Tokyo A 5.4-magnitude quake hit off Japan’s Torishima island on Monday, the Met office said. No tsunami warning was issued.

The tremors were felt at 10.28 a.m. at a depth of 110 km, Xinhua quoted the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) as saying.

Surrounding southern islands felt the jolt which measured 2 on Japan’s seismic scale. It was also felt at some places on the eastern seaboard.

No reports of accidents or injuries to persons or property, including vessels in the vicinity have been reported due to the quake, the JMA said.

(IANS)

Jinan The death toll from a rock burst at a coal mine in east China’s Shandong Province has risen to 19, as six more miners were confirmed dead, local authorities said on Monday.

Rescuers found one body Sunday morning and five more bodies Sunday night, the resue headquarters said, reports Xinhua news agency.

The accident occurred at Longyun Coal Mining Co. Ltd. in Yuncheng County on October 20. A total of 22 people were trapped in a 74-meter-long tunnel after coal fell at both ends from the rock burst. One has been rescued.

Rescuers have cleared 55 meters of the tunnel as of 6 a.m. on Monday and are working on the remaining 19 meters to search for the last two miners who remained trapped, the report said.

Rock burst accidents are often caused by fractures in rocks due to mining.

(IANS)

Most political parties talk about women empowerment, but women do not get enough representation in the parties. In the last two Assembly elections in Rajasthan, both the BJP and Congress did not even give 20 per cent of its tickets to women.

Rajasthan BJP now wants to change this and set a precedent. The BJP Mahila Morcha wants the party to give tickets to at least one female in every district.

Similarly, Congress female leaders in the state are demanding 33 per cent of the tickets.

Former chairperson of the State Women Commission and former President of BJP Mahila Morcha Suman Sharma said, “Compared to Congress, women have been given more opportunities in the BJP. Last time 26 women were given the ticket. This time we want that a woman will be given a ticket from every district. 33 women will be given tickets in all 33 districts across the state”.

Former BJP councillor Snehlata Sharma said that “BJP should give the ticket to a woman from Jaipur city. Earlier, Ujla Arora and Vaidya Pathak were given tickets from Jaipur. Now at least one woman should get a ticket from a seat in Jaipur.

The ruling BJP had given women the chance to contest elections on only 13 per cent of the assembly seats in the state in the last election. BJP had fielded women in only 26 seats out of 200 assembly seats across the state. Of these 22 women won the assembly elections. The Congress, on the other hand, had given tickets to women only in 24 seats. Only one female Congress leader Shakuntala Rawat became MLA in the 2013 Assembly elections.

In 2008 assembly elections, BJP had given more women the chance than 2013. BJP had given about 16 per cent assembly seats to women. Whereas, the Congress had given only 11 percent ticket to the women. Congress gave women opportunity in 23 seats in 2008. In the last assembly elections, the BJP and the Congress did not give tickets to women leaders on a single seat in Jaipur city.

“Congress President Rahul Gandhi has announced that priority will be given to women in assembly elections this time. I believe that women should get an opportunity on least 33 per cent seats. During the tenure of former Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot, for the first time, 50 per cent reservation was given to women in the urban local bodies elections in the state,” former mayor and Congress state general secretary Jyoti Khandelwal said.

Washington A New York Times report has claimed that when US President Donald Trump calls old friends on one of his iPhones to “gossip or gripe”, Chinese and Russian spies were routinely eavesdropping on the calls.

The daily cited American intelligence agencies over the claims which were published on Wednesday.

The spies were often listening and “putting to use invaluable insights into how to best work the President and affect administration policy”, according to current and former American officials.

Trump’s aides have repeatedly warned him that his cellphone calls are not secure, The New York Times said.

But the aides have said that the President, who has been pressured into using his secure White House landline more often these days, has still refused to give up his iPhones.

White House officials say they can only hope he refrains from discussing classified information when he is on them.

The American intelligence agencies had learned that China and Russia were eavesdropping on the President’s cellphone calls from human sources inside foreign governments and intercepting communications between foreign officials.

