204_CH_28_July_2016

CITY
HILIGHTS
Vol 1, Issue 204 `.1.00/-
Thursday, July 28, 2016
www.ibcworldnews.com www.cityhilights.news
English Daily 5
WORLD
Iran announces May 19
presidential election
Tehran: Iran’s Guardian
Council announced on Wednesday
that next year’s presidential
election will take place on May
19 with embattled incumbent
Hassan Rouhani expected to
run for a second term.
Rouhani, a moderate who
oversaw a deal with world
powers to end sanctions in exchange
for curbing Iran’s nuclear
programme, faces mounting
pressure from conservatives
who want to limit rapprochement
with the West.
Hardliners argue the nuclear
deal has brought few economic
benefits to struggling Iranians,
and Rouhani has also been hit
by a scandal over exorbitant
pay at public sector companies
after payslips were leaked to
the media.
Although the president is the
public face of Iran to the world,
real power remains with the
supreme leader and institutions
such as the Revolutionary
Guards that are dominated by
conservatives.
If Rouhani loses, it would be
the first time since the Islamic
revolution in 1979 that a sitting
president has not won a second
term. No candidates have yet
been formally announced.
The conservative-minded
Guardian Council oversees elections
and has powers to veto
candidates.
Suicide bomber was
former Somali MP:
Shabaab
Mogadishu: A former Somali
MP who joined the Shabaab
group in 2010 was one of two
suicide bombers who killed 13
people near a United Nations
and African Union base, the militants
announced on Wednesday.
Car bombs driven by suicide
attackers exploded on Tuesday
morning near Mogadishu’s airport,
one of which went off 200
metres from the base, killing
mainly security staff.
Salah Badbado, 53, served
in Somalia’s parliament from
2004 until 2010, when he declared
at a press conference he
was leaving politics to join the
Somali al-Qaeda affiliate.
“Salah Nuh Ismail known as
Salah Badbado was among the
braves who have carried out the
attack on Halane military base,”
the group said in statement released
on the Telegram app and
their Andalus radio station.
“He was a former lawmaker
but he has repented from the
apostasy in the year 2010 when
he publicly announced defecting
from the apostates,” the
Shabaab statement said.
The attack was condemned
by the African Union and the
United Nations, which said
that none of its personnel were
among the confirmed dead.
Ships rescue 46 people
from boat off Alaska
Anchorage (US): Two ships
brought 46 people to safety after
they abandoned their sinking
fishing boat and boarded life
rafts off Alaska’s Aleutian Islands.
There were no reports of any
injuries as the good Samaritan
vessels rescued the crew members
last evening, Coast Guard
Petty Officer Lauren Steenson
said.The ships then began a 13-
hour voyage to port in Adak,
Alaska.
When the 220-foot Alaska
Juris started taking on water
on Tuesday, all crew members
donned survival suits and got
into three rafts.An emergency
beacon alerted the Coast Guard
to the sinking ship just after
11:30 a.m. (local time).
The Spar Canis and the Vienna
Express rushed to the scene
in response to the Coast Guard’s
emergency broadcast for help, as
did two other merchant vessels.
“The good Samaritans’ willingness
to respond was paramount
to getting the Alaska Juris
crew to safety,” Coast Guard District
17 command duty officer Lt.
Greg Isbell said.
The Coast Guard also diverted
the cutter Midgett and dispatched
two C-130 transport
planes and two helicopters from
Kodiak to the site of the sinking
ship, located near Kiska Island,
which is about 690 miles west of
Dutch Harbor, one of the nation’s
busiest fishing ports.
RUSSIANS POSSIBLY TRYING TO SWAY US
POLLS: OBAMA ON DNC HACK
Philadelphia: US President
Barack Obama has
said it is possible that Russia
was trying to interfere
in the US presidential election,
after a leak of Democratic
National Committee
emails that have been attributed
to Russian hackers
by experts.
“What we do know is
that the Russians hack our
systems.Not just government
systems, but private
systems. But you know,
what the motives were in
terms of the leaks, all that
I can’t say directly,” Obama
told in an interview.
