The Bangladesh Today (21-01-2018)

INTERNATIONAL
7
SUNDAy, JANUARy 21, 2018
South Korea on Saturday requested North Korea to explain why it abruptly canceled plans to send a
delegation over the weekend to prepare for a visit by an art troupe during next month's Pyeongchang
Winter Olympics.
Photo : AP
South Korea asks North to
explain canceled visit
4 pressing questions
ahead of Tuesday’s
Oscar nominations
NEW YORK : Oscar nominations
balloting might be
finished but Hollywood's
"Me Too" moment has kept
right on going, reports UNB.
When Academy Awards
nominations are announced
Tuesday morning, it might
be a brief, celebratory
reprieve for an industry
enflamed by sexual harassment
scandals and gender
equality protests.
Or it might just add more
fuel to the fire.
Will the motion picture
academy, as it has done in
85 out of 89 years, field an
all-male field of film directors?
Will James Franco
squeak into the best actor
category after several
women made allegations
against him of sexual
improprieties while filming
sex scenes? Franco denied
the claims on late-night
shows just days before nomination
voting closed last
Friday.
Either of those outcomes
could make the Oscar nominations
- a morning often
dominated by Harvey Weinstein
in the past - one more
fraught chapter in the ongoing
"Me Too" saga that has
already shaped and contorted
an Oscar race unlike any
before.
Myanmar soldiers
sentenced for killing
Kachin civilians
BANGKOK : State police in
Myanmar say the military
has sentenced six soldiers to
10 years in prison with hard
labor for killing three civilians
in war-torn Kachin
state, reports UNB.
The Kachin state police
office says a military tribunal
handed down the sentence
Friday after finding the soldiers
guilty of killing three
ethnic Kachin civilians in
September. Kachin is home
to an ethnic rebel army that
has been fighting the Myanmar
military for more than
seven years.
SEOUL : South Korea on Saturday
requested North Korea to explain why
it abruptly canceled plans to send a delegation
over the weekend to prepare for
a visit by an art troupe during next
month's Pyeongchang Winter
Olympics, reports UNB.
South Korean Unification Minister
Cho Myoung-gyon said that the countries
could hopefully reschedule a visit
soon.
North Korea also hasn't responded to
the South Korean proposal to send a
12-member delegation to the North on
Tuesday to inspect preparations for a
joint cultural event at the North's scenic
Diamond Mountain and a training session
between non-Olympic skiers at the
North's Masik ski resort ahead of the
Olympics.
"Since we are fully ready for the visit
of the North Korean advance team and
their activities, it would be possible for
the South and North to set up a new
schedule and carry on (with the preparations),
" Cho told reporters at the
ministry in capital Seoul.
The ministry said North Korea didn't
explain why it was "suspending" the
visit by the seven-member advance
team that was agreed just hours earlier
on Friday through a cross-border hotline.
It wasn't immediately clear
whether the two-day visit, which was to
begin on Saturday, was canceled or just
postponed.
It was supposed to be led by the art
troupe's leader Hyon Song Wol. She
also heads the hugely popular girl band
Moranbong that's hand-picked by
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.
The rival Koreas earlier this week
agreed that the 140-member Samjiyon
art troupe, which will include singers,
dancers and orchestra members, will
perform twice in South Korea during
the games in a sign of warming ties
between the countries. It will be part of
a North Korean Olympic delegation
that will also include athletes, officials,
state media reporters, a cheering group
and a taekwondo demonstration team.
Hyon has been the focus of intense
South Korean media interest since she
attended inter-Korean talks at the border
on Monday that reached agreement
on the troupe's visit. Hyon's gestures
during the talks as well as her makeup,
looks, navy blue suit and green shoulder
bag received widespread coverage.
The reconciliation mood between
the Koreas began after North Korean
leader Kim Jong Un said in a New
Year's speech that he was willing to
send a delegation to the Olympics.
While South Korea hopes to use the
games to improve relations with its
rival after a year of animosity over
North Korea's rapidly expanding
nuclear program, some experts view
Kim's overture as an attempt to weaken
U.S.-led international sanctions
against the North and buy time to further
advance his nuclear weapons
program.
