Terror Attack in France-The driver was a 31-year-old man of Tunisian origin and a resident of Nice

Witnesses have described seeing "bodies flying like bowling pins" when a truck packed with weapons ploughed into a crowd during Bastille Day celebrations in the French city of Nice. At least 80 people have been killed according to the French Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve. Many of the 80 are children. At least 18 are in a critical condition. The death toll has been climbing since the attack began about 7.00am AEST. A spokesman for France's Interior Ministry said "it's going to be a very high toll". The driver is among the dead. The incident interrupted a fireworks display for the national celebration when the huge truck rammed into the crowd celebrating on the French Riviera. Mown down bodies remain strewn on the streets and the scene has been described as "apocalyptic" and "carnage on the road". Christian Estrosi, president of the region, says the truck in that caused carnage in the southern city was loaded with grenades, guns and larger weapons. Witnesses have described "running over bodies". A French journalist at the scene said: "I saw bodies flying like bowling pins along its route. Heard noises, cries that I will never forget." A man who witnessed the attack told CNN he saw the driver accelerate and aim for people as the vehicle slammed the crowd. The truck continued about two kilometres through the city's busy main drag mowing down people in its path. The driver then emerged from the truck and opened fire on the crowd, another eyewitness said. French media is now reporting the gunman got back in the driver's seat and travelled to another populated area before starting to shoot again. Police opened fire on the truck which crushed revellers and sent people running for their lives. The truck's driver was shot dead. French President Francois Hollande said the attack was clearly a "terrorist" act. Unconfirmed reports are circulating suggesting terror outfit Islamic State has claimed responsibility for the attack. The driver was a 31-year-old man of Tunisian origin and a resident of Nice. Details of his identity were obtained from papers found in the shot up truck following the attack. The truck driver was said to have shouted "allahu Akbar" (God the great) before being shot dead by police, local newspaper Nice-Martin reported. French newspapers have previewed their front pages following the overnight attack. Words like "carnage" and "horror" will dominate newsstands, accompanied by grim pictures of the shot up attack truck and lifeless bodies on the city's streets covered by sheets.

A French-Tunisian criminal well known to the police for armed attacks used a hired lorry to kill at least 84 people in a terrorist attack during Bastille Day celebrations in Nice, it emerged today. Many children were among the death toll in the Riviera city following a "cowardly and barbaric" atrocity that had all hallmarks of those carried out by Islamic State or Al-Qaeda. As hundreds remained in hospital, including 14 in intensive care, anti-terrorist judges opened an investigation into "mass murder". Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson today confirmed at least one British national was among those injured in the attack. Sources close to the enquiry said the perpetrator was a local 30-year-old career criminal who was born in Tunisia before moving to France. His 19 tonne lorry had zigzagged through crowds massing on the Promenade des Anglais on Thursday night, killing anyone he could. After being stopped by armed police, who fired bullets into the lorry's windscreen, the so far unnamed man exchanged fire with officers using a 7.65pistol, before being shot dead. "He was known to the police for violence, and using weapons, but had no direct links with terrorism," said an investigating source. "His identity card was found in the lorry. He had French and Tunisian nationality." The fact that the killer was known to the authorities will be of grave concern to those trying to prevent attacks in the country. A Paris parliamentary investigation into last year's attacks have identified multiple failings by France's intelligence agencies. As the United Nations issued a statement calling the latest attack "cowardly and barbaric", French Prime Minister Manuel Valls tweeted: "The city of Nice has been hit by terrorism on the day of our national holiday. Immense pain, the country is in mourning. The French will face it." President Francois Hollande meanwhile spoke of a "monstrosity", and said soldiers would be deployed to support gendarmes and police, particularly at the country's borders. A State of Emergency imposed last year after almost 150 people were killed during attacks on Paris would be extended beyond July 26th, Mr Hollande added. Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve meanwhile said: "We are at war with terrorists who want to strike us at any cost and who are extremely violent." Tony Molina, an American witness to the attack, told CNN: "There was still a crowd of people and then you just see this big white panel truck, I couldn't see the driver, but it just kept going at different angles from left to right at 25 to 30 miles and hour.

