More than 68 people including 19 children die in Bangladesh ferry disaster

More than 68 people including 19 children died after a passenger ferry capsized in the Padma River in the Manikganj district north of the capital, Dhaka, Bangladesh. The double-Decker ferry sank after it was hit by a cargo vessel yesterday, Sunday February 22nd.

Many of those rescued were passengers on the upper deck who jumped into the river. The deputy commissioner of Manikganj, Rashida Ferdouse said it is unclear how many passengers were on the ferry but said they may be within the range of 100. She said that the death toll from the disaster could rise in the coming days as many more people are still missing

Russell Peters: God loves Africans way more than Asians

Chinese jilted wife 'chops off husband's penis twice after catching him cheating

UK Mirror-A jilted wife in China has been arrested after she allegedly chopped off her cheating husband's penis twice. According to reports in China, two-timing dad-of-five Fan Lung, 32, used his wife's phone to send lover Zhang Hung, 21, a saucy email from his marital home in Shangqiu. But he forgot to log out of his account and his stunned wife, Feng, 30, came across the message along with several others, which sent her flying into a rage.

Furious, she's said to have grabbed a pair of scissors and stormed into their bedroom, where he was sleeping, and snipped off his manhood. Fan was rushed to hospital, where the organ was sewn back on.

Nepal to issue passports with third gender for sexual minorities

Gopal Sharm

Nepal will issue passports to sexual minorities, adding a third gender category, an official said on Wednesday in a sign of the conservative Hindu-majority country becoming more liberal since the end of a decade-long civil war.

The Himalayan nation's lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people are identified as either male or female in passports, despite a 2007 Supreme Court ruling ordering authorities to amend laws to include a third gender.

"We have changed the passport regulations and will add a third category of gender for those people who do not want to be identified as male or female," Lok Bahadur Thapa, chief of the government’s passport department, told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.

Busted! Five Charged with Kidnapping and Raping Japan Student in India

[Photo credit: AP Images]

Five men have been arrested in India and charged with kidnapping and repeatedly raping a Japanese woman, the New York Times reports.

News reports differ on the specifics, but the general outline is consistent: one or two men who said they were tour guides approached the 23-year-old woman in Kolkata, formerly Calcutta. The Guardian reports that she had been studying life in rural India.

"One of the men spoke very fluent Japanese," Pallav Kanti Ghosh, a Calcutta police commissioner, told the BBC. "They took her to Digha [a beach resort] on November 23. There they sexually assaulted her and robbed her of 76,000 rupees [$1201] using her ATM card."

Japan population fell by a record 268,000 in 2014

Japan’s population fell by a record 268,000 people last year, new data show, with preliminary figures showing just above 1 million births in 2014, NPR.com reports.

The figures released by the country’s health ministry showed that the estimated number of people who died in 2014 was 1,269,000, about 1,000 above the previous year. The number of births was 1,001,000, down about 29,000 from 2013. The total population declined by a record 268,000.

The Kyodo news service adds that the number of births could slide below 1 million when new numbers are released in June.

Fire Outbreaks Destroys Philippines Shanties

A huge fire that was believed to have been ignited by firecrackers razed nearly a thousand shanties and killed three people in a creekside slum in the Philippine capital of Manila.

It was one of more than a dozen fires across the country linked to raucous New Year’s celebrations.

A spokesman for the Bureau of Fire Protection said nearly a thousand houses, mostly shanties and huts, were destroyed, displacing about 4,000 poor families.

Air Asia plane with 162 on board goes missing in Indonesia

This file photograph taken on February 15, 2012 show an AirAsia plane taking off from Soekarno-Hatta airport in Jakarta.AFP/Getty Images

Ali Kotarumalos And Margie Mason The Associated Press
A massive sea search was underway for an AirAsia plane that disappeared Sunday while flying from Indonesia to Singapore with 162 people on board through airspace possibly thick with dense storm clouds, strong winds and lightning, officials said.

More than 12 hours later, shocked family members huddled at the Surabaya airport from where the Airbus A320 had taken off, awaiting any news of the jetliner operated by an airline whose parent company is based in Malaysia. It is the third incident involving Malaysia this year following two of the worst aviation tragedies that hit Malaysia Airlines — in March Flight 370 disappeared with 239 people and in July Flight 17 was shot down over Ukraine, killing all 298 people on it.

Indonesia and Singapore launched a search and rescue operation for Flight 8501 near Belitung island in Java Sea over which the jetliner lost contact with ground traffic control, about 42 minutes after taking off from Surabaya, Indonesia’s second largest city. The flight had completed a little less than half of its journey time to Singapore.

NorthKorea Back Online After Widespread Internet Outage

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un looks at a computer, surrounded by army

Prominent North Korean websites were back online Tuesday after an hours-long shutdown that led to speculation by some researchers and web watchers that the country's Internet connections could be under cyberattack.

South Korean officials told the Associated Press that Internet access to the North's official Korean Central News Agency and the Rodong Sinmun newspaper were working normally Tuesday after being inaccessible earlier.

