Frantic rescue effort under way at Iraq shrine hit by landslide - Al Jazeera English

Operation continues to save people trapped under the rubble with at least four dead at the Qattarat al-Imam Ali shrine in Karbala province.

Iraqi rescue workers desperately searched for survivors buried under rubble after a landslide hit a Shia shrine, killing at least four people.

The official Iraqi news agency INA, citing the civil defence service, said on Sunday that four bodies were recovered from the debris at the Qattarat al-Imam Ali shrine in Karbala province, central Iraq.

“We have found four bodies, including of a woman,” civil defence official Abdelrahman Jawdat said.

Between six and eight pilgrims are trapped in the shrine, civil defence spokesman Nawas Sabah Shaker said.

Al Jazeera’s Mahmoud Abdelwahed, reporting from the capital Baghdad, said many worshippers had gathered at the shrine during the Shia Muslim holy month of Muharram.

“Heavy machinery was brought to the scene including bulldozers and diggers,” he said. “Family members are standing by, waiting for any news about their loved ones.”

Three children were rescued following Saturday’s disaster, emergency services said, adding they were in “good condition” and being monitored at a hospital.

‘Mobilise all efforts’

Rescue teams working through the night were able to provide oxygen supplies as well as food and water to some of those trapped through gaps in the rubble, INA reported.

Iraq’s President Barham Saleh called on the “heroic” rescue workers to “mobilise all efforts to save the trapped people”.

Emergency responders said earlier that they were maintaining verbal contact with the victims “to reassure them”.

The landslide on Saturday afternoon hit the shrine located in a natural depression about 25km (15 miles) west of the Shia holy city of Karbala.

The rocks and sand started sliding because of the “saturation of the earthen embankment adjacent to the shrine”, the civil defence service said.

“This led to the collapse of about 30 percent of the area of the building, which measures about 100 square metres.”

People wait as Iraqi rescue workers search for survivors after the deadly landslide [Mohammed Sawaf/AFP]

Adblock test (Why?)

World - Latest - Google News
August 22, 2022 at 12:47AM
https://ift.tt/5FXsOU0

Frantic rescue effort under way at Iraq shrine hit by landslide - Al Jazeera English
World - Latest - Google News
https://ift.tt/JBHrmpY

Singapore will decriminalize sex between men, prime minister says - Reuters

• Summary

• Under existing law men face up to 2 years jail for gay sex
• Law has not been actively enforced for decades
• PM Lee says Singapore society is ready for this change
• Reaffirms support for traditional definition of marriage

SINGAPORE, Aug 21 (Reuters) - Singapore will decriminalise sex between men but has no plans to change the legal definition of marriage as being between a man and a woman, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said on Sunday.

LGBTQ groups welcomed Lee's decision to repeal Section 377A of the penal code, a colonial-era law that criminalises sex between men, but also expressed concern that ruling out same-sex marriage would help to perpetuate discrimination.

In his annual national day rally speech, Lee said Singaporean society, especially young people in the city-state, were becoming more accepting of gay people.

"I believe this is the right thing to do, and something that most Singaporeans will now accept," he said.

It was unclear when exactly Section 377A would be repealed.

Singapore becomes the latest Asian country to move toward ending discrimination against members of the LGBTQ community.

In 2018, India's highest court scrapped a colonial-era ban on gay sex, while Thailand has recently edged closer to legalising same-sex unions.

Under Singapore's Section 377A, offenders can be jailed for up to two years under the law, but it is not currently actively enforced. There have been no known convictions for sex between consenting adult males for decades and the law does not include sex between women or other genders.

Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) groups have brought multiple legal challenges attempting to strike down the law, but none has succeeded.

On Sunday, several LGBTQ rights groups said in a joint statement they were "relieved" by Lee's announcement.

"For everyone who has experienced the kinds of bullying, rejection and harassment enabled by this law, repeal finally enables us to begin the process of healing. For those that long for a more equal and inclusive Singapore, repeal signifies that change is indeed possible," they said in the statement.

But the groups also urged the government not to heed calls from religious conservatives to enshrine the definition of marriage in the constitution, saying this would signal that LGBTQ+ citizens were not equal.

RESISTANCE

In February, Singapore's highest court had ruled that since the law was not being enforced, it did not breach constitutional rights, as the plaintiffs had argued, and it reaffirmed that the law could not be used to prosecute men for having gay sex.

Some religious groups including Muslims, Catholics and some Protestants continued to resist any repeal of the law, Lee said.

An alliance of more than 80 churches expressed strong disappointment on Sunday over the government's decision.

"The repeal is an extremely regrettable decision which will have a profound impact on the culture that our children and future generations of Singaporeans will live in," it said.

