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Two players die at world chess event in Norway

Anonymous 0 World News 18:20

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<span style="font-family: inherit;">The most prestigious international tournament in <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/sport/chess" style="background-repeat: no-repeat; border-collapse: collapse; color: #005689; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;" title="More from the Guardian on Chess">chess</a>, at which the world's top players compete alongside amateurs to win honours for their country, has ended on a sombre note after two players died suddenly within hours of each other, one while he was in the middle of a match.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Hundreds of spectators attending the 41st Chess Olympiad in Tromsø,<a href="http://www.theguardian.com/world/norway" style="background-repeat: no-repeat; border-collapse: collapse; color: #005689; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;" title="More from the Guardian on Norway">Norway</a>, and countless others watching live TV coverage on Norway's state broadcaster, reacted with shock after Kurt Meier, 67, a Swiss-born member of the Seychelles team, collapsed on Thursday afternoon, during his final match of the marathon two-week contest. Despite immediate medical attention at the scene he died later in hospital.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Hours later, a player from Uzbekistan who has not yet been named was found dead in his hotel room in central Tromsø. Norwegian police and the event's organisers said on Friday they were not treating the deaths as suspicious.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">"We regard these as tragic but natural deaths," said Jarle Heitmann, a spokesman for the Chess Olympiad. "When so many people are gathered for such a long time, these things can happen."</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">The Olympiad involved 1,800 competitors from 174 countries, accompanied by more than 1,000 coaches, delegates and fans.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">The event sees players compete in national teams over 11 rounds, often playing matches that last for up to six hours, and claims a worldwide online audience of tens of millions.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">There were brief scenes of panic in the hall after Meier's collapse, when spectators reportedly mistook a defibrillator for a weapon. Play was briefly suspended before his death was marked with a minute's silence during the closing ceremony.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">While the causes of the two men's deaths are still unknown, they will raise questions about the mental and physical stress that tournaments place on players.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Meier is not the first player to die in the middle of a match; in 2000 Vladimir Bagirov, a Latvian grandmaster, had a fatal heart attack during a tournament in Finland, while in the same year, another Latvian, Aivars Gipslis, suffered a stroke while playing in Berlin from which he later died.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">One of Australia's leading players, Ian Rogers, retired abruptly from chess in 2007, saying he had been warned by his doctors that the stress of top-level competition was causing him serious health problems.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Tarjei J Svensen, a reporter for chess24.com who attended the Olympiad, said the event had a reputation for heavy drinking. "There are two rest days during the competition, and particularly the night before the rest days there tends to be a lot of drinking," he said.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">A favourite attraction for delegates was the now-legendary "Bermuda party", he added, hosted at each Olympiad by a member of the Bermudan delegation.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">The Olympiad was big news in Norway, with the state broadcaster, NRK, carrying hours of live coverage each day, and the country's government paying 87m kroner (£8.5m) for the privilege of hosting the event.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Last week the women's team from Burundi were disqualified after failing to show up for their round six and seven matches; they remain unaccounted for, Heitmann said on Friday.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">"It has been an eventful Olympiad, certainly," said Svensen.</span></div>

Two players die at world chess event in Norway

The most prestigious international tournament in chess , at which the world's top players compete alongside amateurs to win hono...

More Time Given for US Army Sergeant Bergdahl Disappearance Probe

Anonymous 0 World News 18:07

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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b style="line-height: 18px;">San Antonio: </b><span style="line-height: 18px;"> A general investigating the disappearance of a U.S. Army sergeant in Afghanistan is getting several more weeks to complete his probe.</span><br style="line-height: 18px;" /><br style="line-height: 18px;" /><span style="line-height: 18px;">U.S. Army spokesman Wayne Hall said in an email Saturday that the final draft of the report on Sgt. Bowe Berdahl will take another three weeks to complete. Maj. Gen. Kenneth R. Dahl had 60 days from his June 16 appointment to finish his work. That deadline was Friday.</span><br style="line-height: 18px;" /><br style="line-height: 18px;" /><span style="line-height: 18px;">Hall says once Dahl submits his final report, it will undergo a separate legal review before being presented to Army leadership.</span><br style="line-height: 18px;" /><br style="line-height: 18px;" /><span style="line-height: 18px;">Bergdahl was held as a prisoner of war in Afghanistan for five years. His exchange for five Taliban leaders has generated criticism due to allegations Bergdahl was a deserter.</span><br style="line-height: 18px;" /><br style="line-height: 18px;" /><span style="line-height: 18px;">Bergdahl is currently stationed at Fort Sam Houston in Texas.</span></span>

More Time Given for US Army Sergeant Bergdahl Disappearance Probe

San Antonio: A general investigating the disappearance of a U.S. Army sergeant in Afghanistan is getting several more weeks to complet...

