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Images of a father struggling to hold his baby above the waves and of drowned Syrians washed ashore have not deterred Racha Sattout from gambling her life to seek sanctuary in Germany after fleeing a Syria ripped apart by war.

For her and thousands of others waiting to cram onto rubber boats on Turkey's shores to cross to the Greek islands, the choice is simple: die in Syria or risk death at sea in the hope of reaching safety and a new life in Europe.

But after she saw the heart-wrenching pictures of Aylan Kurdi, the Syrian Kurdish toddler who drowned this month, she decided to take that risk alone. She left her daughter Riham, 8, and son, Raed, 10, with her husband in Aleppo, and traveled to Turkey. Her hope is to win refugee status in Germany and thereby the right to bring her family to her new home.

But Racha's experience on her journey to date has been bitter, and is typical of the hardships and exploitation suffered by the thousands following the same treacherous route.

A week after arriving in Turkey, using money her sister sent her from Spain for the trip, she was still stranded in a hotel in the coastal city of Izmir at the mercy of people smugglers greedy for money.

"Every night the smuggler says this will be the night of the journey, but he keeps stalling and increasing his prices while my money is dwindling away," she says. Now she has moved in with a Syrian family in Izmir and is looking for another smuggler.

The unstoppable flow of people risking tiny rickety boats and the chicanery of smugglers to cross the Mediterranean shows no sign of abating, and is personalizing the collective tragedy of tens of thousands of Syrian refugees.

They are fleeing a conflict that began as a popular uprising in 2011, but quickly turned into a war that has killed over 250,000 people, creating more than 4 million refugees and displacing some 7.6 million more within the country.

Reminders of the risks come daily. Thirty-four refugees, 15 of them children, drowned when their boat sank off a Greek island on Sunday. Thousands have died in what is fast becoming Europe’s worst refugee crisis since the Second World War.

The refugees' stories speak of a devastated homeland, tremendous dangers to escape and rewards available to those who smuggle them – including fellow Syrians who have taken on the job of trying to make a treacherous passage safer.

Racha says that when a shell landed yards from her son six months ago, she and her husband decided it was time to flee Aleppo, a trading city fought over by the forces of President Bashar al-Assad, mainstream rebels and jihadi forces, including Islamic State.

"We sleep in bombardment and we wake up in bombardment," she said. "The situation in Syria is only getting worse; there is no sign that our ordeal will end, and the sea to Europe is the only hope left for us." Asked if she had seen the news reports of people drowning and whether that put her off, her answer was immediate.

"I’m scared of dying but...we’re dying in Aleppo a hundred times a day – what’s the difference? At least if I make it I might be able to do something to save the family." "When I look at how much my children are suffering, my heart aches. 

BMW CEO Harald Krüger collapsed at a presentation Tuesday during the media day at the Frankfurt Motor Show.

The 49-year-old was making his first major appearance as boss and fainted five minutes in to the company's news conference. He has been the company's CEO since May.

He was helped to his feet by two assistants and escorted from the stage in front of the assembled media. BMW said Krüger's health was "stable and he is recovering well."  

The major candidates running for U.S president, along with an even larger number of independent groups supporting them, raised an unprecedented $388 million in the first half of the year. So where did all this money come from?

Jeb Bush

Jeb Bush was the fundraising leader in the first half of 2016, pulling in $115 million, mostly through his super-PAC. Not surprisingly, the former Florida governor leaned heavily on his home state, but he also picked up large checks from across the country. He had a lower number of donations than some of his rivals—possibly because he waited until later in the year to declare his candidacy and become eligible to accept direct campaign contributions.

Marco Rubio

Marco Rubio’s donor base looks a lot like Bush’s, just smaller. In addition to his super-PAC, he’s getting support from a politically active nonprofit group that raised $15.8 million and doesn’t have to disclose the identities—or locations—of its donors.

Scott Walker

Scott Walker also has a national fundraising profile. There aren’t many small donations because he declared for the presidency in July and therefore was unable to collect any direct campaign contributions in the first half of the year.

Hillary Clinton

Hillary Clinton’s contributors skew more toward the coasts than the leading Republicans’, and didn't write any checks larger than about $1 million.

