Asian Lite News Archive

Category: World News

  • How Bibi Committed Political Suicide ?

    —

    in , , , ,

    Dr. Alon Ben-Meir, professor of international relations at the Center for Global Affairs at NYU, comments on the latest developments in the Jewish state Prime Minster Netanyahu’s insistence on passing a bill that will define Israel as the nation-state of the Jewish people is as disgraceful as his denial that Israel is not an occupying power.…

  • British Museum loans Parthenon statue to Russia

    —

    in , , ,

    Part of the Parthenon marbles have been allowed to leave Britain for the first time through the loan of a sculpture to the Russian state museum, a media report said . The headless statue of a Greek river-god, Ilissos, will go on display in the State Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg Friday to celebrate the…

  • US to investigate into Eric Garner case

    —

    in , ,

      US Attorney General Eric Holder has announced that the Department of Justice will launch an independent investigation to determine if there was a violation of civil rights in the case of Eric Garner, a black man who died at the hands of a policeman in New York. Just a few hours after the grand…

  • Sophie the Stegosaurus reconstructed

    —

    in , ,

    Researchers hope to learn how much it weighed, how it moved and what it used its iconic back plates for. A UK team has scanned each of its 360 bones into a computer and has digitally reconstructed the dinosaur. The specimen, nicknamed “Sophie”, has been acquired by the Natural History Museum in London reported BBC.…

  • Lebanon detains ISIS chief’s ex-wife

    —

    in , ,

    Lebanese Interior Minister Nouhad Machnouk has said that DNA samples of Islamic State (IS) leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi had been matched with one of the three children who are currently being held by Lebanese authorities and are suspected of being related to the jihadi chief. Machnouk said Wednesday DNA samples, which were sent over by…

  • Mysterious NASA plane spotted

    —

    in , ,

    A mysterious NASA plane has been spotted in eastern Africa, leaving people curious whether it was on some secret mission. The broad-winged white plane named WB-57 was photographed by the satellite company Digital Globe in the Republic of Djibouti in September, ABC News reported. “I really cannot give you any of the details. You know…

  • Israel vote to dissolve parliament

    —

    in , ,

      Israeli lawmakers voted  in favour of dissolving parliament, setting the stage for a snap election in March. Wednesday’s vote was a preliminary one, as three further votes are expected later in the day and next week, which will officially dissolve the Israeli parliament, Xinhua reported. Earlier, a parliament spokesperson announced that the elections would…

  • Iran launch airstrikes in Iraq: Pentagon

    —

    in , ,

    Iran has launched airstrikes in eastern Iraq against Islamic State militants, the Pentagon has revealed. But a spokesman said the US had not coordinated the attacks or military action with Tehran reported SKY News. Rear Admiral John Kirby said the US continued to fly missions over Iraq and that it was up to the Iraqi…

  • Iran says its close to a n-deal

    —

    in , ,

      Iran and the world powers are very close to a comprehensive nuclear agreement in the coming months, Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said here . “To prepare the details of the final accord we need an extension of the talks, and the seven-month extension is aimed at buying the time,” Zarif was quoted…

  • London schools to attend Kochi Biennale

    —

    in , , , , ,

    The Kochi-Muziris Biennale in Kerala has become a major topic for this year’s prestigious Chevening Clore Leadership Programme for professionals in the art world. Kochi will host the works of nearly 95 artists from about 30 countries at the second edition of the 108-day Biennale which will begin Dec 12. Students from the art school…

  • Bhopal Tragedy: Three Decades of Trauma

    —

    in , , , ,

    M.R. Narayan Swamy comments on Bhopal Gas leak“Can you go to Bhopal immediately? Something big seems to have happened. Many people have died. You can help out our local bureau and return after two or three days.” This was U.R. Kalkur, a marvel of a journalist who was the deputy general manager of UNI. He spoke…

  • HIV virus losing virility

    —

    in , , ,

    A study involving more than 2,000 women in Africa has found that the rapid evolution of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and widespread access to antiretroviral therapy are slowing down the virus’s ability to cause AIDS. “Factors that influence the virulence of HIV are of direct relevance to ongoing efforts to contain, and ultimately eradicate, the…

  • Sharif to attend London conference on Afghanistan

    —

    in , , , ,

    Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif would be visiting Britain to attend the London Conference on Afghanistan, a foreign ministry statement said . The conference is scheduled to be held Dec 3-4. British Prime Minister David Cameron had telephoned Sharif Oct 28 and invited him to participate in the conference. The conference will be co-hosted by…

