Tuesday, February 18

Day: January 6, 2017

ENGLISH, United Kingdom

Passengers warned tube strike in most Zone 1 stations will shut on Sunday 6pm

    Tube passengers have been warned to prepare for a severely reduced service as talks aimed at averting a 24-hour London Underground strike were adjourned again. There appears to be little sign of preventing the walk-out which will see most Zone 1 stations shut from 6pm on Sunday for 24 hours. Commuters face chaos throughout Monday as key overground interchange stations will have no Underground connections, including Victoria, King’s Cross, Waterloo, Paddington, Euston, Bank and London Bridge. Transport for London also said there will be no services at all on the Victoria and Waterloo & City lines should the strike go ahead. Piccadilly line services will still run between Hammersmith and Heathrow Terminals 1, 2 and 3, but not to Terminals 4 or 5, while there will be limi...
Japan recalls envoy from South Korea over comfort women statue
Asia, ENGLISH

Japan recalls envoy from South Korea over comfort women statue

    A comfort woman statue was set up in front of the Japanese embassy in Seoul in 2011. Japan said on Friday it was temporarily recalling its ambassador to South Korea over a statue commemorating Korean women forced to work in Japanese military brothels during World War Two which it said violated an agreement to resolve the issue. The two nations agreed in 2015 that the issue of comfort women, which has long plagued ties between the two Asian neighbors, would be ‘finally and irreversibly resolved’ if all conditions of the accord which included a Japanese apology and a fund to help the victims were met. The statue, which depicts a young, barefoot woman sitting in a chair, was erected near the Japanese consulate in the southern South Korean city of Busan at the end of last year...
UN rights envoy to probe Myanmar Rohingya violence
Asia, ENGLISH

UN rights envoy to probe Myanmar Rohingya violence

    This screen grab taken on January 4, 2017 from a YouTube video originally taken by Myanmar Constable Zaw Myo Htike shows policemen standing guard around Rohingya minority villager seated on the ground in the village of Kotankauk during a police area clearance operation on November 5, 2016. Yangon: The United Nations on Friday said its human rights envoy for Myanmar will probe escalating violence in the country, including a military crackdown on Rohingya Muslims, when she visits next week. UN special rapporteur Yanghee Lee’s 12-day trip, starting on Monday, will also take her to Kachin state, where thousands have been displaced by fighting between ethnic rebels and the army. Intensifying clashes between Myanmar’s military and ethnic minorities has undercut Aung San Suu Kyi’...
George Michael’s lover Fadi Fawaz questioned by cops over tragic singer’s death
ENGLISH, United Kingdom

George Michael’s lover Fadi Fawaz questioned by cops over tragic singer’s death

    George Michael’s lover has been questioned by police as they piece together the final hours of the singer’s life. Fadi Fawaz, who found George dead on Christmas Day, spoke to officers to help them prepare a report for the coroner. Police today confirmed the probe was ongoing. The death of the former Wham! star, aged 53 at his house in Goring-on-Thames, Oxon, is being treated as unexplained but not suspicious. There is no suggestion fine art photographer Fadi has done anything wrong and officers are believed to have quizzed other potential witnesses. One source claimed Fadi was spoken to by officers on Wednesday at a property in North London. Daily Mirror Last week Fadi, 40, told the Daily Mirror he fell asleep in his car on Christmas Eve. He added: I never saw him that nig...
Veteran Indian actor Om Puri dies
Asia, ENGLISH

Veteran Indian actor Om Puri dies

    Veteran Indian actor Om Puri died on Friday morning of a heart attack at his residence in Mumbai, said his family. He was 66. Om Puri’s body is at his residence in Andheri and his old friends and colleagues from Bollywood have arrived to pay their last respects. The actor has appeared in mainstream Bollywood cinema as well as Pakistani, British and Hollywood films. The actor has received an OBE as well as Padma Shri, the fourth highest civilian award of India. An alumnus of Film and Television Institute of India as well as National School of Drama, Puri was on the forefront of what was called art films movement in the 70s. He has worked in acclaimed films such as Bhavni Bhavai (1980), Sadgati (1981), Ardh Satya (1982), Mirch Masala (1986) and Dharavi (1992).