26 August 2015

70th annual tomato battle leaves Spanish town red

Crowds of people throw tomatoes at each other during the annual "tomatina" tomato fiesta, in the village of Bunol, 50 kilometers outside Valencia, Spain, Wednesday, Aug. 26, 2015. The streets of an eastern Spanish town are awash with red pulp as thousands of people pelt each other with tomatoes in the annual "Tomatina" battle that has become a major tourist attraction. At the annual fiesta in Bunol on Wednesday, trucks dumped 150 tons of ripe tomatoes for some 22,000 participants, many from abroad to throw during the hour-long morning festivities.
More than 20,000 people have pelted each other in the street with tomatoes in this year's "Tomatina" as the Spanish event celebrates its 70th birthday.

23 August 2015

Sunday marks 49 years since Lunar Orbiter 1 photo

First picture taken from the moon of Earth.
The first ever photo of Earth taken from another world was snapped on Aug. 23, 1966. The photo was taken from the Lunar Orbiter One, which captured the image from near the surface of the moon 13 days after it was launched from Cape Canaveral, Fla.

22 August 2015

France: 3 Americans subdue gunman on high-speed train

A Thalys train of French national railway operator, SNCF, stands at the main train station in Arras, northern France, after a gunman opened fire injuring three people, Friday, Aug. 21, 2015. A spokesman for France's interior ministry says three people were wounded in a shooting on a high-speed train traveling from Amsterdam to Paris Friday. Speaking on French television BFM, Pierre-Henri Brandet says a suspect is in custody and the train has been evacuated in Arras, 115 miles (185 kilometers) north of Paris, where the train stopped after the attack.
A gunman opened fire on a high-speed train traveling from Amsterdam to Paris on Friday, wounding two people before three American passengers subdued him, according to officials and one of the Americans involved.
French Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve, speaking in Arras in northern France where the suspect was detained, said one of the American passengers was hospitalized with serious wounds.

20 August 2015

Men claim to find Nazi train loaded with treasure in Poland

This file photo from March.2012, shows a part of a subterranean system built by Nazi Germany in what is today Gluszyca-Osowka, Poland. According to Polish lore, a Nazi train loaded with gold, and weapons vanished into a mountain at the end of World War II, as the Germans fled the Soviet advance. Now two men claim they know the location of the mystery train and are demanding 10 percent of its value in exchange for revealing its location.
According to Polish lore, a Nazi train loaded with gold, artworks and weapons vanished into a mountain at the end of World War II, as the Germans fled the Soviet advance. Now two men claim they know the location of the mystery train and are demanding 10 percent of its value in exchange for revealing its location.

19 August 2015

NY governor: Topless women in Times Square breaking the law

In this photo taken on Tuesday, July 28, 2015, a tourist poses for a photo with two women clad in thongs and body paint in Times Square, in New York. New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio is promising to take action against women who pose nearly naked for photos in Times Square in exchange for cash.
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo says women posing nearly naked for photos in Times Square are breaking the law and undermining efforts to keep the tourist area family friendly.

AFTER ELECTION, SRI LANKA PM INVITES RIVALS TO WORK TOGETHER

Sri Lanka’s prime minister Ranil Wickremesinghe speaks as his wife Maithree watches during a media interaction at his official residence in Colombo, Sri Lanka, Wednesday, Aug. 19, 2015. Wickremesinghe defeated the country’s former strongman Mahinda Rajapaksa in parliamentary elections, according to results released Tuesday, Aug. 18, 2015, blocking a key step of his bid to return to power eight months after he lost the presidency.
Sri Lanka's prime minister on Wednesday invited all political parties in the island nation to work together after his party won the most seats in parliamentary elections and thwarted a political comeback bid by the country's former strongman president.

Officials from Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe's United National Party were working to gain seven more seats to give it an outright majority, and enable Wickremesinghe to be sworn in for a second term as prime minister, a position second to president in Sri Lanka.

18 August 2015

EX-STRONGMAN LEADS EARLY ELECTION RESULTS IN SRI LANKA

Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremasinghe, center, gestures outside a polling station after casting his vote in Colombo, Sri Lanka, Monday, Aug. 17, 2015. Sri Lankans voted in Parliamentary elections on Monday that will decide the political future of a former strongman leader seeking a comeback eight months after being unseated in a shocking election defeat.
Sri Lanka's former strongman leader narrowly leads in early parliamentary elections results Tuesday as he awaits a verdict on his come-back bid eight months after being unseated in a shocking election loss.

Mahinda Rajapaksa's United People's Freedom Alliance has won 21 of the 225 seats in results released so far from Monday's vote, while his closest rival sitting Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe's United National Party has won 20.

