, a one-to-one correlation cannot be made between a firearm background check and a firearm sale,” the FBI said in the report. The NICS doesn’t report whether or not a potential customer fails a background check, nor does it include private gun sales that do not involve a federally licensed firearms dealer. On top of that, only one check is run regardless of the number of weapons purchased during that sale. Indeed, gun ownership in the US has hit new lows , according to a recent survey that found only 36 percent of Americans owned or lived with someone who owned a firearm. At the same time, however, there are more guns than people in the country, in part because gun owners have an increasing number of firearms. A 2013 Washington Post survey found that the average gun-owning household had eight firearms in it. In 1994, that number was four. The release of the FBI report, which was done “quietly just before market close on Friday July 1st," did not go completely unnoticed, according to Seeking Alpha, an investment research website. "The few market participants that noticed the FBI release late Friday bought up shares of both SWHC and RGR into the close," referring to gun manufacturers Smith & Wesson and Sturm Ruger. Gun companies usually see an increase in their stock prices after mass shootings, and Orlando was no exception .

2016-07-07 18:00 www.rt.com

15 Hillary Clinton announces Sanders-like plan for free college education — RT America In a Wednesday announcement on her campaign website, Clinton said that the plan, called the "New College Compact," would be phased in over the course of five years. However, families that make under $85,000 a year would instantly have access to free tuition at public, in-state universities and colleges. The threshold for free tuition would increase by $10,000 annually before finally bringing the qualifying income to $125,000 after five years. This would bring free college tuition to 80 percent of American families, the website said. The presumptive Democratic nominee also announced a plan to use executive action to give a three-month moratorium to those with student loans from the federal government. "American families are drowning in debt caused by ever-rising college costs, and it is imperative that the next president put forward a bold plan to make debt-free college available to all," Clinton said. "My New College Compact will do just that – by making sure that working families can send a child or loved one to college tuition-free and by giving student debt-holders immediate relief.” Free tuition at public colleges and universities was originally a pillar of the presidential campaign of Senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont), though it does not go quite as far as his plan of abolishing tuition for all families. Sanders praised Clinton for moving closer to his platform, saying that such a plan would have a “profound” impact on the US. “I want to take this opportunity to applaud Secretary Clinton for the very bold initiative she has just brought forth today for the financing of higher education.” Sanders said in a statement. “This proposal combines some of the strongest ideas she fought for during the campaign with some of the principles that I fought for. The final product is a result of the work of both campaigns.” “Let me be very clear. This proposal, when implemented, will revolutionize the funding of higher education in America, improve the economic future of our country and make life immediately better for tens of millions of people stuck with high levels of student debt,” Sanders continued. Sanders has stayed in the race despite the near certainty that Clinton will clinch the Democratic nomination at the convention in Philadelphia, hoping to put pressure on the Clinton campaign to move the party’s platform further to the left on economic issues.

2016-07-07 18:00 www.rt.com

16 FSB searches Russia’s leading opposition radio station over ‘hate speech’ article — RT News Tweets sent out on Tuesday morning by its long-serving editor Aleksey Venidiktov about the unscheduled visit from seven investigators spread social media panic about the fate of the iconic station. Founded in 1990, Ekho Moskvy rose to fame as the first non-government owned news outlet, and was the only internal media to provide live coverage of the failed 1991 coup, helping those who opposed it organize themselves during a key episode in the collapse of the . While it is now partly owned by state energy giant Gazprom, it still maintains a largely anti-Kremlin editorial line. Soon details emerged about the reason for the 2-hour raid – an article published on the Ekho Moskvy site in January, in which one of its contributors, Andrey Piontkovsky, claimed that most do not view Chechens as Russian citizens, and called for the region to secede from the country. Piontkovsky himself has gone into exile abroad, but his celebrity lawyer, Mark Feygin, confirmed that a criminal investigation has been opened for inciting racial and ethnic hatred, and questioning the territorial integrity of Russia. Feygin claimed on his Twitter that his 76-year-old client, who is also a well- known academic, is “currently in a safe country” and “has no intention of returning to Russia.” Ekho Moskvy says that two of its senior staff, including the editor of its website, have been called in for questioning by the FSB later this week, and it remains unclear if Ekho Moskvy is legally liable for hate speech, if Piontkovsky is found guilty.

2016-07-07 18:00 www.rt.com

17 German activist says she lied to police about sex assault perpetrators to avoid ‘racial hatred' — RT News She thought about “refugee shelters burnt in the previous months” and wanted to prevent “her story from being exploited by racists,” Selin Goren, a national spokeswoman of the Linksjugend Solid movement, an offshoot of the German Left Party, told Der Spiegel. She also admitted that she was infuriated when a police officer asked her whether her attackers had been refugees. Goren said she was assaulted and raped in January by three men of foreign origin, who spoke Arabic as well as Kurdish or Farsi (Persian) in the German city of Mannheim, where she works as a refugee aid activist. The attackers also stole her handbag, she said. After the assault she went straight to police but instead of filing a complaint about a sex attack, she only reported being robbed. She also lied about the ethnicity of her attackers, claiming that she was robbed by a “mixed group of Germans and foreigners alike, who spoke German to each other.” Later, as she explained her move, Goren said she had been thinking about the public backlash that refugees and migrants suffered after the wave of Cologne sex attacks on New Year’s Eve, when hundreds of women were sexually assaulted and robbed by groups of predominantly migrant youths. About 12 hours later, her friend persuaded her to go to police and tell the officers the real story by saying that her attackers could also assault other people and adding that another woman had been sexually assaulted in the neighborhood shortly beforehand. Goren also made her case public on social media shortly after the incident. However, she put the blame on “racist and sexist” German society rather than directly on her attackers. In one of her Facebook posts, she even accused other victims of sexual assaults involving migrants of framing their stories so as to “provoke racist hatred” and thus forcing her to lie to police. In another post on Facebook, she virtually apologized to “male refugees” for the “racism” and “sexism” of German society. “You are not a problem. You are not a problem at all,” she said, addressing refugees and migrants. “What really hurts me under these circumstances is the fact that the sexist and over the line [incident] that happened to me led only to [a situation, in which] you are subjected to growing and more aggressive racism,” she also said in her post . Now, Goren urges other women not to repeat her mistakes and not to “conceal the truth even if it seems politically expedient.” Speaking about how this incident changed her worldview, Goren stresses she still puts the blame for such incidents more on “sexist society” than on individuals. Goren, who is of Turkish origin, also says that her stance on refugees and migrants did not change generally, although she admits that she is now afraid of Arabs. Goren’s case appears not to have been unique as three schoolgirls aged between 16 and 18 in the city of Kassel located in central Germany said that they experienced repeated incidents of groping and sexual harassment on public transport by migrants for several weeks but would not report them, fearing “to contribute to the discrimination of refugees,” local media reported . The behavior of concealing the truth about such incidents or not revealing the true identity of the attackers “in fact is precisely what provokes public indignation,” Christian Pfeiffer, the former head of the Lower Saxony Criminology Research Institute in Hannover, told Germany’s Die Welt after the wave of Cologne sex attacks on New Year’s Eve. He also stressed at that time, that an increase in sexual assaults could be a result of the refugee policy that fails to deal properly with a massive influx of young single men, whose status in Germany is unclear. In order to deal with the problem, one should first start to speak about it as it is, Pfeiffer stressed. According to German activist group GESA (Active Together Against Sexual Violence), the number of sexual assaults have increased following the massive inflow of male migrants. “[Sexual] offenders often come from areas with another culture and another vision of a woman,” Steffi Burmester, a spokeswoman of the GESA told German media, adding that, after the period of “fear and humiliation” linked to fleeing their homeland, these men “are alone and … are looking for a way to bolster their male self-esteem.” Such behavior “cannot be pardoned or accepted,” she added.

2016-07-07 18:00 www.rt.com

18 ‘Severe and pervasive’: Fox News CEO accused of sexual harassment by ex-host — RT America The complaint was filed at the Superior Court of New Jersey in Bergen County on Wednesday, USA Today confirmed. Neither Fox News nor Carlson have made any further comments about it, however. READ MORE: Fox News at RT’s Mainstream Media Guide “Ailes has unlawfully retaliated against Carlson and sabotaged her career because she refused his sexual advances and complained about severe and pervasive sexual harassment,” the complaint says. “When Carlson met with Ailes to discuss the discriminatory treatment to which she was being subjected, Ailes stated: ‘I think you and I should have had a sexual relationship a long time ago and then you’d be good and better and I’d be good and better,’ adding that ‘sometimes problems are easier to solve’ that way.” Before becoming CEO of Fox News in 1996, Ailes worked as media consultant to three Republican presidents: Richard Nixon, Ronald Reagan and George H. W. Bush. The Minnesota-born Carlson graduated from Stanford University and was crowned Miss America in 1989. She worked for CBS News before becoming a co-host of Fox & Friends in 2005. Her own current-affairs show, The Real Story with Gretchen Carlson premiered in September 2013. Carlson’s contract with Fox News expired on June 23, and the show’s page has already been scrubbed from the network’s website. When Carlson accused her Fox & Friends co-host Steve Doocy of treating her in a “sexist and condescending way” in 2009, Ailes retaliated by calling her a “man-hater,” giving her fewer interviews and coveted assignments, and ending her once-a-week appearance on the O’Reilly Factor , the complaint claims. Carlson also claims that her removal from Fox & Friends in 2013 was a punishment. Carlson had previously published a blog on Huffington Post , in August 2015, in which she detailed several prior incidents of sexual harassment over the course of her career, but made no mention of any problems with her employer at the time. “Even when I was harassed, I always knew that my brains and talent were responsible for my success, not my looks. Unfortunately, I still have to put up with the constant drumbeat of ‘lookism.’ People think it’s okay to refer to a professional woman as a ‘blonde bimbo.’ We should refuse to tolerate this attitude when it occurs,” she wrote. Accusing Ailes of hurting her career, Carlson is now seeking compensatory and punitive damages, damages for mental anguish, attorneys’ fees and “reimbursement for negative tax consequences resulting from a jury verdict” in the matter. Carlson was criticized by the liberal-leaning media in 2014, after she described Satanists in Oklahoma as “atheists” in a Tweet, and in 2007 when she insinuated that Senator Ted Kennedy (D-Massachusetts) was a “hostile enemy on the home front” for opposing the Iraq troop surge.

2016-07-07 18:00 www.rt.com

19 Freddie Gray case: Highest-ranking officer charged opts for bench trial — RT America Rice's trial is set to begin Thursday, marking the latest trial involving Baltimore Police Department (BPD) officers charged following Gray's April 2015 death. Gray, 25, died a week after he suffered spinal cord injuries while he was being transported in a police van. Both officers who were tried previously opted for bench trials and have now been acquitted. The trial of the third officer ended up in hung jury. Rice, the highest-ranking officer involved in Gray's apprehension and arrest, has pleaded not guilty to charges including involuntary manslaughter, second-degree assault, reckless endangerment, and two counts of misconduct in office. The most serious charge involves the officer's failure to secure a handcuffed Gray with a seatbelt in the police van. On Tuesday, during a pretrial motions hearing, Circuit Judge Barry G. Williams ruled that prosecutors with the State's Attorney's Office committed a discovery violation by not submitting to the defense until last week some 4,000 pages of documents related to Rice's officer training, according to the Baltimore Sun. "The reality we have here — you, your office, whoever, didn't do what you're supposed to," Williams told the prosecution. Prosecutors said the city did not turn over the documents until last week, and that they passed them on to the defense the next day. Williams said prosecutors should have urged the city to move faster, or they should have notified the court of the delay. The prosecution indicated they could not know if those documents were relevant given they could not prove whether Rice attended training or what the training curriculum was if he did attend. Williams' order means the documentation of Rice's training will not be admissible as evidence in court. Prosecutors have said officer training is a key aspect of the case against Rice and other officers, as it may prove they violated BPD guidelines. The prosecution can still cite BPD's general protocol and Rice's police academy training, the Sun reported. "We believe that a combination of training and [general] orders would've alerted the defendant that the conduct he engaged in was not within the scope" of proper officer conduct, said Chief Deputy State's Attorney Michael Schatzow, according to the Sun. Rice was patrolling area around a public housing complex and ordered police to chase Gray when he fled police. Gray ran once they had "made eye contact" with him, officers said, which caused the young man to run "unprovoked upon noticing police presence. " He was eventually arrested for allegedly possessing an illegal switchblade. The US Supreme Court has ruled in the past that police may pursue someone if that person flees police unprovoked in a "high crime" area. Prosecutors said during Officer Edward Nero's case that the chase ordered by Rice was "probably" justified based on that ruling. Rice helped Nero load Gray into the van. Nero was acquitted of reckless endangerment in part because Rice was ultimately the supervising officer, but also because the van's driver, Officer Caesar Goodson, could have been expected to ensure Gray was secured into the van. Yet Goodson was also acquitted of all charges, including the most serious charge levied against any of the officers, second-degree depraved heart murder. Last week , Rice's attorneys requested the indictment against him be dismissed based on prosecutorial "defects" involving disclosures made by two law enforcement officers involved in the case. Judge Williams eventually dismissed the request, which was also made by two officers, Sergeant Alicia White and Officer Garrett Miller, whose trials for Gray-related charges will occur later this year. A sixth officer, William Porter, is awaiting trial after the initial attempt to try him in December ended in a mistrial. Rice is currently free on $350,000 bail.

2016-07-07 18:00 www.rt.com

20 Mumford & Sons boycott Swedish festival over sexual assault reports — RT Viral Over the three-day festival, 17 women reported incidents of sexual assault at the event in Norrkoping. The band described the reports as “hideous.” Five of those cases were rapes, and three of the victims were under 15, with the majority of victims under 18. The group made the announcement in a Facebook post after the concert. “We are appalled to hear what happened at the Bravalla Festival last weekend,” it read. “Festivals are a celebration of music and people, a place to let go and feel safe doing so. We're gutted by these hideous reports.” “We won't play at this festival again until we've had assurances from the police and organizers that they're doing something to combat what appears to be a disgustingly high rate of reported sexual violence,” they added. The Swedish prime minister Stefan Löfven commented on the festival assaults, describing them as “totally unacceptable”. “It is also important that we continue to make sure the police, prosecutors and other authorities get better at investigating these crimes so that we make sure we actually convict the perpetrators," he added. The Putte i Parken festival which took place in Karstad over the weekend had 32 reported cases of sexual assault, with the youngest victim reportedly 12 years old. No cases of rape were reported. Police have said they have identified seven men suspected of committing the assaults, AP reported . Speaking on Sunday, police said, “The descriptions [of perpetrators] are diverse, with the one common denominator being that these are all young men.” In January, police came under fire when they were accused of covering up sexual assaults at the We Are Sthlm music festival last summer. Swedish popstar Zara Larsson also expressed disgust at the numerous sexual attacks at Bravalla. “You deserve to burn in hell," she wrote. "[Damn] you for making girls feel insecure when they go to a festival.”

2016-07-07 18:00 www.rt.com

21 Box of Haribo & sausages spark bomb scare, controlled explosion in City of London — RT UK There was a security alert on a street near Moorgate subway station after the discovery of the package at 1:45pm. Office workers stationed on buildings in the sealed-off area were forbidden from leaving their premises for over an hour due to the incident. A bomb squad with sniffer dogs was called to the scene on Coleman Street, with police sappers using a robot to blow up the suspicious object. Following the blast, it appeared that the package had only been filled with food products, such as sausages and sweets, the witnesses said. Twitter users posted pictures of the aftermath online, with one image showing an intact pack of Haribo gummy sweets. "Turns out Haribo survives a controlled explosion! " one of the users wrote. "We were told to stay away from our big windows. Embarrassing that it was just a box of food! " she added. City of London Police confirmed on Twitter that a controlled explosion had been performed, adding that the area is now “deemed safe.” In late May, London mayor Sadiq Khan warned that terrorists “want to attack London” following the deadly attacks in Paris and Brussels. On July 1, an Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL)-linked group threatened to target London’s Heathrow airport and airports in America on US Independence Day.

2016-07-07 18:00 www.rt.com

22 Chicago’s blood-soaked Independence Day: 62 injured, 4 killed — RT America Four people were killed on Monday and 62 people injured in the third largest US city, which earlier this year saw gun crime shoot up by more than 88 percent, according to Chicago Police figures seen by USA Today. CBS Chicago report how at least three children were caught up in the shootings, including an 8-year-old boy and 5-year-old girl who were hit by stray bullets while playing in the West Englewood neighbourhood. Four men comprised the dead, one of whom was reportedly gunned down by two males after an argument in the middle of the street in North Ridgeway. The number of gun crime victims has now risen to more than 2,000 in the city since January 1, according to the Chicago Tribune’s independent index on gun crime. The shootings, spread out over the city on Monday, are a slight decrease on last year’s July 4 figures, when 55 people were injured in shootings, 10 of them fatally. Gun violence has plagued Chicago and marred this year’s Memorial Day weekend when almost 70 people were injured in gunfire. In an effort to curb the violence on the streets of Chicago, Mayor Rahm Emanuel launched an anti-gun campaign in April called Put The Guns Down . The campaign enlisted the help of rapper Common, who featured on a track calling for people to “put the guns down and do better.” But the gun continues to cast a shadow over a city home to around 2.7 million people, something which Mayor Emanuel has blamed on repeat offenders and “weak gun laws.” On Friday the mayor announced that together with senators Kwame Raoul, Antonio Munoz and Michael Zalewski, the state is working on a bill to give people who repeatedly commit gun offences longer prison sentences. “For decades Chicago has faced a historic challenge with gun crimes at the hands of repeat offenders,” Emanuel acknowledged in a statement on Friday. “Stronger state laws will deter repeat gun offenders, stronger state laws will stop the dangerous turnstile in our justice system, and strong state laws will save lives.”

2016-07-07 18:00 www.rt.com

23 New Apple update will push iPhone users to become organ donors — RT America A new feature on the iPhone Health app will allow users to register as an organ, eye and tissue donor “ with just a few taps.” Anyone who signs up within the app will have their registration automatically sent to the National Donate Life Registry . The new feature will become available this fall on Apple’s latest software update, the iOS 10, with public beta testing starting later this month. “ On average, one person dies every hour in the United States waiting for an organ transplant – and one donor can save as many as eight lives ,” said David Fleming of Donate Life America, who have partnered with Apple for the new venture. Apple CEO Tim Cook said he was inspired to tackle America’s shortage of organ donations following the death of the company’s co-founder Steve Jobs. Jobs received a liver transplant in 2009 after enduring what Cook described as an “ excruciating ” wait, he even reportedly turned down the offer of a transplant from Cook himself. " Watching and seeing him every day, waiting and not knowing – it stuck with me and left an impression that I'll never forget, " Cook told AP. Jobs passed away in 2011 after suffering from a rare type of pancreatic cancer. There are over 120,000 people currently waiting for lifesaving organ transplants in the US, with a new patient added every ten minutes.