Bernie Sanders

Most of sanders’ cash came from donors who gave such small amounts—under $200—that their names and addresses weren’t required to be disclosed. Sanders attracted small-dollar contributions from across the country while discouraging the formation of any super-PACs to support him.

Sanders is not the only one who is depending primarily on small donations from across the country. Ben Carson, Mike Huckabee, and Rand Paul fit that pattern to some degree.

Donald Trump

The billionaire Donald Trump is largely self-funding his campaign and didn’t solicit donations in the first half. A few trickled in anyway, from all over the place.

Ted Cruz

Ted Cruz’s supporters are both widespread and well-heeled. His campaign gathered a large number of small checks from across the country, and his superPACs got huge donations from three families, in New York, Texas, and Puerto Rico. (The Puerto Rico donation is from Toby Neugebauer, a retired private-equity fund manager who recently moved to the territory from Texas.)

Bush vs. Clinton

Now for the matchups. Here’s Bush vs. Clinton. The former Florida governor dominates his home state. Clinton wins the West Coast and Colorado.

Clinton vs. Sanders

Even though Sanders raised much less than Clinton, he had more small-dollar support in some parts of the country outside of major cities.

Carson vs. Sanders

They come from opposite parties, but Sanders and Carson were both standouts when it came to small-dollar fundraising.

Bush vs. Carson

Two of the top Republican contenders had very different fundraising strategies. Bush spent most of the first half of 2015 raising big checks for his super-PAC, while Carson raked in small amounts from across the country.

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Russia has positioned about a half dozen tanks at an airfield at the center of a military buildup in Syria, two U.S. officials said on Monday, adding that the intentions of Moscow's latest deployment of heavy military equipment were unclear.

Moscow has come under increased international pressure in recent days to explain its moves in Syria, where the Kremlin has been supporting Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in a 4-1/2-year war.

The Pentagon declined to directly comment on the Reuters report, saying it could not discuss U.S. intelligence. But a U.S. Defense Department spokesman said recent actions by Moscow suggested plans to establish a forward air operating base.

"We have seen movement of people and things that would indicate that they plan to use that base there, south of Latakia, as a forward air operating base," Pentagon spokesman Captain Jeff Davis told a news briefing.

One of the U.S. officials, who spoke to Reuters on condition of anonymity to discuss intelligence matters, said seven Russian T-90 tanks had been observed at the airfield near Latakia, an Assad stronghold.

The two U.S. officials said Russia had also stationed artillery that appeared to be arrayed defensively to protect Russian personnel stationed there.

Reuters has previously reported that Russia had deployed about 200 naval infantry soldiers to the airfield, as well as temporary housing units, a portable air traffic control station and components for an air defense system.

In a sign of the pace of Russia's buildup, Moscow has been sending about two military cargo flights a day to the airfield over the past week, U.S. officials say.

A diplomatic source, speaking to Reuters in the region on condition of anonymity, said the Russians were working to improve the airfield."There have been trucks going in and out. It appears the runway is not suited to some types of aircraft yet and they have been doing some improvements," the diplomat said.

Russia has said it will continue providing military supplies to Syria and that its assistance to the Syrian army is in line with international law.

The United States is using Syrian airspace to lead a campaign of air strikes against Islamic State. A greater Russian presence raises the prospect of the Cold War superpower foes encountering each other on the battlefield.

So far, Russia has not sent combat aircraft or helicopter gunships to the airfield, the Pentagon said.

Both Moscow and Washington say their enemy is Islamic State, whose Islamist fighters control large parts of Syria and Iraq. But Russia supports the government of Assad in Syria, while the United States says his presence makes the situation worse.

White House spokesman Josh Earnest told reporters on Air Force One that any Russian support to Assad would be "destabilizing and counterproductive." But the White House appeared to hold out hope for some degree of cooperation with Moscow, noting shared concerns about violent extremism.

State Department spokesman John Kirby said Russia's ultimate goal in Syria remained uncertain.

"Clearly, they are providing more assistance," Kirby said. "But the ultimate goal? The ultimate intent here? I think there's still a degree of opaqueness about that."

The Syrian civil war, in which about 250,000 people have died, has caused nearly half of Syria's prewar population of 23 million to flee, with many thousands attempting to reach Europe.

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The reality TV show celebrities are debuting new mobile apps and sites that include both free and paid access to makeup tutorials, video diaries, and more.

