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Orlando: Scores dead in gay nightclub shooting

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President Obama calls attack on gay nightclub in Orlando “an act of terror and an act of hate”.

One witness said that he heard about 40 shots being fired during the Orlando attack [EPA]

One witness said that he heard about 40 shots being fired during the Orlando attack [EPA]

by Al Jazeera

Fifty people have been killed, including the assailant, and at least 53 injured in an attack inside a gay nightclub in the US state of Florida, authorities said, in the worst mass shooting in US history.

Authorities identified the shooter on Sunday as Omar Mateen, a 29-year-old man born in New York with Afghan origins.

Mateen, who was armed with an assault-type rifle and a handgun, was killed in a shootout with at least 11 police officers inside the Pulse nightclub in Orlando.

Ron Hopper, special FBI agent in charge of the Orlando office, confirmed that Mateen was interviewed twice by the agency in 2013, after he made “inflammatory comments” to co-workers alleging possible “terrorist ties”.

In 2014, authorities interrogated Mateen anew for possible ties to an American suicide bomber.

In both cases, the FBI closed the investigations as they turned out to be “inconclusive” at that time, Hopper said.

Hopper also confirmed media reports that Mateen made 911 calls to police early on Sunday, and referred to the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL also known as ISIS) group.

‘Act of terror and hate’

In a televised statement, President Barack Obama condemned the shooting as “an act of terror and an act of hate”, calling the shooter “a person filled with hatred”.

“As Americans, we are united in grief and outrage,” he said, adding that the attack is “a further reminder of how easy it is for someone to get their hands on a weapon” and commit violence in the US.

Orlando Police chief John Mina described the shooting as “one of the worst tragedies we have seen”, adding that police officers “were shaken by what they have seen inside the club”.

“It’s a tragedy not only for the city but the entire nation,” he said. “Just a look into the eyes of our officers told the whole story.”

The injured, many in critical condition, were transferred to nearby hospitals. Among those injured was one police officer, whose kevlar helmet was hit by a round from the suspect.

The suspect exchanged gunfire with a police officer working at the club, which had more than 300 people inside. The gunman then went back inside and took hostages, Mina said.

Around 5am, authorities sent in a SWAT team to rescue the hostages.

While details of the attack were still emerging, Orlando residents gathered outside the nightclub to pay their respects to the victims.

Al Jazeera’s Andy Gallacher, reporting from the scene, described a banner laid out in the streets where people dipped their hands in paint and made their mark. Across the top of the banner was written, “Today our hearts cry out in unity”.

“Just metres away at the Pulse nightclub, a popular venue for the LGBT community, bodies of the victims are still lying where they fell,” our correspondent said. “Many are yet to be identified.”

As the shooting occurred, the nightclub urged patrons to “get out” and “keep running” in a post on its Facebook page.

One witness, who said he was inside the building during the incident, said he heard about 40 shots being fired.

Christopher Hansen said he was in the VIP lounge of the club when he heard gunshots. He continued to hear shooting even after he emerged and police urged people to back away from the club. He saw the wounded being tended to across the street.

“I was thinking, ‘Are you kidding me?’ So I just dropped down. I just said, ‘Please, please, please, I want to make it out,'” he said. “And when I did, I saw people shot. I saw blood. You hope and pray you don’t get shot.”

Police said they carried out a “controlled explosion” at the club hours after the shooting broke out, while entering the nightclub.

Florida Governor Rick Scott has declared a state of emergency in Orlando.

The nightclub shooting came just a day after a man thought to be a deranged fan fatally shot Christina Grimmie, a rising singing star who gained fame on YouTube and as a contestant on The Voice, while she was signing autographs after a concert in Orlando.

Tel Aviv attack: Israel clamps down on Palestinians

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Travel permits for Palestinians revoked and hometown of suspects raided as Netanyahu pledges “intensive” police action.

israel

by Al Jazeera

Israel has clamped down on Palestinian movements and boosted security after two suspects killed four people at a popular Tel Aviv nightspot.