2016-07-07 18:00 www.rt.com

24 Leave your laptop in the bag: TSA to use CT scanner for carry-ons — RT America One checkpoint at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport will be outfitted with a computed-tomography (CT) scanner by the end of the year, the Transportation Security Administration said Tuesday. It will be the first CT scanner for carry-ons in the US. Meanwhile, TSA is partnering up with American Airlines to outfit airports in Chicago (O’Hare) Dallas/Fort Worth, Miami and Los Angeles with automated security lanes that would free the agency’s personnel from manually shuffling the bins used for personal items. Delta Airlines donated the funds to set up two such lanes at Atlanta’s Hartsfield– Jackson International Airport in May, helping ease the congestion at the world’s busiest air travel hub. The scanners and the automated lanes will speed up the lines by about 30 percent, according to TSA estimates. “Our foremost priority is the security of the traveling public,” TSA Administrator Peter Neffenger said in a statement. “To ensure that we remain up-to-date in an evolving threat environment, TSA continues to test and deploy state-of-the-art technologies. This collaboration with American Airlines is an important step in enhancing the traveler experience while maintaining effective security.” American Airlines will invest $5 million in the improvements, the airline’s Chief Operating Officer Robert Isom said in a letter to employees. Neither the automated lanes nor the CT scanners will solve all of the security problems, but they are “both huge steps in the right direction,” Isom wrote, according to AP. CT scanners are already used to screen checked baggage, generating 3-D imagery that is analyzed by computers. Security officers only get involved when the scanning software detects any anomalies. Using the technology to manage carry-ons might allow travelers to leave liquids and electronics in their bags, speeding up the lines even more, AP reported. One of the advantages of the automated lanes is that suspicious bins can be sent to a different area for additional screening, without holding up the entire line. Bins used to store travelers’ personal items are also outfitted with radio-frequency (RFID) tags for better tracking. TSA processed 10.7 million travelers over the six days prior to the July 4 holiday, Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson said, with last Thursday and Friday the busiest days since 2007. The average wait time was less than 10 minutes, Johnson added. Last year, bowing to pressure from Congress, TSA promised to prioritize security over efficiency at airport checkpoints. Between that and employee attrition, the agency has had difficulties handling the record number of air travelers this year. After the June 28 attack at Istanbul’s Ataturk Airport, however, security experts have pointed out that long lines at checkpoints themselves represent an easy target for terrorists.

2016-07-07 18:00 www.rt.com

25 Kiev’s new nuclear project puts Europe at risk, Greens warn — RT News The Ukrainian Greens Association, a non-profit environmentalist organization, listed the risks in a statement released on Monday. “We are deeply concerned about plans to build a spent nuclear fuel storage in the upper reaches of the Dnepr River close to densely populated places,” the statement said, citing a speech made by the association’s spokeswoman, Anna Rak, at the first Nuclear Energy Policy Forum in Brussels on June 30. Rak also emphasized that the government plans “to secretly fast-track the construction of a surface dry, spent nuclear fuel storage system… close to the Dnepr river,” ignoring basic safety standards and “creating the threat of a second Chernobyl.” Ukraine’s Greens stressed that the decision to build the facility just 70 kilometers away from the Ukrainian capital of Kiev, in Chernobyl’s exclusion zone, was taken “without a proper environmental impact assessment and public consultation with the [local] residents.” They also warned that the contractor for the project, Holtec International, actually lacks sufficient experience while the technology it plans to use in construction has never been tested or tried in any other country. The association added that the procedure of choosing the contractor was “neither transparent nor open,” warning that Ukraine may once again become a subject to “unpredictable and dangerous nuclear experiments,” apparently referring to the Chernobyl nuclear disaster. The organization demanded that Ukrainian authorities “ensure that the project complies with all international rules and standards before the construction is launched” and emphasized that the residents of the Kiev region have “an unconditional right” to get all relevant information about the project and to take part in the discussion concerning its construction. The Ukrainian Greens Association also urged the European Commission, the European Parliament and international environmental bodies to carry out an “independent environmental assessment of the project.” The warning for the Ukrainian Greens came just as the Ukrainian Energy Minister Igor Nasalik confirmed that the government secured a $260 million loan to finance the construction project. The move also comes amid mounting concerns about the future of the European nuclear energy sector as over about 45 percent of current nuclear plants are expected to go offline in the next 10 years. As Europe is sluggish with its large-scale projects, further slowed down by engineering, construction and financial woes, two meetings in Paris and Brussels were organized in June by the New Nuclear Watch Europe (NNWE) advocacy group to discuss he hottest issues impeding progress in the nuclear sector – costs and hazards. All participants agreed on the necessity to develop a common continental standard on spent nuclear fuel and radioactive waste management, with the case of Ukraine in particular appearing to emphasize this necessity. Paris also held the World Nuclear Exhibition (WNE), where leading energy companies discussed the matter, shortly before the NNWE meetings were held.

2016-07-07 18:01 www.rt.com

26 Former Army National Guardsman arrested for trying to support Islamic State — RT America Mohamad Bailor Jalloh, a US citizen born in Sierra Leone, was arrested Sunday, according to court filings in the Eastern District of Virginia cited by the Washington Post. He is due to appear in court on Tuesday. The government claimed that Jalloh gave $500 to an undercover FBI agent that Jalloh believed was operating with Islamic State (IS, formerly known as ISIS/ISIL). Federal law enforcement was alerted to Jalloh's plans by a confidential source who was working with a now-dead overseas co-conspirator, court documents said. Jalloh, of Sterling, Virginia, was inspired to quit the National Guard upon listening to lectures by Yemeni-American Imam Anwar Al-Awlaki, who was killed in 2011 via a US drone strike for what the government said was his role in recruiting for the radical Islamist group Al-Qaeda. Heeding Awlaki's directive for all Muslims to resist US military operations in the likes of Iraq and Afghanistan, Jalloh expressed interest in conducting an attack akin to Major Nidal Hasan's 2009 shooting spree at Fort Hood in Texas, which left 13 people dead, the court documents said. Hasan has said Awlaki was an inspiration for his own attack. “You have to pick a action and take it cuz time is not on your side,” Jalloh wrote to a confidant, according to the court affidavit. He also suggested that a person who organized contests that featured illustrations of the prophet Muhammad would be a worthy target for attack, according to court filings. In February, Jalloh purchased a Glock handgun. He unsuccessfully attempted to buy an assault weapon in North Carolina last month, court documents indicated. On July 2, while he was being surveilled by the FBI, he attempted to buy a Bushmaster AR-15, but he did not have the proper paperwork. He returned that same day and bought another assault weapon, but it had been disabled prior to his purchase. While details of Jalloh's case are forthcoming, federal law enforcement has received criticism for manufacturing terror plots in recent years, often involving young Muslim men who would not have the means to procure materials for the plots they have been accused of planning, amounting to entrapment. In 2014, the Muslim advocacy group SALAM issued a study that found that nearly 95 percent of terror arrests since the attacks of September 11, 2001, were the result of the FBI foiling its own entrapment plots. Last month, a report in The New York Times detailed how the FBI has dramatically increased its use of undercover agents and informants in terror cases. About two out of every three prosecutions related to suspects believed to be supporting Islamic State involved undercover FBI figures, according to the Times.

2016-07-07 18:01 www.rt.com

27 27 Niiice! Totally Borat moment in Kazakhstan as fiancée proves strength by carrying fridge (VIDEO) — RT Viral In a scene straight out of Borat, video footage of a man and woman in Kazakhstan has led to some, shall we say, confusion... and a few chuckles. The woman is seen holding the fridge hanging out of the trunk, while a man drives down a street. Sacha Baron Cohen’s politically-incorrect Kazakh alter-ego Borat is an outrageous ‘reporter’ cracking jokes about rape, incest, and prostitution. In the film, Borat was shocked to learn that women in the US had been allowed to drive. It’s worth noting that women in Kazakhstan can, in fact, drive, prompting some to ask why'd she get stuck 'holding the bag,' or in this case, the giant appliance. The video was uploaded online with the title: “Kelinka from Kazakhstan carrying a fridge behind the car.” ‘Kelinka’ reportedly refers to a “multitalented fiancee.” READ MORE: Men work 42 minutes more per day than women, US study finds This moment kicked off a spirited debate online in the ongoing battle of the sexes, including the comments section below, as to whether this is proof women are just as capable of carrying out manual labor, she's marrying a man who would let his soon-to-be wife carry the burden, or she just wanted the exercise. What do you think?

2016-07-07 18:01 www.rt.com

28 28 Pac-Man for scientists: Micro-organisms unleashed into videogame-style maze (VIDEO) — RT Viral The team from the University College of Southeast Norway made an awesome simulation of the Japanese arcade classic to understand the dynamics between predator and prey microorganisms. Single celled euglena and ciliates (the prey) were released into the nutrient laden fluid maze, which had a diameter of less than a millimeter, alongside the multi-celled rotifers (the predators) to analyze their interaction. The unicellular organisms took on the role of Pac-Man while the rotifers acted as "Ghosts" who prey on Pac-Man. The aim of the interactive research was to figure out how the single celled organisms respond when being hunted by the rotifers in a small three dimensional area. Lead scientist on the project Professor Erik Andrew Johannessen explained this artificial environment was closer to the microorganisms’ natural environment than the traditionally used petri dish, therefore enhancing the research. Johannessen observed the rotifers were initially slow and hesitant to move in the maze. His team at the University’s Department of Micro and Nanosystem Technology now hope to use digital tracking to monitor changes in species behavior when they are repeatedly exposed to the same environmental conditions. They are also looking at the possibility of integrating other games into future research. Filmmaker Adam Bartley Lyslagt worked with the scientists to capture the micro version of the neon-colored bacterial Pac-Man on camera. He believes the Pac-Man imitation helps bridge the gap between science and entertainment and opens up scientific research to a much wider audience. “High-tech research is mostly too distant from the daily lives of most people, and therefore this practical application of research is very important to communicate to the public,” Lyslagt said.

2016-07-07 18:01 www.rt.com

29 Russia and US agree on closer military cooperation in Syria, after Putin calls Obama — RT News “Both sides have confirmed their readiness to increase military cooperation between Russia and the US in Syria ,” said a statement from the Kremlin released on Wednesday evening. “ It is also important to resurrect the UN-mediated peace talks to arrive at a political solution of the crisis.” READ MORE: ‘Partnership of equals’: Putin sends Independence Day telegram to Obama According to media reports last week, US officials have put forward a proposal that would see Russian and US air forces conduct joint strikes against Al-Nusra Front, an Al-Qaeda branch in Syria. So far, Russia has not commented on the reported initiative, which has supposedly been endorsed by both the Department of State and the Pentagon. Washington hopes that as well as confronting radicals, the plan will help the two sides to agree on their definition of which forces should be included in the ceasefire, which was adopted in February. Vladimir Putin has repeatedly accused Al-Nusra of operating under the label of “moderate” rebels, and he returned to the topic in the phone conversation. “Vladimir Putin called on his counterpart to separate, as soon as is possible, the definitions of moderate forces from Al Nusra, and other extremist groups,” said the statement. Obama and Putin also discussed the smoldering conflicts in countries which previously formed part of the Soviet Union. The Kremlin said that Obama “ gave a positive evaluation of Russia’s efforts” to mediate the conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan over Nagorno-Karabakh. Baku and Yerevan have been caught up in conflict over the territory since the late 1980s. It ‘froze’ in 1994 after a ceasefire but violence broke out again in May this year. In June, St. Petersburg hosted talks between the leaders of the two nations and Vladimir Putin. Putin also returned to the topic of the Minsk agreements, concerning Ukraine, and called on Kiev to follow the terms of the 18-month-old treaty, which has still not been fully implemented. Specifically, he has called for Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko to engage in “direct dialog with Donetsk and Lugansk, carry out an amnesty, and award the regions special autonomous status.”

2016-07-07 18:01 www.rt.com

30 Cleveland boys arrested with BB guns ordered to write about slaying of Tamir Rice — RT America The boys, ages 12 and 15 at the time of the incident, were arrested on February 21 after police received reports of two teenagers in a city park with guns that did not have orange tips on the ends to signify they were fakes. The boys surrendered to police without incident, surveillance footage shows. The boys admitted to a misdemeanor disorderly conduct charge while their attorneys requested the charges be dismissed during an arraignment hearing in Cuyahoga County Juvenile Court on Friday, according to the Cleveland Plain Dealer. Assistant Prosecuting Attorney Linda Gaines Herman, however, pressed the judge, Magistrate Je'Nine Nickerson, to not relieve the boys of the charges, indicating that punishment would further "dialogue" about the consequences of crossing violent police authority. "We had a young boy playing with a gun and the results were disastrous for that family and for the community as a whole," Herman, of the Cuyahoga County Office of the Prosecutor's Juvenile Justice Unit, said in court in reference to Rice's death at the hands of the Cleveland Police Department. "We have an obligation to have a dialogue about something as simple as this and how it can go from simple to tragic in a very short period of time. " On August 19, the boys, neither of whom have a criminal history, will appear in court again. Nickerson will then announce whether the charges will be dismissed or find the boys delinquent or not delinquent. Prior to that, the boys have been ordered to write essays on Tamir Rice, who was shot dead by Cleveland police while playing outside a city recreation center. In December, at the recommendation of Herman's boss, County Prosecutor Timothy McGinty, a Cuyahoga County grand jury decided against indicting Cleveland Police Officer Timothy Loehmann, who fired at Rice on November 22, 2014. A 911 call to police had reported a "guy" holding a gun that was "probably fake. " This information was not passed on to the police who were sent to the scene. Rice had an Airsoft replica that lacked an orange safety feature that would have indicated it was not real. Loehmann shot at Rice almost immediately after exiting his squad car, claiming Rice had reached for his waistband. Rice, shot once in the torso, was not offered first aid by the officers and died the following day. In April, the city settled with Rice's family for $6 million, allowing the city to avoid a high-profile civil rights trial while the officers and police dispatchers involved in the incident did not have to admit wrongdoing. The two boys have also been ordered to pay court fees of approximately $150 each. On Friday, they told Nickerson they did know about Rice's killing. "It is a very fine line when people have to make split-second decisions as to what is a BB gun and what is a gun," Nickerson said, according to The Plain Dealer. "When a police officer has to respond, in this particular climate, you are putting yourself at risk. You have to understand that your actions have consequences. " The boys' attorneys told the court that both boys understood that their decision to play with BB guns in a park was ill-advised and potentially dangerous. "[He] has a much deeper understanding about what happened, and he regrets making the decision to do that," Thomas Robinson, attorney for the 15-year-old, said in court.

2016-07-07 18:01 www.rt.com

31 31 Major difference in cases of Oscar and ‘Jub Jub’ In the case of Pistorius‚ his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp was killed when Pistorius shot at a toilet door at his home‚ while Maarohanye collided with another vehicle while he was high on drugs killing four schoolchildren and seriously injuring two others. The difference is that while the conviction of Pistorius was initially that of culpable homicide and later replaced with that of murder‚ Maarohanye’s conviction was initially that of murder‚ later replaced with a culpable homicide conviction. In the case of Maarohanye and his friend Themba Tshabalala‚ the Regional Court initially convicted them of murder for the killings and sentenced them to a 25 year jail term. On appeal‚ the full bench of the high court found that the application of dolus eventualis in instances involving the driving of motor vehicles had been controversial. Dolus eventualis means that an accused who foresees that someone may be killed‚ reconciles himself with that possibility and proceeds with his action‚ is guilty of murder. “The matter before us is one of the cases in which the prosecution authorities decided to indict the appellants for murder based on dolus eventualis‚” the bench remarked. The full bench said as there was evidence that the two had taken drugs‚ there could be no suggestion that Maarohanye and Tshabalala had the foresight that their escapade could result in death and serious injury to pedestrians and reconciled themselves with that eventuality. “Their mental makeup must therefore have been the opposite of causing death or injury‚ their disposition was that no collision‚ let alone life threatening‚ would take place.” However‚ in the case of Pistorius‚ Judge Thokozile Masipa initially convicted Pistorius of culpable homicide in 2014. She found that although Pistorius had not had the necessary intention to kill Reeva‚ he had done so negligently and was therefore guilty of culpable homicide. However‚ the Supreme Court of Appeal overturned that conviction. It found that the high court finding was that as Pistorius did not realise that it was Reeva in the toilet‚ he did not foresee that his action in shooting could cause her death and he could not be held guilty of her murder. The appeal court said what was in issue was not whether Pistorius had foreseen that Reeva might be in the cubicle when he fired the fatal shots at the toilet door‚ but whether there was a person behind the door who might possibly be killed by his actions. In the case of Maarohanye‚ the convictions were set aside and he was sentenced to a prison term of 10 years. Pistorius was sentenced to a six year prison term‚ after Judge Masipa deviated from imposing a prescribed 15 year sentence because there were compelling and substantial circumstances. He spent his first night in jail in the hospital wing of the Kgosi Mampuru II prison in Pretoria.

2016-07-07 18:01 Ernest Mabuza www.timeslive.co.za

32 Seagal v Lundgren finally happening – tell us your favorite film showdown (POLL) — RT Viral With a director who has an unproven track record and two actors that although iconic aren’t exactly at the top of their game right now, we have mixed feelings for Deadly Arsenal. Can it possibly echo the cinematic brilliance of when Bruce Lee met Chuck Norris in a deserted Rome Colosseum in Way of the Dragon , or when Robert De Niro and Al Pacino went face to face in a coffee shop in Heat? Have a look at the poll below and tell us your favorite cinematic showdown.

2016-07-07 18:01 www.rt.com

33 Russia reaffirms commitment to cooperate with Dutch MH17 crash investigators — RT News A Malaysia Airlines Boeing- 777, on its way from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur, was shot down over Ukraine’s war-torn Donetsk region on July 17, 2014. Two years after the incident, in which 298 lives were lost, an international investigation headed by the Dutch has still been unable to name the party responsible. Representatives of the Russian Prosecutor General’s Office and the country’s Investigative Committee received colleagues from the Netherlands’ Public Prosecution Service in the capital on Wednesday. During the talks, “Russia has once again confirmed its unconditional commitment to maximum efficient, swift cooperation with the Netherlands in order to clarify the circumstances of this terrible tragedy,” Russia’s Prosecutor General’s Office said in statement. Moscow has been working with the international investigation into the crash since November 2014, already passing a large amount of data and documents requested by the Dutch Public Prosecution Service, the Prosecutor General’s Office stated. “They included the testimonies of eyewitnesses of the tragedy, the results of experiments and research into the causes of the event, a selection of clips from the media, containing accounts of local witnesses of the tragedy and other information,” the statement read. The Prosecutor General’s Office said that it saw “the most thorough and timely execution of the latest Dutch request for legal assistance” as its main objective of the Moscow meeting. Russia’s Investigative Committee also expressed its readiness to provide all the necessary assistance to the MH17 crash probe. READ MORE: MH17 criminal probe at ‘advanced stage’ as relatives press Malaysia Airlines with lawsuit However, it stressed that “the transfer of information related to the plane crash is, to date, carried out unilaterally” by Russia. “The Dutch side isn’t sharing the data it possesses with the Russian side, although the bilateral exchange of information would have sped up the investigation multifold,” Vladimir Markin, an Investigative Committee representative, said in a statement. Markin also drew attention to the fact that the Netherlands-led investigation is “ignoring calls for the Ukrainian side to provide such important information… as primary radar data, the conversations of military air traffic controllers and recordings of negotiations of the military sector.” In June, the Joint Investigation Team (JIT) working on the MH17 case said that the probe was at a “very advanced stage.” READ MORE: Dutch call for more transparency in MH17 probe as police briefs victims’ relatives (RT EXCLUSIVE) The team said that “after the summer” they would be able to tell which weapon was used to down the plane, and where it was launched from – the area held by the Kiev government or the self-defense forces of the People’s Republic of Donetsk. However, the JIT stressed that the findings will only be included in a criminal file and will not be made public.

