Islam Karimov: Uzbekistan to bury its strongman leader

Funeral cortege in TashkentImage copyrightAP
Image captionA funeral cortege carries the president's body to Tashkent airport
Uzbekistan is preparing to bury President Islam Karimov, one of Asia's most authoritarian leaders, who died this week aged 78.
His death was confirmed by the government in Tashkent on Friday, six days after he was taken to hospital following a stroke.
He ruled for 27 years, and is accused by human rights groups of harshly repressing dissent.
Saturday's funeral comes amid uncertainty over who will succeed him.
However, the occasion - in Mr Karimov's home city of Samarkand - will be overseen by Prime Minister Shavkat Mirziyoyev, seen as a potential successor.
Three days of mourning are being observed.
§  Obituary: Islam Karimov
§  Why Uzbekistan matters
A United Nations report has described the use of torture under Mr Karimov as "systematic".
The late leader often justified his strong-arm tactics by highlighting the danger from Islamist militancy in the mainly Muslim country, which borders Afghanistan.
Reading the signs: Analysis by BBC's Sarah Rainsford
People line the street as the cortege passes in TashkentImage copyrightAP
Image captionPeople line the street as the cortege passes in Tashkent
The official announcement of Islam Karimov's death came on Friday night. But Turkey's PM had sent condolences to Tashkent hours earlier - live on television - saying that the Uzbek leader had already died.
The Georgian president soon followed suit. The government in Tashkent has now released a medical report saying that Mr Karimov suffered a massive stroke last weekend and never regained consciousness. He died on Friday after his heart stopped for a second time, the statement says, and a team of doctors - including foreign specialists - could not resuscitate him.
Islam Karimov ruled for more than a quarter of a century, without naming a successor, so his death could well spark a struggle for power behind the scenes.
When Soviet leaders died, people would check who led the funeral commission for a clue as to who would take over. That could make Mr Mirziyoyev the man to watch. But, for Uzbekistan, all this is unprecedented and uncertain.

'Immense pain'

On Saturday a funeral cortege carried the president's body to Tashkent airport. Video footage showed police officers saluting the car as it passed, with people throwing flowers in its path.
At the airport, his wife Tatyana Karimova and younger daughter Lola Karimova-Tillyaeva, dressed in black and wearing headscarves, were shown in tears as the coffin was loaded on to a plane.
News of Mr Karimov's death was finally confirmed after several foreign leaders and diplomatic sources reported it on Friday, following days of rumours that he had already died.
Reports from diplomatic sources suggested several regional leaders were making plans to visit Samarkand for the funeral, with Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev expected to represent Russia.
US President Barack Obama said in a statement the US remained "committed to partnership with Uzbekistan, to its sovereignty, security, and to a future based on the rights of all its citizens. for the people of Uzbekistan".
Expressing his condolences in a statement (in Russian), Russian President Vladimir Putin described Mr Karimov as a statesman "who had contributed to the security and stability of Central Asia" and who would be a "great loss for the people of Uzbekistan".
Samarkand, 2 SeptemberImage copyrightAP
Image captionThe burial will take place in Samarkand
Shavkat MirziyoyevImage copyrightGETTY IMAGES
Image captionSome say Prime Minister Shavkat Mirziyoyev could have the upper hand
President Putin addressed his message to Uzbek senate leader Nigmatulla Yuldashev who, under the constitution, becomes acting president pending early elections.
Instagram postImage copyrightINSTAGRAM
Image captionLola Karimova-Tillyaeva's post
Mr Yuldashev is unlikely to fill the presidential role more permanently, analysts say. Mr Mirziyoyev has been in office since 2003 and his deputy, Rustam Azimov, is also seen as a key player.
Ms Karimova-Tillyaeva, posted a black square on Instagram with the words: "He left us... I choose my words and cannot believe it myself..."

'Repression unchallenged'

Anna Neistat, a senior director of research with Amnesty International, told the BBC the late leader had repressed dissent unchallenged by the international community.
"For years and years Karimov was shutting down any type of opposition, throwing in jail anybody who he believed could challenge the regime," she said.
After a wave of car bombs targeted Tashkent in 1999, Mr Karimov said: "I am ready to rip off the heads of 200 people, to sacrifice their lives, for the sake of peace and tranquillity in the country. If a child of mine chose such a path, I myself would rip off his head."
His followers argued that curbs on freedom were a small price to pay for law and order.


