25 killed, deputy chairman Senate injured in blast in Pak

May 12, 2017

Karachi, May 12: Pakistan's Senate deputy chairman today escaped an assassination attempt with injuries when a suicide bomber targeted his convoy, killing 25 people and wounding 35 others in the volatile south-western Balochistan province.pak

The bomber targeted Maulana Abdul Ghafoor Haideri when he came out of a mosque after addressing a gathering shortly after the Friday prayers in Mastung area of the province.

The area where the explosion took place is approximately 70 kilometres from provincial capital Quetta.
District Health Officer in Mastung Sher Zaman said that 25 bodies have been shifted to two hospitals in Quetta. "More than 35 were also injured," he added.

Earlier, Mastung Hospital Public Relation Officer Malik Jibran said over 35 injured were brought to the hospital. He said more than 15 injured were in critical condition.

Senior police officer Abdul Razzaq Cheema said Haideri was slightly injured and he has been shifted to the Combined Military Hospital in Quetta. "I am alive, Allah has saved my life, it was a sudden blast, broken pieces of the windscreen hit me, I am injured but safe. The driver and other people sitting next to me were badly injured," Haideri later told SAMAA TV.

"I am sorry for the death of innocent of people," said Haideri, who belongs to Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam Fazal (JUI-F) of Maulana Fazlur Rehman. Most of the people killed were workers of his party.

No group has claimed responsibility for the attack.

Maulana Fazulr Rehman condemned the attack on Haideri and said today's attack was not the first on the party. "Many of our dear companions have been martyred [in this attack]," he said further, adding that, "We have to continue to work for this country and the stability of Islam."

District Police Officer Muhammad Ghazanfar said that initial evidence suggests it was a suicide attack.
Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif strongly condemned the attack directed the relevant authorities to ensure the best medical treatment for the injured.

Chairman Senate Raza Rabbani and Interior Minister Chaudhary Nisar Ali Khan also condemned the attack. Rabbani said that it was suicide attack which targeted Haideri. "I have talked to chief secretary of Balochistan and asked him to airlift Haideri to Quetta," he said.

TV footage showed Haideri's vehicle was badly damaged. His driver was killed in the attack. The District Police Officer Mastung, Ghazanfar Ali, said Haideri escaped as he was not sitting in the car when the blast took place.

"It could be a suicide bomb attack but it is too early to say for sure," he said.

Balochistan government spokesman Anwarul Haq Kakar said it was too early to say anything about the nature of the attack. "Probe has been launched to determine the nature of the bombing," he added.

Balochistan has been hit hard by attacks from terrorists and separatists in recent years and Mastung has seen a lot of unrest despite constant security operations in the area.

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Agencies
May 31,2020

Washington, May 31: US President Donald Trump said Saturday he will delay the G7 summit scheduled to take place in June and invite other countries -- including India and Russia -- to join the meeting.

"I don't feel that as a G7 it properly represents what's going on in the world. It's a very outdated group of countries," Trump told reporters on Air Force One.

He said he would like to invite Russia, South Korea, Australia and India to join an expanded summit in the fall.

It could happen in September, either before or after the UN General Assembly, Trump said, adding that "maybe I'll do it after the election."

Americans head to the polls in early November to choose a new president, with Trump keen for a return to normalcy after the coronavirus pandemic and a healthy economy as voters cast their ballots.

Describing the event as a "G-10 or G-11", Trump said he had "roughly" broached the topic with leaders of the four other countries.

Leaders from the Group of Seven, which the United States heads this year, had been scheduled to meet by videoconference in late June after COVID-19 scuttled plans to gather in-person at Camp David, the US presidential retreat outside Washington.

Trump created suspense last week, however, when he announced that he might hold the huge gathering in-person after all, "primarily at the White House" but also potentially parts of it at Camp David.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel became the first leader to decline the in-person invitation outright.

"Considering the overall pandemic situation, she cannot agree to her personal participation, to a journey to Washington," her spokesman said Saturday.

Her response followed ambivalent to positive reactions to the invitation from Britain, Canada and France.

The 65-year-old chancellor is the oldest G7 leader after Trump, who is 73. Japan's Shinzo Abe, also 65, is several months younger than Merkel. Their age puts them at higher risk from the coronavirus.

The G7 major advanced countries -- Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United States -- hold annual meetings to discuss international economic coordination.

Russia was thrown out of what was the G8 in 2014 after it seized Ukraine's Black Sea peninsula of Crimea, an annexation never recognized by the international community.

The work of the G7 is now more important than ever as countries struggle to repair coronavirus-inflicted damage.

The White House had previously said the huge diplomatic gathering would be a "show of strength" when world economies are gradually reemerging from shutdowns.

The United States is the worst-hit country for COVID-19 infections, recording more than 1.7 million cases and over 103,680 deaths.

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Agencies
August 7,2020

Moscow, Aug 7: Russia will register its first vaccine against the coronavirus on August 12, Deputy Health Minister Oleg Gridnev said on Friday.

The vaccine has been developed jointly by the Gamaleya Research Institute and the Russian Defence Ministry.

"The vaccine developed by the Gamaleya centre will be registered on August 12. At the moment, the last, third, stage is underway. The trials are extremely important. We have to understand that the vaccine must be safe. Medical professionals and senior citizens will be the first to get vaccinated," Gridnev told reporters at the opening of a cancer centre building in the city of Ufa.

According to the minister, the effectiveness of the vaccine will be judged when the population immunity has formed.

Clinical trials of the vaccine began on June 18 and included 38 volunteers. All of the participants developed immunity. 

The first group was discharged on July 15 and the second group on July 20.

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News Network
June 17,2020

Vienna, Jun 17: Austrian police fined a man 500 euros for loudly breaking wind after officers stopped him earlier this month to check his identity.

The police defended the massive fine saying he had deliberately emitted a "massive flatulence," lifting his backside from the bench where he was sitting.

The accused complained of what he called the disproportionate and unjustified fine when he gave his account of the June 5 events on the O24 news website.

In reply to social media commentaries that followed, the police in the Austrian capital justified their reaction on Twitter.

"Of course, nobody is put on the spot if one slips out by accident," the police said.

However, in this case, the police said, the young man had appeared "provocative and uncooperative" in general.

He then "slightly raised himself from the bench, looked at the officers and patently, in a completely deliberate way, emitted a massive flatulence in their immediate proximity."

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