17 August 2015

Bomb blast rocks Bangkok intersection; 15 reported dead

Motorcycles are strewn about after an explosion in Bangkok, Monday, Aug. 17, 2015. A large explosion rocked a central Bangkok intersection during the evening rush hour, killing a number of people and injuring others, police said.
A bomb exploded at a popular shrine near a key political protest site in central Bangkok on Monday evening, the government said, reportedly killing more than a dozen people and injuring many others.

Indian airline makes huge order for 250 Airbus jets

This April 16, 2015 file photo shows an India's budget airline IndiGo aircraft approaching for landing at the Indira Gandhi International (IGI) airport in New Delhi, India. Indian budget airline IndiGo finalized an exceptionally large order for 250 single-aisle Airbus A320neo jets on Monday, Aug. 17, 2015 to keep up with rapid growth in the country's air travel.
Indian budget airline IndiGo finalized an exceptionally large order for 250 single-aisle Airbus A320neo jets on Monday to keep up with rapid growth in the country's air travel.
IndiGo, India's largest domestic airline, had signed a preliminary order last year and firmed it up Monday, Airbus said in a statement. The manufacturer based in Toulouse, France, called it the biggest order by number of jets that it had ever received.

16 August 2015

Indian PM kicks off UAE visit with mosque tour

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, middle, takes a selfie next to Sheikh Hamdan bin Mubarak Al Nahyan, UAE Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research, left, as they tour the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque during the first day of his two-day visit to the UAE, in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, Sunday, Aug. 16, 2015. The UAE is home to over two million Indian expatriates and this is the first visit by an Indian premier in over three decades.
India's prime minister began a two-day tour of the United Arab Emirates with a visit to its largest mosque on Sunday in a gesture of outreach to Muslims ahead of a planned speech to tens of thousands of Indian expatriates and bilateral meetings aimed at improving already strong trade links.

15 August 2015

INDIA'S MODI TOUTS GOVERNMENT ACHIEVEMENTS IN ANNUAL SPEECH

A panoramic view from the Minarets of Red Fort, while the Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi addressing the Nation from ramparts of the fort, on the occasion of 69th Independence Day, in Delhi on August 15, 2015.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi touted his government's poverty alleviation schemes in his Independence Day speech, but the address was thin on plans for the future and made no mention of the setbacks to his economic reform agenda.

Modi won a resounding election victory in May last year largely because of his promises to revive India's slacking economy and put an end to a slew of corruption scandals that the ruling Congress party was mired in.

But achieving his ambitious reform agenda has proved hard, with both his land and tax reform proposals stalled by the opposition.

Saturday's annual speech marks the anniversary of the day India gained its freedom from British colonial rule in 1947. 

(AP)

14 August 2015

Firefighter rescued from blast zone in China's Tianjin port

In this photo taken Thursday, Aug. 13, 2015, a man walks past the charred remains of new cars at a parking lot near the site of an explosion at a warehouse in northeastern China's Tianjin municipality. Rescuers have pulled a survivor from an industrial zone about 32 hours after it was devastated by huge blasts in China’s Tianjin port. Meanwhile, authorities are moving gingerly forward in dealing with a fire still smoldering amid potentially dangerous chemicals.
Rescuers pulled out a firefighter who was trapped for 32 hours after responding to a fire and huge explosions in the Chinese port city of Tianjin as authorities moved forward gingerly Friday in dealing with a fire still smoldering amid potentially dangerous chemicals.
A rapid succession of explosions late Wednesday — one equal to 21 tons of TNT — killed at least 56 people, injured more than 720 and left several firefighters missing. They were sparked by a fire at what authorities said were shipping containers containing hazardous material. They struck a mostly nonresidential warehouse district late at night — otherwise the death toll could have been much higher.

13 August 2015

At least 44 dead as huge warehouse blasts hit Chinese port

In this photo released by China's Xinhua News Agency, smoke rise from the site of explosions from a nearby building in the Binhai New Area in northeastern China's Tianjin municipality, Thursday, Aug. 13, 2015. Huge explosions in the warehouse district sent up massive fireballs that turned the night sky into day in the Chinese port city of Tianjin, officials and witnesses said Thursday.
Huge explosions in a warehouse district sent up massive fireballs that turned the night sky into day, killing at least 44 people and injuring hundreds in the Chinese port city of Tianjin, officials and witnesses said Thursday.
Twelve of the dead were from among the more than 1,000 firefighters sent to fight the blaze set off by the explosions shortly before midnight, the Tianjin municipal government said. It said 520 people were being treated in hospitals, 66 of them with serious injuries. It gave no figure for the missing.

12 August 2015

Wildlife groups say 41 tigers have died in India this year

In this Wednesday, June 10, 2015 file photo, a Royal Bengal tiger drags a wild boar after killing it at the Ranthambhore national park in Sawai Madhopur, Rajasthan, India. Conservationists say at least 41 tigers have died in the first seven months of this year despite awareness campaigns across India to save the big cats.
Six months after India boasted that its tiger population was growing fast, conservationists on Wednesday said 41 big cats had already died this year and worried that the country was not doing enough to save them.

