15-21 January 2018 - 16-min

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8 15 - 21 January, 2018 Neighbourhood News Insurgents attack Myanmar soldiers in Rakhine, S wounding 6 ix Myanmar soldiers were wounded in an insurgent attack in northern Rakhine state, where government troops have been accused of “ethnic cleansing” that forced hundreds of thousands of Rohingya Muslims to flee into Bangladesh, officials said. The military said in a statement on the commander in chief’s Facebook page that the attackers were from the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army, the militant group blamed for attacks on police posts in August that prompted the crackdown that left thousands of Rohingya dead and more than 650,000 displaced. A NEW DELHI TIMES New Report Warns IS Increasing new report has documented an “alarming” increase in the Islamic State footprint in Pakistan, saying it adds to the challenges facing the country’s decade-long campaign against terrorism and religious extremism. The annual report, published by the independent Pakistan Institute for Peace Studies, or PIPS, registered 370 terrorist attacks across Pakistan in 2017, including “suicide and gun-and-suicide coordinated” raids that killed 815 people and injured more than 1,700. The report, however, noted a 10 percent reduction in fatalities and a 16 percent decline in overall terrorist attacks. ‘Footprint’ in Pakistan “What has been quite alarming is the increasing footprint of Daesh, especially in Baluchistan and Sindh [provinces],” according to the report, which used the Arabic acronym for IS. The terrorist group claimed six major attacks that last year incidents of religious extremism, including on educational campuses, require Islamabad to revisit its counterterrorism strategy to effectively deal with the new challenges, according to the document. Islamabad says IS plots attacks on Pakistani soil from bases across the Afghan border and have been calling on the neighboring country and U.S. forces operating there to take steps to stop the extremist violence. IS launched its regional operations in early 2015 after establishing bases in the eastern Afghan provinces of Nangarhar and Kunar, bordering Pakistan. The report said that Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), which is commonly known as the Pakistani Taliban, and its splinter factions were “still the most potent threat” and were behind 58 percent of the attacks. Nationalist insurgents active in southwestern Baluchistan province and sectarian groups are blamed for the rest of the attacks. killed 153 people, mostly civilians, it said. Two Chinese were also among the victims. A “convergence” of IS fighters in Afghanistan near the Pakistani border, the emergence of “self-radicalized individuals” and small terrorist cells and growing Afghan forces, backed by U.S. airpower, have since been conducting operations against the IS bases, killing hundreds of militants, but the terrorist group has lately expanded its influence to the northern provinces of Afghanistan, worrying neighboring central Asian states. Credit : Voice of America (VOA) More than 20 insurgents used homemade bombs to attack a truck transporting troops from Taungpyo township in northern Rakhine, the government said in a separate statement on its Facebook page. Six soldiers were taken to a military hospital, border guard police official Sann Oo said by phone. In the past, the military has retaliated against Rohingya villages following such attacks. The United Nations’ top human rights official in September described the Myanmar army’s crackdown against the Rohingya Muslim minority as “a textbook example of ethnic cleansing.” The United States also declared the violence against Rohingya Muslims to be “ethnic cleansing” and President Donald Trump’s administration announced on Dec. 21 that it sanctioned the country’s Maj. Gen. Maung Maung Soe, who until recently was in charge of security operations in Rakhine. Myanmar’s military released a report in November saying an internal investigation had absolved its forces of wrongdoing including allegations of rape and killings. Credit : Associated Press (AP) www.NewDelhiTimes.com
15 - 21 January, 2018 9 J Canada News Jurors begin deliberations in Quebec oil train disaster ury deliberations began on 11th January in the trial of three men charged with criminal negligence causing death for a 2013 train derailment that killed 47 people in Quebec. Train engineer Tom Harding, traffic controller Richard Labrie and train operations manager Jean Demaitre are charged in connection with the accident in which a runaway train carrying crude oil derailed and exploded. They pleaded not guilty. The prosecution contends Harding failed to perform a proper brake test and didn’t apply enough handbrakes after he parked the 73- car oil train late on the night of July 5, 2013. Labrie and Demaitre are accused of failing to ensure the train was properly secure after a fire broke out on the locomotive and firefighters shut off its engine, compromising the braking system. The 12-member jury completed its first day of deliberations. Thomas Walsh, one of Harding’s lawyers, told reporters on 11th January the trial should never even have taken place. He said that the evidence didn’t justify a criminal negligence charge and that his client was targeted because of public pressure to blame someone for the tragedy. Harding’s legal team maintains his actions were not a marked departure from the behavior of a reasonable person in similar circumstances and did not reveal a