Spokesman for China’s Ministry of Defence Yang Yujun speaks to reporters after a bilateral meeting with Japan ahead of the International Institute for Strategic Studies’ (IISS) Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore May 29, 2015.
REUTERS/EDGAR SU

China’s military on Thursday accused the Philippines of trying to “rope in” other countries to the dispute over ownership of the South China Sea and stir regional tension after Japan joined a military drill with the Philippines.

According to Japanese and Philippine officials, a Japanese surveillance aircraft, with three Filipino guest crew members, this week flew at 5,000 feet (1,524 m) above the edge of Reed Bank, an energy-rich area that is claimed by both China and the Philippines. It was accompanied by a smaller Philippine patrol aircraft.

Chinese Defence Ministry spokesman Yang Yujun, asked about the exercises, said that bilateral military cooperation between countries should benefit regional peace and security and not harm the interests of third parties.

“Certain countries are roping in countries from outside the region to get involved in the South China Sea issue, putting on a big show of force, deliberately exaggerating the tense atmosphere in the region,” he told a monthly news briefing.

“This way of doing things will not have a beneficial effect on the situation in the South China Sea.”

The exercise by Japan and the Philippines comes as Manila conducts separate drills with the U.S. military that began last week.

China claims most of the potentially energy-rich South China Sea, through which $5 trillion in ship-borne trade passes every year. The Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan also have overlapping claims

Japan worries that China’s domination in a region through which much of its sea-borne trade passes would isolate it. Tokyo is also locked in a dispute with Beijing over uninhabited islands in the East China Sea.

However, China and Japan have been gradually rebuilding ties after Chinese President Xi Jinping and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe held ice-breaking talks in Beijing last year.

Yang said that China and Japan had resumed discussions last week about setting up an air and maritime communication mechanism, designed to reduce the risk of accidents and misunderstandings.

Both countries agreed to step up preparatory talks on setting up this mechanism, he added.

(Reporting by Ben Blanchard; Editing by Nick Macfie)

Jun 25, 2015; Brooklyn, NY, USA; NBA draft pick Karl-Anthony Towns shakes hands with NBA commissioner Adam Silver after being picked first in the 2015 NBA draft at Barclays Center. Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports

Kentucky’s versatile big man Karl-Anthony Towns was the expected first overall pick by the Minnesota Timberwolves in the 2015 NBA Draft but surprises followed at Barclays Center on Thursday.

The Los Angeles Lakers and New York Knicks, two once-proud franchises, made big bets on players with potential while two international players were among the top five choices.

Towns, 19, is considered an ideal modern NBA big man with a combination of dominant defense, low post scoring brilliance and an outside shot — qualities craved by a Minnesota team that has not made the playoffs since 2004.

“I’m going to go in right away and just be as versatile as I can,” Towns said. “That’s what I want Wolves fans to know. I’m coming in with a winning attitude.”

The multi-talented, 6-foot-11 (2.11m) center averaged 10.3 points and 6.7 rebounds while shooting 56.6 percent from the floor as a freshman for a University of Kentucky team that went 38-0 in the regular college season.

Then came some twists.

The Los Angeles Lakers made 6-foot-5 (1.95m) guard D’Angelo Russell from Ohio State University the second pick of the draft, defying many prognosticators who had pegged Duke center Jahlil Okafor as going second overall.

Russell averaged 19.3 points, 5.7 rebounds and 5.0 assists in steering the Ohio State Buckeyes to a 24-11 record and was thrilled to get a chance to play with Kobe Bryant.

“I want him to take me under his wing, and gain every piece of knowledge that I can gain,” said Russell, a gifted offensive player with vision and a pure shooting action.

Okafor went third to the Philadelphia 76ers, despite having claimed big men Nerlens Noel and Joel Ebiid in recent drafts.

“I’m excited,” said Okafor. “I’m in the NBA. That was my dream my entire life.”

Two highly touted international players followed with the next two picks.

The New York Knicks claimed towering, sweet shooting forward Kristaps Porzingis of Latvia, who has played with Cajasol Seville in Spain, with the fourth pick.

The sharp-shooting, 6-foot-8 (2.03m) guard Mario Hezonja of Croatia, who also played in Spain for Barcelona, went fifth to the Orlando Magic.

Two picks later, the Denver Nuggets claimed dynamic point guard Emmanuel Mudiay, who was born in Congo, raised in Dallas and played for the Guangdong Southern Tigers in China last year.

Not all the selections stayed with the teams that called their names.

The New York Knicks netted Notre Dame guard Jerian Grant in a three-way deal, while NBA championship runner-up Cleveland used Duke guard Tyus Jones to add two players and a draft pick.

The Atlanta Hawks traded the rights to 15th overall pick Kelly Oubre to Washington for 19th pick Grant and two future second-round picks.

New York sent guard Tim Hardaway, Jr. to Atlanta for Grant.

The Cavaliers dealt the rights to 24th choice Jones to Minnesota for the rights to No. 31 Cedi Osman of Turkey, 36th pick Rakeem Christmas of Syracuse and a future second-round selection.

(Editing by Frank Pingue)

A group of tourists wear masks to prevent contracting Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) as they arrive at Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi International Airport, Thailand, June 21, 2015.
REUTERS/KEREK WONGSA

Two more patients with Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) virus have died, South Korea’s health ministry said on Friday bringing the total fatality to 31.

The ministry also reported one new case, taking the total to 181 in an outbreak that is the largest outside Saudi Arabia.

The new fatalities had pre-existing health problems, according to the health ministry. Most of the deaths have been elderly patients or those who had existing illnesses.

(Reporting by Ju-min Park; Editing by Richard Pullin)

Smoke rises in the Syrian town of Kobani as it is seen from the Turkish border town of Suruc in Sanliurfa province, Turkey, June 25, 2015. REUTERS/Ali Sahin

Islamic State fighters killed at least 145 civilians in an attack on the Syrian town of Kobani and a nearby village, in what a monitoring group described on Friday as the second worst massacre carried out by the hardline group in Syria.

Fighting between the Kurdish YPG militia and Islamic State fighters who infiltrated the town at the Turkish border on Thursday continued into a second day, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitoring group and a Kurdish official said.

A separate Islamic State assault on government-held areas of the northeastern city of Hasaka was reported to have forced 60,000 people to flee their homes, the United Nations said, warning as many as 200,000 people may eventually try to flee.

Islamic State has a record of conducting large scale killings of civilians in territory it captures in both Iraq and Syria, where it has proclaimed a caliphate to rule over all Muslims according to an ultra-hardline vision of Islam.

The attack on the predominantly Kurdish town of Kobani and the nearby village of Brakh Bootan marked the biggest single massacre of civilians by Islamic State in Syria since it killed hundreds of members of the Sunni Sheitaat tribe last year, Rami Abdulrahman, who runs the Observatory, said.

