Polish soldier Sebastian Kinasiewicz dies on Mount Hood

The body of a Polish soldier who said he wanted to plant his nation's flag on Mount Hood in Oregon has been found on the frozen peak, authorities have said.

The body of Sebastian Kinasiewicz, 32, was spotted by helicopter on Tuesday.

Officials believe he fell about 1,000ft (305m) into a rocky basin, where thawing ice could delay the recovery.

Kinasiewicz had been training in the US with a drone aircraft manufacturer, Hood River County officials said.

Kinasiewicz's route on the mountain was unknown

"Our thoughts are with Sebastian's family at this difficult time," Jill Vacek, a spokeswoman with the drone manufacturer, InSitu, said in a statement released before his body was found.

Kinasiewicz wanted to plant a Polish flag beside another one left on the mountain last year by another party of Polish climbers, a Hood River County sheriff's official told the Oregonian newspaper.

The 11,239ft Mount Hood is the second most-climbed glaciated mountain in the world after Mount Fuji in Japan, according to Portland Mountain Rescue.

An estimated 8,000 people scale the peak every year, mostly between April and July. Summer climbing is more dangerous because warmer temperatures melt the ice and loosen rocks.

About two people die each year on the mountain.

A snowboarder from the US state of Colorado died on the mountain earlier this month when an ice tunnel collapsed. In July, searchers found the body of an Oregon dentist who suffered a fatal fall during a solo climb.

Kinasiewicz's route was unknown, but witnesses reported a lone climber on a route called Cooper Spur on the north side of the mountain on Sunday.

Libyan Berbers demanding recognition storm parliament

Berbers, or Amazigh, make up 5-10% of Libya's six million population

Members of Libya's minority Berber, or Amazigh, community have stormed the parliament building in Tripoli.

A spokesman for the General National Congress (GNC) said windows were smashed, furniture destroyed and documents belonging to deputies stolen.

There were no reports of any injuries after the incident, which happened during a break in a regular session.

The Amazigh were demanding that the future constitution recognise their language, ethnicity and culture.

Though they make up just 5-10% of Libya's six million population, Amazigh predate the Arab settlers who brought Islam with them from the east.

They suffered decades of repression and discrimination during the rule of Muammar Gaddafi, who was overthrown during an uprising in 2011.

Gaddafi saw Amazigh as a threat to his view of Libya as a homogenous Arab society. The Amazigh language and script Tamazight, which is distinct from Arabic, were officially banned and could not be taught in schools. Giving children Amazigh names was forbidden.

Amazigh fighters played an important role in the armed rebellion against the Gaddafi regime. One of the main fronts was in the Nafusa Mountains, where the population is predominantly Amazigh.

Samsung Brazil violated labour laws, prosecutors allege

Public prosecutors in Brazil have begun legal action against South Korean electronics giant Samsung, alleging that it has been violating labour laws at its factory in the Amazon region.

Prosecutors accuse the company of making its employees work long, tiring shifts without sufficient breaks.

The prosecutors' office in the city of Manaus said one worker reported packing nearly 3,000 phones a day.

The Samsung plant in Brazil produces electronics for the whole of Latin America

Samsung said it would take action "as soon as they are officially notified".

In a statement, the company said it would analyse the process and fully co-operate with the Brazilian authorities.

"We are committed to offering our collaborators around the world a work environment that ensures the highest standards when it comes to safety, health and well-being," the statement said.

Health accusations

The plant, located at the Manaus Free Trade zone, employs some 6,000 people.

A worker at the Amazonas state factory has only 32 seconds to fully assemble a mobile phone and 65 seconds to put together a television set, prosecutors allege.

In evidence given to prosecutors, employees say shifts can last 15 hours and some say they suffer from back ache and cramps as they are forced to stand for up to 10 hours a day.

The prosecutors' office is claiming more than 250m reais ($108m; £70m) in damages from the company for serious violations of labour legislation.

The legal suit was filed on Friday, but has only now been made public.

