Asia most exposed to disasters: Study

Asia most exposed to disasters: Study

M-IT   10:42 PM

Countries and mega-cities across Asia are highly exposed to natural hazards ranging from cyclones to earthquakes, but people in sub-Saharan Africa are more vulnerable, according to a report released Wednesday.

Nearly 1.4 billion people in South Asia -- India, Bangladesh, Pakistan -- face at least one major threat from Nature, especially flooding, severe storms boosted by rising seas, and quakes.

In the case of Bangladesh, 100 percent of its population is exposed, compared to 82 percent for India and 70 percent in Pakistan.

China, Indonesia, Japan and the Philippines are also among the nations with the largest numbers of people in harm's way.
The United States, Mexico and Brazil round out the top ten.

When it comes to vulnerability, however, Africa is the continent where people are most likely to suffer injury, disease and death as a result of natural disasters, according to the Natural Hazards Vulnerability Index from risk analysts Verisk Maplecroft.

The capacity to cope with disaster can determine whether a high-magnitude earthquake, for example, will cause hundreds of deaths, as happened in Chile in 2010, or hundreds of thousands, as befell Haiti in the same year.

Nine out of ten countries ranked as most vulnerable to natural hazards in the index are in sub-Saharan Africa, and 23 of 25 are on the continent.
South Sudan -- plagued by drought and war -- heads the list of the countries most defenceless against disaster, followed by Burundi, Afghanistan, Eritrea, Chad, Niger, Sudan, Mali and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

"The frequency and magnitude of natural hazard events cannot be controlled," the report noted.

"But the development and implementation of disaster risk reduction strategies can help minimise the humanitarian and economic impacts."
Among mega-cities, Manila -- facing a triple threat from cyclones, superstorms and earthquakes -- tops the list of urban areas with the highest number of people exposed.

Tokyo and Jakarta and in second and third place, with Dongguan in southern China, Dhaka and Kolkata following close behind.
Mexico City, Delhi and Sao Paulo all have huge populations exposed to major storms.

"This analysis shows that governance is key to lower vulnerability," the report said.

Without major reforms and political stability, "countries such as India and the Philippines are unlikely to see improvements in the near term."

Suicide bomber kills 25 in Baghdad

Suicide bomber kills 25 in Baghdad

M-IT   10:39 PM

A suicide bomber blew himself up in a crowd Friday after a local football game in a village south of Baghdad, killing at least 25 people, police and medics said.

"They were just handing the trophy to the winners, the suicide attacker blew himself up in the crowd," a police captain from the village, Al-Asriya, told AFP.

The village is near Iskandariyah, a town about 40 kilometres (25 miles) south of the capital.
The police captain said more than 50 people were also wounded in the blast.

A source at Iskandariyah hospital confirmed the toll, warning that the casualties figure were preliminary and could rise.
The medic told AFP that the attack took place around 7:00 pm (1600 GMT).

There was no immediate claim taking responsibility for the blast but nearly all such attacks recently were carried out by the Islamic State (IS) group.

Iskandariyah is part of a mixed Sunni-Shiite area south of Baghdad which was once dubbed "the triangle of death" and was badly affected by sectarian violence last decade.

Pushing back IS in this region after the jihadists took over large parts of the country in 2014 was one of the priorities of the government and allied Shiite militias.

That was achieved in a few months and IS has been largely eradicated from the area but violence -- of a sectarian nature and crime-driven -- has remained frequent.

Further south, at least 47 people were killed when a truck bomb exploded at a checkpoint at the entrance of the city of Hilla on March 6.
The attack was the deadliest car bomb explosion in Iraq this year.

The jihadist group has been losing territory steadily in Iraq for almost a year.
In the most recent operations, Iraqi forces have been gaining ground in the western province of Anbar and have just begun their reconquest of the province of Nineveh.

In the cities the group retains control over, internal tension appears to be on the rise and the lack of supplies is taking its toll.