Singapore is a multi-racial and multi-religious society of 5.5 million, of whom about 16% are Muslim, with bigger Buddhist and Christian communities. It has a predominantly ethnic Chinese population with sizeable Malay and Indian minorities, according to the 2020 census.

Stressing his government's continued support for the traditional definition of marriage, Lee said: "We believe that marriage should be between a man and a woman, that children should be raised within such families, that the traditional family should form the basic building block of society."

Singapore will "protect the definition of marriage from being challenged constitutionally in the courts", he said. "This will help us repeal Section 377A in a controlled and carefully considered way."

Reporting by Chen Lin, editing by Kanupriya Kapoor and Gareth Jones

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Adblock test (Why?)

World - Latest - Google News
August 21, 2022 at 11:16PM
https://ift.tt/ivlLk4c

Singapore will decriminalize sex between men, prime minister says - Reuters
World - Latest - Google News
https://ift.tt/JBHrmpY

Pilots of Boeing 737 Both Doze Off, Overshoot Airport on Two-Hour Flight - Newsweek

A routine passenger flight nearly turned sideways last week after both pilots reportedly fell asleep while the craft was thousands of feet in the air.

The incident took place on Monday as an Ethiopian Airlines flight was approaching its destination in Addis Ababa, the capital and largest city in Ethiopia. As air traffic control at the city's airport attempted to contact the flight at around its point of descent, they could get no response and the plane continued on, according to a BBC News report.

As it turned out, both pilots at the helm of the plane had fallen asleep, causing the plane to coast by its point of descent. At the point when the pilots drifted off, the plane was approximately 37,000 feet in the air. Both pilots were eventually woken up by the craft's autopilot disconnect wailer and were able to land safely in Addis Ababa on a second approach, roughly 25 minutes after missing their first descent.

The plane, a Boeing 737, can typically seat 154 passengers and was en route from the airport in Khartoum, the capital city of Sudan, which is usually a two-hour flight.

Two pilots fell asleep as the Ethiopian Airlines plane they were flying approached its point of descent. Above, a representational shot of an Ethiopian Airlines craft in September 2020. Kola Sulaimon/AFP via Getty Images

The pilots involved in the incident have been placed on leave pending a full investigation into what happened.

"We have received a report which indicates Ethiopian flight number ET343 en route from Khartoum to Addis Ababa temporarily lost communication with Addis Ababa Air Traffic Control on 15 August 2022," Ethiopian Airlines wrote in a statement sent to numerous press outlets. "The flight later landed safely after communication was restored. The concerned crew have been removed from operation pending further investigation. Appropriate corrective action will be taken based on the outcome of the investigation. Safety has always been and will continue to be our first priority."

Reactions online ranged from shock and anger, to general sympathy for the responsibilities that modern pilots bear. In its report, BBC News cited comments calling for the pilots' immediate "termination... full stop," and others that said "the blame lies on the corporation and the regulators."

"Pilot fatigue is nothing new, and continues to pose one of the most significant threats to air safety - internationally," aviation analyst Alex Macheras wrote in a tweet reacting to the incident.

Newsweek reached out to Ethiopian Airlines for comment.

A similar incident was reported in May during a transatlantic flight from New York City to Rome. The craft's pilots dozed off and were unreachable for approximately 10 minutes before waking up, according to an Italian news outlet.

Adblock test (Why?)

World - Latest - Google News
August 21, 2022 at 05:51AM
https://ift.tt/QMmc9wx

Pilots of Boeing 737 Both Doze Off, Overshoot Airport on Two-Hour Flight - Newsweek
World - Latest - Google News
https://ift.tt/LFnV7DY

Turkey: Separate bus crashes leave 32 dead and 51 injured - BBC

This video can not be played

To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser.

At least 32 people have been killed in two separate events in Turkey when vehicles crashed into first responders following earlier accidents.

A bus hit the scene of a road crash near Gaziantep on Saturday morning, killing 16 people and injuring 21.

Hours later a truck hit a crowd of people 250km (150 miles) away in Mardin, also killing 16 people and reportedly hitting emergency workers.

There have been no reports of a connection between the incidents.

Twenty-nine people were injured in the second crash, eight of them seriously, Turkish Health Minister Fahrettin Koca said.

The incident in the town of Derik in Mardin province "occurred after the brakes gave out on a lorry, which hit a crowd", he wrote on Twitter.

The emergency workers had been sent to the scene following a crash involving three vehicles, Anadolu news agency reported.

The first incident on Saturday occurred near the southern town of Nizip in Gaziantep province.

A bus ploughed into rescue crews and reporters who had come to the scene of a crash involving a car that had come off the road.