2016-07-07 18:01 www.rt.com

34 Protect our schools and universities‚ Nzimande urges youth Kaizer Chiefs’ eight signings announced so far ahead of the coming season have surpassed the string of embarrassing duds paraded by football manager Bobby Motaung in June last year who failed so miserably in a poor 2015-16 campaign.

2016-07-07 18:01 TMG Digital www.timeslive.co.za

35 35 Whistleblower Manning rushed to hospital, reports claim attempted suicide — RT America Manning was transported to the hospital Tuesday, according to CNN’s crime reporter Shimon Prokupecz. By Wednesday, she had been released from the hospital and returned to the United States Disciplinary Barracks, according to ACLU lawyer Chase Strangio, who says that nothing else has been confirmed. None of Manning’s lawyers or friends had received any information from Leavenworth, Strangio added. The 28-year-old former private tried to hang herself, and was being “monitored” after returning to the prison, celebrity gossip website TMZ reported , citing unnamed prison officials. Army spokeswoman Tatjana Christian told the Daily Dot that Manning was back at USDB and that “officials continue to monitor the inmate's condition,” but declined to give any details citing privacy concerns under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). One of Manning's attorneys, Nancy Hollander, told the Daily Dot she was supposed to receive a call from Manning on Tuesday but it never came through. Officials at USDB told her she must have "missed it," Hollander said. The only thing the Army has confirmed is that "Chelsea was in the hospital for one day and returned to Leavenworth," Hollander's office told RT. In August 2013, Manning was sentenced under the Espionage Act to 35 years in prison for turning over classified documents to Wikileaks. The former intelligence analyst will be eligible for parole after eight years. The suicide attempt would have come on the same day FBI Director James Comey announced he would not advise the Department of Justice to prosecute former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton over her “extremely careless” handling of classified government emails. Critics have accused the government of applying a double standard, letting Clinton suffer no consequences for her actions while punishing whistleblowers like Manning or Edward Snowden. 2016-07-07 18:01 www.rt.com

36 Drone shows terrible impact of Baghdad blast that killed 250 (VIDEO) — RT News The footage, provided by RT’s video news agency Ruptly, shows the devastated shopping center closest to the epicenter of the explosion, caused by an Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL) suicide bomber driving a refrigerator truck laden with home-made devices into a busy square early on Sunday morning. Limp banners hang alongside its damaged carcass, with entire floors of the building, a popular social hub in the upmarket Shia district of Karrada, reduced to rubble. At least half a dozen other buildings along the street are black with soot, the result of the original blast and a fire that raged for 12 hours following the explosion. Dozens of women and children were among the dead, with many buried under debris before being consumed by fire. Mourning has been superseded by anger in Baghdad. IS has been able to consistently create waves of terror through synchronized attacks in the city, despite the authorities trumpeting successes on the battlefield. On Tuesday, Interior Minister Mohammed al-Ghabban handed in his resignation, admitting he had “ failed ” to impose “a unified plan” on the convoluted security structures that have emerged since the toppling of Saddam Hussein in 2003. However, residents in Karrada have repeatedly complained that the problem goes to the very heart of the dysfunctional government of Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi. He was barracked when he visited the site of the explosion, and later a crowd marched from Karrada to protest outside his residence. "We can't enjoy the Eid; if it isn't ISIS, it's Al-Qaeda, and if it isn't the two, it's the filthy corrupt politics in this country,” one Karrada woman said, according to local media. "We are being targeted while they are sitting safe and sound in their palaces. They are the ones who are allowing ISIS to come here and murder people. " 2016-07-07 18:01 www.rt.com

37 ‘Bregret’? Wales changes mind about leaving EU, poll finds — RT UK If there was a second referendum, the numbers suggest voters would opt to stay in the EU by a margin of 53 to 47 percent. That’s according to a survey was carried out by ITV Wales/Cardiff University and YouGov. “In short, there is not much overall change,” Professor Roger Scully of Cardiff University said. “But that which has occurred is in the direction of growing support for the idea of the UK remaining in the EU - roughly a six percentage-point swing in this direction since the referendum.” READ MORE: Post-Brexit turmoil after vote to leave the EU Wales voted for Brexit by 52.5 percent to 47.5 percent in the June 23 referendum. Scully pointed out the focus of the poll was “since the referendum,” which indicates the concern felt by some about the Brexit outcome. “Unless those supporting continued EU membership can find some way of overturning or re-running the vote, their views may now count for very little,” he added. The backtracking of voters who initially opted to leave the EU has been referred to as “Bregret,” after the ‘Leave’ camp was accused of lying about key pledges made during the Brexit campaign. The suggestion that £350 million-worth of funding per week could be made available to the NHS was one such claim. READ MORE: Demystifying Brexit: The 'ins & outs' of the EU referendum Some 86 percent of those who voted for Leave said they would do so again in the latest survey, suggesting a drop in support for Brexit. The results from the poll also confirmed the continuing support from younger voters for Remain and older voters for Leave. Research from Cardiff University shows that Wales actually receives a net benefit of £245 million from the UK’s membership in the EU, but voted to leave nonetheless.

2016-07-07 18:01 www.rt.com

38 Corruption under ANC now pervades every level of government: Buthelezi Addressing an IFP election campaign rally in Daggafontein in Mpumalanga‚ Buthelezi said that poverty‚ unemployment‚ crime and poor service delivery marred every province of our country. “We should be much further in our journey away from these problems‚ for we have lived under a democracy for 22 years. But those tasked with governing South Africa‚ and administering our democracy‚ have failed to do what they should have. “Over the years‚ they let corruption seep into governance so that now it pervades every level of government‚ from national departments‚ to provincial and local government‚” the IFP leader said. “When we first began to see the evidence of corruption in the ruling party‚ some leaders were honest about it. President Mandela himself spoke to international journalists and lamented (and I quote): ‘Little did we suspect that our own people‚ when they got a chance‚ would be as corrupt as the apartheid regime. That is one of the things that has really hurt us.’ “But two decades later‚ corruption has become so entrenched in the ruling party that even their own members don’t trust the President‚” Buthelezi said‚ adding that scandals were now just everyday news. South Africa’s own President walked under a shadow of corruption charges - charges that were yet to be tested in a court of law‚ he said. “Yet under this kind of leadership‚ the message is clear that abuse of power‚ fraud‚ self-enrichment and laziness will all go unchallenged. The door has been opened to corrupt and greedy officials at every level.”

2016-07-07 18:01 TMG Digital www.timeslive.co.za

39 UK police commit 2,300 data breaches in 4.5yrs Breaches include improper disclosure of information, accessing police systems for non-policing purposes, inappropriate use of data and accessing data for personal reasons, the report explains. Data was accessed without authorization more than 800 times within that period, with 25 cases directly involving the “misuse” of the Police National Computer (PNC), the UK’s primary police computer system used to facilitate investigations and share information. The findings, based mainly on freedom of information (FoI) responses, also revealed information was inappropriately shared with third parties more than 800 times. “Specific incidents show officers misusing their access to information for financial gain and passing sensitive information to members of organized crime groups,” the London-based group said. The study ‘Safe in Police hands?’ found in the majority of these cases no disciplinary action was taken against the offending staff member. Some 13 percent of the incidents analyzed by Big Brother Watch resulted in resignation or dismissal, 11 percent ended in a verbal or written warning, while just 3 percent resulted prosecution and conviction. “We trust the police to keep us safe. In the 21st century that is as much about keeping our data secure as protecting us on the streets,” said Renate Samson, chief executive of Big Brother Watch. “The revelation that the police are still committing 10 data breaches a week shows that work still needs to be done before we can be sure our personal information is safe in their hands,” she added. The report also warned about the potential for abuse of some provisions of the controversial Investigatory Powers Bill, which is currently under review by the House of Lords. The group suggested the collection of Internet Connection Records (ICR), which involves the government accessing and storing user data for up to 12 months, would jeopardize user privacy. "Internet Connection Records reveal a huge amount of information about UK citizens. Collecting and storing details about every website that we access as well as our location, what device we are using and what time we accessed it can help build a very intrusive picture. “Until the police can demonstrate that our data will be safe in their hands we shouldn’t be giving them access to yet more of it,” Big Brother Watch research director Daniel Nesbitt told IBTimes UK.

2016-07-07 18:01 www.rt.com

40 British spies gave faulty intelligence on Iraq, then quietly withdrew it In his damning report on the Iraq war, released on Wednesday, Sir John Chilcot slams security agencies such as MI6 over major errors in their intelligence gathering and assessments. Chilcot says it worked on the “misguided assumption” that Saddam had WMD - a threat which turned out to be non-existent and was the basis for war - and made no effort to investigate otherwise. “At no stage was the proposition that Iraq might no longer have chemical, biological or nuclear weapons or programmes identified and examined by either the joint intelligence committee (JIC) or the policy community,” the report says. In September 2002, MI6 reported it was on the edge of a “significant breakthrough” after finding a new source inside Iraq with “phenomenal access” to information about WMDs. The source, which said Iraq had accelerated production of chemical and biological weapons, was later described in MI6 notes as having been lying to SIS over a period of time. However, the reports were used to provide assurance in drawing up a 2002 dossier preparing the case for war. Reports from that agent were still being reissued in April 2003. According to the Chilcot report, MI6 “did not inform No 10 or others that the source who had provided the reporting issued on 11 and 23 September 2002, about production of chemical and biological agent, had been lying to SIS.” In July 2003, the reports were officially withdrawn, but in a “low key manner compared with the way in which the original intelligence was issued.” Blair was not originally told the source’s information had been withdrawn. The Chilcot report is highly critical of Sir John Scarlett, the chairman of the JIC, and the then MI6 chief, Sir Richard Dearlove. Chilcot says Scarlett is to blame for failing to ensure the assessments of the intelligence community were properly reflected. Chilcot says intelligence services got some assessments correct, which were largely ignored by Blair. They included that while Saddam had the potential to proliferate WMDs to Islamic terrorists, he was unlikely to do so. Furthermore, Iraq was likely only to mount a terrorist attack in response to military action and if the existence of the regime was threatened. The intelligence community also assessed it would take Saddam four to five years to acquire enough fissile material to build a nuclear weapon, but the Blair dossier claimed it could be achieved within a year or two. The report says Blair presented assessments by the spy agencies to parliament with a “certainty that was not justified” by the intelligence that had been gathered. The report says “the flaws in the construct and intelligence were exposed after the conflict.”

2016-07-07 18:01 www.rt.com

41 Five killed in suspected politically-motivated violence in KZN Thembi Mbongo‚ 35‚ a candidate for ward six outside Osizweni in the Newcastle region‚ was shot dead in her home in front of her husband and children on Saturday night. She was shot by two unknown men who had knocked at her door requesting to speak to her. Four other people were killed in KwaNdaba‚ Maphumulo in an incident believed to be linked to faction-fighting‚ according to Kwazulu-Natal MEC for Transport‚ Community Safety and Liaison Mxolisi Kaunda. “Details of these killings are still unclear but police have been directed to work around the clock to ensure that those responsible are found and brought to book immediately‚” Kaunda said. “We strongly condemned these incidents. We are all working for a peaceful KwaZulu-Natal but these killings undermine our work. I am also concerned at the increased incidents of the murder of those who have agreed to stand up as representatives of the community in the forthcoming elections. “We find these totally unacceptable as it undermines our democratic processes. We urge all people of the province to resolve their differences through peaceful means and avoid letting these conflicts turn into violence‚” Kaunda said. ANC Provincial Secretary Super Zuma condemned Mbongo’s killing‚ describing it as an act of corwardness. He added that the ANC was deeply concerned at the killing of its ward candidates as the local government elections drew closer. “The killing of Cde Mbongo comes less than two months after the killing of ANCYL Deputy Regional Chairperson Cde Wandile Ngubeni who was gunned down in eMadadeni Township. “We believe that there is an orchestrated campaign to derail the ANC from an overwhelming victory in the Newcastle area and Amajuba District as a whole. We are calling upon police to leave no stone unturned in apprehending the killers of Cde Thembi. “We are also appealing to police‚ to act swiftly to conclude the investigations of both cases so as to help ensure peace and stability in this area as we move closer to the local government elections. We are also appealing for our members to remain calm and to allow police to conclude their investigations‚” Zuma said.

2016-07-07 18:01 TMG Digital www.timeslive.co.za

42 Robots to replace soldiers in future, says Russian military’s tech chief — RT News “I see a greater robotization [of war], in fact, future warfare will involve operators and machines, not soldiers shooting at each other on the battlefield,” Lieutenant General Andrey Grigoriev, head of the Advanced Research Foundation (ARF) – viewed as Russia’s analogue of DARPA – told RIA Novosti in an interview on Wednesday. He noted that future warfare will be determined by unmanned combat systems: “It would be powerful robot units fighting on land, in the air, at sea as well as underwater and in outer space.” “They would be integrated into large comprehensive reconnaissance-strike systems,” Grigoriev added. “The soldier would gradually turn into an operator and be removed from the battlefield,” he stressed. Last October , the United Instrument Manufacturing Corporation (UIMC) said it had developed the Unicum software package, which is capable of powering a group of up to 10 robotic systems. It can distribute ‘roles’ among robots, choose a ‘commander’ of the robotic task force and assign a combat mission to each individual machine. Humans, however, will still play a role on the battlefield until robotized warfare becomes reality, Grigoriev stressed. While work on Russia’s infantry combat system Ratnik 2 is underway, the AFR is already looking for a next-generation upgrade. The Legionnaire, a new project, would involve brand-new firearms, communications systems as well as enhanced protection from bullets and shrapnel, allowing an infantryman “to feel comfortable in any environment.” Last year, Russia unveiled a constellation of sophisticated robots armed with machine guns, automatic cannons, grenade launchers and non-lethal equipment. Russia’s latest main battle tank, the T-14 Armata, will also get robotized features which are likely to make it the deadliest unmanned ground vehicle (UGV) ever known. In June last year, Grigoriev also told reporters that Russia was developing a cyborg “resembling a human in appearance” and designed to operate in hostile environments. The humanoid will learn how to run, jump, overcome obstacles and even ride a motorbike, he announced. In March of this year, Uran-6 mine-cleaning robots were used by Russian bomb disposal units deployed to the Syrian city of Palmyra on a de-mining mission. The robots were said to be capable of carrying out controlled explosions or destroying explosive devices they encounter.

2016-07-07 18:01 www.rt.com

43 Priests to intervene in Mall of Africa taxi war “Government has appointed four senior religious leaders from the South African Council of Churches in an effort to broker an agreement between the Alexandra Taxi Association and ARMSTA in an effort to prevent further violence‚” said Vadi in a statement. Two people believed to be taxi drivers were shot dead on Sunday at a taxi rank near the mall along the Lone Creek Crescent. Police held a meeting with mall management to deal with the issue of security in the shopping centre’s precinct. This was the second shooting to take place outside the mall. In May‚ three people were wounded during a violent confrontation between taxi associations over a route dispute. ATA and the Alexandra‚ Randburg‚ Midrand and Sandton (Armsta) are believed to be fighting over the route. TMG Digital earlier sent questions to Vadi’s office asking which association had the rightful operating licence to use the route but this question was not answered. Instead‚ Vadi said: “We urge the interested parties to continue with efforts to resolve disputes peacefully. Government will not be deterred by dark and hidden forces using violence to derail efforts aimed at the restoration of peace and good relationships between the two associations.” Meanwhile‚ Vadi commended the South African National Taxi Council in Gauteng for suspending its strike action‚ which was set to take place on Monday.

2016-07-07 18:01 Penwell Dlamini www.timeslive.co.za

44 Polokwane City appoint Belgian Luc Eymael as new head coach Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump on Wednesday rejected criticism of his campaign tactics, in a wide-ranging speech defending his team's use of a Jewish star and his own praise of the late Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein.

2016-07-07 18:01 Nick Said www.timeslive.co.za

45 ANC turns down parliamentary meeting to discuss SABC chaos DA spokesperson on communications Phumzile Van Damme said the the party had received a response from the ANC's ‚ Parliament's Chair of Chairs‚ declining the DA’s request. Last week‚ the DA requested a meeting in terms of National Assembly (NA) Rule 223 to have the SABC board‚ the national broadcaster’s COO‚ Hlaudi Motsoeneneg‚ and Communications Minister appear in Parliament to answer for the chaos at the SABC. The Rule allows for parliamentary committees to meet when Parliament is not in session to discuss urgent matters of national importance. “We wrote to the ANC Chief Whip‚ Jackson Mthembu‚ who passed the matter to Frolick‚ who declined the request and indicated that a meeting can only take place only after the election. “This is deeply ironic given that‚ as reported in the Sunday Times today‚ the ANC has indicated that it is committed to investigating the chaos and censorship at the SABC‚” said Van Damme. She said it was now clear for all to see that the ANC was not serious at all about restoring the credibility of the public broadcaster‚ and that the claim of commitment to investigate was merely “a ploy to pull the wool over the publics’ eyes and South Africa's media fraternity”. “The truth is that Mr Motsoeneng was deployed to the SABC to do the ANC’s bidding during an election where the ANC stands to lose major support. Waiting until after the election stands to serve the ANC‚” Van Damme charged. “The ANC wants Minister Muthambi and the SABC Board to investigate Motsoeneng because they know it will be another whitewash. Minister Muthambi and Prof Maghuve are staunch supporters of Mr Motsieneng and have promoted and protected him at every opportunity. “We give the ANC in Parliament one more chance to fix this matter and convene a meeting of the Communications Committee‚ or face being in dereliction of its constitutional duties to conduct oversight over the SABC. “This simply cannot wait until after the election. The problems at the SABC are now‚ and need to the fixed now‚” Van Damme added.