Observers have warned that, as their self-proclaimed "caliphate" shrinks towards extinction, IS fighters are likely to revert to their old guerrilla tactics and ramp up suicide attacks on civilian targets.

Congo president wins third term

Congo president wins third term

M-IT   10:36 PM

Congo strongman Denis Sassou Nguesso was on Thursday declared the winner of presidential elections, extending his 32 years in power in a vote the opposition says was marked by “massive fraud”.

Interior Minister Raymond Zephyrin Mboulou announced the results in the early hours (0230 GMT) on national television, saying Sassou Nguesso had secured 60 percent of the vote in the tense weekend poll held under a communications blackout.

That official count gave runner-up Guy-Brice Parfait Kolelas 15 percent of the vote, while General Jean-Marie Michel Mokoko came in third with 14 percent.

Sassou Nguesso hailed the victory at his campaign headquarters, saying the Congolese people had “taken their destiny into their own hands”, and adding that the campaign had produced a “very open” democratic debate in the former French colony.

But Mokoko promptly issued “a call for general civil disobedience”.

In a text seen by AFP Mokoko wrote: “It is time to stop being afraid! I ask you to demand back your confiscated, stolen vote.”

Speaking in Paris, a lawyer for Mokoko explained the demand was for a strike, not a call for demonstrations.

Marc Mapingou, Mokoko’s representative in France, said that “General Mokoko and the entire opposition are demanding a vote recount with international observers.

“The general is not a putschist, he wants the recognition that the victory of the Congolese people has been stolen,” said Mapingou.

After Wednesday’s release of partial results, Kolelas’s spokesman Vivien Manangou lamented “massive fraud”.

Mokoko, who until February was Sassou Nguesso’s security advisor, called for a recount, saying: “I knew beforehand that the dice were loaded, but we had agreed to play the game.”

US urges restraint -
Telephone and Internet links had been down in the days following the poll, officially to prevent the opposition from publishing “illegal results” before the official announcement.

Telecommunications were re-established after the official figures were released.

The US State Department urged Congo Thursday to ensure respect for freedom of expression, the day after AFP and Le Monde journalists were assaulted while covering the presidential election in Brazzaville.

In a statement specifically naming the two media outlets, State Department spokesman Mark Toner said the United States was calling “upon the government of the Republic of Congo to ensure respect for freedom of expression, assembly, and movement, and we urge security forces to remain professional and continue to exercise restraint.”

Oil- and timber-rich Congo has been on edge since an October constitutional referendum that ended a two-term limit on presidential mandates, allowing Sassou Nguesso, a 72-year-old former paratrooper colonel, to run for office again.

Critics accuse him of rampant corruption and nepotism, blasting the referendum result as a “constitutional coup”.

Sassou Nguesso has ruled Congo for all but five years since 1979, having lived in Paris in exile from 1992 to 1997.

Stampede at opposition HQ -
Manangou said security forces had stormed Kolelas’s campaign offices on Tuesday, hurling tear gas cannisters and causing a stampede that left one person dead.

A French journalist was present at the scene but was unable to confirm the death.

Mokoko and Kolelas, along with the three other opposition candidates, had earlier urged people to “exercise their sovereignty” in the event of a Sassou Nguesso victory.

They had created their own parallel “technical commission” to monitor the vote and compile polling station data to compare with official results.

They said they could say “with certainty” that the opposition had beat Sassou Nguesso in the first round and that a second-round election should be held.

The European Union refused to send election observers to monitor the polls, saying conditions had not been met for a transparent and democratic vote.

The international community has since expressed concern over the fairness of the vote and called for the opposing sides to resolve their differences calmly.

“This vote took place in a worrying context, particularly due to the cut in communications,” said France’s foreign ministry spokesman Romain Nadal.
Congo recorded growth of five percent over the five years to 2014 but the vast majority of the population lives in abject poverty.

Sassou Nguesso served as president from 1979 to 1992 and returned to power in 1997 following a civil war. He won two successive terms in 2002 and 2009, but both elections were contested by opposition parties.