Three firefighters, two emergency workers and two journalists were among those killed, the governor of Gaziantep said on twitter.

Photos on Turkey's DHA news agency showed the back of an ambulance ripped out and metal debris strewn around it.

Justice Minister Bekir Bozdag has announced an investigation into the crash.

BBC News

Adblock test (Why?)

World - Latest - Google News
August 21, 2022 at 02:34AM
https://ift.tt/HoAybIM

Turkey: Separate bus crashes leave 32 dead and 51 injured - BBC
World - Latest - Google News
https://ift.tt/LFnV7DY

Finnish Prime Minister Sanna Marin takes drug test after being filmed dancing - New York Post

Share Selection

Adblock test (Why?)

World - Latest - Google News
August 20, 2022 at 09:08PM
https://ift.tt/V4yeF6n

Finnish Prime Minister Sanna Marin takes drug test after being filmed dancing - New York Post
World - Latest - Google News
https://ift.tt/LFnV7DY

Russia-Ukraine War News: Live Updates - The New York Times

[unable to retrieve full-text content]

1. Russia-Ukraine War News: Live Updates  The New York Times
2. U.S. announces $775 million in new military aid for Ukraine  Axios
3. Biden admin readies $800 million for Ukraine amid growing concern of attack on nuclear plant: report  Fox News
4. Pentagon announces extra $775M in weapons to Ukraine  The Hill
5. View Full Coverage on Google News

World - Latest - Google News
August 20, 2022 at 04:12AM
https://ift.tt/WoDxYhv

Russia-Ukraine War News: Live Updates - The New York Times
World - Latest - Google News
https://ift.tt/FU3VveO

Russia will once again shut off Europe's gas via Nord Stream 1 pipeline - CNN

BerlinRussia will halt gas supplies to Europe for three days at the end of the month via its main pipeline into the region, state energy giant Gazprom said on Friday, piling pressure on the region as it seeks to refuel ahead of winter.

The unscheduled maintenance order on the Nord Stream 1 pipeline, which runs under the Baltic Sea to Germany, deepens an energy standoff between Moscow and Brussels which has already helped send inflation surging in the region and raised the risk of rationing and recession.

Gazprom said the three-day shutdown was because the pipeline's only remaining gas compressor requires maintenance, yet the move will bring further disruption particularly for Germany, which depends largely on deliveries from Moscow to power its industry.

The latest shut-down follows a 10-day scheduled annual maintenance that took place in July, and raised fears over whether Russia would resume supplies, which have been reduced since mid-June.

Germany has already had to give Uniper -- its largest importer of Russian gas and the highest-profile corporate victim of Europe's energy crisis so far -- a 15 billion euro ($15.1 billion) bailout after Russia drastically cut flows, forcing it to buy gas elsewhere at much higher prices.

The broader Germany economic impact was highlighted in producer price data on Friday which in July saw their highest ever increases, both year-on-year and month-on-month, as energy costs skyrocket.

German dependence

The Nord Stream pipeline had already been running at just a fifth of its capacity, stoking fears that Russia could halt flows completely heading into the winter heating season and make it more difficult to fill up storage facilities.

Germany has made targeted efforts to fill up its storage facilities to prepare, with levels standing at 78.19% as of Aug. 17, slightly more than the 75.89% for the European Union as a whole.

After maintenance is complete, and "in the absence of technical malfunctions," flows of 33 million cubic meters (mcm) a day -- in line with current volumes -- will resume, Gazprom said.

This would still be just 20% of Nord Stream's full capacity of 167 mcm per day.

Gazprom said maintenance work at the remaining Trent 60 gas compressor station would be carried out together with Siemens. The Russian group has previously blamed faulty or delayed equipment for lower flows. Germany says this is a pretext to hurt its economy.

Siemens Energy, which is in charge of maintaining the Nord Stream 1 turbines, declined to comment.

Earlier, senior German politicians from governing parties rejected suggestions that gas shortages could be alleviated by allowing the suspended Nord Stream 2 pipeline to go into service, something the Kremlin has suggested as a solution.

"I strongly suggest we spare ourselves the humiliation of always asking (Russian President Vladimir) Putin for something that we're not going to get," said Kevin Kuehnert, number two official in Chancellor Olaf Scholz's Social Democrats.

"The dependence on him has to end for once and all," he added in an interview with website t-online.

Adblock test (Why?)

World - Latest - Google News
August 20, 2022 at 01:59AM
https://ift.tt/NCoxfbd

Russia will once again shut off Europe's gas via Nord Stream 1 pipeline - CNN
World - Latest - Google News
https://ift.tt/FU3VveO