Thousands of migrants rescued off Libya

About 6,500 migrants have been rescued in a large operation off the coast of Libya, the Italian coastguard says.

Migrants from Eritrea and Somalia cheered as the rescue boats arrived, with some jumping into the water and swimming toward them while others carefully carried babies onto the rescue ships, AP reported.

Some 40 separate rescue operations took place, the coastguard said.

The instability in Libya has made the country a hub for people-trafficking.

Source by:http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-37216881

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Gene Wilder death: Star of Willy Wonka dies aged 83

US actor Gene Wilder, remembered by many for his lead role in Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory, has died at the age of 83, his family confirmed.

The comic actor also starred in classic films such as The Producers, Blazing Saddles and Young Frankenstein.

Mr Wilder frequently collaborated with writer and director Mel Brooks as well as stand-up comedian Richard Pryor.

The two-time Oscar-nominated actor was diagnosed with non-Hodgkins lymphoma in 1989.

Mr Wilder's nephew confirmed the actor died on Sunday in Stamford, Connecticut, due to complications from Alzheimer's disease.

The star first made waves on Broadway before transitioning to the silver screen for a brief role as a kidnapped undertaker in Bonnie and Clyde (1967).

Obituary: Gene Wilder

Mel Brooks then cast Mr Wilder as Leo Bloom, an anxious accountant in the 1968 comedy, The Producers.

In 1971, he took on the role of one of his most beloved characters, Willy Wonka, in Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory.

Mr Wilder's other well-known roles included the Waco Kid in the 1974 cult classic Blazing Saddles and Doctor Ross in Woody Allen's 1972 film, Everything You Wanted to Know About Sex* But Were Afraid to Ask.

Tributes from the comedy world came within minutes of the news emerging.

Source by:http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-37215553

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JUAN GABRIEL, LEGENDARY MEXICAN SINGER-SONGWRITER, DIES AT 66

Singer Juan Gabriel performs during the Latin Billboard Awards on April 28, 2016 in Coral Gables, Fla. (AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee)

Updated 9 mins ago

The press office for Mexican superstar Juan Gabriel says the singer has died at age 66. The statement says he died Sunday, but does not say where.

Juan Gabriel was Mexico's leading singer-songwriter and top-selling artist, with sales of more than 100 million albums.

His ballads about love and heartbreak and bouncy mariachi tunes became hymns throughout Latin America and Spain and with Spanish speakers in the United States. He brought many adoring fans to tears as they sang along when he crooned his songs about love and heartbreak

A flamboyant performer, Juan Gabriel liked to wear jackets covered in sequins or dress in shiny silk outfits in hot pink, turquoise blue or canary yellow, and he was known for tossing his head before dancing or jumping around the stage.

Source by:http://abc7.com/news/juan-gabriel-legendary-mexican-singer-songwriter-dies-at-66/1488496/

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Donald Trump doctor admits writing health note in five minutes

Donald Trump's doctor has said he spent just five minutes on a letter endorsing the Republican candidate's health, while Mr Trump's car waited outside.

"In the rush I think some of those words didn't come out exactly the way they were meant," Dr Harold Bornstein told NBC News.

Dr Bornstein's letter said Mr Trump, 70, would be the "healthiest individual ever elected to the presidency".

He said he "picked up" the candidate's own "kind of language" when writing it.

Two weeks before the note was written, Mr Trump tweeted to say he had "instructed my long-time doctor to issue, within two weeks, a full medical report", adding that it would "show perfection".

Mr Trump later highlighted the endorsement from Dr Bornstein, who faced questions about its exaggerated tone.

The doctor, of York's Lenox Hill Hospital, says he may have overstated the case "so that they [the Trump campaign] would be happy".

"I think I picked up his kind of language and then I just interpreted it to my own," he said.

Mr Trump would be the oldest person to be elected US president, were he to win in November. Mrs Clinton is 68.

The health of two candidates has become a focal point in the campaign, with Mr Trump repeatedly alleging that his Democratic rival Hillary Clinton is physically unfit.

Mrs Clinton has hit back at what she says are unfounded allegations, and Mr Trump has faced criticism over the personal nature of the attacks.

Neither candidate has divulged their full medical record. Mrs Clinton released astatement from her doctor, Lisa Bardack, last year.

Dr Bardack said: "She is excellent physical condition and fit to serve as President of the

The doctor, of York's Lenox Hill Hospital, says he may have overstated the case "so that they [the Trump campaign] would be happy".

