Author: Himalaya Post

ANKARA – Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan declared Saturday that his country would not be cowed by the United States, his latest broadside in the bitter feud between Ankara and Washington. The two NATO members are at odds over Turkey’s detention of an American pastor, which has triggered a trade row and sent the local currency the lira into a tailspin. “We will not surrender to those who present themselves as a strategic partner while at the same time trying to make us a strategic target,” Erdogan said at a congress of his ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP). “Some people threaten us with economy, sanctions, foreign currency exchange rates, interest rates and inflation. We know your shenanigans and we will defy you.” Last week, US President Donald Trump said he had doubled the tariffs on aluminium and steel tariffs from Turkey, prompting Ankara to sharply hike tariffs on several US products. And Turkey on Friday threatened to respond in kind if Washington imposed further sanctions, while a court rejected another appeal to free pastor Andrew Brunson, who has been held for almost two years on terror charges. The lira has nosedived against the dollar, dropping as much as 20 percent on one day last week. It sunk to a low of well over seven to the dollar earlier this week but was trading at just over six to...

MOSCOW – Russian President Vladimir Putin on Saturday sent a message of condolences to UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres following the death of the former head of the world body Kofi Annan. “I sincerely admired his wisdom and courage, his ability to make informed decisions even in the most complex, critical situations. His memory will live forever in the hearts of Russians,” Putin said, according to a Kremlin statement.  ...

GENEVA – Former UN chief and Nobel peace laureate Kofi Annan died Saturday at the age of 80, his foundation announced, prompting a barrage of grief-stricken tributes from around the world. The Ghanaian national, who lived in Switzerland, was a career diplomat who projected quiet charisma and was widely credited for raising the world body’s profile in global politics during his two terms as UN chief from 1997 to 2006. The first secretary general from sub-Saharan Africa, Annan led the United Nations through the divisive years of the Iraq war and was later accused of corruption in the oil-for-food scandal, one of the most trying times of his tenure. “It is with immense sadness that the Annan family and the Kofi Annan Foundation announce that Kofi Annan, former Secretary General of the United Nations and Nobel Peace Laureate, passed away peacefully on Saturday 18th August after a short illness,” the foundation said in a statement. “His wife Nane and their children Ama, Kojo and Nina were by his side during his last days.” According to Swiss news agency ATS, he died in a hospital in the German-speaking part of the country. Current UN chief Antonio Guterres voiced deep sadness at the news, describing his predecessor as “a guiding force for good”. “In many ways, Kofi Annan was the United Nations,” he said. “He rose through the ranks to lead...

QUETTA, Pakistan – Pakistani authorities said Saturday they have now retrieved 18 bodies after a blast tore through a coal mine in southwest Pakistan earlier this week, including two rescuers who entered after the explosion. The mine caved in after workers used dynamite during an excavation in Sinjidi, some 45 kilometres (28 miles) east of Quetta, the capital of oil and gas rich Balochistan province. Rescue teams had pulled nine workers alive from different tunnels while eight had been found dead at the depth of 800 feet(240 metres). “We later found bodies of another eight miners, who were buried at the depth of 4,000 feet(1,219 metres), provincial chief mines inspector Muhammad Iftikhar told AFP. He said two of the five volunteers who entered the mine to rescue trapped workers despite warnings by authorities also lost their lives. “We pulled out all the five volunteers who were badly affected by poisonous gases in the mine. Two of them died on their way to hospital while three others are currently hospitalised in Quetta,” Iftikhar said. A senior local government official official in Quetta also confirmed the new toll of 18. While the use of dynamite in the mines is officially prohibited, miners often use the explosive to quickly excavate coal. In a similar incident, at least 43 miners were killed in Sorange district of Balochistan in 2011. Coal mines in the...