reckless disregard for the life of others. Credit : Associated Press (AP) Photo Credit : Shutterstock C NEW DELHI TIMES Canada launches trade complaint anada has launched a wide ranging attack on U.S. trade practices with an international complaint over Washington’s use of punitive duties. The U.S. called it illadvised. The complaint, which was filed last month but not released until 10th January, ramps up tensions amid talks on renegotiating the North American Free Trade Agreement by the three member countries — the U.S., Canada and Mexico. A senior government official said Canada is under no illusion that there is a risk President Trump might pull the U.S. out of the trade agreement, while another senior official said the government is prepared for that possibility while not being certain it will happen. Both officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly. Canada is asking the World Trade Organization to examine the use of duties in the United States, alleging they violate international law. Canada cited 122 cases in which it says the U.S. unfairly imposed duties on foreign countries, not just Canada. The U.S. just announced duties of up to 9 percent on Canadian paper. It follows a series of similar penalties as the U.S. alleges unfair trade practices by Canada in the form of softwood lumber and Bombardier subsidies. U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer said in a statement that Canada’s complaint is a “broad and ill-advised attack on the U.S. P against US over duties trade remedies system.” He said it would damage Canada’s own interest and only benefit China. “Canada’s claims are unfounded and could only lower U.S. confidence that Canada is committed to mutually beneficial trade,” Lighthizer said. “Even if Canada succeeded on these groundless claims, other countries would primarily benefit, not Canada. For example, if the U.S. removed the orders listed in Canada’s complaint, the flood of imports from China and other countries would negatively impact billions of dollars in Canadian exports to the United States.” Nelson Wiseman, a political science professor at the University of Toronto, said Canada’s complaint might have been made public on 10th January because Canada could be signaling to the Canadian public not to 2 planes collide on the ground at Toronto’s airport assengers were forced to evacuate via emergency slides in the frigid cold on 12th January after two planes collided on the ground at Toronto’s Pearson International Airport. No injuries have been reported. WestJet said an inbound from Cancun, Mexico with 168 passengers and a crew of Photo Credit : Shutterstock six was stationary and waiting to go to a gate when it was struck by a Sunwing aircraft moving back from a gate. Video footage from the Westjet plane shows flames on the wing of the Sunwing plane. Passengers are heard screaming. Spokeswoman Lauren\\ Stewart said the WestJet passengers were evacuated from the aircraft via emergency slides and all were safely in the terminal and clearing customs shortly after the collision. “Due to the position of the aircraft on the laneway, WestJet guests required evacuation via emergency slide. Emergency crews were on hand and responded immediately,” Westjet said in a statement. Sunwing said there were no crew members or passengers aboard its aircraft. It was being towed by the airline’s ground handling service provider at the time of the incident. The Greater Toronto Airports Authority said fire crews extinguished a small fire on the Sunwing aircraft and some flight operations were affected by the incident. Canada’s Transportation Safety Board said it is investigating. Credit : Associated Press (AP) expect anything from the coming round of NAFTA talks in Montreal later this month, which he says may well be the last round. “I think Trump will give the six-month notice required under NAFTA because he will see it as a negotiating tactic,” Wiseman said. “Trump prefers bilateral negotiations with each of Canada and Mexico.” The U.S. and Canada typically enjoy a friendly trade relationship, but things have soured this year as Trump has demanded big changes to NAFTA, which is in its 24th year. Trump’s demands, which range from requiring that more auto production be in the U.S. to having more government contracts in the NAFTA bloc go to U.S. companies, will likely be unacceptable to Canada and Mexico. Credit : Associated Press (AP) A Photo Credit : Shutterstock Toronto police investigating after man cuts girl’s hijab n 11-year-old Toronto girl says she was walking to school when a scissorswielding man cut parts of her hijab. The Grade 6 student said that she was with her younger brother when she felt someone behind her. She says a man pulled off the hood of her jacket and started cutting the back of her hijab. The girl says she then turned around, screamed and the man ran away. She says the man returned a short time later and continued to cut her hijab from behind before he smiled and ran away. Her mother is calling on police to treat it as a hate crime. Toronto Const. Jennifferjit Sidhu says they are looking for a suspect in his 20s. Sidhu says she was not hurt physically. Credit : Associated Press (AP) www.NewDelhiTimes.com
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Page 5 and 6: 15 - 21 January, 2018 5 P World NEW
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Page 11 and 12: 15 - 21 January, 2018 11 P A North
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15-21 January 2018 - 16-min

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