Icetruck

Bin Laden raid: Son Hamza's wedding video in CIA file release

Osama Bin Laden's personal diary, video of his son Hamza's wedding and documentaries about himself were among files found on the al-Qaeda leader's computer, the CIA has revealed.

Nearly half a million of the files have been released, the fourth such tranche.

Bin Laden's computer was taken during the 2011 US raid in the Pakistani town of Abbottabad in which he died.

Some contents are being withheld over security or because they are corrupted or pornographic, the CIA said.

CIA director Mike Pompeo said the release included 18,000 documents, 79,000 audio files and images and more than 10,000 videos which shed light on the "plans and workings of this terrorist organisation".

What do we learn about Bin Laden's son Hamza?

The videos include a clip from the wedding of his son Hamza – thought to be his favourite son. Hamza has been mooted as a future al-Qaeda leader. Analysis of objects shown in the video suggest it was filmed in Iran. Previously only childhood videos of Hamza had been publicly seen.

Bin Laden himself is not seen in the video but one of the wedding attendees says that the "father of the groom, the prince of the mujahideen" is joyous at his son's marriage and his joy will "spread to all the mujahideen", AP said.

Other senior al-Qaeda figures can also be seen in the footage, according to analysts from the Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD) who have been studying the newly released files. The militants include Mohammed Islambouli, the brother of the man who killed Egyptian leader Anwar Sadat in 1981, the FDD says.

In recent years al-Qaeda has released audio messages from Hamza Bin Laden threatening the US, calling for the Saudi government to be overthrown and encouraging jihadist action in Syria.

An image of him as a boy was superimposed onto a picture of the New York World Trade Center on the recent anniversary of the 9/11 attacks.

What was in Bin Laden's video collection?

The al-Qaeda leader had a series of animated films on his hard drive including Antz, Cars, Chicken Little and The Three Musketeers.

There were also several YouTube videos, including a viral clip from the UK called "Charlie bit my finger" and videos about crocheting, including one entitled "How to crochet a flower". The role-playing computer game Final Fantasy VII was also on the computer.

Bin Laden also had copies of three documentaries about him, including one called Where in the World is Osama bin Laden, as well as National Geographic documentaries including Kung Fu Killers, Inside the Green Berets and World's Worst Venom, AP reported.

The al-Qaeda leader lived in the walled compound with several members of his family. Three other men – one of Bin Laden's sons and two couriers – and a woman were also killed in the raid.

What do the other documents show?

The 228 pages of Bin Laden's handwritten notes cover an array of topics, including the 2011 Arab uprisings, which Bin Laden did not see coming, the FDD says.

The documents also show that Bin Laden was still in charge of al-Qaeda up until his death and was in regular communication with subordinates around the world.

He spent time trying to understand US strategy in Afghanistan and Iraq and had parts of the investigative journalist Bob Woodward's book Obama's Wars translated for him.

Another document written by a senior militant examines al-Qaeda's relationship with Iran, according to the FDD analysts, saying that despite disagreements their "interests intersect", particularly because they are both "enemies of America".

Last year the US state department said Iran had since at least 2009 enabled al-Qaeda to move funds and fighters through the country to South Asia and Syria.

The CIA said the released documents also gave an insight into ideological differences between Bin Laden's al-Qaeda and the more recently formed so-called Islamic State (IS) group, as well as disagreements within al-Qaeda itself over tactics.

Previous releases of Bin Laden documents:

• Bin Laden 2015 files: Seven things we learned
• What was on Bin Laden's bookshelf?
• What was in Osama Bin Laden's tape collection?
• The al-Qaeda job application form

Source – bbc.com

By John-Paul Ford Rojas, Business Reporter

UK-based insurer RSA has seen its profits take a hit after it put aside an initial £50m to cover the cost of hurricane damage in the US and the Caribbean.

The group's chief executive Stephen Hester said its performance meant profits for the year to date grew but "by less than we had targeted".

Hurricanes Harvey, Irma and Maria are estimated to have caused global insured losses totalling $100bn.

RSA, best known in the UK for its More Than brand, said weather losses in the third quarter for its international insurance included a £50m provision against US and Caribbean events.

It added: "Claims notifications for these events are still developing, and we expect this provision to increase somewhat."

RSA said it could suffer further losses totalling around £20m in the fourth quarter before reinsurance cover – a backstop for insurance companies – kicks in.

Mr Hester said it was not expecting "material losses" from wildfires in California or earthquakes in Mexico. Losses from Storm Ophelia, which hit Ireland last month, would be less than £5m, he added.

Shares were 1.6% lower by the close of trading.