Tayyab downs Canadian Osborn 3-0

Anonymous 0 World News 19:15

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<strong style="border: 0px none; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px;">KARACHI:</strong></div>
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<strong style="border: 0px none; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px;">Asian Junior Champion Tayyab Aslam moved into the third round of the World Junior Individual Squash Championship after thumping Canada’s Jarryd Osborne in straight sets in Windhoek, Namibia.</strong></div>
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Tayyab won the first frame with ease but faced tough opposition in the second and third sets. However, he took just 24 minutes to wrap up a 3-0 rout with a scoreline of 11-2, 11-7 and 11-9.</div>
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Meanwhile, compatriot Asim Khan survived a scare to progress into the next phase after being involved in a five-setter duel with Spain’s Bernat Jaume.</div>
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It was Asim who took the lead by winning the first game and followed up with another to go up 2-0.</div>
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But Jaume hit back by triumphing in the next two frames to take the match into a decider. With scores levelled at 2-2, Asim showed nerves by committing mistakes but went on to prevail 11-9, 11-4, 5-11, 8-11 and 12-10.</div>
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In another encounter, Israr Ahmed eased past Enzo Corigliano of France in his second-round clash, winning the first two frames with identical scores to ensure his 11-5, 11-5 and 13-11 victory.</div>

Tayyab downs Canadian Osborn 3-0

KARACHI: Asian Junior Champion Tayyab Aslam moved into the third round of the World Junior Individual Squash Championship after thump...

Judoka Ambreen looks forward to India tour

Anonymous 0 World News 19:13

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<strong style="border: 0px none; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px;">KARACHI:</strong></div>
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<strong style="border: 0px none; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px;">Pakistani female judoka Ambreen Ashiq is thrilled over the prospect of training with Indian judokas this month.</strong></div>
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She and her sister Humera, who won medals at the South Asian Championship in Nepal earlier this year, will be part of a 10-woman contingent that will travel to India to improve its skills.</div>
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According to Ambreen, the Indian tour, expected to take place sometime this month, holds special significance for the players.</div>
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“It’s something closer to our heart, mainly because it always feels like home but with more opportunities to learn,” Ambreen told <em style="border: 0px none; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px;">The Express Tribune.</em></div>
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“Last time, we went to India in 2005 and the love and appreciation we got there was unforgettable.</div>
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“In terms of training, we see the Indian judokas as our mentors. They get the chance to compete more than we do in international events. The Indian contingent is also present at all the important championships; so surely, we can learn new techniques from them.”</div>
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She elaborated that India and Pakistan are usually the top contenders in the South Asian region, but the former have improved more rapidly in terms of participation.</div>
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“Even if India doesn’t win medals at every event, they have better facilities and are more involved in international events. Participation is the key, but we are not there yet. That’s where we need to improve,” she concluded.</div>

Judoka Ambreen looks forward to India tour

KARACHI: Pakistani female judoka Ambreen Ashiq is thrilled over the prospect of training with Indian judokas this month. She and he...

Djokovic, Serena seek redemption at Cincinnati

Anonymous 0 World News 19:04

Djokovic, Serena seek redemption at Cincinnati

CINCINNATI: The world number one pair of Novak Djokovic and Serena Williams aims to bounce back this week at the Cincinnati Masters, ...

Eidul Fitr in the Middle East today

Anonymous 0 World News 19:54

Eidul Fitr in the Middle East today

Eidul Fitr will be observed today (Monday) in several Middle Eastern states, including Saudi Arabia, Al Arabiya News reported. Re...