"I think I picked up his kind of language and then I just interpreted it to my own," he said.

Mr Trump would be the oldest person to be elected US president, were he to win in November. Mrs Clinton is 68.

The health of two candidates has become a focal point in the campaign, with Mr Trump repeatedly alleging that his Democratic rival Hillary Clinton is physically unfit.

Mrs Clinton has hit back at what she says are unfounded allegations, and Mr Trump has faced criticism over the personal nature of the attacks.

Neither candidate has divulged their full medical record. Mrs Clinton released astatement from her doctor, Lisa Bardack, last year.

Dr Bardack said: "She is excellent physical condition and fit to serve as President of the United States."

Source by:http://www.bbc.com/news/election-us-2016-37203285

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UKIP's Nigel Farage to speak at Donald Trump rally

Outgoing UKIP leader Nigel Farage is to address supporters of Donald Trump at a campaign rally in Mississippi later.

He will appear before 15,000 activists in Jackson, although it is unclear whether he will share the stage with the Republican presidential nominee.

Mr Farage told local radio in the state that the similarities between Brexit and the US election were "uncanny".

Mr Trump, who is trailing his rival Hillary Clinton in the opinion polls, backed the UK's exit from the EU.

In a tweet last week, Mr Trump said: "They will soon be calling me Mr Brexit."

Mr Farage, who attended the Republican convention in Cleveland last month, said he would not "fall into the trap" of personally endorsing Mr Trump in his quest to reach the White House, but added that he would not vote for Mrs Clinton "even if you paid me".

Analysis by Anthony Zurcher, BBC North America reporter

For Donald Trump, the British Brexit vote is a harbinger of a political revolution that will soon crash on to American shores.

The Republican nominee said as much as he stood on his Scottish golf course the day after the UK voted to leave the EU.

"People are angry all over the world," he said. "This will not be the last."

So, although the venue - deeply conservative Mississippi - is a bit unusual during the heat of a presidential campaign, Mr Trump possibly sharing the same stage with the man who spearheaded the Brexit vote should not be too surprising.

Mr Trump, in having Mr Farage recount his "Brexit story" to thousands of supporters on Wednesday night, probably hopes the tale of an upstart victory, despite seemingly long odds, will make his side forget about the opinion polls showing him trailing both nationally and in key battleground states.

During a radio interview on Wednesday, Mr Farage said he would tell Mr Trump's audience that the similarities between Brexit and the US election were "uncanny".

"They all said it couldn't happen," he said. "We were wasting our time. With a well-aimed stone, we hit that big Goliath and knocked it over."

---

Speaking on Super Talk Radio in the US state, Mr Farage said he had been part of a "political revolution" in the UK and there were the makings of a similar movement in the US.

'Fight for change'

He compared the federal government in Washington DC to the European Commission, saying many people felt it had become "its own country", and claimed the Democrat nominee epitomised the status quo.

"I'm going to say to people in this country that the circumstances, the similarities, the parallels, between the people that voted Brexit and the people that could beat Clinton in a few weeks' time here in America are uncanny.

"And if they want things to change, they've got to get up out of their chairs, go out, and fight for it. It can happen."

He suggested it did not matter that the political establishment, including many top Republicans, were shunning Mr Trump's campaign.

"Because there are millions of people out there who never voted for the Bushes, who never voted for the Clintons, who haven't voted for anybody, but who may, if they think in this presidential election they can actually change their lives and their communities, and that's the audience that matters."

Mr Farage, who is credited with securing the referendum on the UK's membership of the EU and helping to pull off the surprise Leave victory, is standing down next month as the party's figurehead after fulfilling his lifelong political ambition, but will remain as a member of the European Parliament.

UKIP donor and strategist Arron Banks, who is travelling with Mr Farage, suggested on social media that he would be having dinner with Mr Trump and was looking forward to the rally.

But Mr Farage's association with Mr Trump has not gone down well with some senior members of UKIP, including its sole MP Douglas Carswell, who tweeted "it's all going a bit South Thanet for the US Republicans" - a reference to Mr Farage's failed attempt to win a seat in the Kent constituency last year.

And Suzanne Evans, the former UKIP policy chief currently suspended by the party, suggested Mr Farage was trending on Twitter "for all the wrong reasons"

Source by:http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-37177938

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Louisiana floods: Obama 'heartbroken' after tour

President Barack Obama has toured the flood-ravaged areas of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, where he vowed to help residents rebuild in the coming months.

"We are heartbroken by the loss of life," he said after his tour.

