Thailand’s King Bhumibol Adulyadej, the world’s longest-reigning monarch, has died at age of 88, casting uncertainty over the Southeast Asian state’s political future. “His Majesty has passed away at Siriraj Hospital peacefully,” the Royal Household Bureau said in a statement on Thursday, adding that he died at 15:52 local time.

The palace did not reveal the reason for the king’s death, but it had warned days ago that his health was “not stable.” Thailand’s parliament is to hold a special session at 21:00 local time to discuss the new development.

The monarch’s demise has plunged the political future of Thailand in doubt as his presumed successor, Crown Prince Maha Vajiralongkorn, 63, lacks the widespread popularity his father enjoyed during his 77-year reign.

The transition of power following the king’s death could become an important juncture in a country ruled by a military junta and long divided by rival political parties.

The former general, Prayuth Chan-ocha, has been at the helm of the county since the last democratic government of Yingluck Shinawatra was toppled after years of political turmoil in a 2014 coup d’etat.

The king, who essentially had a symbolic role, had been in poor health for some time, and spent most of the past six years in Bangkok’s Siriraj hospital.

The king had been receiving treatment for a respiratory infection, a buildup of fluid surrounding the brain and a swollen lung in the past few months.

King Bhumibol was re-admitted in Siriraj hospital in May 2015 and was last seen in public in January, when he spent several hours visiting his Bangkok palace.

The majority of the country’s 68 million population viewed the monarch as a traditional pillar of Thailand’s unity as well as stability in rapidly-changing times.

King Bhumibol ascended to the throne on June 9, 1946, and his reign witnessed 10 military coups, the most recent in May 2014 led by Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon was quick to offer condolences to Thailand on the king’s passing, expressing hope that the country would honor his legacy of commitment to universal values and respect for human rights.

Presstv

US presidential nominee Donald Trump has again come under pressure as more women claim to have been sexually abused by the billionaire businessman from New York. The allegations were reported on Wednesday by The New York Times,The Palm Beach Post and Yahoo News. This comes after the release of a 2005 tape in which Trump is heard making vulgar comments about women and having a conversation about trying to have sex with a married woman.

One woman told the Times she was seated next to the Republican nominee during a flight to New York some three decades ago, and Trump started groping her suddenly.    “He was like an octopus,” Jessica Leeds, now 74, told the paper. “His hands were everywhere. It was an assault.” Another woman, Rachel Crooks, also told the Times that he kissed her without her permission. “I was so upset that he thought I was so insignificant that he could do that,” she said.

The Trump campaign has denied many of the allegations made against him, and called the Times article “a completely false, coordinated character assassination.” “It is absurd to think that one of the most recognizable business leaders on the planet with a strong record of empowering women in his companies would do the things alleged in this story, and for this to only become public decades later in the final month of a campaign for president should say it all,” Trump spokesman Jason Miller said in a statement.

“To reach back decades in an attempt to smear Mr. Trump trivializes sexual assault, and it sets a new low for where the media is willing to go in its efforts to determine this election,” the statement added. “None of this ever took place,” Trump told the Times on Tuesday night, and threatened to sue the publication if the paper went ahead to run the story. “You are a disgusting human being,” he told the reporter, who contacted him before publishing the story. “I don’t do it. I don’t do it,” he said.

And in a letter to New York Times editor Dean Baquet on Wednesday night, Trump’s lawyer said the article is an attempt to damage Trump’s presidential campaign. “Your article is reckless, defamatory and constitutes libel per se. It is apparent from, among other things, the timing of the article, that it is nothing more than a politically-motivated effort to defeat Mr. Trump’s candidacy,” Marc E. Kasowitz wrote.

After The Washington Post released a recording last week that shows Trump making vulgar remarks about women, Republican officials, including governors, senators and congressmen across the US have disavowed the billionaire. Trump’s apology for the remarks also failed to quell the unprecedented controversy over his comments, prompting growing demands by Republicans for him to quit the race.

Even Trump’s vice presidential candidate Mike Pence refused to defend the billionaire politician on Saturday, saying that he was “offended” by the obscene comments. On Monday, however, Pence reiterated his support for Trump, saying he expressed remorse for his controversial comments.

Presstv

Two police officers have been killed and another one injured in an exchange of gunfire in Palm Springs, California, authorities say.

Officers Jose Gilbert Vega, 63, and Lesley Zerebny, 27, were fatally shot on Saturday while responding to a call about a domestic disturbance.

Vega, a 35-year veteran and father of eight, was due to retire in December, and Zerebny was the mother of a 4-month-old.

Another officer, whose identity was not known, was injured and hospitalized in stabilized condition. The incident began after the officers arrived at the scene upon a call by a woman who complained about her adult son, the suspected gunman.

The father of the suspect had told a neighbor that his son had mental issues and wanted to shoot the officers. “He said, ‘Help. I need help. My son is in the house, and he’s crazy. He has a gun. He’s ready to shoot all the police,’” said Frances Serrano, who lives directly across from the place where the shooting happened.