Surveillance video, seemingly from the moment of the attack on Wednesday, showed the two men dressed in black suits and ties, calmly walking into a cafe before pulling out guns and opening fire on its terrace.

Most patrons fled in panic, though some fought back at the cafe at Sarona Market in Israel’s commercial capital.

At one point, one of the attackers threw a handgun to the ground in frustration as two of the victims lay motionless on the terrace.

The market and complex of bars and restaurants is located across the street from Israel’s defence ministry and main army headquarters.

Five people were wounded in addition to the four killed. The suspects were reportedly Palestinian and disguised as Orthodox Jews.

With the attack causing shock among Israelis, officials said on Thursday that they were suspending entry permits for 83,000 Palestinians during the holy Muslim month of Ramadan.

“This is the second such attack in six months,” said Al Jazeera’s Hoda Abdel-Hamid, reporting from Tel Aviv.

“The atmosphere here is one of defiance.”

Suspects identified

Those killed were all Israelis, identified as Ido Ben Aryeh, 42, Ilana Nave, 39, Michael Feige, 58, and Mila Mishayev, 32, police said.

One of the attackers was arrested, while the other was wounded by gunfire and had undergone surgery, police added.

They were identified as Khaled Mohammad Makhamrah, 22, and his cousin Mohamad Ahmad Makhamrah, 21, both from the Hebron area in the occupied West Bank.

 Our correspondent said the revoking of Ramadan permits was likely to cause anger among Palestinians from the occupied West Bank and Gaza, as it would be seen as collective punishment.

“The Ramadan permits were issued so that Palestinians could visit their relatives inside Israel, or to pray at al-Aqsa mosque,” she said.

COGAT, the Israeli defence ministry unit which manages civilian affairs in the occupied West Bank, also froze permits for 204 relatives of one of the alleged attackers.

Israel’s army locked down the Palestinian town of Yatta, where the attackers were from, with soldiers patrolling and stopping cars as they entered and exited.

‘Defensive steps’

Benjamin Netanyahu, Israeli prime minister, visited the scene of what he called the “cold-blooded terrorist murder” after returning from a trip to Moscow and conferred with senior colleagues, including Avigdor Lieberman, the newly installed defence minister.

“We discussed a range of offensive and defensive steps which we shall take in order to act against this phenomenon,” Netanyahu’s office quoted the premier as saying.

The shooting will serve as a first major test for Lieberman, sworn in on May 30 and who has in the past threatened severe action against Palestinian “terrorists”.

A spokesman for Hamas, the Palestinian group that governs the Gaza Strip and which is also present in the West Bank, called the attack a “heroic operation”.

Possible motives

It is not yet clear if the attackers were acting alone or as part of a larger plot.

Violence since October has killed at least 207 Palestinians, 32 Israelis, two Americans, an Eritrean and a Sudanese.

Most of the Palestinians killed were carrying out knife, gun or car-ramming attacks, according to Israeli authorities.

Others were killed in clashes or by Israeli air strikes in the Gaza Strip.

The violence has steadily declined in recent weeks, although attacks have continued to occur.

Explosion targets police vehicle in Turkey’s Istanbul

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At least 11 people killed and several wounded in bomb attack on police bus in the central district of Beyazit.

Istanbul

by Al Jazeera

A bomb attack targeting a police vehicle in a central Istanbul district has killed at least 11 people, including seven members of the police force, the city’s governor has said.

“Seven police and four citizens lost their lives,” Vasip Sahin, Istanbul’s governor, told reporters at the scene on Monday. Thirty-six people were injured, three of them seriously, he added.

Reports said the explosion took place near the Vezneciler metro station, which is within walking distance of some of the city’s main tourist sites, including the Suleymaniye Mosque.

Emre Rende, a freelance journalist reporting from Istanbul, said the “bus was targeted by a remotely detonated car bomb before a second blast believed to have been caused by a gas canister.

“The attack happened close the Grand Bazaar so it might have been done to keep tourists away,” he added.

According to the state-run TRT news channel, the bus was passing in the Beyazit district of Istanbul.

