Britain reopens embassy in Yemen
london: The British embassy in Yemen reopened on Sunday after being closed for nearly two weeks over worldwide terror threats from Al Qaeda. “British Embassy in Yemen opens as normal from Sunday 18 August. Apologies for the brief hiatus,” British ambassador to Yemen Jane Marriott tweeted. Though Yemen welcomed the re-opening, the country’s Foreign Minister Abu Bakr-al-Qirbi was critical of the closures.
At least 30 inmates escape from Indonesian prison
Jakarta: About 30 inmates escaped after a riot broke out on Sunday at an overcrowded prison in western Indonesia that was set ablaze, an official said. The riot at the labuhan Ruku facility in the North Sumatra district of Batubara began Sunday afternoon after a group of inmates who had been transferred from other prisons staged a protest due to the overcrowding, said prison official Wibowo Joko Harjono.
China: 40 killed in worst flooding in decades
Beijing: At least 40 people have been killed and 32 are missing in heavy rains in North-East and South-East China while thousands of rescuers have been engaged in relief efforts to deal with the worst flooding seen in decades.
Honour killing in Pakistan: Three shot dead
Islamabad: Two men and a woman have been shot dead in two incidents of “honour killing” in Pakistan, a media report said Sunday. Zeenat Khan and her father-in-law Wali Mohammad were shot dead by the woman’s brother, Javed Khan, with the help of his uncle when the victims were sleeping in their home in Nowshera, police told Dawn.
Turkmenistan’s president leaves ruling party
Ashgabat: Turkmenistan’s President has stepped down from his post as leader of the ruling party ahead of a parliamentary election that for the first time will feature two competing parties. President Gurbanbuly Berdymukhamedov said on State television this weekend that his decision was aimed at giving both parties an equal chance in the December election.
Harry ‘irritated’ by landmines inaction
london: Prince Harry has a “bee in his bonnet” that some nations which supplied landmines are not helping with the clearance effort, a cause championed by his late mother, Princess Diana. “He (the Prince) is irritated about the countries that supplied these landmines are not actually putting in any funds to clear them 25 years later,” the head of the Halo Trust, Guy Willoughby said.
Protest in uk over Pak Hindus persecution
london: Demanding equal rights for Hindus living in Pakistan, a protest demonstration against the persecution of the minority community was held outside the Pakistan High Commission here.
Japanese activists sail near disputed islands
East China Sea: Nearly two dozen Japanese nationalist activists and fishermen sailed on Sunday to a small group of islands at the centre of a territorial dispute with China. They were closely monitored by Japan’s Coast Guard, but there were no Chinese patrols in the area and no incidents were reported.
3,000-yr-old nomad shields excavated in China
Beijing: A set of stone shields believed to be used in sacrifices by nomads in China nearly 3,000 years ago has been excavated in northwest Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, which archaeologist say is a “breakthrough” for research on the life of ancient nomads. The shields were discovered at Huahaizi (sea of flowers) lake in the Altai mountains, which borders Mongolia.
110 killed, 3 lakh affected due to rains in Pak
Karachi: At least 110 people have been killed and 3,00,000 others affected due to the heavy monsoon rain and flooding in many parts of Pakistan, the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) said on Sunday. Senior NDMA officials said heavy rain and flooding had caused havoc in the provinces of Khyber-Pakhtunkhawa, Punjab and Balochistan.