He said 146 civilians had been killed. Kurdish officials said at least 145 had died.

The assault included at least three suicide car bombs. The dead included the elderly, women and children, he said.

The Islamic State fighters were reported to number in the dozens and entered the town in five cars disguised as members of the YPG and Syrian rebel groups.

In their other assault on Friday, Islamic State fighters clashed with Syrian government forces in the south of Hasaka for a second day and shells hit areas in the center, the Observatory said.

It appeared that Islamic State was also fanning out toward the southeast of the city, which is divided into zones run separately by the Syrian government and a Kurdish administration that oversees the YPG.

The twin attacks which began on Thursday showed the fighters returning to the offensive after two weeks of defeats at the hands of Kurdish-led forces, supported by U.S.-led air strikes. Earlier this week the Kurds advanced to within 50 km (30 miles) of Raqqa city, the de facto capital of Islamic State’s self-declared caliphate.

In the latest battles, Islamic State has picked targets where it is difficult for the U.S.-led alliance to provide air support to those fighting on the ground. In Kobani, also known as Ayn al-Arab, aerial bombardment risks civilian casualties in residential areas targeted in the attack.

In Hasaka the Islamic State targets were in areas controlled by President Bashar al-Assad. The U.S.-led coalition, which has been bombing Islamic State targets in both Syria and Iraq since last year, has ruled out cooperating with Damascus.

HUGE DISPLACEMENT IN HASAKA

Kobani was the site of one of the biggest battles against Islamic State last year. The Kurdish forces eventually drove the militants out of the town in January with the help of U.S. air strikes and Iraqi Kurdish fighters, after months of battles.

Recent weeks have seen momentum shift repeatedly in the battle against Islamic State. The fighters advanced rapidly last month, seizing cities in Syria and Iraq, before the recent Kurdish advances in Syria. Islamic State fighters have often adopted a tactic of attacking elsewhere when they lose ground.

The group wrested control of at least one district of Hasaka city in its raid there on Thursday. The U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said an estimated 50,000 people had been displaced within Hasaka city while 10,000 had left northwards toward Amuda town, close to the Turkish border.

Speaking to Syrian state TV, the governor of Hasaka said the city was “safe and secure” and urged people to return home.

The Observatory said fighting was continuing. Government forces were carrying out air strikes targeting areas south of Hasaka controlled by Islamic State, it added.

State news agency SANA said scores of Islamic State fighters were killed in the bombardments. This could not be independently confirmed.

Assad has lost territory since March in areas of northwestern, southern and central Syria to a patchwork of armed groups, including Islamic State, other hardline Sunni jihadists, and rebels who profess a more inclusive vision for Syria.

The Observatory said at least 34 people had been killed in Deraa province in southern Syria since an insurgent alliance known as the Southern Front launched an operation on Thursday to capture the remaining areas of government control. Those killed included rebel fighters and a media activist, it said.

The head of one of the rebel groups fighting in the south said there had been progress, but it was not fast.

“The battle continues,” Bashar al-Zoubi, the head of Yarmouk Army, told Reuters.

Al Qaeda’s Syria wing Nusra Front also has a presence in the south. SANA said the army had targeted Nusra Front on Friday, killing a number of fighters and destroying their weapons.

The government has focused on shoring up control over the main cities in the west, including Damascus, with vital military support from the Iranian-backed Lebanese group, Hezbollah.

(Additional reporting by Tom Perry; Editing by Tom Perry and Peter Graff)

Friday, June 26, 2015
Police cordon off the Imam Sadiq Mosque after a bomb explosion following Friday prayers, in the Al Sawaber area of Kuwait City June 26, 2015. REUTERS/Jassim Mohammed

The Islamic State militant group claimed responsibility for the attack, which also wounded 202 people according to the interior ministry, in the district of Sawaber in the eastern part of the Kuwaiti capital.

Parliament member Khalil al-Salih, who was at the mosque when the attack occurred, said worshippers were kneeling in prayer when the bomber walked into the Imam al-Sadeq Mosque and detonated his explosives, destroying walls and the ceiling.

“It was obvious from the suicide bomber’s body that he was young. He walked into the prayer hall during sujood (kneeling in prayer). He looked …in his 20s, I saw him with my own eyes,” he told Reuters by telephone.

“The explosion was really hard. The ceiling and wall got destroyed,” he said, adding that more than 2,000 people from the Shi’ite Ja’afari sect were praying at the mosque.

Security forces quickly sealed off the perimeter of the mosque while rescue workers carried the wounded to hospital.

Islamic State named the bomber as Abu Suleiman al-Muwahed and said in a statement posted on social media that he had targeted a “temple of the rejectionists” — a term it generally uses to refer to Shi’ites, whom it regards as heretics.

Shi’ites comprise between 15 and 30 percent of the predominantly Sunni Muslim Gulf Arab state, where members of both communities are known to live side by side with little apparent friction.

Islamic State had urged its followers on Tuesday to step up attacks during the Ramadan fasting month against Christians, Shi’ites and Sunni Muslims fighting with a U.S.-led coalition against the ultra-hardline jihadist group.

Also on Friday, a gunman killed 28 people including foreign tourists in a beach resort in Tunisia. No one immediately claimed responsibility, but Islamist militants have previously targeted tourist sites in Tunisia and elsewhere in North Africa.

BLOOD DONATIONS

The Health Ministry said Kuwait’s blood bank had opened additional centers to receive blood donations and it urged citizens with non-urgent medical needs to avoid the emergency units.

Pictures posted on social media and Kuwaiti news websites showed men in traditional white robes smeared with blood outside the mosque. A second photo showed a row of victims wrapped in white body bags and a third the collapsed ceiling of the mosque.

The Interior Ministry told citizens to stay away from the scene to allow authorities to investigate.

Kuwaiti television showed footage of the emir, Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmed al-Sabah, visiting the damaged mosque.

Prime Minister Sheikh Jaber al-Mubarak al-Sabah, who visited the wounded at the Emiri Hospital, condemned the bombing as an attempt to jeopardize Kuwait’s national unity.

“This incident targets our internal front, our national unity,” Sheikh Jaber told Reuters outside the hospital. “But this is too difficult for them and we are much stronger than that.”

Islamic State has recently twice targeted Shi’ite mosques in neighboring Saudi Arabia and carried out attacks against members of the sect’s Zaydi branch in Yemen.

Kuwait recently approved legislation allowing for security cameras to be placed at public places.

Yaqoub Al-Sanea, the minister of justice, religious endowments and Islamic affairs, said that despite Friday’s attack, “Kuwait will remain an oasis of security for all groups of Kuwaiti society and all sects. The government is taking many procedures to protect prayers and mosques.”