Separately, London-based speciality insurance group Lancashire Holdings reported a third quarter pre-tax loss of $136m after a $165m hit from the hurricanes and Mexico's earthquakes.

It said the period had seen "an extraordinary level of loss activity".

Meanwhile reinsurer Swiss Re – one of the large companies that provides a backstop for insurance companies in the event of disasters – reported a nine-month net loss of $468m.

That came after its disclosure last month that it was facing a $3.6bn hit from the series of catastrophes in the third quarter.

More business news

• Previous article Amazon might be preparing to accept Bitcoin
• Next article FCA launches probe into scandal-hit Telit

Source – News.sky.com

By John-Paul Ford Rojas, Business Reporter

UK-based insurer RSA saw its profits blown off course after it put aside an initial £50m to cover the cost of hurricane damage in the US and the Caribbean.

The group's chief executive Stephen Hester said its performance meant profits for the year to date grew but "by less than we had targeted".

Hurricanes Harvey, Irma and Maria are estimated to have caused global insured losses totalling $100bn.

RSA, best known in the UK for its More Than brand, said weather losses in the third quarter for its international insurance included a £50m provision against US and Caribbean events.

It added: "Claims notifications for these events are still developing, and we expect this provision to increase somewhat."

RSA said it could suffer further losses totalling around £20m in the fourth quarter before reinsurance cover – a backstop for insurance companies – kicks in.

Mr Hester said it was not expecting "material losses" from wildfires in California or earthquakes in Mexico. Losses from Storm Ophelia, which hit Ireland last month, would be less than £5m, he added.

Shares were 1.5% lower in morning trading.

Separately, London-based speciality insurance group Lancashire Holdings reported a third quarter pre-tax loss of $136m after a $165m hit from the hurricanes and Mexico's earthquakes.

It said the period had seen "an extraordinary level of loss activity".

Meanwhile reinsurer Swiss Re – one of the large companies that provides a backstop for insurance companies in the event of disasters – reported a nine-month net loss of $468m.

That came after its disclosure last month that it was facing a $3.6bn hit from the series of catastrophes in the third quarter.

More stories

• Previous article Shell sees profits boost as oil price climbs
• Next article FCA launches probe into scandal-hit Telit

Source – News.sky.com

Taylor Swift to perform new song during 'Scandal'

WATCH Taylor Swift to perform new song during 'Scandal'

Look out Olivia Pope, Taylor Swift is coming to rock "Scandal."

Swift, 27, will perform a new song from her upcoming album in a special performance that will air during "Scandal" on ABC.

Taylor Swift's new music video '…Ready for It?' is an ode to new boyfriend Joe Alwyn Taylor Swift hits No. 1, sets streaming record

The special appearance will mark Swift’s first performance of a new song in three years as she prepares to release her new album, “Reputation.”

Kevin Winter/WireImage via Getty Images

A teaser clip for Swift's performance that aired today on "Good Morning America" showed waves crashing against rocks, a bird flying in the sky and a waterside mansion that looks similar to Swift's own Rhode Island mansion.

ABC

The video then flashed to a piano in an ocean-view room and a shot of Swift's hands playing the piano.

ABC

ABC

Swift's three-minute performance will air during the Nov. 9 episode of "Scandal," after the milestone 300th episode of “Grey’s Anatomy” in ABC's "TGIT" lineup.

"Reputation," Swift's sixth studio album, will be released later that night, at midnight.

An extended version of Swift's "Scandal" performance will air Nov. 10 on Freeform.

Kevin Winter/Getty Images for DIRECTV

Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images

Swift's "Reputation" has already made headlines before its release.

The album's lead single, "Look What You Made Me Do," hit No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 in September.

The track also broke the record for the most weekly streams ever for a song by a female artist, with 84.4 million.

• Star

Kevin Spacey seeks treatment as more stars face harassment claims

Kevin Spacey has said he is seeking treatment after facing allegations of sexual misconduct from a string of men.

A representative for the actor said he "is taking the time necessary to seek evaluation and treatment".

They did not give any information about what kind of treatment he wants.

He is one of several Hollywood figures who have been accused of sexual misconduct. Dustin Hoffman has issued an apology while director Brett Ratner has been accused by six women.

A lawyer for Ratner, the director of the Rush Hour films and X-Men: The Last Stand, has "categorically" denied all of the accusations.

The allegations have been sparked by multiple women speaking out against the Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein, and a subsequent campaign encouraging victims to share their stories of sexual harassment under the #metoo hashtag.

So who has been accused of misconduct?

Kevin Spacey

New allegations have emerged from a number of men accusing Kevin Spacey of sexual misconduct.

