Saturday, October 17

ENGLISH

Britain’s most advanced warship ever to dock in home port for first time
ENGLISH, United Kingdom

Britain’s most advanced warship ever to dock in home port for first time

    Britain's most advanced warship ever will arrive in her home dock today for the first time. The £3 billion HMS Queen Elizabeth is expected to arrive in Portsmouth on Wednesday, a day earlier than previously expected, after weather conditions had formerly prevented the exact date from being set. It is the largest aircraft carrier ever to be built in Britain, and is expected to be the Navy's flagship craft for at least 50 years. The 280-metre vessel weighs 65,000 tonnes but can travel up to 500 miles a day. It was previously forecast to reach its Hampshire base between August 17-22, after setting out from Scotland's Rosyth dockyard in June. More than 60 Royal Navy sailors and Royal Marines took part in a training exercise aboard the American USS George HW Bush earlier this m...
Korean War is now a real possibility because Donald Trump is so volatile and impulsive: warned the British government
ENGLISH, United Kingdom

Korean War is now a real possibility because Donald Trump is so volatile and impulsive: warned the British government

    North Korean leader Kim Jong Un salutes at a parade in Pyongyang, North Korea. A new Korean War is now a real possibility, partly because Donald Trump is so volatile and impulsive, a leading think tank has warned the British government. Civil servants were urged by Malcolm Chalmers, Deputy Director General at the Royal United Services Institute, to begin preparations immediately for the possible outbreak of war between the US and North Korea. Tensions between the two countries have been steadily increasing in recent months, with Mr Trump most recently saying the US was “locked and loaded” in the face of North Korean missile threats against Guam. As a close ally of the US, the UK would most likely be asked to provide assistance in the event of a conflict on the Korean penin...
America’s far right stole the spotlight
America, ENGLISH

America’s far right stole the spotlight

    By their nature, fringe movements usually don't find the scalding hot center of the national spotlight. Last weekend's Unite the Right rally in Virginia was an extreme and informative exception. Around the nation, TV screens and social media feeds overflowed with Confederate flags, fascist symbolism and bloody images of violence as far-right groups brawled with anti-racism protesters on the streets of Charlottesville. Their white-power message was suddenly hard to ignore. What has happened since underscores a basic principle about the far-right in the United States: Attention is a double-edged sword for white nationalists and neo-Nazis, a tool of further empowerment and an implement of their ruin. Over the past two years, embracing the energy of Donald Trump's presidency, ...
Saudi authorities approve all pending Bangladeshi visa applications
Bangladesh, ENGLISH

Saudi authorities approve all pending Bangladeshi visa applications

    The Saudi authorities have approved all pending applications of intending Bangladeshi Hajj pilgrims paving ways for them to perform the holy Islamic ritual, a Bangladesh foreign ministry statement said in Dhaka on Tuesday evening. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs would like to inform that 118,924 pilgrims visas have been approved by Saudi authorities as of 14 August 2017, the statement read. It added: The Embassy of Saudi Arabia in Dhaka has informed that there is no pending application with them. The statement said Bangladesh’s foreign ministry also was closely working with the Saudi authorities in this regard.  
Nigeria suicide bombers kill 28, wound 82
Africa world, ENGLISH

Nigeria suicide bombers kill 28, wound 82

    An injured victim of a female suicide bomber arrives in an ambulance for medical attention at a Maiduguri hospital in northeast Nigeria on August 15, 2017. Boko Haram female suicide bomber detonated her explosives killing 28 people and leaving over 80 others injured at a market in the village of Konduga on the outskirts of Maiduguri in northeast Nigeria. Photo: AFP Kano, Nigeria: Three women suicide bombers blew themselves up at the entrance to a camp for displaced people in northeast Nigeria on Tuesday, killing 28 people and wounding 82, local sources said. The attack — the latest in a string of assaults in the troubled region — took place in the town of Mandarari, 25 kilometres (15 miles) from Maiduguri, the capital of Borno state, said Baba Kura, a member of a vigilante...
Koreas and the United States signaled their willingness to avert a deepening crisis
Asia, ENGLISH

