Monday, May 4

Tag: Featured

31 killed in Saudi hospital fire
24Dec By Sumon AdminNo Comments
Arab world, ENGLISH

31 killed in Saudi hospital fire

    At least 31 people have died and 107 been injured in a fire at a hospital in southern Saudi Arabia. The blaze broke out at the intensive care unit and the maternity department of the Jazan general hospi-tal in southern Saudi Arabia, the civil defence agency said on Twitter. The agency said later that the fire had been extinguished and an investigation was under way into the cause. Twenty-one civil defence teams had assisted in putting out the blaze, it added.Daily newspaper Alriyadh quoted a civil defence spokesman as saying the agency was alerted to the fire at 2am. In August, 10 people were killed and 259 wounded in a fire at a residential complex rented by oil giant Saudi Aramco in the kingdom’s Eastern Province. That fire was ignited by an electric short circuit in the...
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Here’s the biggest international security challenge of 2016 that nobody is talking about
24Dec By Sumon AdminNo Comments
Asia, ENGLISH

Here’s the biggest international security challenge of 2016 that nobody is talking about

    Akhtar Soomro pakistan The year ahead will bring no shortage of international issues that will keep the US and its partners occupied, ranging from the fight against ISIS to the implementation of the Iran nuclear agreement. But there's been another serious impending crisis building in the background — one involving terrorism, nuclear weapons, interstate power politics, and an important US ally. The crisis isn't likely to explode in 2016. Its eruption is currently far from inevitable. But there's a good chance, depending on what happens in 2016, that it could become more likely. As Georgetown University associate professor C. Christine Fair explained in a December 21 article for Quartz, Pakistan's nuclear arsenal is growing at an alarming clip, with Islamabad acquiring some ...
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Rickshaw driver demands £600 for 30 minute ride
24Dec By Sumon AdminNo Comments
ENGLISH, London

Rickshaw driver demands £600 for 30 minute ride

    A London rickshaw driver has been caught on camera trying to charge two tourists £600 for a half-hour journey. In the video, filmed by a passer-by outside Selfridges on Oxford Street, the driver claims that a rate of £10 a minute had been agreed. He appears to point to a tariff displayed inside the vehicle, implying that the customer was agreeing to these charges by getting in, and refuses to take 'no' for an answer. "How do you charge £600 for half an hour?" asks the customer, Engin Isguzar, who finally hands over £250 - all he has in his wallet. The video has been described as 'shocking' by Westminster City Council, which has been calling for rickshaws, or pedicabs, to be licensed. Speaking to the Evening Standard, Mr Isguzar, from the Netherlands, said that no price had...
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23Dec By Sumon AdminNo Comments
America, ENGLISH

1950s U.S. Nuclear Target List Offers Chilling Insight

    Target category No. 275 from the nuclear target list for 1959 may be the most chilling. It is called simply “Population.” For the first time, the National Archives and Records Administration has released a detailed list of the United States’ potential targets for atomic bombers in the event of war with the Soviet Union, showing the number and the variety of targets on its territory, as well as in Eastern Europe and China. It lists many targets for “systematic destruction” in major cities, including 179 in Moscow (like “Agricultural Equipment” and “Transformers, Heavy”), 145 in Leningrad and 91 in East Berlin. The targets are referred to as DGZs or “designated ground zeros.” While many are industrial facilities, government buildings and the like, one for each city is sim...
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23Dec By Sumon AdminNo Comments
Bangladesh, ENGLISH

Pakistani diplomat return from Bangladesh who suspected due to Terror activities

    Pakistan has withdrawn a female diplomat from its high commission in Dhaka following allegations of financing terrorist activities in Bangladesh. The step came two days after the Bangladesh government asked Pakistan informally to withdraw the diplomat. Farina Arshad, second secretary (political) at the Pakistan High Commission in Bangladesh, was withdrawn to-day, a highly-placed source at the foreign ministry, confirmed The Daily Star. The Bangladesh authorities made the move after an arrested militant confessed his link with the envoy before a Dhaka court two weeks ago. Jama'atul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) operative Idris Sheikh was arrested on November 29 in the capital and he made the confessional statement on December 6. According to a top Detective Branch (DB) offici...
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23Dec By Sumon AdminNo Comments
Bangladesh, ENGLISH

