Author: Himalaya Post

ATHENS – Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras on Tuesday vowed to end decades of illegal building “chaos” which he blamed for contributing to devastating fires last month that claimed scores of lives. Tsipras’ government has been severely criticised over its response to the July 23 wildfire in the coastal resort of Mati that claimed 91 lives, making it the deadliest fire disaster in Greek history. “Illegal building chaos that threatens human lives can no longer be tolerated,” Tsipras said after a meeting with ministers and regional administrators. “Whatever destroys forests and beaches, whatever represents a danger will be torn down,” he said. “It is our duty to our dead, but more so towards the living.” Four senior officials including the minister responsible for the police and the heads of the police and fire brigade have been removed, days after claiming that the state’s response to the emergency had been well-managed. The government had insisted that with winds blowing at speeds of up to 120 kilometres (75 miles) an hour, there was little time to mount an effective evacuation. It later emerged that the police had failed to properly seal away the area because the fire brigade had not alerted them to the location and size of the fire. As a result, many drivers were inadvertently diverted into Mati’s narrow streets and trapped. Residents fleeing the flames with just the...

TEHRAN – Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif met with his North Korean counterpart Ri Yong Ho on Tuesday, on the same day the US reimposed nuclear-related sanctions on the Islamic republic. Zarif welcomed Ri and a team of officials at the foreign ministry in Tehran, but no statement was made to reporters. Ri is on a two-day visit to Tehran, and is due to meet with President Hassan Rouhani on Wednesday. Fars news agency said the two sides discussed “bilateral relations and regional issues in the Middle East”, without giving further details. The visit coincided with the United States reimposing sanctions on Iran after President Donald Trump abandoned a 2015 multilateral nuclear deal in May. The US is currently also pushing Pyongyang to scrap its nuclear capabilities after Trump and North Korea’s leader Kim Jong Un agreed a vague commitment to “denuclearisation of the Korean Peninsula” at their landmark summit in June. A UN panel of experts has expressed concern over military collaboration between Iran and North Korea in the past. In a 2017 report, it noted the presence of designated North Korean weapons traffickers living in Tehran and the similarity between missile designs in the two countries. Ri was present alongside a high-level Iranian delegation at a meeting of the Non-Aligned Movement in Baku, Azerbaijan in April, according to Pyongyang’s official KCNA news agency. A North Korean...

KUALA LUMPUR  – Malaysia’s disgraced ex-leader Najib Razak will face new charges in court Wednesday under anti-money laundering laws in a case linked to a multi-billion-dollar graft scandal, authorities said. The announcement came after Najib, who suffered a shock defeat in May elections, was summoned for a new round of questioning by the anti-corruption agency. Najib was arrested last month and charged with criminal breach of trust and abusing his position over accusations he pocketed 42 million ringgit ($10.3 million). The new charges he faces are in relation to the same case, the anti-graft agency said in a statement. All the charges relate to the scandal surrounding sovereign wealth fund 1MDB, which was set up and overseen by Najib. The former leader, his family and cronies are accused of embezzling huge sums that were used to buy everything from artwork to high-end real estate in a sophisticated fraud that spanned the globe. The graft allegations were a major factor in the defeat of Najib’s long-ruling coalition by a reformist alliance headed by political heavyweight Mahathir Mohamad, 93. After questioning Najib Tuesday for 45 minutes, the anti-graft agency said he would be charged under the anti-money laundering law in relation to SRC International, an energy company that used to be a subsidiary of 1MDB. He is to face three new charges, the official news agency Bernama reported. According to an...

Dhaka [Bangladesh] – A Dhaka court on Tuesday extended the bail of former Bangladesh Prime Minister Begum Khaleda Zia till September 5 in connection to the Zia Orphanage Trust corruption case. The bail order was passed by acting Judge Sheikh Nazmul Alam, as Dhaka Special Judge Court-5 Judge Mohammad Akhtaruzzaman was on leave, The Dhaka Tribune reported. Khaleda’s bail has been extended several times in the past. On July 31, Akhtaruzzaman’s court had extended Khaleda’s bail till August 7. Earlier on March 12, the High Court had granted a four-month bail to Khaleda. On February 8, Special Judge’s Court-5 of Dhaka sentenced Khaleda to jail after it had found her and five others guilty in the graft case. Khaleda along with her elder son Tarique Rahman and four others were sentenced to ten years of rigorous imprisonment along with imposing a fine of over 2.1 crore taka (approx Rs 1.6 crore). The case was filed by the Anti-Corruption Commission in July 2008, alleging misappropriation of funds amounting to 2.1 crore taka that were said to have come from a foreign bank in the form of grants for orphans. The 73-year-old leader is a two-time Bangladesh Prime Minister, having ruled from 1991 to 1996 and again from 2001 to 2006....