2016-07-07 18:01 TMG Digital www.timeslive.co.za

46 New Kaizer Chiefs signings nothing like embarrassing duds of previous season When left Amakhosi at the end of winning a second league and cup double in 2013-14 it was apparent to the outgoing coach‚ media and public that the squad that had brought such success to Chiefs needed a flamethrower taken to it. The 2010 World Cup squad member backbone of the team of ‚ and were ageing‚ and the latter becoming increasingly injury-prone. had begun to resemble a zombie from Dawn of the Dead‚ such had his state of walking-wounded-ness become an issue. had a vintage 2014-15 at left-back‚ the former Getafe player showing all his class as a left-back with La Liga pedigree‚ and was voted by his teammates the club’s Player’s Player of the Season‚ but had always been injury prone and the question marks on his longevity were huge. On top of that‚ Mandla Masango and PSL Player of the Season Tefu Mashamaite – the pillar of Baxter’s back four since Gould’s decline – were allowed to move on. Under these circumstances‚ Chiefs served up Russian club Rostov’s reject centreback Siyanda Xulu‚ AmaZulu’s notoriously goal-shy striker Bongani Ndulula‚ Free State Stars’ six-goal striker Camaldine Abraw and honest but unspectacular defenders Keagan Ritchie and as their headline signings. For incoming coach Steve Komphela‚ finally being granted a chance at a big club – one where he served as a defender in the 1990s – seemed a double-edged sword. That Ndulula‚ Ritchie‚ and later signings Edward Manqele and Sula Matovu have been released within a year – the three strikers among those having scored one goal between them – speaks volumes and asks big questions of Amakhosi’s signing policy for 2015-16. Fast-forward a year and a fifth-placed finish in a trophyless season where Chiefs lost in two cup finals has clearly stung Amakhosi into action. They have announced eight signings who compare to the last decent spending spree on quality by the club at the start of Baxter’s three-year reign ahead of the 2012-13 season. Among that batch‚ Mulomowandau Mathoho‚ ‚ Siboniso Gaxa‚ Gould‚ Kingston Nkhatha and Brilliant Khuzwayo would all go on to play varying roles – some key‚ others smaller but also crucial – in the four trophies (including two league titles) that followed. Ahead of this season‚ Amakhosi acknowledged a year too late the need for a clearout‚ releasing a list of 20 names put on transfer‚ released from contracts or those who would not have their contracts renewed. Some of the old guard – notably Letshonlonyane and Siboniso Gaxa – have been allowed to move on. They could still have contributed in terms of their experience and leadership‚ but when drastic measures are required sometimes sacrifices of old heads need to be made in exchange for energetic legs. Chiefs have made a shrewd swap deal of Ritchie – a clever left-back – for SuperSport United’s Sibusiso Khumalo‚ a dynamo of energy and physical presence on the flank who can certainly bring class and attacking momentum from the back for Amakhosi as Masilela continues to fade. By out-bidding Mamelodi Sundowns with a superior salary package for 26- year-old Ramahlwe Mphahele Chiefs have secured a replacement for Gaxa at right-back for at least the next four seasons. The ex-Under-23 captain skippered the Brazilians’ superstars admirably to a league and double last season‚ and is entering his peak as a more-than sturdy attacking and defensive full-back. Cardoso appears earmarked to emulate Downs’ Wayne Arendse and step up to the plate next to Mathoho to solve Amakhosi’s central defensive issues. Enocent Mkhabela has been under-utilised in central midfield at SuperSport and is a good utility player who can also play in central defence. Keagan Buchanan has the skills‚ should he remain injury free‚ to add more class and creativity to Amakhosi’s forward line as a playmaker‚ and at 25 can bring necessary energy and hunger. Mitchell Katsvairo and Edmore Chirambadare showed their potential when Chicken Inn gave Sundowns such a tough workout in a 2-1 Caf Champions League aggregate defeat to the Zimbabweans in February. If there is an area lacking in Chiefs’ signings – and Motaung has said there are a few more to come – it is in a reliable goal-scorer up-front. With an unstable central defence this was their other Achilles heel in their 2015-16 campaign ‚ and a proven‚ big centre-forward such as Free State Stars’ 2014-15 PSL top scorer Moeketsi Sekola would surely signal Amakhosi’s intent. They perhaps have also not quite matched the ambition shown by archrivals Orlando Pirates by bringing in a player of genuine headline quality such as Bucs’ defensive signing from Ajax Cape Town‚ Abbubaker Mobara. But Komphela has established a reputation in his career with Free State Stars‚ Maritzburg United and Platinum Stars of enjoying working without big-name stars‚ with team ethic his prevailing ethos. And the signings Chiefs have made for the former SA U-23 and Bafana coach have finally given Komphela something he can work with. Now the onus‚ and of course the pressure‚ are on Komphela to deliver. Chiefs’ signings announced ahead of 2016-17 (so far): Sibusiso Khumalo Enocent Mkhabela Edmore Chirambadare Mitchell Katsvairo Lewis Macha Emmanuel Letlototlo Keagan Buchanan Ramahlwe Mphahlele Chiefs’ signings announced ahead of 2015-16: Bongani Ndulula Camaldine Abraw Siyanda Xulu Keagan Ritchie Daniel Cardoso Lucky Baloyi (back from loan) Sbongiseni Ngcobo Andisile Ntsila Later: Edward Manqele‚ Sula Matovu 2016-07-07 18:01 Marc Strydom www.timeslive.co.za

47 US to leave 8,400 troops in Afghanistan into 2017, 35 percent more than expected — RT America America’s combat mission in Afghanistan “came to a responsible end” a year and a half ago, Obama said. Forces there are now focused on “two narrow missions” : training and terrorism prevention. “But even these narrow missions continue to be dangerous.” The US will leave 8,400 troops through the end of the Obama administration, the president announced. Obama had planned to drop troop levels from 9,800 to 5,500 troops by the end of 2016. But the increase of Taliban attacks have intensified calls to leave more troops there. “The security situation in Afghanistan remains precarious,” Obama said. The Afghan military still needs our help, the president added. “It is in our national security interest, esp after all the blood and treasure we’ve invested over the years, that we give our partners in afghan the best chance to succeed.” Flanked by Defense Secretary Ash Carter and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Joseph Dunford, Obama announced Washington’s new exit strategy from the White House’s Roosevelt Room on Wednesday. His remarks focused on the need for partnership between the US and Afghan militaries. The decision to slow the drawdown, which Obama called an “additional adjustment to our posture,” was based on recommendations of Army General John Nicholson, the US commander in Afghanistan, as well as Carter, Dunford and the rest of Obama’s national security team, the president said. “As president and commander in chief, I’ve made it clear that I will not allow Afghanistan to be used as safehaven for terrorists to attack our nation again,” he said. “That is why I constantly review our strategy with my national security team.” The updated strategy will give the next president a “solid foundation for continued progress in Afghanistan,” Obama said. It will also send “a message to the Taliban and all of those who have opposed Afghanistan’s progress,” he added. “Afghan security forces continue to grow stronger, and the commitment of the international community, including the United States, to Afghanistan and its people will endure.” The only way that all the foreign forces will leave the country, Obama said, is through a lasting political settlement between the Afghan government and the Taliban. “ That’s why the United States will continue to support an Afghan-led reconciliation process.” The president also spoke of the 15th anniversary of the September 11, 2001 terror attacks and of the “9/11 generation” that has served in both Afghanistan and Iraq.

2016-07-07 18:01 www.rt.com

48 Madrid allows nude bathing in public pools to 'educate & transmit Western values' — RT Viral Permission was granted by the city’s mayor, Manuela Carmena, Spanish media reported. Carmena emailed all 21 Madrid districts, saying that if they consider it appropriate to host such an event, then they can fix a day for it. However, the mayor advised that there should be signs indicating that a nudist event is being held. Children are reportedly allowed to attend the event with adults. Madrid City Hall later clarified that it had not authorized the decision, but had advised districts to decide for themselves. If the districts ultimately decide to host a ‘No Swimsuit Day’, the event would probably be “towards the end of August,” it was added. The step was originally proposed by the Association for the Development of Nudism ( AND ), which stands for the right for people to go naked in public places. “What we want to do with this day is to educate and transmit our values, which are Western values,” AND President Ismael Rodrigo told Spanish newspaper El País. “There is nothing criminal about the body, and the best way we can show that is to try not to wear clothes when it’s not necessary, and in the pool, it isn’t.” Conservative Popular Party politician Esperanza Aguirre – who leaked the contents of the email to the public – criticized the move, saying the decision was another of Mayor Carmena’s “crazy ideas.” “I don’t know if you have the courage to implement a no veil day for Muslim women as well,” she said.

2016-07-07 18:01 www.rt.com

49 Italian 'zombie' banks put EU financial system at risk — RT Business “We adopted rules on public money; these rules must be assessed in a market that has a potential crisis to decide whether some suspension needs to be applied,” Societe Generale Chairman Lorenzo Bini Smaghi told Bloomberg, adding that the whole banking market was currently under pressure. According to new EU regulations, taxpayers’ money cannot be used to support failed banks. If Italy follows this rule, several national lenders may go bankrupt, leading to huge losses for depositors. Last week, the European Commission allowed Italy to inject €150 billion to maintain liquidity with the government considering an extra €40 billion to support the banking sector. Italian banks are burdened by about €360 billion ($389 billion) of soured loans, about a quarter of the country’s GDP. Italian authorities are expected to invoke a European rule letting the country free up temporary state aid if regulatory stress tests reveal a shortfall at Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena - the third largest lender, according to unnamed source quoted by Bloomberg. The capitalization of Italy’s banks has dropped by 50-70 percent since the beginning of the year, according to analysts. “Italian banks have turned into ‘zombies’ able to survive only with government backing,” the vice-president of the IFC Financial Center told Russian business daily Vzglyad, adding that without state support the whole financial system of the country would collapse, leading to a banking crisis throughout the European Union.

2016-07-07 18:01 www.rt.com

50 Moscow mayor orders direct video monitoring of forthcoming Duma elections — RT Russian politics “ Today we are making concrete decisions to ensure direct video links from polling stations. We are continuing this tradition from previous years and Moscow residents expect us to make sure that the elections are fair and controllable by the elections commission and by the public ,” TASS quoted Sobyanin as saying on Wednesday. READ MORE: Liberals announce ‘alternative patriotism’ program for State Duma polls The head of Moscow City Hall’s IT department, Artyom Yermolayev, told reporters that his team had all the necessary hardware for the project and that it could be prepared in time for the polls. “ Technically we are ready for this. By September 18 we will have to set up 6,500 video cameras. Now we are going to mobilize all our resources but this will be done without any additional budget expenditures ,” he said. Yermolayev also said that the city’s video surveillance system can ensure real-time monitoring from all polling stations expect for those that are closed for security reasons, apparently referring to certain military units and pre- trial detention centers. The Russian authorities first tested the use of live web cameras installed at polling stations during the 2012 presidential elections. Video footage was streamed to a special website from which anyone could monitor the voting at every polling station in the country. The move followed protests against alleged vote rigging during the nationwide parliamentary elections in late 2011. Many critics posted videos of alleged violations on the internet, and public outrage eventually developed into large-scale street protests. In response, then-Prime Minister Vladimir Putin ordered all polling stations in Russia to be fitted with webcams streaming continuously in real time. “ I suggest and request that the Central Election Commission set up web cameras in all polling stations – we have more than 90,000 of those – and let them work round the clock. Let the country watch it all on the internet ,” he said in December 2011. In addition, the Russian authorities have ordered that all election protocols be uploaded to the electronic system before 9am on March 5. Any delays or violations will be reported immediately to the Prosecutor General’s Office. Parliamentary elections in Russia are scheduled for September 18 this year. READ MORE: New rules for next Russian parliamentary election

2016-07-07 18:01 www.rt.com

51 Q & A with departing Bulls grafter Werner Kruger The burly 31-year-old - who is one of a handful of players to have played over a century of matches in both Currie Cup and Super Rugby‚ will end a 12-year career in a blue shirt with his last hooray before joining Welsh side‚ the ‚ at the end of the Super Rugby competition. Times Media Digital caught up with an obviously emotional Kruger and he reflected on his years at Loftus which contributed to four test appearances for the Springboks. Q: Can you take us through your early days at Loftus? A: I still remember Ashley Evert was a junior coach at the time at Loftus and he gave me a ring while I was still [a student] at TUT (Tshwane University of Technology). He said “can you come to training this afternoon?” I said “Ja‚ sure! I’ll make a plan. I’ll be there. I pitched up and then I was the only amateur in that under-20 squad that year. You are so keen to get your first game‚ then you get your second game and that is how it all started. Q: You worked under some great coaches at Loftus - Heyneke Meyer‚ Frans Ludeke and now Nollis Marais. What is it that you learnt from the different coaches throughout your stay in Pretoria? A: Every coach has a different area that they give special attention to. It is hard to say what one coach has done specifically. It has been a special ride with them all. Coach Frans had been here for eight years of the time I have been here‚ it’s been special. Looking back‚ all the memories flood back. You remember highlights like the year 2009 which really stands out. We won Super Rugby and the Currie Cup. That is a special memory I will cherish forever. Q: Would you say 2009 was your best year here at Loftus? A: I must say‚ 2009 was a great year‚ but 2010 was also a very special year. Going to Orlando (Soweto) and playing the playoffs there is a special memory I will cherish forever. Q: There were probably some lows as well‚ what was your lowest point in your career with the Bulls? A: In 2008 there were a lot of problems and criticism about the Bulls’ scrum. We took a lot of stick. Over that period one learnt a lot about their character and how to keep fighting and working hard. It all came together in the end. Q: If you were to compare your first senior game‚ your 100th game and now going into your last game at Loftus‚ which would you say is/has been your most emotional or nerve-wrecking? A: [Laughs] I definitely think it will be this one – my last game. When you reach some special milestones you know that you are still going to be here the next week and the week after that. Now I’m coming to the end of a very long journey. It has been a great and memorable journey here at Loftus. Q: When you first came to the union there were a lot of great players at the time. Were there any that you looked up to who had an influence on your career? A: When I started Anton Leonard (now forwards coach) was captain‚ ‚ ‚ – there were a lot of senior guys. It was hard to slot it‚ but it was great to have that leadership. You learn so much from the experienced guys‚ just from spending time with them and observing how they do things. Q: After having played over 200 games surely there are a lot of youngsters who look up to you‚ what legacy would you like to leave behind for those who will come after you? A: It is hard to say. But I think just to lead by example. They have to look after their bodies – that is the thing that keeps them in the game‚ their bodies. If they look after their bodies they will recover well. The most important thing is to put in the work when nobody’s watching. Q: Loftus is known to have some of the most passionate supporters‚ what have the Bulls fans meant to you and how were you received by them throughout your career? A: I must say‚ their support has been massive. I would like to say thank you to each and every supporter that has not only supported me‚ but the team over the years…. everywhere we travelled around the world. Q: You must be excited about your future overseas? A: Ja‚ it’s excitement and a bit of nerves as well. It’s not every day that you start over‚ walking into a new place for the first time as a 31-year-old. I’m very excited. We‚ as a family‚ are looking forward to it. I think it’s going to be a bit of an adjustment for the family – new country‚ different weather – but we are all very excited about it. Q: How has the family adjusted through your career from the time you started off until now? A: It’s obviously been massive. I started off as a single guy‚ and then now I’m leaving with my wife and little (seven-week old) boy. It’s emotional. This weekend will be my last game at Loftus and his first game at Loftus. That makes it more special‚ just to have him here as well.

2016-07-07 18:01 Chumani Bambani www.timeslive.co.za

52 Zuma’s pals can’t stop corruption: Msimanga Speaking at the launch of the DA’s plan for corruption-free cities‚ Msimanga said the ANC had allowed corruption to become part and parcel of the party’s very fabric by its sheer unwillingness and inability to deal decisively with corruption. “From President Zuma‚ who still faces 783 charges of corruption‚ fraud and racketeering‚ to outgoing ‚ Sputla Ramokgopa‚ whose corrupt and unlawful PEU smart-meter contract‚ has cost our City (Tshwane) in excess of R2 billion. “We cannot sit by and watch scarce resources squandered by a selfish and uncaring ANC government that places political patronage above the needs of the people‚” Msimanga asserted. He said that corruption was more than stolen money and favours for friends. It was a disease that had infected every aspect and every level of the ANC government. This disease now stood in the way of making progress towards a better life for all. “The only way that we‚ as a City and a country‚ can start moving forward again is if we cut this disease out like the cancer that it is.” Msimanga added that the first step toward combating corruption was to create an environment that encouraged people to report corruption when they see it. “This requires the establishment of an effective system that allows individuals to report fraud and corruption easily‚ confidentially and without the fear. “This will allow whistle-blowers to provide tip-offs anonymously by telephone‚ e-mail‚ social media or any other platform that makes individuals feel secure and protected‚” he stated. Among other measures to curb corruption‚ Msimanga said the DA advocated that lists for housing opportunities‚ including serviced sites‚ must be managed in a transparent and credible way that is free from manipulation. People should be able to see their position on the housing list and their progress. “Queue jumping” and advantage based on “who you know” should not be tolerated. Public servants should also be prohibited from doing business with government. A zero-tolerance policy should be adopted countrywide and offenders should be forced to vacate their posts. Tender processes should be opened up to the public at the adjudication stage to ensure that they were awarded fairly to companies which offered the most value for money‚ he added.

2016-07-07 18:01 TMG Digital www.timeslive.co.za

53 Two senior NFP leaders resign National Chairperson and former Secretary-General Prof Nhlanhla Khubisa tendered their resignation from the party on Saturday and Sunday respectively. "Their resignations were not surprising as the NWC of our party held a meeting on Saturday afternoon‚ which ran until very late where they deliberated extensively on various issues affecting the NFP which had brought our party into disrepute‚ including the non-compliance to the IEC processes resulting in a court case currently before the Electoral Court‚" kaMagwaza-Msibi said. She added: "I wish them well in their future endeavours and at the same time I urge our members and supporters not to panic and not do anything that could jeopardise our party in any way. " The NFP leader maintained that her party "is stable and will come out of this situation even more stronger than before". "I also want to emphasise that the NFP is not a two-men party and it is for this reason that I call upon our members and supporters to unite even more so that we can contest the forthcoming elections vigorously‚ as they are the embodiment of our strength" said kaMagwaza-Msibi.