The father “was very nervous,” Serrano said. “He was afraid of his son.” Chief Bryan Reyes said at a press conference that the officers tried to talk to the suspect first before the shooting took place. “The male refused to open the door and threatened to shoot the officers through the closed doors,” Reyes said.

Almost 10 minutes after they first responded, the two officers called for emergency reinforcement, saying that shots had been fired.

“It was a simple family disturbance and (the gunman) elected to open fire,” Reyes said.

Lee Weigel, the city’s former police chief and a onetime city councilman, said, “This is the worst incident in the history of Palm Springs in terms of officer shootings.”

It was not clear whether the gunman was still inside the house or had escaped, police said, noting that the area was still an active scene and under investigation.

The incident was the latest in a string of fatal shootings of law enforcement officers across the country amid an outcry about the deaths of unarmed African Americans at the hands of police.

Presstv

Media reports say three Turkish diplomats have applied for asylum in Germany in the wake of Ankara’s crackdown on individuals suspected of involvement in the failed coup of July 15. Germany’s Sueddeutsche Zeitung daily newspaper and public broadcasters NDR and WDR quoted government sources as saying that a military attaché was among the diplomats.

Following the coup attempt, Ankara recalled an unspecified number of diplomatic passports. Representatives of the German Interior Ministry told lawmakers at the lower house of parliament that three Turkish diplomats in Germany had submitted asylum applications, the media outlets said.

However, the daily quoted government sources as saying that the number of Turkish diplomats seeking asylum may have increased, adding that the asylum applications were still undecided.

The diplomats are suspected of having links to Fethullah Gulen, a US-based cleric whom Turkey accuses of orchestrating the abortive coup. Gulen has condemned the coup attempt and denied any involvement.

Since the coup was declared over on July 16, Turkey began its harsh crackdown on those believed to have played a role in the failed coup. Reports say about 100,000 people have been discharged or suspended from their jobs. Nearly 32,000 people were also jailed pending trial during the crackdown.

Relations between Ankara and Berlin have strained since the German parliament passed a resolution in June, recognizing the Armenian “genocide” at the hands of Ottoman Turks during World War I.

The bilateral relations between the two countries further strained after the post-coup crackdown as Berlin expressed its concern over the measures taken by Ankara in response to the situation. Germany, however, is dependent on Ankara in curbing the influx of refugees into Europe.

The European Union and Turkey signed a deal in March, under which Turkey committed to taking back all the asylum seekers and refugees that used the Aegean Sea to illegally reach Greece.

Presstv

US Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump says many of his past remarks against women were made “for the purpose of entertainment.” The billionaire businessman from New York has been under attack over his disparaging comments on immigrants, Muslims, and women. On Wednesday, he was asked in an interview if he could understand why parents of young girls are not comfortable about his history of making crude remarks.

“A lot of that was done for the purpose of entertainment, there’s nobody that has more respect for women than I do,” Trump said in response. “Are you trying to tone it down now?” the host asked the billionaire politician. “It’s not a question of trying, it’s very easy,” Trump said.

In recent weeks, Trump’s Democratic rival, Hillary Clinton, has increased her attacks on the real estate tycoon because of his behavior toward women. During the first presidential debate last week, Clinton slammed Trump for his remarks about a former Miss Universe, whom he had ridiculed for gaining weight in 1996.

Trump’s campaign has been marred by his insulting remarks against minorities in the US. His comments include a call to ban all Muslims from coming to America as well as forced deportation of Mexican migrants by building a long wall along the US-Mexico border.

He has also sought for a database to track Muslims across the United States and said that the US would have “absolutely no choice” but to close down mosques.

Clinton leads; Trump facing must-win debate

Meanwhile, Clinton has emerged from the first presidential debate with a good lead over Trump in the race for the White House. According to the results of the Fairleigh Dickinson University survey released Wednesday, the former secretary of state has 50 points and the New York billionaire 40 percent among likely voters.

The poll comes days after the first presidential debate between the two candidates on September 26, which became the most-watched presidential face-off in the history of US elections.

During the fiery face-off, Clinton accused Trump of racism, sexism and tax avoidance, putting him on the defensive for much of the 90-minute debate at Hofstra University in Hempstead, New York.

Many observers now say Trump must win at the second presidential debate on Sunday if he is to regain the momentum in the race.

Presstv

Antonio Guterres will be the next Secretary-General of the United Nations, following a vote by the Security Council to choose the organisation’s new leader.

Mr Guterres, 66, former prime minister of Portugal and head of the UN refugee agency, will take over from Ban Ki-moon in January. Ban has led the UN for the past 10 years. The decision was made in a straw poll, held in New York on Wednesday morning.

Mr Guterres’s candidacy was not vetoed by any of the permanent five members of the Security Council. It will now be formally approved by the General Assembly. The Portuguese politician said he was “honoured and happy.”

Culled from The Telegraph

A report says the US Internet giant Yahoo scanned hundreds of millions of users’ emails in 2015 at the request of US intelligence agencies. According to the report published by Reuters on Tuesday, the company secretly built a custom software program last year to search all users’ incoming emails for specific information requested by US intelligence officials.