  • Most wanted Nazi war criminal dead

    —

    in ,

      The chief investigator pursuing Alois Brunner, one of the world’s most wanted German Nazi war criminals, has said that Brunner died four years ago in Syria, media reported. “We cannot prove it forensically, but we are certain that is the case,” BBC qouted Nazi-hunter Efraim Zuroff as saying. SS captain Brunner, who would now…

  • SPECIAL REPORT: 30 years of Bhopal tragedy

    —

    in , ,

    At least 3,000 people were killed on the night of Dec 2-3, 1984, after poisonous gas leaked from the Union Carbide pesticide plant in Bhopal. The incident has inspired quite a few filmmakers and as the disaster is marching towards its 30th anniversary, we list the movies made on one of the world’s worst industrial…

  • Palestinian woman stabs Israeli soldier

    —

    in , ,

    A Palestinian woman was shot dead Monday after she stabbed an Israeli soldier in the southern West Bank city of Hebron, Xinhua reported citing Israel Radio. The report quoted Israeli army sources as saying that the Israeli military opened fire at the woman and shot her dead, after she stabbed an Israeli soldier at Gush…

  • Life tough for HIV patients

    —

    in , ,

    By Rupesh Dutta  Thirty-four-year-old Ratan Singha, an AIDS patient, wanted to live. He borrowed heavily from family and friends and dipped into his meagre savings to fund his second-line therapy of anti-retroviral therapy (ART) drugs. But Singha, who had spent his life in pursuit of alcohol and injectible drugs, was compelled to buy the medicines…

  • Pope in Istanbul amid tight security

    —

    in ,

     Pope Francis arrived in Istanbul following his visit to Ankara amid tight security against any possible radical attacks. Istanbul raised the security level to red as up to 5,000 policemen were positioned every 50 metres on the way between the airport and Istanbul’s historical peninsula, where the Pope visited Sultanahmet mosque and the Hagia Sophia…

  • US IT firms replicate India model

    —

    in , , ,

    A leading Information Technology (IT) services company is using a programme developed in India to create jobs worldwide and train and place minority women in high-quality IT jobs in 10 cities across America. After its “impressive work” in India, Mexico and the US, Aliso Viejo, California-based UST Global, is planning to launch additional programmes in…

  • Putin calls to fight terrorism in Syria and Iraq

    —

    in , ,

    Russian President Vladimir Putin has assured Syria, Iraq and the other countries in the Gulf region of support in their fight against terrorism, media reported . “The situation in Syria still raises serious concerns,” said Putin in an interview with the Turkish al-Anadolu news agency, which was cited by Syria’s official Sana news agency. He…

  • ‘Up to 13,000 slaves’ working in Britain

    —

    in , ,

    Britain’s Home Office said that there could be up to 13,000 victims of slavery in the country, far more than previous estimates, media reported . Modern slavery victims are said to include women forced into prostitution, “imprisoned” domestic staff and workers in fields, factories and fishing boats, BBC reported. The Home Office has launched a…

  • US plans to release more detainees from GITMO

    —

    in , ,

    The Pentagon is preparing to release more prisoners from the Guantanamo Bay detention centre in Cuba, in the coming weeks, official sources in the US have revealed. According to officials, there would be more transfers of detainees from Guantanamo Bay in December, but details on their numbers or nationalities were not provided, The Wall Street…

  • UN declares emergency for Gaza floods

    —

    in , ,

    The UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) has declared an emergency in Gaza City following extreme weather and severe flooding over the past 48 hours. According to a statement issued , no casualties or injuries have been reported, however, hundreds of residents in the flooded areas around the Sheikh Radwan storm water lagoon have evacuated…

  • Pope Francis set for Turkey visit

    —

    in , ,

    Pope Francis is scheduled to arrive in Turkey to help inter-faith dialogue in the country. At the start of the three-day tour he is set to meet newly-elected President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Ankara, BBC reported . He also plans to visit Istanbul for a meeting with the head of the Orthodox Christian church. It…

  • Hughes death sends Cricketing world in shock

    —

    in , ,

    The cricket world was left stunned  as Australian batsman Phillip Hughes, who was struck on the head by a cricket ball, died in a hospital here. The 25-year-old Hughes, who represented the national team in 26 Tests between 2009-2013, fractured his skull and suffered massive bleeding in his brain after being hit by pacer Sean…