(Reporting by Hadeel al-Sayegh, Omar Fahmy and Ahmed Hagagy; Writing by Sami Aboudi; Editing by William Maclean and Mark Heinrich)

Injured victims from an accidental explosion during a music concert lie on the ground at the Formosa Water Park in New Taipei City, Taiwan, June 27, 2015. REUTERS/Wang Wei

The number of party revelers injured in a fire at a Taiwan water park rose to 519 on Sunday, as authorities began investigating the cause, suspected to be a sudden explosion of a colored powder thrown on those attending the party.

Six foreigners and seven visitors from Hong Kong, mainland China and Macau were among those injured after about 1,000 people dancing at Saturday’s event were sprayed with the powder, as a special feature of a festival also held in previous years.

The blaze, which broke out around 8.30 p.m. at the Formosa Fun Coast water park on the outskirts of the capital, Taipei, is suspected to have been caused by an explosion of the colored powder, local government official Lin Chieh-yu told Reuters.

“It remains under investigation as to what made the powder explode,” he added, however.

Authorities have banned the use of the powder until the investigation is completed and its safety can be assured.

“The next few days will be a critical time for the injured,” Taiwan Premier Mao Chi-kuo told reporters. Of the 519 injured, 419 are still being treated in 41 hospitals across the island.

In the immediate aftermath of the explosion, rescuers treated hundreds of people, most of them aged between 20 and 30, who wore wet swimsuits and lay on inflatable plastic doughnuts.

A video posted online by Apple Daily showed dancers in front of the stage engulfed in clouds of colored powder a moment before a fireball erupted, followed by pockets of flame, triggering panic and screams.

“There was blood and people were on fire,” one injured man said.

No death has yet been reported, but victims suffered burns on limbs and torsos, with some passing out from the pain while others had burned clothes stuck to their skin, media reports and pictures showed.

“Her whole life is ruined,” sobbed the father of Chu Li, an 18-year-old girl with burns on 80 percent of her body, during a visit by President Ma Ying-jeou to victims in a Taipei hospital.

Soldiers, army vehicles and medical services joined the rescue effort, while hospitals in four municipal precincts, along with Taipei, are treating sufferers.

The amusement park has been closed temporarily, it said on its website on Sunday.

Taipei has sweltered in temperatures exceeding 30 degrees Celsius (86 degrees Fahrenheit) in recent weeks.

(Additional reporting by Faith Hung; Editing by Clarence Fernandez)

A Google self-driving vehicle is parked at the Computer History Museum after a presentation in Mountain View, California May 13, 2014.
REUTERS/STEPHEN LAM

Google Inc (GOOGL.O) said on Thursday it had started testing the latest prototypes of its self-driving cars on Mountain View, California roads, with safety drivers aboard.

The prototypes will join Google’s Lexus cars, which use the same self-driving software, the company said in a blog post on Thursday. (bit.ly/1GKVqur). Google’s self-driving Lexus RX450h sport utility vehicles have been in operation for several years.

Although the prototypes are designed to work without a steering wheel or pedals, safety drivers will have a removable steering wheel, accelerator pedal and brake pedal during the test phase in case they need to take over driving.

Earlier this month, Google launched a website specifically for the self-driving car. That came after increasing criticism by customers and consumer groups that the search giant was not providing enough information about the project.

Google has so far reported 12 accidents involving the prototypes. Injuries have been minor, the search giant has said, and accidents were mostly a result of human error by the drivers of the other cars involved.

(Reporting by Yasmeen Abutaleb; Editing by Alan Crosby)

A customer tries different e-cigarette flavors at the Henley Vaporium in New York, June 23, 2015.
REUTERS/LUCAS JACKSON

(Reuters Health) – While some smokers consider electronic cigarettes a potential aid in quitting, some people who have already quit see them as a temptation to resume a habit they fought hard to ditch, a small study suggests.

Researchers in Scotland interviewed 64 smokers and found little consensus about the potential benefits and harms of e-cigarettes, which may reflect division in the medical community on the appropriateness of promoting e-cigarettes as a safer alternative to the real thing, the authors note in the journal Tobacco Control.

“Because e-cigarettes are relatively new products we are only beginning to learn about the health risks,” senior study author Amanda Amos, a researcher at the Center for Population Health Sciences at the University of Edinburgh Medical School, said by email.

E-cigarettes are designed to mimic the real thing, with a glowing tip that emits a cloud of vapor. There’s a battery and heating element inside as well as a cartridge that holds nicotine and other liquids or flavorings.

Because part of what makes cigarettes harmful is the tobacco smoke, it’s possible that e-cigarettes might be safer because they don’t actually burn tobacco. Even so, the nicotine inside e-cigarettes is still addictive.

Amos and colleagues conducted 12 focus groups and 11 individual interviews with current smokers and people who had quit smoking within the past year.

Most participants viewed smoking as a form of addiction and believed willpower played a strong role in quitting. Almost all of them had tried e-cigarettes at least once.

They generally viewed e-cigarettes as distinct from other nicotine replacement products like patches or gum that are designed to help people quit. Because general practitioners give nicotine alternatives to smokers trying to quit, the study participants tended to think of these as medical products.

With e-cigarettes, however, people were less clear about what their intended purpose or correct use might be, though they were seen as less directly tied to smoking cessation than patches or gum.

Some people saw e-cigarettes as a more satisfying replacement to smoking, while others viewed them as less desirable or even as a threat to smoking cessation.

“This paper shows that the public’s view of e-cigarettes is far from being clear, with a great deal of ambiguity around the product and its intended use,” Dr. Ricardo Polosa, a professor of internal medicine at the University of Catania in Italy.

“Really, it’s not complicated at all,” Polosa, who wasn’t involved in the study, said by email. “E-cigs are a much safer alternative to smoking and are intended for smokers who are unable to quit using other methods.”

While the study is too small to draw many conclusions about public perception of e-cigarettes, it highlights widespread confusion among consumers that has been observed in many countries, said Dr. Konstantinos Farsalinos, a researcher at Onassis Cardiac Surgery Center in Athens.

“Unfortunately, the end result is that smokers are discouraged from using e-cigarettes as an alternative to smoking,” Farsalinos, who wasn’t involved in the study, said by email. “For those smokers who cannot switch with, or do not want to use the pharmaceutical medications, e-cigarettes can really be life-saving.”

SOURCE: bit.ly/1eMb7bO Tobacco Control, online June 8, 2015.

Police officers patrol the beach near the Imperial Marhabada resort, which was attacked by a gunman in Sousse, Tunisia, June 28, 2015. REUTERS/Zohra Bensemra

Hundreds of armed police patrolled the streets of Tunisia’s beach resorts on Sunday and the government said it will deploy hundreds more inside hotels after the Islamist militant attack in Sousse that killed 39 foreigners, mostly Britons.

Thousands of tourists have left Tunisia since Friday’s attack, which has shocked the North African country that relies heavily on tourism for jobs and foreign currency revenues.