US filmmaker Tony Montana claims he was groped by the actor in a Los Angeles bar in 2003. He says he was left with PTSD for six months after Spacey "forcefully" grabbed his crotch.

Mr Montana told Radar Online that he was in his 30s when the incident took place at the Coronet Bar in LA.

It follows an allegation made by Anthony Rapp that the House of Cards actor tried to "seduce" him when he was 14 years old.

Kevin Spacey says he has no recollection of that encounter, and was "beyond horrified".

• Netflix halts House of Cards production

Incidents regarding Spacey are also alleged to have taken place in the UK while the two-time Oscar winner was the artistic director at the Old Vic in London between 2004 and 2015.

Mexican actor Roberto Cavazos, who acted in several plays at the theatre, claims Spacey "routinely preyed" on young male actors.

One man told the BBC about his experience of being invited to spend the weekend with Spacey in New York when he was a teenager in the 1980s.

Read more about the allegations against Kevin Spacey here.

Brett Ratner

Six women have accused Hollywood filmmaker Brett Ratner of sexual harassment or misconduct.

The women, including The Newsroom actress Olivia Munn, made the allegations in the Los Angeles Times.

Natasha Henstridge, who appeared in Species and The Whole Ten Yards, claimed she had been forced into a sex act with Ratner as a teenager.

The actress, now 43, was a 19-year-old model at the time she alleges Ratner stopped her from leaving a room at his New York apartment and then made her perform a sex act on him.

"He strong-armed me in a real way," she told the LA Times. "He physically forced himself onto me."

Ratner's lawyer "categorically" denied all of the accusations on his behalf in response to the article.

Separately, Ratner has filed a libel case in Hawaii against a woman who accused him on Facebook of rape more than 10 years ago.

Ratner says he has stepped away from dealings with movie studio Warner Bros since the allegations came to light.

Read more about the allegations against Brett Ratner here.

Dustin Hoffman

Dustin Hoffman has been accused of sexually harassing an intern on the set of one of his films in 1985.

Anna Graham Hunter, a writer, says that when she was 17, the Oscar-winning actor groped her and made inappropriate comments about sex to her.

She told The Hollywood Reporter: "He was openly flirtatious, he grabbed my ass, he talked about sex to me and in front of me."

Hoffman apologised, and said he was sorry if he "put her in an uncomfortable situation".

In a statement to the magazine, Hoffman said: "I have the utmost respect for women and feel terrible that anything I might have done could have put her in an uncomfortable situation. I am sorry. It is not reflective of who I am."

The BBC has contacted representatives of Dustin Hoffman for his response to these allegations.

Michael Oreskes

Senior editor Michael Oreskes has resigned following accusations he kissed female colleagues without their consent during business meetings.

The 63-year-old was asked to step down by the National Public Radio (NPR) network in response to the allegations. He has previously worked for the Associated Press and the New York Times.

Two women spoke to the Washington Post on condition of anonymity, and reported stories of abrupt and unexpected kisses during business meetings. They said they were worried about career development if their names were made public.

One of the women said that while she met Mr Oreskes in the hope of getting a job with the New York Times, he suggested that they eat room service lunch in a hotel, before he unexpectedly kissed her and "slipped his tongue into her mouth".

He has not commented publicly on the allegations, and journalists at NPR report that they have tried to contact him for comment, without success.

Read more about the allegations against Michael Oreskes here.

Follow us on Facebook, on Twitter @BBCNewsEnts, or on Instagram at bbcnewsents. If you have a story suggestion email [email protected].

Source – bbc.com

Puigdemont stays away as ousted Catalonia deputies attend court

Sacked members of Catalonia's regional government are appearing at Spain's high court to face rebellion and sedition charges, after October's disputed independence referendum.

Nine officials have turned up at the court in Madrid for questioning.

But ousted Catalan leader Carles Puigdemont and four others have stayed away. Prosecutors could order their arrest.

Mr Puigdemont, who is now in Belgium, said: "This is a political trial."

Spain has been gripped by a constitutional crisis since the referendum was held on 1 October in defiance of a constitutional court ruling that had declared it illegal.

Last week, Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy imposed direct rule on Catalonia, dissolving the regional parliament and calling snap local elections.

• Catalonia crisis in 300 words
• What next for Spain?

This came after Catalan lawmakers voted to declare independence of the affluent north-eastern region.

The Catalan government said that of the 43% of potential voters who took part in the referendum, 90% were in favour of independence.

What is expected in the Madrid court?