Mr Obama dismissed criticism that he arrived too late and praised state officials for their initial response.

The president also met the family of Alton Sterling and the families of the Baton Rouge police officers killed last month.

Mr Sterling, a black man, was killed at the hands of a white police officer in Baton Rouge.

His death, along with the police killing of Philando Castile in St Paul, Minnesota, stoked racial tensions and led to protests across the country.

Nearly two weeks later, three officers were shot and killed and three more were injured in a shooting near the Baton Rouge police headquarters. The gunman, Gavin Long, was shot dead at the scene.

Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump, who travelled to Louisiana four days ago, and others have criticised Mr Obama for not cutting short his vacation on Martha's Vineyard to visit the devastated areas.

But Mr Obama hit back after meeting with flood survivors, urging Americans to stay focused on helping the state.

• How bad is Louisiana flooding?

"Let me just remind folks. Sometimes once the flood waters pass, people's attention spans pass. This is not a one-off. This is not a photo-op issue," he said.

Mr Trump fired back on Tuesday, tweeting: "President Obama should have gone to Louisiana days ago, instead of golfing. Too little, too late!"

The deadly floods, which began on 11 August, have killed at least 13 people and have left more than 2,800 people in shelters.

The president declared a major disaster on 14 August, allowing the state to access federal resources to assist local officials with the clean-up.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has already dispensed $127m (£96m) in assistance, according to the president.

"Sometimes when these kinds of things happen, it can seem like too much to bear," Mr Obama added.

"But what I want the people of Louisiana to know is you're not alone, even after the TV cameras leave."

The floods have been described as the worst natural disaster to hit the US since Hurricane Sandy in 2012.

Source by:http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-37171151

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Turkey Kurdish wedding bomber 'may not have been child'

Turkey's Prime Minister Binali Yildirim says authorities do not know if a suicide bomber who attacked a Kurdish wedding killing 54 people was a child.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said after Saturday's attack in Gazantiep that the bomber was 12-14 years old.

Turkey has linked the bomber to so-called Islamic State (IS), but Mr Yildirim said "a clue has not yet been found concerning the perpetrator".

His statement came as Turkey's military targeted IS militants in Syria.

Television reports said howitzers had been used against IS near the border town of Jarablus.

Turkish artillery had also hit US-backed Syrian Kurdish YPG positions north of Manbij in Syria, broadcaster NTV said.

A coalition including YPG has been pushing IS out of Syrian towns, including Manbij, recently.

Turkey views the YPG as an extension of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), a Turkish-Kurdish rebel group fighting for autonomy since the 1980s.

• In pictures: Funerals for victims
• How dangerous is the instability in Turkey?
• Turkey v Syria's Kurds v Islamic State
• Islamic State: the full story

'Guess'

Speaking to reporters after a cabinet meeting on Monday, Mr Yildirim said the earlier statement identifying the attacker as a child was a "guess" based on witness accounts.

Most of the victims were children, media reports say.

Twenty-nine victims of the attack, which took place on Sunday, were under the age of 18, reports said, with one official saying 22 were under the age of 14.

Thirteen of those killed were women, Turkish media said. Sixty-six people are still in hospital, 14 of them in a serious condition, Dogan news agency reported.

One woman lost four children in the attack, the Haberturk newspaper reported. Emine Arhan told the title "if it wasn't for my only surviving child, I would have killed myself".

Another victim was a nine-year-old girl who had stayed on at the party to see the bride after her parents had left, according to the Vatan newspaper.

A disproportionately large number of women and children were killed in the attack because it targeted henna night, a part of the celebration attended mainly by women and children, says BBC Monitoring's Turkey analyst Pinar Sevinclidir.

Hurriyet newspaper said the type of bomb, which contained scraps of metal, was similar to those used in previous attacks on pro-Kurdish gatherings.

Prosecutors said a search was also under way for two people believed to have accompanied the suspected attacker to the wedding party but who left before the blast.

Gaziantep, near the Syrian border, is known to contain several IS cells.

In a defiant speech on Monday, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said IS should be "completely cleansed" from the border area with Turkey.

He also announced that Turkey was recalling its ambassador to Vienna because of a demonstration in the Austrian capital by groups associated with the PKK.

Mr Cavusoglu accused Austria of "supporting a terrorist organisation which is attacking Turkey", according to Austrian paper Der Standard.

Ties between the two countries have been fraught over the past weeks, with Vienna warning that Turkey is heading towards authoritarian rule, and calling for its membership talks with the European Union to be ended.

source by:http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-37158615

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