Watching my family burn’: Woman
frantic after copter crash
RATON : Andra Cobb was frantic when she
called for help, telling an emergency operator
that a helicopter she was riding in with
her father, longtime partner and others had
crashed in a remote part of New Mexico and
that she was watching her "family burn."
Police released 911 recordings Friday from
the crash near the Colorado-New Mexico
line that killed five people, including Zimbabwean
opposition leader Roy Bennett, and
his wife, Heather. Cobb, 39, was the sole survivor,
escaping with broken bones before the
helicopter burst into flames, reports UNB.
Her father, Paul Cobb, the co-pilot, and her
longtime partner, Charles Burnett III, a
Texas-based investor who owned the ranch
where the group of friends was headed, also
were killed in the crash Wednesday, along
with pilot Jamie Coleman Dodd.
"I'm watching my family burn in a fire,"
Andra Cobb screamed on the call. "I don't
know what to do. There's a big fire. I'm covered
in gasoline."
Dodd also called 911 before he later
died. He told authorities immediately
after the crash that there were three victims
and three survivors - him, Andra
Cobb and Roy Bennett, who was suffering
from a head wound as authorities tried to
determine their location. Officials
launched a search but said the response
was slow because of the rugged terrain
and lack of access. Andra Cobb remained
on the call for about an hour as she waited
for authorities to arrive. Bennett's
death was met with an outpouring of grief
in Zimbabwe. A white man who spoke fluent
Shona and drew the wrath of former
President Robert Mugabe, Bennett had
won a devoted following of black Zimbabweans
for passionately advocating political
change.
Bennett, treasurer-general of the Morgan
Tsvangirai's Movement for Democratic
Change opposition party, previously survived
a traumatic year in jail and death
threats over his work.
He and his wife had traveled to New Mexico
to spend their holiday with their friend
Burnett, according to loved ones. The
wealthy businessman was described as a
fun-loving person who enjoyed entertaining,
at times extravagantly.
Burnett's friends Dodd and Cobb were
experienced aviators who would not have
taken unnecessary risks in the helicopter,
according to the investor's personal lawyer,
Martyn Hill. Hill and Cobb's wife, Martha,
said the co-pilot had survived being shot
down while flying a helicopter in the Vietnam
War.
The cause of the crash remains under
investigation. Despite frigid temperatures,
there was no indication of bad weather that
night.
Authorities eventually found the wreckage
engulfed in flames, which had sparked a
grass fire.
Colfax County Sheriff Rick Sinclair told
The Associated Press that he helped search
the rugged terrain and that when crews
found the wreckage, residents from nearby
ranches were working to extinguish the
blaze.
This image taken from video shows an investigator photographing the
scene near Raton, N.M., Friday, Jan. 19, 2018, where a helicopter crashed
late Wednesday, Jan. 17, 2018. Friends and family members confirmed
Thursday, Jan. 18, 2018, that Zimbabwe opposition leader Roy Bennett
and his wife, Heather, were on the copter as they traveled to New Mexico
to spend their holiday with friend and wealthy businessman Charles
Burnett III at his ranch.
(Peter Banda/Associated Press)
Turkish military
‘retaliates’ against
fire from Syrian
Kurds
ANKARA : Turkey's military
says it has retaliated
against fire into Turkey
from across the border in a
Kurdish-controlled enclave
in northwest Syria, reports
UNB.
A brief military statement
said Saturday the
military responded to two
days of "harassment" by
attacking refugee and shelters
in the enclave of Afrin
allegedly belonging to a
Syrian Kurdish militia
group that Turkey considers
to be a "terror" organization.
The military did not
provide details.
Turkey has vowed to
launch a ground operation
into Afrin to eradicate the
threat from the group it
says is an extension of Kurdish
rebels fighting inside
Turkey. It has been massing
troops and tanks at its
border.
Turkey's defense minister
said Thursday the
offensive into Afrin had
"de facto" started, in reference
to sporadic Turkish
military shelling of the
area.
Egypt presidential
hopeful calls for
neutrality in
elections
CAIRO : Egypt's former
military chief of staff, who
announced he would run
for president in March elections,
has called on state
institutions to maintain
neutrality toward all candidates,
reports UNB.