Britain’s Foreign Office warned late on Saturday that Islamist militants may launch further attacks in Tunisia after a gunman opened fire on the Imperial Marhaba resort in the deadliest such attack in Tunisia’s modern history.

At least 15 Britons were among the dead and wounded along with German, Irish and Belgian nationals in Sousse. The health ministry says at least 40 people were wounded without giving any details of their nationalities.

“We are going to deploy 1,000 armed police to protect hotels and tourists,” Tunisian Interior Minister Najem Gharsalli told reporters late on Saturday night.

Since its 2011 uprising to oust Zine El-Abidine Ben Ali, Tunisia has made a peaceful transition to democracy with a new constitution and free elections. It is seen as a model for the region.

But its young democracy has also been tested by the rise of hardline Islamist movements, some of which have turned to violence. The army has been fighting a campaign against pockets of Islamist militants near the Algerian border.

State news agency TAP said gunmen raided houses for food in El Kef, a northeastern city about 160 km (100 miles) from the coast and 40 km from the Algerian border, before heading to the mountains that separate the two countries. TAP gave no further details.

Islamic State has claimed the Sousse attack. But officials say the gunman, named as Saif Rezgui, was not any watchlist of known potential militants. One source said he appeared to have been radicalised over the last six months by recruiters.

It was the second major attack in Tunisia this year, following an Islamist militant assault on the Bardo Museum in Tunis in March when gunmen killed a group of foreign visitors as they arrived by bus.

The tourism minister has described the Sousse attack as a catastrophe for the industry, which accounts for about seven percent of the country’s gross domestic product.

“Germans, French and British officials informed us they would not prevent tourists from coming to Tunisia, but they want to participate in the investigation and to see clear security decisions,” tourism minister, Salma Loumi, told reporters on Sunday.

“We will receive all ambassadors on Tuesday to inform them of all security measures taken to protect tourists,” she said.

Loumi noted that many British tourists had decided to stay in Tunisia until the end of their holidays.

More than 3,000 tourists had already left the country a day after the attack.

“Tunisia is a beautiful country, and we will come back, but right now we need to leave, we need to forget what happened,” said Lucy, a young British tourist leaving from a local airport near Sousse. “It’s clear it is not safe here at the moment.”

Islamist jihadists have attacked North African tourist sites before, seeing them as legitimate targets because they allow for a Western way of life and are tolerant of alcohol. Tunisia is one of the most secular countries in the Arab world.

Prime Minister Habib Essid said his government plans within a week to close down 80 mosques that remain outside state control, for inciting violence, and crack down on financing for certain associations, in order to counter jihadi rectruiters.

(Additional reporting by Tarek Amara; Writing by Patrick Markey; Editing by Louise Ireland)

Men carry chairs at the entrance of the house of Saif Rezgui, a gunman who shot 39 tourists on the beach of the Imperial Marhaba Hotel, in Gaafour, Tunisia, June 28, 2015.
REUTERS/ZOUBEIR SOUISSI

On Wednesday, Saif Rezgui sat down with friends in his Tunisian hometown to chat about his favorite soccer team, girls and his break-dance skills over coffee and cigarettes.

On Thursday, he met up with his uncle in Gaafour, catching up on family matters, on a break from his master’s studies in the nearby historic town of Kairouan.

A day later, Resgui walked calmly though the Imperial Marhaba beach hotel on Tunisia’s Mediterranean coast opening fire with a Kalashnikov, and in more than five minutes slaughtered 39 foreign tourists in the name of Islamic State.

Once again, Tunisia is in shock over how one of its young men with little warning turned from what appeared to be a normal life to hardline violent ideology of Islamic jihad.

Again, a well-educated Tunisian from a middle class family appears in a short time to have fallen prey to radical recruiters who turned him away from a life of soccer and music to become a militant Islamist.

In Gaafour, an isolated farming town on the arid plains southwest of Tunis, neighbors and family struggle to piece together how a neighborhood favorite and son became a killer responsible for the country’s worst militant attack.

Authorities and witnesses say Rezgui was the only gunman who opened fire on the beach of the Imperial Marhaba, working his way through the pool, and hotel reception picking out foreigners, before he was shot himself by police.

Just as with the two young Tunisians who attacked the Bardo museum in Tunis in March, killing 21 people, Saif gave little hint to family and friends of his new radical beliefs. If anything he revealed nothing at all.

A fan of break-dance, rap music and most of all Club Africa, Tunisia’s league champions, Rezqui worked part time in the small Ben Hassan café in Gaafour serving coffee and cigarettes.

“Who could imagine he would commit such a horror?” Ali Rezgui, his uncle, told Reuters, slumped in a plastic chair outside the modest one-story white house where the family gathered to mourn.

“Maybe he was changed where he studied, maybe it was something on the internet. But we just don’t have any answers.”

Like many rural Tunisian towns, there is little opportunity for the youth of Gaafour, a dusty collection of low buildings amid the wheat fields and scattered olive trees.

But neighbors and friends remember Rezgui as a cheerful chatty young man who prayed regularly, but never talked about religion. He was studying away but was often back home.

Last Wednesday, he met with four or five friends in a café to catch up after returning from his studies in Kairoaun. They talked about football even singing team chants.

“He didn’t show any signs of extremism or anything. He never talked about religion,” said Mohammed, a friend. “It’s a shock to see someone who you spend so much time with, a friend, become a killer.”

SIMILAR PATH

Whatever his motivation, Rezgui had taken a well-traveled path. Middle class Tunisians, from footballers to professionals and students have left from similar towns across the country to fight for Islamist militant groups overseas.

The government estimates more than 3,000 Tunisians are fighting for Islamic State and other groups in Syria, Iraq and increasingly in neighboring Libya.

Threats from Islamist militants is becoming the greatest challenge to Tunisia since it emerged to democracy following its 2011 uprising against autocrat Zine El-Abidine Ben Ali.

Democracy brought a new constitution and free elections, but the end of Ben Ali’s suppression allowed ultra-conservative Islamist movements to flourish. Some turned violent; others took over mosques and religious schools to spread a hardline message in one of the Arab world’s most secular countries.

The Bardo killers — one from a similar rural town as Gaafour; the other from Tunis — were both recruited by hardline preachers at their mosques. Both spent time in Libya at training camps before their attack.

How Rezgui fits into this current is still unclear. There was little clue at all he had been recruited. Gaafour’s mosque is not linked to any ultraconservative Islamists.

He was studying in Kairouan which, with its famous Great Mosque, after the 2011 revolution become a hub for hardline Islamist groups such as Ansar al-Sharia.

But authorities say Rezgui was not on any terrorism watchlist or known to associate with hardline Islamists. He was not known to police as a suspect. Security sources said he appeared to have been radicalized just over the last six months.

“He was in contact with extremists outside of Tunisia, through the internet,” one security source said.