The disgruntled opposition candidates have 15 days from voting day to appeal the election results to the constitutional court.

At least 24 drown in Ugandan storm

At least 24 drown in Ugandan storm

M-IT   10:34 PM

Ugandan police searched for more bodies Friday after recovering 24 corpses following a boat capsize during a ferocious storm on Lake Albert, with the death toll likely to grow.

"The police, working with the local community, have so far recovered 24 bodies from the lake," local police chief John Rutagira said, adding there were reports "many people are missing."

Many of those drowned were fishermen, but also include a one-year-old baby.

The small boat sank in the storm on Tuesday in Uganda's northeastern Buliisa district, according to the Daily Monitor newspaper.

Some 600 homes, a school, health centre and churches have been destroyed or damaged in the storm, Rutagira added.

Final edition of UK’s Independent goes to print

Final edition of UK’s Independent goes to print

M-IT   10:32 PM

Staff at The Independent sent their final edition to the printing presses on Friday before the 30-year-old British newspaper becomes available only in digital format.

Journalists posted footage online of the team “banging ourselves out”-an old tradition of banging the desks to mark the departure of a colleague.

The newspaper’s final editorial said history would be the judge of its “bold transition” to online media, “as an example for other newspapers around the world to follow”.

“Today the presses have stopped, the ink is dry and the paper will soon crinkle no more,” it said.

“But as one chapter closes, another opens, and the spirit of The Independent will flourish still.”

The newspaper’s Russian-born British owner, Evgeny Lebedev, who announced the closure of the print edition last month, wrote that journalism had “changed beyond recognition” and the newspaper “must change too”.

The Independent was set up by three former journalists in 1986 and became known for its eye-catching, campaigning front pages and emphasis on photos.

At the peak of its popularity , it had a circulation of more than 420,000, but this slumped to 40,000.

In an editorial, The Guardian paid tribute to a “really rather wonderful newspaper” that had suffered from dramatic changes to the advertising market, notably the shift in revenues to sites such as Facebook.

“Great newspapers which have survived for centuries find their business models challenged as never before. So no one will celebrate the end of the Independent in print,” it said.

Like The Guardian, The Independent was politically left of centre, and campaigned strongly against Britain’s involvement in the US-led war in Iraq in 2003.

Saturday’s final edition will include four special magazines looking back at its history, before it becomes the first daily national to close in Britain since 1995, when Today folded.

The weekly News of the World owned by US media tycoon Rupert Murdoch closed in 2011 in the wake of a series of phone hacking scandals, but was replaced by the Sun on Sunday, which is owned by the same group.

ESI Media, which controls The Independent, is also selling off the “i”-a cut-price sister title launched in 2010 -- to Scotland-based publisher Johnston Press.

The sale price is estimated at £25 million (32 million euros, $36 million), according to British media reports-money which will be invested in the website.

Independent.co.uk currently has nearly 70 million monthly global unique users, while ESI Media has also launched a new subscription app offering a ‘virtual’ print edition.

Some staff will move to the “i” but ESI Media warned there would be some redundancies.

Many reporters tried to stay upbeat on the final day.

“Vain scramble for final-edition bylines begins,” regular contributor Simon Usborne tweeted earlier.

Parliamentary sketch writer Tom Peck added: “The whiskey’s out. Nothing would amuse me more than a massive breaking news story right now.”

Ganajagaran long march Sunday over Tonu killing

Ganajagaran long march Sunday over Tonu killing

M-IT   10:26 PM

Ganajagaran Mancha will stage a long march towards Comilla on Sunday demanding the immediate arrest and exemplary punishment of the killers of Comilla Victoria College student Sohagi Jahan Tonu as protests continued in various parts of the country.

Mancha spokesperson Imran H Sarkar made the announcement at a programme held at Shahbagh intersection in the city on Friday afternoon protesting the killing of the college girl.

Leaders and activists of the platform blocked Shahbagh intersection for an hour to press home their demand.

Academicians, politicians and socio-cultural activists also joined the protest programme.