US moves to block merger of American Airlines and US Airways

The $11bn (£7bn) deal between United Airways and American Airlines would form the world's largest airline

The US justice department has filed an anti-trust case to block the merger of American Airlines and US Airways.

The $11bn (£7bn) deal, which would form the world's largest airline, was backed by a federal judge in March and has been approved by the European Union.

The complaint says customers would see a price rise as the merger would "substantially lessen competition" in the domestic market.

US Airways boss Doug Parker said the company would fight the injunction.

"We are extremely disappointed in this action and believe the DOJ [Department of Justice] is wrong in its assessment," Mr Parker said in a letter to employees.

The District of Columbia and six US states and have joined the legal action: Texas, where American Airlines is headquartered, Arizona, where US Airways is based, Florida, Pennsylvania, Tennessee and Virginia.

'Higher air fares'

American Airlines and US Airways said that in light of the justice department's action they no longer expected the merger to close by the end of 2013, but that they remained "hopeful" litigation would be over by year's end.

Continue reading the main story

Analysis

Michelle FleuryBBC business correspondent, New York

The last time the US justice department blocked a major airline deal was in 2001. At the time, US Airways tried to do a deal with United Airlines. The government objected on the grounds that it would be too dominant a player. In recent years, the government appeared to change its tune.

It did not object to Delta acquiring Northwest in 2008, or to United merging with Continental Airlines in 2010. Nor did it try to stop the deal between SouthWest Airlines and AirTran. Since deregulation in the 1970s, the airline industry has struggled to make money; many carriers have been forced into bankruptcy.

But in the last four years, as the number of carriers shrunk, the industry has managed to turn a profit. Some analysts believe the government may be trying to extract more concessions from the airlines. After all, European anti-trust regulators gave the deal the green light after American and US Airways agreed to give up some of their takeoff and landing slots at London's Heathrow Airport.

Shares in both companies fell, along with the stock prices of other airlines, as news of the anti-trust case hit the markets on Tuesday.

"By challenging this merger, the Department of Justice is saying that the American people deserve better," US Attorney General Eric Holder said in a statement.

"This transaction would result in consumers paying the price - in higher air fares, higher fees and fewer choices."

The lawsuit also cites direct competition between the airlines on nonstop routes worth about $2bn in annual revenues.

In one example, the complaint says the newly merged company would take up 69% percent of flights out of Washington's Reagan National Airport and 63% of nonstop routes out of the airport.

The airlines had previously conceded take-off and landing slots at airports in Philadelphia and London in order to win EU approval last week.

When the deal was announced in February, US Senate Commerce Committee chairman Jay Rockefeller also expressed concern that consumers would lose.

American Airlines has been in bankruptcy protection since November 2011, but US Airways has been profitable in recent years.

'Stake in the heart'

The two combined airlines would have 6,700 daily flights and annual revenue of roughly $40bn.

Continue reading the main story

US Airways Group Inc.

LAST UPDATED AT 13 AUG 2013, 19:59 GMT*CHART SHOWS LOCAL TIME

price	change	%
16.36	- -2.46	- -13.07

The justice department complaint argues the two companies do not need to merge to continue to be competitive, and that American Airlines is likely to exit bankruptcy as a "vigorous competitor".

The department also cited American Airlines' purchase two years ago of 460 new planes, said to be the largest such order in industry history.

If the merger continues, there will be only three major US airlines, which the justice department alleges "increasingly prefer tacit coordination over full-throated competition".

Some industry analysts suggest that American Airlines and US Airways' ability to compete without a merger is not as strong as the department argues.

"I'm not sure if long term either of these airlines can be a viable competitor by itself," Ray Neidl, an airline analyst at Nexa Capital, told the BBC.

"It probably will cause prices to go down in the short term as they compete, but I think long term US Airways and American are going to have a hard time competing."

But one opponent of the two firms' consolidation, Charlie Leocha, director of the Consumer Travel Alliance, told Reuters news agency: "This is a stake in the heart of the merger. I don't see this moving forward."

