Monday, 9 October 2017

Former Salvadoran president Calderon dies at 69

  10:58            No comments
SAN SALVADOR (Reuters) - Former Salvadoran President Armando Calderon, who helped oversee the Central American country's transition from a bloody civil war to peace in the 1990s, has died at the age of 69 after a battle with cancer, his family said on Monday.


from Reuters: World News http://ift.tt/2yB4gjj

Trump says Tillerson could be tougher, but they have good relationship

  10:56            No comments

Trump says Tillerson could be tougher, but they have good relationshipU.S. President Donald Trump said on Saturday he had a good relationship with Secretary of State Rex Tillerson but that Tillerson could be tougher. Trump, who made the comment to reporters at the White House, did not elaborate. NBC reported this week that in a session with Trump’s national security team and Cabinet officials at the Pentagon, Tillerson had openly criticized the president and referred to him as a "moron." Tillerson on Wednesday said he had never considered resigning and was committed to Trump’s agenda, but failed to address whether he had referred to the president as a “moron,” as NBC reported.




from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines http://ift.tt/2g3KR2N

Vegas cops describe 12 minutes of hell in gunman's sniper lair - New York Post

  10:37            No comments

New York Post
Vegas cops describe 12 minutes of hell in gunman's sniper lair
New York Post
Las Vegas cops described in harrowing detail Sunday the tense 12 minutes they spent trying to breach mass murderer Stephen Paddock's sniper lair — and the paranoia that gripped them once they were inside. Smoke hung thick inside the room — tinged ...

and more »


from Top Stories - Google News http://ift.tt/2yBscD5

Philippines: NY 'plotter' was allegedly doctor to pro-IS gunmen

  10:11            No comments

Philippines: NY 'plotter' was allegedly doctor to pro-IS gunmenA Filipino doctor wanted over a foiled jihadist plot targeting New York's subway and Times Square previously treated pro-Islamic State (IS) group militants in the mountains of southern Philippines, the military said on Monday. Russell Salic, 37, had links to the Maute group, which since May had been occupying parts of the Philippines' most important Islamic city of Marawi in a bid to establish an IS caliphate in Southeast Asia, Philippine authorities said. "He was among those who were treating wounded members of the Maute group," military spokesman Colonel Edgard Arevalo told AFP.




from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines http://ift.tt/2ySLwrw

India bans Diwali firecrackers in Delhi in bid to reduce toxic smog

  10:11            No comments

India bans Diwali firecrackers in Delhi in bid to reduce toxic smogIndia’s Supreme Court has temporarily banned the sale and distribution of firecrackers in the federal capital New Delhi ahead of Diwali, the Hindu festival of lights, in a bid to control escalating air pollution. The court ruled on Monday that the ban would last till Nov 1, 13 days after Diwali. But it declared that those who had already bought firecrackers would be allowed to set them off.   The order came in response to several petitions, including one by children, demanding a ban on polluting firecrackers which last year saw Delhi’s air reaching hazardous levels and the closure of all city schools for three days. Around 50,000 tons of crackers are let off every year in Delhi on and around Diwali to celebrate the victory of good over evil. "We are the most vulnerable when it comes to air pollution, especially from suspended particles and toxins from firecrackers,” stated the children’s petition, adding that these led to lung disease, asthma, bronchitis and cognitive impairment. Tens of thousands of firecrackers are sold and set off every year  Credit: AP “This is a nice step, let us look at other sources of air pollution too,” tweeted global environmental group Greenpeace, echoing the feelings of many Delhi residents. But others dismissed the Supreme Court ban as an infringement of tradition and custom, and vowed to defy the firecracker ban. “The court cannot impose a ban on bursting firecrackers during Diwali as that is the essence of this festival,” said housewife Shakuntla Devi. "We will get firecrackers somehow, and celebrate in traditional style," she added. Critics say the tradition has exacerbated Delhi’s existing pollution levels, among the world’s highest. Delhi tops the list of 20 most polluted cities in the country, and 1.2 million people die each year due to air pollution, according to a recent report by Greenpeace India. Smog envelopes New Delhi, one of the worst polluted cities in the world  Credit: AFP Pollution levels in the city recently reached their worst level in nearly two decades, almost 15 times over the permissible limit, according to official estimates.  The situation is aggravated further by smoke emanating from thousands of farmers burning unwanted vegetation on their farms in neighbouring Haryana and Punjab states, ahead of planting their winter wheat crop.     Visibility in the smog-choked city of over 17 million people is normally low, with tens of thousands of residents regularly donning gas masks, complaining of breathlessness, watering eyes and of wheezing. Doctors in Delhi said spending a day outdoors in the city is akin to smoking a packet and a half of cigarettes and warn that if these conditions persisted, the atmosphere could turn carcinogenic.  The report by Greenpeace also claimed that fatalities due to air pollution were only a “fraction less” than those caused by tobacco usage. 




from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines http://ift.tt/2yawRue