Sami Annan's early Saturday
video statement
released on his official
Facebook page came hours
after President Abdel-Fattah
el-Sissi declared his bid
to run for a second fouryear
term.
He urged civil and military
institutions against
"unconstitutionally" siding
with a president "who may
leave his office."
Annan said he formed a
presidential team that
would include Egypt's former
top auditor Hisham
Genena, who was sacked by
el-Sissi in 2016. Annan also
said he is running to "save
the Egyptian state" from
what he described as
"wrong policies."
Other presidential hopefuls
include a prominent
rights lawyer who has
alleged harassment by the
authorities.
Memorial service
planned for
beloved Michigan
airport dog
TRAVERSE CITY :
Friends and fans are bidding
farewell to a speedy
border collie that became
an internet sensation for
keeping a northern Michigan
airport's runways free
of critters, reports UNB.
A memorial service for
Piper is scheduled for 3
p.m. Saturday at City
Opera House in Traverse
City. The 9-year-old dog
was euthanized Jan. 3
after battling prostate cancer.
He was diagnosed with
cancer about a year ago
and treated with
chemotherapy.
He became the official
wildlife-control canine at
Cherry Capital Airport in
winter of 2015 - the nemesis
of geese, ducks and
even snowy owls.
Images of Piper on the
job, wearing his airport
vest, ear muffs and goggles,
made their way onto
online social forum Reddit.
He quickly became a
top hit. Curious fans even
caused network problems
on the airport's website.
He was diagnosed with
cancer about a year ago
and treated with
chemotherapy.
US and Pakistan clash at
UN over Afghanistan
UNITED NATIONS : The United States urged
Pakistan on Friday not to give sanctuary to
"terrorist organizations" - and Pakistan
demanded that the Trump administration
address safe havens inside Afghanistan and its
income from the narcotics trade, reports
UNB.
The exchange took place Friday at a Security
Council meeting on the issue of
Afghanistan's relations with its Central Asia
neighbors and the link between peace and
security. U.S. Deputy Secretary of State John
Sullivan said the United States can't work with
Pakistan if it continues to give sanctuary to
terrorist organizations and need to stop this
and join efforts to resolve the Afghan conflict.
Pakistan's U.N. Ambassador Maleeha Lodi
countered that Afghanistan and its partners,
especially the U.S., need to address "challenges
inside Afghanistan rather than shift the
onus for ending the conflict onto others."
"Those who imagine sanctuaries outside
need a reality check," she stressed. The
exchange followed the Trump administration's
announcement this month that it was
suspending military aid to Pakistan until it
takes decisive action against militants.
In August, the U.S. infuriated Pakistan by
accusing it of providing a haven for extremist
groups that carry out attacks in neighboring
Afghanistan. Pakistan repeatedly has said it is
acting against Taliban insurgents and members
of the Haqqani militant group.
Armed clashes in Afghanistan in the past
year were the highest in a decade and civilian
casualties remained at near-record levels.
More than 2 million people were directly
affected by the conflict in 2017, with some
448,000 having to abandon their homes to
save their lives. Sullivan told the council that
an Afghan-led, Afghan-owned approach to
peace, with firm international support for
Afghan security forces, "will make clear to the
Taliban that victory cannot be won on the
battlefield - a solution is and must be political."
But he said: "We must recognize the reality
that while the Afghan government has
been adamant about its interests in initiating
peace talks with the Taliban, there has been
no reciprocal interest on the part of the Taliban.""That
must change," Sullivan stressed.
He urged international efforts to isolate the
Taliban, eliminate its sources of income and
equipment. Sullivan also criticized unnamed
countries for supporting the Taliban in the
name of fighting the Islamic State extremist
group, also known as ISIS. "This approach is
misguided or worse pernicious," he said.
"The United States believes that the two are
not linked. We can and must fight ISIS in
Afghanistan while ensuring the Taliban
come to the negotiating table." Pakistan's
Lodhi said that after 17 years of war it's
"more than evident" that neither the Afghan
government nor the Taliban can win militarily.
"The continuing resort to military force
and escalation of the conflict without an
accompanying political and diplomatic strategy
... will produce more violence, not a political
solution," she said. "It is not enough to
pay lip service to a negotiated settlement and
then do little other than exercise a strategy of
force and coercion."
