KABUL: Two US soldiers were killed in Afghanistan on Friday, NATO has said. It is the latest casualties to hit the international coalition. The incident comes at a time when peace talks are underway between Washington and the Taliban.
“In accordance with U.S. Department of Defense policy, the name of the service members killed in action are being withheld until 24 hours after notification of next of kin is complete,” said NATO.
The deaths come a day after at least six people were killed by blasts in an Islamic State-claimed attack during Persian New Year celebrations in a Shiite area of Kabul, AFP reported. (Agencies)
PYONGYANG: North Korea has been adversely hit by food shortage, which North Korea blames the shortfall on a combination of bad weather and “barbaric” international sanctions, media reports said. Critics argue that the North is simply trying to use the situation to undermine support for sanctions without addressing the nuclear issues that led to them in the first place or the government’s systemic economic problems.
Potential donors, meanwhile, face the old but still controversial question: should the world help a government that seems determined not to help its own people?
Kim, the ambassador to the U.N., said record-high temperatures, drought and flooding last year shaved more than 500,000 tons off of the 2018 harvest from the nearly 5 million tons produced in 2017. His statement was released just days ahead of Kim Jong Un’s Feb. 27-28 summit with President Donald Trump in Hanoi.
He said North Korean farmers have been hamstrung by “dreadful” restrictions on imports of everything from tractors, harvesters and sowing machines to chemical fertilizer, pesticides, herbicides and imports of refined petroleum. He also claimed that sanctions, or the fear of running afoul of them, are blocking or delaying legitimate assistance from possible donors and international organizations.
Humanitarian assistance from the U.N. agencies is “terribly politicized,” he said, and sanctions against North Korea are “barbaric and inhuman.”
North Korea claims it is now “channeling all its efforts” to importing food and increasing the output of early and basic crops such as wheat and barley in coming months. Even if Pyongyang achieves its targets of importing 200,000 tons of food and producing 400,000 tons of early crops, supplies will still fall short by 1.486 million tons.
SHANGHAI: As many as 40 people were killed while 640 sustained injuries in an explosion that occurred at a pesticide plant in eastern China’s Jiangsu province, China, media reports said on Friday.
It occurred on Thursday at the Chenjiagang Industrial Park in the city of Yancheng while the fire was brought under control at 3 am today, according to state television.
Survivors were taken to 16 hospitals with 640 people being treated for injuries. Thirty-two of them were critically injured, it said.
The cause of explosion is not known yet. Authorities said the investigation into the incident is underway.
In 2019, a total of 53 countries around the world will witness elections to elect their leaders. Some of the elections having significance include polls in India, Indonesia, and Nigeria. According to data, India has 800 million eligible voters, while Indonesia and Nigeria have 187 million and 84 million registered voters respectively.
Three major types of elections:
Presidential election
Voters elect the country’s head of state or a president. The president holds the highest political position and officially represents the country.
Parliamentary election
The legislative body is elected by the people and, in turn, chooses the head of the government or prime minister. The legislative body implements laws and runs the government on a day-to-day basis.
In countries without a prime minister, such as South Africa, Brazil, and the United States, the president is both the head of state and head of government.
General Election
Voters elect the head of state as well as federal and local representatives.
Eligible to vote:
An adult of 18 years of age and above is eligible to cast the ballot in ninety percent of the countries. If you’re 16, you’d be eligible to vote in 7 countries such as Argentina, Austria, Brazil, Cuba, Ecuador, Malta, and Nicaragua.
Voters can vote at the age of 17 in Ethiopia, Indonesia, South Sudan, Timor-Leste.
In Lebanon, Malaysia, Samoa, Singapore and Tonga, a voter has to be at least 21.
South Korea is the only country where voters are considered eligible at the age of 19.
Likewise, in Cameroon and Nauru, a voter has to be at least 20 years old.
Women’s right:
In 1893, New Zealand became the first country in the world to grant women the right to vote.
The last European country to allow women to vote was Switzerland in 1971.
In 1994, South Africa became the last African democracy to give equal voting rights to all following the end of apartheid.
In Afghanistan, women gained and lost the right to vote several times. They have continuously held the right to vote since 2004.
How often are elections held?
San Marino is only the country where the election is held every year. Countries like Australia, Fiji, Nauru, New Zealand hold elections in every three years. Similarly, 48 countries such as Argentina, Brazil, Germany, Japan, USA have elections in every four years.
Likewise, 104 countries, including Nepal, India, Maldives, Malaysia, Afghanistan, Cuba, France have elections in every five years. Six countries have the electoral process in six years where nine countries hold elections in seven years. Countries like Denmark, Greece, Jordan, Montenegro, Tuvalu, and Vanuatu do not have fixed term for elections.
How many terms can each leader serve?
Most leaders can either serve one or two terms in office. It’s not uncommon, however, for a country’s leader to have an unspecified term limit.
Leaders can serve only one term in 34 nations, 2 terms in 85 nations, including Nepal as per the current constitutions and unlimited term in 59 nations.
