Taipei At least four people were killed and 143 injured following torrential rains in Taiwan that also caused agricultural losses worth more than 563.2 million Taiwanese dollars ($18 million), authorities said on Monday.

Central and southern Taiwan have suffered floods that have paralysed factories and work on farms in addition to causing power outages and damaging several roads, reports Efe news.

According to disaster management authorities, thousands of homes have been flooded and about 7,000 people have been evacuated, including 1,827 who are living in 20 temporary shelters.

Some 70,000 households have suffered power outages, according to fire agency data.

A Taiwanese weather expert on Monday forecast three more days of torrential rains and strong winds, warning residents of increased flooding, landslides and falling rocks, while evacuations continue.

The army has mobilized more than 37,000 troops and some 5,000 aircraft and vehicles to deal with the situation arising from the torrential rains.

[IANS]

Pakistan will reiterate its serious objections over two water storage and hydropower projects being built by India during a meet with New Delhi this week in Lahore.

A government official told Dawn news on Sunday that Indian Water Commissioner P.K Saxena, along with a delegation, was expected to reach Lahore on Tuesday to begin the discussions with his Pakistani counterpart Syed Mehr Ali Shah from Wednesday.

The official said Pakistan would raise its concerns over the 1000MW Pakal Dul and 48MW Lower Kalnai hydroelectric projects on two different tributaries of River Chenab despite Islamabad’s serious objections over their designs.

Pakistan has been raising reservations over the designs of the two projects and would like India to either modify it to make them compliant to 1960 Indus Waters Treaty or put the projects on hold until an understanding is reached between the two sides.

The official said Islamabad and New Delhi would also finalise the schedule of future meetings of the Permanent Indus Commission and visits of the teams of the Indus commissioners.

He said that the water commissioners of Pakistan and India were required to meet twice a year and arrange technical visits to projects’ sites and critical river head works, but Pakistan had been facing a lot of problems in timely meetings and visits.

The two-day session is also expected to discuss ways and means for timely and smooth sharing of hydrological data on shared rivers.

Pakal Dul is a storage-cum-power project and can have gross storage of about 108,000 acre feet of water. The project design envisages its filling every monsoon season between mid-June and end-August.

Pakistan believes that the tunnel spillway of Pakal Dul should be raised closer to the dead storage level because its placement 40 metres below the dead storage level could allow drawdown flushing not permitted to India under the 1960 water treaty, reports Dawn news.

On the 48MW Lower Kalnai project, Pakistan has raised objections to its freeboard, pondage and intake and is of the view that the depth of bridge girder and provision of freeboard should be close to one metre and considers two-metre freeboard as “excessive”.

The Lower Kalnai project is on a left bank tributary of Chenab and can have gross storage of about 1,508 acre feet of water.

Under the provisions of the Indus Water Treaty 1960, waters of the eastern rivers – Sutlej, Beas and Ravi – had been allocated to India and the western rivers – the Indus, Jhelum and Chenab – to Pakistan, except for certain non-consumptive uses for India.

(IANS)

The Pakistan government has banned VIP protocol given by the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) to influential people at airports across the country, the media reported on Monday.

The decision came into force from Sunday as the Interior Ministry directed all officials concerned of the agency’s immigration wing to implement it, reports Dawn news.

“We have decided to strictly implement the decision to provide equal opportunities to all travellers without any discrimination,” Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry told Dawn on Sunday.

“We have seen that influential people used to seek assistance of FIA officials at airports who (officials) accompanied them to promptly clear their luggage,” the Minister said.

The VIP protocol was usually given to politicians, legislators, senior bureaucrats, judges, military officials and journalists.

In case any FIA official is caught giving protocol to a VIP, he would face strict action, the Ministry warned.

Immigration counters at airports would be monitored and if any VIP was seen being given special treatment, the immigration staff and official in charge of their shift would be immediately suspended.

It was observed in the VIP lounge at Benazir Bhutto International Airport in Islamabad that the influential people would sit in a luxurious atmosphere while their luggage was being cleared by FIA officials, Airport Security Staff or Civil Aviation Authority.

However, there is no such lounge available at the new Islamabad airport established near Fatehjang where all passengers have to follow the normal procedure.

The President of Zimbabwe took the oath of office on Sunday, calling for unity following a disputed election that the opposition claimed was marred by fraud.

Emmerson Mnangagwa, 75, won the July 30 election with 50.6 per cent of the vote, after ascending to the presidency in November 2017 following a military coup that ousted longtime leader Robert Mugabe, under whom he served as Vice President.

“We are all Zimbabweans; what unites us is greater than what could ever divide us,” Mnangagwa said via his official Twitter.

“Let me assure you that tomorrow is brighter than yesterday! Let us look forward to the journey ahead,” his statement continued, calling it “a journey of development, progress and prosperity”.