"People were screaming and running. I work in homicide and I've never seen anything like this. It's unbelievable." The Promenade Anglais was packed on what is traditionally the biggest public holiday in France when the man struck soon after 10.45am. The white lorry mounted the pavement continually at approximately 40mph and steered directly towards men, women, and children, some of whom were still dressed for the beach. Locals were advised to "stay indoors", as the emergency services dealt with the emergency, with soldiers and antiterrorist police flooding the area. The National Gendarmeris tweeted: "Emergency operation in progress. Keep calm and avoid city centre. Follow official social media accounts for information." British holidaymaker Esther Serwah, 59, was staying in a hotel a short walk from the scene. She said she had been on her way to the Promenade des Anglais for dinner with her daughters when people started screaming at her. Mrs Serwah, from Surrey, said: "I was just walking to the Promenade and then I saw everybody running and I just didn't know what was going on. People were screaming at me in French but I didn't understand. "Some people were lying on the streets dead and people were running over the bodies. Everybody was saying it's a terrorist attack. It's just horrible, horrible, horrible. I'm in shock. I'm still shaking." Both Islamic State and al-Qaeda are well known for driving vehicles into innocent people, prompting fears that tonight's incident could be linked to their activities. Bastille Day, which celebrates the storming of the Bastille prison in Paris during the French Revolution of 1789, is the country's biggest public holiday. France's Muslim Faith Council (CFCM) was among those organisations who condemned last night's attack "with great vigour". A CFCM statement read: "France has just been hit again by an attack of extreme gravity, one that was heinous and abject and designed to hurt our country on the day of the national holiday that celebrates values of liberty, equality and fraternity." The parliamentary investigation into last year's attacks which was published this month outlined '"global failures". A commission of MPs focused on the failure to prevent a series of attacks that killed a total of 147 people in 2015 - from January's gun attacks on Charlie Hebdo magazine and a kosher supermarket to the coordinated gun and bomb attacks on 13th November outside the national sports stadium, at bars and restaurants, and at the Bataclan concert hall. The report highlights a "global failure" of French intelligence and recommended a total overhaul of the intelligence services and the creation of a single, US-style national counter-terrorism agency.

ΠΡΟΣΠΑΘΗΣΑΝ ΝΑ ΣΒΗΣΟΥΝ ΤΗΝ ΟΛΥΜΠΙΑΚΗ ΦΛΟΓΑ --Joinville, Santa Catarina(VIDEO)

O Tour da Tocha segue pelo Brasil afora e nesta quarta-feira, dia 13 de julho, desembarcou em Joinville, Santa Catarina. No trecho final da viagem pelo estado, um dos símbolos olímpicos sofreu novamente na mão de manifestantes. Depois de tentarem apagar a chama jogando água ou derrubando o condutor, desta vez a tentativa foi com um extintor de incêndio. Usando um equipamento de tamanho reduzido, um homem invadiu a área de condução, mas não teve sucesso na empreitada. De supetão, levou uma gravata de um dos membros da Força Nacional de Segurança e a condutora Viviane, motorista da Rio 2016, seguiu seu trajeto.
Ela sofreu com a fumaça branca, que tomou conta do local. Viviane Ficou um pouco enjoada devido à inalação do pó químico, mas passa bem. 
Na semana passada, no Rio Grande do Sul, a chama olímpica também foi alvo de manifestantes. Por mais de uma vez pessoas tentaram jogar água na Tocha, mas sem sucesso. Nas duas oportunidades, os manifestantes foram contidos pela Força Nacional e detidos para averiguação. As ações aconteceram no trajeto que passou pela Redenção e depois pela Avenida João Pessoa, em Porto Alegre.
A proteção da Tocha é feita por cerca de 20 agentes da Força Nacional e dois carros do Comitê Organizador. Entre o condutor e os veículos de mídia e segurança é feito um corredor e um cordão de isolamento para evitar incidentes.
Nesta quinta-feira, o Tour da Tocha volta ao Paraná. Abre o dia em São José dos Pinhais e depois viaja até a capital Curitiba.

