Over 2.4 million volunteers vaccinate some 170 million children in India during every immunisation round India is set to mark...
BBC Online :Voting has resumed in Egypt in a two-day referendum on a new constitution drawn up following the ousting...
Reuters, Kuwait : Donors including the United States and wealthy Gulf Arab countries pledged $1 billion on Wednesday for UN humanitarian efforts in Syria, devastated by almost three years of civil war.Kuwait’s emir, Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmed al-Sabah, promised $500 million in fresh assistance, while the United States announced a contribution of $380 million. Qatar and Saudi Arabia pledged $60 million each.The promises were announced at an international donor conference in Kuwait intended to help the United Nations reach a $6.5...
Reuters, Beijing : A fire at a shoe factory in eastern China killed 16 people and injured five, state media reported, the latest disaster to highlight China’s poor workplace safety record.The fire broke out at the factory in Wenling in the wealthy coastal province of Zhejiang on Tuesday, the official Xinhua news agency said.More than 20 people were rescued and the injured were all in stable condition in hospital, it said. The cause of the fire was being investigated.China, the...
BBC Online : More than 200 civilians in South Sudan have drowned in a Nile ferry accident while fleeing fighting in the town of Malakal, an army spokesman has said.He said women and children were among the victims in Sunday’s disaster.More than 350,000 people have been displaced by the fighting between the South Sudanese government and rebel forces, according to the UN.Rebels say they have captured Malakal, which is the gateway to the oilfields of the Upper Nile region.However, this...
BBC Online :Police in Malaysia are questioning a man who says he is the sultan of Malacca on suspicion that he falsely used the title for personal gain.The man calls himself Sultan Raja Noor Jan Shah Raja Tuah – but the position in the southern state no longer exists.Police arrested him under the sedition act and are investigating whether people paid him for fake titles.Malaysia has a rotating monarchy system comprised of nine sultans. Malacca state is headed by a...
BBC Online :The trial of four men accused of murdering former Lebanese PM Rafik Hariri has begun at an unprecedented...
CNN :The Marine Corps is working to determine the authenticity of photos published by TMZ.com that purport to show Marines burning the bodies of what appear to be Iraqi insurgents.The celebrity and gossip website said it has 41 photographs believed shot in Falluja in 2004. It published eight on Wednesday, saying the rest of the images were too graphic.“The actions depicted in these photos are not what we expect from our service members, nor do they represent the honorable and...
Reuters, Bangkok :Protesters in Thailand trying to force out the government marched on revenue offices on Thursday, but their numbers...
Reuters, Cairo :Egypt’s new constitution was overwhelmingly approved in a referendum, state media reported on Thursday, an expected victory that nudges army chief General Abdel Fattah al-Sisi ever closer to a bid for the presidency.The vote advances a transition plan the army unveiled after deposing Islamist president Mohamed Mursi last July. The next step is expected to be a presidential election for which Sisi, 59, appears the only serious candidate.Some 90 percent of the people who voted approved the constitution,...
Reuters, Kabul :Afghanistan’s president attacked the United States over a military operation that killed civilians on Wednesday, underlining his growing...
PTI, Lahore :Pakistan’s embattled former military dictator Pervez Musharraf has refused to leave the country on “medical grounds” until he is given “clean chit” in high treason and other cases, according to a close aide.Contrary to the impression that “Musharraf’s illness drama” has been staged to prepare a ground to send him abroad under a deal, his friends suggest that all efforts to “persuade” him to leave the country have failed to bear fruit as the Nawaz Sharif-led government wants...