|
|
|
|
|
Iran quake toll mounts to 227
US, Turkey explore no-fly zone in Syria
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Bangladesh jails 329 more border guards for mutiny
Hindu leaders in Pak approach Indian, US missions for help
After floods, disease alert in Philippines
Residents walk through the mud left by the floods at a slum next to a river in San Mateo town near Manila on Sunday. AFP
Saudi Arabia to build a city only for women
Egypt Prez sacks top Generals Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi (pic), who served Hosni Mubarak for two decades, has been pensioned
off in a move that further stamps President Mohamed Mursi's authority on the state. AFP
|
|
Varzaqan, August 12 "Search and rescue operations have ended and we are now working to ensure survivors' needs in terms of shelter and food," Interior Minister Moustafa Mohammad-Najjar told state television. He conveyed the new toll, lower and more precise than one given earlier by his ministry, as local officials verified information gathered in the hectic first hours after the two quakes hit yesterday. The first of the earthquakes registered a strong 6.4 on the moment magnitude scale, according to the US Geological Survey, which monitors seismic activity worldwide. The second, almost as strong at 6.3 on the scale, rumbled through just 11 minutes later. While the biggest city in the region, Tabriz, and nearby towns escaped with only relatively minor damage, scores of outlying villages made of more flimsy mud and concrete bricks were decimated. Mohammad-Najjar said around half the 600 villages located in the zone were damaged or destroyed. He said that President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad had given orders today for home reconstruction to begin immediately because of the harsh winter the region will experience at the end of the year. An estimated 16,000 people were left homeless by the quakes. Red Crescent trucks carrying thousands of tents were seen plying the roads in the area that were still congested with ambulances and other emergency vehicles. The rapid rescue operation highlighted the fact that in the villages residents knew each other well and knew where to look, and collapsed buildings were small. But still there were many stories of tragedy. Zeinab, a 13-year-old girl seen outside a Red Crescent tent in the village of Mirza Ali Kandi told AFP how she saw her eight-year-old brother and 16-year-old sister die before her eyes. "I was outside my home playing when it (the first quake) happened. I ran inside looking for my brother and found him under a big pile of rubble. I tried to get him out. And then I heard my sister cry out and I turned and she has a big stone in her head, and I ran out," she said, sobbing. "I wish it had been me, too, I wish I hadn't run out," she yelled, prompting her uncle to try to console her. Others were more fortunate, she said. AFP
|
||
|
US, Turkey explore no-fly zone in Syria Aleppo, August 12
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said after meeting her Turkish counterpart Ahmet Davutoglu in Istanbul that Washington and Ankara should develop detailed operational planning on ways to assist the rebels fighting to topple Assad. "Our intelligence services, our military have very important responsibilities and roles to play so we are going to be setting up a working group to do exactly that," she said. Asked about options such as imposing a no-fly zone over rebel-held territory, Hillary said these were possibilities she and Davutoglu had agreed "need greater in-depth analysis", while indicating that no decisions were necessarily imminent. "It is one thing to talk about all kinds of potential actions, but you cannot make reasoned decisions without doing intense analysis and operational planning," she said. Though possible intervention appears to be a distant prospect, her remarks were nevertheless the closest Washington has come to suggesting direct military action in Syria. No-fly zones imposed by NATO and Arab allies helped Libyan rebels overthrow Muammar Gaddafi last year. Until recently, the West had shunned the idea of repeating any Libya-style action. Saudi Arabia and Qatar are believed to be arming Syrian rebels, while the United States and Britain have pledged to step up non-lethal assistance to Assad's opponents. Davutoglu said it was time outside powers took decisive steps to resolve the humanitarian crisis in cities such as Aleppo, where Assad's forces have fought rebels for three weeks. In the latest battles, tanks and troops pummelled rebels near the shattered district of Salaheddine, a former opposition stronghold that commands the main southern approach to Aleppo. Tank fire crashed into the adjacent Saif al-Dawla neighbourhood as military jets circled over an abandoned police station held by rebels, firing missiles every few minutes. Reuters Cairo: Arab foreign ministers postponed a planned meeting on the Syrian conflict that had been due to take place in Saudi Arabia, a top Arab League official said. Ministers had been due to meet in the Red Sea city of Jeddah to mull their next moves on the Syrian conflict after the resignation of UN-Arab League envoy Kofi Annan earlier this month, as well as who might succeed him.