The agencies have also determined that China was seeking to use what it was learning from the calls – how Trump thought, what arguments tend to sway him and to whom he was inclined to listen – to keep a trade war with the US from escalating further.

The Chinese have also pieced together a list of the people with whom Trump regularly speaks in hopes of using them to influence the President, the officials said.

Russia was not believed to be running as sophisticated an influence effort as China because of Trump’s apparent affinity for President Vladimir Putin, The New York Times quoted a former American official as saying.

The Chinese and the Russians “would look for any little thing – how easily was he talked out of something, what was the argument that was used”, said John Sipher, a 28-year veteran of the Central Intelligence Agency who served in Moscow in the 1990s and later ran the agency’s Russia programme.

Officials said the President has two official iPhones that have been altered by the National Security Agency to limit their abilities and a third personal phone.

Trump keeps the personal phone, White House officials said, because unlike his other two phones, he can store his contacts in it.

None of them are completely secure and are vulnerable to hackers who could remotely break into the phones themselves.

(IANS)

IANS

Beijing Amid the bleeding trade war with the US, China has removed an over five-year-long ban on the import of Indian rapeseed oil meal.

China is the biggest consumer of oil meal of which rapeseed is a variant. Beijing has slapped additional tariffs on US oil meals in a full-blown trade war, looking to import from other countries.

“China has cleared the ban on Indian rapeseed meal. As long as Indian companies comply with Chinese regulations, they can export it,” an Indian government official told IANS.

Beijing in 2012 had banned Indian imports, citing the presence of a particular pest in the crop.

The official said the issue has now been resolved.

Last month, a buyer-seller meet was organised by the Indian and Chinese governments in which Indian exporters made a strong pitch to resume rapeseed exports.

New Delhi’s trade engagement with Beijing seems to be increasing as both sides have pledged to put ties back on track after last year’s Doklam military stand-off.

In an ice-breaking meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping at Wuhan in April, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had asked that Indian commodities be given more access to the Chinese market.

(IANS)

New Delhi Helping each other, talking, staying connected and learning to say no can help women protect themselves and others from rapes and sexual assaults, says Unicef Executive Director Henrietta H. Fore, who suggests that “every community should stand up and say rape is not acceptable”.

“Speaking up, having a voice in the community, having faith-based leaders who intervene and say this is not right, this the way we should treat our girls, women and also that we should never have rape, never have sexual assault or exploitation — all of these things help,” Fore told IANS during a visit here.

She also said behavioural attitudes will only change “if we change our hearts”.

“Another thing which can help is girls helping girls. You talk to each other about what is safe, what is not safe, where you can safely go; that girls know that they can say no and also that they know how and when to say no. That you move in a group of three so that you can protect each other or you can stay connected on email and text. All these will help in changing the attitude and behaviour,” Fore explained.

She also said that the community also plays an important role in giving a sense of respect to girls and women to bring change.

“If every community begins to stand up and say rape is not acceptable then more people will begin to look after women in their community,” Fore said.

She also believed that separate toilets and well-lit spaces, along with community patrolling, also helps.

“If the whole community is protecting their girls, the situation will improve. Every community should stand up and say rape is not acceptable. It takes a nation, it takes a community to stand up for girls and protect them,” she said.

Talking about sanitation in India, she said it has turned into a movement.

“It is a movement here in India and it is something only a few of our countries have seen. But it has changed how Indians feel about sanitation. It is good for the community and also for the quality of life of its people.

“There has been a remarkable progress (in the field of sanitation) in India and those of us who live in other countries are respectful and admiring the leadership exhibited by the Indian government.”

She also said proper toilets will help in empowering women and girls in the community. “This has also helped girls go ahead with higher education.”

“It will not only help in increasing the number of girls going to school but will also help in bringing drop-outs back to school. Bringing girls back to school will be a great achievement for the society,” she added.

The movement, she added, will need to continue until it achieves 100 per cent of its target.