Ex-president Mugabe and opposition leader Nelson Chamisa, a 40-year-old lawyer, did not attend the swearing-in ceremony held in front of a large crowd at the National Sports Stadium in the capital Harare, Efe reported.

Chamisa had rejected Friday’s decision by the country’s top court dismissing opposition claims of electoral fraud, citing a lack of evidence, and on Saturday declared himself the actual winner and called for peaceful protests.

Chamisa told members of the press on Saturday that he was not invited to the ceremony because “they know they cannot invite me to a wedding where I was the one supposed to be receiving the gifts”.

On August 1, two days after the election, at least six opposition protesters were shot dead by police and army forces, which used live ammunition, water cannons and tear gas against demonstrators who took to the streets claiming vote-rigging even before the results were officially announced.

In his inaugural address, Mnangagwa announced he would appoint a commission to investigate the six deaths during the post-election violence.

Mnangagwa and Mugabe come from the generation of politicians who fought to end white-minority rule and who have run Zimbabwe since winning independence in 1980, while Chamisa sought to tap into younger voters, as 60 per cent of the country’s 5.6 million registered voters were under 40.

(IANS)

London An Indian-origin pathologist in the UK has been accused of mishandling post-mortems and the police were investigating if any criminal charges needed to be brought against him.

Khalid Ahmed, who qualified as a doctor in 1989 in Bengaluru, worked as a consultant histopathologist at the Royal Oldham Hospital in Manchester and carried out an undisclosed number of post-mortem tests for the north Manchester coroner’s office, the Telegraph reported on Thursday.

Ahmed repeatedly recorded the wrong cause of death for patients, misidentified organs and potentially mixed up bodies, the report said.

In May 2017, the office’s senior coroner raised concerns about Ahmed’s examinations and a recent review found “significant concerns” with his “inadequate” reports.

Professor Simon Kim Suvarna, a consultant histopathologist at Sheffield Teaching Hospitals, carried out the review of Ahmed and found some reports to have an “incorrect” cause of death.

Suvarna was also reported to have noted that Ahmed’s tests “did not even meet the standards expected for pathology students to pass the autopsy component of the final exam”, the daily reported.

A subsequent police referral was made by the coroner and a police investigation was ongoing.

“The Greater Manchester Police is assessing what, if any, criminal offences may have been committed in relation to findings presented to the coroner,” an official said.

Ahmed joined Pennine Acute NHS Trust in January 2007, but he no longer works there. In a statement, the trust said after they were told of the coroner’s concerns an “in-depth internal review” into Ahmed’s practice was carried out, which concluded in February this year.

The trust added that a “thorough and extensive investigation” of Ahmed’s NHS work “provided assurance” his practice was “within the range of a reasonable pathologist”.

The General Medical Council said Ahmed was still licensed to practise as a histopathologist. He was not available for comment.

Dhaka Hafez Ullah had fled Myanmar in early September last year, following the torching of his village near the Maungdaw township in northern Rakhine by the Army.

On Friday, it will be a day shy of one year when the Rohingya exodus to neighbouring Bangladesh had begun after the Myanmar Army launched an offensive in response to rebel attacks on government outposts. But the situation facing the refugees in Bangladesh has changed little.

Ullah was one of the 700,000 Rohingyas, who had fled to Bangladesh following the offensive that was launched on August 25.

The 38-year-old, whose mother went missing and his brother was shot dead during the perilous six-day journey to Bangladesh, now lives in the Kutupalang refugee camp in Bangladesh, completely dependent on charity handouts, Efe news reported.

However, despite the dire situation in the camps, he is loathe to go back yet.

“I don’t want to live here for long because I am really concerned about the future of my children. I want to go back, but only if I am assured I will not have to come back again and I will be given my rights as a citizen,” he said.

International pressure had led Myanmar — which does not recognize Rohingyas as its citizens — and Bangladesh to ink a deal on November 23 to repatriate members of the mostly-Muslim Rohingya minority.

According to the deal between Myanmar and Bangladesh, the repatriation process should have started on January 23.

However, nine months down the line, the process is still in limbo, with UNHCR and other aid agencies alleging that the condition in Myanmar was not conducive to the return of the Rohingyas.

“We do not believe that circumstances at present are conducive for return and any return has to be in safety, with dignity and on a voluntary basis,” said Firas Al-Khateeb, the UN refugee agency’s spokesman in Cox’s Bazar.

And while the exodus was contained in recent months, the refugee camps continue to be overcrowded and a health hazard, especially for children.

The World Health Organization in its latest health bulletin on Rohingya camp in June reported 7,682 diphtheria case-patients as on June 2, with a total of 42 deaths till April 9.