|
||
|
Bangladesh jails 329 more border guards for mutiny Dhaka, August 12 "A three-member Special Court-11 led by Brigadier General Mohammad Nasir Uddin Ahmad handed down the verdict against the soldiers belonging to the Rifle Sports Board and Directorates unit," a Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) spokesman told PTI. He said the soldiers were jailed for different terms ranging from four months to seven years for their role during the country's worst ever mutiny on February 25-26 in the headquarters of the then Bangladesh Rifles (BDR), now reamed as BGB under a massive reconstruction campaign. The convicts were tried under the BDR Act which prescribes the highest seven years of imprisonment and of the 329 convicts while the court acquitted seven out of 336 soldiers of mutiny charges as allegations against them were not proved, the spokesman said. Hundreds of border guards were already jailed by 11 paramilitary courts under the lenient BDR Act on charges of violating the command chain or order defiance while the "core culprits" of the carnage are being tried in civil Sessions Judge's court for their suspected direct link to the killings, lootings and arsons during the mutiny. "Trials of 55 mutiny cases out of 57 have already been completed in paramilitary courts (under BDR Act)... we expect the trial of the ordinary or petty mutiny charges" under the BDR Act to be completed in next several months, the spokesman said. The prosecution lawyers at the sessions' judge's court said they expected the trial of the 847 detained accused or core culprits of the 2009 carnage to be completed by the year end under the penal code which suggests the highest death penalty for the convicts. PTI
|
||
|
Hindu leaders in Pak approach Indian, US missions for help Islamabad, August 12 The Hindu community in Mirpurkhas and its surrounding areas is being targeted by criminals day in and day out and police were paying no heed to their plight, Hindu Panchayat Chairman Laxmandas Perwani said. Hindu families were left with no option but to leave Pakistan and at least 18 families had migrated, a majority of them to India and some to Dubai, during the past five months, Perwani told Geo News channel. During the same period, the homes of 70 Hindu families in Mirpurkhas and nearby areas were burgled, he said. Two youths were killed for not paying extortion money and two kidnapped businessmen were freed after they paid millions of rupees as ransom, he added. With no let up in the incidents in which Hindus were targeted, members of the Hindu Panchayat sent letters to the Indian High Commission and the US embassy, seeking their help, he said. Perwani, a former member of the Sindh Assembly, said the step of writing to foreign missions was taken after the police and politicians did not pay heed to the grievances of the Hindus. The kidnapping of a 14-year-old Hindu girl, Manisha Kumari, from Jacobabad in Sindh on August 7 sparked widespread concern in the minority community. There were also reports last week of the exodus of dozens of Hindu families from the region. Following the reports of the exodus, Pakistani immigration authorities stopped 250 Hindu pilgrims on their way to India at the Wagah border on Friday. The Hindus were allowed to travel to India after leaders of the community assured the government that they would return to Pakistan after the pilgrimage. Hindus are the largest minority community in Pakistan but make up about two per cent of the population of 180 million. Most Pakistani Hindus live in Sindh province. PTI
|
||
|
After floods, disease alert in Philippines Manila, August 12 While floods have gone down significantly around the capital Manila, many areas in nearby provinces remained inundated as overflowing dams continued to release water, the national disaster coordinating agency said. "As the waters receded they left behind clogged pipelines and trash everywhere. Sanitation has emerged as a key problem," Red Cross secretary general Gwendolyn Pang told AFP. "We have deployed health officers in evacuation centres and in flood-hit communities with the likelihood of diseases erupting." The Red Cross put up huge rubber bladder tanks for clean water, while local officials sent portable latrines to packed evacuation centres. Food packs were also rushed to some 769,999 people displaced by the floods that submerged about 80 percent of Manila last week. Civil defence office head Benito Ramos said more than half were living in dire conditions in 948 evacuation centres, which are mostly schools and churches converted into temporary shelter areas. "Many have returned to their homes as the waters subsided, but it is far from a normal situation," Ramos said. The health department said water purification tablets were being distributed, while mass immunisations were being carried out to prevent an outbreak of colds, flu and other diseases. Of particular concern is a possible outbreak of leptospirosis, a bacterial disease caused by exposure to water contaminated by rat urine. More than 3,300 people were infected and 249 died of the disease in the aftermath of similar flooding in 2009, the biggest casualty figure for leptospirosis in the world, health authorities said. "Many may have escaped the floods, but many could still die from leptospirosis or other diseases," Ramos said. He said 19 more persons were reported to have died, raising the death toll to 85 today, with most of the casualties due to drowning. AFP