Forensic evidence shows that all the bullets at the beach resort massacre were fired from the Kalashnikov Rezgui used in the attack, indicating he was the only attacker, the source said.

Rezgui may have acted alone as a so-called “Lone Wolf” jihadist more inspired by Islamic State’s jihadist message than associated directly with the militant group. But he kept his secret life well-hidden.

“It’s hard to believe. I really can’t comprehend it,” said Ahmed, who danced in a break-dance group with Rezgui. “When I saw his image with the Kalashnikov, I just keep thinking of how we had just been together.”

(Reporting by Patrick Markey; editing by Ralph Boulton)

An unmanned SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket explodes after lift-off from Cape Canaveral, Florida, June 28, 2015. REUTERS/Mike Brown

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – An unmanned SpaceX rocket exploded about two minutes after liftoff from Florida on Sunday, destroying a cargo ship bound for the International Space Station in the latest in a string of mishaps in supplying the orbiting outpost.

The 208-foot-tall (63-meter) Falcon 9 rocket had flown 18 times previously since its 2010 debut, all successfully. Those missions included six station cargo runs for NASA under a 15-flight contract worth more than $2 billion.

However SpaceX, a company founded and owned by technology entrepreneur Elon Musk, has twice previously tried and failed in an experiment to land the rocket on a platform in the ocean.

Sunday’s accident soon after liftoff from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station was the second successive botched mission to resupply the space station. A Russian Progress cargo ship failed to reach the outpost in April following a problem with its Soyuz launcher.

The cause of Sunday’s explosion was not yet clear, officials said.

“This was a blow to us. We lost a lot of research equipment on this flight,” NASA Associate Administrator Bill Gerstenmaier told a news conference.

The explosion also marks a setback for SpaceX, or Space Exploration Technologies. The company was poised to compete for the first time against United Launch Alliance, a joint venture of Lockheed Martin Corp (LMT.N) and Boeing Co (BA.N) and the current sole launch provider for military and spy satellite launches, to launch a GPS III satellite.

An investigation into the explosion will ground the Falcon 9 rockets for “a number of months or so” but less than a year, SpaceX President Gwynne Shotwell told the news conference.

A preliminary analysis indicated a problem with the rocket’s upper-stage engine, Musk said on Twitter.

The company had hoped to use the rocket’s discarded 14-story-tall first stage in an innovative landing test, part of its overall goal to refurbish and refly its rockets, slashing launch costs.

A platform had been stationed in the Atlantic Ocean in hopes of serving as a landing pad. Instead, the rocket broke apart in mid-air. Recovery teams were dispatched to attempt to collect debris for analysis.

Two previous experiments, in January and April, came close to succeeding but technical problems caused the rockets to crash into the platform.

SPACE STATION SUPPLIES

The International Space Station crew – two Russian cosmonauts and an American astronaut – has about four months of food and supplies on board, so the loss of the cargo shipment does not pose an immediate problem for them, said NASA station program manager Mike Suffredini.

The station is expected to be returned to its full, six-member crew in July. But if food or water supplies dwindled to 45 days, some of the crew could return home via the Russian Soyuz capsules that are parked at the outpost.

Sunday’s accident leaves the United States temporarily dependent on Russia and Japan to resupply the station. NASA’s second cargo transporter, run by Orbital ATK (OA.N), remains grounded following a launch accident in October.

Russia hopes to return its troubled Soyuz rocket and Progress cargo ship to flight on Friday. Japan is slated to fly its HTV capsule to the station in August.

Sunday’s problem started about two minutes and 19 seconds after liftoff when SpaceX lost contact with the Falcon, NASA launch commentator George Diller said.

The accident occurred just before the rocket was to discard its first stage two minutes and 39 seconds after liftoff.

Despite the explosion, one SpaceX customer voiced support in the company and the Falcon 9.

“One inevitable failure for such a young system should not in any way shake anyone’s faith in the rocket or the team. What’s amazing is that it took this long to happen,” said Mike Gold, business operations director with Nevada-based Bigelow Aerospace.

The Dragon capsule was loaded with 5,461 pounds (2,477 kg) of food, clothing, equipment and science experiments for the space station, a $100 billion research laboratory that flies about 260 miles (420 km) above Earth.

Dragon is the only one of the four cargo ships flying to the station that can return science experiments and gear to Earth. The other spacecraft – Russia’s Progress, Orbital’s Cygnus and Japan’s HTV – burn up in the atmosphere after they make their deliveries and are released back into space.

Equipment lost aboard Dragon include a spacesuit, water filtration equipment, an oxygen tank and a docking system so space taxis under development by SpaceX and Boeing can park at the station. NASA hopes to turn over crew transportation to the U.S. companies before the end of 2017, breaking Russia’s monopoly.

Including its station cargo runs for NASA, SpaceX has a backlog of nearly 50 missions, worth more than $7 billion, including dozens of commercial communications satellites.

The company last month won U.S. Air Force certification to fly military and national security missions on the Falcon 9.

SpaceX holds a second NASA contract, worth up to $2.6 billion, to upgrade its Dragon capsule to fly astronauts to the station. Boeing’s contract is worth up $4.2 billion.

(Reporting by Irene Klotz; Additional reporting by Andrea Shalal in Washington; Editing by Eric Beech and Frances Kerry)

FILE PHOTO: People wearing masks to prevent contracting Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) ride on an escalator at the Bamrasnaradura Infectious Diseases Institute in Nonthaburi province, on the outskirts of Bangkok, Thailand, June 19, 2015.
REUTERS/CHAIWAT SUBPRASOM

An Omani man who became Thailand’s first case of Middle East Respiratory Sydnrome (MERS) has been declared free of the deadly virus, Thailand’s health ministry said on Monday.

The 75-year-old man, who had traveled to Bangkok for treatment for a heart condition and was then diagnosed with the virus, will remain in quarantine for the time being.

“In the last test results we did not find the MERS virus in the patient,” Surachet Satitramai, acting permanent secretary at the Public Health Ministry, told Reuters.

“His condition is much better but we still need to see if his other health conditions, including his heart condition, will have any effect on his recovery.”

He said three of the man’s relatives who traveled with him to Thailand were also free of the virus. Thailand’s health ministry is still monitoring 36 people who were exposed to its single patient.

Thailand confirmed its first case of MERS earlier this month, becoming the fourth Asian country to register the virus this year.

In South Korea, which is battling the largest MERS outbreak outside Saudi Arabia, 31 people have died from the virus. South Korea’s public health ministry reported one new case on Friday, taking the total to 181.

Health authorities have said the virus may have leveled off but were more guarded in their assessment last week.

Thailand’s status as a hub for medical tourism could be helping it contain the spread of MERS, government and health officials said last week.

First identified in humans in 2012, MERS is caused by a corona virus from the same family as the one that triggered the 2003 outbreak of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS).