“What I do know is that
Donald Trump has repeatedly
expressed admiration
HILLARY MAKES HISTORY AS FIRST
WOMAN WHITE HOUSE NOMINEE
Philadelphia: Hillary
Clinton scripted history on
Wednesday by becaming
the first woman to win the
presidential nomination
of a major US party as she
secured the backing of the
Democrats at the convention
to set up an epic clash
with Republican rival Donald
Trump in the November
polls.
Clinton, who has been
secretary of state, first lady
and a Senator from New
York, secured her nomination
at the Democratic National
Convention here after
a majority of the 4,764
party delegates formally
backed her.
If elected in the November
8 polls, Clinton would
become America’s first female
president and commander-in-chief.
In an electrifying end
to the Democratic convention’s
second night, Clinton
appeared by video from
New York, saying, “What an
INDONESIAN PREZ ANNOUNCES NEW CAB LINE-UP
Jakarta: Indonesian
President Joko “Jokowi”
Widodo announced a new
Cabinet line-up on Wednesday
that returns a reformist
to the Finance Ministry and
puts a former head of the
military in charge of security.
Jokowi said that Sri
MulyaniIndrawati, who
was finance minister from
CHINA TO CRACKDOWN ON CRIMINAL DAMAGE TO GREAT WALL
Beijing: China will launch
a campaign to crackdown
on criminal damage to the
country’s historic treasure,
the Great Wall, which is decaying
in many places.
The campaign will be
launched by China’s State
Administration of Cultural
Heritage (SACH) which
will involve regular inspections
and random checks
on protection efforts by
authorities in 15 provinces,
autonomous regions and
municipalities.
The SACH will open a
special tip-line for information
about violations and
damage to the Great Wall
from the public, state-run
Xinhua news agency reported.
Built from the third century
BC to the Ming Dynasty
(1368-1644), the Great
for Vladimir Putin,”
he said as the interviewer
promoted
that it looks like he
is suggesting that
Putin might be motivated
to prefer
Trump in the White
House.
“Well, I am basing
this on what Mr Trump
himself has said. And I
think that Trump’s gotten
pretty favourable coverage
back in Russia,” Obama said
in response to a question.
Asked if the Russians
were trying to influence
the US elections, Obama
replied: “Anything is possible.”
Obama’s comments
come in the wake of release
of emails by WikiLeaks
which were obtained illegally
by hacking into the
server of the Democratic
National Committee.These
emails indicated that the
party leadership supported
Clinton in the primaries
incredible honour that you
have given me and I can’t
believe we just put the biggest
crack in that glass ceiling
yet.”
“This is really your victory.
This is really your night.
And if there are any little
girls out there who stayed
up late to watch, let me just
say I may become the first
woman president but one
of you is next,” the 68-yearold
said.
Her rival from the primaries,
Bernie Sanders
moved a resolution for her
nomination when the roll
call got to his home state of
Vermont sending out a vital
message of unity for a party
struck by deep divisions.
“I move that Hillary Clinton
be nominated as the
Democratic Party’s presidential
candidate of the
United States,” Sanders said
as he called for suspension
of rules to pave the way for
unanimous nomination of
2005-2010, is returning to
the role from her current
position as managing director
at the World Bank.
In her first stint as finance
minister she was praised
for overhauling a corrupt
taxation department
and guiding the economy
through the 2008 global financial
crisis.
Wiranto, a former general
who was head of the
military when Indonesia’s
armed forces committed
serious human rights
abuses in East Timor, was
named the minister for security,
political and legal
affairs.
Wall stretches over 21,000
kilometers from the northwestern
province of Gansu
to north China’s Hebei
Province.
Over a four million tourists
visit the Great Wall every
year as it is the centre of
China’s tourism campaign.
Each tourist pays about
USD 17 to visit different
places, specially in Beijing.
According to SACH statistics,
about 30 per cent
of a 6,200-km section of
the wall built in the Ming
Dynasty has disappeared,
and less than 10 per cent is
considered well-preserved.
