Drowned baby picture captures week of tragedy in Mediterranean
ROME: A photograph of a drowned migrant baby in the arms of a German rescuer was distributed on Monday by a humanitarian organisation aiming to persuade European authorities to ensure safe passage to migrants, after hundreds are feared to have drowned in the Mediterranean last week.
The baby, who appears to be no more than a year old, was pulled from the sea on Friday after the capsizing of a wooden boat. Forty-five bodies arrived in the southern Italian port of Reggio Calabria on Sunday aboard an Italian navy ship, which picked up 135 survivors from the same incident.
German humanitarian organisation Sea-Watch, operating a rescue boat in the sea between Libya and Italy, distributed the picture taken by a media production company on board and which showed a rescuer cradling the child like a sleeping baby.
In an email, the rescuer, who gave his name as Martin but did not want his family name published, said he had spotted the baby in the water "like a doll, arms outstretched".
"I took hold of the forearm of the baby and pulled the light body protectively into my arms at once, as if it were still alive ... It held out its arms with tiny fingers into the air, the sun shone into its bright, friendly but motionless eyes."
The rescuer, a father of three and by profession a music therapist, added: "I began to sing to comfort myself and to give some kind of expression to this incomprehensible, heart-rending moment. Just six hours ago this child was alive."
Like the photograph of the three-year-old Syrian boy Aylan lying lifeless on a Turkish beach last year, the image puts a human face on the more than 8,000 people who have died in the Mediterranean since the start of 2014.
Little is known about the child, who according to Sea-Watch was immediately handed over to the Italian navy. Rescuers could not confirm whether the partially clothed infant was a boy or a girl and it is not known whether the child's mother or father are among the survivors.
Sea-Watch collected about 25 other bodies, including another child, according to testimony from the crew seen by Reuters. The Sea-Watch team said it unanimously decided to publish the photo.
"In the wake of the disastrous events it becomes obvious to the organizations on the ground that the calls by EU politicians to avoid further death at sea sum up to nothing more than lip service," Sea-Watch said in a statement in English distributed along with the photograph.
"If we do not want to see such pictures we have to stop producing them," Sea-Watch said, calling for Europe to allow migrants safe and legal passage as a way of shutting down people smuggling and further tragedies.
At least 700 migrants may have died at sea this past week in the busiest week of migrant crossings from Libya towards Italy this year, the UN Refugee agency said on Sunday.
The boat carrying the baby left the shores of Libya near Sabratha late on Thursday, and then began to take on water, according to accounts by survivors collected by Save the Children on Sunday. Hundreds were on board when it capsized, the survivors said.
Reconstruction of ruined palace begins in Kabul
KABUL: Afghan President Ashraf Ghani dedicated an ambitious reconstruction project on Monday to restore the ruins of historic Darul Aman palace, an initiative aimed at signaling a new future for the war-torn country.
Much of Kabul has been repaired since devastating civil wars, but the palace has gathered dust atop a hill on the outskirts of the capital, a scarred memorial to the country's shattered past.
"Today, we witness returning to the past while building a foundation for the future," Ghani said, standing inside the bombed-out shell of the structure.
Built in a more peaceful time in the early 1920s, the Aman palace has been a symbol of failed attempts to bring peace to Afghanistan.
It was repeatedly burned, including during the Soviet occupation in 1979, before being heavily damaged by fighting and abandoned during the civil war in the 1990s.
Until recently, curious visitors who made friends with the guards could pick their way around the collapsed roofs and crumbling, bullet-marked walls.
Now Darul Aman and the neighbouring Tajbeg Palace, also ruined, sit within view of a new, nearly $100 million Afghan National Assembly building, which was inaugurated in December.
Fundraising for the Darul Aman palace reconstruction began with a government campaign in 2012. The project is expected to cost $16.5 million to $20 million and take three to five years, said Abdul Aziz Ibrahimi, a media adviser for the ministry of Urban Development and Housing.
Once complete, the building will be used as a museum and a venue for national ceremonies, Ghani said.
Japan puts military on alert for possible North Korea missile launch
Japan put its military on alert on Monday for a possible North Korean ballistic missile launch, ordering naval destroyers and anti-ballistic missile Patriot batteries to be ready to shoot down any projectile heading for Japan.
A government official confirmed that an order was issued. The official declined to be identified as he is not authorized to speak to the media.
The order was first reported by state broadcaster NHK. A spokesman for the Ministry of Defense earlier declined to comment, as did South Korea's defense ministry.
