Today in History

On this day in 1903, near Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, Orville and Wilbur Wright make the first successful flight in history of a self-propelled, heavier-than-air aircraft.



Lt Gen Bipin Rawat is next Army chief, Air Marshal Birender Dhanoa to head Air Force

Lt. Gen. Bipin Rawat would be the new Army Chief and Air Marshal B.S. Dhanoa the new chief of Indian Air Force, the Defence Ministry announced on Saturday. Lt Gen. Rawat and Air Marshal Dhanoa, presently the Vice Chiefs of their respective services, will take over on December 31, when incumbents Gen. Dalbir Singh and Air Chief Marshal Arup Raha demit office on retirement from service.

18-Dec-1398	Amir Timur captured Delhi.
18-Dec-1756	Guru Ghasidas, freedom fighter and social reformer, was born in Girod a small village in Sona Khan.
18-Dec-06	Gandhiji returns to South Africa
18-Dec-17	Surendranath Dasgupta, great educationist, passed away.
18-Dec-24	Justice Venkatramayya was born.
18-Dec-49	Joni Flynn, famous actress (Octopussy), was born in Assam, India.
18-Dec-60	National Museum inaugurated in New Delhi.
18-Dec-61	Government of India annexes military action in Goa, Daman & Diu. in the early hours. Naval ships had been patrolling off Marmagao when they saw the Portuguese figate Afonso de Albuquerque in harbour. Her guns were firing at the Indian Air Force. Indian naval ships 'Betwa', 'Beas' and 'Cauvery' closed in and engaged the frigate from a range of 8,000 yards.
18-Dec-61	Lalchand Sitaram Rajput, cricketer (Indian Test opening batsman 1985-86), was born in Bombay.
18-Dec-71	Bharat Ratna, India's highest award, was given to Indira Gandhi (1917-1984), Prime Minister of India.
18-Dec-71	Indira Gandhi, PM, receives the Bharat Ratna.
18-Dec-77	Indira Gandhi resigns from the executive committee of the Congress party.
18-Dec-84	Reactor Research Centre of Kalpakkam established on 12th March 1969 was renamed as Indira Gandhi Centre for Atomic Research.
18-Dec-88	Rajiv Gandhi visits China. It was the first visit to China in 34 years by an Indian PM.
18-Dec-89	Justice Sabyasachi Mukherjee sworn in as Chief Justice of India.
18-Dec-89	Prof. M. G. K. Menon sworn in Minister of State for Science and Technology.
18-Dec-89	Rabi Ray from Orissa elected Speaker of the Lok Sabha.
18-Dec-92	BJP expresses regret over the demolition of the Masjid in Ayodhya in Parliament.
18-Dec-95	Dr. Julias K. Nyrere, former Tanzanian President, receives the first annual International Gandhi Peace Prize.
18-Dec-98	Sonia Gandhi hints that the Congress(I) is not keen on forming Government at the Centre with the help of other parties and that it would prefer to return to power on its own strength.
18-Dec-99	Indian tennis duo Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhuapathi were named The Sportstar's sportpersons of the Year-1999. Sunil Kumar, the teenaged national hardcourt tennis champion and Aarthie Ramaswamy, the world under-18 girls chess champion, received the 'Young Achiever award' while hockey wizard Leslie Claudius will be honoured with the 'Legend of Indian Sport' award.
18-Dec-99	Dr. Romila Thapar, noted historian, cautions historians on Somnath temple.
18-Dec-99	The PWG blasts a railway track in Bihar.
18-Dec-00	M.S. Subbulakshmi gets the Bangalore-based Sri Rama Seva Mandali Trust's maiden S.V. Narayanaswamy Rao Memorial National Award for promoting Indian Classical music.
18-Dec-00	The Lok Sabha adopts the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Bill, 2000 and the Government announces plan to set up a National Commission for Children.
18-Dec-00	The Tatas and the Hindujas are shortlisted for disinvestment in both Air India and Indian Airlines, while Videocon International for the domestic airline.

Legion Hacker Group preparing for cyber-attack @ sansad.nic.in

Legion hackers says they have no political motives, and are planning to dump emails from sansad.nic.in next.

Legion, an unknown group of people who hacked Twitter accounts of prominent personalities like Rahul Gandhi, Vijay Mallya, Ravish Kumar and Barkha Dutt, have claimed they have no political motives behind this exercise. The group said Lalit Modi is their next target and they also claim to have access to sansad.nic.in, which is the email used by nearly all government employees in India.

