international
Nagaland Post, Dimapur WEDNESDAY, JULY 25, 2018
74 killed in Greece Wildfires
Fire fighters carry the body of a victim through the streets this morning as emergency crews sifted through the remains.
with 187 people injured, including 23 minors, although they warned that those figures were expected to rise as they had identified dozens of burned-out houses they had yet to access due to the extreme temperatures inside the buildings. So far, 47 bodies have been taken to a forensic centre near Athens for formal identification. Fa n n e d b y s t r o n g winds, the fast-moving wildfire incinerated whole swathes of the landscape and destroyed hundreds of properties and vehicles, many of which had to be abandoned as many people made a dash for the sea, using boats to escape the encroaching flames. Some 700 people were rescued by coast guards, including 19 pulled directly from the water but several people drowned before help reached them. Spain and Cyprus sent
water-dropping planes and Portugal contributed 50 firefighters to bolster the Greek efforts to control the blaze, but the conflagration was still raging out of control late Tuesday. President Vladimir Putin of Russia said his country was prepared to help but did not elaborate what shape this assistance would take. The area around Mati, on the east coast, is popular with well-to-do Athens dwellers who built summer holiday homes there because it is surrounded by normally verdant forest and rolling hills within easy access to the Aegean Sea. Dry and very hot conditions have turned the area into a potential tinderbox, authorities have said. Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras declared a state of emergency and triggered the EU Civil Protection Mechanism requesting back-up to fight the flames.
New Delhi, Jul 24 (Agencies): David Coleman Headley, the US citizen of Pakistani origin, who has been convicted of his role in the deadly 26/11 Mumbai terror attack case, is reportedly battling for his life after being attacked inside the jail by fellow inmates, television reports said. However, the US authorities have refused to comment on the media reports regarding Headley’s condition. “We are not able to locate information about this individual,” the Metropolitan Correctional Center in Chicago said in when asked about the incident. According to some media reports, Headley was attacked on July 8 by two other inmates. The reports said he suffered serious injuries and was rushed to North Evanston hospital, where he was admitted to the critical care unit. Headley has been sentenced to 35 years in prison by a US court for the 2008 terrorist attack on Mumbai that killed more than 160 people. Headley who recced various Indian cities, including Mumbai before the 26/11 attacks was arrested in 2009. The government has been trying for Headley’s extradition from the US but all efforts have failed so far.
N Korea begins dismantling rocket test site
Washington, Jul 24 (Agencies): North Korea appears to have started dismantling key facilities at a rocket-engine test center, a group of experts said Monday, potentially marking a significant step after last month’s summit between Kim Jong Un and US President Donald Trump. According to the respected 38 North group, commercial satellite imagery of the Sohae satellite launching station indicates Pyongyang has begun taking down a processing build-
ing and a rocket-engine test stand that had been used to test liquid-fuel engines for ballistic missiles and space launch vehicles. Sohae, on the northwest coast of North Korea, has been used to test rockets, with the aim of putting a satellite into orbit. But rocket engines are easily repurposed for use in missiles and outside observers say nuclear-armed Pyongyang’s space program is a fig leaf for weapons tests. 38 North analyst Jo-
seph Bermudez called the move an “important first step” for Kim in fulfilling commitments he made to Mr Trump during their June summit in Singapore. Since Sohae is “believed to have played an important role in the development of technologies for the North’s intercontinental ballistic missile programme, these efforts represent a significant confidence-building measure on the part of North Korea,” Mr Bermudez said. A US defence official,
however, told AFP that the Pentagon was not closely tracking activities at Sohae in terms of how it relates to the denuclearisation of North Korea. “It’s not on the radar, so to speak,” the official said. O n M o n d a y, M r Trump said he was “very happy” with how talks were progressing with North Korea, after observers and the media highlighted an apparent lack of concrete results since the summit with Kim.
Mehul Choksi moves to Antigua; gets local passport
New Delhi, Jul 24 (PTI): Fugitive diamantaire Mehul Choksi has moved to Antigua from the US and taken the passport of the Caribbean country, government sources said. In response to diffusion notice issued by Interpol, the Enforcement Directorate has been informed by Antiguan authorities that Choksi arrived there this month and had taken the passport of that country, they said. Choksi had fled the country in the first week of January, nearly a fortnight before weeks before country’s biggest banking fraud surfaced. The CBI has booked Choksi, uncle of his alleged partner in crime Nirav Modi, in two cases related to the scam and
Mehul Choksi
filed charge sheet against him. A special court in Mumbai has issued a NonBailable Warrant against him. Armed with the warrant, the CBI moved the Interpol for issuance of Red Corner Notice against the Gitanjali group pro-
moter, who is one of the masterminds behind US $2 billion banking fraud in the Punjab National Bank, but it is still under process. On this basis, request for Red Corner Notice was moved in June. While RCN has been issued against Nirav Modi
and his brother Nishal by the Interpol, the request for such a notice against Choksi is pending with the Lyon-based international police cooperation agency, they said. The issuance of RCN would mean that the member countries of the Lyonbased international police cooperation agency can arrest and extradite him. The CBI, in its charge sheets filed on May 14, had alleged that Nirav Modi, through his companies, siphoned off funds to the tune of Rs 6,498.20 crore using fraudulent LoUs issued from PNB’s Brady House branch in Mumbai. Choksi allegedly swindled Rs 7080.86 crore, making it possibly the biggest banking scam in the country, it had alleged.
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Athens, Jul 24 (IANS): At least 74 people were killed, scores injured and many remained unaccounted for after wildfires spread rapidly through a popular vacationing spot on the Greek coast east of Athens, turning it into a disaster area that left the country reeling and in desperate need of firefighting reinforcements from the European Union on Tuesday. Emergency services said the bodies of 24 adults and children were found just 30 meters from the sea, to where they had tried to escape from the flames that were raging through the fishing village of Mati, which took the brunt of the blaze that swept up coastal parts of the Attica region around Rafina, 15 km northeast of Athens International airport, Efe news agency reported. Greek firefighters gave the latest death toll as 74,
26/11 convict Headley in ICU after attack in US jail
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