Japanese town to scrap marooned 'tsunami boat'

As Rupert Wingfield-Hayes reports, the boat will be scrapped after residents said it brought back painful memories

A Japanese town has decided to scrap a marooned fishing boat which has become a symbol of the devastating 2011 tsunami, officials say.

Residents of Kesennuma in Miyagi prefecture voted to scrap the Kyotoku Maru No 18 - swept inland by a giant wave triggered by a strong earthquake.

There had been plans to preserve the boat as a monument.

The tsunami and earthquake on 11 March 2011 left more than 18,000 people dead or missing in Japan.

The magnitude 9.0 quake, Japan's most powerful since records began, also triggered a nuclear accident at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant.

The earthquake struck about 400km (250 miles) north-east of Tokyo. The tsunami it triggered hit the north-eastern coast of the main island of Honshu, sweeping away cars, ships and buildings, and crushing coastal communities.

Kesennuma, with an estimated population of 70,000, was one of the hardest hit by the tsunami.

After the disaster, people started visiting the marooned 60-metre (200-foot) boat to pray, take photographs and leave flowers.

Continue reading the main story

The Kyotoku Maru No 18 is said to be 60 metres (200 feet) in length

Continue reading the main story

1/3

But last week, it was announced that the majority of the city residents had voted to have the ship broken up for scrap.

"Our city has decided to demolish the vessel since nearly 70% of residents did not want to preserve it," a local official was quoted by Agence-France Presse news agency as saying.

"It's just a constant reminder of the terrible disaster," resident Yoshimi Abe told the Associated Press news agency. "When I walk by it every morning, my heart aches."

City Mayor Shigeru Sugawara expressed disappointment that the boat, which he said was a "visible symbol of what happened here", would be destroyed, but he said the decision had been made.

The vessel may be taken apart in a few weeks, reports say.

Kyodo news agency reports that a non-profit ship recycler has been contacted to dismantle the vessel, which is owned by fishing company Gisuke Gyogo in Fukushima prefecture.

One killed as Morsi supporters and opponents clash in Cairo

Opposing sides threw stones and bottles at each other, as police fired tear gas, as Mishal Husain reports

A person has been killed in clashes between supporters and opponents of Egypt's ousted President, Mohammed Morsi, in the capital, Cairo.

Birdshot was reportedly fired by both sides as people taking part in a pro-Morsi march were confronted by residents of a district of Giza.

After about 30 minutes of fighting, the Morsi supporters retreated to their nearby protest camp at Nahda Square.

Some 250 people have died since the military deposed Mr Morsi on 3 July.

The interim government has declared that international efforts to resolve the political crisis have failed, and rejects the demand of Mr Morsi's supporters that he be reinstated.

Continue reading the main story

Analysis

Bethany BellBBC News, Cairo

Six weeks after the army overthrew Mohammed Morsi of the Muslim Brotherhood, there is little sign of a solution to the political crisis. Supporters of Mr Morsi, who want him reinstated, are keeping up the pressure. They are standing their ground at their two sit-in camps in Cairo. And they are holding marches in the heart of the capital.

So far the authorities have not moved against the big Muslim Brotherhood protest camps at Cairo's al-Nahda square and around Rabaa al-Adawiya mosque. It is understood that there are divisions in the government about how to tackle the camps. Some hardliners, concerned about losing face to the Muslim Brotherhood, want to move in and disperse the protesters, while others want to avoid bloodshed.

In one scenario, it is thought that security forces might surround both camps to restrict access and cut off supplies of food and water. Sheikh Ahmed al-Tayyib, the grand imam of al-Azhar - Egypt's top Islamic institution - has invited major figures to join a meeting of national reconciliation. But there is friction between him and the Muslim Brotherhood because the grand imam supported the military intervention to remove Mr Morsi.

In recent days numbers have swelled at two mass sit-ins organised by the Muslim Brotherhood, the Islamist movement to which Mr Morsi belongs, at Nahda Square and outside the Rabaa al-Adawiya mosque.

