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| | Genoa bridge collapse: Italy PM declares 12-month state of emergency | | | | ROME, Aug 17(Agencies): Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte has declared a 12-month state of emergency after a section of a motorway bridge collapsed in Genoa claiming 39 lives.
Conte announced on Wednesday that he had allocated five million euros for the smooth facilitation of search and rescue operations.
He added that his administration would withdraw the concession from Autostrade, the private company responsible for the maintenance of the Morandi Bridge that collapsed on Tuesday.
Conte was quoted by CNN as saying, "These are tragedies that are unacceptable in modern society."
Although rescue operations were on till Wednesday evening, the hopes of finding more survivors in the mishap appeared dim.
Fire services chief Emanuele Gissi told CNN that the rescue workers were working... |  | |
| | | Ibrahim al-Asiri, al Qaeda's master bomb maker, may be dead, claims UN | | | | United Nations, Aug 17(Agencies): The al Qaeda's master bomb maker Ibrahim al-Asiri who was responsible for planning to blow up an airliner over Detroit, USA on Christmas Day may have been killed, according to a UN report.
The UN report said that Ibrahim al-Asiri, long regarded as one of the most dangerous terrorist operatives in circulation, may have been killed in Yemen in 2017, CNN reported on Thursday.
"Since mid-2017, the organisation has suffered losses of leadership and field commanders owing to extensive Yemeni and international counter-terrorist operations," said the report by the UN's Analytical Support and Sanctions Monitoring Team.
"Some member states report that explosives expert Ibrahim al-Asiri... may have been killed during the second half of 2017. Given al-Asiri's pas... | | |
| | | Imran Khan pays tribute to Atal Bihari Vajpayee | | | | ISLAMABAD, Aug 17(Agencies): Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf chief and Prime Minister-designate Imran Khan on Thursday paid his tribute to former Indian prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, remembering how the latter worked towards strengthening India-Pakistan relation.
Paying his condolences, Imran Khan said that Vajpayee's death has created a void and his effort will always be remembered. Khan in a statement said that Vajpayee was a prominent political personality of the sub-continent.
"Efforts of Mr Vajpayee for improvement in relations between Pakistan and India will be remembered forever," said the cricketer-turned-politician.
Khan said that Vajpayee started efforts for improving Indo-Pak ties and continued them after becoming prime minister.
"As foreign minister, Vajpayee strived to ... | | |
| | | Donald Trump's military parade planned for November postponed: Pentagon | | | | WASHINGTON, Aug 17(Agencies): A military parade requested by the US President Donald Trump that had been planned for November in Washington has been postponed until at least next year, the Defense Department said on Thursday. "We originally targeted November 10, 2018, for this event but have now agreed to explore opportunities in 2019," Defense Department Spokesman Colonel Rob Manning said in a statement.
A US official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said it was unclear exactly what caused the postponement but the increased cost of the event had caused concern and could be one reason.
The parade to honour U.S. military veterans and commemorate the 100th anniversary of the end of World War One could cost more than $90 million, the U.S. official said, citing provisional planning figu... | | |
| | | Four planes make emergency landings in Chile and Peru after bomb threats | | | | SANTIAGO, Aug 17(Agencies): Four planes were forced to make emergency landings in Chile and Peru on Thursday because of bomb threats issued to Chile`s civil aviation authority, the authority said in a statement. Two of the planes were operated by LATAM Airlines and two by Sky, a low-cost Chilean airline, the aviation authority said. Sky also reported that a third plane it operated was prevented from taking off because of a bomb threat.
According to the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGAC) and the airlines, inspections of three of those five planes found no bombs, and at least one plane was later allowed to resume its flight. For four of the five flights, Santiago, Chile`s capital, was either the origination or the destination.
The DGAC said that flight Sky 162 had taken off from... | | |
| | | Vatican changes stance on death penalty as Pope makes it 'inadmissible' in all cases | | | | VATICAN CITY, Aug 17(Agencies): The Roman Catholic Church formally changed its teaching on Thursday to declare the death penalty inadmissible whatever the circumstance, a move likely to be criticised in countries where capital punishment is legal.
The 1.2 billion-member Catholic Church had for centuries allowed the death penalty in extreme cases, but the position began to change under Pope John Paul II, who died in 2005.
The Vatican said the change to its universal catechism, a summary of Church teaching, reflected Pope Francis` total opposition to capital punishment.
According to the new entry in the catechism: "the death penalty is inadmissible because it is an attack on the inviolability and dignity of the person."
The Church was working "with determination" for the abolition of ... | | |
| | | Google clarifies tracking users even with location data turned off | | | | San Francisco, Aug 17(Agencies): After facing criticism over reports that certain Google apps track users' whereabouts even when they turn off location data, the tech giant has revised its Help Page, clarifying that it does track location data in order to "improve Google experience".
Previously, the Help Page stated: "You can turn off Location History at any time. With Location History off, the places you go are no longer stored."
The page now says: "This setting does not affect other location services on your device, like Google Location Services and Find My Device.
"Some location data may be saved as part of your activity on other services, like Search and Maps".
The new language confirms that location data is, indeed, being tracked by some Google apps.
"We have been updating the e... | | |
| | | Sidhu will be treated as a traitor if he goes to Pakistan for Imran’s swearing-in: Subramanian | | | | NEW DELHI, Aug 14 (Agencies): Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Subramanian Swamy on Tuesday launched an attack on cricketer-turned-politician Navjot Singh Sidhu over his invitation to Pakistan to attend the oath-taking ceremony of Pakistan PM designate Imran Khan. "I don't think Sidhu is mentally stable and if he is, he will not go to Pakistan," Swamy said.
The BJP veteran went on lashing out at Sidhu. "Even Sidhu goes to Pakistan, it will hugely affect his political career. People will think him a traitor and will never forgive him," Swamy added.
Swamy's remark comes days after Sidhu said that he had applied for the permission to visit Islamabad.
Along with Sidhu, Imran Khan's 'old friends' Kapil Dev and Sunil Gavaskar have also been invited to attend his oath-taking ceremony in Is... | | |
| | | Gajanand Sharma, imprisoned in Lahore for 36-yrs, comes home to freedom | | | | NEW DELHI, Aug 13 (Agencies): He had gone missing from Jaipur 36 years ago. His family searched for him near and far but their perseverance came to nothing for over three decades. All of that changed earlier this year though when Gajanand Sharma was traced to Lahore's Central Jail and on Monday, he finally crossed the Indo-Pak border at Wagah - to his family, home and freedom.
Gajanand was 32 when he went missing. He is 68 now. It has been a long journey - one that a short walk across the border can hardly ever highlight. It, nonetheless, was a walk that he would remember for the rest of his life - a life that has been full of struggles and a never-dying hope of returning to loved ones one day.
That he is alive was a news that came like a bolt out of the blue to Gajanand's family earlie... | | |
| | | PAK residents accuse Pakistan of waging water war on them | | | | Muzaffarabad, Aug 12 (Agencies): People in Muzzafarabad are fuming. And there's little water to cool down their soaring anger.
Residents of the city in Pakistan Administered Kashmir have accused Islamabad of diverting water from Neelum River to feed its Punjab province, leaving them - quite literally - high and dry. News agency ANI reports that the residents have complained that fresh water from the river is being channelled from the mountains to the Punjab province and this has resulted in the river drying up around their area. "We can live without electricity but how can we live without water," a local resident was quoted as saying. "The water level in the river has declined drastically and the available water is mostly sewage. We are feeling the heat because of rising temperatures."
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