China's Zhangjiajie glass bridge closes after two weeks

Visitors walk across a glass-floor suspension bridge in Zhangjiajie in southern China's Hunan Province Saturday, Aug. 20, 2016Image copyrightAP
A glass-bottomed bridge in China that was heralded as a record-breaker when it opened just 13 days ago has closed.
Officials said the government was planning urgent maintenance work in the area and the bridge closed on Friday, with a re-opening time to be announced.
But the US CNN network said a spokesman told them the bridge, spanning a canyon, was "overwhelmed by the volume of visitors".
He said there had been no accidents and the bridge was not cracked or broken.
The 430m-long bridge, which cost $3.4m (£2.6m) to build, connects two mountain cliffs in Zhangjiajie, Hunan province.
It hangs 300m over a canyon said to have inspired the landscapes of the film Avatar.
When it opened, it was said to be the highest and longest glass-bottomed bridge in the world.
screenshot of Weibo post with Chinese charactersImage copyrightWEIBO
Image captionThe park made the announcement on the Chinese micro-blogging site Weibo
The bridge can accommodate 8,000 visitors a day but the spokesman told CNN that 10 times as many people wanted access daily.
Officials at the park announced the closure in a post on the Chinese micro-blogging site, Weibo.
They did not mention visitor numbers but said the government urgently needed to upgrade the area.
The post said that tour groups who had planned to see the bridge over the weekend might have "discretionary admission".
In response to the announcement, one social media user wrote: "I have booked everything and now you are saying you are closed... Are you kidding me?"
The glass suspension bridge in Zhangjiajie, ChinaImage copyrightAP
Image captionThe terrifying new glass bridge is in China's Hunan province
A car filled with passengers drives across the bridgeImage copyrightAP
Image captionWhen it opened, officials drove a car full of people across the bridge to show how safe the glass was

            

Philippines: Duterte home city attack blamed on Abu Sayyaf

The Abu Sayyaf militant group was responsible for a bomb attack in the home city of Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte which killed at least 14 people, the government has said.
Dozens were wounded in the blast at a market in the southern city of Davao.
Mr Duterte - who was in Davao at the time of the blast but was not near the market - has declared a "state of lawlessness" following the explosion.
This allows troops to be based in cities to assist the police.
National Defence Secretary Delfin Lorenzana said that Abu Sayyaf wanted to retaliate after suffering heavy casualties on its stronghold of Jolo island about 900km from Davao.
"We have predicted this - and warned our troops accordingly - but the enemy is adept at using the democratic space granted by our constitution to move around freely and unimpeded to sow terror," Mr Lorenzana said in a statement.
Relatives of victims of the bomb blast mourn near the site of the explosion at a night market in Davao city (03 |September 2016)Image copyrightEPA
Image captionThe Philippines has been best by drugs and separatist violence
President Rodrigo Duterte (centre, in blue) visiting injured victims of a bomb blastImage copyrightGETTY IMAGES
Image captionPresident Rodrigo Duterte (centre, in blue) has visited victims of the blast
A presidential spokesman said investigators had found shrapnel from a mortar-based improvised explosive device (IED) at the scene.

Police in the capital Manila are on high alert following the deadly blast.
At least 60 people were injured and 30 were taken to hospital.
§  Philippines war on drugs
§  Rodrigo Duterte sworn in as Philippines president
§  Who are the Abu Sayyaf group?
The explosion took place outside the Marco Polo hotel in an area frequently visited by Mr Duterte.
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Broken glass and plastic chairs were scattered at the scene, which has since been cordoned off by police bomb experts and investigators.
"The force just hurled me. I practically flew in the air," witness Adrian Abilanosa told the AFP news agency as bodies lay strewn amid the debris.
The president said the Philippines was going through "extraordinary times" which was why he had decided to allow the security forces to conduct searches previously done solely by the police.
A spokesman for the militant group Abu Sayyaf claimed responsibility soon after the attack, but the authorities initially said they were considering the possibility that drug syndicates were behind it.
Soldiers man a military checkpoint near the site of an explosion at a night market in Davao (03 September 2016)Image copyrightEPA
Image captionSecurity has been tightened in and around the scene of the attack in Davao
Bomb experts and forensic police gather evidence at the site of an explosion at a night market in Davao city (03 September 2016)Image copyrightEPA
Image captionPolice have gathered forensic evidence at the scene of the explosion
The region has been under a heightened security alert in recent weeks because of a military offensive against Abu Sayyaf.
Regional police chief Manuel Guerlan said a ring of checkpoints had been placed around the city's exit points.
"A thorough investigation is being conducted to determine the cause of the explosion," he said. "We call on all the people to be vigilant at all times."
On Monday at least 12 soldiers were killed in clashes with militants in what was the deadliest day for Philippine troops since President Duterte was elected in May.
His election has prompted a spike in drug-related killings, with more than 2,000 deaths since he took office on 30 June, nearly half of them in police operations.
Davao is the biggest city in the southern Philippines and has a population of about two million people. It is about 1,500km (932 miles) from the capital Manila.
The city is part of the southern region of Mindanao, where Islamic militants have for decades fought a separatist insurgency that has claimed more than 120,000 lives.
Mr Duterte was mayor of Davao for much of the last 20 years before winning elections in a landslide this year and being sworn in as president on 30 June.
He has been credited for bringing a degree of peace and order to Davao through his tough security policies, while simultaneously brokering deals with local Muslim and communist rebels.