  • Briton killed in Kabul suicide attack

    —

    in , ,

    A British national and four Afghans were killed  in a suicide attack on a British embassy vehicle in Kabul which left 34 others injured, officials said. The attack occurred at 10.30 a.m. when the suicide bomber detonated explosives inside his car that was near the diplomatic vehicle in eastern Kabul, according to a statement from…

  • Afghan suicide attack hits UK embassy car

    —

    in , ,

    A suicide bomber has struck a British embassy vehicle in the capital of Afghanistan, Kabul, causing casualties among Afghan civilians. At least three people were killed and about 30 others injured, officials say. It is not clear whether the embassy vehicle was the target of the attack reported BBC. Officials say a bomber on a…

  • Phillip Hughes dies aged 25

    —

    in , , ,

      Australian batsman Phillip Hughes who was struck on the head by a cricket ball died in hospital, Cricket Australia (CA) said . The 25-year-old Hughes, who represented the national team in 26 Tests between 2009-2013, fractured his skull and suffered catastrophic bleeding in his brain after being hit by bowler Sean Abbot’s bouncer in…

  • Polio workers gunned down in Pakistan

    —

    in , , ,

    Unidentified gunmen opened fire on a polio vaccination team near the Eastern Bypass area in Pakistan’s Quetta city , killing four health workers, including three women, and injuring three others. The assailants later escaped from the site of the incident, Dawn online reported. The bodies of the victims were shifted to the Civil Hospital Quetta…

  • China coal mine fire kills 26

    —

    in ,

     A coal mine fire killed 26 workers and injured 50 others in northeast China’s Liaoning province . Two more miners died in the hospital, taking the toll to 26, the local hospital said. Among the 50 others injured, 30 are in serious condition, four suffering from life-threatening injuries, Xinhua reported, citing a manager with the…

  • Ferguson smoulders,protests spread across US

    —

    in , , ,

      As night fell, Missouri state in Midwestern United States deployed more forces to quell violence in Ferguson after a grand jury failed to indict a white police officer in the August shooting of an unarmed black teenager. “We are bringing more resources to Ferguson and other parts of the region to prevent a repetition…

  • Israeli president slams ‘Jewish State’ Bill

    —

    in , ,

      Israeli President Reuven Rivlin has harshly criticised the “Jewish State” nationality bill proposal which was adopted by the cabinet . “Such a hierarchical approach, placing Jewishness before democracy, misses the great significance of the Declaration of Independence, which combines the two elements together without segregating them,” Rivlin said at an Annual State Prosecutor’s Conference…

  • Ferguson erupts in violence after ruling

    —

    in , , ,

    Violence erupted in the US city of Ferguson after the announcement that police officer Darren Wilson would not be indicted for shooting to death unarmed 18-year-old Michael Brown. Two police cars were set on fire Monday night and gunshots rang throughout the night as police fired tear gas and rubber bullets at protesters. Chaos reigned…

  • Israel postpones controversial nation bill

    —

    in , ,

    Israeli politicians decided  to postpone by one week a planned vote on a controversial bill due to political quarrels that could possibly threaten the stability of the governing coalition, a parliament spokesperson confirmed to Xinhua. Sunday, the Israeli cabinet voted in favour of a bill proposal known as the “Jewish nation law” after heated debate.…

  • US Defence Secretary Chuck Hagel to resign

    —

    in , ,

      US Defence Secretary Chuck Hagel will step down from his post after coming under pressure from President Barack Obama, The New York Times reported . The president is expected to announce Hagel’s resignation in a Rose Garden appearance Monday, the daily said, adding that the removal of Hagel – the sole Republican on his…

  • British troops withdraw from southern Afghanistan

    —

    in , ,

    British service personnel have left southern Afghanistan after completing the “most challenging” military redeployment operation of the generation, the British ministry of defence (MoD) announced . Britain’s Union Jack flag was lowered at Kandahar airfield in southern Afghanistan over the weekend. British Royal Air Force (RAF) personnel have operated in the region since 2001, Xinhua…

  • Afghanistan suicide attack toll hits 57

    —

    in , , ,

      The toll in the suicide bomb attack at a volleyball match in Afghanistan at the weekend has risen to 57, with 66 injured being treated in hospital, authorities said . According to the government of Paktika province where the attack took place, 42 people were killed on the spot in the blast Sunday and…