There is no cure or vaccine.

(Reporting by Aukkarapon Niyomyat and Amy Sawitta Lefevre; Writing by Amy Sawitta Lefevre; Editing by Paul Tait)

FILE PHOTO: Isang mag-ina na magkasamang nag-aaral o gumagawa ng takdang aralin sa bahay. (Rogz Necessito Jr, / Photoville International)

MANILA, Philippines — Anim na oras na ang iginugugol sa eskwelahan ng batang si Joie Rose Baracael, grade seven student sa Tandang Sora High School.

Kaya naman pagdating sa bahay, halos pagod na ito sa kalahating araw na pakikinig sa leksyon ng kanyang mga guro.

Problema pa ni Joie Rose at ng mga magulang nito ang madalas na pagkakaroon ng maraming assignment pag-uwi sa bahay.

Ayon sa kanyang tatay, umaabot sa dalawa hanggang sa apat ang ginagawang homework ni Joel kada araw, at kadalasan kahit weekend ay marami pa ring takdang aralin ang ipinauuwi ng mga guro sa kanyang anak.

Bunsod nito, nawawalan na ng oras para sa kanyang sarili ang bata maging ang panahon sana na iginigugol nito kasama ang pamilya ay nauubos na sa paggawa ng school works.

Salaysay ng magulang ni Joie Rose, “Problema namin sa ngayon dahil marami pong binibigay na assignment ang eskwelahan , kahit po Biyernes may assignment po. Kahit ipapahinga na ng bata tuluy-tuloy pa rin po. Kaya yung mga bata naawa rin po ako.

Ayon naman ni Joie Rose, “Yung iba (na assignment) madali po, yung iba mahirap, (nakakaubos ng) isang oras.”

Ayon naman sa Department of Education, mahalaga ang pagkakaroon ng assignment upang lalo pang mapagbuti ang kakayahan ng mga estudyante at maihanda ang mga ito sa mga susunod na aralin.

Ngunit paalala ng kagawaran sa mga guro, dapat limitado lamang ang pagbibigay ng homework sa mga mag-aaral, upang mabigyan pa ng panahon ang mga ito na makapagpahinga pagkagaling sa ekskwelahan.

Pahayag ni DEP-NCR Dir. Luz Almeda, “During school days importante talaga yang (assignments) except that it should be regulated; yung assignment na hindi naman malaki, dapat yung kung ano yung magawa ng bata in less than five minutes in ten minutes, iyun lang. Hindi yung the whole night malaki yung babasahin niya , one novel read overnight — that’s too much.”

Sa ilalim ng DepEd Memorandum Order 392 na inilabas noong 2010, ipinagbabawal ang pagbibigay ng assignment sa mga estudyante tuwing weekend.

Ito ay upang mabigyan ng sapat na panahon ang mga mag-aaral na makapaglaro at makapag-bonding sa kanilang mga pamilya.

Dagdag pa ni Director Almeda, “So sa Friday, Saturday, Sunday wala nang assignment para yung bata maka-devote his or her time to family activities. So there’s more bonding, more enjoyable activities and sharing among family members.”

Bukod sa mga assignment, sinabi rin ng DepEd na dapat limitahan ang pagpapagawa ng mga project sa mga estudyante.

Hindi rin kinakailangan na ito’y maging magastos sa halip ito ay dapat na magawa mula sa creativity ng isang mag-aaral.

Ayon pa sa DepEd, sakaling may problema ang mga magulang sa mga guro at eskwelahan ng kanilang mga anak, maari silang makipag-ugnayan sa Parent Teachers Association (PTA) upang mapag-usapan at mabigyang solusyon ang kanilang problema. (JOAN NANO / UNTV News)

QUEZON CITY, Philippines — Umaga pa lang nakapila at nakaabang na si Nanay Divina sa SSS Main Office upang asikasukin ang pensyong naiwan sa kanya ng yumaong asawa.

Aniya, kulang ang mahigit P3,000 pension na kanyang tinatanggap buwan-buwan upang tustusan ang kanyang mga gamot at pangangailangan ng kanyang anak na may sakit na epilepsy.

Nakikiusap Nanay Divina na sana ay sa lalong madaling panahon ay maisabatas na ang panukalang dagdag 2-libong pensyon para sa kanila.

“Sana maawa po kayo kasi hindi naman po tatagal pa ang buhay namin mga senior citizen eh… malaking bagay po iyun (yung P2,000 pension increase). Magpapasalamat po kami sa kanila, lalo na sa Dios, na sana hipuin mga puso nila para magkaroon kami ng benefits na magiging masaya ang mga senior.”

Sumama naman ang ilan pensioner kay Bayan Muna Party list Representative Neri Colmenares na nagmartsa patungong SSS upang tutulan ang umano’y planong itaas ang kasalukuyang kontribusyon ng mga miyembro.

Anila, hindi dapat ipinapasa sa mga kasalukuyang miyembro ang responsibilidad ng pagdadagdag ng pondo upang matustusan ang hinihingi ng mga pensionado.

Pahayag ni Congressman Colmenares, “Marming pera ang SSS at hindi totoo na wala silang pera para sa mga pensyonado.”

Nakipagdayalogo naman ang SSS sa kongresista upang linawin na wala silang ipatutupad na dadgdag sa monthly contribution.

Ayon kay Vice President for Public Affairs Marissu Bugante, isa lamang ito sa tinitignan nilang option sakaling maisabatas ang panukalang dagdag pensyon kung hindi ito isa-subsidized ng gobyerno.

Ito rin aniya ay isa sa paraan upang mas mapahaba pa ang operasyon ng SSS at mabenipisyuhan pa ng mas mahabang panahon ang mga miyembro.

Ani VP Bugante, “Wala kaming plano na mag-increase ng contribution rate kasi kaka-increase lang namin last 2014. Ang sinsabi lang namin kung ano ang magiging impact nung P2000 increase sa pension across the board… kung mangyayari yan iiksi ng 13 years ang pondo ng SSS, kung 2042 ang habang ng buhay ng ating pondo pag-pinatupad natin ang dagdag increase mababawasan ng 13 years, ibig sabihin from 2042 magiging 2029 na lang.”

Tiniyak naman ng SSS na sakaling maisabatas ang P2,000 dadgag sa mga pensioners ay ibabalanse nila ang sitwasyon upang hindi naman mabigatan ang mga miyembro sa pagbabayad ng buwanang kontribusyon. (GRACE CASIN / UNTV News)

(Left-Right) ASOP Song of the Month “Pahintulutan Mo” composer Leandro De Jesus III and interpreter Jon Philippe Go (Madz Milana / Photoville Interanational)

MANILA, Philippines — Dalawa na lamang ang aabangang entry para makumpleto na ang labindalawang finalists sa A Song of Praise o ASOP Music Festival Year 4 matapos pumasok sa listahan ang awiting “Pahintulutan Mo” noong nakaraang episode nito.