Russia should lose 2018 soccer World Cup over Ukraine – UK deputy PM

Anonymous 0 World News 19:53

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<strong style="border: 0px none; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px;"><strong style="border: 0px none; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px;">LONDON:</strong></strong></div>
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<strong style="border: 0px none; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px;"><strong style="border: 0px none; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px;"> </strong>Russia should be stripped of the right to host the 2018 soccer World Cup unless President Vladimir Putin stops destabilising Ukraine, Britain’s Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg said on Sunday, warning the world would look weak if it did not act.</strong></div>
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Clegg, the most senior British politician to call for such action, said Putin’s behaviour towards Ukraine was “beyond the pale” and had reached “a tipping point”.</div>
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He spoke out as fighting around the site of MH17, the Malaysian airliner downed in eastern Ukraine on July 17, prevented a visit by international experts and as the European Union weighed new sanctions on Russia.</div>
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“If there’s one thing that Vladimir Putin cares about, as far as I can see, it’s his sense of status,” Clegg told<em style="border: 0px none; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px;">The Sunday Times</em> newspaper. “Maybe reminding him that you can’t retain the same status in the world if you ignore the rest of the world, maybe that will have some effect on his thinking.”</div>
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The intervention by Clegg, the leader of the Liberal Democrats, the junior partner in Britain’s two-party coalition, put pressure on Prime Minister David Cameron, the leader of the ruling Conservatives, to clarify his position on the matter.</div>
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A spokesperson for Cameron told Reuters the British leader was not in favour of taking the World Cup away from Russia at this stage, but signalled his position could change.</div>
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“The prime minister does not believe we should reach immediately for boycotts, but it is also not surprising, given Russian behaviour, that people are starting to raise the issue,” the spokesperson said. “It shows the importance of Russia changing course, before its international standing is damaged even further.”</div>
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Clegg said it was up to Putin to change his Ukraine policy. “He (Putin) can’t constantly, you know, push the patience of the international community beyond breaking point, destabilise a neighbouring country, protect these armed separatists in the east of Ukraine and still have the privilege and honour of receiving all the accolades in 2018 for being the host nation of the World Cup,” Clegg said.</div>
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<strong style="border: 0px none; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px;">FIFA disagrees</strong></div>
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Some German politicians have also called for Russia to be stripped of the right to host the tournament, but Fifa, soccer’s world governing body, has so far resisted the demands, saying the competition could be “a force for good”.</div>
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Almost 200 Dutch citizens lost their lives in the incident and the Dutch football association has said it will meet in due course to decide if it will take part in the qualifying competition for the finals in Russia.</div>
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Western politicians have taken an increasingly tough line on Russia since the downing of MH17, accusing Moscow of arming the separatists there, something Russia denies. Clegg said the world would look weak and insincere if it allowed Russia to stage the World Cup without a change of course by Putin in Ukraine.</div>
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“You can’t have this – the beautiful game marred by the ugly aggression of Russia on the Russian-Ukrainian border,” he said.</div>
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Britain’s opposition Labour party also said stripping Russia of the World Cup should be an option if its complicity in the downing of MH17 was proven and if Putin did not change course.</div>
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“Fifa should be considering contingencies now and any discussion should happen quickly, so that if necessary, alternative plans are in place in time for teams and fans from around the world,” Douglas Alexander, Labour’s spokesman on foreign affairs, said in a statement.</div>
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Britain, which is home to many wealthy Russians, said on Saturday it thought it highly likely that MH17 was shot down from a separatist-controlled area with a missile system supplied by Moscow.</div>
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Russia’s ambassador to Britain has said Moscow is only providing humanitarian aid to the separatists. He said there was no proof of his country’s involvement. Clegg also said Russia should not be allowed to host a Formula One Grand Prix in October, but F1 boss Bernie Ecclestone has said that event will go ahead as planned.</div>

Russia should lose 2018 soccer World Cup over Ukraine – UK deputy PM

LONDON: Russia should be stripped of the right to host the 2018 soccer World Cup unless President Vladimir Putin stops destabilisin...