Vegas cops describe 12 minutes of hell in gunman's sniper lair - New York Post

  10:07            No comments

New York Post
Vegas cops describe 12 minutes of hell in gunman's sniper lair
New York Post
Las Vegas cops described in harrowing detail Sunday the tense 12 minutes they spent trying to breach mass murderer Stephen Paddock's sniper lair — and the paranoia that gripped them once they were inside. Smoke hung thick inside the room — tinged ...
Las Vegas police give disturbing account of storming Stephen Paddock's hotel roomAOL
Investigators return to mass shooter's home for 'recheck' of evidenceKTRK-TV
FBI searches Stephen Paddock's home and questions brother againNew York Daily News
ABC News -Townhall -PolitiFact -CBS News
all 489 news articles »


from Top Stories - Google News http://ift.tt/2yBbEv8

Nigeria set to start mass trial of Boko Haram suspects behind closed doors

  09:44            No comments
ABUJA (Reuters) - The trial of more than 1,600 people suspected of ties with Boko Haram was expected to begin in Nigeria on Monday behind closed doors, in the biggest legal investigation into the eight-year militant Islamist insurgency.


from Reuters: World News http://ift.tt/2z9gjkJ

How high is air pollution in your city and how does it compare to the most polluted cities in the world?

  09:42            No comments

How high is air pollution in your city and how does it compare to the most polluted cities in the world?Pollution is a greater global threat than Ebola and HIV, according to warnings by the World Health Organisation.  According to its recent report, one in four deaths among children aged under five are now due to environmental hazards such as air pollution and contaminated water. Previously this year, air pollution levels in London were worse than those in Beijing for a brief period - with the UK capital's pollutants frequently breaking UK limits.  Now, the UK Government plans to tackle such dangers by banning diesel and petrol cars by 2040. But how bad is air pollution in other areas of the UK? Search for your postcode to see how bad air pollution is in your area How high is air pollution in your area? How does the UK compare to the world? According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), London is just a mid-table city when it comes to the international league table of polluted places. London only ranked 1,389th out of the nearly  3,000 cities and towns around the world monitored in the WHO's database of annual air pollution readings. Which cities have the worst air pollution levels? WHO guidelines state that cities should aim to have an annual average of no more than 10 micrograms of PM2.5 (very fine particulate matter) for every cubic metre of air. London had an annual PM2.5 average of 15 μg/m3 in 2013, far lower than Beijing's average of 85.2 Î¼g/m3. These particles are very small in diameter and are classed as carcinogenic by leading health organisations. Thousands of deaths a year are attributable to air pollution in the UK. London pollution - what causes it and how can you stay safe? 01:33 Which cities have the highest air pollution levels worldwide? According to the WHO, the most polluted city in the world is Zabol in Iran. Zabol's PM2.5 measurements were found to average a massive 217 Î¼g/m3 for the latest available year - more than 20 times higher than the recommended level. The next two entries on the list are both located in India (Gwalior and Allahabad) while the first non-Asian city on the list is Bamenda in Cameroon which came in eighth place.  Tetovo in Macedonia was the most polluted European city in the database, followed by Tuzla in  Bosnia and Herzegovina. The most polluted city in the UK isn't actually London. Glasgow topped that list, followed by Scunthorpe and Leeds with London in sixth place. However, given that these rankings are based on figures taken in 2013, the situation may have changed since. London may also experience greater peaks in air pollution but these figures are all annual averages. Table - The 100 most air polluted cities in the world




from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines http://ift.tt/2uXzrDS

Srebrenica 'hero' Naser Oric awaits war crimes verdict

  09:27            No comments

Srebrenica 'hero' Naser Oric awaits war crimes verdictA Sarajevo court on Monday will deliver a keenly awaited verdict on whether Naser Oric, who is revered by many as a heroic defender of Muslims during Bosnia's bloody war but viewed as a butcher by Serbs, is a war criminal. The handsome 50-year-old was bodyguard to former Yugoslav president Slobodan Milosevic and is one of only a few Bosnian Muslim commanders to have faced trial for atrocities committed against Serbs. An old photograph shows a long-haired youth who defended the eastern town of Srebrenica, where some 8,000 Muslim men and boys were eventually massacred by Serb forces, the worst atrocity in Europe since World War II.




from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines http://ift.tt/2yAkhGl

Turkey troops, Syria jihadists exchange fire on border

  09:27            No comments

Turkey troops, Syria jihadists exchange fire on borderTurkish forces exchanged fire Sunday with jihadists from Al-Qaeda's former Syrian affiliate on the border of Idlib province, a monitor and eyewitnesses said, a day after Ankara announced an imminent operation there. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Saturday announced pro-Ankara rebels would lead a military campaign against the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham jihadist coalition in the northwestern Syrian province. On Sunday morning, HTS jihadists opened fire on Turkish forces removing part of a wall along the border between Turkey and Idlib, eyewitnesses and the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitor said.




from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines http://ift.tt/2g28ecX

Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)