2016-07-07 18:01 Julia Madibogo www.timeslive.co.za

54 SA A cricket tour goes ahead despite Zimbabwe protests Ninety-five people were arrested on Monday in the midst of violent clashes between public and police‚ and the government has been accused of partially shutting down parts of the internet in a bid to curb organisation of the unrest. Nonetheless‚ the SA A squad crossed the Limpopo on Wednesday to play their Zimbabwean counterparts in two four-day matches starting in Bulawayo on Monday. TMG Digital understands that they did so only after the situation was assessed by a Close Protection Officer (CPO) and that the squad have been accompanied by a CPO. Those measures are routinely taken for tours involving the senior national side but not for A team tours. Sources say the players were concerned and asked about the security scenario before departing‚ and that “Zim cricket assured them that everyone would be alright”. That view was echoed by Zimbabwe Cricket spokesperson Darlington Majonga‚ who told TMG Digital on Thursday: “There’s nothing to worry about. All security measures have been taken. “Generally‚ it’s calm in Zimbabwe. I’m not sure if you have followed the news today. Yesterday was their stay away.” Lions chief executive Greg Fredericks was satisfied that his three players in the squad‚ Stephen Cook‚ Dwaine Pretorius and Hardus Viljoen‚ would be safe. “Obviously precautions have been taken‚” Fredericks said. “They are there under Cricket SA’s (CSA) banner and we trust the advice CSA have been given.” SA A’s tour will be watched from New Zealand‚ whose national team are due to arrive in Zimbabwe on July 20 to play two tests. “We are monitoring closely what is happening in Zimbabwe‚” New Zealand Cricket public affairs manager Richard Boock told the New Zealand Herald. “There are no plans to delay the players leaving New Zealand.” But the Kiwis‚ who will prepare for their tour at the High Performance Centre in Pretoria from Wednesday until July 19‚ have given themselves options. “While in camp in Pretoria we will be able to keep an eye on what is going on‚” Boock was quoted as saying. “SA A are in Harare at present and we will be liaising with CSA and the British High Commission in Harare.”

2016-07-07 18:01 Telford Vice www.timeslive.co.za

55 SABC banned coverage of EFF – Jimi Matthews Speaking to author and radio host Eusebius Mckaiser on his new show Meet The Media on eNCA on Sunday‚ Mathews said the decision not to cover the EFF was made by “certain individuals” including COO Hlaudi Motsoeneng. "Certain individuals in the ruling party including people like Hlaudi were of the view that we should not be giving Julius and his crowd coverage‚" Matthews said. He added: "I should have said ‘no that’s ridiculous’ certainly‚ with the growing popularity around the 2014 elections and if anything the EFF is out of all the political parties probably the masters of the media so we should have given them a lot more coverage… That is one of the decisions I was part of and from a journalistic point of view is unjustified. " Matthews resigned from the SABC on Monday following mounting pressure on the public broadcaster after its recent decisions not to broadcast footage of protests or any negative reports about President Jacob Zuma. The former acting CEO told the City Press newspaper that Motsoeneng “is conducting a reign of terror at the SABC‚ where people are being bludgeoned to toe the line”.

2016-07-07 18:01 Julia Madibogo www.timeslive.co.za

56 Siv Ngesi: Jub must be praying he was white and disabled Jub Jub has since become a trending topic on Twitter with thousands of people voicing their opinions on the matter. Well-known comedian Siv Ngesi did not mince his words when adding his voice to the debate. "Jub Jub must be praying he was white and disabled #OscarPistorius," he tweeted. While some people compared Jub Jub's sentence to Oscar's, others made it clear that Jub Jub was convicted for culpable homicide and justice has been served. Jub Jub and his friend Themba Tshabalala killed four school children in Soweto in 2010. While there has been massive debate and outrage, legal experts have warned that Jub Jub and Oscar's sentence cannot be compared due to the legalities surrounding each case. Meanwhile numerous high-profile celebrities have also come out to slam Oscar's verdict labelling it a case of "white privilege. " Actress Boity Thulo said, "Oscar has been sentenced to white privilege years in prison. Poor guy. "

2016-07-07 18:01 TMG Entertainment www.timeslive.co.za

57 Three-decade study confirms saturated fats are bad for health The research involving more than 120,000 people was published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) Internal Medicine. "There has been widespread confusion in the biomedical community and the general public in the last couple of years about the health effects of specific types of fat in the diet," said lead author Dong Wang, a doctoral candidate at Harvard University's T. H. Chan School of Public Health. "This study documents important benefits of unsaturated fats, especially when they replace saturated and trans fats. " Among the key findings of the study were that people who ate more saturated and trans fats had higher mortality rates than those who consumed the same number of calories from carbohydrates. It also found that replacing saturated fats like butter, lard, and fat in red meat with unsaturated fats from plant-based foods -- such as olive oil, canola oil, and soybean oil -- could offer "substantial health benefits and should continue to be a key message in dietary recommendations. " The findings were based on questionnaires answered by health professionals every two to four years about their diet, lifestyle, and health for up to 32 years. Trans fats, including partially hydrogenated oil products like margarine, had the most severe impact on health. The study found that every two percent higher intake of trans fat was associated with a 16 percent higher chance of dying early. Every five percent higher increase in consumption of saturated fats was linked to an eight percent greater risk of dying. But eating large amounts of unsaturated fats "was associated with between 11 percent and 19 percent lower overall mortality compared with the same number of calories from carbohydrates," said the study. These included polyunsaturated fats like omega-3 and omega-6 found in fish oils as well and soy and canola oils. "People who replaced saturated fats with unsaturated fats -- especially polyunsaturated fats -- had significantly lower risk of death overall during the study period, as well as lower risk of death from cardiovascular disease, cancer, neurodegenerative disease, and respiratory disease, compared with those who maintained high intakes of saturated fats," said the study. While some outside experts noted that the study was observational in nature and relied on surveys, which can introduce bias, the overall result is in line with many other large studies on diet and health. According to Ian Johnson, emeritus fellow at Britain's Institute of Food Research, the "findings are consistent with current public health recommendations in the UK and elsewhere, and particularly with the concept of a beneficial Mediterranean-style diet, rich in unsaturated fats from plants, fish and olive oil. " Johnson, who was not involved in the study, added: "There is nothing in these results consistent with the notion that 'butter is back.'"

2016-07-07 18:01 AFP Relanews www.timeslive.co.za

58 Trump rejects criticism, vents at news media in campaign speech At a campaign rally in Cincinnati, Ohio, Trump vented his frustration at a news media he feels is out to derail his candidacy and help Democratic rival Hillary Clinton, deriding CNN, in particular, as the "Clinton News Network. " Trump's hour-long performance was unlikely to reassure those Republicans who would like to see the New York businessman focus his message on attacking Clinton to rally the party behind him at the Cleveland convention from July 18 to 21 where he is to be formally nominated. He was particularly animated in defending his campaign's use of what was seen to be a Jewish star in a tweet last week that described Clinton as corrupt. The star was replaced with a round emblem after the criticism, but the incident has generated days of controversy. Trump said he thought the star was more the shape of a sheriff's badge. He described as "sick people" those in the news media who called it a Jewish Star of David. Later, Trump tweeted an image of character from a book linked to Disney's movie, "Frozen", that used a similarly shaped star on its cover. "Where is the outrage for this Disney book? Is this the 'Star of David' also? Dishonest media! #Frozen," he tweeted. In his Ohio speech, Trump also returned to the subject of Saddam after generating controversy on Tuesday by complimenting him for his handling of militants. Irritated by the criticism, Trump brought up Saddam again. "So I said bad guy, really bad guy, but he was good at one thing: Killing terrorists I don't love Saddam Hussein. I hate Saddam Hussein. But he was damned good at killing terrorists," Trump said. Trump also reacted to a mosquito that buzzed near his hand at the podium. "I don't like mosquitoes, I never did. Speaking of mosquitoes, hello Hillary, how are you doing? " he said.

2016-07-07 18:01 REUTERS www.timeslive.co.za

59 Stormers make minimal changes in effort to maintain momentum The coach has only made two injury-enforced changes to the side that beat the Rebels 57-31 last weekend. Flank and prop Alistair Vermaak comes in for and respectively. Carr has a shoulder injury and Kebble has a calf strain. As a result prop Wilco Louw and utility back come onto the replacements bench‚ which features five forwards and three backs. Utility forward is set for his 50th cap if he comes off the bench after an injury-plagued career that has robbed him of many more opportunities. "It is vital that we continue to build momentum as a team‚ so our focus is on making another step up and making it two wins from two games on our tour‚" Fleck said. As expected‚ lock Pieter-Steph du Toit will start his 13th game of the campaign‚ but if the Stormers achieve the right result the talismanic 23- year-old should be rested in the final match of the regular season against the Kings next week. Du Toit has emerged as a vital player in the Stormers set up and the temptation to put the youngster in cotton wool must have been huge for Fleck and his assistants – especially as they have JD Schickerling and on tour. Elstadt has also played lock. But with qualification for the play-offs just a point away‚ Du Toit will be sent into the breach once more in the hope that the job is done in Perth. This would enable him to put his size 14 feet up next weekend and watch the Kings game from the Newlands stands. Flyhalf Jean-Luc du Plessis‚ after an impressive 27-point haul against the Rebels‚ is entrusted with the pivotal role again. At his rate of improvement‚ joining his father Carel as a Springbok is certainly on his horizon. Notshe is another who has come on massively in 2016. He was chosen for the Springbok squad in June and although he was unused in the three Tests against Ireland‚ he is closer to Test selection than most. He was impressive off the bench last week‚ setting up a try for centre . On Saturday he will have more time to make his mark on the game as an openside.

2016-07-07 18:01 Craig Ray www.timeslive.co.za

60 Russia warnings to Turkey & EU on suspected terrorists ignored – Kremlin — RT News "Over the past years, Russia has informed our Turkish and European colleagues that people suspected of having links to terrorism, people who are suspected of planning to join terrorist groups, find shelter both in Turkey and in a number of European countries," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Wednesday. “In most cases such signals from the Russian side have not been given proper attention or any reaction by our colleagues [from the EU or Turkey].” “To our regret, this [a terror attack on Istanbul Ataturk airport] may be a consequence of such disregard," he added. On Tuesday, Dogan news agency reported that 17 people, including 11 Russians had been charged over the Istanbul Airport attack. The Kremlin spokesman said that Russia has always spoken up for “maximally effective cooperation” against terrorism. “We are all under a [terrorist] threat and no country can fight it alone,” he said. At least 45 people were killed and over 230 injured in gun and bomb attacks at Europe’s third-busiest airport on June 28. Three suicide bombers first opened fire outside the terminal to create panic before two of the attackers entered the building and blew themselves up, while the third detonated his explosive device at the entrance. A day after the attack reports in Russian and Bulgarian media emerged that the EU had repeatedly refused to extradite the suspected mastermind behind the attack to Russia, a man identified as Ahmed Chataev. Chataev has been on a wanted list in Russia since 2003 for sponsoring terrorism and recruiting extremists into a terrorist group. However, in the same year, he received asylum in Austria. In 2010, Chataev was arrested in Ukraine with his mobile phone files containing bomb-making techniques and photos of people killed in a blast. Russia requested his extradition on terrorism-related charges, but the European Court for Human Rights ordered Ukraine not to hand him over to Moscow. Amnesty International also urged Ukrainian authorities to halt Chataev’s extradition as he “could face an unfair trial and would be at risk of torture and other ill-treatment.” A year later, he was once again detained as he was crossing the border between Turkey and Bulgaria, but he again avoided extradition because of the interference of human rights organizations. They stressed Chataev had refugee status in Austria and so couldn’t be sent to Russia. In February 2015, he left Georgia for Syria, where he joined Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL) militants and reportedly took a high position in IS hierarchy.

2016-07-07 18:01 www.rt.com

61 Pikitup gets acting head as suspended MD Nair faces inquiry In November last year and April this year‚ Pikitup experienced 36 days of illegal strike action by the SA Municipal Workers Union who demanded that Nair be suspended as she was corrupt. The strike was marked by violence and intimidation‚ and left the city with an unpleasant smell as refuse piled up in the city centre and surroundings. This forced mayor and member of the mayoral committee for environment and infrastructure services Matshidiso Mfikoe to intervene and the matter was taken to the CCMA‚ which brought the end to an strike. The city then appointed independent auditors to investigate the allegations to avoid any perceptions of bias and interference. “The board has accordingly informed the MD‚ Ms Nair‚ that she is required to attend an inquiry in terms of section 188A of the Labour Relations Act 66 of 1995 to deal with the evidence concerning the allegations and to give her an opportunity to respond thereto. The special leave of the MD will remain in force‚” said Pikitup spokesperson Jacky Mashapu. “We are pleased to announce that Mr Lungile Dhlamini‚ the MD of Joburg Water‚ has been appointed as acting MD of Pikitup until further notice.” Mashapu said Dhlamini had an excellent track record at Joburg Water and “will bring his expertise and experience to bear in working with the board‚ management and staff at Pikitup to address the weaknesses that have been identified”.

2016-07-07 18:01 Penwell Dlamini www.timeslive.co.za

62 62 This is where police seize the most bank card skimming devices in SA Kalyani Pillay‚ CEO of the South African Banking Risk Information Centre‚ told TMG Digital on Thursday that card skimming is a global problem‚ and “unfortunately the greatest vulnerability lies with the individual”. Authorities seized 35 hand- held card skimming devices in 2015 and 13 in the first quarter of 2016 across all provinces. In addition‚ 54 high-tech ATM card skimming devices were seized in 2015‚ and eight more in the first quarter of 2016‚ she said. The majority of both types of devices were seized in Gauteng‚ but six ATM skimmers were found in Mpumalanga in the first quarter of 2016. “Card skimming is a crime that is essentially a global issue. Unfortunately the greatest vulnerability lies with the individual‚” Pillay said. Earlier this week‚ TMG Digital reported that a waiter wrestled with two police officers for nearly 15 minutes before they managed to arrest and take him into custody for allegedly using an illegal card skimming device to siphon R60 000 from the bank account of a customer dining at the trendy Café Caprice in Camps Bay. Ishmail Sulaiman’s alleged modus operandi‚ captured on CCTV cameras at the restaurant‚ was laid bare during his bail application at the Cape Town Magistrate’s Court. State prosecutor Robin Lewis said: “The (victim) had dined at the restaurant‚ he then requested the bill. (Sulaiman) then approached the table and the card was swiped on two occasions using an electronic device. On both occasions the transaction was unsuccessful. “A few days later‚ the witness discovered that numerous transactions had been made from his account and the amount of plus-minus R60 000 had been withdrawn‚” Lewis told the court. Pillay said consumers could protect themselves from this particular crime by ensuring that the keypad of the device or ATM was completely covered when entering a PIN during a card transaction. “I cannot stress to you enough‚ that you need to protect your PIN whenever and wherever you use your card. They keypad must be covered‚” she said. “The hand-held device replicates the information from the magnetic strip on your card. Similarly‚ a tiny device can be placed within the card slot of the ATM and your information can be retrieved that way. A tiny camera is then also placed and disguised somewhere around the ATM as a means of retrieving PIN details. “The fraud or theft cannot take place without your PIN‚ so it is absolutely important that you protect those details‚” she said. South Africans‚ she added‚ should never feel ashamed or shy to hide their PIN details when using cards for payment transactions. “You are well within your rights to keep your information private. Sometimes we feel shy to turn away from the cashier when entering our PINs‚ but we must not. Unfortunately‚ you cannot trust everyone‚” she said. To avoid being scammed at an ATM‚ Pillay suggested:

2016-07-07 18:01 Deneesha Pillay www.timeslive.co.za

63 Advert that angered Mandela’s grandson viewed '100,000 times' The party’s claim about the advert’s reach comes after Chief Mandla Mandela accused it of abusing his late grandfather’s legacy as former president Nelson Mandela’s voice is used in the campaign. “We demand that the DA immediately withdraws this advertisement‚ and that the IEC take the necessary steps to prevent this and future violations of the electoral code‚” Mandla‚ an African National Congress (ANC) MP‚ told Daily Dispatch on Monday. The DA statement on Tuesday again invoked the late statesman’s name when it described the ad as “the personal story of a voter in South Africa who draws on the memory of Nelson Mandela and the ideals which he fought for before casting her ballot for the DA”. “The ANC’s criticism of the advert goes against the very ideals which Nelson Mandela himself stood for‚” said DA spokesperson Refiloe Nt'sekhe. “uTata Madiba is our country’s national icon. As our nation’s first democratic president‚ his legacy‚ and the important democratic principles which he fought for‚ belong to all South Africans.” Nt'sekhe added that the “DA is the only party that is today realising Nelson Mandela’s legacy”. Mandla Mandela said if the DA wished to invoke history‚ it should use the voices of ‚ and . “We are disgusted by the flagrant abuse of former President Nelson Mandela by the Democratic Alliance which is using his voice in an election advertisement broadcast on YouTube‚” he said. “The desperate lengths to which the DA will stoop to dupe voters is condemned in the strongest terms.”

2016-07-07 18:01 TMG Digital www.timeslive.co.za

64 Spaza owner in court over 'witchcraft' coins The accused, Abdullah Gulzar (22), from Kaapmuiden outside Komatipoort, has appeared in the Low's Creek Magistrate's Court on charges of violating the Suppression of Witchcraft Act by suspecting someone of being a witch. “The Pakistani businessman accused the sangoma of being a witch and investigations are still on going. The suspect is out on bail and the case was postponed to July 14 when an interpreter will be available to assist," said Sergeant Gerald Sedibe on Thursday. Speaking outside the court, Gulzar denied the allegations, saying the sangoma misunderstood him. “What I’m accused of is not true at all. My customer came that day to buy airtime with alot of coins and I didn’t have airtime that afternoon as it was finished. I told her the airtime was finished and she started telling me that I’m lying and that I don’t want to sell to her because she is a sangoma and she is buying with coins," said Gulzar, who has not been asked to plead yet.

2016-07-07 18:01 Futhi Mhlanga www.timeslive.co.za

65 Germany can draw on Brazil rout to offset France home advantage That astonishing result in Belo Horizonte, particularly the opening 30-minute five- goal blitz that left the world aghast, underlined Germany's unique mental strength and belief in their own ability whatever the opposition or circumstances. Their last European title also came after beating the hosts at the semi-final stage, though their penalty shoot-out victory over England at Wembley 20 years ago was a more nail-biting affair. Toni Kroos, who scored two of the early goals and was man of the match in the Brazil demolition job, sensed that France might be similarly disadvantaged by the weight of expectation on Thursday. "We have seen the wave of enthusiasm for them but with that comes pressure and maybe we can use that against them," he told a news conference at Marseille's Stade Velodrome a little over 24 hours before the second semi-final. "We have a lot of respect for France. They have improved through the tournament and have great individual quality, but we don't fear them. " Coach Joachim Loew tried to play down the significance of the World Cup semi-final. "That was a constellation that won't appear in a semi-final again," he said. "The Brazilians were shocked when they conceded two or three in a few minutes," Loew added. "France are a lot more solid defensively than Brazil were two years ago so really there's not too much we can get out of that game two years ago. " Loew confirmed that, subject to him coming through a final training session unscathed, midfielder and captain Bastian Schweinsteiger would start the match. "It's not so easy to replace the likes of Mats Hummels, Sami Khedira and Mario Gomez so we need his experience for this type of game," he said "If he's not fit enough to last we have options to replace him during the game but from what I saw against Italy he showed that he's got enough strength to last the game. "

2016-07-07 18:01 REUTERS www.timeslive.co.za

66 Militants hit oil facilities in Southern Nigeria The group said in an email that it hit manifolds RMP 22, 23 and 24 operated by Chevron Nigeria Limited in Delta state at about 1:20 am (0020 GMT). RMP 23 and 24 had previously been attacked on June 1. RMPs or remote manifold platforms are where smaller oil and gas pipelines converge before being sent to larger lines. It is understood the facilities had been repaired since the last strike. A military officer said the attack happened in the Warri North area of Delta state, adding: "A controlled explosive device was used to carry the attack. "These gives them (the militants) ample time to detonate the device even while they have long left the scene of the incident. " The spate of attacks claimed by the Niger Delta Avengers since February has hit oil production in Nigeria, exacerbating a financial crisis caused by low global crude prices since mid-2014. The group wants international oil companies out of the region, whose people largely live in poverty despite the billions of dollars generated by oil extraction over decades. It has also called for self-determination for the delta region. Buhari on Wednesday appealed to militants to "give Nigeria a chance" at a time of economic hardship -- and that he would not stand for a break-up of the federation.