On Monday, Spain's chief prosecutor said the Catalan leaders were accused of rebellion – which carries a maximum 30-year jail term – as well as sedition and misuse of funds.

They were ordered to appear in Madrid's Audiencia National (high court) on Thursday morning for questioning.

Media playback is unsupported on your device

They are yet to be formally charged. A judge will have to decide whether the officials should go to jail pending an investigation that could potentially lead to a trial.

The judge can also grant them conditional bail and order them to surrender their passports.

Who has showed up – and who has not?

Mr Puigdemont had previously said he would not return to Spain if he and his colleagues did not receive unspecified guarantees of a fair trial.

His Belgian lawyer told Reuters news agency that he would co-operate with the authorities, but did not appear before the judges because "the climate is not good".

The four other sacked leaders who failed to show up at the high court also stayed in Belgium, La Vanguardia newspaper reported.

Mr Puigdemont's handling of the crisis has drawn criticism among some other Catalan politicians, with left-wing parliamentary deputy Joan Josep Nuet saying his absence could make matters worse for those who followed the court's order.

"The attitude… has been really absurd, managing only to create yet more bewilderment," he told Catalunya Radio.

Among those who showed up were the sacked deputy leader Oriol Junqueras, Interior Minister Joaquin Forn, foreign affairs chief Raül Romeva and spokesman Jordi Turull.

Meanwhile, five other senior members of the Catalan parliament, as well as speaker Carme Forcadell, are facing the same charges but, because of their parliamentary immunity, their cases are being handled by the Supreme Court.

Their hearings have been postponed until 9 November.

• The man who wants to break up Spain

Despite Mr Puigdemont's position, the Spanish government insists it has no influence over the country's judiciary, the BBC's Tom Burridge in Barcelona says.

But if those Catalan politicians appearing in court are denied bail it will cause further anger among those who want Catalonia to break away, our correspondent adds.

The court summons also gave them three days to pay a deposit of €6.2m ($7.2m) to cover potential liabilities.

Source – bbc.com

Palestinians protest Balfour Declaration on centenary

Thousands of Palestinians took to the streets in protest across the West Bank Thursday marking a century since the Balfour Declaration, Britain's promise to Zionists to create a Jewish home in what is now Israel.

In Ramallah, some 3,000 protesters marched from the city center to the British Consulate, with many waving black flags and banners with slogans such as "100 years of dispossession." Smaller demonstrations took place in east Jerusalem and elsewhere in the West Bank.

Rawada Odeh, a demonstrator in Jerusalem, said she was protesting because Balfour promised a home to the Zionists while neglecting that there is a "Palestinian population here in our land."

"The land does not belong to Balfour," she said. "We are Palestinians, and we are living here and we are following our issue till we succeed."

The 1917 declaration served as the basis for the British Mandate of Palestine, which was approved in 1920 by the League of Nations. The following decades saw a spike in the number of Jews immigrating to Palestine as Zionist state institutions took root. With that came increased friction with the Arab population.

Israel views the pledge as the first international recognition granted to the Jewish people's desire to return to its historic homeland. It sees Britain as having played a supporting role in a narrative dominated by the determination, heroism and pioneering spirit of the early settlers who fought to build the state.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu marks the anniversary in London on Thursday at a dinner attended by Prime Minister Theresa May.

"One hundred years after Balfour, the Palestinians should finally accept a Jewish national home and finally accept a Jewish state. And when they do, the road to peace will be infinitely closer and in my opinion, peace will be achievable," Netanyahu told May.

The Palestinians see the declaration as the original sin, a harbinger of their "nakba," or catastrophe, the mass displacement that resulted from the war surrounding Israel's creation in 1948. That refugee crisis reverberates across the region today, and the Palestinians have cast Israel, through the declaration and its imperialist British patrons, as a colonial enterprise.

• Star

Source – abcnews.go.com

Brad Paisley and Carrie Underwood feel 'blessed' to host CMA Awards for 10th year

WATCH Brad Paisley and Carrie Underwood open up about the 2017 CMA Awards

Country superstars Brad Paisley and Carrie Underwood are making history hosting their 10th consecutive CMA Awards.

“We work out. We train. We work really hard on this,” Paisley, who has 14 CMAs to his name, joked on “Good Morning America” today of how they keep the show fresh year after year.

Miranda Lambert, Keith Urban, Little Big Town top nominees for 2017 CMA Awards

It's #CMAawards time! @carrieunderwood and @BradPaisley join @RobinRoberts to discuss @CountryMusic's big night: https://t.co/jGJ0mfxdGD pic.twitter.com/cv426lVgN6

— Good Morning America (@GMA) November 2, 2017

This year marks the 51st annual CMA Awards, and Paisley said he predicts the highlight of the show will be his co-host, Underwood.