 Those sites are the main channels for official North Korea news, with servers located abroad.

About that NorthKorea internet brouhaha

Many believe the genesis of North Korea's internet that went down was a retaliation from US. Sony Pictures released a movie called The Interview, a comedy about a fictional assassination of North Korean leader, Kim Jong Un.. North Korean didn't find it funny and hacked into Sony's computers, rendering thousands of computers inoperable and forced Sony to take its entire computer network offline. That wasn't enough, they then threatened terror attack on US citizens if Sony doesn't cancel showing the movie, forcing Sony to pull the interview from theaters and losing almost $200m. Then the US govt got involved and told Sony to go ahead and release the movie, that they don't take lightly to threats and promised to retaliate for the attack on Sony. 

"Internet connectivity between North Korea and the outside world is currently suffering one of its worst outages in recent memory, suggesting that the country may be enduring a mass cyber attack a few days after President Obama warned the US would launch a "proportional response" to North Korea's hack against Sony

North Korea, which has four official networks connecting the country to the Internet -- all of which route through China -- began experiencing intermittent problems yesterday and today went completely black, according to Doug Madory, director of Internet analysis at Dyn Research in Hanover, New Hampshire." Bloomberg reports.

Chinese Commuinity Banishes Boy Aged EIGHT Because He Is HIV-Positive

DailyMail
A boy aged just eight has been banished from a Chinese village - because he was found to be HIV-positive.

The youngster's own grandfather was among 200 people in the community, in China's southwestern Sichuan province, who signed a petition to expel the child to 'protect villagers' health'.

It has been reported that the boy - who was given the pseudonym Kunkun by Chinese media - contracted the virus from his mother.

The case, reported in the Global Times newspaper, has highlighted the stigma attached to the disease in China, where many sufferers face widespread discrimination.
Previous reports said the boy was refused admission to local schools and villagers would avoid contact with him.

'Nobody plays (with me), I play alone,' Kunkun said, according to a report on the website of the People's Daily newspaper.

Tragic! 32 die, 76 missing in central Indonesia mudslide

Indonesian soldiers and rescue team members lift a cattle trapped in the mud after a landslide hit the village of Sampang in Banjarnegara on Dec.

Rescuers pulled more bodies from the debris today after heavy rain in central Indonesia loosened soil and collapsed a hill, setting off a landslide that killed at least 32 villagers and left 76 others missing under piles of mud, The Times of India reports.

About 2,000 rescuers, including soldiers, police and volunteers, were digging through the mud and the wreckage of crumpled homes, getting some relief from clear weather following days of heavy rain. Excavators, meanwhile, shoved aside earth and the remains of decimated wooden homes.

Residents of Jemblung village in Central Java province’s Banjarnegara district said they heard a roaring sound followed by the raining down of red soil that buried more than 100 houses late Friday.

Chinese gay dating app grows to 15 million users

In this photo taken Thursday, Nov. 27, 2014, Ma Baoli, founder of Danlan.org, gestures during an interview at his Blue City office in Beijing, China. Danlan.org, a website for gay people to share experiences, has spawned a dating app specifically for gay Chinese men and the company Blue City last month received $30 million in funding. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan)

By day, Ma Baoli was a high-ranking officer in a seaside city police force. By night, he ran a website for gay people to share experiences and on which he spoke under a pseudonym about the pressure he faced as a homosexual.

After several years, the police force found out and told him he could not run a private website that was earning money from advertisements while serving as a police officer.

Ma chose his website, a move that later proved fruitful. His Danlan.org has spawned a Chinese-language dating app for men called Blued that has garnered 15 million users, 3 million of them outside China, over two years.

And last month, his company, Blue City, received $30 million in funding from Silicon Valley venture capital company DCM Ventures. Ma hopes to use the money to expand abroad and possibly prepare for an IPO. He is also considering launching a dating app for lesbians.

Fifty crew members still missing from SouthKorea ship

More than 50 crew members from a South Korean fishing ship that sank in the western Bering Sea were feared dead on Tuesday, as furious relatives blamed the ship’s owner and its captain for not doing enough to save their family members from the frigid waters a day earlier, The Times of India reports.

Russian coast guard helicopters and at least five fishing ships were scouring the area in search of the missing, with authorities finding at least one empty lifeboat Tuesday. Officials from the ship’s South Korean parent company said they were hanging onto a “glimmer of hope,” but with continued rough seas and bad weather, there were dwindling expectations that the fishermen would be found.

At a gathering at the company’s headquarters, relatives of the missing fishermen wondered whether the captain was too late in taking emergency measures after the ship started sinking amid high waves Monday. Some blamed Sajo Industries, the canned tuna company that owns the ship, for not ordering him to evacuate the vessel earlier, according to Kim Kang-ho, a company official.

Three Hong Kong protest leaders to surrender

The three original founders of Hong Kong’s “Occupy Central” protest movement have announced that they will “surrender” to police while some other protesters started a hunger strike and called for a new wave of protests, Al Jazeera reports.