Pictures showed the bomb had turned the police vehicle into mangled wreckage and that nearby shops had their front windows smashed out by the force of the blast.

President Tayyip Erdogan said on Tuesday the country’s fight against armed groups will continue “to the end”. Speaking to reporters after visiting some of the injured in a hospital near the site of the blast, Erdogan said the attack was “unforgivable”.

The bombing came during the first days of Ramadan, the Islamic holy month, a time marked by dawn-to-dusk fasting and intense prayer.

Istanbul had already been hit by two bombings this year, including in tourist areas.

Both attacks were blamed on the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL, also known as ISIS) group, and a pair of attacks in Ankara that were claimed by Kurdish separatists and killed dozens.

The two attacks in Ankara were claimed by the Kurdistan Freedom Falcons (TAK) – a splinter group of the better-known outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).

The attacks have had a dire effect on the tourism industry heading into the key summer season.

Some 1.75 million foreigners came to Turkey in April, down more than 28 percent on April 2015, the tourism ministry said in its latest release.

Boxing legend Muhammad Ali dies at 74

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The heavyweight world champion’s fast fists and personality transcended sports and captivated the world.

Ali exploded on the public scene in the 1960s with several nationally televised fights [Reuters]

Ali exploded on the public scene in the 1960s with several nationally televised fights [Reuters]

by Al Jazeera

Ali’s death was confirmed in a statement issued by family spokesman Bob Gunnell late on Friday evening, a day after he was admitted to a Phoenix-area hospital with a respiratory ailment.
The cause of death or the name of the hospital where he died were not immediately disclosed.
Ali had long suffered from Parkinson’s syndrome, which impaired his speech and made the once-graceful athlete almost a prisoner in his own body.

Even so, Ali’s youthful proclamation of himself as “the Greatest” rang true until the end for the millions of people worldwide who admired him for his courage both inside and outside the ring.

“A part of me slipped away, the greatest piece,” George Foreman, a former heavyweight boxer and one of Ali’s most formidable opponents in the ring, said on Twitter after the news of Ali’s death.

Roy Jones Jr, a former champion boxer who grew up during Ali’s prime, also said on Twitter: “My heart is deeply saddened yet both appreciative and relieved that the greatest is now resting in the greatest place.”

Few could argue with his athletic prowess at his peak in the 1960s. With his dancing feet and quick fists, he could, as he put it, “float like a butterfly and sting like a bee”.

However, Ali became much more than a colourful and interesting athlete. He spoke boldly against racism in the 1960s, as well as the Vietnam War.

During and after his championship reign, Ali met scores of world leaders, travelled to promote Islam and for a time he was considered the most recognisable person on earth, known even in remote villages far from the US.

Al Jazeera’s Rob Reynolds, reporting from Los Angeles, said: “Ali was a product of his time, of the civil rights movement, of the Black Power movement. Coming of age, he was the symbol of the emergence of that way of thinking in the US.

“Things such as his conversion to Islam and his opposition to the Vietnam War, made him more than an athlete and a sports superstar. These made him more of a cultural figure.”

Ali once estimated he had made $57m in his pro career, but the effect of the punches lingered long after most of the money was gone.

Ali’s diagnosis of Parkinson’s disease came about three years after he retired from boxing in 1981.

His influence extended far beyond boxing. He became the unofficial spokesman for millions of blacks and oppressed people around the world because of his refusal to compromise his opinions and stand up to white authorities.

“I can’t imagine a world without Mohammad Ali. He has been such a towering figure. Not only in sports, but also culturally, politically and socially. He loved everyone and everyone who met him loved him,” Lou Eisen, a boxing writer and historian, said.

He told Al Jazeera from Toronto: “There is no bitterness in the man. He was not bitter towards the government or the boxing association, which did a lot of illegal things to him. He did not let the bitterness get to him.”

In a realm where athletes often battle inarticulateness as well as their opponents, Ali was known as the Louisville Lip and loved to talk, especially about himself.