“The number of suspected diphtheria cases reached almost 8,000 now. Though we don’t have any death since April in the disease, every week we are getting 25-30 suspected case. We could not control it yet,” said Abdus Salam, the chief government health official in Cox’s Bazar district.

Islamabad, Aug 22 (IANS) The International Court of Justice (ICJ) will hear in February 2019 the case of Kulbhushan Jadhav, the Indian national sentenced to death by a Pakistani military court for espionage, the media reported.

The court will hear the case for a week from February 19 to 25, Geo News reported.

Jadhav was sentenced to death in April 2017 following which India moved the ICJ. A 10-member ICJ bench restrained Pakistan from executing Jadhav till the case was adjudicated on.

Pakistan stated that “Jadhav was not an ordinary person as he had entered the country with the intent of spying and carrying out sabotage activities” in Balochistan. India denies all the charges.

He was allegedly apprehended on March 3, 2016 after he illegally crossed into Pakistan from Iran, according to Pakistani officials.

At least one rocket struck Kabul on Tuesday, followed by several explosions, during an address to the nation by Afghan President Ashraf Ghani ahead of Eid-ul-azha.

The rocket struck the Afghan capital at 9 a.m., without causing any casualties, followed by a series of unidentified blasts, police spokesperson Hashmat Stanekzai told Efe.

The sound of the blasts could be heard as Ghani spoke live on television.

“If they (militants) think this nation would bow under the rocket attacks, this is a brave, and standing nation and forever will defend its sovereignty, independence and Islamic values,” Ghani said after the explosions.

He assured that Afghan security forces “have full readiness and this (explosions) and other incidents will be controlled”.

“This war, suicide attacks and explosions have no religious justification,” Ghani said, adding that according to a recent survey 93 per cent of Afghans favoured peace.

On Sunday, the Afghan President had proposed a ceasefire from August 20 to November 20 (birth anniversary of Prophet Muhammad, or Milad-ul-Nabi), however, it remains in limbo pending a response from the insurgents.

If implemented, this would be the second ceasefire by the Afghan government during the 17 years of conflict, following one earlier in June during the Eid ul-Fitr festivities.

Sixteen members of newly-elected Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan’s 21-strong cabinet took oath at a ceremony held on Monday at the President House here.

President Mamnoon Hussain administered the oath to the nominated federal ministers, reports Dawn news.

The new cabinet comprises 16 federal ministers and five advisers.

The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s (PTI) vice chairman Makhdoom Shah Mehmood Qureshi will be the country’s new foreign minister, a position which he previously held between 2008-13 under then President Asif Zardari and former Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani.

Qureshi had resigned from the cabinet after developing differences with the party leadership during a reshuffle in the cabinet.

Asad Umar has been made Minister for Finance and Revenue whereas the portfolio of the Information and Broadcasting has been given to PTI’s information secretary Fawad Chaudhry.

Ghulam Sarwar Khan, who defeated Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz’s (PML-N) estranged leader Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan in the July 25 elections in two constituencies, has been allocated the portfolio of Petroleum Ministry.

Shireen Mazari has been given the portfolio of human rights, whereas former Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Pervez Khattak is the country’s new Defence Minister.

Meanwhile, the new Prime Minister has retained the vast interior portfolio, for at least the time being.

Khan was sworn-in as Pakistan’s 22nd Prime Minister on Saturday, in a ceremony marking the second peaceful democratic transition from one civilian government to another in the country’s 71-year history.

The newly-elected members of Pakistan’s National Assembly, the lower house of the Parliament, are set to vote for the new Prime Minister on Friday.

Former cricketer and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chairperson Imran Khan and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) President Shehbaz Sharif are vying for the top post.

The PTI, which emerged as the single largest party in the July 25 general election, appears to be in a comfortable position to elect its chief as the next Prime Minister. A simple majority of votes from the total strength of the 330-member house is required for a candidate to take the top slot.

According to the poll body’s figures, the PTI has 158 members in the National Assembly after the joining of nine Independents and bagging of 33 seats reserved for women and minorities.

In all, the party has the support of 175 lawmakers as it has the backing of the country’s smaller and regional parties.

On the other hand, Shehbaz Sharif faces an almost impossible task to be elected as the Prime Minister after the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) led by Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, with 54 seats, withdrew support for his candidature.

The PML-N has 82 seats in the National Assembly and it was unclear if the party will still be supported by the Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (15 seats) and Awami National Party (1 seat).

The Jamaat-e-Islami, which is part of the MMA, announced that it will not vote in the election, Geo News reported.

On Thursday, PPP leader Khursheed Shah said his party apprised the PML-N of its reservations over the latter’s candidature for prime ministership. He warned that if the PML-N does not change its candidate for the post, the PPP would make a decision accordingly.

Sources told Geo News that the PPP had decided not to vote for either candidate in the election.