Japan has put its anti-ballistic missile forces on alert at least twice this year after detecting signs of launches by North Korea.
North Korea conducted its fourth nuclear test in January and has followed that with test launches of various missiles.
Japan has advanced Aegis vessels in the Sea of Japan that are able to track multiple targets and are armed with SM-3 missiles designed to destroy incoming warheads in space before they re-enter the atmosphere and fall to there targets.
Patriot PAC-3 missile batteries, designed to hit warheads near the ground, are deployed around Tokyo and other sites as a second and final line of defense.
Bodies of U.S. climbers left on Tibetan peak out of respect
The bodies of two renowned U.S. climbers, found in Tibet 16 years after they died on one of the world's tallest mountains, have been left untouched out of respect, one of the mountaineers who found the remains said on Monday.
Alex Lowe and David Bridges were swept away in 1999 by an avalanche during their attempt to scale the world's 14th highest peak, Shishapangma.
Ueli Steck of Switzerland and David Goettler of Germany, who were attempting the same South Face route to the 26,291-foot (8,013 m) peak, stumbled upon the bodies of the pair, encased in ice, at an altitude of 19,356 feet (5,900 m).
"The bodies were two metres (six feet) apart," Steck told Reuters after returning to the Nepali capital of Kathmandu from neighbouring Tibet.
A charity run by Lowe's widow, Jenni Lowe-Anker, announced the find on May 2.
Steck and Goettler, who had heard about the disappearance of the legendary climbers on the same route 16 years ago, descended to their advanced base camp, set up at 18,700 feet (5,700 m).
Goettler called Conrad Anker, who was part of the 1999 expedition and survived the avalanche, describing their findings.
"We did not know them and we could not recognize them," Steck said, outside his hotel in Kathmandu.
Based on the description, Anker had little doubt of the identities of the two bodies, as their clothing, boots and backpacks matched the gear Lowe and Bridges had when they disappeared.
"We did not touch them out of respect and left the bodies on the mountain in the same position as we had discovered (them)," said the 40-year-old mountaineer from Interlaken, Switzerland.
Bodies of climbers who perish in the Himalayas remain buried under the snow and emerge as the ice melts or glaciers move.
Lowe, who was 40 at the time of his death, was regarded as the best American mountaineer of his generation when he and Bridges were swept away during an expedition that aimed to ski down Shishapangma.
Lowe's accomplishments included two climbs to the top of Mount Everest, the world's highest peak, several first ascents in Antarctica and dozens of less prominent but highly technical ascents.
Steck and Goettler made two attempts to reach the summit of Shishapangma this month, but failed because of bad weather.
Japanese searchers comb forest for toddler punished by parents
TOKYO: Searchers in northern Japan spent a third day on Monday looking for a seven-year-old Japanese boy who went missing after his parents left him in a forest to teach him some discipline.
At least 130 firefighters and police officers were scouring the woods near Nanae town in Hokkaido, looking for Yamato Tanooka, media reported.
Tanooka's parents initially told police they were picking wild plants when Yamato went missing on Saturday.
However, they later admitted to police they had intentionally left the boy in the forest to discipline him after he threw rocks at people and cars earlier in the day, Japanese television stations reported.
Tanooka's parents said they drove about 500 meters (yards) away and when they returned shortly after they couldn't find their son, who was last seen in a t-shirt and jeans.
Media reported that overnight temperatures in the forest have dropped to 7 degrees Celsius (45°F).
Arundhati says Indian Army being deployed against its own people
NEW DELHI: Indian writer and social activist Arundhati Roy has said in a recent event there has not been a day since 1947 that the Indian army has not been deployed against its own people, reported in Indian media.
According to the media reports Ms. Roy was speaking at the release of the Tamil translation of her annotated book on BR Ambedkar’s essay “Annihilation of Caste.”
She said that the Indian army has been deployed in areas of Nagaland, Mizoram, Assam, Goa, Junagadh, Kashmir and Chhattishgarh. "Who are these people that the Indian army has been deployed against? It’s always Christians, Muslims, Sikhs, Dalits.”
The Man Booker Prize Winner spoke at length about the prevailing social injustice in India and said that the Indian army continues to operate ‘like a colonizer’
She went on to express her concern regarding the lack of importance given to what she called ‘the most cruel social hierarchy’ world over and what could be done to bring the discrimination of caste as a topic of discussion in the international arena.
“It is extremely important to shame this system internationally” said Roy.