Once asked about his preferred legacy, Ali said: “I would like to be remembered as a man who won the heavyweight title three times, who was humorous and who treated everyone right. As a man who never looked down on those who looked up to him … who stood up for his beliefs … who tried to unite all humankind through faith and love.

“And if all that’s too much, then I guess I’d settle for being remembered only as a great boxer who became a leader and a champion of his people. And I wouldn’t even mind if folks forgot how pretty I was.”

Ali was born in Louisville, Kentucky, on January 17, 1942, as Cassius Marcellus Clay Jr, a name shared with a 19th century slavery abolitionist. He changed his name after his conversion to Islam.

Ali was survived by his wife, the former Lonnie Williams, who knew him when she was a child in Louisville, along with his nine children.

UNHCR: 2,500 refugees drowned on way to Europe in 2016

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UN releases figures after deadliest week of the year for refugees as 880 lost their lives in Mediterranean.

Refugees and migrants on a fishing boat pictured before making contact with the Italian navy. (Photo: Italian Coastguard/Massimo Sestini)

Refugees and migrants on a fishing boat pictured before making contact with the Italian navy. (Photo: Italian Coastguard/Massimo Sestini)

by Al Jazeera

At least 2,510 refugees have died while making the perilous journey to Europe so far this year, the UN refugee agency said, with fears rising that many more will suffer the same fate.

According to UNHCR, the figure marks an increase of 25 percent from the same five-month period in 2015, when some 1,855 refugees drowned. In 2015, from January until the end of May, at least 57 people died en route to Europe.

“Thus far 2016 is proving to be particularly deadly,” William Spindler, a UNHCR spokesman, said. “This highlights the importance of rescue operations as part of the response to the movement of refugees and migrants in the Mediterranean, and the need for real, safer alternatives for people needing international protection.”

The announcement follows the deadliest week of 2016 for refugees at sea.

 

Over the past week, a series of shipwrecks off the Libyan and Italian coasts killed at least 880 people. That number was included as part of the UNHCR announcement, and marked an increase on previous estimates of around 700 people.

“According to some, unconfirmed, accounts, the recent increase in numbers is linked to efforts by smugglers to maximise income before the start of the holy month of Ramadan, in the coming week,” Spindler said in a statement.

So far this year, at least 203,981 people have made the journey to Europe, which is a similar number to those who arrived in the continent last year in the same period.

The International Organization for Migration (IOM) put the death toll from January to May at 2,443 people.

Both counts are regularly used by human rights organisations.

The IOM said most of those travelling to Italy were from Nigeria, Gambia, Senegal, Guinea and the Ivory Coast.

None of the deaths in May happened on the eastern Mediterranean route between Turkey and Greece, where arrivals have slowed to a trickle since the EU struck a deal with Ankara to curb the flow.

Analysis by the Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor said that during the week of May 23 to May 30, an average of five refugees drowned per hour as they tried to flee to Europe.

France: Smoke detected on EgyptAir flight before crash

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France confirms reports smoke was detected on the doomed EgyptAir flight, but says cause of crash still unknown.

EgyptAir

by Al Jazeera

The French aviation safety agency said that the EgyptAir A320 that crashed into the Mediterranean with 66 people aboard had transmitted automatic messages indicating smoke in the cabin.

“There were ACAR messages emitted by the plane indicating that there was smoke in the cabin shortly before data transmission broke off,” a spokesman of France’s Bureau of Investigations and Analysis told AFP news agency on Saturday.

ACAR, which stands for Aircraft Communications Addressing and Reporting System, is a digital system that transmits short messages between aircraft and ground stations.

The spokesman said it was “far too soon to interpret and understand the cause of Thursday’s accident as long as we have not found the wreckage or the flight data recorders.”

Flight data, as published on The Aviation Herald website, suggested that smoke alarms were set off on EgyptAir Flight 804 minutes before it crashed.

The Aviation Herald website, which tracks the aviation industry, said it received information that smoke alarms went off in the toilets of the Airbus A320 before the crash.

It also reported a smoke alert in the proximity to the electronics and equipment bay of the aircraft.