The authorities have held back from attempting to clear the protest camps.

'Terrorists'

On Tuesday, thousands of Morsi supporters marched from Nahda Square towards the interior ministry to protest against the appointment of 10 military officers as provincial governors, replacing those who had been appointed by the deposed president.

They were confronted by residents of an area that is home to many people who oppose Mr Morsi and the Muslim Brotherhood, who taunted them by calling them "terrorists".

The demonstrators tried to get into a compound that contains several government buildings, but were forced back.

People on both sides threw stones and bottles at each other before security forces fired tear gas to disperse the Morsi supporters.

There were fresh clashes later in the evening, during which the person was killed and at least 10 others were wounded. Security officials said birdshot was fired from both sides, as residents smashed the front of a department store owned by Islamists.

Millions took to the streets to demand Mr Morsi's removal, but correspondents say his ousting appears to be deepening the divisions in Egyptian society.

Israel releases 26 Palestinian prisoners

A group of 26 prisoners were driven out of jail in minibuses with tinted windows

Israel has released 26 Palestinian prisoners as part of a deal that will see peace talks resume this week.

Buses carrying the inmates drove them from a prison in central Israel to the Beitunia crossing in the West Bank and the Erez crossing with the Gaza Strip.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas greeted the 11 sent to the West Bank, while crowds met the other 15 in Gaza.

Israeli and Palestinian representatives will begin direct talks in Jerusalem on Wednesday after a three-year hiatus.

Failed legal moves

The men were driven away from the Ayalon prison complex late at night in vehicles with darkened windows to avoid any display of triumphalism.

Small groups of Israeli protesters had gathered outside the prison and jeered as the buses drove off.

Relatives and friends of the freed men gathered on the frontiers with Gaza and the West Bank, with bands playing bagpipes parading through flag-waving crowds.

Continue reading the main story

At the scene

Yolande KnellBBC News, Ramallah

Celebrations have begun in the West Bank and in the Gaza Strip to welcome home the prisoners. Most have been in jail for some 20 years.

On the Palestinian side, the men are viewed as heroes of the nationalist cause.

But many were convicted of murder and most Israelis view them as terrorists.

The Israeli prison service arranged this handover late at night to make it less of a spectacle.

The inmates were named by Israel's prison service shortly after midnight on Sunday, giving victims' families 48 hours to submit legal challenges to the High Court.

Earlier on Tuesday, the court rejected an appeal by a victims' rights group that objected to the release of all the prisoners.

Meanwhile, Palestinian negotiators have reacted angrily to news that the Israeli authorities have approved the building of more than 1,000 homes in settlements on land claimed by the Palestinians.

Israel says the new homes will be built on land they would expect to keep as part of any future deal on territory.

US Secretary of State John Kerry says the Palestinians remain committed to the talks despite the settlement issue.

About 500,000 Jews live in more than 100 settlements built since Israel's 1967 occupation of the West Bank and East Jerusalem. The Palestinians want to establish their state in those areas, as well as the Gaza Strip.

The settlements are considered illegal under international law, although Israel disputes this.

Lac-Megantic train blast: Canada revokes rail firm licence

The blasts from the train's oil tankers destroyed a large area of Lac-Megantic

Canada has suspended the operating licence of the rail firm involved in last month's Quebec fuel train disaster, officials say.

The Canadian Transportation Agency (CTA) says the company did not have enough third-party liability insurance.

The CTA's order covers both Montreal, Maine and Atlantic Railway (MMA) and its Canadian subsidiary.

Forty-seven people were killed in Lac-Megantic after a train carrying crude oil derailed and exploded in the town.

The licence suspension becomes effective on 20 August.

The CTA said MMA did not have adequate third-party liability insurance, one of the requirements to operate Canada.

"This was not a decision made lightly, as it affects the economies of communities along the railway, employees of MMA and MMAC, as well as the shippers who depend on rail services," Geoff Hare, CTA chairman and CEO, said in a statement.