Legal notice served on Khaleda for war martyrs remark

    A Supreme Court lawyer today sent a legal notice to BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia asking her to apologise before the nation for making a controversial statement about the number of martyrs during the Liberation War in 1971. Momtajuddin Ahmed Mehedi, former secretary of Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA), in the notice requested the BNP chief Khaleda to withdraw her statement within seven days. Khaleda, in her first public address in more than a year on Monday, said, “There are controversies over exactly how many freedom fighters were killed in the Liberation War. There are also many books and documents on the controversies.” He said in the notice that a case will be filed against Khaleda under the criminal and civil law if she does not apologise and withdraw her statement....
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23Dec By Sumon AdminNo Comments
ENGLISH, Europe

Russia to start building Iran nuclear reactors

    Russia will begin building two nuclear reactors in Iran next week, a top Iranian atomic energy official said Tuesday. The news comes a year after Tehran signed a contract with Moscow to construct a further two reactors at the existing Russian-built Bushehr power plant in southern Iran. Behrouz Kamalvandi, deputy head of the Atomic Energy Organisation of Iran, said work on the two reactors ‘will commence next week’, according to the state television website, reports Al Jazeera. A series of agreements signed between the two countries last year foresees eventually increasing the total number of Russian-built reactors in Iran to nine. Construction of the two reactors will be bankrolled by Iran, Sergei Kiriyenko, head of Russia’s state nuclear company Rosatom, said last year. T...
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23Dec By Sumon AdminNo Comments
Asia, ENGLISH

China uses mist cannons to counter pollution

    If you have ever been to an amusement park on a hot summer day or (the more DIY approach) ran through a sprinkler in your front yard, you have been privy to the majesty of the mist… water mist that is. There’s something about walking through this cloud of mini water droplets that revitalizes you on those days where the blazing sun is wearing down. Well China may just have a completely different purpose for this machinery, and it’s pretty innovative, tackling a very concerning issue with China’s pollution problems. China has tried everything from outsourcing their air to artistic stunts to garner the attention of officials and hopefully take some drastic measures to improve on the air pollution problems. I guess officials are listening and taking some creative efforts, enli...
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Everything You Need To Know About London Travel This Christmas
22Dec By Sumon AdminNo Comments
ENGLISH, United Kingdom

Everything You Need To Know About London Travel This Christmas

    As the festive period draws ever nearer, it’s important to make sure you know exactly how you’re going to get around - so don’t be caught out by the Tube times. Check below before you travel around Christmas and New Year. Christmas Eve On Christmas Eve, the London Underground will run a normal service until 3pm, after which there will be fewer trains on the Metropolitan line. The last trains on all lines will run to a Sunday timetable, except the Waterloo & City line which will close at around 11.15pm. The District line will run between Kensington (Olympia) and Earl's Court from 6.45pm to 11.50pm. Overground services will begin to wind down from 9pm and the last TfL Rail service will leave Liverpool Street at 9pm. Normal service on the DLR lasts until 4pm, then off-pea...
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The ISIS caliphate could crumble because of too much paperwork and corruption
22Dec By Sumon AdminNo Comments
Arab world, ENGLISH

The ISIS caliphate could crumble because of too much paperwork and corruption

    ISIS has been able to do what other Islamic terrorist organisations hasn't been able to do — rapidly grow its territory and conduct mass operations overseas because of an abundance of funding and a self-sufficient economy. However, the latest report by the Financial Times suggests that the ISIS self-declared "caliphate" is slowly being eroded by high levels of financial corruption among its officials, commanders and fighters. ISIS (also known as ISIL, Islamic State, and Daesh) has grown so rapidly that officials are unable to do due diligence on paperwork and verify what ISIS officials and commanders are claiming for. For example, the FT said an emir known as Abu Fatima al-Tunisi ran off with some $25,000 (£16,774) worth of "zakat" (taxes), leaving a message to former ISIS...
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