Fault of the regulators: Pakistan failed where Bangladesh didn’t

Anonymous 0 World News 19:51

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<strong style="border: 0px none; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px;">KARACHI:</strong></div>
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<strong style="border: 0px none; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px;">In 1986, the Bangladeshi government introduced landmark regulations for its emerging garment export industry, called the back-to-back Letter of Credit (LC).</strong></div>
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Under the rules, banks would pay the suppliers directly for raw material acquired by the factory. The buyer would tell the bank the specifics of the raw material — including the value, supplier’s name and the date when the material was needed.</div>
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The bank would ensure that as soon as the supplier delivered the raw materials and furnished proof of delivery, he got paid by the bank within a specified period. With this arrangement, the factory owners could raise funds up to 75% of the value of their orders. In short, a factory exporting $10 million every year could buy raw materials worth $7.5 million without spending its own money.</div>
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When the factory consumed these raw materials and shipped its orders, money the bank had already paid was deducted from factory’s export earnings. The balance was then transferred to the factory’s bank account — the only money the factory ever touched. Under these regulations, the factory owner had no access to capital but had an easy access to raw materials.</div>
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This is an important distinction. In Pakistan, factory owners can get preferential export credit for buying raw materials and meeting working capital requirements. But once they lay their hands on this easy money, it proves tragic. In the long run, they squander this money to enact their personal dreams of grandeur, and prematurely.</div>
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But, in Bangladesh, factory owners could only become rich by processing and shipping more orders. Ironically, in both countries, banks try to help the exporters but in radically different ways. In Bangladesh, banks lend indirectly by making thousands of relatively smaller payments to the suppliers of raw materials. There is no big, tempting tranche of working capital given to the factory.</div>
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These rules brought nothing short of a revolutionary change in the behavior of all players. The focus shifted to performing and fulfilling orders at hand. A playing field was set that systematically rewarded order performance and closed all access to cheaper credit. Everyone had to work hard to get paid with no danger of payment default; so long as one fulfilled the orders. Also, the only way for the factory owners to get rich was to increase their capacity and to export more orders.</div>
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However, the relationship between expansion and getting wealthier has remained muddled in Pakistan. Securing cheap credit and then defaulting on it has long been a risk-free road to riches.</div>
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Under these standards, the few large garment exporters in Pakistan must possess the integrity worthy of Jinnah. In Bangladesh, sensible regulations ensure that neither bankers nor the factory owners are tested for their integrity.</div>
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All garment factories start small. A large size makes no sense as in the beginning no buyer is ready to place large orders. But once they have gained customer confidence, larger orders follow.</div>
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In a Darwinian world, the size of a garment factory is an indication of how well it has operated and survived. Currently, out of the 5,500 garment factories in Bangladesh, 400 have an annual sales turnover that is greater than $50 million.</div>
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In Pakistan, starting a decade earlier than Bangladesh’s, there are less than a dozen factories of this size. In Bangladesh, a garment factory is 40 times more likely to cross the $50 million mark than a Pakistani factory. The Pakistan ones just do not live long enough to grow into large enterprises; they usually die a premature death.</div>
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These stark differences cannot be explained by some mystical quality of Bangladeshi entrepreneurship. Extremism, which is currently the single most important hindrance in our path to growth, did not seriously come into play until 2008. Bangladesh already had an unassailable lead by then.</div>
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That country is not naturally predisposed toward garment exports either. If anyone, it should have been Pakistan. Bangladesh does not produce any cotton. Instead, it imports yarn from India or Pakistan at a higher cost. Only recently, it has developed a small and nascent textile sector, mostly manned by Pakistani staff. On the other hand, Pakistan has been a major textile player for the last 50 years and has always produced its own fabric. Bangladesh imports it.</div>
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Always intrigued by Bangladesh’s success, during my frequent interactions with Bangladeshi owners of garment factories, my stock question to them has been to name the single most important factor that helped jump Bangladeshi garment exports from $100 million in 1986 to $23.5 billion in 2014. Their near identical response always acknowledges the regulations on back-to-back LCs as one of the most important reasons.</div>
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For long, our regulators have heeded to industry demands of more and cheaper credit. We can see through the textile packages that have been released, time after time right until the latest one in 2009-2014 Textile Policy. All these packages have common themes with little variations. They provide preferential interest rate, authorise duty-free import of machinery and raw materials, attempt to keep the income tax rate lower and offer subsidies on sales under various inventive names. And yet, our garment export sales have remained flat.</div>
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Clearly, the very few Pakistani success stories seem to be outliers in a playing field that encourages an entrepreneur to self-destruct and choke himself on cheap credit, while forgetting all about performing on his order or aim for expansion.</div>
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Making his access to credit even easier under ever newer policies is like lending to a casino guest already on a losing streak. Entrepreneurs are humans and shall always remain vulnerable to temptations. Good regulations can cause a world of change in their behavior and trigger a cascading effect that can lift an entire nation out of poverty. It certainly is not too late for Pakistan to learn from Bangladesh and enact similar regulations.</div>
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The writer is an entrepreneur who has worked in Bangladesh’s garment sector</div>

Fault of the regulators: Pakistan failed where Bangladesh didn’t

KARACHI: In 1986, the Bangladeshi government introduced landmark regulations for its emerging garment export industry, called the bac...

38 dead as Libya army, militants clash in Benghazi: medics

Anonymous 0 World News 19:45

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<strong style="border: 0px none; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px;"><strong style="border: 0px none; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px;">BENGHAZI: </strong></strong></div>
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<strong style="border: 0px none; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px;">At least 38 people, mostly soldiers, were killed in 24 hours of fierce fighting between the Libyan army and militants in the eastern city of Benghazi, officials said Sunday.</strong></div>
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A military source said the clashes broke out on Saturday when militant groups launched an assault on the headquarters of a special forces unit near the city centre, causing casualties among forces defending their barracks.</div>
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Benghazi’s main hospital said the bodies of 28 soldiers had been taken there in the past 24 hours, along with 50 injured, while al Marj hospital, 100 kilometres to the east, spoke of two soldiers dead and 10 injured.</div>
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A spokesperson for the self-proclaimed Shura Council of Benghazi Revolutionaries, an alliance of militia who have claimed a number of attacks on military bases in the area, announced that eight of its fighters had died.</div>
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Overnight, special forces commander Wanis Abu Khamada told Libya al Ahrar television that his troops “still have the capacity to repel any attack on state institutions”.</div>
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An AFP correspondent reported that several families could be seen leaving the area of the clashes, as loud explosions were heard in the city on Sunday morning.</div>
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Near-daily clashes take place in Benghazi, where parts of the Mediterranean city have become strongholds for militant groups since the 2011 revolution that ousted longtime dictator Moamer Kadhafi.</div>
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The latest bloodshed came a day after the US evacuated its embassy in Tripoli due to fears for the safety of staff and as Britain joined the Americans in advising its citizens against travel to strife-torn Libya.</div>
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London urged all those Britons currently in the country to leave, although its embassy in Tripoli remains open.</div>
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“Due to the ongoing and greater intensity of fighting in Tripoli and wider instability throughout Libya, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) advise against all travel to Libya,” the ministry’s website said.</div>
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“British nationals in Libya should leave now by commercial means.”</div>
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The United States evacuated its Libyan embassy staff under air cover Saturday as they faced a “real risk” from fierce fighting around Tripoli airport, US Secretary of State John Kerry said.</div>
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The airport has been closed since July 13 because of deadly clashes between armed groups in the area.</div>
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The US announcement that it was evacuating its embassy came hours after the country’s interim government warned that the clashes between militia vying for control of the strategic airport were threatening to tear Libya apart.</div>