“I will say that if it is, it absolutely has nothing to do with me,” Underwood replied.

Underwood, the reigning CMA Female Vocalist of the Year, said each year’s show “depends on the climate of the universe.”

“I feel like this year’s a bit tougher to try and figure out things that everybody will just giggle at or find funny. We’re not up there to offend people,” she said. “We just want to have a good time and showcase what we do, and the artists.”

ABCNews.com

Paisley agreed, adding he thinks “it’s important to watch something other than the news” and “disasters.”

“We don’t go gossipy, we don’t attack anybody,” he said. “We’re not up there to offend. We’re up there to celebrate what our music is about, which really, country music is about life. It’s just really the format that is the reality in terms of the lyrics and storytelling. It’s hopefully an escape in these times that are really interesting.”

Miranda Lambert, Keith Urban and Little Big Town are topping the list of nominees for the 51st Annual CMA Awards, with five for nods Lambert and four for Urban and Little Big Town.

The 51st annual CMA Awards airs live from the Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tennessee, on Nov. 8 at 8 p.m. ET on ABC.

• Star

Former member of Ethiopia Marxist regime apologizes in court

A former member of a Marxist group that seized control of Ethiopia in the 1970s in a bloody purge known as the Red Terror apologized Thursday for the regime's many crimes but denied personal responsibility.

In a dramatic confrontation with survivors in a Dutch courtroom, 63-year-old Eshetu Alemu accepted blame for the crimes of the Marxist rulers known as the Dergue nearly 40 years ago but insisted he did not carry out the crimes for which Dutch prosecutors hold him responsible.

"I would apologize on my knees to these victims and, through them, to all of Ethiopia," Alemu said.

But, addressing allegations that he was responsible for the torture and murder of political prisoners in the western province of Gojam in 1978, he told judges: "I was not there."

His emotional comments came in response to statements by survivors of his alleged crimes and people who lost family members.

One survivor, Worku Damena Yifru, citing witnesses, told judges that Alemu personally ordered the summary execution of dozens of prisoners in a church inside the prison compound in August 1978 and told other prisoners to dump their bodies in a mass grave.

He said Alemu checked the names of inmates summoned to the church before "special forces knocked down the prisoners and killed them by strangulation."

Yifru said that as a survivor, "I feel I have a solemn duty to seek justice on behalf of all victims of that wanton, inhuman killing ordered by Mr. Alemu."

Alemu, a longtime resident and citizen of the Netherlands, is charged with war crimes including involvement in torturing prisoners to death under the 1974-1991 Dergue regime. He faces a maximum life sentence if convicted.

He admitted being a member of the Dergue, the group led by former dictator Mengistu Haile Mariam, who has lived in exile in Zimbabwe since being driven from power. Mengistu was convicted in absentia in 2006 of genocide and later sentenced to death.

Some experts say 150,000 university students, intellectuals and politicians were killed in a nationwide purge by Mengistu's regime, though no one knows for sure how many suspected opponents were killed. Human Rights Watch has described the 1977-78 Red Terror campaign as "one of the most systematic uses of mass murder by a state ever witnessed in Africa."

• Star

Source – abcnews.go.com

Turkey: 39 killed in clashes between troops, Kurdish rebels

Clashes between Turkish security force members and Kurdish militants in three mainly Kurdish provinces in southeastern Turkey on Thursday killed eight security force members and 31 militants, officials said.

A skirmish erupted near the town of Semdinli, in the province of Hakkari that borders Iraq, after the security forces spotted a group of rebels who were allegedly preparing to launch an attack, the military said. Six soldiers and two government-paid village guards aiding troops in the fight against the rebels were killed in the fighting.

An Interior Ministry statement said 19 rebels were killed in the clash as well as a wider, air power-backed operation launched to catch the militants.

Separately, nine rebels were killed in a clash in the province of Tunceli, while three others were killed in Sirnak province, the ministry said.

The rebels of the Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK, have waged a three-decade-long insurgency in southeastern Turkey. The conflict has killed tens of thousands of people. The group is considered a terror organization by Turkey, the United States and the European Union.

Violence flared again in 2015 after the collapse of a two-year peace process.

In a speech in Ankara, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan vowed to press ahead with operations against the PKK.

"We will continue our struggle against them, until these terrorists are annihilated and are gone," Erdogan said.

The military said several rocket launchers, ammunition, hand grenades and an automatic rifle used by the rebels were seized during the operation near Semdinli.

• Star

Source – abcnews.go.com