Category: News

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A private plane carrying Oscar-winning actor Morgan Freeman was forced to make an emergency landing, but the star and his pilot were unhurt, the BBC reports.

The plane blew a tyre on take-off from Clarksdale, Mississippi, on Saturday.

The SJ30 jet made a forced landing in Tunica, about 65km away, where it went off the runway.

In a statement, the Shawshank Redemption star said: “Sometimes things don’t go as planned and a tyre blew on take-off, which caused other problems.”

He continued: “But thanks to my excellent pilot Jimmy Hobson we landed safely without a scratch.

“I cannot say the same about my plane. I appreciate the concern and prayers for our safety.”

The 78-year-old has been nominated for seven Oscars for films including Driving Miss Daisy, Street Smart and Invictus, and won in 2005 for his role in Million Dollar Baby.

Photo: REUTERS/DADO RUVIC/FILE

Facebook, Google and Twitter are stepping up efforts to combat online propaganda and recruiting by Islamic militants, but the Internet companies are doing it quietly to avoid the perception that they are helping the authorities police the Web, Reuters reports.

On Friday, Facebook Inc said it took down a profile that the company believed belonged to San Bernardino shooter Tashfeen Malik, who with her husband is accused of killing 14 people in a mass shooting that the FBI is investigating as an “act of terrorism.”

Just a day earlier, the French prime minister and European Commission officials met separately with Facebook, Google, Twitter Inc and other companies to demand faster action on what the commission called “online terrorism incitement and hate speech.”

The Internet companies described their policies as straightforward: they ban certain types of content in accordance with their own terms of service, and require court orders to remove or block anything beyond that. Anyone can report, or flag, content for review and possible removal.

President Serzh Sargsyan received today Alan Mill, PACE co-rapporteur on Armenia, who has arrived in Armenia to observe the referendum on Constitutional changes.

President Sargsyan said the periodic meetings provide an opportunity to discuss issues related to the comprehensive cooperation between Armenia and the Council of Europe.

Serzh Sargsyan hailed Council of Europe’s support to the reinforcement of democracy, protection of human rights and rule of law in Armenia, underlining that Armenia has been consistently implementing reforms over the past years.

Alan Mill, in turn, praised the preparatory work done before the referendum and hailed the close cooperation with the Venice Commission.

“Please, accept out best wishes for your efforts towards Constitutional amendments,” Alan Mill said.

Armenians voted in a referendum Sunday on proposed Constitutional changes that would give more powers to the Prime Minister and Parliament at the expense of the President.

The polls opened at 8 a.m. and closed at 8 p.m.

1,005,333 people or 39.17 percent of the eligible voters participated in the referendum on as of 17:00. The final data on voter turnout will be released at 9 p.m.

“I’ve voted for the sake of our stable future,” Prime Minister Hovik Abrahamyan said after he cast his vote in the referendum on Constitutional changes.

“After the voting the government should combine its efforts to ensure economic development to meet the expectations of the people,” the Prime Minister said.

He said everyone should be provided with the opportunity to vote freely and added that any outcome would be acceptable to the authorities.

“I cast my vote for the sake of our stable future and development. We’ve done our best to ensure the transparency of the voting. We’ve urged all our teammates not to do a disservice. Let the public decide whether to accept the Constitutional changes or not. I’ve not received any reports on serious violations so far. I hope the commissions will do their utmost to avoid violations,” Hovik Abrahamyan said.

He urged the teammates to avoid any provocation and ensure transparent voting.

At least one oil worker is dead and 30 are missing after a platform in the Caspian Sea caught fire in a storm, the BBC reports.

State oil company Socar told the BBC that 63 workers had been on the Guneshli platform at the time and that 32 had been rescued so far.

The firm said the fire began after a storm on Friday evening damaged a gas line.

The storm has hampered efforts to control the fire and rescue workers.

Azerbaijan’s Oil Workers’ Rights Protection Committee said that about 40 oil workers had tried to board a life raft attached to the platform but that the raft ruptured and a number of them fell into the sea.

Socar has not confirmed this account.

During the same storm, three workers went missing from another offshore oil platform in the Caspian Sea, Socar said.

Kim Kardashian and Kanye West have announced the arrival of their baby boy, the BBC reports.

The reality star confirmed the news with a statement and said: “Mother and son are doing well.”

This is the second child for the superstar couple. Their daughter, North West, was born in June 2013.

Kim announced she was pregnant again earlier this year during her TV show Keeping Up with the Kardashians.

She revealed their second child would be a boy in a tweet on Father’s Day.

No news on the name yet, but Kim has previously said South West was not in the running.

“I don’t like South West… North will always, you know, be better and be more… she has a better direction,” Kim said.

Real Madrid have been expelled from the Copa del Rey for fielding an ineligible player against Cadiz on Wednesday, the BBC reports.

Denis Cheryshev opened the scoring as Real beat the third-tier side 3-1 in the first leg of their last-32 tie.

The Russian winger, 24, should have been serving a one-match ban – imposed while he was on loan at Villarreal last season – but he and Real claim they were not informed before the game.

Real have won the competition 19 times, with their last success in 2014.

Cheryshev was substituted just after half-time, when Real had realised their error. Coach Rafael Benitez said they wanted to “show good faith”.

The club’s president, Florentino Perez, said on Thursday the club would fight any sanction.

Spanish newspaper Marca reported Real will appeal against the decision to the Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) and, if necessary, the country’s sport court, TAD.

Osasuna were expelled from last year’s competition for fielding an ineligible player, and Benitez was in charge of Valencia when they were disqualified from the 2001 competition for selecting too many non-EU players in a tie.

Photo: News Youm777/ YouTube

At least 16 people have been killed in the Egyptian capital, Cairo, after firebomb was thrown into a restaurant, the BBC reports.

The attack happened in the Agouza area, in the city centre.

The Cairo Post newspaper said three masked men threw the device into the venue before fleeing. Reports say the target also contained a nightclub.

Reuters news agency quoted an unnamed security official as saying one of the suspects is a disgruntled ex-employee.

The agency said the restaurant was in the basement of the building, making it harder for people to escape.

The victims died from burns or the effects of inhaling smoke, it said. At least five other people were injured.

Cairo has previously been rocked by a series of attacks on security forces and civilians carried out by suspected Islamist militants.

An Islamist insurgency intensified in the wake of the overthrow of President Mohammed Morsi in 2013.