The United States urged Pakistan on Friday not to give sanctuary to
"terrorist organizations" - and Pakistan demanded that the Trump
administration address safe havens inside Afghanistan and its income
from the narcotics trade.
Photo : AP
Oscar winner Dorothy
Malone, mom on ‘Peyton
Place,’ has died
DALLAS : Actress Dorothy Malone, who
won hearts of 1960s television viewers as the
long-suffering mother in the nighttime soap
"Peyton Place," died Friday in her hometown
of Dallas at age 93.
Malone died in an assisted living center
from natural causes days before her 94th
birthday, said her daughter, Mimi Vanderstraaten.
After 11 years of mostly roles as loving
sweethearts and wives, the brunette actress
decided she needed to gamble on her career
instead of playing it safe. She fired her agent,
hired a publicist, dyed her hair blonde and
sought a new image, reports UNB.
"I came up with a conviction that most of
the winners in this business became stars
overnight by playing shady dames with sex
appeal," she recalled in 1967. She welcomed
the offer for "Written on the Wind," in which
she played an alcoholic nymphomaniac who
tries to steal Rock Hudson from his wife,
Lauren Bacall.
"And I've been unfaithful or drunk or oversexed
almost ever since- on the screen, of
course," she added.
When Jack Lemmon announced her as the
winner of the 1956 Academy Award for best
actress in a supporting role for the performance,
she rushed to the stage of the Pantages
Theatre and gave the longest speech of the
evening. Even when Lemmon pointed to his
watch, she continued undeterred, thanking
"the Screen Actors and the Screen Extras
guilds because we've had a lot of ups and
downs together."
Malone's career waned after she reached
40, but she achieved her widest popularity
with "Peyton Place," the 1964-69 ABC series
based on Grace Metalious' steamy novel
which became a hit 1957 movie starring Lana
Turner. Malone assumed the Turner role as
Constance Mackenzie, the bookshop operator
who harbored a dark secret about the
birth of her daughter Allison, played by the
19-year-old Mia Farrow.
ABC took a gamble on "Peyton Place,"
scheduling what was essentially a soap opera
in prime time three times a week. It proved
to be a ratings winner, winning new prominence
for Malone and making stars of Farrow,
Ryan O'Neal and Barbara Parkins.
"RIP Dorothy Malone, my beautiful TV
mom for two amazing years," Farrow posted
on Twitter.
Malone was offered a salary of $10,000 a
week, huge money at the time. She settled for
$7,000 with the proviso that she could leave
the set at 5 p.m. so she could spend time with
her young daughters, Mimi and Diane. She
had been divorced from their father, a dashing
Frenchman, Jacques Bergerac.
He had been discovered in France by Ginger
Rogers, who married him and helped
sponsor his acting career. They divorced, and
he wooed and wedded Dorothy Malone in
1959. The marriage lasted five years and ended
in a bitter court battle over custody of the
daughters. "I wish Ginger had warned me
what he was like," she lamented.
Malone married three times - two and a
half by her calculation. Her second marriage,
to stock broker Robert Tomarkin in
1969, was annulled after six weeks, Vanderstraaten
said. A marriage in 1971 to motel
chain executive Huston Bell also ended in
divorce.
"I don't have very good luck in men," she
admitted. "I had a tendency to endow a man
qualities he did not possess." When a
reporter suggested that she was well fixed
because of the "Peyton Place" money, she
replied: "Don't you believe it. I had a husband
who took me to the cleaners. The day
after we were married he was on the phone
selling off my stuff."
When she was born in Chicago on Jan. 30,
1925, her name was Dorothy Eloise Maloney
(it was changed to Malone in Hollywood
"because it sounded too much like
baloney," she said). When she was 3-
months-old, her father - a telephone company
auditor - moved the family to Dallas
where she was raised in a strict Catholic
household.
"As a child I lived by the rules," she said in
1967, "repeating them over and over, abiding
by them before I fully understood their
full meaning."
In 1942, an RKO talent scout saw her in a
play at Southern Methodist University and
recommended her for a studio contract. Her
first three movie roles were walk-ons with
no lines; her later roles were not much
improvement. A move to Warner Bros. in
1945 provided greater opportunity.