"It would not be prudent, given the risks associated with rail operations, to permit MMA and MMAC to continue to operate without adequate insurance coverage."

Bankruptcy

MMA filed for bankruptcy protection in Canada and the United States last week in the wake of the 6 July derailment.

The company said its insurance was not sufficient to cover liabilities of up to C$25m ($24.2m; £15.7m), when the clean-up costs may well exceed C$200m.

The train, with 72 tankers full of crude oil, had been parked uphill from Lac-Megantic and was unattended when it began rolling out of control into the town.

Several tankers exploded, destroying 40 buildings.

The blasts destroyed a large area of Lac-Megantic and forced some 2,000 residents to flee their homes.

The company has blamed the train's operator for failing to set enough hand brakes.

Investigators have said the train's handbrakes are one focus of their inquiries.

Tests are being conducted on the brakes and samples of the oil taken from the scene, as well as other evidence gathered over the four weeks since the disaster.

The process could take months, says the Transportation Safety Board.

Brazil may reject US fighter jet deal over NSA spying scandal

An F-18 Hornet (AFP Photo / Adrian Dennis)

Brazilian officials have expressed reluctance to purchasing dozens of military planes from the US after it was revealed that the NSA not only closely monitored Brazilian energy and military affairs, but also mined for commercial secrets.

The US had planned to sell Brazil - a country in the process of revitalizing its Air Force - 36 fighter jets in a deal worth more than US$4 billion. But when US Secretary of State John Kerry meets with Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff on Tuesday, the leaders will not discuss the deal, a source near to the situation told Reuters. 

Kerry traveled to Colombia before making his way to Brazil in an attempt to repair relations with Latin American nations after NSA leaker Edward Snowden disclosed documents showing that the US spied on communications related to the military, political and terror issues, and energy policies.

“We cannot talk about the fighters now…You cannot give such a contract to a country that you do not trust,” the source said. 

Chicago-based Boeing Co. is competing for the $4 billion contract against France’s Rafale and Sweden’s Gripen, although the longer Brazil goes without choosing, the more likely it is that other competitors will enter the fray.  

Rousseff delayed a decision on the fighter jets because of budget woes and widespread demonstrations protesting austerity and government corruption. 

“I don’t expect the president to decide on the fighter contract this year, and next year is an election year so it might have to wait until 2015,” a Brazilian government source said.  

Brazil’s Foreign Minister, Antonio Patriota, informed United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon of the nation’s situation as recently as last week. 

Tuesday’s visit will be Kerry’s first trip to Brazil as Secretary of State. 

But it’s not just Brazil that was reportedly upset over the NSA revelations. Even Colombia – one of Washington’s closest allies in the region – was unhappy about the information revealed. In Bogota, Kerry aimed to play down the rift during a press conference.

“Frankly, we work on a huge number of issues and this was in fact a very small part of the overall conversation and one in which I’m confident I was able to explain precisely that this has received the support of all three branches of our government,” Kerry told reporters. “It has been completely conducted under our Constitution and the law…The president has taken great steps in the last few days…to reassure people of the US intentions here.” 

US Vice President Joe Biden has visited Brazil and Colombia, and President Barack Obama recently made a three-day trip to Mexico and Puerto Rico. Both trips have been portrayed as evidence of US politicking below the equator. 

During his visit to Brazil, Biden said that stronger trade ties should usher in a new era of relations between Washington and Brasília. 

How long that goodwill will last remains to be seen, according Carl Meacham, former Latin America adviser on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and director of the Americas Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

“I think the tone of the visit will be a bit tense because of these issues raised by the surveillance [program] and I think Secretary Kerry will have to speak to that,” he told AP.

Russian Jews outraged after Stephen Fry compared gay propaganda ban to Nazi Germany

British actor Stephen Fry (Reuters / Fred Prouser)

Russia’s Jewish community has lashed out at British actor Stephen Fry after he compared the country’s “gay propaganda” ban to Hitler’s persecution of Jews in Nazi Germany.