Lubos ang ligayang nadama ng baguhang kompositor na si Leonardo de Jesus III at ang interpreter na si Jon Philippe Go sa natamong tagumpay ng naturang awit.

Pahayag ni De Jesus, “Hindi ko talaga ma-explain ang sayang nararamdaman ko ngayon. First time ko lang pero awa ng Dios talaga. Salamat sa Dios.”

Para naman kay Go, “For the first time, pasok sa grand finals na ito. Very fulfilling po. Ang saya, ang sarap sa pakiramdam lalo na’t ‘yung song ni kuya (Leandro) ay nailabas mo talaga ‘yung proper na emotions na gusto niya.”

Nagdulot ng kaba sa dalawa ang husay rin ng nakalaban nilang entries na tulad ng “Karapatdapat Kang Pasalamatan” ni Alejandro Jimenez na inawit ng acoustic singer at composer na si Toto Sorioso at ang “Ang Pagmamahal Mo” ni Dennis Avenido sa interpretasyon naman ni Nino Alejandro.

Ngunit sa huli’y pinili ng mga huradong sina comedian singer Arnel Ignacio, OPM female belter Ivy Violan at Doktor Musiko Mon del Rosario.

Ang kanilang awit na makasali sa ASOP Grand Finals. (ADJES CARREON / UNTV News)

FILE PHOTO: Boxing Hall of Famer and former Olympic champion Oscar De La Hoya (REUTERS)

Boxing Hall of Famer and former Olympic champion Oscar De La Hoya, after pondering a return to the ring, said on Monday that he would remain retired.

“As a professional athlete and someone who has spent almost his entire life in boxing, not a day goes by when I don’t think about coming back,” De La Hoya, 42, said in a statement.

“But I am retired, and after speaking to my family and following a great deal of introspection, I have decided to stay retired.”

De La Hoya, who recently spent two spells in rehab to battle substance abuse, told ESPN last Monday that he was “50-50″ about fighting again.

He had quit boxing soon after retiring on his stool at the end of the eighth round of a lopsided 2008 defeat against Manny Pacquiao, but told ESPN: “I am so hungry and so determined. I am young, I am healthy and I feel great… 42 is the new 32.”

Nicknamed “Golden Boy”, the 1992 Olympic champion won world professional titles at six different weights and founded Golden Boy Promotions in 2002.

He said he was only interested in either a rematch against undefeated welterweight Floyd Mayweather Jr. or a bout against hard-hitting Kazakh middleweight champion Gennady Golovkin.

“To the many thousands of fans who over the last couple of weeks encouraged me to come out of retirement and fight again, I thank you,” said the Californian, who retired with a 39-6 (30 knockouts) record.

“You can rest assured that I will spend the rest of my days around this wonderful sport, even though those days won’t be spent inside the ropes.”

(Reporting by Larry Fine in New York; Editing by Frank Pingue)

FILE PHOTO: A masked, black-clad militant, who has been identified by the Washington Post newspaper as a Briton named Mohammed Emwazi, brandishes a knife in this still image from a 2014 video obtained from SITE Intel Group February 26, 2015.
REUTERS/SITE INTEL GROUP/HANDOUT VIA REUTERS

The hardline Islamic State group has beheaded two women in Syria, the first time it has decapitated female civilians, the founder of a group monitoring the war said on Tuesday.

The beheadings took place in the eastern Deir al-Zor province this week said Rami Abdulrahman, head of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which tracks the conflict using sources on the ground.

One of the women was beheaded along with her husband in Deir al-Zor city. In al-Mayadeen city to the south east, the group beheaded another woman and her husband. All of them were accused of sorcery, the monitor said.

Islamic State has beheaded local and foreign men in Syria, including enemy combatants, aid workers and journalists as well as people it has deemed as violating its hardline interpretation of Islamic law.

Several of the group’s female captives have been stoned to death previously after being accused of adultery and other offences. This is the first time it was reported to have beheaded female civilians.

Islamic State also “crucified” five men in al-Mayadeen for eating during daylight hours of the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan, the Observatory said.

They were hung up by their limbs on the city wall and children were encouraged to mock them as they suffered, it added.

Activists say Islamic State uses such public punishments in areas where it is present to control the local population through coercion and fear.

(Reporting by Sylvia Westall; Editing by Andrew Heavens/Hugh Lawson)

May 2, 2015; Las Vegas, NV, USA; Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao box during their world welterweight championship bout at MGM Grand Garden Arena. Joe Camporeale-USA TODAY Sports

Boxers Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Manny Pacquiao topped Forbes list of the world’s 100 highest-paid celebrities on Monday, on the heels of their lucrative clash in Las Vegas last month.

With an estimated $300 million in earnings over the past 12 months, Mayweather more than lived up to his nickname “Money” and was the undisputed champion. Pacquiao was second, making $160 million over the past 12 months.

Their final earnings from the May 2 bout, which Mayweather won by unanimous decision, have not yet been disclosed. But Forbes’ estimates were based on what experts have described as the richest fight in boxing history.

“His (Mayweather’s) $300 million shattered the record for athlete earnings, which was previously held by Tiger Woods who managed to bank $115 million in 2008,” Natalie Robehmed, of Forbes, said in an interview. “It is above and beyond anything anyone has ever done.”

Singer Katy Perry’s massive Prismatic World Tour helped her nab third place with $135 million, followed by British boy band One Direction with $130 million and TV and radio host Howard Stern with $95 million.

Musicians and athletes dominated the top 10 spots which included only two women.

Country music star Garth Brooks was No. 6 with $90 million, while pop singer Taylor Swift tied for No. 8 with actor Robert Downey Jr. with $80 million.

Forbes compiled its annual list of the most powerful celebrities from the worlds of sports, television, music and books by estimating pre-tax earnings from June 1, 2014 to June, 1 2015. Management, agent and attorney fees were not deducted.

Reality TV star Kim Kardashian, who earned $28 million in the previous list, nearly doubled her earnings to an estimated $52.5 million, according to Forbes.

“I personally think she has been able to monetize fame better than anybody else,” said Robehmed. “A large percentage of her earnings come from her iPhone game.”

Kardashian placed just above Oscar winner Jennifer Lawrence who was No. 34 with $52 million. Lawrence and Scarlett Johansson, No. 65 with $35.5 million, are the only two film actresses to make the 100 list, compared to 14 male movie stars.

“I think that really speaks to the wider Hollywood pay gap. It is a lot more difficult for women to get the kind of roles that they would earn massive profits on the back end of in comparison to male actors,” said Robehmed.

British celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay at No. 21 with $60 million was the highest earning chef ever on the list, which included 38 musicians, 29 athletes, six personalities and two comedians.