She compared the American civil rights movement to the current condition in India. She spoke about the out of proportion African American prisoners in American prisons and said that the situation in India was quite similar, that the number of Muslim, Sikh and Dalit prisoners outnumbered the Hindus in jails.
“Caste is the mother of capitalism” she added as she expressed her views about the prevailing problem.
Crocodile in Australia attacks women taking late-night swim: media
SYDNEY: A crocodile in Australia snatched a woman taking a late-night swim in a national park and is believed to have been killed her, media reported on Monday.
The 46-year-old woman was swimming with a friend late on Sunday in waist-deep water at a beach in Queensland state when she disappeared, police said.
"They felt a nudge, and a large crocodile is alleged to have grabbed one of the ladies and pulled her into the water," Neil Noble, a supervisor for the Queensland state ambulance service, told reporters.
Police would only say the woman was believed to have been taken by a crocodile. Media reported that the friend struggled to pull the woman back from the crocodile's jaws.
Police did not identify the woman or give her nationality but said she lives in Australia and has family in New Zealand.
A police spokesman told Reuters a search and rescue operation would continue on Tuesday.
Warren Entsch, the area's member of parliament, said the incident occurred in a place that is popular with crocodile-spotting tours, with many warning signs.
The incident should not encourage reprisals against the animals, he said.
"You can't legislate against human stupidity," Entsch told reporters. "This is a tragedy but it was avoidable. There are warning signs everywhere up there."
Makkah ready with comprehensive plan for Ramazan
ISLAMABAD: The Makkah Secretariat has prepared a comprehensive plan to intensify municipal services in view of the large number of visitors and Umrah pilgrims thronging the holy city during Ramazan.
The secretariat has defined the tasks and responsibilities of each department along with continuous work of all the other central departments and sub municipalities Makkah Mayor Osama Al Bar said Arab news quoted.
He said that officials have been told to personally supervise the work and ensure top quality services.
The plan was based on intensifying the work especially in crowded areas such as the central area shops and commercial centres and neighbourhoods surrounding the Grand Mosque Al Bar said.
All this is aimed at achieving quality control and the safety of food products and water.
At the same time due attention will be paid to continuously clear garbage in areas where Umrah pilgrims stay or frequent he said.
The mayor said the municipality will control vendors in the area surrounding the Grand Mosque and monitor the slaughterhouses besides maintaining streetlights and other municipal utilities.
A total of 11 825 workers equipped with more than 850 cleaning equipment will work round the clock to keep the city clean.
In addition to this a number of transitional stations to collect waste within the sub municipalities will operate along with special teams to eliminate insects and mosquitoes to prevent dengue or other diseases.
More than 900 technicians and specialists in the field equipped with more than 1 000 devices and spraying machines will be working in this area the mayor said.
All these teams will work in two shifts morning and evening work round the clock.
In the area of environmental health Al Bar said a number of field committees have been formed to monitor commercial centres and stores that sell food and ensure that they meet the health standards.
Thai junta lifts ban on overseas travel by politicians
BANGKOK: Thailand will lift a ban this week on overseas travel by some politicians, the defence minister said on Monday, more than two years after the measure was imposed.
Over the last few months, Thailand's military government, which took power in a May 2014 coup, has begun easing some of its strict restrictions on political activity, in the runup to an August referendum on a draft constitution.
The lifting of the ban showed the junta's trust in politicians, Deputy Prime Minister and Defence Minister Prawit Wongsuwan said.
"Politicians who have no legal cases are able to travel," Prawit told reporters. "Whether they go abroad and then take part in political activities is up to them."
The lifting takes effect on Wednesday, the junta has said.
But it excludes politicians such as former Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra, ousted in the coup, who faces criminal charges over alleged corruption in her government's rice subsidy program.
After the army took power in a move it called necessary to restore order after years of political upheaval, the junta banned political activity and ramped up prosecutions under tough sedition and royal defamation laws.
The junta, known as the National Council for Peace and Order, summoned hundreds of politicians, activists, journalists and academics for so-called "attitude adjustment" sessions, often at military bases.
Many were made to sign agreements not to travel abroad without permission and to halt political activity. They were later released.
But the junta has begun easing some curbs ahead of the August vote, which could precede elections in 2017. Hundreds of protesters marked the coup's second anniversary with a march this month, despite a ban on gatherings.
Politicians of all stripes welcomed the decision to scrap the ban, but some said it should never have been introduced.
"The junta should not have imposed restrictions from the start," Samart Kaewmeechai, a member of the Puea Thai Party that headed the government toppled in 2014, told Reuters.
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