LUCKNOW, India: A double-decker passenger bus collided with a milk truck in northern India on Wednesday, killing at least 18 people and injuring many others, officials said.
The collision occurred on an expressway in Uttar Pradesh state, and 19 injured people were rushed to the hospital by villagers in the area, said police officer Arvind Kumar, adding that their condition was reported to be stable. The bus was traveling from the northern state of Bihar to the capital New Delhi.
“Authorities are in the process of identifying the victims, and a probe has been launched to determine the exact cause of the accident,” Kumar added.
Gaurang Rathi, a government official, said that according to a preliminary investigation the bus may have been speeding when it struck the milk truck from behind, which led both vehicles to overturn. The collision was severe enough that one side of the bus was torn off, causing passengers to be ejected from the vehicle. Images on television showed bodies scattered across the road.
India has some of the highest road death rates in the world, with hundreds of thousands of people killed and injured annually. Most crashes are blamed on reckless driving, poorly maintained roads and aging vehicles.
In May, a bus carrying Hindu pilgrims skidded and rolled into a deep gorge on a mountainous highway in Indian-controlled Kashmir, killing at least 21 people.
A double-decker bus collides with a milk truck in northern India, killing at least 18 people
https://arab.news/8fscd
A double-decker bus collides with a milk truck in northern India, killing at least 18 people
- The bus was traveling from the northern state of Bihar to the capital New Delhi
- India has some of the highest road death rates in the world
Cambridge pledges investment review into Israel-linked arms companies
- University requests students shut down pro-Palestine camp after months of protests
- Cambridge for Palestine protest group: ‘Long overdue step’ is ‘insufficient’
LONDON: Cambridge University in the UK has pledged to review its investments in Israel-linked arms companies if students shut a pro-Palestine protest camp, The Times reported on Friday.
In solidarity with students in the US, demonstrators at Cambridge set up tents at King’s College on campus two months ago.
They also established a separate camp outside the university’s administration building in an attempt to disrupt graduation ceremonies.
The university was forced to switch venues until student demonstrators, from the Cambridge for Palestine protest group, moved their tents to the main camp at King’s College.
The group is demanding that Cambridge divest from arms companies supplying Israel with weapons used in Gaza. Cambridge invests in weapons manufacturers through third parties.
Donations to the university and its colleges are reinvested by the Cambridge University Endowment Fund into assets, with a portion of the profits returning to Cambridge.
In 2020, the university pledged to fully divest from fossil fuel companies, setting a 2038 target to remove all investments in fossil fuels.
Vice chancellors have said Cambridge will review its investments if students close the camp. They also proposed to allow a group of elected students to work in tandem with the university in reviewing the investments.
A statement said: “The university recognises the strength of feeling within the community. We therefore commit to working with the task force … to review our approach to responsible investment.
“This will include consideration of ways of defining and monitoring defence exposures within investment portfolios. The future actions in this statement are contingent on the encampment closing down.
“We have focused on balancing rights and responsibilities during this difficult time. The right to protest, debate and challenge ideas is fundamental to our role as a university but we do not want anyone in our community to feel frightened or unwelcome.
“We hope that the painful process of rebuilding lives and institutions can start in earnest. This will be a long journey and we are committed to playing our part in these processes.”
In response, Cambridge for Palestine said the university was taking a “long overdue step” toward divestment, but described the offer as “insufficient.”
Campaigners said the King’s College camp would close over the coming month to make way for a permanent “concrete camp.”
The group said in a social media post: “Each day at the encampment we have held space to mourn the ongoing destruction of life and grieve that we live in a world where our protest is necessary.”
Trump tells Israel to end Gaza war ‘quickly’
- Republican presidential nominee: ‘Israel is not very good at public relations’
- He and PM Netanyahu to meet in Florida on Friday
London: Israel has been told to end the war in Gaza “quickly” by Donald Trump, the former US president and current Republican nominee for the White House.