The Great Wall has faced
threats from both nature
and humans. Earthquakes,
rain, wind and other natural
elements have left the
wall with many decayed
and crumbling bricks.
against her rival Senator
Bernie Sanders from Vermont.
Meanwhile, the Democratic
Party and the Clinton
campaign acknowledged
more emails could be released
in the coming weeks,
the timing of which would
be scheduled to inflict most
damage to the Democratic
presidential nominee.
“The WikiLeaks leak
was obviously designed to
hurt our convention. I don’t
think they’re done. That’s
how they operate,” Jennifer
Palmieri, communications
director for Hillary for
America, told reporters at a
news conference.
“We can’t know, but it’s
part of the reason that we
wanted people to understand
our belief that the
Russians are behind this.
People need to understand
when these leaks happen
what they’re designed to
do,” she said.
Clinton as the party’s
presidential candidate.
Moments later, the
Democratic delegates
nominated Clinton as
the party’s presidential
candidate, setting
up a high-stakes
showdown with Republican
Trump.
“This moment is for every
little girl who dreams
big.#WeMadeHistory,”
tweeted Clinton.
“Stronger together,” she
said in another tweet.
Clinton’s nomination
was proposed by Congresswoman
Barbara A Mikulski,
the first Democratic
woman elected to the Senate,
and the first woman to
chair the powerful Senate
Committee on Appropriations.
He replaced Luhut Binsar
Pandjaitan, a close ally
of Jokowi, who becomes
the chief minister for maritime
issues at a time when
Southeast Asian nations
are at odds with China over
its territorial ambitions in
the South China Sea.
It is the second reorganization
of Jokowi’s Cabinet
since the maverick politician
became president in
2014, after defeating an establishment
candidate in a
national election.
A total of 13 ministries
were changed and nine of
the ministers are new to
the Cabinet. Many of the
Human activities,
such
as reckless
development
by some governments
and theft of
bricks by
local villagers
for use
as building
materials,
as well as agriculture near
the wall, have damaged the
landmark, according to a
research by the China Great
Wall Society.
The lack of protection
efforts in remote regions
and a weak plan have also
contributed to the damage,
the society said.
In 2006, China released
a national regulation on
Great Wall protection.However,
Great Wall experts
In an interview to CNN,
Wikileaks founder Julian
Assange said they plan to
release more emails in the
coming weeks.
“What we have right
now is the Hillary Clinton
campaign using a speculative
allegation about hacks
that have occurred in the
past to try and divert attention
from our emails,
another separate issue that
WikiLeaks has published,”
he said.
“I think this raises a very
serious question, which is
that the natural instincts of
Hillary Clinton and the people
around her, that when
confronted with a serious
domestic political scandal,
that she tries to blame the
Russians, blame the Chinese,
etc,” he said.
“If she does that when
she’s in government, that’s
a political, managerial style
that can lead to conflict,”
Assange said.
“It is with a full heart
that I am here today as we
nominate Hillary Clinton to
be the first woman president,”
she said.
“Many of you have broken
barriers. You were the
first to go to college. You
were the first to start a
business. Maybe the first to
be a citizen. But you knew
when you broke a barrier
you didn’t do it for yourself.
You did it so others would
not have to face them again.
That’s what Hillary wants
to do. She wants to break
down all the barriers to opportunity,”
Mikulski said.
Legendary civil rights
leader and Congressman
John Lewis seconded Clinton’s
name as the Democratic
presidential nominee.
new appointments were
in economy-related ministries,
reflecting Jokowi’s
focus on developing an
economy that is one of the
largest in Asia but suffers
from weak infrastructure
and entrenched poverty.
“We have to resolve the
poverty problem. We have
to reduce the economic
gap between the rich and
the poor, the gap among
regions,” Jokowi said. “We
have to strengthen the national
economy, we have
to open job opportunities
as wide as possible for the
people.
have urged local authorities
to draw up more practical
measures to better implement
the regulation.
This year, Inner Mongolia
Autonomous Region
included Great Wall protection
expenditures in its
budget. The government
of Fangcheng City, Henan
Province, began a campaign
for conservation experts
and local residents to work
together to protect the wall.
3 THAI ACTIVISTS CHARGED WITH CRIMINAL DEFAMATION
Bangkok: Three Thai
human rights activists have
been charged with criminal
defamation over a report
that detailed alleged systematic
torture inside military
enclosures in the country’s
southern provinces.
All three denied the
charges and were freed on
Wednesday without having
to post bail.They were
freed on the condition they
submit detailed testimony
to the lead investigator in
the case, explaining circumstances
around the study
they wrote.
They have about two
months to submit the report
so the investigator can
decide whether to go ahead
with the case, said one the
activists’ lawyers, Preeda
Nakphew from the Cross
Cultural Foundation advocacy
group.
The charges involve a report
the three issued alleging
torture by security forces
in Thailand’s southern
provinces, where a Muslim
insurgency has lasted more
than a decade. If convicted
they face up to five years in
jail.
Amnesty International
has called on Thai
authorities to drop the
charges and instead investigate
the allegations
in the report.
The report issued in
February described acts of
torture in the southern provinces
as systematic and said
that in spite of complaints
and campaigns by victims
and rights organizations,
“the state has not taken any
significant action to prevent
and address torture.”
Government spokesman
Winthai Suvaree said in response
to their report that
there was no evidence to
support the allegations.
In a separate case, the
niece of an army conscript
who was tortured to death
by soldiers was released on
bail early Wednesday after
being arrested a day earlier
on a complaint filed by a
military officer over her internet
postings.
She was taken to the
province of Narathiwat,
800 kilometers (500 miles)
south of Bangkok late Tuesday
night, where she denied
the charges. She was let out
on bail early on Wednesday.
Naritsarawan Kaewnopparat
posted photos last
year of her uncle’s body and
information about the torture
he endured. She was
arrested at her workplace in
Bangkok on charges of criminal
defamation and violating
the Computer Crime Act.
The military officer behind
the defamation suit
against Naritsarawan was
one of the 10 army officers
involved in the torture of her
uncle.
Military personnel are
rarely prosecuted for human
rights abuses or other
crimes in Thailand, and the
military government that
seized power in May 2014
has clamped down on free
speech.
INDIA QUITE CAPABLE OF MEETING 100 SMART CITY GOAL
Singapore: India is more
than capable of achieving
its 100 Smart City goal but
needs a “collaborative” and
focussed approach to complete
the ambitious plan, a
top executive of a leading
global Financial services
company has said.
“With its ambitious plan,
it is more crucial than ever
for India to stay realistic and
focused. (For) Smart city
planning and development,
India needs a collaborative
approach of shared technology,
expertise, learning and
governance. That is what
India needs to keep focused
on to meet their 100 Smart
City goal,” said Hany Fam,
Executive Vice President, Enterprise
Partnerships, Mastercard.
He noted that India was
working towards leveraging
the smart city experience
and technology available
across the globe to drive the
transformation it needs. Fam,
however, cautioned that it
was also important not to
overlook the current problems
plaguing society while
they ambitiously work on developing
India’s future.
“In order to unlock cities’
full potential, they (India)
need to remain focused on
simultaneously developing
basic services and infrastructure,”
Fam said.
India needs to keep its
smart city vision in mind
while it addresses issues such
as sanitation and transport,
in order to achieve its 100
Smart City goal.
“It needs time, patience
and work, but with a solid
plan, governance and focus,
India is more than capable of
achieving it,” he stressed.
The major concern for
India is tackling the implications
of urbanisation, with
people moving from countryside
to cities in unprecedented
numbers, Fam said.
“This is a trend that has
global impact and is not
specific to developing economies.
So now, more than
ever, there is a need to come
up with technology that can
be applied to the challenges
cities face in order to make
cities smarter, enabling business
growth and quality of
life,” he advised.
A collaborative approach
is needed with regards to
shared technology, expertise
and learning in order to recognise
the potential in future
cities and deliver truly impactful
transformation, Fam
said.
“The Indian government
has ambitious plans and recently
announced 20 priority
cities that will be the focus
for the first phase of its smart
city investment,” he said.
“By taking into account
the experiences citizens have
with the city they live in, and
applying technology to transform
these interactions, we
(Mastercard) can help to develop
cities that are dynamic,
liveable and sustainable,” he
said.
Mastercard is already
working with 50 cities from
all over the globe. In September
last year, the company
launched the Urbanomics
Mobility Project, a new data
analysis platform to fuel
smarter, more inclusive cities.
ONE DEAD IN MEXICO AFTER FUEL THEFT CAUSES SPILL
Coatzacoalcos (Mexico):
Fuel thieves pierced a pipeline
in eastern Mexico, causing
a spill that killed a man
who fainted from the fumes
and fell down a ravine, authorities
said.
Six other people were
intoxicated after they approached
the spill in Veracruz
state to scoop up fuel, a
police officer in the town of
Ixtaczoquitlan said on condition
of anonymity because he
was not authorised to speak
publicly.
The state civil protection
agency said in a statement on
Tuesday that a 43-year-old
man died “from being close to
the location and inhaling the
vapours, fainting and falling
in a gully.”
Some 600 people were
evacuated from their homes
while workers from the
state-run Pemex energy firm
worked to clean up the spill
and fix the pipeline.
Fuel thefts have increased
in Mexico in recent years as
drug cartels and other gangs
diversify their illegal activities.
Thousands of illegal taps
were discovered in pipelines
last year.
Illegal taps have caused
environmental disasters and
deaths in the past.
In April 2015, some
100,000 people were left
without drinking water in the
southern state of Tabasco after
oil spilled into rivers.
In December 2010, an illegal
tap caused a deadly explosion
that killed 29 people in
the central town of San Martin
Texmelucan.
TRUMP CASHED IN ON 9/11 TERROR ATTACKS: DEMOCRATIC LAWMAKER
Philadelphia: A top Democratic
lawmaker has accused
Republican presidential
candidate Donald Trump
of cashing in on the 9/11
terror attacks even as he applauded
Hillary Clinton’s role
as the New York senator in
the aftermath of the tragedy.
“Where was Donald
Trump in the days, and
months, and the years after
9/11? He didn’t stand at the
pile. He didn’t lobby Congress
for help. He didn’t fight for the
first responders,” Congressman
Joe Crowley asked in his
address to the Democratic
National Convention.
“He cashed in, collecting
USD 150,000 in federal funds
intended to help small businesses
recover, even though
days after the attack, Trump
said his properties were not
affected,” Crowley said.
On the other hand, Hillary,
the Democratic presidential
nominee sought those funds
to help local mom and pop
shops get back on their feet,
he said.
“Donald Trump saw it as a
payday for his empire. It was
one of our nation’s darkest
days, but for Trump, it was
just another chance to make
a quick buck,” he said.
“Hillary has never and will
never forget the reality of that
day, and that is why she will
never give up on making us a
better and stronger nation,”
said Crowley, who is a former
Co-Chair of the Congressional
Caucus on India and Indian
Americans.
Crowley said Hillary Clinton,
as the then Senator from
New York understood the
pain of the 9/11 families.
AFP
“She fought to help our city
rebuild, and she delivered.
People forget, but the assistance
package that was first
proposed didn’t have a dime,
not a dime for New York. Hillary
helped turn that around,
securing USD 20 billion we
need to help get New York
going again,” he said.
“But she didn’t stop there.
Hundreds worked on the pile
in the days after 9/11. First,
they came to find survivors,
but eventually searched for
remains. They didn’t worry
about their own health. They
were told the air was fine, but
it wasn’t,” he added.
“And when health issues
emerged years later, Hillary
Clinton was still by their side.
She brought families and first
responders to Washington.
She took them door to door,
never letting her colleagues
forget the consequences of
that terrible day,” Crowley
said.
“For almost a decade, Hillary
never gave up, and she
was there with us when the
9/11 Health and Compensation
Act was finally passed,”
he said.