2016-07-07 18:01 AFP www.timeslive.co.za

67 Italy recovers 217 bodies from hull of 2015 migrant shipwreck The sinking was one of the worst known disasters involving migrants trying to reach Europe by sea. Thousands of people a year, many of them fleeing war in the Middle East, have crossed the Mediterranean in unseaworthy or overcrowded boats. In 2015, at least 3,770 people are thought to have died on Mediterranean routes, mostly by drowning when their boats capsized. The vessel was hauled off the seabed and taken to a naval site in southeastern Sicily last week. Its sinking about 135 km (85 miles) north of Libya, from where it departed, jolted the European Union into stepping up Mediterranean rescue efforts. Originally at least 700 people were thought to have died in the disaster, based on survivor testimony. A Navy official said last week he thought some 300 bodies were still in the hold, which added to 169 recovered from the nearby seabed would bring the death toll closer to 500. A team of 150 professionals and volunteers from the Navy, fire service, Italian Red Cross and a forensic team of Milan university professors have been working around the clock to remove bodies from the fishing boat and examine them. Autopsies have been carried out on 52 of the victims, and police scientists coordinated by a local public prosecutor have begun making reports on their findings.

2016-07-07 18:01 REUTERS www.timeslive.co.za

68 68 Cope slams ANC’s ‘mutists of Parliament’ for silence on SABC censorship This censorship‚ Cope’s Dennis Bloem said as pickets were held outside the SABC offices in Cape Town and Johannesburg‚ was largely the work of the broadcaster’s chief operating officer Hlaudi Motsoeneng and Communications Minister Faith Muthambi”. “There was a time not too long ago when Africa and the world admired both our Parliament as well as the SABC‚” said Bloem. “They were seen as institutions singularly belonging to the people and fulsomely serving the people. Not so anymore. Both have regressed dangerously since 2009 to become shadows of their former selves and betrayers of their respective mandates. “…Parliament’s role in exercising scrutiny on the public broadcaster has withered.” Bloem said that President Jacob Zuma – whose “antipathy towards smart and educated people‚ [was] matched ferociously by Motsoeneng” – “wants South Africa to be mute also while insurgency grows and the National Treasury is rapidly depleted by the political elite through state capture at every level”. He said this was being helped along by African National Congress members of Parliament as “they think nothing‚ they see nothing‚ they say nothing” while the country’s hard-fought “freedom is being eroded daily by the Zuma-Muthambi-Motsoeneng axis”. “They are the ‘mutist’ MPs of South Africa‚” Bloem added. “This is therefore a time for all of us to stop the speak up and to support the South African National Editors Forum‚” urged Bloem of the body which on Thursday said it would make presentations to MPs in light of allegations of censorship and disciplinary action taken against six SABC employees. “This is the time for all of us to stop the immolation of our democracy. We cannot be mere uninvolved bystanders while journalist of great integrity and competence are being bullied‚ stifled and muzzled.” 2016-07-07 18:01 TMG Digital www.timeslive.co.za

69 Wendy Williams faces backlash for remarks on black organisations The talk show host found herself coming under fire after making some controversial comments on Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), the National Association for the Advancement of Coloured People (NAACP), and Jesse's much-talked about acceptance speech at the 2016 BET Awards. Igniting a great deal of outrage on social media, Wendy expressed her disapproval of the NAACP and HBCUs while addressing the petition currently circulating about firing Jesse from Grey’s Anatomy. She explained that she sees both sides of the story, claiming that both institutions make white people feel excluded. "I must say to you, he was on BET. His speech was very poignant. On the other hand I would be really offended if there was a school that was known as a historically white college. We have historically black colleges. What if there was the National Organization for White People, only? There’s the NAACP," she said. Subsequently, Twitter users called foul on Wendy's argument that "Historically White Colleges" would offend her, and pointed out that - with the exception of HBCUs - colleges and universities in the US are literally historically white. Revisiting the topic of HBCUs, she once again stated: "National speeches like this will always rub people the wrong way just like white people will be offended because Spelman College is a historically Black college for women. "You might feel funny about that. I know I’d feel funny, like I just told you. If there was a white college or whatever. "

2016-07-07 18:01 Sefiso Hlongwane www.timeslive.co.za

70 70 India's Modi seeks to drum up business in African tour "My Africa tour, aimed at enhancing ties between India and Africa, will begin from Mozambique in a brief but key visit," Modi tweeted before his arrival, the first by an Indian leader to the southern African country in 34 years. Modi held talks with Mozambican President Filipe Nyusi in Maputo and will also take in South Africa, Tanzania and Kenya during the five-day tour. India has been working to build ties with African nations as it vies for a greater share of the continent's natural resources. Last year, it hosted a summit of Africa's heads of state in New Delhi. Its economic footprint in Africa is dwarfed by that of China, whose trade with the continent topped $200 billion last year. But India is gaining ground, led by private entrepreneurs with a keen interest in the continent's burgeoning energy sector. Modi's Africa tour will focus on hydrocarbons, maritime security, trade and investment, agriculture and food, according to Indian officials. Later Thursday, Modi will head to South Africa for a two-day state visit, holding talks with President Jacob Zuma on Friday in Pretoria and meeting business leaders. India is now South Africa's sixth largest trade partner, with two-way trade reaching $5.3 billion in 2015-16. South Africa has been vocal on the need to reform the UN Security Council, making it a natural ally in India's long-running campaign to be made a permanent member. India and Africa are together home to a third of the world's population, but neither India nor any African country has a permanent seat on the council, which is made up of China, Russia, the United States, the United Kingdom and France. With 1.3 million people of Indian origin, South Africa also has the largest diaspora population in Africa, a major element of Modi's diplomatic push across the world since taking office two years ago. On Friday evening, he will address a thousands-strong audience at a stadium in Johannesburg, having hosted similar rallies for the diaspora in cities from New York to London. While in South Africa, Modi is also expected to honour Mahatma Gandhi's time in the country. India's independence hero lived in South Africa for 20 years, working as a lawyer and activist campaigning for the rights of Indian people.

2016-07-07 18:01 AFP www.timeslive.co.za

71 Expert takes stand as M1 bridge collapse inquiry resumes This came as the Labour Department's inquiry into the deadly incident resumed on Thursday in Pretoria. The temporary structure supporting the construction of the pedestrian and bicycle bridge on Grayston Drive collapsed on October 14 last year‚ killing two people and injuring at least 19. Commissioner Lennie Samuel‚ a departmental forensic investigator and co-commissioner in the Tongaat Mall Structural Collapse Inquiry‚ began hearing testimony from main contractor Murray & Roberts. The inquiry must make a finding on what went wrong and who is responsible. Witness Professor Roelf Mostert‚ head of the 's Materials Science and Metallurgical Engineering Department‚ said security video footage of the collapse showed the girders‚ which held the structure together‚ separate. “The structure didn't show any noticeable movement until the time of collapse [on that day]‚” Mostert said. Mostert‚ who was on the scene on the day of the incident‚ talked the inquiry through the photographs he had taken of the wreckage. Murray & Roberts’ advocate‚ Sias Reyneke SC‚ said that the firm had carefully preserved the remnants of the support structure‚ used together with computer modelling‚ to investigate the cause of the collapse. Previously‚ Murray & Roberts had told the inquiry it was responsible for erecting the support structure‚ including scaffolding and super beams. It said‚ however‚ that Form-Scaff‚ a company it had subcontracted to assist with the project‚ was responsible for the structure’s design. Form-Scaff denied this. The support structure was to be removed from the site after the bridge’s completion.

2016-07-07 18:01 Roxanne Henderson www.timeslive.co.za

72 MasterCard faces £19bn lawsuit in UK over claims it ripped off shoppers — RT Business He is leading a court action which is expected to be filed soon under the Consumer Rights Act. The law which was introduced in 2015 allows for collective damages claims. “The prices of everything we all bought from 1992 to 2008 were higher than they should have been as a result of the unlawful conduct of MasterCard. To be clear, there is no question that MasterCard acted illegally in the way it conducted its business, a business that affects all of us. All of us overpaid to the tune of up to £19 billion ($24.5 billion) during a period lasting 16 years,” Merricks said. He added that “although most of us did not know this, experts who study the retail economy knew it was happening — and so did MasterCard.” Merricks has already instructed US-based law firm Quinn Emanuel in an effort to seek redress to which UK consumers are entitled and to ensure MasterCard cannot hold on to the illegal profits it made. "This case should send a signal to companies that break competition laws at the expense of UK consumers that they do so at their financial peril. " READ MORE: MasterCard sees huge potential in China MasterCard said it “firmly disagrees” with the basis of the claim. “Electronic payments deliver real value to people online, in-store and everywhere,” said a company statement. “MasterCard is committed to providing ever more convenient, safe and secure payments to all our customers, including consumers, retailers, governments and banks.” The European Court of Justice ruled in 2014 that interchange fees which are charged to stores when shoppers swipe their debit or credit cards - were a violation of EU antitrust rules. Last year, the European Parliament and the Council of the European Union adopted the Interchange Fee Regulation. The new rule caps fees at 0.2 percent for debit card transactions and 0.3 percent for credit cards. Retail giant Wal-Mart said on Tuesday that starting from July 18, it will stop accepting Visa cards at some of its Canadian stores over "unacceptably high fees" for credit card transactions. Two years ago the retailer announced it was suing Visa for $5 billion for excessively high card swipe fees between 2004 and 2012.

2016-07-07 18:01 www.rt.com

73 Mother of Brit accused of trying to kill Trump fears for son in prison — RT UK Sandford was arrested in Las Vegas last month after allegedly attempting to take the weapon while asking for Trump’s autograph. “I was horrified, obviously,” Lynne Sandford told the BBC’s Victoria Derbyshire program. “It’s very scary. This is not the Michael I know. I just can’t get my head around it to be honest.” The 20-year-old, who is from Dorking in Surrey, told police he had planned to kill the presidential hopeful, but his mother insists the son she knew was “sweet, sensitive and calm.” READ MORE: British would-be Trump shooter was a ‘Robot Wars’ obsessive Sandford was sectioned as a teenager after developing anorexia and was diagnosed with Asperger’s Syndrome aged 13. He has tried to kill himself before, according to his mother. “As I have said, he is very a gentle, very calm person by nature and he would see there was no point,” she added. “Why would he live the next 30 years in these situations? So yes, I think he would attempt to commit suicide again.” READ MORE: Man arrested for wanting to 'kill Trump' in Vegas was in US illegally She also said that her son “needs help, not prison,” and how Sandford was being held in isolation for 22 hours a day in a medium secure facility. Sandford was charged with disrupting an official function and also faces two firearms charges, US attorney Daniel Bogden said. The Briton told investigators he had planned to die during his attempt to kill Trump and that he had planned the attack for a year, arriving in Las Vegas on June 17 to reportedly practise using a gun at a shooting range.

2016-07-07 18:01 www.rt.com

74 Banyana arrive in Chicago for toughest assignment of their lives It is a prestige invitation for Banyana Banyana that would not have been thought possible just years ago. South Africa languish outside the top 50 of women’s football and have never qualified for a Women’s World Cup. But their pending trip to the Olympic Games in Brazil has greatly boosted their status and earned them a chance to pit themselves up against the established superpower of women’s football. Rio will be the second successive Games where South Africa compete in the women’s football tournament‚ after London four years ago. Unlike the men's event‚ which is played at under-23 level‚ the women’s competition is at full international level‚ so it is a significant achievement for the South African side. Banyana arrived in Chicago on Wednesday after a 32-hour journey that will take them several sessions to work out of their legs before the clash at the iconic Soldier’s Field. “It was much longer than we had anticipated. To adapt to that we had to make some changes to our programme. "Instead of what we usually do – that is staying up as long as possible to get over jet lag – we did things differently. We let the players sleep early enough to get some rest so that come Saturday we still in the balance‚” said Banyana coach Vera Pauw. “After a long travel like that we had to do some loosening up‚ which we did at a nearby park from our hotel. This is almost the same thing the team will experience when we travel to Brazil for the Olympics‚ but it will be a shorter flight as it is in the Southern Hemisphere.” The match is being billed as an Olympic send off for the Americans and kicks off at midday local time. The US have a full strength squad of 24 for the match which is also designed to finalise the squad for the Olympics‚ where the Americans have strong gold medal hopes.

2016-07-07 18:01 Mark Gleeson www.timeslive.co.za

75 Britain's FTSE 100 one of world's best performing stock markets since Brexit vote — RT Business Since the referendum on June 23, Britain's FTSE 100 index has gained two percent as of Wednesday afternoon’s trading. Meanwhile, major European, US and most Asian stock markets are in the red over the same time period. Germany's DAX and the CAC 40 index in Paris have lost over eight percent since the UK vote. Major US indices, Dow Jones, the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq are down over one percent for the period. Among major Asian markets, Japan's Nikkei has lost over five percent, the Hong Kong exchange is almost two percent lower and only China's Shanghai Composite saw gains of over four percent since the referendum. The Brexit vote sent shockwaves through global financial markets wiping off trillions of dollars in value during the two-day selloff following the referendum. However, after two days of losses, London's FTSE 100 has managed to recover and hit a ten-month high last week. READ MORE: European markets rebound after two days of heavy losses Some analysts continue to warn the recent market recovery might only be temporary. “Considering there's been no additional clarity on the terms of Brexit or the outlook for the UK economy and the global economy since Britain's decision to leave the European Union, we don't see fundamental support for the recent moves," Kathy Lien, managing director of foreign exchange strategy at BK Asset Management, told the BBC. London's FTSE was trading lower on Wednesday, down around 1.5 percent as of 14:00 GMT.

2016-07-07 18:01 www.rt.com

76 Merkel says Russia key to European security but defends NATO buildup — RT News “There is an agreement among our partners and the [NATO] alliance, and we are united on this, that long- lasting security can only be ensured in cooperation with, not in defiance of, Russia,” German Chancellor Angela Merkel said, speaking to MPs on Thursday. The chancellor’s parliamentary speech comes ahead of the upcoming NATO summit in Warsaw. It is expected to green-light deployment of more troops and military infrastructure in Eastern Europe to counter what the bloc’s leadership continues to call “Russian assertiveness.” “We are interested in positive relations with Russia,” Merkel added. She claimed NATO’s military build-up in Eastern Europe and the bloc itself were of a “defensive nature only,” a remark that was met with heckling from the opposition. “Deterrence and dialogue, solidarity with our partners in the alliance and an outstretched hand for dialogue do not come into conflict and are indivisible from each other,” she said. Merkel said her government welcomes the NATO-Russia Council (NRC) meeting, scheduled to take place on July 13, but added a separate meeting before the Warsaw summit would facilitate a discussion on “the alliance’s decisions and avoid misunderstanding.” "We hope for a frank and serious dialogue on the issues related to the increased NATO activities near Russian borders and their impact on the security and stability in Europe and its regions," Alexander Grushko, Russia’s envoy to the alliance, told Reuters later on Thursday, commenting on the NRC meeting. Despite saying Germany and NATO are willing to cooperate with Russia, the chancellor said Berlin remains committed to maintaining military spending at the current level and contributing to the allies’ security. Mutual trust between NATO and Russia was destroyed by Moscow’s actions in Ukraine, she claimed as a justification. “When the rule of law and territorial integrity are being questioned, of course, there’s loss of trust,” she said. After the 2014 Western-backed Euromaidan coup in Kiev toppled elected President Viktor Yanukovich, Crimea opted to reunite with Russia in a region-wide referendum. Following the coup, two eastern regions, Donetsk and Lugansk, proclaimed independence from Kiev. They took up arms to resist a government forces’ offensive to regain control over the breakaway areas. The West accuses Russia of aiding the rebels, but Moscow denies any involvement. Putin: ‘EU is Russia’s friend; NATO is the problem’ The Minsk agreements, launched by major world powers to bring lasting peace to eastern Ukraine, are key to further NATO-Russia ties, Merkel stressed in conclusion. The NATO build-up on its “eastern flank” will top the agenda of the Warsaw summit, the bloc’s Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said earlier this week. “We will deploy four robust, multinational battalions to Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland” along with strengthening the bloc’s cyber, intelligence and logistical capabilities, he said . Moscow has repeatedly said it keeps the door open for mutual dialogue, but promised to take adequate countermeasures to NATO’s build-up on its borders. This would include the creation of new military formations, setting up early-warning radar stations and further investments in troop readiness.

2016-07-07 18:01 www.rt.com

77 WATCH: Gigi Lamayne and Moneoa feature in UN global campaign The pair are featured in Global Goals' #WhatIReallyReallyWant campaign that seeks to highlight gender inequality around the world. To show these inequalities, the campaign released a video of women from across the world singing along to the Spice Girl's classic Wannabe. The video was released this week and shows Gigi and Moneoa singing along to the track. The video also stars popular Nigerian singer Seyi Shay. The video has already been featured on ABC, BBC, CNN and Rolling Stone. Talking to TMG Entertainment on Thursday, Gigi said that the UN approached her to be in the project following her work with the #FeesMustFall campaign last year. "The UN picked up on my influence after I got involved with the #FeesMustFall campaign. They tracked me down and asked me to come on board because of my strong feelings on equality and gender rights," she explained. Gigi said the campaign "speaks loudly" to her and is in line with her vision for the future. "I'm honoured to be working with women of such caliber. My ultimate career goal is to make a difference. I don't want to be just another musician. I want to be a social commentator. Nothing political, just questioning social injustices. It's in line with what I want to see happen in the world," she said. She added that she hopes her activism will one day see her speak before world leaders on matters of inequality. "I hope to one day stand in front of the AU (African Union) and deliver an address about inequality on the continent. Not only on the continent, but also around the world. " In the meantime, she is just having fun. Talking about her appearance alongside Moneoa, she described the pair as the "Nicki Minaj and Beyoncé from South Africa" of the video.

