Poroshenko Says Ukraine Has Fulfilled Minsk Agreements

Source: THE MOSCOWTIMES

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko announced on Monday that Kiev has fully implemented the Minsk agreements, the RBC news agency reported.
The Ukrainian side has fulfilled 95 percent of the political obligations and 100 percent of the security requirements in the agreements, Poroshenko was quoted as saying by Interfax Ukraine during a news conference which followed his talks with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
Sanctions against Russia were prolonged this month by EU leaders until January 2017 as Moscow is considered guilty of failing to comply with the terms of the agreements.
The Russian authorities claim that Ukraine is violating the agreements.

South Sudan ceasefire declared by Kiir and Machar holding

 

Source: BBC

A ceasefire appears to be holding in South Sudan's capital, Juba, after four days of heavy fighting between rival forces left hundreds dead.

The city is quiet, with no reports of helicopter gunships in the sky or tanks on the streets.
President Salva Kiir and his rival, Vice-President Riek Machar, announced a ceasefire which came into force on Monday at 15:00 GMT.
Clashes between troops loyal to the two men threatened a recent peace deal.
South Sudan became independent from Sudan in 2011 but its short history has been marred by years of civil war.

Buhari Offers Justice to N’Delta, Says Nigeria’s Unity Not Negotiable

Source: THISDAY LIVE

President Muhammadu Buhari has again pleaded with militants in the Niger Delta to change their minds and has promised them justice, even as he has made it abundantly clear that the nation’s unity is not negotiable.

Buhari, who spoke yesterday while receiving a cross section of Nigerians, mostly Muslims, who paid him Sallah homage at his residence within the precinct of the Presidential Villa, recalled the famous quote of former military Head of State, General Yakubu Gowon, stating that the task of keeping Nigeria as one indivisible entity was a task that must be done.
The president said the slogan in the 1960s “Go on With One Nigeria (GOWON)” was very apt now, as keeping Nigeria one was a task that must be done.

Oscar Pistorius: Six years for Reeva Steenkamp murder

 

Source: BBC

South African Olympic athlete Oscar Pistorius has been sentenced to six years in prison for the murder of his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp in 2013.

He was initially given a five-year term for manslaughter, but was found guilty of murder on appeal last December.
He was taken immediately to jail. Both the prosecution and defence can appeal, but his lawyers say they will not.
Pistorius, 29, shot Reeva Steenkamp four times through a locked toilet door in February 2013.
He admitted shooting her, but said he had mistaken Ms Steenkamp for an intruder and acted out of fear.

U.S. attorney general closes Clinton email case, says no charges

Source: REUTERS

The investigation into Hillary Clinton's use of private email while secretary of state is over, U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch said on Wednesday, removing a legal cloud that threatened the presumptive Democratic nominee's presidential bid.

Lynch said she accepted the Federal Bureau of Investigation's recommendations that no charges be brought in the probe, as Republicans made clear they would not let Clinton's email headaches fade away easily.

"I received and accepted their unanimous recommendation that the thorough, year-long investigation be closed and that no charges be brought against any individuals within the scope of the investigation," Lynch said in a statement.

Will Russia Be First to Build Elon Musk's Hyperloop?

Source: THE MOSCOW TIMES

In mid June, Shervin Pishevar, co-founder of Hyperloop One, sat under the high, decorated ceiling of a palace in St. Petersburg.
Men in suits lined the large, rectangular table. “Eighteen heads of sovereign [wealth] funds and President [Vladimir] Putin. $10 trillion in the room,” Pishevar wrote alongside a photo posted on Facebook. “Then Putin called on me.”
So Pishevar, a burly, bearded Silicon Valley entrepreneur, began to speak. He talked about the Hyperloop trains his company plans to build: Transportation pods levitated by magnets inside an airless tube that could travel at speeds 300 kilometers per hour faster than a passenger aircraft, thanks to the low air resistance. Pods that could whisk goods through Russia from China to Europe in the space of hours, or turn St. Petersburg into a suburb of Moscow.
Putin listened attentively. Then, according to Pishevar, he said, “Hyperloop will fundamentally change the global economy.”

The Ad War: Clinton Outspends Trump by More Than $40 Million

Source: NBC NEWS

Hillary Clinton and her allies are outspending Donald Trump and the groups supporting him over the airwaves by a whopping 15-to-1 margin, according to ad-spending data from SMG Delta.
Team Clinton has spent $45 million on ads so far in the general election, with $19 million coming from the campaign and another $26 million from the pro-Clinton Super PAC Priorities USA.
That's compared with nearly $3 million for Team Trump -- with $1.5 million coming from the National Rifle Association and $1.3 million from the Super PAC Rebuilding America Now.