11 August 2015

Bollywood hunks and heroes among the world's top paid actors

In this Friday, Oct. 11, 2013 file photo, Bollywood actor Akshay Kumar shows his rings during a promotional event during a promotional event of his movie "Boss" in Hyderabad, India. Bollywood films, with their colorful sets and hyper-coordinated song-and-dance numbers, have catapulted five Indians into the ranks of world’s highest paid male actors. Three of those actors_ Salman Khan, Amitabh Bachchan and Akshay Kumar _ were in the top 10, outranking Hollywood A-listers such as Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson and Leonardo DiCaprio.
Bollywood films, with their colorful sets and hyper-coordinated song-and-dance numbers, have catapulted five Indians into the ranks of the world's highest paid male actors.

Three of those actors— Salman Khan, Amitabh Bachchan and Akshay Kumar — were in the top 10, outranking Hollywood A-listers such as Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson and Leonardo DiCaprio.

10 August 2015

Stampede at Indian temple leaves 10 dead, dozens hurt

One of the Hindu pilgrims injured in a stampede during a Hindu religious festival at a temple in Deoghar town is brought for treatment at a hospital in Ranchi, Jharkhand state, India, Monday, Aug.10, 2015. Thousands of people tried to force their way into the temple when its gates opened at daybreak, police said.
A stampede at a temple during a Hindu religious festival left 10 pilgrims dead and dozens injured early Monday in eastern India, police said.

Thousands of people tried to force their way into the temple when its gates opened at daybreak in Deoghar, a town in Jharkhand state, police officer Subodh Kumar said.

8 August 2015

5 WOMEN ACCUSED OF BEING WITCHES BEATEN TO DEATH IN INDIA

The bodies of women, who have been accused of practicing witchcraft, are placed in a truck in Kinjia village in Jharkhand state, India, Saturday, Aug. 8, 2015. Dozens of villagers in eastern India beat to death five women Saturday, accusing them of practicing witchcraft and blaming them for a series of misfortunes in the village, police said.
Dozens of villagers in eastern India beat to death five women Saturday, accusing them of practicing witchcraft and blaming them for a series of misfortunes in the village, police said.

Residents of Kinjia village in Jharkhand state dragged the women out of their homes and beat them with sticks and iron rods, said Arun Kumar Singh, a deputy inspector-general of police in Ranchi, Jharkhand's capital.

7 August 2015

Egypt unveils Suez Canal extension with pomp-filled ceremony

A supporter of Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi carries his poster on his bike as he celebrates with others for Thursday's opening of the new extension of the Suez Canal, riding on the Qasr El Nile Bridge in Cairo, Egypt, Wednesday, Aug. 5, 2015. Egypt will unveil a major extension of the Suez Canal on Thursday, a mega-project that has emerged as a cornerstone of el-Sissi's efforts to restore national pride and revive the economy after years of unrest.
In a defining moment of his young presidency, Egypt's Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi presided Thursday over the unveiling of a major extension of the Suez Canal that he hailed as a historic feat needed to revive the country's ailing economy after years of unrest.
Upbeat and clearly relishing the pomp-filled occasion, el-Sissi nevertheless conceded that the $8.5 billion project will not bring a quick economic windfall to a country roiled by violence and unrest since 2011. Its completion, he said, was but the first of a 1,000-step journey Egyptians must take toward economic recovery.

5 August 2015

At least 24 killed, 300 survive after trains derail in India

In this image made from video, people gather by the twisted track alongside two derailed trains in Harda in Madhya Pradesh state, India, Wednesday, Aug. 5, 2015. Two passenger trains derailed over a bridge in central India while crossing a track that was flooded by heavy monsoon rains, killing at a number of people, officials said Wednesday.
Two passenger trains jumped off damaged tracks on a bridge near a rain-swollen river in central India, killing at least 24 people as two coaches hurled through mud and rested on one side at an embankment, officials said Wednesday.

Indian film star Priyanka Chopra joins US TV's 'golden age'

Priyanka Chopra speaks during the "Quantico" panel at the Disney/ABC Summer TCA Tour at the Beverly Hilton Hotel on Tuesday, Aug. 4, 2015 in Beverly Hills, Calif.
Indian film star Priyanka Chopra says she was eager to add a U.S. TV series to her resume.

"It's like the golden age of television right now and I wanted to be part of that ... revolution," Chopra said of her role as a FBI recruit in ABC's new drama "Quantico." It debuts Sept. 27.
But she told the network that she didn't want to be cast for the color of her skin, what she looks like or where she's from, Chopra told a TV critics' meeting Tuesday. The goal was a worthy project that "gave me the respect of being an actor."