Thursday, October 22

ENGLISH

Ban on women entering a Starbucks store in Riyadh is latest in long line of restrictions
16Mar By Sumon AdminNo Comments
Arab world, ENGLISH

Ban on women entering a Starbucks store in Riyadh is latest in long line of restrictions

    Men and women are segregated in the majority of public spaces in Saudi Arabia, with the Muslim kingdom's religious police ensuring the rules are enforced. Unlawful mixing between sexes leads to the arrest of the violators and criminal charges, political scientist Elham Manea writes for Deutche Welle. Saudi Arabia's human rights record, especially with regards to protecting women, has often been called into question. Most recently women in Saudi Arabia claim to have been temporarily banned from entering a branch of Starbucks in the capital Riyadh. A sign was placed in the window of the coffee shop saying: Please no entry for ladies only send your driver to order thank you, after a wall designed to segregate men and women was reportedly removed during renovations. A customer...
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Secrets of Queen Elizabeth’s private homes
15Mar By Sumon AdminNo Comments
ENGLISH, United Kingdom

Secrets of Queen Elizabeth’s private homes

Her Majesty's palatial pads The news that Buckingham Palace, Queen Elizabeth II's London bolthole, is set to undergo a major makeover comes as no surprise. The crumbling palace hasn't been renovated since the 50s and is in dire need of a facelift. As UK taxpayers mull over the expense of the $456 million (£369m) 10-year refurb, which is scheduled to begin next April, we take you through the keyhole and into the Queen's official and private residences. Buckingham Palace The Queen's official London home dates from 1703 when the Duke of Buckingham built a fine townhouse in the capital's fashionable St James's district. The townhouse was acquired by King George III in 1761 and lavishly enlarged in the 19th century. Buckingham Palace The 830,000-square foot palace comprises a total of 775 rooms...
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Sex toy company which spied on customers bedroom habits to pay £2.4m in compensation
15Mar By Sumon AdminNo Comments
Canada, ENGLISH

Sex toy company which spied on customers bedroom habits to pay £2.4m in compensation

    A sex toy manufacturer has been ordered to pay out £2.4 million in compensation after it spied on its customers. The makers of the We-Vibe 4 Plus sex toy must pay each customer up to £6,120 each after it used the £115 remote-controlled gadget to track peoples bedroom habits. The devices gathered information on temperature changes, the settings that customers chose and also peoples email addresses. The toy is designed for people in long-distance relationships with couples able to control the device even when they’re in the next city. But Standard Innovation, the Canadian company which makes the toy, was sued after couples discovered their details were being sent back to the company without their permission, the Mail Online reported. The company will pay out £2.4 million, in...
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Headphone batteries explode on flight to Australia
15Mar By Sumon AdminNo Comments
Australia, ENGLISH

Headphone batteries explode on flight to Australia

    A woman whose headphones caught fire on a plane suffered burns to her face and hands, Australian officials said Wednesday as they warned about the dangers of battery-operated devices in-flight. The passenger was listening to music on her own battery-operated headphones as she dozed about two hours into the trip from Beijing to Melbourne on February 19 when there was a loud explosion. As I went to turn around I felt burning on my face, she told the Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) which investigated the incident. I just grabbed my face which caused the headphones to go around my neck. I continued to feel burning so I grabbed them off and threw them on the floor. They were sparking and had small amounts of fire. Flight attendants rushed to help and poured a bucket o...
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Fury after historic headscarf ruling
15Mar By Sumon AdminNo Comments
ENGLISH, Europe

Fury after historic headscarf ruling

    In its first ruling on an issue that has become highly charged across Europe, the Court of Justice (ECJ) found a Belgian firm which had a rule that employees who dealt with customers should not wear visible religious or political symbols may not have discriminated against a Muslim receptionist it dismissed for wearing a headscarf. The judgement on that and a French case came on the eve of a Dutch election in which Muslim immigration is a key issue and weeks before a similarly charged presidential vote in France, where headscarves are banned in public service jobs. French conservative candidate Francois Fillon hailed the ECJ ruling as an immense relief to companies and workers that would contribute to social peace. But a group backing the fired employees said the ruling may...
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Angry response from White House as Donald Trump tax returns leaked
15Mar By Sumon AdminNo Comments
America, ENGLISH