Occupy Central leaders have urged protesters in the Chinese-controlled city to retreat a day after activists clashed with police and forced the temporary closure of a government headquarters.

“As we prepare to surrender, we three urge the students to retreat, to put down deep roots in the community and transform the movement,” said Occupy Central leader Benny Tai at a press conference on Tuesday.

He said the trio would surrender to police on Wednesday in a commitment to the rule of law and “the principle of peace and love”.

President Mahinda of Sri Lanka seeks unprecedented third term

President Mahinda Rajapaksa of Sri Lanka signed an official proclamation on Thursday confirming that he will seek re-election for an unprecedented third term two years ahead of schedule, New York Times reports.

The proclamation came after Rajapaksa’s governing Sri Lanka Freedom Party unanimously endorsed such a move Wednesday night, said Media and Information Minister, Keheliya Rambukwella.

Mr. Rajapaksa’s government removed a two-term limit on the country’s powerful presidency in 2010 through a constitutional amendment. Last week, the Sri Lankan Supreme Court dismissed legal concerns about Rajapaksa’s eligibility to seek a third term. Rajapaksa removed the previous chief justice from office in January 2013 in a move that was widely seen as solidifying his control over the court.

PM Stephen Harper meets with China's president

The Canadian Press Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper speaks with media during a news conference in Beijing, China Sunday November 9, 2014. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld

Prime Minister Stephen Harper said Sunday he’s raised a litany of concerns with the Chinese in his meetings with the Communist country’s leadership over the past few days, insisting he’s only forging closer ties with China to benefit Canada.

Eight years after a newly elected Harper vowed not to sell out to the “almighty dollar” in China, the prime minister said he’s hardly let the Chinese off the hook despite inking an array of trade and currency deals worth as much as $2.5 billion over the weekend.

“You can rest assured that every single item that is important in the area of consular issues, human rights, governance, the rights of minorities — I have raised every single one of those,” he told the media shortly after meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping.

“Those are things on which we will continue to follow up and have ongoing dialogue.”

The case of Kevin and Julia Garratt is chief among those issues, Harper said after meetings at the majestic Great Hall of the People, located alongside Tiananmen Square, best known as the site of violent pro-democracy protests in 1989.

Captain of capsized Korean ship that killed 300 people bags 36 years in prison

The captain of the South Korean Sewol ferry that sank on April 16th killing over 300 students on their way to a field trip and other passengers on board, has been sentenced to 36 years in prison.

Lee Joon-seok, was sentenced today November 11th after a 6-month trial, after being found guilty of violating 'Seamen's law' and abandonment causing death and injury.

He was accused of abandoning his ship and leaping to safety while hundreds of his passengers remained inside the ferry as it sank. Prosecutors said he failed to use available equipment in his ship such as life rafts, life vests and announcements to evacuate the passengers.

The Ferry's chief engineer was found guilty of murder and sentenced to 30 years, while the remaining 13 crew members were sentenced five to 20 years.

North Korea's Kim Jong-Un Similarities With Dad

So North Korean Dictator, Kim Jong-Un Got His Wicked Heart From His Dad?. North Korean dictator, Kim Jong-un whom the media as described as been cruel and fearless countless times has been described by his late father’s body guard as a more wicked and notorious ruler.

It will be recalled that the ruler became very famous months back when he ordered the killing of his uncle which came as a shock to the world. Here's how mirror.co.uk puts the new report.

The former bodyguard of late North Korean dictator Kim Jong-il has told how the leader sent a senior official to die in a concentration camp - for using his ashtray.

But, incredibly, he says the son of his ex-boss, current Supreme Leader Kim Jong-un, puts his dad to shame when it comes to irrational and barbaric behaviour.

Lee Young-guk, who was paid to protect the now-deceased despot for several years, claims one senior official was sent to perish in a concentration camp merely for using the erratic leader's ashtray and private lift.

Singapore Opens First World's Luxury Dog Hotel

A staff member dries a dog after a swim in a bone-shaped pool at the Wagington luxury pet hotel in Singapore on November 4, 2014. AFP/Getty Images 

AFP
A luxury pet hotel featuring air-conditioned suites, spa services and gourmet meals was unveiled Tuesday in Singapore, further raising the level of pet pampering in the wealthy city-state.

The 4,317 square-foot (401 square-metre) Wagington hotel is located in a converted British colonial-era bungalow in the diplomatic quarter.

Lodgings cost up to Sg490 ($271) a night for three dogs sharing the “royal suite”, which boasts a chandelier, a television and faux leather orthopaedic beds.

Designed largely for dogs, the hotel can also accept cats.

“If we deserve the best in life, shouldn’t your most loyal companion deserve it equally?” founder Estelle Taylor said in a press statement.

“Being animal lovers, we feel strongly that there should be a place where pets can be left that makes them feel at home.”

It is not all lazing around at the hotel. The furry guests can exercise at its bone-shaped swimming pool and artificial turf garden, and indoor treadmills can be used on rainy days.