In a Washington Post report on Monday, a member of the group divulged that he was not interested in any ‘political data’ until a few weeks ago. He said that the group, which he “claims number in the ‘higher single digits'”, was in possession of terabytes of raw data and they had filtered gigabytes worth of data from it. In another interview to a tech website, FactorDaily, the group said they plan to “dump” “sansad-.nic.in emails,” and that this includes “a lot of Big Fish.”

When asked about whether they had a political agenda behind the leaks, the hacker said told Washington Post that people who thought so should “gas themselves with a balloon filled with Zyklon B.” For context, that’s the gas used by the Nazis during the Holocaust against the Jews.

Syrian Army Declares Victory in Aleppo

The Syrian Army has officially liberated Aleppo after ousting rebels from their last bastions in the eastern part of the city.

By Laila Bassam and Lisa Barrington | ALEPPO, SYRIA/BEIRUT

The Syrian army and its allies are in the "last moments before declaring victory" in Aleppo, a Syrian military source said, after rebel defences collapsed on Monday, leaving insurgents in a tiny, heavily bombarded pocket of ground.

A Reuters journalist in the government-held zone said the bombardment of rebel areas of the city continued non-stop on Monday, and a civilian trapped there described the situation as resembling "Doomsday".

"The battle in eastern Aleppo should end quickly. They (rebels) don't have much time. They either have to surrender or die," Lieutenant General Zaid al-Saleh, head of the government's Aleppo security committee, told reporters in the recaptured Sheikh Saeed district of the city.

Jayalalithaa on heart assist device in Apollo Hospital, Chennai after cardiac arrest

Jayalalithaa on heart assist device in Apollo Hospital, Chennai after cardiac arrest

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa, who is in a very critical condition after a cardiac arrest according to hospital sources, has had a heart surgery this morning, her party the AIADMK said. 

John Key (New Zealand PM) resigns after eight years as prime minister

John Key (New Zealand PM) resigns after eight years as prime minister

Wellington: Popular New Zealand Prime Minister John Key announced his shock resignation on Monday, saying it was the right time to go after eight years in the job.

"This is the hardest decision I've ever made and I don't know what I'll do next," he told a news conference, adding that he had never seen himself as a career politician. "Being leader of both the party and the country has been an incredible experience." Key, a former Merrill Lynch currency trader, had recently marked his eighth anniversary as prime minister and 10th year as leader of the centre-right National Party, which is set to meet next week to elect his successor. 

Deputy Prime Minister Bill English is widely seen as the favourite to take over. "I feel like I'm going out on top," Key said, pointing to spending more time with his wife Bronagh and children Stephanie and Max as a key consideration. "It would be easy to say I have made this decision solely to rediscover the personal and family life I once had, and that is a factor, but it is one among many," he said. "Over the years I have observed many leaders who, in a similar position, fail to take this step. I can understand why. It is a hard job to leave."

"But, for me and the National Party, this is a good time to go. Party membership is high and the party is well-funded."

"The caucus is talented and eager to serve, and one of the achievements of which I am proud is having built with my colleagues a Cabinet team that is capable, committed and cohesive. That is a great legacy for National's next leader." Key came into politics relatively late, entering parliament in 2002 and assuming leadership of the National Party four years later. By 2008, he had ended nine years of Labour Party rule, ousting then-prime minister Helen Clark.

He won plaudits for his leadership during a string of crises in his first term, including a devastating earthquake in Christchurch in February 2011 which claimed 185 lives. He also steadied the economy after the Global Financial Crisis without resorting to hard-line spending cuts, instead taking a steady, pragmatic approach that saw the budget return to surplus for the first time since 2008.

From : http://www.firstpost.com/

WhatsApp will stop running on MILLIONS of older phones at the end of this month

Are you affected? WhatsApp will stop running on MILLIONS of older phones at the end of this month

• The Facebook-owned app will phase out support for older phones.
• It says older platforms can no longer keep up with the app's features.
• Changes will affect Windows, Android and iOS by the end of the year
• By Jan, WhatsApp will also no longer be available for BlackBerry, Nokia S40 and Nokia Symbian S60 

If you are using an old smartphone to send WhatsApp messages, you may need to add an upgrade to your Christmas wish list. 

WhatsApp has announced it will no longer support a range of older operating platforms by the end of the year.

The messaging app said it will be phasing out support for older Windows, Android and Apple models by January, and Blackberry and Nokia by mid-2017.