Trump told Fox News ahead of a meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Florida on Friday that the war needs to end “because they (Israel) are getting decimated with this publicity, and you know Israel is not very good at public relations.”
The former president also said the attack by Hamas on Oct. 7 last year would not have happened had he been in the White House at the time.
Netanyahu is in the US as part of a visit to lawmakers across the political spectrum, during which he will also meet with President Joe Biden, who announced earlier in the week that he would not seek reelection, and the new favorite for the Democratic candidacy for the White House, Vice President Kamala Harris.
Netanyahu addressed Congress on Wednesday, in a speech that drew significant protests outside the US Capitol and which was boycotted by a number of prominent Democrats including Minnesota Representative Ilhan Omar, who labeled him “utterly immoral” and “cruel.”
Demonstrators were seen burning flags outside as Netanyahu spoke, including the US flag, which Trump condemned
“You should get a one-year jail sentence if you do anything to desecrate the American flag,” he told Fox News. “Now, people will say, ‘Oh it’s unconstitutional.’ Those are stupid people. Those are stupid people that say that.”
He added: “We have to work in Congress to get a one-year jail sentence. When they’re allowed to stomp on the flag and put lighter fluid on the flag and set it afire, when you’re allowed to do that — you get a one-year jail sentence and you’ll never see it again.”
Trump told Fox News that all remaining hostages taken by Hamas need to be released, having previously suggested blame for the attack lay with Netanyahu and the failure of his government to ensure Israel’s security.
Franco-Swiss airport briefly evacuated after bomb threat
- Basel-Mulhouse airport said it had been evacuated and closed “for safety reasons”
Strasbourg, France: A Franco-Swiss airport was temporarily evacuated following a bomb threat Friday, hours after arson attacks disrupted the French rail network ahead of the Olympics opening ceremony.
EuroAirport, located on the French side of the border near Basel, said on its website that it had reopened and that flight operations were gradually restarting.
Earlier, the Basel-Mulhouse airport said it had been evacuated and closed “for safety reasons.”
The prefecture of France’s Haut-Rhin department told AFP the evacuation had been due to a bomb threat and that bomb-disposal experts were deployed.
Several French airports, including EuroAirport, had to be evacuated late last year due to a series of fake bomb threats.
EuroAirport welcomed eight million passengers in 2023.
The evacuation came as French authorities were hunting for the perpetrators of arson attacks on the high-speed train network, which disrupted travel for hundreds of thousands of people.
The Paris Olympics opening ceremony will be held Friday evening.
Russian ex-defense minister arrested for corruption, says Interfax
- Dmitry Bulgakov was in charge of military logistics until he was dismissed in September 2022
- Bulgakov is a graduate of Russian military academies and has held various logistics positions in the army
MOSCOW: Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) said on Friday that Dmitry Bulgakov, a former deputy defense minister, had been arrested and charged with corruption, the Interfax news agency reported.
The RIA state news agency quoted the FSB as saying that an investigation was underway to establish the facts of Bulgakov’s alleged “illegal activities.” It said he was sent to a pre-trial detention center in Moscow.
Bulgakov, who was in charge of military logistics until he was dismissed in September 2022, is the latest in a string of high-profile defense ministry figures to have been charged with corruption.
The arrests are the biggest scandal to hit the Russian army in years and come at a time when the new defense minister, Andrei Belousov, an economist with no military experience, has been tasked with purging the army of corruption and streamlining its finances to fund what Moscow calls its “special military operation” in Ukraine.
The clampdown on high-level corruption began on April 23 with the arrest of Deputy Defense Minister Timur Ivanov, a close ally of ex-defense ministry Sergei Shoigu.
Since then, at least five military and defense officials have been arrested.
The Kremlin has played down the previous arrests and said other Russian state agencies were engaged in similar anti-corruption efforts.
Bulgakov, 69, is a graduate of Russian military academies and has held various logistics positions in the army, according to his official biography.