2016-07-07 18:01 Kyle Zeeman www.timeslive.co.za

78 Somizi humbled by support for reality show From the word go Somgaga had fans glued to their seats every week in anticipation of what sort of drama they'd get to see on the show. Living The Dream With Somizi was undoubtedly a huge hit among viewers who set social media alight every week with comments about it. This saw the show top the Twitter trends list every Wednesday night. But as it's said all good things must come to an end- and unfortunately this includes Somgaga's show. Before the series aired Somizi said that fans could expect see everything that makes him "fabulous"- the bling, blood, sweat, fun and everything in between. And judging by the hype around the show it's safe to say Somizi kept up to his end of the bargain. Now that the show has officially come to an end Somgaga took time to thank viewers for the overwhelming support. "Thank you all for watching. Thank you for allowing me to share a certain % of my life. I throughly enjoyed every minute of it. U made it the success it has been. " Somgaga also promised that fans can look forward to seeing him a lot more on their TV screens.

2016-07-07 18:01 TMG Entertainment www.timeslive.co.za

79 US House speaker formally requests that Clinton be barred from classified data — RT America "There is no legal requirement for your to provide Secretary Clinton with classified information, and it would send the wrong signal to all those charged with safeguarding our nation's secrets if you choose to provide her access to this information despite the FBI's findings," Ryan wrote in a letter to Clapper. Ryan added that blocking Clinton's access to classified briefings during her electoral campaign would be an adequate sanction for her handling of sensitive emails while secretary of state. "Given the FBI's findings, denying Secretary Clinton access to classified information certainly constitutes appropriate sanctions. " The House speaker's letter goes on to say that if Clapper chooses to deny the formal request, he will have to explain the "rationale for granting Secretary Clinton access to classified information" despite the FBI's earlier findings that Clinton and her team have been “extremely careless in their handling of very sensitive, highly classified information.” On Wednesday, US Attorney General Loretta Lynch said the Department of Justice had closed the investigation into Clinton’s storage of classified emails on a private server, and that no criminal charges will follow. The House speaker announced the Republicans will carry out their own inquiries and said he would not rule out using any means to see if Clinton had been given preferential treatment by the FBI. Clinton was questioned at the FBI’s headquarters in early July after evidence emerged in March last year suggesting she had used a personal, unsecured email server installed at her New York home. She released some 30,000 emails from her time as secretary of state, with more than 2,000 of them containing confidential information. The use of an external, personal server violated the “recordkeeping requirements” set by the Federal Records Act, the FBI investigation found.

2016-07-07 18:01 www.rt.com

80 Simba Mhere was still alive after car crash, says pathologist Abukhanyisile Sitebisa‚ the 18-month-old Stutterheim boy who was abandoned near a river by his grandmother last week because his mother was not looking after him‚ has been discovered dead.

2016-07-07 18:01 Nomahlubi Jordaan www.timeslive.co.za

81 Hlaudi Motsoeneng 'is abusing his power’: Vavi This was expressed by unionist Zwelinzima Vavi on Friday morning as he addressed about 150 people who were assembled outside the SABC offices in Auckland Park to protest against censorship by the public broadcaster. “He is abusing his power. He tells people to turn the cameras away when they see the destruction of property‚” Vavi said of Motsoeneng. He said that although most people were opposed to the burning of schools‚ libraries or any infrastructure‚ “we want to know what is happening in our country”. Vavi said the Millennium Labour Council‚ of which he was chairman‚ was at the SABC to support Media Workers Association of SA members who were embarking on a strike to demand that their union be recognised by the SABC. Vavi said they also were present to show solidarity with the “SABC Six” – three of whom were suspended last week after expressing their opposition to the SABC protest footage and the other three who face disciplinary action after stating their dissatisfaction about working conditions. “We demand these journalists to be reinstated with immediate effect‚ unconditionally‚” Vavi said. Vavi also demanded that the public protector's report and remedial actions on Motsoeneng be implemented. That report‚ released in February 2014‚ recommended that the SABC board take action against Motsoeneng‚ who was then acting COO‚ for lying about his matric qualification. Despite this report‚ he was appointed COO in July 2014.

2016-07-07 18:01 Ernest Mabuza www.timeslive.co.za

82 South Africans aren’t as boozy as Presidency says we are That’s Africa Check’s response to a recently released statement that quoted a study saying “indications are that between 7.5% and 31% of South Africans have an alcohol problem or are at risk” of having one. The Presidency apparently used South Africa’s Drug Master Plan (SADMP) for 2006-2011‚ which is updated every five years by the Department of Social Development and lays out the strategy to prevent and reduce substance abuse. But Africa Check researcher Vinayak Bhardwaj said government’s figures do not add up‚ and that data in the survey showed that the majority of people did not report drinking alcohol. The Presidency had said risky drinking - defined as having five or more standard drinks per day for men or three and more drinks for women - on weekdays involved an average of 7.5% of the population and was said to be more prevalent at weekends‚ “with an average of 31.5% of those aged between 25 and 54 at [the] greatest risk”. Bhardwaj‚ however‚ said a more accurate picture was contained in the South African Stress and Health (SASH) study‚ which indicated that “1.2% of study participants suffered from alcohol dependence and 4.5% from alcohol abuse over a 12-month period”. “The data for lifetime prevalence of alcohol dependence was 2.6% and alcohol abuse 11.4%‚” he added.

2016-07-07 18:01 Sduduzo Dludla www.timeslive.co.za

83 ‘Zuma must pay R63 million in fringe benefits tax for Nkandla’: DA Party leader Mmusi Maimane quoted the minister of finance as saying “all South Africans pay tax on their income and fringe benefits‚ be the person the president or an ordinary worker”. “Therefore‚ Jacob Zuma is liable by law to pay any tax benefits personally amassed in relation to the luxurious updates at his Nkandla homestead‚” said Maimane. “While National Treasury has determined‚ in line with the Constitutional Court's ruling‚ that R7.8-million is an amount of the costs to be personally paid by Zuma for the over-inflated R246-million project of corruption‚ this is not the only amount that Zuma should pay to the people of South Africa.” Maimane said that Zuma’s own words – “they did this without telling me - why should I pay for something I did not ask for?” – will come back to haunt him as the Income Tax Act “defines a fringe benefit as…a taxable benefit … whether the grant of such benefit is voluntary or otherwise”. He went on to say that “Zuma is liable for income tax on the full value of the improvements made to his Nkandla home”. “On studying and evaluating the full list of upgrades‚ we found that the total taxable fringe benefit amounted to R145 185 235‚ which taxed at the applicable marginal rate of 40% would amount to R 58 074 094. When this is added to 10% penalty for late payment‚ of R 5 807 409‚ we arrive at the total payable figure of R 63 881 503‚” he said. “But that’s not the end of it. In addition to this amount there would be interest payable from the date that the tax became due and payable. “President Zuma must at once pay the tax that is due‚ and pay it personally. South Africans cannot continue to suffer while Jacob Zuma has lined his pockets with public money destined for the advancement of our country.”

2016-07-07 18:01 TMG Digital www.timeslive.co.za

84 National Freedom Party out of the elections after losing last gasp bid This follows the Electoral Court’s decision to dismiss the party’s bid to be included on the ballot paper‚ after missing the Electoral Commission of SA’s (IEC’s) payment deadline. The Electoral Court’s decision is a blow for the already embattled NFP‚ the country’s fifth-biggest political party‚ whose leader Zanele Magwaza-Msibi has been out of action for more than a year after falling ill at the end of 2014‚ leading to a vacuum that led to divisions within the party. At the weekend two senior party members‚ secretary-general Nhlanhla Khubisa and national chairman Maliyakhe Shelembe‚ resigned from the NFP. The party approached the Electoral Court last week after treasurer Xolani Ndlovu‚ in what the party called an “administrative error”‚ misread the deadline provided by the IEC and paid the R90‚000 deposit late. The IEC on Monday said the court had dismissed the NFP matter. The order was issued on Saturday. However‚ the NFP made no mention of the court’s decision at a press briefing held in Durban on Sunday. But it did announce that it had decided to suspend deputy chairman Scelo Mabika and Ndlovu. This means the party‚ formed on the eve of the 2011 local government polls‚ will have no representation at local government elections ahead of the next general election in 2019. The NFP was a breakaway party from the . It is not clear whether the fracturing party can survive if it cannot contest the August 3 elections. Worsening its position are the suspensions and resignations of party leaders. The party has said it will take the matter all the way to the Constitutional Court in a bid to contest the polls. In 2011‚ the NFP won 644‚917 votes‚ giving it more than 200 councillors‚ mainly in KwaZulu-Natal. The NFP went on to forge a coalition with the ANC in 19 hung municipalities in KwaZulu-Natal. Magwaza-Msibi has worked closely with the ANC‚ and is the deputy minister of science and technology‚ but has not been active since her illness.

2016-07-07 18:01 Genevieve Quintal www.timeslive.co.za

85 'I wanted to be like my dad when I grew up' He graduated from the Gene Louw Traffic College in Brackenfell this week with the 12-month Further Education and Training Certificate: Road Traffic Law Enforcement‚ which qualifies him to become a traffic officer. His father‚ Leonard‚ 52‚ is a Provincial Traffic Inspector based at the regional office in Brackenfell. “My father inspired me to become a traffic officer. I grew up seeing him in the blue uniform‚ and the respect with which he dealt with road users‚ and I thought to myself‚ ‘I also want to be like him’. He always spoke passionately about road safety and traffic law enforcement‚ and today‚ I still look up to him with that admiration.” Leonard is proud of his son’s achievements. “It wasn’t an easy journey for Nicholas. He was turned down three times‚ but I told him not to give up. I could see in his eyes that he wanted to become a traffic officer. I am confident that he will grow and succeed in his role and become an officer we all can be proud of‚” he said. Their joint focus is improving safety on our roads‚ and this extends way beyond issuing fines. Over the last year‚ Nicholas and 49 other course participants received training accredited by the Safety and Security Sector Education and Training Authority (SASSETA)‚ which includes instruction in the Road Traffic Management Corporation (RTMC) guidelines on road traffic law enforcement. All the participants have successfully completed firearm competency training‚ driver training (including articulated motor vehicle and motorcycle training)‚ first aid training‚ and training in fighting fires. They were also deployed at various traffic centres to gain practical experience of traffic law enforcement duties during the Easter and December holiday periods. Nicholas says he is looking forward to start working at the Caledon Traffic Centre on Monday‚ 11 July 2016. “It’s an adaption to a new environment‚ but I have my father’s support‚ as well as support from the rest of the family‚ to keep me focused and encourage me to make a difference on our roads.”

2016-07-07 18:01 TMG Digital www.timeslive.co.za

86 Kerry in Ukraine to reaffirm support in face of Russia threat Kerry's visit comes ahead of a NATO summit in Warsaw on Friday that Poroshenko will also attend in the hope of securing new assistance for his former Soviet republic's 26-month war in the separatist industrial east. Thursday's meeting falls in line with Washington's bid to curb Russian President Vladimir Putin's perceived expansionist ambitions and follows a visit to Georgia -- another Kremlin foe that has also lost parts of its territory to Moscow-backed separatists. German Chancellor Angela Merkel said Thursday that Russia's actions in Ukraine had caused a loss of trust with the West. "If through words and deeds the validity of law and the inviolability of frontiers are questioned, then of course trust is lost," she told the German parliament. The deputy head of Poroshenko's administration, Kostyantyn Yeliseyev, said he expected Thursday's meetings to discuss "the issue of global security, regional security, and of course the issue of Ukraine's cooperation with NATO". He said Kiev hoped to receive further assistance from the US and other allies in upgrading its outdated and underfunded armed forces and also discuss the tortuous peace process with the pro-Russian rebels. Ukraine changed the course of post-Soviet history by ousting its Kremlin- backed leader in a pro-EU revolution in 2014 that was followed by Russia's annexation of Crimea and the outbreak of one of Europe's bloodiest conflicts since the 1990s Balkans wars. The revolt in the east has killed nearly 9,500 people and left many of Ukraine's most important coal mines and steel mills under rebel control. The war has now ground to a stalemate that sees sporadic spikes in fighting around hotspots surrounding the de facto rebel capital of Donetsk. But Washington has turned a deaf ear to Ukrainian pleas to supply them with offensive equipment that could help Kiev's forces stamp out the insurgents and win back control of its porous eastern border with Russia. Washington fears such a step would only further infuriate Putin and complicate US efforts to work with Russia on pivotal issues such as the Syria war. Poroshenko and the West accuse Russia of covertly using rebel-held parts of the border to supply insurgents with weapons and soldiers -- a charge Moscow persistently denies. Ukraine last weekend did receive 14 long-range US radar systems that should help its army detect and destroy rebel rockets. Kiev was also bolstered by the EU's decision last week to extend by another six months punishing sanctions against Russia's energy and other key sectors for its role in Ukraine. But efforts led by Germany and France to end fighting with a peace agreement brokered in February 2015 have so far produced few results. Kiev insists that no compromise with the separatists is possible without them first handing back the areas under their control. Ukrainian Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin said on Wednesday he had no intention of recognising the legitimacy of the self-proclaimed leaders of the separatist Lugansk and Donetsk regions. Kerry is also due to meet Prime Minister Volodymyr Groysman to check on Ukraine's progress on stamping out the corruption that brought down the previous government in April. Ukraine is meant to clean up graft and improve governance in order to fulfil its ambition of applying for EU membership by 2020. But the chances of the eastern European state joining NATO remain slim for the foreseeable future because much of its southeastern territory remains under rebel control.

2016-07-07 18:01 AFP www.timeslive.co.za

87 Crunch meeting with Orlando Pirates chairman will decide Teboho Moloi's future Moloi‚ then assistant to Eric Tinkler‚ was granted leave by Pirates in April to attend to a personal matter. This was announced at the same press conference at which Khoza also made long-time defender ’s retirement public on April 7. Bucs have since opted not to renew Tinkler’s one-year contract and appointed Muhsin Ertugral as head coach. Tinkler has gone on to sign as coach of new PSL club Cape Town City. Pirates’ administrative officer Floyd Mbele said Moloi is set to return to duty in the next two weeks‚ and is scheduled to have a meeting with Khoza when he does. “I think in the next week or two we will be able to have an update [on Moloi] – he should be back by then‚” Mbele said. “He’s still on leave. He did come back at one stage to give an update on the personal matter that he was busy with. “I think he would need to meet the chairman in the next week or two to decide his role going forward. There is a meeting scheduled.” Bucs are in the process of identifying players who will be released from a squad that has become increasingly bloated in an off-season spending spree that is apparently not yet at its conclusion. Pirates’ signings so far have included defender Abbubaker Mobara and winger Riyaad Norodien from Ajax Cape Town‚ Ghanaian attacker Bernard Morrison from AS Vita Club in DR Congo‚ and forward Thabiso Kutumela from Baroka FC. “There isn’t any update on players being released because there are still a number of considerations we are having to take into account‚” Mbele said. “And obviously we have had to get the coach to work with the players first so that we don’t jump the gun. And so that the technical team can give us an idea‚ on players they feel we can release. “Muhsin only started working with the players on Monday and he’s having a close look at them before we make any decisions.” Big things are expected of Pirates after some quality signings made already‚ not least of which Ertugral‚ who has won every cup trophy in South Africa and steered Mpumalanga Black Aces to an impressive fourth place last season. Bucs’ only major trophy since 2012 has been the 2014 .

2016-07-07 18:01 Marc Strydom www.timeslive.co.za

88 Shock & anger as world reacts to black man's killing by police — RT America Philando Castile was killed while sitting in his car alongside his girlfriend and her four-year-old daughter after being pulled over for a broken taillight. He had just informed the officer he was carrying a licensed concealed weapon. Follow RT’s LIVE UPDATES on #PhilandoCastile killing READ MORE: US cop shoots black man dead a day after Alton Sterling controversy (GRAPHIC VIDEO) Online reaction to the shooting dead of 32-year-old Castile has been one of disgust, particularly given it happened so soon after the death of Alton Sterling. Many are shocked at the reckless behavior of the police. Many used the fact that Castile was carrying a licensed gun when shot to address the NRA’s stance on firearms, asking “All you ‘Dont you take my guns’ folks. Are you going to stand for #PhilandoCastile?!” For some the video of Castile bleeding in the car produced a pure emotional response. “I am broken” one person said. With another death of an African-American at the hands of police one twitter user criticized their compassion for the people they should be protecting. “Not help. No sense of humanity. I'm tired.” WATCH MORE:

2016-07-07 18:01 www.rt.com

89 Bangladesh reels from new deadly attack at start of Eid Police and media reports said there had been an explosion and armed exchanges near a prayer ground in the northern Kishoreganj district as at least 200,000 people took part in a service to mark the start of Eid. "They threw a bomb at a police checkpost. A police constable was killed in the explosion. One attacker was killed and another was arrested," Mahbubur Rahman, a police officer in the district control room, told AFP. Tofazzal Hosain, who is the district's deputy police chief, told AFP that several people had taken part in the attack and some had been armed with machetes -- a hallmark of recent Islamist killings in Bangladesh. "They first threw a small bomb targeting police and then attacked them with machetes. Police retaliated by returning gunfire," he said. The private Somoy TV station broadcast footage of a gunfight between police and a group of attackers and reported that the slain policeman had been hacked to death. Azimuddin Biswas, the district administrator, told AFP that the attack had taken place on the premises of a nearby school and not on the actual prayer ground. "The congregation was not affected by the clashes," according to Biswas. Although there was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack, it comes less than a week after Islamists killed 20 hostages and two policemen in an overnight siege at a Western-style cafe in Dhaka. Bangladesh has been on a heightened state of alert in the wake of the killings in Dhaka last Friday night and many services that were held on Thursday to mark the start of Eid included pleas from religious leaders for an end to the violence. "Allah, protect our country ... and protect our children from the evils of terrorism," Mohammad Sadequl Islam, the local imam, told a gathering of around 5,000 devotees at Dhaka's Mahakhali neighbourhood on Thursday. Many of those who attended services in Dhaka could be seen openly weeping as clerics led prayers for a more peaceful and prosperous Bangladesh. Bangladesh has been reeling from a growing wave of attacks since the turn of the year, many of which have been claimed by the self-styled Islamic State group or an offshoot of the Al-Qaeda network. However Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's secular government has consistently denied that international jihadist networks have gained a foothold in the mainly Muslim country and have said the weekend attack in Dhaka was carried out by members of a local outlawed Islamist group. All of the victims of the weekend attack in the capital, who included 18 foreigners, were hacked to death. 2016-07-07 18:01 AFP www.timeslive.co.za

90 Syrian rebels lose ISIS battle after being abandoned by US jets – report — RT News The Pentagon-trained rebel unit, the New Syrian Army (NSA), was on a ground offensive to re-take the Islamic State-held (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL) town of Bukamal in southeast Syria last week, the Washington Post reported on Wednesday. In the middle of the desert battle the rebels requested air support, but the aircraft assigned to provide cover had unexpectedly been ordered to leave the area, US officials familiar with the incident told the newspaper. The warplanes headed instead to Fallujah in neighboring Iraq, where a large IS convoy was attempting to escape from the city, which is being besieged by Iraqi forces. “You have a finite number of resources … Prioritization was given to one target over another,” said US-led coalition spokesman Col. Chris Garver. The Islamic State convoy was fully destroyed on the outskirts of Fallujah and hundreds of jihadists were killed – but by that time, the IS militants near Bukamal had counterattacked, pushing the NSA’s fighters out of the area. They retreated to their base 200 miles (320km) away from Bukamal. The rebels lost two men in the operation, one of whom was beheaded. Their brutalized bodies and scores of captured weapons were then displayed in an Islamic State video. Three other fighters were killed when the retreating NSA units were ambushed by jihadists in the desert. Although the rebel unit describes itself as an “army,” its strength in terms of manpower has never exceeded the size of a typical infantry company. According to the Washington Post, it numbers up to 100 men recruited from residents of Bukamal. They were reportedly selected mainly in Turkey, and trained in Jordan with US and British support. Their defeat adds fuel to the highly criticized, “revamped” $416 million program run by the Pentagon, which has trained only 100 Syrian rebels since March. The first train-and-equip program intended to prepare a 15,000-strong “moderate” rebel force by 2017. But the initial program appeared to be in disarray, when last July Defense Secretary Ash Carter informed senators that only 60 recruits were being trained to fight IS in Syria. The US-led coalition command claims the battle to re-capture Bukamal is far from over. Col. Garver insists the goal is still “to liberate [the town] and cut [the Islamic State’s] military supply lines in the Euphrates Valley between Syria and Iraq.” But the NSA units have already been badly depleted in battle, and a sizable number of its fighters were killed in an Islamic State suicide bomb attack in May. Building trust between Syrian rebels and their US allies will also be no easy task, David Maxwell, a former special forces officer, told Washington Post. “Hanging out our supposed allies to dry doesn’t achieve much and undermines our legitimacy and credibility. “It’s hard to establish and maintain rapport with these organizations if we say one thing and do another.”