The older smartphone platforms can no longer keep up with the latest features being rolled out for the app, claims blog post by the Facebook-owned app. WhatsApp made the announcement as it celebrated its seventh anniversary, after first launching the popular messaging platform in 2009. The app, which is now used by more than one billion people worldwide, was launched in the early days of Apple's App Store, when seven out of ten had operating systems offered by Blackberry and Nokia.

However, today's smartphone market is dominated by Google, Apple and Microsoft, with almost all newer models running on these platforms. The firm wrote: 'As we look ahead to our next seven years, we want to focus our efforts on the mobile platforms the vast majority of people use.' The full list of platforms being left behind at the end of the year includes: Android 2.1 and Android 2.2; Windows Phone 7 and iPhone 3GS/iOS 6. And by June 2017, WhatApp will no longer be available for BlackBerry, including BlackBerry 10; Nokia S40; and Nokia Symbian S60.

WHICH PHONES WILL LOSE OUT?

WhatsApp has announced that it will no longer support a range of older operating platforms by the end of the year.

By the end of this year Whatsapp will no longer work on:

• - Android 2.1 and 2.2
• - Windows Phone 7
• - iPhone 3GS/iOS 6

In June 2017, WhatsApp will no longer be supported for:

• - BlackBerry
• - Nokia S40
• 
  
• - Nokia Symbian S60 

Rise of Nokia ...Nokia ExpressMusic NX For 2017 | Android Smartphone Concept NOKIA 2017

Nokia ExpressMusic NX For 2017
Android Smartphone Concept | NOKIA 2017

The Nokia brand, is returning in 2017 to the mobile space to make Android-powered phones and tablets. The news was confirmed in a press release from the company, which is now owned by HMD, a new company set up to enable the proliferation of Nokia-branded phones and tablets. 

Nokia Will Return in 2017 With Two New Android Phones. Specs, Hardware & Release Date Rumours are the talk of the town in the tech world. The mobile phone giant Nokia started its journey with a vision of "Connecting People". It's one of the big giant mobile manufacturing company in the world in the twentieth century. Unfortunately, they had to stop producing new mobile phone soon after they merge with another tech giant, Microsoft. 

Nokia shut down completely in 2015 and Now seriously considering coming back in market with Boom !!! They have recently announced some news about coming back in the market in 2017 with some fresh Android mobile phone as its widely popular right now. 

Nokia Smartphone 2017 release date hasn't been announced yet. However, we have managed to sneak out some of the selected design of the new Nokia Smartphone which are set to release in 2017. This video features one of the Nokia's smartphones which is rumored to release earlier 2017. Nokia's Xpress music Android smartphone will feature a 4k display with 21-megapixel rear cameras. 

Reliance Jio extends free services till March 2017

Reliance Industries announced on Thursday a three-month extension to an offer of free data and voice services by Jio in what could be an escalation in the telecom sector’s price war.

Reliance chairman Mukesh Ambani said in a live YouTube feed that Jio’s existing and new customers will get free voice and data till March 31, 2017. Here are five takeaways from Ambani’s speech:

1) Ambani said Reliance Jio is the fastest growing tech company in the world. Six lakh customers are signing up for the service every day. He said Jio is growing faster than Facebook, WhatsApp and Skype. Ambani added that Jio has crossed 50 million customers in the three months since launching on September 1.

2) Jio will offer bouquet of data, calls and apps free of cost to customers from December 4 till March 31, 2017. It will also allow customers to migrate to Jio from other service providers.

3) The RIL chairman did not let this occasion go by without mentioning the lack of support from existing telecom operators as far as inter-connectivity is concerned. Ambani claimed that 900 crore calls from Jio customers to networks of other operators were dropped.

4) Ambani lauded the government’s demonetisation move, launching a digital wallet called the Jio wallet.

5) Keeping with the government’s Digital India Mission, Ambani announced that Jio will build a digital retail ecosystem to help small merchants. It will be called Money Merchant Solutions.

www.hindustantimes.com

हँसी मजाक 😃 😄 😃

जब आदमी ने पहन लिया छोटा जूता

एक आदमी छोटा जूता पहनकर जा रहा था।

चुन्नू: अंकल जी जूता कहां से लिया है।

आदमी (चिढ़ते हुए): पेड़ से तोड़ा है।

चुन्नू: तोड़ना ही था तो 2 महीने बाद तोड़ते, कुछ बड़ा हो जाता।

😃😄😃

जब हरियाणवी छोरा दोस्त की लुगाई का हुआ दीवाना

दो आदमियों की बीवियां मेले में खो गईं जिसमें से एक हरियाणा से था और एक दिल्ली से l

अपनी-अपनी बीवी ढूंढते हुए वो आपस में मिले..!