38 dead as Libya army, militants clash in Benghazi: medics

BENGHAZI: At least 38 people, mostly soldiers, were killed in 24 hours of fierce fighting between the Libyan army and militants in t...

Plane of father-son due on trip round the world crashes into the Pacific

Anonymous 0 World News 19:08

Plane of father-son due on trip round the world crashes into the Pacific

The plane of father-son duo attempting to fly around the world in 30 days, has reportedly crashed into the Pacific near the American S...

India outsources chores as servant culture shifts

Anonymous 0 World News 19:05

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<strong style="border: 0px none; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px;"><strong style="border: 0px none; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px;">MUMBAI: </strong></strong></div>
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<strong style="border: 0px none; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px;">Need someone to pay your bills and pick up your shopping, take an elderly relative to hospital or deliver 26 presents to your girlfriend on her 26th birthday?</strong></div>
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These are just some of the requests received by Mumbai start-up “Get My Peon“, one of the new Indian companies offering to do your chores and errands in a country traditionally reliant on full-time servants.</div>
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Hired help still plays a huge role in hierarchical Indian society, with those who can afford it employing maids, cooks, drivers and nannies, as well as “peons” or servants at work — still an acceptable term in India for office boys and runners.</div>
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But some are increasingly opting to outsource their daily tasks rather than depend on in-house staff. Get My Peon, set up in 2012, now has about 800 clients on its books, from chief executives to housewives.</div>
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“People have stopped doing things the old-fashioned way. The labour costs for full-time staff are very high,” said Bharat Ahirwar, the 29-year-old founder of Get My Peon, which charges 200 rupees ($3) for a one-way errand.</div>
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While India’s urban middle-class is growing and looking for affordable help, new avenues are opening for poorer workers who earlier were more likely to settle as full-time, often poorly paid, servants.</div>
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<strong style="border: 0px none; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px;">Less manpower</strong></div>
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“The availability of manpower is going down,” said Bhavin Shah, who runs dehydrated meals company Satvita Foods and regularly uses Get My Peon for deliveries after previously employing his own runner.</div>
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“Getting the right kind of people is tough, they occupy real estate, a lot of things are required for full-time staff and you’ve got to keep track of them all the time,” he said.</div>
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“The more you can outsource, the better it is.”</div>
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Having your own staff still appears to be something of a status symbol — some of Get My Peon’s users prefer their clients not to know they are using the service instead of a personal servant.</div>
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“That happens a lot,” said Ahirwar, who employs a team of about 10 runners.</div>
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As well as being assigned errands, they can be hired for a day to help with certain tasks at home or in the office.</div>
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Anil Dharker, a Mumbai columnist who writes on social issues, agreed that most Indian companies now want fewer employees on their books and therefore fewer liabilities, with a declining number enlisting full-time chauffeurs for their senior executives.</div>
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“They give an allowance and he (the senior executive) finds his own person,” said Dharker, also mentioning the various taxi firms that offer drivers for hire by the day, in a country where public transport options remain limited.</div>
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American cab-hailing smartphone app Uber has recently entered the Indian market, positioning itself as an alternative to full-time chauffeurs by advertising as “everyone’s private driver”.</div>
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Get My Peon has meanwhile tied up with several other start-ups offering to take care of household chores, including laundry service Chamak Direct, professional cleaners Hammer and Mop and home repairs firm Travtus Workforce.</div>
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“I don’t think middle-class people in (Indian) cities have ever held a drill in their life. They’re so used to having people do it for them,” said Travtus founder Tripty Arya.</div>
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She said working with one’s hands was still considered a “lower grade job” in India, where even do-it-yourself enthusiasts struggle to find time for such tasks on top of commuting to work in traffic-clogged cities.</div>
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<strong style="border: 0px none; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px;">Home help in demand</strong></div>
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With a growing number of nuclear families in which both parents go out to work, help in the home remains in high demand in urban India.</div>
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But those looking for cheap, full-time labour often find themselves disappointed, said Vikas Singh, who runs domestic help provider Deliseva.com, based in Mumbai.</div>
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“We have householders coming in and saying a maid is working for us for 3,000 to 4,000 rupees ($50-67) a month, give us another for that same price,” said Singh, whose firm sticks to a minimum wage of 7,200 rupees a month for eight-hour days.</div>
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Singh said many cooks and maids on their books, often migrants from rural areas, would work for a few hours at three or four different households, whereas traditionally they tended to take up a live-in job with one family.</div>
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Others are choosing to abandon domestic service altogether as the growing economy throws up a range of new jobs, rather than work in an industry still mired with tales of exploitation and abuse.</div>
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Neelam Ashok Kapadne, a 25-year-old living in northeast Mumbai, worked as a maid to support her family after her father died, but later found a job in a shopping mall and is now at college studying commerce.</div>
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“Even though we live in slums, hardly any of the girls in my neighbourhood want to work as house maids. They want to study, housework is tough,” she said.</div>

