A midnight crackdown by the security personnel forced the supporters of jailed former prime minister Imran Khan to evacuate the D-Chowk and its adjacent main business district of the capital ending their protest. Police sources said about 450 protestors were arrested in the crackdown and more arrests are expected while Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) said it was a violent assault on protesters by security forces firing live rounds with the intent to kill as many people as possible. Earlier on Tuesday evening, PTI supporters battled law enforcing agencies and succeeded in reaching the D-Chowk for a sit-in till their leader told otherwise. The supporters’ clash with police killed six security personnel and injured dozens. Khan’s wife, Bushra Bibi, who was leading the march to Islamabad from Peshawar along with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur, announced that the protestors would not go away until Imran Khan was released from jail. However, around midnight, police and Rangers launched an operation to clear the business area, forcing the protestors to move away along with Bibi and Gandapur. This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever
28 November,2024 08:18 AM IST | Islamabad | AgenciesThe most severe November snowstorm to hit South Korea’s capital in more than a half century blanketed the capital on Wednesday, grounding hundreds of airplane flights and disrupting commuter traffic. Cars move slowly on a snow-covered road. Pics/AP South Korea’s weather agency said 20 cm of snow fell in northern areas of Seoul and nearby areas. The agency said it was the heaviest snowstorm Seoul has experienced in 52 years. A storm on November 28, 1972, dumped 12 cm of snow on the capital. Snow-covered bicycles near a subway station South Korea’s Yonhap news agency said one person died and four others were injured in a five-vehicle accident in the eastern town of Hongcheon. The storm blanketed much of the country, with the country’s central, eastern and southwestern regions seeing about 10 to 23 cm of snow. At least 220 flights were cancelled or delayed at airports nationwide, while authorities ordered around 90 ferries to remain at port. They also shut down hundreds of hiking trails. This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever
28 November,2024 08:16 AM IST | Seoul | AgenciesA ceasefire between Israel and the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah appeared to be holding on Wednesday, as residents in cars heaped with belongings streamed back toward southern Lebanon despite warnings from the Israeli and Lebanese military that they stay away from certain areas. If it holds, the ceasefire would end nearly 14 months of fighting between Israel and Hezbollah, which escalated in mid-September. It could give some reprieve to the 1.2 million Lebanese displaced by the fighting and thousands of Israelis who fled their homes along the border with Lebanon. The US- and France-brokered deal, approved by Israel late Tuesday, calls for an initial two-month halt to fighting and requires Hezbollah to end its armed presence in southern Lebanon, while Israeli troops are to return to their side of the border. Israel says it reserves the right to strike Hezbollah should it violate the deal. Aftermath of the fighting Over 3,800 people in Lebanon killed, many of them civilians. Over 80 Israeli soldiers killed, and 47 civilians. The damage: Damage in Lebanon is estimated at $8.5 billion including at least 1 lakh homes destroyed. In Israel, 5,683 acres of land gutted. The displaced: Around 1.2 million people displaced in Lebanon; over 46,500 in Israel. The strikes: Around 14,000 Israeli strikes in Lebanon, while Hezbollah has made more than 2,000 strikes in Israel. ‘Deal brokered by Biden is actually Trump’s victory’ The Biden administration kept Donald Trump’s incoming administration closely apprised of its efforts to broker the ceasefire deal between Israel and Hezbollah. Trump’s team, meanwhile, was quick to claim credit for the rare spot of good news for a Democratic administration that’s been dragged down by the grinding Mideast conflict. “Everyone is at the table because of President Trump,” Florida Rep. Mike Waltz, Trump’s choice for his national security adviser, said on X. “His resounding victory sent a clear message to the rest of the world that chaos won’t be tolerated.” This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever
28 November,2024 08:15 AM IST | Beirut | AgenciesBangladesh High Court on Wednesday acquitted former prime minister and Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) Chairperson Khaleda Zia in a corruption case in which she was sentenced to seven years in jail by a lower court, according to media reports. Zia, 79, was convicted in the Zia Charitable Trust corruption case in 2018 by a Dhaka court. It also sentenced her to seven years imprisonment under the former prime minister Sheikh Hasina’s Awami League government and fined her Tk 1 million. A bench of Justices AKM Asaduzzaman and Syed Enayet Hossain overturned the decision based on an appeal by Zia. Two others accused in the case were also acquitted by the court. The graft case was filed in 2011 by the Anti-Corruption Commission, accusing Zia and three others of abusing power to raise funds for the trust from unknown sources. Zia was lodged in the Old Dhaka Central Jail on February 8, 2018, after a special court sentenced her to five years in prison in the Zia Orphanage Trust corruption case. On October 30, 2018, the High Court raised her punishment to 10 years. Later, she was convicted in the Zia Charitable Trust corruption case. This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever
28 November,2024 08:13 AM IST | Dhaka | AgenciesFour persons, including two children, have died and several others remained missing while over 2.30 lakh individuals were affected across Sri Lanka due to inclement weather following a massive rain system in southwest Bay of Bengal, authorities said on Wednesday. At least six Colombo-bound flights were diverted to other airports on Wednesday morning due to heavy rain – 75 mm in 24 hours ending at 8:00 am – and high winds experienced in most parts of the island due to the Deep Depression (heavy rain bearing system) over the southwest Bay of Bengal. The Deep Depression is likely to move north-northwest wards closer to the east coast of Sri Lanka and intensify further into a cyclonic storm later in the day, the meteorological department said. Army and navy troops were deployed to rescue victims and provide food and other essentials to those affected. News portal NewsFirst.lk said six flights scheduled to arrive at the Bandaranaike International Airport (BIA) here were diverted to other airports, including to Indian airports. Sri Lankan Airlines flight from Tokyo, Emirates flights arriving from Male, and IndiGo flight from Chennai, all destined for Colombo, were diverted to the Thiruvananthapuram International Airport while Air Arabia flight from Sharjah was diverted to Kozhikode International Airport. Sri Lankan Airlines flight from Male and Etihad Airways flight from Abu Dhabi to Colombo, both were diverted to Mattala International Airport, NewsFirst.lk said. Meanwhile, police said bodies of two of the six students who were swept away in raging floods on Tuesday in the eastern Ampara district, were found while efforts were on to trace others continued on Wednesday. The six students, between 12-16 years, and the tractor operator were on their way back from school at Sammanthurai in the Ampara district when the farm tractor trolley they were travelling on was swept by the massive floods following the heavy rains in the area. Five other children and the tractor driver were rescued, police added. Ahead of the forecast of the Deep Depression intensifying into a cyclonic storm, the island nation has been experiencing heavy downpours since Monday leaving large area inundated – flooded homes, fields and roads, everything. Train services were suspended in the mountain areas. The Disaster Management Centre (DMC) said reported the floods have resulted in two more fatalities elsewhere while seven persons are reported missing in different parts of the country. Among the two deceased was a woman, who was killed when a brick wall collapsed on her in Badulla in central Sri Lanka but gave no details about the other person. The DMC also that the prevailing inclement weather conditions have affected a total of 2,30,743 individuals across Sri Lanka while more than 10,000 individuals from 3,102 families are currently being sheltered in 104 relief centres, news portal Adaderana.lk said. The National Building Research Institute (NBRI) has issued landslide warnings covering four of the nine provinces. “The rainfall within the past 24 hours has exceeded 75 mm. If the rain continues, there is a possibility of landslides and slope failures,” a release from the NBRI said. The Irrigation Department too has issued flood warning for several low-lying areas of Kelani River Basin and Kala Oya Basin effective until Friday morning, Adaderana.lk said. This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever
27 November,2024 10:54 PM IST | Colombo | PTIAustralia's House of Representatives on Wednesday passed a bill that would ban children younger than 16 years old from social media, leaving it to the Senate to finalise the world-first law. The major parties backed the bill that would make platforms including TikTok, Facebook, Snapchat, Reddit, X and Instagram liable for fines of up to 50 million Australian dollars (USD 33 million) for systemic failures to prevent young children from holding accounts. The legislation was passed with 102 votes in favour to 13 against. If the bill becomes law this week, the platforms would have one year to work out how to implement the age restrictions before the penalties are enforced. Opposition lawmaker Dan Tehan told Parliament the government had agreed to accept amendments in the Senate that would bolster privacy protections. Platforms would not be allowed to compel users to provide government-issued identity documents including passports or driver's licenses. The platforms also could not demand digital identification through a government system. "Will it be perfect? No. But is any law perfect? No, it's not. But if it helps, even if it helps in just the smallest of ways, it will make a huge difference to people's lives," Tehan told Parliament. Communications Minister Michelle Rowland said the Senate would debate the bill later Wednesday. The major parties' support all but guarantees the legislation will be passed by the Senate where no party holds a majority of seats. Lawmakers who were not aligned with either the government or the opposition were most critical of the legislation during debate on Tuesday and Wednesday. Criticisms include that the legislation had been rushed through Parliament without adequate scrutiny, would not work, would create privacy risks for users of all ages and would take away parents' authority to decide what's best for their children. Critics also argue the ban would isolate children, deprive them of positive aspects of social media, drive children to the dark web, make children too young for social media reluctant to report harms they encountered and take away incentives for platforms to make online spaces safer. Independent lawmaker Zoe Daniel said the legislation would "make zero difference to the harms that are inherent to social media." "The true object of this legislation is not to make social media safe by design, but to make parents and voters feel like the government is doing something about it," Daniel told Parliament. "There is a reason why the government parades this legislation as world-leading, that's because no other country wants to do it," she added. The platforms had asked for the vote on legislation to be delayed until at least June next year when a government-commissioned evaluation of age assurance technologies made its report on how the ban could been enforced. Melbourne resident Wayne Holdsworth, whose 17-year-old son Mac took his own life last year after falling victim to an online sextortion scam, described the bill as "absolutely essential for the safety of our children". "It's not the only thing that we need to do to protect them because education is the key, but to provide some immediate support for our children and parents to be able to manage this, it's a great step," the 65-year-old online safety campaigner told The Associated Press on Tuesday. "And in my opinion, it's the greatest time in our country's history," he added, referring to the pending legal reform. This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever
27 November,2024 11:31 AM IST | Melbourne | APThe United States and India are stronger when they work together, US Secretary of State Tony Blinken has said. Blinken made the remarks in a post on X after meeting India's External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on the sidelines of the G7 meeting in Fiuggi, Italy on Tuesday. "The US and India are stronger when we are working together. Indian External Affairs Minister Dr S Jaishankar and I met today in Italy to discuss the importance of our continued close cooperation to promote global security and prosperity," Blinken said. He also shared a picture from the meeting. Jaishankar also posted about the meeting on X and said he discussed the state of the world and the India-US partnership, which continues to move forward, with Blinken. After the meeting, State Department Spokesperson Matthew Miller said, "The United States desires to continue coordinating closely with India to address global security challenges." During the meeting, Blinken and Jaishankar affirmed the US and India's enduring commitment to deepening bilateral ties, Miller said in a readout of the meeting. This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever
27 November,2024 11:29 AM IST | Washington | PTIThe European Union’s top diplomat said on Tuesday there were “no excuses” for Israel to refuse to accept a ceasefire with the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah, saying all its security concerns had been addressed in the US-French-brokered deal. Josep Borrell, the outgoing EU foreign policy chief, called for increased pressure on Israel. Speaking on the sidelines of a Group of Seven (G7) meeting in Italy, Borrell warned that if a ceasefire is not implemented, “Lebanon will fall apart”. Israeli officials said Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s security Cabinet was set to convene on Tuesday to discuss a proposed ceasefire. Among the issues that remain is an Israeli demand to reserve the right to act should Hezbollah violate its obligations under the emerging deal. Borrell said under the proposed deal, the US would chair a ceasefire implementation committee, with France participating at Lebanon’s request. “On the proposal agreement brokered by the US and France, Israel has all security concerns (addressed),” Borrell told reporters. “There is not an excuse for not implementing a ceasefire. Otherwise, Lebanon will fall apart.” This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever
27 November,2024 08:12 AM IST | Italy | AgenciesTaiwan’s baseball team rode in military vehicles through the capital Taipei on Tuesday following their historic victory in an international tournament. F-16 fighter jets firing flares escorted the men’s team back to Taiwan on Monday, a day after they beat Japan 4-0 in the final of the WBSC Premier12 in Tokyo. Baseball is wildly popular in Taiwan. The street parade saw thousands of adoring fans waving Taiwanese flags and ‘Team Taiwan’ signs. After playing under the name Chinese Taipei, the team wore black hooded sweaters emblazoned with Taiwan as they stood in the back of military jeeps and trucks. The parade ended at the Presidential Office Building. This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever
27 November,2024 08:11 AM IST | Taipei City | AgenciesBabies are born with fine body hair called lanugo. The term comes from the Latin word “lana”, meaning wool. In some babies, there can be quite a lot of hair. It is nothing to worry about and will disappear a few weeks after birth. It appears on the fetus around the third month of pregnancy and grows thicker by the seventh month. Most babies shed lanugo in the womb at around 33-36 weeks of pregnancy. This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever
27 November,2024 08:04 AM IST | Sydney | AgenciesJailed former prime minister Imran Khan’s supporters reached the heart of Pakistan’s capital on Tuesday after removing barricades and battling police in clashes that killed six security personnel and injured dozens. Four paramilitary Rangers and two policemen were killed late Monday and over 100 security personnel injured when protesters marching towards D-Chowk turned violent, prompting the federal government to deploy the army in Islamabad along with shoot-at-sight orders. Geo News shared footage, which showed Khan’s supporters climbing on the shipping containers placed on the roads leading to D-Chowk, which is located close to several important government buildings: the Presidency and the PM Office. It was unclear if the protesters would stage a sit-in or leave D-Chowk. Top leaders of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) had vowed to remain in Islamabad until Khan was released. Khan’s wife Bushra Bibi, who stubbornly led the protests, said in one of her addresses to the protestors to go away only if Khan comes in person to tell about the next course of action. The protestors reached their declared destination despite repeated claims by Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi that nobody would be allowed to make it to D-Chowk. This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever
27 November,2024 08:01 AM IST | Islamabad | AgenciesADVERTISEMENT