Several former employees of the Internet company said the scanning of Yahoo Mail accounts was at the behest of the National Security Agency (NSA) or the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). “The request to search Yahoo Mail accounts came in the form of a classified edict sent to the company’s legal team,” they noted. The company did not reject the report and without providing any further details, said, “Yahoo is a law abiding company, and complies with the laws of the United States.”

Some experts said the move represents the first case in which a US Internet company agrees to a spy agency’s demand to search all arriving messages. “It is deeply disappointing that Yahoo declined to challenge this sweeping surveillance order, because customers are counting on technology companies to stand up to novel spying demands in court,” Patrick Toomey, an attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union, said in a statement.

In a separate incident last month, Yahoo said “state-sponsored” hackers had gained access to 500 million customer accounts in 2014. On several occasions, Internet companies have complained that the US government tried to force them to give away their users’ information. Yahoo reported earlier this year that some 200 million accounts may have been accessed and that hacked data was being offered for sale online.

The users of Yahoo’s online services were urged to review accounts for suspicious activity. They were also asked to change passwords. The NSA has previously come under fire for spying on Americans’ phone calls and Internet communications.  Countless leaks by American whistleblower Edward Snowden have detailed the highly sophisticated tools used by the NSA to collect data in bulk from unsuspecting people, including American citizens.

Presstv

The Prime Minister and Head of Government, Philemon Yang has received the visiting British Foreign and Commonwealth Office Director for Africa, Neil Wigan.

Philemon Yang and his British guest reviewed relations between Cameroon and the Commonwealth. Neil Wigan reportedly reassured Cameroon of Britain’s support to the country, in spite of her exit from the European Union.

The British diplomat who is on a working visit to Cameroon is expected to launch the expansion of the business coalition against corruption. Neil Wigan had served as British ambassador to the Democratic Republic of Congo and Somalia.

CRTV

Whistle-blowing website WikiLeaks has canceled a major announcement about US Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton, citing “security concerns.”

Julian Assange, the website’s founder who has long taken refuge at the Ecuadorian Embassy in London, was supposed to make the announcement from the embassy’s balcony on Tuesday.

However, NBC News reporter James Rodriguez said in a tweet on Sunday night that the event has been called off. “Due to security concerns at the Ecuadorian Embassy, Julian Assange’s balcony announcement on Tuesday has been canceled, per @wikiLeaks,” he said.

Assange’s group has leaked nearly 20,000 emails from the Democratic National Committee (DNC) over the last months, uncovering an insider effort within the Democratic Party to rig the primary campaign against Clinton’s rival, Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders.

Culled from Presstv

Syrian government forces, backed by Russian aerial cover, have advanced further in the northwestern city of Aleppo, tightening the noose around militants. Syrian army troops managed on Sunday to make fresh gains in the northern parts of the city and reached the outskirts of the militant-held district of Heluk after Russian warplanes pounded the militant positions overnight.

If the government troops manage to recapture Heluk and two other districts of Bustan al-Basha and Sakhur, which are militant-controlled districts in the city’s north, there will remain a small militant-held section located in the city’s southeast.

Army soldiers have already managed to fully clear Handarat refugee camp of militants and recapture nearby Kindi Hospital, which is located a few kilometers north of the city. By recapturing Handarat, Syrian troops pushed terrorists further away from Castello Road, a main artery leading to the militant-held parts of the city.

Aleppo has been divided between government forces in the west and the militants in the east since 2012. In an attempt to free the trapped people of the city, the Syrian army, backed by Russian fighter jets, began a major offensive on September 22 to end the militants’ reign of terror in the east.

According to a report by the official Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA), citing an unnamed military source, army troops on Sunday also managed to destroy a number of motorcycles and a car belonging to terrorists near Mahatta neighborhood in the provincial capital, Dara’a. Clashes were also reported in the town of Yadouda in the countryside of Dara’a.

Syria gives safe passage to militants in Aleppo

In another development, the Syrian army released a statement on Sunday through the country’s state media telling militants to leave the eastern parts of the city, adding that it would guarantee them safe passage and necessary aid.

“The army high command calls all armed fighters in the eastern neighborhood of Aleppo to leave these neighborhoods and let civilian residents live their normal lives,” the statement carried by state news agency SANA said.

The Syrian army added, “The Russian and Syrian military leaderships will guarantee safe passage for the fighters and will give them aid as necessary.” A ceasefire, brokered by the US and Russia in Syria, expired on September 19 after being in place for only a week.

Damascus, however, refused to extend it after US-led airstrikes killed over 80 of its soldiers and wounded some 100 others at a military base in the eastern province of Dayr al-Zawr in violation of the truce.

Russia has criticized the US for not doing enough to rein in militants in Syria to protect the truce, saying continued violations of the ceasefire by militants have made it “senseless” for the Syrian government to stick to the agreement.

The foreign-sponsored conflict in Syria, which started in March 2011, has claimed the lives of more than 400,000 people, according to a UN estimate.

Presstv