India outsources chores as servant culture shifts

MUMBAI: Need someone to pay your bills and pick up your shopping, take an elderly relative to hospital or deliver 26 presents to you...

UN rights council launches probe into Israel’s Gaza offensive

Anonymous 0 World News 19:02

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<strong style="border: 0px none; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px;"><strong style="border: 0px none; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px;">GENEVA: </strong>The UN Human Rights Council on Wednesday launched a probe into Israel’s Gaza offensive, backing efforts by the Palestinians to hold the Jewish state up to international scrutiny.</strong></div>
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The 46-member council backed a Palestinian-drafted resolution by 29 votes, with Arab and fellow Muslim countries joined by China, Russia and Latin American and African nations.</div>
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The United States was the sole member to vote against, while European countries abstained.</div>

UN rights council launches probe into Israel’s Gaza offensive

GENEVA: The UN Human Rights Council on Wednesday launched a probe into Israel’s Gaza offensive, backing efforts by the Palestinians to...

Transasia Airways plane crashes on landing in Taiwan, killing 40: Xinhua

Anonymous 0 World News 18:58

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<strong style="border: 0px none; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px;"><strong style="border: 0px none; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px;">TAIPEI: </strong>A Transasia Airways plane crashed when making an emergency landing in Taiwan on Wednesday, killing 40 people, China’s <em style="border: 0px none; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px;">Xinhua</em> news agency said.</strong></div>
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Taiwan media said a domestic flight had crashed, killing or injuring more than 40 people.</div>
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“It’s chaotic on the scene,” Jean Shen, director of the civil aviation authorities, told <em style="border: 0px none; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px;">Reuters</em>.</div>
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“The fire department was putting out the flames. They will give us the number of casualties very soon.”</div>
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<em style="border: 0px none; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px;">Xinhua</em> said the accident happened on one of the Penghu islands, also know as the Pescadores.</div>
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No more details were immediately available.</div>
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Typhoon Matmo slammed into Taiwan on Wednesday with heavy rains and strong winds, shutting financial markets and schools.</div>
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TransAsia Airways is a Taiwan-based airline with a fleet of 23 mostly Airbus aircraft, flying chiefly on domestic routes, but with some flights to Japan, Thailand and Cambodia among its Asian destinations.</div>

Transasia Airways plane crashes on landing in Taiwan, killing 40: Xinhua

TAIPEI: A Transasia Airways plane crashed when making an emergency landing in Taiwan on Wednesday, killing 40 people, China’s Xinhu...