Fry, an openly gay Jewish-British writer, actor, and television host, urged UK Prime Minister David Cameron and the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to boycott the Sochi 2014 Winter Olympics. The move was in response to a recently adopted Russian law which prohibits the propaganda of homosexuality among minors.

In an open letter to Cameron and the IOC, he accused Russia of “making scapegoats of gay people, just as Hitler did Jews.”

The actor also stated that President Putin “is eerily repeating the insane crime” of Hitler, “only this time against LGBT Russians.”

Russia’s Jewish community said it is outraged by Fry’s rhetoric, calling it a provocation.

“Unfortunately, yet again we see people attempting to use sacred memory about the genocide against the Jews and the Holocaust for their own purposes,” Russia’s Chief Rabbi, Berl Lazar, told ITAR-TASS on Monday. He believes that such cynicism insults the memory of millions of people who were murdered during World War II “because of their nationality and faith.”

The Chief Rabbi emphasized that the gay propaganda ban is in no way aimed at violating the rights of LGBT individuals, but rather serves to protect children “who are open to any kind of influence” from issues surrounding homosexuality.

RIA Novosti / Alexey Filippov

Famous singer and Russian MP Iosif (Joseph) Kobzon agrees that it is “appalling” when the genocide of a nation is compared to a ban on the propaganda of homosexual relations.

“There is absolutely no normal logic in what Fry calls for,” he told journalists on Monday. Kobzon believes that “we should all together” fight drug addiction, pedophilia, alcoholism, “and the spread of pornography, including the propaganda of homosexuality among minors.” He added that such principles are what Russian laws are all about, stating that they “are not harsh at all.”

Kobzon also believes that the State Duma will respond to calls to boycott the Sochi Olympics when it convenes for the autumn session next month.

Aleksandr Boroda, the head of the Federation of Jewish Communities of Russia, is confident that speculations about the Sochi Olympics are a result of lobbying in Europe and the US. 

“But common sense should prevail in the end. There is no need to mix sport with intimate lives of different people,” he said.

Boroda added that he supports the gay propaganda ban, stating that while no one should interfere with the private lives of individuals, certain relationship preferences should not be promoted either.

“Olympic Games are about sports, not about gays. Let them take part in competitions; no one is evaluating their sexual orientation. It’s their level of achievement that counts,” he underlined. 

Ignorance or bias?

An attempt to draw a parallel between the persecution of Jews during the 1936 Berlin Olympics and the situation with Russia’s LGBT community “is either a gross ignorance or gross bias,” Russian Human Rights Ombudsman Vladimir Lukin told RT. 

The human rights commissioner stated that he was not particularly happy about the adoption of the gay propaganda ban. However, calls to boycott the Olympic and Paralympic Games because of the law are inappropriate, he said.

Democratic and human rights principles should not be fulfilled by providing support to one minority group while violating the rights of another, he stated, speaking of the paralympic athletes. Lukin, who is also the president the Russian Paralympic Committee, said he is well aware of how much effort and enthusiasm Russian paralympians have put into preparation for the Olympic Games.

“This minority [with disabilities] deserves the same respect as any other minority,” he stated. “Should we just cross out their hopes and life aspirations? It would be absolutely wrong and counter-productive.” 

Russia’s Interior Ministry said on Monday that it will make sure children are protected from harmful information during the Sochi Olympics, but assured that there will be no discrimination against homosexual Olympic athletes.

All speculations regarding the possibility of such discrimination are “absolutely groundless” and are “solely an attempt aimed at undermining trust in the upcoming Olympics in Sochi,” the ministry said in a statement. 

In a debate broadcasted by RT on the issue of calls among the international LBGT community to boycott the Olympic Games in Sochi next year, Julie Bindel, a gay rights campaigner and co-founder of Justice for Women, defended Stephen Fry’s comments. 

Watch the full video of the debate: