Sunday, 31 March 2019
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Gaza City, Palestinian Territories: A fourth Palestinian died from Israeli fire in clashes sparked by mass demonstrations along the Israel-Gaza border on Saturday, the health ministry in the enclave said.Billal al-Najjar, 17, was shot by Israeli forces east of Khan Yunis in southern Gaza, it said in a statement.Two others aged 17 and a 20-year-old man were killed, according to ministry statements, as tens of thousands gathered to mark the first anniversary of weekly protests along the frontier.
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Washington: Facebook chief Mark Zuckerberg called Saturday for governments to play a "more active role" in regulating the internet, urging more countries to adopt versions of sweeping European rules aimed at safeguarding user privacy.Facebook and other internet giants have long resisted government intervention, but the leading social network has reversed course amid growing calls for regulation, in an apparent bid to help steer the debate."I believe we need a more active role for governments and regulators," Zuckerberg wrote in an op-ed published in The Washington Post."By updating the rules for the internet, we can preserve what´s best about it -- the freedom for people to express themselves and for entrepreneurs to build new things -- while also protecting society from broader harms," he said.Zuckerberg argues that new regulations are needed in four areas: harmful content, protection of elections, privacy and data portability.Facebook has drawn fire over all four, from hate speech on the platform and the recent live streaming of attacks on mosques in New Zealand, to its use in foreign efforts to meddle in elections and concerns over its collection of personal user data.Addressing protection of user privacy, Zuckerberg said he would support more countries adopting rules in line with the European Union´s sweeping General Data Protection Regulation, which gives regulators sweeping powers to sanction organizations which fail to adhere to heightened standards of security when processing personal data."I believe it would be good for the internet if more countries adopted regulation such as GDPR as a common framework," Zuckerberg wrote, also calling for regulation to guarantee data portability between services.On harmful content, Zuckerberg said he agreed with lawmakers who have argued that "we have too much power over speech," saying that "third-party bodies" could set standards on distribution of harmful material and "measure companies against those standards."And on elections, Zuckerberg noted that existing laws are focused on candidates and elections instead of "divisive political issues where we´ve seen more attempted interference," urging legislation to be updated to "reflect the reality of the threats.""The rules governing the internet allowed a generation of entrepreneurs to build services that changed the world and created a lot of value in people´s lives," Zuckerberg wrote."It´s time to update these rules to define clear responsibilities for people, companies and governments going forward."
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MUMBAI: Former Indian Border Security Force (BSF) soldier, who was dismissed from service in 2017, has announced to contest elections against Prime Minister Narendra Modi.Tej Bahadur Yadav was dismissed from service in 2017 after he complained about the poor quality of food served to Indian security forces.Talking to media Haryana’s Rewari, Tej Bahadur said he raised the issue of corruption in Indian security forces but he was sacked. “My first objective will be to strengthen and eliminate corruption in the forces," he said according to Indian media.The dismissed soldier said he will contest the forthcoming Lok Sabha elections against Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his Varanasi constituency in Uttar Pradesh.He said he would contest elections as an independent candidate.Tej Bahadur, in 2017 had shared some video clips on social media about the quality of food being served to security forces posted in the frontier areas. He was dismissed from service by the Summary Security Force Court at Samba after he was found guilty of neglect to obey general orders of the force.
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GHOTKI: Prime Minister Imran Khan has said government has decided to change the name of Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP).The demand to change the name of BISP was made by Grand Democratic Alliance, ally of PTI government in a meeting with PM Imran Khan at the residence of Ali Gohar Mahar here.The demand was put forward by GDA leader Makhdoom Mohsin.Sources said during the meeting a GDA leader said the name of BISP should be changed, over this PM Imran Khan replied abruptly “BISP name is being amended.”It may be noted that the Benazir Income Support Programme was established in 2008 by Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) prime minister Yousaf Raza Gillani who took the advice of former president Asif Ali Zardari. The program's name is a tribute to former prime minister Benazir Bhutto, who was assassinated in 2007.Under this programme, poor women are granted Rs 5000 per month.
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Kabul: Taliban fighters on Saturday attacked a convoy carrying Afghanistan's vice president Abdul Rashid Dostum, in an assault that left the former warlord unscathed but killed one of his bodyguards, an official told AFP.Enayatullah Babur, Dostum´s former chief of staff, said the hour-long attack also left several others in the convoy wounded.The attack occurred in the northern province of Balkh, where Dostum had held a rally earlier in the day.On Twitter, a Taliban spokesman said the insurgent group had carried out the attack and claimed four of Dostum´s bodyguards had been killed.Dostum, a powerful ethnic Uzbek leader, is notorious in Afghanistan for extreme barbarities and for repeatedly switching loyalties over 40 years of conflict.Despite a catalogue of war crimes attached to his name and accusations of organising the rape and torture of a political rival, Dostum became Afghanistan´s first vice president in 2014.At the rally in Balkh, Dostum had claimed he could clear northern Afghanistan of the Taliban within six months -- if only the government would let him.In delayed elections now slated for September, President Ashraf Ghani has chosen to run with Amrullah Saleh, an ethnic Tajik, instead of Dostum.Dostum has survived several other attempts on his life, including one claimed by Daesh group last July in Kabul that killed 23 people including AFP driver Mohammad Akhtar.
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Pakistan projected its flagship project ‘Billion Tree Tsunami’, as one of its leading efforts to fight climate change at a high level event on the subject organized by the President of the United Nations, General Assembly.The project, the UN was told, had become the first entity under the global ‘Bonn Challenge’ to surpass the pledge of restoring 3.48 million hectors and created half a million green jobs and has now been transformed into a nation-wide '10 Billion Tree Tsunami', inaugurated by Prime Minister Imran Khan.During the meeting, Pakistan stated that climate change, besides causing widespread devastation, threatens countries’ abilities to accomplish national priorities and achieve sustainable economic growth while also mentioning that Pakistan, with its contribution to the total global Green House Gas (GHG) emission limited to only 0.8%, was considered the eighth most climate vulnerable country in the world.According to the press release, it was brought to the attention of the world assembly that Pakistan had faced whims of climate change in the form of glacial melt and widespread devastation caused by floods in 2010 and 2011 as well as the drought in 2014. Pakistan had taken actions in the domain of both adaptation and mitigation, which includes in disaster risk reduction, resilient agriculture, flood water utilization for ecosystem restoration, ground water recharge, renewable energy, transportation, and town planning.Pakistan also flagged the vital importance of climate finance and while referring to Pakistan’s adaptation needs that stood at $14 billion per annum, Pakistan called on the developed countries to fulfil their pledge of mobilising $100 billion by 2020. The country’s statement was well received, including endorsement by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), that specifically praised the country’s achievement in global “Bonn Challenge” and reforestation efforts through “10 Billion Tree Tsunami” in its own statement at the Assembly. The high-level meeting on Climate and Sustainable Development for All was convened by the President of the General Assembly, Maria Fernanda Espinosa Garces on 28-29 March 2019 and was attended by a number of top delegations from around the world including the Presidents of Austria, Hungary, Slovakia, and Prime Ministers of Fiji and Dominica.
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Tens of thousands of Gazans gathered at the Israeli border Saturday to mark a year since protests and clashes erupted there, but fears of mass bloodshed were averted after late Egyptian-led negotiations.Israel deployed several thousand troops along the border, with the anniversary coming at a sensitive time ahead of its April 9 elections.Two Palestinians were killed by Israeli fire, one during an overnight demonstration and a 17-year-old in clashes later Saturday, the health ministry in Gaza City said. Another 207 Gazans were wounded.But fears of a repeat of similar protests and clashes to those that saw more than 60 Palestinians killed on May 14, when the United States transferred its Israel embassy to Jerusalem, did not materialise.Egypt tried to mediate between Israel and Gaza´s miltant rulers Hamas to rein in violence.Hamas officials said Friday an understanding had been reached that would see Israel ease its crippling blockade of Gaza in exchange for the protests remaining calm.Tens of thousands gathered at five protest points along the frontier on Saturday, but the vast majority stayed away from the border fence, AFP journalists said.East of Gaza City, small groups of young men approached the fence and sought to break it multiple times but were forced back by Israeli tear gas and live fire.The protesters threw stones at the Israeli soldiers.An Egyptian security delegation visited the protest site east of Gaza City, as did Hamas leaders Ismail Haniya and Yahya Sinwar.Israel´s army said around 40,000 "rioters and demonstrators" had gathered in spots throughout the border.It said grenades and explosive devices were hurled at troops, who responded "in accordance with standard operating procedures."- Negotiated calm -Protesters were marking the first anniversary of often violent weekly demonstrations in which around 200 Palestinians and an Israeli soldier have been killed.In the runup to the anniversary, Egypt, the long-time mediator between the parties, had shuffled back and forth seeking to avoid major bloodshed.Senior Hamas official Bassem Naim called Saturday´s protest "a very important message" that thousands had gathered "peacefully to raise their voice against aggression and the imposed siege on Gaza."He confirmed that Egypt had made progress towards a deal that media reports said would see Israel allow more Qatari aid into the strip and ease some restrictions. In exchange Hamas would maintain calm at the border protests.Khalil al-Hayya, another senior figure in the movement, said they were expecting to receive a timetable from Israel on Sunday.There was no Israeli comment on the alleged agreement.Israel holds a keenly contested general election on April 9 in which Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu faces a stiff challenge from centrist former military chief Benny Gantz.He is widely seen as wanting to avoid a major escalation, but has at the same time faced political pressure over accusations of being soft on Hamas.The anniversary came only days after another severe flare-up of violence between Israel and Hamas, sparked by rare long-range rocket strike from Gaza. An Egyptian-brokered ceasefire restored calm.The demonstrators are calling for Palestinians to be allowed to return to land their families fled or were expelled from during the 1948 war that accompanied Israel´s creation.Israel says any such mass return would spell the end of a Jewish state and that its actions have been necessary to defend the border.It accuses Hamas of orchestrating violence, but its soldiers´ use of live fire has come under heavy criticism.Last month, a UN probe said Israeli soldiers had intentionally fired on civilians in what could constitute war crimes.- Rocket strike -Two million Palestinians live in impoverished Gaza, crammed between Israel, Egypt and the Mediterranean.Analysts highlight desperate living conditions and lack of freedom of movement as driving forces behind the protests.Israel, which has fought three wars with Hamas, has blockaded the enclave for more than a decade, and Egypt often closes Gaza´s only other gateway to the outside world.Hamas is considered a terrorist group by the United States, European Union and others.Many protesters over the past year have remained far back from the fence and demonstrated peacefully, but others have approached in numbers and clashed with soldiers.Small groups have attached incendiary devices to balloons to float them over the border in an attempt to set fire to nearby Israeli homes and farmland.
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LOS ANGELES: The driver who killed British-based pop duo Her´s in a head-on crash was traveling the wrong way on an interstate highway, US police said in a statement received Saturday.Arizona´s Department of Public Safety confirmed the deaths of Stephen Fitzpatrick, 24, and Audun Laading, 25, as well as the only other person in their van, Trevor Engelbrektson, 37, of Minneapolis. He was their tour manager and driver.Officers were already responding at about 1:00 am on Wednesday after "a wrong-way driver was reported eastbound in the westbound lanes" of Interstate 10, west of Phoenix, the state troopers said in a statement sent to AFP.A short time later, a Nissan pickup collided head-on with the passenger van in the westbound interstate, the troopers said."Both vehicles were engulfed in flames," their statement said."There was no roadway evidence to indicate braking by either vehicle prior to impact. An alcoholic beverage container was located in the debris field."The Nissan driver, Francisco Edward Rebollar, 64, of Murrieta, California, also died.Her´s label Heist or Hit earlier said the band was travelling to Santa Ana, California, for the final gig of its US tour when the crash occurred.The indie duo had played in Phoenix the previous night, as part of their second American tour to promote their debut album "Invitation to Her´s".Fitzpatrick, from northwest England, and Laading, from Norway, met while studying at university in Liverpool.Their label called them "one of the UK´s most loved up and coming bands."On Monday the duo had posted a poignant final Facebook message: "It´s almost home time for the lads, US tour has gone swimming
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ATHENS: A 5.3-magnitude quake jolted central Greece on Saturday, the national observatory said, with no immediate reports of damage.The quake had a depth of around 14 kilometres (8.6 miles) and an epicentre in the Gulf of Corinth, some 200 kilometres (320 miles) northwest of the Greek capital, the observatory said."It was a strong earthquake felt in the general area and in Athens as well," Efthymios Lekkas, head of Greece´s earthquake planning and protection agency, told state TV ERT."The situation is under control and we are monitoring it. There are many fault lines in the Gulf of Corinth," he said.Greece lies on major fault lines and is regularly hit by earthquakes, but they rarely cause casualties.In July 2017 a 6.7-magnitude earthquake killed two people on the island of Kos in the Aegean sea, causing significant damage.In 1999, a 5.9-magnitude quake killed 143 people in Athens and the region northwest of the capital.
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Facebook on Friday said it is tightening live video streaming rules in response to the service being used to broadcast deadly attacks on mosques in New Zealand.The Christchurch attacks -- carried out by a white supremacist who opened fire on worshippers at two mosques -- claimed 50 lives.Many people have "rightly questioned how online platforms such as Facebook were used to circulate horrific videos of the attack," chief operating officer Sheryl Sandberg said in an online post."In the wake of the terrorist attack, we are taking three steps: strengthening the rules for using Facebook Live, taking further steps to address hate on our platforms, and supporting the New Zealand community," she added.Facebook is looking into barring people who have previously violated the social network´s community standards from livestreaming on its platform, according to Sandberg.The social network is also investing in improving software to quickly identify edited versions of violent video or images to prevent them from be shared or re-posted."While the original New Zealand attack video was shared Live, we know that this video spread mainly through people re-sharing it and re-editing it to make it harder for our systems to block it," Sandberg said."People with bad intentions will always try to get around our security measures."Facebook identified more than 900 different videos showing portions of the streamed violence.- Hateful nationalism -The social network is using artificial intelligence tools to identify and remove hate groups in Australia and New Zealand, according to Sandberg.Those groups will be banned from Facebook services, she said.Facebook this week announce it would ban praise or support for white nationalism and white separatism as part of a stepped-up crackdown on hate speech.The ban will be enforced starting next week on the leading online social network and its image-centric messaging service Instagram."It´s clear that these concepts are deeply linked to organized hate groups and have no place on our services," the social network said in a statement.Facebook policies already banned posts endorsing white supremacy as part of its prohibition against spewing hate at people based on characteristics such as race, ethnicity or religion.The ban had not applied to some postings because it was reasoned they were expressions of broader concepts of nationalism or political independence, according to the social network.Facebook said that conversations with academics and "members of civil society" in recent months led it to view white nationalism and separatism as linked to organized hate groups.People who enter search terms associated with white supremacy will get results referring them to resources such as Life After Hate, which focus on helping people turn their backs on such groups, according to Facebook.Amid pressure from governments around the world, Facebook has ramped up machine learning and artificial intelligence tools for finding and removing hateful content."We are deeply committed to strengthening our policies, improving our technology and working with experts to keep Facebook safe," Sandberg said."We must all stand united against hate and work together to fight it wherever and whenever it occurs."
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SYDNEY: The Sydney Opera House and the Harbour Bridge were plunged into darkness for an hour Saturday to raise awareness about climate change and its impact on the planet´s vanishing biodiversity.The 13th edition of Earth Hour, organised by the green group WWF, will see millions of people across 180 countries turn off their lights at 8:30 pm local time to highlight energy use and the need for conservation."We are the first generation to know we are destroying the world. And we could be the last that can do anything about it," the charity said."We have the solutions, we just need our voices to be heard."WWF-Australia CEO Dermot O´Gorman told AFP that "Earth hour still is the world´s largest grassroots movement for people to take action on climate change"."It´s about individuals taking personal action but joining with hundreds of millions of people around the world to show that not only do we need urgent action on climate change but we need to be protecting our planet," he added.Dozens of companies around the world have said they will join in this year´s switch-off.The event comes after some of the most dire warnings yet on the state of Earth´s natural habitat and species.WWF´s own "Living Planet" report in October said that 60 percent of all animals with a backbone -- fish, birds, amphibians, reptiles and mammals -- had been wiped out by human activity since 1970.Another dataset confirmed the depth of an unfolding mass extinction event, only the sixth in the last half-billion years.Paris´s Eiffel Tower, New York´s Empire State Building, Dubai´s Burj Khalifa and the Acropolis in Athens are among the 24 global landmarks that will take part in Earth Hour.Last year´s event was observed in more than 7,000 towns and cities in 187 countries, according to organisers.While the lights-off event is a symbolic gesture, Earth Hour has led successful campaigns over the past decade to ban plastics in the Galapagos Islands and plant 17 million trees in Kazakhstan.
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Saturday, 30 March 2019
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File photoSRINAGAR: An officer of Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) committed suicide in Baramulla district in Occupied Kashmir on Saturday, according to Kashmir Media Service (KMS)A sub-Inspector of ITBP, Chandar Mani, ended his life by shooting himself with his service rifle at a camp in Kunzar area of the district, the KMS reported.This incident raised the number of such deaths amongst the Indian troops and police personnel to 423 in occupied Kashmir since January 2007. Search operation Indian forces launched cordon and search operations in Islamabad and Shopian districts on early Saturday.The Indian troops cordoned off Ganai Mohalla in Turkwangam area of Shopian and started a door-to-door search operation.
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Global landmarks from the Sydney Opera House to Dubai´s Burj Khalifa are set to dim their lights on Saturday to raise awareness about energy use and our planet´s vanishing biodiversity.Paris´s Eiffel Tower, New York´s Empire State Building and the Acropolis in Athens will all take part in Earth Hour.The thirteenth edition of Earth Hour, organized by the green group WWF, will see 24 landmarks each go dark for 60 minutes throughout the day."We are the first generation to know we are destroying the world. And we could be the last that can do anything about it," the charity said."We have the solutions; we just need our voices to be heard."Dozens of companies around the world have said they will join in this year´s switch-off.The event comes after some of the direst warnings yet on the state of Earth´s natural habitat and species. WWF´s own "Living Planet" report in October said that 60 percent of all animals with a backbone -- fish, birds, amphibians, reptiles and mammals -- had been wiped out by human activity since 1970.Another dataset confirmed the depth of an unfolding mass extinction event, only the sixth in the last half-billion years.Last year´s event was observed in more than 7,000 towns and cities in 187 countries, according to organizers.
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Ottawa: A political meddling scandal threatening Prime Minister Justin Trudeau´s re-election bid was given fresh impetus Friday with the release of messages and a secret recording supplied by his former attorney general.The House of Commons justice committee, looking into the explosive allegations that Trudeau officials pressured attorney general Jody Wilson-Raybould to shield engineering firm SNC-Lavalin from trial, released the materials from the now former official.The controversy comes just months ahead of a re-election bid that looks increasingly uncertain for Trudeau, whose progressive, golden boy image had previously been unblemished.In the 43 pages of documents, Wilson-Raybould seeks to link her demotion to another portfolio in January to her resistance to allegedly undue pressure to settle the SNC-Lavalin case -- which Trudeau and his staff have denied.And she hints about why, a month later, she resigned from cabinet, saying she had decided "that I would immediately resign if the new attorney general decided to issue a directive in the SNC-Lavalin matter."Her replacement as attorney general, David Lametti, has so far only said he is considering the issue.Montreal-based SNC-Lavalin was charged in 2015 with corruption over alleged bribes paid to secure contracts in Libya.Wilson-Raybould, Canada´s first indigenous attorney general, refused to ask prosecutors to settle, and the trial is set to proceed.But she later testified to lawmakers that she had faced "consistent and sustained" political pressure to intervene, including receiving "veiled threats" over her stance.Trudeau recently addressed the allegations, telling reporters in Ottawa that he had learned "lessons" from the crisis -- but denying any wrongdoing.Another minister quit in protest, and two senior officials in Trudeau´s office accused of bullying Wilson-Raybould also resigned since the scandal erupted in February.The secret recording made by Wilson-Raybould of a 17-minute call in December with Canada´s top bureaucrat, Clerk of the Privy Council Michael Wernick, supports her testimony to the justice committee last month.On the tape, she says Trudeau´s inner circle was on "dangerous ground" by attempting to interfere in the SNC-Lavalin prosecution.Wernick says the prime minister is "in a pretty firm frame of mind about this.""I am a bit worried," he goes on to say. "It is not a good idea for the prime minister and his attorney general to be at loggerheads."He also highlights Trudeau´s concerns about the possible loss of 9,000 jobs and "a signature Canadian firm" if SNC-Lavalin is found guilty at trial and sanctioned, coming soon after a GM plant closure and Canadian oil sector woes.
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Sydney: Australia pledged Saturday to introduce new laws that could see social media executives jailed and tech giants fined billions for failing to remove extremist material from their platforms.The tough new legislation will be brought to parliament next week as Canberra pushes for social media companies to prevent their platforms from being "weaponised" by terrorists in the wake of the Christchurch mosque attacks.Facebook said it "quickly" removed a staggering 1.5 million videos of the white supremacist massacre livestreamed on the social media platform.A 17-minute video of the March 15 rampage that claimed the lives of 50 people was widely available online and experts said was easily retrievable several hours after the attack."Big social media companies have a responsibility to take every possible action to ensure their technology products are not exploited by murderous terrorists," Prime Minister Scott Morrison said in a statement.Morrison, who met with a number of tech firms Tuesday -- including Facebook, Twitter and Google -- said Australia would encourage other G20 nations to hold social media firms to account.Attorney-General Christian Porter said the new laws would make it a criminal offence for platforms not to quickly take down "abhorrent violent material" like terror attacks, murder or rape.Executives could face up to three years in prison for failing to do so, he added, while social media platforms -- whose annual revenues can stretch into the tens of billions -- would face fines of up to ten percent of their annual turnover."Mainstream media that broadcast such material would be putting their licence at risk and there is no reason why social media platforms should be treated any differently," Porter said.The government was so far "underwhelmed" by the response from tech giants at their Tuesday meeting with Morrison, communications minister Mitch Fifield told reporters Saturday.But cyber-security expert Nigel Phair, from the University of New South Wales, cast doubt over the ability of proposed Australian laws to impose jail time."The penalty is only for Australian domiciled executives, and on the whole they´re marketing executives, not those responsible for running and maintaining the platform," he told broadcaster SBS earlier this week.
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Christchurch, New Zealand: A Maori lament echoed across Christchurch Friday as a survivor of the New Zealand mosque attacks told a national remembrance service he had forgiven the gunman responsible for the racist massacre that took his wife, and shocked the world."I am choosing peace and I have forgiven," wheelchair-bound Farid Ahmed told tens of thousands gathered in the grieving southern city, drawing sustained applause as he implored New Zealanders of all faiths to also reject hate.Wearing a traditional Maori cloak, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern was among those who stood silently with heads bowed while the names of 50 people killed by a self-avowed white supremacist were read out.Speakers honoured the dead and those who survived the March 15 attacks, including 22 people who remain in hospital, among them a critically injured four-year-old girl.Ardern, who was joined by representatives from nearly 60 nations, including her Australian counterpart Scott Morrison, received a prolonged standing ovation when she took the stage.The 38-year-old leader, widely hailed for her response to the tragedy, praised the way New Zealanders had embraced their devastated Muslim community since the attacks."Racism exists, but it is not welcome here," she said, adding that she hoped New Zealand would set an example to stop the cycle of extremism breeding extremism."We are not immune to the viruses of hate, of fear, of other -- we never have been," she said."But we can be the nation that discovers the cure."The hastily organised event was held amid tight security, with Police Commissioner Mike Bush confirming armed police from Australia were on site to assist their New Zealand counterparts.The service heard a Muslim invocation, or du´a, and Cat Stevens -- the British singer who shunned stardom in the 1970s and became a Muslim, taking the name Yusuf Islam -- gave a powerful rendition of his hit song "Peace Train".But the most moving speech came from Ahmed, whose wife Husna was killed as she rushed back into a mosque trying to rescue her disabled husband.´Attack on us all´ Looking frail in his wheelchair as he sat on stage wearing sunglasses and a headscarf, Ahmed said he bore no hatred toward the accused gunman, Australian Brenton Tarrant."People ask me, ´why do you forgive someone who has killed your beloved wife?´" he said."I can give so many answers... Allah says if we forgive one another he loves us."Ahmed said people from different cultures were like flowers and "together we are a beautiful garden"."I don´t want a heavy heart boiling like a volcano with anger, fury and rage -- it burns itself and burns its surroundings," he said."I want a heart full of love, care and mercy. This heart does not want any more lives to be lost, any other human to go through the pain I´ve gone through."That´s why I am choosing peace and I have forgiven."Amid the tears and grief, there was optimism among the crowd that the outpouring of compassion that followed the attacks would become the lasting legacy of its victims."I´m very positive about this continuing," said Manan Bohra, who runs a Muslim community centre in Auckland. "When we´re walking down the street people are coming up and expressing their peace and love."It was a very tragic event, but it´s been a life-changing event for the nation itself."Christchurch mayor Lianne Dalziel said the atrocity was "an attack on us all"."Those actions were designed to divide us and tear us apart," she said."They have instead united us."
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UNITED NATIONS: Hollywood's legendary actress Angelina Jolie, who is an activist for refugee-related causes, spoke out Friday in favor of women's engagement in peace process aimed at ending the long conflict in Afghanistan.In an address to the ministers and diplomats at the United Nations, she said: "In Afghanistan thousands of women have recently come together in public risking their lives to ask that their rights and the rights of their children be guaranteed in peace negotiations that so far they have been allow no part of." Jolie added: "There can be no peace or stability in Afghanistan or anywhere else in the world that involves trading away the rights of women."The world "will remain stuck in a cycle of violence and conflicts" as long as nations put almost every other issue ahead of equality for women," she said.The A-List actress and UN special envoy for refugees delivered the keynote address at a conference to raise support for UN peacekeeping missions at a time when the United States is seeking major budget cuts to the blue helmet operations.Angelina Jolie, describing herself as a American patriot, spoke in favor of US engagement in the world, saying: "I´m a patriot. I love my country and I want to see it thrive," Jolie told the gathering at the General Assembly.The 43-year-old Academy Award-winning actress serves as a special envoy for the UNHCR, the UN refugee agency that she began working with 18 years ago.The United States has been leading peace talks with the Taliban in Qatar as Washington seeks to end the nearly 18-year war in Afghanistan.
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DUBAI: The world' first 'Al Quran Park' opened in Dubai's Al Khawaneej area on Friday, it will provide the visitors a chance to learn about miracles mentioned in the Holy Quran.The main objective of establishing the park is to provide bridges of intellectual and cultural communication with different cultures, religions and peoples to see the cultural achievements of Islam in the field of plant ecology.The park, which covers a wide area of 60-hectare, has all available plants mentioned in the Holy Quran along with facilities such as an attractive main entrance, an administration building, an Islamic garden, children's play areas, Umrah corner, an outdoor theatre, areas for showing the miracles of the Quran. A desert garden, a palm oasis, a lake, a running track, a cycling track and a sandy walking track are also constructed in the park.A day before inauguration, The Dubai Municipality had announced that it will inaugurate the Quranic Park on March 29. The entry to the park will be free for all visitors.The park has about 54 plants, which mentioned in the Holy Quran, including fig, pomegranate, olive, corn, leek, garlic, onion, lentil, barley, wheat, ginger, pumpkin, watermelon, tamarind, seders, vineyards, bananas, cucumbers and basil. I also has fountains, bathrooms, a glass building, a desert garden, a palm oasis, a lake, a running track, a cycling track and a sandy walking track.
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WASHINGTON: President Donald Trump on Friday again accused Mexico of failing to curb the flow of migrants illegally entering the US, and threatened to close the common border "next week" unless something changes.Trump´s latest tweets ramp up the tension between the neighbors, putting a specific timeframe to his threats to shut the border, one of the busiest in the world."If Mexico doesn´t immediately stop ALL illegal immigration coming into the United States through our Southern Border, I will be CLOSING the Border, or large sections of the Border, next week," he said."This would be so easy for Mexico to do, but they just take our money and ´talk´," he added.Mexican Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard quickly fired back, saying his country "does not act based on threats.""We are a great neighbor. Just ask the 1.5 million US citizens who have chosen to call our country home, the largest such community outside the United States," Ebrard wrote on Twitter.Before Trump´s latest tweets, Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador reiterated that he does not want a "controversy" with the United States, and that Mexico is in fact working to fight illegal immigration."All this talk of migrant caravans and such is related to politics and the (US) election campaign -- that´s why I´m not going to get into it," he told a press conference.Lopez Obrador, an anti-establishment leftist who took office in December, has sought to cultivate a cordial relationship with Trump.And it appeared to be working -- until this week, when the Republican billionaire returned to the Mexico-bashing of his 2016 campaign, as he launches the run-up to his 2020 re-election bid.Lopez Obrador wants the US to fund $10 billion in economic development programs for Mexico and Central America to attack the poverty and violence he says are the root causes of migration.The White House appeared to be listening, sending top adviser and presidential son-in-law Jared Kushner to meet with Lopez Obrador in Mexico City last week for talks on the subject.But Trump himself has returned to classic campaign form as the 2020 presidential race heats up in America.On Thursday, he told a crowd at a rally in Michigan that the US would "close the damn border" if Mexico did not do more to stem the flow of migrants crossing illegally into the United States.
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NEW DELHI: India’s ruling party Friday backed a court decision to acquit a group of Hindu hardliners accused of killing 68 people in a train bombing, despite the judge expressing reservations over the verdict.The country’s top anti-terror agency had charged the men over the 2007 bombing when the opposition Congress party was in government, but a full verdict handed down Thursday revealed there was not enough evidence to convict them.Most of the victims aboard the "Samjhauta (friendship) Express" train were Pakistanis on their way home from India, and prosecutors at the time described the crime as a ´Hindu terror´ plot to kill Muslims.The special judge presiding over the historic case, Jagdeep Singh, said he had arrived at the verdict with "deep pain and anguish", accusing prosecutors from the National Investigation Agency of "withholding the best evidence" from the court.The crime had gone unpunished, Singh said.The verdict in the landmark case came two weeks before voting starts in India´s national election in which Prime Minister Narendra Modi, a Hindu nationalist leader, is seeking re-election.Among those acquitted last week was Swami Aseemanand, an influential Hindu monk belonging to a group with historic ties to Modi´s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).India´s finance minister and BJP leader Arun Jaitley said the acquittal vindicated the party´s view that the Congress had sought to smear Hindus by blaming hardliners for the crime."To establish their theory of Hindu terror, a wrong set of people were framed -- innocent people lost their lives (in the blast) and the real culprits were not caught," he told reporters in Delhi on Friday, flanked by senior BJP cadres."When there was no evidence... Congress government maligned the Hindu community by labelling them terrorists."The concept of ´saffron terror´ is fiercely rejected by Hindu nationalists and came into prominence after police arrested Hindu militants for a string of deadly bomb attacks, mostly targeting mosques and Muslim districts, between 2006 and 2008.The Congress-led government at the time accused right-wing Hindu outfits of orchestrating the attacks that killed dozens.
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Two survivors of cyclone Idai died and 11 were hurt when the breaks failed on an army truck delivering food aid in eastern Zimbabwe and it ploughed into a waiting crowd, an official said Friday.Defence forces provincial spokesman Major Exavier Chibasa told AFP the accident happened at Skyline in the district of cyclone-ravaged Chimanimani on Thursday where victims of the cyclone were gathering to receive aid."The vehicle lost brakes while travelling on a steep gradient. There were people sitting on the sides of the road," Chibasa said."Unfortunately two of them fell victim and lost their lives. About 11 others were injured but not seriously."The army is helping with the transporting and handing out food and other relief aid donated to victims of Cyclone Idai. The storm affected at least 270,000 and claimed 185 lives in landlocked Zimbabwe while more than 200 are missing. The UN migration agency IOM however put the Zimbabwe death toll at 259.In neighbouring Mozambique at least 493 people died and 1.85 million were affected. The heavy downpour which led to floods and landslides damaged hundreds of homes, roads and bridges in the Chimanimani and Chipinge districts.One school lost 30 pupils and several staff members while a local church lost a quarter of its congregation to the cyclone.
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The death toll from a terrifying blaze that ripped through a Bangladesh tower rose on Friday to 25, as authorities vowed tough action to improve lax safety standards.The latest deadly blaze to hit Bangladesh´s congested capital Dhaka tore through the 22-storey FR Tower on Thursday, leaving some of the hundreds trapped inside screaming for help as horrified onlookers massed outside.Some of those stuck inside made it to safety by sliding down cables on the side of the building, but others took their chances and jumped in a bid to escape the smoke and heat. Six people leaped to their deaths.Firefighters backed by military specialists -- some in helicopters -- tackled the flames, lowering ropes to help people escape, while rescuers on long ladders smashed through windows.But fire fighters were hampered by not having ladder cranes big enough to reach the top floors, officials said.The fire was later extinguished and on Friday fire fighters completed the process of combing through the gutted and blackened floors of the building.The fire department initially put the death toll at 19 but police said Friday that six more had perished. Another was in a critical state in hospital.There was no immediate indication if others are missing, but more than 70 people were treated in hospital in the wake of the blaze.- ´No fire exit´ -Fire disasters regularly hit Bangladesh´s major cities where safety standards are notoriously lax. Last month at least 70 people were killed in Dhaka apartment buildings where chemicals that were being illegally stored exploded -- unleashing a blaze that took more than 12 hours to control.Following Thursday´s fire, in the upmarket Banani commercial district, authorities have ordered a probe into safety measures at the building."There was no fire exit in the building. There was an alternative stairs. But access to the stairs was closed or padlocked in some of the floors," fire brigade official Saleh Uddin told AFP.He said the fire department had sent several notices to the building to "implement fire safety measures in the building," but the owner did not comply."There were no sprinklers. Fire exits existed only in name," fire department director Shakil Newaj told AFP.Housing Minister Rezaul Karim saying a murder case would be filed against those to blame for the tragedy."Definitely this is murder. It is not an accident... Nobody will escape the law," he said.The mayor of Dhaka north, Atiqul Islam, promised a "zero tolerance" policy in building safety, especially in high-rise buildings.- ´Death traps´ -According to a 2012 study by Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology, most high-rise buildings in 15-million-strong Dhaka have inadequate fire safety measures."We found only two buildings fully compliant," BUET professor Mehedi Ahmed Ansari said of the survey on 112 buildings, adding that some they looked at were little more than "death traps".A June 2010 fire in the nearby neighbourhood of Nimtoli, one of the most densely populated districts of the capital, killed 123 people.In November 2012, a fire swept through a nine-storey garment factory near Dhaka killing 111 workers. An investigation found it was caused by sabotage and that managers at the plant had prevented victims from escaping.Experts said inspections of buildings in the city frequently found fire stairs blocked with stored goods and exit doors locked.
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The pound climbed solidly on Friday before a crucial vote on Britain´s Brexit future.Stock markets meanwhile rallied, with investors looking past a downgrade of US growth to focus on the next round of top-level China-US trade talks.Around 1200 GMT, the pound was up 0.4 percent at $1.3100, while the euro dropped 0.3 percent to 85.75 pence. "Despite plenty of evidence to suggest otherwise, the pound appeared to take an optimistic view ahead of Friday´s latest Brexit vote," said Connor Campbell, analyst at Spreadex trading group."Having opened the session in the red, sterling may be banking on the likely third failure of (Prime Minister) Theresa May´s withdrawal agreement leading to a substantial delay rather than a no-deal exit."MPs are set for a momentous vote that could end a months-long crisis or risk Britain crashing out of the EU in two weeks.The House of Commons has twice rejected May´s withdrawal agreement, both times by large margins, but has been unable to agree any alternative -- and time is running out.The pivotal vote takes place on the day Britain was supposed to leave the European Union until May asked the bloc´s leaders last week for a little more time."Today is going to be another one of those days when traders are going to make decisions mostly based on rumours and this is going to bring crazy moves in sterling," ThinkMarkets analyst Naeem Aslam told AFP.In equities trading, while the past five days have been dogged by fears over the outlook for the economy, markets have enjoyed a stellar first-quarter overall, mostly on hopes of a US-China tariffs deal and prospect of lower borrowing costs.In commodities, oil prices were headed for a strong finish to the week, having enjoyed their strongest quarter in 14 years, with Brent crude jumping 26 percent and WTI by 29 percent since the start of the year on tighter supplies.US President Donald Trump on Thursday called on OPEC to boost oil output following the strong price rises since the beginning of 2019.The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries in December reached a deal to with Russia and some other non-cartel producers to limit output to shore up prices."While OPEC, and above all (kingpin member) Saudi Arabia, appeared in November to be obeying US President Trump´s repeated demands to increase oil production, his tweets now are more likely to fall on deaf ears," analysts at Commerzbank said Friday.Oil futures have won support also from unrest in OPEC-member Venezuela."US sanctions, power outages and mismanagement are having a massive effect on Venezuela´s oil production and oil exports at present," they added in a research note.- Key figures around 1200 GMT -Pound/dollar: UP at $1.3100 from $1.3054 at 2100 GMTEuro/pound: DOWN at 85.75 pence from 86.03 penceEuro/dollar: UP at $1.1229 from $1.1226Dollar/yen: UP at 110.72 yen from 110.62 yenLondon - FTSE 100: UP 0.4 percent at 7,264.98 Frankfurt - DAX 30: UP 1.0 percent at 11,539.59 Paris - CAC 40: UP 0.9 percent at 5,343.47EURO STOXX 50: UP 0.9 percent at 3,348.54Tokyo - Nikkei 225: UP 0.8 percent at 21,205.81 (close)Hong Kong - Hang Seng: UP 1.0 percent at 29,051.36 (close)Shanghai - Composite: UP 3.2 percent at 3,090.76 (close)New York - Dow: UP 0.4 percent at 25,717.46 (close)Oil - Brent Crude: UP 81 cents at $68.63 per barrelOil - West Texas Intermediate: UP 83 cents at $60.13 per barrel
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At least 15 people died when a car bomb exploded on a busy street and ripped into a nearby restaurant in Somalia´s capital on Thursday, medics said.Security officials and witnesses reported bodies strewn on the ground as plumes of smoke rose high into the air after the bomb detonated on Mogadishu´s Maka Al-Mukarama road, one of the seaside capital´s main thoroughfares, an area busy with businesses and travellers.It struck as people were eating lunch. Abdulkadir Abdirahman Adan, director of the Aamin Ambulance service, said that 15 people had been killed, as well as several more wounded by the ferocious blast.Witnesses described scenes of devastation.Vehicles were tossed into the air by the force of the explosion, which also damaged surrounding buildings. Witnesses said several cars and three-wheel motorbikes were destroyed."I saw 16 people carried from the blast scene -- and more than 10 of them were already dead," Osman added.Ambulance workers rushed in to help take the wounded to hospital."I don´t know whether they were dead or wounded, but I could see several people strewn in the street -- some of them were motionless," said Suado Ahmed, another witness who was at the scene moments after the blast.Teams of ambulance workers carried away those killed and wounded on stretchers, while volunteers also helped by using plastic sheeting to lift the bodies away.The bombing is the latest in a recent string of blasts in Mogadishu, which has been hit frequently by Al-Shabaab attacks.At least four people have been killed this week in three blasts, including car bombs and roadside explosions.There was no immediate claim of responsibility for Thursday’s bombing.However, Mogadishu is a target of the Al-Qaeda affiliated Shabaab insurgents, who have been fighting for over a decade to topple the government.Shabaab fighters fled fixed positions they once held in Mogadishu in 2011, and have since lost many of their strongholds.But they retain control of large rural swathes of the country, and continue to wage a guerrilla war against the authorities.On Saturday, Shabaab gunmen attacked a complex, housing government ministries in Mogadishu, killing 11 people including the deputy labor minister.The Shabaab continue to strike at the heart of Somalia’s government, despite years of foreign military support.
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LONDON: If Britain´s political system fails to break its Brexit logjam on Friday, the country is faced with the prospect of crashing out of the European Union without a deal on April 12.Here are the main ways Britain would be affected: Business planningAround 80 percent of British companies judged themselves ready for a "no-deal" exit, according to a Bank of England survey published on March 21, up from 50 percent in an equivalent January survey.However, it said many companies noted that the potential impact on tariffs, border frictions, exchange rate movements and recognition of certifications "were outside their control".In February, the government said just 40,000 of 240,000 businesses that trade only with EU nations had obtained the required customs clearance numbers. Trade dealsBritain will default to "third country" status with the EU, with trade relations run on World Trade Organization rules.While the EU´s average tariff rate for third countries is low -- around 1.5 percent -- they are bigger in certain sectors: for cars, the rate is 10 percent.Britain will also lose access to major markets covered by EU trade agreements, although it has managed to replicate some of these, including with Switzerland and Israel. Border delaysThe EU says it would immediately begin customs checks, food safety inspections and verification of EU standards at its border with Britain, leading to long delays at busy crossing points.Britain has moved to open up new routes and increase links from other ports to decongest Dover.The government says it does not expect shortages of food, although there could be a reduction in choice of perishable goods, but MPs have expressed concern about "panic buying". Northern IrelandBritain says it would not immediately apply customs checks on the border with EU member Ireland, to avoid raising tensions in the once conflict-ridden province of Northern Ireland.But the EU says it would insist on monitoring goods moving across what will become the bloc´s external frontier, although it would try to make these the least intrusive possible.Britain has suggested it may have to reimpose direct rule over Northern Ireland to manage a "no deal" situation, as the devolved government in Belfast has been suspended since January 2017 in a row between the two power-sharing parties. EU citizens rightsAn estimated 3.5 million European citizens are living in Britain, and around one million Brits are settled elsewhere in the EU.Britain and many other member states have already offered to protect their rights, although their long-term status would have been more clearly defined in May´s deal.British citizens travelling to the EU will be limited to 90-day stays and would immediately be subject to tighter passport checks. MedicinesThe British government has asked drug companies to stockpile six weeks supply of an estimated 7,000 prescription or pharmacy-only drugs that come from the EU.Ministers say the transportation of medicines will be prioritised and those with short shelf-lives, such as medical radioisotopes, could be flown in. Financial servicesSome stop-gap agreements have been reached on both sides including a one-year agreement to protect the derivatives market, which is based in London.Traders buy these complex but vital financial instruments to insure themselves against sudden interest or currency exchange rate swings.The EU derivatives market was notionally valued last year at 660 trillion euros ($750 trillion). Planes and trainsThe EU has agreed to allow flights from the UK into the other 27 member states to continue until March 2020, if London reciprocates, but airlines might not be able to make intra-EU connections.Another time-limited deal will allow trucks to keep carrying goods in and out of Britain, provided London gives reciprocal treatment to EU operators.The high-speed train link through the 50-kilometre (30-mile) Channel Tunnel running between Britain and France will be kept open for three months, as long as Britain adopts EU rail safety standards.
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Canada´s Quebec province on Thursday unveiled controversial draft legislation that would ban a significant section of public servants from wearing religious symbols such as a crucifix, yarmulke or hijab.The measure -- which applies to police, teachers and others in positions of authority -- is expected to become law by June with Premier Francois Legault´s government holding a majority of seats in the Quebec legislature.But it was swiftly panned by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau who said: "For me, it´s unthinkable (that) a free society would legitimize discrimination against anyone based on religion."Montreal mayor Valerie Plante voiced "serious concern about the message that this bill sends to minorities about their fundamental rights." The important thing, she said, was that the process of making laws was secular, not that people divested themselves of religious attire and symbols.Teachers unions said they would not enforce the law, while pundits and the government´s own lawyers, according to reports, anticipate a court challenge for contravening Canadians´ Charter right to personal religious freedom.The Quebec government, however, has already made it clear that it would invoke a rarely-used constitutional clause to quash any rights challenges."Some people will find that we are going too far, others not enough, and we are convinced that we have struck the right balance," Quebec Immigration Minister Simon Jolin-Barrette told a press conference.The government said the measure -- combined with the removal of a cross installed in the main chamber of the national assembly in 1936 -- underscored Quebec´s break with religion a half century ago, when it rejected the Catholic Church´s powerful influence in local politics.- ´Serene debate´ -The secularism bill would also enshrine into law a rule previously adopted by Quebec that denies government services to people wearing face veils, reflecting a backlash against Muslim immigration.Jolin-Barrette argued that this was intended to simply bolster safety and security by being able to verify the identity of people accessing services.Both measures, along with curbs on immigration, were promised by Legault during an election campaign last year, after a decade of divisive debate on secularism and religious freedom that was influenced by a similar discourse in France.In addition to France, eight other European countries enforce restrictions on religious attire."We will do whatever we can to bring together people," Legault said Thursday before the law was presented. "That should be the objective of everyone in the weeks ahead, to have a serene debate. We are responding to what a large majority of Quebeckers want."The opposition, however, accused the government of rushing the legislation, with Liberal Helene David saying not enough time has been allotted to debate its impacts on "living together" as a society.This is the fourth attempt by successive Quebec governments to pass a secularism law.What began as a pushback against a few cases of religious accommodation of minorities in public institutions and private businesses led to a public inquiry.The tribunal heard testimony on the merits of secularism that ranged from the metaphysical to the absurd -- such as outrage that an eatery had removed pork from its pea soup to accommodate Muslims.Jews and Sikhs were also the subject of controversy, but the focus shifted to Muslims -- Muslim women in particular.One previous government tried but failed to impose a values charter that would have limited "ostentatious" displays of religiosity.In the end, the regulations were narrowed to apply only to public servants.
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ISLAMABAD: Pakistani company Khadim Ali Shah Bukhari Securities (KASB) pvt. limited has proudly joined hands with UK-based 'Sturgeon Capital', the corporation's asset manager announced. In a bid to bring investments to Pakistan, a new development towards the betterment of the country's economy has brought KASB in close partnership with Sturgeon Capital, under a signed agreement. Sturgeon Capital focuses on investment of special markets projects like ‘silk road’. Meanwhile, KASB will be providing Sturgeon Capital services such as research on Pakistan’s macroeconomic, financial analysis and due diligence on companies as well as corporate access and domestic execution within a best framework.On the occasion, CEO of Sturgeon Capital Kiyan Zandiyeh stated that:“We believe that KASB is the right partner to invest in Pakistan, a country that has been overlooked in the past but whose potential is second to none." This step will help to develop long-term growth opportunities in Pakistan, he added.
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More than 600,000 Japanese people over 40 are living in complete isolation from society, staying at home for more than six months without social interaction, the government estimated on Friday.The phenomenon is so widespread in Japan it even has its own name -- hikikomori -- defined as someone who does not go to school or work for six months and does not interact with anyone outside their family during that time.A government survey published on Friday estimated there were 613,000 hikikomori aged between 40 and 64, nearly three-quarters of whom were male."The number was bigger than we had imagined. Hikikomori isn´t an issue only for younger people," a Cabinet Office official in charge of the survey told AFP. Until recently, it was thought to be an issue mainly affecting teenagers and people in their 20s but ageing Japan is seeing a growing number of middle aged hikikomori cloistering themselves away for longer periods of time.Around half of those included in the survey had been reclusive for more than seven years, the government said.The figure is higher than the estimated number of hikikomori under the age of 39, thought to be around 541,000 according to a similar government survey published in 2016.Many of the hikikomori are thought to be financially dependant on their ageing parents.Rika Ueda, who works for a non-profit group that supports parents of hikikomori children, said she was not surprised by the survey."The government data backs our own survey showing there are many older hikikomori," Ueda told AFP."But we were unaware that there are those in their 60s," she said."It shows that Japanese society is tough to live in. Hikikomori people would rather stay at home without meeting anyone," she said.Ueda argued that high-pressure, conformist and workaholic Japan places a huge amount of pressure on individuals."I think the survey shows we have to ask ourselves what a happy life is to each of us," she said.
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Friday, 29 March 2019
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