Amid global outcry: Israel piles misery on Gaza, rules out truce

Anonymous 0 World News 18:56

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<strong style="border: 0px none; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px;">GENEVA:</strong></div>
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<strong style="border: 0px none; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px;">Defying renewed truce calls from the UN, France and the US, Israel pounded targets across the Gaza Strip on Tuesday, scaling up the Palestinian fatality count to 616 in the third week of the conflict.</strong></div>
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The latest strikes killed a six-month-old infant and a 24-year-old Palestinian in northern Gaza, in addition to a Palestinian bombed on a motorcycle elsewhere in the territory, Palestinian health officials said. The Israeli military said it had killed 183 militants. Israel’s casualties also mounted, with the military announcing the deaths of two more soldiers, bringing the number of army fatalities to 27 – almost three times as many as were killed in the last ground invasion of Gaza, in a 2008-2009 war.</div>
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Justice Minister Tzipi Livni insisted that Israel will not halt its fire in Gaza until it finishes an operation aimed at destroying tunnels used by militants for cross-border attacks.</div>
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Addressing reporters, with Netanyahu at his side, UN chief Ban Ki-Moon said: “My message to Israelis and Palestinians is the same: Stop fighting. Start talking. And take on the root causes of the conflict, so we are not back to the same situation in another six months or a year.”</div>
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Stepping up diplomatic efforts in Cairo, US Secretary of State Jonh Kerry urged Hamas to pursue a negotiated end to its conflict with Israel after what he said were constructive talks with Egyptian officials about their ceasefire proposal.</div>
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After meeting Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al Sisi, Kerry said there was still “work to do” to try to resolve conflict in which more than 600 people have died.</div>
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“Hamas has a fundamental choice to make and it is a choice that will have a profound impact for the people of Gaza,” Kerry told reporters in a joint appearance with his Egyptian counterpart Sameh Shukri.</div>
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Kerry has said the United States would provide $47 million in humanitarian aid for the Gaza Strip. He plans to stay in Cairo until Wednesday morning but has no set departure date from the region.</div>
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<strong style="border: 0px none; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px;">‘A humanitarian truce’</strong></div>
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An Egyptian official who attended some of Kerry’s meetings said Ban was working towards reaching a humanitarian truce, perhaps lasting for several days, to get aid into the territory.</div>
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“The sensitivities between Egypt and Hamas are what is halting a final inclusive ceasefire deal,” the official said.</div>
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<strong style="border: 0px none; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px;">Palestinians lay out truce plan</strong></div>
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At the same time, the Palestinian leadership proposed to Egypt a plan for a Gaza ceasefire to be followed by five days of negotiations to stop fighting between Palestinians and Israel, Palestinian official Azzam al Ahmed told reporters in Cairo on Tuesday.</div>
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“The Palestinian leadership offered a new suggestion in the framework of the Egyptian initiative for a ceasefire followed immediately by negotiations lasting five days,” Fatah official al Ahmed said.</div>

Amid global outcry: Israel piles misery on Gaza, rules out truce

GENEVA: Defying renewed truce calls from the UN, France and the US, Israel pounded targets across the Gaza Strip on Tuesday, scaling ...

Chinese army shows off latest toy in its lethal arsenal: Dancing robots

Anonymous 0 World News 18:52

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<strong style="border: 0px none; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px;"><strong style="border: 0px none; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px;">BEIJING: </strong>To the sound of Shakira’s Waka Waka (This Time for Africa) small robots demonstrated their dance steps as nearby screaming recruits drilled with bayonets with tanks rolling in at China’s military school on Tuesday.</strong></div>
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The exposition, held at the Armoured Forces Engineering Academy in Beijing, was touted by senior People’s Liberation Army (PLA) officials as an opportunity to burnish civilian-military and international ties ahead of Army Day, the August 1 commemoration of the Communist-led army’s founding.</div>
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“The most important thing is that we have mutual understanding,” Liu Degang, the academy’s vice president, told AFP. “We undergo training just like every other country in the world. We also love peace.”</div>
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A promotional guide for the event, described as the first of its kind at the academy that foreign media had been allowed to attend, noted that “cadets, instructors and commanders would like to be interviewed”.</div>
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Young soldiers chatted with reporters while showing off technological projects including drones and small Transformer-like robots in bright primary colours.</div>
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The dancing machines’ military purpose was not explained, but the opening lyrics of the Colombian singer’s 2010 World Cup anthem used as their backing track run: “You’re a good soldier/Choosing your battles/Pick yourself up and dust yourself off/And back in the saddle.</div>
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“You’re on the front line/Everyone’s watching/You know it’s serious, we’re getting closer/This isn’t over.”</div>
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Hanging over the event’s convivial atmosphere were questions about China’s ballooning military spending, its tense relations with rival Japan and a much-publicised anti-graft campaign that has swept up one of the Chinese army’s most powerful officials.</div>
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A fearsome procession of 10 rolling tanks – intended to showcase the PLA’s military prowess – also held echoes of the most memorable image from the 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown on pro-democracy protesters, a subject about which any public discussion has long been banned by the ruling Communist Party.</div>
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<strong style="border: 0px none; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px;">No ‘enemy’ in mind</strong></div>
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China, home to the world’s largest military, far outnumbers its Asian neighbours in manpower, ships, aircraft and defence spending.<b style="border: 0px none; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px;"></b></div>
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Its official military budget – which in recent years has seen regular double-digit rises – last year came to $119.5 billion, far short of the US’s $495.5 billion but nonetheless sparking concern in the region.</div>
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China and Japan have long been at odds over what Beijing sees as Tokyo’s failure to atone for its military atrocities before and during World War II.</div>
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In recent weeks, China has been releasing daily “confessions” by Japanese war criminals convicted in the 1950s, while state-run media have intensified criticism of Tokyo.</div>
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At the same time, tensions are mounting between the two over disputed islands in the East China Sea, as well as between Beijing and Hanoi, Manila and others over territorial claims in the South China Sea, raising fears of clashes.</div>
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Much of the recent military focus has been on the navy, with China’s first aircraft carrier going into service in 2012 but the academy’s commandant Major-General Xu Han denied that tanks and other ground vehicles are becoming obsolete as combat increasingly moves to the skies and seas.</div>
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“In mechanised warfare or informationised warfare, the army and ground operations are an important and decisive component,” he said.</div>
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He described last month’s ouster for graft of powerful retired general Xu Caihou, the former vice-chairman of China’s Central Military Commission as “an individual case about corruption which does not represent the overall image of the PLA”.</div>
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“This is a problem which has existed since ancient times in all countries,” he said.</div>
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The anti-graft campaign under Chinese President Xi Jinping has been heavily publicised, but critics say no systemic reforms have been introduced to increase transparency to help battle endemic corruption.</div>
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The academy is close to the Marco Polo Bridge on the outskirts of Beijing, where a skirmish between Chinese and Japanese troops on July 7, 1937 served as a pretext for Tokyo’s forces to seize Beijing and launch a full-scale invasion of China.</div>
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At an opening briefing for Chinese and foreign reporters, Xu was asked to explain the rationale behind China’s military buildup and whether Beijing had a particular “enemy” in mind.</div>
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“It is not necessary to pick an enemy or an opponent in combat while developing one’s military,” he replied. “I think for the PLA’s development, it is in coordination and consistent with the overall development of China.”</div>
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A video highlighted the work and education of the academy’s cadets, to a soundtrack of invigorating music.</div>
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Their work, it declared, is aimed at “ensuring the happiness of the Chinese people and maintaining the peace of the world”.</div>
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On the other end of the military spectrum is India, which on Monday approved an increased defence procurement bill, spurred primarily by a bulking China.</div>
</h1>