Thousands of migrants rescued off Libya

About 6,500 migrants have been rescued off Libya, the Italian coastguard says, in one of the biggest operations of its kind to date.
Some 40 co-ordinated rescue missions took place about 20km (12 miles) off the Libyan town of Sabratha, it added.
Video footage shows migrants, said to be from Eritrea and Somalia, cheering and some swimming to rescue vessels, while others carried babies aboard.
On Sunday more than 1,100 migrants were rescued in the same area.
The instability in Libya has made the country a hub for people-trafficking.
§  'Push' factor drives migrants away from Libya to Europe
§  Migrant tragedy: Anatomy of a shipwreck
§  Migrant story enters new phase
Monday's operations involved vessels from Italy as well as the EU's border agency Frontex and the NGOs Proactiva Open Arms and Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF).
The migrants had set off in overcrowded and unseaworthy vessels with enough fuel to reach waiting rescuers, AP reported.
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A man carries his five days old son after been rescuedImage copyrightAP
Image captionA man carries his five-day-old son onto a rescue vessel
Last year more than one million migrants - many fleeing the civil war in Syria - arrived in Europe, sparking a crisis as countries struggled to cope with the influx, and creating division in the EU over how best to deal with resettling people.
In March, the EU struck a deal with Turkey to try to stop migrants crossing from Turkey to Greece while Balkan nations closed their borders to migrants. As a result, the number of arrivals using the so-called eastern Mediterranean route has fallen.
However, migrants from African countries such as Eritrea and Somalia as well as west African nations such as Nigeria and the Gambia are continuing to attempt the crossing from Libya to Italy.
Some are seeking economic opportunities in Europe - others are fleeing war, instability or authoritarian governments.
About 106,000 people have arrived in Italy so far this year while 2,726 have died in the attempt, according to the International Organization for Migration (IOM).
The IOM says there are a further 275,000 migrants in Libya waiting to travel.
Overall, about 284,000 migrants have entered Europe so far this year through various transit routes across Africa, Asia or the Middle East.
Several vessels run by humanitarian organisations help patrol the route but risks were highlighted earlier this month when MSF said one of its boats was fired on by armed men.
Italian officers rescue a woman from a crowded wooden boatImage copyrightAP
Image captionMost of the migrants are fleeing poverty and war
A refugee from Eritrea sleeps on the Astral vesselImage copyrightAP
Image captionMany of the rescued migrants were from Eritrea and Somalia


Weekend events round up


Whether you're heading to the football, the Reading and Leeds festival or Manchester Pride, Ben Rich takes a look at how the weather is shaping up for some of the main events taking place over the weekend.

American Football player Kaepernick refuses to stand for anthem

San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick stands on the field before their NFL pre-season football game against the Denver BroncosImage copyrightREUTERS
Image captionKaepernick made the protest during an exhibition game (file picture)
A US National Football League (NFL) quarterback has refused to stand for the national anthem in protest at what he sees as racial injustice.
Colin Kaepernick, who plays with the San Francisco 49ers, remained seated as the anthem was played.
"I am not going to stand up to show pride in a flag for a country that oppresses black people and people of colour," he explained.
Some fans booed the player when he took to the field.
But his team said they supported his right to protest, which took place as the 49ers hosted the Green Bay Packers in a pre-season game on Friday.
"We recognise the right of an individual to choose and participate, or not, in our celebration of the national anthem," the team said.
'Bigger than football'
An NFL spokesman said players were "encouraged but not required" to stand during the anthem.
Kaepernick has been outspoken on social media about race relations and a supporter of the Black Lives Matter movement.
"To me, this is bigger than football and it would be selfish on my part to look the other way," Kaepernick told NFL Media.
"There are bodies in the street and people getting paid leave and getting away with murder.''
He appeared to be referring to police use of deadly force which sparked the Black Lives Matter protests.
Kaepernick led his team to the NFL's title game, the Super Bowl, in 2013 but has since lost his starting place.
Kaepernick's gesture has drawn a strong reaction online
A tweet reads: Image copyright@DBONGINO
A tweet reads: Two months ago: 'We all should admire Muhammad Ali's courageous stand for his beliefs.'Image copyright@JBOUIE
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Current and former athletes weighed in on the debate too

A tweet reads: Image copyright@AUBREY_HUFF
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