Cameroon’s President Paul Biya is the world’s longest-serving, non-royal leader. He’s been in power for almost 44 years. He’s followed by Equatorial Guinea’s Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo – 40 years – and Cambodia’s Hun Sen – 34 years.
Likewise, 52 countries have given the permission to cast vote to the prisoners. In 65 countries, only ‘selected’ prisoners can cast their vote. Prisoners cannot vote in 60 countries.
Pakistan has left behind other South Asian nations on the list of the world’s happiest countries, according to the United Nations report.
According to the global happiness survey from the United Nations Sustainable Development Solutions Network, Pakistan is the happiest nation in South Asia followed by Bhutan. Pakistan, however, stands 67th happiest country in the world.
The report says Nepal, which ranks 100th in the world, is the third happiest country in South Asia.
The UN published the report on the happiest countries on the eve of the International Happiness Day which is celebrated on March 20 every year.
Finland has ranked as the world´s happiest country for the second year. The war-torn South Sudan sank to the least contented in The Nordic nation of 5.5 million people.
Other Nordic countries, such as the Netherlands, Austria, Canada, Switzerland, and New Zealand made the top ten.
Meanwhile, the United States is in the 19th place, the report said.
South Sudan is the unhappiest nation, according to the report, where the UN recently said 60 percent of people face food insecurity following a bloody civil war which has claimed the lives of an estimated 400,000 people. (Agencies)
JAKARTA: The death toll in Indonesia’s floods in eastern Papua province has reached 77, the disaster agency said on Monday.
Over three dozen people remain missing and scores have been injured in the disaster caused by torrential rains and landslides.
Earlier on Sunday the authorities had put the death toll at 58.
There is a rainy reason in Indonesia which lasts from October to April.
A total of 70 people were reported to have been killed in Sulawesi Island in January.
QALA-E-NAW: Over 50 militants were killed and scores of others injured in Bala Murghab district of Afghanistan’s western Badghis province over the past 24 hours, said a statement released by the army on Saturday.
Government forces in the crackdown against militants, according to the statement, have used aircraft and artillery since Friday. So far 51 armed insurgents were killed. The statement did not provide more details and Taliban militants have not commented yet. Meanwhile, local news agency Pajhwok reported that the Taliban had tightened the noose around Bala Murghab district.
DUBAI: At least four people were killed and five others injured on Thursday in a gas pipeline explosion in southwest Iran, the Iranian Students News Agency ISNA reported. “Gas leakage from a pipeline that linked the gas network from Mahshahr city to Ahvaz city, caused the blast,” ISNA quoted local official Kiamars Hajizadeh as saying.
“At least four people, including one child and a woman, were killed in the blast and five people were wounded.” Iran’s state TV reported that five cars in the area had caught fire. “Fire fighters and ambulances have been dispatched to the area,” state TV reported. Poor safety measures and Iran’s aging infrastructures have been blamed by some authorities for blasts in the past.
(Agencies)
KUALA LUMPUR: An Indonesian woman accused of killing the half-brother of North Korea’s leader was freed on Monday after the Malaysian prosecutors withdrew the murder charge against her.
Siti Aisyah, 26, smiled as she was ushered through a pack of journalists and into a car outside the court, where she had been on trial alongside a Vietnamese woman for the murder of Kim Jong Nam at Kuala Lumpur airport in February 2017.
“Siti Aisyah is freed,” judge Azmin Ariffin told the Shah Alam High Court, as he approved a request from the prosecutor to drop the charge against her of murdering Kim Jong Nam.
NEW DELHI: Celebrities, politicians and sports stars descended on Mumbai to celebrate the wedding of the son of Asia’s richest man.
Akash Ambani, the son of oil and telecommunications tycoon Mukesh Ambani, is marrying Shloka Mehta, the daughter of Russell and Mona Mehta, at a ceremony in India’s financial capital on Saturday, according to the Press Trust of India.
Google LLC Chief Executive Officer Sundar Pichai, actors Aamir Khan and Shah Rukh Khan and cricket legend Sachin Tendulkar are among global policy makers, executives, politicians, Bollywood stars and sports personalities attending, according to a person at the function, who asked not to be identified.
Saudi Oil Minister Khalid al-Falih is making his second visit to India in less than three weeks to attend the wedding. Mukesh Ambani is Asia’s richest man, with net worth of about $50 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.
Estimates aren’t readily available for how much the celebrations are going to cost, but Akash Ambani’s sister’s marriage in December may provide a clue. At the time, people familiar with the planning of that event estimated the expense at about $100 million. A person close to the family said the amount wasn’t more than $15 million.
The guest list for her pre-wedding festivities ranged from Hillary Clinton and Henry Kravis to performers including Beyonce, according to the person. Akash Ambani also had a pre-wedding extravaganza in St. Moritz, Switzerland, according to press reports. The Chainsmokers and Chris Martin of Coldplay reportedly performed at the festivities.