Chinese army shows off latest toy in its lethal arsenal: Dancing robots

BEIJING: To the sound of Shakira’s Waka Waka (This Time for Africa) small robots demonstrated their dance steps as nearby screaming r...

Rebels return 80 fewer bodies than promised from MH17, experts say

Anonymous 0 World News 18:49

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<strong style="border: 0px none; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px;"><strong style="border: 0px none; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px;">DONETSK, UKRAINE: </strong>International monitors on Tuesday said body parts still lay scattered at eastern Ukraine’s unsecured crash site of downed flight MH17, as Dutch experts said they were given 80 fewer corpses than promised by the rebels.</strong></div>
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“There were human remains that had not been picked up,” said Michael Bociurkiw, a spokesperson for the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) observer mission after visiting the scene, amid reports of the wreckage being rearranged.</div>
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“What struck us is that we did not monitor any recovery activity in place,” he said, pointing out that OSCE observers saw human remains in at least two areas at the sprawling crash site in rebel-held territory.</div>
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Pro-Russian insurgents said Monday they had released the bodies of 282 victims after they were sent by refrigerated train to the government-controlled town of Kharkiv, some 300 kilometres to the northwest.</div>
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But Dutch experts now in possession of the corpses said Tuesday they had only counted 200 on the morgue train.</div>
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“We are sure of having 200 bodies and body parts, that is all that I know,” said Jan Tuinder, the head of the Dutch delegation told journalists.</div>
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Flight MH17 was apparently brought down by a missile on Thursday with 298 people on board, including 193 Dutch citizens.</div>
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Five days after the incident, OSCE monitors said they noticed “changes” in the arrangement of the wreckage.</div>
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“We did observe changes at the site. The fuselage has been moved. It appears that the cone section is split in two and it appears that the tail fin has been moved,” Bociurkiw said.</div>
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Western leaders have complained that rebels have been tampering with vital evidence at the site.</div>
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But Bociurkiw said there should be no “rush to conclusions” and the changes “could have been part of the effort to recover remains”.</div>
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Fifteen monitors from the European security body visited the site for a fifth day on Tuesday, accompanied for the first time by a senior official from Malaysian Airlines and by two Malaysian civil aviation experts.</div>
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“There was no security perimeter. We also noticed that the vast amount of personal belongings of passengers has been removed from the scene,” he added.</div>
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“The Malaysian experts observed that the heat from the impact was so intense that it melted the wings,” which were made of aluminium, he said.</div>

Rebels return 80 fewer bodies than promised from MH17, experts say

DONETSK, UKRAINE: International monitors on Tuesday said body parts still lay scattered at eastern Ukraine’s unsecured crash site of d...

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