The full list can be found at www.forbes.com/celebrities

(Editing by Tom Brown)

Supreme Court declares QC LGU collection of garbage fee as unconstitutional (UNTV News)

MANILA, Philippines — Idineklara ng Korte Suprema na illegal ang pangongolekta ng Quezon City government ng garbage fee na mula 100 hanggang 500 pesos sa bawat bahay sa lungsod.

Ayon sa korte, sa ilalim ng Ecological Solid Waste Management Act ay limitado lamang ang paninigil ng garbage fee sa non-recyclable at special wastes.

Ngunit sa kaso ng Quezon City ay walang binabanggit kung para sa anong uri ng basura ang kinokolekta nito.

Labag din umano sa equal protection clause ng Konstitusyon at sa Local Government Code ang garbage fee.

Kaugnay nito ay inatasan ng Korte Suprema ang lokal na pamahalaan na i-refund ang nakolekta nito para sa garbage fee.

Samantala, pinagtibay naman ng korte ang ordinansa para sa socialized housing tax ng Quezon City na ipinasa noong 2011.

Pahayag ni Supreme Court Spokesperson Atty. Theodore Te, “Ordinance no. SP-2235, S-2013, which collects an annual garbage fee on all domestic households in Quezon City is hereby declared as unconstitutional and illegal.” (RODERIC MENDOZA / UNTV News)

Monday, June 29, 2015
Protesters wave a Greek flag during an anti-austerity rally in Athens, Greece, June 29, 2015. REUTERS/Alkis Konstantinidis

The head of the European Commission made a last-minute offer to try to persuade Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras to accept a bailout deal he has rejected before a referendum on Sunday which EU partners say will be a choice of whether to stay in the euro.

There was no official response from the leftwing government, elected in January on a promise to end austerity, but Greek daily Kathimerini reported that Tsipras had told Brussels he was considering the move.

A Greek official told Reuters: “There has been a lot of movement in the last few hours, in the direction of a new proposal.”

After months of wrangling and acrimony, the growing possibility that Athens could be forced out of the single currency brought into sharp focus the chaos that could be unleashed in Greece as well as the danger that would arise for the stability of the euro.

“What would happen if Greece came out of the euro? There would be a negative message that euro membership is reversible,” said Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy, who a week ago declared that he did not fear contagion from Greece.

“People may think that if one country can leave the euro, others could do so in the future. I think that is the most serious problem that could arise.”

EU and Greek government sources said Jean-Claude Juncker had offered to convene an emergency meeting of euro zone finance ministers on Tuesday to approve an aid payment to prevent Athens defaulting, if Tsipras sent a written acceptance of the terms.

He also dangled the prospect of a negotiation on debt rescheduling later this year if Athens said “yes”.

The last-ditch bid from Brussels came as uncertainty built ahead of Sunday’s referendum, with a string of European leaders warning that it would effectively be a choice between remaining in the euro or reverting to the drachma.

Opinion polls show Greeks in favour of holding on to the euro but a rally of tens of thousands of anti-austerity protestors in Athens on Monday highlighted the defiance many in Greece feel about being pushed into a corner by the lenders.

Tsipras broke off negotiations with the Commission, the IMF and the European Central Bank and announced early on Saturday a referendum on the bailout terms next Sunday, giving voters just one week to debate the fundamental issues at stake.

Under Juncker’s offer, Tsipras would have to send a written acceptance by Tuesday of the terms published by the EU executive on Sunday and agree to campaign in favour of the bailout in the planned July 5 referendum.

European Union leaders hammered home the message that the real choice facing Greeks is whether to stay in the euro zone or return to the drachma, even though the EU has no legal way of forcing a member state to leave the single currency.

French Finance Minister Michel Sapin, who has been most sympathetic to Athens in the negotiations, said in a television interview that negotiations could continue if Greeks voted “Yes” on Sunday, but added: “With a ‘no’, we go into an unknown territory.”

Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi warned against turning the referendum into a personality contest between Tsipras and Juncker or German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

“This is not a referendum on European leaders. This is a run-off vote: euro or drachma,” Renzi told the Italian business daily Il Sole 24 Ore.

“The Greeks do not have to say whether they love their prime minister or the head of the European Commission more. They have to say whether they want to stay in the single currency.”

DEFAULT

As the hours ticked by before the bailout officially expires later on Tuesday, Greek officials have said the government will not make a 1.6 billion euro debt repayment to the IMF which also falls due on the same day.

If that does not happen, IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde will immediately report to the global lender’s board at close of business, Washington time, that Greece is “in arrears” – the official euphemism for default.

It will be the first time in the history of the IMF that an advanced economy has defaulted on a loan from the world’s financial backstop, putting Athens in the same bracket as Zimbabwe, Sudan and Cuba.

Greece has received nearly 240 billion euros in two EU/IMF bailouts since 2010. Leftist Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis argues that Athens has had no benefit from the money, which largely went to repay German and French banks which had imprudently lent large sums to successive Greek governments.

The Greek economy has shrunk by more than 25 percent since 2009 and unemployment has soared to over 25 percent, including more than 50 percent of young job seekers.

While the Tsipras government blames German-driven austerity for this economic disaster, EU officials note that other euro zone countries such as Ireland, Portugal and Spain that received bailouts for the state or banks have carried out similar reforms and returned to economic growth, even if unemployment remains high.

Credit ratings agency Standard & Poor’s lowered its sovereign rating on Greece to ‘CCC minus’ from ‘CCC’ late on Monday, saying the probability of Athens exiting the eurozone was now about 50 percent.

Tsipras put his own position on the line in a television interview on Monday evening, saying he would respect the result of the referendum vote but would not lead a government to administer “austerity in perpetuity”.

“If the Greek people want to have a humiliated prime minister, there are a lot of them out there. It won’t be me,” he said in an interview on Greek state television as one of the biggest rallies seen in Athens in years was taking place.

The show of defiance came at the end of a day that started with stunned Greeks waking up to shuttered banks, long supermarket lines and overwhelming uncertainty over their future in the euro zone.

Juncker’s final offer incorporated a proposal from Greece to set value-added tax rates on hotels at 13 percent, rather than the 23 percent in the lenders’ original plan. It was not immediately clear whether there would be any additional changes.

If the offer were accepted, the euro zone finance ministers could adopt a statement saying that a 2012 pledge to consider stretching out loan maturities, lowering interest rates and extending an interest payment moratorium on euro zone loans to Greece would be implemented in October.

The offer would be conditional on a letter to Juncker, Eurogroup chairman Jeroen Dijsselbloem, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Francois Hollande arriving in time to arrange an emergency meeting of the Eurogroup on Tuesday.

(Additional reporting by Silvia Aloisi in Milan, Mark John in Paris and George Georgiopoulos and Lefteris Karagiannipoulos in Athens; Writing by Paul Taylor and James Mackenzie; editing by Anna Willard)