After UNGA setback, Pakistan PM Imran Khan removes UN official

Agencies
October 1, 2019

Islamabad, Oct 1: Pakistan PM Imran Khan has abruptly removed his country’s Permanent Representative Maleeha Lodhi after failing to make headway in his Kashmir campaign at the General Assembly’s high-level meeting

Pakistani media reported on Monday that Maleeha Lodhi will be replaced by Munir Akram, who had done a stint as the permanent representative. Akram was involved in an alleged domestic violence incident in 2002 just as Pakistan was taking its place on Security Council as an elected member and the US asked his country to lift his diplomatic immunity so he could be prosecuted. But he managed to stay on till 2008.

Despite Maleeha Lodhi's campaign at the UN and Khan's intense diplomatic activity, only three countries, China, Malaysia and Turkey, joined Pakistan in raising the Kashmir issue - which meant they did not have any influence on the other 189 countries in the 193-member UN. Khan acknowledged the failure, saying when he returned home, "Whether the world stands with Kashmiris or not, Pakistan is standing by them."

Lodhi survived a major snafu in 2017 when she held up a picture of an injured Palestinian girl in the General Assembly claiming that she was a Kashmiri and the hoax was exposed. She tweeted after Monday's announcement of her removal, "I had planned to move on after UNGA following a successful visit by the PM."

Lodhi has previously served twice as ambassador to the US, the second time covering the crucial period of the 9/11 al-Qaeda attacks on the US and the US-led action in Afghanistan in which Pakistan became involved as a logistics provider. A former journalist, she has also been Pakistan's High Commissioner in Britain. About Akram's appointment, Pakistan Today wrote, "Akram is a veteran diplomat and is one of the ambassadors who believe in hardcore approach towards India instead of appeasement."

He was Permanent Representative from 2002 to 2008 and has been the foreign secretary. In 2002, a woman called New York police to an apartment complaining that she was being assaulted. Police, who responded to the complaint, said the 35-year-old woman, Marijana Mihic, who described herself as Akram's "girlfriend," had bruises to her head and abrasions to her knees. She told them that Akram had bashed her head against a wall.

Police said they could not arrest him because he had diplomatic immunity. The Manhattan prosecutor's office said at that time that it would prosecute him if his diplomatic immunity was lifted. The mayor's office requested the State Department to get his immunity waives so that he could be prosecuted. The US did not press its request to Islamabad to waive his immunity. Pakistan was a member of the Security Council and the US was preparing to invade Iraq at that time. He told the New York Post, "My government sent me here to represent my country. I came to stay - and my government wants me to stay."

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Agencies
January 11,2020

London, Jan 11: Former cricketer Sachin Tendulkar's famous lap around the Wankhede Stadium after the World Cup 2011 win has been nominated in Laureas's list for the most inspiring sporting event in the last twenty years.

The moment featuring Tendulkar has been described as "Carried on the shoulders by a nation".

On his sixth attempt at the World Cup and with India not having won the competition since 1983, Tendulkar finally became a part of the team that lifted the coveted trophy. Carried on the shoulders of the Indian team, he made a lap of honour, shedding tears of joy after the victory was sealed in his home city.

The 2011 World Cup was also the first time, in which a host nation ended up winning the trophy.

Apart from Tendulkar, England's Andrew Flintoff is the only other cricketer to feature in the list. In 2005, England managed to defeat Australia in an Ashes Test, but Flintoff chose to first shake hands with Brett Lee rather than celebrate with his side.

Matthias Steiner (weightlifting), Natalie du Toit (swimming), Sky Brown (skateboarding), Alistair and Jonathan Brownlee (triathlon), Xia Boyu (mountaineering) have been nominated in the list.

Female tennis stars also feature in the list for coming up with an equal play, equal pay campaign. After pressure from Venus Williams and others, Wimbledon announced that female tennis players would receive prize money equal to the men's.

German international footballer Miroslav Klose was playing for Lazio in Italy's Serie A in 2012 against Napoli when he rose for a ball in the early moments of the game.

The ball came spiraling off his hand and skirted into the back of the net and a goal was awarded. While most players would carry on as if nothing had happened, Klose was honest with the referee and admitted that he handled the ball.

As a result, he also finds a place on the list.

The Laureus Sporting Moment Award celebrates the moments where the sport has unified people in the most extraordinary way.

This campaign has shortlisted 20 sporting stories from the last 20 years that have left their mark on the world.

The winner will be decided on the basis of public voting. It has already started, and the final date to cast the vote is February 16.

Finally, the result will be declared on February 17.
With three knock-out rounds, the top-20 moments will be whittled down to ten then five, with the top-five moments going head-to-head.

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News Network
January 21,2020

Beijing, Jan 21: The Chinese official investigating a pneumonia outbreak stemming from a new coronavirus said the disease can spread from person to person but can be halted with increased vigilance, as authorities on Tuesday confirmed a fourth death.

Zhong Nanshan said there was no danger of a repeat of the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) epidemic that killed nearly 800 people globally during a 2002-2003 outbreak, which started in China, as long as precautions were taken.

"It took only two weeks to identify the novel coronavirus," state news agency Xinhua quoted Zhong as saying late on Monday.

The outbreak was still in its early stages and China had good surveillance and quarantine systems to help control it, he added.

The outbreak has spread from the central city of Wuhan to cities including Beijing and Shanghai, with more than 200 cases reported so far. Four cases have been reported outside China - in South Korea, Thailand and Japan.

Australia on Tuesday said it would screen passengers on flights from Wuhan amid rising concerns that the virus will spread globally as Chinese travellers take flights abroad for the Lunar New Year holiday starting this week.

Authorities around the globe, including in the United States and many Asian countries, have stepped up screening of travellers from Wuhan.

Chinese authorities confirmed a total of 217 cases of the virus in China as of 6 p.m. (1000 GMT) on Monday, state television reported, 198 of which were in Wuhan.

A fourth person died on Jan. 19, the Wuhan Municipal Health Commission said. The 89-year-old man, who had underlying health diseases including coronary heart disease, developed symptoms on Jan. 13 and was admitted to hospital five days later, it added.

Zhong, who is renowned in China for his work fighting SARS in 2003, confirmed that the virus can pass from person-to-person.

Fifteen medical workers in Wuhan had been diagnosed with pneumonia, with one other suspected case, the Wuhan Municipal Health Commission said. Of the infected staff, one was in critical condition.

In Shanghai, officials on Tuesday confirmed a second case involving a 35-year-man who had visited Wuhan in early January, and said they were monitoring four other suspected cases.

The virus causes a type of pneumonia and belongs to the same family of coronaviruses as SARS. Symptoms include fever and difficulty in breathing, which are similar to many other respiratory diseases and pose complications for screening efforts.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) said on Monday an animal source appeared most likely to be the primary origin of the outbreak and that some "limited human-to-human transmission" occurred between close contacts.

The Geneva-based U.N. agency convened an emergency committee for Wednesday to assess whether the outbreak constitutes an international health emergency and what measures should be taken to manage it.

So far, the WHO has not recommended trade or travel restrictions, but a panel of independent experts could do so or make other recommendations to limit spread.

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News Network
July 1,2020

Tehran, Jul 1 As many as 19 people have been killed in an explosion and fire at a medical facility in Tehran.

A total of 19 people, including 15 men and 4 women, were killed in the explosion, the emergency services confirmed, RT reported citing KhabarOnline website.

According to a regional official, a gas leak caused the incident. Sputnik quoted a deputy head of Tehran police as saying to YJC news outlet that oxygen tanks exploded in the semi-basement of the clinic.

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