2016-07-07 18:01 www.rt.com

91 The Valke Craven Week teenage player dies The 17-year-old from Rhodesfield Technical High is believed to have passed away from complications from concussion‚ although SA Rugby did not confirm that in a statement. Attempts to speak to the school principal were unsuccessful. Yamwimbi represented the Valke at the Grant Khomo under-16 week in Oudtshoorn last year. “On behalf of SA Rugby I would like to extend sincere condolences to Jean- Jireh’s family and to his team-mates who were preparing to travel to the U18 Coca-Cola Craven Week with him‚” said SA Rugby president Oregan Hoskins. “This is a very sad day for South African rugby. We are halfway through the SA Rugby Youth Weeks‚ which is a time in which we celebrate the youth who share a deep passion for the game‚ and a week in which they have the opportunity to showcase their talent against the best players from other provinces. Instead we are mourning the passing of a player who had so much to offer. “Our thoughts and prayers are with Jean-Jireh’s family‚ friends and his Valke team-mates at this very sad time.” As a sign of respect to Yamwimbi‚ the Valke will not replace the player in their traveling group‚ and will have a squad of only 22 players at the tournament.

2016-07-07 18:01 Craig Ray www.timeslive.co.za

92 'We weren't really effective' in Western Cape, admits ANC's Ehrenreich His shocking admission comes in the wake of chaos that erupted in Nyanga over the exclusion of an ANC councillor from the party's candidate list. "I think our effectiveness was between 10 and 12%. We weren't really effective at all," said Ehrenreich who addressed the Cape Town Press Club yesterday. The ANC chose Ehrenreich as its mayoral candidate in 2011 hoping to pull votes from the DA. His statement comes a month after he was shafted by the party as its mayoral candidate. His replacement is his chief whip, Xolani Sotashe. Ehrenreich blamed the ruling DA for the ANC's ineffectiveness, saying the party used its majority to change council processes to effectively silence them. "One of the practices in council is that the mayor addresses council . then the leader of the opposition [is given time] to talk about the main challenges," he said. But because his party attracted great media attention he claimed council scrapped the practice. "We never got to the podium anymore. We can ask the questions from the floor and they can switch off the mics," said Ehrenreich. He said the DA administration had spent R50-million to boast about having the best-run city in the country. But, said Ehrenreich, it failed to build affordable housing near the CBD or foster social cohesion. Ehrenreich lambasted the ANC along with the DA. He said there were grave dangers should both parties continue to gain strength. "You can see the party bosses taking centre stage, whether it's in Pretoria . or some of the things that are done by the DA in the City of Cape Town," he said. Meanwhile, there are fears that violence by ANC supporters in Nyanga could spread. Authorities shut down a section of the N2 after protesters torched Golden Arrow buses. The scenes were reminiscent of the violence in Tshwane where the ANC appointed as its mayoral candidate.

2016-07-07 18:01 APHIWE DE www.timeslive.co.za

93 Lack of Parliament antics sees EFF’s media profile dip: survey The wrong reason for the ruling party paid off for the official opposition‚ the Democratic Alliance (DA). That Parliament is not in session curtailed the impression the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) made. Those are some of the key findings of Basemedia’s “political tracker” for June. “The violence is Tshwane significantly elevated the ANC’s media profile but also contributed to negativity on the organisation‚” the survey found. It said that “Thoko Didiza emerged as one of the ANC’s most visible members after she was announced as mayoral candidate for Tshwane”‚ but noted that both she and incumbent mayor Kgosientsho Ramokgopa “faced negativity as a result of the violence that followed the announcement”. The research note‚ however‚ that the party was “gradually able to move away from the critical coverage as the party deployed senior leaders on the campaign trail”. The tracker suggested that the DA had profited from the ANC’s trouble in the country’s capital as the “media reflected on the internal strengths of the DA and the manner in which the party had chosen its candidates”. It also said the DA and leader Mmusi Maimane had scored from the “Jobs not jets” campaign about its disapproval of the widely reported R4-billion price tag for a new presidential aircraft. EFF leader ‚ on the other hand‚ “struggled to have any high- impact media exposure” other than that which was “generated…after he stated that ‘South Africa would be a boring place without whites’ ”. The researchers noted that “past analysis has shown that one of the biggest drivers for the EFF has been because of the organisation’s behaviour in Parliament”. “However‚ with Parliament now in recess‚ the EFF has struggled to get media to focus significantly on the party’s local election campaigning.” The study also found that Inkatha Freedom Party leader Mangosuthu Buthelezi “advanced his media profile while speaking at the IFP’s manifesto launch” in uMlazi‚ during which he acknowledged that his party had lost ground‚ but had regrouped and focused itself for the August 3 municipal polls.

2016-07-07 18:01 TMG Digital www.timeslive.co.za

94 Coup defeated? Labour rebels back down fearing party split as Corbyn refuses to go Anti-Corbyn MPs are now pinning their hopes on former shadow business secretary Angela Eagle’s bid for leadership. However, a source told the Telegraph that Corbyn would easily defeat any challenge from either Eagle or ex-Shadow Work and Pensions Secretary Owen Smith. “It’s finished. He will win easily in a second contest if he is on the ballot, it’s everything we wanted to avoid,” the senior MP told the paper. “He is losing support of the membership by the day, there is no doubt about that, but they just sign up new members to replace them. He is Teflon in that sense.” Another source told the paper: “Jeremy and his team don’t care about the public, they don’t care about opposing this government. Angela is the best hope now and people are prepared for that fight.” Since the referendum vote to leave the European Union last month, Labour has been embroiled in what Corbyn supporters have dubbed a “coup,” with mass resignations in the shadow cabinet and hundreds of MPs calling on Corbyn to resign. Another Labour source quoted by the Telegraph said Corbyn had “dug his heels in” and “isn’t going anywhere.” Despite a no-confidence vote in which MPs opposed their leader by a margin of 172-40, calls from outgoing Prime Minister David Cameron, former Labour leader Ed Miliband and deputy leader Tom Watson to stand down from his post, Corbyn has stood firm. Earlier this week, Corbyn released a video urging Labour members to “come together.” “I have a huge responsibility, I’m carrying out that responsibility and I’m carrying on with that responsibility,” he said. In the last two weeks, the party has gained a record-breaking 200,000 new members, according to pro-Corbyn group Momentum. Many of the new recruits are thought to have signed up with the intention of supporting the beleaguered Labour leader in the face of a leadership challenge. During a rally in support of the Labour leader on Wednesday, shadow cabinet member Jon Trickett launched an attack on Eagle for her unwavering support of the Iraq war. “Our party must never again be led by someone who is unrepentant in their record supporting war,” he told the crowd. Though Eagle said on Monday that she was willing to launch a leadership bid if Corbyn did not resign “soon,” the ex-front bencher’s own constituency has issued a statement of support for Corbyn. 2016-07-07 18:01 www.rt.com

95 Briton who sought to 'shoot' Trump pleads not guilty Michael Sandford, 20, entered his plea before a federal judge in Las Vegas, where he was arrested on June 18 at a campaign event for the presumptive Republican presidential nominee. His trial on two felony counts of being an illegal alien in possession of a firearm and one count of impeding and disrupting the orderly conduct of government business was set for August 22. According to court documents, Sandford, who had overstayed his visa in the United States, told police that he had tried to snatch an officer's gun at the rally in order to shoot Trump. His parents have said he suffers from Asperger's syndrome and told British media this week that they feared he might commit suicide if kept in a US prison. His mother Lynne said she wanted him deported back to Britain so he could get psychiatric help. She told the BBC that her son had a history of mental illness and had previously tried to take his own life. She said the family had been told he was being held in isolation "22 hours a day with no window to the outside world. " "Why would he live the next 30 years in these situations? So yes I think he would attempt to commit suicide again," she told the BBC. Sandford faces up to 10 years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000 on each of the three charges against him. Although an initial complaint filed after his arrest stated that he told a Secret Service agent that he had intended to kill Trump, he was not charged with plotting to assassinate the billionaire businessman. He told the agent that he had driven from California to Las Vegas to carry out his plan and had gone to a gun range the day before to practice shooting, as he had never handled a gun before.

2016-07-07 18:01 AFP www.timeslive.co.za

96 Ukraine extends ban on Russian imports through 2017 — RT Business The decision “has been prepared for ensuring Ukraine’s national security in response to Russia’s introduction of respective trade bans and restrictions against Ukraine,” said Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Stepan Kubiv at a government meeting. The current ban would was due to expire on August 5 this year. The embargoes have led to a 42 percent drop in trade between the two countries in the first quarter of the year, according to Kubiv. He added that Ukraine was still losing other markets due to the measures. READ MORE: Kiev estimates loss from trade war with Moscow at $1.1bn a year In December, President Putin signed a decree to suspend the free trade treaty with Ukraine, starting from January 1, 2016. Before Kiev signed the EU association agreement, Russia and Ukraine traded in accordance with the free trade agreement between CIS countries. Putin said Kiev’s move to open its borders to the EU compromises Russian interests and economic security. Moscow is concerned that without a barrier, Ukraine could illegally supply embargoed European goods to Russia. Two years ago, the Kremlin introduced a food embargo against countries that supported anti-Russian sanctions over the conflict in Ukraine. These include the EU, the US, Canada, Norway and Australia. Albania, Montenegro, Iceland, and Liechtenstein were included in Moscow’s sanction list in 2015. The ban, which includes meat, fish and milk products, as well as fruit and vegetables, was recently extended through 2017. Last week, Moscow prolonged restrictions on Ukrainian goods transported via Russia to Kazakhstan and extended them to neighboring Kyrgyzstan. Kiev says Russia's move violates the rules of the World Trade Organization.

2016-07-07 18:01 www.rt.com

97 600 tons of ballot papers to be printed: IEC This follows the National Freedom Party’s failed bid to contest the elections after it was disqualified for not paying its deposit on time. The party took the matter to the Electoral Court at the weekend‚ but its application was dismissed. IEC spokesperson Kate Bapela said once printed and packed the ballot papers will amount to about 600 tons. “The boxes vary in size to suit the ballots and the destinations‚” Bapela said. “The project plan dictates that approximately 74-million ballots will be printed. Not a single ballot has been printed yet‚ as the candidate admission process has been delayed by matters such as the NFP court challenge.” She said the ballot papers are printed by a number of companies at various locations in the country. Bapela could not give details of these companies. “These details are kept confidential during the project. The printing takes place 100% within South Africa.” The companies‚ she said are selected through a “full-scale” tender process “The tender was concluded in December 2015. “The tender‚ like all IEC tenders‚ was advertised in the press and specifically in the Government Tender Bulletin‚ and on the IEC Votaquotes website‚” said Bapela.

2016-07-07 18:01 Nomahlubi Jordaan www.timeslive.co.za

98 JPMorgan may move staff out of UK after Brexit, warns CEO — RT Business The possible move could be dictated by the risk of losing the EU “passporting” system, which allows banks based in the UK to offer financial services freely across the European Union. The system is considered as the most significant feature of the EU single market for financial firms. "The key issue is the 'passport rule' that we have in London and allows us to provide services to clients in the European Union," Dimon told the Italian newspaper Il Sole 24 Ore in an interview on Thursday. "However, if the EU imposes new conditions on Britain ... the worst-case scenario is we would have to move some thousands of employees to other branches in the eurozone," he added. According to Dimon, Brexit is nothing like the global financial crisis. It hasn’t triggered the same market reaction as during the (2008-2009) crisis, while “the banking sector is in a much better shape around the globe now.” The question is more about its impact on the European economy, the British economy, and on the future potential of the eurozone, he said. READ MORE: JPMorgan bank shows unexpected drop in profit over legal costs “In my opinion, Brexit will slow the economies of the eurozone and Britain… It does not seem to push everyone into recession but will certainly diminish business activities and create uncertainty,” said Dimon. JPMorgan has 16,000 employees in the UK, with its European headquarters based in London and offices in Bournemouth and Scotland. Last year UK operations produced revenue of $14.2 billion for the bank from Europe, the Middle East and Africa. Many US and other non-European institutions run their EU operations out of London. And while the City of London is at risk of losing its EU passport and clearing houses, some banks say they may move at least part of their operations to another country to secure an EU passport. The French government has already pledged to make its tax regime for expatriates the most favorable in Europe, in a move to lure businesses from London to Paris. “We want to build the financial capital of the future,” said French Prime Minister Manuel Valls. “In a word, now is the time to come to France.”

2016-07-07 18:01 www.rt.com

99 Sharks have something to talk about after sponsorship renewal The Sharks Super Rugby side is fighting for the third and final play-off berth with the Lions already assured of one place and the Stormers on the brink of the other. It will come down to the Sharks and the Bulls for the third spot. On top of some mediocre results and massive player losses in the off-season‚ chief executive John Smit announced that he would be stepping down later this year. He cited personal reasons but the tough economic climate that has seen several retrenchments at the union over the past three years has not made life easy for the inexperienced CEO. "We are delighted to renew our association with Cell C for a further three years‚" Smit said in a statement. "Our initial partnership has seen both our brands develop through a period of change and reinvention. Together‚ with a shared vision and a pioneering spirit‚ our partnership will continue to grow and deliver rewards for both parties. "I would like to thank the CEO of Cell C‚ Jose Dos Santos‚ and his dynamic team for their unwavering support and investment in our brand. "The benefits of this partnership will not only be exclusive to the team‚ but will be extended to our loyal stakeholders.” There was no indication of what the sponsorship is worth. Meanwhile‚ prior to this weekend’s crucial match against the ‚ it looks increasingly likely that flyhalf Pat Lambie would miss the match. It’s been a month since Lambie suffered a concussion after a huge collision with Ireland flank CJ Stander in the first Test on June 11 and his continued absence is a source of concern. Veteran wing warned that the Cheetahs would be a threat as they have nothing to play for. “With them [Cheetahs] being out of the play-offs‚ it makes them that more dangerous‚" Ndungane said. "It is going to be a tough game. We have to make sure that we don't give them too many opportunities - they are a team that can punish you if you don't hold onto the ball. "

2016-07-07 18:01 Craig Ray www.timeslive.co.za

100 ‘Don’t infringe upon our sovereignty!’ China warns US ahead of South China Sea ruling — RT News A phone conversation on maritime issues took place between Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi and US Secretary of State John Kerry on Wednesday, Chines Xinhua agency reported. READ MORE: ‘Greatest threat to peace & stability’: Beijing criticizes US meddling in South China Sea region The conversation comes less than a week ahead of the ruling by the International Court of Arbitration in The Hague on the South China Sea dispute between China and the Philippines. The ruling is due to be announced on July 12. The arbitration is tainted "with illogical and flawed application of procedures, laws and evidence,” Wang said. Wang once again repeated that China won’t accept the upcoming ruling, adding that “the arbitration tribunal farce should come to an end.” “The arbitration tribunal which clearly has been expanding and over- stretching its jurisdiction beyond the limit has no jurisdiction at all [over the South China Sea disputes]… Any award it makes in disregard of the laws and facts is naturally not legally binding,” he added. READ MORE: ‘Price to pay for US’: Beijing ready to confront Washington if it intervenes in S. China Sea dispute Wang urged Washington not to take “sides on issues related to sovereign disputes, be prudent with its actions and words, and not to take any actions that infringe upon the sovereignty and security interests of China.” Regardless of any outcome of the ruling, Wang said China will “firmly safeguard its own territorial sovereignty and legitimate maritime rights” in the South China Sea, the agency added. Earlier on Tuesday, China said it is ready to confront the US if it intervenes in the South China Sea dispute by force, the Chinese Global Times newspaper reported, adding that Beijing should accelerate developing its strategic deterrence capabilities to contain Washington’s forces. READ MORE: What tensions? Chinese ships join US Navy in massive Pacific exercise China has repeatedly claimed sovereignty over particular islands and reefs in the South China Sea and its adjacent waters, and has taken steps to protect it. However, Beijing has always said it’s open to solving the disputes through direct negotiations between parties without outside help and interference. The South China Sea disputes involve the Spratly and the Paracel groups of islands. Beijing’s territorial claims to the islands partly overlap those of the Philippines, Vietnam, and Taiwan, while Beijing also has ongoing territorial disputes in the area with Malaysia and Brunei. The US is trying to demonstrate force in the region by increasing its military strength and that of their allies. Several of its warships have strayed into the disputed waters, and the US has flown numerous surveillance missions over the area.

2016-07-07 18:01 www.rt.com

Total 100 articles. Created at 2016-07-07 18:02