Later, they brought out a rally which paraded different streets on the Dhaka University campus.

Meanwhile, Bangladesh Nari Sangbadik Kendra (Centre for Women Journalists) formed a human chain in front of the Jatiya Press Club in the morning demanding justice for Tonu.

Kendra president Nasimun Ara Haque Minu, Bangladesh Somoy staff reporter Fouzia Haque Rimi, Daily Inqilab senior reporter Shahnaj Poly, among others, addressed the programme.

In Khulna, speakers at a protest rally here on Friday demanded immediate arrest and exemplary punishment of the killers of Tonu.
They said killings and violence against women like rape are on the rise in the country due to the existing culture of impunity while women are at stake across the country.

Bangladesh Nagorik Odhikar Andolan Khulna and Sujaner Udduog jointly orgainsed the protest rally in the morning.
The speakers said Tonu was killed in a well-secure area, which is really regretful.

They lamented that although four days have elapsed after the killing, police are yet to arrest any suspect in connection with the killing.
The speakers also urged all to come forward to stop such killin

gs in the days to come.

The rally announced that rights and civil society organisations will hold a protest rally at Picture Place crossing of the city on March 27 protesting the Tonu murder.

In Comilla, a group of people, including cultural activists, civil society and students from different education institutions, formed a human chain at Kandirpar in the city in the afternoon demanding the arrest and exemplary punishment of the killers.

Besides, several protest rallies were held in various places of the district protesting the murder.

On the other hand, an emergency meeting was held at the Comilla Deputy Commissioner’s office with law enforcers in the evening.

Talking to reporters, DC M Hasanuzzaman Kallol said they have visited the spot inside the cantonment. “We hope the killers will be identified soon.”

The body of Sohagi Jahan Tonu (19), a second year history student of Victoria College and a member of Victoria College Theatre, was recovered from Comilla’s Mynamati Cantonment area on Sunday night.

Conspiracy on to make Bangladesh a vassal state’

Conspiracy on to make Bangladesh a vassal state’

M-IT   10:21 PM

The Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) chairperson, Khaleda Zia, on Friday urged all to remain alert as a ‘serious conspiracy’ is on to turn Bangladesh into a ‘vassal state’, reports UNB news agency.

“A deep-rooted conspiracy is on to make Bangladesh into a subservient country.
Local and foreign identified vested quarters are making evil efforts to put at stake our independence and sovereignty earned through the sacrifices of lakhs of martyrs,” she said in a message issued greeting people on the occasion Independence Day.

Khaleda further said, “We all must remain alert to protect the independence of the motherland and uphold the flag of democracy foiling all plots.”

The BNP chief also renewed her call for a national unity to protect the country’s independence and sovereignty.

Mentioning that the country’s people had taken part in the Liberation War in 1971 with a vow to build a democratic

Bangladesh free from deprivation and exploitation, Khaleda said, “But, the goal couldn’t be attained for various reasons, and fascist and autocratic forces repeatedly put obstacles towards reaching it.”

The BNP chief also said the country’s march towards democracy and efforts to attain economic progress have got hindered time and again.

“Our sovereignty has also weakened.”
The nation will celebrate its 46th Independence and National Day on Saturday, paying homage to the martyrs who had sacrificed their lives for the freedom of their motherland from the Pakistani colonial rule and for the economic emancipation of the Bengalees.

BNP arranged a two-day programme to mark the day.
As part of the programme, the party arranged a discussion at the Institution of Engineers, Bangladesh today (Friday).

In observance of the day, BNP will hoist its flag and national flag at its Nayapaltan central office at 6am on Saturday.

BNP chairperson Khaleda Zia along with her party leaders will place wreaths at Savar National Mausoleum at 7:00am to pay homage to the Liberation War martyrs.

Later, she together with her party’s leaders and activists will place wreaths at the grave of BNP founder and late President Ziaur Rahman at 8:30am on the occasion.

The party leaders and activists will also bring out an Independence Day rally from in front of its central office around 3:00pm the same day.