तुम्हारी वाली की पहचान? – हरियाणा वाले ने दिल्ली वाले से पूछा.

दिल्ली वाला बोला – 5’7″, गोरी, भूरी आँखें और पतली है, स्लीवलेस पिंक टीशर्ट और लाल मिनी स्कर्ट पहने है. तुम्हारी की क्या पहचान है ?

हरियाणा वाला- मेरे आली कै मार गोली, चाल थारी ढूंढते हैं।

😃😃😃😃😃😃😃

White House warns President-elect Donald Trump over reversing detente policy with Cuba

The White House was quick to warn that there are costs involved for cancelling such an agreement with Cuba, under which the two countries not only reestablished their diplomatic relationship after decades. As President-elect Donald Trump threatened to “terminate” the detente policy with Cuba, the White House Tuesday warned that reversing historic rapprochement would have “significant” diplomatic, economic and cultural costs. The policy is considered as one of the foreign policy legacies of outgoing President Barack Obama. Trump Monday threatened in a tweet to put an end to the detente policy. “If Cuba is unwilling to make a better deal for the Cuban people, the Cuban/American people and the US as a whole, I will terminate deal,” Trump said in a tweet. Trump’s tweet landed just as Cuba began its week-long farewell to its former leader Fidel Castro. The White House, however, was quick to warn that there are costs involved for cancelling such an agreement with Cuba, under which the two countries not only reestablished their diplomatic relationship after decades, but also resumed flights and lifted several sanctions. “I don’t think I’m gonna be in a position of predicting the future. I think what I’m merely highlighting and trying to underscore here in as much detail as possible, is that it’s just not as simple as one tweet might make it seem,” the White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest told reporters at his daily news conference. Earnest said that reversing the policy would be “a significant economic blow” to Cubans and was “not as easy as a stroke of a pen”. “That’s just an objective fact when you consider how the American people and US businesses have implemented this deal in a way that has provided significant benefits to the American people and provided significant benefits to the Cuban people,” he said. “All of that would be undone by the reinstitution of a policy that has failed after having been in place for more than five decades. There are significant diplomatic, economic, cultural costs that will have to be accounted for if this policy is rolled back. This is among the many significant challenges that the incoming administration will have to carefully consider,” Earnest said. After realising that the five decades old policy was not working, Obama two years ago announced to begin normalising relations between the two countries. “This was rooted in the President’s conclusion that a policy of isolation that the US had pursued for more than five decades had failed to bring about the improved human rights climate that I think just about every American citizen would like to see in Cuba. And after five decades of trying the same policy of isolation without seeing many results, the president believed it was time to try something different,” he said. The new Cuba policy has benefited the American people in a tangible way and it continues to be strongly supported by an overwhelming majority of Cubans when they’re asked about their opinion of this change in our policy. “It’s something that was very warmly welcomed by the Cuban people and I think that should be a pretty good indication of the kind of success that this policy is already having,” Earnest said. Earlier in the morning, the Trump Transition Team communications director Jason Miller said though the tragedies, deaths and pain caused by Castro cannot be erased, the Trump Administration will do all it can to ensure the Cuban people can finally begin their journey toward prosperity and liberty. Miller said Cuba is a very complex topic and the president-elect is aware of the nuances and complexities regarding the challenges that Ireland and the Cuban people face. “So this will be an issue that he addresses once he becomes president, but I wouldn’t qualify it as far as changing up or down. I’d say this has been an important issue, it will continue to be one, and to be clear, the president-elect wants to see freedom in Cuba for the Cubans and a good deal for Americans where we aren’t played for fools,” he said. “Our priorities are the release of political prisoners, return of fugitives from American law, and also political and religious freedoms for all Cubans living in oppression,” Miller told reporters during a conference call.

http://indianexpress.com

How he win £1million on a £5 lottery.

A road worker who celebrated winning £1million on a £5 lottery by doing cartwheels down the street in his high-visibility jacket returned to work the following morning for a 12 hour shift.

Carl Crook, 25, was seen celebrating wildly in Manchester city centre after the life-changing win but has vowed to keep on working - so long as he no longer does overtime.   