As her hit mobile game continues to grow, Kim Kardashian West is expanding her mobile app empire today with the debut of new dedicated iOS apps. This new venture is a family affair as well. Her sisters Khloé Kardashian, Kendall Jenner, and Kylie Jenner also announced their individual personal media apps and websites.

Each app aims to give fans a more unique and personal look into each of the sister’s lives. The websites and apps, which will be free to download, offer a mix of free and subscriber content, with a subscription costing $2.99 per month.

The apps were produced by Whalerock Industries, a Los Angeles-based entertainment and media company that creates mobile apps and sites for celebrities. Whalerock’s pitch is that celebrities can become their own media moguls by controlling the types of content they can release, and charge for.

The Kardashian and Jenner apps include personal diaries, live streaming video by the celebrities, beauty tutorials, workout tips, and special access to events and giveaways.

Of course, you can still expect the Kardashian and Jenner sisters to post videos and photos to their massive followings on social sites like Instagram and Snapchat. But it is interesting to see these celebrities taking control of content and stories about their lives, which they had mostly ceded to the media companies, or even social media sites like Instagram.

The Kardashian and Jenner sisters will face the challenge of keeping up the expectations of paid subscribers and continuing to create original content to keep their fans visiting their apps and sites.

This isn’t Kardashian West’s first brush with the mobile app industry. Kardashian’s mobile game, Kim Kardashian: Hollywood, raked in $74 million last year. If they can make subscribers stick, then the model could become one that many more celebrities start to copy—Whalerock Industries is betting on that.

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Australia will get its fifth prime minister in eight years after the ruling Liberal Party on Monday voted out Tony Abbott in favor of longtime rival Malcolm Turnbull, following months of infighting and crumbling voter support.

Turnbull, a multi-millionaire former tech entrepreneur, won a secret party vote by 54 to 44, Liberal Party chief whip Scott Buchholz told reporters after the meeting in Canberra. Foreign Minister Julie Bishop was elected deputy leader of the party which, with junior coalition partner the National Party, won a landslide election in 2013.

"Ultimately, the prime minister has not been capable of providing the economic leadership our nation needs," Turnbull told reporters at parliament house ahead of the vote. Abbott pledged to fight the challenge but was ultimately unsuccessful in overcoming the "destabilization" that he said had been taking place within the party over months.

He walked stony faced out of the party room following the vote and did not speak to reporters. Abbott ousted Turnbull as leader of the Liberal Party in 2009 although Turnbull has consistently been seen as a preferred prime minister.

However, Turnbull's support for a carbon trading scheme, gay marriage and an Australian republic have made him unpopular with his party's right wing. The challenge came as Australia's $1.5 trillion economy struggles to cope with the end of a once-in-a-century mining boom and just days before a by-election in Western Australia state widely seen as a test of Abbott's leadership.

Abbott emerged badly weakened from a leadership challenge in February, which came about after weeks of infighting, and pledged a new spirit of conciliation. He and his government have since consistently lagged the Centre-left opposition Labor Party in opinion polls, helping to fuel speculation over how long his party would give him to turn things around.

Abbott had earlier dismissed reports about a challenge as "gossip", saying he refused to play "Canberra games". Peter Chen, a political scientist from the University of Sydney, said Turnbull faced the same problem as Kevin Rudd, a former Labor prime minister toppled by his own party.

"He is popular with the public, but not necessarily within his own party, Chen said.

Abbott has continued to defy popular opinion inside and outside his party, despite pledging to be more consultative, blocking his MPs from supporting same-sex marriage and announcing an emissions reduction target criticized as inadequate by environmental groups.

He agreed last week to take in 12,000 Syrian refugees but the news was overshadowed by rumors of a cabinet reshuffle and an insensitive gaffe about climate change, caught by a microphone at a meeting, by Immigration Minister Peter Dutton.

Abbott has now become the shortest reigning first-term prime minister to be overthrown, Rod Tiffen, an emeritus professor of political science at the University of Sydney, told Reuters.

"It's pretty amazing to think that we will have had two prime ministers overthrown in their first terms, which hasn't happened since World War Two. This shows the degree of instability within parties that we now have," he said.

"Australia does not need another out of touch, arrogant, Liberal leader. Australia needs a change of government," Shorten told reporters in Canberra.

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