Koreas and the United States signaled their willingness to avert a deepening crisis

    North Korea's military on Tuesday presented leader Kim Jong Un with plans to launch missiles into waters near Guam and wring the windpipes of the Yankees, even as both Koreas and the United States signaled their willingness to avert a deepening crisis, with each suggesting a path toward negotiations. The tentative interest in diplomacy follows unusually combative threats between President Donald Trump and North Korea amid worries that Pyongyang is nearing its long sought goal of accurately being able to send a nuclear missile to the U.S. mainland. Next week's start of U.S.-South Korean military exercises that enrage the North each year makes it unclear, however, if diplomacy will prevail. During an inspection of the North Korean army's Strategic Forces, which handles the m...
CEOs say no more to Trump
America, ENGLISH

CEOs say no more to Trump

    First it was the leader of a major U.S. pharmaceutical, then the CEO of an athletic gear company, and before the day had ended, the chief executive of a $170 billion tech giant. Three of the nation's top executives resigned from a federal panel created years ago to advise the U.S. president. Now, others are pushing for more executives to refuse to serve President Donald Trump after what many believe to be an inadequate response to a rally of white supremacists in Charlottesville, Virginia, that left one dead and dozens injured. Related SearchesUnder Armour Ceo TrumpTrump Manufacturing CouncilTrump Merck Ceo Announcing his resignation Monday, Merck CEO Kenneth Frazier cited the president's failure to explicitly rebuke the white nationalists. He wrote on Twitter that America...
Drug resistant Japanese fungus found in 55 hospitals across the UK
ENGLISH, United Kingdom

Drug resistant Japanese fungus found in 55 hospitals across the UK

    A Japanese fungus which is resistant to drugs has spread to at least 55 hospitals across the UK, public health officials have warned. NHS trusts have been ordered to carry out deep cleans of all affected areas after more than 200 patients were found to be infected or carrying the potentially fatal pathogen. Infection experts are alarmed by the spread of the fungus, which has been likened to a superbug because it has already proved resistant to the main three classes of drug treatment. The fungus, called Candida auris, was first identified in Japan in 2009, in the ear canal of a 70-year-old woman. Since then it has spread rapidy around the globe, emerging in at least five continents, with the first UK case detected in 2013. Healthy patients can usually fend off the fungus, ...
London Underground as smoke fills carriage after loud bang at Holborn station
ENGLISH, London

London Underground as smoke fills carriage after loud bang at Holborn station

    Commuters were plunged into a state of panic as a busy Tube station was evacuated after a loud bang and smoke filling a carriage was reported. The station was cleared at the height of the morning rush hour, sparking confusion among passengers. Transport for London confirmed it is investigating a fire alert triggered at about 9am. Two fire engines and 10 firefighters were sent to the station. British Transport Police has said it is working to reopen the station, and that the evacuation was caused by a defective train. Witnesses reported on social media hearing a loud bang before being told to leave the station as smoke began filling the carriage of a Central Line train. TfL has warned of delays on the line. Loud bang at Holborn, smoke and then an evacuation pic. A video has...
Big Ben’s bongs for four years which bonkers and ridiculous
ENGLISH, London

Big Ben’s bongs for four years which bonkers and ridiculous

    It is entirely bonkers and ridiculous that Big Ben’s famous bongs will be silenced for four years next week as major conservation work is carried out, a Tory MP has said. A shadow minister added that the bells had not stopped during the Blitz but were now being silenced by health and safety. The deafening chimes are being stopped to protect workers who are renovating the Elizabeth Tower that houses the Great Clock and its bell. Big Ben to fall silent from Monday 21 August, allowing essential conservation work to take place. James Gray, who sat on the administration committee which first approved the work, told the Daily Telegraph he regretted the committee’s decision to give its backing and there was never any indication it would mean Big Ben being out of action for so lon...