|
||
|
Saudi Arabia to build a city only for women London, August 12 The new city will allow women's desire to work without defying the country's strict Islamic laws. Sharia is the moral code and religious law of Islam dealing with crime, politics, and economics, as well as personal matters such as sexual intercourse, hygiene, diet, prayer and fasting. Although Saudi Sharia law does not prohibit women to work, figures show that only 15 per cent of women are represented in the workforce. The plan coincides with the government's ambitions to get women to play a more active part in the development of the country. Among the stated objectives are to create jobs, particularly for younger women. "I'm sure that women can demonstrate their efficiency in many aspects and clarify the industries that best suits their interests, their nature and their ability," Modon's deputy director-general, Saleh Al-Rasheed, said. "We are now working on a second industrial city for women. We have plans to establish a number of women-only industries in various parts of the kingdom," the 'Daily Mail' quoted Rasheed, as telling Saudi daily newspaper al-Eqtisadiah. There will be women-run firms and production lines for women. As part of a mass overhaul of its workforce and its bid to get women into work, the state is also attempting to replace foreign salespeople with Saudi women. This summer, women started replacing staff in cosmetics and perfume shops, only half a year after they replaced male sales staff in lingerie stores. Last September, King Abdullah announced that women will be able to vote and run in the 2015 local elections. PTI
|
||
|
Egypt Prez sacks top Generals Cairo, August 12 Mursi packed off Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi as well as the second-in-command General Sami Anan into "retirement" and appointed both of them as 'advisers' to the President. Both of them were also given Egypt's highest state honour, the Nile Medal. The shock announcement over state television came amid an ongoing military operation in Sinai, where 16 soldiers were killed in an attack by militants last week. No reason was given immediately for the radical move and it was not clear whether this was a unilateral step by the country's first democratically elected president or was initiated after taking the military into confidence. Field Marshall Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi was appointed minister of defence and general commander of the Egyptian forces replacing 76-year-old Tantawi, presidential spokesperson Yasser Ali announced in a televised statement. The President also annulled a constitutional addendum that was issued by the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) on June 17 under which the Army took control of legislative powers and limited the president's powers, after a Supreme Court verdict dismissed the elected parliament. Mursi, 60, a leader of Muslim Brotherhood, was elected president in June this year, at a time of a constitutional and legislative void in the country. In the absence of a full-fledged constitution, it is still not clear whether the interim constitution gives the President the right to sack the Army chief. Mursi, 60, also appointed SCAF member Mohamed al-Assar as deputy defence minister and head of naval forces, Mohab Mamish as head of the Suez Canal Authority while naming judge Mahmoud Mekky as his vice-president. The unexpected changes come as the Egyptian army is involved in an operation in the Sinai Peninsula where it lost three soldiers today. According to Egyptian military sources, the army has killed five Islamist militants in Sinai and arrested several Palestinians who had allegedly crossed into Egyptian territories illegally. Sinai is a strategic triangular peninsula located between Egypt, Israel, Gaza and Jordan. Militarisation there is governed by the articles of the Camp David Accord between Egypt and Israel. The Muslim Brotherhood has historically been at loggerheads with the powerful Army, and relations haven't improved since the fall of Hosni Mubarak after a mass uprising last year. Mursi also appointed Mahmoud Mekki, the deputy head of the Cassation Court, as his Vice President. PTI
|
|
| HOME PAGE | |
Punjab | Haryana | Jammu & Kashmir |
Himachal Pradesh | Regional Briefs |
Nation | Opinions | | Business | Sports | World | Letters | Chandigarh | Ludhiana | Delhi | | Calendar | Weather | Archive | Subscribe | E-mail | |
Iran today wrapped up rescue operation in hundreds of villages flattened by twin earthquakes the day before in its northwest, as officials gave a new toll of 227 dead and 1,380 injured in the disaster.
Manila, August 12 
It's truly a no man's land! Saudi Arabia is planning to build a city exclusively for women in a bid to encourage career oriented females within its strict Sharia law.
The Saudi Industrial Property Authority (Modon) has been asked to bring the country at par with the rest of the modern world by building the all women city, with construction to begin next year, according to a Saudi media report.
Cairo, August 12