'Buenas noches Cenicienta': Una droga que se disuelve en la bebida alerta a Río de Janeiro

 "η Βραζιλία είναι μια χώρα με υψηλό ποσοστό εγκληματικότητας» και ότι «η πιο κοινή μορφή βίας είναι ένοπλη ληστεία". 

La droga que amenaza los JJ.OO. 2016 generalmente se utiliza en bares con el fin de cometer violaciones o robar.

Claudia Daut Reuters

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Una droga denominada 'Buenas noches Cenicienta' amenaza los Juegos Olímpicos de Río de Janeiro, informa 20minutos.es. La droga, que se detectó en los carnavales del país, causa confusión y pérdida de conocimiento. 

Por esta droga, que se disuelve en la bebida, durante el último carnaval desarrollado en febrero se observó "un aumento exponencial de denuncias de hurtos, robos" y de "hechos violentos de gravedad".

Pilar OlivaresReuters

"Es una sustancia que generalmente se utiliza en bares con el fin de violar", explicó Samira Bueno, directora ejecutiva del Foro Brasileño de Seguridad Pública, quien agregó que después las víctimas "apenas se acuerdan de lo sucedido". En junio la policía detuvo a dos hombres que usaron la droga en más de 23 ocasiones para robar a sus víctimas en la zona sur de Río, la más turística de la ciudad.

Varias embajadas, incluidas las de Argentina y España, han advertido a los turistas que estén atentos a sus bebidas en los bares. Las alertas internacionales se enfocan además en las amenazas que representan el virus del Zika, la violencia y la criminalidad.

Pilar Olivares Reuters

En ese sentido, la embajada de España advierte en su página web que "Brasil es un país con un alto índice de criminalidad" y que "la forma de violencia más común son los asaltos a mano armada". 

VIDEO--Το Ισλαμικό Κράτος καταρρίψει ένα Mi-25 στη Συρία, σκοτώθηκαν δύο ρώσοι πιλότοι

Медиа-крыло группировки ИГИЛ опубликовало кадры крушения ударного вертолета Ми-25, которым управляли российские пилоты-инструкторы.

Как ранее сообщалось, два летчика ВКС России геройски погибли в пятницу 8 июля во время боя с террористами ИГИЛ* под сирийской Пальмирой в провинции Хомс.

Напомним, вчера «Русская Весна» первой сообщила, что боевики ИГИЛ сбили военный вертолет ВВС Сирии на востоке Пальмиры.

В субботу российском оборонном ведомстве подтвердили эту информацию и рассказали, что 8 июля большая бандгруппа террористов ИГИЛ атаковала позиции Армии Сирии на востоке от Пальмиры. Прорвав оборону САА, боевики заняли господствующие высоты. В этот момент российские военные инструкторы, пилот полковник Ряфагать Хабибулин и летчик-оператор Евгений Долгин совершали облет сирийского ударного вертолета Ми-25 (экспортный вариант российского Ми-24).

В Минобороны уточнили, что «экипаж получил запрос от сирийского командования группировки на огневое поражение наступающих боевиков. Командир экипажа Ряфагать Хабибулин принял решение атаковать террористов».

Благодаря «грамотным действиями российского экипажа, наступление боевиков было сорвано. Израсходовав боекомплект, при развороте на обратный курс, огнем с земли вертолет был подбит террористами и упал в районе, подконтрольном сирийской правительственной армии. Экипаж вертолета погиб», — добавили в российском оборонном ведомстве.

Также сообщается, что геройски погибшие военнослужащие уже представлены командованием к высоким государственным наградам.

Известно, что полковник Хабибулин служил в должности командира 55-го отдельного полка армейской авиации, базирующегося на аэродроме Кореновск в Краснодарском крае. 

После падения Ми-25 тела пилотов с боем были эвакуированы с места крушения и на российскую военную базу.