He has promised not to 'blow' the money but wants to spend his winnings on an Audi RS7, a Safari in Africa for his honeymoon with fiancee Samantha and a family holiday to Florida.

'The £1 million might go but we want to at least spend it on making memories instead of on rubbish', he said.  

Last Thursday, Mr Crook popped into a newsagents while working on a job in Manchester city centre to buy a drink and a £5 scratchcard.   

The road worker had purchased a scratchcard earlier in the day with a friend and the pair had promised to go halves if either got lucky. 

After that proved fruitless, he decided to go back and have another shot.  

Mr Crook, from Rochdale, said: 'It's only once in a blue moon that I buy a scratchcard but I had a feeling that day and decided to have one more go.

'I asked the shopkeeper for a £10 scratchcard but he said he didn't have any and only had the £5 ones. I was scratching the numbers off and knew I had at least won my money back or got a tenner.

'I then revealed the last number slowly and saw it said £1 and the letter 'm'. I showed it to the two lads I was working with and kept saying "check that, check that".

'I then went back into the shop and said "I've won a million, I've won a million". 

'The shopkeeper smiled and said "I can't pay that" and told me to contact the number on the back.

'I was shaking like mad and I was put on hold for what felt like years. The lady finally told me "I would like to congratulate you. You have won £1 million".

'I had my phone on speaker and all my workmates were around me. I just screamed "yes" at the top of my voice. I had so much joy and excitement, I was crying.' 

He was then spotted by passers-by 'doing forward and back flips' along Oxford Road in Manchester, telling everyone about his lucky scratchcard.  

Mr Crook, who has an eight-year-old son and six-month-old daughter with fiance Samantha Dyson, said they are determined not to 'blow' their winnings.

Mr Crook's winning scratchcard that he purchased during a lunch break.

Mr Crook (left) and his winning scratchcard (right) that he purchased during his lunch break in Manchester

The 25-year-old, who works for Kenny Bros civil engineering firm, added: 'I called Samantha and tried to tell her what happened but kept breaking down. She didn't believe me and I had to send her a picture of the scratchcard to prove it.'

He said he was unable to work for the rest of the day and his colleagues had to stay 90 minutes later to pick up his workload.

But he then returned to work at 6.30am on Friday for a 12-hour slog.  

He said: 'I just kept thinking to myself "why am I here?" But I do enjoy my job, the company I work for and the people I work with.

'I've already spoken to my boss about having next week off so I can let things settle down. I will be staying on at work but without overtime.

'A lot of people have been congratulating us. Friends I've known for a long time kept saying they couldn't believe it and I was a jammy sod and just having a joke and a laugh.

'I think it's the way we have won the money as well. No one would ever believe you could win that amount on a £5 scratchcard. How rare do you see it?'

I'll keep working: Man who won £1million on scratch card

Mr Crook, who has an eight-year-old son and six-month-old daughter with fiance Samantha Dyson, said they are determined not to 'blow' their winnings. 

He said: 'It's not about us retiring now. It's about us being able to live comfortably without the pressure of life weighing down on us.

'Our kids will have their inheritance sorted and we won't need to have a 30-year mortgage.

'I'm a boy and I like my toys and cars and I'm looking at getting a really nice car. I've always wanted an Audi RS7. 

I genuinely don't know if I will get that or something else. But there's going to be no rush.

'When we told our son he was saying "we are millionaires". He loves supercars and wants to go out in a Ferrari.

'We are going to go on holiday this summer and to Lapland at Christmas. I would love to take the family to Florida and we might do that next year.

'Myself and Samantha got engaged last year and we want to get married this year and then go on a Safari tour in Africa for our honeymoon.'  

Miss Dyson, 26, who works as a child minding assistant, said the money is 'life changing' for their family.

She said: 'He rang me to tell me what happened but I didn't believe he.

'When I saw on Facebook that people were saying he did backflips and cartwheels I couldn't believe that, I knew it wasn't something he could do!'

'The whole thing doesn't feel real. It's one of those things that you see happening to other people but never think will happen to you.'