He served as deputy defense minister until he was replaced in 2022 and is the recipient of several top military and civilian awards, including the Hero of Russia award, the country’s highest honor.
Bangladesh protests quelled but anger, discontent remain
- The protests, which started in universities and colleges this month, quickly turned into a more widespread agitation against government
- Police fired rubber bullets, tear gas and lobbed sound grenades to disperse tens of thousands of protesters who came out on the streets
DHAKA: Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina imposed a nationwide curfew last week and used the army to quell protests against job quotas that killed nearly 150 people, but anger against her government does not seem to have abated.
The protests, which started in universities and colleges earlier this month, quickly turned into a more widespread agitation against Hasina and her government.
Police fired rubber bullets, tear gas and lobbed sound grenades to disperse tens of thousands of protesters who came out on the streets. The government denied any live rounds were fired, but hospital sources said dead and injured people had wounds from bullets and shot gun pellets.
Rights groups and critics say Hasina has become increasingly autocratic during her last 15 years in power and her rule has been marked by mass arrests of political opponents and activists, forced disappearances and extrajudicial killings, charges she denies.
Badiul Alam Majumdar, the secretary of Shushahoner Jonno Nagorik, a Dhaka-based civil society platform for good governance, said the protests were “just the tip of the iceberg” and the use of force against students will breed further discontent against Hasina’s government.
“People are being deprived of their basic rights, with a significant lack of human rights and justice. They can’t cast their votes freely,” he said. “This widespread frustration and anger among the people is evident in the protests.”
Government official were not immediately available for comment. But officials have said previously no students were involved in arson or violence, and instead blamed opposition parties.
Hasina, 76, first led her Awami League party to victory in elections in 1996, serving one five-year term before regaining power in 2009, never to lose again.
She won a fourth straight term in office in January elections that were boycotted by the main opposition party and also marred by deadly protests.
While Hasina managed to overcome discontent and return the country toward some normalcy this week, it will not be “business as usual” going forward, said Zafar Sobhan, the editor of English daily Dhaka Tribune.
“This crisis shows that the government needs to listen to the young people of the country and take their concerns seriously,” said Sobhan, adding that the quota issue served as a proxy for several other key issues.
“The government has been put on notice that enough is enough and it needs to address the legitimate concerns of the public,” he said.
‘MURDERS SHOULD BE INVESTIGATED’
Asif Mahmud, a student leader, told Reuters that he was abducted and abused by authorities for four days and then dumped on the road this week. His allegations could not be independently verified and government officials could not be immediately reached for comment on a holiday.
“There have been killings, nobody is addressing that,” Mahmud said. “These murders should be investigated. Those who ran this massacre, we will demand their prompt punishment.”
The United Nations, international rights groups, the US and Britain have criticized the use of force and asked Dhaka to uphold the right to peaceful protests.
Hasina said she was forced to impose the curfew to protect citizens and state property, blaming the main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and the Jamaat-e-Islami party for the violence, charges they denied.
Tarique Rahman, the exiled acting chairman of BNP, said that Hasina was involved in “mass murder” during the protests.
The daughter of the country’s founding father Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, who led Bangladesh’s independence from Pakistan, Hasina has been credited with turning around the economy and the massive garments industry.
But the economy has also slowed sharply since the Russia-Ukraine war pushed up prices of fuel and food imports, forcing Bangladesh to turn last year to the International Monetary Fund for a $4.7 billion bailout.
Experts have blamed the latest unrest on stagnant job growth in the private sector and high rates of youth unemployment that have made government jobs, with their regular wage hikes and other privileges, more attractive.
Failing to tame inflation, which currently hovers around 10 percent, and unemployment was not due to a dearth of options but rather due to a lack of political will, the experts said.
“One critical policy approach could have been to increase investment into the services sectors like health and education where it would be possible to create more decent jobs, especially for the educated and relatively young people,” said Mohammad Abdur Razzaque, chairman of Dhaka think tank Research and Policy Integration for Development.