The signals were reportedly sent from three independent sources which passed on data from the Aircraft Communications Addressing and Reporting System ( ACARS).

“So many signals coming out at the same time are indicative of a fire on board the plane,” David Gleave, a senior independent aviation safety investigator, told Al Jazeera. “We need to know what started it. We need to recover the air frame to determine that.”

The Egyptair Airbus 320, from Paris to Cairo, vanished early on Thursday shortly after leaving Greek airspace.

The plane had been cruising normally in clear skies on the nighttime flight to Egypt’s capital when it suddenly lurched left, then right, spun all the way around and plummeted 38,000 feet into the sea, never issuing a distress signal.

Egyptian authorities have said they would investigate reports of smoke alerts.

“We are looking into this report,” an Egyptian civil aviation ministry official told the AFP news agency. “At this point I can’t deny or confirm it.”

Human remains found

Human remains, luggage and airline debris were retrieved Friday from the sea, around 290km north of the Egyptian coastal city of Alexandria.

The European Space Agency said a satellite on Thursday spotted a possible 2km-long oil slick, about 40km south-east of the last-known location of the plane.

The two black boxes from Egyptair Flight MS804 have yet to be discovered, and the cause of the crash is unknown.

Experts said answers will come only with an examination of the wreckage, the plane’s cockpit voice and the black boxes.

The search for wreckage was to intensify on Saturday, as French Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault was to meet relatives of the 15 French victims in Paris.

Richard Marquise, a former FBI agent who led the US task force investigating the Lockerbie bombing, told Al Jazeera that Egypt was quick to point to an attack, unlike France.

“It’s becoming a game of finger-pointing about who’s responsible, whether it’s a mechanical failure of EgyptAir, or a terrorist bomb on the aircraft,” he told Al Jazeera.

He added this was in contrast to the October 2015 Metrojet bombing, when Egypt was more reluctant than Russia to point to a possible attack. In that case, Egyptian authorities were responsible for security as the city of Sharm el Sheikh was the departure point.

Passengers

EgyptAir said passengers included: 30 Egyptians; 15 French; two Iraqis; one Briton; one Belgian; one Sudanese; one Chadian; one Portuguese; one Algerian; one Canadian; one Saudi and one Kuwaiti. They included a child and two babies.

Seven crew members and three security personnel were also on board.

In Egypt, grieving families and friends are wondering if their loved ones will ever be recovered.

Many have gathered in mosques for Salat al-Ghaib, or “prayers for the absent,” held for the dead whose bodies have not been found.

“This is what is ripping our hearts apart, when we think about it. When someone you love so much dies, at least you have a body to bury. But we have no body until now,” said Sherif al-Metanawi, a childhood friend of the pilot, Mohammed Shoukair.

EgyptAir flight MS804 from Paris to Cairo crashed

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egyptair

by BBC

An EgyptAir flight reported missing between Paris and Cairo has crashed, French President Francois Hollande confirmed.

The Airbus A320 with 66 people on board disappeared from radar at 02:30 Cairo time (00:30 GMT), soon after leaving Greek airspace.

Greece’s defence minister says Flight MS804 made “sharp turns” and plunged before dropping off the radar.

A major search is under way in seas south of the Greek island of Karpathos.

Greek and Egyptian armed forces are involved in the effort, and France has offered to send boats and planes.

Mr Hollande said he was keeping an open mind about the cause of the crash.

“We will draw conclusions when we have the truth about what happened,” he said.

“Whether it was an accident, or whether it was – and it’s something that is on our minds – terrorism.”

There were 56 passengers – including three children – seven crew members and three security personnel on board. They included 30 Egyptians, 15 French citizens and a Briton.

Flight MS804 left Charles de Gaulle airport in Paris at 23:09 local time on Wednesday (21:09 GMT) and was scheduled to arrive in the Egyptian capital soon after 03:15 local time on Thursday.

EgyptAir said the plane had been flying at 11,300m (37,000ft) when it disappeared from radar shortly after entering Egyptian airspace.