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Smoke billows after an air strike on Jarablus, Syria, 24 August, 2016

Syria Jarablus: Turkish tanks roll into northern Syria, Smoke rises over Jarablus, Syria, 24 August, 2016 Image copyrightAFP Image caption A dozen Turkish tanks have rolled across the Syrian border after heavy Turkish shelling of an area held by so-called Islamic State (IS). Military sources told Turkish media 70 targets in the Jarablus area had been destroyed by artillery and rocket strikes, and 12 by air strikes. Turkish special forces entered Syria earlier as part of the offensive. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said the operation was aimed against both IS and Kurdish fighters. Turkey shelled Syrian Kurdish forces in the region this week, determined not to let them fill the vacuum if IS leaves, the BBC's Mark Lowen reports from Gaziantep, near the Syrian border. The concern in Ankara is that the Kurds could create an autonomous area close to the border which might foster Kurdish separatism within Turkey itself, our correspondent says. In another development, counter-terror police in Turkey's main city, Istanbul, launched dawn raids targeting IS suspects across the city. US Vice-President Joe Biden arrived in Turkey on Wednesday in the highest-ranking visit by a Western official since the failed coup on 15 July. Bomb survivor haunted by attacks Turkey v Syria's Kurds v Islamic State How dangerous is the instability in Turkey? Islamic State: the full story Map showing control of northern Syria Twin attack The tanks were followed by pick-up trucks believed to be carrying Turkish-backed Syrian rebels from the Free Syrian Army. "At 04:00 [01:00 GMT] our forces began an operation against the Daesh [IS] and PYD [Kurdish Democratic Union Party] terror groups," President Erdogan said in a speech in Ankara. The offensive is aimed at "putting an end" to problems on the border, he said. A Turkish tank heads towards the Syrian border, 24 AugustImage copyrightAFP Image caption At least a dozen tanks were involved A Turkish tank near the Syrian border, 24 AugustImage copyrightEPA Free Syrian Army fighters in pick-up trucks follow Turkish tanks into Syria, 24 AugustImage copyrightEPA Image caption Fighters said to be from the Free Syrian Army followed the tanks in pick-up trucks A coach said to be carrying Syrian rebels stands in Karkamis, near Turkey's Syrian border, 24 AugustImage copyrightEPA Image caption A coach said to be carrying Syrian rebels was spotted by reporters in Karkamis The Turkish town of Karkamis - just across the border from Jarablus - was evacuated as a precaution following earlier IS mortar attacks. Turkey has vowed to "completely cleanse" IS from its border region, blaming the group for a bomb attack on a wedding that killed at least 54 people in Gaziantep on Saturday. This is Turkey's first known ground incursion into Syria since a brief operation to relocate the tomb of Suleyman Shah, a revered Ottoman figure, in February of last year. The air strikes are Turkey's first inside Syria since the downing of a Russian jet in November. Moscow and Ankara only mended ties in June after punitive Russian sanctions. 'A buffer against the Kurds' An unnamed senior US official in Washington told BBC News before the start of the Turkish operation that it was "partly to create a buffer against the possibility of the Kurds moving forward". "We are working with them on that potential operation: our advisers are communicating with them on the Jarablus plan. "We'll give close air support if there's an operation." A Turkish military warning sign, with the closed Karkamis border gate in the backgroundImage copyrightREUTERS Image caption Karakamis - which borders Jarablus - has been evacuated Fighters from the Syrian Kurd YPG militia - the military wing of the PYD - led the battle to drive IS out of the strategic crossroads town of Manbij earlier this month. Turkey views the YPG as an extension of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), a Turkish-Kurdish rebel group fighting for autonomy since the 1980s, but the YPG is backed by the US as one of the most effective forces battling IS. On Tuesday the YPG took control of most of the north-eastern Syrian city of Hassakeh. A truce was reportedly brokered there by Russia after recent clashes between the Kurds and Syrian government forces. President Erdogan said he would press Vice-President Biden for the extradition of US-based cleric Fethullah Gulen, whom he blames for the coup attempt.

Turkish arrest warrant for Gulen Turkish media round on Biden Several pro-government papers accuse Washington of dragging its heels after Turkey's call for the extradition of US-based Turkish cleric Fethullah Gulen. "Gulen's protector" says a headline in Aksam, which notes his "late" visit in the wake of last month's coup attempt. Gunes newspaper says pointedly that "the Turkish government and 79 million Turks are waiting for concrete steps" from him, adding that "Biden will be... asked to behave like an ally". The pro-government Star agrees that Mr Biden will have to explain US support for the "Fetullah Gulen Terrorist Organisation" (FETO). Karar says the visit will open a new chapter in bilateral ties but says Washington must show its support for Turkey. Pro-government daily Milliyet publishes a column by Mr Biden himself where he praises Turks for thwarting the coup attempt. He also says that claims that Gulen's extradition is simply a political matter are "damaging" for bilateral ties. BBC Europe

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