Angry response from White House as Donald Trump tax returns leaked

    The White House has responded angrily after Donald Trump's tax returns were leaked, showing the President earned £123million in 2005. According to the documents, the billionaire paid £31 million in income taxes on the earnings. They show the President paid a rate that was effectively just under 25 per cent thanks to a tax he has since sought to abolish. The pages from Mr Trump's federal tax return show the then-real estate mogul also reported a business loss of 85 million in 2005, although the documents do not provide details. The forms show Mr Trump paid an effective tax rate of 24.5 per cent, a figure well above the roughly 10 per cent the average American taxpayer hands over each year. © Provided by Independent Print Limited But it is below the 27.4 per cent that taxpay...
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White House says Donald Trump doesn’t believe Barack Obama wiretapped him personally
14Mar By Sumon AdminNo Comments
America, ENGLISH

White House says Donald Trump doesn’t believe Barack Obama wiretapped him personally

    Donald Trump The White House has said Donald Trump does not believe Barack Obama wiretapped him personally  even if as it called on the Congress to press ahead with a probe into the president’s allegation. Mr Trump last weekend accused Mr Obama of electronically eavesdropping on him shortly before the November election. He did so without providing any evidence, and the White House called on Congress to investigate the claim. White House press secretary Sean Spicer insisted Mr Trump still believed the allegation he had made. Yet he said the president had used the word wiretap to more broadly refer to surveillance or other activities. He does not think Obama went out there and wiretapped him personally, he said. There are are a whole host of techniques to or surveil someone....
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Parliament passes Brexit bill and opens way to triggering article 50
14Mar By Sumon AdminNo Comments
ENGLISH, United Kingdom

Parliament passes Brexit bill and opens way to triggering article 50

    Theresa May’s Brexit bill has cleared all its hurdles in the Houses of Parliament, opening the way for the prime minister to trigger article 50 by the end of March. Peers accepted the supremacy of the House of Commons late on Monday night after MPs overturned amendments aimed at guaranteeing the rights of EU citizens in the UK and giving parliament a meaningful vote on the final Brexit deal. The decision came after a short period of so-called ping pong when the legislation bounced between the two houses of parliament as a result of disagreement over the issues. The outcome means the government has achieved its ambition of passing a straightforward two-line bill that is confined simply to the question of whether ministers can trigger article 50 and start the formal Brexit p...
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North Korea warns of merciless strikes as U.S. carrier joins South Korea drills
14Mar By Sumon AdminNo Comments
Asia, ENGLISH

North Korea warns of merciless strikes as U.S. carrier joins South Korea drills

    North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un North Korea warned the United States on Tuesday of merciless attacks if an aircraft carrier strike group led by the USS Carl Vinson, which is joining South Korean forces for exercises, infringes on its sovereignty or dignity. North Korea, which has alarmed its neighbours with two nuclear tests and a string of missile launches since last year, said the arrival of the U.S. strike group was part of a reckless scheme to attack it. If they infringe on the DPRK's sovereignty and dignity even a bit, its army will launch merciless ultra-precision strikes from ground, air, sea and underwater, the North's state KCNA news agency said. North Korea's official name is the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK). On March 11 alone, many enemy carrier-...
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May hits back over Sturgeon’s demand for new independence vote
14Mar By Sumon AdminNo Comments
ENGLISH, United Kingdom

May hits back over Sturgeon’s demand for new independence vote

    Scottish govt Nicola Sturgeon said Scots would be given a choice about whether to follow the UK into a ‘hard Brexit’ or become independent. Theresa May has faced down Nicola Sturgeon’s demand for a second referendum on Scottish independence, accusing the SNP leader of  tunnel vision and rejecting her timetable for a second vote. The prime minister said that the Scottish leader’s plan to hold a second referendum between the autumn of 2018 and spring 2019 represented the worst possible timing, setting the Conservative government on a collision course with the administration in Holyrood. The first minister’s intervention had been timed a day ahead of when May had been predicted to trigger article 50, but No 10 later indicated that it would not serve notice to leave the EU unt...
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