Aviation officials in Greece said earlier that air traffic controllers had spoken to the pilot a few minutes earlier and everything had appeared normal.

But Greece’s Defence Minister Panos Kammenos told a news conference that soon after entering Egyptian airspace, the plane had turned “90 degrees left and 360 degrees to the right” before plunging.

There was some earlier confusion over whether a distress signal had been sent by the plane.

Egypt’s state-run newspaper al-Ahram quoted an EgyptAir statement as saying the Egyptian army’s rescue and search had received a distress call from the plane at 04:26 local time – which would be around two hours after the flight disappeared.

But Egypt’s military subsequently said that no such signal had been received.

A Biopic on APJ Abdul Kalam Coming Soon

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Pramod Gore with relative of Dr APJ Kalam

It’s the season of Biopics in Tinsel Town, after biopics on the likes of Milkha Singh, Mary Kom, Sarabjit Singh and more it’s the life story of former Indian President namely the late APJ Abdul Kalam that’s attracted the film industry.

Film maker Pramod Gore who last made the acclaimed Marathi film Reti has taken up the herculean task to picturise the life & the times of the highly coveted scientist turned politician Abdul Kalam. “I will be producing the film under my banner Atharva Motion Pictures,” says producer Pramod Gore. But we wonder what made him take up this subject. “There’s so much that Kalamji has done for our nation, he is an inspiration to all of us. A complete rags to riches story where a boy from a small village rose against all odds to become not just the talented scientist that he was but also our President. I was amazed how a story as great as this still remained untold,” says the filmmaker.

Quite contrary to just producing the film, Pramod Gore went to the lengths of travelling till Rameshwaram, Kalam’s native place, met his elder brother who is now 99 years old along with his nephew who is 66 to get more insight into the life that APJ Abdul Kalam lived. “Yes, I traveled till Rameshwaram because I want to be thorough & not falter in conveying a story as great as this. And also had to seek permission from his family before going ahead with this film. I have also bought all of his 22 written works including the likes of “Ignited Minds”, “Wings of Fire”, “India 2020”, “The Kalam Effect” and more to have enough material.”

It is learnt that Pramod Gore will be signing a Hollywood director to make this biopic and wants to cast Irrfan Khan or Nawazuddin Siddiqui in the lead role. Confirming the news Pramod Gore avers, “There have been umpteen films on Gandhi but the one which stood out was that of Richard Attenborough. It’s not easy to weave an entire life into a 2 and a half hour film and I want capable hands on board for it. Which is why I want to cast Irrfan Khan or Nawazuddin Siddiqui also as APJ Abdul Kalam because I think they will be able to do full justice to the film.”

Similarly, Pramod Gore wants to rope in Allah Rakha Rahman for music & Gulzar for lyrics. “I have already registered the title of the film APJ with IMPPA which shows the seriousness of this project and I really think the industry should come out and support a film like this. Yes, I want to approach Allah Rakha Rahman & Gulzar Sahab because this story deserves the best. I will also be approaching the Indian Government, asking them if they want to make this film with me. I am hopeful for a positive response,” says Pramod Gore.

Interestingly, Pramod Gore is so moved by the story of APJ Abdul Kalam that when he went to visit Kalam’s native place and saw the conditions in which his Tomb is placed, he resolved to give all the revenue he would make out of the film into developing that land. He wants to build a library there too and do his bit in the name of APJ Abdul Kalam.

The biopic goes on the floors in Jul, 2016 and will be releasing in 2017.

Manohar quits as BCCI president for ICC, Thakur favourite

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BCCI

New Delhi: Shashank Manohar today stepped down as BCCI president barely seven months after being appointed for a second term in place of the late Jagmohan Dalmiya and is all set to take over as first independent chairman of ICC.

Manohar leaves at a time when the board is being directed to comply with the Supreme Court-appointed Justice Lodha panel’s reform recommendations.