Flooding in the Yangtze river basin in China has left 112 people dead or missing in recent days

Flooding in the Yangtze river basin in China has left 112 people dead or missing in recent days, with more damage feared from a typhoon expected to land within days. About 16 million people have been affected by heavy rains that have engulfed vast areas near the Yangtze, China's longest river, the Beijing News cited the civil affairs ministry as saying. Water levels in Lake Taihu, close to Shanghai, are at their highest since 1954, it said, adding the area faced a serious risk of flooding if a typhoon hit nearby on Friday. Pictures of a farmer in eastern China breaking down in tears as waters mounted around his 6,000 pigs were posted by state media. Other images showed a sports stadium in the central province of Hubei turned into a "giant bathtub" by the rainfall. Flooding is common during the summer monsoon season in southern China, but rainfall has been particularly heavy this year and many areas have been lashed by torrential rains this week. Rain is expected to move north this week towards the Huai river, the Beijing News added. China's vice-premier, Wang Yang, warned last month that a strong El Nino effect this year would increase the risk of floods in the Yangtze and Huai river basins. An El Nino effect was linked to China's worst floods of recent years when more than 4,000 people died in 1998, mostly around the Yangtze. The Beijing News quoted a meteorologist as saying rain patterns this year were more disparate than in 1998, diminishing the risk of a similar toll. China's national observatory issued an orange alert for storms across the country's south and east last week - the second highest warning in a four-tiered system. Whole villages were levelled and at least 98 killed in the eastern province of Jiangsu last month after the region was hit by a storm with hurricane-force winds and the worst tornado in half a century. Floods also hit south Asia this week, with 33 killed in Pakistan and 25 dead in India after unusually heavy rains.

Messi, καταδικάστηκε σε φυλάκιση για φορολογική απάτη

Ο Αργεντινός αστέρων Lionel Messi της Μπαρτσελόνα Jorge και ο πατέρας του καταδικάστηκαν την Τετάρτη σε 21 μήνες στη φυλακή για έναν φόρο εκατομμυριούχος απάτης στην Ισπανία, αν και εισάγετε δύσκολα φυλακή, όταν ποινές λιγότερο από δύο χρόνια.

Putin Tells Russian Diplomats: 'NATO... Making A Show Of Its Anti-Russian Stance'.....

Four Days To NATO's Warsaw Summit, Putin Tells Meeting Of Russian Diplomats: 'Today, NATO Seems To Be Making A Show Of Its Anti-Russian Stance'

On June 30, Russian President Vladimir Putin addressed the eighth meeting of Russian Federation ambassadors and permanent envoys at the Russian Foreign Ministry. In his speech, Putin stressed that NATO' committed a grave mistake by deciding to expand eastward, instead of building a new security architecture with Russia, "as a full-fledged partner, "to provide "equal and indivisible security from the Atlantic to the Pacific." He added that NATO not only seeks to find in "Russia's actions pretexts to affirm its own legitimacy and the need for its existence, "but is also taking "genuinely confrontational steps." However, as concerns Europe, Putin stressed that Russia had not abandoned the idea of establishing an economic and humanitarian common space from the "Atlantic to the Pacific "together with the EU. This common space could guarantee "the entire Eurasian continent" long-term sustainable development, an allusion to Putin's pet Eurasian integration project and the more ambitious idea of creating an economic and political space from Lisbon to Vladivostok.

As for the United States, Putin said that Russia sought a partnership based "on equality and mutual consideration of interests."

Below are excerpts from Putin's speech:

Russian President Vladimir Putin at the meeting of Russian Federation ambassadors and permanent envoys. (Source: Kremlin.ru, June 30, 2016)

'NATO...Is Taking Genuinely Confrontational Steps'

"...It is unacceptable to prolong the Ukrainian crisis and unacceptable to blame others for this, particularly Russia. This only worsens the already unhealthy situation on the European continent and aggravates the consequences of the great mistake that was NATO's decision to expand eastwards rather than to start building, with Russia as a full-fledged partner, a new architecture for equal and indivisible security from the Atlantic to the Pacific.