  • Ghoncheh Ghavami gets bail

    —

    in , , ,

    The British-Iranian woman, who was jailed after attempting to watch a men’s volleyball match in Tehran has been released on bail, media reported . The family of the 25 year-old Ghoncheh Ghavami said that she has been freed on bail until her court appeal, after she staged hunger strikes and hundreds of thousands of people…

  • Israeli cabinet pushes to make country a ‘Jewish state’

    —

    in , ,

    The Israeli cabinet approved a bill , which enshrines in law that Israel is the national homeland of the Jewish people and that this right is unique to them. Fifteen ministers voted in favour of the bill and seven against it, including Justice Minister Tzipi Livni, according to a spokesperson for the prime minister’s office,…

  • NHS deploys volunteers to fight Ebola in Sierra Leone

    —

    in , ,

    More than 30 NHS staff from across the UK will depart for Sierra Leone today to join Britain’s fight against Ebola, International Development Secretary Justine Greening and Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt have announced. They are the first group of NHS volunteers to be deployed by the UK Government. After arriving in the capital, Freetown, early…

  • Indian techies lose out on Obama immigration plan

    —

    in , , ,

    As President Barack Obama campaigned to sell his immigration plan to shield up to five million people from deportation and retain high-skilled immigrants, largely from India and China, analysts called it a mixed bag. Obama’s plan, according to the White House, “focuses on cracking down on illegal immigration at the border; deporting felons, not families;…

  • Saeed Naqvi reviews Middle East politics

    —

    in , , ,

    Release Of Al Jazeera journalists will confirm regional realignment …writes Saeed Naqvi My crystal ball tells me that the three Al Jazeera journalists, incarcerated in Cairo for the past six months, are about to be released. The three were part of Egypt’s most powerful news bureau during the brief spell of President Mohammad Morsi, of the Muslim…

  • 0.004% richest control 13% world’s wealth

    —

    in ,

      Only 0.004 percent of the world’s high networth adult population controls almost 13 percent of the world’s total wealth, according to a new study. Global ultra high net worth (UHNW) individuals’ population has reached a record high of 211,275 with combined net worth of nearly $30 trillion, Wealth-X, the world’s leading ultra high net…

  • The Fall Of The Would-Be Emperor

    —

    in , ,

    Erdogan never missed an opportunity to show off how much the ‘new’ Turkish Republic, as the successor of the Ottoman Empire, has achieved and how its importance has grown because of its geostrategic location, economic development, status as an energy hub, and unrivaled military prowess in the region…writes Dr. Alon Ben-Meir, a professor of international relations…

  • Invoking Lennon, UN launch “Imagine” project

    —

    in , ,

    By Anna Buj  The UN General Assembly took a break from politics as diplomats celebrated the 25th anniversary of the adoption of the Convention on the Rights of the Child and the launch of the “Imagine” project. The “Imagine” project is an app for mobile devices allowing users to join international music stars singing John…

  • 2014 the warmest year since 1880

    —

    in ,

      The globally averaged temperatures for October as well as the January-to-October period were both the highest on record since record keeping began in 1880, the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has said. “Five of the past six months have been record warm for their respective months; July was fourth warmest,” Xinhua quoted the…

  • Obama overhauls immigration system

    —

    in , ,

    By Arun Kumar   Asserting his presidential authority, a defiant President Barack Obama resorted to unilateral executive action to fix America’s broken immigration system and protect five million illegal immigrants, including thousands from India, from deportation. In a prime time address to the nation from the East Room of the White House Thursday night, he rejected…

  • Israel to cooperate in UN probe

    —

    in , ,

      Israel has agreed to cooperate with a commission established by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon to investigate damage to UN facilities during an Israeli attack on Gaza last summer. Sources at the Israeli foreign ministry told Efe news agency that Israel’s Ambassador to the United Nations Ron Prosor had submitted a letter on the matter…

  • Modi make shortlist for Time’s Person of the Year

    —

    in , ,

    Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is in the list of 50 contenders for Time magazine’s Person of the Year. Time’s Person of the Year will be announced Dec 10. Modi, “once a controversial regional leader”, became India’s prime minister after leading his Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to a “landslide electoral victory on a platform of…

  • Obama all set for executive action on immigration

    —

    in , ,

    A defiant President Barack Obama is all set to take executive action to protect up to five million of about 11.2 million illegal immigrants, including about 450,000 from India, from deportation. Obama’s plans to announce unilateral action  to overhaul America’s “broken” immigration system puts him in confrontation with the Republicans who would take control of…