“Just building toilets is not enough. We need to have trained people and good technology to maintain these toilets.”

She also said good sanitation practices in India had led to lower deaths among children under five and has also helped in bringing up healthier children.

“Fewer children are getting diseases, fewer children are getting vulnerable. The sanitation movement in India has helped save more lives,” Fore maintained.

(IANS)

Tokyo An earthquake measuring 6.1 on the Richter scale jolted Japan’s Okinawa prefecture on Tuesday but no tsunami warning was issued, the weather agency said.

According to the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA), the temblor’s epicentre was located at a latitude of 24.0 degrees north and a longitude of 122.6 degrees east, and at depth of 30 km, reports Xinhua news agency.

The JMA said the earthquake posed no risk of triggering a tsunami.

There have been no reports of injury or damage to people or vessels in the vicinity of Yonagunijima as a result of the quake.

(IANS)

Washington The Museum of the Bible in Washington, D.C., has said that five of its most valuable artefacts, once thought to be part of the historic Dead Sea Scrolls, were fake and would not be displayed anymore.

German-based scholars tested the fragments and found that five “show characteristics inconsistent with ancient origin and therefore will no longer be displayed at the museum”, the museum announced on Monday.

At 430,000 square feet, and with views of the Capitol, the Bible museum represents a significant investment for its evangelical founders, CNN reported.

Now scholars say the Dead Sea forgeries could be part of the most significant sham in biblical archaeology since the “Gospel of Jesus’ Wife”, a fiasco that hoodwinked a Harvard scholar and made worldwide news in 2012.

Some scholars estimate that as many as 70 forged fragments have hit the market since 2002.

“Though we had hoped the testing would render different results, this is an opportunity to educate the public on the importance of verifying the authenticity of rare biblical artefacts, the elaborate testing process undertaken and our commitment to transparency,” said Jeffrey Kloha, the chief curatorial officer for Museum of the Bible.

“As an educational institution entrusted with cultural heritage, the museum upholds and adheres to all museum and ethical guidelines on collection care, research and display.”

Monday’s revelations are not the first time have courted controversy with their artefacts collection, CNN reported.

Steve Green, the Bible museum’s evangelical founder and chairman, would not say how much his family spent for the 16 Dead Sea Scrolls fragments in its collection.

But scholars say even small fragments with little text can fetch millions in the antiquities market.

(IANS)

Washington An “extremely dangerous” category 4 hurricane is nearing the Pacific coast of Mexico, bringing in the potential for life-threatening storm surge, wind and torrents of rain, according to weather authorities.

The US’ National Hurricane Centre (NHC) said that Willa weakened slightly on Monday afternoon, it was still expected to be a dangerous major hurricane when it slams into Mexico’s central Pacific coast “over or very near” Islas Marias on Tuesday morning, CNN reported.

Willa’s maximum sustained winds ticked down from 160 mph to 145 mph, bringing the hurricane down from Category 5 strength to Category 4.

Its current intensity is about the same as Hurricane Michael’s when it made landfall in Florida’s Panhandle two weeks ago.

Willa became a tropical storm on Saturday morning and was a Category 5 hurricane in less than two days.

As of Monday morning, Willa had swelled by 80 mph in just 24 hours.

Storm surge accompanied by “large and destructive waves” are forecast along portions of Mexico’s central and southwestern coast, the NHC said.

Dangerous surf and riptides were expected along the southern coast of Baja California late Monday.

Rainfall ranging from six to 12 inches could spawn life-threatening landslides and flash flooding in portions of the Mexican states of Jalisco, Nayarit and Sinaloa, CNN quoted the NHC as saying.

There were 10 major hurricanes this year, including Willa, which ties 1992 as the most major hurricanes seen in the northeast Pacific in one year, CNN said.

Increasing numbers of major hurricanes, along with a greater propensity of storms to undergo “rapid intensification” are expected consequences of warmer ocean waters resulting from climate change.

The ocean waters off the western coast of Mexico are running 1-2 degrees Fahrenheit above average for late October.

(IANS)