In a letter addressed to Thakur, Manohar said, “I hereby tender my resignation with immediate effect from the post of President of Board of Control for Cricket in India. I also resign with immediate effect as the representative of BCCI on the International Cricket Council, as also the Asian Cricket Council on which I was nominated by the General Body of BCCI. I thank all my colleagues and the staff for their support and cooperation during my tenure. I wish all of you all the very best in taking the cause of Cricket to greater heights.”

According to reliable sources, BCCI secretary Anurag Thakur is being tipped to take over the hot seat. IPL chairman Rajeev Shukla is also in the running along with Maharashtra CA president and business magnet Ajay Shirke.

As per BCCI rules, a Special General Meeting (SGM) has to be convened within 15 days, apprising the members of the current situation. It is the prerogative of secretary Thakur to call such a meeting.

As per norms, Manohar has also resigned from ICC chairman’s post as he was a BCCI representative at the apex body and resignation in country’s board effectively means that he does not stay as ICC’s chairman. His tenure was supposed to end in June, 2016, after which he was set to take over as the first independant chairman of ICC.

The 58-year-old Manohar will not be a representative of any country’s cricket board as per the changes recommended by ICC board and will need two independant members of the ICC Board to recommend his name.

According to BCCI sources, Manohar was waiting for the Supreme Court’s final verdict but since it will only come out after the apex court opens post summer vacation, the Vidarbha lawyer possibly did not want to wait.

A top BCCI administrator told PTI: “We all had an idea that Shashank will be quitting BCCI post. But let’s not get into a debate as to whether he has dumped a sinking ship or not. Whether it has been prudent on his part to quit when BCCI is going through tough times is a matter of conjecture.”

Many BCCI members are of the opinion that they expected Manohar to anchor the clean-up process till his tenure ends in 2017 September, but his sudden change of heart to go for safer confines of ICC in Dubai has left everyone in the lurch.

(PTI)

Mercury makes rare transit between Earth and the Sun

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Passage across the face of the Sun for the first time in 10 years is an opportunity to learn about the solar system.

Mercury will next pass directly across the face of the Sun in 2019, and then not until 2032 [NASA]

Mercury will next pass directly across the face of the Sun in 2019, and then not until 2032 [NASA]

by Tarek Bazley, Al Jazeera

The planet Mercury is passing directly across the face of the Sun for the first time in 10 years, as it casts a shadow across South America, Africa, Western Europe and the east of North America.

Mercury, which is slightly larger than the Earth’s moon, is too small to see without binoculars or a telescope, and experts warn that looking directly at the Sun during Monday’s event could damage eyes.

“On no account should anyone try to look directly at the Sun to see Mercury, as this is incredibly dangerous,” Robert Massey of the UK-based Royal Astronomical Society told Al Jazeera.

Many astronomical observatories around the world have opened their doors to view the event, while NASA and the European Space Agency are livestreaming images of the event.

Mercury is the closest planet to the Sun and the smallest and fastest-moving one in the solar system. It will take six and a half hours to transit.

Although the event is of limited scientific value, it does provide an opportunity to learn about the solar system.

“Seeing the silhouette of a planet in motion in front of the Sun is a clear demonstration of the solar system in action,” said astronomer Francisco Diego of University College London.

Helps with detecting planets

The transit is also an example of how scientists detect planets in other solar systems, where they are mostly hard to see because they are lost in the glare of the star they circle.

“The Kepler observatory has detected more than 1,000 of these by looking for the small but characteristic dip in brightness as a planet passes directly between its star and the Earth,” said Massey.

Since the last time Mercury transited the Sun, NASA’s Messenger spacecraft spent four years orbiting around the planet, before being deliberately crashed into its surface last year.

The mission revealed Mercury’s moon-like surface in unprecedented detail, scarred by the collision of asteroids and meteorites.

It also mapped ancient lava flows and discovered what is believed to be ice at the planet’s poles.

“Planets in our own solar system are particularly helpful, because we can see them close up and learn vastly more about their similarities and differences than is possible for more distant planets,” Andrew Pontzen, a lecturer at University College London, told Al Jazeera.

Mercury will next pass directly across the face of the Sun in 2019, and then not until 2032.

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