"Today, NATO seems to be making a show of its anti-Russian stance. NATO not only seeks to find in Russia's actions pretexts to affirm its own legitimacy and the need for its existence, but is also taking genuinely confrontational steps. The mythical Iranian nuclear threat has gone now. As I said publicly on many occasions, it was the Iranian nuclear threat that was used to justify the need for a missile defense system, but we see that work to build this system's infrastructure in Eastern Europe continues. Back when these plans were taking shape, we said that this was a deception, a fetish, a mere pretext. And this is exactly what it was. The number of military exercises has increased dramatically, including in the Black Sea and the Baltic Sea. We are constantly accused of military activity, but where? Only on our own soil. We are supposed to accept as normal the military build-up on our borders. Rapid reaction forces are being deployed in Poland and the Baltic countries, and there is a build-up in offensive weapons. All of this seeks to undermine the military parity achieved over a period of decades.

"Let me say that we keep constant watch over all that is happening. We know what constitutes an adequate response in this situation and we most certainly will respond if needed in the future. However, we are not going to let ourselves get intoxicated by these military passions. It seems that others are trying to nudge us this way, provoke us into a costly and futile arms race so that we divert resources and effort from our great socioeconomic development tasks at home. We will not do this, but we will always ensure our reliable defense and will guarantee the security of our country and its citizens

'Russia Has Not Abandoned The Idea Of Establishing A Common...Space From The Atlantic To The Pacific Together With The European Union'

"What I would like to stress in this respect is that 'Brexit' is the choice Britain's people have made and we have not and will not interfere in this process However, we will follow these developments closely of course, follow the talks between London and Brussels and the potential consequences for Europe and for all of us. It is clear that this referendum's traumatic effect will make itself felt for a long time yet. We will see how they all put democratic principles into practice.

"Let me also stress that not only has Russia not abandoned the idea of establishing a common economic and humanitarian space from the Atlantic to the Pacific together with the European Union, but we also think this would be the most promising policy in terms of guaranteeing the entire Eurasian continent's long-term sustainable development.

"As for the United States, as we know, the presidential election campaign is now in its final stage. Naturally, we will respect the American voters' choice and are ready to work with whoever becomes the next president.

"Moreover, what we want is to work in close cooperation with the United States on international affairs, but we will not accept the approach of that part of the U.S. establishment that thinks they can decide themselves in which areas we will cooperate and in which areas they will turn up the pressure, including through sanctions. We seek a partnership based on equality and consideration of each other's interests. Only on this basis can we work together...

"Our diplomats understand, of course, how important the battle to influence public opinion and shape the public mood is these days. We have given these issues much attention over recent years. However, today, as we face a growing barrage of information attacks unleashed against Russia by some of our so-called partners, we need to make even greater efforts in this direction.

"We are living in an information age, and the old saying that whoever controls information controls the world unquestionably sums up today's reality. Sometimes, you get the impression that an event has not taken place at all unless the media reports on it. [Former French President] Jacques Chirac said to me once, 'You must get the cameras in, otherwise, it will look as though we never actually met.' This is how things happen in practice.

"We must put up strong resistance to the Western media's information monopoly, including by using all available methods to support Russian media outlets operating abroad. Of course, we must also act to counter lies about Russia and not allow falsifications of history.”

Η Ήρα συναντά τον Δία

NASA's Juno spacecraft has finally made it all the way to Jupiter. 

The solar-powered craft took off from Earth in 2011 and is now orbiting Jupiter, the largest planet in our solar system. 

Juno burned its engines for 35 minutes in order to slow down its velocity by more than 1,200 miles per hour in order to safely enter the planet's orbit. In total, it traveled about 1.7 billion miles before reaching destination. 

Scientists believe Jupiter may be the first planet to form in our solar system, and it could hold clues about how the solar system changed over time. 

Over the course of the mission, researchers will investigate whether the planet has a solid core, map its magnetic field and learn more about the mysterious red spot on Jupiter's surface. 

Juno has already sent back some data for NASA scientists to digest. It captured the first images of Jupiter's moons in motion around the planet. 

And it used ultraviolet imaging to capture Jupiter's extremely powerful auroras. 

Since the planet is a gas giant, it gives off large waves of radiation that could degrade some of Juno's systems. If all goes as planned, the Juno mission will wrap up in February 2018.